ITALY (ART.) 



185 



demonti, &c. (See lialianPoetry.) Augustus Wil- 

 liam von Schlegel says (vol. ii. p. 68, of his Drama- 

 tische P'orlesungcn) , " We think it not saying too 

 much to assert, that dramatic poetry, as well as the 

 histrionic art, is in the lowest state in Italy. The 

 foundation of a national theatre lias never yet been 

 laid, and, without a total reform in principles, there 

 is no prospect that it ever will be." 



Italian Art. The art of painting was early intro- 

 duced both into Italy and Germany by Greek mas- 

 ters; but the diversities of national character, 

 climate, and religion, produced different results in 

 the two countries. A glowing imagination, an easy 

 life, an innate sense for the beautiful, enthusiastic 

 piety, the constant sight of nature in her fairest 

 forms, and the contemplation of the masterpieces of 

 ancient art, occasioned painting, in Italy, to unfold 

 with great magnificence ; while, in Germany, the 

 ancieift painters loved rather to dwell on the inward 

 life and character. They were poets and philoso- 

 phers, who selected colours instead of words. The 

 Italians have therefore remained inimitable in the 

 ideal of this art, as the Greeks in statuary. The 

 twelfth century is generally taken as the period of 

 the beginning of the history of painting in Italy; 

 but, even before that time, it had been the scene of 

 the labours of Greek and Byzantine artists. During 

 the pontificate of Leo the Great, in the year 441, a 

 large picture in mosaic was executed in the Basilica 

 of St Paul, on the road to Ostia, and the portraits of 

 the forty-two first bishops, which are seen in the 

 same church, date their origin from the same time. 

 Mosaic and encaustic painting was then the prevalent 

 mode. Painting in distemper was afterwards intro- 

 duced. About the end of the sixth century, there 

 were many paintings, which were not believed to be 

 the work of mortal hands, but were attributed to 

 angels or blessed spirits. To this class belongs one 

 of the most famous representations of the Saviour, 

 in wood, at Rome, called A.^ii^o<rairK, of which a 

 sight can be obtained only with difficulty, in the sanc- 

 tum sanctorum. Whether the evangelist Luke, 

 whom painters afterwards chose for their patron 

 saint, was himself a painter, has been the subject of 

 much controversy. In Rome, especially, the madon- 

 nas in Sta. Maria Maggiore, Sta. Maria del Popoli, 

 Sta. Maria in Araceli, and the one in the neighbour- 

 ing Grotta Ferrata, have been ascribed to the pencil 

 of the evangelist. In the eighth century, painting 

 on glass, mosaic on a ground of gold, and painting in 

 enamel, were zealously prosecuted in Italy. There 

 were already many native artists. One of the oldest 

 monuments of art is the celebrated Christ on the 

 Cross, in the Trinity church at Florence, which existed 

 there as early as 1003. About 1200, a Greek artist, 

 Theophanes, founded a school of painting in Venice. 

 The genuine Italian style first bloomed, however, hi 

 Florence, and may be treated under three leading 

 periods : 1. from Cimabue to Raphael ; 2. from Ra- 

 phael to the Caracci ; 3. from the Caracci to the 

 present time. 



First Period. The art was first pursued with zeal 

 in Pisa. Giunta Pisano, Guido of Sienna, Andr. 

 Tafi and Buffalmaco precede Cimabue, who was born 

 at Florence, in 1240. This artist, who was regarded 

 as a prodigy by his contemporaries, first introduced 

 more correct proportions, and gave his figures more 

 life and expression. His scholar Giotto excelled him 

 even in these respects, and exhibited a grace hitherto 

 unknown. He was the friend of Dante and Petrarch, 

 and practised, with equal success, historical painting, 

 mosaic, sculpture, architecture, and portrait and 

 miniature painting. He first attempted foreshorten- 

 ing and a natural disposition of drapery, but his style, 

 nevertheless, remained dry and stiff. Boniface VIII. 



invited him to Rome, where he painted the still cele 

 brated Navicella. He was followed by Gaddi, Ste- 

 fano, Maso, and Simone JVIemmi, who painted the 

 celebrated portraits of Petrarch and Laura. But 

 Masaccio first dispelled the darkness of the middle 

 ages, and a brighter dawn illumined the art. The 

 Florentine republic, in the beginning of the fifteenth 

 century, had attained the summit of its splendour. 

 Cosmo of Medici patronized all the arts and sciences; 

 Brunelleschi then built the dome of the cathedral ; 

 Lorenzo Ghiberti cast the famous doors of the bap- 

 tistery in bronze ; and Donatello was to statuary what 

 Masaccio was to painting. Masaccio's real name was 

 Tommaso Guidi. He was born at St Giovanni, in 

 Val d'Arno, in the year 1402. His paintings have 

 keeping, character, and spirit. His scholars first 

 began to paint in oil, but only upon wooden tablets 

 or upon walls, coated with plaster of Paris. Canvass 

 was not used till long after. Paolo Uccelli laid the 

 foundation for the study of perspective. Luca Sig- 

 norelli, who first studied anatomy, and Domenico 

 Ghirlandaio, who combined noble forms and expres- 

 sion with a knowledge of perspective, and abolished 

 the excessive use of gilding, were distinguished in 

 their profession. The elevated mind of Leonardo da 

 Vinci (see Vinci} , who was born hi 1444, and died 1519, 

 and who was a master in all the arts and sciences, 

 infused so much philosophy and feeling into the art, 

 that, by his instrumentality, it quickly reached matu- 

 rity. From him the Florentine school acquired that 

 grave, contemplative, and almost melancholy charac- 

 ter, to which it originally leaned, and which it after- 

 wards united with the boldness and gigantic energy 

 of Michael Angelo. The Roman school already 

 enumerated among its founders the miniature painter 

 Oderigi, who died in 1300. He embellished manu- 

 scripts with small figures. Guido Palmerucci, Pietro 

 Cavallini and Gentile da Fabriano were his most dis- 

 tinguished successors. Almost all the painters of this 

 time were accustomed to annex inscriptions to their 

 pictures : the annunciation to the virgin Mary was 

 their favourite subject. Perugia was the principal 

 seat of the Roman school. As early as the thirteenth 

 century, there was a society of painters there. Pietro 

 Vanucci, called Perugino (who was born 1446, died 

 1524), first introduced more grace and nobler forms 

 into this school, whose character acquired from him 

 something intellectual, noble, simply pious and .natu- 

 ral, which always remained peculiar to the Roman 

 school. Perugino's great scholar, Raphael, soon 

 surpassed all former masters, and banished their 

 poverty, stiffness, and dryness of style. Taste came 

 into Venice from the East. Andr. Murano and Vit- 

 tore Carpaccio are among the earliest artists of that 

 city. Giovanni and Gentile Bellino are the most 

 distinguished painters of the earlier Venetian school. 

 The former was born 1424, and died 1514. The 

 latter laboured some time in Constantinople under the 

 reign of Mohammed II. They introduced the glow* 

 ing colours of the East ; their style was simple and 

 pure, without rising to the ideal. Andr. Mantegna 

 (born at Padua, in 1431, died 1506) was the first to 

 study the ancient models. Padua was the principal 

 seat of the Venetian school. Mantegna afterwards 

 transferred it to Mantua, and his style formed the 

 transition to the Lombard school. Schools of paint- 

 ing flourished in Verona, Bassano, and Brescia. 

 Giovanni of Udine (who was so distinguished by his 

 faithful imitation of nature in secondary things, that 

 he painted for Raphael the garlands around his pic- 

 tures in the Farnesina), Pellegrino, and Pordenone, 

 were the mo'st able predecessors of the two great 

 masters of the Venetian school, Giorgione and Titian. 

 No capital city served as the central point of the 

 Lombard school : Bologna subsequently became the 



