250 SKETCHES OF THE OLD MASTERS. 



utation. He was asked what he expected to do with those 

 myriads of frogs up there. But when seen in the right light 

 and position, the Assumption of the Virgin in the cupola of the 

 Cathedral is one of the grandest scenes that was ever painted. 

 Apparently all the heavenly hosts are there ; and no words can 

 convey the richness and boundlessness of the effect. Correggio 

 is the greatest master of what is called chiaro-scuro, the grading 

 of light and dark shades into each other. His management of 

 light was certainly wonderful. In this it may be said that he was 

 the founder of his own style, for nothing went before him that 

 was at all like him. In his pictures all is life and motion, poetry 

 and grace. Some of his best are " La Notte " or the adoration 

 of the Shepherds at night, and the reclining Magdalene, in Dres- 

 den, also the madonnas Delia Scala and Delia Scodella, at Parma. 

 "La Zingarella" (the Gipsy), so called from the turban worn by 

 the Virgin, is the portrait of his gentle and lovely wife, who 

 died shortly before him. 



Tintoretto so called from the trade of his father, who was 

 a dyer, his real name being JACOPO ROBUST: was born at Venice 

 in 1512, where also he died in 1594. When young he was for a 

 few days a pupil of Titian ; but for some unaccountable reason 

 he was summarily dismissed. It has been said that Titian discov- 

 ered his genius and feared his rivalry ; but we can hardly believe 

 that. At any rate this rebuff did not discourage the young 

 learner. He became an indefatigable worker and has left some 

 canvas paintings that are perfectly astounding for their magni- 

 tude and the amount of work upon them. His Paradise, in the 

 grand hall of the Ducal Palace, is the largest oil painting in the 

 world, being 74 by 30 feet. His best work, " The Great Cruci- 

 fixion," in the School of St. Roch in Venice, has fifty-seven 

 different personages, in every conceivable position and expression, 

 some on horseback, many of life size and bearing the likeness of 

 men then living, as Bassano, Paul Veronese, Titian, &c. It is a 

 magnificent theatrical representation ; and if it did not take place 

 as represented, we can only say that it would have been a splen- 

 did pageantry for the occasion. 



