ANGELS OF BELLINI AND CARPACCIO
At Venice in the early days were Bellini and Carpaccio, who produced famous Madonnas and most lovable angels. They are different angels from those of Botticelli. In fact, they are little more than handsome children naïvely making music for the Madonna and Child. Their unconscious quality is captivating. How very childlike, in their pure faces, their golden hair, their round legs and fat little hands! The models were perhaps the painter's own children. Why not? Was not the Madonna, nine times out of ten, the painter's own wife? And how better could he depict the winged messengers of the sky than by painting them with the forms of those he loved here below? It is only a step across the world from heaven to earth, and is not love the band that unites them?
MURILLO: GUARDIAN ANGEL
SUPPLEMENTARY READING.—"Sacred and Legendary Art," Jameson; "Life of Christ in Art," Farrar; "Christian Iconography," Didron; "Angels of God," Timpson; "Angels in Art," Clement.
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Editorial
We have just received the following letter from a reader of The Mentor: "I have examined with great care and profit a copy of The Mentor just received. There is only one suggestion that I can make towards its improvement, and that is that on the back of the photogravures there should be a pronunciation scheme for all foreign names. Not everyone who reads is able to pronounce properly the Spanish, French, or Italian; particularly is this true of names and places. The pronunciation might be put in brackets right after the names, or made a sort of marginal affair."
This is the kind of letter we like to get. The suggestion is a good one. We wrote at once to the writer, saying that pronunciation would be indicated wherever foreign names were used. We have done so in the text pages of The Mentor—our readers know that. We have not been doing it in the stories printed on the back of The Mentor gravures. There was no reason for not doing it. The indication of pronunciations should accompany foreign names wherever they are used. The writer of the above has done us a real service in calling attention to the matter. We wish that readers would write to us whenever they have a suggestion that they think would add to the value and usefulness of The Mentor.
Half knowledge on any subject is not of much use. The case of a college professor comes to mind. He was very strong on what he called "completing a thought and finishing a fact." He said that as a man walked through life or looked through books he was constantly in an atmosphere of information—that facts were darting like meteors all about him. He said that the habit of mind of most people was slovenly. Such complete facts as come to their attention are perhaps absorbed. Half facts come along, and most people do not "follow them up to a finish." The habit of this professor was to carry a memorandum pad in his pocket, and whenever he would hear a statement or receive a bit of knowledge he would jot down a note and then, in some leisure moment, look the matter up in an authoritative reference book, thereby completing his information and, as he put it, "sewing it up good and tight" for future use.
The result is that that college professor knows what he knows thoroughly and accurately. He is never heard saying, as so many do when a subject is mentioned, "Oh, what about that. I have had bits of information concerning it from time to time. What does it mean?" The professor had looked up the matter when he got his first bit of information, and, as a result, he had digested the subject and in his way owned it.
We have planned The Mentor with the thought of giving members of the Association the essential information that they should have on different subjects. Everyone is not fortunate enough to have a good reference library—some are not even in touch with reference books. It is the purpose of The Mentor, therefore, to come like a good friend who is well informed and spend a few minutes a day with you, telling you in simple language about the many interesting and important things, events, and people of the world.
And you don't have to make notes as the professor did. You don't have to go looking for books of reference on the subject. The Mentor not only gives you in an interesting way the essential facts about a thing, together with illustrations, but it gives you a list of the important reference books on the subject.
ANGEL WITH VIOLIN, BY MELOZZO DA FORLI
Melozzo da Forlì
ONE
Today we think of Italy as one united country. For that reason it is difficult for many of us to realize the Italy of Melozzo da Forlì's (mel-ot´-so day for-lee´) time. Then there was no union—practically no Italy. The country was rent by the strivings of many tiny principalities, each jealous of the other, each trying to outdo the other, each quick to seize an opportunity to work its neighbor harm.
Every one of the petty princes was seeking to beautify his capital city, to have his court outshine those of his rivals. If he desired to be known as a patron of art and letters, poets, architects, and philosophers were invited to associate themselves with him. Artists, like the scholars, had to rely on the favor of such princes for their living.
In later years the introduction of oil painting made easy the sending of a panel or a canvas as the gift of one lord to another. But before that time, instead of sending the painter's work, it would have been necessary to send the painter; for most of the work was done in another way. In fresco painting the artist was obliged to work directly on the wall on which the picture was to be seen when finished. Often he himself applied the wet plaster, and after smoothing it laid on the color. He had to work rapidly; for when the plaster had dried every addition or correction showed.
But before becoming sufficiently generous to give away their artist's work most of the nobles first employed their artists to decorate their own chapels or palaces for them. It was under the patronage of one of the cardinals, a nephew of Pope Pius IV, that Melozzo da Forlì painted his angels. Pius IV did not wish to be behind his neighbors in the encouragement of the fine arts. He wanted Rome to be the finest city in the world, and set about making it so. Those who wished to please him were not slow to follow his leading.
The angels reproduced in The Mentor are but a portion of the entire fresco, which showed the Ascension of Christ, and formerly decorated the dome of the Church of the Apostles at Rome. These fragments escaped destruction when the church was reconstructed in 1711. They are now in the Sacristy of Saint Peter's.
Almost nothing is known of the life of Melozzo. We should not have known when he was born if his epitaph had not recorded his age. His name indicates that he came from Forlì, a small town not far from Ravenna. His fame rests almost entirely on these fragments; but so well were they done that they give this man high rank among the artists of Italy.
ANGEL CHOIR, BY BENOZZO GOZZOLI
Benozzo Gozzoli
TWO
Like many another painter, Benozzo Gozzoli (beñ-ot´-so got´-so-lee) owed much to his master. Fra Angelico painted beautiful angels, and his pupil seems to have learned some of his skill; for the group of Adoring Angels in the Riccardi Palace is one of the loveliest to be seen in all Italy. Early in his life Benozzo was apprenticed to Ghiberti, the sculptor of the doors of the baptistery at Florence. So splendid are they that by the Italians they are called "The Doors of Paradise." He began under a good man. But he could not have remained in that studio long; for at the age of twenty-seven we find Fra Angelico taking him with him to Rome as assistant in his work for the Pope.
Two years later Benozzo started out for himself. He worked in several of the smaller Tuscan towns, until in 1459 the death of several of the older artists of Florence opened up the way for his return to his native city.
He was not obliged to wait long; for the Medici soon called upon him for what proved to be his masterpiece. The palace of the Medici had in it a small private chapel; to Benozzo they gave the task of decorating its walls. The subject chosen was "The Adoration of the Magi." We have three letters written by Benozzo to Piero de' Medici when he was engaged upon this work. They show that he was using every effort to do his best. "I have no other thought in my heart," he writes, "but how best to perfect my work and satisfy your wishes."
The work was well done. Perhaps that is why everyone who today visits Florence feels that he must see this tiny chapel before he leaves. One steps from the busy Florentine street, through massive portals, into a courtyard. From the present we step back into the past. Climbing a stair, we reach the dim chapel, which is but little changed from the way it was left by Benozzo. It is as much a monument of his skill as it is of the munificence of the Medici.
Benozzo's success with this work insured his prosperity. He married and settled in Florence. Ten years later he moved to Pisa, where he spent sixteen years painting a series of frescos in the Campo Santo. And in that lovely, quiet place he lies buried today, near the frescos upon which he labored so faithfully.
ANGEL OF ANNUNCIATION, BY BURNE-JONES
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
THREE
The mother of Sir Edward Burne-Jones died when he was born. The lot of a lad without a mother is bound to be a hard one, especially if he has no brothers or sisters. His father would permit him to read only two or three books; but one of them was Æsop's Fables, and this was the boy's favorite, because it had prints in it. The child used to spend much time before the shop windows looking at the volumes he might not read. He was never very strong physically.
This course seems to have driven the boy to living in the realms of the imagination,—a training for the painter of nymphs and fairies he was to become later. Not until he was twenty-three, it is said, did Burne-Jones see a good picture.
When he went up to Oxford he formed a friendship with William Morris, a youth almost as shy as himself. They read Ruskin's "Modern Painters" together, and told each other their dreams. At London during one of the vacations he came into touch with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and on advice of this artist gave up his studies at Oxford to devote himself exclusively to the study of art. However frail Burne-Jones may have been physically, there could have been no lack of mental courage in the man who could take such a bold step as this.
His struggle was a long one and a hard one; but he was never without the help and encouragement of warm friends, Ruskin among them. He traveled to Italy. On his second trip he went with Ruskin. But with the possible exception of Botticelli, the Italian masters had little direct influence upon his work. He seems to have caught their spirit of doing things, of doing them as well as he was able, with deep sincerity of feeling.
He was one of the leading spirits of the Preraphaelites, a band of young men who hoped to regenerate art by putting into their work the simplicity and sincerity that had actuated the artists before Raphael's time.
He married in 1860, and settled on the outskirts of London. A gradually increasing host of friends began to make their way to his modest home. Burne-Jones felt that, wherever else he might be at fault, in spirit he was right. So he did not reach for the fame that makes less wise men seek short cuts, but worked steadily and carefully. His reputation increased, honors came to him, and before he died he knew that his work was being appreciated.
In 1894, four years before his death, a baronetcy was conferred upon him by Queen Victoria, and to those who knew the man and his work this was felt to be not higher than was deserved.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS, BY BELLINI.
Giovanni Bellini
FOUR
The Bellini (bel-lee´-nee) family was a very artistic one. Not only Giovanni, but his brother Gentile as well, became a famous artist, and their father was a painter of note. Not to be outdone by the other members of the family, their only sister Andrea married Mantegna, the great Paduan master. Under such circumstances it is unlikely that the boy Giovanni had to overcome any parental opposition to his becoming an artist. Art must have been a part of the daily life of the entire family. At first he doubtless studied under his father's direction; but his early work shows that he was much influenced by his brother-in-law as well.
Although the two brothers, Giovanni and Gentile, worked independently, they both won distinction and were highly esteemed by the Venetians. They were commissioned to paint a series of large canvases for the Ducal Palace; but these works have since been destroyed by two fires which greatly damaged that wonderful building,—the first in 1479 and the second in 1577.
Although no longer a young man when the invention of oil painting was first brought to Venice, instead of adhering to the old traditions he set about mastering the new medium. And he succeeded too. Pupils came to him to be taught the new practice; among them Titian and Giorgione. His studio was the very dwelling place of the Genius of Painting, and from his workshop went out many of the men to whom Venetian painting owes its fame.
Painters from far and near came to visit him. Among them was Albrecht Dürer, the German master, whom Bellini received very cordially. "He is very old," wrote Dürer, "but still the best in painting." There was a waiting list of nobles who wanted him to paint their portraits.
Fine in color, and accurate in drawing to the last, he seems not to have degenerated. He must have been a man of great force and talent.
He lived to be ninety years old. He was laid to rest beside his brother, in San Giovanni e Paolo, the Westminster Abbey of Venice.
ANGEL WITH LUTE (DETAIL OF PRESENTATION), BY CARPACCIO
Vittore Carpaccio
FIVE
Venice the Magnificent is never very far removed from the pictures of Vittore Carpaccio (kahr-pah´-cho). It doesn't matter whether he is painting the story of Saint Ursula at Cologne or a scene from Holy Writ, Cologne is given a very Venetian look, and the Madonna or the Saints are in Venetian costumes and brocades.
This oriental love for splendor in dress has led some writers to believe that Carpaccio must have accompanied his master Gentile Bellini to Constantinople. When the sultan desired that Venice send one of her foremost artists to paint his portrait, the commission was given to Gentile Bellini. He may have taken Carpaccio with him. The portrait Bellini painted exists today in the Layard collection, recently bequeathed to the National Gallery, London.
Although Carpaccio painted many religious pictures, he succeeded best when there was some story to be told. He gave to his pictures the charming simplicity that is the first essential of a good story-teller. Nor was he without a sense of humor. In one of his pictures telling the story of the life of Saint Jerome he shows the lion walking up to Jerome and holding out his paw in order that the troublesome thorn might be removed, while the terrified brothers of the saint are seen flying in all directions.
One of the Venetian nobles gave Carpaccio a commission to paint the portrait of a poet connected with his household. At least one of these rhymesters was to be found in the train of most of the nobles in those times. The poet was so elated that he burst forth into verse, giving Carpaccio directions to paint him with a wreath of laurel. Carpaccio painted the portrait; but, possibly at a hint from the nobleman, he substituted for the crown of laurel one of grape leaves. The poet retaliated by reviling Carpaccio in a lampoon full of abuse.
We do not know exactly when Carpaccio was born, though it is generally believed to have been in 1450, in Istria, nor just when he died. Only at Venice can an adequate conception of his work be formed. He seems never to have journeyed far from that island city.
Carpaccio's love for splendor found plenty of employment among the beauty-loving Venetians. Venice was beyond the reach of papal dictation, and religion came to be considered by them more as an opportunity for display than as a rule of conduct. Its tragic phases were not at all popular. The Crucifixion was not often painted; but the Presentation in the Temple and the Feast in the House of Simon, with their display of fine costumes, were painted again and again.
When Ruskin first went to Venice, Carpaccio's work was not at all appreciated; but, thanks to his lead in admiring its charming qualities, today Carpaccio is loved by many.
THE ASSUMPTION (DETAIL OF ST. MICHAEL), BY PERUGINO
Perugino
SIX
Perugino (pay-roo-jee´-no) was born in 1446 in a little town not far from Perugia. His parents were respectable people, and when he was nine years old they sent him to Perugia to be educated under one of the artists of that city. His family name was Vannucci; but like many other Italian artists he was called after the city from which he came. He grew up in Perugia; but by the time he had reached early manhood we find him at Florence, studying the frescos. According to Vasari, he became a pupil of Verocchio, and in Verocchio's studio worked side by side with Leonardo da Vinci.
It was about this time that the change from tempera to oil painting took place in Italy. Perugino and Leonardo were among the first of the artists who thoroughly mastered the new medium.
Perugino's careful work did much to increase his fame. Before he had reached the age of forty he was invited by the Pope to come to Rome. He painted several subjects for the Sistine Chapel, and his work was given a prominent place in that place. But when a later pope wished to make room for Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" Perugino's frescos were ruthlessly destroyed and the space they had occupied was filled with Michelangelo's huge composition.
Judging from his quiet, pensive Madonnas and his melancholy Saints, it might be thought that Perugino was of a saintly character too; but the records of Florence show that after his return from Rome he and a companion got into difficulties with the authorities. They were captured when lying in wait for someone against whom they had a grudge. Perugino escaped with a fine of ten florins after pleading that he had intended that the fellow should have no more than a good drubbing; but his companion, who harbored graver designs, was exiled.
Perugino's work arose steadily in public esteem. Commissions came rapidly, and he was able to choose among them. A number of the younger men came to him to be taught his method. Among them was the young Raphael, who worked with him for several years. Raphael's early work much resembles Perugino's.
Perugino married a beautiful girl many years his junior. He never tired of dressing her in rich costumes. But as he grew older he also grew miserly. When he died he left a comfortable estate for her and her three sons. He was carried off by the plague when working in one of the towns not far from Florence, at the age of seventy-eight years.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 40, SERIAL No. 40 COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.