Sala degli Specchi.—Here hang pictures of various Italian schools, among others a Deposition (552) of the school of Botticelli, and a Brescian fifteenth century work (555)—a large canvas of the Madonna Enthroned, to whom St. Benedict presents a devotee.
Sala del Perugino.—A pleasing little picture by Perugino (603), Madonna and Child with angels, gives its name to this room. Here are also pictures of the Florentine school and of the school of Murano. Of the latter the large Madonna Enthroned (589), by Antonio Vivarini, is a fine decorative altarpiece; by Nicolò da Foligno, there is a Crucifixion (582), with a realistic Umbrian landscape; by Stefano da Zevio, a Hermit in the Wilderness (591). A stout monk in a black habit (598), ascribed to Piero dei Franceschi, looks like a good portrait of a man of strong character. In the Annunciation (599), by Marco Palmezzano, the figures are stiff, but there is light and air in the landscape. A little picture of a bishop (600) has the peculiar manner of Cosimo Tura.
MADONNA, by MANTEGNA (POLDI-PEZZOLI)
To face p. [356]] [Anderson, Rome
Gabinetto dei Veneti.—The small picture by Mantegna is the greatest treasure of the collection. It is the most appealing of all his Madonna pictures. Never has the subject of mother and child been so sympathetically expressed, even among Italian masters, unless we except Luca della Robbia. The sleeping baby is touchingly true to nature, its round little form under the tightly wound drapery is perfectly given, and there is a depth of feeling in the mother’s thoughtful, almost sad expression as she clasps Him to her, as if the very intensity of her love gave her a sense of foreboding. It is a late work of the master, painted with perfect mastery of form and a breadth of technique in which there is none of the dryness of his early years. Christ with the Symbols of the Passion and St. Francis kneeling to receive the blood in a chalice, (620) by Carlo Crivelli, has a mystical feeling and the beauty of a miniature painting. St. Sebastian tied to a tree (621) is also a characteristic picture of Crivelli’s. Pietà (623), a miniature in an ornamental Gothic frame is of the school of Murano, probably of the Vivarini. Pietà (624) is by an imitator of Giovanni Bellini. By Bonsignore is a good profile of an old man (627). Cariani has a small Holy Family (613), gracious in colour and composition. Lorenzo Lotto, a Madonna with St. John Baptist and a prophet (614). A rather stiff altarpiece, Madonna with angels making music (610), is by Marcello Fogolino, a painter of Vicenza.
Passage.—A portrait (634), of herself, by the Bolognese woman painter, Sofonisba Anguissola, of the later sixteenth century, hangs here.
Sala dei Lombardi.—This room contains a good collection of the Lombard painters, especially of the followers of Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna alla cuscino verde (602), by Andrea Solario, is a thoroughly representative picture, not only of Solario but of the Leonardesque school. The subject is one we see repeated continually, and the juxtaposition of vivid colours, the very soft flesh painting and rather grey tones melting into each other, are local characteristics. Solario, however, is a more accomplished painter and better draughtsman than most of the school. This picture shows a kindly feeling in the portrayal of the simple, happy-looking mother and child, but it lacks refinement and distinction. The bit of landscape seen through the window is lovely. The Ecce Homo (637) is an elaborately-finished work, but leaves the spectator cold. Two panels of saints, S. Giovanni Battista (653), dated 1499, and St. Catherine of Alexandria (657), have the Lombard heaviness of form. The Riposo, dated 1515 (655), is a mature work of Solario’s. The landscape is beautiful and the colour with the dark trees and rich purple and gold of St. Joseph’s garments is admirable, but rather disturbed by the over bright blue and red of the Madonna’s drapery. Madonna and Angels (640) by Borgognone is a very sweet and refined little picture, harmonious in colour, the child’s gold-coloured tunic being the brightest note in the picture. Madonna (643) by Foppa has the charm of sincere and tender sentiment. Madonna and Child, picking a flower (642), is one of Boltraffio’s most stately Madonnas, with perfect oval face and regular features, and dressed in richly patterned garments. The painting is highly finished and so smooth that the flesh looks rather like porcelain. The child is Leonardesque in type with that exaggeration of form and modelling that is common to the master’s followers. Portrait of Francesco Brivio (641), by Ambrogio de Predis, is a fine portrait, one of those profiles in which he excelled. Gianpietrino has a charming little Madonna (648), with long hair falling each side of her face. Also by Gianpietrino, according to Morelli, is the delightful little picture of Madonna and Child with a lamb (667), of Leonardesque composition, attributed to Cesare da Sesto. The Marriage of St. Catherine (663) by Bernardino Luini is a much-admired picture. There is also a St. Jerome (652) by him. The picture of the Sorrowing Madonna and Christ carrying the Cross (659), attributed to Luini, is considered by Signor Venturi[[23]] to be the work of Solario. Besides other pictures we have not space to dwell on, there are some beautiful wedding chests in this room.
[23]. La Galleria Crespi.
Sala d’Armi contains a very fine collection of armour and weapons, chiefly of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with a few older specimens.