The series is a very complete one, and begins as early as the XIIIth century. It is to be regretted that so few of these busts have been done from the life; although it must be understood that none is the work of mere imagination, some authenticated portrait having in every case furnished a model. Most of these busts are the work of sculptors of the time of Canova, and many of them were executed at his expense, and presented to the collection. In general, it will be remarked that a certain grandeur prevails in the treatment of the heads, an element that seems to belong, naturally, to the works of the best Italian artists, whether in painting or sculpture. Even where existing casts from the face prove to us that in these busts there has been a certain departure from the real features, we see it has been done only to afford a more exalted idea of the person, and to give the stamp of that nobleness and dignity which characterize the finest efforts of portraiture. A comparison of the busts of Galileo, Nos. 185 and 185A, and of Michael Angelo, Nos. 143 and 143A, will illustrate this point.
There is also in the Capitoline Museum, a large collection of antique portrait busts, embracing many of the ancient philosophers, poets, and Roman Emperors, a selection from which, as we have already stated, is found in the Greek and Roman Courts.
In the Vatican (the palace of the Pope, at Rome), a splendid edifice, which has, from time to time, been constructed and enlarged by various eminent architects, and decorated by the greatest painters of the world, are preserved many chefs d’œuvre of art that are to be seen in no other place. The collection of the Vatican includes many portraits of every kind; but one portion of the vast structure is exclusively devoted to portrait-statues and busts. This is a spacious and magnificent apartment called the Rotonda, paved with antique mosaics, and surrounded with antique statues and busts on pedestals of the rarest marbles. Adjoining this saloon is another noble gallery, built by Pius VII. which contains many statues of the Greek sages, and of other illustrious men.
In the Florence gallery there is a most interesting series of portraits of painters by their own hands—a unique and unrivalled collection, begun by the Cardinal Leopold, the brother of Ferdinand II., and increased by the addition of the portraits from the collection of the Abbé Pazzi, purchased by the Grand Duke Leopold in 1765. Besides these paintings, there is a collection of more than 4,000 engraved gems and cameos, amongst which are many antique portraits. There are also about 100 antique portrait busts, of which the rarest and best preserved are Cicero, Marc Antony, Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Caligula, Galba, and Otho. As the visitor will observe, several of these are in our portrait gallery.
The Naples collection, besides many fine works of antiquity of every kind, has contributed in the most important manner to the subject of antique portraiture. It contains the invaluable relics found at Herculaneum and Pompeii: and amongst these have, from time to time, appeared portrait busts, statues, and even pictures with names upon them, by which busts elsewhere have been recognised. There are in this Museum, about 200 portraits in marble and bronze, from which our collection has been enriched.
(The portraits of Italians begin immediately behind the Statue of Rubens, in the great Transept, on the east side of the Nave.)
ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS.
129. Niccola Pisano. Sculptor and Architect.
[Born at Pisa, in Italy, 1205-7. Died at Sienna, in Italy, about 1290.]