What is here said of architecture, may with equal propriety be affirmed of painting and sculpture, in both of which are still to be seen many extraordinary works executed by the masters of the period, as that of Masaccio in the church of the Carmine, for example, where the artist has depicted a naked figure shivering with the cold, besides many spirited and life-like forms, in other pictures. Meantime the art of sculpture made so decided an improvement as to leave but little remaining to be accomplished. The method adopted by the masters of the period was so efficient, their treatment so natural and graceful, their drawing so accurate, their proportions so correct that their statues began to assume the appearance of living men, and were no longer lifeless images of stone, as were those of the earlier day. Of this there will be found proof in the works of the Sienese, Jacopo della Quercia, which, as compared with earlier works, possess more life and grace, with more correct design, and more careful finish; those of Filippo Brunelleschi exhibit a finer development and play of the muscles, with more accurate proportions, and a more judicious treatment—remarks which are alike applicable to the works produced by the disciples of these masters. Still more was performed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, in his work of the gates of San Giovanni, fertility of invention, judicious arrangement, correct design, and admirable treatment, being all alike conspicuous in these wonderful productions, the figures of which seem to move and possess a living soul. Donato [Donatello] also lived at the same period. His productions are equal to good works of antiquity. He is the type and representative of all the other masters of the period; since he united with himself the qualities which were divided among the rest, and which must be sought among many, imparting to his figures a life, movement, and reality which enables them to bear comparison with those of later times—nay even, as has been said, with the ancients themselves.
Similar progress was made at the same time in painting which the excellent and admirable Masaccio delivered entirely from the manner of Giotto, as regards the heads, the carnations, the draperies, the buildings, and colourings; he also restored the practice of foreshortening, together with more natural attitudes, and a much more effectual expression of feeling in the gestures and the movements of the body, art seeking to approach the truth of nature by more correct design, and to exhibit so close a resemblance to the countenance of the living man that each figure might at once be recognised as the person for whom it was intended. Thus the masters constantly endeavoured to reproduce what they beheld in nature, and no more; their works became, consequently, more carefully considered and better understood. This gave them courage to impose rules of perspective, and to carry the foreshortenings precisely to the point which gives an exact imitation of the relief apparent in nature and the real form. Minute attention to the effects of light and shade, and to various difficulties of the art, succeeded, and efforts were made to produce a better order of composition. Landscapes also were attempted. Tracts of country, trees, shrubs, flowers, the clouds, the air, and other natural objects were depicted with some resemblance to the realities represented, insomuch that we may boldly affirm that these arts had not only become ennobled, but had attained that flower of youth from which the fruit afterwards to follow might reasonably be looked for, and hope entertained that they would shortly reach the perfection of their existence.[d]
We must not pause even to mention the names of all the distinguished company of artists, a good proportion of them Florentines, who flourished in the time of Masaccio and in the immediate succeeding generation, although this list includes such names as Ghirlandajo, Filippo Lippi, Filippino Lippi, Perugino, and Botticelli; the last named in particular is still the delight of all who love the spirituelle in art; the others are known and esteemed by all students of painting, and by the countless hosts of travellers who flock yearly to the churches and galleries of Italy to see their works. We must pause for a moment, however, to consider the work of the great master, whose accomplishment was in some sense to eclipse their efforts, the versatile genius, Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci
Without question Leonardo was the most colossal intellect of the century;[20] indeed, he has been called by Hamerton[e] the most comprehensive genius of any age. Scarcely any other intellectual hero ever so completely won the admiration of his contemporaries and the unqualified approval of posterity. Vasari’s estimate of Leonardo voices the contemporary judgment regarding him.[a]
Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519)
The richest gifts, he says, are occasionally seen to be showered, as by celestial influence, on certain human beings—nay, they sometimes supernaturally and marvellously congregate in one sole person; beauty, grace, and talent being united in such a manner that to whatever the man thus favoured may turn himself, his every action is so divine as to leave all other men far behind him, and manifestly to prove that he has been specially endowed by the hand of God himself, and has not obtained his pre-eminence by human teaching, or the power of man. This was seen and acknowledged by all men in the case of Leonardo da Vinci, in whom, to say nothing of his beauty of person, which yet was such that it has never been sufficiently extolled, there was a grace beyond expression which was rendered manifest without thought or effort in every act and deed; and who had besides so rare a gift of talent and ability that to whatever subject he turned his attention, however difficult, he presently made himself absolute master of it. Extraordinary power was in his case conjoined with remarkable facility, a mind of regal boldness and magnanimous daring; his gifts were such that the celebrity of his name extended most widely, and he was held in the highest estimation, not in his own time only, but also, and even to a greater extent, after his death—nay, this he has continued, and will continue in all succeeding ages.[d]
Our present concern is chiefly with Leonardo as an artist, but it is impossible not to consider the other phases of his multifarious genius. Hallam has briefly summarised his position as a writer and scientific investigator.[a]