Part 6 (1/2)
His principal pictures are the ”Descent from the Cross,” in the Church of Trinita di Monti, in Rome, and the ”Massacre of the Innocents,” in the Uffizi Gallery; both are celebrated works
The next important Florentine painter was ANDREA DEL SARTO (1488-1530)
His family name was Vannucchi; but because his father was a tailor, the Italian term for one of his trade, _un sarto_, caoldsmith, as were sounder Pietro di Cosimo, he became devoted to it, and soon developed his own style, which was very soft and pleasing His pictures cannot be called great works of art, but they are favorites with a large nu, and decorated several buildings in Florence, a them the Scalzo, which was a place where the Barefooted Friars held their s, and was named from them, as they are called _Scalzi_ These frescoes are now ht his best works of this kind
Probably Andrea del Sarto would have come to be a better painter if he had been a happier man His wife, of whom he was very fond, was a reat show, and did not value her husband's talents except for the ht him She even influenced him to desert his parents, to who of France, invited Andrea to Paris to execute some works for him The painter went, and ell established there and very popular, when his wife insisted that he should return to Florence Francis I was very unwilling to spare hio to his wife; so he sole his wife, so that he could ren consented Francis also gave the artist a large sum of money to buy for him all sorts of beautiful objects
When Andrea reached Florence his wife refused to go to France, and persuaded hi's money She soon spent it, and Andrea, who lived ten years ave him, and to this day this wretched story must be told, and continues the remembrance of his dishonesty After all he had sacrificed for his wife, when he becaious disease, she deserted him He died alone, and with no prayer or funeral was buried in the Convent of the Nunziata, where he had painted some of his frescoes
[Illustration: FIG 41--THE MADONNA DEL SACCO _By Andrea del Sarto_]
His pictures are very nu, very softly finished, and have a peculiar gray tone of color He painted a great number of Holy Families, one of which is called the ”Madonna del Sacco,”
because St Joseph is leaning on a sack (Fig 41) This is in the convent where he is buried His best work is called the ”Madonna di San Francesco”
and hangs in the tribune of the Uffizi Gallery This is a elo, Raphael, titian, and other great painters, as well as some very celebrated statues, such as the ”Venus de Medici” and the ”Dancing Faun” Andrea del Sarto's pictures of the Madonna and Child are almost numberless; they are sweet, attractive works, as are also his St Barbara, St Agnes, and others of his single figures
We will now leave the Florentine school of the sixteenth century, and speak of the great master of the Roman school, RAPHAEL SANZIO, or SANTI (1483-1520), as born at Urbino on Good Friday His father was a painter, and Raphael showed his taste for art very early in life Both his parents died while he was still a child, and though hehis father and other painters at their work, we say that Perugino was his first master, for he was but twelve years old when he entered the studio of that painter in Perugia
Here he re painted the very celebrated picture called ”Lo Sposalizio,” or the Marriage of the Virgin, now in the Brera at Milan This picture is famous the world over, and is very ihest point he reached under Perugino, or during what is called his first e nu which was the so-called ”Staffa Madonna” This is a circular picture and represents the Virgin walking in a springtiia three hundred and sixty-eight years, and in 1871 was sold to the Emperor of Russia for seventy thousand dollars
In 1504 Raphael returned to Urbino, where he became the favorite of the court, and wasthe ”St George Slaying the Dragon” and the ”St Michael Attacking Satan,” now in the gallery of the Louvre But the young artist soon greeary of the narrowness of his life, and went to Florence, where, amid the treasures of art hich that city was crowded, he felt as if he was in an enchanted land It is worth while to recount the wonderful things he saw; they were the cathedral with the dome of Brunelleschi, the tower of Giotto, the ates of Ghiberti, the pictures of Masaccio, Ghirlandajo, Fra Angelico, and elo and Leonardo were surprising themselves and all others with their beautiful works
At this ti his first winter here he painted the so-called ”Madonna della Gran Duca,” now in the Pitti Gallery, and thus named because the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand III, carried it with him on all his journeys, and said his prayers before it atHe made a visit to Urbino in 1505, and wherever he was he worked continually, and finished a great nuious subjects with few and unimportant exceptions
[Illustration: FIG 42--PORTRAIT OF RAPHAEL _Painted by Himself_]
When he returned to Florence in 1506, the cartoon of Leonardo da Vinci's ”Battle of the Standard” and Michael Angelo's ”Bathing Soldiers” revealed a neorld of art to Raphael He saw that heroic, exciting scenes could be represented by painting, and that vigor and passion could speak fronation Still he did not atte immediately In Florence he moved in the best circles He received orders for some portraits of nobles and wealthyhe visited Bologna, and went again to Urbino, which had becon of Duke Guidobaldo The king of England, Henry VIII, had sent to this duke the decoration of the Order of the Garter In return for this honor, the duke sent the king rich gifts, aon by Raphael
While at Urbino, at this time, he painted his first classic subject, the ”Three Graces” Soon after, he returned the third time to Florence, and now held er artist valuable instruction as to his color and drapery In 1508, areat number of pictures he painted the madonna which is called ”La Belle Jardiniere,” and is now one of the treasures of the Louvre The Virgin is pictured in the midst of a flowery landscape, and it has been said that a beautiful flower-girl to whom Raphael was attached was his model for the picture This picture is also a landmark in the history of Raphael, for it shows the perfection of his second e that had come over him from his Florentine experience and associations His earlier pictures had been full of a sweet, unearthly feeling, and a color which could be called spiritual was spread over them; now his madonnas were like beautiful, earthly mothers, his colors were deep and rich, and his landscapes were often replaced by architectural backgrounds which gave a stately air where all before had been si, in color, and in drapery was now marvellous, and when in 1508 the Pope, who had seen some of his works, sureat future which was before hi
This pope was Julius II, who held a lory in every department of life--as a temporal as well as a spiritual ruler, and as a patron of art and letters as well as in his office of the Protector of the Holy Church He had vast designs for the adornment of Rome, and immediately employed Raphael in the decoration of the first of the Stanze, or halls of the Vatican, four of which he ornanificent frescoes before his death He also executed wall-paintings in the Chigi Palace, and in a chapel of the Church of Santa Maria della Pace
With the exception of a short visit to Florence, Raphael passed the remainder of his life in Rome The amount of hich he did as an architect, sculptor, and painter was marvellous, and would require the space of a volume to follow it, and name all his achievements, step by step, so I shall only tell you of some of his best-knoorks and those which areupon the halls of the Vatican Julius II died He was succeeded by Leo X, who also was a generous patron to Raphael, who thus suffered no loss of occupation froe of popes The artist became very popular and rich; he had reat frescoes, not only in the Vatican, but also in the Farnesina Villa or Chigi Palace Raphael had the power to attach ave hiladly; he was often seen in the street with numbers of them in attendance, just as the nobles were followed by their squires and pages He built hio, not far fro the remainder of his life was attended by prosperity and success
One of the i of cartoons, or designs to be executed in tapestry for the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, where Michael Angelo had painted his great frescoes The Pope ordered these tapestries to be woven in the looms of Flanders, froold thread was used in them
They were completed and sent to Rome in 1519, and were exhibited to the people the day after Christmas, when all the city flocked to see them In 1527, when the Constable de Bourbon allowed the French soldiers to sack Rome, these tapestries were carried away In 1553 they were restored; but one was , and it is believed that it had been destroyed for the sake of the gold thread which was in it Again, in 1798, the French carried thehorn, who burned one of the pieces; but his gain in gold was so little that he preserved the others, and Pius VII bought them and restored them to the Vatican The cartoons, however, are far more important than the tapestries, because they are the work of Raphael hi them, and some were torn; but a century later the artist Rubens learned that they existed, and advised King Charles I of England to buy them This he did, and thus the cartoons met with as many ups and downs as the tapestries had had When they reached England they were in strips; the work was executed Croht the cartoons for three hundred pounds When Charles II
was king and in great need of money he was sorely tempted to sell them to Louis XIV, who coveted them, and wished to add them to the treasures of France; but Lord Danby persuaded Charles to keep them In 1698 they were barely saved from fire at Whitehall, and finally, by command of William III, they were properly repaired and a room was built at Hampton Court to receive them, by the architect, Sir Christopher Wren At present they are in the South Kensington Museuinal eleven only seven remain
[Illustration: FIG 43--THE SISTINE MADONNA]
Both Henry VIII and Francis I had received presents of pictures by Raphael: we have told of the occasion when the St George was sent to England The ”Archangel Michael” and the ”Large Holy Faiven to Francis I by Lorenzo de Medici, who sent them overland on mules to the Palace of Fontainebleau Francis was so chare a su still other pictures; so he sent the sovereign another painting, and to the king's sister, Queen Margaret of Navarre, he gave a picture of St Margaret overcoave Raphael ift of money Besides this he invited Raphael to coland; but the artist preferred to remain where he was already so prosperous and happy
About 1520 Raphael painted the famous Sistine Madonna, now the pride of the Dresden Gallery It is named from St Sixtus, for whose convent, at Piacenza, it was painted: the picture of this saint, too, is in the lower part of the picture, with that of St Barbara No sketch or drawing of this as ever found, and it is believed that the great artist, working as if inspired, sketched it and finished it on the canvas where it is It was originally intended for a _drappellone_, or procession standard, but the43)
While Raphael accoave all his tile art He wasof St Peter's in 1514, and s for that church; he was also much interested in the excavations of ancient Ros of various sorts As a sculptor he ns, and there is in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in Ro on a whale, said to have been modelled by Raphael and put into marble by Lorenzetto Latti