The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

lected from original sources, and the opinions
expressed as to style and merits appear to
have been gathered from the soundest autho-
rities. The matter is judiciously condensed,
each biographical notice, however short, dis-
playing diligence, care, and taste. To have
made the " Catalogue " complete, it should
have been a little extended. In early Italian
art sculpture cannot be dissociated from
painting. Verocchio was the master of Leo-
nardo da Vinci, and Donatello was the master
of Verocchio ; but we look here in vain for
the name of Donatello, though his influence
in impressing on the Florentine school the
study of :form, by teaching his pupiAt that to
draw was the alpha and omega of art, must
have been cuusiderable. We must remark,
besides, that it is an error in a popular hand-
book like this not to class painters under the
names by which they are commonly known.
The name of Veronese, for example, is not
found here, and it is not every one who knows
that he is to be sought for as Caliari.
In the "Synchronous Table" of Italian mas
ters accompanying the volume a great mis-
take has been made in assigning to each master
a place according to the date of his death, in-
stead of the date of his maturity in art. By
this fundamental misconception the table fails
in giving the information for which it was
constructed. Because Michael Angelo lived
forty years longer than Raphael ho has a place
assigned him in the table forty years after
Raphael, though they were contemporaries, or
rather Raphael derived instruction from
the works of the great Florentine, as it
is imagined that his style improved through
his observation of Michael Angelo's practice
in the great cartoon of Pisa. The handbook
says truly that Andrea del Sarto was a follower
of Michael Angelo, but, because he died before
his master, he is placed before him in order of
time. As Titian lived to ninety-eight, he is
placed in the table some sixty years after the
period which should be assigned him, and, as
a consequence, lie is preceded by nearly all his
pupils and followers. Girolamo da Santa-
croce, according to the " Catalogue," was "an
imitator of Titian," but in the table he appears
to have flourished about thirty years before
him. Of Girolamo Romanino we read, in the
" Catalogue," "The works of Titian seem to
" have been the great models of Romanino
" His Descent from the Cross,' is mentioned
" by Ridolfi as having been praised by Palma
" as a genuine Venetian work, alluding to his
" rich colour and impasto in Titian's style ;"
but the table shows hint to have preceded
Titian by a quarter of a century. Bonifazio
Veneziano was one of the principal of
" Titian's scholars and imitators,' yet he pre-
cedes his master by many years. Giorgione,
it is well known, was " the fellow-pupil and
" rival of Titian :" they were horn in the same
year ; but, as Titian lived sixty-five years
longer than Giorgione, he is represented as
being of sixty-five years later date. The chro
nological confusion thus created is bad
enough, but the synchronous confusion is
still greater. The principal Italian schools all
reached their highest development at nearly
the same time. While Michael Angelo (of the
Tuscan school) was painting the frescoes of
the Sistine Chapel, Raphael (Roman) gave to
the world his " Transhgulation," and Sebas-
tian del Piombo (Venetian) the " Raising of
Lazarus." • A very few years later Titian
(Venetian) painted perhaps his finest work,
the "Peter Martyr ;" and Correggio (Lombard)
his " Ecce Homo." These great.masters were
strictly contemporaries, their styles attained
their highest beauty at the same time, and ,
their finest works were produced together, yet
in the table different periods are assigned to
each. Correggio appears Le. follow Raphael,
Sebastian del Piombo to come later still,
Michael Angelo to succeed Piornho, whom he
instructed, and Titian to be separated from
Raphael by an interval of about sixty years.
Even the influence of a painter on the prac-
tice of art is more decided when his works
first attract admiration by their originality than
after they have become familiar. The epoch of
a painter should be the maturity of his powers.
not the date of his death. The table entirely fails
to give, as it professes, " a synchronous view of
the schools at once, in order to establish a
" distinct notion of the time, locality, and