New-York tribune., 1901-11-10

| brought as a child to Padua, his youthful eyes
witnessed the awakening of that humanistic
enthusiasm which drew its first impetus anu
much of it's life blood from antique sources. out
which was fed still more by that zest 1ol tne
sheer qualification of the senses and the mino
which was an essential ingredient OF the itaiiAo
| nature He lost his parents at early age.
and was adopted while still child by his
| teacher, Squarcione- That painter. though not
fconsummate in his profession, appears to have
| bean a man of lively intelligence, acquainteo
with r,anv of the most scholarly amateurs Oh
his day and possessed of a coilec1ioh Oh pcluies
and statues from which he could draw the oeo'
possible illustrations in that course oi liiSu u@
| ton through which he carried his pupils in0
| at the very outset ManteSnas lnteliect va
constantly stimulated by an atmosphere oi
serious IDEAS He was always tninAs Ni~'
| and one point that especially impresses US In
| bis biopranhv Is the absence of any OK tnose
elements which suggest adolescence IN tne seii''
! sense of that term. He confronts us ALMOST a'
| once fully armed, a man WITH thihss ~ 30
and with the power to express them ih ai'
| terms tingling at his finger ups ie' We
conscious also of a certain restraint. as though
| the critical sense had been born in him VIII
the creative faculty and he saw at the oe-
/ ginning what other men ordinarily nno oo'
only through experience, namely tne heee7'
| for knowledge for accuracy. for scIentlnc pfe-
| cision His earliest work foreshadoWs the Al
most antique severity which was 10 chai
! the best productions of his prime
| The student soon learns TO dislihsuASn O1
| tween the different forces that conlrlou'eo "
| this grave rectitude. Mantegna was IN ruh
symDathy with that classical learning 10 "nlcn
aIIusion has been made above AS he prosPere0
| no accumulated antique sculptures OF his own
o,d oil his life he labOred with a CONSCIOUSNESS
| of tho achievements of Greek art IN MS Ihino-
| That art influenced him enormously, more IN
| fact than Herr kristeller seems lnciineo u AA
| nit Anxious TO show that the painter was io
mere iuitator of earlier forms. ne goes d hllie
| too far To deny important part 10 1ie
antioue in the development of Mantegna gen
| ms is 10 do him an i'll service he IoSeo H.
of that We may be sure, and sornetnihs VI i
| ora1itv nassed into his own work as so much
| fnenirstion consciously accepted one mas ohiS
| to look az some of the medallion portfaiIs oA
| Roman emperors in the Camera degh oposa a'
| Mantua or at some Of the masculine hsuieo i
| carly works like those of the Eremitai LII
| Padua and in later ones like the triumph oA
| Cesar" now at Hampton Court, 10 see tna' he
made very definite of his studies ahnons
tb marbles which were the delight of all Italy at
| that time But Herr Kristeller himself gives us
| tho means of correcting whatever Hlsunoef-
standing might spring from his excessive soncl-
| tude for Mantegna's originality IN eAnioi1ns
with admirable force the action OF thae o1nei
! ;,auanca in the artists growth, his profound
love for nature One may get a very just IDEA
! of tho essential secret OF Mantegna by imas1n-
| inq him TO be a reincarnation OF a Greek
SCULPTOR retaining much of the serene ana I'M
personal philosophy OF that individual, out
nourishing also the thirst for scienunc hno"i-
edge which is peculiarly characteristic OF the
modern man. Remember that he believed IN
| the dignity simplicity and godlke beauty OK
| Athenian plastic ideals and tnat ne was a'
| the same time consumed with a passion for
anatomical truth in its most everyday aspect,
and YOU have a clew TO the spirit of his work.
Two qualities BY the very nature of his genius.
| he was destined to miss He was neither SEN
| suous nor in the finest sense, elastic Herr
Kristeller would demur TO this judgment In
deed. he says Of the former quality that 1t ap-