New-York tribune., 1905-01-15


commission he executed many others in that
crowded studio of his simply one more ad-
dition to the days work. The lady. whoever
she may have been. did not stir him to meta
physical raptures But neither did she leave
him cold. He responded to the appeal OF her
character: she moved him. lover OF grace anu
beauty that he was. to the production OF
painting essentially distinguished. and so YER
rocchio was moved by practically all the theiies
set before him.
He is of course the sculptor rather thah the
painter, and turning to his plastic work. one 10
struck by the nobility with which TINS I'i'iS'e
realism invests his every design. IL Is 'iSiO''
even where it is least expected. IN such d "O'N'
for example as the tomb of Piero ana I''oV ann
del Medici. which he made for the Church Of san
Lorenzo in Florence. This sarcophasuS ol P''
phyry. set in a framework of bronze with inter
Iacings NJ metal above it. the whole framed in
broad and richly carved band which follows the
lines Of an arched aperture. is almost conVeh-
t;onaI in it's decorative effect. and recalls Je"el
casxet almost as much as work of the sculpt-
ors art But, as Miss Cruttwel remarks we
think of jewel. caskets and small goldsmlths
work only when we look at this tomb iroih d as
tance. standing close. and impressed. as we
must be- by tine fierce strength OF the oroii~e
foliage the power and trenchaut energy
of the treatment. no such idea would present IL
self" In other words. VerTocohio gives TO 4
design which would have seemed trlHlnS II exc
cuted by other hands really monulnehtai ch'r-
acter. He raises convention to a higher power
and endows it with richer vitahty-the NlIaH'y
of a supremely beautiful thing.
If he could do this with scheme of formal or
namentatfon. how much more iTpressively could
he do il when concentrating the human hS-
ureI His full length statues and his bust por-
traits are masterpieces of Characterization beau
tiful as inventions of design and as sympathetic
transcripts of life. Miss Cruttwell traverses
them all with uncommonly good judgment Her
descriptions are delightfully."- vivid and they are
written with so much knowledge and feeling that
the reader can have no difficulty in apprehend-
ing the intrinsic quality and the relative position
of each work discussed The author naturally
finds her best opportunity when she comes 10 the
Colleoni in which the art of Nerrocchio culmi-
mated. OF late it has been the fashion to laud
DonateIlo's Gattemelata at the expense of this
statue Miss CruttwelI goes dangerously near
to the other extreme. In the main, however. her
comparison of the two is just. Summing up in
her description she draws this picture OF the
heroic masterpiece in Venice:
Horse and rider seem actually alive and in
ment vet as is the case with the PuttO of the
PaIazzo Vecchio the action is final and allows no
unromfortable sugge stion of walking off the ped
estal which We receive from so many modern
equestrian statues. NerrOcChiO has known how to
combine vigorous movement with the hnaHty neCeS-
Sary To monumental sculpture.
The figure of the general is noble and powerful.
and superior concentration of energy focuses
the attention which might otherwise be centred on
the horse. He is upright in the saddle-almOst
standing the stirrupS-and with a superb gesture
dominates and inspires the movements of the ami
NAL. The unity of action between horse and rider
complete. and recalls to the mind NaSari's anec-
dote of NeTrOcchio'S wrath at the commission TO
another sculptor of the figure He has. II is evident,
conceived the statue a whole. and the horse re-
auires the rider almost much the rider the
horse. What would have been the result had
figure by LeOpardi Nellano been set upon the
superb Staed of VerrocChiO,
The BartolommeO ColleOni represents the typical
condottiere prince of the Quattrocento. embOdyinS
in concentrated MEASURE his audaCity, Selt-cOn-
fdence and force of Will The menaCing eyes, the
Formidable gesture. the tense muscles the swing OF
the body in the saddle give impression of in
domitable strength Unequalled in art. The type
has been a flVOrite with the FlOrentineS since
the davs of DOn1telIo and CastagnO, but the
Pippo Spano of S AppOIlOnia. the 5. George of Or
s Michele and the staggering heroes in the paint
ings of SignOralH must yield the palm to the Col
leoni of VerrocchlO
1t is high praise. but not too high. Miss
CruttweII uses the same discreet warmth from
the beginning to the end of her book. She makes
in it a capital contribution TO the popular Htera-
tIIre of rt