The Washington times., 1923-02-25
DUVEEN BROTHERS
PURCHASE FIFTEEN
NOTED OLD MASTERS
Bellini, Luini, Palma VecchiO and Others of Old
Masters Represented i'm Magnificent Purchase
OF Pictures of italian Schools Time i'm Which
These Artists Lived Was Golden Age of Sculp-
ture and Painting Chants" Lived Then.

WA0AAgS HAVSW AWGAAe
precious surfaces; sculptor and
musician; and, as all who read his
book must testify. q great master
Of narrative"
He had little idea, probably. that
centuries afterward he would live
again. through the success OF his
book which he dictated to q lad Of
fourteen. and vet. Benvenuto
Cellini was astute, and the thrill OF
his story, perhaps, was intended
to make II immortal.
AGE OF GIANTS.
It was an age OF giants. savon.
arola. whose dates are from 1852
to 149s. was uttering then his
powerful invectives, loved. how-
ever. by the painters, some Of
whom, like Botticelli, came %
fully under the spell Of his high
moral sway that they forgook
their old fondnesg for the mytho-
logical, and even destroyed many
valuable works, perhaps, because
they believed they had painted
the nude too sensually. In Flor
ence today one may still nee the
spot In the city square, masked by
bronze tablet, where the body Of
Savonarola was burned, after he
had been hanged.
1t was q heroic age. Men lovea
and hated with q certain gran
deur impossible today. It was
about this time. In 1887. that
Leonardo was painting his great
picture. second only In fame 20
Raphael's " Sistine Madonna"
Though but q faded frescO now
On the walls OF the old mon
astery of Santa Maria dele
Grazie In Milan. It stin draws
thousands Of pilgrims, 90 re-
rnarkable is It's inspiration.
It was later that Raphael
painted the "Sistine Madonna =
now the great attraction Of the
Dresden gallery, where 1t 10 dis
played in a room by itself. and
Michelangelo decorated the SIS
tine Chapel in Rome with his
grand composition. 1.-THE Last
Judgment, still 20 famous.
though discolored by the incense
burned at the services.
Above in his ceiling decoration,
perhaps even greater, which he
occupied two years In painting,
lying fiat on scaffolding until
the muscles Of his back and neck
became 30 strained that for o
long time afterward he must
needs have his books propped
up in that position In order to
read them at all.
AS for the composition, Il IL
the grandest conception Of the
creation Of the world ever depict
ed. and the painters love for
sculptural form has given heroic
character to all his figures -
Saints. Angels. Prophets, Sibyls.
models today for anatomical
study as we'll as for scriptural
lessons.
"They are perfect; how else?
they shall never change"
PAINTER AND POET.
There were giants In those
days" Michelangelo. who lived
from 1875 to 1854, was one
Of them. He was painter, sculp-
ter, and poet in one. Modern
literary critics claim that his
verse is second only to Dante's.
Raphael caught his inspiration,
as may be observed In Raphaal's
Stance and I.oggie decorations In
the Vatican.
Leonardo was an engineer az
we'll as a painter. The Ven"
etians were the great colOTistS
in art. Giorgione. who died at
thirty-two. living from 1A7S TO
1911, influenced Titan, I'll Di-
vtno," as he was called, whose
dates are from 1477 10 1875.
Duveen Brothers have made a
worthy contribution to American
collections Of European art. They
have not brought the greatest
italian masters. of whom we have
but few in America. It is best
that these should remain in the
national collections of Italy, that
they should still serve to draw
US over there for study and In
spiration.
But of the second rank artists.
whose best works may often rank
above many of the most famous,
it Is we'll that Americans should
wish to own their pictures, to
have In the private and public
collections here striking examples
for daily companionship. 1t will
be interesting to follow the Amer
lean career of these fifteenth
century works, as one after an
other they find homes, or perhaps
sro topefher to some princelY ~