The Washington times., 1923-02-25

On0 rank, ana not with Michel
angelo, Leonardo, Raphael, or
Botticeln, nor with Titan and
Giorgione among the venetians,
yet his works have proved so
much sought after that they may
be found Ia many famous Euro
pean galleries.
Tobias and the Angel Raphael"
an unusually pleasing group based
on the Apochryphal legend, is in
Stuttgart, while many are In
Venice In the Academy, others in
the Louvre In Paris. five In Ores
den. and four portraits Of women
in Vienna, besides examples in
Berlin and Rome.
6Vasari praises him extrava-
gantly. but says. that his best
work was q 'Self Portrait" be-
neved to be the one now in the
Munich Gallery, and adds IL ne
had painted nothing further Palma
vecchio's fame would have been
more secure, as his style began to
deteriorate afterward. He died at
forty.eight. Raphael. who lived
from 1888 to 1890, attained In his
brief thirty.seven years, % some
have claimed, the very. height OF
his possibilities.
BIBLICAL STORY.
In our Palma vecchio "Annunci-
ation," the Angel Gabriel an
nounceg to the Blessed Virgin her
high mission, as told by st. Luke,
in these words: 'Hail, thou that
art highly favored, the Lord Is
with thee; blessed art thou among
women"
''And the angel said unto her.
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
found favor with Cod"
In the picture the painter has
depicted for as the vision as
announced by the Angel, who
bears in his hand a lily, symbol Of
purity, while the Dove, emblem Of
the Holy Spirit, is flying. sent by
the Father to the Blessed Virgin.
':And Mary said. Behold the
handmade Of the Lord: be 1t unto
me according to thy word" -.
Several other c o Mt e m poray
painters are included in the recent
purchase. Luini, who Is represent
ed in our National Gallery, is one
Of them, ana Pinturrichio or Ber-
nardino di BETH, as he is properly
named. is another, all contempt
raries in that wonderful period Of
the discovery Of America, the
greatest achievement Of the Rem
aissance--the opening Of a new
world, q land Of adventure and
conquest, where a fresh civiliza-
ton grows slowly upward toward
another Towering in art.
CEIII.TNTS LIFE STORY.
Besides Vasari's Lives of Paint
ers," with its intimate pictures OF
the artists OF his day, another con-
tribution to the literature Of the
time, unsurpassed in romantic ex-
perience is the celebrated auto
biography Of Benvenuto Cellini,"
braggart goldsmith, who was also
sculptor OF several famous works,
notably the "Perseus with the
Head Of Medusa," in Florence.
SO thrilling is Benvenuto Cel1ini,
who perhaps exaggerated his ac-
counts. that Goethe took this auto
biography as the model for his
own, which 10 almost equally i'm
portant, though not so frank.
The period covered by the story
is from Cellini's birth in 1900 to
1852; the scene Is mainly in Italy
and France. OF the great events
Of the time, the Reformation and
the Counte Reformation, the
strife Of Pope and Emperor and
King, we gain many glimpses.
The leaders in these events ap.
pear in the foreground Of the pic
ture only when they come into
personal relations with the hero.
and then rather as connoisseurs
and art patrons rather than states
man or warriors.
1t was the age Of Michelangelo,
whom Cellini knew and adored.
OF the passionate enthusiasm for
the creation OF beauty we have
here q vivid picture.
The social life Of the sixteenth
century, too. it's violence and
RIGHTEOUSNESS, it's astounding vi
tally, versatility and idealism,
these are also Cellini's themes.
The author himself is an epitome
of that century, reviewer tells
US:
''This man who tells here the
story of his life was murderer
and q. braggart, insolent. sensual.
Unfortunately proud and passionate:
but he was also a worker in gold
and silver, rejoicing in delicate
chasing ana subtle modelling Of