[Illustration: Art Repro Co. Madonna & Child with two Saints. From the painting by Giorgione at Castelfranco.] GIORGIONE BY HERBERT COOK, M.A., F.S.A. BARRISTER-AT-LAW 1904 "Born half-way between the mountains and the sea--that young George of Castelfranco--of the Brave Castle: Stout George they called him, George of Georges, so goodly a boy he was--Giorgione." (RUSKIN: _Modern Painters_, vol. V. pt. IX. ch. IX.) _First Published, November 1900 Second Edition, revised, with new Appendix, February 1904._ PREFACE Unlike most famous artists of the past, Giorgione has not yet found a modern biographer. The whole trend of recent criticism has, in his case, been to destroy not to fulfil. Yet signs are not wanting that the disintegrating process is at an end, and that we have reached the point where reconstruction may be attempted. The discovery of documents and the recovery of lost pictures in the last few years have increased the available material for a more comprehensive study of the artist, and the time has come when the divergent results arrived at by independent modern inquirers may be systematically arranged, and a reconciliation of apparently conflicting views attempted on a psychological basis. Crowe and Cavalcaselle were the first to examine the subject critically. They separated--so far as was then possible (1871)--the real from the traditional Giorgione, and their account of his life and works must still rank as the nearest equivalent to a modern biography. Morelli, who followed in 1877, was in singular sympathy with his task, and has written of his favourite master enthusiastically, yet with consummate judgment. Among living authorities, Dr. Gronau, Herr Wickhoff, Signor Venturi, and Mr. Bernhard Berenson have contributed effectively to the elucidation of obscure or disputed points, and the latter writer has probably come nearer than anyone to recognise the scope of Giorgione's art, and grasp the man behind his work. The monograph by Signor Conti and the chapter in Pater's _Renaissance_ may be read for their delicate appreciations of the "Giorgionesque"; other contributions on the subject will be found in the Bibliography. It is absolutely necessary for those whose judgment depends upon a study of the actual pictures to be constantly registering and adjusting their impressions. I have personally seen and studied all the pictures I believe to be by Giorgione, with the exception of those at St. Petersburg; and many galleries and churches where they hang have been visited repeatedly, and at considerable intervals of time. If in the course of years my individual impressions (where they deviate from hitherto recognised views) fail to stand the test of time, I shall be the first to admit their inadequacy. If, on the other hand, they prove sound, some of the mists which at present envelop the figure of Giorgione will have been dispersed. H.C. _November 1900_ NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION