Characteristic of the master is the introduction of the great
tree-trunk, conveying a sense of grandeur and solemn mystery to the
scene; characteristic, too, is the distant landscape, the splendid glow
of which evokes special praise from the writers just mentioned. Again we
find the parapet, or ledge, with its flat surface on which the play of
light can be caught, and again the same curious folds, broken and
crumpled, such as are seen on Solomon's robe in the Kingston Lacy
picture, and somewhat less emphatically in the Castelfranco "Madonna."
Consistent, moreover, with that weakness we have already noticed
elsewhere, is the design of the leg and foot, the drawing of which is
far from impeccable. That the execution in this respect is not equal to
the supreme conception of the whole, is no valid reason for the belief
that this "Judith" is only a copy of a lost original, a belief that
could apparently only be held by those who have never stood before the
picture itself.[48] But even in the reproduction this "Judith" stands
confessed as the most impressive of all Giorgione's single figures, and
it may well rank as the masterpiece of the earlier period immediately
preceding the Castelfranco picture of about 1504, to which in style it
closely approximates.
The next picture on Morelli's list is the "Fête Champêtre" of the
Louvre, or, as it is often called, the "Concert." This lovely "Pastoral
Symphony" (which appears to me a more suitable English title) is by no
means universally regarded as a creation of Giorgione's hand and brain,
and several modern critics have been at pains to show that Campagnola,
or some other Venetian imitator of the great master, really produced
it.[49] In this endeavour Crowe and Cavalcaselle led the way by
suggesting the author was probably an imitator of Sebastiano del Piombo.
But all this must surely seem to be heresy when we stand before the
picture itself, thrilled by the gorgeousness of its colour, by the
richness of the paradise" in which the air is balmy, and the landscape
ever green; where life is a pastime, and music the only labour; where
groves are interspersed with meadows and fountains; where nymphs sit
playfully on the grass, or drink at cool springs."[50] Was ever such a
gorgeous idyll? In the whole range of painted poetry can the like be
found?
[Illustration: _Braun photo. Louvre, Paris_
A PASTORAL SYMPHONY]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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