The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian CourtLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian Court
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Crystal Palace (Sydenham, London, England)
He was the generous competitor and friend of Lorenzo Ghiberti. Employed
and patronized by Cosmo de’ Medici. Was one of the first Italian
sculptors who gave to their figures freedom of movement and force of
expression. A very fine work of this artist is the equestrian statue of
Gattamelata, in the city of Padua. A cast from it will be found in the
Gothic and Renaissance Sculpture Court. The character of Donatello was
remarkable for simplicity and generosity; he took no thought for
himself, and was devoted wholly to his art.
[This Bust is by Giovanni Ceccarini.]
134. FRA ANGELICO DA FIESOLE; called also FRA GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE, and
IL BEATO. _Painter._
[Born at Vicchio, in Tuscany, 1387. Died at Rome, 1455. Aged 67.]
This charming painter of the early Florentine school became, when a
youth, a friar of the Dominican order. Began by illuminating missals;
afterwards enlarged his style, and executed frescos. The finest of these
are in the church of San. Marco, and in the chapel of Nicholas V. at
Rome. His works are distinguished by simple grace, tenderness of colour,
and the most profound religious feeling. He excelled particularly in
painting angels.
[This Bust is by Leandro Biglioschi; but there is a life-size bust of
him upon his tomb, in Minerva di Roma.]
135. TOMMASO GUIDI, also called MASSACCIO. _Painter._
[Born at San-Giovanni, in the Val d’ Arno, 1402. Died at Florence,
1443. Aged 41.]
Massaccio-Tomasaccio (big or heavy Tom) was a nickname given to him when
a boy. A devoted student of the works of Brunelleschi and Donatello. He
lived for the most part in Rome and Florence, and died in the last-named
city. Time has destroyed the greater number of his works. His frescos,
which still remain in the Brancacci chapel of the Carmelite church in
Florence, representing the history of St. Peter, are remarkable for
their freedom, and for the absence of the conventionalities of the early
mediæval painters. Some of his noble figures became models for the later
Florentines, and were imitated by Raffaelle himself. He excelled his
contemporaries in the nude form, and gave to his draperies a style
unknown before, adapting them naturally and gracefully to the human
shape.
[By Carlo Finelli.]
136. ANDREA MANTEGNA. _Painter and Engraver._
[Born at Padua, in Italy, 1430. Died at Mantua, in Italy, 1506. Aged
76.]
This painter is celebrated among the early artists of Italy, and belongs
to the Paduan school of art. His _chef-d’œuvre_, the _Madonna della
Vittoria_, in the Louvre, is grandly treated, and remarkable for its
admirable finish. His cartoons of the triumphs of Cæsar are at Hampton
Court; the composition is grand and spirited, and knowledge of the
antique is blended with a feeling for nature. To Mantegna is attributed
the art of engraving with the burin, and also the invention of the art
of foreshortening figures, especially on ceilings. Distinguished for his
good and amiable qualities.
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