'Resurrection'! Giorgione is here anticipated in the roundness and softness of the figures, and in the effect of light. Titian's Assunta is foreshadowed in the fervour of the guards' expressions." Alvise, if he never thoroughly mastered the structure of the nude, and if his forms keep throughout some touch of the archaic, some awkwardness in the thickness of the figures, with their round heads, long thighs, and uncertain proportions, is yet extraordinarily refined and tender in sentiment, his line has a natural flow and beauty, and the heads of his Madonnas and saints cannot be surpassed in loveliness. His death came when the noble altarpiece to St. Ambrogio in the Frari was still unfinished, and it was completed by his assistant, Marco Basaiti. The execution is heavy and probably of Basaiti, but the venerable doctor is a grand figure, and the two young soldier saints on his right and left hand are striking examples of the beauty we claim for him. The architectural plan is very elaborate, but altogether successful. The group is set beneath an arched vault supported by columns and cornices. Overhead, behind a balustrade, is placed a coronation of the Virgin. The many figures are grouped so as not to interfere with each other, and the sword of St. George, the crozier of St. Gregory, and the crook of St. Ambrose break up the composition and give length and line. The faces of the saints are extremely beautiful, and the two angels making music below compare well with those of the Bellinesque School. The portraits Alvise has left add to his reputation, and remind us of those of Antonello da Messina, particularly in the vital expression of the eyes, though they are without Antonello's intense force. The "Bernardo di Salla" and the "Man feeding a Hawk," though some critics still ascribe them to Savoldo, have features which make their attribution to Alvise almost certainly correct. Indeed, the resemblance of Bernardo to the Madonna in the 1480 altarpiece cannot escape the most unscientific observer. There is the same inflated nostril, the peculiarly curved mouth, and vivacious eyes. Among the followers of Alvise, Marco Basaiti, Bartolommeo Montagna, and Lorenzo Lotto are the most distinguished. Others less direct are Giovanni Buonconsiglio and Francesco Bonsignori, while Cima da Conegliano was for a short time his greatest pupil. We shall return to these later. PRINCIPAL WORKS Berlin. Madonna enthroned, with six Saints. London. Portrait of Youth. Milan. Bonomi-Cereda Collection: Portrait of a Man. Naples. Madonna with SS. Francis and Bernardino. Paris. Portrait of Bernardo di Salla. Venice. Academy: Seven panels of single Saints; Madonna and six Saints, 1480. Frari: S. Ambrose enthroned. S. Giovanni in Bragora: Madonna adoring Child; Resurrection and Predelle. Redentore: Sacristy: Madonna and Child, with Angels. Vienna. Madonna. Windsor. Man feeding a Hawk. CHAPTER X