File:A history of painting in north Italy; Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Millan, Friuli, Brescia, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century (1871) (14760016281).jpg

Identifier: historyofpaintin01crow (find matches)
Title: A history of painting in north Italy; Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Millan, Friuli, Brescia, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century
Year: 1871 (1870s)
Authors: Crowe, J. A. (Joseph Archer), 1825-1896 Cavalcaselle, G. B. (Giovanni Battista), 1820-1897
Subjects: Painting Painting, Gothic Painting, Renaissance
Publisher: London, J. Murray
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
see the common habitations of anItalian city. To the right a man thrusts back thecrowd; and in the distance between the principal groupsare the legionaries halting at the mouth of a long andnarrow lane.^ If in previous frescos Mantegna dwells ^ The monochrome framing ofthese two frescos is admirablycarried out, and so well relieved bythe throw of its shadows, that itrecalls the bronzes of the baptis-tery of Florence; parting the sub-ject is a fine combination of leaves,blossoms, vases and medals. Theeffect of this monochrome on adark ground, contrasting with thedark green festoons and playingangels is one peculiarly charac- teristic of Mantegna. Purely imi-tative of the antique is the medal-lion of a horse, two nudes, anda breastplate in the wall of theright hand fresco. The blues inthe dress of S James and othersare bleached. 2 The sky of this fresco isaltered by the dropping of theblues. Amongst peculiarities wenote the cleverness with whichthe hard stone of the arch is North Italy.
Text Appearing After Image:
1, JAMES ON THE ROAD TO MARTYRDOM: a wall-painting, by Andrea Mantegn;ia the Chapel of the Eremitani at Padua Chap. XII. ANDREA MANTEGNA. 329 with complacency on the studies of the archeologist andperspective draughtsman, he does so now with an obtrusivezeal. He considers the human form as a mere geometri-cal unit, subjecting it to the same maxims as the architec-ture; the lines of the frames vanish to a central point,and the attitudes are chosen as if to illustrate thedifficulties of this novel practice. He carries to thesame extreme the habit of statuesque action, and thusdoubly violates the ordinary laws of nature. Nothingseems more probable than that before he laid in thisfresco he set models 6f each figure at given distances,and worked out the drawing of each by a separateoperation. The demonstration is no doubt clever, buthas its obvious disadvantages. The cleverness is tooapparent and is accompanied by an unnatural strain;the flexibility of flesh is sacrificed unconditionally,

Note About Images