THE ART GALLERIES OF EUROPE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 47

THE ART GALLERIES OF EUROPE.

By J. Elder Moultray.

No. 12.— FLORENCE: THE PITTI PALACE.

I have seen no country that has its attractions so equally diatribmed as Italy. Miiau boasts o' its wonderful cathedra), capable 01 boldicg 40,000 worshippers — or nearly tbe entire population of Danedia and its suburban townships — at once. Venice ie unique in rhe possession of its picturesque canal system, us palaces, and ivs church iv tha ornate Byzantine style The ruins of

Rome divide the honours with St. Peter's, the largest place ot worship in the world. Naples nasties under the borrowed plumes of Pompeii and Vesuvius; minus those attractions, I fear ir can only boast of its smells and beggars. Bologna appeared ro me to. possess she quaintest streets I ever iraversed, although :: s two leaning towers did not impress me rruch ; and Florence, standing guard over tue lovely Arr.o, 33 entitled to claim (be bonour of being tha gem of Italy so far aa its art treasures are concerned. In this city there are two palaces containing collections representative of the eailj Italian schools, which are untquailed in the world: those are ths Pitti and UfGzi paiace3. There **re of her excellr-nt art galleries in Florence, but their attractions pale in comparison with rheir palatial tister3, so I will simply add a few notes of the leading pictures in the two orincipal collections Beginning with the Pitti Palace, itu apartments are gorgeously decorated, and resplendent with mosaic tableßand velvet- covered seats. Eacb room is named after tha subject of the painting that embellbhes ;!,& ceiling, so that when the attendant tells the visitor he is in t.he Saloou of Mars, or Jupuer. or Apollo, or whatever it rrfay be, he will find on looking upwards the characteristics of the mythological character earned form thß keynote of the composition.

The line collection o£ Rtphnel's v/^rki is one of the leading attractions, and of tbese " La Madonna de!I& Seggiiop," huug in the Saloon of Siturn, appeared to be one of the most charming examples of thnfc great master. The blue of the Virgin's dress forms a rich coiitiast to the yellow robe worn by the infant Saviour, the warm orange shadows of which are brought into contact with the crimson sleeve on the Virgin's arm, and the chromatic scale is completed by the warm green-coloured mantle, with diaper work of orange and crimpon running through it, that is cast over the Virgin's shoulder. The child's limbs are beautifully modelled, the flesh lints are warm and the colouring throughout extremely rich, while the expression on both of the faces is singularly swear. This is one of the most popular works Raphael produced. The same artist's " Madonna del Granduca " represents the Virgin facing the spectator, but looking modestly downward?, while she bears the iafant Christ in her arniF, who is represented turning partly round and gazing towards the visitor. The pose of both figures is natural and full of grace ; the extremities bear evidence of having been painted with great care, the foreshortening of the Virgin's left band being particularly fine. The only part in the drawing that offends the eye is the outline of the child's right cheek, which is swollen out, caused by its being pressed against the Madonna's breast. The quality that impressed me most in the work was the fine feeling of relief that has been produced in the Virgin's face with the minimum of shadow, a peculiarity for which Raphael's work is famous. The drapery haDgs in heavy folds, and the colour scheme is harmonious and savours of the Florentine style. Raphael's famous portrait of Pope Leo X in the Saloon of Apollo is a rich piece of natural flesh colouring, and the head is foil of vitality, bat opinion is divided as to

the heads of the two cardinals introduced into the same canvas were painted by Raphael or Giulio Romano, who was known to have painted a portion of the picture. The difference in treatment between the two artists is barely perceprible. and I am inclined to believe that if Giulio Romano painted one of the heads, which on examination is seen to differ from the others in touch, then he was certainly as clever an artist as he was an architect, for there is no test of a man's ability as a portrait painter so severe as to contrast a head painted by bim upon the same canvas with one produced by a masterhand. The gradations of the various shades of red are one of the features in the picture that arouse an artist's admiration. Slightly inferior to these masterpieces of Raphael is a portrait painted by him of his friend Angiolo Doni. It is a splendid piece of work, treated on a warm key of colour, the requisite cool tints being supplied by a greyish blue sky and landscape, torming a background against which the purple vest with its crimson sleeves stands forth wit great brilliancy, while the head is brought sharply off the aky by means of a dark purple cap and the loug black hair hanging down on either side of the face. The principal reason for considering this work inferior to the others is because of the black tone prevailing in the thidowa, for it is a rare thing to meet with harsh shadows in Raphael's work, a* in this instance.

Van Dyck's fine porr.rait group of Charles 1 of England and his Q leen is hung immediately above Raphael's " Madonna deli-s. Sesgiloa." Of the two portraits the king's is rhe oetrer, the head being well mo iellad, and the light and shadow ao arranged hs to give relief to the face while keeping the lace frilling and other accessories auodued The pose of both figures is full of dignity, the ensemble displaying superlatively those qualities for which trie artist wa« celebrated, *nd to which I have already referred in mjletter from Pnris when de.<crioiug Vad Dyck's pori-rait of Charles I in the Louvre.

Rembrandt's portrait of himself, hung near Raphael's "Angiolo Doni," represents the artist r-ohly attired in a velv«i, cloak, partly revsaling a neck-plate of s*eel armour, which bo.* obviously been introduced to givo felief to the head by separating it from the warm tints of Ihe cloak with a mass oi' coif I colour. A warm tone pervade? "be entire com dob;tion, which rich iv colour, cbaste iv arrangerm-ru, anil unt-qualied a« ac example of ehiaro*cuT<> by any .york in tne palace.

Andrea rlel Sarto is well represented here by Rom° 0? his grandest; a. inceptions, which impress the beholder with t.he lofty religious fervour 'he psint«r revaJs in his treatment c£ fiucli scenes as " The Aanunciation," " The Dieputa," ami " The A-Jsumptiou of the Virgin." Of the laai there are two large canvases bung opposite one another in the Saloon of tha Iliad. One of theseis unfinished, and it is the great Florentine painter's last work. In tnis tme he appears to have been improving upon hie first idea portrayed on the oppoaue wall, as in both the composition is almost rhe same, Ihe general arrangement bei»s? no* xoilike Titian's " Assumption," in the Royol Gallery at Venice. It is only in the. rrc&f>ni&ni of minor details that Del S-ttto's two canvases differ. The Virgin, wearing rofcea of crimson and blue inclining to a greenish h«» in the lights, in born aloft on a cloud Biu'roundcc? by cherubim, and beneath tbertt is the tjrou"> of apostles looking heavenward* in various attitudes of adoration, [a the fir&t w?k Hie Madonna is looking straight out, ci j,h» canvas. This has beeu rectified in the !a l t, where *he is represent! lorkiig upwards. In the other he has alao weakenpcl bjj effeci by placing a white veil over the Virgin .< bend, which is almost lost in rhe Jight sky ; but he has seen his mistake, and in the second picture has brought the blue mantle right up round the face, giving the head strong relief and making it assume dne imaortance. The connection between the groups in both pictures is principally maintained by th« attitudes of the cherabitn, who ar« shown lookirg down at the apesttes. The chief excellence of the last work iiee in its colour, the skilfnl blinding of colours beinp th? branch of his profession ia which Del Sarto excelled ; but both canvases display exquisite taste in the grouping of 'he figure*..

The next canvas, accord ing to merit, represents " JVirHr.h with the Head of Holofernes." I was ju->t beginning to think that I had at last found a gallery in Italy rccupying the unique position of possessing neither a " Daughter of Herodiaa " >ior a " Judith. ''It is not so much the. subject as the wav in which it is treated that renders it. so offensive. Insi cad of concealing the disagreeable features as much as posiible, the painters appear to have givon them the greatest prominence ; and such scenes aro not confined to private collectiors and the walis of palaces, but some of rhe leading galleries nave works on exhibition which, although useful to students and artists hb r-uides in colour and technique, are not such as are calculated 1,0 rxerciaps a refining influence vtpon the taste of the general public, la this picture, which was painted by the Florentine artist AUori Oristofauo, there is much to at' mire if one looks at it purely frnm an artistic point of view. The colouring throughout is rich, and while forming brilliant contrasts is so skilfully balanced as to form a harmonious whole. The following is an outline of the chromatic scheme: Judith wears a carefully textured yellow robe with white sleeve?, and a shawl of the same tint that encircles her waist, while a blue cloak lined with crimsoncoloured mlk hangs from her shoulders, and the colours of the robe and cloak combine to prodnce the green of the cushion at the base of -the composition. There is great technical skill displayed in the fusion of the colours, and the figure is well modelled. This masterpiece i 3 hung in the Saloon of Mars, and near it is a powerful piece of work by Rubens, entitled"" The Terrors of War," in which Mars is shown going forth escorted by demons bearing torches, while some women are seen endeavouring to restrain him. This allegorical incident is a good example of Rubens's style, the muscular forms, vigorous attitudes, and fine flesh tints, combined with the passions portrayed in the different faces, all serve to render this wcrk conspicuous among the 500 pictures in the palace, of which the greater number are masterpieces from the different schools in Europe. Many persons are surprised at the large number of paintings thafe

are attributed to Eubens. It Bhould, however, be remembered that, like .Raphael, ha was surrounded by a crowd of young artists, who wrought in all the large pictures from small sketches that Rubens had previouslydesigned for the various subjects, and as those groundworks were all painted according to his own principles, it will be seen that he must have been saved an immense amount of time and labour, as he had only to put on the finishing surface himself; but it wab those final touches that gave the works the great merit they possess. It is rather amusing to learn that this great master was vilified and ridiculed by the contemporary artists of Antwerp. It was because of hi 3 employing his pupils in the manner I have just described that laid him open to the insinuations of snob, men as Schut (whe spread a report that the reputation ot Ituoens was built on the talents of his pupils), Snyders, and Wildens ; while another painter named Rombouts was equally active in making it known that the threat master was only a mediocre painter. Itubens'B reply to the latter consisted simply of an exhibition of his now famous picture " The Ddscent from the Cross," which I described ir. my Antwerp letter. The result was disastrous ro R>mbouts's imputation; while, by tba sfcranga irony of fatv, Schut had to undergo the humiliation of afterwards becoming indebted to Rubens for a living.

In all these galleries figure subjects preponderate, of which the greater number are scriptural scones ; but. when ons does come across a landscape it is invariably a gem that well repays careful inspection, aurt smong (■.ho few wnrks of that oiasa iv rhe pal«ce there is one that no visitor should miss seeing. It is in the Saloon of Flora, and represents a watertall soeue by J. Ruysdael. Here is water in motion. One almost* hears the gnrg'.e. and splash as. the ntroam leaps over the rocks, swirling lha foam jets into rhe air as it. rushes on in itu turbulent flight to the sea ; but it is no'i. only in the treatment of the water that thii, exquisite landscape excsls, for the eky is a magnificent specimen of aerial perspective, and tbo •olouda almost appear to be in motion. As a piece of realistic painting this work has no compeer among tho pictures of a like olasß iii tba collection which ioclndcs fine landrcapes by PcussSp, Pi.ielonburg, Taoa], ana others.

Among the othor masters* represented in the pßlaco are examples by Paul Veronese, Siivafor How, Tintoretto,- and Velasquez; ihfl kst trj r splendid flpecimen of porirAunre \u the canvas portraying " Pbiilp IV of Spk-ii." In concluding, I may add frbat. ihera in a !iaa work by A Darer, the (Jormar master, which is hung in the Saloon of Venn-j. It is entitled " Adatn,' 1 and as a piece of nude painting it. will equal anything in the gallery. But lam iookiog forward «vith the expectation of Keeinjy something betior in his masterpiece, "The Adoration ot' the Maiji," in the gallery of the Uffizt Palace, which I intend to visit a few days hence.

— Profepsor Huffin says tha'r, riavsona who have taken aa active p^rfc in the scientific world should be killed at 60, as not being flexible enough to yield lo fir; advance of new ideas. He is himself nearly 57.

— When land changes band.? ;n; n the neighbourhood (if th- Bank of Ergland, it now bci^oni 8-<ls 5t lower rale than about £2,000,000 ]v.t arre. The value of thn land in the ounly of London vy*« nslitnated in a ■PAriiA.»tM'.ji<y o»pn- published about 10 yearo ago at £418,000,000.

— In meiiiccvai tinirs rhinoceros horns wcro employed for drinking c-i;s by royrt) personßgei), tbe notion bwng thßt p-.i?on \icb into fchem would sho'V ilself by bubbling. Th^re may have been seme truth in t-ho idoa, us many of ihv nnoieut poisou* werh acidt). and they would decompose tbe homy material very quickly.

— The reigning families of Eiirope »r« Urge nuatoaicr* of the various lif« inaurauce offices. The late Prince Counort'i! lif« wa» insured for Oioae upon v million pteiJing, which the Queeu has Guv? in her posspaFiou. and her life, sgiin, is very largely insured for tbe bonefib ot her younger children, notably for Princess B i' at rice.