THE GREAT PAINTERS.

Shannon News, 30 April 1929, Page 4

THE GREAT PAINTERS.

ASTOUNDING GENIUS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI. MICHAEL ANGELO’S ACHIEVEMENTS. An interesting evening was spent by the members of the Levin W.E.A. literary class on Tuesday evening, when Miss Cadeii, 8.A., gave the third lecture of the series on “The History of Painting in Europe.” The tutor’s remarks were amply illustrated by lantern views, prints an.d books. There was a good attendance, and all derived much pleasure and instruction from the manner in which the subject was handled.

Continuing the study of the development of Italian art, the lecturer said that, after the middle of the 15th century, interest in classical antiquity was revived, so that pagan themes began to claim attention and to supplant the religious fervour that had been the inspiration of artists for so long. Botticelli's Creations. The work of Sandro Botticelli -was interesting in its expression of conflicting influences, and perhaps, because of the wistful doubt expressed in the faces of his goddesses and saints alike, seemed to make an increasing appeal to present-day taste. His charm, was elusive, and the delicacy of colouring • and features did not generally survive reproduction. To students of to-day, he. represented the mingling of antique influences with modern fancy at a moment of transition, embodying in some of his pictures the subtlest thought and feeling of men for whom the. classic myths were beginning to live again. Scholarship had introduced this novel element into, the culture of the nation, and artists learnt of fauns and dryads, of the birth of Aphrodite from the waves. In the pictures by Botticeli that represented mythological subjects, there was always an element of , allegory, recalling mediaeval traditions, and a whimsical imagination that was sympathetic to modern feeling. Botticelli’s use of line was subtle and signficant, and might be seen in its purest form in his drawings for the “Divine Comedy.” Towards the end of his life, he was strongly influenced by Savonarola, but he was not fanatical enough to burn his earlier pictures on pagan themes. In 1498, itlie year in 'which Savonarola was burned at the stake, Botticelli painted “The Calumny of Appeles. ” This work was nominally an attempt to reproduce a famous lost picture by the Greek artist Appelles, but it seems certain that the painting which, showed black-robed Calumny shrinking from the radiant presence of the naked Truth, was directed against the revilers of the martyred friar. Botticelli was the pupil of Fra Lippo Lippi, and it was while he was still working under the earlier master that his finest religious pictures were .painted. After he became independent, lie increased the range of subjects for his work.

Philip Lippi and Ghirlandaio. Another famous pupil of the Friar was Filippioni Lippi, who was said to have been also his son. In art he was certainly a direct descendant of his master, with the same love of simple beauty, use of delicate colour, and charm of style. He seemed to have been of a more pious nature than the Friar, and the .faces of , his Madonnas and saints usually wore an expression of calm reverence.

The painter who gathered up the whole tradition of this period was Domenico Ghirlandaio. Like many of his contemporaries, he began his career as apprentice to a goldsmith, and received his name, because he made ‘ ‘ whirlandei, ” or chaplets, wkich were in fashion for Florentine women. He did not distinguish himself as a painter until he was over 30, but his comprehensive intellect brought him rapid success in his art. He was a consummate master of the knowledge acquired by his predecessors. The laws of composition founded by Ghirlandaio, the scientific perspective of lines which owed its impulse to Ucello, the more subtle one of atmosphere mastered by Masaccio, the tasteful architecture reviewed by Brunelleschi, were fused in the attainments of Ghirlandaio. With . all his ability he never reached the stature of the greatest men of his time, because his work lacked inspiration. His finest quality was his powerful drawing of characteristic heads. These in their variety reflected the vigour of the painter, as well as of the types of men who flourished in his city to be models for his brush.

The Luminary of the Age. < The ambitions and progress of the artists of the early Renaissance culminated in the transcendental genius of the age, with regard to whom Vasari said: “The richest .gifts are sometimes showered as by celestial influence on human creatures; and we see beauty, grace and talent so united in a single person, that whatever the man thus favoured may turn to, his every action is so divine as to leave all other men far behind him, and to prove that lie has been specially endowed by the hand ‘ of God Himself, and has not obtained his pre-eminence by human teaching.” This was seen and acknowledged by all men in the case of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), in whom, to say nothing of the beauty of his person which was such that it could never be sufficiently extolled, there was a grace beyond expression, which was manifested without effort in every act. He had, besides, so rare a gift of talent and ability, that to whatsoever subject he turned, however difficult, he presently made himself absolute master of it. Extraordinary strength was, in him, joined with remarkable facility, a mind of Tegal boldness and magnanimous daring. His gifts were such that his fame extended far and wide, and he was held in the highest estimation, not in his own time

only, but also, and to an even greater extent, after bis death. Remarkable Veraaitility.

Leonardo was the son of a Florentine gentleman, and from a very early age the range and diversity of his talent was manifest. He showed remarkable skill in drawing and modelling, and his father placed him in the workshop of Andrea de Verocchio, the best master of the day. The pupil was destined to be the marvel of his age, and embodied all that was best and most characteristic of the spirit of the Renaissance in his various activity and boundless curiosity, allied with technical accomplishment and fine imagination. The tremendous scope of his genius necessarily limited the number of his paintings that survive. A man who combined the work of scientist, inventor, engineer, musician, composer, chemist and anatomist with art, had only comparatively little opportunity to paint. Some of the works that he was able to complete suffered through misfortune, as in. the disappearance of a famous cartoon, “The Battle of the, Standard,' ’ for the concert hall at Forence, or the destruction of the model of the statue of the Duke of Milan by French bowmen; and through his own experiments in the technicality of his art, which, valuable and profound as they were, did not always result in a durable medium. Leonardo left Florence about 1482 for Milan and entered the service of the Duke of that city, Ludovico Sforza. After long and various employment in the service of ■the nobility of North Italy, the last four years of his life were spent with Francis I, King of France, where he died in 1519. By degrees he seemed to have become devoted more exclusively to art; he founded an academy* at Milan and wrote a treatise on painting, which, with its numerous draw J ings, Avas of great value to students. He insisted on minute and reverent study of natural objects, and denounced imitation of the work of others. He believed that painting was the most directly impressive of the arts. The numerous drawings of Leonardo were valuable in that they revealed the spontaneous expression of the artists’ thought and the qualities of his genius, almost in the making. He would wander up and down the streets of Florence, learning faces by heart, observing their changes .of expression, reading their thoughts through their feaplucking.,the heart out of their (mystery.

“The Last Supper.” One of the most famous pictures in the world was now little more than a faded wreck upon the walls of the Convent of S'. Maria della , Grazie, in Milan. Leonardo's desire to improve existing material led him to the proved methods for fresco and to mix his colours with oil. His reason was the wish to work slowly and to be able to alter and revise in a way that was impossible with quick-drying pigments. He spent about ten years over this picture, making changes as his mind saw more fully into the subject and adding touches to give significance to every leading feature. When the painting of “The Last Supper” was finished, except for the head of Judas, the prior of the Convent complained to the Duke that Leonardo had left it in this state for more than a year. The artist’s defence was that he had searched the city without finding a face evil enough for Judas, but that the unfortunate prior should straightway serve as his model. 1 The colours, mixed with oil, have not resisted the action of time, but fortunately copies of the fresco were made soon enough to give posterity some idea of this great example of the new art of design, so presenting figures that they had a vital relation to, each other‘and their surroundings. " . „ The “Mona Lisa.”

Another painting! of Leonardo’s, the “Mona Lisa,” Avbo.se already great fame was increased by its theft from 'the Louvre in 1911 and its; recovery about two years later was the portrait of the wife of a Florentine, Francesco del Gioconda. The subtle expression of the face has Avon for the picture its far-flung fame, and the hands have been said to be the most beautiful ever painted. Leonardo represented the summit of achievement in the 15th century, for to the increased knowledge and technical advance of his predecessors he added remarkable talent and, abo\ r e all, superb intellect and rare imagination.

MichaeQ.an.gelo. The 15th century was I one of steady progress in painting, which culminated towards its close in the achievements of some of the greatest artists of, all time. Michaelangelo Buonaro'tti who. lived from 1475 to 1564, was a genius of equal power with Da Vinci, but of a very different temperament. Whereas Leonardo’s attainments in any one direction seemed to be bounded only by the scope of his activities and the variety of interests which turned his talents aside, Michaelangelo was often forced into uncongenial occupation, through the emnity of hiS rivals, the whim of his patrons, or other adverse 'circumstances, with the result that he •became an embittered and lonely man. 'The majesty of his work in sculpture, 'architecture, painting and poetry proved the rare quality of the artist. After dealing with Michaelangelo’s boyhood and youth and his encouragement by Lorenzo de Medici, the lecturer passed to a consideration of his work. In 1505, Pope Julius II summoned him to Rome to design a monument for his tomb, but the Pope was persuaded by a rival artist that it was unlucky for anyone to build his tomb during his lifetime. His Holiness hastily dropped the idea, and the sculptor was ignominously driven out of the Vatican and departed for Florence. Julius then began to desire his return and when Michaelangelo eventually came back, he was provoked to despair by a command to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, an idea

prompted by the zealous architect Bramante. 'who hoped and believed that the sculptor would fail completely. All the great artists of the preceding generations had been called upon to help in the Work of ornamenting the interior of the Chapel. Most of the artists who had received' a Papal commission of magnitude began their work with, a host of assistants. Bramante, with a show of giving every aid to Ills rival, brought painters from Florence and erected a scaffolding. Michaelangelo, suspicions of these manoeuvres, dismissed the apprentices, locked himself in and during the next few years, working feverishly and in secret, accomplished a mighty series of paintings. He had to learn the technique of the work and master its problems as he went along. After lying for four years on his back, MichaelangClo, weary and dispirited, once more stood Upright and allowed the scaffolding to bo taken down on All Saints' Day, 1512. Beholders were amazed at the stupendous achievement and Raphael thanked God that he had been borA in the same century., Michaelangelo had divided the great oblong of the ceiling into three groups, illustrating first, “The Creation of the World” (“God dividing Light from Darkness,” “God Creating the Luminaries,” and “God Blessing the Earth”), the second depicting “The Fall of Man” (“The Creation of Adam,” “The Creation of Eve,” and “The Temptation and Fall”), and the third group represented scenes from Noah's Life and the Deluge, the nine panels being held together by a connecting framework in which were placed single fig ures of the prophets, sibyls and .other figurbs, so that the whole appeared as an elaborate architectural roof ornamented with reliefs and sculptured figures, among which nine great pictures had been inserted. To Micnaelangelo the most beautiful and expressive thing! in the world was the human body, not? only - because of its form, but because of the spiritual and ethical significance which that form could cqnvey. Helped by bis talent for modelling in stone, he had surmounted every obstacle to masterly representation and used the human form to express a state of mind or soul. To do this, he drew figures, nude or simply draped, with idealised countenance, and without background or embellishment. Majesty •was joined with simplicity in his The lecturer then described in expressive language some of the details of the Sistinc Chapel paintings. Michaelangelo received little material reward for the stupendous task that had been thrust upon him, for the old Pope died and his successor had no work for him. He went back to Florence and spent his time upon sculpture for the Mvdicis, in the intervals of joining in the disastrous struggles that were tearingthe city asunder. He survived war, plots and treachery and in 1435 was recalled to Rome by another Pope, who commanded him to cover the immense wall at the entrance to the Sistiue Chanel with a fresco representing the Last Judgment. Michaelangelo spent a number of years on this picture, wihch reflects a gloomy, embittered aspect of his genius. He had suffered from the cupidity of his kinsfolk, the jealousy of his fellow artists, the petty injustice of his patrons and had witnessed strife' and distress in his native Florence. The conception •of the' huge fresco shows his disgust with the evil of the world. God is terrible and threatening and below on v the left wretched sinners struggle in writhing masses-. In their vain attempts to scale the heights of Heaven they are hurled down in hideous rhin on the shores of the River of Death. On the right the saved float. Heavenward. Many of the 1 artist's bitter rivals later condemned the picture as a tangled mass of .offensive nudity. Michaelangelo’s later years were solaced by his friendship with Vittoria Oolpnna, a clever and beautiful woman to whom lie confided, both in writing and speech, the thoughts of his grand and anstere mind. Michaelangelo's aim was to denote every kind of pmotion and character solely by means of the human body, not only by facial expression but by the attitudes and gestures of the naked form. In his masterly hands the aim was finely accomplished, but he was a bad model for lesser men. In the work of his imitators, bodily characteristics' were stressed to such an unnatural degree that the result was exaggerated muscular development and fleshy exuberance. His life and art had so long dominated his contemporaries that after Ills death and that of Raphael, painting in Central Italy degenerated into grandiose or insipid copies of one or the other master.