DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52600#0060
24
BARTOLOMEO MONTAGNA
Less satisfactory an example of this phase of Mon-
tagna’s career is that quaint altar-piece, representing
Christ appearing to St. Mary Magdalen, with Saints
John the Baptist and Jerome on either side, which
was originally in San Lorenzo at Vicenza and a few
years ago passed to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum at
Berlin. Yet, though one must admit that the arrange-
ment of the whole is very unsuccessful, and the central
group impresses one unpleasantly by reason of the
mean type of the Christ, the want of majesty in His
appearance, and of harmony in the composition of the
two figures, this work has also, on the other hand,
undeniable merits. The two attendant saints—the
thin young forerunner of Christ with a beautiful,
intelligent face, gazing at the spectator, and the
white-bearded St. Jerome who is reading a book with
keen attention in a perfectly unconventional attitude
—are both rendered with great impressiveness ; not
to speak of the beauty of the colouring.1
to the Virgin and- Child between SS. Onuphrius and John the Baptist
(see infra, p. 41 sqi) : the figure of the Infant Christ above all, but also the
types of the Virgin and St. John and the arrangement of the Madonna’s
hood and mantle over her head foreshadow that painting. Note the
ar co naturale in the middle distance to the right—a motive not uncommon
in Italian painting of this period and repeatedly used by Montagna.
I understand from Professor Cavenaghi that there is in the collection of
Prince Trivulzio at Milan a Madonna by Montagna closely akin in style
to this one, and since the above was printed, I have, thanks to the kindness
of Mr. Roger Fry, become acquainted with a beautiful, though somewhat
unequal Madonna, recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of
New York, which also has its proper place in this connection.
1 Berlin. Kaiser Friedrich Museum. No. 44B. In the centre Christ
is seen, in white tunic and yellow mantle (with red and green shadows);
He takes a step forward on the bare trachyte ground, stretching His
right hand down to protect Himself and raising His left. St. Mary
Magdalen, in purple tunic and blue mantle, kneels before Him to the
left, opening her arms. This group is flanked, a little nearer to the
spectator, by two arcades. Under the left one, St. John the Baptist,
in leather coat and vermilion mantle, holding a cross in his right hand
BARTOLOMEO MONTAGNA
Less satisfactory an example of this phase of Mon-
tagna’s career is that quaint altar-piece, representing
Christ appearing to St. Mary Magdalen, with Saints
John the Baptist and Jerome on either side, which
was originally in San Lorenzo at Vicenza and a few
years ago passed to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum at
Berlin. Yet, though one must admit that the arrange-
ment of the whole is very unsuccessful, and the central
group impresses one unpleasantly by reason of the
mean type of the Christ, the want of majesty in His
appearance, and of harmony in the composition of the
two figures, this work has also, on the other hand,
undeniable merits. The two attendant saints—the
thin young forerunner of Christ with a beautiful,
intelligent face, gazing at the spectator, and the
white-bearded St. Jerome who is reading a book with
keen attention in a perfectly unconventional attitude
—are both rendered with great impressiveness ; not
to speak of the beauty of the colouring.1
to the Virgin and- Child between SS. Onuphrius and John the Baptist
(see infra, p. 41 sqi) : the figure of the Infant Christ above all, but also the
types of the Virgin and St. John and the arrangement of the Madonna’s
hood and mantle over her head foreshadow that painting. Note the
ar co naturale in the middle distance to the right—a motive not uncommon
in Italian painting of this period and repeatedly used by Montagna.
I understand from Professor Cavenaghi that there is in the collection of
Prince Trivulzio at Milan a Madonna by Montagna closely akin in style
to this one, and since the above was printed, I have, thanks to the kindness
of Mr. Roger Fry, become acquainted with a beautiful, though somewhat
unequal Madonna, recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of
New York, which also has its proper place in this connection.
1 Berlin. Kaiser Friedrich Museum. No. 44B. In the centre Christ
is seen, in white tunic and yellow mantle (with red and green shadows);
He takes a step forward on the bare trachyte ground, stretching His
right hand down to protect Himself and raising His left. St. Mary
Magdalen, in purple tunic and blue mantle, kneels before Him to the
left, opening her arms. This group is flanked, a little nearer to the
spectator, by two arcades. Under the left one, St. John the Baptist,
in leather coat and vermilion mantle, holding a cross in his right hand