DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52600#0110
68
BARTOLOMEO MONTAGNA
It seems as if one would be right in classing with
these paintings one more with which I have not,
however, a first-hand acquaintance. The work I
am referring to is in the Palazzo Caregiani at Venice.
It shows the robust Madonna, solemnly seated, with
the Child in her lap, between St. John the Baptist
—a type of strong, savage male beauty—who looks
at the Infant Christ with deep emotion, and St.
Francis, whose good honest face is turned towards
the spectator. The figures rise imposingly over the
low sky line, in part standing out against the open
air. In the composition we note once more how
the artist seeks to break the stiffness of the traditional
scheme by curves in the side-figures. The colour
effect of the whole must be wonderfully rich ; the
light is said to be that of the hour of sunset. Is it a
fortuitous resemblance, which the figure of St.
John shows to the one in Cima’s altar-piece for
the chapel of the Montini family in the Cathedral of
Parma (now in the Gallery there, executed according
to Dr. Rudolf Burckhardt about 15071) ?—for there
is a resemblance : compare the position, the move-
ment of the arms, the light and shade ; the left
hand of Montagna’s Baptist, with the light streaming
through it, again recalls the right one of Cima’s
Madonna. One could well think, that Montagna
on a visit to Venice paid a call on Cima, once his
pupil at Vicenza, saw in his studio the altar-piece
whilst turning her sweet, frank face to the spectator. The mass of
the ship—which seems slowly to yield to her vigorous efforts
—is highly decorative in effect. Two men, standing to the left of
Claudia, watch her with astonishment. The other panel represents a
marriage scene. Diameter of each, nJ in. Exhibition of Venetian
Art, New Gallery, 1894—95, No. 132 and 134. Berenson, op. cit.
1. 115 sq.
1 R. Burckhardt, op. cit. p. 61.
BARTOLOMEO MONTAGNA
It seems as if one would be right in classing with
these paintings one more with which I have not,
however, a first-hand acquaintance. The work I
am referring to is in the Palazzo Caregiani at Venice.
It shows the robust Madonna, solemnly seated, with
the Child in her lap, between St. John the Baptist
—a type of strong, savage male beauty—who looks
at the Infant Christ with deep emotion, and St.
Francis, whose good honest face is turned towards
the spectator. The figures rise imposingly over the
low sky line, in part standing out against the open
air. In the composition we note once more how
the artist seeks to break the stiffness of the traditional
scheme by curves in the side-figures. The colour
effect of the whole must be wonderfully rich ; the
light is said to be that of the hour of sunset. Is it a
fortuitous resemblance, which the figure of St.
John shows to the one in Cima’s altar-piece for
the chapel of the Montini family in the Cathedral of
Parma (now in the Gallery there, executed according
to Dr. Rudolf Burckhardt about 15071) ?—for there
is a resemblance : compare the position, the move-
ment of the arms, the light and shade ; the left
hand of Montagna’s Baptist, with the light streaming
through it, again recalls the right one of Cima’s
Madonna. One could well think, that Montagna
on a visit to Venice paid a call on Cima, once his
pupil at Vicenza, saw in his studio the altar-piece
whilst turning her sweet, frank face to the spectator. The mass of
the ship—which seems slowly to yield to her vigorous efforts
—is highly decorative in effect. Two men, standing to the left of
Claudia, watch her with astonishment. The other panel represents a
marriage scene. Diameter of each, nJ in. Exhibition of Venetian
Art, New Gallery, 1894—95, No. 132 and 134. Berenson, op. cit.
1. 115 sq.
1 R. Burckhardt, op. cit. p. 61.