DOI Heft:
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DOI Artikel:Borenius, Tancred: An unpublished work by Alvise Vivarini
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27696#0534
AN UNPUBLISHED WORK BY ALYISE YIYARINI
BY TANCRED BORENIUS
Although Vasari — we do not know on what authority — has committed himself to
the statement that Alvise Vivarini was physically not a strong man (di mala com-
plessione) yet there exisls, as is well kriown, a fair number of works from his hand:
but it is a notable fact tliat the large majority of these are pictures of the Madonna
and Cliild with or without saints — compositions of a formal, ceremonious character,
with little or no part assigned to landscape as an element of the design. All the greater
is in consequence tlie interest which attaches to the picture of St. Jerome in his solitude
which we are enabled to publish by kind permission of its owner, Mr. Tomas Harris.
The composition is of the type -— so important in the early liistory of landscape
painting — wliich in Venetian Quattrocento painting we associate more particularly
with Cima da Conegliano and Basaiti; but the crisp metallic quality of form and co-
louring is eminently characteristic of Alvise Vivarini whose signature, moreover, appears
on the cartellino in the right foreground — “LVDVVICVS VIVA/RINVS PINXIT”. It
will be seen that the forni for his Christian name here affected by the artist is one
for whicli in other works he substitutes “ALVIXE” or “ALVIXIVS”: the forrn LUDO-
VICVS does occur, however, both on his early altarpiece of 1475 at Montefiorentino
in the Marches and on the much repainted Christ carrying the Cross in the Sacristy
of the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice.
It will be recalled that in the career of Alvise Vivarini liis great altarpiece of 1480
— painted for the church of San Francesco at Treviso and now in the Venice Academy —
marks a definite turning point inasmuch as it is a work in which the strictly Man-
tegnesque character of the Montefiorentino altarpiece has already given way to a
different conception of style resulting from the intervening influence of Antonello da
Messina. Since Mr. Harris’ picture on the one hand in many ways reminds us of the
formula of Mantegna and at the same time has evident links with the San Francesco
altarpiece (compare for instance the head of' St. Jerome with that of St. Joachim) we
can scarcely go wrong in assigning the present picture to the period between 1475
and 1480.
As to the original destination of the picture, there is no clue: from its modest size the
picture might easily have formed part of a predella, although it is to be remembered
that individual representations of St. Jerome of this character were by no means rare
in fifteenth century Venice. I can find no record of a predella by Alvise Vivarini con-
taining a figure of St. Jerome. Among the surviving altarpieces by Alvise there are
two containing figures of St. Jerome, namely, the examples No. 38 and 1165 in the
Berlin Museum: there is, however, nothing to prove that either of these contained a
predella, and Mr. Harris’ picture is besides definitely earlier than either of the Berlin
examples. It may be noted in this connection that the incident of St. Jerome and the
lion, so entertainingly interpreted by Carpaccio in his picture in the Scuola di San
Giorgio degli Schiavoni had also been illustrated by Alvise Vivarini in a picture in the
Scuola di San Girolamo at Venice known from an engraving published by Seroux
d’Agincourt but since lost.
The state of preservation of Mr. Harris’ panel is excellent and its discovery denotes a
very welcome extension of the ceuvre of Alvise Vivarini.
300
BY TANCRED BORENIUS
Although Vasari — we do not know on what authority — has committed himself to
the statement that Alvise Vivarini was physically not a strong man (di mala com-
plessione) yet there exisls, as is well kriown, a fair number of works from his hand:
but it is a notable fact tliat the large majority of these are pictures of the Madonna
and Cliild with or without saints — compositions of a formal, ceremonious character,
with little or no part assigned to landscape as an element of the design. All the greater
is in consequence tlie interest which attaches to the picture of St. Jerome in his solitude
which we are enabled to publish by kind permission of its owner, Mr. Tomas Harris.
The composition is of the type -— so important in the early liistory of landscape
painting — wliich in Venetian Quattrocento painting we associate more particularly
with Cima da Conegliano and Basaiti; but the crisp metallic quality of form and co-
louring is eminently characteristic of Alvise Vivarini whose signature, moreover, appears
on the cartellino in the right foreground — “LVDVVICVS VIVA/RINVS PINXIT”. It
will be seen that the forni for his Christian name here affected by the artist is one
for whicli in other works he substitutes “ALVIXE” or “ALVIXIVS”: the forrn LUDO-
VICVS does occur, however, both on his early altarpiece of 1475 at Montefiorentino
in the Marches and on the much repainted Christ carrying the Cross in the Sacristy
of the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice.
It will be recalled that in the career of Alvise Vivarini liis great altarpiece of 1480
— painted for the church of San Francesco at Treviso and now in the Venice Academy —
marks a definite turning point inasmuch as it is a work in which the strictly Man-
tegnesque character of the Montefiorentino altarpiece has already given way to a
different conception of style resulting from the intervening influence of Antonello da
Messina. Since Mr. Harris’ picture on the one hand in many ways reminds us of the
formula of Mantegna and at the same time has evident links with the San Francesco
altarpiece (compare for instance the head of' St. Jerome with that of St. Joachim) we
can scarcely go wrong in assigning the present picture to the period between 1475
and 1480.
As to the original destination of the picture, there is no clue: from its modest size the
picture might easily have formed part of a predella, although it is to be remembered
that individual representations of St. Jerome of this character were by no means rare
in fifteenth century Venice. I can find no record of a predella by Alvise Vivarini con-
taining a figure of St. Jerome. Among the surviving altarpieces by Alvise there are
two containing figures of St. Jerome, namely, the examples No. 38 and 1165 in the
Berlin Museum: there is, however, nothing to prove that either of these contained a
predella, and Mr. Harris’ picture is besides definitely earlier than either of the Berlin
examples. It may be noted in this connection that the incident of St. Jerome and the
lion, so entertainingly interpreted by Carpaccio in his picture in the Scuola di San
Giorgio degli Schiavoni had also been illustrated by Alvise Vivarini in a picture in the
Scuola di San Girolamo at Venice known from an engraving published by Seroux
d’Agincourt but since lost.
The state of preservation of Mr. Harris’ panel is excellent and its discovery denotes a
very welcome extension of the ceuvre of Alvise Vivarini.
300