DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61668#0051
HIS PLACE IN FLORENTINE ART 27
In these latter, moreover, the energy of his work so
dominates the picture, that the mind, concentrated on
the parts executed by him, ignores the rest. For
example, in the best known and most popular of their
joint paintings—the S. Sebastian of the National
Gallery—two figures only, out of the foreground group
of seven, are painted by Antonio—the archers stooping
to load their bows. Yet these two so dominate the
scene that they are the picture. From Vasari onward
no critic has troubled to analyse the rest, which are
mere puppets without life or action. The energy by
which the altar-piece takes rank among the greatest
masterpieces, is concentrated in these superb figures, in
which strength and effort are focussed to a higher degree
than in actual life, and the feeble brushwork of Piero
escapes notice.
To criticise on an equality the works of men so
different is impossible. The ties of blood alone connect
Piero with Antonio. That he had a share in some
paintings, designed and partly executed by his brother,
makes a slight sketch of his development unavoidable,
but the following study is devoted chiefly to Antonio,
the great scientific Master of Italian Art, the main
influence by which it was brought to perfection in the
work of Michelangelo.
From the days of Giotto, Florentine Art had been
steadily progressing towards realism, and breaking with
the traditions of symbolism set by early Christian painters
and mosaic-workers. Through the impulse given by
In these latter, moreover, the energy of his work so
dominates the picture, that the mind, concentrated on
the parts executed by him, ignores the rest. For
example, in the best known and most popular of their
joint paintings—the S. Sebastian of the National
Gallery—two figures only, out of the foreground group
of seven, are painted by Antonio—the archers stooping
to load their bows. Yet these two so dominate the
scene that they are the picture. From Vasari onward
no critic has troubled to analyse the rest, which are
mere puppets without life or action. The energy by
which the altar-piece takes rank among the greatest
masterpieces, is concentrated in these superb figures, in
which strength and effort are focussed to a higher degree
than in actual life, and the feeble brushwork of Piero
escapes notice.
To criticise on an equality the works of men so
different is impossible. The ties of blood alone connect
Piero with Antonio. That he had a share in some
paintings, designed and partly executed by his brother,
makes a slight sketch of his development unavoidable,
but the following study is devoted chiefly to Antonio,
the great scientific Master of Italian Art, the main
influence by which it was brought to perfection in the
work of Michelangelo.
From the days of Giotto, Florentine Art had been
steadily progressing towards realism, and breaking with
the traditions of symbolism set by early Christian painters
and mosaic-workers. Through the impulse given by