DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61669#0190
HOLBEIN’S “AMBASSADORS
the striking impression made by Selve himself in his new sphere is
vividly reflected. As soon, says the writer, as he, Bunel, had set eyes
on him, concerning whose surpassing sanctity, learning, and bene-
volence he had heard such great things, and from so many persons, his
one thought became to obtain permission to remain near him. Never
did he receive holier nor sweeter counsel than from this bishop. Again,
when, at a later date, Bunel wearied of Italy and desired to return to
France, the single fact that lightened for him the term of waiting was
that he dwelt with a patron “whose disposition and conduct, as they
are of the most virtuous, so also are they gracious in a surpassing
degree; to whose manner of life there could cling not the very shadow
or suspicion of aught unseemly ; in whose every word and deed is
nought but gentleness. . . .” He goes on to speak of the bishop’s
“ astounding sagacity in the transacting of business, which doth surpass
both his years and the credence of all men, of his great learning in the
Greek tongue, of his wonderful eloquence. . . d’1 Such language may
contain for modern ears a ring of exaggeration. But it is necessary to
quote such passages in order to understand the extraordinary estimate
of the character and abilities of George de Selve entertained by all his
contemporaries.
What were his relations with the world of art ? Was it possible
to dwell at Venice when the fame of Titian was at its zenith, when the
frescoes jointly executed by him with Giorgione on the Fondaco dei
Tedeschi shone out in pristine freshness, undimmed, as yet, by the
hand of time and decay, when the beautifying of outward life was a
passion with all men, when most of those with whom the bishop lived
in daily intercourse, private or official, were enthusiastic patrons of art,
—was it possible, under such circumstances, to remain an uninterested
spectator ?
Indifferent so gifted and sensitive a man was surely not. But the
ascetic tendencies implanted in him by nature and deepened by rigorous
and persistent training, stood in sharp contrast to the luxurious vitality
of Venice. Outside the limits of that religious vocation which absorbed
1 “ Petri Bunelli Epistolae,” pp. 30 and 45.
160
the striking impression made by Selve himself in his new sphere is
vividly reflected. As soon, says the writer, as he, Bunel, had set eyes
on him, concerning whose surpassing sanctity, learning, and bene-
volence he had heard such great things, and from so many persons, his
one thought became to obtain permission to remain near him. Never
did he receive holier nor sweeter counsel than from this bishop. Again,
when, at a later date, Bunel wearied of Italy and desired to return to
France, the single fact that lightened for him the term of waiting was
that he dwelt with a patron “whose disposition and conduct, as they
are of the most virtuous, so also are they gracious in a surpassing
degree; to whose manner of life there could cling not the very shadow
or suspicion of aught unseemly ; in whose every word and deed is
nought but gentleness. . . .” He goes on to speak of the bishop’s
“ astounding sagacity in the transacting of business, which doth surpass
both his years and the credence of all men, of his great learning in the
Greek tongue, of his wonderful eloquence. . . d’1 Such language may
contain for modern ears a ring of exaggeration. But it is necessary to
quote such passages in order to understand the extraordinary estimate
of the character and abilities of George de Selve entertained by all his
contemporaries.
What were his relations with the world of art ? Was it possible
to dwell at Venice when the fame of Titian was at its zenith, when the
frescoes jointly executed by him with Giorgione on the Fondaco dei
Tedeschi shone out in pristine freshness, undimmed, as yet, by the
hand of time and decay, when the beautifying of outward life was a
passion with all men, when most of those with whom the bishop lived
in daily intercourse, private or official, were enthusiastic patrons of art,
—was it possible, under such circumstances, to remain an uninterested
spectator ?
Indifferent so gifted and sensitive a man was surely not. But the
ascetic tendencies implanted in him by nature and deepened by rigorous
and persistent training, stood in sharp contrast to the luxurious vitality
of Venice. Outside the limits of that religious vocation which absorbed
1 “ Petri Bunelli Epistolae,” pp. 30 and 45.
160