DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61252#0215
INTRODUCTION.
171
the fine and popular print, by Cousins, if any engraving
could give the mingled gaiety, and brilliance, and softness
of colour, which charm us in this lovely group. I must
observe, however, that the little early picture of Wilkie is
not very good as a specimen. By Eastlake there is no
picture. There is a gorgeously beautiful composition by
Winterhalter, a repetition of his “ Decameron.”
But without dwelling further on isolated examples of
excellence, I must return to the Spanish pictures, and as
no other gallery in England to which I have as yet had
access, contains so many and various productions of this
school, I shall throw together here some observations on
Spanish art generally, and the Seville school particularly,
which may be referred to hereafter, when we have to speak
of Lord Lansdowne’s and Lord Ashburton’s Murillos.
The Spanish masters are divided into two schools, of
essentially different character—the school of Andalusia, or
of Seville, as it is usually styled, and that of Valencia. Of
the former, the principal painters are Velasquez, Murillo,
Zurbaran, and Alonzo Cano, (whose exquisite paintings
are rare, from his devotion to sculpture, in which he also
excelled,) the two Herreras, Carduccio, Castillo, &c. Of
the school of Valencia, are Juanes, called the Raphael of
Spain ; Ribalta; his pupil Ribera, (Il Spagnoletto,) &c.
Of these two schools, the first more exclusively lays
claim to the title of Spanish, its masters having rarely
quitted Spain; whereas the painters of the school of Va-
lencia were formed on the Italian models, and most of them
had studied in Italy.
There are in this collection, five pictures by Murillo,
one of which is justly classed with the master-pieces of
art; four by Francisco Zurbaran, the Caravaggio of the
Seville school—one of them singularly interesting; one by
Alonzo Cano; one, very fine and characteristic, by Ribera;
another, very interesting, attributed to Velasquez.
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171
the fine and popular print, by Cousins, if any engraving
could give the mingled gaiety, and brilliance, and softness
of colour, which charm us in this lovely group. I must
observe, however, that the little early picture of Wilkie is
not very good as a specimen. By Eastlake there is no
picture. There is a gorgeously beautiful composition by
Winterhalter, a repetition of his “ Decameron.”
But without dwelling further on isolated examples of
excellence, I must return to the Spanish pictures, and as
no other gallery in England to which I have as yet had
access, contains so many and various productions of this
school, I shall throw together here some observations on
Spanish art generally, and the Seville school particularly,
which may be referred to hereafter, when we have to speak
of Lord Lansdowne’s and Lord Ashburton’s Murillos.
The Spanish masters are divided into two schools, of
essentially different character—the school of Andalusia, or
of Seville, as it is usually styled, and that of Valencia. Of
the former, the principal painters are Velasquez, Murillo,
Zurbaran, and Alonzo Cano, (whose exquisite paintings
are rare, from his devotion to sculpture, in which he also
excelled,) the two Herreras, Carduccio, Castillo, &c. Of
the school of Valencia, are Juanes, called the Raphael of
Spain ; Ribalta; his pupil Ribera, (Il Spagnoletto,) &c.
Of these two schools, the first more exclusively lays
claim to the title of Spanish, its masters having rarely
quitted Spain; whereas the painters of the school of Va-
lencia were formed on the Italian models, and most of them
had studied in Italy.
There are in this collection, five pictures by Murillo,
one of which is justly classed with the master-pieces of
art; four by Francisco Zurbaran, the Caravaggio of the
Seville school—one of them singularly interesting; one by
Alonzo Cano; one, very fine and characteristic, by Ribera;
another, very interesting, attributed to Velasquez.
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