DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0070
66
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
in executing small pictures from celebrated cartoons
of Michael Angelo; and the diminutive size, and
soft, neat, delicate execution, form a singular con-
trast with the sublimity of the composition and the
grand massive drawing of the figures. One of
these subjects is the Virgin seated at the foot of
the Cross, holding on her lap the dead Redeemer,
whose arms are supported by two angels : innume-
rable duplicates and engravings exist of this com-
position (one exquisite example is in the Queen’s
gallery in Buckingham Palace) ; also of the Christ
on the Cross, with the Virgin and St. John stand-
ing and two angels looking out of the sky behind,
with an expression of intense anguish : (one of
these, a very fine example, was lately sold in the
Lucca gallery). Another is II Silenzio, The
Silence; the Virgin is represented with the infant
Christ lying across her knee, with his arm hanging-
down ; she has a book in one hand: behind her
on one side is the young St. John in the panther’s
skin, with his finger on his lips; on the other, St.
Joseph. The Annunciation, in which the figure
of the Virgin is particularly majestic, is a fourth.
Copies of these subjects, with trifling variations,
are to be found in many galleries, and the engrav-
ings of all are in the British Museum.
Sebastian del Piombo was another artist who
painted under the direction and from the cartoons
of Michael Angelo, and the most famous example
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
in executing small pictures from celebrated cartoons
of Michael Angelo; and the diminutive size, and
soft, neat, delicate execution, form a singular con-
trast with the sublimity of the composition and the
grand massive drawing of the figures. One of
these subjects is the Virgin seated at the foot of
the Cross, holding on her lap the dead Redeemer,
whose arms are supported by two angels : innume-
rable duplicates and engravings exist of this com-
position (one exquisite example is in the Queen’s
gallery in Buckingham Palace) ; also of the Christ
on the Cross, with the Virgin and St. John stand-
ing and two angels looking out of the sky behind,
with an expression of intense anguish : (one of
these, a very fine example, was lately sold in the
Lucca gallery). Another is II Silenzio, The
Silence; the Virgin is represented with the infant
Christ lying across her knee, with his arm hanging-
down ; she has a book in one hand: behind her
on one side is the young St. John in the panther’s
skin, with his finger on his lips; on the other, St.
Joseph. The Annunciation, in which the figure
of the Virgin is particularly majestic, is a fourth.
Copies of these subjects, with trifling variations,
are to be found in many galleries, and the engrav-
ings of all are in the British Museum.
Sebastian del Piombo was another artist who
painted under the direction and from the cartoons
of Michael Angelo, and the most famous example