DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0168
164
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
which he treated not exactly in a classical spirit,
but with great boldness and fire, both in conception
and execution. He did not excel in religious sub-
jects : if he had to paint the Virgin, he gave her
the air and form of a commanding Juno ; if a
Saviour, he was like a Roman emperor ; the
apostles in his pictures are like heathen philo-
sophers ; but when he had to deal with gods and
Titans he was in his element.
For four years after the death of Raphael he
was chiefly occupied in completing his master’s
unfinished works ; at the end of that time he went
to Mantua and entered the service of the Duke
Gonzaga, as painter and architect. He designed
for him a splendid palace called the Palazzo del Te,
which he decorated with frescoes in a grand but
coarse style. In one saloon he represented Jupiter
vanquishing the giants ; in another, the history of
Psyche : everywhere we see great luxuriance of
fancy, wonderful power of drawing, and a bold
large style of treatment; but great coarseness of
imagination, red heavy colouring, and a pagan
rather than a classical taste.
In character, Giulio Romano was a man of ge-
nerous mind ; princely in his style of living ; an
accomplished courtier, yet commanding respect by
a lofty sense of his own dignity as an artist. He
amassed great riches in the service of the Duke
Gonzaga, and spent his life at Mantua : his most
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
which he treated not exactly in a classical spirit,
but with great boldness and fire, both in conception
and execution. He did not excel in religious sub-
jects : if he had to paint the Virgin, he gave her
the air and form of a commanding Juno ; if a
Saviour, he was like a Roman emperor ; the
apostles in his pictures are like heathen philo-
sophers ; but when he had to deal with gods and
Titans he was in his element.
For four years after the death of Raphael he
was chiefly occupied in completing his master’s
unfinished works ; at the end of that time he went
to Mantua and entered the service of the Duke
Gonzaga, as painter and architect. He designed
for him a splendid palace called the Palazzo del Te,
which he decorated with frescoes in a grand but
coarse style. In one saloon he represented Jupiter
vanquishing the giants ; in another, the history of
Psyche : everywhere we see great luxuriance of
fancy, wonderful power of drawing, and a bold
large style of treatment; but great coarseness of
imagination, red heavy colouring, and a pagan
rather than a classical taste.
In character, Giulio Romano was a man of ge-
nerous mind ; princely in his style of living ; an
accomplished courtier, yet commanding respect by
a lofty sense of his own dignity as an artist. He
amassed great riches in the service of the Duke
Gonzaga, and spent his life at Mantua : his most