DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0054
EARLY PICTURES
pictures of the Madonna which alone give certain evidence of
the characteristics of his Perugian period. Both the ‘Madonna
Ansidei’ (Plate xn.) and the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio ’ (Plate
xiii.) are later than several paintings which must be dealt with, on
every ground, together with the pictures of the ‘ Florentine ’ period.
In some features the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio ’ definitely
betrays the influence of Florentine masters, but in general, both
in the types of the heads and the scheme of the groups,1 these
two altar-pieces remain fundamentally Peruginian work, and are
not only less advanced than the ‘Madonna del Granduca,’ but
even than the ‘ Sposalizio.’ This is not only observable in the
mechanical grouping, but also in the figures of the Madonna
and the Child and in the painting of the faces. The Madonna’s
head is bent awkwardly and without elasticity upon one side,
her face is of an extravagant oval, the eyelids are puffy, the
nose and upper lip scarcely indicated, while the cheeks and
features are represented without transition and consequently
without suggesting in any degree the structure of the head.
There is nothing here of the fluidity of painting which existed in
the ‘ Madonna del Granduca ’ or the heads of some of the
attendants in the ‘ Sposalizio ’; and, similarly, in the affected
posture of the hand in the ‘ Ansidei,’ the general stiffness of the
Madonna in both pictures and the tight and wine-skin-like texture
of tho-infants’ bodies, there is nothing to suggest that the painter
had already attained the comparative mastery of the two earlier
paintings.
These characteristics, however, all attach themselves to a
group of pictures of the Madonna which have been attributed to
Raphael, and must be, if they are his, works of a period earlier
than the ‘ Coronation ’ and the ‘ Sposalizio.’ These pictures have
in each case drawings associated with them which are attributed
1 It is generally assumed that the altar-piece by Bernardino di Mariotto (Perugia
Gallery, vii. 2) is later than the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio.’ See Crowe and Cavalcaselle,
i. p.122 n.
32
pictures of the Madonna which alone give certain evidence of
the characteristics of his Perugian period. Both the ‘Madonna
Ansidei’ (Plate xn.) and the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio ’ (Plate
xiii.) are later than several paintings which must be dealt with, on
every ground, together with the pictures of the ‘ Florentine ’ period.
In some features the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio ’ definitely
betrays the influence of Florentine masters, but in general, both
in the types of the heads and the scheme of the groups,1 these
two altar-pieces remain fundamentally Peruginian work, and are
not only less advanced than the ‘Madonna del Granduca,’ but
even than the ‘ Sposalizio.’ This is not only observable in the
mechanical grouping, but also in the figures of the Madonna
and the Child and in the painting of the faces. The Madonna’s
head is bent awkwardly and without elasticity upon one side,
her face is of an extravagant oval, the eyelids are puffy, the
nose and upper lip scarcely indicated, while the cheeks and
features are represented without transition and consequently
without suggesting in any degree the structure of the head.
There is nothing here of the fluidity of painting which existed in
the ‘ Madonna del Granduca ’ or the heads of some of the
attendants in the ‘ Sposalizio ’; and, similarly, in the affected
posture of the hand in the ‘ Ansidei,’ the general stiffness of the
Madonna in both pictures and the tight and wine-skin-like texture
of tho-infants’ bodies, there is nothing to suggest that the painter
had already attained the comparative mastery of the two earlier
paintings.
These characteristics, however, all attach themselves to a
group of pictures of the Madonna which have been attributed to
Raphael, and must be, if they are his, works of a period earlier
than the ‘ Coronation ’ and the ‘ Sposalizio.’ These pictures have
in each case drawings associated with them which are attributed
1 It is generally assumed that the altar-piece by Bernardino di Mariotto (Perugia
Gallery, vii. 2) is later than the ‘ Madonna di Sant’ Antonio.’ See Crowe and Cavalcaselle,
i. p.122 n.
32