DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0090
THE ART OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD
tendencies in others. This irregularity is best illustrated by an
analysis of two works, one of which has already been touched
upon in illustration of the Perugian manner, although its date
proves it to be posterior to much that is classed as Florentine,
while the other is connected with Perugia by the evidence of
two drawings.
Of the ‘ Madonna Ansidei ’ of the National Gallery (Plate xn.),
it is safe to say that it contains nothing which can be definitely
described as Florentine, since even the most diligent investigators
of foreign influences upon Raphael (Crowe and Cavalcaselle)
can discover nothing in it of Tuscan influence save in the
colour and the larger scantling of the frame, the height of the
Virgin’s brows and the better sweep of the Virgin’s drapery
which, nevertheless, they attribute in the same breath to the
hand of an inferior disciple. From the imperfect combination
of the figures, with the parallel inclination of their four heads,
to the sleek and glass-like surface of the Baby’s skin, everything
in the picture proclaims the studio of Perugino. The head of the
Virgin is hard and conventional, elongated and structureless; the
features are merely drawn in, the nose little more than a thin bar,
the eyelids heavy and solid, the mouth independent of the cheek
and without expression. Like so many Quattrocento heads, it is
a mere sketch, impossible to imagine in profile or in any other
position, an indication for the imagination of the faithful, no reali-
sation of a physical fact. The rhythm of the head, neck, arm, and
hand is angular and contorted; the drapery casual. The Infant
Christ is a conglomeration of paunchy curves, as structureless as
it is monotonous in surface. The two Saints, St. John and St.
Nicholas, only manage to stand upon their legs because the
draperies hide the greater part of their bodies, and the St. John
is posed with an affectation of the limb winch is the strict
counterpart of the mechanical ecstasy of his glance.
These are the vices of the Perugian School. The picture also
possesses the virtues. A noble architectural setting and a digni-
68
tendencies in others. This irregularity is best illustrated by an
analysis of two works, one of which has already been touched
upon in illustration of the Perugian manner, although its date
proves it to be posterior to much that is classed as Florentine,
while the other is connected with Perugia by the evidence of
two drawings.
Of the ‘ Madonna Ansidei ’ of the National Gallery (Plate xn.),
it is safe to say that it contains nothing which can be definitely
described as Florentine, since even the most diligent investigators
of foreign influences upon Raphael (Crowe and Cavalcaselle)
can discover nothing in it of Tuscan influence save in the
colour and the larger scantling of the frame, the height of the
Virgin’s brows and the better sweep of the Virgin’s drapery
which, nevertheless, they attribute in the same breath to the
hand of an inferior disciple. From the imperfect combination
of the figures, with the parallel inclination of their four heads,
to the sleek and glass-like surface of the Baby’s skin, everything
in the picture proclaims the studio of Perugino. The head of the
Virgin is hard and conventional, elongated and structureless; the
features are merely drawn in, the nose little more than a thin bar,
the eyelids heavy and solid, the mouth independent of the cheek
and without expression. Like so many Quattrocento heads, it is
a mere sketch, impossible to imagine in profile or in any other
position, an indication for the imagination of the faithful, no reali-
sation of a physical fact. The rhythm of the head, neck, arm, and
hand is angular and contorted; the drapery casual. The Infant
Christ is a conglomeration of paunchy curves, as structureless as
it is monotonous in surface. The two Saints, St. John and St.
Nicholas, only manage to stand upon their legs because the
draperies hide the greater part of their bodies, and the St. John
is posed with an affectation of the limb winch is the strict
counterpart of the mechanical ecstasy of his glance.
These are the vices of the Perugian School. The picture also
possesses the virtues. A noble architectural setting and a digni-
68