DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0152
126
OLD WORLD MASTERS
most of his life at Ascoli, but neither restriction of subject and feeling,
nor provincial residence, could fetter his genius. There is, indeed, no
artist of more striking individuality than Carlo Crivelli, no one who
had more complete mastery over his means of expression, or attained
more nearly to his ideal. This ideal was not the ‘ beau ideal ’—that is
to say, the perfection of physical beauty—it was an ideal of character,
the embodiment of the essential qualities of his subject. One cannot
help regarding Crivelli as a man of knowledge and intellect, of charm-
ing manners, refined almost to fastidiousness, delighting in all things
dainty and beautiful, a lover of animals and of his kind.”
This picture, an oil painting on panel (38 x 17 inches), came from
the Benson Collection, having been previously in the Collection of
Mr. G. H. Marland (sold in 1863), and in the Collection of Mr. William
Graham (sold in 1886). The Virgin, a small full-length figure, is seated
on a red and white marble throne, wearing a pale-red robe and a gold
brocade mantle lined with green carried up over the head, which is
adorned with a white veil. The Holy Child, standing on her lap, has
on a gold dress and a white sash. Behind these two figures there is a
hanging of pale-red, watered silk and behind the throne again there is
a gold hanging with the pomegranate pattern. The Holy Child turns
to the right in the act of blessing. On the step of the throne, which has
a conspicuous crack, two pears * are lying; and they have attracted
* “In the north of Italy garlands of fruit took the place of votive flowers. In pictures of
Florentine origin, when the Madonna holds a single rose, she is represented as the Madonna
del Fiore—Our Lady of the Flower—to whom the Cathedral at Florence was dedicated.
“Fruits in general symbolized the fruits of the spirit, or a votive offering, or were often used
purely for decorative purposes. The cherries which the Angels offer to the Child are the fruit
of Heaven, typifying the delights of the blessed. In a picture by Memling in the Uffizi, the
Child holds in one hand a cluster of cherries—the fruit of Paradise—while with the other He
reaches out for the apple offered Him by an Angel. This typifies His relinquishment of heavenly
joys and His taking upon Himself the sin of the world.
“The apple and the gourd were often painted together by artists, notably Crivelli. The use
of the gourd dates back to the wall-pictures in the catacombs, where Jonah was represented
as the type of the Risen Christ and the gourd as the symbol of the Resurrection. As the apple
was the fruit of Eden which brought sin into the world, so the gourd represented the Resur-
rection which saved the world from the consequences of its sin. In early pictures the apple
sometimes represents the fruit of Paradise, which the King of Heaven brings down to earth
with Him. In general, however, it is used as the symbol of the sin of the world which Christ
takes upon Himself.”—Mediceval and Renaissance Paintings (Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge,
1927)-
OLD WORLD MASTERS
most of his life at Ascoli, but neither restriction of subject and feeling,
nor provincial residence, could fetter his genius. There is, indeed, no
artist of more striking individuality than Carlo Crivelli, no one who
had more complete mastery over his means of expression, or attained
more nearly to his ideal. This ideal was not the ‘ beau ideal ’—that is
to say, the perfection of physical beauty—it was an ideal of character,
the embodiment of the essential qualities of his subject. One cannot
help regarding Crivelli as a man of knowledge and intellect, of charm-
ing manners, refined almost to fastidiousness, delighting in all things
dainty and beautiful, a lover of animals and of his kind.”
This picture, an oil painting on panel (38 x 17 inches), came from
the Benson Collection, having been previously in the Collection of
Mr. G. H. Marland (sold in 1863), and in the Collection of Mr. William
Graham (sold in 1886). The Virgin, a small full-length figure, is seated
on a red and white marble throne, wearing a pale-red robe and a gold
brocade mantle lined with green carried up over the head, which is
adorned with a white veil. The Holy Child, standing on her lap, has
on a gold dress and a white sash. Behind these two figures there is a
hanging of pale-red, watered silk and behind the throne again there is
a gold hanging with the pomegranate pattern. The Holy Child turns
to the right in the act of blessing. On the step of the throne, which has
a conspicuous crack, two pears * are lying; and they have attracted
* “In the north of Italy garlands of fruit took the place of votive flowers. In pictures of
Florentine origin, when the Madonna holds a single rose, she is represented as the Madonna
del Fiore—Our Lady of the Flower—to whom the Cathedral at Florence was dedicated.
“Fruits in general symbolized the fruits of the spirit, or a votive offering, or were often used
purely for decorative purposes. The cherries which the Angels offer to the Child are the fruit
of Heaven, typifying the delights of the blessed. In a picture by Memling in the Uffizi, the
Child holds in one hand a cluster of cherries—the fruit of Paradise—while with the other He
reaches out for the apple offered Him by an Angel. This typifies His relinquishment of heavenly
joys and His taking upon Himself the sin of the world.
“The apple and the gourd were often painted together by artists, notably Crivelli. The use
of the gourd dates back to the wall-pictures in the catacombs, where Jonah was represented
as the type of the Risen Christ and the gourd as the symbol of the Resurrection. As the apple
was the fruit of Eden which brought sin into the world, so the gourd represented the Resur-
rection which saved the world from the consequences of its sin. In early pictures the apple
sometimes represents the fruit of Paradise, which the King of Heaven brings down to earth
with Him. In general, however, it is used as the symbol of the sin of the world which Christ
takes upon Himself.”—Mediceval and Renaissance Paintings (Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge,
1927)-