Studio: international art (5.1895)

Lorenzo Lotto

not consist in its Morellianism. It is valuable must be made, however, for the mention of a few
because it is the first book that, starting with points in the book which are both novel and
perfect assurance from the hard-won vantage important. It is worthy of remark that Mr.
ground of scientific connoisseurship, aims at some- Berenson adheres closely to a scientific arrange-
thing higher than mere connoisseurship or arclise- ment of his materials, and begins at once upon his
ology, which is yet not purely subjective criticism, chronological list of Lotto's works, thus putting
nor general cultured talk a propos of the artist and the reader in possession of all the data before he
his epoch. This book upon Lorenzo Lotto is the attempts to draw any conclusions. The first
first essay in what the author calls " constructive chapter describes Lotto's early works, from his
art criticism," and aims at nothing less than the earliest picture, Mr. Conway's Danae, painted a
psychological reconstruction of the artistic personality little before 1500, to the Hampton Court Bust oj a
of the painter. Man, dating from about 1509. The second

To discuss in any adequate way the actual con- chapter, perhaps the author's most valuable con-
tributions to our knowledge of Lotto, would take tribution to general history, contains the answer to
us far beyond the limits of this paper, seeing that the question, Who was Lotto's master? Alvise
this is the first attempt ever made to give a really Vivarini, is Mr. Berenson's somewhat startling
complete account of the career of this heretofore answer, for all previous writers have assigned him
too much neglected artist. We must therefore a place in the following of Giovanni Bellini. The
content ourselves for the most part with inquiring author, however, proceeds not only to demonstrate
into the results of this new method of criticism, his conclusion, point by point, but to reinstate the
which I will call the psychological method. Space school of the Vivarini in the Venice of the fifteenth

century, showing that it
rivalled the Bellini's school,
and attracted to it such
painters as Jacopo di Barbari,
Buonsignori, Montagna, and
Cima da Conegliano, who
were all the older fellow-pupils
of Lotto, and as such exercise
upon him a considerable in-
fluence, direct or indirect.
From this point the book takes
up again the chronological
account of Lotto's pictures,
mentioning, under its appro-
priate date, every fact relative
to him that can be drawn from
documents. Many of the most
important works of Lotto and
his master Alvise Vivarini are
reproduced in excellent photo-
gravure, in order to enable the
reader to verify for himself, by
actual comparison, most of the
statements made. Not the
least interesting sections of the
book are those devoted to the
influence upon Lotto's art of
such painters as Raphael,
Palma and Titian, and the
discussion of the connection
which has been supposed to
exist between Lotto and Cor-

" STUDY OF DRAPERY" BY M. L. XEW1LL regglO.

64