DOI Heft:
No. 238 (January 1913)
DOI Artikel:Melani, Alfredo: The Layard collection in Venice
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21158#0325
The Layard Collection
HE LAYARD COLLECTION
IN VENICE. BY ALFREDO
MELANI.
Destined for the National Gallery in London
by a long-standing bequest of Sir Henry Layard,
the famous Assyriologist and Ambassador of his
Britannic Majesty at Constantinople, a diplomat
and a perfect gentleman, the Layard collection
in Venice has been justly considered as among
the most important private collections of “ La
Dominante,” and in Italy it ranks as one of the
most remarkable on account especially of five or
six works of the very first order which the National
Gallery will have reason to congratulate itself
upon possessing. These works comprise the Por-
trait of Mohammed II and the Adoration of the
Magi by Gentile Bellini, three Carpaccios, in par-
ticular that in which Saint
Ursula is depicted taking
leave of her parents, and a
Portrait of ati Unk?iow?i Man
formerly attributed to An-
tonello da Messina, but to-
day catalogued as a Luigi
Vivarini.
Besides these works, the
importance of which can in
no wise be questioned, the
Layard Collection contains a
series of pictures for the most
part of the Venetian school,
or, to speak more correctly,
of the schools of Venetia. So
we find Cima da Conegliano
side by side with Bartolom-
meo Montagna, the nervous
painter of Vicenza; here
Paris Bordone gives utterance
to his pictorial harmonies by
the side of Francesco Bon-
signori, the Veronese painter
who betrays the influence of
Mantegna in a group con-
sisting of the Madonna and
Child with various saints, the
Virgin and infant Jesus typify-
ing the maternal sentiment
most admirably; here also
we find represented Sebastian
Luciani, known as Sebastiano
del Piombo, of the Venetian
school, a pupil of Giambellino
and of Giorgione, and after-
, wards the friend of Michael Angelo; Jacopo dei
Barbari, who was influenced by Giambellino and
Antonello da Messina; Pierfrancesco Bissolo, the
pupil of Giambellino; and Andrea Previtali, another
pupil of the same Giambellino, all belonging to the
group of artists of Bergamo who, having established
themselves in Venice, contributed to the progress
of art in that city.
Of eclectic taste, Sir Henry Layard did not by
any means confine his acquisitions solely to the
schools of Venetia; he extended his range con-
siderably, and the more so because it was not his
wish merely to create a gallery, but rather to pro-
vide himself with a refined home. This it is that
gives to his mansion, the Palazzo Cappello on the
Grand Canal, its smiling, cheerful, and even modern
aspect, notwithstanding the presence of pictures of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and numerous
MOHAMMED II
(Photo. Alinari)
BY GENTILE BELLINI
303
HE LAYARD COLLECTION
IN VENICE. BY ALFREDO
MELANI.
Destined for the National Gallery in London
by a long-standing bequest of Sir Henry Layard,
the famous Assyriologist and Ambassador of his
Britannic Majesty at Constantinople, a diplomat
and a perfect gentleman, the Layard collection
in Venice has been justly considered as among
the most important private collections of “ La
Dominante,” and in Italy it ranks as one of the
most remarkable on account especially of five or
six works of the very first order which the National
Gallery will have reason to congratulate itself
upon possessing. These works comprise the Por-
trait of Mohammed II and the Adoration of the
Magi by Gentile Bellini, three Carpaccios, in par-
ticular that in which Saint
Ursula is depicted taking
leave of her parents, and a
Portrait of ati Unk?iow?i Man
formerly attributed to An-
tonello da Messina, but to-
day catalogued as a Luigi
Vivarini.
Besides these works, the
importance of which can in
no wise be questioned, the
Layard Collection contains a
series of pictures for the most
part of the Venetian school,
or, to speak more correctly,
of the schools of Venetia. So
we find Cima da Conegliano
side by side with Bartolom-
meo Montagna, the nervous
painter of Vicenza; here
Paris Bordone gives utterance
to his pictorial harmonies by
the side of Francesco Bon-
signori, the Veronese painter
who betrays the influence of
Mantegna in a group con-
sisting of the Madonna and
Child with various saints, the
Virgin and infant Jesus typify-
ing the maternal sentiment
most admirably; here also
we find represented Sebastian
Luciani, known as Sebastiano
del Piombo, of the Venetian
school, a pupil of Giambellino
and of Giorgione, and after-
, wards the friend of Michael Angelo; Jacopo dei
Barbari, who was influenced by Giambellino and
Antonello da Messina; Pierfrancesco Bissolo, the
pupil of Giambellino; and Andrea Previtali, another
pupil of the same Giambellino, all belonging to the
group of artists of Bergamo who, having established
themselves in Venice, contributed to the progress
of art in that city.
Of eclectic taste, Sir Henry Layard did not by
any means confine his acquisitions solely to the
schools of Venetia; he extended his range con-
siderably, and the more so because it was not his
wish merely to create a gallery, but rather to pro-
vide himself with a refined home. This it is that
gives to his mansion, the Palazzo Cappello on the
Grand Canal, its smiling, cheerful, and even modern
aspect, notwithstanding the presence of pictures of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and numerous
MOHAMMED II
(Photo. Alinari)
BY GENTILE BELLINI
303