Fra Bartolommeo | Page 2

of the study of art is the evolution of the work of the artist-monk as he came under the influence of the more dramatic modern and frankly sensational work of Raphael, of the Venetians and of Michelangelo. In this case (many will say in that of the art of the world) this tendency detracted rather than helped the work. The draperies, the dramatic poses, the artistic sensation arrests the mind at the surface of the picture. It is indeed strange that this devout churchman should have succumbed to the temptation, and there are moments when one suspects that his somewhat spectacular pietism disguised the spirit of one whose mind had little to do with the mysticism of the mediaeval church. Or perhaps it was that the strange friendship between him and Albertinelli, the man of the cloister and the man of the world, effected some alchemy in the mind of each. The story of that lifelong friendship, strong enough to overcome the difficulties of a definite partnership between the strict life of the monastery and the busy life of the _bottega_, is one of the most fascinating in art history.
Mr. Leader Scott has in all three lives the opportunity for fascinating studies, and his book presents them to us with much of the flavour of the period in which they lived. Perhaps to-day we should incline to modify his acceptance of the Vasari attitude to Lucrezia, especially since he himself tends to withdraw the charges against her, but leaves her as the villainess of the piece upon very little evidence. The inclusion of a chapter upon Ghirlandajo, treated merely as a follower of Fra Bartolommeo, scarcely does justice in modern eyes to this fine artist, whose own day and generation did him such honour and paid him so well. But the author's general conclusions as to the place in art and the significance of the lives of the three painters with whom he is chiefly concerned remains unchallenged, and we have in the volume a necessary study to place alongside those of Leonardo, of Michelangelo and of Raphael for an understanding of the culmination of the Renaissance in Italy.
HORACE SHIPP.

CONTENTS.
FRA BARTOLOMMEO.
CHAPTER
I. THOUGHTS ON THE RENAISSANCE II. THE "BOTTEGA" OF COSIMO ROSELLI. A.D. 1475-1486 III. THE GARDEN AND THE CLOISTER. A.D. 1487-1495 IV. SAN MARCO. A.D. 1496-1500 V. FRA BARTOLOMMEO IN THE CONVENT. A.D. 1504-1509 VI. ALBERTINELLI IN THE WORLD. A.D. 1501-1510 VII. CONVENT PARTNERSHIP. A.D. 1510-1513 VIII. CLOSE OF LIFE. A.D. 1514-1517 IX. PART I.--SCHOLARS OF FRA BARTOLOMMEO PART II.--SCHOLARS OF MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI X. RIDOLFO GHIRLANDAJO
ANDREA DEL SARTO.
CHAPTER I
. YOUTH AND EARLY WORKS. A.D. 1487-1511 II. THE SERVITE CLOISTER. A.D. 1511-1512 III. SOCIAL LIFE AND MARRIAGE. A.D. 1511-1516 IV. WORKS IN FLORENCE. A.D. 1511-1515 V. GOING TO FRANCE. A.D. 1518-1519 VI. ANDREA AND OTTAVIANO DE' MEDICI. A.D. 1521-1523 VII. THE PLAGUE AND THE SIEGE. A.D. 1525-1531 VIII. SCHOLARS OF ANDREA DEL SARTO
BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ADORATION. By BARTOLOMMEO PROCESSION TO CALVARY. By GHIRLANDAIO A SCULPTOR. By ANDREA DEL SARTO MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SS. JOHN AND ELIZABETH. By ANDREA DEL SARTO THE HOLY FAMILY. By BARTOLOMMEO THE SAVIOUR. By ALBERTINELLI VIRGIN AND CHILD. By ANDREA DEL SARTO ECCE HOMO. By BARTOLOMMEO

FRA BARTOLOMMEO.
CHAPTER I
.
THOUGHTS ON THE RENAISSANCE.
It seems to be a law of nature that progress, as well as time, should be marked by periods of alternate light and darkness--day and night.
This law is nowhere more apparent than in the history of Art. Three times has the world been illuminated by the full brilliance of Art, and three times has a corresponding period of darkness ensued.
The first day dawned in Egypt and Assyria, and its works lie buried in the tombs of prehistoric Pharaohs and Ninevite kings. The second day the sun rose on the shores of many-isled Greece, and shed its rays over Etruria and Rome, and ere it set, temples and palaces were flooded with beauty. The gods had taken human form, and were come to dwell with men.
The third day arising in Italy, lit up the whole western world with the glow of colour and fervour, and its fading rays light us yet.
The first period was that of mythic art; the world like a child wondering at all around tried to express in myths the truths it could not comprehend.
The second was pagan art which satisfies itself that in expressing the perfection of humanity, it unfolds divinity. The third era of Christian art, conscious that the divine lies beyond the human, fails in aspiring to express infinitude.
Tracing one of these periods from its rise, how truly this similitude of the dawn of day is carried out. See at the first streak of light how dim, stiff, and soulless all things appear! Trees and objects bear precisely the relation to their own appearance in broad daylight as the wooden Madonnas