The Madonna in Art | Page 6

among them all, Raphael and Pinturicchio took the lead.
These were the two who honored their master by repeating, with

modifications of their own, the beautiful composition of the Vatican.
Pinturicchio's picture is in the Church of St. Andrea, at Perugia. A
charming feature, which he introduced, is a little St. John, standing at
the foot of the throne. Raphael's picture is the so-called Ansidei
Madonna, of the National Gallery, London, purchased by the English
government, in 1885, for the fabulous price of £72,000. The
composition is here reduced to its simplest possible form, with only one
saint on each side,--St. Nicholas on the right, St. John the Baptist on the
left. The Virgin and child give no attention to these personages, but are
absorbed in a book which is open on the Mother's knee.
Raphael had no great liking for this style of picture, which was rather
too formal for his taste. It is noticeable that, in the few instances where
he painted it, he took the suggestion, as here, from some previous work.
Thus his Madonna of St. Anthony, also in the National Gallery (loaned
by the King of Naples), was based upon an old picture by Bernardino di
Mariotto, according to the strict orders of the nuns for whose convent it
was a commission. The Baldacchino Madonna of the Pitti, at Florence,
is closely akin to Bartolommeo's composition in the same gallery.
Glancing, briefly, at these scattered examples, we learn that the
enthroned Madonna belongs to every school of Italian art, and exhibits
an astonishing variety of forms. Probably it was in the North of Italy
that it flourished most. The Paduan School has its fine representation in
Mantegna's picture, already referred to; the Brescian, in Moretto's
Madonna of S. Clemente; the Veronese, in Girolamo dai Libri's
splendid altar piece in San Giorgio Maggiore; the Bergamesque, in
Lotto's Madonna of S. Bartolommeo. Above all, it was in Venice, the
Queen City of the Adriatic, that the enthroned Madonna reached the
greatest popularity: the spirit of the composition was peculiarly adapted
to the Venetian love of pomp and ceremony.
To understand Venetian art aright, we must distinguish the character of
the earlier and later periods. With Vivarini, Bellini, and Cima, the
Madonna in Trono was the expression of a devout religious feeling.
With Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, it was merely one among many
popular art subjects. Thus arose two different general types. The earlier

Madonna was a somewhat cold type of beauty; the faultless regularity
of her features and the imperturbable calm of her expression make her
rather unapproachable; but she shows a strong, sweet purity of
character, worthy of profound respect.
One of Cima's most important works is the Madonna of this type in the
Venice Academy. High on a marble throne, she sits under a pillared
portico, behind which stretches a pleasant landscape. Three saints stand
on each side,--an old man, a youth, and a maiden. On the steps sit two
choristers playing the violin and mandolin.
Palma's great altar-piece, at Vicenza, is another splendid enthroned
Madonna. Attended by St. George and St. Lucy, and entertained by a
musical angel seated at her feet, the Virgin supports her beautiful boy,
as he gives his blessing.
Bellini's enthroned Madonnas are known throughout the world. The
picture by which he established his fame was one of this class,
originally painted for a chapel in San Giobbe, but now hanging in the
Venice Academy. Ruskin has pronounced it "one of the greatest
pictures ever painted in Christendom in her central art power." It is a
large composition, with three saints at each side, and three choristers
below.
The Frari Madonna is in a simpler vein, and consists of three
compartments, the central one containing the Virgin's throne. The
angioletti, on the steps, are probably the most popular of their charming
class in Venice.
[Illustration: GIOVANNI BELLINI.--MADONNA OF SAN
ZACCARIA. (DETAIL.)]
The San Zaccaria Madonna was painted when Bellini was over eighty
years old, and has certain technical qualities surpassing any the artist
had previously attained. The depth of light and shade is particularly
remarkable; the colors rich and harmonious. The attendant saints are St.
Lucy on the right, a pretty blonde girl, with St. Jerome beyond her,
absorbed in his Bible; opposite, stand St. Catherine, pensively looking

down, and St. Peter, in profound meditation. The entire picture, both in
conception and execution, may be considered a representative example
of the times.
Following the Bellini school, and forming, as it were, a connecting link
between the earlier and the later art, was Giorgione. Less than a score
of existing works give witness to the rare spirit of this master, who was
spared to earth only thirty-four years. These are of a quality to place
him among the immortals. The enthroned Madonna is the