Chapter VI

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE. The indispensable books are, for leading ideas, J. C. Burckhardt, _Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy_, New York, 1890; for the stylistic development in Art, H. Wölfflin, _The Art of the Italian Renaissance_, New York, 1913. Very valuable for history and biography are J. Addington Symonds’s _The Renaissance in Italy_, 5 Vols., London; and H. O. Taylor’s _Thought and Expression in the Sixteenth Century_, New York, 1920. For Renaissance ideals of nobility and moderation the capital contemporary work is _Il Cortegiano_, by Baldassare Castiglione, translated as _The Courtier_ by L. E. Opdycke, New York, 1905. For stylistic analysis Berenson’s introductions to _Florentine Painters_, and to _Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance_, are suggestive and important.

Footnote 61:

_Gentile da Fabriano._ A. Colasanti, _Gentile da Fabriano_. Bergamo,
1909. Also my Essay review. _The Nation_, Vol. 89 (1909) pp. 168–170.

Footnote 62:

_Andrea da Bologna._ _The Nation_ (N. Y.) Vol. 95. (1912) p. 392.

Footnote 63:

_Fifteenth Century Umbrians._ Walter Rothes, in _Anfänge ... der
Alt-Umbrischen Malerschulen_, Strassburg, 1908, gives excellent
illustrations for the Early Umbrian Artists. Also for cuts, U. Gnoli,
_La Mostra Umbra_, Bergamo.

Footnote 64:

_Melozzo da Forlì._ A. Schmarsow, _Melozzo da Forlì_, Berlin, 1886,
and C. Ricci, _Melozzo da Forlì_, Rome, 1911, are the standard works.

Footnote 65:

_Luca Signorelli._ Maud Crutwell, _Luca Signorelli_, London, 1901. See
Venturi, vii, as usual.

Footnote 66:

_Pietro Perugino._ Venturi, _Storia_, Vol. VII, pt. 2, ch. v, makes
Perugino the direct pupil of Piero della Francesca, ascribing to
Perugino many pictures formerly ascribed to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. The
view while attractive is not wholly convincing to me. All of
Perugino’s works are published in _Klassiker der Kunst_, No. XXV,
Stuttgart, 1914. The best general estimate of Perugino is that of
Wölfflin and of Berenson, in _Central Italian Painters_.

Footnote 67:

The _Cambio_ frescoes. While it is inherently likely that Raphael
worked on these frescoes, Prof. Venturi’s plea for Raphael’s
authorship of God, the Prophets and Sibyls, _Storia_, Vol. VII, pt. 2,
p. 828 _ff._ depends largely on the shaky evidence of drawings
attributed arbitrarily to Raphael.

RAPHAEL AND MICHELANGELO. From the point of view of pure style the
best treatment of these artists and of the High Renaissance is that of
Heinrich Wölfflin in _The Art of the Italian Renaissance_, New York,
1913. It is a book that every student should read and if possible own.
Mr. Berenson’s treatment of space composition, in the introduction to
_Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance_, is perhaps his finest
achievement in criticism.

Footnote 68:

_Raphael._ Hermann Grimm’s two volume _Life of Raphael_ is still
valuable for background. Among the numerous popular books in English
none is outstanding. Henry Strachey’s _Raphael_, in “Great Masters of
Art,” is good, and so are Julia Cartwright’s two monographs: _The
Early Work of Raphael_ and _Raphael in Rome_, in the _Portfolio
Series_, London, 1895.

For Raphael’s participation in the frescoes of the Cambio it
seems to me that Professor Venturi, in _Storia dell’ Arte Italiana_,
Vol. VII, part 2, makes out only a plausible case.

Reproductions of all of Raphael’s works in _Klassiker der
Kunst_, No. I., _Raphael_, Stuttgart and Leipzig.

Among the innumerable essays on Raphael none is more
understanding than John La Farge’s, in _Great Masters_, New York,
1903.

Footnote 69:

_Michelangelo._ The best source for the study of Michelangelo,
painter, is the superb plates in Ernst Steinmann’s _Die Sixtinische
Cappelle_, Munich, 1901. Among recent short biographies that of
Charles Holroyd, _Michelangelo_, London and New York, 1911 and Romain
Rolland (a longer study, _The Life of Michelangelo_, New York, 1912; a
different and shorter work, _Michelangelo, a Study, &c._, New York,
1915) are perhaps the best. The two volume biographies by Hermann
Grimm and by J. Addington Symonds are valuable, especially for
historical background. But the reader may be wise to content himself
with one of the brief biographies and such contemporary lives as
Vasari’s, Ascanio Condivi’s, and Francesco d’Olanda’s. The two latter
are translated in Holroyd’s book. The drawings of Michelangelo are
admirably discussed and presented in a perfect selection by Mr.
Berenson in _The Drawings of the Florentine Painters_. The drawings
are chronologically arranged and beautifully reproduced by Karl Frey,
_Die Handzeichnungen Michelangelo’s_, 2 vols., Berlin, 1911. W. R.
Valentiner treats _The Late Years of Michelangelo_ (New York, 1914)
with insight, devoting himself chiefly to the more finished drawings.
For a brief yet comprehensive survey, John La Farge in _Great
Masters_, New York, 1903. The works are completely reproduced in
_Klassiker der Kunst_, No. VII. _Michelangelo_, Stuttgart and Leipzig.