{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50843/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50843","id":"gutenberg_50843","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50843","summary":null,"tags":["Angels in art","Category: Art","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","The Mentor"],"text":"The Mentor Vol. 1 No. 40,\n\nANGELS IN ART\n\nBy JOHN C. VAN DYKE\n\n_Professor of the History of Art, Rutgers College_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MENTOR\n\nSERIAL No. 40\n\nDEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS\n\nMENTOR GRAVURES\n\n  ANGEL WITH VIOLIN          Melozzo da Forl\u00ec\n  ANGEL CHOIR                 Benozzo Gozzoli\n  ANGEL OF ANNUNCIATION           Burne-Jones\n  MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS       Bellini\n  ANGEL WITH LUTE                   Carpaccio\n  SAINT MICHAEL                      Perugino\n\n\n\"Paint an angel!\" exclaimed Courbet (koor-bay\u00b4) the realist to a pupil\nwho one day asked him how it should be done. \"When did you ever see an\nangel?\" The abashed pupil had to admit that he had never had the good\nfortune to see one. \"Very well, then, you had better paint the portrait\nof your grandfather, whom you see every day.\" The advice to keep his\nhead out of the clouds while his feet were on earth may have been\nneeded by the pupil; but nevertheless angels have been painted time\nout of mind, and even such pronounced realists as Courbet and Manet\n(mah-nay\u00b4) have painted them. And they saw them, too; that is, they\nsaw the pretty-faced models they turned into angels by adding enlarged\npigeon wings to their shoulder blades. But they were not very spiritual\nangels. Realism rather scorns things spiritual, and besides religious\nfeeling and sentiment in art passed out several centuries before the\ncoming of the modern realists.\n\nThe early men--the Fra Angelicos, the Benozzos (ben-ots-o), the\nFilippinos, of the fifteenth century--believed in the Biblical scenes\nthey painted, and sometimes stated their belief in letters of gold\nat the bottom of their pictures. They saw things with the eye of\nfaith,--saw Madonnas, saints, and angels in visions, and painted them,\nas the evangelists wrote, by the aid of inspiration. Perhaps it was\ntheir belief, their intense feeling, that gave the fine religious\nsentiment to the work of these early men. Yet they did not invent or\ndiscover the angel in art. It had a more material and commonplace\norigin than in medieval belief and religious fervor.\n\n\nWINGED FIGURES IN ANCIENT ART\n\n[Illustration: PERUGINO: BAPTISM OF CHRIST (detail)]\n\nThere were winged figures in Egyptian, Chaldean, and Assyrian art,\ndeities of the air, goddesses of the cloud and the heavens. The\nHittite and the Persian produced the winged Sphinx, and the Greek the\nwinged Victory that flew above the advancing host and pointed the way\nto glory. This winged Victory of the Greeks probably suggested the\nChristian angel; though the immediate forerunner of the angel was found\nin the Cupid and Psyche of Roman art. The Christians, following the\nRomans, took over in their art much of the material of the old Roman\nworld. They had to do this; for Christianity was without form in art,\nand the early Christians decried it as idolatrous. But later on there\ncame a demand for telling the Bible stories in form and color, that\npeople might see what they could not read. Then Christianity, answering\nthe demand, took up Roman forms and gave them Christian significance.\nThey took the Cupids of Roman art and turned them into Cherubs, and out\nof the winged Victories and Psyches they made ministering angels.\n\n[Illustration: PERUGINO: CHERUB HEAD (detail)]\n\nThe pagan form was soon forgotten in the Christian spirit, and the\nangels of the Gothic and early Renaissance periods developed a new\nmeaning, a new soul. What beautiful sentiment, what profound feeling,\nthe early painters put into the angel of the Annunciation! What a\nworld of pathos and sadness they gave the angel seated by the tomb of\nChrist! What gladness and joy to the angels of the Nativity standing\nnear the Madonna or singing the _Gloria in Excelsis_ in the upper sky!\nAccording to tradition, the angels know neither gladness nor sadness,\nneither wrath nor pity. They are heavenly messengers obeying the\nmandates of the Most High, without emotion or feeling of any kind. But\nthe old masters of Italy did not so regard them. They gave them human\ncharacteristics, made them emotional and sympathetic, painted them in\nrobes of blue, of red, of gold, of white, and gave them faces and forms\nthat were human, it is true, but as near divine as earthly thought\ncould render them.\n\n\nCHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM\n\nThe red-robed angels (they were painted red of face as well as of robe)\nwere the Seraphim, the angels of love, and nearest to God. Often with\nthe early painters only their heads were shown, with wings crossed in\nfront of them, sometimes with four, six, or eight wings. The blue-robed\nangels were the Cherubim, the angels of knowledge, and they too were\nshown in their heads only, with many crossed wings. They appeared in\ngroups and halos surrounding the presence of the Father, the Son, or\nthe Virgin. The cherubs or _putti_ of later Italian art, so frequently\nseen with the Madonna and Child, are the artistic descendants of\nthe Seraphim and Cherubim. They are seen in the large aureoles of\nlight that surround the Madonna; for instance, in Raphael's \"Sistine\nMadonna\" and Titian's \"Assumption of the Virgin.\" They recede into the\nbackground or come forward in clouds as the countless hosts of heaven.\n\n[Illustration: DOMENICHINO. MADONNA OF THE ROSARY (detail)]\n\nFrequently the Cherubs are given enlarged childlike or feminine forms\nwith individual features, elongated wings, variegated colors. They are\nthen shown hovering or standing or seated near the Madonna, and are\nusually playing on musical instruments--making music for the glory\nof the Madonna and Child. They are seen in the pictures of Bellini\n(bel-lee\u00b4-nee) and Carpaccio (kahr-pah\u00b4-cho) near the foot of the\nthrone; with Melozzo da Forl\u00ec (for-lee\u00b4) they soar in the air; with\nDuccio (doo\u00b4-cho) and Cimabue (chee-mah-boo\u00b4-ah) they stand about the\nthrone, dressed in rich robes, singing, playing, or worshiping. Music\nand color were associated in the minds of the early Italians as though\nboth were manifestations of sentiment in art. Especially was this true\nat Venice,--the one great color spot in Italian art.\n\n\nMINISTERING AND GUARDIAN ANGELS\n\nThe angels that sang the _Gloria in Excelsis_, or knelt near at hand\nat the birth of Christ, were usually larger than the _putti_, girlish\nin form, and very beautiful of face. They were dressed sometimes in\ncolors, as with Correggio (kor-red\u00b4-jo); sometimes in gold brocades of\ngorgeous pattern, as with the Vivarini (vee-vahr-ee\u00b4-nee); sometimes in\nwhite and blue, as with Piero della Fran\u00e7esca (frahn-ches\u00b4-kah). Again,\nthey frequently had jeweled crowns or embossed halos or peacock-eyed\nwings. It was the idea of the old masters to make them decoratively\nbeautiful as well as representative of purity and truth. And they\ncarried out this idea still further in the faces, which were always of\nthe most lovely types they could find or imagine. To us today these\nangel faces are perhaps the most attractive feature of this early\nchurch art of Italy.\n\n[Illustration: CORREGGIO; ANGEL GROUP (detail of fresco at Parma)]\n\nThe same kind of angels, but clothed usually in white, appeared to\nthe Shepherds, attended the Holy Family in their flight into Egypt,\nstood by the river bank at the baptism of Christ, were with Him in\nthe wilderness, in the garden, at the crucifixion, watched by the\ntomb, and rolled away the stone from the door. Others of the angelic\nhost appeared at times to warn Abraham, to present a message to\nSaint Joachim, to guide Saint Peter out of his prison. They were all\nministering spirits, but without specific names.\n\n[Illustration: FRA BARTOLOMMEO; MADONNA ENTHRONED (detail)]\n\n\nTHE SEVEN ARCHANGELS\n\nOn the other hand, certain deeds to be done were given to certain\nangels who had definite names. These were the seven archangels. It was\nMichael, captain of the Hosts of Heaven, that overcame the Demon and\ndrove him into the Bottomless Pit; it was Jophiel with the flaming\nsword that drove Adam and Eve out of Paradise; it was Zadkiel that\nstayed the hand of Abraham, and Chamuel that wrestled with Jacob.\nThese were all archangels who appeared with their various symbols in\nChristian art. Uriel, guardian of the sun, is seen less frequently\nthan the others; but Raphael, the chief guardian angel, is often\nseen in company with Tobit, and occasionally in the pictures of the\nLast Judgment with Michael, blowing the dread blast of the great\nresurrection.\n\n[Illustration: GUIDO RENI: ST. MICHAEL AND THE DEMON]\n\nBut the angel Gabriel appears in art oftener than all the other angels\nput together. This is because he was the angel of the Annunciation and\nforetold the coming of Christ. He is seen a thousand times in Italian\nart, lilies in hand, kneeling and repeating the message to the Madonna.\nThe theme was the most popular of all, and a thousand different types\nof beauty were created to impersonate Gabriel. Many of them are still\nexistent, and some of them are the most lovely creations of the old\nmasters.\n\n\nANGEL IDEALS OF THE OLD MASTERS\n\n[Illustration: VEROCCHIO (School of) ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL (detail)]\n\nOf course the ideal of angelic beauty varied with each painter. Each\nchose for a model the fairest type he could find, and each differed\nfrom his fellow. Perhaps the most popular types of angels in the early\nRenaissance were painted by Melozzo da Forl\u00ec. A notable group of them\nwas painted in a cupola of the Church of the Apostles in Rome. They\nwere angels of the Ascension, and surrounded the rising figure of\nChrist. The fresco afterward became so damaged that it was taken down,\nand some of the angels were transferred to the Sacristy of St. Peter's,\nwhere they are now to be seen. Our reproduction shows a detail of one\nof them,--one with a fair face, abundant hair, a halo about the head\nmade up of golden cubes of mosaic, and large expanded wings. The figure\nis seen slightly foreshortened, and this, with the spread wings that\nseem really large enough to support an angel, gives the impression of\nflight, or at least a hovering movement. The wings are upraised, and\nseem to frame the beautiful head and its halo. This upward swing of the\nwings is counterbalanced by the downward sweep of the drapery from the\nwaist line. Between the upward and the downward curves is a swirling\ncross line, made up by the shoulder, the arm, and the violin bow.\nAll this is shrewdly worked out, and gives force and movement to the\nfigure. The whole composition has nobility and loftiness about it, and\nis not a mere sweet-faced affair of the Carlo Dolci (dol\u00b4-chee) kind.\n\n[Illustration: VERONESE: ANNUNCIATION (detail)]\n\n[Illustration: BOTTICELLI: MADONNA, CHILD, AND ANGELS]\n\n\nTYPES OF BENOZZO AND LEONARDO DA VINCI\n\nThe angels of Benozzo Gozzoli (got\u00b4-so-lee) are of similar characters.\nThey have not a particle of sweetness about them, and would never be\ncalled \"pretty\"; but what fine sentiment and decided individuality\nthey have! They are part of a famous fresco in the Riccardi Palace at\nFlorence, one of the finest and best preserved frescos in all Italy.\nThe little chapel where they are had its walls entirely covered by\nBenozzo with a fresco representing the Adoration of the Kings. The\ngorgeous procession of the kings and their attendants (made up of\nportraits of the Medici and their friends, with Lorenzo the Magnificent\nriding as one of the kings) covers three walls of the chapel. The\nsplendid cavalcade winds along, and finally comes up to the fourth\nwall, where was once shown the Madonna and Child with Joseph. This\ngroup of the Holy Family has disappeared; but the band of worshiping\nangels is on the side wall, still intact. The angels are kneeling and\nstanding amid flowers which one does not see at first because of the\nbright colors and the golden halos. What beautiful faces, na\u00efve forms,\nand praying hands are here! This is sincerity in art, and true enough\nsentiment into the bargain. One will travel far before seeing its\nbetter.\n\n[Illustration: BOTTICINI: MADONNA AND CHILD (detail of angels)]\n\nA historic and even a sentimental interest attaches to Leonardo da\nVinci's (lay-o-nahrd\u00b4-o dah vin\u00b4-chee) little angel in the Baptism of\nChrist by Andrea Verocchio (vay-rok\u00b4-kee-o). Vasari (vah-sah\u00b4-ree)\nrecites the story of how Verocchio, when ill perhaps, told his pupil,\nthe young Leonardo, to finish this picture by painting in the second\nangel, and that Leonardo did it so well that it was superior to the\nother parts of the picture. \"Perceiving this, Andrea resolved never\nagain to take pencil in hand; since Leonardo, though still so young,\nhad acquitted himself better in the art than he had done.\" This is\na pretty story, which has been pooh-poohed and denied by recent\ncriticism, but without reason. The angel with the profile was certainly\ndone by a different hand than the angel with the full face. It is\ndifferent from any other part of the picture, and there is every\nreason to believe it done by Leonardo as Vasari states. The charm of\nthe angel, the type, the graceful contours, the light and shade, all\nforeshadow the later work of Leonardo. What a lovely creation, not only\nin face and feature, but in serenity and fine feeling!\n\n\nTHE CHARMING ANGELS OF PERUGINO\n\nPerugino (pay-roo-jee\u00b4-no) was in that same studio of Verocchio, a\nfellow pupil with Leonardo; but his angels are much weaker conceptions\nthan Leonardo's. They are contemplative, full of wistful tenderness,\nlost in reverie; but they lack somewhat in mental grip. They make up\nfor this, however, by a charming sentiment. The St. Michael, reproduced\nherewith, shows it. He is hardly the ideal captain-general of the\nheavenly host, able to wield the sword in the front ranks; but on the\ncontrary is a slight, boyish figure, full of fancy, and lost in day\ndreams.\n\n[Illustration: FRA ANGELICO: TRUMPET-BLOWING ANGEL]\n\n\nPERUGINO'S SAINT MICHAEL\n\nIn this picture he stands aloof from the figures about him, and, with\nhis head inclined to one side, seems to be listening to the song of\nthe angels in the upper air. The brown eyes are full of earnestness;\nbut the round face and slight mouth have no set purpose other than to\nsuggest sentiment and symmetry. A very pretty type, no doubt; but not\na strong one. A man of power like Michelangelo could have very little\nsympathy with it. Indeed, he sneered at the pretty face and called\nPerugino a dolt and blockhead in art. That was more than Perugino\ncould bear, and, in a rage, he brought Michelangelo before the Council\nof Eight on a charge of slander. But it only resulted in a laugh at\nPerugino's expense. His action was perhaps foolish; but his pictures\nare not to be laughed at. They are excellent in color, and the pretty\nface that Michelangelo scorned became the early model for Perugino's\ngreat pupil, Raphael.\n\n\nTHE ANGELS OF FRA ANGELICO\n\n[Illustration: FRA ANGELICO: CORONATION (detail)]\n\nIn sweetness of type and depth of feeling, the angels of Fra Angelico\nare more profound than Perugino's. Besides, they seem to have more\nsincerity about them. The monk-painter in his cell saw visions of\nheavenly things, and as he saw so he recorded in art. All his faces\nseem filled with divine tenderness. He painted only one face, one type.\nHis pictures show men with beards and monks in cowls, and angels in\nflowing robes with bright wings; but there is always the same face,\nthe same sentiment. His trumpet-blowing angels, of which there are\ncountless copies in existence, are epitomes of this conception and\nsentiment. They have great purity and beauty. Fra Angelico was a man\nof pure thought to start with, and everything he touched reflected his\npurity.\n\n\nTYPES OF FILIPPINO AND BOTTICELLI\n\n[Illustration: FILIPPINO LIPPI: MADONNA AND ST. BERNARD (detail of\nangels)]\n\n[Illustration: SEPPI; ANGEL OF ANNUNCIATION]\n\nFilippino and Botticelli came later than Fra Angelico, and the Florence\nof their day had begun to draw away from medieval traditions in art\nin favor of more learned technical accomplishment; yet one can hardly\nsee any waning of sentiment in the work of these men. In fact, the\nsentiment of Filippino is often perilously near to sentimentality, so\nintense and earnest is the feeling of the man. His Madonna is always\non the brink of tears, and his angels are in perfect sympathy with the\nMadonna. Botticelli is more of an intellectual force; but he too is\nsaturated with sentiment to a point of morbidity. His Madonnas have\nsad eyes, mouths that droop at the corners, hollow cheeks, and long,\nflowing hair. They bend before the Angel of the Annunciation like\nbroken flowers, or agonize at the Crucifixion like lost souls. Their\nsentiment is intense. Nor does it vary much when Botticelli dealt with\nclassic subjects. His Venus in her seashell, his Pallas, his Spring,\nall have some of the same morbidity, mingled with mystery, melancholy,\ntenderness, that we see in his angels surrounding the Madonna. This\npersonal quality of the painter is very attractive, and has perhaps\ndone more to make Botticelli popular than his fine qualities as a\ndraftsman and a painter.\n\n\nPRERAPHAELITE ANGELS\n\nWhen the Preraphaelite movement started in England over half a century\nago, with Rossetti, Holman-Hunt, and Millais as painters, and Ruskin\nfor a prophet, it could think of no one better as a model to follow\nthan Botticelli. The Botticelli look is quite apparent in the sad,\nrather unhealthy faces of Rossetti. This Rossetti influence was\nhanded on to his pupil, Burne-Jones. None of the Preraphaelite ardor\nwas abated or its sentiment lessened with Burne-Jones. Indeed, he\nimproved upon his master both technically and sentimentally. He was a\nmuch better draftsman and colorist than Rossetti, and presented the\nPreraphaelite idea with greater force and effect.\n\n[Illustration: BURNE-JONES: THE ANNUNCIATION]\n\n\nTHE ANGELS OF BURNE-JONES\n\n[Illustration: VEROCCHIO: BAPTISM (detail of Leonardo's Angel)]\n\nThe Burne-Jones type had rounder, more inquiring eyes, thinner\ncheeks, a sadder mouth, a more willowy figure. It appears often in\nlong, flowing hair, with swirling drapery, and dramatic action. At\nother times one sees it as a romantic type consumed by a fever of\npassionate sentiment. The Annunciation shown herewith is not a very\ngood illustration of this. The Madonna has a dull stare in her eyes\nas though she was something of an invalid, and even the angel has a\nsemi-malarious look. But the melancholy, the sadness, the morbidity,\nso apparent in Botticelli are also apparent here. The picture is\na fine example of the painter's decorative sense. It has been put\ntogether with much skill. Notice the architecture, the passageway at\nback, the bas reliefs, the repeated lines of the draperies in both the\nMadonna and the angel. One could almost wish it in stained glass, so\nbeautifully would it fill an upright window.\n\nEvery painter of Botticelli's rank in Italy had a score or less of\nfollowers, and among them all there was never any dearth of sentimental\nMadonnas and pathetic angels. Florence held no monopoly of the subject.\n\n\nANGELS OF BELLINI AND CARPACCIO\n\n[Illustration: MURILLO: GUARDIAN ANGEL]\n\nAt Venice in the early days were Bellini and Carpaccio, who produced\nfamous Madonnas and most lovable angels. They are different angels\nfrom those of Botticelli. In fact, they are little more than handsome\nchildren na\u00efvely making music for the Madonna and Child. Their\nunconscious quality is captivating. How very childlike, in their pure\nfaces, their golden hair, their round legs and fat little hands! The\nmodels were perhaps the painter's own children. Why not? Was not the\nMadonna, nine times out of ten, the painter's own wife? And how better\ncould he depict the winged messengers of the sky than by painting them\nwith the forms of those he loved here below? It is only a step across\nthe world from heaven to earth, and is not love the band that unites\nthem?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSUPPLEMENTARY READING.--\"Sacred and Legendary Art,\" Jameson; \"Life of\nChrist in Art,\" Farrar; \"Christian Iconography,\" Didron; \"Angels of\nGod,\" Timpson; \"Angels in Art,\" Clement.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENTOR\n\nISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY BY\n\nThe Mentor Association, Inc.\n\n381 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y.\n\n  Volume 1                                              Number 40\n\n ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, FOUR DOLLARS. SINGLE COPIES TWENTY CENTS. FOREIGN\n POSTAGE, SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS EXTRA. CANADIAN POSTAGE, FIFTY CENTS\n EXTRA. ENTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y., AS SECOND-CLASS\n MATTER.\n\n\n_Editorial_\n\nWe have just received the following letter from a reader of The Mentor:\n\"I have examined with great care and profit a copy of The Mentor\njust received. There is only one suggestion that I can make towards\nits improvement, and that is that on the back of the photogravures\nthere should be a pronunciation scheme for all foreign names. Not\neveryone who reads is able to pronounce properly the Spanish, French,\nor Italian; particularly is this true of names and places. The\npronunciation might be put in brackets right after the names, or made a\nsort of marginal affair.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis is the kind of letter we like to get. The suggestion is a good\none. We wrote at once to the writer, saying that pronunciation would be\nindicated wherever foreign names were used. We have done so in the text\npages of The Mentor--our readers know that. We have not been doing it\nin the stories printed on the back of The Mentor gravures. There was\nno reason for not doing it. The indication of pronunciations should\naccompany foreign names wherever they are used. The writer of the above\nhas done us a real service in calling attention to the matter. We wish\nthat readers would write to us whenever they have a suggestion that\nthey think would add to the value and usefulness of The Mentor.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHalf knowledge on any subject is not of much use. The case of a\ncollege professor comes to mind. He was very strong on what he called\n\"completing a thought and finishing a fact.\" He said that as a man\nwalked through life or looked through books he was constantly in an\natmosphere of information--that facts were darting like meteors all\nabout him. He said that the habit of mind of most people was slovenly.\nSuch complete facts as come to their attention are perhaps absorbed.\nHalf facts come along, and most people do not \"follow them up to a\nfinish.\" The habit of this professor was to carry a memorandum pad\nin his pocket, and whenever he would hear a statement or receive a\n_bit_ of knowledge he would jot down a note and then, in some leisure\nmoment, look the matter up in an authoritative reference book, thereby\ncompleting his information and, as he put it, \"sewing it up good and\ntight\" for future use.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe result is that that college professor knows what he knows\nthoroughly and accurately. He is never heard saying, as so many do\nwhen a subject is mentioned, \"Oh, what about that. I have had bits\nof information concerning it from time to time. What does it mean?\"\nThe professor had looked up the matter when he got his first bit of\ninformation, and, as a result, he had digested the subject and in his\nway owned it.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have planned The Mentor with the thought of giving members of\nthe Association the essential information that they should have on\ndifferent subjects. Everyone is not fortunate enough to have a good\nreference library--some are not even in touch with reference books. It\nis the purpose of The Mentor, therefore, to come like a good friend who\nis well informed and spend a few minutes a day with you, telling you\nin simple language about the many interesting and important things,\nevents, and people of the world.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd you don't have to make notes as the professor did. You don't have\nto go looking for books of reference on the subject. The Mentor not\nonly gives you in an interesting way the essential facts about a thing,\ntogether with illustrations, but it gives you a list of the important\nreference books on the subject.\n\n[Illustration: ANGEL WITH VIOLIN, BY MELOZZO DA FORLI]\n\n\n\n\n_Melozzo da Forl\u00ec_\n\nONE\n\n\nToday we think of Italy as one united country. For that reason it is\ndifficult for many of us to realize the Italy of Melozzo da Forl\u00ec's\n(mel-ot\u00b4-so day for-lee\u00b4) time. Then there was no union--practically\nno Italy. The country was rent by the strivings of many tiny\nprincipalities, each jealous of the other, each trying to outdo the\nother, each quick to seize an opportunity to work its neighbor harm.\n\nEvery one of the petty princes was seeking to beautify his capital\ncity, to have his court outshine those of his rivals. If he desired\nto be known as a patron of art and letters, poets, architects, and\nphilosophers were invited to associate themselves with him. Artists,\nlike the scholars, had to rely on the favor of such princes for their\nliving.\n\nIn later years the introduction of oil painting made easy the sending\nof a panel or a canvas as the gift of one lord to another. But before\nthat time, instead of sending the painter's work, it would have been\nnecessary to send the painter; for most of the work was done in another\nway. In fresco painting the artist was obliged to work directly on\nthe wall on which the picture was to be seen when finished. Often he\nhimself applied the wet plaster, and after smoothing it laid on the\ncolor. He had to work rapidly; for when the plaster had dried every\naddition or correction showed.\n\nBut before becoming sufficiently generous to give away their artist's\nwork most of the nobles first employed their artists to decorate their\nown chapels or palaces for them. It was under the patronage of one of\nthe cardinals, a nephew of Pope Pius IV, that Melozzo da Forl\u00ec painted\nhis angels. Pius IV did not wish to be behind his neighbors in the\nencouragement of the fine arts. He wanted Rome to be the finest city in\nthe world, and set about making it so. Those who wished to please him\nwere not slow to follow his leading.\n\nThe angels reproduced in The Mentor are but a portion of the entire\nfresco, which showed the Ascension of Christ, and formerly decorated\nthe dome of the Church of the Apostles at Rome. These fragments escaped\ndestruction when the church was reconstructed in 1711. They are now in\nthe Sacristy of Saint Peter's.\n\nAlmost nothing is known of the life of Melozzo. We should not have\nknown when he was born if his epitaph had not recorded his age. His\nname indicates that he came from Forl\u00ec, a small town not far from\nRavenna. His fame rests almost entirely on these fragments; but so well\nwere they done that they give this man high rank among the artists of\nItaly.\n\n[Illustration: ANGEL CHOIR, BY BENOZZO GOZZOLI]\n\n\n\n\n_Benozzo Gozzoli_\n\nTWO\n\n\nLike many another painter, Benozzo Gozzoli (be\u00f1-ot\u00b4-so got\u00b4-so-lee)\nowed much to his master. Fra Angelico painted beautiful angels, and his\npupil seems to have learned some of his skill; for the group of Adoring\nAngels in the Riccardi Palace is one of the loveliest to be seen in\nall Italy. Early in his life Benozzo was apprenticed to Ghiberti, the\nsculptor of the doors of the baptistery at Florence. So splendid are\nthey that by the Italians they are called \"The Doors of Paradise.\" He\nbegan under a good man. But he could not have remained in that studio\nlong; for at the age of twenty-seven we find Fra Angelico taking him\nwith him to Rome as assistant in his work for the Pope.\n\nTwo years later Benozzo started out for himself. He worked in several\nof the smaller Tuscan towns, until in 1459 the death of several of\nthe older artists of Florence opened up the way for his return to his\nnative city.\n\nHe was not obliged to wait long; for the Medici soon called upon him\nfor what proved to be his masterpiece. The palace of the Medici had in\nit a small private chapel; to Benozzo they gave the task of decorating\nits walls. The subject chosen was \"The Adoration of the Magi.\" We\nhave three letters written by Benozzo to Piero de' Medici when he was\nengaged upon this work. They show that he was using every effort to do\nhis best. \"I have no other thought in my heart,\" he writes, \"but how\nbest to perfect my work and satisfy your wishes.\"\n\nThe work was well done. Perhaps that is why everyone who today visits\nFlorence feels that he must see this tiny chapel before he leaves. One\nsteps from the busy Florentine street, through massive portals, into\na courtyard. From the present we step back into the past. Climbing a\nstair, we reach the dim chapel, which is but little changed from the\nway it was left by Benozzo. It is as much a monument of his skill as it\nis of the munificence of the Medici.\n\nBenozzo's success with this work insured his prosperity. He married and\nsettled in Florence. Ten years later he moved to Pisa, where he spent\nsixteen years painting a series of frescos in the Campo Santo. And in\nthat lovely, quiet place he lies buried today, near the frescos upon\nwhich he labored so faithfully.\n\n[Illustration: ANGEL OF ANNUNCIATION, BY BURNE-JONES]\n\n\n\n\n_Sir Edward Burne-Jones_\n\nTHREE\n\n\nThe mother of Sir Edward Burne-Jones died when he was born. The lot of\na lad without a mother is bound to be a hard one, especially if he has\nno brothers or sisters. His father would permit him to read only two or\nthree books; but one of them was \u00c6sop's Fables, and this was the boy's\nfavorite, because it had prints in it. The child used to spend much\ntime before the shop windows looking at the volumes he might not read.\nHe was never very strong physically.\n\nThis course seems to have driven the boy to living in the realms of\nthe imagination,--a training for the painter of nymphs and fairies he\nwas to become later. Not until he was twenty-three, it is said, did\nBurne-Jones see a good picture.\n\nWhen he went up to Oxford he formed a friendship with William Morris,\na youth almost as shy as himself. They read Ruskin's \"Modern Painters\"\ntogether, and told each other their dreams. At London during one of\nthe vacations he came into touch with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and on\nadvice of this artist gave up his studies at Oxford to devote himself\nexclusively to the study of art. However frail Burne-Jones may have\nbeen physically, there could have been no lack of mental courage in the\nman who could take such a bold step as this.\n\nHis struggle was a long one and a hard one; but he was never without\nthe help and encouragement of warm friends, Ruskin among them. He\ntraveled to Italy. On his second trip he went with Ruskin. But with the\npossible exception of Botticelli, the Italian masters had little direct\ninfluence upon his work. He seems to have caught their spirit of doing\nthings, of doing them as well as he was able, with deep sincerity of\nfeeling.\n\nHe was one of the leading spirits of the Preraphaelites, a band of\nyoung men who hoped to regenerate art by putting into their work the\nsimplicity and sincerity that had actuated the artists before Raphael's\ntime.\n\nHe married in 1860, and settled on the outskirts of London. A gradually\nincreasing host of friends began to make their way to his modest home.\nBurne-Jones felt that, wherever else he might be at fault, in spirit\nhe was right. So he did not reach for the fame that makes less wise\nmen seek short cuts, but worked steadily and carefully. His reputation\nincreased, honors came to him, and before he died he knew that his work\nwas being appreciated.\n\nIn 1894, four years before his death, a baronetcy was conferred upon\nhim by Queen Victoria, and to those who knew the man and his work this\nwas felt to be not higher than was deserved.\n\n[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS, BY BELLINI.]\n\n\n\n\n_Giovanni Bellini_\n\nFOUR\n\n\nThe Bellini (bel-lee\u00b4-nee) family was a very artistic one. Not only\nGiovanni, but his brother Gentile as well, became a famous artist, and\ntheir father was a painter of note. Not to be outdone by the other\nmembers of the family, their only sister Andrea married Mantegna, the\ngreat Paduan master. Under such circumstances it is unlikely that the\nboy Giovanni had to overcome any parental opposition to his becoming\nan artist. Art must have been a part of the daily life of the entire\nfamily. At first he doubtless studied under his father's direction; but\nhis early work shows that he was much influenced by his brother-in-law\nas well.\n\nAlthough the two brothers, Giovanni and Gentile, worked independently,\nthey both won distinction and were highly esteemed by the Venetians.\nThey were commissioned to paint a series of large canvases for the\nDucal Palace; but these works have since been destroyed by two fires\nwhich greatly damaged that wonderful building,--the first in 1479 and\nthe second in 1577.\n\nAlthough no longer a young man when the invention of oil painting was\nfirst brought to Venice, instead of adhering to the old traditions he\nset about mastering the new medium. And he succeeded too. Pupils came\nto him to be taught the new practice; among them Titian and Giorgione.\nHis studio was the very dwelling place of the Genius of Painting, and\nfrom his workshop went out many of the men to whom Venetian painting\nowes its fame.\n\nPainters from far and near came to visit him. Among them was Albrecht\nD\u00fcrer, the German master, whom Bellini received very cordially. \"He is\nvery old,\" wrote D\u00fcrer, \"but still the best in painting.\" There was a\nwaiting list of nobles who wanted him to paint their portraits.\n\nFine in color, and accurate in drawing to the last, he seems not to\nhave degenerated. He must have been a man of great force and talent.\n\nHe lived to be ninety years old. He was laid to rest beside his\nbrother, in San Giovanni e Paolo, the Westminster Abbey of Venice.\n\n[Illustration: ANGEL WITH LUTE (DETAIL OF PRESENTATION), BY CARPACCIO]\n\n\n\n\n_Vittore Carpaccio_\n\nFIVE\n\n\nVenice the Magnificent is never very far removed from the pictures of\nVittore Carpaccio (kahr-pah\u00b4-cho). It doesn't matter whether he is\npainting the story of Saint Ursula at Cologne or a scene from Holy\nWrit, Cologne is given a very Venetian look, and the Madonna or the\nSaints are in Venetian costumes and brocades.\n\nThis oriental love for splendor in dress has led some writers to\nbelieve that Carpaccio must have accompanied his master Gentile Bellini\nto Constantinople. When the sultan desired that Venice send one of her\nforemost artists to paint his portrait, the commission was given to\nGentile Bellini. He may have taken Carpaccio with him. The portrait\nBellini painted exists today in the Layard collection, recently\nbequeathed to the National Gallery, London.\n\nAlthough Carpaccio painted many religious pictures, he succeeded best\nwhen there was some story to be told. He gave to his pictures the\ncharming simplicity that is the first essential of a good story-teller.\nNor was he without a sense of humor. In one of his pictures telling\nthe story of the life of Saint Jerome he shows the lion walking up to\nJerome and holding out his paw in order that the troublesome thorn\nmight be removed, while the terrified brothers of the saint are seen\nflying in all directions.\n\nOne of the Venetian nobles gave Carpaccio a commission to paint the\nportrait of a poet connected with his household. At least one of these\nrhymesters was to be found in the train of most of the nobles in those\ntimes. The poet was so elated that he burst forth into verse, giving\nCarpaccio directions to paint him with a wreath of laurel. Carpaccio\npainted the portrait; but, possibly at a hint from the nobleman, he\nsubstituted for the crown of laurel one of grape leaves. The poet\nretaliated by reviling Carpaccio in a lampoon full of abuse.\n\nWe do not know exactly when Carpaccio was born, though it is generally\nbelieved to have been in 1450, in Istria, nor just when he died. Only\nat Venice can an adequate conception of his work be formed. He seems\nnever to have journeyed far from that island city.\n\nCarpaccio's love for splendor found plenty of employment among\nthe beauty-loving Venetians. Venice was beyond the reach of papal\ndictation, and religion came to be considered by them more as an\nopportunity for display than as a rule of conduct. Its tragic phases\nwere not at all popular. The Crucifixion was not often painted; but the\nPresentation in the Temple and the Feast in the House of Simon, with\ntheir display of fine costumes, were painted again and again.\n\nWhen Ruskin first went to Venice, Carpaccio's work was not at all\nappreciated; but, thanks to his lead in admiring its charming\nqualities, today Carpaccio is loved by many.\n\n[Illustration: THE ASSUMPTION (DETAIL OF ST. MICHAEL), BY PERUGINO]\n\n\n\n\n_Perugino_\n\nSIX\n\n\nPerugino (pay-roo-jee\u00b4-no) was born in 1446 in a little town not far\nfrom Perugia. His parents were respectable people, and when he was\nnine years old they sent him to Perugia to be educated under one of\nthe artists of that city. His family name was Vannucci; but like many\nother Italian artists he was called after the city from which he came.\nHe grew up in Perugia; but by the time he had reached early manhood we\nfind him at Florence, studying the frescos. According to Vasari, he\nbecame a pupil of Verocchio, and in Verocchio's studio worked side by\nside with Leonardo da Vinci.\n\nIt was about this time that the change from tempera to oil painting\ntook place in Italy. Perugino and Leonardo were among the first of the\nartists who thoroughly mastered the new medium.\n\nPerugino's careful work did much to increase his fame. Before he had\nreached the age of forty he was invited by the Pope to come to Rome.\nHe painted several subjects for the Sistine Chapel, and his work was\ngiven a prominent place in that place. But when a later pope wished to\nmake room for Michelangelo's \"Last Judgment\" Perugino's frescos were\nruthlessly destroyed and the space they had occupied was filled with\nMichelangelo's huge composition.\n\nJudging from his quiet, pensive Madonnas and his melancholy Saints,\nit might be thought that Perugino was of a saintly character too; but\nthe records of Florence show that after his return from Rome he and\na companion got into difficulties with the authorities. They were\ncaptured when lying in wait for someone against whom they had a grudge.\nPerugino escaped with a fine of ten florins after pleading that he had\nintended that the fellow should have no more than a good drubbing; but\nhis companion, who harbored graver designs, was exiled.\n\nPerugino's work arose steadily in public esteem. Commissions came\nrapidly, and he was able to choose among them. A number of the younger\nmen came to him to be taught his method. Among them was the young\nRaphael, who worked with him for several years. Raphael's early work\nmuch resembles Perugino's.\n\nPerugino married a beautiful girl many years his junior. He never tired\nof dressing her in rich costumes. But as he grew older he also grew\nmiserly. When he died he left a comfortable estate for her and her\nthree sons. He was carried off by the plague when working in one of the\ntowns not far from Florence, at the age of seventy-eight years.\n\n PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION\n FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 40, SERIAL No. 40 COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE\n MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nItalic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\nMinor punctuation and printer errors repaired.","title":"The Mentor: Angels in Art, Vol. 1, Num. 40","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":6689}