The touch only can discover many of its beauties, which escape the eye in any light." None but a great artist, who had long made antique marbles the object of close study, and had quickened the fineness of his touch by handling them for the purpose of restoration, could have attained to what may be called a sixth sense.

He died at the age of seventy-four, chief magistrate of his native city (pp. 130-136).

"

Lionardo da Vinci.- To Lionardo poetry, painting, sculpture, engraving, architecture, astronomy, music, in short, all arts and sciences were equally natural; he appeared in each "to the manner born," and as if each had been the exclusive study of his life. He was eminently fitted for sculpture by his plastic tendencies, by his extreme love of finish, his delicacy of handling, his masterly but unexaggerated boldness as a draughtsman, and the high qualities of his imagination. Lomazzo describes a terra-cotta head of the infant Christ which had come into his possession, as combining "the simplicity and purity of a child, with a vague something denoting wisdom, intellect, and majesty; the bearing of a tender infant with the majesty of an old man."

With a boldness of self-assertion, pardonable in so great a man, Lionardo writes to Duke Lodovico Sforza: "I can do anything possible to man; and as well as any living artist, either in sculpture or painting." The duke and his court were captivated by the charm of his conversation, which exercised an irresistible power over all minds. There was in his look, and the expression of his noble countenance, a sort of mute eloquence which prejudiced all hearts in his favor, and when he took in his hand his silver lyre, to which he had added hitherto unknown improvements, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. Professors of music and masters of arms were in turn obliged to acknowledge his incontestable superiority, and all were overcome with wonder when they saw that the hand which swept like a magic breeze over the cords of a lyre, and traced the most graceful and delicate lines upon the canvas, was able to bend a horse-shoe, or control at his will the most fiery steed.

Immediately after his arrival at Milan, he was made Director of the Ducal Academy of Fine Arts, and was commissioned to make an equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, the illustrious founder of his patron's house. Upon this work, for which he made an infinite quantity of designs, and two perfect models, the first in a classical, the second in a modern and more picturesque style, Lionardo spent fourteen years. The first of these models represents the hero armed from head to foot, holding in his hand a baton, which rests upon his saddle-bow, and seated upon a heavy but carefully studied horse. This design did not satisfy Lionardo. Accordingly, in the year 1490, he again recommenced his labors and modelled a group representing a fighting warrior, under the body of whose fiery horse lay a struggling soldier. In the fourteen sketches which he made for it, before

finally deciding upon one which satisfied him, he drew the warrior and his horse in various attitudes both with and without the fallen soldier — and made careful studies of the horse's body divided as if for casting in bronze.

Being occupied at the same time in painting the fresco of the Last Supper, and always given to procrastination, he put off the casting of his work until it was too late; for when Lodovico Sforza was overthrown, and Milan fell into the hands of Louis XII., that conqueror, hating Lodovico Sforza, and not having sufficient admiration for a great work of art to raise him above personal feelings, gave the model for a target to his soldiers who totally destroyed it. By this act of wanton revenge, the world was deprived of a work of art, which, judging from the great admiration that it excited at Milan, and from our knowledge of Lionardo's genius, and of his profound studies in human and equine anatomy, must have been the finest equestrian statue ever modelled. Disheartened by the destruction of his master-pięce, Da Vinci devoted the rest of his life to painting and science; but the memory of what he had accomplished in sculpture remained, to make his name in that, as in all other arts, the synonym of perfection (pp. 184-186). Lionardo was born in 1432 and died in 1519.

Benedetto da Rovezzano.

Benedetto Guarlotti, born in the latter part of the fifteenth century, was especially distinguished as a sculptor of ornament; and for his skill in working out small figures and decorative emblems so nearly in the round, that by their contrast with the graduated relief of the other portions, they produced a novel and striking effect.

Rovezzano went to England in 1524, and began a tomb for Cardinal Wolsey. He worked five years upon it before the cardinal's disgrace, after which he was ordered by Henry VIII. to complete it for him; but, as it was not finished when the king died, his body was temporarily deposited with that of his queen, Jane Seymour, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. After the execution of King Charles I., who himself intended to be buried in it, the parliament ordered its rich copper figures to be melted down, sparing the sarcophagus, in which ultimately the body of Lord Nelson was deposited. Ordered, in the plenitude of his power, by Cardinal Wolsey, who was destined to die disgraced and broken-hearted; selected for his tomb by a king whose head was to fall upon the scaffold; and finally tenanted by the hero of Trafalgar, this monument furnishes a striking commentary upon the futility of man's projects, as does the history of its sculptor upon the disappointments of life. The two great works which would have immortalized his name were wantonly destroyed, and after his return to Italy he spent the last years of his life in total blindness (pp. 257-259).

ARTICLE VIII.

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

THE Fine Arts are attracting more attention in this country now than they ever attracted before. They have so intimate a connection with morals and religion that the present revival of interest in them should not pass unnoticed by the clergy. We have received various letters in regard to a picture by Raphael which has been somewhat recently discovered by Morris Moore, Esq., now resident in Rome. During the winter of 1869-70 we visited this picture often; and we have reason to believe that the proprietors of some of our public libraries or art museums might obtain possession of it, and make it a permanent attraction and an honor to our country. Bishop Strossmeyer, who examined the picture on the 4th of July 1870, wrote the following sentence, the latinity of which will be criticised: "Natio illa quae acquisierit iconem pulchritudinis et perfectionis representantem Apollinem et Marsyam, ipsa sibi optimum granditatis suae testimonium praebebit." The following description of the painting is from the Roman Official Journal of Saturday, February the 16th, 1861:

"The Apollo and Marsyas, a work by Raphael. The discovery made several years since in London, of the magnificent picture by Raphael, the Contest between Apollo and Marsyas, which has attracted so much attention in Paris and in the principal capitals of Germany, as also in some of Italy, is foremost among the artistic events of our times. This work belongs to the period of transition from the first to the second manner of Sanzio, that is, to the Florentine period. Its dimensions are about those of the Vision of Ezekiel in thé Pitti Gallery at Florence; namely, one foot three inches in height, by one foot in width. The composition presents that clearness and simplicity peculiar to Raphael. Two figures, both nude, represent the action. The deity and his daring challenger stand face to face in a pleasant region wherein appear some of those graceful young trees that Raphael so greatly fancied; in the middle winds a stream. On the left, Marsyas in the semblance of a youth seated on the margin of a path enamelled with verdure and flowers, is playing on a flute. Turned from the light, almost his entire body and head are in shadow, save a spot on his brow irradiated from above. On the right, and upon the same plane stands Apollo listening, while leaning upon a staff which he grasps with his left hand at the height of his shoulder, and whose rigid line,' as Mr. Henri Delaborde wrote in the Revue des Deux Mondes, of July the 15th,

6

1858, supports and enhances the soft contour of his body'; which, modelled with sculptural firmness, is impressed, in spite of its modest dimensions, with a majestic grandeur. The right arm doubled upon the hip, leaves visible little more than the wrist. At the feet of the deity lie the quiver and the unstrung bow; to the stump of a tree is appended the lyre. The god of day fears not the light, and in a flood of light effulges the sublime perfection of his divine form. The hair of Marsyas is cut close, whereas the breeze gently raises the locks of Apollo, which would otherwise conceal his shoulders. These fair and abundant locks, waving in the most graceful negligence, are gracefully gathered into a knot above his brow. Confident of triumph, the deity betrays no anger; his features, of an exquisite beauty, express only a slight disdain. The landscape terminates in a double chain of azure mountains between which appear the horizon. Some birds, enticed no doubt by the melody of Marsyas, cleave the air; but a falcon is there. Apollo seizes one of them; the others terrified flee at full wing. Menacing at the feet of Marsyas rises erect the deadly nightshade, sacred to Atropos. Such are the allegories by which the sovereign painter indicated the dire catastrophe. It is to be remarked that these birds detached from various points of the sky, felicitously contribute to the magic of the perspective.

This suberb picture of the Urbinate has been for some time in Rome, and already the ablest professors and connoisseurs of the fine arts, as likewise not a few distinguished amateurs, have visited and revisited it: Overbeck, Minardi, Cornelius, Tenerani, Sarti, Coghetti, Cochetti, Jacometti, Consoni, Visconti, Wolff, Capalti, Canevari, Bianchini, Galli, Bienaimé, Benzoni, Cavalleri, Sanguinetti, with numbers of their colleagues and disciples, confirming the eulogies unanimously bestowed upon it abroad, by Ingres, Mérimée, Flandrin, Vitet, Förster, Delacroix, Robert Fleury, Henriquel-Dupont, Délécluze, Delaborde, Gruyer, Tardieu, Schwind, Schnorr, Grüner, Böhm, Fürich, Mandel, Eitelberger, etc., and extolling its singular purity of style, richness of detail, splendor of coloring, and stupendous correctness of anatomy and form."

The following letter from the Chalcographic Department of the Pontifical Government has been addressed to Mr. Morris Moore: "Rome, Dec. 20, 1862. Sir,- The Commission of the Pontifical Chalcographic Department, composed of Professors the Commendatore Tommaso Minardi, Pietro Folo, the Commendatore Pietro Tenerani, the Commendatore Antonio Sarti, the Cavaliere Paolo Mercurj, Director of the Pontifical Chalcographic Department, the Cavaliere Alessandro Capalti, Niccola Consoni, Guiseppe Marcucci, acting Coadjutor to the Director of the Pontifical Chalcographic Department, at the meeting held on the 15th of the present December, charged me to signify to you that the said Commission, ever bent on enriching the Collection of the Establishment to the advantage of Art, and unanimous as to the utility of the choice, earnestly VOL. XXVIII. No. 112.

96

desires that you would allow a drawing to be made from the famous picture by Raphael Sanzio, representing Apollo and Marsyas, whereof you are possessor, in order that it may then be faithfully reproduced in an engraving and published at the charge of the Chalcographic Department itself, a homage due to so illustrious a work and to its immortal author. Professor Consoni will undertake to superintend the drawing, assuming the entire responsibility, and to yet further insure success, the Commission would suggest that the same Professor should take a tracing from the picture with his own hand. Having fulfilled the superior command, nothing more now remains for me than to subscribe myself with the most profound respect, Sir, your most devoted and most obedient servant, Giambattista Borani, Secretary to the Commission of the Pontifical Chalcographic Department."

Similar documents have been presented by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, and the Archaeological Society of Vienna. The following is a letter from Mr. Seymour Kirkup, of Florence, painter, initiator of the search in 1841 for Giotto's portrait of Dante in the Praetorium of Florence, and one of the illustrators of Lord Vernon's edition of the Sovereign Italian Bard, "Florence, September 15, 1870. — My dear Sir,- Let me congratulate you on possessing in the Apollo and Marsyas one of the purest specimens of Raphael in existence. It is a gem of the greatest value, not only for its beauty, but for its wonderful and perfect preservation. Fortunately, it has escaped the fate of many treasures in the public galleries of many countries. It is important for the history of painting and the particular style of Raphael at that period. Seymour Kirkup."

Several American artists, resident at Rome, have expressed their opinion of the picture. We extract the following parts of letters addressed to Mr. Moore:

"Rome, Jan. 3, 1870,- To endorse what Overbeck and Cornelius have said would be to express what I honestly feel in regard to Apollo and Marsyas; and I feel also that it is an honor to kneel with them before so noble and inspiring a shrine, and lay upon it this my little offering.

66 "Historical documents have sometimes served to make valuable indifferent pictures by celebrated masters; but the great painter of Urbino, in this instance, has so intensely written his name in every quality and characteristic of the production, whether in line, expression, touch, or color, that nothing but the entire destruction of the precious panel can ever efface its origin from the pencil of the immortal and divine artist.

"Had Raphael been a pagan, instead of a Christian catholic, he could not have pursued his subject with more fervor and enthusiasm.

"Allow me, my dear Mr. Morris Moore, to congratulate you and envy you in being the chosen medium by which this marvellous creation of genius has been again restored to genuine lovers of art. Believe me ever truly yours, J. E. Freeman."