Memoirs of the early Italian painters / by Anna Jameson; thoroughly revised and in part rewritten by Estelle M. Hurll.
- Anna Brownell Jameson
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Memoirs of the early Italian painters / by Anna Jameson; thoroughly revised and in part rewritten by Estelle M. Hurll. Source: Wellcome Collection.
283/335 page 239
![LANDSCAPES AND PASTORALS 230 with;1 of those ascribed to him, the greater number were painted by Pietro della Yecchia, a Venetian who had a pecul- iar talent for imitating Giorgione’s manner of execution and style of color. These imitations deceived picture dealers and collectors; they could not for one moment deceive those who had looked into the feeling impressed on Giorgione’s works. The only picture which could have imposed on the true lover of Giorgione is that in Lord Ellesmere’s gallery, the Three Ages, by Titian, in which the tone of sentiment as well as the manner of Giorgione are so happily imitated that for many years it was attributed to him. It was painted by Titian when he was the friend and daily companion of Giorgione, and under the immediate influence of his feelings and genius. We may divide the undoubted and existing pictures of Giorgione into three classes. I. The historical subjects, which are very uncommon; such seem to have been principally confined to his frescoes, and have mostly perished.2 Sacred subjects of the usual kind were so seldom painted by Giorgione that there are not perhaps half a dozen in ex- istence. [An interesting example is in the Madrid Gallery, where it is attributed to Pordenone. It is a Madonna and Child between St. Anthony and St. Roch.3] II. There is a class of subjects which Giorgione represented with peculiar grace and felicity. They are in painting what idyls and lyrics are in poetry, and seem like direct inventions of the artist’s own mind, though some are supposed to be scenes from Venetian tales and novels now lost. These gen- erally represent groups of cavaliers and ladies seated in beauti- ful landscapes under the shade of trees, conversing or playing on musical instruments. Such pictures are not unfrequent, and have a particular charm, arising from the union of melan- choly feeling with luxurious and festive enjoyment, and a mysterious allegorical significance now only to be surmised. 1 [Morelli enumerates nineteen authentic paintings by Giorgione. Vide Critical Studies of the. Italian Painters, vol. ii. p. 224.] 2 [Two historical pictures once attributed to Giorgione are The Tempest, in the Venice Academy, and the Death of St. Peter Martyr, in the National Gal- lery. The former is now assigned to Paris Bordone, the latter to Cariani.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24877888_0283.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
