CHAPTER XI.

THE WORKS OF ANTONELLO DA MESSINA.

WHILST the uncertainties of art history and the conflictstories of writers involve us in doubt as to the great features of Antonello's career, and especially as to his visit to Flanders, we are relieved from perplexity by the straightforward evidence of his pictures, which are too vividly impressed with a Flemish influence to leave any doubts of the master's personal contact with John Van Eyck.

From the solitary example we possess of his early manner we are unable to derive much knowledge of Antonello's style after his return from Rome and his study in the school of Colantonio. But, even in late productions, we can still detect points of resemblance between him and the Neapolitans in a certain arrangement of the composition and details of foreground. The qualities which generally distinguished him were simplicity and nature, derived from his Italian education; but, in more than one instance, the patience with which he sought to render truth and finish overshadowed these great qualities, and flung him back into the ranks of the realistic and minute schools of Belgium. From that source he drew his occasional hardness of outline, a tendency to prefer the real to the ideal in the choice of a type of countenance, and to fall below the

standard of nobleness and grace in attitude and expression which mark the primitive schools of Italy. It was not, however, without many a struggle that Antonello surrendered himself to these tendencies. His pictures are a sufficient evidence of the endeavour to substitute some of the finer features of Italian character for those less pleasing ones which he had engrafted on his manner in Flanders. Thus, whilst his draperies maintained, in a measure, the character of those seen in the pictures of Van Eyck, they gained markedly in elegance of form and fold; and whilst his landscapes kept the episodic style of the Flemings, they were less than usually obtrusive or destructive of general effect.

His most excellent quality, however, was colour, which he derived from the Van Eycks. Not always free even here from the fault of minuteness when it became necessary to depict such details as the hairs of a beard, he used his colours with a firm and flowing brush, of a bright transparent yet powerful tone, modelled with great softness and blending, and as even in touch as those of the Bellini. But in colour and in design he was not at all times successful, as we possess more than one example of dark opaque tones in pictures where, at the same time, he failed of nobleness in expression, especially in the attempt to render ideal character. In portraits, however, he was exempt at all times from these failings, being full of strong and expressive character, noble and severe in attitude, intelligent in form, and fine in design, ennobling the reality, and creating that type of portraiture in which the Venetian school outshone all others. That he possessed the art of giving perspective harmony to the figures and accessories

I

of his pieces may be judged from his landscapes and figures, which never, by want of softness or imperfection of tone, marred the beauty of the whole.

The Virgin and Child of the Museo Peloritano at Messina is the sole remaining tempera picture by Antonello. Of it this much may be said, that it is an example of great truth and finish. A long period then elapses, during which we have no illustration of Antonello's manner,-the first picture in the new method communicated by Van Eyck being signed and dated, "Antonellus Messaneus, 1445."1 A black cap shows off a head full of character. The cap falls back over a black dress, covered by a pelisse lined with fur. A distant landscape completes the picture. The finish of this piece, the hardness of its outline, and a certain thinness of colouring, indicate a man less practised in painting than Antonello subsequently became; but simplicity and grandeur still mark the features.

The Crucifixion of Antwerp,2 which appears to have been executed in the same year, is a far more striking and remarkable picture, developing Antonello's Italian character far more than the portrait. Were it not almost conclusively proved that the date of the inscription is 1445, and not 1475, we should have felt inclined to class the Crucifixion amongst the late efforts of Antonello. The scene is laid in a sunny Italian landscape, lighted by a genial sky. The two thieves are crucified on the branches

No. 18, Berlin Cat. Signed "1455, Antonellus Messaneus me pinxit," inscribed with the words, "Prosperans modestus esto. Infortunatus vero prudens." Wood, 8 z. high by 52 z. broad.

2 No. 17, Ant. Cat. Wood, 0.58 met. high by 0.42 met. broad.

of trees, and remind us of the figures of crucified saints painted by Carpaccio, Antonello's cotemporary. The noble features of the Saviour's head are also more Italian than Flemish. On the other hand, the lower portion of the picture, such as the Virgin at the foot of the Cross on the left, and St. John, are Flemish in manner. The distance contains little figures of men and women, with horses and other animals, illustrating one of Antonello's favourite studies; whilst the skulls and other details of the foreground are characteristic of the manner of Zingaro. The quiet agony of the repentant thief, contrasting with the writhing torture of the other, is an instance of the painter's judgment. The colour of this piece is proportionately vigorous and good compared to that of the portrait in the Berlin Gallery. It might, indeed, be more so but for extensive cleansings; to which, indeed, are attributed the partial destruction of the inscription. The picture had the following words written on a scroll, “ 1445. Antonellus Messaneus me 0° pinat." The third cipher, as it appears at present, is undoubtedly a seven; but being smaller than the rest, and the testimony of Mr. de Bast being clearly to the effect that, previous to the cleansing of the panel, the upper portion of the four was rubbed out, there seems no reason to doubt the reading of this signature as given by that gentleman, and by the writers of the Antwerp Catalogue.2 The word "O°" is generally admitted to mean oleo, the intention being apparently

1 No. 33, Seconda Sala Nuova, p. 35. Cat. of the Acad. Ven. 2 De Bast, Messager des Sciences et des Arts, &c. 1824-25, pp. 344-45.