A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools

It is hoped that the following catalogue may serve to bring before the notice of visitors the importance of a collection which deserves much greater attention than it has hitherto received. The artists represented are arranged alphabetically, with references to such of them as are also represented by original work in the National Gallery. After the title of each work, information is given as to the nature of the original from which the copy is made, and the place where the original is. The numerals after each picture refer to the numbers at present on the frames.

Albertinelli (see under 645).

The Visitation (11): picture, Uffizi, Florence.

Andrea del Castagno (see under 1138).

The Last Supper (120): fresco, Convent S. Apollonia, Florence.

Angelico, Fra (see under 663).

Christ and Magdalen (51): fresco, Convent of S. Marco, Florence.

Christ at Emmaus (76): " " " "

The Transfiguration (49): " " " "

The Crucifixion (91): " " " "

The Entombment (50): " " " "

The Marys at the Sepulchre (53): " " "

Madonna and Child, etc. (65): " " "

The Presentation (54): " " " "

The Annunciation: " " " "

Coronation of the Virgin: " " " "

Christ as a Pilgrim (70): " " " "

Ordination of St. Stephen (55): fresco, Vatican, Rome.

Adoration of the Magi (166): " " "

Lives of SS. Stephen and Lawrence (128, 131, 134, 193, 194, etc.): frescoes, Chapel of St. Lawrence, Vatican.

["The remote little chapel containing Fra Angelico's masterpieces." Without seeing it, no one can have any conception of "the strength and freedom of the artist." "These frescoes are the highest expression of that which the friar for many years had been striving after. They are an anthology of his artistic virtues" (Fra Angelico, by Langton Douglas: see pp. 141-158 for a full discussion of them).]

Avanzo, Jacopo d' (Veronese: painted 1377).

St. Lucy and her Judges (36): fresco, S. Antonio, Padua.

Martyrdom of St. George (183): fresco, S. Giorgio, Padua.

Bartolommeo, Fra (see under 1694).

Christ at Emmaus (72): fresco, S. Marco, Florence.

Vision of St. Dominic (45): " " "

Virgin and Child (24): " " "

"Noli me tangere": " " "

Bellini, Giovanni (see under 189).

Virgin and Child (62): picture, Frari, Venice.

["The art of Bellini is centrally represented by two pictures at Venice: one the Madonna in the sacristy of the Frari with two saints beside her, and ten angels at her feet; the second, the "Madonna with four Saints" over the second altar of San Zaccaria. In the first of these the figures are under life size, and it represents the most perfect kind of picture for rooms; in which, since it is intended to be seen close to the spectator, every right kind of finish possible to the hand may be wisely lavished; yet which is not a miniature, nor in any wise petty or ignoble, etc." (Ruskin: Relation between Michael Angelo and Tintoret, p. 14).]

Boccaccio Boccaccino (see under 806).

Christ among the Doctors (57): fresco, Cathedral, Cremona.

Botticelli (see under 1034).

Spring (86): picture, Belle Arti, Florence.

[The most probable explanation of the allegory is this: – The picture represents a masque or joust of Spring given by Giuliano de' Medici in honour of his mistress, "La Simonetta Vespucei," who is here represented as Spring, Giuliano himself figuring as Mercury. In the centre is Venus with Cupid above her head, pointing an arrow at Giuliano. Shortly after the joust, Giuliano was murdered, and La Simonetta died. The death-like figure to the extreme left, breathing upon Spring, represents the premonition of these coming disasters. Simonetta was a favourite model of Botticelli's, the same slender and long-throated lady appearing in many of his works, though sometimes spiritualised almost past recognition (cf. Ariadne Florentina, Appendix iv.; and a sonnet by D. G. Rossetti describing this picture).]

Destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (180): fresco, Sistine Chapel.

Moses at the Well (185): fresco, Sistine Chapel.

The Temptation (110): " " "

Venus rising from the Sea (87): picture, Uffizi, Florence.

[For an interesting description and interpretation of this picture, see Pater's Studies in the History of the Renaissance: "The light is cold – mere Sunless dawn; but a later painter would have cloyed you with sunshine; and you can see the better for that quietness in the morning air each long promontory as it slopes down to the water's edge. Men go forth to their labours until the evening; but she is awake before them, and you might think that the sorrow in her face was at the thought of the whole long day of love yet to come. An emblematical figure of the wind blows hard across the grey water, moving forward the dainty-tipped shell on which she sails, the sea 'showing his teeth' as it moves in their lines of foam, and sucking in one by one the falling roses… What is unmistakable is the sadness with which Botticelli has conceived the Goddess of Pleasure as the depositary of a great power over the lives of men."]

Giovanna Tornabuoni and the Graces.

Lorenzo Tornabuoni and the Liberal Arts.

[Copies from the frescoes formerly in the Villa Lemmi, near Florence, now in the Louvre: for a description of them, see Ruskin's Art of England, § 69.]

Buffalmacco (Florentine: 1262-1351).

Raising of Lazarus (216): fresco, Assisi.

Carpaccio (see under 750).

St. George baptizing the Princess (79): picture, S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice.

St. Jerome in his study (89): " " "

The Calling of St. Matthew (77): " " "

St. George and the Dragon (190): " " "

[See for full descriptions of these pictures Ruskin's "St. Mark's Rest," Shrine of the Slaves.]

St. Vitale and Saints (259); picture, Church S. Vitale, Venice.

[Signed, and dated 1514. An admirable example of the master.]

Cimabue (see under 565).

Frescoes in the upper church of Assisi (137-155).

["In these works there is an evident struggle in the mind of the artist to give to traditional form the expression of a living intention; but all that belongs to a closer imitation of nature in her individual peculiarities – all that belongs to the conception of characteristic or graceful action, – is still wanting. The form of the countenance is alike throughout; the expression, as conveyed by mien, always constrained. Yet, notwithstanding all these defects, these works must be regarded as having been mainly instrumental in opening a new path to the free exercise of art." – Kugler.]

Domenico di Bartolo (Sienese: died 1449).

Copies from two of the frescoes in the Hospital of S. Maria della Scala, at Siena (Nos. 1 and 6 of the series, "The Rearing, Education, and Marriage of Foundlings," and "Pope Celestine's approval of the building of the Hospital").

Dürer, Albert (see under 1938).

St. John and St. Peter (99): picture, Pinakothek, Munich.

St. Mark and St. Paul (103): " " "

Adoration of the Trinity (101): picture, Belvedere, Vienna.

Eyck, Van, The Brothers (see under 186).

Adoration of the Lamb (107): altar-piece, Cathedral, Ghent.

[This famous picture has been put together, in the copy, from the originals, which are now distributed among Ghent (three central panels), Brussels (the Adam and Eve), and Berlin (the remaining panels).]

Foligno, Niccolo da (see under 1107).

Virgin and Child (40): altar-piece, Gualdo Tadino, Umbria.

Forli, Melozzo da (see under 755).

Pope Sixtus VI. (38): fresco, Vatican Gallery, Rome.

Angels (68, 76, 206, 217): fresco, sacristy, St. Peter's, Rome.

Francesca, Piero della (see under 665).

The Resurrection (32): fresco, Palazzo Communale, Borgo San Sepolcro.

Battle for the Recovery of the True Cross (178): fresco, S. Francesco, Arezzo.

St. Helena finding the True Cross: fresco, S. Francesco, Arezzo.

Dream of Constantine (161): fresco, S. Francesco, Arezzo.

["The movement and life in the compositions, the variety in the expressions of the numerous figures, their energy of action, and the grand treatment of the draperies, are all equally remarkable." – Kugler.]

Francia (see under 180).

Marriage of St. Cecilia: fresco, St. Cecilia, Bologna.

Burial of St. Cecilia: " " "

Gaddi, Agnolo (Florentine: died 1396).

Nativity of the Virgin (207): fresco, cathedral of Prato.

Betrothal (179): " " "

Gaddi, Taddeo (see under 215).

Adoration of the Magi (113): fresco, lower church, Assisi.

Ghirlandajo (see under 1230).

Calling of the Apostles (115): fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome.

The Last Supper (88): fresco, Ognissanti, Florence.

St. John the Baptist (90): fresco, S. Maria Novella, Florence.

Zacharias Naming his Son (92): " " "

Birth of the Baptist (111): " " "

Angel appearing to Zacharias (132): " " "

Baptism of Christ (159): " " "

Expulsion of Joachim (171): " " "

Birth of the Virgin (172): " " "

Marriage of the Virgin (175): " " "

The Salutation (195): " " "

Massacre of the Innocents (196): " " "

Presentation in the Temple (226): " " "

[For a criticism of Ghirlandajo's frescoes in this church, see Ruskin's Mornings in Florence, pp. 25, 26.]

The Emperor Augustus and the Sibyl (84): fresco, S. Trinita, Florence.

Death of St. Francis of Assisi: fresco, S. Trinita, Florence.

Death of S. Fina (47): fresco, Cappella S. Fina, S. Gimignano.

Burial of S. Fina (158): " " "

Giorgione (see under 269).

Virgin and Child (9): altar-piece Castelfranco.

[This according to Ruskin, is one of the "two most perfect pictures in existence; alone in the world, as an imaginative representation of Christianity, with a monk and a soldier on either side, the soldier bearing the white cross of everlasting peace on the purple ground of former darkness." —Oxford Lecture, reported in Cook's Studies in Ruskin, p. 251. For a further description of the picture, see Stones of Venice, Travellers' edition, ii. pp. 177-179.]

Giotto (see under 568).

The Life of St. Francis (2, 95, 199-205, 215-220): frescoes, upper church of S. Francesco, Assisi.

The Virtues: frescoes, lower church of S. Francesco, Assisi.

[Here, in "the cradle of Florentine art," the young Giotto worked out his apprenticeship as a painter. For Ruskin's estimate of Giotto's work at Assisi, see Fors Clavigera for 1877.]

Vices and Virtues (82 A, etc.): frescoes, Arena Chapel, Padua.

Pietà: " " "

Gozzoli (see under 283).

Scenes from the Life of St. Francis (208, 222, 242, 267): frescoes, church S. Francesco, Montefalco.

Virgin and Child (97): altar-piece, church of S. Francesco, Montefalco.

Scenes from the Life of St. Agostino (46, 224, 243, 244): frescoes, church S. Agostino, S. Gimignano.

The Journey of the Three Kings to Bethlehem (37, 39, 41, 123, 248): frescoes, Riccardi Palace, Florence.

["The chapel in the Palazzo Medici, now Riccardi, is made the scene of the journey, represented in a sumptuous procession of knights, squires, and pages, with dogs and hunting leopards. He has also introduced portraits of various members of the Medici family and of some of the principal citizens of Florence." – Kugler's Italian Schools, i. 164.]

Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca: fresco, Campo Santo, Pisa.

Guido da Siena.

Virgin and Child (241): picture, S. Domenico, Siena.

[Stated on an inscription to have been painted in 1221. Relying on the date, the Sienese have disputed the claims of the Florentines to have been the regenerators of Italian art. But it has been proved that the numerals have been tampered with, the true date being 1281.]

Holbein (see under 1314).

The Meier Madonna (102): picture, Palace Princess Charles, Darmstadt.

[This is from the original, of which there is a celebrated copy at Dresden. "The received tradition respecting the Holbein Madonna is beautiful, and I believe the interpretation to be true. A father and a mother have prayed to her for the life of their sick child. She appears to them, her own Christ in her arms. She puts down her Christ beside them – takes their child into her arms instead. It lies down upon her bosom, and stretches its hand to its father and mother, saying farewell." – Ruskin's On the Old Road, i. pp. 234, 235.]

Libri, Girolamo dai (see under 748).

Virgin and Child (44): picture, S. Giorgio, Verona.

Leonardo da Vinci (see under 1093).

Virgin and Child: fresco, St. Onofrio, Rome.

Lippi, Fra Filippo (see under 666).

Virgin and Child (34): picture, Uffizi, Florence.

Virgin and Child (100): picture, Belle Arti, Florence.

[This is one of the four pictures selected by Mr. Ruskin for his series of "Lesson Photographs." – See Fors Clavigera, 1875, pp. 307-310; 1876, p. 187.]

Burial of St. Stephen (238): fresco, cathedral of Prato.

Heads from frescoes (157, 170): " " "

Lippi, Filippino (see under 293).

Virgin and Child (66): fresco, cathedral, Prato.

Vision of S. Bernard (1): altar-piece, Badia, Florence.

Glorification of St. Thomas Aquinas, two heads from: fresco (157); Cappella, Carafa, S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome.

[For a description of this remarkable fresco, "barbarously restored and repainted in 1874," see Kugler's Italian Schools of Painting, i. 160.]

St. Peter delivered from prison: fresco, Brancacci chapel, Carmine, Florence.

St. Peter and St. Paul before Nero, and Martyrdom of St. Peter: fresco, Brancacci chapel, Carmine, Florence.

St. Peter visited by St. Paul: fresco, Brancacci chapel, Carmine, Florence.

[See also Masaccio and Masolino; the Arundel Society's ascriptions are here followed, but the ascription of these frescoes to one or other of the three artists, Filippino Lippi, Masaccio, and Masolino is doubtful.]

Lorenzetti, Pietro (see under 1113).

The Deposition (29): fresco, lower church, Assisi.

Good Government: frescoes, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Lorenzo, Fiorenzo di (see under 1103).

Events in the Life of St. Bernardino (30, 229, 230): pictures, Pinacoteca, Perugia.

Luini (see under 18).

Ippolita Sforza in prayer, with attendant saints (74): fresco, S. Maurizio, Milan.

Donor and Saints (266): fresco, S. Maurizio, Milan.

St. Catherine (268): fresco, Santuario della Madonna, Saronno.

St. Apollonia (260): " " "

Head of an Attendant (125): " " "

Head of the Virgin (117): " " "

Marriage of the Virgin: " " "

Adoration of the Magi: " " "

Christ among the Doctors: " " "

Presentation: " " "

Madonna and Child (160): fresco, S. Maria degli Angioli, Lugano.

[In a side chapel to the right of the entrance. "One of the loveliest little pictures in Italy. It is dated 1530, and is probably the last work which the golden hand of Luini bequeathed to the world." – Lund's Como and Italian Lake-land, p. 432.]

Mantegna (see under 274).

The Histories of SS. James and Christopher (38, 42, 227, 230, 236, 239); frescoes, Eremitani Chapel, Padua.

[The most important works of Mantegna's youth. "His early frescoes in the Eremitani look as though they had been painted from statues or clay models, carefully selected for the grandeur of their forms, the nobility of their attitudes, and the complicated beauty of their drapery." – Symonds: Renaissance, iii. 197.]

Masaccio (Florentine: 1401-1428).

St. Peter and St. John giving alms: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

St. Peter and St. John healing the sick: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

St. Peter preaching: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

The Expulsion from Paradise: " " "

The Tribute Money: " " "

St. Peter and St. Paul raising the King's son: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

Homage of St. Peter: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

[For Masaccio, as the first "naturalist" in landscape, see Ruskin's notices of the frescoes in Modern Painters, vols. i. and iii.]

Masolino (Florentine: 1383-1447).

The History of the Baptist (119, 127, 169, 211): frescoes, Castiglione d' Olona (near Varese).

The Prophet Isaiah (167): fresco, Castiglione d' Olona (near Varese).

The Temptation: fresco, Castiglione d' Olona (near Varese).

St. Peter and St. John raising Petronilla: fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Carmine, Florence.

[Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini, known as Masolino da Panicale, from the place of his birth, is supposed to have been the teacher of Masaccio. He was for some time in the service of Cardinal Branda Castiglione. These frescoes, on one of which he inscribed his name, were executed 1426-1437. They "indicate a careful study of nature, though the type of composition is still that of the 14th century."]

Meister Wilhelm (see under 687).

Virgin and Child (104): picture, collection Archbp. of Cologne.

Memlinc (see under 686).

Panels from Triptych (105): Hospital St. John, Bruges.

Crucifixion (106): triptych, Lübeck Cathedral.

Memmi, Simone (Sienese: born 1283).

Annunciation (78): picture, Louvre, Paris.

Death-bed of St. Martin (277): fresco, church S. Francesco, Assisi.

Investiture of St. Martin: fresco, church S. Francesco, Assisi.

St. Martin renouncing the Emperor's service (124): fresco, church S. Francesco, Assisi.

[The real name of this Sienese painter was Simone Martini. He is celebrated by Petrarch: "I have known two painters," he writes, "talented both and excellent, Giotto of Florence and Simone of Siena."]

Michael Angelo (see under 790).

Delphic Sibyl (20): fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome.

Persic Sibyl (262): " " "

Ezekiel (17): " " "

Jeremiah (16): " " "

[For Ruskin's criticism of these frescoes, see (among other places) Ariadne Florentina, ch. iv.]

Montagna (see under 802).

St. John Baptist and St. Benedict (6): picture, SS. Nazzaro e Celso, Verona.

SS. Nazzaro e Celso (8): picture, SS. Nazzaro e Celso, Verona.

St. Blaise led to execution: " " "

Morando (see under 735).

The Deposition (80): picture, Municipal Museum, Verona.

Pacchiarotto (see under 1849).

St. Catherine and St. Agnes (10): fresco, oratory of S. Catherine, Siena.

Palma Vecchio (see under 636).

Virgin and Child (212): picture, church S. Stefano, Vicenza.

[S. Lucia stands on the left; on the right, St. George in armour with his banner – a grand figure recalling the S. Liberale in Giorgione's picture at Castelfranco. One of Palma's finest works.]

Perugino (see under 288).

Christ's charge to Peter (56): fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome.

Baptism of Christ (181): " " "

Moses and the Angel (197): " " "

[Attributed by Morelli to Pinturicchio: see German Galleries, p. 264.]

Adoration of the Magi (96): fresco, S. Maria de' Bianchi, Città della Pieve.

Crucifixion (5): fresco, S. Maria Maddalena de Pazzi, Florence.

Marriage of the Virgin (73): fresco, Convent of S. Girolamo, Spello.

Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (28): fresco, chapel of convent at Panicale.

Nativity and Adoration (7): fresco S. Francesco del Monte, Perugia.

The Transfiguration (4): fresco, Sala del Cambio, Perugia.

Peruzzi (see under 218).

Augustus and the Sibyl (250): fresco, church of Fonte Giusta, Siena.

[Peruzzi imparted to this picture, says Lanzi, "such a divine enthusiasm that Raffaelle himself never surpassed him in his treatment of this subject."]

Pinturicchio (see under 693).

Glorification of St. Bernardino (186): fresco, church of Aracoeli, Rome.

Burial of St. Bernardino (130): fresco, church of Aracoeli, Rome.

["Somewhat slight and hard in execution, but full of expression and individual life." – Kugler.]

Betrothal of Frederick III. (75): fresco, Piccolomini Library, Siena.

Piccolomini receiving a Cardinal's hat (71): fresco, Piccolomini Library, Siena.

A drawing of the interior of the Piccolomini Library, showing Pinturicchio's frescoes (43).

The Nativity (82): fresco, S. Maria del Popolo, Rome.

St. Catherine of Alexandria (59): fresco, Appartamenti Borgia, Vatican.

Virgin in Glory (3): altar-piece at Monte Oliveto.

Annunciation: fresco, Cathedral, Spello.

Nativity: " ""

Christ among the doctors: ""

Pordenone (see 272).

Adoration of the Magi (176): fresco, castle of Coll' Alto, near Conegliano.

Flight into Egypt (225): fresco, castle of Coll' Alto, near Conegliano.

Raphael (see under 1171).

Philosophy (22): fresco, in one of the Stanze, Vatican.

Poetry (25): " " "

Poets on Mt. Parnassus (21): " "

St. Peter delivered from Prison (19): "

Theology (23): " " "

Justice (26): " " "

Expulsion of Heliodorus (213): " "

Mass of Bolsena (121): " "

[These frescoes, in one of the chambers of the Vatican, are those by which, according to Ruskin, Raphael "wrote upon its walls the Mene, Tekel, Upharsin of the Arts of Christianity." See Edinburgh Lectures on Architecture and Painting, pp. 213, 214.]

The Four Sibyls (63): fresco, S. Maria della Pace, Rome.

Roman Wall Painting.

The Nursing of Bacchus (13): Farnesina Gardens, Rome.

Romanino (see under 297).

Visit of Christian II., King of Denmark, in 1475 to Bartolomeo Colleoni (58, 182, 188, 228, 234, 240): frescoes, Castle of Malpaga, near Bergamo.

["There is perhaps no edifice of the kind which gives so complete an idea of the residence of a great Italian nobleman in the middle ages." The frescoes are fully described in Mr. Oscar Browning's Life of Bartolomeo Colleoni, published by the Arundel Society in 1891. "These pictures are extremely interesting as showing the manners and customs of the time; and we cannot but feel that an age which could have crowded into so short a space so many scenes replete with life and colour, with dignity and magnificence, must be worthy of our study. Romanino, the reputed author of the frescoes, was born ten years after the events which they portray. He must, therefore, have worked from the family records of what occurred, although in his own age the life of chivalry was not altogether dead. It is more probable, however, that they were executed by one of his pupils."]

Rosselli, Cosimo (Florentine: 1439-1507).

Worship of the Golden Calf (135): fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome.

The Last Supper (184): " " "

Passage of the Red Sea (192): " " "

Sermon on the Mount (198): " " "

[The latter is the most successful. The landscape and perhaps other parts are by his pupil, Piero di Cosimo. To Rosselli was formerly attributed No. 227 in our Gallery.]

Santi, Giovanni (see under 751).

Nativity and Resurrection (4): fresco, St. Domenico, Cagli.

Sarto, Andrea del (see under 690).

The Last Supper (122): fresco, S. Salvi, Florence.

[A celebrated work in a convent, now a lunatic asylum, near Florence: commissioned in 1519, finished in 1527. Described and highly praised by Vasari (iii. 224), who says that the beauty of the fresco saved the convent from destruction during the siege of Florence in 1529-30.]

Charity (94): fresco, cloisters of Campagnia dello Scalzo, Florence.

[This fresco is the subject of an interesting dissertation by Max Müller, published by the Fine Art Society, 1887.]

St. John Baptist preaching (93): fresco, cloisters of Campagnia dello Scalzo, Florence.

Birth of the Virgin (51): fresco, Annunziata, Florence.

Procession of the Magi (33): fresco, Annunziata, Florence.

St. Filippo Benizzi (52): " " "

Madonna del Saco: " " "

Signorelli (see under 1128).

Scenes from Life of Moses (60): fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome.

St. Benedict receiving the true King Totila (144): fresco, Monte Oliveto.

St. Benedict receiving the false King Totila (257): fresco, Monte Oliveto.

[For a description of these frescoes at Monte Oliveto, see Maud Cruttwell's Luca Signorelli, p. 58.]

The Crowning of the Elect (165): fresco, cathedral, Orvieto.

Portraits of Dante and Virgil (from the same): " "

[For a description of these see Bevir's Visitor's Guide to Orvieto, p. 43, etc.]