No. 95. LEANDRO BASSANO. THE LAST JUDGEMENT. From the Orleans Collection, and formerly the property of M. de Bertillac In the Dining Room. THIS highly finished cabinet picture is esteemed to be one of the happiest efforts of the artist. The Apostles, Saints, and Martyrs of the Romish Church are finely grouped, and although executed with minuteness, they convey to the beholder ideas of space, and of figures beyond the composition. The conception which produced a happy combination of Saints, Martyrs, and Angels, appears to have deserted the painter in his representation of the ministers of darkness. By endeavouring to produce contrast, he has introduced figures and actions which partake too much of common life; and he has discovered, at the same time, a want of knowledge of the figure. Leandro Bassano was the third son of Giacomo Daponte, called Il Bassano. He received his instructions in the art from his father, and, for a considerable time, the subjects he painted were of the description of those he had been accustomed to study from. At Venice he obtained so much celebrity for his portraits, that he generally practised that branch of the art, and occasionally, as a recreation, he indulged himself in painting history. One of his best works, on a grand scale, is The Birth of the Virgin, which is the altar-piece of the church of Saint Sophia, at Venice; and a Raising of Lazarus, on a large scale also, is now in the Louvre. His most successful effort as a portrait, is the Doge Grimani, painted in the palace at Venice. For this, in addition to a liberal remuneration, he received from the Doge the honour of knighthood. On Canvass. 2 feet 3 inches in height, by 1 foot 8 inches in width. PARMIGIANO. LA SAINTE VIERGE, L'ENFANT JESUS, ST. JEAN ET LA MADELEINE. Acheté de Mons. Bryan, par le Duc de Bridgewater. Dans la Nouvelle Galerie. Un tableau du Baptême de Jésus par S. Jean, peint pour une église à Parme, est rapporté avoir été l'ouvrage de cet artiste à l'âge de seize ans. Ses premiers tableaux démontrent son admiration du Corrège; mais quand le Pape Clement VII. lui avoit accordé sa faveur, les sublimes ouvrages de Michel Ange et de Raphael avoient fait une profonde impression sur son esprit, et c'est à cette circonstance qu'il a dû ces formes élégantes, ces attitudes pleines de grace, ces conceptions élevées, qu'on remarque dans ses compositions, après cette époque. Quand Rome fut prise et pillée par Charles Quint, on trouva Parmigiano, comme le peintre de Rhodes, tellement occupé de son travail, qu'il demeura insensible aux dangers dont il étoit entouré, et on raconte que dans le pillage universel, les soldats épargnèrent ses ouvrages. Il travailloit alors au tableau célèbre, représentant la vision de S. Jérome. Feu le Marquis d'Abercorn acheta ce tableau à Rome, d'après les conseils du Chevalier Guillaume Hamilton, et le céda dans la suite au Sieur Hart Davis: de la Galerie de Mons. Davis, il passa dans celle du Sieur George Watson Taylor, et à la vente de ses tableaux en 1823, il fut acheté pour l'Institution Britannique au prix de trois mille et cinquante guinées. Un amour excessif pour la musique le détourna trop souvent de la peinture, et la recherche de la pierre philosophale ruina à la fois sa fortune et sa santé, pendant qu'il étoit dans la fleur de son âge. Sur Bois. Hauteur, 2 pieds 5 pouces. Largeur 2 pieds 24 pouces. No. 97. LOUIS CARRACHE, D'APRES LE CORREGE. Dans le Salon. On dit que ce tableau est une copie d'un tableau célèbre du Corrège, dans la Collection du Roi de Naples; il appartenoit autrefois à la Comtesse de Foix. Sur Toile. Hauteur, 11 pouces. Largeur, 9 pouces. No. 98. ANNIBAL CARRACHE. SAINT JEAN MONTRANT LE MESSIE. De la Collection d'Orleans, et autrefois en possession de M. Paillot. La libéralité de ce grand artiste envers ses écoliers étoit telle, que pour les mettre en état de pourvoir à leurs besoins, sans la peine de s'addresser à lui, il tenoit son argent dans sa boîte à couleurs, pour l'usage général. Il étoit naturellement porté à la mélancholie, et le mauvais usage qu'il éprouva du Cardinal Farnèse, qui ne lui donna que deux cents livres sterling pour un travail qui l'avoit occupé pendant huit ans, confirma ce penchant dangereux, et les solicitations urgentes de ses amis pouvoient seules le persuader à reprendre ses études. Sur Cuivre. Hauteur 1 pied 9 pouces. Largeur, 1 pied 7 pouces. No. 99. SALMACIS ET HERMAPHRODITUS. De la Collection d'Orleans, autrefois en possession de l'Abbé Campso. HERMAPHRODITUS fut élevé sur le Mont Ida par les Naïades. A l'âge de quinze ans, voyageant dans la Carie, il alla se baigner dans une fontaine, et Salmacis, qui en étoit la Nymphe, devint amoureux de lui, mais le trouvant insensible à ses charmes elle pria les dieux de réunir les deux sexes, ce qui lui fut accordé. Sur Toile. Hauteur, 1 pied 6 pouces. Largeur, 2 pieds 4 pouces. No. 96. THE MADONNA WITH THE INFANT SAVIOUR, SAINT Purchased from Mr. Bryan, by the Duke of Bridgewater. A PICTURE of the Baptism of Christ, by St. John, painted for a church at Parma, is said to have been the work of this artist at the age of sixteen. His early pictures evince an admiration of Correggio; but when he attracted the notice of Clement the VIIth, the splendour of the works of Michael Angelo and Raphael had made a strong impression upon his mind, and produced that elegance of form, gracefulness of attitude, and grandeur of conception for which his works were afterwards distinguished. When Rome was taken and plundered by Charles the Vth, Parmigiano was found, like the Rhodian painter, so intent upon his work, as to be insensible to the danger that surrounded him; and the soldiers are reported to have spared his performances from the general wreck of property. He was then engaged on his celebrated picture of the Vision of Saint Jerome. This chef-d'œuvre was purchased at Rome through the advice of Sir William Hamilton, by the late Marquess of Abercorn, and afterwards disposed of to Richard Hart Davis, Esq., by whom it was transferred to the Collection of George Watson Taylor, Esq., and at the sale of that gentleman's pictures, in 1823, it became the property of the British Institution, at the price of three thousand and fifty guineas. A passionate love for music diverted much of his time from painting; and a pursuit after the philosopher's stone proved equally ruinous to his fortune and his health, while he was yet in the prime of life. On Wood. 2 feet 5 inches in height, by 2 feet 24 inches in width. No. 97. LOUIS CARRACCI, AFTER CORREGGIO. THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE. From the Orleans Collection. In the Drawing Room. THIS picture is said to be a copy of a celebrated picture in the collection of the King of Naples, and formerly belonged to the Countess de Foix. On Canvass. 11 inches in height, by 9 inches in width. No. 98. ANNIBAL CARRACCI. SAINT JOHN POINTING TO THE MESSIAH. THE liberality of this great master towards his scholars was so remarkable, that with the view of encouraging them to supply their necessities without being put to the pain of asking, he kept his stock of money in his painting box for the general benefit. He was naturally inclined to melancholy, and the ill usage he suffered from Cardinal Farnese, who gave him only two hundred pounds for eight year's labour, confirmed that dangerous habit; and nothing but the pressing solicitations of his friends induced him to resume his professional studies. On Copper. 1 foot 9 inches in height, by 1 foot 7 inches in width. No. 99. SALMACIS AND HERMAPHRODITUS. From the Orleans Collection, and formerly the property of Abbé de Campso. In the Drawing Room. HERMAPHRODITUS was educated on Mount Ida, by the Naïades. At the age of fifteen, while travelling in Caria, he bathed himself in a fountain, and Salmacis, the Nymph who presided over it, became enamoured of his person; but, finding him insensible to her charms, she intreated the gods to unite the sexes in one, which was complied with. On Canvass. 1 foot 6 inches in height, by 2 feet 4 inches in width. |