ernst gombrich - venice and north italy early sixteenth century (ch. 16)

8/17/2019 Ernst Gombrich - Venice and North Italy Early Sixteenth Century (Ch. 16)

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r

LIGHT AND

COLOUR

Venice and northern

Italy

early sixteenth century

We must

novv

turn to another

great

centre of

Italian art,

second in

itnportance

only to Florence

itself-

the

proud and

prosperous

city

of

Venice. Venice,

whose

trade linked it closely with the East,

had

been

slower than other

Italian cities

in

accepting

the

style

of the

Renaissance,

Brunellcschi s application

of

classical

form to

buildings. But

when

it did,

the

style

there

acquired

a

new

gaiety,

splendour and wannth which

evoke, perhaps

n1 orc

closely

than any

other

buildings

in tnodcrn

times,

the

grandeur

of the

great

merchant

cities

of the

Hellenistic

period, of

Alexandria

or

Antioch.

One of

the

tnost

characteristic buildings

of

ills

style

is the

Library

of

San

Marco figure 207

Its

architect

was a

Florentine,

Jacopo

Sansovino

r4R6-r57o), but he had completely adapted

his style

and manner

to

the

genius

of the

place,

the

brilliant light

ofVcnice, which

is

reflected

by the

lagoons,

and

dazzles

the

eye

by

its splendour. It

nuy

secrn a little

pedantic to

anatonllze

such

a festive

and

simple

building, but

to look

at

it

carefully

may

help us

to

see

how

skilled these

nusters were

in

weaving

a

few

sirnplc clernents

into ever-new

patterns.

The lower

storey,

then,

with its vigorous

Doric order of colunms, is in the

rnost orthodox

classicalrnanner. Sansovino has closely

followed

the

rules

ofbuilding

which

the

C o l o ~ s e u m

pa;:e

118 fi;:ure 73,

exemplified.

He

adhered to

the

sarne

tradition

when he

arranged

the upper

storey

in

the Ionic order,

carrying a so-called attic crowned

with

a balustrade and

topped

by a

row of

statues. But instead ofletting

the arched openings

between

the

orders rest

on

pillars,

as

had

been the

case

with the

Colosseum,

Sansovino

supported thern

by

another

set of small

Ionic columns, and

thus

achieved

a

tich

effect of

interlocked

orders. With his balustrades, garlands

and

sculptures

he

gave

the building

sornething

of the

appearance of tracei:y

such as had been

used

on

the Gotlllc

1 ~ a d e s

of

Venice,

page

zog figurc

138.

This

building is

characteristic

of the

taste

for wlllch

Venetian art

in the

Cinq1tecento

becarnc fatuous.

The

atmosphere of the

lagoons,

which

seems

to blur the

sharp outlines

of

objects

and to blend their

colours

in

a radiant

light, rnay have

taught the

painters

of

tllls city

to

usc

colour in

a

more

deliberate

and

observant

way

than

other

painters in Italy had

done

so £1r

Maybe,

also,

the

links with

Constantinople ;:md

its craftsmen

in

mosaic

had


2/15

26 LIGHT

Ni l COLOUII

something to do with this bias. ft is difficult to talk

or

write about colours,

and no illustration , much reduced

in

scale, gives

an

adequ ate idea of the

real appearance

of

a masterpiece

of

colour.

But

so

much

seems to

be

clear: the painters of the Middle Ag

es

were no

more

concerned about the

real colours of thi ngs than they were about their real shapes. fn their

miniatures, enamel wo rk and panel pain tings, they loved to spread out the

purest a

nd

m ost precious

co

lours they could

get- with

s

hining gold

and

flawl

ess

ultramarin e blue as a £wourite

comb

ination. The great reformers

of Florence were

less

interested in colour than in drawing

That

docs not

mean, ofcourse, that the

ir

pic

tur

es were

not

exquisi te in ce lom- the

contrary { true- but few of them regarded

colour

as one

of

th e principal

means of welding the various figures and forms of a picture into

one

unified pattern.

Th

ey preferred to

do

tlus by means ofperspective and

composition before they even dipped their

bru

shes into paint. The

Venetian painters, it

se

ems, did

not

think of

c

olour

as an

additional

I

adornment for the picture after it had been

drawn

on the panel. When

one

en ters the little church ofSan Zaccaria in Vctuce and stands before

the picture,.figure 208 which the great Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini

(143 ?-1516) painted over the altar there in 150 in

hi

s old age-

on

e

inun

ediately notices

that

his approach to co

lour

was very different. Not

that the picture is particularly bright or shining. It is rather th e mellowness

a

nd

ric

hness of the

colours that impress

on

e before

one even

begins to

look at what the pi

ct

ure represe

nt

s think that even the photograph

conveys something of the

warm and

gilded atmosphere which fills the

niche in which the Virgin s

it

s enthroned with the infantJ

es

us lifting

Hi

s

little hands to bless

th

e worshippers before

the

altar. An angel at

the

foot

of the altar softly plays the violin, w hile the saints stand quietly at either

side of

th

e throne: StPeter with his key and

book

St Cathet

;n

e with tl1e

palm ofmartyrdom and the broken wheel, St Lucy and St

jero

me the

207

Ja, opo Sansovino

ilnmy < {Snu Marco,

1/euice, 1536

A building

nf ill

High

Rt•na

isS:l.

I

ICt.

208

Giovanni

Bel

lini

Madouua

witlt

saillls,

1505

lt lr-painting: oil on

w . tram fcrrcd

lo

C ;lli

V

;lS

. .1 1 X

27J l lll,

5 R ~ x i n : d m r d o

S.

Z.an·aria, Venice..·


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4/15

J R l i HT \Nll CO I OUI<

scholar who translated the Bible into Latin and w hom Bellini therefore

represented s reading a

book Many

Madonnas with s ints have been

painted before and after

in

Italy and elsewhere but few were ever

conceived with such dignity and repose. In the Byzantine tradition the

picture of the Virgin used to be r i ~ r i d flanked by images of the s ints

page

140 fiJ?11re

8g Bellini

knew

how to bring li fe into this simple


5/15

329

VENICE l iND N O R T H ~ U N ITALY, EARLY

SIXTEEN J H

CENTURY

'

Giorgi

one

{ l ~ IC IJ CSI, {. )Of :

Oil on

C.ll l \ ' ' " ·

82 x 73 em,

12V. x JN Yi in;

AccaJcmi,1,

V


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JJO LIGHT \Nf> CO LO UR


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J J V ~ . N l C E AND NOit"IHERN

ITAlY,

EAIU.Y SIXTEENTH CENTU


8/15

332

LIC H I

Ni l

CO l OU II

prisoner behind him. St Pete r and the Virgin look

down

on

hi

m be

ni

gnly

while St Francis,

on

the other side, draws the attention of he Christ

Child to

th

e other me

mber

s of the Pesaro famil

y

who are kneeling in

the corner of the pi cture,

.fig

ure 11. The whole scene seems

to

take place

in an open co urtyard, with

two

giant

column

s which rise

into

the clouds

where two

little angels arc playfully engaged

in

raising the Cross.

Ti

tia

n

s

contemporari

es

may well have been amazed at the audacity wi th

which

he had dared to upset the old- established ru les ofcomposition. Th ey must

have

ex

pected, at fi rst,

to

find such a picture lopsided and

un

balanced.

Actually it is the opposite. The unexpected composition only se rves to

mak

e it gay and lively

witho

ut upsetting

th

e har

mony

of

it

all. T

he

main

reason is the way in w

hi

ch T itian contrived to

let

light, air and colou rs

unify the scene.

Th

e idea of making a mere flag co unterbalance the figure

of the H oly Virgin wo

ul

d probably have sh

oc

ked an earlier generation,

but this flag, in its rich ,

warm

colour, is such a stupendous piece of

painting that the ve

ntur

e was a

comp

lete success.

Titian s

gr

eatest 11ne with

hi

s c

ontempora

ri

es

r

es

ted on portraits . We

need only l

oo

k at a head like fi


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J33

VENIC.t:

AND NOitTIIEitN ll

1

l Y

I· AHI Y

SIXTEENTH

l lJ UY


10/15

334 I, I ;HT ND COLOUR

There is nothing of he minute modelling ofLeonardo s Mona Lisa in i

and yet this unknown

young

man seems

as

mysteriously alive

as

she docs.

He

secm.s to gaze at us with such an intense and soulful

look

that it is almost

imp

oss

ible to believe that these dreamy eyes are only a bit

of

coloured earth

spread on a rough piece ofcanvas,jigure 213

No

wonder that the mighty

of

this world

competed

with each

other

for the honour ofbeing painted

by

this master.

Not

that Titian was

inclined

to

produce

a specially fl.atteting likeness,

but he

gave

them

the

onviction that

throug

h hi s art they would go on living.

They

did,

or

so

we feel when we stand in fi-ont of his portrait

ofPopc

Paul III in Naples,

figure 214 T shows the aged ruler of the Church turning towards a yo ung

relative, Alessandro Farncsc,

who

is

about

to pay homage while his

brother, Ottavio, calmly looks at us. Clearly Titian knew and admired

Raphael

s

portrait ofPope Leo X with his cardinals painted some t

wenty-

eight years earlier, page 322 ,figure

206

but he must also have aimed at

surpassing it in lively characterization.

Th

e encounter

of

these personalities

is so convincing and so dramatic that we cannot help speculating about

their thoughts a

nd

emotions. Arc the

ca

rdinals plotting? Docs the P

ope

see

through

their schemes?

Thes

e arc probably idle questions, but they may

also have

obtruded

themselves on

co nt

emporaries.

The painting

remained

unfinished when the master left Rome

to

obey a summons to Germany

to

paint the Emperor Charles

V.

213

Debit o f figun: 212

2 14

Titian

'ope

J>aulllllllith

Alessa11dro n d

O r ~ t ~ v i o

l nmese, 1546

Oil

on

cmvas, 2 x 7.1

em x tHY. in;

usco di Caporlimonte

Napks


11/15

335 VENICE

AND

NOit l HEliN ITI\LY, AR

L Y SI

XTEEN TH

C:F.NTU i

tY


12/15

6 l

H I li

N

CO LO U il


13/15

2 15

Correggio

The

1

o/y

Nig/11

C 15JO

Oil

uu

wood

56

x

I XX em. X

7 1 in;

c ; c . · m : i l d c . · ~ l l c r i t · A i r t ·

M e i ~ ; r c . · r J

n. SdC'I)

216

o r r c g _ _ ~ o

337

nil sSIIIIIJlliOII oftlw

Virgi11: swdy_li>r tire

wpoln

if

l mwn

Cnthedml c. 1526

Rt·d ch:1lk

on

p 1pn

27.X

> 2-J.S

nu 1

.2

x in

Uriri'>h 1\l

mcmn

Loud011

VEN

I CE A N D

NO

U I ~ U N IT LY EARLY SIXTEENTH N I U UV

l t was not only in the great centres like Venice that artists advanced to

the discovery

of new

possibilities and new methods.

Th

e painter who

was looked upon by later generations

as

the

mo

st progressive and most

daring innovator

of

the whole

period led

a lonely life in the

srnaiJ

northe

rn

ftalian town ofParma. He was Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (1489?-

1534). Leonardo and Raphael had died and Titian had a

lr

eady risen to £nn e

when Correggio painted his more

important

works,

but

we

do not

kn

ow

how much he knew of the art of his time. He probably had an opportunity

in the ne i

ghbo

uring citi

es of northern

Italy

to

study the works ofsome

of

Leonardo s pupils and to learn about

hi

s treatment of light and shade. It

was in this field that he wo rked out entirely new effects which greatly

influenced later schools ofpainters.

F ~ ~ u r

2

15 shows

one of

his most famous

paintings-

The

H oly Night .

The

tall shepherd has just had the vision of the open heavens in which

the angels sing their Glory to

God

on

Hi

gh ; we sec them whir ling gaily

about in

the cloud and

looking

down on

the scene

to

which the shepherd

has rushed with his long staff In the dark ruins of the stable he sees the

miracl

the new-born Child that radiat

es

light a

ll round,

lighting up the

beautiful £1ce of the happy mother.

The

s

hepherd

arrests his movement

and f

um

bl

es£()

·

hi

s

ca

p, ready to kneel

do w

n and worship.

Th

ere are two

servant girls - one is dazzled by the li

ght

fi:om the manger, one looks

happily at the shepherd. St

Jo

seph in the murky dark outside busies

himself with the

ass.

At first sight the a

rr

angement looks quite artless and casual.

The

crowded

scene

on

the left docs not seem to be balanced by any corresponding

group

on

the right. T is only balanced through the

emp

hasis w hi

ch

the light

gives to the group

of

l1e

Vi

rgin

a

nd

the Child. Correggio even

more than Titian

ex

ploit

ed

t

he

discovery that colour and light

can be used

to

balance forms and

to direct

our

eyes al

ong

certain

li

nes. It is we who rush to the

scene with the shepherd and

who arc made to sec what he

sees - the miracle

of

the

Li

ght

that sh

one

in darkness ofwhich

the Gospel

ofSt

John speaks.

There

is

one feature

of

Correggio s works which was

imitated th

roughout

the

subsequent ccntlllies; it is the


14/15

S LI G T AND COI OUR


15/15

117

Correggio

nre

AsJ III}Jiio

ri

rlre V i ~ i

339

Frc:10co; cupol

of

Parma

C:

uhedr:t

An orchestra

o

Venetian painters:

detail from Paolo

Vcronesc s The

Wedding Feast at

C>na , 1562-3

01l on c ~ n v a s ; from left

to right Paolo Vcroncse

(wi

tl1 tca1or

vioi ,Jacopo

UJ ssJno (with

treble

comcu . Ti1ttorcno (with

hr

Jda

b r ~ c c i o or

violin),

;md Titian (wirh bass viol)t

louvre,

P a r i

VEN IC E AND

NORT

HERN ITA LY EARLY

SI X

T F.F.NT H CENTURY

way in which he painted the ceilings and cupolas of

churc

hes. H e tried to

give the worshippers in the nave below

th

e illusion that the ceiling had

opened and that they were l

ooking

straight into

th

e glory

ofHeaven

.

Hi

s mastery

of

ight effects

en

abled

him

to

ill

the ceiling with sunlit

clouds

between which

the heavenly

ho

sts se

em to

hover with

th

eir

legs

dangling o w n w a r d ~

This

may not sound very dignified and actually

there

were

people at the time

who

objected, but

when

you stand in the

dark and gl

oomy

medieval cathedral

of

Parma

and look

up towards i

ts

dome the impression is nevertheless very great,jigure 2 17 Unfortunately

this type of effect cannot easily be reproduced

in an

illustration.

It

is

fortunate, therefore, that

we

still have some

of

his drawings which he

made n preparation.

J

ig

ur

e

2 16

shows

hi

s first idea for the figure of he

Virgin ascending on a cloud and gazing towards the radiance of heaven

that awaits her. The drawing is certainly easier

to make

out than the figure

n the fresco, which is even more contorted. Moreover, we are able to see

with

what

simple means Correggio

coul

d suggest su

ch

a flood

of

ight

with

a few strokes of his chalk.

ernst gombrich - venice and north italy early sixteenth century (ch. 16)

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