Italian Masters Research Articles

Beatrix királyné psalteriumának helye. Kérdések a <i>Bibliotheca Corvina</i> könyvfestői és könyvkötői körül

The Psalter (Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 39 Aug. 4º) of Beatrice of Aragon, the wife of King Matthias Corvinus, often features in research literature on account of its title-page and ornate binding. The title-page (fol. 13r) was long attributed to Francesco del Cherico, but for some time now it has been ascribed to Francesco Rosselli and his collaborator, the Maestro dell'Iliade Medicea, while the binding is attributed – after Anthony Hobson – to Felice Feliciano. There are written documents to prove that both Francesco Rosselli and Felice Feliciano visited Hungary, both in the late 1470s, in1480 the latest. That Rosselli painted the Psalter title-page in Buda cannot be proven, although the arguments proposed by Edina Zsupán – the Hungarian saints in the calendar, the crudeness of the parchment – may suggest it. However, not only the title-page but six other pages of the Psalm-book are illumined (foll. 43r, 59v, 76v, 94r, 115v, 135v, 155v). These pages so far ignored by research literature are not Francesco Rosselli's works, being in completely different style. Their illuminator was presumably one of the North Italian masters who illumined for Hungarian clients several manuscripts in Buda around1480 and later, among whom only one is known by name(Franciscus Kastello Ithallico de Mediolano). He used cold, bright colours, the faces of the figures are markedly modelled, the drapery has a metallic hardness. One of the ruling motifs of the marginal decoration is the cornucopia. This hand cannot be identified at present in any manuscript whose provenience was Buda; its closest relative is a single Italian illumination in the Corvinus Gradual(National Széchényi Library, Cod. Lat. 424, fol. 7r). The master of the ornate binding of the Psalter – as Marianne Rozsondai has established – was the binder of the 14th century Bible kept in Erlangen (Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. 6) which also features of portrait of King Matthias. Important roles are played on both bindings by the leather filigree arabesques and the embossed all'antica motifs. The hand of the master making the gilded Corvina bindings can also be discerned on the Bible binding. So it seems that these two luxurious manuscripts completed around 1480 had an important – maybe even model-giving – role in the history of the evolving royal library, the Bibliotheca Corvina.

Watching in George Tooker's Waiting Room

The American painter George Clair Tooker (1920-) had his first retrospective in 2008-2009. The show traveled from New York to Philadelphia, to Columbus, Ohio. This exhibition placed Tooker's realism within the Modernist tradition, emphasizing the “compelling mystery” of his work as well as his use of the egg tempera technique practiced by the early Italian masters.1 This paradox in Tooker's work, his modernity and realism, contrasted with his use of the old tempera technique, distinguishes Tooker from his contemporaries, primarily abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock, also active during the 1940s and 1950s.

<i>Gottlieb Anton Galliarti inventor.</i> Die Gewölbefresken in der Kathedrale zu Nitra und ihr Schöpfer

Abstract The Late Baroque rebuilding of the St. Haimhram's Cathedral in Nitra (Nyitra) realized under the Bishop Ladislaus Adam Erdődy in first decenium of the 18th century belonged to very important evens of that time. Just one name – Gottlieb Anton Galliarti (ca 1688/89–1736) – is known from all Viennese artists, who were participated in the complex interior decoration of the Cathedral. These ceiling paintings dated 1720 are preserved as only ones from all monumental works made by this interesting and almost forgotten painter, who came from an North Italian art family and became naturalized in Austria. The actual restoration of the Cathedral in Nitra has enabled a particular study about the way how it was used to manipulate with the sample works taken over the famous Italian masters (as G. Lanfranco, G. B. Gaulli, C. Maratti, C. Ferri, etc.). As it was common that time also Galliarti's compositions were inspired with them.

Proteomic strategies for the identification of proteinaceous binders in paintings

The identification of proteinaceous components in paintings remains a challenging task for several reasons. In addition to the minute amount of sample available, complex and variable chemical composition of the paints themselves, possible simultaneous presence of several binders and contaminants, and degradation of the original materials due to aging and pollution are complicating factors. We proposed proteomic strategies for the identification of proteins in binders of paintings that can be adapted to overcome the requirements and difficulties presented by specific samples. In particular, we worked on (1) the development of a minimally invasive method based on the direct tryptic cleavage of the sample without protein extraction; (2) the use of microwave to enhance the enzymatic digestion yield, followed by the analysis of the peptide mixtures by nanoLC-MS/MS with electrospray ionization (ESI). Moreover, as an additional tool to tackle the problem of contaminating proteins, we exploited the possibility of generating an exclusion list of the mass signals that in a first run had been fragmented and that the mass spectrometer had to ignore for fragmentation in a subsequent run. The methods, tested on model samples, allowed the identification of milk proteins in a sample from paintings attributed to Cimabue and Giotto, thirteenth-century Italian masters, decorating the vaults of the upper church in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy.

Differential and scanning-mode external PIXE for the analysis of the painting “Ritratto Trivulzio” by Antonello da Messina

Extensive PIXE investigations have been performed at the LABEC accelerator laboratory in Florence on the painting “Ritratto Trivulzio” by Antonello da Messina, one of the great Italian masters of XV Century and a pioneer in modern oil painting. It is well known that a complete and unambiguous characterisation of materials in paintings is often difficult, owing to their complex structure. For the “Ritratto Trivulzio”, the combination of advanced variants of PIXE, such as differential and scanning-mode analysis, provided a relevant contribution to the characterisation of paint layers, in terms of composition and structure, in a totally non-invasive and non-destructive way. Single-spot mode PIXE with external proton beams of about half millimetre diameter was first used for a general characterisation of different areas of the painting. Differential PIXE performed in many spots led to reconstruct the sequence of paints employed by the artist and to estimate in some cases the local paint layer thickness. A second run carried out with the external scanning microbeam facility, using a 3 MeV proton beam of about 80 μm size, was then crucial to clarify some issues raised by the first analysis. In particular, elemental maps from selected areas helped to understand the way some colour shades had been obtained on the red mantle of the portrayed gentleman, using different pigments irregularly distributed on the surface.

Portrait of a Patron: The Patronage and Collecting of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1674–1744) by Susan Jenkins

226 Artists (Zoffany and Turner) and poets (Wordsworth, Goldsmith, and Crabbe) dramatized sensibility, developing a stereotype of the pathetic; they transformed rogues and tricksters into objects of sentiment, ‘‘romanticizing the freedom and independence of the beggar .’’ In this ‘‘history from below,’’ Mr. Hitchcock mixes legal documents, criminal records with illustrations, and the fictions of Gay, Defoe, Swift, Smollett, Fielding, and Grub Street. This complex narrative works because the author shows nuance and facility in an admittedly socially constructed text. Mr. Hitchcock moves easily, and sometimes comically, from court testimonies of drunks, criminals, and petty thieves to the sophisticated and ironic voices of upper-class satirists. Arthur J. Weitzman Northeastern University SUSAN JENKINS. Portrait of a Patron: The Patronage and Collecting of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1674– 1744). Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. Pp. xii ⫹ 219. $99.95. For Scriblerians, James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos, is the figure behind Timon’s Villa, the epitome of ostentatious false taste. This judgment, not original with Pope’s Epistle to Burlington , has shaped posterity’s verdict of the Duke. An art historian, Ms. Jenkins undertakes to correct this misunderstanding and show Chandos’s cultural importance as an enlightened patron and collector , who had a ‘‘profound and rounded interest in the arts’’ that helped establish his ‘‘position at the centre of the artistic world and support his claim to be the new ‘Apollo of the arts’ of his generation.’’ The dispersal after his death of all Chandos’s possessions and the razing of Cannons, his suburban mansion, insured there is no legacy by which to judge his taste and achievement; his achievements for the most part must be reconstructed from the documents. Using correspondence , architectural plans and drawings, inventories, contemporary accounts, and sale catalogues, Ms. Jenkins follows the twelve-year building of the mansion (completed by June 1725) and the amassing of its contents, and guides us through its rooms, reconstructing their decorative schemes, paintings, and furnishings . The grounds were laid out on an enormous scale in the formal geometric manner with waterworks and statuary. An amateur architect, Chandos took an active role in designing Cannons . At a cost of upwards of £160,000 for construction and furnishing, there was no available surface in the mansion that did not receive the most lavish and costly decoration possible. From marble flooring, tropical hardwood paneling, and gilded furniture to ceiling paintings, the decorative splendor can be gauged by a tradesman’s bill for ‘‘Japanning the seat in ye water closet £9.’’ Ms. Jenkins situates Chandos’s collecting in the prevailing debates about taste, luxury, and conspicuous consumption , as well as the context of the expansion of the art market, British taste for foreign artists, and the rise of public art institutions. Chandos collected during the transition from the seventeenthcentury virtuoso collector (with his taste for the strange and ingenious rarities and natural objects) to the connoisseur of fine art whose sensibility was informed by new canons of polite taste derived from the model of Italian art. Collecting, although a form of conspicuous consumption and display of status, 227 could also be a public-spirited activity. The connoisseur’s civic responsibility was demonstrated by opening his house and collection to the public, as did Chandos. Central to Ms. Jenkins’s brief is the chapter ‘‘The Duke of Chandos as a Collector,’’ which shows how he built his collection, primarily of books and manuscripts, followed closely by Dutch paintings and Italian Old Masters. He desired to get paintings ‘‘of the most celebrated hands,’’ and his negotiations and acquisitions reveal his sophistication . Relying on catalogues and overseas agents, dealers, friends, or relatives, Chandos was buying sight unseen; we see him stating what he is willing to pay and concentrating on the big names of Italian painting (Guido Reni, Domenichino , the Carracci); he was especially wary of false attributions, copies, and fakes. Ms. Jenkins identifies and reproduces many of the paintings once in Chandos’s collection, and in some cases documents how he acquired them. Her argument that in literature and music he was ‘‘a patron of taste and discernment ’’ is less well supported. The treatment of Chandos as literary patron is dominated by the Timon’s Villa scandal . Chandos...

The Kingdom of Sicily and the Early University Movement

The kingdom of Sicily is rarely afforded a prominent place in the early development of the medieval university, and analysis of its contribution is largely dominated by the perceived peculiarities of the university of Naples, founded by Frederick II in 1224. This article reinterprets southern Italy’s contribution during the formative period of the university movement, as well as the apparent atypical characteristics of the university at Naples and its significance. It emphasizes the important role played by South Italian students and masters across Europe in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. In addition, it provides evidence for a range of commonalities between Naples and other universities, suggesting that, in the context of origins, objectives, and the nature of learning, it was not an entirely exceptional institution. The article also identifies the areas in which the university impacted internally within the kingdom of Sicily.

Edith Wharton and the visual arts

This work explores Edith Wharton's career-long concern with a 19th-century visual culture that limited female artistic agency and expression. Wharton repeatedly invoked the visual arts - especially painting - as a medium for revealing the ways that women's bodies have been represented (as passive, sexualized, infantilized, sickly, dead). Well-versed in the Italian masters, Wharton made special use of the art of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, particularly its penchant for producing not portraits of individual women but instead icons onto whose bodies male desire is superimposed.

Arte y simbolismo

This article presents a thorough study of perhaps, from the speculative viewpoint, the most interesting fresco mural painted by Raphael Santi, one of the most excellent Italian Old Masters, whose praises have not ceased to be sung by connoisseurs in the near five centures elapsed since his decease. He was held to be a child prodigy and eventually turned out an extrensive and admirable output of masterieces but, regrettably, his life was cut short when he was in his prime. The interest awakened by this particular painting, which is deemed to be “the epitome of the Italian High Renaissance”, focuses not only on its splendid pictorial and aesthetical merits but also on the richness of an explicit and implicit or underlying sybolism, which entails phylosophico-metaphysical messages of Neoplatonic derivation from Greek sources but to a large extent of Oriental origin.

Brain ‘imaging’ in the Renaissance

During the Renaissance, a period of 'rebirth' for humanities and science, new knowledge and speculation began to emerge about the function of the human body, replacing ancient religious and philosophical dogma. The brain must have been a fascinating mystery to a Renaissance artist, but some speculation existed at that time on the function of its parts. Here we show how revived interest in anatomy and life sciences may have influenced the figurative work of Italian and Flemish masters, such as Rafael, Michelangelo and David. We present a historical perspective on the artists and the period in which they lived, their fascination for human anatomy and its symbolic use in their art. Prior to the 16th century, knowledge of the brain was limited and influenced in a dogmatic way by the teachings of Galen(1) who, as we now know, conducted his anatomical studies not on humans but on animals.(2) Nemesus, Bishop of Emesa, in around the year 400 was one of the first to attribute mental faculties to the brain, specifically to the ventricles. He identified two anterior (lateral) ventricles, to which he assigned perception, a middle ventricle responsible for cognition and a posterior ventricle for memory.(2,3) After a long period of stasis in the Middle Ages, Renaissance scholars realized the importance of making direct observations on dissected cadavers. Between 1504 and 1507, Leonardo da Vinci conducted experiments to reveal the anatomy of the ventricular system in the brain. He injected hot wax through a tube thrust into the ventricular cavities of an ox and then scraped the overlying brain off, thus obtaining, in a simple but ingenious way, an accurate cast of the ventricles.(2,4) Leonardo shared the belief promoted by scholarly Christians that the ventricles were the abode of rational soul. We have several examples of hidden symbolism in Renaissance paintings, but the influence of phrenology and this rudimentary knowledge of neuroanatomy on artists of that period is under-recognized. In the absence of documentary or scientific evidence as to the real intentions of these painters, the notion of such commixture of sacred and profane remains speculative and probably controversial, but at the same time fascinating and provocative. Here we present three examples of Renaissance masterpieces where such symbolism may have been used, although probably many more exist. Conducting an artistic, philosophical and anatomical analysis of the paintings can be an intriguing exercise, but the interpretation will inevitably be conjectural.

Brain 'imaging' in the Renaissance

During the Renaissance, a period of 'rebirth' for humanities and science, new knowledge and speculation began to emerge about the function of the human body, replacing ancient religious and philosophical dogma. The brain must have been a fascinating mystery to a Renaissance artist, but some speculation existed at that time on the function of its parts. Here we show how revived interest in anatomy and life sciences may have influenced the figurative work of Italian and Flemish masters, such as Rafael, Michelangelo and David. We present a historical perspective on the artists and the period in which they lived, their fascination for human anatomy and its symbolic use in their art. Prior to the 16th century, knowledge of the brain was limited and influenced in a dogmatic way by the teachings of Galen(1) who, as we now know, conducted his anatomical studies not on humans but on animals.(2) Nemesus, Bishop of Emesa, in around the year 400 was one of the first to attribute mental faculties to the brain, specifically to the ventricles. He identified two anterior (lateral) ventricles, to which he assigned perception, a middle ventricle responsible for cognition and a posterior ventricle for memory.(2,3) After a long period of stasis in the Middle Ages, Renaissance scholars realized the importance of making direct observations on dissected cadavers. Between 1504 and 1507, Leonardo da Vinci conducted experiments to reveal the anatomy of the ventricular system in the brain. He injected hot wax through a tube thrust into the ventricular cavities of an ox and then scraped the overlying brain off, thus obtaining, in a simple but ingenious way, an accurate cast of the ventricles.(2,4) Leonardo shared the belief promoted by scholarly Christians that the ventricles were the abode of rational soul. We have several examples of hidden symbolism in Renaissance paintings, but the influence of phrenology and this rudimentary knowledge of neuroanatomy on artists of that period is under-recognized. In the absence of documentary or scientific evidence as to the real intentions of these painters, the notion of such commixture of sacred and profane remains speculative and probably controversial, but at the same time fascinating and provocative. Here we present three examples of Renaissance masterpieces where such symbolism may have been used, although probably many more exist. Conducting an artistic, philosophical and anatomical analysis of the paintings can be an intriguing exercise, but the interpretation will inevitably be conjectural.

Diane Wolfthal. Review of "Fierce Reality: Italian Masters from Seventeenth Century Naples" by Thomas Loughman and "Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art: Treasures from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam" by Penelope Hunter-Stiebel.

Diane Wolfthal. Review of "Fierce Reality: Italian Masters from Seventeenth Century Naples" by Thomas Loughman and "Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art: Treasures from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam" by Penelope Hunter-Stiebel.

The Italian architects in Moscow in the XV-XVI centuries

At the end of the XV century and at the beginning of the XVI century one of the most powerful strongholds in Europe, the Kremlin, was built in Moscow. This building was made thanks to the engineering, architectonic and mechanical genius of the Italian masters who had come to Russia by request of the Great Prince Ivan the Third. The Italian architects were able to combine the Russian architectural style with the style of the Italian Renaissance, applying the new technologies and using state-of-the-art tools. This article deals with the all the works carried out by the Italian masters in the area of Moscow and with the building techniques that they introduced in the Russian capital.

Tapestry in the Renaissance: art and magnificence

Tapestries - the art form of kings - were a principal element in the ostentatious magnificence used by powerful Renaissance rulers to broadcast their wealth and might. During the period between 1460 and 1560, courts and churches lavished vast sums on costly weavings in silk and gold thread from designs by leading artists. In this illustrated volume, contributors analyze some of these tapestries; examine the stylistic and technical development of tapestry production in the Low Countries, France and Italy during the Renaissance; and discuss the contribution that the medium made to the art, liturgy and propaganda of the day. The survey presents 45 surviving tapestries along with some 20 preparatory drawings and cartoon fragments. Featured are examples designed by Italian masters Raphael, Giulio Romano and Perino del Vaga. In addition, works by Netherlandish designers such as Bernaert van Orley and his followers are included, demonstrating how elements of the northern design tradition were fused with Italianate innovations, resulting in an extraordinarily rich aesthetic, ideally suited to the medium.

SERPENTINE RIVERS AND SERPENTINE THOUGHT: FLUX AND MOVEMENT IN WALTER PATER’S LEONARDO ESSAY

ON AUGUST 21, 1911 THE MONA LISA was stolen from the Louvre, not to reappear again until well over two years later when the thief tried to sell the work to a Florentine art dealer. The patriotic Italian workman who had stolen the painting had wanted to bring some of the Italian masterpieces in French collections back to where they belonged, and he had commenced his grand project with the Mona Lisa because, as he explained, “mi sembrava la piú bella” — she seemed to him to be the most beautiful of them all.1 For Bernard Berenson the disappearance of the Mona Lisa brought about a major rebellion against the ideals he had cultivated as a young man. In his early books on the Florentine painters and their drawings he had sung the praises of Leonardo,2 and ever since he was a student at Harvard in the early 1880s he had been a professed devotee of the writings and thought of Walter Pater.3 Pater’s most celebrated prose passage — his evocation of the Mona Lisa — was one of the pieces of nineteenth-century art criticism which had influenced Berenson more than anything else.4 Like so many other people of his generation, he had learnt the text by heart, and his first visits to the Louvre appear to have been as much in honor of Walter Pater as of the Italian masters.

The Restoration of the Early Italian “Primitives” During the 20th Century: Valuing Art and its Consequences

This article explores the hypothesis that restoration practices are dependent on prevailing tastes by examining the differential status of various periods of Italian Renaissance painting and whether such discrepancies have affected conservation treatment. The hierarchical difference between the early Italian masters and the High Renaissance artists, as articulated most influentially by Vasari, will be associated with contrasting restoration practices. Do the radical cleanings that were carried out on many of the early Italian panels reveal a bias toward paintings by classic artists like Raphael? This article probes the answer to this question by focusing on the label the “primitives,” a complex but inevitably pejorative term used to describe early Italian painters as late as the 1970s.

On the Provenance of Robert Campin's Christ and the Virgin

The painted panel depicting the heads of Christ and the Virgin Mary in the Johnson Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (fig. i) is a very unusual work within the oeuvre of Robert Campin and his workshop.1 Almost a pseudo-diptych, its iconic imagery of the two heads isolated against a golden ground is quite distinctive and apart from the mainstream of early fifteenth-century Netherlandish painting. As well known as the Christ and the Virgin is today, its early history and provenance have remained enigmatic. It was only a few years ago that Albert Châtelet identified the wax seal on the reverse side of the panel as being that of Willem 1 1 Frederick George Lodewijk, King of the Netherlands (1792 -1849). 2 Willem iťs collection was dispersed immediately after his death, but it has not been possible to trace the Campin painting in the upheaval and sales that followed.3 The subsequent wanderings of the Philadelphia panel, until now ignored in the literature, can be partially charted due to Lome Campbell's discovery of notes on the back of Max J. Friedlander's photograph of the painting, now in the files of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie.4 According to Friedlander, the painting had once belonged to the important, late nineteenth-century Cologne firm of the Bourgeois brothers, art dealers whose company was disbanded in the opening years of this century.5 The painting then was owned by the English art historian and dealer, R. Langton Douglas (18641951).6 Douglas was accustomed to consulting Friedlander on his purchases of Northern art. Friedlander, in turn, introduced Douglas and the Philadelphia lawyer and collector John G. Johnson while the latter was in London in 1907. Johnson bought his first painting from Douglas in New York later that same year, and this purchase was followed by a great many others. According to Friedlander, Johnson bought the painting in 1910. The purchase may have been made when Johnson visited Douglas in the British capital in the summer of that year, and this would help explain why there is no correspondence between the two men about its sale.7 In this light, the previous obscurity of the painting throughout most of the nineteenth century and its sudden emergence at the beginning of this century make sense. Equally important, if not more so, is the early provenance of this painting. Until now Campin's panel has not been linked with any documents of commission, nor has its original venue been identified. A chance discovery has revealed that in the late eighteenth century this work was in Paris, in the incredibly rich art collection formed by Paignon Dijonval (1708-1792). Dijonval is primarily remembered for his enormous and important holdings of drawings and engravings, but he also had a choice collection of paintings.8 These were from the Flemish, Dutch, and French schools, but none were by Italian masters. Most were from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a few were more contemporary but, most surprisingly,

CT scans probe secrets of Italian masters' violins

CT scans probe secrets of Italian masters' violins

CT Scans Probe Secrets of Italian Masters' Violins

IT STARTED in 1988 when radiologist Steven A. Sirr, MD, took along his violin to pass the time while on weekend duty at a local hospital. After performing a computed tomographic (CT) scan on an accident victim, Sirr wondered what a scan of his violin would look like. In the 9 years that followed his first violin CT scan, Sirr and his colleagues have used CT to probe the secrets of some of the rarest and most beautiful stringed instruments ever made, including 4 Stradivarius violins and other masterpieces. Speaking earlier this month at the 83rd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), in Chicago, Ill, Sirr, who is in practice with Consulting Radiologists, Ltd, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, Minn, described the results of his studies. To date, he and several colleagues have scanned more than 30 instruments, including 14 recognized masterpieces. According

The Violin Family and Its Makers in the British Isles: An Illustrated History and Directory

The contribution of the British Isles to the history of the violin family has been consistently under-estimated. For over 200 years England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have produced many fine makers and an abundance of quality instruments and bows, now sought after around the world. In addition London has for over 100 years been an important centre for restoring, dealing in, collecting, and exhibiting the finest products of Stradivari, Guarneri, and other Italian masters - an important source of inspiration. Professor Harvey explains in detail the history of violin-making in Britain, from one of the earliest extant English instruments made of iron by John Bunyan in about 1647, to the extensive British craft industry of today, including within his book a comprehensive directory of violin-and-bow-makers of the British Isles, with auction prices. The book includes numerous high-quality colour and monochrome illustrations, including samples of the work of the major craftsmen involved. Throughout most of this history the scene has been dominated by the Hill family, which for over 250 years has produced instruments and bows of the highest quality, and their influence is fully assessed. The book is also a social and economic history of stringed instruments, showing how in England in particular the violin was slow to win acceptance by association with gypsies and the devil, and how the cello became the instrument favoured by royalty and the aristocracy. The demand for instruments at any particular time is gauged against musical activity in the country. The book is the first in any language to deal with the vast and fascinating subject in this way and in such depth. As such, it will be welcomed by makers, dealers internationally, auction houses, collectors, teachers, players, and students of stringed instruments.