from Egypt with the Coptic adherents of the Arabs in the eighth century.2 The period of the painting of "Our Lady of the Old Time" has been hotly disputed. Successive "restorations" have increased the difficulty of classifying it with any certainty from the technical point of view as the work of this or that century. We may, however, assume that the original image must have been painted previous to the Almohade invasion in 1146, when such persecution of the Christians as ever took place in Seville would have been at its height, since it was the object of worship and was regarded as miraculous when the Moors were driven out in 1248. It is certain that the chapel and its cult would not have been tolerated during that century had it not existed previously, while if a new presentment of the worshipped image had been painted after the reconquest the Christian chroniclers would not have failed to give it prominence.3 1 In addition to the headdress similar to that of "Our Lady of the Corral," this figure shows the typical circular mantle and flounced skirt. 2 Mr. Albert Van der Put, in the Burlington Magazine of August 1913 gives the portrait of a Knight of the Jarra, but does not explain that this was the principal Aragonese order of the fifteenth century. Variants of the vase of the Virgin (la Jarra de la Virgen) are repeated ad infinitum in Andalucian art in all its branches, and it pervades the whole Cathedral of Seville, especially in its unsurpassable ironwork, and its magnificent vestments which are comparable only to those of St. Peter's at Rome. 3 The traditional cloak with its heavy folds draped over the elbow is seen also "Our Lady of Rocamador" (Fig. 6) is a mural painting of the same dimensions as "Our Lady of the Old Time" and also has the thirteenth century cherubs holding the crown, although they do not appear in the illustration. Its history resembles that of the image in the Cathedral: it was painted at a period unknown for a "Hermitage and Hospice of the poor" and appears to have been given the (then new) advocation of Rocamador in or about 1252. The Hospice was then pulled down and the painting transferred to its present position on a wall under the Arabic minaret of the Church of San Lorenzo when that edifice, which had been used as a mosque, was reconverted to Christian uses. The records, however, are less clear than those of "Our Lady of the Old Time." Another Mozarabic representation of the Virgin is the mural painting of "Our Lady of the Corral" in the Church of Saint Isidore in Seville. So far it has been impossible to obtain a photograph of this, for it is glazed and the light is extremely bad at all times. Here, again, we have the heavy-lidded almond eyes and the finely chiselled lips typical of the race as seen in these presentments, but the picture as a whole is unlike any of the others, save as being much larger than life. The most interesting feature from the point of view of this study is the headdress. At the first glance it looks quite Egyptian, but when one climbs up a ladder with a candle to see it close at hand, it proves to be a drapery with straight folds hanging below the ears and adorned with heavy fringes and plaits of gold almost exactly like those seen in the statues of the Iberian priestess (Fig. 7). Such a detail can hardly be other than traditional; it cannot well be attributed to mere coincidence. Here, then, are a few Mozarabic presentments of the Virgin existing in Andalucia. To describe all I have seen would need far too much space. If a systematic examination were made of the mediaeval statues and paintings in small towns and villages off the beaten track, material would be obtained for a volume which would throw a blaze of light on the traditional art of the Christians of Andalucia under Islam. ANGLO-SPANISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, ELENA M. WHISHAW. in a tenth century manuscript. I think the Codice Albeldense, but I am quoting from memory. As will be seen, the arrangement of the drapery is too characteristic to be overlooked wherever one may meet with it. Institute of America FRANCESCO DI GENTILE DA FABRIANO During the nineteenth century the work of the painters who lived in the Marches was very much neglected by writers on art, and it has been due to such expositions as those at Perugia and Macerata that the public in this generation has come to realize the interest and charm of painting done in the more remote parts of Italy in the fifteenth century. One realizes, however, that many works of real merit are still hidden away in the inaccessible churches, convents and municipal galleries of distant towns which would bring a respectable amount of fame to their creators were they exposed together in one gallery visited by a larger public. It is difficult to form a just valuation of those men whose works are seldom seen, and then only in isolated examples. One of the men of the Marches, Francesco di Gentile da Fabriano, has recently been brought to my attention through the chance discovery of one of his works, for some time lost to sight. Any existing estimate of his work, or account of his life, was hard to find. There is almost nothing known about him beyond the fact gleaned from his name which shows that he came from Fabriano. There are no documents by which to date his activities, and any deductions about him must be drawn from his work. What sense we have of his artistic personality is due to Mr. Berenson's reconstruction of his development which he gives in the Johnson Catalogue. The author there traces his everchanging style from the days of his training under Antonio da Fabriano to the influence of Crivelli, Bellini, Vivarini, Melozzo, Verrocchio and Pintoricchio. One sees in this long list of stylistic changes that, like many Marchigiani, Francesco was ever ready to be colored by the new influences brought into the Marches and to respond to those met with outside. In his sketch of Francesco Mr. Berenson attributes to the artist some seventeen unsigned paintings, including the three in the Johnson Collection. Among these are the portrait of Guidobaldo 1 Berenson, B. Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings and some Art Objects. John G. Johnson, Philadelphia, 1913, Vol. I, pp. 75 ff. All references to Berenson, unless otherwise noted, are to this work. American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series. Journal of the 376 da Montefeltro in the Colonna Gallery, Rome, a St. Sebastian in the Lille Museum, a double tavola in the Perugia gallery and an Annunciation in his own collection at Settignano. These particular pictures are enumerated here to make the source of the attribution definite, since they are referred to again in the course of the discussion. A recent visit to the Castello of Bracciano revealed the fact that there is a signed panel there by Francesco (Fig. 1). This represents the Visitation, and inasmuch as it agrees with the description of Crowe and Cavalcaselle, it is probably the one seen by them in the house of the lawyer Dominici at Fermo and published by them in their History of Painting in Italy. A note by the editor of the edition of 1914 says that the picture had disappeared. There are but five other signed works known by Francesco, and not six as listed by Thieme-Becker.2 These are: Rome, Vatican, Madonna and Child; Lastra-a-Signa, Perkins Collection, Madonna and Child with St. John Baptist and Christ at the Column; St. Jean sur Mer, Curtis Collection, Ecce Homo; London, Mond Collection, Ecce Homo; Cirencester, Miserden Park, Leatham Collection, Portrait of a Boy. FIGURE 1.-THE VISITATION: BRACCIANO. The picture at Bracciano is on a wooden panel with a pointed arched top. Mary and Elizabeth are standing against a gold brocaded curtain, the upper part of which is covered with a dark blue drapery. Above their heads the Holy Dove descends in 1 Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy, ed. Borenius, 1914, Vol. V, p. 210, and note. 2 Thieme-Becker, Algemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, 1916, Vol. XII, p. 303. 3 Width, without moulding 23 inches; height about 37. benediction, while at either side of the curtain hanging fruits are conspicuous against a pale sky. The Virgin, in a blue mantle with green lining and an inner robe of cream yellow, has her head covered with a crisp white headdress, the long locks of her hair twisted and bound. Elizabeth, who clasps the hands of the Virgin, is clad in brown. The flesh color is of a curious ivory tint without any trace of rose. The drapery is metallic and arbitrary in the arrangement of the folds, in the manner of the Paduan school. The loop of drapery often seen in other examples of Francesco's work appears on the dress of Elizabeth. The figures of the infant Christ, His hand raised in blessing, and the St. John are pictured on the robes of their mothers. This type of iconography, rare in the latter part of the fifteenth century, would make fairly certain the identification with the Fermo panel where this feature occurred. The foreground is strewn with roses, marguerites, and a cherry in the approved Crivelli manner and bears at the base the signature FRANCISCUS GETILIS DE FABRIANO; even without this the work is signed by the hatchings of the brush strokes which cover the entire picture and which Mr. Berenson in connection with other works termed "niggling notation." The colors are clear and the panel in good and seemingly untouched condition. Though this is not a great work, the Visitation has features which make it very pleasing. The colors are harmonious and vibrant, the composition is dignified and united in the simplicity of arrangement which so amply fills the frame. In his modelling of surfaces and feeling for planes Francesco here shows a great improvement over his earlier full length compositions, and more nearly approaches his superior, Lorenzo da San Severino, in that respect. A lack of spiritual feeling results, however, from the contemplative attitudes of the two women who should be regarding each other and sharing the knowledge of the future. Again the evident attempt of the artist to amplify the meaning of the scene beyond the limits of his ability by the use of outgrown iconography leaves one cold. From a study of all the works attributed to Francesco, the 1 Beside the "niggling notation," a marked preference for a certain pleasant shade of sap green and a trout-like speckling of red and green on the lining of draperies appear in the early works. |