,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour    ,,edited
 ,,by--,t4 ,,leman ,,hare               
,,giovanni ,,bellini          ,,in ,,the
 ,,same ,,series          ,,artist4     
,,author4    ,,velazquez4               
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,reynolds4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,turner4        
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,romney4        
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,greuze4        
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4                
,,botticelli4            ,,henry ,b4    
,,binns4    ,,rossetti4                 
,,lucien ,,pissaro4    ,,bellini4       
,,george ,,hay4    ,,fra ,,angelico4    
,,james ,,mason4    ,,rembrandt4        
,,josef ,,israels4    ,,leighton4       
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,,raphael4       
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4    ,,holman ,,hunt4
           ,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4      
,,titian4                ,s4 ,l4        
,,bensusan4    ,,millais4               
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,,carlo ,,dolci4 
,,george ,,hay4    ,,gainsborough4      
,,max ,,rothschild4    ,,tintoretto4    
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,luini4         

,,james ,,mason4    ,,franz ,,hals4     
,,edgcumbe ,,staley4    ,,van ,,dyck4   
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4    ,,leonardo ,,da
 ,,vinci4     ,m4 ,w4 ,,brockwell4      
,,rubens4                ,s4 ,l4        
,,bensusan4    ,,whistler4              
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4    ,,holbein4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,burne-,,jones4 
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,,vig,e ,,le     
,,brun4         ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4
    ,,chardin4               ,,paul ,g4 
,,konody4    ,,fragonard4               
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4                
,in ,preparation      ,j4 ,f4 ,,millet4 
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4    ,,memlinc4 ,w4 
,h4         ,,james ,,weale4    ,,albert
 ,d,,rer4          ,,herbert ,,furst4   
,,constable4             ,c4 ,,lewis    
,,hind4    ,,raeburn4                   
,,james ,l4 ,,caw4    ,,boucher4        
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4    ,,watteau4  
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,murillo4       
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,john ,s4       
,,sargent1 ,r4,a4  ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 
,,and ,,others4          ,illustration3 

,,plate ,i4--,,virgin ,,and ,,child4    
7,frontispiece7    ,this picture is     
interesting1 apart from its fine colour 
and drawing1 on  account of the         
landscape background4 ,it will be       
remembered that ,bellini  was one of the
 first artists to introduce landscape   
into his pictures of  the ,virgin4 ,in  
the ,academy at ,venice4                
,,bellini    ,,by ,,george ,,hay        
,,illustrated ,,with ,,eight            
,,reproductions ,,in ,,colour           
,illustration      ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4    
,e4 ,c4 ,,jack    ,,new ,,york3         
,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4          
,,list ,,of ,,illustrations             
,plate       ,i4 ,virgin and ,child     
,frontispiece            ,in the        
,academy at ,venice                     
,page      ,,ii4 ,the ,doge ,loredano   
#ad            ,in the ,national        
,gallery1 ,london       ,,iii4 ,angel   
playing a ,lute                         
#bd            ,in the ,academy at      
,venice        ,,iv4 ,madonna with the  

,holy ,child ,asleep                #cd 
,in the ,academy at ,venice         ,v4 
,pieta                                  
#dj            ,in the ,brera ,gallery  
at ,milan        ,,vi4 ,allegory3 ,the  
,barque of ,love                        
#ej            ,in the ,academy at      
,venice       ,,vii4 ,madonna and ,child
                                 #fj    
,in the ,academy at ,venice      ,,viii4
 ,madonna and ,child                    
#gj            ,in the ,brera ,gallery  
at ,milan          ,illustration        
,,introduction      ,from the standpoint
 of the biographer1 it is to be         
regretted that more  of the great       
,italian artists of the fifteenth       
century were not  associated with the   
,church4 ,in the days of the most       
interesting activity  of painters and   
sculptors1 the capacity to write was    
rarely met beyond  the monasteries and  
few people took the trouble to record   
any impression  of notable men in the   
early years of their career4 ,we are apt

 to forget  that1 for one artist whose  
name is preserved to us to-day1 there   
are a  score of men whose work has      
perished1 whose very names are          
forgotten4 ,in  middle life1 or in old  
age1 when commissions from ,popes or    
,emperors had  attracted the attention  
of the world at large to the best men of
 the  time1 there might be some         
chronicler found to make passing but    
invaluable reference to those of his    
contemporaries whose names were  common 
in men's mouths1 but such notes were    
made in very haphazard  fashion1 they   
were not necessarily accurate1 and might
 be founded upon  personal observation  
or rumour1 or even upon the prejudice   
that was  inevitable when ,italy was a  
congerie of opposing states4 ,latter-day
  historians grope painfully and        
conscientiously after the scanty records
  of great painters1 searching the      
voluminous writings of men who have     
little to say1 and very little authority
 for saying anything about the  great   

personalities of the art world of their 
time4 ,it is not  surprising1 under     
these circumstances1 that despite much  
search the  record of many lives that   
must have been fascinating cannot be    
found4 ,we  learn more of the man from  
his work than we can hope to learn from 
any  written record and1 as the taste   
for studying pictures grows1 so all the 
internal evidence of a man's thought and
 ways of life accumulates and  the      
message that underlies canvas and stands
 revealed in colour and line  to the    
trained eye1 is translated for the      
benefit of a curious  generation4 ,we   
learn to know what manner of man the    
painter was from  the models he chose1  
the portraits he painted1 the qualities 
and nature  of his landscape1 the       
expression of his joy in light and air1 
his  feeling for flowers and birds4 ,by 
a process of synthetical reasoning we   
come to see1 though it be as in a glass1
 darkly1 the picture that every  man    
paints1 from the years of his activity  

to the last year of his  sojourn among  
mortals--that is the portrait of        
himself4 ,doubtless we are  often       
misled1 because as each critic1 artist  
or layman1 finds in the  picture a      
reflection of what he takes there1 it   
remains difficult to  arrive at definite
 conclusions upon which all men can     
agree about any  painter4 ,happily the  
effort pleases our own generation1 and  
as there are  many great men who        
flourished in the fifteenth century and 
have left  their pictures to be their   
sole monument1 there is no lack of work4
  ,naturally in this curious and        
inquisitive age there are some who would
  rather discover a well authenticated  
story about an artist's life than  an   
unexpected masterpiece from his hand1   
but then the appeal of letters  is      
always more widespread than that of     
paint4 ,it is always pleasant to        
endeavour to supply a want1 but it is   
only fair to remember that in  writing  
about people whose life story was not   

preserved by their  contemporaries1 the 
path is strewn with pitfalls4           
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,the     
,,doge ,,loredano    ,this picture1     
which is of bust length and life size1  
is one of the ten  examples of ,giovanni
 ,bellini in the ,national ,gallery1 and
 is perhaps the  most important example 
of the artist as a portrait painter4    
,the ,doge  wears his state robes and   
cap of office1 and the picture is signed
 on a  cartellino4    ,in dealing with  
the ,italians from the days of ,cimabue 
to ,clovio1 it has  been the custom to  
depend very largely upon the works of   
,giorgio ,vasari1  and to rely for later
 and more accurate information upon the 
volumes  written by ,crowe and          
,cavalcaselle1 passing from them to     
,morelli and  ,berenson4 ,vasari1 to    
whom the students of ,italian art1 down 
to the  middle of the sixteenth century1
 are so deeply indebted1 was born in    
#aeab1 and lived for more than sixty    
years4 ,he was a painter and  architect1

 related to ,luca ,signorelli1 and      
engaged for a great part of  his life   
upon work in ,arezzo4 ,he was a great   
copyist1 a painstaking  writer1 and     
never did critic wield a milder pen if  
he chanced to be  writing of ,florentine
 art1 or a more prejudiced one if he    
dealt with  things of ,venice4 ,he was  
first a patriot and then a critic4 ,one 
night1  he tells us1 a friend of        
,monsignore ,giovio expressed a wish to 
add to  his library a treatise on men   
who had distinguished themselves in the 
arts of design1 from the time of        
,cimabue down to the year of the        
conversation4 ,vasari undertook the work
 and founded it1 he says1 upon  notes   
and memoranda which he had made from the
 time when he was a boy4  ,the          
compilation was finished about the year 
#aedg1 it was written at a  time when   
the painter was very busy with          
commissions4 ,he did his best in  a     
certain prejudiced fashion1 and the     
result for all its defects is very      

valuable4 ,naturally enough ,vasari had 
not too large a share of the gifts      
required for his task1 nor had he the   
necessary facts before him for  writing 
really reliable history4 ,much that he  
wrote was accepted faute  de mieux1 but 
modern researches have necessitated a   
revision of very  many estimates that   
,vasari formed for us1 together with a  
considerable  portion of his facts1 and 
we have learned to understand something 
of the  source and direction of his     
prejudices4    ,the literary union of   
,crowe and ,cavalcaselle1 who started   
their joint  work in the latter half of 
the nineteenth century1 with better     
equipment of facts and a larger measure 
of critical insight1 has been  far more 
valuable1 and a complete popular edition
 of their work revised  by sympathetic  
and well qualified writers is greatly to
 be desired2 but  in no case can we     
regard a volume devoted to the          
biographies of scores  of artists as    
being altogether reliable4 ,the spirit  

of study is abroad1  to-day men will    
devote more time to the life story of a 
comparatively  obscure artist than they 
would have given fifty years ago to     
half-a-dozen painters of ,european      
reputation4 ,it is not easy1 one might  
almost say it is not possible1 to tell  
succinctly the story of men who  have   
left no clear record and were not       
regarded by their contemporaries  as fit
 and proper subjects for a biography4   
,at best we can study the  available    
sources of information1 and use such    
measure of judgment as  is in us to     
construct a reasonable and likely       
narrative4 ,to delve in all  manner of  
likely and unlikely places1 to study and
 make allowances for  the prejudices of 
the time1 to rely upon the painted      
canvas to confirm  or confute the       
printed word--these are the tasks of the
 conscientious  biographer who must not 
be ill content if1 after sifting an     
intolerable  amount of chaff1 he can    
find a few forgotten grains of corn4    

,i    ,,gian ,,bellini',s ,,youth       
,giovanni1 or ,gian ,bellini as he is   
generally called1 the subject of this   
brief record and appreciation1 is one of
 the most fascinating painters  of the  
fifteenth century4 ,he has left many a  
lovely picture to the  world1 but alas  
he was no diarist1 he had no ,boswell1  
and there are gaps  in the history of   
his life that will never be filled up4  
,in the vast and  unexplored region of  
,italian archives there may be some     
facts that  research will bring to      
light1 but at present we know very      
little1 and  can only be grateful that  
the story of his life is not shrouded   
altogether in the mist that obscures so 
much of the personal history of  eminent
 ,venetians in the fifteenth century4   
,when zealous efforts are supported by  
talent and rectitude1 though the        
beginning may appear lowly and poor1 yet
 do they proceed constantly  upwards by 
gradual steps1 never ceasing nor taking 
rest until they have  finally attained  

to the summit of distinction4 ,in this  
fashion ,giorgio  ,vasari1 who in those 
admirable but unreliable ,lives1 seldom 
fails to  speak kindly and              
enthusiastically of artists whom neither
 he nor his  friends had occasion to    
dislike1 begins his account of the house
 of  ,bellini4 ,he passes on to deal in 
detail with ,jacopo ,bellini1 the father
  of that ,giovanni with whose life and 
work it is proposed to deal briefly  in 
this place4 ,of the father little is    
known1 but he is said to have  lived in 
the shadow of ,st4 ,mark's great        
,cathedral in ,venice1 and to have      
worked under some of the ,umbrian       
masters in the ,ducal ,palace4 ,he must 
have served and studied in the studio of
 ,gentile da ,fabriano in days  when    
,fra ,angelico had not reached the      
,convent of ,san ,marco2 there is       
evidence1 too1 that he travelled and    
painted portraits4 ,the date of his     
death is as uncertain as the year of his
 birth4 ,it is said that the new        

paganism held more attractions for him  
than the old faith1 and that the  most  
of his commissions were from the great  
and flourishing secular  institutions of
 the ,republic4 ,little is left of his  
pictures1 but a few  delightful sketches
 are preserved in ,paris and ,london    
and1 but for the  larger fame of his    
sons1 ,jacopo ,bellini would doubtless  
have been  forgotten to-day1 and such   
work as is left would be attributed by  
leading critics to different masters4   
,gentile ,bellini seems to have been    
born between #adbe and #adcj and the    
date of ,giovanni's birth is not known  
definitely4 ,it may be associated  with 
the year #adcj4    ,illustration3       
,,plate ,,iii4--,,angel ,,playing ,a    
,,lute    ,this is a detail from an     
altar-piece formerly in the ,church of  
,san  ,giobb4 ,the work is now in the   
,academy of ,venice4    ,at this time it
 must be remembered that ,venice was on 
the road to her  ultimate decline4      
,costly wars with ,milan and ,florence  

had seriously  damaged the ,exchequer1  
the fratricidal sea-fights with ,genoa  
had cost a  wealth of human life and    
treasure and1 although ,venice had      
annexed  nearly a dozen provinces in    
half a century1 the outlay had been out 
of  proportion to the results4 ,at the  
same time1 the ,venetians did not know  
that their splendid state was on the    
downward road4 ,the new route to  ,india
 was unknown4 ,columbus and ,diaz had   
yet to withdraw the sea-borne  commerce 
of the world from ,venice to ,spain1 and
 so bring about the  commercial ruin of 
the ,republic1 and the ,republic1 with  
her maritime  trade and her wealth of   
spoils from the ,east1 could furnish    
endless  material for the artists who   
were rising in her midst4 ,everywhere   
there  was colour in abundance1 the     
,purple ,east cast a broad shadow upon  
the  ,adriatic4 ,then1 again1 it is     
worth remarking that the ,venetian      
painters  did not concern themselves1 as
 their ,florentine brothers did1 with   

matters lying beyond the scope of their 
canvas1 they did not dally with         
architecture or sculpture in the        
intervals of picture painting4 ,in      
short1 pictures represented the tribute 
of ,venice to the arts1 and this        
concentration was not without its       
influence upon the work done4           
,literature did not flourish1 because   
the city reared few literary men  and   
the tendency of the citizens was towards
 pleasure rather than study4  ,all could
 admire a picture at a time when few    
could read a book1 and the  spirit of   
the ,renaissance1 fluttering over the   
,venetian ,republic1 had  done little   
more than waken its people to a sense of
 the beauty of the  human form4         
,although in the days when ,gian        
,bellini was a little boy1 the  terror  
of the ,turkish invasion was upon the   
eastern end of the  ,mediterranean1 it  
had hardly reached ,venice or1 if it    
had1 only through  the medium of envoys 
and kings who came to ask the assistance

 of the  ,republic to keep the ,turk    
from ,constantinople4 ,to these appeals 
the  response of ,venice in those days  
could not be very efficacious1 but the  
envoys added a more flamboyant note to  
the city's colouring1 and served  an    
artistic if not a political purpose4    
,vasari tells us that ,jacopo ,bellini  
painted his pictures not on wood1  but  
on canvas4 ,in ,venice1 he writes       
navely1 they do not paint on  panel1 or 
if they do use it occasionally they take
 no other wood but  that of the fir1    
which is most abundant in that city1    
being brought  along the river ,adige in
 large quantities from ,germany4 ,it is 
the custom  then in ,venice to paint    
very much upon canvas1 either because   
this  material does not so readily      
split1 is not liable to clefts1 and does
  not suffer from the worm1 or because  
pictures on canvas may be made of  such 
size as is desired1 and can also be sent
 whithersoever the owner  pleases1 with 
little cost and trouble4 ,perhaps       

,vasari overlooked the  effect of sea   
air upon open frescoed walls1 although  
that effect was  clear enough to the    
,venetians4 ,but ,jacopo1 for all that  
he painted upon  canvas1 and was        
employed by some of the leading         
,venetian guilds1 makes  no outstanding 
figure upon the page of the art history 
of ,venice4 ,he  seems to have lived    
prosperously1 honourably1 and           
intelligently1 to have  caught the      
earliest possible reflection of the     
growing spirit of  paganism1 thereby    
incurring the anger and mistrust of the 
,church party  that had regarded        
painting as the proper intermediary     
between faith and  the general public1  
to have pleased his state employers in  
,venice and  ,padua1 and then to have   
died rather outside the odour of        
sanctity1  leaving an honourable name   
behind him1 and children who were       
destined to  spread its fame far and    
wide4    ,students of ,gian ,bellini's  
life and work can see that only a part  

of the  father's teaching fell upon     
fruitful soil4 ,jacopo ,bellini1 as we  
have  seen1 was a man in whom the early 
religious spirit that the ,renaissance  
did much to cloud over was of small     
account1 but the pagan revival that     
found so many adherents in ,florence and
 ,venice1 towards the close of the      
fifteenth century1 left young ,gian     
,bellini almost untouched4 ,we shall    
see that the commissions offered by     
wealthy patrons1 who had no love for    
sacred subjects1 were either rejected1  
or were accepted and not  fulfilled4 ,it
 is surely permissible to believe that  
the teaching of  early days had a       
lasting influence upon the outlook of   
the two  ,bellinis1 and strengthened    
them in the determination to do work    
that  appealed as much to their heart as
 to their hand4 ,certainly they         
followed conscience where it led them4  
,in the case of ,gian ,bellini1 with    
whom we are mostly concerned here1 it is
 interesting to see that his  long life1

 passed as it was in the very critical  
time that embraced the  fall of         
,constantinople and the ,league of      
,cambrai1 was completely free  from     
cloud4 ,his mind was formed very early4 
,he worked strenuously1  carefully1 and 
in the fashion that pleased his         
conscience1 till within a  very short   
time of his death1 and the serenity of  
his spirit1 clearly  revealed in a      
series of exquisite pictures1 was       
untouched by all that  happened in the  
world around him4    ,changes came thick
 and fast upon ,venice in the years when
 ,bellini was  hard at work1 and new    
ideas were receiving acceptance on every
 hand4  ,the ,renaissance1 with its     
revival of pagan thought in the train of
  learning1 scattered new ideas         
throughout the ,venetian studios4       
,bellini's  pupil and successor ,titian 
could depict pagan goddess and          
,christian  ,deity with equal facility4 
,giorgione was travelling along the same
 paths  when death overtook him1 but    

,gian ,bellini1 while he continued to   
make  progress in his art1 refused to   
make any concession to the pagan spirit1
  and with one possible exception in the
 case of the ,bacchanals1 a picture     
painted for the ,duke of ,ferrara1 now  
in the ,alnwick ,castle ,collection1    
his last pictures were as devout in     
thought and feeling as the first4    ,it
 seems strange1 perhaps1 to express     
doubts about a picture that bears  the  
painter's signature1 and has been freely
 accepted as the work of his  hands1 but
 we must not forget that the            
fifteenth-century painters in  ,italy   
were the directors of a school as well  
as the tenants of a studio4  ,the       
,bellini and ,vivarini families were at 
the head of ,venetian painters1  and    
consequently the best students of the   
time were attracted to their  studios1  
content to mix colours1 prepare         
canvases1 and paint the less  important 
parts of a commissioned picture4 ,after 
a time they even  painted pictures1 and 

signed them with the master's name4 ,we 
have  certain facts in connection with  
the ,ferrara picture1 and few facts are 
to be found in the case of any others4  
,it is on record that ,bellini took  an 
unfinished picture to ,ferrara1         
completed it under the eye of the       
,duke1 and received eighty-five ducats  
for it4 ,the question becomes  whether  
this is the picture now at ,alnwick that
 ,titian finished1 because  those who   
know it say that the background has a   
landscape of the  familiar ,titian kind1
 with glimpses of ,cadore and ,pieve1   
where the  younger painter was born4 ,we
 are left1 then1 with the almost certain
  knowledge that ,titian painted a part 
of the ,bacchanal picture1 and  that the
 other part is opposed in sentiment to  
,bellini's theories of  art4 ,so the    
sceptics do not lack a measure of       
justification4    ,illustration3 ,,plate
 ,,iv4--,,madonna ,,with ,,the ,,holy   
,,child ,,asleep    ,this is one of the 
most beautiful of the painter's studies 

of a familiar  theme1 and appeals to the
 spectator from the literary as well as 
the  artistic side4 ,the original is in 
the ,venice ,academy4    ,in the latter 
days of his life ,bellini's studio      
became something like a  factory1 and   
there seems very little reason to doubt 
that some of his  clever pupils like    
,bondinelli1 ,bissolo1 ,marconi1 ,catena
 and others were  allowed to sign1 with 
the master's name1 ,ioannes ,bellinus1  
pictures  that had no more than the     
slightest acquaintance with the master's
  brush4 ,one of the most distinguished 
of our modern critics1 ,mr4 ,bernhard   
,berenson1 attended an exhibition of    
,venetian pictures held in ,london a    
few years ago1 and found that the great 
majority of the pictures  attributed to 
,bellini were by his pupils4 ,he pointed
 out then that the  signature upon which
 the unfortunate owners were accustomed 
to lean was  no better than a broken    
reed4 ,bellini1 of course1 was not the  
only  offender in this respect4 ,his    

great pupil ,titian copied the master's 
fault1 and there is on record a letter  
from ,frederic1 ,duke of ,mantua1       
asking ,titian to send out work that has
 his touch as well as his  signature4   
,with these facts before us1 it becomes 
permissible to doubt  whether ,bellini1 
in the last years of a long life devoted
 to sacred  work1 elected to turn aside1
 and yield deliberately to the pagan    
movement he had opposed so long4 ,we can
 find no other work of his hand  that is
 directly opposed to his theories of    
religious art1 though it is  fair to    
remember that he had a very active mind1
 and even responded to  the influence of
 his own great pupils ,titian and       
,giorgione4          ,,ii    ,,middle   
,,life      ,it is not easy to say how  
far a great painter reflects his time   
and how  far he influences it4          
,tradition and surroundings must needs  
count for  much1 but their exact value  
is not easy to estimate4 ,indeed the    
influence of a man is often strongest   

upon the generations that succeed  to   
his own1 for no hints are left of the   
doubts and difficulties that  beset the 
master4 ,the attitude of the ,venetians 
towards art in the  fifteenth century1  
when ,gian ,bellini started his work1   
differed from  that of the ,florentines 
by reason of the splendid isolation of  
,venice4  ,the ,state was a law to      
herself2 she instituted her own customs1
 she  ruled her own life4 ,her wars had 
less effect than her commercial         
victories upon those of her citizens who
 turned their thoughts towards  art1 the
 stress and strife beyond her boundaries
 left her artists  comparatively        
untouched4 ,the wider significance of   
the ,renaissance  hardly reached her1   
her people were not only                
pleasure-loving1 but  self-centred4     
,happily1 ,jacopo ,bellini was by way of
 being a traveller  and his experiences 
were not lost upon his children4 ,he    
knew ,florence  and worked in the city  
at a time when her great men were       

beginning to  rise in all their lasting 
glory1 he may have seen ,brunelleschi   
himself  at work upon the ,duomo4 ,he   
knew ,padua1 where the tradition of     
,giotto was  very strong1 though that   
great master himself had long passed    
away1  and so he brought to the art he  
practised in his own city something  of 
the technique of the new movement1 as   
well as the very definite touch  of the 
pagan sentiment that was to be developed
 in all its beauty by his  son's pupils 
,titian and ,giorgione4 ,the effect of  
his travels1 limited  though they were1 
was very lasting1 and though ,gian      
,bellini did not see  life as his father
 had seen it1 his work paved the way for
 the masters  whose work was in some    
aspects greater than his4 ,in his early 
days  ,venice had no very distinctive   
art4 ,what there was seems to have been 
ecclesiastical in thought and extremely 
formal in design4 ,it was the  appeal of
 the clericals to a people who could    
neither write nor read1  but although a 

,state may erect boundaries and may     
devote itself to the  enjoyment of      
prosperity1 those who care for the      
claims of art cannot  escape altogether 
from the forces that are at work in     
surrounding  cities4 ,one of the chief  
forces at work in ,northern ,italy was  
the  revival of learning that seems to  
have marched side by side with the      
discovery of personal beauty4 ,the      
,church had kept beauty in the          
background1 the ,renaissance brought it 
to the canvas of every artist4  ,bellini
 turned the discovery of personal beauty
 to the service of the  ,madonna4       
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,pieta     
,this fine example of the master's art  
may be seen at the ,brera ,gallery  in  
,milan4    ,students of the life of ,fra
 ,angelico know that a ,dominican       
preacher  exercised a very great effect 
upon the painter's life1 and was        
responsible for sending him1 at a very  
early age1 to the great ,convent  of the
 ,dominicans at ,fiesole4 ,there he was 

received as a brother1 and  from the    
shelter of the cloister he gave his art 
message to the world1  his story being  
preserved to us at the same time because
 the progress of  the ,dominicans was   
recorded4 ,a few years later ,giovanni  
,bellini1 then a  boy newly in his      
teens1 would seem to have fallen under a
 very similar  influence4 ,he was not   
fourteen when ,st4 ,bernardino came to  
,padua and  preached the doctrine of    
godliness and ,jew-baiting to a people  
who were  not ill-disposed towards      
asceticism4 ,in the fifteenth century a 
boy of  fourteen was a man4 ,the ,pope  
made ,cardinals of lads who were still  
younger and many1 who have left their   
names written large in ,italian         
history1 were married when they were    
fifteen4 ,gian ,bellini would have  been
 assisting his father in the decoration 
of the ,gattemelata ,chapel of  ,padua  
at the time and there is no doubt that  
,st4 ,bernardino's addresses  impressed 
him very deeply4 ,to be sure he did not 

go into a religious  house after the    
fashion of ,fra ,angelico1 but he turned
 his thoughts  towards religion1 and for
 the rest of his long life his brush was
 kept  almost exclusively for the       
service of sacred art4 ,the tendencies  
towards  paganism that his father is    
known to have shown held no attraction  
for  him4 ,he sought to express the     
beauty of the ,new ,testament stories1  
and  it is hard to find throughout all  
,italy an artist whose achievements in  
that direction can vie with his1 for    
,gian ,bellini brought sensuous  beauty 
and rare qualities of emotion to canvas 
for the first time in the  history of   
painting4    ,in those early days of the
 middle century there were two          
acknowledged  leaders of painting in the
 world that young ,bellini knew4 ,the   
first was  his father1 who is said to   
have studied in the studios of ,gentile 
da  ,fabriano 7#acgj to #adej71 and that
 of ,pisanello who was born somewhere   
about the same time as da ,fabriano1 and

 died a year later4 ,it is worth  noting
 that ,jacopo ,bellini called one of his
 sons ,gentile after his  earliest      
master1 though whether ,gentile or      
,giovanni was the elder son  remains    
uncertain4 ,mr4 ,roger ,fry1 who writes 
with great authority upon  the subject1 
is of opinion that ,gian may have been a
 natural son of  ,jacopo1 and in those  
days when ,popes had nephews in         
abundance1 and the  marriage vow was    
more honoured in the breach than the    
observance1 very  little stigma attached
 to illegitimacy4 ,the other great      
painter of ,gian  ,bellini's time was   
the ,paduan painter ,squarcione1 who    
presided over a  large and flourishing  
school in his native city1 and did work 
that was  quite as good as that of his  
contemporaries4 ,he adopted as his son a
 lad  from ,padua or ,mantua named      
,andrea ,mantegna1 who was destined to  
take  such high rank among the painters 
of the ,venetian ,school4    ,although  
,padua and ,venice were in a sense      

rivals1 there seems to have  been a very
 friendly understanding for many years  
between ,squarcione and  ,jacopo        
,bellini1 so that ,gian and ,gentile    
were able to watch the progress  of the 
,paduan master and his pupils1 and to   
decide for themselves how  much they    
would accept1 and what they would reject
 of the teaching4 ,in  early years these
 influences must have been of great     
value to the  painter1 but happily they 
were not destined to be lasting1 for    
when  ,gian's sister married ,andrea    
,mantegna1 ,squarcione quarrelled with  
his  adopted son1 and the intimacy with 
the ,bellini family came to an end4     
,this is as it should have been in the  
best interests of ,gian ,bellini's  art1
 for when he returned to ,venice and    
settled down there permanently1  he was 
able to follow his own ideas1 and free  
himself from what was bad  in the       
influence of the stiff1 formal1 and     
lifeless school of ,padua4    ,venice   
must have been a remarkable city in     

those years4 ,to-day it  stimulates the 
imagination as few cities in ,europe can
 do1 then it must  have been one of the 
wonders of the world4 ,there are some   
striking  accounts of the city written  
in the latter part of the fifteenth     
century1 and though space does not      
permit any quotation at length1 one     
brief paragraph will not be out of      
place4 ,philippe de ,comines1 envoy of  
,charles ,,viii41 came to ,venice in    
#adid1 and recalled his impressions of  
that city in his memoirs4 ,i was taken  
along the ,high ,street1 he  writes1    
they call it the ,grand ,canal1 and it  
is very broad1 galleys  cross it2 and it
 is the fairest street1 ,i believe1 that
 may be in the  whole world1 and fitted 
with the best houses2 the ancient ones  
are  painted1 and most have a great     
piece of porphyry and serpentine on the 
front4 ,it is the most triumphant city  
,i have ever seen1 and doth most  honour
 to ambassadors and strangers4 ,it doth 
most wisely govern itself1  and the     

service of ,god is most solemnly        
performed4 ,though the ,venetians  have 
many faults1 ,i believe ,god has them in
 remembrance for the  reverence they pay
 in the service of ,his ,church4 ,this  
brief tribute to  the charm of ,venice  
is of special value because it helps us 
to  understand why the ,venetians were  
not strenuous seekers after knowledge1  
why their painters did no more than     
paint1 and why their response to the    
humanities was so small4 ,it explains   
the decorative quality of ,bellini's    
pictures1 the splendour of their        
colours4 ,pageantry and ceremonial  were
 the great desires of ,venetian life1   
the man who could add to the  lustre of 
a ,state procession along the splendid  
water-way of the ,grand  ,canal was more
 to them than the scholar who had       
written a treatise that  moved the more 
learned ,florentines to admiration4     
,life was so full of  pleasure1 so      
varied in its appeals1 that the         
,venetians could not spare  time1 or    

even develop the will to study4 ,they   
had raised the old cry  panem et        
circenses and1 in the days of ,gian     
,bellini1 there was no lack  of either4 
,history is full of records that reveal 
other nations in a  similar light1      
philosophers have drawn the inevitable  
conclusions--and  the trend of life is  
no wise altered4    ,illustration3      
,,plate ,,vi4--,,allegory3 ,,the        
,,barque ,,of ,,love    ,this is one of 
a little series of panel pictures by    
,bellini that may be  seen in the       
,academy at ,venice4 ,the others depict 
,evil1 ,fate1 ,luxury1 and  ,zeal1 and  
,prudence4 ,this picture is sometimes   
called ,venus ruling the  ,world1 but   
such a title seems rather foreign to the
 painter's own  attitude4    ,under     
,bellini1 painting lost the conventions 
that had been regarded as  correct or   
inevitable in ,squarcione's studio1 and 
,gian's pictures bear  the same relation
 to those of the ,paduan1 and his pupil1
 as ,newman's  writing bears to bad     

eighteenth-century ,english prose4 ,but 
despite all  developments in the        
technique of his art1 ,gian ,bellini's  
painting  remained quite constant to the
 mood that ,st4 ,bernardino had induced4
  ,doubtless1 had his gifts been of     
another kind1 he would have entered the 
,church1 he would have dreamed dreams   
and seen visions that would not  have   
found such world-wide expression while1 
being an artist1 inheriting  artistic   
traditions from his father1 living in   
the centre of the small  world of       
,venetian and ,paduan painters1 he      
expressed his beautiful  emotions in    
fashion that has not weakened its claim 
upon us in more than  four hundred      
years4 ,the glamour of ,venetian life1  
the extraordinary  beauty of the city   
that was his home1 the splendour and the
 pageants  that were part of a ,venetian
 life1 the intensity of the colour that 
surrounded him on all sides--some of it 
belonging to ,venice by right1  and even
 more1 brought to her shores by the     

ceaseless traffic of the  sea--all these
 things developed and deepened the      
emotion that was to  find so exquisite  
an expression from his brush4 ,to him1  
as to ,fra  ,angelico1 faith was a real 
and living thing1 and like the great    
monk who  died at ripe age while he was 
yet a boy1 ,gian ,bellini became a lover
 of  the world in its most picturesque  
aspect1 accepting without hesitation    
the traditional explanation of its      
creation4    ,naturally enough his      
appeal to the artist is founded upon a  
dozen  considerations1 mostly technical1
 his appeal to the layman is direct and 
spontaneous4 ,a countryman who has never
 seen a studio can respond to  the      
exquisite beauty of ,bellini's ,virgins 
and ,children1 can feel the  charm of   
the sunshine that fills the air and     
lights sea and land1 can  recognise the 
infinite glamour of the roads that wind 
away into the  mysterious distance of   
the background1 can enjoy the rich1     
almost  sensuous1 colouring4 ,perhaps   

had ,bellini taken the vows1 a great    
part of  these beauties would have been 
lost1 the infinite variety of lovely    
women and children could hardly have    
been secured4 ,as a ,venetian1 and a    
pleasure lover1 he could not have       
responded1 as ,fra ,angelico did1 to the
  restricted life and rigid discipline  
of a religious order4    ,it was not    
easy for ,gian ,bellini to devote       
himself entirely to sacred  subjects if 
he wished to earn a living by his brush1
 because his father  had stood outside  
the ,church4 ,in those days1 too1 the   
best churchwork  was in the hands of one
 family1 the ,vivarini1 whose monopoly  
was hardly  likely to be disturbed by an
 artist who could show no better        
credentials  than a connection1         
legitimate or illegitimate1 with a      
painter whose  feeling was distinctly   
pagan4 ,jacopo ,bellini1 for all that he
 was a most  admired artist1 had no     
claims upon the ,church1 and does not   
seem to have  received many commissions 

from it4 ,various wealthy societies in  
,venice  had been accustomed to employ  
him to decorate their halls with work   
that1 as we have said before1 has been  
lost1 and their guilds or  scuole would 
doubtless have given ,gian all the work 
he wished to do  had he been satisfied  
to do it4    ,he could not choose for   
himself4 ,st4 ,bernardino had chosen for
 him in  those years when his mind was  
most impressionable4 ,gian ,bellini's   
hand  was doubtless to be seen in ,padua
 where he assisted his father1 and his  
earliest independent work is to be found
 in the ,casa ,correr at ,venice1  where
 one finds a ,transfiguration1 a        
,crucifixion1 and two ,pietas4  ,he     
painted portraits1 one from our own     
,national ,gallery is to be seen  here4 
,this is a picture of the ,doge1        
,leonardo ,loredano1 who held office    
from #aeja to #aeba4    ,the early      
pictures reveal ,bellini at the parting 
of the ways4 ,his  figures have many of 
the defects of the ,school of ,padua4   

,his knowledge  of anatomy is decidedly 
small1 he lacks confidence in himself1  
and yet  it is not difficult to         
recognise that the painter is moving    
into a new  country1 that his           
presentation of sacred subjects is      
developing on lines  that must add      
considerably to their artistic value and
 to the permanence  of their appeal4    
,an amusing story is told of the way in 
which young ,bellini acquired his       
knowledge of oil painting4 ,he is said  
to have assumed the dress of a          
,venetian nobleman1 and to have gone to 
the studio of a popular artist of  the  
time1 under pretext of having his       
portrait painted4 ,while the  artist1   
one ,antonello of ,messina1 was busily  
engaged upon his portrait1  ,bellini is 
said to have watched the process very   
carefully and to have  secured the much 
needed lesson4 ,it is more than likely  
that the story is  untrue1 but it has   
obtained a large measure of credence4   
,his first big altar-piece is said to   

have been done for the altar of ,st4    
,catherine of ,sienna1 and after one or 
two other church paintings had  been    
accomplished1 ,giovanni was commissioned
 to decorate the great  ,council ,hall  
of ,venice with historical paintings4   
,but it is well to  remember that altar 
painting never ceased to interest him1  
his greatest  achievements having been  
accomplished for churches4 ,there are   
few things  in art more beautiful than  
,gian ,bellini's altar-pieces4 ,ruskin  
has paid  a special tribute to the      
,virgin and ,four ,saints in the church 
dedicated to ,st4 ,zaccaria1 father of  
the ,baptist4 ,he says that the         
,zaccaria altar-piece1 and the one in   
the ,frari1 by the same master1 are  the
 two finest pictures in the world4 ,of  
the big works1 however1 nothing         
remains1 ,gentile being the only one of 
the family who is represented  to-day by
 pictures painted on a very large scale4
 ,vasari tells us that  ,gian painted   
four pictures in fulfilment of a        

commission1 one  representing the ,pope 
,alexander ,,iii4 receiving ,frederic   
,barbarossa after  the abjuration of the
 ,schism of #aagg1 the next showing the 
,pope saying  ,mass in ,san ,marco1     
another representing his ,holiness in   
the act of  presenting a canopy to the  
,doge1 and the last in which the        
,pontiff is  presented with eight       
standards and eight silver trumpets by  
clergy  assembled outside the gates of  
,rome4 ,these subjects or some of them  
had  been painted by one ,gueriento of  
,verona when ,marco ,corner was ,doge4  
,petrarch had written the inscriptions  
for them1 but they had faded1 and  in   
later years ,tintoretto painted his     
,paradiso over the damaged  frescoes4   
,there is a story to the effect that    
,giovanni and ,gentile  ,bellini had    
promised the councillors that their     
pictures should last two  hundred years2
 as a matter of fact1 they would seem to
 have been  destroyed by fire within    
half that period4    ,illustration3     

,,plate ,,vii4--,,madonna ,,and ,,child 
,this picture shows the centre figures  
of a very famous painting by  ,bellini  
in the ,academy at ,venice in which the 
,madonna and ,child are seen  between   
,st4 ,catherine and ,st4 ,mary          
,magdalen4 ,the faces most delightfully 
painted are full of spiritual grace and 
the colouring is exquisite4    ,the     
style of the picture commissioned makes 
its own significant  commentary upon the
 times4 ,it was always considered       
advisable to stir  in the ,venetians    
appreciation for ,state ceremonial1     
which encouraged so  much of the        
pageantry associated with ,venetian life
 and1 even if  ,giovanni ,bellini had no
 keen taste for such work1 he could not 
refuse a  commission that would         
establish his name among his fellow     
countrymen4  ,to-day the ,sala del      
,maggior ,consiglio holds pictures by   
,titian1 ,paul  ,veronese1 and other    
artists who followed closely upon ,gian 
,bellini's  era4          ,,iii    ,,the

 ,,latter ,,days      ,shortly after the
 ,council ,hall pictures had been       
undertaken1 in #adgi1 to  be exact1 the 
,sultan1 ,mohammed ,,ii41 conqueror of  
,constantinople1 wished  to have his    
portrait painted1 and applied to the    
,doge of ,venice to send  him a         
competent artist to do the work4 ,it    
should be remembered that the  ,sultan  
had been waging a successful war upon   
,venice1 and that in ,january  #adgi the
 ,state had ceded ,scutari1 ,stalimene1 
and other territory and had  agreed to  
pay an indemnity of #bjj1jjj ducats1    
with a tribute of #aj1jjj  ducats a year
 for trading rights and the exercise of 
consular  jurisdiction in               
,constantinople4 ,naturally the success 
of the ,turks1 who  had taken           
,constantinople in #aded1 was making a  
very great impression  throughout       
,europe1 and ,venice had striven to the 
uttermost to rouse the  ,powers to      
concerted action1 but in those days     
nobody was anxious to  trust the        

,republic4 ,these are matters1 of       
course1 that pertain to  history rather 
than art1 but it is curious to remember 
that throughout  the times when the     
watchers from ,st4 ,mark's ,tower saw   
the reflected  glare of burning cities1 
when the security of ,christian ,europe 
was  threatened seriously1 when plagues 
were devastating ,venice1 ,gian ,bellini
  seems to have gone on his way all     
undisturbed1 painting his pictures in   
the most leisurely fashion1 and the fact
 that art stood right above  politics   
and strife is clearly shown in the      
action of the ,sultan in  sending to    
,venice for a good artist as soon as    
peace had been restored4  ,there seems  
to have been some question of sending   
,gian because his  brother was busily   
engaged on other work in the ,ducal     
,palace1 but after  a while it was      
decided to send ,gentile1 who painted a 
portrait of the  ,sultan that found its 
way afterwards into the ,layard         
,collection in  ,venice4 ,some surprise 

has been expressed that the ,sultan     
should have  allowed any one to paint   
his portrait1 because portrait painting 
is  forbidden by the ,koran#a1 but      
,mohammed ,,ii4 was a man of very       
advanced  ideas and he not only gave    
sittings to ,gentile ,bellini1 but      
treated him  with the greatest favour1  
dismissing him with many marks of       
approval and  great gifts4 ,among the   
presents brought back to ,venice by the 
painter  were the armour and sword of   
the great ,doge ,dandolo1 who had been  
buried  in the year #abje in the private
 chapel in ,st4 ,sophia4 ,mohammed ,,ii4
 had  caused the great tomb to be       
destroyed1 but he sent the great        
patriot's  armour back to its native    
land4 ,vasari tells us that the meeting 
between  the brothers on ,gentile's     
return to ,venice was most affectionate4
      #a ,mohammed said3 ,if ye must    
make pictures1 make them of        trees
 and things without souls4 ,verily every
 painter is        condemned to hell    

fire4    ,this journey to               
,constantinople would seem to have added
 to the  reputation of the house of     
,bellini1 and to have increased the     
demand for  portraits by both brothers4 
,this1 in its way1 would doubtless have 
led  to the multiplying of school       
pieces4 ,history has very little to tell
 of  the progress of the brothers during
 the years that followed4 ,we know  that
 the ,doge ,loredano1 whose portrait has
 been painted by ,gian ,bellini1        
succeeded to his high office in #aeja1  
that ,titian would have been  working in
 ,bellini's studio then1 and that       
,bellini himself was in the  enjoyment  
of what was known as a broker's patent1 
and was official  painter to the ,state4
 ,his was the duty of painting the      
portrait of every  ,doge who succeeded  
to the control of ,venetian affairs     
during his term of  office1 and he also 
painted any historical picture in which 
the ,doge had  to figure4 ,there was a  
salary attached to the office1 and the  

work was  quite light4 ,as far as we can
 tell ,gian ,bellini was still averse   
from  painting secular subjects4 ,he was
 now an old man1 but he had made great  
progress in his work1 conquering many of
 the difficulties of  perspective1      
shadow1 and colouring that had baffled  
his predecessors4  ,the pageants        
demanded by the great ,mutual ,aid      
,societies 7,scuole7 from  the artists  
in their employ1 he would seem to have  
left to his brother  ,gentile1 for these
 pictures had a big political purpose to
 serve1 and  they demanded the travel1  
the experience1 and the mood that ,gian 
lacked4  ,his brush was sufficiently    
occupied with altar-pieces and portraits
 of  distinguished ,venetians1 now1     
alas1 lost to the world4    ,one        
incident that is not without its        
instructive side in this connection  is 
recorded in the year #aeja1 when        
,isabella1 ,duchess of ,mantua1 sent    
her agent in ,venice to ,gian ,bellini  
to arrange with him to paint a  secular 

subject4 ,the old painter1 now in the   
neighbourhood of his  seventieth year1  
accepted money on account1 and then     
turned his thoughts  to other things4   
,the agent worried him from time to time
 with little or  no effect1 and wrote   
despairing letters to the ,duchess to   
convey  ,bellini's various excuses4 ,not
 until #aejd1 when the ,duchess was     
proposing to take legal action1 was the 
picture finished1 and then it  does not 
seem to have been what was required4 ,at
 the same time it must  have been a work
 of great merit1 because a year later we
 find the  ,duchess commissioning       
another picture1 and asking for a       
secular subject1  which the old painter 
after much hesitation refused to paint4 
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,viii4--,,madonna ,,and ,,child        
,this picture is from the ,brera        
,gallery in ,milan and is held by many  
of  the painter's admirers to be his    
finest presentment of the ,mother and   
the ,son4 ,it is certainly a work of    

most enchanting beauty1 one to which    
the eye turns again and again4          
,happily ,isabella d',este was not only 
a voluminous letter writer1 but  her    
correspondence has been preserved1 and  
some forty letters were  written in     
connection with the ,bellini picture1 by
 the lady whom  ,cardinal ,bembo called 
the wisest and most fortunate of women1 
and of  whom a poet wrote1 ,at the sound
 of her name all the ,muses rise and do 
reverence4 ,she had seen ,bellini's     
work1 and had admired it in ,venice1    
before she asked a friend1 one ,signor  
,vianello1 to secure a picture for  her 
camerino4 ,at first the old painter     
raised objections1 says  ,vianello4 ,i  
am busy working for the ,signory in the 
,palace1 he said1  and ,i cannot leave  
my work from early morning until after  
dinner4 ,then  he asked for #aej ducats 
and said he would make time1 then he    
came down  to #ajj ducats and accepted  
#be on account ,then as has been        
explained1 he  declared that he could   

not undertake the class of subject that 
the  ,duchess wanted1 and ,isabella     
wrote to say that she would accept      
anything  antique that had a fine       
meaning4 ,vianello writes in reply to   
say that  ,bellini has gone to his      
country villa and cannot be reached1 and
 the  correspondence and the years pass1
 until at last the ,duchess gets quite  
cross and writes1 ,we can no longer     
endure the villainy of ,giovanni        
,bellini1 and goes on to instruct her   
agent to make application to the  ,doge1
 ,leonardo ,loredano1 the one whose     
portrait1 painted by ,giovanni          
,bellini1 is in our ,national ,gallery1 
to commit the old painter for  fraud4   
,to this action ,bellini responds by    
showing ,vianello that he has a         
,nativity three parts finished1 and     
after a time he sends it to the         
,duchess together with a very humble    
letter of apology1 that the lady is     
good enough to accept4 ,she even writes1
 ,your ',nativity' is as dear to  us as 

any picture we possess4    ,in #aejf    
,albert ,drer was in ,venice where he   
declares that he found the  ,venetians  
very pleasant companions1 and adds with 
sly sarcasm that some  of them knew how 
to paint4 ,at the same time he records  
his fear lest any  of them should put   
poison in his food1 but speaks in high  
terms and  without suspicion of ,gian   
,bellini who had praised his work and   
offered  to buy a picture4 ,all these   
things are small matters enough1 but    
unhappily the records of ,bellini's life
 are so scanty that it is hard to  find 
anything more until the year #aeac when 
,gian ,bellini1 well over  eighty1 found
 his position as official painter       
challenged by his pupil  ,titian1 who   
presented a petition to the ,council of 
,ten1 stating inter  alia that he was   
desirous of a little fame rather than of
 profit1 that  he had refused to serve  
the ,pope1 and that he wanted the first 
broker's  patent that should be vacant  
in the ,fondaco de' ,tedeschi on the    

same  conditions as those granted to    
,messer ,zuan ,bellin4#a ,the work that 
was  being done was the restoration of  
the ,great ,hall of the ,council1 and   
the  painting had been in progress for  
some forty years1 ,gian ,bellini and two
  pupils being now engaged upon it4     
,there is no doubt that this            
application by ,titian annoyed          
,bellini's friends and pupils1 and even 
to  us it seems a little unreasonable   
and in bad form to clamour so eagerly   
for a place that was already occupied4  
,but it would seem to have been  the    
custom of the time to apply early for   
any privilege of this kind1  for we find
 in later years that ,tintoretto applied
 for ,titian's place  long before the   
older master's capacity for working had 
come to an end4      #a ,this was the   
,venetian way of spelling ,gian         
,bellini's name4    ,bellini's friends  
were successful1 although it would      
appear that the old  painter's progress 
had been too slow completely to satisfy 

the ,council  of ,ten4 ,in the following
 year ,titian1 who had been allowed to  
start  work1 was told that he must wait 
until older claims were satisfied1 the  
expenses of his assistants were         
disallowed1 and his commission came to  
an end4 ,in the autumn of that year     
,titian brought another petition to  the
 ,council1 asking once more for the     
first vacant broker's patent1 and       
mentioning the fact that ,bellini's days
 could not be long in the land4  ,just  
about this time the ,venetian           
authorities seem to have held an        
inquiry into the progress of the work   
that was being done in the ,hall of  the
 ,great ,council1 only to find that the 
amount of money they had spent  should  
have secured them a far larger amount of
 work than had been  accomplished4 ,it  
is hardly surprising that these         
inquiries should have  become necessary1
 there must have been a great laxity in 
the ,state  departments in the years    
following the working out of the plans  

that had  been made by ,france1         
,austria1 ,spain1 and the ,pope at      
,cambrai4 ,in the  last few years       
,venice had been fighting for her life1 
,lombardy had  passed out of her hands1 
,verona1 ,vicenza1 and ,padua had       
followed4 ,the  ,republic had even been 
forced to seek aid from the ,sultans of 
,turkey and  ,egypt1 and although       
,venice was destined to emerge from her 
troubles and  light the civilised world 
a little longer there is small cause for
  wonder if1 in the times of exceptional
 excitement1 her statesmen had not      
given their wonted attention to the     
progress of the arts4 ,doubtless ,gian  
,bellini's leisurely methods and failing
 strength were accountable for  the slow
 progress of the pictures in the        
,council ,hall1 and ,titian took        
advantage of the fact to send in a third
 petition1 offering to finish  some work
 at his own expense1 but he had no      
occasion to take much more  trouble4    
,on ,november #bi1 #aeaf1 ,gian ,bellini

 died1 well on the road to his          
ninetieth year1 and there were not      
wanting in ,venice1 says ,vasari1  those
 who by sonnets and epigrams sought to  
do him honour after his  death as he had
 done honour to himself and his country 
during his life4  ,one cannot help      
thinking that half-a-dozen pages of     
biography would have  been worth a      
bushel of sonnets4    ,with ,gian       
,bellini the last great painter of      
purely religious subjects  passed away4 
,he had stood between art and paganism4 
,perhaps the younger  men found him     
narrow and pedantic1 but it is certain  
that so long as  ,gian ,bellini was the 
leading painter of ,venice it was not   
easy for  pictures to respond to the    
ever growing demands that followed the  
,renaissance4 ,now the road was clear1  
painting was to reach its highest  point
 in the work of ,giorgione and ,titian1 
and was then to decline  almost as      
rapidly as it had risen4    ,gian       
,bellini for all the wide influence that

 he exerted1 not only upon  contemporary
 painting1 but upon sculpture too1 sent 
very little work out  of ,venice4       
,examples are to be seen in cities that 
are comparatively  close at hand1       
,rimini1 ,pesaro1 ,vicenza1 ,bergamo1   
and ,turin1 but his  genius seems to    
have been too completely recognised in  
his own city for  his work to travel far
 afield1 and the portrait of himself in 
the ,uffizi  ,gallery is no more than a 
pupil's work with a studio signature4   
,one of  his last undisputed paintings  
was for the altar of ,st4 ,crisostom in 
,venice4 ,it is said that he painted it 
at the age of eighty-five4 ,after  death
 his fame suffered by the rise of those 
stars of ,venetian painting1  ,titian1  
,giorgione1 and ,tintoretto1 and        
throughout three centuries his  work was
 held in comparatively small esteem1    
perhaps because it was  often judged by 
the studio pictures with the forged     
signatures4 ,as late  as the middle of  
the nineteenth century nobody seemed    

quite to know the  real pictures from   
the false ones1 but with the rise of    
critics like  ,crowe1 ,morelli1 and     
,berenson a much better state of things 
has been  established4 ,copies and      
student works have been separated from  
the  originals1 careful study of        
technique and mannerism has made clear a
  large number of points that were      
doubtful and in dispute1 and although   
the process of separating the sheep from
 the goats has reduced  considerably the
 number of works that can be accepted as
 genuine1 the  gain to the artist's     
reputation atones for the loss4         
,the plates are printed by ,,bemrose    
,,dalziel1 ,,ltd41 ,watford    ,the text
 at the ,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh