,,masterpieces      ,,in ,,colour       
,,edited ,,by      ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare   
,,carlo ,,dolci          ,,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 ,,pissarro4 
,,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  
,,luini4           ,,james ,,mason4     
,,tintoretto4      ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4  

,others in ,preparation4                
,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,virgin    
,,and ,,child 7,frontispiece74    ,this 
work1 which is the only one by ,dolci in
 the ,national ,gallery1  represents the
 ,virgin presenting flowers to the      
,divine ,infant4 ,in  composition and   
drawing it is one of the most happy     
efforts of ,dolci4 ,a  small canvas of  
#b feet #f inches1 it came into the     
possession of the  ,national ,gallery in
 #ahgf through the ,wynn ,ellis bequest4
              ,carlo ,dolci        ,,by 
,,george ,,hay        ,,illustrated     
,,with ,,eight      ,,reproductions ,,in
 ,,colour        ,illustration3 ,,in    
,,sempiternum4        ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4 
,e4 ,c4 ,,jack      ,,new ,,york3       
,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4          
,,contents                              
,page        ,i4 ,introduction          
#aa         ,,ii4 ,the ,artist's ,life  
#bb        ,,iii4 ,the ,artist's ,work  
#fb          ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations
          ,plate         ,i4 ,virgin and

 ,child                                 
,frontispiece                ,national  
,gallery1 ,london                       
,page        ,,ii4 ,poetry              
#ad                ,in the ,uffizi      
,gallery1 ,florence         ,,iii4 ,the 
,magdalen                               
#bd                ,in ,florence        
,,iv4 ,the ,eternal ,father             
#cd                ,part of an          
alter-piece in ,fresco1 ,florence       
,v4 ,angel of the ,annunciation         
#dj                ,in ,florence        
,,vi4 ,the ,magdalen                    
#ej                ,in the ,corsini     
,palace1 ,rome         ,,vii4 ,portrait 
of the ,artist                          
#fj                ,in the ,uffizi      
,gallery1 ,florence        ,,viii4 ,the 
,sleep of ,st4 ,john                    
#gj                ,in the ,pitti       
,palace1 ,florence      ,illustration   
,i    ,,introduction      ,if1 in       
dealing with the life and work of ,carlo
 ,dolci1 a writer sets down  an apology 

by way of preface1 it is in recognition 
of the fact that the  art form of this  
painter1 for all that it is serious and 
beautiful1 is  one of the first that we 
outgrow4 ,there are artists in plenty1  
and their  names are written large in   
the roll of fame1 whose work makes no   
immediate appeal to us4 ,rembrandt1     
,velazquez1 ,tintoretto1 one and all    
must be approached with an eye that has 
received some measure of  training1 and 
then the beauty of their work brings    
perennial enjoyment1  though at first it
 could not be easily seen4 ,other men   
who lived and  thought and wrought on   
quite a different plane appeal to the   
eye right  away4 ,their work conceals   
nothing1 its beauties are patent and    
entirely  free from reticence or        
subtlety2 such painters bear the same   
relation to  the really great masters of
 the art as the writers of the songs    
sung at  ,ballad ,concerts bear to the  
composers of the ,pastoral1 ,unfinished 
or  ,pathetic ,symphonies4 ,yet in their

 way it must be admitted that both  the 
writer of ballads1 and the painter of   
pictures that please1 do a  certain     
service4 ,they help the uninitiated     
along the path that leads to  higher    
things2 they are a support that the     
timid explorer may rely upon  until he  
has learnt to walk alone4 ,there comes a
 time when the painter  of pretty       
pictures and the writer of pretty songs 
cease to please us2 we  have mastered   
what we are pleased to regard as the    
tricks of both1 and  feel a little      
contempt for them4 ,then1 perhaps1 some 
of us are even  anxious to forget our   
former attitude towards the men who     
charmed our  youthful fancy4 ,we think  
we have become as gods1 knowing good    
from evil1  and in this mood we ignore  
the fine points of work we criticise4   
,carlo  ,dolci was in many ways a man   
who never grew up1 but he had a keen and
  almost childish sense of beauty and of
 righteousness1 and he sought to        
express it on canvas1 leaving the deeper

 truths of art1 and the more  important 
aspects of life1 to be treated by those 
who cared to deal with  them4 ,beauty   
obvious1 palpable2 sentimental virtue as
 broad and  unblushing as that of       
,edmund ,spenser's heroines1 were the   
themes that  the artist chose to dwell  
upon1 and it would be in the last degree
  unwise to forget that such a message  
as his will make a strong appeal to  the
 rising generation as long as the world 
endures1 and that by the time  those who
 have been pleased are pleased no       
longer1 there will be others  waiting to
 take their place4 ,moreover ,carlo     
,dolci laboured with a  certain measure 
of sincerity until the message he had   
chosen to deliver  to his generation    
became as true to him as the visions    
that helped ,fra  ,angelico while he    
laboured in the cells of ,st4 ,mark's   
,convent in  ,florence4 ,to-day in      
,florence and in ,rome the younger      
generation seek  the pictures of ,carlo 
,dolci and find in them a realisation of

 certain  ideals4 ,we may be a little   
shocked or even contemptuous1 but to    
recognise the claims of those who are   
coming on as well as the claims of      
those who are passing1 is to keep a sane
 outlook on life4 ,for the world  was   
not made for the middle-aged and the    
experienced1 any more than it  was      
created for the immature enthusiasts4   
,there is a place on this  planet for us
 all4    ,illustration3 ,,plate         
,,ii4--,,poetry    ,this canvas was     
painted for the head of the ,corsini    
,family in ,rome1 when  ,dolci was a    
young man4 ,it is one of a series that  
included ,hope1  ,patience1 and         
,painting4 ,it is now in the ,uffizi    
,gallery1 ,florence4    ,carlo ,dolci   
painted1 or over-painted1 the romance of
 life4 ,it was his  misfortune that he  
always saw it in the same way4 ,he was  
like a musician  who1 having all the    
keys of the piano at his disposal1      
regards anything  more than the simplest
 modulation from tonic to dominant and  

back again  as an extravagance to which 
he must not surrender4 ,nowadays the    
horizon  of art has widened very        
considerably2 even in literature the    
obvious has  passed out of fashion1 but 
in the rather degenerate days when      
,carlo  ,dolci lived physical beauty was
 in a sense the keynote of all art work4
  ,no heroine could reach the last      
chapter of a romance in safety unless   
she chanced to be equipped with a       
measure of beauty that defied the       
assaults of time4 ,beauty other than    
physical was entirely overlooked1 or    
was associated deliberately with good   
looks4 ,handsome sinners were as  far   
removed from the public ken as ugly     
saints4 ,in many senses the world  was  
younger than it is to-day2 indeed1 it   
has aged more in the past two  hundred  
years than in five hundred that went    
before4 ,consequently the  living       
painter of prettiness stands now at a   
certain disadvantage4  ,perhaps he is   
more handicapped in the struggle for    

recognition now than  he will be a      
hundred years hence1 because we have but
 recently taken  possession of our      
heritage of culture and judgment and are
 a little  anxious to forget that we    
have been young4 ,it may be granted that
 while  a large collection of the works 
of a painter who laboured for all time  
pleases our every mood1 it would be hard
 to live in a room in which  ,dolci's   
pictures dominated the walls4 ,swinburne
 has expressed the  position very simply
 in the first volume of his famous      
,poems and  ,ballads3 ,a month or twain 
to live on honeycomb is pleasant2 but   
one  tires of scented time4    ,we      
suffer from the painter's excess of     
sweetness1 from a sentiment that  comes 
dangerously near to sentimentality1 from
 a quality that is almost  as cloying as
 saccharine2 but taken in the proper    
proportions1 relegated  to their proper 
place1 the pictures of ,carlo ,dolci are
 bound to please1  and we feel perhaps a
 little envious of the man who          

throughout his life  could see nothing  
that was not gracious and pleasing1 and 
moral and  sweet4 ,as we have said1 he  
has his counterpart in literature and in
  music1 and had he not been forced by  
circumstances he could not control  into
 the immediate neighbourhood of men who 
had so much more to say than  he1 ,dolci
 would have received more attention from
 his contemporaries and  from succeeding
 generations4 ,but1 perhaps             
unfortunately for himself1  ,dolci is to
 be found only in the best artistic     
company of the world4 ,his  work hangs  
in ,florence and in ,rome cheek by jowl 
with that of the  world's great masters2
 before the flame of their genius his   
light pales  and becomes insignificant4 
,yet he is by no means to be despised1  
for he  saw through his own little      
window a view of the pageantry of life  
that  must have made him happy1 and was 
destined to stimulate generations that  
have passed and generations still       
unborn4 ,his pictures do not lack       

sincerity1 and do not fail to express   
the best that was in him4 ,he saw  ,holy
 ,families and saints and living sitters
 with an eye that insisted  upon beauty 
and righteousness4 ,he painted with     
exquisite finish1 with  delicate        
colouring1 and with a measure of        
enthusiasm that the years have  not     
dimmed4 ,in short1 though many men have 
done better1 he did his best1  and the  
pictures that are reproduced in these   
pages indicate very fairly  the measure 
of his achievement1 even while they do  
nothing to conceal  his limitations4    
,moreover1 while greater artists have   
had their  biographers by the score1 it 
is hard to find in the literature of    
,great  ,britain1 ,france1 or ,italy any
 work dealing even in the simplest      
fashion  with this painter's life1      
though it does not deserve to be        
neglected4  ,dolci would seem to have   
been ignored altogether1 and this       
attitude of  contempt is quite unfair1  
because no man who has pleased so many  

simple  minds is unworthy of our        
attention1 and it is more reasonable to 
praise  a man for the gifts that were   
his than to ignore him on account of    
what  he lacked4          ,,ii    ,,the 
,,artist',s ,,life      ,as was said on 
a previous page1 few people seem to have
 been at pains to  deal with the life   
and work of our painter1 and while the  
curators of  the ,italian museums can   
tell you little about him1 save the     
approximate  dates of his life and      
death1 and a few stories relating to    
events that  would perhaps have occurred
 if they could1 the catalogue of the    
,british ,museum has no more than one   
reference to his name4 ,tracing the     
reference to its source1 we find a      
little paper-covered pamphlet1  written 
in the closing years of the seventeenth 
century and published in  ,florence some
 quarter of a century ago4 ,in the      
,british ,museum library it  is bound   
with two or three other booklets        
relating to totally different  matters4 

,the pamphlet that concerns us was      
written by ,carlo ,dolci's  friend and  
patron1 ,signor ,baldinucci1 and has    
never been translated into  ,english4   
,baldinucci was one of ,dolci's         
intimates1 evidently a good  friend and 
an ardent admirer1 a man who praises    
generously1 but is  rather reticent     
about the painter's artistic            
shortcomings1 just as  though reticence 
would avail to keep them hidden from the
 understanding  eye4 ,however1 it is no 
bad thing for us that ,signor           
,baldinucci should  have been an        
enthusiast1 because without enthusiasm  
the bounteous  harvest of facts to which
 we can turn would not have been        
gathered1 and  we should have been left 
in such a state of doubt with regard to 
the  incidents of the painter's life as 
besets us in dealing with so many of    
the earlier and more notable men of his 
art and country4    ,illustration3      
,,plate ,,iii4--,,the ,,magdalen        
,this is an early picture1 painted for  

one of the ,florentine religious        
houses1 finished with the utmost care4  
,it has preserved its colour            
remarkably1 and is now to be seen in    
,florence4    ,signor ,baldinucci's work
 describes the artist's pictures in     
terms of  quaint enthusiasm1 and        
happily1 too1 it does not despise       
biographical  details4 ,this is as well1
 for1 while there is no call for very   
subtle  criticism in the case of ,dolci1
 it is of great interest for us to      
discover what manner of man he was and  
how he came to paint so many  pretty    
pictures all in the same key1 why he    
never sought to enlarge the  boundaries 
of his art1 or to see with dilated eye4 
,our biographer is  generous2 he gives  
us facts in plenty1 and writes just     
enough about art  to enable us to       
understand that his knowledge and his   
enthusiasm stood  in inverse ratio to   
one another4 ,that the author had a     
following is  proved by the fact that   
the little pamphlet is now out of print1

 and  though the writer sought          
diligently throughout ,florence to      
procure a  copy1 he was quite           
unsuccessful4    ,carlo ,dolci was born 
about the year #afaf4 ,his father was a 
highly  respected tailor of ,florence1  
,andrea ,dolci by name1 his mother a    
daughter of ,pietro ,marinari1 a painter
 7says ,baldinucci7 of repute4  ,carlo's
 parents seem to have been an exemplary 
couple1 who earned the  esteem of all   
who knew them and raised a family of    
five children to  follow the straight   
and narrow paths of probity4 ,carlo is  
said to have  been born on the #beth of 
,may #afaf1 a day devoted to the honour 
of ,st4  ,zenobius and ,santa ,maria    
,maddalena de ,pazzi4 ,the elder ,dolci 
died when  ,carlo was four years old1   
and his mother was left in straitened   
circumstances1 with which she struggled 
bravely and not without success4  ,carlo
 seems to have been in every respect a  
model boy2 in fact1 if his  biographer  
is strictly reliable1 he was almost too 

good for the wicked  world he lived in4 
,it would be a relief to hear that he   
had moments when  he was not on his best
 behaviour1 that he robbed orchards1 or 
played  truant1 or got into one or other
 of the scrapes that are associated with
  boyhood2 but1 alas1 he did nothing of 
the kind4 ,he was not even content  to  
be good1 but wanted all his             
schoolfellows to follow his example1 and
  used to persuade them to tell their   
beads and say their prayers even  when  
they were out walking4    ,at the early 
age of nine ,carlo ,dolci gave          
unmistakable signs of  possessing an    
artist's gifts1 and was entrusted by his
 mother to the  care of ,jacopo ,vignali
 and ,matteo ,rosselli4 ,he worked very 
hard under  these masters1 and was so   
good that ,mr4 ,barlow of ,sandford and 
,merton  fame would have been moved to  
tears of joy had he belonged to the     
seventeenth century and flourished in   
the neighbourhood of ,florence1  while  
,master ,harry ,sandford would have     

hidden a diminished head and  confessed 
that he had found a greater saint than  
himself4 ,at the age of  eleven ,carlo  
,dolci painted his first heads of       
,christ1 one as a child1  and the other 
crowned with thorns2 he also painted a  
full-length figure  of ,st4 ,john4 ,then
 he painted a portrait of his mother1   
who was so  pleased with the work that  
she took it to his master's studio1     
where1 as  good luck would have it1     
,pietro de ,medici was in the habit of  
passing  some of his idle hours4 ,this  
patron of the arts was so pleased with  
the  boy's work that he ordered a       
portrait of himself and another of a    
friend1 the musician ,antonio ,landini4 
,he also took the pictures that  little 
,carlo had just painted and showed them 
to the leaders of society  in ,florence1
 presenting the young artist to the     
duke1 who could hardly  believe that the
 work before him had been accomplished  
by one so young4  ,in order to assure   
himself1 he told the boy to sketch two  

heads in his  presence1 only to be so   
pleased with the work that he rewarded  
him  handsomely for it4    ,florence1 of
 course1 began to talk of the boy       
painter1 for a prodigy is  neither to be
 despised nor overlooked in any wealthy 
city4 ,his  reputation passed from      
palace to studio1 gathering commissions 
on its  travels1 and in a very little   
time young ,dolci had all the work he   
could  do4 ,he painted the portrait of  
the head of the ,bardi family1 and that 
of his nephew ,john de ,bardi4 ,he      
painted a portrait of ,raphael ,ximenes4
  ,when he was not painting portraits he
 turned his attention to still  life1   
painting some fruit and flower pictures 
for his ,confessor1 ,canon  ,carpanti4  
,his next work was for ,lorenzo de      
,medici1 an ,adoration1 for  which he   
asked twenty scudi and received forty1  
and then he painted the  subject again  
on a rather larger canvas for one of the
 ,genitori family1  who paid seventy    
scudi4 ,this picture was sold at the    

owner's death and  realised just four   
times the sum that had been paid for it1
 while some  pictures of the            
,evangelists painted by ,dolci for one  
of his ,confessors  realised nearly     
twenty times as much as he had received4
    ,it may be suggested without much   
fear of contradiction1 that the success 
of the painter's earliest work was not  
the best thing that could have  happened
 to him4 ,if he had been compelled to   
develop slowly and in the  face of      
adverse circumstance1 it is more likely 
that ,carlo ,dolci would  have given the
 world work of more lasting merit1 but  
circumstance forced  him to paint for   
patrons at a time when he should have   
been studying for  himself4 ,the style  
and method of his labours were settled  
for him1 his  development was limited   
and circumscribed2 with his native gifts
 he  might have travelled far had he not
 been hampered by these early           
successes4    ,illustration3 ,,plate    
,,iv4--,,the ,,eternal ,,father    ,this

 plate1 so characteristic of the        
sentiment of ,dolci1 is only part of  an
 altar-piece in fresco1 painted for one 
of the religious houses in the  middle  
of the artist's career4    ,from his    
youth ,carlo ,dolci had been devout1 the
 rules of the brotherhood  of ,st4      
,benedict appealed to him very strongly4
 ,he passed much of his  scanty leisure 
within the walls of the brethren in     
,florence1 and1  probably under the     
influence of his advisers there1 made a 
firm  resolve to paint nothing but      
religious subjects1 or those that       
illustrated some one of the cardinal    
virtues4 ,at the back of each canvas  it
 was his custom to write the date upon  
which he had started the work  and the  
name of the saint to whom the day was   
dedicated4 ,in ,holy ,week  his brush   
was devoted entirely to subjects        
relating to the ,passion4    ,one of his
 greatest early successes was a picture 
of the ,madonna with  the ,infant       
,christ and ,st4 ,john1 painted for     

,signor ,grazzini4 ,this work  added so 
much to his commissions that he could no
 longer stay in  ,vignali's studio1     
finding it more convenient to work at   
home1 where  there was more             
accommodation in his mother's house4    
,here he painted his  beautiful picture 
of ,st4 ,paul for one of the family of  
,strozzi1 and his  picture of ,st4      
,girolamo writing1 and the penitence of 
,mary ,magdalen4 ,he  also painted the  
picture of ,christ blessing the bread1 a
 head of ,st4  ,philip of ,neri1 and the
 picture of ,st4 ,francis and ,st4      
,george4 ,for one  of his ,corsican     
patrons he painted a woman with weights 
and scales in  her hand as ,justice1 and
 for one of the ,corsini he painted the 
,hope1  ,patience1 ,poetry1 and         
,painting1 of which series the ,poetry  
is reproduced  here4    ,in #afdh ,carlo
 ,dolci was elected a member of the     
,florentine ,academy1 and1  in          
accordance with the custom that         
prevailed1 was required to present  one 

of his pictures to the ,academy on      
election4 ,not unnaturally1  perhaps1   
his thoughts turned to the man with     
whose art he sympathised  most1 ,fra    
,angelico of ,fiesole--the man whose    
exquisite work has made the  ,florentine
 ,convent of ,st4 ,mark a place of      
pilgrimage to this day4 ,oddly  enough  
there was no portrait of ,fra ,angelico 
in the ,academy4 ,it was  necessary to  
send to ,rome to procure a drawing from 
which the portrait  could be painted4   
,the public demand for ,carlo ,dolci's  
work at this time was very greatly  in  
excess of the supply1 but the painter   
was hardly a man who sought or  obtained
 the highest price for his labours4 ,a  
very little would seem to  have         
contented him2 cases might be multiplied
 in which his work was  re-sold at far  
higher prices than he received for it4  
,for example1 he  painted a picture of  
,mary ,magdalen washing the feet of     
,christ1 and sold  the work to his      
doctor for #afj scudi4 ,the ,marquis    

,niccolini offered the  doctor #abjj    
scudi for it1 but could not tempt him to
 give it up4    ,by this time the fame  
of ,carlo ,dolci had spread well beyond 
the  boundaries of ,florence2 he was    
known and taken seriously in art circles
  of ,italy1 and his work had special   
attractions for the religious houses    
whose heads saw that its influence was  
bound to be beneficial4 ,we find  the   
monks of the ,italian ,monastery        
dedicated to ,santa ,lucia of ,vienna   
commissioning him to copy one of their  
pictures of the ,virgin4 ,he made       
several drawings and started work on the
 picture1 but did not finish it  for a  
long time1 and some eight years later he
 sold it to some  distinguished visitors
 to ,florence for #afj scudi4 ,dolci was
 never idle1  and his brush was always  
busy on canvas or wood1 always setting  
out some  sacred story or seeking to    
glorify some virtue4 ,among the         
important  pictures belonging to this   
period are one of the ,martyrdom of ,st4

  ,andrew1 which was taken to ,venice1  
and one of the ,flight into ,egypt1     
painted for ,andrea ,rosselli1 a rather 
graceful if not original  composition1  
in which the ,virgin is seen riding with
 the ,infant  ,christ in her arms4 ,the 
same subject was commissioned by ,lord  
,exeter and  sent to ,england4          
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,angel ,,of
 ,,the ,,annunciation    ,this was      
painted about #afef for the house of the
 ,benedictines in  ,florence4 ,it is one
 of the most popular of the artist's    
work1 and has  been widely reproduced4  
,the picture of an angel pointing out to
 ,christian souls the road to  ,heaven  
attracted great comment and praise when 
it was painted2 so too  did two oval    
pictures1 one of the ,archbishop of     
,florence1 and the other  of ,st4       
,philip of ,neri4 ,a half-length figure 
of ,st4 ,catherine was another  of the  
painter's notable works that may be     
referred to his middle life4  ,he had   
acquired the art of giving to his canvas

 the high finish of a  miniature1 and   
his colours were very fresh and glowing4
 ,indeed1 it may  be said of ,carlo     
,dolci's work that it has preserved its 
freshness to a  very remarkable extent2 
some of the pictures painted more than  
#bej years  ago are still glowing with  
colour1 while the work of many men who  
came  after ,dolci has lost all its     
original brightness and has become      
muddy4  ,this suggests that ,dolci had  
found time to study the composition of  
paint with great care1 and that some of 
the secrets of glazing surfaces  had    
been revealed to him4 ,belonging to the 
middle period is the picture  of ,st4   
,andrew embracing the ,cross and the    
picture in octagon shape  called        
,charity1 presenting a beautiful woman  
nursing a sleeping babe1  and holding a 
flaming heart in her right hand4 ,a     
small picture of ,hagar  and ,ishmael   
belongs to these years4    ,in #afee    
,carlo ,dolci's teacher1 ,rosselli1     
passed away1 and in the  following year 

the artist completed the painting of a  
standard that his  master had begun4    
,the subject is ,st4 ,benedict on a     
cloud in a blue sky1  and ,dolci is said
 to have made studies of it from a      
picture that was  already in possession 
of another brotherhood4 ,composition was
 never his  strong point4 ,he painted   
another standard for the ,benedictines1 
to their  great delight1 and in the     
following year a ,st4 ,dominic on wood1 
and the  famous ,angel of the ,lily4    
,carlo ,dolci was now a married man1 for
 in #afed1 apparently on the advice  of 
his friends1 he married the ,signora    
,teresa di ,giovanni4 ,the  suggestion  
that ,carlo ,dolci married to order is  
supported to some extent  by the        
incidents of the marriage day4          
,baldinucci tells us that the  painter's
 friends and family1 together with the  
friends and family of  his wife1 were   
all gathered together1 but ,carlo did   
not keep his  appointment1 and          
messengers were despatched all over the 

city to find  him4 ,he was not at home1 
he was not with the ,benedicts1 he was  
not in  the churches he favoured most1  
and dinner-time had come round when some
  happy searcher found the painter in a 
church that the others had  overlooked4 
,having scolded him for forgetting his  
appointment1 the bride  forgave her     
absent-minded partner1 and the marriage 
took place4 ,it was a  very happy one4  
,some time after this alliance1 and when
 he had passed his fortieth year1       
,carlo ,dolci turned his attention to   
fresco1 and painted a figure of ,god    
the ,father1 the ,holy ,ghost1 and four 
archangels4 ,we learn that one of  his  
pupils painted in the other angels1 and 
this little fact is worth  noting1      
because it shows that ,carlo ,dolci had 
reached the period of his  life in which
 the demands for his work could not be  
satisfied without  assistance1 and he   
had been forced to follow the example of
 great  predecessors4 ,we know that     
,titian and ,tintoretto and other       

masters of  the ,renaissance period in  
,italy never scrupled to avail          
themselves of  the services of clever   
pupils1 and many a picture that left the
 studio  with the master's name upon it 
did not receive more than the slightest 
touch of the master's brush4 ,this      
scandal1 for so we must describe it1    
has been common to nearly every period  
in the development of art1 and  was     
perhaps justified to some small extent  
in days when artists were not  rewarded 
on a generous scale4 ,while their       
commissions came from patrons  who would
 not brook delay1 and were quite well   
able to make their anger  effective1 it 
was unwise to be too scrupulous about   
the means to an end4  ,for the          
preparation of a canvas and the painting
 in of draperies for  portraits the use 
of pupils may escape adverse criticism1 
but when the  pressure of commission    
became very serious1 too many great     
artists have  succumbed to the          
temptation of leaving the bulk of the   

work to be  painted by a pupil1 trusting
 to a few skilled touches to give the   
completed canvas the stamp of their own 
individuality4 ,we have no means  of    
saying how far ,carlo ,dolci indulged in
 a custom that was common to  his time4 
,we are quite sure that had he thought  
it an immoral one he  would have        
abandoned it without hesitation4        
,after turning his attention to fresco  
work the painter sent a ,st4 ,agatha  to
 ,venice1 together with a portrait of   
,st4 ,john the ,evangelist1 and a       
picture entitled ,sincerity1 a woman    
garlanded with lilies4 ,for another     
picture sent to ,venice1 representing   
,christ crowned with flowers and        
sitting at the entrance of a garden1    
,dolci received #bjj scudi1 a rather    
considerable sum when it is compared    
with those that were generally paid  for
 his pictures4 ,this picture was so     
successful that he painted another      
version of it in #afge for a daughter of
 the ,archduke ,ferdinand and ,anna  de 

,medici4 ,for this he received no less  
than #cjj scudi1 and the ,marquis       
,runecini paid the same price for a     
picture of ,st4 ,john1 in which the     
saint sees in a vision a lady trampling 
a dragon under foot4 ,among other  works
 belonging to this period are a ,st4    
,girolamo1 a ,st4 ,luke1 and a ,st4     
,benedict1 all commissioned by his      
doctor1 ,signor ,lorenzo4    ,for one of
 the ,corsini family ,dolci painted ,st4
 ,anthony with a skull in  his hand1 and
 for ,signor ,corbinelli the full-length
 life-size canvas of  the figure of ,st4
 ,peter4 ,for the ,scalzi ,brotherhood  
he painted the  picture of the ,eternal 
,father that was placed over the high   
altar1 and a  picture of ,herodiade with
 the head of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,a
 ,david with  the head of ,goliath was  
painted for the ,marquis ,runecini1 and 
a copy  was made for the ,english       
ambassador in ,florence4 ,this picture  
created a  sensation when it was sent to
 ,england1 and brought the painter many 

commissions for the portraits of        
,englishmen4 ,the head of the ,corsini  
house had given ,dolci certain          
commissions1 and they were so well      
executed that requests followed for     
another ,st4 ,john1 and a picture of    
,king ,casimir of ,poland4 ,the ,st4    
,cecilia playing the organ1 which was   
sent to ,poland1 was painted shortly    
afterwards4    ,illustration3 ,,plate   
,,vi4--,,the ,,magdalen    ,this        
picture1 painted for a ,roman patron1 is
 at present to be in the  ,corsini      
,palace1 ,rome4 ,it has1 however1 not   
been so well preserved as  some of the  
best work from the same hand4    ,about 
this time ,sustermans1 a painter some of
 whose work may be seen and  admired in 
,florence to-day1 was commissioned to   
paint a portrait of  ,claudia1 daughter 
of the ,grand-duke ,ferdinand and ,anna 
de ,medici1 on the  occasion of her     
marriage with the ,emperor ,leopold4    
,but ,sustermans on  account of his     
great age could not accept the          

commission1 and it was  then offered to 
,carlo ,dolci1 who1 although he had     
lived so long1 and  had achieved so     
large a measure of renown1 had never    
travelled beyond  the walls of          
,florence4 ,however1 he did not         
hesitate1 but started out for  ,innsbrck
 in the spring of the year4 ,he arrived 
in ,holy ,week1 when1  according to his 
rule of life1 he would not paint secular
 subjects1 but  as soon as ,easter had  
come to an end he began the portrait    
commissioned1  and was then asked by the
 ,duke to paint a second one of the same
 subject  in a different pose4 ,at      
,innsbrck ,dolci received another       
commission of  the sort that throws a   
strong light upon the ethics of the art 
world of  his time4 ,he was asked to    
repaint or touch up several devotional  
pictures by great masters who had passed
 away1 and he does not seem to  have    
hesitated4 ,it was sufficient for him   
that the pictures were of a  kind that  
met his approval2 he asked nothing more1

 but set to work on  the canvases of    
other men without a qualm4 ,he was the  
guest at ,innsbrck  of the ,abb         
,viviani1 and by way of expressing his  
gratitude for his  host's unvarying     
attention and kindness he painted a     
beautiful head of  ,st4 ,philip of ,neri
 and gave it to him4 ,dolci remained at 
,innsbrck from  ,april until the end of 
,august1 and received in addition to a  
considerable sum of money a gift of     
valuable jewels from his grateful       
patrons4    ,it was characteristic of   
the man that on his return to his native
 city  and before he took the picture he
 had painted to the ,palace of the      
,medici1 he went to the church in       
,florence at which he was accustomed to 
pray1 and returned thanks for the happy 
termination of his travels4 ,then  he   
was instructed by the ,medici family to 
finish the portrait1 so that  it might  
stand for ,santa ,galla ,placidia1 the  
,empress whose famous tomb  may be seen 
in ,ravenna to this day1 and1 indeed1 is

 one of the  show-places of that quaint 
old city4 ,dolci then painted a very    
charming  picture reproduced in these   
pages1 the sleeping ,st4 ,john with ,st4
  ,zacharias and ,st4 ,elizabeth1 and   
following the painting of this picture  
is associated the great misfortune of a 
life that had hitherto been  pleasant   
and peaceful4 ,the religious feelings   
that had been with him  since the days  
when he was a little boy busily         
instructing his  schoolfellows to turn  
from profane to sacred thoughts now     
degenerated  into melancholy1 and ,dolci
 suffered from the true melancholia     
which  baffles physicians to-day1 and   
was then1 of course1 quite beyond the   
reach of palliative or cure4 ,he could  
not speak without deep sighs2 he  was   
convinced that he had lost all his      
ability as a painter1 and that  the     
world had no more use for him4 ,his     
wife1 who gave up much of her  time and 
attention to him1 suffered in health    
from the premature birth  of a child1   

and then ,baldinucci1 who wrote the     
little biography of the  artist that was
 printed in ,florence in the early      
'eighties1 and is the  foundation of our
 knowledge of the artist's life1 took   
the painter away  from ,florence to the 
country to the house of one ,domenico   
,valdinotti4  ,this man1 an artist1 had 
one or two pictures in his studio       
commissioned  for wealthy patrons4 ,he  
took up a palette with colours mixed1   
and gave  it to ,dolci1 commanding him  
in sternest tones to finish a veil on   
one of  the pictures of the ,virgin4    
,the painter obeyed1 and succeeded so   
well in  his task that all the doubt and
 fear that had clouded his life for the 
greater part of a year vanished in an   
hour1 and he returned to ,florence  with
 a perfectly healthy mind to finish the 
,santa ,galla ,placidia1 and  one or two
 altar-pieces1 including one for the    
,church of ,san ,francesco4    ,dolci   
then received a commission from the     
,empress ,claude to paint a  canvas for 

the ,imperial ,palace1 but as she died  
in the following ,april  this work was  
not completed4 ,but he painted a fine   
martyrdom of ,st4  ,lorenzo and a       
striking picture of ,st4 ,francis of    
,assisi for the ,duke4  ,then came more 
commissions from ,venice1 and the       
painter worked at  half-a-dozen         
well-known pictures for that city4      
,these pictures showed1  perhaps1 even  
more finish than those that had gone    
before1 because  concentration seems to 
have been the keynote of the painter's  
life1 and  while other men in all ages  
have used art as a means to an end1 and 
have  been unable to avoid the social   
temptations that have beset them in the 
day of their success1 ,carlo ,dolci1    
like ,tintoretto before him1 had no     
care for anything save his work4 ,so    
long as health was good he desired      
nothing better than to devote the whole 
day to labour1 and his closest  and most
 complete attention to what he had in   
hand4 ,of course1 one only  compares    

,dolci with ,tintoretto in point of     
industry2 all the  developments that the
 great ,venetian had made1 all the      
truths he had  discovered1 were either  
unknown to ,dolci or ignored by him4 ,he
 was  painting for a public that knew   
very little about art1 and regarded     
exquisite finish as the surest sign of  
artistic accomplishment4  ,consequently 
the painter did not seek to develop     
along lines of  independent thought2 he 
had no pressing need to do so while     
everything  he could reasonably require 
in the way of patronage and commission  
was  at his command4    ,in #afhb ,luca 
,giordano came to ,florence to paint    
frescoes in the ,chapel  of the ,corsini
 ,palace4 ,he admired ,carlo ,dolci's   
work very much1 but used  to rally him  
about the time he spent on it4 ,you do  
beautiful work1 my  ,carlo1 he said2 but
 how can you make it pay when you give  
hours and  hours to that close finish8  
,when ,i think of the #aej1jjj scudi ,i 
have  earned since ,i took up the brush1

 ,i begin to fear that you will die     
hungry4    ,illustration3 ,,plate       
,,vii4--,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,artist  
,this is one of the collection of       
portraits of artists painted1 each by   
his own hand4 ,as may be seen from the  
canvas1 ,dolci executed it in #afgd     
when he was approaching his sixtieth    
year4 ,the canvas hangs in the  ,uffizi 
,gallery1 ,florence4    ,it was perhaps 
a little unwise to talk in this fashion 
to a man who had  been suffering from   
some form of brain disease1 but it is   
certain that  the words1 though they    
were only spoken in jest1 made a very   
deep  impression upon the painter4      
,dolci had just finished an ,adoration  
of the  ,magi1 and had sent it to the   
,palace of the ,duchess ,vittoria4      
,receiving a  summons from the ,palace1 
he went there and heard the ,duchess    
express  herself to him in terms of high
 praise4 ,then she sent his ,adoration  
back  to its wall and ordered one of    
,giordano's pictures to be brought to   

her4  ,what do you think of this1 she   
said to ,dolci2 is it not a wonderful   
piece of work8 ,can you believe that it 
was really painted in such a  short     
time8 and she named the dates of its    
commission and completion4  ,this       
unlucky remark brought back all the     
painter's forebodings4 ,his  friend and 
biographer tells us that the ,duchess   
did not mean to hurt his  feelings1 she 
had admired his work for the qualities  
it possessed1 and  in praising          
,giordano's she had commented upon what 
had struck her most  about it--that is1 
the rapidity with which it had been     
executed4 ,from  that hour the painter  
went about silent and miserable1 he was 
seldom  heard to speak1 and then to add 
to his troubles1 his wife1 to whom  he  
had been devoted so passionately1 died4 
,his melancholy returned1 and  his      
,confessor1 remembering how successfully
 he had been treated in the  country    
beyond ,florence1 ordered him to turn to
 a picture of ,st4 ,ludovic  and paint  

the vestments of one of the figures on  
the canvas4 ,dolci did  as he was told1 
but this time the effort was in vain4   
,doubtless his  brain had been weakened 
by the first attack of melancholia1 and 
fears  for the future1 coupled with the 
shock of a beloved wife's death1 were   
altogether too much for the enfeebled   
constitution of a man of seventy4  ,he  
took to his bed1 and died on the #agth  
of ,january #afhf1 leaving a  family of 
seven daughters and one son4 ,dolci was 
buried in the family  vault in the      
,church of the ,santissima ,nunziata1   
where he had worshipped  so long1 and   
where one of his friends had found him  
on his marriage day  when he should have
 been with his bride4 ,he did not leave 
much money  behind him1 but quite a     
large number of pictures that doubtless 
served  his family in lieu of legacies  
at a time when the painter's work would 
be in greater demand than ever1 because 
the limit of his output had been        
reached4          ,,iii    ,,the        

,,artist',s ,,work      ,when we turn   
from a rsum of the chief events of the  
painter's  comparatively uneventful life
 to an endeavour to estimate the place  
he  takes in the history of his         
country's art we have1 in the first     
place1  to consider the season in which 
he was born4 ,looking at the art history
  of ,florence we see that ,dolci came  
very late into the world4 ,from the     
close of the fourteenth century1 when   
,fra ,angelico was born1 down to the    
late years of the sixteenth century1    
when the last of the great masters      
seemed to pass away1 ,florence had      
enjoyed the services of a long series   
of distinguished artists4 ,lippo ,lippi1
 ,botticelli1 ,ghirlandajo1 da  ,vinci1 
,michelangelo1 ,raphael1 ,lorenzo di    
,credi1 ,andrea del ,sarto1  ,bronzino1 
,cigoli1 all these and many others whose
 names can hardly be  recalled without  
delight flourished in ,florence1 and    
while they lived  there the city's      
reputation filled all the rest of ,italy

 with envy4 ,but  neither a man nor his 
influence is everlasting2 the great ones
 passed  and left no successors2 when   
,carlo ,dolci appeared upon the scene   
the  last trace of their influence had  
disappeared4 ,consequently he brought   
his gifts to a city from which          
inspiration had departed4 ,the great    
achievements of the art world were no   
more than echoes4 ,florence had         
excelled herself in all directions4     
,painting had served her greatest men   
as no more than one form of expression4 
,the greatest of them had sought  to    
give their message to the world through 
the medium of more arts than  one1 and  
consequently1 he who was a simpler      
painter was of comparatively  small     
account4 ,when ,carlo ,dolci was born1  
the time of great men having  passed1 no
 great forces were at work in his native
 city4 ,he did not have  the advantage  
of travel1 he was never called upon to  
struggle hard and  anxiously for the    
necessities of life4 ,in some ways he   

was regarded as  an infant prodigy and  
treated as such1 and it would be hard to
 say that  the premature development of 
gifts however great has ever served     
their  possessor in the long run4 ,no   
man's work can be judged properly save  
in  relation to his circumstances and   
his time1 and1 in order that we may     
avoid the danger of underrating ,carlo  
,dolci's achievement and dismissing  for
 obvious faults what we should praise   
for merit1 we are forced to  consider   
the case carefully lest we treat a      
deserving man with  injustice4 ,bearing 
time1 place1 and limitations in mind1 it
 is possible  then to consider the      
painter without the prejudice that the  
most glaring  defects of his art are    
calculated to arouse4    ,we have seen  
in the course of our necessarily short  
survey that ,carlo  ,dolci lived to the 
established age of man1 and started his 
work before  he was in his teens1 that  
no long journeys or extended sojourns in
  foreign countries withdrew him from   

the area of his normal activities2  we  
have seen that he never left ,florence  
save on one occasion4 ,and1 as  he was  
working throughout his life1 his output 
would have been  uncomfortably large but
 for the fact that he never allowed a   
canvas to  leave his studio until every 
stroke that his brain could suggest1 and
  his hand execute1 had been added to   
it4 ,his conscientiousness alone        
availed to check his output1 and so     
intent was he upon expressing  himself  
as well as he could within the obvious  
limitations of his gift  that he never  
attempted to grapple with the problems  
that beset bigger  men4    ,in          
composition1 for example1 ,carlo ,dolci 
was distinctly deficient2 there  is no  
more serious charge against him as an   
artist than that he could  not compose a
 large figure picture4 ,if he had to    
devote himself to one1  under the terms 
of some commission from a wealthy       
patron1 he would not  hesitate to go to 
other masters in search of a composition

 that would  suit his purpose4 ,it may  
be put to his credit that he did these  
things  openly1 he does not seem to have
 claimed for himself the work that he   
borrowed from his contemporaries4 ,in   
fact1 it is quite probable that he  knew
 his gifts did not lie in the direction 
of composition2 he regarded  it as      
something that did not matter very much1
 and was quite content  with the praises
 that his single figure subjects        
received4 ,one cannot  help thinking    
that he would have been very successful 
as a painter of  miniatures4    ,dolci  
impresses us to-day with the feeling    
that he was a man who  struggled        
valiantly and conscientiously with a    
very considerable gift1  which he had   
neither the time nor the will to develop
 along the lines  that lead from        
mediocrity to remarkable achievement4   
,then again we must  remember that the  
fates were not auspicious1 he was not   
taken in the  early days to the studio  
of a first-class master1 he did not have

 the  inspiration of great work4 ,by the
 time the seventeenth century had       
travelled over a third of its appointed 
course ,florentine art1 as we  have     
seen1 was hardly in a very flourishing  
condition4 ,the days of great           
experiments and earnest striving had    
passed1 and1 although ,venice is        
comparatively close to ,florence1 and   
was full even in ,carlo ,dolci's days   
of some of the world's most inspiring   
work1 although the ,venetians were      
delighted by ,carlo ,dolci's rich vivid 
colouring1 and commissioned many        
pictures from his brush1 there is no    
evidence to show that he ever  visited  
the great city of the ,adriatic1 or that
 he found the time or the  inclination  
to learn any of the lessons she has to  
teach4    ,illustration3 ,,plate        
,,viii4--,,the ,,sleep ,,of ,,st4 ,,john
    ,this is one of the last efforts of 
,dolci4 ,it was painted after his       
return from ,innsbrck1 just before he   
was taken ill4 ,it hangs in the  ,pitti 

,palace1 ,florence4    ,we cannot1 then1
 look upon ,carlo ,dolci's life or work 
as being complete4  ,he seems to afford 
an example of what talent will do when  
it lacks  adequate direction1 and we see
 too the danger into which the art of   
the  painter falls when his inclinations
 are too literary4 ,for it was no part  
of ,carlo ,dolci's aim in life to       
express harmonies in colour and line1   
although such expression may be taken to
 be the beginning and end of all  that  
is greatest in painting4 ,dolci was     
always keen on telling a story1  always 
intent upon preaching a sermon in paint1
 always forgetful that  the provinces of
 art and literature have a very wide    
boundary line4 ,it  is rather           
interesting to compare the lives of     
,carlo ,dolci and ,fra  ,angelico of    
,fiesole1 because each was a man who    
sought to express moral  principles1    
sentiments1 and belief on canvas1 and1  
while the one  succeeded beyond all     
possibility of doubt1 the other has met 

with only a  modified success4 ,beato   
,angelico was influenced by the         
,dominicans as  ,dolci was by the       
,benedictines2 each gave his life work  
to the service of  the ,church and the  
pursuit of virtues that the ,church     
teaches man to  practise4 ,one laboured 
in the cloister and the other outside   
it1 but  oddly enough1 he who came first
 and decorated the walls of ,st4 ,mark's
  ,convent knew the more about life and 
more about art1 more about  perspective 
and more about composition1 than his    
successor1 who followed  so many years  
later4 ,the truth is1 perhaps1 that when
 ,fra ,angelico came  to the convent of 
the ,dominicans the ,renaissance was    
just blossoming in  ,italy4 ,it was a   
season of great inspiration4 ,man and   
,learning were being  discovered1 and   
although some aspects of the discovery  
were hidden from  the good brother of   
,st4 ,dominic1 all the attendant        
enthusiasms came to  him4 ,moreover1    
,angelico travelled and mingled freely  

with scholars and  great artists1 so    
that we can divide his life work into   
three stages1 of  which the second is   
better than the first1 and the last is  
best of all4    ,on the other hand1 when
 ,dolci came on the scene the           
,renaissance had  blossomed and budded  
and filled the face of the earth with   
fruit1 but  the fruit was already       
overripe4 ,the great stimulus had       
passed2  degeneration had set in1 not   
only in the world of art4 ,the mere fact
  that ,carlo ,dolci's gifts found an   
immediate acceptance shows that the     
times were not distinguished1 and we do 
not find in ,baldinucci's life of  his  
friend one solitary suggestion that any 
of the great rulers who  employed his   
brush ever turned to him with the       
request that he should  enter into      
competition with those who had gone     
before1 that he should  take a course of
 study and learning to strengthen the   
weak points of his  work1 sacrificing a 
little of its sweetness to gain some    

small measure  of strength4 ,at the same
 time we must not underrate ,carlo      
,dolci's work  because we have outgrown 
it1 since1 as was suggested on an early 
page of  this little essay1 his charm in
 certain aspects is perennial1 and      
although its powers to hold us must pass
 when we have turned to higher  things1 
those who are following us will find    
pleasure and inspiration in  the        
painter's art when they visit for the   
first time the galleries of  ,italy4    
,they will travel by easy degrees from  
pictures that please to  those that call
 in the first place for study1 and then 
for admiration  and the recognition of  
masterpieces4    ,carlo ,dolci's place  
in art is not altogether unlike that of 
some of his  living countrymen in the   
world of music4 ,there are ,italian     
musicians  known to all of us who have  
such a gift of sweetness that we cannot 
endure their melodies for long4 ,a song 
now and again1 or some sparkling  little
 work for piano or violin1 gives us a   

passing thrill of pleasure1  and then we
 turn with complete content to the      
clearer atmosphere and  more serene     
moods of the great masters whose works  
endure for all time4  ,so it is with    
,carlo ,dolci2 we go to him now and     
again1 if only for a  little while1     
conscious that sweetness as well as     
strength has its place  in the world of 
art as in the world of music and        
letters4 ,and we know1  too1 that       
criticism can say nothing worse about   
,carlo ,dolci's gifts than  that he was 
never able to turn them to the best     
account1 that the rough  diamond of his 
talent was never in the hands of a      
competent lapidary4  ,his life is not   
one we are called upon to overlook1 for 
his achievement1  though it has little  
variety1 is marked by certain definite  
qualities  that call for recognition1   
even though these qualities are often   
moral  rather than artistic4    ,dolci  
was eminently a sentimentalist2 he had  
no redeeming vices2 a  little of the    

devilry of a ,benvenuto ,cellini would  
have been invaluable  to him and to his 
art4 ,but it is futile to complain of a 
man for being  as ,nature made him1 and 
if we will turn to ,carlo ,dolci's      
pictures for  pretty1 agreeable1 and    
highly finished interpretations of moral
 ideas in  terms of paint1 we shall find
 no small amount of momentary           
satisfaction4    ,we must not forget    
that the world at large had suffered not
 a little  when ,carlo ,dolci came upon 
the scene from the excessive daring and 
superb initiative of the ,renaissance4  
,its eyes were a little dimmed by  the  
splendour of the great men who had gone 
before1 and had travelled to  heights   
beyond the ken of the average citizen4  
,carlo ,dolci helped to  bring his      
greatly dazzled fellow-countrymen back  
to earth1 pleasantly  and in fashion    
that flattered their vanity4 ,in the    
eyes of hundreds of  his contemporaries 
the devout1 ,god-fearing1 conscientious 
,florentine  must have been regarded as 

the greatest artist ,italy had ever     
seen1 and  if such a thought pleases    
some of the unsophisticated among their 
descendants1 who should desire to       
complain8 ,let us rather put to ,dolci's
  credit the facts that he did not pose 
as a heaven-born genius1 that he  was   
not greedy or grasping1 that he did not 
seek to found a school4 ,the  portrait  
he painted of himself suggests that he  
was not altogether  deficient in humour2
 perhaps there were hours when he       
laughed with  himself at those who      
praised him for the gifts he lacked4 ,if
 we could  but be sure that he laughed  
now and again at himself and his        
pictures1  recognising the limitations  
that are so patent to us to-day1 the    
most  superior critic could refuse no   
longer to have some regard for ,carlo   
,dolci4          ,the plates are printed
 by ,,bemrose ,,dalziel1 ,,ltd41        
,watford      ,the text at the          
,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh