ers, we find it at first difficult to distinguish the figures of the Saviour and the Virgin, to whose costumes an aureole has been added. Many portraits enhance the interest of the piece. The bride is supposed to be Eleanor of Austria, second wife of Francis I. Francis himself is at her side. Mary . of England is near them, in yellow drapery. Vittoria Colonna sits a little farther off, holding a toothpick. All the great Venetian painters are represented among the musicians. Veronese himself, clad in white silk, plays a violoncello; Tintoretto, just behind, accompanies him; Titian, on the other side, plays the bass; Bassano is engaged with the flute.

The "Feast in the House of Levi," in the Venice Academy, is smaller, but quite as beautiful. We are not so much interested in the figures, but are more impressed with its airiness and brilliancy. Its marvelous perspective, superb architecture, and splendor of coloring, render it one of the most attractive pictures in the gallery. Almost as sumptuous, but much more incongruous, is the large painting of the "Supper at Emmaus," in the Louvre, where the whole family of the artist is introduced with the disciples, and the foreground is occupied by his little girls, merrily playing with an immense dog. Quite a number of other Veroneses' are found in the Louvre, including the "Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee." The architectural backgrounds and elegant ornaments of these entertainments were often executed by his brother Benedetto. His son Carlo was also an artist, but died when only twenty-six.

Paul Veronese's best historical paintings were ordered by the church of San Sebastian, Venice, in illustration of the legend of the saint. Many of these are now placed in the

Gallery of Venice, during the restoration of the church. His most gorgeous decorative work was undertaken for the Ducal Palace, especially his splendid mythological and allegorical representations of the "Rape of Europa," and the "Apotheosis of Venice." The collections of Europe have eagerly purchased his pictures. Besides those already alluded to in the Louvre, we have the "Adoration of the Kings," the "Good Samaritan," "Christ healing the Centurion's Servant," and several others, at Dresden; another "Adoration of the Kings," and "Jesus with Martha and Mary," at the Brera, Milan; the "Queen of Sheba before Solomon," and the "Magdalene anointing the Feet of Christ," in the Royal Gallery, Turin; together with a "Consecration of St. Nicholas," and the "Family of Darius," in the London Gallery. The "Family of Darius " is really a rich portrait-group of the Pisani family in their national costumes.

After the death of Veronese, in 1588, no more such extensive and brilliant works were attempted. A genius for color still lingered, but it was chiefly employed on much smaller subjects. Many of these were skillfully executed by a succession of artists known, from their birthplace, as the Bassano family. The father, Jacopo da Ponte (1510-1592), may be termed the first Italian genre-painter. He developed a taste for sheep, cattle, beasts, and poultry, natural enough in a country like Holland, but quite extraordinary in Venice, where even a horse is but a traditional animal. As he was well patronized, he educated his four sons to the same profession, and their pictures became popular throughout Italy, Germany, and Spain. Some of the best, thronged with his favorite beasts, are in the Gallery of Madrid. Some beauti

fully-finished specimens are also in England. His coloring was deep and glowing, with gem-like sparkle, which lent a charm even to his homeliest details. One of his often-repeated subjects is "Christ in the House '—or rather in the kitchen— "of Martha," apparently chosen more from an innate love of pots and pans than of any sacred symbolism. In his "Supper at Emmaus a cook stands at the fire, and a servant is arranging cups. One of his daughters is said to have served him as a model, "sometimes personating the Queen of Sheba, sometimes a Magdalene, and sometimes a peasant-girl with poultry." He had the strange habit of always hiding the feet of his figures, using various devices for the purpose, or occasionally concealing them under old household utensils. His portraits are admirably rendered, and display the fine qualities of the Venetian school.

Our notice of this school may fitly end with a brief mention of two accomplished painters of the eighteenth century, Antonio Canale, and his nephew Bernardo Bellotti, spoken of as Canale and Canaletto, who made views of Venice their specialty. Their pictures are quite common, except in their native city, where they are exceedingly rare. The largest number will be found in the Dresden Gallery. Meanwhile we must consider what had been doing in the other parts of Italy, while Tintoretto was furiously at work for Venetian buildings, and Veronese banqueting at his brilliant feasts.

CHAPTER X.

LATER ITALIAN PAINTING.

WITH the death of Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Correggio, and Titian, ceases the glorious sunshine of Italian art. Henceforth its light was to beam from lesser luminaries, in feebler rays. Yet before we reach the period of its decline, or even before we notice the immediate scholars who cluster like satellites around those mighty artists, we must speak of a painter whom one hesitates to place either in the first or second rank-inferior, indeed, to Raphael and Correggio, yet so superior to most of his colleagues that he was known among his countrymen as “Andrea the Faultless."

This faultless Andrea, whose story seems rather a satire on such an adjective, was the son of a Florentine tailor, Agnolo Vannucchi, and is called Andrea del Sarto, in allusion to his father's occupation. Born in 1487, and apprenticed when but seven years old to a goldsmith, he proved so stupid in chiseling and so expert in drawing, that he was transferred to the studio of a neighbor, Gian Barile, and afterward recommended to Piero di Cosimo, in whose service he had an opportunity to study the grand cartoons of Michael Angelo

and Leonardo da Vinci, together with the milder creations of Fra Bartolomeo. His friend Francia Bigio, a pupil of Mariotto Albertinelli, soon proposed to him a partnership in which they should live and paint together, refreshing themselves after the labors of their profession by merry dinners at an artists' club styled the "Company of the Kettle." Their first commission was for frescoes at the Scalzo, Florence, where the "Baptism of Christ" appears to be a joint production; but they quickly obtained more important employment from the Brotherhood of the Servi, in the court of the Annunziata, where we still delight to trace out Andrea's charming frescoes. These began with a series from the life of San Filippo Benizzi, and closed with a "Nativity of the Virgin," and "Procession of the Magi," which are among his most admirable remains. With soft, clear tints, and coloring more varied and melting than that of the older Florentines, he secured effects which gave promise of unreached heights. of excellence. Michael Angelo thought so well of his talents that he remarked to Raphael, "There is a little fellow in Florence who will bring sweat to your brow if ever he is engaged in great works." Perhaps the prophecy might have been fulfilled if Andrea's eye for beauty could always have been fixed upon the ideal; unfortunately it fastened upon the real seductiveness of a baker's wife, Lucrezia Fedi, whom he married in haste as soon as she became a widow, and repented at leisure ever after. This lovely but unprincipled woman, to whom he was evidently profoundly attached, served as a model for all his Madonnas. We see her in his masterpiece, the Madonna of the Uffizi, who looks down from her pedestal upon St. Francis and St. John; and in all the