THE ART OF THE CONNOISSEUR.* THAT there is a Renaissance,
on a small scale, of the interest taken by educated people in the work of the best Italian painters, is evident to all who do not live secluded lives. Some who have a little knowledge of Art, and who have even spent a few days among the galleries and churches of Italy, express their opinions confidently and without hesitation ; others, who know more, are less sure of the accuracy of their views. But all who feel sympathy with Italian art of the best periods and schools, will seek to know what literature can teach them. Morelli (better known as Ivan Lermolieff) is a name familiar to most, as a skilled critic ; though the straitest sect of the artistic pharisees would have it that his detailed methods of criticism are not reliable for the conclusions he draws. Morelli, an Italian patriot and later a senator, who wrote
• At* Itaiiana dd. Rinascimento Seggi Critici Si Gustavo Frizzoni. Con 30 Tavole in Fototipia. Milano: Fratelli LI:Imola:11. 1 vol. 1891.
mostly in German under a Russian pseudonym, has earned fame by his skill (questioned by some, it is true) in assigning pictures of the old masters to their proper painters. He compared, for instance, the methods of de- picting the fingers and the finger-nails, and on such material he could arrive at conclusions which were often at variance with tradition. He, in fact, worked out the art of connois- seurship. Probably the best result that follows from such a course, is the largely increased interest in and study of Art to which it gives rise. Such a work as Frizzoni's lately published Critical Essays on the Italian Art of the Renaissance is an instance, and an excellent instance, of these results. The book is fall of interest for the English reader, albeit the Italian composition and phraseology are not of the easiest. The essays themselves, following though not imitating the precedents of Lermolieff, are exactly of the description which answers to the rapidly growing and newly revived taste for Italian art in this country. There are some now who pay not occasional but regularly recurring visits to the Italian Rooms in the National Gallery, and who therefore assume a superiority of taste which ill befits the knowledge thereby acquired. These will surely benefit by Frizzoni's Saggi Critici, and especially that occupying the larger portion of the book, which is entitled " L'Arte Italiana nella Galleria Nazionale di Londra." We do not mean to say this paper is the beat in the collection ; for there are two clever essays on Bazzi (better or worse known as Sodoma), and on Peruzzi, which are unquestionably the essays that show Frizzoni's best characteristics as a critic. But the long and interesting analysis of the Italian Rooms in Trafalgar Square is certainly that which will most strongly commend the work to English readers. It is written with the greatest intelligence, and with a sense of proportion which is of itself the surest sign of an artistic temperament. Frizzoni's verdict on the Italian sections of the national property, is one of nearly unqualified satisfaction. We do not propose, in this brief notice of his Essays, to go through his remarks in detail, nor to question those which will strike the reader as being least capable of support. Our object is to point out how well Frizzoni calls especial attention to some particular works in the National Gallery which are not those that usually attract most atten- tion, but which will be at once recognised by any one "who knows the National Gallery well," to use a conversational though questionable phrase. If Frizzoni's taste is at times unduly biassed in favour of large pictures, and unduly limited with regard to small canvases and panels, this is very nearly the length and breadth of any hostile reflections we should have to make on his Essays. As instances of Frizzoni's selection and taste, we may refer to his appreciative remarks on the two Melozzo da. Forli pictures in the Umbrian Room, and to the magnificent Garofalo, "The Three Saints," in the small adjoining room. With regard to the latter, there is a discussion as to the rival claims of l'Ortolano (Giovanni Battista Ben- venuti) as being the painter; and the discussion shows Frizzoni to be an apt pupil of Morelli. But with regard to the artistic merits of Garofalo and of Melozzo da Forli, it is delightful to read the delicate appreciation and sympathetic phraseology in which Frizzoni conveys his meaning. There can be little doubt that Frizzoni's Essays entitle him to a high place among living writers on Art; and this is a consideration which is all the more worthy of attention at this moment, because the first volume of the English translation of Morelli's works has lately been issued by Mr. Murray. In point of style and literary treatment, we prefer the work of the younger and less-known writer.
We have referred to Frizzoni's other essays here collected. The paper on Bazzi ("Ii Sodoma ") is one which is likely to change the views of the connoisseurs on the reputation of that great painter. Sodoma—it is a pity he is so seldom dis- tinguished by his surname in preference to this appellation— is represented best in England at the "Palazzo Holford," and at the " Galleria Coock " at Richmond. The "Palazzo Holford " is, of course, Dorchester House in Park Lane, and the " Galleria Coock " is Sir Francis Cook's collection at Doughty House, Richmond. There is also an example of Bazzi's work at the Taylorian at Oxford. But as with Bazzi's friend, Lucca Signorelli, his best work is to be seen in Italy, at Siena, Monte Oliveto, and at the Roman Palaces. Bazzi has always suffered from Vasari's strictures; but it is probable that lirrizzani's essay will go far to place him in his true position. The catalogue of his works is very complete, and it will be invaluable as a reference. Another essay on Baldassari Peruzzi as a painter, and Pinturicchio's influence on him, is hardly less worthy of attention; but our space will not on this occasion allow of a further reference to it. The volume before us is completed by an essay on the frescoes of St. Cecilia at Bologna, which are attributed to Francis and Costa.
In our short sketch of the contents of this interesting and valuable volume, mention has not been made of the beautiful " phototypes " with which it is illustrated. Bazzi's work, of which there are no less than seven specimens given (including one from "The Taylorian "), are certainly among the best. Probably readers will find it convenient to append to Friz- zoni's remarks, references to Henry Fuseli's notes on Bazzi (in Knowles's Life of Faseli), which are too little known to-day. We have entitled the short sketch of Frizzoni's Essays, "The Art of the Connoisseur," because it is in this respect that they will have the most permanent value. As mere literature, these Essays are full of interest. Their sub- jects are all attractive ; their treatment is never other- wise than intelligent. The sections of the volume dealing with the contents of the Italian Rooms at the National Gallery, constitute a critical and historical guide-book which is the best that has yet been produced. To those Londoners who pride themselves on a weekly or fortnightly visit to that magnificent collection, Frizzoni's work can hardly fail to bring many new elements of interest. To the instances already given, we may add another,—namely, Frizzoni's notes on the beautiful tempera painting of Carlo Crivelli. To any one who knows those pictures well, Frizzoni's notes will give a new and delightful interest ; so also with Mantegna's paintings in the same room. But the list might be indefinitely pro- longed. We have abstained from quoting Frizzoni's more general remarks on the character of the Gallery, on its management, its arrangement, and its catalogue, so far as the works of Italian masters are concerned. These are only incidental to the scheme of the book, which is far more of a scholarly and well-reasoned treatise on Italian painters and painting, than a mere collection of disjointed opinions and impressions. We are glad to learn that the book will before long be made accessible to readers who do not understand
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