The art of the Pitti Palace : with a short history of the building of the palace, and its owners, and an appreciation of its treasures . her good pictures which lack of spacealone prevents our mentioning. CHAPTER VIII. THE HALL OF THE ILIAD In the centre of the Hall of the Iliad stands amarble group representing Charity, by Bartolini, aTuscan sculptor. The treatment of the subject isthe same as that of a fifteenth century statue in theBargello. The picture of first importance in this hall isthe Monk at the Clavichord, by Giorgione, commonlycalled The Concert. Giorgione, with his spiritualpower
The art of the Pitti Palace : with a short history of the building of the palace, and its owners, and an appreciation of its treasures . her good pictures which lack of spacealone prevents our mentioning. CHAPTER VIII. THE HALL OF THE ILIAD In the centre of the Hall of the Iliad stands amarble group representing Charity, by Bartolini, aTuscan sculptor. The treatment of the subject isthe same as that of a fifteenth century statue in theBargello. The picture of first importance in this hall isthe Monk at the Clavichord, by Giorgione, commonlycalled The Concert. Giorgione, with his spiritualpower and practical sense, as Ruskin claims forhim, and his entirely perfect intellect, has givenus this picture. The work is very uneven, the centralfigure being vital and superbly painted, while theother two are not nearly as strong. A young Augustine monk with the face of anascetic sits at a clavichord and is playing. The handsgrip the keys finely. Evidently a full, rich chordis being struck. The modelling of the face, whichis turned away looking over his shoulder, is master-ful. At his left (the right of the picture) stands a 206 I. X O•J< Ubc Dall of tbe Iflta^ 207 priest in a white rochet, who is resting his handhghtly upon the shoulder of the player. In his otherhand he holds a musical instrument; judging fromwhat is seen of this instrument, it is a lute. A ratherself-concious youth poses for a full-face portrait onthe left. He is dressed in yellow and black, with awhite-plumed hat. By courtesy it is assumed that heis listening. These two figures are but accessories tothe first. The question as to what the picture repre-sents will probably never be answered to the satis-faction of all critics. To one it bears one message,to another something quite different. But on onepoint all must agree. Whether Giorgione intendedto paint a portrait, an ideal head, or a genre subject,he has caught for all that ineffable quality oi musicalthrall; as Symonds so happily expresses it, thev
Size: 1339px × 1866px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectpainting, bookyear190
