. Verocchio. alogy with the work of Verrocchiohimself, though of a later date than the rest of the Altar-piece. These assertions must, however, be supported indetail. Albertini and Vasari mention only one of the Angels—that in the foreground—as being the work of Leonardo,and, so far as I am aware, no critic has ever attributed theother to him ; such an attribution being rendered moreimprobable by the existence of the study for the headexecuted in Verrocchios most characteristic style. Yet ifconstruction of form, arrangement of draperies, and generaltechnique be examined, it will be seen that b
. Verocchio. alogy with the work of Verrocchiohimself, though of a later date than the rest of the Altar-piece. These assertions must, however, be supported indetail. Albertini and Vasari mention only one of the Angels—that in the foreground—as being the work of Leonardo,and, so far as I am aware, no critic has ever attributed theother to him ; such an attribution being rendered moreimprobable by the existence of the study for the headexecuted in Verrocchios most characteristic style. Yet ifconstruction of form, arrangement of draperies, and generaltechnique be examined, it will be seen that beyond questionboth figures are by the same hand. The faces are sosimilar in feature and expression as to allow the assumptionthat they were painted from the same model; the softshadows are laid in, the flesh is modelled, the hair is indi-cated, the eyes and eyebrows are treated in precisely thesame manner in both. Scheme of colour and brush workare the same, and but for a preconceived idea founded upon II. AI in art, Florence THE BAPTISM. DETAIL. ACCADEMIA, FLORENCE Face p 44 EARLIEST WORKS 45 Yasarfs anecdote, the division of a group so homogeneousin every respect could never have been entertained. Thatthe two Angels differ from the rest of the painting ingreater freedom of conception and execution is obvious, butthat they must be taken together as the work of the samehand and of the same date is equally certain. That the hand is Verrocchio,s and not Leonardos thepresence of his special characteristics and the absence ofthose of Leonardo is sufficient evidence. The most re-markable quality of Leonardos work is its vivacity, avivacity noticeable in the slightest of his engineeringsketches and even in his handwriting. The least touch ofhis pen, pencil, or brush is rapid and vividly alive. It issensitive, yet decisive. It darts and scintillates like flame,giving to the painting or drawing, even when the subjectrepresented is tranquil in sentiment, an excess of lifealmost fant
Size: 1389px × 1800px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1904
