. The art of the Italian renaissance; a handbook for students and travellers. ulchral chapel may be(|Uoted as an instance of a Cincjue-centist seated figiuv. It wasmodelled by ^Michelangelo and exe-cuted by ^lontorsoli, and is a beau-tiful quiet figure, a kind of tranquil-lised jMoses. There is nothingstriking in the niotiye, and yet itformulates a problem which was in-accessible to the fifteenth us by way of comparison rcyie^^?the Quattrocentist seated figures inthe Cathedral. Not one of theseearlier masters has eyen attemptedto differentiate the lower extremitiesby the eleyation
. The art of the Italian renaissance; a handbook for students and travellers. ulchral chapel may be(|Uoted as an instance of a Cincjue-centist seated figiuv. It wasmodelled by ^Michelangelo and exe-cuted by ^lontorsoli, and is a beau-tiful quiet figure, a kind of tranquil-lised jMoses. There is nothingstriking in the niotiye, and yet itformulates a problem which was in-accessible to the fifteenth us by way of comparison rcyie^^?the Quattrocentist seated figures inthe Cathedral. Not one of theseearlier masters has eyen attemptedto differentiate the lower extremitiesby the eleyation of one foot, tosav nothing of the bending forwardof the upjier part of the l) head here once more sho\\s anew direction, and the arms, not-withstanding the tranquillity and unj)retentiousncss of the gesture, forma most eftectiye contrast in the composition. 1 The elaborate motive of raising a cup to tlie moutli—a simpler rendering would havegiven the act of drinking— contemiwraneouslj- in painting. Cf. BugiarduiisOiovannino in the Pinacothek of St. -l-iliu thcj ilaiitlst, J. Sansoviii 268 THE ART OP THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Sitting figures havethe advantage that theform is compact as amass, and therefore thedifferences in axis areAigorouslv contrasted. Itis easier to make a sit-ting figure interestingthan a standing figure,and it is not surprisingthat they are constantlyrecurring in the sixteenthcentury. The tvpe ofthe seated youthful almost completelvousted that of the stand-ing figure, both in sculp-ture and painting. Thelate figure bv J. Sansovinofrom the Frari in Aenice JIadomia with ciglit Saints, by Andrta del Sarto. (1556) is VCrV exagger- ated, liut for that reasoninstructive, as it betravs the pains taken to secure an interesting presentment. The gi-eatest })ossibilities of concentrated richness are presented bvrecumbent figures, in connccticm with which a mere mention of the Daijtittd Night in tlie ]\Iedici Chapel nnist suffice
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