Italian cities . rnalia of the decoration ; he knew thata Borgia bull in gold relief upon ultramarine, sur-rounded by gilded scrolls backed by the same richblue, would carry better, would make a farstronger effect as one looked along the vaulting,than could any figurine in simple fresco, no matterhow large the movement, how good the modelling ofthe muscles, that Perino or Giulio had executed andEaphael had inspired. So Niccolo di Betto went on in his own way,modelling his bulls and rams and little temples ingypsum; emphasizing the lines of a youths armor,breastplate and girdle, greaves and col
Italian cities . rnalia of the decoration ; he knew thata Borgia bull in gold relief upon ultramarine, sur-rounded by gilded scrolls backed by the same richblue, would carry better, would make a farstronger effect as one looked along the vaulting,than could any figurine in simple fresco, no matterhow large the movement, how good the modelling ofthe muscles, that Perino or Giulio had executed andEaphael had inspired. So Niccolo di Betto went on in his own way,modelling his bulls and rams and little temples ingypsum; emphasizing the lines of a youths armor,breastplate and girdle, greaves and collar, with rowsof gilded disks, relieved slightly, but quite highlyenough to catcli the light, and backing his figureswith a reticulated pattern again in relief of gold. The painter of to-day shrugs his shoulders in sur-prise at the method and stares in delight at the re-sult, for the great artist Time has taken a share inthe work. When the color was fresh four hundred 142 ROME VATICAN PINTURICCHIO VAULTING FRESCO. SIENA years ago, the violence in contrast in certain partsmust have been shocking, but now the ultramarinehas bloomed in spots of green and purple, the gold isbright here, tarnished there ; disintegration of surfacehas helped rather than hindered, and as a result isseen the richest fresco-color in Italy; only mosaicor glass can surpass it. We have gone afield with Pinturicchio and fol-lowed Pope Pius from the Libreria of Siena to theVatican, but the journey is necessary to the fullcomprehension of the painters product; and if beforeleaving Konie in thought, we temember Niccolosfrescoes in the churches of Ara Coeli and in S. M,del Popolo; even if on our way back to the Libreriawe stop at Spello, we shall find our painter, as inthe Vatican, always the man who succeeds by right offancy and fertility and by a frank renunciation of thefinest methods in mural painting in favor of greatergorgeousness and richer surface. In the Borgiaapartments the dominant color effect is of
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