Piombo was a great portrait-painter; but the "Raising of Lazarus proves to me, in addition, that he was only a portrait-painter. It is placed beyond a doubt that the figure of Lazarus was designed by Michael Angelo—and with that exception the story is not in any one point told. In the figure of the Saviour, composition is all that has been thought of ; and, indeed, it is evident that Sebastian wanted entirely that power of imagination by which Raphael and other great painters have been able, before commencing their work, to make themselves, as it were, present at the events they were to embody. Lazarus has come forth, and is being loosed from his graveclothes; yet neither of his sisters turns her eyes to him. Indeed, Martha averts her head with an attitude and expression as unmistakeable as it was unworthy and inaccurate in the painter to have given it to her; for though the allusion to the corruption of the body, in the history, is of importance, as substantiating the truth of the miracle, its effect must have been dispelled by the return of life. The old man kneeling on the opposite side is probably intended for St. Peter; but if so, he is too old, and his action is neither natural, graceful, nor dignified. The picture is, however, filled with portraits admirably painted; among which the profile of a young man in a green and orange drapery, behind the figure of the Saviour, is particularly fine.* * I speak of this picture rather as I recollect it—when it could be seen, and as it may appear at some future time, if the guardians of the National Gallery should ever be permitted to have it cleaned. It seemed right, after speaking of Raphael, to point out what I conceive to be the defects of this work, because it is one with which we are all intimately acquainted, and because it may be useful to notice. the failures of Art as well as its successes; and because the errors of such a painter as Sebastian are likely to be the more mischievous from the influence of his name and real merit. Fuseli has spoken so fully and so admirably of Michael Angelo that it would be presumptuous in me to dwell on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, and the more so as I know 'them only from copies and engravings. I do not, however, recollect that the peculiar conception of the "Judith and Holofernes" has been. pointed out by any commentator. The headless man turns on his couch, and the rustling of the curtains, occasioned by his upraised and moving arm, causes Judith, who has just escaped from the tent, to look back. Thus the terror of the scene is indescribably heightened by an attention to the fact of the continuation of muscular motion, for a short time, after decapitation.* I am not aware of any treatment like this by any other painter; and it is worthy of remark, that Michael Angelo, while he has thus made the subject in the highest degree terrific, has concealed the neck of the victim, and so avoided a display of what would be merely sickening. The Cartoon of Pisa is a work of entire invention; * This fact was noticed recently at the beheading of a number of Chinese pirates. and varied and admirable as are its incidents, one of the finest consists, in itself, of nothing more than the tearing of a stocking. Connected, however, with the story, and expressive of the eagerness of the veteran who forces his dripping foot through it, in his haste to obey the summons of the trumpet, it becomes heroic. Nicolo Poussin has almost exactly copied this finelyconceived figure in his "Sacrament of Baptism," but there the action wants the motive that animates the old soldier of Michael Angelo, and the translation of the figure, bereft of so much of its meaning, cannot be justified. 66 Instances may be selected from the works of Titian, in which neither the expression nor the story could be carried further. His Entombment of Christ" in the Louvre, is a picture of the truest and deepest pathos, and would be so even were it unaided Nothing was ever con by its solemn evening effect. ceived finer than the Mother, supported by the Magdalen, and contrasted by a different though equally poignant expression of grief. In a small picture by Titian, belonging to Mr. Rogers, of the apparition of our Lord in the garden to Mary, the treatment is scarcely below the subject, even in the principal figure, but the conception of the Magdalen is beyond all praise. She seems to run forward towards her Master on her knees,-her streaming hair and drapery denoting the utmost rapidity of action, while her hand, extended to touch Him, is suddenly checked by his words. This is to me by far the most expressive conception of the subject with which I am acquainted. |