T 1 ( CoPvt' OF Tr^LOTuk) \)^ ^BMoRfmpvM CN| (ou/MT (g!VT(n (S State’-' Museums of Berlin. fo-UfcTlcN - Ncv/.!Q24-.

(see Mftl?GHN FO? RfF, Tc? BANTINGS /ScW Kaiser-Nriedrich-Kuseum, ,N $,h 1

Bear Count Contini,

In order to retain in a measure the impression which your magnificent collection has made upon me, I have made a short com­ pilation of my notes which I made during the beautiful days at

your home, while standing before the art works. As I know that my

opinions on some of your are of a certain value to you I send you herewith a copy of these notes.

What a surprise your collections was I have already told you verbally: not only by the number and quality of the master­

pieces, but by their choice and arrangement in your rooms, by the

mixture with and colorful majolicas of the same period and the furnishing of the rooms excellent old furniture also of the A periods. This was a small triumph for me, as I have ever striven for this arrangement and furnishing —as you will know from our

K.51.Museum--/ In a certain sense you have created a museum, but haie

at the same t ime understood, by the limitation to a certain period— essentially the -- to obtain a uniform effect in the decoration of your villa. You have properly excluded the paintings on a gold background, which within the last decades, have

ueen so much soyght for by collectors. They do not belong in living

rooms, as tney were intended for the outfitting of private chapels or as traveling altars.

You have been most fortunate in your search for paintings of the Venetian Renaissance. Such a number of master works of almost

air the painters of the and the CinquecentoJ Starting

already with the Bellinis. Your by Gian Bellini is in its monumental structure and its colorful effect one of 2

of* great master of the early Venetian school from the time of

14 70. Tiie different strong red colors give an overwhelming impress— sion. And the representation of the Crucified One between the sor­

rowing haiv and John gjxaangxs —&■ in the impressive evening lande-

SGaPe are not to be forgotten, when once one has been imbued there- v.itn. -fhat progress as compared with the same represBDtation by the

artist in the Cower Museum.* How lustrously does the head of the Savior lie on the bright evening sky, how impressive is the sorrow

ox those belonging to the Lord.* It was a satisfaction for me to see

-;.is magnificent come into its full value, after I had

acquired it from the Rudolf Kann collection, a purchase which was not consumated due to the intrigues of a colleague from Munich.

Of the younger artists e-roua*- Bellini the clear, cool Annunciation by Cima is probably a part of a larger altar piece. 31 r 10 Slna11 Madonns ’°y Carlo Crivelli is^fine work from youth of

- rs highly attuned individual artist, who as well as a colorist as Mso as a dramatic depictor belongs to the greatest among the Vene-

'■V' ti-u-.s. A valuable possession are also the two female figures by Re: Gwflccto" jZiltore Carpaccio, works of his later period as also the two female Km"25 (SaintS in the ^lle^ of To this fit well, although not of

the greatness of these paintings, the two Saiits'picturea by F.Eis- fa Shuba j solo• The Holy Family by Antonello da Salih, a masterpiece of litoLY Fft-Muy

Mo 1 S’? this young painter formerly mistaken for his great contryman and n®6-sake^Trom Messina. It will I hope sometime ceed its place to a work of the great Antonello, as should also be upon occasion replac

ed the two Madonnas by Bartolomeo Montagna by en important WQrk Qf this worthy master.

Astonishingly large is the number of masterpieces in your collection of the great Venetians of the Cinquecento.’ Above all ±k three works by Titian. The large holy Sebastian, 3

Sxkxs±±xK "by far excels in freshness xxd of 44^ conception and pictr

orial quality the study for the Sebastian on the altar panel from o which it further essentially differs, in the Pinakthek of the Vati- can. Of gripping earnestness in conception and broad pictorial treat­ ment in the blackish tone is the head of an older man, presumably

one of the Farnese, essentially later than the Sebastian. *in respect

to the Pieta we hopje later to obtain more definite knowledge from

Professor Longhi. Close to this socalled Farnese comes in pictorial

treatment and in the blac^ + n rr^nifi^nt large portrait by

Sebastiano del Piombo which doopi'jj-c Titiar^magnif icently represents

this master; a man with a gorgeous costume and proud bearing, a fal- large con on his hand. As a counterpiece there hangs a portrait by Tinto-

retto: the man with the furs) probably a worthy subject of magnifi- ' A. cent conception and treatment) Next to this, there is a smaller xx portrait of a lady, no# the less excellent by its fine moderation;

Tintoretto gave the lady a charming expression which for him is rare, Very gorgeous compositions equal to the ceiling paintings

in Venice appear by the photographs which I only know so far, to be the large magnificent declarative iiecres with mythological subjects in an unusual light coloring. In the large portrait of the Count della Porta,, who is drawing his little son to himself, you posses the master work among the portraits bp Paolo Veronese. Besides the33 great masters of the classical period the Lorenzo Lotto almost ap-

Family of a bright coloring. However the large portrait of a lady, who stands before a rich curtain, is of such stately effect, that,

pro aches tie simultaneous portraits by Titian.

The younger masters about Titian are also well represented;

Mo .*o*] Bonifazio by a Holy Conversation, Schiavone and Bassano. By the

latter three excellent paintings with one of the frequent landscapes

WLcgii from the country life carried out in fine style, the represen*

tation of the (elements of which the fourth one is in private posses-

sion at Berlin. How close the portrait of a shepherd approaches

Giorgione and hov; the large portrait of a lady can be proven as a

late work by Catena will, I hope7 soon be told us by the Longhi catar

logue, Above all, I am however curious how he will prove his attri­

bution of the large nude sleeping Venus with two doves on the side

as a work by G. A.Pordenone. The imposing painting acts as a fact by

its monumental forms similarly to the works of this outsider to the

Venetian school; the strikingly cool tone fits him and the soft, in

part thin manner of painting is prabably explained by the fact, that

the painting does not seem +o be entirely finished. A most remark­

able counterpiece to the sleeping Venus by Giorgione at Dresden,

I still forgot the Lazaro Sebastiani, the fiesurrection of Christ so uncommon by its fine coloring.

Almost as rich as in Venetian works is your collection in

paintings of the "Terra Birma" which are more or less d ependent on

trie Sc bool oi Venice, -ou still lack a work by Mantegna xhxiskL who

aside fiom Venice exerteo the greatest influence on the artists from

Padua to the Savoy. I know how difficult they are to find, but I am

convinced that^will be successful in this also* In the meantime a

marvelous small painting which formerly adorned the collection of

Count Gregor Stroganoff: an allegory painted on a black back ground

in gold by nrcole Hooerti must represent Mantegna, "whose similarly

painted inserts in the ^errarese here imitates. Very

remarkable is the Madonna on a golden-back ground which Prof. LonghL 5 ascribes to Francesco Cossa as a youthful v;ork, Very comprehensive

and important works of the Ferrara school are the Sorrowing for &h

Christ by Grandi and Christ on the Mount of Olives with its strong

landscape effect and the fine portrait of the donor in the fore­

ground by Dosso dossi.

Of the early masters of Verona I noticed the typical jnrsrw,

plaintings by Liberale (Sebastian), Giolfine (his beloved Lucretia)

and Falconetto aside from a pair of pre-eminent works: the very ori­

ginally devised Annunciation by Francesco Morone and the Adoration Rp v Pc/Vt5M (CC I M eft CM p. K(g,56' with the glorious evening sky closely approaching Pisanello by Dorn,

v Morone. The small ^adonna by Garoto shows h£is leaning toward the

compositions of Raphael. In the western province: in Brescia and

Bergamo^the Venetian art had its most enthusiastic followers and adr- C f v/Ko/V'i herents in Romanino, Moretto and Moroni, Of all your gallery has ^

ft5: No.llS good example^; among others by Moroni an excellent portrait of a 8V AAQRoiM I monk all in white, with a decorative still life an the table bo

lore him. To this farthest western xrnaa colony of the Venetian art

of painting tnere also Delongs the Cremonese successor of Bellini:

Bocaccio Bo^cacino, by whom you have a small Madonna.

Interesting are thepiUnting^you have of the Lombardian mast-

Re: tfo. n er^/i-n scarce on the^market, of the early Renaissance. By Fop^a

you have the Sermon by Jthe Baptist; by his scholar A.Borgognone

ci Madonna and a Crucifixion; by like a Madonna end a seiles of sinmle figures of Saints. They are now gathered together

as a preoella, but were probabily sucgiH originally the ornament of

the pillars of a large altar piece. More important then the a&isxx

small Saint Sebastian by Luini are the two very large altar pieces

by and ; by the former the Mo»

ation of the three 'Vise #fen, in which strong Northern influeneces are felt; by the latter the ea^feth of th, v ■ n^irtn of the Virgin with ita many figures.

Not quite so rich in representation in your gallery is the Flo­

rentine school. Above all there are Tn-ft*fai.af in the Quattrocento. I A certainly know how difficult it is today to obtain paintings by Fra

Filippo, Filippino, Fra Angelico, Verrocchio, Px±±&±gxpfltixuBxxxxx

Pollaiuolo, and others. As to the Madonna of the young Giotto

we will probably have a full account in the catalogue of Prof. Lon-

ghi which I also desire of the Trinity ascribed by him to Kasolino,

as there still exists the greatest insecurity. And of another young* A er painter (we must call him master) of Botticini, Lcnghi may pro­

bably end the confusion existing in his respect, as the works of a ujC

givens* to him. In the fragment with the charming angel heads feyxMa±3i

Botticelli has in a sense left only his visiting card with you, in

order to enter your gallery later with a beautiful Madonna or a fire

Rf: portrait. On the other hand you have a rarity of the first order of Poa/eN f Co the Florentine art of the early Renaissance: the small predella jat VEaICZI painting to the alta^r piece in the Uffizi by P'omenico Veneziano, N' Qv 2-1? M the Stigmatization of the holy Francis'’ of which a second part is

in the Berlin gallery. In the building up of the hilly landscape

the small picture is close to Masaccio, but in the rich coloring it

discloses the great c&lorist.

Very rich is the acquirement which you accomplished for

your gallery in strong, mostly stately works of the high Florentine

Renaissance. There is hardly a museum which has such a number of

great works of the masters of this period. Fra Bartolomeo is still

lcxCxing, but ior tnis you have a pricipal work of his collaborator

Albertinelli in the excellent Holy Family from the Panciatichi col­ U ' lection. As important s,s this is the soca.lled. Madonna -at the Pa.lm G» \Nh.- |U by Giuliano Bugiardini, whose mastery is excellently proven k? as a 7 Re; N(c^(portraitist by his prtrait of a young Y/oman. The round paintmngs n R'f BVG-!fli?t>!Mllj (with H61y Family by Raffaellino del Garbo and Piero di Cosimo still 6; No« 0*1 j ™——— ------—— Gipt r0 ^MPff(S(show the strong influence of the Quattrocento, whilst the socalled

selfportrait oy Ridolfo Gnirlandaio already shows pure Cinquecento

character and is closely related to the portraits of Andrea del ^arto. 1 nope that Proi • -^onghi will take the occasion to discuss

in his catalogue this interesting portrait in order to bring under the microscope of examination all which now goes by the name of

xlioolfo. tiie portrait of an old man in the Rational Gallery, a simi­ lar one/in the Torregiani Gallery, and others.

Magnificently represented is Pontormo: in the fine Holy Family

on a very light background, in which he is still following Sarto, as in the imposing Kichael-AMeloesque large Holy Family and in the

portrait of tue young lad#. The portraits by Salviati are masterful^ the charming young fellow entirely in a white rich costume, close , to Bronzino, and thejl&ter portrait of a gentlemen of 1562.

The only Sienese painting which you have is s.lso thereby a rarity that it is a Trecento painting; the excellent Madonna by Ambrosiano Lorenzetti, doubly charming by its fine preservation and costly frame.

motive with the donor family besUe the Crucified"6ne which is close

to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. Palmezzano shows himself as a good scholar

of Kelozzo's in your large altqr painting of the Annunciation of

lot 8. Tins of the great Umbrian painters cannot however

compete with the precious Madonna by Gentile Fabriano. But I must not iorget tue greatest of the UmbriansJ How the representation of 8 the **Autumn” by a grape harvest/ all by putties can be proven to be

a youthful v\/ork by Raihiael, how the little child* s figures again appear in his drawing about looo will be shown us by Dr. Longhi in

his catalogue on your collection. This painting painted in light colors acts charmingly in its finely carved walnut frame relieved in gold.

A painting which ats as a foreigner among all Italian pain­ tings has, I belive, been very properly designated by you as a uth Italian one under the^influence of the Eyck school, such as

there are a few in the Gallery of , but essentially inferior ones.

I was most surprised that besides these numerous excellent

works of the classical Italian school you had also acquired a number of prominent works of foreign schools and of their best masters.*

Ecr the Spaniards this is not so wonderful, as you li-tfed for years in Spain. But what works* The large portrait of a man by Velasouez grandiose —...*.-. is a serious^chaiacter painting oi the time before his Roman voyage which^make a sensation among the works in the Prado. The two huroaran^ are of the first order and so original as to subject, es­

pecially the socailed charming still life of 1638. And the amusing

early Goya: the sketch to a ceiling painting, entirely under the in-

fluenee of A. Correggio.* I am ashamed to admit that so far I had known nothing of a sojourn of Goya*s in Parma. I was most astonish­ ed however over your Greco. I am not at all an admirer of Greco, de­

spite the high coloristic qualities in many of his paintings* he is

too manner*4h for me in his drawing. %t your carefully painted sketch in light colors or rather a small repetition of his most sjg

, celebrated painting, the large "Depolio" at Toledo, is a *S# color- titic gem, as I know but few from all schools together. Your master works of the French school were brought together

by you from a special, most admirable point of view, for which you

had in Home the very best occasion. You have bought the works which

they painted during their stay at . By this your French pim paintings prove the great influence which the had on the

young French artists, which at times is so strong, that at first

sight we could hold such pictures xkkzsxkk in your collection as

Italian works. In the two portraits of the couple by Ingres there

is especially evident the greatest influence of Raphael in the port­

rait of the husband, as has even the beautifully carved frame (or more correctly again) a x,ure high renaissance character. A similar

state is already shown two hundred years earlier,almost, with Nico­

las Poussin, for whom Rome became a second fatherland: Your excel­

lent coi:>y of Gian Bellini1 s famous Bacchanal with the landscape by

the young Titian provesy how highly Poussin esteemed the land-e­ scapes of the classical Venetians, and how much he learned from then./

Your beautiful woodland scene which enlivened hy a fev^ nymphs and

gods shows this influence on Poussin especially strongly. StiU more Italian there seems to be Fragonard in the two youthful works painted at Rome: the Magdalen and the Andromeda. One seems to be ± looking at works in the manner of ^ebastiano Ricci in these works eighteenth by the most French of all French painters of the hx century. This applies also to the landscape with Roman ruins by Hebert Robert which at first glance appears to be a work by Panini, until one sees in the fine tone of the colors in the readily Panini conrpositiaa the hand of the young Frenchman.

That as the single German you have a strong portrait and a small ^aint eorge by my forebear Lucas Cranach, pleased me person­ ally even though a kswx±x landscape of the Sampagna by Adam Elshei- mer the creator of the moods in landscapes, would be more suitable 10 your ' to your Roman collection. Might it not he possible to^finder s tal­

ent to find in Rome itself a work by this young Frankforter who re­

grettably died already in his 33rd year end who first budded out in

Rome?

Rf 'v plpJ'Uf In regard to Rome and Jlaly in gei eral you have well chosen kN/Ru!3EN$ ) your strong work by P.P.Rubens. The view of Rome behind the cruci­

fix proves, that the artist painted the picture during his stay for

k several years at Rome. With the same consideration you should now seek to also acquire a fine portrait by A,van Dyck from the time of

his sojourn in , as you have known to acquire for yoyir gallery a fine man’s portrait by Justus van ^ent, whom Federigo di Monte-

feltro called to and which is adjudged in Dr. Longhi’s decid- by him from ed opinion as the time of his stay at Urbino. A I expected least to find in Rome that besides a youthful Y?it> i\(c f th-i-l s-rf-t P^.uy • ' work by Jacob Jordaens , you also had an excellent work by Frans W-fliS) —------——- Me Hal a xndxxxgx, the fssherboy before a shorey&cape, and even a work g 1 by Adrian Brouw/er, the sleeper in a tavern, a decorative picture of

his late period in a fine grey general tone.

As equals there stand to your paintings the sculptures of the same period, exclusively Italian pieces, mostly from the Quat­

trocento, Supremacy is held in your rooms in this direction by your | favorite master, as it appears, by the Donatello of Lombardy:G.A. s,Po/a by Amadeo. I counted not less than ei&ht or nine marble works by his ftMfrpeo hand or by those of close co-operators, especially by the two Monte-

gazza, Brioschi, Tsmagnino, andAothers; two kneeling angels, a group

of three angels who are folding a crown, the strong statuette of St

Anthony, the especially characteristic tondo of the adoration of the Ghild, the very charming fragment with the donord of the Visconti

family; the large round relie# with John in half length, a ^adonna Re- s/f 5 with the Child which almost seems a Rosellino, and a small enthroned 11 more ^ Madonna with angels. Personally I am xxxy muchAaffected by the Flor­

R(£ \\(c lj-2- entine masters of th^XV century. Your small tondo Madonna by Luca / LvCft della Robbia of an unusual^delicate blue color and-the finest glaze PCLLjl- Rcgbl^ is the original after y/hich so many stuechi and stone imitations have been made( already from before 1450^ . Andrea della. Robbia does

not even equal Luca, though it be a question of such good pieces as

your tondo of the Madonna in a rich wreath of fruit or the Adoration Ofr. , of the Child, xhe most beautiful which fyou have in your entire col- \ ' lection I count the stately, faultless old painted clay figure $f a

young female figure, probably a virtue, a. masterpiece by Antonio

Pollaiolo, than there is nothing more exquisite in movement and rich in/ garb, in charm of the head and the fine proportions ever produced to A equal it. In depth of sentiment it perhaps excels even the Mater

Dolorosa of a Crucifixion group, a wood carved masterwork of Giovanni

Pisano. A strong larger madonna in good old chrome painting belongs

to the later Pisan school.

I wrote you at the very beginning that a special charm of

your collection is the exhibition with nothing but good, in part ev­

en excellent furniture of the period and the magnificent majolicas

from the factories of , Pisaro, Gubbio etc. Among the furni^

ture there are many historically important pieces, especially among

the cassones. Doubtlessly Prof. L0nghi will also discuss these more

thoroughly in his catalogue end show, for example, in how far the

Quattrocento cassones decorated with flat reliefs and gilded are

works by Lucca v/orkmen (as is generally assumed) or whether by the

armorial bearings the/fc# production can be traced also to Siena and

Florence. In brief our hope for the, art tffiiagmteihdZEg. remains the

catalogue by Prof. Longhi, whuch I hope will not fee too magnificent

but will be kept very thorough, for which all(works)by Lonchi give a

guaranty. 12 Excuse the length of my discussion in which the emptiness of sober detailing is only barely hidden. With friendly greetings to ;the ladies and you, 1 remain

Devotedly Wm. Bode.

*