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Painters of Reality. Cremona and New York Review by: Bram De Klerck The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 146, No. 1216, Collectors and Patrons (Jul., 2004), pp. 489-491 Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20073631 . Accessed: 04/04/2012 08:00

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http://www.jstor.org EXHIBITION REVIEWS

Painters of reality Cremona and New York

byBRAM DE KLERCK Open University of theNetherlands, andLeiden University

a small ALTARPiECE, painted by Lorenzo ' Lotto around 1523 for the church of SS. jt?ESB?r ^???iW??w ^^^^H^S^^^^^R Trinit? in Bergamo, depicts the Holy Trinity an in unusual way (cat. p. 134). Above a land scape, Christ stands on a double rainbow, the dove of the Holy Spirit over his head, wh?e .y .;..?f.T**ri-'r- a ^ft ^F God the Father is represented by vague a cloudy oudine against briUiant yeUow back ground. Lotto clearly took the Old Testament prohibition on making images of God to heart. Oddly enough, this painting, supremely supernatural in effect, is included in the exhi seen bition Painters of Reality, by this reviewer at the Museo Civico Ala Ponzo?e, Cremona, at and currendy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (to 15 th August).1 How ever, the deta?ed depiction of the nude figure of Christ and of the landscape, with its trees, smaU bu?dings and mountainous view, is the result of Lotto's meticulous study of visible manner reaUty and his particularly direct of to canvas. transferring it It is precisely this 65.T?nzerin, byHans Arp. 1925. kind of keen observation and depiction of the Painted cm. ^^^B^P^A,JHia8^M?^^^^^^^^^^H^H^^^^B?^^^^^^^^Bworld that was in Lombard wood, 146.5by 109 BB^BBHBHHIISIIiflSSfi^^ already recognised even was not (CentreGeorges Pompidou, B^BB|^^BBB|||||H painting, if it always highly Paris; exh. Kunstmuseum ?MIIIIIMIIillllll^^ Basel). appreciated, by sixteenth- and seventeenth century theorists such as Vasari, Ridolfi and in Schwitters's work are or could be navels? If the Kunstmuseum's project benefits Arp Agucchi. As with other such elements in his somewhat more not coUages, than Schwitters, it is only The exhibition in Cremona and the sUght the of such is its of him as senior significance inclusions richly by presentation the partner ly different version in New York present and references to in in their about no masters indeterminable, Arp friendship. Strangely, much of Arp's paintings and drawings by Schwitters's uvre seem to less as overt uvre has never been to same in centres operate subjected the active the leading artistic of M?an, indicators of influence than as of friend of as signs degree critical enquiry his peers. In Brescia, Bergamo and Cremona from the or artistic This contrast to a ship sly commentary. appears continuing flurry of activity early years of the sixteenth century until the to be the case even in ? Schwitters's late sculp around Schwitters the production of a first half of the eighteenth. Starting with several of which echo works multi-volume as as tures, closely by catalogue raisonn? weU Vincenzo Foppa's altarpiece of the Adoration but their ease with an numerous Arp replace graceful exhibitions and scholarly pubUca of Christ (S. Maria Assunta in Chiesanuova, ? almost awkwardness. tions a relative parodie quiet has settled around Arp, Brescia; p.70), chosen for its 'domestic intima The as if there were more to about elegantly accompUshed, seemingly nothing say cy' and 'sense of everyday Ufe', the exhibition inevitable forms of much of him. The contributors moves on to Arp's sculpture catalogue's apdy prove Cinquecento portraiture by such can make Schwitters's assembled work but in as appear otherwise, the strongest proof Ues the briUiant practitioners Giovanni Battista and but Kunstmuseum's of tatty heavy-handed by comparison, presentation Arp's works Moroni and Moretto (Fig. 66), includes reU the sheer of Merz as itwere in a materiaUty also highUghts themselves, engaged Uvely series gious works by sixteenth- and seventeenth of a unexpected aspects Arp's work. The basic of conversations with good friend. century artists such as Lotto and Tanzio da Schwitters had for the respect integrity of the VaraUo, and brings 1 ? together drawings by, as Kurt Schwitters: Merz a Total Vision the picture plane the foundation of his work's Catalogue: of among others, Leonardo da Vinci and Sofo accretions the World. Edited by Annja M?Uer-Alsbach and Heinz coUaged points up frequency nisba Anguissola. Fede GaUzia and Panfilo with contributions Guido with which Arp deUghted in puncturing it. Stahlhut, by Magnaguagno, Nuvolone's st?l Ufes of fruit lead on to Eva Iris Bruderer-Oswald, Karin Orchard, Peter Bissegger, His reUefs feature gaps and holes that subvert risto Baschenis's beautiful paintings of musical Eric Hattan, Beat Wyss, Jakob Kolding, Daniel Spoerri, their and instruments. compositional integrity (Fig.65), Genre painting is represented by Christoph Bignens, Kurt Schwitters, Konrad Klapheck, even when the is not Annibale Carracci's Two children a cat picture plane actuaUy Ralf Burmeister, Klaus Staeck, Thomas Hirshhorn, teasing violated, it is rendered Museum of New arbitrary by repeated Christian Janecke, Jean Tinguely, Juri Steiner and (MetropoUtan Art, York; or as in Dada two or patterning ignored altogether, Karl Gerstner. 264 pp. incl. 157 col. pis. + 77 b. & w. p.240),2 three works by relief (1916; no.7). Sirrrilarly, Schwitters's col ?ls. (Museum Tinguely, Basel, and BenteU PubUshers, (the Cardsharps from FortWorth being shown an context ISBN lages provide interesting for Arp's Bern, 2004), Sw.F.59. 3-7165-1350-4. inNew a handful of of 2 only York), paintings made from Schwitters Edited Fischer outcasts as papiers d?chir?s, coUages ripped Catalogue: Arp. by Hartwig social by Giacomo Ceruti, as weU of his own and as and Sandra Gianfreda, with contributions by Gottfried up pieces coUages drawings, his lovely Girls' school (Fig.67). Ceruti's works, Hubert G?tz-Lothar IsabeUe weU as from the made on Boehm, Damisch, Darsow, a paintings early 1940s together with series of portraits from the Ewig, Hartwig Fischer, Sandra Gianfreda, Bruno Haas, crumpled paper (nos.46, 47, 57, 58, 60, 62, 63, 173os by Vittore Ghislandi, caUed Fra' Gal Isabel Schulz, and Gwendolyn Webster. 265 pp. incl. and Given their active surfaces 65 67). and + take the exhibition weU into the 168 col. pis. 13 b. & w. ?ls. (Kunstmuseum Basel, and gario, eight the contours of the torn eenth rough coUages' Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit, 2004), Sw.F.6o. century. one cannot whether The interest in naturaUstic effects edges, help wondering ISBN 3?7204-0152-9. Ava?able in German only. pecuUar here have taken from 3 in scenes so Arp might inspiration H. Fischer: 'GegenUebe. Schwitters und Arp', in and taken from everyday Ufe char Schwitters's creative use of discarded materials. ibid., p.51. acteristic of Lombard painting has attracted

THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE CXLVI JULY 2OO4 489 EXHIBITION REVIEWS

In the 1920s and 1930s Longhi pubUshed a on series of articles artists he dubbed 'pre ' in the beUef that their work, produced in and around the painter's native M?an, helped develop Caravaggio's reaUsm use In and striking of chiaroscuro. Brescia and western Bergamo in particular, outposts of the Venetian RepubUc, he found these char as acteristics in such artists Foppa, Moretto were and Lotto; but equaUy important the brothers Antonio and Vincenzo Campi of Cremona, when Caravaggio, active in M?an in the years after 1584, worked in the studio of Simone Peterzano. FoUowing Longhi, such works as Giovan Paolo Lomazzo's Self-portrait as abbot of the Accademia d?lia Val di Bienio in (Brera, M?an; p.212), and particular Gio vanni Gerolamo Savoldo's magnificent St Matthew and the angel (MetropoUtan Museum of Art, New York; p. 157), have been present as no more ed time and again than the fertile 66. Portrait of a man (1Count Fortunato Martinengo humus from which art Cesaresco), by Moretto da Brescia, c.1542. 114 by 94.4 Caravaggio's grew.5 cm. (National GaUery, London; exh. MetropoUtan In the present exhibition this view is stiU Museum of New new can Art, York). closely foUowed, although directions also be discerned. One important develop ment on much interest in the past few years, as this is the focus the Cinquecento, and the 68. Spray of blackberries, by Leonardo da Vinci, show and its demon inclusion of many works, whereas accompanying catalogue reUgious ci506-08. Red chalk on paper, 18.8 by 16.5 cm. but the theme is much older. The in almost selected strate,3 1953 Longhi exclusively (Royal CoUection, Windsor; exh. MetropoUtan exhibition Ipittori d?lia realt? inLombardia, held portraits, stiU Ufes and genre paintings mosdy Museum of Art, New York). as inM?an in 1953, had Roberto Longhi its dating from the late seventeenth and eight cata new now chief instigator and the author of the eenth centuries. Another trend is the painting of Leda and the swan, lost. And on manner logue essay.4 As the exhibition under review emphasis the contribution Leonardo da Mina Gregori regards Leonardo's of uses same we to almost exacdy the tide, should Vinci made Lombard reaUsm during his studying facial expressions and creating lumi to extent to term nous ask ourselves what this homage years in M?an. Martin Kemp appUes the effects, taken up by his Lombard foUow to as to Longhi foUows his lead, and how much it 'hyper-naturaUsm' Leonardo's meticulous ers, his further contributions north ItaUan account recent to takes into developments in ly observed, almost botanical drawings of naturaUsm, ultimately leading Caravaggio's scholarship in the field of north ItaUanpainting. plants (Fig. 68), made in preparation for his innovations. Whereas Longhi stressed the importance of those artists whom he consid ered to be typicaUy Lombard, by which he meant painters who had freed themselves from Venetian influences, this exhibition in cludes works by painters Longhi had rejected from this category such as Gerolamo Roma nino from Brescia and Andrea PrevitaU from

Bergamo. The fact that Longhi remains a crucial point of reference for many contributions to the are catalogue, whether his arguments accept or ed rejected, ?lustrates the profound impact on his views stiU have the study of Lombard painting. In general, it is his ph?ological, over styUstic approach that has been taken to without much debate. Attempts reveal something of the purpose and significance of Lombard naturaUsm are sometimes alluded never to, but disappointingly almost seriously are discussed. What, for example, the devo tional of the brutal verism in f s^H'sH?i h^^Wl^ ll^HVBVBVfllH^HflAfcaHilH^^!!!! ?PMfllSlwJSSiaaflVBl impUcations the exposed body of Christ being crucified in paintings by CaUisto Piazza (c. 1535?38; S. Maria Incoronata, Lodi; p. 169) or Vincen zo Campi (1577; Certosa, Pavia; p.208)? And are we to how interpret the obvious paraUels with northern European art in Savoldo's Crucifixion (c.1515; Maison d'Art, Monte Carlo; p. 148), with its Flemish-inspired land fflBilHll;^ .^- i??K?e-!i-?!^SHfcjfe'?f(i''<'iSfi scape and borrowings from prints by D?rer to and Cranach? A systematic approach ques tions of this which has been 67. Women making lace ? The girls' schooV), by Giacomo Ceruti. 1720s. 150 by 200 cm. kind, attempted (Private coUection, Brescia; exh. MetropoUtan Museum of Art, New York). in several monographic studies in the past few

490 JULY 2OO4 CXLVI THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE EXHIBITION REVIEWS

decades,6 would have added an extra dimen ten sion to the interpretation of naturaUstic dencies in north ItaUan painting, and to this admirably selected exhibition.

1 Catalogue: Pittori d?lia realt?. Le ragioni di una rivoluzione. Da Foppa e Leonardo a Caravaggio e Ceruti. Edited by Mina Gregori and Andrea Bayer, with essays by Andrea Bayer, Mina Gregori, Linda Wolk-Simon, Martin Kemp, GiuUo Bora and Enrico De Pascale. 342 pp. incl. 133 col. pis. + 79 b. & w. ills. (Electa, , 2004), 45. ISBN 8-8370-2743-5. EngUsh edition: Painters of reality: the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in . (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2004), ?40. ISBN 0-300-10275-5. 2 to no It is curious that, with regard Carracci, mention -- .-" -".'" ismade of A.W.A. Boschloo: Annibale Carraca in Bolog lIPP^^v- .."".~^~"^~.!r;~Tr~\ -j na; visible the council The 1974. reality after of Trent, Hague 69. B?'r?/i offta Pngin (or the Baptist?), by Pietro Perugino. Panel, 17.7 by 41 cm. 3 See D.A. ed.: exh. cat. Lorenzo redis Brown, Lotto, (The Walker, Liverpool, exh. GaUeria Nazionale deU'Umbria, Perugia). covered master of the renaissance, Washington (National GaUery of Art) 1997; F. Porzio, ed.: exh. cat. Da Cara In recent years there has been a re-used in his later Ranieri Annunciation vaggio a Ceruti; la scena di genere e Vimmagine dei pitocchi gradual revival of interest in this often his own nellapittura italiana, Brescia (Museo di S. GiuUa) 1998; F. important painter (no.I.33). Perugino redeployed from Citt? deUa Pieve: Pietro but as far as we those CaroU, ed.: exh. cat. Il Cinquecento lombardo; da Leonar ScarpeUini's inventions, not, know, do a Caravaggio, Milan (Palazzo Reale) 2000; F. PaUaga, monograph of 1984, the exhibition curatedby of others. ed.: exh. cat. Vincenzo scene del Cre correct Campi; quotidiano, J. Antenucci Becherer in 1997, and Vittorio Was Vasari in supposing that Peru mona 2000; M. Bona CasteUotti, ed.: same was a in (Museo Civico) Garibaldi's monograph of the year, have gino for time Verrocchio's work exh. cat. Tanzio da Varallo; realismo,fervore e contemplazione our to a added to knowledge, but much remains shop? The S. Bernardino panels do, in un del M?an 2000. pittore Seicento, (Palazzo Reale) to be clarified.3 The are immense. Umited reveal Verrocchio's 4 problems extent, influence, R. et al., eds.: exh. cat. d?lia realt? in Longhi Ipittori not was in structures We do know when he born; although especiaUy the angular of the Lombardia, M?an (Palazzo Reale) 1953. was same as 5 he said to have been of the age draperies, but the impact of PoUaiuolo's ideas See, for example, J.P. O'Ne?l, ed.: exh. cat. The Age Leonardo, this need not mean very is far more The take up the of Caravaggio, New York (MetropoUtan Museum of Art) anything prominent. panels In was in narrative methods in the embroi 1985, nos.5 and 13; C. Strinati andR. Vodret, eds.: exh. precise. 1472 he inscribed the Flo employed rentine S. Luca as a vestments Para cat. Caravaggio; la luce nella pittura lombarda, Bergamo Compagnia di dipintore, deries for the Baptistery (II means (Accademia Carrara) 2000, no.7. but this date simply that by that year mento di S. Giovanni) designed by PoUaiuolo 6 for V. Guazzoni: il tema sacro, was to seen See, example, Moretto, he paying dues the Compagnia and it from about 1466: using figures from the Brescia 1981; idem: 'Pittori deUa realt? ed del a ante to a scene esperienza is thus terminus quern for his having fin back frame space within which the sacro', in La Lombardia M?an 1984, 153-96; spagnola, pp. ished his apprenticeship and for his arrival in takes place; giving figures rather large hands A. GentiU: J giardini di contemplazione; Lorenzo Lotto Florence, both of which could have occurred whose open-fingered gestures elaborate their 1503-1512, Rome 1985; B. Aikema: 'Savoldo, la citt? di to to considerably earUer (or not). According emotional response the events; the wearing Dio e ? peUegrinaggio deUa vita', Venezia Cinquecento 3 Vasari, he first trained with a minor of exotic head gear. The decorative vocabu (1993)? PP-191-203; and B. de Klerck: The brothers Perugian and then moved to Florence where such as the that define the borders Campi; immagini e devozione; religious painting in sixteenth painter lary, jewels he entered the of but of aU the S. Bernardino relates to that century Lombardy, Amsterdam 1999. workshop Verrocchio; panels, can seen neither proposition be supported by any in the PoUaiuolos' St James altarpiece for contemporary documentary evidence. In his mature as a conse work, pressed for time quence of his own success, he made very con Perugino siderable use of assistants and coUaborators. Perugia A problem that has especiaUy exercised the curators of this exhibition is how to under

byMICHAEL BURY stand the artist's emergence and very early career. University ofEdinburgh Unfortunately, few of the paintings are that candidates for early works by the the exhibition at museums Perugino: il divin pittore the master, scattered through the of are Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia the world, actuaUy shown. However, the a event. (to 18th July), is very welcome Apart juxtaposition of the predeUa of the Birth of are from the principal show, there interesting the Virgin (or the Baptist?; Fig.69) from the at subsidiary exhibitions the Rocca PaoUna Walker, Liverpool, with the S. Bernardino to devoted aspects of the Nachleben, and in the panels of 1473 (cat. no.1.9) convincingly - on one monastery of S. Pietro miniature painting.1 demonstrates that the figures in of them some won ? Although the main exhibition has theMiracle of the young girl (Fig. 70) were by same trans derful things in it, unfortunately it is flawed. It the hand. The fine quaUty and the in to is evident from the essays the catalogue,2 parency of Ught give strong support the even some were and from of the individual entries, idea that both conceived and painted more were that many items expected than by Perugino. The eight S. Bernardino panels actuaUy arrived. In particular, many of the were a coUaborative venture and many were are are drawings missing and photographs painted by people of much lesser sk?l. How not at was a shown instead, which is aU satisfactory. ever, there clearly guiding inteUigence seems It that poUtical pressures within the behind the whole scheme, and the UkeUhood Umbrian have a destruc that this was is the region may played Perugino's suggested by 70. Miracle of the young girl, by Pietro Perugino. tive role in what was intended to have been a that the architectural structure of the way 1473. Tempera on panel, 78.5 by 56.5 cm. much more ambitious project. Healing of the child bom dead (no.1.91) was (GaUeria Nazionale deU'Umbria, Perugia).

THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE CXLVI JULY 2004 49^