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subjects became barren, hollow displays of distorted limbs and soulless
heads and faces.
The result is, that there is little to be said of the immediate
followers of this great man. GUGLIELMO DELLA PORTA was one of his most
able scholars, and his chief work was a monument to Pope Paul III. in
the Church of St. Peter's. The figure of the pope is in bronze, is
seated, and holding the right hand in benediction. It is dignified and
well designed. The figures of Justice and Prudence are not as good, and
two others, Peace and Abundance, which were a part of this work, but are
now in the Farnese Palace, lack power, and show an attempt at a
representation of mere physical beauty.
BACCIO BANDINELLI (1487-1559) is more noticeable for his hatred of
Michael Angelo than for any other characteristic. He was a native of
Florence and a friend of Leonardo da Vinci. He was powerful in his
design and bold in his treatment of his subjects, but he was full of
affectation and mannerisms in his execution of his works. He was false
and envious, and his one good quality was that of industry. His best
works are on the screen of the high-altar in the Cathedral of Florence,
a relief on a pedestal in the Piazza of San Lorenzo, in Florence, and a
group in the Church of the Annunziata, which he intended for his own
monument; the subject is Nicodemus supporting Christ, and the Nicodemus
is a portrait of Bandinelli himself.
CHAPTER VIII.
EUROPEAN SCULPTURE FROM MICHAEL ANGELO TO CANOVA.
Not only Italian artists attempted to follow the great sculptor of
Italy, but those of other nations flocked to Rome, and whatever ideas
they may have had before reaching that city they seemed to lose them all
and to aim simply at one thing--to be Michaelangeloesque.
GIOVANNI DA BOLOGNA (1529-1608) was born in Douai, in Flanders, and was
called Il Fiammingo for this reason. Giovanni was intended for a notary
by his father, who planned his education with that end in view; but the
boy's passion for sculpture was so great that the father was obliged to
yield to it, and placed him under the instruction of a sculptor named
Beuch, who had studied in Italy. Later Giovanni went to Rome, and
finally settled in Florence, where his most important works remain.
He was an imitator of Michael Angelo, and one of his best imitators; but
when his works are compared with those of the great master, or with the
masterpieces of the fifteenth century, we see a decli
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