ly seeking a mythical master, an
ideal who never could have existed. What more dainty figures, what more
delicate hues, what more exquisite feeling could one look for than is
here to be found? True, the landscape has been renovated, true, the
Giorgionesque depth and richness is gone, the mellow glow of the
"Epiphany," which hangs just below, is sadly wanting, but who can deny
the charm of the picturesque scenery, which vividly recalls the
landscape backgrounds elsewhere in the master's own work, who can fail
to admire the natural and unstudied grouping of the figures, the
artlessness of the whole, the loving simplicity with which the painter
has done his work? All is spontaneous; the spirit is not that of a
laborious imitator, painfully seeking "effects" from another's
inspiration; sincerity and naivete are too apparent for this to be the
work of any but a quite young artist, and one whose style is so
thoroughly "Giorgionesque" as to be none other than the young Giorgione
himself. In my opinion this is one of his earliest essays into the
region of romance, painted probably before his twenty-first year,
betraying, like the little legendary pictures in the Uffizi, a strong
affinity with Carpaccio.[116]

[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Na. nal Gallery, London_

? THE GOLDEN AGE]

As to the subject many conjectures have been made: Aristotle surrounded
by emblems illustrating the objects with which his philosophy was
concerned, an initiation into some mystic rite, the poet musing in
sadness on the mysteries of life, the philosopher imparting wisdom to
the young, etc. etc. I believe Giorgione is simply giving us a poetical
rendering of "The Golden Age," where, like Plato's philosopher-king, the
seer all-wise and all-powerful holds sway, before whom the arts and
sciences do homage; in this earthly paradise even strange animals live
in happy harmony, and all is peace. Such a theme would well have suited
Giorgione's temperament, and Ridolfi actually tells us that this very
subject was taken by Giorgione from the pages of Ovid, and adapted by
him to his own ends.[117] But whether this represents "The Golden Age,"
or some other allegory or classic story, the picture is completely
characteristic of all that is most individual in Giorgione, and I
earnestly hope the slur now cast upon its character by the misleading
label will be speedily removed.[118] For the public believes more in the
labels it reads, than the pictures it se