ed by his pupils.

Before the commencement of the eighteenth century the decline of the
Renaissance school in Italy had begun; in fact, the painting of the
seventeenth century came to be mere mechanical realism. For this reason
the portraits were the best pictures of the time, as in them it was
requisite to be true to the object represented.

Late in the eighteenth century a new impulse was given to Italian
painting, chiefly through the influence of foreign artists such as Raphael
Mengs, and the French painter David. In the beginning of our own century
LORENZO BENVENUTI (1769-1844) executed some excellent frescoes in
Florence, Siena, and Arezzo, which was his native city. He decorated the
ceiling of the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, and
Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany, erected a tomb to this painter in the
same church where he had spent so much time and talent. His portrait,
painted by himself, is in the gallery of the Uffizi, at Florence.
VINCENZIO CAMMUCCINI (1775-1844), too, was a celebrated master of his
time. He was a Roman by birth, and became President of the Academy of St.
Luke; he was also a member of the Institute of France, and received
decorations from sovereigns of various countries. He made many copies from
the works of the great masters. His portraits were so much admired as to
be compared to those of Rubens and Tintoretto, and his ceiling frescoes
in the Torlonia Palace, Rome, were among his important works, as was a
"Presentation of Christ in the Temple," painted for the Church of San
Giovanni in Piacenza.

But there has been no true restoration of Italian art. The painting of
Italy in our time has been largely a commercial enterprise rather than an
outcome from artistic genius or impulse, and the few works which are
exceptions to this rule are not sufficient to encourage the hope that this
nation can again attain to her former rank or regain the fame of her past
in the history of modern art.

CHAPTER IV.

PAINTING IN FLANDERS, HOLLAND, AND GERMANY.

Flanders formerly embraced a larger part of Belgium than is contained in
the present Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders. It also covered a
portion of Holland and some territory in the northwest of France. The
principal Flemish towns connected with the story of Flemish art were
Bruges, Tournai, Louvain, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Mechlin, Liege, and
Utrecht.

There are some records of Flemish painting much