Two larger boxwood figures belonging to Monsieur Léopold Goldschmidt in Paris, and to the museum at Berlin, also represent St. Sebastian. In both these works, the saint stands with his arms bound behind him, lashed to the tree, which is carved from the same piece. No attempt has been made here to carve a detached figure, both are meant for a full-face view, and thus obviously stand on a lower level artistically than, for instance, the Hercules. The handling is less free, rather resembling the quattrocento work in contemporary sculptures by Lombardi and members of his family, and as such the figures are excellent. The first-rate little work in Monsieur Goldschmidt's possession, which is the smaller of the two and the more severe in character, is in all probability the work of a Paduan artist. The Berlin piece is of a fine reddish tone; the beauty of outline and the charming face suggest a Venetian origin. In the Louvre a bronze St. Sebastian exists, in some respects akin to the carving in the Goldschmidt collection though not actually copied from it. A larger statuette in pearwood of a later period, forming part of the Beckerath collection in the museum at Berlin, is a free copy of a well-known statue of Mercury in the Vatican; the extreme exactness of the little boxwood figures is absent from this more purely decorative work. Some reminiscences of these figures are to be found in a few small boxwood reliefs, also from North Italy, dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century; they are, however, inferior in workmanship, and cannot be compared either to the Hercules of the Wallace Collection or to the St. Sebastian at Berlin. One of them, Christ Rising from the Dead, was purchased in Lombardy for the museum at Berlin. This work is distinctly LombardVenetian in style; it is carved out of a kind of trough, from which it stands out, the • Reproduced on page 185. Italian Boxwood Carvings trough being ornamented round the rim with a design, the whole somewhat clumsily representing a 'mandorla.' The Christ is emaciated and severe-looking, without any great subtlety either of gesture or detail; it is, however, a well and most carefully executed piece, and shows traces of the influence of Amadeo and other artists of the same stamp. Another relief, richer and more shallow, presents stronger signs of Venetian origin. It belongs to Monsieur Rodolphe Kann in Paris; judging from the framework, this beautiful carving formed the front part of a box, the history of Daphne being the subject. The manner in which the myth is told, the small amount of movement in the figures, the drapery and rounded forms, all remind us of contemporary Venetian woodcuts, especially of the illustrations in the 'Polifilo.' It is remarkable how much resemblance to the works of the German Kleinmeister there is in this carving, and we know that they drew their inspirations chiefly from like productions. The history of Daphne is carved in walnut wood. Monsieur Gustave Dreyfus in Paris owns two small boxwood reliefs; in one the Burial of Christ is represented, while the other is a St. Jerome with a lion at his side. The style of both recalls the Paduan plaques of Riccio and Moderno of the same date, though they are clumsier and less lifelike than the works of these excellent masters, nor will they bear comparison with Francesco da Sant' Agata's artistic freedom of touch. In one of these works there is a signature of the artist; unfortunately it is a monogram and partly obliterated; the letters remaining are M.-F.; the second letter has been cut away, however, as it was at variance with the early opinion which assigned the work to Andrea Mantegna. In consequence, we are not able with any certainty to designate another artist as a carver of boxwood. 7 Reproduced on page 187. 8 These larger reliefs are evidently the production of wood-carvers who exercised a considerable trade in the whole of northern Italy, and especially in Lombardy as late as the Renaissance. Our dainty boxwood carvings, on the other hand, appear for the most part, if not exclusively, to be goldsmiths' work, as the inscription round the base of the Hercules in the Wallace Collection expressly points out. The same is the case with contemporary or slightly later boxwood carvings in Germany. As we know, these little carvings were for the greater part intended to serve as models to be copied in precious metals, and by reason of their delicacy they are highly prized by collectors. It is extremely probable that the like conditions prevailed in Italy, for though but few of these works have survived, we are not altogether without We must bear in mind that a examples. large number cannot have been in existence in any case, as only a few places in the Venetian district produced them. It has already been mentioned that some bronze duplicates have come down to us, and two of the best little figures have been reproduced in this manner, and will be found side by side with the boxwood originals in our illustrations.9 Though about equal in size, they can hardly have been casts from the carvings, differing from the former as they do in several important particulars. I have already spoken of another larger relief in the Berlin museum, 16 by 13 in. in size. The conception of this piece is very singular: John the Baptist's Head on a Charger, which is supported by two disproportionately small angels; according to the inscription, this is the work of the Veronese master Francesco di Giuliano. The great want of proportion in the figures, a certain lack of freedom in the carriage of the two angels, a stereotyped manner of arranging the hair and obviously slight knowledge of the human form, incline us greatly to doubt whether this Francesco of Verona be the same person as the Paduan Francesco da Sant' Agata. It seems more credible to ascribe the small relief in boxwood of Christ in Hades to the Veronese master, for the idea and severe outlines are more in harmony with his manner. The St. John the Baptist above described forms a kind of transition to some rather larger reliefs, all in walnut or limewood, showing the Madonna enthroned between saints in entirely pictorial style, such as we are accustomed to see in paintings of the Verona and Vicenza schools at the beginning of the sixteenth century. One of this category of reliefs is in the Berlin museum, signed with an indistinct inscription, another was in the Piot collection, and the Louvre possesses a similar but somewhat larger relief with half-length figures. The manner in which these pieces are executed, with their unskilled imitation of paintings, is totally different from the exquisite refinement of the boxwood carvings. We therefore feel fully justified in assuming them to be the work rather of mechanical artisans, in spite of the coincidence of dates and places of origin with the small carvings. 8 Reproduced on page 187. In the museum at Vienna there is a small carving in spindlewood, which much resembles boxwood, of the head of St. John. Opinions have of late inclined to consider this a work of Francesco da Sant' Agata. Personally I find no resemblance to the master's style in the beautiful little piece, and am more disposed, judging from the picturesque arrangement of the hair and the naturalistic impression of the whole, to place its origin as late as 1600, possibly even after this date. A comparison with the Berlin relief of the same subject, moreover, rather strengthened my conviction. ΙΟ In the bronze Hercules of the Ashmolean collection 10 (of which there is a replica in the Louvre) we find a totally different head from that of the boxwood figure in the Wallace Collection, a head much broader in execution. The greater probability seems to be that the bronze replicas were cast from the original wax model of the boxwood figures. It has yet to be proved that the latter were employed as models for gold or silver figures, though this is not at all improbable, seeing the means of procedure among German • Pages 181 and 185. 10 Reproduced on page 181. |