There is but little imagination manifested in the attire of his figures. Many are portraits, and are dressed as such, and almost all the draperies are transcripts of the dresses worn by the Florentines of his time; consequently, they sometimes offend our judgment, though they frequently are not unapt for the period of the subject. The naked figures which he introduced, are rather weakly rendered, than misunderstood.

Still, then, though far advanced, the practice of the art had by no means reached the goal to which it aspired. It was as yet inadequate even to the full and free conveyance of those thoughts to which its then limited powers, bound, as it were, the minds of its professors; viz., the representations of facts. Drawing had gradually improved, and the general forms of the figure, and of draperies, were maintained with simplicity and with faithfulness, but with tameness; and little indulgence of fancy entered into the imitation of natural objects. Some imperfect views of the capabilities of the art were still acted upon.

Among other errors, attempts were not unfrequently made, to rival the power of poetry, and give a detailed history, in one picture, of various events appertaining to the life of an individual; presenting him at one and the same time, from youth to manhood; engaged in

various pursuits, or enduring varied sufferings. Masaccio even is guilty of this anomaly: as is also his master, Panicale, in those pictures he had previously painted of the same series.

This circumstance evidently arose from the removal of the ornamented bands which previously were employed to separate pictures painted upon the same wall; such as surround those I have mentioned to you by Giotto, at Padua, and at Assisi. Figures the size of life were not yet employed, but such as were about four feet, or four feet and a half high; and, consequently, when a large expanse of wall was to be covered, one subject was not productive of matter sufficient for the purpose, and the artist ventured to give others, relating to the same persons, without a line of separation. Such a practice, however, is an evident abandonment of the proper sphere of the art of painting; and an unwise manifestation of its weakest point, in comparison with the powers of its rival. But it ceased, or nearly so, after this period; and painters became content to display their skill under the right influence of the native power of the art they professed.

...Ghirlandaio*, who succeeded Masaccio, continuing the same kind of art, added nothing but more technical power; more finish, but less breadth.

*b. 1449.

He had more fancy, perhaps, but a less elevated imagination, with less comprehensive feeling of that which is specifically required by fine art. That his fame was great among his contempo raries, as his practice was extensive, is made evident, not only by the employment he received, but by his having been selected to be the master of Michel Angelo.

1

With him and Perugino*, the teacher of Raffaelle, and some others of nearly equal powers, closed the second epoch of the art in the Florentine school. The third commenced with the bright names of Signorelli, Da Vinci, Bartolomeo della Porta, Michel Angelo, and Raffaelle.

*

If any proof were wanting of the extreme difficulties attending the advancement of the art of painting, which, now that it has been exhi bited to us in its more perfect state, appears comparatively of easy attainment; let it be considered, that nearly 200 years elapsed from the period of its restoration, ere its more polished principles and practice were brought in aid of the natural, and almost instinctive feeling of expression with which it began: and that, not. withstanding so many men of ingenious minds were continually engaged in the practice of it,

*b. 1446.

in an age of learning, when they were aided by poetical and philosophical investigation.

This consideration, surely, stamps a value upon the art, of no light impress!

How great has been the pleasure derived by mankind from the result of that intense application, and long-continued labour, with which the language of the art was perfected. The feeling, which called for it, that fervour of the mind the genuine impress of nature, apt at all times, and by the poet poured forth in unpremeditated verse, who "lisps in numbers, for the numbers come," was ready for display in painting, whenever the means were prepared for conveying it.

But the means required for that purpose,-the application of ordinary materials to the production of light, and life, and expression,-was not, like language, the immediate gift of nature, but the product of man's own ingenuity; and was acquired, as we have seen, only by long and active perseverance.

If, disguised by imperfections, incident to the different stages of its progress, it was admired and enjoyed, by those to whom it was addressed; no wonder that, when it became adorned by increased power in its developement, and by polished selection in its means, and the application of them, it was received with rapture, and its professors exalted to honour.

We now arrive at the period when it attained that dignified and important degree of estimation.

Till this time no government had adopted the art of painting as an object worthy of particular encouragement. The church, in its individual establishments, had, indeed, become its protector, and continued to be its encourager; and found, in return, a powerful aid in its productions, to the furtherance of its own views.

But the Papal power, the head of that church, had not, except in a few instances, employed painting; preferring mosaics for ornament in the churches of Rome devoted to its own particular service. In proof of this, we find that there was not any school of art established at Rome, previous to the time of Raffaelle. The painters employed in the Lateran Palace by Pope Innocent VIII. were chiefly Florentine: after him, Sixtus IV. called upon the same school to adorn his new chapel in the Vatican; and, indeed, almost all those who in after-times supplied that great seat of church government with her principal and her best works were Florentines or Bolognese.

About the middle of the fifteenth century, the family, De' Medici, exercising sovereignty in Florence, adopted the arts as objects worthy of their especial protection and encouragement, in common with science and literature. By this