Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century Part 2

II

ST. PHILIP

BY NANNI DI BANCO

St. Philip was one of the first group of disciples whom Jesus called to his service. He was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, but we do not know what occupation he pursued there. There is a tradition that he was a chariot driver, and in any case he was certainly a laboring man like all of the twelve. Having attached himself to Jesus he began at once to work in his cause. He persuaded Nathanael to come and see the Master, and thereby won a new adherent.[4]

Philip was not spiritually minded, like John, nor impetuous, like Peter, but in his own way he wanted to know the truth. Perhaps he was a little slower than others to grasp religious teaching. It may be that he was franker than many in confessing that he did not understand.

He and Thomas were somewhat alike in this respect, and once, when Jesus was talking of departing to the Heavenly Father, both interrupted him with questions. Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." "Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me?" replied Jesus. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."[5]

Apparently Philip learned his lesson well, for we read in traditional history of his faithful missionary services in later life. He was twenty years in Scythia preaching the gospel. Then he went to Hieropolis in Phrygia, where the people worshipped a serpent. The apostle drove the serpent away, but the pagan priests sought his life in revenge. He was bound to a cross and stoned to death, praying even in his agony for his enemies.[6]

The statue of St. Philip in our ill.u.s.tration shows him as a somewhat commonplace-looking man with heavy features. It accords with the usual account of him that his face should not be particularly intellectual.

His att.i.tude is full of dignity, and denotes a well-balanced character. The large well-knit hands are those of an artisan. He is of about middle age, as the artists usually represent him. A plain man of good common sense and sterling worth--this was Philip both in fact and in the statue.

In pictures and statues the apostles nearly always carry the symbols of their ident.i.ty. St. Philip's emblem is the cross, but it is here dispensed with, and we have only the Latin inscription to show us who he is.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. PHILIP (NANNI DI BANCO) _Church of Or San Michele, Florence_]

The statue stands in a niche, and is one of a series ornamenting the outside of the church of Or San Michele in Florence. In building this church all the merchants and artisans of the city contributed to support the work. Each trade was at that time represented by a guild or a.s.sociation whose members united to advance their common business interests.[7] These various guilds furnished the statues for the niches, each supplying the figure of its own patron saint. St. Philip was the gift of the Guild of Hosiers, and was executed by the sculptor Nanni di Banco.

Donatello had at first been approached by the guild, but considering his price exorbitant they gave the order to Nanni, who promised to accept any terms they decided upon. When the statue was done, however, the sculptor demanded a sum larger than the price of Donatello. The latter was now called upon to act as referee, and he set a still higher price upon the work. The Hosiers were indignant. "Why," they asked, "had Donatello rated Nanni's work at a higher price than his own, which would have undoubtedly been better?" "Because," replied the great sculptor, laughing, "being less skilful than I, he has worked harder, and therefore deserves more pay." A compromise was effected, and the statue set in place.

That Donatello could indeed have made a better statue we shall presently see when we study his St. George, designed for the same church. St. Philip lacks distinction, and it has not the animation which the greater sculptor knew how to impart to his work.

Nevertheless it has certain artistic qualities which make it worthy of Donatello's championship.

The lines of the drapery are well studied. Apparently Nanni had learned something in this respect from the Greek sculpture. Where draperies are simple and hang in long unbroken lines, the effect is impressive and dignified. When they are voluminous and broken, they lose in dignity. Good art is always simple and has no meaningless lines.

We are interested in examining the niche in which the statue is set.

It is Gothic in design, and with its pointed top and side pinnacles recalls the cathedral windows in northern Europe. An architectural frame of this sort is often called a tabernacle, being in fact a miniature church in form. In the triangular s.p.a.ce at the top is a bas-relief figure in half length which seems to represent Christ. The base is ornamented with an arabesque or scroll design, flanked at each end by the arms of the Hosiers' Guild. The side pillars have rich Corinthian capitals. Just inside are twisted pillars of curious workmanship.

Our ill.u.s.tration also shows a portion of the wall against which the niche is placed. We see that the church is built of stone, set in square blocks. On each side of the niche is a metal ring through which torches were thrust.

[Footnote 4: St. John, chapter i., verses 43-51.]

[Footnote 5: St. John, chapter xiv., verses 1-11.]

[Footnote 6: Mrs. Jameson's _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 235.]

[Footnote 7: The Florentine guilds of this period may be compared with those of the seventeenth century in Holland. See the chapter on the "Syndics of the Cloth Guild" in the volume on Rembrandt in the Riverside Art Series.]

III

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

BY DONATELLO

In the hill country of Judaea lived the priest Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, who were the parents of St. John the Baptist. They were pious people, "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless." One day, as Zacharias was ministering in his office in the temple, an angel brought him the glad tidings that he was to have a son. "Thou shalt call his name John," said the vision, "and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth."

A great career was promised for the coming child. He was to be a preacher filled with spiritual power. Like the old prophet Elias, he was to turn the hearts of the people to G.o.d, and to prepare the way for the Christ. As a sign that the angel's words were true, Zacharias was stricken dumb until his son was born. Then "his tongue was loosed, and he spake and praised G.o.d."

The neighbors marvelled at the mystery of John's birth, and they saw that "the hand of the Lord was with him." "And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit," until he came to manhood.[8] Then was fulfilled the angel's prophecy concerning him. He became a great preacher, and mult.i.tudes flocked to hear him.

John's manner of life was like that of a hermit. He dwelt in the wilderness about the river Jordan, wearing a garment of camel's hair bound about his loins with a leathern girdle. His food was locusts and wild honey. He gathered his audiences in the open air and baptised his disciples in the river.

Though stern in his teachings he became for a time very popular. Yet he always spoke of his own work with great humility. "There cometh one mightier than I after me," he said.[9] This was Jesus, who, on presenting himself for baptism, was greeted by John as the "Lamb of G.o.d." The prophet's mission was now accomplished. He was soon after thrown into prison and beheaded, at the order of King Herod, whose sins he had openly rebuked.

The story of the Baptist's life brings readily before the imagination the strange figure of the man.[10] It is not so easy to fancy how he might have looked as a boy. The bas-relief of our ill.u.s.tration shows us what form the idea took in the mind of the sculptor Donatello.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST (DONATELLO) _National Museum, Florence_]

The little fellow seems tall and slender for his years, as if he had stretched his limbs by running much in the open air. The face is somewhat serious, but perfectly childish. The lips are parted in a half smile. He has a good forehead, and is an independent thinker. He impresses us as a straightforward character, a boy to like and trust.

It would be too much to say that he shows the making of a great man.

It is enough that he is an honest, healthy boy with a mind of his own.

He is hardly pretty, but he is very interesting. The hair is his most charming feature, waving in little tendrils over the head. He is not plump enough for his figure to show fine curves. On the contrary, the modelling is on rather severe lines, as if in keeping with the character.

Certain well understood signs show who he is. The circle about his head is the halo, the symbol of a sacred character. The skin garment fastened at the shoulder reminds us of the strange clothing John wore in the desert. The tall cross is the emblem of the prophet, as a forerunner of the crucified one.

Donatello's art covered a wide range of subjects, but in none was he more at home than in representing children. He has been called "the poet of child-life." There are interesting points of comparison between the example before us and the Musical Angels of the altar at Padua. St. John the Baptist is evidently a real little boy, transferred to the stone just as he was. The piping angels, on the other hand, are child ideals, without counterpart

in real life. St. John's large ear, with its irregularly bent rim, and his straight upper lip, are features such as an artist must certainly have copied, not invented. The angel faces, on the other hand, are moulded in the perfect curves which originate in the imagination of the artist. Donatello was, above all things else, a close student of human nature. Sometimes, indeed, he chose very unattractive models, and reproduced them so faithfully that the realism is almost painful.

His artistic eye was always open to new impressions. Perhaps, one day as he walked through the streets of Florence, he noticed among the children playing there this little fellow of the long neck and pensive face. "Ecco," said he, to himself, "il Giovannino."[11] The child's face and bearing had a quaint seriousness precisely suited to the character.

It is wonderful how the sculptor's art has made the little boy seem actually alive in the bas-relief. The hair is executed with the skill peculiar to Donatello, and seems to grow from the head. Such studies from real life--_genre_ studies, as they are called--were lessons which prepared the artist for higher works of idealism. The little St.

John may have been the original material for some of the angel figures.

[Footnote 8: The circ.u.mstances of John's birth are related in the first chapter of St. Luke, from which the quotations are drawn.]

[Footnote 9: St. Mark, chapter i., verse 7.]

[Footnote 10: See the pictures of St. John the Baptist in the volumes on _t.i.tian_ and _Correggio_ in the Riverside Art Series.]

[Footnote 11: "There is the little John."]

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