Vincenzo Foppa of Brescia, founder of the Lombard school, his life ...

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INTRODUCTION
xiii
we add to this number from our list of ** missing works " the panel pictures
and cycles of frescoes which he is known to have executed, the number is still
incredibly small, as the result of a life of strenuous activity extending over a
period of eighty-nine years and devoted moreover, so far as we know,
exclusively to painting. In course of time, through the combined efforts of
the archivist and the critic, it may be possible to increase this scanty list by
the re-discovery of other works of indisputable authenticity.
We have dedicated this book to the memory of two who will ever stand
pre-eminent among the pioneers of art criticism and of documentary research
in the nineteenth century.
The name of Giovanni Morelli is a household word to all
those who devote
themselves to the serious study of Italian art, from the historical and critical
standpoint ;
and the value of what he achieved is now universally acknowledged.
In details, many may differ from him, but in the main his work will
endure and his writings hold their ground as a classic among future generations
of art critics. No more convincing proof of the value of Morelli's
teaching can be cited than the testimony of one of his most distinguished
followers :
"It has happened again and again," writes Mr. Berenson,
"that my own
researches have compelled me to return to his conclusions after having
departed from them . . . fifteen years of tossing backward and forward over
this incredibly unequal painter (Bernardino dei Conti), have brought me back
to the problem as Morelli left it.'"
And what is true of Bernardino dei Conti is equally so in the case of
other difficulties. The problems which Morelli left are, in many cases, problems
still ;
since few are gifted with his intuitive perception, his profound
knowledge, and unerring judgment.
We ourselves gratefully acknowledge that whatever we may have learned
in this wide field is due to his writings, and to his personal teaching and
direction ; and though in our desire to be strictly impartial and to avoid all
polemical questions, we have quoted
his works only as we have quoted those
of other writers, in all that pertains to the critical appreciation of the work of
Foppa, this book is founded upon the principles laid down by Morelli.
Whatever in it may prove of value, must be ascribed primarily to his teaching,
and where the conclusions are at fault, the failure is doubtless due to a misapplication
of his principles and method.
To Gustav Ludwig, students of the historical and documentary side of
Italian art owe scarcely less. His researches in Venetian archives have led,
as is well known, to the most surprising results ; and much doubtless yet
^ North Italian Painters of the Renaissance, p. 7.