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

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VINCENZO FOPPA
body of the Child, the left lightly resting upon his right leg but powerless
apparently to grasp it firmly, the right hand of St. Joseph and that of the
third king, are all of Foppa's typical form and show his habitual mannerisms.
The colouring is of great brilliancy and force, in this recalling his earlier work,
with its contrasts of vivid scarlet, delicate blue, and glowing gem-like red.
The flesh painting, of beautiful quality throughout, is warmer in tone than is
usually the case with the master. From this point of view it is interesting to
compare the picture with the grey-toned Bergognone hanging near, a good
specimen of that typical quality of flesh painting usually met with in the works
of Foppa and his followers, which through him, as already observed, became
the heritage of the early Lombard school.
The landscape, in spite of the fact
that it has darkened considerably, is full of charm and is the most admirable
example by him which we possess. The painting of the masses of bush behind
the horsemen, of the
river-scene in the middle distance, and of the hillside in
the background, are of remarkable beauty, and prove that in this respect Vincenzo
Foppa was almost unrivalled,
for we could name few other works of this
date in the whole range of Lombard art which show such exquisite perception,
such intimate study and intuitive appreciation of nature,' as we find in the background
of this altarpiece ;
and in numerous incidents throughout the picture
this close observation of nature is also strikingly apparent. In feeling, the
idyllic landscape in the middle distance shows great affinity with the little
landscape, with trees and water, in the background of the Berlin Pieta, and
the walled city on the hill, with its reminiscences of Milanese and Brescian
buildings, is also connected in composition with the background of that
picture.
All the characteristics just alluded to, taken in conjunction with many other
individual traits too numerous to mention, but self-evident on comparing the
picture with other genuine works by the master, render it absolutely certain
that no painter but Foppa could have produced it ; but at the same time it is
extremely interesting to note the development that has taken place in his art,
which seems to remove the picture from the immediate sphere of fifteenth century
painting and to stamp it
as a product of the master's later years.
In type and general character the Madonna is most intimately connected
with the Virgins of the Brera and Savona altarpieces. We have the same air
of preoccupation, the same strain of sadness as at Savona, but in the
National Gallery picture the painter has sacrificed something of the thoughtful
earnestness and dignity of his earlier Madonnas to external grace and
charm of expression. The strain of sweetness which, to some extent, we
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Owing to the very unfortunate position now assigned to the picture in the recent
re-arrangement of the National Gallery, it is most inadequately seen, and no just
estimate of it is possible.