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

Chap. I. FOPPA'S CRUCIFIXION AT BERGAMO 13
Upon these or similar compositions, Vincenzo, it
would seem, founded his
Crucifixion at Bergamo, so far as the general plan and arrangement of the
three figures in his panel are concerned ; but his psychological standpoint
differs from that of Jacopo, and in his treatment of the human form he shows
himself greatly in advance of his master, so far as we can judge from Jacopo's
Crucifixion of the Verona Gallery and from his numerous drawings of this
subject and of other nude figures in the London and Paris sketch-books.
Here in the Bergamo Crucifixion we have no longer haggard forms
sparsely covered with flesh and bounded by contours of abnormal length, flat
planes in which the presence of bone, muscle, and sinew is either entirely
ignored or is indicated by violent and exaggerated lines, but human bodies of
flesh and blood showing plastic roundness of form, skilful modelling, and an
intimate knowledge of structural principles unusual at this early date. The
central figure is well preserved and deserving of close study from a technical
point of view, the flesh painting being unusually luminous and enamellike
in quality. In the main the treatment of this figure follows the conventional
lines ; the thinness of the limbs and of the upper part of the body,
and certain exaggerations in the curve of the leg and in the drawing of the
arms, recall the methods of earlier painters, but in the treatment of the
other two figures the striving after a more developed realism is apparent ; the
harsher qualities are modified and softened, and the whole conception shows
an intimate and diligent observation of nature. Without undue contortions
or exaggerated gestures, Vincenzo succeeds in conveying exactly the tension
and strain upon the muscles produced by a body dependent for support
upon the cords which bind it to the cross.* The calm dignity and significant
characterization of the central figure, the peaceful expression of the penitent
thief with his head sunk on his breast, are admirably contrasted with the
vehement agitation depicted on the countenance of the other, who turns an
agonized gaze upon the demon hovering above his head and whose every
movement betokens impotent despair. This power of expressing different
^
Here also Foppa shows himself in advance of his age. As a rule, in treating
this subject of the malefactors bound to their crosses, the Italian
exaggerated methods by which northern painters sought to
masters avoided the
give actuality to the scene,
but they failed to carry conviction owing to their frequent "violation of all physical
rules." Mantegna, in his impressive predella (now in the Louvre) belonging to the
S. Zeno altarpiece (1457-59), represents the thief on the left with one foot loosely
bound to the cross and the other free, the support thus given being obviously inadequate
to sustain the weight of the body. Jacopo Bellini is still more unconvincing
in his treatment in this particular, but Foppa in his composition has attempted a more
truthful rendering. Each figure is securely bound, and the lines and attitude of the
body are studied and considered in relation to the position on the cross and with some
regard for physical rules.