_None_Provided _
By: Anonymous
Even the average person with little or no background in art may have heard the
names Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, or Raphael. Not only because they are
the most famous and noteworthy painters, sculptors, draughtsmen, designers,
and inventors of the high renaissance, but also because of the countless
stories and movies, fact and fiction which included these men and at least
mentioned their importance, relevance, and influences on today'7s world. Many
children have grown up already knowing these names, and perhaps that they were
artists however simplistic that may be, after the explosion of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late eighties. Perhaps there is one high
renaissance artist who does not always recieve due credit, but who was
influencial just the sameOne such artist was Baccio della Porta, a
Florentine renaissance painter. Baccio della Porta was born in Florence, Italy
in 1472. As historians know, most artists went into apprenticeship at about
the age of eleven or twelve at this time in Florence. Taking this into
account, it is assumed that Baccio did become an apprentice of Cosimo Rosselli
at that age since he was well known in his workshop by 1485. 1 Baccio della
Porta's master or teacher, Cosimo Rosselli, had probably just returned from
his work in Rome in the Sistine Chapel. It is also known that the average
length of time for an artist's apprenticeship was about six to eight years,
putting Baccio on his own around 1490. 2 According to many modern art
historians, Vasari is the most reliable source of information on the life and
works of Fra Bartolommeo after he entered the Dominican Order and became a
brother.3 Baccio della Porta and a pier of his, as well as a fellow student of
the arts, Mariotto Albertinelli became intimate friends during their
apprenticeships. Following their apprenticeship the two decided to work
proffesionally together at the home of Baccio della Porta. They made this
decision to work together in 1491, but their "partnership" and friendship
apparently ended when they went their own ways in styles and choices of
schools to follow and associate with4 Baccio della Porta joined the
followers of Savonarolas, Mariotto associated with the Medici followers,
specifically working for the patron Alfonsina Orsini who was the wife of Piero
de ' Medici. After Savonarolas was burned during the violent riots of the
arrabiati Chris Fischer writes that there must have been countless works
executed between Mariotti Albertinelli and Baccio della Porta during this
period of upheaval when Savonarolas was murdered because he was thought to be
a heretic.5 However, because of this violent period, few of these works can be
acredited to one painter or another. The obvious and evident recognizable
influences by master artists were reflected in many works, which helped to
narrow some works down to the style of the Cosimo Rosselli school As Baccio
della Porta began to develop his own style which was naturally to give
purpose, meaning, and religious order, he then made a permanent and important
step in his life.6 Baccio della Porta was deeply moved after witnessing the
preaching of Savonarola and decided to join the Dominican Brotherhood around
1500.7 Once Baccio della Porta had withdrawn into the convent he retired from
painting for some time. This difficult decision must have built character,
something which is a definite plus in the life of an aspiring artist. After
joining the convent Baccio's name changed to Fra Bartolommeo as he is known
today. His style showed a truth and need to preach of religion and
righteousness. Although Fra Bartolommeo's purpose reflected in his works was
noble and honest, he was not exactly a revolutionary with much to say. His
figure-style, composition, symbolism, rhythm, mastering of chiaroscuro, his
beautiful handling of flowing draperies, and his simplicity all reflect his
goal of ridding the world of vanity.8 Before discussing Bartolommeo's works
and style in depth, one must first give a general sense of his styles and why
he adopted them and evolved the way he did. For the most part this general
introduction to Bartolommeo's style has been provided in the previous pages.
Fra Bartolommeo always had a sense for the grandiose and largescale figures
and settings. To the untrained eye or even at first glance of a work by
Bartolommeo, one might be inclined to see virtuosic curvilinearities and dark
theatricality, almost foreshadowing the Baroque and Giovanni Bernini. However
dark and shadowy and emotional, Bartolommeo's works were quite restrained and
simplistic, ignoring vain detail which was an important aspect of the lavish
and ornate Baroque style, reassuring Fra Bartolommeo's role as a High
Renaissance painter. Heinrich Wolfflin describes Bartolommeo's figures as
"unshakably firm" and "grasp...with an iron grip" on page 141 of Classic Art.
Bartolommeo hardly cared for detail, and noticably in the majority of his
large chalk drawings, which studied the human figure he barely paid attention
to the individualism of the face. Instead he concentrated on creating a
sincerity that would shine through to the viewer, abolishing all attention to
frivolous detail. His chalk drawings are perfect examples of this because of
their single largescale figure, with a composition concentrating solely on the
emotion being evoked and expressed Perhaps a more noteworthy or recognizable
painting to illustrate this evoking of emotion would be Fra Bartolommeo's The
Last Judgement from 1499, as pictured in Figure 1. This shared work by Fra
Bartolommeo was completed for the Santa Maria Nuova, but later was moved to
the Uffizi where it remains still today. Critques of this fresco point out a
lack of cohesion which causes possible boredom or disinterest for the reader.9
An old-fashioned style of portraying a crowd of people at the bottom of the
painting also contributes to this overall unsuccessful attempt by Bartolommeo.
The painting is still howevere regarded as an inspirational work, both for the
viewer as well as Raphael. Raphael utilized Fra Bartolommeo's Last Judgement
as one reference to create his Disputa, although comparing the two works shows
Raphael's natural talent and skill for composing Fra Bartolommeo's
handling of people seems to come together successfully in the Marriage of St.
Catherine shown in figure 2, which was painted in 1512. Fra Bartolommeo
chooses the neutral tones and heavy architecture to enclose the scene.10
Contrasting shapes of light and dark figures and cramped juxtaposing open
spaces creates a dynamic, yet almost orderly composition. Bartolommeo's
inclusion of a small flight of steps serves as a forerunner to Raphael's
School of Athens and altar pieces in the future which contain many figures in
a small space. Bartolommeo's subtle evoking of emotion is evident in the
gestures of the Madonna and baby Jesus as well as the contraposto of the
figure in the lower right hand corner Also in 1512 Fra Bartolommeo painted
an impressive Madonna and Child(refer to figure 3) which is in the Besancon
Cathedral. Bartolommeo created a new kind of spiritualism and idealism by
straying away at least for the time being his usual dark backgrounds and
opening a door behind the beautifully floating Madonna, creating depth and
perspective. Another important aspect within this work is the lighting
technique utilized, which lights brightly the portions of the figures' bodies
which need to be seen the most, contrasting against a relatively dark
surrounding. Perhaps the most impressive handling of a single figure in this
painting is the St. Sebastian on the right which flows gracefully in his body
language, somewhat resembling St. Bernard in a previous work in the vision of
St. Bernard from 1506 While visiting Rome in 1517, it is believed that
Bartolommeo must have seen Raphael's Sistine Madonna , illustrated in figure
4, and was inspired in part by it to paint one of his most highly regarded
works entitled The Risen Christ with the four Evangelists.11 The simplistic
restraint of the Christ figure is complimented by the flowing drapery and its
smooth chiaroscuro. Both Raphael's Sistine Madonna(figure 5) and Bartolommeo's
Ressurected Christ share the aspects of centralized figures floating on clouds
and a noble and naturalistic casting of clothing upon the forms of the
important figures Figure 6, Fra Bartolommeo's Pieta which rests in Pitti
Florence, Italy. Idealism is a prevailing factor in this work because of the
existing fact that Christ does not resemble a truly dead corpse, for his head
lies almost as if sleeping and no serious wounds can be seen. Emotion is
expressed through the passionate embrace by Mary Magdalen at Christ''s feet
and the gentle motherly touch by the Mary.12 yet another example of idealism
in this work is the fact that Jesus is supposed to be about 33 years old,
while his mother appears to be no older than 25 In Lucca Academy in
Florence, Bartolommeo's Madonna of Mercy can be seen, a painting from 1515.
This is yet another example of the Fra's perfected technique of including a
mass of figures in one scene without crowding the composition, partially by
utilizing a path for the figures. The eye of the viewer is allowed to move
about the work via the small stairs, first leading up towards the Madonna. The
subtle hierarchic scale of the Madonna and the floating angels and Christ
figures only amplify the glory, nobility, and importance of the scene During
1509 Fra Bartolommeo completed (figure 8) God the Father and two Saints, a
work inspired by the same emotion as in the St. Bernard and thus the two are
often compared. The drapery is perhaps more flowing and spiritually symbolic
in this work than in the St. Bernard. The composition retains Bartolommeo's
strong order and compostion style, with the holy and important figure centered
and floating above the rest of the figures, adding a theatrical appearance to
the audience viewing this altar piece. God the Father and two Saints holds
numerous contrasts to Raphael's Sistine Madonna, although both contain
kneeling and floating figures. The landscapes are also treated differently in
that Bartolommeo creates calm depth and atmosphere with his flat distant
landscape. 13 This work is probably a fine example of Fra Bartolommeo's
mature style of the figure, composition, and his rhythmic, largescale
compositions which were and are meant to motivate the audience, normally of a
Roman Catholic background, to abandon vanity and meaningless detail and to
focus on life as a whole. Maybe Bartolommeo wanted people to live their lives
this way, thus providing a simple yet noble moral explaining his view that
life should be lived not feared. That trivial incidents and circumstances do
not affect the outcome in the end. As Heinrich Wolfflin wrote in similar
words, Fra Bartolommeo may not have had much to say as a High Renaissance
painter, but what he did say he said with conviction.14
_Bibliography _
BIBLIOGRAPHY Borgo, Ludovico, The Works of Mariotto Albertinelli, (1976),
585p.. Fischer, Chris, Fra Bartolommeo:master draughtsman of the high
renaissance: a selection from the Rotterdamn albums and landscape drawings
from various collections, (1990), 410 p. Studies in the history of art,
v. 6, (1974), 214 p. Wolffin, Heinrich, Classic Art: an introduction to the
Italian Renaisance, (1994), 294 p..
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