The Classic and Connoisseur in Italy and Sicily, with an Appendix Containing an Abridged Tr. of Lanzi's Storia Pittorica Volume 3 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1835 edition. Excerpt: ... then there is a torch which produces another and totally different light; while from the angel emanates a celestial splendour that emulates the brightness of the sun. Here, too, he afforded another memorable lesson in art; by shewing that the very impediments thrown in the way of invention may sometimes be turned even to its advantage: for the wall on which he was painting being divided by a window, he feigned on each side of it a flight of steps leading up to the prison, and on these steps disposed the guard overpowered by sleep--so that the painter seems not so much to have accommodated himself to the place, as the place to have been subservient to the painter. The story of St. Leo the Great, who dissuades Attila from marching forward with his army; and that in the next chamber, where we see the Battle against the Saracens at the port of Ostia, and the victory obtained over them by Leo IV., might alone justify Raphael's claim to the epic poet's crown: so well has he portrayed the warlike array of horse and foot, the various arms peculiar to each nation, the fury of the combat, the shame and grief attendant on defeat. Near this is another admirable piece, styled the Fire of the Borgo, miraculously extinguished by the same St. Leo. It is a spectacle which alternately chills the heart with horror, and melts it with compassion. The terrible effects of fire arc carried to their utmost limits; the time being night, the flames raging over a vast extent of ground, and their fury increased by a violent wind which seems to scatter about the burning embers, insomuch that you almost fancy you see them driven from house to house. The despair of the sufferers is also carried to its utmost bounds: some attempt to convey water, but are overpowered by the wind...