PAINTERS.-No. VII. ESSAYS ON THE LIVES OF REMARKABLE the men of great and original genius who immediately Of the first it is not necessary to speak. Among succeeded Giotto, THREE must be especially mentioned for the importance of the works they have left, and for the influence they exercised on those who came after them. These were Andrea Orcagna, Simone Memmi, and Taddeo Gaddi. GIOTTO AND HIS SCHOLARS-THE CAMPO SANTO. [Continued from p. 133.] · THE Scholars and imitators of Giotto, who adopted the new method (il nuovo metodo), as it was then called, and who collectively are distinguished as the Scuola Giottesca,' may be divided into two classes:-1. Those who were merely his assistants and imitators, who confined themselves to the reproduction of the models left by their master. 2. Those who, gifted with original genius, followed his example rather than his instructions, pursued the path he had opened to them, introduced better methods of study; more correct design, and carried on in various departments the advance of art into the succeeding century. No. 709. The first of these, Andrea Cioni, commonly called Andrea Orcagna, did not study under Giotto, but owed much indirectly to that vivifying influence which he breathed through art. Andrea was the son of a goldsmith at Florence. The goldsmiths of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were in general excellent designers and not unfrequently became painters, as in the instances of Francia, Verrocelico, Andrea del Sarto, &c. Andrea apparently learned design under the tuition of his father. Rosini places his birth previous to the year 1310: in the year 1332 he had VOL. XII.-U already acquired so much celebrity, that he was called upon to continue the decoration of the Campo Santo at Pisa. This seems the proper place to give a more detailed account of one of the most extraordinary and interesting monuments of the middle ages. The Campo Santo of Pisa, like the cathedral at Assisi, was an arena in which the best artists of the time were summoned to try their powers; but the influence of the frescoes in the Campo Santo on the progress and development of art was yet more direct and important than that of the paintings in the church of Assisi. | walls of the cloisters, at the end of the thirteenth and in the very beginning of the fourteenth century, have perished wholly the earliest in date which still exist represent the Passion of our Saviour in a rude but solemn style. We find here the accompaniments usual in this subject from the earliest time, and which, from their perpetual repetition down to a late period, appear to be traditional; the lamenting angels, the sorrowing women, the Virgin fainting at the foot of the cross. Two angels at the head of the repentant thief prepare to carry his soul into Paradise; two demons perched on the cross of the reprobate thief are ready to seize his spirit the moment it is released, and bear it to the regions below. This fresco and another have been traditionally attributed to the Buffulmacco of facetious memory, already mentioned; but this is now supposed to be an error. The Campo Santo, or the "Holy Field," once a cemetery, though no longer used as such, is an open space of about four hundred feet in length and one hundred and eighteen feet in breadth, enclosed with high walls, and an arcade, something like the cloisters of a monastery or cathedral, running all round it. On A series of subjects from the Book of Job was the east side is a large chapel, and on the north two painted by Giotto; of these only fragments remain. smaller chapels, where prayers and masses are cele- Then followed ANDREA ORCAGNA; and the subjects brated for the repose of the dead. The open space selected by him were such as harmonized peculiarly was filled with earth brought from the Holy Land by with the destination of these sacred precincts: they the merchant-ships of Pisa, which traded to the Levant were to represent in four great compartments what in the days of its commercial splendour. This open the Italians call I quattro novissimi,' i. e. the four last space, once sown with graves, is now covered with or latest things-Death, Judgment, Hell or Purgatory, green turf. At the four corners are four tall cypress- and Paradise; but only three were completed. trees, their dark, monumental, spiral forms contrasting The first is styled the Triumph of Death (Il Trionfo with a little lowly cross in the centre, round which ivy della Morte). It is full of poetry, and abounding in or some other creeping plant has wound a luxuriant ideas then new in pictorial art. On the right is a bower. The beautiful Gothic arcade was designed festive company of ladies and cavaliers, who by their and built about 1283 by Giovanni Pisano, the son of falcons and dogs appear to be returned from the the great Nicola Pisano already mentioned. This chase. They are seated under orange-trees, and arcade, on the side next the burial-ground, is pierced splendidly attired; rich carpets are spread at their by sixty-two windows of elegant tracery divided from feet. A troubadour and singing-girl amuse them each other by slender pilasters; upwards of six hundred with flattering songs; Cupids flutter around them sepulchral monuments of the nobles and citizens of and wave their torches. All the pleasures of sense Pisa are ranged along the marble pavements, and and joys of earth are here united. On the left mingled with them are some antique remains of great Death approaches with rapid flight-a fearful-looking beauty, which the Pisans in former times brought from woman with wild streaming hair, claws instead of the Greek Isles. Here also is seen the famous sar- nails, large bats' wings, and indestructible wirecophagus which first inspired the genius of Nicola woven drapery. She swings a scythe in her hand, Pisano, and in which had been deposited the body of and is on the point of mowing down the joys of the Beatrix, mother of the famous countess Matilda.* company, (This female impersonation of Death is The walls opposite to the windows were painted in the supposed to be borrowed from Petrarch, whose fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with scriptural sub-Trionfo della Morte' was written about this time.) jects. Most of these are half ruined by time, neglect, A host of corpses closely pressed together lie at her and damp; some only present fragments; here an feet; by their insignia they are almost all to be recogarm-there a head; and the best preserved are faded, nised as the former rulers of the world, kings, queens, discoloured, ghastly in appearance, and solemn in sub- cardinals, bishops, princes, warriors, &c. Their souls ject. The whole aspect of this singular place, particu- rise out of them in the form of new-born infants; larly to those who wander through its long arcades at angels and demons are ready to receive them: the the close of day, when the figures on the pictured souls of the pious fold their hands in prayer; those of walls look dim and spectral through the gloom, and the condemned shrink back in horror. The angels the cypresses assume a blacker hue, and all the associa- are peculiarly yet happily conceived, with bird-like tions connected with its sacred purpose and its history forms and variegated plumage; the devils have the rise upon the fancy, has in its silence and solitude, semblance of beasts of prey or of disgusting reptiles. and religious destination, something inexpressibly They fight with each other: on the right the angels strange, dreamy, solemn, almost awful. Seen in the ascend to heaven with those they have saved; while broad glare of noonday, the place and the pictures the demons drag their prey to a fiery mountain, lose something of their power over the fancy, and that visible on the left, and hurl the souls down into the which last night haunted us as a vision, to-day we ex- flames. Next to these corpses is a crowd of beggars amine, study, criticise. and crippies, who with outstretched arms call upon Death to end their sorrows; but she heeds not their prayer, and has already passed them in her flight. A rock separates this scene from another, in which is represented a second hunting-party descending the mountain by a hollow path: here again are richlyattired princes and dames on horses splendidly caparisoned, and a train of hunters with falcons and dogs. The path has led them to three open sepulchres in the left corner of the picture; in them lie the bodies of three princes, in different stages of decay. Close by, in extreme old age and supported on crutches, stands a monk, St. Macarius, who, turning to the princes, The building of the Campo Santo was scarcely finished when the best painters of the time were summoned to paint the walls all round the interior with appropriate subjects. This was a work of many years: it was indeed continued at intervals through two centuries; and thus we have a series of illustrations of the progress of art during its first development, of the religious influences of the age, and even of the habits and manners of the people, which are faithfully exhibited in some of these inost extraordinary compositions. Those first executed, in the large chapel and on the *See Essay II., No. 698. points down to this bitter Memento mori.' They look on apparently with indifference, and one of them holds his nose, as if incommoded by the horrible stench. One queenly lady alone, deeply moved, rests her head on her hand, her countenance full of a pensive sorrow. On the mountain heights are several hermits, who, in contrast to the followers of the joys of the world, have attained in a life of contemplation and abstinence to a state of tranquil blessedness. One of them milks a doe, squirrels are sporting round him; another sits and reads, and a third looks down into the valley, where the remains of the mighty are mouldering away. There is a tradition that among the personages in these pictures are many portraits of the artist's contemporaries. [To be continued.} PROGRESSES OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. OXFORD UNIVERSITY. On the 3rd of September the Queen went on foot with all her retinue to St. Mary's Church to hear disputations in natural and moral philosophy, which lasted from four o'clock till six, with which she was much pleased, exclaiming, "Excellent, O excellent!" On the following morning there were more disputations in the hall of Merton College, which she also attended she then dined at Christ Church, and again attended disputations in St. Mary's Hall in the civil law, for" about four hours," previous to her witnessing the play already spoken of. She must have been an admirable listener. The 5th, Thursday, was again occupied by disputations in St. Mary's Church, when several of the exhibitors were omitted" for want of time," and at six o'clock the Queen concluded the act, "to the very great delight and rejoicing of many hundred then present," with a speech in Latin. She then supped, and repaired to Christ Church Hall to witness the performance of the Latin tragedy of Progne,' by Dr. James Calfhill, for which she gave him thanks, but it did not take half so well as the much-admired play of Palæmon and Arcyte.' On the following day the degree of Master of Arts was conferred on many of the noblemen and gentlemen of her retinue, which was followed by a Latin sermon in the Cathedral, at which the Queen was not present, "being much wearied." | The Vice-chancellor and proctors afterwards presented her, in the name of the University, with "six pairs of very fine gloves; and to divers noblemen and officers of the Queen's family some two, some one pair, very thankfully accepted." After another oration she departed with her retinue by Carfax to East Gate, attended by the officials of the University and city, the scholars and others standing in order, while the walls were "hung with innumerable sheets of verses, bemoaning the Queen's departure, as did the countenances of the laity (especially those of female sex) that then beheld her.' On reaching the boundary of the University jurisdiction at Shotover, an "eloquent oration" was delivered, to which she answered, turning her face towards Oxford, " Farewell, the worthy University of Oxford; farewell, my good subjects there; farewell my dear scholars, and pray God prosper your studies; farewell-farewell.' Notwithstanding her apparent affability and expressed satisfaction, there were many things in Oxford that displeased; and among the earliest of her acts on her return to London were the issuing of orders for the defacing and melting down of "plate remaining in superstitious fashion," and the transmission to Lambeth of certain "superstitious books," among which are enumerated mass-books, invitatories, psalters, a "great prick-song book of parchment," and others on vellum and on paper. She stopped on her return at Rycott, and in the course of the year visited Dr. Heath, the deprived Archbishop of York, at Cobham. In 1592, Lord Buckhurst being Chancellor, Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford a second time, on Friday the 22nd of September, remaining till the 28th, when the reception and entertainments were so entirely of the same character as to render a repetition needless. But the Queen does not appear to have been so patient an auditor on this occasion as on the previous one. During the oration of the Bishop of Hereford, in one of the disputations, " Whether it be lawful to dissemble in the cause of religion?"" the Queen, being somewhat weary of it, sent twice to him to cut it short, because herself intended to make a public speech that evening; but he would not, or, as some told her, could not put himself out of a set methodical speech for fear he should have marred all, or else confounded his memory. Wherefore, seeing it was so, she forbeared her speech at that time, and more privately the next morning sending for the heads of houses and other persons, spake to them her mind in the Latin tongue And among others there present, she schooled Dr. John Reynolds for his obstinate preciseness, willing him to follow her laws, and not run before them." While in the midst of her speech, she noticed the old Lord Treasurer Burleigh, who was lame, standing, when she stopped, and would not proceed till a stool was procured for him, and then "fell to it again as if there had been no interruption." This, it was said, was done as a satire on the bishop, "who durst not adventure to do a less matter the day before;" of another of the speakers she remarked-"He had been already too long;" and several were cut short by the Proctors. On Sunday evening she attended the representation in Christ Church Hall of a comedy called 'Bellum Grammaticales;' and on Tuesday of another called Rivales :' of the nature of which we are told nothing, except that her Majesty heard them "most graciously and with great patience." A representation of the interior of Christ Church Hall has already been given in No. 182, together with several of the other buildings and objects of interest in Oxford in that number and No. 165. She was again accompanied on her departure to Shotover, and again" looking wistfully toward Oxford, said to this effect in the Latin tongue: Farewell, farewell, dear Oxford, God bless thee, and increase thy sons in number, holiness, and virtue,'" &c. a somewhat equivocal prayer perhaps. In 1567 and the few following years we have little or nothing beyond the mention of the places she visited. On August 18, 1567, she was at Oatlands; on the 21st at Guildford; on the 25th at Farnham; and on September 9th she arrived at Windsor, from whence she had started. On July 4th, 1568, she was at Greenwich; on July 6th, at Howard Place, London; on the 14th and 15th at Havering; on the 19th at Copt-Hall near Waltham; and also visited Anthony Cooke at Giddy or Gidea Hall, near Romford. On July 25, she was at Enfield; on the 28th at Hatfield. During August she visited St. Alban's, Whaddon, Bucks; Easton, Neston, and Grafton, Northamptonshire; Bicester and Rycot, Oxfordshire; and Newbury and Reading in Berkshire; but we have no record of any of the proceedings. In 1569 she was at Richmond on July 27, and at Oatlands on August 2nd: at Guildford and Farnham on August 3rd, and again at Guildford on August 12th; and in this and the following month visited in succession, Titchfield House, the seat of the Earl of Southampton; the Vine, the residence of Lord Sandys; and BasingHouse, the mansion of the Marquis of Winchester, 148 THE PENNY MAGAZINE. and where we shall meet her again in 1601, when visiting his successor. In September she was at the town of Southampton, from whence she issued an order to the citizens of Coventry, displacing their mayor, John Harford, for beating a man who had meddled with his greyhounds, with a walking-staff, so that he died; he was also forced to agree with the man's wife for his pardon, and exempted from the council for ever. The Queen then spent her Christmas at Hampton Court, on account of the plague, which was then "dispersed far abroad in London.' In the accounts of the Queen's purse, made up to Her practice in music is shown by the end of this year (1568) from 1559, we find some curious entries. the entry of 741. 138. 4d. for lute-strings for various years, at the rate of 13. 6s. 8d. per annum; one great sackbutt, 157.; 68/. 78. 11d. for perfumes; painting-work, 6l. 13s. 4d.; 1864/. 19s. 10d., for articles connected with the wardrobe; while the only entry of a literary character is 11. 68. 8d., for binding four books. [The Ameers of Scinde.] SCINDE AND THE SCINDIANS. THERE are many fairer portions of the earth than Scinde, but if its rulers had allowed the resources of the country to be freely developed, the Scindians might have been a happy and prosperous people. The Arabian Gulf, which on the east washes the coast of Malabar, and on the west the coast of Arabia, is the southern limit of Scinde; and Curachee, the most western Scindian port, is just at the mouth of the Gulf of Persia. Scinde is bounded on the south by the sea, as already stated; on the west by Beloochistan; on the north by Affghanistan and the Punjaub; and on the east it is separated from Hindostan by a sterile and unproductive tract of country. The exact limits over which the power of the Amcers extended were not always very accurately defined, as the weakness of a neighbour led them to Recently make encroachments upon his territory. the country ruled over by the Ameers comprised about a hundred thousand square miles (nearly twice the lacs in one case and five in the other. The most powerful of the Ameers resided at Hyderabad, the modern capital, where, in a massive tower within the fort, a treasure was amassed, valued at twenty millions sterling, thirteen of which were in specie and the remainder in jewels. The revenue of the three Ameers was nearly the total revenue of Scinde. There were a few chiefs who possessed portions of the country, and levied duties on their own account. There were nobles of the Talpoor tribe always resident at the court of the Ameers, all of whom enjoyed the title of Ameer, but were not allowed any share in the affairs of the state. When Mr. Burnes visited Hyderabad in 1827, only two of the Ameers were living. So jealous had they been of the British government, that they had allowed no European officer to cross their frontier from the British province of Cutch on the south-east; and during the Burmese war it became necessary to overawe them by a display of force. Much surprise therefore was excited when, laying aside their cold and unfriendly attitude, they addressed a very friendly letter to the Resident in Cutch, requesting Mr. Burnes to proceed to Hyderabad on account of the illness of one of the Ameers. Mr. Burnes was pleased with the good taste exhibited in his reception at their court. "There was no gaudy show of tinsel or scarlet; none of that mixture of gorgeousness and dirt to be seen at the courts of most Hindoo princes." But in matters more important than these their conduct is deserving only of condemnation, though the defects of education may account partly for the narrow policy which they pursued. Mr. Crow, in his account of the four Ameers, written at the end of the last century, says, "The present rulers of Scinde have been seen, it is said, tending cattle in its jungles, and cooking their own meals. Certain it is that their understandings, dispositions, and manners betray great barbarity of education, and that since their affluence they have derived little cultivation from literature or society." Though professing great attachment to the Mohammedan religion, they could not boast of a respectable mosque in their dominions; and, in spite of their wealth, they were, according to Mr. Elphinstone, ignorant of elegance or comfort. The government of the Ameers was a harsh military despotism, careless of the welfare of the people, regarding the extent of their treasure as the surest foundation of power. The light in which the unproductive mass of precious metals and stones at Hyderabad was regarded, is a proof in itself of a barbarous and unenlightened mind. The taxes were enormous, and were farmed to the highest bidders, chiefly Hindoos, who alone possess capital. Trade and industry were paralysed by absurd restrictions and heavy duties. Mr. Burnes says that it is "difficult to conceive a more unpopular rule with all classes of their subjects than that of the Ameers." The passion for hunting is indulged in to a most extraordinary extent by the Ameers and other chiefs. They depopulated extensive and productive tracts of country in order to make forests and covers for game. It is no wonder, therefore, that the people were in a wretched state, both in the towns and villages. Hyderabad, the capital, situated on the banks of the Indus, one hundred and thirty miles from the sea, was little better than a collection of mud hovels, and not much more substantial than those found in the villages. Numbers of the people lived in grass huts erected amidst their cultivated land; and when food or forage failed it was not unusual for a whole village to be abandoned for a more favourable station. The Scindians are described by the late Sir Alexander Burnes, in his Memoir of the Indus,' as passionate and proud, feelings which he ascribes to their savage ignorance and jealousy, and they are naturally insincere, from living under a tyrannical government; but they are, he says, honest, and, under peculiarly tempting circumstances, his property was always respected. They are brave soldiers, and do not display that passion for cavalry which distinguishes other Asiatic people, but pride themselves on their qualities as foot-soldiers. Sir Alexander Burnes remarks, that their whole armed force, if brought into the field, would be little better than an undisciplined rabble. In 1834 the last of the four Ameers died, and, as a natural consequence of the state of the succession, the conflicting factions of the young princes brought on a civil war. The country has since been more or less in a disturbed state, and at present the leading Ameer is embroiled with the British government in India on points connected with the navigation of the Indus. It is scarcely possible that the result of the contest should be otherwise than advantageous to the people of Scinde, and if once the Ameers learn to know the real objects of government, the Scindians may become a happier people, and Scinde a wealthy and commercial kingdom. Scinde has fallen into a worse state since it was described by Mr. Burnes fifteen years ago, in consequence of the anarchy which ensued on the death of the last of the four Ameers. Their treasure and their field-sports are still the chief objects of those who have succeeded them, Mrs. Postans, whose work on 'Western India' is well known, in an account of a steam-trip down the Indus in 1842,* speaking of the fine forests of the Ameers enclosed with walls for the preservation of game, says that every head of game was calculated to cost the Ameers 50l., reckoning only the expenses of their sporting establishments. In the period which had elapsed since Mr. Burnes's visit, the lords of Scinde appear neither to have forgotten anything nor to have learnt anything. The Indus, which is navigable from Lahore to the sea, a distance of a thousand miles, hitherto almost a stranger to commercial enterprise, is now enlivened by steam-boats. This river does not possess the advantages of the Ganges, and large ships cannot enter any of its numerous mouths, but flat-bottomed boats and steam-boats constructed for the purpose may navigate its waters in safety. The British government has already formed treaties with the several states on the banks of the river, with a view of promoting and protecting trade. Steam-boats established by the government and by private traders have already opened a commercial intercourse by this route with the northwestern provinces of Hindostan. It is the intention of the government so to improve the roads between the Sutlej and the Jumna and the Ganges, as to enable the British merchant who enters the Sutlej from the Indus to convey his goods from the former river, and to descend the Jumna and Ganges, instead of ascending them against the stream. The benefits of this commercial activity will soon be felt in Scinde, which derives, like Egypt from its Nile, a fertility of soil which is periodically renewed by the overflowings of the Indus, and the benefits of which might be greatly extended by canals of irrigation. At present districts adapted for cultivation are in pasture, but near the river the famines which arise from droughts are unknown. Vegetation is exuberant, and the abundance of food attracts people from the neighbouring states which enjoy a less happy position; and yet lands, which might supply the whole of Western India with their surplus produce, are overrun with jungle, and devoted to beasts of the chase. *Asiatic Journal' No. 155. |