European Painting and Sculpture

308 Pages·1956·45.513 MB·English

by  Eric Newton

uropean
Painting
r^*
>*<C' and Sculpture
NEWTON
BY ERIC
85c
The object of this book, which has now been
completely revised, is toprovideashortaccountof
the development ofthe finearts, and inparticular
ofpainting,inEuropefromtheearliest timestothe
present day. The author's aims have been three -
brevity, continuity, and a sense ofproportion. He
has kept as close to the limits ofjustifiable com-
pression as possible. Important secondary artists
havebeenomitted: biographicaldetailsareabsent.
Butonlybyruthlesscompressioncancontinuitybe
assured. Each artist or group ofartists is treated
not as an isolatedphenomenonbutasalinkin the
growing chain oftradition. Theemphasisisrather
on thestrength, theshape, andthedirectionofthe
chain at each point in its evolution than on the
individual link.
Asforasenseofproportion, that mustultimately
depend on the author's personal sense ofwhat is
important, which, in its turn, is a reflexion of his
likes and dislikes. These he has not seriously
attempted to conceal, butthereaderwhodoesnot
share them will not find the book invalidated on
that account.
In order to achieve brevity it is necessary to
begin with a pointofview,otherwisefundamental
principles have to be stated and re-statedatevery
crucial point of the story. The opening chapters,
therefore, contain abriefexpositionoftheauthor's
attitude to worksofart ingeneralandanexplana-
tion of the characteristics of European art as a
whole.
Thiscompletelyneweditioncontainsanenlarged
inset of32 pages ofplates.
—
/
PELICAN BOOKS
A82
EUROPEAN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE
ERIC NEWTON
I
Eric Newton
EUROPEAN PAINTING
AND SCULPTURE
PENGUIN BOOKS
PenguinBooksLtd,Harmondsworth,Middlesex
U.S.A.:PenguinBooksInc.,3300ClipperMillRoad,Baltimore11,Md
CANADA: PenguinBooks (Canada) Ltd,47GreenStreet,
SaintLambert,Montreal,P.Q.
AUSTRALIA:PenguinBooksPtyLtd,762WhitehorseRoad,
Mitcham,Victoria
Firstpublished1941
SecondeditionJanuary1942
ThirdeditionNovember1945
ReprintedJanuary 1950, 1951
Fourthedition 1956
MadeandprintedinGreatBritain
byWilliamClowesandSons,Limited,LondonandBeccles
CollogravureplatesbyHarrisonandSons,Limited
For
STELLA MARY
4\
CONTENTS
Foreword to the First Edition 7
Foreword to the SecondEdition 9
I. The Nature ofthe Arts II
2. The Representational Arts 23
3. East and West 42
4. The Development ofEuropean Art 49
5. The Stone Age 62
6. Egypt and Mesopotamia 66
7. The Aegean andAthens 71
8. Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic 84
9. The Fourteenth Century: Florence andSiena 103
10. Fifteenth-Century Florence 117
II. Italian Sculpture- of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries 136
12. The High Renaissance in Tuscany and Central Italy 143
13. Padua, Ferrara, and Venice 156
14. Mannerism, Eclecticism, andNaturalism 173
15. Flanders, Germany, Spain, Holland 179
16. France andEngland 198
17. The Twentieth Century 229
Appendix i: Diagram andNote on Diagram 238
Appendix 2: ClassifiedList ofArtists 241
Index 261
: ;;;
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgement is made for the use of the following
illustrations
Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals is reproduced by gracious per-
mission ofHer Majesty the Queen.
Mosaics in Apse of Cefalii Cathedral; Madonna and Child by
Simone Martini; Niki Tying her Sandal\ The Visitation by
Giotto; The Tribute Money by Masaccio; Musician Angels
by Van Eyck; Musician Angels by Fra Angelico; The Last
Supper by Andrea del Castagno; Jeremiah and Nude Youths
(from Sistine Chapel Ceiling) by Michelangelo; The Cruci-
fixion by Griinewald; The Entombment by Titian; The Last
Supper by Tintoretto; The Apotheosis of Venice by Veronese;
The Creation ofAdam byJacopo della Quercia; The Vision of
St Teresa by Bernini; TheBurialofCount Orgaz byEl Greco
LcLs Meninas by Velasquez; Odalisque Couchee by Ingres;
Liberty at the Barricades by Delacroix; and Jacob Meyer by
Holbein Mansell Photographs.
:
TheNativitybyPierodellaFrancesca; TheNativitybyBotticelli
TheCrucifixionbyRaphael; TheFighting TdmerairebyTurner
Hadleigh CastlebyConstable; SelfPortraitbyRembrandt; Dr
Peral by Goya; and Christ at Emmaus by Caravaggio: these
pictures are reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees of the
National Gallery, London.
ChineseScrollPainting {LadiesPreparingSilk): MuseumofFine
Arts, Boston, U.S.A.
Courbet's Toilette de la MariSe: Smith College Museum ofArt,
Northampton, U.S.A.
Archaic Greek Athlete: Metropolitan Museum ofArt, NewYork.
The Last Supper (detail) after Leonardo da Vinci: Royal
Academy ofArts.
The Music Party by Watteau: The Wallace Collection.
Saintsfrom Chartres Cathedral: Picture Post Photograph.
Alabaster Carving, fifteenth-century English: Associated Press.
The Orgy from Hogarth's The Rakers Progress: The Trustees of
the SirJohn Soane's Museum.
The Gare St Lazare by Monet: A. C. Cooperphotograph.
Le Chahut by Seurat: The Director, Rijkmuseum Kroller-
Muller.
La Toilette by Renoir: Alex Reid and Lefevre.
Le TapisRouge by Picasso: Paul Rosenberg, New York.
6