PLATE L.

A CANDELABRUM,

BY TRENTANOVE OF ROME.

The productions of this young sculptor exhibit many of the best characteristics of the Italian style ofmodelling of the Cinque-cento period; and he has unquestionably attained a facility and delicacy of handling,together with a breadth of style in the conventional treatment of foliage and architectural decorations, whichafford an admirable illustration of the style of art which we propose to trace historically in the present article.

It has been long desirable that the purity of composition and graceful variety which distinguish themonuments of the great masters of decorative design in Italy should be more generally appreciated in thiscountry; and it is, therefore, to be esteemed a fortunate circumstance that Signor Trentanove has permanentlyestablished himself in England.

Like every other phase of art characterised by extreme refinement, the progress of Cinque-cento sculpturehas been slow; and it is through the labours of many generations of artists that we are enabled to trace itsprogressive developement. From the stiff acanthi and other features of the rude carvings of the Lombardmasters—such as those of San Michele and other churches at Lucca —an uninterrupted chain of modificationsmay be traced, until we realise the playful treatment of conventional foliage which characterises the bestmasters of Cinque-cento art. The successful efforts of those artists were, in fact, carried on but in pursuitof the light of classic art, of which the Lombard sculptures reflected the last fading rays.

For the earlier links of this chain we must refer our readers to Cicognara ’s elaborate “ Storia dellaScultura,” and Seroux d’Agincourt’s “ Ilistoire de l’Art par ses Monuments;” but taking up the narrative fromthe impulse given to the art in Italy by Nicola di Pisa, we may follow succinctly the steps which led to theultimate perfection of the style under the immortal Sansovino .

The commencement of the thirteenth century was distinguished by the birth of the great Pisan Reformer,in whose various works we find the naivete of action of Greek and Lombard art struggling with aspirationsfor the refinements of a more ideal style. In those of his son, Giovanni Pisano , much more of the Gothicsentiment—that of a happy tranquillity, combined wflth extreme purity and tenderness—is to be recognised.This awakening spirit of an art which, though Gothic in its details, bore still a powerful impress derivedfrom the atmosphere of classic tradition in which its authors lived, spread rapidly throughout Italy .

At Rome, about the year 1300, the family of the Cosmati embellished the churches of the capital withmany graceful specimens of ornamental carving,—principally in tombs, tabernacles, ciboria, &c. Somewhatlater, Massuccio flourished at Naples; and at Venice, Filippo Calendario , whose beautiful capitals and ornamentsof the old palace of the Doge have been the theme of admiration for every writer from Cicognaia to Ruskin.

About the latter end of the fourteenth century a new spirit seems to have arisen, more particularly inTuscany. The Gothic style of sculpture, which in that district had found favour in the eyes of Giotto ,Orcagna, Andrea Pisano , and other artists, almost entirely disappeared before the more diiect imitation of theantique, which was mainly introduced by Jacopo della Quercia , the remains of whose extraordinary fountainat Sienna bear all the characteristics of the purest style of Roman workmanship. Not content with imitatingclassic sculpture, Della Quercia —or, as he was subsequently called, from his great work, Della Fonte—exhibitedin many of his productions a singular naivete in imitating “ the life.” Thus, in his exquisite monument of Illaria