Chap. VII. PIETRO PERUGINO. 181 fulness of pose at the expense of freedom and beauty. Certain attitudes have been set and studied once with the deepest 'attention in various aspects, have been committed to, memory, and introduced afterwards with out a return to nature, and without due consideration as to place. The hands have been cramped into certain invariable positions, the limbs have a well-known and fre quently repeated stride, the heads a constant bend; one might guess the spot where the pins have been stuck to pucker the drapery. The drawing of extremities is often untrue, affected in shape as well as in action. These are most usually the characteristics of Perugino, and they are apparent to a slight extent in the best of his Sixtine frescos. Knowledge of perspective is evident in the temple and arches of his distance, where, how ever, the blocks are all parallel or at right angles to the plane of the picture; and ho only requires the centre of vision with the distance-points to measure by. But he takes little advantage of his knowledge when connecting groups and figures with the ground on which they stand, and the edifices which surround them. It serves his pur pose to have the centre of vision high, in order that the bases of his buildings shall be seen far above the fore ground personages. These form a row in front, and are remarkable for their staid demeanour. Just above them, he throws in another string of people remarkable for ex cessive liveliness of motion. Above these are the bases of his temples and arches which stand on a given line and in regular order. He thus covers his surface literally, but he does not conceal the voids between the ranks; and he still leaves the impression of conventionalism and mo notony. Though Ghirlandaio was less perfect in perspec tive than Perugino, than Pier della Francesca or Man tegna, he applied its general principles in combination with the great maxims of composition, and so obtained far more important results than could be hoped for by any exclusive professor of the science. Perugino, no doubt, was not unmindful of Ghirlandaio’s masterpieces
