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Chai\ VIII. GIOTTO’S STYLE. 243 rosy and transparent tints, gave clearness to the flesh. The high lights were carefully stippled and fused without altering the general breadth of the masses. Giotto, in fact, founded a new law of colour, and entitled the Florentine school to assert its supremacy in this respect. In a re gular and ever progressing sequence, Giotto, Orcagna, Masolino, Angelico and Masaccio, and at last Fra Bar tolommeo and Andrea del Sarto, carried the art of colour ing in fresco to perfection. Raphael, though he surpassed all others in most qualities of art, remained behind the pure Tuscan school in this; whilst in the quality of chia roscuro the master of all in the sixteenth century was Coreggio. In the hands of Giotto, art in the peninsula became entitled for the first time to the name of Italian, 1 for in composition, form, design, expression and colour, he gave it one uniform stamp of originality in progress, an universal harmony of improvement. 2 To Cimabue, Giotto owed certain peculiarities of form. As in the first one may trace, in the altarpiece of the Rucellai, the change from open gazing eyes to long closed lids and an ellip tical iris, a reaction from one extreme to another, so in the second the maintenance of this reaction may be ob served. But although this feature descended generally to almost all the Giottesques, the master himself in his maturity seemed inclined to correct it. Again, as regards colour, Cimabue, with his light clear tones, seemed to protest in the liveliest manner against the dark mapped 1 Tu vedi, says Cesare Guasti, (Opuscoli ubi sup. p. 5.) per la mano di Giotto sostituirsi nuovi tipi, che volentieri chiaraero na tional! alle maniere de’ Bizantini, in tanto che la barbarie del feu- dalismo cedeva alia costituzione dei Comuni; e dal rozzo latino svolgevasi labella lingua d’ltalia.” 2 “Arrecb, says Ghiberti very truly (comm, in Vas. Vol. I. p. XVIII), l’arte naturale e la gentilezza con ossa, non uscendo delle misure.” — Niuna cosa, says Boccaccio in the novella No. 5 of the 6 th day (Decam. Lon don 1774. 12°. Vol. III. p. 499.) dalla natura, . . . fil che egli con lo stile e con la penna e col penello non dipignesse si simile a quella, che non simile, anzi piu tosto dessa paresse; intan- toche molte volte nelle cose da lui fatte, si truova, che il visivo senso degli uomini vi prese errore, quello credendo esser vero che era dipinto.” — A poetic exaggera tion — but showing the enthu siasm of a great admirer. 16*