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Chap. IX. NICCOLO SEMITECOLO, 267 of action than for order or symmetry. Life and passion are realized in the old forms, but with the advantage of a certain intelligence in the drawing of the nude. S. Se bastian, for instance, though unideal in conception, is not devoid of proportion, or feeling in expression; but a vul gar realism may be traced in the details of his frame. A large torso is supported on slender but coarsely jointed limbs; superabundant hair covers his head. The types and movement are the vehement ones of the old time, and some of the bowmen with large heads and staring eyes are curiously like Tartars in face. Occasional groups please in spite of defective forms. The skill of Semitecolo is in fact that of a man following old tra ditions and methods, and painting with colours less dull than that of most of his cotemporaries. The warm yellow ish carnation, shadowed as usual in verde and spotted with red in the cheeks, does not repel the eye by too great harshness of contrast, but pleases by additional fusion. Precise outlines define the forms with simple minuteness. A certain ease in the drapery and judg ment in the mode of throwing it about the form are qualities of the master; but it must be borne in mind that these are the best of Niccolo's works, and that the remaining examples of his manner are less perfect. The minor panels of the coronation signed by the Pievan di S. Agnese in the Academy of Venice are much in Semi- tecolo’s manner. 1 A Virgin giving the breast to the infant with various saints in subordinate spaces at the Museo Correr is signed: “MCCCC. N. Semitecolo.” The inscription of an altarpiece in S. Maria de Servi at Venice has been preserved by Sansovino 2 in the following words: “MCCCLXX. XX Decembrio. Nicolo Semitecolo fecit hoc opus.” Enough is known to justify the assertion that Semi- 1 No. 16. Academy of Arts 8 Sansovino ub. su'p.Lib.III. at Venice. p. 59.
