rather too formal for his taste. It is noticeable that, in the few
instances where he painted it, he took the suggestion, as here, from
some previous work. Thus his Madonna of St. Anthony, also in the
National Gallery (loaned by the King of Naples), was based upon an old
picture by Bernardino di Mariotto, according to the strict orders of
the nuns for whose convent it was a commission. The Baldacchino
Madonna of the Pitti, at Florence, is closely akin to Bartolommeo's
composition in the same gallery.

Glancing, briefly, at these scattered examples, we learn that the
enthroned Madonna belongs to every school of Italian art, and
exhibits an astonishing variety of forms. Probably it was in the North
of Italy that it flourished most. The Paduan School has its fine
representation in Mantegna's picture, already referred to; the
Brescian, in Moretto's Madonna of S. Clemente; the Veronese, in
Girolamo dai Libri's splendid altar piece in San Giorgio Maggiore; the
Bergamesque, in Lotto's Madonna of S. Bartolommeo. Above all, it was
in Venice, the Queen City of the Adriatic, that the enthroned Madonna
reached the greatest popularity: the spirit of the composition was
peculiarly adapted to the Venetian love of pomp and ceremony.

To understand Venetian art aright, we must distinguish the character
of the earlier and later periods. With Vivarini, Bellini, and Cima,
the Madonna in Trono was the expression of a devout religious feeling.
With Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, it was merely one among many
popular art subjects. Thus arose two different general types. The
earlier Madonna was a somewhat cold type of beauty; the faultless
regularity of her features and the imperturbable calm of her
expression make her rather unapproachable; but she shows a strong,
sweet purity of character, worthy of profound respect.