CRIVELLI, CARLO and VITTORE. — Painters: CARLO born in Venice between 1430–35 and died there between 1493–95. He was trained in the Paduan school and was influenced by Roger van der Weyden through some follower of his. He carried out most of his activity in the Marches, where he took refuge after fleeing Venice because of a sentence imposed on him there (1457). In 1478 he is found in Ascoli Piceno; in 1488 he was in Camerino.
The development of his activity can readily be followed through a series of numerous signed and dated works, from 1468 (the polyptych in the gallery of Urbino) to 1493 (the Coronation in Brera, formerly in S. Francesco at Fabriano). From Mantegna and the Paduan school he derived the incisiveness of line, the vigorous plastic sense, the clear and firm colouring, and the love of decorations consisting of garlands of fruits and flowers, fabrics, and precious marbles; but from the outset he modified these models with that decorative sense which, increasingly refined, constitutes the principal attraction of his paintings. Architectural details in the backgrounds, the figures’ garments, and even the features of their faces, convulsed by suffering, are subordinated to II. The drawing is rigid and sharp, the sacred figures hieratically severe, and the expression of emotion—especially in those portrayed in grief—carried to the point of exaggeration.
Among the principal works are recalled: the polyptych with the Madonna and saints (1481), the Madonna (1482), and the Pietà, all in the Vatican Pinacoteca; the Annunciation in the National Gallery in London (1486), delightful in its details of refined decorative realism; the Madonna della candeletta and the Coronation (1493) in the Brera gallery, a consummate example of what the art of C. can achieve.
Carlo C., though not a great master, should be placed among the most sincere artists of every age and region, and in his paintings he often attracts more than the very greatest. His models, together with those of other Venetians, played a major part in the formation of the Marchigian school.
VITTORE, his brother (born in Venice around 1445, died between 1501 and 1502), was his close imitator; numerous works of his, lacking originality, remain in the Brera gallery, in various churches and collections of the Marches, and in Italian and foreign collections. — Vedi tav. LX.