freely than heretofore. They aimed to unite such a
style as Correggio's--who belonged to no school--with that of the
severely mannered artists of the preceding centuries. These artists were
called Eclectics, and the Bolognese school of the Carracci was the most
important centre of the movement, while Domenichino, a native of
Bologna--1581-1631--was the most distinguished painter of the school.

The original aims of the Eclectics are well summed up in a sonnet by
Agostino Carracci, which has been translated as follows: "Let him who
wishes to be a good painter acquire the design of Rome, Venetian action
and Venetian management of shade, the dignified color of Lombardy--that
is of Leonardo da Vinci--the terrible manner of Michael Angelo, Titian's
truth and nature, the sovereign purity of Correggio's style and the just
symmetry of a Raphael, the decorum and well-grounded study of Tibaldi,
the invention of the learned Primaticcio, and a _little_ of
Parmigianino's grace; but without so much study and weary labor let him
apply himself to imitate the works which our Niccolo--dell Abbate--left
us here." Kugler calls this "a patchwork ideal," which puts the matter in
a nut-shell.

At one period the Eclectics produced harmonious pictures in a manner
attractive to women, many of whom studied under Domenichino, Giovanni
Lanfranco, Guido Reni, the Campi, and others. Sofonisba Anguisciola,
Elisabetta Sirani, and the numerous women artists of Bologna were of this
school.

The greatest excellence of this art was of short duration; it declined as
did the literature, and indeed, the sacred and political institutions of
Italy in the seventeenth century. It should not, however, be forgotten,
that the best works of Guercino, the later pictures of Annibale Carracci,
and the important works of Domenichino and Salvator Rosa belong to this
period.

The second school was that of the Naturalists, who professed to study
Nature alone, representing with brutal realism her repulsive aspects.
Naples was the centre of these painters, and the poisoning of Domenichino
and many other dark and terrible deeds have been attributed to them. Few
women were attracted to this school, and the only one whose association
with the Naturalisti is recorded--Aniella di Rosa--paid for her temerity
with her life.

* * * * *

In Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and other Italian cities, there were,
in the seventeenth century, many wom