of his
resolute indomitable nature, and so much a part of his work, that one is
apt to forget it did not originate with him.

Although the character and aims of the two men are so entirely
different, yet to Perugino, Signorelli owed much in his methods of
producing the feeling of free space, and the life and movement of the
atmosphere. Perugino's greatest gift to Art was this power of rendering
the magic of the sun-warmed air and the sense of illimitable distance.
He gave to his landscapes space and depth, the gentle stir of wind, and
the golden shimmer of sunshine. Signorelli also learnt this power of
presenting the life of hill and tree and sky, and some of his effects of
distance have the space and grandeur almost of Nature herself. He also,
like Perugino, could detach his figures from the background, and send
the line of hills receding back to the horizon. Signorelli owes to him,
besides, certain superficial characteristics, such as the fluttering
scarfs and ribbon-like draperies, and the upturned face with ecstatic
eyes which belongs to the Umbrian painter as much as the drooping head
belongs to Botticelli.

From these four great artists Signorelli learnt what each had best to
give, and assimilated and made it his own, with unerring instinct for
its virtue in aiding his own specific qualities. Not that he was in any
sense an eclectic, but he had the unconscious tendency of the healthy
soul to seize upon the food that best ministers to its nourishment. Thus
the fine genius and inspiration of Pier dei Franceschi and the grace of
Perugino saved him from becoming too rigorously realistic under the
influence of the scientific Florentines, Donatello and Pollaiuolo,
working upon his own uncompromising nature.

The most important writers on Signorelli--Crowe and Cavalcaselle,[33]
Rumohr,[34] and, above all, Vischer,[35] mention several other masters,
who, they claim, exercised an influence upon his work, and it is obvious
that to the Sienese school generally he was indebted for many decorative
methods, particularly in the use of gold and gilded gesso. There are
also in some of his paintings reminiscences of Verrocchio and Fiorenzo
di Lorenzo; but an impression of sufficient depth to be considered, must
touch the spirit, and here there appears to me to be little besides
superficial resemblances. It must be remembered, moreover, in the case
of Verrocchio, how much he himself owed to Donatello, while with respect
to the a