ition at Rovigo are now adduced as evidence of
Titian's authorship of the Vienna "Gipsy Madonna."

But is there any proof that Titian ever copied or repeated any other
work of Giorgione? There is, fortunately, one great and acknowledged
precedent, the "Venus" in the Tribune of the Uffizi, which is _directly_
taken from Giorgione's Dresden "Venus," The accessories, it is true, are
different, but the nude figures are line for line identical.[128] Other
painters, Palma, Cariarli, and Titian, elsewhere, derived inspiration
from Giorgione's prototype, but Titian actually repeats the very figure
in this "Venus"; so that there is nothing improbable in my contention
that Titian also repeated Giorgione's "Gipsy Madonna," adding his
signature thereto, to the confusion and confounding of later
generations.

[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Collection of Mr. R.H. Benson, London_

MADONNA AND CHILD]

It is worthy of note that not a single "Madonna and Child" by Titian
exists, except the little picture in Mr. Mond's collection, painted
quite in the artist's old age. Titian invariably paints "Madonna and
Saints," or a "Holy Family," so that the three Madonna pictures I am
claiming for Giorgione are marked off by this peculiarity from the bulk
of Titian's work. This in itself is not enough to disqualify Titian, but
it is a factor in that cumulative proof by which I hope Giorgione's
claim may be sustained. The marble parapet again is a feature in
Giorgione's work, but not in Titian's. But the most convincing evidence
to those who know the master lies in the composition, which forms an
almost equilateral triangle, revealing Giorgione's supreme sense of
beauty in line. The splendid curves made by the drapery, the pose of the
Child, so as to obtain the same unbroken sweep of line, reveals the
painter of the Dresden "Venus." The painting of the Child's hand over
the Madonna's is precisely as in the Madrid picture, where, moreover,
the pose of the Child is singularly alike. The folds of drapery on the
sleeve recur in the same picture, the landscape with the small figure
seated beneath the tree is such as can be found in any Giorgione
background. The oval of the face and the delicacy of the features are
thoroughly characteristic, as is the spirit of calm reverie and tender
simplicity which Giorgione has breathed into his figures.

The second and third Madonna pictures--viz. the one at Bergamo, and its
counterpart in Mr. Benson's collection--