This is one of those inexplicable perversions of judgment to which even
the best critics are at times liable. In _L'Arte_, 1900, p. 24, the same
writer mentions that a certain Antonio Broccardo, son of Marino, made
his will in 1527, and that the same name occurs among those who
frequented the University of Bologna in 1525. There is nothing to
prevent Giorgione having painted this man's portrait when younger.
[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Borghese Gallery, Rome_
PORTRAIT OF A LADY]
The third portrait in Morelli's list has not had the same friendly
reception at the hands of later critics as the preceding two have had.
This is the "Portrait of a Lady" in the Borghese Gallery at Rome, whose
discovery by Morelli is so graphically described in a well-known
passage.[38] And in truth it must be confessed that the authorship of
this portrait is not at first sight quite so evident as in the other
cases; nevertheless I am firmly convinced that Morelli saw further than
his critics, and that his intuitive judgment was in this instance
perfectly correct.[39] The simplicity of conception, the intensity of
expression, the pose of the figure alike proclaim the master, whose
characteristic touch is to be seen in the stone ledge, the fancy
head-dress, the arrangement of hair, and the modelling of the features.
The presence of the hands is characteristically explained by the
handkerchief stretched tight between them, the action being expressive
of suppressed excitement: "She stands at a window .
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