1123), from which, had not an
artificial standard of excellence been falsely raised, Giorgione's name
would never have been removed. I am happily not the first to call
attention to the propriety of the old attribution, for Sir Edward
Poynter claims that the same hand that produced the Louvre "Concert" is
also responsible for the "Venus and Adonis."[120] I fully share this
opinion. The figures, with their compactly built and rounded limbs, are
such as Giorgione loved to model, the sweep of draperies and the
splendid line indicate a consummate master, the idyllic landscape
framing episodes from the life of Adonis is just such as we see in the
Louvre picture and elsewhere, the glow and splendour of the whole reveal
a master of tone and colouring. Some good judges would give the work to
the young Titian, but it appears too intimately "Giorgionesque" to be
his, although I admit the extreme difficulty in drawing the line of
division. Passages in the "Sacred and Profane Love" of the Borghese
Gallery are curiously recalled, but the National Gallery picture is
clearly the work of a mature and experienced hand, and not of any young
artist. In my opinion it dates from about 1508, and illustrates the
later phase of Giorgione's art as admirably as do the "Epiphany" (No.
1160) and the "Golden Age" (No. 1173) his earliest style. Between these
extremes fall the "Portrait" (No. 636), and the "S. Liberale" (No.
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