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                    THE MENTOR 1916.04.01, No. 104,
                         The National Gallery

                            LEARN ONE THING
                               EVERY DAY

                   APRIL 1 1916      SERIAL No. 104

                                  THE
                                MENTOR

                            GREAT GALLERIES
                             OF THE WORLD

                             THE NATIONAL
                                GALLERY

                                LONDON

                             By Professor
                           JOHN C. VAN <DW18>

                   DEPARTMENT OF           VOLUME 4
                   FINE ARTS               NUMBER 4

                         FIFTEEN CENTS A COPY




Why Knowledge?


“Knowledge gives power,” says the philosopher. “Knowledge enriches,”
says the scholar. But the practical individual exclaims: “Special
expert knowledge is a personal asset, but how does general knowledge
enrich?”

       *       *       *       *       *

“Knowledge makes life fuller and more interesting.” And what does
that mean? It means that life, through knowledge, may be made a joy
and a blessing in spite of what the cynics say. It means that through
knowledge we learn to appraise things at their true value. Our eyes
are opened to see other colors than purple and gold, our ears to hear
understandingly other sounds than the roar of traffic, the shriek of an
automobile horn, or syncopated music. Knowledge reveals to us the nicer
shades of color that give us quiet satisfaction--the finer and gentler
tones of Nature and of human life that afford us a lasting enjoyment.
It teaches us that there are things more “worth while” than ourselves.

       *       *       *       *       *

Why do some of us ignore fine art, dismiss good books with
indifference, yawn at good music, speed through a ravishing landscape
at sixty miles an hour, and neglect a friendship that would bring us
self-improvement? The sky and mountains have a thousand messages for
us, if we pause to listen to them. The sea is an oracle if we study it.
A good book is a mine of information if we search it. A fine painting
is an inspiration if we cherish it. Good music is a constant joy if we
give attention to it. And the voices of our fellow creatures are filled
with precious confidences if we give our ears and hearts to them.

       *       *       *       *       *

Let us then seek knowledge with the eager mind of a child; for indeed,
as Robert Louis Stevenson sang:

    The world is so full of a number of things,
    I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.




[Illustration: NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

THE DOGE LOREDANO. BY GIOVANNI BELLINI]




THE NATIONAL GALLERY

GIOVANNI BELLINI

Monograph Number One in The Mentor Reading Course


There were three famous painters in the Bellini family. Jacopo
Bellini was the father, and his two sons were Gentile and Giovanni
(Jo-van´-nee), the latter being the younger and the greater.

He is supposed to have been born at Venice either in 1430 or 1431,
and was brought up in his father’s house, serving with his brother as
his father’s assistant until he was nearly thirty years old. However,
Giovanni seems to have been influenced more by his brother-in-law,
Mantegna, than by his father. This influence lasted until Mantegna
departed for the Court of Mantua in 1460. In 1470 Giovanni was
commissioned to paint a Deluge with Noah’s Ark. After this he painted
many pictures, among them the famous altar-piece for the Church of S.
Giovanni e Paolo, which was destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1867,
along with Titian’s “Peter Martyr” and “The Crucifixion” by Tintoretto.

After 1480 a great deal of Giovanni’s time and energy was taken up by
his duties as conservator of the paintings in the great hall of the
Ducal Palace at Venice. His duties were to repair and renew the works
of his predecessors. In addition, he was commissioned to paint a number
of new subjects himself. These pictures illustrated the part played by
Venice in the wars of Barbarossa. The works were much admired, but none
of them survived the fire of 1577.

About the end of the year 1505 Giovanni painted the portrait of
the Doge Loredano. This is the only portrait of his which has been
preserved. It is one of the most masterly in the whole range of
painting. Loredano was the man who carried the Venetian republic
through the most trying period