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CHAPTER II HIS LIFE With the exception of one or two facts, we start on our inquiry into Crivelli's life with no better sources of information than were at our disposal in our investigation of his artistic origins. Until some documentary evidence is unearthed, we have to rely ultimately on the pictures and what they tell us, for reconstructing Crivelli's personal history as well as his artistic career. Under these circumstances the facts which we can collect are, naturally, very few and very general. Let us see what they are. First, as to the date of Crivelli's birth. In the absence of any definite statement we must make an inference from the dates which he sometimes appended to his signature. The earliest is on the altar-piece at Massa, and the year is 1468 ; the latest is 1493, on the " Coronation," in the Brera, an interval of twenty-five years. But the picture at Massa cannot be Crivelli's earliest work. As we shall see when we come to examine it, while containing indications of immaturity, on the other hand it already possesses in a definite form the characteristics which we may describe as Crivellian. In other words, it postulates a course of development. The probabilities are that Crivelli's strongly pronounced individuality would assert itself early, and quicklyemancipate itself from the fetters of mere imitation. Still, there must have been a period, however short, of discipleship ; and if any of Crivelli's earliest productions had survived we should no doubt see in them less of himself and more of his masters than is the case with the picture at Massa. If we were able to accept it as authentic, the Berlin " Pietà," with its un-Crivellian character, would be anillustration of what we mean. As we cannot, we must be content with the " Madonna " at Verona, which, tho...
