Note 56 — GIORGIONE

It is noteworthy that Morelli claimed (as is shown by the + with which the attribution is marked) to be the first to show that this picture of the Knight was by Catena. Crowe and Cavalcaselle had already written of the picture as by Catena. Considerable care must be exercised in the use of Morelli’s writings to distinguish between his true discoveries (which were many) and his agreements with earlier authorities. It may be that these agreements were based on his own private study, but there is a great difference between the result of one’s study leading to our giving assent to what others have perceived before us and our discovery of what had never been imagined by our predecessors. Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerint, but still honesty and justice are of greater value than fame. Nor does a pleasant temper show in the implied sarcasm of Morelli’s words about this picture which he calls a “herrliches Werk des Catena, obwohl es im Galeriekatalog noch immerfort blos der Schule des Giambellino zugetheilt wird (+).” It is surely not so very inaccurate to describe a work by Catena as of the ‘Schule des Giambellino.’