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Title: Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects - Vol. 05 ( of 10) Andrea da Fiesole to Lorenzo Lotto
Author: Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574
Language: English
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"Elecate" should be "Elacate".]
LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO
VASARI:
VOLUME V. ANDREA DA FIESOLE TO LORENZO LOTTO 1913
NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED
ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES
[Illustration: 1511-1574]
PHILIP LEE WARNER, PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED 7 GRAFTON
ST. LONDON, W. 1912-14
CONTENTS OF VOLUME V
PAGE
ANDREA DA FIESOLE [ANDREA FERRUCCI], AND OTHERS 1
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO [VINCENZIO TAMAGNI], AND TIMOTEO
DA URBINO [TIMOTEO DELLA VITE] 9
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO [ANDREA CONTUCCI] 19
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO 33
BACCIO DA MONTELUPO, AND RAFFAELLO HIS SON 39
LORENZO DI CREDI 47
LORENZETTO AND BOCCACCINO 53
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI 61
GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI [CALLED IL FATTORE], AND PELLEGRINO
DA MODENA 75
ANDREA DEL SARTO 83
MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI 121
ALFONSO LOMBARDI, MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA, GIROLAMO SANTA
CROCE, AND DOSSO AND BATTISTA DOSSI 129
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE, AND OTHERS 143
GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI 157
GIROLAMO DA TREVISO 167
POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND MATURINO 173
IL ROSSO 187
BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO, AND OTHERS 205
FRANCIABIGIO [FRANCIA] 215
MORTO DA FELTRO AND ANDREA DI COSIMO FELTRINI 225
MARCO CALAVRESE 235
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI [PARMIGIANO] 241
JACOPO PALMA [PALMA VECCHIO] AND LORENZO LOTTO 257
INDEX OF NAMES 267
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME V
PLATES IN COLOUR
FACING PAGE
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
A Muse
Florence: Corsini Gallery 10
LORENZO DI CREDI
Venus
Florence: Uffizi, 3452 48
BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI)
S. Catharine borne to her Tomb by Angels
Milan: Brera, 288 54
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Madonna dell' Arpie
Florence: Uffizi, 1112 94
DOSSO DOSSI
A Nymph with a Satyr
Florence: Pitti, 147 140
FRANCIABIGIO (FRANCIA)
Portrait of a Man
Vienna: Prince Liechtenstein 222
LORENZO LOTTO
The Triumph of Chastity
Rome: Rospigliosi Gallery 258
JACOPO PALMA (PALMA VECCHIO)
S. Barbara
Venice: S. Maria Formosa 260
RONDINELLO (NICCOLÒ RONDINELLI)
Madonna and Child
Paris: Louvre, 1159 264
PLATES IN MONOCHROME
ANDREA DA FIESOLE (ANDREA FERRUCCI)
Font
Pistoia: Duomo 6
SILVIO COSINI (SILVIO DA FIESOLE)
Tomb of Raffaele Maffei
Volterra: S. Lino 8
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO (VINCENZIO TAMAGNI)
The Birth of the Virgin
San Gimignano: S. Agostino, Cappella del S. Sacramento 12
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
Madonna and Saints, with a Child Angel
Milan: Brera, 508 12
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
The Magdalene
Bologna: Accademia, 204 16
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
Altar-piece
Florence: S. Spirito 22
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
Tomb of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza
Rome: S. Maria del Popolo 24
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
The Madonna and Child, with S. Anne
Rome: S. Agostino 26
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO
Tomb of Piero Soderini
Florence: S. Maria del Carmine 38
BACCIO DA MONTELUPO
S. John the Evangelist
Florence: Or San Michele 42
AGOSTINO BUSTI (IL BAMBAJA)
Detail from the Tomb: Head of Gaston de Foix
Milan: Brera 44
RAFFAELLO DA MONTELUPO
S. Damiano
Florence: New Sacristy of S. Lorenzo 44
LORENZO DI CREDI
Andrea Verrocchio
Florence: Uffizi, 1163 50
LORENZO DI CREDI
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Paris: Louvre, 1263 52
LORENZO DI CREDI
The Nativity
Florence: Accademia, 92 52
LORENZETTO
Elijah
Rome: S. Maria del Popolo, Chigi Chapel 56
LORENZETTO
S. Peter
Rome: Ponte S. Angelo 56
BOCCACCINO
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Rome: Doria Gallery, 125 58
BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI)
The Marriage of the Virgin
Saronno: Santuario della Beata Vergine 60
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Cupola of the Ponzetti Chapel
Rome: S. Maria della Pace 64
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Palazzo della Farnesina
Rome 66
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Courtyard of Palazzo Massimi
Rome 70
GIOVANNI FRANCESCO PENNI (IL FATTORE)
The Baptism of Constantine
Rome: The Vatican 78
GAUDENZIO MILANESE (GAUDENZIO FERRARI)
The Last Supper
Milan: S. Maria della Passione 80
ANDREA DEL SARTO
"Noli Me Tangere"
Florence: Uffizi, 93 86
ANDREA DEL SARTO
The Last Supper
Florence: S. Salvi 88
ANDREA DEL SARTO
The Arrival of the Magi
Florence: SS. Annunziata 90
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Charity
Paris: Louvre, 1514 98
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Cæsar receiving the Tribute of Egypt
Florence: Poggio a Caiano 104
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Portrait of the Artist
Florence: Uffizi, 280 112
MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI
Two Angels (with The Assumption of the Virgin, after TRIBOLO)
Bologna: S. Petronio 126
ALFONSO LOMBARDI
The Death of the Virgin
Bologna: S. Maria della Vita 134
MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA
Tomb of Adrian VI
Rome: S. Maria dell' Anima 136
GIROLAMO SANTA CROCE
Madonna and Child, with SS. Peter and John
Naples: Monte Oliveto 138
DOSSO DOSSI
Madonna and Child, with SS. George and Michael
Modena: Pinacoteca, 437 140
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE
The Disputation of S. Catharine
Piacenza: S. Maria di Campagna 150
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE
The Adoration of the Magi
Treviso: Duomo 152
GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI
The Legend of S. Dominic
Florence: S. Marco 162
IL ROSSO
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Florence: Uffizi, 47 190
IL ROSSO
The Transfiguration
Città di Castello: Duomo 198
BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO
The Holy Family, with Saints
Bologna: Accademia, 133 208
AMICO OF BOLOGNA (AMICO ASPERTINI)
The Adoration
Bologna: Pinacoteca, 297 210
INNOCENZIO DA IMOLA
The Marriage of S. Catharine
Bologna: S. Giacomo Maggiore 214
FRANCIABIGIO (FRANCIA)
The Marriage of the Virgin
Florence: SS. Annunziata 218
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI (PARMIGIANO)
The Marriage of S. Catharine
Parma: Gallery, 192 246
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI (PARMIGIANO)
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Bologna: Accademia, 116 250
JACOPO PALMA (PALMA VECCHIO)
S. Sebastian
Venice: S. Maria Formosa 260
LORENZO LOTTO
The Glorification of S. Nicholas
Venice: S. Maria del Carmine 262
LORENZO LOTTO
Andrea Odoni
Hampton Court Palace 262
RONDINELLO (NICCOLÒ RONDINELLI)
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Ravenna: Accademia 264
FRANCESCO DA COTIGNOLA
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Ravenna: Accademia 266
CORRIGENDUM
P. 151, l. 13, _Vicenza_ is an error of the Italian text for Piacenza,
the church referred to being in the latter town
ANDREA DA FIESOLE
LIVES OF ANDREA DA FIESOLE
[_ANDREA FERRUCCI_]
SCULPTOR
AND OF OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF FIESOLE
Seeing that it is no less necessary for sculptors to have mastery over
their carving-tools than it is for him who practises painting to be able
to handle colours, it therefore happens that many who work very well in
clay prove to be unable to carry their labours to any sort of perfection
in marble; and some, on the contrary, work very well in marble, without
having any more knowledge of design than a certain instinct for a good
manner, I know not what, that they have in their minds, derived from the
imitation of certain things which please their judgment, and which their
imagination absorbs and proceeds to use for its own purposes. And it is
almost a marvel to see the manner in which some sculptors, without in
any way knowing how to draw on paper, nevertheless bring their works to
a fine and praiseworthy completion with their chisels. This was seen in
Andrea, a sculptor of Fiesole, the son of Piero di Marco Ferrucci, who
learnt the rudiments of sculpture in his earliest boyhood from Francesco
di Simone Ferrucci, another sculptor of Fiesole. And although at the
beginning he learnt only to carve foliage, yet little by little he
became so well practised in his work that it was not long before he set
himself to making figures; insomuch that, having a swift and resolute
hand, he executed his works in marble rather with a certain judgment and
skill derived from nature than with any knowledge of design.
Nevertheless, he afterwards gave a little more attention to art, when,
in the flower of his youth, he followed Michele Maini, likewise a
sculptor of Fiesole; which Michele made the S. Sebastian of marble in
the Minerva at Rome, which was so much praised in those days.
Andrea, then, having been summoned to work at Imola, built a chapel of
grey-stone, which was much extolled, in the Innocenti in that city.
After that work, he went to Naples at the invitation of Antonio di
Giorgio of Settignano, a very eminent engineer, and architect to King
Ferrante, with whom Antonio was in such credit, that he had charge not
only of all the buildings in that kingdom, but also of all the most
important affairs of State. On arriving in Naples, Andrea was set to
work, and he executed many things for that King in the Castello di San
Martino and in other parts of that city. Now Antonio died; and after the
King had caused him to be buried with obsequies suited rather to a royal
person than to an architect, and with twenty pairs of mourners following
him to the grave, Andrea, recognizing that this was no country for him,
departed from Naples and made his way back to Rome, where he stayed for
some time, attending to the studies of his art, and also to some work.
Afterwards, having returned to Tuscany, he built the marble chapel
containing the baptismal font in the Church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia, and
with much diligence executed the basin of that font, with all its
ornamentation. And on the main wall of the chapel he made two lifesize
figures in half-relief--namely, S. John baptizing Christ, a work
executed very well and with a beautiful manner. At the same time he made
some other little works, of which there is no need to make mention. I
must say, indeed, that although these things were wrought by Andrea
rather with the skill of his hand than with art, yet there may be
perceived in them a boldness and an excellence of taste worthy of great
praise. And, in truth, if such craftsmen had a thorough knowledge of
design united to their practised skill and judgment, they would vanquish
in excellence those who, drawing perfectly, only hack the marble when
they set themselves to work it, and toil at it painfully with a sorry
result, through not having practice and not knowing how to handle the
tools with the skill that is necessary.
After these works, Andrea executed a marble panel that was placed
exactly between the two flights of steps that ascend to the upper choir
in the Church of the Vescovado at Fiesole; in which panel he made three
figures in the round and some scenes in low-relief. And for S. Girolamo,
at Fiesole, he made the little marble panel that is built into the
middle of the church. Having come into repute by reason of the fame of
these works, Andrea was commissioned by the Wardens of Works of S. Maria
del Fiore, at the time when Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was governing
Florence, to make a statue of an Apostle four braccia in height; at that
time, I mean, when four other similar statues were allotted at one and
the same moment to four other masters--one to Benedetto da Maiano,
another to Jacopo Sansovino, a third to Baccio Bandinelli, and the
fourth to Michelagnolo Buonarroti; which statues were eventually to be
twelve in number, and were to be placed in that part of that magnificent
temple where there are the Apostles painted by the hand of Lorenzo di
Bicci. Andrea, then, executed his rather with fine skill and judgment
than with design; and he acquired thereby, if not as much praise as the
others, at least the name of a good and practised master. Wherefore he
was almost continually employed ever afterwards by the Wardens of Works
of that church; and he made the head of Marsilius Ficinus that is to be
seen therein, within the door that leads to the chapter-house. He made,
also, a marble fountain that was sent to the King of Hungary, which
brought him great honour; and by his hand was a marble tomb that was
sent, likewise, to Strigonia, a city of Hungary. In this tomb was a
Madonna, very well executed, with other figures; and in it was
afterwards laid to rest the body of the Cardinal of Strigonia. To
Volterra Andrea sent two Angels of marble in the round; and for Marco
del Nero, a Florentine, he made a lifesize Crucifix of wood, which is
now in the Church of S. Felicita at Florence. He made a smaller one for
the Company of the Assumption in Fiesole. Andrea also delighted in
architecture, and he was the master of Mangone, the stonecutter and
architect, who afterwards erected many palaces and other buildings in
Rome in a passing good manner.
In the end, having grown old, Andrea gave his attention only to mason's
work, like one who, being a modest and worthy person, loved a quiet
life more than anything else. He received from Madonna Antonia Vespucci
the commission for a tomb for her husband, Messer Antonio Strozzi; but
since he could not work much himself, the two Angels were made for him
by Maso Boscoli of Fiesole, his disciple, who afterwards executed many
works in Rome and elsewhere, and the Madonna was made by Silvio Cosini
of Fiesole, although it was not set into place immediately after it was
finished, which was in the year 1522, because Andrea died, and was
buried by the Company of the Scalzo in the Church of the Servi.
[Illustration: FONT
(_After_ Andrea da Fiesole [Andrea Ferrucci]. _Pistoia: Duomo_)
_Brogi_]
Silvio, when the said Madonna was set into place and the tomb of the
Strozzi completely finished, pursued the art of sculpture with
extraordinary zeal; wherefore he afterwards executed many works in a
graceful and beautiful manner, and surpassed a host of other masters,
above all in the bizarre fancy of his grotesques, as may be seen in the
sacristy of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, from some carved marble capitals
over the pilasters of the tombs, with some little masks so well hollowed
out that there is nothing better to be seen. In the same place he made
some friezes with very beautiful masks in the act of crying out;
wherefore Buonarroti, seeing the genius and skill of Silvio, caused him
to begin certain trophies to complete those tombs, but they remained
unfinished, with other things, by reason of the siege of Florence.
Silvio executed a tomb for the Minerbetti in their chapel in the
tramezzo[1] of the Church of S. Maria Novella, as well as any man could,
since, in addition to the beautiful shape of the sarcophagus, there are
carved upon it various shields, helmet-crests, and other fanciful
things, and all with as much design as could be desired in such a work.
Being at Pisa in the year 1528, Silvio made there an Angel that was
wanting over a column on the high-altar of the Duomo, to face the one by
Tribolo; and he made it so like the other that it could not be more like
even if it were by the same hand. In the Church of Monte Nero, near
Livorno, he made a little panel of marble with two figures, for the
Frati Ingesuati; and at Volterra he made a tomb for Messer Raffaello da
Volterra, a man of great learning, wherein he portrayed him from nature
on a sarcophagus of marble, with some ornaments and figures.
Afterwards, while the siege of Florence was going on, Niccolò Capponi, a
most honourable citizen, died at Castel Nuovo della Garfagnana on his
return from Genoa, where he had been as Ambassador from his Republic to
the Emperor; and Silvio was sent in great haste to make a cast of his
head, to the end that he might afterwards make one in marble, having
already executed a very beautiful one in wax.
Now Silvio lived for some time with all his family in Pisa; and since he
belonged to the Company of the Misericordia, which in that city
accompanies those condemned to death to the place of execution, there
once came into his head, being sacristan at that time, the strangest
caprice in the world. One night he took out of the grave the body of one
who had been hanged the day before; and, after having dissected it for
the purposes of his art, being a whimsical fellow, and perhaps a wizard,
and ready to believe in enchantments and suchlike follies, he flayed it
completely, and with the skin, prepared after a method that he had been
taught, he made a jerkin, which he wore for some time over his shirt,
believing that it had some great virtue, without anyone ever knowing of
it. But having once been upbraided by a good Father to whom he had
confessed the matter, he pulled off the jerkin and laid it to rest in a
grave, as the monk had urged him to do. Many other similar stories could
be told of this man, but, since they have nothing to do with our
history, I will pass them over in silence.
After the death of his first wife in Pisa, Silvio went off to Carrara.
There he remained to execute some works, and took another wife, with
whom, no long time after, he went to Genoa, where, entering the service
of Prince Doria, he made a most beautiful escutcheon of marble over the
door of his palace, and many ornaments in stucco all over that palace,
after the directions given to him by the painter Perino del Vaga. He
made, also, a very beautiful portrait in marble of the Emperor Charles
V. But since it was Silvio's habit never to stay long in one place--for
he was a wayward person--he grew weary of his prosperity in Genoa, and
set out to make his way to France. He departed, therefore, but before
arriving at Monsanese he turned back, and, stopping at Milan, he
executed in the Duomo some scenes and figures and many ornaments, with
much credit for himself. And there, finally, he died at the age of
forty-five. He was a man of fine genius, capricious, very dexterous in
any kind of work, and a person who could execute with great diligence
anything to which he turned his hand. He delighted in composing sonnets
and improvising songs, and in his early youth he gave his attention to
arms. If he had concentrated his mind on sculpture and design, he would
have had no equal; and, even as he surpassed his master Andrea Ferrucci,
so, had he lived, he would have surpassed many others who have enjoyed
the name of excellent masters.
There flourished at the same time as Andrea and Silvio another sculptor
of Fiesole, called Il Cicilia, who was a person of much skill; and a
work by his hand may be seen in the Church of S. Jacopo, in the Campo
Corbolini at Florence--namely, the tomb of the Chevalier Messer Luigi
Tornabuoni, which is much extolled, particularly because he made therein
the escutcheon of that Chevalier, in the form of a horse's head, as if
to show, according to the ancient belief, that the shape of shields was
originally taken from the head of a horse.
About the same time, also, Antonio da Carrara, a very rare sculptor,
made three statues in Palermo for the Duke of Monteleone, a Neapolitan
of the house of Pignatella, and Viceroy of Sicily--namely, three figures
of Our Lady in different attitudes and manners, which were placed over
three altars in the Duomo of Monteleone in Calabria. For the same patron
he made some scenes in marble, which are in Palermo. He left behind him
a son who is also a sculptor at the present day, and no less excellent
than was his father.
[Illustration: TOMB OF RAFFAELE MAFFEI
(_After_ Silvio Cosini [Silvio da Fiesole]. _Volterra: S. Lino_)
_Alinari_]
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See note on p. 57, Vol. I.
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO AND TIMOTEO DA URBINO
[Illustration: TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO VITI): A MUSE
(_Florence: Corsini Gallery. Panel_)]
LIVES OF VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO AND TIMOTEO DA URBINO
[_TIMOTEO DELLA VITE_]
PAINTERS
Having now to write, after the Life of the sculptor Andrea da Fiesole,
the Lives of two excellent painters, Vincenzio da San Gimignano of
Tuscany, and Timoteo da Urbino, I propose to speak first of Vincenzio,
as the man whose portrait is above,[2] and immediately afterwards of
Timoteo, since they lived almost at one and the same time, and were both
disciples and friends of Raffaello.
Vincenzio, then, working in company with many others in the Papal Loggie
for the gracious Raffaello da Urbino, acquitted himself in such a manner
that he was much extolled by Raffaello and by all the others. Having
therefore been set to work in the Borgo, opposite to the Palace of
Messer Giovanni Battista dall' Aquila, with great credit to himself he
painted on a façade a frieze in terretta, in which he depicted the Nine
Muses, with Apollo in the centre, and above them some lions, the device
of the Pope, which are held to be very beautiful. Vincenzio showed great
diligence in his manner and softness in his colouring, and his figures
were very pleasing in aspect; in short, he always strove to imitate the
manner of Raffaello da Urbino, as may also be seen in the same Borgo,
opposite to the Palace of the Cardinal of Ancona, from the façade of a
house that was built by Messer Giovanni Antonio Battiferro of Urbino,
who, in consequence of the strait friendship that he had with Raffaello,
received from him the design for that façade, and also, through his good
offices, many benefits and rich revenues at the Court. In this design,
then, which was afterwards carried into execution by Vincenzio,
Raffaello drew, in allusion to the name of the Battiferri, the Cyclopes
forging thunderbolts for Jove, and in another part Vulcan making arrows
for Cupid, with some most beautiful nudes and other very lovely scenes
and statues. The same Vincenzio painted a great number of scenes on a
façade in the Piazza di S. Luigi de' Francesi at Rome, such as the Death
of Cæsar, a Triumph of Justice, and a battle of horsemen in a frieze,
executed with spirit and much diligence; and in this work, close to the
roof, between the windows, he painted some Virtues that are very well
wrought. In like manner, on the façade of the Epifani, behind the Curia
di Pompeo, and near the Campo di Fiore, he painted the Magi following
the Star; with an endless number of other works throughout that city,
the air and position of which seem to be in great measure the reason
that men are inspired to produce marvellous works there. Experience
teaches us, indeed, that very often the same man has not the same manner
and does not produce work of equal excellence in every place, but makes
it better or worse according to the nature of the place.
[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Vincenzio da San Gimignano [Vincenzio Tamagni]=.
San Gimignano: S. Agostino_)
_Brogi_]
Vincenzio being in very good repute in Rome, there took place in the
year 1527 the ruin and sack of that unhappy city, which had been the
mistress of the nations. Whereupon, grieved beyond measure, he returned
to his native city of San Gimignano; and there, by reason of the
sufferings that he had undergone, and the weakening of his love for art,
now that he was away from the air which nourishes men of fine genius and
makes them bring forth works of the rarest merit, he painted some things
that I will pass over in silence, in order not to veil with them the
renown and the great name that he had honourably acquired in Rome. It is
enough to point out clearly that violence turns the most lofty
intellects roughly aside from their chief goal, and makes them direct
their steps into the opposite path; which may also be seen in a
companion of Vincenzio, called Schizzone, who executed some works in the
Borgo that were highly extolled, and also in the Campo Santo of Rome and
in S. Stefano degl' Indiani, and who was likewise caused by the
senseless soldiery to turn aside from art and in a short time to
lose his life. Vincenzio died in his native city of San Gimignano,
having had but little gladness in his life after his departure from
Rome.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND SAINTS, WITH A CHILD ANGEL
(_After the painting by =Timoteo da Urbino [Timoteo della Vite]=. Milan:
Brera, 508_)
_Brogi_]
Timoteo, a painter of Urbino, was the son of Bartolommeo della Vite, a
citizen of good position, and Calliope, the daughter of Maestro Antonio
Alberto of Ferrara, a passing good painter in his day, as is shown by
his works at Urbino and elsewhere. While Timoteo was still a child, his
father dying, he was left to the care of his mother Calliope, with good
and happy augury, from the circumstance that Calliope is one of the Nine
Muses, and the conformity that exists between poetry and painting. Then,
after he had been brought discreetly through his boyhood by his wise
mother, and initiated by her into the studies of the simpler arts and
likewise of drawing, the young man came into his first knowledge of the
world at the very time when the divine Raffaello Sanzio was flourishing.
Applying himself in his earliest years to the goldsmith's art, he was
summoned by Messer Pier Antonio, his elder brother, who was then
studying at Bologna, to that most noble city, to the end that he might
follow that art, to which he seemed to be inclined by nature, under the
discipline of some good master. While living, then, in Bologna, in which
city he stayed no little time, and was much honoured and received by the
noble and magnificent Messer Francesco Gombruti into his house with
every sort of courtesy, Timoteo associated continually with men of
culture and lofty intellect. Wherefore, having become known in a few
months as a young man of judgment, and inclined much more to the
painter's than to the goldsmith's art, of which he had given proofs in
some very well-executed portraits of his friends and of others, it
seemed good to his brother, wishing to encourage the young man's natural
genius, and also persuaded to this by his friends, to take him away from
his files and chisels, and to make him devote himself entirely to the
study of drawing. At which he was very content, and applied himself
straightway to drawing and to the labours of art, copying and drawing
all the best works in that city; and establishing a close intimacy with
painters, he set out to such purpose on his new road, that it was a
marvel to see the progress that he made from one day to another, and all
the more because he learnt with facility the most difficult things
without any particular teaching from any appointed master. And so,
becoming enamoured of his profession, and learning many secrets of
painting merely by sometimes seeing certain painters of no account
making their mixtures and using their brushes, and guided by himself and
by the hand of nature, he set himself boldly to colouring, and acquired
a very pleasing manner, very similar to that of the new Apelles, his
compatriot, although he had seen nothing by his hand save a few works at
Bologna. Thereupon, after executing some works on panel and on walls
with very good results, guided by his own good intellect and judgment,
and believing that in comparison with other painters he had succeeded
very well in everything, he pursued the studies of painting with great
ardour, and to such purpose, that in course of time he found that he had
gained a firm footing in his art, and was held in good repute and vast
expectation by all the world.
Having then returned to his own country, now a man twenty-six years of
age, he stayed there for some months, giving excellent proofs of his
knowledge. Thus he executed, to begin with, the altar-piece of the
Madonna for the altar of S. Croce in the Duomo, containing, besides the
Virgin, S. Crescenzio and S. Vitale; and there is a little Angel seated
on the ground, playing on a viola with a grace truly angelic and a
childlike simplicity expressed with art and judgment. Afterwards he
painted another altar-piece for the high-altar of the Church of the
Trinità, together with a S. Apollonia on the left hand of that altar.
By means of these works and certain others, of which there is no need to
make mention, the name and fame of Timoteo spread abroad, and he was
invited with great insistence by Raffaello to Rome; whither having gone
with the greatest willingness, he was received with that loving kindness
that was as peculiar to Raffaello as was his excellence in art. Working,
then, with Raffaello, in little more than a year he made a great
advance, not only in art, but also in prosperity, for in that time he
sent home a good sum of money. While working with his master in the
Church of S. Maria della Pace, he made with his own hand and invention
the Sibyls that are in the lunettes on the right hand, so much esteemed
by all painters. That they are his is maintained by some who still
remember having seen them painted; and we have also testimony in the
cartoons which are still to be found in the possession of his
successors. On his own account, likewise, he afterwards painted the bier
and the dead body contained therein, with the other things, so highly
extolled, that are around it, in the Scuola of S. Caterina da Siena; and
although certain men of Siena, carried away by love of their own
country, attribute these works to others, it may easily be recognized
that they are the handiwork of Timoteo, both from the grace and
sweetness of the colouring, and from other memorials of himself that he
left in that most noble school of excellent painters.
Now, although Timoteo was well and honourably placed in Rome, yet, not
being able to endure, as many do, the separation from his own country,
and also being invited and urged every moment to come home by the
counsels of his friends and by the prayers of his mother, now an old
woman, he returned to Urbino, much to the displeasure of Raffaello, who
loved him dearly for his good qualities. And not long after, having
taken a wife in Urbino at the suggestion of his family, and having
become enamoured of his country, in which he saw that he was highly
honoured, besides the circumstance, even more important, that he had
begun to have children, Timoteo made up his mind firmly never again to
consent to go abroad, notwithstanding, as may still be seen from some
letters, that he was invited back to Rome by Raffaello. But he did not
therefore cease to work, and he made many works in Urbino and in the
neighbouring cities. At Forlì he painted a chapel in company with
Girolamo Genga, his friend and compatriot; and afterwards he painted
entirely with his own hand a panel that was sent to Città di Castello,
and likewise another for the people of Cagli. At Castel Durante, also,
he executed some works in fresco, which are truly worthy of praise, as
are all the other works by his hand, which bear witness that he was a
graceful painter in figures, landscapes, and every other field of
painting. In Urbino, at the instance of Bishop Arrivabene of Mantua, he
painted the Chapel of S. Martino in the Duomo, in company with the same
Genga; but the altar-panel and the middle of the chapel are entirely by
the hand of Timoteo. For the same church, also, he painted a Magdalene
standing, clothed in a short mantle, and covered below this by her own
tresses, which reach to the ground and are so beautiful and natural,
that the wind appears to move them; not to mention the divine beauty of
the expression of her countenance, which reveals clearly the love that
she bore to her Master.
In S. Agata there is another panel by the hand of the same man, with
some very good figures. And for S. Bernardino, without that city, he
made that work so greatly renowned that is at the right hand upon the
altar of the Buonaventuri, gentlemen of Urbino; wherein the Virgin is
represented with most beautiful grace as having received the
Annunciation, standing with her hands clasped and her face and eyes
uplifted to Heaven. Above, in the sky, in the centre of a great circle
of light, stands a little Child, with His foot on the Holy Spirit in the
form of a Dove, and holding in His left hand a globe symbolizing the
dominion of the world, while, with the other hand raised, He gives the
benediction; and on the right of the Child is an angel, who is pointing
Him out with his finger to the Madonna. Below--that is, on the level of
the Madonna, to her right--is the Baptist, clothed in a camel's skin,
which is torn on purpose that the nude figure may be seen; and on her
left is a S. Sebastian, wholly naked, and bound in a beautiful attitude
to a tree, and wrought with such diligence that the figure could not
have stronger relief nor be in any part more beautiful.
At the Court of the most illustrious Dukes of Urbino, in a little
private study, may be seen an Apollo and two half-nude Muses by his
hand, beautiful to a marvel. For the same patrons he executed many
pictures, and made some decorations for apartments, which are very
beautiful. And afterwards, in company with Genga, he painted some
caparisons for horses, which were sent to the King of France, with such
beautiful figures of various animals that they appeared to all who
beheld them to have life and movement. He made, also, some triumphal
arches similar to those of the ancients, on the occasion of the marriage
of the most illustrious Duchess Leonora to the Lord Duke Francesco
Maria, to whom they gave vast satisfaction, as they did to the whole
Court; on which account he was received for many years into the
household of that Duke, with an honourable salary.
[Illustration: THE MAGDALENE
(_After the panel by =Timoteo da Urbino [Timoteo della Vite]=. Bologna:
Accademia, 204_)
_Anderson_]
Timoteo was a bold draughtsman, and even more notable for the sweetness
and charm of his colouring, insomuch that his works could not have been
executed with more delicacy or greater diligence. He was a merry fellow,
gay and festive by nature, and most acute and witty in his sayings and
discourses. He delighted in playing every sort of instrument, and
particularly the lyre, to which he sang, improvising upon it with
extraordinary grace. He died in the year of our salvation 1524, the
fifty-fourth of his life, leaving his native country as much enriched by
his name and his fine qualities as it was grieved by his loss. He left
in Urbino some unfinished works, which were finished afterwards by
others and show by comparison how great were the worth and ability of
Timoteo.
In our book are some drawings by his hand, very beautiful and truly
worthy of praise, which I received from the most excellent and gentle
Messer Giovanni Maria, his son--namely, a pen-sketch for the portrait of
the Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici, which Timoteo made when Giuliano
was frequenting the Court of Urbino and that most famous academy, a
"Noli me tangere," and a S. John the Evangelist sleeping while Christ is
praying in the Garden, all very beautiful.
FOOTNOTE:
[2] In the original edition of 1568.
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO
LIFE OF ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO
[_ANDREA CONTUCCI_]
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT
Although Andrea, the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte Sansovino, was
born from a poor father, a tiller of the earth, and rose from the
condition of shepherd, nevertheless his conceptions were so lofty, his
genius so rare, and his mind so ready, both in his works and in his
discourses on the difficulties of architecture and perspective, that
there was not in his day a better, rarer, or more subtle intellect than
his, nor one that was more able than he was to render the greatest
doubts clear and lucid; wherefore he well deserved to be held in his own
times, by all who were qualified to judge, to be supreme in those
professions. Andrea was born, so it is said, in the year 1460; and in
his childhood, while looking after his flocks, he would draw on the sand
the livelong day, as is also told of Giotto, and copy in clay some of
the animals that he was guarding. So one day it happened that a
Florentine citizen, who is said to have been Simone Vespucci, at that
time Podestà of the Monte, passing by the place where Andrea was looking
after his little charges, saw the boy standing all intent on drawing or
modelling in clay. Whereupon he called to him, and, having seen what was
the boy's bent, and heard whose son he was, he asked for him from
Domenico Contucci, who graciously granted his request; and Simone
promised to place him in the way of learning design, in order to see
what virtue there might be in that inclination of nature, if assisted by
continual study.
Having returned to Florence, then, Simone placed him to learn art with
Antonio del Pollaiuolo, under whom Andrea made such proficience, that in
a few years he became a very good master. In the house of that Simone,
on the Ponte Vecchio, there may still be seen a cartoon executed by him
at that time, of Christ being scourged at the Column, drawn with much
diligence; and, in addition, two marvellous heads in terra-cotta, copied
from ancient medals, one of the Emperor Nero, and the other of the
Emperor Galba, which heads served to adorn a chimney-piece; but the
Galba is now at Arezzo, in the house of Giorgio Vasari. Afterwards,
while still living in Florence, he made an altar-piece in terra-cotta
for the Church of S. Agata at Monte Sansovino, with a S. Laurence and
some other saints, and little scenes most beautifully executed. And no
long time after this he made another like it, containing a very
beautiful Assumption of Our Lady, S. Agata, S. Lucia, and S. Romualdo;
which altar-piece was afterwards glazed by the Della Robbia family.
[Illustration: ALTAR-PIECE
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Florence: S.
Spirito_)
_Alinari_]
Then, pursuing the art of sculpture, he made in his youth for Simone del
Pollaiuolo, otherwise called Il Cronaca, two capitals for pilasters in
the Sacristy of S. Spirito, which brought him very great fame, and led
to his receiving a commission to execute the antechamber that is between
the said sacristy and the church; and since the space was very small,
Andrea was forced to use great ingenuity. He made, therefore, a
structure of grey-stone in the Corinthian Order, with twelve round
columns, six on either side; and having laid architrave, frieze, and
cornice over these columns, he then raised a barrel-shaped vault, all of
the same stone, with a coffer-work surface full of carvings, which was
something novel, rich and varied, and much extolled. It is true, indeed,
that if the mouldings of that coffer-work ceiling, which serve to divide
the square and round panels by which it is adorned, had been contrived
so as to fall in a straight line with the columns, with truer proportion
and harmony, this work would be wholly perfect in every part; and it
would have been an easy thing to do this. But, according to what I once
heard from certain old friends of Andrea, he used to defend himself by
saying that he had adhered in his vault to the method of the coffering
in the Ritonda at Rome, wherein the ribs that radiate from the round
window in the centre above, from which that temple gets its light, serve
to enclose the square sunk panels containing the rosettes, which
diminish little by little, as likewise do the ribs; and for that reason
they do not fall in a straight line with the columns. Andrea used to
add that if he who built the Temple of the Ritonda, which is the best
designed and proportioned that there is, and made with more harmony than
any other, paid no attention to this in a vault of such size and
importance, much less should he do so in a coffered ceiling with far
smaller panels. Nevertheless many craftsmen, and Michelagnolo in
particular, have been of the opinion that the Ritonda was built by three
architects, of whom the first carried it as far as the cornice that is
above the columns, and the second from the cornice upwards, the part,
namely, that contains those windows of more graceful workmanship, for in
truth this second part is very different in manner from the part below,
since the vaulting was carried out without any relation between the
coffering and the straight lines of what is below. The third is believed
to have made the portico, which was a very rare work. And for these
reasons the masters who practise this art at the present day should not
fall into such an error and then make excuses, as did Andrea.
After that work, having received from the family of the Corbinelli the
commission for the Chapel of the Sacrament in the same church, he
carried it out with much diligence, imitating in the low-reliefs Donato
and other excellent craftsmen, and sparing no labour in his desire to do
himself credit, as, indeed, he did. In two niches, one on either side of
a very beautiful tabernacle, he placed two saints somewhat more than one
braccio in height, S. James and S. Matthew, executed with such spirit
and excellence, that every sort of merit is revealed in them and not one
fault. Equally good, also, are two Angels in the round that are the
crowning glory of this work, with the most beautiful draperies--for they
are in the act of flying--that are anywhere to be seen; and in the
centre is a little naked Christ full of grace. There are also some
scenes with little figures in the predella and over the tabernacle, all
so well executed that the point of a brush could scarcely do what Andrea
did with his chisel. But whosoever wishes to be amazed by the diligence
of this extraordinary man should look at the architecture of this work
as a whole, for it is so well executed and joined together in its small
proportions that it appears to have been chiselled out of one single
stone. Much extolled, also, is a large Pietà of marble that he made in
half-relief on the front of the altar, with the Madonna and S. John
weeping. Nor could one imagine any more beautiful pieces of casting than
are the bronze gratings that enclose that chapel, with their ornaments
of marble, and with stags, the device, or rather the arms, of the
Corbinelli, which serve as adornments for the bronze candelabra. In
short, this work was executed without any sparing of labour, and with
all the best considerations that could possibly be imagined.
By these and by other works the name of Andrea spread far and wide, and
he was sought for from the elder Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, in
whose garden, as has been related, he had pursued the studies of design,
by the King of Portugal; and, being therefore sent to him by Lorenzo, he
executed for that King many works of sculpture and of architecture, and
in particular a very beautiful palace with four towers, and many other
buildings. Part of the palace was painted after designs and cartoons by
the hand of Andrea, who drew very well, as may be seen from some
drawings by his own hand in our book, finished with a charcoal-point,
and some other architectural drawings, showing excellent design. He also
made for that King a carved altar of wood, containing some Prophets; and
likewise a very beautiful battle-piece in clay, to be afterwards carved
in marble, representing the wars that the King waged with the Moors, who
were vanquished by him; and no work by the hand of Andrea was ever seen
that was more spirited or more terrible than this, what with the
movements and various attitudes of the horses, the heaps of dead, and
the vehement fury of the soldiers in combat. And he made a figure of S.
Mark in marble, which was a very rare work. While in the service of that
King, Andrea also gave his attention to some difficult and fantastic
architectural works, according to the custom of that country, in order
to please the King; of which things I once saw a book at Monte Sansovino
in the possession of his heirs, which is now in the hands of Maestro
Girolamo Lombardo, who was his disciple, and to whom it fell, as will be
related, to finish some works begun by Andrea.
[Illustration: TOMB OF CARDINAL ASCANIO SFORZA
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Rome: S. Maria
del Popolo_)
_Alinari_]
Having been nine years in Portugal, and growing weary of that service,
and desirous of seeing his relatives and friends in Tuscany again,
Andrea determined, now that he had put together a good sum of money,
to obtain leave from the King and return home. And so, having been
granted permission, although not willingly, he returned to Florence,
leaving behind him one who should complete such of his works as remained
unfinished. After arriving in Florence, he began in the year 1500 a
marble group of S. John baptizing Christ, which was to be placed over
that door of the Temple of S. Giovanni that faces the Misericordia; but
he did not finish it, because he was almost forced to go to Genoa, where
he made two figures of marble, Christ, or rather S. John, and a Madonna,
which are truly worthy of the highest praise. And those at Florence
remained unfinished, and are still to be found at the present day in the
Office of Works of the said S. Giovanni.
He was then summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II, and received the
commission for two tombs of marble, which were erected in S. Maria del
Popolo--one for Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and the other for the Cardinal
of Recanati, a very near relative of the Pope--and these works were
wrought so perfectly by Andrea that nothing more could be desired, since
they were so well executed and finished, and with such purity, beauty,
and grace, that they reveal the true consideration and proportion of
art. There may be seen there, also, a Temperance with an hourglass in
her hand, which is held to be a thing divine; and, indeed, it does not
appear to be a modern work, but ancient and wholly perfect. And although
there are other figures there similar to it, yet on account of its
attitude and grace it is much the best; not to mention that nothing
could be more pleasing and beautiful than the veil that she has around
her, which is executed with such delicacy that it is a miracle to
behold.
In S. Agostino at Rome, on a pilaster in the middle of the church, he
made in marble a S. Anne embracing a Madonna with the Child, a little
less than lifesize. This work may be counted as one of the best of
modern times, since, even as a lively and wholly natural gladness is
seen in the old woman, and a divine beauty in the Madonna, so the figure
of the Infant Christ is so well wrought, that no other was ever executed
with such delicacy and perfection. Wherefore it well deserved that for
many years a succession of sonnets and various other learned
compositions should be attached to it, of which the friars of that
place have a book full, which I myself have seen, to my no little
marvel. And in truth the world was right in doing this, for the reason
that the work can never be praised enough.
[Illustration: THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. ANNE
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Rome: S.
Agostino_)
_Alinari_]
The fame of Andrea having thereby grown greater, Leo X, who had resolved
that the adornment with wrought marble of the Chamber of the Madonna in
S. Maria at Loreto should be carried out, according to the beginning
made by Bramante, ordained that Andrea should bring that work to
completion. The ornamentation of that Chamber, which Bramante had begun,
had at the corners four double projections, which, adorned by pillars
with bases and carved capitals, rested on a socle rich with carvings,
and two braccia and a half in height; over which socle, between the two
aforesaid pillars, he had made a large niche to contain seated figures,
and, above each of these niches, a smaller one, which, reaching to the
collarino of the capitals of those pillars, left a frieze of the same
height as the capitals. Above these were afterwards laid architrave,
frieze, and richly carved cornice, which, going right round all the four
walls, project over the four corners; and in the middle of each of the
larger walls--for the Chamber is greater in length than in breadth--were
left two spaces, since there was the same projection in the centre of
those walls as there was at the corners; whence the larger niche below,
with the smaller one above it, came to be enclosed by a space of five
braccia on either side. In this space were two doors, one on either
side, through which one entered into the chapel; and above the doors was
a space of five braccia between one niche and another, wherein were to
be carved scenes in marble. The front wall was the same, but without
niches in the centre, and the height of the socle, with the projection,
formed an altar, which was set off by the pillars and the niches at the
corners. In the same front wall, in the centre, was a space of the same
breadth as the spaces at the sides, to contain some scenes in the upper
part, while below, the same in height as the spaces of the sides, but
beginning immediately above the altar, was a bronze grating opposite to
the inner altar, through which it was possible to hear the Mass and to
see the inside of the Chamber and the aforesaid altar of the Madonna.
Altogether, then, the spaces and compartments for the scenes were
seven: one in front, above the grating, two on each of the longer sides,
and two on the upper part--that is to say, behind the altar of the
Madonna; and, in addition, there were eight large and eight small
niches, with other smaller spaces for the arms and devices of the Pope
and of the Church.
Andrea, then, having found the work in this condition, distributed over
these spaces, with a rich and beautiful arrangement, scenes from the
life of the Madonna. In one of the two side-walls, he began in one part
the Nativity of the Madonna, and executed half of it; and it was
completely finished afterwards by Baccio Bandinelli. In the other part
he began the Marriage of the Virgin, but this also remained unfinished,
and after the death of Andrea it was completed as we see it by Raffaello
da Montelupo. On the front wall he arranged that there should be made,
in two small squares which are on either side of the bronze grating, in
one the Visitation and in the other the scene of the Virgin and Joseph
going to have themselves enrolled for taxes; which scenes were
afterwards executed by Francesco da San Gallo, then a young man. Then,
in that part where the greatest space is, Andrea made the Angel Gabriel
bringing the Annunciation to the Virgin--which happened in that very
chamber which these marbles enclose--with such grace and beauty that
there is nothing better to be seen, for he made the Virgin wholly intent
on that Salutation, and the Angel, kneeling, appears to be not of
marble, but truly celestial, with "Ave Maria" issuing from his mouth. In
company with Gabriel are two other Angels, in full-relief and detached
from the marble, one of whom is walking after him and the other appears
to be flying. Behind a building stand two other Angels, carved out by
the chisel in such a way that they seem to be alive. In the air, on a
cloud much undercut--nay, almost entirely detached from the marble--are
many little boys upholding a God the Father, who is sending down the
Holy Spirit by means of a ray of marble, which, descending from Him
completely detached, appears quite real; as, likewise, is the Dove upon
it, which represents the Holy Spirit. Nor can one describe how great is
the beauty and how delicate the carving of a vase filled with flowers,
which was made in this work by the gracious hand of Andrea, who
lavished so much excellence on the plumes of the Angels, the hair, the
grace of their features and draperies, and, in short, on every other
thing, that this divine work cannot be extolled enough. And, in truth,
that most holy place, which was the very house and habitation of the
Mother of the Son of God, could not obtain from the resources of the
world a greater, richer, or more beautiful adornment than that which it
received from the architecture of Bramante and the sculpture of Andrea
Sansovino; although, even if it were entirely of the most precious gems
of the East, it would be little more than nothing in comparison with
such merits.
Andrea spent an almost incredible amount of time over this work, and
therefore had no time to finish the others that he had begun; for, in
addition to those mentioned above, he began in a space on one of the
side-walls the Nativity of Jesus Christ, with the Shepherds and four
Angels singing; and all these he finished so well that they seem to be
wholly alive. But the story of the Magi, which he began above that one,
was afterwards finished by Girolamo Lombardo, his disciple, and by
others. On the back wall he arranged that two large scenes should be
made, one above the other; in one, the Death of Our Lady, with the
Apostles bearing her to her burial, four Angels in the air, and many
Jews seeking to steal that most holy corpse; and this was finished after
Andrea's lifetime by the sculptor Bologna. Below this one, then, he
arranged that there should be made a scene of the Miracle of Loreto,
showing in what manner that chapel, which was the Chamber of Our Lady,
wherein she was born, brought up, and saluted by the Angel, and in which
she reared her Son up to the age of twelve and lived ever after His
Death, was finally carried by the Angels, first into Sclavonia,
afterwards to a forest in the territory of Recanati, and in the end to
the place where it is now held in such veneration and continually
visited in solemn throng by all the Christian people. This scene, I say,
was executed in marble on that wall, according to the arrangement made
by Andrea, by the Florentine sculptor Tribolo, as will be related in due
place. Andrea likewise blocked out the Prophets for the niches, but did
not finish them completely, save one alone, and the others were
afterwards finished by the aforesaid Girolamo Lombardo and by other
sculptors, as will be seen in the Lives that are to follow. But with
regard to all the works wrought by Andrea in this undertaking, they are
the most beautiful and best executed works of sculpture that had ever
been made up to that time.
In like manner, the Palace of the Canons of the same church was also
carried on by Andrea, after the arrangements made by Bramante at the
commission of Pope Leo. But this, also, remained unfinished after the
death of Andrea, and the building was continued under Clement VII by
Antonio da San Gallo, and then by the architect Giovanni Boccalino,
under the patronage of the very reverend Cardinal da Carpi, up to the
year 1563. While Andrea was at work on the aforesaid Chapel of the
Virgin, there were built the fortifications of Loreto and other works,
which were highly extolled by the all-conquering Signor Giovanni de'
Medici, with whom Andrea had a very strait friendship, having become
first acquainted with him in Rome.
Having four months of holiday in the year for repose while he was
working at Loreto, he used to spend that time in agriculture at his
native place of Monte Sansovino, enjoying meanwhile a most tranquil rest
with his relatives and friends. Living thus at the Monte during the
summer, he built there a commodious house for himself and bought much
property; and for the Friars of S. Agostino in that place he had a
cloister made, which, although small, is very well designed, but also
out of the square, since those Fathers insisted on having it built over
the old walls. Andrea, however, made the interior rectangular by
increasing the thickness of the pilasters at the corners, in order to
change it from an ill-proportioned structure into one with good and true
measurements. He designed, also, for a Company that had its seat in that
cloister, under the title of S. Antonio, a very beautiful door of the
Doric Order; and likewise the tramezzo[3] and pulpit of the Church of S.
Agostino. He also caused a little chapel to be built for the friars
half-way down the hill on the descent to the fountain, without the door
that leads to the old Pieve, although they had no wish for it. He made
the design for the house of Messer Pietro, a most skilful astrologer, at
Arezzo; and a large figure of terra-cotta for Montepulciano, of King
Porsena, which was a rare work, although I have never seen it again
since the first time, so that I fear that it may have come to an evil
end. And for a German priest, who was his friend, he made a lifesize S.
Rocco of terra-cotta, very beautiful; which priest had it placed in the
Church of Battifolle, in the district of Arezzo. This was the last piece
of sculpture that Andrea executed.
He gave the design, also, for the steps ascending to the Vescovado of
Arezzo; and for the Madonna delle Lagrime, in the same city, he made the
design of a very beautiful ornament that was to be executed in marble,
with four figures, each four braccia high; but this work was carried no
farther, on account of the death of our Andrea. For he, having reached
the age of sixty-eight, and being a man who would never stay idle, set
to work to move some stakes from one place to another at his villa,
whereby he caught a chill; and in a few days, worn out by a continuous
fever, he died, in the year 1529.
The death of Andrea grieved his native place by reason of the honour
that he had brought it, and his sons and the women of his household, who
lost both their dearest one and their support. And not long ago Muzio
Camillo, one of the three aforesaid sons, who was displaying a most
beautiful intellect in the studies of learning and letters, followed
him, to the great loss of his family and displeasure of his friends.
Andrea, in addition to his profession of art, was truly a person of much
distinction, for he was wise in his discourse, and reasoned most
beautifully on every subject. He was prudent and regular in his every
action, much the friend of learned men, and a philosopher of great
natural gifts. He gave much attention to the study of cosmography, and
left to his family a number of drawings and writings on the subject of
distances and measurements. He was somewhat small in stature, but robust
and beautifully made. His hair was soft and long, his eyes light in
colour, his nose aquiline, and his skin pink and white; but he had a
slight impediment in his speech.
His disciples were the aforesaid Girolamo Lombardo, the Florentine
Simone Cioli, Domenico dal Monte Sansovino (who died soon after him),
and the Florentine Leonardo del Tasso, who made the S. Sebastian of
wood over his own tomb in S. Ambrogio at Florence, and the marble panel
of the Nuns of S. Chiara. A disciple of Andrea, likewise, was the
Florentine Jacopo Sansovino--so called after his master--of whom there
will be a long account in the proper place.
Architecture and sculpture, then, are much indebted to Andrea, in that
he enriched the one with many rules of measurement and devices for
drawing weights, and with a degree of diligence that had not been
employed before, and in the other he brought his marble to perfection
with marvellous judgment, care, and mastery.
FOOTNOTE:
[3] See note on p. 57, Vol. I.
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO
LIFE OF BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO
SCULPTOR
Great, I think, must be the displeasure of those who, having executed
some work of genius, yet, when they hope to enjoy the fruits of this in
their old age, and to see the beautiful results achieved by other
intellects in works similar to their own, and to be able to perceive
what perfection there may be in that field of art that they themselves
have practised, find themselves robbed by adverse fortune, by time, by a
bad habit of body, or by some other cause, of the sight of their eyes;
whence they are not able, as they were before, to perceive either the
deficiencies or the perfection of men whom they hear of as living and
practising their own professions. And even more are they grieved to hear
the praises of the new masters, not through envy, but because they are
not able to judge, like others, whether that fame be well-deserved or
not.
This misfortune happened to Benedetto da Rovezzano, a sculptor of
Florence, of whom we are now about to write the Life, to the end that
the world may know how able and practised a sculptor he was, and with
what diligence he carved marble in strong relief against its ground in
the marvellous works that he made. Among the first of many labours that
this master executed in Florence, may be numbered a chimney-piece of
grey-stone that is in the house of Pier Francesco Borgherini, wherein
are capitals, friezes, and many other ornaments, carved by his hand in
open-work with great diligence. In the house of Messer Bindo Altoviti,
likewise, is a chimney-piece by the same hand, with a lavatory of
marble, and some other things executed with much delicacy; but
everything in these that has to do with architecture was designed by
Jacopo Sansovino, then a young man.
Next, in the year 1512, Benedetto received the commission for a tomb of
marble, with rich ornaments, in the principal chapel of the Carmine in
Florence, for Piero Soderini, who had been Gonfalonier in that city; and
that work was executed by him with incredible diligence, seeing that,
besides foliage, carved emblems of death, and figures, he made therein
with basanite, in low-relief, a canopy in imitation of black cloth, with
so much grace and such beautiful finish and lustre, that the stone
appears to be exquisite black satin rather than basanite. And, to put it
in a few words, for all that the hand of Benedetto did in this work
there is no praise that would not seem too little.
And since he also gave his attention to architecture, there was restored
from the design of Benedetto a house near S. Apostolo in Florence,
belonging to Messer Oddo Altoviti, Patron and Prior of that church.
There Benedetto made the principal door in marble, and, over the door of
the house, the arms of the Altoviti in grey-stone, with the wolf, lean,
excoriated, and carved in such strong relief, that it seems to be almost
separate from the shield; and some pendant ornaments carved in open-work
with such delicacy, that they appear to be not of stone, but of the
finest paper. In the same church, above the two chapels of Messer Bindo
Altoviti, for which Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo painted the panel-picture
of the Conception in oils, Benedetto made a marble tomb for the said
Messer Oddo, surrounded by an ornament full of most masterly foliage,
with a sarcophagus, likewise very beautiful.
Benedetto also executed, in competition with Jacopo Sansovino and Baccio
Bandinelli, as has been related, one of the Apostles, four and a half
braccia in height, for S. Maria del Fiore--namely, a S. John the
Evangelist, which is a passing good figure, wrought with fine design and
skill. This figure is in the Office of Works, in company with the
others.
Next, in the year 1515, the chiefs and heads of the Order of
Vallombrosa, wishing to transfer the body of S. Giovanni Gualberto from
the Abbey of Passignano to the Church of S. Trinità, an abbey of the
same Order, in Florence, commissioned Benedetto to make a design, upon
which he was to set to work, for a chapel and tomb combined, with a vast
number of lifesize figures in the round, which were to be suitably
distributed over that work in some niches separated by pilasters filled
with ornaments and friezes and with delicately carved grotesques. And
below this whole work there was to be a base one braccio and a half in
height, wherein were to be scenes from the life of the said S. Giovanni
Gualberto; while endless numbers of other ornaments were to be round the
sarcophagus, and as a crown to the work. On this tomb, then, Benedetto,
assisted by many carvers, laboured continually for ten years, with vast
expense to that Congregation; and he brought the work to completion in
their house of Guarlondo, a place near San Salvi, without the Porta alla
Croce, where the General of the Order that was having the work executed
almost always lived. Benedetto, then, carried out the making of that
chapel and tomb in such a manner as amazed Florence; but, as Fate would
have it--for even marbles and the finest works of men of excellence are
subject to the whims of fortune--after much discord among those monks,
their government was changed, and the work remained unfinished in the
same place until the year 1530. At which time, war raging round
Florence, all those labours were ruined by soldiers, the heads wrought
with such diligence were impiously struck off from the little figures,
and the whole work was so completely destroyed and broken to pieces,
that the monks afterwards sold what was left for a mere song. If any one
wishes to see a part of it, let him go to the Office of Works of S.
Maria del Fiore, where there are a few pieces, bought as broken marble
not many years ago by the officials of that place. And, in truth, even
as everything is brought to fine completion in those monasteries and
other places where peace and concord reign, so, on the contrary, nothing
ever reaches perfection or an end worthy of praise in places where there
is naught save rivalry and discord, because what takes a good and wise
man a hundred years to build up can be destroyed by an ignorant and
crazy boor in one day. And it seems as if fortune wishes that those who
know the least and delight in nothing that is excellent, should always
be the men who govern and command, or rather, ruin, everything: as was
also said of secular Princes, with no less learning than truth, by
Ariosto, at the beginning of his seventeenth canto. But returning to
Benedetto: it was a sad pity that all his labours and all the money
spent by that Order should have come to such a miserable end.
By the same architect were designed the door and vestibule of the Badia
of Florence, and likewise some chapels, among them that of S. Stefano,
erected by the family of the Pandolfini. Finally, Benedetto was summoned
to England into the service of the King, for whom he executed many works
in marble and in bronze, and, in particular, his tomb; from which works,
through the liberality of that King, he gained enough to be able to live
in comfort for the rest of his life. Thereupon he returned to Florence;
but, after he had finished some little things, a sort of giddiness,
which even in England had begun to affect his eyes, and other troubles
caused, so it was said, by standing too long over the fire in the
founding of metals, or by some other reasons, in a short time robbed him
completely of the sight of his eyes; wherefore he ceased to work about
the year 1550, and to live a few years after that. Benedetto endured
that blindness during the last years of his life with the patience of a
good Christian, thanking God that He had first enabled him, by means of
his labours, to live an honourable life.
Benedetto was a courteous gentleman, and he always delighted in the
society of men of culture. His portrait was copied from one made, when
he was a young man, by Agnolo di Donnino. This original is in our book
of drawings, wherein there are also some drawings very well executed by
the hand of Benedetto, who deserves, on account of all those works, to
be numbered among our most excellent craftsmen.
[Illustration: TOMB OF PIETRO SODERINI
(_After_ Benedetto da Rovezzano. _Florence: S. Maria del Carmine_)
_Alinari_]
BACCIO DA MONTELUPO AND RAFFAELLO, HIS SON
LIVES OF BACCIO DA MONTELUPO
SCULPTOR
AND OF RAFFAELLO, HIS SON
So strong is the belief of mankind that those who are negligent in the
arts which they profess to practise can never arrive at any perfection
in them, that it was in the face of the judgment of many that Baccio da
Montelupo learnt the art of sculpture; and this happened to him because
in his youth, led astray by pleasures, he would scarcely ever study,
and, although he was exhorted and upbraided by many, he thought little
or nothing of art. But having come to years of discretion, which bring
sense with them, he was forced straightway to learn how far he was from
the good way. Whereupon, seeing with shame that others were going ahead
of him in that art, he resolved with a stout heart to follow and
practise with all possible zeal that which in his idleness he had
hitherto shunned. This resolution was the reason that he produced in
sculpture such fruits as the opinions of many no longer expected from
him.
Having thus devoted himself with all his powers to his art, and
practising it continually, he became a rare and excellent master. And of
this he gave a proof in a work in hard-stone, wrought with the chisel,
on the corner of the garden attached to the Palace of the Pucci in
Florence; which was the escutcheon of Pope Leo X, with two children
supporting it, executed in a beautiful and masterly manner. He made a
Hercules for Pier Francesco de' Medici; and from the Guild of Porta
Santa Maria he received the commission for a statue of S. John the
Evangelist, to be executed in bronze, in securing which he had many
difficulties, since a number of masters made models in competition with
him. This figure was afterwards placed on the corner of S. Michele in
Orto, opposite to the Ufficio; and the work was finished by him with
supreme diligence. It is said that when he had made the figure in clay,
all who saw the arrangement of the armatures, and the moulds laid upon
them, held it to be a beautiful piece of work, recognizing the rare
ingenuity of Baccio in such an enterprise; and when they had seen it
cast with the utmost facility, they gave Baccio credit for having shown
supreme mastery, and having made a solid and beautiful casting. These
labours endured in that profession, brought him the name of a good and
even excellent master; and that figure is esteemed more than ever at the
present day by all craftsmen, who hold it to be most beautiful.
Setting himself also to work in wood, he carved lifesize Crucifixes, of
which he made an endless number for all parts of Italy, and among them
one that is over the door of the choir of the Monks of S. Marco at
Florence. These are all excellent and full of grace, but there are some
that are much more perfect than the rest, such as the one of the Murate
in Florence, and another, no less famous than the first, in S. Pietro
Maggiore; and for the Monks of SS. Fiora e Lucilla he made a similar
one, which they placed over the high-altar of their abbey at Arezzo, and
which is held to be much the most beautiful of them all. For the visit
of Pope Leo X to Florence, Baccio erected between the Palace of the
Podestà and the Badia a very beautiful triumphal arch of wood and clay;
with many little works, which have either disappeared or been dispersed
among the houses of citizens.
Having grown weary, however, of living in Florence, he went off to
Lucca, where he executed some works in sculpture, and even more in
architecture, in the service of that city, and, in particular, the
beautiful and well-designed Temple of S. Paulino, the Patron Saint of
the people of Lucca, built with proofs of a fine and well-trained
intelligence both within and without, and richly adorned. Living in that
city, then, up to the eighty-eighth year of his life, he ended his days
there, and received honourable burial in the aforesaid S. Paulino from
those whom he had honoured when alive.
[Illustration: S. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
(_After_ Baccio da Montelupo. _Florence: Or San Michele_)
_Alinari_]
A contemporary of Baccio was Agostino, a very famous sculptor and carver
of Milan, who began in S. Maria, at Milan, the tomb of Monsignore de
Foix, which remains unfinished even now; and in it may still be seen
many large figures, some finished, some half completed, and others only
blocked out, with a number of scenes in half-relief, in pieces and not
built in, and a great quantity of foliage and trophies. For the Biraghi,
also, he made another tomb, which is finished and erected in S.
Francesco, with six large figures, the base wrought with scenes, and
other very beautiful ornaments, which bear witness to the masterly skill
of that valiant craftsman.
Baccio left at his death, among other sons, Raffaello, who applied
himself to sculpture, and not merely equalled his father, but surpassed
him by a great measure. This Raffaello, beginning in his youth to work
in clay, in wax, and in bronze, acquired the name of an excellent
sculptor, and was therefore taken by Antonio da San Gallo to Loreto,
together with many others, in order to finish the ornamentation of that
Chamber, according to the directions left by Andrea Sansovino; where
Raffaello completely finished the Marriage of Our Lady, begun by the
said Sansovino, executing many things in a beautiful and perfect manner,
partly over the beginnings of Andrea, and partly from his own invention.
Wherefore he was deservedly esteemed to be one of the best craftsmen who
worked there in his time.
He had finished this work, when Michelagnolo, by order of Pope Clement
VII, proceeded to finish the new sacristy and the library of S. Lorenzo
in Florence; and that master, having recognized the talent of Raffaello,
made use of him in that work, and caused him to execute, among other
things, after the model that he himself had made, the S. Damiano of
marble which is now in that sacristy--a very beautiful statue, very
highly extolled by all men. After the death of Clement, Raffaello
attached himself to Duke Alessandro de' Medici, who was then having the
fortress of Prato built; and he made for him in grey-stone, on one of
the extremities of the chief bastion of that fortress--namely, on the
outer side--the escutcheon of the Emperor Charles V, upheld by two nude
and lifesize Victories, which were much extolled, as they still are. And
for the extremity of another bastion, in the direction of the city, on
the southern side, he made the arms of Duke Alessandro in the same kind
of stone, with two figures. Not long after, he executed a large Crucifix
of wood for the Nuns of S. Apollonia; and for Alessandro Antinori, a
very rich and noble merchant of Florence at that time, he prepared a
most magnificent festival for the marriage of his daughter, with
statues, scenes, and many other most beautiful ornaments.
Having then gone to Rome, he received from Buonarroti a commission to
make two figures of marble, each five braccia high, for the tomb of
Julius II, which was finished and erected at that time by Michelagnolo
in S. Pietro in Vincula. But Raffaello, falling ill while he was
executing this work, was not able to put into it his usual zeal and
diligence, on which account he lost credit thereby, and gave little
satisfaction to Michelagnolo. At the visit of the Emperor Charles V to
Rome, for which Pope Paul III prepared a festival worthy of that
all-conquering Prince, Raffaello made with clay and stucco, on the Ponte
S. Angelo, fourteen statues so beautiful, that they were judged to be
the best that had been made for that festival. And, what is more, he
executed them with such rapidity that he was in time to come to
Florence, where the Emperor was likewise expected, to make within the
space of five days and no more, on the abutment of the Ponte a S.
Trinità two Rivers of clay, each five braccia high, the Rhine to stand
for Germany and the Danube for Hungary.
After this, having been summoned to Orvieto, he made in marble, in a
chapel wherein the excellent sculptor Mosca had previously executed many
most beautiful ornaments, the story of the Magi in half-relief, which
proved to be a very fine work, on account of the great variety of
figures and the good manner with which he executed them.
[Illustration: HEAD OF GASTON DE FOIX, FROM THE TOMB
(_After_ Agostino Busti [Il Bambaja]. _Milan: Brera_)
_Alinari_]
Then, having returned to Rome, he was appointed by Tiberio Crispo, at
that time Castellan of the Castello di S. Angelo, as architect of that
great structure; whereupon he set in order many rooms there, adorning
them with carvings in many kinds of stone and various sorts of
variegated marbles on the chimney-pieces, windows, and doors. In
addition to this, he made a marble statue, five braccia high, of the
Angel of that Castle, which is on the summit of the great square tower
in the centre, where the standard flies, after the likeness of that
Angel that appeared to S. Gregory, who, having prayed that the people
should be delivered from a most grievous pestilence, saw him sheathing
his sword in the scabbard. Later, when the said Crispo had been
made a Cardinal, he sent Raffaello several times to Bolsena, where he
was building a palace. Nor was it long before the very reverend Cardinal
Salviati and Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia commissioned Raffaello,
who had already left the service of the Castle and of Cardinal Crispo,
to make the statue of Pope Leo that is now over his tomb in the Minerva
at Rome. That work finished, Raffaello made a tomb for the same Messer
Baldassarre in the Church of Pescia, where that gentleman had built a
chapel of marble. And for a chapel in the Consolazione, at Rome, he made
three figures of marble in half-relief. But afterwards, having given
himself up to the sort of life fit rather for a philosopher than for a
sculptor, and wishing to live in peace, he retired to Orvieto, where he
undertook the charge of the building of S. Maria, in which he made many
improvements; and with this he occupied himself for many years, growing
old before his time.
[Illustration: S. DAMIANO
(_After_ Raffaello da Montelupo. _Florence: New Sacristy of S. Lorenzo_)
_Alinari_]
I believe that Raffaello, if he had undertaken great works, as he might
have done, would have executed more things in art, and better, than he
did. But he was too kindly and considerate, avoiding all conflict, and
contenting himself with that wherewith fortune had provided him; and
thus he neglected many opportunities of making works of distinction.
Raffaello was a very masterly draughtsman, and he had a much better
knowledge of all matters of art than had been shown by his father
Baccio. In our book are some drawings by the hand both of the one and of
the other; but those of Raffaello are much the finer and more graceful,
and executed with better art. In his architectural decorations Raffaello
followed in great measure the manner of Michelagnolo, as is proved by
the chimney-pieces, doors, and windows that he made in the aforesaid
Castello di S. Angelo, and by some chapels built under his direction, in
a rare and beautiful manner, at Orvieto.
But returning to Baccio: his death was a great grief to the people of
Lucca, who had known him as a good and upright man, courteous to all,
and very loving. Baccio's works date about the year of our Lord 1533.
His dearest friend, who learnt many things from him, was Zaccaria da
Volterra, who executed many works in terra-cotta at Bologna, some of
which are in the Church of S. Giuseppe.
LORENZO DI CREDI
[Illustration: LORENZO DI CREDI: VENUS
(_Florence: Uffizi_, 3452. _Panel_)]
LIFE OF LORENZO DI CREDI
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
The while that Maestro Credi, an excellent goldsmith in his day, was
working in Florence with very good credit and repute, Andrea
Sciarpelloni placed with him, to the end that he might learn that craft,
his son Lorenzo, a young man of beautiful intellect and excellent
character. And since the ability and willingness of the master to teach
were not greater than the zeal and readiness with which the disciple
absorbed whatever was shown to him, no long time passed before Lorenzo
became not only a good and diligent designer, but also so able and
finished a goldsmith, that no young man of that time was his equal; and
this brought such honour to Credi, that from that day onward Lorenzo was
always called by everyone, not Lorenzo Sciarpelloni, but Lorenzo di
Credi.
Growing in courage, then, Lorenzo attached himself to Andrea Verrocchio,
who at that time had taken it into his head to devote himself to
painting; and under him, having Pietro Perugino and Leonardo da Vinci as
his companions and friends, although they were rivals, he set himself
with all diligence to learn to paint. And since Lorenzo took an
extraordinary pleasure in the manner of Leonardo, he contrived to
imitate it so well that there was no one who came nearer to it than he
did in the high finish and thorough perfection of his works, as may be
seen from many drawings that are in our book, executed with the style,
with the pen, or in water-colours, among which are some drawings made
from models of clay covered with waxed linen cloths and with liquid
clay, imitated with such diligence, and finished with such patience, as
it is scarcely possible to conceive, much less to equal.
For these reasons, then, Lorenzo was so beloved by his master, that,
when Andrea went to Venice to cast in bronze the horse and the statue
of Bartolommeo da Bergamo, he left to Lorenzo the whole management and
administration of his revenues and affairs, and likewise all his
drawings, reliefs, statues, and art materials. And Lorenzo, on his part,
loved his master Andrea so dearly, that, besides occupying himself with
incredible zeal with his interests in Florence, he also went more than
once to Venice to see him and to render him an account of his good
administration, which was so much to the satisfaction of his master,
that, if Lorenzo had consented, Andrea would have made him his heir. Nor
did Lorenzo prove in any way ungrateful for this good-will, for, after
the death of Andrea, he went to Venice and brought his body to Florence;
and then he handed over to his heirs everything that was found to belong
to Andrea, except his drawings, pictures, sculptures, and all other
things connected with art.
The first paintings of Lorenzo were a round picture of Our Lady, which
was sent to the King of Spain (the design of which picture he copied
from one by his master Andrea), and a picture, much better than the
other, which was likewise copied by Lorenzo from one by Leonardo da
Vinci, and also sent to Spain; and so similar was it to that by
Leonardo, that no difference could be seen between the one and the
other. By the hand of Lorenzo is a Madonna in a very well executed
panel, which is beside the great Church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia; and
another, also, which is in the Hospital of the Ceppo, and is one of the
best pictures in that city. Lorenzo painted many portraits, and when he
was a young man he made that one of himself which is now in the
possession of his disciple, Gian Jacopo, a painter in Florence, together
with many other things left to him by Lorenzo, among which are the
portrait of Pietro Perugino and that of Lorenzo's master, Andrea
Verrocchio. He also made a portrait of Girolamo Benivieni, a man of
great learning, and much his friend.
[Illustration: ANDREA VERROCCHIO
(_After the panel by =Lorenzo di Credi=. Florence: Uffizi, 1163_)
_Anderson_]
For the Company of S. Sebastiano, behind the Church of the Servi in
Florence, he executed a panel-picture of Our Lady, S. Sebastian, and
other saints; and for the altar of S. Giuseppe, in S. Maria del Fiore,
he painted the first-named saint. To Montepulciano he sent a panel that
is now in the Church of S. Agostino, containing a Crucifix, Our Lady,
and S. John, painted with much diligence. But the best work that
Lorenzo ever executed, and that to which he devoted the greatest care
and zeal, in order to surpass himself, was the one that is in a chapel
at Cestello, a panel containing Our Lady, S. Julian, and S. Nicholas;
and whoever wishes to know how necessary it is for a painter to work
with a high finish in oils if he desires that his pictures should remain
fresh, must look at this panel, which is painted with such a finish as
could not be excelled.
While still a young man, Lorenzo painted a S. Bartholomew on a pilaster
in Orsanmichele, and for the Nuns of S. Chiara, in Florence, a
panel-picture of the Nativity of Christ, with some shepherds and angels;
in which picture, besides other things, he took great pains with the
imitation of some herbage, painting it so well that it appears to be
real. For the same place he made a picture of S. Mary Magdalene in
Penitence; and in a round picture that is in the house of Messer
Ottaviano de' Medici he painted a Madonna. For S. Friano he painted a
panel; and he executed some figures in S. Matteo at the Hospital of
Lelmo. For S. Reparata he painted a picture with the Angel Michael, and
for the Company of the Scalzo he made a panel-picture, executed with
much diligence. And, in addition to these works, he made many pictures
of Our Lady and others, which are dispersed among the houses of citizens
in Florence.
Having thus got together a certain sum of money by means of these
labours, and being a man who loved quiet more than riches, Lorenzo
retired to S. Maria Nuova in Florence, where he lived and had a
comfortable lodging until his death. Lorenzo was much inclined to the
sect of Fra Girolamo of Ferrara, and always lived like an upright and
orderly man, showing a friendly courtesy whenever the occasion arose.
Finally, having come to the seventy-eighth year of his life, he died of
old age, and was buried in S. Pietro Maggiore, in the year 1530.
He showed such a perfection of finish in his works, that any other
painting, in comparison with his, must always seem merely sketched and
dirty. He left many disciples, and among them Giovanni Antonio Sogliani
and Tommaso di Stefano. Of Sogliani there will be an account in another
place; and as for Tommaso, he imitated his master closely in his high
finish, and made many works in Florence and abroad, including a
panel-picture for Marco del Nero at his villa of Arcetri, of the
Nativity of Christ, executed with great perfection of finish. But
ultimately it became Tommaso's principal profession to paint on cloth,
insomuch that he painted church-hangings better than any other man. Now
Stefano, the father of Tommaso, had been an illuminator, and had also
done something in architecture; and Tommaso, after his father's death,
in order to follow in his steps, rebuilt the bridge of Sieve, which had
been destroyed by a flood about that time, at a distance of ten miles
from Florence, and likewise that of S. Piero a Ponte on the River
Bisenzio, which is a beautiful work; and afterwards he erected many
buildings for monasteries and other places. Then, being architect to the
Guild of Wool, he made the model for the new buildings which were
constructed by that Guild behind the Nunziata; and, finally, having
reached the age of seventy or more, he died in the year 1564, and was
buried in S. Marco, to which he was followed by an honourable train of
the Academy of Design.
But returning to Lorenzo: he left many works unfinished at his death,
and, in particular, a very beautiful picture of the Passion of Christ,
which came into the hands of Antonio da Ricasoli, and a panel painted
for M. Francesco da Castiglioni, Canon of S. Maria del Fiore, who sent
it to Castiglioni. Lorenzo had no wish to make many large works, because
he took great pains in executing his pictures, and devoted an incredible
amount of labour to them, for the reason, above all, that the colours
which he used were ground too fine; besides which, he was always
purifying and distilling his nut-oils, and he made mixtures of colours
on his palette in such numbers, that from the first of the light tints
to the last of the darks there was a gradual succession involving an
over-careful and truly excessive elaboration, so that at times he had
twenty-five or thirty of them on his palette. For each tint he kept a
separate brush; and where he was working he would never allow any
movement that might raise dust. Such excessive care is perhaps no more
worthy of praise than the other extreme of negligence, for in all things
one should observe a certain mean and avoid extremes, which are
generally harmful.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS
(_After the panel by =Lorenzo di Credi=. Paris: Louvre, 1263_)
_Alinari_]
[Illustration: THE NATIVITY
(_After the panel by =Lorenzo di Credi=. Florence: Accademia, 92_)
_Anderson_]
LORENZETTO AND BOCCACCINO
[Illustration: BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI): S. CATHARINE BORNE TO HER
TOMB BY ANGELS
(_Milan: Brera, 288. Fresco_)]
LIVES OF LORENZETTO
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
AND OF BOCCACCINO
PAINTER OF CREMONA
It happens at times, after Fortune has kept the talent of some fine
intellect subjected for a period by poverty, that she thinks better of
it, and at an unexpected moment provides all sorts of benefits for one
who has hitherto been the object of her hatred, so as to atone in one
year for the affronts and discomforts of many. This was seen in Lorenzo,
the son of Lodovico the bell-founder, a Florentine, who was engaged in
the work both of architecture and of sculpture, and was loved so dearly
by Raffaello da Urbino, that he not only was assisted by him and
employed in many enterprises, but also received from the same master a
wife in the person of a sister of Giulio Romano, a disciple of
Raffaello.
Lorenzetto[4]--for thus he was always called--finished in his youth the
tomb of Cardinal Forteguerra, formerly begun by Andrea Verrocchio, which
was erected in S. Jacopo at Pistoia; and there, among other things, is a
Charity by the hand of Lorenzetto, which is not otherwise than passing
good. And a little afterwards he made a figure for Giovanni Bartolini,
to adorn his garden; which finished, he went to Rome, where in his first
years he executed many works, of which there is no need to make any
further record. Then, receiving from Agostino Chigi, at the instance of
Raffaello da Urbino, the commission to make a tomb for him in S. Maria
del Popolo, where Agostino had built a chapel, Lorenzo set himself to
work on this with all the zeal, diligence, and labour in his power, in
order to come out of it with credit and to give satisfaction to
Raffaello, from whom he had reason to expect much favour and
assistance, and also in the hope of being richly rewarded by the
liberality of Agostino, a man of great wealth. Nor were these labours
expended without an excellent result, for, assisted by Raffaello, he
executed the figures to perfection: a nude Jonah delivered from the
belly of the whale, as a symbol of the resurrection from the dead, and
an Elijah, living by grace, with his cruse of water and his bread baked
in the ashes, under the juniper-tree. These statues, then, were brought
to the most beautiful completion by Lorenzetto with all the art and
diligence at his command, but he did not by any means obtain for them
that reward which his great labours and the needs of his family called
for, since, death having closed the eyes of Agostino, and almost at the
same time those of Raffaello, the heirs of Agostino, with scant respect,
allowed these figures to remain in Lorenzetto's workshop, where they
stood for many years. In our own day, indeed, they have been set into
place on that tomb in the aforesaid Church of S. Maria del Popolo; but
Lorenzo, robbed for those reasons of all hope, found for the present
that he had thrown away his time and labour.
[Illustration: ELIJAH
(_After_ Lorenzetto. _Rome: S. Maria del Popolo, Chigi Chapel_)
_Anderson_]
Next, by way of executing the testament of Raffaello, Lorenzo was
commissioned to make a marble statue of Our Lady, four braccia high, for
the tomb of Raffaello in the Temple of S. Maria Ritonda, where the
tabernacle was restored by order of that master. The same Lorenzo made a
tomb with two children in half-relief, for a merchant of the Perini
family, in the Trinità at Rome. And in architecture he made the designs
for many houses; in particular, that of the Palace of Messer Bernardino
Caffarelli, and in the Valle, for Cardinal Andrea della Valle, the inner
façade, and also the design of the stables and of the upper garden. In
the composition of that work he included ancient columns, bases, and
capitals, and around the whole, to serve as base, he distributed ancient
sarcophagi covered with carved scenes. Higher up, below some large
niches, he made another frieze with fragments of ancient works, and
above this, in those niches, he placed some statues, likewise ancient
and of marble, which, although they were not entire--some being without
the head, some without arms, others without legs, and every one, in
short, with something missing--nevertheless he arranged to the best
advantage, having caused all that was lacking to be restored by
good sculptors. This was the reason that other lords have since done the
same thing and have restored many ancient works; as, for example,
Cardinals Cesis, Ferrara, and Farnese, and, in a word, all Rome. And, in
truth, antiquities restored in this way have more grace than those
mutilated trunks, members without heads, or figures in any other way
maimed and defective. But to return to the aforesaid garden: over the
niches was placed the frieze that is still seen there, of supremely
beautiful ancient scenes in half-relief; and this invention of Lorenzo's
stood him in very good stead, since, after the troubles of Pope Clement
had abated, he was employed by him with much honour and profit to
himself. For the Pope had seen, when the fight for the Castello di S.
Angelo was raging, that two little chapels of marble, which were at the
head of the bridge, had been a source of mischief, in that some
harquebusiers, standing in them, shot down all who exposed themselves at
the walls, and, themselves in safety, inflicted great losses and baulked
the defence; and his Holiness resolved to remove those chapels and to
set up in place of them two marble statues on pedestals. And so, after
the S. Paul of Paolo Romano, of which there has been an account in
another Life, had been set in place, the commission for the other, a S.
Peter, was given to Lorenzetto, who acquitted himself passing well, but
did not surpass the work of Paolo Romano. These two statues were set up,
and are to be seen at the present day at the head of the bridge.
[Illustration: S. PETER
(_After_ Lorenzetto. _Rome: Ponte S. Angelo_)
_Anderson_]
After Pope Clement was dead, Baccio Bandinelli was given the commissions
for the tombs of that Pope and of Leo X, and Lorenzo was entrusted with
the marble masonry that was to be executed for them; whereupon the
latter spent no little time over that work. Finally, at the election of
Paul III as Pontiff, when Lorenzo was in sorry straits and almost worn
out, having nothing but a house which he had built for himself in the
Macello de' Corbi, and being weighed down by his five children and by
other expenses, Fortune changed and began to raise him and to set him
back on a better path; for Pope Paul wishing to have the building of S.
Pietro continued, and neither Baldassarre of Siena nor any of the others
who had been employed in that work being now alive, Antonio da San
Gallo appointed Lorenzo as architect for that structure, wherein the
walls were being built at a fixed price of so much for every four
braccia. Thereupon Lorenzo, without exerting himself, in a few years
became more famous and prosperous than he had been after many years of
endless labour, through having found God, mankind, and Fortune all
propitious at that one moment. And if he had lived longer, he would have
done even more towards wiping out those injuries that a cruel fate had
unjustly brought upon him during his best period of work. But after
reaching the age of forty-seven, he died of fever in the year 1541.
The death of this master caused great grief to his many friends, who had
always known him as a loving and reasonable man. And since he had always
lived like an upright and orderly citizen, the Deputati of S. Pietro
gave him honourable burial in a tomb, on which they placed the following
epitaph:
SCULPTORI LAURENTIO FLORENTINO
ROMA MIHI TRIBUIT TUMULUM, FLORENTIA VITAM:
NEMO ALIO VELLET NASCI ET OBIRE LOCO.
MDXLI
VIX. ANN. XLVII, MEN. II, D. XV.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS
(_After the panel by =Boccaccino=. Rome: Doria Gallery, 125_)
_Anderson_]
Boccaccino of Cremona, who lived about the same time, had acquired the
name of a rare and excellent painter in his native place and throughout
all Lombardy, and his works were very highly extolled, when he went to
Rome to see the works, so much renowned, of Michelagnolo; but no sooner
had he seen them than he sought to the best of his power to disparage
and revile them, believing that he could exalt himself almost exactly in
proportion as he vilified a man who truly was in the matters of design,
and indeed in all others without exception, supremely excellent. This
master, then, was commissioned to paint the Chapel of S. Maria
Traspontina; but when he had finished it and thrown it open to view, it
was a revelation to all those who thought that he would soar above the
heavens, for they saw that he could not reach even to the level of the
lowest floor of a house. And so the painters of Rome, on seeing the
Coronation of Our Lady that he had painted in that work, with some
children flying around her, changed from marvel to laughter.
From this it may be seen that when people begin to exalt with their
praise men who are more excellent in name than in deeds, it is a
difficult thing to contrive to bring such men down to their true level
with words, however reasonable, before their own works, wholly contrary
to their reputation, reveal what the masters so celebrated really are.
And it is a very certain fact that the worst harm that one man can do to
another is the giving of praise too early to any intellect engaged in
work, since such praise, swelling him with premature pride, prevents him
from going any farther, and a man so greatly extolled, on finding that
his works have not that excellence which was expected, takes the censure
too much to heart, and despairs completely of ever being able to do good
work. Wise men, therefore, should fear praise much more than censure,
for the first flatters and deceives, and the second, revealing the
truth, gives instruction.
Boccaccino, then, departing from Rome, where he felt himself wounded and
torn to pieces, returned to Cremona, and there continued to practise
painting to the best of his power and knowledge. In the Duomo, over the
arches in the middle, he painted all the stories of the Madonna; and
this work is much esteemed in that city. He also made other works
throughout that city and in the neighbourhood, of which there is no need
to make mention.
He taught his art to a son of his own, called Camillo, who, applying
himself to the art with more study, strove to make amends for the
shortcomings of the boastful Boccaccino. By the hand of this Camillo are
some works in S. Gismondo, which is a mile distant from Cremona; and
these are esteemed by the people of Cremona as the best paintings that
they have. He also painted the façade of a house on their Piazza, all
the compartments of the vaulting and some panels in S. Agata, and the
façade of S. Antonio, together with other works, which made him known as
a practised master. If death had not snatched him from the world before
his time, he would have achieved a most honourable success, for he was
advancing on the good way; and even for those works that he has left to
us, he deserves to have record made of him.
But returning to Boccaccino; without having ever made any improvement in
his art, he passed from this life at the age of fifty-eight. In his time
there lived in Milan a passing good illuminator, called Girolamo, whose
works may be seen in good numbers both in that city and throughout all
Lombardy. A Milanese, likewise, living about the same time, was
Bernardino del Lupino,[5] a very delicate and pleasing painter, as may
be seen from many works by his hand that are in that city, and from a
Marriage of Our Lady at Sarone, a place twelve miles distant from Milan,
and other scenes that are in the Church of S. Maria, executed most
perfectly in fresco. He also worked with a very high finish in oils, and
he was a courteous person, and very liberal with his possessions;
wherefore he deserves all the praise that is due to any craftsman who
makes the works and ways of his daily life shine by the adornment of
courtesy no less than do his works of art on account of their
excellence.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Bernardino del Lupino [Luini]=. Saronno:
Santuario della Beata Vergine_)
_Anderson_]
FOOTNOTE:
[4] Diminutive of Lorenzo.
[5] Luini.
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
LIFE OF BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF SIENA
Among all the gifts that Heaven distributes to mortals, none, in truth,
can or should be held in more account than talent, with calmness and
peace of soul, for the first makes us for ever immortal, and the second
blessed. He, then, who is endowed with these gifts, in addition to the
deep gratitude that he should feel towards God, must make himself known
among other men almost as a light amid darkness. And even so, in our own
times, did Baldassarre Peruzzi, a painter and architect of Siena, of
whom we can say with certainty that the modesty and goodness which were
revealed in him were no mean offshoots of that supreme serenity for
which the minds of all who are born in this world are ever sighing, and
that the works which he left to us are most honourable fruits of that
true excellence which was infused in him by Heaven.
Now, although I have called him above, Baldassarre of Siena, because he
was always known as a Sienese, I will not withhold that even as seven
cities contended for Homer, each claiming that he was her citizen, so
three most noble cities of Tuscany--Florence, Volterra, and Siena--have
each held that Baldassarre was her son. But, to tell the truth, each of
them has a share in him, seeing that Antonio Peruzzi, a noble citizen of
Florence, that city being harassed by civil war, went off, in the hope
of a quieter life, to Volterra; and after living some time there, in the
year 1482 he took a wife in that city, and in a few years had two
children, one a boy, called Baldassarre, and the other a girl, who
received the name of Virginia. Now it happened that war pursued this man
who sought nothing but peace and quiet, and that no long time afterwards
Volterra was sacked; whence Antonio was forced to fly to Siena, and to
live there in great poverty, having lost almost all that he had.
Meanwhile Baldassarre, having grown up, was for ever associating with
persons of ability, and particularly with goldsmiths and draughtsmen;
and thus, beginning to take pleasure in the arts, he devoted himself
heart and soul to drawing. And not long after, his father being now
dead, he applied himself to painting with such zeal, that in a very
short time he made marvellous progress therein, imitating living and
natural things as well as the works of the best masters. In this way,
executing what work he could find, he was able to maintain himself, his
mother, and his sister with his art, and to pursue the studies of
painting.
[Illustration: CUPOLA OF THE PONZETTI CHAPEL
(_After the fresco by =Baldassarre Peruzzi=. Rome: S. Maria della Pace_)
_Anderson_]
His first work--apart from some things at Siena, not worthy of
mention--was in a little chapel near the Porta Fiorentina at Volterra,
wherein he executed some figures with such grace, that they led to his
forming a friendship with a painter of Volterra, called Piero, who lived
most of his time in Rome, and going off with that master to that city,
where he was doing some work in the Palace for Alexander VI. But after
the death of Alexander, Maestro Piero working no more in that place,
Baldassarre entered the workshop of the father of Maturino, a painter of
no great excellence, who at that time had always plenty of work to do in
the form of commonplace commissions. That painter, then, placing a panel
primed with gesso before Baldassarre, but giving him no scrap of drawing
or cartoon, told him to make a Madonna upon it. Baldassarre took a piece
of charcoal, and in a moment, with great mastery, he had drawn what he
wished to paint in the picture; and then, setting his hand to the
colouring, in a few days he painted a picture so beautiful and so well
finished, that it amazed not only the master of the workshop, but also
many painters who saw it; and they, recognizing his ability, contrived
to obtain for him the commission to paint the Chapel of the High-Altar
in the Church of S. Onofrio, which he executed in fresco with much grace
and in a very beautiful manner. After this, he painted two other little
chapels in fresco in the Church of S. Rocco a Ripa. Having thus begun to
be in good repute, he was summoned to Ostia, where he painted most
beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro in some apartments of the great tower of
the fortress; in particular, a hand-to-hand battle after the manner
in which the ancient Romans used to fight, and beside this a company of
soldiers delivering an assault on a fortress, wherein the attackers,
covered by their shields, are seen making a beautiful and spirited
onslaught and planting their ladders against the walls, while the men
within are hurling them back with the utmost fury. In this scene, also,
he painted many antique instruments of war, and likewise various kinds
of arms; with many other scenes in another hall, which are held to be
among the best works that he ever made, although it is true that he was
assisted in this work by Cesare da Milano.
After these labours, having returned to Rome, Baldassarre formed a very
strait friendship with Agostino Chigi of Siena, both because Agostino
had a natural love for every man of talent, and because Baldassarre
called himself a Sienese. And thus, with the help of so great a man, he
was able to maintain himself while studying the antiquities of Rome, and
particularly those in architecture, wherein, out of rivalry with
Bramante, in a short time he made marvellous proficience, which
afterwards brought him, as will be related, very great honour and
profit. He also gave attention to perspective, and became such a master
of that science, that we have seen few in our own times who have worked
in it as well as he. Pope Julius II having meanwhile built a corridor in
his Palace, with an aviary near the roof, Baldassarre painted there, in
chiaroscuro, all the months of the year and the pursuits that are
practised in each of them. In this work may be seen an endless number of
buildings, theatres, amphitheatres, palaces, and other edifices, all
distributed with beautiful invention in that place. He then painted, in
company with other painters, some apartments in the Palace of S. Giorgio
for Cardinal Raffaello Riario, Bishop of Ostia; and he painted a façade
opposite to the house of Messer Ulisse da Fano, and also that of the
same Messer Ulisse, wherein he executed stories of Ulysses that brought
him very great renown and fame.
Even greater was the fame that came to him from the model of the Palace
of Agostino Chigi, executed with such beautiful grace that it seems not
to have been built, but rather to have sprung into life; and with his
own hand he decorated the exterior with most beautiful scenes in
terretta. The hall, likewise, is adorned with rows of columns executed
in perspective, which, with the depth of the intercolumniation, cause it
to appear much larger. But what is the greatest marvel of all is a
loggia that may be seen over the garden, painted by Baldassarre with
scenes of the Medusa turning men into stone, such that nothing more
beautiful can be imagined; and then there is Perseus cutting off her
head, with many other scenes in the spandrels of that vaulting, while
the ornamentation, drawn in perspective with colours, in imitation of
stucco, is so natural and lifelike, that even to excellent craftsmen it
appears to be in relief. And I remember that when I took the Chevalier
Tiziano, a most excellent and honoured painter, to see that work, he
would by no means believe that it was painted, until he had changed his
point of view, when he was struck with amazement. In that place are some
works executed by Fra Sebastiano Viniziano, in his first manner; and by
the hand of the divine Raffaello, as has been related, there is a
Galatea being carried off by sea-gods.
[Illustration: PALAZZO DELLA FARNESINA
(_After_ Baldassarre Peruzzi. _Rome_)
_Alinari_]
Baldassarre also painted, beyond the Campo di Fiore, on the way to the
Piazza Giudea, a most beautiful façade in terretta with marvellous
perspectives, for which he received the commission from a Groom of the
Chamber to the Pope; and it is now in the possession of Jacopo Strozzi,
the Florentine. In like manner, he wrought for Messer Ferrando Ponzetti,
who afterwards became a Cardinal, a chapel at the entrance of the Church
of the Pace, on the left hand, with little scenes from the Old
Testament, and also with some figures of considerable size; and for a
work in fresco this is executed with much diligence. But even more did
he prove his worth in painting and perspective near the high-altar of
the same church, where he painted a scene for Messer Filippo da Siena,
Clerk of the Chamber, of Our Lady going into the Temple, ascending the
steps, with many figures worthy of praise, such as a gentleman in
antique dress, who, having dismounted from his horse, with his servants
waiting, is giving alms to a beggar, quite naked and very wretched, who
may be seen asking him for it with pitiful humility. In this place,
also, are various buildings and most beautiful ornaments; and right
round the whole work, executed likewise in fresco, are counterfeited
decorations of stucco, which have the appearance of being attached to
the wall with large rings, as if it were a panel painted in oils.
And in the magnificent festival that the Roman people prepared on the
Campidoglio when the baton of Holy Church was given to Duke Giuliano de'
Medici, out of six painted scenes which were executed by six different
painters of eminence, that by the hand of Baldassarre, twenty-eight
braccia high and fourteen broad, showing the betrayal of the Romans by
Julia Tarpeia, was judged to be without a doubt better than any of the
others. But what amazed everyone most was the perspective-view or
scenery for a play, which was so beautiful that it would be impossible
to imagine anything finer, seeing that the variety and beautiful manner
of the buildings, the various loggie, the extravagance of the doors and
windows, and the other architectural details that were seen in it, were
so well conceived and so extraordinary in invention, that one is not
able to describe the thousandth part.
For the house of Messer Francesco di Norcia, on the Piazza de' Farnesi,
he made a very graceful door of the Doric Order; and for Messer
Francesco Buzio he executed, near the Piazza degl' Altieri, a very
beautiful façade, in the frieze of which he painted portraits from life
of all the Roman Cardinals who were then alive, while on the wall itself
he depicted the scenes of Cæsar receiving tribute from all the world,
and above he painted the twelve Emperors, who are standing upon certain
corbels, being foreshortened with a view to being seen from below, and
wrought with extraordinary art. For this whole work he rightly obtained
vast commendation. In the Banchi he executed the escutcheon of Pope Leo,
with three children, that seemed to be alive, so tender was their flesh.
For Fra Mariano Fetti, Friar of the Piombo, he made a very beautiful S.
Bernard in terretta in his garden at Montecavallo. And for the Company
of S. Catherine of Siena, on the Strada Giulia, in addition to a bier
for carrying the dead to burial, he executed many other things, all
worthy of praise. In Siena, also, he gave the design for the organ of
the Carmine; and he made some other works in that city, but none of much
importance.
Later, having been summoned to Bologna by the Wardens of Works of S.
Petronio, to the end that he might make the model for the façade of that
church, he made for this two large ground-plans and two elevations, one
in the modern manner and the other in the German; and the latter is
still preserved in the Sacristy of the same S. Petronio, as a truly
extraordinary work, since he drew that building in such sharply-detailed
perspective that it appears to be in relief. In the house of Count
Giovan Battista Bentivogli, in the same city, he made several drawings
for the aforesaid structure, which were so beautiful, that it is not
possible to praise enough the wonderful expedients sought out by this
man in order not to destroy the old masonry, but to join it in beautiful
proportion with the new. For the Count Giovan Battista mentioned above
he made the design of a Nativity with the Magi, in chiaroscuro, wherein
it is a marvellous thing to see the horses, the equipage, and the courts
of the three Kings, executed with supreme beauty and grace, as are also
the walls of the temples and some buildings round the hut. This work was
afterwards given to be coloured by the Count to Girolamo Trevigi, who
brought it to fine completion. Baldassarre also made the design for the
door of the Church of S. Michele in Bosco, a most beautiful monastery of
the Monks of Monte Oliveto, without Bologna; and the design and model of
the Duomo of Carpi, which was very beautiful, and was built under his
direction according to the rules of Vitruvius. And in the same place he
made a beginning with the Church of S. Niccola, but it was not finished
at that time, because Baldassarre was almost forced to return to Siena
in order to make designs for the fortifications of that city, which were
afterwards carried into execution under his supervision.
He then returned to Rome, where, after building the house that is
opposite to the Farnese Palace, with some others within that city, he
was employed in many works by Pope Leo X. That Pontiff wished to finish
the building of S. Pietro, begun by Julius II after the design of
Bramante, but it appeared to him that the edifice was too large and
lacking in cohesion; and Baldassarre made a new model, magnificent and
truly ingenious, and revealing such good judgment, that some parts of it
have since been used by other architects. So diligent, indeed, was this
craftsman, so rare and so beautiful his judgment, and such the method
with which his buildings were always designed, that he has never had an
equal in works of architecture, seeing that, in addition to his other
gifts, he combined that profession with a good and beautiful manner of
painting. He made the design of the tomb of Adrian VI, and all that is
painted round it is by his hand; and Michelagnolo, a sculptor of Siena,
executed that tomb in marble, with the help of our Baldassarre.
When the Calandra, a play by Cardinal Bibbiena, was performed before the
same Pope Leo, Baldassarre made the scenic setting, which was no less
beautiful--much more so, indeed--than that which he had made on another
occasion, as has been related above. In such works he deserved all the
greater praise, because dramatic performances, and consequently the
scenery for them, had been out of fashion for a long time, festivals and
sacred representations taking their place. And either before or after
(it matters little which) the performance of the aforesaid Calandra,
which was one of the first plays in the vulgar tongue to be seen or
performed, in the time of Leo X, Baldassarre made two such scenes, which
were marvellous, and opened the way to those who have since made them in
our own day. Nor is it possible to imagine how he found room, in a space
so limited, for so many streets, so many palaces, and so many bizarre
temples, loggie, and various kinds of cornices, all so well executed
that it seemed that they were not counterfeited, but absolutely real,
and that the piazza was not a little thing, and merely painted, but real
and very large. He designed, also, the chandeliers and the lights within
that illuminated the scene, and all the other things that were
necessary, with much judgment, although, as has been related, the drama
had fallen almost completely out of fashion. This kind of spectacle, in
my belief, when it has all its accessories, surpasses any other kind,
however sumptuous and magnificent.
Afterwards, at the election of Pope Clement VII in the year 1524, he
prepared the festivities for his coronation. He finished with
peperino-stone the front of the principal chapel, formerly begun by
Bramante, in S. Pietro; and in the chapel wherein is the bronze tomb of
Pope Sixtus, he painted in chiaroscuro the Apostles that are in the
niches behind the altar, besides making the design of the Tabernacle of
the Sacrament, which is very graceful.
Then in the year 1527, when the cruel sack of Rome took place, our poor
Baldassarre was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, and not only lost all
his possessions, but was also much maltreated and outraged, because he
was grave, noble, and gracious of aspect, and they believed him to be
some great prelate in disguise, or some other man able to pay a fat
ransom. Finally, however, those impious barbarians having found that he
was a painter, one of them, who had borne a great affection to Bourbon,
caused him to make a portrait of that most rascally captain, the enemy
of God and man, either letting Baldassarre see him as he lay dead, or
giving him his likeness in some other way, with drawings or with words.
After this, having slipped from their hands, Baldassarre took ship to go
to Porto Ercole, and thence to Siena; but on the way he was robbed of
everything and stripped to such purpose, that he went to Siena in his
shirt. However, he was received with honour and reclothed by his
friends, and a little time afterwards he was given a provision and a
salary by the Commonwealth, to the end that he might give his attention
to the fortification of that city. Living there, he had two children;
and, besides what he did for the public service, he made many designs of
houses for his fellow-citizens, and the design for the ornament of the
organ, which is very beautiful, in the Church of the Carmine.
[Illustration: COURTYARD OF PALAZZO MASSIMI
(_After_ Baldassarre Peruzzi. _Rome_)
_Anderson_]
Meanwhile, the armies of the Emperor and the Pope had advanced to the
siege of Florence, and his Holiness sent Baldassarre to the camp to
Baccio Valori, the Military Commissary, to the end that Baccio might
avail himself of his services for the purposes of his operations and for
the capture of the city. But Baldassarre, loving the liberty of his
former country more than the favour of the Pope, and in no way fearing
the indignation of so great a Pontiff, would never lend his aid in any
matter of importance. The Pope, hearing of this, for a short time bore
him no little ill-will; but when the war was finished, Baldassarre
desiring to return to Rome, Cardinals Salviati, Trivulzi, and Cesarino,
to all of whom he had given faithful service in many works, restored him
to the favour of the Pope and to his former appointments. He was thus
able to return without hindrance to Rome, where, not many days after, he
made for the Signori Orsini the designs of two very beautiful palaces,
which were built on the way to Viterbo, and of some other edifices for
Apuglia. But meanwhile he did not neglect the studies of astrology, nor
those of mathematics and the others in which he much delighted, and he
began a book on the antiquities of Rome, with a commentary on Vitruvius,
making little by little illustrative drawings beside the writings of
that author, some of which are still to be seen in the possession of
Francesco da Siena, who was his disciple, and among them some papers
with drawings of ancient edifices and of the modern manner of building.
While living in Rome, also, he made the design for the house of the
Massimi, drawn in an oval form, with a new and beautiful manner of
building; and for the façade he made a vestibule of Doric columns
showing great art and good proportion, with a beautiful distribution of
detail in the court and in the disposition of the stairs; but he was not
able to see this work finished, for he was overtaken by death.
And yet, although the talents and labours of this noble craftsman were
so great, they brought much more benefit to others than to himself; for,
while he was employed by Popes, Cardinals, and other great and rich
persons, not one of them ever gave him any remarkable reward. That this
should have happened is not surprising, not so much through want of
liberality in such patrons, although for the most part they are least
liberal where they should be the very opposite, as through the timidity
and excessive modesty, or rather, to be more exact in this case, the
lack of shrewdness of Baldassarre. To tell the truth, in proportion as
one should be discreet with magnanimous and liberal Princes, so should
one always be pressing and importunate with such as are miserly,
unthankful, and discourteous, for the reason that, even as in the case
of the generous importunate asking would always be a vice, so with the
miserly it is a virtue, and with such men it is discretion that would be
the vice.
In the last years of his life, then, Baldassarre found himself poor and
weighed down by his family. Finally, having always lived a life without
reproach, he fell grievously ill, and took to his bed; and Pope Paul
III, hearing this, and recognizing too late the harm that he was like to
suffer in the loss of so great a man, sent Jacopo Melighi, the
accountant of S. Pietro, to give him a present of one hundred crowns,
and to make him most friendly offers. However, his sickness increased,
either because it was so ordained, or, as many believe, because his
death was hastened with poison by some rival who desired his place, from
which he drew two hundred and fifty crowns of salary; and, the
physicians discovering this too late, he died, very unwilling to give up
his life, more on account of his poor family than for his own sake, as
he thought in what sore straits he was leaving them. He was much
lamented by his children and his friends, and he received honourable
burial, next to Raffaello da Urbino, in the Ritonda, whither he was
followed by all the painters, sculptors, and architects of Rome, doing
him honour and bewailing him; with the following epitaph:
BALTHASARI PERUTIO SENENSI, VIRO ET PICTURA ET ARCHITECTURA
ALIISQUE INGENIORUM ARTIBUS ADEO EXCELLENTI, UT SI PRISCORUM
OCCUBUISSET TEMPORIBUS, NOSTRA ILLUM FELICIUS LEGERENT. VIX.
ANN. LV, MENS. XI, DIES XX.
LUCRETIA ET JO. SALUSTIUS OPTIMO CONJUGI ET PARENTI, NON SINE LACRIMIS
SIMONIS, HONORII, CLAUDII, ÆMILIÆ, AC SULPITIÆ, MINORUM FILIORUM,
DOLENTES POSUERUNT, DIE IIII JANUARII, MDXXXVI.
The name and fame of Baldassarre became greater after his death than
they had been during his lifetime; and then, above all, was his talent
missed, when Pope Paul III resolved to have S. Pietro finished, because
men recognized how great a help he would have been to Antonio da San
Gallo. For, although Antonio had to his credit all that is to be seen
executed by him, yet it is believed that in company with Baldassarre he
would have done more towards solving some of the difficulties of that
work. The heir to many of the possessions of Baldassarre was Sebastiano
Serlio of Bologna, who wrote the third book on architecture and the
fourth on the antiquities of Rome with their measurements; in which
works the above-mentioned labours of Baldassarre were partly inserted in
the margins, and partly turned to great advantage by the author. Most of
these writings of Baldassarre came into the hands of Jacomo Melighino of
Ferrara, who was afterwards chosen by Pope Paul as architect for his
buildings, and of the aforesaid Francesco da Siena, his former assistant
and disciple, by whose hand is the highly renowned escutcheon of
Cardinal Trani in Piazza Navona, with some other works. From this
Francesco we received the portrait of Baldassarre, and information about
some matters which I was not able to ascertain when this book was
published for the first time. Another disciple of Baldassarre was
Virgilio Romano, who executed a façade with some prisoners in
sgraffito-work in the centre of the Borgo Nuovo in his native city, and
many other beautiful works. From the same master, also, Antonio del
Rozzo, a citizen of Siena and a very excellent engineer, learnt the
first principles of architecture; and Baldassarre was followed, in like
manner, by Riccio, a painter of Siena, who, however, afterwards imitated
to no small extent the manner of Giovanni Antonio Sodoma of Vercelli.
And another of his pupils was Giovan Battista Peloro, an architect of
Siena, who gave much attention to mathematics and cosmography, and made
with his own hand mariner's compasses, quadrants, many irons and
instruments for measuring, and likewise the ground-plans of many
fortifications, most of which are in the possession of Maestro Giuliano,
a goldsmith of Siena, who was very much his friend. This Giovan Battista
made for Duke Cosimo de' Medici a plan of Siena, all in relief and
altogether marvellous, with the valleys and the surroundings for a mile
and a half round--the walls, the streets, the forts, and, in a word, a
most beautiful model of the whole place. But, since he was unstable by
nature, he left Duke Cosimo, although he had a good allowance from that
Prince; and, thinking to do better, he made his way into France, where
he followed the Court without any success for a long time, and finally
died at Avignon. And although he was an able and well-practised
architect, yet in no place are there to be seen any buildings erected by
him or after his design, for he always stayed such a short time in any
one place, that he could never bring anything to completion; wherefore
he consumed all his time with designs, measurements, models, and
caprices. Nevertheless, as a follower of our arts, he has deserved to
have record made of him.
Baldassarre drew very well in every manner, with great judgment and
diligence, but more with the pen, in water-colours, and in chiaroscuro,
than in any other way, as may be seen from many drawings by his hand
that belong to different craftsmen. Our book, in particular, contains
various drawings; and in one of these is a scene full of invention and
caprice, showing a piazza filled with arches, colossal figures,
theatres, obelisks, pyramids, temples of various kinds, porticoes, and
other things, all after the antique, while on a pedestal stands a
Mercury, round whom are all sorts of alchemists with bellows large and
small, retorts, and other instruments for distilling, hurrying about and
giving him a clyster in order to purge his body--an invention as
ludicrous as it is beautiful and bizarre.
Friends and intimate companions of Baldassarre, who was always
courteous, modest, and gentle with every man, were Domenico Beccafumi of
Siena, an excellent painter, and Il Capanna, who, in addition to many
other works that he painted in Siena, executed the façade of the house
of the Turchi and another that is on the Piazza.
GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI OF FLORENCE AND PELLEGRINO DA MODENA
LIVES OF GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI OF FLORENCE
[_CALLED IL FATTORE_]
AND OF PELLEGRINO DA MODENA
PAINTERS
Giovan Francesco Penni, called Il Fattore, a painter of Florence, was no
less indebted to Fortune than he was to the goodness of his own nature,
in that his ways of life, his inclination for painting, and his other
qualities brought it about that Raffaello da Urbino took him into his
house and educated him together with Giulio Romano, looking on both of
them ever afterwards as his children, and proving at his death how much
he thought both of the one and of the other by leaving them heirs to his
art and to his property alike. Now Giovan Francesco, who began from his
boyhood, when he first entered the house of Raffaello, to be called Il
Fattore, and always retained that name, imitated in his drawings the
manner of Raffaello, and never ceased to follow it, as may be perceived
from some drawings by his hand that are in our book. And it is nothing
wonderful that there should be many of these to be seen, all finished
with great diligence, because he delighted much more in drawing than in
colouring.
The first works of Giovan Francesco were executed by him in the Papal
Loggie at Rome, in company with Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, and
other excellent masters; and in these may be seen a marvellous grace,
worthy of a master striving at perfection of workmanship. He was very
versatile, and he delighted much in making landscapes and buildings. He
was a good colourist in oils, in fresco, and in distemper, and made
excellent portraits from life; and he was much assisted in every respect
by nature, so that he gained great mastery over all the secrets of art
without much study. He was a great help to Raffaello, therefore, in
painting a large part of the cartoons for the tapestries of the Pope's
Chapel and of the Consistory, and particularly the ornamental borders.
He also executed many other things from the cartoons and directions of
Raffaello, such as the ceiling for Agostino Chigi in the Trastevere,
with many pictures, panels, and various other works, in which he
acquitted himself so well, that every day he won greater affection from
Raffaello. On the Monte Giordano, in Rome, he painted a façade in
chiaroscuro, and in S. Maria de Anima, by the side-door that leads to
the Pace, a S. Christopher in fresco, eight braccia high, which is a
very good figure; and in this work is a hermit with a lantern in his
hand, in a grotto, executed with good draughtsmanship, harmony, and
grace.
Giovan Francesco then came to Florence, and painted for Lodovico Capponi
at Montughi, a place without the Porta a San Gallo, a shrine with a
Madonna, which is much extolled.
Raffaello having meanwhile been overtaken by death, Giulio Romano and
Giovan Francesco, who had been his disciples, remained together for a
long time, and finished in company such of Raffaello's works as had been
left unfinished, and in particular those that he had begun in the Vigna
of the Pope, and likewise those of the Great Hall in the Palace, wherein
are painted by the hands of these two masters the stories of
Constantine, with excellent figures, executed in an able and beautiful
manner, although the invention and the sketches of these stories came in
part from Raffaello. While these works were in progress, Perino del
Vaga, a very excellent painter, took to wife a sister of Giovan
Francesco; on which account they executed many works in company. And
afterwards Giulio and Giovan Francesco, continuing to work together,
painted a panel in two parts, containing the Assumption of Our Lady,
which went to Monteluci, near Perugia; and also other works and pictures
for various places.
[Illustration: THE BAPTISM OF CONSTANTINE
(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Francesco Penni [Il Fattore]=. Rome: The
Vatican_)
_Anderson_]
Then, receiving a commission from Pope Clement to paint a panel-picture
like the one by Raffaello (which is in S. Pietro a Montorio), which was
to be sent to France, whither Raffaello had meant to send the first,
they began it; but soon afterwards, having fallen out with each other,
they divided their inheritance of drawings and everything else left
to them by Raffaello, and Giulio went off to Mantua, where he executed
an endless number of works for the Marquis. Thither, not long
afterwards, Giovan Francesco also made his way, drawn either by love of
Giulio or by the hope of finding work; but he received so cold a welcome
from Giulio that he soon departed, and, after travelling round Lombardy,
he returned to Rome. And from Rome he went to Naples by ship in the
train of the Marchese del Vasto, taking with him the now finished copy
of the panel-picture of S. Pietro a Montorio, with other works, which he
left in Ischia, an island belonging to the Marquis, while the panel was
placed where it is at the present day, in the Church of S. Spirito degli
Incurabili at Naples. Having thus settled in Naples, where he occupied
himself with drawing and painting, Giovan Francesco was entertained and
treated with great kindness by Tommaso Cambi, a Florentine merchant, who
managed the affairs of that nobleman. But he did not live there long,
because, being of a sickly habit of body, he fell ill and died, to the
great grief of the noble Marquis and of all who knew him.
He had a brother called Luca, likewise a painter, who worked in Genoa
with his brother-in-law Perino, as well as at Lucca and many other
places in Italy. In the end he went to England, where, after executing
certain works for the King and for some merchants, he finally devoted
himself to making designs for copper-plates for sending abroad, which he
had engraved by Flemings. Of such he sent abroad a great number, which
are known by his name as well as by the manner; and by his hand, among
others, is a print wherein are some women in a bath, the original of
which, by the hand of Luca himself, is in our book.
A disciple of Giovan Francesco was Leonardo, called Il Pistoia because
he came from that city, who executed some works at Lucca, and made many
portraits from life in Rome. At Naples, for Diomede Caraffa, Bishop of
Ariano, and now a Cardinal, he painted a panel-picture of the Stoning of
S. Stephen for his chapel in S. Domenico. And for Monte Oliveto he
painted another, which was placed on the high-altar, although it was
afterwards removed to make room for a new one, similar in subject, by
the hand of Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo. Leonardo earned large sums from
these Neapolitan nobles, but he accumulated little, for he squandered it
all as it came to his hand; and finally he died in Naples, leaving
behind him the reputation of having been a good colourist, but not of
having shown much excellence in draughtsmanship.
Giovan Francesco lived forty years, and his works date about 1528.
A friend of Giovan Francesco, and likewise a disciple of Raffaello, was
Pellegrino da Modena, who, having acquired in his native city the name
of a man of fine genius for painting, and having heard of the marvels of
Raffaello da Urbino, determined, in order to justify by means of labour
the hopes already conceived of him, to go to Rome. Arriving there, he
placed himself under Raffaello, who never refused anything to men of
ability. There were then in Rome very many young men who were working at
painting and seeking in mutual rivalry to surpass one another in
draughtsmanship, in order to win the favour of Raffaello and to gain a
name among men; and thus Pellegrino, giving unceasing attention to his
studies, became not only a good draughtsman, but also a well-practised
master of the whole of his art. And when Leo X commissioned Raffaello to
paint the Loggie, Pellegrino also worked there, in company with the
other young men; and so well did he succeed, that Raffaello afterwards
made use of him in many other things.
He executed three figures in fresco in S. Eustachio at Rome, over an
altar near the entrance into the church; and in the Church of the
Portuguese, near the Scrofa, he painted in fresco the Chapel of the
High-Altar, as well as the altar-piece. Afterwards, Cardinal Alborense
having caused a chapel richly adorned with marbles to be erected in S.
Jacopo, the Church of the Spanish people, with a S. James of marble by
Jacopo Sansovino, four braccia and a half in height, and much extolled,
Pellegrino painted there in fresco the stories of that Apostle, giving
an air of great sweetness to his figures in imitation of his master
Raffaello, and designing the whole composition so well, that the work
made him known as an able man with a fine and beautiful genius for
painting. This work finished, he made many others in Rome, both by
himself and in company with others.
[Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER
(_After the fresco by =Gaudenzio Milanese [Gaudenzio Ferrari]=. Milan:
S. Maria della Passione_)
_Anderson_]
But finally, when death had come upon Raffaello, Pellegrino returned to
Modena, where he executed many works; among others, he painted for a
Confraternity of Flagellants a panel-picture in oils of S. John
baptizing Christ, and another panel for the Church of the Servi,
containing S. Cosimo and S. Damiano, with other figures. Afterwards,
having taken a wife, he had a son, who was the cause of his death. For
this son, having come to words with some companions, young men of
Modena, killed one of them; the news of which being carried to
Pellegrino, he, in order to help his son from falling into the hands of
justice, set out to smuggle him away. But he had not gone far from his
house, when he stumbled against the relatives of the dead youth, who
were going about searching for the murderer; and they, confronting
Pellegrino, who had no time to escape, and full of fury because they had
not been able to catch his son, gave him so many wounds that they left
him dead on the ground. This event was a great grief to the people of
Modena, who knew that by the death of Pellegrino they had been robbed of
a spirit truly excellent and rare.
A contemporary of this craftsman was the Milanese Gaudenzio, a resolute,
well-practised, and excellent painter, who made many works in fresco at
Milan; and in particular, for the Frati della Passione, a most beautiful
Last Supper, which remained unfinished by reason of his death. He also
painted very well in oils, and there are many highly-esteemed works by
his hand at Vercelli and Veralla.
ANDREA DEL SARTO
LIFE OF ANDREA DEL SARTO
A MOST EXCELLENT PAINTER OF FLORENCE
At length, after the Lives of many craftsmen who have been excellent,
some in colouring, some in drawing, and others in invention, we have
come to the most excellent Andrea del Sarto, in whose single person
nature and art demonstrated all that painting can achieve by means of
draughtsmanship, colouring, and invention, insomuch that, if Andrea had
possessed a little more fire and boldness of spirit, to correspond to
his profound genius and judgment in his art, without a doubt he would
have had no equal. But a certain timidity of spirit and a sort of
humility and simplicity in his nature made it impossible that there
should be seen in him that glowing ardour and that boldness which, added
to his other qualities, would have made him truly divine in painting;
for which reason he lacked those adornments and that grandeur and
abundance of manners which have been seen in many other painters. His
figures, however, for all their simplicity and purity, are well
conceived, free from errors, and absolutely perfect in every respect.
The expressions of his heads, both in children and in women, are
gracious and natural, and those of men, both young and old, admirable in
their vivacity and animation; his draperies are beautiful to a marvel,
and his nudes very well conceived. And although his drawing is simple,
all that he coloured is rare and truly divine.
Andrea was born in Florence, in the year 1478, to a father who was all
his life a tailor; whence he was always called Andrea del Sarto by
everyone. Having come to the age of seven, he was taken away from his
reading and writing school and apprenticed to the goldsmith's craft. But
in this he was always much more willing to practise his hand in
drawing, to which he was drawn by a natural inclination, than in using
the tools for working in silver or gold; whence it came to pass that
Gian Barile, a painter of Florence, but one of gross and vulgar taste,
having seen the boy's good manner of drawing, took him under his
protection, and, making him abandon his work as goldsmith, directed him
to the art of painting. Andrea, beginning with much delight to practise
it, recognized that nature had created him for that profession; and in a
very short space of time, therefore, he was doing such things with
colours as filled Gian Barile and the other craftsmen in the city with
marvel. Now after three years, through continual study, he had acquired
an excellent mastery over his work, and Gian Barile saw that by
persisting in his studies the boy was likely to achieve an extraordinary
success. Having therefore spoken of him to Piero di Cosimo, who was held
at that time to be one of the best painters in Florence, he placed
Andrea with Piero. And Andrea, as one full of desire to learn, laboured
and studied without ceasing; while nature, which had created him to be a
painter, so wrought in him, that he handled and managed his colours with
as much grace as if he had been working for fifty years. Wherefore Piero
conceived an extraordinary love for him, feeling marvellous pleasure in
hearing that when Andrea had any time to himself, particularly on
feast-days, he would spend the whole day in company with other young
men, drawing in the Sala del Papa, wherein were the cartoons of
Michelagnolo and Leonardo da Vinci, and that, young as he was, he
surpassed all the other draughtsmen, both native and foreign, who were
always competing there with one another.
[Illustration: "NOLI ME TANGERE"
(_After the panel by =Andrea del Sarto=. Florence: Uffizi, 93_)
_Alinari_]
Among these young men, there was one who pleased Andrea more than any
other with his nature and conversation, namely, the painter
Franciabigio; and Franciabigio, likewise, was attracted by Andrea.
Having become friends, therefore, Andrea said to Franciabigio that he
could no longer endure the caprices of Piero, who was now old, and that
for this reason he wished to take a room for himself. Hearing this,
Franciabigio, who was obliged to do the same thing because his master
Mariotto Albertinelli had abandoned the art of painting, said to his
companion Andrea that he also was in need of a room, and that it would
be to the advantage of both of them if they were to join forces.
Having therefore taken a room on the Piazza del Grano, they executed
many works in company; among others, the curtains that cover the
panel-pictures on the high-altar of the Servi; for which they received
the commission from a sacristan very closely related to Franciabigio. On
one of those curtains, that which faces the choir, they painted the
Annunciation of the Virgin; and on the other, which is in front, a
Deposition of Christ from the Cross, like that of the panel-picture
which was there, painted by Filippo and Pietro Perugino.
The men of that company in Florence which is called the Company of the
Scalzo used to assemble at the head of the Via Larga, above the houses
of the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, and opposite to the garden of
S. Marco, in a building dedicated to S. John the Baptist, which had been
built in those days by a number of Florentine craftsmen, who had made
there, among other things, an entrance-court of masonry with a loggia
which rested on some columns of no great size. And some of them,
perceiving that Andrea was on the way to becoming known as an excellent
painter, and being richer in spirit than in pocket, determined that he
should paint round that cloister twelve pictures in chiaroscuro--that is
to say, in fresco with terretta--containing twelve scenes from the life
of S. John the Baptist. Whereupon, setting his hand to this, he painted
in the first the scene of S. John baptizing Christ, with much diligence
and great excellence of manner, whereby he gained credit, honour, and
fame to such an extent, that many persons turned to him with commissions
for works, as to one whom they thought to be destined in time to reach
that honourable goal which was foreshadowed by his extraordinary
beginnings in his profession.
Among other works that he made in that first manner, he painted a
picture which is now in the house of Filippo Spini, held in great
veneration in memory of so able a craftsman. And not long after this he
was commissioned to paint for a chapel in S. Gallo, the Church of the
Eremite Observantines of the Order of S. Augustine, without the Porta a
S. Gallo, a panel-picture of Christ appearing in the garden to Mary
Magdalene in the form of a gardener; which work, what with the colouring
and a certain quality of softness and harmony, is sweetness itself, and
so well executed, that it led to his painting two others not long
afterwards for the same church, as will be related below. This panel is
now in S. Jacopo tra Fossi, on the Canto degli Alberti, together with
the two others.
After these works, Andrea and Franciabigio, leaving the Piazza del
Grano, took new rooms in the Sapienza, near the Convent of the Nunziata;
whence it came about that Andrea and Jacopo Sansovino, who was then a
young man and was working at sculpture in the same place under his
master Andrea Contucci, formed so warm and so strait a friendship
together, that neither by day nor by night were they ever separated one
from another. Their discussions were for the most part on the
difficulties of art, so that it is no marvel that both of them should
have afterwards become most excellent, as is now being shown of Andrea
and as will be related in the proper place of Jacopo.
[Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER
(_After the fresco by =Andrea del Sarto=. Florence: S. Salvi_)
_Anderson_]
There was at this same time in the Convent of the Servi, selling the
candles at the counter, a friar called Fra Mariano dal Canto alla
Macine, who was also sacristan; and he heard everyone extolling Andrea
mightily and saying that he was by way of making marvellous proficience
in painting. Whereupon he planned to fulfil a desire of his own without
much expense; and so, approaching Andrea, who was a mild and guileless
fellow, on the side of his honour, he began to persuade him under the
cloak of friendship that he wished to help him in a matter which would
bring him honour and profit and would make him known in such a manner,
that he would never be poor any more. Now many years before, as has been
related above, Alesso Baldovinetti had painted a Nativity of Christ in
the first cloister of the Servi, on the wall that has the Annunciation
behind it; and in the same cloister, on the other side, Cosimo Rosselli
had begun a scene of S. Filippo, the founder of that Servite Order,
assuming the habit. But Cosimo had not carried that scene to completion,
because death came upon him at the very moment when he was working at
it. The friar, then, being very eager to see the rest finished, thought
of serving his own ends by making Andrea and Franciabigio, who, from
being friends, had become rivals in art, compete with one another, each
doing part of the work. This, besides effecting his purpose very
well, would make the expense less and their efforts greater. Thereupon,
revealing his mind to Andrea, he persuaded him to undertake that
enterprise, by pointing out to him that since it was a public and much
frequented place, he would become known on account of such a work no
less by foreigners than by the Florentines; that he should not look for
any payment in return, or even for an invitation to undertake it, but
should rather pray to be allowed to do it; and that if he were not
willing to set to work, there was Franciabigio, who, in order to make
himself known, had offered to accept it and to leave the matter of
payment to him. These incitements did much to make Andrea resolve to
undertake the work, and the rather as he was a man of little spirit; and
the last reference to Franciabigio induced him to make up his mind
completely and to come to an agreement, in the form of a written
contract, with regard to the whole work, on the terms that no one else
should have a hand in it. The friar, then, having thus pledged him and
given him money, demanded that he should begin by continuing the life of
S. Filippo, without receiving more than ten ducats from him in payment
of each scene; and he told Andrea that he was giving him even that out
of his own pocket, and was doing it more for the benefit and advantage
of the painter than through any want or need of the convent.
Andrea, therefore, pursuing that work with the utmost diligence, like
one who thought more of honour than of profit, after no long time
completely finished the first three scenes and unveiled them. One was
the scene of S. Filippo, now a friar, clothing the naked. In another he
is shown rebuking certain gamesters, who blasphemed God and laughed at
S. Filippo, mocking at his admonition, when suddenly there comes a
lightning-flash from Heaven, which, striking a tree under the shade of
which they were sheltering, kills two of them and throws the rest into
an incredible panic. Some, with their hands to their heads, cast
themselves forward in dismay; others, crying aloud in their terror, turn
to flight; a woman, beside herself with fear at the sound of the
thunder, is running away so naturally that she appears to be truly
alive; and a horse, breaking loose amid this uproar and confusion,
reveals with his leaps and fearsome movements what fear and terror are
caused by things so sudden and so unexpected. In all this one can see
how carefully Andrea looked to variety of incident in the representation
of such events, with a forethought truly beautiful and most necessary
for one who practises painting. In the third he painted the scene of S.
Filippo delivering a woman from evil spirits, with all the most
characteristic considerations that could be imagined in such an action.
All these scenes brought extraordinary fame and honour to Andrea; and
thus encouraged, he went on to paint two other scenes in the same
cloister. On one wall is S. Filippo lying dead, with his friars about
him making lamentation; and in addition there is a dead child, who,
touching the bier on which S. Filippo lies, comes to life again, so that
he is first seen dead, and then revived and restored to life, and all
with a very beautiful, natural, and appropriate effect. In the last
picture on that side he represented the friars placing the garments of
S. Filippo on the heads of certain children; and there he made a
portrait of Andrea della Robbia, the sculptor, in an old man clothed in
red, who comes forward, stooping, with a staff in his hand. There, too,
he portrayed Luca, his son; even as in the other scene mentioned above,
in which S. Filippo lies dead, he made a portrait of another son of
Andrea, named Girolamo, a sculptor and very much his friend, who died
not long since in France.
Having thus finished that side of the cloister, and considering that if
the honour was great, the payment was small, Andrea resolved to give up
the rest of the work, however much the friar might complain. But the
latter would not release him from his bond without Andrea first
promising that he would paint two other scenes, at his own leisure and
convenience, however, and with an increase of payment; and thus they
came to terms.
[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF THE MAGI
(_After the fresco by =Andrea del Sarto=. Florence: SS. Annunziata_)
_Alinari_]
Having come into greater repute by reason of these works, Andrea
received commissions for many pictures and works of importance; among
others, one from the General of the Monks of Vallombrosa, for painting
an arch of the vaulting, with a Last Supper on the front wall, in the
Refectory of the Monastery of S. Salvi, without the Porta alla Croce. In
four medallions on that vault he painted four figures, S. Benedict, S.
Giovanni Gualberto, S. Salvi the Bishop, and S. Bernardo degli Uberti
of Florence, a friar of that Order and a Cardinal; and in the centre
he made a medallion containing three faces, which are one and the same,
to represent the Trinity. All this was very well executed for a work in
fresco, and Andrea, therefore, came to be valued at his true worth in
the art of painting. Whereupon he was commissioned at the instance of
Baccio d' Agnolo to paint in fresco, in a close on the steep path of
Orsanmichele, which leads to the Mercato Nuovo, the Annunciation still
to be seen there, executed on a minute scale, which brought him but
little praise; and this may have been because Andrea, who worked well
without over-exerting himself or forcing his powers, is believed to have
tried in this work to force himself and to paint with too much care.
As for the many pictures that he executed after this for Florence, it
would take too long to try to speak of them all; and I will only say
that among the most distinguished may be numbered the one that is now in
the apartment of Baccio Barbadori, containing a full-length Madonna with
a Child in her arms, S. Anne, and S. Joseph, all painted in a beautiful
manner and held very dear by Baccio. He made one, likewise well worthy
of praise, which is now in the possession of Lorenzo di Domenico
Borghini, and another of Our Lady for Leonardo del Giocondo, which at
the present day is in the hands of Piero, the son of Leonardo. For Carlo
Ginori he painted two of no great size, which were bought afterwards by
the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici; and one of these is now in his
most beautiful villa of Campi, while the other, together with many other
modern pictures executed by the most excellent masters, is in the
apartment of the worthy son of so great a father, Signor Bernardetto,
who not only esteems and honours the works of famous craftsmen, but is
also in his every action a truly generous and magnificent nobleman.
Meanwhile the Servite friar had allotted to Franciabigio one of the
scenes in the above-mentioned cloister; but that master had not yet
finished making the screen, when Andrea, becoming apprehensive, since it
seemed to him that Franciabigio was an abler and more dexterous master
than himself in the handling of colours in fresco, executed, as it were
out of rivalry, the cartoons for his two scenes, which he intended to
paint on the angle between the side-door of S. Bastiano and the smaller
door that leads from the cloister into the Nunziata. Having made the
cartoons, he set to work in fresco; and in the first scene he painted
the Nativity of Our Lady, a composition of figures beautifully
proportioned and grouped with great grace in a room, wherein some women
who are friends and relatives of the newly delivered mother, having come
to visit her, are standing about her, all clothed in such garments as
were customary at that time, and other women of lower degree, gathered
around the fire, are washing the newborn babe, while others are
preparing the swathing-bands and doing other similar services. Among
them is a little boy, full of life, who is warming himself at the fire,
with an old man resting in a very natural attitude on a couch, and
likewise some women carrying food to the mother who is in bed, with
movements truly lifelike and appropriate. And all these figures,
together with some little boys who are hovering in the air and
scattering flowers, are most carefully considered in their expressions,
their draperies, and every other respect, and so soft in colour, that
the figures appear to be of flesh and everything else rather real than
painted.
In the other scene Andrea painted the three Magi from the East, who,
guided by the Star, went to adore the Infant Jesus Christ. He
represented them dismounted, as though they were near their destination;
and that because there was only the space embracing the two doors to
separate them from the Nativity of Christ which may be seen there, by
the hand of Alesso Baldovinetti. In this scene Andrea painted the Court
of those three Kings coming behind them, with baggage, much equipment,
and many people following in their train, among whom, in a corner, are
three persons portrayed from life and wearing the Florentine dress, one
being Jacopo Sansovino, a full-length figure looking straight at the
spectator, while another, with an arm in foreshortening, who is leaning
against him and making a sign, is Andrea, the master of the work, and a
third head, seen in profile behind Jacopo, is that of Ajolle, the
musician. There are, in addition, some little boys who are climbing on
the walls, in order to be able to see the magnificent procession and the
fantastic animals that those three Kings have brought with them. This
scene is quite equal in excellence to that mentioned above; nay, in
both the one and the other he surpassed himself, not to speak of
Franciabigio, who also finished his.
At this same time Andrea painted for the Abbey of S. Godenzo, a benefice
belonging to the same friars, a panel which was held to be very well
executed. And for the Friars of S. Gallo he made a panel-picture of Our
Lady receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, wherein may be seen a
very pleasing harmony of colouring, while the heads of some Angels
accompanying Gabriel show a sweet gradation of tints and a perfectly
executed beauty of expression in their features; and the predella below
this picture was painted by Jacopo da Pontormo, who was a disciple of
Andrea at that time, and gave proofs at that early age that he was
destined to produce afterwards those beautiful works which he actually
did execute in Florence with his own hand, although in the end he became
one might say another painter, as will be related in his Life.
Andrea then painted for Zanobi Girolami a picture with figures of no
great size, wherein was a story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, which was
finished by him with unremitting diligence, and therefore held to be a
very beautiful painting. Not long after this, he undertook to execute
for the men of the Company of S. Maria della Neve, situated behind the
Nunnery of S. Ambrogio, a little panel with three figures--Our Lady, S.
John the Baptist, and S. Ambrogio; which work, when finished, was placed
in due time on the altar of that Company.
Meanwhile, thanks to his talent, Andrea had become intimate with
Giovanni Gaddi, afterwards appointed Clerk of the Chamber, who, always
delighting in the arts of design, was then keeping Jacopo Sansovino
continually at work. Being pleased, therefore, with the manner of
Andrea, he caused him to paint a picture of Our Lady for himself, which
was very beautiful, for Andrea painted various patterns and other
ingenious devices round it, so that it was considered to be the most
beautiful work that he had executed up to that time. After this he made
for Giovanni di Paolo, the mercer, another picture of Our Lady, which,
being truly lovely, gave infinite pleasure to all who saw it. And for
Andrea Santini he executed another, containing Our Lady, Christ, S.
John, and S. Joseph, all wrought with such diligence that the painting
has always been esteemed in Florence as worthy of great praise.
All these works acquired such a name for Andrea in his city, that among
the many, both young and old, who were painting at that time, he was
considered one of the most excellent who were handling brushes and
colours. Wherefore he found himself not only honoured, but even,
although he exacted the most paltry prices for his labours, in a
condition to do something to help and support his family, and also to
shelter himself from the annoyances and anxieties which afflict those of
us who live in poverty. But he became enamoured of a young woman, and a
little time afterwards, when she had been left a widow, he took her for
his wife; and then he had more than enough to do for the rest of his
life, and much more trouble than he had suffered in the past, for the
reason that, in addition to the labours and annoyances that such
entanglements generally involve, he undertook others into the bargain,
such as that of letting himself be harassed now by jealousy, now by one
thing, and now by another.
[Illustration: ANDREA DEL SARTO: MADONNA DELL' ARPIE
(_Florence: Uffizi, 1112. Panel_)]
But to return to the works of his hand, which were as rare as they were
numerous: after those of which mention has been made above, he painted
for a friar of S. Croce, of the Order of Minorites, who was then
Governor of the Nunnery of S. Francesco in Via Pentolini, and delighted
much in paintings, a panel-picture destined for the Church of those
Nuns, of Our Lady standing on high upon an octagonal pedestal, at the
corners of which are seated some Harpies, as it were in adoration of the
Virgin; and she, using one hand to uphold her Son, who is clasping her
most tenderly round the neck with His arms, in a very beautiful
attitude, is holding a closed book in the other hand and gazing on two
little naked boys, who, while helping her to stand upright, serve as
ornaments about her person. This Madonna has on her right a beautifully
painted S. Francis, in whose face may be seen the goodness and
simplicity that truly belonged to that saintly man; besides which, the
feet are marvellous, and so are the draperies, because Andrea always
rounded off his figures with a very rich flow of folds and with certain
most delicate curves, in such a way as to reveal the nude below. On her
left hand she has a S. John the Evangelist, represented as a young
man and in the act of writing his Gospel, in a very beautiful manner. In
this work, moreover, over the building and the figures, is a film of
transparent clouds, which appear to be really moving. This picture,
among all Andrea's works, is held at the present day to be one of
singular and truly rare beauty. For the joiner Nizza, also, he made a
picture of Our Lady, which was considered to be no less beautiful than
any of his other works.
After this, the Guild of Merchants determined to have some triumphal
chariots made of wood after the manner of those of the ancient Romans,
to the end that these might be drawn in procession on the morning of S.
John's day, in place of certain altar-cloths and wax tapers which the
cities and townships carry in token of tribute, passing before the Duke
and the chief magistrates; and out of ten that were made at that time,
Andrea painted some with scenes in oils and in chiaroscuro, which were
much extolled. But although it was proposed that some should be made
every year, until such time as every city and district had one of its
own, which would have produced a show of extraordinary magnificence,
nevertheless this custom was abandoned in the year 1527.
Now, while Andrea was adorning his city with these and other works, and
his name was growing greater every day, the men of the Company of the
Scalzo resolved that he should finish the work in their cloister, which
he had formerly begun by painting the scene of the Baptism of Christ.
Having resumed that work, therefore, more willingly, he executed two
scenes there, with two very beautiful figures of Charity and Justice to
adorn the door that leads into the building of the Company. In one of
these scenes he represented S. John preaching to the multitude in a
spirited attitude, lean in person, as befitted the life that he was
leading, and with an expression of countenance filled with inspiration
and thoughtfulness. Marvellous, likewise, are the variety and the
vivacity of his hearers, some being shown in admiration, and all in
astonishment, at hearing that new message and a doctrine so singular and
never heard before. Even more did Andrea exert his genius in painting
the same John baptizing with water a vast number of people, some of whom
are stripping off their clothes, some receiving the baptism, and
others, naked, waiting for him to finish baptizing those who are before
them. In all of them Andrea showed a vivid emotion, with a burning
desire in the gestures of those who are eager to be purified of their
sins; not to mention that all the figures are so well executed in that
chiaroscuro, that the whole has the appearance of a real and most
lifelike scene in marble.
I will not refrain from saying that while Andrea was employed on these
and other pictures, there appeared certain copper engravings by Albrecht
Dürer, and Andrea made use of them, taking some of the figures and
transforming them into his manner. And this has caused some people,
while not saying that it is a bad thing for a man to make adroit use of
the good work of others, to believe that Andrea had not much invention.
At that time there came to Baccio Bandinelli, then a draughtsman of
great repute, a desire to learn to paint in oils. Whereupon, knowing
that no man in Florence knew how to do that better than our Andrea, he
commissioned him to paint his portrait, which was a good likeness of him
at that age, as may be seen even yet; and thus, by watching him paint
that work and others, he saw his method of colouring, although
afterwards, either by reason of the difficulty or from lack of
inclination, he did not pursue the use of colours, finding more
satisfaction in sculpture.
Andrea executed for Alessandro Corsini a picture of a Madonna seated on
the ground with a Child in her arms, surrounded by many little boys,
which was finished with beautiful art and with very pleasing colour; and
for a mercer, much his friend, who kept a shop in Rome, he made a most
beautiful head. Giovan Battista Puccini of Florence, likewise, taking
extraordinary pleasure in the manner of Andrea, commissioned him to
paint a picture of Our Lady for sending into France; but it proved to be
so fine that he kept it for himself, and would by no means send it.
However, having been asked, while transacting the affairs of his
business in France, to undertake to send choice paintings to that
country, he caused Andrea to paint a picture of a Dead Christ surrounded
by some Angels, who were supporting Him and contemplating with gestures
of sorrow and compassion their Maker sunk to such a pass through the
sins of the world. This work, when finished, gave such universal
satisfaction, that Andrea, urged by many entreaties, had it engraved in
Rome by the Venetian Agostino; but it did not succeed very well, and he
would never again give any of his works to be engraved. But to return to
the picture: it gave no less satisfaction in France, whither it was
sent, than it had done in Florence, insomuch that the King, kindled with
even greater desire to have works by Andrea, gave orders that he should
execute others; which was the reason that Andrea, encouraged by his
friends, resolved to go in a short time to France.
But meanwhile the Florentines, hearing in the year 1515 that Pope Leo X
wished to grace his native city with his presence, ordained for his
reception extraordinary festivities and a sumptuous and magnificent
spectacle, with so many arches, façades, temples, colossal figures, and
other statues and ornaments, that there had never been seen up to that
time anything richer, more gorgeous, or more beautiful; for there was
then flourishing in that city a greater abundance of fine and exalted
intellects than had ever been known at any other period. At the entrance
of the Porta di S. Piero Gattolini, Jacopo di Sandro, in company with
Baccio da Montelupo, made an arch covered with historical scenes.
Giuliano del Tasso made another at S. Felice in Piazza, with some
statues and the obelisk of Romulus at S. Trinità, and Trajan's Column in
the Mercato Nuovo. In the Piazza de' Signori, Antonio, the brother of
Giuliano da San Gallo, erected an octagonal temple, and Baccio
Bandinelli made a Giant for the Loggia. Between the Badia and the Palace
of the Podestà there was an arch erected by Granaccio and Aristotele da
San Gallo, and Il Rosso made another on the Canto de' Bischeri with a
very beautiful design and a variety of figures. But what was admired
more than everything else was the façade of S. Maria del Fiore, made of
wood, and so well decorated with various scenes in chiaroscuro by our
Andrea, that nothing more could have been desired. The architecture of
this work was by Jacopo Sansovino, as were some scenes in low-relief and
many figures carved in the round; and it was declared by the Pope that
this structure--which was designed by Lorenzo de' Medici, father of that
Pontiff, when he was alive--could not have been more beautiful, even if
it had been of marble. The same Jacopo made a horse similar to the one
in Rome, which was held to be a miracle of beauty, on the Piazza di S.
Maria Novella. An endless number of ornaments, also, were executed for
the Sala del Papa in the Via della Scala, and that street was half
filled with most beautiful scenes wrought by the hands of many
craftsmen, but designed for the most part by Baccio Bandinelli.
Wherefore, when Leo entered Florence, on the third day of September in
the same year, this spectacle was pronounced to be the grandest that had
ever been devised, and the most beautiful.
But to return now to Andrea: being again requested to make another
picture for the King of France, in a short time he finished one wherein
he painted a very beautiful Madonna, which was sent off immediately, the
merchants receiving for it four times as much as they had paid. Now at
that very time Pier Francesco Borgherini had caused to be made by Baccio
d' Agnolo some panelling, chests, chairs, and a bed, all carved in
walnut-wood, for the furnishing of an apartment; wherefore, to the end
that the paintings therein might be equal in excellence to the rest of
the work, he commissioned Andrea to paint part of the scenes on these
with figures of no great size, representing the acts of Joseph the son
of Jacob, in competition with some of great beauty that had been
executed by Granaccio and Jacopo da Pontormo. Andrea, then, devoting an
extraordinary amount of time and diligence to the work, strove to bring
it about that they should prove to be more perfect than those of the
others mentioned above; in which he succeeded to a marvel, for in the
variety of events happening in the stories he showed how great was his
worth in the art of painting. So excellent were those scenes, that an
attempt was made by Giovan Battista della Palla, on account of the siege
of Florence, to remove them from the places where they were fixed, in
order to send them to the King of France; but, since they were fixed in
such a way that it would have meant spoiling the whole work, they were
left where they were, together with a picture of Our Lady, which is held
to be a very choice work.
[Illustration: CHARITY
(_After the painting by =Andrea del Sarto=. Paris: Louvre, 1514_)
_Neurdein_]
After this Andrea executed a head of Christ, now kept by the Servite
Friars on the altar of the Nunziata, of such beauty, that I for my part
do not know whether any more beautiful image of the head of Christ
could be conceived by the intellect of man. For the chapels in the
Church of S. Gallo, without the Porta S. Gallo, there had been painted,
in addition to the two panel-pictures by Andrea, a number of others,
which were not equal to his; wherefore, since there was a commission to
be given for another, those friars contrived to persuade the owner of
the chapel to give it to Andrea; and he, beginning it immediately, made
therein four figures standing, engaged in a disputation about the
Trinity. One of these is S. Augustine, who, robed as a Bishop and truly
African in aspect, is moving impetuously towards S. Peter Martyr, who is
holding up an open book in a proud and sublime attitude: and the head
and figure of the latter are much extolled. Beside him is a S. Francis
holding a book in one hand and pressing the other against his breast;
and he appears to be expressing with his lips a glowing ardour that
makes him almost melt away in the heat of the discussion. There is also
a S. Laurence, who, being young, is listening, and seems to be yielding
to the authority of the others. Below them are two figures kneeling, one
a Magdalene with most beautiful draperies, whose countenance is a
portrait of Andrea's wife; for in no place did he paint a woman's
features without copying them from her, and if perchance it happened at
times that he took them from other women, yet, from his being used to
see her continually, and from the circumstance that he had drawn her so
often, and, what is more, had her impressed on his mind, it came about
that almost all the heads of women that he made resembled her. The other
kneeling figure is a S. Sebastian, who, being naked, shows his back,
which appears to all who see it to be not painted, but of living flesh.
And indeed, among so many works in oils, this was held by craftsmen to
be the best, for the reason that there may be seen in it signs of
careful consideration in the proportions of the figures, and much order
in the method, with a sense of fitness in the expressions of the faces,
the heads of the young showing sweetness of expression, those of the old
hardness, and those of middle age a kind of blend that inclines both to
the first and to the second. In a word, this panel is most beautiful in
all its parts; and it is now to be found in S. Jacopo tra Fossi on the
Canto degli Alberti, together with others by the hand of the same
master.
While Andrea was living poorly enough in Florence, engaged in these
works, but without bettering himself a whit, the two pictures that he
had sent to France had been duly considered in that country by King
Francis I; and among many others which had been sent from Rome, from
Venice, and from Lombardy, they had been judged to be by far the best.
The King therefore praising them mightily, it was remarked to him that
it would be an easy matter to persuade Andrea to come to France to serve
his Majesty; which news was so agreeable to the King, that he gave
orders that all that was necessary should be done, and that money for
the journey should be paid to Andrea in Florence. Andrea then set out
for France with a glad heart, taking with him his assistant Andrea
Sguazzella; and, having arrived at last at the Court, they were received
by the King with great kindness and rejoicing. Before the very day of
his arrival had passed by, Andrea proved for himself how great were the
courtesy and the liberality of that magnanimous King, receiving presents
of money and rich and honourable garments. Beginning to work soon
afterwards, he became so dear to the King and to all the Court, that he
was treated lovingly by everyone, and it appeared to him that his
departure from his country had brought him from one extreme of
wretchedness to the other extreme of bliss. Among his first works was a
portrait from life of the Dauphin, the son of the King, born only a few
months before, and still in swaddling-clothes; and when he took this to
the King, he received a present of three hundred gold crowns. Then,
continuing to work, he painted for the King a figure of Charity, which
was considered a very rare work and was held by that Sovereign in the
estimation that it deserved. After that, his Majesty granted him a
liberal allowance and did all that he could to induce Andrea to stay
willingly with him, promising him that he should never want for
anything; and this because he liked Andrea's resoluteness in his work,
and also the character of the man, who was contented with everything.
Moreover, giving great satisfaction to the whole Court, he executed many
pictures and various other works; and if he had kept in mind the
condition from which he had escaped and the place to which fortune had
brought him, there is no doubt that he would have risen--to say nothing
of riches--to a most honourable rank. But one day, when he was at work
on a S. Jerome in Penitence for the mother of the King, there came to
him some letters from Florence, written by his wife; and he began,
whatever may have been the reason, to think of departing. He sought
leave, therefore, from the King, saying that he wished to go to
Florence, but would return without fail to his Majesty after settling
some affairs; and he would bring his wife with him, in order to live
more at his ease in France, and would come back laden with pictures and
sculptures of value. The King, trusting in him, gave him money for that
purpose; and Andrea swore on the Testament to return to him in a few
months.
Thus, then, he arrived in Florence, and for several months blissfully
took his joy of his fair lady, his friends, and the city. And finally,
the time at which he was to return having passed by, he found in the end
that what with building, taking his pleasure, and doing no work, he had
squandered all his money and likewise that of the King. Even so he
wished to return, but he was more influenced by the sighs and prayers of
his wife than by his own necessities and the pledge given to the King,
so that, in order to please his wife, he did not go back; at which the
King fell into such disdain, that for a long time he would never again
look with a favourable eye on any painter from Florence, and he swore
that if Andrea ever came into his hands he would give him a very
different kind of welcome, with no regard whatever for his abilities.
And thus Andrea, remaining in Florence, and sinking from the highest
rung of the ladder to the very lowest, lived and passed the time as best
he could.
After Andrea's departure to France, the men of the Scalzo, thinking that
he would never return, had entrusted all the rest of the work in their
cloister to Franciabigio, who had already executed two scenes there,
when, seeing Andrea back in Florence, they persuaded him to set his hand
to the work once more; and he, continuing it, painted four scenes, one
beside another. In the first is S. John taken before Herod. In the
second are the Feast and the Dance of Herodias, with figures very well
grouped and appropriate. In the third is the Beheading of S. John,
wherein the minister of justice, a half-nude figure, is beautifully
drawn, as are all the others. In the fourth Herodias is presenting the
head; and here there are figures expressing their astonishment, which
are wrought with most beautiful thought and care. These scenes have been
for some time the study and school of many young men who are now
excellent in our arts.
In a shrine without the Porta a Pinti, at a corner where the road turns
towards the Ingesuati, he painted in fresco a Madonna seated with a
Child in her arms, and a little S. John who is smiling, a figure wrought
with extraordinary art and with such perfect execution, that it is much
extolled for its beauty and vivacity; and the head of the Madonna is a
portrait of his wife from nature. This shrine, on account of the
incredible beauty of the painting, which is truly marvellous, was left
standing in 1530, when, because of the siege of Florence, the aforesaid
Convent of the Ingesuati was pulled down, together with many other very
beautiful buildings.
About the same time the elder Bartolommeo Panciatichi, who was carrying
on a great mercantile business in France, desiring to leave a memorial
of himself in Lyons, ordered Baccio d' Agnolo to have a panel painted
for him by Andrea, and to send it to him there; saying that he wanted
the subject to be the Assumption of Our Lady, with the Apostles about
the tomb. This work, then, Andrea carried almost to completion; but
since the wood of the panel split apart several times, he would
sometimes work at it, and sometimes leave it alone, so that at his death
it remained not quite finished. Afterwards it was placed by the younger
Bartolommeo Panciatichi in his house, as a work truly worthy of praise
on account of the beautiful figures of the Apostles; not to speak of the
Madonna, who is surrounded by a choir of little boys standing, while
certain others are supporting her and bearing her upwards with
extraordinary grace. And in the foreground of the panel, among the
Apostles, is a portrait of Andrea, so natural that it seems to be alive.
It is now at the villa of the Baroncelli, a little distance from
Florence, in a small church built by Piero Salviati near his villa to do
honour to the picture.
At the head of the garden of the Servi, in two angles, Andrea painted
two scenes of Christ's Vineyard, one showing the planting, staking, and
binding of the vines, and then the husbandman summoning to the labour
those who were standing idle, among whom is one who, being asked
whether he wishes to join the work, sits rubbing his hands and pondering
whether he will go among the other labourers, exactly as those idle
fellows do who have but little mind to work. Even more beautiful is the
other scene, wherein the same husbandman is causing them to be paid,
while they murmur and complain, and one among them, who is counting over
his money by himself, wholly intent on examining his share, seems
absolutely alive, as also does the steward who is paying out the wages.
These scenes are in chiaroscuro, and executed with extraordinary mastery
in fresco. After them he painted a Pietà, coloured in fresco, which is
very beautiful, in a niche at the head of a staircase in the noviciate
of the same convent. He also painted another Pietà in a little picture
in oils, in addition to a Nativity, for the room in that convent wherein
the General, Angelo Aretino, once lived.
The same master painted for Zanobi Bracci, who much desired to have some
work by his hand, for one of his apartments, a picture of Our Lady, in
which she is on her knees, leaning against a rock, and contemplating
Christ, who lies on a heap of drapery and looks up at her, smiling;
while a S. John, who stands there, is making a sign to the Madonna, as
if to say that her Child is the true Son of God. Behind these figures is
a S. Joseph with his head resting on his hands, which are lying on a
rock; and he appears to be filled with joy at seeing the human race
become divine through that Birth.
Cardinal Giulio de' Medici having been commissioned by Pope Leo to see
to the adorning with stucco and paintings of the ceiling in the Great
Hall of Poggio a Caiano, a palatial villa of the Medici family, situated
between Pistoia and Florence, the charge of arranging for that work and
of paying out the money was given to the Magnificent Ottaviano de'
Medici, as to a person who, not falling short of the standard of his
ancestors, was well informed in such matters and a loving friend to all
the masters of our arts, and delighted more than any other man to have
his dwellings adorned with the works of the most excellent. Ottaviano
ordained, therefore, although the commission for the whole work had
already been given to Franciabigio, that he should have only a third,
Andrea another, and Jacopo da Pontormo the last. But it was found
impossible, for all the efforts that the Magnificent Ottaviano made to
urge them on, and for all the money that he offered and even paid to
them, to get the work brought to completion; and Andrea alone finished
with great diligence a scene on one wall, representing Cæsar being
presented with tribute of all kinds of animals. The drawing for this
work is in our book, with many others by his hand; it is in chiaroscuro,
and is the most finished that he ever made. In this picture Andrea, in
order to surpass Franciabigio and Jacopo, subjected himself to
unexampled labour, drawing in it a magnificent perspective-view and a
very masterly flight of steps, which formed the ascent to the throne of
Cæsar. And these steps he adorned with very well-designed statues, not
being content with having proved the beauty of his genius in the variety
of figures that are carrying on their backs all those different animals,
such as the figure of an Indian who is wearing a yellow coat, and
carrying on his shoulders a cage drawn in perspective with some parrots
both within it and without, the whole being rarely beautiful; and such,
also, as some who are leading Indian goats, lions, giraffes, panthers,
lynxes, and apes, with Moors and other lovely things of fancy, all
grouped in a beautiful manner and executed divinely well in fresco. On
these steps, also, he made a dwarf seated and holding a box containing a
chameleon, which is so well executed in all the deformity of its
fantastic shape, that it is impossible to imagine more beautiful
proportions than those that he gave it. But, as has been said, this work
remained unfinished, on account of the death of Pope Leo; and although
Duke Alessandro de' Medici had a great desire that Jacopo da Pontormo
should finish it, he was not able to prevail on him to put his hand to
it. And in truth it suffered a very grievous wrong in the failure to
complete it, seeing that the hall, for one in a villa, is the most
beautiful in the world.
After returning to Florence, Andrea painted a picture with a nude
half-length figure of S. John the Baptist, a very beautiful thing, which
he executed at the commission of Giovan Maria Benintendi, who presented
it afterwards to the Lord Duke Cosimo.
[Illustration: CÆSAR RECEIVING THE TRIBUTE OF EGYPT
(_After the fresco by =Andrea del Sarto=. Florence: Poggio a Caiano_)
_Alinari_]
While affairs were proceeding in this manner, Andrea, remembering
sometimes his connection with France, sighed from his heart: and if
he had hoped to find pardon for the fault he had committed, there is no
doubt that he would have gone back. Indeed, to try his fortune, he
sought to see whether his talents might be helpful to him in the matter.
Thus he painted a picture of a half-naked S. John the Baptist, meaning
to send it to the Grand Master of France, to the end that he might
occupy himself with restoring the painter to the favour of the King.
However, whatever may have been the reason, he never sent it after all,
but sold it to the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, who always valued
it much as long as he lived, even as he did two pictures of Our Lady
executed for him by Andrea in one and the same manner, which are in his
house at the present day.
Not long afterwards he was commissioned by Zanobi Bracci to paint a
picture for Monsignore di San Biause,[6] which he executed with all
possible diligence, hoping that it might enable him to regain the favour
of King Francis, to whose service he desired to return. He also executed
for Lorenzo Jacopi a picture of much greater size than was usual,
containing a Madonna seated with the Child in her arms, accompanied by
two other figures that are seated on some steps; and the whole, both in
drawing and in colouring, is similar to his other works. He painted for
Giovanni d' Agostino Dini, likewise, a picture of Our Lady, which is now
much esteemed for its beauty; and he made so good a portrait from life
of Cosimo Lapi, that it seems absolutely alive.
Afterwards, in the year 1523, the plague came to Florence and also to
some places in the surrounding country; and Andrea, in order to avoid
that pestilence and also to do some work, went at the instance of
Antonio Brancacci to the Mugello to paint a panel for the Nuns of S.
Piero a Luco, of the Order of Camaldoli, taking with him his wife and a
stepdaughter, together with his wife's sister and an assistant. Living
quietly there, then, he set his hand to the work. And since those
venerable ladies showed more and more kindness and courtesy every day to
his wife, to himself, and to the whole party, he applied himself with
the greatest possible willingness to executing that panel, in which he
painted a Dead Christ mourned by Our Lady, S. John the Evangelist, and
the Magdalene, figures so lifelike, that they appear truly to have
spirit and breath. In S. John may be seen the loving tenderness of that
Apostle, with affection in the tears of the Magdalene, and bitter sorrow
in the face and whole attitude of the Madonna, whose aspect, as she
gazes on Christ, who seems to be truly a real corpse and in relief, is
so pitiful, that she fills with helpless awe and bewilderment the minds
of S. Peter and S. Paul, who are contemplating the Dead Saviour of the
World in the lap of His mother. From these marvellous conceptions it is
clear how much Andrea delighted in finish and perfection of art; and to
tell the truth, this panel has given more fame to that convent than all
the buildings and all the other costly works, however magnificent and
extraordinary, that have been executed there.
This picture finished, Andrea, seeing that the danger of the plague was
not yet past, stayed some weeks more in the same place, where he was so
well received and treated with such kindness. During that time, in order
not to be idle, he painted not only a Visitation of Our Lady to S.
Elizabeth, which is in the church, on the right hand above the Manger,
serving as a crown to a little ancient panel, but also, on a canvas of
no great size, a most beautiful head of Christ, somewhat similar to that
on the altar of the Nunziata, but not so finished. This head, which may
in truth be numbered among the better works that issued from the hands
of Andrea, is now in the Monastery of the Monks of the Angeli at
Florence, in the possession of that very reverend father, Don Antonio da
Pisa, who loves not only the men of excellence in our arts, but every
man of talent without exception. From this picture several copies have
been taken, for Don Silvano Razzi entrusted it to the painter Zanobi
Poggini, to the end that he might make a copy for Bartolommeo Gondi, who
had asked him for one, and some others were made, which are held in vast
veneration in Florence.
In this manner, then, Andrea passed without danger the time of the
plague, and those nuns received from the genius of that great man such a
work as can bear comparison with the most excellent pictures that have
been painted in our day; wherefore it is no marvel that Ramazzotto, the
captain of mercenaries of Scaricalasino, sought to obtain it on several
occasions during the siege of Florence, in order to send it to his
chapel in S. Michele in Bosco at Bologna.
On his return to Florence, Andrea executed for Beccuccio da Gambassi,
the glass-blower, who was very much his friend, a panel-picture of Our
Lady in the sky with the Child in her arms, and four figures below, S.
John the Baptist, S. Mary Magdalene, S. Sebastian, and S. Rocco; and in
the predella he made portraits from nature, which are most lifelike, of
Beccuccio and his wife. This panel is now at Gambassi, a township in
Valdelsa, between Volterra and Florence. For a chapel in the villa of
Zanobi Bracci at Rovezzano, he painted a most beautiful picture of Our
Lady suckling a Child, with a Joseph, all executed with such diligence
that they stand out from the panel, so strong is the relief; and this
picture is now in the house of M. Antonio Bracci, the son of that
Zanobi. About the same time, also, and in the above-mentioned cloister
of the Scalzo, Andrea painted two other scenes, in one of which he
depicted Zacharias offering sacrifice and being made dumb by the Angel
appearing to him, while in the other is the Visitation of Our Lady,
beautiful to a marvel.
Now Federigo II, Duke of Mantua, in passing through Florence on his way
to make obeisance to Clement VII, saw over a door in the house of the
Medici that portrait of Pope Leo between Cardinal Giulio de' Medici and
Cardinal de' Rossi, which the most excellent Raffaello da Urbino had
formerly painted; and being extraordinarily pleased with it, he
resolved, being a man who delighted in pictures of such beauty, to make
it his own. And so, when he was in Rome and the moment seemed to him to
have come, he asked for it as a present from Pope Clement, who
courteously granted his request. Thereupon orders were sent to Florence
to Ottaviano de' Medici, under whose care and government were Ippolito
and Alessandro, that he should have it packed up and taken to Mantua.
This matter was very displeasing to the Magnificent Ottaviano, who would
never have consented to deprive Florence of such a picture, and he
marvelled that the Pope should have given it up so readily. However, he
answered that he would not fail to satisfy the Duke; but that, since
the frame was bad, he was having a new one made, and when it had been
gilt he would send the picture with every possible precaution to Mantua.
This done, Messer Ottaviano, in order to "save both the goat and the
cabbage," as the saying goes, sent privately for Andrea and told him how
the matter stood, and how there was no way out of it but to make an
exact copy of the picture with the greatest care and send it to the
Duke, secretly retaining the one by the hand of Raffaello. Andrea, then,
having promised to do all in his power and knowledge, caused a panel to
be made similar in size and in every respect, and painted it secretly in
the house of Messer Ottaviano. And to such purpose did he labour, that
when it was finished even Messer Ottaviano, for all his understanding in
matters of art, could not tell the one from the other, nor distinguish
the real and true picture from the copy; especially as Andrea had
counterfeited even the spots of dirt, exactly as they were in the
original. And so, after they had hidden the picture of Raffaello, they
sent the one by the hand of Andrea, in a similar frame, to Mantua; at
which the Duke was completely satisfied, and above all because the
painter Giulio Romano, a disciple of Raffaello, had praised it, failing
to detect the trick. This Giulio would always have been of the same
opinion, and would have believed it to be by the hand of Raffaello, but
for the arrival in Mantua of Giorgio Vasari, who, having been as it were
the adoptive child of Messer Ottaviano, and having seen Andrea at work
on that picture, revealed the truth. For Giulio making much of Vasari,
and showing him, after many antiquities and paintings, that picture of
Raffaello's, as the best work that was there, Giorgio said to him, "A
beautiful work it is, but in no way by the hand of Raffaello." "What?"
answered Giulio. "Should I not know it, when I recognize the very
strokes that I made with my own brush?" "You have forgotten them," said
Giorgio, "for this picture is by the hand of Andrea del Sarto; and to
prove it, there is a sign (to which he pointed) that was made in
Florence, because when the two were together they could not be
distinguished." Hearing this, Giulio had the picture turned round, and
saw the mark; at which he shrugged his shoulders and said these words,
"I value it no less than if it were by the hand of Raffaello--nay, even
more, for it is something out of the course of nature that a man of
excellence should imitate the manner of another so well, and should make
a copy so like. It is enough that it should be known that Andrea's
genius was as valiant in double harness as in single." Thus, then, by
the wise judgment of Messer Ottaviano, satisfaction was given to the
Duke without depriving Florence of so choice a work, which, having been
presented to him afterwards by Duke Alessandro, he kept in his
possession for many years; and finally he gave it to Duke Cosimo, who
has it in his guardaroba together with many other famous pictures.
While Andrea was making this copy, he also painted for the same Messer
Ottaviano a picture with only the head of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici,
who afterwards became Pope Clement; and this head, which was similar to
that by Raffaello, and very beautiful, was presented eventually by
Messer Ottaviano to old Bishop de' Marzi.
Not long after, Messer Baldo Magini of Prato desiring to have a most
beautiful panel-picture painted for the Madonna delle Carcere in his
native city, for which he had already caused a very handsome ornament of
marble to be made, one of the many painters proposed to him was Andrea.
Wherefore Messer Baldo, having more inclination for him than for any of
the others, although he had no great understanding in such a matter, had
almost given him to believe that he and no other should do the work,
when a certain Niccolò Soggi of Sansovino, who had some interest at
Prato, was suggested to Messer Baldo for the undertaking, and assisted
to such purpose by the assertion that there was not a better master to
be found, that the work was given to him. Meanwhile, Andrea's supporters
sending for him, he, holding it as settled that the work was to be his,
went off to Prato with Domenico Puligo and other painters who were his
friends. Arriving there, he found that Niccolò not only had persuaded
Messer Baldo to change his mind, but also was bold and shameless enough
to say to him in the presence of Messer Baldo that he would compete with
Andrea for a bet of any sum of money in painting something, the winner
to take the whole. Andrea, who knew what Niccolò was worth, answered,
although he was generally a man of little spirit, "Here is my assistant,
who has not been long in our art. If you will bet with him, I will put
down the money for him; but with me you shall have no bet for any money
in the world, seeing that, if I were to beat you, it would do me no
honour, and if I were to lose, it would be the greatest possible
disgrace." And, saying to Messer Baldo that he should give the work to
Niccolò, because he would execute it in such a manner as would please
the folk that went to market, he returned to Florence.
There he was commissioned to paint a panel for Pisa, divided into five
pictures, which were afterwards placed round the Madonna of S. Agnese,
beside the walls of that city, between the old Citadel and the Duomo.
Making one figure, then, in each picture, he painted in two of them S.
John the Baptist and S. Peter, one on either side of the Madonna that
works miracles; and in the others are S. Catharine the Martyr, S.
Agnese, and S. Margaret, each a figure by itself, and all so beautiful
as to fill with marvel anyone who beholds them, and considered to be the
most gracious and lovely women that he ever painted.
M. Jacopo, a Servite friar, in releasing and absolving a woman from a
vow, had told her that she must have a figure of Our Lady painted over
the outer side of that lateral door of the Nunziata which leads into the
cloister; and therefore, finding Andrea, he said to him that he had this
money to spend, and that although it was not much it seemed to him
right, since the other works executed by Andrea in that place had
brought him such fame, that he and no other should paint this one as
well. Andrea, who was nothing if not an amiable man, moved by the
persuasions of the friar and by his own desire for profit and glory,
answered that he would do it willingly; and shortly afterwards, putting
his hand to the work, he painted in fresco a most beautiful Madonna
seated with her Son in her arms, and S. Joseph leaning on a sack, with
his eyes fixed upon an open book. And of such a kind was this work, in
draughtsmanship, grace, and beauty of colouring, as well as in vivacity
and relief, that it proved that he outstripped and surpassed by a great
measure all the painters who had worked up to that time. Such, indeed,
is this picture, that by its own merit and without praise from any other
quarter it makes itself clearly known as amazing and most rare.
There was wanting only one scene in the cloister of the Scalzo for it to
be completely finished; wherefore Andrea, who had added grandeur to his
manner after having seen the figures that Michelagnolo had begun and
partly finished for the Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, set his hand to
executing this last scene. In this, giving the final proof of his
improvement, he painted the Birth of S. John the Baptist, with figures
that were very beautiful and much better and stronger in relief than the
others made by him before in the same place. Most beautiful, among
others in this work, are a woman who is carrying the newborn babe to the
bed on which lies S. Elizabeth, who is likewise a most lovely figure,
and Zacharias, who is writing on a paper that he has placed on his knee,
holding it with one hand and with the other writing the name of his son,
and all with such vivacity, that he lacks nothing save the breath of
life. Most beautiful, also, is an old woman who is seated on a stool,
smiling with gladness at the delivery of the other aged woman, and
revealing in her attitude and expression all that would be seen in a
living person after such an event.
Having finished that work, which is certainly well worthy of all praise,
he painted for the General of Vallombrosa a panel-picture with four very
lovely figures, S. John the Baptist, S. Giovanni Gualberto, founder of
that Order, S. Michelagnolo, and S. Bernardo, a Cardinal and a monk of
the Order, with some little boys in the centre that could not be more
vivacious or more beautiful. This panel is at Vallombrosa, on the summit
of a rocky height, where certain monks live in some rooms called "the
cells," separated from the others, and leading as it were the lives of
hermits.
After this he was commissioned by Giuliano Scala to paint a
panel-picture, which was to be sent to Serrazzana, of a Madonna seated
with the Child in her arms, and two half-length figures from the knees
upwards, S. Celso and S. Julia, with S. Onofrio, S. Catharine, S.
Benedict, S. Anthony of Padua, S. Peter, and S. Mark; which panel was
held to be equal to the other works of Andrea. And in the hands of
Giuliano Scala, in place of the balance due to him of a sum of money
that he had paid for the owners of that work, there remained a lunette
containing an Annunciation, which was to go above the panel, to complete
it; and it is now in his chapel in the great tribune round the choir of
the Church of the Servi.
The Monks of S. Salvi had let many years pass by without thinking of
having a beginning made with their Last Supper, which they had
commissioned Andrea to execute at the time when he painted the arch with
the four figures; but finally an Abbot, who was a man of judgment and
breeding, determined that he should finish that work. Thereupon Andrea,
who had already pledged himself to it on a previous occasion, far from
making any demur, put his hand to the task, and, working at it one piece
at a time when he felt so inclined, finished it in a few months, and
that in such a manner, that the work was held to be, as it certainly is,
the most spontaneous and the most vivacious in colouring and drawing
that he ever made, or that ever could be made. For, among other things,
he gave infinite grandeur, majesty, and grace to all the figures,
insomuch that I know not what to say of this Last Supper that would not
be too little, it being such that whoever sees it is struck with
amazement. Wherefore it is no marvel that on account of its excellence
it was left standing amid the havoc of the siege of Florence, in the
year 1529, at which time the soldiers and destroyers, by command of
those in authority, pulled down all the suburbs without the city, and
all the monasteries, hospitals, and other buildings. These men, I say,
having destroyed the Church and Campanile of S. Salvi, and beginning to
throw down part of the convent, had come to the refectory where this
Last Supper is, when their leader, seeing so marvellous a painting, of
which he may have heard speak, abandoned the undertaking and would not
let any more of that place be destroyed, reserving the task until such
time as there should be no alternative.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
(_After the painting on a tile by =Andrea del Sarto=. Florence: Uffizi,
280_)
_Alinari_]
Andrea then painted for the Company of S. Jacopo, called the Nicchio, on
a banner for carrying in processions, a S. James fondling a little boy
dressed as a Flagellant by stroking him under the chin, with another boy
who has a book in his hand, executed with beautiful grace and
naturalness. He made a portrait from life of a steward of the Monks of
Vallombrosa, who lived almost always in the country on the affairs of
his monastery; and this portrait was placed under a sort of bower, in
which he had made pergole and contrivances of his own in various
fanciful designs, so that it was buffeted by wind and rain, according to
the pleasure of that steward, who was the friend of Andrea. And because,
when the work was finished, there were some colours and lime left over,
Andrea, taking a tile, called to his wife Lucrezia and said to her:
"Come here, for these colours are left over, and I wish to make your
portrait, so that all may see how well you have preserved your beauty
even at your time of life, and yet may know how your appearance has
changed, which will make this one different from your early portraits."
But the woman, who may have had something else in her mind, would not
stand still; and Andrea, as it were from a feeling that he was near his
end, took a mirror and made a portrait of himself on that tile, of such
perfection, that it seems alive and as real as nature; and that portrait
is in the possession of the same Madonna Lucrezia, who is still living.
He also portrayed a Canon of Pisa, very much his friend; and the
portrait, which is lifelike and very beautiful, is still in Pisa. He
then began for the Signoria the cartoons for the paintings to be
executed on the balustrades of the Ringhiera in the Piazza, with many
beautiful things of fancy to represent the quarters of the city, and
with the banners of the Consuls of the chief Guilds supported by some
little boys, and also ornaments in the form of images of all the
virtues, and likewise the most famous mountains and rivers of the
dominion of Florence. But this work, thus begun, remained unfinished on
account of Andrea's death, as was also the case with a panel--although
it was all but finished--which he painted for the Abbey of the Monks of
Vallombrosa at Poppi in the Casentino. In that panel he painted an
Assumption of Our Lady, who is surrounded by many little boys, with S.
Giovanni Gualberto, S. Bernardo the Cardinal (a monk of their Order, as
has been related), S. Catharine, and S. Fedele; and, unfinished as it
is, the picture is now in that Abbey of Poppi. The same happened to a
panel of no great size, which, when finished, was to have gone to Pisa.
But he left completely finished a very beautiful picture which is now in
the house of Filippo Salviati, and some others.
About the same time Giovan Battista della Palla, having bought all the
sculptures and pictures of note that he could obtain, and causing copies
to be made of those that he could not buy, had despoiled Florence of a
vast number of choice works, without the least scruple, in order to
furnish a suite of rooms for the King of France, which was to be richer
in suchlike ornaments than any other in the world. And this man,
desiring that Andrea should return to the service and favour of the
King, commissioned him to paint two pictures. In one of these Andrea
painted Abraham in the act of trying to sacrifice his son; and that with
such diligence, that it was judged that up to that time he had never
done anything better. Beautifully expressed in the figure of the
patriarch was seen that living and steadfast faith which made him ready
without a moment of dismay or hesitation to slay his own son. The same
Abraham, likewise, could be seen turning his head towards a very
beautiful little angel, who appeared to be bidding him stay his hand. I
will not describe the attitude, the dress, the foot-wear, and other
details in the painting of that old man, because it is not possible to
say enough of them; but this I must say, that the boy Isaac, tender and
most beautiful, was to be seen all naked, trembling with the fear of
death, and almost dead without having been struck. The same boy had only
the neck browned by the heat of the sun, and white as snow those parts
that his draperies had covered during the three days' journey. In like
manner, the ram among the thorns seemed to be alive, and Isaac's
draperies on the ground rather real and natural than painted. And in
addition there were some naked servants guarding an ass that was
browsing, and a landscape so well represented that the real scene of the
event could not have been more beautiful or in any way different. This
picture, having been bought by Filippo Strozzi after the death of Andrea
and the capture of Battista, was presented by him to Signor Alfonso
Davalos, Marchese del Vasto, who had it carried to the island of Ischia,
near Naples, and placed in one of his apartments in company with other
most noble paintings.
In the other picture Andrea painted a very beautiful Charity, with three
little boys; and this was afterwards bought from the wife of Andrea,
after his death, by the painter Domenico Conti, who sold it later to
Niccolò Antinori, who treasures it as a rare work, as indeed it is.
During this time there came to the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici,
seeing from that last picture how much Andrea had improved his manner, a
desire to have a picture by his hand. Whereupon Andrea, who was eager to
serve that lord, to whom he was much indebted, because he had always
shown favour to men of lofty intellect, and particularly to painters,
executed for him a picture of Our Lady seated on the ground with the
Child riding astride on her knees, while He turns His head towards a
little S. John supported by an old S. Elizabeth, a figure so natural and
so well painted that she appears to be alive, even as every other thing
is wrought with incredible diligence, draughtsmanship, and art. Having
finished this picture, Andrea carried it to Messer Ottaviano; but since
that lord had something else to think about, Florence being then
besieged, he told Andrea, while thanking him profoundly and making his
excuses, to dispose of it as he thought best. To which Andrea made no
reply but this: "The labour was endured for you, and yours the work
shall always be." "Sell it," answered Messer Ottaviano, "and use the
money, for I know what I am talking about." Andrea then departed and
returned to his house, nor would he ever give the picture to anyone, for
all the offers that were made to him; but when the siege was raised and
the Medici back in Florence, he took it once more to Messer Ottaviano,
who accepted it right willingly, thanking him and paying him double. The
work is now in the apartment of his wife, Madonna Francesca, sister to
the very reverend Salviati, who holds the beautiful pictures left to her
by her magnificent consort in no less account than she does the duty of
retaining and honouring his friends.
For Giovanni Borgherini Andrea painted another picture almost exactly
like the one of Charity mentioned above, containing a Madonna, a little
S. John offering to Christ a globe that represents the world, and a very
beautiful head of S. Joseph.
There came to Paolo da Terrarossa, a friend to the whole body of
painters, who had seen the sketch for the aforesaid Abraham, a wish to
have some work by the hand of Andrea. Having therefore asked him for a
copy of that Abraham, Andrea willingly obliged him and made a copy of
such a kind, that in its minuteness it was by no means inferior to the
large original. Wherefore Paolo, well satisfied with it and wishing to
pay him, asked him the price, thinking that it would cost him what it
was certainly worth; but Andrea asked a mere song, and Paolo, almost
ashamed, shrugged his shoulders and gave him all that he claimed. The
picture was afterwards sent by him to Naples ...[7] and it is the most
beautiful and the most highly honoured painting in that place.
During the siege of Florence some captains had fled the city with the
pay-chests; on which account Andrea was asked to paint on the façade of
the Palace of the Podestà and in the Piazza not only those captains, but
also some citizens who had fled and had been proclaimed outlaws. He said
that he would do it; but in order not to acquire, like Andrea dal
Castagno, the name of Andrea degl' Impiccati, he gave it out that he was
entrusting the work to one of his assistants, called Bernardo del Buda.
However, having made a great enclosure, which he himself entered and
left by night, he executed those figures in such a manner that they
appeared to be the men themselves, real and alive. The soldiers, who
were painted on the façade of the old Mercatanzia in the Piazza, near
the Condotta, were covered with whitewash many years ago, that they
might be seen no longer; and the citizens, whom he painted entirely with
his own hand on the Palace of the Podestà, were destroyed in like
manner.
After this, being very intimate in these last years of his life with
certain men who governed the Company of S. Sebastiano, which is behind
the Servite Convent, Andrea made for them with his own hand a S.
Sebastian from the navel upwards, so beautiful that it might well have
seemed that these were the last strokes of the brush which he was to
make.
The siege being finished, Andrea was waiting for matters to mend,
although with little hope that his French project would succeed, since
Giovan Battista della Palla had been taken prisoner, when Florence
became filled with soldiers and stores from the camp. Among those
soldiers were some lansquenets sick of the plague, who brought no
little terror into the city and shortly afterwards left it infected.
Thereupon, either through this apprehension or through some imprudence
in eating after having suffered much privation in the siege, one day
Andrea fell grievously ill and took to his bed with death on his brow;
and finding no remedy for his illness, and being without much
attention--for his wife, from fear of the plague, kept as far away from
him as she could--he died, so it is said, almost without a soul being
aware of it; and he was buried by the men of the Scalzo with scant
ceremony in the Church of the Servi, near his own house, in the place
where the members of that Company are always buried.
The death of Andrea was a very great loss to the city and to art,
because up to the age of forty-two, which he attained, he went on always
improving from one work to another in such wise that, if he had lived
longer, he would have continued to confer benefits on art; for the
reason that it is better to go on making progress little by little,
advancing with a firm and steady foot through the difficulties of art,
than to seek to force one's intellect and nature in a single effort. Nor
is there any doubt that if Andrea had stayed in Rome when he went there
to see the works of Raffaello and Michelagnolo, and also the statues and
ruins of that city, he would have enriched his manner greatly in the
composition of scenes, and would one day have given more delicacy and
greater force to his figures; which has never been thoroughly achieved
save by one who has been some time in Rome, to study those works in
detail and grow familiar with them. Having then from nature a sweet and
gracious manner of drawing and great facility and vivacity of colouring,
both in fresco-work and in oils, it is believed without a doubt that if
he had stayed in Rome, he would have surpassed all the craftsmen of his
time. But some believe that he was deterred from this by the abundance
of works of sculpture and painting, both ancient and modern, that he saw
in that city, and by observing the many young men, disciples of
Raffaello and of others, resolute in draughtsmanship and working
confidently and without effort, whom, like the timid fellow that he was,
he did not feel it in him to excel. And so, not trusting himself, he
resolved, as the best course for him, to return to Florence; where,
reflecting little by little on what he had seen, he made such
proficience that his works have been admired and held in price, and,
what is more, imitated more often after his death than during his
lifetime. Whoever has some holds them dear, and whoever has consented to
sell them has received three times as much as was paid to him, for the
reason that he never received anything but small prices for his works,
both because he was timid by nature, as has been related, and also
because certain master-joiners, who were executing the best works at
that time in the houses of citizens, would never allow any commission to
be given to Andrea (so as to oblige their friends), save when they knew
that he was in great straits, for at such times he would accept any
price. But this does not prevent his works from being most rare, or from
being held in very great account, and that rightly, since he was one of
the best and greatest masters who have lived even to our own day. In our
book are many drawings by his hand, all good; but in particular there is
one that is altogether beautiful, of the scene that he painted at
Poggio, showing the tribute of all the animals from the East being
presented to Cæsar. This drawing, which is executed in chiaroscuro, is a
rare thing, and the most finished that Andrea ever made; for when he
drew natural objects for reproduction in his works, he made mere
sketches dashed off on the spot, contenting himself with marking the
character of the reality; and afterwards, when reproducing them in his
works, he brought them to perfection. His drawings, therefore, served
him rather as memoranda of what he had seen than as models from which to
make exact copies in his pictures.
The disciples of Andrea were innumerable, but they did not all pursue
the same course of study under his discipline, for some stayed with him
a long time, and some but little; which was the fault, not of Andrea,
but of his wife, who, tyrannizing arrogantly over them all, and showing
no respect to a single one of them, made all their lives a burden. Among
his disciples, then, were Jacopo da Pontormo; Andrea Sguazzella, who
adhered to the manner of Andrea and decorated a palace, a work which is
much extolled, without the city of Paris in France; Solosmeo; Pier
Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, who has painted three panels that are in
S. Spirito; Francesco Salviati; Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo, who was the
companion of the aforesaid Salviati, although he did not stay long with
Andrea; Jacopo del Conte of Florence; and Nannoccio, who is now in
France with Cardinal de Tournon, in the highest credit. In like manner,
Jacopo, called Jacone, was a disciple of Andrea and much his friend, and
an imitator of his manner. This Jacone, while Andrea was alive, received
no little help from him, as is evident in all his works, and
particularly in the façade executed for the Chevalier Buondelmonti on
the Piazza di S. Trinita.
The heir to Andrea's drawings and other art-possessions, after his
death, was Domenico Conti, who made little proficience in painting; but
one night he was robbed--by some men of the same profession, so it is
thought--of all the drawings, cartoons, and other things that he had
from Andrea, nor was it ever discovered who these men were. Now
Domenico, as one not ungrateful for the benefits received from his
master, and desiring to render to him after his death the honours that
he deserved, prevailed upon Raffaello da Montelupo to make for him out
of courtesy a very handsome tablet of marble, which was built into a
pilaster in the Church of the Servi, with the following epitaph, written
for him by the most learned Messer Piero Vettori, then a young man:
ANDREÆ SARTIO
ADMIRABILIS INGENII PICTORI, AC VETERIBUS ILLIS OMNIUM JUDICIO
COMPARANDO,
DOMINICUS CONTES DISCIPULUS, PRO LABORIBUS IN SE INSTITUENDO SUSCEPTIS,
GRATO ANIMO POSUIT.
VIXIT ANN. XLII, OB. ANN. MDXXX.
After no long time, certain citizens, Wardens of Works of that church,
rather ignorant than hostile to honoured memories, so went to work out
of anger that the tablet should have been set up in that place without
their leave, that they had it removed; nor has it yet been re-erected in
any other place. Thus, perchance, Fortune sought to show that the power
of the Fates prevails not only during our lives, but also over our
memorials after death. In spite of them, however, the works and the
name of Andrea are likely to live a long time, as are these my writings,
I hope, to preserve their memory for many ages.
We must conclude, then, that if Andrea showed poor spirit in the actions
of his life, contenting himself with little, this does not mean that in
art he was otherwise than exalted in genius, most resolute, and masterly
in every sort of labour; and with his works, in addition to the
adornment that they confer on the places where they are, he rendered a
most valuable service to his fellow-craftsmen with regard to manner,
drawing, and colouring, and that with fewer errors than any other
painter of Florence, for the reason that, as has been said above, he
understood very well the management of light and shade and how to make
things recede in the darks, and painted his pictures with a sweetness
full of vivacity; not to mention that he showed us the method of working
in fresco with perfect unity and without doing much retouching on the
dry, which makes his every work appear to have been painted in a single
day. Wherefore he should serve in every place as an example to Tuscan
craftsmen, and receive supreme praise and a palm of honour among the
number of their most celebrated champions.
FOOTNOTE:
[6] Jacques de Beaune.
[7] There is here a gap in the text.
MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI
LIFE OF MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI
SCULPTOR[8] OF BOLOGNA
It is an extraordinary thing that in all those arts and all those
exercises wherein at any time women have thought fit to play a part in
real earnest, they have always become most excellent and famous in no
common way, as one might easily demonstrate by an endless number of
examples. Everyone, indeed, knows what they are all, without exception,
worth in household matters; besides which, in connection with war,
likewise, it is known who were Camilla, Harpalice, Valasca, Tomyris,
Penthesilea, Molpadia, Orizia, Antiope, Hippolyta, Semiramis, Zenobia,
and, finally, Mark Antony's Fulvia, who so often took up arms, as the
historian Dion tells us, to defend her husband and herself. But in
poetry, also, they have been truly marvellous, as Pausanias relates.
Corinna was very celebrated as a writer of verse, and Eustathius makes
mention in his "Catalogue of the Ships of Homer"--as does Eusebius in
his book of "Chronicles"--of Sappho, a young woman of great renown, who,
in truth, although she was a woman, was yet such that she surpassed by a
great measure all the eminent writers of that age. And Varro, on his
part, gives extraordinary but well-deserved praise to Erinna, who, with
her three hundred verses, challenged the fame of the brightest light of
Greece, and counterbalanced with her one small volume, called the
"Elecate," the ponderous "Iliad" of the great Homer. Aristophanes
celebrates Carissena, a votary of the same profession, as a woman of
great excellence and learning; and the same may be said for Teano,
Merone, Polla, Elpe, Cornificia, and Telesilla, to the last of whom, in
honour of her marvellous talents, a most beautiful statue was set up in
the Temple of Venus.
Passing by the numberless other writers of verse, do we not read that
Arete was the teacher of the learned Aristippus in the difficulties of
philosophy, and that Lastheneia and Assiotea were disciples of the
divine Plato? In the art of oratory, Sempronia and Hortensia, women of
Rome, were very famous. In grammar, so Athenæus relates, Agallis was
without an equal. And as for the prediction of the future, whether we
class this with astrology or with magic, it is enough to say that
Themis, Cassandra, and Manto had an extraordinary renown in their times;
as did Isis and Ceres in matters of agriculture, and the Thespiades in
the whole field of the sciences.
But in no other age, for certain, has it been possible to see this
better than in our own, wherein women have won the highest fame not only
in the study of letters--as has been done by Signora Vittoria del Vasto,
Signora Veronica Gambara, Signora Caterina Anguisciuola, Schioppa,
Nugarola, Madonna Laura Battiferri, and a hundred others, all most
learned as well in the vulgar tongue as in the Latin and the Greek--but
also in every other faculty. Nor have they been too proud to set
themselves with their little hands, so tender and so white, as if to
wrest from us the palm of supremacy, to manual labours, braving the
roughness of marble and the unkindly chisels, in order to attain to
their desire and thereby win fame; as did, in our own day, Properzia de'
Rossi of Bologna, a young woman excellent not only in household matters,
like the rest of them, but also in sciences without number, so that all
the men, to say nothing of the women, were envious of her.
This Properzia was very beautiful in person, and played and sang in her
day better than any other woman of her city. And because she had an
intellect both capricious and very ready, she set herself to carve
peach-stones, which she executed so well and with such patience, that
they were singular and marvellous to behold, not only for the subtlety
of the work, but also for the grace of the little figures that she made
in them and the delicacy with which they were distributed. And it was
certainly a miracle to see on so small a thing as a peach-stone the
whole Passion of Christ, wrought in most beautiful carving, with a vast
number of figures in addition to the Apostles and the ministers of the
Crucifixion. This encouraged her, since there were decorations to be
made for the three doors of the first façade of S. Petronio all in
figures of marble, to ask the Wardens of Works, by means of her husband,
for a part of that work; at which they were quite content, on the
condition that she should let them see some work in marble executed by
her own hand. Whereupon she straightway made for Count Alessandro de'
Peppoli a portrait from life in the finest marble, representing his
father, Count Guido, which gave infinite pleasure not only to them, but
also to the whole city; and the Wardens of Works, therefore, did not
fail to allot a part of the work to her. In this, to the vast delight of
all Bologna, she made an exquisite scene, wherein--because at that time
the poor woman was madly enamoured of a handsome young man, who seemed
to care but little for her--she represented the wife of Pharaoh's
Chamberlain, who, burning with love for Joseph, and almost in despair
after so much persuasion, finally strips his garment from him with a
womanly grace that defies description. This work was esteemed by all to
be most beautiful, and it was a great satisfaction to herself, thinking
that with this illustration from the Old Testament she had partly
quenched the raging fire of her own passion. Nor would she ever do any
more work in connection with that building, although there was no person
who did not beseech her that she should go on with it, save only Maestro
Amico, who out of envy always dissuaded her and went so far with his
malignity, ever speaking ill of her to the Wardens, that she was paid a
most beggarly price for her work.
She also made two angels in very strong relief and beautiful
proportions, which may now be seen, although against her wish, in the
same building. In the end she devoted herself to copper-plate engraving,
which she did without reproach, gaining the highest praise. And so the
poor love-stricken young woman came to succeed most perfectly in
everything, save in her unhappy passion.
The fame of an intellect so noble and so exalted spread throughout all
Italy, and finally came to the ears of Pope Clement VII, who,
immediately after he had crowned the Emperor in Bologna, made inquiries
after her; but he found that the poor woman had died that very week, and
had been buried in the Della Morte Hospital, as she had directed in her
last testament. At which the Pope, who was eager to see her, felt much
sorrow at her death; but more bitter even was it for her
fellow-citizens, who regarded her during her lifetime as one of the
greatest miracles produced by nature in our days.
In our book are some very good drawings by the hand of this Properzia,
done with the pen and copied from the works of Raffaello da Urbino; and
her portrait was given to me by certain painters who were very much her
friends.
[Illustration: TWO ANGELS, _after_ Madonna Properzia de' Rossi
(THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN, _after_ Tribolo)
(_Bologna: S. Petronio_)
_Alinari_]
But, although Properzia drew very well, there have not been wanting
women not only to equal her in drawing, but also to do as good work in
painting as she did in sculpture. Of these the first is Sister
Plautilla, a nun and now Prioress in the Convent of S. Caterina da
Siena, on the Piazza di S. Marco in Florence. She, beginning little by
little to draw and to imitate in colours pictures and paintings by
excellent masters, has executed some works with such diligence, that she
has caused the craftsmen to marvel. By her hand are two panels in the
Church of that Convent of S. Caterina, of which the one with the Magi
adoring Jesus is much extolled. In the choir of the Convent of S. Lucia,
at Pistoia, there is a large panel, containing Our Lady with the Child
in her arms, S. Thomas, S. Augustine, S. Mary Magdalene, S. Catherine of
Siena, S. Agnese, S. Catherine the Martyr, and S. Lucia; and another
large panel by the same hand was sent abroad by the Director of the
Hospital of Lelmo. In the refectory of the aforesaid Convent of S.
Caterina there is a great Last Supper, with a panel in the work-room,
both by the hand of the same nun. And in the houses of gentlemen
throughout Florence there are so many pictures, that it would be tedious
to attempt to speak of them all. A large picture of the Annunciation
belongs to the wife of the Spaniard, Signor Mondragone, and Madonna
Marietta de' Fedini has another like it. There is a little picture of
Our Lady in S. Giovannino, at Florence; and an altar-predella in S.
Maria del Fiore, containing very beautiful scenes from the life of S.
Zanobi. And because this venerable and talented sister, before
executing panels and works of importance, gave attention to painting in
miniature, there are in the possession of various people many
wonderfully beautiful little pictures by her hand, of which there is no
need to make mention. The best works from her hand are those that she
has copied from others, wherein she shows that she would have done
marvellous things if she had enjoyed, as men do, advantages for
studying, devoting herself to drawing, and copying living and natural
objects. And that this is true is seen clearly from a picture of the
Nativity of Christ, copied from one which Bronzino once painted for
Filippo Salviati. In like manner, the truth of such an opinion is proved
by this, that in her works the faces and features of women, whom she has
been able to see as much as she pleased, are no little better than the
heads of the men, and much nearer to the reality. In the faces of women
in some of her works she has portrayed Madonna Costanza de' Doni, who
has been in our time an unexampled pattern of beauty and dignity;
painting her so well, that it is impossible to expect more from a woman
who, for the reasons mentioned above, has had no great practice in her
art.
With much credit to herself, likewise, has Madonna Lucrezia, the
daughter of Messer Alfonso Quistelli della Mirandola, and now the wife
of Count Clemente Pietra, occupied herself with drawing and painting, as
she still does, after having been taught by Alessandro Allori, the pupil
of Bronzino; as may be seen from many pictures and portraits executed by
her hand, which are worthy to be praised by all. But Sofonisba of
Cremona, the daughter of Messer Amilcaro Anguisciuola, has laboured at
the difficulties of design with greater study and better grace than any
other woman of our time, and she has not only succeeded in drawing,
colouring, and copying from nature, and in making excellent copies of
works by other hands, but has also executed by herself alone some very
choice and beautiful works of painting. Wherefore she well deserved that
King Philip of Spain, having heard of her merits and abilities from the
Lord Duke of Alba, should have sent for her and caused her to be
escorted in great honour to Spain, where he keeps her with a rich
allowance about the person of the Queen, to the admiration of all that
Court, which reveres the excellence of Sofonisba as a miracle. And it is
no long time since Messer Tommaso Cavalieri, a Roman gentleman, sent to
the Lord Duke Cosimo (in addition to a drawing by the hand of the divine
Michelagnolo, wherein is a Cleopatra) another drawing by the hand of
Sofonisba, containing a little girl laughing at a boy who is weeping
because one of the cray-fish out of a basket full of them, which she has
placed in front of him, is biting his finger; and there is nothing more
graceful to be seen than that drawing, or more true to nature.
Wherefore, in memory of the talent of Sofonisba, who lives in Spain, so
that Italy has no abundance of her works, I have placed it in my book of
drawings.
We may truly say, then, with the divine Ariosto, that--
Le donne son venute in eccellenza
Di ciascun' arte ov' hanno posto cura.
And let this be the end of the Life of Properzia, sculptor of Bologna.
FOOTNOTE:
[8] The translator is unwilling to use the somewhat ugly word
"sculptress."
ALFONSO LOMBARDI OF FERRARA, MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA, GIROLAMO SANTA CROCE
OF NAPLES, DOSSO AND BATTISTA DOSSI
LIVES OF ALFONSO LOMBARDI OF FERRARA, MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA, AND
GIROLAMO SANTA CROCE OF NAPLES
SCULPTORS
AND DOSSO AND BATTISTA DOSSI
PAINTERS OF FERRARA
Alfonso of Ferrara, working in his early youth with stucco and wax, made
an endless number of portraits from life on little medallions for many
nobles and gentlemen of his own country. Some of these are still to be
seen, white in colour and made of wax or stucco, and bear witness to the
fine intellect and judgment that he possessed; such as those of Prince
Doria, of Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, of Clement VII, of the Emperor
Charles V, of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, of Bembo, of Ariosto, and of
other suchlike personages. Finding himself in Bologna at the coronation
of Charles V, he executed the decorations of the door of S. Petronio as
a part of the preparations for that festival; and he had come into such
repute through being the first to introduce the good method of making
portraits from life in the form of medals, as has been related, that
there was not a single man of distinction in those Courts for whom he
did not execute some work, to his own great profit and honour. But, not
being content with the gain and the glory that came to him from making
works in clay, in wax, and in stucco, he set himself to work in marble;
and such was the proficience that he showed in some things that he made,
although these were of little importance, that he was commissioned to
execute the tomb of Ramazzotto, which brought him very great fame and
honour, in S. Michele in Bosco, without Bologna. After that work he made
some little scenes of marble in half-relief on the predella of the
altar at the tomb of S. Dominic, in the same city. And for the door of
S. Petronio, also, on the left hand of the entrance into the church, he
executed some little scenes in marble, containing a very beautiful
Resurrection of Christ. But what pleased the people of Bologna most of
all was the Death of Our Lady, wrought with a very hard mixture of clay
and stucco, with figures in full-relief, in an upper room of the Della
Vita Hospital; and marvellous, among other things in that work, is the
Jew who leaves his hands fixed to the bier of the Madonna. With the same
mixture, also, he made a large Hercules with the dead Hydra under his
feet, for the upper room of the Governor in the Palazzo Pubblico of that
city; which statue was executed in competition with Zaccaria da
Volterra, who was greatly surpassed by the ability and excellence of
Alfonso. For the Madonna del Baracane the same master made two Angels in
stucco, who are upholding a canopy in half-relief; and in some
medallions in the middle aisle of S. Giuseppe, between one arch and
another, he made the twelve Apostles from the waist upwards, of
terra-cotta and in full-relief. In terra-cotta, likewise, for the
corners of the vaulting of the Madonna del Popolo in the same city, he
executed four figures larger than life; namely, S. Petronio, S. Procolo,
S. Francis, and S. Dominic, figures which are all very beautiful and
grand in manner. And by the hand of the same man are some works in
stucco at Castel Bolognese, and some others in the Company of S.
Giovanni at Cesena.
Let no one marvel that hitherto our account of this master has dealt
with scarcely any work save in clay, wax, and stucco, and very little in
marble, because--besides the fact that Alfonso was always inclined to
that sort of work--after passing a certain age, being very handsome in
person and youthful in appearance, he practised art more for pleasure
and to satisfy his own vanity than with any desire to set himself to
chisel stone. He used always to wear on his arms, on his neck, and in
his clothing, ornaments of gold and suchlike fripperies, which showed
him to be rather a courtier, vain and wanton, than a craftsman desirous
of glory. Of a truth, just as such ornaments enhance the splendour of
those to whom, on account of their wealth, high estate, and noble blood,
they are becoming, so are they worthy of reproach in craftsmen and
others, who should not measure themselves, some for one reason and some
for another, with the rich, seeing that such persons, in place of being
praised, are held in less esteem by men of judgment, and often laughed
to scorn. Now Alfonso, charmed with himself and indulging in expressions
and wanton excesses little worthy of a good craftsman, on one occasion
robbed himself through this behaviour of all the glory that he had won
by labouring at his profession. For one evening, chancing to be at a
wedding in the house of a Count in Bologna, and having made love for
some time to a lady of quality, he had the luck to be invited by her to
dance the torch-dance; whereupon, whirling round with her, and overcome
by the frenzy of his passion, he said with a trembling voice, sighing
deeply, and gazing at his lady with eyes full of tenderness: "S'amor non
è, che dunque è quel ch' io sento?"[9] Hearing this, the lady, who had a
shrewd wit, answered, in order to show him his error: "A louse,
perhaps." Which answer was heard by many, so that the saying ran through
all Bologna, and he was held to scorn ever afterwards. Truly, if Alfonso
had given his attention not to the vanities of the world, but to the
labours of art, without a doubt he would have produced marvellous works;
for if he achieved this in part without exerting himself much, what
would he have done if he had faced the dust and heat?
The aforesaid Emperor Charles V being in Bologna, and the most excellent
Tiziano da Cadore having come to make a portrait of his Majesty, Alfonso
likewise was seized with a desire to execute a portrait of that
Sovereign. And having no other means of contriving to do that, he
besought Tiziano, without revealing to him what he had in mind, that he
should do him the favour of introducing him, in the place of one of
those who used to carry his colours, into the presence of his Majesty.
Wherefore Tiziano, who loved him much, like the truly courteous man that
he has always been, took Alfonso with him into the apartments of the
Emperor. Alfonso, as soon as Tiziano had settled down to work, took up a
position behind him, in such a way that he could not be seen by the
other, who was wholly intent on his portrait; and, taking up a little
box in the shape of a medallion, he made therein a portrait of the
Emperor in stucco, and had it finished at the very moment when Tiziano
had likewise brought his picture to completion. The Emperor then rising,
Alfonso closed the box and had already hidden it in his sleeve, to the
end that Tiziano might not see it, when his Majesty said to him: "Show
me what you have done." He was thus forced to give his portrait humbly
into the hand of the Emperor, who, having examined it and praised it
highly, said to him: "Would you have the courage to do it in marble?"
"Yes, your sacred Majesty," answered Alfonso. "Do it, then," added the
Emperor, "and bring it to me in Genoa." How unusual this proceeding must
have seemed to Tiziano every man may imagine for himself. For my part, I
believe that it must have appeared to him that he had compromised his
credit. But what must have seemed to him most strange was this, that
when his Majesty sent a present of a thousand crowns to Tiziano, he bade
him give the half, or five hundred crowns, to Alfonso, keeping the other
five hundred for himself, at which it is likely enough that Tiziano felt
aggrieved. Alfonso, then, setting to work with the greatest zeal in his
power, brought the marble head to completion with such diligence, that
it was pronounced to be a very fine thing: which was the reason that,
when he had taken it to the Emperor, his Majesty ordered that three
hundred crowns more should be given to him.
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the terra-cotta by =Alfonso Lombardi=. Bologna: S. Maria della
Vita_)
_Poppi_]
Alfonso having come into great repute through the gifts and praises
bestowed on him by the Emperor, Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici took him to
Rome, where he kept many sculptors and painters about his person, in
addition to a vast number of other men of ability; and he commissioned
him to make a copy in marble of a very famous antique head of the
Emperor Vitellius. In that work Alfonso justified the opinion held of
him by the Cardinal and by all Rome, and he was charged by the same
patron to make a portrait-bust in marble of Pope Clement VII, after the
life, and shortly afterwards one of Giuliano de' Medici, father of the
Cardinal; but the latter was left not quite finished. These heads were
afterwards sold in Rome, and bought by me at the request of the
Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, together with some pictures; and in
our own day they have been placed by the Lord Duke Cosimo de' Medici in
that hall of the new apartments of his palace wherein I have painted, on
the ceiling and the walls, all the stories of Pope Leo X; they have been
placed, I say, in that hall, over the doors made of that red veined
marble which is found near Florence, in company with the heads of other
illustrious men of the house of Medici.
But returning to Alfonso; he then went on to execute many works in
sculpture for the same Cardinal, but these, being small things, have
disappeared. After the death of Clement, when a tomb had to be made for
him and also for Leo, the work was allotted by Cardinal de' Medici to
Alfonso; whereupon he made a model with figures of wax, which was held
to be very beautiful, after some sketches by Michelagnolo Buonarroti,
and went off to Carrara with money to have the marble quarried. But not
long afterwards the Cardinal, having departed from Rome on his way to
Africa, died at Itri, and the work slipped out of the hands of Alfonso,
because he was dismissed by its executors, Cardinals Salviati, Ridolfi,
Pucci, Cibo, and Gaddi, and it was entrusted by the favour of Madonna
Lucrezia Salviati, daughter of the great Lorenzo de' Medici, the elder,
and sister of Leo, to Baccio Bandinelli, a sculptor of Florence, who had
made models for it during the lifetime of Clement.
For this reason Alfonso, thus knocked off his high horse and almost
beside himself, determined to return to Bologna; and, having arrived in
Florence, he presented to Duke Alessandro a most beautiful head in
marble of the Emperor Charles V, which is now in Carrara, whither it was
sent by Cardinal Cibo, who removed it after the death of Duke Alessandro
from the guardaroba of that Prince. The Duke, when Alfonso arrived in
Florence, was in the humour to have his portrait taken; for it had
already been done on medals by Domenico di Polo, a gem-engraver, and by
Francesco di Girolamo dal Prato, for the coinage by Benvenuto Cellini,
and in painting by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo and Jacopo da Pontormo, and
he wished that Alfonso should likewise portray him. Wherefore he made a
very beautiful portrait of him in relief, much better than the one
executed by Danese da Carrara, and then, since he was wholly set on
going to Bologna, he was given the means to make one there in marble,
after the model. And so, having received many gifts and favours from
Duke Alessandro, Alfonso returned to Bologna, where, being still far
from content on account of the death of the Cardinal, and sorely vexed
by the loss of the tombs, there came upon him a pestilent and incurable
disease of the skin, which wasted him away little by little, until,
having reached the age of forty-nine, he passed to a better life, never
ceasing to rail at Fortune, which had robbed him of a patron to whom he
might have looked for all the blessings which could make him happy in
this life, and saying that she should have closed his own eyes, since
she had reduced him to such misery, rather than those of Cardinal
Ippolito de' Medici. Alfonso died in the year 1536.
[Illustration: TOMB OF ADRIAN VI
(_After_ Michelagnolo da Siena. _Rome: S. Maria dell' Anima_)
_Anderson_]
Michelagnolo, a sculptor of Siena, after he had spent the best years of
his life in Sclavonia with other excellent sculptors, made his way to
Rome on the following occasion. After the death of Pope Adrian, Cardinal
Hincfort, who had been the friend and favourite of that Pontiff,
determined, as one not ungrateful for the benefits received from him, to
erect to him a tomb of marble; and he gave the charge of this to
Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of Siena. And that master, having made
the model, desired that the sculptor Michelagnolo, his friend and
compatriot, should undertake the work on his own account. Michelagnolo,
therefore, made on that tomb a lifesize figure of Pope Adrian, lying
upon the sarcophagus and portrayed from nature, with a scene, also in
marble, below him, showing his arrival in Rome and the Roman people
going to meet him and to do him homage. Around the tomb, moreover, in
four niches, are four Virtues in marble, Justice, Fortitude, Peace, and
Prudence, all executed with much diligence by the hand of Michelagnolo
after the counsel of Baldassarre. It is true, indeed, that some of the
things that are in this work were wrought by the Florentine sculptor,
Tribolo, then a very young man, and these were considered the best of
all; but Michelagnolo executed the minor details of the work with
supreme diligence and subtlety, and the little figures that are in it
deserve to be extolled more than all the rest. Among other things, there
are some variegated marbles wrought with a high finish, and put
together so well that nothing more could be desired. For these
labours Michelagnolo received a just and honourable reward from the
aforesaid Cardinal, and was treated with much favour by him for the rest
of his life; and, in truth, with right good reason, seeing that this
tomb and the Cardinal's gratitude have done as much to bring fame to him
as did the work to give a name to Michelagnolo in his lifetime and
renown after his death. This work finished, no long time elapsed before
Michelagnolo passed from this life to the next, at about the age of
fifty.
Girolamo Santa Croce of Naples, although he was snatched from us by
death in the very prime of life, at a time when greater things were
looked for from him, yet showed in the works of sculpture that he made
at Naples during his few years, what he would have done if he had lived
longer; for the works that he executed in sculpture at Naples were
wrought and finished with all the lovingness that could be desired in a
young man who wishes to surpass by a great measure those who for many
years before his day have held the sovereignty in some noble profession.
In S. Giovanni Carbonaro at Naples he built the Chapel of the Marchese
di Vico, which is a round temple, partitioned by columns and niches,
with some tombs carved with much diligence. And because the altar-piece
of this chapel, made of marble in half-relief and representing the Magi
bringing their offerings to Christ, is by the hand of a Spaniard,
Girolamo executed in emulation of this work a S. John in a niche, so
beautifully wrought in full-relief, that it showed that he was not
inferior to the Spaniard either in courage or in judgment; on which
account he won such a name, that, although Giovanni da Nola was held in
Naples to be a marvellous sculptor and better than any other,
nevertheless Girolamo worked in competition with him as long as he
lived, notwithstanding that his rival was now old and had executed a
vast number of works in that city, where it is much the custom to make
chapels and altar-pieces of marble. Competing with Giovanni, then,
Girolamo undertook to execute a chapel in Monte Oliveto at Naples, just
within the door of the church, on the left hand, while Giovanni executed
another opposite to his, on the other side, in the same style. In his
chapel Girolamo made a lifesize Madonna in the round, which is held to
be a very beautiful figure; and since he took infinite pains in
executing the draperies and the hands, and in giving bold relief to the
marble by undercutting, he brought it to such perfection that it was the
general opinion that he had surpassed all those who had handled tools
for working marble at Naples in his time. This Madonna he placed between
a S. John and a S. Peter, figures very well conceived and executed, and
finished in a beautiful manner, as are also some children which are
placed above them.
In addition to these, he made two large and most beautiful statues in
full-relief for the Church of Capella, a seat of the Monks of Monte
Oliveto. He then began a statue of the Emperor Charles V, at the time of
his return from Tunis; but after he had blocked it and carved it with
the pointed chisel, and even in some places with the broad-toothed
chisel, it remained unfinished, because fortune and death, envying the
world such excellence, snatched him from us at the age of thirty-five.
It was confidently expected that Girolamo, if he had lived, even as he
had outstripped all his compatriots in his profession, would also have
surpassed all the craftsmen of his time. Wherefore his death was a
grievous blow to the Neapolitans, and all the more because he had been
endowed by nature not only with a most beautiful genius, but also with
as much modesty, sweetness, and gentleness as could be looked for in
mortal man; so that it is no marvel if all those who knew him are not
able to restrain their tears when they speak of him. His last sculptures
were executed in 1537, in which year he was buried at Naples with most
honourable obsequies.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH SS. PETER AND JOHN
(_After the altar-piece_ by Girolamo Santa Croce. _Naples: Monte
Oliveto_)
_Alinari_]
Old as he was, Giovanni da Nola, who was a well-practised sculptor, as
may be seen from many works made by him at Naples with good skill of
hand, but not with much design, still remained alive. Him Don Pedro di
Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca, and at that time Viceroy of Naples,
commissioned to execute a tomb of marble for himself and his wife; and
therein Giovanni made a great number of scenes of the victories obtained
by that lord over the Turks, with many statues for the same work, which
stands quite by itself, and was executed with much diligence. This tomb
was to have been taken to Spain; but, since that nobleman did not do
this while he was alive, it remained in Naples. Giovanni died at the age
of seventy, and was buried in Naples, in the year 1558.
About the same time that Heaven presented to Ferrara, or rather, to the
world, the divine Lodovico Ariosto, there was born in the same city the
painter Dosso, who, although he was not as rare among painters as
Ariosto among poets, nevertheless acquitted himself in his art in such a
manner, that, besides the great esteem wherein his works were held in
Ferrara, his merits caused the learned poet, his intimate friend, to
honour his memory by mentioning him in his most celebrated writings; so
that the pen of Messer Lodovico has given more renown to the name of
Dosso than did all the brushes and colours that he used in the whole of
his life. Wherefore I, for my part, declare that there could be no
greater good-fortune than that of those who are celebrated by such great
men, since the might of the pen forces most of mankind to accept their
fame, even though they may not wholly deserve it.
Dosso was much beloved by Duke Alfonso of Ferrara: first for his good
abilities in the art of painting, and then because he was a very
pleasant and amiable person--a manner of man in whom the Duke greatly
delighted. Dosso had the reputation in Lombardy of executing landscapes
better than any other painter engaged in that branch of the profession,
whether in mural painting, in oils, or in gouache; and all the more
after the German manner became known. In Ferrara, for the Cathedral
Church, he executed a panel-picture with figures in oils, which was held
to be passing beautiful; and in the Duke's Palace he painted many rooms,
in company with a brother of his, called Battista. These two were always
enemies, one against the other, although they worked together by the
wish of the Duke. In the court of the said palace they executed stories
of Hercules in chiaroscuro, with an endless number of nudes on those
walls; and in like manner they painted many works on panel and in fresco
throughout all Ferrara. By their hands is a panel in the Duomo of
Modena; and they painted many things in the Cardinal's Palace at Trento,
in company with other painters.
At this same time the painter and architect, Girolamo Genga, was
executing various decorations in the Imperiale Palace, above Pesaro, as
will be related in the proper place, for Duke Francesco Maria of Urbino;
and among the number of painters who were summoned to that work by order
of the same Signor Francesco Maria, invitations were sent to Dosso and
Battista of Ferrara, principally for the painting of landscapes; many
paintings having been executed long before in that palace by Francesco
di Mirozzo[10] of Forlì, Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo a San Sepolcro,
and many others. Now, having arrived at the Imperiale, Dosso and
Battista, according to the custom of men of their kidney, found fault
with most of the paintings that they saw, and promised the Duke that
they would do much better work; and Genga, who was a shrewd person,
seeing how the matter was likely to end, gave them an apartment to paint
by themselves. Thereupon, setting to work, they strove with all labour
and diligence to display their worth; but, whatever may have been the
reason, never in all the course of their lives did they do any work less
worthy of praise, or rather, worse, than that one. It seems often to
happen, indeed, that in their greatest emergencies, when most is
expected of them, men become blinded and bewildered in judgment, and do
worse work than at any other time; which may result, perchance, from
their own malign and evil disposition to be always finding fault with
the works of others, or from their seeking to force their genius
overmuch, seeing that to proceed step by step according to the ruling of
nature, yet without neglecting diligence and study, appears to be a
better method than seeking to wrest from the brain, as it were by force,
things that are not there; and it is a fact that in the other arts as
well, but above all in that of writing, lack of spontaneity is only too
easily recognized, and also, so to speak, over-elaboration in
everything.
[Illustration: DOSSO DOSSI: A NYMPH WITH A SATYR
(_Florence: Pitti_, 147. _Canvas_)]
Now, when the work of the Dossi was unveiled, it proved to be so
ridiculous that they left the service of the Duke in disgrace; and he
was forced to throw to the ground all that they had executed, and to
have it repainted by others after the designs of Genga.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH SS. GEORGE AND MICHAEL
(_After the painting by =Dosso Dossi=. Modena: Pinacoteca, 437_)
_Anderson_]
Finally, they painted a very beautiful panel-picture in the Duomo of
Faenza for the Chevalier, M. Giovan Battista de' Buosi, of Christ
disputing in the Temple; in which work they surpassed themselves, by
reason of the new manner that they used, and particularly in the
portraits of that Chevalier and of others. That picture was set up in
that place in the year 1536. Ultimately Dosso, having grown old, spent
his last years without working, being pensioned until the close of his
life by Duke Alfonso. And in the end Battista survived him, executing
many works by himself, and maintaining himself in a good condition.
Dosso was buried in his native city of Ferrara.
There lived in the same times the Milanese Bernazzano, a very excellent
painter of landscapes, herbage, animals, and other things of earth, air,
and water. And since, as one who knew himself to have little aptitude
for figures, he did not give much attention to them, he associated
himself with Cesare da Sesto, who painted them very well and in a
beautiful manner. It is said that Bernazzano executed in a courtyard
some very beautiful landscapes in fresco, in which he painted a
strawberry-bed full of strawberries, ripe, green, and in blossom, and so
well imitated, that some peacocks, deceived by their natural appearance,
were so persistent in picking at them as to make holes in the plaster.
FOOTNOTE:
[9] "What is it that I feel, if it is not love?"
[10] This seems to be an error for Melozzo.
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE, AND OTHER PAINTERS OF FRIULI
LIVES OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE, AND OF OTHER PAINTERS OF
FRIULI
It would seem, as has been remarked already in the same connection, that
Nature, the kindly mother of the universe, sometimes presents the rarest
things to certain places that never had any knowledge of such gifts, and
that at times she creates in some country men so much inclined to design
and to painting, that, without masters, but only by imitating living and
natural objects, they become most excellent. And it also happens very
often that when one man has begun, many set themselves to work in
competition with him, and labour to such purpose, without seeing Rome,
Florence, or any other place full of notable pictures, but merely
through rivalry one with another, that marvellous works are seen to
issue from their hands. All this may be seen to have happened more
particularly in Friuli, where, in our own day, in consequence of such a
beginning, there has been a vast number of excellent painters--a thing
which had not occurred in those parts for many centuries.
While Giovanni Bellini was working in Venice and teaching his art to
many, as has been related, he had two disciples who were rivals one with
another--Pellegrino da Udine, who, as will be told, was afterwards
called Da San Daniele, and Giovanni Martini of Udine. Let us begin,
then, by speaking of Giovanni. He always imitated the manner of Bellini,
which was somewhat crude, hard, and dry; nor was he ever able to give it
sweetness or softness, although he was a diligent and finished painter.
This may have happened because he was always making trial of certain
reflections, half-lights, and shadows, with which, cutting the relief in
the middle, he contrived to define light and shade very abruptly, in
such a way that the colouring of all his works was always crude and
unpleasant, although he strove laboriously with his art to imitate
Nature. By the hand of this master are numerous works in many places in
Friuli, particularly in the city of Udine, in the Duomo of which there
is a panel-picture executed in oils, of S. Mark seated with many figures
round him, which is held to be the best of all that he ever painted.
There is another on the altar of S. Ursula in the Church of the Friars
of S. Pietro Martire, wherein the first-mentioned Saint is standing with
some of her virgins round her, all painted with much grace and beautiful
expressions of countenance. This Giovanni, besides being a passing good
painter, was endowed by Nature with beauty and grace of features and an
excellent character, and, what is most desirable, with such foresight
and power of management, that, after his death, in default of heirs
male, he left an inheritance of much property to his wife. And she,
being, so I have heard, a lady as shrewd as she was beautiful, knew so
well how to manage her life after the death of her husband, that she
married two very beautiful daughters into the richest and most noble
houses of Udine.
Pellegrino da San Daniele, who was a rival of Giovanni, as has been
related, and a man of greater excellence in painting, received at
baptism the name of Martino. But Giovanni Bellini, judging that he was
destined to become, as he afterwards did, a truly rare master of art,
changed his name from Martino to Pellegrino.[11] And even as his name
was changed, so he may be said by chance to have changed his country,
since, living by preference at San Daniele, a township ten miles distant
from Udine, and spending most of his time in that place, where he had
taken a wife, he was called ever afterwards not Martino da Udine, but
Pellegrino da San Daniele. He painted many pictures in Udine, and some
may still be seen on the doors of the old organ, on the outer side of
which is painted a sunken arch in perspective, containing a S. Peter
seated among a multitude of figures and handing a pastoral staff to S.
Ermacora the Bishop. On the inner side of the same doors, likewise, in
some niches, he painted the four Doctors of the Church in the act of
studying. For the Chapel of S. Giuseppe he executed a panel-picture in
oils, drawn and coloured with much diligence, in the middle of which is
S. Joseph standing in a beautiful attitude, with an air of dignity, and
beside him is Our Lord as a little Child, while S. John the Baptist is
below in the garb of a little shepherd-boy, gazing intently on his
Master. And since this picture is much extolled, we may believe what is
said of it--namely, that he painted it in competition with the aforesaid
Giovanni, and that he put forward every effort to make it, as it proved
to be, more beautiful than that which Giovanni painted of S. Mark, as
has been related above. Pellegrino also painted at Udine, for the house
of Messer Pre Giovanni, intendant to the illustrious Signori della
Torre, a picture of Judith from the waist upwards, with the head of
Holofernes in one hand, which is a very beautiful work. By the hand of
the same man is a large panel in oils, divided into several pictures,
which may be seen on the high-altar of the Church of S. Maria in the
town of Civitale, at a distance of eight miles from Udine; and in it are
some heads of virgins and other figures with great beauty of expression.
And in his township of San Daniele, in a chapel of S. Antonio, he
painted in fresco scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ, and that so
finely that he well deserved to be paid more than a thousand crowns for
the work. He was much beloved for his talents by the Dukes of Ferrara,
and, in addition to other favours and many gifts, he obtained through
their good offices two Canonicates in the Duomo of Udine for two of his
relatives.
Among his pupils, of whom he had many, making much use of them and
rewarding them liberally, was one of Greek nationality, a man of no
little ability, who had a very beautiful manner and imitated Pellegrino
closely. But Luca Monverde of Udine, who was much beloved by Pellegrino,
would have been superior to the Greek, if he had not been snatched from
the world prematurely when still a mere lad; although one work by his
hand was left on the high-altar of S. Maria delle Grazie in Udine, a
panel-picture in oils, his first and last, in which, in a recess in
perspective, there is a Madonna seated on high with the Child in her
arms, painted by him with a soft gradation of shadow, while on the level
surface below there are two figures on either side, so beautiful that
they show that if he had lived longer he would have become truly
excellent.
Another disciple of the same Pellegrino was Bastianello Florigorio, who
painted a panel-picture that is over the high-altar of S. Giorgio in
Udine, of a Madonna in the sky surrounded by an endless number of little
angels in various attitudes, all adoring the Child that she holds in her
arms; while below there is a very well executed landscape. There is also
a very beautiful S. John, and a S. George in armour and on horseback,
who, foreshortened in a spirited attitude, is slaying the Dragon with
his lance; while the Maiden, who is there on one side, appears to be
thanking God and the glorious Virgin for the succour sent to her. In the
head of the S. George Bastianello is said to have made his own portrait.
He also painted two pictures in fresco in the Refectory of the Friars of
S. Pietro Martire: in one is Christ seated at table with the two
disciples at Emmaus, and breaking the bread with a benediction, and in
the other is the death of S. Peter Martyr. The same master painted in
fresco in a niche on a corner of the Palace of M. Marguando, an
excellent physician, a nude man in foreshortening, representing a S.
John, which is held to be a good painting. Finally, he was forced
through some dispute to depart from Udine, for the sake of peace, and to
live like an exile in Civitale.
Bastianello had a crude and hard manner, because he much delighted in
drawing works in relief and objects of Nature by candle-light. He had
much beauty of invention, and he took great pleasure in executing
portraits from life, making them truly beautiful and very like; and at
Udine, among others, he made one of Messer Raffaello Belgrado, and one
of the father of M. Giovan Battista Grassi, an excellent painter and
architect, from whose loving courtesy we have received much particular
information touching our present subject of Friuli. Bastianello lived
about forty years.
Another disciple of Pellegrino was Francesco Floriani of Udine, who is
still alive and is a very good painter and architect, like his younger
brother, Antonio Floriani, who, thanks to his rare abilities in his
profession, is now in the service of his glorious Majesty the Emperor
Maximilian. Some of the pictures of that same Francesco were to be seen
two years ago in the possession of the Emperor, who was then a King; one
of these being a Judith who has cut off the head of Holofernes, painted
with admirable judgment and diligence. And in the collection of that
monarch there is a book of pen-drawings by the same master, full of
lovely inventions, buildings, theatres, arches, porticoes, bridges,
palaces, and many other works of architecture, all useful and very
beautiful.
Gensio Liberale was also a disciple of Pellegrino, and in his pictures,
among other things, he imitated every sort of fish excellently well.
This master is now in the service of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria,
a splendid position, which he deserves, for he is a very good painter.
But among the most illustrious and renowned painters of the territory of
Friuli, the rarest and most famous in our day--since he has surpassed
those mentioned above by a great measure in the invention of scenes, in
draughtsmanship, in boldness, in mastery over colour, in fresco work, in
swiftness of execution, in strength of relief, and in every other
department of our arts--is Giovanni Antonio Licinio, called by some
Cuticello. This master was born at Pordenone, a township in Friuli,
twenty-five miles from Udine; and since he was endowed by nature with a
beautiful genius and an inclination for painting, he devoted himself
without any teacher to the study of natural objects, imitating the style
of Giorgione da Castelfranco, because that manner, seen by him many
times in Venice, had pleased him much. Now, having learnt the rudiments
of art, he was forced, in order to save his life from a pestilence that
had fallen upon his native place, to take to flight; and thus, passing
many months in the surrounding country, he executed various works in
fresco for a number of peasants, gaining at their expense experience of
using colour on plaster. Wherefore, since the surest and best method of
learning is practice and a sufficiency of work, it came to pass that he
became a well-practised and judicious master of that kind of painting,
and learned to make colours produce the desired effect when used in a
fluid state, which is done on account of the white, which dries the
plaster and produces a brightness that ruins all softness. And so,
having mastered the nature of colours, and having learnt by long
practice to work very well in fresco, he returned to Udine, where he
painted for the altar of the Nunziata, in the Convent of S. Pietro
Martire, a panel-picture in oils containing the Madonna at the moment of
receiving the Salutation from the Angel Gabriel; and in the sky he made
a God the Father surrounded by many little boys, who is sending down the
Holy Spirit. This work, which is executed with good drawing, grace,
vivacity, and relief, is held by all craftsmen of judgment to be the
best that he ever painted.
In the Duomo of the same city, on the balustrade of the organ, below the
doors already painted by Pellegrino, he painted a story of S. Ermacora
and Fortunatus, also in oils, graceful and well designed. In the same
city, in order to gain the friendship of the Signori Tinghi, he painted
in fresco the façade of their palace; in which work, wishing to make
himself known and to prove what a master he was of architectural
invention and of working in fresco, he made a series of compartments and
groups of varied ornaments full of figures in niches; and in three great
spaces in the centre of the work he painted scenes with figures in
colours, two spaces, high and narrow, being on either side, and one
square in shape in the middle; and in the latter he painted a Corinthian
column planted with its base in the sea, with a Siren on the right hand,
holding the column upright, and a nude Neptune on the left supporting it
on the other side; while above the capital of the column there is a
Cardinal's hat, the device, so it is said, of Pompeo Colonna, who was
much the friend of the owners of that palace. In one of the two other
spaces are the Giants being slain with thunderbolts by Jove, with some
dead bodies on the ground very well painted and most beautifully
foreshortened. On the other side is a Heaven full of Gods, and on the
earth two Giants who, club in hand, are in the act of striking at Diana,
who, defending herself in a bold and spirited attitude, is brandishing a
blazing torch as if to burn the arms of one of them.
[Illustration: THE DISPUTATION OF S. CATHARINE
(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Licinio of Pordenone=. Piacenza:
S. Maria di Campagna_)
_Alinari_]
At Spelimbergo, a large place fifteen miles above Udine, the balustrade
and the doors of the organ in the great church are painted by the hand
of the same master; on the outer side of one door is the Assumption
of Our Lady, and on the inner side S. Peter and S. Paul before Nero,
gazing at Simon Magus in the air above; while on the other door there is
the Conversion of S. Paul, and on the balustrade the Nativity of Christ.
Through this work, which is very beautiful, and many others, Pordenone
came into repute and fame, and was summoned to Vicenza, whence, after
having executed some works there, he made his way to Mantua, where he
coloured a façade in fresco with marvellous grace for M. Paris, a
gentleman of that city. Among other beautiful inventions which are in
that work, much praise is due to a frieze of antique letters, one
braccio and a half in height, at the top, below the cornice, among
which, passing in and out of them, are many little children in various
attitudes, all most beautiful.
That work finished, he returned in great credit to Vicenza, and there,
besides many other works, he painted the whole of the tribune of S.
Maria di Campagna, although by reason of his departure a part remained
unfinished, which was afterwards finished with great diligence by
Maestro Bernardo da Vercelli. In the same church he painted two chapels
in fresco: one with stories of S. Catherine, and the other with the
Nativity of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, both being worthy of
the highest praise. He then painted some poetical pictures in the
beautiful garden of M. Barnaba dal Pozzo, a doctor; and, in the said
Church of S. Maria di Campagna, the picture of S. Augustine, which is on
the left hand as one enters the church. All these most beautiful works
brought it about that the gentlemen of that city persuaded him to take a
wife there, and always held him in vast veneration.
Going afterwards to Venice, where he had formerly executed some works,
he painted a wall of S. Geremia, on the Grand Canal, and a panel-picture
in oils for the Madonna del Orto, with many figures, making a particular
effort to prove his worth in the S. John the Baptist. He also painted
many scenes in fresco on the façade of the house of Martin d'Anna on the
same Grand Canal; in particular, a Curtius on horseback in
foreshortening, which has the appearance of being wholly in the round,
like the Mercury flying freely through the air, not to speak of many
other things that all prove his ability. That work pleased the whole
city of Venice beyond measure, and Pordenone was therefore extolled
more highly than any other man who had ever worked in the city up to
that time.
Among other reasons that caused him to give an incredible amount of
effort to all his works, was his rivalry with the most excellent
Tiziano; since, setting himself to compete with him, he hoped by means
of continual study and by a bold and resolute method of working in
fresco to wrest from the hands of Tiziano that sovereignty which he had
gained with so many beautiful works; employing, also, unusual methods
outside the field of art, such as that of being obliging and courteous
and associating continually and of set purpose with great persons,
making his interests universal, and taking a hand in everything. And, in
truth, this rivalry was a great assistance to him, for it caused him to
devote the greatest zeal and diligence in his power to all his works, so
that they proved worthy of eternal praise.
For these reasons, then, he was commissioned by the Wardens of S. Rocco
to paint in fresco the chapel of that church, with all the tribune.
Setting his hand, therefore, to this work, he painted a God the Father
in the tribune, with a vast number of children in various beautiful
attitudes, radiating from Him. In the frieze of the same tribune he
painted eight figures from the Old Testament, with the four Evangelists
in the angles, and the Transfiguration of Christ over the high-altar;
and in the two lunettes at the sides are the four Doctors of the Church.
By the hand of the same master are two large pictures in the middle of
the church: in one is Christ healing an endless number of the sick, all
very well painted, and in the other is S. Christopher carrying Jesus
Christ on his shoulders. On the wooden tabernacle of the same church,
wherein the vessels of silver are kept, he painted a S. Martin on
horseback, with many beggars who are bringing votive offerings, in a
building in perspective.
[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Licinio of Pordenone=. Treviso:
Duomo_)
_Alinari_]
This work, which was much extolled and brought him honour and profit,
was the reason that M. Jacopo Soranzo, having become his intimate
friend, caused him to be commissioned to paint the Sala de' Pregai in
competition with Tiziano; and there he executed many pictures with
figures seen foreshortened from below, which are very beautiful,
together with a frieze of marine monsters painted in oils round that
hall. These works made him so dear to the Senate, that as long as he
lived he always received an honourable salary from them. And since, out
of rivalry, he always sought to do work in places where Tiziano had also
worked, he painted for S. Giovanni di Rialto a S. John, as Almoner,
giving alms to beggars, and also placed on an altar a picture of S.
Sebastian, S. Rocco, and other saints, which was very beautiful, but yet
not equal to the work of Tiziano, although many, more out of malignity
than out of a love for the truth, exalted that of Giovanni Antonio. The
same master painted in the cloister of S. Stefano many scenes in fresco
from the Old Testament, and one from the New, divided one from another
by various Virtues; and in these figures he displayed amazing
foreshortenings, in which method of painting he always delighted,
seeking to introduce them into his every composition with no fear of
difficulties, and making them more ornate than any other painter.
Prince Doria had built a palace on the seashore in Genoa, and had
commissioned Perino del Vaga, a very celebrated painter, to paint halls,
apartments, and ante-chambers both in oils and in fresco, which are
quite marvellous for the richness and beauty of the paintings. But
seeing that Perino was not then giving much attention to the work, and
wishing to make him do by the spur of emulation what he was not doing by
himself, he sent for Pordenone, who began with an open terrace, wherein,
following his usual manner, he executed a frieze of children, who are
hurrying about in very beautiful attitudes and unloading a barque full
of merchandise. He also painted a large scene of Jason asking leave from
his uncle to go in search of the Golden Fleece. But the Prince, seeing
the difference that there was between the work of Perino and that of
Pordenone, dismissed the latter, and summoned in his place Domenico
Beccafumi of Siena, an excellent painter and a rarer master than
Pordenone. And he, glad to serve so great a Prince, did not scruple to
leave his native city of Siena, where there are so many marvellous works
by his hand; but he did not paint more than one single scene in that
palace, because Perino brought everything to completion by himself.
Giovanni Antonio then returned to Venice, where he was given to
understand that Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, had brought a great number of
masters from Germany, and had caused them to begin to make fabrics in
silk, gold, floss-silk, and wool, for his own use and pleasure, but that
he had no good designers of figures in Ferrara, since Girolamo da
Ferrara had more ability for portraits and separate things than for
difficult and complicated scenes, which called for great power of art
and design; and that he should enter the service of that Prince.
Whereupon, desiring to gain fame no less than riches, he departed from
Venice, and on reaching Ferrara was received with great warmth by the
Duke. But a little time after his arrival, being attacked by a most
grievous affliction of the chest, he took to his bed with the doom of
death upon him, and, growing continually worse and finding no remedy,
within three days or little more he finished the course of his life, at
the age of fifty-six. This seemed a strange thing to the Duke, and also
to Pordenone's friends; and there were not wanting men who for many
months believed that he had died of poison. The body of Giovanni Antonio
was buried with honour, and his death was a grief to many, particularly
in Venice, for the reason that he was ready of speech and the friend and
companion of many, and delighted in music; and his readiness and grace
of speech came from his having given attention to the study of Latin. He
always made his figures grand, and was very rich in invention, and so
versatile that he could imitate everything very well; but he was, above
all, resolute and most facile in works in fresco.
A disciple of Pordenone was Pomponio Amalteo of San Vito, who won by his
good qualities the honour of becoming the son-in-law of his master. This
Pomponio, always following that master in matters of art, has acquitted
himself very well in all his works, as may be seen at Udine from the
doors of the new organ, painted in oils, on the outer side of which is
Christ driving the traders from the Temple, and on the inner side the
story of the Pool of Bethesda and the Resurrection of Lazarus. In the
Church of S. Francesco, in the same city, there is a panel-picture in
oils by the hand of the same man, of S. Francis receiving the Stigmata,
with some very beautiful landscapes, and with a sunrise from which, in
the midst of some rays of the greatest splendour, there radiates the
celestial light, which pierces the hands, feet, and side of S. Francis,
who, kneeling devoutly and full of love, receives it, while his
companion lies on the ground, in foreshortening, all overcome with
amazement. Pomponio also painted in fresco for the Friars of La Vigna,
at the end of their refectory, Jesus Christ between the two disciples at
Emmaus. In the township of San Vito, his native place, twenty miles
distant from Udine, he painted in fresco the Chapel of the Madonna in
the Church of S. Maria, in so beautiful a manner, and so much to the
satisfaction of all, that he has won from the most reverend Cardinal
Maria Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia and Lord of San Vito, the honour of
being enrolled among the nobles of that place.
I have thought it right in this Life of Pordenone to make mention of
these excellent craftsmen of Friuli, both because it appears to me that
their talents deserve it, and to the end that it may be recognized in
the account to be given later how much more excellent are those who,
after such a beginning, have lived since that day, as will be related in
the Life of Giovanni Ricamatori of Udine, to whom our age owes a very
great obligation for his works in stucco and his grotesques.
But returning to Pordenone; after the works mentioned above as having
been executed by him at Venice in the time of the most illustrious
Gritti, he died, as has been related, in the year 1540. And because he
was one of the most able men that our age has possessed, and for the
reason, above all, that his figures seem to be in the round and detached
from their walls, and almost in relief, he can be numbered among those
who have rendered assistance to art and benefit to the world.
FOOTNOTE:
[11] _I.e._, singular or rare.
GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI
LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
Very often do we see in the sciences of learning and in the more liberal
of the manual arts, that those men who are melancholy are the most
assiduous in their studies and show the greatest patience in supporting
the burden of their labours; so that there are few of that disposition
who do not become excellent in such professions. Even so did Giovanni
Antonio Sogliani, a painter of Florence, whose cast of countenance was
so cold and woeful that he looked like the image of melancholy; and such
was the power of this humour over him that he gave little thought to
anything but matters of art, with the exception of his household cares,
through which he endured most grievous anxieties, although he had enough
to live in comfort. He worked at the art of painting under Lorenzo di
Credi for four-and-twenty years, living with him, honouring him always,
and rendering him every sort of service. Having become during that time
a very good painter, he showed afterwards in all his works that he was a
most faithful disciple of his master and a close imitator of his manner.
This was seen from his first paintings, in the Church of the Osservanza
on the hill of San Miniato without Florence, for which he painted a
panel-picture copied from the one that Lorenzo had executed for the Nuns
of S. Chiara, containing the Nativity of Christ, and no less excellent
than the one of Lorenzo.
Afterwards, having left his master, he painted for the Church of S.
Michele in Orto, at the commission of the Guild of Vintners, a S. Martin
in oils, robed as a Bishop, which gave him the name of a very good
master. And since Giovanni Antonio had a vast veneration for the works
and the manner of Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, and made great efforts
to approach that manner in his colouring, it may be seen from a panel
which he began but did not finish, not being satisfied with it, how
much he imitated that painter. This panel remained in his house during
his lifetime as worthless: but after his death it was sold as a piece of
old rubbish to Sinibaldo Gaddi, and he had it finished by Santi Titi dal
Borgo, then a mere boy, and placed it in a chapel of his own in S.
Domenico da Fiesole. In this work are the Magi adoring Jesus Christ, who
is in the lap of His Mother, and in one corner is his own portrait from
life, which is a passing good likeness.
He then painted for Madonna Alfonsina, the wife of Piero de' Medici, a
panel-picture that was placed as a votive offering over the altar of the
Chapel of the Martyrs in the Camaldolite Church at Florence: in which
picture he painted the Crucifixion of S. Arcadio and other martyrs with
their crosses in their arms, and two figures, half covered with
draperies and half naked, kneeling with their crosses on the ground,
while in the sky are some little angels with palms in their hands. This
work, which was painted with much diligence, and executed with good
judgment in the colouring and in the heads, which are very lifelike, was
placed in the above-mentioned Camaldolite Church; but that monastery was
taken on account of the siege of Florence from those Eremite Fathers,
who used devoutly to celebrate the Divine offices in the church, and was
afterwards given to the Nuns of S. Giovannino, of the Order of the
Knights of Jerusalem, and finally destroyed; and the picture, being one
which may be numbered among the best works that Sogliani painted, was
placed by order of the Lord Duke Cosimo in one of the chapels of the
Medici family in S. Lorenzo.
The same master executed for the Nuns of the Crocetta a Last Supper
coloured in oils, which was much extolled at that time. And in a shrine
in the Via de' Ginori, he painted in fresco for Taddeo Taddei a Crucifix
with Our Lady and S. John at the foot, and in the sky some angels
lamenting Christ, very lifelike--a picture truly worthy of praise, and a
well-executed example of work in fresco. By the hand of Sogliani, also,
is a Crucifix in the Refectory of the Abbey of the Black Friars in
Florence, with angels flying about and weeping with much grace; and at
the foot the Madonna, S. John, S. Benedict, S. Scholastica, and other
figures. For the Nuns of the Spirito Santo, on the hill of San Giorgio,
he painted two pictures that are in their church, one of S. Francis, and
the other of S. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary and a sister of that Order.
For the Company of the Ceppo he painted the banner for carrying in
processions, which is very beautiful, representing on the front of it
the Visitation of Our Lady, and on the other side S. Niccolò the Bishop,
with two children dressed as Flagellants, one of whom holds his book and
the other the three balls of gold. On a panel in S. Jacopo sopra Arno he
painted the Trinity, with an endless number of little boys, S. Mary
Magdalene kneeling, S. Catherine, S. James, and two figures in fresco
standing at the sides, S. Jerome in Penitence and S. John; and in the
predella he made his assistant, Sandrino del Calzolaio, execute three
scenes, which won no little praise.
On the end wall of the Oratory of a Company in the township of Anghiari,
he executed on panel a Last Supper in oils, with figures of the size of
life; and on one of the two adjoining walls (namely, the sides) he
painted Christ washing the feet of the Apostles, and on the other a
servant bringing two vessels of water. The work is held in great
veneration in that place, for it is indeed a rare thing, and one that
brought him both honour and profit. A picture that he executed of a
Judith who had cut off the head of Holofernes, being a very beautiful
work, was sent to Hungary. And likewise another, in which was the
Beheading of S. John the Baptist, with a building in perspective for
which he had copied the exterior of the Chapter-house of the Pazzi,
which is in the first cloister of S. Croce, was sent as a most beautiful
work to Naples by Paolo da Terrarossa, who had given the commission for
it. For one of the Bernardi, also, Sogliani executed two other pictures,
which were placed in a chapel in the Church of the Osservanza at San
Miniato, containing two lifesize figures in oils--S. John the Baptist
and S. Anthony of Padua. But as for the panel that was to stand between
them, Giovanni Antonio, being dilatory by nature and leisurely over his
work, lingered over it so long that he who had given the commission
died: wherefore that panel, which was to contain a Christ lying dead in
the lap of His Mother, remained unfinished.
[Illustration: THE LEGEND OF S. DOMINIC
(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Sogliani=. Florence: S. Marco_)
_Anderson_]
After these things, when Perino del Vaga, having departed from Genoa on
account of his resentment against Prince Doria, was working at Pisa,
where the sculptor Stagio da Pietrasanta had begun the execution of the
new chapels in marble at the end of the nave of the Duomo, together with
that space behind the high-altar, which serves as a sacristy, it was
ordained that the said Perino, as will be related in his Life, with
other masters, should begin to fill up those adornments of marble with
pictures. But Perino being recalled to Genoa, Giovanni Antonio was
commissioned to set his hand to the pictures that were to adorn the
aforesaid recess behind the high-altar, and to deal in his works with
the sacrifices of the Old Testament, as symbols of the Sacrifice of the
Most Holy Sacrament, which was there over the centre of the high-altar.
Sogliani, then, painted in the first picture the sacrifice that Noah and
his sons offered when they had gone forth from the Ark, and afterwards
those of Cain and of Abel; which were all highly extolled, but above all
that of Noah, because some of the heads and parts of the figures in it
were very beautiful. The picture of Abel is charming for its landscapes,
which are very well executed, and the head of Abel himself, which is the
very presentment of goodness; but quite the opposite is that of Cain,
which has the mien of a truly sorry villain. And if Sogliani had pursued
the work with energy instead of being dilatory, he would have been
charged by the Warden, who had given him his commission and was much
pleased with his manner and character, to execute all the work in that
Duomo, whereas at that time, in addition to the pictures already
mentioned, he painted no more than one panel, which was destined for the
chapel wherein Perino had begun to work; and this he finished in
Florence, but in such wise that it pleased the Pisans well enough and
was held to be very beautiful. In it are the Madonna, S. John the
Baptist, S. George, S. Mary Magdalene, S. Margaret, and other saints.
His picture, then, having given satisfaction, Sogliani received from the
Warden a commission for three other panels, to which he set his hand,
but did not finish them in the lifetime of that Warden, in whose place
Bastiano della Seta was elected; and he, perceiving that the business
was moving but slowly, allotted four pictures for the aforesaid sacristy
behind the high-altar to Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, an excellent
painter, who dispatched them very quickly, as will be told in the proper
place, and also painted a panel there, and other painters executed the
rest. Giovanni Antonio, then, working at his leisure, finished two other
panels with much diligence, painting in each a Madonna surrounded by
many saints. And finally, having made his way to Pisa, he there painted
the fourth and last, in which he acquitted himself worse than in any
other, either through old age, or because he was competing with
Beccafumi, or for some other reason.
But the Warden Bastiano, perceiving the slowness of the man, and wishing
to bring the work to an end, allotted the three other panels to Giorgio
Vasari of Arezzo, who finished two of them, those that are beside the
door of the façade. In the one nearer the Campo Santo is Our Lady with
the Child in her arms, with S. Martha caressing Him. There, also, on
their knees, are S. Cecilia, S. Augustine, S. Joseph, and S. Guido the
Hermit, and in the foreground a nude S. Jerome, with S. Luke the
Evangelist, and some little boys uplifting a piece of drapery, and
others holding flowers. In the other, by the wish of the Warden, he
painted another Madonna with her Son in her arms, S. James the Martyr,
S. Matthew, S. Sylvester the Pope, and S. Turpè the Chevalier. Having to
paint the Madonna, and not wishing to repeat the same composition
(although he had varied it much in other respects), he made her with
Christ dead in her arms, and those saints as it were round a Deposition
from the Cross; and on the crosses, planted on high and made of
tree-trunks, are fixed two naked Thieves, surrounded by horses and
ministers of the crucifixion, with Joseph, Nicodemus, and the Maries;
all for the satisfaction of the Warden, who wished that in those new
pictures there should be included all the saints that there had been in
the past in the various dismantled chapels, in order to renew their
memory in the new works. One picture was still wanting to complete the
whole, and this was executed by Bronzino, who painted a nude Christ and
eight saints. And in this manner were those chapels brought to
completion, all of which Giovanni Antonio could have done with his own
hand if he had not been so slow.
And since Sogliani had won much favour with the Pisans, after the death
of Andrea del Sarto he was commissioned to finish a panel for the
Company of S. Francesco, which the said Andrea left only sketched; which
panel is now in the building of that Company on the Piazza di S.
Francesco at Pisa. The same master executed some rows of cloth-hangings
for the Wardens of Works of the aforesaid Duomo, and many others in
Florence, because he took pleasure in doing that sort of work, and above
all in company with his friend Tommaso di Stefano, a painter of
Florence.
Being summoned by the Friars of S. Marco in Florence to paint a work in
fresco at the head of their refectory, at the expense of one of their
number, a lay-brother of the Molletti family, who had possessed a rich
patrimony when in the world, Giovanni Antonio wished to paint there the
scene of Jesus Christ feeding five thousand persons with five loaves and
two fishes, in order to make the most of his powers; and he had already
made the design for it, with many women and children and a great
multitude of other people, when the friars refused to have that story,
saying that they wanted something definite, simple, and familiar.
Whereupon, to please them, he painted the scene when S. Dominic, being
in the refectory with his friars and having no bread, made a prayer to
God, when the table was miraculously covered with bread, brought by two
angels in human form. In this work he made portraits of many friars who
were then in the convent, which have the appearance of life, and
particularly that of the lay-brother of the Molletti family, who is
serving at table. Then, in the lunette above the table, he painted S.
Dominic at the foot of a Crucifix, with Our Lady and S. John the
Evangelist, who are weeping, and at the sides S. Catherine of Siena and
S. Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, a brother of their Order. All this,
for a work in fresco, was executed with much diligence and a high
finish; but Sogliani would have been much more successful if he had
executed what he had designed, because painters express the conceptions
of their own minds better than those of others. On the other hand, it is
only right that he who pays the piper should call the tune. The design
for the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes is in the hands of Bartolommeo
Gondi, who, in addition to a large picture that he has by the hand of
Sogliani, also possesses many drawings and heads painted from life on
tinted paper, which he received from the wife of the painter, who had
been very much his friend, after his death. And we, also, have in our
book some drawings by the same hand, which are beautiful to a marvel.
Sogliani began for Giovanni Serristori a large panel-picture which was
to be placed in S. Francesco dell' Osservanza, without the Porta a S.
Miniato, with a vast number of figures, among which are some marvellous
heads, the best that he ever made; but it was left unfinished at the
death of the said Giovanni Serristori. Nevertheless, since Giovanni
Antonio had received full payment, he finished it afterwards little by
little, and gave it to Messer Alamanno di Jacopo Salviati, the
son-in-law and heir of Giovanni Serristori; and he presented it, frame
and all, to the Nuns of S. Luca, who have it over their high-altar in
the Via di S. Gallo.
Giovanni Antonio executed many other works in Florence, some of which
are in the houses of citizens, and some were sent to various countries;
but of these there is no need to make mention, for we have spoken of the
most important. Sogliani was an upright person, very religious, always
occupied with his own business, and never interfering with his
fellow-craftsmen.
One of his disciples was Sandrino del Calzolaio, who painted the shrine
that is on the Canto delle Murate, and, in the Hospital of the Temple, a
S. John the Baptist who is assigning shelter to the poor; and he would
have done more work, and good work, if he had not died as young as he
did. Another of his disciples was Michele, who afterwards went to work
with Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, whose name he took; and likewise Benedetto,
who went with Antonio Mini, a disciple of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, to
France, where he has executed many beautiful works. And another,
finally, was Zanobi di Poggino, who has painted many works throughout
the city.
In the end, being weary and broken in health after having been long
tormented by the stone, Giovanni Antonio rendered up his soul to God at
the age of fifty-two. His death was much lamented, for he had been an
excellent man, and his manner had been much in favour, since he gave an
air of piety to his figures, in such a fashion as pleases those who,
delighting little in the highest and most difficult flights of art, love
things that are seemly, simple, gracious, and sweet. His body was opened
after his death, and in it were found three stones, each as big as an
egg; but as long as he lived he would never consent to have them
extracted, or to hear a word about them.
GIROLAMO DA TREVISO
LIFE OF GIROLAMO DA TREVISO
PAINTER
Rarely does it happen that those who persist in working in the country
in which they were born, are exalted by Fortune to that height of
prosperity which their talents deserve; whereas, if a man tries many, he
must in the end find one wherein sooner or later he succeeds in being
recognized. And it often comes to pass that one who attains to the
reward of his labours late in life, is prevented by the venom of death
from enjoying it for long, even as we shall see in the case of Girolamo
da Treviso.
This painter was held to be a very good master; and although he was no
great draughtsman, he was a pleasing colourist both in oils and in
fresco, and a close imitator of the methods of Raffaello da Urbino. He
worked much in his native city of Treviso; and he also executed many
works in Venice, such as, in particular, the façade of the house of
Andrea Udoni, which he painted in fresco, with some friezes of children
in the courtyard, and one of the upper apartments: all of which he
executed in colour, and not in chiaroscuro, because the Venetians like
colour better than anything else. In a large scene in the middle of this
façade is a Juno, seen from the thighs upwards, flying on some clouds
with the moon on her head, over which are raised her arms, one holding a
vase and the other a bowl. He also painted there a Bacchus, fat and
ruddy, with a vessel that he is upsetting, and holding with one arm a
Ceres who has many ears of corn in her hands. There, too, are the
Graces, with five little boys who are flying below and welcoming them,
in order, so they signify, to make the house of the Udoni abound with
their gifts; and to show that the same house was a friendly haven for
men of talent, he painted Apollo on one side and Pallas on the other.
This work was executed with great freshness, so that Girolamo gained
from it both honour and profit.
The same master painted a picture for the Chapel of the Madonna in S.
Petronio, in competition with certain painters of Bologna, as will be
related in the proper place. And continuing to live in Bologna, he
executed many pictures there; and in S. Petronio, in the Chapel of S.
Antonio da Padova, he depicted in oils, in imitation of marble, all the
stories of the life of the latter Saint, in which, without a doubt,
there may be perceived grace, judgment, excellence, and a great delicacy
of finish. He painted a panel-picture for S. Salvatore, of the Madonna
ascending the steps of the Temple, with some saints; and another of the
Madonna in the sky, with some children, and S. Jerome and S. Catherine
beneath, which is certainly the weakest work by his hand that is to be
seen in Bologna. Over a great portal, also, in Bologna, he painted in
fresco a Crucifix with Our Lady and S. John, all worthy of the highest
praise. For S. Domenico, at Bologna, he executed a panel-picture in oils
of Our Lady with some saints, which is the best of his works; it is near
the choir, as one ascends to the tomb of S. Dominic, and in it is the
portrait of the patron who had it painted. In like manner, he painted a
picture for Count Giovanni Battista Bentivogli, who had the cartoon by
the hand of Baldassarre of Siena, representing the story of the Magi: a
work which he carried to a very fine completion, although it contained
more than a hundred figures. There are also many other works by the hand
of Girolamo in Bologna, both in private houses and in the churches. In
Galiera he painted in chiaroscuro the façade of the Palace of the
Teofamini, with another façade behind the house of the Dolfi, which is
considered in the judgment of many craftsmen to be the best work that he
ever executed in that city.
He went to Trento, and, in company with other painters, painted the
palace of the old Cardinal, from which he gained very great fame. Then,
returning to Bologna, he gave his attention to the works that he had
begun. Now it happened that there was much talk throughout Bologna about
having a panel-picture painted for the Della Morte Hospital, for which
various designs were made by way of competition, some in drawing and
some in colour. And since many thought that they had the first claim,
some through interest and others because they held themselves to be most
worthy of such a commission, Girolamo was left in the lurch; and
considering that he had been wronged, not long afterwards he departed
from Bologna. And thus the envy of others raised him to such a height of
prosperity as he had never thought of; since, if he had been chosen for
the work, it would have impeded the blessings that his good fortune had
prepared for him. For, having made his way to England, he was
recommended by some friends, who favoured him, to King Henry; and
presenting himself before him, he entered into his service, although not
as painter, but as engineer. Then, making trial of his skill in various
edifices, copied from some in Tuscany and other parts of Italy, that
King pronounced them marvellous, rewarded him with a succession of
presents, and decreed him a provision of four hundred crowns a year; and
he was given the means to build an honourable abode for himself at the
expense of the King. Thereupon Girolamo, raised from one extreme of
distress to the other extreme of grandeur, lived a most happy and
contented life, thanking God and Fortune for having turned his steps to
a country where men were so favourable to his talents. But this unwonted
happiness was not destined to last long, for the war between the French
and the English being continued, and Girolamo being charged with
superintending all the work of the bastions and fortifications, the
artillery, and the defences of the camp, it happened one day, when the
city of Boulogne in Picardy was being bombarded, that a ball from a
demi-cannon came with horrid violence and cut him in half on his horse's
back. And thus, Girolamo being at the age of thirty-six, his life, his
earthly honours, and all his greatness were extinguished at one and the
same moment, in the year 1544.
POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND MATURINO
LIVES OF POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND THE FLORENTINE MATURINO
PAINTERS
In the last age of gold, as the happy age of Leo X might have been
called for all noble craftsmen and men of talent, an honoured place was
held among the most exalted spirits by Polidoro da Caravaggio, a
Lombard, who had not become a painter after long study, but had been
created and produced as such by Nature. This master, having come to Rome
at the time when the Loggie of the Papal Palace were being built for Leo
under the direction of Raffaello da Urbino, carried the pail, or we
should rather say the hod, full of lime, for the masons who were doing
the work, until he had reached the age of eighteen. But, when Giovanni
da Udine had begun to paint there, the building and the painting
proceeding together, Polidoro, whose will and inclination were much
drawn to painting, could not rest content until he had become intimate
with all the most able of the young men, in order to study their methods
and manners of art, and to set himself to draw. And out of their number
he chose as his companion the Florentine Maturino, who was then working
in the Papal Chapel, and was held to be an excellent draughtsman of
antiquities. Associating with him, Polidoro became so enamoured of that
art, that in a few months, having made trial of his powers, he executed
works that astonished every person who had known him in his former
condition. On which account, the work of the Loggie proceeding, he
exercised his hand to such purpose in company with those young painters,
who were well-practised and experienced in painting, and learned the art
so divinely well, that he did not leave that work without carrying away
the true glory of being considered the most noble and most beautiful
intellect that was to be found among all their number. Thereupon the
love of Maturino for Polidoro, and of Polidoro for Maturino, so
increased, that they determined like brothers and true companions to
live and die together; and, uniting their ambitions, their purses, and
their labours, they set themselves to work together in the closest
harmony and concord. But since there were in Rome many who had great
fame and reputation, well justified by their works, for making their
paintings more lively and vivacious in colour and more worthy of praise
and favour, there began to enter into their minds the idea of imitating
the methods of Baldassarre of Siena, who had executed several façades of
houses in chiaroscuro, and of giving their attention thenceforward to
that sort of work, which by that time had come into fashion.
They began one, therefore, on Montecavallo, opposite to S. Silvestro, in
company with Pellegrino da Modena, which encouraged them to make further
efforts to see whether this should be their profession; and they went on
to execute another opposite to the side-door of S. Salvatore del Lauro,
and likewise painted a scene by the side-door of the Minerva, with
another, which is a frieze of marine monsters, above S. Rocco a Ripetta.
And during this first period they painted a vast number of them
throughout all Rome, but not so good as the others; and there is no need
to mention them here, since they afterwards did better work of that
sort. Gaining courage, therefore, from this, they began to study the
antiquities of Rome, counterfeiting the ancient works of marble in their
works in chiaroscuro, so that there remained no vase, statue,
sarcophagus, scene, or any single thing, whether broken or entire, which
they did not draw and make use of. And with such constancy and
resolution did they give their minds to this pursuit, that they both
acquired the ancient manner, the work of the one being so like that of
the other, that, even as their minds were guided by one and the same
will, so their hands expressed one and the same knowledge. And although
Maturino was not as well assisted by Nature as Polidoro, so potent was
the faithful imitation of one style by the two in company, that,
wherever either of them placed his hand, the work of both one and the
other, whether in composition, expression, or manner, appeared to be the
same.
In the Piazza di Capranica, on the way to the Piazza Colonna, they
painted a façade with the Theological Virtues, and a frieze of very
beautiful invention beneath the windows, including a draped figure of
Rome representing the Faith, and holding the Chalice and the Host in her
hands, who has taken captive all the nations of the earth; and all
mankind is flocking up to bring her tribute, while the Turks, overcome
at the last, are shooting arrows at the tomb of Mahomet; all ending in
the words of Scripture, "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd." And,
indeed, they had no equals in invention; of which we have witness in all
their works, abounding in personal ornaments, vestments, foot-wear, and
things bizarre and strange, and executed with an incredible beauty. And
another proof is that their works are continually being drawn by all the
foreign painters; wherefore they conferred greater benefits on the art
of painting with the beautiful manner that they displayed and with their
marvellous facility, than have all the others together who have lived
from Cimabue downwards. It has been seen continually, therefore, in
Rome, and is still seen, that all the draughtsmen are inclined more to
the works of Polidoro and Maturino than to all the rest of our modern
pictures.
In the Borgo Nuovo they executed a façade in sgraffito, and on the Canto
della Pace another likewise in sgraffito; with a façade of the house of
the Spinoli, not far from that last-mentioned, on the way to the
Parione, containing athletic contests according to the custom of the
ancients, and their sacrifices, and the death of Tarpeia. Near the Torre
di Nona, on the side towards the Ponte S. Angelo, may be seen a little
façade with the Triumph of Camillus and an ancient sacrifice. In the
road that leads to the Imagine di Ponte, there is a most beautiful
façade with the story of Perillus, showing him being placed in the
bronze bull that he had made; wherein great effort may be seen in those
who are thrusting him into that bull, and terror in those who are
waiting to behold a death so unexampled, besides which there is the
seated figure of Phalaris (so I believe), ordaining with an imperious
air of great beauty the punishment of the inhuman spirit that had
invented a device so novel and so cruel in order to put men to death
with greater suffering. In this work, also, may be perceived a very
beautiful frieze of children, painted to look like bronze, and other
figures. Higher up than this they painted the façade of the house where
there is the image which is called the Imagine di Ponte, wherein are
seen several stories illustrated by them, with the Senatorial Order
dressed in the garb of ancient Rome. And in the Piazza della Dogana,
beside S. Eustachio, there is a façade of battle-pieces; and within that
church, on the right as one enters, may be perceived a little chapel
with figures painted by Polidoro.
They also executed another above the Farnese Palace for the Cepperelli,
and a façade behind the Minerva in the street that leads to the
Maddaleni; and in the latter, which contains scenes from Roman history,
may be seen, among other beautiful things, a frieze of children in
triumph, painted to look like bronze, and executed with supreme grace
and extraordinary beauty. On the façade of the Buoni Auguri, near the
Minerva, are some very beautiful stories of Romulus, showing him when he
is marking out the site of his city with the plough, and when the
vultures are flying over him; wherein the vestments, features, and
persons of the ancients are so well imitated, that it truly appears as
if these were the very men themselves. Certain it is that in that field
of art no man ever had such power of design, such practised mastery, a
more beautiful manner, or greater facility. And every craftsman is so
struck with wonder every time that he sees these works, that he cannot
but be amazed at the manner in which Nature has been able in this age to
present her marvels to us by means of these men.
Below the Corte Savella, also, on the house bought by Signora Costanza,
they painted the Rape of the Sabines, a scene which reveals the raging
desire of the captors no less clearly than the terror and panic of the
wretched women thus carried off by various soldiers, some on horseback
and others in other ways. And not only in this one scene are there such
conceptions, but also (and even more) in the stories of Mucius and
Horatius, and in the Flight of Porsena, King of Tuscany. In the garden
of M. Stefano dal Bufalo, near the Fountain of Trevi, they executed some
most beautiful scenes of the Fount of Parnassus, in which they made
grotesques and little figures, painted very well in colour. On the
house of Baldassini, also, near S. Agostino, they executed scenes and
sgraffiti, with some heads of Emperors over the windows in the court. On
Montecavallo, near S. Agata, they painted a façade with a vast number of
different stories, such as the Vestal Tuccia bringing water from the
Tiber to the Temple in a sieve, and Claudia drawing the ship with her
girdle; and also the rout effected by Camillus while Brennus is weighing
the gold. On another wall, round the corner, are Romulus and his brother
being suckled by the wolf, and the terrible combat of Horatius, who is
defending the head of the bridge, alone against a thousand swords, while
behind him are many very beautiful figures in various attitudes, working
with might and main to hew away the bridge with pickaxes. There, also,
is Mucius Scævola, who, before the eyes of Porsena, is burning his own
hand, which had erred in slaying the King's minister in place of the
King; and in the King's face may be seen disdain and a desire for
vengeance. And within that house they executed a number of landscapes.
They decorated the façade of S. Pietro in Vincula, painting therein
stories of S. Peter, with some large figures of Prophets. And so
widespread was the fame of these masters by reason of the abundance of
their work, that the pictures painted by them with such beauty in public
places enabled them to win extraordinary praise in their lifetime, with
glory infinite and eternal through the number of their imitators after
death. On a façade, also, in the square where stands the Palace of the
Medici, behind the Piazza Navona, they painted the Triumphs of Paulus
Emilius, with a vast number of other Roman stories. And at S. Silvestro
di Montecavallo they executed some little things for Fra Mariano, both
in the house and in the garden; and in the church they painted his
chapel, with two scenes in colour from the life of S. Mary Magdalene, in
which the disposition of the landscapes is executed with supreme grace
and judgment. For Polidoro, in truth, executed landscapes and groups of
trees and rocks better than any other painter, and it is to him that art
owes that facility which our modern craftsmen show in their works.
They also painted many apartments and friezes in various houses at Rome,
executing them with colours in fresco and in distemper; but these works
were attempted by them as trials, because they were never able to
achieve with colours that beauty which they always displayed in their
works in chiaroscuro, in their imitations of bronze, or in terretta.
This may still be seen in the house of Torre Sanguigna, which once
belonged to the Cardinal of Volterra, on the façade of which they
painted a most beautiful decoration in chiaroscuro, and in the interior
some figures in colour, the painting of which is so badly executed, that
in it they diverted from its true excellence the good design which they
always had. And this appeared all the more strange because of there
being beside them an escutcheon of Pope Leo, with nude figures, by the
hand of Giovan Francesco Vetraio, who would have done extraordinary
things if death had not taken him from our midst. However, not cured by
this of their insane confidence, they also painted some children in
colour for the altar of the Martelli in S. Agostino at Rome, a work
which Jacopo Sansovino completed by making a Madonna of marble; and
these children appear to be by the hands, not of illustrious masters,
but of simpletons just beginning to learn. Whereas, on the side where
the altar-cloth covers the altar, Polidoro painted a little scene of a
Dead Christ with the Maries, which is a most beautiful work, showing
that in truth that sort of work was more their profession than the use
of colours.
Returning, therefore, to their usual work, they painted two very
beautiful façades in the Campo Marzio; one with the stories of Ancus
Martius, and the other with the Festivals of the Saturnalia, formerly
celebrated in that place, with all the two-horse and four-horse chariots
circling round the obelisks, which are held to be most beautiful,
because they are so well executed both in design and in nobility of
manner, that they reproduce most vividly those very spectacles as
representations of which they were painted. On the Canto della Chiavica,
on the way to the Corte Savella, they painted a façade which is a divine
thing, and is held to be the most beautiful of all the beautiful works
that they executed; for, in addition to the story of the maidens passing
over the Tiber, there is at the foot, near the door, a Sacrifice painted
with marvellous industry and art, wherein may be seen duly represented
all the instruments and all those ancient customs that used to have a
place in sacrifices of that kind. Near the Piazza del Popolo, below S.
Jacopo degli Incurabili, they painted a façade with stories of Alexander
the Great, which is held to be very fine; and there they depicted the
ancient statues of the Nile and the Tiber from the Belvedere. Near S.
Simeone they painted the façade of the Gaddi Palace, which is truly a
cause of marvel and amazement, when one observes the lovely vestments in
it, so many and so various, and the vast number of ancient helmets,
girdles, buskins, and barques, adorned with all the delicacy and
abundance of detail that an inventive imagination could conceive. There,
with a multitude of beautiful things which overload the memory, are
represented all the ways of the ancients, the statues of sages, and most
lovely women: and there are all the sorts of ancient sacrifices with
their ritual, and an army in the various stages between embarking and
fighting with an extraordinary variety of arms and implements, all
executed with such grace and finished with such masterly skill, that the
eye is dazzled by the vast abundance of beautiful inventions. Opposite
to this is a smaller façade, which could not be improved in beauty and
variety; and there, in the frieze, is the story of Niobe causing herself
to be worshipped, with the people bringing tribute, vases, and various
kinds of gifts; which story was depicted by them with such novelty,
grace, art, force of relief and genius in every part, that it would
certainly take too long to describe the whole. Next, there follows the
wrath of Latona, and her terrible vengeance on the children of the
over-proud Niobe, whose seven sons are slain by Phoebus and the seven
daughters by Diana; with an endless number of figures in imitation of
bronze, which appear to be not painted but truly of metal. Above these
are executed other scenes, with some vases in imitation of gold,
innumerable things of fancy so strange that mortal eye could not picture
anything more novel or more beautiful, and certain Etruscan helmets; but
one is left confused by the variety and abundance of the conceptions, so
beautiful and so fanciful, which issued from their minds. These works
have been imitated by a vast number of those who labour at that branch
of art. They also painted the courtyard of that house, and likewise the
loggia, which they decorated with little grotesques in colour that are
held to be divine. In short, all that they touched they brought to
perfection with infinite grace and beauty; and if I were to name all
their works, I should fill a whole book with the performances of these
two masters alone, since there is no apartment, palace, garden, or villa
in Rome that does not contain some work by Polidoro and Maturino.
Now, while Rome was rejoicing and clothing herself in beauty with their
labours, and they were awaiting the reward of all their toil, the envy
of Fortune, in the year 1527, sent Bourbon to Rome; and he gave that
city over to sack. Whereupon was divided the companionship not only of
Polidoro and Maturino, but of all the thousands of friends and relatives
who had broken bread together for so many years in Rome. Maturino took
to flight, and no long time passed before he died, so it is believed in
Rome, of plague, in consequence of the hardships that he had suffered in
the sack, and was buried in S. Eustachio. Polidoro turned his steps to
Naples; but on his arrival, the noblemen of that city taking but little
interest in fine works of painting, he was like to die of hunger.
Working, therefore, at the commission of certain painters, he executed a
S. Peter in the principal chapel of S. Maria della Grazia; and in this
way he assisted those painters in many things, more to save his life
than for any other reason. However, the fame of his talents having
spread abroad, he executed for Count ... a vault painted in distemper,
together with some walls, all of which is held to be very beautiful
work. In like manner, he executed a courtyard in chiaroscuro for Signor
..., with some loggie, which are very beautiful, rich in ornaments, and
well painted. He also painted for S. Angelo, beside the Pescheria at
Naples, a little panel in oils, containing a Madonna and some naked
figures of souls in torment, which is held to be most beautiful, but
more for the drawing than for the colouring; and likewise some pictures
for the Chapel of the High-Altar, each with a single full-length figure,
and all executed in the same manner.
It came to pass that Polidoro, living in Naples and seeing his talents
held in little esteem, determined to take his leave of men who thought
more of a horse that could jump than of a master whose hands could give
to painted figures the appearance of life. Going on board ship,
therefore, he made his way to Messina, where, finding more consideration
and more honour, he set himself to work; and thus, working continually,
he acquired good skill and mastery in the use of colour. Thereupon he
executed many works, which are dispersed in various places; and turning
his attention to architecture, he gave proof of his worth in many
buildings that he erected. After a time, Charles V passing through
Messina on his return from victory in Tunis, Polidoro made in his honour
most beautiful triumphal arches, from which he gained vast credit and
rewards. And then this master, who was always burning with desire to
revisit Rome, which afflicts with an unceasing yearning those who have
lived there many years, when making trial of other countries, painted as
his last work in Messina a panel-picture of Christ bearing the Cross,
executed in oils with much excellence and very pleasing colour. In it he
made a number of figures accompanying Christ to His Death--soldiers,
pharisees, horses, women, children, and the Thieves in front; and he
kept firmly before his mind the consideration of how such an execution
must have been marshalled, insomuch that his nature seemed to have
striven to show its highest powers in this work, which is indeed most
excellent. After this he sought many times to shake himself free of that
country, although he was looked upon with favour there; but he had a
reason for delay in a woman, beloved by him for many years, who detained
him with her sweet words and cajoleries. However, so mightily did his
desire to revisit Rome and his friends work in him, that he took from
his bank a good sum of money that he possessed, and, wholly determined,
prepared to depart.
Polidoro had employed as his assistant for a long time a lad of the
country, who bore greater love to his master's money than to his master;
but, the money being kept, as has been said, in the bank, he was never
able to lay his hands upon it and carry it off. Wherefore, an evil and
cruel thought entering his head, he resolved to put his master to death
with the help of some accomplices, on the following night, while he was
sleeping, and then to divide the money with them. And so, assisted by
his friends, he set upon Polidoro in his first sleep, while he was
slumbering deeply, and strangled him with a cloth. Then, giving him
several wounds, they made sure of his death; and in order to prove that
it was not they who had done it, they carried him to the door of the
woman whom he had loved, making it appear that her relatives or other
persons of the house had killed him. The assistant gave a good part of
the money to the villains who had committed so hideous an outrage, and
bade them be off. In the morning he went in tears to the house of a
certain Count, a friend of his dead master, and related the event to
him; but for all the diligence that was used for many days in seeking
for the perpetrator of the crime, nothing came to light. By the will of
God, however, nature and virtue, in disdain at being wounded by the hand
of fortune, so worked in one who had no interest in the matter, that he
declared it to be impossible that any other but the assistant himself
could have committed the murder. Whereupon the Count had him seized and
put to the torture, and without the application of any further torment
he confessed the crime and was condemned by the law to the gallows; but
first he was torn with red-hot pincers on the way to execution, and
finally quartered.
For all this, however, life was not restored to Polidoro, nor was there
given back to the art of painting a genius so resolute and so
extraordinary, such as had not been seen in the world for many an age.
If, indeed, at the time when he died, invention, grace, and boldness in
the painting of figures could have laid down their lives, they would
have died with him. Happy was the union of nature and art which embodied
a spirit so noble in human form; and cruel was the envy and hatred of
his fate and fortune, which robbed him of life with so strange a death,
but shall never through all the ages rob him of his name. His obsequies
were performed with full solemnity, and he was given burial in the
Cathedral Church, lamented bitterly by all Messina, in the year 1543.
Great, indeed, is the obligation owed by craftsmen to Polidoro, in that
he enriched art with a great abundance of vestments, all different and
most strange, and of varied ornaments, and gave grace and adornment to
all his works, and likewise made figures of every sort, animals,
buildings, grotesques, and landscapes, all so beautiful, that since his
day whosoever has aimed at catholicity has imitated him. It is a
marvellous thing and a fearsome to see from the example of this master
the instability of Fortune and what she can bring to pass, causing men
to become excellent in some profession from whom something quite
different might have been expected, to the no small vexation of those
who have laboured in vain for many years at the same art. It is a
marvellous thing, I repeat, to see those same men, after much travailing
and striving, brought by that same Fortune to a miserable and most
unhappy end at the very moment when they were hoping to enjoy the fruits
of their labours; and that with calamities so monstrous and terrible,
that pity herself takes to flight, art is outraged, and benefits are
repaid with an extraordinary and incredible ingratitude. Wherefore, even
as painting may rejoice in the fruitful life of Polidoro, so could he
complain of Fortune, which at one time showed herself friendly to him,
only to bring him afterwards, when it was least expected, to a dreadful
death.
IL ROSSO
LIFE OF IL ROSSO
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
Men of account who apply themselves to the arts and pursue them with all
their powers are sometimes exalted and honoured beyond measure, at a
moment when it was least expected, before the eyes of all the world, as
may be seen clearly from the labours that Il Rosso, a painter of
Florence, devoted to the art of painting; for if these were not
acknowledged in Rome and Florence by those who could reward them, yet in
France he found one to recompense him for them, and that in such sort,
that his glory might have sufficed to quench the thirst of the most
overweening ambition that could possess the heart of any craftsman, be
he who he may. Nor could he have obtained in this life greater
dignities, honour, or rank, seeing that he was regarded with favour and
much esteemed beyond any other man of his profession by a King so great
as is the King of France. And, indeed, his merits were such, that, if
Fortune had secured less for him, she would have done him a very great
wrong, for the reason that Rosso, in addition to his painting, was
endowed with a most beautiful presence; his manner of speech was
gracious and grave; he was an excellent musician, and had a fine
knowledge of philosophy; and what was of greater import than all his
other splendid qualities was this, that he always showed the invention
of a poet in the grouping of his figures, besides being bold and
well-grounded in draughtsmanship, graceful in manner, sublime in the
highest flights of imagination, and a master of beautiful composition of
scenes. In architecture he showed an extraordinary excellence; and he
was always, however poor in circumstances, rich in the grandeur of his
spirit. For this reason, whosoever shall follow in the labours of
painting the walk pursued by Rosso, must be celebrated without ceasing,
as are that master's works, which have no equals in boldness and are
executed without effort and strain, since he kept them free of that dry
and painful elaboration to which so many subject themselves in order to
veil the worthlessness of their works with the cloak of importance.
In his youth, Rosso drew from the cartoon of Michelagnolo, and would
study art with but few masters, having a certain opinion of his own that
conflicted with their manners; as may be seen from a shrine executed in
fresco for Piero Bartoli at Marignolle, without the Porta a S. Piero
Gattolini in Florence, containing a Dead Christ, wherein he began to
show how great was his desire for a manner bold and grand, graceful and
marvellous beyond that of all others. While still a beardless boy, at
the time when Lorenzo Pucci was made a Cardinal by Pope Leo, he executed
over the door of S. Sebastiano de' Servi the arms of the Pucci, with two
figures, which made the craftsmen of that day marvel, for no one
expected for him such a result as he achieved. Wherefore he so grew in
courage, that, after having painted a picture with a half-length figure
of Our Lady and a head of S. John the Evangelist for Maestro Jacopo, a
Servite friar, who was something of a poet, at his persuasion he painted
the Assumption of the Madonna in the cloister of the Servites, beside
the scene of the Visitation, which was executed by Jacopo da Pontormo.
In this he made a Heaven full of angels, all in the form of little naked
children dancing in a circle round the Madonna, foreshortened with a
most beautiful flow of outlines and with great grace of manner, as they
wheel through the sky: insomuch that, if the colouring had been executed
by him with that mature mastery of art which he afterwards came to
achieve, he would have surpassed the other scenes by a great measure,
even as he actually did equal them in grandeur and excellence of design.
He made the Apostles much burdened with draperies, and, indeed,
overloaded with their abundance; but the attitudes and some of the heads
are more than beautiful.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH SAINTS
(_After the panel by =Il Rosso=. Florence: Uffizi, 47_)
_Alinari_]
The Director of the Hospital of S. Maria Nuova commissioned him to paint
a panel: but when he saw it sketched, having little knowledge of that
art, the Saints appeared to him like devils; for it was Rosso's custom
in his oil-sketches to give a sort of savage and desperate air to the
faces, after which, in finishing them, he would sweeten the expressions
and bring them to a proper form. At this the patron fled from his house
and would not have the picture, saying that the painter had cheated him.
In like manner, over another door that leads into the cloister of the
Convent of the Servites, Rosso painted the escutcheon of Pope Leo, with
two children; but it is now ruined. And in the houses of citizens may be
seen several of his pictures and many portraits. For the visit of Pope
Leo to Florence he executed a very beautiful arch on the Canto de'
Bischeri. Afterwards he painted a most beautiful picture of the Dead
Christ for Signor di Piombino, and also decorated a little chapel for
him. At Volterra, likewise, he painted a most lovely Deposition from the
Cross.
Having therefore grown in credit and fame, he executed for S. Spirito,
in Florence, the panel-picture of the Dei family, which they had
formerly entrusted to Raffaello da Urbino, who abandoned it because of
the cares of the work that he had undertaken in Rome. This picture Rosso
painted with marvellous grace, draughtsmanship, and vivacity of
colouring. Let no one imagine that any work can display greater force or
show more beautifully from a distance than this one, which, on account
of the boldness of the figures and the extravagance of the attitudes, no
longer employed by any of the other painters, was held to be an
extraordinary work. And although it did not bring him much credit at
that time, the world has since come little by little to recognize its
excellence and has given it abundant praise; for with regard to the
blending of colour it would be impossible to excel it, seeing that the
lights which are in the brightest parts unite with the lower lights
little by little as they merge into the darks, with such sweetness and
harmony, and with such masterly skill in the projection of the shadows,
that the figures stand out from one another and bring each other into
relief by means of the lights and shades. Such vigour, indeed, has this
work, that it may be said to have been conceived and executed with more
judgment and mastery than any that has ever been painted by any other
master, however superior his judgment.
For S. Lorenzo, at the commission of Carlo Ginori, he painted a
panel-picture of the Marriage of Our Lady, which is held to be a most
beautiful work. And, in truth, with regard to his facility of method,
there has never been anyone who has been able to surpass him in masterly
skill and dexterity, or even to approach within any distance of him; and
he was so sweet in colouring, and varied his draperies with such grace,
and took such delight in his art, that he was always held to be
marvellous and worthy of the highest praise. Whosoever shall observe
this work must recognize that all that I have written is most true,
above all as he studies the nudes, which are very well conceived, with
all the requirements of anatomy. His women are full of grace, and the
draperies that adorn them fanciful and bizarre. He showed, also, the
sense of fitness that is necessary in the heads of the old, with their
harshness of features, and in those of women and children, with
expressions sweet and pleasing. He was so rich in invention, that he
never had any space left over in his pictures, and he executed all his
work with such facility and grace, that it was a marvel.
For Giovanni Bandini, also, he painted a picture with some very
beautiful nudes, representing the scene of Moses slaying the Egyptian,
wherein were things worthy of the highest praise; and this was sent, I
believe, into France. And for Giovanni Cavalcanti, likewise, he executed
another, which went to England, of Jacob receiving water from the women
at the well; this was held to be a divine work, seeing that it contained
nudes and women wrought with supreme grace. For women, indeed, he always
delighted to paint transparent pieces of drapery, head-dresses with
intertwined tresses, and ornaments for their persons.
While Rosso was engaged on this work, he was living in the Borgo de'
Tintori, the rooms of which look out on the gardens of the Friars of S.
Croce; and he took much pleasure in a great ape, which had the
intelligence rather of a man than of a beast. For this reason he held it
very dear, and loved it like his own self; and since it had a marvellous
understanding, he made use of it for many kinds of service. It happened
that this beast took a fancy to one of his assistants, by name
Battistino, who was a young man of great beauty; and from the signs that
his Battistino made to him he understood all that he wished to say. Now
against the wall of the rooms at the back, which looked out upon the
garden of the friars, was a pergola belonging to the Guardian, loaded
with great Sancolombane grapes; and the young men used to let the ape
down with a rope to the pergola, which was some distance from their
window, and pull the beast up again with his hands full of grapes. The
Guardian, finding his pergola stripped, but not knowing the culprit,
suspected that it must be mice, and lay in hiding; and seeing Rosso's
ape descending, he flew into a rage, seized a long pole, and rushed at
him with hands uplifted in order to beat him. The ape, seeing that
whether he went up or stayed where he was, the Guardian could reach him,
began to spring about and destroy the pergola, and then, making as
though to throw himself on the friar's back, seized with both his hands
the outermost crossbeams which enclosed the pergola. Meanwhile the friar
made play with his pole, and the ape, in his terror, shook the pergola
to such purpose, and with such force, that he tore the stakes and rods
out of their places, so that both pergola and ape fell headlong on the
back of the friar, who shrieked for mercy. The rope was pulled up by
Battistino and the others, who brought the ape back into the room safe
and sound. Thereupon the Guardian, drawing off and planting himself on a
terrace that he had there, said things not to be found in the Mass; and
full of anger and resentment he went to the Council of Eight, a tribunal
much feared in Florence. There he laid his complaint; and, Rosso having
been summoned, the ape was condemned in jest to carry a weight fastened
to his tail, to prevent him from jumping on pergole, as he did before.
And so Rosso made a wooden cylinder swinging on a chain, and kept it on
the ape, in such a way that he could go about the house but no longer
jump about over other people's property. The ape, seeing himself
condemned to such a punishment, seemed to guess that the friar was
responsible. Every day, therefore, he exercised himself in hopping step
by step with his legs, holding the weight with his hands; and thus,
resting often, he succeeded in his design. For, being one day loose
about the house, he hopped step by step from roof to roof, during the
hour when the Guardian was away chanting Vespers, and came to the roof
over his chamber. There, letting go the weight, he kept up for half an
hour such a lovely dance, that not a single tile of any kind remained
unbroken. Then he went back home; and within three days, when rain came,
were heard the Guardian's lamentations.
Rosso, having finished his works, took the road to Rome with Battistino
and the ape; in which city his works were sought for with extraordinary
eagerness, great expectations having been awakened about them by the
sight of some drawings executed by him, which were held to be
marvellous, for Rosso drew divinely well and with the highest finish.
There, in the Pace, over the pictures of Raffaello, he executed a work
which is the worst that he ever painted in all his days. Nor can I
imagine how this came to pass, save from a reason which has been seen
not only in his case, but also in that of many others, and which appears
to be an extraordinary thing, and one of the secrets of nature; and it
is this, that he who changes his country or place of habitation seems to
change his nature, talents, character, and personal habits, insomuch
that sometimes he seems to be not the same man but another, and all
dazed and stupefied. This may have happened to Rosso in the air of Rome,
and on account of the stupendous works of architecture and sculpture
that he saw there, and the paintings and statues of Michelagnolo, which
may have thrown him off his balance; which works also drove Fra
Bartolommeo di San Marco and Andrea del Sarto to flight, and prevented
them from executing anything in Rome. Certain it is, be the cause what
it may, that Rosso never did worse; and, what is more, this work has to
bear comparison with those of Raffaello da Urbino.
At this time he painted for Bishop Tornabuoni, who was his friend, a
picture of a Dead Christ supported by two angels, which was a most
beautiful piece of work, and is now in the possession of the heirs of
Monsignor della Casa. For Baviera he made drawings of all the Gods, for
copper-plates, which were afterwards engraved by Jacopo Caraglio; one of
them being Saturn changing himself into a horse, and the most noteworthy
that of Pluto carrying off Proserpine. He executed a sketch for the
Beheading of S. John the Baptist, which is now in a little church on the
Piazza de' Salviati in Rome.
Meanwhile the sack of the city took place, and poor Rosso was taken
prisoner by the Germans and used very ill, for, besides stripping him of
his clothes, they made him carry weights on his back barefooted and with
nothing on his head, and remove almost the whole stock from a
cheesemonger's shop. Thus ill-treated by them, he escaped with
difficulty to Perugia, where he was warmly welcomed and reclothed by the
painter Domenico di Paris, for whom he drew the cartoon for a
panel-picture of the Magi, a very beautiful work, which is to be seen in
the house of Domenico. But he did not stay long in that place, for,
hearing that Bishop Tornabuoni, who was very much his friend, and had
also fled from the sack, had gone to Borgo a San Sepolcro, he made his
way thither.
There was living at that time in Borgo a San Sepolcro a pupil of Giulio
Romano, the painter Raffaello dal Colle; and this master, having
undertaken for a small price to paint a panel for S. Croce, the seat of
a Company of Flagellants, in his native city, lovingly resigned the
commission and gave it to Rosso, to the end that he might leave some
example of his handiwork in that place. At this the Company showed
resentment, but the Bishop gave him every facility; and when the
picture, which brought him credit, was finished, it was set up in S.
Croce. The Deposition from the Cross that it contains is something very
rare and beautiful, because he rendered in the colours a certain effect
of darkness to signify the eclipse that took place at Christ's death,
and because it was executed with very great diligence.
Afterwards, at Città di Castello, he received the commission for a
panel-picture, on which he was about to set to work, when, as it was
being primed with gesso, a roof fell upon it and broke it to pieces;
while upon him there came a fever so violent, that he was like to die of
it, on which account he had himself carried from Castello to Borgo a San
Sepolcro. This malady being followed by a quartan fever, he then went on
to the Pieve a San Stefano for a change of air, and finally to Arezzo,
where he was entertained in the house of Benedetto Spadari, who so went
to work with the help of Giovanni Antonio Lappoli of Arezzo and the many
friends and relatives that they had, that Rosso was commissioned to
paint in fresco a vault previously allotted to the painter Niccolò
Soggi, in the Madonna delle Lagrime. And so eager were they that he
should leave such a memorial of himself in that city, that he was given
a payment of three hundred crowns of gold. Whereupon Rosso began his
cartoons in a room that they had allotted to him in a place called
Murello; and there he finished four of them. In one he depicted our
First Parents, bound to the Tree of the Fall, with Our Lady drawing from
their mouths the Sin in the form of the Apple, and beneath her feet the
Serpent; and in the air--wishing to signify that she was clothed with
the sun and moon--he made nude figures of Phoebus and Diana. In the
second is Moses bearing the Ark of the Covenant, represented by Our Lady
surrounded by five Virtues. In another is the Throne of Solomon, also
represented by the Madonna, to whom votive offerings are being brought,
to signify those who have recourse to her for benefits: together with
other bizarre fancies, which were conceived by the fruitful brain of M.
Giovanni Pollastra, the friend of Rosso and a Canon of Arezzo, in
compliment to whom Rosso made a most beautiful model of the whole work,
which is now in my house at Arezzo. He also drew for that work a study
of nude figures, which is a very choice thing; and it is a pity that it
was never finished, for, if he had put it into execution and painted it
in oils, instead of having to do it in fresco, it would indeed have been
a miracle. But he was ever averse to working in fresco, and therefore
went on delaying the execution of the cartoons, meaning to have the work
carried out by Raffaello dal Borgo and others, so that in the end it was
never done.
At that same time, being a courteous person, he made many designs for
pictures and buildings in Arezzo and its neighbourhood; among others,
one for the Rectors of the Fraternity, of the chapel which is at the
foot of the Piazza, wherein there is now the Volto Santo. For the same
patrons he drew the design for a panel-picture to be painted by his
hand, containing a Madonna with a multitude under her cloak, which was
to be set up in the same place; and this design, which was not put into
execution, is in our book, together with many other most beautiful
drawings by the hand of the same master.
But to return to the work that he was to execute in the Madonna delle
Lagrime: there came forward as his security for this work Giovanni
Antonio Lappoli of Arezzo, his most faithful friend, who gave him proofs
of loving kindness with every sort of service. But in the year 1530,
when Florence was being besieged, the Aretines, having been restored to
liberty by the small judgment of Papo Altoviti, attacked the citadel and
razed it to the ground. And because that people looked with little
favour on Florentines, Rosso would not trust himself to them, and went
off to Borgo a San Sepolcro, leaving the cartoons and designs for his
work hidden away in the citadel.
Now those who had given him the commission for the panel at Castello,
wished him to finish it; but he, on account of the illness that he had
suffered at Castello, would not return to that city. He finished their
panel, therefore, at Borgo a San Sepolcro; nor would he ever give them
the pleasure of a glance at it. In it he depicted a multitude, with
Christ in the sky being adored by four figures, and he painted Moors,
Gypsies, and the strangest things in the world; but, with the exception
of the figures, which are perfect in their excellence, the composition
is concerned with anything rather than the wishes of those who ordered
the picture of him. At the same time that he was engaged on that work,
he disinterred dead bodies in the Vescovado, where he was living, and
made a most beautiful anatomical model. Rosso was, in truth, an ardent
student of all things relating to art, and few days passed without his
drawing some nude from life.
He had always had the idea of finishing his life in France, and of thus
delivering himself from that misery and poverty which are the lot of men
who work in Tuscany, or in the country where they were born; and he
resolved to depart. And with a view to appearing more competent in all
matters, and to being ignorant of none, he had just learned the Latin
tongue; when there came upon him a reason for further hastening his
departure. For one Holy Thursday, on which day matins are chanted in the
evening, one of his disciples, a young Aretine, being in church, made a
blaze of sparks and flames with a lighted candle-end and some resin, at
the moment when the "darkness," as they call it, was in progress; and
the boy was reproved by some priests, and even struck. Seeing this,
Rosso, who had the boy seated at his side, sprang up full of anger
against the priests. Thereupon an uproar began, without anyone knowing
what it was all about, and swords were drawn against poor Rosso, who was
busy with the priests. Taking to flight, therefore, he contrived to
regain his own rooms without having been struck or overtaken by anyone.
But he held himself to have been affronted; and having finished the
panel for Castello, without troubling about his work at Arezzo or the
wrong that he was doing to Giovanni Antonio, his security (for he had
received more than a hundred and fifty crowns), he set off by night.
Taking the road by Pesaro, he made his way to Venice, where, being
entertained by Messer Pietro Aretino, he made for him a drawing, which
was afterwards engraved, of Mars sleeping with Venus, with the Loves and
Graces despoiling him and carrying off his cuirass. Departing from
Venice, he found his way into France, where he was received by the
Florentine colony with much affection. There he painted some pictures,
which were afterwards placed in the Gallery at Fontainebleau; and these
he then presented to King Francis, who took infinite pleasure in them,
but much more in the presence, speech, and manner of Rosso, who was
imposing in person, with red hair in accordance with his name, and
serious, deliberate, and most judicious in his every action. The King,
then, after straightway granting him an allowance of four hundred
crowns, and giving him a house in Paris, which he occupied but seldom,
because he lived most of the time at Fontainebleau, where he had rooms
and lived like a nobleman, appointed him superintendent over all the
buildings, pictures, and other ornaments of that place.
[Illustration: THE TRANSFIGURATION
(_After the panel by =Il Rosso=. Città da Castello: Duomo_)
_Alinari_]
There, in the first place, Rosso made a beginning with a gallery over
the lower court, which he completed not with a vault, but with a
ceiling, or rather, soffit, of woodwork, partitioned most beautifully
into compartments. The side-walls he decorated all over with
stucco-work, fantastic and bizarre in its distribution, and with carved
cornices of many kinds; and on the piers were lifesize figures.
Everything below the cornices, between one pier and another, he
adorned with festoons of stucco, vastly rich, and others painted, and
all composed of most beautiful fruits and every sort of foliage. And
then, in a large space, he caused to be painted after his own designs,
if what I have heard is true, about twenty-four scenes in fresco,
representing, I believe, the deeds of Alexander the Great; for which, as
I have said, he made all the designs, executing them in chiaroscuro with
water-colours. At the two ends of this gallery are two panel-pictures in
oils by his hand, designed and painted with such perfection, that there
is little better to be seen in the art of painting. In one of these are
a Bacchus and a Venus, executed with marvellous art and judgment. The
Bacchus is a naked boy, so tender, soft, and delicate, that he seems to
be truly of flesh, yielding to the touch, and rather alive than painted;
and about him are some vases painted in imitation of gold, silver,
crystal, and various precious stones, so fantastic, and surrounded by
devices so many and so bizarre, that whoever beholds this work, with its
vast variety of invention, stands in amazement before it. Among other
details, also, is a Satyr raising part of a pavilion, whose head, in its
strange, goatlike aspect, is a marvel of beauty, and all the more
because he seems to be smiling and full of joy at the sight of so
beautiful a boy. There is also a little boy riding on a wonderful bear,
with many other ornaments full of grace and beauty. In the other picture
are Cupid and Venus, with other lovely figures; but the figure to which
Rosso gave the greatest attention was the Cupid, whom he represented as
a boy of twelve, although well grown, riper in features than is expected
at that age, and most beautiful in every part.
The King, seeing these works, and liking them vastly, conceived an
extraordinary affection for Rosso; wherefore no long time passed before
he gave him a Canonicate in the Sainte Chapelle of the Madonna at Paris,
with so many other revenues and benefits, that Rosso lived like a
nobleman, with a goodly number of servants and horses, giving banquets
and showing all manner of courtesies to all his friends and
acquaintances, especially to the Italian strangers who arrived in those
parts.
After this, he executed another hall, which is called the Pavilion,
because it is in the form of a Pavilion, being above the rooms on the
first floor, and thus situated above any of the others. This apartment
he decorated from the level of the floor to the roof with a great
variety of beautiful ornaments in stucco, figures in the round
distributed at equal intervals, and children, festoons, and various
kinds of animals. In the compartments on the walls are seated figures in
fresco, one in each; and such is their number, that there may be seen
among them images of all the Heathen Gods and Goddesses of the ancients.
Last of all, above the windows, is a frieze all adorned with stucco, and
very rich, but without pictures.
He then executed a vast number of works in many chambers, bathrooms, and
other apartments, both in stucco and in painting, of some of which
drawings may be seen, executed in engraving and published abroad, which
are full of grace and beauty; as are also the numberless designs that
Rosso made for salt-cellars, vases, bowls, and other things of fancy,
all of which the King afterwards caused to be executed in silver; but
these were so numerous that it would take too long to mention them all.
Let it be enough to say that he made designs for all the vessels of a
sideboard for the King, and for all the details of the trappings of
horses, triumphal masquerades, and everything else that it is possible
to imagine, showing in these such fantastic and bizarre conceptions,
that no one could do better.
In the year 1540, when the Emperor Charles V went to France under the
safeguard of King Francis, and visited Fontainebleau, having with him
not more than twelve men, Rosso executed one half of the decorations
that the King ordained in order to honour that great Emperor, and the
other half was executed by Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna. The works
that Rosso made, such as arches, colossal figures, and other things of
that kind, were, so it was said at the time, the most astounding that
had ever been made by any man up to that age. But a great part of the
rooms finished by Rosso at the aforesaid Palace of Fontainebleau were
destroyed after his death by the same Francesco Primaticcio, who has
made a new and larger structure in the same place.
Among those who worked with Rosso on the aforesaid decorations in stucco
and relief, and beloved by him beyond all the others, were the
Florentine Lorenzo Naldino, Maestro Francesco of Orleans, Maestro Simone
of Paris, Maestro Claudio, likewise a Parisian, Maestro Lorenzo of
Picardy, and many others. But the best of them all was Domenico del
Barbieri, who is an excellent painter and master of stucco, and a
marvellous draughtsman, as is proved by his engraved works, which may be
numbered among the best in common circulation. The painters, likewise,
whom he employed in those works at Fontainebleau, were Luca Penni,
brother of Giovan Francesco Penni, called Il Fattore, who was a disciple
of Raffaello da Urbino; the Fleming Leonardo, a very able painter, who
executed the designs of Rosso to perfection in colours; Bartolommeo
Miniati, a Florentine; with Francesco Caccianimici, and Giovan Battista
da Bagnacavallo. These last entered his service when Francesco
Primaticcio went by order of the King to Rome, to make moulds of the
Laocoon, the Apollo, and many other choice antiquities, for the purpose
of casting them afterwards in bronze. I say nothing of the carvers, the
master-joiners, and innumerable others of whom Rosso availed himself in
those works, because there is no need to speak of them all, although
many of them executed works worthy of much praise.
In addition to the things mentioned above, Rosso executed with his own
hand a S. Michael, which is a rare work. For the Constable he painted a
panel-picture of the Dead Christ, a choice thing, which is at a seat of
that noble, called Ecouen; and he also executed some exquisite
miniatures for the King. He then drew a book of anatomical studies,
intending to have it printed in France; of which there are some sheets
by his own hand in our book of drawings. Among his possessions, also,
after he was dead, were found two very beautiful cartoons, in one of
which is a Leda of singular beauty, and in the other the Tiburtine Sibyl
showing to the Emperor Octavian the Glorious Virgin with the Infant
Christ in her arms. In the latter he drew the King, the Queen, their
Guard, and the people, with such a number of figures, and all so well
drawn, that it may be said with truth that this was one of the most
beautiful things that Rosso ever did.
By reason of these works and many others, of which nothing is known, he
became so dear to the King, that a little before his death he found
himself in possession of more than a thousand crowns of income, without
counting the allowances for his work, which were enormous; insomuch
that, living no longer as a painter, but rather as a prince, he kept a
number of servants and horses to ride, and had his house filled with
tapestries, silver, and other valuable articles of furniture. But
Fortune, who never, or very seldom, maintains for long in high estate
one who puts his trust too much in her, brought him headlong down in the
strangest manner ever known. For while Francesco di Pellegrino, a
Florentine, who delighted in painting and was very much his friend, was
associating with him in the closest intimacy, Rosso was robbed of some
hundreds of ducats; whereupon the latter, suspecting that no one but the
same Francesco could have done this, had him arrested by the hands of
justice, rigorously examined, and grievously tortured. But he, knowing
himself innocent, and declaring nothing but the truth, was finally
released; and, moved by just anger, he was forced to show his resentment
against Rosso for the shameful charge that he had falsely laid upon him.
Having therefore issued a writ for libel against him, he pressed him so
closely, that Rosso, not being able to clear himself or make any
defence, felt himself to be in a sorry plight, perceiving that he had
not only accused his friend falsely, but had also stained his own
honour; and to eat his words, or to adopt any other shameful method,
would likewise proclaim him a false and worthless man. Resolving,
therefore, to kill himself by his own hand rather than be punished by
others, he took the following course. One day that the King happened to
be at Fontainebleau, he sent a peasant to Paris for a certain most
poisonous essence, pretending that he wished to use it for making
colours or varnishes, but intending to poison himself, as he did. The
peasant, then, returned with it; and such was the malignity of the
poison, that, merely through holding his thumb over the mouth of the
phial, carefully stopped as it was with wax, he came very near losing
that member, which was consumed and almost eaten away by the deadly
potency of the poison. And shortly afterwards it slew Rosso, although he
was in perfect health, he having drunk it to the end that it might take
his life, as it did in a few hours.
This news, being brought to the King, grieved him beyond measure, since
it seemed to him that by the death of Rosso he had lost the most
excellent craftsman of his day. However, to the end that the work might
not suffer, he had it carried on by Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna,
who, as has been related, had already done much work for him; giving him
a good Abbey, even as he had presented a Canonicate to Rosso.
Rosso died in the year 1541, leaving great regrets behind him among his
friends and brother-craftsmen, who have learned by his example what
benefits may accrue from a prince to one who is eminent in every field
of art, and well-mannered and gentle in all his actions, as was that
master, who for many reasons deserved, and still deserves, to be admired
as one truly most excellent.
BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO AND OTHERS
LIVES OF BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO, AND OTHER PAINTERS OF ROMAGNA
It is certain that the result of emulation in the arts, caused by a
desire for glory, proves for the most part to be one worthy of praise;
but when it happens that the aspirant, through presumption and
arrogance, comes to hold an inflated opinion of himself, in course of
time the name for excellence that he seeks may be seen to dissolve into
mist and smoke, for the reason that there is no advance to perfection
possible for him who knows not his own failings and has no fear of the
work of others. More readily does hope mount towards proficience for
those modest and studious spirits who, leading an upright life, honour
the works of rare masters and imitate them with all diligence, than for
those who have their heads full of smoky pride, as had Bartolommeo da
Bagnacavallo, Amico of Bologna, Girolamo da Cotignola, and Innocenzio da
Imola, painters all, who, living in Bologna at one and the same time,
felt the greatest jealousy of one another that could possibly be
imagined. And, what is more, their pride and vainglory, not being based
on the foundation of ability, led them astray from the true path, which
brings to immortality those who strive more from love of good work than
from rivalry. This circumstance, then, was the reason that they did not
crown the good beginnings that they had made with that final excellence
which they expected; for their presuming to the name of masters turned
them too far aside from the good way.
Bartolommeo da Bagnacavallo had come to Rome in the time of Raffaello,
in order to attain with his works to that perfection which he believed
himself to be already grasping with his intellect. And being a young man
who had some fame at Bologna and had awakened expectations, he was set
to execute a work in the Church of the Pace at Rome, in the first chapel
on the right hand as one enters the church, above the chapel of
Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena. But, thinking that he had not achieved the
success that he had promised himself, he returned to Bologna. There he
and the others mentioned above, in competition one with another,
executed each a scene from the Lives of Christ and His Mother in the
Chapel of the Madonna in S. Petronio, near the door of the façade, on
the right hand as one enters the church; among which little difference
in merit is to be seen between one and another. But Bartolommeo acquired
from this work the reputation of having a manner both softer and
stronger than the others; and although there is a vast number of strange
things in the scene of Maestro Amico, in which he depicted the
Resurrection of Christ with armed men in crouching and distorted
attitudes, and many soldiers crushed flat by the stone of the Sepulchre,
which has fallen upon them, nevertheless that of Bartolommeo, as having
more unity of design and colouring, was more extolled by other
craftsmen. On account of this Bartolommeo associated himself with Biagio
Bolognese, a person with much more practice than excellence in art; and
they executed in company at S. Salvatore, for the Frati Scopetini, a
refectory which they painted partly in fresco and partly "a secco,"
containing the scene of Christ satisfying five thousand people with five
loaves and two fishes. They painted, also, on a wall of the library, the
Disputation of S. Augustine, wherein they made a passing good view in
perspective. These masters, thanks to having seen the works of Raffaello
and associated with him, had a certain quality which, upon the whole,
gave promise of excellence, but in truth they did not attend as they
should have done to the more subtle refinements of art. Yet, since there
were no painters in Bologna at that time who knew more than they did,
they were held by those who then governed the city, as well as by all
the people, to be the best masters in Italy.
[Illustration: THE HOLY FAMILY WITH SAINTS
(_After the panel by =Bartolommeo da Bagnacavallo=. Bologna: Accademia,
133_)
_Anderson_]
By the hand of Bartolommeo are some round pictures in fresco under the
vaulting of the Palace of the Podestà, and a scene of the Visitation of
S. Elizabeth in S. Vitale, opposite to the Palace of the Fantucci. In
the Convent of the Servites at Bologna, round a panel-picture of the
Annunciation painted in oils, are some saints executed in fresco by
Innocenzio da Imola. In S. Michele in Bosco Bartolommeo painted in
fresco the Chapel of Ramazzotto, a faction-leader in Romagna. In a
chapel in S. Stefano the same master painted two saints in fresco, with
some little angels of considerable beauty in the sky; and in S. Jacopo,
for Messer Annibale del Corello, a chapel in which he represented the
Circumcision of Our Lord, with a number of figures, above which, in a
lunette, he painted Abraham sacrificing his son to God. This work, in
truth, was executed in a good and able manner. For the Misericordia,
without Bologna, he painted a little panel-picture in distemper of Our
Lady and some saints; with many pictures and other works, which are in
the hands of various persons in that city.
This master, in truth, was above mediocrity both in the uprightness of
his life and in his works, and he was superior to the others in drawing
and invention, as may be seen from a drawing in our book, wherein is
Jesus Christ, as a boy, disputing with the Doctors in the Temple, with a
building executed with good mastery and judgment. In the end, he
finished his life at the age of fifty-eight.
He had always been much envied by Amico of Bologna, an eccentric man of
extravagant brain, whose figures, executed by him throughout all Italy,
but particularly in Bologna, where he spent most of his time, are
equally eccentric and even mad, if one may say so. If, indeed, the vast
labour which Amico devoted to drawing had been pursued with a settled
object, and not by caprice, he might perchance have surpassed many whom
we regard as rare and able men. And even so, such is the value of
persistent labour, that it is not possible that out of a mass of work
there should not be found some that is good and worthy of praise; and
such, among the vast number of works that this master executed, is a
façade in chiaroscuro on the Piazza de' Marsigli, wherein are many
historical pictures, with a frieze of animals fighting together, very
spirited and well executed, which is almost the best work that he ever
painted. He painted another façade at the Porta di S. Mammolo, and a
frieze round the principal chapel of S. Salvatore, so extravagant and so
full of absurdities that it would provoke laughter in one who was on the
verge of tears. In a word, there is no church or street in Bologna
which has not some daub by the hand of this master.
In Rome, also, he painted not a little; and in S. Friano, at Lucca, he
filled a chapel with inventions fantastic and bizarre, among which are
some things worthy of praise, such as the stories of the Cross and some
of S. Augustine. In these are innumerable portraits of distinguished
persons of that city; and, to tell the truth, this was one of the best
works that Maestro Amico ever executed with colours in fresco.
In S. Jacopo, at Bologna, he painted at the altar of S. Niccola some
stories of the latter Saint, and below these a frieze with views in
perspective, which deserve to be extolled. When the Emperor Charles V
visited Bologna, Amico made a triumphal arch, for which Alfonso Lombardi
executed statues in relief, at the gate of the Palace. And it is no
marvel that the work of Amico revealed skill of hand rather than any
other quality, for it is said that, like the eccentric and extraordinary
person that he was, he went through all Italy drawing and copying every
work of painting or relief, whether good or bad, on which account he
became something of an adept in invention; and when he found anything
likely to be useful to him, he laid his hands upon it eagerly, and then
destroyed it, so that no one else might make use of it. The result of
all this striving was that he acquired the strange, mad manner that we
know.
Finally, having reached the age of seventy, what with his art and the
eccentricity of his life, he became raving mad, at which Messer
Francesco Guicciardini, a noble Florentine, and a most trustworthy
writer of the history of his own times, who was then Governor of
Bologna, found no small amusement, as did the whole city. Some people,
however, believe that there was some method mixed with this madness of
his, because, having sold some property for a small price while he was
mad and in very great straits, he asked for it back again when he
regained his sanity, and recovered it under certain conditions, since he
had sold it, so he said, when he was mad. I do not swear, indeed, that
this is true, for it may have been otherwise; but I do say that I have
often heard the story told.
[Illustration: THE ADORATION
(_After the panel by =Amico of Bologna [Amico Aspertini]=. Bologna:
Pinacoteca, 297_)
_Alinari_]
Amico also gave his attention to sculpture, and executed to the best
of his ability, in marble, a Dead Christ with Nicodemus supporting
Him. This work, which he treated in the manner seen in his pictures, is
on the right within the entrance of the Church of S. Petronio. He used
to paint with both hands at the same time, holding in one the brush with
the bright colour, and in the other that with the dark. But the best
joke of all was that he had his leather belt hung all round with little
pots full of tempered colours, so that he looked like the Devil of S.
Macario with all those flasks of his; and when he worked with his
spectacles on his nose, he would have made the very stones laugh, and
particularly when he began to chatter, for then he babbled enough for
twenty, saying the strangest things in the world, and his whole
demeanour was a comedy. Certain it is that he never used to speak well
of any person, however able or good, and however well dowered he saw him
to be by Nature or Fortune. And, as has been said, he so loved to
chatter and tell stories, that one evening, at the hour of the Ave
Maria, when a painter of Bologna, after buying cabbages in the Piazza,
came upon Amico, the latter kept him under the Loggia del Podestà with
his talk and his amusing stories, without the poor man being able to
break away from him, almost till daylight, when Amico said: "Now go and
boil your cabbages, for the time is getting on."
He was the author of a vast number of other jokes and follies, of which
I shall not make mention, because it is now time to say something of
Girolamo da Cotignola. This master painted many pictures and portraits
from life in Bologna, and among them are two in the house of the
Vinacci, which are very beautiful. He made a portrait after death of
Monsignore de Foix, who died in the rout of Ravenna, and not long after
he executed a portrait of Massimiliano Sforza. For S. Giuseppe he
painted a panel-picture which brought him much praise, and, for S.
Michele in Bosco, the panel-picture in oils which is in the Chapel of S.
Benedetto. The latter work led to his executing, in company with Biagio
Bolognese, all the scenes which are round that church, laid on in fresco
and executed "a secco," wherein are seen proofs of no little mastery, as
has been said in speaking of the manner of Biagio. The same Girolamo
painted a large altar-piece for S. Colomba at Rimini, in competition
with Benedetto da Ferrara and Lattanzio, in which work he made a S.
Lucia rather wanton than beautiful. And in the great tribune of that
church he executed a Coronation of Our Lady, with the twelve Apostles
and the four Evangelists, with heads so gross and hideous that they are
an outrage to the eye.
He then returned to Bologna, but had not been there long when he went to
Rome, where he made portraits from life of many men of rank, and in
particular that of Pope Paul III. But, perceiving that it was no place
for him, and that he was not likely to acquire honour, profit, or fame
among so many noble craftsmen, he went off to Naples, where he found
some friends who showed him favour, and above all M. Tommaso Cambi, a
Florentine merchant, and a devoted lover of pictures and antiquities in
marble, by whom he was supplied with everything of which he was in need.
Thereupon, setting to work, he executed a panel-picture of the Magi, in
oils, for the chapel of one M. Antonello, Bishop of I know not what
place, in Monte Oliveto, and another panel-picture in oils for S.
Aniello, containing the Madonna, S. Paul, and S. John the Baptist, with
portraits from life for many noblemen.
Being now well advanced in years, he lived like a miser, and was always
trying to save money; and after no long time, having little more to do
in Naples, he returned to Rome. There some friends of his, having heard
that he had saved a few crowns, persuaded him that he ought to get
married and live a properly-regulated life. And so, thinking that he was
doing well for himself, he let those friends deceive him so completely
that they imposed upon him for a wife, to suit their own convenience, a
prostitute whom they had been keeping. Then, after he had married her
and come to a knowledge of her, the truth was revealed, at which the
poor old man was so grieved that he died in a few weeks at the age of
sixty-nine.
And now to say something of Innocenzio da Imola. This master was for
many years in Florence with Mariotto Albertinelli; and then, having
returned to Imola, he executed many works in that place. But finally, at
the persuasion of Count Giovan Battista Bentivogli, he went to live in
Bologna, where one of his first works was a copy of a picture formerly
executed by Raffaello da Urbino for Signor Leonello da Carpi. And for
the Monks of S. Michele in Bosco he painted in fresco, in their
chapter-house, the Death of Our Lady and the Resurrection of Christ,
works which were executed with truly supreme diligence and finish. For
the church of the same monks, also, he painted the panel of the
high-altar, the upper part of which is done in a good manner. For the
Servites of Bologna he executed an Annunciation on panel, and for S.
Salvatore a Crucifixion, with many pictures of various kinds throughout
the whole city. At the Viola, for the Cardinal of Ivrea, he painted
three loggie in fresco, each containing two scenes, executed in colour
from designs by other painters, and yet finished with much diligence. He
painted in fresco a chapel in S. Jacopo, and for Madonna Benozza a
panel-picture in oils, which was not otherwise than passing good. He
made a portrait, also, besides many others, of Cardinal Francesco
Alidosio, which I have seen at Imola, together with the portrait of
Cardinal Bernardino Carvajal, and both are works of no little beauty.
Innocenzio was a very good and modest person, and therefore always
avoided any dealings or intercourse with the painters of Bologna, who
were quite the opposite in nature, and he was always exerting himself
beyond the limits of his strength; wherefore, when he fell sick of a
putrid fever at the age of fifty-six, it found him so weak and exhausted
that it killed him in a few days. He left unfinished, or rather,
scarcely begun, a work that he had undertaken without Bologna, and this
was completed to perfection, according to the arrangement made by
Innocenzio before his death, by Prospero Fontana, a painter of Bologna.
The works of all the above-named painters date from 1506 to 1542, and
there are drawings by the hands of them all in our book.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF S. CATHARINE
(_After the painting by =Innocenzio da Imola=. Bologna: S. Giacomo
Maggiore_)
_Alinari_]
FRANCIABIGIO
LIFE OF FRANCIABIGIO
[_FRANCIA_]
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
The fatigues that a man endures in this life in order to raise himself
from the ground and protect himself from poverty, succouring not only
himself but also his nearest and dearest, have such virtue, that the
sweat and the hardships become full of sweetness, and bring comfort and
nourishment to the minds of others, insomuch that Heaven, in its bounty,
perceiving one drawn to a good life and to upright conduct, and also
filled with zeal and inclination for the studies of the sciences, is
forced to be benign and favourably disposed towards him beyond its wont;
as it was, in truth, towards the Florentine painter Francia. This
master, having applied himself to the art of painting for a just and
excellent reason, laboured therein not so much out of a desire for fame
as from a wish to bring assistance to his needy relatives; and having
been born in a family of humble artisans, people of low degree, he
sought to raise himself from that position. In this effort he was much
spurred by his rivalry with Andrea del Sarto, then his companion, with
whom for a long time he shared both work-room and the painter's life; on
account of which life they made great proficience, one through the
other, in the art of painting.
Francia learned the first principles of art in his youth by living for
some months with Mariotto Albertinelli. And being much inclined to the
study of perspective, at which he was always working out of pure
delight, while still quite young he gained a reputation for great
ability in Florence. The first works painted by him were a S. Bernard
executed in fresco in S. Pancrazio, a church opposite to his own house,
and a S. Catharine of Siena, executed likewise in fresco, on a pilaster
in the Chapel of the Rucellai; whereby, exerting himself in that art,
he gave proofs of his fine qualities. Much more, even, was he
established in repute by a picture which is in a little chapel in S.
Pietro Maggiore, containing Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and a
little S. John caressing Jesus Christ. He also gave proof of his
excellence in a shrine executed in fresco, in which he painted the
Visitation of Our Lady, on a corner of the Church of S. Giobbe, behind
the Servite Convent in Florence. In the figure of that Madonna may be
seen a goodness truly appropriate, with profound reverence in that of
the older woman; and the S. Job he painted poor and leprous, and also
rich and restored to health. This work so revealed his powers that he
came into credit and fame; whereupon the men who were the rulers of that
church and brotherhood gave him the commission for the panel-picture of
their high-altar, in which Francia acquitted himself even better; and in
that work he painted a Madonna, and S. Job in poverty, and made a
portrait of himself in the face of S. John the Baptist.
There was built at that time, in S. Spirito at Florence, the Chapel of
S. Niccola, in which was placed a figure of that Saint in the round,
carved in wood from the model by Jacopo Sansovino; and Francia painted
two little angels in two square pictures in oils, one on either side of
that figure, which were much extolled, and also depicted the
Annunciation in two round pictures; and the predella he adorned with
little figures representing the miracles of S. Nicholas, executed with
such diligence that he deserves much praise for them. In S. Pietro
Maggiore, by the door, and on the right hand as one enters the church,
is an Annunciation by his hand, wherein he made the Angel still flying
through the sky, and the Madonna receiving the Salutation on her knees,
in a most graceful attitude; and he drew there a building in
perspective, which was a masterly thing, and was much extolled. And, in
truth, although Francia had a somewhat dainty manner, because he was
very laborious and constrained in his work, nevertheless he showed great
care and diligence in giving the true proportions of art to his figures.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Franciabigio [Francia]=. Florence: SS.
Annunziata_)
_Anderson_]
He was commissioned to execute a scene in the cloister in front of the
Church of the Servites, in competition with Andrea del Sarto; and there
he painted the Marriage of Our Lady, wherein may be clearly recognized
the supreme faith of Joseph, who shows in his face as much awe as joy
at his marriage with her. Besides this, Francia painted there one who is
giving him some blows, as is the custom in our own day, in memory of the
wedding; and in a nude figure he expressed very happily the rage and
disappointment that drive him to break his rod, which had not blossomed,
the drawing of which, with many others, is in our book. In the company
of Our Lady, also, he painted some women with most beautiful expressions
and head-dresses, things in which he always delighted. And in all this
scene he did not paint a single thing that was not very well considered;
as is, for example, a woman with a child in her arms, who, turning to go
home, has cuffed another child, who has sat down in tears and refuses to
go, pressing one hand against his face in a very graceful manner.
Certain it is that he executed every detail in this scene, whether large
or small, with much diligence and love, on account of the burning desire
that he had to show therein to craftsmen and to all other good judges
how great was his respect for the difficulties of art, and how
successfully he could solve them by faithful imitation.
Not long after this, on the occasion of a festival, the friars wished
that the scenes of Andrea, and likewise that of Francia, should be
uncovered; and the night after Francia had finished his with the
exception of the base, they were so rash and presumptuous as to uncover
them, not thinking, in their ignorance of art, that Francia would want
to retouch or otherwise change his figures. In the morning, both the
painting of Francia and those of Andrea were open to view, and the news
was brought to Francia that Andrea's works and his own had been
uncovered; at which he felt such resentment, that he was like to die of
it. Seized with anger against the friars on account of their presumption
and the little respect that they had shown to him, he set off at his
best speed and came up to the work; and then, climbing on to the
staging, which had not yet been taken to pieces, although the painting
had been uncovered, and seizing a mason's hammer that was there, he beat
some of the women's heads to fragments, and destroyed that of the
Madonna, and also tore almost completely away from the wall, plaster and
all, a nude figure that is breaking a rod. Hearing the noise, the friars
ran up, and, with the help of some laymen, seized his hands, to prevent
him from destroying it completely. But, although in time they offered to
give him double payment, he, on account of the hatred that he had
conceived for them, would never restore it. By reason of the reverence
felt by other painters both for him and for the work, they have refused
to finish it; and so it remains, even in our own day, as a memorial of
that event. This fresco is executed with such diligence and so much
love, and it is so beautiful in its freshness, that Francia may be said
to have worked better in fresco than any man of his time, and to have
blended and harmonized his paintings in fresco better than any other,
without needing to retouch the colours; wherefore he deserves to be much
extolled both for this and for his other works.
At Rovezzano, without the Porta alla Croce, near Florence, he painted a
shrine with a Christ on the Cross and some saints; and in S. Giovannino,
at the Porta a S. Piero Gattolini, he executed a Last Supper of the
Apostles in fresco.
No long time after, on the departure for France of the painter Andrea
del Sarto, who had begun to paint the stories of S. John the Baptist in
chiaroscuro in a cloister of the Company of the Scalzo at Florence, the
men of that Company, desiring to have that work finished, engaged
Francia, to the end that he, being an imitator of the manner of Andrea,
might complete the paintings begun by the other. Thereupon Francia
executed the decorations right round one part of that cloister, and
finished two of the scenes, which he painted with great diligence. These
are, first S. John the Baptist obtaining leave from his father Zacharias
to go into the desert, and then the meeting of Christ and S. John on the
way, with Joseph and Mary standing there and beholding them embrace one
another. But more than this he did not do, on account of the return of
Andrea, who then went on to finish the rest of the work.
With Ridolfo Ghirlandajo he prepared a most beautiful festival for the
marriage of Duke Lorenzo, with two sets of scenery for the dramas that
were performed, executing them with much method, masterly judgment, and
grace; on account of which he acquired credit and favour with that
Prince. This service was the reason that he received the commission for
gilding the ceiling of the Hall of Poggio a Caiano, in company with
Andrea di Cosimo. And afterwards, in competition with Andrea del Sarto
and Jacopo da Pontormo, he began, on a wall in that hall, the scene of
Cicero being carried in triumph by the citizens of Rome. This work had
been undertaken by the liberality of Pope Leo, in memory of his father
Lorenzo, who had caused the edifice to be built, and had ordained that
it should be painted with scenes from ancient history and other
ornaments according to his pleasure. And these had been entrusted by the
learned historian, M. Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, who was then chief
in authority near the person of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, to Andrea
del Sarto, Jacopo da Pontormo, and Franciabigio, that they might
demonstrate the power and perfection of their art in the work, each
receiving thirty crowns every month from the magnificent Ottaviano de'
Medici. Thereupon Francia executed on his part, to say nothing of the
beauty of the scene, some buildings in perspective, very well
proportioned. But the work remained unfinished on account of the death
of Leo; and afterwards, in the year 1532, it was begun again by Jacopo
da Pontormo at the commission of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, but he
lingered over it so long, that the Duke died and it was once more left
unfinished.
But to return to Francia; so ardent was his love for the matters of art,
that there was no summer day on which he did not draw some study of a
nude figure from the life in his work-room, and to that end he always
kept men in his pay. For S. Maria Nuova, at the request of Maestro
Andrea Pasquali, an excellent physician of Florence, he executed an
anatomical figure, in consequence of which he made a great advance in
the art of painting, and pursued it ever afterwards with more zeal. He
then painted in the Convent of S. Maria Novella, in the lunette over the
door of the library, a S. Thomas confuting the heretics with his
learning, a work which is executed with diligence and a good manner.
There, among other details, are two children who serve to uphold an
escutcheon in the ornamental border; and these are very fine, full of
the greatest beauty and grace, and painted in a most lovely manner.
He also executed a picture with little figures for Giovanni Maria
Benintendi, in competition with Jacopo da Pontormo, who painted another
of the same size for that patron, containing the story of the Magi; and
two others were painted by Francesco d' Albertino.[12] In his work
Francia represented the scene of David seeing Bathsheba in her bath; and
there he painted some women in a manner too smooth and dainty, and drew
a building in perspective, wherein is David giving letters to the
messengers, who are to carry them to the camp to the end that Uriah the
Hittite may meet his death; and under a loggia he painted a royal
banquet of great beauty. This work contributed greatly to the fame and
honour of Francia, who, if he had much ability for large figures, had
much more for little figures.
Francia also made many most beautiful portraits from life; one, in
particular, for Matteo Sofferroni, who was very much his friend, and
another for a countryman, the steward of Pier Francesco de' Medici at
the Palace of S. Girolamo da Fiesole, which seems absolutely alive, with
many others. And since he undertook any kind of work without being
ashamed, so long as he was pursuing his art, he set his hand to whatever
commission was given to him; wherefore, in addition to many works of the
meanest kind, he painted a most beautiful "Noli me tangere" for the
cloth-weaver Arcangelo, at the top of a tower that serves as a terrace,
in Porta Rossa; with an endless number of other trivial works, executed
by Francia because he was a person of sweet and kindly nature and very
obliging, of which there is no need to say more.
[Illustration: FRANCIABIGIO: PORTRAIT OF A MAN
(_Vienna: Collection of Prince Liechtenstein._ _Canvas_)]
This master loved to live in peace, and for that reason would never take
a wife; and he was always repeating the trite proverb, "The fruits of a
wife are cares and strife." He would never leave Florence, because,
having seen some works by Raffaello da Urbino, and feeling that he was
not equal to that great man and to many others of supreme renown, he did
not wish to compete with craftsmen of such rare excellence. In truth,
the greatest wisdom and prudence that a man can possess is to know
himself, and to refrain from exalting himself beyond his true worth.
And, finally, having acquired much by constant work, for one who was not
endowed by nature with much boldness of invention or with any powers
but those that he had gained by long study, he died in the year 1524 at
the age of forty-two.
One of Francia's disciples was his brother Agnolo, who died after having
painted a frieze that is in the cloister of S. Pancrazio, and a few
other works. The same Agnolo painted for the perfumer Ciano, an
eccentric man, but respected after his kind, a sign for his shop,
containing a gipsy woman telling the fortune of a lady in a very
graceful manner, which was the idea of Ciano, and not without mystic
meaning. Another who learnt to paint from the same master was Antonio di
Donnino Mazzieri, who was a bold draughtsman, and showed much invention
in making horses and landscapes. He painted in chiaroscuro the cloister
of S. Agostino at Monte Sansovino, executing therein scenes from the Old
Testament, which were much extolled. In the Vescovado of Arezzo he
painted the Chapel of S. Matteo, with a scene, among other things,
showing that Saint baptizing a King, in which he made a portrait of a
German, so good that it seems to be alive. For Francesco del Giocondo he
executed the story of the Martyrs in a chapel behind the choir of the
Servite Church in Florence; but in this he acquitted himself so badly,
that he lost all his credit and was reduced to undertaking any sort of
work.
Francia taught his art also to a young man named Visino, who, to judge
from what we see of him, would have become an excellent painter, if he
had not died young, as he did; and to many others, of whom I shall make
no further mention. He was buried by the Company of S. Giobbe in S.
Pancrazio, opposite to his own house, in the year 1525; and his death
was truly a great grief to all good craftsmen, seeing that he had been a
talented and skilful master, and very modest in his every action.
FOOTNOTE:
[12] Francesco Ubertini, called Il Bacchiacca.
MORTO DA FELTRO AND ANDREA DI COSIMO FELTRINI
LIVES OF MORTO DA FELTRO AND OF ANDREA DI COSIMO FELTRINI
PAINTERS
The painter Morto da Feltro, who was as original in his life as he was
in his brain and in the new fashion of grotesques that he made, which
caused him to be held in great estimation, found his way as a young man
to Rome at the time when Pinturicchio was painting the Papal apartments
for Alexander VI, with the loggie and lower rooms in the Great Tower of
the Castello di S. Angelo, and some of the upper apartments. He was a
melancholy person, and was constantly studying the antiquities; and
seeing among them sections of vaults and ranges of walls adorned with
grotesques, he liked these so much that he never ceased from examining
them. And so well did he grasp the methods of drawing foliage in the
ancient manner, that he was second to no man of his time in that
profession. He was never tired, indeed, of examining all that he could
find below the ground in Rome in the way of ancient grottoes, with
vaults innumerable. He spent many months in Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli,
drawing all the pavements and grottoes that are there, both above ground
and below. And hearing that at Pozzuolo, in the Kingdom of Naples, ten
miles from the city, there were many walls covered with ancient
grotesques, both executed in relief with stucco and painted, and said to
be very beautiful, he devoted several months to studying them on the
spot. Nor was he content until he had drawn every least thing in the
Campana, an ancient road in that place, full of antique sepulchres; and
he also drew many of the temples and grottoes, both above and below the
ground, at Trullo, near the seashore. He went to Baia and Mercato di
Sabbato, both places full of ruined buildings covered with scenes,
searching out everything in such a manner that by means of his long and
loving labour he grew vastly in power and knowledge of his art.
Having then returned to Rome, he worked there many months, giving his
attention to figures, since he considered that in that part of his
profession he was not the master that he was held to be in the execution
of grotesques. And after he had conceived this desire, hearing the
renown that Leonardo and Michelagnolo had in that art on account of the
cartoons executed by them in Florence, he set out straightway to go to
that city. But, after he had seen those works, he did not think himself
able to make the same improvement that he had made in his first
profession, and he went back, therefore, to work at his grotesques.
There was then living in Florence one Andrea di Cosimo Feltrini, a
painter of that city, and a young man of much diligence, who received
Morto into his house and entertained him with most affectionate
attentions. Finding pleasure in the nature of Morto's art, Andrea also
gave his mind to that vocation, and became an able master, being in time
even more excellent than Morto, and much esteemed in Florence, as will
be told later. And it was through Andrea that Morto came to paint for
Piero Soderini, who was then Gonfalonier, decorations of grotesques in
an apartment of the Palace, which were held to be very beautiful; but in
our own day these have been destroyed in rearranging the apartments of
Duke Cosimo, and repainted. For Maestro Valerio, a Servite friar, Morto
decorated the empty space on a chair-back, which was a most beautiful
work; and for Agnolo Doni, likewise, in a chamber, he executed many
pictures with a variety of bizarre grotesques. And since he also
delighted in figures, he painted Our Lady in some round pictures, in
order to see whether he could become as famous for them as he was (for
his grotesques).
Then, having grown weary of staying in Florence, he betook himself to
Venice; and attaching himself to Giorgione da Castelfranco, who was then
painting the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, he set himself to assist him and
executed the ornamentation of that work. And in this way he remained
many months in that city, attracted by the sensuous pleasures and
delights that he found there.
He then went to execute works in Friuli, but he had not been there long
when, finding that the rulers of Venice were enlisting soldiers, he
entered their service; and before he had had much experience of that
calling he was made Captain of two hundred men. The army of the
Venetians had advanced by that time to Zara in Sclavonia; and one day,
when a brisk skirmish took place, Morto, desiring to win a greater name
in that profession than he had gained in the art of painting, went
bravely forward, and, after fighting in the mêlée, was left dead on the
field, even as he had always been in name,[13] at the age of forty-five.
But in fame he will never be dead, because those who exercise their
hands in the arts and produce everlasting works, leaving memorials of
themselves after death, are destined never to suffer the death of their
labours, for writers, in their gratitude, bear witness to their talents.
Eagerly, therefore, should our craftsmen spur themselves on with
incessant study to such a goal as will ensure them an undying name both
through their own works and through the writings of others, since, by so
doing, they will gain eternal life both for themselves and for the works
that they leave behind them after death.
Morto restored the painting of grotesques in a manner more like the
ancient than was achieved by any other painter, and for this he deserves
infinite praise, in that it is after his example that they have been
brought in our own day, by the hands of Giovanni da Udine and other
craftsmen, to the great beauty and excellence that we see. For, although
the said Giovanni and others have carried them to absolute perfection,
it is none the less true that the chief praise is due to Morto, who was
the first to bring them to light and to devote his whole attention to
paintings of that kind, which are called grotesques because they were
found for the most part in the grottoes of the ruins of Rome; besides
which, every man knows that it is easy to make additions to anything
once it has been discovered.
The painting of grotesques was continued in Florence by Andrea Feltrini,
called Di Cosimo, because he was a disciple of Cosimo Rosselli in the
study of figures (which he executed passing well), as he was afterwards
of Morto in that of grotesques, of which we have spoken. In this kind
of painting Andrea had from nature such power of invention and such
grace that he was the first to make ornaments of greater grandeur,
abundance, and richness than the ancient, and quite different in manner;
and he gave them better order and cohesion, and enriched them with
figures, such as are not seen in Rome or in any other place but
Florence, where he executed a great number. In this respect there has
never been any man who has surpassed him in excellence, as may be seen
from the ornament and the predella painted with little grotesques in
colour round the Pietà that Pietro Perugino executed for the altar of
the Serristori in S. Croce at Florence. These are heightened with
various colours on a ground of red and black mixed together, and are
wrought with much facility and with extraordinary boldness and grace.
Andrea introduced the practice of covering the façades of houses and
palaces with an intonaco of lime mixed with the black of ground
charcoal, or rather, burnt straw, on which intonaco, when still fresh,
he spread a layer of white plaster. Then, having drawn the grotesques,
with such divisions as he desired, on some cartoons, he dusted them over
the intonaco, and proceeded to scratch it with an iron tool, in such a
way that his designs were traced over the whole façade by that tool;
after which, scraping away the white from the grounds of the grotesques,
he went on to shade them or to hatch a good design upon them with the
same iron tool. Finally, he went over the whole work, shading it with a
liquid water-colour like water tinted with black. All this produces a
very pleasing, rich, and beautiful effect; and there was an account of
the method in the twenty-sixth chapter, dealing with sgraffiti, in the
Treatise on Technique.
The first façades that Andrea executed in this manner were that of the
Gondi, which is full of delicacy and grace, in Borg' Ognissanti, and
that of Lanfredino Lanfredini, which is very ornate and rich in the
variety of its compartments, on the Lungarno between the Ponte S.
Trinita and the Ponte della Carraja, near S. Spirito. He also decorated
in sgraffito the house of Andrea and Tommaso Sertini, near S. Michele in
Piazza Padella, making it more varied and grander in manner than the
two others. He painted in chiaroscuro the façade of the Church of the
Servite Friars, for which work he caused the painter Tommaso di Stefano
to paint in two niches the Angel bringing the Annunciation to the
Virgin; and in the court, where there are the stories of S. Filippo and
of Our Lady painted by Andrea del Sarto, he executed between the two
doors a very beautiful escutcheon of Pope Leo X. And on the occasion of
the visit of that Pontiff to Florence he executed many beautiful
ornaments in the form of grotesques on the façade of S. Maria del Fiore,
for Jacopo Sansovino, who gave him his sister for wife. He executed the
baldachin under which the Pope walked, covering the upper part with most
beautiful grotesques, and the hangings round it with the arms of that
Pope and other devices of the Church; and this baldachin was afterwards
presented to the Church of S. Lorenzo in Florence, where it is still to
be seen. He also decorated many standards and banners for the visit of
Leo, and in honour of many who were made Chevaliers by that Pontiff and
by other Princes, of which there are some hung up in various churches in
that city.
Andrea, working constantly in the service of the house of Medici,
assisted at the preparations for the wedding of Duke Giuliano and that
of Duke Lorenzo, executing an abundance of various ornaments in the form
of grotesques; and so, also, in the obsequies of those Princes. In all
this he was largely employed by Franciabigio, Andrea del Sarto,
Pontormo, and Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, and by Granaccio for triumphal
processions and other festivals, since nothing good could be done
without him. He was the best man that ever touched a brush, and, being
timid by nature, he would never undertake any work on his own account,
because he was afraid of exacting the money for his labours. He
delighted to work the whole day long, and disliked annoyances of any
kind; for which reason he associated himself with the gilder Mariotto di
Francesco, one of the most able and skilful men at his work that ever
existed in the world of art, very adroit in obtaining commissions, and
most dexterous in exacting payments and doing business. This Mariotto
also brought the gilder Raffaello di Biagio into the partnership, and
the three worked together, sharing equally all the earnings of the
commissions that they executed; and this association lasted until death
parted them, Mariotto being the last to die.
To return to the works of Andrea; he decorated for Giovanni Maria
Benintendi all the ceilings of his house, and executed the ornamentation
of the ante-chambers, wherein are the scenes painted by Franciabigio and
Jacopo da Pontormo. He went with Franciabigio to Poggio, and executed in
terretta the ornaments for all the scenes there in such a way that there
is nothing better to be seen. For the Chevalier Guidotti he decorated in
sgraffito the façade of his house in the Via Larga, and he also executed
another of great beauty for Bartolommeo Panciatichi, on the house (now
belonging to Ruberto de' Ricci) which he built on the Piazza degli Agli.
Nor am I able to describe all the friezes, coffers, and strong-boxes, or
the vast quantity of ceilings, which Andrea decorated with his own hand,
for the whole city is full of these, and I must refrain from speaking of
them. But I must mention the round escutcheons of various kinds that he
made, for they were such that no wedding could take place without his
having his workshop besieged by one citizen or another; nor could any
kind of brocade, linen, or cloth of gold, with flowered patterns, ever
be woven, without his making the designs for them, and that with so much
variety, grace, and beauty, that he breathed spirit and life into all
such things. If Andrea, indeed, had known his own value, he would have
made a vast fortune; but it sufficed him to live in love with his art.
I must not omit to tell that in my youth, while in the service of Duke
Alessandro de' Medici, I was commissioned, when Charles V came to
Florence, to make the banners for the Castle, or rather, as it is called
at the present day, the Citadel; and among these was a standard of
crimson cloth, eighteen braccia wide at the staff and forty in length,
and surrounded by borders of gold containing the devices of the Emperor
Charles V and of the house of Medici, with the arms of his Majesty in
the centre. For this work, in which were used forty-five thousand leaves
of gold, I summoned to my assistance Andrea for the borders and Mariotto
for the gilding; and many things did I learn from that good Andrea, so
full of love and kindness for those who were studying art. And so great
did the skill of Andrea then prove to be, that, besides availing myself
of him for many details of the arches that were erected for the entry of
his Majesty, I chose him as my companion, together with Tribolo, when
Madama Margherita, daughter of Charles V, came to be married to Duke
Alessandro, in making the festive preparations that I executed in the
house of the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici on the Piazza di S. Marco,
which was adorned with grotesques by his hand, with statues by the hand
of Tribolo, and with figures and scenes by my hand. At the last he was
much employed for the obsequies of Duke Alessandro, and even more for
the marriage of Duke Cosimo, when all the devices in the courtyard,
described by M. Francesco Giambullari, who wrote an account of the
festivities of that wedding, were painted by Andrea with ornaments of
great variety. And then Andrea--who, by reason of a melancholy humour
which often oppressed him, was on many occasions on the point of taking
his own life, but was observed so closely and guarded so well by his
companion Mariotto that he lived to be an old man--finished the course
of his life at the age of sixty-four, leaving behind him the name of a
good and even rarely excellent master of grotesque-painting in our own
times, wherein every succeeding craftsman has always imitated his
manner, not only in Florence, but also in other places.
FOOTNOTE:
[13] From the word "Morto," which means "dead."
MARCO CALAVRESE
LIFE OF MARCO CALAVRESE
PAINTER
When the world possesses some great light in any science, every least
part is illuminated by its rays, some with greater brightness and some
with less; and the miracles that result are also greater or less
according to differences of air and place. Constantly, in truth, do we
see a particular country producing a particular kind of intellect fitted
for a particular kind of work, for which others are not fitted, nor can
they ever attain, whatever labours they may endure, to the goal of
supreme excellence. And if we marvel when we see growing in some
province a fruit that has not been wont to grow there, much more can we
rejoice in a man of fine intellect when we find him in a country where
men of the same bent are not usually born. Thus it was with the painter
Marco Calavrese, who, leaving his own country, chose for his habitation
the sweet and pleasant city of Naples. He had been minded, indeed, on
setting out, to make his way to Rome, and there to achieve the end that
rewards the student of painting; but the song of the Siren was so sweet
to him, and all the more because he delighted to play on the lute, and
the soft waters of Sebeto so melted his heart, that he remained a
prisoner in body of that land until he rendered up his spirit to Heaven
and his mortal flesh to earth.
Marco executed innumerable works in oils and in fresco, and he proved
himself more able than any other man who was practising the same art in
that country in his day. Of this we have proof in the work that he
executed at Aversa, ten miles distant from Naples; and, above all, in a
panel-picture in oils on the high-altar of the Church of S. Agostino,
with a large ornamental frame, and various pictures painted with scenes
and figures, in which he represented S. Augustine disputing with the
heretics, with stories of Christ and Saints in various attitudes both
above and at the sides. In this work, which shows a manner full of
harmony and drawing towards the good manner of our modern works, may
also be seen great beauty and facility of colouring; and it was one of
the many labours that he executed in that city and for various places in
the kingdom.
Marco always lived a gay life, enjoying every minute to the full, for
the reason that, having no rivalry to contend with in painting from
other craftsmen, he was always adored by the Neapolitan nobles, and
contrived to have himself rewarded for his works by ample payments. And
so, having come to the age of fifty-six, he ended his life after an
ordinary illness.
He left a disciple in Giovan Filippo Crescione, a painter of Naples, who
executed many pictures in company with his brother-in-law, Leonardo
Castellani, as he still does; but of these men, since they are alive and
in constant practice of their art, there is no need to make mention.
The pictures of Maestro Marco were executed by him between 1508 and
1542. He had a companion in another Calabrian (whose name I do not
know), who worked for a long time in Rome with Giovanni da Udine and
executed many works by himself in that city, particularly façades in
chiaroscuro. The same Calabrian also painted in fresco the Chapel of the
Conception in the Church of the Trinità, with much skill and diligence.
At this same time lived Niccola, commonly called by everyone Maestro
Cola dalla Matrice, who executed many works in Calabria, at Ascoli, and
at Norcia, which are very well known, and which gained for him the name
of a rare master--the best, indeed, that there had ever been in these
parts. And since he also gave his attention to architecture, all the
buildings that were erected in his day at Ascoli and throughout all that
province had him as architect. Cola, without caring to see Rome or to
change his country, remained always at Ascoli, living happily for some
time with his wife, a woman of good and honourable family, and endowed
with extraordinary nobility of spirit, as was proved when the strife of
parties arose at Ascoli, in the time of Pope Paul III. For then, while
she was flying with her husband, with many soldiers in pursuit, more on
her account (for she was a very beautiful young woman) than for any
other reason, she resolved, not seeing any other way in which she could
save her own honour and the life of her husband, to throw herself from a
high cliff to the depth below. At which all the soldiers believed that
she was not only mortally injured, but dashed to pieces, as indeed she
was; wherefore they left the husband without doing him any harm, and
returned to Ascoli. After the death of this extraordinary woman, worthy
of eternal praise, Maestro Cola passed the rest of his life with little
happiness. A short time afterwards, Signor Alessandro Vitelli, who had
become Lord of Matrice,[14] took Maestro Cola, now an old man, to Città
di Castello, where he caused him to paint in his palace many works in
fresco and many other pictures; which works finished, Maestro Cola
returned to finish his life at Matrice.
This master would have acquitted himself not otherwise than passing
well, if he had practised his art in places where rivalry and emulation
might have made him attend with more study to painting, and exercise the
beautiful intellect with which it is evident that he was endowed by
nature.
FOOTNOTE:
[14] Amatrice.
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI
LIFE OF FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI
[_PARMIGIANO_]
PAINTER OF PARMA
Among the many natives of Lombardy who have been endowed with the
gracious gift of design, with a lively spirit of invention, and with a
particular manner of making beautiful landscapes in their pictures, we
should rate as second to none, and even place before all the rest,
Francesco Mazzuoli of Parma, who was bountifully endowed by Heaven with
all those parts that are necessary to make a supreme painter, insomuch
that he gave to his figures, in addition to what has been said of many
others, a certain nobility, sweetness, and grace in the attitudes which
belonged to him alone. To his heads, likewise, it is evident that he
gave all the consideration that is needful; and his manner has therefore
been studied and imitated by innumerable painters, because he shed on
art a light of grace so pleasing, that his works will always be held in
great price, and himself honoured by all students of design. Would to
God that he had always pursued the studies of painting, and had not
sought to pry into the secrets of congealing mercury in order to become
richer than Nature and Heaven had made him; for then he would have been
without an equal, and truly unique in the art of painting, whereas, by
searching for that which he could never find, he wasted his time,
wronged his art, and did harm to his own life and fame.
Francesco was born at Parma in the year 1504, and because he lost his
father when he was still a child of tender age, he was left to the care
of two uncles, brothers of his father, and both painters, who brought
him up with the greatest lovingness, teaching him all those praiseworthy
ways that befit a Christian man and a good citizen. Then, having made
some little growth, he had no sooner taken pen in hand in order to learn
to write, than he began, spurred by Nature, who had consecrated him at
his birth to design, to draw most marvellous things; and the master who
was teaching him to write, noticing this and perceiving to what heights
the genius of the boy might in time attain, persuaded his uncles to let
him give his attention to design and painting. Whereupon, being men of
good judgment in matters of art, although they were old and painters of
no great fame, and recognizing that God and Nature had been the boy's
first masters, they did not fail to take the greatest pains to make him
learn to draw under the discipline of the best masters, to the end that
he might acquire a good manner. And coming by degrees to believe that he
had been born, so to speak, with brushes in his fingers, on the one hand
they urged him on, and on the other, fearing lest overmuch study might
perchance spoil his health, they would sometimes hold him back. Finally,
having come to the age of sixteen, and having already done miracles of
drawing, he painted a S. John baptizing Christ, of his own invention, on
a panel, which he executed in such a manner that even now whoever sees
it stands marvelling that such a work should have been painted so well
by a boy. This picture was placed in the Nunziata, the seat of the Frati
de' Zoccoli at Parma. Not content with this, however, Francesco resolved
to try his hand at working in fresco, and therefore painted a chapel in
S. Giovanni Evangelista, a house of Black Friars of S. Benedict; and
since he succeeded in that kind of work, he painted as many as seven.
But about that time Pope Leo X sent Signor Prospero Colonna with an army
to Parma, and the uncles of Francesco, fearing that he might perchance
lose time or be distracted, sent him in company with his cousin,
Girolamo Mazzuoli, another boy-painter, to Viadana, a place belonging to
the Duke of Mantua, where they lived all the time that the war lasted;
and there Francesco painted two panels in distemper. One of these, in
which are S. Francis receiving the Stigmata, and S. Chiara, was placed
in the Church of the Frati de' Zoccoli; and the other, which contains a
Marriage of S. Catharine, with many figures, was placed in S. Piero. And
let no one believe that these are works of a young beginner, for they
seem to be rather by the hand of a full-grown master.
The war finished, Francesco, having returned with his cousin to Parma,
first completed some pictures that he had left unfinished at his
departure, which are in the hands of various people. After this he
painted a panel-picture in oils of Our Lady with the Child in her arms,
with S. Jerome on one side and the Blessed Bernardino da Feltro on the
other, and in the head of one of these figures he made a portrait of the
patron of the picture, which is so wonderful that it lacks nothing save
the breath of life. All these works he executed before he had reached
the age of nineteen.
Then, having conceived a desire to see Rome, like one who was on the
path of progress and heard much praise given to the works of good
masters, and particularly to those of Raffaello and Michelagnolo, he
spoke out his mind and desire to his old uncles, who, thinking that such
a wish was not otherwise than worthy of praise, said that they were
content that he should go, but that it would be well for him to take
with him some work by his own hand, which might serve to introduce him
to the noblemen of that city and to the craftsmen of his profession.
This advice was not displeasing to Francesco, and he painted three
pictures, two small and one of some size, representing in the last the
Child in the arms of the Madonna, taking some fruits from the lap of an
Angel, and an old man with his arms covered with hair, executed with art
and judgment, and pleasing in colour. Besides this, in order to
investigate the subtleties of art, he set himself one day to make his
own portrait, looking at himself in a convex barber's mirror. And in
doing this, perceiving the bizarre effects produced by the roundness of
the mirror, which twists the beams of a ceiling into strange curves, and
makes the doors and other parts of buildings recede in an extraordinary
manner, the idea came to him to amuse himself by counterfeiting
everything. Thereupon he had a ball of wood made by a turner, and,
dividing it in half so as to make it the same in size and shape as the
mirror, set to work to counterfeit on it with supreme art all that he
saw in the glass, and particularly his own self, which he did with such
lifelike reality as could not be imagined or believed. Now everything
that is near the mirror is magnified, and all that is at a distance is
diminished, and thus he made the hand engaged in drawing somewhat
large, as the mirror showed it, and so marvellous that it seemed to be
his very own. And since Francesco had an air of great beauty, with a
face and aspect full of grace, in the likeness rather of an angel than
of a man, his image on that ball had the appearance of a thing divine.
So happily, indeed, did he succeed in the whole of this work, that the
painting was no less real than the reality, and in it were seen the
lustre of the glass, the reflection of every detail, and the lights and
shadows, all so true and natural, that nothing more could have been
looked for from the brain of man.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF S. CATHARINE
(_After the painting by =Francesco Mazzuoli [Parmigiano]=. Parma:
Gallery, 192_)
_Anderson_]
Having finished these works, which were held by his old uncles to be out
of the ordinary, and even considered by many other good judges of art to
be miracles of beauty, and having packed up both pictures and portrait,
he made his way to Rome, accompanied by one of the uncles. There, after
the Datary had seen the pictures and appraised them at their true worth,
the young man and his uncle were straightway introduced to Pope Clement,
who, seeing the works and the youthfulness of Francesco, was struck with
astonishment, and with him all his Court. And afterwards his Holiness,
having first shown him much favour, said that he wished to commission
him to paint the Hall of the Popes, in which Giovanni da Udine had
already decorated all the ceiling with stucco-work and painting. And so,
after presenting his pictures to the Pope, and receiving various gifts
and marks of favour in addition to his promises, Francesco, spurred by
the praise and glory that he heard bestowed upon him, and by the hope of
the profit that he might expect from so great a Pontiff, painted a most
beautiful picture of the Circumcision, which was held to be
extraordinary in invention on account of three most fanciful lights that
shone in the work; for the first figures were illuminated by the
radiance of the countenance of Christ, the second received their light
from others who were walking up some steps with burning torches in their
hands, bringing offerings for the sacrifice, and the last were revealed
and illuminated by the light of the dawn, which played upon a most
lovely landscape with a vast number of buildings. This picture finished,
he presented it to the Pope, who did not do with it what he had done
with the others; for he had given the picture of Our Lady to Cardinal
Ippolito de' Medici, his nephew, and the mirror-portrait to Messer
Pietro Aretino, the poet, who was in his service, but the picture of the
Circumcision he kept for himself; and it is believed that it came in
time into the possession of the Emperor. The mirror-portrait I remember
to have seen, when quite a young man, in the house of the same Messer
Pietro Aretino at Arezzo, where it was sought out as a choice work by
the strangers passing through that city. Afterwards it fell, I know not
how, into the hands of Valerio Vicentino, the crystal-engraver, and it
is now in the possession of Alessandro Vittoria, a sculptor in Venice,
the disciple of Jacopo Sansovino.
But to return to Francesco; while studying in Rome, he set himself to
examine all the ancient and modern works, both of sculpture and of
painting, that were in that city, but held those of Michelagnolo
Buonarroti and Raffaello da Urbino in supreme veneration beyond all the
others; and it was said afterwards that the spirit of that Raffaello had
passed into the body of Francesco, when men saw how excellent the young
man was in art, and how gentle and gracious in his ways, as was
Raffaello, and above all when it became known how much Francesco strove
to imitate him in everything, and particularly in painting. Nor was this
study in vain, for many little pictures that he painted in Rome, the
greater part of which afterwards came into the hands of Cardinal
Ippolito de' Medici, were truly marvellous; and even such is a round
picture with a very beautiful Annunciation, executed by him for Messer
Agnolo Cesis, which is now treasured as a rare work in the house of that
family. He painted a picture, likewise, of the Madonna with Christ, some
Angels, and a S. Joseph, which are beautiful to a marvel on account of
the expressions of the heads, the colouring, and the grace and diligence
with which they are seen to have been executed. This work was formerly
in the possession of Luigi Gaddi, and it must now be in the hands of his
heirs.
Hearing the fame of this master, Signor Lorenzo Cibo, Captain of the
Papal Guard, and a very handsome man, had a portrait of himself painted
by Francesco, who may be said to have made, not a portrait, but a living
figure of flesh and blood. Having then been commissioned to paint for
Madonna Maria Bufolini of Città di Castello a panel-picture which was
to be placed in S. Salvatore del Lauro, in a chapel near the door,
Francesco painted in it a Madonna in the sky, who is reading and has the
Child between her knees, and on the earth he made a figure of S. John,
kneeling on one knee in an attitude of extraordinary beauty, turning his
body, and pointing to the Infant Christ; and lying asleep on the ground,
in foreshortening, is a S. Jerome in Penitence.
But he was prevented from bringing this work to completion by the ruin
and sack of Rome in 1527, which was the reason not only that the arts
were banished for a time, but also that many craftsmen lost their lives.
And Francesco, also, came within a hair's breadth of losing his, seeing
that at the beginning of the sack he was so intent on his work, that,
when the soldiers were entering the houses, and some Germans were
already in his, he did not move from his painting for all the uproar
that they were making; but when they came upon him and saw him working,
they were so struck with astonishment at the work, that, like the
gentlemen that they must have been, they let him go on. And thus, while
the impious cruelty of those barbarous hordes was ruining the unhappy
city and all its treasures, both sacred and profane, without showing
respect to either God or man, Francesco was provided for and greatly
honoured by those Germans, and protected from all injury. All the
hardship that he suffered at that time was this, that he was forced, one
of them being a great lover of painting, to make a vast number of
drawings in water-colours and with the pen, which formed the payment of
his ransom. But afterwards, when these soldiers changed their quarters,
Francesco nearly came to an evil end, because, going to look for some
friends, he was made prisoner by other soldiers and compelled to pay as
ransom some few crowns that he possessed. Wherefore his uncle, grieved
by that and by the fact that this disaster had robbed Francesco of his
hopes of acquiring knowledge, honour, and profit, and seeing Rome almost
wholly in ruins and the Pope the prisoner of the Spaniards, determined
to take him back to Parma. And so he set Francesco on his way to his
native city, but himself remained for some days in Rome, where he
deposited the panel-picture painted for Madonna Maria Bufolini with the
Friars of the Pace, in whose refectory it remained for many years,
until finally it was taken by Messer Giulio Bufolini to the church of
his family in Città di Castello.
Having arrived in Bologna, and finding entertainment with many friends,
and particularly in the house of his most intimate friend, a saddler of
Parma, Francesco stayed some months in that city, where the life pleased
him, during which time he had some works engraved and printed in
chiaroscuro, among others the Beheading of S. Peter and S. Paul, and a
large figure of Diogenes. He also prepared many others, in order to have
them engraved on copper and printed, having with him for this purpose
one Maestro Antonio da Trento; but he did not carry this intention into
effect at the time, because he was forced to set his hand to executing
many pictures and other works for gentlemen of Bologna. The first
picture by his hand that was seen at Bologna was a S. Rocco of great
size in the Chapel of the Monsignori in S. Petronio; to which Saint he
gave a marvellous aspect, making him very beautiful in every part, and
conceiving him as somewhat relieved from the pain that the plague-sore
in the thigh gave him, which he shows by looking with uplifted head
towards Heaven in the act of thanking God, as good men do in spite of
the adversities that fall upon them. This work he executed for one
Fabrizio da Milano, of whom he painted a portrait from the waist upwards
in the picture, with the hands clasped, which seems to be alive; and
equally real, also, seems a dog that is there, with some landscapes
which are very beautiful, Francesco being particularly excellent in this
respect.
He then painted for Albio, a physician of Parma, a Conversion of S.
Paul, with many figures and a landscape, which was a very choice work.
And for his friend the saddler he executed another picture of
extraordinary beauty, containing a Madonna turned to one side in a
lovely attitude, and several other figures. He also painted a picture
for Count Giorgio Manzuoli, and two canvases in gouache, with some
little figures, all graceful and well executed, for Maestro Luca dai
Leuti.
One morning about this time, while Francesco was still in bed, the
aforesaid Antonio da Trento, who was living with him as his engraver,
opened a strong-box and robbed him of all the copper-plate engravings,
woodcuts, and drawings that he possessed; and he must have gone off to
the Devil, for all the news that was ever heard of him. The engravings
and woodcuts, indeed, Francesco recovered, for Antonio had left them
with a friend in Bologna, perchance with the intention of reclaiming
them at his convenience; but the drawings he was never able to get back.
Driven almost out of his mind by this, he returned to his painting, and
made a portrait, for the sake of money, of I know not what Count of
Bologna. After that he painted a picture of Our Lady, with a Christ who
is holding a globe of the world. The Madonna has a most beautiful
expression, and the Child is also very natural; for he always gave to
the faces of children a vivacious and truly childlike air, which yet
reveals that subtle and mischievous spirit that children often have. And
he attired the Madonna in a very unusual fashion, clothing her in a
garment that had sleeves of yellowish gauze, striped, as it were, with
gold, which gave a truly beautiful and graceful effect, revealing the
flesh in a natural and delicate manner; besides which, the hair is
painted so well that there is none better to be seen. This picture was
painted for Messer Pietro Aretino, but Francesco gave it to Pope
Clement, who came to Bologna at that time; then, in some way of which I
know nothing, it fell into the hands of Messer Dionigi Gianni, and it
now belongs to his son, Messer Bartolommeo, who has been so
accommodating with it that it has been copied fifty times, so much is it
prized.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS
(_After the panel by =Francesco Mazzuoli [Parmigiano]=. Bologna:
Accademia, 116_)
_Brogi_]
The same master painted for the Nuns of S. Margherita, in Bologna, a
panel-picture containing a Madonna, S. Margaret, S. Petronio, S. Jerome,
and S. Michael, which is held in vast veneration, as it deserves, since
in the expressions of the heads and in every other part it is as fine as
all the other works of this painter. He made many drawings, likewise,
and in particular some for Girolamo del Lino, and some for Girolamo
Fagiuoli, a goldsmith and engraver, who desired them for engraving on
copper; and these drawings are held to be full of grace. For Bonifazio
Gozzadino he painted his portrait from life, with one of his wife, which
remained unfinished. He also began a picture of Our Lady, which was
afterwards sold in Bologna to Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo, who has it in
the new house built by himself at Arezzo, together with many other
noble pictures, works of sculpture, and ancient marbles.
When the Emperor Charles V was at Bologna to be crowned by Clement VII,
Francesco, who went several times to see him at table, but without
drawing his portrait, made a likeness of that Emperor in a very large
picture in oils, wherein he painted Fame crowning him with laurel, and a
boy in the form of a little Hercules offering him a globe of the world,
giving him, as it were, the dominion over it. This work, when finished,
he showed to Pope Clement, who was so pleased with it that he sent it
and Francesco together, accompanied by the Bishop of Vasona, then
Datary, to the Emperor; at which his Majesty, to whom it gave much
satisfaction, hinted that it should be left with him. But Francesco,
being ill advised by an insincere or injudicious friend, refused to
leave it, saying that it was not finished; and so his Majesty did not
have it, and Francesco was not rewarded for it, as he certainly would
have been. This picture, having afterwards fallen into the hands of
Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, was presented by him to the Cardinal of
Mantua; and it is now in the guardaroba of the Duke of that city, with
many other most noble and beautiful pictures.
After having been so many years out of his native place, as we have
related, during which he had gained much experience in art, without
accumulating any store of riches, but only of friends, Francesco, in
order to satisfy his many friends and relatives, finally returned to
Parma. Arriving there, he was straightway commissioned to paint in
fresco a vault of some size in the Church of S. Maria della Steccata;
but since in front of that vault there was a flat arch which followed
the curve of the vaulting, making a sort of façade, he set to work first
on the arch, as being the easier, and painted therein six very beautiful
figures, two in colour and four in chiaroscuro. Between one figure and
another he made some most beautiful ornaments, surrounding certain
rosettes in relief, which he took it into his head to execute by himself
in copper, taking extraordinary pains over them.
At this same time he painted for the Chevalier Baiardo, a gentleman of
Parma and his intimate friend, a picture of a Cupid, who is fashioning
a bow with his own hand, and at his feet are seated two little boys,
one of whom catches the other by the arm and laughingly urges him to
touch Cupid with his finger, but he will not touch him, and shows by his
tears that he is afraid of burning himself at the fire of Love. This
picture, which is charming in colour, ingenious in invention, and
executed in that graceful manner of Francesco's that has been much
studied and imitated, as it still is, by craftsmen and by all who
delight in art, is now in the study of Signor Marc' Antonio Cavalca,
heir to the Chevalier Baiardo, together with many drawings of every kind
by the hand of the same master, all most beautiful and highly finished,
which he has collected. Even such are the many drawings, also by the
hand of Francesco, that are in our book; and particularly that of the
Beheading of S. Peter and S. Paul, of which, as has been related, he
published copper-plate engravings and woodcuts, while living in Bologna.
For the Church of S. Maria de' Servi he painted a panel-picture of Our
Lady with the Child asleep in her arms, and on one side some Angels, one
of whom has in his arms an urn of crystal, wherein there glitters a
Cross, at which the Madonna gazes in contemplation. This work remained
unfinished, because he was not well contented with it; and yet it is
much extolled, and a good example of his manner, so full of grace and
beauty.
Meanwhile Francesco began to abandon the work of the Steccata, or at
least to carry it on so slowly that it was evident that he was not in
earnest. And this happened because he had begun to study the problems of
alchemy, and had quite deserted his profession of painting, thinking
that he would become rich quicker by congealing mercury. Wherefore,
wearing out his brain, but not in imagining beautiful inventions and
executing them with brushes and colour-mixtures, he wasted his whole
time in handling charcoal, wood, glass vessels, and other suchlike
trumperies, which made him spend more in one day than he earned by a
week's work at the Chapel of the Steccata. Having no other means of
livelihood, and being yet compelled to live, he was wasting himself away
little by little with those furnaces; and what was worse, the men of the
Company of the Steccata, perceiving that he had completely abandoned
the work, and having perchance paid him more than his due, as is often
done, brought a suit against him. Thereupon, thinking it better to
withdraw, he fled by night with some friends to Casal Maggiore. And
there, having dispersed a little of the alchemy out of his head, he
painted a panel-picture for the Church of S. Stefano, of Our Lady in the
sky, with S. John the Baptist and S. Stephen below. Afterwards he
executed a picture, the last that he ever painted, of the Roman
Lucretia, which was a thing divine and one of the best that were ever
seen by his hand; but it has disappeared, however that may have
happened, so that no one knows where it is.
By his hand, also, is a picture of some nymphs, which is now in the
house of Messer Niccolò Bufolini at Città di Castello, and a child's
cradle, which was painted for Signora Angiola de' Rossi of Parma, wife
of Signor Alessandro Vitelli, and is likewise at Città di Castello.
In the end, having his mind still set on his alchemy, like every other
man who has once grown crazed over it, and changing from a dainty and
gentle person into an almost savage man with long and unkempt beard and
locks, a creature quite different from his other self, Francesco went
from bad to worse, became melancholy and eccentric, and was assailed by
a grievous fever and a cruel flux, which in a few days caused him to
pass to a better life. And in this way he found an end to the troubles
of this world, which was never known to him save as a place full of
annoyances and cares. He wished to be laid to rest in the Church of the
Servite Friars, called La Fontana, one mile distant from Casal Maggiore;
and he was buried naked, as he had directed, with a cross of cypress
upright on his breast. He finished the course of his life on the 24th of
August, in the year 1540, to the great loss of art on account of the
singular grace that his hands gave to the pictures that he painted.
Francesco delighted to play on the lute, and had a hand and a genius so
well suited to it that he was no less excellent in this than in
painting. It is certain that if he had not worked by caprice, and had
laid aside the follies of the alchemists, he would have been without a
doubt one of the rarest and most excellent painters of our age. I do not
deny that working at moments of fever-heat, and when one feels
inclined, may be the best plan. But I do blame a man for working little
or not at all, and for wasting all his time over cogitations, seeing
that the wish to arrive by trickery at a goal to which one cannot
attain, often brings it about that one loses what one knows in seeking
after that which it is not given to us to know. If Francesco, who had
from nature a spirit of great vivacity, with a beautiful and graceful
manner, had persisted in working every day, little by little he would
have made such proficience in art, that, even as he gave a beautiful,
gracious, and most charming expression to his heads, so he would have
surpassed his own self and the others in the solidity and perfect
excellence of his drawing.
He left behind him his cousin Girolamo Mazzuoli, who, with great credit
to himself, always imitated his manner, as is proved by the works by his
hand that are in Parma. At Viadana, also, whither he fled with Francesco
on account of the war, he painted, young as he was, a very beautiful
Annunciation on a little panel for S. Francesco, a seat of the Frati de'
Zoccoli; and he painted another for S. Maria ne' Borghi. For the
Conventual Friars of S. Francis at Parma he executed the panel-picture
of their high-altar, containing Joachim being driven from the Temple,
with many figures. And for S. Alessandro, a convent of nuns in that
city, he painted a panel with the Madonna in Heaven, the Infant Christ
presenting a palm to S. Giustina, and some Angels drawing back a piece
of drapery, with S. Alexander the Pope and S. Benedict. For the Church
of the Carmelite Friars he painted the panel-picture of their
high-altar, which is very beautiful, and for S. Sepolcro another
panel-picture of some size. In S. Giovanni Evangelista, a church of nuns
in the same city, are two panel-pictures by the hand of Girolamo, of no
little beauty, but not equal to the doors of the organ or to the picture
of the high-altar, in which is a most beautiful Transfiguration,
executed with much diligence. The same master has painted a
perspective-view in fresco in the refectory of those nuns, with a
picture in oils of the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles, and
fresco-paintings in the Chapel of the High-Altar in the Duomo. And for
Madama Margherita of Austria, Duchess of Parma, he has made a portrait
of the Prince Don Alessandro, her son, in full armour, with his sword
over a globe of the world, and an armed figure of Parma kneeling before
him.
In a chapel of the Steccata, at Parma, he has painted in fresco the
Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit, and on an arch similar to that which
his cousin Francesco painted he has executed six Sibyls, two in colour
and four in chiaroscuro; while in a niche opposite to that arch he has
painted the Nativity of Christ, with the Shepherds adoring Him, which is
a very beautiful picture, although it was left not quite finished. For
the high-altar of the Certosa, without Parma, he has painted a
panel-picture with the three Magi; a panel for S. Piero, an abbey of
Monks of S. Bernard, at Pavia; another for the Duomo of Mantua, at the
commission of the Cardinal; and yet another panel for S. Giovanni in the
same city, containing a Christ in a glory of light, surrounded by the
Apostles, with S. John, of whom He appears to be saying, "Sic eum volo
manere," etc.; while round this panel, in six large pictures, are the
miracles of the same S. John the Evangelist.
In the Church of the Frati Zoccolanti, on the left hand, there is a
large panel-picture of the Conversion of S. Paul, a very beautiful work,
by the hand of the same man. And for the high-altar of S. Benedetto in
Pollirone, a place twelve miles distant from Mantua, he has executed a
panel-picture of Christ in the Manger being adored by the Shepherds,
with Angels singing. He has also painted--but I do not know exactly at
what time--a most beautiful picture of five Loves, one of whom is
sleeping, and the others are despoiling him, one taking away his bow,
another his arrows, and the others his torch, which picture belongs to
the Lord Duke Ottavio, who holds it in great account by reason of the
excellence of Girolamo. This master has in no way fallen short of the
standard of his cousin Francesco, being a fine painter, gentle and
courteous beyond belief; and since he is still alive, there are seen
issuing from his brush other works of rare beauty, which he has
constantly in hand.
A close friend of the aforesaid Francesco Mazzuoli was Messer Vincenzio
Caccianimici, a gentleman of Bologna, who painted and strove to the best
of his power to imitate the manner of Francesco. This Vincenzio was a
very good colourist, so that the works which he executed for his own
pleasure, or to present to his friends and various noblemen, are truly
well worthy of praise; and such, in particular, is a panel-picture in
oils, containing the Beheading of S. John the Baptist, which is in the
chapel of his family in S. Petronio. This talented gentleman, by whose
hand are some very beautiful drawings in our book, died in the year
1542.
JACOPO PALMA AND LORENZO LOTTO
[Illustration: LORENZO LOTTO: THE TRIUMPH OF CHASTITY
(_Rome: Rospigliosi Gallery. Panel_)]
LIVES OF JACOPO PALMA
[_PALMA VECCHIO_]
AND LORENZO LOTTO
PAINTERS OF VENICE
So potent are mastery and excellence, even when seen in only one or two
works executed to perfection by a man in the art that he practises,
that, no matter how small these may be, craftsmen and judges of art are
forced to extol them, and writers are compelled to celebrate them and to
give praise to the craftsman who has made them; even as we are now about
to do for the Venetian Palma. This master, although not very eminent,
nor remarkable for perfection of painting, was nevertheless so careful
and diligent, and subjected himself so zealously to the labours of art,
that a certain proportion of his works, if not all, have something good
in them, in that they are close imitations of life and of the natural
appearance of men.
[Illustration: JACOPO PALMA (PALMA VECCHIO): S. BARBARA
(_Venice: S. Maria Formosa. Panel_)]
Palma was much more remarkable for his patience in harmonizing and
blending colours than for boldness of design, and he handled colour with
extraordinary grace and finish. This may be seen in Venice from many
pictures and portraits that he executed for various gentlemen; but of
these I shall say nothing more, since I propose to content myself with
making mention of some altar-pieces and of a head that I hold to be
marvellous, or rather, divine. One of the altar-pieces he painted for S.
Antonio, near Castello, at Venice, and another for S. Elena, near the
Lido, where the Monks of Monte Oliveto have their monastery. In the
latter, which is on the high-altar of that church, he painted the Magi
presenting their offerings to Christ, with a good number of figures,
among which are some heads truly worthy of praise, as also are the
draperies, executed with a beautiful flow of folds, which cover the
figures. Palma also painted a lifesize S. Barbara for the altar of the
Bombardieri in the Church of S. Maria Formosa, with two smaller figures
at the sides, S. Sebastian and S. Anthony; and the S. Barbara is one of
the best figures that this painter ever executed. The same master also
executed another altar-piece, in which is a Madonna in the sky, with S.
John below, for the Church of S. Moisè, near the Piazza di S. Marco. In
addition to this, Palma painted a most beautiful scene for the hall
wherein the men of the Scuola of S. Marco assemble, on the Piazza di SS.
Giovanni e Paolo, in emulation of those already executed by Giovanni
Bellini, Giovanni Mansueti, and other painters. In this scene is
depicted a ship which is bringing the body of S. Mark to Venice; and
there may be seen counterfeited by Palma a terrible tempest on the sea,
and some barques tossed and shaken by the fury of the winds, all
executed with much judgment and thoughtful care. The same may be said of
a group of figures in the air, and of the demons in various forms who
are blowing, after the manner of winds, against the barques, which,
driven by oars, and striving in various ways to break through the
dangers of the towering waves, are like to sink. In short, to tell the
truth, this work is of such a kind, and so beautiful in invention and in
other respects, that it seems almost impossible that brushes and
colours, employed by human hands, however excellent, should be able to
depict anything more true to reality or more natural; for in it may be
seen the fury of the winds, the strength and dexterity of the men, the
movements of the waves, the lightning-flashes of the heavens, the water
broken by the oars, and the oars bent by the waves and by the efforts of
the rowers. Why say more? I, for my part, do not remember to have ever
seen a more terrible painting than this, which is executed in such a
manner, and with such care in the invention, the drawing, and the
colouring, that the picture seems to quiver, as if all that is painted
therein were real. For this work Jacopo Palma deserves the greatest
praise, and the honour of being numbered among those who are masters of
art and who are able to express with facility in their pictures their
most sublime conceptions. For many painters, in difficult subjects of
that kind, achieve in the first sketch of their work, as though
guided by a sort of fire of inspiration, something of the good and a
certain measure of boldness; but afterwards, in finishing it, the
boldness vanishes, and nothing is left of the good that the first fire
produced. And this happens because very often, in finishing, they
consider the parts and not the whole of what they are executing, and
thus, growing cold in spirit, they come to lose their vein of boldness;
whereas Jacopo stood ever firm in the same intention and brought to
perfection his first conception, for which he received vast praise at
that time, as he always will.
[Illustration: S. SEBASTIAN
(_After the panel by =Jacopo Palma [Palma Vecchio]=. Venice: S. Maria
Formosa_)
_Anderson_]
But without a doubt, although the works of this master were many, and
all much esteemed, that one is better than all the others and truly
extraordinary in which he made his own portrait from life by looking at
himself in a mirror, with some camel-skins about him, and certain tufts
of hair, and all so lifelike that nothing better could be imagined. For
so much did the genius of Palma effect in this particular work, that he
made it quite miraculous and beautiful beyond belief, as all men
declare, the picture being seen almost every year at the Festival of the
Ascension. And, in truth, it well deserves to be celebrated, in point of
draughtsmanship, colouring, and mastery of art--in a word, on account of
its absolute perfection--beyond any other work whatsoever that had been
executed by any Venetian painter up to that time, since, besides other
things, there may be seen in the eyes a roundness so perfect, that
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelagnolo Buonarroti would not have done it in
any other way. But it is better to say nothing of the grace, the
dignity, and the other qualities that are to be seen in this portrait,
because it is not possible to say as much of its perfection as would
exhaust its merits. If Fate had decreed that Palma should die after this
work, he would have carried off with him the glory of having surpassed
all those whom we celebrate as our rarest and most divine intellects;
but the duration of his life, keeping him at work, brought it about
that, not maintaining the high beginning that he had made, he came to
deteriorate as much as most men had thought him destined to improve.
Finally, content that one or two supreme works should have cleared him
of some of the censure that the others had brought upon him, he died in
Venice at the age of forty-eight.
A friend and companion of Palma was Lorenzo Lotto, a painter of Venice,
who, after imitating for some time the manner of the Bellini, attached
himself to that of Giorgione, as is shown by many pictures and portraits
which are in the houses of gentlemen in Venice. In the house of Andrea
Odoni there is a portrait of him, which is very beautiful, by the hand
of Lorenzo. And in the house of Tommaso da Empoli, a Florentine, there
is a picture of the Nativity of Christ, painted as an effect of night,
which is one of great beauty, particularly because the splendour of
Christ is seen to illuminate the picture in a marvellous manner; and
there is the Madonna kneeling, with a portrait of Messer Marco Loredano
in a full-length figure that is adoring Christ. For the Carmelite Friars
the same master painted an altar-piece showing S. Nicholas in his
episcopal robes, poised in the air, with three Angels; below him are S.
Lucia and S. John, on high some clouds, and beneath these a most
beautiful landscape, with many little figures and animals in various
places. On one side is S. George on horseback, slaying the Dragon, and
at a little distance the Maiden, with a city not far away, and an arm of
the sea. For the Chapel of S. Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, in SS.
Giovanni e Paolo, Lorenzo executed an altar-piece containing the
first-named Saint seated with two priests in attendance, and many people
below.
[Illustration: THE GLORIFICATION OF S. NICHOLAS
(_After the painting by =Lorenzo Lotto=. Venice: S. Maria del Carmine_)
_Anderson_]
While this painter was still young, imitating partly the manner of the
Bellini and partly that of Giorgione, he painted an altar-piece, divided
into six pictures, for the high-altar of S. Domenico at Recanati. In the
central picture is the Madonna with the Child in her arms, giving the
habit, by the hands of an Angel, to S. Dominic, who is kneeling before
the Virgin; and in this picture are also two little boys, one playing on
a lute and the other on a rebeck. In the second picture are the Popes S.
Gregory and S. Urban; and in the third is S. Thomas Aquinas, with
another saint, who was Bishop of Recanati. Above these are the three
other pictures; and in the centre, above the Madonna, is a Dead Christ,
supported by an Angel, with His Mother kissing His arm, and S.
Magdalene. Over the picture of S. Gregory are S. Mary Magdalene and S.
Vincent; and in the third--namely, above the S. Thomas Aquinas--are S.
Gismondo and S. Catharine of Siena. In the predella, which is a
rare work painted with little figures, there is in the centre the
scene of S. Maria di Loreto being carried by the Angels from the regions
of Sclavonia to the place where it now stands. Of the two scenes that
are on either side of this, one shows S. Dominic preaching, the little
figures being the most graceful in the world, and the other Pope
Honorius confirming the Rule of S. Dominic. In the middle of this church
is a figure of S. Vincent, the Friar, executed in fresco by the hand of
the same master. And in the Church of S. Maria di Castelnuovo there is
an altar-piece in oils of the Transfiguration of Christ, with three
scenes painted with little figures in the predella--Christ leading the
Apostles to Mount Tabor, His Prayer in the Garden, and His Ascension
into Heaven.
[Illustration: ANDREA ODONI
(_After the painting by =Lorenzo Lotto=. Hampton Court Palace_)
_Mansell_]
After these works Lorenzo went to Ancona, at the very time when Mariano
da Perugia had finished a panel-picture, with a large ornamental frame,
for the high-altar of S. Agostino. This did not give much satisfaction;
and Lorenzo was commissioned to paint a picture, which is placed in the
middle of the same church, of Our Lady with the Child in her lap, and
two figures of Angels in the air, in foreshortening, crowning the
Virgin.
Finally, being now old, and having almost lost his voice, Lorenzo made
his way, after executing some other works of no great importance at
Ancona, to the Madonna of Loreto, where he had already painted an
altar-piece in oils, which is in a chapel at the right hand of the
entrance into the church. There, having resolved to finish his life in
the service of the Madonna, and to make that holy house his habitation,
he set his hand to executing scenes with figures one braccio or less in
height round the choir, over the seats of the priests. In one scene he
painted the Birth of Jesus Christ, and in another the Magi adoring Him.
Next came the Presentation to Simeon, and after that the Baptism of
Christ by John in the Jordan. There was also the Woman taken in Adultery
being led before Christ, and all these were executed with much grace.
Two other scenes, likewise, did he paint there, with an abundance of
figures; one of David causing a sacrifice to be offered, and in the
other was the Archangel Michael in combat with Lucifer, after having
driven him out of Heaven.
These works finished, no long time had passed when, even as he had lived
like a good citizen and a true Christian, so he died, rendering up his
soul to God his Master. These last years of his life he found full of
happiness and serenity of mind, and, what is more, we cannot but believe
that they gave him the earnest of the blessings of eternal life; which
might not have happened to him if at the end of his life he had been
wrapped up too closely in the things of this world, which, pressing too
heavily on those who put their whole trust in them, prevent them from
ever raising their minds to the true riches and the supreme blessedness
and felicity of the other life.
[Illustration: RONDINELLO (NICCOLÒ RONDINELLI): MADONNA AND CHILD
(_Paris: Louvre, 1159. Panel_)]
There also flourished in Romagna at this time the excellent painter
Rondinello, of whom we made some slight mention in the Life of Giovanni
Bellini, whose disciple he was, assisting him much in his works. This
Rondinello, after leaving Giovanni Bellini, laboured at his art to such
purpose, that, being very diligent, he executed many works worthy of
praise; of which we have witness in the panel-picture of the high-altar
in the Duomo at Forlì, showing Christ giving the Communion to the
Apostles, which he painted there with his own hand, executing it very
well. In the lunette above this picture he painted a Dead Christ, and in
the predella some scenes with little figures, finished with great
diligence, representing the actions of S. Helena, the mother of the
Emperor Constantine, in the finding of the Cross. He also painted a
single figure of S. Sebastian, which is very beautiful, in a picture in
the same church. For the altar of S. Maria Maddalena, in the Duomo of
Ravenna, he painted a panel-picture in oils containing the single figure
of that Saint; and below this, in a predella, he executed three scenes
with very graceful little figures. In one is Christ appearing to Mary
Magdalene in the form of a gardener, in another S. Peter leaving the
ship and walking over the water towards Christ, and between them the
Baptism of Jesus Christ; and all are very beautiful. For S. Giovanni
Evangelista, in the same city, he painted two panel-pictures, one with
that Saint consecrating the church, and in the other three martyrs, S.
Cantius, S. Cantianus, and S. Cantianilla, figures of great beauty. In
S. Apollinare, also in that city, are two pictures, highly extolled,
each with a single figure, S. John the Baptist and S. Sebastian.
And in the Church of the Spirito Santo there is a panel, likewise by his
hand, containing the Madonna placed between the Virgin Martyr S.
Catharine and S. Jerome. For S. Francesco, likewise, he painted two
panel-pictures, one of S. Catharine and S. Francis, and in the other Our
Lady with S. James the Apostle, S. Francis, and many figures. For S.
Domenico, in like manner, he executed two other panels, one of which,
containing the Madonna and many figures, is on the left hand of the
high-altar, and the other, a work of no little beauty, is on a wall of
the church. And for the Church of S. Niccolò, a convent of Friars of S.
Augustine, he painted another panel with S. Laurence and S. Francis. So
much was he commended for all these works, that during his lifetime he
was held in great account, not only in Ravenna but throughout all
Romagna. Rondinello lived to the age of sixty, and was buried in S.
Francesco at Ravenna.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS
(_After the painting by =Rondinello [Niccolò Rondinelli]=. Ravenna:
Accademia_)
_Alinari_]
This master left behind him Francesco da Cotignola, a painter likewise
held in estimation in that city, who painted many works; in particular,
for the high-altar of the Church of the Abbey of Classi in Ravenna, a
panel-picture of some size representing the Raising of Lazarus, with
many figures. There, opposite to that work, in the year 1548, Giorgio
Vasari executed for Don Romualdo da Verona, Abbot of that place, another
panel-picture containing the Deposition of Christ from the Cross, with a
large number of figures. Francesco also painted a panel-picture of the
Nativity of Christ, which is of great size, for S. Niccolò, and likewise
two panels, with various figures, for S. Sebastiano. For the Hospital of
S. Catarina he painted a panel-picture with Our Lady, S. Catharine, and
many other figures; and for S. Agata he painted a panel with Christ
Crucified, the Madonna at the foot of the Cross, and a good number of
other figures, for which he won praise. And for S. Apollinare, in the
same city, he executed three panel-pictures; one for the high-altar,
containing the Madonna, S. John the Baptist, and S. Apollinare, with S.
Jerome and other saints; another likewise of the Madonna, with S. Peter
and S. Catharine; and in the third and last Jesus Christ bearing His
Cross, but this he was not able to finish, being overtaken by death.
Francesco was a very pleasing colourist, but not so good a draughtsman
as Rondinello; yet he was held in no small estimation by the people of
Ravenna. He chose to be buried after his death in S. Apollinare, for
which he had painted the said figures, being content that his remains,
when he was dead, should lie at rest in the place for which he had
laboured when alive.
[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
(_After the panel by =Francesco da Cotignola=. Ravenna: Accademia_)
_Alinari_]
INDEX OF NAMES
OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME V
Agnolo, Andrea d' (Andrea del Sarto), _Life_, 85-120. 164, 194,
217-221, 231
Agnolo, Baccio d' (Baccio Baglioni), 91, 98, 102
Agnolo Bronzino, 127, 163
Agnolo di Cristofano, 223
Agnolo di Donnino, 38
Agostino Busto (Il Bambaja), 42, 43
Agostino Viniziano, 97
Aimo, Domenico (Bologna), 28
Albertinelli, Mariotto, 86, 212, 217
Albertino, Francesco d' (Francesco Ubertini, or Il Bacchiacca), 222
Alberto, Antonio, 13
Albrecht Dürer, 96
Alessandro Allori, 127
Alessandro Vittoria, 247
Alesso Baldovinetti, 88, 92
Alfonso Lombardi, _Life_, 131-136. 210
Allori, Alessandro, 127
Amalteo, Pomponio, 154, 155
Amico Aspertini, _Life_, 209-211. 125, 207-211
Andrea Contucci (Andrea Sansovino, or Andrea dal Monte Sansovino),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Andrea d' Agnolo (Andrea del Sarto), _Life_, 85-120. 164, 194,
217-221, 231
Andrea da Fiesole (Andrea Ferrucci), _Life_, 3-8. 11
Andrea dal Castagno (Andrea degli Impiccati), 116
Andrea dal Monte Sansovino (Andrea Sansovino, or Andrea Contucci),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Andrea degli Impiccati (Andrea dal Castagno), 116
Andrea del Sarto (Andrea d' Agnolo), _Life_, 85-120. 164, 194,
217-221, 231
Andrea della Robbia, 90
Andrea di Cosimo Feltrini, _Life_, 229-233. 221, 228
Andrea Ferrucci (Andrea da Fiesole), _Life_, 3-8. 11
Andrea Sansovino (Andrea Contucci, or Andrea dal Monte Sansovino),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Andrea Sguazzella, 100, 118
Andrea Verrocchio, 49, 50, 55
Anguisciuola, Sofonisba, 127, 128
Antonio Alberto, 13
Antonio da Carrara, 8
Antonio da San Gallo (the elder), 97
Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), 29, 43, 58, 72
Antonio da Trento (Antonio Fantuzzi), 249, 250
Antonio del Rozzo (Antonio del Tozzo), 73
Antonio di Donnino Mazzieri, 223
Antonio di Giorgio Marchissi, 4
Antonio di Giovanni (Solosmeo), 118
Antonio Fantuzzi (Antonio da Trento), 249, 250
Antonio Floriani, 148, 149
Antonio Mini, 165
Antonio Pollaiuolo, 21
Apelles, 14
Aretusi, Pellegrino degli (Pellegrino da Modena, or Pellegrino de'
Munari), _Life_, 80-81. 176
Aristotele (Sebastiano) da San Gallo, 97
Aspertini, Amico, _Life_, 209-211. 125, 207-211
Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini, or Francesco d' Albertino), 222
Baccio Baglioni (Baccio d' Agnolo), 91, 98, 102
Baccio Bandinelli, 5, 27, 36, 57, 96-98, 135
Baccio d' Agnolo (Baccio Baglioni), 91, 98, 102
Baccio da Montelupo, _Life_, 41-45. 97
Baccio della Porta (Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco), 159, 160, 194
Baglioni, Baccio (Baccio d' Agnolo), 91, 98, 102
Bagnacavallo, Bartolommeo da (Bartolommeo Ramenghi), _Life_, 207-209
Bagnacavallo, Giovan Battista da, 201
Baldassarre Peruzzi, _Life_, 63-74. 57, 63-74, 136, 170, 176, 208
Baldovinetti, Alesso, 88, 92
Bambaja, Il (Agostino Busto), 42, 43
Bandinelli, Baccio, 5, 27, 36, 57, 96-98, 135
Barbieri, Domenico del, 201
Barile, Gian (of Florence), 86
Bartolommeo da Bagnacavallo (Bartolommeo Ramenghi), _Life_, 207-209
Bartolommeo di San Marco, Fra (Baccio della Porta), 159, 160, 194
Bartolommeo Miniati, 201
Bartolommeo Neroni (Riccio), 73
Bartolommeo Ramenghi (Bartolommeo da Bagnacavallo), _Life_, 207-209
Bastianello Florigorio (Sebastiano Florigerio), 148
Battista, Martino di (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino da
Udine), 145-150
Battista Dossi, _Life_, 139-141
Battistino, 193, 194
Baviera, 194
Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Sodoma), 73
Beccafumi, Domenico (Domenico di Pace), 74, 153, 163
Belli, Valerio de' (Valerio Vicentino), 247
Bellini family, 262
Bellini, Giovanni, 145, 146, 260, 264
Bembo, Giovan Francesco (Giovan Francesco Vetraio), 180
Benedetto, 165
Benedetto da Ferrara (Benedetto Coda), 211, 212
Benedetto da Maiano, 5
Benedetto da Rovezzano, _Life_, 35-38
Benedetto Spadari, 195, 196
Benvenuto Cellini, 135
Bernardino del Lupino (Bernardino Luini), 60
Bernardino Pinturicchio, 227
Bernardo da Vercelli, 151
Bernardo del Buda (Bernardo Rosselli), 116
Bernazzano, Cesare, 141
Biagio, Raffaello di, 231, 232
Biagio Bolognese (Biagio Pupini), 208, 211
Bicci, Lorenzo di, 5
Boccaccino, Boccaccio, _Life_, 58-60
Boccaccino, Camillo, 59, 60
Boccalino, Giovanni (Giovanni Ribaldi), 29
Bologna (Domenico Aimo), 28
Bolognese, Biagio (Biagio Pupini), 208, 211
Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Colle), 140, 195, 196
Borgo, Santi Titi dal, 160
Boscoli, Maso, 6
Bramante da Urbino, 26, 28, 29, 65, 68, 69
Bronzino, Agnolo, 127, 163
Buda, Bernardo del (Bernardo Rosselli), 116
Buonaccorsi, Perino (Perino del Vaga), 7, 77-79, 153, 162
Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, 5, 6, 23, 43-45, 58, 86, 111, 117, 128,
135, 165, 190, 194, 228, 245, 247, 261
Busto, Agostino (Il Bambaja), 42, 43
Caccianimici, Francesco, 201
Caccianimici, Vincenzio, 255, 256
Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), 66, 133, 134, 152, 153
Calavrese, Marco (Marco Cardisco), _Life_, 237-239
Caldara, Polidoro (Polidoro da Caravaggio), _Life_, 175-185
Calzolaio, Sandrino del, 161, 165
Camillo Boccaccino, 59, 60
Capanna (of Siena), 74
Caraglio, Giovanni Jacopo, 194
Caravaggio, Polidoro da (Polidoro Caldara), _Life_, 175-185
Cardisco, Marco (Marco Calavrese), _Life_, 237-239
Carpi, Girolamo da (Girolamo da Ferrara), 154
Carrara, Antonio da, 8
Carrara, Danese da (Danese Cattaneo), 135
Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da Pontormo), 93, 98, 104, 118, 135, 190,
221, 222, 231, 232
Castagno, Andrea dal (Andrea degli Impiccati), 116
Castelfranco, Giorgione da, 149, 228, 262
Castellani, Leonardo, 238
Castrocaro, Gian Jacopo da, 50
Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), 135
Cellini, Benvenuto, 135
Cesare Bernazzano, 141
Cesare da Sesto (Cesare da Milano), 65, 141
Cicilia, Il, 8
Cimabue, Giovanni, 177
Cioli, Simone, 30
Claudio of Paris, 201
Coda, Benedetto (Benedetto da Ferrara), 211, 212
Cola dalla Matrice (Niccola Filotesio), 238, 239
Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), 140, 195, 196
Conte, Jacopo del, 119
Conti, Domenico, 115, 119
Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino, or Andrea dal Monte Sansovino),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Cosimo, Piero di, 86
Cosimo Rosselli, 88, 229
Cosimo, Silvio, 6-8
Cotignola, Francesco da (Francesco de' Zaganelli), _Life_, 265-266
Cotignola, Girolamo da (Girolamo Marchesi), _Life_, 211-212. 207
Credi, Lorenzo di, _Life_, 49-52. 159
Credi, Maestro, 49
Crescione, Giovan Filippo, 238
Cristofano, Agnolo di, 223
Cronaca, Il (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 22
Cuticello (Giovanni Antonio Licinio, or Pordenone), _Life_, 145-155
Danese da Carrara (Danese Cattaneo), 135
Della Robbia family, 22
Domenico Aimo (Bologna), 28
Domenico Beccafumi (Domenico di Pace), 74, 153, 163
Domenico Conti, 115, 119
Domenico dal Monte Sansovino, 30
Domenico del Barbieri, 201
Domenico di Pace (Domenico Beccafumi), 74, 153, 163
Domenico di Paris, 195
Domenico di Polo, 135
Domenico Puligo, 109
Donato (Donatello), 23
Donnino, Agnolo di, 38
Dossi, Battista, _Life_, 139-141
Dossi, Dosso, _Life_, 139-141
Dürer, Albrecht, 96
Fagiuoli, Girolamo, 250
Fantuzzi, Antonio (Antonio da Trento), 249, 250
Fattore, Il (Giovan Francesco Penni), _Life_, 77-80. 201
Feltrini, Andrea di Cosimo, _Life_, 229-233. 221, 228
Feltro, Morto da, _Life_, 227-229. 230
Ferrara, Benedetto da (Benedetto Coda), 211, 212
Ferrara, Girolamo da (Girolamo da Carpi), 154
Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 81
Ferrucci, Andrea (Andrea da Fiesole), _Life_, 3-8. 11
Ferrucci, Francesco di Simone, 3
Fiesole, Andrea da (Andrea Ferrucci), _Life_, 3-8. 11
Filippo Lippi (Filippino), 87
Filotesio, Niccola (Cola dalla Matrice), 238, 239
Floriani, Antonio, 148, 149
Floriani, Francesco, 148, 149
Florigorio, Bastianello (Sebastiano Florigerio), 148
Fontana, Prospero, 213
Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco (Baccio della Porta), 159, 160, 194
Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, 66
Francesco, Mariotto di, 231-233
Francesco Caccianimici, 201
Francesco d' Albertino (Francesco Ubertini, or Il Bacchiacca), 222
Francesco da Cotignola (Francesco de' Zaganelli), _Life_, 265-266
Francesco da San Gallo, 27
Francesco da Siena, 71, 73
Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco Salviati), 119
Francesco de' Zaganelli (Francesco da Cotignola), _Life_, 265-266
Francesco di Girolamo dal Prato, 135
Francesco di Mirozzo (Melozzo), 140
Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, 3
Francesco Floriani, 148, 149
Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio), 97, 98, 231
Francesco Mazzuoli (Parmigiano), _Life_, 243-256
Francesco of Orleans, 201
Francesco Primaticcio, 200, 201, 203
Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi), 119
Francesco Ubertini (Francesco d' Albertino, or Il Bacchiacca), 222
Franciabigio (Francia), _Life_, 217-223. 86-89, 91, 93, 101, 103,
104, 217-223, 231, 232
Francucci, Innocenzio (Innocenzio da Imola), _Life_, 212-213. 207, 209
Gaudenzio Ferrari, 81
Genga, Girolamo, 15, 16, 140
Gensio Liberale, 149
Ghirlandajo, Michele di Ridolfo, 165
Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 220, 231
Gian Barile (of Florence), 86
Gian Jacopo da Castrocaro, 50
Giannuzzi, Giulio Pippi de' (Giulio Romano), 55, 77-79, 108, 109, 195
Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari (Giorgio)
Giorgione da Castelfranco, 149, 228, 262
Giotto, 21
Giovan Battista da Bagnacavallo, 201
Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso), _Life_, 189-203. 97
Giovan Battista Grassi, 148
Giovan Battista Peloro, 73
Giovan Filippo Crescione, 238
Giovan Francesco Bembo (Giovan Francesco Vetraio), 180
Giovan Francesco Penni (Il Fattore), _Life_, 77-80. 201
Giovan Francesco Vetraio (Giovan Francesco Bembo), 180
Giovanni, Antonio di (Solosmeo), 118
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Sodoma), 73
Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, 196-198
Giovanni Antonio Licinio (Cuticello, or Pordenone), _Life_, 145-155
Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, _Life_, 159-166. 51
Giovanni Bellini, 145, 146, 260, 264
Giovanni Boccalino (Giovanni Ribaldi), 29
Giovanni Cimabue, 177
Giovanni da Nola, 137-139
Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Martini), 145-147
Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Nanni, or Giovanni Ricamatori), 77, 155,
175, 229, 238, 246
Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, 194
Giovanni Mangone, 5
Giovanni Mansueti, 260
Giovanni Martini (Giovanni da Udine), 145-147
Giovanni Nanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Giovanni Ricamatori), 77, 155,
175, 229, 238, 246
Giovanni Ribaldi (Giovanni Boccalino), 29
Giovanni Ricamatori (Giovanni da Udine, or Giovanni Nanni), 77, 155,
175, 229, 238, 246
Girolamo, 60
Girolamo da Carpi (Girolamo da Ferrara), 154
Girolamo da Cotignola (Girolamo Marchesi), _Life_, 211-212. 207
Girolamo da Ferrara (Girolamo da Carpi), 154
Girolamo da Treviso (Girolamo Trevigi), _Life_, 169-171. 68
Girolamo della Robbia, 90
Girolamo Fagiuoli, 250
Girolamo Genga, 15, 16, 140
Girolamo Lombardo, 24, 28-30
Girolamo Marchesi (Girolamo da Cotignola), _Life_, 211-212. 207
Girolamo Mazzuoli, 244, 245, 254, 255
Girolamo Santa Croce, _Life_, 137-138
Girolamo Trevigi (Girolamo da Treviso), _Life_, 169-171. 68
Giuliano da San Gallo, 97
Giuliano del Tasso, 97
Giuliano (di Niccolò Morelli), Maestro, 73
Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), 55, 77-79, 108, 109, 195
Granacci, Francesco (Il Granaccio), 97, 98, 231
Grassi, Giovan Battista, 148
Guazzetto, Il (Lorenzo Naldino), 201
Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini, or Francesco d' Albertino), 222
Il Bambaja (Agostino Busto), 42, 43
Il Cicilia, 8
Il Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 22
Il Fattore (Giovan Francesco Penni), _Life_, 77-80. 201
Il Granaccio (Francesco Granacci), 97, 98, 231
Il Guazzetto (Lorenzo Naldino), 201
Il Pistoia (Leonardo), 79, 80
Il Rosso (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), _Life_, 189-203. 97
Imola, Innocenzio da (Innocenzio Francucci), _Life_, 212-213. 207, 209
Impiccati, Andrea degli (Andrea dal Castagno), 116
Innocenzio da Imola (Innocenzio Francucci), _Life_, 212-213. 207, 209
Jacomo Melighino, 72, 73
Jacone (Jacopo), 119
Jacopo da Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci), 93, 98, 104, 118, 135, 190,
221, 222, 231, 232
Jacopo del Conte, 119
Jacopo di Sandro, 97
Jacopo Palma (Palma Vecchio), _Life_, 259-261
Jacopo Sansovino, 5, 31, 35, 36, 80, 88, 92, 93, 97, 98, 180, 218,
231, 247
Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, 196-198
Lattanzio Pagani, 212
Leonardo (Il Pistoia), 79, 80
Leonardo Castellani, 238
Leonardo da Vinci, 49, 50, 86, 228, 261
Leonardo del Tasso, 31
Leonardo the Fleming, 201
Liberale, Gensio, 149
Licinio, Giovanni Antonio (Cuticello, or Pordenone), _Life_, 145-155
Lippi, Filippo (Filippino), 87
Lombardi, Alfonso, _Life_, 131-136. 210
Lombardo, Girolamo, 24, 28-30
Lorenzetto (Lorenzo) Lotti, _Life_, 55-58
Lorenzo di Bicci, 5
Lorenzo di Credi, _Life_, 49-52. 159
Lorenzo Lotto, _Life_, 261-264
Lorenzo Naldino (Il Guazzetto), 201
Lorenzo of Picardy, 201
Lotti, Lorenzetto (Lorenzo), _Life_, 55-58
Lotto, Lorenzo, _Life_, 261-264
Luca della Robbia (the younger), 90
Luca Monverde, 147
Luca Penni, 79, 201
Lucrezia, Madonna, 127
Luini, Bernardino (Bernardino del Lupino), 60
Lunetti, Stefano (Stefano of Florence), 51
Lunetti, Tommaso di Stefano, 51, 52, 164, 231
Lupino, Bernardino del (Bernardino Luini), 60
Madonna Lucrezia, 127
Madonna Properzia de' Rossi, _Life_, 123-128
Maestro Credi, 49
Maestro Giuliano (di Niccolò Morelli), 73
Maiano, Benedetto da, 5
Maini (Marini), Michele, 3, 4
Mangone, Giovanni, 5
Mansueti, Giovanni, 260
Marchesi, Girolamo (Girolamo da Cotignola), _Life_, 211-212. 207
Marchissi, Antonio di Giorgio, 4
Marco Calavrese (Marco Cardisco), _Life_, 237-239
Mariano da Perugia, 263
Marini (Maini), Michele, 3, 4
Mariotto Albertinelli, 86, 212, 217
Mariotto di Francesco, 231-233
Martini, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine), 145-147
Martino da Udine (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino di
Battista), 145-150
Maso Boscoli, 6
Matrice, Cola dalla (Niccola Filotesio), 238, 239
Maturino, _Life_, 175-185
Mazzieri, Antonio di Donnino, 223
Mazzuoli, Francesco (Parmigiano), _Life_, 243-256
Mazzuoli, Girolamo, 244, 245, 254, 255
Melighino, Jacomo, 72, 73
Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 5, 6, 23, 43-45, 58, 86, 111, 117, 128,
135, 165, 190, 194, 228, 245, 247, 261
Michelagnolo da Siena, _Life_, 136-137. 69
Michele di Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 165
Michele Maini (Marini), 3, 4
Milano, Cesare da (Cesare da Sesto), 65, 141
Mini, Antonio, 165
Miniati, Bartolommeo, 201
Mirozzo (Melozzo), Francesco di, 140
Modena, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or Pellegrino de'
Munari), _Life_, 80-81. 176
Monte Sansovino, Andrea dal (Andrea Contucci, or Andrea Sansovino),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Monte Sansovino, Domenico dal, 30
Montelupo, Baccio da, _Life_, 41-45. 97
Montelupo, Raffaello da, _Life_, 41-45. 27, 119
Monverde, Luca, 147
Morelli, Maestro Giuliano di Niccolò, 73
Morto da Feltro, _Life_, 227-229. 230
Mosca, Simone, 44
Munari, Pellegrino de' (Pellegrino da Modena, or Pellegrino degli
Aretusi), _Life_, 80-81. 176
Naldino, Lorenzo (Il Guazzetto), 201
Nanni, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Giovanni Ricamatori), 77,
155, 175, 229, 238, 246
Nannoccio, 119
Neroni, Bartolommeo (Riccio), 73
Niccola Filotesio (Cola dalla Matrice), 238, 239
Niccolò (called Tribolo), 6, 28, 136, 233
Niccolò Rondinello (Rondinello da Ravenna), _Life_, 264-265. 266
Niccolò Soggi, 109, 110, 196
Nola, Giovanni da, 137-139
Pace, Domenico di (Domenico Beccafumi), 74, 153, 163
Pagani, Lattanzio, 212
Palma, Jacopo (Palma Vecchio), _Life_, 259-261
Paolo Romano, 57
Paris, Domenico di, 195
Parmigiano (Francesco Mazzuoli), _Life_, 243-256
Pellegrino da Modena (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or Pellegrino de'
Munari), _Life_, 80-81. 176
Pellegrino da San Daniele (Martino da Udine, or Martino di
Battista), 145-150
Peloro, Giovan Battista, 73
Penni, Giovan Francesco (Il Fattore), _Life_, 77-80. 201
Penni, Luca, 79, 201
Perino del Vaga (Perino Buonaccorsi), 7, 77-79, 153, 162
Perugia, Mariano da, 263
Perugino, Pietro (Pietro Vannucci), 49, 50, 87, 230
Peruzzi, Baldassarre, _Life_, 63-74. 57, 63-74, 136, 170, 176, 208
Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, 118, 119
Piero da Volterra, 64
Piero di Cosimo, 86
Pietrasanta, Stagio da, 162
Pietro Perugino (Pietro Vannucci), 49, 50, 87, 230
Pinturicchio, Bernardino, 227
Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del, 66
Pistoia, Il (Leonardo), 79, 80
Plautilla, 126
Poggini, Zanobi, 106
Poggino, Zanobi di, 165
Polidoro da Caravaggio (Polidoro Caldara), _Life_, 175-185
Pollaiuolo, Antonio, 21
Pollaiuolo, Simone del (Il Cronaca), 22
Polo, Domenico di, 135
Pomponio Amalteo, 154, 155
Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), 93, 98, 104, 118, 135, 190,
221, 222, 231, 232
Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio, or Cuticello), _Life_, 145-155
Porta, Baccio della (Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco), 159, 160, 194
Prato, Francesco di Girolamo dal, 135
Primaticcio, Francesco, 200, 201, 203
Properzia de' Rossi, Madonna, _Life_, 123-128
Prospero Fontana, 213
Puligo, Domenico, 109
Pupini, Biagio (Biagio Bolognese), 208, 211
Raffaello da Montelupo, _Life_, 41-45. 27, 119
Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello Sanzio), 11-15, 55, 56, 66, 72, 77-81,
107-109, 117, 126, 169, 175, 191, 194, 201, 207, 208, 213, 222,
245, 247
Raffaello dal Colle (Raffaello dal Borgo), 140, 195, 196
Raffaello di Biagio, 231, 232
Raffaello Sanzio (Raffaello da Urbino), 11-15, 55, 56, 66, 72, 77-81,
107-109, 117, 126, 169, 175, 191, 194, 201, 207, 208, 213, 222,
245, 247
Ramenghi, Bartolommeo (Bartolommeo da Bagnacavallo), _Life_, 207-209
Ravenna, Rondinello da (Niccolò Rondinello), _Life_, 264-265. 266
Ribaldi, Giovanni (Giovanni Boccalino), 29
Ricamatori, Giovanni (Giovanni Nanni, or Giovanni da Udine), 77,
155, 175, 229, 238, 246
Riccio (Bartolommeo Neroni), 73
Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 220, 231
Robbia, Andrea della, 90
Robbia, Girolamo della, 90
Robbia, Luca della (the younger), 90
Romano, Giulio (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), 55, 77-79, 108, 109, 195
Romano, Paolo, 57
Romano, Virgilio, 73
Rondinello, Niccolò (Rondinello da Ravenna), _Life_, 264-265. 266
Rosselli, Bernardo (Bernardo del Buda), 116
Rosselli, Cosimo, 88, 229
Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco Salviati), 119
Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il Rosso), _Life_, 189-203. 97
Rossi, Madonna Properzia de', _Life_, 123-128
Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), _Life_, 189-203. 97
Rovezzano, Benedetto da, _Life_, 35-38
Rozzo, Antonio del (Antonio del Tozzo), 73
Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), 119
San Daniele, Pellegrino da (Martino da Udine, or Martino di
Battista), 145-150
San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), 97
San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), 29, 43, 58, 72
San Gallo, Francesco da, 27
San Gallo, Giuliano da, 97
San Gallo, Sebastiano (Aristotele) da, 97
San Gimignano, Vincenzio da (Vincenzio Tamagni), _Life_, 11-17
San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di (Baccio della Porta), 159, 160, 194
Sandrino del Calzolaio, 161, 165
Sandro, Jacopo di, 97
Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, 118, 119
Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea dal Monte Sansovino, or Andrea Contucci),
_Life_, 21-31. 43, 88
Sansovino, Jacopo, 5, 31, 35, 36, 80, 88, 92, 93, 97, 98, 180, 218,
231, 247
Santa Croce, Girolamo, _Life_, 137-138
Santi Titi dal Borgo, 160
Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), 11-15, 55, 56, 66, 72,
77-81, 107-109, 117, 126, 169, 175, 191, 194, 201, 207, 208,
213, 222, 245, 247
Sarto, Andrea del (Andrea d' Agnolo), _Life_, 85-120. 164, 194,
217-221, 231
Schizzone, 12
Sebastiano (Aristotele) da San Gallo, 97
Sebastiano Florigerio (Bastianello Florigorio), 148
Sebastiano Serlio, 72
Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, Fra, 66
Serlio, Sebastiano, 72
Sesto, Cesare da (Cesare da Milano), 65, 141
Sguazzella, Andrea, 100, 118
Siena, Francesco da, 71, 73
Siena, Michelagnolo da, _Life_, 136-137. 69
Silvio Cosini, 6-8
Simone Cioli, 30
Simone del Pollaiuolo (Il Cronaca), 22
Simone Mosca, 44
Simone of Paris, 201
Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), 73
Sofonisba Anguisciuola, 127, 128
Soggi, Niccolò, 109, 110, 196
Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, _Life_, 159-166. 51
Solosmeo (Antonio di Giovanni), 118
Spadari, Benedetto, 195, 196
Stagio da Pietrasanta, 162
Stefano Lunetti (Stefano of Florence), 51
Tamagni, Vincenzio (Vincenzio da San Gimignano), _Life_, 11-17
Tasso, Giuliano del, 97
Tasso, Leonardo del, 31
Timoteo da Urbino (Timoteo della Vite), _Life_, 11-17
Titi dal Borgo, Santi, 160
Tiziano da Cadore (Tiziano Vecelli), 66, 133, 134, 152, 153
Tommaso di Stefano Lunetti, 51, 52, 164, 231
Tozzo, Antonio del (Antonio del Rozzo), 73
Trento, Antonio da (Antonio Fantuzzi), 249, 250
Treviso, Girolamo da (Girolamo Trevigi), _Life_, 169-171. 68
Tribolo (Niccolò), 6, 28, 136, 233
Ubertini, Francesco (Francesco d' Albertino, or Il Bacchiacca), 222
Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Martini), 145-147
Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Nanni, or Giovanni Ricamatori), 77, 155,
175, 229, 238, 246
Udine, Martino da (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino di Battista),
145-150
Urbino, Bramante da, 26, 28, 29, 65, 68, 69
Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), 11-15, 55, 56, 66, 72, 77-81,
107-109, 117, 126, 169, 175, 191, 194, 201, 207, 208, 213, 222,
245, 247
Urbino, Timoteo da (Timoteo della Vite), _Life_, 11-17
Vaga, Perino del (Perino Buonaccorsi), 7, 77-79, 153, 162
Valerio Vicentino (Valerio de' Belli), 247
Vannucci, Pietro (Pietro Perugino), 49, 50, 87, 230
Vasari, Giorgio--
as art-collector, 17, 22, 24, 38, 45, 49, 74, 77, 79, 104, 118,
126, 128, 165, 196, 197, 201, 209, 213, 219, 250-252, 256
as author, 3-5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 35, 45, 63,
66, 69, 73, 91, 96, 98, 108, 112, 114, 120, 126, 128, 132,
134, 135, 139, 145, 146, 148, 155, 177, 182, 185, 192, 194,
199, 201, 210-213, 223, 230, 232, 238, 247, 250, 251, 253-255,
259, 260, 264
as painter, 36, 80, 119, 135, 163, 232, 233, 265
as architect, 233, 250, 251
Vecchio, Palma (Jacopo Palma), _Life_, 259-261
Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), 66, 133, 134, 152, 153
Vercelli, Bernardo da, 151
Verrocchio, Andrea, 49, 50, 55
Vetraio, Giovan Francesco (Giovan Francesco Bembo), 180
Vicentino, Valerio (Valerio de' Belli), 247
Vincenzio Caccianimici, 255, 256
Vincenzio da San Gimignano (Vincenzio Tamagni), _Life_, 11-17
Vincenzio Tamagni (Vincenzio da San Gimignano), _Life_, 11-17
Vinci, Leonardo da, 49, 50, 86, 228, 261
Viniziano, Agostino, 97
Virgilio Romano, 73
Visino, 223
Vite, Timoteo della (Timoteo da Urbino), _Life_, 11-17
Vitruvius, 68, 71
Vittoria, Alessandro, 247
Volterra, Piero da, 64
Volterra, Zaccaria da, 45, 132
Zaccaria da Volterra, 45, 132
Zaganelli, Francesco de' (Francesco da Cotignola), _Life_, 265-266
Zanobi di Poggino, 165
Zanobi Poggini, 106
END OF VOL. V.
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