The History Of Painting In Italy Volume Ii Part 4

Pius IV., who resumed the work, on the suggestion of Vasari, in 1561, had intended to charge Salviati with the entire execution of it; but, by the intercessions of Bonarruoti, was at length prevailed on to a.s.sign one half of the apartment to Salviati, and the other half to Ricciarelli, though this did not contribute to expedite the work. Pirro Ligorio, a Neapolitan, was at this time held in high esteem by the Pope.

He was an antiquarian, though not of great celebrity, but a good architect, and a fresco painter of some merit;[59] an enthusiast too, and alike jealous of Ricciarelli, for the homage he paid to Bonarruoti, and of Salviati, for the respect which he did not shew to Ligorio himself. Remarking that the Pope wished to hasten the completion of the work, he proposed to select a number of scholars, and to divide the work amongst them. Vasari adds, that Salviati was disgusted and left Rome; where, on his return, he died, without finis.h.i.+ng his work; and that Ricciarelli, who was always slow, never touched it again, and died also after the lapse of some little time. The completion of the work was then entrusted, as far as possible, to the successors of Raffaello. Livio Agresti da Forli, Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, and Marco da Pino, of Sienna, although they had received their first instructions from other masters, had been instructed by Perino del Vaga, and had a.s.sisted in his cartoons. Taddeo Zuccaro had accomplished himself under Giacomone da Faenza, and had made his younger brother Federigo an able artist. To these the work was a.s.signed, and there were added to them Samacchini and Fiorini, Bolognese artists; and Giuseppe Porta della Garf.a.gnana, called Giuseppe Salviati. This latter had been the pupil of Francesco Salviati, from whom he learnt the principles of design; he was afterwards a follower of the school of Venice, where he resided. Of these numerous artists Vasari a.s.signs the palm to Taddeo Zuccaro, but the court was so much pleased with Porta, that it was in contemplation to destroy the works of the other artists, in order that the apartment might be finished by him alone. He represented Alexander III. in the act of bestowing his benediction on Frederick Barbarossa, in the Piazza of S.

Mark, in Venice; and he here indulged his taste for architectural ornaments, in the Venetian manner. When however this work is viewed and compared with that of other artists, we discover a sameness of style, the character of the time; a deficiency of strength in the colours and shadows is the common failing. It seems as if the art, through a long course of years, had become debilitated: it discovers the lineaments of a better age, but feebly expressed and deprived of their primitive vigour. That portion of the work which remained unfinished, was, after the death of Pius IV., completed by Vasari and his school, under his successor; and some little was supplied under Gregory XIII., who was elected in 1572.

With that year a reign commenced but little auspicious to art, and still less so was the Pontificate of Sixtus V., the successor of Gregory.

These Pontiffs erected or ornamented so many public buildings, that we can scarcely move a step in Rome, without meeting with the papal arms of a dragon or a lion. Baglione has accurately described them, and to him we are indebted for the lives of the artists of this and the following period. It is natural for men advanced in years to content themselves with mediocrity in the works which they order, from the apprehension of not living to see them, if they wait for the riper efforts of talent.

Hence those artists were the most esteemed, and the most employed, who possessed despatch and facility of execution, particularly by Sixtus, of whose severity towards dilatory artists we shall shortly adduce a memorable instance. This inaccuracy of style was continued to the time of Clement VIII., when a number of works were hastily finished to meet the opening of the holy year 1600. Under these pontiffs the painters of Italy, and even the _oltramontani_, inundated Rome with their works, in the same manner that the poets and philosophers had filled that city with their writings in the time of Domitian and Marcus Aurelius. Every one indulged his own taste; and the style of many was deteriorated through rapidity of execution. Thus the art, particularly in fresco, became the employment of a mechanic, not founded in the just imitation of nature, but in the capricious ideas of the artist.[60] Nor was the colouring better than the design. At no period do we find such an abuse of the simple tints, in none so feeble a chiaroscuro, or less harmony.

These are the mannerists, who peopled the churches, convents, and saloons of Rome with their works, but in the collections of the n.o.bility they have not had the same good fortune.

This era, nevertheless, is not wholly to be condemned, as it contains several great names, the relics of the preceding ill.u.s.trious age. We have enumerated the painters who flourished in Rome in the first reigns of this century, and we ought to notice a number of others. They were for the most part foreigners, and ought to be introduced in other schools. I shall here describe those particularly, who were born within the limits of the Roman School, and those who, being established in it, taught and propagated their own peculiar style.

Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, who adopted Raffaello's style, may be enumerated among the scholars of that great man, from his felicitous imitation of their common master. In the Sala de' Regi, in the Vatican, he painted Pepin, King of France, bestowing Ravenna on the church, after having made Astolfo, King of the Lombards, his prisoner. But he approached Raffaello more closely in some of his oil pictures than in his frescos, as in the martyrdom of S. Lucia, in the church of S. Maria Maggiore; in the Transfiguration in Ara Coeli, and in the Nativity in the church della Pace, a subject which he repeated in the most graceful style in the church of Osimo. His masterpiece is in Ancona on the great altar in the church of S. Bartolommeo, a vast composition, original and rich in invention, and commensurate with the grandeur of the subject, and the mult.i.tude of saints that are introduced in it. The throne of the Virgin is seen above, amidst a brilliant choir of angels, and on either side a virgin saint in the att.i.tude of adoration. To this height there is a beautiful ascent on each side, and the picture is thus divided into a higher and lower part, in the latter of which is the t.i.tular saint, a half naked figure vigorously coloured, together with S. Paul and two other saints, the whole in a truly Raffaellesque style. This altarpiece possesses so much harmony, and such a force of colour, that it is esteemed by some persons the best picture in the city. If any thing be wanting in it, it is perhaps a more correct observance of the perspective. Sermoneta did not paint many pictures for collections. He excelled in portrait painting.

A similar manner, though more laboured, and formed on the styles of Raffaello and Andrea del Sarto, was adopted by Scipione Pulzone da Gaeta, who was educated in the studio of Jacopino del Conte. He died young in his thirty-eighth year, but left behind him a great reputation, partly in the painting of portraits, of which he executed a great number for the popes and princes of his day, and with so much success, that by some he is called the Vand.y.k.e of the Roman School. He was a forerunner of Seybolt in the high finis.h.i.+ng of the hair, and in representing in the pupil of the eye the reflexion of the windows, and other objects as minute and exact as in real life. He also painted some pictures in the finest style, as the Crucifixion in the Vallicella, and the a.s.sumption in S. Silvestro at Monte Cavallo, a composition of chaste design, great beauty of colouring, and brilliant in effect. In the Borghese collection is a Holy Family by him, and in the gallery in Florence, a Christ praying in the garden; and in other places are to be found some of his cabinet pictures, deservedly held in high esteem.

Taddeo and Federigo Zuccaro have been called the Vasaris of this school; for as Vasari trod in the steps of Michelangiolo, so these artists professed to follow Raffaello. They were the sons of an indifferent painter of S. Angiolo in Vado, called Ottaviano Zuccaro, and came to Rome one after the other, and in the Roman state executed a vast number of works, some good, some indifferent, and others, when they allowed their pupils to take a share in them, absolutely bad. A salesman, who dealt in the pictures of these artists, was accustomed, like a retailer of merchandize, to ask his purchasers whether they wished for a Zuccaro of Holland, of France, or of Portugal; intimating by this that he possessed them of all qualities. Taddeo, who was the elder of the two, studied first under Pompeo da Fano, and afterwards with Giacomone da Faenza. From the latter and other good Italian artists, whom he a.s.siduously studied, he acquired sufficient talent to distinguish himself. He adopted a style which, though not very correct, was unconstrained and engaging, and very attractive to such as do not look for grandeur of design. He may be compared to that cla.s.s of orators who keep the attention of their hearers awake, not from the nature of their subject, but from the clearness of their language, and from their finding, or thinking they find, truth and nature in every word. His pictures may be called compositions of portraits; the heads are beautiful, the hands and feet not negligently painted, nor yet laboured, as in the Florentine manner; the dress and ornaments, and form of the beard, are agreeable to the times; the disposition is simple, and he often imitates the old painters in shewing on the canva.s.s only half figures in the foreground, as if they were on a lower plain. He often repeated the same countenance, and his own portrait. In his hands, feet, and the folds of his drapery, he is still less varied, and not unfrequently errs in his proportions.

In Rome are vast works of Taddeo, in fresco, and amongst the best may be ranked the history of the Evangelists, in the church of the Consolazione. He left few pictures in oil. There is a Pentecost by him in the church of the Spirito Santo in Urbino, which city also possesses some other of his works, though not in his best style. He is most pleasing in his small cabinet pictures, which are finished in the first style of excellence. One of the best of these, formerly possessed by the Duke of Urbino, is now in the collection of the n.o.ble family of Leopardi, in Osimo. It is a Nativity of our Lord, in Taddeo's best manner, but none of his productions have added so much to his celebrity as the pictures in the Farnese Palace of Caprarola, which were engraved by Preninner in 1748. They represent the civil and military history of the ill.u.s.trious family of the Farnesi. There occur also other subjects, sacred and profane, of which the most remarkable is the Stanza del Sonno, the subject of which was executed in a highly poetical manner, from the suggestions of Caro in a delightful letter, which was circulated among his friends, and is reprinted in the Lettere Pittoriche, (tom. iii. l. 99). Strangers who visit Caprarola, often return with a higher opinion of this artist than they carried with them.

It is true that a number of young artists, fully his equal, or perhaps superior to him, were employed there, both in conjunction with him and after his death, whose works ought not to be confounded with his, though it is not always easy to distinguish them. Like Raffaello, he died at the age of thirty-seven, and his monument is to be seen at the side of that ill.u.s.trious master in the Rotunda.

Federigo, his brother and scholar, resembled him in style, but was not equal to him in design, having more mannerism than Taddeo, being more addicted to ornament, and more crowded in his composition. He was engaged to finish in the Vatican, in the Farnese Palace, in the church of La Trinita de' Monti, and other places, the various works which his brother had left incomplete at his death; and he thus succeeded, as it were, to the inheritance of his own house. He had the reputation of possessing a n.o.ble style, and was invited by the Grand Duke Francis I.

to paint the great dome of the metropolitan church at Florence, which was commenced by Vasari, and left unfinished at his death. Federigo in that task designed more than three hundred figures, fifty feet in height, without mentioning that of Lucifer, so gigantic that the rest appeared like children, for so he informs us, adding, that they were the largest figures that the world had ever seen.[61] But there is little to admire in this work except the vastness of the conception,[62] and in the time of Pier da Cortona, there was an intention of engaging that artist to subst.i.tute for it a composition of his own, had not the apprehension that his life might not be long enough to finish it, frustrated the design. After the painting of this dome, every work on a large scale in Rome was a.s.signed to Federigo, and the Pope engaged him to paint the vault of the Paolina, and thus give the last touch to a work commenced by Michelangiolo. About this period, in order to revenge himself on some of the princ.i.p.al officers of the Pope who had treated him with indignity, he painted, and exposed to public view, an allegorical picture of Calumny,[63] in which he introduced the portraits of all those persons who had given him offence, representing them with a.s.ses' ears. His enemies, on this, made such complaints, that he was compelled to quit the dominions of the Pope. He therefore left Rome and visited Flanders, Holland, and England, and was afterwards invited to Venice to paint the submission of the Emperor Federigo Barbarossa to Pope Alexander III., in the Palazzo Pubblico, and he was there highly esteemed and constantly employed. The Pontiff being by this time appeased, Federigo returned to finish the work he had left imperfect, and which is perhaps the best of all he executed in Rome, without the a.s.sistance of his brother. The larger picture also of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and that of the Angels in the Gesu, and other of his works in various churches, are not deficient in merit. Federigo built for himself a house in the Monte Pincio, and decorated it with pictures in fresco, portraits of his own family, conversazioni, and many novel and strange subjects, which he painted with the a.s.sistance of his scholars, and at little expense; but on this occasion more than on any other, he appears an indifferent artist, and may be called the champion of mediocrity.

Federigo was afterwards invited to Madrid by Philip II.; but that monarch not being satisfied with his works, they were effaced, and their places supplied by Tibaldi, and he himself, with an adequate pension, was sent back to Italy. He undertook another journey late in life, visiting the princ.i.p.al cities of Italy, and leaving specimens of his art in every place where he was called to exercise his talents. One of the best of these is an a.s.sumption of the Virgin, in an Oratory of Rimino, on which he inscribed his name, and the Death of the Virgin, at S. Maria _in Ac.u.mine_, with some figures of the Apostles, more finished than usual with him. A simple and graceful style is observable in his Presepio, in the cathedral of Foligno, and in two pictures from the life of the Virgin, in a chapel of Loreto, painted for the Duke of Urbino.

The Cistercian monks, at Milan, possess two large pictures in their library on the Miracle della Neve, with a numerous a.s.semblage of figures, the countenances in his usual lively manner, the colouring varied and well preserved. In the Borromei college, in Pavia, is a saloon painted in fresco, with subjects from the life of S. Carlo. The most admired of these is the saint at prayer in his retirement; the other pieces, the Consistory in which was his chapel, and the Plague of Milan, would be much better, if the figures were fewer. He returned to Venice, where his great picture remained, and which had not been so much injured by time, as by a sarcasm of Boschini on certain sugar [_Zucchero_] of very poor quality lately imported into Venice, in consequence of which he retouched his work, and wrote on it, by way of a memorial, _Federicus Zuccarus f. an. sal. 1582, perfecit an. 1603_. It is one of his best works, copious, and, agreeably to Zanetti, beautiful and well sustained. He then went to Turin, where he painted a S. Paul, for the Jesuits, and began to ornament a gallery for Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy; and it was in that city that he first published _La idea de' Pittori, Scultori, e Architetti_, which he dedicated to the Duke. He afterwards returned into Lombardy, where he composed two other works, the one int.i.tled _La Dimora di Parma del Sig. Cav. Federigo Zuccaro_: the other, _Il Pa.s.saggio per Italia colla dimora di Parma del Sig. Cav.

Federigo Zuccaro_, both printed in Bologna, in 1608. In the following year, on his return to his native place, he fell sick in Ancona, where he died. Baglione admired the versatility of talent in this artist, which extended to sculpture and architecture; but more than all he admired his good fortune, in which he exceeded all his contemporaries.

This distinction he owed in a great measure to his personal qualities, to his n.o.ble presence, his encouragement of letters, his quality of attaching persons to him, and his liberality, which led him to expend in a generous manner the large sums he derived from his works.

He appears to have written with the intention of rivalling and excelling Vasari. Whatever was the cause, Vasari was disliked by him, as may be gathered from the notes to his Lives, occasionally cited by the annotator of the Roman edition; and is charged by him with spleen and malignity, particularly in the life of Taddeo Zuccaro. In order to excel Vasari, it seems he chose an abstruse mode of writing, in opposition to the plain style of that author. The whole work, printed in Turin, is involved in its design, and instead of precepts, contains speculative metaphysical opinions, which tend more to raise disputes than to convey information. The language is incongruous and affected, and even the very t.i.tles to the chapters are interwoven with many absurdities, as that of the 12th, _Che la filosofia e il filosofare e disegno Metaforico similitudinario_. This style may perhaps impose on the ignorant, but cannot deceive the learned.[64] The latter do not esteem a writer for pedantic expressions adopted from the Greek and Latin authors; but for a correct mode of definition, for an accuracy of a.n.a.lysis, for a sagacity in tracing effects to their true causes, and for a manner strictly adapted to the subject. These qualities are not to be found in the works of Federigo, where we find philosophical expressions mingled with puerile reflections, as in the etymology of the word _disegno_, which after much circ.u.mlocution, he informs us, owes its derivation to _Segno di Dio_; and instead of affording any instructive maxims to youth, he presents them with a ma.s.s of sterile and ill directed speculations.

Hence we may be said to derive more information from a single page of Vasari, than from this author's whole work. Both Mariette and Bottari have shewn the little esteem in which they held this work, by their correspondence, inserted in the 6th volume of the Lettere Pittoriche.

Nor are his other two works of greater utility, one of which contains some arguments in the same style, which are proposed as a theme for disputation in the Academy of the Innominati, in Parma.

It is generally thought that this treatise of Zuccaro was composed in Rome, where he presided in the Academy of S. Luke. That academy was inst.i.tuted in the pontificate of Gregory XIII., who signed the brief for its foundation at the instance of Muziano, as Baglione relates in the life of that artist. He further states, that when the ancient church of S. Luke, on the Esquiline, was demolished, the seat I believe of the society of painters, the church of S. Martina was allotted to them, at the foot of the Campidoglio. But this brief does not seem to have been used until the return of Zuccaro from Spain, as according to the same writer, it was he who put it in execution. And this must have occurred in 1595, if the year which was celebrated by the painters of S. Luke in 1695, was the true centenary of the Academy. But the origin of the inst.i.tution may be dated, agreeably to some persons, from the month of November, 1593, as mentioned by the Sig. Barone Vernazza, who, among the first promoters, or members, includes the Piedmontese Arbasia, on the relation of Romano Alberti. Baglione says that Federigo was declared president by common consent; and that that day was a sort of triumph to him, as he was accompanied on his return home by a company of artists and literary persons; and in a little time afterwards he a.s.signed a saloon in his own house for the use of the academy. He wrote both in poetry and in prose in the Academy of S. Luke, which is referred to more than once in his greater work. He evinced an extraordinary affection for this inst.i.tution, and according to the example of Muziano, he named it the heir of his estate, in the event of the extinction of his family. He was succeeded in the presidency by Laureti, and a series of eminent artists down to our own time. The sittings of the academy have now for a long time past been fixed in a house contiguous to the church of S.

Martina, which is decorated with the portraits and works of its members.

The picture of S. Luke, by Raffaello, is there religiously preserved, together with his own portrait; and there too is to be seen the skull of Raffaello, in a casket, the richest spoil ever won by death from the empire of art. Of this academy we shall speak further towards the conclusion of this third book. We will now return to Federigo.

The school of this artist received distinction from Pa.s.signano and other scholars, elsewhere mentioned by us. To these we may add Niccolo da Pesaro, who painted in the church of Ara Coeli; but whose best piece is a Last Supper in the church of the sacrament at Pesaro. It is a picture so well conceived and harmonized, and so rich in pictorial ornament, that Lazzarini has descanted on it in his lectures as one of the first of the city. It is said that Baroccio held this artist in great esteem.

Baglione commended him for his early works, but it must be confessed that he did not persevere in his first style, and fell into an insipid manner, whence he suffered both in reputation and fortune. Another artist of Pesaro, instructed by Zuccaro, was Gio. Giacomo Pandolfi, whose works are celebrated in his native city, and do not yield the palm to those of Federigo, as the picture of S. George and S. Carlo in the Duomo. He ornamented the whole chapel in the Nome di Dio, with a variety of subjects in fresco, from the Old and New Testament; but as he was then become infirm from age and the gout, they did not add much to his fame. His greatest merit was the instilling good principles into Simon Canterini, of whom, as well as of the Pesarese artists his followers, we shall write at large in the school of Bologna. One Paolo Cespede, a Spaniard, called in Rome Cedaspe, also received his education from Zuccaro. He commenced his career in Rome, and excited great expectations from some pictures in fresco, which are still to be seen at the church of Trinita de' Monti, and other places. He had adopted a natural style, and was in a way to rise in his profession, when he obtained an ecclesiastical benefice in his native country, and retired to reside upon it. Marco Tullio Montagna accompanied Federigo to Turin as an a.s.sistant; and a small picture of S. Saverio and other saints in a church of that city, generally attributed to the school of Zuccaro, is probably by him. He painted in Rome in the church of S. Niccolo in Carcere, in the vaults of the Vatican, and in many other places, in a tolerable style, but nothing more.

After the above named artists a crowd of contemporaries present themselves, more particularly those who had the direction of the works under Gregory XIII. The Sala de' Duchi was entrusted to Lorenzino of Bologna, who was invited to Rome from his native city, where he enjoyed the reputation of an excellent painter, and deservedly so, as we shall see in his place. He undertook the decoration of the gallery of the Vatican, which, from the vast size of that building, forms a boundless field of art. Niccol Circignani, or delle Pomarance, already mentioned in the first book, distributed the work amongst a number of young artists, who there painted historical subjects, landscapes, and arabesques. The Pope was desirous that the walls also should serve the cause of science, and ordered the compartments to be adorned with geographical delineations of ancient and modern Italy, a task which was a.s.signed to Padre Ign.a.z.io Danti, a Domenican, a mathematician and geographer of his court, and who was afterwards promoted to the bishopric of Alatri. Ign.a.z.io was born in Perugia, of a family devoted to the fine arts, and had two brothers, painters; Girolamo, of whom there remain some works in S. Pietro, on the model of Vasari; and Vincenzio, who in Rome a.s.sisted Ign.a.z.io, and there died, and was a good fresco painter. Another grand work was also undertaken about this time, which was the continuation of the gallery of Raffaello, in an arm of the building contiguous to it, where, in conformity to the plan of Raffaello, it was intended to paint four subjects in every arcade, all from the New Testament. Roncelli, the scholar of Circignano, our notice of whom we shall reserve to a subsequent epoch, was charged with the execution of this plan, but was himself subject to the direction of Padre Danti, experience having shewn that the entire abandonment of a design to the direction of practical artists is injurious to its execution, as there are few that, in the choice of inferior artists, are not governed by influence, avarice, or jealousy. The selection, therefore, was reserved to Danti, who to an excellent practical knowledge of the art of design, united moral qualities that insured success: and under his direction the whole work was regulated and conducted in such a manner, that the spirit of Raffaello seemed to be resuscitated in the precincts of the Vatican. But the hand was no longer the same, and the imbecility which was apparent in the new productions, when compared with the old, betrayed the decline of the art, though we occasionally meet with subjects by Tempesti, Raffaellino da Reggio, the younger Palma, and Girolamo Ma.s.sei, which reflect a ray of honour on the age.

Another superintendant of the works of the Vatican, but rather in architecture than in painting, was Girolamo Muziano da Brescia, who, undistinguished in his native place, came young to Rome, and was there considered the great supporter of true taste. He derived his principles both in design and colour from the Venetian School, and early acquired such skill in landscape, that he was named in Rome Il Giovane de' Paesi.

But he soon afterwards adopted a more elevated style, and devoted himself with such obstinate a.s.siduity to study, that he shaved his head in order to prevent himself from going out of the house. It was at this time that he painted the Raising of Lazarus, afterwards transferred from the church of S. Maria Maggiore to the Quirinal Palace; and which, when exposed to public view, immediately conciliated to him the esteem and protection of Bonarruoti. His pictures occur in various churches and palaces of Rome, and are often ornamented with landscapes in the style of t.i.tian. The church of the Carthusians possesses one of singular beauty. It represents a troop of Anch.o.r.ets attentively listening to a Saint. There is great elegance and good disposition in the picture of the Circ.u.mcision in the Gesu, and the Ascension in Ara Coeli displays an intimate knowledge of art. The picture too of S. Francis receiving the Stigmata, in the church of the Conception, is an enchanting piece, both as regards the figures and the landscape. Nor was he beneath himself in the pictures which he executed in the Duomo at Orvieto, which are highly commended by Vasari. The chapel of the Visitation in the Basilica Loretana, possesses three pictures by him, and that of the Probatica discovers great originality and expression. In the Duomo of Foligno, a picture by him in fresco, of the Miracles of S. Feliciano is pointed out, which was formerly hidden by dust, but was a few years ago restored in a wonderful manner to all its original freshness and charm of colour.

The figures of Muziano are accurately drawn, and we not unfrequently trace in them the anatomy of Michelangiolo. He excelled in painting military and foreign dresses; and above all, in representing hermits and anch.o.r.ets, men of severe aspects, whose bodies are attenuated by abstinence, and his style, in general, inclines rather to the dry than the florid. We are indebted to this artist for the engraving of the Trajan Column. Giulio Romano had begun to copy it, and the laborious undertaking was continued and perfected by Muziano, and so prepared for the engraver.

The most celebrated scholar of Muziano, was Cesare Nebbia of Orvieto. He presided over the works of Sixtus, entrusting the completion of his own designs to the younger painters. In this task he was a.s.sisted by Gio.

Guerra da Modena, who suggested to him the subjects, and apportioned the work among the scholars. Both the one and the other of these artists, was endowed with a facility which was essential to the vast works on which they were employed in the five years reign of Sixtus, in the chapel of S. Maria Maggiore, in the library of the Vatican itself, in the Quirinal and Lateran palaces, and at the Scala Santa, and many other places. But in other respects, Muziano left his scholars far behind, as he was possessed of a great and inventive genius, while Nebbia was more remarkable for the mechanism of his art; particularly when he decorated walls. There are, however, some beautiful and well coloured pictures by him; among which may be mentioned the Epiphany, in the church of S.

Francis at Viterbo, quite in Muziano's style. Baglione a.s.sociates with Nebbia Giovanni Paolo della Torre, a gentleman of Rome, who was raised by Girolamo above the rank of a mere dilettante. Taja too, adds Giacomo Stella da Brescia, who, he observes, had degenerated in some degree from the style of his master. He was employed, nevertheless, both in the gallery of Gregory XIII., and in other places, not without commendation.

It may be observed, that M. Bardon states him to have been a native of Lyons, long resident in Italy.

Another foreigner, but who came a considerable time after Muziano, was Raffaellino da Reggio, who, after being instructed in the first principles of the art by Lelio di Novellara, formed a master style in Rome. Nothing was wanting to this artist except a greater knowledge of design, as he possessed spirit, disposition, delicacy, relief, and grace; qualities not common in that age. His pictures in oil are occasionally, though not often, found in galleries, but his best works are his frescos of small figures, such as the two charming fables of Hercules, in the ducal hall at Florence, and the two gospel stories in the gallery adjoining to that of Raffaello d'Urbino. He painted also at Caprarola in compet.i.tion with the Zuccari, and Vecchi, and with such success, that his figures seem living, while those of his comrades are inanimate. This excellent artist died immaturely, greatly lamented, without leaving any pupil worthy of his name. He was however considered as the head of a school in Rome, and his works were studied by the youth of the academy. Many artists adopted his manner of fresco, particularly Paris Nogari of Rome, who left there numerous works, which are known for their peculiar manner; amongst others, some subjects in the gallery. He had another follower in Gio. Batista della Marca, of the family of Lombardelli, a young man of great natural talents, but which were rendered unavailing from his want of application. Many pictures in fres...o...b.. him remain in Perugia and in Rome, but the best are in Montenovo, his native place. None, however, approached so near to Raffaellino as Giambatista Pozzo, who also died young, and who, as far as regards ideal beauty, may be considered the Guido of his day. To be convinced of this it is only necessary to see the Choir of Angels, which he painted in the chapel of the Gesu. If he had survived to the time of the Caracci, it is impossible to say to what degree of perfection he might not have attained.

Tommaso Laureti, a Sicilian, already noticed with commendation by us among the scholars of F. Sebastiano, and deserving honourable mention among the professors of Bologna, was invited to Rome in the pontificate of Gregory XIII., and was entrusted with a work of an invidious nature.

This was the decoration of the ceiling and lunettes in the Hall of Constantine, the lower part of which had been ill.u.s.trated by the pencils of Giulio Romano and Perino. The subjects chosen by this master were intended to commemorate the piety of Constantine, idols subverted, the cross exalted, and provinces added to the church. Baglione informs us that Laureti was entertained by the Pope in his palace in a princely manner; and either from his natural indolence, or his reluctance to return to a laborious profession, procrastinated the work so much, that Gregory died, and Sixtus commenced his reign before it was completed.

The new pontiff was aware that the artist had abused the patience of his predecessor, and became so exasperated, that Laureti, in order to avert his wrath, proceeded in all haste to finish his labours. When the work however was exposed to public view, in the first year of the new pontificate, it was judged unworthy of the situation. The figures were too vast and heavy, the colouring crude, the forms vulgar. The best part of it was a temple in the ceiling, drawn in excellent perspective, in which art indeed Laureti may be considered as one of the first masters of his day. Misfortune was added to his disgrace; for he was not only not rewarded as he had expected, but the cost of his living and provisions were placed to his charge, even to the corn supplied to his horse. So that he gained no remuneration, and actually died in poverty in the succeeding pontificate. He had however an opportunity afforded him of redeeming his credit, particularly in the stories of Brutus and Horatius on the bridge, which he painted in the Campidoglio, in a much better style. Intimately acquainted with the theory of art, and possessing an agreeable manner of inculcating its principles, he taught at Rome with considerable applause. He had a scholar and a.s.sistant in the Vatican, in Antonio Scalvati, a Bolognese, who in the time of Sixtus was employed among the painters of the Library, and who was afterwards engaged in painting portraits under Clement VIII., Leo XI., and Paul V.; and was highly celebrated in this department.

A better fortune attended Gio. Batista Ricci da Novara, who arrived at Rome in the pontificate of Sixtus, and who from his despatch manifested in the works at the Scala Lateranense, and the Vatican Library, was immediately taken into employ by the Pope, who appointed him superintendant for the decorations of the palace of the Quirinal. He was also held in favour by Clement VIII., in whose time he painted in S.

Giovanni Laterano the history of the consecration of that church: and there, according to Baglione, he succeeded better than in any other place. He left not a few works in Rome, and elsewhere his pictures display a facility of pencil, and a brilliancy and elegance which attract the eye. He was born in a city into which Gaudenzio Ferrari had introduced the Raffaellesque style, and where Lanini, his son-in-law had practised it; but in whose hands it seemed to decline, and still more so under Ricci, when he came to Rome; so that his style was Raffaellesque reduced to mannerism, like that professed by Circignani, Nebbia, and others of this age.

Giuseppe Cesari, also called Il Cavaliere d'Arpino, is a name as celebrated among painters, as that of Marino among poets. These two individuals, each in his line, contributed to corrupt the taste of an age already depraved, and attached more to shew than to reality. Both the one and the other exhibited considerable talents, and it is an old observation, that the arts, like republican states, have received their subversion from master spirits. Cesari discovered great capacity from his infancy, and soon attracted the admiration of Danti, and obtained the protection of Gregory XIII., with the reputation of the first master in Rome. Some pictures painted in conjunction with Giacomo Rocca,[65]

from designs of Michelangiolo, (in which Giacomo was very rich,) established his reputation. So much talent was not required to secure him general applause, as the public of that day were chiefly attracted by the energy, fire, tumult, and crowds, that filled his composition.

His horses, which he drew in a masterly manner, and his countenances, which were painted with all the force of life, won the admiration of the many; while few attended to the incorrect design, the monotony of the extremities, the poverty of the drapery, the faulty perspective and chiaroscuro. Of these few however were Caravaggio, and Annibale Caracci.

With these he became involved in disputes, and challenges were mutually exchanged. Cesari refused the challenge of Caravaggio, as he was not a cavaliere, and Annibale declined that of the Cavaliere d'Arpino, alleging that the pencil was his proper weapon. Thus these two eminent professors met with no greater obstacle in Rome in their attempts to reform the art, than Cesari and his adherents.

The Cavaliere d'Arpino survived both these masters more than thirty years, and left behind him _progeniem vitiosiorem_. To conclude, he was born a painter, and in so vast and difficult an art, he had endowments sufficient to atone, in part, for his defects. His colouring in fresco was admirable, his imagination was fruitful and felicitous, his figures were animated, and possessed a charm that Baglione, who himself entertained very different principles, could not refrain from admiring.

Cesari moreover practised two distinct manners. The one, the most to be commended, is that in which he painted the Ascension, at S. Pra.s.sede, and several prophets, _di sotto in su_: the Madonna in the ceiling of S.

Giovanni Grisogono, which is remarkable for its fine colouring; the gallery of the Casa Orsini; and in the Campidoglio, the Birth of Romulus, and the battle of the Romans and the Sabines, a painting in fresco, preferred by some to all his other works. Others of his pictures may be added, particularly some smaller works, with lights in gold, exquisitely finished, as if they were by an entirely different artist.

Of this kind there is an Epiphany in possession of the Count Simonetti, in Osimo, and S. Francis in extacies, in the house of the Belmonti at Rimino. His other style was sufficiently free, but negligent, and this latter he used too frequently, partly through impatience of labour, and partly through old age, as may be seen in three other subjects in the Campidoglio, painted in the same saloon forty years after the first. His works are almost innumerable, not only in Rome, where he worked in the pontificates of Gregory and Sixtus, and where, under Clement VIII., he presided over the decorations in S. Gio. Laterano, and there continued under Paul V., but also in Naples, at Monte Casino, and in various cities of the Roman state, without mentioning the pictures sent to foreign courts, and painted for private individuals. For the latter indeed, and even for persons of inferior rank in life, he worked more willingly than for princes, with whom, like the Tigellius of Horace, he was capricious and morose. He was indeed desirous of being solicited by persons of rank, and often affected to neglect them, so much had the applause of a corrupted age flattered his vanity.

Cesari had many scholars and a.s.sistants, whom he more particularly employed in the works of the Lateran; as he did not deign in those times often to take up the pencil himself. Some of these pupils adopted his faults, and as they did not possess the same genius, their works proved intolerably bad. A vicious example, easy of imitation, is, as Horace has observed, highly seductive. There were however some of his school, who in part at least corrected themselves from the works of others. His brother, too, Bernardino Cesari, was an excellent copyist of the designs of Bonarruoti, and worked a.s.siduously under the Cav. Giuseppe, but little remains of him, as he died young. One Cesare Rossetti, a Roman, served under Arpino a longer time, and of him there are many works in his own name. There are also to be found some public memorials of Bernardino Parasole, who was cut off in the flower of his age. Guido Ubaldo Abatini of Citta di Castello, merited commendation from Pa.s.seri as a good fresco painter, particularly for a vault at the Vittoria.

Francesco Allegrini di Gubbio was a fresco painter, in design very much resembling his master, if we may judge from the cupola of the Sacrament in the Cathedral of Gubbio, and from another at the Madonna de' Bianchi.

We there observe the same attenuated proportions, and the same predominant facility of execution. He nevertheless shewed himself capable of better things, when his mind became matured, and he worked with more care. He is commended by Ratti for various works in fresco, executed at Savona, in the Duomo, and in the Casa Gavotti, and for others in the Casa Durazzo at Genoa; where one may particularly admire the freshness of the colouring, and the skill exhibited in his _sotto in su_. He is also commended by Baldinucci for similar works in the Casa Panfili, and merits praise for his smaller pieces and battles frequently found in Rome and Gubbio. He also added figures to the landscapes of Claude, two of which are to be seen, in the Colonna palace. He lived a long time in Rome, and his son Flaminio with him, commemorated by Taja for some works in the Vatican. Baglione has enumerated not a few other artists, in part belonging to the Roman state, and in part foreigners.

Donato of Formello (a fief of the dukes of Bracciano) had greatly improved on the style of Vasari his master, as is proved by his histories of S. Peter, in a staircase of the Vatican, particularly the one of the piece of money found in the fish's mouth. He died whilst yet young, and the art had real cause to lament his loss. Giuseppe Franco, also called _dalle Lodole_, in consequence of his painting a lark in one of his pieces in S. Maria in Via, and on other occasions, and Prospero Orsi, both Romans, had a share in the works prosecuted by Sixtus. When these were finished, the former repaired to Milan, where he remained some years; the latter, from painting historical subjects, pa.s.sed to arabesque, and from his singular talents in that line, was called Prosperino dalle Grottesche. Of the same place was Girolamo Nanni, deserving of particular mention, because, during all the time that he was engaged in these works, he never hurried himself, and to the directors who urged him to despatch, he answered always _poco e buono_, which expression was ever afterwards attached to him as a surname. He continued to work with the same study and devotion, as far as his talents would carry him, at S. Bartolommeo all'Isola, at S. Caterina de'

Funai, and in many other places: he was not however much distinguished, except for his great application. Of him however, and of Giuseppe Puglia, or Bastaro, and of Cesare Torelli, also Romans; and of Pasquale Cati da Jesi, an inexhaustible painter of that age, though somewhat affected, and of many professors, that are in fact forgotten in Rome itself, I have thought it my duty to give this short notice, as I had pledged myself to include a number of the second rate artists. It would be an endless task to enumerate here all the foreign artists. It may be sufficient to observe, that in the Vatican library more than a hundred artists, almost all foreigners, were employed. In the first book I have mentioned Gio. de' Vecchi, an eminent master, who, from the time of his works for the Farnese family, was considered a first rate artist; and the colony of painters, his fellow citizens, whom Raffaellino brought to Rome. In the same book we meet with t.i.ti, Naldini, Zucchi, Coscj, and a number of Florentines, and in the following book Matteo da Siena and some others of his school. Again, in the fourth book, Matteo da Leccio and Giuseppe Valeriani dell' Aquila will have place; and in the third volume will be described Palma the younger (amongst the Venetians) who worked in the gallery; about which time Salvator Fontana, a Venetian, painted at S. Maria Maggiore, whom it is sufficient to have named. We may also enumerate Nappi and Paroni of Milan, Croce of Bologna, Mainardi, Lavinia Fontana, and not a few others of various schools, who in those times painted in Rome, without ultimately remaining there, or leaving scholars.

A more circ.u.mstantial mention may be made of some _oltramontani_, who, in conjunction with our countrymen, were employed in the works in these pontificates; and it may be done with the more propriety, as we do not speak of them in any other part of our work. But those who worked in Rome were very numerous in every period, and it would be too much to attempt to enumerate them all in a history of Italian painting. One Arrigo, from Flanders, painted a Resurrection in the Sistine chapel, and also worked in fresco in other places in Rome; and is commended by Baglione as an excellent artist. Francesco da Castello, was also of Flanders, and of a more refined and correct taste. There is a picture by him at S. Rocco, with various saints; and it is perhaps the best piece the world possesses of him; but almost all his works were painted for the cabinet, and in miniature, in which he excelled. The Brilli we may include among the landscape painters.

The states of the church possessed in this epoch painters of consideration, besides those in Perugia, where flourished the two Alfani and others, followers of a good style; but whether they were known or employed in Rome, I am not able to say. I included them in the school of Pietro, in order that they might not be separated from the artists of Perugia, but they continued to live and to work for many years in the 16th century. To these may be added Piero and Serafino Cesarei,[66] and others of less note. In the city of a.s.sisi, there resided, in the beginning of the 16th century, a Francesco Vagnucci, and there remain some works by him in the spirit of the old masters. There, also, afterwards resided Cesare Sermei Cavaliere, who was born in Orvieto, and married in a.s.sisi, and lived there until 1600, when he died at the age of 84. He painted both there and in Perugia, and if not in a grand style of fresco, still with a felicity of design, with much spirit in his att.i.tudes, and with a vigorous pencil. He was a good machinist, and of great merit in his oil pictures. At Spello I saw a picture by him of the Beatified Andrea Caccioli; and it seems to me, that few other painters of the Roman School had at that time equalled him. His heirs, in a.s.sisi, possess some pictures by him of fairs, processions, and ceremonies which occur in that city on occasion of the Perdono; and the numbers and variety and grace of the small figures, the architecture, and the humour displayed, are very captivating. At Spello, just above mentioned, in the church of S. Giacomo, is a picture which represents that saint and S.

Catherine before the Madonna: where we read _Tandini Mevanatis_, 1580; that is, of Tandino di Bevagna, a place near a.s.sisi; nor is it a picture to be pa.s.sed over.

Gubbio possessed two painters, brothers of the family de' Nucci; Virgilio, who was said to be the scholar of Daniel di Volterra, whose Deposition he copied for an altar at S. Francis in Gubbio; and Benedetto, a disciple of Raffaellino del Colle, considered the best of the painters of Gubbio.[67] Both of them have left works in their native place, and in the neighbouring districts; the first of them always following the Florentine, and the second the Roman School. Of the latter there are many pictures at Gubbio, which shew the progress he had made in the style of Raffaello; and to see him in his best work, we must inspect his S. Thomas in the Duomo, which would be taken for a picture of Garofalo, or some such artist, if we were not acquainted with the master. A little time afterwards flourished Felice Damiani, or Felice da Gubbio, who is said to have studied in the Venetian School. The Circ.u.mcision at S. Domenico has certainly a good deal of that style; but in pencil he inclines more to the Roman taste, which he, perhaps, derived from Benedetto Nucci. The Decollation of St. Paul, at the Castel Nuovo, in Recanati, is by him: the att.i.tude of the saint excites our sympathy: the spectators are represented in various att.i.tudes, all appropriate and animated: the drawing is correct, and the colours vivid and harmonious. It is inscribed with the year 1584. About ten years afterwards, he painted two chapels at the Madonna de' Lumi, at S.

Severino, with subjects from the life of Christ; and there likewise displayed more elegance than grandeur of style. His most studied and powerful work is at S. Agostino di Gubbio, the Baptism of the Saint, painted in 1594, a picture abounding in figures, and which surprises by the novelty of the attire, by its correct architecture, and by the air of devotion exhibited in the countenances. He received for this picture two hundred scudi, by no means a low price in those times; and it should seem that his work was regulated by the price, since in some other pictures, and particularly in one in 1604, he is exceedingly negligent.

Federigo Brunori, called also Brunorini, issued, it is said, from his school, and still more decidedly than his master, followed the Venetian style. His portraits are natural; and he was a lover of foreign drapery, and coloured with a strong effect. The Bianchi have an Ecce h.o.m.o by him, in which the figures are small, but boldly expressed, and shew that he had profited from the engravings of Albert Durer. Pierangiolo Basilj, instructed by Damiani, and also by Roncalli, partakes of their more delicate manner. His frescos, in the choir of S. Ubaldo, are held in esteem; and at S. Marziale, there is by him a Christ preaching, with a beautiful portico in perspective, and a great number of auditors: the figures in this are also small, and such as are seen in the compositions of Albert Durer. The pictures appear to be painted in compet.i.tion.

Brunori displays more energy, Basilj more variety and grace.

In the former edition of this work I made mention of Castel Durante, now Urbania, in the state of Urbino. I noticed Luzio Dolce among the ancient painters, of whom I had at that time seen no performance, except an indifferent picture, in the country church of Cagli, in 1536. Since that period Colucci has published (tom. xxvii.) a _Cronaca di Castel Durante_, wherein he gives a full account of Luzio, and of others that belong to that place. Bernardino, his grandfather, and Ottaviano, his father, excelled in stucco, and had exercised their art in other places; and he himself, who was living in 1589, is commended for his altarpieces and other pictures, in the churches, both in his native city and other places: and further, it is stated that he was employed by the duke to paint at the Imperiale. He also makes honourable mention of a brother of Luzio, and extols Giustino Episcopio, called formerly de' Salvolini, who, in conjunction with Luzio, painted in the abbey the picture of the Spirito Santo, and the other pictures around it. He also executed many other works by himself in Castel Durante and elsewhere, and in Rome as well, where he studied and resided for a considerable time. It is probable that Luzio was, in the latter part of his life, a.s.sisted by Agostino Apolonio, who was his sister's son, married in S. Angelo in Vado, and who removed and settled in Castel Durante where he executed works both in stucco and in oils, particularly at S. Francesco, and succeeded alike to the business and the property of his maternal uncle.

At Fratta, which is also in the state of Urbino, there died young, one Flori, of whom scarcely any thing remains, except the Supper of our Lord, at S. Bernardino. But this picture is composed in the manner of the best period of art, and deserves commemoration. Not far from thence is Citta di Castello, where, in the days of Vasari, flourished Gio.

Batista della Bilia, a fresco painter, and another Gio. Batista, employed in the Palazzo Vitelli, (tom. v. p. 131). I know not whether it was from him, or some other artist, that Avanzino Nucci had his first instructions, who repairing to Rome, designed after the best examples, and was a scholar and fellow labourer in many of the works of Niccolo Circignano. He had a share in almost all the works under Sixtus, and executed many others, in various churches and palaces. He possessed facility and despatch, and a style not very dissimilar to that of his master, though inferior in grandeur. He resided some time in Naples, and worked also in his native place. There is a picture by him, of the Slaughter of the Innocents, at S. Silvestro di Fabriano. Somewhat later than he, was Sguazzino, noticed by Orlandi for the pictures painted at the Gesu in Perugia; though he left better works in Citta di Castello, as the S. Angelo, in the Duomo; and the lunettes, containing various histories of our Lady, at the Spirito Santo, besides others in various churches. He was not very correct in his drawing, but had a despatch and a contrast of colours, and a general effect that ent.i.tled him to approbation.

Another considerable painter, though less known, was Gaspare Gasparrini, of Macerata. He was of n.o.ble birth, and followed the art through predilection, and painted both in fresco and oils. From the information which I received from Macerata,[68] it seems he learned to paint from Girolamo di Sermoneta.[69] However this may be, Gasparrini pursued a similar path, although his manner is not so finished, if we may judge from the two chapels at S. Venanzio di Fabriano, in one of which is the Last Supper, and in the other the Baptism of Christ. Other subjects are added on the side walls, and the best is that of S. Peter and S. John healing the Sick, a charming composition, in the style of Raffaello. We find by him, in his native place, a picture of the Stigmata, at the Conventuals, and some cabinet pictures, in the collection of the Signori Ferri, relations of the family of Gaspare. Others too are to be found, but either doubtful in themselves, or injured by retouching. Padre Civalli M. C., who wrote at the close of the sixteenth century, mentions this master with high commendation, as may be seen on reference to the _Antichita Picene_, tom. xxv. In a recent description of the pictures at Ascoli, I find that a Sebastian Gasparrini, of Macerata, a scholar of the Cav. Pomaranci, decorated a chapel of S. Biagio in that city with historical paintings in fresco. But it is probable that this may be Giuseppe Bastiani, the scholar of Gasparrini. Another chapel at the Carmelites in Macerata, contains many pictures by him, with the date of 1594.

Of Marcantonio di Tolentino, mentioned by Borghini in his account of the Tuscan artists, and after him by Colucci (tom. xxv. p. 80), I do not know whether or not he returned to practise his art in his native country. In Caldarola, in the territory of Macerata, flourished a Durante de' n.o.bili, a painter who formed himself on the style of Michelangiolo. A picture of a Madonna by him is to be seen in Ascoli, at S. Pier di Castello, on which he inscribed his name and country, and the year 1571. From another school I believe arose a Simon de Magistris, a painter as well as sculptor, who left many works in the province. One of his pictures of S. Philip and S. James, in the Duomo of Osimo, in 1585, discovers a poverty in the composition, and little felicity of execution; but he appears to greater advantage, at a more advanced period of life, in the works he left at Ascoli. There is one, of the Rosario, at S. Domenico, where Orsini found much to commend in the arrangement of the figures, in the design, and in the colouring. There is another, of the same subject, at S. Rocco, which is preferred to the former, except for the shortness of the figures, and which we have described in writing of Andrea del Sarto, and afterwards of Taddeo Zuccaro. For the same reason he reproaches Carlo Allegretti, who, in the same city, committed a similar fault. He painted in various styles, as may be seen from an Epiphany, in Ba.s.sano's manner, which he placed in the cathedral, a picture which will apologize for the others.

Balda.s.sini, in his Storia di Jesi, speaking of Colucci, records there the priest Antonio Ma.s.si, who studied and gave to the world some pictures in Bologna; and Antonio Sarti, whom I esteem superior to Ma.s.si; praising highly his picture of the Circ.u.mcision, in the collegiate church of Ma.s.saccio. This city gave birth to Paolo Pittori, who ornamented his native place and its vicinity. These may serve as an example of the provincial painters of this age. I purposely omit many names, several of whom are fresco painters, who were indifferent artists; and others who were below mediocrity. It is indeed true, that many have escaped, from being unknown to me, and there still remain, in the Roman state, many works highly beautiful, deserving of research and notice.

From the time of the preceding epoch, the art became divided into various departments; and at this period, they began to multiply, in consequence of many men of talent choosing to cultivate different manners. After Jacopo del Conte and Scipione da Gaeta, the portraits of Antonio de' Monti, a Roman, are celebrated, who was considered the first among the portrait painters under Gregory; as also those of Prospero and Livia Fontana, and of Antonio Scalvati; all three of the School of Bologna; to whom may be added Pietro Fachetti, of Mantua.

With regard to perspective, it was successfully cultivated by Jacopo Barocci, commonly called Il Vignola, an ill.u.s.trious name in architecture; owing to which his celebrity in the other branches has been overlooked. But it ought to be observed that his first studies were directed to painting, in the school of Pa.s.sarotti, in Bologna; until he was led by the impulse of his genius, to apply himself to perspective, and by the aid of that science, as he was accustomed to say, to architecture, in which he executed some wonderful works, and amongst others the palace of Caprarola. There, and I know not whether in other places, are to be seen some pictures by him. As a writer, we shall refer to him in the second index, where, omitting his other works, we shall cite the two books which he wrote in this department of art. Great progress was made in Rome, in the art of perspective, after Laureti, by the genius of Gio. Alberti di Citta S. Sepolcro, whose eulogy I shall not here stop to repeat, having already spoken of it in the first volume. Baglione names two friends, Tarquinio di Viterbo and Giovanni Zanna, of Rome; the first of whom painted landscapes, and the second adorned them with figures. He mentions the two brothers, Conti, of Ancona; Cesare, who excelled in arabesques, and Vincenzio in figures: these artists painted for private persons. Marco da Faenza was much employed under Gregory XIII., in arabesques, and the more elegant decorations of the Vatican, and had also the direction of other artists.

Of him we shall make more particular mention amongst the artists of Romagna.