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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28422-8.txt b/28422-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..579659b --- /dev/null +++ b/28422-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10875 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the most Eminent Painters +Sculptors and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects + Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi + +Author: Giorgio Vasari + +Translator: Gaston du C. De Vere + +Release Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #28422] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMINENT PAINTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Bold text is marked with =." + +Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained.] + + + + +LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO +VASARI: + +VOLUME VI. FRA GIOCONDO TO NICCOLÒ SOGGI 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 VI + + PAGE + + FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHERS 1 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI [IL GRANACCIO] 55 + + BACCIO D' AGNOLO 63 + + VALERIO VICENTINO [VALERIO BELLI], GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE + [GIOVANNI BERNARDI], MATTEO DAL NASSARO, AND OTHERS 73 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE, AND OTHERS 89 + + ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO 121 + + GIULIO ROMANO 143 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO 171 + + PERINO DEL VAGA 187 + + GIORGIO VASARI, TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN 227 + + DOMENICO BECCAFUMI 233 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI 253 + + NICCOLÒ SOGGI 267 + + INDEX OF NAMES 281 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VI + +PLATES IN COLOUR + + FACING PAGE + GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO + Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua + Florence: Uffizi, 1121 16 + + FRANCESCO MONSIGNORI (BONSIGNORI) + Portrait of a Gentleman + London: N.G., 736 28 + + FRANCESCO MORONE + Madonna and Child + London: N.G., 285 32 + + GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI + Madonna and Child, with S. Anne + London: N.G., 748 48 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + The Holy Family + Florence: Pitti, 199 58 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + Portrait of a Lady + Florence: Uffizi, 1123 174 + + DOMENICO BECCAFUMI + S. Catharine before the Crucifix + Siena: Pinacoteca, 420 238 + + +PLATES IN MONOCHROME + + LIBERALE OF VERONA + S. Mary Magdalene with Saints + Verona: S. Anastasia 10 + + LIBERALE OF VERONA + Miniature + Siena: Duomo Library 14 + + GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO + Madonna and Child, with S. Anne and Saints + Verona: S. Fermo Maggiore 18 + + FRANCESCO TURBIDO (IL MORO) + Portrait of a Man + Munich: Pinacothek, 1125 24 + + FRANCESCO MONSIGNORI (BONSIGNORI) + S. Sebastian + Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46c 30 + + FRANCESCO MORONE + The Crucifixion + Verona: S. Bernardino 34 + + PAOLO CAVAZZUOLA + The Deposition + Verona: Museo Civico, 392 40 + + GIOVAN MARIA (FALCONETTO) + Palazzo del Capitanio + Padua 46 + + GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI + Madonna and Child, with Saints + Verona: Museo Civico, 290 50 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + The Madonna giving the Girdle to S. Thomas + Florence: Uffizi, 1280 62 + + GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE (GIOVANNI BERNARDI) + Cassetta Farnese + Naples: Museo Nazionale 78 + + VALERIO VICENTINO (VALERIO BELLI) + Casket of Rock Crystal + Florence: Uffizi 82 + + ALESSANDRO CESATI + BENVENUTO CELLINI + Medals + London: British Museum 84 + + PASTORINO OF SIENA + DOMENICO POGGINI + Medals + London: British Museum 84 + + MARTIN SCHONGAUER + Christ and the Virgin Enthroned + London: British Museum, B. 71 92 + + ALBRECHT DÜRER + Hercules + London: British Museum, B. 73 92 + + ALBRECHT DÜRER + Christ taking leave of His Mother + London: British Museum, B. 92 94 + + ALBRECHT DÜRER + S. Jerome in his Study + London: British Museum, B. 60 96 + + LUCAS VAN LEYDEN + "Ecce Homo" of 1510 + London: British Museum 98 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE + The Death of Lucretia + London: British Museum, B. 192 102 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE (AFTER BANDINELLI) + The Martyrdom of S. Lawrence (engraving) + London: British Museum 104 + + ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) (WITH MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI) + Palazzo Farnese + Rome 138 + + GIULIO ROMANO + Detail: The Battle of Constantine + Rome: The Vatican 146 + + GIULIO ROMANO + The Marriage Banquet of Cupid and Psyche + Mantua: Palazzo del Tè 154 + + GIULIO ROMANO + The Destruction of the Giants by the Thunderbolts of Jove + Mantua: Palazzo del Tè, Sala dei Giganti 160 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + The Flagellation + Rome: S. Pietro in Montorio 176 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + Andrea Doria + Rome: Palazzo Doria 182 + + PERINO DEL VAGA + The Passage of the Red Sea + Rome: The Vatican, Loggia 192 + + + + +FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF VERONA + + + + +LIVES OF FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF VERONA + + +If writers of history were to live a few years longer than the number +commonly granted as the span of human life, I, for my part, have no +manner of doubt that they would have something to add to the accounts of +the past previously written by them, for the reason that, even as it is +not possible for a single man, be he ever so diligent, to learn the +exact truth in a flash, or to discover all the details of his subject in +the little time at his command, so it is as clear as the light of day +that Time, who is said to be the father of truth, is always revealing +new things every day to the seeker after knowledge. If, many years ago, +when I first wrote and also published these Lives of the Painters and +other Craftsmen, I had possessed that full information which I have +since received concerning Fra Giocondo of Verona, a man of rare parts +and a master of all the most noble faculties, I would without a doubt +have made that honourable record of him which I am now about to make for +the benefit of craftsmen, or rather, of the world; and not of him only, +but also of many other masters of Verona, who have been truly excellent. +And let no one marvel that I place them all under the image of one only, +because, not having been able to obtain portraits of them all, I am +forced to do this; but, so far as in me lies, not one of them shall +thereby have his excellence defrauded of its due. + +Now, since the order of time and merit so demands, I shall speak first +of Fra Giocondo. This man, when he assumed the habit of S. Dominic, was +called not simply Fra Giocondo, but Fra Giovanni Giocondo. How the name +Giovanni dropped from him I know not, but I do know that he was always +called Fra Giocondo by everyone. And although his chief profession was +that of letters, and he was not only a very good philosopher and +theologian, but also an excellent Greek scholar (which was a rare thing +at that time, when learning and letters were just beginning to revive in +Italy), nevertheless he was also a very fine architect, being a man who +always took supreme delight in that art, as Scaliger relates in his +epistle against Cardan, and the learned Budé in his book "De Asse," and +in the observations that he wrote on the Pandects. + +Fra Giocondo, then, who was a fine scholar, a capable architect, and an +excellent master of perspective, spent many years near the person of the +Emperor Maximilian, and was master in the Greek and Latin tongues to the +learned Scaliger, who writes that he heard him dispute with profound +learning on matters of the greatest subtlety before the same Maximilian. +It is related by persons still living, who remember the facts very +clearly, that at the time when Verona was under the power of that +Emperor the bridge which is called the Ponte della Pietra, in that city, +was being restored, and it was seen to be necessary to refound the +central pier, which had been destroyed many times in the past, and Fra +Giocondo gave the design for refounding it, and also for safeguarding it +in such a manner that it might never be destroyed again. His method of +safeguarding it was as follows: he gave orders that the pier should be +kept always bound together with long double piles fixed below the water +on every side, to the end that these might so protect it that the river +should not be able to undermine it; for the place where it is built is +in the main current of the river, the bed of which is so soft that no +solid ground can be found on which to lay its foundations. And +excellent, in truth, as is evident from the result, was the advice of +Fra Giocondo, for the reason that the pier has stood firm from that time +to our own, as it still does, without ever showing a crack; and there is +hope that, by the observation of the suggestions given by that good +monk, it will stand for ever. + +In his youth Fra Giocondo spent many years in Rome, giving his attention +to the study of antiquities, and not of buildings only, but also of the +ancient inscriptions that are in the tombs, and the other relics of +antiquity, both in Rome itself and its neighbourhood, and in every part +of Italy; and he collected all these inscriptions and memorials into a +most beautiful book, which he sent as a present, according to the +account of the citizens of Verona mentioned above, to the elder Lorenzo +de' Medici, the Magnificent, to whom, by reason of the great +friendliness and favour that he showed to all men of talent, both Fra +Giocondo and Domizio Calderino, his companion and compatriot, were +always most deeply devoted. Of this book Poliziano makes mention in his +Mugellane, in which he uses various parts of it as authorities, calling +Fra Giocondo a profound master in antiquities. + +The same Giocondo wrote some observations, which are in print, on the +Commentaries of Cæsar; and he was the first who made a drawing of the +bridge built by Cæsar over the River Rhone, and described by him in +those same Commentaries, but misunderstood in the time of Fra Giocondo. +Him the aforesaid Budé confesses to have had as his master in the study +of architecture, thanking God that he had been taught his Vitruvius by a +teacher so learned and so diligent as was that monk, who corrected in +that author a vast number of errors not recognized up to that time; and +this he was able to do with ease, because he was a master of every kind +of learning, and had a good knowledge of both the Greek tongue and the +Latin. This and other things declares Budé, extolling Fra Giocondo as an +excellent architect, and adding that by the researches of the same monk +there were discovered in an old library in Paris the greater part of the +Epistles of Pliny, which, after having been so long out of the hands of +mankind, were printed by Aldus Manutius, as may be read in a Latin +letter written by him and printed with the same. + +When living in Paris in the service of King Louis XII, Fra Giocondo +built two superb bridges over the Seine, covered with shops--works truly +worthy of that magnanimous King and of the marvellous intellect of Fra +Giocondo. Wherefore that master, in addition to the inscription in his +praise that may still be seen on those works, won the honour of being +celebrated by Sannazzaro, a rare poet, in this most beautiful distich: + + Jocundus geminum imposuit tibi, Sequana, pontem; + Hunc tu jure potes dicere pontificem. + +Besides this, he executed a vast number of other works for that King +throughout all his kingdom; but of these, after having made mention of +those above, as being the greatest, I shall say no more. + +Then, happening to be in Rome at the death of Bramante, he was placed, +in company with Raffaello da Urbino and Giuliano da San Gallo, in charge +of the Church of S. Pietro, to the end that the structure begun by +Bramante might be carried forward. Now, from the circumstance that it +had been erected in haste, and for other reasons given in another place, +it was threatening to fall in many parts, and by the advice of Fra +Giocondo, Raffaello, and Giuliano, the foundations were in great measure +renewed; in which work persons who were present and are still living +declare that those masters adopted the following method. They excavated +below the foundations many large pits after the manner of wells, but +square, at a proper distance one from another, which they filled with +masonry; and between every two of these piers, or rather pits filled +with masonry, they threw very strong arches across the space below, +insomuch that the whole building came to be placed on new foundations +without suffering any shock, and was secured for ever from the danger of +showing any more cracks. + +But the work for which it seems to me that Fra Giocondo deserves the +greatest praise is one on account of which an everlasting gratitude is +due to him not only from the Venetians, but from the whole world as +well. For he reflected that the life of the Republic of Venice depended +in great measure on the preservation of its impregnable position on the +lagoons on which that city, as it were by a miracle, is built; and that, +whenever those lagoons silted up with earth, the air would become +infected and pestilential, and the city consequently uninhabitable, or +at the least exposed to all the dangers that threaten cities on the +mainland. He set himself, therefore, to think in what way it might be +possible to provide for the preservation of the lagoons and of the site +on which the city had been built in the beginning. And having found a +way, Fra Giocondo told the Signori that, if they did not quickly come to +some resolution about preventing such an evil, in a few years, to judge +by that which could be seen to have happened in part, they would become +aware of their error, without being in time to be able to retrieve it. +Roused by this warning, and hearing the powerful arguments of Fra +Giocondo, the Signori summoned an assembly of the best engineers and +architects that there were in Italy, at which many opinions were given +and many designs made; but that of Fra Giocondo was held to be the best, +and was put into execution. They made a beginning, therefore, with +excavating a great canal, which was to divert two-thirds or at least +one-half of the water brought down by the River Brenta, and to conduct +that water by a long détour so as to debouch into the lagoons of +Chioggia; and thus that river, no longer flowing into the lagoons at +Venice, has not been able to fill them up by bringing down earth, as it +has done at Chioggia, where it has filled and banked up the lagoons in +such a manner that, where there was formerly water, many tracts of land +and villas have sprung up, to the great benefit of the city of Venice. +Wherefore it is the opinion of many persons, and in particular of the +Magnificent Messer Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian gentleman of ripe wisdom +gained both by learning and by long experience, that, if it had not been +for the warning of Fra Giocondo, all the silting up that took place in +the lagoons of Chioggia would have happened, and perhaps on a greater +scale, in those of Venice, inflicting incredible damage and almost ruin +on that city. The same Messer Luigi, who was very much the friend of Fra +Giocondo, as he is and always has been of all men of talent, declares +that his native city of Venice owes an eternal debt of gratitude for +this to the memory of Fra Giocondo, who on this account, he says, might +reasonably be called the second founder of Venice; and that he almost +deserves more praise for having preserved by that expedient the grandeur +and nobility of that marvellous and puissant city, than do those who +built it at the beginning in such a weak and ill-considered fashion, +seeing that the benefit received from him will be to all eternity, as it +has been hitherto, of incalculable utility and advantage to Venice. + +Not many years after Fra Giocondo had executed this divine work, the +Venetians suffered a great loss in the burning of the Rialto, the place +in which are the magazines of their most precious merchandise--the +treasure, as it were, of that city. This happened at the very time when +that Republic had been reduced by long-continued wars and by the loss +of the greater part, or rather almost the whole, of her dominions on the +mainland to a desperate condition; and the Signori then governing were +full of doubt and hesitation as to what they should do. However, the +rebuilding of that place being a matter of the greatest importance, they +resolved that it should be reconstructed at all costs. And wishing to +give it all possible grandeur, in keeping with the greatness and +magnificence of that Republic, and having already recognized the talent +of Fra Giocondo and his great ability in architecture, they gave him the +commission to make a design for that structure; whereupon he drew one in +the following manner. He proposed to occupy all the space that lies +between the Canale delle Beccherie,[1] in the Rialto, and the Rio del +Fondaco delle Farine,[2] taking as much ground between one canal and the +other as would make a perfect square--that is, the length of the sides +of this fabric was to be as great as the space which one covers at the +present day in walking from the debouchure of one of those canals into +the Grand Canal to that of the other. He intended, also, that the same +two canals should debouch on the other side into a common canal, which +was to run from the one to the other, so that the fabric might be left +entirely surrounded by water, having the Grand Canal on one side, the +two smaller canals on two other sides, and on the last the new canal +that was to be made. Then he desired that between the water and the +buildings, right round the square, there should be made, or rather +should be left, a beach or quay of some breadth, which might serve as a +piazza for the selling in duly appointed places of the vegetables, +fruits, fish, and other things, that come from many parts to the city. +It was also his opinion that right round the outer side of the buildings +there should be erected shops looking out upon those same quays, and +that these shops should serve only for the sale of eatables of every +kind. And in these four sides the design of Fra Giocondo had four +principal gates--namely, one to each side, placed in the centre, one +directly opposite to another. But before going into the central piazza, +by whichever side one entered, one would have found both on the right +hand and on the left a street which ran round the block of buildings +and had shops on either side, with handsome workshops above them and +magazines for the use of those shops, which were all to be devoted to +the sale of woven fabrics--that is, fine woollen cloth and silk, which +are the two chief products of that city. This street, in short, was to +contain all the shops that are called the Tuscan's and the +silk-merchant's. + +From this double range of shops there was to be access by way of the +four gates into the centre of the whole block--that is to say, into a +vast piazza surrounded on every side by spacious and beautiful loggie +for the accommodation of the merchants and for the use of the great +number of people who flock together for the purposes of their trade and +commerce to that city, which is the custom-house of all Italy, or rather +of Europe. Under those loggie, on every side, were to be the shops of +the bankers, goldsmiths, and jewellers; and in the centre was to be +built a most beautiful temple dedicated to S. Matthew, in which the +people of quality might be able to hear the divine offices in the +morning. With regard to this temple, however, some persons declare that +Fra Giocondo changed his mind, and wished to build two under the loggie, +so as not to obstruct the piazza. And, in addition, this superb +structure was to have so many other conveniences, embellishments, and +adornments, all in their proper places, that whoever sees at the present +day the beautiful design that Fra Giocondo made for the whole, declares +that nothing more lovely, more magnificent, or planned with better +order, could be imagined or conceived by the most excellent of +craftsmen, be his genius never so happy. + +It was proposed, also, with the advice of the same master, and as a +completion to this work, to build the Bridge of the Rialto of stone, +covered with shops, which would have been a marvellous thing. But this +enterprise was not carried into effect, for two reasons: first, because +the Republic, on account of the extraordinary expenses incurred in the +last war, happened to be drained dry of money; and, secondly, because a +gentleman of great position and much authority at that time (of the +family, so it is said, of Valereso), being a man of little judgment in +such matters, and perchance influenced by some private interest, chose +to favour one Maestro Zanfragnino,[3] who, so I am informed, is still +alive, and who had worked for him on buildings of his own. This +Zanfragnino--a fit and proper name for a master of his calibre--made the +design for that medley of marble which was afterwards carried into +execution, and which is still to be seen; and many who are still alive, +and remember the circumstances very well, are even yet not done with +lamenting that foolish choice. + +Fra Giocondo, having seen that shapeless design preferred to his +beautiful one, and having perceived how much more virtue there often is +in favour than in merit with nobles and great persons, felt such disdain +that he departed from Venice, nor would he ever return, although he was +much entreated to do it. And the design, with others by the same monk, +remained in the house of the Bragadini, opposite to S. Marina, in the +possession of Frate Angelo, a member of that family and a friar of S. +Dominic, who, by reason of his many merits, afterwards became Bishop of +Vicenza. + +Fra Giocondo was very versatile, and delighted, in addition to the +pursuits already mentioned, in simples and in agriculture. Thus Messer +Donato Giannotti, the Florentine, who was very much his friend for many +years in France, relates that once, when living in that country, the +monk reared a peach-tree in an earthen pot, and that this little tree, +when he saw it, was so laden with fruit that it was a marvellous sight. +On one occasion, by the advice of some friends, he had set it in a place +where the King was to pass and would be able to see it, when certain +courtiers, who passed by first, plucked all the peaches off that little +tree, as suchlike people were sure to do, and, playing about with one +another, scattered what they could not eat along the whole length of the +street, to the great displeasure of Fra Giocondo. The matter coming to +the ears of the King, he first laughed over the jest with the courtiers, +and then, after thanking the monk for what he had done to please him, +gave him a present of such a kind that he was consoled. + +[Illustration: THE MAGDALENE WITH SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Liberale da Verona=. Verona: S. Anastasia_) + +_Anderson_] + +Fra Giocondo was a man of saintly and most upright life, much beloved by +all the great men of letters of his age, and in particular by Domizio +Calderino, Matteo Bosso, and Paolo Emilio, the writer of the History of +France, all three his compatriots. Very much his friends, likewise, were +Sannazzaro, Budé, and Aldus Manutius, with all the Academy of Rome; and +he had a disciple in Julius Cæsar Scaliger, one of the most learned men +of our times. Finally, being very old, he died, but precisely at what +time and in what place this happened, and consequently where he was +buried, is not known. + +Even as it is true that the city of Verona is very similar to Florence +in situation, manners, and other respects, so it is also true that in +the first as well as in the second there have always flourished men of +the finest genius in all the noblest and most honourable professions. +Saying nothing of the learned, for with them I have nothing to do here, +and continuing to speak of the men of our arts, who have always had an +honourable abode in that most noble city, I come to Liberale of Verona, +a disciple of Vincenzio di Stefano, a native of the same city, already +mentioned in another place, who executed for the Church of Ognissanti, +belonging to the Monks of S. Benedict, at Mantua, in the year 1463, a +Madonna that was a very praiseworthy example of the work of those times. +Liberale imitated the manner of Jacopo Bellini, for when a young man, +while the said Jacopo was painting the Chapel of S. Niccolò at Verona, +he gave his attention under Bellini to the studies of design in such +thorough fashion that, forgetting all that he had learned from Vincenzio +di Stefano, he acquired the manner of Bellini and retained it ever +after. + +The first paintings of Liberale were in the Chapel of the Monte della +Pietà in S. Bernardino, in his native city; and there, in the principal +picture, he painted a Deposition from the Cross, with certain Angels, +some of whom have in their hands the Mysteries (for so they are called) +of the Passion, and all with their weeping faces show grief at the Death +of the Saviour. Very natural, in truth, are these figures, as are other +works of the same kind by this master, who strove to show in many places +that he was able to paint weeping countenances. This may also be seen in +S. Anastasia, a church of Friars of S. Dominic, likewise in Verona, +where he painted a Dead Christ with the Maries mourning for Him on the +pediment of the Chapel of the Buonaveri; and he executed many pictures +in the same manner of painting as the work mentioned above, which are +dispersed among the houses of various gentlemen in Verona. + +In the same chapel he painted a God the Father surrounded by many Angels +who are playing instruments and singing, with three figures on either +side--S. Peter, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas Aquinas on one side, and S. +Lucia, S. Agnese, and another female Saint on the other; but the first +three are much the finer, being executed in a better manner and with +more relief. On the main wall of that chapel he painted Our Lady, with +the Infant Christ marrying S. Catharine, the Virgin-Martyr; and in this +work he made a portrait of Messer Piero Buonaveri, the owner of the +chapel. Around this group are some Angels presenting flowers, with some +heads that are smiling, executed with such grace in their gladness, that +they prove that he was able to paint a smiling face as well as he had +painted tears in other figures. In the altar-piece of the same chapel he +painted S. Mary Magdalene in the air, supported by some Angels, with S. +Catharine below--a work which was held to be very beautiful. On the +altar of the Madonna in the Church of S. Maria della Scala, belonging to +the Servite Friars, he executed the story of the Magi on two +folding-doors that enclose that Madonna, which is held in vast +veneration in that city; but the work did not long remain there, for it +was removed because it was being spoilt by the smoke of the candles, and +placed in the sacristy, where it is much admired by the painters of +Verona. + +In the tramezzo[4] of the Church of S. Bernardino, above the Chapel of +the Company of the Magdalene, he painted in fresco the story of the +Purification, wherein is a figure of Simeon that is much extolled, as +also is that of the Infant Christ, who with great affection is kissing +that old man, who is holding Him in his arms; and very beautiful, +likewise, is a priest standing there on one side, who, with his arms +extended and his face uplifted towards Heaven, appears to be thanking +God for the salvation of the world. Beside this chapel is a picture of +the story of the Magi by the hand of the same Liberale; and in the +pediment of the picture there is the Death of the Madonna, executed +with little figures, which are highly extolled. Great, indeed, was his +delight in painting works with little figures, with which he always took +such pains that they seem to be the work rather of an illuminator than +of a painter, as may be seen in the Duomo of the same city, where there +is a picture by his hand of the story of the Magi, with a vast number of +little figures, horses, dogs, and various other animals, and near them a +group of rosy-coloured Cherubim, who serve as a support to the Mother of +Jesus. In this picture the heads are so finished, and everything is +executed with such diligence, that, as I have said, it appears to be the +work of an illuminator. + +He also painted stories of Our Lady on a small predella, likewise after +the manner of miniatures, for the Chapel of the Madonna in the Duomo. +But this was afterwards removed from that chapel by order of Monsignor +Messer Giovan Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, and placed in the Palace +of the Vescovado, which is the residence of the Bishops, in that chapel +wherein they hear Mass every morning. And there that predella stands in +company with a most beautiful Crucifix in relief, executed by Giovanni +Battista Veronese, a sculptor, who now lives in Mantua. Liberale also +painted a panel-picture for the Chapel of the Allegni in S. Vitale, +containing a figure of S. Mestro, the Confessor, a Veronese and a man of +great sanctity, whom he placed between a S. Francis and a S. Dominic. +For the Chapel of S. Girolamo in the Vittoria, a church and convent of +certain Eremite Friars, he executed at the commission of the +Scaltritegli family an altar-piece of S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal, with a S. Francis and a S. Paul, all much extolled. And in the +tramezzo[5] of the Church of S. Giovanni in Monte he painted the +Circumcision of Christ and other works, which were destroyed not long +since, because it was considered that the tramezzo impaired the beauty +of the church. + +Being then summoned to Siena by the General of the Monks of Monte +Oliveto, Liberale illuminated many books for that Order; and in these he +succeeded so well, that he was commissioned in consequence to illuminate +some that had been left unfinished--that is to say, only written--in +the library of the Piccolomini. He also illuminated some books of +plain-song for the Duomo of that city, where he would have remained +longer, executing many works that he had in hand; but, being driven away +by envy and persecution, he set off to return to Verona, with eight +hundred crowns that he had earned, which he lent afterwards to the Monks +of Monte Oliveto at S. Maria in Organo, from whom he drew interest to +support him from day to day. + +Having thus returned to Verona, he gave his attention for the rest of +his life more to illumination than to any other kind of work. At +Bardolino, a place on the Lake of Garda, he painted a panel-picture +which is now in the Pieve; and another for the Church of S. Tommaso +Apostolo. For the Chapel of S. Bernardo, likewise, in the Church of S. +Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. Francis, he painted a panel-picture of +the first-named Saint, with some scenes from his life in the predella. +In the same place, also, and in others, he executed many nuptial +pictures, one of which, containing the Madonna with the Child in her +arms marrying S. Catharine, is in the house of Messer Vincenzio de' +Medici at Verona. + +On the corner of the house of the Cartai, on the way from the Ponte +Nuovo to S. Maria in Organo, in Verona, he painted a Madonna and S. +Joseph in fresco, a work which was much extolled. Liberale would have +liked to paint the Chapel of the Riva family, which had been built in +order to honour the memory of Giovanni Riva, a captain of men-at-arms at +the battle of the Taro, in the Church of S. Eufemia; but he did not +receive the commission, which was given to some strangers, and he was +told that he was too old and that his sight was failing him. When this +chapel was opened, a vast number of faults were perceived in it, and +Liberale said that he who had given the commission had been much more +blind than himself. + +[Illustration: MINIATURE + +(_After_ Liberale da Verona. _Siena: Duomo Library_) + +_Anderson_] + +Finally, being eighty-four years of age, or even more, Liberale allowed +himself to be ruled by his relatives, and particularly by a married +daughter, who, like the rest, treated him very badly. At which, having +grown angry both with her and with his other relatives, and happening to +have under his charge one Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, then a +young man, who was a diligent painter and much affected towards him, +he appointed him as heir to the house and garden that he had at S. +Giovanni in Valle, a very pleasant part of the city; and with him he +took up his quarters, saying that he would rather give the enjoyment of +his property to one who loved virtue than to those who ill-treated their +nearest of kin. But no long time passed before he died, which was on the +day of S. Chiara in the year 1536, at the age of eighty-five; and he was +buried in S. Giovanni in Valle. + +His disciples were Giovan Francesco Caroto and Giovanni Caroto, +Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, and Paolo Cavazzuola, of whom, since +they were truly excellent masters, I shall make mention in their due +order. + +Giovan Francesco Caroto was born at Verona in the year 1470, and after +having learned the first rudiments of letters, being drawn to painting, +he abandoned the studies of grammar and placed himself to learn painting +under the Veronese Liberale, undertaking to recompense him for his +pains. Young as he was, then, Giovan Francesco devoted himself with such +love and diligence to design, that even in his earliest years he was a +great assistance to Liberale both in that and in colouring. No long time +after, when his judgment had increased with his years, he saw the works +of Andrea Mantegna in Verona; and thinking, as indeed was the truth, +that these were of another manner and better than those of his master, +he so wrought upon his father that he was given leave, with the gracious +consent of Liberale, to apprentice himself to Mantegna. Having gone to +Mantua, therefore, and having placed himself under Mantegna, in a short +time he made such proficience that Andrea sent out works by Caroto as +works by his own hand. In short, before many years had passed by, he had +become an able master. The first works that he executed after leaving +the discipline of Mantegna were on the altar of the three Magi in the +Church of the Hospital of S. Cosimo at Verona, where he painted on the +folding-doors that enclose that altar the Circumcision of Christ and the +Flight into Egypt, with other figures. In the Church of the Frati +Ingiesuati, called S. Girolamo, in two angles of a chapel, he painted +the Madonna and the Angel of the Annunciation. And for the Prior of the +Friars of S. Giorgio he executed a little panel-picture of the Manger, +in which he may be seen to have greatly improved his manner, since the +heads of the shepherds and of all the other figures have expressions so +sweet and so beautiful, that this work was much extolled, and that +rightly; and if it were not that the priming of gesso is peeling off +through having been badly prepared, so that the picture is gradually +perishing, it would be enough by itself to keep him alive for ever in +the memory of his fellow-citizens. + +Next, having been commissioned by the men who governed the Company of +the Angel Raphael to paint their chapel in the Church of S. Eufemia, he +executed therein two stories of the Angel Raphael in fresco, and in the +altar-piece, in oils, three large Angels, Raphael in the centre, and +Gabriel and Michael on either side, and all with good draughtsmanship +and colouring. He was reproached, indeed, for having made the legs of +those Angels too slender and wanting in softness; to which he made a +pleasant and gracious answer, saying that even as Angels were +represented with wings and with bodies, so to speak, celestial and +ethereal, as if they were birds, so it was only right to make their legs +lean and slender, to the end that they might fly and soar upwards with +greater ease. For that altar of the Church of S. Giorgio where there is +a Christ bearing His Cross, he painted S. Rocco and S. Sebastian, with +some scenes in the predella executed with very beautiful little figures. +And by order of the Company of the Madonna he painted on the predella of +the altar of that Company, in S. Bernardino, the Nativity of the Madonna +and the Massacre of the Innocents, with a great variety of attitudes in +the murderers and in the groups of children whom their mothers are +defending with all their might. This work is held in great veneration, +and is kept covered, the better to preserve it; and it was the reason +that the men of the Fraternity of S. Stefano commissioned him to paint +three pictures with similar figures for their altar in the old Duomo of +Verona, containing three little scenes from the life of Our Lady--her +Marriage, the Nativity of Christ, and the story of the Magi. + +[Illustration: GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO: ELISABETTA GONZAGA, DUCHESS OF +MANTUA + +(_Florence: Uffizi, 1121. Panel_)] + +After these works, thinking that he had gained enough credit in Verona, +Giovan Francesco was minded to depart and make trial of other places; +but his friends and relatives, pressing him much, persuaded him to +take to wife a young woman of noble birth, the daughter of Messer +Braliassarti Grandoni, whom he married in 1505. In a short time, +however, after he had had a son by her, she died in child-birth; and +Giovan Francesco, thus left free, departed from Verona and went off to +Milan, where Signor Anton Maria Visconti received him into his house and +caused him to execute many works for its adornment. + +Meanwhile there was brought to Milan by a Fleming a head of a young man, +taken from life and painted in oils, which was admired by everyone in +that city; but Giovan Francesco, seeing it, laughed and said: "I am +confident that I can do a better." At which the Fleming mocked him, but +after many words the matter came to this, that Giovan Francesco was to +try his hand, losing his own picture and twenty-five crowns if he lost, +and winning the Fleming's head and likewise twenty-five crowns if he +won. Setting to work, therefore, with all his powers, Giovan Francesco +made a portrait of an aged gentleman with shaven face, with a falcon on +his wrist; but, although this was a good likeness, the head of the +Fleming was judged to be the better. Giovan Francesco did not make a +good choice in executing his portrait, for he took a head that could not +do him honour; whereas, if he had chosen a handsome young man, and had +made as good a likeness of him as he did of the old man, he would at +least have equalled his adversary's picture, even if he had not +surpassed it. But for all this the head of Giovan Francesco did not fail +to win praise, and the Fleming showed him courtesy, for he contented +himself with the head of the shaven old man, and, being a noble and +courteous person, would by no means accept the five-and-twenty crowns. +This picture came after some time into the possession of Madonna +Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, who paid a very good price for +it to the Fleming and placed it as a choice work in her study, in which +she had a vast number of very beautiful coins, pictures, works in +marble, and castings. + +After completing his work for Visconti, Giovan Francesco, being invited +by Guglielmo, Marquis of Montferrat, went willingly to serve him, as +Visconti straitly besought him to do. On his arrival, a fine provision +was assigned to him; and, setting to work, he painted for that noble at +Casale, in a chapel where he heard Mass, as many pictures as were +necessary to fill it and adorn it on every side, with subjects from the +Old Testament and the New, which were executed by him with supreme +diligence, as was also the chief altar-piece. He then executed many +works throughout the apartments of that Castle, which brought him very +great fame. And in S. Domenico, by order of that Marquis, he painted the +whole of the principal chapel for the adornment of the tomb wherein he +was to be laid to rest; in which work Giovan Francesco acquitted himself +so well, that he was rightly rewarded with honourable gifts by the +liberality of his patron, who also favoured him by making him one of his +own chamberlains, as may be seen from an instrument that is in the +possession of his heirs at Verona. He made portraits of that lord and of +his wife, with many pictures that they sent to France, and also the +portrait of Guglielmo, their eldest child, who was then a boy, and +likewise portraits of their daughters and of all the ladies who were in +the service of the Marchioness. + +On the death of the Marquis Guglielmo, Giovan Francesco departed from +Casale, after first selling all the property that he had in those parts, +and made his way to Verona, where he so arranged his affairs and those +of his son, to whom he gave a wife, that in a short time he found +himself in possession of more than seven thousand ducats. But he did not +therefore abandon his painting; indeed, having a quiet mind, and not +being obliged to rack his brain for a livelihood, he gave more attention +to it than ever. It is true that either from envy or for some other +reason he was accused of being a painter who could do nothing but little +figures; wherefore, in executing the altar-piece of the Chapel of the +Madonna in S. Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. Francis, wishing to show +that the accusation was a calumny, he painted the figures larger than +life, and so well, that they were the best that he had ever done. In the +air is Our Lady seated in the lap of S. Anne, with some Angels standing +upon clouds, and beneath are S. Peter, S. John the Baptist, S. Rocco, +and S. Sebastian; and not far away, in a most beautiful landscape, is S. +Francis receiving the Stigmata. This work, indeed, is held by craftsmen +to be not otherwise than good. + +[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. ANNE AND SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Giovan Francesco Caroto=. Verona: S. Fermo +Maggiore_) + +_Alinari_] + +For the Chapel of the Cross in S. Bernardino, a seat of the Frati +Zoccolanti, he painted Christ kneeling on one knee and taking leave of +His Mother. In this work, stirred to emulation by the many notable +pictures by the hands of other masters that are in that place, he strove +to surpass them all; wherefore, in truth, he acquitted himself very +well, and was praised by all who saw it, save only by the Guardian of +that convent, who, like the boorish and solemn fool that he was, +reproved Giovan Francesco with biting words, saying that he had made +Christ show such little reverence to His Mother as to kneel only upon +one knee. To which Giovan Francesco answered by saying: "Father, first +do me the favour of kneeling down and rising up again, and I will then +tell you for what reason I have painted Christ so." The Guardian, after +much persuasion, knelt down, placing on the ground first his right knee +and then his left; and in rising up he raised first the left and then +the right. Which done, Giovan Francesco said: "Did you observe, Father +Guardian, that you neither knelt down nor rose up with both knees +together? I tell you, therefore, that this Christ of mine is right, +because one might say that He is either coming to His knees before His +Mother, or beginning, after having knelt a while, to raise one leg in +order to rise." At which the Guardian had to appear a little appeased, +although he went off muttering under his breath. + +Giovan Francesco was very sharp in his answers; and it is also related +of him that once, being told by a priest that his figures were too +seductive for altar-pieces, he replied: "A lusty fellow you must be, if +painted figures so move you. Think how much you are to be trusted in +places where there are living people for you to touch." At Isola, a +place on the Lake of Garda, he painted two panel-pictures for the Church +of the Zoccolanti; and at Malsessino, a township above that same lake, +he painted a very beautiful Madonna over the door of a church, and some +Saints within the church, at the request of Fracastoro, a very famous +poet, who was much his friend. For Count Giovan Francesco Giusti, +executing a subject conceived by that nobleman, he painted a young man +wholly naked except for the parts of shame, and in an attitude of +indecision as to whether he shall rise up or not; and on one side he had +a most beautiful young woman representing Minerva, who with one hand +was pointing out to him a figure of Fame on high, and with the other was +urging him to follow her; but Sloth and Idleness, who were behind the +young man, were striving to detain him. Below these was a figure with an +uncouth face, rather that of a slave and a plebeian than of one of noble +blood, who had two great snails clinging to his elbows and was seated on +a crab, and near him was another figure with the hands full of poppies. +This invention, in which are other beautiful details and fancies, was +executed by Giovan Francesco with supreme diligence and love; and it +serves as the head-board of a bedstead at that nobleman's lovely place +near Verona, which is called S. Maria in Stella. + +The same master painted the whole of a little chamber with various +scenes in little figures, for Count Raimondo della Torre. And since he +delighted to work in relief, he executed not only models for his own +purposes and for the arrangement of draperies, but also other things of +his own fancy, of which there are some to be seen in the house of his +heirs, and in particular a scene in half-relief, which is not otherwise +than passing good. He also executed portraits on medallions, and some +are still to be seen, such as that of Guglielmo, Marquis of Montferrat, +which has on the reverse a Hercules slaying ..., with a motto that runs: +"Monstra domat." He painted portraits of Count Raimondo della Torre, +Messer Giulio his brother, and Messer Girolamo Fracastoro. + +But when Giovan Francesco became old, he began gradually to lose his +mastery over art, as may be seen from the organ-doors in S. Maria della +Scala, from the panel-picture of the Movi family, wherein is a +Deposition from the Cross, and from the Chapel of S. Martino in S. +Anastasia. Giovan Francesco had always a great opinion of himself, and +not for anything in the world would he have ever copied another man's +work in his own. Now Bishop Giovan Matteo Giberti wished him to paint +some stories of the Madonna in the great chapel of the Duomo, and had +the designs for these drawn in Rome by Giulio Romano, who was very much +his friend (for Giberti was Datary to Pope Clement VII). But, when the +Bishop had returned to Verona, Giovan Francesco would never consent to +execute these designs; at which the Bishop, in disdain, caused them to +be put into execution by Francesco, called Il Moro. + +Giovan Francesco held an opinion, in which he was not far from the +truth, that varnishing pictures spoiled them, and made them become old +sooner than they otherwise would; and for this reason he used varnish in +the darks while painting, together with certain purified oils. He was +also the first who executed landscapes well in Verona; wherefore there +are some by his hand to be seen in that city, which are very beautiful. +Finally, when seventy-six years of age, Giovan Francesco died the death +of a good Christian, leaving his grandchildren and his brother, Giovanni +Caroto, passing well provided. This Giovanni, after first applying +himself to art under his brother, and then spending some time in Venice, +had just returned to Verona when Giovan Francesco passed to the other +life; and thus he took a hand with the grandchildren in inspecting the +things of art that had been left to them. Among these they found a +portrait of an old man in armour, very beautiful both in drawing and in +colour, which was the best work by the hand of Giovan Francesco that was +ever seen; and likewise a little picture containing a Deposition from +the Cross, which was presented to Signor Spitech, a man of great +authority with the King of Poland, who had come at that time to some +baths that are in the territory of Verona. Giovan Francesco was buried +in the Madonna dell' Organo, in the Chapel of S. Niccolò, which he +himself had adorned with his paintings. + +Giovanni Caroto, brother of Giovan Francesco, although he followed the +manner of the latter, yet gained less reputation in the practice of +painting. This master painted the altar-piece in the above-mentioned +Chapel of S. Niccolò, wherein is the Madonna enthroned on clouds; and +below this he placed a portrait of himself, taken from life, and that of +his wife Placida. He also painted some little figures of female Saints +for the altar of the Schioppi in the Church of S. Bartolommeo, together +with a portrait of Madonna Laura degli Schioppi, who had caused that +chapel to be built, and who was much celebrated by the writers of those +times no less for her virtues than for her beauty. Giovanni likewise +painted a S. Martin in a little altar-piece for S. Giovanni in Fonte, +near the Duomo; and he made a portrait of Messer Marc' Antonio della +Torre (who afterwards became a man of learning and gave public lectures +at Padua and Pavia) as a young man, and also one of Messer Giulio; which +heads are in the possession of their heirs at Verona. For the Prior of +S. Giorgio he painted a picture of Our Lady, which, as a good painting, +has been kept ever since, as it still is, in the chamber of the Priors. +And he painted another picture, representing the transformation of +Actæon into a stag, for the organist Brunetto, who afterwards presented +it to Girolamo Cicogna, an excellent embroiderer, and engineer to Bishop +Giberti; and it now belongs to Messer Vincenzio Cicogna, his son. + +Giovanni took ground-plans of all the ancient buildings of Verona, with +the triumphal arches and the Colosseum. These were revised by the +Veronese architect Falconetto, and they were meant for the adornment of +the book of the Antiquities of Verona, which had been written after his +own original research by Messer Torello Saraina, who afterwards had the +book printed. This book was sent to me by Giovanni Caroto when I was in +Bologna (where I was executing the work of the Refectory of S. Michele +in Bosco), together with the portrait of the reverend Father, Don +Cipriano da Verona, who was twice General of the Monks of Monte Oliveto; +and the portrait, which was sent to me by Giovanni to the end that I +might make use of it, as I did, for one of those pictures, is now in my +house at Florence, with other paintings by the hands of various masters. + +Finally, having lived without children and without ambition, but with +good means, Giovanni died at about the age of sixty, full of gladness +because he saw some of his disciples, particularly Anselmo Canneri and +Paolo Veronese, already in good repute. Paolo is now working in Venice, +and is held to be a good master; and Anselmo has executed many works +both in oils and in fresco, and in particular at the Villa Soranza on +the Tesino, and in the Palace of the Soranzi at Castelfranco, and also +in many other places, but more at Vicenza than anywhere else. But to +return to Giovanni; he was buried in S. Maria dell' Organo, where he had +painted a chapel with his own hand. + +Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, a painter of Verona, learned the +first rudiments of art, when still quite young, from Giorgione da +Castelfranco, whom he imitated ever afterwards in colouring and in +softness of painting. But just when Il Moro was making progress, he came +to words with I know not whom, and handled him so roughly, that he was +forced to leave Venice and return to Verona. There, abandoning his +painting, since he was somewhat ready with his hands and associated with +the young noblemen, being a person of very good breeding, he lived for a +time without doing any work. And associating in this way, in particular, +with the Counts Sanbonifazi and the Counts Giusti, two illustrious +families of Verona, he became so intimate with them that he lived in +their houses as if he had been born in them; and, what is more, no long +time passed before Count Zenovello Giusti gave him a natural daughter of +his own for a wife, and granted him a commodious apartment in his own +house for himself, his wife, and the children that were born to them. + +It is said that Francesco, while living in the service of those +noblemen, always carried a pencil in his pouch; and wherever he went, if +only he had time, he would draw a head or something else on the walls. +Wherefore the same Count Zenovello, seeing him to be so much inclined to +painting, relieved him of his other duties, like the generous nobleman +that he was, and made him give his whole attention to art; and since +Francesco had all but forgotten everything, he placed himself, through +the good offices of that patron, under Liberale, a famous painter and +illuminator of that time. And thus, practising under that master without +ever ceasing, he went on making such progress from one day to another, +that not only did all that he had forgotten awaken in his memory, but he +also acquired in a short time as much more knowledge as sufficed to make +him an able craftsman. It is true, however, that, although he always +held to the manner of Liberale, he yet imitated the softness and +well-blended colouring of Giorgione, his first instructor, believing +that the works of Liberale, while good in other respects, suffered from +a certain dryness. + +Now Liberale, having recognized the beauty of Francesco's spirit, +conceived such an affection for him, that he loved him ever afterwards +as a son, and, when death came upon him, left him heir to all his +possessions. And thus, after the death of Liberale, Francesco followed +in his steps and executed many works, which are dispersed among various +private houses. Of those in Verona which deserve to be extolled above +all others, the first is the great chapel of the Duomo, on the vaulting +of which are four large pictures painted in fresco, wherein are the +Nativity of the Madonna and the Presentation in the Temple, and, in the +picture in the centre, which appears to recede inwards, three Angels in +the air, who are seen foreshortened from below, and are holding a crown +of stars wherewith to crown the Madonna, who is in the recess, in the +act of ascending into Heaven, accompanied by many Angels, while the +Apostles are gazing upwards in attitudes of great variety; and these +Apostles are figures twice the size of life. All these pictures were +executed by Il Moro after the designs of Giulio Romano, according to the +wish of Bishop Giovan Matteo Giberti, who gave the commission for the +work, and who, as has been said, was very much the friend of that same +Giulio. + +After this Il Moro painted the façade of the house of the Manuelli, +which stands on the abutment of the Ponte Nuovo, and a façade for +Torello Saraina, the doctor, who wrote the above-mentioned book of the +Antiquities of Verona. In Friuli, likewise, he painted in fresco the +principal chapel of the Abbey of Rosazzo, for Bishop Giovan Matteo, who +held it "in commendam," and, being a noble and truly religious +dignitary, rebuilt it; for it had been allowed to fall completely into +ruin, as such buildings are generally found to be, by those who had held +it "in commendam" before him, attending only to the drawing of the +revenues and spending not a farthing in the service of God and of the +Church. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A MAN + +(_After the painting by =Francesco Turbido [Il Moro]=. Munich: +Pinacoteca, 1125_) + +_Bruckmann_] + +Il Moro afterwards painted many works in oils at Verona and in Venice. +On the outer wall (of a chapel) in S. Maria in Organo he executed in +fresco the figures that are still there, with the exception of the Angel +Michael and the Angel Raphael, which are by the hand of Paolo +Cavazzuola. For the same chapel he painted an altar-piece in oils, +wherein he made a portrait of Messer Jacopo Fontani, who gave the +commission for the work, in a figure of S. James, in addition to the +Madonna and other very beautiful figures. And in a large semicircle +above that altar-piece, occupying the whole width of the chapel, he +painted the Transfiguration of Our Lord, and the Apostles beneath, which +were held to be among the best figures that he ever executed. For the +Chapel of the Bombardieri, in S. Eufemia, he painted an altar-piece with +S. Barbara in the heavens, in the centre, and a S. Anthony below, with +his hand on his beard, which is a most beautiful head, and on the other +side a S. Rocco, which is also held to be a very good figure; whence +this work is rightly looked upon as one executed with supreme diligence +and unity of colouring. In a picture on the altar of the Santificazione, +in the Madonna della Scala, he painted a S. Sebastian, in competition +with Paolo Cavazzuola, who executed a S. Rocco in another picture; and +he afterwards painted an altar-piece that was taken to Bagolino, a place +in the mountains of Brescia. + +Il Moro executed many portraits, and his heads are in truth beautiful to +a marvel, and very good likenesses of those whom they were meant to +represent. At Verona he executed a portrait of Count Francesco +Sanbonifazio, who, on account of the length of his body, was called the +Long Count; with that of one of the Franchi, which was an amazing head. +He also painted the portrait of Messer Girolamo Verità, which remained +unfinished, because Il Moro was inclined to be dilatory in his work; and +this, still unfinished, is in the possession of the sons of that good +nobleman. Among many other portraits, likewise, he executed one of the +Venetian, Monsignor de' Martini, a knight of Rhodes, and to the same man +he sold a head of marvellous beauty and excellence, which he had painted +many years before as the portrait of a Venetian gentleman, the son of +one who was then Captain in Verona. This head, through the avarice of +the Venetian, who never paid him, was left in the hands of Francesco, +and he disposed of it to Monsignor de' Martini, who had the Venetian +dress changed into that of a shepherd or herdsman. It is as rare a +portrait as ever issued from the hand of any craftsman, and it is now in +the house of the heirs of the same Monsignor de' Martini, where it is +rightly held in vast veneration. In Venice he painted a portrait of +Messer Alessandro Contarini, Procurator of S. Mark and Proveditor of the +forces, and one of Messer Michele San Michele for one of Messer +Michele's dearest friends, who took the portrait to Orvieto; and it is +said that he executed another of the same architect, Messer Michele, +which is now in the possession of Messer Paolo Ramusio, the son of +Messer Giovan Battista. He also painted a portrait of Fracastoro, a very +famous poet, at the instance of Monsignor Giberti, by whom it was sent +to Giovio, who placed it in his museum. + +Il Moro executed many other works, of which there is no need to make +mention, although they are all well worthy of remembrance, because he +was as diligent a colourist as any master that lived in his day, and +because he bestowed much time and labour on his work. So great, indeed, +was his diligence, that it brought upon him more blame than praise, as +may also be seen at times to happen to others, for the reason that he +accepted any commission and took the earnest-money from every patron, +and trusted to the will of God to finish the work; and if he did this in +his youth, everyone may imagine what he must have done in his last +years, when to his natural slowness there was added that which old age +brings in its train. By this method of procedure he brought upon himself +more entanglements and annoyances than he cared for; and Messer Michele +San Michele, therefore, moved by compassion for him, took him into his +house in Venice and treated him like a friend and man of talent. + +Finally, having been invited back to Verona by his former patrons, the +Counts Giusti, Il Moro died among them in their beautiful Palace of S. +Maria in Stella, and was buried in the church of that villa, being +accompanied to his tomb by all those loving noblemen, and even laid to +rest with extraordinary affection by their own hands; for they loved him +as a father, since they had all been born and brought up while he was +living in their house. In his youth Il Moro was very courageous and +agile in body, and handled all kinds of arms with great skill. He was +most faithful to his friends and patrons, and he showed spirit in all +his actions. His most intimate friends were the architect, Messer +Michele San Michele, Danese da Carrara, an excellent sculptor, and the +very reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici, who often went +after his studies to sit with him, watching him at work, and discoursing +lovingly with him, in order to refresh his mind when he was weary with +labour. + +A disciple and son-in-law of Il Moro, who had two daughters, was +Battista d' Agnolo, who was afterwards called Battista del Moro. This +master, although he had his hands full for a time with the complications +of the inheritance that Il Moro bequeathed to him, has yet executed many +works which are not otherwise than passing good. In Verona he has +painted a S. John the Baptist in the Church of the Nuns of S. Giuseppe, +and in the tramezzo[6] of S. Eufemia, above the altar of S. Paolo, a +scene in fresco showing the latter Saint presenting himself to Ananias +after being converted by Christ; which work, although he executed it +when still a lad, is much extolled. For the noble Counts Canossi he +painted two apartments, and in a hall two friezes with battle-pieces, +which are very beautiful and praised by everyone. In Venice he painted +the façade of a house near the Carmine, a work of no great size, but +much extolled, in which he executed a figure of Venice crowned and +seated upon a lion, the device of that Republic. For Camillo Trevisano +he painted the façade of his house at Murano, and in company with his +son Marco he decorated the inner court with very beautiful scenes in +chiaroscuro. And in competition with Paolo Veronese he painted a large +chamber in the same house, which proved to be so beautiful that it +brought him much honour and profit. + +The same master has also executed many works in miniature, of which the +most recent is a very beautiful drawing of S. Eustachio adoring Christ, +who has appeared to him between the horns of a deer, with two dogs near +him, which could not be more excellent, and a landscape full of trees, +receding and fading away little by little into the distance, which is an +exquisite thing. This drawing has been very highly praised by the many +persons who have seen it, and particularly by Danese da Carrara, who saw +it when he was in Verona, carrying out the work of the Chapel of the +Signori Fregosi, which is one of rare distinction among all the number +that there are in Italy at the present day. Danese, I say, having seen +this drawing, was lost in astonishment at its beauty, and exhorted the +above-mentioned Fra Marco de' Medici, his old and particular friend, not +for anything in the world to let it slip through his hands, but to +contrive to place it among the other choice examples of all the arts in +his possession. Whereupon Battista, having heard that Fra Marco desired +it, and knowing of his friendship with his father-in-law, gave it to +him, almost forcing him to accept it, in the presence of Danese; nor was +that good Father ungrateful to him for so much courtesy. However, since +that same Battista and his son Marco are alive and still at work, I +shall say nothing more of them for the present. + +Il Moro had another disciple, called Orlando Fiacco, who has become a +good master and a very able painter of portraits, as may be seen from +the many that he has painted, all very beautiful and most lifelike. He +made a portrait of Cardinal Caraffa when he was returning from Germany, +which he took secretly by torch-light while the Cardinal was at supper +in the Vescovado of Verona; and this was such a faithful likeness that +it could not have been improved. He also painted a very lifelike +portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine, when, coming from the Council of +Trent, he passed through Verona on his return to Rome; and likewise +portraits of the two Bishops Lippomani of Verona, Luigi the uncle and +Agostino the nephew, which Count Giovan Battista della Torre now has in +a little apartment. Other portraits that he painted were those of Messer +Adamo Fumani, a Canon and a very learned gentleman of Verona, of Messer +Vincenzio de' Medici of Verona, and of his consort, Madonna Isotta, in +the guise of S. Helen, and of their grandson, Messer Niccolò. He has +likewise executed portraits of Count Antonio della Torre, of Count +Girolamo Canossi, and his brothers, Count Lodovico and Count Paolo, of +Signor Astorre Baglioni, Captain-General of all the light cavalry of +Venice and Governor of Verona, the latter clad in white armour and most +beautiful in aspect, and of his consort, Signora Ginevra Salviati. In +like manner, he has portrayed the eminent architect Palladio and many +others; and he still continues at work, wishing to become in the art of +painting as true an Orlando as once was that great Paladin of France. + +[Illustration: BONSIGNORI (MONSIGNORI): PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN + +(_London: National Gallery, 736. Tempera Panel_)] + +In Verona, where an extraordinary degree of attention has been given to +design ever since the death of Fra Giocondo, there have flourished at +all times men excellent in painting and architecture, as will now be +seen, in addition to what has been observed hitherto, in the Lives of +Francesco Monsignori, of Domenico Morone and his son Francesco, of Paolo +Cavazzuola, of the architect Falconetto, and, lastly, of the +miniaturists Francesco and Girolamo. + +Francesco Monsignori, the son of Alberto, was born at Verona in the year +1455; and when he was well grown he was advised by his father, who had +always delighted in painting, although he had not practised it save for +his own pleasure, to give his attention to design. Having, therefore, +gone to Mantua to seek out Mantegna, who was then working in that city, +he exerted himself in such a manner, being fired by the fame of his +instructor, that no long time passed before Francesco II, Marquis of +Mantua, who found an extraordinary delight in painting, took him into +his own service; and in the year 1487 he gave him a house for his +habitation in Mantua, and assigned him an honourable provision. For +these benefits Francesco was not ungrateful, for he always served that +lord with supreme fidelity and lovingness; whence the Marquis came to +love and favour him more and more every day, insomuch that he could not +leave the city without having Francesco in his train, and was once heard +to say that Francesco was as dear to him as the State itself. + +Francesco painted many works for that lord in his Palace of S. +Sebastiano at Mantua, and also in the Castello di Gonzaga and in the +beautiful Palace of Marmirolo without the city. In the latter Francesco +had finished painting in the year 1499, after a vast number of other +pictures, some triumphs and many portraits of gentlemen of the Court; +and on Christmas Eve, on which day he had finished those works, the +Marquis presented to him an estate of a hundred fields in the territory +of Mantua, at a place called La Marzotta, with a mansion, garden, +meadows, and other things of great beauty and convenience. He was most +excellent at taking portraits from life, and the Marquis caused him to +paint many portraits, of himself, of his sons, and of many other lords +of the house of Gonzaga, which were sent to France and Germany as +presents for various Princes. And many of these portraits are still in +Mantua, such as those of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; of Doge +Barbarigo of Venice; of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan; of +Massimiliano, also Duke of Milan, who died in France; of the Emperor +Maximilian; of Signor Ercole Gonzaga, who afterwards became a Cardinal; +of his brother, Duke Federigo (then a young man); of Signor Giovan +Francesco Gonzaga; of Messer Andrea Mantegna, the painter; and of many +others; of all which Francesco preserved copies drawn on paper in +chiaroscuro, which are now in the possession of his heirs at Mantua. + +Above the pulpit of S. Francesco de' Zoccolanti, in the same city, is a +picture that he painted of S. Louis and S. Bernardino holding a large +circle that contains the name of Jesus; and in the refectory of those +friars there is a picture on canvas as large as the whole of the +head-wall, of the Saviour in the midst of the twelve Apostles, painted +in perspective and all very beautiful, and executed with many proofs of +consideration. Among them is the traitor Judas, with a face wholly +different from those of the others, and in a strange attitude; and the +others are all gazing intently at Jesus, who is speaking to them, being +near His Passion. On the right hand of this work is a S. Francis of the +size of life, a very beautiful figure, the countenance of which is the +very presentment of that sanctity which was peculiar to that most +saintly man; and he is presenting to Christ the Marquis Francesco, who +is kneeling at his feet, portrayed from life in a long coat pleated and +worked with a curly pattern, according to the fashion of those times, +and embroidered with white crosses, perchance because he may have been +at that time Captain of the Venetians. And in front of the Marquis is a +portrait, with the hands clasped, of his eldest son, who was then a very +beautiful boy, and afterwards became Duke Federigo. On the other side is +painted a S. Bernardino, equal in excellence to the figure of S. +Francis, and likewise presenting to Christ the brother of the Marquis, +Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, a very beautiful kneeling figure, robed in +the habit of a Cardinal, with the rochet, which is also a portrait from +life; and in front of that Cardinal is a portrait of Signora Leonora, +the daughter of the same Marquis, who was then a girl, and afterwards +became Duchess of Urbino. This whole work is held by the most excellent +painters to be a marvellous thing. + +[Illustration: S. SEBASTIAN + +(_After the painting by =Francesco Monsignori [Bonsignori]=. Berlin: +Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46 c_) + +_Hanfstaengl_] + +The same master painted a picture of S. Sebastian, which was afterwards +placed in the Madonna delle Grazie, without the city of Mantua; and to +this he devoted extraordinary pains, copying many things in it from the +life. It is related that the Marquis, going one day, while Francesco was +executing this picture, to see him at work, as he used often to do, said +to him: "Francesco, you must take some fine figure as your model in +painting this Saint." To which Francesco answered: "I am using as my +model a porter with a very handsome figure, whom I bind in a fashion of +my own in order to make the work natural." "But the limbs of this Saint +of yours," rejoined the Marquis, "are not true to life, for they have +not the appearance of being strained by force or by that fear which one +would expect in a man bound and shot with arrows; and by your leave I +will undertake to show you what you ought to do in order to make this +figure perfect." "Nay, but I beg you to do it, my lord," said Francesco; +and the Marquis added: "When you have your porter bound here, send for +me, and I will show you what you must do." The next day, therefore, when +Francesco had the porter bound in the manner that he wished, he sent a +secret summons to the Marquis, but without knowing what he intended to +do. And the Marquis, bursting out of a neighbouring room in a great +fury, with a loaded cross-bow in his hand, rushed towards the porter, +crying out at the top of his voice, "Traitor, prepare to die! At last I +have caught thee as I would have thee," and other suchlike words; which +hearing, the wretched porter, thinking himself as good as dead, +struggled in a frenzy of terror with the ropes wherewith he was bound, +and made frantic efforts to break them, thus truly representing one +about to be shot with arrows, and revealing fear in his face and the +horror of death in his strained and distorted limbs, as he sought to +escape from his peril. This done, the Marquis said to Francesco, "There +he is in the state that he ought to be: the rest is for you to do"; +which the painter having well considered, made his figure as perfect as +could be imagined. + +Francesco painted in the Gonzaga Palace, besides many other things, the +Election of the first Lords of Mantua, with the jousts that were held on +the Piazza di S. Piero, which is seen there in perspective. When the +Grand Turk sent one of his men with a most beautiful dog, a bow, and a +quiver, as presents for the Marquis, the latter caused the dog, the Turk +who had brought it, and the other things, to be painted in the same +Gonzaga Palace; and, this done, wishing to see whether the painted dog +were truly lifelike, he had one of his own dogs, of a breed very hostile +to the Turkish dog, brought to the place where the other one stood on a +pedestal painted in imitation of stone. The living dog, then, arriving +there, had no sooner seen the painted one than, precisely as if it had +been a living animal and the very one for whom he had a mortal hatred, +he broke loose from his keeper and rushed at it with such vehemence, in +order to bite it, that he struck his head full against the wall and +dashed it all to pieces. + +[Illustration: GIOVAN FRANCESCO MORONE: MADONNA AND CHILD + +(_London: National Gallery, 285. Panel_)] + +Another story is told by persons who were present at the scene, of a +little picture by the hand of Francesco, little more than two span in +height, and belonging to his nephew Benedetto Baroni, in which is a +Madonna painted in oils, from the breast upwards, and almost life-size, +and, lower down, in the corner of the picture, the Child, seen from the +shoulders upwards, with one arm uplifted and in the act of caressing His +Mother. It is related, I say, that, when the Emperor was master of +Verona, Don Alfonso of Castille and Alarcon, a very famous Captain, +happened to be in that city on behalf of His Majesty and the Catholic +King; and that these lords, being in the house of the Veronese Count +Lodovico da Sesso, said that they had a great desire to see that +picture. Whereupon it was sent for; and one evening they were standing +contemplating it in a good light, and admiring its masterly workmanship, +when Signora Caterina, the wife of the Count, entered into the room +where those noblemen were, together with one of her sons, who had on his +wrist one of those green birds--called in Verona "terrazzani,"[7] +because they make their nests on the ground--which learn to perch on the +wrist, like hawks. It happened, then, that, while she stood with the +others contemplating the picture, the bird, seeing the extended arm and +wrist of the painted Child, flew to perch upon it; but, not having been +able to find a hold on the surface of the painting, and having +therefore fallen to the ground, it twice returned to settle on the +wrist of that painted Child, precisely as if it had been one of those +living children who were always holding it on their wrists. At which +those noblemen, being amazed, offered to pay a great price to Benedetto +for the picture, if only he would give it to them; but it was not +possible by any means to wrest it from him. Not long afterwards the same +persons planned to have it stolen from him on the day of the festival of +S. Biagio in S. Nazzaro; but the owner was informed of this, and their +design did not succeed. + +For S. Paolo, in Verona, Francesco painted a panel-picture in gouache, +which is very beautiful, and another, also most beautiful, for the +Chapel of the Bandi in S. Bernardino. In Mantua he executed for Verona a +picture with two most lovely nudes, a Madonna in the sky, with the Child +in her arms, and some Angels, all marvellous figures, which is in the +chapel where S. Biagio is buried, in the Black Friars Church of S. +Nazzaro. + +Francesco was a man of saintly life, and the enemy of every vice, +insomuch that he would never on any account paint licentious works, +although he was very often entreated to do so by the Marquis; and equal +to him in goodness were his brothers, as will be related in the proper +place. Finally, being old, and suffering in the bladder, Francesco, with +the leave of the Marquis and by the advice of the physicians, went with +his wife and many servants to the Baths of Caldero, in the territory of +Verona, to take the waters. There, one day, after he had drunk the +water, he allowed himself to be overcome by drowsiness, and slept a +little, being indulged in this by his wife out of compassion; whereupon, +a violent fever having come upon him in consequence of his sleeping, +which is a deadly thing for one who has just taken that water, he +finished the course of his life on the second day of July, 1519; which +having been reported to the Marquis, he straightway sent orders by a +courier that the body of Francesco should be brought to Mantua. This was +done, although it gave little pleasure to the people of Verona; and he +was laid to rest with great honour in the burial-place of the Compagnia +Segreta in S. Francesco at Mantua. Francesco lived to the age of +sixty-four, and the portrait of him which belongs to Messer Fermo was +executed when he was fifty. Many compositions were written in his +praise, and he was mourned by all who knew him as a virtuous and saintly +man, which he was. He had for wife Madonna Francesca Gioacchini of +Verona, but he had no children. + +The eldest of his three brothers was called Monsignore; and he, being a +person of culture and learning, received offices with good salaries in +Mantua from the Marquis, on account of that nobleman's love of +Francesco. He lived to the age of eighty, and left children, who keep +the family of the Monsignori alive in Mantua. Another brother of +Francesco had the name of Girolamo when in the world, and of Fra +Cherubino among the Frati Zoccolanti di San Francesco; and he was a very +beautiful calligrapher and illuminator. The third, who was a Friar of S. +Dominic and an Observantine, and was called Fra Girolamo, chose out of +humility to become a lay-brother. He was not only a man of good and holy +life, but also a passing good painter, as may be seen in the Convent of +S. Domenico in Mantua, where, besides other works, he executed a most +beautiful Last Supper in the refectory, with a Passion of Christ, which +remained unfinished on account of his death. The same friar painted the +beautiful Last Supper that is in the refectory of the very rich abbey +which the Monks of S. Benedict possess in the territory of Mantua. In S. +Domenico he painted the altar of the Rosary; and in the Convent of S. +Anastasia, in Verona, he painted in fresco the Madonna, S. Remigio the +Bishop, and S. Anastasia; with a Madonna, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas +Aquinas, all executed with mastery, on a little arch over the second +door of entrance in the second cloister. + +[Illustration: THE CRUCIFIXION + +(_After the painting by =Giovan Francesco Morone=. Verona: S. +Bernardino_) + +_Alinari_] + +Fra Girolamo was a person of great simplicity, wholly indifferent to the +things of the world. He lived in the country, at a farm belonging to his +convent, in order to avoid all noise and disturbance, and the money sent +to him in return for his works, which he used for buying colours and +suchlike things, he kept in a box without a cover, hung from the ceiling +in the middle of his chamber, so that all who wished could take some; +and in order not to have the trouble of thinking every day what he +was to eat, he used to cook a pot of beans every Monday to last him the +whole week. + +When the plague came to Mantua and the sick were abandoned by all, as +happens in such cases, Fra Girolamo, with no other motive but the purest +love, would never desert the poor plague-stricken monks, and even tended +them all day long with his own hands. And thus, careless of his life for +the love of God, he became infected with that malady and died at the age +of sixty, to the great grief of all who knew him. + +But to return to Francesco Monsignori: he painted a life-size portrait, +which I forgot to mention above, of Count Ercole Giusti of Verona, in a +robe of cloth of gold, such as he was wont to wear; and this is a very +beautiful likeness, as may be seen in the house of his son, Count +Giusto. + +Domenico Morone, who was born at Verona about the year 1430, learned the +art of painting from some masters who were disciples of Stefano, and +from works by the same Stefano, by Jacopo Bellini, by Pisano, and by +others, which he saw and copied. Saying nothing of the many pictures +that he executed after the manner of those times, which are now in +monasteries and private houses, I begin by recording that he painted in +chiaroscuro, with "terretta verde," the façade of a house belonging to +the city of Verona, on the square called the Piazza de' Signori; and in +this may be seen many ornamental friezes and scenes from ancient +history, with a very beautiful arrangement of figures and costumes of +bygone days. But the best work to be seen by the hand of this master is +the Leading of Christ to the Cross, with a multitude of figures and +horses, which is in S. Bernardino, on the wall above the Chapel of the +Monte di Pietà, for which Liberale painted the picture of the Deposition +with the weeping Angels. The same Domenico received a commission to +paint the chapel that is next to that one, both within and without, at +great expense and with a lavish use of gold, from the Chevalier, Messer +Niccolò de' Medici, who was considered to be the richest man of his day +in Verona, and who spent great sums of money on other pious works, being +a man who was inclined to this by nature. This gentleman, after he had +built many monasteries and churches, and had left scarcely any place in +that city where he had not executed some noble and costly work to the +honour of God, chose as his burial-place the chapel mentioned above, for +the ornamentation of which he availed himself of Domenico, at that time +more famous than any other painter in that city, Liberale being in +Siena. + +Domenico, then, painted in the interior of this chapel the Miracles of +S. Anthony of Padua, to whom it is dedicated, and portrayed the +Chevalier in an old man with shaven face and white hair, without any +cap, and wearing a long gown of cloth of gold, such as Chevaliers used +to wear in those times. All this, for a work in fresco, is very well +designed and executed. Then, in certain medallions in the outer +vaulting, which is all overlaid with gold, he painted the four +Evangelists; and on the pilasters both within and without he executed +figures of Saints, among which are S. Elizabeth of the Third Order of S. +Francis, S. Helen, and S. Catharine, which are very beautiful figures, +and much extolled for the draughtsmanship, colouring, and grace. This +work, then, can bear witness to the talent of Domenico and to the +magnificent liberality of that Chevalier. + +Domenico died very old, and was buried in S. Bernardino, wherein are the +works by his hand described above, leaving his son, Francesco Morone, +heir to his property and his talents. This Francesco, who learned the +first principles of art from his father, afterwards exerted himself in +such a manner that in a short time he became a much better master than +his father had been, as the works that he executed in emulation of those +of his father clearly demonstrate. Below his father's work on the altar +of the Monte, in the aforesaid Church of S. Bernardino, Francesco +painted in oils the folding-doors that enclose the altar-piece of +Liberale; on the inner side of which he depicted in one the Virgin, and +in the other S. John the Evangelist, both life-size figures, with great +beauty in the faces, which are weeping, in the draperies, and in every +other part. In the same chapel, at the foot of the face of that wall +which serves as head-wall to the tramezzo,[8] he painted the Miracle +that Our Lord performed with the five loaves and two fishes, which +satisfied the multitude; and in this are many beautiful figures and +many portraits from life, but most of all is praise given to a S. John +the Evangelist, who is very slender, and has his back partly turned +towards the spectator. He then executed in the same place, beside the +altar-piece, in the vacant spaces on the wall against which it rests, a +S. Louis, Bishop and Friar of S. Francis, and another figure; with some +heads in foreshortening in a sunk medallion on the vaulting. All these +works are much extolled by the painters of Verona. And for the altar of +the Cross, on which are so many painted pictures, between that chapel +and the Chapel of the Medici, in the same church, he executed a picture +which is in the centre above all the others, containing Christ on the +Cross, the Madonna, and S. John, and very beautiful. In another picture, +which is above that of Caroto, on the left-hand side of the same altar, +he painted Our Lord washing the feet of the Apostles, who are seen in +various attitudes; in which work, so men say, this painter made a +portrait of himself in the figure of one who is serving Christ by +bringing water. + +For the Chapel of the Emilii, in the Duomo, Francesco executed a S. +James and a S. John, one on either side of Christ, who is bearing His +Cross; and the beauty and excellence of these two figures leave nothing +to be desired. The same master executed many works at Lonico, in an +abbey of Monks of Monte Oliveto, whither great multitudes flock together +to adore a figure of the Madonna which performs many miracles in that +place. Afterwards, Francesco being very much the friend, and, as it +were, the brother of Girolamo dai Libri, the painter and illuminator, +they undertook to paint in company the organ-doors of S. Maria in +Organo, a church of Monks of Monte Oliveto. In one of these, on the +outer side, Francesco painted a S. Benedict clothed in white, and S. +John the Evangelist, and on the inner side the Prophets Daniel and +Isaiah, with two little Angels in the air, and a ground all full of very +beautiful landscapes. And then he executed the great altar-piece of the +altar of the Muletta, painting therein a S. Peter and a S. John, which +are little more than one braccio in height, but wrought so well and with +such diligence, that they have the appearance of miniatures. The +carvings of this work were executed by Fra Giovanni da Verona, a master +of tarsia and carving. + +In the same place, on the wall of the choir, Francesco painted two +scenes in fresco--one of Our Lord riding on an ass into Jerusalem, and +the other of His Prayer in the Garden, wherein, on one side, is the +armed multitude coming to take Him, guided by Judas. But more beautiful +than all the rest is the vaulted sacristy, which is all painted by the +same master, excepting only the S. Anthony being scourged by Demons, +which is said to be by the hand of his father, Domenico. In this +sacristy, then, besides the Christ and some little Angels that are seen +in foreshortening on the vaulting, he painted in the lunettes, two in +each niche, and robed in their pontifical vestments, the various Popes +who have been exalted to the Pontificate from the Order of S. Benedict. +Round the sacristy, below the lunettes of the vaulting, is drawn a +frieze four feet high, and divided into compartments, wherein are +painted in the monastic habit various Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and other +Princes, who have abandoned the States and Principalities that they +ruled, and have become monks. In these figures Francesco made portraits +from life of many of the monks who had their habitation or a temporary +abode in that monastery, the while that he was working there; and among +them are portraits of many novices and other monks of every kind, which +are heads of great beauty, and executed with much diligence. In truth, +by reason of these ornaments, that was then the most beautiful sacristy +that there was in all Italy, since, in addition to the beauty of the +room, which is of considerable size and well proportioned, and the +pictures described above, which are also very beautiful, there is at the +foot of the walls a range of panelled seats adorned with fine +perspective-views, so well executed in tarsia and carving, that there is +no work to be seen of those times, and perchance even of our own, that +is much better. For Fra Giovanni da Verona, who executed this work, was +most excellent in that art, as was said in the Life of Raffaello da +Urbino, and as is demonstrated not only by his many other works in +houses of his Order, but also by those that are in the Papal Palace at +Rome, in Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri in the territory of Siena, and in +other places. But those of this sacristy are the best of all the works +that Fra Giovanni ever executed, for the reason that it may be said that +in them he surpassed himself by as much as he excelled in the rest every +other master. Among other things, Fra Giovanni carved for this place a +candelabrum more than fourteen feet in height to hold the Paschal +candle, all made of walnut-wood, and wrought with such extraordinary +patience that I do not believe that there is a better work of the same +kind to be seen. + +But to return to Francesco: he painted for the same church the +panel-picture which is in the Chapel of the Counts Giusti, in which he +depicted the Madonna, with S. Augustine and S. Martin in pontifical +robes. And in the cloister he executed a Deposition from the Cross, with +the Maries and other Saints, works in fresco which are much extolled in +Verona. In the Church of the Vittoria he painted the Chapel of the +Fumanelli, which is below the wall that supports the choir which was +built by the Chevalier Messer Niccolò de' Medici; and a Madonna in +fresco in the cloister. And afterwards he painted a portrait from life +of Messer Antonio Fumanelli, a physician very famous for the works +written by him in connection with his profession. He painted in fresco, +also, on a house which is seen on the left hand as one crosses the Ponte +delle Navi on the way to S. Paolo, a Madonna with many Saints, which is +held to be a very beautiful work, both in design and in colouring; and +on the house of the Sparvieri, in the Brà, opposite to the garden of the +Friars of S. Fermo, he painted another like it. Francesco painted a +number of other works, of which there is no need to make mention, since +the best have been described; let it suffice to say that he gave grace, +unity, and good design to his pictures, with a colouring as vivid and +pleasing as that of any other painter. Francesco lived fifty-five years, +and died on May 16, 1529. He chose to be carried to his tomb in the +habit of a Friar of S. Francis, and he was buried in S. Domenico, beside +his father. He was so good a man, so religious, and so exemplary, that +there was never heard to issue from his mouth any word that was +otherwise than seemly. + +A disciple of Francesco, and much more able than his master, was the +Veronese Paolo Cavazzuola, who executed many works in Verona; I say in +Verona, because it is not known that he ever worked in any other place. +In S. Nazzaro, a seat of Black Friars at Verona, he painted many works +in fresco near those of his master Francesco; but these were all thrown +to the ground when that church was rebuilt by the pious munificence of +the reverend Father, Don Mauro Lonichi, a nobleman of Verona and Abbot +of that Monastery. On the old house of the Fumanelli, in the Via del +Paradiso, Paolo painted, likewise in fresco, the Sibyl showing to +Augustus Our Lord in the heavens, in the arms of His Mother; which work +is beautiful enough for one of the first that he executed. On the outer +side of the Chapel of the Fontani, in S. Maria in Organo, he painted, +also in fresco, two Angels--namely, S. Michael and S. Raphael. In the +street into which there opens the Chapel of the Angel Raphael, in S. +Eufemia, over a window that gives light to a recess in the staircase of +that chapel, he painted the Angel Raphael, and with him Tobias, whom he +guided on his journey; which was a very beautiful little work. And in S. +Bernardino, in a round picture over the door where there is the bell, he +painted a S. Bernardino in fresco, and in another round picture on the +same wall, but lower down, and above the entrance to a confessional, a +S. Francis, which is beautiful and well executed, as is also the S. +Bernardino. These are all the works that Paolo is known to have painted +in fresco. + +[Illustration: THE DEPOSITION + +(_After the panel by =Paolo Cavazzuola=. Verona: Museo Civico, 392_) + +_Anderson_] + +As for his works in oils, he painted a picture of S. Rocco for the altar +of the Santificazione in the Church of the Madonna della Scala, in +emulation of the S. Sebastian which Il Moro painted for the other side +of the same place; which S. Rocco is a very beautiful figure. But the +best figures that this painter ever executed are in S. Bernardino, where +all the large pictures that are on the altar of the Cross, round the +principal altar-piece, are by his hand, excepting that with the Christ +Crucified, the Madonna, and S. John, which is above all the others, and +is by the hand of his master Francesco. Beside it, in the upper part, +are two large pictures by the hand of Paolo, in one of which is Christ +being scourged at the Column, and in the other His Coronation, painted +with many figures somewhat more than life-size. In the principal +picture, which is lower down, in the first range, he painted a +Deposition from the Cross, with the Madonna, the Magdalene, S. John, +Nicodemus, and Joseph; and he made a portrait of himself, so good that +it has the appearance of life, in one of these figures, a young man with +a red beard, who is near the Tree of the Cross, with a coif on his head, +such as it was the custom to wear at that time. On the right-hand side +is a picture by Paolo of Our Lord in the Garden, with the three +Disciples near Him; and on the left-hand side is another of Christ with +the Cross on His shoulder, being led to Mount Calvary. The excellence of +these works, which stand out strongly in comparison with those by the +hand of his master that are in the same place, will always give Paolo a +place among the best craftsmen. + +On the base he painted some Saints from the breast upwards, which are +all portraits from life. The first figure, wearing the habit of S. +Francis, and representing a Beato, is a portrait of Fra Girolamo +Rechalchi, a noble Veronese; the figure beside the first, painted to +represent S. Bonaventura, is the portrait of Fra Bonaventura Rechalchi, +brother of the aforesaid Fra Girolamo; and the head of S. Joseph is the +portrait of a steward of the Marchesi Malespini, who had been charged at +that time by the Company of the Cross to see to the execution of this +work. All these heads are very beautiful. + +For the same church Paolo painted the altar-piece of the Chapel of S. +Francesco, in which work, the last that he executed, he surpassed +himself. There are in it six figures larger than life; one being S. +Elizabeth, of the Third Order of S. Francis, who is a most beautiful +figure, with a smiling air and a gracious countenance, and with her lap +full of roses; and she seems to be rejoicing at the sight of the bread +that she, great lady as she was, had been carrying to the poor, turned +by a miracle of God into roses, in token that her humble charity in thus +ministering to the poor with her own hands was acceptable to God. This +figure is a portrait of a widowed lady of the Sacchi family. Among the +other figures are S. Bonaventura the Cardinal and S. Louis the Bishop, +both Friars of S. Francis. Near these are S. Louis, King of France, S. +Eleazar in a grey habit, and S. Ivo in the habit of a priest. Then there +is the Madonna on a cloud above them all, with S. Francis and other +figures round her; but it is said that these are not by the hand of +Paolo, but by that of a friend who helped him to execute the picture; +and it is evident, indeed, that these figures are not equal in +excellence to those beneath. And in this picture is a portrait from life +of Madonna Caterina de' Sacchi, who gave the commission for the work. + +Now Paolo, having set his heart on becoming great and famous, made to +this end such immoderate exertions that he fell ill and died at the +early age of thirty-one, at the very moment when he was beginning to +give proofs of what might be expected from him at a riper age. It is +certain that Paolo, if Fortune had not crossed him at the height of his +activity, would without a doubt have attained to the highest, best, and +greatest honours that could be desired by a painter. His loss, +therefore, grieved not only his friends, but all men of talent and +everyone who knew him, and all the more because he had been a young man +of excellent character, untainted by a single vice. He was buried in S. +Paolo, after making himself immortal by the beautiful works that he left +behind him. + +Stefano Veronese, a very rare painter in his day, as has been related, +had a brother-german, called Giovanni Antonio, who, although he learned +to paint from that same Stefano, nevertheless did not become anything +more than a mediocre painter, as may be seen from his works, of which +there is no need to make mention. To this Giovanni Antonio was born a +son, called Jacopo, who likewise became a painter of commonplace works; +and to Jacopo were born Giovan Maria, called Falconetto, whose Life we +are about to write, and Giovanni Antonio. The latter, devoting himself +to painting, executed many works at Rovereto, a very famous township in +the Trentino, and many pictures at Verona, which are dispersed among the +houses of private citizens. He also painted many works in the valley of +the Adige, above Verona, and a panel-picture of S. Nicholas, with many +animals, at Sacco, opposite to Rovereto, with many others; after which +he finally died at Rovereto, where he had gone to live. This master was +particularly excellent in making animals and fruits, of which many very +beautiful drawings, executed in miniature, were taken to France by the +Veronese Mondella; and many of them were given by Agnolo, the son of +Giovanni Antonio, to Messer Girolamo Lioni, a Venetian gentleman of +noble spirit. + +But to come at last to Giovan Maria, the brother of Giovanni Antonio. He +learned the rudiments of painting from his father, whose manner he +rendered no little better and grander, although even he was not a +painter of much reputation, as is evident from the Chapels of the Maffei +and of the Emilii in the Duomo of Verona, from the upper part of the +cupola of S. Nazzaro, and from works in other places. This master, +recognizing the little value of his work in painting, and delighting +beyond measure in architecture, set himself with great diligence to +study and draw all the antiquities in his native city of Verona. He then +resolved to visit Rome, and to learn architecture from its marvellous +remains, which are the true masters; and he made his way to that city, +and stayed there twelve whole years. That time he spent, for the most +part, in examining and drawing all those marvellous antiquities, +searching out in every place all the ground-plans that he could see and +all the measurements that he could find. Nor did he leave anything in +Rome, either buildings or their members, such as cornices, capitals, and +columns, of whatsoever Order, that he did not draw with his own hand, +with all the measurements; and he also drew all the sculptures which +were discovered in those times, insomuch that when he returned to his +own country, after those twelve years, he was rich in all the treasures +of his art. And, not content with the things in the city of Rome itself, +he drew all that was good and beautiful in the whole of the Roman +Campagna, going even as far as the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of +Spoleto, and other parts. It is said that Giovan Maria, being poor, and +therefore having little wherewith to live or to maintain himself in +Rome, used to spend two or three days every week in assisting some +painter with his work; and with his earnings, since at that time masters +were well paid and living was cheap, he was able to live the other days +of the week, pursuing the studies of architecture. Thus, then, he drew +all those antiquities as if they were complete, reconstructing them in +his drawings from the parts and members that he saw, from which he +imagined all the other parts of the buildings in all their perfection +and integrity, and all with such true measurements and proportions, +that he could not make an error in a single detail. + +Having returned to Verona, and finding no opportunity of exercising +himself in architecture, since his native city was in the throes of a +change of government, Giovan Maria gave his attention for the time to +painting, and executed many works. On the house of the Della Torre +family he painted a large escutcheon crowned by some trophies; and for +two German noblemen, counsellors of the Emperor Maximilian, he executed +in fresco some scenes from the Scriptures on a wall of the little Church +of S. Giorgio, and painted there life-size portraits of those two +Germans, one kneeling on one side and one on the other. He executed a +number of works at Mantua, for Signor Luigi Gonzaga; and some others at +Osimo, in the March of Ancona. And while the city of Verona was under +the Emperor, he painted the imperial arms on all the public buildings, +and received for this from the Emperor a good salary and a patent of +privilege, from which it may be seen that many favours and exemptions +were granted to him, both on account of his good service in matters of +art, and because he was a man of great spirit, brave and formidable in +the use of arms, with which he might likewise be expected to give +valiant and faithful service: and all the more because he drew after +him, on account of the great credit that he had with his neighbours, the +whole mass of the people who lived in the Borgo di San Zeno, a very +populous part of the city, in which he had been born and had taken a +wife from the family of the Provali. For these reasons, then, he had all +the inhabitants of his district as his following, and was called +throughout the city by no other name but that of the "Red-head of San +Zeno." + +Now, when the city again changed its government and returned to the rule +of its ancient masters the Venetians, Giovan Maria, being known as one +who had served the party of the Emperor, was forced to seek safety in +flight; and he went, therefore, to Trento, where he passed some time +painting certain pictures. Finally, however, when matters had mended, he +made his way to Padua, where he was first received in audience and then +much favoured by the very reverend Monsignor Bembo, who presented him +not long afterwards to the illustrious Messer Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian +gentleman of lofty spirit and truly regal mind, as is proved by his many +magnificent enterprises. This gentleman, who, in addition to his other +truly noble qualities, delighted in the study of architecture, the +knowledge of which is worthy of no matter how great a Prince, had +therefore read the works of Vitruvius, Leon Batista Alberti, and others +who have written on this subject, and he wished to put what he had +learned into practice. And when he saw the designs of Falconetto, and +perceived with what profound knowledge he spoke of these matters, and +rendered clear all the difficulties that can arise through the variety +of the Orders of architecture, he conceived such a love for him that he +took him into his own house and kept him there as an honoured guest for +twenty-one years, which was the whole of the rest of Giovan Maria's +life. + +During this time Falconetto executed many works with the help of the +same Messer Luigi. The latter, desiring to see the antiquities of Rome +on the spot, even as he had seen them in the drawings of Giovan Maria, +went to Rome, taking him with him; and there he devoted himself to +examining everything minutely, having him always in his company. After +they had returned to Padua, a beginning was made with building from the +design and model of Falconetto that most beautiful and ornate loggia +which is in the house of the Cornari, near the Santo; and the palace was +to be erected next, after the model made by Messer Luigi himself. In +this loggia the name of Giovan Maria is carved on a pilaster. + +The same architect built a very large and magnificent Doric portal for +the Palace of the Captain of that place; and this portal is much praised +by everyone as a work of great purity. He also erected two very +beautiful gates for the city, one of which, called the Porta di S. +Giovanni, and leading to Vicenza, is very fine, and commodious for the +soldiers who guard it; and the other, which is very well designed, was +called the Porta Savonarola. He made, likewise, for the Friars of S. +Dominic, the design and model of the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie, +and laid the foundations; and this work, as may be seen from the model, +is so beautiful and well designed, that one of equal size to rival it +has perhaps never been seen up to our own day in any other place. And +by the same master was made the model of a most superb palace for Signor +Girolamo Savorgnano, at his well fortified stronghold of Usopo in +Friuli; for which all the foundations were then laid, and it had begun +to rise above the ground, when, by reason of the death of that nobleman, +it was left in that condition without being carried further; but if this +building had been finished, it would have been a marvel. + +About the same time Falconetto went to Pola, in Istria, for the sole +purpose of seeing and drawing the theatre, amphitheatre, and arch that +are in that most ancient city. He was the first who made drawings of +theatres and amphitheatres and traced their ground-plans, and those that +are to be seen, particularly in the case of Verona, came from him, and +were printed at the instance of others after his designs. Giovan Maria +was a man of exalted mind, and, being one who had never done anything +else but draw the great works of antiquity, he desired nothing save that +there should be presented to him opportunities of executing works +similar to those in greatness. He would sometimes make ground-plans and +designs for them, with the very same pains that he would have taken if +he had been commissioned to put them into execution at once; and in this +he lost himself so much, so to speak, that he would not deign to make +designs for the private houses of gentlemen, either in the country or in +the city, although he was much besought to do so. + +Giovan Maria was in Rome on many occasions besides those described +above; whence that journey was so familiar to him, that when he was +young and vigorous he would undertake it on the slightest opportunity. +Persons who are still alive relate that, falling one day into a +discussion with a foreign architect, who happened to be in Verona, about +the measurements of I know not what ancient cornice in Rome, after many +words Giovan Maria said, "I will soon make myself certain in this +matter," and then went straight to his house and set out on his way to +Rome. + +[Illustration: PALAZZO DEL CAPITANIO + +(_After_ Falconetto. _Padua_) + +_Anderson_] + +This master made for the Cornaro family two very beautiful designs of +tombs, which were to be erected in S. Salvatore, at Venice--one for the +Queen of Cyprus, a lady of that family, and the other for Cardinal +Marco Cornaro, who was the first of that house to be honoured with +that dignity. And in order that these designs might be carried out, a +great quantity of marble was quarried at Carrara and taken to Venice, +where the rough blocks still are, in the house of the same Cornari. + +Giovan Maria was the first who brought the true methods of building and +of good architecture to Verona, Venice, and all those parts, where +before him there had not been one who knew how to make even a cornice or +a capital, or understood either the measurements or the proportions of a +column or of any Order of architecture, as is evident from the buildings +that were erected before his day. This knowledge was afterwards much +increased by Fra Giocondo, who lived about the same time, and it +received its final perfection from Messer Michele San Michele, insomuch +that those parts are therefore under an everlasting obligation to the +people of Verona, in which city were born and lived at one and the same +time these three most excellent architects. To them there then succeeded +Sansovino, who, not resting content with architecture, which he found +already grounded and established by the three masters mentioned above, +also brought thither sculpture, to the end that by its means their +buildings might have all the adornments that were proper to them. And +for this a debt of gratitude--if one may use such a word--is due to the +ruin of Rome, by reason of which the masters were dispersed over many +places and the beauties of these arts communicated throughout all +Europe. + +Giovan Maria caused some works in stucco to be carried out in Venice, +and taught the method of executing them. Some declare that when he was a +young man he had the vaulting of the Chapel of the Santo, at Padua, +decorated with stucco by Tiziano da Padova and many others, and also had +similar works executed in the house of the Cornari, which are very +beautiful. He taught his work to two of his sons, Ottaviano, who was, +like himself, also a painter, and Provolo. Alessandro, his third son, +worked in his youth at making armour, and afterwards adopted the calling +of a soldier; he was three times victor in the lists, and finally, when +a captain of infantry, died fighting valiantly before Turin in Piedmont, +having been wounded by a harquebus-ball. + +Giovan Maria, on his part, after being crippled by gout, finished the +course of his life at Padua, in the house of the aforesaid Messer Luigi +Cornaro, who always loved him like a brother, or rather, like his own +self. And to the end that there might be no separation in death between +the bodies of those whose minds had been united together in the world by +friendship and love of art, Messer Luigi had intended that Giovan Maria +should be laid to rest beside himself in the tomb that was to be erected +for his own burial, together with that most humorous poet, Ruzzante, his +very familiar friend, who lived and died in his house; but I do not know +whether this design of the illustrious Cornaro was ever carried into +effect. Giovan Maria was a fine talker, pleasant and agreeable in +conversation, and very acute in repartee, insomuch that Cornaro used to +declare that a whole book could have been made with his sayings. And +since, although he was crippled by gout, he lived cheerfully, he +preserved his life to the age of seventy-six, dying in 1534. + +He had six daughters, five of whom he gave in marriage himself, and the +sixth was married by her brothers, after his death, to Bartolommeo +Ridolfi of Verona, who executed many works in stucco in company with +them, and was a much better master than they were. This may be seen from +his works in many places, and in particular at Verona, in the house of +Fiorio della Seta on the Ponte Nuovo, in which he decorated some +apartments in a very beautiful manner. There are others in the house of +the noble Counts Canossi, which are amazing; and such, also, are those +that he executed in the house of the Murati, near S. Nazzaro; and for +Signor Giovan Battista della Torre, for Cosimo Moneta, the Veronese +banker, at his beautiful villa, and for many others in various places, +all works of great beauty. Palladio, most excellent of architects, +declares that he knows no person more marvellous in invention or better +able to adorn apartments with beautiful designs in stucco, than this +Bartolommeo Ridolfi. Not many years since, Spitech Giordan, a nobleman +of great authority with the King of Poland, took Bartolommeo with him to +that King; and there, enjoying an honourable salary, he has executed, as +he still does, many works in stucco, large portraits, medallions, and +many designs for palaces and other buildings, with the assistance of a +son of his own, who is in no way inferior to his father. + +[Illustration: GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH S. ANNE + +(_London: National Gallery, 748. Canvas_)] + +The elder Francesco dai Libri of Verona lived some time before Liberale, +although it is not known exactly at what date he was born; and he was +called "Dai Libri"[9] because he practised the art of illuminating +books, his life extending from the time when printing had not yet been +invented to the very moment when it was beginning to come into use. +Since, therefore, there came to him from every quarter books to +illuminate--a work in which he was most excellent--he was known by no +other surname than that of "Dai Libri"; and he executed great numbers of +them, for the reason that whoever went to the expense of having them +written, which was very great, wished also to have them adorned as much +as was possible with illuminations. + +This master illuminated many choral books, all beautiful, which are at +Verona, in S. Giorgio, in S. Maria in Organo, and in S. Nazzaro; but the +most beautiful is a little book, or rather, two little pictures that +fold together after the manner of a book, on one side of which is a S. +Jerome, a figure executed with much diligence and very minute +workmanship, and on the other a S. John in the Isle of Patmos, depicted +in the act of beginning to write his Book of the Apocalypse. This work, +which was bequeathed to Count Agostino Giusti by his father, is now in +S. Leonardo, a convent of Canons Regular, of which Don Timoteo Giusti, +the son of that Count, is a member. Finally, after having executed +innumerable works for various noblemen, Francesco died, content and +happy for the reason that, in addition to the serenity of mind that his +goodness brought him, he left behind him a son, called Girolamo, who was +so excellent in art that before his death he saw him already a much +greater master than himself. + +This Girolamo, then, was born at Verona in the year 1472, and at the age +of sixteen he painted for the Chapel of the Lischi, in S. Maria in +Organo, an altar-piece which caused such marvel to everyone when it was +uncovered and set in its place, that the whole city ran to embrace and +congratulate his father Francesco. In this picture is a Deposition from +the Cross, with many figures, and among the many beautiful weeping +heads the best of all are a Madonna and a S. Benedict, which are much +commended by all craftsmen; and he also made therein a landscape, with a +part of the city of Verona, drawn passing well from the reality. Then, +encouraged by the praises that he heard given to his work, Girolamo +painted the altar of the Madonna in S. Paolo in a masterly manner, and +also the picture of the Madonna with S. Anne, which is placed between +the S. Sebastian of Il Moro and the S. Rocco of Cavazzuola in the Church +of the Scala. For the family of the Zoccoli he painted the great +altar-piece of the high-altar in the Church of the Vittoria, and for the +family of the Cipolli the picture of S. Onofrio, which is near the +other, and is held to be both in design and in colouring the best work +that he ever executed. + +For S. Leonardo nel Monte, also, near Verona, he painted at the +commission of the Cartieri family the altar-piece of the high-altar, +which is a large work with many figures, and much esteemed by everyone, +above all for its very beautiful landscape. Now a thing that has +happened very often in our own day has caused this work to be held to be +a marvel. There is a tree painted by Girolamo in the picture, and +against it seems to rest the great chair on which the Madonna is seated. +This tree, which has the appearance of a laurel, projects considerably +with its branches over the chair, and between the branches, which are +not very thick, may be seen a sky so clear and beautiful, that the tree +seems to be truly a living one, graceful and most natural. Very often, +therefore, birds that have entered the church by various openings have +been seen to fly to this tree in order to perch upon it, and +particularly swallows, which had their nests among the beams of the +roof, and likewise their little ones. Many persons well worthy of +credence declare that they have seen this, among them Don Giuseppe +Mangiuoli of Verona, a person of saintly life, who has twice been +General of his Order and would not for anything in the world assert a +thing that was not absolutely true, and also Don Girolamo Volpini, +likewise a Veronese, and many others. + +[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Girolamo dai Libri=. Verona: Museo Civico, +290_) + +_Brogi_] + +In S. Maria in Organo, where was the first work executed by Girolamo, he +also painted two Saints on the outer side of one of the folding doors of +the organ--the other being painted by Francesco Morone, his +companion--and on the inner side a Manger. And afterwards he painted +the picture that is opposite to his first work, containing the Nativity +of Our Lord, with shepherds, landscapes, and very beautiful trees; but +most lifelike and natural of all are two rabbits, which are executed +with such diligence that each separate hair may actually be seen in +them. He painted another altar-piece for the Chapel of the Buonalivi, +with a Madonna seated in the centre, two other figures, and some Angels +below, who are singing. Then, in the ornamental work made by Fra +Giovanni da Verona for the altar of the Sacrament, the same Girolamo +painted three little pictures after the manner of miniatures. In the +central picture is a Deposition from the Cross, with two little Angels, +and in those at the sides are painted six Martyrs, kneeling towards the +Sacrament, three in each picture, these being saints whose bodies are +deposited in that very altar. The first three are Cantius, Cantianus, +and Cantianilla, who were nephews of the Emperor Diocletian, and the +others are Protus, Chrysogonus, and Anastasius, who suffered martyrdom +at Aquæ Gradatæ, near Aquileia; and all these figures are in miniature, +and very beautiful, for Girolamo was more able in that field of art than +any other master of his time in Lombardy and in the State of Venice. + +Girolamo illuminated many books for the Monks of Montescaglioso in the +Kingdom of Naples, some for S. Giustina at Padua, and many others for +the Abbey of Praia in the territory of Padua; and also some at Candiana, +a very rich monastery of the Canons Regular of S. Salvatore, to which +place he went in person to work, although he would never go to any other +place. While he was living there, Don Giulio Clovio, who was a friar in +that place, learned the first rudiments of illumination; and he has +since become the greatest master of that art that is now alive in Italy. +Girolamo illuminated at Candiana a sheet with a Kyrie, which is an +exquisite work, and for the same monks the first leaf of a psalter for +the choir; with many things for S. Maria in Organo and for the Friars of +S. Giorgio, in Verona. He executed, likewise, some other very beautiful +illuminations for the Black Friars of S. Nazzaro at Verona. But that +which surpassed all the other works of this master, which were all +divine, was a sheet on which was depicted in miniature the Earthly +Paradise, with Adam and Eve driven forth by the Angel, who is behind +them with a sword in his hand. One would not be able to express how +great and how beautiful is the variety of the trees, fruits, flowers, +animals, birds, and all the other things that are in this amazing work, +which was executed at the commission of Don Giorgio Cacciamale of +Bergamo, then Prior of S. Giorgio in Verona, who, in addition to the +many other courtesies that he showed to Girolamo, gave him sixty crowns +of gold. This work was afterwards presented by that Father to a Roman +Cardinal, at that time Protector of his Order, who showed it to many +noblemen in Rome, and they all declared it to be the best example of +illumination that had ever been seen up to that day. + +Girolamo painted flowers with such diligence, and made them so true, so +beautiful, and so natural, that they appeared to all who beheld them to +be real; and he counterfeited little cameos and other engraved stones +and jewels in such a manner, that there was nothing more faithfully +imitated or more diminutive to be seen. Among his little figures there +are seen some, as in his imitations of cameos and other stones, that are +no larger than little ants, and yet all the limbs and all the muscles +can be perceived so clearly that one who has not seen them could +scarcely believe it. Girolamo used to say in his old age that he knew +more in his art then than he had ever known, and saw where every stroke +ought to go, but that when he came to handle the brushes, they went the +wrong way, because neither his eye nor his hand would serve him any +longer. He died on the 2nd of July in the year 1555, at the age of +eighty-three, and was laid to rest in the burial-place of the Company of +S. Biagio in S. Nazzaro. + +He was a good and upright man, who never had a quarrel or dispute with +anyone, and his life was very pure. He had, besides other children, a +son called Francesco, who learned his art from him, and executed +miracles of illumination when still a mere lad, so that Girolamo +declared that he had not known as much at that age as his son knew. But +this young man was led away from him by a brother of his mother, who, +being passing rich, and having no children, took him with him to Vicenza +and placed him in charge of a glass-furnace that he was setting up. When +Francesco had spent his best years in this, his uncle's wife dying, he +fell from his high hopes, and found that he had wasted his time, for +the uncle took another wife, and had children by her, and thus Francesco +did not become his uncle's heir, as he had thought to be. Thereupon he +returned to his art after an absence of six years, and, after acquiring +some knowledge, set himself to work. Among other things, he made a large +globe, four feet in diameter, hollow within, and covered on the outer +side, which was of wood, with a glue made of bullock's sinews, which was +of a very strong admixture, so that there should be no danger of cracks +or other damage in any part. This sphere, which was to serve as a +terrestrial globe, was then carefully measured and divided under the +personal supervision of Fracastoro and Beroldi, both eminent physicians, +cosmographers, and astrologers; and it was to be painted by Francesco +for Messer Andrea Navagiero, a Venetian gentleman, and a most learned +poet and orator, who wished to make a present of it to King Francis of +France, to whom he was about to go as Ambassador from his Republic. But +Navagiero had scarcely arrived in France after a hurried journey, when +he died, and this work remained unfinished. A truly rare work it would +have been, thus executed by Francesco with the advice and guidance of +two men of such distinction; but it was left unfinished, as we have +said, and, what was worse, in its incomplete condition it received some +injury, I know not what, in the absence of Francesco. However, spoiled +as it was, it was bought by Messer Bartolommeo Lonichi, who has never +consented to give it up to anyone, although he has been much besought +and offered vast prices. + +Before this, Francesco had made two smaller globes, one of which is in +the possession of Mazzanti, Archpriest of the Duomo of Verona, and the +other belonged to Count Raimondo della Torre, and is now in the hands of +his son, Count Giovan Batista, who holds it very dear, because this one, +also, was made with the measurements and personal assistance of +Fracastoro, who was a very familiar friend of Count Raimondo. + +Finally, growing weary of the extraordinary labour that miniatures +demand, Francesco devoted himself to painting and to architecture, in +which he became very skilful, executing many works in Venice and in +Padua. About that time the Bishop of Tournai, a very rich and noble +Fleming, had come to Italy in order to study letters, to see the +country, and to learn our manners and ways of living. This man, +delighting much in architecture, and happening to be in Padua, became so +enamoured of the Italian method of building that he resolved to take the +modes of our architecture with him to his own country; and in order to +facilitate this purpose, he drew Francesco, whose ability he had +recognized, into his service with an honourable salary, meaning to take +him to Flanders, where he intended to carry out many magnificent works. +But when the time came to depart, poor Francesco, who had caused designs +to be made of all the best and greatest and most famous buildings in +Italy, was overtaken by death, while still young and the object of the +highest expectations, leaving his patron much grieved by his loss. + +Francesco left an only brother, in whom, being a priest, the Dai Libri +family became extinct, after producing in succession three men most +excellent in their field of art. Nor have any disciples survived them to +keep this art alive, excepting the above-mentioned churchman, Don +Giulio, who, as we have related, learned it from Girolamo when he was +working at Candiana, where the former was a friar; and this Don Giulio +has since raised it to a height of excellence which very few have +reached and no one has ever surpassed. + +I knew for myself some of the facts about the excellent and noble +craftsmen mentioned above, but I would never have been able to learn the +whole of what I have related of them if the great goodness and diligence +of the reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici of Verona, a man +profoundly conversant with all the most noble arts and sciences, and +with him Danese Cattaneo of Carrara, a sculptor of great excellence, +both being very much my friends, had not given me that complete and +perfect information which I have just written down, to the best of my +ability, for the convenience and advantage of all who may read these our +Lives, in which the courtesy of many friends, who have taken pains with +the investigation of these matters in order to please me and to benefit +the world, has been, as it still is, of great assistance to me. And let +this be the end of the Lives of these craftsmen of Verona, the portraits +of each of whom I have not been able to obtain, because this full notice +did not reach my hands until I found myself almost at the close of my +work. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Canal of the slaughter-houses. + +[2] Small canal of the corn-magazines. + +[3] Scarpagnino. + +[4] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[5] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[6] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[7] From "terra," earth. + +[8] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[9] _I.e._, "of the books." + + + + +FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + + + + +LIFE OF FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +Great, indeed, is the good fortune of those craftsmen who are brought +into contact, either by their birth or by the associations that are +formed in childhood, with those men whom Heaven has chosen out to be +distinguished and exalted above all others in our arts, for the reason +that a good and beautiful manner can be acquired with the greatest +facility by seeing the methods and works of men of excellence, not to +mention that rivalry and emulation, as we have said elsewhere, have +great power over our minds. + +Francesco Granacci, of whom we have already spoken, was one of those who +were placed by the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici to learn in his +garden; whence it happened that, recognizing, boy as he was, the great +genius of Michelagnolo, and what extraordinary fruits he was likely to +produce when full grown, he could never tear himself away from his side, +and even strove with incredible attention and humility to be always +following that great brain, insomuch that Michelagnolo was constrained +to love him more than all his other friends, and to confide so much in +him, that there was no one with whom he was more willing to confer +touching his works or to share all that he knew of art at that time, +than with Granacci. Then, after they had been companions together in the +workshop of Domenico Ghirlandajo, it came to pass that Granacci, because +he was held to be the best of Ghirlandajo's young men, the strongest +draughtsman, and the one who had most grace in painting in distemper, +assisted David and Benedetto Ghirlandajo, the brothers of Domenico, to +finish the altar-piece of the high-altar in S. Maria Novella, which had +been left unfinished at the death of the same Domenico. By this work +Granacci gained much experience, and afterwards he executed in the same +manner as that altar-piece many pictures that are in the houses of +citizens, and others which were sent abroad. + +And since he was very gracious, and made himself very useful in certain +ceremonies that were performed in the city during the festivals of the +Carnival, he was constantly employed by the Magnificent Lorenzo de' +Medici in many similar works, and in particular for the masquerade that +represented the Triumph of Paulus Emilius, which was held in honour of +the victory that he gained over certain foreign nations. In this +masquerade, which was full of most beautiful inventions, Granacci +acquitted himself so well, although he was a mere lad, that he won the +highest praise. And here I will not omit to tell that the same Lorenzo +de' Medici, as I have said in another place, was the first inventor of +those masquerades that represent some particular subject, and are called +in Florence "Canti";[10] for it is not known that any were performed in +earlier times. + +In like manner Granacci was employed in the sumptuous and magnificent +preparations that were made in the year 1513 for the entry of Pope Leo +X, one of the Medici, by Jacopo Nardi, a man of great learning and most +beautiful intellect, who, having been commanded by the Tribunal of Eight +to prepare a splendid masquerade, executed a representation of the +Triumph of Camillus. This masquerade, in so far as it lay in the +province of the painter, was so beautifully arranged and adorned by +Granacci that no man could imagine anything better; and the words of the +song, which Jacopo composed, began thus: + + Contempla in quanta gloria sei salita, + Felice alma Fiorenza, + Poichè dal Ciel discesa, + +with what follows. For the same spectacle Granacci executed a great +quantity of theatrical scenery, as he did both before and afterwards. +And while working with Ghirlandajo he painted standards for ships, and +also banners and devices for certain Knights of the Golden Spur, for +their public entry into Florence, all at the expense of the Captains of +the Guelph Party, as was the custom at that time, and as has been done +in our own day, not long since. + +[Illustration: FRANCESCO GRANACCI: THE HOLY FAMILY + +(_Florence: Pitti, 199. Panel_)] + +In like manner he made many beautiful embellishments and decorations of +his own invention for the Potenze[11] and their tournaments. These +festivals were of a kind which is peculiar to the Florentines, and very +pleasing, and in them were seen men standing almost upright on +horseback, with very short stirrups, and breaking a lance with the same +facility as do the warriors firmly seated on their saddles; and all this +was done for the above-mentioned visit of Leo to Florence. Granacci also +made, besides other things, a most beautiful triumphal arch opposite to +the door of the Badia, covered with scenes in chiaroscuro and very +lovely things of fancy. This arch was much extolled, and particularly +for the invention of the architecture, and because he had made an +imitation of that same door of the Badia for the entrance of the Via del +Palagio, executed in perspective with the steps and every other thing, +so that the painted and supposititious door was in no way different from +the real and true one. To adorn the same arch he executed with his own +hand some very beautiful figures of clay in relief, and on the summit of +the arch he placed a great inscription with these words: LEONI X PONT. +MAX. FIDEI CULTORI. + +But to come at length to some works by Granacci that are in existence, +let me relate that, having studied the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti while the latter was executing it for the Great Hall of the +Palace, he found it so instructive and made such proficience, that, when +Michelagnolo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II to the end that he +might paint the vaulting of the Chapel in his Palace, Granacci was one +of the first to be sent for by Buonarroti to help him to paint that work +in fresco after the cartoons that he himself had prepared. It is true +that Michelagnolo, being dissatisfied with the manner and method of +every one of his assistants, afterwards found means to make them all +return to Florence without dismissing them, by closing the door on them +all and not allowing himself to be seen. + +In Florence Granacci painted for Pier Francesco Borgherini a scene in +oils on the head-board of a couch which stood in an apartment wherein +Jacopo da Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto, and Francesco Ubertini had painted +many stories from the life of Joseph, in Pier Francesco's house in Borgo +Sant' Apostolo; and in this scene were little figures representing a +story of the same Joseph, executed with extraordinary finish and with +great charm and beauty of colouring, and a building in perspective, +wherein he depicted Joseph ministering to Pharaoh, which could not be +more beautiful in any part. For the same man, also, he painted a round +picture, likewise in oils, of the Trinity, or rather, God the Father +supporting a Christ Crucified. And in the Church of S. Piero Maggiore +there is a picture of the Assumption by his hand, with many Angels and a +S. Thomas, to whom the Madonna is giving the Girdle. The figure of S. +Thomas is very graceful, turning to one side in a beautiful attitude +worthy of the hand of Michelagnolo, and such, also, is that of Our Lady. +The drawing for these two figures by the hand of Granacci is in our +book, together with others likewise by him. On either side of this +picture are figures of S. Paul, S. Laurence, S. James, and S. John, +which are all so beautiful that the work is held to be the best that +Francesco ever painted; and in truth this work alone, even if he had +never executed another, would ensure his being considered to be, as +indeed he was, an excellent painter. + +For the Church of S. Gallo, without the Gate of the same name, and +formerly a seat of the Eremite Friars of S. Augustine, he painted an +altar-piece with the Madonna and two children, S. Zanobi, Bishop of +Florence, and S. Francis. This altar-piece, which was in the Chapel of +the Girolami, to which family that S. Zanobi belonged, is now in S. +Jacopo tra Fossi at Florence. + +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, having a niece who was a nun in S. Apollonia at +Florence, had therefore executed an ornament for the high-altar of that +church, and a design for the altar-piece; and Granacci painted there +some scenes in oils with figures large and small, which gave much +satisfaction to the nuns at that time, and also to the other painters. +For the same place he painted another altar-piece, which stood lower +down, but this was burned one night, together with some draperies of +great value, through some lights being inadvertently left on the altar; +which was certainly a great loss, seeing that the work was much extolled +by craftsmen. And for the Nuns of S. Giorgio in sulla Costa he executed +the altar-piece of their high-altar, painting in it the Madonna, S. +Catharine, S. Giovanni Gualberto, S. Bernardo Uberti the Cardinal, and +S. Fedele. + +Granacci also executed many pictures, both square and round, which are +dispersed among the houses of gentlemen in the city; and he made many +cartoons for glass-windows, which were afterwards put into execution by +the Frati Ingiesuati of Florence. He delighted much in painting on +cloth, either alone or in company with others; wherefore, in addition to +the works mentioned above, he painted many church-banners. And since he +practised art more to pass the time than from necessity, he worked at +his ease, always consulting his own convenience, and avoiding +discomforts as much as he was able, more than any other man; and yet, +without being covetous of the goods of others, he always preserved his +own. Allowing but few cares to oppress him, he was a merry fellow, and +took his pleasures with a glad heart. He lived sixty-seven years, at the +end of which he finished the course of his life after an ordinary +malady, a kind of fever; and he was buried in the Church of S. Ambrogio +at Florence, on the day of S. Andrew the Apostle, in 1544. + +[Illustration: THE MADONNA GIVING THE GIRDLE TO S. THOMAS + +(_After the panel by =Francesco Granacci=. Florence: Uffizi, 1280_) + +_Alinari_] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] From the "canti," or "songs," that were sung in them. + +[11] The "Potenze" were merry companies composed of the men of +the various quarters in costume. Each quarter had its own, representing +an Emperor, King, or Prince, and his Court. + + + + +BACCIO D' AGNOLO + + + + +LIFE OF BACCIO D' AGNOLO + +ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE + + +Great is the pleasure that I take in studying at times the beginnings of +our craftsmen, for one sees some rising from the lowest depth to the +greatest height, and especially in architecture, a science which has not +been practised for several years past save by carvers and cunning +impostors who profess to understand perspective without knowing even its +terms or its first principles. The truth, indeed, is that architecture +can never be practised to perfection save by those who have an excellent +judgment and a good mastery of design, or have laboured much in +painting, sculpture, or works in wood, for the reason that in it have to +be executed with true measurements the dimensions of their figures, +which are columns, cornices, and bases, and all the ornaments, which are +made for the adornment of the figures, and for no other reason. And thus +the workers in wood, by continually handling such things, in course of +time become architects; and sculptors likewise, by having to find +positions for their statues and by making ornaments for tombs and other +works in the round, come in time to a knowledge of architecture; and +painters, on account of their perspectives, the variety of their +inventions, and the buildings that they draw, are compelled to take the +ground-plans of edifices, seeing that they cannot plant houses or +flights of steps on the planes where their figures stand, without in the +first place grasping the order of the architecture. + +Working in his youth excellently well at wood-inlaying, Baccio executed +the backs of the stalls in the choir of S. Maria Novella, in the +principal chapel, wherein are most beautiful figures of S. John the +Baptist and S. Laurence. In carving, he executed the ornaments of that +same chapel, those of the high-altar in the Nunziata, the decorations of +the organ in S. Maria Novella, and a vast number of other works, both +public and private, in his native city of Florence. Departing from that +city, he went to Rome, where he applied himself with great zeal to the +study of architecture; and on his return he made triumphal arches of +wood in various places for the visit of Pope Leo X. But for all this he +never gave up his workshop, where there were often gathered round him, +in addition to many citizens, the best and most eminent masters of our +arts, so that most beautiful conversations and discussions of importance +took place there, particularly in winter. The first of these masters was +Raffaello da Urbino, then a young man, and next came Andrea Sansovino, +Filippino, Maiano, Cronaca, Antonio da San Gallo and Giuliano da San +Gallo, Granaccio, and sometimes, but not often, Michelagnolo, with many +young Florentines and strangers. + +Having thus given his attention to architecture in so thorough a manner, +and having made some trial of his powers, Baccio began to be held in +such credit in Florence, that the most magnificent buildings that were +erected in his time were entrusted to him and were put under his +direction. When Piero Soderini was Gonfalonier, Baccio took part, with +Cronaca and others, as has been related above, in the deliberations that +were held with regard to the great Hall of the Palace; and with his own +hand he executed in wood the ornament for the large panel-picture which +was begun by Fra Bartolommeo, after the design by Filippino. In company +with the same masters he made the staircase that leads to that Hall, +with a very beautiful ornamentation of stone, and also the columns of +variegated marble and the doors of marble in the hall that is now called +the Sala de' Dugento. + +He built a palace for Giovanni Bartolini, which is very ornate within, +on the Piazza di S. Trinità; and he made many designs for the garden of +the same man in Gualfonda. And since that palace was the first edifice +that was built with ornaments in the form of square windows with +pediments, and a portal with columns supporting architrave, frieze, and +cornice, these things were much censured by the Florentines with spoken +words and sonnets, and festoons of boughs were hung upon them, as is +done in churches for festivals, men saying that the façade was more like +that of a temple than of a palace; so that Baccio was like to go out of +his mind. However, knowing that he had imitated good examples, and that +his work was sound, he regained his peace of mind. It is true that the +cornice of the whole palace proved, as has been said in another place, +to be too large; but in every other respect the work has always been +much extolled. + +For Lanfredino Lanfredini he erected a house on the bank of the Arno, +between the Ponte a S. Trinità and the Ponte alla Carraja; and on the +Piazza de' Mozzi he began the house of the Nasi, which looks out upon +the sandy shore of the Arno, but did not finish it. For Taddeo, of the +Taddei family, he built a house that was held to be very beautiful and +commodious. For Pier Francesco Borgherini he made the designs of the +house that he built in Borgo S. Apostolo, in which he caused ornaments +for the doors and most beautiful chimney-pieces to be executed at great +expense, and made for the adornment of one chamber, in particular, +coffers of walnut-wood covered with little boys carved with supreme +diligence. Such a work it would now be impossible to execute with such +perfection as he gave to it. He also prepared the design for the villa +that Borgherini caused to be built on the hill of Bellosguardo, which +was very beautiful and commodious, and erected at vast expense. For +Giovan Maria Benintendi he executed an antechamber, with an ornamental +frame for some scenes painted by excellent masters, which was a rare +thing. The same Baccio made the model of the Church of S. Giuseppe near +S. Nofri, and directed the construction of the door, which was his last +work. He also caused to be built of masonry the campanile of S. Spirito +in Florence, which was left unfinished, and is now being completed by +order of Duke Cosimo after the original design of Baccio; and he +likewise erected the campanile of S. Miniato sul Monte, which was +battered by the artillery of the camp, but never destroyed, on which +account it gained no less fame for the affront that it offered to the +enemy than for the beauty and excellence with which Baccio had caused it +to be built and carried to completion. + +Next, having been appointed on account of his abilities, and because he +was much beloved by the citizens, as architect to S. Maria del Fiore, +Baccio gave the design for constructing the gallery that encircles the +cupola. This part of the work Filippo Brunelleschi, being overtaken by +death, had not been able to execute; and although he had made designs +even for this, they had been lost or destroyed through the negligence of +those in charge of the building. Baccio, then, having made the design +and model for this gallery, carried into execution all the part that is +to be seen facing the Canto de' Bischeri. But Michelagnolo Buonarroti, +on his return from Rome, perceiving that in carrying out this work they +were cutting away the toothings that Filippo Brunelleschi, not without a +purpose, had left projecting, made such a clamour that the work was +stopped; saying that it seemed to him that Baccio had made a cage for +crickets, that a pile so vast required something grander and executed +with more design, art, and grace than appeared to him to be displayed by +Baccio's design, and that he himself would show how it should be done. +Michelagnolo having therefore made a model, the matter was disputed at +great length before Cardinal Giulio de' Medici by many craftsmen and +competent citizens; and in the end neither the one model nor the other +was carried into execution. Baccio's design was censured in many +respects, not that it was not a well-proportioned work of its kind, but +because it was too insignificant in comparison with the size of the +structure; and for these reasons that gallery has never been brought to +completion. + +Baccio afterwards gave his attention to executing the pavement of S. +Maria del Fiore, and to his other buildings, which were not a few, for +he had under his particular charge all the principal monasteries and +convents of Florence, and many houses of citizens, both within and +without the city. Finally, when near the age of eighty-three, but still +of good and sound judgment, he passed to a better life in 1543, leaving +three sons, Giuliano, Filippo, and Domenico, who had him buried in S. +Lorenzo. + +Of these sons, who all gave their attention after the death of Baccio to +the art of carving and working in wood, Giuliano, who was the second, +was the one who applied himself with the greatest zeal to architecture +both during his father's lifetime and afterwards; wherefore, by favour +of Duke Cosimo, he succeeded to his father's place as architect to S. +Maria del Fiore, and continued not only all that Baccio had begun in +that temple, but also all the other buildings that had remained +unfinished at his death. At that time Messer Baldassarre Turini da +Pescia was intending to place a panel-picture by the hand of Raffaello +da Urbino in the principal church of Pescia, of which he was Provost, +and to erect an ornament of stone, or rather, an entire chapel, around +it, and also a tomb; and Giuliano executed all this after his own +designs and models, and also restored for the same patron his house at +Pescia, making in it many beautiful and useful improvements. For Messer +Francesco Campana, formerly First Secretary to Duke Alessandro, and +afterwards to Duke Cosimo de' Medici, the same Giuliano built at +Montughi, without Florence, beside the church, a house which is small +but very ornate, and so well situated, that it commands from its slight +elevation a view of the whole city of Florence and the surrounding +plain. And a most beautiful and commodious house was built at Colle, the +native place of that same Campana, from the design of Giuliano, who +shortly afterwards began for Messer Ugolino Grifoni, Lord of Altopascio, +a palace at San Miniato al Tedesco, which was a magnificent work. + +For Ser Giovanni Conti, one of the secretaries of the Lord Duke Cosimo, +he made many useful and beautiful improvements in his house at Florence; +although it is true that in the two ground-floor windows, supported by +knee-shaped brackets, which open out upon the street, Giuliano departed +from his usual method, and so cut them up with projections, little +brackets, and off-sets, that they inclined rather to the German manner +than to the true and good manner of ancient or modern times. Works of +architecture, without a doubt, must first be massive, solid, and simple, +and then enriched by grace of design and by variety of subject in the +composition, without, however, disturbing by poverty or by excess of +ornamentation the order of the architecture or the impression produced +on a competent judge. + +Meanwhile Baccio Bandinelli, having returned from Rome, where he had +finished the tombs of Leo and Clement, persuaded the Lord Duke Cosimo, +then a young man, to make at the head of the Great Hall of the Ducal +Palace a façade full of columns and niches, with a range of fine marble +statues; and this façade was to have windows of marble and grey-stone +looking out upon the Piazza. The Duke having resolved to have this done, +Bandinelli set his hand to making the design; but finding that the hall, +as has been related in the Life of Cronaca, was out of square, and +having never given attention to architecture, which he considered an art +of little value, marvelling and even laughing at those who gave their +attention to it, he was forced, on recognizing the difficulty of this +work, to confer with Giuliano with regard to his model, and to beseech +him that he, as an architect, should direct the work. And so all the +stone-cutters and carvers of S. Maria del Fiore were set to work, and a +beginning was made with the structure. Bandinelli had resolved, with the +advice of Giuliano, to let the work remain out of square, following in +part the course of the wall. It came to pass, therefore, that he was +forced to make all the stones irregular in shape, preparing them with +great labour by means of the pifferello, which is the instrument +otherwise called the bevel-square; and this made the work so clumsy, +that, as will be related in the Life of Bandinelli, it has been +difficult to bring it to such a form as might be in harmony with the +rest. Such a thing would not have happened if Bandinelli had possessed +as much knowledge in architecture as he did in sculpture; not to mention +that the great niches in the side-walls at each end proved to be squat, +and that the one in the centre was not without defect, as will be told +in the Life of that same Bandinelli. This work, after having been +pursued for ten years, was abandoned, and so it remained for some time. +It is true that the profiled stones as well as the columns, both of +Fossato stone and of marble, were wrought with the greatest diligence by +the stone-cutters and carvers under the care of Giuliano, and were +afterwards so well built in that it would not be possible to find any +masonry better put together, all the stones being accurately measured. +In this respect Giuliano may be celebrated as most excellent; and the +work, as will be related in the proper place, was finished in five +months, with an addition, by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo. + +Giuliano, meanwhile, not neglecting his workshop, was giving his +attention, together with his brothers, to the execution of many carvings +and works in wood, and also to pressing on the making of the pavement +of S. Maria del Fiore; and since he was superintendent and architect of +that building, he was requested by the same Bandinelli to make designs +and models of wood, after some fantasies of figures and other ornaments +of his own, for the high-altar of that same S. Maria del Fiore, which +was to be constructed of marble; which Giuliano did most willingly, +being a good and kindly person and one who delighted in architecture as +much as Bandinelli despised it, and being also won over by the lavish +promises of profit and honour that Bandinelli made him. Setting to work, +therefore, on that model, Giuliano made it much after the simple pattern +formerly designed by Brunelleschi, save that he enriched it by doubling +both the columns and the arch above. And when he had brought it to +completion, and the model, together with many designs, had been carried +by Bandinelli to Duke Cosimo, his most illustrious Excellency resolved +in his regal mind to execute not only the altar, but also the ornament +of marble that surrounds the choir, following its original octagonal +shape, with all those rich adornments with which it has since been +carried out, in keeping with the grandeur and magnificence of that +temple. Giuliano, therefore, with the assistance of Bandinelli, made a +beginning with that choir, without altering anything save the principal +entrance, which is opposite to the above-mentioned altar; for which +reason he wished that it should be exactly similar to that altar, with +the same arch and decorations. He also made two other similar arches, +which unite with the entrance and the altar in forming a cross; and +these were for two pulpits, which the old choir also had, serving for +music and other ceremonies of the choir and of the altar. In this choir, +around the eight faces, Giuliano made an ornament of the Ionic Order, +and placed at every corner a pilaster bent in the middle, and one on +every face; and since each pilaster so narrowed that the extension-lines +of its side-faces met in the centre of the choir, from inside it looked +narrow and bent in, and from outside broad and pointed. This invention +was not much extolled, nor can it be commended as beautiful by any man +of judgment; and for a work of such cost, in a place so celebrated, +Bandinelli, if he despised architecture, or had no knowledge of it, +should have availed himself of someone living at that time with the +knowledge and ability to do better. Giuliano deserves to be excused in +the matter, because he did all that he could, which was not a little; +but it is very certain that one who has not strong powers of design and +invention in himself, will always be too poor in grace and judgment to +bring to perfection great works of architecture. + +Giuliano made for Filippo Strozzi a couch of walnut-wood, which is now +at Città di Castello, in the house of the heirs of Signor Alessandro +Vitelli. For an altar-piece which Giorgio Vasari painted for the +high-altar of the Abbey of Camaldoli in the Casentino, he made a very +rich and beautiful frame, after the design of Giorgio; and he carved +another ornamental frame for a large altar-piece that the same Giorgio +executed for the Church of S. Agostino in Monte Sansovino. The same +Giuliano made another beautiful frame for another altar-piece by the +hand of Vasari, which is in the Abbey of Classi, a seat of the Monks of +Camaldoli, at Ravenna. He also executed the frames for the pictures by +the hand of the same Giorgio of Arezzo that are in the refectory of the +Monks of the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; and in the Vescovado in the +same city, behind the high-altar, he made a most beautiful choir of +walnut-wood, after the design of Giorgio, which provided for the +bringing forward of the altar. And, finally, a short time before his +death, he made the rich and beautiful Ciborium of the most Holy +Sacrament for the high-altar of the Nunziata, with the two Angels of +wood, in full-relief, which are on either side of it. This was the last +work that he executed, and he passed to a better life in the year 1555. + +Nor was Domenico, the brother of that Giuliano, inferior to him in +judgment, seeing that, besides carving much better in wood, he was also +very ingenious in matters of architecture, as may be seen from the house +that was built for Bastiano da Montaguto in the Via de' Servi after his +design, wherein there are also many works in wood by Domenico's own +hand. The same master executed for Agostino del Nero, in the Piazza de' +Mozzi, the buildings that form the street-corner and a very beautiful +terrace for that house of the Nasi formerly begun by his father Baccio. +And it is the common belief that, if he had not died so young, he would +have surpassed by a great measure both his father and his brother +Giuliano. + + + + +VALERIO VICENTINO, GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE, MATTEO DAL NASSARO OF +VERONA, AND OTHER EXCELLENT ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS AND GEMS + + + + +LIVES OF VALERIO VICENTINO, GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE, MATTEO DAL +NASSARO OF VERONA, AND OTHER EXCELLENT ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS AND GEMS + + +Since the Greeks were such divine masters in the engraving of Oriental +stones and so perfect in the cutting of cameos, it seems to me certain +that I should commit no slight error were I to pass over in silence +those of our own age who have imitated those marvellous intellects; +although among our moderns, so it is said, there have been none who in +this present and happy age have surpassed the ancients in delicacy and +design, save perchance those of whom we are about to give an account. +But before making a beginning, it is proper for me to discourse briefly +on this art of engraving hard stones and gems, which was lost, together +with the other arts of design, after the ruin of Greece and Rome. Of +this work, whether engraved in intaglio or in relief, we have seen +examples discovered daily among the ruins of Rome, such as cameos, +cornelians, sardonyxes, and other most excellent intagli; but for many +and many a year the art remained lost, there being no one who gave +attention to it, and even if any work was done, it was not in such a +manner as to be worthy to be taken into account. So far as is known, it +is not found that anyone began to do good work or to attain to +excellence until the time of Pope Martin V and Pope Paul II; after which +the art continued to grow little by little down to the time of Lorenzo +de' Medici, the Magnificent, who greatly delighted in the engraved +cameos of the ancients. Lorenzo and his son Piero collected a great +quantity of these, particularly chalcedonies, cornelians, and other +kinds of the choicest engraved stones, which contained various fanciful +designs; and in consequence of this, wishing to establish the art in +their own city, they summoned thither masters from various countries, +who, besides restoring those stones, brought to them other works which +were at that time rare. + +By these masters, at the instance of the Magnificent Lorenzo, this art +of engraving in intaglio was taught to a young Florentine called +Giovanni delle Corniole,[12] who received that surname because he +engraved them excellently well, of which we have testimony in the great +numbers of them by his hand that are to be seen, both great and small, +but particularly in a large one, which was a very choice intaglio, +wherein he made the portrait of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who was adored +in Florence in his day on account of his preaching. A rival of Giovanni +was Domenico de' Cammei,[13] a Milanese, who, living at the same time as +Duke Lodovico, Il Moro, made a portrait of him in intaglio on a +balas-ruby greater than a giulio, which was an exquisite thing and one +of the best works in intaglio that had been seen executed by a modern +master. This art afterwards rose to even greater excellence in the +pontificate of Pope Leo X, through the talents and labours of Pier Maria +da Pescia, who was a most faithful imitator of the works of the +ancients; and he had a rival in Michelino, who was no less able than +Pier Maria in works both great and small, and was held to be a graceful +master. + +These men opened the way in this art, which is so difficult, for +engraving in intaglio is truly working in the dark, since the craftsman +can use nothing but impressions of wax, as spectacles, as it were, +wherewith to see from time to time what he is doing. And finally they +brought it to such a condition that Giovanni da Castel Bolognese, +Valerio Vicentino, Matteo dal Nassaro, and others, were able to execute +the many beautiful works of which we are about to make mention. + +Let me begin, then, by saying that Giovanni Bernardi of Castel +Bolognese, who worked in his youth in the service of Duke Alfonso of +Ferrara, made for him, in the three years of honourable service that he +gave him, many little works, of which there is no need to give any +description. Of his larger works the first was an intaglio on a piece of +crystal, in which he represented the whole of the action of Bastia, +which was very beautiful; and then he executed the portrait of that +Duke in a steel die for the purpose of making medals, with the Taking of +Jesus Christ by the Multitude on the reverse. Afterwards, urged by +Giovio, he went to Rome, and obtained by favour of Cardinal Ippolito de' +Medici and Cardinal Giovanni Salviati the privilege of taking a portrait +of Clement VII, from which he made a die for medals, which was very +beautiful, with Joseph revealing himself to his brethren on the reverse; +and for this he was rewarded by His Holiness with the gift of a Mazza, +an office which he afterwards sold in the time of Paul III, receiving +two hundred crowns for it. For the same Clement he executed figures of +the four Evangelists on four round crystals, which were much extolled, +and gained for him the favour and friendship of many prelates, and in +particular the good-will of Salviati and of the above-mentioned Cardinal +Ippolito de' Medici, that sole refuge for men of talent, whose portrait +he made on steel medals, besides executing for him on crystal the +Presentation of the Daughter of Darius to Alexander the Great. + +After this, when Charles V went to Bologna to be crowned, Giovanni made +a portrait of him in steel, from which he struck a medal of gold. This +he carried straightway to the Emperor, who gave him a hundred pistoles +of gold, and sent to inquire whether he would go with him to Spain; but +Giovanni refused, saying that he could not leave the service of Clement +and of Cardinal Ippolito, for whom he had begun some work that was still +unfinished. + +Having returned to Rome, Giovanni executed for the same Cardinal de' +Medici a Rape of the Sabines, which was very beautiful. And the +Cardinal, knowing himself to be much indebted to him for all these +things, rewarded him with a vast number of gifts and courtesies; but the +greatest of all was this, that the Cardinal, when departing for France +in the midst of a company of many lords and gentlemen, turned to +Giovanni, who was there among the rest, and, taking from his own neck a +little chain to which was attached a cameo worth more than six hundred +crowns, he gave it to him, telling him that he should keep it until his +return, and intending to bestow upon him afterwards such a recompense as +he knew to be due to the talent of Giovanni. + +On the death of the Cardinal, that cameo fell into the hands of Cardinal +Farnese, for whom Giovanni afterwards executed many works in crystal, +and in particular a Christ Crucified for a Cross, with a God the Father +above, Our Lady and S. John at the sides, and the Magdalene at the foot; +and in a triangle at the base of the Cross he made three scenes of the +Passion of Christ, one in each angle. For two candelabra of silver he +engraved six round crystals. In the first is the Centurion praying +Christ that He should heal his son, in the second the Pool of Bethesda, +in the third the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, in the fourth the +Miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, in the fifth the scene of +Christ driving the traders from the Temple, and in the last the Raising +of Lazarus; and all were exquisite. The same Cardinal Farnese afterwards +desired to have a very rich casket made of silver, and had the work +executed by Manno, a Florentine goldsmith, of whom there will be an +account in another place; but he entrusted all the compartments of +crystal to Giovanni, who made them all full of scenes, with marble in +half-relief; and he made figures of silver and ornaments in the round, +and all with such diligence, that no other work of that kind was ever +carried to such perfection. On the body of this casket are the following +scenes, engraved in ovals with marvellous art by the hand of Giovanni: +The Chase of Meleager after the Calydonian Boar, the Followers of +Bacchus, a naval battle, Hercules in combat with the Amazons, and other +most beautiful fantasies of the Cardinal, who caused finished designs of +them to be executed by Perino del Vaga and other masters. Giovanni then +executed on a crystal the triumph of the taking of Goletta, and the War +of Tunis on another. For the same Cardinal he engraved, likewise on +crystal, the Birth of Christ and the scenes when He prays in the Garden; +when He is taken by the Jews; when He is led before Annas, Herod, and +Pilate; when He is scourged and then crowned with thorns; when He +carries the Cross; when He is nailed upon it and raised on high; and, +finally, His divine and glorious Resurrection. All these works were not +only very beautiful, but also executed with such rapidity, that every +man was struck with astonishment. + +[Illustration: CASSETTA FARNESE + +(_After_ Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi). _Naples: +Museo Nazionale_) + +_Brogi_] + +Michelagnolo had made for the above-mentioned Cardinal de' Medici a +drawing, which I forgot to mention before, of a Tityus whose heart was +being devoured by a vulture; and Giovanni engraved this beautifully on +crystal. And he did the same with another drawing by Buonarroti, in +which Phaethon, not being able to manage the chariot of the Sun, has +fallen into the Po, and his weeping sisters are transformed into trees. + +Giovanni executed a portrait of Madama Margherita of Austria, daughter +of the Emperor Charles V, who had been the wife of Duke Alessandro de' +Medici, and was then the consort of Duke Ottavio Farnese; and this he +did in competition with Valerio Vicentino. For these works executed for +Cardinal Farnese, he received from that lord a reward in the form of the +office of Giannizzero, from which he drew a good sum of money; and, in +addition, he was so beloved by that Cardinal that he obtained a great +number of other favours from him, nor did the Cardinal ever pass through +Faenza, where Giovanni had built a most commodious house, without going +to take up his quarters with him. Having thus settled at Faenza, in +order to rest after a life of much labour in the world, Giovanni +remained there ever afterwards; and his first wife, by whom he had not +had children, being dead, he took a second. By her he had two sons and a +daughter; and with them he lived in contentment, being well provided +with landed property and other revenues, which yielded him more than +four hundred crowns, until he came to the age of sixty, when he rendered +up his soul to God on the day of Pentecost, in the year 1555. + +Matteo dal Nassaro, who was born in Verona, and was the son of Jacopo +dal Nassaro, a shoemaker, gave much attention in his early childhood not +only to design, but also to music, in which he became excellent, having +had as his masters in that study Marco Carrà and Il Tromboncino, both +Veronese, who were then in the service of the Marquis of Mantua. In +matters of intaglio he was much assisted by two Veronese of honourable +family, with whom he was continually associated. One of these was +Niccolò Avanzi, who, working privately in Rome, executed cameos, +cornelians, and other stones, which were taken to various Princes; and +there are persons who remember to have seen a lapis-lazuli by his hand, +three fingers in breadth, containing the Nativity of Christ, with many +figures, which was sold as a choice work to the Duchess of Urbino. The +other was Galeazzo Mondella, who, besides engraving gems, drew very +beautifully. + +After Matteo had learned from these two masters all that they knew, it +chanced that there fell into his hands a beautiful piece of green +jasper, marked with red spots, as the good pieces are; and he engraved +in it a Deposition from the Cross with such diligence, that he made the +wounds come in those parts of the jasper that were spotted with the +colour of blood, which caused that work to be a very rare one, and +brought him much commendation. That jasper was sold by Matteo to the +Marchioness Isabella d'Este. + +He then went to France, taking with him many works by his own hand which +might serve to introduce him to the Court of King Francis I; and when he +had been presented to that Sovereign, who always held in estimation +every manner of man of talent, the King, after taking many of the stones +engraved by him, received him into his service and ordained him a good +salary; and he held Matteo dear no less because he was an excellent +musician and could play very well upon the lute, than for his profession +of engraving stones. Of a truth, there is nothing that does more to +kindle men's minds with love for the arts than to see them appreciated +and rewarded by Princes and noblemen, as has always been done in the +past, and is done more than ever at the present day, by the illustrious +House of Medici, and as was also done by that truly magnanimous +Sovereign, King Francis. + +Matteo, thus employed in the service of that King, executed many rare +works, not only for His Majesty, but also for almost all the most noble +lords and barons of the Court, of whom there was scarcely one who did +not have some work by his hand, since it was much the custom at that +time to wear cameos and other suchlike gems on the neck and in the cap. +For the King he made an altar-piece for the altar of the chapel which +His Majesty always took with him on his journeys; and this was full of +figures of gold, partly in the round and partly in half-relief, with +many engraved gems distributed over the limbs of those figures. He also +engraved many pieces of crystal in intaglio, impressions of which in +sulphur and gesso are to be seen in many places, and particularly in +Verona, where there are marvellous representations of all the planets, +and a Venus with a Cupid that has the back turned, which could not be +more beautiful. In a very fine chalcedony, found in a river, Matteo +engraved divinely well the head of a Deianira almost in full-relief, +wearing the lion's skin, the surface being tawny in colour; and he +turned to such good advantage a vein of red that was in that stone, +representing with it the inner side of the lion's skin at its junction +with the head, that the skin had the appearance of one newly flayed. +Another spot of colour he used for the hair, and the white for the face +and breast, and all with admirable mastery. This head came into the +possession of King Francis, together with the other things; and there is +an impression of it at the present day in Verona, which belongs to the +goldsmith Zoppo, who was Matteo's disciple. + +Matteo was a man of great spirit and generosity, insomuch that he would +rather have given his works away than sold them for a paltry price. +Wherefore when a baron, for whom he had made a cameo of some value, +wished to pay him a wretched sum for it, Matteo besought him straitly +that he should accept it as a present. To this the other would not +consent, and yet wished to have it for the same miserable price; +whereupon Matteo, flying into a rage, crushed it to powder with a hammer +in his presence. For the same King Matteo executed many cartoons for +tapestries, and with these, to please His Majesty, he was obliged to go +to Flanders, and to stay there until they had been woven in silk and +gold; which being finished and taken to France, they were held to be +very beautiful. Finally, Matteo returned to his own country, as almost +all men do, taking with him many rare things from those foreign parts, +and in particular some landscapes on canvas painted in Flanders in oils +and in gouache, and executed by very able hands, which are still +preserved and treasured in Verona, in memory of him, by Signor Luigi and +Signor Girolamo Stoppi. Having returned to Verona, Matteo took up his +abode in a cave hollowed out under a rocky cliff, above which is the +garden of the Frati Ingiesuati--a place which, besides being very warm +in winter and very cool in summer, commands a most beautiful view. But +he was not able to enjoy that habitation, thus contrived after his own +fancy, as long as he would have liked, for King Francis, as soon as he +had been released from his captivity, sent a special messenger to recall +Matteo to France, and to pay him his salary even for all the time that +he had been in Verona; and when he had arrived there, the King made him +master of dies for the Mint. Taking a wife in France, therefore, Matteo +settled down to live in those parts, since such was the pleasure of the +King his master. By that wife he had some children, but all so unlike +himself that he had little satisfaction from them. + +Matteo was so gentle and courteous, that he welcomed with extraordinary +warmth anyone who arrived in France, not only from his own city of +Verona, but from every part of Lombardy. His dearest friend in those +regions was Paolo Emilio of Verona, who wrote the history of France in +the Latin tongue. Matteo taught many disciples, among them a +fellow-Veronese, the brother of Domenico Brusciasorzi, two of his +nephews, who went to Flanders, and many other Italians and Frenchmen, of +whom there is no need to make mention. And finally he died, not long +after the death of King Francis of France. + +But to come at length to the marvellous art of Valerio Vicentino, of +whom we have now to speak: this master executed so many works, both +great and small, either in intaglio or in relief, and all with such a +finish and such facility, that it is a thing incredible. If Nature had +made Valerio a good master of design, even as she made him most +excellent in engraving, in which he executed his works with +extraordinary patience, diligence, and rapidity, he would not merely +have equalled the ancients, as he did, but would have surpassed them by +a great measure; and even so he had such judgment, that he always +availed himself in his works of the designs of others or of the intagli +of the ancients. + +[Illustration: CASKET OF ROCK CRYSTAL + +(_After_ Valerio Vincentino (Valerio Belli). _Florence; Uffizi, Cabinet +of Gems_) + +_Alinari_] + +Valerio fashioned for Pope Clement VII a casket entirely of crystal, +wrought with admirable mastery, for which he received two thousand +crowns of gold from that Pontiff in return for his labour. In those +crystals Valerio engraved the whole Passion of Jesus Christ, after the +designs of others; and that casket was afterwards presented by Pope +Clement to King Francis at Nice, at the time when his niece went to be +married to the Duke of Orleans, who afterwards became King Henry. For +the same Pope Valerio made some most beautiful paxes, and a divine cross +of crystal, and likewise dies for striking medals, containing the +portrait of Pope Clement, with very beautiful reverses; and through him +that art produced in his day many masters, both from Milan and from +other parts, who had grown to such a number before the sack of Rome, +that it was a marvel. He made the medals of the twelve Emperors, with +their reverses, copying the most beautiful antiques, with a great number +of Greek medals; and he engraved so many other works in crystal, that +the shops of the goldsmiths, or rather, the whole world, may be seen to +be full of impressions taken in gesso, sulphur, or other compositions, +from the intagli in which he made scenes, figures, or heads. He had, +indeed, a skill of hand so extraordinary, that there was never anyone in +his profession who executed more works than Valerio. + +He also fashioned many vases of crystal for Pope Clement, who presented +some to various Princes, and others were placed in the Church of S. +Lorenzo at Florence, together with many vases that were formerly in the +Palace of the Medici and had belonged to the elder Lorenzo, the +Magnificent, and to other members of that most illustrious family, that +they might serve to contain the relics of many Saints, which that +Pontiff presented to that church in memory of himself. It would not be +possible to find anything more varied than the curves of those vases, +some of which are of sardonyx, agate, amethyst, and lapis-lazuli, and +some of plasma, heliotrope, jasper, crystal, and cornelian, so that in +point of value or beauty nothing more could be desired. For Pope Paul +III he made a cross and two candelabra, likewise of crystal, engraved +with scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ in various compartments; with +a vast number of stones, both great and small, of which it would take +too long to make mention. And in the collection of Cardinal Farnese may +be seen many things by the hand of Valerio, who left no fewer finished +works than did the above-named Giovanni. At the age of seventy-eight he +performed miracles, so sure were his eye and hand; and he taught his art +to a daughter of his own, who works very well. He so delighted to lay +his hands on antiquities in marble, impressions in gesso of works both +ancient and modern, and drawings and pictures by rare masters, that he +shrank from no expense; wherefore his house at Vicenza is adorned by +such an abundance of various things, that it is a marvel. It is clearly +evident that when a man bears love to art, it never leaves him until he +is in the grave; whence he gains praise and his reward during his +lifetime, and makes himself immortal after death. Valerio was well +remunerated for his labours, and received offices and many benefits from +those Princes whom he served; and thus those who survived him are able, +thanks to him, to maintain an honourable state. And in the year 1546, +when, by reason of the infirmities that old age brings in its train, he +could no longer attend to his art, or even live, he rendered up his soul +to God. + +At Parma, in times past, lived Marmita, who gave his attention for a +period to painting, and then turned to intaglio, in which he imitated +the ancients very closely. Many most beautiful works by his hand are to +be seen, and he taught the art to a son of his own, called Lodovico, who +lived for a long time in Rome with Cardinal Giovanni de' Salviati. +Lodovico executed for that Cardinal four ovals of crystal engraved with +figures of great excellence, which were placed on a very beautiful +casket of silver that was afterwards presented to the most illustrious +Signora Leonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence. He made, among many +other works, a cameo with a most beautiful head of Socrates, and he was +a great master at counterfeiting ancient medals, from which he gained +extraordinary advantage. + +There followed, in Florence, Domenico di Polo, a Florentine and an +excellent master of intaglio, who was the disciple of Giovanni delle +Corniole, of whom we have spoken. In our own day this Domenico executed +a divine portrait of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, from which he made dies +in steel and most beautiful medals, with a reverse containing a +Florence. He also made a portrait of Duke Cosimo in the first year after +his election to the government of Florence, with the sign of Capricorn +on the reverse; and many other little works in intaglio, of which there +is no need to make record. He died at the age of sixty-five. + +[Illustration: MEDALS + +(_London: British Museum_) + + 1. POPE JULIUS III + (_After_ Alessandro Cesati) + + 2. PIETRO BEMBO + 3. POPE CLEMENT VII + (_After_ Benvenuto Cellini)] + +[Illustration: MEDALS + +(_London: British Museum_) + + 1. IPPOLITO D'ESTE + 2. TITIAN + 3. MARGARET, DUCHESS OF MANTUA + 4. LUCREZIA DE' MEDICI + (_After_ Pastorino of Siena) + + 5. BENEDETTO VARCHI + 6. COSIMO DE' MEDICI + (_After_ Domenico Poggini)] + +Domenico, Valerio, Marmita, and Giovanni da Castel Bolognese being +dead, there remained many who have surpassed them by a great measure; +one in Venice, for example, being Luigi Anichini of Ferrara, who, with +the delicacy of his engraving and the sharpness of his finish, has +produced works that are marvellous. But far beyond all others in grace, +excellence, perfection, and versatility, has soared Alessandro Cesati, +surnamed Il Greco, who has executed cameos in relief and gems in +intaglio in so beautiful a manner, as well as dies of steel in incavo, +and has used the burin with such supreme diligence and with such mastery +over the most delicate refinements of his art, that nothing better could +be imagined. Whoever wishes to be amazed by his miraculous powers, +should study a medal that he made for Pope Paul III, with his portrait +on one side, which has all the appearance of life, and on the reverse +Alexander the Great, who has thrown himself at the feet of the +High-Priest of Jerusalem, and is doing him homage--figures which are so +marvellous that it would not be possible to do anything better. And +Michelagnolo Buonarroti himself, looking at them in the presence of +Giorgio Vasari, said that the hour of death had come upon the art, for +nothing better could ever be seen. This Alessandro made the medal of +Pope Julius III for the holy year of 1550, with a reverse showing the +prisoners that were released in the days of the ancients at times of +jubilee, which was a rare and truly beautiful medal; with many other +dies and portraits for the Mint of Rome, which he kept busily employed +for many years. He executed portraits of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of +Castro, and his son, Duke Ottavio; and he made a portrait of Cardinal +Farnese in a medal, a very choice work, the head being of gold and the +ground of silver. The same master engraved for Cardinal Farnese in +intaglio, on a cornelian larger than a giulio, a head of King Henry of +France, which has been considered in point of design, grace, excellence, +and perfection of finish, one of the best modern intagli that have ever +been seen. There may also be seen many other stones engraved by his +hand, in the form of cameos; truly perfect is a nude woman wrought with +great art, and another in which is a lion, and likewise one of a boy, +with many small ones, of which there is no need to speak; but that which +surpassed all the others was the head of the Athenian Phocion, which is +marvellous, and the most beautiful cameo that is to be seen. + +A master who gives his attention to cameos at the present day is +Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, an excellent craftsman of Milan, who, in +addition to the various beautiful works that he has engraved in relief +and in intaglio, has executed for the most illustrious Duke Cosimo de' +Medici a very large cameo, one-third of a braccio in height and the same +in width, in which he has cut two figures from the waist +upwards--namely, His Excellency and the most illustrious Duchess +Leonora, his consort, who are both holding with their hands a medallion +containing a Florence, and beside them are portraits from life of the +Prince Don Francesco, Don Giovanni the Cardinal, Don Garzia, Don +Ernando, and Don Pietro, together with Donna Isabella and Donna +Lucrezia, all their children. It would not be possible to find a more +amazing or a larger work in cameo than this; and since it surpasses all +the other cameos and smaller works that he has made, I shall make no +further mention of them, for they are all to be seen. + +Cosimo da Trezzo, also, has executed many works worthy of praise in this +profession, and has won much favour on account of his rare gifts from +Philip, the great Catholic King of Spain, who retains him about his +person, honouring and rewarding him in return for his ability in his +vocation of engraving in intaglio and in relief. He has no equal in +making portraits from life; and in other kinds of work, as well as in +that, his talent is extraordinary. + +Of the Milanese Filippo Negrolo, who worked at chasing arms of iron with +foliage and figures, I shall say nothing, since copper-engravings of his +works, which have given him very great fame, may be seen about. By +Gasparo and Girolamo Misuroni, engravers of Milan, have been seen most +beautiful vases and tazze of crystal. For Duke Cosimo, in particular, +they have executed two that are marvellous; besides which, they have +made out of a piece of heliotrope a vase extraordinary in size and +admirable for its engraving, and also a large vase of lapis-lazuli, +which deserves infinite praise. Jacopo da Trezzo practises the same +profession in Milan; and these men, in truth, have brought great beauty +and facility to this art. Many masters could I mention who, in executing +in incavo heads and reverses for medals, have equalled and even +surpassed the ancients; as, for example, Benvenuto Cellini, who, during +the time when he exercised the goldsmith's art in Rome under Pope +Clement, made two medals with a head of Pope Clement that is a living +likeness, and on the reverse of one a figure of Peace that has bound +Fury and is burning her arms, and on the other Moses striking the rock +and causing water to flow to quench the thirst of his people: beyond +which it is not possible to go in that art. And the same might be said +of the coins and medals that Benvenuto afterwards made for Duke +Alessandro in Florence. + +Of the Chevalier, Leone Aretino, who has done equally well in the same +art, and of the works that he has made and still continues to make, +there will be an account in another place. + +The Roman Pietro Paolo Galeotto, also, has executed for Duke Cosimo, as +he still does, medals with portraits of that lord, dies for coins, and +works in tarsia, imitating the methods of Maestro Salvestro, a most +excellent master, who produced marvellous works in that profession at +Rome. + +Pastorino da Siena, likewise, has executed so many heads from life, that +he may be said to have made portraits of every kind of person in the +whole world, great nobles, followers of the arts, and many people of low +degree. He discovered a kind of hard stucco for making portraits, +wherewith he gave them the colouring of nature, with the tints of the +beard, hair, and flesh, so that they had the appearance of life itself; +but he deserves much more praise for his work in steel, in which he has +made excellent dies for medals. + +It would take too long if I were to speak of all those who execute +portrait-medals of wax, seeing that every goldsmith at the present day +makes them, and a number of gentlemen have given their attention to +this, and still do so; such as Giovan Battista Sozzini at Siena, Rosso +de' Giugni at Florence, and very many others, of whom I shall not now +say more. And, to bring this account to conclusion, I return to the +steel-engravers, of whom one is Girolamo Fagiuoli of Bologna, a master +of chasing and of copper-engraving, and another, at Florence, is +Domenico Poggini, who has made, as he still does, dies for the Mint, +with medals of Duke Cosimo, and who also executes statues of marble, +imitating, in so far as he is able, the rarest and most excellent +masters who have ever produced choice works in these professions. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] Giovanni of the Cornelians. + +[13] Domenico of the Cameos. + + + + +MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OTHER ENGRAVERS OF PRINTS + + + + +LIVES OF MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OF OTHER ENGRAVERS OF PRINTS + + +Seeing that in the Treatise on the Technique of Painting there was +little said of copper-plate engraving, since it was enough at that time +to describe the method of engraving silver with the burin, which is a +square tool of iron, cut on the slant, with a sharp point, I shall use +the occasion of this Life to say as much on that subject as I may +consider to be sufficient. The beginning of print-engraving, then, came +from the Florentine Maso Finiguerra, about the year of our salvation +1460; for of all the works which that master engraved in silver with +designs to be filled up with niello, he took impressions in clay, over +which he poured melted sulphur, which reproduced the lines of the +design; and these, when filled with smoke-black mixed with oil, produced +the same effect as the silver. He also did the same with damped paper +and with the same tint, going over the whole with a round and smooth +roller, which not only gave the designs the appearance of prints, but +they also came out as if drawn with the pen. This master was followed by +Baccio Baldini, a goldsmith of Florence, who, not having much power of +design, took all that he did from the invention and design of Sandro +Botticelli. And this method, coming to the knowledge of Andrea Mantegna +in Rome, was the reason that he made a beginning with engraving many of +his works, as was said in his Life. + +This invention having afterwards passed into Flanders, a certain Martin, +who was held to be an excellent painter in Antwerp at that time, +executed many works, and sent to Italy a great number of printed +designs, which were all signed in the following manner: "M.C." The first +of these were the Five Foolish Virgins with their lamps extinguished, +the Five Wise Virgins with their lamps burning, and a Christ Crucified, +with S. John and the Madonna at the foot of the Cross, which was so good +an engraving, that Gherardo, the Florentine illuminator, set himself to +copy it with the burin, and succeeded very well; but he went no further +with this, for he did not live long. Martin then published four round +engravings of the four Evangelists, and Jesus Christ with the twelve +Apostles, in small sheets, Veronica with six Saints, of the same size, +and some coats of arms of German noblemen, supported by men, both naked +and clothed, and also by women. He published, likewise, a S. George +slaying the Dragon, a Christ standing before Pilate, who is washing his +hands, and a Passing of Our Lady, with all the Apostles, a work of some +size, which was one of the best designs that this master ever engraved. +In another he represented S. Anthony beaten by Devils, and carried +through the air by a vast number of them in the most varied and bizarre +forms that could possibly be imagined; which sheet so pleased +Michelagnolo, when he was a mere lad, that he set himself to colour it. + +[Illustration: CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED + +(_After the engraving by =Martin Schongauer=. London: British Museum, B. +71_) + +_M.S._] + +After this Martin, Albrecht Dürer began to give attention to prints of +the same kind at Antwerp, but with more design and better judgment, and +with more beautiful invention, seeking to imitate the life and to draw +near to the Italian manners, which he always held in much account. And +thus, while still quite young, he executed many works which were +considered as beautiful as those of Martin; and he engraved them with +his own hand, signing them with his name. In the year 1503 he published +a little Madonna, in which he surpassed both Martin and his own self; +and afterwards many other sheets with horses, two in each sheet, taken +from nature and very beautiful. In another he depicted the Prodigal Son, +in the guise of a peasant, kneeling with his hands clasped and gazing up +to Heaven, while some swine are eating from a trough; and in this work +are some most beautiful huts after the manner of German cottages. He +engraved a little S. Sebastian, bound, with the arms upraised; and a +Madonna seated with the Child in her arms, with the light from a window +falling upon her, a small work, than which there is nothing better to be +seen. He also made a Flemish woman on horseback, with a groom at her +feet; and on a larger copper-plate he engraved a nymph being +carried away by a sea-monster, while some other nymphs are bathing. On a +plate of the same size he engraved with supreme delicacy of workmanship, +attaining to the final perfection of this art, a Diana beating a nymph, +who has fled for protection to the bosom of a satyr; in which sheet +Albrecht sought to prove that he was able to make nudes. + +[Illustration: HERCULES + +(_After the engraving by =Albrecht Dürer=. London: British Museum, B. +73_) + +_M.S._] + +But although those masters were extolled at that time in those +countries, in ours their works are commended only for the diligent +execution of the engraving. I am willing, indeed, to believe that +Albrecht was perhaps not able to do better because, not having any +better models, he drew, when he had to make nudes, from one or other of +his assistants, who must have had bad figures, as Germans generally have +when naked, although one sees many from those parts who are fine men +when in their clothes. In various little printed sheets he executed +figures of peasant men and women in different Flemish costumes, some +playing on the bagpipes and dancing, some selling fowls and suchlike +things, and others in many other attitudes. He also drew a man sleeping +in a bathroom who has Venus near him, leading him into temptation in a +dream, while Love is diverting himself by mounting on stilts, and the +Devil blows into his ears with a pair of bellows. And he engraved two +different figures of S. Christopher carrying the Infant Christ, both +very beautiful, and executed with much diligence in the close detail of +the hair and in every other respect. + +[Illustration: CHRIST TAKING LEAVE OF HIS MOTHER + +(_After the woodcut by =Albrecht Dürer=. London: British Museum, B. 92_) + +_M.S._] + +After these works, perceiving how much time he consumed in engraving on +copper, and happening to have in his possession a great abundance of +subjects drawn in various ways, he set himself to making woodcuts, a +method of working in which those who have the greatest powers of design +find the widest field wherein to display their ability in its +perfection. And in the year 1510 he published two little prints in this +manner, in one of which is the Beheading of S. John, and in the other +the scene of the head of the same S. John being presented in a charger +to Herod, who is seated at table; with other sheets of S. Christopher, +S. Sixtus the Pope, S. Stephen, and S. Laurence. Then, having seen that +this method of working was much easier than engraving on copper, he +pursued it and executed a S. Gregory chanting the Mass, accompanied by +the deacon and sub-deacon. And, growing in courage, in the year 1510 he +represented on a sheet of royal folio part of the Passion of +Christ--that is, he executed four pieces, with the intention of +afterwards finishing the whole, these four being the Last Supper, the +Taking of Christ by Night in the Garden, His Descent into the Limbo of +Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers, and His glorious +Resurrection. That second piece he also painted in a very beautiful +little picture in oils, which is now at Florence, in the possession of +Signor Bernardetto de' Medici. As for the eight other parts, although +they were afterwards executed and printed with the signature of +Albrecht, to us it does not seem probable that they are the work of his +hand, seeing that they are poor stuff, and bear no resemblance to his +manner, either in the heads, or in the draperies, or in any other +respect. Wherefore it is believed that they were executed after his +death, for the sake of gain, by other persons, who did not scruple to +father them on Albrecht. That this is true is also proved by the +circumstance that in the year 1511 he represented the whole life of Our +Lady in twenty sheets of the same size, executing it so well that it +would not be possible, whether in invention, in the composition of the +perspective-views, in the buildings, in the costumes, or in the heads of +old and young, to do better. Of a truth, if this man, so able, so +diligent, and so versatile, had had Tuscany instead of Flanders for his +country, and had been able to study the treasures of Rome, as we +ourselves have done, he would have been the best painter of our land, +even as he was the rarest and most celebrated that has ever appeared +among the Flemings. In the same year, continuing to give expression to +his fantasies, Albrecht resolved to execute fifteen woodcuts of the same +size, representing the terrible vision that S. John the Evangelist +described in his Apocalypse on the Isle of Patmos. And so, setting his +hand to the work, with his extravagant imagination, so well suited to +such a subject, he depicted all those things both of heaven and of earth +so beautifully, that it was a marvel, and with such a variety of forms +in those animals and monsters, that it was a great light to many of our +craftsmen, who have since availed themselves of the vast abundance of +his beautiful fantasies and inventions. By the hand of the same master, +also, is a woodcut that is to be seen of a nude Christ, who has round +Him the Mysteries of His Passion, and is weeping for our sins, with His +hands to His face; and this, for a small work, is not otherwise than +worthy of praise. + +Then, having grown both in power and in courage, as he saw that his +works were prized, Albrecht executed some copper-plates that astonished +the world. He also set himself to make an engraving, for printing on a +sheet of half-folio, of a figure of Melancholy, with all the instruments +that reduce those who use them, or rather, all mankind, to a melancholy +humour; and in this he succeeded so well, that it would not be possible +to do more delicate engraving with the burin. He executed three small +plates of Our Lady, all different one from another, and most subtle in +engraving. But it would take too long if I were to try to enumerate all +the works that issued from Albrecht's hand; let it be enough for the +present to tell that, having drawn a Passion of Christ in thirty-six +parts, and having engraved these, he made an agreement with Marc' +Antonio Bolognese that they should publish the sheets in company; and +thus, arriving in Venice, this work was the reason that marvellous +prints of the same kind were afterwards executed in Italy, as will be +related below. + +While Francesco Francia was working at his painting in Bologna, there +was among his many disciples a young man called Marc' Antonio, who, +being more gifted than the others, was much brought forward by him, and, +from having been many years with Francia and greatly beloved by him, +acquired the surname of De' Franci. This Marc' Antonio, who was more +able in design than his master, handled the burin with facility and +grace, and executed in niello girdles and many other things much in +favour at that time, which were very beautiful, for the reason that he +was indeed most excellent in that profession. Having then been seized, +as happens to many, with a desire to go about the world and see new +things and the methods of other craftsmen, with the gracious leave of +Francia he went off to Venice, where he was well received by the +craftsmen of that city. About the same time there arrived in Venice some +Flemings with many copper-plate engravings and woodcuts by Albrecht +Dürer, which were seen by Marc' Antonio on the Piazza di S. Marco; and +he was so amazed at the manner and method of the work of Albrecht, that +he spent on those sheets almost all the money that he had brought from +Bologna. Among other things, he bought the Passion of Jesus Christ, +which had been engraved on thirty-six wood-blocks and printed not long +before on sheets of quarter-folio by the same Albrecht. This work began +with the Sin of Adam and the scene of the Angel expelling him from +Paradise, and continued down to the Descent of the Holy Spirit. + +Marc' Antonio, having considered what honour and profit might be +acquired by one who should apply himself to that art in Italy, formed +the determination to give his attention to it with all possible +assiduity and diligence. He thus began to copy those engravings by +Albrecht Dürer, studying the manner of each stroke and every other +detail of the prints that he had bought, which were held in such +estimation on account of their novelty and their beauty, that everyone +sought to have some. Having then counterfeited on copper, with engraving +as strong as that of the woodcuts that Albrecht had executed, the whole +of the said Life and Passion of Christ in thirty-six parts, he added to +these the signature that Albrecht used for all his works, which was +"A.D.," and they proved to be so similar in manner, that, no one knowing +that they had been executed by Marc' Antonio, they were ascribed to +Albrecht, and were bought and sold as works by his hand. News of this +was sent in writing to Albrecht, who was in Flanders, together with one +of the counterfeit Passions executed by Marc' Antonio; at which he flew +into such a rage that he left Flanders and went to Venice, where he +appeared before the Signoria and laid a complaint against Marc' Antonio. +But he could obtain no other satisfaction but this, that Marc' Antonio +should no longer use the name or the above-mentioned signature of +Albrecht on his works. + +[Illustration: S. JEROME IN HIS STUDY + +(_After the engraving by =Albrecht Dürer=. London: British Museum, B. +60_) + +_M.S._] + +After this affair, Marc' Antonio went off to Rome, where he gave his +whole attention to design; and Albrecht returned to Flanders, where he +found that another rival had already begun to execute many most delicate +engravings in competition with him. This was Lucas of Holland,[14] +who, although he was not as fine a master of design as Albrecht, was yet +in many respects his equal with the burin. Among the many large and +beautiful works that Lucas executed, the first were two in 1509, round +in shape, in one of which is Christ bearing the Cross, and in the other +His Crucifixion. Afterwards he published a Samson, a David on horseback, +and a S. Peter Martyr, with his tormentors; and then he made a +copper-plate engraving of Saul seated with the young David playing in +his presence. And not long after, having made a great advance, he +executed a very large plate with the most delicate engraving, of Virgil +suspended from the window in the basket, with some heads and figures so +marvellous, that they were the reason that Albrecht, growing more subtle +in power through this competition, produced some printed sheets of such +excellence, that nothing better could be done. In these, wishing to +display his ability, Albrecht made an armed man on horseback, +representing Human Strength, which is so well finished, that one can see +the lustre of the arms and of the black horse's coat, which is a +difficult thing to reproduce in design. This stalwart horseman had +Death, hour-glass in hand, beside him, and the Devil behind. There was +also a long-haired dog, executed with the most subtle delicacy that can +possibly be achieved in engraving. In the year 1512 there issued from +the hand of the same master sixteen little scenes of the Passion of +Jesus Christ, engraved so well on copper, that there are no little +figures to be seen that are more beautiful, sweet, and graceful, nor any +that are stronger in relief. + +Spurred likewise by rivalry, the same Lucas of Holland executed twelve +similar plates, very beautiful, and yet not so perfect in engraving and +design; and, in addition to these, a S. George who is comforting the +Maiden, who is weeping because she is destined to be devoured by the +Dragon; and also a Solomon, who is worshipping idols; the Baptism of +Christ; Pyramus and Thisbe; and Ahasuerus with Queen Esther kneeling +before him. Albrecht, on his part, not wishing to be surpassed by Lucas +either in the number or in the excellence of his works, engraved a nude +figure on some clouds, and a Temperance with marvellous wings, holding +a cup of gold and a bridle, with a most delicate little landscape; and +then a S. Eustachio kneeling before the stag, which has the Crucifix +between its horns, a sheet which is amazing, and particularly for the +beauty of some dogs in various attitudes, which could not be more +perfect. Among the many children of various kinds that he made for the +decoration of arms and devices, he engraved some who are holding a +shield, wherein is a Death with a cock for crest, the feathers of which +are rendered in such detail, that it would be impossible to execute +anything more delicate with the burin. + +Finally, he published the sheet with S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal, writing, with the Lion sleeping at his feet. In this work +Albrecht represented a room with windows of glass, through which stream +the rays of the sun, falling on the place where the Saint sits writing, +with an effect so natural, that it is a marvel; besides which, there are +books, timepieces, writings, and so many other things, that nothing more +and nothing better could be done in this field of art. Not long +afterwards, in the year 1523, he executed a Christ with the twelve +Apostles, in little figures, which was almost the last of his works. +There may also be seen prints of many heads taken from life by him, such +as that of Erasmus of Rotterdam, that of Cardinal Albrecht of +Brandenburg, Elector of the Empire, and also his own. Nor, with all the +engravings that he produced, did he ever abandon painting; nay, he was +always executing panels, canvases, and other paintings, all excellent, +and, what is more, he left many writings on matters connected with +engraving, painting, perspective, and architecture. + +[Illustration: THE _ECCE HOMO_ OF 1610 + +(_After the engraving by =Lucas van Leyden=. London: British Museum_) + +_M.S._] + +But to return to the subject of engraving: the works of Albrecht Dürer +induced Lucas of Holland to follow in his steps to the best of his +power. After the works already mentioned, Lucas engraved on copper four +scenes from the life of Joseph, and also the four Evangelists, the three +Angels who appeared to Abraham in the Valley of Mamre, Susannah in the +Bath, David praying, Mordecai riding in Triumph on Horseback, Lot made +drunk by his Daughters, the Creation of Adam and Eve, God commanding +them that they shall not eat of the Fruit from the Tree that He points +out to them, and Cain killing his brother Abel; all which sheets were +published in the year 1529. But that which did more than anything else +to bring renown and fame to Lucas, was a large sheet in which he +represented the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ; with another wherein Pilate +is showing Him to the people, saying, "Ecce Homo!" These sheets, which +are large, and contain a great number of figures, are held to be +excellent; as are, likewise, one with a Conversion of S. Paul, and +another showing him being led, blind, into Damascus. And let these works +suffice to prove that Lucas may be numbered among those who have handled +the burin with ability. + +The scenes of Lucas are very happy in composition, being executed with +such clearness and so free from confusion, that it seems certain that +the action represented could not have taken place in any other way; and +they are arranged more in accordance with the rules of art than those of +Albrecht. Besides this, it is evident that he used a wise discretion in +the engraving of his works, for the reason that all those parts which +recede little by little into the distance are less strongly defined in +proportion as they are lost to view, even as natural objects become less +clear to the eye when seen from afar. Indeed, he executed them with such +thoughtful care, and made them so soft and well blended, that they would +not be better in colour; and his judicious methods have opened the eyes +of many painters. The same master engraved many little plates: various +figures of Our Lady, the twelve Apostles with Christ, many Saints, both +male and female; arms and helmet-crests, and other suchlike things. Very +beautiful is a peasant who is having a tooth drawn, and is feeling such +pain, that he does not notice that meanwhile a woman is robbing his +purse. All these works of Albrecht and Lucas have brought it about that +many other Flemings and Germans after them have printed similar sheets +of great beauty. + +But returning to Marc' Antonio: having arrived in Rome, he engraved on +copper a most lovely drawing by Raffaello da Urbino, wherein was the +Roman Lucretia killing herself, which he executed with such diligence +and in so beautiful a manner, that Raffaello, to whom it was straightway +carried by some friends, began to think of publishing in engravings some +designs of works by his hand, and then a drawing that he had formerly +made of the Judgment of Paris, wherein, to please himself, he had drawn +the Chariot of the Sun, the nymphs of the woods, those of the fountains, +and those of the rivers, with vases, the helms of ships, and other +beautiful things of fancy all around; and when he had made up his mind, +these were engraved by Marc' Antonio in such a manner as amazed all +Rome. After them was engraved the drawing of the Massacre of the +Innocents, with most beautiful nudes, women and children, which was a +rare work; and then the Neptune, with little stories of Æneas around it, +the beautiful Rape of Helen, also after a drawing by Raffaello, and +another design in which may be seen the death of S. Felicita, who is +being boiled in oil, while her sons are beheaded. These works acquired +such fame for Marc' Antonio, that his engravings were held in much +higher estimation, on account of their good design, than those of the +Flemings; and the merchants made very large profits out of them. + +Raffaello had kept an assistant called Baviera for many years to grind +his colours; and since this Baviera had a certain ability, Raffaello +ordained that he should attend to the printing of the engravings +executed by Marc' Antonio, to the end that all his compositions might +thus be finished, and then sold in gross and in detail to all who +desired them. And so, having set to work, they printed a vast number, +which brought very great profit to Raffaello; and all the plates were +signed by Marc' Antonio with the following signatures, "R.S." for the +name of Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, and "M.F." for that of Marc' +Antonio. Among these works were a Venus embraced by Love, after a +drawing by Raffaello, and a scene in which God the Father is blessing +the seed of Abraham, with the handmaiden and two children. Next were +engraved all the round pictures that Raffaello had painted in the +apartments of the Papal Palace, such as the Universal Knowledge, +Calliope with the musical instrument in her hand, Foresight, and +Justice; and then, after a small drawing, the scene which Raffaello had +painted in the same apartment, of Mount Parnassus, with Apollo, the +Muses, and the Poets; and also that of Æneas carrying Anchises on his +back while Troy is burning, of which Raffaello had made the drawing in +order to paint a little picture. After this they engraved and printed +another work of Raffaello, Galatea in a car drawn over the sea by +Dolphins, with some Tritons who are carrying off a Nymph. + +These works finished, Marc' Antonio engraved many separate figures, +likewise on copper, and after drawings by Raffaello; an Apollo with a +lyre in his hand; a figure of Peace, to whom Love is offering an +olive-branch; the three Theological and the four Moral Virtues, and a +Jesus Christ with the twelve Apostles, of the same size; a half-folio +plate of the Madonna that Raffaello had painted in the altar-piece of +the Araceli, and likewise one of that which went to S. Domenico in +Naples, with Our Lady, S. Jerome, the Angel Raphael, and Tobias; and a +little plate of Our Lady seated on a chair and embracing the Infant +Christ, who is half clothed, with many other figures of the Madonna +copied from the pictures which Raffaello had painted for various +persons. After these he engraved a young S. John the Baptist, seated in +the desert, and then the picture which Raffaello executed for S. +Giovanni in Monte, of S. Cecilia with other Saints, which was held to be +a most beautiful sheet. When Raffaello had finished all the cartoons of +the tapestries for the Papal Chapel, which were afterwards woven in silk +and gold, with stories of S. Paul, S. Peter, and S. Stephen, Marc' +Antonio engraved the Preaching of S. Paul, the Stoning of S. Stephen, +and the Blind Man receiving his Sight; which plates, what with the +invention of Raffaello, the grace of the design, and the diligent +engraving of Marc' Antonio, were so beautiful, that there was nothing +better to be seen. He then engraved, after the invention of the same +Raffaello, a most beautiful Deposition from the Cross, with a Madonna in +a swoon, who is marvellous; and not long afterwards a plate, which is +very beautiful, of that picture by Raffaello which went to Palermo, of a +Christ who is bearing the Cross, and also one of a drawing that +Raffaello had executed of a Christ in the air, with Our Lady, S. John +the Baptist, and S. Catharine kneeling on the ground, and S. Paul the +Apostle standing, which was a large and very lovely engraving. This and +the others, after becoming spoiled and almost worn out through being too +much used, were carried away by Germans and others in the sack of Rome. + +The same Marc' Antonio engraved the portrait of Pope Clement VII in +profile, with the face shaved, in the form of a medallion; one of the +Emperor Charles V at the time when he was a young man, and another of +him at a riper age; and also one of Ferdinand, King of the Romans, who +afterwards succeeded Charles V as Emperor. He also made in Rome a +portrait from life of Messer Pietro Aretino, a very famous poet, which +was the most beautiful that Marc' Antonio ever executed; and, not long +afterwards, portraits of the twelve ancient Emperors in medallions. Of +these sheets Raffaello sent some into Flanders to Albrecht Dürer, who +praised Marc' Antonio highly, and sent in return to Raffaello, in +addition to many other sheets, his own portrait, which was held to be a +miracle of beauty. + +Now, the fame of Marc' Antonio having grown very great, and the art of +engraving having come into credit and repute, many disciples had placed +themselves under him in order to learn it. And of their number, two who +made great proficience were Marco da Ravenna, who signed his plates with +the signature of Raffaello, "R.S.," and Agostino Viniziano, who signed +his works in the following manner: "A.V." These two engraved and printed +many designs by Raffaello, such as one of Our Lady with Christ lying +dead at full length, and at His feet S. John, the Magdalene, Nicodemus, +and the other Maries; and they engraved another plate of greater size, +in which is a Madonna, with the arms outstretched and the eyes raised +towards Heaven, in an attitude of supreme pity and sorrow, with Christ, +in like manner, lying dead at full length. + +Agostino afterwards engraved a large plate of the Nativity, with the +Shepherds and Angels about the hut, and God the Father above; and he +executed many vases, both ancient and modern, and also a censer, or +rather, two women with a vase perforated at the top. He engraved a plate +with a man transformed into a wolf, who is stealing towards a bed in +order to kill one who is sleeping in it. And he also executed one of +Alexander with Roxana, to whom that Prince is presenting a royal crown, +while some Loves are hovering about her and adorning her head, and +others are playing with the arms of Alexander. + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF LUCRETIA + +(_After the engraving by =Marcantonio Bolognese=. London: British +Museum, B. 192_) + +_M.S._] + +The same masters together engraved the Last Supper of Christ with the +twelve Apostles, on a plate of some size, and an Annunciation, all after +the designs of Raffaello; and then two stories of the Marriage of +Psyche, which had been painted by Raffaello not long before. In the end, +Agostino and the above-mentioned Marco between them engraved almost all +the works that Raffaello ever drew or painted, and made prints of them; +and also many of the pictures painted by Giulio Romano, after copies +drawn for that purpose. And to the end that there might remain scarcely +a single work of Raffaello that had not been engraved by them, they +finally made engravings of the scenes that Giulio had painted in the +Loggie after the designs of Raffaello. + +There may still be seen some of the first plates, with the signature +"M.R." for Marco Ravignano, and others with the signature "A.V." for +Agostino Viniziano, re-engraved by others after them, such as the +Creation of the World, and God forming the Animals; the Sacrifices of +Cain and Abel, and the Death of Abel; Abraham sacrificing Isaac; Noah's +Ark, the Deluge, and the Animals afterwards issuing from the Ark; the +Passage of the Red Sea; the Delivery of the Laws from Mount Sinai +through Moses, and the Manna; David slaying Goliath, already engraved by +Marc' Antonio; Solomon building the Temple; the Judgment of the same +Solomon between the two women, and the Visit of the Queen of Sheba; and, +from the New Testament, the Nativity and the Resurrection of Christ, and +the Descent of the Holy Spirit. All these were engraved and printed +during the lifetime of Raffaello. + +After the death of Raffaello, Marco and Agostino separated, and Agostino +was retained by Baccio Bandinelli, the Florentine sculptor, who caused +him to engrave after his design an anatomical figure that he had formed +out of lean bodies and dead men's bones; and then a Cleopatra. Both +these were held to be very good plates. Whereupon, growing in courage, +Baccio drew, and caused Agostino to engrave, a large plate--one of the +largest, indeed, that had ever been engraved up to that time--full of +women clothed, and of naked men who are slaughtering the little +innocents by command of King Herod. + +Marc' Antonio, meanwhile, continuing to work at engraving, executed some +plates with small figures of the twelve Apostles, in various manners, +and many Saints, both male and female, to the end that the poor painters +who were weak in design might be able to avail themselves of these in +their need. He also engraved a nude young man, who has a lion at his +feet, and is seeking to furl a large banner, which is swollen out by the +wind in a direction contrary to his purpose; another who is carrying a +pedestal on his back; and a little S. Jerome who is meditating on death, +placing a finger in the hollow of a skull that he has in his hand, the +invention and design of which were by Raffaello. Then he executed a +figure of Justice, which he copied from the tapestries of the Chapel; +and afterwards an Aurora, drawn by two horses, on which the Hours are +placing bridles. He also copied the Three Graces from the antique; and +he engraved a scene of Our Lady ascending the steps of the Temple. + +After these things, Giulio Romano, who in his modesty would never have +any of his works engraved during the lifetime of his master Raffaello, +lest he should seem to wish to compete with him, caused Marc' Antonio, +after the death of Raffaello, to engrave two most beautiful battles of +horsemen on plates of some size, and all the stories of Venus, Apollo, +and Hyacinthus, which he had painted in the bathroom that is at the +villa of Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia. And he did the same with +the four stories of the Magdalene and the four Evangelists that are in +the vaulting of the chapel of the Trinità, which were executed for a +courtezan, although the chapel now belongs to Messer Agnolo Massimi. By +the same master was drawn and reproduced in engraving a very beautiful +ancient sarcophagus containing a lion-hunt, which was formerly at +Maiano, and is now in the court of S. Pietro; as well as one of the +ancient scenes in marble that are under the Arch of Constantine; and, +finally, many scenes that Raffaello had designed for the corridor and +Loggie of the Palace, which have since been engraved once more by +Tommaso Barlacchi, together with those of the tapestries that Raffaello +executed for the public Consistory. + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRDOM OF S. LAWRENCE + +(_Engraved after Bandinelli by =Marcantonio Bolognese=. London: British +Museum_) + +_M.S._] + +After this, Giulio Romano caused Marc' Antonio to engrave twenty plates +showing all the various ways, attitudes, and positions in which +licentious men have intercourse with women; and, what was worse, for +each plate Messer Pietro Aretino wrote a most indecent sonnet, insomuch +that I know not which was the greater, the offence to the eye from +the drawings of Giulio, or the outrage to the ear from the words of +Aretino. This work was much censured by Pope Clement; and if, when it +was published, Giulio had not already left for Mantua, he would have +been sharply punished for it by the anger of the Pope. And since some of +these sheets were found in places where they were least expected, not +only were they prohibited, but Marc' Antonio was taken and thrown into +prison; and he would have fared very badly if Cardinal de' Medici and +Baccio Bandinelli, who was then at Rome in the service of the Pope, had +not obtained his release. Of a truth, the gifts of God should not be +employed, as they very often are, in things wholly abominable, which are +an outrage to the world. + +Released from prison, Marc' Antonio finished engraving for Baccio +Bandinelli a large plate that he had previously begun, with a great +number of nude figures engaged in roasting S. Laurence on the gridiron, +which was held to be truly beautiful, and was indeed engraved with +incredible diligence, although Bandinelli, complaining unjustly of Marc' +Antonio to the Pope while that master was executing it, said that he was +committing many errors. But for this sort of gratitude Bandinelli +received the reward that his lack of courtesy deserved, for Marc' +Antonio, having heard the whole story, and having finished the plate, +went, without Baccio being aware of it, to the Pope, who took infinite +delight in the arts of design; and he showed him first the original +drawing by Bandinelli, and then the printed engraving, from which the +Pope recognized that Marc' Antonio not only had committed no errors, but +had even corrected with great judgment many committed by Bandinelli, +which were of no small importance, and had shown more knowledge and +craftsmanship in his engraving than had Baccio in his drawing. Wherefore +the Pope commended him greatly and ever afterwards received him with +favour; and it is believed that he might have done much for him, but the +sack of Rome supervening, Marc' Antonio became little less than a +beggar, seeing that, besides losing all his property, he was forced to +disburse a good ransom in order to escape from the hands of the +Spaniards. Which done, he departed from Rome, never to return; and +there are few works to be seen which were executed by him after that +time. Our arts are much indebted to Marc' Antonio, in that he made a +beginning with engraving in Italy, to the advantage and profit of art +and to the convenience of her followers, in consequence of which others +have since executed the works that will be described hereafter. + +Now Agostino Viniziano, of whom we have already spoken, came to +Florence, after the circumstances described above, with the intention of +attaching himself to Andrea del Sarto, who was held to be about the best +painter in Italy after Raffaello. And so Andrea, persuaded by this +Agostino to have his works engraved, made a drawing of a Dead Christ +supported by three Angels; but since the attempt did not succeed exactly +according to his fancy, he would never again allow any work of his to be +engraved. After his death, however, certain persons published engravings +of the Visitation of S. Elizabeth and of the Baptism of the people by S. +John, taken from the work in chiaroscuro that Andrea painted in the +Scalzo at Florence. Marco da Ravenna, likewise, in addition to the works +already mentioned, which he executed in company with Agostino, also +engraved many others by himself, which are all good and worthy of +praise, and are known by his signature, which has been described above. +Many others, also, have there been after these, who have worked very +well at engraving, and have brought it about that every country has been +able to see and enjoy the honoured labours of the most excellent +masters. + +Nor has there been wanting one who has had the enterprise to execute +with wood-blocks prints that possess the appearance of having been made +with the brush after the manner of chiaroscuro, which is an ingenious +and difficult thing. This was Ugo da Carpi, who, although he was a +mediocre painter, was nevertheless a man of most subtle wit in strange +and fanciful inventions. He it was, as has been related in the thirtieth +chapter of the Treatise on Technique, who first attempted, and that with +the happiest result, to work with two blocks, one of which he used for +hatching the shadows, in the manner of a copper-plate, and with the +other he made the tint of colour, cutting deeply with the strokes of the +engraving, and leaving the lights so bright, that when the impression +was pulled off they appeared to have been heightened with lead-white. +Ugo executed in this manner, after a design drawn by Raffaello in +chiaroscuro, a woodcut in which is a Sibyl seated who is reading, with a +clothed child giving her light with a torch. Having succeeded in this, +Ugo took heart and attempted to make prints with wood-blocks of three +tints. The first gave the shadow; the second, which was lighter in tone, +made the middle tint, and the third, cut deeply, gave the higher lights +of the ground and left the white of the paper. And the result of this, +also, was so good, that he executed a woodcut of Æneas carrying Anchises +on his back, while Troy is burning. He then made a Deposition from the +Cross, and the story of Simon Magus, which had been used by Raffaello +for the tapestries of the above-mentioned Chapel; and likewise David +slaying Goliath, and the Flight of the Philistines, of which Raffaello +had prepared the design in order to paint it in the Papal Loggie. And +after many other works in chiaroscuro, he executed in the same manner a +Venus, with many Loves playing about her. + +Now since, as I have said, he was a painter, I must not omit to tell +that he painted in oils, without using a brush, but with his fingers, +and partly, also, with other bizarre instruments of his own, an +altar-piece which is on the altar of the Volto Santo in Rome. Upon this +altar-piece, being one morning with Michelagnolo at that altar to hear +Mass, I saw an inscription saying that Ugo da Carpi had painted it +without a brush; and I laughed and showed the inscription to +Michelagnolo, who answered, also with a laugh, that it would have been +better if he had used a brush, for then he might have done it in a +better manner. + +The method of executing these two kinds of woodcuts, in imitation of +chiaroscuro, thus invented by Ugo da Carpi, was the reason that, many +following in his steps, a great number of most beautiful prints were +produced by others. For after him Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of +Siena, made a similar woodcut in chiaroscuro, which was very beautiful, +of Hercules driving Avarice, a figure laden with vases of gold and +silver, from Mount Parnassus, on which are the Muses in various lovely +attitudes. And Francesco Parmigiano engraved a Diogenes for a sheet of +royal folio laid open, which was a finer print than any that Ugo ever +produced. The same Parmigiano, having shown the method of making prints +from three blocks to Antonio da Trento, caused him to execute a large +sheet in chiaroscuro of the Beheading of S. Peter and S. Paul. And +afterwards he executed another, but with two blocks only, of the +Tiburtine Sibyl showing the Infant Christ in the lap of the Virgin to +the Emperor Octavian; a nude man seated, who has his back turned in a +beautiful attitude; and likewise an oval print of the Madonna lying +down, with many others by his hand that may be seen in various places, +printed after his death by Joannicolo Vicentino. But the most beautiful +were executed later by Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, after the death of +Parmigiano, as will be related at greater length in the Life of +Domenico. + +Not otherwise than worthy of praise, also, is the method that has been +invented of making engravings more easily than with the burin, although +they do not come out so clear--that is, with aquafortis, first laying on +the copper a coat of wax, varnish, or oil-colour, and then drawing the +design with an iron instrument that has a sharp point to cut through the +wax, varnish, or colour, whichever it may be, after which one pours over +it the aquafortis, which eats into the copper in such a manner that it +leaves the lines of the design hollow, and impressions can be taken from +it. With this method Francesco Parmigiano executed many little things, +which are full of grace, such as the Nativity of Christ, a Dead Christ +with the Maries weeping over Him, and one of the tapestries executed for +the Chapel after the designs of Raffaello, with many other works. + +After these masters, fifty sheets with varied and beautiful landscapes +were produced by Battista, a painter of Vicenza, and Battista del Moro +of Verona. In Flanders, Hieronymus Cock has executed engravings of the +liberal arts; and in Rome, engravings have been done of the Visitation +in the Pace, painted by Fra Sebastiano Viniziano, of that by Francesco +Salviati in the Misericordia, and of the Feast of Testaccio; besides +many works that have been engraved in Venice by the painter Battista +Franco, and by many other masters. + +But to return to the simple copper-plate engravings; after Marc' Antonio +had executed the many works that have been mentioned above, Rosso +arrived in Rome, and Baviera persuaded him that he should have some of +his works engraved; wherefore he commissioned Gian Jacopo Caraglio of +Verona, who was one of the most skilful craftsmen of that day, and who +sought with all diligence to imitate Marc' Antonio, to engrave a lean +anatomical figure of his own, which holds a death's head in the hand, +and is seated on a serpent, while a swan is singing. This plate +succeeded so well, that the same Rosso afterwards caused engravings to +be made, on plates of considerable size, of some of the Labours of +Hercules: the Slaying of the Hydra, the Combat with Cerberus, the +Killing of Cacus, the Breaking of the Bull's Horns, the Battle with the +Centaurs, and the Centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira. And these plates +proved to be so beautiful and so well engraved, that the same Jacopo +executed, likewise after the design of Rosso, the story of the daughters +of Pierus, who, for seeking to contend with the Muses and to sing in +competition with them, were transformed into crows. + +Baviera having then caused Rosso to draw twenty Gods in niches, with +their attributes, for a book, these were engraved by Gian Jacopo +Caraglio in a very beautiful and graceful manner; and also, not long +afterwards, their Transformations; but of these Rosso did not make the +drawings, save only of two, for he had a difference with Baviera, and +Baviera had ten of them executed by Perino del Vaga. The two by Rosso +were the Rape of Proserpine and the Transformation of Philyra into a +horse; and all were engraved with such diligence by Caraglio, that they +have always been prized. Caraglio afterwards began for Rosso the Rape of +the Sabines, which would have been a very rare work, but, the sack of +Rome supervening, it could not be finished, for Rosso went away, and the +plates were all lost. And although this work has since come into the +hands of the printers, it has proved a miserable failure, for the +engraving has been done by one who had no knowledge of the art, and +thought only of making money. + +After this, Caraglio engraved for Francesco Parmigiano a plate of the +Marriage of Our Lady, and other works by the same master; and then +another plate for Tiziano Vecelli, which was very beautiful, of a +Nativity that Tiziano had formerly painted. This Gian Jacopo Caraglio, +after having executed many copper-plates, being an ingenious spirit, +gave his attention to engraving cameos and crystals, in which he became +no less excellent than he had been in the engraving of copper-plates. +And since then, having entered the service of the King of Poland, he has +occupied himself no longer with engraving on copper, now in his opinion +a mean art, but with the cutting of gems, with working in incavo, and +with architecture; for which having been richly rewarded by the +liberality of that King, he has spent large sums in investments in the +territory of Parma, in order to be able to retire in his old age to the +enjoyment of his native country among his friends and disciples, after +the labours of so many years. + +After these masters came another excellent copper-plate engraver, +Lamberto Suave,[15] by whose hand are thirteen plates of Christ and the +twelve Apostles, in which the execution of the engraving is perfect in +its delicacy. If Lamberto had possessed a more thorough mastery of +design in addition to the industry, patience, and diligence that he +showed in all other points, he would have been marvellous in every +respect; as may be perceived clearly from a little sheet of S. Paul +writing, and from a larger sheet with the story of the Raising of +Lazarus, in which there are most beautiful things to be seen. Worthy of +note, in particular, are the hollow rock in the cavern which he +represented as the burial-place of Lazarus, and the light that falls +upon some figures, all of which is executed with beautiful and fanciful +invention. + +No little ability, likewise, has been shown in this profession by Giovan +Battista Mantovano, a disciple of Giulio Romano; among other works, in a +Madonna who has the Child in her arms and the moon under her feet, and +in some very beautiful heads with helmet-crests after the antique; in +two sheets, in which are a captain of mercenaries on foot and one on +horseback, and also in a sheet wherein is a Mars in armour, who is +seated upon a bed, while Venus gazes on a Cupid whom she is suckling, +which has in it much that is good. Very fanciful, also, are two large +sheets by the hand of the same master, in which is the Burning of Troy, +executed with extraordinary invention, design, and grace. These and +many other sheets by the same hand are signed with the letters "J.B.M." + +And no less excellent than any of those mentioned above has been Enea +Vico of Parma, who engraved the well-known copper-plate of the Rape of +Helen by Rosso, and also another plate after the design of the same +painter, of Vulcan with some Loves, who are fashioning arrows at his +forge, while the Cyclopes are also at work, which was truly a most +beautiful engraving. He executed the Leda of Michelagnolo on another, +and also an Annunciation after the design of Tiziano, the story of +Judith that Michelagnolo painted in the Chapel, the portrait of Duke +Cosimo de' Medici as a young man, in full armour, after the drawing by +Bandinelli, and likewise the portrait of Bandinelli himself; and then +the Contest of Cupid and Apollo in the presence of all the Gods. And if +Enea had been maintained and rewarded for his labours by Bandinelli, he +would have engraved many other beautiful plates for him. Afterwards, +Francesco, a protégé of the Salviati, and an excellent painter, being in +Florence, and assisted by the liberality of Duke Cosimo, commissioned +Enea to engrave the large plate of the Conversion of S. Paul, full of +horses and soldiers, which was held to be very beautiful, and gave Enea +a great name. The same Enea then executed the portrait of Signor +Giovanni de' Medici, father of Duke Cosimo, with an ornament full of +figures. He engraved, also, the portrait of the Emperor Charles V, with +an ornament covered with appropriate Victories and trophies, for which +he was rewarded by His Majesty and praised by all; and on another plate, +very well engraved, he represented the victory that the Emperor gained +on the Elbe. For Doni he executed some heads from nature in the manner +of medallions, with beautiful ornaments: King Henry of France, Cardinal +Bembo, Messer Lodovico Ariosto, the Florentine Gello, Messer Lodovico +Domenichi, Signora Laura Terracina, Messer Cipriano Morosino, and Doni +himself. He also engraved for Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent +illuminator, a plate of a S. George on horseback who is slaying the +Dragon, in which, although it was, one might say, one of the first works +that he engraved, he acquitted himself very well. + +Afterwards, being a man of lofty genius, and desiring to pass on to +greater and more honourable undertakings, Enea applied himself to the +study of antiquities, and in particular of ancient medals, of which he +has published several books in engraving, wherein are the true effigies +of many Emperors and their wives, with every kind of inscription and +reverse that could bring all who delight in them to a clear +understanding of their stories; for which he has rightly won great +praise, as he still does. And those who have found fault with him for +his books of medals have been in the wrong, for whoever shall consider +the labours that he has performed, and how useful and beautiful these +are, must perforce excuse him, even though he may have erred in a few +matters of little importance; and such errors, which are not committed +save from faulty information, from a too ready credulity, or from having +opinions differing from others with some show of reason, are worthy to +be excused, seeing that Aristotle, Pliny, and many others have been +guilty of the like. + +Enea also designed to the common satisfaction and benefit of all mankind +fifty costumes of different nations, such as were worn by men and women, +peasants and citizens, in Italy, in France, in Spain, in Portugal, in +England, in Flanders, and in other parts of the world; which was an +ingenious work, both fanciful and beautiful. He executed, also, a +genealogical tree of all the Emperors, which was a thing of great +beauty. And finally, after much toil and travailing, he now lives in +repose under the shadow of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, for whom he has +made a genealogical tree of all the Marquises and Dukes of the House of +Este. For all these works and many others that he has executed, as he +still continues to do, I have thought it right to make this honourable +record of him among so many other men of the arts. + +Many others have occupied themselves with copper-plate engraving, who, +although they have not attained to such perfection, have none the less +benefited the world with their labours, by bringing many scenes and +other works of excellent masters into the light of day, and by thus +giving the means of seeing the various inventions and manners of the +painters to those who are not able to go to the places where the +principal works are, and conveying to the ultramontanes a knowledge of +many things that they did not know. And although many plates have been +badly executed through the avarice of the printers, eager more for gain +than for honour, yet in certain others, besides those that have been +mentioned, there may be seen something of the good; as in the large +design of the Last Judgment of Michelagnolo Buonarroti on the front wall +of the Papal Chapel, engraved by Giorgio Mantovano, and in the +engravings by Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri of the Crucifixion of S. +Peter and the Conversion of S. Paul painted in the Pauline Chapel at +Rome. This Giovan Battista has also executed copper-plate engravings, +besides other designs, of the Meditation of S. John the Baptist, of the +Deposition from the Cross that Daniello Ricciarelli of Volterra painted +in a chapel in the Trinità at Rome, of a Madonna with many Angels, and +of a vast number of other works. Moreover, many things taken from +Michelagnolo have been engraved by others at the commission of Antonio +Lanferri, who has employed printers for the same purpose. These have +published books of all the kinds of fishes, and also the Phaethon, the +Tityus, the Ganymede, the Archers, the Bacchanalia, the Dream, the +Pietà, and the Crucifix, all done by Michelagnolo for the Marchioness of +Pescara; and, in addition, the four Prophets of the Chapel and other +scenes and drawings have been engraved and published, but executed so +badly, that I think it well to be silent as to the names of those +engravers and printers. + +But I must not be silent about the above-mentioned Antonio Lanferri and +Tommaso Barlacchi, for they, as well as others, have employed many young +men to engrave plates after original drawings by the hands of a vast +number of masters, insomuch that it is better to say nothing of these +works, lest it should become wearisome. And in this manner have been +published, among other plates, grotesques, ancient temples, cornices, +bases, capitals, and many other suchlike things, with all their +measurements. + +Seeing everything reduced to a miserable manner, and moved by +compassion, Sebastiano Serlio, an architect of Bologna, has engraved on +wood and copper two books of architecture, in which, among other things, +are thirty doors of the Rustic Order, and twenty in a more delicate +style; which book is dedicated to King Henry of France. Antonio +L'Abacco, likewise, has published plates in a beautiful manner of all +the notable antiquities of Rome, with their measurements, executed with +great mastery and with very subtle engraving by ... Perugino. Nor has +less been accomplished in this field by the architect Jacopo Barozzo of +Vignola, who in a book of copper-plate engravings has shown with simple +rules how to enlarge or to diminish in due proportion every part of the +five Orders of Architecture, a work most useful in that art, for which +we are much indebted to him; even as we are to Giovanni Cugini[16] of +Paris for his engravings and writings on architecture. + +In Rome, besides the masters named above, Niccolò Beatricio[17] of +Lorraine has given so much attention to engraving with the burin, that +he has executed many plates worthy of praise; such as two pieces of +sarcophagi with battles of horsemen, engraved on copper, and other +plates full of various animals very well executed, and a scene showing +the Widow's Daughter being restored to life by Jesus Christ, engraved in +a bold manner from the design of Girolamo Mosciano, a painter of +Brescia. The same master has engraved an Annunciation from a drawing by +the hand of Michelagnolo, and has also executed prints of the Navicella +of mosaic that Giotto made in the portico of S. Pietro. + +From Venice, likewise, have come many most beautiful engravings on wood +and on copper; on wood, after Tiziano, many landscapes, a Nativity of +Christ, a S. Jerome, and a S. Francis; and on copper the Tantalus, the +Adonis, and many other plates, which have been engraved by Giulio +Bonasone of Bologna, together with some others by Raffaello, by Giulio +Romano, by Parmigiano, and by all the other masters whose drawings he +has been able to obtain. And Battista Franco, a painter of Venice, has +engraved, partly with the burin and partly with aquafortis, many works +by the hands of various masters, such as the Nativity of Christ, the +Adoration of the Magi, the Preaching of S. Peter, some plates from the +Acts of the Apostles, and many stories from the Old Testament. So far, +indeed, has this practice of making prints been carried, that those who +make a profession of it keep draughtsmen continually employed in copying +every beautiful work as it appears, and put it into prints. Wherefore +there came from France, after the death of Rosso, engravings of all the +work by his hand that could be found, such as Clelia with the Sabine +women passing the river; some masks after the manner of the Fates, +executed for King Francis; a bizarre Annunciation; a Dance of ten women; +and King Francis advancing alone into the Temple of Jupiter, leaving +behind him Ignorance and other similar figures, which were executed +during the lifetime of Rosso by the copper-plate engraver Renato.[18] +And many more have been drawn and engraved since Rosso's death; among +many other works, all the stories of Ulysses, and, to say nothing of the +rest, vases, chandeliers, candelabra, salt-cellars, and a vast number of +other suchlike things made in silver after designs of Rosso. + +Luca Penni, also, has published engravings of two Satyrs giving drink to +a Bacchus, a Leda taking the arrows from the quiver of a Cupid, Susannah +in the Bath, and many other plates copied from the designs of the same +Rosso and of Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna, now Abbot of S. Martin in +France. And among these engravings are the Judgment of Paris, Abraham +sacrificing Isaac, a Madonna, Christ marrying S. Catharine, Jove +changing Callisto into a bear, the Council of the Gods, Penelope weaving +with her women, and other things without number, engraved on wood, and +executed for the most part with the burin; by reason of which the wits +of the craftsmen have become very subtle, insomuch that little figures +have been engraved so well, that it would not be possible to give them +greater delicacy. And who can see without marvelling the works of +Francesco Marcolini of Forlì? Who, besides other things, printed the +book of the Garden of Thoughts from wood-blocks, placing at the +beginning an astrologer's sphere and a head of himself after the design +of Giuseppe Porta of Castelnuovo della Garfagnana; in which book are +various fanciful figures, such as Fate, Envy, Calamity, Timidity, +Praise, and many others of the same kind, which were held to be most +beautiful. Not otherwise than praiseworthy, also, were the figures that +Gabriele Giolito, a printer of books, placed in the Orlando Furioso, for +they were executed in a beautiful manner of engraving. And even such, +likewise, were the eleven large anatomical plates that were done by +Andrea Vessalio after the drawings of Johann of Calcar, a most excellent +Flemish painter, which were afterwards copied on smaller sheets and +engraved on copper by Valverde, who wrote on anatomy after Vessalio. + +Next, among the many plates that have issued from the hands of Flemings +within the last ten years, very beautiful are some drawn by one +Michele,[19] a painter, who worked for many years in two chapels that +are in the Church of the Germans at Rome. These plates contain the story +of Moses and the Serpents, and thirty-two stories of Psyche and Love, +which are held to be most beautiful. Hieronymus Cock, also a Fleming, +has engraved a large plate after the invention and design of Martin +Heemskerk, of Delilah cutting off the locks of Samson; and not far away +is the Temple of the Philistines, in which, the towers having fallen, +one sees ruin and destruction in the dead, and terror in the living, who +are taking to flight. The same master has executed in three smaller +plates the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Eating of the Fruit, and the +Angel driving them out of Paradise; and in four other plates of the same +size, in the first the Devil imprinting avarice and ambition into the +heart of man, and in the others all the passions that result from those +two. There may also be seen twenty-seven plates of the same size by his +hand, with stories from the Old Testament after the expulsion of Adam +from Paradise, drawn by Martin in a bold, well-practised, and most +resolute manner, which is very similar to the Italian. Hieronymus +afterwards engraved six round plates with the history of Susannah, and +twenty-three other stories from the Old Testament, similar to those of +Abraham already mentioned--namely, six plates with the story of David, +eight plates with that of Solomon, four with that of Balaam, and five +with those of Judith and Susannah. And from the New Testament he +engraved twenty-nine plates, beginning with the Annunciation of the +Virgin, and continuing down to the whole Passion and Death of Jesus +Christ. He also engraved, after the drawings of the same Martin, the +seven Works of Mercy, and the story of the rich Lazarus and the poor +Lazarus, and four plates with the Parable of the Samaritan wounded by +thieves, with four other plates of the Parable of the Talents, written +by S. Matthew in his eighteenth chapter. + +At the time when Hans Liefrinck executed in competition with him ten +plates of the Life and Death of S. John the Baptist, he engraved the +Twelve Tribes on an equal number of plates; Reuben upon a hog, +representing Sensuality; Simeon with a sword as a symbol of Homicide; +and in like manner the other heads of Tribes with attributes appropriate +to the nature of each. He then executed ten plates, engraved with +greater delicacy, with the stories and acts of David, from the time of +his being anointed by Samuel to his going before Saul; and he engraved +six other plates with the story of how Amnon became enamoured of his +sister Tamar and ravished her, and the death of that same Amnon. And not +long afterwards he executed ten plates of similar size with the history +of Job; and from thirteen chapters of the Proverbs of Solomon he drew +subjects for five plates of the same kind. He also engraved the story of +the Magi; and then, on six plates, the Parable that is in the twelfth +chapter of S. Matthew, of those who for various reasons refused to go to +the King's Feast, and of him who went without having a wedding-garment; +and six plates of equal size with some of the acts of the Apostles. And +in eight similar plates he engraved figures of women of perfect +excellence, in various costumes: six from the Old Testament--Jael, Ruth, +Abigail, Judith, Esther, and Susannah; and two from the New--Mary the +Virgin, Mother of Jesus Christ, and Mary Magdalene. + +After these works he carried out the engraving of the Triumphs of +Patience in six plates, with various things of fancy. In the first, in a +chariot, is Patience, who has in her hand a standard, on which is a rose +among thorns. In the second may be seen a burning heart, beaten by three +hammers, upon an anvil; and the chariot of this second plate is drawn by +two figures--namely, by Desire, who has wings upon the shoulders, and by +Hope, who has an anchor in the hand, and behind them Fortune, with her +wheel broken, is led as a prisoner. In the next plate is Christ on a +chariot, with the standard of the Cross and of His Passion, with the +Evangelists at the corners in the form of animals; and this chariot is +drawn by two lambs, and has behind it four prisoners--the Devil, the +World, or rather, the Flesh, Sin, and Death. In another Triumph is +Isaac, nude, upon a camel; on the banner that he holds in his hand are a +pair of prisoner's irons; and behind him is drawn the altar with the +ram, the knife, and the fire. In the next plate he made Joseph riding in +triumph on an ox crowned with ears of corn and fruits, with a standard +on which is a bee-hive; and the prisoners that are led behind him are +Anger and Envy, who are devouring a heart. He engraved in another +Triumph David on a lion, with the harp, and with a standard in his hand, +on which is a bit; and behind him is Saul as a prisoner, and Shimei, +with his tongue protruding. In another plate is Tobias riding in triumph +on an ass, and holding in his hand a banner, on which is a fountain; and +behind him Poverty and Blindness, bound, are led as prisoners. And in +the last of the six Triumphs is S. Stephen the Proto-martyr, who is +riding in triumph on an elephant, and has a standard with a figure of +Charity; and the prisoners behind him are his persecutors. All these +were inventions full of fancy, and very ingenious; and they were all +engraved by Hieronymus Cock, whose hand is very bold, sure, and +resolute. + +The same master engraved a plate of Fraud and Avarice, fantastic and +beautiful, and another very lovely plate of a Feast of Bacchanals, with +children dancing. On another he represented Moses passing across the Red +Sea, according as it had been painted by Agnolo Bronzino, a painter of +Florence, in the upper chapel in the Palace of the Duke of Florence; and +in competition with him, also after the design of Bronzino, Giorgio +Mantovano engraved a Nativity of Jesus Christ, which was very beautiful. +After these works, Hieronymus engraved twelve plates of the victories, +battles, and deeds of arms of Charles V, for him who was the inventor of +the subjects; and for Verese, a painter and a great master of +perspective in those parts, twenty plates with various buildings. For +Hieronymus Bosch he executed a plate of S. Martin, with a barque full of +Devils in the most bizarre forms. And he made another of an alchemist +who loses all his possessions, distilling away his brains and consuming +all that he has in various ways, insomuch that in the end he takes +refuge in the hospital with his wife and children; which plate was +designed for him by a painter, who caused him to engrave the Seven +Mortal Sins, with Demons of various forms, which was a fantastic and +laughable work. He also engraved a Last Judgment; an old man who is +seeking with a lantern for peace among the wares of the world, and finds +it not; likewise a great fish that is devouring some little fishes; a +figure of Carnival enjoying the pleasures of the table with many others, +and driving Lent away, and another of Lent driving away Carnival; and so +many other whimsical and fantastic inventions, that it would be +wearisome to attempt to speak of them all. + +Many other Flemings have imitated the manner of Albrecht Dürer with the +greatest care and subtlety, as may be seen from their engravings, and in +particular from those of ...[20] who has engraved in little figures four +stories of the Creation of Adam, four of the lives of Abraham and of +Lot, and four others of Susannah, which are very beautiful. In like +manner, G... P...[21] has engraved the Seven Works of Mercy in seven +small round plates, eight stories taken from the Books of Kings, Regulus +placed in the barrel filled with nails, and an Artemisia, which is a +plate of great beauty. J... B...[22] has executed figures of the four +Evangelists, which are so small that it seems scarcely possible that he +could have done them; and also five other very fine plates, in the first +of which is a Virgin drawn into the grave by Death in all the freshness +of her youth, and in the second is Adam, in the third a peasant, in the +fourth a Bishop, and in the fifth a Cardinal, each, like the Virgin, +called by Death to his last account. And in some others are many Germans +going on parties of pleasure with their wives, and some beautiful and +fantastic Satyrs. By ... are plates of the four Evangelists, engraved +with great care, and no less beautiful than are twelve stories of the +Prodigal Son executed with much diligence by the hand of M.... And, +finally, Franz Floris, a painter famous in those parts, has produced a +great number of works and drawings which have since been engraved, for +the most part by Hieronymus Cock, such as ten plates of the Labours of +Hercules, a large plate with all the activities of the life of man, +another with the Horatii and Curiatii engaged in combat in the lists, +the Judgment of Solomon, and the Battle between Hercules and the +Pygmies. The same master, also, has engraved a Cain who has killed Abel, +over whose body Adam and Eve are weeping; an Abraham who is about to +sacrifice Isaac on the altar, and a vast number of other plates, so full +of variety and invention, that it is indeed marvellous to think of all +that has been done in engravings on copper and wood. Lastly, it is +enough to draw attention to the engravings of the portraits of the +Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in this our book, which were drawn +by Giorgio Vasari and his pupils, and engraved by Maestro Cristofano +...,[23] who has executed in Venice, as he still continues to do, a vast +number of works worthy of record. + +In conclusion, for all the assistance that the ultramontanes have +received from seeing the various Italian manners by means of engravings, +and that the Italians have received from having seen those of the +ultramontanes and foreigners, thanks should be rendered, for the most +part, to Marc' Antonio Bolognese, in that, besides the circumstance that +he played a great part in the beginning of this profession, as has been +related, there has not as yet been one who has much surpassed him, +although some few have equalled him in certain points. This Marc' +Antonio died at Bologna, not long after his departure from Rome. In our +book are some drawings of Angels by his hand, done with the pen, and +some other very beautiful sheets drawn from the apartments that +Raffaello da Urbino painted. In one of these apartments Marc' Antonio, +as a young man, was portrayed by Raffaello in one of those grooms who +are carrying Pope Julius II, in that part where the High-Priest Onias is +praying. + +And let this be the end of the Lives of Marc' Antonio Bolognese and of +all the other engravers of prints mentioned above, of whom I have +thought it right to give this long but necessary account, in order to +satisfy not only the students of our arts, but also all those who +delight in works of that kind. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[14] Luca di Leyden. + +[15] Lambert Zutmann. + +[16] Jean Cousin. + +[17] Nicolas Beautrizet. + +[18] René Boyvin. + +[19] Michael Coxie. + +[20] Albrecht Aldegrever. + +[21] Georg Pencz. + +[22] Hans Beham. + +[23] Cristofano Coriolano. + + + + +ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) + + + + +LIFE OF ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) + +ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE + + +How many great and illustrious Princes, abounding with infinite wealth, +would leave behind them a name renowned and glorious, if they possessed, +together with their store of the goods of Fortune, a mind filled with +grandeur and inclined to those things that not only embellish the world, +but also confer vast benefit and advantage on the whole race of men! And +what works can or should Princes and great persons undertake more +readily than noble and magnificent buildings and edifices, both on +account of the many kinds of men that are employed upon them in the +making, and because, when made, they endure almost to eternity? For of +all the costly enterprises that the ancient Romans executed at the time +when they were at the supreme height of their greatness, what else is +there left to us save those remains of buildings, the everlasting glory +of the Roman name, which we revere as sacred things and strive to +imitate as the sole patterns of the highest beauty? And how much these +considerations occupied the minds of certain Princes who lived in the +time of the Florentine architect, Antonio da San Gallo, will now be seen +clearly in the Life of him that we are about to write. + +Antonio, then, was the son of Bartolommeo Picconi of Mugello, a maker of +casks; and after having learned the joiner's craft in his boyhood, +hearing that his uncle, Giuliano da San Gallo, was working at Rome in +company with his brother Antonio, he set out from Florence for that +city. And there, having devoted himself to the matters of the art of +architecture with the greatest possible zeal, and pursuing that art, he +gave promise of those achievements that we see in such abundance +throughout all Italy, in the vast number of works executed by him at a +more mature age. Now it happened that Giuliano was forced by the torment +that he suffered from the stone to return to Florence; and Antonio, +having become known to the architect Bramante of Castel Durante, began +to give assistance to that master, who, being old and crippled in the +hands by palsy, was not able to work as before in the preparation of his +designs. And these Antonio executed with such accuracy and precision +that Bramante, finding that they were correct and true in all their +measurements, was constrained to leave to him the charge of a great +number of works that he had on his hands, only giving him the order that +he desired and all the inventions and compositions that were to be used +in each work. In these he found himself served by Antonio with so much +judgment, diligence, and expedition, that in the year 1512 he gave him +the charge of the corridor that was to lead to the ditches of the +Castello di S. Angelo; for which he began to receive a salary of ten +crowns a month; but the death of Julius II then took place, and the work +was left unfinished. However, the circumstance that Antonio had already +acquired a name as a person of ability in architecture, and one who had +a very good manner in matters of building, was the reason that +Alessandro, who was first Cardinal Farnese, and afterwards Pope Paul +III, conceived the idea of commissioning him to restore the old palace +in the Campo di Fiore, in which he lived with his family; and for that +work Antonio, desiring to grow in reputation, made several designs in +different manners. Among which, one that was arranged with two +apartments was that which pleased his very reverend Highness, who, +having two sons, Signor Pier Luigi and Signor Ranuccio, thought that he +would leave them well accommodated by such a building. And, a beginning +having been made with that work, a certain portion was constructed +regularly every year. + +At this time a church dedicated to S. Maria di Loreto was being built at +the Macello de' Corbi, near the Column of Trajan, in Rome, and it was +brought to perfection by Antonio, with decorations of great beauty. +After this, Messer Marchionne Baldassini caused a palace to be erected +from the model and under the direction of Antonio, near S. Agostino, +which is arranged in such a manner that, small though it may be, it is +held to be, as indeed it is, the finest and most convenient dwelling in +Rome; and in it the staircases, the court, the loggie, the doors, and +the chimney-pieces, are all executed with consummate grace. With which +Messer Marchionne being very well satisfied, he determined that Perino +del Vaga, the Florentine painter, should decorate one of the halls in +colour, with scenes and other figures, as will be related in his Life; +which decorations have given it infinite grace and beauty. And near the +Torre di Nona Antonio directed and finished the building of the house of +the Centelli, which is small, but very convenient. + +No long time passed before he went to Gradoli, a place in the dominions +of the very reverend Cardinal Farnese, where he caused a most beautiful +and commodious palace to be erected for that Cardinal. On that journey +he did a work of great utility in restoring the fortress of Capo di +Monte, which he surrounded with low and well-shaped walls; and at the +same time he made the design of the fortress of Caprarola. And the very +reverend Monsignor Farnese, finding himself served by Antonio in all +these works in a manner so satisfactory, was constrained to wish him +well, and, coming to love him more and more, he showed him favour in his +every enterprise whenever he was able. After this, Cardinal Alborense, +wishing to leave a memorial of himself in the church of his nation, +caused a chapel of marble, with a tomb for himself, to be erected and +brought to completion by Antonio in S. Jacopo degli Spagnuoli; which +chapel, as has been related, was all painted in the spaces between the +pilasters by Pellegrino da Modena, and on the altar stood a most +beautiful S. James of marble executed by Jacopo Sansovino. This is a +work of architecture that is held to be truly worthy of the highest +praise, since the marble ceiling is divided very beautifully into +octagonal compartments. Nor was it long before M. Bartolommeo Ferratino, +for his own convenience and for the benefit of his friends, and also in +order to leave an honourable and enduring memorial of himself, +commissioned Antonio to build a palace on the Piazza d' Amelia, which is +a beautiful and most imposing work; whereby Antonio acquired no little +fame and profit. During this time Antonio di Monte, Cardinal of Santa +Prassedia, was in Rome, and he desired that the same architect should +build for him the palace that he afterwards occupied, looking out upon +the Agone, where there is the statue of Maestro Pasquino; and in the +centre, which looks over the Piazza, he wished to erect a tower. This +was planned and brought to completion for him by Antonio with a most +beautiful composition of pilasters and windows from the first floor to +the third--a good and graceful design; and it was adorned both within +and without by Francesco dell' Indaco with figures and scenes in +terretta. And Antonio having meanwhile become the devoted servant of the +Cardinal of Arimini, that lord caused him to erect a palace at Tolentino +in the March, for which, in addition to the rewards that Antonio +received, the Cardinal ever afterwards held himself indebted to him. + +While these matters were in progress, and the fame of Antonio was +growing and spreading abroad, it happened that old age and various +infirmities made Bramante a citizen of the other world; at which three +architects were appointed straightway by Pope Leo for the building of S. +Pietro--Raffaello da Urbino, Giuliano da San Gallo, the uncle of +Antonio, and Fra Giocondo of Verona. But no long time passed before Fra +Giocondo departed from Rome, and Giuliano, being old, received leave to +return to Florence. Whereupon Antonio, who was in the service of the +very reverend Cardinal Farnese, besought him very straitly that he +should make supplication to Pope Leo, to the end that he might grant the +place of his uncle Giuliano to him, which proved to be a thing very easy +to obtain, first because of the abilities of Antonio, which were worthy +of that place, and then by reason of the cordial relations between the +Pope and the very reverend Cardinal Farnese. And thus, in company with +Raffaello da Urbino, he continued that building, but coldly enough. + +The Pope then went to Cività Vecchia, in order to fortify it, and in his +company were many lords; among others, Giovan Paolo Baglioni and Signor +Vitello, and such persons of ability as Pietro Navarra and Antonio +Marchissi, the architect for fortifications at that time, who had come +from Naples at the command of the Pope. Discussions arising as to the +fortification of that place, many and various were the opinions about +this, one man making one design, and another a different one; but among +so many, Antonio displayed before them a plan which was approved by the +Pope and by those lords and architects as superior to all the others in +strength and beauty and in the handsome and useful character of its +arrangements; wherefore Antonio came into very great credit with the +Court. After this, the genius of Antonio repaired a great mischief +brought about in the following manner: Raffaello da Urbino, in executing +the Papal Loggie and the apartments that are over the foundations, had +left many empty spaces in the masonry in order to oblige some friends, +to the serious damage of the whole building, by reason of the great +weight that had to be supported above them; and the edifice was already +beginning to show signs of falling, on account of the weight being too +great for the walls. And it would certainly have fallen down but for the +genius of Antonio, who filled up those little chambers with the aid of +props and beams, and refounded the whole fabric, thus making it as firm +and solid as it had ever been in the beginning. + +Meanwhile the Florentine colony had begun their church in the Strada +Giulia, behind the Banchi, from the design of Jacopo Sansovino. But they +had chosen a site that extended too far into the river, so that, +compelled by necessity, they spent twelve thousand crowns on foundations +in the water, which were executed in a very secure and beautiful manner +by Antonio, who found the way after Jacopo had failed to discover it; +and several braccia of the edifice were built over the water. Antonio +made a model so excellent, that, if the work had been carried to +completion, it would have been something stupendous. Nevertheless, it +was a great error, giving proof of little judgment, on the part of those +who were at that time the heads of that colony in Rome, for they should +never have allowed the architects to found so large a church in so +terrible a river, for the sake of gaining twenty braccia of length, and +to throw away so many thousands of crowns on foundations, only to be +compelled to contend with that river for ever; particularly because, by +bringing that church forward and giving it another form, they might have +built it on solid ground, and, what is more, might have carried the +whole to completion with almost the same expense. And if they trusted +in the riches of the merchants of that colony, it was seen afterwards +how fallacious such a hope was, for in all the years that the +pontificate was held by Leo and Clement of the Medici family, by Julius +III, and by Marcellus, who all came from Florentine territory, although +the last-named lived but a short time, and for all the greatness of so +many Cardinals and the riches of so many merchants, it remained, as it +still does, in the same condition in which it was left by our San Gallo. +It is clear, therefore, that architects and those who cause buildings to +be erected should look well to the end and to every matter, before +setting their hands to works of importance. + +But to return to Antonio: the fortress of Monte Fiascone had been +formerly built by Pope Urban, and he restored it at the commission of +the Pope, who took him to those parts one summer in his train. And at +the request of Cardinal Farnese he built two little temples on the +island of Visentina in the Lake of Bolsena, one of which was constructed +as an octagon without and round within, and the other was square on the +outer side and octagonal on the inner, with four niches in the walls at +the corners, one to each; which two little temples, executed in so +beautiful a manner, bore testimony to the skill with which Antonio was +able to give variety to the details of architecture. While these temples +were building, Antonio returned to Rome, where he made a beginning with +the Palace of the Bishop of Cervia, which was afterwards left +unfinished, on the Canto di S. Lucia, where the new Mint stands. He +built the Church of S. Maria di Monferrato, which is held to be very +beautiful, near the Corte Savella, and likewise the house of one +Marrano, which is behind the Cibo Palace, near the houses of the +Massimi. + +Meanwhile Leo died, and with him all the fine and noble arts, which had +been restored to life by him and by his predecessor, Julius II; and his +successor was Adrian VI, in whose pontificate all arts and talents were +so crushed down, that, if the government of the Apostolic Seat had +remained long in his hands, that fate would have come upon Rome under +his rule which fell upon her on another occasion, when all the statues +saved from the destruction of the Goths, both the good and the bad, were +condemned to be burned. Adrian, perhaps in imitation of the Pontiffs of +those former times, had already begun to speak of intending to throw to +the ground the Chapel of the divine Michelagnolo, saying that it was a +bagnio of nudes; and he despised all good pictures and statues, calling +them vanities of the world, and shameful and abominable things, which +circumstance was the reason that not only Antonio, but all the other +beautiful intellects were kept idle, insomuch that, not to mention other +works, scarcely anything was done in the time of that Pontiff on the +building of S. Pietro, to which at least he should have been friendly, +since he wished to prove himself so much the enemy of worldly things. + +For that reason, therefore, attending under that Pontiff to works of no +great importance, Antonio restored the aisles of the Church of S. Jacopo +degli Spagnuoli, and furnished the façade with most beautiful windows. +He also caused a tabernacle of travertine to be constructed for the +Imagine di Ponte, which, although small, is yet very graceful; and in it +Perino del Vaga afterwards executed a beautiful little work in fresco. + +The poor arts had already come to an evil pass through the life of +Adrian, when Heaven, moved to pity for them, resolved by the death of +one to give new life to thousands; wherefore it removed him from the +world and caused him to surrender his place to one who would fill that +position more worthily and would govern the affairs of the world in a +different spirit. And thus a new Pope was elected in Clement VII, who, +being a man of generous mind, and desiring to follow in the steps of Leo +and of the other members of his illustrious family who had preceded him, +bethought himself that, even as he had created beautiful memorials of +himself as Cardinal, so as Pope he should surpass all others in +restoring and adorning buildings. That election, then, brought +consolation to many men of talent, and infused a potent and heaven-sent +breath of life in those ingenious but timid spirits who had sunk into +abasement; and they, thus revived, afterwards executed the beautiful +works that we see at the present day. And first, having been set to work +at the commission of His Holiness, Antonio straightway reconstructed a +court in front of the Loggie, which had been painted previously under +the direction of Raffaello, in the Palace; which court was a vast +improvement in beauty and convenience, for it was formerly necessary to +pass through certain narrow and tortuous ways, and Antonio, widening +these and giving them better form, made them spacious and beautiful. But +this part is not now in the condition in which Antonio left it, for Pope +Julius III took away the columns of granite that were there, in order to +adorn his villa with them, and altered everything. Antonio also executed +the façade of the old Mint of Rome, a work of great beauty and grace, in +the Banchi, making a rounded corner, which is held to be a difficult and +even miraculous thing; and in that work he placed the arms of the Pope. +And he refounded the unfinished part of the Papal Loggie, which had +remained incomplete at the death of Pope Leo, and had not been +continued, or even touched, through the negligence of Adrian. And thus, +at the desire of Clement, they were carried to their final completion. + +His Holiness then resolving to fortify Parma and Piacenza, after many +designs and models had been made by various craftsmen, Antonio was sent +to those places, and with him Giuliano Leno, the supervisor of those +fortifications. When they had arrived there, Antonio having with him his +pupil L'Abacco, Pier Francesco da Viterbo, a very able engineer, and the +architect Michele San Michele of Verona, all of them together carried +the designs of those fortifications into execution. Which done, the +others remaining, Antonio returned to Rome, where Pope Clement, since +the Palace was poorly supplied in the matter of apartments, ordained +that Antonio should begin those in which the public consistories are +held, above the Ferraria, which were executed in such a manner, that the +Pontiff was well satisfied with them, and caused other apartments to be +constructed above them for the Chamberlains of His Holiness. Over the +ceilings of those apartments, likewise, Antonio made others which were +very commodious--a work which was most dangerous, because it +necessitated so much refounding. In this kind of work Antonio was in +truth very able, seeing that his buildings never showed a crack; nor was +there ever among the moderns any architect more cautious or more skilful +in joining walls. + +In the time of Pope Paul II, the Church of the Madonna of Loreto, which +was small, and had its roof immediately over brick piers of rustic work, +had been refounded and brought to that size in which it may be seen at +the present day, by means of the skill and genius of Giuliano da Maiano; +and it had been continued from the outer string-course upwards by Sixtus +IV and by others, as has been related; but finally, in the time of +Clement, in the year 1526, without having previously shown the slightest +sign of falling, it cracked in such a manner, that not only the arches +of the tribune were in danger, but the whole church in many places, for +the reason that the foundations were weak and wanting in depth. +Wherefore Antonio was sent by the said Pope Clement to put right so +great a mischief; and when he had arrived at Loreto, propping up the +arches and fortifying the whole, like the resolute and judicious +architect that he was, he refounded all the building, and, making the +walls and pilasters thicker both within and without, he gave it a +beautiful form, both as a whole and in its well-proportioned parts, and +made it strong enough to be able to support any weight, however great. +He adhered to one and the same order in the transepts and in the aisles +of the church, making superb mouldings on the architraves, friezes, and +cornices above the arches, and he rendered beautiful and well +constructed in no common way the socles of the four great piers around +the eight sides of the tribune which support the four arches--namely, +three in the transepts, where the chapels are, and the larger one in the +central nave. This work certainly deserves to be celebrated as the best +that Antonio ever executed, and that not without sufficient reason, +seeing that those who erect some new building, or raise one from the +foundations, have the power to make it high or low, and to carry it to +such perfection as they desire or are able to achieve, without being +hindered by anything; which does not fall to the lot of him who has to +rectify or restore works begun by others and brought to a sorry state +either by the craftsman or by the circumstances of Fortune; whence it +may be said that Antonio restored a dead thing to life, and did that +which was scarcely possible. Having finished all this, he arranged that +the church should be covered with lead, and gave directions for the +execution of all that still remained to do; and thus, by his means, +that famous temple received a better form and more grace than it had +possessed before, and the hope of a long-enduring life. + +He then returned to Rome, just after that city had been given over to +sack; and the Pope was at Orvieto, where the Court was suffering very +greatly from want of water. Thereupon, at the wish of the Pontiff, +Antonio built in that city a well all of stone, twenty-five braccia +wide, with two spiral staircases cut in the tufa, one above the other, +following the curve of the well. By these two spiral staircases it is +possible to descend to the bottom of the well, insomuch that the animals +that go there for water, entering by one door, go down by one of the two +staircases, and when they have come to the platform where they receive +their load of water, they pass, without turning round, into the other +branch of the spiral staircase, which winds above that of the descent, +and emerge from the well by a different door, opposite to the other. +This work, which was an ingenious, useful, and marvellously beautiful +thing, was carried almost to completion before the death of Clement; and +the mouth of the well, which alone remained to be executed, was finished +by order of Pope Paul III, but not according to the directions drawn up +by Clement with the advice of Antonio, who was much commended for so +beautiful a work. Certain it is that the ancients never built a +structure equal to this in workmanship or ingenuity, seeing, above all, +that the central shaft is made in such a way that even down to the +bottom it gives light by means of certain windows to the two staircases +mentioned above. + +While this work was in progress, the same Antonio directed the +construction of the fortress of Ancona, which in time was carried to +completion. Afterwards, Pope Clement resolving, at the time when his +nephew Alessandro de' Medici was Duke of Florence, to erect an +impregnable fortress in that city, Signor Alessandro Vitelli, Pier +Francesco da Viterbo, and Antonio laid out that castle, or rather, +fortress, which is between the Porta al Prato and the Porta a S. Gallo, +and caused it to be built with such rapidity, that no similar structure, +whether ancient or modern, was ever completed so quickly. In a great +tower, which was the first to be founded, and was called the Toso, were +placed many inscriptions and medals, with the most solemn pomp and +ceremony; and this work is now celebrated over all the world, and is +held to be impregnable. + +By order of Antonio were summoned to Loreto the sculptor Tribolo, +Raffaello da Montelupo, Francesco da San Gallo, then a young man, and +Simone Cioli, who finished the scenes of marble begun by Andrea +Sansovino. To the same place Antonio summoned the Florentine Mosca, a +most excellent carver of marble, who was then occupied, as will be +related in his Life, with a chimney-piece of stone for the heirs of +Pellegrino da Fossombrone, which proved to be a divine work of carving. +This master, I say, at the entreaty of Antonio, made his way to Loreto, +where he executed festoons that are absolutely divine. Thus, with +rapidity and diligence, the ornamentation of that Chamber of Our Lady +was completely finished, although Antonio had five works of importance +on his hands at one and the same time, to all of which, notwithstanding +that they were in different places, distant one from another, he gave +his attention in such a manner that he never neglected any of them; for +when at any time he could not conveniently be there in person, he +availed himself of the assistance of his brother Battista. These five +works were the above-mentioned Fortress of Florence, that of Ancona, the +work at Loreto, the Apostolic Palace, and the well at Orvieto. + +After the death of Clement, when Cardinal Farnese was elected supreme +Pontiff under the title of Paul III, Antonio, having been the friend of +the Pope while he was a Cardinal, came into even greater credit; and His +Holiness, having created his son, Signor Pier Luigi, Duke of Castro, +sent Antonio to make the designs of the fortress which that Duke caused +to be founded in that place; of the palace, called the Osteria, that is +on the Piazza; and of the Mint, built of travertine after the manner of +that in Rome, which is in the same place. Nor were these the only +designs that Antonio made in that city, for he prepared many others of +palaces and other buildings for various persons, both natives and +strangers, who erected edifices of such cost that it would seem +incredible to one who has not seen them, so ornate are they all, so +commodious, and built with so little regard for expense; which was done +by many, without a doubt, in order to please the Pope, seeing that even +by such means do many contrive to procure favours for themselves, +flattering the humour of Princes; and this is a thing not otherwise than +worthy of praise, for it contributes to the convenience, advantage, and +pleasure of the whole world. + +Next, in the year in which the Emperor Charles V returned victorious +from Tunis, most magnificent triumphal arches were erected to him in +Messina, in Apulia, and in Naples, in honour of so great a victory; and +since he was to come to Rome, Antonio, at the commission of the Pope, +made a triumphal arch of wood at the Palace of S. Marco, of such a shape +that it might serve for two streets, and so beautiful that a more superb +or better proportioned work in wood has never been seen. And if in such +a work splendid and costly marbles had been added to the industry, art, +and diligence bestowed on its design and execution, it might have been +deservedly numbered, on account of its statues, painted scenes, and +other ornaments, among the Seven Wonders of the world. This arch, which +was placed at the end of the corner turning into the principal Piazza, +was of the Corinthian Order, with four round columns overlaid with +silver on each side, and capitals carved in most beautiful foliage, +completely overlaid with gold. There were very beautiful architraves, +friezes, and cornices placed with projections over every column; and +between each two columns were two painted scenes, insomuch that there +were four scenes distributed over each side, which, with the two sides, +made eight scenes altogether, containing, as will be described elsewhere +in speaking of those who painted them, the deeds of the Emperor. In +order to enhance this splendour, also, and to complete the pediment +above that arch on each side, there were two figures in relief, each +four braccia and a half in height, representing Rome, with two Emperors +of the House of Austria on either side, those on the front part being +Albrecht and Maximilian, and those on the other side Frederick and +Rudolph. And upon the corners, likewise, were four prisoners, two on +each side, with a great number of trophies, also in relief, and the arms +of His Holiness and of His Majesty; which were all executed under the +direction of Antonio by excellent sculptors and by the best painters +that there were in Rome at that time. And not only this arch was +executed under the direction of Antonio, but also all the preparations +for the festival that was held for the reception of so great and so +invincible an Emperor. + +The same Antonio then set to work on the Fortress of Nepi for the +aforesaid Duke of Castro, and on the fortification of the whole city, +which is both beautiful and impregnable. He laid out many streets in the +same city, and made for its citizens the designs of many houses and +palaces. His Holiness then causing the bastions of Rome to be +constructed, which are very strong, and the Porta di S. Spirito being +included among those works, the latter was built with the direction and +design of Antonio, with rustic decorations of travertine, in a very +solid and beautiful manner, and so magnificent, that it equals the works +of the ancients. After the death of Antonio, there were some who sought, +moved more by envy than by any reasonable motive, and employing +extraordinary means, to have this structure pulled down; but this was +not allowed by those in power. + +Under the direction of the same architect was refounded almost the whole +of the Apostolic Palace, which was in danger of ruin in many other parts +besides those that have been mentioned; in particular, on one side, the +Sistine Chapel, in which are the works of Michelagnolo, and likewise the +façade, which he did in such a way that not the slightest crack +appeared--a work richer in danger than in honour. He enlarged the Great +Hall of that same Sistine Chapel, making in two lunettes at the head of +it those immense windows with their marvellous lights, and with +compartments pushed up into the vaulting and wrought in stucco; all +executed at great cost, and so well, that this hall may be considered +the richest and the most beautiful that there had been in the world up +to that time. And he added to it a staircase, by which it might be +possible to go into S. Pietro, so commodious and so well built that +nothing better, whether ancient or modern, has yet been seen; and +likewise the Pauline Chapel, where the Sacrament has to be placed, which +is a work of extraordinary charm, so beautiful and so well proportioned +and distributed, that through the grace that may be seen therein it +appears to present itself to the eye with a festive smile. + +Antonio built the Fortress of Perugia, at the time when there was +discord between the people of that city and the Pope; and that work, for +which the houses of the Baglioni were thrown to the ground, was finished +with marvellous rapidity, and proved to be very beautiful. He also built +the Fortress of Ascoli, bringing it in a few days to such a condition +that it could be held by a garrison, although the people of Ascoli and +others did not think that it could be carried so far in many years; +wherefore it happened that, when the garrison was placed in it so +quickly, those people were struck with astonishment, and could scarce +believe it. He also refounded his own house in the Strada Giulia at +Rome, in order to protect himself from the floods that rise when the +Tiber is swollen; and he not only began, but in great part completed, +the palace that he occupied near S. Biagio, which now belongs to +Cardinal Riccio of Montepulciano, who has finished it, adding most +ornate apartments, and spending upon it vast sums in addition to what +had been spent by Antonio, which was some thousands of crowns. + +But all that Antonio did to the benefit and advantage of the world is as +nothing in comparison with the model of the venerable and stupendous +fabric of S. Pietro at Rome, which, planned in the beginning by +Bramante, he enlarged and rearranged with a new plan and in an +extraordinary manner, giving it dignity and a well-proportioned +composition, both as a whole and in its separate parts, as may be seen +from the model made of wood by the hand of his disciple, Antonio +L'Abacco, who carried it to absolute perfection. This model, which gave +Antonio a very great name, was published in engraving after the death of +Antonio da San Gallo, together with the ground-plan of the whole +edifice, by the said Antonio L'Abacco, who wished to show in this way +how great was the genius of San Gallo, and to make known to all men the +opinion of that architect; for new plans had been proposed in opposition +by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and out of this change of plans many +contentions afterwards arose, as will be related in the proper place. It +appeared to Michelagnolo, and also to many others who saw the model of +San Gallo, and such parts as were carried into execution by him, that +Antonio's composition was too much cut up by projections and by members +which are too small, as are also the columns, the arches upon arches, +and the cornices upon cornices. Besides this, it seems not to be +approved that the two bell-towers in his plan, the four little tribunes, +and the principal cupola, should have that ornament, or rather, garland +of columns, many and small. In like manner, men did not much approve, +nor do they now, of those innumerable pinnacles that are in it as a +finish to the work; and it appears that in that model he imitated the +style and manner of the Germans rather than the good manner of the +ancients, which is now followed by the best architects. The +above-mentioned model of S. Pietro was finished by L'Abacco a short time +after the death of Antonio; and it was found that, in so far as +appertained merely to the woodwork and the labour of the carpenters, it +had cost four thousand one hundred and eighty-four crowns. In executing +it, Antonio L'Abacco, who had charge of the work, acquitted himself very +well, having a good knowledge of the matters of architecture, as is +proved by the book of the buildings of Rome that he printed, which is +very beautiful. This model, which is now to be found in the principal +chapel of S. Pietro, is thirty-five palme[24] in length, twenty-six in +breadth, and twenty palme and a half in height; wherefore, according to +the model, the work would have been one thousand and forty palme in +length, or one hundred and four canne,[25] and three hundred and sixty +palme in breadth, or thirty-six canne, for the reason that the canna +which is used in Rome, according to the measure of the masons, is equal +to ten palme. + +For the making of this model and of many designs, there were assigned to +Antonio by the Wardens of the building of S. Pietro fifteen hundred +crowns, of which he received one thousand in cash; but the rest he never +drew, for a short time after that work he passed to the other life. He +strengthened the piers of the same Church of S. Pietro, to the end that +the weight of the tribune might be supported securely; and he filled all +the scattered parts of the foundations with solid material, and made +them so strong, that there is no reason to fear that the building may +show any more cracks or threaten to fall, as it did in the time of +Bramante. This masterly work, if it were above the ground instead of +being hidden below, would amaze the boldest intellect. And for these +reasons the name and fame of this admirable craftsman should always have +a place among the rarest masters. + +We find that ever since the time of the ancient Romans the men of Terni +and those of Narni have been deadly enemies with one another, as they +still are, for the reason that the lake of the Marmora, becoming choked +up at times, would do injury to one of those communities; and thus, when +the people of Narni wished to release the waters, those of Terni would +by no means consent to it. On that account there has always been a +difference between them, whether the Pontiffs were governing Rome, or +whether it was subject to the Emperors; and in the time of Cicero that +orator was sent by the Senate to compose that difference, but it +remained unsettled. Wherefore, after envoys had been sent to Pope Paul +III in the year 1546 for the same purpose, he despatched Antonio to them +to settle that dispute; and so, by his good judgment, it was resolved +that the lake should have an outlet on the side where the wall is, and +Antonio had it cut, although with the greatest difficulty. But it came +to pass by reason of the heat, which was great, and other hardships, +that Antonio, being now old and feeble, fell sick of a fever at Terni, +and rendered up his spirit not long after; at which his friends and +relatives felt infinite sorrow, and many buildings suffered, +particularly the Palace of the Farnese family, near the Campo di Fiore. + +[Illustration: PALAZZO FARNESE + +(_After_ Antonio di San Gallo (_with_ Michelangelo). _Rome_.) + +_Anderson_] + +Pope Paul III, when he was Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, had carried that +palace a considerable way towards completion, and had finished part of +the first range of windows in the façade and the inner hall, and had +begun one side of the courtyard; but the building was yet not so far +advanced that it could be seen in its perfection, when the Cardinal was +elected Pontiff, and Antonio altered the whole of the original design, +considering that he had to make a palace no longer for a Cardinal, but +for a Pope. Having therefore pulled down some houses that were round it, +and the old staircase, he rebuilt it with a more gentle ascent, and +increased the courtyard on every side and also the whole palace, making +the halls greater in extent and the rooms more numerous and more +magnificent, with very beautiful carved ceilings and many other +ornaments. And he had already brought the façade, with the second range +of windows, to completion, and had only to add the great cornice that +was to go right round the whole, when the Pope, who was a man of exalted +mind and excellent judgment, desiring to have a cornice richer and more +beautiful than any that there had ever been in any other palace +whatsoever, resolved that, in addition to the designs that Antonio had +made, all the best architects of Rome should each make one, after which +he would choose the finest, but would nevertheless have it carried into +execution by Antonio. And so one morning, while he was at table at the +Belvedere, all those designs were brought before him in the presence of +Antonio, the masters who had made them being Perino del Vaga, Fra +Sebastiano del Piombo, Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and Giorgio Vasari, who +was then a young man and in the service of Cardinal Farnese, at the +commission of whom and of the Pope he had prepared for that cornice not +one only, but two different designs. It is true that Buonarroti did not +bring his own himself, but sent it by the same Giorgio Vasari, who had +gone to show him his designs, to the end that he might express his +opinion on them as a friend; whereupon Michelagnolo gave him his own +design, asking that he should take it to the Pope and make his excuses +for not going in person, on the ground that he was indisposed. And when +all the designs had been presented to the Pope, his Holiness examined +them for a long time, and praised them all as ingenious and very +beautiful, but that of the divine Michelagnolo above all. + +Now all this did not happen without causing vexation to Antonio, who was +not much pleased with this method of procedure on the part of the Pope, +and who would have liked to do everything by himself. But even more was +he displeased to see that the Pope held in great account one Jacomo +Melighino of Ferrara, and made use of him as architect in the building +of S. Pietro, although he showed neither power of design nor much +judgment in his works, giving him the same salary as he paid to Antonio, +on whom fell all the labour. And this happened because this Melighino +had been the faithful servant of the Pope for many years without any +reward, and it pleased His Holiness to recompense him in that way; not +to mention that he had charge of the Belvedere and of some other +buildings belonging to the Pope. + +After the Pope, therefore, had seen all the designs mentioned above, he +said, perchance to try Antonio: "These are all beautiful, but it would +not be amiss for us to see another that our Melighino has made." At +which Antonio, feeling some resentment, and believing that the Pope was +making fun of him, replied: "Holy Father, Melighino is but an architect +in jest." Which hearing, the Pope, who was seated, turned towards +Antonio, and, bowing his head almost to the ground, answered: "Antonio, +it is our wish that Melighino should be an architect in earnest, as you +may see from his salary." Having said this, he dismissed the company and +went away; and by these words he meant to show that it is very often by +Princes rather than by their own merits that men are brought to the +greatness that they desire. The cornice was afterwards executed by +Michelagnolo, who reconstructed the whole of that palace almost in +another form, as will be related in his Life. + +After the death of Antonio there remained alive his brother Battista +Gobbo, a person of ability, who spent all his time on the buildings of +Antonio, although the latter did not behave very well towards him. This +Battista did not live many years after Antonio, and at his death he left +all his possessions to the Florentine Company of the Misericordia in +Rome, on the condition that the men of that Company should cause to be +printed a book of Observations on Vitruvius that he had written. That +book has never come into the light of day, but it is believed to be a +good work, for he had a very fine knowledge of the matters of his art, +and was a man of excellent judgment, and he was also upright and true. + +But returning to Antonio: having died at Terni, he was taken to Rome and +carried to the grave with the greatest pomp, followed by all the +craftsmen of design and by many others; and then, at the instance of the +Wardens of S. Pietro, his body was placed in a tomb near the Chapel of +Pope Sixtus in S. Pietro, with the following epitaph: + + ANTONIO SANCTI GALLI FLORENTINO, URBE MUNIENDA AC PUB. OPERIBUS, + PRÆCIPUEQUE D. PETRI TEMPLO ORNAN. ARCHITECTORUM FACILE PRINCIPI, + DUM VELINI LACUS EMISSIONEM PARAT, PAULO PONT. MAX. AUCTORE, + INTERAMNÆ INTEMPESTIVE EXTINCTO, ISABELLA DETA UXOR MOESTISS. + POSUIT 1546, III. CALEND. OCTOBRIS. + +And in truth Antonio, who was a most excellent architect, deserves to be +celebrated and extolled, as his works clearly demonstrate, no less than +any other architect, whether ancient or modern. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[24] The "palma" as used here is equal to about nine inches. + +[25] The "canna" is equal to four braccia. + + + + +GIULIO ROMANO + + + + +LIFE OF GIULIO ROMANO + +PAINTER + + +Among his many, or rather innumerable, disciples, the greater number of +whom became able masters, Raffaello da Urbino had not one who imitated +him more closely in manner, invention, design, and colouring, than did +Giulio Romano, nor one who was better grounded, more bold, resolute, +prolific, and versatile, or more fanciful and varied than Giulio; not to +mention for the present that he was very pleasant in his conversation, +gay, amiable, gracious, and supremely excellent in character. These +qualities were the reason that he was so beloved by Raffaello, that, if +he had been his son, he could not have loved him more; wherefore it came +to pass that Raffaello always made use of him in his most important +works, and, in particular, in executing the Papal Loggie for Leo X; for +after Raffaello had made the designs for the architecture, the +decorations, and the scenes, he caused Giulio to paint many of the +pictures there, among which are the Creation of Adam and Eve, that of +the animals, the Building of Noah's Ark, his Sacrifice, and many other +works, which are known by the manner, such as the one in which the +daughter of Pharaoh, with her ladies, finds Moses in the little ark, +which had been cast adrift on the river by the Hebrews--a work that is +marvellous on account of a very well executed landscape. Giulio also +assisted Raffaello in painting many things in that apartment of the +Borgia Tower which contains the Burning of the Borgo, more particularly +the base, which is painted in the colour of bronze, with the Countess +Matilda, King Pepin, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon, King of +Jerusalem, and other benefactors of the Church--all excellent figures; +and prints of a part of this scene, taken from a drawing by the hand of +Giulio, were published not long since. The same Giulio also executed +the greater part of the scenes in fresco that are in the Loggia of +Agostino Chigi; and he worked in oils on a very beautiful picture of S. +Elizabeth, which was painted by Raffaello and sent to King Francis of +France, together with another picture, of S. Margaret, painted almost +entirely by Giulio after the design of Raffaello, who sent to the same +King the portrait of the Vice-Queen of Naples, wherein Raffaello did +nothing but the likeness of the head from life, and the rest was +finished by Giulio. These works, which were very dear to that King, are +still in the King's Chapel at Fontainebleau in France. + +Working in this manner in the service of his master Raffaello, and +learning the most difficult secrets of art, which were taught to him by +Raffaello himself with extraordinary lovingness, before a long time had +passed Giulio knew very well how to draw in perspective, take the +measurements of buildings, and execute ground-plans; and Raffaello, +designing and sketching at times inventions after his own fancy, would +afterwards have them drawn on a larger scale, with the proper +measurements, by Giulio, in order to make use of them in his works of +architecture. And Giulio, beginning to delight in that art, gave his +attention to it in such a manner, that he afterwards practised it and +became a most excellent master. At his death, Raffaello left as his +heirs Giulio and Giovan Francesco, called Il Fattore, on the condition +that they should finish the works begun by him; and they carried the +greater part of these to completion with honour. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF CONSTANTINE + +(_Detail, after the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Rome: The Vatican_) + +_Anderson_] + +Now Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who afterwards became Pope Clement VII, +took a site under Monte Mario at Rome, in which, besides a beautiful +view, there were running waters, with some woods on the banks and a +lovely plain which, running along the Tiber as far as the Ponte Molle, +formed on either side a wide expanse of meadowland that extended almost +to the Porta di S. Pietro; and on the highest point of the bank, where +there was a level space, he proposed to build a palace with all the best +and most beautiful conveniences and adornments that could be desired in +the form of apartments, loggie, gardens, fountains, groves, and other +things. Of all this he gave the charge to Giulio, who, undertaking it +willingly, and setting his hand to the work, brought that palace, which +was then called the Vigna de' Medici, and is now known as the Villa +Madama, to that condition which will be described below. Accommodating +himself, then, to the nature of the site and the wishes of the Cardinal, +he made the façade in the form of a semicircle, after the manner of a +theatre, with a design of niches and windows of the Ionic Order; which +was so excellent, that many believe that Raffaello made the first sketch +for it, and that the work was afterwards pursued and carried to +completion by Giulio. The same Giulio painted many pictures in the +chambers and elsewhere; in particular, in a very beautiful loggia beyond +the first entrance vestibule, which is adorned all around with niches +large and small, wherein are great numbers of ancient statues; and among +these was a Jupiter, a rare work, which was afterwards sent by the +Farnese family to King Francis of France, with many other most beautiful +statues. In addition to those niches, the said loggia is all wrought in +stucco and has the walls and ceilings all painted with grotesques by the +hand of Giovanni da Udine. At the head of this loggia Giulio painted in +fresco an immense Polyphemus with a vast number of children and little +satyrs playing about him, for which he gained much praise, even as he +did for all the designs and works that he executed for that place, which +he adorned with fish-ponds, pavements, rustic fountains, groves, and +other suchlike things, all most beautiful and carried out with fine +order and judgment. + +It is true that, the death of Leo supervening, for a time this work was +carried no further, for when a new Pontiff had been elected in Adrian, +and Cardinal de' Medici had returned to Florence, it was abandoned, +together with all the public works begun by Adrian's predecessor. During +this time Giulio and Giovan Francesco brought to completion many things +that had been left unfinished by Raffaello, and they were preparing to +carry into execution some of the cartoons that he had made for the +pictures of the Great Hall of the Palace--in which he had begun to paint +four stories from the life of the Emperor Constantine, and had, when he +died, covered one wall with the proper mixture for painting in +oils--when they saw that Adrian, being a man who took no delight in +pictures, sculptures, or in any other good thing, had no wish that the +Hall should be finished. Driven to despair, therefore, Giulio and Giovan +Francesco, and with them Perino del Vaga, Giovanni da Udine, Sebastiano +Viniziano, and all the other excellent craftsmen, were almost like to +die of hunger during the lifetime of Adrian. But by the will of God, +while the Court, accustomed to the magnificence of Leo, was all in +dismay, and all the best craftsmen, perceiving that no art was prized +any longer, were beginning to consider where they might take refuge, +Adrian died, and Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Supreme Pontiff +under the name of Clement VII; and with him all the arts of design, +together with the other arts, were restored to life in one day. Giulio +and Giovan Francesco, full of joy, set themselves straightway by order +of the Pope to finish the above-mentioned Hall of Constantine, and threw +to the ground the preparation that had been laid on one wall for +painting in oils; but they left untouched two figures that they had +painted previously in oils, which serve as adornments to certain Popes; +and these were a Justice and another similar figure. + +The distribution of this Hall, which is low, had been designed with much +judgment by Raffaello, who had placed at the corners, over all the +doors, large niches with ornaments in the form of little boys holding +various devices of Leo, such as lilies, diamonds, plumes, and other +emblems of the House of Medici. In the niches were seated some Popes in +pontificals, each with a canopy in his niche; and round those Popes were +some little boys in the form of little angels, holding books and other +appropriate things in their hands. And each Pope had on either side of +him a Virtue, chosen according to his merits; thus, the Apostle Peter +had Religion on one side and Charity, or rather Piety, on the other, and +so all the others had similar Virtues; and the said Popes were Damasus +I, Alexander I, Leo III, Gregory, Sylvester, and some others. All these +figures were so well placed in position and executed by Giulio, who +painted all the best parts of this work in fresco, that it is clear that +he endured much labour and took great pains with them; as may also be +seen from a drawing of S. Sylvester, which was designed very well by his +own hand, and is perhaps a much more graceful work than the painted +figure. It may be affirmed, indeed, that Giulio always expressed his +conceptions better in drawings than in finished work or in paintings, +for in the former may be seen more vivacity, boldness, and feeling; and +this may have happened because he made a drawing in an hour, in all the +heat and glow of working, whereas on paintings he spent months, and even +years, so that, growing weary of them, and losing that keen and ardent +love that one has at the beginning of a work, it is no marvel that he +did not give them that absolute perfection that is to be seen in his +drawings. + +But to return to the stories: Giulio painted on one of the walls +Constantine making an address to his soldiers; while in the air, in a +splendour of light, appears the Sign of the Cross, with some little +boys, and letters that run thus: "In hoc signo vinces." And there is a +dwarf at the feet of Constantine, placing a helmet on his head, who is +executed with great art. Next, on the largest wall, there is the battle +of horsemen which took place at the Ponte Molle, in which Constantine +routed Maxentius. This work is worthy of the highest praise, on account +of the dead and wounded that may be seen in it, and the various +extravagant attitudes of the foot-soldiers and horsemen who are fighting +in groups, all painted with great spirit; not to mention that there are +many portraits from life. And if this scene were not too much darkened +and loaded with blacks, which Giulio always delighted to use in +colouring, it would be altogether perfect; but this takes away much of +its grace and beauty. In the same scene he painted the whole landscape +of Monte Mario, and the River Tiber, in which Maxentius, who is on +horseback, proud and terrible, is drowning. In short, Giulio acquitted +himself in such a manner in this work, that it has been a great light to +all who have painted battle-pieces of that kind since his day. He +himself learned so much from the ancient columns of Trajan and Antoninus +that are in Rome, that he made much use of this knowledge for the +costumes of soldiers, armour, ensigns, bastions, palisades, +battering-rams, and all the other instruments of war that are painted +throughout the whole of that Hall. And beneath these scenes, right +round, he painted many things in the colour of bronze, which are all +beautiful and worthy of praise. + +On another wall he painted S. Sylvester the Pope baptizing Constantine, +representing there the very bath made by Constantine himself, which is +at S. Giovanni Laterano at the present day; and he made a portrait from +life of Pope Clement in the S. Sylvester who is baptizing, with some +assistants in their vestments, and a crowd of people. Among the many +attendants of the Pope of whom he painted portraits there, also from +life, was the Cavalierino, who was very influential with His Holiness at +that time, and Messer Niccolò Vespucci, a Knight of Rhodes. And below +this, on the base, he painted a scene with figures in imitation of +bronze, of Constantine causing the Church of S. Pietro to be built at +Rome, in allusion to Pope Clement. There he made portraits of the +architect Bramante and of Giuliano Lemi,[26] holding the design of the +ground-plan of the said church, and this scene is very beautiful. + +On the fourth wall, above the chimney-piece of that Hall, he depicted in +perspective the Church of S. Pietro at Rome, with the Pope's throne +exactly as it appears when His Holiness chants the Pontifical Mass; the +body of Cardinals and all the other prelates of the Court; the chapel of +singers and musicians; and the Pope seated, represented as S. Sylvester, +with Constantine kneeling at his feet and presenting to him a figure of +Rome made of gold in the manner of those that are on the ancient medals, +by which Giulio intended to signify the dowry which that Constantine +gave to the Roman Church. In this scene Giulio painted many women +kneeling there to see that ceremony, who are very beautiful; a beggar +asking for alms; a little boy amusing himself by riding on a dog; and +the Lancers of the Papal Guard, who are making the people give way and +stand back, as is the custom. And among many portraits that are in this +work may be seen portraits from life of Giulio himself, the painter; of +Count Baldassarre Castiglioni, the author of the "Cortigiano," and very +much his friend; of Pontano and Marullo; and of many other men of +letters and courtiers. Right round the Hall and between the windows +Giulio painted many devices and poetical compositions, which were +pleasing and fanciful; and everything was much to the satisfaction of +the Pope, who rewarded him liberally for his labours. + +While this Hall was being painted, Giulio and Giovan Francesco, +although they could not meet the demands of their friends even in part, +executed an altar-piece with the Assumption of Our Lady, a very +beautiful work, which was sent to Perugia and placed in the Convent of +the Nuns of Monteluci. Then, having withdrawn to work by himself, Giulio +painted a picture of Our Lady, with a cat that was so natural that it +appeared to be truly alive; whence that picture was called the Picture +of the Cat. In another picture, of great size, he painted a Christ being +scourged at the Column, which was placed on the altar of the Church of +S. Prassedia at Rome. And not long after this, M. Giovan Matteo Giberti, +who was then Datary to Pope Clement, and afterwards became Bishop of +Verona, commissioned Giulio, who was his very familiar friend, to make +the design for some rooms that were built of brick near the gate of the +Papal Palace, looking out upon the Piazza of S. Pietro, and serving for +the accommodation of the trumpeters who blow their trumpets when the +Cardinals go to the Consistory, with a most commodious flight of steps, +which can be ascended on horseback as well as on foot. For the same M. +Giovan Matteo he painted an altar-piece of the Stoning of S. Stephen, +which M. Giovan Matteo sent to a benefice of his own, called S. Stefano, +in Genoa. In this altar-piece, which is most beautiful in invention, +grace, and composition, the young Saul may be seen seated on the +garments of S. Stephen while the Jews are stoning him; and, in a word, +Giulio never painted a more beautiful work than this, so fierce are the +attitudes of the persecutors and so well expressed the patience of +Stephen, who appears to be truly seeing Jesus Christ on the right hand +of the Father in the Heaven, which is painted divinely well. This work, +together with the benefice, M. Giovan Matteo gave to the Monks of Monte +Oliveto, who have turned the place into a monastery. + +The same Giulio executed at the commission of the German Jacob Fugger, +for a chapel that is in S. Maria de Anima at Rome, a most lovely +altar-piece in oils, in which are the Madonna, S. Anne, S. Joseph, S. +James, S. John as a little boy kneeling, and S. Mark the Evangelist with +a lion at his feet, which is lying down with a book, its hair curving in +accordance with its position, which was a beautiful consideration, and +difficult to execute; not to mention that the same lion has short wings +on its shoulders, with feathers so soft and plumy, that it seems almost +incredible that the hand of a craftsman could have been able to imitate +nature so closely. Besides this, he painted there a building that curves +in a circular form after the manner of a theatre, with some statues so +beautiful and so well placed that there is nothing better to be seen. +Among other figures there is a woman who is spinning and gazing at a hen +with some chickens, than which nothing could be more natural; and above +Our Lady are some little boys, very graceful and well painted, who are +upholding a canopy. And if this picture, also, had not been so heavily +loaded with black, by reason of which it has become very dark, it would +certainly have been much better; but this blackness has brought it about +that the greater part of the work that is in it is lost or destroyed, +and that because black, even when fortified with varnish, is the ruin of +all that is good, always having in it a certain desiccative quality, +whether it be made from charcoal, burnt ivory, smoke-black, or burnt +paper. + +Among the many disciples that Giulio had while he was executing these +works, such as Bartolommeo da Castiglione, Tommaso Papacello of Cortona, +and Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, those of whom he made the most particular +use were Giovanni da Lione and Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo a San +Sepolcro, both of whom assisted him in the execution of many things in +the Hall of Constantine and in the other works of which we have spoken. +Wherefore I do not think it right to refrain from mentioning that these +two, who were very dexterous in painting, and followed the manner of +Giulio closely in carrying into execution the works that he designed for +them, painted in colours after his design, near the old Mint in the +Banchi, the escutcheon of Pope Clement VII, each of them doing one-half, +with two terminal figures, one on either side of that escutcheon. And +the same Raffaello, not long after, painted in fresco from a cartoon +drawn by Giulio, in a lunette within the door of the Palace of Cardinal +della Valle, a Madonna who is covering the Child, who is sleeping, with +a piece of drapery, with S. Andrew the Apostle on one side and S. +Nicholas on the other, which was held, with justice, to be an excellent +picture. + +Giulio, meanwhile, being very intimate with Messer Baldassarre Turini da +Pescia, built for him on Mount Janiculum, where there are some villas +that have a most beautiful view, after making the design and model, a +palace so graceful and so well appointed, from its having all the +conveniences that could be desired in such a place, that it defies +description. Moreover, the apartments were adorned not only with stucco, +but also with paintings, for he himself painted there some stories of +Numa Pompilius, who was buried on that spot; and in the bathroom of this +palace, with the help of his young men, Giulio painted some stories of +Venus, Love, Apollo, and Hyacinthus, which are all to be seen in +engraving. + +After having separated himself completely from Giovan Francesco, he +executed various architectural works in Rome, such as the design of the +house of the Alberini in the Banchi (although some believe that the plan +of this work came from Raffaello), and likewise a palace that may be +seen at the present day on the Piazza della Dogana in Rome, which, being +beautiful in design, has been reproduced in engraving. And for himself, +on a corner of the Macello de' Corbi, where stood his own house, in +which he was born, he made a beginning with a beautiful range of +windows, which is a small thing, but very graceful. + +By reason of all these excellent qualities, Giulio, after the death of +Raffaello, was celebrated as the best craftsman in Italy. And Count +Baldassarre Castiglioni, who was then in Rome as ambassador from +Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and was much the friend, as has +been related, of Giulio, having been commanded by his master the Marquis +to send him an architect of whom he might avail himself for the +necessities of his palace and of the city, the Marquis adding that he +would particularly like to have Giulio--the Count, I say, so wrought +upon him with entreaties and promises, that Giulio said that he would +go, provided that he could do this with the leave of Pope Clement; which +leave having been obtained, the Count, setting out for Mantua, from +which he was then to go on behalf of the Pope to the Emperor, took +Giulio with him; and having arrived there, he presented him to the +Marquis, who, after welcoming him warmly, caused an honourably +appointed house to be given to him, together with a salary and also a +good table for himself, for his disciple Benedetto Pagni, and for +another young man who was in his service; and, what is more, the Marquis +sent him several canne of velvet, satin, and other kinds of silk and +cloth wherewith to clothe himself. Then, hearing that he had no horse to +ride, he sent for a favourite horse of his own, called Luggieri, and +presented it to him; and when Giulio had mounted upon it, they rode to a +spot a bow-shot beyond the Porta di S. Bastiano, where His Excellency +had a place with some stables, called the Tè, standing in the middle of +a meadow, in which he kept his stud of horses and mares. Arriving there, +the Marquis said that he would like, without destroying the old walls, +to have some sort of place arranged to which he might resort at times +for dinner or supper, as a recreation. + +Giulio, having heard the will of the Marquis, and having examined the +whole place, took a ground-plan of that site and set his hand to the +work. Availing himself of the old walls, he made in the principal part +the first hall that is to be seen at the present day as one enters, with +the suite of rooms that are about it. And since the place has no living +rock, and no quarries from which to excavate material for hewn and +carved stone, such as are used in building by those who can obtain them, +he made use of brick and baked stone, which he afterwards worked over +with stucco; and with this material he made columns, bases, capitals, +cornices, doors, windows, and other things, all with most beautiful +proportions. And he executed the decorations of the vaults in a new and +fantastic manner, with very handsome compartments, and with richly +adorned recesses, which was the reason that the Marquis, after a +beginning so humble, then resolved to have the whole of that building +reconstructed in the form of a great palace. + +[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE BANQUET OF CUPID AND PSYCHE + +(_After the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Mantua: Palazzo del Tè_) + +_Alinari_] + +Thereupon Giulio made a very beautiful model, all of rustic work both +without and within the courtyard, which pleased that lord so much, that +he assigned a good sum of money for the building; and after Giulio had +engaged many masters, the work was quickly carried to completion. The +form of the palace is as follows: The building is quadrangular, and has +in the centre an open courtyard after the manner of a meadow, or rather, +of a piazza, into which open four entrances in the form of a cross. +The first of these traverses straightway, or rather, passes, into a very +large loggia, which opens by another into the garden, and two others +lead into various apartments; and these are all adorned with stucco-work +and paintings. In the hall to which the first entrance gives access the +vaulting is wrought in various compartments and painted in fresco, and +on the walls are portraits from life of all the favourite and most +beautiful horses from the stud of the Marquis, together with the dogs of +the same coat or marking as the horses, with their names; which were all +designed by Giulio, and painted in fresco on the plaster by the painters +Benedetto Pagni and Rinaldo Mantovano, his disciples, and so well, in +truth, that they seem to be alive. + +From this hall one passes into a room which is at one corner of the +palace, and has the vaulting most beautifully wrought with compartments +in stucco-work and varied mouldings, touched in certain places with +gold. These mouldings divide the surface into four octagons, which +enclose a picture in the highest part of the vaulting, in which is Cupid +marrying Psyche in the sight of Jove, who is on high, illumined by a +dazzling celestial light, and in the presence of all the Gods. It would +not be possible to find anything executed with more grace or better +draughtsmanship than this scene, for Giulio foreshortened the figures so +well, with a view to their being seen from below, that some of them, +although they are scarcely one braccio in length, appear when seen from +the ground to be three braccia high; and, in truth, they are wrought +with marvellous art and ingenuity, Giulio having succeeded in so +contriving them, that, besides seeming to be alive (so strong is the +relief), they deceive the human eye with a most pleasing illusion. In +the octagons are all the earlier stories of Psyche, showing the +adversities that came upon her through the wrath of Venus, and all +executed with the same beauty and perfection; in other angles are many +Loves, as likewise in the windows, producing various effects in +accordance with the spaces where they are; and the whole of the vaulting +is painted in oils by the hands of the above-mentioned Benedetto and +Rinaldo. The rest of the stories of Psyche are on the walls below, and +these are the largest. In one in fresco is Psyche in the bath; and the +Loves are bathing her, and then wiping her dry with most beautiful +gestures. In another part is Mercury preparing the banquet, while Psyche +is bathing, with the Bacchantes sounding instruments; and there are the +Graces adorning the table with flowers in a beautiful manner. There is +also Silenus supported by Satyrs, with his ass, and a goat lying down, +which has two children sucking at its udder; and in that company is +Bacchus, who has two tigers at his feet, and stands leaning with one arm +on the credence, on one side of which is a camel, and on the other an +elephant. This credence, which is barrel-shaped, is adorned with +festoons of verdure and flowers, and all covered with vines laden with +bunches of grapes and leaves, under which are three rows of bizarre +vases, basins, drinking-cups, tazze, goblets, and other things of that +kind in various forms and fantastic shapes, and so lustrous, that they +seem to be of real silver and gold, being counterfeited with a simple +yellow and other colours, and that so well, that they bear witness to +the extraordinary genius and art of Giulio, who proved in this part of +the work that he was rich, versatile, and abundant in invention and +craftsmanship. Not far away may be seen Psyche, who, surrounded by many +women who are serving and attiring her, sees Phoebus appearing in the +distance among the hills in the chariot of the sun, which is drawn by +four horses; while Zephyr is lying nude upon some clouds, and is blowing +gentle breezes through a horn that he has in his mouth, which make the +air round Psyche balmy and soft. These stories were engraved not many +years since after the designs of Battista Franco of Venice, who copied +them exactly as they were painted from the great cartoons of Giulio by +Benedetto of Pescia and Rinaldo Mantovano, who carried into execution +all the stories except the Bacchus, the Silenus, and the two children +suckled by the goat; although it is true that the work was afterwards +retouched almost all over by Giulio, so that it is very much as if it +had been all painted by him. This method, which he learned from +Raffaello, his instructor, is very useful to young men, who in this way +obtain practice and thereby generally become excellent masters. And +although some persuade themselves that they are greater than those who +keep them at work, such fellows, if their guide fails them before they +are at the end, or if they are deprived of the design and directions for +the work, learn that through having lost or abandoned that guidance too +early they are wandering like blind men in an infinite sea of errors. + +But to return to the apartments of the Tè; from that room of Psyche one +passes into another full of double friezes with figures in low-relief, +executed in stucco after the designs of Giulio by Francesco Primaticcio +of Bologna, then a young man, and by Giovan Battista Mantovano, in which +friezes are all the soldiers that are on Trajan's Column at Rome, +wrought in a beautiful manner. And on the ceiling, or rather soffit, of +an antechamber is painted in oils the scene when Icarus, having been +taught by his father Dædalus, seeks to rise too high in his flight, and, +after seeing the Sign of Cancer and the chariot of the sun, which is +drawn by four horses in foreshortening, near the Sign of Leo, is left +without his wings, the wax being consumed by the heat of the sun; and +near this the same Icarus may be seen hurtling through the air, and +almost falling upon those who gaze at him, his face dark with the shadow +of death. This invention was so well conceived and imagined by Giulio, +that it seems to be real and true, for in it one sees the fierce heat of +the sun burning the wretched youth's wings, the flaming fire gives out +smoke, and one almost hears the crackling of the burning plumes, while +death may be seen carved in the face of Icarus, and in that of Dædalus +the most bitter sorrow and agony. In our book of drawings by various +painters is the original design of this very beautiful scene, by the +hand of Giulio himself, who executed in the same place the stories of +the twelve months of the year, showing all that is done in each of them +in the arts most practised by mankind--paintings which are notable no +less for their fantastic and delightful character and their beauty of +invention than for the judgment and diligence with which they were +executed. + +After passing the great loggia, which is adorned with stucco-work and +with many arms and various other bizarre ornaments, one comes to some +rooms filled with such a variety of fantasies, that the brain reels at +the thought of them. For Giulio, who was very fanciful and ingenious, +wishing to demonstrate his worth, resolved to make, at an angle of the +palace which formed a corner similar to that of the room of Psyche +described above, an apartment the masonry of which should be in keeping +with the painting, in order to deceive as much as possible all who might +see it. He therefore had double foundations of great depth sunk at that +corner, which was in a marshy place, and over that angle he constructed +a large round room, with very thick walls, to the end that the four +external angles of the masonry might be strong enough to be able to +support a double vault, round after the manner of an oven. This done, he +caused to be built at the corners right round the room, in the proper +places, the doors, windows, and fireplace, all of rustic stones +rough-hewn as if by chance, and, as it were, disjointed and awry, +insomuch that they appeared to be really hanging over to one side and +falling down. Having built this room in such strange fashion, he set +himself to paint in it the most fantastic composition that he was able +to invent--namely, Jove hurling his thunderbolts against the Giants. And +so, depicting Heaven on the highest part of the vaulting, he placed +there the throne of Jove, representing it as seen in foreshortening from +below and from the front, within a round temple, supported by open +columns of the Ionic Order, with his canopy over the centre of the +throne, and with his eagle; and all was poised upon the clouds. Lower +down he painted Jove in anger, slaying the proud Giants with his +thunderbolts, and below him is Juno, assisting him; and around them are +the Winds, with strange countenances, blowing towards the earth, while +the Goddess Ops turns with her lions at the terrible noise of the +thunder, as also do the other Gods and Goddesses, and Venus in +particular, who is at the side of Mars; and Momus, with his arms +outstretched, appears to fear that Heaven may be falling headlong down, +and yet he stands motionless. The Graces, likewise, are standing filled +with dread, and beside them, in like manner, the Hours. All the Deities, +in short, are taking to flight with their chariots. The Moon, Saturn, +and Janus are going towards the lightest of the clouds, in order to +withdraw from that terrible uproar and turmoil, and the same does +Neptune, who, with his dolphins, appears to be seeking to support +himself on his trident. Pallas, with the nine Muses, stands wondering +what horrible thing this may be, and Pan, embracing a Nymph who is +trembling with fear, seems to wish to save her from the glowing fires +and the lightning-flashes with which the heavens are filled. Apollo +stands in the chariot of the sun, and some of the Hours seem to be +seeking to restrain the course of his horses. Bacchus and Silenus, with +Satyrs and Nymphs, betray the greatest terror, and Vulcan, with his +ponderous hammer on one shoulder, gazes towards Hercules, who is +speaking of this event with Mercury, beside whom is Pomona all in +dismay, as are also Vertumnus and all the other Gods dispersed +throughout that Heaven, in which all the effects of fear are so well +expressed, both in those who are standing and in those who are flying, +that it is not possible, I do not say to see, but even to imagine a more +beautiful fantasy in painting than this one. + +In the parts below, that is, on the walls that stand upright, underneath +the end of the curve of the vaulting, are the Giants, some of whom, +those below Jove, have upon their backs mountains and immense rocks +which they support with their stout shoulders, in order to pile them up +and thus ascend to Heaven, while their ruin is preparing, for Jove is +thundering and the whole Heaven burning with anger against them; and it +appears not only that the Gods are dismayed by the presumptuous boldness +of the Giants, upon whom they are hurling mountains, but that the whole +world is upside down and, as it were, come to its last day. In this part +Giulio painted Briareus in a dark cavern, almost covered with vast +fragments of mountains, and the other Giants all crushed and some dead +beneath the ruins of the mountains. Besides this, through an opening in +the darkness of a grotto, which reveals a distant landscape painted with +beautiful judgment, may be seen many Giants flying, all smitten by the +thunderbolts of Jove, and, as it were, on the point of being overwhelmed +at that moment by the fragments of the mountains, like the others. In +another part Giulio depicted other Giants, upon whom are falling +temples, columns, and other pieces of buildings, making a vast slaughter +and havoc of those proud beings. And in this part, among those falling +fragments of buildings, stands the fireplace of the room, which, when +there is a fire in it, makes it appear as if the Giants are burning, for +Pluto is painted there, flying towards the centre with his chariot +drawn by lean horses, and accompanied by the Furies of Hell; and thus +Giulio, not departing from the subject of the story with this invention +of the fire, made a most beautiful adornment for the fireplace. + +In this work, moreover, in order to render it the more fearsome and +terrible, Giulio represented the Giants, huge and fantastic in aspect, +falling to the earth, smitten in various ways by the lightnings and +thunderbolts; some in the foreground and others in the background, some +dead, others wounded, and others again covered by mountains and the +ruins of buildings. Wherefore let no one ever think to see any work of +the brush more horrible and terrifying, or more natural than this one; +and whoever enters that room and sees the windows, doors, and other +suchlike things all awry and, as it were, on the point of falling, and +the mountains and buildings hurtling down, cannot but fear that +everything will fall upon him, and, above all, as he sees the Gods in +the Heaven rushing, some here, some there, and all in flight. And what +is most marvellous in the work is to see that the whole of the painting +has neither beginning nor end, but is so well joined and connected +together, without any divisions or ornamental partitions, that the +things which are near the buildings appear very large, and those in the +distance, where the landscapes are, go on receding into infinity; whence +that room, which is not more than fifteen braccia in length, has the +appearance of open country. Moreover, the pavement being of small round +stones set on edge, and the lower part of the upright walls being +painted with similar stones, there is no sharp angle to be seen, and +that level surface has the effect of a vast expanse, which was executed +with much judgment and beautiful art by Giulio, to whom our craftsmen +are much indebted for such inventions. + +In this work the above-mentioned Rinaldo Mantovano became a perfect +colourist, for he carried the whole of it into execution after the +cartoons of Giulio, as well as the other rooms. And if this painter had +not been snatched from the world so young, even as he did honour to +Giulio during his lifetime, so he would have done honour (to himself) +after Giulio's death. + +[Illustration: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GIANTS BY THE THUNDERBOLTS OF JOVE + +(_After the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Mantua: Palazzo del Tè, Sala dei +Giganti_) + +_Alinari_] + +In addition to this palace, in which Giulio executed many other works +worthy to be praised, of which, in order to avoid prolixity, I shall say +nothing, he reconstructed with masonry many rooms in the castle where +the Duke lives at Mantua, and made two very large spiral staircases, +with very rich apartments adorned all over with stucco. In one hall he +caused the whole of the story of Troy and the Trojan War to be painted, +and likewise twelve scenes in oils in an antechamber, below the heads of +the twelve Emperors previously painted there by Tiziano Vecelli, which +are all held to be excellent. In like manner, at Marmirolo, a place five +miles distant from Mantua, a most commodious building was erected after +the design of Giulio and under his direction, with large paintings no +less beautiful than those of the castle and of the palace of the Tè. The +same master painted an altar-piece in oils for the Chapel of Signora +Isabella Buschetta in S. Andrea at Mantua, of Our Lady in the act of +adoring the Infant Jesus, who is lying on the ground, with S. Joseph, +the ass and the ox near a manger, and on one side S. John the +Evangelist, and S. Longinus on the other, figures of the size of life. +Next, on the walls of the same chapel, he caused Rinaldo to paint two +very beautiful scenes after his own designs; on one, the Crucifixion of +Jesus Christ, with the Thieves, some Angels in the air, and on the +ground the ministers of the Crucifixion and the Maries, with many +horses, in which he always delighted, making them beautiful to a marvel, +and many soldiers in various attitudes; and, on the other, the scene +when the Blood of Christ was discovered in the time of the Countess +Matilda, which was a most beautiful work. + +Giulio then painted with his own hand for Duke Federigo a picture of Our +Lady washing the little Jesus Christ, who is standing in a basin, while +a little S. John is pouring out the water from a vase. Both of these +figures, which are of the size of life, are very beautiful; and in the +distance are small figures, from the waist upwards, of some ladies who +are coming to visit the Madonna. This picture was afterwards presented +by the Duke to Signora Isabella Buschetta, of which lady Giulio +subsequently made a most beautiful portrait in a little picture of the +Nativity of Christ, one braccio in height, which is now in the +possession of Signor Vespasiano Gonzaga, together with another picture +presented to him by Duke Federigo, and likewise by the hand of Giulio, +in which are a young man and a young woman embracing each other on a +bed, in the act of caressing one another, while an old woman peeps at +them secretly from behind a door--figures which are little less than +life-size, and very graceful. In the house of the same person is another +very excellent picture of a most beautiful S. Jerome, also by the hand +of Giulio. And in the possession of Count Niccola Maffei is a picture of +Alexander the Great, of the size of life, with a Victory in his hand, +copied from an ancient medal, which is a work of great beauty. + +After these works, Giulio painted in fresco over a chimney-piece, for M. +Girolamo, the organist of the Duomo at Mantua, who was very much his +friend, a Vulcan who is working his bellows with one hand and holding +with the other, with a pair of tongs, the iron head of an arrow that he +is forging, while Venus is tempering in a vase some already made and +placing them in Cupid's quiver. This is one of the most beautiful works +that Giulio ever executed; and there is little else in fresco by his +hand to be seen. For S. Domenico, at the commission of M. Lodovico da +Fermo, he painted an altar-piece of the Dead Christ, whom Joseph and +Nicodemus are preparing to lay in the sepulchre, and near them are His +Mother, the other Maries, and S. John the Evangelist. And a little +picture, in which he also painted a Dead Christ, is in the house of the +Florentine Tommaso da Empoli at Venice. + +At the same time when he was executing these and other pictures, it +happened that Signor Giovanni de' Medici, having been wounded by a +musket-ball, was carried to Mantua, where he died. Whereupon M. Pietro +Aretino, who was the devoted servant of that lord, and very much the +friend of Giulio, desired that Giulio should mould a likeness of him +with his own hand as he lay dead; and he, therefore, having taken a cast +from the face of the dead man, executed a portrait from it, which +remained for many years afterwards in the possession of the same +Aretino. + +For the entry of the Emperor Charles V into Mantua, Giulio, by order of +the Duke, made many most beautiful festive preparations in the form of +arches, scenery for dramas, and a number of other things; in which +inventions Giulio had no equal, nor was there ever any man more fanciful +in preparing masquerades and in designing extravagant costumes for +jousts, festivals, and tournaments, as was seen at that time with +amazement and marvel by the Emperor Charles and by all who were present. +Besides this, at different times he gave so many designs for chapels, +houses, gardens, and façades throughout the whole of Mantua, and he so +delighted to embellish and adorn the city, that, whereas it was formerly +buried in mud and at times full of stinking water and almost +uninhabitable, he brought it to such a condition that at the present +day, thanks to his industry, it is dry, healthy, and altogether pleasing +and delightful. + +While Giulio was in the service of that Duke, one year the Po, bursting +its banks, inundated Mantua in such a manner, that in certain low-lying +parts of the city the water rose to the height of nearly four braccia, +insomuch that for a long time frogs lived in them almost all the year +round. Giulio, therefore, after pondering in what way he might put this +right, so went to work that for the time being the city was restored to +its former condition; and to the end that the same might not happen +another time, he contrived to have the streets on that side raised so +much, by command of the Duke, that they came above the level of the +water, and the buildings stood in safety. In that part of the city the +houses were small, slightly built, and of no great importance, and he +gave orders that they should be pulled down, in order to raise the +streets and bring that quarter to a better state, and that new houses, +larger and more beautiful, should be built there, to the advantage and +improvement of the city. To this measure many opposed themselves, saying +to the Duke that Giulio was doing too much havoc; but he would not hear +any of them--nay, he made Giulio superintendent of the streets at that +very time, and decreed that no one should build in that city save under +Giulio's direction. On which account many complaining and some even +threatening Giulio, this came to the ears of the Duke, who used such +words in his favour as made it known that if they did anything to the +despite or injury of Giulio, he would count it as done to himself, and +would make an example of them. + +The Duke was so enamoured of the excellence of Giulio, that he could not +live without him; and Giulio, on his part, bore to that lord the +greatest reverence that it is possible to imagine. Wherefore he never +asked a favour for himself or for others without obtaining it, and when +he died it was found that with all that he had received from the Duke he +had an income of more than a thousand ducats. + +Giulio built a house for himself in Mantua, opposite to S. Barnaba, on +the outer side of which he made a fantastic façade, all wrought with +coloured stucco, and the interior he caused to be all painted and +wrought likewise with stucco; and he found place in it for many +antiquities brought from Rome and others received from the Duke, to whom +he gave many of his own. He made so many designs both for Mantua and for +places in its neighbourhood, that it was a thing incredible; for, as has +been told, no palaces or other buildings of importance could be erected, +particularly in the city, save after his design. He rebuilt upon the old +walls the Church of S. Benedetto, a rich and vast seat of Black Friars +at Mantua, near the Po; and the whole church was embellished with most +beautiful paintings and altar-pieces from designs by his hand. And since +his works were very highly prized throughout Lombardy, it pleased Gian +Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, to have the tribune of the Duomo of +that city all painted, as has been related in another place, by Il Moro +the Veronese, after designs by Giulio. For the Duke of Ferrara, also, he +executed many designs for tapestries, which were afterwards woven in +silk and gold by Maestro Niccolò and Giovan Battista Rosso, both +Flemings; and of these there are engravings to be seen, executed by +Giovan Battista Mantovano, who engraved a vast number of things drawn by +Giulio, and in particular, besides three drawings of battles engraved by +others, a physician who is applying cupping-glasses to the shoulders of +a woman, and the Flight of Our Lady into Egypt, with Joseph holding the +ass by the halter, and some Angels bending down a date-palm in order +that Christ may pluck the fruit. The same master engraved, also after +the designs of Giulio, the Wolf on the Tiber suckling Romulus and Remus, +and four stories of Pluto, Jove and Neptune, who are dividing the +heavens, the earth, and the sea among them by lot; and likewise the +goat Amaltheia, which, held by Melissa, is giving suck to Jove, and a +large plate of many men in a prison, tortured in various ways. There +were also printed, after the inventions of Giulio, Scipio and Hannibal +holding a parley with their armies on the banks of the river; the +Nativity of S. John the Baptist, which was engraved by Sebastiano da +Reggio, and many other works engraved and printed in Italy. In Flanders +and in France, likewise, have been printed innumerable sheets from +designs by Giulio, of which, although they are very beautiful, there is +no need to make mention, nor of all his drawings, seeing that he made +them, so to speak, in loads. Let it be enough to say that he was so +facile in every field of art, and particularly in drawing, that we have +no record of any one who has produced more than he did. + +Giulio, who was very versatile, was able to discourse on every subject, +but above all on medals, upon which he spent large sums of money and +much time, in order to gain knowledge of them. And although he was +employed almost always in great works, this did not mean that he would +not set his hand at times to the most trifling matters in order to +oblige his patron and his friends; and no sooner had one opened his +mouth to explain to him his conception than he had understood it and +drawn it. Among the many rare things that he had in his house was the +portrait from life of Albrecht Dürer on a piece of fine Rheims cloth, by +the hand of Albrecht himself, who sent it, as has been related in +another place, as a present to Raffaello da Urbino. This portrait was an +exquisite thing, for it had been coloured in gouache with much diligence +with water-colours, and Albrecht had executed it without using +lead-white, availing himself in its stead of the white of the cloth, +with the delicate threads of which he had so well rendered the hairs of +the beard, that it was a thing scarcely possible to imagine, much less +to do; and when held up to the light it showed through on either side. +This portrait, which was very dear to Giulio, he showed to me himself as +a miracle, when I went during his lifetime to Mantua on some affairs of +my own. + +At the death of Duke Federigo, by whom Giulio had been beloved beyond +belief, he was so overcome with sorrow, that he would have left Mantua, +if the Cardinal, the brother of the Duke, on whom the government of the +State had descended because the sons of Federigo were very young, had +not detained him in that city, where he had a wife and children, houses, +villas, and all the other possessions that are proper to a gentleman of +means. And this the Cardinal did (aided by those reasons) from a wish to +avail himself of the advice and assistance of Giulio in renovating, or +rather building almost entirely anew, the Duomo of that city; to which +work Giulio set his hand, and carried it well on in a very beautiful +form. + +At this time Giorgio Vasari, who was much the friend of Giulio, although +they did not know one another save only by reputation and by letters, in +going to Venice, took the road by Mantua, in order to see Giulio and his +works. And so, having arrived in that city, and going to find his +friend, when they met, although they had never seen each other, they +knew one another no less surely than if they had been together in person +a thousand times. At which Giulio was so filled with joy and +contentment, that for four days he never left him, showing him all his +works, and in particular all the ground-plans of the ancient edifices in +Rome, Naples, Pozzuolo, and Campania, and of all the other fine +antiquities of which anything is known, drawn partly by him and partly +by others. Then, opening a very large press, he showed to Giorgio the +ground-plans of all the buildings that had been erected after his +designs and under his direction, not only in Mantua and in Rome, but +throughout all Lombardy, which were so beautiful, that I, for my part, +do not believe that there are to be seen any architectural inventions +more original, more lovely, or better composed. After this, the Cardinal +asking Giorgio what he thought of the works of Giulio, Giorgio answered +in the presence of Giulio that they were such that he deserved to have a +statue of himself placed at every corner of the city, and that, since he +had given that city a new life, the half of the State would not be a +sufficient reward for the labours and abilities of Giulio; to which the +Cardinal answered that Giulio was more the master of that State than he +was himself. And since Giulio was very loving, especially towards his +friends, there was no mark of love and affection that Giorgio did not +receive from him. The same Vasari, having left Mantua and gone to +Venice, returned to Rome at the very time when Michelagnolo had just +uncovered his Last Judgment in the Chapel; and he sent to Giulio by M. +Nino Nini of Cortona, the secretary of the aforesaid Cardinal of Mantua, +three sheets containing the Seven Mortal Sins, copied from that Last +Judgment of Michelagnolo, which were welcome in no ordinary manner to +Giulio, both as being what they were, and because he had at that time to +paint a chapel in the palace for the Cardinal, and they served to +inspire him to greater things than those that he had in mind. Putting +forward all possible effort, therefore, to make a most beautiful +cartoon, he drew in it with fine fancy the scene of Peter and Andrew +leaving their nets at the call of Christ, in order to follow Him, and to +be thenceforward, not fishers of fishes, but fishers of men. And this +cartoon, which proved to be the most beautiful that Giulio had ever +made, was afterwards carried into execution by the painter Fermo +Ghisoni, a pupil of Giulio, and now an excellent master. + +Not long afterwards the superintendents of the building of S. Petronio +at Bologna, being desirous to make a beginning with the façade of that +church, succeeded after great difficulty in inducing Giulio to go there, +in company with a Milanese architect called Tofano Lombardino, a man in +great repute at that time in Lombardy for the many buildings by his hand +that were to be seen in that country. These masters, then, made many +designs, those of Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena having been lost; and one +that Giulio made, among others, was so beautiful and so well ordered, +that he rightly received very great praise for it from that people, and +was rewarded with most liberal gifts on his return to Mantua. + +Meanwhile, Antonio da San Gallo having died at Rome about that time, the +superintendents of the building of S. Pietro had been thereby left in no +little embarrassment, not knowing to whom to turn or on whom to lay the +charge of carrying that great fabric to completion after the plan +already begun; but they thought that no one could be more fitted for +this than Giulio Romano, for they all knew how great were his worth and +excellence. And so, surmising that he would accept such a charge more +than willingly in order to repatriate himself in an honourable manner +and with a good salary, they caused some of his friends to approach him, +but in vain, for the reason that, although he would have gone with the +greatest willingness, two things prevented him--the Cardinal would in no +way consent to his departure, and his wife, with her relatives and +friends, used every possible means to dissuade him. Neither of these two +reasons, perchance, would have prevailed with him, if he had not +happened to be in somewhat feeble health at that time; for, having +considered how much honour and profit he might secure for himself and +his children by accepting so handsome a proposal, he was already fully +disposed to make every effort not to be hindered in the matter by the +Cardinal, when his malady began to grow worse. However, since it had +been ordained on high that he should go no more to Rome, and that this +should be the end and conclusion of his life, in a few days, what with +his vexation and his malady, he died at Mantua, which city might well +have allowed him, even as he had embellished her, so also to honour and +adorn his native city of Rome. + +Giulio died at the age of fifty-four, leaving only one male child, to +whom he had given the name of Raffaello out of regard for the memory of +his master. This young Raffaello had scarcely learned the first +rudiments of art, showing signs of being destined to become an able +master, when he also died, not many years after, together with his +mother, Giulio's wife; wherefore there remained no descendant of Giulio +save a daughter called Virginia, who still lives in Mantua, married to +Ercole Malatesta. Giulio, whose death was an infinite grief to all who +knew him, was given burial in S. Barnaba, where it was proposed that +some honourable memorial should be erected to him; but his wife and +children, postponing the matter from one day to another, themselves died +for the most part without doing anything. It is indeed a sad thing that +there has been no one who has treasured in any way the memory of a man +who did so much to adorn that city, save only those who availed +themselves of his services, who have often remembered him in their +necessities. But his own talent, which did him so much honour in his +lifetime, has secured for him after death, in the form of his own works, +an everlasting monument which time, with all its years, can never +destroy. + +Giulio was neither tall nor short of stature, and rather stout than +slight in build. He had black hair, beautiful features, and eyes dark +and merry, and he was very loving, regular in all his actions, and +frugal in eating, but fond of dressing and living in honourable fashion. +He had disciples in plenty, but the best were Giovanni da Lione, +Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo, Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, Figurino da +Faenza, Rinaldo Mantovano, Giovan Battista Mantovano, and Fermo Ghisoni, +who still lives in Mantua and does him honour, being an excellent +painter. And the same may be said for Benedetto, who has executed many +works in his native city of Pescia, and an altar-piece for the Duomo of +Pisa, which is in the Office of Works, and also a picture of Our Lady in +which, with a poetical invention full of grace and beauty, he painted a +figure of Florence presenting to her the dignities of the House of +Medici; which picture is now in the possession of Signor Mondragone, a +Spaniard much in favour with that most illustrious lord the Prince of +Florence. + +Giulio died on the day of All Saints in the year 1546, and over his tomb +was placed the following epitaph: + + ROMANUS MORIENS SECUM TRES JULIUS ARTES + ABSTULIT, HAUD MIRUM, QUATUOR UNUS ERAT. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] Giuliano Leno. + + + + +FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + + + + +LIFE OF FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + +PAINTER + + +The first profession of Sebastiano, so many declare, was not painting, +but music, since, besides being a singer, he much delighted to play +various kinds of instruments, and particularly the lute, because on that +instrument all the parts can be played, without any accompaniment. This +art made him for a time very dear to the gentlemen of Venice, with whom, +as a man of talent, he always associated on intimate terms. Then, having +been seized while still young with a desire to give his attention to +painting, he learned the first rudiments from Giovanni Bellini, at that +time an old man. And afterwards, when Giorgione da Castelfranco had +established in that city the methods of the modern manner, with its +superior harmony and its brilliancy of colouring, Sebastiano left +Giovanni and placed himself under Giorgione, with whom he stayed so long +that in great measure he acquired his manner. He thus executed in Venice +some portraits from life that were very like; among others, that of the +Frenchman Verdelotto, a most excellent musician, who was then +chapel-master in S. Marco, and in the same picture that of his companion +Uberto, a singer, which picture Verdelotto took with him to Florence +when he became chapel-master in S. Giovanni; and at the present day the +sculptor Francesco da San Gallo has it in his house. About that time he +also painted for S. Giovanni Grisostomo at Venice an altar-piece with +some figures which incline so much to the manner of Giorgione, that they +have been sometimes held by people without much knowledge of the matters +of art to be by the hand of Giorgione himself. This altar-piece is very +beautiful, and executed with such a manner of colouring that it has +great relief. + +The fame of the abilities of Sebastiano thus spreading abroad, Agostino +Chigi of Siena, a very rich merchant, who had many affairs in Venice, +hearing him much praised in Rome, sought to draw him to that city, being +attracted towards him because, besides his painting, he knew so well how +to play on the lute, and was sweet and pleasant in his conversation. Nor +was it very difficult to draw Sebastiano to Rome, since he knew how much +that place had always been the benefactress and common mother-city of +all beautiful intellects, and he went thither with no ordinary +willingness. Having therefore gone to Rome, Agostino set him to work, +and the first thing that he caused him to do was to paint the little +arches that are over the loggia which looks into the garden of +Agostino's palace in the Trastevere, where Baldassarre of Siena had +painted all the vaulting, on which little arches Sebastiano painted some +poetical compositions in the manner that he had brought from Venice, +which was very different from that which was followed in Rome by the +able painters of that day. After this work, Raffaello having executed a +story of Galatea in the same place, Sebastiano, at the desire of +Agostino, painted beside it a Polyphemus in fresco, in which, spurred by +rivalry with Baldassarre of Siena and then with Raffaello, he strove his +utmost to surpass himself, whatever may have been the result. He +likewise painted some works in oils, for which, from his having learned +from Giorgione a method of colouring of no little softness, he was held +in vast account at Rome. + +[Illustration: FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO: PORTRAIT OF A LADY + +(_Florence; Uffizi, 1123. Canvas_)] + +While Sebastiano was executing these works in Rome, Raffaello da Urbino +had risen into such credit as a painter, that his friends and adherents +said that his pictures were more in accord with the rules of painting +than those of Michelagnolo, being pleasing in colour, beautiful in +invention, and charming in the expressions, with design in keeping with +the rest; and that those of Buonarroti had none of those qualities, with +the exception of the design. And for such reasons these admirers judged +that in the whole field of painting Raffaello was, if not more excellent +than Michelagnolo, at least his equal; but in colouring they would have +it that he surpassed Buonarroti without a doubt. These humours, having +spread among a number of craftsmen who preferred the grace of +Raffaello to the profundity of Michelagnolo, had so increased that many, +for various reasons of interest, were more favourable in their judgments +to Raffaello than to Michelagnolo. But Sebastiano was in no way a +follower of that faction, since, being a man of exquisite judgment, he +knew the value of each of the two to perfection. The mind of +Michelagnolo, therefore, drew towards Sebastiano, whose colouring and +grace pleased him much, and he took him under his protection, thinking +that, if he were to assist Sebastiano in design, he would be able by +this means, without working himself, to confound those who held such an +opinion, remaining under cover of a third person as judge to decide +which of them was the best. + +While the matter stood thus, and some works that Sebastiano had executed +were being much extolled, and even exalted to infinite heights on +account of the praise that Michelagnolo bestowed on them, besides the +fact that they were in themselves beautiful and worthy of praise, a +certain person from Viterbo, I know not who, much in favour with the +Pope, commissioned Sebastiano to paint a Dead Christ, with a Madonna who +is weeping over Him, for a chapel that he had caused to be built in S. +Francesco at Viterbo. That work was held by all who saw it to be truly +most beautiful, for the invention and the cartoon were by Michelagnolo, +although it was finished with great diligence by Sebastiano, who painted +in it a dark landscape that was much extolled, and thereby Sebastiano +acquired very great credit, and confirmed the opinions of those who +favoured him. Wherefore Pier Francesco Borgherini, a Florentine +merchant, who had taken over a chapel in S. Pietro in Montorio, which is +on the right as one enters the church, allotted it at the suggestion of +Michelagnolo to Sebastiano, because Borgherini thought that Michelagnolo +would execute the design of the whole work, as indeed he did. +Sebastiano, therefore, having set to work, executed it with such zeal +and diligence, that it was held to be, as it is, a very beautiful piece +of painting. From the small design by Michelagnolo he made some larger +ones for his own convenience, and one of these, a very beautiful thing, +which he drew with his own hand, is in our book. Thinking that he had +discovered the true method of painting in oils on walls, Sebastiano +covered the rough-cast of that chapel with an incrustation which seemed +to him likely to be suitable for this purpose; and the whole of that +part in which is Christ being scourged at the Column he executed in oils +on the wall. Nor must I omit to tell that many believe not only that +Michelagnolo made the small design for this work, but also that the +above-mentioned Christ who is being scourged at the Column was outlined +by him, for there is a vast difference between the excellence of this +figure and that of the others. Even if Sebastiano had executed no other +work but this, for it alone he would deserve to be praised to all +eternity, seeing that, in addition to the heads, which are very well +painted, there are in the work some hands and feet of great beauty; and +although his manner was a little hard, on account of the labour that he +endured in the things that he counterfeited, nevertheless he can be +numbered among the good and praiseworthy craftsmen. Above this scene he +painted two Prophets in fresco, and on the vaulting the Transfiguration; +and the two Saints, S. Peter and S. Francis, who are on either side of +the scene below, are very bold and animated figures. It is true that he +laboured for six years over this little work, but when works are +executed to perfection, one should not consider whether they have been +finished quickly or slowly, although more praise is due to him who +carries his labours to completion both quickly and well; and he who +pleads haste as an excuse when his works do not give satisfaction, +unless he has been forced to it, is accusing rather than excusing +himself. When this work was uncovered, it was seen that Sebastiano had +done well, although he had toiled much over painting it, so that the +evil tongues were silenced and there were few who found fault with him. + +[Illustration: THE FLAGELLATION + +(_After the oil fresco by =Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo=. Rome: +S. Pietro in Montorio_) + +_Anderson_] + +After this, when Raffaello painted for Cardinal de' Medici, for sending +to France, that altar-piece containing the Transfiguration of Christ +which was placed after his death on the principal altar of S. Pietro a +Montorio, Sebastiano also executed at the same time another altar-piece +of the same size, as it were in competition with Raffaello, of Lazarus +being raised from the dead four days after death, which was +counterfeited and painted with supreme diligence under the direction of +Michelagnolo, and in some parts from his design. These altar-pieces, +when finished, were publicly exhibited together in the Consistory, +and were vastly extolled, both the one and the other; and although the +works of Raffaello had no equals in their perfect grace and beauty, +nevertheless the labours of Sebastiano were also praised by all without +exception. One of these pictures was sent by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici +to his episcopal palace at Narbonne in France, and the other was placed +in the Cancelleria, where it remained until it was taken to S. Pietro a +Montorio, together with the ornamental frame that Giovan Barile executed +for it. By means of this work Sebastiano became closely connected with +the Cardinal, and was therefore honourably rewarded during his +pontificate. + +Not long afterwards, Raffaello having passed away, the first place in +the art of painting was unanimously granted by all, thanks to the favour +of Michelagnolo, to Sebastiano, and Giulio Romano, Giovan Francesco of +Florence, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro, Maturino, Baldassarre of Siena, and +all the others had to give way. Wherefore Agostino Chigi, who had been +having a chapel and tomb built for himself under the direction of +Raffaello in S. Maria del Popolo, came to an agreement with Sebastiano +that he should paint it all; whereupon the screen was made, but the +chapel remained covered, without ever being seen by anyone, until the +year 1554, at which time Luigi, the son of Agostino, resolved that, +although his father had not been able to see it finished, he at least +would do so. And so, the chapel and the altar-piece being entrusted to +Francesco Salviati, he carried the work in a short time to that +perfection which it had not received from the dilatory and irresolute +Sebastiano, who, so far as one can see, did little work there, although +we find that he obtained from the liberality of Agostino and his heirs +much more than would have been due to him even if he had finished it +completely, which he did not do, either because he was weary of the +labours of art, or because he was too much wrapped up in comforts and +pleasures. And he did the same to M. Filippo da Siena, Clerk of the +Chamber, for whom he began a scene in oils on the wall above the +high-altar of the Pace at Rome, and never finished it; wherefore the +friars, in despair about it, were obliged to take away the staging, +which obstructed their church, to cover the work with a cloth, and to +have patience for as long as the life of Sebastiano lasted. After his +death, the friars uncovered the work, and it was found that what he had +done was most beautiful painting, for the reason that in the part where +he represented Our Lady visiting S. Elizabeth, there are many women +portrayed from life that are very beautiful, and painted with consummate +grace. But it may be seen here that this man endured extraordinary +labour in all the works that he produced, and that he was not able to +execute them with that facility which nature and study are wont at times +to give to him who delights in working and exercises his hand +continually. And of the truth of this there is also a proof in the same +Pace, in the Chapel of Agostino Chigi, where Raffaello had executed the +Sibyls and Prophets; for Sebastiano, wishing to paint some things on the +stone in the niche that remained to be painted below, in order to +surpass Raffaello, caused it to be incrusted with peperino-stone, the +joinings being filled in with fired stucco; but he spent so much time on +cogitations that he left the wall bare, for, after it had remained thus +for ten years, he died. + +It is true that a few portraits from life could be obtained with ease +from Sebastiano, because he could finish these with more facility and +promptitude; but it was quite otherwise with stories and other figures. +To tell the truth, the painting of portraits from life was his proper +vocation, as may be seen from the portrait of Marc' Antonio Colonna, +which is so well executed that it seems to be alive, and also from those +of Ferdinando, Marquis of Pescara, and of Signora Vittoria Colonna, +which are very beautiful. He likewise made a portrait of Adrian VI when +he first arrived in Rome, and one of Cardinal Hincfort. That Cardinal +desired that Sebastiano should paint for him a chapel in S. Maria de +Anima at Rome; but he kept putting him off from one day to another, and +the Cardinal finally had it painted by the Fleming Michael, his +compatriot, who painted there in fresco stories from the life of S. +Barbara, imitating our Italian manner very well; and in the altar-piece +he made a portrait of the same Cardinal. + +But returning to Sebastiano: he also took a portrait of Signor Federigo +da Bozzolo, and one of a captain in armour, I know not who, which is in +the possession of Giulio de' Nobili at Florence. He painted a woman in +Roman dress, which is in the house of Luca Torrigiani; and Giovan +Battista Cavalcanti has a head by the same master's hand, which is not +completely finished. He executed a picture of Our Lady covering the +Child with a piece of drapery, which was a rare work; and Cardinal +Farnese now has it in his guardaroba. And he sketched, but did not carry +to completion, a very beautiful altar-piece of S. Michael standing over +a large figure of the Devil, which was to be sent to the King of France, +who had previously received a picture by the hand of the same master. + +Then, after Cardinal Giulio de' Medici had been elected Supreme Pontiff +and had taken the name of Clement VII, he gave Sebastiano to understand +through the Bishop of Vasona that the time to show him favour had come, +and that he would become aware of this when the occasion arose. And in +the meantime, while living in these high hopes, Sebastiano, who had no +equal in portrait-painting, executed many from life, and among others +one of Pope Clement, who was not then wearing a beard, or rather, two of +him, one of which came into the possession of the Bishop of Vasona, and +the other, which is much larger, showing a seated figure from the knees +upwards, is in the house of Sebastiano at Rome. He also painted a +portrait of the Florentine Anton Francesco degli Albizzi, who happened +to be then in Rome on some business, and he made it such that it +appeared to be not painted but really alive; wherefore Anton Francesco +sent it to Florence as a pearl of great price. The head and hands of +this portrait were things truly marvellous, to say nothing of the +beautiful execution of the velvets, the linings, the satins, and all the +other parts of the picture; and since Sebastiano was indeed superior to +all other men in the perfect delicacy and excellence of his +portrait-painting, all Florence was amazed at this portrait of Anton +Francesco. + +At this same time he also executed a portrait of Messer Pietro Aretino, +and made it such that, besides being a good likeness, it is an +astounding piece of painting, for there may be seen in it five or six +different kinds of black in the clothes that he is wearing--velvet, +satin, ormuzine, damask, and cloth--and, over and above those blacks, a +beard of the deepest black, painted in such beautiful detail, that the +real beard could not be more natural. This figure holds in the hand a +branch of laurel and a scroll, on which is written the name of Clement +VII; and in front are two masks, one of Virtue, which is beautiful, and +another of Vice, which is hideous. This picture M. Pietro presented to +his native city, and the people of Arezzo have placed it in their public +Council Chamber, thus doing honour to the memory of their talented +fellow-citizen, and also receiving no less from him. After this, +Sebastiano made a portrait of Andrea Doria, which was in like manner an +admirable work, and a head of the Florentine Baccio Valori, which was +also beautiful beyond belief. + +In the meantime Fra Mariano Fetti, Friar of the Piombo, died, and +Sebastiano, remembering the promises made to him by the above-mentioned +Bishop of Vasona, master of the household to His Holiness, asked for the +office of the Piombo; whereupon, although Giovanni da Udine, who had +also done much in the service of His Holiness "in minoribus," and still +continued to serve him, asked for the same office, the Pope, moved by +the prayers of the Bishop, and also thinking that the talents of +Sebastiano deserved it, ordained that Sebastiano should have the office, +but should pay out of it to Giovanni da Udine an allowance of three +hundred crowns. Thus Sebastiano assumed the friar's habit, and +straightway felt his soul changed thereby, for, perceiving that he now +had the means to satisfy his desires, he spent his time in repose +without touching a brush, and recompensed himself with his comforts and +his revenues for many misspent nights and laborious days; and whenever +he happened to have something to do, he would drag himself to the work +with such reluctance, that he might have been going to his death. From +which one may learn how much our reason and the little wisdom of men are +deceived, in that very often, nay, almost always, we covet the very +opposite to that which we really need, and, as the Tuscan proverb has +it, in thinking to cross ourselves with a finger, poke it into our own +eyes. It is the common opinion of men that rewards and honours spur the +minds of mortals to the studies of those arts which they see to be the +best remunerated, and that, on the contrary, to see that those who +labour at these arts are not recompensed by such men as have the means, +causes the same students to grow negligent and to abandon them. And for +this reason both ancients and moderns censure as strongly as they are +able those Princes who do not support every kind of man of talent, and +who do not give due honour and reward to all who labour valiantly in the +arts. But, although this rule is for the most part a good one, it may be +seen, nevertheless, that at times the liberality of just and magnanimous +Princes produces the contrary effect, for the reason that many are more +useful and helpful to the world in a low or mediocre condition than they +are when raised to greatness and to an abundance of all good things. And +here we have an example, for the magnificent liberality of Clement VII, +bestowing too rich a reward on Sebastiano Viniziano, who had done +excellent work as a painter in his service, was the reason that he +changed from a zealous and industrious craftsman into one most idle and +negligent, and that, whereas he laboured continually while he was living +in poor circumstances and the rivalry between him and Raffaello da +Urbino lasted, he did quite the opposite when he had enough for his +contentment. + +Be this as it may, let us leave it to the judgment of wise Princes to +consider how, when, towards whom, in what manner, and by what rule, they +should exercise their liberality in the case of craftsmen and men of +talent, and let us return to Sebastiano. After he had been made Friar of +the Piombo, he executed for the Patriarch of Aquileia, with great +labour, Christ bearing the Cross, a half-length figure painted on +stone--a work which was much extolled, particularly for the head and the +hands, parts in which Sebastiano was truly most excellent. Not long +afterwards the niece of the Pope, who in time became Queen of France, as +she still is, having arrived in Rome, Fra Sebastiano began a portrait of +her; but this remained unfinished in the guardaroba of the Pope. And a +short time after this, Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici having become +enamoured of Signora Giulia Gonzaga, who was then living at Fondi, that +Cardinal sent Sebastiano to that place, accompanied by four light +horsemen, to take her portrait; and within a month he finished that +portrait, which, being taken from the celestial beauty of that lady by +a hand so masterly, proved to be a divine picture. Wherefore, after it +had been carried to Rome, the labours of that craftsman were richly +rewarded by the Cardinal, who declared that this portrait surpassed by a +great measure all those that Sebastiano had ever executed up to that +day, as indeed it did; and the work was afterwards sent to King Francis +of France, who had it placed in his Palace of Fontainebleau. + +[Illustration: ANDREA DORIA + +(_After the painting by =Fra Sebastiano del Piombo=. Rome: Palazzo +Doria_) + +_Anderson_] + +This painter then introduced a new method of painting on stone, which +pleased people greatly, for it appeared that by this means pictures +could be made eternal, and such that neither fire nor worms could harm +them. Wherefore he began to paint many pictures on stone in this manner, +surrounding them with ornaments of variegated kinds of stone, which, +being polished, formed a very beautiful setting; although it is true +that these pictures, with their ornaments, when finished, could not be +transported or even moved, on account of their great weight, save with +the greatest difficulty. Many persons, then, attracted by the novelty of +the work and by the beauty of his art, gave him earnest-money, in order +that he might execute some for them; but he, delighting more to talk +about such pictures than to work at them, always kept delaying +everything. Nevertheless he executed on stone a Dead Christ with the +Madonna, with an ornament also of stone, for Don Ferrante Gonzaga, who +sent it to Spain. The whole work together was held to be very beautiful, +and Sebastiano was paid five hundred crowns for the painting by Messer +Niccolò da Cortona, agent in Rome for the Cardinal of Mantua. In this +kind of painting Sebastiano was truly worthy of praise, for the reason +that whereas Domenico, his compatriot, who was the first to paint in +oils on walls, and after him Andrea dal Castagno, Antonio Pollaiuolo, and +Piero Pollaiuolo, failed to find the means of preventing the figures +executed by them in this manner from becoming black and fading away very +quickly, Sebastiano did find it; wherefore the Christ at the Column, +which he painted in S. Pietro in Montorio, has never changed down to our +own time, and has the same freshness of colouring as on the first day. +For he went about the work with such diligence that he used to make the +coarse rough-cast of lime with a mixture of mastic and colophony, +which, after melting it all together over the fire and applying it to +the wall, he would then cause to be smoothed over with a mason's trowel +made red-hot, or rather white-hot, in the fire; and his works have +therefore been able to resist the damp and to preserve their colour very +well without suffering any change. With the same mixture he worked on +peperino-stone, white and variegated marble, porphyry, and slabs of +other very hard kinds of stone, materials on which paintings can last a +very long time; not to mention that this has shown how one may paint on +silver, copper, tin, and other metals. + +This man found so much pleasure in cogitating and discoursing, that he +would spend whole days without working; and when he did force himself to +work, it was evident that he was suffering greatly in his mind, which +was the chief reason that he was of the opinion that no price was large +enough to pay for his works. For Cardinal Rangoni he painted a picture +of a nude and very beautiful S. Agatha being tortured in the breasts, +which was an exquisite work, and this picture is now in the guardaroba +of Signor Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, and is in no way inferior to the +many other most beautiful pictures that are there, by the hands of +Raffaello da Urbino, Tiziano, and others. He also made a portrait from +life of Signor Piero Gonzaga, painted in oils on stone, which was a very +fine work; but he toiled for three years over finishing it. + +Now, when Michelagnolo was in Florence in the time of Pope Clement, +engaged in the work of the new Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, Giuliano +Bugiardini wished to paint for Baccio Valori a picture with the head of +Pope Clement and that of Baccio himself, and another for Messer +Ottaviano de' Medici of the same Pontiff and the Archbishop of Capua. +Michelagnolo therefore sent to Sebastiano to ask him to despatch from +Rome a head of the Pope painted in oils with his own hand; and +Sebastiano painted one, which proved to be very beautiful, and sent it +to him. After Giuliano had made use of the head and had finished his +pictures, Michelagnolo, who was a close companion of the said Messer +Ottaviano, made him a present of it; and of a truth, among the many +heads that Fra Sebastiano executed, this is the most beautiful of all +and the best likeness, as may be seen in the house of the heirs of +Messer Ottaviano. The same master also took the portrait of Pope Paul +Farnese, as soon as he was elected Supreme Pontiff; and he began one of +the Duke of Castro, his son, but left it unfinished, as he did with many +other works with which he had made a beginning. + +Fra Sebastiano had a passing good house which he had built for himself +near the Popolo, and there he lived in the greatest contentment, without +troubling to paint or work any more. He used often to say that it was a +great fatigue to have to restrain in old age those ardours which in +youth craftsmen are wont to welcome out of emulation and a desire for +profit and honour, and that it was no less wise for a man to live in +peace than to spend his days in restless labour in order to leave a name +behind him after death, for all his works and labours had also in the +end, sooner or later, to die. And even as he said these things, so he +carried them into practice as well as he was able, for he always sought +to have for his table all the best wines and the rarest luxuries that +could be found, holding life in more account than art. Being much the +friend of all men of talent, he often had Molza and Messer Gandolfo to +supper, making right good cheer. He was also the intimate friend of +Messer Francesco Berni, the Florentine, who wrote a poem to him; to +which Fra Sebastiano answered with another, passing well, for, being +very versatile, he was even able to set his hand to writing humorous +Tuscan verse. + +Having been reproached by certain persons, who said that it was shameful +that he would no longer work now that he had the means to live, Fra +Sebastiano replied in this manner: "Why will I not work now that I have +the means to live? Because there are now in the world men of genius who +do in two months what I used to do in two years; and I believe that if I +live long enough, and not so long, either, I shall find that everything +has been painted. And since these stalwarts can do so much, it is well +that there should also be one who does nothing, to the end that they may +have the more to do." With these and similar pleasantries Fra Sebastiano +was always diverting himself, being a man who was never anything but +humorous and amusing; and, in truth, a better companion never lived. + +Sebastiano, as has been related, was much beloved by Michelagnolo. But +it is also true that when the front wall of the Papal Chapel, where +there is now the Last Judgment by the same Buonarroti, was to be +painted, there did arise some disdain between them, for Fra Sebastiano +had persuaded the Pope that he should make Michelagnolo paint it in +oils, whereas the latter would only do it in fresco. Now, Michelagnolo +saying neither yea nor nay, the wall was prepared after the fashion of +Fra Sebastiano, and Michelagnolo stood thus for some months without +setting his hand to the work. But at last, after being pressed, he said +that he would only do it in fresco, and that painting in oils was an art +for women and for leisurely and idle people like Fra Sebastiano. And so, +after the incrustation laid on by order of the friar had been stripped +off, and the whole surface had been covered with rough-cast in a manner +suitable for working in fresco, Michelagnolo set his hand to the work; +but he never forgot the affront that he considered himself to have +received from Fra Sebastiano, against whom he felt hatred almost to the +day of the friar's death. + +Finally, after Fra Sebastiano had come to such a state that he would not +work or do any other thing but attend to the duties of his office as +Friar of the Piombo, and enjoy the pleasures of life, at the age of +sixty-two he fell sick of a most acute fever, which, being a ruddy +person and of a full habit of body, threw him into such a heat that he +rendered up his soul to God in a few days, after making a will and +directing that his body should be carried to the tomb without any +ceremony of priests or friars, or expenditure on lights, and that all +that would have been spent thus should be distributed to poor persons, +for the love of God; and so it was done. He was buried in the Church of +the Popolo, in the month of June of the year 1547. Art suffered no great +loss in his death, seeing that, as soon as he assumed the habit of Friar +of the Piombo, he might have been numbered among those lost to her; +although it is true that he was regretted for his pleasant conversation +by many friends as well as craftsmen. + +Many young men worked under Sebastiano at various times in order to +learn art, but they made little proficience, for from his example they +learned little but the art of good living, excepting only Tommaso +Laureti, a Sicilian, who, besides many other works, has executed a +picture full of grace at Bologna, of a very beautiful Venus, with Love +embracing and kissing her, which picture is in the house of M. Francesco +Bolognetti. He has also painted a portrait of Signor Bernardino Savelli, +which is much extolled, and some other works of which there is no need +to make mention. + + + + +PERINO DEL VAGA + + + + +LIFE OF PERINO DEL VAGA + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +A truly great gift is art, who, paying no regard to abundance of riches, +to high estate, or to nobility of blood, embraces, protects, and uplifts +from the ground a child of poverty much more often than one wrapped in +the ease of wealth. And this Heaven does in order to show how much power +the influences of its stars and constellations have over us, +distributing more of its favours to one, and to another less; which +influences are for the most part the reason that we mortals come to be +born with dispositions more or less fiery or sluggish, weak or strong, +fierce or gentle, fortunate or unfortunate, and richer or poorer in +talent. And whoever has any doubt of this, will be enlightened in this +present Life of Perino del Vaga, a painter of great excellence and +genius. + +This Perino, the son of a poor father, having been left an orphan as a +little child and abandoned by his relatives, was guided and governed by +art, whom he always acknowledged as his true mother and honoured without +ceasing. And the studies of the art of painting were pursued by him with +such zeal and diligence, that he was enabled in due time to execute +those noble and famous decorations which have brought so much glory to +Genoa and to Prince Doria. Wherefore we may believe without a doubt that +it is Heaven that raises men from those infinite depths in which they +were born, to that summit of greatness to which they ascend, when they +prove by labouring valiantly at their works that they are true followers +of the sciences that they have chosen to learn; even as Perino chose and +pursued as his vocation the art of design, in which he proved himself +full of grace and most excellent, or rather, absolutely perfect. And he +not only equalled the ancients in stucco-work, but also equalled the +best modern craftsmen in the whole field of painting, displaying all the +excellence that could possibly be desired in a human intellect that +seeks, in solving the difficulties of that art, to achieve beauty, +grace, charm, and delicacy with colouring and with every other kind of +ornament. + +But let us speak more particularly of his origin. There lived in the +city of Florence one Giovanni Buonaccorsi, who entered the service of +Charles VIII, King of France, and fought in his wars, and, being a +spirited and open-handed young man, spent all that he possessed in that +service and in gaming, and finally lost his life therein. To him was +born a son, who received the name of Piero; and this son, after being +left as an infant of two months old without his mother, who died of +plague, was reared in the greatest misery at a farm, being suckled by a +goat, until his father, having gone to Bologna, took as his second wife +a woman whose husband and children had died of plague; and she, with her +plague-infected milk, finished nursing Piero, who was now called +Pierino[27] (a pet name such as it is a general custom to give to little +children), and retained that name ever afterwards. He was then taken to +Florence by his father, who, on returning to France, left him with some +relatives; and they, either because they had not the means, or because +they would not accept the burdensome charge of maintaining him and +having him taught some ingenious vocation, placed him with the +apothecary of the Pinadoro, to the end that he might learn that calling. +But, not liking that profession, he was taken as shop-boy by the painter +Andrea de' Ceri, who was pleased with the air and the ways of Perino, +and thought that he saw in him a certain lively spirit of intelligence +from which it might be hoped that in time some good fruits would issue +from him. Andrea was no great painter; quite commonplace, indeed, and +one of those who stand openly and publicly in their workshops, executing +any kind of work, however mean; and he was wont to paint every year for +the festival of S. John certain wax tapers which were carried as +offerings, as they still are, together with the other tributes of the +city; for which reason he was called Andrea de' Ceri, and from that +name Perino was afterwards called for some time Perino de' Ceri. + +Andrea, then, took care of Perino for some years, teaching him the +rudiments of art as well as he could; but when the boy had reached the +age of eleven, he was forced to seek for him some master better than +himself. And so, having a straight friendship with Ridolfo, the son of +Domenico Ghirlandajo, who, as will be related, was held to be able and +well practised in painting, Andrea de' Ceri placed Perino with him, to +the end that he might give his attention to design, and strive with all +the zeal and love at his command to make in that art the proficience of +which his great genius gave promise. Whereupon, pursuing his studies, +among the many young men whom Ridolfo had in his workshop, all engaged +in learning art, in a short time Perino came to surpass all the rest, so +great were his ardour and his eagerness. Among them was one named Toto +del Nunziata, who was to him as a spur to urge him on continually; which +Toto, likewise attaining in time to equality with the finest intellects, +departed from Florence and made his way with some Florentine merchants +to England, where he executed all his works, and was very richly +rewarded by the King of that country, whom he also served in +architecture, erecting, in particular, his principal palace. He and +Perino, then, working in emulation of one another, and pursuing the +studies of art with supreme diligence, after no long time became very +excellent. And Perino, drawing from the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti in company with other young men, both Florentines and +strangers, won and held the first place among them all, insomuch that he +was regarded with that expectation which was afterwards fulfilled in the +beautiful works that he executed with so much excellence and art. + +There came to Florence at that time the Florentine painter Vaga, a +master of no great excellence, who was executing commonplace works at +Toscanella in the province of Rome. Having a superabundance of work, he +was in need of assistance, and he desired to take back with him a +companion and also a young man who might help him in design, in which he +was wanting, and in the other matters of art. Now this painter, having +seen Perino drawing in the workshop of Ridolfo together with the other +young men, found him so superior to them all, that he was astonished; +and, what is more, he was pleased with his appearance and his ways, for +Perino was a very beautiful youth, most courteous, modest, and gentle, +and every part of his body was in keeping with the nobility of his mind; +wherefore Vaga was so charmed with him, that he asked him whether he +would go with him to Rome, saying that he would not fail to assist him +in his studies, and promising him such benefits and conditions as he +might demand. So great was the desire that Perino had to attain to +excellence in his profession, that, when he heard Rome mentioned, +through his eagerness to see that city, he was deeply moved; but he told +him that he must speak to Andrea de' Ceri, who had supported him up to +that time, so that he was loth to abandon him. And so Vaga, having +persuaded Ridolfo, Perino's master, and Andrea, who maintained him, so +contrived that in the end he took Perino, with the companion, to +Toscanella. There Perino began to work and to assist them, and they +finished not only the work that Vaga had undertaken, but also many that +they undertook afterwards. But Perino complained that the promise of +seeing Rome, by which he had been brought from Florence, was not being +fulfilled, in consequence of the profit and advantage that Vaga was +drawing from his services, and he resolved to go thither by himself; +which was the reason that Vaga, leaving all his works, took him to Rome. +And there, through the love that he bore to art, Perino returned to his +former work of drawing and continued at it many weeks, growing more +ardent every day. But Vaga wished to return to Toscanella, and therefore +made him known, as one belonging to himself, to many commonplace +painters, and also recommended him to all the friends that he had there, +to the end that they might assist and favour him in his absence; from +which circumstance he was always called from that day onward Perino del +Vaga. + +[Illustration: THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA + +(_After the fresco by =Perino del Vaga=. Rome: The Vatican, Loggia_) + +_Anderson_] + +Thus left in Rome, and seeing the ancient works of sculpture and the +marvellous masses of buildings, reduced for the most part to ruins, +Perino stood lost in admiration at the greatness of the many renowned +and illustrious men who had executed those works. And so, becoming ever +more and more aflame with love of art, he burned unceasingly to +attain to a height not too far distant from those masters, in order +to win fame and profit for himself with his works, even as had been done +by those at whom he marvelled as he beheld their beautiful creations. +And while he contemplated their greatness and the depths of his own +lowliness and poverty, reflecting that he possessed nothing save the +desire to rise to their height, and that, having no one who might +maintain him and provide him with the means to live, he was forced, if +he wished to remain alive, to labour at work for those ordinary shops, +now with one painter and now with another, after the manner of the +day-labourers in the fields, a mode of life which so hindered his +studies, he felt infinite grief and pain in his heart at not being able +to make as soon as he would have liked that proficience to which his +mind, his will, and his necessities were urging him. He made the +resolve, therefore, to divide his time equally, working half the week at +day work, and during the other half devoting his attention to design; +and to this second half he added all the feast-days, together with a +great part of the nights, thus stealing time from time itself, in order +to become famous and to escape from the hands of others so far as it +might be possible. + +Having carried this intention into execution, he began to draw in the +Chapel of Pope Julius, where the vaulting had been painted by +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, following both his methods and the manner of +Raffaello da Urbino. And then, going on to the ancient works in marble +and also to the grotesques in the grottoes under the ground, which +pleased him through their novelty, he learned the methods of working in +stucco, gaining his bread meanwhile by grievous labour, and enduring +every hardship in order to become excellent in his profession. Nor had +any long time passed before he became the best and most finished +draughtsman that there was among all who were drawing in Rome, for the +reason that he had, perhaps, a better knowledge of muscles and of the +difficult art of depicting the nude than many others who were held to be +among the best masters at that time; which was the reason that he became +known not only to the men of his profession, but also to many lords and +prelates. And, in particular, Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, called +Il Fattore, disciples of Raffaello da Urbino, having praised him not a +little to their master, roused in him a desire to know Perino and to see +his works in drawing; which having pleased him, and together with his +work his manner, his spirit, and his ways of life, he declared that +among all the young men that he had known, Perino would attain to the +highest perfection in that art. + +Meanwhile Raffaello da Urbino had built the Papal Loggie, by the command +of Leo X; and the same Pope ordered that Raffaello should also have them +adorned with stucco, painted, and gilded, according as it should seem +best to him. Thereupon Raffaello placed at the head of that enterprise, +for the stucco-work and the grotesques, Giovanni da Udine, who was very +excellent and without an equal in such works, but mostly in executing +animals, fruits, and other little things. And since he had chosen in +Rome and summoned from other parts a great number of masters, he had +assembled together a company of men each very able at his own work, one +in stucco, another in grotesques, a third in foliage, a fourth in +festoons, another in scenes, and others in other things; and according +as they improved they were brought forward and paid higher salaries, so +that by competing in that work many young men attained to great +perfection, who were afterwards held to be excellent in their various +fields of art. Among that company Perino was assigned to Giovanni da +Udine by Raffaello, to the end that he might execute grotesques and +scenes together with the others; and he was told that according as he +should acquit himself, so he would be employed by Giovanni. And thus, +labouring out of emulation and in order to prove his powers and make +proficience, before many months had passed Perino was held to be the +first among all those who were working there, both in drawing and in +colouring; the best, I say, the most perfect in grace and finish, and he +who could execute both figures and grotesques in the most delicate and +beautiful manner; to which clear testimony and witness are borne by the +grotesques, festoons, and scenes by his hand that are in that work, +which, besides surpassing the others, are executed in much more faithful +accord with the designs and sketches that Raffaello made for them. This +may be seen from a part of those scenes in the centre of the loggia, on +the vaulting, where the Hebrews are depicted crossing over the Jordan +with the sacred Ark, and also marching round the walls of Jericho, which +fall into ruin; and the other scenes that follow, such as that of Joshua +causing the sun to stand still during the combat with the Amorites. +Among those painted in imitation of bronze on the base the best are +likewise those by the hand of Perino--namely, Abraham sacrificing his +son, Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Joseph receiving his twelve +brethren, the fire descending from Heaven and consuming the sons of +Levi, and many others which there is no need to name, for their number +is very great, and they can be distinguished from the rest. At the +beginning of the loggia, also, where one enters, he painted scenes from +the New Testament, the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ, and His Last +Supper with the Apostles, which are very beautiful; besides which, below +the windows, as has been said, are the best scenes painted in the colour +of bronze that there are in the whole work. These labours cause every +man to marvel, both the paintings and the many works in stucco that he +executed there with his own hand; and his colouring, moreover, is much +more pleasing and more highly finished than that of any of the others. + +This work was the reason that he became famous beyond all belief, yet +this great praise did not send him to sleep, but rather, since genius +grows with praise, inspired him with even more zeal, and made him almost +certain that by persisting he would come to win those fruits and honours +that he saw every day in the possession of Raffaello da Urbino and +Michelagnolo Buonarroti. And he laboured all the more willingly, because +he saw that he was held in estimation by Giovanni da Udine and by +Raffaello, and was employed in works of importance. He always showed +extraordinary deference and obedience towards Raffaello, honouring him +in such a manner that he was beloved by Raffaello as a son. + +There was executed at this time, by order of Pope Leo, the vaulting of +the Hall of the Pontiffs, which is that through which one passes by way +of the Loggie into the apartments of Pope Alexander VI, formerly painted +by Pinturicchio; and that vaulting was painted by Giovanni da Udine and +Perino. They executed in company the stucco-work and all those +ornaments, grotesques, and animals that are to be seen there, in +addition to the varied and beautiful inventions that were depicted by +them in the compartments of the ceiling, which they had divided into +certain circles and ovals to contain the seven Planets of Heaven drawn +by their appropriate animals, such as Jupiter drawn by Eagles, Venus by +Doves, the Moon by Women, Mars by Wolves, Mercury by Cocks, the Sun by +Horses, and Saturn by Serpents; besides the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, +and some figures from the forty-eight Constellations of Heaven, such as +the Great Bear, the Dog Star, and many others, which, by reason of their +number, we must pass over in silence, without recounting them all in +their order, since anyone may see the work; which figures are almost all +by the hand of Perino. In the centre of the vaulting is a circle with +four figures representing Victories, seen foreshortened from below +upwards, who are holding the Pope's Crown and the Keys; and these are +very well conceived and wrought with masterly art, to say nothing of the +delicacy with which he painted their vestments, veiling the nude with +certain light draperies that partly reveal the naked legs and arms, a +truly graceful and beautiful effect. This work was justly held, as it +still is at the present day, to be very magnificent and rich in +craftsmanship, and also cheerful and pleasing; worthy, in short, of that +Pontiff, who did not fail to reward their labours, which truly deserved +some signal remuneration. + +Perino decorated a façade in chiaroscuro--a method brought into use at +that time by the example of Polidoro and Maturino--which is opposite to +the house of the Marchioness of Massa, near Maestro Pasquino, executing +it with great boldness of design and with supreme diligence. + +In the third year of his pontificate Pope Leo paid a visit to Florence, +for which many triumphal preparations were made in that city, and Perino +went thither before the Court, partly in order to see the pomps of the +city, and partly from a wish to revisit his native country; and on a +triumphal arch at S. Trinità he made a large and very beautiful figure, +seven braccia high, while another was executed in competition with him +by Toto del Nunziata, who had already been his rival in boyhood. But to +Perino every hour seemed a thousand years until he could return to Rome, +for he perceived that the rules and methods of the Florentine craftsmen +were very different from those that were customary in Rome; wherefore he +departed from Florence and returned to Rome, where he resumed his usual +course of work. And in S. Eustachio dalla Dogana he painted a S. Peter +in fresco, which is a figure that has very strong relief, executed with +a simple flow of folds, and yet wrought with much design and judgment. + +There was in Rome at this time the Archbishop of Cyprus, a man who was a +great lover of the arts, and particularly of painting; and he, having a +house near the Chiavica, where he had laid out a little garden with some +statues and other antiquities of truly noble beauty, and desiring to +enhance their effect with some fine decorations, sent for Perino, who +was very much his friend, and they came to the decision that he should +paint round the walls of that garden many stories of Bacchantes, Satyrs, +Fauns, and other wild things, in reference to an ancient statue of +Bacchus, seated beside a tiger, which the Archbishop had there. And so +Perino adorned that place with a variety of poetical fancies; and, among +other things, he painted there a little loggia with small figures, +various grotesques, and many landscapes, coloured with supreme grace and +diligence. This work has been held by craftsmen, as it always will be, +to be worthy of the highest praise; and it was the reason that he became +known to the Fugger family, merchants of Germany, who, having built a +house near the Banchi, on the way to the Church of the Florentines, and +having seen Perino's work and liked it, caused him to paint there a +courtyard and a loggia, with many figures, all worthy of the same praise +as the other works by his hand, for in them may be seen much delicacy +and grace and great beauty of manner. + +At this same time M. Marchionne Baldassini, having caused a house to be +built for him near S. Agostino, as has been related, by Antonio da San +Gallo, who designed it very well, desired that a hall which Antonio had +constructed there should be painted all over; and after passing in +review many of the young painters, to the end that it might be well and +beautifully done, he finally resolved to give it to Perino. Having +agreed about the price, Perino set his hand to it, nor did he turn his +attention from that work to any other until he had brought it to a very +happy conclusion in fresco. In that hall he made compartments by means +of pilasters which have between them niches great and small; in the +larger niches are various figures of philosophers, two in each niche, +and in some one only, and in the smaller niches are little boys, partly +naked and partly draped in veiling, while above those small niches are +some heads of women, painted in imitation of marble. Above the cornice +that crowns the pilasters there follows a second series of pictures, +separated from the first series below, with scenes in figures of no +great size from the history of the Romans, beginning with Romulus and +ending with Numa Pompilius. There are likewise various ornaments in +imitation of different kinds of marble, and over the beautiful +chimney-piece of stone is a figure of Peace burning arms and trophies, +which is very lifelike. This work was held in much estimation during the +lifetime of M. Marchionne, as it has been ever since by all those who +work in painting, and also by many others not of the profession, who +give it extraordinary praise. + +In the Convent of the Nuns of S. Anna, Perino painted a chapel in fresco +with many figures, which was executed by him with his usual diligence. +And on an altar in S. Stefano del Cacco he painted in fresco, for a +Roman lady, a Pietà with the Dead Christ in the lap of Our Lady, with a +portrait from life of that lady, which still has the appearance of a +living figure; and the whole work is very beautiful, and executed with +great mastery and facility. + +In those days Antonio da San Gallo had built at the corner of a house in +Rome, which is known as the Imagine di Ponte, a tabernacle finely +adorned with travertine and very handsome, in which something beautiful +in the way of painting was to be executed; and he received a commission +from the owner of that house to give the work to one whom he should +consider capable of painting some noble picture there. Wherefore +Antonio, who knew Perino to be the best of the young men who were in +Rome, allotted it to him. And he, setting his hand to the work, painted +there a Christ in the act of crowning the Madonna, and in the background +he made a Glory, with a choir of Seraphim and Angels clothed in light +and delicate draperies, who are scattering flowers, and other children +of great beauty and variety; and on the sides of the tabernacle he +painted Saints, S. Sebastian on one side and S. Anthony on the other. +This work was executed truly well, and was equal to the others by his +hand, which were always full of grace and charm. + +A certain protonotary had erected a chapel of marble on four columns in +the Minerva, and, desiring to leave an altar-piece there in memory of +himself, even if it were but a small one, he came to an agreement with +Perino, whose fame he had heard, and commissioned him to paint it in +oils. And he chose that the subject should be the Deposition of Christ +from the Cross, which Perino set himself to execute with the greatest +possible zeal and diligence. In this picture he represented Him as +already laid upon the ground, surrounded by the Maries weeping over Him, +in whose gestures and attitudes he portrayed a melting pity and sorrow; +besides which there are the Nicodemuses[28] and other figures that are +much admired, all woeful and afflicted at seeing the sinless Christ +lying dead. But the figures that he painted most divinely were those of +the two Thieves, left fixed upon the crosses, which, besides appearing +to be real dead bodies, reveal a very good mastery over muscles and +nerves, which this occasion enabled him to display; wherefore, to the +eyes of him who beholds them, their limbs present themselves all drawn +in that violent death by the nerves, and the muscles by the nails and +cords. There is, in addition, a landscape wrapped in darkness, +counterfeited with much judgment and art. And if the inundation which +came upon Rome after the sack had not done damage to this work, covering +more than half of it, its excellence would be clearly seen; but the +water so softened the gesso, and caused the wood to swell in such sort, +that all the lower part that was soaked has peeled off too much for the +picture to give any pleasure; nay, it is a grief and a truly +heartrending sorrow to behold it, for it would certainly have been one +of the most precious things in all Rome. + +There was being rebuilt at this time, under the direction of Jacopo +Sansovino, the Church of S. Marcello in Rome, a convent of Servite +Friars, which still remains unfinished; and when they had carried the +walls of some chapels to completion, and had roofed them, those friars +commissioned Perino to paint in one of these, as ornaments for a Madonna +that is worshipped in that church, two figures in separate niches, S. +Joseph and S. Filippo, a Servite friar and the founder of that Order, +one on either side of the Madonna. These finished, he painted above them +some little boys that are perfect, and in the centre of the wall he +placed another standing upon a dado, who has upon his shoulders the ends +of two festoons, which he directs towards the corners of the chapel, +where there are two other little boys who support them, being seated +upon them, with their legs in most beautiful attitudes. All this he +executed with such art, such grace, and so beautiful a manner, and gave +to the flesh a tint of colour so fresh and soft, that one might say that +it was real flesh rather than painted. And certainly these figures may +be held to be the most beautiful that ever any craftsman painted in +fresco, for the reason that there is life in their eyes and movement in +their attitudes, and with the mouth they make as if to break into speech +and say that art has conquered Nature, and that even art declares that +nothing more than this can be done in her. This work was so excellent in +the sight of all good judges of art, that he acquired a great name +thereby, although he had executed many works and what was known of his +great genius in his profession was well known; and he was therefore held +in much more account and greater estimation than ever before. + +For this reason Lorenzo Pucci, Cardinal Santiquattro, who had taken over +a chapel on the left hand beside the principal chapel in the Trinità, a +convent of Calabrian and French Friars who wear the habit of S. Francis +of Paola, allotted it to Perino, to the end that he might paint there in +fresco the life of Our Lady. Which having begun, Perino finished all the +vaulting and a wall under an arch; and on the outer side, also, over an +arch of the chapel, he painted two Prophets four braccia and a half in +height, representing Isaiah and Daniel, who in their great proportions +reveal all the art, excellence of design, and beauty of colouring that +can be seen in their perfection only in a picture executed by a great +craftsman. This will be clearly evident to one who shall consider the +Isaiah, in whom, as he reads, may be perceived the thoughtfulness that +study infuses in him, and his eagerness in reading new things, for he +has his gaze fixed upon a book, with one hand to his head, exactly as a +man often is when he is studying; and Daniel, likewise, is motionless, +with his head upraised in celestial contemplation, in order to resolve +the doubts of his people. Between these figures are two little boys who +are upholding the escutcheon of the Cardinal, a shield of beautiful +shape: and these boys, besides being so painted as to seem to be of +flesh, also have the appearance of being in relief. The vaulting is +divided into four scenes, separated one from another by the cross--that +is, by the ribs of the vaulting. In the first is the Conception of Our +Lady, in the second her Nativity, in the third the scene when she +ascends the steps of the Temple, and in the fourth S. Joseph marrying +her. On a wall-space equal in extent to the arch of the vaulting is her +Visitation, in which are many figures that are very beautiful, but above +all some who have climbed on certain socles and are standing in very +spirited and natural attitudes, the better to see the ceremonious +meeting of those women; besides which, there is something of the good +and of the beautiful in the buildings and in every gesture of the other +figures. He pursued this work no further, illness coming upon him; and +when he was well, there began the plague of the year 1523, which raged +so violently in Rome, that, if he wished to save his life, it became +expedient for him to make up his mind to depart. + +There was in the city of Rome at that time the goldsmith Piloto, who was +much the friend and intimate companion of Perino, and he was desirous of +departing; and so one morning, as they were breakfasting together, he +persuaded Perino to take himself off and go to Florence, on the ground +that it was many years since he had been there, and that it could not +but bring him great honour to make himself known there and to leave some +example of his excellence in that city; saying also that, although +Andrea de' Ceri and his wife, who had brought him up, were dead, +nevertheless, as a native of that country, if he had no possessions +there, he had his love for it. Wherefore, after no long time, one +morning Perino and Piloto departed and set out on the way to Florence. +And when they had arrived there, Perino took the greatest pleasure in +seeing once again the old works painted by the masters of the past, +which had been as a school to him in the days of his boyhood, and +likewise those of the masters then living who were the most celebrated +and held to be the best in that city, in which, through the interest of +friends, a work was allotted to him, as will be related below. It +happened one day that many craftsmen having assembled in his presence to +do him honour, painters, sculptors, architects, goldsmiths, and carvers +in wood and marble, who had gathered together according to the ancient +custom, some to see Perino, to keep him company, and to hear what he had +to say, many to learn what difference in practice there might be between +the craftsmen of Rome and those of Florence, but most of them to hear +the praise and censure that craftsmen are wont often to give to one +another; it happened, I say, that thus discoursing together of one thing +and another, and examining the works, both ancient and modern, in the +various churches, they came to that of the Carmine, in order to see the +chapel of Masaccio. There everyone gazed attentively at the paintings, +and many various opinions were uttered in praise of that master, all +declaring that they marvelled that he should have possessed so much +judgment as to be able in those days, without seeing anything but the +work of Giotto, to work with so much of the modern manner in the design, +in the colouring, and in the imitation of Nature, and that he should +have solved the difficulties of his art in a manner so facile; not to +mention that among all those who had worked at painting, there had not +as yet been one who had equalled him in strength of relief, in +resoluteness, and in mastery of execution. + +This kind of discourse much pleased Perino, and to all those craftsmen +who spoke thus he answered in these words: "I do not deny that what you +say, and even more, may be true; but that there is no one among us who +can equal this manner, that I will deny with my last breath. Nay, I will +declare, if I may say it with the permission of the company, not in +contempt, but from a desire for the truth, that I know many both more +resolute and richer in grace, whose works are no less lifelike in the +painting than these, and even much more beautiful. And I, by your leave, +I who am not the first in this art, am grieved that there is no space +near these works wherein I might be able to paint a figure; for before +departing from Florence I would make a trial beside one of these +figures, likewise in fresco, to the end that you might see by comparison +whether there be not among the moderns one who has equalled him." Among +their number was a master who was held to be the first painter in +Florence; and he, being curious to see the work of Perino, and perhaps +wishing to lower his pride, put forward an idea of his own, which was +this: "Although," said he, "all the space here is full, yet, since you +have such a fancy, which is certainly a good one and worthy of praise, +there, on the opposite side, where there is the S. Paul by his hand, a +figure no less good and beautiful than any other in the chapel, is a +space in which you may easily prove what you say by making another +Apostle, either beside that S. Peter by Masolino or beside the S. Paul +of Masaccio, whichever you may prefer." The S. Peter was nearer the +window, and the space beside it was greater and the light better; +besides which, it was a figure no less beautiful than the S. Paul. +Everyone, therefore, urged Perino to do it, because they had a great +desire to see that Roman manner; besides which, many said that he would +be the means of taking out of their heads the fancy that they had nursed +in their minds for so many decades, and that if his figure should prove +to be the best all would run after modern works. Wherefore, persuaded by +that master, who told him at last that he ought not to disappoint the +entreaties and expectations of so many lofty intellects, particularly +since it would not take longer than two weeks to execute a figure in +fresco, and they would not fail to spend years in praising his labours, +Perino resolved to do it, although he who spoke thus had an intention +quite contrary to his words, being persuaded that Perino would by no +means execute anything much better than the work of those craftsmen who +were considered to be the most excellent at that time. Perino, then, +undertook to make this attempt; and having summoned by common consent M. +Giovanni da Pisa, the Prior of the convent, they asked him for the space +for the execution of the work, which he granted to them with truly +gracious courtesy; and thus they took measurements of the space, with +the height and breadth, and went away. + +An Apostle was then drawn by Perino in a cartoon, in the person of S. +Andrew, and finished with the greatest diligence; whereupon Perino, +having first caused the staging to be erected, was prepared to begin to +paint it. But before this, on his arrival in Florence, his many friends, +who had seen most excellent works by his hand in Rome, had contrived to +obtain for him the commission for that work in fresco which I mentioned, +to the end that he might leave some example of his handiwork in +Florence, which might demonstrate how spirited and how beautiful was his +genius for painting, and also to the end that he might become known and +perchance be set to work on some labour of importance by those who were +then governing. There were at that time certain craftsmen who used to +assemble in a company called the Company of the Martyrs, in the +Camaldoli at Florence; and they had proposed many times to have a wall +that was in that place painted with the story of the Martyrs being +condemned to death before two Roman Emperors, who, after they had been +taken in battle, caused them to be crucified in the wood and hanged on +trees. This story was suggested to Perino, and, although the place was +out of the way, and the price small, so much was he attracted by the +possibilities of invention in the story and by the size of the wall, +that he was disposed to undertake it; besides which, he was urged not a +little by those who were his friends, on the ground that the work would +establish him in that reputation which his talent deserved among the +citizens, who did not know him, and among his fellow-craftsmen in +Florence, where he was not known save by report. Having then determined +to do the work, he accepted the undertaking and made a small design, +which was held to be a thing divine; and having set his hand to making a +cartoon as large as the whole work, he never left off labouring at it, +and carried it so far that all the principal figures were completely +finished. And so the Apostle was abandoned, without anything more being +done. + +Perino drew this cartoon on white paper, well shaded and hatched, +leaving the paper itself for the lights, and executing the whole with +admirable diligence. In it were the two Emperors on the seat of +judgment, condemning to the cross all the prisoners, who were turned +towards the tribunal, some kneeling, some standing, and others bowed, +but all naked and bound in different ways, and writhing with piteous +gestures in various attitudes, revealing the trembling of the limbs at +the prospect of the severing of the soul from the body in the agony and +torment of crucifixion; besides which, there were depicted in those +heads the constancy of faith in the old, the fear of death in the young, +and in others the torture that they suffer from the strain of the cords +on their bodies and arms. And there could also be seen the swelling of +the muscles and even the cold sweat of death, all depicted in that +design. Then in the soldiers who were leading them there was revealed a +terrible fury, most impious and cruel, as they presented them at the +tribunal for condemnation and led them to the cross. The Emperors and +the soldiers were wearing cuirasses after the ancient manner and +garments very ornate and bizarre, with buskins, shoes, helmets, shields, +and other pieces of armour wrought with all that wealth of the most +beautiful ornamentation to which a craftsman can attain in imitating and +reproducing the antique, and drawn with the greatest lovingness, +subtlety, and delicacy that the perfection of art can display. When this +cartoon was seen by the craftsmen and by other judges of discernment, +they declared that they had never seen such beauty and excellence in +design since the cartoon drawn by Michelagnolo Buonarroti in Florence +for the Council Chamber; wherefore Perino acquired the greatest fame +that he could have gained in art. And while he was engaged in finishing +that cartoon, he amused himself by causing oil-colours to be prepared +and ground in order to paint for his dearest friend, the goldsmith +Piloto, a little picture of no great size, containing a Madonna, which +he carried something more than half-way towards completion. + +For many years past Perino had been intimately acquainted with a certain +lame priest, Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a chaplain of S. Lorenzo, who +always bore love to the craftsmen of design. This priest, then, +persuaded Perino to take up his quarters with him, seeing that he had no +one to cook for him or to keep house for him, and that during the time +that he had been in Florence he had stayed now with one friend and now +with another; wherefore Perino went to lodge with him, and stayed there +many weeks. Meanwhile the plague began to appear in certain parts of +Florence, and filled Perino with fear lest he should catch the +infection; on which account he determined to go away, but wished first +to recompense Ser Raffaello for all the days that he had eaten at his +table. But Ser Raffaello would never consent to take anything, only +saying: "I would be fully paid by having a scrap of paper from your +hand." Seeing him to be determined, Perino took about four braccia of +coarse canvas, and, after having it fixed to the wall between two doors +in the priest's little room, painted on it in a day and a night a scene +coloured in imitation of bronze. On this canvas, which was to serve as a +screen for the wall, he painted the story of Moses passing the Red Sea +and Pharaoh being submerged with his horses and his chariots; and Perino +painted therein figures in most beautiful attitudes, some swimming in +armour and some naked, others swimming while clasping the horses round +the neck, with their beards and hair all soaked, crying out in the fear +of death and struggling with all their power to escape. On the other +side of the sea are Moses, Aaron, and all the other Hebrews, male and +female, who are thanking God, and a number of vases that he +counterfeited, carried off by them from Egypt, varied and beautiful in +form and shape, and women with head-dresses of great variety. Which +finished, he left it as a mark of lovingness to Ser Raffaello, to whom +it was as dear as the Priorate of S. Lorenzo would have been. This +canvas was afterwards much extolled and held in estimation, and after +the death of Ser Raffaello it passed, together with his other +possessions, to his brother Domenico di Sandro, the cheesemonger. + +Departing, then, from Florence, Perino abandoned the work of the +Martyrs, which caused him great regret; and certainly, if it had been in +any other place but the Camaldoli, he would have finished it; but, +considering that the officials of health had taken that very Convent of +Camaldoli for those infected with the plague, he thought it better to +save himself than to leave fame behind him in Florence, being satisfied +that he had proved how much he was worth in the design. The cartoon, +with his other things, remained in the possession of the goldsmith +Giovanni di Goro, his friend, who died in the plague; and after that it +fell into the hands of Piloto, who kept it spread out in his house for +many years, showing it readily as a very rare work to every person of +intelligence; but I do not know what became of it after the death of +Piloto. + +Perino stayed for many months in various places, seeking to avoid the +plague, but for all this he never spent his time in vain, for he was +continually drawing and studying the secrets of art; and when the plague +had ceased, he returned to Rome and gave his attention to executing +little works of which I shall say nothing more. In the year 1523 came +the election of Pope Clement VII, which was the greatest of blessings +for the arts of painting and sculpture, which had been so kept down by +Adrian VI during his lifetime, that not only had nothing been executed +for him, but, as has been related in other places, not delighting in +them, or rather, holding them in detestation, he had brought it about +that no other person delighted in them, or spent money upon them, or +employed a single craftsman. Then, therefore, after the election of the +new Pontiff, Perino executed many works. + +Afterwards it was proposed that Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, +called Il Fattore, should be made heads of the world of art in place of +Raffaello, who was dead, to the end that they might distribute the +various works to the others, according to the previous custom. But +Perino, in executing an escutcheon of the Pope in fresco over the door +of Cardinal Cesarino, after the cartoon of Giulio Romano, acquitted +himself so excellently well, that they doubted whether he would not be +preferred to themselves, because, although they were known as the +disciples of Raffaello and as the heirs to his possessions, they had not +inherited the whole of the art and grace that he used to give to his +figures with colours. Giulio and Giovan Francesco therefore made up +their minds to attach Perino to themselves; and so in the holy year of +Jubilee, 1525, they gave him Caterina, the sister of Giovan Francesco, +for wife, to the end that the perfect friendship which had been +maintained between them for so long might be converted into kinship. +Thereupon, continuing the works that he had in hand, no long time had +passed when, on account of the praises bestowed upon him for the first +work executed by him in S. Marcello, it was resolved by the Prior of +that convent and by certain heads of the Company of the Crocifisso, +which has a chapel there built by its members as a place of assembly, +that the chapel should be painted; and so they allotted this work to +Perino, in the hope of having some excellent painting by his hand. +Perino, having caused the staging to be erected, began the work; and in +the centre of the barrel-shaped vaulting he painted the scene when God, +after creating Adam, takes his wife Eve from his side. In this scene +Adam, a most beautiful naked figure painted with perfect art, is seen +lying overcome by sleep, while Eve, with great vivacity, rises to her +feet with the hands clasped and receives the benediction of her Maker, +the figure of whom is depicted grave in aspect and sublime in majesty, +standing with many draperies about Him, which curve round His nude form +with their borders. On one side, on the right hand, are two Evangelists, +S. Mark and S. John, the first of whom Perino finished entirely, and +also the second with the exception of the head and a naked arm. Between +these two Evangelists, by way of ornament, he made two little boys +embracing a candelabrum, which are truly of living flesh; and the +Evangelists, likewise, in the heads, the draperies, the arms, and all +that he painted in them with his own hand, are very beautiful. + +While he was executing this work, he suffered many interruptions from +illness and from other misfortunes, such as happen every day to all who +live in this world; besides which, it is said that the men of the +Company also ran short of money. And so long did this business drag on, +that in the year 1527 there came upon them the ruin of Rome, when that +city was given over to sack, many craftsmen were killed, and many works +destroyed or carried away. Whereupon Perino, caught in that turmoil, and +having a wife and a baby girl, ran from place to place in Rome with the +child in his arms, seeking to save her, and finally, poor wretch, was +taken prisoner and reduced to paying a ransom, which hit him so hard +that he was like to go out of his mind. When the fury of the sack had +abated, he was so crushed down by the fear that still possessed him, +that all thought of art was worlds away from him, but nevertheless he +painted canvases in gouache and other fantasies for certain Spanish +soldiers; and after regaining his composure, he lived like the rest in +some poor fashion. Alone among so many, Baviera, who had the engravings +of Raffaello, had not lost much; wherefore, moved by the friendship that +he had with Perino, and wishing to employ him, he commissioned him to +draw some of the stories of the Gods transforming themselves in order to +achieve the consummation of their loves. These were engraved on copper +by Jacopo Caraglio, an excellent engraver of prints, who acquitted +himself so well in the matter of these designs, that, preserving the +outlines and manner of Perino, and hatching the work with beautiful +facility, he sought also to impart to the engravings that grace and that +delicacy which Perino had given to the drawings. + +While the havoc of the sack had destroyed Rome and driven away the +inhabitants and the Pope himself, who was living at Orvieto, not many +remaining in the city, and no business of any kind being done there, +there arrived in Rome one Niccola Viniziano, a rare and even unrivalled +master of embroidery, the servant of Prince Doria. He, moved by his +long-standing friendship with Perino, and being a man who always +favoured and wished well to the men of our arts, persuaded him to leave +that misery and set out for Genoa, promising that he would so go to work +with that Prince, who was a lover of art and delighted in painting, that +he would commission Perino to execute some big works, and saying, +moreover, that His Excellency had often told him that he would like to +have a suite of rooms adorned with handsome decorations. It did not take +much to persuade Perino, for he was oppressed by want and burning with +desire to leave Rome; and he determined to depart with Niccola. Having +therefore made arrangements for leaving his wife and daughter well cared +for by relatives in Rome, and having put all his affairs in order, he +set off for Genoa. Arriving there, and making himself known to that +Prince by means of Niccola, his coming was as welcome to His Excellency +as any agreeable experience that he had ever had in all his life. He was +received, therefore, with the greatest possible warmth and gladness, and +after many conversations and discussions they finally arranged that he +should begin the work; and they decided that he should execute a palace +adorned with stucco-work and with pictures in fresco, in oils, and of +every kind, which I will strive to describe as briefly as I am able, +with all the rooms, pictures, and general arrangement, saying nothing as +to where Perino first began to labour, to the end that I may not obscure +this work, which is the best of all those by his hand, with words. + +I begin, then, by saying that at the entrance of the Prince's Palace +there is a marble portal composed in the Doric Order, and built after +designs and models by the hand of Perino, with all its appurtenances of +pedestals, socles, shafts, capitals, architrave, frieze, cornice and +pediment, and with some most beautiful seated figures of women, who are +supporting an escutcheon. The masonry and carving of this work were +executed by Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, and the figures were finished +to perfection by Silvio, the sculptor of Fiesole, a bold and resolute +master. Entering within the portal, one finds over the vestibule a vault +covered with stucco-work, varied scenes, and grotesques, and little +arches in each of which are scenes of war and various kinds of battles, +some fighting on foot and others on horseback, and all wrought with +truly extraordinary diligence and art. On the left one finds the +staircase, which has decorations of little grotesques after the antique +that could not be richer or more beautiful, with various scenes and +little figures, masks, children, animals, and other things of fancy, +executed with that invention and judgment that always marked his work, +insomuch that of their kind they may well be called divine. Having +ascended the staircase, one comes into a most beautiful loggia, which +has at each end a very handsome door of stone; and over each of these +doors, in the pediment, are painted two figures, one male and the other +female, represented in directly opposite attitudes, one showing the +front view and the other the back. The vaulting has five arches, and is +wrought superbly in stucco, and it is also divided by pictures in +certain ovals, containing scenes executed with the most perfect beauty +that could be achieved; and the walls are painted down to the floor with +many seated figures of captains in armour, some drawn from life and some +from imagination, and representing all the ancient and modern captains +of the house of Doria, and above them are large letters of gold, which +run thus--"Magni viri, maximi duces, optima fecere pro patria." In the +first hall, which opens into the loggia and is entered by one of the two +doors, that on the left hand, there are most beautiful ornaments of +stucco on the corners of the vaulting, and in the centre there is a +large scene of the Shipwreck of Æneas in the sea, in which are nude +figures, living and dead, in attitudes of infinite variety, besides a +good number of ships and galleys, some sound and some shattered by the +fury of the tempest; not without beautiful considerations in the figures +of the living, who are striving to save themselves, and expressions of +terror that are produced in their features by the struggle with the +waves, the danger of death, and all the emotions aroused by the perils +of the sea. This was the first scene and the first work that Perino +began for the Prince. It is said that when he arrived in Genoa, Girolamo +da Treviso had already appeared there in advance of him in order to +execute certain pictures, and was painting a wall that faced towards the +garden. And after Perino had begun to draw the cartoon for the scene of +the Shipwreck that has been described above, while he was taking his +time about it, amusing himself and seeing Genoa, and labouring only at +intervals at the cartoon, although a great part was finished in various +ways and those nudes were drawn, some in chiaroscuro, some in charcoal, +and others in black chalk, some being drawn in imitation of +gradine-work, others shaded, and others again only outlined; while, I +say, Perino was going on in this way, without beginning to paint, +Girolamo da Treviso murmured against him, saying, "Cartoons, and nothing +but cartoons! I have my art at the tip of my brush." Decrying him very +often in this or some other similar manner, it came to the ears of +Perino, who, taking offence, straightway caused his cartoon to be fixed +to the vaulting where the scene was to be painted, and the boards of his +staging to be removed in many places, to the end that the work might be +seen from below; and then he threw open the hall. Which hearing, all +Genoa ran to see it, and, amazed by Perino's grand design, they praised +him to the skies. Thither, among others, went Girolamo da Treviso, who +saw what he had never thought to see from the hand of Perino; whereupon, +dumbfoundered by the beauty of the work, he departed from Genoa without +asking leave of Prince Doria, and returned to Bologna, where he lived. +Perino was thus left alone in the service of the Prince, and finished +that hall, painting it in oils on the surface of the walls; and it was +held to be, as indeed it is, a thing unrivalled in its beauty, with its +lovely work in stucco in the centre of the vaulting and all around, even +below the lunettes, as I have described. In the other hall, into which +one enters by the right-hand door in the loggia, he executed on the +vaulting works in stucco almost similar in design to those of the other, +and painted pictures in fresco of Jove slaying the Giants with his +thunderbolts, in which are many very beautiful nudes, larger than life. +In the Heaven, likewise, are all the Gods, who are making gestures of +great vivacity and truly appropriate to their natures, amid the terrible +uproar of the thunder; besides which, the stucco-work is executed with +supreme diligence, and the fresco-colouring could not be more beautiful, +seeing that Perino was very able--indeed, a perfect master--in that +field. Near this he adorned four chambers, the ceilings of which are all +wrought in stucco, and distributed among them, in fresco, are the most +beautiful fables from Ovid, which have all the appearance of reality, +nor could any one imagine the beauty, the abundance, the variety, and +the great numbers of the little figures, animals, foliage, and +grotesques that are in them, all executed with lively invention. Beside +the other hall, likewise, he adorned four more chambers, but only +directing the work, which was carried out by his assistants, although he +gave them the designs both of the stucco-decorations and of the scenes, +figures, and grotesques, upon which a vast number of them worked, some +little and some much; such as Luzio Romano, who did much work in stucco +there and many grotesques, and a number of Lombards. Let it suffice to +say that there is no room there that has not something by his hand and +is not full of ornaments, even to the space below the vaulting, with +various compositions full of children, bizarre masks, and animals, which +all defies description; not to mention that the little studies, the +antechambers, the closets, and all other parts of the palace, are +painted and made beautiful. From the palace one passes into the garden +and into a low building, which has the most ornate decorations in all +the rooms, even below the ceilings, and so also the halls, chambers, +and anterooms, all adorned by the same hand. In this work Pordenone +also took a part, as I said in his Life, and likewise Domenico Beccafumi +of Siena, a very rare painter, who showed that he was not inferior to +any of the others, although the works by his hand that are in Siena are +the most excellent among the vast number that he painted. + +But to return to the works that Perino executed after those that he did +in the Palace of the Prince; he executed a frieze in a room in the house +of Giannetin Doria, containing most beautiful women, and he did many +works for various gentlemen throughout the city, both in fresco and in +oil-colours. He painted a most beautiful altar-piece, very finely +designed, for S. Francesco, and another for a church called S. Maria "de +Consolatione," at the commission of a gentleman of the house of +Baciadonne: in which picture he painted the Nativity of Christ, a work +that is much extolled, but it was placed in a position so dark, that, by +reason of the light not being good enough, one is not able to recognize +its perfection, and all the more because Perino strove to paint it in a +dark manner, so that it has need of a strong light. He also made +drawings of the greater part of the Æneid, with the stories of Dido, +from which tapestries were woven; and he likewise drew beautiful +ornaments for the poops of galleys, which were carved and finished to +perfection by Carota and Tasso, wood-carvers of Florence, who proved +excellently well how able they were in that art. And in addition to all +these things he also executed a vast number of works on cloth for the +galleys of the Prince, and the largest standards that could be made for +their adornment and embellishment. Wherefore he was so beloved by that +Prince for his fine qualities, that, if he had continued to serve him, +the Prince would have richly rewarded his abilities. + +But while he was working in Genoa, the fancy came to him to fetch his +wife from Rome, and so he bought a house in Pisa, being pleased with +that city and half thinking of choosing it as his place of habitation +when old age should come upon him. Now at that time the Warden of the +Duomo at Pisa was M. Antonio di Urbano, who had a very great desire to +embellish that temple, and had already caused a beginning to be made +with some very beautiful ornaments of marble for the chapels of the +church, which had been executed by the hand of Stagio da Pietrasanta, a +very able and well practised carver of marble: removing some old, +clumsy, and badly proportioned chapels that were there. Having thus made +a beginning, the Warden proposed to fill up those ornaments in the +interior with altar-pieces in oils, and on the outer side with a series +of scenes in fresco and decorations in stucco, by the hands of the best +and most excellent masters that he could find, without grudging any +expense that might be incurred. He had already set to work on the +sacristy, which he had placed in the great recess behind the high-altar, +and there the ornamentation of marble was already finished, and many +pictures had been painted by the Florentine painter Giovanni Antonio +Sogliani, the rest of which, together with the altar-pieces and the +chapels that were wanting, were finished many years afterwards by order +of M. Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of the Duomo in those days. + +At that time Perino returned from Genoa to Pisa, and, having seen that +beginning, at the instance of Battista del Cervelliera, a person well +conversant with art and a most ingenious master of wood-carving, +perspective, and inlaying, he was presented to the Warden. After they +had discoursed together on the subject of the works of the Duomo, Perino +was asked to paint an altar-piece for an ornament immediately within the +ordinary door of entrance, the ornamental frame being already finished, +and above that a scene of S. George slaying the Dragon and delivering +the King's Daughter. Perino therefore made a most beautiful design, +which included a row of children and other ornaments in fresco between +one chapel and the other, and niches with Prophets and scenes of various +kinds; and this design pleased the Warden. And so, having made the +cartoon for one of them, the first one, that opposite to the door +mentioned above, he began to execute it in colour, and finished six +children, which are very well painted. He was to have continued this +right round, which would have made a very rich and very beautiful +decoration; and the whole work together would have proved to be +something very handsome. But he was seized with a desire to return to +Genoa, where he had involved himself in love affairs and other +pleasures, to which he was inclined at certain times: and on his +departure he gave to the Nuns of S. Maffeo a little altar-piece that he +had painted for them in oils, which is now in their possession in the +convent. Then, having arrived in Genoa, he stayed there many months, +executing other works for the Prince. + +His departure from Pisa displeased the Warden greatly, and even more the +circumstance that the work remained unfinished; wherefore he did not +cease to write to him every day that he should return, or to make +inquiries from Perino's wife, whom he had left in Pisa. But finally, +perceiving that the matter would never end, Perino neither answering nor +returning, he allotted the altar-piece of that chapel to Giovanni +Antonio Sogliani, who finished it and set it into its place. Not long +after this Perino returned to Pisa, and, seeing the work of Sogliani, +flew into a rage, and would on no account continue what he had begun, +saying that he did not choose that his pictures should serve as +ornaments for those of other masters; wherefore, so far as concerned +him, that work remained unfinished. Giovanni Antonio carried it on to +such purpose that he painted four altar-pieces: but these, at a later +date, appeared to Sebastiano della Seta, the new Warden, to be all in +the same manner, and somewhat less beautiful than the first, and he +allotted to Domenico Beccafumi of Siena--after proving his worth from +some pictures that he painted round the sacristy, which are very +beautiful--an altar-piece which he executed in Pisa. This not giving as +much satisfaction as the first pictures, he caused the two last that +were wanting to be painted by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo; and they were +placed at the two doors beside the corner-walls of the main façade of +the church. Of these, as well as of many other works, both large and +small, that are dispersed throughout Italy and various places abroad, it +does not become me to say more, and I will leave the right of free +judgment about them to all who have seen or may see them. The loss of +this work caused real vexation to Perino, he having already made the +designs for it, which gave promise that it would prove to be something +worthy of him, and likely to give that temple great fame over and above +that of its antiquities, and also to make Perino immortal. + +During the many years of his sojourn in Genoa, although he drew both +profit and pleasure from that city, Perino had grown weary of it, as he +remembered Rome in the happy days of Leo. But although, during the +lifetime of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, he had received letters +inviting him into his service, and he had been disposed to enter it, the +death of that lord brought it about that he hesitated to repatriate +himself. While matters stood thus, with his many friends urging his +return, himself desiring it infinitely more than any of them, and +several letters being exchanged, one morning, in the end, the fancy took +him, and without saying a word he set off from Pisa and made his way to +Rome. There, after making himself known to the most reverend Cardinal +Farnese, and then to Pope Paul, he stayed many months without doing +anything; first, because he was put off from one day to another, and +then because he was attacked by some infirmity in one of his arms, on +account of which he spent several hundreds of crowns, to say nothing of +the discomfort, before he could be cured of it. Wherefore, having no one +to maintain him, and being vexed by his cold welcome from the Court, he +was tempted many times to go away; but Molza and many other friends +exhorted him to have patience, telling him that Rome was no longer what +she had been, and that now she expected that a man should be exhausted +and weary of her before she would choose and cherish him as her own, and +particularly if he were pursuing the path of some fine art. + +At this time M. Pietro de' Massimi bought a chapel in the Trinità, with +the vaulting and the lunettes painted and adorned with stucco, and the +altar-piece painted in oils, all by Giulio Romano and Perino's +brother-in-law, Giovan Francesco; and that gentleman was desirous to +have it finished. In the lunettes were four stories of S. Mary Magdalene +in fresco, and in the altar-piece in oils was Christ appearing to Mary +Magdalene in the form of a gardener; and M. Pietro first caused a gilt +frame of wood to be made for the altar-piece, which had a miserable one +of stucco, and then allotted the walls to Perino, who, having caused the +staging and the screen to be erected, set his hand to the work, and +after many months brought it to completion. He made a design of bizarre +and beautiful grotesques, partly in low-relief and partly painted; and +he executed two little scenes of no great size, one on each wall, +surrounding them with an ornament in stucco of great variety. In one +scene was the Pool of Bethesda, with all the cripples and sick persons, +and the Angel who comes to move the waters, the porticoes seen most +beautifully foreshortened in perspective, and the movements and +vestments of the priests, all painted with great grace and vivacity, +although the figures are not very large. In the other, he painted the +Raising of Lazarus after he had been dead four days, wherein he is seen +newly restored to life, and still marked by the pallor and fear of +death: and round him are many who are unswathing him, and not a few who +are marvelling, and others struck with awe, besides which the scene is +adorned with some little temples that recede into the distance, executed +with supreme lovingness, as are also the works in stucco all around. +There are likewise four very small scenes, two to each wall, and one on +either side of the larger scene; in one of which is the Centurion +beseeching Christ that He should heal with a word his son who is dying, +in another Christ driving the traders from the Temple, in a third the +Transfiguration, and in the last a similar scene. And on the projections +of the pilasters within the chapel he painted four figures in the guise +of Prophets, which, in their proportions, their excellence, and their +beauty, are as well executed and finished as they could well be. In a +word, the whole work was carried out with such diligence, and is so +delicate, that it resembles miniature rather than painting. In it may be +seen much charm and vivacity of colouring, and signs of great patience +in its execution, revealing that true love which should be felt for art; +and he painted this whole work with his own hand, although he had a +great part of the stucco-work executed after his designs by Guglielmo +Milanese, whom he had formerly had with him at Genoa, loving him much, +and once even offering to give him his daughter in marriage. This +Guglielmo, in reward for restoring the antiquities of the house of +Farnese, has now been made Friar of the Piombo, in the place of Fra +Sebastiano Viniziano. + +I must not omit to tell that against one wall of this chapel was a most +beautiful tomb of marble, with a dead woman of marble, beautifully +carved by the sculptor Bologna, on the sarcophagus, and two little naked +boys at the sides. The countenance of that woman was a lifelike +portrait of a very famous courtezan of Rome, who left that memorial of +herself, which was removed by the friars because they felt scruples that +such a woman should have been laid to rest there with so much honour. + +This work, with many designs that he made, was the reason that the very +reverend Cardinal Farnese began to give him an allowance and to make use +of him in many works. By order of Pope Paul, a chimney-piece that was in +the Chamber of the Burning of the Borgo was placed in that of the +Segnatura, where there were the panellings with perspective views in +wood executed by the hand of the carver Fra Giovanni for Pope Julius. +Raffaello had painted both of those chambers; but it became necessary to +repaint all the base to the scenes in the Chamber of the Segnatura, +which is that in which is the picture of Mount Parnassus. On which +account a decorative design in imitation of marble was painted by +Perino, with various terminal figures, festoons, masks, and other +ornaments; and, in certain spaces, scenes painted to look like bronze, +which are very beautiful for works in fresco. In these scenes, even as +above them were Philosophers discoursing on Philosophy, Theologians on +Theology, and Poets on Poetry, were all the actions of those who have +been eminent in those professions. And although he did not execute them +all with his own hand, he retouched them so much "a secco," besides +making perfectly finished cartoons, that they may almost be said to be +entirely by his hand; which method he employed because, being troubled +by a catarrh, he was not fit for so much labour. Whereupon the Pope, +recognizing that he deserved something both on account of his age and +for all his work, and hearing him much recommended, gave him an +allowance of twenty-five ducats a month, which lasted up to his death, +on the condition that he should have charge of the Palace and of the +house of the Farnese family. + +By this time Michelagnolo Buonarroti had uncovered the wall with the +Last Judgment in the Papal Chapel, and there remained still unpainted +the base below, where there was to be fixed a screen of arras woven in +silk and gold, like the tapestries that adorn the Chapel. Wherefore, the +Pope having ordained that the weaving should be done in Flanders, it +was arranged with the consent of Michelagnolo that Perino should begin +to paint a canvas of the same size, which he did, executing in it women, +children and terminal figures, holding festoons, and all very lifelike, +with the most bizarre things of fancy; but this work, which was truly +worthy of him and of the divine picture that it was to adorn, remained +unfinished after his death in some apartments of the Belvedere. + +After this, Antonio da San Gallo having finished the building of the +Great Hall of Kings in front of the Chapel of Sixtus IV in the Papal +Palace, Perino divided the ceiling into a large pattern of octagonal +compartments, crosses, and ovals, both sunk and in relief; which done, +Perino was also commissioned to adorn it with stucco-work, with the +richest and most beautiful ornaments that could be produced by all the +resources of that art. He thus began it, and in the octagons, in place +of rosettes, he made four little boys in full relief, who, with their +feet pointing to the centre and their arms forming a circle, make a most +beautiful rosette, and in the rest of the compartments are all the +devices of the house of Farnese, with the arms of the Pope in the centre +of the vaulting. And this work in stucco may be said with truth to have +surpassed in mastery of execution, in beauty, and in delicacy, all those +that have ever been done by ancients or moderns, and to be truly worthy +of the head of the Christian religion. After the designs of the same +man, likewise, the glass windows were executed by Pastorino da Siena, an +able master of that craft; and Perino caused the walls below to be +prepared with very beautiful ornaments in stucco, intending to paint +scenes there with his own hand, which were afterwards continued by the +painter Daniello Ricciarelli of Volterra, who, if death had not cut +short the noble aspirations that he had, would have proved how the +moderns have the courage not only to equal the ancients with their +works, but perhaps even to surpass them by a great measure. + +While the stucco-work of this vaulting was in progress, and Perino was +considering the designs for his scenes, the old walls of the Church of +S. Pietro at Rome were being pulled down to make way for those of the +new building, and the masons came to a wall where there was a Madonna, +with other pictures, by the hand of Giotto; which being seen by Perino, +who was in the company of Messer Niccolò Acciaiuoli, a Florentine doctor +and much his friend, both of them were moved to pity for that picture +and would not allow it to be destroyed; nay, having caused the wall to +be cut away around it, they had it well braced with beams and bars of +iron and deposited below the organ of S. Pietro, in a place where there +was neither altar nor any other consecrated object. And before the wall +that had been round the Madonna was pulled down, Perino copied the +figure of Orso dell' Anguillara, the Roman Senator who had crowned M. +Francesco Petrarca on the Campidoglio, and who was at the feet of that +Madonna. Round the picture of the Madonna were to be made some ornaments +in stucco and painting, and together with them a memorial to a certain +Niccolò Acciaiuoli, who had formerly been a Roman Senator; and Perino, +having made the designs, straightway set his hand to the work, and, +assisted by his young men and by Marcello Mantovano, his disciple, +carried it out with great diligence. + +In the same S. Pietro the Sacrament did not occupy, with regard to +masonry, a very honourable position; wherefore certain deputies were +appointed from the Company of the Sacrament, who ordained that a chapel +should be built in the centre of the old church by Antonio da San Gallo, +partly with remains in the form of ancient marble columns, and partly +with other ornaments of marble, bronze, and stucco, placing in the +centre a tabernacle by the hand of Donatello, by way of further +adornment; and Perino executed there a very beautiful ceiling with many +minute scenes full of figures from the Old Testament, symbolical of the +Sacrament. In the middle of it, also, he painted a somewhat larger +scene, containing the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles, and below +it two Prophets, one on either side of the body of Christ. + +The same master, likewise, caused his young men to paint in the Church +of S. Giuseppe, near the Ripetta, the chapel of that church, which was +afterwards retouched and finished by himself; and he also had a chapel +painted after his designs in the Church of S. Bartolommeo in Isola, +which he retouched in like manner, and caused some scenes to be painted +at the high-altar of S. Salvatore del Lauro, with some grotesques on the +vaulting, and likewise an Annunciation on the façade outside, which was +executed by his pupil, Girolamo Sermoneta. Thus, then, partly because he +was not able, and partly because the labour wearied him, liking to +design his works rather than to execute them, he pursued the same course +that Raffaello da Urbino had formerly followed at the end of his life. +How harmful and how blameworthy is this practice, is proved by the Chigi +works and by all those carried out by other hands, and is also shown by +those that Perino caused to be executed in the same way; besides which, +those works of Giulio Romano's that he did not paint with his own hand +have not done him much honour. And although this method pleases Princes, +giving them their works quickly, and perhaps benefits the craftsmen who +labour upon them, yet, if they were the ablest men in the world, they +could never feel that love for the works of others which a man feels for +his own. Nor, however well drawn the cartoons may be, can they be +imitated as exactly and as thoroughly as by the hand of their author, +who, seeing the work going to ruin, in despair leaves it to fall into +complete destruction. He, then, who thirsts for honour, should do his +own painting. This I can say from experience, for after I had laboured +with the greatest possible pains on the cartoons for the Hall of the +Cancelleria in the Palace of S. Giorgio in Rome, the work having to be +executed with great haste in a hundred days, a vast number of painters +were employed to paint it, who departed so far from their outlines and +their true form, that I made a resolution, to which I have adhered, that +from that time onward no one should lay a hand on any works of mine. +Whoever, therefore, wishes to ensure long life for his name and his +works, should undertake fewer and do them all with his own hand, if he +desires to obtain that full meed of honour that a man of exalted genius +seeks to acquire. + +I say, then, that Perino, by reason of the number of the labours +committed to his care, was forced to employ many persons; and he +thirsted rather for gain than for glory, considering that he had thrown +away his life and had saved nothing in his youth. And it vexed him so +much to see young men coming forward to undertake work, that he sought +to enroll them all under his own command, to the end that they might not +encroach on his position. Now in the year 1546 there came to Rome the +Venetian Tiziano da Cadore, a painter highly celebrated for his +portraits, who, having formerly taken a portrait of Pope Paul at the +time when His Holiness went to Busseto, without exacting any +remuneration either for that or for some others that he had executed for +Cardinal Farnese and Santa Fiore, was received by those prelates with +the greatest honour in the Belvedere; at which a rumour arose in the +Court, and then spread throughout Rome, to the effect that he had come +in order to paint scenes with his own hand in the Hall of Kings in the +Palace, where Perino was to paint them and the stucco-work was already +in progress. This arrival caused much vexation to Perino, and he +complained of it to many of his friends, not because he believed that +Tiziano was likely to surpass him at painting historical scenes in +fresco, but because he desired to occupy himself with that work +peacefully and honourably until his death, and, if he was to do it, he +wished to do it without competition, the wall and the vaulting by +Michelagnolo in the Chapel close by being more than enough for him by +way of comparison. That suspicion was the reason that while Tiziano +stayed in Rome, Perino always avoided him, and remained in an ill-humour +until his departure. + +The Castellan of the Castello di S. Angelo, Tiberio Crispo, who was +afterwards made a Cardinal, being a person who delighted in our arts, +made up his mind to beautify the Castle, and rebuilt loggie, chambers, +halls, and apartments in a very handsome manner, in order to be able to +receive His Holiness more worthily when he went there. Many rooms and +other ornaments were executed from the designs and under the direction +of Raffaello da Montelupo, and then in the end by Antonio da San Gallo, +and a loggia was wrought in stucco under the supervision of Raffaello, +who also made the Angel of marble, a figure six braccia high, which was +placed on the summit of the highest tower in the Castle. Tiberio then +caused the said loggia, which is the one facing the meadows, to be +painted by Girolamo Sermoneta; which finished, the rest of the rooms +were entrusted in part to Luzio Romano, and finally the halls and other +important apartments were finished partly by Perino with his own hand, +and partly by others after his cartoons. The principal hall is very +pleasing and beautiful, being wrought in stucco and all filled with +scenes from Roman history, executed for the most part by Perino's young +men, and not a few by the hand of Marco da Siena, the disciple of +Domenico Beccafumi; and in certain rooms there are most beautiful +friezes. + +Perino, when he could find young men of ability, was wont to make use of +them willingly in his works; but for all that he never ceased to execute +any commonplace commission. He very often painted pennons for trumpets, +banners for the Castle, and those of the fleet of the Militant Order; +and he executed hangings, tabards, door-curtains, and the most +insignificant works of art. He began some canvases from which tapestries +were to be woven for Prince Doria, and he painted a chapel for the very +reverend Cardinal Farnese, and a writing-study for the most illustrious +Madama Margherita of Austria. He caused an ornamental frame to be made +round the Madonna in S. Maria del Pianto, and also another ornamental +frame round the Madonna in Piazza Giudea; and he executed many other +works, of which, by reason of their number, I will not now make any +further mention, particularly because he was accustomed to accept any +sort of work that came to his hand. This disposition of Perino's, which +was well known to the officials of the Palace, was the reason that he +always had something to do for one or another of them, and he did it +willingly, in order to bind them to himself, so that they might be +obliged to serve him in the payment of his allowances and in his other +requirements. In addition to this, Perino had acquired such authority +that all the work in Rome was allotted to him, for the reason that, +besides the circumstance that it appeared to be in a certain sense his +due, he would sometimes execute commissions for the most paltry prices; +whereby he did little good, nay rather, much harm, to himself and to +art. That these words are true is proved by this, that if he had +undertaken to paint the Hall of Kings in the Palace on his own account, +and had worked at it together with his own assistants, he would have +saved several hundreds of crowns, which all went to the overseers who +had charge of the work and paid the daily wages to those who worked +there. + +Thus, having undertaken a burden so heavy and so laborious, and being +infirm and enfeebled by catarrh, he was not able to endure such +discomforts, having to draw day and night and to meet the demands of the +Palace, and, among other things, to make the designs of embroideries, of +engravings for banner-makers, and of innumerable ornaments required by +the caprice of Farnese and other Cardinals and noblemen. In short, +having his mind incessantly occupied, and being always surrounded by +sculptors, masters in stucco, wood-carvers, seamsters, embroiderers, +painters, gilders, and other suchlike craftsmen, he had never an hour of +repose; and the only happiness and contentment that he knew in this life +was to find himself at times with some of his friends at a tavern, which +was his favourite haunt in all the places where it fell to his lot to +live, considering that this was the true blessedness and peace of this +world, and the only repose from his labours. And thus, having ruined his +constitution by the fatigues of his art and by his excesses in eating +and in love, he was attacked by asthma, which, sapping his strength +little by little, finally caused him to sink into consumption; and one +evening, while talking with a friend near his house, he fell dead of an +apoplectic seizure in his forty-seventh year. At this many craftsmen +felt infinite sorrow, it being a truly great loss that art suffered; and +he received honourable burial from his son-in-law, M. Gioseffo Cincio, +the physician of Madama, and from his wife, in the Chapel of S. Giuseppe +in the Ritonda at Rome, with the following epitaph: + + PERINO BONACCURSIO VAGÆ FLORENTINO, QUI INGENIO ET ARTE + SINGULARI EGREGIOS CUM PICTORES PERMULTOS, TUM PLASTAS OMNES + FACILE SUPERAVIT, CATHERINA PERINI CONJUGI, LAVINIA BONACCURSIA + PARENTI, JOSEPHUS CINCIUS SOCERO CARISSIMO ET OPTIMO FECERE. + VIXIT ANN. 46, MEN. 3, DIES 21. MORTUUS EST 14 CALEND. NOVEMB. + ANN. CHRIST. 1547. + +The place of Perino was filled by Daniello of Volterra, who had worked +much with him, and who finished the two other Prophets that are in the +Chapel of the Crocifisso in S. Marcello. Daniello has also adorned a +chapel in S. Trinità most beautifully with stucco-work and painting, for +Signora Elena Orsina; with many other works, of which mention will be +made in the proper place. + +Perino, then, as may be seen from the works described and from many +others that might be mentioned, was one of the most versatile painters +of our times, in that he assisted the craftsmen to work excellently in +stucco, and executed grotesques, landscapes, animals, and all the other +things of which a painter can have knowledge, using colours in fresco, +in oils, and in distemper. Whence it may be said that he was the father +of these most noble arts, seeing that his talents live in those who are +continually imitating him in every honourable field of art. After +Perino's death were published many prints taken from his drawings, such +as the Slaying of the Giants that he executed in Genoa, eight stories of +S. Peter taken from the Acts of the Apostles, of which he made designs +for the embroidering of a cope for Pope Paul III, and many other things, +which are known by the manner. + +Perino made use of many young men, and taught the secrets of art to many +disciples; but the best of them all, and the one of whom he availed +himself more than of any other, was Girolamo Siciolante of Sermoneta, of +whom there will be an account in the proper place. His disciple, +likewise, was Marcello Mantovano, who executed on a wall at the entrance +of the Castello di S. Angelo, after the design and under the direction +of Perino, a Madonna with many Saints in fresco, which was a very +beautiful thing; but of his works as well there will be an account +elsewhere. + +Perino left many designs at his death, some by his hand and some by +others; among the latter, one of the whole Chapel of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti, drawn by the hand of Leonardo Cungi of Borgo a San Sepolcro, +which was an excellent work. All these designs, with other things, were +sold by his heirs; and in our book are many drawings done by him with +the pen, which are very beautiful. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[27] Or Perino. + +[28] Vasari sometimes groups under this name all the male +figures that appear in a picture of the Deposition from the Cross. + + + + +GIORGIO VASARI TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN + + + + +TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN + +GIORGIO VASARI + + +EXCELLENT AND WELL-BELOVED BROTHER-CRAFTSMEN-- + +So great has always been the delight, to say nothing of the profit and +honour, that I have derived from practising my hand to the best of my +ability in this most noble art of ours, that I have not only had a +burning desire to exalt and to celebrate her, and to honour her in every +manner open to me, but have also been full of affection for all those +who have taken the same pleasure in her and have succeeded in practising +her more happily than I, perhaps, have been able to do. And from this my +good will, so full of the most sincere affection, it appears to me that +I have gathered hitherto fruits that are an ample reward, for I have +been always loved and honoured by you all, and we have been united in +the most perfect intimacy or brotherhood, I know not which to call it; +mutually showing our works to one another, I to you and you to me, and +helping one another with counsel and assistance whenever the occasion +has presented itself. Wherefore I have always felt myself deeply bound +by this loving fellowship, and much more by your excellent abilities, +and no less, also, by this my inclination, by nature, and by a most +powerful attraction, to assist and serve you in every way and every +matter wherein I have considered myself able to bring you pleasure or +advantage. To this end I published in the year 1550 the Lives of our +best and most famous Craftsmen, moved by a cause that has been mentioned +in another place, and also, to tell the truth, by a generous indignation +that so much talent should have been for so long a time, and should +still remain, buried in oblivion. And this my labour appears not to have +been in any way unwelcome; on the contrary, so acceptable, that, not to +mention what has been said and written to me from many quarters, out of +the vast number that were printed at that time, there is not one single +volume to be found at the booksellers. + +Thus, therefore, receiving every day requests from many friends, and +understanding no less clearly the unexpressed desires of many others, +once more, although in the midst of most important undertakings, I have +applied myself to the same labour, with the intention not only of adding +those masters who have passed to a better world between that time and +the present, thus giving me the opportunity of writing their Lives in +full, but also of supplying that which may have been wanting to the +perfection of my first work. For since then I have had leisure to come +to a better knowledge of many matters, and to re-examine others, not +only by the favour of these my most illustrious Lords, whom I serve, the +true refuge and protection of all the arts, but also through the +facilities that they have given me to search the whole of Italy once +again and to see and understand many things which had not before come +under my notice. I have been able, therefore, not merely to make +corrections, but also to add so many things, that many of the Lives may +be said to have been almost written anew; while some, indeed, even of +the old masters, which were not there before, have been added. Nor, the +better to revive the memory of those whom I so greatly honour, have I +grudged the great labour, pains and expense of seeking out their +portraits, which I have placed at the head of their Lives. And for the +greater satisfaction of many friends not of our profession, who are yet +devoted lovers of art, I have included in a compendium the greater part +of the works of those who are still living and are worthy to be for ever +renowned on account of their abilities; for that scruple which formerly +restrained me can have no place here in the opinion of any thoughtful +reader, since I deal with no works save those that are excellent and +worthy of praise. And this may perchance serve as a spur to make every +craftsman continue to labour worthily and advance unceasingly from good +to better; insomuch that he who shall write the rest of this history, +may be able to give it more grandeur and majesty, having occasion to +describe those rarer and more perfect works which, begun from time to +time through the desire of immortality, and finished by the loving care +of intellects so divine, the world in days to come shall see issuing +from your hands. And the young men who follow with their studies, +incited by hope of glory (if hope of gain has not enough force), may +perchance be inspired by such an example to attain to excellence. + +And to the end that this work may prove to be in every way complete, and +that there may be no need to seek anything outside its pages, I have +added a great part of the works of the most celebrated craftsmen of +antiquity, both Greek and of other nations, whose memory has been +preserved down to our own day by Pliny and other writers, without whose +pens they would have been buried, like many others, in eternal oblivion. +And this consideration, also, may perchance increase the willingness of +men in general to labour valiantly, and may impel and inspire us all, as +we behold the nobility and greatness of our art, and how she has always +been prized and rewarded by all nations, and particularly by the most +lofty minds and the most powerful Princes, to leave the world adorned by +works infinite in number and unsurpassed in excellence; whence, rendered +beautiful by us, it may give to us that rank which it has given to those +ever marvellous and celebrated spirits. + +Accept, then, with a friendly mind, these my labours, which, whatever +they may be, have been lovingly carried to conclusion by me for the +glory of art and for the honour of her craftsmen, and take them as a +sure token and pledge of my heart, which is desirous of nothing more +ardently than of your greatness and glory, in which, seeing that I also +have been received by you into your company (for which I render my +thanks to you, and congratulate myself not a little on my own account), +I shall always consider myself in a certain sense a participator. + + + + +DOMENICO BECCAFUMI + + + + +LIFE OF DOMENICO BECCAFUMI OF SIENA + +PAINTER AND MASTER OF CASTING + + +That same quality, the pure gift of nature, which has been seen in +Giotto and in some others among those painters of whom we have spoken +hitherto, has been revealed most recently in Domenico Beccafumi, the +painter of Siena, in that he, while guarding some sheep for his father +Pacio, the labourer of the Sienese citizen Lorenzo Beccafumi, was +observed to practise his hand by himself, child as he was, in drawing +sometimes on stones and sometimes in other ways. It happened that the +said Lorenzo saw him one day drawing various things with a pointed stick +on the sand of a small stream, where he was watching his little charges, +and he asked for the child from his father, meaning to employ him as his +servant, and at the same time to have him taught. The boy, therefore, +who was then called Mecherino, having been given up by his father Pacio +to Lorenzo, was taken to Siena, where Lorenzo caused him for a while to +spend all the spare time that he had after his household duties in the +workshop of a painter who was his neighbour. This painter, who was no +great craftsman, caused Mecherino to learn all that he could not himself +teach him from designs by eminent painters that he had in his +possession, of which he availed himself for his own purposes, as those +masters are wont to do who are not very able in design. Exercising his +hand, therefore, in this manner, Mecherino gave promise of being +destined to become an excellent painter. + +During this time Pietro Perugino, then a famous painter, came to Siena, +where, as has been related, he painted two altar-pieces; and his manner +pleased Domenico greatly, so that he set himself to study it and to copy +those altar-pieces, and no long time passed before he had caught that +manner. Then, after the Chapel of Michelagnolo and the works of +Raffaello da Urbino had been thrown open in Rome, Domenico, who desired +nothing so much as to learn, and knew that he was losing his time in +Siena, took leave of Lorenzo Beccafumi, from whom he acquired the family +name of Beccafumi, and made his way to Rome. There he placed himself +under a painter, who gave him board and lodging, and executed many works +in company with him, giving his attention at the same time to studying +the works of Michelagnolo, Raffaello, and other eminent masters, and the +marvellous statues and sarcophagi of antiquity. No long time passed, +therefore, before he became a bold draughtsman, fertile in invention, +and a very pleasing colourist; but during this period, which did not +exceed two years, he did nothing worthy of record save a façade in the +Borgo with an escutcheon of Pope Julius II in colour. + +Meanwhile, there had been brought to Siena by a merchant of the +Spannocchi family, as will be related in the proper place, the painter +Giovanni Antonio of Vercelli, a young man of passing good ability, who +was much employed, particularly in making portraits from life, by the +gentlemen of that city, which has always been the friend and patron of +all men of talent. Domenico, who was very desirous of returning to his +own country, having heard this news, made his way back to Siena; and +when he saw that Giovanni Antonio was very well grounded in drawing, +which he knew to be the essence of the excellence of a craftsman, not +resting content with what he had done in Rome, he set himself with the +utmost zeal to follow him, devoting himself much to anatomy and to +drawing nudes; which helped him so much, that in a short time he began +to be greatly esteemed in that most noble city. Nor was he beloved less +for his goodness and his character than for his art, for the reason +that, whereas Giovanni Antonio was coarse, licentious, and eccentric, +being called Il Sodoma because he always mixed and lived with beardless +boys, and answering willingly enough to that name, Domenico, on the +other hand, was a pattern of good conduct and uprightness, living like a +Christian and keeping very much to himself. But such persons as are +called merry fellows and good companions are very often more esteemed by +men than the virtuous and orderly, and most of the young men of Siena +followed Sodoma, extolling him as a man of originality. And this +Sodoma, being an eccentric, and wishing to please the common herd, +always kept at his house parrots, apes, dwarf donkeys, little Elba +horses, a talking raven, barbs for running races, and other suchlike +creatures; from which he had won such a name among the vulgar, that they +spoke of nothing but his follies. + +Sodoma, then, had painted with colours in fresco the façade of the house +of M. Agostino Bardi, and Domenico at the same time, in competition with +him, painted the façade of a house of the Borghese, close to the +Postierla column, near the Duomo, with which he took very great pains. +Below the roof, in a frieze in chiaroscuro, he executed some little +figures that were much extolled; and in the spaces between the three +ranges of windows of travertine that adorn that palace, he painted many +ancient gods and other figures in imitation of bronze, in chiaroscuro +and in colour, which were more than passing good, although the work of +Sodoma was more extolled. Both these façades were executed in the year +1512. + +Domenico afterwards painted for S. Benedetto, a seat of Monks of Monte +Oliveto, without the Porta a Tufi, an altar-piece of S. Catharine of +Siena in a building receiving the Stigmata, with a S. Benedict standing +on her right hand, and on her left a S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal; which altar-piece, being very soft in colouring and strong in +relief, was much praised, as it still is. In the predella of this +picture, likewise, he painted some little scenes in distemper with +incredible boldness and vivacity, and with such facility of design, that +they could not be more graceful, and yet they have the appearance of +having been executed without the slightest effort in the world. In one +of these little scenes is the Angel placing in the mouth of that same S. +Catharine part of the Host consecrated by the priest; in another is +Jesus Christ marrying her, in a third she is receiving the habit from S. +Dominic, and there are other stories. + +For the Church of S. Martino the same master painted a large altar-piece +with Christ born and being adored by the Virgin, by Joseph, and by the +Shepherds; and above the hut is a most beautiful choir of Angels +dancing. In this work, which is much extolled by craftsmen, Domenico +began to show to those who had some understanding that his works were +painted with a different foundation from those of Sodoma. He then +painted in fresco, in the Great Hospital, the Madonna visiting S. +Elizabeth, in a manner very pleasing and very natural. And for the +Church of S. Spirito he executed an altar-piece of the Madonna holding +in her arms the Child, who is marrying the above-mentioned S. Catharine +of Siena, and at the sides S. Bernardino, S. Francis, S. Jerome, and S. +Catharine the Virgin-Martyr, with S. Peter and S. Paul upon some marble +steps in front, on the polished surface of which he counterfeited with +great art some reflections of the colour of their draperies. This work, +which was executed with fine judgment and design, brought him much +honour, as did also some little figures painted on the predella of the +picture, in which is S. John baptizing Christ, a King causing the wife +and children of S. Gismondo to be thrown into a well, S. Dominic burning +the books of the heretics, Christ presenting to S. Catharine of Siena +two crowns, one of roses and the other of thorns, and S. Bernardino of +Siena preaching on the Piazza of Siena to a vast multitude. + +[Illustration: DOMENICO BECCAFUMI: S. CATHARINE BEFORE THE CRUCIFIX + +(_Siena_: _Pinacoteca_, 420. _Canvas_)] + +Next, by reason of the fame of these works, there was allotted to +Domenico an altar-piece that was to be placed in the Carmine, in which +he had to paint a S. Michael doing vengeance on Lucifer; and he, being +full of fancy, set himself to think out a new invention, in order to +display his talent and the beautiful conceptions of his brain. And so, +seeking to represent Lucifer and his followers driven for their pride +from Heaven to the lowest depths of Hell, he began a shower of nude +figures raining down, which is very beautiful, although, from his having +taken too great pains with it, it appears if anything rather confused. +This altar-piece, which remained unfinished, was taken after the death +of Domenico to the Great Hospital and placed at the top of some steps +near the high-altar, where it is still regarded with marvel on account +of some very beautiful foreshortenings in the nudes. In the Carmine, +where this picture was to have been set up, was placed another, in the +upper part of which is counterfeited a God the Father above the clouds +with many Angels round Him, painted with marvellous grace; and in the +centre of the picture is the Angel Michael in armour, flying, and +pointing to Lucifer, whom he has driven to the centre of the earth, +where there are burning buildings, rugged caverns, and a lake of fire, +with Angels in various attitudes, and nude figures of lost souls, who +are swimming with different gestures of agony in that fire. All this is +painted with such beauty and grace of manner, that it appears that this +marvellous work, in its thick darkness, is illuminated by the fire; +wherefore it is held to be a rare picture. Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena, +an excellent painter, could never have his fill of praising it, and I +myself, one day that I saw it uncovered in his company, while passing +through Siena, was struck with astonishment by it, as I also was by the +five little scenes that are in the predella, painted with distemper in a +judicious and beautiful manner. For the Nuns of Ognissanti in the same +city Domenico painted another altar-piece, in which is Christ on high in +the heavens, crowning the Glorified Virgin, and below them are S. +Gregory, S. Anthony, S. Mary Magdalene, and S. Catharine the +Virgin-Martyr; and in the predella, likewise, are some very beautiful +little figures executed in distemper. + +In the house of Signor Marcello Agostini Domenico painted some very +lovely works in fresco on the ceiling of an apartment, which has three +lunettes on each main side and two at each end, with a series of friezes +that go right round. The centre of the ceiling is divided into two +quadrangular compartments; in the first, where a silken arras is +counterfeited as upheld by the ornament, there may be seen, as if woven +upon it, Scipio Africanus restoring the young woman untouched to her +husband, and in the other the celebrated painter Zeuxis, who is copying +several nude women in order to paint his picture, which was to be placed +in the Temple of Juno. In one of the lunettes, painted with little +figures only about half a braccio high, but very beautiful, are the two +Roman Brothers who, having been enemies, became friends for the public +good and for the sake of their country. In that which follows is +Torquatus,[29] who, in order to observe the laws, when his son has been +condemned to lose his eyes, causes one of his son's and one of his own +to be put out. In the next is the Petition of ...,[30] who, after +hearing the recital of his crimes against his country and the Roman +people, is put to death. In the lunette beside that one is the Roman +people deliberating on the expedition of Scipio to Africa; and next to +this, in another lunette, is an ancient sacrifice crowded with a variety +of most beautiful figures, with a temple drawn in perspective, which has +no little relief, for in that field Domenico was a truly excellent +master. In the last is Cato killing himself after being overtaken by +some horsemen that are most beautifully painted there. And in the +recesses of the lunettes, also, are some little scenes very well +finished. + +The excellence of this work was the reason that Domenico was recognized +as a rare painter by those who were then governing, and was commissioned +to paint the vaulting of a hall in the Palace of the Signori, to which +he devoted all the diligence, study, and effort of which any man is +capable, in order to prove his worth and to adorn that celebrated +building of his native city, which was honouring him so much. This hall, +which is two squares long and one square wide, has the ceiling made not +with lunettes, but after the manner of a groined vaulting; wherefore +Domenico executed the compartments in painting, thinking that this would +give the best result, with friezes and cornices overlaid with gold, and +all so beautifully, that, without any stucco-work or other ornaments, +they are so well painted and so graceful that they appear to be really +in relief. On each of the two ends of this hall there is a large picture +with an historical scene, and on each main wall there are two, one on +either side of an octagon; and thus the pictures are six and the +octagons two, and in each of the latter is a scene. At each corner of +the vaulting, where the rib is, there is drawn a round compartment, +which extends half on one wall and half on the other, so that these +compartments, being divided by the ribs of the vaulting, form eight +spaces, in each of which are large seated figures, representing +distinguished men who have defended their Republic and have observed her +laws. The highest part of the surface of the vaulting is divided into +three parts, in such a manner as to form a circular compartment in the +centre, immediately above the octagons, and two square compartments over +those on the walls. + +In one of the octagons, then, is a woman with some children round her, +who holds a heart in her hand, representing the love that men owe to +their country. In the other octagon is another woman, with an equal +number of children, as a symbol of civic concord. And these are one on +either side of a Justice that is in the circle, with the sword and +scales in her hands, and seen from below in such bold foreshortening +that it is a marvel, for at the feet she is dark both in drawing and in +colour, and about the knees she becomes lighter, and so continues little +by little towards the torso, the shoulders, and the arms, until she +rises into a celestial splendour at the head, which makes it appear as +if that figure dissolves gradually in a mist: wherefore it is not +possible to imagine, much less to see, a more beautiful figure than this +one, or one executed with greater judgment and art, among all that were +ever painted to be seen in foreshortening from below. + +As for the stories, in the first, at the end of the hall and on the left +hand as one enters, are M. Lepidus and Fulvius Flaccus the Censors, who, +after being at enmity with one another, as soon as they became +colleagues in the office of the Censorship, laid aside their private +hatred for the good of their country, and acted in that office like the +closest friends. And Domenico painted them on their knees, embracing +each other, with many figures round them, and with a most beautiful +prospect of buildings and temples drawn in perspective so ingeniously +and so well, that one may see in them what a master of perspective was +Domenico. On the next wall there follows a picture with the story of the +Dictator Postumius Tiburtius, who, having left his only son at the head +of his army in place of himself, commanding him that he should do +nothing else but guard the camp, put him to death for having been +disobedient and having with a fair occasion attacked the enemy and +gained a victory. In this scene Domenico painted Postumius as an old man +with shaven face, with the right hand on his axe, and with the left +showing to the army his son lying dead upon the ground, and depicted +very well in foreshortening; and below this picture, which is most +beautiful, is an inscription very well composed. In the octagon that +follows, in the centre of the wall, is the story of Spurius Cassius, +whom the Roman Senate, suspecting that he was plotting to become King, +caused to be beheaded, and his house to be pulled down; and in this +scene the head, which is beside the executioner, and the body, which is +on the ground in foreshortening, are very beautiful. In the next picture +is the Tribune Publius Mucius, who caused all his fellow-tribunes, who +were conspiring with Spurius to become tyrants of their country, to be +burned; and here the fire that is consuming their bodies is painted very +well and with great art. + +At the other end of the hall, in another picture, is the Athenian +Codrus, who, having heard from the oracle that the victory would fall to +that side whose King should be killed by the enemy, laid aside his +robes, entered unknown among the enemy, and let himself be slain, thus +giving the victory to his people by his own death. Domenico painted him +seated, with his nobles round him as he puts off his robes, near a most +beautiful round temple; and in the distant background of the picture he +is seen dead, with his name in an epitaph below. Then, as one turns to +the other long wall, opposite to the two pictures with the octagon in +the centre between them, in the first scene one finds Prince Zaleucus, +who, in order not to break the law, caused one of his own eyes to be put +out, and one of his son's; and here many are standing round him, praying +him that he should not do that cruelty to himself and his son, and in +the distance is his son offering violence to a maiden, and below is his +name in an inscription. In the octagon that is beside that picture is +the story of Marcus Manilius being hurled down from the Capitol; and the +figure of the young Marcus, who is being thrown down from a kind of +balcony, is painted so well in foreshortening, with the head downwards, +that it seems to be alive, as also seem some figures that are below. In +the next picture is Spurius Melius, who belonged to the Equestrian +Order, and was killed by the Tribune Servilius because the people +suspected that he was conspiring to become tyrant of his country; which +Servilius is seated with many round him, and one who is in the centre +points to Spurius lying dead upon the ground, a figure painted with +great art. + +Then, in the circles at the corners, where there are the eight figures +mentioned above, are many men who have been distinguished for their +defence of their country. In the first part is the famous Fabius +Maximus, seated and in armour; and on the other side is Speusippus, +Prince of the Tegeatæ, who, being exhorted by a friend that he should +rid himself of his rival and adversary, answered that he did not wish, +at the bidding of his own private interest, to deprive his country of +such a citizen. In the circle that is at the next corner, in one part, +there is the Prætor Celius, who, for having fought against the advice +and wish of the soothsayers, although he had won and had gained a +victory, was punished by the Senate; and beside him sits Thrasybulus, +who with the aid of some friends valorously slew thirty tyrants, in +order to free his country. Thrasybulus is an old man, shaven, with white +locks, and has his name written beneath him, as have also all the +others. In a circle at one corner of the lower end of the hall is the +Prætor Genutius Cippus, who having had a bird with wings in the form of +horns miraculously alight on his head, was told by the oracle that he +would become King of his country, whereupon, although already an old +man, he chose to go into exile, in order not to take away her liberty; +and Domenico therefore painted a bird upon his head. Beside him sits +Charondas, who, having returned from the country, and having gone +straightway into the Senate without disarming himself, in violation of a +law which ordained that one who entered the Senate with arms should be +put to death, killed himself on perceiving his error. In the second +circle on the other side are Damon and Phintias, whose unexampled +friendship is so well known, and with them is Dionysius, Tyrant of +Sicily; and beside these figures sits Brutus, who from love of his +country condemned his two sons to death, because they were conspiring to +bring the Tarquins back to their country. + +This work, then, so truly extraordinary, made known to the people of +Siena the ability and worth of Domenico, who showed most beautiful art, +judgment, and genius in all that he did. + +The first time that the Emperor Charles V came to Italy, it was expected +that he would go to Siena, for he had declared such an intention to the +Ambassadors of that Republic; and among other vast and magnificent +preparations that were made for the reception of so great an Emperor, +Domenico fashioned a horse eight braccia high and in full relief, all of +paste-board and hollow within. The weight of that horse was supported by +an armature of iron, and upon it was the statue of the Emperor, armed in +the ancient fashion, with a sword in his hand. And below it were three +large figures--vanquished by him, as it were--which also supported part +of the weight, the horse being in the act of leaping with the front legs +high in the air; which three figures represented three provinces +conquered and subdued by the Emperor. In that work Domenico showed that +he was a master no less of sculpture than of painting; to which it must +be added that he had placed the whole work upon a wooden structure four +braccia high, with a number of wheels below it, which, being set in +motion by men concealed within, caused the whole to move forward; and +the design of Domenico was that at the entry of His Majesty this horse, +having been set in motion as has been described, should accompany him +from the gate as far as the Palace of the Signori, and should then come +to rest in the middle of the Piazza. This horse, after being carried by +Domenico so near completion that there only remained to gild it, was +left in that condition, because His Majesty after all did not at that +time go to Siena, but left Italy after being crowned at Bologna; and the +work remained unfinished. But none the less the art and ingenuity of +Domenico were recognized, and all men greatly praised the grandeur and +excellence of that great structure, which stood in the Office of Works +of the Duomo from that time until His Majesty, returning from his +victorious enterprise in Africa, passed through Messina and then Naples, +Rome, and finally Siena; at which time Domenico's work was placed on the +Piazza del Duomo, to his great honour. + +The fame of the ability of Domenico being thus spread abroad, Prince +Doria, who was with the Court, after seeing all the works by his hand +that were in Siena, besought him that he should go to Genoa to work in +his palace, where Perino del Vaga, Giovanni Antonio of Pordenone, and +Girolamo da Treviso had worked. But Domenico could not promise that lord +that he would go to serve him at that time, although he engaged himself +for another time, for in those days he had set his hand to finishing a +part of the marble pavement in the Duomo, which Duccio, the painter of +Siena, had formerly begun in a new manner of work. The figures and +scenes were already in great part designed on the marble, the outlines +being hollowed out with the chisel and filled with a black mixture, with +ornaments of coloured marble all around, and likewise the grounds for +the figures. But Domenico, with fine judgment, saw that this work could +be much improved, and he therefore took grey marbles, to the end that +these, profiled with the chisel and placed beside the brilliancy of the +white marble, might give the middle shades; and he found that in this +way, with white and grey marble, pictures of stone could be made with +great perfection after the manner of chiaroscuro. Having then made a +trial, the work succeeded so well in invention, in solidity of design, +and in abundance of figures, that he made a beginning after this fashion +with the grandest, the most beautiful, and the most magnificent pavement +that had ever been made; and in the course of his life, little by +little, he executed a great part of it. Round the high-altar he made a +border of pictures, in which, in order to follow the order of the +stories begun by Duccio, he executed scenes from Genesis; namely, Adam +and Eve expelled from Paradise and tilling the earth, the Sacrifice of +Abel, and that of Melchizedek. In front of the altar is a large scene +with Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, and this has round it a border of +half-length figures, carrying various animals which they seem to be +going to sacrifice. Descending the steps, one finds another large +picture, which serves to accompany that above, and in it Domenico +represented Moses receiving the Laws from God on Mount Sinai; and below +this is the scene when, having found the people worshipping the Golden +Calf, he is seized with anger and breaks the Tables on which those Laws +were written. Below this scene, opposite to the pulpit, and right across +the church, is a frieze with a great number of figures, which is +composed with so much grace and such design that it defies description; +and in this is Moses, who, striking the rock in the desert, causes water +to gush out and gives drink to his thirsty people. Here, along the whole +length of the frieze, Domenico represented the stream of water, from +which the people are drinking in various ways with a vivacity so +pleasing, that it is almost impossible to imagine any effect more +lovely, or figures in more graceful and beautiful attitudes than are +those in this scene--some stooping to the ground to drink, some kneeling +before the rock that is spouting with water, some drawing it in vases +and others in cups, and others, finally, drinking with their hands. +There are, moreover, some who are leading animals to drink, amid the +great rejoicing of that people; and, among other things, most marvellous +is a little boy who has taken a little dog by the head and neck and +plunges its muzzle into the water, in order to make it drink, after +which the dog, having drunk, and not wishing to drink any more, shakes +its head so naturally that it seems to be alive. In short, this frieze +is so beautiful, that for a work of that kind it could not be executed +with greater art, seeing that the various kinds of shadows that may be +seen in these figures are not merely beautiful, but miraculous; and +although the whole work, on account of the fantastic nature of its +craftsmanship, is one of great beauty, this part is held to be the most +beautiful and the best. Below the cupola, moreover, there is a hexagonal +compartment, which is divided into seven hexagons and six rhombs, of +which hexagons Domenico finished four before he died, representing in +them the stories and sacrifices of Elijah, and doing all this much at +his leisure, because this work was as a school and a pastime to +Domenico, nor did he ever abandon it altogether for his other works. + +While he was thus labouring now at this work and now elsewhere, he +painted a large altar-piece in oils which is in S. Francesco on the +right hand as one enters into the church, containing Christ descending +in Glory to the Limbo of Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers; +wherein, among many nudes, is a very beautiful Eve, and a Thief who is +behind Christ with the cross is a very well-executed figure, while the +cavern of Limbo and the demons and fires of that place are fantastic to +a marvel. And since Domenico was of the opinion that pictures painted in +distemper preserved their freshness better than those painted in oils, +saying that it seemed to him that the works of Luca da Cortona, of the +Pollaiuoli, and of the other masters who painted in oils in those days, +had suffered from age more than those of Fra Giovanni, Fra Filippo, +Benozzo, and the others before their time who painted in distemper--for +this reason, I say, having to paint an altar-piece for the Company of S. +Bernardino on the Piazza di S. Francesco, he resolved to do it in +distemper; and in this way he executed it excellently well, painting in +it Our Lady with many Saints. In the predella, which is very beautiful, +and painted by him likewise in distemper, he depicted S. Francis +receiving the Stigmata; S. Anthony of Padua, who, in order to convert +some heretics, performs the miracle of the Ass, which makes obeisance +before the sacred Host; and S. Bernardino of Siena, who is preaching to +the people of his city on the Piazza de' Signori. And on the walls of +this Company, also, he painted two stories of Our Lady in fresco, in +competition with some others that Sodoma had executed in the same place. +In one he represented the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the other +the Passing of Our Lady, with the Apostles all around; and both of these +are much extolled. + +Finally, after having been long expected in Genoa by Prince Doria, +Domenico made his way there, but with great reluctance, being a man who +was accustomed to a life of peace and contented with that which his +wants required, and nothing more; besides which, he was not much used to +making journeys, for the reason that, having built himself a little +house in Siena, and having also a vineyard a mile beyond the Porta a +Camollia, which he cultivated with his own hand as a recreation, going +there often, it was a long time since he had gone far from Siena. Having +then arrived in Genoa, he painted a scene there, beside that of +Pordenone, in which he succeeded very well, and yet not in such a manner +that it could be counted among his best works. But, since the ways of +the Court did not please him, being used to a life of freedom, he did +not stay very willingly in that place, and, indeed, appeared as if he +were stupefied. Wherefore, having come to the end of that work, he +sought leave of the Prince and set out to return home; and passing by +Pisa, in order to see that city, he met with Battista del Cervelliera +and was shown all the most noteworthy things in the city, and in +particular the altar-pieces of Sogliani and the pictures that are in the +recess behind the high-altar of the Duomo. + +Meanwhile Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of Works of the Duomo, +having heard from Cervelliera of the qualities and abilities of +Domenico, and being desirous to finish the work so long delayed by +Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, allotted two of the pictures for that recess +to Domenico, to the end that he might execute them at Siena and send +them finished to Pisa; and so it was done. In one is Moses, who, having +found that the people had sacrificed to the Golden Calf, is breaking the +Tables; and in this Domenico painted some nudes that are figures of +great beauty. In the other is the same Moses, with the earth opening and +swallowing up a part of the people; and in this, also, are some nudes +killed by flaming thunderbolts, which are marvellous. These pictures, +when taken to Pisa, led to Domenico painting four pictures for the front +of that recess--namely, two on each side--of the four Evangelists, which +were four very beautiful figures. Whereupon Sebastiano della Seta, who +saw that he had been served quickly and well, commissioned Domenico, +after these pictures, to paint the altar-piece of one of the chapels in +the Duomo, Sogliani having by that time painted four. Settling in Pisa, +therefore, Domenico painted in that altar-piece Our Lady in the sky with +the Child in her arms, upon some clouds supported by some little Angels, +with many Saints both male and female below, all executed passing well, +but yet not with that perfection which marked the pictures described +above. But he, excusing himself for this to many of his friends, and +particularly on one occasion to Giorgio Vasari, said that since he was +away from the air of Siena and from certain comforts of his own, he did +not seem to be able to do anything. + +Having therefore returned home, determined that he would never again go +away to work elsewhere, he painted for the Nuns of S. Paolo, near S. +Marco, an altar-piece in oils of the Nativity of Our Lady, with some +nurses, and S. Anne in a bed that is foreshortened and represented as +standing within a door; and in a dark shadow is a woman who is drying +clothes, without any other light but that which comes from the blaze of +the fire. In the predella, which is full of charm, are three scenes in +distemper--the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, her Marriage, +and the Adoration of the Magi. In the Mercanzia, a tribunal in that +city, the officials have a little altar-piece which they say was painted +by Domenico when he was young; it is very beautiful, and it contains in +the centre a S. Paul seated, and on one side his Conversion, in little +figures, and on the other the scene of his Beheading. + +Finally, Domenico was commissioned to paint the great recess of the +Duomo, which is at the end behind the high-altar. In this he first made +a decoration of stucco with foliage and figures, all with his own hand, +and two Victories in the vacant spaces in the semicircle; which +decoration was in truth a very rich and beautiful work. Then in the +centre he painted in fresco the Ascension of Christ into Heaven; and +from the cornice downwards he painted three pictures divided by columns +in relief, and executed in perspective. In the middle picture, which has +above it an arch in perspective, are Our Lady, S. Peter, and S. John; +and in the spaces at the sides are ten Apostles, five on each side, all +in various attitudes and gazing at Christ, who is ascending into Heaven; +and above each of the two pictures of the Apostles is an Angel in +foreshortening, the two together representing those two Angels who, +after the Ascension, declared that He had risen into Heaven. This work +is certainly admirable, but it would have been even more so if Domenico +had given beautiful expressions to the heads; as it is, they have +something in the expressions that is not very pleasing, and it appears +that in his old age he adopted for his countenances an expression of +terror by no means agreeable. This work, I say, if there had been any +beauty in the heads, would have been so beautiful that there would have +been nothing better to be seen. But in this matter of the expressions of +the heads, in the opinion of the people of Siena, Sodoma was superior to +Domenico, for the reason that Sodoma made them much more beautiful, +although those of Domenico had more design and greater force. And, in +truth, the manner of the heads in these our arts is of no little +importance, and by painting them with graceful and beautiful expressions +many masters have escaped the censure that they might have incurred for +the rest of their work. + +This was the last work in painting executed by Domenico, who, having +taken it into his head in the end to work in relief, began to give his +attention to casting in bronze, and went so far with this that he +executed, although with extraordinary labour, six Angels of bronze in +the round, little less than life-size, for the six columns nearest the +high-altar of the Duomo. These Angels, which are very beautiful, are +holding tazze, or rather little basins, which support candelabra +containing lights, and in the last of them he acquitted himself so well, +that he was very highly praised for them. Whereupon, growing in courage, +he made a beginning with figures of the twelve Apostles, which were to +be placed on the columns lower down, where there are now some of marble, +old and in a bad manner; but he did not continue them, for he did not +live long after that. And since he was a man of infinite ingenuity, and +succeeded well in everything, he engraved wood-blocks by himself in +order to make prints in chiaroscuro, and there are to be seen prints of +two Apostles engraved by him excellently well, of which we have one in +our book of drawings, together with some sheets drawn divinely by his +hand. He also engraved copper-plates with the burin, and he executed +with aquafortis some very fanciful little stories of alchemy, in which +Jove and the other Gods, wishing to congeal Mercury, place him bound in +a crucible, and Vulcan and Pluto make fire around him; but when they +think that he must be fixed, Mercury flies away and goes off in smoke. + +Domenico, in addition to the works described above, executed many others +of no great importance, pictures of the Madonna and other suchlike +chamber-pictures, such as a Madonna that is in the house of the +Chevalier Donati, and a picture in distemper in which Jove changes +himself into a shower of gold and rains into the lap of Danaë. Piero +Catanei, likewise, has a round picture in oils of a very beautiful +Virgin by the hand of the same master. He also painted a most beautiful +bier for the Confraternity of S. Lucia, and likewise another for that of +S. Antonio; nor should anyone be astonished that I make mention of such +works, for the reason that they are beautiful to a marvel, as all know +who have seen them. + +Finally, having come to the age of sixty-five, he hastened the end of +his life by toiling all by himself day and night at his castings in +metal, polishing them himself without calling in any assistance. He +died, then, on the 18th of May, 1549, and was given burial by his +dearest friend, the goldsmith Giuliano, in the Duomo, where he had +executed so many rare works. And he was carried to the tomb by all the +craftsmen of his city, which recognized even then the great loss that +she had suffered in the death of Domenico, and now, as she admires his +works, recognizes it more than ever. + +Domenico was an orderly and upright person, fearing God and studious in +his art, although solitary beyond measure; wherefore he well deserved to +be honourably celebrated by his fellow-citizens of Siena, who have +always won great praise by their attention to noble studies and to +poetry, with verses both in Latin and in the vulgar tongue. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[29] Zaleucus. + +[30] Here there is a blank in the text. + + + + +GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI + + + + +LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI + +PAINTER OF AREZZO + + +Rarely does it happen that from an old stock there fails to sprout some +good shoot, which, growing with time, revives and reclothes with its +leaves that desolate stem, and reveals with its fruits to those who +taste them the same savour that was once known in the ancient tree. And +that this is true is proved in this present Life of Giovanni Antonio, +who, at the death of his father Matteo, who was a painter of passing +good repute in his day, was left with a good income under the +guardianship of his mother, and lived thus up to the age of twelve. +Having come to that period of his life, and not caring to choose any +other pursuit than that of painting, to which he was drawn, besides +other reasons, by a wish to follow the footsteps of his father in that +art, Giovanni Antonio began to learn the first rudiments of design under +Domenico Pecori, a painter of Arezzo, who had been, together with his +father Matteo, a disciple of Clemente,[31] and who was his first master. +Then, after having been some time with him, desiring to make greater +proficience than he was making under the discipline of that master and +in that place, where he was not able to learn by himself, although he +had a strong natural inclination, he turned his thoughts towards the +idea of settling in Florence. To this intention, not to mention that he +was left alone by the death of his mother, Fortune was favourable +enough, for a young sister that he had was married to Leonardo Ricoveri, +one of the first and richest citizens that there were at that time in +Arezzo; and so he went off to Florence. + +There, among the works of many that he saw, the manner of Andrea del +Sarto and of Jacopo da Pontormo pleased him more than that of all the +others who had worked at painting in that city. Wherefore he resolved to +place himself under one of those two, and was hesitating as to which of +them he should choose as his master, when there were uncovered the Faith +and Charity painted by Pontormo over the portico of the Nunziata in +Florence, and he became fully determined to go to work under Pontormo, +thinking that his manner was so beautiful that it might be expected that +Jacopo, who was still a young man, was destined to surpass all the young +painters of his own age, as, indeed, was the firm belief of everyone at +that time. Lappoli, then, although he might have gone to work under +Andrea, for the said reasons attached himself to Pontormo, under whose +discipline he was for ever drawing, spurred to incredible exertions, out +of emulation, by two motives. One of these was the presence of Giovan +Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, who was studying design and painting +under the same master, and who, always advising him for his own good, +brought it about that he changed his manner and adopted the good manner +of Pontormo. The other--and this spurred him more strongly--was the +sight of Agnolo, who was called Bronzino, being much brought forward by +Jacopo on account of his loving submissiveness and goodness and the +untiring diligence that he showed in imitating his master's works, not +to mention that he drew very well and acquitted himself in colouring in +such a manner, that he aroused hopes that he was destined to attain to +that excellence and perfection which have been seen in him, and still +are seen, in our own day. + +Giovanni Antonio, then, being desirous to learn, and impelled by the +reasons mentioned above, spent many months in making drawings and copies +of the works of Jacopo da Pontormo, which were so well executed, so +good, and so beautiful, that it is certain that if he had persevered, +what with the assistance that he had from Nature, his wish to become +eminent, the force of competition, and the good manner of his master, he +would have become most excellent; and to this some drawings in red chalk +by his hand, which may be seen in our book, can bear witness. But +pleasure, as may often be seen to happen, is in young men generally the +enemy of excellence, and brings it about that their intellects are led +astray; wherefore he who is engaged in the studies of any faculty, +science, or art whatsoever should have no relations save with those who +are of the same profession, and good and orderly besides. Giovanni +Antonio, then, in order that he might be looked after, had gone to live +in the house of one Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a lame chaplain, in S. +Lorenzo, to whom he paid so much a year, and he abandoned in great +measure the study of painting, for the reason that the priest was a man +of the world, delighting in pictures, music, and other diversions, and +many persons of talent frequented the rooms that he had at S. Lorenzo; +among others, M. Antonio da Lucca, a most excellent musician and +performer on the lute, at that time a very young man, from whom Giovanni +learned to play the lute. And although the painter Rosso and some others +of the profession also frequented the same place, Lappoli attached +himself rather to the others than to the men of his art, from whom he +might have learned much, while at the same time amusing himself. Through +these distractions, therefore, the love of painting of which Giovanni +Antonio had given proof cooled off in great measure; but none the less, +being the friend of Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, who was a +disciple of Andrea del Sarto, he went sometimes with him to the Scalzo +to draw the pictures and nudes from life. And no long time passed before +he applied himself to colouring and executed pictures of Jacopo's, and +then by himself some Madonnas and portraits from life, among which were +that of the above-mentioned M. Antonio da Lucca and that of Ser +Raffaello, which are very good. + +In the year 1523, the plague being in Rome, Perino del Vaga came to +Florence, and he also settled down to lodge with Ser Raffaello del +Zoppo; wherefore Giovanni Antonio having formed a strait friendship with +him and having recognized the ability of Perino, there was reawakened in +his mind the desire to attend to painting, abandoning all other +pleasures, and he resolved when the plague had ceased to go with Perino +to Rome. But this design was never fulfilled, for the plague having come +to Florence, at the very moment when Perino had finished the scene of +the Submersion of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, painted in the colour of +bronze in chiaroscuro for Ser Raffaello, during the execution of which +Lappoli was always present, they were forced both the one and the other +to fly from Florence, in order not to lose their lives there. + +Thereupon Giovanni Antonio returned to Arezzo, and set himself, in order +to pass the time, to paint on canvas the scene of the death of Orpheus, +killed by the Bacchantes: he set himself, I say, to paint this scene in +chiaroscuro of the colour of bronze, after the manner in which he had +seen Perino paint the picture mentioned above, and when the work was +finished it brought him no little praise. He then set to work to finish +an altar-piece that his former master Domenico Pecori had begun for the +Nuns of S. Margherita: in which altar-piece, now to be seen in their +convent, he painted an Annunciation. And he made two cartoons for two +portraits from life from the waist upwards, both very beautiful; one was +Lorenzo d' Antonio di Giorgio, at that time a pupil and a very handsome +youth, and the other was Ser Piero Guazzesi, who was a convivial person. + +The plague having finally somewhat abated, Cipriano d' Anghiari, a rich +man of Arezzo, who in those days had caused a chapel with ornaments and +columns of grey-stone to be built in the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo, +allotted the altar-piece to Giovanni Antonio at the price of one hundred +crowns. Meanwhile, Rosso passed through Arezzo on his way to Rome, and +lodged with Giovanni Antonio, who was very much his friend; and, hearing +of the work that he had undertaken to do, he made at the request of +Lappoli a very beautiful little sketch full of nudes. Whereupon Giovanni +Antonio, setting his hand to the work and imitating the design of Rosso, +painted in that altar-piece the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the +lunette above it a God the Father and some children, copying the +draperies and all the rest from life. And when he had brought it to +completion, he was much praised and commended for it, and above all for +some heads copied from life, painted in a good manner and with much +profit to himself. + +Then, recognizing that if he wished to make greater proficience in his +art he must take his leave of Arezzo, he determined, after the plague +had ceased entirely in Rome, to go to that city, where he knew that +Perino, Rosso, and many others of his friends had already returned and +were employed in a number of important works. While of this mind, a +convenient occasion of going there presented itself to him, for there +arrived in Arezzo M. Paolo Valdambrini, the Secretary of Pope Clement +VII, who, in returning from France in great haste, passed through Arezzo +in order to see his brothers and nephews; and when Giovanni Antonio had +gone to visit him, M. Paolo, who was desirous that there should be in +his native city of Arezzo men distinguished in all the arts, who might +demonstrate the genius which that air and that sky give to those who are +born there, exhorted him, although there was not much need for +exhortation, that he should go in his company to Rome, where he would +obtain for him every convenience to enable him to attend to the studies +of his art. Having therefore gone with M. Paolo to Rome, he found there +Perino, Rosso, and others of his friends; and besides this he was able +by means of M. Paolo to make the acquaintance of Giulio Romano, +Sebastiano Viniziano, and Francesco Mazzuoli of Parma, who arrived in +Rome about that time. This Francesco, delighting to play the lute, and +therefore conceiving a very great affection for Giovanni Antonio and +consorting continually with him, brought it about that Lappoli set +himself with great zeal to draw and paint and to profit by the good +fortune that he enjoyed in being the friend of the best painters that +there were in Rome at that time. And he had already carried almost to +completion a picture containing a Madonna of the size of life, which M. +Paolo wished to present to Pope Clement in order to make Lappoli known +to him, when, as Fortune would have it, who often sets herself in +opposition to the designs of mankind, there took place on the 6th of +May, in the year 1527, the accursed sack of Rome. On that miserable day +M. Paolo galloped on horseback, and Giovanni Antonio with him, to the +Porta di S. Spirito in the Trastevere, in order to prevent the soldiers +of Bourbon for a time from entering by that gate; and there M. Paolo was +killed and Lappoli was taken prisoner by the Spaniards. And in a short +time, everything being given over to sack, the picture was lost, +together with the designs executed in the chapel and all that poor +Giovanni Antonio possessed. He, after having been much tormented by the +Spaniards to induce him to pay a ransom, escaped in his shirt one night +with some other prisoners, and, after suffering desperate hardships and +running in great danger of his life, because the roads were not safe, +finally made his way to Arezzo, where he was received by M. Giovanni +Pollastra, a man of great learning, who was his uncle; but he had all +that he could do to recover himself, so broken was he by terror and +suffering. + +Then in the same year there came upon Arezzo the great plague in which +four hundred persons died every day, and Giovanni Antonio was forced +once more to fly, all in despair and very loth to go, and to stay for +some months out of the city. But finally, when that pestilence had +abated to such an extent that people could begin to mix together, a +certain Fra Guasparri, a Conventual Friar of S. Francis, who was then +Guardian of their convent in that city, commissioned Giovanni Antonio to +paint the altar-piece of the high-altar in that church for one hundred +crowns, stipulating that he should represent in it the Adoration of the +Magi. Whereupon Lappoli, hearing that Rosso, having also fled from Rome, +was at Borgo a San Sepolcro, and was there executing an altar-piece for +the Company of S. Croce, went to visit him; and after showing him many +courtesies and causing some things to be brought for him from Arezzo, of +which he knew him to stand in need, since he had lost everything in the +sack of Rome, he obtained for himself from Rosso a very beautiful design +of the above-mentioned altar-piece that he had to paint for Fra +Guasparri. And when he had returned to Arezzo he set his hand to the +work, and finished it within a year from the day of the commission, +according to the agreement, and that so well, that he was very highly +praised for it. That design of Rosso's passed afterwards into the hands +of Giorgio Vasari, and from him to the very reverend Don Vincenzio +Borghini, Director of the Hospital of the Innocenti in Florence, who has +it in his book of drawings by various painters. + +Not long afterwards, having become surety for Rosso to the amount of +three hundred crowns, in the matter of some pictures that the said Rosso +was to paint in the Madonna delle Lagrime, Giovanni Antonio found +himself in a very evil pass, for Rosso went away without finishing the +work, as has been related in his Life, and Lappoli was constrained to +restore the money; and if his friends had not helped him, and +particularly Giorgio Vasari, who valued at three hundred crowns the part +that Rosso had left finished, Giovanni Antonio would have been little +less than ruined in his effort to do honour and benefit to his native +city. These difficulties over, Lappoli painted an altar-piece in oils +containing the Madonna, S. Bartholomew, and S. Matthew at the commission +of Abbot Camaiani of Bibbiena, for a chapel in the lower church at S. +Maria del Sasso, a seat of the Preaching Friars in the Casentino; and he +acquitted himself very well, counterfeiting the manner of Rosso. And +this was the reason that a Confraternity at Bibbiena afterwards caused +him to paint on a banner for carrying in processions a nude Christ with +the Cross on His shoulder, who is shedding blood into the Chalice, and +on the other side an Annunciation, which was one of the best things that +he ever did. + +In the year 1534, Duke Alessandro de' Medici being expected in Arezzo, +the Aretines, with Luigi Guicciardini, the commissary in that city, +wishing to honour the Duke, ordained that two comedies should be +performed. The charge of arranging one of those festivals was in the +hands of a Company of the most noble young men in the city, who called +themselves the Umidi; and the preparations and scenery for this comedy, +which had for its subject the Intronati of Siena, were made by Niccolò +Soggi, who was much extolled for them, and the comedy was performed very +well and with infinite satisfaction to all who saw it. The festive +preparations for the other were executed in competition by another +Company of young men, likewise noble, who called themselves the Company +of the Infiammati. And they, in order to be praised no less than the +Umidi, performed a comedy by M. Giovanni Pollastra, a poet of Arezzo, +under his management, and entrusted the making of the scenery to +Giovanni Antonio, who acquitted himself consummately well; and thus +their comedy was performed with great honour to that Company and to the +whole city. Nor must I pass over a lovely notion of that poet's, who was +certainly a man of beautiful ingenuity. While the preparations for these +and other festivals were in progress, on many occasions the young men of +the two Companies, out of rivalry and for various other reasons, had +come to blows, and several disputes had arisen; wherefore Pollastra +arranged a surprise (keeping the matter absolutely secret), which was as +follows. When all the people, with the gentlemen and their ladies, had +assembled in the place where the comedy was to be performed, four of +those young men who had come to blows with one another in the city on +other occasions, dashing out with naked swords and cloaks wound round +their arms, began to shout on the stage and to pretend to kill one +another: and the first of them to be seen rushed out with one temple as +it were smeared with blood, crying out: "Come forth, traitors!" At which +uproar all the people rose to their feet, men began to lay hands on +their weapons, and the kinsmen of the young men, who appeared to be +giving each other fearful thrusts, ran towards the stage; when he who +had come out first, turning towards the other young men, said: "Hold +your hands, gentlemen, and sheathe your swords, for I have taken no +harm; and although we are at daggers drawn and you believe that the play +will not be performed, yet it will take place, and I, wounded as I am, +will now begin the Prologue." And so after this jest, by which all the +spectators and the actors themselves, only excepting the four mentioned +above, were taken in, the comedy was begun and played so well, that +afterwards, in the year 1540, when the Lord Duke Cosimo and the Lady +Duchess Leonora were in Arezzo, Giovanni Antonio had to prepare the +scenery anew on the Piazza del Vescovado and have it performed before +their Excellencies. And even as the performers had given satisfaction on +the first occasion, so at that time they gave so much satisfaction to +the Lord Duke, that they were afterwards invited to Florence to perform +at the next Carnival. In these two scenic preparations, then, Lappoli +acquitted himself very well, and he was very highly praised. + +He then made an ornament after the manner of a triumphal arch, with +scenes in the colour of bronze, which was placed about the altar of the +Madonna delle Chiavi. After a time Giovanni Antonio settled in Arezzo, +fully determined, now that he had a wife and children, to go roaming no +more, and living on his income and on the offices that the citizens of +that city enjoy; and so he continued without working much. Not long, +indeed, after these events, he sought to obtain the commissions for two +altar-pieces that were to be painted in Arezzo, one for the Church and +Company of S. Rocco, and the other for the high-altar of S. Domenico; +but he did not succeed, for the reason that both those pictures were +allotted to Giorgio Vasari, whose designs, among the many that were +made, gave more satisfaction than any of the others. For the Company of +the Ascension in that city Giovanni Antonio painted on a banner for +carrying in processions Christ in the act of Resurrection, with many +soldiers round the Sepulchre, and His Ascension into Heaven, with the +Madonna surrounded by the twelve Apostles, which was all executed very +well and with diligence. At Castello della Pieve he painted an +altar-piece in oils of the Visitation of Our Lady, with some Saints +about her, and in an altar-piece that was painted for the Pieve a San +Stefano he depicted the Madonna and other Saints; which two works +Lappoli executed much better than the others that he had painted up to +that time, because he had been able to see at his leisure many works in +relief and casts taken in gesso from the statues of Michelagnolo and +from other ancient works, and brought by Giorgio Vasari to his house at +Arezzo. The same master painted some pictures of Our Lady, which are +dispersed throughout Arezzo and other places, and a Judith who is +placing the head of Holofernes in a basket held by her serving-woman, +which now belongs to Mons. M. Bernardetto Minerbetti, Bishop of Arezzo, +who loved Giovanni Antonio much, as he loves all other men of talent, +and received from him, besides other things, a young S. John the Baptist +in the desert, almost wholly naked, which is held dear by him, since it +is an excellent figure. + +Finally, recognizing that perfection in this art consists in nothing +else but seeking in good time to become rich in invention and to study +the nude continually, and thus to render facile the difficulties of +execution, Giovanni Antonio repented that he had not spent in the study +of art the time that he had given to his pleasures, perceiving that what +can be done easily in youth cannot be done well in old age. But although +he was always conscious of his error, yet he did not recognize it fully +until, having set himself to study when already an old man, he saw a +picture in oils, fourteen braccia long and six braccia and a half high, +executed in forty-two days by Giorgio Vasari, who painted it for the +Refectory of the Monks of the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; in which work +are painted the Nuptials of Esther and King Ahasuerus, and there are in +it more than sixty figures larger than life. Going therefore at times to +see Giorgio at work, and staying to discourse with him, Giovanni Antonio +said: "Now I see that continual study and work is what lifts men out of +laborious effort, and that our art does not come down upon us like the +Holy Ghost." + +Giovanni Antonio did not work much in fresco, for the reason that the +colours changed too much to please him; nevertheless, there may be seen +over the Church of Murello a Pietà with two little naked Angels by his +hand, executed passing well. Finally, after having lived like a man of +good judgment and one not unpractised in the ways of the world, he fell +sick of a most violent fever at the age of sixty, in the year 1552, and +died. + +A disciple of Giovanni Antonio was Bartolommeo Torri, the scion of a not +ignoble family in Arezzo, who, making his way to Rome, and placing +himself under Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent miniaturist, devoted +himself in so thorough a manner to design and to the study of the nude, +but most of all to anatomy, that he became an able master, and was held +to be the best draughtsman in Rome. And it is not long since Don Silvano +Razzi related to me that Don Giulio Clovio had told him in Rome, after +having praised this young man highly, the very thing that he has often +declared to me--namely, that he had turned him out of his house for no +other reason but his filthy anatomy, for he kept so many limbs and +pieces of men under his bed and all over his rooms, that they poisoned +the whole house. Besides this, by neglecting himself and thinking that +living like an unwashed philosopher, accepting no rule of life, and +avoiding the society of other men, was the way to become great and +immortal, he ruined himself completely; for nature will not tolerate the +unreasonable outrages that some men at times do to her. Having therefore +fallen ill at the age of twenty-five, Bartolommeo returned to Arezzo, in +order to regain his health and to seek to build himself up again; but he +did not succeed, for he continued his usual studies and the same +irregularities, and in four months, a little after the death of Giovanni +Antonio, he died and went to join him. + +The loss of this young man was an infinite grief to the whole city, for +if he had lived, to judge from the great promise of his works, he was +like to do extraordinary honour to his native place and to all Tuscany; +and whoever sees any of the drawings that he made when still a mere lad, +stands marvelling at them and full of compassion for his untimely +death. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[31] Don Bartolommeo della Gatta, Abbot of S. Clemente. + + + + +NICCOLÒ SOGGI + + + + +LIFE OF NICCOLÒ SOGGI + +PAINTER + + +Among the many who were disciples of Pietro Perugino, there was not one, +after Raffaello da Urbino, who was more studious or more diligent than +Niccolò Soggi, whose Life we are now about to write. This master was +born in Florence, the son of Jacopo Soggi, a worthy person, but not very +rich; and in time he entered the service of M. Antonio dal Monte in +Rome, because Jacopo had a farm at Marciano in Valdichiana, and, passing +most of his time there, associated not a little with that same M. +Antonio dal Monte, their properties being near together. + +Jacopo, then, perceiving that this son of his was much inclined to +painting, placed him with Pietro Perugino; and in a short time, by means +of continual study, he learned so much that it was not long before +Pietro began to make use of him in his works, to the great advantage of +Niccolò, who devoted himself in such a manner to drawing in perspective +and copying from nature, that he afterwards became very excellent in +both the one field and the other. Niccolò also gave much attention to +making models of clay and wax, over which he laid draperies and soaked +parchment: which was the reason that he rendered his manner so dry, that +he always held to the same as long as he lived, nor could he ever get +rid of it for all the pains that he took. + +The first work that this Niccolò executed after the death of his master +Pietro was an altar-piece in oils in the Hospital for Women, founded by +Bonifazio Lupi, in the Via San Gallo at Florence--that is, the side +behind the altar, wherein is the Angel saluting Our Lady, with a +building drawn in perspective, in which there are arches and a groined +vaulting rising above pilasters after the manner of Pietro. Then, in the +year 1512, after having executed many pictures of Our Lady for the +houses of citizens, and other little works such as are painted every +day, hearing that great things were being done in Rome, he departed from +Florence, thinking to make proficience in art and also to save some +money, and went off to Rome. There, having paid a visit to the aforesaid +M. Antonio dal Monte, who was then a Cardinal, he was not only welcomed +warmly, but also straightway set to work to paint, in those early days +of the pontificate of Leo, on the façade of the palace where there is +the statue of Maestro Pasquino, a great escutcheon of Pope Leo in +fresco, between that of the Roman People and that of the Cardinal. In +that work Niccolò did not acquit himself very well, for in painting some +nude figures and others clothed that he placed there as ornaments for +those escutcheons, he recognized that the study of models is bad for him +who wishes to acquire a good manner. Thereupon, after the uncovering of +that work, which did not prove to be of that excellence which many +expected, Niccolò set himself to execute a picture in oils, in which he +painted the Martyr S. Prassedia squeezing a sponge full of blood into a +vessel; and he finished it with such diligence that he recovered in part +the honour that he considered himself to have lost in painting the +escutcheons described above. This picture, which was executed for the +above-mentioned Cardinal dal Monte, who was titular of S. Prassedia, was +placed in the centre of that church, over an altar beneath which is a +well of the blood of Holy Martyrs--a beautiful idea, the picture +alluding to the place where there was the blood of those Martyrs. After +this Niccolò painted for his patron the Cardinal another picture in +oils, three-quarters of a braccio in height, of Our Lady with the Child +in her arms, S. John as a little boy, and some landscapes, all executed +so well and with such diligence, that the whole work appears to be done +in miniature, and not painted; which picture, one of the best works that +Niccolò ever produced, was for many years in the apartment of that +prelate. Afterwards, when the Cardinal arrived in Arezzo and lodged in +the Abbey of S. Fiore, a seat of the Black Friars of S. Benedict, in +return for the many courtesies that were shown to him, he presented that +picture to the sacristy of that place, in which it has been treasured +ever since, both as a good painting and in memory of the Cardinal. + +Niccolò himself went with the Cardinal to Arezzo, where he lived almost +ever afterwards. At the time he formed a friendship with the painter +Domenico Pecori, who was then painting an altar-piece with the +Circumcision of Christ for the Company of the Trinità; and such was the +intimacy between them that Niccolò painted for Domenico in that +altar-piece a building in perspective with columns and arches supporting +a ceiling full of rosettes, according to the custom of those days, which +was held at that time to be very beautiful. Niccolò also painted for the +same Domenico a round picture of the Madonna with a multitude below, in +oils and on cloth, for the baldachin of the Confraternity of Arezzo, +which was burned, as has been related in the Life of Domenico +Pecori,[32] during a festival that was held in S. Francesco. Then, +having received the commission for a chapel in that same S. Francesco, +the second on the right hand as one enters the church, he painted there +in distemper Our Lady, S. John the Baptist, S. Bernard, S. Anthony, S. +Francis, and three Angels in the air who are singing, with God the +Father in a pediment; which were executed by Niccolò almost entirely in +distemper, with the point of the brush. But since the work has almost +all peeled off on account of the strength of the distemper, it was +labour thrown away. Niccolò did this in order to try new methods; and +when he had recognized that the true method was working in fresco, he +seized the first opportunity, and undertook to paint in fresco a chapel +in S. Agostino in that city, beside the door on the left hand as one +enters the church. In this chapel, which was allotted to him by one +Scamarra, a master of furnaces, he painted a Madonna in the sky with a +multitude beneath, and S. Donatus and S. Francis kneeling; but the best +thing that he did in this work was a S. Rocco at the head of the chapel. + +This work giving great pleasure to Domenico Ricciardi of Arezzo, who had +a chapel in the Church of the Madonna delle Lagrime, he entrusted the +painting of the altar-piece of that chapel to Niccolò, who, setting his +hand to the work, painted in it with much care and diligence the +Nativity of Jesus Christ. And although he toiled a long time over +finishing it, he executed it so well that he deserves to be excused for +this, or rather, merits infinite praise, for the reason that it is a +most beautiful work; nor would anyone believe with what extraordinary +consideration he painted every least thing in it, and a ruined building, +near the hut wherein are the Infant Christ and the Virgin, is drawn very +well in perspective. In the S. Joseph and some Shepherds are many heads +portrayed from life, such as Stagio Sassoli, a painter and the friend of +Niccolò, and Papino della Pieve, his disciple, who, if he had not died +when still young, would have done very great honour both to himself and +to his country; and three Angels in the air who are singing are so well +executed that they would be enough by themselves to demonstrate the +talent of Niccolò and the patience with which he laboured at this work +up to the very last. And no sooner had he finished it than he was +requested by the men of the Company of S. Maria della Neve, at Monte +Sansovino, to paint for that Company an altar-piece wherein was to be +the story of the Snow, which, falling on the site of S. Maria Maggiore +at Rome on the 5th of August, was the reason of the building of that +temple. Niccolò, then, executed that altar-piece for the above-mentioned +Company with much diligence; and afterwards he executed at Marciano a +work in fresco that won no little praise. + +Now in the year 1524, after M. Baldo Magini had caused Antonio, the +brother of Giuliano da San Gallo, to build in the Madonna delle Carceri, +in the town of Prato, a tabernacle of marble with two columns, +architrave, cornice, and a quarter-round arch, Antonio resolved to bring +it about that M. Baldo should give the commission for the picture which +was to adorn that tabernacle to Niccolò, with whom he had formed a +friendship when he was working in the Palace of the above-mentioned +Cardinal dal Monte at Monte Sansovino. He presented him, therefore, to +M. Baldo, who, although he had been minded to have it painted by Andrea +del Sarto, as has been related in another place, resolved, at the +entreaties and advice of Antonio, to allot it to Niccolò. And he, having +set his hand to it, strove with all his power to make a beautiful work, +but he did not succeed; for, apart from diligence, there is no +excellence of design to be seen in it, nor any other quality worthy of +much praise, because his hard manner, with his labours over his models +of clay and wax, almost always gave a laborious and displeasing effect +to his work. And yet, with regard to the labours of art, that man could +not have done more than he did or shown more lovingness; and since he +knew that none ...[33] for many years he could never bring himself to +believe that others surpassed him in excellence. In this work, then, +there is a God the Father who is sending down the crown of virginity and +humility upon the Madonna by the hands of some Angels who are round her, +some of whom are playing various instruments. Niccolò made in the +picture a portrait from life of M. Baldo, kneeling at the feet of S. +Ubaldo the Bishop, and on the other side he painted S. Joseph; and those +two figures are one on either side of the image of the Madonna, which +worked miracles in that place. Niccolò afterwards painted a picture +three braccia in height of the same M. Baldo Magini from life, standing +with the Church of S. Fabiano di Prato in his hand, which he presented +to the Chapter of the Canons of the Pieve; and this Niccolò executed for +that Chapter, which, in memory of the benefit received, caused the +picture to be placed in the sacristy, an honour well deserved by that +remarkable man, who with excellent judgment conferred benefits on that +church, the principal church of his native city, and so renowned for the +Girdle of the Madonna, which is preserved there. This portrait was one +of the best works that Niccolò ever executed in painting. It is also the +belief of some that a little altar-piece that is in the Company of S. +Pier Martire on the Piazza di S. Domenico, at Prato, in which are many +portraits from life, is by the hand of the same Niccolò; but in my +opinion, even if this be true, it was painted by him before any of the +other pictures mentioned above. + +After these works, Niccolò--under whose discipline Domenico Giuntalodi, +a young man of excellent ability belonging to Prato, had learned the +rudiments of the art of painting, although, in consequence of having +acquired the manner of Niccolò, he never became a great master in +painting, as will be related--departed from Prato and came to work in +Florence; but, having seen that the most important works in art were +given to better and more eminent men than himself, and that his manner +was not up to the standard of Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso, and the +others, he made up his mind to return to Arezzo, in which city he had +more friends, greater credit, and less competition. Which having done, +no sooner had he arrived than he made known to M. Giuliano Bacci, one of +the chief citizens of that place, a desire that he had in his heart, +which was this, that he wished that Arezzo should become his country, +and that therefore he would gladly undertake to execute some work which +might maintain him for a time in the practice of his art, whereby he +hoped to demonstrate to that city the nature of his talents. Whereupon +Messer Giuliano, an ingenious man who desired that his native city +should be embellished and should contain persons engaged in the arts, so +went to work with the men then governing the Company of the Nunziata, +who in those days had caused a great vaulting to be built in their +church, with the intention of having it painted, that one arch of the +wall-surface of that vaulting was allotted to Niccolò; and it was +proposed that he should be commissioned to paint the rest, if the first +part, which he had to do then, should please the men of the aforesaid +Company. Having therefore set his hand to this work with great +diligence, in two years Niccolò finished the half, but not more, of one +arch, on which he painted in fresco the Tiburtine Sibyl showing to the +Emperor Octavian the Virgin in Heaven with the Infant Jesus Christ in +her arms, and Octavian in reverent adoration. In the figure of Octavian +he portrayed the above-mentioned M. Giuliano Bacci, and his pupil +Domenico in a tall young man draped in red, and others of his friends in +other heads; and, in a word, he acquitted himself in this work in such a +manner that it did not displease the men of that Company and the other +men of that city. It is true, indeed, that everyone grew weary of seeing +him take so long and toil so much over executing his works; but +notwithstanding all this the rest would have been given to him to +finish, if that had not been prevented by the arrival in Arezzo of the +Florentine Rosso, a rare painter, to whom, after he had been put forward +by the Aretine painter Giovanni Antonio Lappoli and M. Giovanni +Pollastra, as has been related in another place, much favour was shown +and the rest of that work allotted. At which Niccolò felt such disdain, +that, if he had not taken a wife the year before and had a son by her, +so that he was settled in Arezzo, he would have departed straightway. +However, having finally become pacified, he executed an altar-piece for +the Church of Sargiano, a place two miles distant from Arezzo, where +there are Frati Zoccolanti; in which he painted the Assumption of Our +Lady into Heaven, with many little Angels supporting her, and S. Thomas +below receiving the Girdle, while all around are S. Francis, S. Louis, +S. John the Baptist, and S. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. In some of +these figures, and particularly in some of the little Angels, he +acquitted himself very well; and so also in the predella he painted some +scenes with little figures, which are passing good. He executed, +likewise, in the Convent of the Nuns of the Murate, who belong to the +same Order, in that city, a Dead Christ with the Maries, which is +wrought with a high finish for a picture in fresco. In the Abbey of S. +Fiore, a seat of Black Friars, behind the Crucifix that is placed on the +high-altar, he painted in oils, on a canvas, Christ praying in the +Garden and the Angel showing to Him the Chalice of the Passion and +comforting Him, which was certainly a work of no little beauty and +excellence. And for the Nuns of S. Benedetto, of the Order of Camaldoli, +at Arezzo, on an arch above a door by which one enters the convent, he +painted the Madonna, S. Benedict, and S. Catharine, a work which was +afterwards thrown to the ground in order to enlarge the church. + +In the township of Marciano in Valdichiana, where he passed much of his +time, living partly on the revenues that he had in that place and partly +on what he could earn there, Niccolò began an altar-piece of the Dead +Christ and many other works, with which he occupied himself for a time. +And meanwhile, having with him the above-mentioned Domenico Giuntalodi +of Prato, whom he loved as a son and kept in his house, he strove to +make him excellent in the matters of art, teaching him so well how to +draw in perspective, to copy from nature, and to make designs, that he +was already becoming very able in all these respects, showing a good and +beautiful genius. And this Niccolò did, besides being moved by the love +and affection that he bore to that young man, in the hope of having one +who might help him now that he was nearing old age, and might give him +some return in his last years for so much labour and lovingness. Niccolò +was in truth most loving with every man, true by nature, and much the +friend of those who laboured in order to attain to something in the +world of art; and what he knew he taught to them with extraordinary +willingness. + +No long time after this, when Niccolò had returned from Marciano to +Arezzo and Domenico had left him, the men of the Company of the Corpo di +Cristo, in that city, had a commission to give for the painting of an +altar-piece for the high-altar of the Church of S. Domenico. Now, +Niccolò desiring to paint it, and likewise Giorgio Vasari, then a mere +lad, the former did something which probably not many of the men of our +art would do at the present day, which was as follows: Niccolò, who was +one of the members of the above-mentioned Company, perceiving that many +were disposed to have it painted by Giorgio, in order to bring him +forward, and that the young man had a very great desire for it, +resolved, after remarking Giorgio's zeal, to lay aside his own desire +and need and to have the picture allotted by his companions to Giorgio, +thinking more of the advantage that the young man might gain from the +work than of his own profit and interest; and even as he wished, so +exactly did the men of that Company decide. + +In the meantime Domenico Giuntalodi, having gone to Rome, found Fortune +so propitious that he became known to Don Martino, the Ambassador of the +King of Portugal, and went to live with him; and he painted for him a +canvas with some twenty portraits from life, all of his followers and +friends, with himself in the midst of them, engaged in conversation; +which work so pleased Don Martino, that he looked upon Domenico as the +first painter in the world. Afterwards Don Ferrante Gonzaga, having been +made Viceroy of Sicily, and desiring to fortify the towns of that +kingdom, wished to have about his person a man who might draw and put +down on paper for him all that he thought of from day to day; and he +wrote to Don Martino that he should find for him a young man who might +be both able and willing to serve him in this way, and should send him +off as soon as possible. Don Martino, therefore, first sent to Don +Ferrante some designs by the hand of Domenico, among which was a +Colosseum, engraved on copper by Girolamo Fagiuoli of Bologna for +Antonio Salamanca, but drawn in perspective by Domenico; an old man in +a child's go-cart, drawn by the same hand and published in engraving, +with letters that ran thus, "Ancora imparo"; and a little picture with +the portrait of Don Martino himself. And shortly afterwards he sent +Domenico, at the wish of the aforesaid lord, Don Ferrante, who had been +much pleased with that young man's works. Having then arrived in Sicily, +there were assigned to Domenico an honourable salary, a horse, and a +servant, all at the expense of Don Ferrante; and not long afterwards he +was set to work on the walls and fortresses of Sicily. Whereupon, +abandoning his painting little by little, he devoted himself to +something else which for a time was more profitable to him; for, being +an ingenious person, he made use of men who were well adapted to heavy +labour, kept beasts of burden in the charge of others, and caused sand +and lime to be collected and furnaces to be set up; and no long time had +passed before he found that he had saved so much that he was able to buy +offices in Rome to the extent of two thousand crowns, and shortly +afterwards some others. Then, after he had been made keeper of the +wardrobe to Don Ferrante, it happened that his master was removed from +the government of Sicily and sent to that of Milan; whereupon Domenico +went with him, and, working on the fortifications of that State, +contrived, what with being industrious and with being something of a +miser, to become very rich; and what is more, he came into such credit +that he managed almost everything in that government. + +Hearing of this, Niccolò, who was at Arezzo, now an old man, needy, and +without any work to do, went to find Domenico in Milan, thinking that +even as he had not failed Domenico when he was a young man, so Domenico +should not fail him now, but should avail himself of his services, since +he had many in his employ, and should be both able and willing to assist +him in his poverty-stricken old age. But he found to his cost that the +judgments of men, in expecting too much from others, are often deceived, +and that the men who change their condition also change more often than +not their nature and their will. For after arriving in Milan, where he +found Domenico raised to such greatness that he had no little difficulty +in getting speech of him, Niccolò related to him all his troubles, and +then besought him that he should help him by making use of his +services; but Domenico, not remembering or not choosing to remember +with what lovingness he had been brought up by Niccolò as if he had been +his own son, gave him a miserably small sum of money and got rid of him +as soon as he was able. And so Niccolò returned to Arezzo very sore at +heart, having recognized that with the labour and expense with which, as +he thought, he had reared a son, he had formed one who was little less +than an enemy. + +In order to earn his bread, therefore, he went about executing all the +work that came to his hand, as he had done many years before, and he +painted among other things a canvas for the Commune of Monte Sansovino, +containing the said town of Monte Sansovino and a Madonna in the sky, +with two Saints at the sides; which picture was set up on an altar in +the Madonna di Vertigli, a church belonging to the Monks of the Order of +Camaldoli, not far distant from the Monte, where it has pleased and +still pleases Our Lord daily to perform many miracles and to grant +favours to those who recommend themselves to the Queen of Heaven. +Afterwards, Julius III having been created Supreme Pontiff, Niccolò, who +had been much connected with the house of Monte, made his way to Rome, +although he was an old man of eighty, and, having kissed the foot of His +Holiness, besought him that he should deign to make use of him in the +buildings which were to be erected, so men said, at the Monte, a place +which the Lord Duke of Florence had given in fief to the Pontiff. The +Pope, then, having received him warmly, ordained that the means to live +in Rome should be given to him without exacting any sort of exertion +from him; and in this manner Niccolò spent several months in Rome, +drawing many antiquities to pass the time. + +Meanwhile the Pope resolved to increase his native town of Monte +Sansovino, and to make there, besides many ornamental works, an +aqueduct, because that place suffered much from want of water; and +Giorgio Vasari, who had orders from the Pope to cause those buildings to +be begun, recommended Niccolò Soggi strongly to His Holiness, entreating +him that Niccolò should be given the office of superintendent over those +works. Whereupon Niccolò went to Arezzo filled with these hopes, but he +had not been there many days when, worn out by the fatigues and +hardships of this world and by the knowledge that he had been abandoned +by him who should have been the last to forsake him, he finished the +course of his life and was buried in S. Domenico in that city. + +Not long afterwards Domenico Giuntalodi, Don Ferrante Gonzaga having +died, departed from Milan with the intention of returning to Prato and +of passing the rest of his life there in repose. However, finding there +neither relatives nor friends, and recognizing that Prato was no abiding +place for him, he repented too late that he had behaved ungratefully to +Niccolò, and returned to Lombardy to serve the sons of Don Ferrante. But +no long time passed before he fell sick unto death; whereupon he made a +will leaving ten thousand crowns to his fellow-citizens of Prato, to the +end that they might buy property to that amount and form a fund +wherewith to maintain continually at their studies a certain number of +students from Prato, in the manner in which they maintained certain +others, as they still do, according to the terms of another bequest. And +this has been carried out by the men of that town of Prato, who, +grateful for such a benefit, which in truth has been a very great one +and worthy of eternal remembrance, have placed in their Council Chamber +the image of Domenico, as that of one who has deserved well of his +country. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[32] See p. 208, Vol. III. + +[33] These words are missing in the text. + + + + +INDEX + + + + +INDEX OF NAMES + +OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME VI + + + Abacco, Antonio L', 113, 114, 130, 136, 137 + + Abbot of S. Clemente (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), 255 + + Agnolo, Baccio d' (Baccio Baglioni), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Agnolo, Battista d' (Battista del Moro), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Agnolo, Domenico di Baccio d', 68, 70, 72 + + Agnolo, Filippo di Baccio d', 68, 70 + + Agnolo, Giuliano di Baccio d', _Life_, 68-72 + + Agnolo, Marco di Battista d', 27, 28 + + Agnolo Bronzino, 118, 256 + + Agostino Viniziano (Agostino de' Musi), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Aimo, Domenico (Il Bologna), 217 + + Alberti, Leon Batista, 45 + + Alberto Monsignori (Bonsignori), 29 + + Albrecht (Heinrich) Aldegrever, 119 + + Albrecht Dürer, _Life_, 92-98. 99, 102, 119, 165 + + Aldegrever, Albrecht (Heinrich), 119 + + Alessandro Cesati (Il Greco), _Life_, 85 + + Alessandro Falconetto, 47, 48 + + Alessandro Filipepi (Sandro Botticelli), 91 + + Andrea Contucci (Andrea Sansovino), 66, 133 + + Andrea dal Castagno, 182 + + Andrea de' Ceri, 190-192, 201 + + Andrea del Sarto, 60, 106, 255-257, 272, 273 + + Andrea Mantegna, 15, 29, 30, 91 + + Andrea Palladio, 28, 48 + + Andrea Sansovino (Andrea Contucci), 66, 133 + + Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 246 + + Anichini, Luigi, 85 + + Anselmo Canneri, 22 + + Antoine Lafrery (Antonio Lanferri), 113 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the elder), 66, 123, 272 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), _Life_, 123-141. 167, 197, + 198, 219, 220, 222 + + Antonio da Trento (Antonio Fantuzzi), 108 + + Antonio del Pollaiuolo, 182, 246 + + Antonio di Giorgio Marchissi, 126 + + Antonio di Marco di Giano (Il Carota), 213 + + Antonio Fantuzzi (Antonio da Trento), 108 + + Antonio l'Abacco, 113, 114, 130, 136, 137 + + Antonio Lanferri (Antoine Lafrery), 113 + + Antonio (or Vittore) Pisano (or Pisanello), 35 + + Antonio Salamanca, 276 + + Antonio Scarpagni (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino,) 10 + + Aretino, Leone (Leone Lioni), 87 + + Aretusi, Pellegrino degli (Pellegrino da Modena, or de' Munari), 125 + + Avanzi, Niccolò, 79, 80 + + + Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini), 60 + + Baccio Baglioni (Baccio d' Agnolo), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Baccio Baldini, 91 + + Baccio Bandinelli, 69-71, 103, 105, 111 + + Baccio d' Agnolo (Baccio Baglioni), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Baldassarre Peruzzi, 107, 167, 174, 177, 239 + + Baldini, Baccio, 91 + + Bandinelli, Baccio, 69-71, 103, 105, 111 + + Barile, Giovan, 177 + + Barlacchi, Tommaso, 104, 113 + + Barozzo, Jacopo, 114 + + Bartolommeo da Castiglione, 152 + + Bartolommeo della Gatta, Don (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Bartolommeo di San Marco, Fra, 66 + + Bartolommeo Ridolfi, 48 + + Bartolommeo Torri, 264, 265 + + Battista d' Agnolo (Battista del Moro), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Battista del Cervelliera, 214, 247, 248 + + Battista del Moro (Battista d' Agnolo), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Battista del Tasso, 213 + + Battista Franco, 108, 114, 156 + + Battista Gobbo, 133, 140 + + Battista of Vicenza (Battista Pittoni), 108 + + Baviera, 100, 101, 109, 209 + + Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Il Sodoma), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Beatricio, Niccolò (Nicolas Beautrizet), 114 + + Beccafumi, Domenico (Domenico di Pace), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Beham, Hans, 119 + + Belli, Valerio (Valerio Vicentino), _Life_, 82-84. 76, 79 + + Bellini, Giovanni, 173 + + Bellini, Jacopo, 11, 35 + + Benedetto da Maiano, 66 + + Benedetto Ghirlandajo, 57 + + Benedetto Pagni, 152, 154-156, 169 + + Benozzo Gozzoli, 246 + + Benvenuto Cellini, 86, 87 + + Bernardi, Giovanni (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), _Life_, 76-79. + 83, 84 + + Bernardino Pinturicchio, 195 + + Bologna, Il (Domenico Aimo), 217 + + Bolognese, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Bonasone, Giulio, 114 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Alberto, 29 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Cherubino, 34 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Girolamo, _Life_, 34-35 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Francesco, _Life_, 29-35 + + Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Colle), 152, 169 + + Borgo a San Sepolcro, Giovan Maria dal, 256 + + Bosch, Hieronymus, 118 + + Botticelli, Sandro (Alessandro Filipepi), 91 + + Boyvin, René (Renato), 115 + + Bramante da Urbino, 6, 124, 126, 136, 138 + + Brescianino (Girolamo Muziano, or Mosciano), 114 + + Bronzino, Agnolo, 118, 256 + + Brunelleschi, Filippo, 68, 71 + + Brusciasorzi, Domenico (Domenico del Riccio), 82 + + Bugiardini, Giuliano, 183 + + Buonaccorsi, Perino (Perino del Vaga, or Perino de' Ceri), + _Life_, 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, + 244, 257-259 + + Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, 57, 59, 60, 66, 68, 78, 79, 85, 92, + 107, 111, 113, 114, 129, 135, 136, 139, 140, 167, 174-177, 183, + 185, 191, 193, 195, 205, 218, 219, 222, 225, 236, 263 + + + Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Calcar, Johann of (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), 116 + + Caliari, Paolo (Paolo Veronese), 22, 27 + + Cammei, Domenico de', 76 + + Canneri, Anselmo, 22 + + Caraglio, Gian Jacopo, 109, 110, 209 + + Caravaggio, Polidoro da, 177, 196 + + Carota, Il (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 213 + + Caroto, Giovan Francesco, _Life_, 15-21. 37 + + Caroto, Giovanni, _Life_, 21-22. 15 + + Carpi, Ugo da, 106, 107 + + Carrara, Danese da (Danese Cattaneo), 26-28, 54 + + Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da Pontormo), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Castagno, Andrea dal, 182 + + Castel Bolognese, Giovanni da (Giovanni Bernardi), _Life_, 76-79. + 83, 84 + + Castelfranco, Giorgione da, 23, 173, 174 + + Castiglione, Bartolommeo da, 152 + + Catanei, Piero, 250 + + Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), 26-28, 54 + + Cavalieri, Giovan Battista de', 113 + + Cavazzuola, Paolo (Paolo Morando), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Cellini, Benvenuto, 86, 87 + + Ceri, Andrea de', 190-192, 201 + + Ceri, Perino de' (Perino del Vaga, or Perino Buonaccorsi), + _Life_, 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, + 257-259 + + Cervelliera, Battista del, 214, 247, 248 + + Cesati, Alessandro (Il Greco), _Life_, 85 + + Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, 34 + + Cicogna, Girolamo, 22 + + Cioli, Simone, 133 + + Clovio, Don Giulio, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Cock, Hieronymus, _Life_, 116-120. 108 + + Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), 152, 169 + + Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino), 66, 133 + + Coriolano, Cristofano, 120 + + Corniole, Giovanni delle, 76, 84 + + Cortona, Luca da (Luca Signorelli), 246 + + Cosimo (Jacopo) da Trezzo, 86 + + Cosini, Silvio, 210 + + Cousin, Jean (Giovanni Cugini), 114 + + Coxie, Michael (Michele), 116, 178 + + Cristofano Coriolano, 120 + + Cristofano Lombardi (Tofano Lombardino), 167 + + Cronaca, Il (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 66, 70 + + Cugini, Giovanni (Jean Cousin), 114 + + Cungi, Leonardo, 225 + + + Danese Cattaneo (Danese da Carrara), 26-28, 54 + + Daniello Ricciarelli, 113, 219, 224 + + David Ghirlandajo, 57 + + Dente, Marco (Marco da Ravenna), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Domenico Aimo (Il Bologna), 217 + + Domenico Beccafumi (Domenico di Pace), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Domenico Brusciasorzi (Domenico del Riccio), 82 + + Domenico de' Cammei, 76 + + Domenico del Riccio (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 82 + + Domenico di Baccio d' Agnolo, 68, 70, 72 + + Domenico di Pace (Domenico Beccafumi), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Domenico di Polo, 84 + + Domenico Ghirlandajo, 57, 58, 191 + + Domenico Giuntalodi, 273-279 + + Domenico Morone, _Life_, 35-36. 29, 38 + + Domenico Pecori, 255, 258, 271 + + Domenico Poggini, 87 + + Domenico Viniziano, 182 + + Don Bartolommeo della Gatta (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Don Giulio Clovio, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Donato (Donatello), 220 + + Duccio, 245 + + Dürer, Albrecht, _Life_, 92-98. 99, 102, 119, 165 + + + Enea Vico, _Life_, 111-112 + + + Faenza, Figurino da, 169 + + Fagiuoli, Girolamo, 87, 276 + + Falconetto, Alessandro, 47, 48 + + Falconetto, Giovan Maria, _Life_, 43-48. 22, 29, 42, 43-48 + + Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the elder), 42 + + Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the younger), 42, 43 + + Falconetto, Jacopo, 42, 43 + + Falconetto, Ottaviano, 47, 48 + + Falconetto, Provolo, 47, 48 + + Fantuzzi, Antonio (Antonio da Trento), 108 + + Fattore, Il (Giovan Francesco Penni), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, + 177, 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Fermo Ghisoni, 34, 167, 169 + + Fiacco (or Flacco), Orlando, _Life_, 28 + + Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Fiesole, Maestro Giovanni da, 210 + + Figurino da Faenza, 169 + + Filipepi, Alessandro (Sandro Botticelli), 91 + + Filippino (Filippo Lippi), 66 + + Filippo Brunelleschi, 68, 71 + + Filippo di Baccio d' Agnolo, 68, 70 + + Filippo Lippi (Filippino), 66 + + Filippo Lippi, Fra, 246 + + Filippo Negrolo, 86 + + Finiguerra, Maso, 91 + + Flacco (or Fiacco), Orlando, _Life_, 28 + + Floris, Franz (Franz de Vrient), 119, 120 + + Fra Angelico (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 246 + + Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, 66 + + Fra Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), 34 + + Fra Filippo Lippi, 246 + + Fra Giocondo, _Life_, 3-11. 28, 47, 126 + + Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Fra Giovanni da Verona, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Fra Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), _Life_, 34-35 + + Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo (Sebastiano Luciani), + _Life_, 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Francesco Bonsignori (Monsignori), _Life_, 29-35 + + Francesco da San Gallo, 133, 173 + + Francesco dai Libri (the elder), _Life_, 49. 29 + + Francesco dai Libri (the younger), _Life_, 52-54 + + Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco Salviati), 108, 111, 177 + + Francesco dell' Indaco, 126 + + Francesco Francia, 95 + + Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Francesco Marcolini, 115 + + Francesco Mazzuoli (Parmigiano), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Francesco Monsignori (Bonsignori), _Life_, 29-35 + + Francesco Morone, _Life_, 36-39. 29, 36-39, 40, 41, 50 + + Francesco Primaticcio, 115, 157 + + Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi), 108, 111, 177 + + Francesco Turbido (Il Moro), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Francesco Ubertini (Il Bacchiacca), 60 + + Franci, Marc' Antonio de' (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or Raimondi), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Francia, Francesco, 95 + + Franco, Battista, 108, 114, 156 + + Franz Floris (Franz de Vrient), 119, 120 + + + Gabriele Giolito, 115 + + Galeazzo Mondella, 42, 80 + + Galeotto, Pietro Paolo, 87 + + Gasparo Misuroni (Misceroni), 86 + + Gatta, Don Bartolommeo della (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Georg Pencz, 119 + + Gherardo, 92 + + Ghirlandajo, Benedetto, 57 + + Ghirlandajo, David, 57 + + Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 57, 58, 191 + + Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 191, 192 + + Ghisi (Mantovano), Giorgio, 113, 118 + + Ghisoni, Fermo, 34, 167, 169 + + Gian Jacopo Caraglio, 109, 110, 209 + + Giannuzzi, Giulio Pippi de' (Giulio Romano), _Life_, 145-169. + 20, 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, + 221, 259 + + Giannuzzi, Raffaello Pippi de', 168 + + Giano, Antonio di Marco di (Il Carota), 213 + + Giocondo, Fra, _Life_, 3-11. 28, 47, 126 + + Giolito, Gabriele, 115 + + Giorgio Mantovano (Ghisi), 113, 118 + + Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari (Giorgio) + + Giorgione da Castelfranco, 23, 173, 174 + + Giotto, 114, 202, 219, 220, 235 + + Giovan Barile, 177 + + Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri, 113 + + Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Giovan Battista Mantovano (Sculptore), 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Giovan Battista Rosso (or Rosto), 164 + + Giovan Battista Sozzini, 87 + + Giovan Francesco Caroto, _Life_, 15-21. 37 + + Giovan Francesco Penni (Il Fattore), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Giovan Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, 256 + + Giovan Maria Falconetto, _Life_, 43-48. 22, 29, 42, 43-48 + + Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Il Sodoma), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, 86 + + Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the elder), 42 + + Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the younger), 42, 43 + + Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, _Life_, 255-265 + + Giovanni Antonio Licinio (Pordenone), 213, 244, 247 + + Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, 214, 215, 247, 248 + + Giovanni Battista Veronese, 13 + + Giovanni Bellini, 173 + + Giovanni Bernardi (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), _Life_, 76-79. 83, 84 + + Giovanni Caroto, _Life_, 21-22. 15 + + Giovanni Cugini (Jean Cousin), 114 + + Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi), _Life_, 76-79. 83, 84 + + Giovanni da Fiesole, Fra (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Giovanni da Fiesole, Maestro, 210 + + Giovanni da Lione, 152, 169 + + Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Giovanni da Verona, Fra, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Giovanni delle Corniole, 76, 84 + + Giovanni di Goro, 206 + + Giovanni Ricamatori (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Girolamo Cicogna, 22 + + Girolamo da Treviso, 211, 212, 244 + + Girolamo dai Libri, _Life_, 49-52. 29, 37, 49-52, 54 + + Girolamo Fagiuoli, 87, 276 + + Girolamo Misuroni (Misceroni), 86 + + Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, _Life_, 34-35 + + Girolamo Mosciano (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), 114 + + Girolamo Siciolante (Girolamo Sermoneta), 221, 222, 225 + + Giugni, Rosso de', 87 + + Giuliano Bugiardini, 183 + + Giuliano da Maiano, 131 + + Giuliano da San Gallo, 6, 66, 123, 124, 126 + + Giuliano di Baccio d' Agnolo, _Life_, 68-72 + + Giuliano (di Niccolò Morelli), 251 + + Giuliano Leno, 130, 150 + + Giulio Bonasone, 114 + + Giulio Clovio, Don, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), _Life_, 145-169. 20, + 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, 221, + 259 + + Giuntalodi, Domenico, 273-279 + + Giuseppe del Salviati (Giuseppe Porta), 115 + + Giuseppe Niccolò (Joannicolo) Vicentino, 108 + + Giuseppe Porta (Giuseppe del Salviati), 115 + + Gobbo, Battista, 133, 140 + + Goro, Giovanni di, 206 + + Gozzoli, Benozzo, 246 + + Granacci, Francesco (Il Granaccio), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Greco, Il (Alessandro Cesati), _Life_, 85 + + Guglielmo Milanese, 217 + + + Hans Beham, 119 + + Hans Liefrinck, 117 + + Heemskerk, Martin, 116 + + Heinrich (Albrecht) Aldegrever, 119 + + Hieronymus Bosch, 118 + + Hieronymus Cock, _Life_, 116-120. 108 + + Holland, Lucas of (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + + Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini), 60 + + Il Bologna (Domenico Aimo), 217 + + Il Carota (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 213 + + Il Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 66, 70 + + Il Fattore (Giovan Francesco Penni), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Il Granaccio (Francesco Granacci), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Il Greco (Alessandro Cesati), _Life_, 85 + + Il Moro (Francesco Turbido), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Il Rosso (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Il Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Indaco, Francesco dell', 126 + + + Jacomo Melighino, 139, 140 + + Jacopo Barozzo, 114 + + Jacopo Bellini, 11, 35 + + Jacopo da Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Jacopo da Trezzo, 86 + + Jacopo (Cosimo) da Trezzo, 86 + + Jacopo Falconetto, 42, 43 + + Jacopo Sansovino, 47, 125, 127, 199 + + Jan Stephanus van Calcker (Johann of Calcar), 116 + + Jean Cousin (Giovanni Cugini), 114 + + Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò) Vicentino, 108 + + Johann of Calcar (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), 116 + + + Lafrery, Antoine (Antonio Lanferri), 113 + + Lamberto Suave (Lambert Zutmann), 110 + + Lanferri, Antonio (Antoine Lafrery), 113 + + Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, _Life_, 255-265 + + Lappoli, Matteo, 255 + + Laureti, Tommaso (Tommaso Siciliano), 186 + + Leno, Giuliano, 130, 150 + + Leon Batista Alberti, 45 + + Leonardo Cungi, 225 + + Leone Aretino (Leone Lioni), 87 + + Leyden, Luca di (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Liberale, _Life_, 11-15. 23, 24, 35, 36, 49 + + Libri, Francesco dai (the elder), _Life_, 49. 29 + + Libri, Francesco dai (the younger), _Life_, 52-54 + + Libri, Girolamo dai, _Life_, 49-52. 29, 37, 49-52, 54 + + Licinio, Giovanni Antonio (Pordenone), 213, 244, 247 + + Liefrinck, Hans, 117 + + Lione, Giovanni da, 152, 169 + + Lioni, Leone (Leone Aretino), 87 + + Lippi, Filippo (Filippino), 66 + + Lippi, Fra Filippo, 246 + + Lodovico Marmita, 84 + + Lombardino, Tofano (Cristofano Lombardi), 167 + + Luca da Cortona (Luca Signorelli), 246 + + Luca di Leyden (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Luca Penni, 115 + + Luca Signorelli (Luca da Cortona), 246 + + Lucas of Holland (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Luciani, Sebastiano (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Luigi Anichini, 85 + + Luzio Romano, 212, 222 + + + Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, 210 + + Maestro Niccolò, 164 + + Maestro Salvestro, 87 + + Maiano, Benedetto da, 66 + + Maiano, Giuliano da, 131 + + Manno, 78 + + Mantegna, Andrea, 15, 29, 30, 91 + + Mantovano (Ghisi), Giorgio, 113, 118 + + Mantovano (Sculptore), Giovan Battista, 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Mantovano, Marcello (Marcello Venusti), 220, 225 + + Mantovano, Rinaldo, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169 + + Marc' Antonio Bolognese (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Marcello Mantovano (Marcello Venusti), 220, 225 + + Marchissi, Antonio di Giorgio, 126 + + Marco da Ravenna (Marco Dente), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Marco da Siena, 223 + + Marco Dente (Marco da Ravenna), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Marco di Battista d' Agnolo, 27, 28 + + Marcolini, Francesco, 115 + + Marmita, 84 + + Marmita, Lodovico, 84 + + Martin Heemskerk, 116 + + Martin Schongauer, _Life_, 91-92 + + Masaccio, 202, 203 + + Maso Finiguerra, 91 + + Masolino da Panicale, 203 + + Matteo dal Nassaro, _Life_, 79-82. 76 + + Matteo Lappoli, 255 + + Maturino, 177, 196 + + Mazzuoli, Francesco (Parmigiano), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Melighino, Jacomo, 139, 140 + + Michael (Michele Coxie), 116, 178 + + Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 57, 59, 60, 66, 68, 78, 79, 85, 92, 107, + 111, 113, 114, 129, 135, 136, 139, 140, 167, 174-177, 183, 185, + 191, 193, 195, 205, 218, 219, 222, 225, 236, 263 + + Michele (Michael Coxie), 116, 178 + + Michele San Michele, 25, 26, 47, 130 + + Michelino, 76 + + Milanese, Guglielmo, 217 + + Minio, Tiziano (Tiziano da Padova), 47 + + Misuroni (Misceroni), Gasparo, 86 + + Misuroni (Misceroni), Girolamo, 86 + + Modena, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), 125 + + Mondella, Galeazzo, 42, 80 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Alberto, 29 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Cherubino, 34 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Girolamo, _Life_, 34-35 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Francesco, _Life_, 29-35 + + Montelupo, Raffaello da, 133, 222 + + Morando, Paolo (Paolo Cavazzuola), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Morelli, Giuliano di Niccolò, 251 + + Moro, Battista del (Battista d' Agnolo), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Moro, Il (Francesco Turbido), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Morone, Domenico, _Life_, 35-36. 29, 38 + + Morone, Francesco, _Life_, 36-39. 29, 36-39, 40, 41, 50 + + Mosca, Simone, 133 + + Mosciano, Girolamo (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), 114 + + Munari, Pellegrino de' (Pellegrino da Modena, or degli Aretusi), 125 + + Musi, Agostino de' (Agostino Viniziano), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Muziano, Girolamo (Girolamo Mosciano, or Brescianino), 114 + + + Nanni, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Nassaro, Matteo dal, _Life_, 79-82. 76 + + Navarra, Pietro, 126 + + Negrolo, Filippo, 86 + + Niccola Viniziano, 209 + + Niccolò (called Tribolo), 133 + + Niccolò, Maestro, 164 + + Niccolò Avanzi, 79, 80 + + Niccolò Beatricio (Nicolas Beautrizet), 114 + + Niccolò Soggi, _Life_, 269-279. 261 + + Nicolas Beautrizet (Niccolò Beatricio), 114 + + Nunziata, Toto del, 191, 196 + + + Orlando Fiacco (or Fiacco), _Life_, 28 + + Ottaviano Falconetto, 47, 48 + + + Pace, Domenico di (Domenico Beccafumi), _Life_, 235-251. 108, 213, + 215, 223, 235-251 + + Padova, Tiziano da (Tiziano Minio), 47 + + Pagni, Benedetto, 152, 154-156, 169 + + Palladio, Andrea, 28, 48 + + Panicale, Masolino da, 203 + + Paolo Caliari (Paolo Veronese), 22, 27 + + Paolo Cavazzuola (Paolo Morando), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), 22, 27 + + Papacello, Tommaso, 152 + + Papino della Pieve, 272 + + Parmigiano (Francesco Mazzuoli), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Pastorino da Siena, 87, 219 + + Pecori, Domenico, 255, 258, 271 + + Pellegrino da Modena (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), 125 + + Pencz, Georg, 119 + + Penni, Giovan Francesco (Il Fattore), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Penni, Luca, 115 + + Perino del Vaga (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), _Life_, + 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, 257-259 + + Perugino, Pietro (Pietro Vannucci), 235, 269 + + Peruzzi, Baldassarre, 107, 167, 174, 177, 239 + + Pescia, Pier Maria da, 76 + + Pier Francesco da Viterbo, 130, 132 + + Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, 257 + + Pier Maria da Pescia, 76 + + Piero Catanei, 250 + + Piero del Pollaiuolo, 182, 246 + + Pietrasanta, Stagio da, 214 + + Pietro Navarra, 126 + + Pietro Paolo Galeotto, 87 + + Pietro Perugino (Pietro Vannucci), 235, 269 + + Pieve, Papino della, 272 + + Piloto, 201, 205, 207 + + Pinturicchio, Bernardino, 195 + + Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del (Sebastiano Luciani), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Pisano (or Pisanello), Vittore (or Antonio), 35 + + Pittoni, Battista (Battista of Vicenza), 108 + + Poggini, Domenico, 87 + + Polidoro da Caravaggio, 177, 196 + + Pollaiuolo, Antonio del, 182, 246 + + Pollaiuolo, Piero del, 182, 246 + + Pollaiuolo, Simone del (Il Cronaca), 66, 70 + + Polo, Domenico di, 84 + + Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio), 213, 244, 247 + + Porta, Giuseppe (Giuseppe del Salviati), 115 + + Primaticcio, Francesco, 115, 157 + + Provolo Falconetto, 47, 48 + + + Raffaello da Montelupo, 133, 222 + + Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello Sanzio), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Raffaello dal Colle (Raffaello dal Borgo), 152, 169 + + Raffaello Pippi de' Giannuzzi, 168 + + Raffaello Sanzio (Raffaello da Urbino), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Raimondi, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Ravenna, Marco da (Marco Dente), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Reggio, Sebastiano da, 165 + + Renato (René Boyvin), 115 + + Ricamatori, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Ricciarelli, Daniello, 113, 219, 224 + + Riccio, Domenico del (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 82 + + Ridolfi, Bartolommeo, 48 + + Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 191, 192 + + Rinaldo Mantovano, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169 + + Romano, Giulio (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), _Life_, 145-169. 20, + 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, 221, 259 + + Romano, Luzio, 212, 222 + + Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco Salviati), 108, 111, 177 + + Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il Rosso), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Rossi, Giovanni Antonio de', 86 + + Rosso (or Rosto), Giovan Battista, 164 + + Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Rosso de' Giugni, 87 + + Rosto (or Rosso), Giovan Battista, 164 + + + Salamanca, Antonio, 276 + + Salvestro, Maestro, 87 + + Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), 108, 111, 177 + + Salviati, Giuseppe del (Giuseppe Porta), 115 + + S. Clemente, Abbot of (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), 255 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), 66, 123, 272 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), _Life_, 123-141. 167, 197, + 198, 219, 220, 222 + + San Gallo, Francesco da, 133, 173 + + San Gallo, Giuliano da, 6, 66, 123, 124, 126 + + San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di, 66 + + San Michele, Michele, 25, 26, 47, 130 + + Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, 257 + + Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro Filipepi), 91 + + Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea Contucci), 66, 133 + + Sansovino, Jacopo, 47, 125, 127, 199 + + Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Sarto, Andrea del, 60, 106, 255-257, 272, 273 + + Sassoli, Stagio, 272 + + Scarpagni, Antonio (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino), 10 + + Schongauer, Martin, _Life_, 91-92 + + Sculptore (Mantovano), Giovan Battista, 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Sebastiano da Reggio, 165 + + Sebastiano Luciani (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Sebastiano Serlio, 113 + + Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, Fra (Sebastiano Luciani), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Serlio, Sebastiano, 113 + + Sermoneta, Girolamo (Girolamo Siciolante), 221, 222, 225 + + Siciliano, Tommaso (Tommaso Laureti), 186 + + Siciolante, Girolamo (Girolamo Sermoneta), 221, 222, 225 + + Siena, Marco da, 223 + + Siena, Pastorino da, 87, 219 + + Signorelli, Luca (Luca da Cortona), 246 + + Silvio Cosini, 210 + + Simone Cioli, 133 + + Simone del Pollaiuolo (Il Cronaca), 66, 70 + + Simone Mosca, 133 + + Sodoma, Il (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Soggi, Niccolò, _Life_, 269-279. 261 + + Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, 214, 215, 247, 248 + + Sozzini, Giovan Battista, 87 + + Stagio da Pietrasanta, 214 + + Stagio Sassoli, 272 + + Stefano, Vincenzio di, 11 + + Stefano Veronese (Stefano da Zevio), 35, 42 + + Suave, Lamberto (Lambert Zutmann), 110 + + + Tasso, Battista del, 213 + + Tiziano da Cadore (Tiziano Vecelli), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Tiziano da Padova (Tiziano Minio), 47 + + Tiziano Vecelli (Tiziano da Cadore), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Tofano Lombardino (Cristofano Lombardi), 167 + + Tommaso Barlacchi, 104, 113 + + Tommaso Laureti (Tommaso Siciliano), 186 + + Tommaso Papacello, 152 + + Tommaso Siciliano (Tommaso Laureti), 186 + + Torri, Bartolommeo, 264, 265 + + Toto del Nunziata, 191, 196 + + Trento, Antonio da (Antonio Fantuzzi), 108 + + Treviso, Girolamo da, 211, 212, 244 + + Trezzo, Cosimo (Jacopo) da, 86 + + Trezzo, Jacopo da, 86 + + Tribolo (Niccolò), 133 + + Turbido, Francesco (Il Moro), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, + 40, 50, 164 + + + Ubertini, Francesco (Il Bacchiacca), 60 + + Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Ugo da Carpi, 106, 107 + + Urbino, Bramante da, 6, 124, 126, 136, 138 + + Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + + Vaga, 191, 192 + + Vaga, Perino del (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), _Life_, + 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, 257-259 + + Valerio Vicentino (Valerio Belli), _Life_, 82-84. 76-79 + + Valverde, 116 + + Vannucci, Pietro (Pietro Perugino), 235, 269 + + Vasari, Giorgio-- + as art-collector, 3, 22, 54, 60, 120, 157, 175, 225, 230, 250, + 256, 260, 263 + as author, 3, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 35, 39, 42, + 46, 48, 53, 54, 57-59, 65, 75, 76, 79, 82, 84-87, 91, 93-95, + 105-107, 112, 113, 120, 123, 133, 152, 153, 159, 161, 165-167, + 175, 176, 178, 190, 194, 196, 202, 204, 207, 210-213, 215, 217, + 221, 223, 229-231, 235, 239, 246, 248-250, 258, 261, 264, 269, + 273 + as painter, 22, 72, 120, 215, 221, 263, 264, 276 + as architect, 70, 139, 278 + + Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Venusti, Marcello (Marcello Mantovano), 220, 225 + + Verese, 118 + + Verona, Fra Giovanni da, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Veronese, Giovanni Battista, 13 + + Veronese, Paolo (Paolo Caliari), 22, 27 + + Veronese, Stefano (Stefano da Zevio), 35, 42 + + Vicentino, Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò), 108 + + Vicentino, Valerio (Valerio Belli), _Life_, 82-84. 76, 79 + + Vicenza, Battista of (Battista Pittoni), 108 + + Vico, Enea, _Life_, 111-112 + + Vincenzio di Stefano, 11 + + Viniziano, Agostino (Agostino de' Musi), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Viniziano, Domenico, 182 + + Viniziano, Niccola, 209 + + Viterbo, Pier Francesco da, 130, 132 + + Vitruvius, 5, 45, 140 + + Vittore (or Antonio) Pisano (or Pisanello), 35 + + Vrient, Franz de (Franz Floris), 119, 120 + + + Zanfragnino (Antonio Scarpagni, or Scarpagnino), 10 + + Zeuxis, 239 + + Zevio, Stefano da (Stefano Veronese), 35, 42 + + Zoppo, 81 + + Zutmann, Lambert (Lamberto Suave), 110 + + +END OF VOL VI. + + + 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects + Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi + +Author: Giorgio Vasari + +Translator: Gaston du C. De Vere + +Release Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #28422] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMINENT PAINTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h1>LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS</h1> +<h2>BY</h2> +<h2>GIORGIO VASARI:</h2> + +<h2>VOLUME VI.<br> FRA GIOCONDO TO NICCOLÒ SOGGI<br> 1913</h2> + +<h4>NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON <span class="smcap">Du</span> C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED + ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES</h4> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img001.jpg" width="423" height="600" alt="Title page" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="center">PHILIP LEE WARNER,<br> + PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED<br> 7 GRAFTON + ST. LONDON, W. 1912-14</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS_OF_VOLUME_IV" id="CONTENTS_OF_VOLUME_IV"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v" name="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span> CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI</h2> + +<div class='centered'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="85%" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS"> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Fra Giocondo, Liberale, and Others</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'><b>1</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Francesco Granacci [Il Granaccio]</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_55'><b>55</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Baccio d' Agnolo</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_63'><b>63</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Valerio Vicentino [Valerio Belli], Giovanni da Castel + Bolognese [Giovanni Bernardi], Matteo dal Nassaro, + and Others</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_73'><b>73</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Marc' Antonio Bolognese, and Others</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'><b>89</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Antonio da San Gallo</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_121'><b>121</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Giulio Romano</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_143'><b>143</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_171'><b>171</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Perino del Vaga</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_187'><b>187</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Giorgio Vasari, to the Craftsmen in Design</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_227'><b>227</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Domenico Beccafumi</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_233'><b>233</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Giovanni Antonio Lappoli</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_253'><b>253</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Niccolò Soggi</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_267'><b>267</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Index of Names</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_281'><b>281</b></a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_VI" id="ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_VI"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii" name="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VI</h2> + +<h3>PLATES IN COLOUR</h3> + +<div class='centered'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" cellspacing="0" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VI"> +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giovan Francesco Caroto</span></td> +<td>Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua</td> +<td>Florence: Uffizi, 1121</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img004'><b>16</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Monsignori (Bonsignori)</span></td> +<td>Portrait of a Gentleman</td> +<td>London: N.G., 736</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img007'><b>28</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Morone</span></td> +<td>Madonna and Child</td> +<td>London: N.G., 285</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img009'><b>32</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Girolamo dai Libri</span></td> +<td>Madonna and Child, with S. Anne</td> +<td>London: N.G., 748</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img013'><b>48</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio)</span></td> +<td>The Holy Family</td> +<td>Florence: Pitti, 199</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img015'><b>58</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo</span></td> +<td>Portrait of a Lady</td> +<td>Florence: Uffizi, 1123</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img032'><b>174</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Domenico Beccafumi</span></td> +<td>S. Catharine before the Crucifix</td> +<td>Siena: Pinacoteca, 420</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img036'><b>238</b></a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<h3>PLATES IN MONOCHROME</h3> + +<div class='centered'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" cellspacing="0" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VI"> +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Liberale of Verona</span></td> +<td>S. Mary Magdalene with Saints</td> +<td>Verona: S. Anastasia</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img002'><b>10</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Liberale of Verona</span></td> +<td>Miniature</td> +<td>Siena: Duomo Library</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img003'><b>14</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giovan Francesco Caroto</span></td> +<td>Madonna and Child, with S. Anne and Saints</td> +<td>Verona: S. Fermo Maggiore</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img005'><b>18</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Turbido (Il Moro)</span></td> +<td>Portrait of a Man</td> +<td>Munich: Pinacothek, 1125</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img006'><b>24</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Monsignori (Bonsignori)</span></td> +<td>S. Sebastian</td> +<td>Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46c</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img008'><b>30</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Morone</span></td> +<td>The Crucifixion</td> +<td>Verona: S. Bernardino</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img010'><b>34</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Paolo Cavazzuola</span></td> +<td>The Deposition</td> +<td>Verona: Museo Civico, 392</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img011'><b>40</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giovan Maria (Falconetto)</span></td> +<td>Palazzo del Capitanio</td> +<td>Padua</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img012'><b>46</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii" name="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> Girolamo dai Libri</span></td> +<td>Madonna and Child, with Saints</td> +<td>Verona: Museo Civico, 290</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img014'><b>50</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio)</span></td> +<td>The Madonna giving the Girdle to S. Thomas</td> +<td>Florence: Uffizi, 1280</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img016'><b>62</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi)</span></td> +<td>Cassetta Farnese</td> +<td>Naples: Museo Nazionale</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img017'><b>78</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Valerio Vicentino Valerio Belli</span></td> +<td>Casket of Rock Crystal</td> +<td>Florence: Uffizi</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img018'><b>82</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Alessandro Cesati</span><br><span class="smcap">Benvenuto Cellini</span></td> +<td>Medals</td> +<td>London: British Museum</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img019'><b>84</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Pastorino of Siena</span><br><span class="smcap">Domenico Poggini</span></td> +<td>Medals</td> +<td>London: British Museum</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img020'><b>84</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Martin Schongauer</span></td> +<td>Christ and the Virgin Enthroned</td> +<td>London: British Museum, B. 71</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img021'><b>92</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Albrecht Dürer</span></td> +<td>Hercules</td> +<td>London: British Museum, B. 73</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img022'><b>92</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Albrecht Dürer</span></td> +<td>Christ taking leave of His Mother</td> +<td>London: British Museum, B. 92</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img023'><b>94</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Albrecht Dürer</span></td> +<td>S. Jerome in his Study</td> +<td>London: British Museum, B. 60</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img024'><b>96</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Lucas van Leyden</span></td> +<td>"Ecce Homo" of 1510</td> +<td>London: British Museum</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img025'><b>98</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Marc' Antonio Bolognese</span></td> +<td>The Death of Lucretia</td> +<td>London: British Museum, B. 192</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img026'><b>102</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Marc' Antonio Bolognese (after Bandinelli)</span></td> +<td>The Martyrdom of S. Lawrence (engraving)</td> +<td>London: British Museum</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img027'><b>104</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Antonio da San Gallo (The Younger) (with Michelagnolo Buonarroti)</span></td> +<td>Palazzo Farnese</td> +<td>Rome</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img028'><b>138</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giulio Romano</span></td> +<td>Detail: The Battle of Constantine</td> +<td>Rome: The Vatican</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img029'><b>146</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giulio Romano</span></td> +<td>The Marriage Banquet of Cupid and Psyche</td> +<td>Mantua: Palazzo del Tè</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img030'><b>154</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Giulio Romano</span></td> +<td>The Destruction of the Giants by the Thunderbolts of Jove</td> +<td>Mantua: Palazzo del Tè, Sala dei Giganti</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img031'><b>160</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo</span></td> +<td>The Flagellation</td> +<td>Rome: S. Pietro in Montorio</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img033'><b>176</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo</span></td> +<td>Andrea Doria</td> +<td>Rome: Palazzo Doria</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img034'><b>182</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><span class="smcap">Perino del Vaga</span></td> +<td>The Passage of the Red Sea</td> +<td>Rome: The Vatican, Loggia</td> +<td align="right"><a href='#img035'><b>192</b></a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="giocondo" id="giocondo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1" name="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, + AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN + OF VERONA</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_giocondo" id="life_of_giocondo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3" name="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> LIVES OF FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF +VERONA</h2> + + +<p>If writers of history were to live a few years longer than the number +commonly granted as the span of human life, I, for my part, have no +manner of doubt that they would have something to add to the accounts +of the past previously written by them, for the reason that, even as +it is not possible for a single man, be he ever so diligent, to learn +the exact truth in a flash, or to discover all the details of his +subject in the little time at his command, so it is as clear as the +light of day that Time, who is said to be the father of truth, is +always revealing new things every day to the seeker after knowledge. +If, many years ago, when I first wrote and also published these Lives +of the Painters and other Craftsmen, I had possessed that full +information which I have since received concerning Fra Giocondo of +Verona, a man of rare parts and a master of all the most noble +faculties, I would without a doubt have made that honourable record of +him which I am now about to make for the benefit of craftsmen, or +rather, of the world; and not of him only, but also of many other +masters of Verona, who have been truly excellent. And let no one +marvel that I place them all under the image of one only, because, not +having been able to obtain portraits of them all, I am forced to do +this; but, so far as in me lies, not one of them shall thereby have +his excellence defrauded of its due.</p> + +<p>Now, since the order of time and merit so demands, I shall speak first +of Fra Giocondo. This man, when he assumed the habit of S. Dominic, +was called not simply Fra Giocondo, but Fra Giovanni Giocondo. How the +name Giovanni dropped from him I know not, but I do know that he was +always called Fra Giocondo by everyone. And although his <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4" name="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +chief profession was that of letters, and he was not only a very good +philosopher and theologian, but also an excellent Greek scholar (which +was a rare thing at that time, when learning and letters were just +beginning to revive in Italy), nevertheless he was also a very fine +architect, being a man who always took supreme delight in that art, as +Scaliger relates in his epistle against Cardan, and the learned Budé +in his book "De Asse," and in the observations that he wrote on the +Pandects.</p> + +<p>Fra Giocondo, then, who was a fine scholar, a capable architect, and +an excellent master of perspective, spent many years near the person +of the Emperor Maximilian, and was master in the Greek and Latin +tongues to the learned Scaliger, who writes that he heard him dispute +with profound learning on matters of the greatest subtlety before the +same Maximilian. It is related by persons still living, who remember +the facts very clearly, that at the time when Verona was under the +power of that Emperor the bridge which is called the Ponte della +Pietra, in that city, was being restored, and it was seen to be +necessary to refound the central pier, which had been destroyed many +times in the past, and Fra Giocondo gave the design for refounding it, +and also for safeguarding it in such a manner that it might never be +destroyed again. His method of safeguarding it was as follows: he gave +orders that the pier should be kept always bound together with long +double piles fixed below the water on every side, to the end that +these might so protect it that the river should not be able to +undermine it; for the place where it is built is in the main current +of the river, the bed of which is so soft that no solid ground can be +found on which to lay its foundations. And excellent, in truth, as is +evident from the result, was the advice of Fra Giocondo, for the +reason that the pier has stood firm from that time to our own, as it +still does, without ever showing a crack; and there is hope that, by +the observation of the suggestions given by that good monk, it will +stand for ever.</p> + +<p>In his youth Fra Giocondo spent many years in Rome, giving his +attention to the study of antiquities, and not of buildings only, but +also of the ancient inscriptions that are in the tombs, and the other +relics of antiquity, both in Rome itself and its neighbourhood, and in +every part <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5" name="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> of Italy; and he collected all these inscriptions +and memorials into a most beautiful book, which he sent as a present, +according to the account of the citizens of Verona mentioned above, to +the elder Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, to whom, by reason of +the great friendliness and favour that he showed to all men of talent, +both Fra Giocondo and Domizio Calderino, his companion and compatriot, +were always most deeply devoted. Of this book Poliziano makes mention +in his Mugellane, in which he uses various parts of it as authorities, +calling Fra Giocondo a profound master in antiquities.</p> + +<p>The same Giocondo wrote some observations, which are in print, on the +Commentaries of Cæsar; and he was the first who made a drawing of the +bridge built by Cæsar over the River Rhone, and described by him in +those same Commentaries, but misunderstood in the time of Fra +Giocondo. Him the aforesaid Budé confesses to have had as his master +in the study of architecture, thanking God that he had been taught his +Vitruvius by a teacher so learned and so diligent as was that monk, +who corrected in that author a vast number of errors not recognized up +to that time; and this he was able to do with ease, because he was a +master of every kind of learning, and had a good knowledge of both the +Greek tongue and the Latin. This and other things declares Budé, +extolling Fra Giocondo as an excellent architect, and adding that by +the researches of the same monk there were discovered in an old +library in Paris the greater part of the Epistles of Pliny, which, +after having been so long out of the hands of mankind, were printed by +Aldus Manutius, as may be read in a Latin letter written by him and +printed with the same.</p> + +<p>When living in Paris in the service of King Louis XII, Fra Giocondo +built two superb bridges over the Seine, covered with shops—works +truly worthy of that magnanimous King and of the marvellous intellect +of Fra Giocondo. Wherefore that master, in addition to the inscription +in his praise that may still be seen on those works, won the honour of +being celebrated by Sannazzaro, a rare poet, in this most beautiful +distich:</p> + +<p class="poem10"> + Jocundus geminum imposuit tibi, Sequana, pontem;<br> +<span class="add1em">Hunc tu jure potes dicere pontificem.</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6" name="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> Besides this, he executed a vast number of other works for +that King throughout all his kingdom; but of these, after having made +mention of those above, as being the greatest, I shall say no more.</p> + +<p>Then, happening to be in Rome at the death of Bramante, he was placed, +in company with Raffaello da Urbino and Giuliano da San Gallo, in +charge of the Church of S. Pietro, to the end that the structure begun +by Bramante might be carried forward. Now, from the circumstance that +it had been erected in haste, and for other reasons given in another +place, it was threatening to fall in many parts, and by the advice of +Fra Giocondo, Raffaello, and Giuliano, the foundations were in great +measure renewed; in which work persons who were present and are still +living declare that those masters adopted the following method. They +excavated below the foundations many large pits after the manner of +wells, but square, at a proper distance one from another, which they +filled with masonry; and between every two of these piers, or rather +pits filled with masonry, they threw very strong arches across the +space below, insomuch that the whole building came to be placed on new +foundations without suffering any shock, and was secured for ever from +the danger of showing any more cracks.</p> + +<p>But the work for which it seems to me that Fra Giocondo deserves the +greatest praise is one on account of which an everlasting gratitude is +due to him not only from the Venetians, but from the whole world as +well. For he reflected that the life of the Republic of Venice +depended in great measure on the preservation of its impregnable +position on the lagoons on which that city, as it were by a miracle, +is built; and that, whenever those lagoons silted up with earth, the +air would become infected and pestilential, and the city consequently +uninhabitable, or at the least exposed to all the dangers that +threaten cities on the mainland. He set himself, therefore, to think +in what way it might be possible to provide for the preservation of +the lagoons and of the site on which the city had been built in the +beginning. And having found a way, Fra Giocondo told the Signori that, +if they did not quickly come to some resolution about preventing such +an evil, in a few years, to judge by that which could be seen to have +happened in part, they would become <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7" name="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> aware of their error, +without being in time to be able to retrieve it. Roused by this +warning, and hearing the powerful arguments of Fra Giocondo, the +Signori summoned an assembly of the best engineers and architects that +there were in Italy, at which many opinions were given and many +designs made; but that of Fra Giocondo was held to be the best, and +was put into execution. They made a beginning, therefore, with +excavating a great canal, which was to divert two-thirds or at least +one-half of the water brought down by the River Brenta, and to conduct +that water by a long détour so as to debouch into the lagoons of +Chioggia; and thus that river, no longer flowing into the lagoons at +Venice, has not been able to fill them up by bringing down earth, as +it has done at Chioggia, where it has filled and banked up the lagoons +in such a manner that, where there was formerly water, many tracts of +land and villas have sprung up, to the great benefit of the city of +Venice. Wherefore it is the opinion of many persons, and in particular +of the Magnificent Messer Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian gentleman of ripe +wisdom gained both by learning and by long experience, that, if it had +not been for the warning of Fra Giocondo, all the silting up that took +place in the lagoons of Chioggia would have happened, and perhaps on a +greater scale, in those of Venice, inflicting incredible damage and +almost ruin on that city. The same Messer Luigi, who was very much the +friend of Fra Giocondo, as he is and always has been of all men of +talent, declares that his native city of Venice owes an eternal debt +of gratitude for this to the memory of Fra Giocondo, who on this +account, he says, might reasonably be called the second founder of +Venice; and that he almost deserves more praise for having preserved +by that expedient the grandeur and nobility of that marvellous and +puissant city, than do those who built it at the beginning in such a +weak and ill-considered fashion, seeing that the benefit received from +him will be to all eternity, as it has been hitherto, of incalculable +utility and advantage to Venice.</p> + +<p>Not many years after Fra Giocondo had executed this divine work, the +Venetians suffered a great loss in the burning of the Rialto, the +place in which are the magazines of their most precious +merchandise—the treasure, as it were, of that city. This happened at +the very time when <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8" name="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> that Republic had been reduced by +long-continued wars and by the loss of the greater part, or rather +almost the whole, of her dominions on the mainland to a desperate +condition; and the Signori then governing were full of doubt and +hesitation as to what they should do. However, the rebuilding of that +place being a matter of the greatest importance, they resolved that it +should be reconstructed at all costs. And wishing to give it all +possible grandeur, in keeping with the greatness and magnificence of +that Republic, and having already recognized the talent of Fra +Giocondo and his great ability in architecture, they gave him the +commission to make a design for that structure; whereupon he drew one +in the following manner. He proposed to occupy all the space that lies +between the Canale delle Beccherie,<a id="FNanchor1" name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote1" title="Go to footnote 1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> in the Rialto, and the Rio del +Fondaco delle Farine,<a id="FNanchor2" name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote2" title="Go to footnote 2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> taking as much ground between one canal and +the other as would make a perfect square—that is, the length of the +sides of this fabric was to be as great as the space which one covers +at the present day in walking from the debouchure of one of those +canals into the Grand Canal to that of the other. He intended, also, +that the same two canals should debouch on the other side into a +common canal, which was to run from the one to the other, so that the +fabric might be left entirely surrounded by water, having the Grand +Canal on one side, the two smaller canals on two other sides, and on +the last the new canal that was to be made. Then he desired that +between the water and the buildings, right round the square, there +should be made, or rather should be left, a beach or quay of some +breadth, which might serve as a piazza for the selling in duly +appointed places of the vegetables, fruits, fish, and other things, +that come from many parts to the city. It was also his opinion that +right round the outer side of the buildings there should be erected +shops looking out upon those same quays, and that these shops should +serve only for the sale of eatables of every kind. And in these four +sides the design of Fra Giocondo had four principal gates—namely, one +to each side, placed in the centre, one directly opposite to another. +But before going into the central piazza, by whichever side one +entered, one would have found both on the right hand and on the left a +street which <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9" name="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> ran round the block of buildings and had shops +on either side, with handsome workshops above them and magazines for +the use of those shops, which were all to be devoted to the sale of +woven fabrics—that is, fine woollen cloth and silk, which are the two +chief products of that city. This street, in short, was to contain all +the shops that are called the Tuscan's and the silk-merchant's.</p> + +<p>From this double range of shops there was to be access by way of the +four gates into the centre of the whole block—that is to say, into a +vast piazza surrounded on every side by spacious and beautiful loggie +for the accommodation of the merchants and for the use of the great +number of people who flock together for the purposes of their trade +and commerce to that city, which is the custom-house of all Italy, or +rather of Europe. Under those loggie, on every side, were to be the +shops of the bankers, goldsmiths, and jewellers; and in the centre was +to be built a most beautiful temple dedicated to S. Matthew, in which +the people of quality might be able to hear the divine offices in the +morning. With regard to this temple, however, some persons declare +that Fra Giocondo changed his mind, and wished to build two under the +loggie, so as not to obstruct the piazza. And, in addition, this +superb structure was to have so many other conveniences, +embellishments, and adornments, all in their proper places, that +whoever sees at the present day the beautiful design that Fra Giocondo +made for the whole, declares that nothing more lovely, more +magnificent, or planned with better order, could be imagined or +conceived by the most excellent of craftsmen, be his genius never so +happy.</p> + +<p>It was proposed, also, with the advice of the same master, and as a +completion to this work, to build the Bridge of the Rialto of stone, +covered with shops, which would have been a marvellous thing. But this +enterprise was not carried into effect, for two reasons: first, +because the Republic, on account of the extraordinary expenses +incurred in the last war, happened to be drained dry of money; and, +secondly, because a gentleman of great position and much authority at +that time (of the family, so it is said, of Valereso), being a man of +little judgment in such matters, and perchance influenced by some +private interest, chose to <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10" name="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> favour one Maestro +Zanfragnino,<a id="FNanchor3" name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote3" title="Go to footnote 3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> who, so I am informed, is still alive, and who had +worked for him on buildings of his own. This Zanfragnino—a fit and +proper name for a master of his calibre—made the design for that +medley of marble which was afterwards carried into execution, and +which is still to be seen; and many who are still alive, and remember +the circumstances very well, are even yet not done with lamenting that +foolish choice.</p> + +<p>Fra Giocondo, having seen that shapeless design preferred to his +beautiful one, and having perceived how much more virtue there often +is in favour than in merit with nobles and great persons, felt such +disdain that he departed from Venice, nor would he ever return, +although he was much entreated to do it. And the design, with others +by the same monk, remained in the house of the Bragadini, opposite to +S. Marina, in the possession of Frate Angelo, a member of that family +and a friar of S. Dominic, who, by reason of his many merits, +afterwards became Bishop of Vicenza.</p> + +<p>Fra Giocondo was very versatile, and delighted, in addition to the +pursuits already mentioned, in simples and in agriculture. Thus Messer +Donato Giannotti, the Florentine, who was very much his friend for +many years in France, relates that once, when living in that country, +the monk reared a peach-tree in an earthen pot, and that this little +tree, when he saw it, was so laden with fruit that it was a marvellous +sight. On one occasion, by the advice of some friends, he had set it +in a place where the King was to pass and would be able to see it, +when certain courtiers, who passed by first, plucked all the peaches +off that little tree, as suchlike people were sure to do, and, playing +about with one another, scattered what they could not eat along the +whole length of the street, to the great displeasure of Fra Giocondo. +The matter coming to the ears of the King, he first laughed over the +jest with the courtiers, and then, after thanking the monk for what he +had done to please him, gave him a present of such a kind that he was +consoled.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img002" id="img002"></a> +<img src="images/img002-tb.jpg" width="400" height="518" alt="The Magdalene with Saints." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE MAGDALENE WITH SAINTS<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Liberale da Verona.<br> <i>Verona: S. Anastasia</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img002.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Fra Giocondo was a man of saintly and most upright life, much beloved +by all the great men of letters of his age, and in particular by +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11" name="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> Domizio Calderino, Matteo Bosso, and Paolo Emilio, the +writer of the History of France, all three his compatriots. Very much +his friends, likewise, were Sannazzaro, Budé, and Aldus Manutius, with +all the Academy of Rome; and he had a disciple in Julius Cæsar +Scaliger, one of the most learned men of our times. Finally, being +very old, he died, but precisely at what time and in what place this +happened, and consequently where he was buried, is not known.</p> + +<p>Even as it is true that the city of Verona is very similar to Florence +in situation, manners, and other respects, so it is also true that in +the first as well as in the second there have always flourished men of +the finest genius in all the noblest and most honourable professions. +Saying nothing of the learned, for with them I have nothing to do +here, and continuing to speak of the men of our arts, who have always +had an honourable abode in that most noble city, I come to Liberale of +Verona, a disciple of Vincenzio di Stefano, a native of the same city, +already mentioned in another place, who executed for the Church of +Ognissanti, belonging to the Monks of S. Benedict, at Mantua, in the +year 1463, a Madonna that was a very praiseworthy example of the work +of those times. Liberale imitated the manner of Jacopo Bellini, for +when a young man, while the said Jacopo was painting the Chapel of S. +Niccolò at Verona, he gave his attention under Bellini to the studies +of design in such thorough fashion that, forgetting all that he had +learned from Vincenzio di Stefano, he acquired the manner of Bellini +and retained it ever after.</p> + +<p>The first paintings of Liberale were in the Chapel of the Monte della +Pietà in S. Bernardino, in his native city; and there, in the +principal picture, he painted a Deposition from the Cross, with +certain Angels, some of whom have in their hands the Mysteries (for so +they are called) of the Passion, and all with their weeping faces show +grief at the Death of the Saviour. Very natural, in truth, are these +figures, as are other works of the same kind by this master, who +strove to show in many places that he was able to paint weeping +countenances. This may also be seen in S. Anastasia, a church of +Friars of S. Dominic, likewise in Verona, where he painted a Dead +Christ with the Maries mourning for <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12" name="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> Him on the pediment of +the Chapel of the Buonaveri; and he executed many pictures in the same +manner of painting as the work mentioned above, which are dispersed +among the houses of various gentlemen in Verona.</p> + +<p>In the same chapel he painted a God the Father surrounded by many +Angels who are playing instruments and singing, with three figures on +either side—S. Peter, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas Aquinas on one side, +and S. Lucia, S. Agnese, and another female Saint on the other; but +the first three are much the finer, being executed in a better manner +and with more relief. On the main wall of that chapel he painted Our +Lady, with the Infant Christ marrying S. Catharine, the Virgin-Martyr; +and in this work he made a portrait of Messer Piero Buonaveri, the +owner of the chapel. Around this group are some Angels presenting +flowers, with some heads that are smiling, executed with such grace in +their gladness, that they prove that he was able to paint a smiling +face as well as he had painted tears in other figures. In the +altar-piece of the same chapel he painted S. Mary Magdalene in the +air, supported by some Angels, with S. Catharine below—a work which +was held to be very beautiful. On the altar of the Madonna in the +Church of S. Maria della Scala, belonging to the Servite Friars, he +executed the story of the Magi on two folding-doors that enclose that +Madonna, which is held in vast veneration in that city; but the work +did not long remain there, for it was removed because it was being +spoilt by the smoke of the candles, and placed in the sacristy, where +it is much admired by the painters of Verona.</p> + +<p>In the tramezzo<a id="FNanchor4" name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote4" title="Go to footnote 4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> of the Church of S. Bernardino, above the Chapel of +the Company of the Magdalene, he painted in fresco the story of the +Purification, wherein is a figure of Simeon that is much extolled, as +also is that of the Infant Christ, who with great affection is kissing +that old man, who is holding Him in his arms; and very beautiful, +likewise, is a priest standing there on one side, who, with his arms +extended and his face uplifted towards Heaven, appears to be thanking +God for the salvation of the world. Beside this chapel is a picture of +the story of the Magi by the hand of the same Liberale; and in the +pediment of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13" name="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> picture there is the Death of the Madonna, +executed with little figures, which are highly extolled. Great, +indeed, was his delight in painting works with little figures, with +which he always took such pains that they seem to be the work rather +of an illuminator than of a painter, as may be seen in the Duomo of +the same city, where there is a picture by his hand of the story of +the Magi, with a vast number of little figures, horses, dogs, and +various other animals, and near them a group of rosy-coloured +Cherubim, who serve as a support to the Mother of Jesus. In this +picture the heads are so finished, and everything is executed with +such diligence, that, as I have said, it appears to be the work of an +illuminator.</p> + +<p>He also painted stories of Our Lady on a small predella, likewise +after the manner of miniatures, for the Chapel of the Madonna in the +Duomo. But this was afterwards removed from that chapel by order of +Monsignor Messer Giovan Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, and placed +in the Palace of the Vescovado, which is the residence of the Bishops, +in that chapel wherein they hear Mass every morning. And there that +predella stands in company with a most beautiful Crucifix in relief, +executed by Giovanni Battista Veronese, a sculptor, who now lives in +Mantua. Liberale also painted a panel-picture for the Chapel of the +Allegni in S. Vitale, containing a figure of S. Mestro, the Confessor, +a Veronese and a man of great sanctity, whom he placed between a S. +Francis and a S. Dominic. For the Chapel of S. Girolamo in the +Vittoria, a church and convent of certain Eremite Friars, he executed +at the commission of the Scaltritegli family an altar-piece of S. +Jerome in the habit of a Cardinal, with a S. Francis and a S. Paul, +all much extolled. And in the tramezzo<a id="FNanchor5" name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote5" title="Go to footnote 5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> of the Church of S. Giovanni +in Monte he painted the Circumcision of Christ and other works, which +were destroyed not long since, because it was considered that the +tramezzo impaired the beauty of the church.</p> + +<p>Being then summoned to Siena by the General of the Monks of Monte +Oliveto, Liberale illuminated many books for that Order; and in these +he succeeded so well, that he was commissioned in consequence to +illuminate some that had been left unfinished—that is to say, only +written—in <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14" name="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> the library of the Piccolomini. He also +illuminated some books of plain-song for the Duomo of that city, where +he would have remained longer, executing many works that he had in +hand; but, being driven away by envy and persecution, he set off to +return to Verona, with eight hundred crowns that he had earned, which +he lent afterwards to the Monks of Monte Oliveto at S. Maria in +Organo, from whom he drew interest to support him from day to day.</p> + +<p>Having thus returned to Verona, he gave his attention for the rest of +his life more to illumination than to any other kind of work. At +Bardolino, a place on the Lake of Garda, he painted a panel-picture +which is now in the Pieve; and another for the Church of S. Tommaso +Apostolo. For the Chapel of S. Bernardo, likewise, in the Church of S. +Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. Francis, he painted a panel-picture +of the first-named Saint, with some scenes from his life in the +predella. In the same place, also, and in others, he executed many +nuptial pictures, one of which, containing the Madonna with the Child +in her arms marrying S. Catharine, is in the house of Messer Vincenzio +de' Medici at Verona.</p> + +<p>On the corner of the house of the Cartai, on the way from the Ponte +Nuovo to S. Maria in Organo, in Verona, he painted a Madonna and S. +Joseph in fresco, a work which was much extolled. Liberale would have +liked to paint the Chapel of the Riva family, which had been built in +order to honour the memory of Giovanni Riva, a captain of men-at-arms +at the battle of the Taro, in the Church of S. Eufemia; but he did not +receive the commission, which was given to some strangers, and he was +told that he was too old and that his sight was failing him. When this +chapel was opened, a vast number of faults were perceived in it, and +Liberale said that he who had given the commission had been much more +blind than himself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img003" id="img003"></a> +<img src="images/img003-tb.jpg" width="400" height="514" alt="Miniature." title=""> +<p class="caption">MINIATURE<br> +(<i>After</i> Liberale da Verona.<br> <i>Siena: Duomo Library</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img003.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Finally, being eighty-four years of age, or even more, Liberale +allowed himself to be ruled by his relatives, and particularly by a +married daughter, who, like the rest, treated him very badly. At +which, having grown angry both with her and with his other relatives, +and happening to have under his charge one Francesco Turbido, called +Il Moro, then a young man, who was a diligent painter and much +affected towards him, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15" name="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> he appointed him as heir to the +house and garden that he had at S. Giovanni in Valle, a very pleasant +part of the city; and with him he took up his quarters, saying that he +would rather give the enjoyment of his property to one who loved +virtue than to those who ill-treated their nearest of kin. But no long +time passed before he died, which was on the day of S. Chiara in the +year 1536, at the age of eighty-five; and he was buried in S. Giovanni +in Valle.</p> + +<p>His disciples were Giovan Francesco Caroto and Giovanni Caroto, +Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, and Paolo Cavazzuola, of whom, +since they were truly excellent masters, I shall make mention in their +due order.</p> + +<p>Giovan Francesco Caroto was born at Verona in the year 1470, and after +having learned the first rudiments of letters, being drawn to +painting, he abandoned the studies of grammar and placed himself to +learn painting under the Veronese Liberale, undertaking to recompense +him for his pains. Young as he was, then, Giovan Francesco devoted +himself with such love and diligence to design, that even in his +earliest years he was a great assistance to Liberale both in that and +in colouring. No long time after, when his judgment had increased with +his years, he saw the works of Andrea Mantegna in Verona; and +thinking, as indeed was the truth, that these were of another manner +and better than those of his master, he so wrought upon his father +that he was given leave, with the gracious consent of Liberale, to +apprentice himself to Mantegna. Having gone to Mantua, therefore, and +having placed himself under Mantegna, in a short time he made such +proficience that Andrea sent out works by Caroto as works by his own +hand. In short, before many years had passed by, he had become an able +master. The first works that he executed after leaving the discipline +of Mantegna were on the altar of the three Magi in the Church of the +Hospital of S. Cosimo at Verona, where he painted on the folding-doors +that enclose that altar the Circumcision of Christ and the Flight into +Egypt, with other figures. In the Church of the Frati Ingiesuati, +called S. Girolamo, in two angles of a chapel, he painted the Madonna +and the Angel of the Annunciation. And for the Prior of the Friars of +S. Giorgio he executed a little panel-picture <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16" name="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> of the Manger, +in which he may be seen to have greatly improved his manner, since the +heads of the shepherds and of all the other figures have expressions +so sweet and so beautiful, that this work was much extolled, and that +rightly; and if it were not that the priming of gesso is peeling off +through having been badly prepared, so that the picture is gradually +perishing, it would be enough by itself to keep him alive for ever in +the memory of his fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>Next, having been commissioned by the men who governed the Company of +the Angel Raphael to paint their chapel in the Church of S. Eufemia, +he executed therein two stories of the Angel Raphael in fresco, and in +the altar-piece, in oils, three large Angels, Raphael in the centre, +and Gabriel and Michael on either side, and all with good +draughtsmanship and colouring. He was reproached, indeed, for having +made the legs of those Angels too slender and wanting in softness; to +which he made a pleasant and gracious answer, saying that even as +Angels were represented with wings and with bodies, so to speak, +celestial and ethereal, as if they were birds, so it was only right to +make their legs lean and slender, to the end that they might fly and +soar upwards with greater ease. For that altar of the Church of S. +Giorgio where there is a Christ bearing His Cross, he painted S. Rocco +and S. Sebastian, with some scenes in the predella executed with very +beautiful little figures. And by order of the Company of the Madonna +he painted on the predella of the altar of that Company, in S. +Bernardino, the Nativity of the Madonna and the Massacre of the +Innocents, with a great variety of attitudes in the murderers and in +the groups of children whom their mothers are defending with all their +might. This work is held in great veneration, and is kept covered, the +better to preserve it; and it was the reason that the men of the +Fraternity of S. Stefano commissioned him to paint three pictures with +similar figures for their altar in the old Duomo of Verona, containing +three little scenes from the life of Our Lady—her Marriage, the +Nativity of Christ, and the story of the Magi.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img004" id="img004"></a> +<img src="images/img004-tb.jpg" width="400" height="577" +alt="Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua." title=""> +<p class="caption">GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO: ELISABETTA GONZAGA, DUCHESS OF MANTUA<br> +(<i>Florence: Uffizi, 1121. Panel</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img004.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After these works, thinking that he had gained enough credit in +Verona, Giovan Francesco was minded to depart and make trial of other +places; but his friends and relatives, pressing him much, persuaded +him <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17" name="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> to take to wife a young woman of noble birth, the +daughter of Messer Braliassarti Grandoni, whom he married in 1505. In +a short time, however, after he had had a son by her, she died in +child-birth; and Giovan Francesco, thus left free, departed from +Verona and went off to Milan, where Signor Anton Maria Visconti +received him into his house and caused him to execute many works for +its adornment.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile there was brought to Milan by a Fleming a head of a young +man, taken from life and painted in oils, which was admired by +everyone in that city; but Giovan Francesco, seeing it, laughed and +said: "I am confident that I can do a better." At which the Fleming +mocked him, but after many words the matter came to this, that Giovan +Francesco was to try his hand, losing his own picture and twenty-five +crowns if he lost, and winning the Fleming's head and likewise +twenty-five crowns if he won. Setting to work, therefore, with all his +powers, Giovan Francesco made a portrait of an aged gentleman with +shaven face, with a falcon on his wrist; but, although this was a good +likeness, the head of the Fleming was judged to be the better. Giovan +Francesco did not make a good choice in executing his portrait, for he +took a head that could not do him honour; whereas, if he had chosen a +handsome young man, and had made as good a likeness of him as he did +of the old man, he would at least have equalled his adversary's +picture, even if he had not surpassed it. But for all this the head of +Giovan Francesco did not fail to win praise, and the Fleming showed +him courtesy, for he contented himself with the head of the shaven old +man, and, being a noble and courteous person, would by no means accept +the five-and-twenty crowns. This picture came after some time into the +possession of Madonna Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, who paid +a very good price for it to the Fleming and placed it as a choice work +in her study, in which she had a vast number of very beautiful coins, +pictures, works in marble, and castings.</p> + +<p>After completing his work for Visconti, Giovan Francesco, being +invited by Guglielmo, Marquis of Montferrat, went willingly to serve +him, as Visconti straitly besought him to do. On his arrival, a fine +provision was assigned to him; and, setting to work, he painted for +that noble at <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18" name="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> Casale, in a chapel where he heard Mass, as +many pictures as were necessary to fill it and adorn it on every side, +with subjects from the Old Testament and the New, which were executed +by him with supreme diligence, as was also the chief altar-piece. He +then executed many works throughout the apartments of that Castle, +which brought him very great fame. And in S. Domenico, by order of +that Marquis, he painted the whole of the principal chapel for the +adornment of the tomb wherein he was to be laid to rest; in which work +Giovan Francesco acquitted himself so well, that he was rightly +rewarded with honourable gifts by the liberality of his patron, who +also favoured him by making him one of his own chamberlains, as may be +seen from an instrument that is in the possession of his heirs at +Verona. He made portraits of that lord and of his wife, with many +pictures that they sent to France, and also the portrait of Guglielmo, +their eldest child, who was then a boy, and likewise portraits of +their daughters and of all the ladies who were in the service of the +Marchioness.</p> + +<p>On the death of the Marquis Guglielmo, Giovan Francesco departed from +Casale, after first selling all the property that he had in those +parts, and made his way to Verona, where he so arranged his affairs +and those of his son, to whom he gave a wife, that in a short time he +found himself in possession of more than seven thousand ducats. But he +did not therefore abandon his painting; indeed, having a quiet mind, +and not being obliged to rack his brain for a livelihood, he gave more +attention to it than ever. It is true that either from envy or for +some other reason he was accused of being a painter who could do +nothing but little figures; wherefore, in executing the altar-piece of +the Chapel of the Madonna in S. Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. +Francis, wishing to show that the accusation was a calumny, he painted +the figures larger than life, and so well, that they were the best +that he had ever done. In the air is Our Lady seated in the lap of S. +Anne, with some Angels standing upon clouds, and beneath are S. Peter, +S. John the Baptist, S. Rocco, and S. Sebastian; and not far away, in +a most beautiful landscape, is S. Francis receiving the Stigmata. This +work, indeed, is held by craftsmen to be not otherwise than good.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img005" id="img005"></a> +<img src="images/img005-tb.jpg" width="400" height="591" alt="Madonna and Child with S. Anne and Saints." title=""> +<p class="caption">MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. ANNE AND SAINTS<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Giovan Francesco Caroto.<br> <i>Verona: S. Fermo +Maggiore</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img005.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19" name="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> For the Chapel of the Cross in S. Bernardino, a seat of the +Frati Zoccolanti, he painted Christ kneeling on one knee and taking +leave of His Mother. In this work, stirred to emulation by the many +notable pictures by the hands of other masters that are in that place, +he strove to surpass them all; wherefore, in truth, he acquitted +himself very well, and was praised by all who saw it, save only by the +Guardian of that convent, who, like the boorish and solemn fool that +he was, reproved Giovan Francesco with biting words, saying that he +had made Christ show such little reverence to His Mother as to kneel +only upon one knee. To which Giovan Francesco answered by saying: +"Father, first do me the favour of kneeling down and rising up again, +and I will then tell you for what reason I have painted Christ so." +The Guardian, after much persuasion, knelt down, placing on the ground +first his right knee and then his left; and in rising up he raised +first the left and then the right. Which done, Giovan Francesco said: +"Did you observe, Father Guardian, that you neither knelt down nor +rose up with both knees together? I tell you, therefore, that this +Christ of mine is right, because one might say that He is either +coming to His knees before His Mother, or beginning, after having +knelt a while, to raise one leg in order to rise." At which the +Guardian had to appear a little appeased, although he went off +muttering under his breath.</p> + +<p>Giovan Francesco was very sharp in his answers; and it is also related +of him that once, being told by a priest that his figures were too +seductive for altar-pieces, he replied: "A lusty fellow you must be, +if painted figures so move you. Think how much you are to be trusted +in places where there are living people for you to touch." At Isola, a +place on the Lake of Garda, he painted two panel-pictures for the +Church of the Zoccolanti; and at Malsessino, a township above that +same lake, he painted a very beautiful Madonna over the door of a +church, and some Saints within the church, at the request of +Fracastoro, a very famous poet, who was much his friend. For Count +Giovan Francesco Giusti, executing a subject conceived by that +nobleman, he painted a young man wholly naked except for the parts of +shame, and in an attitude of indecision as to whether he shall rise up +or not; and on one side he had <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20" name="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> a most beautiful young woman +representing Minerva, who with one hand was pointing out to him a +figure of Fame on high, and with the other was urging him to follow +her; but Sloth and Idleness, who were behind the young man, were +striving to detain him. Below these was a figure with an uncouth face, +rather that of a slave and a plebeian than of one of noble blood, who +had two great snails clinging to his elbows and was seated on a crab, +and near him was another figure with the hands full of poppies. This +invention, in which are other beautiful details and fancies, was +executed by Giovan Francesco with supreme diligence and love; and it +serves as the head-board of a bedstead at that nobleman's lovely place +near Verona, which is called S. Maria in Stella.</p> + +<p>The same master painted the whole of a little chamber with various +scenes in little figures, for Count Raimondo della Torre. And since he +delighted to work in relief, he executed not only models for his own +purposes and for the arrangement of draperies, but also other things +of his own fancy, of which there are some to be seen in the house of +his heirs, and in particular a scene in half-relief, which is not +otherwise than passing good. He also executed portraits on medallions, +and some are still to be seen, such as that of Guglielmo, Marquis of +Montferrat, which has on the reverse a Hercules slaying ..., with a +motto that runs: "Monstra domat." He painted portraits of Count +Raimondo della Torre, Messer Giulio his brother, and Messer Girolamo +Fracastoro.</p> + +<p>But when Giovan Francesco became old, he began gradually to lose his +mastery over art, as may be seen from the organ-doors in S. Maria +della Scala, from the panel-picture of the Movi family, wherein is a +Deposition from the Cross, and from the Chapel of S. Martino in S. +Anastasia. Giovan Francesco had always a great opinion of himself, and +not for anything in the world would he have ever copied another man's +work in his own. Now Bishop Giovan Matteo Giberti wished him to paint +some stories of the Madonna in the great chapel of the Duomo, and had +the designs for these drawn in Rome by Giulio Romano, who was very +much his friend (for Giberti was Datary to Pope Clement VII). But, +when the Bishop had returned to Verona, Giovan Francesco would never +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21" name="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> consent to execute these designs; at which the Bishop, in +disdain, caused them to be put into execution by Francesco, called Il +Moro.</p> + +<p>Giovan Francesco held an opinion, in which he was not far from the +truth, that varnishing pictures spoiled them, and made them become old +sooner than they otherwise would; and for this reason he used varnish +in the darks while painting, together with certain purified oils. He +was also the first who executed landscapes well in Verona; wherefore +there are some by his hand to be seen in that city, which are very +beautiful. Finally, when seventy-six years of age, Giovan Francesco +died the death of a good Christian, leaving his grandchildren and his +brother, Giovanni Caroto, passing well provided. This Giovanni, after +first applying himself to art under his brother, and then spending +some time in Venice, had just returned to Verona when Giovan Francesco +passed to the other life; and thus he took a hand with the +grandchildren in inspecting the things of art that had been left to +them. Among these they found a portrait of an old man in armour, very +beautiful both in drawing and in colour, which was the best work by +the hand of Giovan Francesco that was ever seen; and likewise a little +picture containing a Deposition from the Cross, which was presented to +Signor Spitech, a man of great authority with the King of Poland, who +had come at that time to some baths that are in the territory of +Verona. Giovan Francesco was buried in the Madonna dell' Organo, in +the Chapel of S. Niccolò, which he himself had adorned with his +paintings.</p> + +<p>Giovanni Caroto, brother of Giovan Francesco, although he followed the +manner of the latter, yet gained less reputation in the practice of +painting. This master painted the altar-piece in the above-mentioned +Chapel of S. Niccolò, wherein is the Madonna enthroned on clouds; and +below this he placed a portrait of himself, taken from life, and that +of his wife Placida. He also painted some little figures of female +Saints for the altar of the Schioppi in the Church of S. Bartolommeo, +together with a portrait of Madonna Laura degli Schioppi, who had +caused that chapel to be built, and who was much celebrated by the +writers of those times no less for her virtues than for her beauty. +Giovanni likewise painted a S. Martin in a little altar-piece for S. +Giovanni in Fonte, near <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22" name="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> the Duomo; and he made a portrait of +Messer Marc' Antonio della Torre (who afterwards became a man of +learning and gave public lectures at Padua and Pavia) as a young man, +and also one of Messer Giulio; which heads are in the possession of +their heirs at Verona. For the Prior of S. Giorgio he painted a +picture of Our Lady, which, as a good painting, has been kept ever +since, as it still is, in the chamber of the Priors. And he painted +another picture, representing the transformation of Actæon into a +stag, for the organist Brunetto, who afterwards presented it to +Girolamo Cicogna, an excellent embroiderer, and engineer to Bishop +Giberti; and it now belongs to Messer Vincenzio Cicogna, his son.</p> + +<p>Giovanni took ground-plans of all the ancient buildings of Verona, +with the triumphal arches and the Colosseum. These were revised by the +Veronese architect Falconetto, and they were meant for the adornment +of the book of the Antiquities of Verona, which had been written after +his own original research by Messer Torello Saraina, who afterwards +had the book printed. This book was sent to me by Giovanni Caroto when +I was in Bologna (where I was executing the work of the Refectory of +S. Michele in Bosco), together with the portrait of the reverend +Father, Don Cipriano da Verona, who was twice General of the Monks of +Monte Oliveto; and the portrait, which was sent to me by Giovanni to +the end that I might make use of it, as I did, for one of those +pictures, is now in my house at Florence, with other paintings by the +hands of various masters.</p> + +<p>Finally, having lived without children and without ambition, but with +good means, Giovanni died at about the age of sixty, full of gladness +because he saw some of his disciples, particularly Anselmo Canneri and +Paolo Veronese, already in good repute. Paolo is now working in +Venice, and is held to be a good master; and Anselmo has executed many +works both in oils and in fresco, and in particular at the Villa +Soranza on the Tesino, and in the Palace of the Soranzi at +Castelfranco, and also in many other places, but more at Vicenza than +anywhere else. But to return to Giovanni; he was buried in S. Maria +dell' Organo, where he had painted a chapel with his own hand.</p> + +<p>Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, a painter of Verona, learned the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23" name="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> first rudiments of art, when still quite young, from +Giorgione da Castelfranco, whom he imitated ever afterwards in +colouring and in softness of painting. But just when Il Moro was +making progress, he came to words with I know not whom, and handled +him so roughly, that he was forced to leave Venice and return to +Verona. There, abandoning his painting, since he was somewhat ready +with his hands and associated with the young noblemen, being a person +of very good breeding, he lived for a time without doing any work. And +associating in this way, in particular, with the Counts Sanbonifazi +and the Counts Giusti, two illustrious families of Verona, he became +so intimate with them that he lived in their houses as if he had been +born in them; and, what is more, no long time passed before Count +Zenovello Giusti gave him a natural daughter of his own for a wife, +and granted him a commodious apartment in his own house for himself, +his wife, and the children that were born to them.</p> + +<p>It is said that Francesco, while living in the service of those +noblemen, always carried a pencil in his pouch; and wherever he went, +if only he had time, he would draw a head or something else on the +walls. Wherefore the same Count Zenovello, seeing him to be so much +inclined to painting, relieved him of his other duties, like the +generous nobleman that he was, and made him give his whole attention +to art; and since Francesco had all but forgotten everything, he +placed himself, through the good offices of that patron, under +Liberale, a famous painter and illuminator of that time. And thus, +practising under that master without ever ceasing, he went on making +such progress from one day to another, that not only did all that he +had forgotten awaken in his memory, but he also acquired in a short +time as much more knowledge as sufficed to make him an able craftsman. +It is true, however, that, although he always held to the manner of +Liberale, he yet imitated the softness and well-blended colouring of +Giorgione, his first instructor, believing that the works of Liberale, +while good in other respects, suffered from a certain dryness.</p> + +<p>Now Liberale, having recognized the beauty of Francesco's spirit, +conceived such an affection for him, that he loved him ever afterwards +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24" name="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> as a son, and, when death came upon him, left him heir to +all his possessions. And thus, after the death of Liberale, Francesco +followed in his steps and executed many works, which are dispersed +among various private houses. Of those in Verona which deserve to be +extolled above all others, the first is the great chapel of the Duomo, +on the vaulting of which are four large pictures painted in fresco, +wherein are the Nativity of the Madonna and the Presentation in the +Temple, and, in the picture in the centre, which appears to recede +inwards, three Angels in the air, who are seen foreshortened from +below, and are holding a crown of stars wherewith to crown the +Madonna, who is in the recess, in the act of ascending into Heaven, +accompanied by many Angels, while the Apostles are gazing upwards in +attitudes of great variety; and these Apostles are figures twice the +size of life. All these pictures were executed by Il Moro after the +designs of Giulio Romano, according to the wish of Bishop Giovan +Matteo Giberti, who gave the commission for the work, and who, as has +been said, was very much the friend of that same Giulio.</p> + +<p>After this Il Moro painted the façade of the house of the Manuelli, +which stands on the abutment of the Ponte Nuovo, and a façade for +Torello Saraina, the doctor, who wrote the above-mentioned book of the +Antiquities of Verona. In Friuli, likewise, he painted in fresco the +principal chapel of the Abbey of Rosazzo, for Bishop Giovan Matteo, +who held it "in commendam," and, being a noble and truly religious +dignitary, rebuilt it; for it had been allowed to fall completely into +ruin, as such buildings are generally found to be, by those who had +held it "in commendam" before him, attending only to the drawing of +the revenues and spending not a farthing in the service of God and of +the Church.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img006" id="img006"></a> +<img src="images/img006-tb.jpg" width="400" height="477" alt="Portrait of a Man." title=""> +<p class="caption">PORTRAIT OF A MAN<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Francesco Turbido [Il Moro].<br> <i>Munich: +Pinacoteca, 1125</i>)<br> +<i>Bruckmann</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img006.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Il Moro afterwards painted many works in oils at Verona and in Venice. +On the outer wall (of a chapel) in S. Maria in Organo he executed in +fresco the figures that are still there, with the exception of the +Angel Michael and the Angel Raphael, which are by the hand of Paolo +Cavazzuola. For the same chapel he painted an altar-piece in oils, +wherein he made a portrait of Messer Jacopo Fontani, who gave the +commission for the work, in a figure of S. James, in addition to the +Madonna and other very beautiful figures. And in a large semicircle +above that altar-piece, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25" name="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> occupying the whole width of the +chapel, he painted the Transfiguration of Our Lord, and the Apostles +beneath, which were held to be among the best figures that he ever +executed. For the Chapel of the Bombardieri, in S. Eufemia, he painted +an altar-piece with S. Barbara in the heavens, in the centre, and a S. +Anthony below, with his hand on his beard, which is a most beautiful +head, and on the other side a S. Rocco, which is also held to be a +very good figure; whence this work is rightly looked upon as one +executed with supreme diligence and unity of colouring. In a picture +on the altar of the Santificazione, in the Madonna della Scala, he +painted a S. Sebastian, in competition with Paolo Cavazzuola, who +executed a S. Rocco in another picture; and he afterwards painted an +altar-piece that was taken to Bagolino, a place in the mountains of +Brescia.</p> + +<p>Il Moro executed many portraits, and his heads are in truth beautiful +to a marvel, and very good likenesses of those whom they were meant to +represent. At Verona he executed a portrait of Count Francesco +Sanbonifazio, who, on account of the length of his body, was called +the Long Count; with that of one of the Franchi, which was an amazing +head. He also painted the portrait of Messer Girolamo Verità, which +remained unfinished, because Il Moro was inclined to be dilatory in +his work; and this, still unfinished, is in the possession of the sons +of that good nobleman. Among many other portraits, likewise, he +executed one of the Venetian, Monsignor de' Martini, a knight of +Rhodes, and to the same man he sold a head of marvellous beauty and +excellence, which he had painted many years before as the portrait of +a Venetian gentleman, the son of one who was then Captain in Verona. +This head, through the avarice of the Venetian, who never paid him, +was left in the hands of Francesco, and he disposed of it to Monsignor +de' Martini, who had the Venetian dress changed into that of a +shepherd or herdsman. It is as rare a portrait as ever issued from the +hand of any craftsman, and it is now in the house of the heirs of the +same Monsignor de' Martini, where it is rightly held in vast +veneration. In Venice he painted a portrait of Messer Alessandro +Contarini, Procurator of S. Mark and Proveditor of the forces, and one +of Messer Michele San Michele for one of Messer <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26" name="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> Michele's +dearest friends, who took the portrait to Orvieto; and it is said that +he executed another of the same architect, Messer Michele, which is +now in the possession of Messer Paolo Ramusio, the son of Messer +Giovan Battista. He also painted a portrait of Fracastoro, a very +famous poet, at the instance of Monsignor Giberti, by whom it was sent +to Giovio, who placed it in his museum.</p> + +<p>Il Moro executed many other works, of which there is no need to make +mention, although they are all well worthy of remembrance, because he +was as diligent a colourist as any master that lived in his day, and +because he bestowed much time and labour on his work. So great, +indeed, was his diligence, that it brought upon him more blame than +praise, as may also be seen at times to happen to others, for the +reason that he accepted any commission and took the earnest-money from +every patron, and trusted to the will of God to finish the work; and +if he did this in his youth, everyone may imagine what he must have +done in his last years, when to his natural slowness there was added +that which old age brings in its train. By this method of procedure he +brought upon himself more entanglements and annoyances than he cared +for; and Messer Michele San Michele, therefore, moved by compassion +for him, took him into his house in Venice and treated him like a +friend and man of talent.</p> + +<p>Finally, having been invited back to Verona by his former patrons, the +Counts Giusti, Il Moro died among them in their beautiful Palace of S. +Maria in Stella, and was buried in the church of that villa, being +accompanied to his tomb by all those loving noblemen, and even laid to +rest with extraordinary affection by their own hands; for they loved +him as a father, since they had all been born and brought up while he +was living in their house. In his youth Il Moro was very courageous +and agile in body, and handled all kinds of arms with great skill. He +was most faithful to his friends and patrons, and he showed spirit in +all his actions. His most intimate friends were the architect, Messer +Michele San Michele, Danese da Carrara, an excellent sculptor, and the +very reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici, who often went +after his studies to sit with him, watching him at work, and +discoursing <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27" name="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> lovingly with him, in order to refresh his mind +when he was weary with labour.</p> + +<p>A disciple and son-in-law of Il Moro, who had two daughters, was +Battista d' Agnolo, who was afterwards called Battista del Moro. This +master, although he had his hands full for a time with the +complications of the inheritance that Il Moro bequeathed to him, has +yet executed many works which are not otherwise than passing good. In +Verona he has painted a S. John the Baptist in the Church of the Nuns +of S. Giuseppe, and in the tramezzo<a id="FNanchor6" name="FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote6" title="Go to footnote 6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> of S. Eufemia, above the altar +of S. Paolo, a scene in fresco showing the latter Saint presenting +himself to Ananias after being converted by Christ; which work, +although he executed it when still a lad, is much extolled. For the +noble Counts Canossi he painted two apartments, and in a hall two +friezes with battle-pieces, which are very beautiful and praised by +everyone. In Venice he painted the façade of a house near the Carmine, +a work of no great size, but much extolled, in which he executed a +figure of Venice crowned and seated upon a lion, the device of that +Republic. For Camillo Trevisano he painted the façade of his house at +Murano, and in company with his son Marco he decorated the inner court +with very beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro. And in competition with +Paolo Veronese he painted a large chamber in the same house, which +proved to be so beautiful that it brought him much honour and profit.</p> + +<p>The same master has also executed many works in miniature, of which +the most recent is a very beautiful drawing of S. Eustachio adoring +Christ, who has appeared to him between the horns of a deer, with two +dogs near him, which could not be more excellent, and a landscape full +of trees, receding and fading away little by little into the distance, +which is an exquisite thing. This drawing has been very highly praised +by the many persons who have seen it, and particularly by Danese da +Carrara, who saw it when he was in Verona, carrying out the work of +the Chapel of the Signori Fregosi, which is one of rare distinction +among all the number that there are in Italy at the present day. +Danese, I say, having seen this drawing, was lost in astonishment at +its beauty, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28" name="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> and exhorted the above-mentioned Fra Marco de' +Medici, his old and particular friend, not for anything in the world +to let it slip through his hands, but to contrive to place it among +the other choice examples of all the arts in his possession. Whereupon +Battista, having heard that Fra Marco desired it, and knowing of his +friendship with his father-in-law, gave it to him, almost forcing him +to accept it, in the presence of Danese; nor was that good Father +ungrateful to him for so much courtesy. However, since that same +Battista and his son Marco are alive and still at work, I shall say +nothing more of them for the present.</p> + +<p>Il Moro had another disciple, called Orlando Fiacco, who has become a +good master and a very able painter of portraits, as may be seen from +the many that he has painted, all very beautiful and most lifelike. He +made a portrait of Cardinal Caraffa when he was returning from +Germany, which he took secretly by torch-light while the Cardinal was +at supper in the Vescovado of Verona; and this was such a faithful +likeness that it could not have been improved. He also painted a very +lifelike portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine, when, coming from the +Council of Trent, he passed through Verona on his return to Rome; and +likewise portraits of the two Bishops Lippomani of Verona, Luigi the +uncle and Agostino the nephew, which Count Giovan Battista della Torre +now has in a little apartment. Other portraits that he painted were +those of Messer Adamo Fumani, a Canon and a very learned gentleman of +Verona, of Messer Vincenzio de' Medici of Verona, and of his consort, +Madonna Isotta, in the guise of S. Helen, and of their grandson, +Messer Niccolò. He has likewise executed portraits of Count Antonio +della Torre, of Count Girolamo Canossi, and his brothers, Count +Lodovico and Count Paolo, of Signor Astorre Baglioni, Captain-General +of all the light cavalry of Venice and Governor of Verona, the latter +clad in white armour and most beautiful in aspect, and of his consort, +Signora Ginevra Salviati. In like manner, he has portrayed the eminent +architect Palladio and many others; and he still continues at work, +wishing to become in the art of painting as true an Orlando as once +was that great Paladin of France.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img007" id="img007"></a> +<img src="images/img007-tb.jpg" width="400" height="556" alt="Portrait of a Gentleman." title=""> +<p class="caption">BONSIGNORI (MONSIGNORI): PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN<br> +(<i>London: National Gallery, 736. Tempera Panel</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img007.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>In Verona, where an extraordinary degree of attention has been given +to design ever since the death of Fra Giocondo, there have flourished +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29" name="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> at all times men excellent in painting and architecture, +as will now be seen, in addition to what has been observed hitherto, +in the Lives of Francesco Monsignori, of Domenico Morone and his son +Francesco, of Paolo Cavazzuola, of the architect Falconetto, and, +lastly, of the miniaturists Francesco and Girolamo.</p> + +<p>Francesco Monsignori, the son of Alberto, was born at Verona in the +year 1455; and when he was well grown he was advised by his father, +who had always delighted in painting, although he had not practised it +save for his own pleasure, to give his attention to design. Having, +therefore, gone to Mantua to seek out Mantegna, who was then working +in that city, he exerted himself in such a manner, being fired by the +fame of his instructor, that no long time passed before Francesco II, +Marquis of Mantua, who found an extraordinary delight in painting, +took him into his own service; and in the year 1487 he gave him a +house for his habitation in Mantua, and assigned him an honourable +provision. For these benefits Francesco was not ungrateful, for he +always served that lord with supreme fidelity and lovingness; whence +the Marquis came to love and favour him more and more every day, +insomuch that he could not leave the city without having Francesco in +his train, and was once heard to say that Francesco was as dear to him +as the State itself.</p> + +<p>Francesco painted many works for that lord in his Palace of S. +Sebastiano at Mantua, and also in the Castello di Gonzaga and in the +beautiful Palace of Marmirolo without the city. In the latter +Francesco had finished painting in the year 1499, after a vast number +of other pictures, some triumphs and many portraits of gentlemen of +the Court; and on Christmas Eve, on which day he had finished those +works, the Marquis presented to him an estate of a hundred fields in +the territory of Mantua, at a place called La Marzotta, with a +mansion, garden, meadows, and other things of great beauty and +convenience. He was most excellent at taking portraits from life, and +the Marquis caused him to paint many portraits, of himself, of his +sons, and of many other lords of the house of Gonzaga, which were sent +to France and Germany as presents for various Princes. And many of +these portraits are still in Mantua, such as those of the Emperor +Frederick Barbarossa; of Doge <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30" name="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> Barbarigo of Venice; of +Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan; of Massimiliano, also Duke of Milan, +who died in France; of the Emperor Maximilian; of Signor Ercole +Gonzaga, who afterwards became a Cardinal; of his brother, Duke +Federigo (then a young man); of Signor Giovan Francesco Gonzaga; of +Messer Andrea Mantegna, the painter; and of many others; of all which +Francesco preserved copies drawn on paper in chiaroscuro, which are +now in the possession of his heirs at Mantua.</p> + +<p>Above the pulpit of S. Francesco de' Zoccolanti, in the same city, is +a picture that he painted of S. Louis and S. Bernardino holding a +large circle that contains the name of Jesus; and in the refectory of +those friars there is a picture on canvas as large as the whole of the +head-wall, of the Saviour in the midst of the twelve Apostles, painted +in perspective and all very beautiful, and executed with many proofs +of consideration. Among them is the traitor Judas, with a face wholly +different from those of the others, and in a strange attitude; and the +others are all gazing intently at Jesus, who is speaking to them, +being near His Passion. On the right hand of this work is a S. Francis +of the size of life, a very beautiful figure, the countenance of which +is the very presentment of that sanctity which was peculiar to that +most saintly man; and he is presenting to Christ the Marquis +Francesco, who is kneeling at his feet, portrayed from life in a long +coat pleated and worked with a curly pattern, according to the fashion +of those times, and embroidered with white crosses, perchance because +he may have been at that time Captain of the Venetians. And in front +of the Marquis is a portrait, with the hands clasped, of his eldest +son, who was then a very beautiful boy, and afterwards became Duke +Federigo. On the other side is painted a S. Bernardino, equal in +excellence to the figure of S. Francis, and likewise presenting to +Christ the brother of the Marquis, Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, a very +beautiful kneeling figure, robed in the habit of a Cardinal, with the +rochet, which is also a portrait from life; and in front of that +Cardinal is a portrait of Signora Leonora, the daughter of the same +Marquis, who was then a girl, and afterwards became Duchess of Urbino. +This whole work is held by the most excellent painters to be a +marvellous thing.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img008" id="img008"></a> +<img src="images/img008-tb.jpg" width="250" height="524" alt="S. Sebastian." title=""> +<p class="caption">S. SEBASTIAN<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Francesco Monsignori [Bonsignori].<br> +<i>Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46 c</i>)<br> +<i>Hanfstaengl</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img008.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31" name="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> The same master painted a picture of S. Sebastian, which was +afterwards placed in the Madonna delle Grazie, without the city of +Mantua; and to this he devoted extraordinary pains, copying many +things in it from the life. It is related that the Marquis, going one +day, while Francesco was executing this picture, to see him at work, +as he used often to do, said to him: "Francesco, you must take some +fine figure as your model in painting this Saint." To which Francesco +answered: "I am using as my model a porter with a very handsome +figure, whom I bind in a fashion of my own in order to make the work +natural." "But the limbs of this Saint of yours," rejoined the +Marquis, "are not true to life, for they have not the appearance of +being strained by force or by that fear which one would expect in a +man bound and shot with arrows; and by your leave I will undertake to +show you what you ought to do in order to make this figure perfect." +"Nay, but I beg you to do it, my lord," said Francesco; and the +Marquis added: "When you have your porter bound here, send for me, and +I will show you what you must do." The next day, therefore, when +Francesco had the porter bound in the manner that he wished, he sent a +secret summons to the Marquis, but without knowing what he intended to +do. And the Marquis, bursting out of a neighbouring room in a great +fury, with a loaded cross-bow in his hand, rushed towards the porter, +crying out at the top of his voice, "Traitor, prepare to die! At last +I have caught thee as I would have thee," and other suchlike words; +which hearing, the wretched porter, thinking himself as good as dead, +struggled in a frenzy of terror with the ropes wherewith he was bound, +and made frantic efforts to break them, thus truly representing one +about to be shot with arrows, and revealing fear in his face and the +horror of death in his strained and distorted limbs, as he sought to +escape from his peril. This done, the Marquis said to Francesco, +"There he is in the state that he ought to be: the rest is for you to +do"; which the painter having well considered, made his figure as +perfect as could be imagined.</p> + +<p>Francesco painted in the Gonzaga Palace, besides many other things, +the Election of the first Lords of Mantua, with the jousts that were +held on the Piazza di S. Piero, which is seen there in perspective. +When <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32" name="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> the Grand Turk sent one of his men with a most +beautiful dog, a bow, and a quiver, as presents for the Marquis, the +latter caused the dog, the Turk who had brought it, and the other +things, to be painted in the same Gonzaga Palace; and, this done, +wishing to see whether the painted dog were truly lifelike, he had one +of his own dogs, of a breed very hostile to the Turkish dog, brought +to the place where the other one stood on a pedestal painted in +imitation of stone. The living dog, then, arriving there, had no +sooner seen the painted one than, precisely as if it had been a living +animal and the very one for whom he had a mortal hatred, he broke +loose from his keeper and rushed at it with such vehemence, in order +to bite it, that he struck his head full against the wall and dashed +it all to pieces.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img009" id="img009"></a> +<img src="images/img009-tb.jpg" width="400" height="572" alt="Madonna and Child." title=""> +<p class="caption">GIOVAN FRANCESCO MORONE: MADONNA AND CHILD<br> +(<i>London: National Gallery, 285. Panel</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img009.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Another story is told by persons who were present at the scene, of a +little picture by the hand of Francesco, little more than two span in +height, and belonging to his nephew Benedetto Baroni, in which is a +Madonna painted in oils, from the breast upwards, and almost +life-size, and, lower down, in the corner of the picture, the Child, +seen from the shoulders upwards, with one arm uplifted and in the act +of caressing His Mother. It is related, I say, that, when the Emperor +was master of Verona, Don Alfonso of Castille and Alarcon, a very +famous Captain, happened to be in that city on behalf of His Majesty +and the Catholic King; and that these lords, being in the house of the +Veronese Count Lodovico da Sesso, said that they had a great desire to +see that picture. Whereupon it was sent for; and one evening they were +standing contemplating it in a good light, and admiring its masterly +workmanship, when Signora Caterina, the wife of the Count, entered +into the room where those noblemen were, together with one of her +sons, who had on his wrist one of those green birds—called in Verona +"terrazzani,"<a id="FNanchor7" name="FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote7" title="Go to footnote 7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> because they make their nests on the ground—which +learn to perch on the wrist, like hawks. It happened, then, that, +while she stood with the others contemplating the picture, the bird, +seeing the extended arm and wrist of the painted Child, flew to perch +upon it; but, not having been able to find a hold on the surface of +the painting, and having <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33" name="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> therefore fallen to the ground, +it twice returned to settle on the wrist of that painted Child, +precisely as if it had been one of those living children who were +always holding it on their wrists. At which those noblemen, being +amazed, offered to pay a great price to Benedetto for the picture, if +only he would give it to them; but it was not possible by any means to +wrest it from him. Not long afterwards the same persons planned to +have it stolen from him on the day of the festival of S. Biagio in S. +Nazzaro; but the owner was informed of this, and their design did not +succeed.</p> + +<p>For S. Paolo, in Verona, Francesco painted a panel-picture in gouache, +which is very beautiful, and another, also most beautiful, for the +Chapel of the Bandi in S. Bernardino. In Mantua he executed for Verona +a picture with two most lovely nudes, a Madonna in the sky, with the +Child in her arms, and some Angels, all marvellous figures, which is +in the chapel where S. Biagio is buried, in the Black Friars Church of +S. Nazzaro.</p> + +<p>Francesco was a man of saintly life, and the enemy of every vice, +insomuch that he would never on any account paint licentious works, +although he was very often entreated to do so by the Marquis; and +equal to him in goodness were his brothers, as will be related in the +proper place. Finally, being old, and suffering in the bladder, +Francesco, with the leave of the Marquis and by the advice of the +physicians, went with his wife and many servants to the Baths of +Caldero, in the territory of Verona, to take the waters. There, one +day, after he had drunk the water, he allowed himself to be overcome +by drowsiness, and slept a little, being indulged in this by his wife +out of compassion; whereupon, a violent fever having come upon him in +consequence of his sleeping, which is a deadly thing for one who has +just taken that water, he finished the course of his life on the +second day of July, 1519; which having been reported to the Marquis, +he straightway sent orders by a courier that the body of Francesco +should be brought to Mantua. This was done, although it gave little +pleasure to the people of Verona; and he was laid to rest with great +honour in the burial-place of the Compagnia Segreta in S. Francesco at +Mantua. Francesco lived to the age of <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34" name="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> sixty-four, and the +portrait of him which belongs to Messer Fermo was executed when he was +fifty. Many compositions were written in his praise, and he was +mourned by all who knew him as a virtuous and saintly man, which he +was. He had for wife Madonna Francesca Gioacchini of Verona, but he +had no children.</p> + +<p>The eldest of his three brothers was called Monsignore; and he, being +a person of culture and learning, received offices with good salaries +in Mantua from the Marquis, on account of that nobleman's love of +Francesco. He lived to the age of eighty, and left children, who keep +the family of the Monsignori alive in Mantua. Another brother of +Francesco had the name of Girolamo when in the world, and of Fra +Cherubino among the Frati Zoccolanti di San Francesco; and he was a +very beautiful calligrapher and illuminator. The third, who was a +Friar of S. Dominic and an Observantine, and was called Fra Girolamo, +chose out of humility to become a lay-brother. He was not only a man +of good and holy life, but also a passing good painter, as may be seen +in the Convent of S. Domenico in Mantua, where, besides other works, +he executed a most beautiful Last Supper in the refectory, with a +Passion of Christ, which remained unfinished on account of his death. +The same friar painted the beautiful Last Supper that is in the +refectory of the very rich abbey which the Monks of S. Benedict +possess in the territory of Mantua. In S. Domenico he painted the +altar of the Rosary; and in the Convent of S. Anastasia, in Verona, he +painted in fresco the Madonna, S. Remigio the Bishop, and S. +Anastasia; with a Madonna, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas Aquinas, all +executed with mastery, on a little arch over the second door of +entrance in the second cloister.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img010" id="img010"></a> +<img src="images/img010-tb.jpg" width="400" height="582" alt="The Crucifixion." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE CRUCIFIXION<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Giovan Francesco Morone.<br> <i>Verona: S. +Bernardino</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img010.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Fra Girolamo was a person of great simplicity, wholly indifferent to +the things of the world. He lived in the country, at a farm belonging +to his convent, in order to avoid all noise and disturbance, and the +money sent to him in return for his works, which he used for buying +colours and suchlike things, he kept in a box without a cover, hung +from the ceiling in the middle of his chamber, so that all who wished +could take some; and in order not to have the trouble of thinking +every day <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35" name="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> what he was to eat, he used to cook a pot of +beans every Monday to last him the whole week.</p> + +<p>When the plague came to Mantua and the sick were abandoned by all, as +happens in such cases, Fra Girolamo, with no other motive but the +purest love, would never desert the poor plague-stricken monks, and +even tended them all day long with his own hands. And thus, careless +of his life for the love of God, he became infected with that malady +and died at the age of sixty, to the great grief of all who knew him.</p> + +<p>But to return to Francesco Monsignori: he painted a life-size +portrait, which I forgot to mention above, of Count Ercole Giusti of +Verona, in a robe of cloth of gold, such as he was wont to wear; and +this is a very beautiful likeness, as may be seen in the house of his +son, Count Giusto.</p> + +<p>Domenico Morone, who was born at Verona about the year 1430, learned +the art of painting from some masters who were disciples of Stefano, +and from works by the same Stefano, by Jacopo Bellini, by Pisano, and +by others, which he saw and copied. Saying nothing of the many +pictures that he executed after the manner of those times, which are +now in monasteries and private houses, I begin by recording that he +painted in chiaroscuro, with "terretta verde," the façade of a house +belonging to the city of Verona, on the square called the Piazza de' +Signori; and in this may be seen many ornamental friezes and scenes +from ancient history, with a very beautiful arrangement of figures and +costumes of bygone days. But the best work to be seen by the hand of +this master is the Leading of Christ to the Cross, with a multitude of +figures and horses, which is in S. Bernardino, on the wall above the +Chapel of the Monte di Pietà, for which Liberale painted the picture +of the Deposition with the weeping Angels. The same Domenico received +a commission to paint the chapel that is next to that one, both within +and without, at great expense and with a lavish use of gold, from the +Chevalier, Messer Niccolò de' Medici, who was considered to be the +richest man of his day in Verona, and who spent great sums of money on +other pious works, being a man who was inclined to this by nature. +This gentleman, after he had built many monasteries and churches, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36" name="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> had left scarcely any place in that city where he had not +executed some noble and costly work to the honour of God, chose as his +burial-place the chapel mentioned above, for the ornamentation of +which he availed himself of Domenico, at that time more famous than +any other painter in that city, Liberale being in Siena.</p> + +<p>Domenico, then, painted in the interior of this chapel the Miracles of +S. Anthony of Padua, to whom it is dedicated, and portrayed the +Chevalier in an old man with shaven face and white hair, without any +cap, and wearing a long gown of cloth of gold, such as Chevaliers used +to wear in those times. All this, for a work in fresco, is very well +designed and executed. Then, in certain medallions in the outer +vaulting, which is all overlaid with gold, he painted the four +Evangelists; and on the pilasters both within and without he executed +figures of Saints, among which are S. Elizabeth of the Third Order of +S. Francis, S. Helen, and S. Catharine, which are very beautiful +figures, and much extolled for the draughtsmanship, colouring, and +grace. This work, then, can bear witness to the talent of Domenico and +to the magnificent liberality of that Chevalier.</p> + +<p>Domenico died very old, and was buried in S. Bernardino, wherein are +the works by his hand described above, leaving his son, Francesco +Morone, heir to his property and his talents. This Francesco, who +learned the first principles of art from his father, afterwards +exerted himself in such a manner that in a short time he became a much +better master than his father had been, as the works that he executed +in emulation of those of his father clearly demonstrate. Below his +father's work on the altar of the Monte, in the aforesaid Church of S. +Bernardino, Francesco painted in oils the folding-doors that enclose +the altar-piece of Liberale; on the inner side of which he depicted in +one the Virgin, and in the other S. John the Evangelist, both +life-size figures, with great beauty in the faces, which are weeping, +in the draperies, and in every other part. In the same chapel, at the +foot of the face of that wall which serves as head-wall to the +tramezzo,<a id="FNanchor8" name="FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote8" title="Go to footnote 8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> he painted the Miracle that Our Lord performed with the +five loaves and two fishes, which satisfied <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37" name="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> the multitude; +and in this are many beautiful figures and many portraits from life, +but most of all is praise given to a S. John the Evangelist, who is +very slender, and has his back partly turned towards the spectator. He +then executed in the same place, beside the altar-piece, in the vacant +spaces on the wall against which it rests, a S. Louis, Bishop and +Friar of S. Francis, and another figure; with some heads in +foreshortening in a sunk medallion on the vaulting. All these works +are much extolled by the painters of Verona. And for the altar of the +Cross, on which are so many painted pictures, between that chapel and +the Chapel of the Medici, in the same church, he executed a picture +which is in the centre above all the others, containing Christ on the +Cross, the Madonna, and S. John, and very beautiful. In another +picture, which is above that of Caroto, on the left-hand side of the +same altar, he painted Our Lord washing the feet of the Apostles, who +are seen in various attitudes; in which work, so men say, this painter +made a portrait of himself in the figure of one who is serving Christ +by bringing water.</p> + +<p>For the Chapel of the Emilii, in the Duomo, Francesco executed a S. +James and a S. John, one on either side of Christ, who is bearing His +Cross; and the beauty and excellence of these two figures leave +nothing to be desired. The same master executed many works at Lonico, +in an abbey of Monks of Monte Oliveto, whither great multitudes flock +together to adore a figure of the Madonna which performs many miracles +in that place. Afterwards, Francesco being very much the friend, and, +as it were, the brother of Girolamo dai Libri, the painter and +illuminator, they undertook to paint in company the organ-doors of S. +Maria in Organo, a church of Monks of Monte Oliveto. In one of these, +on the outer side, Francesco painted a S. Benedict clothed in white, +and S. John the Evangelist, and on the inner side the Prophets Daniel +and Isaiah, with two little Angels in the air, and a ground all full +of very beautiful landscapes. And then he executed the great +altar-piece of the altar of the Muletta, painting therein a S. Peter +and a S. John, which are little more than one braccio in height, but +wrought so well and with such diligence, that they have the appearance +of miniatures. The carvings <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38" name="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> of this work were executed by +Fra Giovanni da Verona, a master of tarsia and carving.</p> + +<p>In the same place, on the wall of the choir, Francesco painted two +scenes in fresco—one of Our Lord riding on an ass into Jerusalem, and +the other of His Prayer in the Garden, wherein, on one side, is the +armed multitude coming to take Him, guided by Judas. But more +beautiful than all the rest is the vaulted sacristy, which is all +painted by the same master, excepting only the S. Anthony being +scourged by Demons, which is said to be by the hand of his father, +Domenico. In this sacristy, then, besides the Christ and some little +Angels that are seen in foreshortening on the vaulting, he painted in +the lunettes, two in each niche, and robed in their pontifical +vestments, the various Popes who have been exalted to the Pontificate +from the Order of S. Benedict. Round the sacristy, below the lunettes +of the vaulting, is drawn a frieze four feet high, and divided into +compartments, wherein are painted in the monastic habit various +Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and other Princes, who have abandoned the +States and Principalities that they ruled, and have become monks. In +these figures Francesco made portraits from life of many of the monks +who had their habitation or a temporary abode in that monastery, the +while that he was working there; and among them are portraits of many +novices and other monks of every kind, which are heads of great +beauty, and executed with much diligence. In truth, by reason of these +ornaments, that was then the most beautiful sacristy that there was in +all Italy, since, in addition to the beauty of the room, which is of +considerable size and well proportioned, and the pictures described +above, which are also very beautiful, there is at the foot of the +walls a range of panelled seats adorned with fine perspective-views, +so well executed in tarsia and carving, that there is no work to be +seen of those times, and perchance even of our own, that is much +better. For Fra Giovanni da Verona, who executed this work, was most +excellent in that art, as was said in the Life of Raffaello da Urbino, +and as is demonstrated not only by his many other works in houses of +his Order, but also by those that are in the Papal Palace at Rome, in +Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri in the territory of Siena, and in other +places. But those of this sacristy <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39" name="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> are the best of all the +works that Fra Giovanni ever executed, for the reason that it may be +said that in them he surpassed himself by as much as he excelled in +the rest every other master. Among other things, Fra Giovanni carved +for this place a candelabrum more than fourteen feet in height to hold +the Paschal candle, all made of walnut-wood, and wrought with such +extraordinary patience that I do not believe that there is a better +work of the same kind to be seen.</p> + +<p>But to return to Francesco: he painted for the same church the +panel-picture which is in the Chapel of the Counts Giusti, in which he +depicted the Madonna, with S. Augustine and S. Martin in pontifical +robes. And in the cloister he executed a Deposition from the Cross, +with the Maries and other Saints, works in fresco which are much +extolled in Verona. In the Church of the Vittoria he painted the +Chapel of the Fumanelli, which is below the wall that supports the +choir which was built by the Chevalier Messer Niccolò de' Medici; and +a Madonna in fresco in the cloister. And afterwards he painted a +portrait from life of Messer Antonio Fumanelli, a physician very +famous for the works written by him in connection with his profession. +He painted in fresco, also, on a house which is seen on the left hand +as one crosses the Ponte delle Navi on the way to S. Paolo, a Madonna +with many Saints, which is held to be a very beautiful work, both in +design and in colouring; and on the house of the Sparvieri, in the +Brà, opposite to the garden of the Friars of S. Fermo, he painted +another like it. Francesco painted a number of other works, of which +there is no need to make mention, since the best have been described; +let it suffice to say that he gave grace, unity, and good design to +his pictures, with a colouring as vivid and pleasing as that of any +other painter. Francesco lived fifty-five years, and died on May 16, +1529. He chose to be carried to his tomb in the habit of a Friar of S. +Francis, and he was buried in S. Domenico, beside his father. He was +so good a man, so religious, and so exemplary, that there was never +heard to issue from his mouth any word that was otherwise than seemly.</p> + +<p>A disciple of Francesco, and much more able than his master, was the +Veronese Paolo Cavazzuola, who executed many works in Verona; I +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40" name="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> say in Verona, because it is not known that he ever worked +in any other place. In S. Nazzaro, a seat of Black Friars at Verona, +he painted many works in fresco near those of his master Francesco; +but these were all thrown to the ground when that church was rebuilt +by the pious munificence of the reverend Father, Don Mauro Lonichi, a +nobleman of Verona and Abbot of that Monastery. On the old house of +the Fumanelli, in the Via del Paradiso, Paolo painted, likewise in +fresco, the Sibyl showing to Augustus Our Lord in the heavens, in the +arms of His Mother; which work is beautiful enough for one of the +first that he executed. On the outer side of the Chapel of the +Fontani, in S. Maria in Organo, he painted, also in fresco, two +Angels—namely, S. Michael and S. Raphael. In the street into which +there opens the Chapel of the Angel Raphael, in S. Eufemia, over a +window that gives light to a recess in the staircase of that chapel, +he painted the Angel Raphael, and with him Tobias, whom he guided on +his journey; which was a very beautiful little work. And in S. +Bernardino, in a round picture over the door where there is the bell, +he painted a S. Bernardino in fresco, and in another round picture on +the same wall, but lower down, and above the entrance to a +confessional, a S. Francis, which is beautiful and well executed, as +is also the S. Bernardino. These are all the works that Paolo is known +to have painted in fresco.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img011" id="img011"></a> +<img src="images/img011-tb.jpg" width="400" height="618" alt="The Deposition." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE DEPOSITION<br> +(<i>After the panel by</i> Paolo Cavazzuola.<br> <i>Verona: Museo Civico, 392</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img011.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>As for his works in oils, he painted a picture of S. Rocco for the +altar of the Santificazione in the Church of the Madonna della Scala, +in emulation of the S. Sebastian which Il Moro painted for the other +side of the same place; which S. Rocco is a very beautiful figure. But +the best figures that this painter ever executed are in S. Bernardino, +where all the large pictures that are on the altar of the Cross, round +the principal altar-piece, are by his hand, excepting that with the +Christ Crucified, the Madonna, and S. John, which is above all the +others, and is by the hand of his master Francesco. Beside it, in the +upper part, are two large pictures by the hand of Paolo, in one of +which is Christ being scourged at the Column, and in the other His +Coronation, painted with many figures somewhat more than life-size. In +the principal picture, which is lower down, in the first range, he +painted a Deposition from the Cross, with the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41" name="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> Madonna, the +Magdalene, S. John, Nicodemus, and Joseph; and he made a portrait of +himself, so good that it has the appearance of life, in one of these +figures, a young man with a red beard, who is near the Tree of the +Cross, with a coif on his head, such as it was the custom to wear at +that time. On the right-hand side is a picture by Paolo of Our Lord in +the Garden, with the three Disciples near Him; and on the left-hand +side is another of Christ with the Cross on His shoulder, being led to +Mount Calvary. The excellence of these works, which stand out strongly +in comparison with those by the hand of his master that are in the +same place, will always give Paolo a place among the best craftsmen.</p> + +<p>On the base he painted some Saints from the breast upwards, which are +all portraits from life. The first figure, wearing the habit of S. +Francis, and representing a Beato, is a portrait of Fra Girolamo +Rechalchi, a noble Veronese; the figure beside the first, painted to +represent S. Bonaventura, is the portrait of Fra Bonaventura +Rechalchi, brother of the aforesaid Fra Girolamo; and the head of S. +Joseph is the portrait of a steward of the Marchesi Malespini, who had +been charged at that time by the Company of the Cross to see to the +execution of this work. All these heads are very beautiful.</p> + +<p>For the same church Paolo painted the altar-piece of the Chapel of S. +Francesco, in which work, the last that he executed, he surpassed +himself. There are in it six figures larger than life; one being S. +Elizabeth, of the Third Order of S. Francis, who is a most beautiful +figure, with a smiling air and a gracious countenance, and with her +lap full of roses; and she seems to be rejoicing at the sight of the +bread that she, great lady as she was, had been carrying to the poor, +turned by a miracle of God into roses, in token that her humble +charity in thus ministering to the poor with her own hands was +acceptable to God. This figure is a portrait of a widowed lady of the +Sacchi family. Among the other figures are S. Bonaventura the Cardinal +and S. Louis the Bishop, both Friars of S. Francis. Near these are S. +Louis, King of France, S. Eleazar in a grey habit, and S. Ivo in the +habit of a priest. Then there is the Madonna on a cloud above them +all, with S. Francis and other figures <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42" name="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> round her; but it is +said that these are not by the hand of Paolo, but by that of a friend +who helped him to execute the picture; and it is evident, indeed, that +these figures are not equal in excellence to those beneath. And in +this picture is a portrait from life of Madonna Caterina de' Sacchi, +who gave the commission for the work.</p> + +<p>Now Paolo, having set his heart on becoming great and famous, made to +this end such immoderate exertions that he fell ill and died at the +early age of thirty-one, at the very moment when he was beginning to +give proofs of what might be expected from him at a riper age. It is +certain that Paolo, if Fortune had not crossed him at the height of +his activity, would without a doubt have attained to the highest, +best, and greatest honours that could be desired by a painter. His +loss, therefore, grieved not only his friends, but all men of talent +and everyone who knew him, and all the more because he had been a +young man of excellent character, untainted by a single vice. He was +buried in S. Paolo, after making himself immortal by the beautiful +works that he left behind him.</p> + +<p>Stefano Veronese, a very rare painter in his day, as has been related, +had a brother-german, called Giovanni Antonio, who, although he +learned to paint from that same Stefano, nevertheless did not become +anything more than a mediocre painter, as may be seen from his works, +of which there is no need to make mention. To this Giovanni Antonio +was born a son, called Jacopo, who likewise became a painter of +commonplace works; and to Jacopo were born Giovan Maria, called +Falconetto, whose Life we are about to write, and Giovanni Antonio. +The latter, devoting himself to painting, executed many works at +Rovereto, a very famous township in the Trentino, and many pictures at +Verona, which are dispersed among the houses of private citizens. He +also painted many works in the valley of the Adige, above Verona, and +a panel-picture of S. Nicholas, with many animals, at Sacco, opposite +to Rovereto, with many others; after which he finally died at +Rovereto, where he had gone to live. This master was particularly +excellent in making animals and fruits, of which many very beautiful +drawings, executed in miniature, were taken to France by the Veronese +Mondella; and many of them were <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43" name="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> given by Agnolo, the son of +Giovanni Antonio, to Messer Girolamo Lioni, a Venetian gentleman of +noble spirit.</p> + +<p>But to come at last to Giovan Maria, the brother of Giovanni Antonio. +He learned the rudiments of painting from his father, whose manner he +rendered no little better and grander, although even he was not a +painter of much reputation, as is evident from the Chapels of the +Maffei and of the Emilii in the Duomo of Verona, from the upper part +of the cupola of S. Nazzaro, and from works in other places. This +master, recognizing the little value of his work in painting, and +delighting beyond measure in architecture, set himself with great +diligence to study and draw all the antiquities in his native city of +Verona. He then resolved to visit Rome, and to learn architecture from +its marvellous remains, which are the true masters; and he made his +way to that city, and stayed there twelve whole years. That time he +spent, for the most part, in examining and drawing all those +marvellous antiquities, searching out in every place all the +ground-plans that he could see and all the measurements that he could +find. Nor did he leave anything in Rome, either buildings or their +members, such as cornices, capitals, and columns, of whatsoever Order, +that he did not draw with his own hand, with all the measurements; and +he also drew all the sculptures which were discovered in those times, +insomuch that when he returned to his own country, after those twelve +years, he was rich in all the treasures of his art. And, not content +with the things in the city of Rome itself, he drew all that was good +and beautiful in the whole of the Roman Campagna, going even as far as +the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Spoleto, and other parts. It is +said that Giovan Maria, being poor, and therefore having little +wherewith to live or to maintain himself in Rome, used to spend two or +three days every week in assisting some painter with his work; and +with his earnings, since at that time masters were well paid and +living was cheap, he was able to live the other days of the week, +pursuing the studies of architecture. Thus, then, he drew all those +antiquities as if they were complete, reconstructing them in his +drawings from the parts and members that he saw, from which he +imagined all the other parts of the buildings in all their perfection +and integrity, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44" name="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> all with such true measurements and +proportions, that he could not make an error in a single detail.</p> + +<p>Having returned to Verona, and finding no opportunity of exercising +himself in architecture, since his native city was in the throes of a +change of government, Giovan Maria gave his attention for the time to +painting, and executed many works. On the house of the Della Torre +family he painted a large escutcheon crowned by some trophies; and for +two German noblemen, counsellors of the Emperor Maximilian, he +executed in fresco some scenes from the Scriptures on a wall of the +little Church of S. Giorgio, and painted there life-size portraits of +those two Germans, one kneeling on one side and one on the other. He +executed a number of works at Mantua, for Signor Luigi Gonzaga; and +some others at Osimo, in the March of Ancona. And while the city of +Verona was under the Emperor, he painted the imperial arms on all the +public buildings, and received for this from the Emperor a good salary +and a patent of privilege, from which it may be seen that many favours +and exemptions were granted to him, both on account of his good +service in matters of art, and because he was a man of great spirit, +brave and formidable in the use of arms, with which he might likewise +be expected to give valiant and faithful service: and all the more +because he drew after him, on account of the great credit that he had +with his neighbours, the whole mass of the people who lived in the +Borgo di San Zeno, a very populous part of the city, in which he had +been born and had taken a wife from the family of the Provali. For +these reasons, then, he had all the inhabitants of his district as his +following, and was called throughout the city by no other name but +that of the "Red-head of San Zeno."</p> + +<p>Now, when the city again changed its government and returned to the +rule of its ancient masters the Venetians, Giovan Maria, being known +as one who had served the party of the Emperor, was forced to seek +safety in flight; and he went, therefore, to Trento, where he passed +some time painting certain pictures. Finally, however, when matters +had mended, he made his way to Padua, where he was first received in +audience and then much favoured by the very reverend Monsignor Bembo, +who presented him not long afterwards to the illustrious Messer Luigi +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45" name="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Cornaro, a Venetian gentleman of lofty spirit and truly +regal mind, as is proved by his many magnificent enterprises. This +gentleman, who, in addition to his other truly noble qualities, +delighted in the study of architecture, the knowledge of which is +worthy of no matter how great a Prince, had therefore read the works +of Vitruvius, Leon Batista Alberti, and others who have written on +this subject, and he wished to put what he had learned into practice. +And when he saw the designs of Falconetto, and perceived with what +profound knowledge he spoke of these matters, and rendered clear all +the difficulties that can arise through the variety of the Orders of +architecture, he conceived such a love for him that he took him into +his own house and kept him there as an honoured guest for twenty-one +years, which was the whole of the rest of Giovan Maria's life.</p> + +<p>During this time Falconetto executed many works with the help of the +same Messer Luigi. The latter, desiring to see the antiquities of Rome +on the spot, even as he had seen them in the drawings of Giovan Maria, +went to Rome, taking him with him; and there he devoted himself to +examining everything minutely, having him always in his company. After +they had returned to Padua, a beginning was made with building from +the design and model of Falconetto that most beautiful and ornate +loggia which is in the house of the Cornari, near the Santo; and the +palace was to be erected next, after the model made by Messer Luigi +himself. In this loggia the name of Giovan Maria is carved on a +pilaster.</p> + +<p>The same architect built a very large and magnificent Doric portal for +the Palace of the Captain of that place; and this portal is much +praised by everyone as a work of great purity. He also erected two +very beautiful gates for the city, one of which, called the Porta di +S. Giovanni, and leading to Vicenza, is very fine, and commodious for +the soldiers who guard it; and the other, which is very well designed, +was called the Porta Savonarola. He made, likewise, for the Friars of +S. Dominic, the design and model of the Church of S. Maria delle +Grazie, and laid the foundations; and this work, as may be seen from +the model, is so beautiful and well designed, that one of equal size +to rival it has <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46" name="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> perhaps never been seen up to our own day in +any other place. And by the same master was made the model of a most +superb palace for Signor Girolamo Savorgnano, at his well fortified +stronghold of Usopo in Friuli; for which all the foundations were then +laid, and it had begun to rise above the ground, when, by reason of +the death of that nobleman, it was left in that condition without +being carried further; but if this building had been finished, it +would have been a marvel.</p> + +<p>About the same time Falconetto went to Pola, in Istria, for the sole +purpose of seeing and drawing the theatre, amphitheatre, and arch that +are in that most ancient city. He was the first who made drawings of +theatres and amphitheatres and traced their ground-plans, and those +that are to be seen, particularly in the case of Verona, came from +him, and were printed at the instance of others after his designs. +Giovan Maria was a man of exalted mind, and, being one who had never +done anything else but draw the great works of antiquity, he desired +nothing save that there should be presented to him opportunities of +executing works similar to those in greatness. He would sometimes make +ground-plans and designs for them, with the very same pains that he +would have taken if he had been commissioned to put them into +execution at once; and in this he lost himself so much, so to speak, +that he would not deign to make designs for the private houses of +gentlemen, either in the country or in the city, although he was much +besought to do so.</p> + +<p>Giovan Maria was in Rome on many occasions besides those described +above; whence that journey was so familiar to him, that when he was +young and vigorous he would undertake it on the slightest opportunity. +Persons who are still alive relate that, falling one day into a +discussion with a foreign architect, who happened to be in Verona, +about the measurements of I know not what ancient cornice in Rome, +after many words Giovan Maria said, "I will soon make myself certain +in this matter," and then went straight to his house and set out on +his way to Rome.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img012" id="img012"></a> +<img src="images/img012-tb.jpg" width="500" height="361" alt="Palazzo Del Capitanio." title=""> +<p class="caption">PALAZZO DEL CAPITANIO<br> +(<i>After</i> Falconetto. <i>Padua</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img012.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>This master made for the Cornaro family two very beautiful designs of +tombs, which were to be erected in S. Salvatore, at Venice—one for +the Queen of Cyprus, a lady of that family, and the other for Cardinal +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47" name="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> Marco Cornaro, who was the first of that house to be +honoured with that dignity. And in order that these designs might be +carried out, a great quantity of marble was quarried at Carrara and +taken to Venice, where the rough blocks still are, in the house of the +same Cornari.</p> + +<p>Giovan Maria was the first who brought the true methods of building +and of good architecture to Verona, Venice, and all those parts, where +before him there had not been one who knew how to make even a cornice +or a capital, or understood either the measurements or the proportions +of a column or of any Order of architecture, as is evident from the +buildings that were erected before his day. This knowledge was +afterwards much increased by Fra Giocondo, who lived about the same +time, and it received its final perfection from Messer Michele San +Michele, insomuch that those parts are therefore under an everlasting +obligation to the people of Verona, in which city were born and lived +at one and the same time these three most excellent architects. To +them there then succeeded Sansovino, who, not resting content with +architecture, which he found already grounded and established by the +three masters mentioned above, also brought thither sculpture, to the +end that by its means their buildings might have all the adornments +that were proper to them. And for this a debt of gratitude—if one may +use such a word—is due to the ruin of Rome, by reason of which the +masters were dispersed over many places and the beauties of these arts +communicated throughout all Europe.</p> + +<p>Giovan Maria caused some works in stucco to be carried out in Venice, +and taught the method of executing them. Some declare that when he was +a young man he had the vaulting of the Chapel of the Santo, at Padua, +decorated with stucco by Tiziano da Padova and many others, and also +had similar works executed in the house of the Cornari, which are very +beautiful. He taught his work to two of his sons, Ottaviano, who was, +like himself, also a painter, and Provolo. Alessandro, his third son, +worked in his youth at making armour, and afterwards adopted the +calling of a soldier; he was three times victor in the lists, and +finally, when a captain of infantry, died fighting valiantly before +Turin in Piedmont, having been wounded by a harquebus-ball.</p> + +<p>Giovan Maria, on his part, after being crippled by gout, finished +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48" name="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> the course of his life at Padua, in the house of the +aforesaid Messer Luigi Cornaro, who always loved him like a brother, +or rather, like his own self. And to the end that there might be no +separation in death between the bodies of those whose minds had been +united together in the world by friendship and love of art, Messer +Luigi had intended that Giovan Maria should be laid to rest beside +himself in the tomb that was to be erected for his own burial, +together with that most humorous poet, Ruzzante, his very familiar +friend, who lived and died in his house; but I do not know whether +this design of the illustrious Cornaro was ever carried into effect. +Giovan Maria was a fine talker, pleasant and agreeable in +conversation, and very acute in repartee, insomuch that Cornaro used +to declare that a whole book could have been made with his sayings. +And since, although he was crippled by gout, he lived cheerfully, he +preserved his life to the age of seventy-six, dying in 1534.</p> + +<p>He had six daughters, five of whom he gave in marriage himself, and +the sixth was married by her brothers, after his death, to Bartolommeo +Ridolfi of Verona, who executed many works in stucco in company with +them, and was a much better master than they were. This may be seen +from his works in many places, and in particular at Verona, in the +house of Fiorio della Seta on the Ponte Nuovo, in which he decorated +some apartments in a very beautiful manner. There are others in the +house of the noble Counts Canossi, which are amazing; and such, also, +are those that he executed in the house of the Murati, near S. +Nazzaro; and for Signor Giovan Battista della Torre, for Cosimo +Moneta, the Veronese banker, at his beautiful villa, and for many +others in various places, all works of great beauty. Palladio, most +excellent of architects, declares that he knows no person more +marvellous in invention or better able to adorn apartments with +beautiful designs in stucco, than this Bartolommeo Ridolfi. Not many +years since, Spitech Giordan, a nobleman of great authority with the +King of Poland, took Bartolommeo with him to that King; and there, +enjoying an honourable salary, he has executed, as he still does, many +works in stucco, large portraits, medallions, and many designs for +palaces and other buildings, with the assistance of a son of his own, +who is in no way inferior to his father.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img013" id="img013"></a> +<img src="images/img013-tb.jpg" width="350" height="589" alt="Madonna and Child, with S. Anne." title=""> +<p class="caption">GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH S. ANNE<br> +(<i>London: National Gallery, 748. Canvas</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img013.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49" name="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> The elder Francesco dai Libri of Verona lived some time +before Liberale, although it is not known exactly at what date he was +born; and he was called "Dai Libri"<a id="FNanchor9" name="FNanchor9"></a><a href="#Footnote9" title="Go to footnote 9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> because he practised the art of +illuminating books, his life extending from the time when printing had +not yet been invented to the very moment when it was beginning to come +into use. Since, therefore, there came to him from every quarter books +to illuminate—a work in which he was most excellent—he was known by +no other surname than that of "Dai Libri"; and he executed great +numbers of them, for the reason that whoever went to the expense of +having them written, which was very great, wished also to have them +adorned as much as was possible with illuminations.</p> + +<p>This master illuminated many choral books, all beautiful, which are at +Verona, in S. Giorgio, in S. Maria in Organo, and in S. Nazzaro; but +the most beautiful is a little book, or rather, two little pictures +that fold together after the manner of a book, on one side of which is +a S. Jerome, a figure executed with much diligence and very minute +workmanship, and on the other a S. John in the Isle of Patmos, +depicted in the act of beginning to write his Book of the Apocalypse. +This work, which was bequeathed to Count Agostino Giusti by his +father, is now in S. Leonardo, a convent of Canons Regular, of which +Don Timoteo Giusti, the son of that Count, is a member. Finally, after +having executed innumerable works for various noblemen, Francesco +died, content and happy for the reason that, in addition to the +serenity of mind that his goodness brought him, he left behind him a +son, called Girolamo, who was so excellent in art that before his +death he saw him already a much greater master than himself.</p> + +<p>This Girolamo, then, was born at Verona in the year 1472, and at the +age of sixteen he painted for the Chapel of the Lischi, in S. Maria in +Organo, an altar-piece which caused such marvel to everyone when it +was uncovered and set in its place, that the whole city ran to embrace +and congratulate his father Francesco. In this picture is a Deposition +from the Cross, with many figures, and among the many beautiful +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50" name="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> weeping heads the best of all are a Madonna and a S. +Benedict, which are much commended by all craftsmen; and he also made +therein a landscape, with a part of the city of Verona, drawn passing +well from the reality. Then, encouraged by the praises that he heard +given to his work, Girolamo painted the altar of the Madonna in S. +Paolo in a masterly manner, and also the picture of the Madonna with +S. Anne, which is placed between the S. Sebastian of Il Moro and the +S. Rocco of Cavazzuola in the Church of the Scala. For the family of +the Zoccoli he painted the great altar-piece of the high-altar in the +Church of the Vittoria, and for the family of the Cipolli the picture +of S. Onofrio, which is near the other, and is held to be both in +design and in colouring the best work that he ever executed.</p> + +<p>For S. Leonardo nel Monte, also, near Verona, he painted at the +commission of the Cartieri family the altar-piece of the high-altar, +which is a large work with many figures, and much esteemed by +everyone, above all for its very beautiful landscape. Now a thing that +has happened very often in our own day has caused this work to be held +to be a marvel. There is a tree painted by Girolamo in the picture, +and against it seems to rest the great chair on which the Madonna is +seated. This tree, which has the appearance of a laurel, projects +considerably with its branches over the chair, and between the +branches, which are not very thick, may be seen a sky so clear and +beautiful, that the tree seems to be truly a living one, graceful and +most natural. Very often, therefore, birds that have entered the +church by various openings have been seen to fly to this tree in order +to perch upon it, and particularly swallows, which had their nests +among the beams of the roof, and likewise their little ones. Many +persons well worthy of credence declare that they have seen this, +among them Don Giuseppe Mangiuoli of Verona, a person of saintly life, +who has twice been General of his Order and would not for anything in +the world assert a thing that was not absolutely true, and also Don +Girolamo Volpini, likewise a Veronese, and many others.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img014" id="img014"></a> +<img src="images/img014-tb.jpg" width="400" height="525" alt="Madonna and Child with Saints." title=""> +<p class="caption">MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Girolamo dai Libri.<br> <i>Verona: Museo Civico, +290</i>)<br> +<i>Brogi</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img014.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>In S. Maria in Organo, where was the first work executed by Girolamo, +he also painted two Saints on the outer side of one of the folding +doors of the organ—the other being painted by Francesco Morone, his +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51" name="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> companion—and on the inner side a Manger. And afterwards +he painted the picture that is opposite to his first work, containing +the Nativity of Our Lord, with shepherds, landscapes, and very +beautiful trees; but most lifelike and natural of all are two rabbits, +which are executed with such diligence that each separate hair may +actually be seen in them. He painted another altar-piece for the +Chapel of the Buonalivi, with a Madonna seated in the centre, two +other figures, and some Angels below, who are singing. Then, in the +ornamental work made by Fra Giovanni da Verona for the altar of the +Sacrament, the same Girolamo painted three little pictures after the +manner of miniatures. In the central picture is a Deposition from the +Cross, with two little Angels, and in those at the sides are painted +six Martyrs, kneeling towards the Sacrament, three in each picture, +these being saints whose bodies are deposited in that very altar. The +first three are Cantius, Cantianus, and Cantianilla, who were nephews +of the Emperor Diocletian, and the others are Protus, Chrysogonus, and +Anastasius, who suffered martyrdom at Aquæ Gradatæ, near Aquileia; and +all these figures are in miniature, and very beautiful, for Girolamo +was more able in that field of art than any other master of his time +in Lombardy and in the State of Venice.</p> + +<p>Girolamo illuminated many books for the Monks of Montescaglioso in the +Kingdom of Naples, some for S. Giustina at Padua, and many others for +the Abbey of Praia in the territory of Padua; and also some at +Candiana, a very rich monastery of the Canons Regular of S. Salvatore, +to which place he went in person to work, although he would never go +to any other place. While he was living there, Don Giulio Clovio, who +was a friar in that place, learned the first rudiments of +illumination; and he has since become the greatest master of that art +that is now alive in Italy. Girolamo illuminated at Candiana a sheet +with a Kyrie, which is an exquisite work, and for the same monks the +first leaf of a psalter for the choir; with many things for S. Maria +in Organo and for the Friars of S. Giorgio, in Verona. He executed, +likewise, some other very beautiful illuminations for the Black Friars +of S. Nazzaro at Verona. But that which surpassed all the other works +of this master, which were all divine, was a sheet on which was +depicted in miniature the Earthly Paradise, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52" name="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> with Adam and +Eve driven forth by the Angel, who is behind them with a sword in his +hand. One would not be able to express how great and how beautiful is +the variety of the trees, fruits, flowers, animals, birds, and all the +other things that are in this amazing work, which was executed at the +commission of Don Giorgio Cacciamale of Bergamo, then Prior of S. +Giorgio in Verona, who, in addition to the many other courtesies that +he showed to Girolamo, gave him sixty crowns of gold. This work was +afterwards presented by that Father to a Roman Cardinal, at that time +Protector of his Order, who showed it to many noblemen in Rome, and +they all declared it to be the best example of illumination that had +ever been seen up to that day.</p> + +<p>Girolamo painted flowers with such diligence, and made them so true, +so beautiful, and so natural, that they appeared to all who beheld +them to be real; and he counterfeited little cameos and other engraved +stones and jewels in such a manner, that there was nothing more +faithfully imitated or more diminutive to be seen. Among his little +figures there are seen some, as in his imitations of cameos and other +stones, that are no larger than little ants, and yet all the limbs and +all the muscles can be perceived so clearly that one who has not seen +them could scarcely believe it. Girolamo used to say in his old age +that he knew more in his art then than he had ever known, and saw +where every stroke ought to go, but that when he came to handle the +brushes, they went the wrong way, because neither his eye nor his hand +would serve him any longer. He died on the 2nd of July in the year +1555, at the age of eighty-three, and was laid to rest in the +burial-place of the Company of S. Biagio in S. Nazzaro.</p> + +<p>He was a good and upright man, who never had a quarrel or dispute with +anyone, and his life was very pure. He had, besides other children, a +son called Francesco, who learned his art from him, and executed +miracles of illumination when still a mere lad, so that Girolamo +declared that he had not known as much at that age as his son knew. +But this young man was led away from him by a brother of his mother, +who, being passing rich, and having no children, took him with him to +Vicenza and placed him in charge of a glass-furnace that he was +setting up. When Francesco had spent his best years in this, his +uncle's wife dying, he fell <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53" name="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> from his high hopes, and found +that he had wasted his time, for the uncle took another wife, and had +children by her, and thus Francesco did not become his uncle's heir, +as he had thought to be. Thereupon he returned to his art after an +absence of six years, and, after acquiring some knowledge, set himself +to work. Among other things, he made a large globe, four feet in +diameter, hollow within, and covered on the outer side, which was of +wood, with a glue made of bullock's sinews, which was of a very strong +admixture, so that there should be no danger of cracks or other damage +in any part. This sphere, which was to serve as a terrestrial globe, +was then carefully measured and divided under the personal supervision +of Fracastoro and Beroldi, both eminent physicians, cosmographers, and +astrologers; and it was to be painted by Francesco for Messer Andrea +Navagiero, a Venetian gentleman, and a most learned poet and orator, +who wished to make a present of it to King Francis of France, to whom +he was about to go as Ambassador from his Republic. But Navagiero had +scarcely arrived in France after a hurried journey, when he died, and +this work remained unfinished. A truly rare work it would have been, +thus executed by Francesco with the advice and guidance of two men of +such distinction; but it was left unfinished, as we have said, and, +what was worse, in its incomplete condition it received some injury, I +know not what, in the absence of Francesco. However, spoiled as it +was, it was bought by Messer Bartolommeo Lonichi, who has never +consented to give it up to anyone, although he has been much besought +and offered vast prices.</p> + +<p>Before this, Francesco had made two smaller globes, one of which is in +the possession of Mazzanti, Archpriest of the Duomo of Verona, and the +other belonged to Count Raimondo della Torre, and is now in the hands +of his son, Count Giovan Batista, who holds it very dear, because this +one, also, was made with the measurements and personal assistance of +Fracastoro, who was a very familiar friend of Count Raimondo.</p> + +<p>Finally, growing weary of the extraordinary labour that miniatures +demand, Francesco devoted himself to painting and to architecture, in +which he became very skilful, executing many works in Venice and in +Padua. About that time the Bishop of Tournai, a very rich and noble +Fleming, had come to Italy in order to study letters, to see the +country, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54" name="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> and to learn our manners and ways of living. This +man, delighting much in architecture, and happening to be in Padua, +became so enamoured of the Italian method of building that he resolved +to take the modes of our architecture with him to his own country; and +in order to facilitate this purpose, he drew Francesco, whose ability +he had recognized, into his service with an honourable salary, meaning +to take him to Flanders, where he intended to carry out many +magnificent works. But when the time came to depart, poor Francesco, +who had caused designs to be made of all the best and greatest and +most famous buildings in Italy, was overtaken by death, while still +young and the object of the highest expectations, leaving his patron +much grieved by his loss.</p> + +<p>Francesco left an only brother, in whom, being a priest, the Dai Libri +family became extinct, after producing in succession three men most +excellent in their field of art. Nor have any disciples survived them +to keep this art alive, excepting the above-mentioned churchman, Don +Giulio, who, as we have related, learned it from Girolamo when he was +working at Candiana, where the former was a friar; and this Don Giulio +has since raised it to a height of excellence which very few have +reached and no one has ever surpassed.</p> + +<p>I knew for myself some of the facts about the excellent and noble +craftsmen mentioned above, but I would never have been able to learn +the whole of what I have related of them if the great goodness and +diligence of the reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici of +Verona, a man profoundly conversant with all the most noble arts and +sciences, and with him Danese Cattaneo of Carrara, a sculptor of great +excellence, both being very much my friends, had not given me that +complete and perfect information which I have just written down, to +the best of my ability, for the convenience and advantage of all who +may read these our Lives, in which the courtesy of many friends, who +have taken pains with the investigation of these matters in order to +please me and to benefit the world, has been, as it still is, of great +assistance to me. And let this be the end of the Lives of these +craftsmen of Verona, the portraits of each of whom I have not been +able to obtain, because this full notice did not reach my hands until +I found myself almost at the close of my work.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="granacci" id="granacci"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55" name="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> FRANCESCO GRANACCI + (IL GRANACCIO)</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_granacci" id="life_of_granacci"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57" name="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> LIFE OF FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO)</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER OF FLORENCE</h3> + + +<p>Great, indeed, is the good fortune of those craftsmen who are brought +into contact, either by their birth or by the associations that are +formed in childhood, with those men whom Heaven has chosen out to be +distinguished and exalted above all others in our arts, for the reason +that a good and beautiful manner can be acquired with the greatest +facility by seeing the methods and works of men of excellence, not to +mention that rivalry and emulation, as we have said elsewhere, have +great power over our minds.</p> + +<p>Francesco Granacci, of whom we have already spoken, was one of those +who were placed by the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici to learn in his +garden; whence it happened that, recognizing, boy as he was, the great +genius of Michelagnolo, and what extraordinary fruits he was likely to +produce when full grown, he could never tear himself away from his +side, and even strove with incredible attention and humility to be +always following that great brain, insomuch that Michelagnolo was +constrained to love him more than all his other friends, and to +confide so much in him, that there was no one with whom he was more +willing to confer touching his works or to share all that he knew of +art at that time, than with Granacci. Then, after they had been +companions together in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandajo, it came +to pass that Granacci, because he was held to be the best of +Ghirlandajo's young men, the strongest draughtsman, and the one who +had most grace in painting in distemper, assisted David and Benedetto +Ghirlandajo, the brothers of Domenico, to finish the altar-piece of +the high-altar in S. Maria Novella, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58" name="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> which had been left +unfinished at the death of the same Domenico. By this work Granacci +gained much experience, and afterwards he executed in the same manner +as that altar-piece many pictures that are in the houses of citizens, +and others which were sent abroad.</p> + +<p>And since he was very gracious, and made himself very useful in +certain ceremonies that were performed in the city during the +festivals of the Carnival, he was constantly employed by the +Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici in many similar works, and in +particular for the masquerade that represented the Triumph of Paulus +Emilius, which was held in honour of the victory that he gained over +certain foreign nations. In this masquerade, which was full of most +beautiful inventions, Granacci acquitted himself so well, although he +was a mere lad, that he won the highest praise. And here I will not +omit to tell that the same Lorenzo de' Medici, as I have said in +another place, was the first inventor of those masquerades that +represent some particular subject, and are called in Florence +"Canti";<a id="FNanchor10" name="FNanchor10"></a><a href="#Footnote10" title="Go to footnote 10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> for it is not known that any were performed in earlier +times.</p> + +<p>In like manner Granacci was employed in the sumptuous and magnificent +preparations that were made in the year 1513 for the entry of Pope Leo +X, one of the Medici, by Jacopo Nardi, a man of great learning and +most beautiful intellect, who, having been commanded by the Tribunal +of Eight to prepare a splendid masquerade, executed a representation +of the Triumph of Camillus. This masquerade, in so far as it lay in +the province of the painter, was so beautifully arranged and adorned +by Granacci that no man could imagine anything better; and the words +of the song, which Jacopo composed, began thus:</p> + +<p class="poem10"> + Contempla in quanta gloria sei salita,<br> +<span class="add2em">Felice alma Fiorenza,</span><br> +<span class="add2em">Poichè dal Ciel discesa,</span></p> + +<p>with what follows. For the same spectacle Granacci executed a great +quantity of theatrical scenery, as he did both before and afterwards. +And while working with Ghirlandajo he painted standards for ships, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59" name="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> also banners and devices for certain Knights of the Golden +Spur, for their public entry into Florence, all at the expense of the +Captains of the Guelph Party, as was the custom at that time, and as +has been done in our own day, not long since.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img015" id="img015"></a> +<img src="images/img015-tb.jpg" width="400" height="402" alt="The Holy Family." title=""> +<p class="caption">FRANCESCO GRANACCI: THE HOLY FAMILY<br> +(<i>Florence: Pitti, 199. Panel</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img015.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>In like manner he made many beautiful embellishments and decorations +of his own invention for the Potenze<a id="FNanchor11" name="FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote11" title="Go to footnote 11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> and their tournaments. These +festivals were of a kind which is peculiar to the Florentines, and +very pleasing, and in them were seen men standing almost upright on +horseback, with very short stirrups, and breaking a lance with the +same facility as do the warriors firmly seated on their saddles; and +all this was done for the above-mentioned visit of Leo to Florence. +Granacci also made, besides other things, a most beautiful triumphal +arch opposite to the door of the Badia, covered with scenes in +chiaroscuro and very lovely things of fancy. This arch was much +extolled, and particularly for the invention of the architecture, and +because he had made an imitation of that same door of the Badia for +the entrance of the Via del Palagio, executed in perspective with the +steps and every other thing, so that the painted and supposititious +door was in no way different from the real and true one. To adorn the +same arch he executed with his own hand some very beautiful figures of +clay in relief, and on the summit of the arch he placed a great +inscription with these words: <span class="smcap">LEONI X PONT. MAX. FIDEI CULTORI</span>.</p> + +<p>But to come at length to some works by Granacci that are in existence, +let me relate that, having studied the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti while the latter was executing it for the Great Hall of the +Palace, he found it so instructive and made such proficience, that, +when Michelagnolo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II to the end +that he might paint the vaulting of the Chapel in his Palace, Granacci +was one of the first to be sent for by Buonarroti to help him to paint +that work in fresco after the cartoons that he himself had prepared. +It is true that Michelagnolo, being dissatisfied with the manner and +method <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60" name="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> of every one of his assistants, afterwards found +means to make them all return to Florence without dismissing them, by +closing the door on them all and not allowing himself to be seen.</p> + +<p>In Florence Granacci painted for Pier Francesco Borgherini a scene in +oils on the head-board of a couch which stood in an apartment wherein +Jacopo da Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto, and Francesco Ubertini had +painted many stories from the life of Joseph, in Pier Francesco's +house in Borgo Sant' Apostolo; and in this scene were little figures +representing a story of the same Joseph, executed with extraordinary +finish and with great charm and beauty of colouring, and a building in +perspective, wherein he depicted Joseph ministering to Pharaoh, which +could not be more beautiful in any part. For the same man, also, he +painted a round picture, likewise in oils, of the Trinity, or rather, +God the Father supporting a Christ Crucified. And in the Church of S. +Piero Maggiore there is a picture of the Assumption by his hand, with +many Angels and a S. Thomas, to whom the Madonna is giving the Girdle. +The figure of S. Thomas is very graceful, turning to one side in a +beautiful attitude worthy of the hand of Michelagnolo, and such, also, +is that of Our Lady. The drawing for these two figures by the hand of +Granacci is in our book, together with others likewise by him. On +either side of this picture are figures of S. Paul, S. Laurence, S. +James, and S. John, which are all so beautiful that the work is held +to be the best that Francesco ever painted; and in truth this work +alone, even if he had never executed another, would ensure his being +considered to be, as indeed he was, an excellent painter.</p> + +<p>For the Church of S. Gallo, without the Gate of the same name, and +formerly a seat of the Eremite Friars of S. Augustine, he painted an +altar-piece with the Madonna and two children, S. Zanobi, Bishop of +Florence, and S. Francis. This altar-piece, which was in the Chapel of +the Girolami, to which family that S. Zanobi belonged, is now in S. +Jacopo tra Fossi at Florence.</p> + +<p>Michelagnolo Buonarroti, having a niece who was a nun in S. Apollonia +at Florence, had therefore executed an ornament for the high-altar of +that church, and a design for the altar-piece; and Granacci painted +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61" name="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> there some scenes in oils with figures large and small, +which gave much satisfaction to the nuns at that time, and also to the +other painters. For the same place he painted another altar-piece, +which stood lower down, but this was burned one night, together with +some draperies of great value, through some lights being inadvertently +left on the altar; which was certainly a great loss, seeing that the +work was much extolled by craftsmen. And for the Nuns of S. Giorgio in +sulla Costa he executed the altar-piece of their high-altar, painting +in it the Madonna, S. Catharine, S. Giovanni Gualberto, S. Bernardo +Uberti the Cardinal, and S. Fedele.</p> + +<p>Granacci also executed many pictures, both square and round, which are +dispersed among the houses of gentlemen in the city; and he made many +cartoons for glass-windows, which were afterwards put into execution +by the Frati Ingiesuati of Florence. He delighted much in painting on +cloth, either alone or in company with others; wherefore, in addition +to the works mentioned above, he painted many church-banners. And +since he practised art more to pass the time than from necessity, he +worked at his ease, always consulting his own convenience, and +avoiding discomforts as much as he was able, more than any other man; +and yet, without being covetous of the goods of others, he always +preserved his own. Allowing but few cares to oppress him, he was a +merry fellow, and took his pleasures with a glad heart. He lived +sixty-seven years, at the end of which he finished the course of his +life after an ordinary malady, a kind of fever; and he was buried in +the Church of S. Ambrogio at Florence, on the day of S. Andrew the +Apostle, in 1544.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img016" id="img016"></a> +<img src="images/img016-tb.jpg" width="350" height="588" alt="The Madonna giving the Girdle to S. Thomas." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE MADONNA GIVING THE GIRDLE TO S. THOMAS<br> +(<i>After the panel by</i> Francesco Granacci.<br> <i>Florence: Uffizi, 1280</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img016.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="dagnolo" id="dagnolo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63" name="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> BACCIO D' AGNOLO</h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_dagnolo" id="life_of_dagnolo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65" name="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> LIFE OF BACCIO D' AGNOLO</h2> + +<h3>ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE</h3> + +<p>Great is the pleasure that I take in studying at times the beginnings +of our craftsmen, for one sees some rising from the lowest depth to +the greatest height, and especially in architecture, a science which +has not been practised for several years past save by carvers and +cunning impostors who profess to understand perspective without +knowing even its terms or its first principles. The truth, indeed, is +that architecture can never be practised to perfection save by those +who have an excellent judgment and a good mastery of design, or have +laboured much in painting, sculpture, or works in wood, for the reason +that in it have to be executed with true measurements the dimensions +of their figures, which are columns, cornices, and bases, and all the +ornaments, which are made for the adornment of the figures, and for no +other reason. And thus the workers in wood, by continually handling +such things, in course of time become architects; and sculptors +likewise, by having to find positions for their statues and by making +ornaments for tombs and other works in the round, come in time to a +knowledge of architecture; and painters, on account of their +perspectives, the variety of their inventions, and the buildings that +they draw, are compelled to take the ground-plans of edifices, seeing +that they cannot plant houses or flights of steps on the planes where +their figures stand, without in the first place grasping the order of +the architecture.</p> + +<p>Working in his youth excellently well at wood-inlaying, Baccio +executed the backs of the stalls in the choir of S. Maria Novella, in +the principal chapel, wherein are most beautiful figures of S. John +the Baptist and S. Laurence. In carving, he executed the ornaments of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66" name="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> that same chapel, those of the high-altar in the Nunziata, +the decorations of the organ in S. Maria Novella, and a vast number of +other works, both public and private, in his native city of Florence. +Departing from that city, he went to Rome, where he applied himself +with great zeal to the study of architecture; and on his return he +made triumphal arches of wood in various places for the visit of Pope +Leo X. But for all this he never gave up his workshop, where there +were often gathered round him, in addition to many citizens, the best +and most eminent masters of our arts, so that most beautiful +conversations and discussions of importance took place there, +particularly in winter. The first of these masters was Raffaello da +Urbino, then a young man, and next came Andrea Sansovino, Filippino, +Maiano, Cronaca, Antonio da San Gallo and Giuliano da San Gallo, +Granaccio, and sometimes, but not often, Michelagnolo, with many young +Florentines and strangers.</p> + +<p>Having thus given his attention to architecture in so thorough a +manner, and having made some trial of his powers, Baccio began to be +held in such credit in Florence, that the most magnificent buildings +that were erected in his time were entrusted to him and were put under +his direction. When Piero Soderini was Gonfalonier, Baccio took part, +with Cronaca and others, as has been related above, in the +deliberations that were held with regard to the great Hall of the +Palace; and with his own hand he executed in wood the ornament for the +large panel-picture which was begun by Fra Bartolommeo, after the +design by Filippino. In company with the same masters he made the +staircase that leads to that Hall, with a very beautiful ornamentation +of stone, and also the columns of variegated marble and the doors of +marble in the hall that is now called the Sala de' Dugento.</p> + +<p>He built a palace for Giovanni Bartolini, which is very ornate within, +on the Piazza di S. Trinità; and he made many designs for the garden +of the same man in Gualfonda. And since that palace was the first +edifice that was built with ornaments in the form of square windows +with pediments, and a portal with columns supporting architrave, +frieze, and cornice, these things were much censured by the +Florentines with spoken words and sonnets, and festoons of boughs were +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67" name="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> hung upon them, as is done in churches for festivals, men +saying that the façade was more like that of a temple than of a +palace; so that Baccio was like to go out of his mind. However, +knowing that he had imitated good examples, and that his work was +sound, he regained his peace of mind. It is true that the cornice of +the whole palace proved, as has been said in another place, to be too +large; but in every other respect the work has always been much +extolled.</p> + +<p>For Lanfredino Lanfredini he erected a house on the bank of the Arno, +between the Ponte a S. Trinità and the Ponte alla Carraja; and on the +Piazza de' Mozzi he began the house of the Nasi, which looks out upon +the sandy shore of the Arno, but did not finish it. For Taddeo, of the +Taddei family, he built a house that was held to be very beautiful and +commodious. For Pier Francesco Borgherini he made the designs of the +house that he built in Borgo S. Apostolo, in which he caused ornaments +for the doors and most beautiful chimney-pieces to be executed at +great expense, and made for the adornment of one chamber, in +particular, coffers of walnut-wood covered with little boys carved +with supreme diligence. Such a work it would now be impossible to +execute with such perfection as he gave to it. He also prepared the +design for the villa that Borgherini caused to be built on the hill of +Bellosguardo, which was very beautiful and commodious, and erected at +vast expense. For Giovan Maria Benintendi he executed an antechamber, +with an ornamental frame for some scenes painted by excellent masters, +which was a rare thing. The same Baccio made the model of the Church +of S. Giuseppe near S. Nofri, and directed the construction of the +door, which was his last work. He also caused to be built of masonry +the campanile of S. Spirito in Florence, which was left unfinished, +and is now being completed by order of Duke Cosimo after the original +design of Baccio; and he likewise erected the campanile of S. Miniato +sul Monte, which was battered by the artillery of the camp, but never +destroyed, on which account it gained no less fame for the affront +that it offered to the enemy than for the beauty and excellence with +which Baccio had caused it to be built and carried to completion.</p> + +<p>Next, having been appointed on account of his abilities, and because +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68" name="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> he was much beloved by the citizens, as architect to S. +Maria del Fiore, Baccio gave the design for constructing the gallery +that encircles the cupola. This part of the work Filippo Brunelleschi, +being overtaken by death, had not been able to execute; and although +he had made designs even for this, they had been lost or destroyed +through the negligence of those in charge of the building. Baccio, +then, having made the design and model for this gallery, carried into +execution all the part that is to be seen facing the Canto de' +Bischeri. But Michelagnolo Buonarroti, on his return from Rome, +perceiving that in carrying out this work they were cutting away the +toothings that Filippo Brunelleschi, not without a purpose, had left +projecting, made such a clamour that the work was stopped; saying that +it seemed to him that Baccio had made a cage for crickets, that a pile +so vast required something grander and executed with more design, art, +and grace than appeared to him to be displayed by Baccio's design, and +that he himself would show how it should be done. Michelagnolo having +therefore made a model, the matter was disputed at great length before +Cardinal Giulio de' Medici by many craftsmen and competent citizens; +and in the end neither the one model nor the other was carried into +execution. Baccio's design was censured in many respects, not that it +was not a well-proportioned work of its kind, but because it was too +insignificant in comparison with the size of the structure; and for +these reasons that gallery has never been brought to completion.</p> + +<p>Baccio afterwards gave his attention to executing the pavement of S. +Maria del Fiore, and to his other buildings, which were not a few, for +he had under his particular charge all the principal monasteries and +convents of Florence, and many houses of citizens, both within and +without the city. Finally, when near the age of eighty-three, but +still of good and sound judgment, he passed to a better life in 1543, +leaving three sons, Giuliano, Filippo, and Domenico, who had him +buried in S. Lorenzo.</p> + +<p>Of these sons, who all gave their attention after the death of Baccio +to the art of carving and working in wood, Giuliano, who was the +second, was the one who applied himself with the greatest zeal to +architecture <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69" name="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> both during his father's lifetime and +afterwards; wherefore, by favour of Duke Cosimo, he succeeded to his +father's place as architect to S. Maria del Fiore, and continued not +only all that Baccio had begun in that temple, but also all the other +buildings that had remained unfinished at his death. At that time +Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia was intending to place a +panel-picture by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino in the principal +church of Pescia, of which he was Provost, and to erect an ornament of +stone, or rather, an entire chapel, around it, and also a tomb; and +Giuliano executed all this after his own designs and models, and also +restored for the same patron his house at Pescia, making in it many +beautiful and useful improvements. For Messer Francesco Campana, +formerly First Secretary to Duke Alessandro, and afterwards to Duke +Cosimo de' Medici, the same Giuliano built at Montughi, without +Florence, beside the church, a house which is small but very ornate, +and so well situated, that it commands from its slight elevation a +view of the whole city of Florence and the surrounding plain. And a +most beautiful and commodious house was built at Colle, the native +place of that same Campana, from the design of Giuliano, who shortly +afterwards began for Messer Ugolino Grifoni, Lord of Altopascio, a +palace at San Miniato al Tedesco, which was a magnificent work.</p> + +<p>For Ser Giovanni Conti, one of the secretaries of the Lord Duke +Cosimo, he made many useful and beautiful improvements in his house at +Florence; although it is true that in the two ground-floor windows, +supported by knee-shaped brackets, which open out upon the street, +Giuliano departed from his usual method, and so cut them up with +projections, little brackets, and off-sets, that they inclined rather +to the German manner than to the true and good manner of ancient or +modern times. Works of architecture, without a doubt, must first be +massive, solid, and simple, and then enriched by grace of design and +by variety of subject in the composition, without, however, disturbing +by poverty or by excess of ornamentation the order of the architecture +or the impression produced on a competent judge.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Baccio Bandinelli, having returned from Rome, where he had +finished the tombs of Leo and Clement, persuaded the Lord Duke Cosimo, +then a young man, to make at the head of the Great Hall of the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70" name="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> Ducal Palace a façade full of columns and niches, with a +range of fine marble statues; and this façade was to have windows of +marble and grey-stone looking out upon the Piazza. The Duke having +resolved to have this done, Bandinelli set his hand to making the +design; but finding that the hall, as has been related in the Life of +Cronaca, was out of square, and having never given attention to +architecture, which he considered an art of little value, marvelling +and even laughing at those who gave their attention to it, he was +forced, on recognizing the difficulty of this work, to confer with +Giuliano with regard to his model, and to beseech him that he, as an +architect, should direct the work. And so all the stone-cutters and +carvers of S. Maria del Fiore were set to work, and a beginning was +made with the structure. Bandinelli had resolved, with the advice of +Giuliano, to let the work remain out of square, following in part the +course of the wall. It came to pass, therefore, that he was forced to +make all the stones irregular in shape, preparing them with great +labour by means of the pifferello, which is the instrument otherwise +called the bevel-square; and this made the work so clumsy, that, as +will be related in the Life of Bandinelli, it has been difficult to +bring it to such a form as might be in harmony with the rest. Such a +thing would not have happened if Bandinelli had possessed as much +knowledge in architecture as he did in sculpture; not to mention that +the great niches in the side-walls at each end proved to be squat, and +that the one in the centre was not without defect, as will be told in +the Life of that same Bandinelli. This work, after having been pursued +for ten years, was abandoned, and so it remained for some time. It is +true that the profiled stones as well as the columns, both of Fossato +stone and of marble, were wrought with the greatest diligence by the +stone-cutters and carvers under the care of Giuliano, and were +afterwards so well built in that it would not be possible to find any +masonry better put together, all the stones being accurately measured. +In this respect Giuliano may be celebrated as most excellent; and the +work, as will be related in the proper place, was finished in five +months, with an addition, by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo.</p> + +<p>Giuliano, meanwhile, not neglecting his workshop, was giving his +attention, together with his brothers, to the execution of many +carvings <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71" name="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> and works in wood, and also to pressing on the +making of the pavement of S. Maria del Fiore; and since he was +superintendent and architect of that building, he was requested by the +same Bandinelli to make designs and models of wood, after some +fantasies of figures and other ornaments of his own, for the +high-altar of that same S. Maria del Fiore, which was to be +constructed of marble; which Giuliano did most willingly, being a good +and kindly person and one who delighted in architecture as much as +Bandinelli despised it, and being also won over by the lavish promises +of profit and honour that Bandinelli made him. Setting to work, +therefore, on that model, Giuliano made it much after the simple +pattern formerly designed by Brunelleschi, save that he enriched it by +doubling both the columns and the arch above. And when he had brought +it to completion, and the model, together with many designs, had been +carried by Bandinelli to Duke Cosimo, his most illustrious Excellency +resolved in his regal mind to execute not only the altar, but also the +ornament of marble that surrounds the choir, following its original +octagonal shape, with all those rich adornments with which it has +since been carried out, in keeping with the grandeur and magnificence +of that temple. Giuliano, therefore, with the assistance of +Bandinelli, made a beginning with that choir, without altering +anything save the principal entrance, which is opposite to the +above-mentioned altar; for which reason he wished that it should be +exactly similar to that altar, with the same arch and decorations. He +also made two other similar arches, which unite with the entrance and +the altar in forming a cross; and these were for two pulpits, which +the old choir also had, serving for music and other ceremonies of the +choir and of the altar. In this choir, around the eight faces, +Giuliano made an ornament of the Ionic Order, and placed at every +corner a pilaster bent in the middle, and one on every face; and since +each pilaster so narrowed that the extension-lines of its side-faces +met in the centre of the choir, from inside it looked narrow and bent +in, and from outside broad and pointed. This invention was not much +extolled, nor can it be commended as beautiful by any man of judgment; +and for a work of such cost, in a place so celebrated, Bandinelli, if +he despised architecture, or had no knowledge of it, should have +availed himself of someone living at that time with <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72" name="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> the +knowledge and ability to do better. Giuliano deserves to be excused in +the matter, because he did all that he could, which was not a little; +but it is very certain that one who has not strong powers of design +and invention in himself, will always be too poor in grace and +judgment to bring to perfection great works of architecture.</p> + +<p>Giuliano made for Filippo Strozzi a couch of walnut-wood, which is now +at Città di Castello, in the house of the heirs of Signor Alessandro +Vitelli. For an altar-piece which Giorgio Vasari painted for the +high-altar of the Abbey of Camaldoli in the Casentino, he made a very +rich and beautiful frame, after the design of Giorgio; and he carved +another ornamental frame for a large altar-piece that the same Giorgio +executed for the Church of S. Agostino in Monte Sansovino. The same +Giuliano made another beautiful frame for another altar-piece by the +hand of Vasari, which is in the Abbey of Classi, a seat of the Monks +of Camaldoli, at Ravenna. He also executed the frames for the pictures +by the hand of the same Giorgio of Arezzo that are in the refectory of +the Monks of the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; and in the Vescovado in +the same city, behind the high-altar, he made a most beautiful choir +of walnut-wood, after the design of Giorgio, which provided for the +bringing forward of the altar. And, finally, a short time before his +death, he made the rich and beautiful Ciborium of the most Holy +Sacrament for the high-altar of the Nunziata, with the two Angels of +wood, in full-relief, which are on either side of it. This was the +last work that he executed, and he passed to a better life in the year +1555.</p> + +<p>Nor was Domenico, the brother of that Giuliano, inferior to him in +judgment, seeing that, besides carving much better in wood, he was +also very ingenious in matters of architecture, as may be seen from +the house that was built for Bastiano da Montaguto in the Via de' +Servi after his design, wherein there are also many works in wood by +Domenico's own hand. The same master executed for Agostino del Nero, +in the Piazza de' Mozzi, the buildings that form the street-corner and +a very beautiful terrace for that house of the Nasi formerly begun by +his father Baccio. And it is the common belief that, if he had not +died so young, he would have surpassed by a great measure both his +father and his brother Giuliano.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="vicentino" id="vicentino"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73" name="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> VALERIO VICENTINO, + GIOVANNI DA CASTEL + BOLOGNESE, MATTEO + DAL NASSARO OF VERONA, + AND OTHER EXCELLENT + ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS + AND GEMS</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_vicentino" id="life_of_vicentino"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75" name="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> LIVES OF VALERIO VICENTINO, GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE, +MATTEO DAL NASSARO OF VERONA, AND OTHER EXCELLENT ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS +AND GEMS</h2> + + +<p>Since the Greeks were such divine masters in the engraving of Oriental +stones and so perfect in the cutting of cameos, it seems to me certain +that I should commit no slight error were I to pass over in silence +those of our own age who have imitated those marvellous intellects; +although among our moderns, so it is said, there have been none who in +this present and happy age have surpassed the ancients in delicacy and +design, save perchance those of whom we are about to give an account. +But before making a beginning, it is proper for me to discourse +briefly on this art of engraving hard stones and gems, which was lost, +together with the other arts of design, after the ruin of Greece and +Rome. Of this work, whether engraved in intaglio or in relief, we have +seen examples discovered daily among the ruins of Rome, such as +cameos, cornelians, sardonyxes, and other most excellent intagli; but +for many and many a year the art remained lost, there being no one who +gave attention to it, and even if any work was done, it was not in +such a manner as to be worthy to be taken into account. So far as is +known, it is not found that anyone began to do good work or to attain +to excellence until the time of Pope Martin V and Pope Paul II; after +which the art continued to grow little by little down to the time of +Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, who greatly delighted in the +engraved cameos of the ancients. Lorenzo and his son Piero collected a +great quantity of these, particularly chalcedonies, cornelians, and +other kinds of the choicest engraved stones, which contained various +fanciful designs; and in consequence of <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76" name="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> this, wishing to +establish the art in their own city, they summoned thither masters +from various countries, who, besides restoring those stones, brought +to them other works which were at that time rare.</p> + +<p>By these masters, at the instance of the Magnificent Lorenzo, this art +of engraving in intaglio was taught to a young Florentine called +Giovanni delle Corniole,<a id="FNanchor12" name="FNanchor12"></a><a href="#Footnote12" title="Go to footnote 12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> who received that surname because he +engraved them excellently well, of which we have testimony in the +great numbers of them by his hand that are to be seen, both great and +small, but particularly in a large one, which was a very choice +intaglio, wherein he made the portrait of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who +was adored in Florence in his day on account of his preaching. A rival +of Giovanni was Domenico de' Cammei,<a id="FNanchor13" name="FNanchor13"></a><a href="#Footnote13" title="Go to footnote 13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> a Milanese, who, living at +the same time as Duke Lodovico, Il Moro, made a portrait of him in +intaglio on a balas-ruby greater than a giulio, which was an exquisite +thing and one of the best works in intaglio that had been seen +executed by a modern master. This art afterwards rose to even greater +excellence in the pontificate of Pope Leo X, through the talents and +labours of Pier Maria da Pescia, who was a most faithful imitator of +the works of the ancients; and he had a rival in Michelino, who was no +less able than Pier Maria in works both great and small, and was held +to be a graceful master.</p> + +<p>These men opened the way in this art, which is so difficult, for +engraving in intaglio is truly working in the dark, since the +craftsman can use nothing but impressions of wax, as spectacles, as it +were, wherewith to see from time to time what he is doing. And finally +they brought it to such a condition that Giovanni da Castel Bolognese, +Valerio Vicentino, Matteo dal Nassaro, and others, were able to +execute the many beautiful works of which we are about to make +mention.</p> + +<p>Let me begin, then, by saying that Giovanni Bernardi of Castel +Bolognese, who worked in his youth in the service of Duke Alfonso of +Ferrara, made for him, in the three years of honourable service that +he gave him, many little works, of which there is no need to give any +description. Of his larger works the first was an intaglio on a piece +of crystal, in which he represented the whole of the action of Bastia, +which <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77" name="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> was very beautiful; and then he executed the portrait +of that Duke in a steel die for the purpose of making medals, with the +Taking of Jesus Christ by the Multitude on the reverse. Afterwards, +urged by Giovio, he went to Rome, and obtained by favour of Cardinal +Ippolito de' Medici and Cardinal Giovanni Salviati the privilege of +taking a portrait of Clement VII, from which he made a die for medals, +which was very beautiful, with Joseph revealing himself to his +brethren on the reverse; and for this he was rewarded by His Holiness +with the gift of a Mazza, an office which he afterwards sold in the +time of Paul III, receiving two hundred crowns for it. For the same +Clement he executed figures of the four Evangelists on four round +crystals, which were much extolled, and gained for him the favour and +friendship of many prelates, and in particular the good-will of +Salviati and of the above-mentioned Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, that +sole refuge for men of talent, whose portrait he made on steel medals, +besides executing for him on crystal the Presentation of the Daughter +of Darius to Alexander the Great.</p> + +<p>After this, when Charles V went to Bologna to be crowned, Giovanni +made a portrait of him in steel, from which he struck a medal of gold. +This he carried straightway to the Emperor, who gave him a hundred +pistoles of gold, and sent to inquire whether he would go with him to +Spain; but Giovanni refused, saying that he could not leave the +service of Clement and of Cardinal Ippolito, for whom he had begun +some work that was still unfinished.</p> + +<p>Having returned to Rome, Giovanni executed for the same Cardinal de' +Medici a Rape of the Sabines, which was very beautiful. And the +Cardinal, knowing himself to be much indebted to him for all these +things, rewarded him with a vast number of gifts and courtesies; but +the greatest of all was this, that the Cardinal, when departing for +France in the midst of a company of many lords and gentlemen, turned +to Giovanni, who was there among the rest, and, taking from his own +neck a little chain to which was attached a cameo worth more than six +hundred crowns, he gave it to him, telling him that he should keep it +until his return, and intending to bestow upon him afterwards such a +recompense as he knew to be due to the talent of Giovanni.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78" name="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> On the death of the Cardinal, that cameo fell into the hands +of Cardinal Farnese, for whom Giovanni afterwards executed many works +in crystal, and in particular a Christ Crucified for a Cross, with a +God the Father above, Our Lady and S. John at the sides, and the +Magdalene at the foot; and in a triangle at the base of the Cross he +made three scenes of the Passion of Christ, one in each angle. For two +candelabra of silver he engraved six round crystals. In the first is +the Centurion praying Christ that He should heal his son, in the +second the Pool of Bethesda, in the third the Transfiguration on Mount +Tabor, in the fourth the Miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, in +the fifth the scene of Christ driving the traders from the Temple, and +in the last the Raising of Lazarus; and all were exquisite. The same +Cardinal Farnese afterwards desired to have a very rich casket made of +silver, and had the work executed by Manno, a Florentine goldsmith, of +whom there will be an account in another place; but he entrusted all +the compartments of crystal to Giovanni, who made them all full of +scenes, with marble in half-relief; and he made figures of silver and +ornaments in the round, and all with such diligence, that no other +work of that kind was ever carried to such perfection. On the body of +this casket are the following scenes, engraved in ovals with +marvellous art by the hand of Giovanni: The Chase of Meleager after +the Calydonian Boar, the Followers of Bacchus, a naval battle, +Hercules in combat with the Amazons, and other most beautiful +fantasies of the Cardinal, who caused finished designs of them to be +executed by Perino del Vaga and other masters. Giovanni then executed +on a crystal the triumph of the taking of Goletta, and the War of +Tunis on another. For the same Cardinal he engraved, likewise on +crystal, the Birth of Christ and the scenes when He prays in the +Garden; when He is taken by the Jews; when He is led before Annas, +Herod, and Pilate; when He is scourged and then crowned with thorns; +when He carries the Cross; when He is nailed upon it and raised on +high; and, finally, His divine and glorious Resurrection. All these +works were not only very beautiful, but also executed with such +rapidity, that every man was struck with astonishment.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img017" id="img017"></a> +<img src="images/img017-tb.jpg" width="400" height="467" alt="Cassetta Farnese." title=""> +<p class="caption">CASSETTA FARNESE<br> +(<i>After</i> Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi).<br> <i>Naples: +Museo Nazionale</i>)<br> +<i>Brogi</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img017.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Michelagnolo had made for the above-mentioned Cardinal de' Medici +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79" name="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> a drawing, which I forgot to mention before, of a Tityus +whose heart was being devoured by a vulture; and Giovanni engraved +this beautifully on crystal. And he did the same with another drawing +by Buonarroti, in which Phaethon, not being able to manage the chariot +of the Sun, has fallen into the Po, and his weeping sisters are +transformed into trees.</p> + +<p>Giovanni executed a portrait of Madama Margherita of Austria, daughter +of the Emperor Charles V, who had been the wife of Duke Alessandro de' +Medici, and was then the consort of Duke Ottavio Farnese; and this he +did in competition with Valerio Vicentino. For these works executed +for Cardinal Farnese, he received from that lord a reward in the form +of the office of Giannizzero, from which he drew a good sum of money; +and, in addition, he was so beloved by that Cardinal that he obtained +a great number of other favours from him, nor did the Cardinal ever +pass through Faenza, where Giovanni had built a most commodious house, +without going to take up his quarters with him. Having thus settled at +Faenza, in order to rest after a life of much labour in the world, +Giovanni remained there ever afterwards; and his first wife, by whom +he had not had children, being dead, he took a second. By her he had +two sons and a daughter; and with them he lived in contentment, being +well provided with landed property and other revenues, which yielded +him more than four hundred crowns, until he came to the age of sixty, +when he rendered up his soul to God on the day of Pentecost, in the +year 1555.</p> + +<p>Matteo dal Nassaro, who was born in Verona, and was the son of Jacopo +dal Nassaro, a shoemaker, gave much attention in his early childhood +not only to design, but also to music, in which he became excellent, +having had as his masters in that study Marco Carrà and Il +Tromboncino, both Veronese, who were then in the service of the +Marquis of Mantua. In matters of intaglio he was much assisted by two +Veronese of honourable family, with whom he was continually +associated. One of these was Niccolò Avanzi, who, working privately in +Rome, executed cameos, cornelians, and other stones, which were taken +to various Princes; and there are persons who remember to have seen a +lapis-lazuli by his hand, three fingers in breadth, containing the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80" name="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Nativity of Christ, with many figures, which was sold as a +choice work to the Duchess of Urbino. The other was Galeazzo Mondella, +who, besides engraving gems, drew very beautifully.</p> + +<p>After Matteo had learned from these two masters all that they knew, it +chanced that there fell into his hands a beautiful piece of green +jasper, marked with red spots, as the good pieces are; and he engraved +in it a Deposition from the Cross with such diligence, that he made +the wounds come in those parts of the jasper that were spotted with +the colour of blood, which caused that work to be a very rare one, and +brought him much commendation. That jasper was sold by Matteo to the +Marchioness Isabella d'Este.</p> + +<p>He then went to France, taking with him many works by his own hand +which might serve to introduce him to the Court of King Francis I; and +when he had been presented to that Sovereign, who always held in +estimation every manner of man of talent, the King, after taking many +of the stones engraved by him, received him into his service and +ordained him a good salary; and he held Matteo dear no less because he +was an excellent musician and could play very well upon the lute, than +for his profession of engraving stones. Of a truth, there is nothing +that does more to kindle men's minds with love for the arts than to +see them appreciated and rewarded by Princes and noblemen, as has +always been done in the past, and is done more than ever at the +present day, by the illustrious House of Medici, and as was also done +by that truly magnanimous Sovereign, King Francis.</p> + +<p>Matteo, thus employed in the service of that King, executed many rare +works, not only for His Majesty, but also for almost all the most +noble lords and barons of the Court, of whom there was scarcely one +who did not have some work by his hand, since it was much the custom +at that time to wear cameos and other suchlike gems on the neck and in +the cap. For the King he made an altar-piece for the altar of the +chapel which His Majesty always took with him on his journeys; and +this was full of figures of gold, partly in the round and partly in +half-relief, with many engraved gems distributed over the limbs of +those figures. He also engraved many pieces of crystal in intaglio, +impressions <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81" name="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> of which in sulphur and gesso are to be seen in +many places, and particularly in Verona, where there are marvellous +representations of all the planets, and a Venus with a Cupid that has +the back turned, which could not be more beautiful. In a very fine +chalcedony, found in a river, Matteo engraved divinely well the head +of a Deianira almost in full-relief, wearing the lion's skin, the +surface being tawny in colour; and he turned to such good advantage a +vein of red that was in that stone, representing with it the inner +side of the lion's skin at its junction with the head, that the skin +had the appearance of one newly flayed. Another spot of colour he used +for the hair, and the white for the face and breast, and all with +admirable mastery. This head came into the possession of King Francis, +together with the other things; and there is an impression of it at +the present day in Verona, which belongs to the goldsmith Zoppo, who +was Matteo's disciple.</p> + +<p>Matteo was a man of great spirit and generosity, insomuch that he +would rather have given his works away than sold them for a paltry +price. Wherefore when a baron, for whom he had made a cameo of some +value, wished to pay him a wretched sum for it, Matteo besought him +straitly that he should accept it as a present. To this the other +would not consent, and yet wished to have it for the same miserable +price; whereupon Matteo, flying into a rage, crushed it to powder with +a hammer in his presence. For the same King Matteo executed many +cartoons for tapestries, and with these, to please His Majesty, he was +obliged to go to Flanders, and to stay there until they had been woven +in silk and gold; which being finished and taken to France, they were +held to be very beautiful. Finally, Matteo returned to his own +country, as almost all men do, taking with him many rare things from +those foreign parts, and in particular some landscapes on canvas +painted in Flanders in oils and in gouache, and executed by very able +hands, which are still preserved and treasured in Verona, in memory of +him, by Signor Luigi and Signor Girolamo Stoppi. Having returned to +Verona, Matteo took up his abode in a cave hollowed out under a rocky +cliff, above which is the garden of the Frati Ingiesuati—a place +which, besides being very warm in winter and very cool in summer, +commands a most beautiful <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82" name="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> view. But he was not able to enjoy +that habitation, thus contrived after his own fancy, as long as he +would have liked, for King Francis, as soon as he had been released +from his captivity, sent a special messenger to recall Matteo to +France, and to pay him his salary even for all the time that he had +been in Verona; and when he had arrived there, the King made him +master of dies for the Mint. Taking a wife in France, therefore, +Matteo settled down to live in those parts, since such was the +pleasure of the King his master. By that wife he had some children, +but all so unlike himself that he had little satisfaction from them.</p> + +<p>Matteo was so gentle and courteous, that he welcomed with +extraordinary warmth anyone who arrived in France, not only from his +own city of Verona, but from every part of Lombardy. His dearest +friend in those regions was Paolo Emilio of Verona, who wrote the +history of France in the Latin tongue. Matteo taught many disciples, +among them a fellow-Veronese, the brother of Domenico Brusciasorzi, +two of his nephews, who went to Flanders, and many other Italians and +Frenchmen, of whom there is no need to make mention. And finally he +died, not long after the death of King Francis of France.</p> + +<p>But to come at length to the marvellous art of Valerio Vicentino, of +whom we have now to speak: this master executed so many works, both +great and small, either in intaglio or in relief, and all with such a +finish and such facility, that it is a thing incredible. If Nature had +made Valerio a good master of design, even as she made him most +excellent in engraving, in which he executed his works with +extraordinary patience, diligence, and rapidity, he would not merely +have equalled the ancients, as he did, but would have surpassed them +by a great measure; and even so he had such judgment, that he always +availed himself in his works of the designs of others or of the +intagli of the ancients.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img018" id="img018"></a> +<img src="images/img018-tb.jpg" width="450" height="308" alt="Casket of Rock Crystal." title=""> +<p class="caption">CASKET OF ROCK CRYSTAL<br> +(<i>After</i> Valerio Vincentino (Valerio Belli).<br> <i>Florence; Uffizi, +Cabinet of Gems</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img018.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Valerio fashioned for Pope Clement VII a casket entirely of crystal, +wrought with admirable mastery, for which he received two thousand +crowns of gold from that Pontiff in return for his labour. In those +crystals Valerio engraved the whole Passion of Jesus Christ, after the +designs of others; and that casket was afterwards presented by Pope +Clement to King Francis at Nice, at the time when his niece went to be +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83" name="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> married to the Duke of Orleans, who afterwards became King +Henry. For the same Pope Valerio made some most beautiful paxes, and a +divine cross of crystal, and likewise dies for striking medals, +containing the portrait of Pope Clement, with very beautiful reverses; +and through him that art produced in his day many masters, both from +Milan and from other parts, who had grown to such a number before the +sack of Rome, that it was a marvel. He made the medals of the twelve +Emperors, with their reverses, copying the most beautiful antiques, +with a great number of Greek medals; and he engraved so many other +works in crystal, that the shops of the goldsmiths, or rather, the +whole world, may be seen to be full of impressions taken in gesso, +sulphur, or other compositions, from the intagli in which he made +scenes, figures, or heads. He had, indeed, a skill of hand so +extraordinary, that there was never anyone in his profession who +executed more works than Valerio.</p> + +<p>He also fashioned many vases of crystal for Pope Clement, who +presented some to various Princes, and others were placed in the +Church of S. Lorenzo at Florence, together with many vases that were +formerly in the Palace of the Medici and had belonged to the elder +Lorenzo, the Magnificent, and to other members of that most +illustrious family, that they might serve to contain the relics of +many Saints, which that Pontiff presented to that church in memory of +himself. It would not be possible to find anything more varied than +the curves of those vases, some of which are of sardonyx, agate, +amethyst, and lapis-lazuli, and some of plasma, heliotrope, jasper, +crystal, and cornelian, so that in point of value or beauty nothing +more could be desired. For Pope Paul III he made a cross and two +candelabra, likewise of crystal, engraved with scenes of the Passion +of Jesus Christ in various compartments; with a vast number of stones, +both great and small, of which it would take too long to make mention. +And in the collection of Cardinal Farnese may be seen many things by +the hand of Valerio, who left no fewer finished works than did the +above-named Giovanni. At the age of seventy-eight he performed +miracles, so sure were his eye and hand; and he taught his art to a +daughter of his own, who works very well. He so delighted to lay his +hands on antiquities in marble, impressions in gesso of works +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84" name="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> both ancient and modern, and drawings and pictures by rare +masters, that he shrank from no expense; wherefore his house at +Vicenza is adorned by such an abundance of various things, that it is +a marvel. It is clearly evident that when a man bears love to art, it +never leaves him until he is in the grave; whence he gains praise and +his reward during his lifetime, and makes himself immortal after +death. Valerio was well remunerated for his labours, and received +offices and many benefits from those Princes whom he served; and thus +those who survived him are able, thanks to him, to maintain an +honourable state. And in the year 1546, when, by reason of the +infirmities that old age brings in its train, he could no longer +attend to his art, or even live, he rendered up his soul to God.</p> + +<p>At Parma, in times past, lived Marmita, who gave his attention for a +period to painting, and then turned to intaglio, in which he imitated +the ancients very closely. Many most beautiful works by his hand are +to be seen, and he taught the art to a son of his own, called +Lodovico, who lived for a long time in Rome with Cardinal Giovanni de' +Salviati. Lodovico executed for that Cardinal four ovals of crystal +engraved with figures of great excellence, which were placed on a very +beautiful casket of silver that was afterwards presented to the most +illustrious Signora Leonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence. He made, +among many other works, a cameo with a most beautiful head of +Socrates, and he was a great master at counterfeiting ancient medals, +from which he gained extraordinary advantage.</p> + +<p>There followed, in Florence, Domenico di Polo, a Florentine and an +excellent master of intaglio, who was the disciple of Giovanni delle +Corniole, of whom we have spoken. In our own day this Domenico +executed a divine portrait of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, from which +he made dies in steel and most beautiful medals, with a reverse +containing a Florence. He also made a portrait of Duke Cosimo in the +first year after his election to the government of Florence, with the +sign of Capricorn on the reverse; and many other little works in +intaglio, of which there is no need to make record. He died at the age +of sixty-five.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img019" id="img019"></a> +<img src="images/img019-tb.jpg" width="400" height="537" alt="Medals." title=""> +<p class="caption center">MEDALS<br> +(<i>London: British Museum</i>)</p> + +<p class="center">1. POPE JULIUS III<br> +(<i>After</i> Alessandro Cesati)</p> + +<span class="floatleft">2. PIETRO BEMBO</span> +<p class="left60">3. POPE CLEMENT VII</p> +<p class="center">(<i>After</i> Benvenuto Cellini)</p> + +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img019.jpg">View larger image</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img020" id="img020"></a> +<img src="images/img020-tb.jpg" width="400" height="491" alt="Medals." title=""> +<p class="caption center">MEDALS<br> +(<i>London: British Museum</i>)<p> + +<span class="floatleft">1. IPPOLITO D'ESTE</span> +<p class="left60">2. TITIAN</p> +<span class="floatleft">3. MARGARET, DUCHESS OF MANTUA</span> +<p class="left60">4. LUCREZIA DE' MEDICI</p> +<p class="center">(<i>After</i> Pastorino of Siena)</p> + +<span class="floatleft">5. BENEDETTO VARCHI</span> +<p class="left60">6. COSIMO DE' MEDICI</p> +<p class="center">(<i>After</i> Domenico Poggini)</p> + +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img020.jpg">View larger image</a></span> +</div> + +<p>Domenico, Valerio, Marmita, and Giovanni da Castel Bolognese +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85" name="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> being dead, there remained many who have surpassed them +by a great measure; one in Venice, for example, being Luigi Anichini +of Ferrara, who, with the delicacy of his engraving and the sharpness +of his finish, has produced works that are marvellous. But far beyond +all others in grace, excellence, perfection, and versatility, has +soared Alessandro Cesati, surnamed Il Greco, who has executed cameos +in relief and gems in intaglio in so beautiful a manner, as well as +dies of steel in incavo, and has used the burin with such supreme +diligence and with such mastery over the most delicate refinements of +his art, that nothing better could be imagined. Whoever wishes to be +amazed by his miraculous powers, should study a medal that he made for +Pope Paul III, with his portrait on one side, which has all the +appearance of life, and on the reverse Alexander the Great, who has +thrown himself at the feet of the High-Priest of Jerusalem, and is +doing him homage—figures which are so marvellous that it would not be +possible to do anything better. And Michelagnolo Buonarroti himself, +looking at them in the presence of Giorgio Vasari, said that the hour +of death had come upon the art, for nothing better could ever be seen. +This Alessandro made the medal of Pope Julius III for the holy year of +1550, with a reverse showing the prisoners that were released in the +days of the ancients at times of jubilee, which was a rare and truly +beautiful medal; with many other dies and portraits for the Mint of +Rome, which he kept busily employed for many years. He executed +portraits of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Castro, and his son, Duke +Ottavio; and he made a portrait of Cardinal Farnese in a medal, a very +choice work, the head being of gold and the ground of silver. The same +master engraved for Cardinal Farnese in intaglio, on a cornelian +larger than a giulio, a head of King Henry of France, which has been +considered in point of design, grace, excellence, and perfection of +finish, one of the best modern intagli that have ever been seen. There +may also be seen many other stones engraved by his hand, in the form +of cameos; truly perfect is a nude woman wrought with great art, and +another in which is a lion, and likewise one of a boy, with many small +ones, of which there is no need to speak; but that which surpassed all +the others was the head of the Athenian Phocion, which is marvellous, +and the most beautiful cameo that is to be seen.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86" name="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> A master who gives his attention to cameos at the present day +is Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, an excellent craftsman of Milan, who, +in addition to the various beautiful works that he has engraved in +relief and in intaglio, has executed for the most illustrious Duke +Cosimo de' Medici a very large cameo, one-third of a braccio in height +and the same in width, in which he has cut two figures from the waist +upwards—namely, His Excellency and the most illustrious Duchess +Leonora, his consort, who are both holding with their hands a +medallion containing a Florence, and beside them are portraits from +life of the Prince Don Francesco, Don Giovanni the Cardinal, Don +Garzia, Don Ernando, and Don Pietro, together with Donna Isabella and +Donna Lucrezia, all their children. It would not be possible to find a +more amazing or a larger work in cameo than this; and since it +surpasses all the other cameos and smaller works that he has made, I +shall make no further mention of them, for they are all to be seen.</p> + +<p>Cosimo da Trezzo, also, has executed many works worthy of praise in +this profession, and has won much favour on account of his rare gifts +from Philip, the great Catholic King of Spain, who retains him about +his person, honouring and rewarding him in return for his ability in +his vocation of engraving in intaglio and in relief. He has no equal +in making portraits from life; and in other kinds of work, as well as +in that, his talent is extraordinary.</p> + +<p>Of the Milanese Filippo Negrolo, who worked at chasing arms of iron +with foliage and figures, I shall say nothing, since copper-engravings +of his works, which have given him very great fame, may be seen about. +By Gasparo and Girolamo Misuroni, engravers of Milan, have been seen +most beautiful vases and tazze of crystal. For Duke Cosimo, in +particular, they have executed two that are marvellous; besides which, +they have made out of a piece of heliotrope a vase extraordinary in +size and admirable for its engraving, and also a large vase of +lapis-lazuli, which deserves infinite praise. Jacopo da Trezzo +practises the same profession in Milan; and these men, in truth, have +brought great beauty and facility to this art. Many masters could I +mention who, in executing in incavo heads and reverses for medals, +have equalled and even surpassed the ancients; as, for example, +Benvenuto Cellini, who, during the time when <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87" name="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> he exercised +the goldsmith's art in Rome under Pope Clement, made two medals with a +head of Pope Clement that is a living likeness, and on the reverse of +one a figure of Peace that has bound Fury and is burning her arms, and +on the other Moses striking the rock and causing water to flow to +quench the thirst of his people: beyond which it is not possible to go +in that art. And the same might be said of the coins and medals that +Benvenuto afterwards made for Duke Alessandro in Florence.</p> + +<p>Of the Chevalier, Leone Aretino, who has done equally well in the same +art, and of the works that he has made and still continues to make, +there will be an account in another place.</p> + +<p>The Roman Pietro Paolo Galeotto, also, has executed for Duke Cosimo, +as he still does, medals with portraits of that lord, dies for coins, +and works in tarsia, imitating the methods of Maestro Salvestro, a +most excellent master, who produced marvellous works in that +profession at Rome.</p> + +<p>Pastorino da Siena, likewise, has executed so many heads from life, +that he may be said to have made portraits of every kind of person in +the whole world, great nobles, followers of the arts, and many people +of low degree. He discovered a kind of hard stucco for making +portraits, wherewith he gave them the colouring of nature, with the +tints of the beard, hair, and flesh, so that they had the appearance +of life itself; but he deserves much more praise for his work in +steel, in which he has made excellent dies for medals.</p> + +<p>It would take too long if I were to speak of all those who execute +portrait-medals of wax, seeing that every goldsmith at the present day +makes them, and a number of gentlemen have given their attention to +this, and still do so; such as Giovan Battista Sozzini at Siena, Rosso +de' Giugni at Florence, and very many others, of whom I shall not now +say more. And, to bring this account to conclusion, I return to the +steel-engravers, of whom one is Girolamo Fagiuoli of Bologna, a master +of chasing and of copper-engraving, and another, at Florence, is +Domenico Poggini, who has made, as he still does, dies for the Mint, +with medals of Duke Cosimo, and who also executes statues of marble, +imitating, in so far as he is able, the rarest and most excellent +masters who have ever produced choice works in these professions.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="antonio" id="antonio"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89" name="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OTHER ENGRAVERS OF PRINTS</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_antonio" id="life_of_antonio"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91" name="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> LIVES OF MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OF OTHER ENGRAVERS OF +PRINTS</h2> + + +<p>Seeing that in the Treatise on the Technique of Painting there was +little said of copper-plate engraving, since it was enough at that +time to describe the method of engraving silver with the burin, which +is a square tool of iron, cut on the slant, with a sharp point, I +shall use the occasion of this Life to say as much on that subject as +I may consider to be sufficient. The beginning of print-engraving, +then, came from the Florentine Maso Finiguerra, about the year of our +salvation 1460; for of all the works which that master engraved in +silver with designs to be filled up with niello, he took impressions +in clay, over which he poured melted sulphur, which reproduced the +lines of the design; and these, when filled with smoke-black mixed +with oil, produced the same effect as the silver. He also did the same +with damped paper and with the same tint, going over the whole with a +round and smooth roller, which not only gave the designs the +appearance of prints, but they also came out as if drawn with the pen. +This master was followed by Baccio Baldini, a goldsmith of Florence, +who, not having much power of design, took all that he did from the +invention and design of Sandro Botticelli. And this method, coming to +the knowledge of Andrea Mantegna in Rome, was the reason that he made +a beginning with engraving many of his works, as was said in his Life.</p> + +<p>This invention having afterwards passed into Flanders, a certain +Martin, who was held to be an excellent painter in Antwerp at that +time, executed many works, and sent to Italy a great number of printed +designs, which were all signed in the following manner: "M.C." The +first of these were the Five Foolish Virgins with their lamps +extinguished, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92" name="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> the Five Wise Virgins with their lamps +burning, and a Christ Crucified, with S. John and the Madonna at the +foot of the Cross, which was so good an engraving, that Gherardo, the +Florentine illuminator, set himself to copy it with the burin, and +succeeded very well; but he went no further with this, for he did not +live long. Martin then published four round engravings of the four +Evangelists, and Jesus Christ with the twelve Apostles, in small +sheets, Veronica with six Saints, of the same size, and some coats of +arms of German noblemen, supported by men, both naked and clothed, and +also by women. He published, likewise, a S. George slaying the Dragon, +a Christ standing before Pilate, who is washing his hands, and a +Passing of Our Lady, with all the Apostles, a work of some size, which +was one of the best designs that this master ever engraved. In another +he represented S. Anthony beaten by Devils, and carried through the +air by a vast number of them in the most varied and bizarre forms that +could possibly be imagined; which sheet so pleased Michelagnolo, when +he was a mere lad, that he set himself to colour it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img021" id="img021"></a> +<img src="images/img021-tb.jpg" width="400" height="412" alt="Christ and the Virgin enthroned." title=""> +<p class="caption">CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED<br> +(<i>After the engraving by</i> Martin Schongauer.<br> <i>London: British Museum, +B. 71</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img021.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After this Martin, Albrecht Dürer began to give attention to prints of +the same kind at Antwerp, but with more design and better judgment, +and with more beautiful invention, seeking to imitate the life and to +draw near to the Italian manners, which he always held in much +account. And thus, while still quite young, he executed many works +which were considered as beautiful as those of Martin; and he engraved +them with his own hand, signing them with his name. In the year 1503 +he published a little Madonna, in which he surpassed both Martin and +his own self; and afterwards many other sheets with horses, two in +each sheet, taken from nature and very beautiful. In another he +depicted the Prodigal Son, in the guise of a peasant, kneeling with +his hands clasped and gazing up to Heaven, while some swine are eating +from a trough; and in this work are some most beautiful huts after the +manner of German cottages. He engraved a little S. Sebastian, bound, +with the arms upraised; and a Madonna seated with the Child in her +arms, with the light from a window falling upon her, a small work, +than which there is nothing better to be seen. He also made a Flemish +woman on horseback, with a groom at her feet; and on a larger +copper-plate he engraved <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93" name="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> a nymph being carried away by a +sea-monster, while some other nymphs are bathing. On a plate of the +same size he engraved with supreme delicacy of workmanship, attaining +to the final perfection of this art, a Diana beating a nymph, who has +fled for protection to the bosom of a satyr; in which sheet Albrecht +sought to prove that he was able to make nudes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img022" id="img022"></a> +<img src="images/img022-tb.jpg" width="400" height="578" alt="Hercules." title=""> +<p class="caption">HERCULES<br> +(<i>After the engraving by</i> Albrecht Dürer.<br> <i>London: British Museum, B. +73</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img022.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>But although those masters were extolled at that time in those +countries, in ours their works are commended only for the diligent +execution of the engraving. I am willing, indeed, to believe that +Albrecht was perhaps not able to do better because, not having any +better models, he drew, when he had to make nudes, from one or other +of his assistants, who must have had bad figures, as Germans generally +have when naked, although one sees many from those parts who are fine +men when in their clothes. In various little printed sheets he +executed figures of peasant men and women in different Flemish +costumes, some playing on the bagpipes and dancing, some selling fowls +and suchlike things, and others in many other attitudes. He also drew +a man sleeping in a bathroom who has Venus near him, leading him into +temptation in a dream, while Love is diverting himself by mounting on +stilts, and the Devil blows into his ears with a pair of bellows. And +he engraved two different figures of S. Christopher carrying the +Infant Christ, both very beautiful, and executed with much diligence +in the close detail of the hair and in every other respect.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img023" id="img023"></a> +<img src="images/img023-tb.jpg" width="400" height="575" alt="Christ taking Leave of His Mother." title=""> +<p class="caption">CHRIST TAKING LEAVE OF HIS MOTHER<br> +(<i>After the woodcut by</i> Albrecht Dürer.<br> <i>London: British Museum, B. +92</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img023.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After these works, perceiving how much time he consumed in engraving +on copper, and happening to have in his possession a great abundance +of subjects drawn in various ways, he set himself to making woodcuts, +a method of working in which those who have the greatest powers of +design find the widest field wherein to display their ability in its +perfection. And in the year 1510 he published two little prints in +this manner, in one of which is the Beheading of S. John, and in the +other the scene of the head of the same S. John being presented in a +charger to Herod, who is seated at table; with other sheets of S. +Christopher, S. Sixtus the Pope, S. Stephen, and S. Laurence. Then, +having seen that this method of working was much easier than engraving +on copper, he <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94" name="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> pursued it and executed a S. Gregory chanting +the Mass, accompanied by the deacon and sub-deacon. And, growing in +courage, in the year 1510 he represented on a sheet of royal folio +part of the Passion of Christ—that is, he executed four pieces, with +the intention of afterwards finishing the whole, these four being the +Last Supper, the Taking of Christ by Night in the Garden, His Descent +into the Limbo of Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers, and His +glorious Resurrection. That second piece he also painted in a very +beautiful little picture in oils, which is now at Florence, in the +possession of Signor Bernardetto de' Medici. As for the eight other +parts, although they were afterwards executed and printed with the +signature of Albrecht, to us it does not seem probable that they are +the work of his hand, seeing that they are poor stuff, and bear no +resemblance to his manner, either in the heads, or in the draperies, +or in any other respect. Wherefore it is believed that they were +executed after his death, for the sake of gain, by other persons, who +did not scruple to father them on Albrecht. That this is true is also +proved by the circumstance that in the year 1511 he represented the +whole life of Our Lady in twenty sheets of the same size, executing it +so well that it would not be possible, whether in invention, in the +composition of the perspective-views, in the buildings, in the +costumes, or in the heads of old and young, to do better. Of a truth, +if this man, so able, so diligent, and so versatile, had had Tuscany +instead of Flanders for his country, and had been able to study the +treasures of Rome, as we ourselves have done, he would have been the +best painter of our land, even as he was the rarest and most +celebrated that has ever appeared among the Flemings. In the same +year, continuing to give expression to his fantasies, Albrecht +resolved to execute fifteen woodcuts of the same size, representing +the terrible vision that S. John the Evangelist described in his +Apocalypse on the Isle of Patmos. And so, setting his hand to the +work, with his extravagant imagination, so well suited to such a +subject, he depicted all those things both of heaven and of earth so +beautifully, that it was a marvel, and with such a variety of forms in +those animals and monsters, that it was a great light to many of our +craftsmen, who have since availed themselves of the vast abundance +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95" name="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> of his beautiful fantasies and inventions. By the hand of +the same master, also, is a woodcut that is to be seen of a nude +Christ, who has round Him the Mysteries of His Passion, and is weeping +for our sins, with His hands to His face; and this, for a small work, +is not otherwise than worthy of praise.</p> + +<p>Then, having grown both in power and in courage, as he saw that his +works were prized, Albrecht executed some copper-plates that +astonished the world. He also set himself to make an engraving, for +printing on a sheet of half-folio, of a figure of Melancholy, with all +the instruments that reduce those who use them, or rather, all +mankind, to a melancholy humour; and in this he succeeded so well, +that it would not be possible to do more delicate engraving with the +burin. He executed three small plates of Our Lady, all different one +from another, and most subtle in engraving. But it would take too long +if I were to try to enumerate all the works that issued from +Albrecht's hand; let it be enough for the present to tell that, having +drawn a Passion of Christ in thirty-six parts, and having engraved +these, he made an agreement with Marc' Antonio Bolognese that they +should publish the sheets in company; and thus, arriving in Venice, +this work was the reason that marvellous prints of the same kind were +afterwards executed in Italy, as will be related below.</p> + +<p>While Francesco Francia was working at his painting in Bologna, there +was among his many disciples a young man called Marc' Antonio, who, +being more gifted than the others, was much brought forward by him, +and, from having been many years with Francia and greatly beloved by +him, acquired the surname of De' Franci. This Marc' Antonio, who was +more able in design than his master, handled the burin with facility +and grace, and executed in niello girdles and many other things much +in favour at that time, which were very beautiful, for the reason that +he was indeed most excellent in that profession. Having then been +seized, as happens to many, with a desire to go about the world and +see new things and the methods of other craftsmen, with the gracious +leave of Francia he went off to Venice, where he was well received by +the craftsmen of that city. About the same time there arrived in +Venice some <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96" name="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Flemings with many copper-plate engravings and +woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer, which were seen by Marc' Antonio on the +Piazza di S. Marco; and he was so amazed at the manner and method of +the work of Albrecht, that he spent on those sheets almost all the +money that he had brought from Bologna. Among other things, he bought +the Passion of Jesus Christ, which had been engraved on thirty-six +wood-blocks and printed not long before on sheets of quarter-folio by +the same Albrecht. This work began with the Sin of Adam and the scene +of the Angel expelling him from Paradise, and continued down to the +Descent of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Marc' Antonio, having considered what honour and profit might be +acquired by one who should apply himself to that art in Italy, formed +the determination to give his attention to it with all possible +assiduity and diligence. He thus began to copy those engravings by +Albrecht Dürer, studying the manner of each stroke and every other +detail of the prints that he had bought, which were held in such +estimation on account of their novelty and their beauty, that everyone +sought to have some. Having then counterfeited on copper, with +engraving as strong as that of the woodcuts that Albrecht had +executed, the whole of the said Life and Passion of Christ in +thirty-six parts, he added to these the signature that Albrecht used +for all his works, which was "A.D.," and they proved to be so similar +in manner, that, no one knowing that they had been executed by Marc' +Antonio, they were ascribed to Albrecht, and were bought and sold as +works by his hand. News of this was sent in writing to Albrecht, who +was in Flanders, together with one of the counterfeit Passions +executed by Marc' Antonio; at which he flew into such a rage that he +left Flanders and went to Venice, where he appeared before the +Signoria and laid a complaint against Marc' Antonio. But he could +obtain no other satisfaction but this, that Marc' Antonio should no +longer use the name or the above-mentioned signature of Albrecht on +his works.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img024" id="img024"></a> +<img src="images/img024-tb.jpg" width="400" height="518" alt="S. Jerome in his Study." title=""> +<p class="caption">S. JEROME IN HIS STUDY<br> +(<i>After the engraving by</i> Albrecht Dürer.<br> <i>London: British Museum, B. +60</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img024.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After this affair, Marc' Antonio went off to Rome, where he gave his +whole attention to design; and Albrecht returned to Flanders, where he +found that another rival had already begun to execute many most +delicate engravings in competition with him. This was Lucas of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97" name="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Holland,<a id="FNanchor14" name="FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote14" title="Go to footnote 14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> who, although he was not as fine a master of +design as Albrecht, was yet in many respects his equal with the burin. +Among the many large and beautiful works that Lucas executed, the +first were two in 1509, round in shape, in one of which is Christ +bearing the Cross, and in the other His Crucifixion. Afterwards he +published a Samson, a David on horseback, and a S. Peter Martyr, with +his tormentors; and then he made a copper-plate engraving of Saul +seated with the young David playing in his presence. And not long +after, having made a great advance, he executed a very large plate +with the most delicate engraving, of Virgil suspended from the window +in the basket, with some heads and figures so marvellous, that they +were the reason that Albrecht, growing more subtle in power through +this competition, produced some printed sheets of such excellence, +that nothing better could be done. In these, wishing to display his +ability, Albrecht made an armed man on horseback, representing Human +Strength, which is so well finished, that one can see the lustre of +the arms and of the black horse's coat, which is a difficult thing to +reproduce in design. This stalwart horseman had Death, hour-glass in +hand, beside him, and the Devil behind. There was also a long-haired +dog, executed with the most subtle delicacy that can possibly be +achieved in engraving. In the year 1512 there issued from the hand of +the same master sixteen little scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ, +engraved so well on copper, that there are no little figures to be +seen that are more beautiful, sweet, and graceful, nor any that are +stronger in relief.</p> + +<p>Spurred likewise by rivalry, the same Lucas of Holland executed twelve +similar plates, very beautiful, and yet not so perfect in engraving +and design; and, in addition to these, a S. George who is comforting +the Maiden, who is weeping because she is destined to be devoured by +the Dragon; and also a Solomon, who is worshipping idols; the Baptism +of Christ; Pyramus and Thisbe; and Ahasuerus with Queen Esther +kneeling before him. Albrecht, on his part, not wishing to be +surpassed by Lucas either in the number or in the excellence of his +works, engraved a nude figure on some clouds, and a Temperance with +marvellous wings, holding <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98" name="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> a cup of gold and a bridle, with a +most delicate little landscape; and then a S. Eustachio kneeling +before the stag, which has the Crucifix between its horns, a sheet +which is amazing, and particularly for the beauty of some dogs in +various attitudes, which could not be more perfect. Among the many +children of various kinds that he made for the decoration of arms and +devices, he engraved some who are holding a shield, wherein is a Death +with a cock for crest, the feathers of which are rendered in such +detail, that it would be impossible to execute anything more delicate +with the burin.</p> + +<p>Finally, he published the sheet with S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal, writing, with the Lion sleeping at his feet. In this work +Albrecht represented a room with windows of glass, through which +stream the rays of the sun, falling on the place where the Saint sits +writing, with an effect so natural, that it is a marvel; besides +which, there are books, timepieces, writings, and so many other +things, that nothing more and nothing better could be done in this +field of art. Not long afterwards, in the year 1523, he executed a +Christ with the twelve Apostles, in little figures, which was almost +the last of his works. There may also be seen prints of many heads +taken from life by him, such as that of Erasmus of Rotterdam, that of +Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Elector of the Empire, and also his +own. Nor, with all the engravings that he produced, did he ever +abandon painting; nay, he was always executing panels, canvases, and +other paintings, all excellent, and, what is more, he left many +writings on matters connected with engraving, painting, perspective, +and architecture.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img025" id="img025"></a> +<img src="images/img025-tb.jpg" width="500" height="317" alt="The Ecce Homo of 1610." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE <i>ECCE HOMO</i> OF 1610<br> +(<i>After the engraving by</i> Lucas van Leyden.<br> <i>London: British Museum</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img025.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>But to return to the subject of engraving: the works of Albrecht Dürer +induced Lucas of Holland to follow in his steps to the best of his +power. After the works already mentioned, Lucas engraved on copper +four scenes from the life of Joseph, and also the four Evangelists, +the three Angels who appeared to Abraham in the Valley of Mamre, +Susannah in the Bath, David praying, Mordecai riding in Triumph on +Horseback, Lot made drunk by his Daughters, the Creation of Adam and +Eve, God commanding them that they shall not eat of the Fruit from the +Tree that He points out to them, and Cain killing his brother Abel; +all which <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99" name="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> sheets were published in the year 1529. But that +which did more than anything else to bring renown and fame to Lucas, +was a large sheet in which he represented the Crucifixion of Jesus +Christ; with another wherein Pilate is showing Him to the people, +saying, "Ecce Homo!" These sheets, which are large, and contain a +great number of figures, are held to be excellent; as are, likewise, +one with a Conversion of S. Paul, and another showing him being led, +blind, into Damascus. And let these works suffice to prove that Lucas +may be numbered among those who have handled the burin with ability.</p> + +<p>The scenes of Lucas are very happy in composition, being executed with +such clearness and so free from confusion, that it seems certain that +the action represented could not have taken place in any other way; +and they are arranged more in accordance with the rules of art than +those of Albrecht. Besides this, it is evident that he used a wise +discretion in the engraving of his works, for the reason that all +those parts which recede little by little into the distance are less +strongly defined in proportion as they are lost to view, even as +natural objects become less clear to the eye when seen from afar. +Indeed, he executed them with such thoughtful care, and made them so +soft and well blended, that they would not be better in colour; and +his judicious methods have opened the eyes of many painters. The same +master engraved many little plates: various figures of Our Lady, the +twelve Apostles with Christ, many Saints, both male and female; arms +and helmet-crests, and other suchlike things. Very beautiful is a +peasant who is having a tooth drawn, and is feeling such pain, that he +does not notice that meanwhile a woman is robbing his purse. All these +works of Albrecht and Lucas have brought it about that many other +Flemings and Germans after them have printed similar sheets of great +beauty.</p> + +<p>But returning to Marc' Antonio: having arrived in Rome, he engraved on +copper a most lovely drawing by Raffaello da Urbino, wherein was the +Roman Lucretia killing herself, which he executed with such diligence +and in so beautiful a manner, that Raffaello, to whom it was +straightway carried by some friends, began to think of publishing in +engravings some designs of works by his hand, and then a drawing that +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100" name="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> he had formerly made of the Judgment of Paris, wherein, to +please himself, he had drawn the Chariot of the Sun, the nymphs of the +woods, those of the fountains, and those of the rivers, with vases, +the helms of ships, and other beautiful things of fancy all around; +and when he had made up his mind, these were engraved by Marc' Antonio +in such a manner as amazed all Rome. After them was engraved the +drawing of the Massacre of the Innocents, with most beautiful nudes, +women and children, which was a rare work; and then the Neptune, with +little stories of Æneas around it, the beautiful Rape of Helen, also +after a drawing by Raffaello, and another design in which may be seen +the death of S. Felicita, who is being boiled in oil, while her sons +are beheaded. These works acquired such fame for Marc' Antonio, that +his engravings were held in much higher estimation, on account of +their good design, than those of the Flemings; and the merchants made +very large profits out of them.</p> + +<p>Raffaello had kept an assistant called Baviera for many years to grind +his colours; and since this Baviera had a certain ability, Raffaello +ordained that he should attend to the printing of the engravings +executed by Marc' Antonio, to the end that all his compositions might +thus be finished, and then sold in gross and in detail to all who +desired them. And so, having set to work, they printed a vast number, +which brought very great profit to Raffaello; and all the plates were +signed by Marc' Antonio with the following signatures, "R.S." for the +name of Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, and "M.F." for that of Marc' +Antonio. Among these works were a Venus embraced by Love, after a +drawing by Raffaello, and a scene in which God the Father is blessing +the seed of Abraham, with the handmaiden and two children. Next were +engraved all the round pictures that Raffaello had painted in the +apartments of the Papal Palace, such as the Universal Knowledge, +Calliope with the musical instrument in her hand, Foresight, and +Justice; and then, after a small drawing, the scene which Raffaello +had painted in the same apartment, of Mount Parnassus, with Apollo, +the Muses, and the Poets; and also that of Æneas carrying Anchises on +his back while Troy is burning, of which Raffaello had made the +drawing in order to paint a little picture. <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101" name="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> After this they +engraved and printed another work of Raffaello, Galatea in a car drawn +over the sea by Dolphins, with some Tritons who are carrying off a +Nymph.</p> + +<p>These works finished, Marc' Antonio engraved many separate figures, +likewise on copper, and after drawings by Raffaello; an Apollo with a +lyre in his hand; a figure of Peace, to whom Love is offering an +olive-branch; the three Theological and the four Moral Virtues, and a +Jesus Christ with the twelve Apostles, of the same size; a half-folio +plate of the Madonna that Raffaello had painted in the altar-piece of +the Araceli, and likewise one of that which went to S. Domenico in +Naples, with Our Lady, S. Jerome, the Angel Raphael, and Tobias; and a +little plate of Our Lady seated on a chair and embracing the Infant +Christ, who is half clothed, with many other figures of the Madonna +copied from the pictures which Raffaello had painted for various +persons. After these he engraved a young S. John the Baptist, seated +in the desert, and then the picture which Raffaello executed for S. +Giovanni in Monte, of S. Cecilia with other Saints, which was held to +be a most beautiful sheet. When Raffaello had finished all the +cartoons of the tapestries for the Papal Chapel, which were afterwards +woven in silk and gold, with stories of S. Paul, S. Peter, and S. +Stephen, Marc' Antonio engraved the Preaching of S. Paul, the Stoning +of S. Stephen, and the Blind Man receiving his Sight; which plates, +what with the invention of Raffaello, the grace of the design, and the +diligent engraving of Marc' Antonio, were so beautiful, that there was +nothing better to be seen. He then engraved, after the invention of +the same Raffaello, a most beautiful Deposition from the Cross, with a +Madonna in a swoon, who is marvellous; and not long afterwards a +plate, which is very beautiful, of that picture by Raffaello which +went to Palermo, of a Christ who is bearing the Cross, and also one of +a drawing that Raffaello had executed of a Christ in the air, with Our +Lady, S. John the Baptist, and S. Catharine kneeling on the ground, +and S. Paul the Apostle standing, which was a large and very lovely +engraving. This and the others, after becoming spoiled and almost worn +out through being too much used, were carried away by Germans and +others in the sack of Rome.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102" name="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> The same Marc' Antonio engraved the portrait of Pope Clement +VII in profile, with the face shaved, in the form of a medallion; one +of the Emperor Charles V at the time when he was a young man, and +another of him at a riper age; and also one of Ferdinand, King of the +Romans, who afterwards succeeded Charles V as Emperor. He also made in +Rome a portrait from life of Messer Pietro Aretino, a very famous +poet, which was the most beautiful that Marc' Antonio ever executed; +and, not long afterwards, portraits of the twelve ancient Emperors in +medallions. Of these sheets Raffaello sent some into Flanders to +Albrecht Dürer, who praised Marc' Antonio highly, and sent in return +to Raffaello, in addition to many other sheets, his own portrait, +which was held to be a miracle of beauty.</p> + +<p>Now, the fame of Marc' Antonio having grown very great, and the art of +engraving having come into credit and repute, many disciples had +placed themselves under him in order to learn it. And of their number, +two who made great proficience were Marco da Ravenna, who signed his +plates with the signature of Raffaello, "R.S.," and Agostino +Viniziano, who signed his works in the following manner: "A.V." These +two engraved and printed many designs by Raffaello, such as one of Our +Lady with Christ lying dead at full length, and at His feet S. John, +the Magdalene, Nicodemus, and the other Maries; and they engraved +another plate of greater size, in which is a Madonna, with the arms +outstretched and the eyes raised towards Heaven, in an attitude of +supreme pity and sorrow, with Christ, in like manner, lying dead at +full length.</p> + +<p>Agostino afterwards engraved a large plate of the Nativity, with the +Shepherds and Angels about the hut, and God the Father above; and he +executed many vases, both ancient and modern, and also a censer, or +rather, two women with a vase perforated at the top. He engraved a +plate with a man transformed into a wolf, who is stealing towards a +bed in order to kill one who is sleeping in it. And he also executed +one of Alexander with Roxana, to whom that Prince is presenting a +royal crown, while some Loves are hovering about her and adorning her +head, and others are playing with the arms of Alexander.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img026" id="img026"></a> +<img src="images/img026-tb.jpg" width="350" height="567" alt="The Death of Lucretia." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE DEATH OF LUCRETIA<br> +(<i>After the engraving by</i> Marcantonio Bolognese.<br> <i>London: British +Museum, B. 192</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img026.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>The same masters together engraved the Last Supper of Christ +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103" name="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> with the twelve Apostles, on a plate of some size, and an +Annunciation, all after the designs of Raffaello; and then two stories +of the Marriage of Psyche, which had been painted by Raffaello not +long before. In the end, Agostino and the above-mentioned Marco +between them engraved almost all the works that Raffaello ever drew or +painted, and made prints of them; and also many of the pictures +painted by Giulio Romano, after copies drawn for that purpose. And to +the end that there might remain scarcely a single work of Raffaello +that had not been engraved by them, they finally made engravings of +the scenes that Giulio had painted in the Loggie after the designs of +Raffaello.</p> + +<p>There may still be seen some of the first plates, with the signature +"M.R." for Marco Ravignano, and others with the signature "A.V." for +Agostino Viniziano, re-engraved by others after them, such as the +Creation of the World, and God forming the Animals; the Sacrifices of +Cain and Abel, and the Death of Abel; Abraham sacrificing Isaac; +Noah's Ark, the Deluge, and the Animals afterwards issuing from the +Ark; the Passage of the Red Sea; the Delivery of the Laws from Mount +Sinai through Moses, and the Manna; David slaying Goliath, already +engraved by Marc' Antonio; Solomon building the Temple; the Judgment +of the same Solomon between the two women, and the Visit of the Queen +of Sheba; and, from the New Testament, the Nativity and the +Resurrection of Christ, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit. All these +were engraved and printed during the lifetime of Raffaello.</p> + +<p>After the death of Raffaello, Marco and Agostino separated, and +Agostino was retained by Baccio Bandinelli, the Florentine sculptor, +who caused him to engrave after his design an anatomical figure that +he had formed out of lean bodies and dead men's bones; and then a +Cleopatra. Both these were held to be very good plates. Whereupon, +growing in courage, Baccio drew, and caused Agostino to engrave, a +large plate—one of the largest, indeed, that had ever been engraved +up to that time—full of women clothed, and of naked men who are +slaughtering the little innocents by command of King Herod.</p> + +<p>Marc' Antonio, meanwhile, continuing to work at engraving, executed +some plates with small figures of the twelve Apostles, in various +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104" name="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> manners, and many Saints, both male and female, to the end +that the poor painters who were weak in design might be able to avail +themselves of these in their need. He also engraved a nude young man, +who has a lion at his feet, and is seeking to furl a large banner, +which is swollen out by the wind in a direction contrary to his +purpose; another who is carrying a pedestal on his back; and a little +S. Jerome who is meditating on death, placing a finger in the hollow +of a skull that he has in his hand, the invention and design of which +were by Raffaello. Then he executed a figure of Justice, which he +copied from the tapestries of the Chapel; and afterwards an Aurora, +drawn by two horses, on which the Hours are placing bridles. He also +copied the Three Graces from the antique; and he engraved a scene of +Our Lady ascending the steps of the Temple.</p> + +<p>After these things, Giulio Romano, who in his modesty would never have +any of his works engraved during the lifetime of his master Raffaello, +lest he should seem to wish to compete with him, caused Marc' Antonio, +after the death of Raffaello, to engrave two most beautiful battles of +horsemen on plates of some size, and all the stories of Venus, Apollo, +and Hyacinthus, which he had painted in the bathroom that is at the +villa of Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia. And he did the same with +the four stories of the Magdalene and the four Evangelists that are in +the vaulting of the chapel of the Trinità, which were executed for a +courtezan, although the chapel now belongs to Messer Agnolo Massimi. +By the same master was drawn and reproduced in engraving a very +beautiful ancient sarcophagus containing a lion-hunt, which was +formerly at Maiano, and is now in the court of S. Pietro; as well as +one of the ancient scenes in marble that are under the Arch of +Constantine; and, finally, many scenes that Raffaello had designed for +the corridor and Loggie of the Palace, which have since been engraved +once more by Tommaso Barlacchi, together with those of the tapestries +that Raffaello executed for the public Consistory.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img027" id="img027"></a> +<img src="images/img027-tb.jpg" width="500" height="384" alt="The Martyrdom of S. Lawrence." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE MARTYRDOM OF S. LAWRENCE<br> +(<i>Engraved after Bandinelli by</i> Marcantonio Bolognese.<br> <i>London: +British Museum</i>)<br> +<i>M.S.</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img027.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After this, Giulio Romano caused Marc' Antonio to engrave twenty +plates showing all the various ways, attitudes, and positions in which +licentious men have intercourse with women; and, what was worse, for +each plate Messer Pietro Aretino wrote a most indecent sonnet, +insomuch <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105" name="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> that I know not which was the greater, the +offence to the eye from the drawings of Giulio, or the outrage to the +ear from the words of Aretino. This work was much censured by Pope +Clement; and if, when it was published, Giulio had not already left +for Mantua, he would have been sharply punished for it by the anger of +the Pope. And since some of these sheets were found in places where +they were least expected, not only were they prohibited, but Marc' +Antonio was taken and thrown into prison; and he would have fared very +badly if Cardinal de' Medici and Baccio Bandinelli, who was then at +Rome in the service of the Pope, had not obtained his release. Of a +truth, the gifts of God should not be employed, as they very often +are, in things wholly abominable, which are an outrage to the world.</p> + +<p>Released from prison, Marc' Antonio finished engraving for Baccio +Bandinelli a large plate that he had previously begun, with a great +number of nude figures engaged in roasting S. Laurence on the +gridiron, which was held to be truly beautiful, and was indeed +engraved with incredible diligence, although Bandinelli, complaining +unjustly of Marc' Antonio to the Pope while that master was executing +it, said that he was committing many errors. But for this sort of +gratitude Bandinelli received the reward that his lack of courtesy +deserved, for Marc' Antonio, having heard the whole story, and having +finished the plate, went, without Baccio being aware of it, to the +Pope, who took infinite delight in the arts of design; and he showed +him first the original drawing by Bandinelli, and then the printed +engraving, from which the Pope recognized that Marc' Antonio not only +had committed no errors, but had even corrected with great judgment +many committed by Bandinelli, which were of no small importance, and +had shown more knowledge and craftsmanship in his engraving than had +Baccio in his drawing. Wherefore the Pope commended him greatly and +ever afterwards received him with favour; and it is believed that he +might have done much for him, but the sack of Rome supervening, Marc' +Antonio became little less than a beggar, seeing that, besides losing +all his property, he was forced to disburse a good ransom in order to +escape from the hands of the Spaniards. Which done, he departed from +Rome, never to return; <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106" name="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> and there are few works to be seen +which were executed by him after that time. Our arts are much indebted +to Marc' Antonio, in that he made a beginning with engraving in Italy, +to the advantage and profit of art and to the convenience of her +followers, in consequence of which others have since executed the +works that will be described hereafter.</p> + +<p>Now Agostino Viniziano, of whom we have already spoken, came to +Florence, after the circumstances described above, with the intention +of attaching himself to Andrea del Sarto, who was held to be about the +best painter in Italy after Raffaello. And so Andrea, persuaded by +this Agostino to have his works engraved, made a drawing of a Dead +Christ supported by three Angels; but since the attempt did not +succeed exactly according to his fancy, he would never again allow any +work of his to be engraved. After his death, however, certain persons +published engravings of the Visitation of S. Elizabeth and of the +Baptism of the people by S. John, taken from the work in chiaroscuro +that Andrea painted in the Scalzo at Florence. Marco da Ravenna, +likewise, in addition to the works already mentioned, which he +executed in company with Agostino, also engraved many others by +himself, which are all good and worthy of praise, and are known by his +signature, which has been described above. Many others, also, have +there been after these, who have worked very well at engraving, and +have brought it about that every country has been able to see and +enjoy the honoured labours of the most excellent masters.</p> + +<p>Nor has there been wanting one who has had the enterprise to execute +with wood-blocks prints that possess the appearance of having been +made with the brush after the manner of chiaroscuro, which is an +ingenious and difficult thing. This was Ugo da Carpi, who, although he +was a mediocre painter, was nevertheless a man of most subtle wit in +strange and fanciful inventions. He it was, as has been related in the +thirtieth chapter of the Treatise on Technique, who first attempted, +and that with the happiest result, to work with two blocks, one of +which he used for hatching the shadows, in the manner of a +copper-plate, and with the other he made the tint of colour, cutting +deeply with the strokes of the engraving, and leaving the lights so +bright, that when the impression <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107" name="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> was pulled off they +appeared to have been heightened with lead-white. Ugo executed in this +manner, after a design drawn by Raffaello in chiaroscuro, a woodcut in +which is a Sibyl seated who is reading, with a clothed child giving +her light with a torch. Having succeeded in this, Ugo took heart and +attempted to make prints with wood-blocks of three tints. The first +gave the shadow; the second, which was lighter in tone, made the +middle tint, and the third, cut deeply, gave the higher lights of the +ground and left the white of the paper. And the result of this, also, +was so good, that he executed a woodcut of Æneas carrying Anchises on +his back, while Troy is burning. He then made a Deposition from the +Cross, and the story of Simon Magus, which had been used by Raffaello +for the tapestries of the above-mentioned Chapel; and likewise David +slaying Goliath, and the Flight of the Philistines, of which Raffaello +had prepared the design in order to paint it in the Papal Loggie. And +after many other works in chiaroscuro, he executed in the same manner +a Venus, with many Loves playing about her.</p> + +<p>Now since, as I have said, he was a painter, I must not omit to tell +that he painted in oils, without using a brush, but with his fingers, +and partly, also, with other bizarre instruments of his own, an +altar-piece which is on the altar of the Volto Santo in Rome. Upon +this altar-piece, being one morning with Michelagnolo at that altar to +hear Mass, I saw an inscription saying that Ugo da Carpi had painted +it without a brush; and I laughed and showed the inscription to +Michelagnolo, who answered, also with a laugh, that it would have been +better if he had used a brush, for then he might have done it in a +better manner.</p> + +<p>The method of executing these two kinds of woodcuts, in imitation of +chiaroscuro, thus invented by Ugo da Carpi, was the reason that, many +following in his steps, a great number of most beautiful prints were +produced by others. For after him Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of +Siena, made a similar woodcut in chiaroscuro, which was very +beautiful, of Hercules driving Avarice, a figure laden with vases of +gold and silver, from Mount Parnassus, on which are the Muses in +various lovely attitudes. And Francesco Parmigiano engraved a Diogenes +for a sheet of royal folio laid open, which was a finer print than any +that Ugo ever <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108" name="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> produced. The same Parmigiano, having shown +the method of making prints from three blocks to Antonio da Trento, +caused him to execute a large sheet in chiaroscuro of the Beheading of +S. Peter and S. Paul. And afterwards he executed another, but with two +blocks only, of the Tiburtine Sibyl showing the Infant Christ in the +lap of the Virgin to the Emperor Octavian; a nude man seated, who has +his back turned in a beautiful attitude; and likewise an oval print of +the Madonna lying down, with many others by his hand that may be seen +in various places, printed after his death by Joannicolo Vicentino. +But the most beautiful were executed later by Domenico Beccafumi of +Siena, after the death of Parmigiano, as will be related at greater +length in the Life of Domenico.</p> + +<p>Not otherwise than worthy of praise, also, is the method that has been +invented of making engravings more easily than with the burin, +although they do not come out so clear—that is, with aquafortis, +first laying on the copper a coat of wax, varnish, or oil-colour, and +then drawing the design with an iron instrument that has a sharp point +to cut through the wax, varnish, or colour, whichever it may be, after +which one pours over it the aquafortis, which eats into the copper in +such a manner that it leaves the lines of the design hollow, and +impressions can be taken from it. With this method Francesco +Parmigiano executed many little things, which are full of grace, such +as the Nativity of Christ, a Dead Christ with the Maries weeping over +Him, and one of the tapestries executed for the Chapel after the +designs of Raffaello, with many other works.</p> + +<p>After these masters, fifty sheets with varied and beautiful landscapes +were produced by Battista, a painter of Vicenza, and Battista del Moro +of Verona. In Flanders, Hieronymus Cock has executed engravings of the +liberal arts; and in Rome, engravings have been done of the Visitation +in the Pace, painted by Fra Sebastiano Viniziano, of that by Francesco +Salviati in the Misericordia, and of the Feast of Testaccio; besides +many works that have been engraved in Venice by the painter Battista +Franco, and by many other masters.</p> + +<p>But to return to the simple copper-plate engravings; after Marc' +Antonio had executed the many works that have been mentioned above, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109" name="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> Rosso arrived in Rome, and Baviera persuaded him that he +should have some of his works engraved; wherefore he commissioned Gian +Jacopo Caraglio of Verona, who was one of the most skilful craftsmen +of that day, and who sought with all diligence to imitate Marc' +Antonio, to engrave a lean anatomical figure of his own, which holds a +death's head in the hand, and is seated on a serpent, while a swan is +singing. This plate succeeded so well, that the same Rosso afterwards +caused engravings to be made, on plates of considerable size, of some +of the Labours of Hercules: the Slaying of the Hydra, the Combat with +Cerberus, the Killing of Cacus, the Breaking of the Bull's Horns, the +Battle with the Centaurs, and the Centaur Nessus carrying off +Deianira. And these plates proved to be so beautiful and so well +engraved, that the same Jacopo executed, likewise after the design of +Rosso, the story of the daughters of Pierus, who, for seeking to +contend with the Muses and to sing in competition with them, were +transformed into crows.</p> + +<p>Baviera having then caused Rosso to draw twenty Gods in niches, with +their attributes, for a book, these were engraved by Gian Jacopo +Caraglio in a very beautiful and graceful manner; and also, not long +afterwards, their Transformations; but of these Rosso did not make the +drawings, save only of two, for he had a difference with Baviera, and +Baviera had ten of them executed by Perino del Vaga. The two by Rosso +were the Rape of Proserpine and the Transformation of Philyra into a +horse; and all were engraved with such diligence by Caraglio, that +they have always been prized. Caraglio afterwards began for Rosso the +Rape of the Sabines, which would have been a very rare work, but, the +sack of Rome supervening, it could not be finished, for Rosso went +away, and the plates were all lost. And although this work has since +come into the hands of the printers, it has proved a miserable +failure, for the engraving has been done by one who had no knowledge +of the art, and thought only of making money.</p> + +<p>After this, Caraglio engraved for Francesco Parmigiano a plate of the +Marriage of Our Lady, and other works by the same master; and then +another plate for Tiziano Vecelli, which was very beautiful, of a +Nativity that Tiziano had formerly painted. This Gian Jacopo Caraglio, +after <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110" name="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> having executed many copper-plates, being an ingenious +spirit, gave his attention to engraving cameos and crystals, in which +he became no less excellent than he had been in the engraving of +copper-plates. And since then, having entered the service of the King +of Poland, he has occupied himself no longer with engraving on copper, +now in his opinion a mean art, but with the cutting of gems, with +working in incavo, and with architecture; for which having been richly +rewarded by the liberality of that King, he has spent large sums in +investments in the territory of Parma, in order to be able to retire +in his old age to the enjoyment of his native country among his +friends and disciples, after the labours of so many years.</p> + +<p>After these masters came another excellent copper-plate engraver, +Lamberto Suave,<a id="FNanchor15" name="FNanchor15"></a><a href="#Footnote15" title="Go to footnote 15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> by whose hand are thirteen plates of Christ and +the twelve Apostles, in which the execution of the engraving is +perfect in its delicacy. If Lamberto had possessed a more thorough +mastery of design in addition to the industry, patience, and diligence +that he showed in all other points, he would have been marvellous in +every respect; as may be perceived clearly from a little sheet of S. +Paul writing, and from a larger sheet with the story of the Raising of +Lazarus, in which there are most beautiful things to be seen. Worthy +of note, in particular, are the hollow rock in the cavern which he +represented as the burial-place of Lazarus, and the light that falls +upon some figures, all of which is executed with beautiful and +fanciful invention.</p> + +<p>No little ability, likewise, has been shown in this profession by +Giovan Battista Mantovano, a disciple of Giulio Romano; among other +works, in a Madonna who has the Child in her arms and the moon under +her feet, and in some very beautiful heads with helmet-crests after +the antique; in two sheets, in which are a captain of mercenaries on +foot and one on horseback, and also in a sheet wherein is a Mars in +armour, who is seated upon a bed, while Venus gazes on a Cupid whom +she is suckling, which has in it much that is good. Very fanciful, +also, are two large sheets by the hand of the same master, in which is +the Burning of Troy, executed with extraordinary invention, design, +and grace. <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111" name="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> These and many other sheets by the same hand are +signed with the letters "J.B.M."</p> + +<p>And no less excellent than any of those mentioned above has been Enea +Vico of Parma, who engraved the well-known copper-plate of the Rape of +Helen by Rosso, and also another plate after the design of the same +painter, of Vulcan with some Loves, who are fashioning arrows at his +forge, while the Cyclopes are also at work, which was truly a most +beautiful engraving. He executed the Leda of Michelagnolo on another, +and also an Annunciation after the design of Tiziano, the story of +Judith that Michelagnolo painted in the Chapel, the portrait of Duke +Cosimo de' Medici as a young man, in full armour, after the drawing by +Bandinelli, and likewise the portrait of Bandinelli himself; and then +the Contest of Cupid and Apollo in the presence of all the Gods. And +if Enea had been maintained and rewarded for his labours by +Bandinelli, he would have engraved many other beautiful plates for +him. Afterwards, Francesco, a protégé of the Salviati, and an +excellent painter, being in Florence, and assisted by the liberality +of Duke Cosimo, commissioned Enea to engrave the large plate of the +Conversion of S. Paul, full of horses and soldiers, which was held to +be very beautiful, and gave Enea a great name. The same Enea then +executed the portrait of Signor Giovanni de' Medici, father of Duke +Cosimo, with an ornament full of figures. He engraved, also, the +portrait of the Emperor Charles V, with an ornament covered with +appropriate Victories and trophies, for which he was rewarded by His +Majesty and praised by all; and on another plate, very well engraved, +he represented the victory that the Emperor gained on the Elbe. For +Doni he executed some heads from nature in the manner of medallions, +with beautiful ornaments: King Henry of France, Cardinal Bembo, Messer +Lodovico Ariosto, the Florentine Gello, Messer Lodovico Domenichi, +Signora Laura Terracina, Messer Cipriano Morosino, and Doni himself. +He also engraved for Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent illuminator, +a plate of a S. George on horseback who is slaying the Dragon, in +which, although it was, one might say, one of the first works that he +engraved, he acquitted himself very well.</p> + +<p>Afterwards, being a man of lofty genius, and desiring to pass on to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112" name="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> greater and more honourable undertakings, Enea applied +himself to the study of antiquities, and in particular of ancient +medals, of which he has published several books in engraving, wherein +are the true effigies of many Emperors and their wives, with every +kind of inscription and reverse that could bring all who delight in +them to a clear understanding of their stories; for which he has +rightly won great praise, as he still does. And those who have found +fault with him for his books of medals have been in the wrong, for +whoever shall consider the labours that he has performed, and how +useful and beautiful these are, must perforce excuse him, even though +he may have erred in a few matters of little importance; and such +errors, which are not committed save from faulty information, from a +too ready credulity, or from having opinions differing from others +with some show of reason, are worthy to be excused, seeing that +Aristotle, Pliny, and many others have been guilty of the like.</p> + +<p>Enea also designed to the common satisfaction and benefit of all +mankind fifty costumes of different nations, such as were worn by men +and women, peasants and citizens, in Italy, in France, in Spain, in +Portugal, in England, in Flanders, and in other parts of the world; +which was an ingenious work, both fanciful and beautiful. He executed, +also, a genealogical tree of all the Emperors, which was a thing of +great beauty. And finally, after much toil and travailing, he now +lives in repose under the shadow of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, for +whom he has made a genealogical tree of all the Marquises and Dukes of +the House of Este. For all these works and many others that he has +executed, as he still continues to do, I have thought it right to make +this honourable record of him among so many other men of the arts.</p> + +<p>Many others have occupied themselves with copper-plate engraving, who, +although they have not attained to such perfection, have none the less +benefited the world with their labours, by bringing many scenes and +other works of excellent masters into the light of day, and by thus +giving the means of seeing the various inventions and manners of the +painters to those who are not able to go to the places where the +principal works are, and conveying to the ultramontanes a knowledge of +many things that they did not know. And although many plates have been +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113" name="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> badly executed through the avarice of the printers, eager +more for gain than for honour, yet in certain others, besides those +that have been mentioned, there may be seen something of the good; as +in the large design of the Last Judgment of Michelagnolo Buonarroti on +the front wall of the Papal Chapel, engraved by Giorgio Mantovano, and +in the engravings by Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri of the Crucifixion +of S. Peter and the Conversion of S. Paul painted in the Pauline +Chapel at Rome. This Giovan Battista has also executed copper-plate +engravings, besides other designs, of the Meditation of S. John the +Baptist, of the Deposition from the Cross that Daniello Ricciarelli of +Volterra painted in a chapel in the Trinità at Rome, of a Madonna with +many Angels, and of a vast number of other works. Moreover, many +things taken from Michelagnolo have been engraved by others at the +commission of Antonio Lanferri, who has employed printers for the same +purpose. These have published books of all the kinds of fishes, and +also the Phaethon, the Tityus, the Ganymede, the Archers, the +Bacchanalia, the Dream, the Pietà, and the Crucifix, all done by +Michelagnolo for the Marchioness of Pescara; and, in addition, the +four Prophets of the Chapel and other scenes and drawings have been +engraved and published, but executed so badly, that I think it well to +be silent as to the names of those engravers and printers.</p> + +<p>But I must not be silent about the above-mentioned Antonio Lanferri +and Tommaso Barlacchi, for they, as well as others, have employed many +young men to engrave plates after original drawings by the hands of a +vast number of masters, insomuch that it is better to say nothing of +these works, lest it should become wearisome. And in this manner have +been published, among other plates, grotesques, ancient temples, +cornices, bases, capitals, and many other suchlike things, with all +their measurements.</p> + +<p>Seeing everything reduced to a miserable manner, and moved by +compassion, Sebastiano Serlio, an architect of Bologna, has engraved +on wood and copper two books of architecture, in which, among other +things, are thirty doors of the Rustic Order, and twenty in a more +delicate style; which book is dedicated to King Henry of France. +Antonio <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114" name="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> L'Abacco, likewise, has published plates in a +beautiful manner of all the notable antiquities of Rome, with their +measurements, executed with great mastery and with very subtle +engraving by ... Perugino. Nor has less been accomplished in this +field by the architect Jacopo Barozzo of Vignola, who in a book of +copper-plate engravings has shown with simple rules how to enlarge or +to diminish in due proportion every part of the five Orders of +Architecture, a work most useful in that art, for which we are much +indebted to him; even as we are to Giovanni Cugini<a id="FNanchor16" name="FNanchor16"></a><a href="#Footnote16" title="Go to footnote 16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> of Paris for +his engravings and writings on architecture.</p> + +<p>In Rome, besides the masters named above, Niccolò Beatricio<a id="FNanchor17" name="FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote17" title="Go to footnote 17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> of +Lorraine has given so much attention to engraving with the burin, that +he has executed many plates worthy of praise; such as two pieces of +sarcophagi with battles of horsemen, engraved on copper, and other +plates full of various animals very well executed, and a scene showing +the Widow's Daughter being restored to life by Jesus Christ, engraved +in a bold manner from the design of Girolamo Mosciano, a painter of +Brescia. The same master has engraved an Annunciation from a drawing +by the hand of Michelagnolo, and has also executed prints of the +Navicella of mosaic that Giotto made in the portico of S. Pietro.</p> + +<p>From Venice, likewise, have come many most beautiful engravings on +wood and on copper; on wood, after Tiziano, many landscapes, a +Nativity of Christ, a S. Jerome, and a S. Francis; and on copper the +Tantalus, the Adonis, and many other plates, which have been engraved +by Giulio Bonasone of Bologna, together with some others by Raffaello, +by Giulio Romano, by Parmigiano, and by all the other masters whose +drawings he has been able to obtain. And Battista Franco, a painter of +Venice, has engraved, partly with the burin and partly with +aquafortis, many works by the hands of various masters, such as the +Nativity of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, the Preaching of S. +Peter, some plates from the Acts of the Apostles, and many stories +from the Old Testament. So far, indeed, has this practice of making +prints been carried, that those who make a profession of it keep +draughtsmen continually employed in copying every beautiful work as it +appears, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115" name="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> put it into prints. Wherefore there came from +France, after the death of Rosso, engravings of all the work by his +hand that could be found, such as Clelia with the Sabine women passing +the river; some masks after the manner of the Fates, executed for King +Francis; a bizarre Annunciation; a Dance of ten women; and King +Francis advancing alone into the Temple of Jupiter, leaving behind him +Ignorance and other similar figures, which were executed during the +lifetime of Rosso by the copper-plate engraver Renato.<a id="FNanchor18" name="FNanchor18"></a><a href="#Footnote18" title="Go to footnote 18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> And many +more have been drawn and engraved since Rosso's death; among many +other works, all the stories of Ulysses, and, to say nothing of the +rest, vases, chandeliers, candelabra, salt-cellars, and a vast number +of other suchlike things made in silver after designs of Rosso.</p> + +<p>Luca Penni, also, has published engravings of two Satyrs giving drink +to a Bacchus, a Leda taking the arrows from the quiver of a Cupid, +Susannah in the Bath, and many other plates copied from the designs of +the same Rosso and of Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna, now Abbot of +S. Martin in France. And among these engravings are the Judgment of +Paris, Abraham sacrificing Isaac, a Madonna, Christ marrying S. +Catharine, Jove changing Callisto into a bear, the Council of the +Gods, Penelope weaving with her women, and other things without +number, engraved on wood, and executed for the most part with the +burin; by reason of which the wits of the craftsmen have become very +subtle, insomuch that little figures have been engraved so well, that +it would not be possible to give them greater delicacy. And who can +see without marvelling the works of Francesco Marcolini of Forlì? Who, +besides other things, printed the book of the Garden of Thoughts from +wood-blocks, placing at the beginning an astrologer's sphere and a +head of himself after the design of Giuseppe Porta of Castelnuovo +della Garfagnana; in which book are various fanciful figures, such as +Fate, Envy, Calamity, Timidity, Praise, and many others of the same +kind, which were held to be most beautiful. Not otherwise than +praiseworthy, also, were the figures that Gabriele Giolito, a printer +of books, placed in the Orlando Furioso, for they were executed in a +beautiful manner <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116" name="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> of engraving. And even such, likewise, were +the eleven large anatomical plates that were done by Andrea Vessalio +after the drawings of Johann of Calcar, a most excellent Flemish +painter, which were afterwards copied on smaller sheets and engraved +on copper by Valverde, who wrote on anatomy after Vessalio.</p> + +<p>Next, among the many plates that have issued from the hands of +Flemings within the last ten years, very beautiful are some drawn by +one Michele,<a id="FNanchor19" name="FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote19" title="Go to footnote 19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> a painter, who worked for many years in two chapels +that are in the Church of the Germans at Rome. These plates contain +the story of Moses and the Serpents, and thirty-two stories of Psyche +and Love, which are held to be most beautiful. Hieronymus Cock, also a +Fleming, has engraved a large plate after the invention and design of +Martin Heemskerk, of Delilah cutting off the locks of Samson; and not +far away is the Temple of the Philistines, in which, the towers having +fallen, one sees ruin and destruction in the dead, and terror in the +living, who are taking to flight. The same master has executed in +three smaller plates the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Eating of the +Fruit, and the Angel driving them out of Paradise; and in four other +plates of the same size, in the first the Devil imprinting avarice and +ambition into the heart of man, and in the others all the passions +that result from those two. There may also be seen twenty-seven plates +of the same size by his hand, with stories from the Old Testament +after the expulsion of Adam from Paradise, drawn by Martin in a bold, +well-practised, and most resolute manner, which is very similar to the +Italian. Hieronymus afterwards engraved six round plates with the +history of Susannah, and twenty-three other stories from the Old +Testament, similar to those of Abraham already mentioned—namely, six +plates with the story of David, eight plates with that of Solomon, +four with that of Balaam, and five with those of Judith and Susannah. +And from the New Testament he engraved twenty-nine plates, beginning +with the Annunciation of the Virgin, and continuing down to the whole +Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. He also engraved, after the +drawings of the same Martin, the seven Works of Mercy, and the story +of the rich Lazarus and the poor Lazarus, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117" name="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> four plates +with the Parable of the Samaritan wounded by thieves, with four other +plates of the Parable of the Talents, written by S. Matthew in his +eighteenth chapter.</p> + +<p>At the time when Hans Liefrinck executed in competition with him ten +plates of the Life and Death of S. John the Baptist, he engraved the +Twelve Tribes on an equal number of plates; Reuben upon a hog, +representing Sensuality; Simeon with a sword as a symbol of Homicide; +and in like manner the other heads of Tribes with attributes +appropriate to the nature of each. He then executed ten plates, +engraved with greater delicacy, with the stories and acts of David, +from the time of his being anointed by Samuel to his going before +Saul; and he engraved six other plates with the story of how Amnon +became enamoured of his sister Tamar and ravished her, and the death +of that same Amnon. And not long afterwards he executed ten plates of +similar size with the history of Job; and from thirteen chapters of +the Proverbs of Solomon he drew subjects for five plates of the same +kind. He also engraved the story of the Magi; and then, on six plates, +the Parable that is in the twelfth chapter of S. Matthew, of those who +for various reasons refused to go to the King's Feast, and of him who +went without having a wedding-garment; and six plates of equal size +with some of the acts of the Apostles. And in eight similar plates he +engraved figures of women of perfect excellence, in various costumes: +six from the Old Testament—Jael, Ruth, Abigail, Judith, Esther, and +Susannah; and two from the New—Mary the Virgin, Mother of Jesus +Christ, and Mary Magdalene.</p> + +<p>After these works he carried out the engraving of the Triumphs of +Patience in six plates, with various things of fancy. In the first, in +a chariot, is Patience, who has in her hand a standard, on which is a +rose among thorns. In the second may be seen a burning heart, beaten +by three hammers, upon an anvil; and the chariot of this second plate +is drawn by two figures—namely, by Desire, who has wings upon the +shoulders, and by Hope, who has an anchor in the hand, and behind them +Fortune, with her wheel broken, is led as a prisoner. In the next +plate is Christ on a chariot, with the standard of the Cross and of +His Passion, with the Evangelists at the corners in the form of +animals; and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118" name="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> this chariot is drawn by two lambs, and has +behind it four prisoners—the Devil, the World, or rather, the Flesh, +Sin, and Death. In another Triumph is Isaac, nude, upon a camel; on +the banner that he holds in his hand are a pair of prisoner's irons; +and behind him is drawn the altar with the ram, the knife, and the +fire. In the next plate he made Joseph riding in triumph on an ox +crowned with ears of corn and fruits, with a standard on which is a +bee-hive; and the prisoners that are led behind him are Anger and +Envy, who are devouring a heart. He engraved in another Triumph David +on a lion, with the harp, and with a standard in his hand, on which is +a bit; and behind him is Saul as a prisoner, and Shimei, with his +tongue protruding. In another plate is Tobias riding in triumph on an +ass, and holding in his hand a banner, on which is a fountain; and +behind him Poverty and Blindness, bound, are led as prisoners. And in +the last of the six Triumphs is S. Stephen the Proto-martyr, who is +riding in triumph on an elephant, and has a standard with a figure of +Charity; and the prisoners behind him are his persecutors. All these +were inventions full of fancy, and very ingenious; and they were all +engraved by Hieronymus Cock, whose hand is very bold, sure, and +resolute.</p> + +<p>The same master engraved a plate of Fraud and Avarice, fantastic and +beautiful, and another very lovely plate of a Feast of Bacchanals, +with children dancing. On another he represented Moses passing across +the Red Sea, according as it had been painted by Agnolo Bronzino, a +painter of Florence, in the upper chapel in the Palace of the Duke of +Florence; and in competition with him, also after the design of +Bronzino, Giorgio Mantovano engraved a Nativity of Jesus Christ, which +was very beautiful. After these works, Hieronymus engraved twelve +plates of the victories, battles, and deeds of arms of Charles V, for +him who was the inventor of the subjects; and for Verese, a painter +and a great master of perspective in those parts, twenty plates with +various buildings. For Hieronymus Bosch he executed a plate of S. +Martin, with a barque full of Devils in the most bizarre forms. And he +made another of an alchemist who loses all his possessions, distilling +away his brains and consuming all that he has in various ways, +insomuch that in the end he takes refuge <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119" name="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> in the hospital +with his wife and children; which plate was designed for him by a +painter, who caused him to engrave the Seven Mortal Sins, with Demons +of various forms, which was a fantastic and laughable work. He also +engraved a Last Judgment; an old man who is seeking with a lantern for +peace among the wares of the world, and finds it not; likewise a great +fish that is devouring some little fishes; a figure of Carnival +enjoying the pleasures of the table with many others, and driving Lent +away, and another of Lent driving away Carnival; and so many other +whimsical and fantastic inventions, that it would be wearisome to +attempt to speak of them all.</p> + +<p>Many other Flemings have imitated the manner of Albrecht Dürer with +the greatest care and subtlety, as may be seen from their engravings, +and in particular from those of ...<a id="FNanchor20" name="FNanchor20"></a><a href="#Footnote20" title="Go to footnote 20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> who has engraved in little +figures four stories of the Creation of Adam, four of the lives of +Abraham and of Lot, and four others of Susannah, which are very +beautiful. In like manner, G... P...<a id="FNanchor21" name="FNanchor21"></a><a href="#Footnote21" title="Go to footnote 21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> has engraved the Seven Works +of Mercy in seven small round plates, eight stories taken from the +Books of Kings, Regulus placed in the barrel filled with nails, and an +Artemisia, which is a plate of great beauty. J... B...<a id="FNanchor22" name="FNanchor22"></a><a href="#Footnote22" title="Go to footnote 22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> has +executed figures of the four Evangelists, which are so small that it +seems scarcely possible that he could have done them; and also five +other very fine plates, in the first of which is a Virgin drawn into +the grave by Death in all the freshness of her youth, and in the +second is Adam, in the third a peasant, in the fourth a Bishop, and in +the fifth a Cardinal, each, like the Virgin, called by Death to his +last account. And in some others are many Germans going on parties of +pleasure with their wives, and some beautiful and fantastic Satyrs. By +... are plates of the four Evangelists, engraved with great care, and +no less beautiful than are twelve stories of the Prodigal Son executed +with much diligence by the hand of M.... And, finally, Franz Floris, a +painter famous in those parts, has produced a great number of works +and drawings which have since been engraved, for the most part by +Hieronymus Cock, such as ten plates of the Labours of Hercules, a +large plate with all the activities of the life of man, another +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120" name="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> with the Horatii and Curiatii engaged in combat in the +lists, the Judgment of Solomon, and the Battle between Hercules and +the Pygmies. The same master, also, has engraved a Cain who has killed +Abel, over whose body Adam and Eve are weeping; an Abraham who is +about to sacrifice Isaac on the altar, and a vast number of other +plates, so full of variety and invention, that it is indeed marvellous +to think of all that has been done in engravings on copper and wood. +Lastly, it is enough to draw attention to the engravings of the +portraits of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in this our book, +which were drawn by Giorgio Vasari and his pupils, and engraved by +Maestro Cristofano ...,<a id="FNanchor23" name="FNanchor23"></a><a href="#Footnote23" title="Go to footnote 23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> who has executed in Venice, as he still +continues to do, a vast number of works worthy of record.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, for all the assistance that the ultramontanes have +received from seeing the various Italian manners by means of +engravings, and that the Italians have received from having seen those +of the ultramontanes and foreigners, thanks should be rendered, for +the most part, to Marc' Antonio Bolognese, in that, besides the +circumstance that he played a great part in the beginning of this +profession, as has been related, there has not as yet been one who has +much surpassed him, although some few have equalled him in certain +points. This Marc' Antonio died at Bologna, not long after his +departure from Rome. In our book are some drawings of Angels by his +hand, done with the pen, and some other very beautiful sheets drawn +from the apartments that Raffaello da Urbino painted. In one of these +apartments Marc' Antonio, as a young man, was portrayed by Raffaello +in one of those grooms who are carrying Pope Julius II, in that part +where the High-Priest Onias is praying.</p> + +<p>And let this be the end of the Lives of Marc' Antonio Bolognese and of +all the other engravers of prints mentioned above, of whom I have +thought it right to give this long but necessary account, in order to +satisfy not only the students of our arts, but also all those who +delight in works of that kind.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="galloyoung" id="galloyoung"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121" name="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER)</h2> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_galloyoung" id="life_of_galloyoung"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123" name="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> LIFE OF ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER)</h2> + +<h3>ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE</h3> + + +<p>How many great and illustrious Princes, abounding with infinite +wealth, would leave behind them a name renowned and glorious, if they +possessed, together with their store of the goods of Fortune, a mind +filled with grandeur and inclined to those things that not only +embellish the world, but also confer vast benefit and advantage on the +whole race of men! And what works can or should Princes and great +persons undertake more readily than noble and magnificent buildings +and edifices, both on account of the many kinds of men that are +employed upon them in the making, and because, when made, they endure +almost to eternity? For of all the costly enterprises that the ancient +Romans executed at the time when they were at the supreme height of +their greatness, what else is there left to us save those remains of +buildings, the everlasting glory of the Roman name, which we revere as +sacred things and strive to imitate as the sole patterns of the +highest beauty? And how much these considerations occupied the minds +of certain Princes who lived in the time of the Florentine architect, +Antonio da San Gallo, will now be seen clearly in the Life of him that +we are about to write.</p> + +<p>Antonio, then, was the son of Bartolommeo Picconi of Mugello, a maker +of casks; and after having learned the joiner's craft in his boyhood, +hearing that his uncle, Giuliano da San Gallo, was working at Rome in +company with his brother Antonio, he set out from Florence for that +city. And there, having devoted himself to the matters of the art of +architecture with the greatest possible zeal, and pursuing that art, +he gave promise of those achievements that we see in such abundance +throughout all Italy, in the vast number of works executed by him at +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124" name="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> a more mature age. Now it happened that Giuliano was forced +by the torment that he suffered from the stone to return to Florence; +and Antonio, having become known to the architect Bramante of Castel +Durante, began to give assistance to that master, who, being old and +crippled in the hands by palsy, was not able to work as before in the +preparation of his designs. And these Antonio executed with such +accuracy and precision that Bramante, finding that they were correct +and true in all their measurements, was constrained to leave to him +the charge of a great number of works that he had on his hands, only +giving him the order that he desired and all the inventions and +compositions that were to be used in each work. In these he found +himself served by Antonio with so much judgment, diligence, and +expedition, that in the year 1512 he gave him the charge of the +corridor that was to lead to the ditches of the Castello di S. Angelo; +for which he began to receive a salary of ten crowns a month; but the +death of Julius II then took place, and the work was left unfinished. +However, the circumstance that Antonio had already acquired a name as +a person of ability in architecture, and one who had a very good +manner in matters of building, was the reason that Alessandro, who was +first Cardinal Farnese, and afterwards Pope Paul III, conceived the +idea of commissioning him to restore the old palace in the Campo di +Fiore, in which he lived with his family; and for that work Antonio, +desiring to grow in reputation, made several designs in different +manners. Among which, one that was arranged with two apartments was +that which pleased his very reverend Highness, who, having two sons, +Signor Pier Luigi and Signor Ranuccio, thought that he would leave +them well accommodated by such a building. And, a beginning having +been made with that work, a certain portion was constructed regularly +every year.</p> + +<p>At this time a church dedicated to S. Maria di Loreto was being built +at the Macello de' Corbi, near the Column of Trajan, in Rome, and it +was brought to perfection by Antonio, with decorations of great +beauty. After this, Messer Marchionne Baldassini caused a palace to be +erected from the model and under the direction of Antonio, near S. +Agostino, which is arranged in such a manner that, small though it may +be, it <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125" name="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> is held to be, as indeed it is, the finest and most +convenient dwelling in Rome; and in it the staircases, the court, the +loggie, the doors, and the chimney-pieces, are all executed with +consummate grace. With which Messer Marchionne being very well +satisfied, he determined that Perino del Vaga, the Florentine painter, +should decorate one of the halls in colour, with scenes and other +figures, as will be related in his Life; which decorations have given +it infinite grace and beauty. And near the Torre di Nona Antonio +directed and finished the building of the house of the Centelli, which +is small, but very convenient.</p> + +<p>No long time passed before he went to Gradoli, a place in the +dominions of the very reverend Cardinal Farnese, where he caused a +most beautiful and commodious palace to be erected for that Cardinal. +On that journey he did a work of great utility in restoring the +fortress of Capo di Monte, which he surrounded with low and +well-shaped walls; and at the same time he made the design of the +fortress of Caprarola. And the very reverend Monsignor Farnese, +finding himself served by Antonio in all these works in a manner so +satisfactory, was constrained to wish him well, and, coming to love +him more and more, he showed him favour in his every enterprise +whenever he was able. After this, Cardinal Alborense, wishing to leave +a memorial of himself in the church of his nation, caused a chapel of +marble, with a tomb for himself, to be erected and brought to +completion by Antonio in S. Jacopo degli Spagnuoli; which chapel, as +has been related, was all painted in the spaces between the pilasters +by Pellegrino da Modena, and on the altar stood a most beautiful S. +James of marble executed by Jacopo Sansovino. This is a work of +architecture that is held to be truly worthy of the highest praise, +since the marble ceiling is divided very beautifully into octagonal +compartments. Nor was it long before M. Bartolommeo Ferratino, for his +own convenience and for the benefit of his friends, and also in order +to leave an honourable and enduring memorial of himself, commissioned +Antonio to build a palace on the Piazza d' Amelia, which is a +beautiful and most imposing work; whereby Antonio acquired no little +fame and profit. During this time Antonio di Monte, Cardinal of Santa +Prassedia, was in Rome, and he desired that the same architect +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126" name="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> should build for him the palace that he afterwards occupied, +looking out upon the Agone, where there is the statue of Maestro +Pasquino; and in the centre, which looks over the Piazza, he wished to +erect a tower. This was planned and brought to completion for him by +Antonio with a most beautiful composition of pilasters and windows +from the first floor to the third—a good and graceful design; and it +was adorned both within and without by Francesco dell' Indaco with +figures and scenes in terretta. And Antonio having meanwhile become +the devoted servant of the Cardinal of Arimini, that lord caused him +to erect a palace at Tolentino in the March, for which, in addition to +the rewards that Antonio received, the Cardinal ever afterwards held +himself indebted to him.</p> + +<p>While these matters were in progress, and the fame of Antonio was +growing and spreading abroad, it happened that old age and various +infirmities made Bramante a citizen of the other world; at which three +architects were appointed straightway by Pope Leo for the building of +S. Pietro—Raffaello da Urbino, Giuliano da San Gallo, the uncle of +Antonio, and Fra Giocondo of Verona. But no long time passed before +Fra Giocondo departed from Rome, and Giuliano, being old, received +leave to return to Florence. Whereupon Antonio, who was in the service +of the very reverend Cardinal Farnese, besought him very straitly that +he should make supplication to Pope Leo, to the end that he might +grant the place of his uncle Giuliano to him, which proved to be a +thing very easy to obtain, first because of the abilities of Antonio, +which were worthy of that place, and then by reason of the cordial +relations between the Pope and the very reverend Cardinal Farnese. And +thus, in company with Raffaello da Urbino, he continued that building, +but coldly enough.</p> + +<p>The Pope then went to Cività Vecchia, in order to fortify it, and in +his company were many lords; among others, Giovan Paolo Baglioni and +Signor Vitello, and such persons of ability as Pietro Navarra and +Antonio Marchissi, the architect for fortifications at that time, who +had come from Naples at the command of the Pope. Discussions arising +as to the fortification of that place, many and various were the +opinions about this, one man making one design, and another a +different one; <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127" name="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> but among so many, Antonio displayed before +them a plan which was approved by the Pope and by those lords and +architects as superior to all the others in strength and beauty and in +the handsome and useful character of its arrangements; wherefore +Antonio came into very great credit with the Court. After this, the +genius of Antonio repaired a great mischief brought about in the +following manner: Raffaello da Urbino, in executing the Papal Loggie +and the apartments that are over the foundations, had left many empty +spaces in the masonry in order to oblige some friends, to the serious +damage of the whole building, by reason of the great weight that had +to be supported above them; and the edifice was already beginning to +show signs of falling, on account of the weight being too great for +the walls. And it would certainly have fallen down but for the genius +of Antonio, who filled up those little chambers with the aid of props +and beams, and refounded the whole fabric, thus making it as firm and +solid as it had ever been in the beginning.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Florentine colony had begun their church in the Strada +Giulia, behind the Banchi, from the design of Jacopo Sansovino. But +they had chosen a site that extended too far into the river, so that, +compelled by necessity, they spent twelve thousand crowns on +foundations in the water, which were executed in a very secure and +beautiful manner by Antonio, who found the way after Jacopo had failed +to discover it; and several braccia of the edifice were built over the +water. Antonio made a model so excellent, that, if the work had been +carried to completion, it would have been something stupendous. +Nevertheless, it was a great error, giving proof of little judgment, +on the part of those who were at that time the heads of that colony in +Rome, for they should never have allowed the architects to found so +large a church in so terrible a river, for the sake of gaining twenty +braccia of length, and to throw away so many thousands of crowns on +foundations, only to be compelled to contend with that river for ever; +particularly because, by bringing that church forward and giving it +another form, they might have built it on solid ground, and, what is +more, might have carried the whole to completion with almost the same +expense. And if they <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128" name="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> trusted in the riches of the merchants +of that colony, it was seen afterwards how fallacious such a hope was, +for in all the years that the pontificate was held by Leo and Clement +of the Medici family, by Julius III, and by Marcellus, who all came +from Florentine territory, although the last-named lived but a short +time, and for all the greatness of so many Cardinals and the riches of +so many merchants, it remained, as it still does, in the same +condition in which it was left by our San Gallo. It is clear, +therefore, that architects and those who cause buildings to be erected +should look well to the end and to every matter, before setting their +hands to works of importance.</p> + +<p>But to return to Antonio: the fortress of Monte Fiascone had been +formerly built by Pope Urban, and he restored it at the commission of +the Pope, who took him to those parts one summer in his train. And at +the request of Cardinal Farnese he built two little temples on the +island of Visentina in the Lake of Bolsena, one of which was +constructed as an octagon without and round within, and the other was +square on the outer side and octagonal on the inner, with four niches +in the walls at the corners, one to each; which two little temples, +executed in so beautiful a manner, bore testimony to the skill with +which Antonio was able to give variety to the details of architecture. +While these temples were building, Antonio returned to Rome, where he +made a beginning with the Palace of the Bishop of Cervia, which was +afterwards left unfinished, on the Canto di S. Lucia, where the new +Mint stands. He built the Church of S. Maria di Monferrato, which is +held to be very beautiful, near the Corte Savella, and likewise the +house of one Marrano, which is behind the Cibo Palace, near the houses +of the Massimi.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Leo died, and with him all the fine and noble arts, which +had been restored to life by him and by his predecessor, Julius II; +and his successor was Adrian VI, in whose pontificate all arts and +talents were so crushed down, that, if the government of the Apostolic +Seat had remained long in his hands, that fate would have come upon +Rome under his rule which fell upon her on another occasion, when all +the statues saved from the destruction of the Goths, both the good and +the bad, were condemned to be burned. Adrian, perhaps in imitation of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129" name="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the Pontiffs of those former times, had already begun to +speak of intending to throw to the ground the Chapel of the divine +Michelagnolo, saying that it was a bagnio of nudes; and he despised +all good pictures and statues, calling them vanities of the world, and +shameful and abominable things, which circumstance was the reason that +not only Antonio, but all the other beautiful intellects were kept +idle, insomuch that, not to mention other works, scarcely anything was +done in the time of that Pontiff on the building of S. Pietro, to +which at least he should have been friendly, since he wished to prove +himself so much the enemy of worldly things.</p> + +<p>For that reason, therefore, attending under that Pontiff to works of +no great importance, Antonio restored the aisles of the Church of S. +Jacopo degli Spagnuoli, and furnished the façade with most beautiful +windows. He also caused a tabernacle of travertine to be constructed +for the Imagine di Ponte, which, although small, is yet very graceful; +and in it Perino del Vaga afterwards executed a beautiful little work +in fresco.</p> + +<p>The poor arts had already come to an evil pass through the life of +Adrian, when Heaven, moved to pity for them, resolved by the death of +one to give new life to thousands; wherefore it removed him from the +world and caused him to surrender his place to one who would fill that +position more worthily and would govern the affairs of the world in a +different spirit. And thus a new Pope was elected in Clement VII, who, +being a man of generous mind, and desiring to follow in the steps of +Leo and of the other members of his illustrious family who had +preceded him, bethought himself that, even as he had created beautiful +memorials of himself as Cardinal, so as Pope he should surpass all +others in restoring and adorning buildings. That election, then, +brought consolation to many men of talent, and infused a potent and +heaven-sent breath of life in those ingenious but timid spirits who +had sunk into abasement; and they, thus revived, afterwards executed +the beautiful works that we see at the present day. And first, having +been set to work at the commission of His Holiness, Antonio +straightway reconstructed a court in front of the Loggie, which had +been painted previously under <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130" name="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> the direction of Raffaello, in +the Palace; which court was a vast improvement in beauty and +convenience, for it was formerly necessary to pass through certain +narrow and tortuous ways, and Antonio, widening these and giving them +better form, made them spacious and beautiful. But this part is not +now in the condition in which Antonio left it, for Pope Julius III +took away the columns of granite that were there, in order to adorn +his villa with them, and altered everything. Antonio also executed the +façade of the old Mint of Rome, a work of great beauty and grace, in +the Banchi, making a rounded corner, which is held to be a difficult +and even miraculous thing; and in that work he placed the arms of the +Pope. And he refounded the unfinished part of the Papal Loggie, which +had remained incomplete at the death of Pope Leo, and had not been +continued, or even touched, through the negligence of Adrian. And +thus, at the desire of Clement, they were carried to their final +completion.</p> + +<p>His Holiness then resolving to fortify Parma and Piacenza, after many +designs and models had been made by various craftsmen, Antonio was +sent to those places, and with him Giuliano Leno, the supervisor of +those fortifications. When they had arrived there, Antonio having with +him his pupil L'Abacco, Pier Francesco da Viterbo, a very able +engineer, and the architect Michele San Michele of Verona, all of them +together carried the designs of those fortifications into execution. +Which done, the others remaining, Antonio returned to Rome, where Pope +Clement, since the Palace was poorly supplied in the matter of +apartments, ordained that Antonio should begin those in which the +public consistories are held, above the Ferraria, which were executed +in such a manner, that the Pontiff was well satisfied with them, and +caused other apartments to be constructed above them for the +Chamberlains of His Holiness. Over the ceilings of those apartments, +likewise, Antonio made others which were very commodious—a work which +was most dangerous, because it necessitated so much refounding. In +this kind of work Antonio was in truth very able, seeing that his +buildings never showed a crack; nor was there ever among the moderns +any architect more cautious or more skilful in joining walls.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131" name="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> In the time of Pope Paul II, the Church of the Madonna of +Loreto, which was small, and had its roof immediately over brick piers +of rustic work, had been refounded and brought to that size in which +it may be seen at the present day, by means of the skill and genius of +Giuliano da Maiano; and it had been continued from the outer +string-course upwards by Sixtus IV and by others, as has been related; +but finally, in the time of Clement, in the year 1526, without having +previously shown the slightest sign of falling, it cracked in such a +manner, that not only the arches of the tribune were in danger, but +the whole church in many places, for the reason that the foundations +were weak and wanting in depth. Wherefore Antonio was sent by the said +Pope Clement to put right so great a mischief; and when he had arrived +at Loreto, propping up the arches and fortifying the whole, like the +resolute and judicious architect that he was, he refounded all the +building, and, making the walls and pilasters thicker both within and +without, he gave it a beautiful form, both as a whole and in its +well-proportioned parts, and made it strong enough to be able to +support any weight, however great. He adhered to one and the same +order in the transepts and in the aisles of the church, making superb +mouldings on the architraves, friezes, and cornices above the arches, +and he rendered beautiful and well constructed in no common way the +socles of the four great piers around the eight sides of the tribune +which support the four arches—namely, three in the transepts, where +the chapels are, and the larger one in the central nave. This work +certainly deserves to be celebrated as the best that Antonio ever +executed, and that not without sufficient reason, seeing that those +who erect some new building, or raise one from the foundations, have +the power to make it high or low, and to carry it to such perfection +as they desire or are able to achieve, without being hindered by +anything; which does not fall to the lot of him who has to rectify or +restore works begun by others and brought to a sorry state either by +the craftsman or by the circumstances of Fortune; whence it may be +said that Antonio restored a dead thing to life, and did that which +was scarcely possible. Having finished all this, he arranged that the +church should be covered with lead, and gave directions for the +execution of all that <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132" name="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> still remained to do; and thus, by his +means, that famous temple received a better form and more grace than +it had possessed before, and the hope of a long-enduring life.</p> + +<p>He then returned to Rome, just after that city had been given over to +sack; and the Pope was at Orvieto, where the Court was suffering very +greatly from want of water. Thereupon, at the wish of the Pontiff, +Antonio built in that city a well all of stone, twenty-five braccia +wide, with two spiral staircases cut in the tufa, one above the other, +following the curve of the well. By these two spiral staircases it is +possible to descend to the bottom of the well, insomuch that the +animals that go there for water, entering by one door, go down by one +of the two staircases, and when they have come to the platform where +they receive their load of water, they pass, without turning round, +into the other branch of the spiral staircase, which winds above that +of the descent, and emerge from the well by a different door, opposite +to the other. This work, which was an ingenious, useful, and +marvellously beautiful thing, was carried almost to completion before +the death of Clement; and the mouth of the well, which alone remained +to be executed, was finished by order of Pope Paul III, but not +according to the directions drawn up by Clement with the advice of +Antonio, who was much commended for so beautiful a work. Certain it is +that the ancients never built a structure equal to this in workmanship +or ingenuity, seeing, above all, that the central shaft is made in +such a way that even down to the bottom it gives light by means of +certain windows to the two staircases mentioned above.</p> + +<p>While this work was in progress, the same Antonio directed the +construction of the fortress of Ancona, which in time was carried to +completion. Afterwards, Pope Clement resolving, at the time when his +nephew Alessandro de' Medici was Duke of Florence, to erect an +impregnable fortress in that city, Signor Alessandro Vitelli, Pier +Francesco da Viterbo, and Antonio laid out that castle, or rather, +fortress, which is between the Porta al Prato and the Porta a S. +Gallo, and caused it to be built with such rapidity, that no similar +structure, whether ancient or modern, was ever completed so quickly. +In a great tower, which was <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133" name="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the first to be founded, and was +called the Toso, were placed many inscriptions and medals, with the +most solemn pomp and ceremony; and this work is now celebrated over +all the world, and is held to be impregnable.</p> + +<p>By order of Antonio were summoned to Loreto the sculptor Tribolo, +Raffaello da Montelupo, Francesco da San Gallo, then a young man, and +Simone Cioli, who finished the scenes of marble begun by Andrea +Sansovino. To the same place Antonio summoned the Florentine Mosca, a +most excellent carver of marble, who was then occupied, as will be +related in his Life, with a chimney-piece of stone for the heirs of +Pellegrino da Fossombrone, which proved to be a divine work of +carving. This master, I say, at the entreaty of Antonio, made his way +to Loreto, where he executed festoons that are absolutely divine. +Thus, with rapidity and diligence, the ornamentation of that Chamber +of Our Lady was completely finished, although Antonio had five works +of importance on his hands at one and the same time, to all of which, +notwithstanding that they were in different places, distant one from +another, he gave his attention in such a manner that he never +neglected any of them; for when at any time he could not conveniently +be there in person, he availed himself of the assistance of his +brother Battista. These five works were the above-mentioned Fortress +of Florence, that of Ancona, the work at Loreto, the Apostolic Palace, +and the well at Orvieto.</p> + +<p>After the death of Clement, when Cardinal Farnese was elected supreme +Pontiff under the title of Paul III, Antonio, having been the friend +of the Pope while he was a Cardinal, came into even greater credit; +and His Holiness, having created his son, Signor Pier Luigi, Duke of +Castro, sent Antonio to make the designs of the fortress which that +Duke caused to be founded in that place; of the palace, called the +Osteria, that is on the Piazza; and of the Mint, built of travertine +after the manner of that in Rome, which is in the same place. Nor were +these the only designs that Antonio made in that city, for he prepared +many others of palaces and other buildings for various persons, both +natives and strangers, who erected edifices of such cost that it would +seem incredible to one who has not seen them, so ornate are they all, +so commodious, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134" name="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> and built with so little regard for expense; +which was done by many, without a doubt, in order to please the Pope, +seeing that even by such means do many contrive to procure favours for +themselves, flattering the humour of Princes; and this is a thing not +otherwise than worthy of praise, for it contributes to the +convenience, advantage, and pleasure of the whole world.</p> + +<p>Next, in the year in which the Emperor Charles V returned victorious +from Tunis, most magnificent triumphal arches were erected to him in +Messina, in Apulia, and in Naples, in honour of so great a victory; +and since he was to come to Rome, Antonio, at the commission of the +Pope, made a triumphal arch of wood at the Palace of S. Marco, of such +a shape that it might serve for two streets, and so beautiful that a +more superb or better proportioned work in wood has never been seen. +And if in such a work splendid and costly marbles had been added to +the industry, art, and diligence bestowed on its design and execution, +it might have been deservedly numbered, on account of its statues, +painted scenes, and other ornaments, among the Seven Wonders of the +world. This arch, which was placed at the end of the corner turning +into the principal Piazza, was of the Corinthian Order, with four +round columns overlaid with silver on each side, and capitals carved +in most beautiful foliage, completely overlaid with gold. There were +very beautiful architraves, friezes, and cornices placed with +projections over every column; and between each two columns were two +painted scenes, insomuch that there were four scenes distributed over +each side, which, with the two sides, made eight scenes altogether, +containing, as will be described elsewhere in speaking of those who +painted them, the deeds of the Emperor. In order to enhance this +splendour, also, and to complete the pediment above that arch on each +side, there were two figures in relief, each four braccia and a half +in height, representing Rome, with two Emperors of the House of +Austria on either side, those on the front part being Albrecht and +Maximilian, and those on the other side Frederick and Rudolph. And +upon the corners, likewise, were four prisoners, two on each side, +with a great number of trophies, also in relief, and the arms of His +Holiness and of His Majesty; which were all <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135" name="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> executed under +the direction of Antonio by excellent sculptors and by the best +painters that there were in Rome at that time. And not only this arch +was executed under the direction of Antonio, but also all the +preparations for the festival that was held for the reception of so +great and so invincible an Emperor.</p> + +<p>The same Antonio then set to work on the Fortress of Nepi for the +aforesaid Duke of Castro, and on the fortification of the whole city, +which is both beautiful and impregnable. He laid out many streets in +the same city, and made for its citizens the designs of many houses +and palaces. His Holiness then causing the bastions of Rome to be +constructed, which are very strong, and the Porta di S. Spirito being +included among those works, the latter was built with the direction +and design of Antonio, with rustic decorations of travertine, in a +very solid and beautiful manner, and so magnificent, that it equals +the works of the ancients. After the death of Antonio, there were some +who sought, moved more by envy than by any reasonable motive, and +employing extraordinary means, to have this structure pulled down; but +this was not allowed by those in power.</p> + +<p>Under the direction of the same architect was refounded almost the +whole of the Apostolic Palace, which was in danger of ruin in many +other parts besides those that have been mentioned; in particular, on +one side, the Sistine Chapel, in which are the works of Michelagnolo, +and likewise the façade, which he did in such a way that not the +slightest crack appeared—a work richer in danger than in honour. He +enlarged the Great Hall of that same Sistine Chapel, making in two +lunettes at the head of it those immense windows with their marvellous +lights, and with compartments pushed up into the vaulting and wrought +in stucco; all executed at great cost, and so well, that this hall may +be considered the richest and the most beautiful that there had been +in the world up to that time. And he added to it a staircase, by which +it might be possible to go into S. Pietro, so commodious and so well +built that nothing better, whether ancient or modern, has yet been +seen; and likewise the Pauline Chapel, where the Sacrament has to be +placed, which is a work of extraordinary charm, so beautiful and so +well <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136" name="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> proportioned and distributed, that through the grace +that may be seen therein it appears to present itself to the eye with +a festive smile.</p> + +<p>Antonio built the Fortress of Perugia, at the time when there was +discord between the people of that city and the Pope; and that work, +for which the houses of the Baglioni were thrown to the ground, was +finished with marvellous rapidity, and proved to be very beautiful. He +also built the Fortress of Ascoli, bringing it in a few days to such a +condition that it could be held by a garrison, although the people of +Ascoli and others did not think that it could be carried so far in +many years; wherefore it happened that, when the garrison was placed +in it so quickly, those people were struck with astonishment, and +could scarce believe it. He also refounded his own house in the Strada +Giulia at Rome, in order to protect himself from the floods that rise +when the Tiber is swollen; and he not only began, but in great part +completed, the palace that he occupied near S. Biagio, which now +belongs to Cardinal Riccio of Montepulciano, who has finished it, +adding most ornate apartments, and spending upon it vast sums in +addition to what had been spent by Antonio, which was some thousands +of crowns.</p> + +<p>But all that Antonio did to the benefit and advantage of the world is +as nothing in comparison with the model of the venerable and +stupendous fabric of S. Pietro at Rome, which, planned in the +beginning by Bramante, he enlarged and rearranged with a new plan and +in an extraordinary manner, giving it dignity and a well-proportioned +composition, both as a whole and in its separate parts, as may be seen +from the model made of wood by the hand of his disciple, Antonio +L'Abacco, who carried it to absolute perfection. This model, which +gave Antonio a very great name, was published in engraving after the +death of Antonio da San Gallo, together with the ground-plan of the +whole edifice, by the said Antonio L'Abacco, who wished to show in +this way how great was the genius of San Gallo, and to make known to +all men the opinion of that architect; for new plans had been proposed +in opposition by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and out of this change of +plans many contentions afterwards arose, as will be related in the +proper place. It appeared to Michelagnolo, and also to many others who +saw the model of San <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137" name="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> Gallo, and such parts as were carried +into execution by him, that Antonio's composition was too much cut up +by projections and by members which are too small, as are also the +columns, the arches upon arches, and the cornices upon cornices. +Besides this, it seems not to be approved that the two bell-towers in +his plan, the four little tribunes, and the principal cupola, should +have that ornament, or rather, garland of columns, many and small. In +like manner, men did not much approve, nor do they now, of those +innumerable pinnacles that are in it as a finish to the work; and it +appears that in that model he imitated the style and manner of the +Germans rather than the good manner of the ancients, which is now +followed by the best architects. The above-mentioned model of S. +Pietro was finished by L'Abacco a short time after the death of +Antonio; and it was found that, in so far as appertained merely to the +woodwork and the labour of the carpenters, it had cost four thousand +one hundred and eighty-four crowns. In executing it, Antonio L'Abacco, +who had charge of the work, acquitted himself very well, having a good +knowledge of the matters of architecture, as is proved by the book of +the buildings of Rome that he printed, which is very beautiful. This +model, which is now to be found in the principal chapel of S. Pietro, +is thirty-five palme<a id="FNanchor24" name="FNanchor24"></a><a href="#Footnote24" title="Go to footnote 24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> in length, twenty-six in breadth, and twenty +palme and a half in height; wherefore, according to the model, the +work would have been one thousand and forty palme in length, or one +hundred and four canne,<a id="FNanchor25" name="FNanchor25"></a><a href="#Footnote25" title="Go to footnote 25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and three hundred and sixty palme in +breadth, or thirty-six canne, for the reason that the canna which is +used in Rome, according to the measure of the masons, is equal to ten +palme.</p> + +<p>For the making of this model and of many designs, there were assigned +to Antonio by the Wardens of the building of S. Pietro fifteen hundred +crowns, of which he received one thousand in cash; but the rest he +never drew, for a short time after that work he passed to the other +life. He strengthened the piers of the same Church of S. Pietro, to +the end that the weight of the tribune might be supported securely; +and he filled all the scattered parts of the foundations with solid +material, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138" name="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> made them so strong, that there is no reason +to fear that the building may show any more cracks or threaten to +fall, as it did in the time of Bramante. This masterly work, if it +were above the ground instead of being hidden below, would amaze the +boldest intellect. And for these reasons the name and fame of this +admirable craftsman should always have a place among the rarest +masters.</p> + +<p>We find that ever since the time of the ancient Romans the men of +Terni and those of Narni have been deadly enemies with one another, as +they still are, for the reason that the lake of the Marmora, becoming +choked up at times, would do injury to one of those communities; and +thus, when the people of Narni wished to release the waters, those of +Terni would by no means consent to it. On that account there has +always been a difference between them, whether the Pontiffs were +governing Rome, or whether it was subject to the Emperors; and in the +time of Cicero that orator was sent by the Senate to compose that +difference, but it remained unsettled. Wherefore, after envoys had +been sent to Pope Paul III in the year 1546 for the same purpose, he +despatched Antonio to them to settle that dispute; and so, by his good +judgment, it was resolved that the lake should have an outlet on the +side where the wall is, and Antonio had it cut, although with the +greatest difficulty. But it came to pass by reason of the heat, which +was great, and other hardships, that Antonio, being now old and +feeble, fell sick of a fever at Terni, and rendered up his spirit not +long after; at which his friends and relatives felt infinite sorrow, +and many buildings suffered, particularly the Palace of the Farnese +family, near the Campo di Fiore.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img028" id="img028"></a> +<img src="images/img028-tb.jpg" width="500" height="348" alt="Palazzo Farnese." title=""> +<p class="caption">PALAZZO FARNESE<br> +(<i>After</i> Antonio di San Gallo (<i>with</i> Michelangelo).<br> <i>Rome</i>.)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img028.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Pope Paul III, when he was Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, had carried +that palace a considerable way towards completion, and had finished +part of the first range of windows in the façade and the inner hall, +and had begun one side of the courtyard; but the building was yet not +so far advanced that it could be seen in its perfection, when the +Cardinal was elected Pontiff, and Antonio altered the whole of the +original design, considering that he had to make a palace no longer +for a Cardinal, but for a Pope. Having therefore pulled down some +houses that were round it, and the old staircase, he rebuilt it with a +more gentle <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139" name="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> ascent, and increased the courtyard on every +side and also the whole palace, making the halls greater in extent and +the rooms more numerous and more magnificent, with very beautiful +carved ceilings and many other ornaments. And he had already brought +the façade, with the second range of windows, to completion, and had +only to add the great cornice that was to go right round the whole, +when the Pope, who was a man of exalted mind and excellent judgment, +desiring to have a cornice richer and more beautiful than any that +there had ever been in any other palace whatsoever, resolved that, in +addition to the designs that Antonio had made, all the best architects +of Rome should each make one, after which he would choose the finest, +but would nevertheless have it carried into execution by Antonio. And +so one morning, while he was at table at the Belvedere, all those +designs were brought before him in the presence of Antonio, the +masters who had made them being Perino del Vaga, Fra Sebastiano del +Piombo, Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and Giorgio Vasari, who was then a +young man and in the service of Cardinal Farnese, at the commission of +whom and of the Pope he had prepared for that cornice not one only, +but two different designs. It is true that Buonarroti did not bring +his own himself, but sent it by the same Giorgio Vasari, who had gone +to show him his designs, to the end that he might express his opinion +on them as a friend; whereupon Michelagnolo gave him his own design, +asking that he should take it to the Pope and make his excuses for not +going in person, on the ground that he was indisposed. And when all +the designs had been presented to the Pope, his Holiness examined them +for a long time, and praised them all as ingenious and very beautiful, +but that of the divine Michelagnolo above all.</p> + +<p>Now all this did not happen without causing vexation to Antonio, who +was not much pleased with this method of procedure on the part of the +Pope, and who would have liked to do everything by himself. But even +more was he displeased to see that the Pope held in great account one +Jacomo Melighino of Ferrara, and made use of him as architect in the +building of S. Pietro, although he showed neither power of design nor +much judgment in his works, giving him the same salary as he paid to +Antonio, on whom fell all the labour. And this happened <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140" name="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +because this Melighino had been the faithful servant of the Pope for +many years without any reward, and it pleased His Holiness to +recompense him in that way; not to mention that he had charge of the +Belvedere and of some other buildings belonging to the Pope.</p> + +<p>After the Pope, therefore, had seen all the designs mentioned above, +he said, perchance to try Antonio: "These are all beautiful, but it +would not be amiss for us to see another that our Melighino has made." +At which Antonio, feeling some resentment, and believing that the Pope +was making fun of him, replied: "Holy Father, Melighino is but an +architect in jest." Which hearing, the Pope, who was seated, turned +towards Antonio, and, bowing his head almost to the ground, answered: +"Antonio, it is our wish that Melighino should be an architect in +earnest, as you may see from his salary." Having said this, he +dismissed the company and went away; and by these words he meant to +show that it is very often by Princes rather than by their own merits +that men are brought to the greatness that they desire. The cornice +was afterwards executed by Michelagnolo, who reconstructed the whole +of that palace almost in another form, as will be related in his Life.</p> + +<p>After the death of Antonio there remained alive his brother Battista +Gobbo, a person of ability, who spent all his time on the buildings of +Antonio, although the latter did not behave very well towards him. +This Battista did not live many years after Antonio, and at his death +he left all his possessions to the Florentine Company of the +Misericordia in Rome, on the condition that the men of that Company +should cause to be printed a book of Observations on Vitruvius that he +had written. That book has never come into the light of day, but it is +believed to be a good work, for he had a very fine knowledge of the +matters of his art, and was a man of excellent judgment, and he was +also upright and true.</p> + +<p>But returning to Antonio: having died at Terni, he was taken to Rome +and carried to the grave with the greatest pomp, followed by all the +craftsmen of design and by many others; and then, at the instance of +the Wardens of S. Pietro, his body was placed in a tomb near the +Chapel of Pope Sixtus in S. Pietro, with the following epitaph:</p> + +<p class="center"> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141" name="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> <span class="smcap">ANTONIO SANCTI GALLI FLORENTINO, URBE MUNIENDA AC PUB.<br> + OPERIBUS, PRÆCIPUEQUE D. PETRI TEMPLO ORNAN. ARCHITECTORUM FACILE<br> + PRINCIPI, DUM VELINI LACUS EMISSIONEM PARAT, PAULO PONT. MAX.<br> + AUCTORE, INTERAMNÆ INTEMPESTIVE EXTINCTO, ISABELLA DETA UXOR<br> + MŒSTISS. POSUIT 1546, III. CALEND. OCTOBRIS.</span></p> + +<p>And in truth Antonio, who was a most excellent architect, deserves to +be celebrated and extolled, as his works clearly demonstrate, no less +than any other architect, whether ancient or modern.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="romano" id="romano"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143" name="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> GIULIO ROMANO</h2> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_romano" id="life_of_romano"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145" name="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> LIFE OF GIULIO ROMANO</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER</h3> + + +<p>Among his many, or rather innumerable, disciples, the greater number +of whom became able masters, Raffaello da Urbino had not one who +imitated him more closely in manner, invention, design, and colouring, +than did Giulio Romano, nor one who was better grounded, more bold, +resolute, prolific, and versatile, or more fanciful and varied than +Giulio; not to mention for the present that he was very pleasant in +his conversation, gay, amiable, gracious, and supremely excellent in +character. These qualities were the reason that he was so beloved by +Raffaello, that, if he had been his son, he could not have loved him +more; wherefore it came to pass that Raffaello always made use of him +in his most important works, and, in particular, in executing the +Papal Loggie for Leo X; for after Raffaello had made the designs for +the architecture, the decorations, and the scenes, he caused Giulio to +paint many of the pictures there, among which are the Creation of Adam +and Eve, that of the animals, the Building of Noah's Ark, his +Sacrifice, and many other works, which are known by the manner, such +as the one in which the daughter of Pharaoh, with her ladies, finds +Moses in the little ark, which had been cast adrift on the river by +the Hebrews—a work that is marvellous on account of a very well +executed landscape. Giulio also assisted Raffaello in painting many +things in that apartment of the Borgia Tower which contains the +Burning of the Borgo, more particularly the base, which is painted in +the colour of bronze, with the Countess Matilda, King Pepin, +Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, and other +benefactors of the Church—all excellent figures; and prints of a part +of this scene, taken from a drawing by the hand of Giulio, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146" name="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +were published not long since. The same Giulio also executed the +greater part of the scenes in fresco that are in the Loggia of +Agostino Chigi; and he worked in oils on a very beautiful picture of +S. Elizabeth, which was painted by Raffaello and sent to King Francis +of France, together with another picture, of S. Margaret, painted +almost entirely by Giulio after the design of Raffaello, who sent to +the same King the portrait of the Vice-Queen of Naples, wherein +Raffaello did nothing but the likeness of the head from life, and the +rest was finished by Giulio. These works, which were very dear to that +King, are still in the King's Chapel at Fontainebleau in France.</p> + +<p>Working in this manner in the service of his master Raffaello, and +learning the most difficult secrets of art, which were taught to him +by Raffaello himself with extraordinary lovingness, before a long time +had passed Giulio knew very well how to draw in perspective, take the +measurements of buildings, and execute ground-plans; and Raffaello, +designing and sketching at times inventions after his own fancy, would +afterwards have them drawn on a larger scale, with the proper +measurements, by Giulio, in order to make use of them in his works of +architecture. And Giulio, beginning to delight in that art, gave his +attention to it in such a manner, that he afterwards practised it and +became a most excellent master. At his death, Raffaello left as his +heirs Giulio and Giovan Francesco, called Il Fattore, on the condition +that they should finish the works begun by him; and they carried the +greater part of these to completion with honour.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img029" id="img029"></a> +<img src="images/img029-tb.jpg" width="400" height="503" alt="The Battle of Constantine." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE BATTLE OF CONSTANTINE<br> +(<i>Detail, after the fresco by</i> Giulio Romano.<br> <i>Rome: The Vatican</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img029.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Now Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who afterwards became Pope Clement +VII, took a site under Monte Mario at Rome, in which, besides a +beautiful view, there were running waters, with some woods on the +banks and a lovely plain which, running along the Tiber as far as the +Ponte Molle, formed on either side a wide expanse of meadowland that +extended almost to the Porta di S. Pietro; and on the highest point of +the bank, where there was a level space, he proposed to build a palace +with all the best and most beautiful conveniences and adornments that +could be desired in the form of apartments, loggie, gardens, +fountains, groves, and other things. Of all this he gave the charge to +Giulio, who, undertaking <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147" name="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> it willingly, and setting his +hand to the work, brought that palace, which was then called the Vigna +de' Medici, and is now known as the Villa Madama, to that condition +which will be described below. Accommodating himself, then, to the +nature of the site and the wishes of the Cardinal, he made the façade +in the form of a semicircle, after the manner of a theatre, with a +design of niches and windows of the Ionic Order; which was so +excellent, that many believe that Raffaello made the first sketch for +it, and that the work was afterwards pursued and carried to completion +by Giulio. The same Giulio painted many pictures in the chambers and +elsewhere; in particular, in a very beautiful loggia beyond the first +entrance vestibule, which is adorned all around with niches large and +small, wherein are great numbers of ancient statues; and among these +was a Jupiter, a rare work, which was afterwards sent by the Farnese +family to King Francis of France, with many other most beautiful +statues. In addition to those niches, the said loggia is all wrought +in stucco and has the walls and ceilings all painted with grotesques +by the hand of Giovanni da Udine. At the head of this loggia Giulio +painted in fresco an immense Polyphemus with a vast number of children +and little satyrs playing about him, for which he gained much praise, +even as he did for all the designs and works that he executed for that +place, which he adorned with fish-ponds, pavements, rustic fountains, +groves, and other suchlike things, all most beautiful and carried out +with fine order and judgment.</p> + +<p>It is true that, the death of Leo supervening, for a time this work +was carried no further, for when a new Pontiff had been elected in +Adrian, and Cardinal de' Medici had returned to Florence, it was +abandoned, together with all the public works begun by Adrian's +predecessor. During this time Giulio and Giovan Francesco brought to +completion many things that had been left unfinished by Raffaello, and +they were preparing to carry into execution some of the cartoons that +he had made for the pictures of the Great Hall of the Palace—in which +he had begun to paint four stories from the life of the Emperor +Constantine, and had, when he died, covered one wall with the proper +mixture for painting in oils—when they saw that Adrian, being a man +who took no delight in <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148" name="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> pictures, sculptures, or in any other +good thing, had no wish that the Hall should be finished. Driven to +despair, therefore, Giulio and Giovan Francesco, and with them Perino +del Vaga, Giovanni da Udine, Sebastiano Viniziano, and all the other +excellent craftsmen, were almost like to die of hunger during the +lifetime of Adrian. But by the will of God, while the Court, +accustomed to the magnificence of Leo, was all in dismay, and all the +best craftsmen, perceiving that no art was prized any longer, were +beginning to consider where they might take refuge, Adrian died, and +Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Supreme Pontiff under the name +of Clement VII; and with him all the arts of design, together with the +other arts, were restored to life in one day. Giulio and Giovan +Francesco, full of joy, set themselves straightway by order of the +Pope to finish the above-mentioned Hall of Constantine, and threw to +the ground the preparation that had been laid on one wall for painting +in oils; but they left untouched two figures that they had painted +previously in oils, which serve as adornments to certain Popes; and +these were a Justice and another similar figure.</p> + +<p>The distribution of this Hall, which is low, had been designed with +much judgment by Raffaello, who had placed at the corners, over all +the doors, large niches with ornaments in the form of little boys +holding various devices of Leo, such as lilies, diamonds, plumes, and +other emblems of the House of Medici. In the niches were seated some +Popes in pontificals, each with a canopy in his niche; and round those +Popes were some little boys in the form of little angels, holding +books and other appropriate things in their hands. And each Pope had +on either side of him a Virtue, chosen according to his merits; thus, +the Apostle Peter had Religion on one side and Charity, or rather +Piety, on the other, and so all the others had similar Virtues; and +the said Popes were Damasus I, Alexander I, Leo III, Gregory, +Sylvester, and some others. All these figures were so well placed in +position and executed by Giulio, who painted all the best parts of +this work in fresco, that it is clear that he endured much labour and +took great pains with them; as may also be seen from a drawing of S. +Sylvester, which was designed very well by his own hand, and is +perhaps a much more graceful work than the painted figure. <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149" name="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +It may be affirmed, indeed, that Giulio always expressed his +conceptions better in drawings than in finished work or in paintings, +for in the former may be seen more vivacity, boldness, and feeling; +and this may have happened because he made a drawing in an hour, in +all the heat and glow of working, whereas on paintings he spent +months, and even years, so that, growing weary of them, and losing +that keen and ardent love that one has at the beginning of a work, it +is no marvel that he did not give them that absolute perfection that +is to be seen in his drawings.</p> + +<p>But to return to the stories: Giulio painted on one of the walls +Constantine making an address to his soldiers; while in the air, in a +splendour of light, appears the Sign of the Cross, with some little +boys, and letters that run thus: "In hoc signo vinces." And there is a +dwarf at the feet of Constantine, placing a helmet on his head, who is +executed with great art. Next, on the largest wall, there is the +battle of horsemen which took place at the Ponte Molle, in which +Constantine routed Maxentius. This work is worthy of the highest +praise, on account of the dead and wounded that may be seen in it, and +the various extravagant attitudes of the foot-soldiers and horsemen +who are fighting in groups, all painted with great spirit; not to +mention that there are many portraits from life. And if this scene +were not too much darkened and loaded with blacks, which Giulio always +delighted to use in colouring, it would be altogether perfect; but +this takes away much of its grace and beauty. In the same scene he +painted the whole landscape of Monte Mario, and the River Tiber, in +which Maxentius, who is on horseback, proud and terrible, is drowning. +In short, Giulio acquitted himself in such a manner in this work, that +it has been a great light to all who have painted battle-pieces of +that kind since his day. He himself learned so much from the ancient +columns of Trajan and Antoninus that are in Rome, that he made much +use of this knowledge for the costumes of soldiers, armour, ensigns, +bastions, palisades, battering-rams, and all the other instruments of +war that are painted throughout the whole of that Hall. And beneath +these scenes, right round, he painted many things in the colour of +bronze, which are all beautiful and worthy of praise.</p> + +<p>On another wall he painted S. Sylvester the Pope baptizing +Constantine, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150" name="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> representing there the very bath made by +Constantine himself, which is at S. Giovanni Laterano at the present +day; and he made a portrait from life of Pope Clement in the S. +Sylvester who is baptizing, with some assistants in their vestments, +and a crowd of people. Among the many attendants of the Pope of whom +he painted portraits there, also from life, was the Cavalierino, who +was very influential with His Holiness at that time, and Messer +Niccolò Vespucci, a Knight of Rhodes. And below this, on the base, he +painted a scene with figures in imitation of bronze, of Constantine +causing the Church of S. Pietro to be built at Rome, in allusion to +Pope Clement. There he made portraits of the architect Bramante and of +Giuliano Lemi,<a id="FNanchor26" name="FNanchor26"></a><a href="#Footnote26" title="Go to footnote 26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> holding the design of the ground-plan of the said +church, and this scene is very beautiful.</p> + +<p>On the fourth wall, above the chimney-piece of that Hall, he depicted +in perspective the Church of S. Pietro at Rome, with the Pope's throne +exactly as it appears when His Holiness chants the Pontifical Mass; +the body of Cardinals and all the other prelates of the Court; the +chapel of singers and musicians; and the Pope seated, represented as +S. Sylvester, with Constantine kneeling at his feet and presenting to +him a figure of Rome made of gold in the manner of those that are on +the ancient medals, by which Giulio intended to signify the dowry +which that Constantine gave to the Roman Church. In this scene Giulio +painted many women kneeling there to see that ceremony, who are very +beautiful; a beggar asking for alms; a little boy amusing himself by +riding on a dog; and the Lancers of the Papal Guard, who are making +the people give way and stand back, as is the custom. And among many +portraits that are in this work may be seen portraits from life of +Giulio himself, the painter; of Count Baldassarre Castiglioni, the +author of the "Cortigiano," and very much his friend; of Pontano and +Marullo; and of many other men of letters and courtiers. Right round +the Hall and between the windows Giulio painted many devices and +poetical compositions, which were pleasing and fanciful; and +everything was much to the satisfaction of the Pope, who rewarded him +liberally for his labours.</p> + +<p>While this Hall was being painted, Giulio and Giovan Francesco, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151" name="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> although they could not meet the demands of their friends +even in part, executed an altar-piece with the Assumption of Our Lady, +a very beautiful work, which was sent to Perugia and placed in the +Convent of the Nuns of Monteluci. Then, having withdrawn to work by +himself, Giulio painted a picture of Our Lady, with a cat that was so +natural that it appeared to be truly alive; whence that picture was +called the Picture of the Cat. In another picture, of great size, he +painted a Christ being scourged at the Column, which was placed on the +altar of the Church of S. Prassedia at Rome. And not long after this, +M. Giovan Matteo Giberti, who was then Datary to Pope Clement, and +afterwards became Bishop of Verona, commissioned Giulio, who was his +very familiar friend, to make the design for some rooms that were +built of brick near the gate of the Papal Palace, looking out upon the +Piazza of S. Pietro, and serving for the accommodation of the +trumpeters who blow their trumpets when the Cardinals go to the +Consistory, with a most commodious flight of steps, which can be +ascended on horseback as well as on foot. For the same M. Giovan +Matteo he painted an altar-piece of the Stoning of S. Stephen, which +M. Giovan Matteo sent to a benefice of his own, called S. Stefano, in +Genoa. In this altar-piece, which is most beautiful in invention, +grace, and composition, the young Saul may be seen seated on the +garments of S. Stephen while the Jews are stoning him; and, in a word, +Giulio never painted a more beautiful work than this, so fierce are +the attitudes of the persecutors and so well expressed the patience of +Stephen, who appears to be truly seeing Jesus Christ on the right hand +of the Father in the Heaven, which is painted divinely well. This +work, together with the benefice, M. Giovan Matteo gave to the Monks +of Monte Oliveto, who have turned the place into a monastery.</p> + +<p>The same Giulio executed at the commission of the German Jacob Fugger, +for a chapel that is in S. Maria de Anima at Rome, a most lovely +altar-piece in oils, in which are the Madonna, S. Anne, S. Joseph, S. +James, S. John as a little boy kneeling, and S. Mark the Evangelist +with a lion at his feet, which is lying down with a book, its hair +curving in accordance with its position, which was a beautiful +consideration, and difficult to <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152" name="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> execute; not to mention that +the same lion has short wings on its shoulders, with feathers so soft +and plumy, that it seems almost incredible that the hand of a +craftsman could have been able to imitate nature so closely. Besides +this, he painted there a building that curves in a circular form after +the manner of a theatre, with some statues so beautiful and so well +placed that there is nothing better to be seen. Among other figures +there is a woman who is spinning and gazing at a hen with some +chickens, than which nothing could be more natural; and above Our Lady +are some little boys, very graceful and well painted, who are +upholding a canopy. And if this picture, also, had not been so heavily +loaded with black, by reason of which it has become very dark, it +would certainly have been much better; but this blackness has brought +it about that the greater part of the work that is in it is lost or +destroyed, and that because black, even when fortified with varnish, +is the ruin of all that is good, always having in it a certain +desiccative quality, whether it be made from charcoal, burnt ivory, +smoke-black, or burnt paper.</p> + +<p>Among the many disciples that Giulio had while he was executing these +works, such as Bartolommeo da Castiglione, Tommaso Papacello of +Cortona, and Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, those of whom he made the most +particular use were Giovanni da Lione and Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo +a San Sepolcro, both of whom assisted him in the execution of many +things in the Hall of Constantine and in the other works of which we +have spoken. Wherefore I do not think it right to refrain from +mentioning that these two, who were very dexterous in painting, and +followed the manner of Giulio closely in carrying into execution the +works that he designed for them, painted in colours after his design, +near the old Mint in the Banchi, the escutcheon of Pope Clement VII, +each of them doing one-half, with two terminal figures, one on either +side of that escutcheon. And the same Raffaello, not long after, +painted in fresco from a cartoon drawn by Giulio, in a lunette within +the door of the Palace of Cardinal della Valle, a Madonna who is +covering the Child, who is sleeping, with a piece of drapery, with S. +Andrew the Apostle on one side and S. Nicholas on the other, which was +held, with justice, to be an excellent picture.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153" name="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> Giulio, meanwhile, being very intimate with Messer +Baldassarre Turini da Pescia, built for him on Mount Janiculum, where +there are some villas that have a most beautiful view, after making +the design and model, a palace so graceful and so well appointed, from +its having all the conveniences that could be desired in such a place, +that it defies description. Moreover, the apartments were adorned not +only with stucco, but also with paintings, for he himself painted +there some stories of Numa Pompilius, who was buried on that spot; and +in the bathroom of this palace, with the help of his young men, Giulio +painted some stories of Venus, Love, Apollo, and Hyacinthus, which are +all to be seen in engraving.</p> + +<p>After having separated himself completely from Giovan Francesco, he +executed various architectural works in Rome, such as the design of +the house of the Alberini in the Banchi (although some believe that +the plan of this work came from Raffaello), and likewise a palace that +may be seen at the present day on the Piazza della Dogana in Rome, +which, being beautiful in design, has been reproduced in engraving. +And for himself, on a corner of the Macello de' Corbi, where stood his +own house, in which he was born, he made a beginning with a beautiful +range of windows, which is a small thing, but very graceful.</p> + +<p>By reason of all these excellent qualities, Giulio, after the death of +Raffaello, was celebrated as the best craftsman in Italy. And Count +Baldassarre Castiglioni, who was then in Rome as ambassador from +Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and was much the friend, as has +been related, of Giulio, having been commanded by his master the +Marquis to send him an architect of whom he might avail himself for +the necessities of his palace and of the city, the Marquis adding that +he would particularly like to have Giulio—the Count, I say, so +wrought upon him with entreaties and promises, that Giulio said that +he would go, provided that he could do this with the leave of Pope +Clement; which leave having been obtained, the Count, setting out for +Mantua, from which he was then to go on behalf of the Pope to the +Emperor, took Giulio with him; and having arrived there, he presented +him to the Marquis, who, after welcoming him warmly, caused an +honourably <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154" name="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> appointed house to be given to him, together with +a salary and also a good table for himself, for his disciple Benedetto +Pagni, and for another young man who was in his service; and, what is +more, the Marquis sent him several canne of velvet, satin, and other +kinds of silk and cloth wherewith to clothe himself. Then, hearing +that he had no horse to ride, he sent for a favourite horse of his +own, called Luggieri, and presented it to him; and when Giulio had +mounted upon it, they rode to a spot a bow-shot beyond the Porta di S. +Bastiano, where His Excellency had a place with some stables, called +the Tè, standing in the middle of a meadow, in which he kept his stud +of horses and mares. Arriving there, the Marquis said that he would +like, without destroying the old walls, to have some sort of place +arranged to which he might resort at times for dinner or supper, as a +recreation.</p> + +<p>Giulio, having heard the will of the Marquis, and having examined the +whole place, took a ground-plan of that site and set his hand to the +work. Availing himself of the old walls, he made in the principal part +the first hall that is to be seen at the present day as one enters, +with the suite of rooms that are about it. And since the place has no +living rock, and no quarries from which to excavate material for hewn +and carved stone, such as are used in building by those who can obtain +them, he made use of brick and baked stone, which he afterwards worked +over with stucco; and with this material he made columns, bases, +capitals, cornices, doors, windows, and other things, all with most +beautiful proportions. And he executed the decorations of the vaults +in a new and fantastic manner, with very handsome compartments, and +with richly adorned recesses, which was the reason that the Marquis, +after a beginning so humble, then resolved to have the whole of that +building reconstructed in the form of a great palace.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img030" id="img030"></a> +<img src="images/img030-tb.jpg" width="500" height="343" alt="The Marriage Banquet of Cupid and Psyche." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE MARRIAGE BANQUET OF CUPID AND PSYCHE<br> +(<i>After the fresco by</i> Giulio Romano.<br> <i>Mantua: Palazzo del Tè</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img030.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Thereupon Giulio made a very beautiful model, all of rustic work both +without and within the courtyard, which pleased that lord so much, +that he assigned a good sum of money for the building; and after +Giulio had engaged many masters, the work was quickly carried to +completion. The form of the palace is as follows: The building is +quadrangular, and has in the centre an open courtyard after the manner +of a meadow, or rather, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155" name="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> of a piazza, into which open four +entrances in the form of a cross. The first of these traverses +straightway, or rather, passes, into a very large loggia, which opens +by another into the garden, and two others lead into various +apartments; and these are all adorned with stucco-work and paintings. +In the hall to which the first entrance gives access the vaulting is +wrought in various compartments and painted in fresco, and on the +walls are portraits from life of all the favourite and most beautiful +horses from the stud of the Marquis, together with the dogs of the +same coat or marking as the horses, with their names; which were all +designed by Giulio, and painted in fresco on the plaster by the +painters Benedetto Pagni and Rinaldo Mantovano, his disciples, and so +well, in truth, that they seem to be alive.</p> + +<p>From this hall one passes into a room which is at one corner of the +palace, and has the vaulting most beautifully wrought with +compartments in stucco-work and varied mouldings, touched in certain +places with gold. These mouldings divide the surface into four +octagons, which enclose a picture in the highest part of the vaulting, +in which is Cupid marrying Psyche in the sight of Jove, who is on +high, illumined by a dazzling celestial light, and in the presence of +all the Gods. It would not be possible to find anything executed with +more grace or better draughtsmanship than this scene, for Giulio +foreshortened the figures so well, with a view to their being seen +from below, that some of them, although they are scarcely one braccio +in length, appear when seen from the ground to be three braccia high; +and, in truth, they are wrought with marvellous art and ingenuity, +Giulio having succeeded in so contriving them, that, besides seeming +to be alive (so strong is the relief), they deceive the human eye with +a most pleasing illusion. In the octagons are all the earlier stories +of Psyche, showing the adversities that came upon her through the +wrath of Venus, and all executed with the same beauty and perfection; +in other angles are many Loves, as likewise in the windows, producing +various effects in accordance with the spaces where they are; and the +whole of the vaulting is painted in oils by the hands of the +above-mentioned Benedetto and Rinaldo. The rest of the stories of +Psyche are on the walls below, and these are the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156" name="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> largest. In +one in fresco is Psyche in the bath; and the Loves are bathing her, +and then wiping her dry with most beautiful gestures. In another part +is Mercury preparing the banquet, while Psyche is bathing, with the +Bacchantes sounding instruments; and there are the Graces adorning the +table with flowers in a beautiful manner. There is also Silenus +supported by Satyrs, with his ass, and a goat lying down, which has +two children sucking at its udder; and in that company is Bacchus, who +has two tigers at his feet, and stands leaning with one arm on the +credence, on one side of which is a camel, and on the other an +elephant. This credence, which is barrel-shaped, is adorned with +festoons of verdure and flowers, and all covered with vines laden with +bunches of grapes and leaves, under which are three rows of bizarre +vases, basins, drinking-cups, tazze, goblets, and other things of that +kind in various forms and fantastic shapes, and so lustrous, that they +seem to be of real silver and gold, being counterfeited with a simple +yellow and other colours, and that so well, that they bear witness to +the extraordinary genius and art of Giulio, who proved in this part of +the work that he was rich, versatile, and abundant in invention and +craftsmanship. Not far away may be seen Psyche, who, surrounded by +many women who are serving and attiring her, sees Phœbus appearing +in the distance among the hills in the chariot of the sun, which is +drawn by four horses; while Zephyr is lying nude upon some clouds, and +is blowing gentle breezes through a horn that he has in his mouth, +which make the air round Psyche balmy and soft. These stories were +engraved not many years since after the designs of Battista Franco of +Venice, who copied them exactly as they were painted from the great +cartoons of Giulio by Benedetto of Pescia and Rinaldo Mantovano, who +carried into execution all the stories except the Bacchus, the +Silenus, and the two children suckled by the goat; although it is true +that the work was afterwards retouched almost all over by Giulio, so +that it is very much as if it had been all painted by him. This +method, which he learned from Raffaello, his instructor, is very +useful to young men, who in this way obtain practice and thereby +generally become excellent masters. And although some persuade +themselves that they are greater than those who keep them at work, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157" name="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> such fellows, if their guide fails them before they are at +the end, or if they are deprived of the design and directions for the +work, learn that through having lost or abandoned that guidance too +early they are wandering like blind men in an infinite sea of errors.</p> + +<p>But to return to the apartments of the Tè; from that room of Psyche +one passes into another full of double friezes with figures in +low-relief, executed in stucco after the designs of Giulio by +Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna, then a young man, and by Giovan +Battista Mantovano, in which friezes are all the soldiers that are on +Trajan's Column at Rome, wrought in a beautiful manner. And on the +ceiling, or rather soffit, of an antechamber is painted in oils the +scene when Icarus, having been taught by his father Dædalus, seeks to +rise too high in his flight, and, after seeing the Sign of Cancer and +the chariot of the sun, which is drawn by four horses in +foreshortening, near the Sign of Leo, is left without his wings, the +wax being consumed by the heat of the sun; and near this the same +Icarus may be seen hurtling through the air, and almost falling upon +those who gaze at him, his face dark with the shadow of death. This +invention was so well conceived and imagined by Giulio, that it seems +to be real and true, for in it one sees the fierce heat of the sun +burning the wretched youth's wings, the flaming fire gives out smoke, +and one almost hears the crackling of the burning plumes, while death +may be seen carved in the face of Icarus, and in that of Dædalus the +most bitter sorrow and agony. In our book of drawings by various +painters is the original design of this very beautiful scene, by the +hand of Giulio himself, who executed in the same place the stories of +the twelve months of the year, showing all that is done in each of +them in the arts most practised by mankind—paintings which are +notable no less for their fantastic and delightful character and their +beauty of invention than for the judgment and diligence with which +they were executed.</p> + +<p>After passing the great loggia, which is adorned with stucco-work and +with many arms and various other bizarre ornaments, one comes to some +rooms filled with such a variety of fantasies, that the brain reels at +the thought of them. For Giulio, who was very fanciful and ingenious, +wishing to demonstrate his worth, resolved to make, at an <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158" name="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +angle of the palace which formed a corner similar to that of the room +of Psyche described above, an apartment the masonry of which should be +in keeping with the painting, in order to deceive as much as possible +all who might see it. He therefore had double foundations of great +depth sunk at that corner, which was in a marshy place, and over that +angle he constructed a large round room, with very thick walls, to the +end that the four external angles of the masonry might be strong +enough to be able to support a double vault, round after the manner of +an oven. This done, he caused to be built at the corners right round +the room, in the proper places, the doors, windows, and fireplace, all +of rustic stones rough-hewn as if by chance, and, as it were, +disjointed and awry, insomuch that they appeared to be really hanging +over to one side and falling down. Having built this room in such +strange fashion, he set himself to paint in it the most fantastic +composition that he was able to invent—namely, Jove hurling his +thunderbolts against the Giants. And so, depicting Heaven on the +highest part of the vaulting, he placed there the throne of Jove, +representing it as seen in foreshortening from below and from the +front, within a round temple, supported by open columns of the Ionic +Order, with his canopy over the centre of the throne, and with his +eagle; and all was poised upon the clouds. Lower down he painted Jove +in anger, slaying the proud Giants with his thunderbolts, and below +him is Juno, assisting him; and around them are the Winds, with +strange countenances, blowing towards the earth, while the Goddess Ops +turns with her lions at the terrible noise of the thunder, as also do +the other Gods and Goddesses, and Venus in particular, who is at the +side of Mars; and Momus, with his arms outstretched, appears to fear +that Heaven may be falling headlong down, and yet he stands +motionless. The Graces, likewise, are standing filled with dread, and +beside them, in like manner, the Hours. All the Deities, in short, are +taking to flight with their chariots. The Moon, Saturn, and Janus are +going towards the lightest of the clouds, in order to withdraw from +that terrible uproar and turmoil, and the same does Neptune, who, with +his dolphins, appears to be seeking to support himself on his trident. +Pallas, with the nine Muses, stands wondering what <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159" name="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> horrible +thing this may be, and Pan, embracing a Nymph who is trembling with +fear, seems to wish to save her from the glowing fires and the +lightning-flashes with which the heavens are filled. Apollo stands in +the chariot of the sun, and some of the Hours seem to be seeking to +restrain the course of his horses. Bacchus and Silenus, with Satyrs +and Nymphs, betray the greatest terror, and Vulcan, with his ponderous +hammer on one shoulder, gazes towards Hercules, who is speaking of +this event with Mercury, beside whom is Pomona all in dismay, as are +also Vertumnus and all the other Gods dispersed throughout that +Heaven, in which all the effects of fear are so well expressed, both +in those who are standing and in those who are flying, that it is not +possible, I do not say to see, but even to imagine a more beautiful +fantasy in painting than this one.</p> + +<p>In the parts below, that is, on the walls that stand upright, +underneath the end of the curve of the vaulting, are the Giants, some +of whom, those below Jove, have upon their backs mountains and immense +rocks which they support with their stout shoulders, in order to pile +them up and thus ascend to Heaven, while their ruin is preparing, for +Jove is thundering and the whole Heaven burning with anger against +them; and it appears not only that the Gods are dismayed by the +presumptuous boldness of the Giants, upon whom they are hurling +mountains, but that the whole world is upside down and, as it were, +come to its last day. In this part Giulio painted Briareus in a dark +cavern, almost covered with vast fragments of mountains, and the other +Giants all crushed and some dead beneath the ruins of the mountains. +Besides this, through an opening in the darkness of a grotto, which +reveals a distant landscape painted with beautiful judgment, may be +seen many Giants flying, all smitten by the thunderbolts of Jove, and, +as it were, on the point of being overwhelmed at that moment by the +fragments of the mountains, like the others. In another part Giulio +depicted other Giants, upon whom are falling temples, columns, and +other pieces of buildings, making a vast slaughter and havoc of those +proud beings. And in this part, among those falling fragments of +buildings, stands the fireplace of the room, which, when there is a +fire in it, makes it appear as if the Giants are burning, for Pluto is +painted there, flying towards <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160" name="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> the centre with his chariot +drawn by lean horses, and accompanied by the Furies of Hell; and thus +Giulio, not departing from the subject of the story with this +invention of the fire, made a most beautiful adornment for the +fireplace.</p> + +<p>In this work, moreover, in order to render it the more fearsome and +terrible, Giulio represented the Giants, huge and fantastic in aspect, +falling to the earth, smitten in various ways by the lightnings and +thunderbolts; some in the foreground and others in the background, +some dead, others wounded, and others again covered by mountains and +the ruins of buildings. Wherefore let no one ever think to see any +work of the brush more horrible and terrifying, or more natural than +this one; and whoever enters that room and sees the windows, doors, +and other suchlike things all awry and, as it were, on the point of +falling, and the mountains and buildings hurtling down, cannot but +fear that everything will fall upon him, and, above all, as he sees +the Gods in the Heaven rushing, some here, some there, and all in +flight. And what is most marvellous in the work is to see that the +whole of the painting has neither beginning nor end, but is so well +joined and connected together, without any divisions or ornamental +partitions, that the things which are near the buildings appear very +large, and those in the distance, where the landscapes are, go on +receding into infinity; whence that room, which is not more than +fifteen braccia in length, has the appearance of open country. +Moreover, the pavement being of small round stones set on edge, and +the lower part of the upright walls being painted with similar stones, +there is no sharp angle to be seen, and that level surface has the +effect of a vast expanse, which was executed with much judgment and +beautiful art by Giulio, to whom our craftsmen are much indebted for +such inventions.</p> + +<p>In this work the above-mentioned Rinaldo Mantovano became a perfect +colourist, for he carried the whole of it into execution after the +cartoons of Giulio, as well as the other rooms. And if this painter +had not been snatched from the world so young, even as he did honour +to Giulio during his lifetime, so he would have done honour (to +himself) after Giulio's death.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img031" id="img031"></a> +<img src="images/img031-tb.jpg" width="500" height="357" +alt="The Destruction of the Giants by the Thunderbolts of Jove." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GIANTS BY THE THUNDERBOLTS OF +JOVE<br> +(<i>After the fresco by</i> Giulio Romano.<br> <i>Mantua: Palazzo del Tè, Sala +dei Giganti</i>)<br> +<i>Alinari</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img031.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161" name="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> In addition to this palace, in which Giulio executed many +other works worthy to be praised, of which, in order to avoid +prolixity, I shall say nothing, he reconstructed with masonry many +rooms in the castle where the Duke lives at Mantua, and made two very +large spiral staircases, with very rich apartments adorned all over +with stucco. In one hall he caused the whole of the story of Troy and +the Trojan War to be painted, and likewise twelve scenes in oils in an +antechamber, below the heads of the twelve Emperors previously painted +there by Tiziano Vecelli, which are all held to be excellent. In like +manner, at Marmirolo, a place five miles distant from Mantua, a most +commodious building was erected after the design of Giulio and under +his direction, with large paintings no less beautiful than those of +the castle and of the palace of the Tè. The same master painted an +altar-piece in oils for the Chapel of Signora Isabella Buschetta in S. +Andrea at Mantua, of Our Lady in the act of adoring the Infant Jesus, +who is lying on the ground, with S. Joseph, the ass and the ox near a +manger, and on one side S. John the Evangelist, and S. Longinus on the +other, figures of the size of life. Next, on the walls of the same +chapel, he caused Rinaldo to paint two very beautiful scenes after his +own designs; on one, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with the +Thieves, some Angels in the air, and on the ground the ministers of +the Crucifixion and the Maries, with many horses, in which he always +delighted, making them beautiful to a marvel, and many soldiers in +various attitudes; and, on the other, the scene when the Blood of +Christ was discovered in the time of the Countess Matilda, which was a +most beautiful work.</p> + +<p>Giulio then painted with his own hand for Duke Federigo a picture of +Our Lady washing the little Jesus Christ, who is standing in a basin, +while a little S. John is pouring out the water from a vase. Both of +these figures, which are of the size of life, are very beautiful; and +in the distance are small figures, from the waist upwards, of some +ladies who are coming to visit the Madonna. This picture was +afterwards presented by the Duke to Signora Isabella Buschetta, of +which lady Giulio subsequently made a most beautiful portrait in a +little picture of the Nativity of Christ, one braccio in height, which +is now in the possession of Signor <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162" name="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> Vespasiano Gonzaga, +together with another picture presented to him by Duke Federigo, and +likewise by the hand of Giulio, in which are a young man and a young +woman embracing each other on a bed, in the act of caressing one +another, while an old woman peeps at them secretly from behind a +door—figures which are little less than life-size, and very graceful. +In the house of the same person is another very excellent picture of a +most beautiful S. Jerome, also by the hand of Giulio. And in the +possession of Count Niccola Maffei is a picture of Alexander the +Great, of the size of life, with a Victory in his hand, copied from an +ancient medal, which is a work of great beauty.</p> + +<p>After these works, Giulio painted in fresco over a chimney-piece, for +M. Girolamo, the organist of the Duomo at Mantua, who was very much +his friend, a Vulcan who is working his bellows with one hand and +holding with the other, with a pair of tongs, the iron head of an +arrow that he is forging, while Venus is tempering in a vase some +already made and placing them in Cupid's quiver. This is one of the +most beautiful works that Giulio ever executed; and there is little +else in fresco by his hand to be seen. For S. Domenico, at the +commission of M. Lodovico da Fermo, he painted an altar-piece of the +Dead Christ, whom Joseph and Nicodemus are preparing to lay in the +sepulchre, and near them are His Mother, the other Maries, and S. John +the Evangelist. And a little picture, in which he also painted a Dead +Christ, is in the house of the Florentine Tommaso da Empoli at Venice.</p> + +<p>At the same time when he was executing these and other pictures, it +happened that Signor Giovanni de' Medici, having been wounded by a +musket-ball, was carried to Mantua, where he died. Whereupon M. Pietro +Aretino, who was the devoted servant of that lord, and very much the +friend of Giulio, desired that Giulio should mould a likeness of him +with his own hand as he lay dead; and he, therefore, having taken a +cast from the face of the dead man, executed a portrait from it, which +remained for many years afterwards in the possession of the same +Aretino.</p> + +<p>For the entry of the Emperor Charles V into Mantua, Giulio, by order +of the Duke, made many most beautiful festive preparations in the form +of arches, scenery for dramas, and a number of other things; <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163" name="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +in which inventions Giulio had no equal, nor was there ever any man +more fanciful in preparing masquerades and in designing extravagant +costumes for jousts, festivals, and tournaments, as was seen at that +time with amazement and marvel by the Emperor Charles and by all who +were present. Besides this, at different times he gave so many designs +for chapels, houses, gardens, and façades throughout the whole of +Mantua, and he so delighted to embellish and adorn the city, that, +whereas it was formerly buried in mud and at times full of stinking +water and almost uninhabitable, he brought it to such a condition that +at the present day, thanks to his industry, it is dry, healthy, and +altogether pleasing and delightful.</p> + +<p>While Giulio was in the service of that Duke, one year the Po, +bursting its banks, inundated Mantua in such a manner, that in certain +low-lying parts of the city the water rose to the height of nearly +four braccia, insomuch that for a long time frogs lived in them almost +all the year round. Giulio, therefore, after pondering in what way he +might put this right, so went to work that for the time being the city +was restored to its former condition; and to the end that the same +might not happen another time, he contrived to have the streets on +that side raised so much, by command of the Duke, that they came above +the level of the water, and the buildings stood in safety. In that +part of the city the houses were small, slightly built, and of no +great importance, and he gave orders that they should be pulled down, +in order to raise the streets and bring that quarter to a better +state, and that new houses, larger and more beautiful, should be built +there, to the advantage and improvement of the city. To this measure +many opposed themselves, saying to the Duke that Giulio was doing too +much havoc; but he would not hear any of them—nay, he made Giulio +superintendent of the streets at that very time, and decreed that no +one should build in that city save under Giulio's direction. On which +account many complaining and some even threatening Giulio, this came +to the ears of the Duke, who used such words in his favour as made it +known that if they did anything to the despite or injury of Giulio, he +would count it as done to himself, and would make an example of them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164" name="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> The Duke was so enamoured of the excellence of Giulio, that +he could not live without him; and Giulio, on his part, bore to that +lord the greatest reverence that it is possible to imagine. Wherefore +he never asked a favour for himself or for others without obtaining +it, and when he died it was found that with all that he had received +from the Duke he had an income of more than a thousand ducats.</p> + +<p>Giulio built a house for himself in Mantua, opposite to S. Barnaba, on +the outer side of which he made a fantastic façade, all wrought with +coloured stucco, and the interior he caused to be all painted and +wrought likewise with stucco; and he found place in it for many +antiquities brought from Rome and others received from the Duke, to +whom he gave many of his own. He made so many designs both for Mantua +and for places in its neighbourhood, that it was a thing incredible; +for, as has been told, no palaces or other buildings of importance +could be erected, particularly in the city, save after his design. He +rebuilt upon the old walls the Church of S. Benedetto, a rich and vast +seat of Black Friars at Mantua, near the Po; and the whole church was +embellished with most beautiful paintings and altar-pieces from +designs by his hand. And since his works were very highly prized +throughout Lombardy, it pleased Gian Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, +to have the tribune of the Duomo of that city all painted, as has been +related in another place, by Il Moro the Veronese, after designs by +Giulio. For the Duke of Ferrara, also, he executed many designs for +tapestries, which were afterwards woven in silk and gold by Maestro +Niccolò and Giovan Battista Rosso, both Flemings; and of these there +are engravings to be seen, executed by Giovan Battista Mantovano, who +engraved a vast number of things drawn by Giulio, and in particular, +besides three drawings of battles engraved by others, a physician who +is applying cupping-glasses to the shoulders of a woman, and the +Flight of Our Lady into Egypt, with Joseph holding the ass by the +halter, and some Angels bending down a date-palm in order that Christ +may pluck the fruit. The same master engraved, also after the designs +of Giulio, the Wolf on the Tiber suckling Romulus and Remus, and four +stories of Pluto, Jove and Neptune, who are dividing the heavens, the +earth, and the sea among <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165" name="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> them by lot; and likewise the goat +Amaltheia, which, held by Melissa, is giving suck to Jove, and a large +plate of many men in a prison, tortured in various ways. There were +also printed, after the inventions of Giulio, Scipio and Hannibal +holding a parley with their armies on the banks of the river; the +Nativity of S. John the Baptist, which was engraved by Sebastiano da +Reggio, and many other works engraved and printed in Italy. In +Flanders and in France, likewise, have been printed innumerable sheets +from designs by Giulio, of which, although they are very beautiful, +there is no need to make mention, nor of all his drawings, seeing that +he made them, so to speak, in loads. Let it be enough to say that he +was so facile in every field of art, and particularly in drawing, that +we have no record of any one who has produced more than he did.</p> + +<p>Giulio, who was very versatile, was able to discourse on every +subject, but above all on medals, upon which he spent large sums of +money and much time, in order to gain knowledge of them. And although +he was employed almost always in great works, this did not mean that +he would not set his hand at times to the most trifling matters in +order to oblige his patron and his friends; and no sooner had one +opened his mouth to explain to him his conception than he had +understood it and drawn it. Among the many rare things that he had in +his house was the portrait from life of Albrecht Dürer on a piece of +fine Rheims cloth, by the hand of Albrecht himself, who sent it, as +has been related in another place, as a present to Raffaello da +Urbino. This portrait was an exquisite thing, for it had been coloured +in gouache with much diligence with water-colours, and Albrecht had +executed it without using lead-white, availing himself in its stead of +the white of the cloth, with the delicate threads of which he had so +well rendered the hairs of the beard, that it was a thing scarcely +possible to imagine, much less to do; and when held up to the light it +showed through on either side. This portrait, which was very dear to +Giulio, he showed to me himself as a miracle, when I went during his +lifetime to Mantua on some affairs of my own.</p> + +<p>At the death of Duke Federigo, by whom Giulio had been beloved beyond +belief, he was so overcome with sorrow, that he would have left +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166" name="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> Mantua, if the Cardinal, the brother of the Duke, on whom +the government of the State had descended because the sons of Federigo +were very young, had not detained him in that city, where he had a +wife and children, houses, villas, and all the other possessions that +are proper to a gentleman of means. And this the Cardinal did (aided +by those reasons) from a wish to avail himself of the advice and +assistance of Giulio in renovating, or rather building almost entirely +anew, the Duomo of that city; to which work Giulio set his hand, and +carried it well on in a very beautiful form.</p> + +<p>At this time Giorgio Vasari, who was much the friend of Giulio, +although they did not know one another save only by reputation and by +letters, in going to Venice, took the road by Mantua, in order to see +Giulio and his works. And so, having arrived in that city, and going +to find his friend, when they met, although they had never seen each +other, they knew one another no less surely than if they had been +together in person a thousand times. At which Giulio was so filled +with joy and contentment, that for four days he never left him, +showing him all his works, and in particular all the ground-plans of +the ancient edifices in Rome, Naples, Pozzuolo, and Campania, and of +all the other fine antiquities of which anything is known, drawn +partly by him and partly by others. Then, opening a very large press, +he showed to Giorgio the ground-plans of all the buildings that had +been erected after his designs and under his direction, not only in +Mantua and in Rome, but throughout all Lombardy, which were so +beautiful, that I, for my part, do not believe that there are to be +seen any architectural inventions more original, more lovely, or +better composed. After this, the Cardinal asking Giorgio what he +thought of the works of Giulio, Giorgio answered in the presence of +Giulio that they were such that he deserved to have a statue of +himself placed at every corner of the city, and that, since he had +given that city a new life, the half of the State would not be a +sufficient reward for the labours and abilities of Giulio; to which +the Cardinal answered that Giulio was more the master of that State +than he was himself. And since Giulio was very loving, especially +towards his friends, there was no mark of love and affection that +Giorgio did not receive from <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167" name="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> him. The same Vasari, having +left Mantua and gone to Venice, returned to Rome at the very time when +Michelagnolo had just uncovered his Last Judgment in the Chapel; and +he sent to Giulio by M. Nino Nini of Cortona, the secretary of the +aforesaid Cardinal of Mantua, three sheets containing the Seven Mortal +Sins, copied from that Last Judgment of Michelagnolo, which were +welcome in no ordinary manner to Giulio, both as being what they were, +and because he had at that time to paint a chapel in the palace for +the Cardinal, and they served to inspire him to greater things than +those that he had in mind. Putting forward all possible effort, +therefore, to make a most beautiful cartoon, he drew in it with fine +fancy the scene of Peter and Andrew leaving their nets at the call of +Christ, in order to follow Him, and to be thenceforward, not fishers +of fishes, but fishers of men. And this cartoon, which proved to be +the most beautiful that Giulio had ever made, was afterwards carried +into execution by the painter Fermo Ghisoni, a pupil of Giulio, and +now an excellent master.</p> + +<p>Not long afterwards the superintendents of the building of S. Petronio +at Bologna, being desirous to make a beginning with the façade of that +church, succeeded after great difficulty in inducing Giulio to go +there, in company with a Milanese architect called Tofano Lombardino, +a man in great repute at that time in Lombardy for the many buildings +by his hand that were to be seen in that country. These masters, then, +made many designs, those of Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena having been +lost; and one that Giulio made, among others, was so beautiful and so +well ordered, that he rightly received very great praise for it from +that people, and was rewarded with most liberal gifts on his return to +Mantua.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Antonio da San Gallo having died at Rome about that time, +the superintendents of the building of S. Pietro had been thereby left +in no little embarrassment, not knowing to whom to turn or on whom to +lay the charge of carrying that great fabric to completion after the +plan already begun; but they thought that no one could be more fitted +for this than Giulio Romano, for they all knew how great were his +worth and excellence. And so, surmising that he would accept such a +charge more than willingly in order to repatriate himself in an +honourable <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168" name="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> manner and with a good salary, they caused some +of his friends to approach him, but in vain, for the reason that, +although he would have gone with the greatest willingness, two things +prevented him—the Cardinal would in no way consent to his departure, +and his wife, with her relatives and friends, used every possible +means to dissuade him. Neither of these two reasons, perchance, would +have prevailed with him, if he had not happened to be in somewhat +feeble health at that time; for, having considered how much honour and +profit he might secure for himself and his children by accepting so +handsome a proposal, he was already fully disposed to make every +effort not to be hindered in the matter by the Cardinal, when his +malady began to grow worse. However, since it had been ordained on +high that he should go no more to Rome, and that this should be the +end and conclusion of his life, in a few days, what with his vexation +and his malady, he died at Mantua, which city might well have allowed +him, even as he had embellished her, so also to honour and adorn his +native city of Rome.</p> + +<p>Giulio died at the age of fifty-four, leaving only one male child, to +whom he had given the name of Raffaello out of regard for the memory +of his master. This young Raffaello had scarcely learned the first +rudiments of art, showing signs of being destined to become an able +master, when he also died, not many years after, together with his +mother, Giulio's wife; wherefore there remained no descendant of +Giulio save a daughter called Virginia, who still lives in Mantua, +married to Ercole Malatesta. Giulio, whose death was an infinite grief +to all who knew him, was given burial in S. Barnaba, where it was +proposed that some honourable memorial should be erected to him; but +his wife and children, postponing the matter from one day to another, +themselves died for the most part without doing anything. It is indeed +a sad thing that there has been no one who has treasured in any way +the memory of a man who did so much to adorn that city, save only +those who availed themselves of his services, who have often +remembered him in their necessities. But his own talent, which did him +so much honour in his lifetime, has secured for him after death, in +the form of his own works, an everlasting monument which time, with +all its years, can never destroy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169" name="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> Giulio was neither tall nor short of stature, and rather +stout than slight in build. He had black hair, beautiful features, and +eyes dark and merry, and he was very loving, regular in all his +actions, and frugal in eating, but fond of dressing and living in +honourable fashion. He had disciples in plenty, but the best were +Giovanni da Lione, Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo, Benedetto Pagni of +Pescia, Figurino da Faenza, Rinaldo Mantovano, Giovan Battista +Mantovano, and Fermo Ghisoni, who still lives in Mantua and does him +honour, being an excellent painter. And the same may be said for +Benedetto, who has executed many works in his native city of Pescia, +and an altar-piece for the Duomo of Pisa, which is in the Office of +Works, and also a picture of Our Lady in which, with a poetical +invention full of grace and beauty, he painted a figure of Florence +presenting to her the dignities of the House of Medici; which picture +is now in the possession of Signor Mondragone, a Spaniard much in +favour with that most illustrious lord the Prince of Florence.</p> + +<p>Giulio died on the day of All Saints in the year 1546, and over his +tomb was placed the following epitaph:</p> + +<p class="cpoem"> + ROMANUS MORIENS SECUM TRES JULIUS ARTES<br> +<span class="add1em">ABSTULIT, HAUD MIRUM, QUATUOR UNUS ERAT.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="piombo" id="piombo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171" name="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO</h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_piombo" id="life_of_piombo"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173" name="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> LIFE OF FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER</h3> + + +<p>The first profession of Sebastiano, so many declare, was not painting, +but music, since, besides being a singer, he much delighted to play +various kinds of instruments, and particularly the lute, because on +that instrument all the parts can be played, without any +accompaniment. This art made him for a time very dear to the gentlemen +of Venice, with whom, as a man of talent, he always associated on +intimate terms. Then, having been seized while still young with a +desire to give his attention to painting, he learned the first +rudiments from Giovanni Bellini, at that time an old man. And +afterwards, when Giorgione da Castelfranco had established in that +city the methods of the modern manner, with its superior harmony and +its brilliancy of colouring, Sebastiano left Giovanni and placed +himself under Giorgione, with whom he stayed so long that in great +measure he acquired his manner. He thus executed in Venice some +portraits from life that were very like; among others, that of the +Frenchman Verdelotto, a most excellent musician, who was then +chapel-master in S. Marco, and in the same picture that of his +companion Uberto, a singer, which picture Verdelotto took with him to +Florence when he became chapel-master in S. Giovanni; and at the +present day the sculptor Francesco da San Gallo has it in his house. +About that time he also painted for S. Giovanni Grisostomo at Venice +an altar-piece with some figures which incline so much to the manner +of Giorgione, that they have been sometimes held by people without +much knowledge of the matters of art to be by the hand of Giorgione +himself. This altar-piece is very beautiful, and executed with such a +manner of colouring that it has great relief.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174" name="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> The fame of the abilities of Sebastiano thus spreading +abroad, Agostino Chigi of Siena, a very rich merchant, who had many +affairs in Venice, hearing him much praised in Rome, sought to draw +him to that city, being attracted towards him because, besides his +painting, he knew so well how to play on the lute, and was sweet and +pleasant in his conversation. Nor was it very difficult to draw +Sebastiano to Rome, since he knew how much that place had always been +the benefactress and common mother-city of all beautiful intellects, +and he went thither with no ordinary willingness. Having therefore +gone to Rome, Agostino set him to work, and the first thing that he +caused him to do was to paint the little arches that are over the +loggia which looks into the garden of Agostino's palace in the +Trastevere, where Baldassarre of Siena had painted all the vaulting, +on which little arches Sebastiano painted some poetical compositions +in the manner that he had brought from Venice, which was very +different from that which was followed in Rome by the able painters of +that day. After this work, Raffaello having executed a story of +Galatea in the same place, Sebastiano, at the desire of Agostino, +painted beside it a Polyphemus in fresco, in which, spurred by rivalry +with Baldassarre of Siena and then with Raffaello, he strove his +utmost to surpass himself, whatever may have been the result. He +likewise painted some works in oils, for which, from his having +learned from Giorgione a method of colouring of no little softness, he +was held in vast account at Rome.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img032" id="img032"></a> +<img src="images/img032-tb.jpg" width="400" height="496" alt="Portrait of a Lady." title=""> +<p class="caption">FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO: PORTRAIT OF A LADY<br> +(<i>Florence; Uffizi, 1123. Canvas</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img032.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>While Sebastiano was executing these works in Rome, Raffaello da +Urbino had risen into such credit as a painter, that his friends and +adherents said that his pictures were more in accord with the rules of +painting than those of Michelagnolo, being pleasing in colour, +beautiful in invention, and charming in the expressions, with design +in keeping with the rest; and that those of Buonarroti had none of +those qualities, with the exception of the design. And for such +reasons these admirers judged that in the whole field of painting +Raffaello was, if not more excellent than Michelagnolo, at least his +equal; but in colouring they would have it that he surpassed +Buonarroti without a doubt. These humours, having spread among a +number of craftsmen who preferred <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175" name="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> the grace of Raffaello +to the profundity of Michelagnolo, had so increased that many, for +various reasons of interest, were more favourable in their judgments +to Raffaello than to Michelagnolo. But Sebastiano was in no way a +follower of that faction, since, being a man of exquisite judgment, he +knew the value of each of the two to perfection. The mind of +Michelagnolo, therefore, drew towards Sebastiano, whose colouring and +grace pleased him much, and he took him under his protection, thinking +that, if he were to assist Sebastiano in design, he would be able by +this means, without working himself, to confound those who held such +an opinion, remaining under cover of a third person as judge to decide +which of them was the best.</p> + +<p>While the matter stood thus, and some works that Sebastiano had +executed were being much extolled, and even exalted to infinite +heights on account of the praise that Michelagnolo bestowed on them, +besides the fact that they were in themselves beautiful and worthy of +praise, a certain person from Viterbo, I know not who, much in favour +with the Pope, commissioned Sebastiano to paint a Dead Christ, with a +Madonna who is weeping over Him, for a chapel that he had caused to be +built in S. Francesco at Viterbo. That work was held by all who saw it +to be truly most beautiful, for the invention and the cartoon were by +Michelagnolo, although it was finished with great diligence by +Sebastiano, who painted in it a dark landscape that was much extolled, +and thereby Sebastiano acquired very great credit, and confirmed the +opinions of those who favoured him. Wherefore Pier Francesco +Borgherini, a Florentine merchant, who had taken over a chapel in S. +Pietro in Montorio, which is on the right as one enters the church, +allotted it at the suggestion of Michelagnolo to Sebastiano, because +Borgherini thought that Michelagnolo would execute the design of the +whole work, as indeed he did. Sebastiano, therefore, having set to +work, executed it with such zeal and diligence, that it was held to +be, as it is, a very beautiful piece of painting. From the small +design by Michelagnolo he made some larger ones for his own +convenience, and one of these, a very beautiful thing, which he drew +with his own hand, is in our book. Thinking that he had discovered the +true method of painting in oils on walls, Sebastiano <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176" name="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> covered +the rough-cast of that chapel with an incrustation which seemed to him +likely to be suitable for this purpose; and the whole of that part in +which is Christ being scourged at the Column he executed in oils on +the wall. Nor must I omit to tell that many believe not only that +Michelagnolo made the small design for this work, but also that the +above-mentioned Christ who is being scourged at the Column was +outlined by him, for there is a vast difference between the excellence +of this figure and that of the others. Even if Sebastiano had executed +no other work but this, for it alone he would deserve to be praised to +all eternity, seeing that, in addition to the heads, which are very +well painted, there are in the work some hands and feet of great +beauty; and although his manner was a little hard, on account of the +labour that he endured in the things that he counterfeited, +nevertheless he can be numbered among the good and praiseworthy +craftsmen. Above this scene he painted two Prophets in fresco, and on +the vaulting the Transfiguration; and the two Saints, S. Peter and S. +Francis, who are on either side of the scene below, are very bold and +animated figures. It is true that he laboured for six years over this +little work, but when works are executed to perfection, one should not +consider whether they have been finished quickly or slowly, although +more praise is due to him who carries his labours to completion both +quickly and well; and he who pleads haste as an excuse when his works +do not give satisfaction, unless he has been forced to it, is accusing +rather than excusing himself. When this work was uncovered, it was +seen that Sebastiano had done well, although he had toiled much over +painting it, so that the evil tongues were silenced and there were few +who found fault with him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img033" id="img033"></a> +<img src="images/img033-tb.jpg" width="400" height="462" alt="The Flagellation." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE FLAGELLATION<br> +(<i>After the oil fresco by</i> Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo.<br> <i>Rome: +S. Pietro in Montorio</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img033.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After this, when Raffaello painted for Cardinal de' Medici, for +sending to France, that altar-piece containing the Transfiguration of +Christ which was placed after his death on the principal altar of S. +Pietro a Montorio, Sebastiano also executed at the same time another +altar-piece of the same size, as it were in competition with +Raffaello, of Lazarus being raised from the dead four days after +death, which was counterfeited and painted with supreme diligence +under the direction of Michelagnolo, and in some parts from his +design. These altar-pieces, when <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177" name="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> finished, were publicly +exhibited together in the Consistory, and were vastly extolled, both +the one and the other; and although the works of Raffaello had no +equals in their perfect grace and beauty, nevertheless the labours of +Sebastiano were also praised by all without exception. One of these +pictures was sent by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici to his episcopal +palace at Narbonne in France, and the other was placed in the +Cancelleria, where it remained until it was taken to S. Pietro a +Montorio, together with the ornamental frame that Giovan Barile +executed for it. By means of this work Sebastiano became closely +connected with the Cardinal, and was therefore honourably rewarded +during his pontificate.</p> + +<p>Not long afterwards, Raffaello having passed away, the first place in +the art of painting was unanimously granted by all, thanks to the +favour of Michelagnolo, to Sebastiano, and Giulio Romano, Giovan +Francesco of Florence, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro, Maturino, +Baldassarre of Siena, and all the others had to give way. Wherefore +Agostino Chigi, who had been having a chapel and tomb built for +himself under the direction of Raffaello in S. Maria del Popolo, came +to an agreement with Sebastiano that he should paint it all; whereupon +the screen was made, but the chapel remained covered, without ever +being seen by anyone, until the year 1554, at which time Luigi, the +son of Agostino, resolved that, although his father had not been able +to see it finished, he at least would do so. And so, the chapel and +the altar-piece being entrusted to Francesco Salviati, he carried the +work in a short time to that perfection which it had not received from +the dilatory and irresolute Sebastiano, who, so far as one can see, +did little work there, although we find that he obtained from the +liberality of Agostino and his heirs much more than would have been +due to him even if he had finished it completely, which he did not do, +either because he was weary of the labours of art, or because he was +too much wrapped up in comforts and pleasures. And he did the same to +M. Filippo da Siena, Clerk of the Chamber, for whom he began a scene +in oils on the wall above the high-altar of the Pace at Rome, and +never finished it; wherefore the friars, in despair about it, were +obliged to take away the staging, which obstructed their church, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178" name="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> to cover the work with a cloth, and to have patience for as +long as the life of Sebastiano lasted. After his death, the friars +uncovered the work, and it was found that what he had done was most +beautiful painting, for the reason that in the part where he +represented Our Lady visiting S. Elizabeth, there are many women +portrayed from life that are very beautiful, and painted with +consummate grace. But it may be seen here that this man endured +extraordinary labour in all the works that he produced, and that he +was not able to execute them with that facility which nature and study +are wont at times to give to him who delights in working and exercises +his hand continually. And of the truth of this there is also a proof +in the same Pace, in the Chapel of Agostino Chigi, where Raffaello had +executed the Sibyls and Prophets; for Sebastiano, wishing to paint +some things on the stone in the niche that remained to be painted +below, in order to surpass Raffaello, caused it to be incrusted with +peperino-stone, the joinings being filled in with fired stucco; but he +spent so much time on cogitations that he left the wall bare, for, +after it had remained thus for ten years, he died.</p> + +<p>It is true that a few portraits from life could be obtained with ease +from Sebastiano, because he could finish these with more facility and +promptitude; but it was quite otherwise with stories and other +figures. To tell the truth, the painting of portraits from life was +his proper vocation, as may be seen from the portrait of Marc' Antonio +Colonna, which is so well executed that it seems to be alive, and also +from those of Ferdinando, Marquis of Pescara, and of Signora Vittoria +Colonna, which are very beautiful. He likewise made a portrait of +Adrian VI when he first arrived in Rome, and one of Cardinal Hincfort. +That Cardinal desired that Sebastiano should paint for him a chapel in +S. Maria de Anima at Rome; but he kept putting him off from one day to +another, and the Cardinal finally had it painted by the Fleming +Michael, his compatriot, who painted there in fresco stories from the +life of S. Barbara, imitating our Italian manner very well; and in the +altar-piece he made a portrait of the same Cardinal.</p> + +<p>But returning to Sebastiano: he also took a portrait of Signor +Federigo da Bozzolo, and one of a captain in armour, I know not who, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179" name="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> which is in the possession of Giulio de' Nobili at Florence. +He painted a woman in Roman dress, which is in the house of Luca +Torrigiani; and Giovan Battista Cavalcanti has a head by the same +master's hand, which is not completely finished. He executed a picture +of Our Lady covering the Child with a piece of drapery, which was a +rare work; and Cardinal Farnese now has it in his guardaroba. And he +sketched, but did not carry to completion, a very beautiful +altar-piece of S. Michael standing over a large figure of the Devil, +which was to be sent to the King of France, who had previously +received a picture by the hand of the same master.</p> + +<p>Then, after Cardinal Giulio de' Medici had been elected Supreme +Pontiff and had taken the name of Clement VII, he gave Sebastiano to +understand through the Bishop of Vasona that the time to show him +favour had come, and that he would become aware of this when the +occasion arose. And in the meantime, while living in these high hopes, +Sebastiano, who had no equal in portrait-painting, executed many from +life, and among others one of Pope Clement, who was not then wearing a +beard, or rather, two of him, one of which came into the possession of +the Bishop of Vasona, and the other, which is much larger, showing a +seated figure from the knees upwards, is in the house of Sebastiano at +Rome. He also painted a portrait of the Florentine Anton Francesco +degli Albizzi, who happened to be then in Rome on some business, and +he made it such that it appeared to be not painted but really alive; +wherefore Anton Francesco sent it to Florence as a pearl of great +price. The head and hands of this portrait were things truly +marvellous, to say nothing of the beautiful execution of the velvets, +the linings, the satins, and all the other parts of the picture; and +since Sebastiano was indeed superior to all other men in the perfect +delicacy and excellence of his portrait-painting, all Florence was +amazed at this portrait of Anton Francesco.</p> + +<p>At this same time he also executed a portrait of Messer Pietro +Aretino, and made it such that, besides being a good likeness, it is +an astounding piece of painting, for there may be seen in it five or +six different kinds of black in the clothes that he is +wearing—velvet, satin, ormuzine, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180" name="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> damask, and cloth—and, +over and above those blacks, a beard of the deepest black, painted in +such beautiful detail, that the real beard could not be more natural. +This figure holds in the hand a branch of laurel and a scroll, on +which is written the name of Clement VII; and in front are two masks, +one of Virtue, which is beautiful, and another of Vice, which is +hideous. This picture M. Pietro presented to his native city, and the +people of Arezzo have placed it in their public Council Chamber, thus +doing honour to the memory of their talented fellow-citizen, and also +receiving no less from him. After this, Sebastiano made a portrait of +Andrea Doria, which was in like manner an admirable work, and a head +of the Florentine Baccio Valori, which was also beautiful beyond +belief.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Fra Mariano Fetti, Friar of the Piombo, died, and +Sebastiano, remembering the promises made to him by the +above-mentioned Bishop of Vasona, master of the household to His +Holiness, asked for the office of the Piombo; whereupon, although +Giovanni da Udine, who had also done much in the service of His +Holiness "in minoribus," and still continued to serve him, asked for +the same office, the Pope, moved by the prayers of the Bishop, and +also thinking that the talents of Sebastiano deserved it, ordained +that Sebastiano should have the office, but should pay out of it to +Giovanni da Udine an allowance of three hundred crowns. Thus +Sebastiano assumed the friar's habit, and straightway felt his soul +changed thereby, for, perceiving that he now had the means to satisfy +his desires, he spent his time in repose without touching a brush, and +recompensed himself with his comforts and his revenues for many +misspent nights and laborious days; and whenever he happened to have +something to do, he would drag himself to the work with such +reluctance, that he might have been going to his death. From which one +may learn how much our reason and the little wisdom of men are +deceived, in that very often, nay, almost always, we covet the very +opposite to that which we really need, and, as the Tuscan proverb has +it, in thinking to cross ourselves with a finger, poke it into our own +eyes. It is the common opinion of men that rewards and honours spur +the minds of mortals to the studies of those arts which <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181" name="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> they +see to be the best remunerated, and that, on the contrary, to see that +those who labour at these arts are not recompensed by such men as have +the means, causes the same students to grow negligent and to abandon +them. And for this reason both ancients and moderns censure as +strongly as they are able those Princes who do not support every kind +of man of talent, and who do not give due honour and reward to all who +labour valiantly in the arts. But, although this rule is for the most +part a good one, it may be seen, nevertheless, that at times the +liberality of just and magnanimous Princes produces the contrary +effect, for the reason that many are more useful and helpful to the +world in a low or mediocre condition than they are when raised to +greatness and to an abundance of all good things. And here we have an +example, for the magnificent liberality of Clement VII, bestowing too +rich a reward on Sebastiano Viniziano, who had done excellent work as +a painter in his service, was the reason that he changed from a +zealous and industrious craftsman into one most idle and negligent, +and that, whereas he laboured continually while he was living in poor +circumstances and the rivalry between him and Raffaello da Urbino +lasted, he did quite the opposite when he had enough for his +contentment.</p> + +<p>Be this as it may, let us leave it to the judgment of wise Princes to +consider how, when, towards whom, in what manner, and by what rule, +they should exercise their liberality in the case of craftsmen and men +of talent, and let us return to Sebastiano. After he had been made +Friar of the Piombo, he executed for the Patriarch of Aquileia, with +great labour, Christ bearing the Cross, a half-length figure painted +on stone—a work which was much extolled, particularly for the head +and the hands, parts in which Sebastiano was truly most excellent. Not +long afterwards the niece of the Pope, who in time became Queen of +France, as she still is, having arrived in Rome, Fra Sebastiano began +a portrait of her; but this remained unfinished in the guardaroba of +the Pope. And a short time after this, Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici +having become enamoured of Signora Giulia Gonzaga, who was then living +at Fondi, that Cardinal sent Sebastiano to that place, accompanied by +four light horsemen, to take her portrait; and within a month he +finished that portrait, which, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182" name="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> being taken from the +celestial beauty of that lady by a hand so masterly, proved to be a +divine picture. Wherefore, after it had been carried to Rome, the +labours of that craftsman were richly rewarded by the Cardinal, who +declared that this portrait surpassed by a great measure all those +that Sebastiano had ever executed up to that day, as indeed it did; +and the work was afterwards sent to King Francis of France, who had it +placed in his Palace of Fontainebleau.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img034" id="img034"></a> +<img src="images/img034-tb.jpg" width="400" height="593" alt="Andrea Doria." title=""> +<p class="caption">ANDREA DORIA<br> +(<i>After the painting by</i> Fra Sebastiano del Piombo,<br> <i>Rome: Palazzo +Doria</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img034.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>This painter then introduced a new method of painting on stone, which +pleased people greatly, for it appeared that by this means pictures +could be made eternal, and such that neither fire nor worms could harm +them. Wherefore he began to paint many pictures on stone in this +manner, surrounding them with ornaments of variegated kinds of stone, +which, being polished, formed a very beautiful setting; although it is +true that these pictures, with their ornaments, when finished, could +not be transported or even moved, on account of their great weight, +save with the greatest difficulty. Many persons, then, attracted by +the novelty of the work and by the beauty of his art, gave him +earnest-money, in order that he might execute some for them; but he, +delighting more to talk about such pictures than to work at them, +always kept delaying everything. Nevertheless he executed on stone a +Dead Christ with the Madonna, with an ornament also of stone, for Don +Ferrante Gonzaga, who sent it to Spain. The whole work together was +held to be very beautiful, and Sebastiano was paid five hundred crowns +for the painting by Messer Niccolò da Cortona, agent in Rome for the +Cardinal of Mantua. In this kind of painting Sebastiano was truly +worthy of praise, for the reason that whereas Domenico, his +compatriot, who was the first to paint in oils on walls, and after him +Andrea dal Castagno, Antonio Pollaiuolo, and Piero Pollaiuolo, failed to +find the means of preventing the figures executed by them in this +manner from becoming black and fading away very quickly, Sebastiano +did find it; wherefore the Christ at the Column, which he painted in +S. Pietro in Montorio, has never changed down to our own time, and has +the same freshness of colouring as on the first day. For he went about +the work with such diligence that he used to make the coarse +rough-cast of lime with a mixture <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183" name="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> of mastic and colophony, +which, after melting it all together over the fire and applying it to +the wall, he would then cause to be smoothed over with a mason's +trowel made red-hot, or rather white-hot, in the fire; and his works +have therefore been able to resist the damp and to preserve their +colour very well without suffering any change. With the same mixture +he worked on peperino-stone, white and variegated marble, porphyry, +and slabs of other very hard kinds of stone, materials on which +paintings can last a very long time; not to mention that this has +shown how one may paint on silver, copper, tin, and other metals.</p> + +<p>This man found so much pleasure in cogitating and discoursing, that he +would spend whole days without working; and when he did force himself +to work, it was evident that he was suffering greatly in his mind, +which was the chief reason that he was of the opinion that no price +was large enough to pay for his works. For Cardinal Rangoni he painted +a picture of a nude and very beautiful S. Agatha being tortured in the +breasts, which was an exquisite work, and this picture is now in the +guardaroba of Signor Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, and is in no way +inferior to the many other most beautiful pictures that are there, by +the hands of Raffaello da Urbino, Tiziano, and others. He also made a +portrait from life of Signor Piero Gonzaga, painted in oils on stone, +which was a very fine work; but he toiled for three years over +finishing it.</p> + +<p>Now, when Michelagnolo was in Florence in the time of Pope Clement, +engaged in the work of the new Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, Giuliano +Bugiardini wished to paint for Baccio Valori a picture with the head +of Pope Clement and that of Baccio himself, and another for Messer +Ottaviano de' Medici of the same Pontiff and the Archbishop of Capua. +Michelagnolo therefore sent to Sebastiano to ask him to despatch from +Rome a head of the Pope painted in oils with his own hand; and +Sebastiano painted one, which proved to be very beautiful, and sent it +to him. After Giuliano had made use of the head and had finished his +pictures, Michelagnolo, who was a close companion of the said Messer +Ottaviano, made him a present of it; and of a truth, among the many +heads that Fra Sebastiano executed, this is the most beautiful of all +and the best likeness, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184" name="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> as may be seen in the house of the +heirs of Messer Ottaviano. The same master also took the portrait of +Pope Paul Farnese, as soon as he was elected Supreme Pontiff; and he +began one of the Duke of Castro, his son, but left it unfinished, as +he did with many other works with which he had made a beginning.</p> + +<p>Fra Sebastiano had a passing good house which he had built for himself +near the Popolo, and there he lived in the greatest contentment, +without troubling to paint or work any more. He used often to say that +it was a great fatigue to have to restrain in old age those ardours +which in youth craftsmen are wont to welcome out of emulation and a +desire for profit and honour, and that it was no less wise for a man +to live in peace than to spend his days in restless labour in order to +leave a name behind him after death, for all his works and labours had +also in the end, sooner or later, to die. And even as he said these +things, so he carried them into practice as well as he was able, for +he always sought to have for his table all the best wines and the +rarest luxuries that could be found, holding life in more account than +art. Being much the friend of all men of talent, he often had Molza +and Messer Gandolfo to supper, making right good cheer. He was also +the intimate friend of Messer Francesco Berni, the Florentine, who +wrote a poem to him; to which Fra Sebastiano answered with another, +passing well, for, being very versatile, he was even able to set his +hand to writing humorous Tuscan verse.</p> + +<p>Having been reproached by certain persons, who said that it was +shameful that he would no longer work now that he had the means to +live, Fra Sebastiano replied in this manner: "Why will I not work now +that I have the means to live? Because there are now in the world men +of genius who do in two months what I used to do in two years; and I +believe that if I live long enough, and not so long, either, I shall +find that everything has been painted. And since these stalwarts can +do so much, it is well that there should also be one who does nothing, +to the end that they may have the more to do." With these and similar +pleasantries Fra Sebastiano was always diverting himself, being a man +who was never anything but humorous and amusing; and, in truth, a +better companion never lived.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185" name="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> Sebastiano, as has been related, was much beloved by +Michelagnolo. But it is also true that when the front wall of the +Papal Chapel, where there is now the Last Judgment by the same +Buonarroti, was to be painted, there did arise some disdain between +them, for Fra Sebastiano had persuaded the Pope that he should make +Michelagnolo paint it in oils, whereas the latter would only do it in +fresco. Now, Michelagnolo saying neither yea nor nay, the wall was +prepared after the fashion of Fra Sebastiano, and Michelagnolo stood +thus for some months without setting his hand to the work. But at +last, after being pressed, he said that he would only do it in fresco, +and that painting in oils was an art for women and for leisurely and +idle people like Fra Sebastiano. And so, after the incrustation laid +on by order of the friar had been stripped off, and the whole surface +had been covered with rough-cast in a manner suitable for working in +fresco, Michelagnolo set his hand to the work; but he never forgot the +affront that he considered himself to have received from Fra +Sebastiano, against whom he felt hatred almost to the day of the +friar's death.</p> + +<p>Finally, after Fra Sebastiano had come to such a state that he would +not work or do any other thing but attend to the duties of his office +as Friar of the Piombo, and enjoy the pleasures of life, at the age of +sixty-two he fell sick of a most acute fever, which, being a ruddy +person and of a full habit of body, threw him into such a heat that he +rendered up his soul to God in a few days, after making a will and +directing that his body should be carried to the tomb without any +ceremony of priests or friars, or expenditure on lights, and that all +that would have been spent thus should be distributed to poor persons, +for the love of God; and so it was done. He was buried in the Church +of the Popolo, in the month of June of the year 1547. Art suffered no +great loss in his death, seeing that, as soon as he assumed the habit +of Friar of the Piombo, he might have been numbered among those lost +to her; although it is true that he was regretted for his pleasant +conversation by many friends as well as craftsmen.</p> + +<p>Many young men worked under Sebastiano at various times in order to +learn art, but they made little proficience, for from his example they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186" name="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> learned little but the art of good living, excepting only +Tommaso Laureti, a Sicilian, who, besides many other works, has +executed a picture full of grace at Bologna, of a very beautiful +Venus, with Love embracing and kissing her, which picture is in the +house of M. Francesco Bolognetti. He has also painted a portrait of +Signor Bernardino Savelli, which is much extolled, and some other +works of which there is no need to make mention.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="delvaga" id="delvaga"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187" name="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> PERINO DEL VAGA</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_delvaga" id="life_of_delvaga"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189" name="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> LIFE OF PERINO DEL VAGA</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER OF FLORENCE</h3> + + +<p>A truly great gift is art, who, paying no regard to abundance of +riches, to high estate, or to nobility of blood, embraces, protects, +and uplifts from the ground a child of poverty much more often than +one wrapped in the ease of wealth. And this Heaven does in order to +show how much power the influences of its stars and constellations +have over us, distributing more of its favours to one, and to another +less; which influences are for the most part the reason that we +mortals come to be born with dispositions more or less fiery or +sluggish, weak or strong, fierce or gentle, fortunate or unfortunate, +and richer or poorer in talent. And whoever has any doubt of this, +will be enlightened in this present Life of Perino del Vaga, a painter +of great excellence and genius.</p> + +<p>This Perino, the son of a poor father, having been left an orphan as a +little child and abandoned by his relatives, was guided and governed +by art, whom he always acknowledged as his true mother and honoured +without ceasing. And the studies of the art of painting were pursued +by him with such zeal and diligence, that he was enabled in due time +to execute those noble and famous decorations which have brought so +much glory to Genoa and to Prince Doria. Wherefore we may believe +without a doubt that it is Heaven that raises men from those infinite +depths in which they were born, to that summit of greatness to which +they ascend, when they prove by labouring valiantly at their works +that they are true followers of the sciences that they have chosen to +learn; even as Perino chose and pursued as his vocation the art of +design, in which he proved himself full of grace and most excellent, +or rather, absolutely perfect. And he not only equalled the ancients +in stucco-work, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190" name="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> but also equalled the best modern craftsmen +in the whole field of painting, displaying all the excellence that +could possibly be desired in a human intellect that seeks, in solving +the difficulties of that art, to achieve beauty, grace, charm, and +delicacy with colouring and with every other kind of ornament.</p> + +<p>But let us speak more particularly of his origin. There lived in the +city of Florence one Giovanni Buonaccorsi, who entered the service of +Charles VIII, King of France, and fought in his wars, and, being a +spirited and open-handed young man, spent all that he possessed in +that service and in gaming, and finally lost his life therein. To him +was born a son, who received the name of Piero; and this son, after +being left as an infant of two months old without his mother, who died +of plague, was reared in the greatest misery at a farm, being suckled +by a goat, until his father, having gone to Bologna, took as his +second wife a woman whose husband and children had died of plague; and +she, with her plague-infected milk, finished nursing Piero, who was +now called Pierino<a id="FNanchor27" name="FNanchor27"></a><a href="#Footnote27" title="Go to footnote 27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> (a pet name such as it is a general custom to +give to little children), and retained that name ever afterwards. He +was then taken to Florence by his father, who, on returning to France, +left him with some relatives; and they, either because they had not +the means, or because they would not accept the burdensome charge of +maintaining him and having him taught some ingenious vocation, placed +him with the apothecary of the Pinadoro, to the end that he might +learn that calling. But, not liking that profession, he was taken as +shop-boy by the painter Andrea de' Ceri, who was pleased with the air +and the ways of Perino, and thought that he saw in him a certain +lively spirit of intelligence from which it might be hoped that in +time some good fruits would issue from him. Andrea was no great +painter; quite commonplace, indeed, and one of those who stand openly +and publicly in their workshops, executing any kind of work, however +mean; and he was wont to paint every year for the festival of S. John +certain wax tapers which were carried as offerings, as they still are, +together with the other tributes of the city; for which reason he was +called Andrea de' Ceri, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191" name="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> and from that name Perino was +afterwards called for some time Perino de' Ceri.</p> + +<p>Andrea, then, took care of Perino for some years, teaching him the +rudiments of art as well as he could; but when the boy had reached the +age of eleven, he was forced to seek for him some master better than +himself. And so, having a straight friendship with Ridolfo, the son of +Domenico Ghirlandajo, who, as will be related, was held to be able and +well practised in painting, Andrea de' Ceri placed Perino with him, to +the end that he might give his attention to design, and strive with +all the zeal and love at his command to make in that art the +proficience of which his great genius gave promise. Whereupon, +pursuing his studies, among the many young men whom Ridolfo had in his +workshop, all engaged in learning art, in a short time Perino came to +surpass all the rest, so great were his ardour and his eagerness. +Among them was one named Toto del Nunziata, who was to him as a spur +to urge him on continually; which Toto, likewise attaining in time to +equality with the finest intellects, departed from Florence and made +his way with some Florentine merchants to England, where he executed +all his works, and was very richly rewarded by the King of that +country, whom he also served in architecture, erecting, in particular, +his principal palace. He and Perino, then, working in emulation of one +another, and pursuing the studies of art with supreme diligence, after +no long time became very excellent. And Perino, drawing from the +cartoon of Michelagnolo Buonarroti in company with other young men, +both Florentines and strangers, won and held the first place among +them all, insomuch that he was regarded with that expectation which +was afterwards fulfilled in the beautiful works that he executed with +so much excellence and art.</p> + +<p>There came to Florence at that time the Florentine painter Vaga, a +master of no great excellence, who was executing commonplace works at +Toscanella in the province of Rome. Having a superabundance of work, +he was in need of assistance, and he desired to take back with him a +companion and also a young man who might help him in design, in which +he was wanting, and in the other matters of art. Now this painter, +having seen Perino drawing in the workshop of Ridolfo together +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192" name="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> with the other young men, found him so superior to them all, +that he was astonished; and, what is more, he was pleased with his +appearance and his ways, for Perino was a very beautiful youth, most +courteous, modest, and gentle, and every part of his body was in +keeping with the nobility of his mind; wherefore Vaga was so charmed +with him, that he asked him whether he would go with him to Rome, +saying that he would not fail to assist him in his studies, and +promising him such benefits and conditions as he might demand. So +great was the desire that Perino had to attain to excellence in his +profession, that, when he heard Rome mentioned, through his eagerness +to see that city, he was deeply moved; but he told him that he must +speak to Andrea de' Ceri, who had supported him up to that time, so +that he was loth to abandon him. And so Vaga, having persuaded +Ridolfo, Perino's master, and Andrea, who maintained him, so contrived +that in the end he took Perino, with the companion, to Toscanella. +There Perino began to work and to assist them, and they finished not +only the work that Vaga had undertaken, but also many that they +undertook afterwards. But Perino complained that the promise of seeing +Rome, by which he had been brought from Florence, was not being +fulfilled, in consequence of the profit and advantage that Vaga was +drawing from his services, and he resolved to go thither by himself; +which was the reason that Vaga, leaving all his works, took him to +Rome. And there, through the love that he bore to art, Perino returned +to his former work of drawing and continued at it many weeks, growing +more ardent every day. But Vaga wished to return to Toscanella, and +therefore made him known, as one belonging to himself, to many +commonplace painters, and also recommended him to all the friends that +he had there, to the end that they might assist and favour him in his +absence; from which circumstance he was always called from that day +onward Perino del Vaga.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img035" id="img035"></a> +<img src="images/img035-tb.jpg" width="500" height="380" alt="The Passage of the Red Sea." title=""> +<p class="caption">THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA<br> +(<i>After the fresco by</i> Perino del Vaga.<br> <i>Rome: The Vatican, Loggia</i>)<br> +<i>Anderson</i> +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img035.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Thus left in Rome, and seeing the ancient works of sculpture and the +marvellous masses of buildings, reduced for the most part to ruins, +Perino stood lost in admiration at the greatness of the many renowned +and illustrious men who had executed those works. And so, becoming +ever more and more aflame with love of art, he burned unceasingly to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193" name="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> attain to a height not too far distant from those masters, +in order to win fame and profit for himself with his works, even as +had been done by those at whom he marvelled as he beheld their +beautiful creations. And while he contemplated their greatness and the +depths of his own lowliness and poverty, reflecting that he possessed +nothing save the desire to rise to their height, and that, having no +one who might maintain him and provide him with the means to live, he +was forced, if he wished to remain alive, to labour at work for those +ordinary shops, now with one painter and now with another, after the +manner of the day-labourers in the fields, a mode of life which so +hindered his studies, he felt infinite grief and pain in his heart at +not being able to make as soon as he would have liked that proficience +to which his mind, his will, and his necessities were urging him. He +made the resolve, therefore, to divide his time equally, working half +the week at day work, and during the other half devoting his attention +to design; and to this second half he added all the feast-days, +together with a great part of the nights, thus stealing time from time +itself, in order to become famous and to escape from the hands of +others so far as it might be possible.</p> + +<p>Having carried this intention into execution, he began to draw in the +Chapel of Pope Julius, where the vaulting had been painted by +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, following both his methods and the manner of +Raffaello da Urbino. And then, going on to the ancient works in marble +and also to the grotesques in the grottoes under the ground, which +pleased him through their novelty, he learned the methods of working +in stucco, gaining his bread meanwhile by grievous labour, and +enduring every hardship in order to become excellent in his +profession. Nor had any long time passed before he became the best and +most finished draughtsman that there was among all who were drawing in +Rome, for the reason that he had, perhaps, a better knowledge of +muscles and of the difficult art of depicting the nude than many +others who were held to be among the best masters at that time; which +was the reason that he became known not only to the men of his +profession, but also to many lords and prelates. And, in particular, +Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, called Il Fattore, disciples of +Raffaello da Urbino, having <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194" name="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> praised him not a little to +their master, roused in him a desire to know Perino and to see his +works in drawing; which having pleased him, and together with his work +his manner, his spirit, and his ways of life, he declared that among +all the young men that he had known, Perino would attain to the +highest perfection in that art.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Raffaello da Urbino had built the Papal Loggie, by the +command of Leo X; and the same Pope ordered that Raffaello should also +have them adorned with stucco, painted, and gilded, according as it +should seem best to him. Thereupon Raffaello placed at the head of +that enterprise, for the stucco-work and the grotesques, Giovanni da +Udine, who was very excellent and without an equal in such works, but +mostly in executing animals, fruits, and other little things. And +since he had chosen in Rome and summoned from other parts a great +number of masters, he had assembled together a company of men each +very able at his own work, one in stucco, another in grotesques, a +third in foliage, a fourth in festoons, another in scenes, and others +in other things; and according as they improved they were brought +forward and paid higher salaries, so that by competing in that work +many young men attained to great perfection, who were afterwards held +to be excellent in their various fields of art. Among that company +Perino was assigned to Giovanni da Udine by Raffaello, to the end that +he might execute grotesques and scenes together with the others; and +he was told that according as he should acquit himself, so he would be +employed by Giovanni. And thus, labouring out of emulation and in +order to prove his powers and make proficience, before many months had +passed Perino was held to be the first among all those who were +working there, both in drawing and in colouring; the best, I say, the +most perfect in grace and finish, and he who could execute both +figures and grotesques in the most delicate and beautiful manner; to +which clear testimony and witness are borne by the grotesques, +festoons, and scenes by his hand that are in that work, which, besides +surpassing the others, are executed in much more faithful accord with +the designs and sketches that Raffaello made for them. This may be +seen from a part of those scenes in the centre of the loggia, on the +vaulting, where the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195" name="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> Hebrews are depicted crossing over the +Jordan with the sacred Ark, and also marching round the walls of +Jericho, which fall into ruin; and the other scenes that follow, such +as that of Joshua causing the sun to stand still during the combat +with the Amorites. Among those painted in imitation of bronze on the +base the best are likewise those by the hand of Perino—namely, +Abraham sacrificing his son, Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Joseph +receiving his twelve brethren, the fire descending from Heaven and +consuming the sons of Levi, and many others which there is no need to +name, for their number is very great, and they can be distinguished +from the rest. At the beginning of the loggia, also, where one enters, +he painted scenes from the New Testament, the Nativity and the Baptism +of Christ, and His Last Supper with the Apostles, which are very +beautiful; besides which, below the windows, as has been said, are the +best scenes painted in the colour of bronze that there are in the +whole work. These labours cause every man to marvel, both the +paintings and the many works in stucco that he executed there with his +own hand; and his colouring, moreover, is much more pleasing and more +highly finished than that of any of the others.</p> + +<p>This work was the reason that he became famous beyond all belief, yet +this great praise did not send him to sleep, but rather, since genius +grows with praise, inspired him with even more zeal, and made him +almost certain that by persisting he would come to win those fruits +and honours that he saw every day in the possession of Raffaello da +Urbino and Michelagnolo Buonarroti. And he laboured all the more +willingly, because he saw that he was held in estimation by Giovanni +da Udine and by Raffaello, and was employed in works of importance. He +always showed extraordinary deference and obedience towards Raffaello, +honouring him in such a manner that he was beloved by Raffaello as a +son.</p> + +<p>There was executed at this time, by order of Pope Leo, the vaulting of +the Hall of the Pontiffs, which is that through which one passes by +way of the Loggie into the apartments of Pope Alexander VI, formerly +painted by Pinturicchio; and that vaulting was painted by Giovanni da +Udine and Perino. They executed in company the stucco-work and all +those ornaments, grotesques, and animals that are to be seen <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196" name="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +there, in addition to the varied and beautiful inventions that were +depicted by them in the compartments of the ceiling, which they had +divided into certain circles and ovals to contain the seven Planets of +Heaven drawn by their appropriate animals, such as Jupiter drawn by +Eagles, Venus by Doves, the Moon by Women, Mars by Wolves, Mercury by +Cocks, the Sun by Horses, and Saturn by Serpents; besides the twelve +Signs of the Zodiac, and some figures from the forty-eight +Constellations of Heaven, such as the Great Bear, the Dog Star, and +many others, which, by reason of their number, we must pass over in +silence, without recounting them all in their order, since anyone may +see the work; which figures are almost all by the hand of Perino. In +the centre of the vaulting is a circle with four figures representing +Victories, seen foreshortened from below upwards, who are holding the +Pope's Crown and the Keys; and these are very well conceived and +wrought with masterly art, to say nothing of the delicacy with which +he painted their vestments, veiling the nude with certain light +draperies that partly reveal the naked legs and arms, a truly graceful +and beautiful effect. This work was justly held, as it still is at the +present day, to be very magnificent and rich in craftsmanship, and +also cheerful and pleasing; worthy, in short, of that Pontiff, who did +not fail to reward their labours, which truly deserved some signal +remuneration.</p> + +<p>Perino decorated a façade in chiaroscuro—a method brought into use at +that time by the example of Polidoro and Maturino—which is opposite +to the house of the Marchioness of Massa, near Maestro Pasquino, +executing it with great boldness of design and with supreme diligence.</p> + +<p>In the third year of his pontificate Pope Leo paid a visit to +Florence, for which many triumphal preparations were made in that +city, and Perino went thither before the Court, partly in order to see +the pomps of the city, and partly from a wish to revisit his native +country; and on a triumphal arch at S. Trinità he made a large and +very beautiful figure, seven braccia high, while another was executed +in competition with him by Toto del Nunziata, who had already been his +rival in boyhood. But to Perino every hour seemed a thousand years +until he could return to Rome, for he perceived that the rules and +methods of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197" name="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Florentine craftsmen were very different from +those that were customary in Rome; wherefore he departed from Florence +and returned to Rome, where he resumed his usual course of work. And +in S. Eustachio dalla Dogana he painted a S. Peter in fresco, which is +a figure that has very strong relief, executed with a simple flow of +folds, and yet wrought with much design and judgment.</p> + +<p>There was in Rome at this time the Archbishop of Cyprus, a man who was +a great lover of the arts, and particularly of painting; and he, +having a house near the Chiavica, where he had laid out a little +garden with some statues and other antiquities of truly noble beauty, +and desiring to enhance their effect with some fine decorations, sent +for Perino, who was very much his friend, and they came to the +decision that he should paint round the walls of that garden many +stories of Bacchantes, Satyrs, Fauns, and other wild things, in +reference to an ancient statue of Bacchus, seated beside a tiger, +which the Archbishop had there. And so Perino adorned that place with +a variety of poetical fancies; and, among other things, he painted +there a little loggia with small figures, various grotesques, and many +landscapes, coloured with supreme grace and diligence. This work has +been held by craftsmen, as it always will be, to be worthy of the +highest praise; and it was the reason that he became known to the +Fugger family, merchants of Germany, who, having built a house near +the Banchi, on the way to the Church of the Florentines, and having +seen Perino's work and liked it, caused him to paint there a courtyard +and a loggia, with many figures, all worthy of the same praise as the +other works by his hand, for in them may be seen much delicacy and +grace and great beauty of manner.</p> + +<p>At this same time M. Marchionne Baldassini, having caused a house to +be built for him near S. Agostino, as has been related, by Antonio da +San Gallo, who designed it very well, desired that a hall which +Antonio had constructed there should be painted all over; and after +passing in review many of the young painters, to the end that it might +be well and beautifully done, he finally resolved to give it to +Perino. Having agreed about the price, Perino set his hand to it, nor +did he turn his attention from that work to any other until he had +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198" name="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> brought it to a very happy conclusion in fresco. In that +hall he made compartments by means of pilasters which have between +them niches great and small; in the larger niches are various figures +of philosophers, two in each niche, and in some one only, and in the +smaller niches are little boys, partly naked and partly draped in +veiling, while above those small niches are some heads of women, +painted in imitation of marble. Above the cornice that crowns the +pilasters there follows a second series of pictures, separated from +the first series below, with scenes in figures of no great size from +the history of the Romans, beginning with Romulus and ending with Numa +Pompilius. There are likewise various ornaments in imitation of +different kinds of marble, and over the beautiful chimney-piece of +stone is a figure of Peace burning arms and trophies, which is very +lifelike. This work was held in much estimation during the lifetime of +M. Marchionne, as it has been ever since by all those who work in +painting, and also by many others not of the profession, who give it +extraordinary praise.</p> + +<p>In the Convent of the Nuns of S. Anna, Perino painted a chapel in +fresco with many figures, which was executed by him with his usual +diligence. And on an altar in S. Stefano del Cacco he painted in +fresco, for a Roman lady, a Pietà with the Dead Christ in the lap of +Our Lady, with a portrait from life of that lady, which still has the +appearance of a living figure; and the whole work is very beautiful, +and executed with great mastery and facility.</p> + +<p>In those days Antonio da San Gallo had built at the corner of a house +in Rome, which is known as the Imagine di Ponte, a tabernacle finely +adorned with travertine and very handsome, in which something +beautiful in the way of painting was to be executed; and he received a +commission from the owner of that house to give the work to one whom +he should consider capable of painting some noble picture there. +Wherefore Antonio, who knew Perino to be the best of the young men who +were in Rome, allotted it to him. And he, setting his hand to the +work, painted there a Christ in the act of crowning the Madonna, and +in the background he made a Glory, with a choir of Seraphim and Angels +clothed in light and delicate draperies, who are scattering flowers, +and other children of great beauty and variety; and on the sides of +the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199" name="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> tabernacle he painted Saints, S. Sebastian on one side +and S. Anthony on the other. This work was executed truly well, and +was equal to the others by his hand, which were always full of grace +and charm.</p> + +<p>A certain protonotary had erected a chapel of marble on four columns +in the Minerva, and, desiring to leave an altar-piece there in memory +of himself, even if it were but a small one, he came to an agreement +with Perino, whose fame he had heard, and commissioned him to paint it +in oils. And he chose that the subject should be the Deposition of +Christ from the Cross, which Perino set himself to execute with the +greatest possible zeal and diligence. In this picture he represented +Him as already laid upon the ground, surrounded by the Maries weeping +over Him, in whose gestures and attitudes he portrayed a melting pity +and sorrow; besides which there are the Nicodemuses<a id="FNanchor28" name="FNanchor28"></a><a href="#Footnote28" title="Go to footnote 28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and other +figures that are much admired, all woeful and afflicted at seeing the +sinless Christ lying dead. But the figures that he painted most +divinely were those of the two Thieves, left fixed upon the crosses, +which, besides appearing to be real dead bodies, reveal a very good +mastery over muscles and nerves, which this occasion enabled him to +display; wherefore, to the eyes of him who beholds them, their limbs +present themselves all drawn in that violent death by the nerves, and +the muscles by the nails and cords. There is, in addition, a landscape +wrapped in darkness, counterfeited with much judgment and art. And if +the inundation which came upon Rome after the sack had not done damage +to this work, covering more than half of it, its excellence would be +clearly seen; but the water so softened the gesso, and caused the wood +to swell in such sort, that all the lower part that was soaked has +peeled off too much for the picture to give any pleasure; nay, it is a +grief and a truly heartrending sorrow to behold it, for it would +certainly have been one of the most precious things in all Rome.</p> + +<p>There was being rebuilt at this time, under the direction of Jacopo +Sansovino, the Church of S. Marcello in Rome, a convent of Servite +Friars, which still remains unfinished; and when they had carried the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200" name="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> walls of some chapels to completion, and had roofed them, +those friars commissioned Perino to paint in one of these, as +ornaments for a Madonna that is worshipped in that church, two figures +in separate niches, S. Joseph and S. Filippo, a Servite friar and the +founder of that Order, one on either side of the Madonna. These +finished, he painted above them some little boys that are perfect, and +in the centre of the wall he placed another standing upon a dado, who +has upon his shoulders the ends of two festoons, which he directs +towards the corners of the chapel, where there are two other little +boys who support them, being seated upon them, with their legs in most +beautiful attitudes. All this he executed with such art, such grace, +and so beautiful a manner, and gave to the flesh a tint of colour so +fresh and soft, that one might say that it was real flesh rather than +painted. And certainly these figures may be held to be the most +beautiful that ever any craftsman painted in fresco, for the reason +that there is life in their eyes and movement in their attitudes, and +with the mouth they make as if to break into speech and say that art +has conquered Nature, and that even art declares that nothing more +than this can be done in her. This work was so excellent in the sight +of all good judges of art, that he acquired a great name thereby, +although he had executed many works and what was known of his great +genius in his profession was well known; and he was therefore held in +much more account and greater estimation than ever before.</p> + +<p>For this reason Lorenzo Pucci, Cardinal Santiquattro, who had taken +over a chapel on the left hand beside the principal chapel in the +Trinità, a convent of Calabrian and French Friars who wear the habit +of S. Francis of Paola, allotted it to Perino, to the end that he +might paint there in fresco the life of Our Lady. Which having begun, +Perino finished all the vaulting and a wall under an arch; and on the +outer side, also, over an arch of the chapel, he painted two Prophets +four braccia and a half in height, representing Isaiah and Daniel, who +in their great proportions reveal all the art, excellence of design, +and beauty of colouring that can be seen in their perfection only in a +picture executed by a great craftsman. This will be clearly evident to +one who shall consider the Isaiah, in whom, as he reads, may be +perceived the thoughtfulness that <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201" name="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> study infuses in him, and +his eagerness in reading new things, for he has his gaze fixed upon a +book, with one hand to his head, exactly as a man often is when he is +studying; and Daniel, likewise, is motionless, with his head upraised +in celestial contemplation, in order to resolve the doubts of his +people. Between these figures are two little boys who are upholding +the escutcheon of the Cardinal, a shield of beautiful shape: and these +boys, besides being so painted as to seem to be of flesh, also have +the appearance of being in relief. The vaulting is divided into four +scenes, separated one from another by the cross—that is, by the ribs +of the vaulting. In the first is the Conception of Our Lady, in the +second her Nativity, in the third the scene when she ascends the steps +of the Temple, and in the fourth S. Joseph marrying her. On a +wall-space equal in extent to the arch of the vaulting is her +Visitation, in which are many figures that are very beautiful, but +above all some who have climbed on certain socles and are standing in +very spirited and natural attitudes, the better to see the ceremonious +meeting of those women; besides which, there is something of the good +and of the beautiful in the buildings and in every gesture of the +other figures. He pursued this work no further, illness coming upon +him; and when he was well, there began the plague of the year 1523, +which raged so violently in Rome, that, if he wished to save his life, +it became expedient for him to make up his mind to depart.</p> + +<p>There was in the city of Rome at that time the goldsmith Piloto, who +was much the friend and intimate companion of Perino, and he was +desirous of departing; and so one morning, as they were breakfasting +together, he persuaded Perino to take himself off and go to Florence, +on the ground that it was many years since he had been there, and that +it could not but bring him great honour to make himself known there +and to leave some example of his excellence in that city; saying also +that, although Andrea de' Ceri and his wife, who had brought him up, +were dead, nevertheless, as a native of that country, if he had no +possessions there, he had his love for it. Wherefore, after no long +time, one morning Perino and Piloto departed and set out on the way to +Florence. And when they had arrived there, Perino took the greatest +pleasure in <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202" name="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> seeing once again the old works painted by the +masters of the past, which had been as a school to him in the days of +his boyhood, and likewise those of the masters then living who were +the most celebrated and held to be the best in that city, in which, +through the interest of friends, a work was allotted to him, as will +be related below. It happened one day that many craftsmen having +assembled in his presence to do him honour, painters, sculptors, +architects, goldsmiths, and carvers in wood and marble, who had +gathered together according to the ancient custom, some to see Perino, +to keep him company, and to hear what he had to say, many to learn +what difference in practice there might be between the craftsmen of +Rome and those of Florence, but most of them to hear the praise and +censure that craftsmen are wont often to give to one another; it +happened, I say, that thus discoursing together of one thing and +another, and examining the works, both ancient and modern, in the +various churches, they came to that of the Carmine, in order to see +the chapel of Masaccio. There everyone gazed attentively at the +paintings, and many various opinions were uttered in praise of that +master, all declaring that they marvelled that he should have +possessed so much judgment as to be able in those days, without seeing +anything but the work of Giotto, to work with so much of the modern +manner in the design, in the colouring, and in the imitation of +Nature, and that he should have solved the difficulties of his art in +a manner so facile; not to mention that among all those who had worked +at painting, there had not as yet been one who had equalled him in +strength of relief, in resoluteness, and in mastery of execution.</p> + +<p>This kind of discourse much pleased Perino, and to all those craftsmen +who spoke thus he answered in these words: "I do not deny that what +you say, and even more, may be true; but that there is no one among us +who can equal this manner, that I will deny with my last breath. Nay, +I will declare, if I may say it with the permission of the company, +not in contempt, but from a desire for the truth, that I know many +both more resolute and richer in grace, whose works are no less +lifelike in the painting than these, and even much more beautiful. And +I, by your leave, I who am not the first in this art, am grieved that +there is <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203" name="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> no space near these works wherein I might be able +to paint a figure; for before departing from Florence I would make a +trial beside one of these figures, likewise in fresco, to the end that +you might see by comparison whether there be not among the moderns one +who has equalled him." Among their number was a master who was held to +be the first painter in Florence; and he, being curious to see the +work of Perino, and perhaps wishing to lower his pride, put forward an +idea of his own, which was this: "Although," said he, "all the space +here is full, yet, since you have such a fancy, which is certainly a +good one and worthy of praise, there, on the opposite side, where +there is the S. Paul by his hand, a figure no less good and beautiful +than any other in the chapel, is a space in which you may easily prove +what you say by making another Apostle, either beside that S. Peter by +Masolino or beside the S. Paul of Masaccio, whichever you may prefer." +The S. Peter was nearer the window, and the space beside it was +greater and the light better; besides which, it was a figure no less +beautiful than the S. Paul. Everyone, therefore, urged Perino to do +it, because they had a great desire to see that Roman manner; besides +which, many said that he would be the means of taking out of their +heads the fancy that they had nursed in their minds for so many +decades, and that if his figure should prove to be the best all would +run after modern works. Wherefore, persuaded by that master, who told +him at last that he ought not to disappoint the entreaties and +expectations of so many lofty intellects, particularly since it would +not take longer than two weeks to execute a figure in fresco, and they +would not fail to spend years in praising his labours, Perino resolved +to do it, although he who spoke thus had an intention quite contrary +to his words, being persuaded that Perino would by no means execute +anything much better than the work of those craftsmen who were +considered to be the most excellent at that time. Perino, then, +undertook to make this attempt; and having summoned by common consent +M. Giovanni da Pisa, the Prior of the convent, they asked him for the +space for the execution of the work, which he granted to them with +truly gracious courtesy; and thus they took measurements of the space, +with the height and breadth, and went away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204" name="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> An Apostle was then drawn by Perino in a cartoon, in the +person of S. Andrew, and finished with the greatest diligence; +whereupon Perino, having first caused the staging to be erected, was +prepared to begin to paint it. But before this, on his arrival in +Florence, his many friends, who had seen most excellent works by his +hand in Rome, had contrived to obtain for him the commission for that +work in fresco which I mentioned, to the end that he might leave some +example of his handiwork in Florence, which might demonstrate how +spirited and how beautiful was his genius for painting, and also to +the end that he might become known and perchance be set to work on +some labour of importance by those who were then governing. There were +at that time certain craftsmen who used to assemble in a company +called the Company of the Martyrs, in the Camaldoli at Florence; and +they had proposed many times to have a wall that was in that place +painted with the story of the Martyrs being condemned to death before +two Roman Emperors, who, after they had been taken in battle, caused +them to be crucified in the wood and hanged on trees. This story was +suggested to Perino, and, although the place was out of the way, and +the price small, so much was he attracted by the possibilities of +invention in the story and by the size of the wall, that he was +disposed to undertake it; besides which, he was urged not a little by +those who were his friends, on the ground that the work would +establish him in that reputation which his talent deserved among the +citizens, who did not know him, and among his fellow-craftsmen in +Florence, where he was not known save by report. Having then +determined to do the work, he accepted the undertaking and made a +small design, which was held to be a thing divine; and having set his +hand to making a cartoon as large as the whole work, he never left off +labouring at it, and carried it so far that all the principal figures +were completely finished. And so the Apostle was abandoned, without +anything more being done.</p> + +<p>Perino drew this cartoon on white paper, well shaded and hatched, +leaving the paper itself for the lights, and executing the whole with +admirable diligence. In it were the two Emperors on the seat of +judgment, condemning to the cross all the prisoners, who were turned +towards <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205" name="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> the tribunal, some kneeling, some standing, and +others bowed, but all naked and bound in different ways, and writhing +with piteous gestures in various attitudes, revealing the trembling of +the limbs at the prospect of the severing of the soul from the body in +the agony and torment of crucifixion; besides which, there were +depicted in those heads the constancy of faith in the old, the fear of +death in the young, and in others the torture that they suffer from +the strain of the cords on their bodies and arms. And there could also +be seen the swelling of the muscles and even the cold sweat of death, +all depicted in that design. Then in the soldiers who were leading +them there was revealed a terrible fury, most impious and cruel, as +they presented them at the tribunal for condemnation and led them to +the cross. The Emperors and the soldiers were wearing cuirasses after +the ancient manner and garments very ornate and bizarre, with buskins, +shoes, helmets, shields, and other pieces of armour wrought with all +that wealth of the most beautiful ornamentation to which a craftsman +can attain in imitating and reproducing the antique, and drawn with +the greatest lovingness, subtlety, and delicacy that the perfection of +art can display. When this cartoon was seen by the craftsmen and by +other judges of discernment, they declared that they had never seen +such beauty and excellence in design since the cartoon drawn by +Michelagnolo Buonarroti in Florence for the Council Chamber; wherefore +Perino acquired the greatest fame that he could have gained in art. +And while he was engaged in finishing that cartoon, he amused himself +by causing oil-colours to be prepared and ground in order to paint for +his dearest friend, the goldsmith Piloto, a little picture of no great +size, containing a Madonna, which he carried something more than +half-way towards completion.</p> + +<p>For many years past Perino had been intimately acquainted with a +certain lame priest, Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a chaplain of S. +Lorenzo, who always bore love to the craftsmen of design. This priest, +then, persuaded Perino to take up his quarters with him, seeing that +he had no one to cook for him or to keep house for him, and that +during the time that he had been in Florence he had stayed now with +one friend and now with another; wherefore Perino went to lodge with +him, and stayed there <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206" name="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> many weeks. Meanwhile the plague began +to appear in certain parts of Florence, and filled Perino with fear +lest he should catch the infection; on which account he determined to +go away, but wished first to recompense Ser Raffaello for all the days +that he had eaten at his table. But Ser Raffaello would never consent +to take anything, only saying: "I would be fully paid by having a +scrap of paper from your hand." Seeing him to be determined, Perino +took about four braccia of coarse canvas, and, after having it fixed +to the wall between two doors in the priest's little room, painted on +it in a day and a night a scene coloured in imitation of bronze. On +this canvas, which was to serve as a screen for the wall, he painted +the story of Moses passing the Red Sea and Pharaoh being submerged +with his horses and his chariots; and Perino painted therein figures +in most beautiful attitudes, some swimming in armour and some naked, +others swimming while clasping the horses round the neck, with their +beards and hair all soaked, crying out in the fear of death and +struggling with all their power to escape. On the other side of the +sea are Moses, Aaron, and all the other Hebrews, male and female, who +are thanking God, and a number of vases that he counterfeited, carried +off by them from Egypt, varied and beautiful in form and shape, and +women with head-dresses of great variety. Which finished, he left it +as a mark of lovingness to Ser Raffaello, to whom it was as dear as +the Priorate of S. Lorenzo would have been. This canvas was afterwards +much extolled and held in estimation, and after the death of Ser +Raffaello it passed, together with his other possessions, to his +brother Domenico di Sandro, the cheesemonger.</p> + +<p>Departing, then, from Florence, Perino abandoned the work of the +Martyrs, which caused him great regret; and certainly, if it had been +in any other place but the Camaldoli, he would have finished it; but, +considering that the officials of health had taken that very Convent +of Camaldoli for those infected with the plague, he thought it better +to save himself than to leave fame behind him in Florence, being +satisfied that he had proved how much he was worth in the design. The +cartoon, with his other things, remained in the possession of the +goldsmith Giovanni di Goro, his friend, who died in the plague; and +after that it <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207" name="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> fell into the hands of Piloto, who kept it +spread out in his house for many years, showing it readily as a very +rare work to every person of intelligence; but I do not know what +became of it after the death of Piloto.</p> + +<p>Perino stayed for many months in various places, seeking to avoid the +plague, but for all this he never spent his time in vain, for he was +continually drawing and studying the secrets of art; and when the +plague had ceased, he returned to Rome and gave his attention to +executing little works of which I shall say nothing more. In the year +1523 came the election of Pope Clement VII, which was the greatest of +blessings for the arts of painting and sculpture, which had been so +kept down by Adrian VI during his lifetime, that not only had nothing +been executed for him, but, as has been related in other places, not +delighting in them, or rather, holding them in detestation, he had +brought it about that no other person delighted in them, or spent +money upon them, or employed a single craftsman. Then, therefore, +after the election of the new Pontiff, Perino executed many works.</p> + +<p>Afterwards it was proposed that Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, +called Il Fattore, should be made heads of the world of art in place +of Raffaello, who was dead, to the end that they might distribute the +various works to the others, according to the previous custom. But +Perino, in executing an escutcheon of the Pope in fresco over the door +of Cardinal Cesarino, after the cartoon of Giulio Romano, acquitted +himself so excellently well, that they doubted whether he would not be +preferred to themselves, because, although they were known as the +disciples of Raffaello and as the heirs to his possessions, they had +not inherited the whole of the art and grace that he used to give to +his figures with colours. Giulio and Giovan Francesco therefore made +up their minds to attach Perino to themselves; and so in the holy year +of Jubilee, 1525, they gave him Caterina, the sister of Giovan +Francesco, for wife, to the end that the perfect friendship which had +been maintained between them for so long might be converted into +kinship. Thereupon, continuing the works that he had in hand, no long +time had passed when, on account of the praises bestowed upon him for +the first work <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208" name="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> executed by him in S. Marcello, it was +resolved by the Prior of that convent and by certain heads of the +Company of the Crocifisso, which has a chapel there built by its +members as a place of assembly, that the chapel should be painted; and +so they allotted this work to Perino, in the hope of having some +excellent painting by his hand. Perino, having caused the staging to +be erected, began the work; and in the centre of the barrel-shaped +vaulting he painted the scene when God, after creating Adam, takes his +wife Eve from his side. In this scene Adam, a most beautiful naked +figure painted with perfect art, is seen lying overcome by sleep, +while Eve, with great vivacity, rises to her feet with the hands +clasped and receives the benediction of her Maker, the figure of whom +is depicted grave in aspect and sublime in majesty, standing with many +draperies about Him, which curve round His nude form with their +borders. On one side, on the right hand, are two Evangelists, S. Mark +and S. John, the first of whom Perino finished entirely, and also the +second with the exception of the head and a naked arm. Between these +two Evangelists, by way of ornament, he made two little boys embracing +a candelabrum, which are truly of living flesh; and the Evangelists, +likewise, in the heads, the draperies, the arms, and all that he +painted in them with his own hand, are very beautiful.</p> + +<p>While he was executing this work, he suffered many interruptions from +illness and from other misfortunes, such as happen every day to all +who live in this world; besides which, it is said that the men of the +Company also ran short of money. And so long did this business drag +on, that in the year 1527 there came upon them the ruin of Rome, when +that city was given over to sack, many craftsmen were killed, and many +works destroyed or carried away. Whereupon Perino, caught in that +turmoil, and having a wife and a baby girl, ran from place to place in +Rome with the child in his arms, seeking to save her, and finally, +poor wretch, was taken prisoner and reduced to paying a ransom, which +hit him so hard that he was like to go out of his mind. When the fury +of the sack had abated, he was so crushed down by the fear that still +possessed him, that all thought of art was worlds away from him, but +nevertheless he painted canvases in gouache and other fantasies for +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209" name="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> certain Spanish soldiers; and after regaining his composure, +he lived like the rest in some poor fashion. Alone among so many, +Baviera, who had the engravings of Raffaello, had not lost much; +wherefore, moved by the friendship that he had with Perino, and +wishing to employ him, he commissioned him to draw some of the stories +of the Gods transforming themselves in order to achieve the +consummation of their loves. These were engraved on copper by Jacopo +Caraglio, an excellent engraver of prints, who acquitted himself so +well in the matter of these designs, that, preserving the outlines and +manner of Perino, and hatching the work with beautiful facility, he +sought also to impart to the engravings that grace and that delicacy +which Perino had given to the drawings.</p> + +<p>While the havoc of the sack had destroyed Rome and driven away the +inhabitants and the Pope himself, who was living at Orvieto, not many +remaining in the city, and no business of any kind being done there, +there arrived in Rome one Niccola Viniziano, a rare and even +unrivalled master of embroidery, the servant of Prince Doria. He, +moved by his long-standing friendship with Perino, and being a man who +always favoured and wished well to the men of our arts, persuaded him +to leave that misery and set out for Genoa, promising that he would so +go to work with that Prince, who was a lover of art and delighted in +painting, that he would commission Perino to execute some big works, +and saying, moreover, that His Excellency had often told him that he +would like to have a suite of rooms adorned with handsome decorations. +It did not take much to persuade Perino, for he was oppressed by want +and burning with desire to leave Rome; and he determined to depart +with Niccola. Having therefore made arrangements for leaving his wife +and daughter well cared for by relatives in Rome, and having put all +his affairs in order, he set off for Genoa. Arriving there, and making +himself known to that Prince by means of Niccola, his coming was as +welcome to His Excellency as any agreeable experience that he had ever +had in all his life. He was received, therefore, with the greatest +possible warmth and gladness, and after many conversations and +discussions they finally arranged that he should begin the work; and +they decided that he should execute a palace adorned with stucco-work +and with pictures in fresco, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210" name="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> in oils, and of every kind, +which I will strive to describe as briefly as I am able, with all the +rooms, pictures, and general arrangement, saying nothing as to where +Perino first began to labour, to the end that I may not obscure this +work, which is the best of all those by his hand, with words.</p> + +<p>I begin, then, by saying that at the entrance of the Prince's Palace +there is a marble portal composed in the Doric Order, and built after +designs and models by the hand of Perino, with all its appurtenances +of pedestals, socles, shafts, capitals, architrave, frieze, cornice +and pediment, and with some most beautiful seated figures of women, +who are supporting an escutcheon. The masonry and carving of this work +were executed by Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, and the figures were +finished to perfection by Silvio, the sculptor of Fiesole, a bold and +resolute master. Entering within the portal, one finds over the +vestibule a vault covered with stucco-work, varied scenes, and +grotesques, and little arches in each of which are scenes of war and +various kinds of battles, some fighting on foot and others on +horseback, and all wrought with truly extraordinary diligence and art. +On the left one finds the staircase, which has decorations of little +grotesques after the antique that could not be richer or more +beautiful, with various scenes and little figures, masks, children, +animals, and other things of fancy, executed with that invention and +judgment that always marked his work, insomuch that of their kind they +may well be called divine. Having ascended the staircase, one comes +into a most beautiful loggia, which has at each end a very handsome +door of stone; and over each of these doors, in the pediment, are +painted two figures, one male and the other female, represented in +directly opposite attitudes, one showing the front view and the other +the back. The vaulting has five arches, and is wrought superbly in +stucco, and it is also divided by pictures in certain ovals, +containing scenes executed with the most perfect beauty that could be +achieved; and the walls are painted down to the floor with many seated +figures of captains in armour, some drawn from life and some from +imagination, and representing all the ancient and modern captains of +the house of Doria, and above them are large letters of gold, which +run thus—"Magni viri, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211" name="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> maximi duces, optima fecere pro +patria." In the first hall, which opens into the loggia and is entered +by one of the two doors, that on the left hand, there are most +beautiful ornaments of stucco on the corners of the vaulting, and in +the centre there is a large scene of the Shipwreck of Æneas in the +sea, in which are nude figures, living and dead, in attitudes of +infinite variety, besides a good number of ships and galleys, some +sound and some shattered by the fury of the tempest; not without +beautiful considerations in the figures of the living, who are +striving to save themselves, and expressions of terror that are +produced in their features by the struggle with the waves, the danger +of death, and all the emotions aroused by the perils of the sea. This +was the first scene and the first work that Perino began for the +Prince. It is said that when he arrived in Genoa, Girolamo da Treviso +had already appeared there in advance of him in order to execute +certain pictures, and was painting a wall that faced towards the +garden. And after Perino had begun to draw the cartoon for the scene +of the Shipwreck that has been described above, while he was taking +his time about it, amusing himself and seeing Genoa, and labouring +only at intervals at the cartoon, although a great part was finished +in various ways and those nudes were drawn, some in chiaroscuro, some +in charcoal, and others in black chalk, some being drawn in imitation +of gradine-work, others shaded, and others again only outlined; while, +I say, Perino was going on in this way, without beginning to paint, +Girolamo da Treviso murmured against him, saying, "Cartoons, and +nothing but cartoons! I have my art at the tip of my brush." Decrying +him very often in this or some other similar manner, it came to the +ears of Perino, who, taking offence, straightway caused his cartoon to +be fixed to the vaulting where the scene was to be painted, and the +boards of his staging to be removed in many places, to the end that +the work might be seen from below; and then he threw open the hall. +Which hearing, all Genoa ran to see it, and, amazed by Perino's grand +design, they praised him to the skies. Thither, among others, went +Girolamo da Treviso, who saw what he had never thought to see from the +hand of Perino; whereupon, dumbfoundered by the beauty of the work, he +departed from Genoa without asking leave of Prince Doria, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212" name="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> returned to Bologna, where he lived. Perino was thus left +alone in the service of the Prince, and finished that hall, painting +it in oils on the surface of the walls; and it was held to be, as +indeed it is, a thing unrivalled in its beauty, with its lovely work +in stucco in the centre of the vaulting and all around, even below the +lunettes, as I have described. In the other hall, into which one +enters by the right-hand door in the loggia, he executed on the +vaulting works in stucco almost similar in design to those of the +other, and painted pictures in fresco of Jove slaying the Giants with +his thunderbolts, in which are many very beautiful nudes, larger than +life. In the Heaven, likewise, are all the Gods, who are making +gestures of great vivacity and truly appropriate to their natures, +amid the terrible uproar of the thunder; besides which, the +stucco-work is executed with supreme diligence, and the +fresco-colouring could not be more beautiful, seeing that Perino was +very able—indeed, a perfect master—in that field. Near this he +adorned four chambers, the ceilings of which are all wrought in +stucco, and distributed among them, in fresco, are the most beautiful +fables from Ovid, which have all the appearance of reality, nor could +any one imagine the beauty, the abundance, the variety, and the great +numbers of the little figures, animals, foliage, and grotesques that +are in them, all executed with lively invention. Beside the other +hall, likewise, he adorned four more chambers, but only directing the +work, which was carried out by his assistants, although he gave them +the designs both of the stucco-decorations and of the scenes, figures, +and grotesques, upon which a vast number of them worked, some little +and some much; such as Luzio Romano, who did much work in stucco there +and many grotesques, and a number of Lombards. Let it suffice to say +that there is no room there that has not something by his hand and is +not full of ornaments, even to the space below the vaulting, with +various compositions full of children, bizarre masks, and animals, +which all defies description; not to mention that the little studies, +the antechambers, the closets, and all other parts of the palace, are +painted and made beautiful. From the palace one passes into the garden +and into a low building, which has the most ornate decorations in all +the rooms, even below the ceilings, and so also the halls, chambers, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213" name="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> and anterooms, all adorned by the same hand. In this work +Pordenone also took a part, as I said in his Life, and likewise +Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, a very rare painter, who showed that he +was not inferior to any of the others, although the works by his hand +that are in Siena are the most excellent among the vast number that he +painted.</p> + +<p>But to return to the works that Perino executed after those that he +did in the Palace of the Prince; he executed a frieze in a room in the +house of Giannetin Doria, containing most beautiful women, and he did +many works for various gentlemen throughout the city, both in fresco +and in oil-colours. He painted a most beautiful altar-piece, very +finely designed, for S. Francesco, and another for a church called S. +Maria "de Consolatione," at the commission of a gentleman of the house +of Baciadonne: in which picture he painted the Nativity of Christ, a +work that is much extolled, but it was placed in a position so dark, +that, by reason of the light not being good enough, one is not able to +recognize its perfection, and all the more because Perino strove to +paint it in a dark manner, so that it has need of a strong light. He +also made drawings of the greater part of the Æneid, with the stories +of Dido, from which tapestries were woven; and he likewise drew +beautiful ornaments for the poops of galleys, which were carved and +finished to perfection by Carota and Tasso, wood-carvers of Florence, +who proved excellently well how able they were in that art. And in +addition to all these things he also executed a vast number of works +on cloth for the galleys of the Prince, and the largest standards that +could be made for their adornment and embellishment. Wherefore he was +so beloved by that Prince for his fine qualities, that, if he had +continued to serve him, the Prince would have richly rewarded his +abilities.</p> + +<p>But while he was working in Genoa, the fancy came to him to fetch his +wife from Rome, and so he bought a house in Pisa, being pleased with +that city and half thinking of choosing it as his place of habitation +when old age should come upon him. Now at that time the Warden of the +Duomo at Pisa was M. Antonio di Urbano, who had a very great desire to +embellish that temple, and had already caused a beginning to be made +with some very beautiful ornaments of marble for the chapels of the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214" name="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> church, which had been executed by the hand of Stagio da +Pietrasanta, a very able and well practised carver of marble: removing +some old, clumsy, and badly proportioned chapels that were there. +Having thus made a beginning, the Warden proposed to fill up those +ornaments in the interior with altar-pieces in oils, and on the outer +side with a series of scenes in fresco and decorations in stucco, by +the hands of the best and most excellent masters that he could find, +without grudging any expense that might be incurred. He had already +set to work on the sacristy, which he had placed in the great recess +behind the high-altar, and there the ornamentation of marble was +already finished, and many pictures had been painted by the Florentine +painter Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, the rest of which, together with +the altar-pieces and the chapels that were wanting, were finished many +years afterwards by order of M. Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of +the Duomo in those days.</p> + +<p>At that time Perino returned from Genoa to Pisa, and, having seen that +beginning, at the instance of Battista del Cervelliera, a person well +conversant with art and a most ingenious master of wood-carving, +perspective, and inlaying, he was presented to the Warden. After they +had discoursed together on the subject of the works of the Duomo, +Perino was asked to paint an altar-piece for an ornament immediately +within the ordinary door of entrance, the ornamental frame being +already finished, and above that a scene of S. George slaying the +Dragon and delivering the King's Daughter. Perino therefore made a +most beautiful design, which included a row of children and other +ornaments in fresco between one chapel and the other, and niches with +Prophets and scenes of various kinds; and this design pleased the +Warden. And so, having made the cartoon for one of them, the first +one, that opposite to the door mentioned above, he began to execute it +in colour, and finished six children, which are very well painted. He +was to have continued this right round, which would have made a very +rich and very beautiful decoration; and the whole work together would +have proved to be something very handsome. But he was seized with a +desire to return to Genoa, where he had involved himself in love +affairs and other pleasures, to which he was inclined at certain +times: and on his departure he gave <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215" name="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to the Nuns of S. Maffeo +a little altar-piece that he had painted for them in oils, which is +now in their possession in the convent. Then, having arrived in Genoa, +he stayed there many months, executing other works for the Prince.</p> + +<p>His departure from Pisa displeased the Warden greatly, and even more +the circumstance that the work remained unfinished; wherefore he did +not cease to write to him every day that he should return, or to make +inquiries from Perino's wife, whom he had left in Pisa. But finally, +perceiving that the matter would never end, Perino neither answering +nor returning, he allotted the altar-piece of that chapel to Giovanni +Antonio Sogliani, who finished it and set it into its place. Not long +after this Perino returned to Pisa, and, seeing the work of Sogliani, +flew into a rage, and would on no account continue what he had begun, +saying that he did not choose that his pictures should serve as +ornaments for those of other masters; wherefore, so far as concerned +him, that work remained unfinished. Giovanni Antonio carried it on to +such purpose that he painted four altar-pieces: but these, at a later +date, appeared to Sebastiano della Seta, the new Warden, to be all in +the same manner, and somewhat less beautiful than the first, and he +allotted to Domenico Beccafumi of Siena—after proving his worth from +some pictures that he painted round the sacristy, which are very +beautiful—an altar-piece which he executed in Pisa. This not giving +as much satisfaction as the first pictures, he caused the two last +that were wanting to be painted by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo; and they +were placed at the two doors beside the corner-walls of the main +façade of the church. Of these, as well as of many other works, both +large and small, that are dispersed throughout Italy and various +places abroad, it does not become me to say more, and I will leave the +right of free judgment about them to all who have seen or may see +them. The loss of this work caused real vexation to Perino, he having +already made the designs for it, which gave promise that it would +prove to be something worthy of him, and likely to give that temple +great fame over and above that of its antiquities, and also to make +Perino immortal.</p> + +<p>During the many years of his sojourn in Genoa, although he drew +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216" name="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> both profit and pleasure from that city, Perino had grown +weary of it, as he remembered Rome in the happy days of Leo. But +although, during the lifetime of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, he had +received letters inviting him into his service, and he had been +disposed to enter it, the death of that lord brought it about that he +hesitated to repatriate himself. While matters stood thus, with his +many friends urging his return, himself desiring it infinitely more +than any of them, and several letters being exchanged, one morning, in +the end, the fancy took him, and without saying a word he set off from +Pisa and made his way to Rome. There, after making himself known to +the most reverend Cardinal Farnese, and then to Pope Paul, he stayed +many months without doing anything; first, because he was put off from +one day to another, and then because he was attacked by some infirmity +in one of his arms, on account of which he spent several hundreds of +crowns, to say nothing of the discomfort, before he could be cured of +it. Wherefore, having no one to maintain him, and being vexed by his +cold welcome from the Court, he was tempted many times to go away; but +Molza and many other friends exhorted him to have patience, telling +him that Rome was no longer what she had been, and that now she +expected that a man should be exhausted and weary of her before she +would choose and cherish him as her own, and particularly if he were +pursuing the path of some fine art.</p> + +<p>At this time M. Pietro de' Massimi bought a chapel in the Trinità, +with the vaulting and the lunettes painted and adorned with stucco, +and the altar-piece painted in oils, all by Giulio Romano and Perino's +brother-in-law, Giovan Francesco; and that gentleman was desirous to +have it finished. In the lunettes were four stories of S. Mary +Magdalene in fresco, and in the altar-piece in oils was Christ +appearing to Mary Magdalene in the form of a gardener; and M. Pietro +first caused a gilt frame of wood to be made for the altar-piece, +which had a miserable one of stucco, and then allotted the walls to +Perino, who, having caused the staging and the screen to be erected, +set his hand to the work, and after many months brought it to +completion. He made a design of bizarre and beautiful grotesques, +partly in low-relief and partly painted; and he executed two little +scenes of no great size, one on each wall, surrounding <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217" name="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> them +with an ornament in stucco of great variety. In one scene was the Pool +of Bethesda, with all the cripples and sick persons, and the Angel who +comes to move the waters, the porticoes seen most beautifully +foreshortened in perspective, and the movements and vestments of the +priests, all painted with great grace and vivacity, although the +figures are not very large. In the other, he painted the Raising of +Lazarus after he had been dead four days, wherein he is seen newly +restored to life, and still marked by the pallor and fear of death: +and round him are many who are unswathing him, and not a few who are +marvelling, and others struck with awe, besides which the scene is +adorned with some little temples that recede into the distance, +executed with supreme lovingness, as are also the works in stucco all +around. There are likewise four very small scenes, two to each wall, +and one on either side of the larger scene; in one of which is the +Centurion beseeching Christ that He should heal with a word his son +who is dying, in another Christ driving the traders from the Temple, +in a third the Transfiguration, and in the last a similar scene. And +on the projections of the pilasters within the chapel he painted four +figures in the guise of Prophets, which, in their proportions, their +excellence, and their beauty, are as well executed and finished as +they could well be. In a word, the whole work was carried out with +such diligence, and is so delicate, that it resembles miniature rather +than painting. In it may be seen much charm and vivacity of colouring, +and signs of great patience in its execution, revealing that true love +which should be felt for art; and he painted this whole work with his +own hand, although he had a great part of the stucco-work executed +after his designs by Guglielmo Milanese, whom he had formerly had with +him at Genoa, loving him much, and once even offering to give him his +daughter in marriage. This Guglielmo, in reward for restoring the +antiquities of the house of Farnese, has now been made Friar of the +Piombo, in the place of Fra Sebastiano Viniziano.</p> + +<p>I must not omit to tell that against one wall of this chapel was a +most beautiful tomb of marble, with a dead woman of marble, +beautifully carved by the sculptor Bologna, on the sarcophagus, and +two little naked boys at the sides. The countenance of that woman was +a lifelike <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218" name="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> portrait of a very famous courtezan of Rome, who +left that memorial of herself, which was removed by the friars because +they felt scruples that such a woman should have been laid to rest +there with so much honour.</p> + +<p>This work, with many designs that he made, was the reason that the +very reverend Cardinal Farnese began to give him an allowance and to +make use of him in many works. By order of Pope Paul, a chimney-piece +that was in the Chamber of the Burning of the Borgo was placed in that +of the Segnatura, where there were the panellings with perspective +views in wood executed by the hand of the carver Fra Giovanni for Pope +Julius. Raffaello had painted both of those chambers; but it became +necessary to repaint all the base to the scenes in the Chamber of the +Segnatura, which is that in which is the picture of Mount Parnassus. +On which account a decorative design in imitation of marble was +painted by Perino, with various terminal figures, festoons, masks, and +other ornaments; and, in certain spaces, scenes painted to look like +bronze, which are very beautiful for works in fresco. In these scenes, +even as above them were Philosophers discoursing on Philosophy, +Theologians on Theology, and Poets on Poetry, were all the actions of +those who have been eminent in those professions. And although he did +not execute them all with his own hand, he retouched them so much "a +secco," besides making perfectly finished cartoons, that they may +almost be said to be entirely by his hand; which method he employed +because, being troubled by a catarrh, he was not fit for so much +labour. Whereupon the Pope, recognizing that he deserved something +both on account of his age and for all his work, and hearing him much +recommended, gave him an allowance of twenty-five ducats a month, +which lasted up to his death, on the condition that he should have +charge of the Palace and of the house of the Farnese family.</p> + +<p>By this time Michelagnolo Buonarroti had uncovered the wall with the +Last Judgment in the Papal Chapel, and there remained still unpainted +the base below, where there was to be fixed a screen of arras woven in +silk and gold, like the tapestries that adorn the Chapel. Wherefore, +the Pope having ordained that the weaving should be done in <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219" name="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +Flanders, it was arranged with the consent of Michelagnolo that Perino +should begin to paint a canvas of the same size, which he did, +executing in it women, children and terminal figures, holding +festoons, and all very lifelike, with the most bizarre things of +fancy; but this work, which was truly worthy of him and of the divine +picture that it was to adorn, remained unfinished after his death in +some apartments of the Belvedere.</p> + +<p>After this, Antonio da San Gallo having finished the building of the +Great Hall of Kings in front of the Chapel of Sixtus IV in the Papal +Palace, Perino divided the ceiling into a large pattern of octagonal +compartments, crosses, and ovals, both sunk and in relief; which done, +Perino was also commissioned to adorn it with stucco-work, with the +richest and most beautiful ornaments that could be produced by all the +resources of that art. He thus began it, and in the octagons, in place +of rosettes, he made four little boys in full relief, who, with their +feet pointing to the centre and their arms forming a circle, make a +most beautiful rosette, and in the rest of the compartments are all +the devices of the house of Farnese, with the arms of the Pope in the +centre of the vaulting. And this work in stucco may be said with truth +to have surpassed in mastery of execution, in beauty, and in delicacy, +all those that have ever been done by ancients or moderns, and to be +truly worthy of the head of the Christian religion. After the designs +of the same man, likewise, the glass windows were executed by +Pastorino da Siena, an able master of that craft; and Perino caused +the walls below to be prepared with very beautiful ornaments in +stucco, intending to paint scenes there with his own hand, which were +afterwards continued by the painter Daniello Ricciarelli of Volterra, +who, if death had not cut short the noble aspirations that he had, +would have proved how the moderns have the courage not only to equal +the ancients with their works, but perhaps even to surpass them by a +great measure.</p> + +<p>While the stucco-work of this vaulting was in progress, and Perino was +considering the designs for his scenes, the old walls of the Church of +S. Pietro at Rome were being pulled down to make way for those of the +new building, and the masons came to a wall where there was a Madonna, +with other pictures, by the hand of Giotto; which being seen <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220" name="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +by Perino, who was in the company of Messer Niccolò Acciaiuoli, a +Florentine doctor and much his friend, both of them were moved to pity +for that picture and would not allow it to be destroyed; nay, having +caused the wall to be cut away around it, they had it well braced with +beams and bars of iron and deposited below the organ of S. Pietro, in +a place where there was neither altar nor any other consecrated +object. And before the wall that had been round the Madonna was pulled +down, Perino copied the figure of Orso dell' Anguillara, the Roman +Senator who had crowned M. Francesco Petrarca on the Campidoglio, and +who was at the feet of that Madonna. Round the picture of the Madonna +were to be made some ornaments in stucco and painting, and together +with them a memorial to a certain Niccolò Acciaiuoli, who had formerly +been a Roman Senator; and Perino, having made the designs, straightway +set his hand to the work, and, assisted by his young men and by +Marcello Mantovano, his disciple, carried it out with great diligence.</p> + +<p>In the same S. Pietro the Sacrament did not occupy, with regard to +masonry, a very honourable position; wherefore certain deputies were +appointed from the Company of the Sacrament, who ordained that a +chapel should be built in the centre of the old church by Antonio da +San Gallo, partly with remains in the form of ancient marble columns, +and partly with other ornaments of marble, bronze, and stucco, placing +in the centre a tabernacle by the hand of Donatello, by way of further +adornment; and Perino executed there a very beautiful ceiling with +many minute scenes full of figures from the Old Testament, symbolical +of the Sacrament. In the middle of it, also, he painted a somewhat +larger scene, containing the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles, +and below it two Prophets, one on either side of the body of Christ.</p> + +<p>The same master, likewise, caused his young men to paint in the Church +of S. Giuseppe, near the Ripetta, the chapel of that church, which was +afterwards retouched and finished by himself; and he also had a chapel +painted after his designs in the Church of S. Bartolommeo in Isola, +which he retouched in like manner, and caused some scenes to be +painted at the high-altar of S. Salvatore del Lauro, with some +grotesques on the vaulting, and likewise an Annunciation on the façade +outside, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221" name="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> which was executed by his pupil, Girolamo +Sermoneta. Thus, then, partly because he was not able, and partly +because the labour wearied him, liking to design his works rather than +to execute them, he pursued the same course that Raffaello da Urbino +had formerly followed at the end of his life. How harmful and how +blameworthy is this practice, is proved by the Chigi works and by all +those carried out by other hands, and is also shown by those that +Perino caused to be executed in the same way; besides which, those +works of Giulio Romano's that he did not paint with his own hand have +not done him much honour. And although this method pleases Princes, +giving them their works quickly, and perhaps benefits the craftsmen +who labour upon them, yet, if they were the ablest men in the world, +they could never feel that love for the works of others which a man +feels for his own. Nor, however well drawn the cartoons may be, can +they be imitated as exactly and as thoroughly as by the hand of their +author, who, seeing the work going to ruin, in despair leaves it to +fall into complete destruction. He, then, who thirsts for honour, +should do his own painting. This I can say from experience, for after +I had laboured with the greatest possible pains on the cartoons for +the Hall of the Cancelleria in the Palace of S. Giorgio in Rome, the +work having to be executed with great haste in a hundred days, a vast +number of painters were employed to paint it, who departed so far from +their outlines and their true form, that I made a resolution, to which +I have adhered, that from that time onward no one should lay a hand on +any works of mine. Whoever, therefore, wishes to ensure long life for +his name and his works, should undertake fewer and do them all with +his own hand, if he desires to obtain that full meed of honour that a +man of exalted genius seeks to acquire.</p> + +<p>I say, then, that Perino, by reason of the number of the labours +committed to his care, was forced to employ many persons; and he +thirsted rather for gain than for glory, considering that he had +thrown away his life and had saved nothing in his youth. And it vexed +him so much to see young men coming forward to undertake work, that he +sought to enroll them all under his own command, to the end that they +might not encroach on his position. Now in the year 1546 there came +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222" name="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> to Rome the Venetian Tiziano da Cadore, a painter highly +celebrated for his portraits, who, having formerly taken a portrait of +Pope Paul at the time when His Holiness went to Busseto, without +exacting any remuneration either for that or for some others that he +had executed for Cardinal Farnese and Santa Fiore, was received by +those prelates with the greatest honour in the Belvedere; at which a +rumour arose in the Court, and then spread throughout Rome, to the +effect that he had come in order to paint scenes with his own hand in +the Hall of Kings in the Palace, where Perino was to paint them and +the stucco-work was already in progress. This arrival caused much +vexation to Perino, and he complained of it to many of his friends, +not because he believed that Tiziano was likely to surpass him at +painting historical scenes in fresco, but because he desired to occupy +himself with that work peacefully and honourably until his death, and, +if he was to do it, he wished to do it without competition, the wall +and the vaulting by Michelagnolo in the Chapel close by being more +than enough for him by way of comparison. That suspicion was the +reason that while Tiziano stayed in Rome, Perino always avoided him, +and remained in an ill-humour until his departure.</p> + +<p>The Castellan of the Castello di S. Angelo, Tiberio Crispo, who was +afterwards made a Cardinal, being a person who delighted in our arts, +made up his mind to beautify the Castle, and rebuilt loggie, chambers, +halls, and apartments in a very handsome manner, in order to be able +to receive His Holiness more worthily when he went there. Many rooms +and other ornaments were executed from the designs and under the +direction of Raffaello da Montelupo, and then in the end by Antonio da +San Gallo, and a loggia was wrought in stucco under the supervision of +Raffaello, who also made the Angel of marble, a figure six braccia +high, which was placed on the summit of the highest tower in the +Castle. Tiberio then caused the said loggia, which is the one facing +the meadows, to be painted by Girolamo Sermoneta; which finished, the +rest of the rooms were entrusted in part to Luzio Romano, and finally +the halls and other important apartments were finished partly by +Perino with his own hand, and partly by others after his cartoons. The +principal hall is very pleasing and beautiful, being wrought in stucco +and all filled with <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223" name="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> scenes from Roman history, executed for +the most part by Perino's young men, and not a few by the hand of +Marco da Siena, the disciple of Domenico Beccafumi; and in certain +rooms there are most beautiful friezes.</p> + +<p>Perino, when he could find young men of ability, was wont to make use +of them willingly in his works; but for all that he never ceased to +execute any commonplace commission. He very often painted pennons for +trumpets, banners for the Castle, and those of the fleet of the +Militant Order; and he executed hangings, tabards, door-curtains, and +the most insignificant works of art. He began some canvases from which +tapestries were to be woven for Prince Doria, and he painted a chapel +for the very reverend Cardinal Farnese, and a writing-study for the +most illustrious Madama Margherita of Austria. He caused an ornamental +frame to be made round the Madonna in S. Maria del Pianto, and also +another ornamental frame round the Madonna in Piazza Giudea; and he +executed many other works, of which, by reason of their number, I will +not now make any further mention, particularly because he was +accustomed to accept any sort of work that came to his hand. This +disposition of Perino's, which was well known to the officials of the +Palace, was the reason that he always had something to do for one or +another of them, and he did it willingly, in order to bind them to +himself, so that they might be obliged to serve him in the payment of +his allowances and in his other requirements. In addition to this, +Perino had acquired such authority that all the work in Rome was +allotted to him, for the reason that, besides the circumstance that it +appeared to be in a certain sense his due, he would sometimes execute +commissions for the most paltry prices; whereby he did little good, +nay rather, much harm, to himself and to art. That these words are +true is proved by this, that if he had undertaken to paint the Hall of +Kings in the Palace on his own account, and had worked at it together +with his own assistants, he would have saved several hundreds of +crowns, which all went to the overseers who had charge of the work and +paid the daily wages to those who worked there.</p> + +<p>Thus, having undertaken a burden so heavy and so laborious, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224" name="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> being infirm and enfeebled by catarrh, he was not able to +endure such discomforts, having to draw day and night and to meet the +demands of the Palace, and, among other things, to make the designs of +embroideries, of engravings for banner-makers, and of innumerable +ornaments required by the caprice of Farnese and other Cardinals and +noblemen. In short, having his mind incessantly occupied, and being +always surrounded by sculptors, masters in stucco, wood-carvers, +seamsters, embroiderers, painters, gilders, and other suchlike +craftsmen, he had never an hour of repose; and the only happiness and +contentment that he knew in this life was to find himself at times +with some of his friends at a tavern, which was his favourite haunt in +all the places where it fell to his lot to live, considering that this +was the true blessedness and peace of this world, and the only repose +from his labours. And thus, having ruined his constitution by the +fatigues of his art and by his excesses in eating and in love, he was +attacked by asthma, which, sapping his strength little by little, +finally caused him to sink into consumption; and one evening, while +talking with a friend near his house, he fell dead of an apoplectic +seizure in his forty-seventh year. At this many craftsmen felt +infinite sorrow, it being a truly great loss that art suffered; and he +received honourable burial from his son-in-law, M. Gioseffo Cincio, +the physician of Madama, and from his wife, in the Chapel of S. +Giuseppe in the Ritonda at Rome, with the following epitaph:</p> + +<p class="center smcap"> + PERINO BONACCURSIO VAGÆ FLORENTINO, QUI INGENIO ET ARTE<br> + SINGULARI EGREGIOS CUM PICTORES PERMULTOS, TUM PLASTAS OMNES<br> + FACILE SUPERAVIT, CATHERINA PERINI CONJUGI, LAVINIA BONACCURSIA<br> + PARENTI, JOSEPHUS CINCIUS SOCERO CARISSIMO ET OPTIMO FECERE.<br> + VIXIT ANN. 46, MEN. 3, DIES 21. MORTUUS EST 14 CALEND. NOVEMB.<br> + ANN. CHRIST. 1547.</p> + +<p>The place of Perino was filled by Daniello of Volterra, who had worked +much with him, and who finished the two other Prophets that are in the +Chapel of the Crocifisso in S. Marcello. Daniello has also adorned a +chapel in S. Trinità most beautifully with stucco-work and painting, +for Signora Elena Orsina; with many other works, of which mention will +be made in the proper place.</p> + +<p>Perino, then, as may be seen from the works described and from many +others that might be mentioned, was one of the most versatile +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225" name="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> painters of our times, in that he assisted the craftsmen to +work excellently in stucco, and executed grotesques, landscapes, +animals, and all the other things of which a painter can have +knowledge, using colours in fresco, in oils, and in distemper. Whence +it may be said that he was the father of these most noble arts, seeing +that his talents live in those who are continually imitating him in +every honourable field of art. After Perino's death were published +many prints taken from his drawings, such as the Slaying of the Giants +that he executed in Genoa, eight stories of S. Peter taken from the +Acts of the Apostles, of which he made designs for the embroidering of +a cope for Pope Paul III, and many other things, which are known by +the manner.</p> + +<p>Perino made use of many young men, and taught the secrets of art to +many disciples; but the best of them all, and the one of whom he +availed himself more than of any other, was Girolamo Siciolante of +Sermoneta, of whom there will be an account in the proper place. His +disciple, likewise, was Marcello Mantovano, who executed on a wall at +the entrance of the Castello di S. Angelo, after the design and under +the direction of Perino, a Madonna with many Saints in fresco, which +was a very beautiful thing; but of his works as well there will be an +account elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Perino left many designs at his death, some by his hand and some by +others; among the latter, one of the whole Chapel of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti, drawn by the hand of Leonardo Cungi of Borgo a San +Sepolcro, which was an excellent work. All these designs, with other +things, were sold by his heirs; and in our book are many drawings done +by him with the pen, which are very beautiful.</P> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="craftsmen" id="craftsmen"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227" name="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> GIORGIO VASARI TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN</h2> + + + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229" name="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN</h2> + +<h3>GIORGIO VASARI</h3> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Excellent and Well-beloved Brother-Craftsmen</span>—</p> + +<p>So great has always been the delight, to say nothing of the profit and +honour, that I have derived from practising my hand to the best of my +ability in this most noble art of ours, that I have not only had a +burning desire to exalt and to celebrate her, and to honour her in +every manner open to me, but have also been full of affection for all +those who have taken the same pleasure in her and have succeeded in +practising her more happily than I, perhaps, have been able to do. And +from this my good will, so full of the most sincere affection, it +appears to me that I have gathered hitherto fruits that are an ample +reward, for I have been always loved and honoured by you all, and we +have been united in the most perfect intimacy or brotherhood, I know +not which to call it; mutually showing our works to one another, I to +you and you to me, and helping one another with counsel and assistance +whenever the occasion has presented itself. Wherefore I have always +felt myself deeply bound by this loving fellowship, and much more by +your excellent abilities, and no less, also, by this my inclination, +by nature, and by a most powerful attraction, to assist and serve you +in every way and every matter wherein I have considered myself able to +bring you pleasure or advantage. To this end I published in the year +1550 the Lives of our best and most famous Craftsmen, moved by a cause +that has been mentioned in another place, and also, to tell the truth, +by a generous indignation that so much talent should have been for so +long a time, and should still remain, buried in oblivion. And this my +labour appears not to have <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230" name="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> been in any way unwelcome; on the +contrary, so acceptable, that, not to mention what has been said and +written to me from many quarters, out of the vast number that were +printed at that time, there is not one single volume to be found at +the booksellers.</p> + +<p>Thus, therefore, receiving every day requests from many friends, and +understanding no less clearly the unexpressed desires of many others, +once more, although in the midst of most important undertakings, I +have applied myself to the same labour, with the intention not only of +adding those masters who have passed to a better world between that +time and the present, thus giving me the opportunity of writing their +Lives in full, but also of supplying that which may have been wanting +to the perfection of my first work. For since then I have had leisure +to come to a better knowledge of many matters, and to re-examine +others, not only by the favour of these my most illustrious Lords, +whom I serve, the true refuge and protection of all the arts, but also +through the facilities that they have given me to search the whole of +Italy once again and to see and understand many things which had not +before come under my notice. I have been able, therefore, not merely +to make corrections, but also to add so many things, that many of the +Lives may be said to have been almost written anew; while some, +indeed, even of the old masters, which were not there before, have +been added. Nor, the better to revive the memory of those whom I so +greatly honour, have I grudged the great labour, pains and expense of +seeking out their portraits, which I have placed at the head of their +Lives. And for the greater satisfaction of many friends not of our +profession, who are yet devoted lovers of art, I have included in a +compendium the greater part of the works of those who are still living +and are worthy to be for ever renowned on account of their abilities; +for that scruple which formerly restrained me can have no place here +in the opinion of any thoughtful reader, since I deal with no works +save those that are excellent and worthy of praise. And this may +perchance serve as a spur to make every craftsman continue to labour +worthily and advance unceasingly from good to better; insomuch that he +who shall write the rest of this history, may be able to give it more +grandeur and majesty, having occasion to describe those rarer and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231" name="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> more perfect works which, begun from time to time through +the desire of immortality, and finished by the loving care of +intellects so divine, the world in days to come shall see issuing from +your hands. And the young men who follow with their studies, incited +by hope of glory (if hope of gain has not enough force), may perchance +be inspired by such an example to attain to excellence.</p> + +<p>And to the end that this work may prove to be in every way complete, +and that there may be no need to seek anything outside its pages, I +have added a great part of the works of the most celebrated craftsmen +of antiquity, both Greek and of other nations, whose memory has been +preserved down to our own day by Pliny and other writers, without +whose pens they would have been buried, like many others, in eternal +oblivion. And this consideration, also, may perchance increase the +willingness of men in general to labour valiantly, and may impel and +inspire us all, as we behold the nobility and greatness of our art, +and how she has always been prized and rewarded by all nations, and +particularly by the most lofty minds and the most powerful Princes, to +leave the world adorned by works infinite in number and unsurpassed in +excellence; whence, rendered beautiful by us, it may give to us that +rank which it has given to those ever marvellous and celebrated +spirits.</p> + +<p>Accept, then, with a friendly mind, these my labours, which, whatever +they may be, have been lovingly carried to conclusion by me for the +glory of art and for the honour of her craftsmen, and take them as a +sure token and pledge of my heart, which is desirous of nothing more +ardently than of your greatness and glory, in which, seeing that I +also have been received by you into your company (for which I render +my thanks to you, and congratulate myself not a little on my own +account), I shall always consider myself in a certain sense a +participator.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="beccafumi" id="beccafumi"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233" name="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> DOMENICO BECCAFUMI</h2> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_beccafumi" id="life_of_beccafumi"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235" name="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> LIFE OF DOMENICO BECCAFUMI OF SIENA</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER AND MASTER OF CASTING</h3> + + +<p>That same quality, the pure gift of nature, which has been seen in +Giotto and in some others among those painters of whom we have spoken +hitherto, has been revealed most recently in Domenico Beccafumi, the +painter of Siena, in that he, while guarding some sheep for his father +Pacio, the labourer of the Sienese citizen Lorenzo Beccafumi, was +observed to practise his hand by himself, child as he was, in drawing +sometimes on stones and sometimes in other ways. It happened that the +said Lorenzo saw him one day drawing various things with a pointed +stick on the sand of a small stream, where he was watching his little +charges, and he asked for the child from his father, meaning to employ +him as his servant, and at the same time to have him taught. The boy, +therefore, who was then called Mecherino, having been given up by his +father Pacio to Lorenzo, was taken to Siena, where Lorenzo caused him +for a while to spend all the spare time that he had after his +household duties in the workshop of a painter who was his neighbour. +This painter, who was no great craftsman, caused Mecherino to learn +all that he could not himself teach him from designs by eminent +painters that he had in his possession, of which he availed himself +for his own purposes, as those masters are wont to do who are not very +able in design. Exercising his hand, therefore, in this manner, +Mecherino gave promise of being destined to become an excellent +painter.</p> + +<p>During this time Pietro Perugino, then a famous painter, came to +Siena, where, as has been related, he painted two altar-pieces; and +his manner pleased Domenico greatly, so that he set himself to study +it and to copy those altar-pieces, and no long time passed before he +had caught <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236" name="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> that manner. Then, after the Chapel of +Michelagnolo and the works of Raffaello da Urbino had been thrown open +in Rome, Domenico, who desired nothing so much as to learn, and knew +that he was losing his time in Siena, took leave of Lorenzo Beccafumi, +from whom he acquired the family name of Beccafumi, and made his way +to Rome. There he placed himself under a painter, who gave him board +and lodging, and executed many works in company with him, giving his +attention at the same time to studying the works of Michelagnolo, +Raffaello, and other eminent masters, and the marvellous statues and +sarcophagi of antiquity. No long time passed, therefore, before he +became a bold draughtsman, fertile in invention, and a very pleasing +colourist; but during this period, which did not exceed two years, he +did nothing worthy of record save a façade in the Borgo with an +escutcheon of Pope Julius II in colour.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, there had been brought to Siena by a merchant of the +Spannocchi family, as will be related in the proper place, the painter +Giovanni Antonio of Vercelli, a young man of passing good ability, who +was much employed, particularly in making portraits from life, by the +gentlemen of that city, which has always been the friend and patron of +all men of talent. Domenico, who was very desirous of returning to his +own country, having heard this news, made his way back to Siena; and +when he saw that Giovanni Antonio was very well grounded in drawing, +which he knew to be the essence of the excellence of a craftsman, not +resting content with what he had done in Rome, he set himself with the +utmost zeal to follow him, devoting himself much to anatomy and to +drawing nudes; which helped him so much, that in a short time he began +to be greatly esteemed in that most noble city. Nor was he beloved +less for his goodness and his character than for his art, for the +reason that, whereas Giovanni Antonio was coarse, licentious, and +eccentric, being called Il Sodoma because he always mixed and lived +with beardless boys, and answering willingly enough to that name, +Domenico, on the other hand, was a pattern of good conduct and +uprightness, living like a Christian and keeping very much to himself. +But such persons as are called merry fellows and good companions are +very often more esteemed by men than the virtuous and orderly, and +most of the young men of Siena <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237" name="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> followed Sodoma, extolling +him as a man of originality. And this Sodoma, being an eccentric, and +wishing to please the common herd, always kept at his house parrots, +apes, dwarf donkeys, little Elba horses, a talking raven, barbs for +running races, and other suchlike creatures; from which he had won +such a name among the vulgar, that they spoke of nothing but his +follies.</p> + +<p>Sodoma, then, had painted with colours in fresco the façade of the +house of M. Agostino Bardi, and Domenico at the same time, in +competition with him, painted the façade of a house of the Borghese, +close to the Postierla column, near the Duomo, with which he took very +great pains. Below the roof, in a frieze in chiaroscuro, he executed +some little figures that were much extolled; and in the spaces between +the three ranges of windows of travertine that adorn that palace, he +painted many ancient gods and other figures in imitation of bronze, in +chiaroscuro and in colour, which were more than passing good, although +the work of Sodoma was more extolled. Both these façades were executed +in the year 1512.</p> + +<p>Domenico afterwards painted for S. Benedetto, a seat of Monks of Monte +Oliveto, without the Porta a Tufi, an altar-piece of S. Catharine of +Siena in a building receiving the Stigmata, with a S. Benedict +standing on her right hand, and on her left a S. Jerome in the habit +of a Cardinal; which altar-piece, being very soft in colouring and +strong in relief, was much praised, as it still is. In the predella of +this picture, likewise, he painted some little scenes in distemper +with incredible boldness and vivacity, and with such facility of +design, that they could not be more graceful, and yet they have the +appearance of having been executed without the slightest effort in the +world. In one of these little scenes is the Angel placing in the mouth +of that same S. Catharine part of the Host consecrated by the priest; +in another is Jesus Christ marrying her, in a third she is receiving +the habit from S. Dominic, and there are other stories.</p> + +<p>For the Church of S. Martino the same master painted a large +altar-piece with Christ born and being adored by the Virgin, by +Joseph, and by the Shepherds; and above the hut is a most beautiful +choir of Angels <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238" name="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> dancing. In this work, which is much +extolled by craftsmen, Domenico began to show to those who had some +understanding that his works were painted with a different foundation +from those of Sodoma. He then painted in fresco, in the Great +Hospital, the Madonna visiting S. Elizabeth, in a manner very pleasing +and very natural. And for the Church of S. Spirito he executed an +altar-piece of the Madonna holding in her arms the Child, who is +marrying the above-mentioned S. Catharine of Siena, and at the sides +S. Bernardino, S. Francis, S. Jerome, and S. Catharine the +Virgin-Martyr, with S. Peter and S. Paul upon some marble steps in +front, on the polished surface of which he counterfeited with great +art some reflections of the colour of their draperies. This work, +which was executed with fine judgment and design, brought him much +honour, as did also some little figures painted on the predella of the +picture, in which is S. John baptizing Christ, a King causing the wife +and children of S. Gismondo to be thrown into a well, S. Dominic +burning the books of the heretics, Christ presenting to S. Catharine +of Siena two crowns, one of roses and the other of thorns, and S. +Bernardino of Siena preaching on the Piazza of Siena to a vast +multitude.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="img036" id="img036"></a> +<img src="images/img036-tb.jpg" width="400" height="529" alt="S. Catharine before the Crucifix." title=""> +<p class="caption">DOMENICO BECCAFUMI: S. CATHARINE BEFORE THE CRUCIFIX<br> +(<i>Siena</i>: <i>Pinacoteca</i>, 420. <i>Canvas</i>) +<br><span class="link"><a href="images/img036.jpg">View larger image</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Next, by reason of the fame of these works, there was allotted to +Domenico an altar-piece that was to be placed in the Carmine, in which +he had to paint a S. Michael doing vengeance on Lucifer; and he, being +full of fancy, set himself to think out a new invention, in order to +display his talent and the beautiful conceptions of his brain. And so, +seeking to represent Lucifer and his followers driven for their pride +from Heaven to the lowest depths of Hell, he began a shower of nude +figures raining down, which is very beautiful, although, from his +having taken too great pains with it, it appears if anything rather +confused. This altar-piece, which remained unfinished, was taken after +the death of Domenico to the Great Hospital and placed at the top of +some steps near the high-altar, where it is still regarded with marvel +on account of some very beautiful foreshortenings in the nudes. In the +Carmine, where this picture was to have been set up, was placed +another, in the upper part of which is counterfeited a God the Father +above the clouds with many Angels round Him, painted with marvellous +grace; and in the centre of <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239" name="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> the picture is the Angel +Michael in armour, flying, and pointing to Lucifer, whom he has driven +to the centre of the earth, where there are burning buildings, rugged +caverns, and a lake of fire, with Angels in various attitudes, and +nude figures of lost souls, who are swimming with different gestures +of agony in that fire. All this is painted with such beauty and grace +of manner, that it appears that this marvellous work, in its thick +darkness, is illuminated by the fire; wherefore it is held to be a +rare picture. Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena, an excellent painter, +could never have his fill of praising it, and I myself, one day that I +saw it uncovered in his company, while passing through Siena, was +struck with astonishment by it, as I also was by the five little +scenes that are in the predella, painted with distemper in a judicious +and beautiful manner. For the Nuns of Ognissanti in the same city +Domenico painted another altar-piece, in which is Christ on high in +the heavens, crowning the Glorified Virgin, and below them are S. +Gregory, S. Anthony, S. Mary Magdalene, and S. Catharine the +Virgin-Martyr; and in the predella, likewise, are some very beautiful +little figures executed in distemper.</p> + +<p>In the house of Signor Marcello Agostini Domenico painted some very +lovely works in fresco on the ceiling of an apartment, which has three +lunettes on each main side and two at each end, with a series of +friezes that go right round. The centre of the ceiling is divided into +two quadrangular compartments; in the first, where a silken arras is +counterfeited as upheld by the ornament, there may be seen, as if +woven upon it, Scipio Africanus restoring the young woman untouched to +her husband, and in the other the celebrated painter Zeuxis, who is +copying several nude women in order to paint his picture, which was to +be placed in the Temple of Juno. In one of the lunettes, painted with +little figures only about half a braccio high, but very beautiful, are +the two Roman Brothers who, having been enemies, became friends for +the public good and for the sake of their country. In that which +follows is Torquatus,<a id="FNanchor29" name="FNanchor29"></a><a href="#Footnote29" title="Go to footnote 29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> who, in order to observe the laws, when his +son has been condemned to lose his eyes, causes one of his son's and +one of his own to be put out. In the next is the Petition of ...,<a id="FNanchor30" name="FNanchor30"></a><a href="#Footnote30" title="Go to footnote 30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +who, after hearing the recital of his <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240" name="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> crimes against his +country and the Roman people, is put to death. In the lunette beside +that one is the Roman people deliberating on the expedition of Scipio +to Africa; and next to this, in another lunette, is an ancient +sacrifice crowded with a variety of most beautiful figures, with a +temple drawn in perspective, which has no little relief, for in that +field Domenico was a truly excellent master. In the last is Cato +killing himself after being overtaken by some horsemen that are most +beautifully painted there. And in the recesses of the lunettes, also, +are some little scenes very well finished.</p> + +<p>The excellence of this work was the reason that Domenico was +recognized as a rare painter by those who were then governing, and was +commissioned to paint the vaulting of a hall in the Palace of the +Signori, to which he devoted all the diligence, study, and effort of +which any man is capable, in order to prove his worth and to adorn +that celebrated building of his native city, which was honouring him +so much. This hall, which is two squares long and one square wide, has +the ceiling made not with lunettes, but after the manner of a groined +vaulting; wherefore Domenico executed the compartments in painting, +thinking that this would give the best result, with friezes and +cornices overlaid with gold, and all so beautifully, that, without any +stucco-work or other ornaments, they are so well painted and so +graceful that they appear to be really in relief. On each of the two +ends of this hall there is a large picture with an historical scene, +and on each main wall there are two, one on either side of an octagon; +and thus the pictures are six and the octagons two, and in each of the +latter is a scene. At each corner of the vaulting, where the rib is, +there is drawn a round compartment, which extends half on one wall and +half on the other, so that these compartments, being divided by the +ribs of the vaulting, form eight spaces, in each of which are large +seated figures, representing distinguished men who have defended their +Republic and have observed her laws. The highest part of the surface +of the vaulting is divided into three parts, in such a manner as to +form a circular compartment in the centre, immediately above the +octagons, and two square compartments over those on the walls.</p> + +<p>In one of the octagons, then, is a woman with some children round +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241" name="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> her, who holds a heart in her hand, representing the love +that men owe to their country. In the other octagon is another woman, +with an equal number of children, as a symbol of civic concord. And +these are one on either side of a Justice that is in the circle, with +the sword and scales in her hands, and seen from below in such bold +foreshortening that it is a marvel, for at the feet she is dark both +in drawing and in colour, and about the knees she becomes lighter, and +so continues little by little towards the torso, the shoulders, and +the arms, until she rises into a celestial splendour at the head, +which makes it appear as if that figure dissolves gradually in a mist: +wherefore it is not possible to imagine, much less to see, a more +beautiful figure than this one, or one executed with greater judgment +and art, among all that were ever painted to be seen in foreshortening +from below.</p> + +<p>As for the stories, in the first, at the end of the hall and on the +left hand as one enters, are M. Lepidus and Fulvius Flaccus the +Censors, who, after being at enmity with one another, as soon as they +became colleagues in the office of the Censorship, laid aside their +private hatred for the good of their country, and acted in that office +like the closest friends. And Domenico painted them on their knees, +embracing each other, with many figures round them, and with a most +beautiful prospect of buildings and temples drawn in perspective so +ingeniously and so well, that one may see in them what a master of +perspective was Domenico. On the next wall there follows a picture +with the story of the Dictator Postumius Tiburtius, who, having left +his only son at the head of his army in place of himself, commanding +him that he should do nothing else but guard the camp, put him to +death for having been disobedient and having with a fair occasion +attacked the enemy and gained a victory. In this scene Domenico +painted Postumius as an old man with shaven face, with the right hand +on his axe, and with the left showing to the army his son lying dead +upon the ground, and depicted very well in foreshortening; and below +this picture, which is most beautiful, is an inscription very well +composed. In the octagon that follows, in the centre of the wall, is +the story of Spurius Cassius, whom the Roman Senate, suspecting that +he was plotting to become King, caused to be beheaded, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242" name="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> and +his house to be pulled down; and in this scene the head, which is +beside the executioner, and the body, which is on the ground in +foreshortening, are very beautiful. In the next picture is the Tribune +Publius Mucius, who caused all his fellow-tribunes, who were +conspiring with Spurius to become tyrants of their country, to be +burned; and here the fire that is consuming their bodies is painted +very well and with great art.</p> + +<p>At the other end of the hall, in another picture, is the Athenian +Codrus, who, having heard from the oracle that the victory would fall +to that side whose King should be killed by the enemy, laid aside his +robes, entered unknown among the enemy, and let himself be slain, thus +giving the victory to his people by his own death. Domenico painted +him seated, with his nobles round him as he puts off his robes, near a +most beautiful round temple; and in the distant background of the +picture he is seen dead, with his name in an epitaph below. Then, as +one turns to the other long wall, opposite to the two pictures with +the octagon in the centre between them, in the first scene one finds +Prince Zaleucus, who, in order not to break the law, caused one of his +own eyes to be put out, and one of his son's; and here many are +standing round him, praying him that he should not do that cruelty to +himself and his son, and in the distance is his son offering violence +to a maiden, and below is his name in an inscription. In the octagon +that is beside that picture is the story of Marcus Manilius being +hurled down from the Capitol; and the figure of the young Marcus, who +is being thrown down from a kind of balcony, is painted so well in +foreshortening, with the head downwards, that it seems to be alive, as +also seem some figures that are below. In the next picture is Spurius +Melius, who belonged to the Equestrian Order, and was killed by the +Tribune Servilius because the people suspected that he was conspiring +to become tyrant of his country; which Servilius is seated with many +round him, and one who is in the centre points to Spurius lying dead +upon the ground, a figure painted with great art.</p> + +<p>Then, in the circles at the corners, where there are the eight figures +mentioned above, are many men who have been distinguished for their +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243" name="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> defence of their country. In the first part is the famous +Fabius Maximus, seated and in armour; and on the other side is +Speusippus, Prince of the Tegeatæ, who, being exhorted by a friend +that he should rid himself of his rival and adversary, answered that +he did not wish, at the bidding of his own private interest, to +deprive his country of such a citizen. In the circle that is at the +next corner, in one part, there is the Prætor Celius, who, for having +fought against the advice and wish of the soothsayers, although he had +won and had gained a victory, was punished by the Senate; and beside +him sits Thrasybulus, who with the aid of some friends valorously slew +thirty tyrants, in order to free his country. Thrasybulus is an old +man, shaven, with white locks, and has his name written beneath him, +as have also all the others. In a circle at one corner of the lower +end of the hall is the Prætor Genutius Cippus, who having had a bird +with wings in the form of horns miraculously alight on his head, was +told by the oracle that he would become King of his country, +whereupon, although already an old man, he chose to go into exile, in +order not to take away her liberty; and Domenico therefore painted a +bird upon his head. Beside him sits Charondas, who, having returned +from the country, and having gone straightway into the Senate without +disarming himself, in violation of a law which ordained that one who +entered the Senate with arms should be put to death, killed himself on +perceiving his error. In the second circle on the other side are Damon +and Phintias, whose unexampled friendship is so well known, and with +them is Dionysius, Tyrant of Sicily; and beside these figures sits +Brutus, who from love of his country condemned his two sons to death, +because they were conspiring to bring the Tarquins back to their +country.</p> + +<p>This work, then, so truly extraordinary, made known to the people of +Siena the ability and worth of Domenico, who showed most beautiful +art, judgment, and genius in all that he did.</p> + +<p>The first time that the Emperor Charles V came to Italy, it was +expected that he would go to Siena, for he had declared such an +intention to the Ambassadors of that Republic; and among other vast +and magnificent preparations that were made for the reception of so +great <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244" name="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> an Emperor, Domenico fashioned a horse eight braccia +high and in full relief, all of paste-board and hollow within. The +weight of that horse was supported by an armature of iron, and upon it +was the statue of the Emperor, armed in the ancient fashion, with a +sword in his hand. And below it were three large figures—vanquished +by him, as it were—which also supported part of the weight, the horse +being in the act of leaping with the front legs high in the air; which +three figures represented three provinces conquered and subdued by the +Emperor. In that work Domenico showed that he was a master no less of +sculpture than of painting; to which it must be added that he had +placed the whole work upon a wooden structure four braccia high, with +a number of wheels below it, which, being set in motion by men +concealed within, caused the whole to move forward; and the design of +Domenico was that at the entry of His Majesty this horse, having been +set in motion as has been described, should accompany him from the +gate as far as the Palace of the Signori, and should then come to rest +in the middle of the Piazza. This horse, after being carried by +Domenico so near completion that there only remained to gild it, was +left in that condition, because His Majesty after all did not at that +time go to Siena, but left Italy after being crowned at Bologna; and +the work remained unfinished. But none the less the art and ingenuity +of Domenico were recognized, and all men greatly praised the grandeur +and excellence of that great structure, which stood in the Office of +Works of the Duomo from that time until His Majesty, returning from +his victorious enterprise in Africa, passed through Messina and then +Naples, Rome, and finally Siena; at which time Domenico's work was +placed on the Piazza del Duomo, to his great honour.</p> + +<p>The fame of the ability of Domenico being thus spread abroad, Prince +Doria, who was with the Court, after seeing all the works by his hand +that were in Siena, besought him that he should go to Genoa to work in +his palace, where Perino del Vaga, Giovanni Antonio of Pordenone, and +Girolamo da Treviso had worked. But Domenico could not promise that +lord that he would go to serve him at that time, although he engaged +himself for another time, for in those days he had set his <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245" name="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +hand to finishing a part of the marble pavement in the Duomo, which +Duccio, the painter of Siena, had formerly begun in a new manner of +work. The figures and scenes were already in great part designed on +the marble, the outlines being hollowed out with the chisel and filled +with a black mixture, with ornaments of coloured marble all around, +and likewise the grounds for the figures. But Domenico, with fine +judgment, saw that this work could be much improved, and he therefore +took grey marbles, to the end that these, profiled with the chisel and +placed beside the brilliancy of the white marble, might give the +middle shades; and he found that in this way, with white and grey +marble, pictures of stone could be made with great perfection after +the manner of chiaroscuro. Having then made a trial, the work +succeeded so well in invention, in solidity of design, and in +abundance of figures, that he made a beginning after this fashion with +the grandest, the most beautiful, and the most magnificent pavement +that had ever been made; and in the course of his life, little by +little, he executed a great part of it. Round the high-altar he made a +border of pictures, in which, in order to follow the order of the +stories begun by Duccio, he executed scenes from Genesis; namely, Adam +and Eve expelled from Paradise and tilling the earth, the Sacrifice of +Abel, and that of Melchizedek. In front of the altar is a large scene +with Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, and this has round it a border +of half-length figures, carrying various animals which they seem to be +going to sacrifice. Descending the steps, one finds another large +picture, which serves to accompany that above, and in it Domenico +represented Moses receiving the Laws from God on Mount Sinai; and +below this is the scene when, having found the people worshipping the +Golden Calf, he is seized with anger and breaks the Tables on which +those Laws were written. Below this scene, opposite to the pulpit, and +right across the church, is a frieze with a great number of figures, +which is composed with so much grace and such design that it defies +description; and in this is Moses, who, striking the rock in the +desert, causes water to gush out and gives drink to his thirsty +people. Here, along the whole length of the frieze, Domenico +represented the stream of water, from which the people are drinking in +various ways with a vivacity so pleasing, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246" name="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> that it is almost +impossible to imagine any effect more lovely, or figures in more +graceful and beautiful attitudes than are those in this scene—some +stooping to the ground to drink, some kneeling before the rock that is +spouting with water, some drawing it in vases and others in cups, and +others, finally, drinking with their hands. There are, moreover, some +who are leading animals to drink, amid the great rejoicing of that +people; and, among other things, most marvellous is a little boy who +has taken a little dog by the head and neck and plunges its muzzle +into the water, in order to make it drink, after which the dog, having +drunk, and not wishing to drink any more, shakes its head so naturally +that it seems to be alive. In short, this frieze is so beautiful, that +for a work of that kind it could not be executed with greater art, +seeing that the various kinds of shadows that may be seen in these +figures are not merely beautiful, but miraculous; and although the +whole work, on account of the fantastic nature of its craftsmanship, +is one of great beauty, this part is held to be the most beautiful and +the best. Below the cupola, moreover, there is a hexagonal +compartment, which is divided into seven hexagons and six rhombs, of +which hexagons Domenico finished four before he died, representing in +them the stories and sacrifices of Elijah, and doing all this much at +his leisure, because this work was as a school and a pastime to +Domenico, nor did he ever abandon it altogether for his other works.</p> + +<p>While he was thus labouring now at this work and now elsewhere, he +painted a large altar-piece in oils which is in S. Francesco on the +right hand as one enters into the church, containing Christ descending +in Glory to the Limbo of Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers; +wherein, among many nudes, is a very beautiful Eve, and a Thief who is +behind Christ with the cross is a very well-executed figure, while the +cavern of Limbo and the demons and fires of that place are fantastic +to a marvel. And since Domenico was of the opinion that pictures +painted in distemper preserved their freshness better than those +painted in oils, saying that it seemed to him that the works of Luca +da Cortona, of the Pollaiuoli, and of the other masters who painted in +oils in those days, had suffered from age more than those of Fra +Giovanni, Fra Filippo, Benozzo, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247" name="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> and the others before their +time who painted in distemper—for this reason, I say, having to paint +an altar-piece for the Company of S. Bernardino on the Piazza di S. +Francesco, he resolved to do it in distemper; and in this way he +executed it excellently well, painting in it Our Lady with many +Saints. In the predella, which is very beautiful, and painted by him +likewise in distemper, he depicted S. Francis receiving the Stigmata; +S. Anthony of Padua, who, in order to convert some heretics, performs +the miracle of the Ass, which makes obeisance before the sacred Host; +and S. Bernardino of Siena, who is preaching to the people of his city +on the Piazza de' Signori. And on the walls of this Company, also, he +painted two stories of Our Lady in fresco, in competition with some +others that Sodoma had executed in the same place. In one he +represented the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the other the +Passing of Our Lady, with the Apostles all around; and both of these +are much extolled.</p> + +<p>Finally, after having been long expected in Genoa by Prince Doria, +Domenico made his way there, but with great reluctance, being a man +who was accustomed to a life of peace and contented with that which +his wants required, and nothing more; besides which, he was not much +used to making journeys, for the reason that, having built himself a +little house in Siena, and having also a vineyard a mile beyond the +Porta a Camollia, which he cultivated with his own hand as a +recreation, going there often, it was a long time since he had gone +far from Siena. Having then arrived in Genoa, he painted a scene +there, beside that of Pordenone, in which he succeeded very well, and +yet not in such a manner that it could be counted among his best +works. But, since the ways of the Court did not please him, being used +to a life of freedom, he did not stay very willingly in that place, +and, indeed, appeared as if he were stupefied. Wherefore, having come +to the end of that work, he sought leave of the Prince and set out to +return home; and passing by Pisa, in order to see that city, he met +with Battista del Cervelliera and was shown all the most noteworthy +things in the city, and in particular the altar-pieces of Sogliani and +the pictures that are in the recess behind the high-altar of the +Duomo.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248" name="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> Meanwhile Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of Works of the +Duomo, having heard from Cervelliera of the qualities and abilities of +Domenico, and being desirous to finish the work so long delayed by +Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, allotted two of the pictures for that +recess to Domenico, to the end that he might execute them at Siena and +send them finished to Pisa; and so it was done. In one is Moses, who, +having found that the people had sacrificed to the Golden Calf, is +breaking the Tables; and in this Domenico painted some nudes that are +figures of great beauty. In the other is the same Moses, with the +earth opening and swallowing up a part of the people; and in this, +also, are some nudes killed by flaming thunderbolts, which are +marvellous. These pictures, when taken to Pisa, led to Domenico +painting four pictures for the front of that recess—namely, two on +each side—of the four Evangelists, which were four very beautiful +figures. Whereupon Sebastiano della Seta, who saw that he had been +served quickly and well, commissioned Domenico, after these pictures, +to paint the altar-piece of one of the chapels in the Duomo, Sogliani +having by that time painted four. Settling in Pisa, therefore, +Domenico painted in that altar-piece Our Lady in the sky with the +Child in her arms, upon some clouds supported by some little Angels, +with many Saints both male and female below, all executed passing +well, but yet not with that perfection which marked the pictures +described above. But he, excusing himself for this to many of his +friends, and particularly on one occasion to Giorgio Vasari, said that +since he was away from the air of Siena and from certain comforts of +his own, he did not seem to be able to do anything.</p> + +<p>Having therefore returned home, determined that he would never again +go away to work elsewhere, he painted for the Nuns of S. Paolo, near +S. Marco, an altar-piece in oils of the Nativity of Our Lady, with +some nurses, and S. Anne in a bed that is foreshortened and +represented as standing within a door; and in a dark shadow is a woman +who is drying clothes, without any other light but that which comes +from the blaze of the fire. In the predella, which is full of charm, +are three scenes in distemper—the Presentation of the Virgin at the +Temple, her Marriage, and the Adoration of the Magi. In the Mercanzia, +a tribunal in <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249" name="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> that city, the officials have a little +altar-piece which they say was painted by Domenico when he was young; +it is very beautiful, and it contains in the centre a S. Paul seated, +and on one side his Conversion, in little figures, and on the other +the scene of his Beheading.</p> + +<p>Finally, Domenico was commissioned to paint the great recess of the +Duomo, which is at the end behind the high-altar. In this he first +made a decoration of stucco with foliage and figures, all with his own +hand, and two Victories in the vacant spaces in the semicircle; which +decoration was in truth a very rich and beautiful work. Then in the +centre he painted in fresco the Ascension of Christ into Heaven; and +from the cornice downwards he painted three pictures divided by +columns in relief, and executed in perspective. In the middle picture, +which has above it an arch in perspective, are Our Lady, S. Peter, and +S. John; and in the spaces at the sides are ten Apostles, five on each +side, all in various attitudes and gazing at Christ, who is ascending +into Heaven; and above each of the two pictures of the Apostles is an +Angel in foreshortening, the two together representing those two +Angels who, after the Ascension, declared that He had risen into +Heaven. This work is certainly admirable, but it would have been even +more so if Domenico had given beautiful expressions to the heads; as +it is, they have something in the expressions that is not very +pleasing, and it appears that in his old age he adopted for his +countenances an expression of terror by no means agreeable. This work, +I say, if there had been any beauty in the heads, would have been so +beautiful that there would have been nothing better to be seen. But in +this matter of the expressions of the heads, in the opinion of the +people of Siena, Sodoma was superior to Domenico, for the reason that +Sodoma made them much more beautiful, although those of Domenico had +more design and greater force. And, in truth, the manner of the heads +in these our arts is of no little importance, and by painting them +with graceful and beautiful expressions many masters have escaped the +censure that they might have incurred for the rest of their work.</p> + +<p>This was the last work in painting executed by Domenico, who, having +taken it into his head in the end to work in relief, began to give +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250" name="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> his attention to casting in bronze, and went so far with +this that he executed, although with extraordinary labour, six Angels +of bronze in the round, little less than life-size, for the six +columns nearest the high-altar of the Duomo. These Angels, which are +very beautiful, are holding tazze, or rather little basins, which +support candelabra containing lights, and in the last of them he +acquitted himself so well, that he was very highly praised for them. +Whereupon, growing in courage, he made a beginning with figures of the +twelve Apostles, which were to be placed on the columns lower down, +where there are now some of marble, old and in a bad manner; but he +did not continue them, for he did not live long after that. And since +he was a man of infinite ingenuity, and succeeded well in everything, +he engraved wood-blocks by himself in order to make prints in +chiaroscuro, and there are to be seen prints of two Apostles engraved +by him excellently well, of which we have one in our book of drawings, +together with some sheets drawn divinely by his hand. He also engraved +copper-plates with the burin, and he executed with aquafortis some +very fanciful little stories of alchemy, in which Jove and the other +Gods, wishing to congeal Mercury, place him bound in a crucible, and +Vulcan and Pluto make fire around him; but when they think that he +must be fixed, Mercury flies away and goes off in smoke.</p> + +<p>Domenico, in addition to the works described above, executed many +others of no great importance, pictures of the Madonna and other +suchlike chamber-pictures, such as a Madonna that is in the house of +the Chevalier Donati, and a picture in distemper in which Jove changes +himself into a shower of gold and rains into the lap of Danaë. Piero +Catanei, likewise, has a round picture in oils of a very beautiful +Virgin by the hand of the same master. He also painted a most +beautiful bier for the Confraternity of S. Lucia, and likewise another +for that of S. Antonio; nor should anyone be astonished that I make +mention of such works, for the reason that they are beautiful to a +marvel, as all know who have seen them.</p> + +<p>Finally, having come to the age of sixty-five, he hastened the end of +his life by toiling all by himself day and night at his castings in +metal, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251" name="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> polishing them himself without calling in any +assistance. He died, then, on the 18th of May, 1549, and was given +burial by his dearest friend, the goldsmith Giuliano, in the Duomo, +where he had executed so many rare works. And he was carried to the +tomb by all the craftsmen of his city, which recognized even then the +great loss that she had suffered in the death of Domenico, and now, as +she admires his works, recognizes it more than ever.</p> + +<p>Domenico was an orderly and upright person, fearing God and studious +in his art, although solitary beyond measure; wherefore he well +deserved to be honourably celebrated by his fellow-citizens of Siena, +who have always won great praise by their attention to noble studies +and to poetry, with verses both in Latin and in the vulgar tongue.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="lappoli" id="lappoli"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253" name="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_lappoli" id="life_of_lappoli"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255" name="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER OF AREZZO</h3> + + +<p>Rarely does it happen that from an old stock there fails to sprout +some good shoot, which, growing with time, revives and reclothes with +its leaves that desolate stem, and reveals with its fruits to those +who taste them the same savour that was once known in the ancient +tree. And that this is true is proved in this present Life of Giovanni +Antonio, who, at the death of his father Matteo, who was a painter of +passing good repute in his day, was left with a good income under the +guardianship of his mother, and lived thus up to the age of twelve. +Having come to that period of his life, and not caring to choose any +other pursuit than that of painting, to which he was drawn, besides +other reasons, by a wish to follow the footsteps of his father in that +art, Giovanni Antonio began to learn the first rudiments of design +under Domenico Pecori, a painter of Arezzo, who had been, together +with his father Matteo, a disciple of Clemente,<a id="FNanchor31" name="FNanchor31"></a><a href="#Footnote31" title="Go to footnote 31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and who was his +first master. Then, after having been some time with him, desiring to +make greater proficience than he was making under the discipline of +that master and in that place, where he was not able to learn by +himself, although he had a strong natural inclination, he turned his +thoughts towards the idea of settling in Florence. To this intention, +not to mention that he was left alone by the death of his mother, +Fortune was favourable enough, for a young sister that he had was +married to Leonardo Ricoveri, one of the first and richest citizens +that there were at that time in Arezzo; and so he went off to +Florence.</p> + +<p>There, among the works of many that he saw, the manner of Andrea del +Sarto and of Jacopo da Pontormo pleased him more than that of all +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256" name="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> the others who had worked at painting in that city. +Wherefore he resolved to place himself under one of those two, and was +hesitating as to which of them he should choose as his master, when +there were uncovered the Faith and Charity painted by Pontormo over +the portico of the Nunziata in Florence, and he became fully +determined to go to work under Pontormo, thinking that his manner was +so beautiful that it might be expected that Jacopo, who was still a +young man, was destined to surpass all the young painters of his own +age, as, indeed, was the firm belief of everyone at that time. +Lappoli, then, although he might have gone to work under Andrea, for +the said reasons attached himself to Pontormo, under whose discipline +he was for ever drawing, spurred to incredible exertions, out of +emulation, by two motives. One of these was the presence of Giovan +Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, who was studying design and painting +under the same master, and who, always advising him for his own good, +brought it about that he changed his manner and adopted the good +manner of Pontormo. The other—and this spurred him more strongly—was +the sight of Agnolo, who was called Bronzino, being much brought +forward by Jacopo on account of his loving submissiveness and goodness +and the untiring diligence that he showed in imitating his master's +works, not to mention that he drew very well and acquitted himself in +colouring in such a manner, that he aroused hopes that he was destined +to attain to that excellence and perfection which have been seen in +him, and still are seen, in our own day.</p> + +<p>Giovanni Antonio, then, being desirous to learn, and impelled by the +reasons mentioned above, spent many months in making drawings and +copies of the works of Jacopo da Pontormo, which were so well +executed, so good, and so beautiful, that it is certain that if he had +persevered, what with the assistance that he had from Nature, his wish +to become eminent, the force of competition, and the good manner of +his master, he would have become most excellent; and to this some +drawings in red chalk by his hand, which may be seen in our book, can +bear witness. But pleasure, as may often be seen to happen, is in +young men generally the enemy of excellence, and brings it about that +their intellects are led <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257" name="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> astray; wherefore he who is engaged +in the studies of any faculty, science, or art whatsoever should have +no relations save with those who are of the same profession, and good +and orderly besides. Giovanni Antonio, then, in order that he might be +looked after, had gone to live in the house of one Ser Raffaello di +Sandro, a lame chaplain, in S. Lorenzo, to whom he paid so much a +year, and he abandoned in great measure the study of painting, for the +reason that the priest was a man of the world, delighting in pictures, +music, and other diversions, and many persons of talent frequented the +rooms that he had at S. Lorenzo; among others, M. Antonio da Lucca, a +most excellent musician and performer on the lute, at that time a very +young man, from whom Giovanni learned to play the lute. And although +the painter Rosso and some others of the profession also frequented +the same place, Lappoli attached himself rather to the others than to +the men of his art, from whom he might have learned much, while at the +same time amusing himself. Through these distractions, therefore, the +love of painting of which Giovanni Antonio had given proof cooled off +in great measure; but none the less, being the friend of Pier +Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, who was a disciple of Andrea del Sarto, +he went sometimes with him to the Scalzo to draw the pictures and +nudes from life. And no long time passed before he applied himself to +colouring and executed pictures of Jacopo's, and then by himself some +Madonnas and portraits from life, among which were that of the +above-mentioned M. Antonio da Lucca and that of Ser Raffaello, which +are very good.</p> + +<p>In the year 1523, the plague being in Rome, Perino del Vaga came to +Florence, and he also settled down to lodge with Ser Raffaello del +Zoppo; wherefore Giovanni Antonio having formed a strait friendship +with him and having recognized the ability of Perino, there was +reawakened in his mind the desire to attend to painting, abandoning +all other pleasures, and he resolved when the plague had ceased to go +with Perino to Rome. But this design was never fulfilled, for the +plague having come to Florence, at the very moment when Perino had +finished the scene of the Submersion of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, +painted in the colour of bronze in chiaroscuro for Ser Raffaello, +during the execution of <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258" name="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> which Lappoli was always present, +they were forced both the one and the other to fly from Florence, in +order not to lose their lives there.</p> + +<p>Thereupon Giovanni Antonio returned to Arezzo, and set himself, in +order to pass the time, to paint on canvas the scene of the death of +Orpheus, killed by the Bacchantes: he set himself, I say, to paint +this scene in chiaroscuro of the colour of bronze, after the manner in +which he had seen Perino paint the picture mentioned above, and when +the work was finished it brought him no little praise. He then set to +work to finish an altar-piece that his former master Domenico Pecori +had begun for the Nuns of S. Margherita: in which altar-piece, now to +be seen in their convent, he painted an Annunciation. And he made two +cartoons for two portraits from life from the waist upwards, both very +beautiful; one was Lorenzo d' Antonio di Giorgio, at that time a pupil +and a very handsome youth, and the other was Ser Piero Guazzesi, who +was a convivial person.</p> + +<p>The plague having finally somewhat abated, Cipriano d' Anghiari, a +rich man of Arezzo, who in those days had caused a chapel with +ornaments and columns of grey-stone to be built in the Abbey of S. +Fiore at Arezzo, allotted the altar-piece to Giovanni Antonio at the +price of one hundred crowns. Meanwhile, Rosso passed through Arezzo on +his way to Rome, and lodged with Giovanni Antonio, who was very much +his friend; and, hearing of the work that he had undertaken to do, he +made at the request of Lappoli a very beautiful little sketch full of +nudes. Whereupon Giovanni Antonio, setting his hand to the work and +imitating the design of Rosso, painted in that altar-piece the +Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the lunette above it a God the +Father and some children, copying the draperies and all the rest from +life. And when he had brought it to completion, he was much praised +and commended for it, and above all for some heads copied from life, +painted in a good manner and with much profit to himself.</p> + +<p>Then, recognizing that if he wished to make greater proficience in his +art he must take his leave of Arezzo, he determined, after the plague +had ceased entirely in Rome, to go to that city, where he knew that +Perino, Rosso, and many others of his friends had already returned and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259" name="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> were employed in a number of important works. While of this +mind, a convenient occasion of going there presented itself to him, +for there arrived in Arezzo M. Paolo Valdambrini, the Secretary of +Pope Clement VII, who, in returning from France in great haste, passed +through Arezzo in order to see his brothers and nephews; and when +Giovanni Antonio had gone to visit him, M. Paolo, who was desirous +that there should be in his native city of Arezzo men distinguished in +all the arts, who might demonstrate the genius which that air and that +sky give to those who are born there, exhorted him, although there was +not much need for exhortation, that he should go in his company to +Rome, where he would obtain for him every convenience to enable him to +attend to the studies of his art. Having therefore gone with M. Paolo +to Rome, he found there Perino, Rosso, and others of his friends; and +besides this he was able by means of M. Paolo to make the acquaintance +of Giulio Romano, Sebastiano Viniziano, and Francesco Mazzuoli of +Parma, who arrived in Rome about that time. This Francesco, delighting +to play the lute, and therefore conceiving a very great affection for +Giovanni Antonio and consorting continually with him, brought it about +that Lappoli set himself with great zeal to draw and paint and to +profit by the good fortune that he enjoyed in being the friend of the +best painters that there were in Rome at that time. And he had already +carried almost to completion a picture containing a Madonna of the +size of life, which M. Paolo wished to present to Pope Clement in +order to make Lappoli known to him, when, as Fortune would have it, +who often sets herself in opposition to the designs of mankind, there +took place on the 6th of May, in the year 1527, the accursed sack of +Rome. On that miserable day M. Paolo galloped on horseback, and +Giovanni Antonio with him, to the Porta di S. Spirito in the +Trastevere, in order to prevent the soldiers of Bourbon for a time +from entering by that gate; and there M. Paolo was killed and Lappoli +was taken prisoner by the Spaniards. And in a short time, everything +being given over to sack, the picture was lost, together with the +designs executed in the chapel and all that poor Giovanni Antonio +possessed. He, after having been much tormented by the Spaniards to +induce him to pay a ransom, escaped in his shirt one <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260" name="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> night +with some other prisoners, and, after suffering desperate hardships +and running in great danger of his life, because the roads were not +safe, finally made his way to Arezzo, where he was received by M. +Giovanni Pollastra, a man of great learning, who was his uncle; but he +had all that he could do to recover himself, so broken was he by +terror and suffering.</p> + +<p>Then in the same year there came upon Arezzo the great plague in which +four hundred persons died every day, and Giovanni Antonio was forced +once more to fly, all in despair and very loth to go, and to stay for +some months out of the city. But finally, when that pestilence had +abated to such an extent that people could begin to mix together, a +certain Fra Guasparri, a Conventual Friar of S. Francis, who was then +Guardian of their convent in that city, commissioned Giovanni Antonio +to paint the altar-piece of the high-altar in that church for one +hundred crowns, stipulating that he should represent in it the +Adoration of the Magi. Whereupon Lappoli, hearing that Rosso, having +also fled from Rome, was at Borgo a San Sepolcro, and was there +executing an altar-piece for the Company of S. Croce, went to visit +him; and after showing him many courtesies and causing some things to +be brought for him from Arezzo, of which he knew him to stand in need, +since he had lost everything in the sack of Rome, he obtained for +himself from Rosso a very beautiful design of the above-mentioned +altar-piece that he had to paint for Fra Guasparri. And when he had +returned to Arezzo he set his hand to the work, and finished it within +a year from the day of the commission, according to the agreement, and +that so well, that he was very highly praised for it. That design of +Rosso's passed afterwards into the hands of Giorgio Vasari, and from +him to the very reverend Don Vincenzio Borghini, Director of the +Hospital of the Innocenti in Florence, who has it in his book of +drawings by various painters.</p> + +<p>Not long afterwards, having become surety for Rosso to the amount of +three hundred crowns, in the matter of some pictures that the said +Rosso was to paint in the Madonna delle Lagrime, Giovanni Antonio +found himself in a very evil pass, for Rosso went away without +finishing the work, as has been related in his Life, and Lappoli was +constrained <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261" name="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> to restore the money; and if his friends had not +helped him, and particularly Giorgio Vasari, who valued at three +hundred crowns the part that Rosso had left finished, Giovanni Antonio +would have been little less than ruined in his effort to do honour and +benefit to his native city. These difficulties over, Lappoli painted +an altar-piece in oils containing the Madonna, S. Bartholomew, and S. +Matthew at the commission of Abbot Camaiani of Bibbiena, for a chapel +in the lower church at S. Maria del Sasso, a seat of the Preaching +Friars in the Casentino; and he acquitted himself very well, +counterfeiting the manner of Rosso. And this was the reason that a +Confraternity at Bibbiena afterwards caused him to paint on a banner +for carrying in processions a nude Christ with the Cross on His +shoulder, who is shedding blood into the Chalice, and on the other +side an Annunciation, which was one of the best things that he ever +did.</p> + +<p>In the year 1534, Duke Alessandro de' Medici being expected in Arezzo, +the Aretines, with Luigi Guicciardini, the commissary in that city, +wishing to honour the Duke, ordained that two comedies should be +performed. The charge of arranging one of those festivals was in the +hands of a Company of the most noble young men in the city, who called +themselves the Umidi; and the preparations and scenery for this +comedy, which had for its subject the Intronati of Siena, were made by +Niccolò Soggi, who was much extolled for them, and the comedy was +performed very well and with infinite satisfaction to all who saw it. +The festive preparations for the other were executed in competition by +another Company of young men, likewise noble, who called themselves +the Company of the Infiammati. And they, in order to be praised no +less than the Umidi, performed a comedy by M. Giovanni Pollastra, a +poet of Arezzo, under his management, and entrusted the making of the +scenery to Giovanni Antonio, who acquitted himself consummately well; +and thus their comedy was performed with great honour to that Company +and to the whole city. Nor must I pass over a lovely notion of that +poet's, who was certainly a man of beautiful ingenuity. While the +preparations for these and other festivals were in progress, on many +occasions the young men of the two Companies, out of rivalry and for +various other reasons, had come to blows, and several disputes had +arisen; wherefore <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262" name="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> Pollastra arranged a surprise (keeping the +matter absolutely secret), which was as follows. When all the people, +with the gentlemen and their ladies, had assembled in the place where +the comedy was to be performed, four of those young men who had come +to blows with one another in the city on other occasions, dashing out +with naked swords and cloaks wound round their arms, began to shout on +the stage and to pretend to kill one another: and the first of them to +be seen rushed out with one temple as it were smeared with blood, +crying out: "Come forth, traitors!" At which uproar all the people +rose to their feet, men began to lay hands on their weapons, and the +kinsmen of the young men, who appeared to be giving each other fearful +thrusts, ran towards the stage; when he who had come out first, +turning towards the other young men, said: "Hold your hands, +gentlemen, and sheathe your swords, for I have taken no harm; and +although we are at daggers drawn and you believe that the play will +not be performed, yet it will take place, and I, wounded as I am, will +now begin the Prologue." And so after this jest, by which all the +spectators and the actors themselves, only excepting the four +mentioned above, were taken in, the comedy was begun and played so +well, that afterwards, in the year 1540, when the Lord Duke Cosimo and +the Lady Duchess Leonora were in Arezzo, Giovanni Antonio had to +prepare the scenery anew on the Piazza del Vescovado and have it +performed before their Excellencies. And even as the performers had +given satisfaction on the first occasion, so at that time they gave so +much satisfaction to the Lord Duke, that they were afterwards invited +to Florence to perform at the next Carnival. In these two scenic +preparations, then, Lappoli acquitted himself very well, and he was +very highly praised.</p> + +<p>He then made an ornament after the manner of a triumphal arch, with +scenes in the colour of bronze, which was placed about the altar of +the Madonna delle Chiavi. After a time Giovanni Antonio settled in +Arezzo, fully determined, now that he had a wife and children, to go +roaming no more, and living on his income and on the offices that the +citizens of that city enjoy; and so he continued without working much. +Not long, indeed, after these events, he sought to obtain the +commissions <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263" name="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> for two altar-pieces that were to be painted in +Arezzo, one for the Church and Company of S. Rocco, and the other for +the high-altar of S. Domenico; but he did not succeed, for the reason +that both those pictures were allotted to Giorgio Vasari, whose +designs, among the many that were made, gave more satisfaction than +any of the others. For the Company of the Ascension in that city +Giovanni Antonio painted on a banner for carrying in processions +Christ in the act of Resurrection, with many soldiers round the +Sepulchre, and His Ascension into Heaven, with the Madonna surrounded +by the twelve Apostles, which was all executed very well and with +diligence. At Castello della Pieve he painted an altar-piece in oils +of the Visitation of Our Lady, with some Saints about her, and in an +altar-piece that was painted for the Pieve a San Stefano he depicted +the Madonna and other Saints; which two works Lappoli executed much +better than the others that he had painted up to that time, because he +had been able to see at his leisure many works in relief and casts +taken in gesso from the statues of Michelagnolo and from other ancient +works, and brought by Giorgio Vasari to his house at Arezzo. The same +master painted some pictures of Our Lady, which are dispersed +throughout Arezzo and other places, and a Judith who is placing the +head of Holofernes in a basket held by her serving-woman, which now +belongs to Mons. M. Bernardetto Minerbetti, Bishop of Arezzo, who +loved Giovanni Antonio much, as he loves all other men of talent, and +received from him, besides other things, a young S. John the Baptist +in the desert, almost wholly naked, which is held dear by him, since +it is an excellent figure.</p> + +<p>Finally, recognizing that perfection in this art consists in nothing +else but seeking in good time to become rich in invention and to study +the nude continually, and thus to render facile the difficulties of +execution, Giovanni Antonio repented that he had not spent in the +study of art the time that he had given to his pleasures, perceiving +that what can be done easily in youth cannot be done well in old age. +But although he was always conscious of his error, yet he did not +recognize it fully until, having set himself to study when already an +old man, he saw a picture in oils, fourteen braccia long and six +braccia and a half high, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264" name="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> executed in forty-two days by +Giorgio Vasari, who painted it for the Refectory of the Monks of the +Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; in which work are painted the Nuptials of +Esther and King Ahasuerus, and there are in it more than sixty figures +larger than life. Going therefore at times to see Giorgio at work, and +staying to discourse with him, Giovanni Antonio said: "Now I see that +continual study and work is what lifts men out of laborious effort, +and that our art does not come down upon us like the Holy Ghost."</p> + +<p>Giovanni Antonio did not work much in fresco, for the reason that the +colours changed too much to please him; nevertheless, there may be +seen over the Church of Murello a Pietà with two little naked Angels +by his hand, executed passing well. Finally, after having lived like a +man of good judgment and one not unpractised in the ways of the world, +he fell sick of a most violent fever at the age of sixty, in the year +1552, and died.</p> + +<p>A disciple of Giovanni Antonio was Bartolommeo Torri, the scion of a +not ignoble family in Arezzo, who, making his way to Rome, and placing +himself under Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent miniaturist, devoted +himself in so thorough a manner to design and to the study of the +nude, but most of all to anatomy, that he became an able master, and +was held to be the best draughtsman in Rome. And it is not long since +Don Silvano Razzi related to me that Don Giulio Clovio had told him in +Rome, after having praised this young man highly, the very thing that +he has often declared to me—namely, that he had turned him out of his +house for no other reason but his filthy anatomy, for he kept so many +limbs and pieces of men under his bed and all over his rooms, that +they poisoned the whole house. Besides this, by neglecting himself and +thinking that living like an unwashed philosopher, accepting no rule +of life, and avoiding the society of other men, was the way to become +great and immortal, he ruined himself completely; for nature will not +tolerate the unreasonable outrages that some men at times do to her. +Having therefore fallen ill at the age of twenty-five, Bartolommeo +returned to Arezzo, in order to regain his health and to seek to build +himself up again; but he did not succeed, for he continued his usual +studies and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265" name="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> same irregularities, and in four months, a +little after the death of Giovanni Antonio, he died and went to join +him.</p> + +<p>The loss of this young man was an infinite grief to the whole city, +for if he had lived, to judge from the great promise of his works, he +was like to do extraordinary honour to his native place and to all +Tuscany; and whoever sees any of the drawings that he made when still +a mere lad, stands marvelling at them and full of compassion for his +untimely death.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="soggi" id="soggi"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267" name="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> NICCOLÒ SOGGI</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="life_of_soggi" id="life_of_soggi"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269" name="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> LIFE OF NICCOLÒ SOGGI</h2> + +<h3>PAINTER</h3> + + +<p>Among the many who were disciples of Pietro Perugino, there was not +one, after Raffaello da Urbino, who was more studious or more diligent +than Niccolò Soggi, whose Life we are now about to write. This master +was born in Florence, the son of Jacopo Soggi, a worthy person, but +not very rich; and in time he entered the service of M. Antonio dal +Monte in Rome, because Jacopo had a farm at Marciano in Valdichiana, +and, passing most of his time there, associated not a little with that +same M. Antonio dal Monte, their properties being near together.</p> + +<p>Jacopo, then, perceiving that this son of his was much inclined to +painting, placed him with Pietro Perugino; and in a short time, by +means of continual study, he learned so much that it was not long +before Pietro began to make use of him in his works, to the great +advantage of Niccolò, who devoted himself in such a manner to drawing +in perspective and copying from nature, that he afterwards became very +excellent in both the one field and the other. Niccolò also gave much +attention to making models of clay and wax, over which he laid +draperies and soaked parchment: which was the reason that he rendered +his manner so dry, that he always held to the same as long as he +lived, nor could he ever get rid of it for all the pains that he took.</p> + +<p>The first work that this Niccolò executed after the death of his +master Pietro was an altar-piece in oils in the Hospital for Women, +founded by Bonifazio Lupi, in the Via San Gallo at Florence—that is, +the side behind the altar, wherein is the Angel saluting Our Lady, +with a building drawn in perspective, in which there are arches and a +groined vaulting rising above pilasters after the manner of Pietro. +Then, in the year 1512, after having executed many pictures of Our +Lady for the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270" name="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> houses of citizens, and other little works such +as are painted every day, hearing that great things were being done in +Rome, he departed from Florence, thinking to make proficience in art +and also to save some money, and went off to Rome. There, having paid +a visit to the aforesaid M. Antonio dal Monte, who was then a +Cardinal, he was not only welcomed warmly, but also straightway set to +work to paint, in those early days of the pontificate of Leo, on the +façade of the palace where there is the statue of Maestro Pasquino, a +great escutcheon of Pope Leo in fresco, between that of the Roman +People and that of the Cardinal. In that work Niccolò did not acquit +himself very well, for in painting some nude figures and others +clothed that he placed there as ornaments for those escutcheons, he +recognized that the study of models is bad for him who wishes to +acquire a good manner. Thereupon, after the uncovering of that work, +which did not prove to be of that excellence which many expected, +Niccolò set himself to execute a picture in oils, in which he painted +the Martyr S. Prassedia squeezing a sponge full of blood into a +vessel; and he finished it with such diligence that he recovered in +part the honour that he considered himself to have lost in painting +the escutcheons described above. This picture, which was executed for +the above-mentioned Cardinal dal Monte, who was titular of S. +Prassedia, was placed in the centre of that church, over an altar +beneath which is a well of the blood of Holy Martyrs—a beautiful +idea, the picture alluding to the place where there was the blood of +those Martyrs. After this Niccolò painted for his patron the Cardinal +another picture in oils, three-quarters of a braccio in height, of Our +Lady with the Child in her arms, S. John as a little boy, and some +landscapes, all executed so well and with such diligence, that the +whole work appears to be done in miniature, and not painted; which +picture, one of the best works that Niccolò ever produced, was for +many years in the apartment of that prelate. Afterwards, when the +Cardinal arrived in Arezzo and lodged in the Abbey of S. Fiore, a seat +of the Black Friars of S. Benedict, in return for the many courtesies +that were shown to him, he presented that picture to the sacristy of +that place, in which it has been treasured ever since, both as a good +painting and in memory of the Cardinal.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271" name="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> Niccolò himself went with the Cardinal to Arezzo, where he +lived almost ever afterwards. At the time he formed a friendship with +the painter Domenico Pecori, who was then painting an altar-piece with +the Circumcision of Christ for the Company of the Trinità; and such +was the intimacy between them that Niccolò painted for Domenico in +that altar-piece a building in perspective with columns and arches +supporting a ceiling full of rosettes, according to the custom of +those days, which was held at that time to be very beautiful. Niccolò +also painted for the same Domenico a round picture of the Madonna with +a multitude below, in oils and on cloth, for the baldachin of the +Confraternity of Arezzo, which was burned, as has been related in the +Life of Domenico Pecori,<a id="FNanchor32" name="FNanchor32"></a><a href="#Footnote32" title="Go to footnote 32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> during a festival that was held in S. +Francesco. Then, having received the commission for a chapel in that +same S. Francesco, the second on the right hand as one enters the +church, he painted there in distemper Our Lady, S. John the Baptist, +S. Bernard, S. Anthony, S. Francis, and three Angels in the air who +are singing, with God the Father in a pediment; which were executed by +Niccolò almost entirely in distemper, with the point of the brush. But +since the work has almost all peeled off on account of the strength of +the distemper, it was labour thrown away. Niccolò did this in order to +try new methods; and when he had recognized that the true method was +working in fresco, he seized the first opportunity, and undertook to +paint in fresco a chapel in S. Agostino in that city, beside the door +on the left hand as one enters the church. In this chapel, which was +allotted to him by one Scamarra, a master of furnaces, he painted a +Madonna in the sky with a multitude beneath, and S. Donatus and S. +Francis kneeling; but the best thing that he did in this work was a S. +Rocco at the head of the chapel.</p> + +<p>This work giving great pleasure to Domenico Ricciardi of Arezzo, who +had a chapel in the Church of the Madonna delle Lagrime, he entrusted +the painting of the altar-piece of that chapel to Niccolò, who, +setting his hand to the work, painted in it with much care and +diligence the Nativity of Jesus Christ. And although he toiled a long +time over finishing it, he executed it so well that he deserves to be +excused for this, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272" name="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> or rather, merits infinite praise, for the +reason that it is a most beautiful work; nor would anyone believe with +what extraordinary consideration he painted every least thing in it, +and a ruined building, near the hut wherein are the Infant Christ and +the Virgin, is drawn very well in perspective. In the S. Joseph and +some Shepherds are many heads portrayed from life, such as Stagio +Sassoli, a painter and the friend of Niccolò, and Papino della Pieve, +his disciple, who, if he had not died when still young, would have +done very great honour both to himself and to his country; and three +Angels in the air who are singing are so well executed that they would +be enough by themselves to demonstrate the talent of Niccolò and the +patience with which he laboured at this work up to the very last. And +no sooner had he finished it than he was requested by the men of the +Company of S. Maria della Neve, at Monte Sansovino, to paint for that +Company an altar-piece wherein was to be the story of the Snow, which, +falling on the site of S. Maria Maggiore at Rome on the 5th of August, +was the reason of the building of that temple. Niccolò, then, executed +that altar-piece for the above-mentioned Company with much diligence; +and afterwards he executed at Marciano a work in fresco that won no +little praise.</p> + +<p>Now in the year 1524, after M. Baldo Magini had caused Antonio, the +brother of Giuliano da San Gallo, to build in the Madonna delle +Carceri, in the town of Prato, a tabernacle of marble with two +columns, architrave, cornice, and a quarter-round arch, Antonio +resolved to bring it about that M. Baldo should give the commission +for the picture which was to adorn that tabernacle to Niccolò, with +whom he had formed a friendship when he was working in the Palace of +the above-mentioned Cardinal dal Monte at Monte Sansovino. He +presented him, therefore, to M. Baldo, who, although he had been +minded to have it painted by Andrea del Sarto, as has been related in +another place, resolved, at the entreaties and advice of Antonio, to +allot it to Niccolò. And he, having set his hand to it, strove with +all his power to make a beautiful work, but he did not succeed; for, +apart from diligence, there is no excellence of design to be seen in +it, nor any other quality worthy of much praise, because his hard +manner, with his labours over his models of clay and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273" name="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> wax, +almost always gave a laborious and displeasing effect to his work. And +yet, with regard to the labours of art, that man could not have done +more than he did or shown more lovingness; and since he knew that none +...<a id="FNanchor33" name="FNanchor33"></a><a href="#Footnote33" title="Go to footnote 33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> for many years he could never bring himself to believe that +others surpassed him in excellence. In this work, then, there is a God +the Father who is sending down the crown of virginity and humility +upon the Madonna by the hands of some Angels who are round her, some +of whom are playing various instruments. Niccolò made in the picture a +portrait from life of M. Baldo, kneeling at the feet of S. Ubaldo the +Bishop, and on the other side he painted S. Joseph; and those two +figures are one on either side of the image of the Madonna, which +worked miracles in that place. Niccolò afterwards painted a picture +three braccia in height of the same M. Baldo Magini from life, +standing with the Church of S. Fabiano di Prato in his hand, which he +presented to the Chapter of the Canons of the Pieve; and this Niccolò +executed for that Chapter, which, in memory of the benefit received, +caused the picture to be placed in the sacristy, an honour well +deserved by that remarkable man, who with excellent judgment conferred +benefits on that church, the principal church of his native city, and +so renowned for the Girdle of the Madonna, which is preserved there. +This portrait was one of the best works that Niccolò ever executed in +painting. It is also the belief of some that a little altar-piece that +is in the Company of S. Pier Martire on the Piazza di S. Domenico, at +Prato, in which are many portraits from life, is by the hand of the +same Niccolò; but in my opinion, even if this be true, it was painted +by him before any of the other pictures mentioned above.</p> + +<p>After these works, Niccolò—under whose discipline Domenico +Giuntalodi, a young man of excellent ability belonging to Prato, had +learned the rudiments of the art of painting, although, in consequence +of having acquired the manner of Niccolò, he never became a great +master in painting, as will be related—departed from Prato and came +to work in Florence; but, having seen that the most important works in +art were given to better and more eminent men than himself, and that +his manner was not up to the standard of Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, +Rosso, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274" name="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> others, he made up his mind to return to +Arezzo, in which city he had more friends, greater credit, and less +competition. Which having done, no sooner had he arrived than he made +known to M. Giuliano Bacci, one of the chief citizens of that place, a +desire that he had in his heart, which was this, that he wished that +Arezzo should become his country, and that therefore he would gladly +undertake to execute some work which might maintain him for a time in +the practice of his art, whereby he hoped to demonstrate to that city +the nature of his talents. Whereupon Messer Giuliano, an ingenious man +who desired that his native city should be embellished and should +contain persons engaged in the arts, so went to work with the men then +governing the Company of the Nunziata, who in those days had caused a +great vaulting to be built in their church, with the intention of +having it painted, that one arch of the wall-surface of that vaulting +was allotted to Niccolò; and it was proposed that he should be +commissioned to paint the rest, if the first part, which he had to do +then, should please the men of the aforesaid Company. Having therefore +set his hand to this work with great diligence, in two years Niccolò +finished the half, but not more, of one arch, on which he painted in +fresco the Tiburtine Sibyl showing to the Emperor Octavian the Virgin +in Heaven with the Infant Jesus Christ in her arms, and Octavian in +reverent adoration. In the figure of Octavian he portrayed the +above-mentioned M. Giuliano Bacci, and his pupil Domenico in a tall +young man draped in red, and others of his friends in other heads; +and, in a word, he acquitted himself in this work in such a manner +that it did not displease the men of that Company and the other men of +that city. It is true, indeed, that everyone grew weary of seeing him +take so long and toil so much over executing his works; but +notwithstanding all this the rest would have been given to him to +finish, if that had not been prevented by the arrival in Arezzo of the +Florentine Rosso, a rare painter, to whom, after he had been put +forward by the Aretine painter Giovanni Antonio Lappoli and M. +Giovanni Pollastra, as has been related in another place, much favour +was shown and the rest of that work allotted. At which Niccolò felt +such disdain, that, if he had not taken a wife the year before and had +a son by her, so that he was settled in Arezzo, he would have +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275" name="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> departed straightway. However, having finally become +pacified, he executed an altar-piece for the Church of Sargiano, a +place two miles distant from Arezzo, where there are Frati Zoccolanti; +in which he painted the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, with many +little Angels supporting her, and S. Thomas below receiving the +Girdle, while all around are S. Francis, S. Louis, S. John the +Baptist, and S. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. In some of these figures, +and particularly in some of the little Angels, he acquitted himself +very well; and so also in the predella he painted some scenes with +little figures, which are passing good. He executed, likewise, in the +Convent of the Nuns of the Murate, who belong to the same Order, in +that city, a Dead Christ with the Maries, which is wrought with a high +finish for a picture in fresco. In the Abbey of S. Fiore, a seat of +Black Friars, behind the Crucifix that is placed on the high-altar, he +painted in oils, on a canvas, Christ praying in the Garden and the +Angel showing to Him the Chalice of the Passion and comforting Him, +which was certainly a work of no little beauty and excellence. And for +the Nuns of S. Benedetto, of the Order of Camaldoli, at Arezzo, on an +arch above a door by which one enters the convent, he painted the +Madonna, S. Benedict, and S. Catharine, a work which was afterwards +thrown to the ground in order to enlarge the church.</p> + +<p>In the township of Marciano in Valdichiana, where he passed much of +his time, living partly on the revenues that he had in that place and +partly on what he could earn there, Niccolò began an altar-piece of +the Dead Christ and many other works, with which he occupied himself +for a time. And meanwhile, having with him the above-mentioned +Domenico Giuntalodi of Prato, whom he loved as a son and kept in his +house, he strove to make him excellent in the matters of art, teaching +him so well how to draw in perspective, to copy from nature, and to +make designs, that he was already becoming very able in all these +respects, showing a good and beautiful genius. And this Niccolò did, +besides being moved by the love and affection that he bore to that +young man, in the hope of having one who might help him now that he +was nearing old age, and might give him some return in his last years +for so much labour and lovingness. Niccolò was in truth most loving +with every man, <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276" name="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> true by nature, and much the friend of those +who laboured in order to attain to something in the world of art; and +what he knew he taught to them with extraordinary willingness.</p> + +<p>No long time after this, when Niccolò had returned from Marciano to +Arezzo and Domenico had left him, the men of the Company of the Corpo +di Cristo, in that city, had a commission to give for the painting of +an altar-piece for the high-altar of the Church of S. Domenico. Now, +Niccolò desiring to paint it, and likewise Giorgio Vasari, then a mere +lad, the former did something which probably not many of the men of +our art would do at the present day, which was as follows: Niccolò, +who was one of the members of the above-mentioned Company, perceiving +that many were disposed to have it painted by Giorgio, in order to +bring him forward, and that the young man had a very great desire for +it, resolved, after remarking Giorgio's zeal, to lay aside his own +desire and need and to have the picture allotted by his companions to +Giorgio, thinking more of the advantage that the young man might gain +from the work than of his own profit and interest; and even as he +wished, so exactly did the men of that Company decide.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Domenico Giuntalodi, having gone to Rome, found +Fortune so propitious that he became known to Don Martino, the +Ambassador of the King of Portugal, and went to live with him; and he +painted for him a canvas with some twenty portraits from life, all of +his followers and friends, with himself in the midst of them, engaged +in conversation; which work so pleased Don Martino, that he looked +upon Domenico as the first painter in the world. Afterwards Don +Ferrante Gonzaga, having been made Viceroy of Sicily, and desiring to +fortify the towns of that kingdom, wished to have about his person a +man who might draw and put down on paper for him all that he thought +of from day to day; and he wrote to Don Martino that he should find +for him a young man who might be both able and willing to serve him in +this way, and should send him off as soon as possible. Don Martino, +therefore, first sent to Don Ferrante some designs by the hand of +Domenico, among which was a Colosseum, engraved on copper by Girolamo +Fagiuoli of Bologna for Antonio Salamanca, but drawn in perspective by +Domenico; an old man <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277" name="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> in a child's go-cart, drawn by the same +hand and published in engraving, with letters that ran thus, "Ancora +imparo"; and a little picture with the portrait of Don Martino +himself. And shortly afterwards he sent Domenico, at the wish of the +aforesaid lord, Don Ferrante, who had been much pleased with that +young man's works. Having then arrived in Sicily, there were assigned +to Domenico an honourable salary, a horse, and a servant, all at the +expense of Don Ferrante; and not long afterwards he was set to work on +the walls and fortresses of Sicily. Whereupon, abandoning his painting +little by little, he devoted himself to something else which for a +time was more profitable to him; for, being an ingenious person, he +made use of men who were well adapted to heavy labour, kept beasts of +burden in the charge of others, and caused sand and lime to be +collected and furnaces to be set up; and no long time had passed +before he found that he had saved so much that he was able to buy +offices in Rome to the extent of two thousand crowns, and shortly +afterwards some others. Then, after he had been made keeper of the +wardrobe to Don Ferrante, it happened that his master was removed from +the government of Sicily and sent to that of Milan; whereupon Domenico +went with him, and, working on the fortifications of that State, +contrived, what with being industrious and with being something of a +miser, to become very rich; and what is more, he came into such credit +that he managed almost everything in that government.</p> + +<p>Hearing of this, Niccolò, who was at Arezzo, now an old man, needy, +and without any work to do, went to find Domenico in Milan, thinking +that even as he had not failed Domenico when he was a young man, so +Domenico should not fail him now, but should avail himself of his +services, since he had many in his employ, and should be both able and +willing to assist him in his poverty-stricken old age. But he found to +his cost that the judgments of men, in expecting too much from others, +are often deceived, and that the men who change their condition also +change more often than not their nature and their will. For after +arriving in Milan, where he found Domenico raised to such greatness +that he had no little difficulty in getting speech of him, Niccolò +related to him all his troubles, and then besought him that he should +help him by making use of his <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278" name="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> services; but Domenico, not +remembering or not choosing to remember with what lovingness he had +been brought up by Niccolò as if he had been his own son, gave him a +miserably small sum of money and got rid of him as soon as he was +able. And so Niccolò returned to Arezzo very sore at heart, having +recognized that with the labour and expense with which, as he thought, +he had reared a son, he had formed one who was little less than an +enemy.</p> + +<p>In order to earn his bread, therefore, he went about executing all the +work that came to his hand, as he had done many years before, and he +painted among other things a canvas for the Commune of Monte +Sansovino, containing the said town of Monte Sansovino and a Madonna +in the sky, with two Saints at the sides; which picture was set up on +an altar in the Madonna di Vertigli, a church belonging to the Monks +of the Order of Camaldoli, not far distant from the Monte, where it +has pleased and still pleases Our Lord daily to perform many miracles +and to grant favours to those who recommend themselves to the Queen of +Heaven. Afterwards, Julius III having been created Supreme Pontiff, +Niccolò, who had been much connected with the house of Monte, made his +way to Rome, although he was an old man of eighty, and, having kissed +the foot of His Holiness, besought him that he should deign to make +use of him in the buildings which were to be erected, so men said, at +the Monte, a place which the Lord Duke of Florence had given in fief +to the Pontiff. The Pope, then, having received him warmly, ordained +that the means to live in Rome should be given to him without exacting +any sort of exertion from him; and in this manner Niccolò spent +several months in Rome, drawing many antiquities to pass the time.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Pope resolved to increase his native town of Monte +Sansovino, and to make there, besides many ornamental works, an +aqueduct, because that place suffered much from want of water; and +Giorgio Vasari, who had orders from the Pope to cause those buildings +to be begun, recommended Niccolò Soggi strongly to His Holiness, +entreating him that Niccolò should be given the office of +superintendent over those works. Whereupon Niccolò went to Arezzo +filled with these hopes, but he had not been there many days when, +worn out by the fatigues and <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279" name="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> hardships of this world and by +the knowledge that he had been abandoned by him who should have been +the last to forsake him, he finished the course of his life and was +buried in S. Domenico in that city.</p> + +<p>Not long afterwards Domenico Giuntalodi, Don Ferrante Gonzaga having +died, departed from Milan with the intention of returning to Prato and +of passing the rest of his life there in repose. However, finding +there neither relatives nor friends, and recognizing that Prato was no +abiding place for him, he repented too late that he had behaved +ungratefully to Niccolò, and returned to Lombardy to serve the sons of +Don Ferrante. But no long time passed before he fell sick unto death; +whereupon he made a will leaving ten thousand crowns to his +fellow-citizens of Prato, to the end that they might buy property to +that amount and form a fund wherewith to maintain continually at their +studies a certain number of students from Prato, in the manner in +which they maintained certain others, as they still do, according to +the terms of another bequest. And this has been carried out by the men +of that town of Prato, who, grateful for such a benefit, which in +truth has been a very great one and worthy of eternal remembrance, +have placed in their Council Chamber the image of Domenico, as that of +one who has deserved well of his country.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="index" id="index"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281" name="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> INDEX</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="index_name_vol_6" id="index_name_vol_6"></a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283" name="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> INDEX OF NAMES + +OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME VI</h2> + + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Abacco, Antonio L', +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_137"><b>137</b></a></li> + +<li>Abbot of S. Clemente (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo, Baccio d' (Baccio Baglioni), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_65"><b>65</b></a>-68. +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo, Battista d' (Battista del Moro), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo, Domenico di Baccio d', +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo, Filippo di Baccio d', +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo, Giuliano di Baccio d', <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>-72</li> + +<li>Agnolo, Marco di Battista d', +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a></li> + +<li>Agnolo Bronzino, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_256"><b>256</b></a></li> + +<li>Agostino Viniziano (Agostino de' Musi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Aimo, Domenico (Il Bologna), +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> + +<li>Alberti, Leon Batista, +<a href="#Page_45"><b>45</b></a></li> + +<li>Alberto Monsignori (Bonsignori), +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a></li> + +<li>Albrecht (Heinrich) Aldegrever, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Albrecht Dürer, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_92"><b>92</b></a>-98. +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a></li> + +<li>Aldegrever, Albrecht (Heinrich), +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Alessandro Cesati (Il Greco), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Alessandro Falconetto, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Alessandro Filipepi (Sandro Botticelli), +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea Contucci (Andrea Sansovino), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea dal Castagno, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea de' Ceri, +<a href="#Page_190"><b>190</b></a>-192, +<a href="#Page_201"><b>201</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea del Sarto, +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-257, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea Mantegna, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_30"><b>30</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea Palladio, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Andrea Sansovino (Andrea Contucci), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Anichini, Luigi, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Anselmo Canneri, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a></li> + +<li>Antoine Lafrery (Antonio Lanferri), +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio da San Gallo (the elder), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>-141. +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_197"><b>197</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_198"><b>198</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio da Trento (Antonio Fantuzzi), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio del Pollaiuolo, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio di Giorgio Marchissi, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio di Marco di Giano (Il Carota), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio Fantuzzi (Antonio da Trento), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio l'Abacco, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_137"><b>137</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio Lanferri (Antoine Lafrery), +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio (or Vittore) Pisano (or Pisanello), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio Salamanca, +<a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a></li> + +<li>Antonio Scarpagni (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino,) +<a href="#Page_10"><b>10</b></a></li> + +<li>Aretino, Leone (Leone Lioni), +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Aretusi, Pellegrino degli (Pellegrino da Modena, or de' Munari), +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a></li> + +<li>Avanzi, Niccolò, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_80"><b>80</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a></li> + +<li>Baccio Baglioni (Baccio d' Agnolo), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_65"><b>65</b></a>-68. +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a></li> + +<li>Baccio Baldini, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Baccio Bandinelli, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>-71, +<a href="#Page_103"><b>103</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_105"><b>105</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a></li> + +<li>Baccio d' Agnolo (Baccio Baglioni), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_65"><b>65</b></a>-68. +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a></li> + +<li>Baldassarre Peruzzi, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_239"><b>239</b></a></li> + +<li>Baldini, Baccio, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Bandinelli, Baccio, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>-71, +<a href="#Page_103"><b>103</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_105"><b>105</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a></li> + +<li>Barile, Giovan, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Barlacchi, Tommaso, +<a href="#Page_104"><b>104</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Barozzo, Jacopo, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Bartolommeo da Castiglione, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a></li> + +<li>Bartolommeo della Gatta, Don (Abbot of S. Clemente), +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Bartolommeo di San Marco, Fra, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Bartolommeo Ridolfi, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Bartolommeo Torri, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_265"><b>265</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista d' Agnolo (Battista del Moro), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista del Cervelliera, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista del Moro (Battista d' Agnolo), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista del Tasso, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista Franco, +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista Gobbo, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a></li> + +<li>Battista of Vicenza (Battista Pittoni), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Baviera, +<a href="#Page_100"><b>100</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_101"><b>101</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a></li> + +<li>Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Il Sodoma), +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>-238, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_249"><b>249</b></a></li> + +<li>Beatricio, Niccolò (Nicolas Beautrizet), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Beccafumi, Domenico (Domenico di Pace), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251</li> + +<li>Beham, Hans, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Belli, Valerio (Valerio Vicentino), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a>-84. +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a></li> + +<li>Bellini, Giovanni, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a></li> + +<li>Bellini, Jacopo, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a></li> + +<li>Benedetto da Maiano, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Benedetto Ghirlandajo, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a></li> + +<li>Benedetto Pagni, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_154"><b>154</b></a>-156, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Benozzo Gozzoli, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Benvenuto Cellini, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Bernardi, Giovanni (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>-79. +<a href="#Page_83"><b>83</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Bernardino Pinturicchio, +<a href="#Page_195"><b>195</b></a></li> + +<li>Bologna, Il (Domenico Aimo), +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> + +<li>Bolognese, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a>-96, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-106. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Bonasone, Giulio, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Bonsignori (Monsignori), Alberto, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a></li> + +<li>Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Cherubino, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a></li> + +<li>Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Girolamo, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Bonsignori (Monsignori), Francesco, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Colle), +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Borgo a San Sepolcro, Giovan Maria dal, +<a href="#Page_256"><b>256</b></a></li> + +<li>Bosch, Hieronymus, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Botticelli, Sandro (Alessandro Filipepi), +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Boyvin, René (Renato), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Bramante da Urbino, +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_124"><b>124</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_138"><b>138</b></a></li> + +<li>Brescianino (Girolamo Muziano, or Mosciano), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Bronzino, Agnolo, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_256"><b>256</b></a></li> + +<li>Brunelleschi, Filippo, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_71"><b>71</b></a></li> + +<li>Brusciasorzi, Domenico (Domenico del Riccio), +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a></li> + +<li>Bugiardini, Giuliano, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a></li> + +<li>Buonaccorsi, Perino (Perino del Vaga, or Perino de' Ceri), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225. +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-259</li> + +<li>Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_59"><b>59</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_92"><b>92</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_135"><b>135</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-177, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_185"><b>185</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_195"><b>195</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_205"><b>205</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_263"><b>263</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Calcar, Johann of (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> + +<li>Caliari, Paolo (Paolo Veronese), +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a></li> + +<li>Cammei, Domenico de', +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Canneri, Anselmo, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a></li> + +<li>Caraglio, Gian Jacopo, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a></li> + +<li>Caravaggio, Polidoro da, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a></li> + +<li>Carota, Il (Antonio di Marco di Giano), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Caroto, Giovan Francesco, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>-21. +<a href="#Page_37"><b>37</b></a></li> + +<li>Caroto, Giovanni, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>-22. +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a></li> + +<li>Carpi, Ugo da, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a></li> + +<li>Carrara, Danese da (Danese Cattaneo), +<a href="#Page_26"><b>26</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a></li> + +<li>Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da Pontormo), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-257, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> + +<li>Castagno, Andrea dal, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a></li> + +<li>Castel Bolognese, Giovanni da (Giovanni Bernardi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>-79. +<a href="#Page_83"><b>83</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Castelfranco, Giorgione da, +<a href="#Page_23"><b>23</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a></li> + +<li>Castiglione, Bartolommeo da, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a></li> + +<li>Catanei, Piero, +<a href="#Page_250"><b>250</b></a></li> + +<li>Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), +<a href="#Page_26"><b>26</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a></li> + +<li>Cavalieri, Giovan Battista de', +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Cavazzuola, Paolo (Paolo Morando), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42. +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_25"><b>25</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a></li> + +<li>Cellini, Benvenuto, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Ceri, Andrea de', +<a href="#Page_190"><b>190</b></a>-192, +<a href="#Page_201"><b>201</b></a></li> + +<li>Ceri, Perino de' (Perino del Vaga, or Perino Buonaccorsi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225. +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-259</li> + +<li>Cervelliera, Battista del, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a></li> + +<li>Cesati, Alessandro (Il Greco), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a></li> + +<li>Cicogna, Girolamo, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a></li> + +<li>Cioli, Simone, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Clovio, Don Giulio, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a></li> + +<li>Cock, Hieronymus, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a>-120. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Coriolano, Cristofano, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Corniole, Giovanni delle, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Cortona, Luca da (Luca Signorelli), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Cosimo (Jacopo) da Trezzo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Cosini, Silvio, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a></li> + +<li>Cousin, Jean (Giovanni Cugini), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Coxie, Michael (Michele), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_178"><b>178</b></a></li> + +<li>Cristofano Coriolano, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Cristofano Lombardi (Tofano Lombardino), +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a></li> + +<li>Cronaca, Il (Simone del Pollaiuolo), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Cugini, Giovanni (Jean Cousin), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Cungi, Leonardo, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Danese Cattaneo (Danese da Carrara), +<a href="#Page_26"><b>26</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a></li> + +<li>Daniello Ricciarelli, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_224"><b>224</b></a></li> + +<li>David Ghirlandajo, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a></li> + +<li>Dente, Marco (Marco da Ravenna), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Aimo (Il Bologna), +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Beccafumi (Domenico di Pace), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251</li> + +<li>Domenico Brusciasorzi (Domenico del Riccio), +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico de' Cammei, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico del Riccio (Domenico Brusciasorzi), +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico di Baccio d' Agnolo, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico di Pace (Domenico Beccafumi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251</li> + +<li>Domenico di Polo, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Ghirlandajo, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_58"><b>58</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Giuntalodi, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>-279</li> + +<li>Domenico Morone, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>-36. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Pecori, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_258"><b>258</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_271"><b>271</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Poggini, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Domenico Viniziano, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a></li> + +<li>Don Bartolommeo della Gatta (Abbot of S. Clemente), +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Don Giulio Clovio, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a></li> + +<li>Donato (Donatello), +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a></li> + +<li>Duccio, +<a href="#Page_245"><b>245</b></a></li> + +<li>Dürer, Albrecht, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_92"><b>92</b></a>-98. +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Enea Vico, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>-112</li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Faenza, Figurino da, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Fagiuoli, Girolamo, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Alessandro, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Giovan Maria, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a>-48. +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a>-48</li> + +<li>Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the elder), +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the younger), +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Jacopo, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Ottaviano, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Falconetto, Provolo, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Fantuzzi, Antonio (Antonio da Trento), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Fattore, Il (Giovan Francesco Penni), +<a href="#Page_146"><b>146</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_151"><b>151</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a></li> + +<li>Fermo Ghisoni, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Fiacco (or Flacco), Orlando, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a></li> + +<li>Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (Fra Angelico), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Fiesole, Maestro Giovanni da, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a></li> + +<li>Figurino da Faenza, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Filipepi, Alessandro (Sandro Botticelli), +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippino (Filippo Lippi), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippo Brunelleschi, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_71"><b>71</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippo di Baccio d' Agnolo, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippo Lippi (Filippino), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippo Lippi, Fra, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Filippo Negrolo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Finiguerra, Maso, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Flacco (or Fiacco), Orlando, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a></li> + +<li>Floris, Franz (Franz de Vrient), +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Angelico (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Filippo Lippi, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Giocondo, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>-11. +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Giovanni da Verona, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a></li> + +<li>Fra Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo (Sebastiano Luciani), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Bonsignori (Monsignori), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Francesco da San Gallo, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco dai Libri (the elder), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco dai Libri (the younger), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_52"><b>52</b></a>-54</li> + +<li>Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco Salviati), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco dell' Indaco, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Francia, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>-61. +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Marcolini, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Mazzuoli (Parmigiano), +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>-109, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Monsignori (Bonsignori), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Francesco Morone, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_36"><b>36</b></a>-39. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_36"><b>36</b></a>-39, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_41"><b>41</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Primaticcio, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Turbido (Il Moro), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_14"><b>14</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Francesco Ubertini (Il Bacchiacca), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a></li> + +<li>Franci, Marc' Antonio de' (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or Raimondi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a>-96, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-106. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Francia, Francesco, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a></li> + +<li>Franco, Battista, +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a></li> + +<li>Franz Floris (Franz de Vrient), +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Gabriele Giolito, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Galeazzo Mondella, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_80"><b>80</b></a></li> + +<li>Galeotto, Pietro Paolo, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Gasparo Misuroni (Misceroni), +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Gatta, Don Bartolommeo della (Abbot of S. Clemente), +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Georg Pencz, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Gherardo, +<a href="#Page_92"><b>92</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghirlandajo, Benedetto, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghirlandajo, David, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghirlandajo, Domenico, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_58"><b>58</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_192"><b>192</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghisi (Mantovano), Giorgio, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Ghisoni, Fermo, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Gian Jacopo Caraglio, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a></li> + +<li>Giannuzzi, Giulio Pippi de' (Giulio Romano), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169. +<a href="#Page_20"><b>20</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_103"><b>103</b></a>-105, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Giannuzzi, Raffaello Pippi de', +<a href="#Page_168"><b>168</b></a></li> + +<li>Giano, Antonio di Marco di (Il Carota), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Giocondo, Fra, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>-11. +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Giolito, Gabriele, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Giorgio Mantovano (Ghisi), +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari (Giorgio)</li> + +<li>Giorgione da Castelfranco, +<a href="#Page_23"><b>23</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a></li> + +<li>Giotto, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_202"><b>202</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Barile, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-261, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_274"><b>274</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Battista Mantovano (Sculptore), +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Battista Rosso (or Rosto), +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Battista Sozzini, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Francesco Caroto, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>-21. +<a href="#Page_37"><b>37</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Francesco Penni (Il Fattore), +<a href="#Page_146"><b>146</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_151"><b>151</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, +<a href="#Page_256"><b>256</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovan Maria Falconetto, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a>-48. +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a>-48</li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Il Sodoma), +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>-238, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_249"><b>249</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the elder), +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the younger), +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-265</li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Licinio (Pordenone), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Battista Veronese, +<a href="#Page_13"><b>13</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Bellini, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Bernardi (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>-79. +<a href="#Page_83"><b>83</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Caroto, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>-22. +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Cugini (Jean Cousin), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>-79. +<a href="#Page_83"><b>83</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni da Fiesole, Fra (Fra Angelico), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni da Fiesole, Maestro, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni da Lione, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), +<a href="#Page_147"><b>147</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_180"><b>180</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>-196</li> + +<li>Giovanni da Verona, Fra, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni delle Corniole, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni di Goro, +<a href="#Page_206"><b>206</b></a></li> + +<li>Giovanni Ricamatori (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), +<a href="#Page_147"><b>147</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_180"><b>180</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>-196</li> + +<li>Girolamo Cicogna, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo da Treviso, +<a href="#Page_211"><b>211</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_212"><b>212</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo dai Libri, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>-52. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_37"><b>37</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>-52, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo Fagiuoli, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo Misuroni (Misceroni), +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Girolamo Mosciano (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Girolamo Siciolante (Girolamo Sermoneta), +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Giugni, Rosso de', +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuliano Bugiardini, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuliano da Maiano, +<a href="#Page_131"><b>131</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuliano da San Gallo, +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_124"><b>124</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuliano di Baccio d' Agnolo, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>-72</li> + +<li>Giuliano (di Niccolò Morelli), +<a href="#Page_251"><b>251</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuliano Leno, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a></li> + +<li>Giulio Bonasone, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Giulio Clovio, Don, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a></li> + +<li>Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169. +<a href="#Page_20"><b>20</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_103"><b>103</b></a>-105, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuntalodi, Domenico, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>-279</li> + +<li>Giuseppe del Salviati (Giuseppe Porta), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuseppe Niccolò (Joannicolo) Vicentino, +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Giuseppe Porta (Giuseppe del Salviati), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Gobbo, Battista, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a></li> + +<li>Goro, Giovanni di, +<a href="#Page_206"><b>206</b></a></li> + +<li>Gozzoli, Benozzo, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Granacci, Francesco (Il Granaccio), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>-61. +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Greco, Il (Alessandro Cesati), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Guglielmo Milanese, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Hans Beham, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Hans Liefrinck, +<a href="#Page_117"><b>117</b></a></li> + +<li>Heemskerk, Martin, +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> + +<li>Heinrich (Albrecht) Aldegrever, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Hieronymus Bosch, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Hieronymus Cock, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a>-120. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Holland, Lucas of (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_96"><b>96</b></a>-99</li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Bologna (Domenico Aimo), +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Carota (Antonio di Marco di Giano), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiuolo), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Fattore (Giovan Francesco Penni), +<a href="#Page_146"><b>146</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_151"><b>151</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Granaccio (Francesco Granacci), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>-61. +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Greco (Alessandro Cesati), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Moro (Francesco Turbido), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_14"><b>14</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Rosso (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-261, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_274"><b>274</b></a></li> + +<li>Il Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>-238, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_249"><b>249</b></a></li> + +<li>Indaco, Francesco dell', +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Jacomo Melighino, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo Barozzo, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo Bellini, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo da Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-257, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo da Trezzo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo (Cosimo) da Trezzo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo Falconetto, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_43"><b>43</b></a></li> + +<li>Jacopo Sansovino, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_199"><b>199</b></a></li> + +<li>Jan Stephanus van Calcker (Johann of Calcar), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> + +<li>Jean Cousin (Giovanni Cugini), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò) Vicentino, +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Johann of Calcar (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Lafrery, Antoine (Antonio Lanferri), +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Lamberto Suave (Lambert Zutmann), +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a></li> + +<li>Lanferri, Antonio (Antoine Lafrery), +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-265</li> + +<li>Lappoli, Matteo, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Laureti, Tommaso (Tommaso Siciliano), +<a href="#Page_186"><b>186</b></a></li> + +<li>Leno, Giuliano, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a></li> + +<li>Leon Batista Alberti, +<a href="#Page_45"><b>45</b></a></li> + +<li>Leonardo Cungi, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Leone Aretino (Leone Lioni), +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Leyden, Luca di (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_96"><b>96</b></a>-99</li> + +<li>Liberale, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a>-15. +<a href="#Page_23"><b>23</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_36"><b>36</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a></li> + +<li>Libri, Francesco dai (the elder), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a></li> + +<li>Libri, Francesco dai (the younger), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_52"><b>52</b></a>-54</li> + +<li>Libri, Girolamo dai, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>-52. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_37"><b>37</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_49"><b>49</b></a>-52, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a></li> + +<li>Licinio, Giovanni Antonio (Pordenone), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a></li> + +<li>Liefrinck, Hans, +<a href="#Page_117"><b>117</b></a></li> + +<li>Lione, Giovanni da, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Lioni, Leone (Leone Aretino), +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Lippi, Filippo (Filippino), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Lippi, Fra Filippo, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Lodovico Marmita, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Lombardino, Tofano (Cristofano Lombardi), +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a></li> + +<li>Luca da Cortona (Luca Signorelli), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Luca di Leyden (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_96"><b>96</b></a>-99</li> + +<li>Luca Penni, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Luca Signorelli (Luca da Cortona), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Lucas of Holland (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_96"><b>96</b></a>-99</li> + +<li>Luciani, Sebastiano (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Luigi Anichini, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a></li> + +<li>Luzio Romano, +<a href="#Page_212"><b>212</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a></li> + +<li>Maestro Niccolò, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Maestro Salvestro, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Maiano, Benedetto da, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>Maiano, Giuliano da, +<a href="#Page_131"><b>131</b></a></li> + +<li>Manno, +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a></li> + +<li>Mantegna, Andrea, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_30"><b>30</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Mantovano (Ghisi), Giorgio, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Mantovano (Sculptore), Giovan Battista, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Mantovano, Marcello (Marcello Venusti), +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Mantovano, Rinaldo, +<a href="#Page_155"><b>155</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_160"><b>160</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Marc' Antonio Bolognese (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a>-96, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-1 +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Marcello Mantovano (Marcello Venusti), +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Marchissi, Antonio di Giorgio, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Marco da Ravenna (Marco Dente), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Marco da Siena, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a></li> + +<li>Marco Dente (Marco da Ravenna), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Marco di Battista d' Agnolo, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a></li> + +<li>Marcolini, Francesco, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Marmita, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Marmita, Lodovico, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Martin Heemskerk, +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> + +<li>Martin Schongauer, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a>-92</li> + +<li>Masaccio, +<a href="#Page_202"><b>202</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_203"><b>203</b></a></li> + +<li>Maso Finiguerra, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Masolino da Panicale, +<a href="#Page_203"><b>203</b></a></li> + +<li>Matteo dal Nassaro, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>-82. +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Matteo Lappoli, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>Maturino, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a></li> + +<li>Mazzuoli, Francesco (Parmigiano), +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>-109, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Melighino, Jacomo, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a></li> + +<li>Michael (Michele Coxie), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_178"><b>178</b></a></li> + +<li>Michelagnolo Buonarroti, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_59"><b>59</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_68"><b>68</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_85"><b>85</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_92"><b>92</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_135"><b>135</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-177, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_185"><b>185</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_195"><b>195</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_205"><b>205</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_263"><b>263</b></a></li> + +<li>Michele (Michael Coxie), +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_178"><b>178</b></a></li> + +<li>Michele San Michele, +<a href="#Page_25"><b>25</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_26"><b>26</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a></li> + +<li>Michelino, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Milanese, Guglielmo, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a></li> + +<li>Minio, Tiziano (Tiziano da Padova), +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a></li> + +<li>Misuroni (Misceroni), Gasparo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Misuroni (Misceroni), Girolamo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Modena, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a></li> + +<li>Mondella, Galeazzo, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_80"><b>80</b></a></li> + +<li>Monsignori (Bonsignori), Alberto, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a></li> + +<li>Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Cherubino, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a></li> + +<li>Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Girolamo, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_34"><b>34</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Monsignori (Bonsignori), Francesco, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>-35</li> + +<li>Montelupo, Raffaello da, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Morando, Paolo (Paolo Cavazzuola), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42. +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_25"><b>25</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a></li> + +<li>Morelli, Giuliano di Niccolò, +<a href="#Page_251"><b>251</b></a></li> + +<li>Moro, Battista del (Battista d' Agnolo), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Moro, Il (Francesco Turbido), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_14"><b>14</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Morone, Domenico, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>-36. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a></li> + +<li>Morone, Francesco, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_36"><b>36</b></a>-39. +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_36"><b>36</b></a>-39, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_41"><b>41</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a></li> + +<li>Mosca, Simone, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Mosciano, Girolamo (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Munari, Pellegrino de' (Pellegrino da Modena, or degli Aretusi), +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a></li> + +<li>Musi, Agostino de' (Agostino Viniziano), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Muziano, Girolamo (Girolamo Mosciano, or Brescianino), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Nanni, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Ricamatori), +<a href="#Page_147"><b>147</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_180"><b>180</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>-196</li> + +<li>Nassaro, Matteo dal, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>-82. +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Navarra, Pietro, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Negrolo, Filippo, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccola Viniziano, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccolò (called Tribolo), +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccolò, Maestro, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccolò Avanzi, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_80"><b>80</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccolò Beatricio (Nicolas Beautrizet), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Niccolò Soggi, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a>-279. +<a href="#Page_261"><b>261</b></a></li> + +<li>Nicolas Beautrizet (Niccolò Beatricio), +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a></li> + +<li>Nunziata, Toto del, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Orlando Fiacco (or Fiacco), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a></li> + +<li>Ottaviano Falconetto, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Pace, Domenico di (Domenico Beccafumi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>-251</li> + +<li>Padova, Tiziano da (Tiziano Minio), +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a></li> + +<li>Pagni, Benedetto, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_154"><b>154</b></a>-156, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Palladio, Andrea, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Panicale, Masolino da, +<a href="#Page_203"><b>203</b></a></li> + +<li>Paolo Caliari (Paolo Veronese), +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a></li> + +<li>Paolo Cavazzuola (Paolo Morando), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42. +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_25"><b>25</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_29"><b>29</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>-42, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a></li> + +<li>Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a></li> + +<li>Papacello, Tommaso, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a></li> + +<li>Papino della Pieve, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>Parmigiano (Francesco Mazzuoli), +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>-109, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Pastorino da Siena, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a></li> + +<li>Pecori, Domenico, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_258"><b>258</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_271"><b>271</b></a></li> + +<li>Pellegrino da Modena (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a></li> + +<li>Pencz, Georg, +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a></li> + +<li>Penni, Giovan Francesco (Il Fattore), +<a href="#Page_146"><b>146</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_151"><b>151</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a></li> + +<li>Penni, Luca, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Perino del Vaga (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225. +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>- +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-259</li> + +<li>Perugino, Pietro (Pietro Vannucci), +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Peruzzi, Baldassarre, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_239"><b>239</b></a></li> + +<li>Pescia, Pier Maria da, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Pier Francesco da Viterbo, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_132"><b>132</b></a></li> + +<li>Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a></li> + +<li>Pier Maria da Pescia, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a></li> + +<li>Piero Catanei, +<a href="#Page_250"><b>250</b></a></li> + +<li>Piero del Pollaiuolo, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Pietrasanta, Stagio da, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a></li> + +<li>Pietro Navarra, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>Pietro Paolo Galeotto, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Pietro Perugino (Pietro Vannucci), +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Pieve, Papino della, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>Piloto, +<a href="#Page_201"><b>201</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_205"><b>205</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a></li> + +<li>Pinturicchio, Bernardino, +<a href="#Page_195"><b>195</b></a></li> + +<li>Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del (Sebastiano Luciani), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Pisano (or Pisanello), Vittore (or Antonio), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a></li> + +<li>Pittoni, Battista (Battista of Vicenza), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Poggini, Domenico, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Polidoro da Caravaggio, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a></li> + +<li>Pollaiuolo, Antonio del, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Pollaiuolo, Piero del, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Pollaiuolo, Simone del (Il Cronaca), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Polo, Domenico di, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a></li> + +<li>Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-257, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> + +<li>Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio), +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a></li> + +<li>Porta, Giuseppe (Giuseppe del Salviati), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Primaticcio, Francesco, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a></li> + +<li>Provolo Falconetto, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Raffaello da Montelupo, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello Sanzio), +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-104, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>-108, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-178, +<a href="#Page_181"><b>181</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>-195, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Raffaello dal Colle (Raffaello dal Borgo), +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Raffaello Pippi de' Giannuzzi, +<a href="#Page_168"><b>168</b></a></li> + +<li>Raffaello Sanzio (Raffaello da Urbino), +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-104, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>-108, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-178, +<a href="#Page_181"><b>181</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>-195, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Raimondi, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or de' Franci), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_95"><b>95</b></a>-96, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-106. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> + +<li>Ravenna, Marco da (Marco Dente), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Reggio, Sebastiano da, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a></li> + +<li>Renato (René Boyvin), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>Ricamatori, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), +<a href="#Page_147"><b>147</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_180"><b>180</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>-196</li> + +<li>Ricciarelli, Daniello, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_224"><b>224</b></a></li> + +<li>Riccio, Domenico del (Domenico Brusciasorzi), +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a></li> + +<li>Ridolfi, Bartolommeo, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a></li> + +<li>Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_192"><b>192</b></a></li> + +<li>Rinaldo Mantovano, +<a href="#Page_155"><b>155</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_160"><b>160</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Romano, Giulio (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169. +<a href="#Page_20"><b>20</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_24"><b>24</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_103"><b>103</b></a>-105, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-169, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Romano, Luzio, +<a href="#Page_212"><b>212</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco Salviati), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il Rosso), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-261, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_274"><b>274</b></a></li> + +<li>Rossi, Giovanni Antonio de', +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Rosso (or Rosto), Giovan Battista, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> + +<li>Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-261, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_274"><b>274</b></a></li> + +<li>Rosso de' Giugni, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Rosto (or Rosso), Giovan Battista, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Salamanca, Antonio, +<a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a></li> + +<li>Salvestro, Maestro, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a></li> + +<li>Salviati, Giuseppe del (Giuseppe Porta), +<a href="#Page_115"><b>115</b></a></li> + +<li>S. Clemente, Abbot of (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a></li> + +<li>San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>-141. +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_197"><b>197</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_198"><b>198</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>San Gallo, Francesco da, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a></li> + +<li>San Gallo, Giuliano da, +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_124"><b>124</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a></li> + +<li>San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a></li> + +<li>San Michele, Michele, +<a href="#Page_25"><b>25</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_26"><b>26</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a></li> + +<li>Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a></li> + +<li>Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro Filipepi), +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a></li> + +<li>Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea Contucci), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Sansovino, Jacopo, +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_199"><b>199</b></a></li> + +<li>Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-104, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>-108, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-178, +<a href="#Page_181"><b>181</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>-195, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Sarto, Andrea del, +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_255"><b>255</b></a>-257, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> + +<li>Sassoli, Stagio, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>Scarpagni, Antonio (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino), +<a href="#Page_10"><b>10</b></a></li> + +<li>Schongauer, Martin, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a>-92</li> + +<li>Sculptore (Mantovano), Giovan Battista, +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_169"><b>169</b></a></li> + +<li>Sebastiano da Reggio, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a></li> + +<li>Sebastiano Luciani (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Sebastiano Serlio, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, Fra (Sebastiano Luciani), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186. +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_173"><b>173</b></a>-186, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_259"><b>259</b></a></li> + +<li>Serlio, Sebastiano, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Sermoneta, Girolamo (Girolamo Siciolante), +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Siciliano, Tommaso (Tommaso Laureti), +<a href="#Page_186"><b>186</b></a></li> + +<li>Siciolante, Girolamo (Girolamo Sermoneta), +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Siena, Marco da, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a></li> + +<li>Siena, Pastorino da, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a></li> + +<li>Signorelli, Luca (Luca da Cortona), +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a></li> + +<li>Silvio Cosini, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a></li> + +<li>Simone Cioli, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Simone del Pollaiuolo (Il Cronaca), +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a></li> + +<li>Simone Mosca, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Sodoma, Il (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>-238, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_249"><b>249</b></a></li> + +<li>Soggi, Niccolò, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a>-279. +<a href="#Page_261"><b>261</b></a></li> + +<li>Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_247"><b>247</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a></li> + +<li>Sozzini, Giovan Battista, +<a href="#Page_87"><b>87</b></a></li> + +<li>Stagio da Pietrasanta, +<a href="#Page_214"><b>214</b></a></li> + +<li>Stagio Sassoli, +<a href="#Page_272"><b>272</b></a></li> + +<li>Stefano, Vincenzio di, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a></li> + +<li>Stefano Veronese (Stefano da Zevio), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a></li> + +<li>Suave, Lamberto (Lambert Zutmann), +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Tasso, Battista del, +<a href="#Page_213"><b>213</b></a></li> + +<li>Tiziano da Cadore (Tiziano Vecelli), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Tiziano da Padova (Tiziano Minio), +<a href="#Page_47"><b>47</b></a></li> + +<li>Tiziano Vecelli (Tiziano da Cadore), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Tofano Lombardino (Cristofano Lombardi), +<a href="#Page_167"><b>167</b></a></li> + +<li>Tommaso Barlacchi, +<a href="#Page_104"><b>104</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a></li> + +<li>Tommaso Laureti (Tommaso Siciliano), +<a href="#Page_186"><b>186</b></a></li> + +<li>Tommaso Papacello, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a></li> + +<li>Tommaso Siciliano (Tommaso Laureti), +<a href="#Page_186"><b>186</b></a></li> + +<li>Torri, Bartolommeo, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_265"><b>265</b></a></li> + +<li>Toto del Nunziata, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a></li> + +<li>Trento, Antonio da (Antonio Fantuzzi), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Treviso, Girolamo da, +<a href="#Page_211"><b>211</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_212"><b>212</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a></li> + +<li>Trezzo, Cosimo (Jacopo) da, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Trezzo, Jacopo da, +<a href="#Page_86"><b>86</b></a></li> + +<li>Tribolo (Niccolò), +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a></li> + +<li>Turbido, Francesco (Il Moro), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28. +<a href="#Page_14"><b>14</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_21"><b>21</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>-28, +<a href="#Page_40"><b>40</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_50"><b>50</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_164"><b>164</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Ubertini, Francesco (Il Bacchiacca), +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a></li> + +<li>Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), +<a href="#Page_147"><b>147</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_180"><b>180</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>-196</li> + +<li>Ugo da Carpi, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_107"><b>107</b></a></li> + +<li>Urbino, Bramante da, +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_124"><b>124</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_136"><b>136</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_138"><b>138</b></a></li> + +<li>Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_66"><b>66</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_69"><b>69</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_99"><b>99</b></a>-104, +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a>-108, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_126"><b>126</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_127"><b>127</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>-148, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_156"><b>156</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_174"><b>174</b></a>-178, +<a href="#Page_181"><b>181</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_193"><b>193</b></a>-195, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_236"><b>236</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Vaga, +<a href="#Page_191"><b>191</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_192"><b>192</b></a></li> + +<li>Vaga, Perino del (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225. +<a href="#Page_78"><b>78</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_129"><b>129</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_148"><b>148</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_177"><b>177</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>-225, +<a href="#Page_244"><b>244</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_257"><b>257</b></a>-259</li> + +<li>Valerio Vicentino (Valerio Belli), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a>-84. +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>-79</li> + +<li>Valverde, +<a href="#Page_116"><b>116</b></a></li> + +<li>Vannucci, Pietro (Pietro Perugino), +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a></li> + +<li>Vasari, Giorgio—</li> +<li><span class="add1em">as art-collector,</span> +<a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_60"><b>60</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_157"><b>157</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_175"><b>175</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_230"><b>230</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_250"><b>250</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_256"><b>256</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_260"><b>260</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_263"><b>263</b></a></li> +<li><span class="add1em">as author,</span> +<a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_10"><b>10</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_13"><b>13</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_15"><b>15</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_23"><b>23</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_32"><b>32</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_46"><b>46</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_48"><b>48</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_53"><b>53</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_57"><b>57</b></a>-59, +<a href="#Page_65"><b>65</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_75"><b>75</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_84"><b>84</b></a>-87, +<a href="#Page_91"><b>91</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_93"><b>93</b></a>-95, +<a href="#Page_105"><b>105</b></a>-107, +<a href="#Page_112"><b>112</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_113"><b>113</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_123"><b>123</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_133"><b>133</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_152"><b>152</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_153"><b>153</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_159"><b>159</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_165"><b>165</b></a>-167, +<a href="#Page_175"><b>175</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_176"><b>176</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_178"><b>178</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_190"><b>190</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_194"><b>194</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_202"><b>202</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_204"><b>204</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_207"><b>207</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_210"><b>210</b></a>-213, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_223"><b>223</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_229"><b>229</b></a>-231, +<a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_239"><b>239</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_246"><b>246</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a>-250, +<a href="#Page_258"><b>258</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_261"><b>261</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_269"><b>269</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_273"><b>273</b></a></li> +<li><span class="add1em">as painter,</span> +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_72"><b>72</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_215"><b>215</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_221"><b>221</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_263"><b>263</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_264"><b>264</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a></li> +<li><span class="add1em">as architect,</span> +<a href="#Page_70"><b>70</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_139"><b>139</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_278"><b>278</b></a></li> + +<li>Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), +<a href="#Page_109"><b>109</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_114"><b>114</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_161"><b>161</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_222"><b>222</b></a></li> + +<li>Venusti, Marcello (Marcello Mantovano), +<a href="#Page_220"><b>220</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_225"><b>225</b></a></li> + +<li>Verese, +<a href="#Page_118"><b>118</b></a></li> + +<li>Verona, Fra Giovanni da, +<a href="#Page_38"><b>38</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_39"><b>39</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_218"><b>218</b></a></li> + +<li>Veronese, Giovanni Battista, +<a href="#Page_13"><b>13</b></a></li> + +<li>Veronese, Paolo (Paolo Caliari), +<a href="#Page_22"><b>22</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_27"><b>27</b></a></li> + +<li>Veronese, Stefano (Stefano da Zevio), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a></li> + +<li>Vicentino, Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Vicentino, Valerio (Valerio Belli), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_82"><b>82</b></a>-84. +<a href="#Page_76"><b>76</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a></li> + +<li>Vicenza, Battista of (Battista Pittoni), +<a href="#Page_108"><b>108</b></a></li> + +<li>Vico, Enea, <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_111"><b>111</b></a>-112</li> + +<li>Vincenzio di Stefano, +<a href="#Page_11"><b>11</b></a></li> + +<li>Viniziano, Agostino (Agostino de' Musi), <i>Life</i>, +<a href="#Page_102"><b>102</b></a>-103. +<a href="#Page_106"><b>106</b></a></li> + +<li>Viniziano, Domenico, +<a href="#Page_182"><b>182</b></a></li> + +<li>Viniziano, Niccola, +<a href="#Page_209"><b>209</b></a></li> + +<li>Viterbo, Pier Francesco da, +<a href="#Page_130"><b>130</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_132"><b>132</b></a></li> + +<li>Vitruvius, +<a href="#Page_5"><b>5</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_45"><b>45</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_140"><b>140</b></a></li> + +<li>Vittore (or Antonio) Pisano (or Pisanello), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a></li> + +<li>Vrient, Franz de (Franz Floris), +<a href="#Page_119"><b>119</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_120"><b>120</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="none p2"> +<li>Zanfragnino (Antonio Scarpagni, or Scarpagnino), +<a href="#Page_10"><b>10</b></a></li> + +<li>Zeuxis, +<a href="#Page_239"><b>239</b></a></li> + +<li>Zevio, Stefano da (Stefano Veronese), +<a href="#Page_35"><b>35</b></a>, +<a href="#Page_42"><b>42</b></a></li> + +<li>Zoppo, +<a href="#Page_81"><b>81</b></a></li> + +<li>Zutmann, Lambert (Lamberto Suave), +<a href="#Page_110"><b>110</b></a></li> +</ul> + + +<h4>END OF VOL VI.</h4> + + +<p class="center"> + PRINTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF CHAS. T. JACOBI + OF THE CHISWICK PRESS, LONDON. THE COLOURED + REPRODUCTIONS ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY + HENRY STONE AND SON, LTD., BANBURY</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote1" id="Footnote1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Canal of the slaughter-houses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote2" id="Footnote2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Small canal of the corn-magazines.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote3" id="Footnote3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Scarpagnino.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote4" id="Footnote4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> See note on page 57, Vol. I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote5" id="Footnote5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See note on page 57, Vol. I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote6" id="Footnote6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See note on page 57, Vol. I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote7" id="Footnote7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> From "terra," earth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote8" id="Footnote8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See note on page 57, Vol. I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote9" id="Footnote9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, "of the books."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote10" id="Footnote10"></a><a href="#FNanchor10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> From the "canti," or "songs," that were sung in them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote11" id="Footnote11"></a><a href="#FNanchor11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The "Potenze" were merry companies composed of the men +of the various quarters in costume. Each quarter had its own, +representing an Emperor, King, or Prince, and his Court.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote12" id="Footnote12"></a><a href="#FNanchor12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Giovanni of the Cornelians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote13" id="Footnote13"></a><a href="#FNanchor13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Domenico of the Cameos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote14" id="Footnote14"></a><a href="#FNanchor14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Luca di Leyden.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote15" id="Footnote15"></a><a href="#FNanchor15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Lambert Zutmann.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote16" id="Footnote16"></a><a href="#FNanchor16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Jean Cousin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote17" id="Footnote17"></a><a href="#FNanchor17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Nicolas Beautrizet.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote18" id="Footnote18"></a><a href="#FNanchor18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> René Boyvin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote19" id="Footnote19"></a><a href="#FNanchor19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Michael Coxie.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote20" id="Footnote20"></a><a href="#FNanchor20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Albrecht Aldegrever.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote21" id="Footnote21"></a><a href="#FNanchor21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Georg Pencz.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote22" id="Footnote22"></a><a href="#FNanchor22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Hans Beham.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote23" id="Footnote23"></a><a href="#FNanchor23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Cristofano Coriolano.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote24" id="Footnote24"></a><a href="#FNanchor24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The "palma" as used here is equal to about nine inches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote25" id="Footnote25"></a><a href="#FNanchor25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The "canna" is equal to four braccia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote26" id="Footnote26"></a><a href="#FNanchor26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Giuliano Leno.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote27" id="Footnote27"></a><a href="#FNanchor27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Or Perino.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote28" id="Footnote28"></a><a href="#FNanchor28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Vasari sometimes groups under this name all the male +figures that appear in a picture of the Deposition from the Cross.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote29" id="Footnote29"></a><a href="#FNanchor29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Zaleucus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote30" id="Footnote30"></a><a href="#FNanchor30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Here there is a blank in the text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote31" id="Footnote31"></a><a href="#FNanchor31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Don Bartolommeo della Gatta, Abbot of S. Clemente.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote32" id="Footnote32"></a><a href="#FNanchor32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> See p. 208, Vol. III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote33" id="Footnote33"></a><a href="#FNanchor33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> These words are missing in the text.</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="trans-note"> +<p>Transcriber's note: Bold text is marked with =."</p> + +<p>Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the most Eminent Painters +Sculptors and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMINENT PAINTERS *** + +***** This file should be named 28422-h.htm or 28422-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/2/28422/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects + Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi + +Author: Giorgio Vasari + +Translator: Gaston du C. De Vere + +Release Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #28422] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMINENT PAINTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Bold text is marked with =." + +Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained.] + + + + +LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO +VASARI: + +VOLUME VI. FRA GIOCONDO TO NICCOLO SOGGI 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 VI + + PAGE + + FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHERS 1 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI [IL GRANACCIO] 55 + + BACCIO D' AGNOLO 63 + + VALERIO VICENTINO [VALERIO BELLI], GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE + [GIOVANNI BERNARDI], MATTEO DAL NASSARO, AND OTHERS 73 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE, AND OTHERS 89 + + ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO 121 + + GIULIO ROMANO 143 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO 171 + + PERINO DEL VAGA 187 + + GIORGIO VASARI, TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN 227 + + DOMENICO BECCAFUMI 233 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI 253 + + NICCOLO SOGGI 267 + + INDEX OF NAMES 281 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VI + +PLATES IN COLOUR + + FACING PAGE + GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO + Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua + Florence: Uffizi, 1121 16 + + FRANCESCO MONSIGNORI (BONSIGNORI) + Portrait of a Gentleman + London: N.G., 736 28 + + FRANCESCO MORONE + Madonna and Child + London: N.G., 285 32 + + GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI + Madonna and Child, with S. Anne + London: N.G., 748 48 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + The Holy Family + Florence: Pitti, 199 58 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + Portrait of a Lady + Florence: Uffizi, 1123 174 + + DOMENICO BECCAFUMI + S. Catharine before the Crucifix + Siena: Pinacoteca, 420 238 + + +PLATES IN MONOCHROME + + LIBERALE OF VERONA + S. Mary Magdalene with Saints + Verona: S. Anastasia 10 + + LIBERALE OF VERONA + Miniature + Siena: Duomo Library 14 + + GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO + Madonna and Child, with S. Anne and Saints + Verona: S. Fermo Maggiore 18 + + FRANCESCO TURBIDO (IL MORO) + Portrait of a Man + Munich: Pinacothek, 1125 24 + + FRANCESCO MONSIGNORI (BONSIGNORI) + S. Sebastian + Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46c 30 + + FRANCESCO MORONE + The Crucifixion + Verona: S. Bernardino 34 + + PAOLO CAVAZZUOLA + The Deposition + Verona: Museo Civico, 392 40 + + GIOVAN MARIA (FALCONETTO) + Palazzo del Capitanio + Padua 46 + + GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI + Madonna and Child, with Saints + Verona: Museo Civico, 290 50 + + FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + The Madonna giving the Girdle to S. Thomas + Florence: Uffizi, 1280 62 + + GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE (GIOVANNI BERNARDI) + Cassetta Farnese + Naples: Museo Nazionale 78 + + VALERIO VICENTINO (VALERIO BELLI) + Casket of Rock Crystal + Florence: Uffizi 82 + + ALESSANDRO CESATI + BENVENUTO CELLINI + Medals + London: British Museum 84 + + PASTORINO OF SIENA + DOMENICO POGGINI + Medals + London: British Museum 84 + + MARTIN SCHONGAUER + Christ and the Virgin Enthroned + London: British Museum, B. 71 92 + + ALBRECHT DUeRER + Hercules + London: British Museum, B. 73 92 + + ALBRECHT DUeRER + Christ taking leave of His Mother + London: British Museum, B. 92 94 + + ALBRECHT DUeRER + S. Jerome in his Study + London: British Museum, B. 60 96 + + LUCAS VAN LEYDEN + "Ecce Homo" of 1510 + London: British Museum 98 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE + The Death of Lucretia + London: British Museum, B. 192 102 + + MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE (AFTER BANDINELLI) + The Martyrdom of S. Lawrence (engraving) + London: British Museum 104 + + ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) (WITH MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI) + Palazzo Farnese + Rome 138 + + GIULIO ROMANO + Detail: The Battle of Constantine + Rome: The Vatican 146 + + GIULIO ROMANO + The Marriage Banquet of Cupid and Psyche + Mantua: Palazzo del Te 154 + + GIULIO ROMANO + The Destruction of the Giants by the Thunderbolts of Jove + Mantua: Palazzo del Te, Sala dei Giganti 160 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + The Flagellation + Rome: S. Pietro in Montorio 176 + + FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + Andrea Doria + Rome: Palazzo Doria 182 + + PERINO DEL VAGA + The Passage of the Red Sea + Rome: The Vatican, Loggia 192 + + + + +FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF VERONA + + + + +LIVES OF FRA GIOCONDO, LIBERALE, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF VERONA + + +If writers of history were to live a few years longer than the number +commonly granted as the span of human life, I, for my part, have no +manner of doubt that they would have something to add to the accounts of +the past previously written by them, for the reason that, even as it is +not possible for a single man, be he ever so diligent, to learn the +exact truth in a flash, or to discover all the details of his subject in +the little time at his command, so it is as clear as the light of day +that Time, who is said to be the father of truth, is always revealing +new things every day to the seeker after knowledge. If, many years ago, +when I first wrote and also published these Lives of the Painters and +other Craftsmen, I had possessed that full information which I have +since received concerning Fra Giocondo of Verona, a man of rare parts +and a master of all the most noble faculties, I would without a doubt +have made that honourable record of him which I am now about to make for +the benefit of craftsmen, or rather, of the world; and not of him only, +but also of many other masters of Verona, who have been truly excellent. +And let no one marvel that I place them all under the image of one only, +because, not having been able to obtain portraits of them all, I am +forced to do this; but, so far as in me lies, not one of them shall +thereby have his excellence defrauded of its due. + +Now, since the order of time and merit so demands, I shall speak first +of Fra Giocondo. This man, when he assumed the habit of S. Dominic, was +called not simply Fra Giocondo, but Fra Giovanni Giocondo. How the name +Giovanni dropped from him I know not, but I do know that he was always +called Fra Giocondo by everyone. And although his chief profession was +that of letters, and he was not only a very good philosopher and +theologian, but also an excellent Greek scholar (which was a rare thing +at that time, when learning and letters were just beginning to revive in +Italy), nevertheless he was also a very fine architect, being a man who +always took supreme delight in that art, as Scaliger relates in his +epistle against Cardan, and the learned Bude in his book "De Asse," and +in the observations that he wrote on the Pandects. + +Fra Giocondo, then, who was a fine scholar, a capable architect, and an +excellent master of perspective, spent many years near the person of the +Emperor Maximilian, and was master in the Greek and Latin tongues to the +learned Scaliger, who writes that he heard him dispute with profound +learning on matters of the greatest subtlety before the same Maximilian. +It is related by persons still living, who remember the facts very +clearly, that at the time when Verona was under the power of that +Emperor the bridge which is called the Ponte della Pietra, in that city, +was being restored, and it was seen to be necessary to refound the +central pier, which had been destroyed many times in the past, and Fra +Giocondo gave the design for refounding it, and also for safeguarding it +in such a manner that it might never be destroyed again. His method of +safeguarding it was as follows: he gave orders that the pier should be +kept always bound together with long double piles fixed below the water +on every side, to the end that these might so protect it that the river +should not be able to undermine it; for the place where it is built is +in the main current of the river, the bed of which is so soft that no +solid ground can be found on which to lay its foundations. And +excellent, in truth, as is evident from the result, was the advice of +Fra Giocondo, for the reason that the pier has stood firm from that time +to our own, as it still does, without ever showing a crack; and there is +hope that, by the observation of the suggestions given by that good +monk, it will stand for ever. + +In his youth Fra Giocondo spent many years in Rome, giving his attention +to the study of antiquities, and not of buildings only, but also of the +ancient inscriptions that are in the tombs, and the other relics of +antiquity, both in Rome itself and its neighbourhood, and in every part +of Italy; and he collected all these inscriptions and memorials into a +most beautiful book, which he sent as a present, according to the +account of the citizens of Verona mentioned above, to the elder Lorenzo +de' Medici, the Magnificent, to whom, by reason of the great +friendliness and favour that he showed to all men of talent, both Fra +Giocondo and Domizio Calderino, his companion and compatriot, were +always most deeply devoted. Of this book Poliziano makes mention in his +Mugellane, in which he uses various parts of it as authorities, calling +Fra Giocondo a profound master in antiquities. + +The same Giocondo wrote some observations, which are in print, on the +Commentaries of Caesar; and he was the first who made a drawing of the +bridge built by Caesar over the River Rhone, and described by him in +those same Commentaries, but misunderstood in the time of Fra Giocondo. +Him the aforesaid Bude confesses to have had as his master in the study +of architecture, thanking God that he had been taught his Vitruvius by a +teacher so learned and so diligent as was that monk, who corrected in +that author a vast number of errors not recognized up to that time; and +this he was able to do with ease, because he was a master of every kind +of learning, and had a good knowledge of both the Greek tongue and the +Latin. This and other things declares Bude, extolling Fra Giocondo as an +excellent architect, and adding that by the researches of the same monk +there were discovered in an old library in Paris the greater part of the +Epistles of Pliny, which, after having been so long out of the hands of +mankind, were printed by Aldus Manutius, as may be read in a Latin +letter written by him and printed with the same. + +When living in Paris in the service of King Louis XII, Fra Giocondo +built two superb bridges over the Seine, covered with shops--works truly +worthy of that magnanimous King and of the marvellous intellect of Fra +Giocondo. Wherefore that master, in addition to the inscription in his +praise that may still be seen on those works, won the honour of being +celebrated by Sannazzaro, a rare poet, in this most beautiful distich: + + Jocundus geminum imposuit tibi, Sequana, pontem; + Hunc tu jure potes dicere pontificem. + +Besides this, he executed a vast number of other works for that King +throughout all his kingdom; but of these, after having made mention of +those above, as being the greatest, I shall say no more. + +Then, happening to be in Rome at the death of Bramante, he was placed, +in company with Raffaello da Urbino and Giuliano da San Gallo, in charge +of the Church of S. Pietro, to the end that the structure begun by +Bramante might be carried forward. Now, from the circumstance that it +had been erected in haste, and for other reasons given in another place, +it was threatening to fall in many parts, and by the advice of Fra +Giocondo, Raffaello, and Giuliano, the foundations were in great measure +renewed; in which work persons who were present and are still living +declare that those masters adopted the following method. They excavated +below the foundations many large pits after the manner of wells, but +square, at a proper distance one from another, which they filled with +masonry; and between every two of these piers, or rather pits filled +with masonry, they threw very strong arches across the space below, +insomuch that the whole building came to be placed on new foundations +without suffering any shock, and was secured for ever from the danger of +showing any more cracks. + +But the work for which it seems to me that Fra Giocondo deserves the +greatest praise is one on account of which an everlasting gratitude is +due to him not only from the Venetians, but from the whole world as +well. For he reflected that the life of the Republic of Venice depended +in great measure on the preservation of its impregnable position on the +lagoons on which that city, as it were by a miracle, is built; and that, +whenever those lagoons silted up with earth, the air would become +infected and pestilential, and the city consequently uninhabitable, or +at the least exposed to all the dangers that threaten cities on the +mainland. He set himself, therefore, to think in what way it might be +possible to provide for the preservation of the lagoons and of the site +on which the city had been built in the beginning. And having found a +way, Fra Giocondo told the Signori that, if they did not quickly come to +some resolution about preventing such an evil, in a few years, to judge +by that which could be seen to have happened in part, they would become +aware of their error, without being in time to be able to retrieve it. +Roused by this warning, and hearing the powerful arguments of Fra +Giocondo, the Signori summoned an assembly of the best engineers and +architects that there were in Italy, at which many opinions were given +and many designs made; but that of Fra Giocondo was held to be the best, +and was put into execution. They made a beginning, therefore, with +excavating a great canal, which was to divert two-thirds or at least +one-half of the water brought down by the River Brenta, and to conduct +that water by a long detour so as to debouch into the lagoons of +Chioggia; and thus that river, no longer flowing into the lagoons at +Venice, has not been able to fill them up by bringing down earth, as it +has done at Chioggia, where it has filled and banked up the lagoons in +such a manner that, where there was formerly water, many tracts of land +and villas have sprung up, to the great benefit of the city of Venice. +Wherefore it is the opinion of many persons, and in particular of the +Magnificent Messer Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian gentleman of ripe wisdom +gained both by learning and by long experience, that, if it had not been +for the warning of Fra Giocondo, all the silting up that took place in +the lagoons of Chioggia would have happened, and perhaps on a greater +scale, in those of Venice, inflicting incredible damage and almost ruin +on that city. The same Messer Luigi, who was very much the friend of Fra +Giocondo, as he is and always has been of all men of talent, declares +that his native city of Venice owes an eternal debt of gratitude for +this to the memory of Fra Giocondo, who on this account, he says, might +reasonably be called the second founder of Venice; and that he almost +deserves more praise for having preserved by that expedient the grandeur +and nobility of that marvellous and puissant city, than do those who +built it at the beginning in such a weak and ill-considered fashion, +seeing that the benefit received from him will be to all eternity, as it +has been hitherto, of incalculable utility and advantage to Venice. + +Not many years after Fra Giocondo had executed this divine work, the +Venetians suffered a great loss in the burning of the Rialto, the place +in which are the magazines of their most precious merchandise--the +treasure, as it were, of that city. This happened at the very time when +that Republic had been reduced by long-continued wars and by the loss +of the greater part, or rather almost the whole, of her dominions on the +mainland to a desperate condition; and the Signori then governing were +full of doubt and hesitation as to what they should do. However, the +rebuilding of that place being a matter of the greatest importance, they +resolved that it should be reconstructed at all costs. And wishing to +give it all possible grandeur, in keeping with the greatness and +magnificence of that Republic, and having already recognized the talent +of Fra Giocondo and his great ability in architecture, they gave him the +commission to make a design for that structure; whereupon he drew one in +the following manner. He proposed to occupy all the space that lies +between the Canale delle Beccherie,[1] in the Rialto, and the Rio del +Fondaco delle Farine,[2] taking as much ground between one canal and the +other as would make a perfect square--that is, the length of the sides +of this fabric was to be as great as the space which one covers at the +present day in walking from the debouchure of one of those canals into +the Grand Canal to that of the other. He intended, also, that the same +two canals should debouch on the other side into a common canal, which +was to run from the one to the other, so that the fabric might be left +entirely surrounded by water, having the Grand Canal on one side, the +two smaller canals on two other sides, and on the last the new canal +that was to be made. Then he desired that between the water and the +buildings, right round the square, there should be made, or rather +should be left, a beach or quay of some breadth, which might serve as a +piazza for the selling in duly appointed places of the vegetables, +fruits, fish, and other things, that come from many parts to the city. +It was also his opinion that right round the outer side of the buildings +there should be erected shops looking out upon those same quays, and +that these shops should serve only for the sale of eatables of every +kind. And in these four sides the design of Fra Giocondo had four +principal gates--namely, one to each side, placed in the centre, one +directly opposite to another. But before going into the central piazza, +by whichever side one entered, one would have found both on the right +hand and on the left a street which ran round the block of buildings +and had shops on either side, with handsome workshops above them and +magazines for the use of those shops, which were all to be devoted to +the sale of woven fabrics--that is, fine woollen cloth and silk, which +are the two chief products of that city. This street, in short, was to +contain all the shops that are called the Tuscan's and the +silk-merchant's. + +From this double range of shops there was to be access by way of the +four gates into the centre of the whole block--that is to say, into a +vast piazza surrounded on every side by spacious and beautiful loggie +for the accommodation of the merchants and for the use of the great +number of people who flock together for the purposes of their trade and +commerce to that city, which is the custom-house of all Italy, or rather +of Europe. Under those loggie, on every side, were to be the shops of +the bankers, goldsmiths, and jewellers; and in the centre was to be +built a most beautiful temple dedicated to S. Matthew, in which the +people of quality might be able to hear the divine offices in the +morning. With regard to this temple, however, some persons declare that +Fra Giocondo changed his mind, and wished to build two under the loggie, +so as not to obstruct the piazza. And, in addition, this superb +structure was to have so many other conveniences, embellishments, and +adornments, all in their proper places, that whoever sees at the present +day the beautiful design that Fra Giocondo made for the whole, declares +that nothing more lovely, more magnificent, or planned with better +order, could be imagined or conceived by the most excellent of +craftsmen, be his genius never so happy. + +It was proposed, also, with the advice of the same master, and as a +completion to this work, to build the Bridge of the Rialto of stone, +covered with shops, which would have been a marvellous thing. But this +enterprise was not carried into effect, for two reasons: first, because +the Republic, on account of the extraordinary expenses incurred in the +last war, happened to be drained dry of money; and, secondly, because a +gentleman of great position and much authority at that time (of the +family, so it is said, of Valereso), being a man of little judgment in +such matters, and perchance influenced by some private interest, chose +to favour one Maestro Zanfragnino,[3] who, so I am informed, is still +alive, and who had worked for him on buildings of his own. This +Zanfragnino--a fit and proper name for a master of his calibre--made the +design for that medley of marble which was afterwards carried into +execution, and which is still to be seen; and many who are still alive, +and remember the circumstances very well, are even yet not done with +lamenting that foolish choice. + +Fra Giocondo, having seen that shapeless design preferred to his +beautiful one, and having perceived how much more virtue there often is +in favour than in merit with nobles and great persons, felt such disdain +that he departed from Venice, nor would he ever return, although he was +much entreated to do it. And the design, with others by the same monk, +remained in the house of the Bragadini, opposite to S. Marina, in the +possession of Frate Angelo, a member of that family and a friar of S. +Dominic, who, by reason of his many merits, afterwards became Bishop of +Vicenza. + +Fra Giocondo was very versatile, and delighted, in addition to the +pursuits already mentioned, in simples and in agriculture. Thus Messer +Donato Giannotti, the Florentine, who was very much his friend for many +years in France, relates that once, when living in that country, the +monk reared a peach-tree in an earthen pot, and that this little tree, +when he saw it, was so laden with fruit that it was a marvellous sight. +On one occasion, by the advice of some friends, he had set it in a place +where the King was to pass and would be able to see it, when certain +courtiers, who passed by first, plucked all the peaches off that little +tree, as suchlike people were sure to do, and, playing about with one +another, scattered what they could not eat along the whole length of the +street, to the great displeasure of Fra Giocondo. The matter coming to +the ears of the King, he first laughed over the jest with the courtiers, +and then, after thanking the monk for what he had done to please him, +gave him a present of such a kind that he was consoled. + +[Illustration: THE MAGDALENE WITH SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Liberale da Verona=. Verona: S. Anastasia_) + +_Anderson_] + +Fra Giocondo was a man of saintly and most upright life, much beloved by +all the great men of letters of his age, and in particular by Domizio +Calderino, Matteo Bosso, and Paolo Emilio, the writer of the History of +France, all three his compatriots. Very much his friends, likewise, were +Sannazzaro, Bude, and Aldus Manutius, with all the Academy of Rome; and +he had a disciple in Julius Caesar Scaliger, one of the most learned men +of our times. Finally, being very old, he died, but precisely at what +time and in what place this happened, and consequently where he was +buried, is not known. + +Even as it is true that the city of Verona is very similar to Florence +in situation, manners, and other respects, so it is also true that in +the first as well as in the second there have always flourished men of +the finest genius in all the noblest and most honourable professions. +Saying nothing of the learned, for with them I have nothing to do here, +and continuing to speak of the men of our arts, who have always had an +honourable abode in that most noble city, I come to Liberale of Verona, +a disciple of Vincenzio di Stefano, a native of the same city, already +mentioned in another place, who executed for the Church of Ognissanti, +belonging to the Monks of S. Benedict, at Mantua, in the year 1463, a +Madonna that was a very praiseworthy example of the work of those times. +Liberale imitated the manner of Jacopo Bellini, for when a young man, +while the said Jacopo was painting the Chapel of S. Niccolo at Verona, +he gave his attention under Bellini to the studies of design in such +thorough fashion that, forgetting all that he had learned from Vincenzio +di Stefano, he acquired the manner of Bellini and retained it ever +after. + +The first paintings of Liberale were in the Chapel of the Monte della +Pieta in S. Bernardino, in his native city; and there, in the principal +picture, he painted a Deposition from the Cross, with certain Angels, +some of whom have in their hands the Mysteries (for so they are called) +of the Passion, and all with their weeping faces show grief at the Death +of the Saviour. Very natural, in truth, are these figures, as are other +works of the same kind by this master, who strove to show in many places +that he was able to paint weeping countenances. This may also be seen in +S. Anastasia, a church of Friars of S. Dominic, likewise in Verona, +where he painted a Dead Christ with the Maries mourning for Him on the +pediment of the Chapel of the Buonaveri; and he executed many pictures +in the same manner of painting as the work mentioned above, which are +dispersed among the houses of various gentlemen in Verona. + +In the same chapel he painted a God the Father surrounded by many Angels +who are playing instruments and singing, with three figures on either +side--S. Peter, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas Aquinas on one side, and S. +Lucia, S. Agnese, and another female Saint on the other; but the first +three are much the finer, being executed in a better manner and with +more relief. On the main wall of that chapel he painted Our Lady, with +the Infant Christ marrying S. Catharine, the Virgin-Martyr; and in this +work he made a portrait of Messer Piero Buonaveri, the owner of the +chapel. Around this group are some Angels presenting flowers, with some +heads that are smiling, executed with such grace in their gladness, that +they prove that he was able to paint a smiling face as well as he had +painted tears in other figures. In the altar-piece of the same chapel he +painted S. Mary Magdalene in the air, supported by some Angels, with S. +Catharine below--a work which was held to be very beautiful. On the +altar of the Madonna in the Church of S. Maria della Scala, belonging to +the Servite Friars, he executed the story of the Magi on two +folding-doors that enclose that Madonna, which is held in vast +veneration in that city; but the work did not long remain there, for it +was removed because it was being spoilt by the smoke of the candles, and +placed in the sacristy, where it is much admired by the painters of +Verona. + +In the tramezzo[4] of the Church of S. Bernardino, above the Chapel of +the Company of the Magdalene, he painted in fresco the story of the +Purification, wherein is a figure of Simeon that is much extolled, as +also is that of the Infant Christ, who with great affection is kissing +that old man, who is holding Him in his arms; and very beautiful, +likewise, is a priest standing there on one side, who, with his arms +extended and his face uplifted towards Heaven, appears to be thanking +God for the salvation of the world. Beside this chapel is a picture of +the story of the Magi by the hand of the same Liberale; and in the +pediment of the picture there is the Death of the Madonna, executed +with little figures, which are highly extolled. Great, indeed, was his +delight in painting works with little figures, with which he always took +such pains that they seem to be the work rather of an illuminator than +of a painter, as may be seen in the Duomo of the same city, where there +is a picture by his hand of the story of the Magi, with a vast number of +little figures, horses, dogs, and various other animals, and near them a +group of rosy-coloured Cherubim, who serve as a support to the Mother of +Jesus. In this picture the heads are so finished, and everything is +executed with such diligence, that, as I have said, it appears to be the +work of an illuminator. + +He also painted stories of Our Lady on a small predella, likewise after +the manner of miniatures, for the Chapel of the Madonna in the Duomo. +But this was afterwards removed from that chapel by order of Monsignor +Messer Giovan Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, and placed in the Palace +of the Vescovado, which is the residence of the Bishops, in that chapel +wherein they hear Mass every morning. And there that predella stands in +company with a most beautiful Crucifix in relief, executed by Giovanni +Battista Veronese, a sculptor, who now lives in Mantua. Liberale also +painted a panel-picture for the Chapel of the Allegni in S. Vitale, +containing a figure of S. Mestro, the Confessor, a Veronese and a man of +great sanctity, whom he placed between a S. Francis and a S. Dominic. +For the Chapel of S. Girolamo in the Vittoria, a church and convent of +certain Eremite Friars, he executed at the commission of the +Scaltritegli family an altar-piece of S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal, with a S. Francis and a S. Paul, all much extolled. And in the +tramezzo[5] of the Church of S. Giovanni in Monte he painted the +Circumcision of Christ and other works, which were destroyed not long +since, because it was considered that the tramezzo impaired the beauty +of the church. + +Being then summoned to Siena by the General of the Monks of Monte +Oliveto, Liberale illuminated many books for that Order; and in these he +succeeded so well, that he was commissioned in consequence to illuminate +some that had been left unfinished--that is to say, only written--in +the library of the Piccolomini. He also illuminated some books of +plain-song for the Duomo of that city, where he would have remained +longer, executing many works that he had in hand; but, being driven away +by envy and persecution, he set off to return to Verona, with eight +hundred crowns that he had earned, which he lent afterwards to the Monks +of Monte Oliveto at S. Maria in Organo, from whom he drew interest to +support him from day to day. + +Having thus returned to Verona, he gave his attention for the rest of +his life more to illumination than to any other kind of work. At +Bardolino, a place on the Lake of Garda, he painted a panel-picture +which is now in the Pieve; and another for the Church of S. Tommaso +Apostolo. For the Chapel of S. Bernardo, likewise, in the Church of S. +Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. Francis, he painted a panel-picture of +the first-named Saint, with some scenes from his life in the predella. +In the same place, also, and in others, he executed many nuptial +pictures, one of which, containing the Madonna with the Child in her +arms marrying S. Catharine, is in the house of Messer Vincenzio de' +Medici at Verona. + +On the corner of the house of the Cartai, on the way from the Ponte +Nuovo to S. Maria in Organo, in Verona, he painted a Madonna and S. +Joseph in fresco, a work which was much extolled. Liberale would have +liked to paint the Chapel of the Riva family, which had been built in +order to honour the memory of Giovanni Riva, a captain of men-at-arms at +the battle of the Taro, in the Church of S. Eufemia; but he did not +receive the commission, which was given to some strangers, and he was +told that he was too old and that his sight was failing him. When this +chapel was opened, a vast number of faults were perceived in it, and +Liberale said that he who had given the commission had been much more +blind than himself. + +[Illustration: MINIATURE + +(_After_ Liberale da Verona. _Siena: Duomo Library_) + +_Anderson_] + +Finally, being eighty-four years of age, or even more, Liberale allowed +himself to be ruled by his relatives, and particularly by a married +daughter, who, like the rest, treated him very badly. At which, having +grown angry both with her and with his other relatives, and happening to +have under his charge one Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, then a +young man, who was a diligent painter and much affected towards him, +he appointed him as heir to the house and garden that he had at S. +Giovanni in Valle, a very pleasant part of the city; and with him he +took up his quarters, saying that he would rather give the enjoyment of +his property to one who loved virtue than to those who ill-treated their +nearest of kin. But no long time passed before he died, which was on the +day of S. Chiara in the year 1536, at the age of eighty-five; and he was +buried in S. Giovanni in Valle. + +His disciples were Giovan Francesco Caroto and Giovanni Caroto, +Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, and Paolo Cavazzuola, of whom, since +they were truly excellent masters, I shall make mention in their due +order. + +Giovan Francesco Caroto was born at Verona in the year 1470, and after +having learned the first rudiments of letters, being drawn to painting, +he abandoned the studies of grammar and placed himself to learn painting +under the Veronese Liberale, undertaking to recompense him for his +pains. Young as he was, then, Giovan Francesco devoted himself with such +love and diligence to design, that even in his earliest years he was a +great assistance to Liberale both in that and in colouring. No long time +after, when his judgment had increased with his years, he saw the works +of Andrea Mantegna in Verona; and thinking, as indeed was the truth, +that these were of another manner and better than those of his master, +he so wrought upon his father that he was given leave, with the gracious +consent of Liberale, to apprentice himself to Mantegna. Having gone to +Mantua, therefore, and having placed himself under Mantegna, in a short +time he made such proficience that Andrea sent out works by Caroto as +works by his own hand. In short, before many years had passed by, he had +become an able master. The first works that he executed after leaving +the discipline of Mantegna were on the altar of the three Magi in the +Church of the Hospital of S. Cosimo at Verona, where he painted on the +folding-doors that enclose that altar the Circumcision of Christ and the +Flight into Egypt, with other figures. In the Church of the Frati +Ingiesuati, called S. Girolamo, in two angles of a chapel, he painted +the Madonna and the Angel of the Annunciation. And for the Prior of the +Friars of S. Giorgio he executed a little panel-picture of the Manger, +in which he may be seen to have greatly improved his manner, since the +heads of the shepherds and of all the other figures have expressions so +sweet and so beautiful, that this work was much extolled, and that +rightly; and if it were not that the priming of gesso is peeling off +through having been badly prepared, so that the picture is gradually +perishing, it would be enough by itself to keep him alive for ever in +the memory of his fellow-citizens. + +Next, having been commissioned by the men who governed the Company of +the Angel Raphael to paint their chapel in the Church of S. Eufemia, he +executed therein two stories of the Angel Raphael in fresco, and in the +altar-piece, in oils, three large Angels, Raphael in the centre, and +Gabriel and Michael on either side, and all with good draughtsmanship +and colouring. He was reproached, indeed, for having made the legs of +those Angels too slender and wanting in softness; to which he made a +pleasant and gracious answer, saying that even as Angels were +represented with wings and with bodies, so to speak, celestial and +ethereal, as if they were birds, so it was only right to make their legs +lean and slender, to the end that they might fly and soar upwards with +greater ease. For that altar of the Church of S. Giorgio where there is +a Christ bearing His Cross, he painted S. Rocco and S. Sebastian, with +some scenes in the predella executed with very beautiful little figures. +And by order of the Company of the Madonna he painted on the predella of +the altar of that Company, in S. Bernardino, the Nativity of the Madonna +and the Massacre of the Innocents, with a great variety of attitudes in +the murderers and in the groups of children whom their mothers are +defending with all their might. This work is held in great veneration, +and is kept covered, the better to preserve it; and it was the reason +that the men of the Fraternity of S. Stefano commissioned him to paint +three pictures with similar figures for their altar in the old Duomo of +Verona, containing three little scenes from the life of Our Lady--her +Marriage, the Nativity of Christ, and the story of the Magi. + +[Illustration: GIOVAN FRANCESCO CAROTO: ELISABETTA GONZAGA, DUCHESS OF +MANTUA + +(_Florence: Uffizi, 1121. Panel_)] + +After these works, thinking that he had gained enough credit in Verona, +Giovan Francesco was minded to depart and make trial of other places; +but his friends and relatives, pressing him much, persuaded him to +take to wife a young woman of noble birth, the daughter of Messer +Braliassarti Grandoni, whom he married in 1505. In a short time, +however, after he had had a son by her, she died in child-birth; and +Giovan Francesco, thus left free, departed from Verona and went off to +Milan, where Signor Anton Maria Visconti received him into his house and +caused him to execute many works for its adornment. + +Meanwhile there was brought to Milan by a Fleming a head of a young man, +taken from life and painted in oils, which was admired by everyone in +that city; but Giovan Francesco, seeing it, laughed and said: "I am +confident that I can do a better." At which the Fleming mocked him, but +after many words the matter came to this, that Giovan Francesco was to +try his hand, losing his own picture and twenty-five crowns if he lost, +and winning the Fleming's head and likewise twenty-five crowns if he +won. Setting to work, therefore, with all his powers, Giovan Francesco +made a portrait of an aged gentleman with shaven face, with a falcon on +his wrist; but, although this was a good likeness, the head of the +Fleming was judged to be the better. Giovan Francesco did not make a +good choice in executing his portrait, for he took a head that could not +do him honour; whereas, if he had chosen a handsome young man, and had +made as good a likeness of him as he did of the old man, he would at +least have equalled his adversary's picture, even if he had not +surpassed it. But for all this the head of Giovan Francesco did not fail +to win praise, and the Fleming showed him courtesy, for he contented +himself with the head of the shaven old man, and, being a noble and +courteous person, would by no means accept the five-and-twenty crowns. +This picture came after some time into the possession of Madonna +Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, who paid a very good price for +it to the Fleming and placed it as a choice work in her study, in which +she had a vast number of very beautiful coins, pictures, works in +marble, and castings. + +After completing his work for Visconti, Giovan Francesco, being invited +by Guglielmo, Marquis of Montferrat, went willingly to serve him, as +Visconti straitly besought him to do. On his arrival, a fine provision +was assigned to him; and, setting to work, he painted for that noble at +Casale, in a chapel where he heard Mass, as many pictures as were +necessary to fill it and adorn it on every side, with subjects from the +Old Testament and the New, which were executed by him with supreme +diligence, as was also the chief altar-piece. He then executed many +works throughout the apartments of that Castle, which brought him very +great fame. And in S. Domenico, by order of that Marquis, he painted the +whole of the principal chapel for the adornment of the tomb wherein he +was to be laid to rest; in which work Giovan Francesco acquitted himself +so well, that he was rightly rewarded with honourable gifts by the +liberality of his patron, who also favoured him by making him one of his +own chamberlains, as may be seen from an instrument that is in the +possession of his heirs at Verona. He made portraits of that lord and of +his wife, with many pictures that they sent to France, and also the +portrait of Guglielmo, their eldest child, who was then a boy, and +likewise portraits of their daughters and of all the ladies who were in +the service of the Marchioness. + +On the death of the Marquis Guglielmo, Giovan Francesco departed from +Casale, after first selling all the property that he had in those parts, +and made his way to Verona, where he so arranged his affairs and those +of his son, to whom he gave a wife, that in a short time he found +himself in possession of more than seven thousand ducats. But he did not +therefore abandon his painting; indeed, having a quiet mind, and not +being obliged to rack his brain for a livelihood, he gave more attention +to it than ever. It is true that either from envy or for some other +reason he was accused of being a painter who could do nothing but little +figures; wherefore, in executing the altar-piece of the Chapel of the +Madonna in S. Fermo, a convent of Friars of S. Francis, wishing to show +that the accusation was a calumny, he painted the figures larger than +life, and so well, that they were the best that he had ever done. In the +air is Our Lady seated in the lap of S. Anne, with some Angels standing +upon clouds, and beneath are S. Peter, S. John the Baptist, S. Rocco, +and S. Sebastian; and not far away, in a most beautiful landscape, is S. +Francis receiving the Stigmata. This work, indeed, is held by craftsmen +to be not otherwise than good. + +[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. ANNE AND SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Giovan Francesco Caroto=. Verona: S. Fermo +Maggiore_) + +_Alinari_] + +For the Chapel of the Cross in S. Bernardino, a seat of the Frati +Zoccolanti, he painted Christ kneeling on one knee and taking leave of +His Mother. In this work, stirred to emulation by the many notable +pictures by the hands of other masters that are in that place, he strove +to surpass them all; wherefore, in truth, he acquitted himself very +well, and was praised by all who saw it, save only by the Guardian of +that convent, who, like the boorish and solemn fool that he was, +reproved Giovan Francesco with biting words, saying that he had made +Christ show such little reverence to His Mother as to kneel only upon +one knee. To which Giovan Francesco answered by saying: "Father, first +do me the favour of kneeling down and rising up again, and I will then +tell you for what reason I have painted Christ so." The Guardian, after +much persuasion, knelt down, placing on the ground first his right knee +and then his left; and in rising up he raised first the left and then +the right. Which done, Giovan Francesco said: "Did you observe, Father +Guardian, that you neither knelt down nor rose up with both knees +together? I tell you, therefore, that this Christ of mine is right, +because one might say that He is either coming to His knees before His +Mother, or beginning, after having knelt a while, to raise one leg in +order to rise." At which the Guardian had to appear a little appeased, +although he went off muttering under his breath. + +Giovan Francesco was very sharp in his answers; and it is also related +of him that once, being told by a priest that his figures were too +seductive for altar-pieces, he replied: "A lusty fellow you must be, if +painted figures so move you. Think how much you are to be trusted in +places where there are living people for you to touch." At Isola, a +place on the Lake of Garda, he painted two panel-pictures for the Church +of the Zoccolanti; and at Malsessino, a township above that same lake, +he painted a very beautiful Madonna over the door of a church, and some +Saints within the church, at the request of Fracastoro, a very famous +poet, who was much his friend. For Count Giovan Francesco Giusti, +executing a subject conceived by that nobleman, he painted a young man +wholly naked except for the parts of shame, and in an attitude of +indecision as to whether he shall rise up or not; and on one side he had +a most beautiful young woman representing Minerva, who with one hand +was pointing out to him a figure of Fame on high, and with the other was +urging him to follow her; but Sloth and Idleness, who were behind the +young man, were striving to detain him. Below these was a figure with an +uncouth face, rather that of a slave and a plebeian than of one of noble +blood, who had two great snails clinging to his elbows and was seated on +a crab, and near him was another figure with the hands full of poppies. +This invention, in which are other beautiful details and fancies, was +executed by Giovan Francesco with supreme diligence and love; and it +serves as the head-board of a bedstead at that nobleman's lovely place +near Verona, which is called S. Maria in Stella. + +The same master painted the whole of a little chamber with various +scenes in little figures, for Count Raimondo della Torre. And since he +delighted to work in relief, he executed not only models for his own +purposes and for the arrangement of draperies, but also other things of +his own fancy, of which there are some to be seen in the house of his +heirs, and in particular a scene in half-relief, which is not otherwise +than passing good. He also executed portraits on medallions, and some +are still to be seen, such as that of Guglielmo, Marquis of Montferrat, +which has on the reverse a Hercules slaying ..., with a motto that runs: +"Monstra domat." He painted portraits of Count Raimondo della Torre, +Messer Giulio his brother, and Messer Girolamo Fracastoro. + +But when Giovan Francesco became old, he began gradually to lose his +mastery over art, as may be seen from the organ-doors in S. Maria della +Scala, from the panel-picture of the Movi family, wherein is a +Deposition from the Cross, and from the Chapel of S. Martino in S. +Anastasia. Giovan Francesco had always a great opinion of himself, and +not for anything in the world would he have ever copied another man's +work in his own. Now Bishop Giovan Matteo Giberti wished him to paint +some stories of the Madonna in the great chapel of the Duomo, and had +the designs for these drawn in Rome by Giulio Romano, who was very much +his friend (for Giberti was Datary to Pope Clement VII). But, when the +Bishop had returned to Verona, Giovan Francesco would never consent to +execute these designs; at which the Bishop, in disdain, caused them to +be put into execution by Francesco, called Il Moro. + +Giovan Francesco held an opinion, in which he was not far from the +truth, that varnishing pictures spoiled them, and made them become old +sooner than they otherwise would; and for this reason he used varnish in +the darks while painting, together with certain purified oils. He was +also the first who executed landscapes well in Verona; wherefore there +are some by his hand to be seen in that city, which are very beautiful. +Finally, when seventy-six years of age, Giovan Francesco died the death +of a good Christian, leaving his grandchildren and his brother, Giovanni +Caroto, passing well provided. This Giovanni, after first applying +himself to art under his brother, and then spending some time in Venice, +had just returned to Verona when Giovan Francesco passed to the other +life; and thus he took a hand with the grandchildren in inspecting the +things of art that had been left to them. Among these they found a +portrait of an old man in armour, very beautiful both in drawing and in +colour, which was the best work by the hand of Giovan Francesco that was +ever seen; and likewise a little picture containing a Deposition from +the Cross, which was presented to Signor Spitech, a man of great +authority with the King of Poland, who had come at that time to some +baths that are in the territory of Verona. Giovan Francesco was buried +in the Madonna dell' Organo, in the Chapel of S. Niccolo, which he +himself had adorned with his paintings. + +Giovanni Caroto, brother of Giovan Francesco, although he followed the +manner of the latter, yet gained less reputation in the practice of +painting. This master painted the altar-piece in the above-mentioned +Chapel of S. Niccolo, wherein is the Madonna enthroned on clouds; and +below this he placed a portrait of himself, taken from life, and that of +his wife Placida. He also painted some little figures of female Saints +for the altar of the Schioppi in the Church of S. Bartolommeo, together +with a portrait of Madonna Laura degli Schioppi, who had caused that +chapel to be built, and who was much celebrated by the writers of those +times no less for her virtues than for her beauty. Giovanni likewise +painted a S. Martin in a little altar-piece for S. Giovanni in Fonte, +near the Duomo; and he made a portrait of Messer Marc' Antonio della +Torre (who afterwards became a man of learning and gave public lectures +at Padua and Pavia) as a young man, and also one of Messer Giulio; which +heads are in the possession of their heirs at Verona. For the Prior of +S. Giorgio he painted a picture of Our Lady, which, as a good painting, +has been kept ever since, as it still is, in the chamber of the Priors. +And he painted another picture, representing the transformation of +Actaeon into a stag, for the organist Brunetto, who afterwards presented +it to Girolamo Cicogna, an excellent embroiderer, and engineer to Bishop +Giberti; and it now belongs to Messer Vincenzio Cicogna, his son. + +Giovanni took ground-plans of all the ancient buildings of Verona, with +the triumphal arches and the Colosseum. These were revised by the +Veronese architect Falconetto, and they were meant for the adornment of +the book of the Antiquities of Verona, which had been written after his +own original research by Messer Torello Saraina, who afterwards had the +book printed. This book was sent to me by Giovanni Caroto when I was in +Bologna (where I was executing the work of the Refectory of S. Michele +in Bosco), together with the portrait of the reverend Father, Don +Cipriano da Verona, who was twice General of the Monks of Monte Oliveto; +and the portrait, which was sent to me by Giovanni to the end that I +might make use of it, as I did, for one of those pictures, is now in my +house at Florence, with other paintings by the hands of various masters. + +Finally, having lived without children and without ambition, but with +good means, Giovanni died at about the age of sixty, full of gladness +because he saw some of his disciples, particularly Anselmo Canneri and +Paolo Veronese, already in good repute. Paolo is now working in Venice, +and is held to be a good master; and Anselmo has executed many works +both in oils and in fresco, and in particular at the Villa Soranza on +the Tesino, and in the Palace of the Soranzi at Castelfranco, and also +in many other places, but more at Vicenza than anywhere else. But to +return to Giovanni; he was buried in S. Maria dell' Organo, where he had +painted a chapel with his own hand. + +Francesco Turbido, called Il Moro, a painter of Verona, learned the +first rudiments of art, when still quite young, from Giorgione da +Castelfranco, whom he imitated ever afterwards in colouring and in +softness of painting. But just when Il Moro was making progress, he came +to words with I know not whom, and handled him so roughly, that he was +forced to leave Venice and return to Verona. There, abandoning his +painting, since he was somewhat ready with his hands and associated with +the young noblemen, being a person of very good breeding, he lived for a +time without doing any work. And associating in this way, in particular, +with the Counts Sanbonifazi and the Counts Giusti, two illustrious +families of Verona, he became so intimate with them that he lived in +their houses as if he had been born in them; and, what is more, no long +time passed before Count Zenovello Giusti gave him a natural daughter of +his own for a wife, and granted him a commodious apartment in his own +house for himself, his wife, and the children that were born to them. + +It is said that Francesco, while living in the service of those +noblemen, always carried a pencil in his pouch; and wherever he went, if +only he had time, he would draw a head or something else on the walls. +Wherefore the same Count Zenovello, seeing him to be so much inclined to +painting, relieved him of his other duties, like the generous nobleman +that he was, and made him give his whole attention to art; and since +Francesco had all but forgotten everything, he placed himself, through +the good offices of that patron, under Liberale, a famous painter and +illuminator of that time. And thus, practising under that master without +ever ceasing, he went on making such progress from one day to another, +that not only did all that he had forgotten awaken in his memory, but he +also acquired in a short time as much more knowledge as sufficed to make +him an able craftsman. It is true, however, that, although he always +held to the manner of Liberale, he yet imitated the softness and +well-blended colouring of Giorgione, his first instructor, believing +that the works of Liberale, while good in other respects, suffered from +a certain dryness. + +Now Liberale, having recognized the beauty of Francesco's spirit, +conceived such an affection for him, that he loved him ever afterwards +as a son, and, when death came upon him, left him heir to all his +possessions. And thus, after the death of Liberale, Francesco followed +in his steps and executed many works, which are dispersed among various +private houses. Of those in Verona which deserve to be extolled above +all others, the first is the great chapel of the Duomo, on the vaulting +of which are four large pictures painted in fresco, wherein are the +Nativity of the Madonna and the Presentation in the Temple, and, in the +picture in the centre, which appears to recede inwards, three Angels in +the air, who are seen foreshortened from below, and are holding a crown +of stars wherewith to crown the Madonna, who is in the recess, in the +act of ascending into Heaven, accompanied by many Angels, while the +Apostles are gazing upwards in attitudes of great variety; and these +Apostles are figures twice the size of life. All these pictures were +executed by Il Moro after the designs of Giulio Romano, according to the +wish of Bishop Giovan Matteo Giberti, who gave the commission for the +work, and who, as has been said, was very much the friend of that same +Giulio. + +After this Il Moro painted the facade of the house of the Manuelli, +which stands on the abutment of the Ponte Nuovo, and a facade for +Torello Saraina, the doctor, who wrote the above-mentioned book of the +Antiquities of Verona. In Friuli, likewise, he painted in fresco the +principal chapel of the Abbey of Rosazzo, for Bishop Giovan Matteo, who +held it "in commendam," and, being a noble and truly religious +dignitary, rebuilt it; for it had been allowed to fall completely into +ruin, as such buildings are generally found to be, by those who had held +it "in commendam" before him, attending only to the drawing of the +revenues and spending not a farthing in the service of God and of the +Church. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A MAN + +(_After the painting by =Francesco Turbido [Il Moro]=. Munich: +Pinacoteca, 1125_) + +_Bruckmann_] + +Il Moro afterwards painted many works in oils at Verona and in Venice. +On the outer wall (of a chapel) in S. Maria in Organo he executed in +fresco the figures that are still there, with the exception of the Angel +Michael and the Angel Raphael, which are by the hand of Paolo +Cavazzuola. For the same chapel he painted an altar-piece in oils, +wherein he made a portrait of Messer Jacopo Fontani, who gave the +commission for the work, in a figure of S. James, in addition to the +Madonna and other very beautiful figures. And in a large semicircle +above that altar-piece, occupying the whole width of the chapel, he +painted the Transfiguration of Our Lord, and the Apostles beneath, which +were held to be among the best figures that he ever executed. For the +Chapel of the Bombardieri, in S. Eufemia, he painted an altar-piece with +S. Barbara in the heavens, in the centre, and a S. Anthony below, with +his hand on his beard, which is a most beautiful head, and on the other +side a S. Rocco, which is also held to be a very good figure; whence +this work is rightly looked upon as one executed with supreme diligence +and unity of colouring. In a picture on the altar of the Santificazione, +in the Madonna della Scala, he painted a S. Sebastian, in competition +with Paolo Cavazzuola, who executed a S. Rocco in another picture; and +he afterwards painted an altar-piece that was taken to Bagolino, a place +in the mountains of Brescia. + +Il Moro executed many portraits, and his heads are in truth beautiful to +a marvel, and very good likenesses of those whom they were meant to +represent. At Verona he executed a portrait of Count Francesco +Sanbonifazio, who, on account of the length of his body, was called the +Long Count; with that of one of the Franchi, which was an amazing head. +He also painted the portrait of Messer Girolamo Verita, which remained +unfinished, because Il Moro was inclined to be dilatory in his work; and +this, still unfinished, is in the possession of the sons of that good +nobleman. Among many other portraits, likewise, he executed one of the +Venetian, Monsignor de' Martini, a knight of Rhodes, and to the same man +he sold a head of marvellous beauty and excellence, which he had painted +many years before as the portrait of a Venetian gentleman, the son of +one who was then Captain in Verona. This head, through the avarice of +the Venetian, who never paid him, was left in the hands of Francesco, +and he disposed of it to Monsignor de' Martini, who had the Venetian +dress changed into that of a shepherd or herdsman. It is as rare a +portrait as ever issued from the hand of any craftsman, and it is now in +the house of the heirs of the same Monsignor de' Martini, where it is +rightly held in vast veneration. In Venice he painted a portrait of +Messer Alessandro Contarini, Procurator of S. Mark and Proveditor of the +forces, and one of Messer Michele San Michele for one of Messer +Michele's dearest friends, who took the portrait to Orvieto; and it is +said that he executed another of the same architect, Messer Michele, +which is now in the possession of Messer Paolo Ramusio, the son of +Messer Giovan Battista. He also painted a portrait of Fracastoro, a very +famous poet, at the instance of Monsignor Giberti, by whom it was sent +to Giovio, who placed it in his museum. + +Il Moro executed many other works, of which there is no need to make +mention, although they are all well worthy of remembrance, because he +was as diligent a colourist as any master that lived in his day, and +because he bestowed much time and labour on his work. So great, indeed, +was his diligence, that it brought upon him more blame than praise, as +may also be seen at times to happen to others, for the reason that he +accepted any commission and took the earnest-money from every patron, +and trusted to the will of God to finish the work; and if he did this in +his youth, everyone may imagine what he must have done in his last +years, when to his natural slowness there was added that which old age +brings in its train. By this method of procedure he brought upon himself +more entanglements and annoyances than he cared for; and Messer Michele +San Michele, therefore, moved by compassion for him, took him into his +house in Venice and treated him like a friend and man of talent. + +Finally, having been invited back to Verona by his former patrons, the +Counts Giusti, Il Moro died among them in their beautiful Palace of S. +Maria in Stella, and was buried in the church of that villa, being +accompanied to his tomb by all those loving noblemen, and even laid to +rest with extraordinary affection by their own hands; for they loved him +as a father, since they had all been born and brought up while he was +living in their house. In his youth Il Moro was very courageous and +agile in body, and handled all kinds of arms with great skill. He was +most faithful to his friends and patrons, and he showed spirit in all +his actions. His most intimate friends were the architect, Messer +Michele San Michele, Danese da Carrara, an excellent sculptor, and the +very reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici, who often went +after his studies to sit with him, watching him at work, and discoursing +lovingly with him, in order to refresh his mind when he was weary with +labour. + +A disciple and son-in-law of Il Moro, who had two daughters, was +Battista d' Agnolo, who was afterwards called Battista del Moro. This +master, although he had his hands full for a time with the complications +of the inheritance that Il Moro bequeathed to him, has yet executed many +works which are not otherwise than passing good. In Verona he has +painted a S. John the Baptist in the Church of the Nuns of S. Giuseppe, +and in the tramezzo[6] of S. Eufemia, above the altar of S. Paolo, a +scene in fresco showing the latter Saint presenting himself to Ananias +after being converted by Christ; which work, although he executed it +when still a lad, is much extolled. For the noble Counts Canossi he +painted two apartments, and in a hall two friezes with battle-pieces, +which are very beautiful and praised by everyone. In Venice he painted +the facade of a house near the Carmine, a work of no great size, but +much extolled, in which he executed a figure of Venice crowned and +seated upon a lion, the device of that Republic. For Camillo Trevisano +he painted the facade of his house at Murano, and in company with his +son Marco he decorated the inner court with very beautiful scenes in +chiaroscuro. And in competition with Paolo Veronese he painted a large +chamber in the same house, which proved to be so beautiful that it +brought him much honour and profit. + +The same master has also executed many works in miniature, of which the +most recent is a very beautiful drawing of S. Eustachio adoring Christ, +who has appeared to him between the horns of a deer, with two dogs near +him, which could not be more excellent, and a landscape full of trees, +receding and fading away little by little into the distance, which is an +exquisite thing. This drawing has been very highly praised by the many +persons who have seen it, and particularly by Danese da Carrara, who saw +it when he was in Verona, carrying out the work of the Chapel of the +Signori Fregosi, which is one of rare distinction among all the number +that there are in Italy at the present day. Danese, I say, having seen +this drawing, was lost in astonishment at its beauty, and exhorted the +above-mentioned Fra Marco de' Medici, his old and particular friend, not +for anything in the world to let it slip through his hands, but to +contrive to place it among the other choice examples of all the arts in +his possession. Whereupon Battista, having heard that Fra Marco desired +it, and knowing of his friendship with his father-in-law, gave it to +him, almost forcing him to accept it, in the presence of Danese; nor was +that good Father ungrateful to him for so much courtesy. However, since +that same Battista and his son Marco are alive and still at work, I +shall say nothing more of them for the present. + +Il Moro had another disciple, called Orlando Fiacco, who has become a +good master and a very able painter of portraits, as may be seen from +the many that he has painted, all very beautiful and most lifelike. He +made a portrait of Cardinal Caraffa when he was returning from Germany, +which he took secretly by torch-light while the Cardinal was at supper +in the Vescovado of Verona; and this was such a faithful likeness that +it could not have been improved. He also painted a very lifelike +portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine, when, coming from the Council of +Trent, he passed through Verona on his return to Rome; and likewise +portraits of the two Bishops Lippomani of Verona, Luigi the uncle and +Agostino the nephew, which Count Giovan Battista della Torre now has in +a little apartment. Other portraits that he painted were those of Messer +Adamo Fumani, a Canon and a very learned gentleman of Verona, of Messer +Vincenzio de' Medici of Verona, and of his consort, Madonna Isotta, in +the guise of S. Helen, and of their grandson, Messer Niccolo. He has +likewise executed portraits of Count Antonio della Torre, of Count +Girolamo Canossi, and his brothers, Count Lodovico and Count Paolo, of +Signor Astorre Baglioni, Captain-General of all the light cavalry of +Venice and Governor of Verona, the latter clad in white armour and most +beautiful in aspect, and of his consort, Signora Ginevra Salviati. In +like manner, he has portrayed the eminent architect Palladio and many +others; and he still continues at work, wishing to become in the art of +painting as true an Orlando as once was that great Paladin of France. + +[Illustration: BONSIGNORI (MONSIGNORI): PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN + +(_London: National Gallery, 736. Tempera Panel_)] + +In Verona, where an extraordinary degree of attention has been given to +design ever since the death of Fra Giocondo, there have flourished at +all times men excellent in painting and architecture, as will now be +seen, in addition to what has been observed hitherto, in the Lives of +Francesco Monsignori, of Domenico Morone and his son Francesco, of Paolo +Cavazzuola, of the architect Falconetto, and, lastly, of the +miniaturists Francesco and Girolamo. + +Francesco Monsignori, the son of Alberto, was born at Verona in the year +1455; and when he was well grown he was advised by his father, who had +always delighted in painting, although he had not practised it save for +his own pleasure, to give his attention to design. Having, therefore, +gone to Mantua to seek out Mantegna, who was then working in that city, +he exerted himself in such a manner, being fired by the fame of his +instructor, that no long time passed before Francesco II, Marquis of +Mantua, who found an extraordinary delight in painting, took him into +his own service; and in the year 1487 he gave him a house for his +habitation in Mantua, and assigned him an honourable provision. For +these benefits Francesco was not ungrateful, for he always served that +lord with supreme fidelity and lovingness; whence the Marquis came to +love and favour him more and more every day, insomuch that he could not +leave the city without having Francesco in his train, and was once heard +to say that Francesco was as dear to him as the State itself. + +Francesco painted many works for that lord in his Palace of S. +Sebastiano at Mantua, and also in the Castello di Gonzaga and in the +beautiful Palace of Marmirolo without the city. In the latter Francesco +had finished painting in the year 1499, after a vast number of other +pictures, some triumphs and many portraits of gentlemen of the Court; +and on Christmas Eve, on which day he had finished those works, the +Marquis presented to him an estate of a hundred fields in the territory +of Mantua, at a place called La Marzotta, with a mansion, garden, +meadows, and other things of great beauty and convenience. He was most +excellent at taking portraits from life, and the Marquis caused him to +paint many portraits, of himself, of his sons, and of many other lords +of the house of Gonzaga, which were sent to France and Germany as +presents for various Princes. And many of these portraits are still in +Mantua, such as those of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; of Doge +Barbarigo of Venice; of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan; of +Massimiliano, also Duke of Milan, who died in France; of the Emperor +Maximilian; of Signor Ercole Gonzaga, who afterwards became a Cardinal; +of his brother, Duke Federigo (then a young man); of Signor Giovan +Francesco Gonzaga; of Messer Andrea Mantegna, the painter; and of many +others; of all which Francesco preserved copies drawn on paper in +chiaroscuro, which are now in the possession of his heirs at Mantua. + +Above the pulpit of S. Francesco de' Zoccolanti, in the same city, is a +picture that he painted of S. Louis and S. Bernardino holding a large +circle that contains the name of Jesus; and in the refectory of those +friars there is a picture on canvas as large as the whole of the +head-wall, of the Saviour in the midst of the twelve Apostles, painted +in perspective and all very beautiful, and executed with many proofs of +consideration. Among them is the traitor Judas, with a face wholly +different from those of the others, and in a strange attitude; and the +others are all gazing intently at Jesus, who is speaking to them, being +near His Passion. On the right hand of this work is a S. Francis of the +size of life, a very beautiful figure, the countenance of which is the +very presentment of that sanctity which was peculiar to that most +saintly man; and he is presenting to Christ the Marquis Francesco, who +is kneeling at his feet, portrayed from life in a long coat pleated and +worked with a curly pattern, according to the fashion of those times, +and embroidered with white crosses, perchance because he may have been +at that time Captain of the Venetians. And in front of the Marquis is a +portrait, with the hands clasped, of his eldest son, who was then a very +beautiful boy, and afterwards became Duke Federigo. On the other side is +painted a S. Bernardino, equal in excellence to the figure of S. +Francis, and likewise presenting to Christ the brother of the Marquis, +Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, a very beautiful kneeling figure, robed in +the habit of a Cardinal, with the rochet, which is also a portrait from +life; and in front of that Cardinal is a portrait of Signora Leonora, +the daughter of the same Marquis, who was then a girl, and afterwards +became Duchess of Urbino. This whole work is held by the most excellent +painters to be a marvellous thing. + +[Illustration: S. SEBASTIAN + +(_After the painting by =Francesco Monsignori [Bonsignori]=. Berlin: +Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 46 c_) + +_Hanfstaengl_] + +The same master painted a picture of S. Sebastian, which was afterwards +placed in the Madonna delle Grazie, without the city of Mantua; and to +this he devoted extraordinary pains, copying many things in it from the +life. It is related that the Marquis, going one day, while Francesco was +executing this picture, to see him at work, as he used often to do, said +to him: "Francesco, you must take some fine figure as your model in +painting this Saint." To which Francesco answered: "I am using as my +model a porter with a very handsome figure, whom I bind in a fashion of +my own in order to make the work natural." "But the limbs of this Saint +of yours," rejoined the Marquis, "are not true to life, for they have +not the appearance of being strained by force or by that fear which one +would expect in a man bound and shot with arrows; and by your leave I +will undertake to show you what you ought to do in order to make this +figure perfect." "Nay, but I beg you to do it, my lord," said Francesco; +and the Marquis added: "When you have your porter bound here, send for +me, and I will show you what you must do." The next day, therefore, when +Francesco had the porter bound in the manner that he wished, he sent a +secret summons to the Marquis, but without knowing what he intended to +do. And the Marquis, bursting out of a neighbouring room in a great +fury, with a loaded cross-bow in his hand, rushed towards the porter, +crying out at the top of his voice, "Traitor, prepare to die! At last I +have caught thee as I would have thee," and other suchlike words; which +hearing, the wretched porter, thinking himself as good as dead, +struggled in a frenzy of terror with the ropes wherewith he was bound, +and made frantic efforts to break them, thus truly representing one +about to be shot with arrows, and revealing fear in his face and the +horror of death in his strained and distorted limbs, as he sought to +escape from his peril. This done, the Marquis said to Francesco, "There +he is in the state that he ought to be: the rest is for you to do"; +which the painter having well considered, made his figure as perfect as +could be imagined. + +Francesco painted in the Gonzaga Palace, besides many other things, the +Election of the first Lords of Mantua, with the jousts that were held on +the Piazza di S. Piero, which is seen there in perspective. When the +Grand Turk sent one of his men with a most beautiful dog, a bow, and a +quiver, as presents for the Marquis, the latter caused the dog, the Turk +who had brought it, and the other things, to be painted in the same +Gonzaga Palace; and, this done, wishing to see whether the painted dog +were truly lifelike, he had one of his own dogs, of a breed very hostile +to the Turkish dog, brought to the place where the other one stood on a +pedestal painted in imitation of stone. The living dog, then, arriving +there, had no sooner seen the painted one than, precisely as if it had +been a living animal and the very one for whom he had a mortal hatred, +he broke loose from his keeper and rushed at it with such vehemence, in +order to bite it, that he struck his head full against the wall and +dashed it all to pieces. + +[Illustration: GIOVAN FRANCESCO MORONE: MADONNA AND CHILD + +(_London: National Gallery, 285. Panel_)] + +Another story is told by persons who were present at the scene, of a +little picture by the hand of Francesco, little more than two span in +height, and belonging to his nephew Benedetto Baroni, in which is a +Madonna painted in oils, from the breast upwards, and almost life-size, +and, lower down, in the corner of the picture, the Child, seen from the +shoulders upwards, with one arm uplifted and in the act of caressing His +Mother. It is related, I say, that, when the Emperor was master of +Verona, Don Alfonso of Castille and Alarcon, a very famous Captain, +happened to be in that city on behalf of His Majesty and the Catholic +King; and that these lords, being in the house of the Veronese Count +Lodovico da Sesso, said that they had a great desire to see that +picture. Whereupon it was sent for; and one evening they were standing +contemplating it in a good light, and admiring its masterly workmanship, +when Signora Caterina, the wife of the Count, entered into the room +where those noblemen were, together with one of her sons, who had on his +wrist one of those green birds--called in Verona "terrazzani,"[7] +because they make their nests on the ground--which learn to perch on the +wrist, like hawks. It happened, then, that, while she stood with the +others contemplating the picture, the bird, seeing the extended arm and +wrist of the painted Child, flew to perch upon it; but, not having been +able to find a hold on the surface of the painting, and having +therefore fallen to the ground, it twice returned to settle on the +wrist of that painted Child, precisely as if it had been one of those +living children who were always holding it on their wrists. At which +those noblemen, being amazed, offered to pay a great price to Benedetto +for the picture, if only he would give it to them; but it was not +possible by any means to wrest it from him. Not long afterwards the same +persons planned to have it stolen from him on the day of the festival of +S. Biagio in S. Nazzaro; but the owner was informed of this, and their +design did not succeed. + +For S. Paolo, in Verona, Francesco painted a panel-picture in gouache, +which is very beautiful, and another, also most beautiful, for the +Chapel of the Bandi in S. Bernardino. In Mantua he executed for Verona a +picture with two most lovely nudes, a Madonna in the sky, with the Child +in her arms, and some Angels, all marvellous figures, which is in the +chapel where S. Biagio is buried, in the Black Friars Church of S. +Nazzaro. + +Francesco was a man of saintly life, and the enemy of every vice, +insomuch that he would never on any account paint licentious works, +although he was very often entreated to do so by the Marquis; and equal +to him in goodness were his brothers, as will be related in the proper +place. Finally, being old, and suffering in the bladder, Francesco, with +the leave of the Marquis and by the advice of the physicians, went with +his wife and many servants to the Baths of Caldero, in the territory of +Verona, to take the waters. There, one day, after he had drunk the +water, he allowed himself to be overcome by drowsiness, and slept a +little, being indulged in this by his wife out of compassion; whereupon, +a violent fever having come upon him in consequence of his sleeping, +which is a deadly thing for one who has just taken that water, he +finished the course of his life on the second day of July, 1519; which +having been reported to the Marquis, he straightway sent orders by a +courier that the body of Francesco should be brought to Mantua. This was +done, although it gave little pleasure to the people of Verona; and he +was laid to rest with great honour in the burial-place of the Compagnia +Segreta in S. Francesco at Mantua. Francesco lived to the age of +sixty-four, and the portrait of him which belongs to Messer Fermo was +executed when he was fifty. Many compositions were written in his +praise, and he was mourned by all who knew him as a virtuous and saintly +man, which he was. He had for wife Madonna Francesca Gioacchini of +Verona, but he had no children. + +The eldest of his three brothers was called Monsignore; and he, being a +person of culture and learning, received offices with good salaries in +Mantua from the Marquis, on account of that nobleman's love of +Francesco. He lived to the age of eighty, and left children, who keep +the family of the Monsignori alive in Mantua. Another brother of +Francesco had the name of Girolamo when in the world, and of Fra +Cherubino among the Frati Zoccolanti di San Francesco; and he was a very +beautiful calligrapher and illuminator. The third, who was a Friar of S. +Dominic and an Observantine, and was called Fra Girolamo, chose out of +humility to become a lay-brother. He was not only a man of good and holy +life, but also a passing good painter, as may be seen in the Convent of +S. Domenico in Mantua, where, besides other works, he executed a most +beautiful Last Supper in the refectory, with a Passion of Christ, which +remained unfinished on account of his death. The same friar painted the +beautiful Last Supper that is in the refectory of the very rich abbey +which the Monks of S. Benedict possess in the territory of Mantua. In S. +Domenico he painted the altar of the Rosary; and in the Convent of S. +Anastasia, in Verona, he painted in fresco the Madonna, S. Remigio the +Bishop, and S. Anastasia; with a Madonna, S. Dominic, and S. Thomas +Aquinas, all executed with mastery, on a little arch over the second +door of entrance in the second cloister. + +[Illustration: THE CRUCIFIXION + +(_After the painting by =Giovan Francesco Morone=. Verona: S. +Bernardino_) + +_Alinari_] + +Fra Girolamo was a person of great simplicity, wholly indifferent to the +things of the world. He lived in the country, at a farm belonging to his +convent, in order to avoid all noise and disturbance, and the money sent +to him in return for his works, which he used for buying colours and +suchlike things, he kept in a box without a cover, hung from the ceiling +in the middle of his chamber, so that all who wished could take some; +and in order not to have the trouble of thinking every day what he +was to eat, he used to cook a pot of beans every Monday to last him the +whole week. + +When the plague came to Mantua and the sick were abandoned by all, as +happens in such cases, Fra Girolamo, with no other motive but the purest +love, would never desert the poor plague-stricken monks, and even tended +them all day long with his own hands. And thus, careless of his life for +the love of God, he became infected with that malady and died at the age +of sixty, to the great grief of all who knew him. + +But to return to Francesco Monsignori: he painted a life-size portrait, +which I forgot to mention above, of Count Ercole Giusti of Verona, in a +robe of cloth of gold, such as he was wont to wear; and this is a very +beautiful likeness, as may be seen in the house of his son, Count +Giusto. + +Domenico Morone, who was born at Verona about the year 1430, learned the +art of painting from some masters who were disciples of Stefano, and +from works by the same Stefano, by Jacopo Bellini, by Pisano, and by +others, which he saw and copied. Saying nothing of the many pictures +that he executed after the manner of those times, which are now in +monasteries and private houses, I begin by recording that he painted in +chiaroscuro, with "terretta verde," the facade of a house belonging to +the city of Verona, on the square called the Piazza de' Signori; and in +this may be seen many ornamental friezes and scenes from ancient +history, with a very beautiful arrangement of figures and costumes of +bygone days. But the best work to be seen by the hand of this master is +the Leading of Christ to the Cross, with a multitude of figures and +horses, which is in S. Bernardino, on the wall above the Chapel of the +Monte di Pieta, for which Liberale painted the picture of the Deposition +with the weeping Angels. The same Domenico received a commission to +paint the chapel that is next to that one, both within and without, at +great expense and with a lavish use of gold, from the Chevalier, Messer +Niccolo de' Medici, who was considered to be the richest man of his day +in Verona, and who spent great sums of money on other pious works, being +a man who was inclined to this by nature. This gentleman, after he had +built many monasteries and churches, and had left scarcely any place in +that city where he had not executed some noble and costly work to the +honour of God, chose as his burial-place the chapel mentioned above, for +the ornamentation of which he availed himself of Domenico, at that time +more famous than any other painter in that city, Liberale being in +Siena. + +Domenico, then, painted in the interior of this chapel the Miracles of +S. Anthony of Padua, to whom it is dedicated, and portrayed the +Chevalier in an old man with shaven face and white hair, without any +cap, and wearing a long gown of cloth of gold, such as Chevaliers used +to wear in those times. All this, for a work in fresco, is very well +designed and executed. Then, in certain medallions in the outer +vaulting, which is all overlaid with gold, he painted the four +Evangelists; and on the pilasters both within and without he executed +figures of Saints, among which are S. Elizabeth of the Third Order of S. +Francis, S. Helen, and S. Catharine, which are very beautiful figures, +and much extolled for the draughtsmanship, colouring, and grace. This +work, then, can bear witness to the talent of Domenico and to the +magnificent liberality of that Chevalier. + +Domenico died very old, and was buried in S. Bernardino, wherein are the +works by his hand described above, leaving his son, Francesco Morone, +heir to his property and his talents. This Francesco, who learned the +first principles of art from his father, afterwards exerted himself in +such a manner that in a short time he became a much better master than +his father had been, as the works that he executed in emulation of those +of his father clearly demonstrate. Below his father's work on the altar +of the Monte, in the aforesaid Church of S. Bernardino, Francesco +painted in oils the folding-doors that enclose the altar-piece of +Liberale; on the inner side of which he depicted in one the Virgin, and +in the other S. John the Evangelist, both life-size figures, with great +beauty in the faces, which are weeping, in the draperies, and in every +other part. In the same chapel, at the foot of the face of that wall +which serves as head-wall to the tramezzo,[8] he painted the Miracle +that Our Lord performed with the five loaves and two fishes, which +satisfied the multitude; and in this are many beautiful figures and +many portraits from life, but most of all is praise given to a S. John +the Evangelist, who is very slender, and has his back partly turned +towards the spectator. He then executed in the same place, beside the +altar-piece, in the vacant spaces on the wall against which it rests, a +S. Louis, Bishop and Friar of S. Francis, and another figure; with some +heads in foreshortening in a sunk medallion on the vaulting. All these +works are much extolled by the painters of Verona. And for the altar of +the Cross, on which are so many painted pictures, between that chapel +and the Chapel of the Medici, in the same church, he executed a picture +which is in the centre above all the others, containing Christ on the +Cross, the Madonna, and S. John, and very beautiful. In another picture, +which is above that of Caroto, on the left-hand side of the same altar, +he painted Our Lord washing the feet of the Apostles, who are seen in +various attitudes; in which work, so men say, this painter made a +portrait of himself in the figure of one who is serving Christ by +bringing water. + +For the Chapel of the Emilii, in the Duomo, Francesco executed a S. +James and a S. John, one on either side of Christ, who is bearing His +Cross; and the beauty and excellence of these two figures leave nothing +to be desired. The same master executed many works at Lonico, in an +abbey of Monks of Monte Oliveto, whither great multitudes flock together +to adore a figure of the Madonna which performs many miracles in that +place. Afterwards, Francesco being very much the friend, and, as it +were, the brother of Girolamo dai Libri, the painter and illuminator, +they undertook to paint in company the organ-doors of S. Maria in +Organo, a church of Monks of Monte Oliveto. In one of these, on the +outer side, Francesco painted a S. Benedict clothed in white, and S. +John the Evangelist, and on the inner side the Prophets Daniel and +Isaiah, with two little Angels in the air, and a ground all full of very +beautiful landscapes. And then he executed the great altar-piece of the +altar of the Muletta, painting therein a S. Peter and a S. John, which +are little more than one braccio in height, but wrought so well and with +such diligence, that they have the appearance of miniatures. The +carvings of this work were executed by Fra Giovanni da Verona, a master +of tarsia and carving. + +In the same place, on the wall of the choir, Francesco painted two +scenes in fresco--one of Our Lord riding on an ass into Jerusalem, and +the other of His Prayer in the Garden, wherein, on one side, is the +armed multitude coming to take Him, guided by Judas. But more beautiful +than all the rest is the vaulted sacristy, which is all painted by the +same master, excepting only the S. Anthony being scourged by Demons, +which is said to be by the hand of his father, Domenico. In this +sacristy, then, besides the Christ and some little Angels that are seen +in foreshortening on the vaulting, he painted in the lunettes, two in +each niche, and robed in their pontifical vestments, the various Popes +who have been exalted to the Pontificate from the Order of S. Benedict. +Round the sacristy, below the lunettes of the vaulting, is drawn a +frieze four feet high, and divided into compartments, wherein are +painted in the monastic habit various Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and other +Princes, who have abandoned the States and Principalities that they +ruled, and have become monks. In these figures Francesco made portraits +from life of many of the monks who had their habitation or a temporary +abode in that monastery, the while that he was working there; and among +them are portraits of many novices and other monks of every kind, which +are heads of great beauty, and executed with much diligence. In truth, +by reason of these ornaments, that was then the most beautiful sacristy +that there was in all Italy, since, in addition to the beauty of the +room, which is of considerable size and well proportioned, and the +pictures described above, which are also very beautiful, there is at the +foot of the walls a range of panelled seats adorned with fine +perspective-views, so well executed in tarsia and carving, that there is +no work to be seen of those times, and perchance even of our own, that +is much better. For Fra Giovanni da Verona, who executed this work, was +most excellent in that art, as was said in the Life of Raffaello da +Urbino, and as is demonstrated not only by his many other works in +houses of his Order, but also by those that are in the Papal Palace at +Rome, in Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri in the territory of Siena, and in +other places. But those of this sacristy are the best of all the works +that Fra Giovanni ever executed, for the reason that it may be said that +in them he surpassed himself by as much as he excelled in the rest every +other master. Among other things, Fra Giovanni carved for this place a +candelabrum more than fourteen feet in height to hold the Paschal +candle, all made of walnut-wood, and wrought with such extraordinary +patience that I do not believe that there is a better work of the same +kind to be seen. + +But to return to Francesco: he painted for the same church the +panel-picture which is in the Chapel of the Counts Giusti, in which he +depicted the Madonna, with S. Augustine and S. Martin in pontifical +robes. And in the cloister he executed a Deposition from the Cross, with +the Maries and other Saints, works in fresco which are much extolled in +Verona. In the Church of the Vittoria he painted the Chapel of the +Fumanelli, which is below the wall that supports the choir which was +built by the Chevalier Messer Niccolo de' Medici; and a Madonna in +fresco in the cloister. And afterwards he painted a portrait from life +of Messer Antonio Fumanelli, a physician very famous for the works +written by him in connection with his profession. He painted in fresco, +also, on a house which is seen on the left hand as one crosses the Ponte +delle Navi on the way to S. Paolo, a Madonna with many Saints, which is +held to be a very beautiful work, both in design and in colouring; and +on the house of the Sparvieri, in the Bra, opposite to the garden of the +Friars of S. Fermo, he painted another like it. Francesco painted a +number of other works, of which there is no need to make mention, since +the best have been described; let it suffice to say that he gave grace, +unity, and good design to his pictures, with a colouring as vivid and +pleasing as that of any other painter. Francesco lived fifty-five years, +and died on May 16, 1529. He chose to be carried to his tomb in the +habit of a Friar of S. Francis, and he was buried in S. Domenico, beside +his father. He was so good a man, so religious, and so exemplary, that +there was never heard to issue from his mouth any word that was +otherwise than seemly. + +A disciple of Francesco, and much more able than his master, was the +Veronese Paolo Cavazzuola, who executed many works in Verona; I say in +Verona, because it is not known that he ever worked in any other place. +In S. Nazzaro, a seat of Black Friars at Verona, he painted many works +in fresco near those of his master Francesco; but these were all thrown +to the ground when that church was rebuilt by the pious munificence of +the reverend Father, Don Mauro Lonichi, a nobleman of Verona and Abbot +of that Monastery. On the old house of the Fumanelli, in the Via del +Paradiso, Paolo painted, likewise in fresco, the Sibyl showing to +Augustus Our Lord in the heavens, in the arms of His Mother; which work +is beautiful enough for one of the first that he executed. On the outer +side of the Chapel of the Fontani, in S. Maria in Organo, he painted, +also in fresco, two Angels--namely, S. Michael and S. Raphael. In the +street into which there opens the Chapel of the Angel Raphael, in S. +Eufemia, over a window that gives light to a recess in the staircase of +that chapel, he painted the Angel Raphael, and with him Tobias, whom he +guided on his journey; which was a very beautiful little work. And in S. +Bernardino, in a round picture over the door where there is the bell, he +painted a S. Bernardino in fresco, and in another round picture on the +same wall, but lower down, and above the entrance to a confessional, a +S. Francis, which is beautiful and well executed, as is also the S. +Bernardino. These are all the works that Paolo is known to have painted +in fresco. + +[Illustration: THE DEPOSITION + +(_After the panel by =Paolo Cavazzuola=. Verona: Museo Civico, 392_) + +_Anderson_] + +As for his works in oils, he painted a picture of S. Rocco for the altar +of the Santificazione in the Church of the Madonna della Scala, in +emulation of the S. Sebastian which Il Moro painted for the other side +of the same place; which S. Rocco is a very beautiful figure. But the +best figures that this painter ever executed are in S. Bernardino, where +all the large pictures that are on the altar of the Cross, round the +principal altar-piece, are by his hand, excepting that with the Christ +Crucified, the Madonna, and S. John, which is above all the others, and +is by the hand of his master Francesco. Beside it, in the upper part, +are two large pictures by the hand of Paolo, in one of which is Christ +being scourged at the Column, and in the other His Coronation, painted +with many figures somewhat more than life-size. In the principal +picture, which is lower down, in the first range, he painted a +Deposition from the Cross, with the Madonna, the Magdalene, S. John, +Nicodemus, and Joseph; and he made a portrait of himself, so good that +it has the appearance of life, in one of these figures, a young man with +a red beard, who is near the Tree of the Cross, with a coif on his head, +such as it was the custom to wear at that time. On the right-hand side +is a picture by Paolo of Our Lord in the Garden, with the three +Disciples near Him; and on the left-hand side is another of Christ with +the Cross on His shoulder, being led to Mount Calvary. The excellence of +these works, which stand out strongly in comparison with those by the +hand of his master that are in the same place, will always give Paolo a +place among the best craftsmen. + +On the base he painted some Saints from the breast upwards, which are +all portraits from life. The first figure, wearing the habit of S. +Francis, and representing a Beato, is a portrait of Fra Girolamo +Rechalchi, a noble Veronese; the figure beside the first, painted to +represent S. Bonaventura, is the portrait of Fra Bonaventura Rechalchi, +brother of the aforesaid Fra Girolamo; and the head of S. Joseph is the +portrait of a steward of the Marchesi Malespini, who had been charged at +that time by the Company of the Cross to see to the execution of this +work. All these heads are very beautiful. + +For the same church Paolo painted the altar-piece of the Chapel of S. +Francesco, in which work, the last that he executed, he surpassed +himself. There are in it six figures larger than life; one being S. +Elizabeth, of the Third Order of S. Francis, who is a most beautiful +figure, with a smiling air and a gracious countenance, and with her lap +full of roses; and she seems to be rejoicing at the sight of the bread +that she, great lady as she was, had been carrying to the poor, turned +by a miracle of God into roses, in token that her humble charity in thus +ministering to the poor with her own hands was acceptable to God. This +figure is a portrait of a widowed lady of the Sacchi family. Among the +other figures are S. Bonaventura the Cardinal and S. Louis the Bishop, +both Friars of S. Francis. Near these are S. Louis, King of France, S. +Eleazar in a grey habit, and S. Ivo in the habit of a priest. Then there +is the Madonna on a cloud above them all, with S. Francis and other +figures round her; but it is said that these are not by the hand of +Paolo, but by that of a friend who helped him to execute the picture; +and it is evident, indeed, that these figures are not equal in +excellence to those beneath. And in this picture is a portrait from life +of Madonna Caterina de' Sacchi, who gave the commission for the work. + +Now Paolo, having set his heart on becoming great and famous, made to +this end such immoderate exertions that he fell ill and died at the +early age of thirty-one, at the very moment when he was beginning to +give proofs of what might be expected from him at a riper age. It is +certain that Paolo, if Fortune had not crossed him at the height of his +activity, would without a doubt have attained to the highest, best, and +greatest honours that could be desired by a painter. His loss, +therefore, grieved not only his friends, but all men of talent and +everyone who knew him, and all the more because he had been a young man +of excellent character, untainted by a single vice. He was buried in S. +Paolo, after making himself immortal by the beautiful works that he left +behind him. + +Stefano Veronese, a very rare painter in his day, as has been related, +had a brother-german, called Giovanni Antonio, who, although he learned +to paint from that same Stefano, nevertheless did not become anything +more than a mediocre painter, as may be seen from his works, of which +there is no need to make mention. To this Giovanni Antonio was born a +son, called Jacopo, who likewise became a painter of commonplace works; +and to Jacopo were born Giovan Maria, called Falconetto, whose Life we +are about to write, and Giovanni Antonio. The latter, devoting himself +to painting, executed many works at Rovereto, a very famous township in +the Trentino, and many pictures at Verona, which are dispersed among the +houses of private citizens. He also painted many works in the valley of +the Adige, above Verona, and a panel-picture of S. Nicholas, with many +animals, at Sacco, opposite to Rovereto, with many others; after which +he finally died at Rovereto, where he had gone to live. This master was +particularly excellent in making animals and fruits, of which many very +beautiful drawings, executed in miniature, were taken to France by the +Veronese Mondella; and many of them were given by Agnolo, the son of +Giovanni Antonio, to Messer Girolamo Lioni, a Venetian gentleman of +noble spirit. + +But to come at last to Giovan Maria, the brother of Giovanni Antonio. He +learned the rudiments of painting from his father, whose manner he +rendered no little better and grander, although even he was not a +painter of much reputation, as is evident from the Chapels of the Maffei +and of the Emilii in the Duomo of Verona, from the upper part of the +cupola of S. Nazzaro, and from works in other places. This master, +recognizing the little value of his work in painting, and delighting +beyond measure in architecture, set himself with great diligence to +study and draw all the antiquities in his native city of Verona. He then +resolved to visit Rome, and to learn architecture from its marvellous +remains, which are the true masters; and he made his way to that city, +and stayed there twelve whole years. That time he spent, for the most +part, in examining and drawing all those marvellous antiquities, +searching out in every place all the ground-plans that he could see and +all the measurements that he could find. Nor did he leave anything in +Rome, either buildings or their members, such as cornices, capitals, and +columns, of whatsoever Order, that he did not draw with his own hand, +with all the measurements; and he also drew all the sculptures which +were discovered in those times, insomuch that when he returned to his +own country, after those twelve years, he was rich in all the treasures +of his art. And, not content with the things in the city of Rome itself, +he drew all that was good and beautiful in the whole of the Roman +Campagna, going even as far as the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of +Spoleto, and other parts. It is said that Giovan Maria, being poor, and +therefore having little wherewith to live or to maintain himself in +Rome, used to spend two or three days every week in assisting some +painter with his work; and with his earnings, since at that time masters +were well paid and living was cheap, he was able to live the other days +of the week, pursuing the studies of architecture. Thus, then, he drew +all those antiquities as if they were complete, reconstructing them in +his drawings from the parts and members that he saw, from which he +imagined all the other parts of the buildings in all their perfection +and integrity, and all with such true measurements and proportions, +that he could not make an error in a single detail. + +Having returned to Verona, and finding no opportunity of exercising +himself in architecture, since his native city was in the throes of a +change of government, Giovan Maria gave his attention for the time to +painting, and executed many works. On the house of the Della Torre +family he painted a large escutcheon crowned by some trophies; and for +two German noblemen, counsellors of the Emperor Maximilian, he executed +in fresco some scenes from the Scriptures on a wall of the little Church +of S. Giorgio, and painted there life-size portraits of those two +Germans, one kneeling on one side and one on the other. He executed a +number of works at Mantua, for Signor Luigi Gonzaga; and some others at +Osimo, in the March of Ancona. And while the city of Verona was under +the Emperor, he painted the imperial arms on all the public buildings, +and received for this from the Emperor a good salary and a patent of +privilege, from which it may be seen that many favours and exemptions +were granted to him, both on account of his good service in matters of +art, and because he was a man of great spirit, brave and formidable in +the use of arms, with which he might likewise be expected to give +valiant and faithful service: and all the more because he drew after +him, on account of the great credit that he had with his neighbours, the +whole mass of the people who lived in the Borgo di San Zeno, a very +populous part of the city, in which he had been born and had taken a +wife from the family of the Provali. For these reasons, then, he had all +the inhabitants of his district as his following, and was called +throughout the city by no other name but that of the "Red-head of San +Zeno." + +Now, when the city again changed its government and returned to the rule +of its ancient masters the Venetians, Giovan Maria, being known as one +who had served the party of the Emperor, was forced to seek safety in +flight; and he went, therefore, to Trento, where he passed some time +painting certain pictures. Finally, however, when matters had mended, he +made his way to Padua, where he was first received in audience and then +much favoured by the very reverend Monsignor Bembo, who presented him +not long afterwards to the illustrious Messer Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian +gentleman of lofty spirit and truly regal mind, as is proved by his many +magnificent enterprises. This gentleman, who, in addition to his other +truly noble qualities, delighted in the study of architecture, the +knowledge of which is worthy of no matter how great a Prince, had +therefore read the works of Vitruvius, Leon Batista Alberti, and others +who have written on this subject, and he wished to put what he had +learned into practice. And when he saw the designs of Falconetto, and +perceived with what profound knowledge he spoke of these matters, and +rendered clear all the difficulties that can arise through the variety +of the Orders of architecture, he conceived such a love for him that he +took him into his own house and kept him there as an honoured guest for +twenty-one years, which was the whole of the rest of Giovan Maria's +life. + +During this time Falconetto executed many works with the help of the +same Messer Luigi. The latter, desiring to see the antiquities of Rome +on the spot, even as he had seen them in the drawings of Giovan Maria, +went to Rome, taking him with him; and there he devoted himself to +examining everything minutely, having him always in his company. After +they had returned to Padua, a beginning was made with building from the +design and model of Falconetto that most beautiful and ornate loggia +which is in the house of the Cornari, near the Santo; and the palace was +to be erected next, after the model made by Messer Luigi himself. In +this loggia the name of Giovan Maria is carved on a pilaster. + +The same architect built a very large and magnificent Doric portal for +the Palace of the Captain of that place; and this portal is much praised +by everyone as a work of great purity. He also erected two very +beautiful gates for the city, one of which, called the Porta di S. +Giovanni, and leading to Vicenza, is very fine, and commodious for the +soldiers who guard it; and the other, which is very well designed, was +called the Porta Savonarola. He made, likewise, for the Friars of S. +Dominic, the design and model of the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie, +and laid the foundations; and this work, as may be seen from the model, +is so beautiful and well designed, that one of equal size to rival it +has perhaps never been seen up to our own day in any other place. And +by the same master was made the model of a most superb palace for Signor +Girolamo Savorgnano, at his well fortified stronghold of Usopo in +Friuli; for which all the foundations were then laid, and it had begun +to rise above the ground, when, by reason of the death of that nobleman, +it was left in that condition without being carried further; but if this +building had been finished, it would have been a marvel. + +About the same time Falconetto went to Pola, in Istria, for the sole +purpose of seeing and drawing the theatre, amphitheatre, and arch that +are in that most ancient city. He was the first who made drawings of +theatres and amphitheatres and traced their ground-plans, and those that +are to be seen, particularly in the case of Verona, came from him, and +were printed at the instance of others after his designs. Giovan Maria +was a man of exalted mind, and, being one who had never done anything +else but draw the great works of antiquity, he desired nothing save that +there should be presented to him opportunities of executing works +similar to those in greatness. He would sometimes make ground-plans and +designs for them, with the very same pains that he would have taken if +he had been commissioned to put them into execution at once; and in this +he lost himself so much, so to speak, that he would not deign to make +designs for the private houses of gentlemen, either in the country or in +the city, although he was much besought to do so. + +Giovan Maria was in Rome on many occasions besides those described +above; whence that journey was so familiar to him, that when he was +young and vigorous he would undertake it on the slightest opportunity. +Persons who are still alive relate that, falling one day into a +discussion with a foreign architect, who happened to be in Verona, about +the measurements of I know not what ancient cornice in Rome, after many +words Giovan Maria said, "I will soon make myself certain in this +matter," and then went straight to his house and set out on his way to +Rome. + +[Illustration: PALAZZO DEL CAPITANIO + +(_After_ Falconetto. _Padua_) + +_Anderson_] + +This master made for the Cornaro family two very beautiful designs of +tombs, which were to be erected in S. Salvatore, at Venice--one for the +Queen of Cyprus, a lady of that family, and the other for Cardinal +Marco Cornaro, who was the first of that house to be honoured with +that dignity. And in order that these designs might be carried out, a +great quantity of marble was quarried at Carrara and taken to Venice, +where the rough blocks still are, in the house of the same Cornari. + +Giovan Maria was the first who brought the true methods of building and +of good architecture to Verona, Venice, and all those parts, where +before him there had not been one who knew how to make even a cornice or +a capital, or understood either the measurements or the proportions of a +column or of any Order of architecture, as is evident from the buildings +that were erected before his day. This knowledge was afterwards much +increased by Fra Giocondo, who lived about the same time, and it +received its final perfection from Messer Michele San Michele, insomuch +that those parts are therefore under an everlasting obligation to the +people of Verona, in which city were born and lived at one and the same +time these three most excellent architects. To them there then succeeded +Sansovino, who, not resting content with architecture, which he found +already grounded and established by the three masters mentioned above, +also brought thither sculpture, to the end that by its means their +buildings might have all the adornments that were proper to them. And +for this a debt of gratitude--if one may use such a word--is due to the +ruin of Rome, by reason of which the masters were dispersed over many +places and the beauties of these arts communicated throughout all +Europe. + +Giovan Maria caused some works in stucco to be carried out in Venice, +and taught the method of executing them. Some declare that when he was a +young man he had the vaulting of the Chapel of the Santo, at Padua, +decorated with stucco by Tiziano da Padova and many others, and also had +similar works executed in the house of the Cornari, which are very +beautiful. He taught his work to two of his sons, Ottaviano, who was, +like himself, also a painter, and Provolo. Alessandro, his third son, +worked in his youth at making armour, and afterwards adopted the calling +of a soldier; he was three times victor in the lists, and finally, when +a captain of infantry, died fighting valiantly before Turin in Piedmont, +having been wounded by a harquebus-ball. + +Giovan Maria, on his part, after being crippled by gout, finished the +course of his life at Padua, in the house of the aforesaid Messer Luigi +Cornaro, who always loved him like a brother, or rather, like his own +self. And to the end that there might be no separation in death between +the bodies of those whose minds had been united together in the world by +friendship and love of art, Messer Luigi had intended that Giovan Maria +should be laid to rest beside himself in the tomb that was to be erected +for his own burial, together with that most humorous poet, Ruzzante, his +very familiar friend, who lived and died in his house; but I do not know +whether this design of the illustrious Cornaro was ever carried into +effect. Giovan Maria was a fine talker, pleasant and agreeable in +conversation, and very acute in repartee, insomuch that Cornaro used to +declare that a whole book could have been made with his sayings. And +since, although he was crippled by gout, he lived cheerfully, he +preserved his life to the age of seventy-six, dying in 1534. + +He had six daughters, five of whom he gave in marriage himself, and the +sixth was married by her brothers, after his death, to Bartolommeo +Ridolfi of Verona, who executed many works in stucco in company with +them, and was a much better master than they were. This may be seen from +his works in many places, and in particular at Verona, in the house of +Fiorio della Seta on the Ponte Nuovo, in which he decorated some +apartments in a very beautiful manner. There are others in the house of +the noble Counts Canossi, which are amazing; and such, also, are those +that he executed in the house of the Murati, near S. Nazzaro; and for +Signor Giovan Battista della Torre, for Cosimo Moneta, the Veronese +banker, at his beautiful villa, and for many others in various places, +all works of great beauty. Palladio, most excellent of architects, +declares that he knows no person more marvellous in invention or better +able to adorn apartments with beautiful designs in stucco, than this +Bartolommeo Ridolfi. Not many years since, Spitech Giordan, a nobleman +of great authority with the King of Poland, took Bartolommeo with him to +that King; and there, enjoying an honourable salary, he has executed, as +he still does, many works in stucco, large portraits, medallions, and +many designs for palaces and other buildings, with the assistance of a +son of his own, who is in no way inferior to his father. + +[Illustration: GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH S. ANNE + +(_London: National Gallery, 748. Canvas_)] + +The elder Francesco dai Libri of Verona lived some time before Liberale, +although it is not known exactly at what date he was born; and he was +called "Dai Libri"[9] because he practised the art of illuminating +books, his life extending from the time when printing had not yet been +invented to the very moment when it was beginning to come into use. +Since, therefore, there came to him from every quarter books to +illuminate--a work in which he was most excellent--he was known by no +other surname than that of "Dai Libri"; and he executed great numbers of +them, for the reason that whoever went to the expense of having them +written, which was very great, wished also to have them adorned as much +as was possible with illuminations. + +This master illuminated many choral books, all beautiful, which are at +Verona, in S. Giorgio, in S. Maria in Organo, and in S. Nazzaro; but the +most beautiful is a little book, or rather, two little pictures that +fold together after the manner of a book, on one side of which is a S. +Jerome, a figure executed with much diligence and very minute +workmanship, and on the other a S. John in the Isle of Patmos, depicted +in the act of beginning to write his Book of the Apocalypse. This work, +which was bequeathed to Count Agostino Giusti by his father, is now in +S. Leonardo, a convent of Canons Regular, of which Don Timoteo Giusti, +the son of that Count, is a member. Finally, after having executed +innumerable works for various noblemen, Francesco died, content and +happy for the reason that, in addition to the serenity of mind that his +goodness brought him, he left behind him a son, called Girolamo, who was +so excellent in art that before his death he saw him already a much +greater master than himself. + +This Girolamo, then, was born at Verona in the year 1472, and at the age +of sixteen he painted for the Chapel of the Lischi, in S. Maria in +Organo, an altar-piece which caused such marvel to everyone when it was +uncovered and set in its place, that the whole city ran to embrace and +congratulate his father Francesco. In this picture is a Deposition from +the Cross, with many figures, and among the many beautiful weeping +heads the best of all are a Madonna and a S. Benedict, which are much +commended by all craftsmen; and he also made therein a landscape, with a +part of the city of Verona, drawn passing well from the reality. Then, +encouraged by the praises that he heard given to his work, Girolamo +painted the altar of the Madonna in S. Paolo in a masterly manner, and +also the picture of the Madonna with S. Anne, which is placed between +the S. Sebastian of Il Moro and the S. Rocco of Cavazzuola in the Church +of the Scala. For the family of the Zoccoli he painted the great +altar-piece of the high-altar in the Church of the Vittoria, and for the +family of the Cipolli the picture of S. Onofrio, which is near the +other, and is held to be both in design and in colouring the best work +that he ever executed. + +For S. Leonardo nel Monte, also, near Verona, he painted at the +commission of the Cartieri family the altar-piece of the high-altar, +which is a large work with many figures, and much esteemed by everyone, +above all for its very beautiful landscape. Now a thing that has +happened very often in our own day has caused this work to be held to be +a marvel. There is a tree painted by Girolamo in the picture, and +against it seems to rest the great chair on which the Madonna is seated. +This tree, which has the appearance of a laurel, projects considerably +with its branches over the chair, and between the branches, which are +not very thick, may be seen a sky so clear and beautiful, that the tree +seems to be truly a living one, graceful and most natural. Very often, +therefore, birds that have entered the church by various openings have +been seen to fly to this tree in order to perch upon it, and +particularly swallows, which had their nests among the beams of the +roof, and likewise their little ones. Many persons well worthy of +credence declare that they have seen this, among them Don Giuseppe +Mangiuoli of Verona, a person of saintly life, who has twice been +General of his Order and would not for anything in the world assert a +thing that was not absolutely true, and also Don Girolamo Volpini, +likewise a Veronese, and many others. + +[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Girolamo dai Libri=. Verona: Museo Civico, +290_) + +_Brogi_] + +In S. Maria in Organo, where was the first work executed by Girolamo, he +also painted two Saints on the outer side of one of the folding doors of +the organ--the other being painted by Francesco Morone, his +companion--and on the inner side a Manger. And afterwards he painted +the picture that is opposite to his first work, containing the Nativity +of Our Lord, with shepherds, landscapes, and very beautiful trees; but +most lifelike and natural of all are two rabbits, which are executed +with such diligence that each separate hair may actually be seen in +them. He painted another altar-piece for the Chapel of the Buonalivi, +with a Madonna seated in the centre, two other figures, and some Angels +below, who are singing. Then, in the ornamental work made by Fra +Giovanni da Verona for the altar of the Sacrament, the same Girolamo +painted three little pictures after the manner of miniatures. In the +central picture is a Deposition from the Cross, with two little Angels, +and in those at the sides are painted six Martyrs, kneeling towards the +Sacrament, three in each picture, these being saints whose bodies are +deposited in that very altar. The first three are Cantius, Cantianus, +and Cantianilla, who were nephews of the Emperor Diocletian, and the +others are Protus, Chrysogonus, and Anastasius, who suffered martyrdom +at Aquae Gradatae, near Aquileia; and all these figures are in miniature, +and very beautiful, for Girolamo was more able in that field of art than +any other master of his time in Lombardy and in the State of Venice. + +Girolamo illuminated many books for the Monks of Montescaglioso in the +Kingdom of Naples, some for S. Giustina at Padua, and many others for +the Abbey of Praia in the territory of Padua; and also some at Candiana, +a very rich monastery of the Canons Regular of S. Salvatore, to which +place he went in person to work, although he would never go to any other +place. While he was living there, Don Giulio Clovio, who was a friar in +that place, learned the first rudiments of illumination; and he has +since become the greatest master of that art that is now alive in Italy. +Girolamo illuminated at Candiana a sheet with a Kyrie, which is an +exquisite work, and for the same monks the first leaf of a psalter for +the choir; with many things for S. Maria in Organo and for the Friars of +S. Giorgio, in Verona. He executed, likewise, some other very beautiful +illuminations for the Black Friars of S. Nazzaro at Verona. But that +which surpassed all the other works of this master, which were all +divine, was a sheet on which was depicted in miniature the Earthly +Paradise, with Adam and Eve driven forth by the Angel, who is behind +them with a sword in his hand. One would not be able to express how +great and how beautiful is the variety of the trees, fruits, flowers, +animals, birds, and all the other things that are in this amazing work, +which was executed at the commission of Don Giorgio Cacciamale of +Bergamo, then Prior of S. Giorgio in Verona, who, in addition to the +many other courtesies that he showed to Girolamo, gave him sixty crowns +of gold. This work was afterwards presented by that Father to a Roman +Cardinal, at that time Protector of his Order, who showed it to many +noblemen in Rome, and they all declared it to be the best example of +illumination that had ever been seen up to that day. + +Girolamo painted flowers with such diligence, and made them so true, so +beautiful, and so natural, that they appeared to all who beheld them to +be real; and he counterfeited little cameos and other engraved stones +and jewels in such a manner, that there was nothing more faithfully +imitated or more diminutive to be seen. Among his little figures there +are seen some, as in his imitations of cameos and other stones, that are +no larger than little ants, and yet all the limbs and all the muscles +can be perceived so clearly that one who has not seen them could +scarcely believe it. Girolamo used to say in his old age that he knew +more in his art then than he had ever known, and saw where every stroke +ought to go, but that when he came to handle the brushes, they went the +wrong way, because neither his eye nor his hand would serve him any +longer. He died on the 2nd of July in the year 1555, at the age of +eighty-three, and was laid to rest in the burial-place of the Company of +S. Biagio in S. Nazzaro. + +He was a good and upright man, who never had a quarrel or dispute with +anyone, and his life was very pure. He had, besides other children, a +son called Francesco, who learned his art from him, and executed +miracles of illumination when still a mere lad, so that Girolamo +declared that he had not known as much at that age as his son knew. But +this young man was led away from him by a brother of his mother, who, +being passing rich, and having no children, took him with him to Vicenza +and placed him in charge of a glass-furnace that he was setting up. When +Francesco had spent his best years in this, his uncle's wife dying, he +fell from his high hopes, and found that he had wasted his time, for +the uncle took another wife, and had children by her, and thus Francesco +did not become his uncle's heir, as he had thought to be. Thereupon he +returned to his art after an absence of six years, and, after acquiring +some knowledge, set himself to work. Among other things, he made a large +globe, four feet in diameter, hollow within, and covered on the outer +side, which was of wood, with a glue made of bullock's sinews, which was +of a very strong admixture, so that there should be no danger of cracks +or other damage in any part. This sphere, which was to serve as a +terrestrial globe, was then carefully measured and divided under the +personal supervision of Fracastoro and Beroldi, both eminent physicians, +cosmographers, and astrologers; and it was to be painted by Francesco +for Messer Andrea Navagiero, a Venetian gentleman, and a most learned +poet and orator, who wished to make a present of it to King Francis of +France, to whom he was about to go as Ambassador from his Republic. But +Navagiero had scarcely arrived in France after a hurried journey, when +he died, and this work remained unfinished. A truly rare work it would +have been, thus executed by Francesco with the advice and guidance of +two men of such distinction; but it was left unfinished, as we have +said, and, what was worse, in its incomplete condition it received some +injury, I know not what, in the absence of Francesco. However, spoiled +as it was, it was bought by Messer Bartolommeo Lonichi, who has never +consented to give it up to anyone, although he has been much besought +and offered vast prices. + +Before this, Francesco had made two smaller globes, one of which is in +the possession of Mazzanti, Archpriest of the Duomo of Verona, and the +other belonged to Count Raimondo della Torre, and is now in the hands of +his son, Count Giovan Batista, who holds it very dear, because this one, +also, was made with the measurements and personal assistance of +Fracastoro, who was a very familiar friend of Count Raimondo. + +Finally, growing weary of the extraordinary labour that miniatures +demand, Francesco devoted himself to painting and to architecture, in +which he became very skilful, executing many works in Venice and in +Padua. About that time the Bishop of Tournai, a very rich and noble +Fleming, had come to Italy in order to study letters, to see the +country, and to learn our manners and ways of living. This man, +delighting much in architecture, and happening to be in Padua, became so +enamoured of the Italian method of building that he resolved to take the +modes of our architecture with him to his own country; and in order to +facilitate this purpose, he drew Francesco, whose ability he had +recognized, into his service with an honourable salary, meaning to take +him to Flanders, where he intended to carry out many magnificent works. +But when the time came to depart, poor Francesco, who had caused designs +to be made of all the best and greatest and most famous buildings in +Italy, was overtaken by death, while still young and the object of the +highest expectations, leaving his patron much grieved by his loss. + +Francesco left an only brother, in whom, being a priest, the Dai Libri +family became extinct, after producing in succession three men most +excellent in their field of art. Nor have any disciples survived them to +keep this art alive, excepting the above-mentioned churchman, Don +Giulio, who, as we have related, learned it from Girolamo when he was +working at Candiana, where the former was a friar; and this Don Giulio +has since raised it to a height of excellence which very few have +reached and no one has ever surpassed. + +I knew for myself some of the facts about the excellent and noble +craftsmen mentioned above, but I would never have been able to learn the +whole of what I have related of them if the great goodness and diligence +of the reverend and most learned Fra Marco de' Medici of Verona, a man +profoundly conversant with all the most noble arts and sciences, and +with him Danese Cattaneo of Carrara, a sculptor of great excellence, +both being very much my friends, had not given me that complete and +perfect information which I have just written down, to the best of my +ability, for the convenience and advantage of all who may read these our +Lives, in which the courtesy of many friends, who have taken pains with +the investigation of these matters in order to please me and to benefit +the world, has been, as it still is, of great assistance to me. And let +this be the end of the Lives of these craftsmen of Verona, the portraits +of each of whom I have not been able to obtain, because this full notice +did not reach my hands until I found myself almost at the close of my +work. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Canal of the slaughter-houses. + +[2] Small canal of the corn-magazines. + +[3] Scarpagnino. + +[4] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[5] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[6] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[7] From "terra," earth. + +[8] See note on page 57, Vol. I. + +[9] _I.e._, "of the books." + + + + +FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + + + + +LIFE OF FRANCESCO GRANACCI (IL GRANACCIO) + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +Great, indeed, is the good fortune of those craftsmen who are brought +into contact, either by their birth or by the associations that are +formed in childhood, with those men whom Heaven has chosen out to be +distinguished and exalted above all others in our arts, for the reason +that a good and beautiful manner can be acquired with the greatest +facility by seeing the methods and works of men of excellence, not to +mention that rivalry and emulation, as we have said elsewhere, have +great power over our minds. + +Francesco Granacci, of whom we have already spoken, was one of those who +were placed by the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici to learn in his +garden; whence it happened that, recognizing, boy as he was, the great +genius of Michelagnolo, and what extraordinary fruits he was likely to +produce when full grown, he could never tear himself away from his side, +and even strove with incredible attention and humility to be always +following that great brain, insomuch that Michelagnolo was constrained +to love him more than all his other friends, and to confide so much in +him, that there was no one with whom he was more willing to confer +touching his works or to share all that he knew of art at that time, +than with Granacci. Then, after they had been companions together in the +workshop of Domenico Ghirlandajo, it came to pass that Granacci, because +he was held to be the best of Ghirlandajo's young men, the strongest +draughtsman, and the one who had most grace in painting in distemper, +assisted David and Benedetto Ghirlandajo, the brothers of Domenico, to +finish the altar-piece of the high-altar in S. Maria Novella, which had +been left unfinished at the death of the same Domenico. By this work +Granacci gained much experience, and afterwards he executed in the same +manner as that altar-piece many pictures that are in the houses of +citizens, and others which were sent abroad. + +And since he was very gracious, and made himself very useful in certain +ceremonies that were performed in the city during the festivals of the +Carnival, he was constantly employed by the Magnificent Lorenzo de' +Medici in many similar works, and in particular for the masquerade that +represented the Triumph of Paulus Emilius, which was held in honour of +the victory that he gained over certain foreign nations. In this +masquerade, which was full of most beautiful inventions, Granacci +acquitted himself so well, although he was a mere lad, that he won the +highest praise. And here I will not omit to tell that the same Lorenzo +de' Medici, as I have said in another place, was the first inventor of +those masquerades that represent some particular subject, and are called +in Florence "Canti";[10] for it is not known that any were performed in +earlier times. + +In like manner Granacci was employed in the sumptuous and magnificent +preparations that were made in the year 1513 for the entry of Pope Leo +X, one of the Medici, by Jacopo Nardi, a man of great learning and most +beautiful intellect, who, having been commanded by the Tribunal of Eight +to prepare a splendid masquerade, executed a representation of the +Triumph of Camillus. This masquerade, in so far as it lay in the +province of the painter, was so beautifully arranged and adorned by +Granacci that no man could imagine anything better; and the words of the +song, which Jacopo composed, began thus: + + Contempla in quanta gloria sei salita, + Felice alma Fiorenza, + Poiche dal Ciel discesa, + +with what follows. For the same spectacle Granacci executed a great +quantity of theatrical scenery, as he did both before and afterwards. +And while working with Ghirlandajo he painted standards for ships, and +also banners and devices for certain Knights of the Golden Spur, for +their public entry into Florence, all at the expense of the Captains of +the Guelph Party, as was the custom at that time, and as has been done +in our own day, not long since. + +[Illustration: FRANCESCO GRANACCI: THE HOLY FAMILY + +(_Florence: Pitti, 199. Panel_)] + +In like manner he made many beautiful embellishments and decorations of +his own invention for the Potenze[11] and their tournaments. These +festivals were of a kind which is peculiar to the Florentines, and very +pleasing, and in them were seen men standing almost upright on +horseback, with very short stirrups, and breaking a lance with the same +facility as do the warriors firmly seated on their saddles; and all this +was done for the above-mentioned visit of Leo to Florence. Granacci also +made, besides other things, a most beautiful triumphal arch opposite to +the door of the Badia, covered with scenes in chiaroscuro and very +lovely things of fancy. This arch was much extolled, and particularly +for the invention of the architecture, and because he had made an +imitation of that same door of the Badia for the entrance of the Via del +Palagio, executed in perspective with the steps and every other thing, +so that the painted and supposititious door was in no way different from +the real and true one. To adorn the same arch he executed with his own +hand some very beautiful figures of clay in relief, and on the summit of +the arch he placed a great inscription with these words: LEONI X PONT. +MAX. FIDEI CULTORI. + +But to come at length to some works by Granacci that are in existence, +let me relate that, having studied the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti while the latter was executing it for the Great Hall of the +Palace, he found it so instructive and made such proficience, that, when +Michelagnolo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II to the end that he +might paint the vaulting of the Chapel in his Palace, Granacci was one +of the first to be sent for by Buonarroti to help him to paint that work +in fresco after the cartoons that he himself had prepared. It is true +that Michelagnolo, being dissatisfied with the manner and method of +every one of his assistants, afterwards found means to make them all +return to Florence without dismissing them, by closing the door on them +all and not allowing himself to be seen. + +In Florence Granacci painted for Pier Francesco Borgherini a scene in +oils on the head-board of a couch which stood in an apartment wherein +Jacopo da Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto, and Francesco Ubertini had painted +many stories from the life of Joseph, in Pier Francesco's house in Borgo +Sant' Apostolo; and in this scene were little figures representing a +story of the same Joseph, executed with extraordinary finish and with +great charm and beauty of colouring, and a building in perspective, +wherein he depicted Joseph ministering to Pharaoh, which could not be +more beautiful in any part. For the same man, also, he painted a round +picture, likewise in oils, of the Trinity, or rather, God the Father +supporting a Christ Crucified. And in the Church of S. Piero Maggiore +there is a picture of the Assumption by his hand, with many Angels and a +S. Thomas, to whom the Madonna is giving the Girdle. The figure of S. +Thomas is very graceful, turning to one side in a beautiful attitude +worthy of the hand of Michelagnolo, and such, also, is that of Our Lady. +The drawing for these two figures by the hand of Granacci is in our +book, together with others likewise by him. On either side of this +picture are figures of S. Paul, S. Laurence, S. James, and S. John, +which are all so beautiful that the work is held to be the best that +Francesco ever painted; and in truth this work alone, even if he had +never executed another, would ensure his being considered to be, as +indeed he was, an excellent painter. + +For the Church of S. Gallo, without the Gate of the same name, and +formerly a seat of the Eremite Friars of S. Augustine, he painted an +altar-piece with the Madonna and two children, S. Zanobi, Bishop of +Florence, and S. Francis. This altar-piece, which was in the Chapel of +the Girolami, to which family that S. Zanobi belonged, is now in S. +Jacopo tra Fossi at Florence. + +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, having a niece who was a nun in S. Apollonia at +Florence, had therefore executed an ornament for the high-altar of that +church, and a design for the altar-piece; and Granacci painted there +some scenes in oils with figures large and small, which gave much +satisfaction to the nuns at that time, and also to the other painters. +For the same place he painted another altar-piece, which stood lower +down, but this was burned one night, together with some draperies of +great value, through some lights being inadvertently left on the altar; +which was certainly a great loss, seeing that the work was much extolled +by craftsmen. And for the Nuns of S. Giorgio in sulla Costa he executed +the altar-piece of their high-altar, painting in it the Madonna, S. +Catharine, S. Giovanni Gualberto, S. Bernardo Uberti the Cardinal, and +S. Fedele. + +Granacci also executed many pictures, both square and round, which are +dispersed among the houses of gentlemen in the city; and he made many +cartoons for glass-windows, which were afterwards put into execution by +the Frati Ingiesuati of Florence. He delighted much in painting on +cloth, either alone or in company with others; wherefore, in addition to +the works mentioned above, he painted many church-banners. And since he +practised art more to pass the time than from necessity, he worked at +his ease, always consulting his own convenience, and avoiding +discomforts as much as he was able, more than any other man; and yet, +without being covetous of the goods of others, he always preserved his +own. Allowing but few cares to oppress him, he was a merry fellow, and +took his pleasures with a glad heart. He lived sixty-seven years, at the +end of which he finished the course of his life after an ordinary +malady, a kind of fever; and he was buried in the Church of S. Ambrogio +at Florence, on the day of S. Andrew the Apostle, in 1544. + +[Illustration: THE MADONNA GIVING THE GIRDLE TO S. THOMAS + +(_After the panel by =Francesco Granacci=. Florence: Uffizi, 1280_) + +_Alinari_] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] From the "canti," or "songs," that were sung in them. + +[11] The "Potenze" were merry companies composed of the men of +the various quarters in costume. Each quarter had its own, representing +an Emperor, King, or Prince, and his Court. + + + + +BACCIO D' AGNOLO + + + + +LIFE OF BACCIO D' AGNOLO + +ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE + + +Great is the pleasure that I take in studying at times the beginnings of +our craftsmen, for one sees some rising from the lowest depth to the +greatest height, and especially in architecture, a science which has not +been practised for several years past save by carvers and cunning +impostors who profess to understand perspective without knowing even its +terms or its first principles. The truth, indeed, is that architecture +can never be practised to perfection save by those who have an excellent +judgment and a good mastery of design, or have laboured much in +painting, sculpture, or works in wood, for the reason that in it have to +be executed with true measurements the dimensions of their figures, +which are columns, cornices, and bases, and all the ornaments, which are +made for the adornment of the figures, and for no other reason. And thus +the workers in wood, by continually handling such things, in course of +time become architects; and sculptors likewise, by having to find +positions for their statues and by making ornaments for tombs and other +works in the round, come in time to a knowledge of architecture; and +painters, on account of their perspectives, the variety of their +inventions, and the buildings that they draw, are compelled to take the +ground-plans of edifices, seeing that they cannot plant houses or +flights of steps on the planes where their figures stand, without in the +first place grasping the order of the architecture. + +Working in his youth excellently well at wood-inlaying, Baccio executed +the backs of the stalls in the choir of S. Maria Novella, in the +principal chapel, wherein are most beautiful figures of S. John the +Baptist and S. Laurence. In carving, he executed the ornaments of that +same chapel, those of the high-altar in the Nunziata, the decorations of +the organ in S. Maria Novella, and a vast number of other works, both +public and private, in his native city of Florence. Departing from that +city, he went to Rome, where he applied himself with great zeal to the +study of architecture; and on his return he made triumphal arches of +wood in various places for the visit of Pope Leo X. But for all this he +never gave up his workshop, where there were often gathered round him, +in addition to many citizens, the best and most eminent masters of our +arts, so that most beautiful conversations and discussions of importance +took place there, particularly in winter. The first of these masters was +Raffaello da Urbino, then a young man, and next came Andrea Sansovino, +Filippino, Maiano, Cronaca, Antonio da San Gallo and Giuliano da San +Gallo, Granaccio, and sometimes, but not often, Michelagnolo, with many +young Florentines and strangers. + +Having thus given his attention to architecture in so thorough a manner, +and having made some trial of his powers, Baccio began to be held in +such credit in Florence, that the most magnificent buildings that were +erected in his time were entrusted to him and were put under his +direction. When Piero Soderini was Gonfalonier, Baccio took part, with +Cronaca and others, as has been related above, in the deliberations that +were held with regard to the great Hall of the Palace; and with his own +hand he executed in wood the ornament for the large panel-picture which +was begun by Fra Bartolommeo, after the design by Filippino. In company +with the same masters he made the staircase that leads to that Hall, +with a very beautiful ornamentation of stone, and also the columns of +variegated marble and the doors of marble in the hall that is now called +the Sala de' Dugento. + +He built a palace for Giovanni Bartolini, which is very ornate within, +on the Piazza di S. Trinita; and he made many designs for the garden of +the same man in Gualfonda. And since that palace was the first edifice +that was built with ornaments in the form of square windows with +pediments, and a portal with columns supporting architrave, frieze, and +cornice, these things were much censured by the Florentines with spoken +words and sonnets, and festoons of boughs were hung upon them, as is +done in churches for festivals, men saying that the facade was more like +that of a temple than of a palace; so that Baccio was like to go out of +his mind. However, knowing that he had imitated good examples, and that +his work was sound, he regained his peace of mind. It is true that the +cornice of the whole palace proved, as has been said in another place, +to be too large; but in every other respect the work has always been +much extolled. + +For Lanfredino Lanfredini he erected a house on the bank of the Arno, +between the Ponte a S. Trinita and the Ponte alla Carraja; and on the +Piazza de' Mozzi he began the house of the Nasi, which looks out upon +the sandy shore of the Arno, but did not finish it. For Taddeo, of the +Taddei family, he built a house that was held to be very beautiful and +commodious. For Pier Francesco Borgherini he made the designs of the +house that he built in Borgo S. Apostolo, in which he caused ornaments +for the doors and most beautiful chimney-pieces to be executed at great +expense, and made for the adornment of one chamber, in particular, +coffers of walnut-wood covered with little boys carved with supreme +diligence. Such a work it would now be impossible to execute with such +perfection as he gave to it. He also prepared the design for the villa +that Borgherini caused to be built on the hill of Bellosguardo, which +was very beautiful and commodious, and erected at vast expense. For +Giovan Maria Benintendi he executed an antechamber, with an ornamental +frame for some scenes painted by excellent masters, which was a rare +thing. The same Baccio made the model of the Church of S. Giuseppe near +S. Nofri, and directed the construction of the door, which was his last +work. He also caused to be built of masonry the campanile of S. Spirito +in Florence, which was left unfinished, and is now being completed by +order of Duke Cosimo after the original design of Baccio; and he +likewise erected the campanile of S. Miniato sul Monte, which was +battered by the artillery of the camp, but never destroyed, on which +account it gained no less fame for the affront that it offered to the +enemy than for the beauty and excellence with which Baccio had caused it +to be built and carried to completion. + +Next, having been appointed on account of his abilities, and because he +was much beloved by the citizens, as architect to S. Maria del Fiore, +Baccio gave the design for constructing the gallery that encircles the +cupola. This part of the work Filippo Brunelleschi, being overtaken by +death, had not been able to execute; and although he had made designs +even for this, they had been lost or destroyed through the negligence of +those in charge of the building. Baccio, then, having made the design +and model for this gallery, carried into execution all the part that is +to be seen facing the Canto de' Bischeri. But Michelagnolo Buonarroti, +on his return from Rome, perceiving that in carrying out this work they +were cutting away the toothings that Filippo Brunelleschi, not without a +purpose, had left projecting, made such a clamour that the work was +stopped; saying that it seemed to him that Baccio had made a cage for +crickets, that a pile so vast required something grander and executed +with more design, art, and grace than appeared to him to be displayed by +Baccio's design, and that he himself would show how it should be done. +Michelagnolo having therefore made a model, the matter was disputed at +great length before Cardinal Giulio de' Medici by many craftsmen and +competent citizens; and in the end neither the one model nor the other +was carried into execution. Baccio's design was censured in many +respects, not that it was not a well-proportioned work of its kind, but +because it was too insignificant in comparison with the size of the +structure; and for these reasons that gallery has never been brought to +completion. + +Baccio afterwards gave his attention to executing the pavement of S. +Maria del Fiore, and to his other buildings, which were not a few, for +he had under his particular charge all the principal monasteries and +convents of Florence, and many houses of citizens, both within and +without the city. Finally, when near the age of eighty-three, but still +of good and sound judgment, he passed to a better life in 1543, leaving +three sons, Giuliano, Filippo, and Domenico, who had him buried in S. +Lorenzo. + +Of these sons, who all gave their attention after the death of Baccio to +the art of carving and working in wood, Giuliano, who was the second, +was the one who applied himself with the greatest zeal to architecture +both during his father's lifetime and afterwards; wherefore, by favour +of Duke Cosimo, he succeeded to his father's place as architect to S. +Maria del Fiore, and continued not only all that Baccio had begun in +that temple, but also all the other buildings that had remained +unfinished at his death. At that time Messer Baldassarre Turini da +Pescia was intending to place a panel-picture by the hand of Raffaello +da Urbino in the principal church of Pescia, of which he was Provost, +and to erect an ornament of stone, or rather, an entire chapel, around +it, and also a tomb; and Giuliano executed all this after his own +designs and models, and also restored for the same patron his house at +Pescia, making in it many beautiful and useful improvements. For Messer +Francesco Campana, formerly First Secretary to Duke Alessandro, and +afterwards to Duke Cosimo de' Medici, the same Giuliano built at +Montughi, without Florence, beside the church, a house which is small +but very ornate, and so well situated, that it commands from its slight +elevation a view of the whole city of Florence and the surrounding +plain. And a most beautiful and commodious house was built at Colle, the +native place of that same Campana, from the design of Giuliano, who +shortly afterwards began for Messer Ugolino Grifoni, Lord of Altopascio, +a palace at San Miniato al Tedesco, which was a magnificent work. + +For Ser Giovanni Conti, one of the secretaries of the Lord Duke Cosimo, +he made many useful and beautiful improvements in his house at Florence; +although it is true that in the two ground-floor windows, supported by +knee-shaped brackets, which open out upon the street, Giuliano departed +from his usual method, and so cut them up with projections, little +brackets, and off-sets, that they inclined rather to the German manner +than to the true and good manner of ancient or modern times. Works of +architecture, without a doubt, must first be massive, solid, and simple, +and then enriched by grace of design and by variety of subject in the +composition, without, however, disturbing by poverty or by excess of +ornamentation the order of the architecture or the impression produced +on a competent judge. + +Meanwhile Baccio Bandinelli, having returned from Rome, where he had +finished the tombs of Leo and Clement, persuaded the Lord Duke Cosimo, +then a young man, to make at the head of the Great Hall of the Ducal +Palace a facade full of columns and niches, with a range of fine marble +statues; and this facade was to have windows of marble and grey-stone +looking out upon the Piazza. The Duke having resolved to have this done, +Bandinelli set his hand to making the design; but finding that the hall, +as has been related in the Life of Cronaca, was out of square, and +having never given attention to architecture, which he considered an art +of little value, marvelling and even laughing at those who gave their +attention to it, he was forced, on recognizing the difficulty of this +work, to confer with Giuliano with regard to his model, and to beseech +him that he, as an architect, should direct the work. And so all the +stone-cutters and carvers of S. Maria del Fiore were set to work, and a +beginning was made with the structure. Bandinelli had resolved, with the +advice of Giuliano, to let the work remain out of square, following in +part the course of the wall. It came to pass, therefore, that he was +forced to make all the stones irregular in shape, preparing them with +great labour by means of the pifferello, which is the instrument +otherwise called the bevel-square; and this made the work so clumsy, +that, as will be related in the Life of Bandinelli, it has been +difficult to bring it to such a form as might be in harmony with the +rest. Such a thing would not have happened if Bandinelli had possessed +as much knowledge in architecture as he did in sculpture; not to mention +that the great niches in the side-walls at each end proved to be squat, +and that the one in the centre was not without defect, as will be told +in the Life of that same Bandinelli. This work, after having been +pursued for ten years, was abandoned, and so it remained for some time. +It is true that the profiled stones as well as the columns, both of +Fossato stone and of marble, were wrought with the greatest diligence by +the stone-cutters and carvers under the care of Giuliano, and were +afterwards so well built in that it would not be possible to find any +masonry better put together, all the stones being accurately measured. +In this respect Giuliano may be celebrated as most excellent; and the +work, as will be related in the proper place, was finished in five +months, with an addition, by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo. + +Giuliano, meanwhile, not neglecting his workshop, was giving his +attention, together with his brothers, to the execution of many carvings +and works in wood, and also to pressing on the making of the pavement +of S. Maria del Fiore; and since he was superintendent and architect of +that building, he was requested by the same Bandinelli to make designs +and models of wood, after some fantasies of figures and other ornaments +of his own, for the high-altar of that same S. Maria del Fiore, which +was to be constructed of marble; which Giuliano did most willingly, +being a good and kindly person and one who delighted in architecture as +much as Bandinelli despised it, and being also won over by the lavish +promises of profit and honour that Bandinelli made him. Setting to work, +therefore, on that model, Giuliano made it much after the simple pattern +formerly designed by Brunelleschi, save that he enriched it by doubling +both the columns and the arch above. And when he had brought it to +completion, and the model, together with many designs, had been carried +by Bandinelli to Duke Cosimo, his most illustrious Excellency resolved +in his regal mind to execute not only the altar, but also the ornament +of marble that surrounds the choir, following its original octagonal +shape, with all those rich adornments with which it has since been +carried out, in keeping with the grandeur and magnificence of that +temple. Giuliano, therefore, with the assistance of Bandinelli, made a +beginning with that choir, without altering anything save the principal +entrance, which is opposite to the above-mentioned altar; for which +reason he wished that it should be exactly similar to that altar, with +the same arch and decorations. He also made two other similar arches, +which unite with the entrance and the altar in forming a cross; and +these were for two pulpits, which the old choir also had, serving for +music and other ceremonies of the choir and of the altar. In this choir, +around the eight faces, Giuliano made an ornament of the Ionic Order, +and placed at every corner a pilaster bent in the middle, and one on +every face; and since each pilaster so narrowed that the extension-lines +of its side-faces met in the centre of the choir, from inside it looked +narrow and bent in, and from outside broad and pointed. This invention +was not much extolled, nor can it be commended as beautiful by any man +of judgment; and for a work of such cost, in a place so celebrated, +Bandinelli, if he despised architecture, or had no knowledge of it, +should have availed himself of someone living at that time with the +knowledge and ability to do better. Giuliano deserves to be excused in +the matter, because he did all that he could, which was not a little; +but it is very certain that one who has not strong powers of design and +invention in himself, will always be too poor in grace and judgment to +bring to perfection great works of architecture. + +Giuliano made for Filippo Strozzi a couch of walnut-wood, which is now +at Citta di Castello, in the house of the heirs of Signor Alessandro +Vitelli. For an altar-piece which Giorgio Vasari painted for the +high-altar of the Abbey of Camaldoli in the Casentino, he made a very +rich and beautiful frame, after the design of Giorgio; and he carved +another ornamental frame for a large altar-piece that the same Giorgio +executed for the Church of S. Agostino in Monte Sansovino. The same +Giuliano made another beautiful frame for another altar-piece by the +hand of Vasari, which is in the Abbey of Classi, a seat of the Monks of +Camaldoli, at Ravenna. He also executed the frames for the pictures by +the hand of the same Giorgio of Arezzo that are in the refectory of the +Monks of the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; and in the Vescovado in the +same city, behind the high-altar, he made a most beautiful choir of +walnut-wood, after the design of Giorgio, which provided for the +bringing forward of the altar. And, finally, a short time before his +death, he made the rich and beautiful Ciborium of the most Holy +Sacrament for the high-altar of the Nunziata, with the two Angels of +wood, in full-relief, which are on either side of it. This was the last +work that he executed, and he passed to a better life in the year 1555. + +Nor was Domenico, the brother of that Giuliano, inferior to him in +judgment, seeing that, besides carving much better in wood, he was also +very ingenious in matters of architecture, as may be seen from the house +that was built for Bastiano da Montaguto in the Via de' Servi after his +design, wherein there are also many works in wood by Domenico's own +hand. The same master executed for Agostino del Nero, in the Piazza de' +Mozzi, the buildings that form the street-corner and a very beautiful +terrace for that house of the Nasi formerly begun by his father Baccio. +And it is the common belief that, if he had not died so young, he would +have surpassed by a great measure both his father and his brother +Giuliano. + + + + +VALERIO VICENTINO, GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE, MATTEO DAL NASSARO OF +VERONA, AND OTHER EXCELLENT ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS AND GEMS + + + + +LIVES OF VALERIO VICENTINO, GIOVANNI DA CASTEL BOLOGNESE, MATTEO DAL +NASSARO OF VERONA, AND OTHER EXCELLENT ENGRAVERS OF CAMEOS AND GEMS + + +Since the Greeks were such divine masters in the engraving of Oriental +stones and so perfect in the cutting of cameos, it seems to me certain +that I should commit no slight error were I to pass over in silence +those of our own age who have imitated those marvellous intellects; +although among our moderns, so it is said, there have been none who in +this present and happy age have surpassed the ancients in delicacy and +design, save perchance those of whom we are about to give an account. +But before making a beginning, it is proper for me to discourse briefly +on this art of engraving hard stones and gems, which was lost, together +with the other arts of design, after the ruin of Greece and Rome. Of +this work, whether engraved in intaglio or in relief, we have seen +examples discovered daily among the ruins of Rome, such as cameos, +cornelians, sardonyxes, and other most excellent intagli; but for many +and many a year the art remained lost, there being no one who gave +attention to it, and even if any work was done, it was not in such a +manner as to be worthy to be taken into account. So far as is known, it +is not found that anyone began to do good work or to attain to +excellence until the time of Pope Martin V and Pope Paul II; after which +the art continued to grow little by little down to the time of Lorenzo +de' Medici, the Magnificent, who greatly delighted in the engraved +cameos of the ancients. Lorenzo and his son Piero collected a great +quantity of these, particularly chalcedonies, cornelians, and other +kinds of the choicest engraved stones, which contained various fanciful +designs; and in consequence of this, wishing to establish the art in +their own city, they summoned thither masters from various countries, +who, besides restoring those stones, brought to them other works which +were at that time rare. + +By these masters, at the instance of the Magnificent Lorenzo, this art +of engraving in intaglio was taught to a young Florentine called +Giovanni delle Corniole,[12] who received that surname because he +engraved them excellently well, of which we have testimony in the great +numbers of them by his hand that are to be seen, both great and small, +but particularly in a large one, which was a very choice intaglio, +wherein he made the portrait of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who was adored +in Florence in his day on account of his preaching. A rival of Giovanni +was Domenico de' Cammei,[13] a Milanese, who, living at the same time as +Duke Lodovico, Il Moro, made a portrait of him in intaglio on a +balas-ruby greater than a giulio, which was an exquisite thing and one +of the best works in intaglio that had been seen executed by a modern +master. This art afterwards rose to even greater excellence in the +pontificate of Pope Leo X, through the talents and labours of Pier Maria +da Pescia, who was a most faithful imitator of the works of the +ancients; and he had a rival in Michelino, who was no less able than +Pier Maria in works both great and small, and was held to be a graceful +master. + +These men opened the way in this art, which is so difficult, for +engraving in intaglio is truly working in the dark, since the craftsman +can use nothing but impressions of wax, as spectacles, as it were, +wherewith to see from time to time what he is doing. And finally they +brought it to such a condition that Giovanni da Castel Bolognese, +Valerio Vicentino, Matteo dal Nassaro, and others, were able to execute +the many beautiful works of which we are about to make mention. + +Let me begin, then, by saying that Giovanni Bernardi of Castel +Bolognese, who worked in his youth in the service of Duke Alfonso of +Ferrara, made for him, in the three years of honourable service that he +gave him, many little works, of which there is no need to give any +description. Of his larger works the first was an intaglio on a piece of +crystal, in which he represented the whole of the action of Bastia, +which was very beautiful; and then he executed the portrait of that +Duke in a steel die for the purpose of making medals, with the Taking of +Jesus Christ by the Multitude on the reverse. Afterwards, urged by +Giovio, he went to Rome, and obtained by favour of Cardinal Ippolito de' +Medici and Cardinal Giovanni Salviati the privilege of taking a portrait +of Clement VII, from which he made a die for medals, which was very +beautiful, with Joseph revealing himself to his brethren on the reverse; +and for this he was rewarded by His Holiness with the gift of a Mazza, +an office which he afterwards sold in the time of Paul III, receiving +two hundred crowns for it. For the same Clement he executed figures of +the four Evangelists on four round crystals, which were much extolled, +and gained for him the favour and friendship of many prelates, and in +particular the good-will of Salviati and of the above-mentioned Cardinal +Ippolito de' Medici, that sole refuge for men of talent, whose portrait +he made on steel medals, besides executing for him on crystal the +Presentation of the Daughter of Darius to Alexander the Great. + +After this, when Charles V went to Bologna to be crowned, Giovanni made +a portrait of him in steel, from which he struck a medal of gold. This +he carried straightway to the Emperor, who gave him a hundred pistoles +of gold, and sent to inquire whether he would go with him to Spain; but +Giovanni refused, saying that he could not leave the service of Clement +and of Cardinal Ippolito, for whom he had begun some work that was still +unfinished. + +Having returned to Rome, Giovanni executed for the same Cardinal de' +Medici a Rape of the Sabines, which was very beautiful. And the +Cardinal, knowing himself to be much indebted to him for all these +things, rewarded him with a vast number of gifts and courtesies; but the +greatest of all was this, that the Cardinal, when departing for France +in the midst of a company of many lords and gentlemen, turned to +Giovanni, who was there among the rest, and, taking from his own neck a +little chain to which was attached a cameo worth more than six hundred +crowns, he gave it to him, telling him that he should keep it until his +return, and intending to bestow upon him afterwards such a recompense as +he knew to be due to the talent of Giovanni. + +On the death of the Cardinal, that cameo fell into the hands of Cardinal +Farnese, for whom Giovanni afterwards executed many works in crystal, +and in particular a Christ Crucified for a Cross, with a God the Father +above, Our Lady and S. John at the sides, and the Magdalene at the foot; +and in a triangle at the base of the Cross he made three scenes of the +Passion of Christ, one in each angle. For two candelabra of silver he +engraved six round crystals. In the first is the Centurion praying +Christ that He should heal his son, in the second the Pool of Bethesda, +in the third the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, in the fourth the +Miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, in the fifth the scene of +Christ driving the traders from the Temple, and in the last the Raising +of Lazarus; and all were exquisite. The same Cardinal Farnese afterwards +desired to have a very rich casket made of silver, and had the work +executed by Manno, a Florentine goldsmith, of whom there will be an +account in another place; but he entrusted all the compartments of +crystal to Giovanni, who made them all full of scenes, with marble in +half-relief; and he made figures of silver and ornaments in the round, +and all with such diligence, that no other work of that kind was ever +carried to such perfection. On the body of this casket are the following +scenes, engraved in ovals with marvellous art by the hand of Giovanni: +The Chase of Meleager after the Calydonian Boar, the Followers of +Bacchus, a naval battle, Hercules in combat with the Amazons, and other +most beautiful fantasies of the Cardinal, who caused finished designs of +them to be executed by Perino del Vaga and other masters. Giovanni then +executed on a crystal the triumph of the taking of Goletta, and the War +of Tunis on another. For the same Cardinal he engraved, likewise on +crystal, the Birth of Christ and the scenes when He prays in the Garden; +when He is taken by the Jews; when He is led before Annas, Herod, and +Pilate; when He is scourged and then crowned with thorns; when He +carries the Cross; when He is nailed upon it and raised on high; and, +finally, His divine and glorious Resurrection. All these works were not +only very beautiful, but also executed with such rapidity, that every +man was struck with astonishment. + +[Illustration: CASSETTA FARNESE + +(_After_ Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi). _Naples: +Museo Nazionale_) + +_Brogi_] + +Michelagnolo had made for the above-mentioned Cardinal de' Medici a +drawing, which I forgot to mention before, of a Tityus whose heart was +being devoured by a vulture; and Giovanni engraved this beautifully on +crystal. And he did the same with another drawing by Buonarroti, in +which Phaethon, not being able to manage the chariot of the Sun, has +fallen into the Po, and his weeping sisters are transformed into trees. + +Giovanni executed a portrait of Madama Margherita of Austria, daughter +of the Emperor Charles V, who had been the wife of Duke Alessandro de' +Medici, and was then the consort of Duke Ottavio Farnese; and this he +did in competition with Valerio Vicentino. For these works executed for +Cardinal Farnese, he received from that lord a reward in the form of the +office of Giannizzero, from which he drew a good sum of money; and, in +addition, he was so beloved by that Cardinal that he obtained a great +number of other favours from him, nor did the Cardinal ever pass through +Faenza, where Giovanni had built a most commodious house, without going +to take up his quarters with him. Having thus settled at Faenza, in +order to rest after a life of much labour in the world, Giovanni +remained there ever afterwards; and his first wife, by whom he had not +had children, being dead, he took a second. By her he had two sons and a +daughter; and with them he lived in contentment, being well provided +with landed property and other revenues, which yielded him more than +four hundred crowns, until he came to the age of sixty, when he rendered +up his soul to God on the day of Pentecost, in the year 1555. + +Matteo dal Nassaro, who was born in Verona, and was the son of Jacopo +dal Nassaro, a shoemaker, gave much attention in his early childhood not +only to design, but also to music, in which he became excellent, having +had as his masters in that study Marco Carra and Il Tromboncino, both +Veronese, who were then in the service of the Marquis of Mantua. In +matters of intaglio he was much assisted by two Veronese of honourable +family, with whom he was continually associated. One of these was +Niccolo Avanzi, who, working privately in Rome, executed cameos, +cornelians, and other stones, which were taken to various Princes; and +there are persons who remember to have seen a lapis-lazuli by his hand, +three fingers in breadth, containing the Nativity of Christ, with many +figures, which was sold as a choice work to the Duchess of Urbino. The +other was Galeazzo Mondella, who, besides engraving gems, drew very +beautifully. + +After Matteo had learned from these two masters all that they knew, it +chanced that there fell into his hands a beautiful piece of green +jasper, marked with red spots, as the good pieces are; and he engraved +in it a Deposition from the Cross with such diligence, that he made the +wounds come in those parts of the jasper that were spotted with the +colour of blood, which caused that work to be a very rare one, and +brought him much commendation. That jasper was sold by Matteo to the +Marchioness Isabella d'Este. + +He then went to France, taking with him many works by his own hand which +might serve to introduce him to the Court of King Francis I; and when he +had been presented to that Sovereign, who always held in estimation +every manner of man of talent, the King, after taking many of the stones +engraved by him, received him into his service and ordained him a good +salary; and he held Matteo dear no less because he was an excellent +musician and could play very well upon the lute, than for his profession +of engraving stones. Of a truth, there is nothing that does more to +kindle men's minds with love for the arts than to see them appreciated +and rewarded by Princes and noblemen, as has always been done in the +past, and is done more than ever at the present day, by the illustrious +House of Medici, and as was also done by that truly magnanimous +Sovereign, King Francis. + +Matteo, thus employed in the service of that King, executed many rare +works, not only for His Majesty, but also for almost all the most noble +lords and barons of the Court, of whom there was scarcely one who did +not have some work by his hand, since it was much the custom at that +time to wear cameos and other suchlike gems on the neck and in the cap. +For the King he made an altar-piece for the altar of the chapel which +His Majesty always took with him on his journeys; and this was full of +figures of gold, partly in the round and partly in half-relief, with +many engraved gems distributed over the limbs of those figures. He also +engraved many pieces of crystal in intaglio, impressions of which in +sulphur and gesso are to be seen in many places, and particularly in +Verona, where there are marvellous representations of all the planets, +and a Venus with a Cupid that has the back turned, which could not be +more beautiful. In a very fine chalcedony, found in a river, Matteo +engraved divinely well the head of a Deianira almost in full-relief, +wearing the lion's skin, the surface being tawny in colour; and he +turned to such good advantage a vein of red that was in that stone, +representing with it the inner side of the lion's skin at its junction +with the head, that the skin had the appearance of one newly flayed. +Another spot of colour he used for the hair, and the white for the face +and breast, and all with admirable mastery. This head came into the +possession of King Francis, together with the other things; and there is +an impression of it at the present day in Verona, which belongs to the +goldsmith Zoppo, who was Matteo's disciple. + +Matteo was a man of great spirit and generosity, insomuch that he would +rather have given his works away than sold them for a paltry price. +Wherefore when a baron, for whom he had made a cameo of some value, +wished to pay him a wretched sum for it, Matteo besought him straitly +that he should accept it as a present. To this the other would not +consent, and yet wished to have it for the same miserable price; +whereupon Matteo, flying into a rage, crushed it to powder with a hammer +in his presence. For the same King Matteo executed many cartoons for +tapestries, and with these, to please His Majesty, he was obliged to go +to Flanders, and to stay there until they had been woven in silk and +gold; which being finished and taken to France, they were held to be +very beautiful. Finally, Matteo returned to his own country, as almost +all men do, taking with him many rare things from those foreign parts, +and in particular some landscapes on canvas painted in Flanders in oils +and in gouache, and executed by very able hands, which are still +preserved and treasured in Verona, in memory of him, by Signor Luigi and +Signor Girolamo Stoppi. Having returned to Verona, Matteo took up his +abode in a cave hollowed out under a rocky cliff, above which is the +garden of the Frati Ingiesuati--a place which, besides being very warm +in winter and very cool in summer, commands a most beautiful view. But +he was not able to enjoy that habitation, thus contrived after his own +fancy, as long as he would have liked, for King Francis, as soon as he +had been released from his captivity, sent a special messenger to recall +Matteo to France, and to pay him his salary even for all the time that +he had been in Verona; and when he had arrived there, the King made him +master of dies for the Mint. Taking a wife in France, therefore, Matteo +settled down to live in those parts, since such was the pleasure of the +King his master. By that wife he had some children, but all so unlike +himself that he had little satisfaction from them. + +Matteo was so gentle and courteous, that he welcomed with extraordinary +warmth anyone who arrived in France, not only from his own city of +Verona, but from every part of Lombardy. His dearest friend in those +regions was Paolo Emilio of Verona, who wrote the history of France in +the Latin tongue. Matteo taught many disciples, among them a +fellow-Veronese, the brother of Domenico Brusciasorzi, two of his +nephews, who went to Flanders, and many other Italians and Frenchmen, of +whom there is no need to make mention. And finally he died, not long +after the death of King Francis of France. + +But to come at length to the marvellous art of Valerio Vicentino, of +whom we have now to speak: this master executed so many works, both +great and small, either in intaglio or in relief, and all with such a +finish and such facility, that it is a thing incredible. If Nature had +made Valerio a good master of design, even as she made him most +excellent in engraving, in which he executed his works with +extraordinary patience, diligence, and rapidity, he would not merely +have equalled the ancients, as he did, but would have surpassed them by +a great measure; and even so he had such judgment, that he always +availed himself in his works of the designs of others or of the intagli +of the ancients. + +[Illustration: CASKET OF ROCK CRYSTAL + +(_After_ Valerio Vincentino (Valerio Belli). _Florence; Uffizi, Cabinet +of Gems_) + +_Alinari_] + +Valerio fashioned for Pope Clement VII a casket entirely of crystal, +wrought with admirable mastery, for which he received two thousand +crowns of gold from that Pontiff in return for his labour. In those +crystals Valerio engraved the whole Passion of Jesus Christ, after the +designs of others; and that casket was afterwards presented by Pope +Clement to King Francis at Nice, at the time when his niece went to be +married to the Duke of Orleans, who afterwards became King Henry. For +the same Pope Valerio made some most beautiful paxes, and a divine cross +of crystal, and likewise dies for striking medals, containing the +portrait of Pope Clement, with very beautiful reverses; and through him +that art produced in his day many masters, both from Milan and from +other parts, who had grown to such a number before the sack of Rome, +that it was a marvel. He made the medals of the twelve Emperors, with +their reverses, copying the most beautiful antiques, with a great number +of Greek medals; and he engraved so many other works in crystal, that +the shops of the goldsmiths, or rather, the whole world, may be seen to +be full of impressions taken in gesso, sulphur, or other compositions, +from the intagli in which he made scenes, figures, or heads. He had, +indeed, a skill of hand so extraordinary, that there was never anyone in +his profession who executed more works than Valerio. + +He also fashioned many vases of crystal for Pope Clement, who presented +some to various Princes, and others were placed in the Church of S. +Lorenzo at Florence, together with many vases that were formerly in the +Palace of the Medici and had belonged to the elder Lorenzo, the +Magnificent, and to other members of that most illustrious family, that +they might serve to contain the relics of many Saints, which that +Pontiff presented to that church in memory of himself. It would not be +possible to find anything more varied than the curves of those vases, +some of which are of sardonyx, agate, amethyst, and lapis-lazuli, and +some of plasma, heliotrope, jasper, crystal, and cornelian, so that in +point of value or beauty nothing more could be desired. For Pope Paul +III he made a cross and two candelabra, likewise of crystal, engraved +with scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ in various compartments; with +a vast number of stones, both great and small, of which it would take +too long to make mention. And in the collection of Cardinal Farnese may +be seen many things by the hand of Valerio, who left no fewer finished +works than did the above-named Giovanni. At the age of seventy-eight he +performed miracles, so sure were his eye and hand; and he taught his art +to a daughter of his own, who works very well. He so delighted to lay +his hands on antiquities in marble, impressions in gesso of works both +ancient and modern, and drawings and pictures by rare masters, that he +shrank from no expense; wherefore his house at Vicenza is adorned by +such an abundance of various things, that it is a marvel. It is clearly +evident that when a man bears love to art, it never leaves him until he +is in the grave; whence he gains praise and his reward during his +lifetime, and makes himself immortal after death. Valerio was well +remunerated for his labours, and received offices and many benefits from +those Princes whom he served; and thus those who survived him are able, +thanks to him, to maintain an honourable state. And in the year 1546, +when, by reason of the infirmities that old age brings in its train, he +could no longer attend to his art, or even live, he rendered up his soul +to God. + +At Parma, in times past, lived Marmita, who gave his attention for a +period to painting, and then turned to intaglio, in which he imitated +the ancients very closely. Many most beautiful works by his hand are to +be seen, and he taught the art to a son of his own, called Lodovico, who +lived for a long time in Rome with Cardinal Giovanni de' Salviati. +Lodovico executed for that Cardinal four ovals of crystal engraved with +figures of great excellence, which were placed on a very beautiful +casket of silver that was afterwards presented to the most illustrious +Signora Leonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence. He made, among many +other works, a cameo with a most beautiful head of Socrates, and he was +a great master at counterfeiting ancient medals, from which he gained +extraordinary advantage. + +There followed, in Florence, Domenico di Polo, a Florentine and an +excellent master of intaglio, who was the disciple of Giovanni delle +Corniole, of whom we have spoken. In our own day this Domenico executed +a divine portrait of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, from which he made dies +in steel and most beautiful medals, with a reverse containing a +Florence. He also made a portrait of Duke Cosimo in the first year after +his election to the government of Florence, with the sign of Capricorn +on the reverse; and many other little works in intaglio, of which there +is no need to make record. He died at the age of sixty-five. + +[Illustration: MEDALS + +(_London: British Museum_) + + 1. POPE JULIUS III + (_After_ Alessandro Cesati) + + 2. PIETRO BEMBO + 3. POPE CLEMENT VII + (_After_ Benvenuto Cellini)] + +[Illustration: MEDALS + +(_London: British Museum_) + + 1. IPPOLITO D'ESTE + 2. TITIAN + 3. MARGARET, DUCHESS OF MANTUA + 4. LUCREZIA DE' MEDICI + (_After_ Pastorino of Siena) + + 5. BENEDETTO VARCHI + 6. COSIMO DE' MEDICI + (_After_ Domenico Poggini)] + +Domenico, Valerio, Marmita, and Giovanni da Castel Bolognese being +dead, there remained many who have surpassed them by a great measure; +one in Venice, for example, being Luigi Anichini of Ferrara, who, with +the delicacy of his engraving and the sharpness of his finish, has +produced works that are marvellous. But far beyond all others in grace, +excellence, perfection, and versatility, has soared Alessandro Cesati, +surnamed Il Greco, who has executed cameos in relief and gems in +intaglio in so beautiful a manner, as well as dies of steel in incavo, +and has used the burin with such supreme diligence and with such mastery +over the most delicate refinements of his art, that nothing better could +be imagined. Whoever wishes to be amazed by his miraculous powers, +should study a medal that he made for Pope Paul III, with his portrait +on one side, which has all the appearance of life, and on the reverse +Alexander the Great, who has thrown himself at the feet of the +High-Priest of Jerusalem, and is doing him homage--figures which are so +marvellous that it would not be possible to do anything better. And +Michelagnolo Buonarroti himself, looking at them in the presence of +Giorgio Vasari, said that the hour of death had come upon the art, for +nothing better could ever be seen. This Alessandro made the medal of +Pope Julius III for the holy year of 1550, with a reverse showing the +prisoners that were released in the days of the ancients at times of +jubilee, which was a rare and truly beautiful medal; with many other +dies and portraits for the Mint of Rome, which he kept busily employed +for many years. He executed portraits of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of +Castro, and his son, Duke Ottavio; and he made a portrait of Cardinal +Farnese in a medal, a very choice work, the head being of gold and the +ground of silver. The same master engraved for Cardinal Farnese in +intaglio, on a cornelian larger than a giulio, a head of King Henry of +France, which has been considered in point of design, grace, excellence, +and perfection of finish, one of the best modern intagli that have ever +been seen. There may also be seen many other stones engraved by his +hand, in the form of cameos; truly perfect is a nude woman wrought with +great art, and another in which is a lion, and likewise one of a boy, +with many small ones, of which there is no need to speak; but that which +surpassed all the others was the head of the Athenian Phocion, which is +marvellous, and the most beautiful cameo that is to be seen. + +A master who gives his attention to cameos at the present day is +Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, an excellent craftsman of Milan, who, in +addition to the various beautiful works that he has engraved in relief +and in intaglio, has executed for the most illustrious Duke Cosimo de' +Medici a very large cameo, one-third of a braccio in height and the same +in width, in which he has cut two figures from the waist +upwards--namely, His Excellency and the most illustrious Duchess +Leonora, his consort, who are both holding with their hands a medallion +containing a Florence, and beside them are portraits from life of the +Prince Don Francesco, Don Giovanni the Cardinal, Don Garzia, Don +Ernando, and Don Pietro, together with Donna Isabella and Donna +Lucrezia, all their children. It would not be possible to find a more +amazing or a larger work in cameo than this; and since it surpasses all +the other cameos and smaller works that he has made, I shall make no +further mention of them, for they are all to be seen. + +Cosimo da Trezzo, also, has executed many works worthy of praise in this +profession, and has won much favour on account of his rare gifts from +Philip, the great Catholic King of Spain, who retains him about his +person, honouring and rewarding him in return for his ability in his +vocation of engraving in intaglio and in relief. He has no equal in +making portraits from life; and in other kinds of work, as well as in +that, his talent is extraordinary. + +Of the Milanese Filippo Negrolo, who worked at chasing arms of iron with +foliage and figures, I shall say nothing, since copper-engravings of his +works, which have given him very great fame, may be seen about. By +Gasparo and Girolamo Misuroni, engravers of Milan, have been seen most +beautiful vases and tazze of crystal. For Duke Cosimo, in particular, +they have executed two that are marvellous; besides which, they have +made out of a piece of heliotrope a vase extraordinary in size and +admirable for its engraving, and also a large vase of lapis-lazuli, +which deserves infinite praise. Jacopo da Trezzo practises the same +profession in Milan; and these men, in truth, have brought great beauty +and facility to this art. Many masters could I mention who, in executing +in incavo heads and reverses for medals, have equalled and even +surpassed the ancients; as, for example, Benvenuto Cellini, who, during +the time when he exercised the goldsmith's art in Rome under Pope +Clement, made two medals with a head of Pope Clement that is a living +likeness, and on the reverse of one a figure of Peace that has bound +Fury and is burning her arms, and on the other Moses striking the rock +and causing water to flow to quench the thirst of his people: beyond +which it is not possible to go in that art. And the same might be said +of the coins and medals that Benvenuto afterwards made for Duke +Alessandro in Florence. + +Of the Chevalier, Leone Aretino, who has done equally well in the same +art, and of the works that he has made and still continues to make, +there will be an account in another place. + +The Roman Pietro Paolo Galeotto, also, has executed for Duke Cosimo, as +he still does, medals with portraits of that lord, dies for coins, and +works in tarsia, imitating the methods of Maestro Salvestro, a most +excellent master, who produced marvellous works in that profession at +Rome. + +Pastorino da Siena, likewise, has executed so many heads from life, that +he may be said to have made portraits of every kind of person in the +whole world, great nobles, followers of the arts, and many people of low +degree. He discovered a kind of hard stucco for making portraits, +wherewith he gave them the colouring of nature, with the tints of the +beard, hair, and flesh, so that they had the appearance of life itself; +but he deserves much more praise for his work in steel, in which he has +made excellent dies for medals. + +It would take too long if I were to speak of all those who execute +portrait-medals of wax, seeing that every goldsmith at the present day +makes them, and a number of gentlemen have given their attention to +this, and still do so; such as Giovan Battista Sozzini at Siena, Rosso +de' Giugni at Florence, and very many others, of whom I shall not now +say more. And, to bring this account to conclusion, I return to the +steel-engravers, of whom one is Girolamo Fagiuoli of Bologna, a master +of chasing and of copper-engraving, and another, at Florence, is +Domenico Poggini, who has made, as he still does, dies for the Mint, +with medals of Duke Cosimo, and who also executes statues of marble, +imitating, in so far as he is able, the rarest and most excellent +masters who have ever produced choice works in these professions. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] Giovanni of the Cornelians. + +[13] Domenico of the Cameos. + + + + +MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OTHER ENGRAVERS OF PRINTS + + + + +LIVES OF MARC' ANTONIO BOLOGNESE AND OF OTHER ENGRAVERS OF PRINTS + + +Seeing that in the Treatise on the Technique of Painting there was +little said of copper-plate engraving, since it was enough at that time +to describe the method of engraving silver with the burin, which is a +square tool of iron, cut on the slant, with a sharp point, I shall use +the occasion of this Life to say as much on that subject as I may +consider to be sufficient. The beginning of print-engraving, then, came +from the Florentine Maso Finiguerra, about the year of our salvation +1460; for of all the works which that master engraved in silver with +designs to be filled up with niello, he took impressions in clay, over +which he poured melted sulphur, which reproduced the lines of the +design; and these, when filled with smoke-black mixed with oil, produced +the same effect as the silver. He also did the same with damped paper +and with the same tint, going over the whole with a round and smooth +roller, which not only gave the designs the appearance of prints, but +they also came out as if drawn with the pen. This master was followed by +Baccio Baldini, a goldsmith of Florence, who, not having much power of +design, took all that he did from the invention and design of Sandro +Botticelli. And this method, coming to the knowledge of Andrea Mantegna +in Rome, was the reason that he made a beginning with engraving many of +his works, as was said in his Life. + +This invention having afterwards passed into Flanders, a certain Martin, +who was held to be an excellent painter in Antwerp at that time, +executed many works, and sent to Italy a great number of printed +designs, which were all signed in the following manner: "M.C." The first +of these were the Five Foolish Virgins with their lamps extinguished, +the Five Wise Virgins with their lamps burning, and a Christ Crucified, +with S. John and the Madonna at the foot of the Cross, which was so good +an engraving, that Gherardo, the Florentine illuminator, set himself to +copy it with the burin, and succeeded very well; but he went no further +with this, for he did not live long. Martin then published four round +engravings of the four Evangelists, and Jesus Christ with the twelve +Apostles, in small sheets, Veronica with six Saints, of the same size, +and some coats of arms of German noblemen, supported by men, both naked +and clothed, and also by women. He published, likewise, a S. George +slaying the Dragon, a Christ standing before Pilate, who is washing his +hands, and a Passing of Our Lady, with all the Apostles, a work of some +size, which was one of the best designs that this master ever engraved. +In another he represented S. Anthony beaten by Devils, and carried +through the air by a vast number of them in the most varied and bizarre +forms that could possibly be imagined; which sheet so pleased +Michelagnolo, when he was a mere lad, that he set himself to colour it. + +[Illustration: CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED + +(_After the engraving by =Martin Schongauer=. London: British Museum, B. +71_) + +_M.S._] + +After this Martin, Albrecht Duerer began to give attention to prints of +the same kind at Antwerp, but with more design and better judgment, and +with more beautiful invention, seeking to imitate the life and to draw +near to the Italian manners, which he always held in much account. And +thus, while still quite young, he executed many works which were +considered as beautiful as those of Martin; and he engraved them with +his own hand, signing them with his name. In the year 1503 he published +a little Madonna, in which he surpassed both Martin and his own self; +and afterwards many other sheets with horses, two in each sheet, taken +from nature and very beautiful. In another he depicted the Prodigal Son, +in the guise of a peasant, kneeling with his hands clasped and gazing up +to Heaven, while some swine are eating from a trough; and in this work +are some most beautiful huts after the manner of German cottages. He +engraved a little S. Sebastian, bound, with the arms upraised; and a +Madonna seated with the Child in her arms, with the light from a window +falling upon her, a small work, than which there is nothing better to be +seen. He also made a Flemish woman on horseback, with a groom at her +feet; and on a larger copper-plate he engraved a nymph being +carried away by a sea-monster, while some other nymphs are bathing. On a +plate of the same size he engraved with supreme delicacy of workmanship, +attaining to the final perfection of this art, a Diana beating a nymph, +who has fled for protection to the bosom of a satyr; in which sheet +Albrecht sought to prove that he was able to make nudes. + +[Illustration: HERCULES + +(_After the engraving by =Albrecht Duerer=. London: British Museum, B. +73_) + +_M.S._] + +But although those masters were extolled at that time in those +countries, in ours their works are commended only for the diligent +execution of the engraving. I am willing, indeed, to believe that +Albrecht was perhaps not able to do better because, not having any +better models, he drew, when he had to make nudes, from one or other of +his assistants, who must have had bad figures, as Germans generally have +when naked, although one sees many from those parts who are fine men +when in their clothes. In various little printed sheets he executed +figures of peasant men and women in different Flemish costumes, some +playing on the bagpipes and dancing, some selling fowls and suchlike +things, and others in many other attitudes. He also drew a man sleeping +in a bathroom who has Venus near him, leading him into temptation in a +dream, while Love is diverting himself by mounting on stilts, and the +Devil blows into his ears with a pair of bellows. And he engraved two +different figures of S. Christopher carrying the Infant Christ, both +very beautiful, and executed with much diligence in the close detail of +the hair and in every other respect. + +[Illustration: CHRIST TAKING LEAVE OF HIS MOTHER + +(_After the woodcut by =Albrecht Duerer=. London: British Museum, B. 92_) + +_M.S._] + +After these works, perceiving how much time he consumed in engraving on +copper, and happening to have in his possession a great abundance of +subjects drawn in various ways, he set himself to making woodcuts, a +method of working in which those who have the greatest powers of design +find the widest field wherein to display their ability in its +perfection. And in the year 1510 he published two little prints in this +manner, in one of which is the Beheading of S. John, and in the other +the scene of the head of the same S. John being presented in a charger +to Herod, who is seated at table; with other sheets of S. Christopher, +S. Sixtus the Pope, S. Stephen, and S. Laurence. Then, having seen that +this method of working was much easier than engraving on copper, he +pursued it and executed a S. Gregory chanting the Mass, accompanied by +the deacon and sub-deacon. And, growing in courage, in the year 1510 he +represented on a sheet of royal folio part of the Passion of +Christ--that is, he executed four pieces, with the intention of +afterwards finishing the whole, these four being the Last Supper, the +Taking of Christ by Night in the Garden, His Descent into the Limbo of +Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers, and His glorious +Resurrection. That second piece he also painted in a very beautiful +little picture in oils, which is now at Florence, in the possession of +Signor Bernardetto de' Medici. As for the eight other parts, although +they were afterwards executed and printed with the signature of +Albrecht, to us it does not seem probable that they are the work of his +hand, seeing that they are poor stuff, and bear no resemblance to his +manner, either in the heads, or in the draperies, or in any other +respect. Wherefore it is believed that they were executed after his +death, for the sake of gain, by other persons, who did not scruple to +father them on Albrecht. That this is true is also proved by the +circumstance that in the year 1511 he represented the whole life of Our +Lady in twenty sheets of the same size, executing it so well that it +would not be possible, whether in invention, in the composition of the +perspective-views, in the buildings, in the costumes, or in the heads of +old and young, to do better. Of a truth, if this man, so able, so +diligent, and so versatile, had had Tuscany instead of Flanders for his +country, and had been able to study the treasures of Rome, as we +ourselves have done, he would have been the best painter of our land, +even as he was the rarest and most celebrated that has ever appeared +among the Flemings. In the same year, continuing to give expression to +his fantasies, Albrecht resolved to execute fifteen woodcuts of the same +size, representing the terrible vision that S. John the Evangelist +described in his Apocalypse on the Isle of Patmos. And so, setting his +hand to the work, with his extravagant imagination, so well suited to +such a subject, he depicted all those things both of heaven and of earth +so beautifully, that it was a marvel, and with such a variety of forms +in those animals and monsters, that it was a great light to many of our +craftsmen, who have since availed themselves of the vast abundance of +his beautiful fantasies and inventions. By the hand of the same master, +also, is a woodcut that is to be seen of a nude Christ, who has round +Him the Mysteries of His Passion, and is weeping for our sins, with His +hands to His face; and this, for a small work, is not otherwise than +worthy of praise. + +Then, having grown both in power and in courage, as he saw that his +works were prized, Albrecht executed some copper-plates that astonished +the world. He also set himself to make an engraving, for printing on a +sheet of half-folio, of a figure of Melancholy, with all the instruments +that reduce those who use them, or rather, all mankind, to a melancholy +humour; and in this he succeeded so well, that it would not be possible +to do more delicate engraving with the burin. He executed three small +plates of Our Lady, all different one from another, and most subtle in +engraving. But it would take too long if I were to try to enumerate all +the works that issued from Albrecht's hand; let it be enough for the +present to tell that, having drawn a Passion of Christ in thirty-six +parts, and having engraved these, he made an agreement with Marc' +Antonio Bolognese that they should publish the sheets in company; and +thus, arriving in Venice, this work was the reason that marvellous +prints of the same kind were afterwards executed in Italy, as will be +related below. + +While Francesco Francia was working at his painting in Bologna, there +was among his many disciples a young man called Marc' Antonio, who, +being more gifted than the others, was much brought forward by him, and, +from having been many years with Francia and greatly beloved by him, +acquired the surname of De' Franci. This Marc' Antonio, who was more +able in design than his master, handled the burin with facility and +grace, and executed in niello girdles and many other things much in +favour at that time, which were very beautiful, for the reason that he +was indeed most excellent in that profession. Having then been seized, +as happens to many, with a desire to go about the world and see new +things and the methods of other craftsmen, with the gracious leave of +Francia he went off to Venice, where he was well received by the +craftsmen of that city. About the same time there arrived in Venice some +Flemings with many copper-plate engravings and woodcuts by Albrecht +Duerer, which were seen by Marc' Antonio on the Piazza di S. Marco; and +he was so amazed at the manner and method of the work of Albrecht, that +he spent on those sheets almost all the money that he had brought from +Bologna. Among other things, he bought the Passion of Jesus Christ, +which had been engraved on thirty-six wood-blocks and printed not long +before on sheets of quarter-folio by the same Albrecht. This work began +with the Sin of Adam and the scene of the Angel expelling him from +Paradise, and continued down to the Descent of the Holy Spirit. + +Marc' Antonio, having considered what honour and profit might be +acquired by one who should apply himself to that art in Italy, formed +the determination to give his attention to it with all possible +assiduity and diligence. He thus began to copy those engravings by +Albrecht Duerer, studying the manner of each stroke and every other +detail of the prints that he had bought, which were held in such +estimation on account of their novelty and their beauty, that everyone +sought to have some. Having then counterfeited on copper, with engraving +as strong as that of the woodcuts that Albrecht had executed, the whole +of the said Life and Passion of Christ in thirty-six parts, he added to +these the signature that Albrecht used for all his works, which was +"A.D.," and they proved to be so similar in manner, that, no one knowing +that they had been executed by Marc' Antonio, they were ascribed to +Albrecht, and were bought and sold as works by his hand. News of this +was sent in writing to Albrecht, who was in Flanders, together with one +of the counterfeit Passions executed by Marc' Antonio; at which he flew +into such a rage that he left Flanders and went to Venice, where he +appeared before the Signoria and laid a complaint against Marc' Antonio. +But he could obtain no other satisfaction but this, that Marc' Antonio +should no longer use the name or the above-mentioned signature of +Albrecht on his works. + +[Illustration: S. JEROME IN HIS STUDY + +(_After the engraving by =Albrecht Duerer=. London: British Museum, B. +60_) + +_M.S._] + +After this affair, Marc' Antonio went off to Rome, where he gave his +whole attention to design; and Albrecht returned to Flanders, where he +found that another rival had already begun to execute many most delicate +engravings in competition with him. This was Lucas of Holland,[14] +who, although he was not as fine a master of design as Albrecht, was yet +in many respects his equal with the burin. Among the many large and +beautiful works that Lucas executed, the first were two in 1509, round +in shape, in one of which is Christ bearing the Cross, and in the other +His Crucifixion. Afterwards he published a Samson, a David on horseback, +and a S. Peter Martyr, with his tormentors; and then he made a +copper-plate engraving of Saul seated with the young David playing in +his presence. And not long after, having made a great advance, he +executed a very large plate with the most delicate engraving, of Virgil +suspended from the window in the basket, with some heads and figures so +marvellous, that they were the reason that Albrecht, growing more subtle +in power through this competition, produced some printed sheets of such +excellence, that nothing better could be done. In these, wishing to +display his ability, Albrecht made an armed man on horseback, +representing Human Strength, which is so well finished, that one can see +the lustre of the arms and of the black horse's coat, which is a +difficult thing to reproduce in design. This stalwart horseman had +Death, hour-glass in hand, beside him, and the Devil behind. There was +also a long-haired dog, executed with the most subtle delicacy that can +possibly be achieved in engraving. In the year 1512 there issued from +the hand of the same master sixteen little scenes of the Passion of +Jesus Christ, engraved so well on copper, that there are no little +figures to be seen that are more beautiful, sweet, and graceful, nor any +that are stronger in relief. + +Spurred likewise by rivalry, the same Lucas of Holland executed twelve +similar plates, very beautiful, and yet not so perfect in engraving and +design; and, in addition to these, a S. George who is comforting the +Maiden, who is weeping because she is destined to be devoured by the +Dragon; and also a Solomon, who is worshipping idols; the Baptism of +Christ; Pyramus and Thisbe; and Ahasuerus with Queen Esther kneeling +before him. Albrecht, on his part, not wishing to be surpassed by Lucas +either in the number or in the excellence of his works, engraved a nude +figure on some clouds, and a Temperance with marvellous wings, holding +a cup of gold and a bridle, with a most delicate little landscape; and +then a S. Eustachio kneeling before the stag, which has the Crucifix +between its horns, a sheet which is amazing, and particularly for the +beauty of some dogs in various attitudes, which could not be more +perfect. Among the many children of various kinds that he made for the +decoration of arms and devices, he engraved some who are holding a +shield, wherein is a Death with a cock for crest, the feathers of which +are rendered in such detail, that it would be impossible to execute +anything more delicate with the burin. + +Finally, he published the sheet with S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal, writing, with the Lion sleeping at his feet. In this work +Albrecht represented a room with windows of glass, through which stream +the rays of the sun, falling on the place where the Saint sits writing, +with an effect so natural, that it is a marvel; besides which, there are +books, timepieces, writings, and so many other things, that nothing more +and nothing better could be done in this field of art. Not long +afterwards, in the year 1523, he executed a Christ with the twelve +Apostles, in little figures, which was almost the last of his works. +There may also be seen prints of many heads taken from life by him, such +as that of Erasmus of Rotterdam, that of Cardinal Albrecht of +Brandenburg, Elector of the Empire, and also his own. Nor, with all the +engravings that he produced, did he ever abandon painting; nay, he was +always executing panels, canvases, and other paintings, all excellent, +and, what is more, he left many writings on matters connected with +engraving, painting, perspective, and architecture. + +[Illustration: THE _ECCE HOMO_ OF 1610 + +(_After the engraving by =Lucas van Leyden=. London: British Museum_) + +_M.S._] + +But to return to the subject of engraving: the works of Albrecht Duerer +induced Lucas of Holland to follow in his steps to the best of his +power. After the works already mentioned, Lucas engraved on copper four +scenes from the life of Joseph, and also the four Evangelists, the three +Angels who appeared to Abraham in the Valley of Mamre, Susannah in the +Bath, David praying, Mordecai riding in Triumph on Horseback, Lot made +drunk by his Daughters, the Creation of Adam and Eve, God commanding +them that they shall not eat of the Fruit from the Tree that He points +out to them, and Cain killing his brother Abel; all which sheets were +published in the year 1529. But that which did more than anything else +to bring renown and fame to Lucas, was a large sheet in which he +represented the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ; with another wherein Pilate +is showing Him to the people, saying, "Ecce Homo!" These sheets, which +are large, and contain a great number of figures, are held to be +excellent; as are, likewise, one with a Conversion of S. Paul, and +another showing him being led, blind, into Damascus. And let these works +suffice to prove that Lucas may be numbered among those who have handled +the burin with ability. + +The scenes of Lucas are very happy in composition, being executed with +such clearness and so free from confusion, that it seems certain that +the action represented could not have taken place in any other way; and +they are arranged more in accordance with the rules of art than those of +Albrecht. Besides this, it is evident that he used a wise discretion in +the engraving of his works, for the reason that all those parts which +recede little by little into the distance are less strongly defined in +proportion as they are lost to view, even as natural objects become less +clear to the eye when seen from afar. Indeed, he executed them with such +thoughtful care, and made them so soft and well blended, that they would +not be better in colour; and his judicious methods have opened the eyes +of many painters. The same master engraved many little plates: various +figures of Our Lady, the twelve Apostles with Christ, many Saints, both +male and female; arms and helmet-crests, and other suchlike things. Very +beautiful is a peasant who is having a tooth drawn, and is feeling such +pain, that he does not notice that meanwhile a woman is robbing his +purse. All these works of Albrecht and Lucas have brought it about that +many other Flemings and Germans after them have printed similar sheets +of great beauty. + +But returning to Marc' Antonio: having arrived in Rome, he engraved on +copper a most lovely drawing by Raffaello da Urbino, wherein was the +Roman Lucretia killing herself, which he executed with such diligence +and in so beautiful a manner, that Raffaello, to whom it was straightway +carried by some friends, began to think of publishing in engravings some +designs of works by his hand, and then a drawing that he had formerly +made of the Judgment of Paris, wherein, to please himself, he had drawn +the Chariot of the Sun, the nymphs of the woods, those of the fountains, +and those of the rivers, with vases, the helms of ships, and other +beautiful things of fancy all around; and when he had made up his mind, +these were engraved by Marc' Antonio in such a manner as amazed all +Rome. After them was engraved the drawing of the Massacre of the +Innocents, with most beautiful nudes, women and children, which was a +rare work; and then the Neptune, with little stories of AEneas around it, +the beautiful Rape of Helen, also after a drawing by Raffaello, and +another design in which may be seen the death of S. Felicita, who is +being boiled in oil, while her sons are beheaded. These works acquired +such fame for Marc' Antonio, that his engravings were held in much +higher estimation, on account of their good design, than those of the +Flemings; and the merchants made very large profits out of them. + +Raffaello had kept an assistant called Baviera for many years to grind +his colours; and since this Baviera had a certain ability, Raffaello +ordained that he should attend to the printing of the engravings +executed by Marc' Antonio, to the end that all his compositions might +thus be finished, and then sold in gross and in detail to all who +desired them. And so, having set to work, they printed a vast number, +which brought very great profit to Raffaello; and all the plates were +signed by Marc' Antonio with the following signatures, "R.S." for the +name of Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, and "M.F." for that of Marc' +Antonio. Among these works were a Venus embraced by Love, after a +drawing by Raffaello, and a scene in which God the Father is blessing +the seed of Abraham, with the handmaiden and two children. Next were +engraved all the round pictures that Raffaello had painted in the +apartments of the Papal Palace, such as the Universal Knowledge, +Calliope with the musical instrument in her hand, Foresight, and +Justice; and then, after a small drawing, the scene which Raffaello had +painted in the same apartment, of Mount Parnassus, with Apollo, the +Muses, and the Poets; and also that of AEneas carrying Anchises on his +back while Troy is burning, of which Raffaello had made the drawing in +order to paint a little picture. After this they engraved and printed +another work of Raffaello, Galatea in a car drawn over the sea by +Dolphins, with some Tritons who are carrying off a Nymph. + +These works finished, Marc' Antonio engraved many separate figures, +likewise on copper, and after drawings by Raffaello; an Apollo with a +lyre in his hand; a figure of Peace, to whom Love is offering an +olive-branch; the three Theological and the four Moral Virtues, and a +Jesus Christ with the twelve Apostles, of the same size; a half-folio +plate of the Madonna that Raffaello had painted in the altar-piece of +the Araceli, and likewise one of that which went to S. Domenico in +Naples, with Our Lady, S. Jerome, the Angel Raphael, and Tobias; and a +little plate of Our Lady seated on a chair and embracing the Infant +Christ, who is half clothed, with many other figures of the Madonna +copied from the pictures which Raffaello had painted for various +persons. After these he engraved a young S. John the Baptist, seated in +the desert, and then the picture which Raffaello executed for S. +Giovanni in Monte, of S. Cecilia with other Saints, which was held to be +a most beautiful sheet. When Raffaello had finished all the cartoons of +the tapestries for the Papal Chapel, which were afterwards woven in silk +and gold, with stories of S. Paul, S. Peter, and S. Stephen, Marc' +Antonio engraved the Preaching of S. Paul, the Stoning of S. Stephen, +and the Blind Man receiving his Sight; which plates, what with the +invention of Raffaello, the grace of the design, and the diligent +engraving of Marc' Antonio, were so beautiful, that there was nothing +better to be seen. He then engraved, after the invention of the same +Raffaello, a most beautiful Deposition from the Cross, with a Madonna in +a swoon, who is marvellous; and not long afterwards a plate, which is +very beautiful, of that picture by Raffaello which went to Palermo, of a +Christ who is bearing the Cross, and also one of a drawing that +Raffaello had executed of a Christ in the air, with Our Lady, S. John +the Baptist, and S. Catharine kneeling on the ground, and S. Paul the +Apostle standing, which was a large and very lovely engraving. This and +the others, after becoming spoiled and almost worn out through being too +much used, were carried away by Germans and others in the sack of Rome. + +The same Marc' Antonio engraved the portrait of Pope Clement VII in +profile, with the face shaved, in the form of a medallion; one of the +Emperor Charles V at the time when he was a young man, and another of +him at a riper age; and also one of Ferdinand, King of the Romans, who +afterwards succeeded Charles V as Emperor. He also made in Rome a +portrait from life of Messer Pietro Aretino, a very famous poet, which +was the most beautiful that Marc' Antonio ever executed; and, not long +afterwards, portraits of the twelve ancient Emperors in medallions. Of +these sheets Raffaello sent some into Flanders to Albrecht Duerer, who +praised Marc' Antonio highly, and sent in return to Raffaello, in +addition to many other sheets, his own portrait, which was held to be a +miracle of beauty. + +Now, the fame of Marc' Antonio having grown very great, and the art of +engraving having come into credit and repute, many disciples had placed +themselves under him in order to learn it. And of their number, two who +made great proficience were Marco da Ravenna, who signed his plates with +the signature of Raffaello, "R.S.," and Agostino Viniziano, who signed +his works in the following manner: "A.V." These two engraved and printed +many designs by Raffaello, such as one of Our Lady with Christ lying +dead at full length, and at His feet S. John, the Magdalene, Nicodemus, +and the other Maries; and they engraved another plate of greater size, +in which is a Madonna, with the arms outstretched and the eyes raised +towards Heaven, in an attitude of supreme pity and sorrow, with Christ, +in like manner, lying dead at full length. + +Agostino afterwards engraved a large plate of the Nativity, with the +Shepherds and Angels about the hut, and God the Father above; and he +executed many vases, both ancient and modern, and also a censer, or +rather, two women with a vase perforated at the top. He engraved a plate +with a man transformed into a wolf, who is stealing towards a bed in +order to kill one who is sleeping in it. And he also executed one of +Alexander with Roxana, to whom that Prince is presenting a royal crown, +while some Loves are hovering about her and adorning her head, and +others are playing with the arms of Alexander. + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF LUCRETIA + +(_After the engraving by =Marcantonio Bolognese=. London: British +Museum, B. 192_) + +_M.S._] + +The same masters together engraved the Last Supper of Christ with the +twelve Apostles, on a plate of some size, and an Annunciation, all after +the designs of Raffaello; and then two stories of the Marriage of +Psyche, which had been painted by Raffaello not long before. In the end, +Agostino and the above-mentioned Marco between them engraved almost all +the works that Raffaello ever drew or painted, and made prints of them; +and also many of the pictures painted by Giulio Romano, after copies +drawn for that purpose. And to the end that there might remain scarcely +a single work of Raffaello that had not been engraved by them, they +finally made engravings of the scenes that Giulio had painted in the +Loggie after the designs of Raffaello. + +There may still be seen some of the first plates, with the signature +"M.R." for Marco Ravignano, and others with the signature "A.V." for +Agostino Viniziano, re-engraved by others after them, such as the +Creation of the World, and God forming the Animals; the Sacrifices of +Cain and Abel, and the Death of Abel; Abraham sacrificing Isaac; Noah's +Ark, the Deluge, and the Animals afterwards issuing from the Ark; the +Passage of the Red Sea; the Delivery of the Laws from Mount Sinai +through Moses, and the Manna; David slaying Goliath, already engraved by +Marc' Antonio; Solomon building the Temple; the Judgment of the same +Solomon between the two women, and the Visit of the Queen of Sheba; and, +from the New Testament, the Nativity and the Resurrection of Christ, and +the Descent of the Holy Spirit. All these were engraved and printed +during the lifetime of Raffaello. + +After the death of Raffaello, Marco and Agostino separated, and Agostino +was retained by Baccio Bandinelli, the Florentine sculptor, who caused +him to engrave after his design an anatomical figure that he had formed +out of lean bodies and dead men's bones; and then a Cleopatra. Both +these were held to be very good plates. Whereupon, growing in courage, +Baccio drew, and caused Agostino to engrave, a large plate--one of the +largest, indeed, that had ever been engraved up to that time--full of +women clothed, and of naked men who are slaughtering the little +innocents by command of King Herod. + +Marc' Antonio, meanwhile, continuing to work at engraving, executed some +plates with small figures of the twelve Apostles, in various manners, +and many Saints, both male and female, to the end that the poor painters +who were weak in design might be able to avail themselves of these in +their need. He also engraved a nude young man, who has a lion at his +feet, and is seeking to furl a large banner, which is swollen out by the +wind in a direction contrary to his purpose; another who is carrying a +pedestal on his back; and a little S. Jerome who is meditating on death, +placing a finger in the hollow of a skull that he has in his hand, the +invention and design of which were by Raffaello. Then he executed a +figure of Justice, which he copied from the tapestries of the Chapel; +and afterwards an Aurora, drawn by two horses, on which the Hours are +placing bridles. He also copied the Three Graces from the antique; and +he engraved a scene of Our Lady ascending the steps of the Temple. + +After these things, Giulio Romano, who in his modesty would never have +any of his works engraved during the lifetime of his master Raffaello, +lest he should seem to wish to compete with him, caused Marc' Antonio, +after the death of Raffaello, to engrave two most beautiful battles of +horsemen on plates of some size, and all the stories of Venus, Apollo, +and Hyacinthus, which he had painted in the bathroom that is at the +villa of Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia. And he did the same with +the four stories of the Magdalene and the four Evangelists that are in +the vaulting of the chapel of the Trinita, which were executed for a +courtezan, although the chapel now belongs to Messer Agnolo Massimi. By +the same master was drawn and reproduced in engraving a very beautiful +ancient sarcophagus containing a lion-hunt, which was formerly at +Maiano, and is now in the court of S. Pietro; as well as one of the +ancient scenes in marble that are under the Arch of Constantine; and, +finally, many scenes that Raffaello had designed for the corridor and +Loggie of the Palace, which have since been engraved once more by +Tommaso Barlacchi, together with those of the tapestries that Raffaello +executed for the public Consistory. + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRDOM OF S. LAWRENCE + +(_Engraved after Bandinelli by =Marcantonio Bolognese=. London: British +Museum_) + +_M.S._] + +After this, Giulio Romano caused Marc' Antonio to engrave twenty plates +showing all the various ways, attitudes, and positions in which +licentious men have intercourse with women; and, what was worse, for +each plate Messer Pietro Aretino wrote a most indecent sonnet, insomuch +that I know not which was the greater, the offence to the eye from +the drawings of Giulio, or the outrage to the ear from the words of +Aretino. This work was much censured by Pope Clement; and if, when it +was published, Giulio had not already left for Mantua, he would have +been sharply punished for it by the anger of the Pope. And since some of +these sheets were found in places where they were least expected, not +only were they prohibited, but Marc' Antonio was taken and thrown into +prison; and he would have fared very badly if Cardinal de' Medici and +Baccio Bandinelli, who was then at Rome in the service of the Pope, had +not obtained his release. Of a truth, the gifts of God should not be +employed, as they very often are, in things wholly abominable, which are +an outrage to the world. + +Released from prison, Marc' Antonio finished engraving for Baccio +Bandinelli a large plate that he had previously begun, with a great +number of nude figures engaged in roasting S. Laurence on the gridiron, +which was held to be truly beautiful, and was indeed engraved with +incredible diligence, although Bandinelli, complaining unjustly of Marc' +Antonio to the Pope while that master was executing it, said that he was +committing many errors. But for this sort of gratitude Bandinelli +received the reward that his lack of courtesy deserved, for Marc' +Antonio, having heard the whole story, and having finished the plate, +went, without Baccio being aware of it, to the Pope, who took infinite +delight in the arts of design; and he showed him first the original +drawing by Bandinelli, and then the printed engraving, from which the +Pope recognized that Marc' Antonio not only had committed no errors, but +had even corrected with great judgment many committed by Bandinelli, +which were of no small importance, and had shown more knowledge and +craftsmanship in his engraving than had Baccio in his drawing. Wherefore +the Pope commended him greatly and ever afterwards received him with +favour; and it is believed that he might have done much for him, but the +sack of Rome supervening, Marc' Antonio became little less than a +beggar, seeing that, besides losing all his property, he was forced to +disburse a good ransom in order to escape from the hands of the +Spaniards. Which done, he departed from Rome, never to return; and +there are few works to be seen which were executed by him after that +time. Our arts are much indebted to Marc' Antonio, in that he made a +beginning with engraving in Italy, to the advantage and profit of art +and to the convenience of her followers, in consequence of which others +have since executed the works that will be described hereafter. + +Now Agostino Viniziano, of whom we have already spoken, came to +Florence, after the circumstances described above, with the intention of +attaching himself to Andrea del Sarto, who was held to be about the best +painter in Italy after Raffaello. And so Andrea, persuaded by this +Agostino to have his works engraved, made a drawing of a Dead Christ +supported by three Angels; but since the attempt did not succeed exactly +according to his fancy, he would never again allow any work of his to be +engraved. After his death, however, certain persons published engravings +of the Visitation of S. Elizabeth and of the Baptism of the people by S. +John, taken from the work in chiaroscuro that Andrea painted in the +Scalzo at Florence. Marco da Ravenna, likewise, in addition to the works +already mentioned, which he executed in company with Agostino, also +engraved many others by himself, which are all good and worthy of +praise, and are known by his signature, which has been described above. +Many others, also, have there been after these, who have worked very +well at engraving, and have brought it about that every country has been +able to see and enjoy the honoured labours of the most excellent +masters. + +Nor has there been wanting one who has had the enterprise to execute +with wood-blocks prints that possess the appearance of having been made +with the brush after the manner of chiaroscuro, which is an ingenious +and difficult thing. This was Ugo da Carpi, who, although he was a +mediocre painter, was nevertheless a man of most subtle wit in strange +and fanciful inventions. He it was, as has been related in the thirtieth +chapter of the Treatise on Technique, who first attempted, and that with +the happiest result, to work with two blocks, one of which he used for +hatching the shadows, in the manner of a copper-plate, and with the +other he made the tint of colour, cutting deeply with the strokes of the +engraving, and leaving the lights so bright, that when the impression +was pulled off they appeared to have been heightened with lead-white. +Ugo executed in this manner, after a design drawn by Raffaello in +chiaroscuro, a woodcut in which is a Sibyl seated who is reading, with a +clothed child giving her light with a torch. Having succeeded in this, +Ugo took heart and attempted to make prints with wood-blocks of three +tints. The first gave the shadow; the second, which was lighter in tone, +made the middle tint, and the third, cut deeply, gave the higher lights +of the ground and left the white of the paper. And the result of this, +also, was so good, that he executed a woodcut of AEneas carrying Anchises +on his back, while Troy is burning. He then made a Deposition from the +Cross, and the story of Simon Magus, which had been used by Raffaello +for the tapestries of the above-mentioned Chapel; and likewise David +slaying Goliath, and the Flight of the Philistines, of which Raffaello +had prepared the design in order to paint it in the Papal Loggie. And +after many other works in chiaroscuro, he executed in the same manner a +Venus, with many Loves playing about her. + +Now since, as I have said, he was a painter, I must not omit to tell +that he painted in oils, without using a brush, but with his fingers, +and partly, also, with other bizarre instruments of his own, an +altar-piece which is on the altar of the Volto Santo in Rome. Upon this +altar-piece, being one morning with Michelagnolo at that altar to hear +Mass, I saw an inscription saying that Ugo da Carpi had painted it +without a brush; and I laughed and showed the inscription to +Michelagnolo, who answered, also with a laugh, that it would have been +better if he had used a brush, for then he might have done it in a +better manner. + +The method of executing these two kinds of woodcuts, in imitation of +chiaroscuro, thus invented by Ugo da Carpi, was the reason that, many +following in his steps, a great number of most beautiful prints were +produced by others. For after him Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of +Siena, made a similar woodcut in chiaroscuro, which was very beautiful, +of Hercules driving Avarice, a figure laden with vases of gold and +silver, from Mount Parnassus, on which are the Muses in various lovely +attitudes. And Francesco Parmigiano engraved a Diogenes for a sheet of +royal folio laid open, which was a finer print than any that Ugo ever +produced. The same Parmigiano, having shown the method of making prints +from three blocks to Antonio da Trento, caused him to execute a large +sheet in chiaroscuro of the Beheading of S. Peter and S. Paul. And +afterwards he executed another, but with two blocks only, of the +Tiburtine Sibyl showing the Infant Christ in the lap of the Virgin to +the Emperor Octavian; a nude man seated, who has his back turned in a +beautiful attitude; and likewise an oval print of the Madonna lying +down, with many others by his hand that may be seen in various places, +printed after his death by Joannicolo Vicentino. But the most beautiful +were executed later by Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, after the death of +Parmigiano, as will be related at greater length in the Life of +Domenico. + +Not otherwise than worthy of praise, also, is the method that has been +invented of making engravings more easily than with the burin, although +they do not come out so clear--that is, with aquafortis, first laying on +the copper a coat of wax, varnish, or oil-colour, and then drawing the +design with an iron instrument that has a sharp point to cut through the +wax, varnish, or colour, whichever it may be, after which one pours over +it the aquafortis, which eats into the copper in such a manner that it +leaves the lines of the design hollow, and impressions can be taken from +it. With this method Francesco Parmigiano executed many little things, +which are full of grace, such as the Nativity of Christ, a Dead Christ +with the Maries weeping over Him, and one of the tapestries executed for +the Chapel after the designs of Raffaello, with many other works. + +After these masters, fifty sheets with varied and beautiful landscapes +were produced by Battista, a painter of Vicenza, and Battista del Moro +of Verona. In Flanders, Hieronymus Cock has executed engravings of the +liberal arts; and in Rome, engravings have been done of the Visitation +in the Pace, painted by Fra Sebastiano Viniziano, of that by Francesco +Salviati in the Misericordia, and of the Feast of Testaccio; besides +many works that have been engraved in Venice by the painter Battista +Franco, and by many other masters. + +But to return to the simple copper-plate engravings; after Marc' Antonio +had executed the many works that have been mentioned above, Rosso +arrived in Rome, and Baviera persuaded him that he should have some of +his works engraved; wherefore he commissioned Gian Jacopo Caraglio of +Verona, who was one of the most skilful craftsmen of that day, and who +sought with all diligence to imitate Marc' Antonio, to engrave a lean +anatomical figure of his own, which holds a death's head in the hand, +and is seated on a serpent, while a swan is singing. This plate +succeeded so well, that the same Rosso afterwards caused engravings to +be made, on plates of considerable size, of some of the Labours of +Hercules: the Slaying of the Hydra, the Combat with Cerberus, the +Killing of Cacus, the Breaking of the Bull's Horns, the Battle with the +Centaurs, and the Centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira. And these plates +proved to be so beautiful and so well engraved, that the same Jacopo +executed, likewise after the design of Rosso, the story of the daughters +of Pierus, who, for seeking to contend with the Muses and to sing in +competition with them, were transformed into crows. + +Baviera having then caused Rosso to draw twenty Gods in niches, with +their attributes, for a book, these were engraved by Gian Jacopo +Caraglio in a very beautiful and graceful manner; and also, not long +afterwards, their Transformations; but of these Rosso did not make the +drawings, save only of two, for he had a difference with Baviera, and +Baviera had ten of them executed by Perino del Vaga. The two by Rosso +were the Rape of Proserpine and the Transformation of Philyra into a +horse; and all were engraved with such diligence by Caraglio, that they +have always been prized. Caraglio afterwards began for Rosso the Rape of +the Sabines, which would have been a very rare work, but, the sack of +Rome supervening, it could not be finished, for Rosso went away, and the +plates were all lost. And although this work has since come into the +hands of the printers, it has proved a miserable failure, for the +engraving has been done by one who had no knowledge of the art, and +thought only of making money. + +After this, Caraglio engraved for Francesco Parmigiano a plate of the +Marriage of Our Lady, and other works by the same master; and then +another plate for Tiziano Vecelli, which was very beautiful, of a +Nativity that Tiziano had formerly painted. This Gian Jacopo Caraglio, +after having executed many copper-plates, being an ingenious spirit, +gave his attention to engraving cameos and crystals, in which he became +no less excellent than he had been in the engraving of copper-plates. +And since then, having entered the service of the King of Poland, he has +occupied himself no longer with engraving on copper, now in his opinion +a mean art, but with the cutting of gems, with working in incavo, and +with architecture; for which having been richly rewarded by the +liberality of that King, he has spent large sums in investments in the +territory of Parma, in order to be able to retire in his old age to the +enjoyment of his native country among his friends and disciples, after +the labours of so many years. + +After these masters came another excellent copper-plate engraver, +Lamberto Suave,[15] by whose hand are thirteen plates of Christ and the +twelve Apostles, in which the execution of the engraving is perfect in +its delicacy. If Lamberto had possessed a more thorough mastery of +design in addition to the industry, patience, and diligence that he +showed in all other points, he would have been marvellous in every +respect; as may be perceived clearly from a little sheet of S. Paul +writing, and from a larger sheet with the story of the Raising of +Lazarus, in which there are most beautiful things to be seen. Worthy of +note, in particular, are the hollow rock in the cavern which he +represented as the burial-place of Lazarus, and the light that falls +upon some figures, all of which is executed with beautiful and fanciful +invention. + +No little ability, likewise, has been shown in this profession by Giovan +Battista Mantovano, a disciple of Giulio Romano; among other works, in a +Madonna who has the Child in her arms and the moon under her feet, and +in some very beautiful heads with helmet-crests after the antique; in +two sheets, in which are a captain of mercenaries on foot and one on +horseback, and also in a sheet wherein is a Mars in armour, who is +seated upon a bed, while Venus gazes on a Cupid whom she is suckling, +which has in it much that is good. Very fanciful, also, are two large +sheets by the hand of the same master, in which is the Burning of Troy, +executed with extraordinary invention, design, and grace. These and +many other sheets by the same hand are signed with the letters "J.B.M." + +And no less excellent than any of those mentioned above has been Enea +Vico of Parma, who engraved the well-known copper-plate of the Rape of +Helen by Rosso, and also another plate after the design of the same +painter, of Vulcan with some Loves, who are fashioning arrows at his +forge, while the Cyclopes are also at work, which was truly a most +beautiful engraving. He executed the Leda of Michelagnolo on another, +and also an Annunciation after the design of Tiziano, the story of +Judith that Michelagnolo painted in the Chapel, the portrait of Duke +Cosimo de' Medici as a young man, in full armour, after the drawing by +Bandinelli, and likewise the portrait of Bandinelli himself; and then +the Contest of Cupid and Apollo in the presence of all the Gods. And if +Enea had been maintained and rewarded for his labours by Bandinelli, he +would have engraved many other beautiful plates for him. Afterwards, +Francesco, a protege of the Salviati, and an excellent painter, being in +Florence, and assisted by the liberality of Duke Cosimo, commissioned +Enea to engrave the large plate of the Conversion of S. Paul, full of +horses and soldiers, which was held to be very beautiful, and gave Enea +a great name. The same Enea then executed the portrait of Signor +Giovanni de' Medici, father of Duke Cosimo, with an ornament full of +figures. He engraved, also, the portrait of the Emperor Charles V, with +an ornament covered with appropriate Victories and trophies, for which +he was rewarded by His Majesty and praised by all; and on another plate, +very well engraved, he represented the victory that the Emperor gained +on the Elbe. For Doni he executed some heads from nature in the manner +of medallions, with beautiful ornaments: King Henry of France, Cardinal +Bembo, Messer Lodovico Ariosto, the Florentine Gello, Messer Lodovico +Domenichi, Signora Laura Terracina, Messer Cipriano Morosino, and Doni +himself. He also engraved for Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent +illuminator, a plate of a S. George on horseback who is slaying the +Dragon, in which, although it was, one might say, one of the first works +that he engraved, he acquitted himself very well. + +Afterwards, being a man of lofty genius, and desiring to pass on to +greater and more honourable undertakings, Enea applied himself to the +study of antiquities, and in particular of ancient medals, of which he +has published several books in engraving, wherein are the true effigies +of many Emperors and their wives, with every kind of inscription and +reverse that could bring all who delight in them to a clear +understanding of their stories; for which he has rightly won great +praise, as he still does. And those who have found fault with him for +his books of medals have been in the wrong, for whoever shall consider +the labours that he has performed, and how useful and beautiful these +are, must perforce excuse him, even though he may have erred in a few +matters of little importance; and such errors, which are not committed +save from faulty information, from a too ready credulity, or from having +opinions differing from others with some show of reason, are worthy to +be excused, seeing that Aristotle, Pliny, and many others have been +guilty of the like. + +Enea also designed to the common satisfaction and benefit of all mankind +fifty costumes of different nations, such as were worn by men and women, +peasants and citizens, in Italy, in France, in Spain, in Portugal, in +England, in Flanders, and in other parts of the world; which was an +ingenious work, both fanciful and beautiful. He executed, also, a +genealogical tree of all the Emperors, which was a thing of great +beauty. And finally, after much toil and travailing, he now lives in +repose under the shadow of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, for whom he has +made a genealogical tree of all the Marquises and Dukes of the House of +Este. For all these works and many others that he has executed, as he +still continues to do, I have thought it right to make this honourable +record of him among so many other men of the arts. + +Many others have occupied themselves with copper-plate engraving, who, +although they have not attained to such perfection, have none the less +benefited the world with their labours, by bringing many scenes and +other works of excellent masters into the light of day, and by thus +giving the means of seeing the various inventions and manners of the +painters to those who are not able to go to the places where the +principal works are, and conveying to the ultramontanes a knowledge of +many things that they did not know. And although many plates have been +badly executed through the avarice of the printers, eager more for gain +than for honour, yet in certain others, besides those that have been +mentioned, there may be seen something of the good; as in the large +design of the Last Judgment of Michelagnolo Buonarroti on the front wall +of the Papal Chapel, engraved by Giorgio Mantovano, and in the +engravings by Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri of the Crucifixion of S. +Peter and the Conversion of S. Paul painted in the Pauline Chapel at +Rome. This Giovan Battista has also executed copper-plate engravings, +besides other designs, of the Meditation of S. John the Baptist, of the +Deposition from the Cross that Daniello Ricciarelli of Volterra painted +in a chapel in the Trinita at Rome, of a Madonna with many Angels, and +of a vast number of other works. Moreover, many things taken from +Michelagnolo have been engraved by others at the commission of Antonio +Lanferri, who has employed printers for the same purpose. These have +published books of all the kinds of fishes, and also the Phaethon, the +Tityus, the Ganymede, the Archers, the Bacchanalia, the Dream, the +Pieta, and the Crucifix, all done by Michelagnolo for the Marchioness of +Pescara; and, in addition, the four Prophets of the Chapel and other +scenes and drawings have been engraved and published, but executed so +badly, that I think it well to be silent as to the names of those +engravers and printers. + +But I must not be silent about the above-mentioned Antonio Lanferri and +Tommaso Barlacchi, for they, as well as others, have employed many young +men to engrave plates after original drawings by the hands of a vast +number of masters, insomuch that it is better to say nothing of these +works, lest it should become wearisome. And in this manner have been +published, among other plates, grotesques, ancient temples, cornices, +bases, capitals, and many other suchlike things, with all their +measurements. + +Seeing everything reduced to a miserable manner, and moved by +compassion, Sebastiano Serlio, an architect of Bologna, has engraved on +wood and copper two books of architecture, in which, among other things, +are thirty doors of the Rustic Order, and twenty in a more delicate +style; which book is dedicated to King Henry of France. Antonio +L'Abacco, likewise, has published plates in a beautiful manner of all +the notable antiquities of Rome, with their measurements, executed with +great mastery and with very subtle engraving by ... Perugino. Nor has +less been accomplished in this field by the architect Jacopo Barozzo of +Vignola, who in a book of copper-plate engravings has shown with simple +rules how to enlarge or to diminish in due proportion every part of the +five Orders of Architecture, a work most useful in that art, for which +we are much indebted to him; even as we are to Giovanni Cugini[16] of +Paris for his engravings and writings on architecture. + +In Rome, besides the masters named above, Niccolo Beatricio[17] of +Lorraine has given so much attention to engraving with the burin, that +he has executed many plates worthy of praise; such as two pieces of +sarcophagi with battles of horsemen, engraved on copper, and other +plates full of various animals very well executed, and a scene showing +the Widow's Daughter being restored to life by Jesus Christ, engraved in +a bold manner from the design of Girolamo Mosciano, a painter of +Brescia. The same master has engraved an Annunciation from a drawing by +the hand of Michelagnolo, and has also executed prints of the Navicella +of mosaic that Giotto made in the portico of S. Pietro. + +From Venice, likewise, have come many most beautiful engravings on wood +and on copper; on wood, after Tiziano, many landscapes, a Nativity of +Christ, a S. Jerome, and a S. Francis; and on copper the Tantalus, the +Adonis, and many other plates, which have been engraved by Giulio +Bonasone of Bologna, together with some others by Raffaello, by Giulio +Romano, by Parmigiano, and by all the other masters whose drawings he +has been able to obtain. And Battista Franco, a painter of Venice, has +engraved, partly with the burin and partly with aquafortis, many works +by the hands of various masters, such as the Nativity of Christ, the +Adoration of the Magi, the Preaching of S. Peter, some plates from the +Acts of the Apostles, and many stories from the Old Testament. So far, +indeed, has this practice of making prints been carried, that those who +make a profession of it keep draughtsmen continually employed in copying +every beautiful work as it appears, and put it into prints. Wherefore +there came from France, after the death of Rosso, engravings of all the +work by his hand that could be found, such as Clelia with the Sabine +women passing the river; some masks after the manner of the Fates, +executed for King Francis; a bizarre Annunciation; a Dance of ten women; +and King Francis advancing alone into the Temple of Jupiter, leaving +behind him Ignorance and other similar figures, which were executed +during the lifetime of Rosso by the copper-plate engraver Renato.[18] +And many more have been drawn and engraved since Rosso's death; among +many other works, all the stories of Ulysses, and, to say nothing of the +rest, vases, chandeliers, candelabra, salt-cellars, and a vast number of +other suchlike things made in silver after designs of Rosso. + +Luca Penni, also, has published engravings of two Satyrs giving drink to +a Bacchus, a Leda taking the arrows from the quiver of a Cupid, Susannah +in the Bath, and many other plates copied from the designs of the same +Rosso and of Francesco Primaticcio of Bologna, now Abbot of S. Martin in +France. And among these engravings are the Judgment of Paris, Abraham +sacrificing Isaac, a Madonna, Christ marrying S. Catharine, Jove +changing Callisto into a bear, the Council of the Gods, Penelope weaving +with her women, and other things without number, engraved on wood, and +executed for the most part with the burin; by reason of which the wits +of the craftsmen have become very subtle, insomuch that little figures +have been engraved so well, that it would not be possible to give them +greater delicacy. And who can see without marvelling the works of +Francesco Marcolini of Forli? Who, besides other things, printed the +book of the Garden of Thoughts from wood-blocks, placing at the +beginning an astrologer's sphere and a head of himself after the design +of Giuseppe Porta of Castelnuovo della Garfagnana; in which book are +various fanciful figures, such as Fate, Envy, Calamity, Timidity, +Praise, and many others of the same kind, which were held to be most +beautiful. Not otherwise than praiseworthy, also, were the figures that +Gabriele Giolito, a printer of books, placed in the Orlando Furioso, for +they were executed in a beautiful manner of engraving. And even such, +likewise, were the eleven large anatomical plates that were done by +Andrea Vessalio after the drawings of Johann of Calcar, a most excellent +Flemish painter, which were afterwards copied on smaller sheets and +engraved on copper by Valverde, who wrote on anatomy after Vessalio. + +Next, among the many plates that have issued from the hands of Flemings +within the last ten years, very beautiful are some drawn by one +Michele,[19] a painter, who worked for many years in two chapels that +are in the Church of the Germans at Rome. These plates contain the story +of Moses and the Serpents, and thirty-two stories of Psyche and Love, +which are held to be most beautiful. Hieronymus Cock, also a Fleming, +has engraved a large plate after the invention and design of Martin +Heemskerk, of Delilah cutting off the locks of Samson; and not far away +is the Temple of the Philistines, in which, the towers having fallen, +one sees ruin and destruction in the dead, and terror in the living, who +are taking to flight. The same master has executed in three smaller +plates the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Eating of the Fruit, and the +Angel driving them out of Paradise; and in four other plates of the same +size, in the first the Devil imprinting avarice and ambition into the +heart of man, and in the others all the passions that result from those +two. There may also be seen twenty-seven plates of the same size by his +hand, with stories from the Old Testament after the expulsion of Adam +from Paradise, drawn by Martin in a bold, well-practised, and most +resolute manner, which is very similar to the Italian. Hieronymus +afterwards engraved six round plates with the history of Susannah, and +twenty-three other stories from the Old Testament, similar to those of +Abraham already mentioned--namely, six plates with the story of David, +eight plates with that of Solomon, four with that of Balaam, and five +with those of Judith and Susannah. And from the New Testament he +engraved twenty-nine plates, beginning with the Annunciation of the +Virgin, and continuing down to the whole Passion and Death of Jesus +Christ. He also engraved, after the drawings of the same Martin, the +seven Works of Mercy, and the story of the rich Lazarus and the poor +Lazarus, and four plates with the Parable of the Samaritan wounded by +thieves, with four other plates of the Parable of the Talents, written +by S. Matthew in his eighteenth chapter. + +At the time when Hans Liefrinck executed in competition with him ten +plates of the Life and Death of S. John the Baptist, he engraved the +Twelve Tribes on an equal number of plates; Reuben upon a hog, +representing Sensuality; Simeon with a sword as a symbol of Homicide; +and in like manner the other heads of Tribes with attributes appropriate +to the nature of each. He then executed ten plates, engraved with +greater delicacy, with the stories and acts of David, from the time of +his being anointed by Samuel to his going before Saul; and he engraved +six other plates with the story of how Amnon became enamoured of his +sister Tamar and ravished her, and the death of that same Amnon. And not +long afterwards he executed ten plates of similar size with the history +of Job; and from thirteen chapters of the Proverbs of Solomon he drew +subjects for five plates of the same kind. He also engraved the story of +the Magi; and then, on six plates, the Parable that is in the twelfth +chapter of S. Matthew, of those who for various reasons refused to go to +the King's Feast, and of him who went without having a wedding-garment; +and six plates of equal size with some of the acts of the Apostles. And +in eight similar plates he engraved figures of women of perfect +excellence, in various costumes: six from the Old Testament--Jael, Ruth, +Abigail, Judith, Esther, and Susannah; and two from the New--Mary the +Virgin, Mother of Jesus Christ, and Mary Magdalene. + +After these works he carried out the engraving of the Triumphs of +Patience in six plates, with various things of fancy. In the first, in a +chariot, is Patience, who has in her hand a standard, on which is a rose +among thorns. In the second may be seen a burning heart, beaten by three +hammers, upon an anvil; and the chariot of this second plate is drawn by +two figures--namely, by Desire, who has wings upon the shoulders, and by +Hope, who has an anchor in the hand, and behind them Fortune, with her +wheel broken, is led as a prisoner. In the next plate is Christ on a +chariot, with the standard of the Cross and of His Passion, with the +Evangelists at the corners in the form of animals; and this chariot is +drawn by two lambs, and has behind it four prisoners--the Devil, the +World, or rather, the Flesh, Sin, and Death. In another Triumph is +Isaac, nude, upon a camel; on the banner that he holds in his hand are a +pair of prisoner's irons; and behind him is drawn the altar with the +ram, the knife, and the fire. In the next plate he made Joseph riding in +triumph on an ox crowned with ears of corn and fruits, with a standard +on which is a bee-hive; and the prisoners that are led behind him are +Anger and Envy, who are devouring a heart. He engraved in another +Triumph David on a lion, with the harp, and with a standard in his hand, +on which is a bit; and behind him is Saul as a prisoner, and Shimei, +with his tongue protruding. In another plate is Tobias riding in triumph +on an ass, and holding in his hand a banner, on which is a fountain; and +behind him Poverty and Blindness, bound, are led as prisoners. And in +the last of the six Triumphs is S. Stephen the Proto-martyr, who is +riding in triumph on an elephant, and has a standard with a figure of +Charity; and the prisoners behind him are his persecutors. All these +were inventions full of fancy, and very ingenious; and they were all +engraved by Hieronymus Cock, whose hand is very bold, sure, and +resolute. + +The same master engraved a plate of Fraud and Avarice, fantastic and +beautiful, and another very lovely plate of a Feast of Bacchanals, with +children dancing. On another he represented Moses passing across the Red +Sea, according as it had been painted by Agnolo Bronzino, a painter of +Florence, in the upper chapel in the Palace of the Duke of Florence; and +in competition with him, also after the design of Bronzino, Giorgio +Mantovano engraved a Nativity of Jesus Christ, which was very beautiful. +After these works, Hieronymus engraved twelve plates of the victories, +battles, and deeds of arms of Charles V, for him who was the inventor of +the subjects; and for Verese, a painter and a great master of +perspective in those parts, twenty plates with various buildings. For +Hieronymus Bosch he executed a plate of S. Martin, with a barque full of +Devils in the most bizarre forms. And he made another of an alchemist +who loses all his possessions, distilling away his brains and consuming +all that he has in various ways, insomuch that in the end he takes +refuge in the hospital with his wife and children; which plate was +designed for him by a painter, who caused him to engrave the Seven +Mortal Sins, with Demons of various forms, which was a fantastic and +laughable work. He also engraved a Last Judgment; an old man who is +seeking with a lantern for peace among the wares of the world, and finds +it not; likewise a great fish that is devouring some little fishes; a +figure of Carnival enjoying the pleasures of the table with many others, +and driving Lent away, and another of Lent driving away Carnival; and so +many other whimsical and fantastic inventions, that it would be +wearisome to attempt to speak of them all. + +Many other Flemings have imitated the manner of Albrecht Duerer with the +greatest care and subtlety, as may be seen from their engravings, and in +particular from those of ...[20] who has engraved in little figures four +stories of the Creation of Adam, four of the lives of Abraham and of +Lot, and four others of Susannah, which are very beautiful. In like +manner, G... P...[21] has engraved the Seven Works of Mercy in seven +small round plates, eight stories taken from the Books of Kings, Regulus +placed in the barrel filled with nails, and an Artemisia, which is a +plate of great beauty. J... B...[22] has executed figures of the four +Evangelists, which are so small that it seems scarcely possible that he +could have done them; and also five other very fine plates, in the first +of which is a Virgin drawn into the grave by Death in all the freshness +of her youth, and in the second is Adam, in the third a peasant, in the +fourth a Bishop, and in the fifth a Cardinal, each, like the Virgin, +called by Death to his last account. And in some others are many Germans +going on parties of pleasure with their wives, and some beautiful and +fantastic Satyrs. By ... are plates of the four Evangelists, engraved +with great care, and no less beautiful than are twelve stories of the +Prodigal Son executed with much diligence by the hand of M.... And, +finally, Franz Floris, a painter famous in those parts, has produced a +great number of works and drawings which have since been engraved, for +the most part by Hieronymus Cock, such as ten plates of the Labours of +Hercules, a large plate with all the activities of the life of man, +another with the Horatii and Curiatii engaged in combat in the lists, +the Judgment of Solomon, and the Battle between Hercules and the +Pygmies. The same master, also, has engraved a Cain who has killed Abel, +over whose body Adam and Eve are weeping; an Abraham who is about to +sacrifice Isaac on the altar, and a vast number of other plates, so full +of variety and invention, that it is indeed marvellous to think of all +that has been done in engravings on copper and wood. Lastly, it is +enough to draw attention to the engravings of the portraits of the +Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in this our book, which were drawn +by Giorgio Vasari and his pupils, and engraved by Maestro Cristofano +...,[23] who has executed in Venice, as he still continues to do, a vast +number of works worthy of record. + +In conclusion, for all the assistance that the ultramontanes have +received from seeing the various Italian manners by means of engravings, +and that the Italians have received from having seen those of the +ultramontanes and foreigners, thanks should be rendered, for the most +part, to Marc' Antonio Bolognese, in that, besides the circumstance that +he played a great part in the beginning of this profession, as has been +related, there has not as yet been one who has much surpassed him, +although some few have equalled him in certain points. This Marc' +Antonio died at Bologna, not long after his departure from Rome. In our +book are some drawings of Angels by his hand, done with the pen, and +some other very beautiful sheets drawn from the apartments that +Raffaello da Urbino painted. In one of these apartments Marc' Antonio, +as a young man, was portrayed by Raffaello in one of those grooms who +are carrying Pope Julius II, in that part where the High-Priest Onias is +praying. + +And let this be the end of the Lives of Marc' Antonio Bolognese and of +all the other engravers of prints mentioned above, of whom I have +thought it right to give this long but necessary account, in order to +satisfy not only the students of our arts, but also all those who +delight in works of that kind. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[14] Luca di Leyden. + +[15] Lambert Zutmann. + +[16] Jean Cousin. + +[17] Nicolas Beautrizet. + +[18] Rene Boyvin. + +[19] Michael Coxie. + +[20] Albrecht Aldegrever. + +[21] Georg Pencz. + +[22] Hans Beham. + +[23] Cristofano Coriolano. + + + + +ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) + + + + +LIFE OF ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO (THE YOUNGER) + +ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE + + +How many great and illustrious Princes, abounding with infinite wealth, +would leave behind them a name renowned and glorious, if they possessed, +together with their store of the goods of Fortune, a mind filled with +grandeur and inclined to those things that not only embellish the world, +but also confer vast benefit and advantage on the whole race of men! And +what works can or should Princes and great persons undertake more +readily than noble and magnificent buildings and edifices, both on +account of the many kinds of men that are employed upon them in the +making, and because, when made, they endure almost to eternity? For of +all the costly enterprises that the ancient Romans executed at the time +when they were at the supreme height of their greatness, what else is +there left to us save those remains of buildings, the everlasting glory +of the Roman name, which we revere as sacred things and strive to +imitate as the sole patterns of the highest beauty? And how much these +considerations occupied the minds of certain Princes who lived in the +time of the Florentine architect, Antonio da San Gallo, will now be seen +clearly in the Life of him that we are about to write. + +Antonio, then, was the son of Bartolommeo Picconi of Mugello, a maker of +casks; and after having learned the joiner's craft in his boyhood, +hearing that his uncle, Giuliano da San Gallo, was working at Rome in +company with his brother Antonio, he set out from Florence for that +city. And there, having devoted himself to the matters of the art of +architecture with the greatest possible zeal, and pursuing that art, he +gave promise of those achievements that we see in such abundance +throughout all Italy, in the vast number of works executed by him at a +more mature age. Now it happened that Giuliano was forced by the torment +that he suffered from the stone to return to Florence; and Antonio, +having become known to the architect Bramante of Castel Durante, began +to give assistance to that master, who, being old and crippled in the +hands by palsy, was not able to work as before in the preparation of his +designs. And these Antonio executed with such accuracy and precision +that Bramante, finding that they were correct and true in all their +measurements, was constrained to leave to him the charge of a great +number of works that he had on his hands, only giving him the order that +he desired and all the inventions and compositions that were to be used +in each work. In these he found himself served by Antonio with so much +judgment, diligence, and expedition, that in the year 1512 he gave him +the charge of the corridor that was to lead to the ditches of the +Castello di S. Angelo; for which he began to receive a salary of ten +crowns a month; but the death of Julius II then took place, and the work +was left unfinished. However, the circumstance that Antonio had already +acquired a name as a person of ability in architecture, and one who had +a very good manner in matters of building, was the reason that +Alessandro, who was first Cardinal Farnese, and afterwards Pope Paul +III, conceived the idea of commissioning him to restore the old palace +in the Campo di Fiore, in which he lived with his family; and for that +work Antonio, desiring to grow in reputation, made several designs in +different manners. Among which, one that was arranged with two +apartments was that which pleased his very reverend Highness, who, +having two sons, Signor Pier Luigi and Signor Ranuccio, thought that he +would leave them well accommodated by such a building. And, a beginning +having been made with that work, a certain portion was constructed +regularly every year. + +At this time a church dedicated to S. Maria di Loreto was being built at +the Macello de' Corbi, near the Column of Trajan, in Rome, and it was +brought to perfection by Antonio, with decorations of great beauty. +After this, Messer Marchionne Baldassini caused a palace to be erected +from the model and under the direction of Antonio, near S. Agostino, +which is arranged in such a manner that, small though it may be, it is +held to be, as indeed it is, the finest and most convenient dwelling in +Rome; and in it the staircases, the court, the loggie, the doors, and +the chimney-pieces, are all executed with consummate grace. With which +Messer Marchionne being very well satisfied, he determined that Perino +del Vaga, the Florentine painter, should decorate one of the halls in +colour, with scenes and other figures, as will be related in his Life; +which decorations have given it infinite grace and beauty. And near the +Torre di Nona Antonio directed and finished the building of the house of +the Centelli, which is small, but very convenient. + +No long time passed before he went to Gradoli, a place in the dominions +of the very reverend Cardinal Farnese, where he caused a most beautiful +and commodious palace to be erected for that Cardinal. On that journey +he did a work of great utility in restoring the fortress of Capo di +Monte, which he surrounded with low and well-shaped walls; and at the +same time he made the design of the fortress of Caprarola. And the very +reverend Monsignor Farnese, finding himself served by Antonio in all +these works in a manner so satisfactory, was constrained to wish him +well, and, coming to love him more and more, he showed him favour in his +every enterprise whenever he was able. After this, Cardinal Alborense, +wishing to leave a memorial of himself in the church of his nation, +caused a chapel of marble, with a tomb for himself, to be erected and +brought to completion by Antonio in S. Jacopo degli Spagnuoli; which +chapel, as has been related, was all painted in the spaces between the +pilasters by Pellegrino da Modena, and on the altar stood a most +beautiful S. James of marble executed by Jacopo Sansovino. This is a +work of architecture that is held to be truly worthy of the highest +praise, since the marble ceiling is divided very beautifully into +octagonal compartments. Nor was it long before M. Bartolommeo Ferratino, +for his own convenience and for the benefit of his friends, and also in +order to leave an honourable and enduring memorial of himself, +commissioned Antonio to build a palace on the Piazza d' Amelia, which is +a beautiful and most imposing work; whereby Antonio acquired no little +fame and profit. During this time Antonio di Monte, Cardinal of Santa +Prassedia, was in Rome, and he desired that the same architect should +build for him the palace that he afterwards occupied, looking out upon +the Agone, where there is the statue of Maestro Pasquino; and in the +centre, which looks over the Piazza, he wished to erect a tower. This +was planned and brought to completion for him by Antonio with a most +beautiful composition of pilasters and windows from the first floor to +the third--a good and graceful design; and it was adorned both within +and without by Francesco dell' Indaco with figures and scenes in +terretta. And Antonio having meanwhile become the devoted servant of the +Cardinal of Arimini, that lord caused him to erect a palace at Tolentino +in the March, for which, in addition to the rewards that Antonio +received, the Cardinal ever afterwards held himself indebted to him. + +While these matters were in progress, and the fame of Antonio was +growing and spreading abroad, it happened that old age and various +infirmities made Bramante a citizen of the other world; at which three +architects were appointed straightway by Pope Leo for the building of S. +Pietro--Raffaello da Urbino, Giuliano da San Gallo, the uncle of +Antonio, and Fra Giocondo of Verona. But no long time passed before Fra +Giocondo departed from Rome, and Giuliano, being old, received leave to +return to Florence. Whereupon Antonio, who was in the service of the +very reverend Cardinal Farnese, besought him very straitly that he +should make supplication to Pope Leo, to the end that he might grant the +place of his uncle Giuliano to him, which proved to be a thing very easy +to obtain, first because of the abilities of Antonio, which were worthy +of that place, and then by reason of the cordial relations between the +Pope and the very reverend Cardinal Farnese. And thus, in company with +Raffaello da Urbino, he continued that building, but coldly enough. + +The Pope then went to Civita Vecchia, in order to fortify it, and in his +company were many lords; among others, Giovan Paolo Baglioni and Signor +Vitello, and such persons of ability as Pietro Navarra and Antonio +Marchissi, the architect for fortifications at that time, who had come +from Naples at the command of the Pope. Discussions arising as to the +fortification of that place, many and various were the opinions about +this, one man making one design, and another a different one; but among +so many, Antonio displayed before them a plan which was approved by the +Pope and by those lords and architects as superior to all the others in +strength and beauty and in the handsome and useful character of its +arrangements; wherefore Antonio came into very great credit with the +Court. After this, the genius of Antonio repaired a great mischief +brought about in the following manner: Raffaello da Urbino, in executing +the Papal Loggie and the apartments that are over the foundations, had +left many empty spaces in the masonry in order to oblige some friends, +to the serious damage of the whole building, by reason of the great +weight that had to be supported above them; and the edifice was already +beginning to show signs of falling, on account of the weight being too +great for the walls. And it would certainly have fallen down but for the +genius of Antonio, who filled up those little chambers with the aid of +props and beams, and refounded the whole fabric, thus making it as firm +and solid as it had ever been in the beginning. + +Meanwhile the Florentine colony had begun their church in the Strada +Giulia, behind the Banchi, from the design of Jacopo Sansovino. But they +had chosen a site that extended too far into the river, so that, +compelled by necessity, they spent twelve thousand crowns on foundations +in the water, which were executed in a very secure and beautiful manner +by Antonio, who found the way after Jacopo had failed to discover it; +and several braccia of the edifice were built over the water. Antonio +made a model so excellent, that, if the work had been carried to +completion, it would have been something stupendous. Nevertheless, it +was a great error, giving proof of little judgment, on the part of those +who were at that time the heads of that colony in Rome, for they should +never have allowed the architects to found so large a church in so +terrible a river, for the sake of gaining twenty braccia of length, and +to throw away so many thousands of crowns on foundations, only to be +compelled to contend with that river for ever; particularly because, by +bringing that church forward and giving it another form, they might have +built it on solid ground, and, what is more, might have carried the +whole to completion with almost the same expense. And if they trusted +in the riches of the merchants of that colony, it was seen afterwards +how fallacious such a hope was, for in all the years that the +pontificate was held by Leo and Clement of the Medici family, by Julius +III, and by Marcellus, who all came from Florentine territory, although +the last-named lived but a short time, and for all the greatness of so +many Cardinals and the riches of so many merchants, it remained, as it +still does, in the same condition in which it was left by our San Gallo. +It is clear, therefore, that architects and those who cause buildings to +be erected should look well to the end and to every matter, before +setting their hands to works of importance. + +But to return to Antonio: the fortress of Monte Fiascone had been +formerly built by Pope Urban, and he restored it at the commission of +the Pope, who took him to those parts one summer in his train. And at +the request of Cardinal Farnese he built two little temples on the +island of Visentina in the Lake of Bolsena, one of which was constructed +as an octagon without and round within, and the other was square on the +outer side and octagonal on the inner, with four niches in the walls at +the corners, one to each; which two little temples, executed in so +beautiful a manner, bore testimony to the skill with which Antonio was +able to give variety to the details of architecture. While these temples +were building, Antonio returned to Rome, where he made a beginning with +the Palace of the Bishop of Cervia, which was afterwards left +unfinished, on the Canto di S. Lucia, where the new Mint stands. He +built the Church of S. Maria di Monferrato, which is held to be very +beautiful, near the Corte Savella, and likewise the house of one +Marrano, which is behind the Cibo Palace, near the houses of the +Massimi. + +Meanwhile Leo died, and with him all the fine and noble arts, which had +been restored to life by him and by his predecessor, Julius II; and his +successor was Adrian VI, in whose pontificate all arts and talents were +so crushed down, that, if the government of the Apostolic Seat had +remained long in his hands, that fate would have come upon Rome under +his rule which fell upon her on another occasion, when all the statues +saved from the destruction of the Goths, both the good and the bad, were +condemned to be burned. Adrian, perhaps in imitation of the Pontiffs of +those former times, had already begun to speak of intending to throw to +the ground the Chapel of the divine Michelagnolo, saying that it was a +bagnio of nudes; and he despised all good pictures and statues, calling +them vanities of the world, and shameful and abominable things, which +circumstance was the reason that not only Antonio, but all the other +beautiful intellects were kept idle, insomuch that, not to mention other +works, scarcely anything was done in the time of that Pontiff on the +building of S. Pietro, to which at least he should have been friendly, +since he wished to prove himself so much the enemy of worldly things. + +For that reason, therefore, attending under that Pontiff to works of no +great importance, Antonio restored the aisles of the Church of S. Jacopo +degli Spagnuoli, and furnished the facade with most beautiful windows. +He also caused a tabernacle of travertine to be constructed for the +Imagine di Ponte, which, although small, is yet very graceful; and in it +Perino del Vaga afterwards executed a beautiful little work in fresco. + +The poor arts had already come to an evil pass through the life of +Adrian, when Heaven, moved to pity for them, resolved by the death of +one to give new life to thousands; wherefore it removed him from the +world and caused him to surrender his place to one who would fill that +position more worthily and would govern the affairs of the world in a +different spirit. And thus a new Pope was elected in Clement VII, who, +being a man of generous mind, and desiring to follow in the steps of Leo +and of the other members of his illustrious family who had preceded him, +bethought himself that, even as he had created beautiful memorials of +himself as Cardinal, so as Pope he should surpass all others in +restoring and adorning buildings. That election, then, brought +consolation to many men of talent, and infused a potent and heaven-sent +breath of life in those ingenious but timid spirits who had sunk into +abasement; and they, thus revived, afterwards executed the beautiful +works that we see at the present day. And first, having been set to work +at the commission of His Holiness, Antonio straightway reconstructed a +court in front of the Loggie, which had been painted previously under +the direction of Raffaello, in the Palace; which court was a vast +improvement in beauty and convenience, for it was formerly necessary to +pass through certain narrow and tortuous ways, and Antonio, widening +these and giving them better form, made them spacious and beautiful. But +this part is not now in the condition in which Antonio left it, for Pope +Julius III took away the columns of granite that were there, in order to +adorn his villa with them, and altered everything. Antonio also executed +the facade of the old Mint of Rome, a work of great beauty and grace, in +the Banchi, making a rounded corner, which is held to be a difficult and +even miraculous thing; and in that work he placed the arms of the Pope. +And he refounded the unfinished part of the Papal Loggie, which had +remained incomplete at the death of Pope Leo, and had not been +continued, or even touched, through the negligence of Adrian. And thus, +at the desire of Clement, they were carried to their final completion. + +His Holiness then resolving to fortify Parma and Piacenza, after many +designs and models had been made by various craftsmen, Antonio was sent +to those places, and with him Giuliano Leno, the supervisor of those +fortifications. When they had arrived there, Antonio having with him his +pupil L'Abacco, Pier Francesco da Viterbo, a very able engineer, and the +architect Michele San Michele of Verona, all of them together carried +the designs of those fortifications into execution. Which done, the +others remaining, Antonio returned to Rome, where Pope Clement, since +the Palace was poorly supplied in the matter of apartments, ordained +that Antonio should begin those in which the public consistories are +held, above the Ferraria, which were executed in such a manner, that the +Pontiff was well satisfied with them, and caused other apartments to be +constructed above them for the Chamberlains of His Holiness. Over the +ceilings of those apartments, likewise, Antonio made others which were +very commodious--a work which was most dangerous, because it +necessitated so much refounding. In this kind of work Antonio was in +truth very able, seeing that his buildings never showed a crack; nor was +there ever among the moderns any architect more cautious or more skilful +in joining walls. + +In the time of Pope Paul II, the Church of the Madonna of Loreto, which +was small, and had its roof immediately over brick piers of rustic work, +had been refounded and brought to that size in which it may be seen at +the present day, by means of the skill and genius of Giuliano da Maiano; +and it had been continued from the outer string-course upwards by Sixtus +IV and by others, as has been related; but finally, in the time of +Clement, in the year 1526, without having previously shown the slightest +sign of falling, it cracked in such a manner, that not only the arches +of the tribune were in danger, but the whole church in many places, for +the reason that the foundations were weak and wanting in depth. +Wherefore Antonio was sent by the said Pope Clement to put right so +great a mischief; and when he had arrived at Loreto, propping up the +arches and fortifying the whole, like the resolute and judicious +architect that he was, he refounded all the building, and, making the +walls and pilasters thicker both within and without, he gave it a +beautiful form, both as a whole and in its well-proportioned parts, and +made it strong enough to be able to support any weight, however great. +He adhered to one and the same order in the transepts and in the aisles +of the church, making superb mouldings on the architraves, friezes, and +cornices above the arches, and he rendered beautiful and well +constructed in no common way the socles of the four great piers around +the eight sides of the tribune which support the four arches--namely, +three in the transepts, where the chapels are, and the larger one in the +central nave. This work certainly deserves to be celebrated as the best +that Antonio ever executed, and that not without sufficient reason, +seeing that those who erect some new building, or raise one from the +foundations, have the power to make it high or low, and to carry it to +such perfection as they desire or are able to achieve, without being +hindered by anything; which does not fall to the lot of him who has to +rectify or restore works begun by others and brought to a sorry state +either by the craftsman or by the circumstances of Fortune; whence it +may be said that Antonio restored a dead thing to life, and did that +which was scarcely possible. Having finished all this, he arranged that +the church should be covered with lead, and gave directions for the +execution of all that still remained to do; and thus, by his means, +that famous temple received a better form and more grace than it had +possessed before, and the hope of a long-enduring life. + +He then returned to Rome, just after that city had been given over to +sack; and the Pope was at Orvieto, where the Court was suffering very +greatly from want of water. Thereupon, at the wish of the Pontiff, +Antonio built in that city a well all of stone, twenty-five braccia +wide, with two spiral staircases cut in the tufa, one above the other, +following the curve of the well. By these two spiral staircases it is +possible to descend to the bottom of the well, insomuch that the animals +that go there for water, entering by one door, go down by one of the two +staircases, and when they have come to the platform where they receive +their load of water, they pass, without turning round, into the other +branch of the spiral staircase, which winds above that of the descent, +and emerge from the well by a different door, opposite to the other. +This work, which was an ingenious, useful, and marvellously beautiful +thing, was carried almost to completion before the death of Clement; and +the mouth of the well, which alone remained to be executed, was finished +by order of Pope Paul III, but not according to the directions drawn up +by Clement with the advice of Antonio, who was much commended for so +beautiful a work. Certain it is that the ancients never built a +structure equal to this in workmanship or ingenuity, seeing, above all, +that the central shaft is made in such a way that even down to the +bottom it gives light by means of certain windows to the two staircases +mentioned above. + +While this work was in progress, the same Antonio directed the +construction of the fortress of Ancona, which in time was carried to +completion. Afterwards, Pope Clement resolving, at the time when his +nephew Alessandro de' Medici was Duke of Florence, to erect an +impregnable fortress in that city, Signor Alessandro Vitelli, Pier +Francesco da Viterbo, and Antonio laid out that castle, or rather, +fortress, which is between the Porta al Prato and the Porta a S. Gallo, +and caused it to be built with such rapidity, that no similar structure, +whether ancient or modern, was ever completed so quickly. In a great +tower, which was the first to be founded, and was called the Toso, were +placed many inscriptions and medals, with the most solemn pomp and +ceremony; and this work is now celebrated over all the world, and is +held to be impregnable. + +By order of Antonio were summoned to Loreto the sculptor Tribolo, +Raffaello da Montelupo, Francesco da San Gallo, then a young man, and +Simone Cioli, who finished the scenes of marble begun by Andrea +Sansovino. To the same place Antonio summoned the Florentine Mosca, a +most excellent carver of marble, who was then occupied, as will be +related in his Life, with a chimney-piece of stone for the heirs of +Pellegrino da Fossombrone, which proved to be a divine work of carving. +This master, I say, at the entreaty of Antonio, made his way to Loreto, +where he executed festoons that are absolutely divine. Thus, with +rapidity and diligence, the ornamentation of that Chamber of Our Lady +was completely finished, although Antonio had five works of importance +on his hands at one and the same time, to all of which, notwithstanding +that they were in different places, distant one from another, he gave +his attention in such a manner that he never neglected any of them; for +when at any time he could not conveniently be there in person, he +availed himself of the assistance of his brother Battista. These five +works were the above-mentioned Fortress of Florence, that of Ancona, the +work at Loreto, the Apostolic Palace, and the well at Orvieto. + +After the death of Clement, when Cardinal Farnese was elected supreme +Pontiff under the title of Paul III, Antonio, having been the friend of +the Pope while he was a Cardinal, came into even greater credit; and His +Holiness, having created his son, Signor Pier Luigi, Duke of Castro, +sent Antonio to make the designs of the fortress which that Duke caused +to be founded in that place; of the palace, called the Osteria, that is +on the Piazza; and of the Mint, built of travertine after the manner of +that in Rome, which is in the same place. Nor were these the only +designs that Antonio made in that city, for he prepared many others of +palaces and other buildings for various persons, both natives and +strangers, who erected edifices of such cost that it would seem +incredible to one who has not seen them, so ornate are they all, so +commodious, and built with so little regard for expense; which was done +by many, without a doubt, in order to please the Pope, seeing that even +by such means do many contrive to procure favours for themselves, +flattering the humour of Princes; and this is a thing not otherwise than +worthy of praise, for it contributes to the convenience, advantage, and +pleasure of the whole world. + +Next, in the year in which the Emperor Charles V returned victorious +from Tunis, most magnificent triumphal arches were erected to him in +Messina, in Apulia, and in Naples, in honour of so great a victory; and +since he was to come to Rome, Antonio, at the commission of the Pope, +made a triumphal arch of wood at the Palace of S. Marco, of such a shape +that it might serve for two streets, and so beautiful that a more superb +or better proportioned work in wood has never been seen. And if in such +a work splendid and costly marbles had been added to the industry, art, +and diligence bestowed on its design and execution, it might have been +deservedly numbered, on account of its statues, painted scenes, and +other ornaments, among the Seven Wonders of the world. This arch, which +was placed at the end of the corner turning into the principal Piazza, +was of the Corinthian Order, with four round columns overlaid with +silver on each side, and capitals carved in most beautiful foliage, +completely overlaid with gold. There were very beautiful architraves, +friezes, and cornices placed with projections over every column; and +between each two columns were two painted scenes, insomuch that there +were four scenes distributed over each side, which, with the two sides, +made eight scenes altogether, containing, as will be described elsewhere +in speaking of those who painted them, the deeds of the Emperor. In +order to enhance this splendour, also, and to complete the pediment +above that arch on each side, there were two figures in relief, each +four braccia and a half in height, representing Rome, with two Emperors +of the House of Austria on either side, those on the front part being +Albrecht and Maximilian, and those on the other side Frederick and +Rudolph. And upon the corners, likewise, were four prisoners, two on +each side, with a great number of trophies, also in relief, and the arms +of His Holiness and of His Majesty; which were all executed under the +direction of Antonio by excellent sculptors and by the best painters +that there were in Rome at that time. And not only this arch was +executed under the direction of Antonio, but also all the preparations +for the festival that was held for the reception of so great and so +invincible an Emperor. + +The same Antonio then set to work on the Fortress of Nepi for the +aforesaid Duke of Castro, and on the fortification of the whole city, +which is both beautiful and impregnable. He laid out many streets in the +same city, and made for its citizens the designs of many houses and +palaces. His Holiness then causing the bastions of Rome to be +constructed, which are very strong, and the Porta di S. Spirito being +included among those works, the latter was built with the direction and +design of Antonio, with rustic decorations of travertine, in a very +solid and beautiful manner, and so magnificent, that it equals the works +of the ancients. After the death of Antonio, there were some who sought, +moved more by envy than by any reasonable motive, and employing +extraordinary means, to have this structure pulled down; but this was +not allowed by those in power. + +Under the direction of the same architect was refounded almost the whole +of the Apostolic Palace, which was in danger of ruin in many other parts +besides those that have been mentioned; in particular, on one side, the +Sistine Chapel, in which are the works of Michelagnolo, and likewise the +facade, which he did in such a way that not the slightest crack +appeared--a work richer in danger than in honour. He enlarged the Great +Hall of that same Sistine Chapel, making in two lunettes at the head of +it those immense windows with their marvellous lights, and with +compartments pushed up into the vaulting and wrought in stucco; all +executed at great cost, and so well, that this hall may be considered +the richest and the most beautiful that there had been in the world up +to that time. And he added to it a staircase, by which it might be +possible to go into S. Pietro, so commodious and so well built that +nothing better, whether ancient or modern, has yet been seen; and +likewise the Pauline Chapel, where the Sacrament has to be placed, which +is a work of extraordinary charm, so beautiful and so well proportioned +and distributed, that through the grace that may be seen therein it +appears to present itself to the eye with a festive smile. + +Antonio built the Fortress of Perugia, at the time when there was +discord between the people of that city and the Pope; and that work, for +which the houses of the Baglioni were thrown to the ground, was finished +with marvellous rapidity, and proved to be very beautiful. He also built +the Fortress of Ascoli, bringing it in a few days to such a condition +that it could be held by a garrison, although the people of Ascoli and +others did not think that it could be carried so far in many years; +wherefore it happened that, when the garrison was placed in it so +quickly, those people were struck with astonishment, and could scarce +believe it. He also refounded his own house in the Strada Giulia at +Rome, in order to protect himself from the floods that rise when the +Tiber is swollen; and he not only began, but in great part completed, +the palace that he occupied near S. Biagio, which now belongs to +Cardinal Riccio of Montepulciano, who has finished it, adding most +ornate apartments, and spending upon it vast sums in addition to what +had been spent by Antonio, which was some thousands of crowns. + +But all that Antonio did to the benefit and advantage of the world is as +nothing in comparison with the model of the venerable and stupendous +fabric of S. Pietro at Rome, which, planned in the beginning by +Bramante, he enlarged and rearranged with a new plan and in an +extraordinary manner, giving it dignity and a well-proportioned +composition, both as a whole and in its separate parts, as may be seen +from the model made of wood by the hand of his disciple, Antonio +L'Abacco, who carried it to absolute perfection. This model, which gave +Antonio a very great name, was published in engraving after the death of +Antonio da San Gallo, together with the ground-plan of the whole +edifice, by the said Antonio L'Abacco, who wished to show in this way +how great was the genius of San Gallo, and to make known to all men the +opinion of that architect; for new plans had been proposed in opposition +by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and out of this change of plans many +contentions afterwards arose, as will be related in the proper place. It +appeared to Michelagnolo, and also to many others who saw the model of +San Gallo, and such parts as were carried into execution by him, that +Antonio's composition was too much cut up by projections and by members +which are too small, as are also the columns, the arches upon arches, +and the cornices upon cornices. Besides this, it seems not to be +approved that the two bell-towers in his plan, the four little tribunes, +and the principal cupola, should have that ornament, or rather, garland +of columns, many and small. In like manner, men did not much approve, +nor do they now, of those innumerable pinnacles that are in it as a +finish to the work; and it appears that in that model he imitated the +style and manner of the Germans rather than the good manner of the +ancients, which is now followed by the best architects. The +above-mentioned model of S. Pietro was finished by L'Abacco a short time +after the death of Antonio; and it was found that, in so far as +appertained merely to the woodwork and the labour of the carpenters, it +had cost four thousand one hundred and eighty-four crowns. In executing +it, Antonio L'Abacco, who had charge of the work, acquitted himself very +well, having a good knowledge of the matters of architecture, as is +proved by the book of the buildings of Rome that he printed, which is +very beautiful. This model, which is now to be found in the principal +chapel of S. Pietro, is thirty-five palme[24] in length, twenty-six in +breadth, and twenty palme and a half in height; wherefore, according to +the model, the work would have been one thousand and forty palme in +length, or one hundred and four canne,[25] and three hundred and sixty +palme in breadth, or thirty-six canne, for the reason that the canna +which is used in Rome, according to the measure of the masons, is equal +to ten palme. + +For the making of this model and of many designs, there were assigned to +Antonio by the Wardens of the building of S. Pietro fifteen hundred +crowns, of which he received one thousand in cash; but the rest he never +drew, for a short time after that work he passed to the other life. He +strengthened the piers of the same Church of S. Pietro, to the end that +the weight of the tribune might be supported securely; and he filled all +the scattered parts of the foundations with solid material, and made +them so strong, that there is no reason to fear that the building may +show any more cracks or threaten to fall, as it did in the time of +Bramante. This masterly work, if it were above the ground instead of +being hidden below, would amaze the boldest intellect. And for these +reasons the name and fame of this admirable craftsman should always have +a place among the rarest masters. + +We find that ever since the time of the ancient Romans the men of Terni +and those of Narni have been deadly enemies with one another, as they +still are, for the reason that the lake of the Marmora, becoming choked +up at times, would do injury to one of those communities; and thus, when +the people of Narni wished to release the waters, those of Terni would +by no means consent to it. On that account there has always been a +difference between them, whether the Pontiffs were governing Rome, or +whether it was subject to the Emperors; and in the time of Cicero that +orator was sent by the Senate to compose that difference, but it +remained unsettled. Wherefore, after envoys had been sent to Pope Paul +III in the year 1546 for the same purpose, he despatched Antonio to them +to settle that dispute; and so, by his good judgment, it was resolved +that the lake should have an outlet on the side where the wall is, and +Antonio had it cut, although with the greatest difficulty. But it came +to pass by reason of the heat, which was great, and other hardships, +that Antonio, being now old and feeble, fell sick of a fever at Terni, +and rendered up his spirit not long after; at which his friends and +relatives felt infinite sorrow, and many buildings suffered, +particularly the Palace of the Farnese family, near the Campo di Fiore. + +[Illustration: PALAZZO FARNESE + +(_After_ Antonio di San Gallo (_with_ Michelangelo). _Rome_.) + +_Anderson_] + +Pope Paul III, when he was Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, had carried that +palace a considerable way towards completion, and had finished part of +the first range of windows in the facade and the inner hall, and had +begun one side of the courtyard; but the building was yet not so far +advanced that it could be seen in its perfection, when the Cardinal was +elected Pontiff, and Antonio altered the whole of the original design, +considering that he had to make a palace no longer for a Cardinal, but +for a Pope. Having therefore pulled down some houses that were round it, +and the old staircase, he rebuilt it with a more gentle ascent, and +increased the courtyard on every side and also the whole palace, making +the halls greater in extent and the rooms more numerous and more +magnificent, with very beautiful carved ceilings and many other +ornaments. And he had already brought the facade, with the second range +of windows, to completion, and had only to add the great cornice that +was to go right round the whole, when the Pope, who was a man of exalted +mind and excellent judgment, desiring to have a cornice richer and more +beautiful than any that there had ever been in any other palace +whatsoever, resolved that, in addition to the designs that Antonio had +made, all the best architects of Rome should each make one, after which +he would choose the finest, but would nevertheless have it carried into +execution by Antonio. And so one morning, while he was at table at the +Belvedere, all those designs were brought before him in the presence of +Antonio, the masters who had made them being Perino del Vaga, Fra +Sebastiano del Piombo, Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and Giorgio Vasari, who +was then a young man and in the service of Cardinal Farnese, at the +commission of whom and of the Pope he had prepared for that cornice not +one only, but two different designs. It is true that Buonarroti did not +bring his own himself, but sent it by the same Giorgio Vasari, who had +gone to show him his designs, to the end that he might express his +opinion on them as a friend; whereupon Michelagnolo gave him his own +design, asking that he should take it to the Pope and make his excuses +for not going in person, on the ground that he was indisposed. And when +all the designs had been presented to the Pope, his Holiness examined +them for a long time, and praised them all as ingenious and very +beautiful, but that of the divine Michelagnolo above all. + +Now all this did not happen without causing vexation to Antonio, who was +not much pleased with this method of procedure on the part of the Pope, +and who would have liked to do everything by himself. But even more was +he displeased to see that the Pope held in great account one Jacomo +Melighino of Ferrara, and made use of him as architect in the building +of S. Pietro, although he showed neither power of design nor much +judgment in his works, giving him the same salary as he paid to Antonio, +on whom fell all the labour. And this happened because this Melighino +had been the faithful servant of the Pope for many years without any +reward, and it pleased His Holiness to recompense him in that way; not +to mention that he had charge of the Belvedere and of some other +buildings belonging to the Pope. + +After the Pope, therefore, had seen all the designs mentioned above, he +said, perchance to try Antonio: "These are all beautiful, but it would +not be amiss for us to see another that our Melighino has made." At +which Antonio, feeling some resentment, and believing that the Pope was +making fun of him, replied: "Holy Father, Melighino is but an architect +in jest." Which hearing, the Pope, who was seated, turned towards +Antonio, and, bowing his head almost to the ground, answered: "Antonio, +it is our wish that Melighino should be an architect in earnest, as you +may see from his salary." Having said this, he dismissed the company and +went away; and by these words he meant to show that it is very often by +Princes rather than by their own merits that men are brought to the +greatness that they desire. The cornice was afterwards executed by +Michelagnolo, who reconstructed the whole of that palace almost in +another form, as will be related in his Life. + +After the death of Antonio there remained alive his brother Battista +Gobbo, a person of ability, who spent all his time on the buildings of +Antonio, although the latter did not behave very well towards him. This +Battista did not live many years after Antonio, and at his death he left +all his possessions to the Florentine Company of the Misericordia in +Rome, on the condition that the men of that Company should cause to be +printed a book of Observations on Vitruvius that he had written. That +book has never come into the light of day, but it is believed to be a +good work, for he had a very fine knowledge of the matters of his art, +and was a man of excellent judgment, and he was also upright and true. + +But returning to Antonio: having died at Terni, he was taken to Rome and +carried to the grave with the greatest pomp, followed by all the +craftsmen of design and by many others; and then, at the instance of the +Wardens of S. Pietro, his body was placed in a tomb near the Chapel of +Pope Sixtus in S. Pietro, with the following epitaph: + + ANTONIO SANCTI GALLI FLORENTINO, URBE MUNIENDA AC PUB. OPERIBUS, + PRAECIPUEQUE D. PETRI TEMPLO ORNAN. ARCHITECTORUM FACILE PRINCIPI, + DUM VELINI LACUS EMISSIONEM PARAT, PAULO PONT. MAX. AUCTORE, + INTERAMNAE INTEMPESTIVE EXTINCTO, ISABELLA DETA UXOR MOESTISS. + POSUIT 1546, III. CALEND. OCTOBRIS. + +And in truth Antonio, who was a most excellent architect, deserves to be +celebrated and extolled, as his works clearly demonstrate, no less than +any other architect, whether ancient or modern. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[24] The "palma" as used here is equal to about nine inches. + +[25] The "canna" is equal to four braccia. + + + + +GIULIO ROMANO + + + + +LIFE OF GIULIO ROMANO + +PAINTER + + +Among his many, or rather innumerable, disciples, the greater number of +whom became able masters, Raffaello da Urbino had not one who imitated +him more closely in manner, invention, design, and colouring, than did +Giulio Romano, nor one who was better grounded, more bold, resolute, +prolific, and versatile, or more fanciful and varied than Giulio; not to +mention for the present that he was very pleasant in his conversation, +gay, amiable, gracious, and supremely excellent in character. These +qualities were the reason that he was so beloved by Raffaello, that, if +he had been his son, he could not have loved him more; wherefore it came +to pass that Raffaello always made use of him in his most important +works, and, in particular, in executing the Papal Loggie for Leo X; for +after Raffaello had made the designs for the architecture, the +decorations, and the scenes, he caused Giulio to paint many of the +pictures there, among which are the Creation of Adam and Eve, that of +the animals, the Building of Noah's Ark, his Sacrifice, and many other +works, which are known by the manner, such as the one in which the +daughter of Pharaoh, with her ladies, finds Moses in the little ark, +which had been cast adrift on the river by the Hebrews--a work that is +marvellous on account of a very well executed landscape. Giulio also +assisted Raffaello in painting many things in that apartment of the +Borgia Tower which contains the Burning of the Borgo, more particularly +the base, which is painted in the colour of bronze, with the Countess +Matilda, King Pepin, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon, King of +Jerusalem, and other benefactors of the Church--all excellent figures; +and prints of a part of this scene, taken from a drawing by the hand of +Giulio, were published not long since. The same Giulio also executed +the greater part of the scenes in fresco that are in the Loggia of +Agostino Chigi; and he worked in oils on a very beautiful picture of S. +Elizabeth, which was painted by Raffaello and sent to King Francis of +France, together with another picture, of S. Margaret, painted almost +entirely by Giulio after the design of Raffaello, who sent to the same +King the portrait of the Vice-Queen of Naples, wherein Raffaello did +nothing but the likeness of the head from life, and the rest was +finished by Giulio. These works, which were very dear to that King, are +still in the King's Chapel at Fontainebleau in France. + +Working in this manner in the service of his master Raffaello, and +learning the most difficult secrets of art, which were taught to him by +Raffaello himself with extraordinary lovingness, before a long time had +passed Giulio knew very well how to draw in perspective, take the +measurements of buildings, and execute ground-plans; and Raffaello, +designing and sketching at times inventions after his own fancy, would +afterwards have them drawn on a larger scale, with the proper +measurements, by Giulio, in order to make use of them in his works of +architecture. And Giulio, beginning to delight in that art, gave his +attention to it in such a manner, that he afterwards practised it and +became a most excellent master. At his death, Raffaello left as his +heirs Giulio and Giovan Francesco, called Il Fattore, on the condition +that they should finish the works begun by him; and they carried the +greater part of these to completion with honour. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF CONSTANTINE + +(_Detail, after the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Rome: The Vatican_) + +_Anderson_] + +Now Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who afterwards became Pope Clement VII, +took a site under Monte Mario at Rome, in which, besides a beautiful +view, there were running waters, with some woods on the banks and a +lovely plain which, running along the Tiber as far as the Ponte Molle, +formed on either side a wide expanse of meadowland that extended almost +to the Porta di S. Pietro; and on the highest point of the bank, where +there was a level space, he proposed to build a palace with all the best +and most beautiful conveniences and adornments that could be desired in +the form of apartments, loggie, gardens, fountains, groves, and other +things. Of all this he gave the charge to Giulio, who, undertaking it +willingly, and setting his hand to the work, brought that palace, which +was then called the Vigna de' Medici, and is now known as the Villa +Madama, to that condition which will be described below. Accommodating +himself, then, to the nature of the site and the wishes of the Cardinal, +he made the facade in the form of a semicircle, after the manner of a +theatre, with a design of niches and windows of the Ionic Order; which +was so excellent, that many believe that Raffaello made the first sketch +for it, and that the work was afterwards pursued and carried to +completion by Giulio. The same Giulio painted many pictures in the +chambers and elsewhere; in particular, in a very beautiful loggia beyond +the first entrance vestibule, which is adorned all around with niches +large and small, wherein are great numbers of ancient statues; and among +these was a Jupiter, a rare work, which was afterwards sent by the +Farnese family to King Francis of France, with many other most beautiful +statues. In addition to those niches, the said loggia is all wrought in +stucco and has the walls and ceilings all painted with grotesques by the +hand of Giovanni da Udine. At the head of this loggia Giulio painted in +fresco an immense Polyphemus with a vast number of children and little +satyrs playing about him, for which he gained much praise, even as he +did for all the designs and works that he executed for that place, which +he adorned with fish-ponds, pavements, rustic fountains, groves, and +other suchlike things, all most beautiful and carried out with fine +order and judgment. + +It is true that, the death of Leo supervening, for a time this work was +carried no further, for when a new Pontiff had been elected in Adrian, +and Cardinal de' Medici had returned to Florence, it was abandoned, +together with all the public works begun by Adrian's predecessor. During +this time Giulio and Giovan Francesco brought to completion many things +that had been left unfinished by Raffaello, and they were preparing to +carry into execution some of the cartoons that he had made for the +pictures of the Great Hall of the Palace--in which he had begun to paint +four stories from the life of the Emperor Constantine, and had, when he +died, covered one wall with the proper mixture for painting in +oils--when they saw that Adrian, being a man who took no delight in +pictures, sculptures, or in any other good thing, had no wish that the +Hall should be finished. Driven to despair, therefore, Giulio and Giovan +Francesco, and with them Perino del Vaga, Giovanni da Udine, Sebastiano +Viniziano, and all the other excellent craftsmen, were almost like to +die of hunger during the lifetime of Adrian. But by the will of God, +while the Court, accustomed to the magnificence of Leo, was all in +dismay, and all the best craftsmen, perceiving that no art was prized +any longer, were beginning to consider where they might take refuge, +Adrian died, and Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Supreme Pontiff +under the name of Clement VII; and with him all the arts of design, +together with the other arts, were restored to life in one day. Giulio +and Giovan Francesco, full of joy, set themselves straightway by order +of the Pope to finish the above-mentioned Hall of Constantine, and threw +to the ground the preparation that had been laid on one wall for +painting in oils; but they left untouched two figures that they had +painted previously in oils, which serve as adornments to certain Popes; +and these were a Justice and another similar figure. + +The distribution of this Hall, which is low, had been designed with much +judgment by Raffaello, who had placed at the corners, over all the +doors, large niches with ornaments in the form of little boys holding +various devices of Leo, such as lilies, diamonds, plumes, and other +emblems of the House of Medici. In the niches were seated some Popes in +pontificals, each with a canopy in his niche; and round those Popes were +some little boys in the form of little angels, holding books and other +appropriate things in their hands. And each Pope had on either side of +him a Virtue, chosen according to his merits; thus, the Apostle Peter +had Religion on one side and Charity, or rather Piety, on the other, and +so all the others had similar Virtues; and the said Popes were Damasus +I, Alexander I, Leo III, Gregory, Sylvester, and some others. All these +figures were so well placed in position and executed by Giulio, who +painted all the best parts of this work in fresco, that it is clear that +he endured much labour and took great pains with them; as may also be +seen from a drawing of S. Sylvester, which was designed very well by his +own hand, and is perhaps a much more graceful work than the painted +figure. It may be affirmed, indeed, that Giulio always expressed his +conceptions better in drawings than in finished work or in paintings, +for in the former may be seen more vivacity, boldness, and feeling; and +this may have happened because he made a drawing in an hour, in all the +heat and glow of working, whereas on paintings he spent months, and even +years, so that, growing weary of them, and losing that keen and ardent +love that one has at the beginning of a work, it is no marvel that he +did not give them that absolute perfection that is to be seen in his +drawings. + +But to return to the stories: Giulio painted on one of the walls +Constantine making an address to his soldiers; while in the air, in a +splendour of light, appears the Sign of the Cross, with some little +boys, and letters that run thus: "In hoc signo vinces." And there is a +dwarf at the feet of Constantine, placing a helmet on his head, who is +executed with great art. Next, on the largest wall, there is the battle +of horsemen which took place at the Ponte Molle, in which Constantine +routed Maxentius. This work is worthy of the highest praise, on account +of the dead and wounded that may be seen in it, and the various +extravagant attitudes of the foot-soldiers and horsemen who are fighting +in groups, all painted with great spirit; not to mention that there are +many portraits from life. And if this scene were not too much darkened +and loaded with blacks, which Giulio always delighted to use in +colouring, it would be altogether perfect; but this takes away much of +its grace and beauty. In the same scene he painted the whole landscape +of Monte Mario, and the River Tiber, in which Maxentius, who is on +horseback, proud and terrible, is drowning. In short, Giulio acquitted +himself in such a manner in this work, that it has been a great light to +all who have painted battle-pieces of that kind since his day. He +himself learned so much from the ancient columns of Trajan and Antoninus +that are in Rome, that he made much use of this knowledge for the +costumes of soldiers, armour, ensigns, bastions, palisades, +battering-rams, and all the other instruments of war that are painted +throughout the whole of that Hall. And beneath these scenes, right +round, he painted many things in the colour of bronze, which are all +beautiful and worthy of praise. + +On another wall he painted S. Sylvester the Pope baptizing Constantine, +representing there the very bath made by Constantine himself, which is +at S. Giovanni Laterano at the present day; and he made a portrait from +life of Pope Clement in the S. Sylvester who is baptizing, with some +assistants in their vestments, and a crowd of people. Among the many +attendants of the Pope of whom he painted portraits there, also from +life, was the Cavalierino, who was very influential with His Holiness at +that time, and Messer Niccolo Vespucci, a Knight of Rhodes. And below +this, on the base, he painted a scene with figures in imitation of +bronze, of Constantine causing the Church of S. Pietro to be built at +Rome, in allusion to Pope Clement. There he made portraits of the +architect Bramante and of Giuliano Lemi,[26] holding the design of the +ground-plan of the said church, and this scene is very beautiful. + +On the fourth wall, above the chimney-piece of that Hall, he depicted in +perspective the Church of S. Pietro at Rome, with the Pope's throne +exactly as it appears when His Holiness chants the Pontifical Mass; the +body of Cardinals and all the other prelates of the Court; the chapel of +singers and musicians; and the Pope seated, represented as S. Sylvester, +with Constantine kneeling at his feet and presenting to him a figure of +Rome made of gold in the manner of those that are on the ancient medals, +by which Giulio intended to signify the dowry which that Constantine +gave to the Roman Church. In this scene Giulio painted many women +kneeling there to see that ceremony, who are very beautiful; a beggar +asking for alms; a little boy amusing himself by riding on a dog; and +the Lancers of the Papal Guard, who are making the people give way and +stand back, as is the custom. And among many portraits that are in this +work may be seen portraits from life of Giulio himself, the painter; of +Count Baldassarre Castiglioni, the author of the "Cortigiano," and very +much his friend; of Pontano and Marullo; and of many other men of +letters and courtiers. Right round the Hall and between the windows +Giulio painted many devices and poetical compositions, which were +pleasing and fanciful; and everything was much to the satisfaction of +the Pope, who rewarded him liberally for his labours. + +While this Hall was being painted, Giulio and Giovan Francesco, +although they could not meet the demands of their friends even in part, +executed an altar-piece with the Assumption of Our Lady, a very +beautiful work, which was sent to Perugia and placed in the Convent of +the Nuns of Monteluci. Then, having withdrawn to work by himself, Giulio +painted a picture of Our Lady, with a cat that was so natural that it +appeared to be truly alive; whence that picture was called the Picture +of the Cat. In another picture, of great size, he painted a Christ being +scourged at the Column, which was placed on the altar of the Church of +S. Prassedia at Rome. And not long after this, M. Giovan Matteo Giberti, +who was then Datary to Pope Clement, and afterwards became Bishop of +Verona, commissioned Giulio, who was his very familiar friend, to make +the design for some rooms that were built of brick near the gate of the +Papal Palace, looking out upon the Piazza of S. Pietro, and serving for +the accommodation of the trumpeters who blow their trumpets when the +Cardinals go to the Consistory, with a most commodious flight of steps, +which can be ascended on horseback as well as on foot. For the same M. +Giovan Matteo he painted an altar-piece of the Stoning of S. Stephen, +which M. Giovan Matteo sent to a benefice of his own, called S. Stefano, +in Genoa. In this altar-piece, which is most beautiful in invention, +grace, and composition, the young Saul may be seen seated on the +garments of S. Stephen while the Jews are stoning him; and, in a word, +Giulio never painted a more beautiful work than this, so fierce are the +attitudes of the persecutors and so well expressed the patience of +Stephen, who appears to be truly seeing Jesus Christ on the right hand +of the Father in the Heaven, which is painted divinely well. This work, +together with the benefice, M. Giovan Matteo gave to the Monks of Monte +Oliveto, who have turned the place into a monastery. + +The same Giulio executed at the commission of the German Jacob Fugger, +for a chapel that is in S. Maria de Anima at Rome, a most lovely +altar-piece in oils, in which are the Madonna, S. Anne, S. Joseph, S. +James, S. John as a little boy kneeling, and S. Mark the Evangelist with +a lion at his feet, which is lying down with a book, its hair curving in +accordance with its position, which was a beautiful consideration, and +difficult to execute; not to mention that the same lion has short wings +on its shoulders, with feathers so soft and plumy, that it seems almost +incredible that the hand of a craftsman could have been able to imitate +nature so closely. Besides this, he painted there a building that curves +in a circular form after the manner of a theatre, with some statues so +beautiful and so well placed that there is nothing better to be seen. +Among other figures there is a woman who is spinning and gazing at a hen +with some chickens, than which nothing could be more natural; and above +Our Lady are some little boys, very graceful and well painted, who are +upholding a canopy. And if this picture, also, had not been so heavily +loaded with black, by reason of which it has become very dark, it would +certainly have been much better; but this blackness has brought it about +that the greater part of the work that is in it is lost or destroyed, +and that because black, even when fortified with varnish, is the ruin of +all that is good, always having in it a certain desiccative quality, +whether it be made from charcoal, burnt ivory, smoke-black, or burnt +paper. + +Among the many disciples that Giulio had while he was executing these +works, such as Bartolommeo da Castiglione, Tommaso Papacello of Cortona, +and Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, those of whom he made the most particular +use were Giovanni da Lione and Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo a San +Sepolcro, both of whom assisted him in the execution of many things in +the Hall of Constantine and in the other works of which we have spoken. +Wherefore I do not think it right to refrain from mentioning that these +two, who were very dexterous in painting, and followed the manner of +Giulio closely in carrying into execution the works that he designed for +them, painted in colours after his design, near the old Mint in the +Banchi, the escutcheon of Pope Clement VII, each of them doing one-half, +with two terminal figures, one on either side of that escutcheon. And +the same Raffaello, not long after, painted in fresco from a cartoon +drawn by Giulio, in a lunette within the door of the Palace of Cardinal +della Valle, a Madonna who is covering the Child, who is sleeping, with +a piece of drapery, with S. Andrew the Apostle on one side and S. +Nicholas on the other, which was held, with justice, to be an excellent +picture. + +Giulio, meanwhile, being very intimate with Messer Baldassarre Turini da +Pescia, built for him on Mount Janiculum, where there are some villas +that have a most beautiful view, after making the design and model, a +palace so graceful and so well appointed, from its having all the +conveniences that could be desired in such a place, that it defies +description. Moreover, the apartments were adorned not only with stucco, +but also with paintings, for he himself painted there some stories of +Numa Pompilius, who was buried on that spot; and in the bathroom of this +palace, with the help of his young men, Giulio painted some stories of +Venus, Love, Apollo, and Hyacinthus, which are all to be seen in +engraving. + +After having separated himself completely from Giovan Francesco, he +executed various architectural works in Rome, such as the design of the +house of the Alberini in the Banchi (although some believe that the plan +of this work came from Raffaello), and likewise a palace that may be +seen at the present day on the Piazza della Dogana in Rome, which, being +beautiful in design, has been reproduced in engraving. And for himself, +on a corner of the Macello de' Corbi, where stood his own house, in +which he was born, he made a beginning with a beautiful range of +windows, which is a small thing, but very graceful. + +By reason of all these excellent qualities, Giulio, after the death of +Raffaello, was celebrated as the best craftsman in Italy. And Count +Baldassarre Castiglioni, who was then in Rome as ambassador from +Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and was much the friend, as has +been related, of Giulio, having been commanded by his master the Marquis +to send him an architect of whom he might avail himself for the +necessities of his palace and of the city, the Marquis adding that he +would particularly like to have Giulio--the Count, I say, so wrought +upon him with entreaties and promises, that Giulio said that he would +go, provided that he could do this with the leave of Pope Clement; which +leave having been obtained, the Count, setting out for Mantua, from +which he was then to go on behalf of the Pope to the Emperor, took +Giulio with him; and having arrived there, he presented him to the +Marquis, who, after welcoming him warmly, caused an honourably +appointed house to be given to him, together with a salary and also a +good table for himself, for his disciple Benedetto Pagni, and for +another young man who was in his service; and, what is more, the Marquis +sent him several canne of velvet, satin, and other kinds of silk and +cloth wherewith to clothe himself. Then, hearing that he had no horse to +ride, he sent for a favourite horse of his own, called Luggieri, and +presented it to him; and when Giulio had mounted upon it, they rode to a +spot a bow-shot beyond the Porta di S. Bastiano, where His Excellency +had a place with some stables, called the Te, standing in the middle of +a meadow, in which he kept his stud of horses and mares. Arriving there, +the Marquis said that he would like, without destroying the old walls, +to have some sort of place arranged to which he might resort at times +for dinner or supper, as a recreation. + +Giulio, having heard the will of the Marquis, and having examined the +whole place, took a ground-plan of that site and set his hand to the +work. Availing himself of the old walls, he made in the principal part +the first hall that is to be seen at the present day as one enters, with +the suite of rooms that are about it. And since the place has no living +rock, and no quarries from which to excavate material for hewn and +carved stone, such as are used in building by those who can obtain them, +he made use of brick and baked stone, which he afterwards worked over +with stucco; and with this material he made columns, bases, capitals, +cornices, doors, windows, and other things, all with most beautiful +proportions. And he executed the decorations of the vaults in a new and +fantastic manner, with very handsome compartments, and with richly +adorned recesses, which was the reason that the Marquis, after a +beginning so humble, then resolved to have the whole of that building +reconstructed in the form of a great palace. + +[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE BANQUET OF CUPID AND PSYCHE + +(_After the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Mantua: Palazzo del Te_) + +_Alinari_] + +Thereupon Giulio made a very beautiful model, all of rustic work both +without and within the courtyard, which pleased that lord so much, that +he assigned a good sum of money for the building; and after Giulio had +engaged many masters, the work was quickly carried to completion. The +form of the palace is as follows: The building is quadrangular, and has +in the centre an open courtyard after the manner of a meadow, or rather, +of a piazza, into which open four entrances in the form of a cross. +The first of these traverses straightway, or rather, passes, into a very +large loggia, which opens by another into the garden, and two others +lead into various apartments; and these are all adorned with stucco-work +and paintings. In the hall to which the first entrance gives access the +vaulting is wrought in various compartments and painted in fresco, and +on the walls are portraits from life of all the favourite and most +beautiful horses from the stud of the Marquis, together with the dogs of +the same coat or marking as the horses, with their names; which were all +designed by Giulio, and painted in fresco on the plaster by the painters +Benedetto Pagni and Rinaldo Mantovano, his disciples, and so well, in +truth, that they seem to be alive. + +From this hall one passes into a room which is at one corner of the +palace, and has the vaulting most beautifully wrought with compartments +in stucco-work and varied mouldings, touched in certain places with +gold. These mouldings divide the surface into four octagons, which +enclose a picture in the highest part of the vaulting, in which is Cupid +marrying Psyche in the sight of Jove, who is on high, illumined by a +dazzling celestial light, and in the presence of all the Gods. It would +not be possible to find anything executed with more grace or better +draughtsmanship than this scene, for Giulio foreshortened the figures so +well, with a view to their being seen from below, that some of them, +although they are scarcely one braccio in length, appear when seen from +the ground to be three braccia high; and, in truth, they are wrought +with marvellous art and ingenuity, Giulio having succeeded in so +contriving them, that, besides seeming to be alive (so strong is the +relief), they deceive the human eye with a most pleasing illusion. In +the octagons are all the earlier stories of Psyche, showing the +adversities that came upon her through the wrath of Venus, and all +executed with the same beauty and perfection; in other angles are many +Loves, as likewise in the windows, producing various effects in +accordance with the spaces where they are; and the whole of the vaulting +is painted in oils by the hands of the above-mentioned Benedetto and +Rinaldo. The rest of the stories of Psyche are on the walls below, and +these are the largest. In one in fresco is Psyche in the bath; and the +Loves are bathing her, and then wiping her dry with most beautiful +gestures. In another part is Mercury preparing the banquet, while Psyche +is bathing, with the Bacchantes sounding instruments; and there are the +Graces adorning the table with flowers in a beautiful manner. There is +also Silenus supported by Satyrs, with his ass, and a goat lying down, +which has two children sucking at its udder; and in that company is +Bacchus, who has two tigers at his feet, and stands leaning with one arm +on the credence, on one side of which is a camel, and on the other an +elephant. This credence, which is barrel-shaped, is adorned with +festoons of verdure and flowers, and all covered with vines laden with +bunches of grapes and leaves, under which are three rows of bizarre +vases, basins, drinking-cups, tazze, goblets, and other things of that +kind in various forms and fantastic shapes, and so lustrous, that they +seem to be of real silver and gold, being counterfeited with a simple +yellow and other colours, and that so well, that they bear witness to +the extraordinary genius and art of Giulio, who proved in this part of +the work that he was rich, versatile, and abundant in invention and +craftsmanship. Not far away may be seen Psyche, who, surrounded by many +women who are serving and attiring her, sees Phoebus appearing in the +distance among the hills in the chariot of the sun, which is drawn by +four horses; while Zephyr is lying nude upon some clouds, and is blowing +gentle breezes through a horn that he has in his mouth, which make the +air round Psyche balmy and soft. These stories were engraved not many +years since after the designs of Battista Franco of Venice, who copied +them exactly as they were painted from the great cartoons of Giulio by +Benedetto of Pescia and Rinaldo Mantovano, who carried into execution +all the stories except the Bacchus, the Silenus, and the two children +suckled by the goat; although it is true that the work was afterwards +retouched almost all over by Giulio, so that it is very much as if it +had been all painted by him. This method, which he learned from +Raffaello, his instructor, is very useful to young men, who in this way +obtain practice and thereby generally become excellent masters. And +although some persuade themselves that they are greater than those who +keep them at work, such fellows, if their guide fails them before they +are at the end, or if they are deprived of the design and directions for +the work, learn that through having lost or abandoned that guidance too +early they are wandering like blind men in an infinite sea of errors. + +But to return to the apartments of the Te; from that room of Psyche one +passes into another full of double friezes with figures in low-relief, +executed in stucco after the designs of Giulio by Francesco Primaticcio +of Bologna, then a young man, and by Giovan Battista Mantovano, in which +friezes are all the soldiers that are on Trajan's Column at Rome, +wrought in a beautiful manner. And on the ceiling, or rather soffit, of +an antechamber is painted in oils the scene when Icarus, having been +taught by his father Daedalus, seeks to rise too high in his flight, and, +after seeing the Sign of Cancer and the chariot of the sun, which is +drawn by four horses in foreshortening, near the Sign of Leo, is left +without his wings, the wax being consumed by the heat of the sun; and +near this the same Icarus may be seen hurtling through the air, and +almost falling upon those who gaze at him, his face dark with the shadow +of death. This invention was so well conceived and imagined by Giulio, +that it seems to be real and true, for in it one sees the fierce heat of +the sun burning the wretched youth's wings, the flaming fire gives out +smoke, and one almost hears the crackling of the burning plumes, while +death may be seen carved in the face of Icarus, and in that of Daedalus +the most bitter sorrow and agony. In our book of drawings by various +painters is the original design of this very beautiful scene, by the +hand of Giulio himself, who executed in the same place the stories of +the twelve months of the year, showing all that is done in each of them +in the arts most practised by mankind--paintings which are notable no +less for their fantastic and delightful character and their beauty of +invention than for the judgment and diligence with which they were +executed. + +After passing the great loggia, which is adorned with stucco-work and +with many arms and various other bizarre ornaments, one comes to some +rooms filled with such a variety of fantasies, that the brain reels at +the thought of them. For Giulio, who was very fanciful and ingenious, +wishing to demonstrate his worth, resolved to make, at an angle of the +palace which formed a corner similar to that of the room of Psyche +described above, an apartment the masonry of which should be in keeping +with the painting, in order to deceive as much as possible all who might +see it. He therefore had double foundations of great depth sunk at that +corner, which was in a marshy place, and over that angle he constructed +a large round room, with very thick walls, to the end that the four +external angles of the masonry might be strong enough to be able to +support a double vault, round after the manner of an oven. This done, he +caused to be built at the corners right round the room, in the proper +places, the doors, windows, and fireplace, all of rustic stones +rough-hewn as if by chance, and, as it were, disjointed and awry, +insomuch that they appeared to be really hanging over to one side and +falling down. Having built this room in such strange fashion, he set +himself to paint in it the most fantastic composition that he was able +to invent--namely, Jove hurling his thunderbolts against the Giants. And +so, depicting Heaven on the highest part of the vaulting, he placed +there the throne of Jove, representing it as seen in foreshortening from +below and from the front, within a round temple, supported by open +columns of the Ionic Order, with his canopy over the centre of the +throne, and with his eagle; and all was poised upon the clouds. Lower +down he painted Jove in anger, slaying the proud Giants with his +thunderbolts, and below him is Juno, assisting him; and around them are +the Winds, with strange countenances, blowing towards the earth, while +the Goddess Ops turns with her lions at the terrible noise of the +thunder, as also do the other Gods and Goddesses, and Venus in +particular, who is at the side of Mars; and Momus, with his arms +outstretched, appears to fear that Heaven may be falling headlong down, +and yet he stands motionless. The Graces, likewise, are standing filled +with dread, and beside them, in like manner, the Hours. All the Deities, +in short, are taking to flight with their chariots. The Moon, Saturn, +and Janus are going towards the lightest of the clouds, in order to +withdraw from that terrible uproar and turmoil, and the same does +Neptune, who, with his dolphins, appears to be seeking to support +himself on his trident. Pallas, with the nine Muses, stands wondering +what horrible thing this may be, and Pan, embracing a Nymph who is +trembling with fear, seems to wish to save her from the glowing fires +and the lightning-flashes with which the heavens are filled. Apollo +stands in the chariot of the sun, and some of the Hours seem to be +seeking to restrain the course of his horses. Bacchus and Silenus, with +Satyrs and Nymphs, betray the greatest terror, and Vulcan, with his +ponderous hammer on one shoulder, gazes towards Hercules, who is +speaking of this event with Mercury, beside whom is Pomona all in +dismay, as are also Vertumnus and all the other Gods dispersed +throughout that Heaven, in which all the effects of fear are so well +expressed, both in those who are standing and in those who are flying, +that it is not possible, I do not say to see, but even to imagine a more +beautiful fantasy in painting than this one. + +In the parts below, that is, on the walls that stand upright, underneath +the end of the curve of the vaulting, are the Giants, some of whom, +those below Jove, have upon their backs mountains and immense rocks +which they support with their stout shoulders, in order to pile them up +and thus ascend to Heaven, while their ruin is preparing, for Jove is +thundering and the whole Heaven burning with anger against them; and it +appears not only that the Gods are dismayed by the presumptuous boldness +of the Giants, upon whom they are hurling mountains, but that the whole +world is upside down and, as it were, come to its last day. In this part +Giulio painted Briareus in a dark cavern, almost covered with vast +fragments of mountains, and the other Giants all crushed and some dead +beneath the ruins of the mountains. Besides this, through an opening in +the darkness of a grotto, which reveals a distant landscape painted with +beautiful judgment, may be seen many Giants flying, all smitten by the +thunderbolts of Jove, and, as it were, on the point of being overwhelmed +at that moment by the fragments of the mountains, like the others. In +another part Giulio depicted other Giants, upon whom are falling +temples, columns, and other pieces of buildings, making a vast slaughter +and havoc of those proud beings. And in this part, among those falling +fragments of buildings, stands the fireplace of the room, which, when +there is a fire in it, makes it appear as if the Giants are burning, for +Pluto is painted there, flying towards the centre with his chariot +drawn by lean horses, and accompanied by the Furies of Hell; and thus +Giulio, not departing from the subject of the story with this invention +of the fire, made a most beautiful adornment for the fireplace. + +In this work, moreover, in order to render it the more fearsome and +terrible, Giulio represented the Giants, huge and fantastic in aspect, +falling to the earth, smitten in various ways by the lightnings and +thunderbolts; some in the foreground and others in the background, some +dead, others wounded, and others again covered by mountains and the +ruins of buildings. Wherefore let no one ever think to see any work of +the brush more horrible and terrifying, or more natural than this one; +and whoever enters that room and sees the windows, doors, and other +suchlike things all awry and, as it were, on the point of falling, and +the mountains and buildings hurtling down, cannot but fear that +everything will fall upon him, and, above all, as he sees the Gods in +the Heaven rushing, some here, some there, and all in flight. And what +is most marvellous in the work is to see that the whole of the painting +has neither beginning nor end, but is so well joined and connected +together, without any divisions or ornamental partitions, that the +things which are near the buildings appear very large, and those in the +distance, where the landscapes are, go on receding into infinity; whence +that room, which is not more than fifteen braccia in length, has the +appearance of open country. Moreover, the pavement being of small round +stones set on edge, and the lower part of the upright walls being +painted with similar stones, there is no sharp angle to be seen, and +that level surface has the effect of a vast expanse, which was executed +with much judgment and beautiful art by Giulio, to whom our craftsmen +are much indebted for such inventions. + +In this work the above-mentioned Rinaldo Mantovano became a perfect +colourist, for he carried the whole of it into execution after the +cartoons of Giulio, as well as the other rooms. And if this painter had +not been snatched from the world so young, even as he did honour to +Giulio during his lifetime, so he would have done honour (to himself) +after Giulio's death. + +[Illustration: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GIANTS BY THE THUNDERBOLTS OF JOVE + +(_After the fresco by =Giulio Romano=. Mantua: Palazzo del Te, Sala dei +Giganti_) + +_Alinari_] + +In addition to this palace, in which Giulio executed many other works +worthy to be praised, of which, in order to avoid prolixity, I shall say +nothing, he reconstructed with masonry many rooms in the castle where +the Duke lives at Mantua, and made two very large spiral staircases, +with very rich apartments adorned all over with stucco. In one hall he +caused the whole of the story of Troy and the Trojan War to be painted, +and likewise twelve scenes in oils in an antechamber, below the heads of +the twelve Emperors previously painted there by Tiziano Vecelli, which +are all held to be excellent. In like manner, at Marmirolo, a place five +miles distant from Mantua, a most commodious building was erected after +the design of Giulio and under his direction, with large paintings no +less beautiful than those of the castle and of the palace of the Te. The +same master painted an altar-piece in oils for the Chapel of Signora +Isabella Buschetta in S. Andrea at Mantua, of Our Lady in the act of +adoring the Infant Jesus, who is lying on the ground, with S. Joseph, +the ass and the ox near a manger, and on one side S. John the +Evangelist, and S. Longinus on the other, figures of the size of life. +Next, on the walls of the same chapel, he caused Rinaldo to paint two +very beautiful scenes after his own designs; on one, the Crucifixion of +Jesus Christ, with the Thieves, some Angels in the air, and on the +ground the ministers of the Crucifixion and the Maries, with many +horses, in which he always delighted, making them beautiful to a marvel, +and many soldiers in various attitudes; and, on the other, the scene +when the Blood of Christ was discovered in the time of the Countess +Matilda, which was a most beautiful work. + +Giulio then painted with his own hand for Duke Federigo a picture of Our +Lady washing the little Jesus Christ, who is standing in a basin, while +a little S. John is pouring out the water from a vase. Both of these +figures, which are of the size of life, are very beautiful; and in the +distance are small figures, from the waist upwards, of some ladies who +are coming to visit the Madonna. This picture was afterwards presented +by the Duke to Signora Isabella Buschetta, of which lady Giulio +subsequently made a most beautiful portrait in a little picture of the +Nativity of Christ, one braccio in height, which is now in the +possession of Signor Vespasiano Gonzaga, together with another picture +presented to him by Duke Federigo, and likewise by the hand of Giulio, +in which are a young man and a young woman embracing each other on a +bed, in the act of caressing one another, while an old woman peeps at +them secretly from behind a door--figures which are little less than +life-size, and very graceful. In the house of the same person is another +very excellent picture of a most beautiful S. Jerome, also by the hand +of Giulio. And in the possession of Count Niccola Maffei is a picture of +Alexander the Great, of the size of life, with a Victory in his hand, +copied from an ancient medal, which is a work of great beauty. + +After these works, Giulio painted in fresco over a chimney-piece, for M. +Girolamo, the organist of the Duomo at Mantua, who was very much his +friend, a Vulcan who is working his bellows with one hand and holding +with the other, with a pair of tongs, the iron head of an arrow that he +is forging, while Venus is tempering in a vase some already made and +placing them in Cupid's quiver. This is one of the most beautiful works +that Giulio ever executed; and there is little else in fresco by his +hand to be seen. For S. Domenico, at the commission of M. Lodovico da +Fermo, he painted an altar-piece of the Dead Christ, whom Joseph and +Nicodemus are preparing to lay in the sepulchre, and near them are His +Mother, the other Maries, and S. John the Evangelist. And a little +picture, in which he also painted a Dead Christ, is in the house of the +Florentine Tommaso da Empoli at Venice. + +At the same time when he was executing these and other pictures, it +happened that Signor Giovanni de' Medici, having been wounded by a +musket-ball, was carried to Mantua, where he died. Whereupon M. Pietro +Aretino, who was the devoted servant of that lord, and very much the +friend of Giulio, desired that Giulio should mould a likeness of him +with his own hand as he lay dead; and he, therefore, having taken a cast +from the face of the dead man, executed a portrait from it, which +remained for many years afterwards in the possession of the same +Aretino. + +For the entry of the Emperor Charles V into Mantua, Giulio, by order of +the Duke, made many most beautiful festive preparations in the form of +arches, scenery for dramas, and a number of other things; in which +inventions Giulio had no equal, nor was there ever any man more fanciful +in preparing masquerades and in designing extravagant costumes for +jousts, festivals, and tournaments, as was seen at that time with +amazement and marvel by the Emperor Charles and by all who were present. +Besides this, at different times he gave so many designs for chapels, +houses, gardens, and facades throughout the whole of Mantua, and he so +delighted to embellish and adorn the city, that, whereas it was formerly +buried in mud and at times full of stinking water and almost +uninhabitable, he brought it to such a condition that at the present +day, thanks to his industry, it is dry, healthy, and altogether pleasing +and delightful. + +While Giulio was in the service of that Duke, one year the Po, bursting +its banks, inundated Mantua in such a manner, that in certain low-lying +parts of the city the water rose to the height of nearly four braccia, +insomuch that for a long time frogs lived in them almost all the year +round. Giulio, therefore, after pondering in what way he might put this +right, so went to work that for the time being the city was restored to +its former condition; and to the end that the same might not happen +another time, he contrived to have the streets on that side raised so +much, by command of the Duke, that they came above the level of the +water, and the buildings stood in safety. In that part of the city the +houses were small, slightly built, and of no great importance, and he +gave orders that they should be pulled down, in order to raise the +streets and bring that quarter to a better state, and that new houses, +larger and more beautiful, should be built there, to the advantage and +improvement of the city. To this measure many opposed themselves, saying +to the Duke that Giulio was doing too much havoc; but he would not hear +any of them--nay, he made Giulio superintendent of the streets at that +very time, and decreed that no one should build in that city save under +Giulio's direction. On which account many complaining and some even +threatening Giulio, this came to the ears of the Duke, who used such +words in his favour as made it known that if they did anything to the +despite or injury of Giulio, he would count it as done to himself, and +would make an example of them. + +The Duke was so enamoured of the excellence of Giulio, that he could not +live without him; and Giulio, on his part, bore to that lord the +greatest reverence that it is possible to imagine. Wherefore he never +asked a favour for himself or for others without obtaining it, and when +he died it was found that with all that he had received from the Duke he +had an income of more than a thousand ducats. + +Giulio built a house for himself in Mantua, opposite to S. Barnaba, on +the outer side of which he made a fantastic facade, all wrought with +coloured stucco, and the interior he caused to be all painted and +wrought likewise with stucco; and he found place in it for many +antiquities brought from Rome and others received from the Duke, to whom +he gave many of his own. He made so many designs both for Mantua and for +places in its neighbourhood, that it was a thing incredible; for, as has +been told, no palaces or other buildings of importance could be erected, +particularly in the city, save after his design. He rebuilt upon the old +walls the Church of S. Benedetto, a rich and vast seat of Black Friars +at Mantua, near the Po; and the whole church was embellished with most +beautiful paintings and altar-pieces from designs by his hand. And since +his works were very highly prized throughout Lombardy, it pleased Gian +Matteo Giberti, Bishop of Verona, to have the tribune of the Duomo of +that city all painted, as has been related in another place, by Il Moro +the Veronese, after designs by Giulio. For the Duke of Ferrara, also, he +executed many designs for tapestries, which were afterwards woven in +silk and gold by Maestro Niccolo and Giovan Battista Rosso, both +Flemings; and of these there are engravings to be seen, executed by +Giovan Battista Mantovano, who engraved a vast number of things drawn by +Giulio, and in particular, besides three drawings of battles engraved by +others, a physician who is applying cupping-glasses to the shoulders of +a woman, and the Flight of Our Lady into Egypt, with Joseph holding the +ass by the halter, and some Angels bending down a date-palm in order +that Christ may pluck the fruit. The same master engraved, also after +the designs of Giulio, the Wolf on the Tiber suckling Romulus and Remus, +and four stories of Pluto, Jove and Neptune, who are dividing the +heavens, the earth, and the sea among them by lot; and likewise the +goat Amaltheia, which, held by Melissa, is giving suck to Jove, and a +large plate of many men in a prison, tortured in various ways. There +were also printed, after the inventions of Giulio, Scipio and Hannibal +holding a parley with their armies on the banks of the river; the +Nativity of S. John the Baptist, which was engraved by Sebastiano da +Reggio, and many other works engraved and printed in Italy. In Flanders +and in France, likewise, have been printed innumerable sheets from +designs by Giulio, of which, although they are very beautiful, there is +no need to make mention, nor of all his drawings, seeing that he made +them, so to speak, in loads. Let it be enough to say that he was so +facile in every field of art, and particularly in drawing, that we have +no record of any one who has produced more than he did. + +Giulio, who was very versatile, was able to discourse on every subject, +but above all on medals, upon which he spent large sums of money and +much time, in order to gain knowledge of them. And although he was +employed almost always in great works, this did not mean that he would +not set his hand at times to the most trifling matters in order to +oblige his patron and his friends; and no sooner had one opened his +mouth to explain to him his conception than he had understood it and +drawn it. Among the many rare things that he had in his house was the +portrait from life of Albrecht Duerer on a piece of fine Rheims cloth, by +the hand of Albrecht himself, who sent it, as has been related in +another place, as a present to Raffaello da Urbino. This portrait was an +exquisite thing, for it had been coloured in gouache with much diligence +with water-colours, and Albrecht had executed it without using +lead-white, availing himself in its stead of the white of the cloth, +with the delicate threads of which he had so well rendered the hairs of +the beard, that it was a thing scarcely possible to imagine, much less +to do; and when held up to the light it showed through on either side. +This portrait, which was very dear to Giulio, he showed to me himself as +a miracle, when I went during his lifetime to Mantua on some affairs of +my own. + +At the death of Duke Federigo, by whom Giulio had been beloved beyond +belief, he was so overcome with sorrow, that he would have left Mantua, +if the Cardinal, the brother of the Duke, on whom the government of the +State had descended because the sons of Federigo were very young, had +not detained him in that city, where he had a wife and children, houses, +villas, and all the other possessions that are proper to a gentleman of +means. And this the Cardinal did (aided by those reasons) from a wish to +avail himself of the advice and assistance of Giulio in renovating, or +rather building almost entirely anew, the Duomo of that city; to which +work Giulio set his hand, and carried it well on in a very beautiful +form. + +At this time Giorgio Vasari, who was much the friend of Giulio, although +they did not know one another save only by reputation and by letters, in +going to Venice, took the road by Mantua, in order to see Giulio and his +works. And so, having arrived in that city, and going to find his +friend, when they met, although they had never seen each other, they +knew one another no less surely than if they had been together in person +a thousand times. At which Giulio was so filled with joy and +contentment, that for four days he never left him, showing him all his +works, and in particular all the ground-plans of the ancient edifices in +Rome, Naples, Pozzuolo, and Campania, and of all the other fine +antiquities of which anything is known, drawn partly by him and partly +by others. Then, opening a very large press, he showed to Giorgio the +ground-plans of all the buildings that had been erected after his +designs and under his direction, not only in Mantua and in Rome, but +throughout all Lombardy, which were so beautiful, that I, for my part, +do not believe that there are to be seen any architectural inventions +more original, more lovely, or better composed. After this, the Cardinal +asking Giorgio what he thought of the works of Giulio, Giorgio answered +in the presence of Giulio that they were such that he deserved to have a +statue of himself placed at every corner of the city, and that, since he +had given that city a new life, the half of the State would not be a +sufficient reward for the labours and abilities of Giulio; to which the +Cardinal answered that Giulio was more the master of that State than he +was himself. And since Giulio was very loving, especially towards his +friends, there was no mark of love and affection that Giorgio did not +receive from him. The same Vasari, having left Mantua and gone to +Venice, returned to Rome at the very time when Michelagnolo had just +uncovered his Last Judgment in the Chapel; and he sent to Giulio by M. +Nino Nini of Cortona, the secretary of the aforesaid Cardinal of Mantua, +three sheets containing the Seven Mortal Sins, copied from that Last +Judgment of Michelagnolo, which were welcome in no ordinary manner to +Giulio, both as being what they were, and because he had at that time to +paint a chapel in the palace for the Cardinal, and they served to +inspire him to greater things than those that he had in mind. Putting +forward all possible effort, therefore, to make a most beautiful +cartoon, he drew in it with fine fancy the scene of Peter and Andrew +leaving their nets at the call of Christ, in order to follow Him, and to +be thenceforward, not fishers of fishes, but fishers of men. And this +cartoon, which proved to be the most beautiful that Giulio had ever +made, was afterwards carried into execution by the painter Fermo +Ghisoni, a pupil of Giulio, and now an excellent master. + +Not long afterwards the superintendents of the building of S. Petronio +at Bologna, being desirous to make a beginning with the facade of that +church, succeeded after great difficulty in inducing Giulio to go there, +in company with a Milanese architect called Tofano Lombardino, a man in +great repute at that time in Lombardy for the many buildings by his hand +that were to be seen in that country. These masters, then, made many +designs, those of Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena having been lost; and one +that Giulio made, among others, was so beautiful and so well ordered, +that he rightly received very great praise for it from that people, and +was rewarded with most liberal gifts on his return to Mantua. + +Meanwhile, Antonio da San Gallo having died at Rome about that time, the +superintendents of the building of S. Pietro had been thereby left in no +little embarrassment, not knowing to whom to turn or on whom to lay the +charge of carrying that great fabric to completion after the plan +already begun; but they thought that no one could be more fitted for +this than Giulio Romano, for they all knew how great were his worth and +excellence. And so, surmising that he would accept such a charge more +than willingly in order to repatriate himself in an honourable manner +and with a good salary, they caused some of his friends to approach him, +but in vain, for the reason that, although he would have gone with the +greatest willingness, two things prevented him--the Cardinal would in no +way consent to his departure, and his wife, with her relatives and +friends, used every possible means to dissuade him. Neither of these two +reasons, perchance, would have prevailed with him, if he had not +happened to be in somewhat feeble health at that time; for, having +considered how much honour and profit he might secure for himself and +his children by accepting so handsome a proposal, he was already fully +disposed to make every effort not to be hindered in the matter by the +Cardinal, when his malady began to grow worse. However, since it had +been ordained on high that he should go no more to Rome, and that this +should be the end and conclusion of his life, in a few days, what with +his vexation and his malady, he died at Mantua, which city might well +have allowed him, even as he had embellished her, so also to honour and +adorn his native city of Rome. + +Giulio died at the age of fifty-four, leaving only one male child, to +whom he had given the name of Raffaello out of regard for the memory of +his master. This young Raffaello had scarcely learned the first +rudiments of art, showing signs of being destined to become an able +master, when he also died, not many years after, together with his +mother, Giulio's wife; wherefore there remained no descendant of Giulio +save a daughter called Virginia, who still lives in Mantua, married to +Ercole Malatesta. Giulio, whose death was an infinite grief to all who +knew him, was given burial in S. Barnaba, where it was proposed that +some honourable memorial should be erected to him; but his wife and +children, postponing the matter from one day to another, themselves died +for the most part without doing anything. It is indeed a sad thing that +there has been no one who has treasured in any way the memory of a man +who did so much to adorn that city, save only those who availed +themselves of his services, who have often remembered him in their +necessities. But his own talent, which did him so much honour in his +lifetime, has secured for him after death, in the form of his own works, +an everlasting monument which time, with all its years, can never +destroy. + +Giulio was neither tall nor short of stature, and rather stout than +slight in build. He had black hair, beautiful features, and eyes dark +and merry, and he was very loving, regular in all his actions, and +frugal in eating, but fond of dressing and living in honourable fashion. +He had disciples in plenty, but the best were Giovanni da Lione, +Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo, Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, Figurino da +Faenza, Rinaldo Mantovano, Giovan Battista Mantovano, and Fermo Ghisoni, +who still lives in Mantua and does him honour, being an excellent +painter. And the same may be said for Benedetto, who has executed many +works in his native city of Pescia, and an altar-piece for the Duomo of +Pisa, which is in the Office of Works, and also a picture of Our Lady in +which, with a poetical invention full of grace and beauty, he painted a +figure of Florence presenting to her the dignities of the House of +Medici; which picture is now in the possession of Signor Mondragone, a +Spaniard much in favour with that most illustrious lord the Prince of +Florence. + +Giulio died on the day of All Saints in the year 1546, and over his tomb +was placed the following epitaph: + + ROMANUS MORIENS SECUM TRES JULIUS ARTES + ABSTULIT, HAUD MIRUM, QUATUOR UNUS ERAT. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] Giuliano Leno. + + + + +FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + + + + +LIFE OF FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO + +PAINTER + + +The first profession of Sebastiano, so many declare, was not painting, +but music, since, besides being a singer, he much delighted to play +various kinds of instruments, and particularly the lute, because on that +instrument all the parts can be played, without any accompaniment. This +art made him for a time very dear to the gentlemen of Venice, with whom, +as a man of talent, he always associated on intimate terms. Then, having +been seized while still young with a desire to give his attention to +painting, he learned the first rudiments from Giovanni Bellini, at that +time an old man. And afterwards, when Giorgione da Castelfranco had +established in that city the methods of the modern manner, with its +superior harmony and its brilliancy of colouring, Sebastiano left +Giovanni and placed himself under Giorgione, with whom he stayed so long +that in great measure he acquired his manner. He thus executed in Venice +some portraits from life that were very like; among others, that of the +Frenchman Verdelotto, a most excellent musician, who was then +chapel-master in S. Marco, and in the same picture that of his companion +Uberto, a singer, which picture Verdelotto took with him to Florence +when he became chapel-master in S. Giovanni; and at the present day the +sculptor Francesco da San Gallo has it in his house. About that time he +also painted for S. Giovanni Grisostomo at Venice an altar-piece with +some figures which incline so much to the manner of Giorgione, that they +have been sometimes held by people without much knowledge of the matters +of art to be by the hand of Giorgione himself. This altar-piece is very +beautiful, and executed with such a manner of colouring that it has +great relief. + +The fame of the abilities of Sebastiano thus spreading abroad, Agostino +Chigi of Siena, a very rich merchant, who had many affairs in Venice, +hearing him much praised in Rome, sought to draw him to that city, being +attracted towards him because, besides his painting, he knew so well how +to play on the lute, and was sweet and pleasant in his conversation. Nor +was it very difficult to draw Sebastiano to Rome, since he knew how much +that place had always been the benefactress and common mother-city of +all beautiful intellects, and he went thither with no ordinary +willingness. Having therefore gone to Rome, Agostino set him to work, +and the first thing that he caused him to do was to paint the little +arches that are over the loggia which looks into the garden of +Agostino's palace in the Trastevere, where Baldassarre of Siena had +painted all the vaulting, on which little arches Sebastiano painted some +poetical compositions in the manner that he had brought from Venice, +which was very different from that which was followed in Rome by the +able painters of that day. After this work, Raffaello having executed a +story of Galatea in the same place, Sebastiano, at the desire of +Agostino, painted beside it a Polyphemus in fresco, in which, spurred by +rivalry with Baldassarre of Siena and then with Raffaello, he strove his +utmost to surpass himself, whatever may have been the result. He +likewise painted some works in oils, for which, from his having learned +from Giorgione a method of colouring of no little softness, he was held +in vast account at Rome. + +[Illustration: FRA SEBASTIANO VINIZIANO DEL PIOMBO: PORTRAIT OF A LADY + +(_Florence; Uffizi, 1123. Canvas_)] + +While Sebastiano was executing these works in Rome, Raffaello da Urbino +had risen into such credit as a painter, that his friends and adherents +said that his pictures were more in accord with the rules of painting +than those of Michelagnolo, being pleasing in colour, beautiful in +invention, and charming in the expressions, with design in keeping with +the rest; and that those of Buonarroti had none of those qualities, with +the exception of the design. And for such reasons these admirers judged +that in the whole field of painting Raffaello was, if not more excellent +than Michelagnolo, at least his equal; but in colouring they would have +it that he surpassed Buonarroti without a doubt. These humours, having +spread among a number of craftsmen who preferred the grace of +Raffaello to the profundity of Michelagnolo, had so increased that many, +for various reasons of interest, were more favourable in their judgments +to Raffaello than to Michelagnolo. But Sebastiano was in no way a +follower of that faction, since, being a man of exquisite judgment, he +knew the value of each of the two to perfection. The mind of +Michelagnolo, therefore, drew towards Sebastiano, whose colouring and +grace pleased him much, and he took him under his protection, thinking +that, if he were to assist Sebastiano in design, he would be able by +this means, without working himself, to confound those who held such an +opinion, remaining under cover of a third person as judge to decide +which of them was the best. + +While the matter stood thus, and some works that Sebastiano had executed +were being much extolled, and even exalted to infinite heights on +account of the praise that Michelagnolo bestowed on them, besides the +fact that they were in themselves beautiful and worthy of praise, a +certain person from Viterbo, I know not who, much in favour with the +Pope, commissioned Sebastiano to paint a Dead Christ, with a Madonna who +is weeping over Him, for a chapel that he had caused to be built in S. +Francesco at Viterbo. That work was held by all who saw it to be truly +most beautiful, for the invention and the cartoon were by Michelagnolo, +although it was finished with great diligence by Sebastiano, who painted +in it a dark landscape that was much extolled, and thereby Sebastiano +acquired very great credit, and confirmed the opinions of those who +favoured him. Wherefore Pier Francesco Borgherini, a Florentine +merchant, who had taken over a chapel in S. Pietro in Montorio, which is +on the right as one enters the church, allotted it at the suggestion of +Michelagnolo to Sebastiano, because Borgherini thought that Michelagnolo +would execute the design of the whole work, as indeed he did. +Sebastiano, therefore, having set to work, executed it with such zeal +and diligence, that it was held to be, as it is, a very beautiful piece +of painting. From the small design by Michelagnolo he made some larger +ones for his own convenience, and one of these, a very beautiful thing, +which he drew with his own hand, is in our book. Thinking that he had +discovered the true method of painting in oils on walls, Sebastiano +covered the rough-cast of that chapel with an incrustation which seemed +to him likely to be suitable for this purpose; and the whole of that +part in which is Christ being scourged at the Column he executed in oils +on the wall. Nor must I omit to tell that many believe not only that +Michelagnolo made the small design for this work, but also that the +above-mentioned Christ who is being scourged at the Column was outlined +by him, for there is a vast difference between the excellence of this +figure and that of the others. Even if Sebastiano had executed no other +work but this, for it alone he would deserve to be praised to all +eternity, seeing that, in addition to the heads, which are very well +painted, there are in the work some hands and feet of great beauty; and +although his manner was a little hard, on account of the labour that he +endured in the things that he counterfeited, nevertheless he can be +numbered among the good and praiseworthy craftsmen. Above this scene he +painted two Prophets in fresco, and on the vaulting the Transfiguration; +and the two Saints, S. Peter and S. Francis, who are on either side of +the scene below, are very bold and animated figures. It is true that he +laboured for six years over this little work, but when works are +executed to perfection, one should not consider whether they have been +finished quickly or slowly, although more praise is due to him who +carries his labours to completion both quickly and well; and he who +pleads haste as an excuse when his works do not give satisfaction, +unless he has been forced to it, is accusing rather than excusing +himself. When this work was uncovered, it was seen that Sebastiano had +done well, although he had toiled much over painting it, so that the +evil tongues were silenced and there were few who found fault with him. + +[Illustration: THE FLAGELLATION + +(_After the oil fresco by =Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo=. Rome: +S. Pietro in Montorio_) + +_Anderson_] + +After this, when Raffaello painted for Cardinal de' Medici, for sending +to France, that altar-piece containing the Transfiguration of Christ +which was placed after his death on the principal altar of S. Pietro a +Montorio, Sebastiano also executed at the same time another altar-piece +of the same size, as it were in competition with Raffaello, of Lazarus +being raised from the dead four days after death, which was +counterfeited and painted with supreme diligence under the direction of +Michelagnolo, and in some parts from his design. These altar-pieces, +when finished, were publicly exhibited together in the Consistory, +and were vastly extolled, both the one and the other; and although the +works of Raffaello had no equals in their perfect grace and beauty, +nevertheless the labours of Sebastiano were also praised by all without +exception. One of these pictures was sent by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici +to his episcopal palace at Narbonne in France, and the other was placed +in the Cancelleria, where it remained until it was taken to S. Pietro a +Montorio, together with the ornamental frame that Giovan Barile executed +for it. By means of this work Sebastiano became closely connected with +the Cardinal, and was therefore honourably rewarded during his +pontificate. + +Not long afterwards, Raffaello having passed away, the first place in +the art of painting was unanimously granted by all, thanks to the favour +of Michelagnolo, to Sebastiano, and Giulio Romano, Giovan Francesco of +Florence, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro, Maturino, Baldassarre of Siena, and +all the others had to give way. Wherefore Agostino Chigi, who had been +having a chapel and tomb built for himself under the direction of +Raffaello in S. Maria del Popolo, came to an agreement with Sebastiano +that he should paint it all; whereupon the screen was made, but the +chapel remained covered, without ever being seen by anyone, until the +year 1554, at which time Luigi, the son of Agostino, resolved that, +although his father had not been able to see it finished, he at least +would do so. And so, the chapel and the altar-piece being entrusted to +Francesco Salviati, he carried the work in a short time to that +perfection which it had not received from the dilatory and irresolute +Sebastiano, who, so far as one can see, did little work there, although +we find that he obtained from the liberality of Agostino and his heirs +much more than would have been due to him even if he had finished it +completely, which he did not do, either because he was weary of the +labours of art, or because he was too much wrapped up in comforts and +pleasures. And he did the same to M. Filippo da Siena, Clerk of the +Chamber, for whom he began a scene in oils on the wall above the +high-altar of the Pace at Rome, and never finished it; wherefore the +friars, in despair about it, were obliged to take away the staging, +which obstructed their church, to cover the work with a cloth, and to +have patience for as long as the life of Sebastiano lasted. After his +death, the friars uncovered the work, and it was found that what he had +done was most beautiful painting, for the reason that in the part where +he represented Our Lady visiting S. Elizabeth, there are many women +portrayed from life that are very beautiful, and painted with consummate +grace. But it may be seen here that this man endured extraordinary +labour in all the works that he produced, and that he was not able to +execute them with that facility which nature and study are wont at times +to give to him who delights in working and exercises his hand +continually. And of the truth of this there is also a proof in the same +Pace, in the Chapel of Agostino Chigi, where Raffaello had executed the +Sibyls and Prophets; for Sebastiano, wishing to paint some things on the +stone in the niche that remained to be painted below, in order to +surpass Raffaello, caused it to be incrusted with peperino-stone, the +joinings being filled in with fired stucco; but he spent so much time on +cogitations that he left the wall bare, for, after it had remained thus +for ten years, he died. + +It is true that a few portraits from life could be obtained with ease +from Sebastiano, because he could finish these with more facility and +promptitude; but it was quite otherwise with stories and other figures. +To tell the truth, the painting of portraits from life was his proper +vocation, as may be seen from the portrait of Marc' Antonio Colonna, +which is so well executed that it seems to be alive, and also from those +of Ferdinando, Marquis of Pescara, and of Signora Vittoria Colonna, +which are very beautiful. He likewise made a portrait of Adrian VI when +he first arrived in Rome, and one of Cardinal Hincfort. That Cardinal +desired that Sebastiano should paint for him a chapel in S. Maria de +Anima at Rome; but he kept putting him off from one day to another, and +the Cardinal finally had it painted by the Fleming Michael, his +compatriot, who painted there in fresco stories from the life of S. +Barbara, imitating our Italian manner very well; and in the altar-piece +he made a portrait of the same Cardinal. + +But returning to Sebastiano: he also took a portrait of Signor Federigo +da Bozzolo, and one of a captain in armour, I know not who, which is in +the possession of Giulio de' Nobili at Florence. He painted a woman in +Roman dress, which is in the house of Luca Torrigiani; and Giovan +Battista Cavalcanti has a head by the same master's hand, which is not +completely finished. He executed a picture of Our Lady covering the +Child with a piece of drapery, which was a rare work; and Cardinal +Farnese now has it in his guardaroba. And he sketched, but did not carry +to completion, a very beautiful altar-piece of S. Michael standing over +a large figure of the Devil, which was to be sent to the King of France, +who had previously received a picture by the hand of the same master. + +Then, after Cardinal Giulio de' Medici had been elected Supreme Pontiff +and had taken the name of Clement VII, he gave Sebastiano to understand +through the Bishop of Vasona that the time to show him favour had come, +and that he would become aware of this when the occasion arose. And in +the meantime, while living in these high hopes, Sebastiano, who had no +equal in portrait-painting, executed many from life, and among others +one of Pope Clement, who was not then wearing a beard, or rather, two of +him, one of which came into the possession of the Bishop of Vasona, and +the other, which is much larger, showing a seated figure from the knees +upwards, is in the house of Sebastiano at Rome. He also painted a +portrait of the Florentine Anton Francesco degli Albizzi, who happened +to be then in Rome on some business, and he made it such that it +appeared to be not painted but really alive; wherefore Anton Francesco +sent it to Florence as a pearl of great price. The head and hands of +this portrait were things truly marvellous, to say nothing of the +beautiful execution of the velvets, the linings, the satins, and all the +other parts of the picture; and since Sebastiano was indeed superior to +all other men in the perfect delicacy and excellence of his +portrait-painting, all Florence was amazed at this portrait of Anton +Francesco. + +At this same time he also executed a portrait of Messer Pietro Aretino, +and made it such that, besides being a good likeness, it is an +astounding piece of painting, for there may be seen in it five or six +different kinds of black in the clothes that he is wearing--velvet, +satin, ormuzine, damask, and cloth--and, over and above those blacks, a +beard of the deepest black, painted in such beautiful detail, that the +real beard could not be more natural. This figure holds in the hand a +branch of laurel and a scroll, on which is written the name of Clement +VII; and in front are two masks, one of Virtue, which is beautiful, and +another of Vice, which is hideous. This picture M. Pietro presented to +his native city, and the people of Arezzo have placed it in their public +Council Chamber, thus doing honour to the memory of their talented +fellow-citizen, and also receiving no less from him. After this, +Sebastiano made a portrait of Andrea Doria, which was in like manner an +admirable work, and a head of the Florentine Baccio Valori, which was +also beautiful beyond belief. + +In the meantime Fra Mariano Fetti, Friar of the Piombo, died, and +Sebastiano, remembering the promises made to him by the above-mentioned +Bishop of Vasona, master of the household to His Holiness, asked for the +office of the Piombo; whereupon, although Giovanni da Udine, who had +also done much in the service of His Holiness "in minoribus," and still +continued to serve him, asked for the same office, the Pope, moved by +the prayers of the Bishop, and also thinking that the talents of +Sebastiano deserved it, ordained that Sebastiano should have the office, +but should pay out of it to Giovanni da Udine an allowance of three +hundred crowns. Thus Sebastiano assumed the friar's habit, and +straightway felt his soul changed thereby, for, perceiving that he now +had the means to satisfy his desires, he spent his time in repose +without touching a brush, and recompensed himself with his comforts and +his revenues for many misspent nights and laborious days; and whenever +he happened to have something to do, he would drag himself to the work +with such reluctance, that he might have been going to his death. From +which one may learn how much our reason and the little wisdom of men are +deceived, in that very often, nay, almost always, we covet the very +opposite to that which we really need, and, as the Tuscan proverb has +it, in thinking to cross ourselves with a finger, poke it into our own +eyes. It is the common opinion of men that rewards and honours spur the +minds of mortals to the studies of those arts which they see to be the +best remunerated, and that, on the contrary, to see that those who +labour at these arts are not recompensed by such men as have the means, +causes the same students to grow negligent and to abandon them. And for +this reason both ancients and moderns censure as strongly as they are +able those Princes who do not support every kind of man of talent, and +who do not give due honour and reward to all who labour valiantly in the +arts. But, although this rule is for the most part a good one, it may be +seen, nevertheless, that at times the liberality of just and magnanimous +Princes produces the contrary effect, for the reason that many are more +useful and helpful to the world in a low or mediocre condition than they +are when raised to greatness and to an abundance of all good things. And +here we have an example, for the magnificent liberality of Clement VII, +bestowing too rich a reward on Sebastiano Viniziano, who had done +excellent work as a painter in his service, was the reason that he +changed from a zealous and industrious craftsman into one most idle and +negligent, and that, whereas he laboured continually while he was living +in poor circumstances and the rivalry between him and Raffaello da +Urbino lasted, he did quite the opposite when he had enough for his +contentment. + +Be this as it may, let us leave it to the judgment of wise Princes to +consider how, when, towards whom, in what manner, and by what rule, they +should exercise their liberality in the case of craftsmen and men of +talent, and let us return to Sebastiano. After he had been made Friar of +the Piombo, he executed for the Patriarch of Aquileia, with great +labour, Christ bearing the Cross, a half-length figure painted on +stone--a work which was much extolled, particularly for the head and the +hands, parts in which Sebastiano was truly most excellent. Not long +afterwards the niece of the Pope, who in time became Queen of France, as +she still is, having arrived in Rome, Fra Sebastiano began a portrait of +her; but this remained unfinished in the guardaroba of the Pope. And a +short time after this, Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici having become +enamoured of Signora Giulia Gonzaga, who was then living at Fondi, that +Cardinal sent Sebastiano to that place, accompanied by four light +horsemen, to take her portrait; and within a month he finished that +portrait, which, being taken from the celestial beauty of that lady by +a hand so masterly, proved to be a divine picture. Wherefore, after it +had been carried to Rome, the labours of that craftsman were richly +rewarded by the Cardinal, who declared that this portrait surpassed by a +great measure all those that Sebastiano had ever executed up to that +day, as indeed it did; and the work was afterwards sent to King Francis +of France, who had it placed in his Palace of Fontainebleau. + +[Illustration: ANDREA DORIA + +(_After the painting by =Fra Sebastiano del Piombo=. Rome: Palazzo +Doria_) + +_Anderson_] + +This painter then introduced a new method of painting on stone, which +pleased people greatly, for it appeared that by this means pictures +could be made eternal, and such that neither fire nor worms could harm +them. Wherefore he began to paint many pictures on stone in this manner, +surrounding them with ornaments of variegated kinds of stone, which, +being polished, formed a very beautiful setting; although it is true +that these pictures, with their ornaments, when finished, could not be +transported or even moved, on account of their great weight, save with +the greatest difficulty. Many persons, then, attracted by the novelty of +the work and by the beauty of his art, gave him earnest-money, in order +that he might execute some for them; but he, delighting more to talk +about such pictures than to work at them, always kept delaying +everything. Nevertheless he executed on stone a Dead Christ with the +Madonna, with an ornament also of stone, for Don Ferrante Gonzaga, who +sent it to Spain. The whole work together was held to be very beautiful, +and Sebastiano was paid five hundred crowns for the painting by Messer +Niccolo da Cortona, agent in Rome for the Cardinal of Mantua. In this +kind of painting Sebastiano was truly worthy of praise, for the reason +that whereas Domenico, his compatriot, who was the first to paint in +oils on walls, and after him Andrea dal Castagno, Antonio Pollaiuolo, and +Piero Pollaiuolo, failed to find the means of preventing the figures +executed by them in this manner from becoming black and fading away very +quickly, Sebastiano did find it; wherefore the Christ at the Column, +which he painted in S. Pietro in Montorio, has never changed down to our +own time, and has the same freshness of colouring as on the first day. +For he went about the work with such diligence that he used to make the +coarse rough-cast of lime with a mixture of mastic and colophony, +which, after melting it all together over the fire and applying it to +the wall, he would then cause to be smoothed over with a mason's trowel +made red-hot, or rather white-hot, in the fire; and his works have +therefore been able to resist the damp and to preserve their colour very +well without suffering any change. With the same mixture he worked on +peperino-stone, white and variegated marble, porphyry, and slabs of +other very hard kinds of stone, materials on which paintings can last a +very long time; not to mention that this has shown how one may paint on +silver, copper, tin, and other metals. + +This man found so much pleasure in cogitating and discoursing, that he +would spend whole days without working; and when he did force himself to +work, it was evident that he was suffering greatly in his mind, which +was the chief reason that he was of the opinion that no price was large +enough to pay for his works. For Cardinal Rangoni he painted a picture +of a nude and very beautiful S. Agatha being tortured in the breasts, +which was an exquisite work, and this picture is now in the guardaroba +of Signor Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, and is in no way inferior to the +many other most beautiful pictures that are there, by the hands of +Raffaello da Urbino, Tiziano, and others. He also made a portrait from +life of Signor Piero Gonzaga, painted in oils on stone, which was a very +fine work; but he toiled for three years over finishing it. + +Now, when Michelagnolo was in Florence in the time of Pope Clement, +engaged in the work of the new Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, Giuliano +Bugiardini wished to paint for Baccio Valori a picture with the head of +Pope Clement and that of Baccio himself, and another for Messer +Ottaviano de' Medici of the same Pontiff and the Archbishop of Capua. +Michelagnolo therefore sent to Sebastiano to ask him to despatch from +Rome a head of the Pope painted in oils with his own hand; and +Sebastiano painted one, which proved to be very beautiful, and sent it +to him. After Giuliano had made use of the head and had finished his +pictures, Michelagnolo, who was a close companion of the said Messer +Ottaviano, made him a present of it; and of a truth, among the many +heads that Fra Sebastiano executed, this is the most beautiful of all +and the best likeness, as may be seen in the house of the heirs of +Messer Ottaviano. The same master also took the portrait of Pope Paul +Farnese, as soon as he was elected Supreme Pontiff; and he began one of +the Duke of Castro, his son, but left it unfinished, as he did with many +other works with which he had made a beginning. + +Fra Sebastiano had a passing good house which he had built for himself +near the Popolo, and there he lived in the greatest contentment, without +troubling to paint or work any more. He used often to say that it was a +great fatigue to have to restrain in old age those ardours which in +youth craftsmen are wont to welcome out of emulation and a desire for +profit and honour, and that it was no less wise for a man to live in +peace than to spend his days in restless labour in order to leave a name +behind him after death, for all his works and labours had also in the +end, sooner or later, to die. And even as he said these things, so he +carried them into practice as well as he was able, for he always sought +to have for his table all the best wines and the rarest luxuries that +could be found, holding life in more account than art. Being much the +friend of all men of talent, he often had Molza and Messer Gandolfo to +supper, making right good cheer. He was also the intimate friend of +Messer Francesco Berni, the Florentine, who wrote a poem to him; to +which Fra Sebastiano answered with another, passing well, for, being +very versatile, he was even able to set his hand to writing humorous +Tuscan verse. + +Having been reproached by certain persons, who said that it was shameful +that he would no longer work now that he had the means to live, Fra +Sebastiano replied in this manner: "Why will I not work now that I have +the means to live? Because there are now in the world men of genius who +do in two months what I used to do in two years; and I believe that if I +live long enough, and not so long, either, I shall find that everything +has been painted. And since these stalwarts can do so much, it is well +that there should also be one who does nothing, to the end that they may +have the more to do." With these and similar pleasantries Fra Sebastiano +was always diverting himself, being a man who was never anything but +humorous and amusing; and, in truth, a better companion never lived. + +Sebastiano, as has been related, was much beloved by Michelagnolo. But +it is also true that when the front wall of the Papal Chapel, where +there is now the Last Judgment by the same Buonarroti, was to be +painted, there did arise some disdain between them, for Fra Sebastiano +had persuaded the Pope that he should make Michelagnolo paint it in +oils, whereas the latter would only do it in fresco. Now, Michelagnolo +saying neither yea nor nay, the wall was prepared after the fashion of +Fra Sebastiano, and Michelagnolo stood thus for some months without +setting his hand to the work. But at last, after being pressed, he said +that he would only do it in fresco, and that painting in oils was an art +for women and for leisurely and idle people like Fra Sebastiano. And so, +after the incrustation laid on by order of the friar had been stripped +off, and the whole surface had been covered with rough-cast in a manner +suitable for working in fresco, Michelagnolo set his hand to the work; +but he never forgot the affront that he considered himself to have +received from Fra Sebastiano, against whom he felt hatred almost to the +day of the friar's death. + +Finally, after Fra Sebastiano had come to such a state that he would not +work or do any other thing but attend to the duties of his office as +Friar of the Piombo, and enjoy the pleasures of life, at the age of +sixty-two he fell sick of a most acute fever, which, being a ruddy +person and of a full habit of body, threw him into such a heat that he +rendered up his soul to God in a few days, after making a will and +directing that his body should be carried to the tomb without any +ceremony of priests or friars, or expenditure on lights, and that all +that would have been spent thus should be distributed to poor persons, +for the love of God; and so it was done. He was buried in the Church of +the Popolo, in the month of June of the year 1547. Art suffered no great +loss in his death, seeing that, as soon as he assumed the habit of Friar +of the Piombo, he might have been numbered among those lost to her; +although it is true that he was regretted for his pleasant conversation +by many friends as well as craftsmen. + +Many young men worked under Sebastiano at various times in order to +learn art, but they made little proficience, for from his example they +learned little but the art of good living, excepting only Tommaso +Laureti, a Sicilian, who, besides many other works, has executed a +picture full of grace at Bologna, of a very beautiful Venus, with Love +embracing and kissing her, which picture is in the house of M. Francesco +Bolognetti. He has also painted a portrait of Signor Bernardino Savelli, +which is much extolled, and some other works of which there is no need +to make mention. + + + + +PERINO DEL VAGA + + + + +LIFE OF PERINO DEL VAGA + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +A truly great gift is art, who, paying no regard to abundance of riches, +to high estate, or to nobility of blood, embraces, protects, and uplifts +from the ground a child of poverty much more often than one wrapped in +the ease of wealth. And this Heaven does in order to show how much power +the influences of its stars and constellations have over us, +distributing more of its favours to one, and to another less; which +influences are for the most part the reason that we mortals come to be +born with dispositions more or less fiery or sluggish, weak or strong, +fierce or gentle, fortunate or unfortunate, and richer or poorer in +talent. And whoever has any doubt of this, will be enlightened in this +present Life of Perino del Vaga, a painter of great excellence and +genius. + +This Perino, the son of a poor father, having been left an orphan as a +little child and abandoned by his relatives, was guided and governed by +art, whom he always acknowledged as his true mother and honoured without +ceasing. And the studies of the art of painting were pursued by him with +such zeal and diligence, that he was enabled in due time to execute +those noble and famous decorations which have brought so much glory to +Genoa and to Prince Doria. Wherefore we may believe without a doubt that +it is Heaven that raises men from those infinite depths in which they +were born, to that summit of greatness to which they ascend, when they +prove by labouring valiantly at their works that they are true followers +of the sciences that they have chosen to learn; even as Perino chose and +pursued as his vocation the art of design, in which he proved himself +full of grace and most excellent, or rather, absolutely perfect. And he +not only equalled the ancients in stucco-work, but also equalled the +best modern craftsmen in the whole field of painting, displaying all the +excellence that could possibly be desired in a human intellect that +seeks, in solving the difficulties of that art, to achieve beauty, +grace, charm, and delicacy with colouring and with every other kind of +ornament. + +But let us speak more particularly of his origin. There lived in the +city of Florence one Giovanni Buonaccorsi, who entered the service of +Charles VIII, King of France, and fought in his wars, and, being a +spirited and open-handed young man, spent all that he possessed in that +service and in gaming, and finally lost his life therein. To him was +born a son, who received the name of Piero; and this son, after being +left as an infant of two months old without his mother, who died of +plague, was reared in the greatest misery at a farm, being suckled by a +goat, until his father, having gone to Bologna, took as his second wife +a woman whose husband and children had died of plague; and she, with her +plague-infected milk, finished nursing Piero, who was now called +Pierino[27] (a pet name such as it is a general custom to give to little +children), and retained that name ever afterwards. He was then taken to +Florence by his father, who, on returning to France, left him with some +relatives; and they, either because they had not the means, or because +they would not accept the burdensome charge of maintaining him and +having him taught some ingenious vocation, placed him with the +apothecary of the Pinadoro, to the end that he might learn that calling. +But, not liking that profession, he was taken as shop-boy by the painter +Andrea de' Ceri, who was pleased with the air and the ways of Perino, +and thought that he saw in him a certain lively spirit of intelligence +from which it might be hoped that in time some good fruits would issue +from him. Andrea was no great painter; quite commonplace, indeed, and +one of those who stand openly and publicly in their workshops, executing +any kind of work, however mean; and he was wont to paint every year for +the festival of S. John certain wax tapers which were carried as +offerings, as they still are, together with the other tributes of the +city; for which reason he was called Andrea de' Ceri, and from that +name Perino was afterwards called for some time Perino de' Ceri. + +Andrea, then, took care of Perino for some years, teaching him the +rudiments of art as well as he could; but when the boy had reached the +age of eleven, he was forced to seek for him some master better than +himself. And so, having a straight friendship with Ridolfo, the son of +Domenico Ghirlandajo, who, as will be related, was held to be able and +well practised in painting, Andrea de' Ceri placed Perino with him, to +the end that he might give his attention to design, and strive with all +the zeal and love at his command to make in that art the proficience of +which his great genius gave promise. Whereupon, pursuing his studies, +among the many young men whom Ridolfo had in his workshop, all engaged +in learning art, in a short time Perino came to surpass all the rest, so +great were his ardour and his eagerness. Among them was one named Toto +del Nunziata, who was to him as a spur to urge him on continually; which +Toto, likewise attaining in time to equality with the finest intellects, +departed from Florence and made his way with some Florentine merchants +to England, where he executed all his works, and was very richly +rewarded by the King of that country, whom he also served in +architecture, erecting, in particular, his principal palace. He and +Perino, then, working in emulation of one another, and pursuing the +studies of art with supreme diligence, after no long time became very +excellent. And Perino, drawing from the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti in company with other young men, both Florentines and +strangers, won and held the first place among them all, insomuch that he +was regarded with that expectation which was afterwards fulfilled in the +beautiful works that he executed with so much excellence and art. + +There came to Florence at that time the Florentine painter Vaga, a +master of no great excellence, who was executing commonplace works at +Toscanella in the province of Rome. Having a superabundance of work, he +was in need of assistance, and he desired to take back with him a +companion and also a young man who might help him in design, in which he +was wanting, and in the other matters of art. Now this painter, having +seen Perino drawing in the workshop of Ridolfo together with the other +young men, found him so superior to them all, that he was astonished; +and, what is more, he was pleased with his appearance and his ways, for +Perino was a very beautiful youth, most courteous, modest, and gentle, +and every part of his body was in keeping with the nobility of his mind; +wherefore Vaga was so charmed with him, that he asked him whether he +would go with him to Rome, saying that he would not fail to assist him +in his studies, and promising him such benefits and conditions as he +might demand. So great was the desire that Perino had to attain to +excellence in his profession, that, when he heard Rome mentioned, +through his eagerness to see that city, he was deeply moved; but he told +him that he must speak to Andrea de' Ceri, who had supported him up to +that time, so that he was loth to abandon him. And so Vaga, having +persuaded Ridolfo, Perino's master, and Andrea, who maintained him, so +contrived that in the end he took Perino, with the companion, to +Toscanella. There Perino began to work and to assist them, and they +finished not only the work that Vaga had undertaken, but also many that +they undertook afterwards. But Perino complained that the promise of +seeing Rome, by which he had been brought from Florence, was not being +fulfilled, in consequence of the profit and advantage that Vaga was +drawing from his services, and he resolved to go thither by himself; +which was the reason that Vaga, leaving all his works, took him to Rome. +And there, through the love that he bore to art, Perino returned to his +former work of drawing and continued at it many weeks, growing more +ardent every day. But Vaga wished to return to Toscanella, and therefore +made him known, as one belonging to himself, to many commonplace +painters, and also recommended him to all the friends that he had there, +to the end that they might assist and favour him in his absence; from +which circumstance he was always called from that day onward Perino del +Vaga. + +[Illustration: THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA + +(_After the fresco by =Perino del Vaga=. Rome: The Vatican, Loggia_) + +_Anderson_] + +Thus left in Rome, and seeing the ancient works of sculpture and the +marvellous masses of buildings, reduced for the most part to ruins, +Perino stood lost in admiration at the greatness of the many renowned +and illustrious men who had executed those works. And so, becoming ever +more and more aflame with love of art, he burned unceasingly to +attain to a height not too far distant from those masters, in order +to win fame and profit for himself with his works, even as had been done +by those at whom he marvelled as he beheld their beautiful creations. +And while he contemplated their greatness and the depths of his own +lowliness and poverty, reflecting that he possessed nothing save the +desire to rise to their height, and that, having no one who might +maintain him and provide him with the means to live, he was forced, if +he wished to remain alive, to labour at work for those ordinary shops, +now with one painter and now with another, after the manner of the +day-labourers in the fields, a mode of life which so hindered his +studies, he felt infinite grief and pain in his heart at not being able +to make as soon as he would have liked that proficience to which his +mind, his will, and his necessities were urging him. He made the +resolve, therefore, to divide his time equally, working half the week at +day work, and during the other half devoting his attention to design; +and to this second half he added all the feast-days, together with a +great part of the nights, thus stealing time from time itself, in order +to become famous and to escape from the hands of others so far as it +might be possible. + +Having carried this intention into execution, he began to draw in the +Chapel of Pope Julius, where the vaulting had been painted by +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, following both his methods and the manner of +Raffaello da Urbino. And then, going on to the ancient works in marble +and also to the grotesques in the grottoes under the ground, which +pleased him through their novelty, he learned the methods of working in +stucco, gaining his bread meanwhile by grievous labour, and enduring +every hardship in order to become excellent in his profession. Nor had +any long time passed before he became the best and most finished +draughtsman that there was among all who were drawing in Rome, for the +reason that he had, perhaps, a better knowledge of muscles and of the +difficult art of depicting the nude than many others who were held to be +among the best masters at that time; which was the reason that he became +known not only to the men of his profession, but also to many lords and +prelates. And, in particular, Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, called +Il Fattore, disciples of Raffaello da Urbino, having praised him not a +little to their master, roused in him a desire to know Perino and to see +his works in drawing; which having pleased him, and together with his +work his manner, his spirit, and his ways of life, he declared that +among all the young men that he had known, Perino would attain to the +highest perfection in that art. + +Meanwhile Raffaello da Urbino had built the Papal Loggie, by the command +of Leo X; and the same Pope ordered that Raffaello should also have them +adorned with stucco, painted, and gilded, according as it should seem +best to him. Thereupon Raffaello placed at the head of that enterprise, +for the stucco-work and the grotesques, Giovanni da Udine, who was very +excellent and without an equal in such works, but mostly in executing +animals, fruits, and other little things. And since he had chosen in +Rome and summoned from other parts a great number of masters, he had +assembled together a company of men each very able at his own work, one +in stucco, another in grotesques, a third in foliage, a fourth in +festoons, another in scenes, and others in other things; and according +as they improved they were brought forward and paid higher salaries, so +that by competing in that work many young men attained to great +perfection, who were afterwards held to be excellent in their various +fields of art. Among that company Perino was assigned to Giovanni da +Udine by Raffaello, to the end that he might execute grotesques and +scenes together with the others; and he was told that according as he +should acquit himself, so he would be employed by Giovanni. And thus, +labouring out of emulation and in order to prove his powers and make +proficience, before many months had passed Perino was held to be the +first among all those who were working there, both in drawing and in +colouring; the best, I say, the most perfect in grace and finish, and he +who could execute both figures and grotesques in the most delicate and +beautiful manner; to which clear testimony and witness are borne by the +grotesques, festoons, and scenes by his hand that are in that work, +which, besides surpassing the others, are executed in much more faithful +accord with the designs and sketches that Raffaello made for them. This +may be seen from a part of those scenes in the centre of the loggia, on +the vaulting, where the Hebrews are depicted crossing over the Jordan +with the sacred Ark, and also marching round the walls of Jericho, which +fall into ruin; and the other scenes that follow, such as that of Joshua +causing the sun to stand still during the combat with the Amorites. +Among those painted in imitation of bronze on the base the best are +likewise those by the hand of Perino--namely, Abraham sacrificing his +son, Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Joseph receiving his twelve +brethren, the fire descending from Heaven and consuming the sons of +Levi, and many others which there is no need to name, for their number +is very great, and they can be distinguished from the rest. At the +beginning of the loggia, also, where one enters, he painted scenes from +the New Testament, the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ, and His Last +Supper with the Apostles, which are very beautiful; besides which, below +the windows, as has been said, are the best scenes painted in the colour +of bronze that there are in the whole work. These labours cause every +man to marvel, both the paintings and the many works in stucco that he +executed there with his own hand; and his colouring, moreover, is much +more pleasing and more highly finished than that of any of the others. + +This work was the reason that he became famous beyond all belief, yet +this great praise did not send him to sleep, but rather, since genius +grows with praise, inspired him with even more zeal, and made him almost +certain that by persisting he would come to win those fruits and honours +that he saw every day in the possession of Raffaello da Urbino and +Michelagnolo Buonarroti. And he laboured all the more willingly, because +he saw that he was held in estimation by Giovanni da Udine and by +Raffaello, and was employed in works of importance. He always showed +extraordinary deference and obedience towards Raffaello, honouring him +in such a manner that he was beloved by Raffaello as a son. + +There was executed at this time, by order of Pope Leo, the vaulting of +the Hall of the Pontiffs, which is that through which one passes by way +of the Loggie into the apartments of Pope Alexander VI, formerly painted +by Pinturicchio; and that vaulting was painted by Giovanni da Udine and +Perino. They executed in company the stucco-work and all those +ornaments, grotesques, and animals that are to be seen there, in +addition to the varied and beautiful inventions that were depicted by +them in the compartments of the ceiling, which they had divided into +certain circles and ovals to contain the seven Planets of Heaven drawn +by their appropriate animals, such as Jupiter drawn by Eagles, Venus by +Doves, the Moon by Women, Mars by Wolves, Mercury by Cocks, the Sun by +Horses, and Saturn by Serpents; besides the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, +and some figures from the forty-eight Constellations of Heaven, such as +the Great Bear, the Dog Star, and many others, which, by reason of their +number, we must pass over in silence, without recounting them all in +their order, since anyone may see the work; which figures are almost all +by the hand of Perino. In the centre of the vaulting is a circle with +four figures representing Victories, seen foreshortened from below +upwards, who are holding the Pope's Crown and the Keys; and these are +very well conceived and wrought with masterly art, to say nothing of the +delicacy with which he painted their vestments, veiling the nude with +certain light draperies that partly reveal the naked legs and arms, a +truly graceful and beautiful effect. This work was justly held, as it +still is at the present day, to be very magnificent and rich in +craftsmanship, and also cheerful and pleasing; worthy, in short, of that +Pontiff, who did not fail to reward their labours, which truly deserved +some signal remuneration. + +Perino decorated a facade in chiaroscuro--a method brought into use at +that time by the example of Polidoro and Maturino--which is opposite to +the house of the Marchioness of Massa, near Maestro Pasquino, executing +it with great boldness of design and with supreme diligence. + +In the third year of his pontificate Pope Leo paid a visit to Florence, +for which many triumphal preparations were made in that city, and Perino +went thither before the Court, partly in order to see the pomps of the +city, and partly from a wish to revisit his native country; and on a +triumphal arch at S. Trinita he made a large and very beautiful figure, +seven braccia high, while another was executed in competition with him +by Toto del Nunziata, who had already been his rival in boyhood. But to +Perino every hour seemed a thousand years until he could return to Rome, +for he perceived that the rules and methods of the Florentine craftsmen +were very different from those that were customary in Rome; wherefore he +departed from Florence and returned to Rome, where he resumed his usual +course of work. And in S. Eustachio dalla Dogana he painted a S. Peter +in fresco, which is a figure that has very strong relief, executed with +a simple flow of folds, and yet wrought with much design and judgment. + +There was in Rome at this time the Archbishop of Cyprus, a man who was a +great lover of the arts, and particularly of painting; and he, having a +house near the Chiavica, where he had laid out a little garden with some +statues and other antiquities of truly noble beauty, and desiring to +enhance their effect with some fine decorations, sent for Perino, who +was very much his friend, and they came to the decision that he should +paint round the walls of that garden many stories of Bacchantes, Satyrs, +Fauns, and other wild things, in reference to an ancient statue of +Bacchus, seated beside a tiger, which the Archbishop had there. And so +Perino adorned that place with a variety of poetical fancies; and, among +other things, he painted there a little loggia with small figures, +various grotesques, and many landscapes, coloured with supreme grace and +diligence. This work has been held by craftsmen, as it always will be, +to be worthy of the highest praise; and it was the reason that he became +known to the Fugger family, merchants of Germany, who, having built a +house near the Banchi, on the way to the Church of the Florentines, and +having seen Perino's work and liked it, caused him to paint there a +courtyard and a loggia, with many figures, all worthy of the same praise +as the other works by his hand, for in them may be seen much delicacy +and grace and great beauty of manner. + +At this same time M. Marchionne Baldassini, having caused a house to be +built for him near S. Agostino, as has been related, by Antonio da San +Gallo, who designed it very well, desired that a hall which Antonio had +constructed there should be painted all over; and after passing in +review many of the young painters, to the end that it might be well and +beautifully done, he finally resolved to give it to Perino. Having +agreed about the price, Perino set his hand to it, nor did he turn his +attention from that work to any other until he had brought it to a very +happy conclusion in fresco. In that hall he made compartments by means +of pilasters which have between them niches great and small; in the +larger niches are various figures of philosophers, two in each niche, +and in some one only, and in the smaller niches are little boys, partly +naked and partly draped in veiling, while above those small niches are +some heads of women, painted in imitation of marble. Above the cornice +that crowns the pilasters there follows a second series of pictures, +separated from the first series below, with scenes in figures of no +great size from the history of the Romans, beginning with Romulus and +ending with Numa Pompilius. There are likewise various ornaments in +imitation of different kinds of marble, and over the beautiful +chimney-piece of stone is a figure of Peace burning arms and trophies, +which is very lifelike. This work was held in much estimation during the +lifetime of M. Marchionne, as it has been ever since by all those who +work in painting, and also by many others not of the profession, who +give it extraordinary praise. + +In the Convent of the Nuns of S. Anna, Perino painted a chapel in fresco +with many figures, which was executed by him with his usual diligence. +And on an altar in S. Stefano del Cacco he painted in fresco, for a +Roman lady, a Pieta with the Dead Christ in the lap of Our Lady, with a +portrait from life of that lady, which still has the appearance of a +living figure; and the whole work is very beautiful, and executed with +great mastery and facility. + +In those days Antonio da San Gallo had built at the corner of a house in +Rome, which is known as the Imagine di Ponte, a tabernacle finely +adorned with travertine and very handsome, in which something beautiful +in the way of painting was to be executed; and he received a commission +from the owner of that house to give the work to one whom he should +consider capable of painting some noble picture there. Wherefore +Antonio, who knew Perino to be the best of the young men who were in +Rome, allotted it to him. And he, setting his hand to the work, painted +there a Christ in the act of crowning the Madonna, and in the background +he made a Glory, with a choir of Seraphim and Angels clothed in light +and delicate draperies, who are scattering flowers, and other children +of great beauty and variety; and on the sides of the tabernacle he +painted Saints, S. Sebastian on one side and S. Anthony on the other. +This work was executed truly well, and was equal to the others by his +hand, which were always full of grace and charm. + +A certain protonotary had erected a chapel of marble on four columns in +the Minerva, and, desiring to leave an altar-piece there in memory of +himself, even if it were but a small one, he came to an agreement with +Perino, whose fame he had heard, and commissioned him to paint it in +oils. And he chose that the subject should be the Deposition of Christ +from the Cross, which Perino set himself to execute with the greatest +possible zeal and diligence. In this picture he represented Him as +already laid upon the ground, surrounded by the Maries weeping over Him, +in whose gestures and attitudes he portrayed a melting pity and sorrow; +besides which there are the Nicodemuses[28] and other figures that are +much admired, all woeful and afflicted at seeing the sinless Christ +lying dead. But the figures that he painted most divinely were those of +the two Thieves, left fixed upon the crosses, which, besides appearing +to be real dead bodies, reveal a very good mastery over muscles and +nerves, which this occasion enabled him to display; wherefore, to the +eyes of him who beholds them, their limbs present themselves all drawn +in that violent death by the nerves, and the muscles by the nails and +cords. There is, in addition, a landscape wrapped in darkness, +counterfeited with much judgment and art. And if the inundation which +came upon Rome after the sack had not done damage to this work, covering +more than half of it, its excellence would be clearly seen; but the +water so softened the gesso, and caused the wood to swell in such sort, +that all the lower part that was soaked has peeled off too much for the +picture to give any pleasure; nay, it is a grief and a truly +heartrending sorrow to behold it, for it would certainly have been one +of the most precious things in all Rome. + +There was being rebuilt at this time, under the direction of Jacopo +Sansovino, the Church of S. Marcello in Rome, a convent of Servite +Friars, which still remains unfinished; and when they had carried the +walls of some chapels to completion, and had roofed them, those friars +commissioned Perino to paint in one of these, as ornaments for a Madonna +that is worshipped in that church, two figures in separate niches, S. +Joseph and S. Filippo, a Servite friar and the founder of that Order, +one on either side of the Madonna. These finished, he painted above them +some little boys that are perfect, and in the centre of the wall he +placed another standing upon a dado, who has upon his shoulders the ends +of two festoons, which he directs towards the corners of the chapel, +where there are two other little boys who support them, being seated +upon them, with their legs in most beautiful attitudes. All this he +executed with such art, such grace, and so beautiful a manner, and gave +to the flesh a tint of colour so fresh and soft, that one might say that +it was real flesh rather than painted. And certainly these figures may +be held to be the most beautiful that ever any craftsman painted in +fresco, for the reason that there is life in their eyes and movement in +their attitudes, and with the mouth they make as if to break into speech +and say that art has conquered Nature, and that even art declares that +nothing more than this can be done in her. This work was so excellent in +the sight of all good judges of art, that he acquired a great name +thereby, although he had executed many works and what was known of his +great genius in his profession was well known; and he was therefore held +in much more account and greater estimation than ever before. + +For this reason Lorenzo Pucci, Cardinal Santiquattro, who had taken over +a chapel on the left hand beside the principal chapel in the Trinita, a +convent of Calabrian and French Friars who wear the habit of S. Francis +of Paola, allotted it to Perino, to the end that he might paint there in +fresco the life of Our Lady. Which having begun, Perino finished all the +vaulting and a wall under an arch; and on the outer side, also, over an +arch of the chapel, he painted two Prophets four braccia and a half in +height, representing Isaiah and Daniel, who in their great proportions +reveal all the art, excellence of design, and beauty of colouring that +can be seen in their perfection only in a picture executed by a great +craftsman. This will be clearly evident to one who shall consider the +Isaiah, in whom, as he reads, may be perceived the thoughtfulness that +study infuses in him, and his eagerness in reading new things, for he +has his gaze fixed upon a book, with one hand to his head, exactly as a +man often is when he is studying; and Daniel, likewise, is motionless, +with his head upraised in celestial contemplation, in order to resolve +the doubts of his people. Between these figures are two little boys who +are upholding the escutcheon of the Cardinal, a shield of beautiful +shape: and these boys, besides being so painted as to seem to be of +flesh, also have the appearance of being in relief. The vaulting is +divided into four scenes, separated one from another by the cross--that +is, by the ribs of the vaulting. In the first is the Conception of Our +Lady, in the second her Nativity, in the third the scene when she +ascends the steps of the Temple, and in the fourth S. Joseph marrying +her. On a wall-space equal in extent to the arch of the vaulting is her +Visitation, in which are many figures that are very beautiful, but above +all some who have climbed on certain socles and are standing in very +spirited and natural attitudes, the better to see the ceremonious +meeting of those women; besides which, there is something of the good +and of the beautiful in the buildings and in every gesture of the other +figures. He pursued this work no further, illness coming upon him; and +when he was well, there began the plague of the year 1523, which raged +so violently in Rome, that, if he wished to save his life, it became +expedient for him to make up his mind to depart. + +There was in the city of Rome at that time the goldsmith Piloto, who was +much the friend and intimate companion of Perino, and he was desirous of +departing; and so one morning, as they were breakfasting together, he +persuaded Perino to take himself off and go to Florence, on the ground +that it was many years since he had been there, and that it could not +but bring him great honour to make himself known there and to leave some +example of his excellence in that city; saying also that, although +Andrea de' Ceri and his wife, who had brought him up, were dead, +nevertheless, as a native of that country, if he had no possessions +there, he had his love for it. Wherefore, after no long time, one +morning Perino and Piloto departed and set out on the way to Florence. +And when they had arrived there, Perino took the greatest pleasure in +seeing once again the old works painted by the masters of the past, +which had been as a school to him in the days of his boyhood, and +likewise those of the masters then living who were the most celebrated +and held to be the best in that city, in which, through the interest of +friends, a work was allotted to him, as will be related below. It +happened one day that many craftsmen having assembled in his presence to +do him honour, painters, sculptors, architects, goldsmiths, and carvers +in wood and marble, who had gathered together according to the ancient +custom, some to see Perino, to keep him company, and to hear what he had +to say, many to learn what difference in practice there might be between +the craftsmen of Rome and those of Florence, but most of them to hear +the praise and censure that craftsmen are wont often to give to one +another; it happened, I say, that thus discoursing together of one thing +and another, and examining the works, both ancient and modern, in the +various churches, they came to that of the Carmine, in order to see the +chapel of Masaccio. There everyone gazed attentively at the paintings, +and many various opinions were uttered in praise of that master, all +declaring that they marvelled that he should have possessed so much +judgment as to be able in those days, without seeing anything but the +work of Giotto, to work with so much of the modern manner in the design, +in the colouring, and in the imitation of Nature, and that he should +have solved the difficulties of his art in a manner so facile; not to +mention that among all those who had worked at painting, there had not +as yet been one who had equalled him in strength of relief, in +resoluteness, and in mastery of execution. + +This kind of discourse much pleased Perino, and to all those craftsmen +who spoke thus he answered in these words: "I do not deny that what you +say, and even more, may be true; but that there is no one among us who +can equal this manner, that I will deny with my last breath. Nay, I will +declare, if I may say it with the permission of the company, not in +contempt, but from a desire for the truth, that I know many both more +resolute and richer in grace, whose works are no less lifelike in the +painting than these, and even much more beautiful. And I, by your leave, +I who am not the first in this art, am grieved that there is no space +near these works wherein I might be able to paint a figure; for before +departing from Florence I would make a trial beside one of these +figures, likewise in fresco, to the end that you might see by comparison +whether there be not among the moderns one who has equalled him." Among +their number was a master who was held to be the first painter in +Florence; and he, being curious to see the work of Perino, and perhaps +wishing to lower his pride, put forward an idea of his own, which was +this: "Although," said he, "all the space here is full, yet, since you +have such a fancy, which is certainly a good one and worthy of praise, +there, on the opposite side, where there is the S. Paul by his hand, a +figure no less good and beautiful than any other in the chapel, is a +space in which you may easily prove what you say by making another +Apostle, either beside that S. Peter by Masolino or beside the S. Paul +of Masaccio, whichever you may prefer." The S. Peter was nearer the +window, and the space beside it was greater and the light better; +besides which, it was a figure no less beautiful than the S. Paul. +Everyone, therefore, urged Perino to do it, because they had a great +desire to see that Roman manner; besides which, many said that he would +be the means of taking out of their heads the fancy that they had nursed +in their minds for so many decades, and that if his figure should prove +to be the best all would run after modern works. Wherefore, persuaded by +that master, who told him at last that he ought not to disappoint the +entreaties and expectations of so many lofty intellects, particularly +since it would not take longer than two weeks to execute a figure in +fresco, and they would not fail to spend years in praising his labours, +Perino resolved to do it, although he who spoke thus had an intention +quite contrary to his words, being persuaded that Perino would by no +means execute anything much better than the work of those craftsmen who +were considered to be the most excellent at that time. Perino, then, +undertook to make this attempt; and having summoned by common consent M. +Giovanni da Pisa, the Prior of the convent, they asked him for the space +for the execution of the work, which he granted to them with truly +gracious courtesy; and thus they took measurements of the space, with +the height and breadth, and went away. + +An Apostle was then drawn by Perino in a cartoon, in the person of S. +Andrew, and finished with the greatest diligence; whereupon Perino, +having first caused the staging to be erected, was prepared to begin to +paint it. But before this, on his arrival in Florence, his many friends, +who had seen most excellent works by his hand in Rome, had contrived to +obtain for him the commission for that work in fresco which I mentioned, +to the end that he might leave some example of his handiwork in +Florence, which might demonstrate how spirited and how beautiful was his +genius for painting, and also to the end that he might become known and +perchance be set to work on some labour of importance by those who were +then governing. There were at that time certain craftsmen who used to +assemble in a company called the Company of the Martyrs, in the +Camaldoli at Florence; and they had proposed many times to have a wall +that was in that place painted with the story of the Martyrs being +condemned to death before two Roman Emperors, who, after they had been +taken in battle, caused them to be crucified in the wood and hanged on +trees. This story was suggested to Perino, and, although the place was +out of the way, and the price small, so much was he attracted by the +possibilities of invention in the story and by the size of the wall, +that he was disposed to undertake it; besides which, he was urged not a +little by those who were his friends, on the ground that the work would +establish him in that reputation which his talent deserved among the +citizens, who did not know him, and among his fellow-craftsmen in +Florence, where he was not known save by report. Having then determined +to do the work, he accepted the undertaking and made a small design, +which was held to be a thing divine; and having set his hand to making a +cartoon as large as the whole work, he never left off labouring at it, +and carried it so far that all the principal figures were completely +finished. And so the Apostle was abandoned, without anything more being +done. + +Perino drew this cartoon on white paper, well shaded and hatched, +leaving the paper itself for the lights, and executing the whole with +admirable diligence. In it were the two Emperors on the seat of +judgment, condemning to the cross all the prisoners, who were turned +towards the tribunal, some kneeling, some standing, and others bowed, +but all naked and bound in different ways, and writhing with piteous +gestures in various attitudes, revealing the trembling of the limbs at +the prospect of the severing of the soul from the body in the agony and +torment of crucifixion; besides which, there were depicted in those +heads the constancy of faith in the old, the fear of death in the young, +and in others the torture that they suffer from the strain of the cords +on their bodies and arms. And there could also be seen the swelling of +the muscles and even the cold sweat of death, all depicted in that +design. Then in the soldiers who were leading them there was revealed a +terrible fury, most impious and cruel, as they presented them at the +tribunal for condemnation and led them to the cross. The Emperors and +the soldiers were wearing cuirasses after the ancient manner and +garments very ornate and bizarre, with buskins, shoes, helmets, shields, +and other pieces of armour wrought with all that wealth of the most +beautiful ornamentation to which a craftsman can attain in imitating and +reproducing the antique, and drawn with the greatest lovingness, +subtlety, and delicacy that the perfection of art can display. When this +cartoon was seen by the craftsmen and by other judges of discernment, +they declared that they had never seen such beauty and excellence in +design since the cartoon drawn by Michelagnolo Buonarroti in Florence +for the Council Chamber; wherefore Perino acquired the greatest fame +that he could have gained in art. And while he was engaged in finishing +that cartoon, he amused himself by causing oil-colours to be prepared +and ground in order to paint for his dearest friend, the goldsmith +Piloto, a little picture of no great size, containing a Madonna, which +he carried something more than half-way towards completion. + +For many years past Perino had been intimately acquainted with a certain +lame priest, Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a chaplain of S. Lorenzo, who +always bore love to the craftsmen of design. This priest, then, +persuaded Perino to take up his quarters with him, seeing that he had no +one to cook for him or to keep house for him, and that during the time +that he had been in Florence he had stayed now with one friend and now +with another; wherefore Perino went to lodge with him, and stayed there +many weeks. Meanwhile the plague began to appear in certain parts of +Florence, and filled Perino with fear lest he should catch the +infection; on which account he determined to go away, but wished first +to recompense Ser Raffaello for all the days that he had eaten at his +table. But Ser Raffaello would never consent to take anything, only +saying: "I would be fully paid by having a scrap of paper from your +hand." Seeing him to be determined, Perino took about four braccia of +coarse canvas, and, after having it fixed to the wall between two doors +in the priest's little room, painted on it in a day and a night a scene +coloured in imitation of bronze. On this canvas, which was to serve as a +screen for the wall, he painted the story of Moses passing the Red Sea +and Pharaoh being submerged with his horses and his chariots; and Perino +painted therein figures in most beautiful attitudes, some swimming in +armour and some naked, others swimming while clasping the horses round +the neck, with their beards and hair all soaked, crying out in the fear +of death and struggling with all their power to escape. On the other +side of the sea are Moses, Aaron, and all the other Hebrews, male and +female, who are thanking God, and a number of vases that he +counterfeited, carried off by them from Egypt, varied and beautiful in +form and shape, and women with head-dresses of great variety. Which +finished, he left it as a mark of lovingness to Ser Raffaello, to whom +it was as dear as the Priorate of S. Lorenzo would have been. This +canvas was afterwards much extolled and held in estimation, and after +the death of Ser Raffaello it passed, together with his other +possessions, to his brother Domenico di Sandro, the cheesemonger. + +Departing, then, from Florence, Perino abandoned the work of the +Martyrs, which caused him great regret; and certainly, if it had been in +any other place but the Camaldoli, he would have finished it; but, +considering that the officials of health had taken that very Convent of +Camaldoli for those infected with the plague, he thought it better to +save himself than to leave fame behind him in Florence, being satisfied +that he had proved how much he was worth in the design. The cartoon, +with his other things, remained in the possession of the goldsmith +Giovanni di Goro, his friend, who died in the plague; and after that it +fell into the hands of Piloto, who kept it spread out in his house for +many years, showing it readily as a very rare work to every person of +intelligence; but I do not know what became of it after the death of +Piloto. + +Perino stayed for many months in various places, seeking to avoid the +plague, but for all this he never spent his time in vain, for he was +continually drawing and studying the secrets of art; and when the plague +had ceased, he returned to Rome and gave his attention to executing +little works of which I shall say nothing more. In the year 1523 came +the election of Pope Clement VII, which was the greatest of blessings +for the arts of painting and sculpture, which had been so kept down by +Adrian VI during his lifetime, that not only had nothing been executed +for him, but, as has been related in other places, not delighting in +them, or rather, holding them in detestation, he had brought it about +that no other person delighted in them, or spent money upon them, or +employed a single craftsman. Then, therefore, after the election of the +new Pontiff, Perino executed many works. + +Afterwards it was proposed that Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco, +called Il Fattore, should be made heads of the world of art in place of +Raffaello, who was dead, to the end that they might distribute the +various works to the others, according to the previous custom. But +Perino, in executing an escutcheon of the Pope in fresco over the door +of Cardinal Cesarino, after the cartoon of Giulio Romano, acquitted +himself so excellently well, that they doubted whether he would not be +preferred to themselves, because, although they were known as the +disciples of Raffaello and as the heirs to his possessions, they had not +inherited the whole of the art and grace that he used to give to his +figures with colours. Giulio and Giovan Francesco therefore made up +their minds to attach Perino to themselves; and so in the holy year of +Jubilee, 1525, they gave him Caterina, the sister of Giovan Francesco, +for wife, to the end that the perfect friendship which had been +maintained between them for so long might be converted into kinship. +Thereupon, continuing the works that he had in hand, no long time had +passed when, on account of the praises bestowed upon him for the first +work executed by him in S. Marcello, it was resolved by the Prior of +that convent and by certain heads of the Company of the Crocifisso, +which has a chapel there built by its members as a place of assembly, +that the chapel should be painted; and so they allotted this work to +Perino, in the hope of having some excellent painting by his hand. +Perino, having caused the staging to be erected, began the work; and in +the centre of the barrel-shaped vaulting he painted the scene when God, +after creating Adam, takes his wife Eve from his side. In this scene +Adam, a most beautiful naked figure painted with perfect art, is seen +lying overcome by sleep, while Eve, with great vivacity, rises to her +feet with the hands clasped and receives the benediction of her Maker, +the figure of whom is depicted grave in aspect and sublime in majesty, +standing with many draperies about Him, which curve round His nude form +with their borders. On one side, on the right hand, are two Evangelists, +S. Mark and S. John, the first of whom Perino finished entirely, and +also the second with the exception of the head and a naked arm. Between +these two Evangelists, by way of ornament, he made two little boys +embracing a candelabrum, which are truly of living flesh; and the +Evangelists, likewise, in the heads, the draperies, the arms, and all +that he painted in them with his own hand, are very beautiful. + +While he was executing this work, he suffered many interruptions from +illness and from other misfortunes, such as happen every day to all who +live in this world; besides which, it is said that the men of the +Company also ran short of money. And so long did this business drag on, +that in the year 1527 there came upon them the ruin of Rome, when that +city was given over to sack, many craftsmen were killed, and many works +destroyed or carried away. Whereupon Perino, caught in that turmoil, and +having a wife and a baby girl, ran from place to place in Rome with the +child in his arms, seeking to save her, and finally, poor wretch, was +taken prisoner and reduced to paying a ransom, which hit him so hard +that he was like to go out of his mind. When the fury of the sack had +abated, he was so crushed down by the fear that still possessed him, +that all thought of art was worlds away from him, but nevertheless he +painted canvases in gouache and other fantasies for certain Spanish +soldiers; and after regaining his composure, he lived like the rest in +some poor fashion. Alone among so many, Baviera, who had the engravings +of Raffaello, had not lost much; wherefore, moved by the friendship that +he had with Perino, and wishing to employ him, he commissioned him to +draw some of the stories of the Gods transforming themselves in order to +achieve the consummation of their loves. These were engraved on copper +by Jacopo Caraglio, an excellent engraver of prints, who acquitted +himself so well in the matter of these designs, that, preserving the +outlines and manner of Perino, and hatching the work with beautiful +facility, he sought also to impart to the engravings that grace and that +delicacy which Perino had given to the drawings. + +While the havoc of the sack had destroyed Rome and driven away the +inhabitants and the Pope himself, who was living at Orvieto, not many +remaining in the city, and no business of any kind being done there, +there arrived in Rome one Niccola Viniziano, a rare and even unrivalled +master of embroidery, the servant of Prince Doria. He, moved by his +long-standing friendship with Perino, and being a man who always +favoured and wished well to the men of our arts, persuaded him to leave +that misery and set out for Genoa, promising that he would so go to work +with that Prince, who was a lover of art and delighted in painting, that +he would commission Perino to execute some big works, and saying, +moreover, that His Excellency had often told him that he would like to +have a suite of rooms adorned with handsome decorations. It did not take +much to persuade Perino, for he was oppressed by want and burning with +desire to leave Rome; and he determined to depart with Niccola. Having +therefore made arrangements for leaving his wife and daughter well cared +for by relatives in Rome, and having put all his affairs in order, he +set off for Genoa. Arriving there, and making himself known to that +Prince by means of Niccola, his coming was as welcome to His Excellency +as any agreeable experience that he had ever had in all his life. He was +received, therefore, with the greatest possible warmth and gladness, and +after many conversations and discussions they finally arranged that he +should begin the work; and they decided that he should execute a palace +adorned with stucco-work and with pictures in fresco, in oils, and of +every kind, which I will strive to describe as briefly as I am able, +with all the rooms, pictures, and general arrangement, saying nothing as +to where Perino first began to labour, to the end that I may not obscure +this work, which is the best of all those by his hand, with words. + +I begin, then, by saying that at the entrance of the Prince's Palace +there is a marble portal composed in the Doric Order, and built after +designs and models by the hand of Perino, with all its appurtenances of +pedestals, socles, shafts, capitals, architrave, frieze, cornice and +pediment, and with some most beautiful seated figures of women, who are +supporting an escutcheon. The masonry and carving of this work were +executed by Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, and the figures were finished +to perfection by Silvio, the sculptor of Fiesole, a bold and resolute +master. Entering within the portal, one finds over the vestibule a vault +covered with stucco-work, varied scenes, and grotesques, and little +arches in each of which are scenes of war and various kinds of battles, +some fighting on foot and others on horseback, and all wrought with +truly extraordinary diligence and art. On the left one finds the +staircase, which has decorations of little grotesques after the antique +that could not be richer or more beautiful, with various scenes and +little figures, masks, children, animals, and other things of fancy, +executed with that invention and judgment that always marked his work, +insomuch that of their kind they may well be called divine. Having +ascended the staircase, one comes into a most beautiful loggia, which +has at each end a very handsome door of stone; and over each of these +doors, in the pediment, are painted two figures, one male and the other +female, represented in directly opposite attitudes, one showing the +front view and the other the back. The vaulting has five arches, and is +wrought superbly in stucco, and it is also divided by pictures in +certain ovals, containing scenes executed with the most perfect beauty +that could be achieved; and the walls are painted down to the floor with +many seated figures of captains in armour, some drawn from life and some +from imagination, and representing all the ancient and modern captains +of the house of Doria, and above them are large letters of gold, which +run thus--"Magni viri, maximi duces, optima fecere pro patria." In the +first hall, which opens into the loggia and is entered by one of the two +doors, that on the left hand, there are most beautiful ornaments of +stucco on the corners of the vaulting, and in the centre there is a +large scene of the Shipwreck of AEneas in the sea, in which are nude +figures, living and dead, in attitudes of infinite variety, besides a +good number of ships and galleys, some sound and some shattered by the +fury of the tempest; not without beautiful considerations in the figures +of the living, who are striving to save themselves, and expressions of +terror that are produced in their features by the struggle with the +waves, the danger of death, and all the emotions aroused by the perils +of the sea. This was the first scene and the first work that Perino +began for the Prince. It is said that when he arrived in Genoa, Girolamo +da Treviso had already appeared there in advance of him in order to +execute certain pictures, and was painting a wall that faced towards the +garden. And after Perino had begun to draw the cartoon for the scene of +the Shipwreck that has been described above, while he was taking his +time about it, amusing himself and seeing Genoa, and labouring only at +intervals at the cartoon, although a great part was finished in various +ways and those nudes were drawn, some in chiaroscuro, some in charcoal, +and others in black chalk, some being drawn in imitation of +gradine-work, others shaded, and others again only outlined; while, I +say, Perino was going on in this way, without beginning to paint, +Girolamo da Treviso murmured against him, saying, "Cartoons, and nothing +but cartoons! I have my art at the tip of my brush." Decrying him very +often in this or some other similar manner, it came to the ears of +Perino, who, taking offence, straightway caused his cartoon to be fixed +to the vaulting where the scene was to be painted, and the boards of his +staging to be removed in many places, to the end that the work might be +seen from below; and then he threw open the hall. Which hearing, all +Genoa ran to see it, and, amazed by Perino's grand design, they praised +him to the skies. Thither, among others, went Girolamo da Treviso, who +saw what he had never thought to see from the hand of Perino; whereupon, +dumbfoundered by the beauty of the work, he departed from Genoa without +asking leave of Prince Doria, and returned to Bologna, where he lived. +Perino was thus left alone in the service of the Prince, and finished +that hall, painting it in oils on the surface of the walls; and it was +held to be, as indeed it is, a thing unrivalled in its beauty, with its +lovely work in stucco in the centre of the vaulting and all around, even +below the lunettes, as I have described. In the other hall, into which +one enters by the right-hand door in the loggia, he executed on the +vaulting works in stucco almost similar in design to those of the other, +and painted pictures in fresco of Jove slaying the Giants with his +thunderbolts, in which are many very beautiful nudes, larger than life. +In the Heaven, likewise, are all the Gods, who are making gestures of +great vivacity and truly appropriate to their natures, amid the terrible +uproar of the thunder; besides which, the stucco-work is executed with +supreme diligence, and the fresco-colouring could not be more beautiful, +seeing that Perino was very able--indeed, a perfect master--in that +field. Near this he adorned four chambers, the ceilings of which are all +wrought in stucco, and distributed among them, in fresco, are the most +beautiful fables from Ovid, which have all the appearance of reality, +nor could any one imagine the beauty, the abundance, the variety, and +the great numbers of the little figures, animals, foliage, and +grotesques that are in them, all executed with lively invention. Beside +the other hall, likewise, he adorned four more chambers, but only +directing the work, which was carried out by his assistants, although he +gave them the designs both of the stucco-decorations and of the scenes, +figures, and grotesques, upon which a vast number of them worked, some +little and some much; such as Luzio Romano, who did much work in stucco +there and many grotesques, and a number of Lombards. Let it suffice to +say that there is no room there that has not something by his hand and +is not full of ornaments, even to the space below the vaulting, with +various compositions full of children, bizarre masks, and animals, which +all defies description; not to mention that the little studies, the +antechambers, the closets, and all other parts of the palace, are +painted and made beautiful. From the palace one passes into the garden +and into a low building, which has the most ornate decorations in all +the rooms, even below the ceilings, and so also the halls, chambers, +and anterooms, all adorned by the same hand. In this work Pordenone +also took a part, as I said in his Life, and likewise Domenico Beccafumi +of Siena, a very rare painter, who showed that he was not inferior to +any of the others, although the works by his hand that are in Siena are +the most excellent among the vast number that he painted. + +But to return to the works that Perino executed after those that he did +in the Palace of the Prince; he executed a frieze in a room in the house +of Giannetin Doria, containing most beautiful women, and he did many +works for various gentlemen throughout the city, both in fresco and in +oil-colours. He painted a most beautiful altar-piece, very finely +designed, for S. Francesco, and another for a church called S. Maria "de +Consolatione," at the commission of a gentleman of the house of +Baciadonne: in which picture he painted the Nativity of Christ, a work +that is much extolled, but it was placed in a position so dark, that, by +reason of the light not being good enough, one is not able to recognize +its perfection, and all the more because Perino strove to paint it in a +dark manner, so that it has need of a strong light. He also made +drawings of the greater part of the AEneid, with the stories of Dido, +from which tapestries were woven; and he likewise drew beautiful +ornaments for the poops of galleys, which were carved and finished to +perfection by Carota and Tasso, wood-carvers of Florence, who proved +excellently well how able they were in that art. And in addition to all +these things he also executed a vast number of works on cloth for the +galleys of the Prince, and the largest standards that could be made for +their adornment and embellishment. Wherefore he was so beloved by that +Prince for his fine qualities, that, if he had continued to serve him, +the Prince would have richly rewarded his abilities. + +But while he was working in Genoa, the fancy came to him to fetch his +wife from Rome, and so he bought a house in Pisa, being pleased with +that city and half thinking of choosing it as his place of habitation +when old age should come upon him. Now at that time the Warden of the +Duomo at Pisa was M. Antonio di Urbano, who had a very great desire to +embellish that temple, and had already caused a beginning to be made +with some very beautiful ornaments of marble for the chapels of the +church, which had been executed by the hand of Stagio da Pietrasanta, a +very able and well practised carver of marble: removing some old, +clumsy, and badly proportioned chapels that were there. Having thus made +a beginning, the Warden proposed to fill up those ornaments in the +interior with altar-pieces in oils, and on the outer side with a series +of scenes in fresco and decorations in stucco, by the hands of the best +and most excellent masters that he could find, without grudging any +expense that might be incurred. He had already set to work on the +sacristy, which he had placed in the great recess behind the high-altar, +and there the ornamentation of marble was already finished, and many +pictures had been painted by the Florentine painter Giovanni Antonio +Sogliani, the rest of which, together with the altar-pieces and the +chapels that were wanting, were finished many years afterwards by order +of M. Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of the Duomo in those days. + +At that time Perino returned from Genoa to Pisa, and, having seen that +beginning, at the instance of Battista del Cervelliera, a person well +conversant with art and a most ingenious master of wood-carving, +perspective, and inlaying, he was presented to the Warden. After they +had discoursed together on the subject of the works of the Duomo, Perino +was asked to paint an altar-piece for an ornament immediately within the +ordinary door of entrance, the ornamental frame being already finished, +and above that a scene of S. George slaying the Dragon and delivering +the King's Daughter. Perino therefore made a most beautiful design, +which included a row of children and other ornaments in fresco between +one chapel and the other, and niches with Prophets and scenes of various +kinds; and this design pleased the Warden. And so, having made the +cartoon for one of them, the first one, that opposite to the door +mentioned above, he began to execute it in colour, and finished six +children, which are very well painted. He was to have continued this +right round, which would have made a very rich and very beautiful +decoration; and the whole work together would have proved to be +something very handsome. But he was seized with a desire to return to +Genoa, where he had involved himself in love affairs and other +pleasures, to which he was inclined at certain times: and on his +departure he gave to the Nuns of S. Maffeo a little altar-piece that he +had painted for them in oils, which is now in their possession in the +convent. Then, having arrived in Genoa, he stayed there many months, +executing other works for the Prince. + +His departure from Pisa displeased the Warden greatly, and even more the +circumstance that the work remained unfinished; wherefore he did not +cease to write to him every day that he should return, or to make +inquiries from Perino's wife, whom he had left in Pisa. But finally, +perceiving that the matter would never end, Perino neither answering nor +returning, he allotted the altar-piece of that chapel to Giovanni +Antonio Sogliani, who finished it and set it into its place. Not long +after this Perino returned to Pisa, and, seeing the work of Sogliani, +flew into a rage, and would on no account continue what he had begun, +saying that he did not choose that his pictures should serve as +ornaments for those of other masters; wherefore, so far as concerned +him, that work remained unfinished. Giovanni Antonio carried it on to +such purpose that he painted four altar-pieces: but these, at a later +date, appeared to Sebastiano della Seta, the new Warden, to be all in +the same manner, and somewhat less beautiful than the first, and he +allotted to Domenico Beccafumi of Siena--after proving his worth from +some pictures that he painted round the sacristy, which are very +beautiful--an altar-piece which he executed in Pisa. This not giving as +much satisfaction as the first pictures, he caused the two last that +were wanting to be painted by Giorgio Vasari of Arezzo; and they were +placed at the two doors beside the corner-walls of the main facade of +the church. Of these, as well as of many other works, both large and +small, that are dispersed throughout Italy and various places abroad, it +does not become me to say more, and I will leave the right of free +judgment about them to all who have seen or may see them. The loss of +this work caused real vexation to Perino, he having already made the +designs for it, which gave promise that it would prove to be something +worthy of him, and likely to give that temple great fame over and above +that of its antiquities, and also to make Perino immortal. + +During the many years of his sojourn in Genoa, although he drew both +profit and pleasure from that city, Perino had grown weary of it, as he +remembered Rome in the happy days of Leo. But although, during the +lifetime of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, he had received letters +inviting him into his service, and he had been disposed to enter it, the +death of that lord brought it about that he hesitated to repatriate +himself. While matters stood thus, with his many friends urging his +return, himself desiring it infinitely more than any of them, and +several letters being exchanged, one morning, in the end, the fancy took +him, and without saying a word he set off from Pisa and made his way to +Rome. There, after making himself known to the most reverend Cardinal +Farnese, and then to Pope Paul, he stayed many months without doing +anything; first, because he was put off from one day to another, and +then because he was attacked by some infirmity in one of his arms, on +account of which he spent several hundreds of crowns, to say nothing of +the discomfort, before he could be cured of it. Wherefore, having no one +to maintain him, and being vexed by his cold welcome from the Court, he +was tempted many times to go away; but Molza and many other friends +exhorted him to have patience, telling him that Rome was no longer what +she had been, and that now she expected that a man should be exhausted +and weary of her before she would choose and cherish him as her own, and +particularly if he were pursuing the path of some fine art. + +At this time M. Pietro de' Massimi bought a chapel in the Trinita, with +the vaulting and the lunettes painted and adorned with stucco, and the +altar-piece painted in oils, all by Giulio Romano and Perino's +brother-in-law, Giovan Francesco; and that gentleman was desirous to +have it finished. In the lunettes were four stories of S. Mary Magdalene +in fresco, and in the altar-piece in oils was Christ appearing to Mary +Magdalene in the form of a gardener; and M. Pietro first caused a gilt +frame of wood to be made for the altar-piece, which had a miserable one +of stucco, and then allotted the walls to Perino, who, having caused the +staging and the screen to be erected, set his hand to the work, and +after many months brought it to completion. He made a design of bizarre +and beautiful grotesques, partly in low-relief and partly painted; and +he executed two little scenes of no great size, one on each wall, +surrounding them with an ornament in stucco of great variety. In one +scene was the Pool of Bethesda, with all the cripples and sick persons, +and the Angel who comes to move the waters, the porticoes seen most +beautifully foreshortened in perspective, and the movements and +vestments of the priests, all painted with great grace and vivacity, +although the figures are not very large. In the other, he painted the +Raising of Lazarus after he had been dead four days, wherein he is seen +newly restored to life, and still marked by the pallor and fear of +death: and round him are many who are unswathing him, and not a few who +are marvelling, and others struck with awe, besides which the scene is +adorned with some little temples that recede into the distance, executed +with supreme lovingness, as are also the works in stucco all around. +There are likewise four very small scenes, two to each wall, and one on +either side of the larger scene; in one of which is the Centurion +beseeching Christ that He should heal with a word his son who is dying, +in another Christ driving the traders from the Temple, in a third the +Transfiguration, and in the last a similar scene. And on the projections +of the pilasters within the chapel he painted four figures in the guise +of Prophets, which, in their proportions, their excellence, and their +beauty, are as well executed and finished as they could well be. In a +word, the whole work was carried out with such diligence, and is so +delicate, that it resembles miniature rather than painting. In it may be +seen much charm and vivacity of colouring, and signs of great patience +in its execution, revealing that true love which should be felt for art; +and he painted this whole work with his own hand, although he had a +great part of the stucco-work executed after his designs by Guglielmo +Milanese, whom he had formerly had with him at Genoa, loving him much, +and once even offering to give him his daughter in marriage. This +Guglielmo, in reward for restoring the antiquities of the house of +Farnese, has now been made Friar of the Piombo, in the place of Fra +Sebastiano Viniziano. + +I must not omit to tell that against one wall of this chapel was a most +beautiful tomb of marble, with a dead woman of marble, beautifully +carved by the sculptor Bologna, on the sarcophagus, and two little naked +boys at the sides. The countenance of that woman was a lifelike +portrait of a very famous courtezan of Rome, who left that memorial of +herself, which was removed by the friars because they felt scruples that +such a woman should have been laid to rest there with so much honour. + +This work, with many designs that he made, was the reason that the very +reverend Cardinal Farnese began to give him an allowance and to make use +of him in many works. By order of Pope Paul, a chimney-piece that was in +the Chamber of the Burning of the Borgo was placed in that of the +Segnatura, where there were the panellings with perspective views in +wood executed by the hand of the carver Fra Giovanni for Pope Julius. +Raffaello had painted both of those chambers; but it became necessary to +repaint all the base to the scenes in the Chamber of the Segnatura, +which is that in which is the picture of Mount Parnassus. On which +account a decorative design in imitation of marble was painted by +Perino, with various terminal figures, festoons, masks, and other +ornaments; and, in certain spaces, scenes painted to look like bronze, +which are very beautiful for works in fresco. In these scenes, even as +above them were Philosophers discoursing on Philosophy, Theologians on +Theology, and Poets on Poetry, were all the actions of those who have +been eminent in those professions. And although he did not execute them +all with his own hand, he retouched them so much "a secco," besides +making perfectly finished cartoons, that they may almost be said to be +entirely by his hand; which method he employed because, being troubled +by a catarrh, he was not fit for so much labour. Whereupon the Pope, +recognizing that he deserved something both on account of his age and +for all his work, and hearing him much recommended, gave him an +allowance of twenty-five ducats a month, which lasted up to his death, +on the condition that he should have charge of the Palace and of the +house of the Farnese family. + +By this time Michelagnolo Buonarroti had uncovered the wall with the +Last Judgment in the Papal Chapel, and there remained still unpainted +the base below, where there was to be fixed a screen of arras woven in +silk and gold, like the tapestries that adorn the Chapel. Wherefore, the +Pope having ordained that the weaving should be done in Flanders, it +was arranged with the consent of Michelagnolo that Perino should begin +to paint a canvas of the same size, which he did, executing in it women, +children and terminal figures, holding festoons, and all very lifelike, +with the most bizarre things of fancy; but this work, which was truly +worthy of him and of the divine picture that it was to adorn, remained +unfinished after his death in some apartments of the Belvedere. + +After this, Antonio da San Gallo having finished the building of the +Great Hall of Kings in front of the Chapel of Sixtus IV in the Papal +Palace, Perino divided the ceiling into a large pattern of octagonal +compartments, crosses, and ovals, both sunk and in relief; which done, +Perino was also commissioned to adorn it with stucco-work, with the +richest and most beautiful ornaments that could be produced by all the +resources of that art. He thus began it, and in the octagons, in place +of rosettes, he made four little boys in full relief, who, with their +feet pointing to the centre and their arms forming a circle, make a most +beautiful rosette, and in the rest of the compartments are all the +devices of the house of Farnese, with the arms of the Pope in the centre +of the vaulting. And this work in stucco may be said with truth to have +surpassed in mastery of execution, in beauty, and in delicacy, all those +that have ever been done by ancients or moderns, and to be truly worthy +of the head of the Christian religion. After the designs of the same +man, likewise, the glass windows were executed by Pastorino da Siena, an +able master of that craft; and Perino caused the walls below to be +prepared with very beautiful ornaments in stucco, intending to paint +scenes there with his own hand, which were afterwards continued by the +painter Daniello Ricciarelli of Volterra, who, if death had not cut +short the noble aspirations that he had, would have proved how the +moderns have the courage not only to equal the ancients with their +works, but perhaps even to surpass them by a great measure. + +While the stucco-work of this vaulting was in progress, and Perino was +considering the designs for his scenes, the old walls of the Church of +S. Pietro at Rome were being pulled down to make way for those of the +new building, and the masons came to a wall where there was a Madonna, +with other pictures, by the hand of Giotto; which being seen by Perino, +who was in the company of Messer Niccolo Acciaiuoli, a Florentine doctor +and much his friend, both of them were moved to pity for that picture +and would not allow it to be destroyed; nay, having caused the wall to +be cut away around it, they had it well braced with beams and bars of +iron and deposited below the organ of S. Pietro, in a place where there +was neither altar nor any other consecrated object. And before the wall +that had been round the Madonna was pulled down, Perino copied the +figure of Orso dell' Anguillara, the Roman Senator who had crowned M. +Francesco Petrarca on the Campidoglio, and who was at the feet of that +Madonna. Round the picture of the Madonna were to be made some ornaments +in stucco and painting, and together with them a memorial to a certain +Niccolo Acciaiuoli, who had formerly been a Roman Senator; and Perino, +having made the designs, straightway set his hand to the work, and, +assisted by his young men and by Marcello Mantovano, his disciple, +carried it out with great diligence. + +In the same S. Pietro the Sacrament did not occupy, with regard to +masonry, a very honourable position; wherefore certain deputies were +appointed from the Company of the Sacrament, who ordained that a chapel +should be built in the centre of the old church by Antonio da San Gallo, +partly with remains in the form of ancient marble columns, and partly +with other ornaments of marble, bronze, and stucco, placing in the +centre a tabernacle by the hand of Donatello, by way of further +adornment; and Perino executed there a very beautiful ceiling with many +minute scenes full of figures from the Old Testament, symbolical of the +Sacrament. In the middle of it, also, he painted a somewhat larger +scene, containing the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles, and below +it two Prophets, one on either side of the body of Christ. + +The same master, likewise, caused his young men to paint in the Church +of S. Giuseppe, near the Ripetta, the chapel of that church, which was +afterwards retouched and finished by himself; and he also had a chapel +painted after his designs in the Church of S. Bartolommeo in Isola, +which he retouched in like manner, and caused some scenes to be painted +at the high-altar of S. Salvatore del Lauro, with some grotesques on the +vaulting, and likewise an Annunciation on the facade outside, which was +executed by his pupil, Girolamo Sermoneta. Thus, then, partly because he +was not able, and partly because the labour wearied him, liking to +design his works rather than to execute them, he pursued the same course +that Raffaello da Urbino had formerly followed at the end of his life. +How harmful and how blameworthy is this practice, is proved by the Chigi +works and by all those carried out by other hands, and is also shown by +those that Perino caused to be executed in the same way; besides which, +those works of Giulio Romano's that he did not paint with his own hand +have not done him much honour. And although this method pleases Princes, +giving them their works quickly, and perhaps benefits the craftsmen who +labour upon them, yet, if they were the ablest men in the world, they +could never feel that love for the works of others which a man feels for +his own. Nor, however well drawn the cartoons may be, can they be +imitated as exactly and as thoroughly as by the hand of their author, +who, seeing the work going to ruin, in despair leaves it to fall into +complete destruction. He, then, who thirsts for honour, should do his +own painting. This I can say from experience, for after I had laboured +with the greatest possible pains on the cartoons for the Hall of the +Cancelleria in the Palace of S. Giorgio in Rome, the work having to be +executed with great haste in a hundred days, a vast number of painters +were employed to paint it, who departed so far from their outlines and +their true form, that I made a resolution, to which I have adhered, that +from that time onward no one should lay a hand on any works of mine. +Whoever, therefore, wishes to ensure long life for his name and his +works, should undertake fewer and do them all with his own hand, if he +desires to obtain that full meed of honour that a man of exalted genius +seeks to acquire. + +I say, then, that Perino, by reason of the number of the labours +committed to his care, was forced to employ many persons; and he +thirsted rather for gain than for glory, considering that he had thrown +away his life and had saved nothing in his youth. And it vexed him so +much to see young men coming forward to undertake work, that he sought +to enroll them all under his own command, to the end that they might not +encroach on his position. Now in the year 1546 there came to Rome the +Venetian Tiziano da Cadore, a painter highly celebrated for his +portraits, who, having formerly taken a portrait of Pope Paul at the +time when His Holiness went to Busseto, without exacting any +remuneration either for that or for some others that he had executed for +Cardinal Farnese and Santa Fiore, was received by those prelates with +the greatest honour in the Belvedere; at which a rumour arose in the +Court, and then spread throughout Rome, to the effect that he had come +in order to paint scenes with his own hand in the Hall of Kings in the +Palace, where Perino was to paint them and the stucco-work was already +in progress. This arrival caused much vexation to Perino, and he +complained of it to many of his friends, not because he believed that +Tiziano was likely to surpass him at painting historical scenes in +fresco, but because he desired to occupy himself with that work +peacefully and honourably until his death, and, if he was to do it, he +wished to do it without competition, the wall and the vaulting by +Michelagnolo in the Chapel close by being more than enough for him by +way of comparison. That suspicion was the reason that while Tiziano +stayed in Rome, Perino always avoided him, and remained in an ill-humour +until his departure. + +The Castellan of the Castello di S. Angelo, Tiberio Crispo, who was +afterwards made a Cardinal, being a person who delighted in our arts, +made up his mind to beautify the Castle, and rebuilt loggie, chambers, +halls, and apartments in a very handsome manner, in order to be able to +receive His Holiness more worthily when he went there. Many rooms and +other ornaments were executed from the designs and under the direction +of Raffaello da Montelupo, and then in the end by Antonio da San Gallo, +and a loggia was wrought in stucco under the supervision of Raffaello, +who also made the Angel of marble, a figure six braccia high, which was +placed on the summit of the highest tower in the Castle. Tiberio then +caused the said loggia, which is the one facing the meadows, to be +painted by Girolamo Sermoneta; which finished, the rest of the rooms +were entrusted in part to Luzio Romano, and finally the halls and other +important apartments were finished partly by Perino with his own hand, +and partly by others after his cartoons. The principal hall is very +pleasing and beautiful, being wrought in stucco and all filled with +scenes from Roman history, executed for the most part by Perino's young +men, and not a few by the hand of Marco da Siena, the disciple of +Domenico Beccafumi; and in certain rooms there are most beautiful +friezes. + +Perino, when he could find young men of ability, was wont to make use of +them willingly in his works; but for all that he never ceased to execute +any commonplace commission. He very often painted pennons for trumpets, +banners for the Castle, and those of the fleet of the Militant Order; +and he executed hangings, tabards, door-curtains, and the most +insignificant works of art. He began some canvases from which tapestries +were to be woven for Prince Doria, and he painted a chapel for the very +reverend Cardinal Farnese, and a writing-study for the most illustrious +Madama Margherita of Austria. He caused an ornamental frame to be made +round the Madonna in S. Maria del Pianto, and also another ornamental +frame round the Madonna in Piazza Giudea; and he executed many other +works, of which, by reason of their number, I will not now make any +further mention, particularly because he was accustomed to accept any +sort of work that came to his hand. This disposition of Perino's, which +was well known to the officials of the Palace, was the reason that he +always had something to do for one or another of them, and he did it +willingly, in order to bind them to himself, so that they might be +obliged to serve him in the payment of his allowances and in his other +requirements. In addition to this, Perino had acquired such authority +that all the work in Rome was allotted to him, for the reason that, +besides the circumstance that it appeared to be in a certain sense his +due, he would sometimes execute commissions for the most paltry prices; +whereby he did little good, nay rather, much harm, to himself and to +art. That these words are true is proved by this, that if he had +undertaken to paint the Hall of Kings in the Palace on his own account, +and had worked at it together with his own assistants, he would have +saved several hundreds of crowns, which all went to the overseers who +had charge of the work and paid the daily wages to those who worked +there. + +Thus, having undertaken a burden so heavy and so laborious, and being +infirm and enfeebled by catarrh, he was not able to endure such +discomforts, having to draw day and night and to meet the demands of the +Palace, and, among other things, to make the designs of embroideries, of +engravings for banner-makers, and of innumerable ornaments required by +the caprice of Farnese and other Cardinals and noblemen. In short, +having his mind incessantly occupied, and being always surrounded by +sculptors, masters in stucco, wood-carvers, seamsters, embroiderers, +painters, gilders, and other suchlike craftsmen, he had never an hour of +repose; and the only happiness and contentment that he knew in this life +was to find himself at times with some of his friends at a tavern, which +was his favourite haunt in all the places where it fell to his lot to +live, considering that this was the true blessedness and peace of this +world, and the only repose from his labours. And thus, having ruined his +constitution by the fatigues of his art and by his excesses in eating +and in love, he was attacked by asthma, which, sapping his strength +little by little, finally caused him to sink into consumption; and one +evening, while talking with a friend near his house, he fell dead of an +apoplectic seizure in his forty-seventh year. At this many craftsmen +felt infinite sorrow, it being a truly great loss that art suffered; and +he received honourable burial from his son-in-law, M. Gioseffo Cincio, +the physician of Madama, and from his wife, in the Chapel of S. Giuseppe +in the Ritonda at Rome, with the following epitaph: + + PERINO BONACCURSIO VAGAE FLORENTINO, QUI INGENIO ET ARTE + SINGULARI EGREGIOS CUM PICTORES PERMULTOS, TUM PLASTAS OMNES + FACILE SUPERAVIT, CATHERINA PERINI CONJUGI, LAVINIA BONACCURSIA + PARENTI, JOSEPHUS CINCIUS SOCERO CARISSIMO ET OPTIMO FECERE. + VIXIT ANN. 46, MEN. 3, DIES 21. MORTUUS EST 14 CALEND. NOVEMB. + ANN. CHRIST. 1547. + +The place of Perino was filled by Daniello of Volterra, who had worked +much with him, and who finished the two other Prophets that are in the +Chapel of the Crocifisso in S. Marcello. Daniello has also adorned a +chapel in S. Trinita most beautifully with stucco-work and painting, for +Signora Elena Orsina; with many other works, of which mention will be +made in the proper place. + +Perino, then, as may be seen from the works described and from many +others that might be mentioned, was one of the most versatile painters +of our times, in that he assisted the craftsmen to work excellently in +stucco, and executed grotesques, landscapes, animals, and all the other +things of which a painter can have knowledge, using colours in fresco, +in oils, and in distemper. Whence it may be said that he was the father +of these most noble arts, seeing that his talents live in those who are +continually imitating him in every honourable field of art. After +Perino's death were published many prints taken from his drawings, such +as the Slaying of the Giants that he executed in Genoa, eight stories of +S. Peter taken from the Acts of the Apostles, of which he made designs +for the embroidering of a cope for Pope Paul III, and many other things, +which are known by the manner. + +Perino made use of many young men, and taught the secrets of art to many +disciples; but the best of them all, and the one of whom he availed +himself more than of any other, was Girolamo Siciolante of Sermoneta, of +whom there will be an account in the proper place. His disciple, +likewise, was Marcello Mantovano, who executed on a wall at the entrance +of the Castello di S. Angelo, after the design and under the direction +of Perino, a Madonna with many Saints in fresco, which was a very +beautiful thing; but of his works as well there will be an account +elsewhere. + +Perino left many designs at his death, some by his hand and some by +others; among the latter, one of the whole Chapel of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti, drawn by the hand of Leonardo Cungi of Borgo a San Sepolcro, +which was an excellent work. All these designs, with other things, were +sold by his heirs; and in our book are many drawings done by him with +the pen, which are very beautiful. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[27] Or Perino. + +[28] Vasari sometimes groups under this name all the male +figures that appear in a picture of the Deposition from the Cross. + + + + +GIORGIO VASARI TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN + + + + +TO THE CRAFTSMEN IN DESIGN + +GIORGIO VASARI + + +EXCELLENT AND WELL-BELOVED BROTHER-CRAFTSMEN-- + +So great has always been the delight, to say nothing of the profit and +honour, that I have derived from practising my hand to the best of my +ability in this most noble art of ours, that I have not only had a +burning desire to exalt and to celebrate her, and to honour her in every +manner open to me, but have also been full of affection for all those +who have taken the same pleasure in her and have succeeded in practising +her more happily than I, perhaps, have been able to do. And from this my +good will, so full of the most sincere affection, it appears to me that +I have gathered hitherto fruits that are an ample reward, for I have +been always loved and honoured by you all, and we have been united in +the most perfect intimacy or brotherhood, I know not which to call it; +mutually showing our works to one another, I to you and you to me, and +helping one another with counsel and assistance whenever the occasion +has presented itself. Wherefore I have always felt myself deeply bound +by this loving fellowship, and much more by your excellent abilities, +and no less, also, by this my inclination, by nature, and by a most +powerful attraction, to assist and serve you in every way and every +matter wherein I have considered myself able to bring you pleasure or +advantage. To this end I published in the year 1550 the Lives of our +best and most famous Craftsmen, moved by a cause that has been mentioned +in another place, and also, to tell the truth, by a generous indignation +that so much talent should have been for so long a time, and should +still remain, buried in oblivion. And this my labour appears not to have +been in any way unwelcome; on the contrary, so acceptable, that, not to +mention what has been said and written to me from many quarters, out of +the vast number that were printed at that time, there is not one single +volume to be found at the booksellers. + +Thus, therefore, receiving every day requests from many friends, and +understanding no less clearly the unexpressed desires of many others, +once more, although in the midst of most important undertakings, I have +applied myself to the same labour, with the intention not only of adding +those masters who have passed to a better world between that time and +the present, thus giving me the opportunity of writing their Lives in +full, but also of supplying that which may have been wanting to the +perfection of my first work. For since then I have had leisure to come +to a better knowledge of many matters, and to re-examine others, not +only by the favour of these my most illustrious Lords, whom I serve, the +true refuge and protection of all the arts, but also through the +facilities that they have given me to search the whole of Italy once +again and to see and understand many things which had not before come +under my notice. I have been able, therefore, not merely to make +corrections, but also to add so many things, that many of the Lives may +be said to have been almost written anew; while some, indeed, even of +the old masters, which were not there before, have been added. Nor, the +better to revive the memory of those whom I so greatly honour, have I +grudged the great labour, pains and expense of seeking out their +portraits, which I have placed at the head of their Lives. And for the +greater satisfaction of many friends not of our profession, who are yet +devoted lovers of art, I have included in a compendium the greater part +of the works of those who are still living and are worthy to be for ever +renowned on account of their abilities; for that scruple which formerly +restrained me can have no place here in the opinion of any thoughtful +reader, since I deal with no works save those that are excellent and +worthy of praise. And this may perchance serve as a spur to make every +craftsman continue to labour worthily and advance unceasingly from good +to better; insomuch that he who shall write the rest of this history, +may be able to give it more grandeur and majesty, having occasion to +describe those rarer and more perfect works which, begun from time to +time through the desire of immortality, and finished by the loving care +of intellects so divine, the world in days to come shall see issuing +from your hands. And the young men who follow with their studies, +incited by hope of glory (if hope of gain has not enough force), may +perchance be inspired by such an example to attain to excellence. + +And to the end that this work may prove to be in every way complete, and +that there may be no need to seek anything outside its pages, I have +added a great part of the works of the most celebrated craftsmen of +antiquity, both Greek and of other nations, whose memory has been +preserved down to our own day by Pliny and other writers, without whose +pens they would have been buried, like many others, in eternal oblivion. +And this consideration, also, may perchance increase the willingness of +men in general to labour valiantly, and may impel and inspire us all, as +we behold the nobility and greatness of our art, and how she has always +been prized and rewarded by all nations, and particularly by the most +lofty minds and the most powerful Princes, to leave the world adorned by +works infinite in number and unsurpassed in excellence; whence, rendered +beautiful by us, it may give to us that rank which it has given to those +ever marvellous and celebrated spirits. + +Accept, then, with a friendly mind, these my labours, which, whatever +they may be, have been lovingly carried to conclusion by me for the +glory of art and for the honour of her craftsmen, and take them as a +sure token and pledge of my heart, which is desirous of nothing more +ardently than of your greatness and glory, in which, seeing that I also +have been received by you into your company (for which I render my +thanks to you, and congratulate myself not a little on my own account), +I shall always consider myself in a certain sense a participator. + + + + +DOMENICO BECCAFUMI + + + + +LIFE OF DOMENICO BECCAFUMI OF SIENA + +PAINTER AND MASTER OF CASTING + + +That same quality, the pure gift of nature, which has been seen in +Giotto and in some others among those painters of whom we have spoken +hitherto, has been revealed most recently in Domenico Beccafumi, the +painter of Siena, in that he, while guarding some sheep for his father +Pacio, the labourer of the Sienese citizen Lorenzo Beccafumi, was +observed to practise his hand by himself, child as he was, in drawing +sometimes on stones and sometimes in other ways. It happened that the +said Lorenzo saw him one day drawing various things with a pointed stick +on the sand of a small stream, where he was watching his little charges, +and he asked for the child from his father, meaning to employ him as his +servant, and at the same time to have him taught. The boy, therefore, +who was then called Mecherino, having been given up by his father Pacio +to Lorenzo, was taken to Siena, where Lorenzo caused him for a while to +spend all the spare time that he had after his household duties in the +workshop of a painter who was his neighbour. This painter, who was no +great craftsman, caused Mecherino to learn all that he could not himself +teach him from designs by eminent painters that he had in his +possession, of which he availed himself for his own purposes, as those +masters are wont to do who are not very able in design. Exercising his +hand, therefore, in this manner, Mecherino gave promise of being +destined to become an excellent painter. + +During this time Pietro Perugino, then a famous painter, came to Siena, +where, as has been related, he painted two altar-pieces; and his manner +pleased Domenico greatly, so that he set himself to study it and to copy +those altar-pieces, and no long time passed before he had caught that +manner. Then, after the Chapel of Michelagnolo and the works of +Raffaello da Urbino had been thrown open in Rome, Domenico, who desired +nothing so much as to learn, and knew that he was losing his time in +Siena, took leave of Lorenzo Beccafumi, from whom he acquired the family +name of Beccafumi, and made his way to Rome. There he placed himself +under a painter, who gave him board and lodging, and executed many works +in company with him, giving his attention at the same time to studying +the works of Michelagnolo, Raffaello, and other eminent masters, and the +marvellous statues and sarcophagi of antiquity. No long time passed, +therefore, before he became a bold draughtsman, fertile in invention, +and a very pleasing colourist; but during this period, which did not +exceed two years, he did nothing worthy of record save a facade in the +Borgo with an escutcheon of Pope Julius II in colour. + +Meanwhile, there had been brought to Siena by a merchant of the +Spannocchi family, as will be related in the proper place, the painter +Giovanni Antonio of Vercelli, a young man of passing good ability, who +was much employed, particularly in making portraits from life, by the +gentlemen of that city, which has always been the friend and patron of +all men of talent. Domenico, who was very desirous of returning to his +own country, having heard this news, made his way back to Siena; and +when he saw that Giovanni Antonio was very well grounded in drawing, +which he knew to be the essence of the excellence of a craftsman, not +resting content with what he had done in Rome, he set himself with the +utmost zeal to follow him, devoting himself much to anatomy and to +drawing nudes; which helped him so much, that in a short time he began +to be greatly esteemed in that most noble city. Nor was he beloved less +for his goodness and his character than for his art, for the reason +that, whereas Giovanni Antonio was coarse, licentious, and eccentric, +being called Il Sodoma because he always mixed and lived with beardless +boys, and answering willingly enough to that name, Domenico, on the +other hand, was a pattern of good conduct and uprightness, living like a +Christian and keeping very much to himself. But such persons as are +called merry fellows and good companions are very often more esteemed by +men than the virtuous and orderly, and most of the young men of Siena +followed Sodoma, extolling him as a man of originality. And this +Sodoma, being an eccentric, and wishing to please the common herd, +always kept at his house parrots, apes, dwarf donkeys, little Elba +horses, a talking raven, barbs for running races, and other suchlike +creatures; from which he had won such a name among the vulgar, that they +spoke of nothing but his follies. + +Sodoma, then, had painted with colours in fresco the facade of the house +of M. Agostino Bardi, and Domenico at the same time, in competition with +him, painted the facade of a house of the Borghese, close to the +Postierla column, near the Duomo, with which he took very great pains. +Below the roof, in a frieze in chiaroscuro, he executed some little +figures that were much extolled; and in the spaces between the three +ranges of windows of travertine that adorn that palace, he painted many +ancient gods and other figures in imitation of bronze, in chiaroscuro +and in colour, which were more than passing good, although the work of +Sodoma was more extolled. Both these facades were executed in the year +1512. + +Domenico afterwards painted for S. Benedetto, a seat of Monks of Monte +Oliveto, without the Porta a Tufi, an altar-piece of S. Catharine of +Siena in a building receiving the Stigmata, with a S. Benedict standing +on her right hand, and on her left a S. Jerome in the habit of a +Cardinal; which altar-piece, being very soft in colouring and strong in +relief, was much praised, as it still is. In the predella of this +picture, likewise, he painted some little scenes in distemper with +incredible boldness and vivacity, and with such facility of design, that +they could not be more graceful, and yet they have the appearance of +having been executed without the slightest effort in the world. In one +of these little scenes is the Angel placing in the mouth of that same S. +Catharine part of the Host consecrated by the priest; in another is +Jesus Christ marrying her, in a third she is receiving the habit from S. +Dominic, and there are other stories. + +For the Church of S. Martino the same master painted a large altar-piece +with Christ born and being adored by the Virgin, by Joseph, and by the +Shepherds; and above the hut is a most beautiful choir of Angels +dancing. In this work, which is much extolled by craftsmen, Domenico +began to show to those who had some understanding that his works were +painted with a different foundation from those of Sodoma. He then +painted in fresco, in the Great Hospital, the Madonna visiting S. +Elizabeth, in a manner very pleasing and very natural. And for the +Church of S. Spirito he executed an altar-piece of the Madonna holding +in her arms the Child, who is marrying the above-mentioned S. Catharine +of Siena, and at the sides S. Bernardino, S. Francis, S. Jerome, and S. +Catharine the Virgin-Martyr, with S. Peter and S. Paul upon some marble +steps in front, on the polished surface of which he counterfeited with +great art some reflections of the colour of their draperies. This work, +which was executed with fine judgment and design, brought him much +honour, as did also some little figures painted on the predella of the +picture, in which is S. John baptizing Christ, a King causing the wife +and children of S. Gismondo to be thrown into a well, S. Dominic burning +the books of the heretics, Christ presenting to S. Catharine of Siena +two crowns, one of roses and the other of thorns, and S. Bernardino of +Siena preaching on the Piazza of Siena to a vast multitude. + +[Illustration: DOMENICO BECCAFUMI: S. CATHARINE BEFORE THE CRUCIFIX + +(_Siena_: _Pinacoteca_, 420. _Canvas_)] + +Next, by reason of the fame of these works, there was allotted to +Domenico an altar-piece that was to be placed in the Carmine, in which +he had to paint a S. Michael doing vengeance on Lucifer; and he, being +full of fancy, set himself to think out a new invention, in order to +display his talent and the beautiful conceptions of his brain. And so, +seeking to represent Lucifer and his followers driven for their pride +from Heaven to the lowest depths of Hell, he began a shower of nude +figures raining down, which is very beautiful, although, from his having +taken too great pains with it, it appears if anything rather confused. +This altar-piece, which remained unfinished, was taken after the death +of Domenico to the Great Hospital and placed at the top of some steps +near the high-altar, where it is still regarded with marvel on account +of some very beautiful foreshortenings in the nudes. In the Carmine, +where this picture was to have been set up, was placed another, in the +upper part of which is counterfeited a God the Father above the clouds +with many Angels round Him, painted with marvellous grace; and in the +centre of the picture is the Angel Michael in armour, flying, and +pointing to Lucifer, whom he has driven to the centre of the earth, +where there are burning buildings, rugged caverns, and a lake of fire, +with Angels in various attitudes, and nude figures of lost souls, who +are swimming with different gestures of agony in that fire. All this is +painted with such beauty and grace of manner, that it appears that this +marvellous work, in its thick darkness, is illuminated by the fire; +wherefore it is held to be a rare picture. Baldassarre Peruzzi of Siena, +an excellent painter, could never have his fill of praising it, and I +myself, one day that I saw it uncovered in his company, while passing +through Siena, was struck with astonishment by it, as I also was by the +five little scenes that are in the predella, painted with distemper in a +judicious and beautiful manner. For the Nuns of Ognissanti in the same +city Domenico painted another altar-piece, in which is Christ on high in +the heavens, crowning the Glorified Virgin, and below them are S. +Gregory, S. Anthony, S. Mary Magdalene, and S. Catharine the +Virgin-Martyr; and in the predella, likewise, are some very beautiful +little figures executed in distemper. + +In the house of Signor Marcello Agostini Domenico painted some very +lovely works in fresco on the ceiling of an apartment, which has three +lunettes on each main side and two at each end, with a series of friezes +that go right round. The centre of the ceiling is divided into two +quadrangular compartments; in the first, where a silken arras is +counterfeited as upheld by the ornament, there may be seen, as if woven +upon it, Scipio Africanus restoring the young woman untouched to her +husband, and in the other the celebrated painter Zeuxis, who is copying +several nude women in order to paint his picture, which was to be placed +in the Temple of Juno. In one of the lunettes, painted with little +figures only about half a braccio high, but very beautiful, are the two +Roman Brothers who, having been enemies, became friends for the public +good and for the sake of their country. In that which follows is +Torquatus,[29] who, in order to observe the laws, when his son has been +condemned to lose his eyes, causes one of his son's and one of his own +to be put out. In the next is the Petition of ...,[30] who, after +hearing the recital of his crimes against his country and the Roman +people, is put to death. In the lunette beside that one is the Roman +people deliberating on the expedition of Scipio to Africa; and next to +this, in another lunette, is an ancient sacrifice crowded with a variety +of most beautiful figures, with a temple drawn in perspective, which has +no little relief, for in that field Domenico was a truly excellent +master. In the last is Cato killing himself after being overtaken by +some horsemen that are most beautifully painted there. And in the +recesses of the lunettes, also, are some little scenes very well +finished. + +The excellence of this work was the reason that Domenico was recognized +as a rare painter by those who were then governing, and was commissioned +to paint the vaulting of a hall in the Palace of the Signori, to which +he devoted all the diligence, study, and effort of which any man is +capable, in order to prove his worth and to adorn that celebrated +building of his native city, which was honouring him so much. This hall, +which is two squares long and one square wide, has the ceiling made not +with lunettes, but after the manner of a groined vaulting; wherefore +Domenico executed the compartments in painting, thinking that this would +give the best result, with friezes and cornices overlaid with gold, and +all so beautifully, that, without any stucco-work or other ornaments, +they are so well painted and so graceful that they appear to be really +in relief. On each of the two ends of this hall there is a large picture +with an historical scene, and on each main wall there are two, one on +either side of an octagon; and thus the pictures are six and the +octagons two, and in each of the latter is a scene. At each corner of +the vaulting, where the rib is, there is drawn a round compartment, +which extends half on one wall and half on the other, so that these +compartments, being divided by the ribs of the vaulting, form eight +spaces, in each of which are large seated figures, representing +distinguished men who have defended their Republic and have observed her +laws. The highest part of the surface of the vaulting is divided into +three parts, in such a manner as to form a circular compartment in the +centre, immediately above the octagons, and two square compartments over +those on the walls. + +In one of the octagons, then, is a woman with some children round her, +who holds a heart in her hand, representing the love that men owe to +their country. In the other octagon is another woman, with an equal +number of children, as a symbol of civic concord. And these are one on +either side of a Justice that is in the circle, with the sword and +scales in her hands, and seen from below in such bold foreshortening +that it is a marvel, for at the feet she is dark both in drawing and in +colour, and about the knees she becomes lighter, and so continues little +by little towards the torso, the shoulders, and the arms, until she +rises into a celestial splendour at the head, which makes it appear as +if that figure dissolves gradually in a mist: wherefore it is not +possible to imagine, much less to see, a more beautiful figure than this +one, or one executed with greater judgment and art, among all that were +ever painted to be seen in foreshortening from below. + +As for the stories, in the first, at the end of the hall and on the left +hand as one enters, are M. Lepidus and Fulvius Flaccus the Censors, who, +after being at enmity with one another, as soon as they became +colleagues in the office of the Censorship, laid aside their private +hatred for the good of their country, and acted in that office like the +closest friends. And Domenico painted them on their knees, embracing +each other, with many figures round them, and with a most beautiful +prospect of buildings and temples drawn in perspective so ingeniously +and so well, that one may see in them what a master of perspective was +Domenico. On the next wall there follows a picture with the story of the +Dictator Postumius Tiburtius, who, having left his only son at the head +of his army in place of himself, commanding him that he should do +nothing else but guard the camp, put him to death for having been +disobedient and having with a fair occasion attacked the enemy and +gained a victory. In this scene Domenico painted Postumius as an old man +with shaven face, with the right hand on his axe, and with the left +showing to the army his son lying dead upon the ground, and depicted +very well in foreshortening; and below this picture, which is most +beautiful, is an inscription very well composed. In the octagon that +follows, in the centre of the wall, is the story of Spurius Cassius, +whom the Roman Senate, suspecting that he was plotting to become King, +caused to be beheaded, and his house to be pulled down; and in this +scene the head, which is beside the executioner, and the body, which is +on the ground in foreshortening, are very beautiful. In the next picture +is the Tribune Publius Mucius, who caused all his fellow-tribunes, who +were conspiring with Spurius to become tyrants of their country, to be +burned; and here the fire that is consuming their bodies is painted very +well and with great art. + +At the other end of the hall, in another picture, is the Athenian +Codrus, who, having heard from the oracle that the victory would fall to +that side whose King should be killed by the enemy, laid aside his +robes, entered unknown among the enemy, and let himself be slain, thus +giving the victory to his people by his own death. Domenico painted him +seated, with his nobles round him as he puts off his robes, near a most +beautiful round temple; and in the distant background of the picture he +is seen dead, with his name in an epitaph below. Then, as one turns to +the other long wall, opposite to the two pictures with the octagon in +the centre between them, in the first scene one finds Prince Zaleucus, +who, in order not to break the law, caused one of his own eyes to be put +out, and one of his son's; and here many are standing round him, praying +him that he should not do that cruelty to himself and his son, and in +the distance is his son offering violence to a maiden, and below is his +name in an inscription. In the octagon that is beside that picture is +the story of Marcus Manilius being hurled down from the Capitol; and the +figure of the young Marcus, who is being thrown down from a kind of +balcony, is painted so well in foreshortening, with the head downwards, +that it seems to be alive, as also seem some figures that are below. In +the next picture is Spurius Melius, who belonged to the Equestrian +Order, and was killed by the Tribune Servilius because the people +suspected that he was conspiring to become tyrant of his country; which +Servilius is seated with many round him, and one who is in the centre +points to Spurius lying dead upon the ground, a figure painted with +great art. + +Then, in the circles at the corners, where there are the eight figures +mentioned above, are many men who have been distinguished for their +defence of their country. In the first part is the famous Fabius +Maximus, seated and in armour; and on the other side is Speusippus, +Prince of the Tegeatae, who, being exhorted by a friend that he should +rid himself of his rival and adversary, answered that he did not wish, +at the bidding of his own private interest, to deprive his country of +such a citizen. In the circle that is at the next corner, in one part, +there is the Praetor Celius, who, for having fought against the advice +and wish of the soothsayers, although he had won and had gained a +victory, was punished by the Senate; and beside him sits Thrasybulus, +who with the aid of some friends valorously slew thirty tyrants, in +order to free his country. Thrasybulus is an old man, shaven, with white +locks, and has his name written beneath him, as have also all the +others. In a circle at one corner of the lower end of the hall is the +Praetor Genutius Cippus, who having had a bird with wings in the form of +horns miraculously alight on his head, was told by the oracle that he +would become King of his country, whereupon, although already an old +man, he chose to go into exile, in order not to take away her liberty; +and Domenico therefore painted a bird upon his head. Beside him sits +Charondas, who, having returned from the country, and having gone +straightway into the Senate without disarming himself, in violation of a +law which ordained that one who entered the Senate with arms should be +put to death, killed himself on perceiving his error. In the second +circle on the other side are Damon and Phintias, whose unexampled +friendship is so well known, and with them is Dionysius, Tyrant of +Sicily; and beside these figures sits Brutus, who from love of his +country condemned his two sons to death, because they were conspiring to +bring the Tarquins back to their country. + +This work, then, so truly extraordinary, made known to the people of +Siena the ability and worth of Domenico, who showed most beautiful art, +judgment, and genius in all that he did. + +The first time that the Emperor Charles V came to Italy, it was expected +that he would go to Siena, for he had declared such an intention to the +Ambassadors of that Republic; and among other vast and magnificent +preparations that were made for the reception of so great an Emperor, +Domenico fashioned a horse eight braccia high and in full relief, all of +paste-board and hollow within. The weight of that horse was supported by +an armature of iron, and upon it was the statue of the Emperor, armed in +the ancient fashion, with a sword in his hand. And below it were three +large figures--vanquished by him, as it were--which also supported part +of the weight, the horse being in the act of leaping with the front legs +high in the air; which three figures represented three provinces +conquered and subdued by the Emperor. In that work Domenico showed that +he was a master no less of sculpture than of painting; to which it must +be added that he had placed the whole work upon a wooden structure four +braccia high, with a number of wheels below it, which, being set in +motion by men concealed within, caused the whole to move forward; and +the design of Domenico was that at the entry of His Majesty this horse, +having been set in motion as has been described, should accompany him +from the gate as far as the Palace of the Signori, and should then come +to rest in the middle of the Piazza. This horse, after being carried by +Domenico so near completion that there only remained to gild it, was +left in that condition, because His Majesty after all did not at that +time go to Siena, but left Italy after being crowned at Bologna; and the +work remained unfinished. But none the less the art and ingenuity of +Domenico were recognized, and all men greatly praised the grandeur and +excellence of that great structure, which stood in the Office of Works +of the Duomo from that time until His Majesty, returning from his +victorious enterprise in Africa, passed through Messina and then Naples, +Rome, and finally Siena; at which time Domenico's work was placed on the +Piazza del Duomo, to his great honour. + +The fame of the ability of Domenico being thus spread abroad, Prince +Doria, who was with the Court, after seeing all the works by his hand +that were in Siena, besought him that he should go to Genoa to work in +his palace, where Perino del Vaga, Giovanni Antonio of Pordenone, and +Girolamo da Treviso had worked. But Domenico could not promise that lord +that he would go to serve him at that time, although he engaged himself +for another time, for in those days he had set his hand to finishing a +part of the marble pavement in the Duomo, which Duccio, the painter of +Siena, had formerly begun in a new manner of work. The figures and +scenes were already in great part designed on the marble, the outlines +being hollowed out with the chisel and filled with a black mixture, with +ornaments of coloured marble all around, and likewise the grounds for +the figures. But Domenico, with fine judgment, saw that this work could +be much improved, and he therefore took grey marbles, to the end that +these, profiled with the chisel and placed beside the brilliancy of the +white marble, might give the middle shades; and he found that in this +way, with white and grey marble, pictures of stone could be made with +great perfection after the manner of chiaroscuro. Having then made a +trial, the work succeeded so well in invention, in solidity of design, +and in abundance of figures, that he made a beginning after this fashion +with the grandest, the most beautiful, and the most magnificent pavement +that had ever been made; and in the course of his life, little by +little, he executed a great part of it. Round the high-altar he made a +border of pictures, in which, in order to follow the order of the +stories begun by Duccio, he executed scenes from Genesis; namely, Adam +and Eve expelled from Paradise and tilling the earth, the Sacrifice of +Abel, and that of Melchizedek. In front of the altar is a large scene +with Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, and this has round it a border of +half-length figures, carrying various animals which they seem to be +going to sacrifice. Descending the steps, one finds another large +picture, which serves to accompany that above, and in it Domenico +represented Moses receiving the Laws from God on Mount Sinai; and below +this is the scene when, having found the people worshipping the Golden +Calf, he is seized with anger and breaks the Tables on which those Laws +were written. Below this scene, opposite to the pulpit, and right across +the church, is a frieze with a great number of figures, which is +composed with so much grace and such design that it defies description; +and in this is Moses, who, striking the rock in the desert, causes water +to gush out and gives drink to his thirsty people. Here, along the whole +length of the frieze, Domenico represented the stream of water, from +which the people are drinking in various ways with a vivacity so +pleasing, that it is almost impossible to imagine any effect more +lovely, or figures in more graceful and beautiful attitudes than are +those in this scene--some stooping to the ground to drink, some kneeling +before the rock that is spouting with water, some drawing it in vases +and others in cups, and others, finally, drinking with their hands. +There are, moreover, some who are leading animals to drink, amid the +great rejoicing of that people; and, among other things, most marvellous +is a little boy who has taken a little dog by the head and neck and +plunges its muzzle into the water, in order to make it drink, after +which the dog, having drunk, and not wishing to drink any more, shakes +its head so naturally that it seems to be alive. In short, this frieze +is so beautiful, that for a work of that kind it could not be executed +with greater art, seeing that the various kinds of shadows that may be +seen in these figures are not merely beautiful, but miraculous; and +although the whole work, on account of the fantastic nature of its +craftsmanship, is one of great beauty, this part is held to be the most +beautiful and the best. Below the cupola, moreover, there is a hexagonal +compartment, which is divided into seven hexagons and six rhombs, of +which hexagons Domenico finished four before he died, representing in +them the stories and sacrifices of Elijah, and doing all this much at +his leisure, because this work was as a school and a pastime to +Domenico, nor did he ever abandon it altogether for his other works. + +While he was thus labouring now at this work and now elsewhere, he +painted a large altar-piece in oils which is in S. Francesco on the +right hand as one enters into the church, containing Christ descending +in Glory to the Limbo of Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers; +wherein, among many nudes, is a very beautiful Eve, and a Thief who is +behind Christ with the cross is a very well-executed figure, while the +cavern of Limbo and the demons and fires of that place are fantastic to +a marvel. And since Domenico was of the opinion that pictures painted in +distemper preserved their freshness better than those painted in oils, +saying that it seemed to him that the works of Luca da Cortona, of the +Pollaiuoli, and of the other masters who painted in oils in those days, +had suffered from age more than those of Fra Giovanni, Fra Filippo, +Benozzo, and the others before their time who painted in distemper--for +this reason, I say, having to paint an altar-piece for the Company of S. +Bernardino on the Piazza di S. Francesco, he resolved to do it in +distemper; and in this way he executed it excellently well, painting in +it Our Lady with many Saints. In the predella, which is very beautiful, +and painted by him likewise in distemper, he depicted S. Francis +receiving the Stigmata; S. Anthony of Padua, who, in order to convert +some heretics, performs the miracle of the Ass, which makes obeisance +before the sacred Host; and S. Bernardino of Siena, who is preaching to +the people of his city on the Piazza de' Signori. And on the walls of +this Company, also, he painted two stories of Our Lady in fresco, in +competition with some others that Sodoma had executed in the same place. +In one he represented the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the other +the Passing of Our Lady, with the Apostles all around; and both of these +are much extolled. + +Finally, after having been long expected in Genoa by Prince Doria, +Domenico made his way there, but with great reluctance, being a man who +was accustomed to a life of peace and contented with that which his +wants required, and nothing more; besides which, he was not much used to +making journeys, for the reason that, having built himself a little +house in Siena, and having also a vineyard a mile beyond the Porta a +Camollia, which he cultivated with his own hand as a recreation, going +there often, it was a long time since he had gone far from Siena. Having +then arrived in Genoa, he painted a scene there, beside that of +Pordenone, in which he succeeded very well, and yet not in such a manner +that it could be counted among his best works. But, since the ways of +the Court did not please him, being used to a life of freedom, he did +not stay very willingly in that place, and, indeed, appeared as if he +were stupefied. Wherefore, having come to the end of that work, he +sought leave of the Prince and set out to return home; and passing by +Pisa, in order to see that city, he met with Battista del Cervelliera +and was shown all the most noteworthy things in the city, and in +particular the altar-pieces of Sogliani and the pictures that are in the +recess behind the high-altar of the Duomo. + +Meanwhile Sebastiano della Seta, the Warden of Works of the Duomo, +having heard from Cervelliera of the qualities and abilities of +Domenico, and being desirous to finish the work so long delayed by +Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, allotted two of the pictures for that recess +to Domenico, to the end that he might execute them at Siena and send +them finished to Pisa; and so it was done. In one is Moses, who, having +found that the people had sacrificed to the Golden Calf, is breaking the +Tables; and in this Domenico painted some nudes that are figures of +great beauty. In the other is the same Moses, with the earth opening and +swallowing up a part of the people; and in this, also, are some nudes +killed by flaming thunderbolts, which are marvellous. These pictures, +when taken to Pisa, led to Domenico painting four pictures for the front +of that recess--namely, two on each side--of the four Evangelists, which +were four very beautiful figures. Whereupon Sebastiano della Seta, who +saw that he had been served quickly and well, commissioned Domenico, +after these pictures, to paint the altar-piece of one of the chapels in +the Duomo, Sogliani having by that time painted four. Settling in Pisa, +therefore, Domenico painted in that altar-piece Our Lady in the sky with +the Child in her arms, upon some clouds supported by some little Angels, +with many Saints both male and female below, all executed passing well, +but yet not with that perfection which marked the pictures described +above. But he, excusing himself for this to many of his friends, and +particularly on one occasion to Giorgio Vasari, said that since he was +away from the air of Siena and from certain comforts of his own, he did +not seem to be able to do anything. + +Having therefore returned home, determined that he would never again go +away to work elsewhere, he painted for the Nuns of S. Paolo, near S. +Marco, an altar-piece in oils of the Nativity of Our Lady, with some +nurses, and S. Anne in a bed that is foreshortened and represented as +standing within a door; and in a dark shadow is a woman who is drying +clothes, without any other light but that which comes from the blaze of +the fire. In the predella, which is full of charm, are three scenes in +distemper--the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, her Marriage, +and the Adoration of the Magi. In the Mercanzia, a tribunal in that +city, the officials have a little altar-piece which they say was painted +by Domenico when he was young; it is very beautiful, and it contains in +the centre a S. Paul seated, and on one side his Conversion, in little +figures, and on the other the scene of his Beheading. + +Finally, Domenico was commissioned to paint the great recess of the +Duomo, which is at the end behind the high-altar. In this he first made +a decoration of stucco with foliage and figures, all with his own hand, +and two Victories in the vacant spaces in the semicircle; which +decoration was in truth a very rich and beautiful work. Then in the +centre he painted in fresco the Ascension of Christ into Heaven; and +from the cornice downwards he painted three pictures divided by columns +in relief, and executed in perspective. In the middle picture, which has +above it an arch in perspective, are Our Lady, S. Peter, and S. John; +and in the spaces at the sides are ten Apostles, five on each side, all +in various attitudes and gazing at Christ, who is ascending into Heaven; +and above each of the two pictures of the Apostles is an Angel in +foreshortening, the two together representing those two Angels who, +after the Ascension, declared that He had risen into Heaven. This work +is certainly admirable, but it would have been even more so if Domenico +had given beautiful expressions to the heads; as it is, they have +something in the expressions that is not very pleasing, and it appears +that in his old age he adopted for his countenances an expression of +terror by no means agreeable. This work, I say, if there had been any +beauty in the heads, would have been so beautiful that there would have +been nothing better to be seen. But in this matter of the expressions of +the heads, in the opinion of the people of Siena, Sodoma was superior to +Domenico, for the reason that Sodoma made them much more beautiful, +although those of Domenico had more design and greater force. And, in +truth, the manner of the heads in these our arts is of no little +importance, and by painting them with graceful and beautiful expressions +many masters have escaped the censure that they might have incurred for +the rest of their work. + +This was the last work in painting executed by Domenico, who, having +taken it into his head in the end to work in relief, began to give his +attention to casting in bronze, and went so far with this that he +executed, although with extraordinary labour, six Angels of bronze in +the round, little less than life-size, for the six columns nearest the +high-altar of the Duomo. These Angels, which are very beautiful, are +holding tazze, or rather little basins, which support candelabra +containing lights, and in the last of them he acquitted himself so well, +that he was very highly praised for them. Whereupon, growing in courage, +he made a beginning with figures of the twelve Apostles, which were to +be placed on the columns lower down, where there are now some of marble, +old and in a bad manner; but he did not continue them, for he did not +live long after that. And since he was a man of infinite ingenuity, and +succeeded well in everything, he engraved wood-blocks by himself in +order to make prints in chiaroscuro, and there are to be seen prints of +two Apostles engraved by him excellently well, of which we have one in +our book of drawings, together with some sheets drawn divinely by his +hand. He also engraved copper-plates with the burin, and he executed +with aquafortis some very fanciful little stories of alchemy, in which +Jove and the other Gods, wishing to congeal Mercury, place him bound in +a crucible, and Vulcan and Pluto make fire around him; but when they +think that he must be fixed, Mercury flies away and goes off in smoke. + +Domenico, in addition to the works described above, executed many others +of no great importance, pictures of the Madonna and other suchlike +chamber-pictures, such as a Madonna that is in the house of the +Chevalier Donati, and a picture in distemper in which Jove changes +himself into a shower of gold and rains into the lap of Danae. Piero +Catanei, likewise, has a round picture in oils of a very beautiful +Virgin by the hand of the same master. He also painted a most beautiful +bier for the Confraternity of S. Lucia, and likewise another for that of +S. Antonio; nor should anyone be astonished that I make mention of such +works, for the reason that they are beautiful to a marvel, as all know +who have seen them. + +Finally, having come to the age of sixty-five, he hastened the end of +his life by toiling all by himself day and night at his castings in +metal, polishing them himself without calling in any assistance. He +died, then, on the 18th of May, 1549, and was given burial by his +dearest friend, the goldsmith Giuliano, in the Duomo, where he had +executed so many rare works. And he was carried to the tomb by all the +craftsmen of his city, which recognized even then the great loss that +she had suffered in the death of Domenico, and now, as she admires his +works, recognizes it more than ever. + +Domenico was an orderly and upright person, fearing God and studious in +his art, although solitary beyond measure; wherefore he well deserved to +be honourably celebrated by his fellow-citizens of Siena, who have +always won great praise by their attention to noble studies and to +poetry, with verses both in Latin and in the vulgar tongue. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[29] Zaleucus. + +[30] Here there is a blank in the text. + + + + +GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI + + + + +LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI + +PAINTER OF AREZZO + + +Rarely does it happen that from an old stock there fails to sprout some +good shoot, which, growing with time, revives and reclothes with its +leaves that desolate stem, and reveals with its fruits to those who +taste them the same savour that was once known in the ancient tree. And +that this is true is proved in this present Life of Giovanni Antonio, +who, at the death of his father Matteo, who was a painter of passing +good repute in his day, was left with a good income under the +guardianship of his mother, and lived thus up to the age of twelve. +Having come to that period of his life, and not caring to choose any +other pursuit than that of painting, to which he was drawn, besides +other reasons, by a wish to follow the footsteps of his father in that +art, Giovanni Antonio began to learn the first rudiments of design under +Domenico Pecori, a painter of Arezzo, who had been, together with his +father Matteo, a disciple of Clemente,[31] and who was his first master. +Then, after having been some time with him, desiring to make greater +proficience than he was making under the discipline of that master and +in that place, where he was not able to learn by himself, although he +had a strong natural inclination, he turned his thoughts towards the +idea of settling in Florence. To this intention, not to mention that he +was left alone by the death of his mother, Fortune was favourable +enough, for a young sister that he had was married to Leonardo Ricoveri, +one of the first and richest citizens that there were at that time in +Arezzo; and so he went off to Florence. + +There, among the works of many that he saw, the manner of Andrea del +Sarto and of Jacopo da Pontormo pleased him more than that of all the +others who had worked at painting in that city. Wherefore he resolved to +place himself under one of those two, and was hesitating as to which of +them he should choose as his master, when there were uncovered the Faith +and Charity painted by Pontormo over the portico of the Nunziata in +Florence, and he became fully determined to go to work under Pontormo, +thinking that his manner was so beautiful that it might be expected that +Jacopo, who was still a young man, was destined to surpass all the young +painters of his own age, as, indeed, was the firm belief of everyone at +that time. Lappoli, then, although he might have gone to work under +Andrea, for the said reasons attached himself to Pontormo, under whose +discipline he was for ever drawing, spurred to incredible exertions, out +of emulation, by two motives. One of these was the presence of Giovan +Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, who was studying design and painting +under the same master, and who, always advising him for his own good, +brought it about that he changed his manner and adopted the good manner +of Pontormo. The other--and this spurred him more strongly--was the +sight of Agnolo, who was called Bronzino, being much brought forward by +Jacopo on account of his loving submissiveness and goodness and the +untiring diligence that he showed in imitating his master's works, not +to mention that he drew very well and acquitted himself in colouring in +such a manner, that he aroused hopes that he was destined to attain to +that excellence and perfection which have been seen in him, and still +are seen, in our own day. + +Giovanni Antonio, then, being desirous to learn, and impelled by the +reasons mentioned above, spent many months in making drawings and copies +of the works of Jacopo da Pontormo, which were so well executed, so +good, and so beautiful, that it is certain that if he had persevered, +what with the assistance that he had from Nature, his wish to become +eminent, the force of competition, and the good manner of his master, he +would have become most excellent; and to this some drawings in red chalk +by his hand, which may be seen in our book, can bear witness. But +pleasure, as may often be seen to happen, is in young men generally the +enemy of excellence, and brings it about that their intellects are led +astray; wherefore he who is engaged in the studies of any faculty, +science, or art whatsoever should have no relations save with those who +are of the same profession, and good and orderly besides. Giovanni +Antonio, then, in order that he might be looked after, had gone to live +in the house of one Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a lame chaplain, in S. +Lorenzo, to whom he paid so much a year, and he abandoned in great +measure the study of painting, for the reason that the priest was a man +of the world, delighting in pictures, music, and other diversions, and +many persons of talent frequented the rooms that he had at S. Lorenzo; +among others, M. Antonio da Lucca, a most excellent musician and +performer on the lute, at that time a very young man, from whom Giovanni +learned to play the lute. And although the painter Rosso and some others +of the profession also frequented the same place, Lappoli attached +himself rather to the others than to the men of his art, from whom he +might have learned much, while at the same time amusing himself. Through +these distractions, therefore, the love of painting of which Giovanni +Antonio had given proof cooled off in great measure; but none the less, +being the friend of Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, who was a +disciple of Andrea del Sarto, he went sometimes with him to the Scalzo +to draw the pictures and nudes from life. And no long time passed before +he applied himself to colouring and executed pictures of Jacopo's, and +then by himself some Madonnas and portraits from life, among which were +that of the above-mentioned M. Antonio da Lucca and that of Ser +Raffaello, which are very good. + +In the year 1523, the plague being in Rome, Perino del Vaga came to +Florence, and he also settled down to lodge with Ser Raffaello del +Zoppo; wherefore Giovanni Antonio having formed a strait friendship with +him and having recognized the ability of Perino, there was reawakened in +his mind the desire to attend to painting, abandoning all other +pleasures, and he resolved when the plague had ceased to go with Perino +to Rome. But this design was never fulfilled, for the plague having come +to Florence, at the very moment when Perino had finished the scene of +the Submersion of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, painted in the colour of +bronze in chiaroscuro for Ser Raffaello, during the execution of which +Lappoli was always present, they were forced both the one and the other +to fly from Florence, in order not to lose their lives there. + +Thereupon Giovanni Antonio returned to Arezzo, and set himself, in order +to pass the time, to paint on canvas the scene of the death of Orpheus, +killed by the Bacchantes: he set himself, I say, to paint this scene in +chiaroscuro of the colour of bronze, after the manner in which he had +seen Perino paint the picture mentioned above, and when the work was +finished it brought him no little praise. He then set to work to finish +an altar-piece that his former master Domenico Pecori had begun for the +Nuns of S. Margherita: in which altar-piece, now to be seen in their +convent, he painted an Annunciation. And he made two cartoons for two +portraits from life from the waist upwards, both very beautiful; one was +Lorenzo d' Antonio di Giorgio, at that time a pupil and a very handsome +youth, and the other was Ser Piero Guazzesi, who was a convivial person. + +The plague having finally somewhat abated, Cipriano d' Anghiari, a rich +man of Arezzo, who in those days had caused a chapel with ornaments and +columns of grey-stone to be built in the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo, +allotted the altar-piece to Giovanni Antonio at the price of one hundred +crowns. Meanwhile, Rosso passed through Arezzo on his way to Rome, and +lodged with Giovanni Antonio, who was very much his friend; and, hearing +of the work that he had undertaken to do, he made at the request of +Lappoli a very beautiful little sketch full of nudes. Whereupon Giovanni +Antonio, setting his hand to the work and imitating the design of Rosso, +painted in that altar-piece the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the +lunette above it a God the Father and some children, copying the +draperies and all the rest from life. And when he had brought it to +completion, he was much praised and commended for it, and above all for +some heads copied from life, painted in a good manner and with much +profit to himself. + +Then, recognizing that if he wished to make greater proficience in his +art he must take his leave of Arezzo, he determined, after the plague +had ceased entirely in Rome, to go to that city, where he knew that +Perino, Rosso, and many others of his friends had already returned and +were employed in a number of important works. While of this mind, a +convenient occasion of going there presented itself to him, for there +arrived in Arezzo M. Paolo Valdambrini, the Secretary of Pope Clement +VII, who, in returning from France in great haste, passed through Arezzo +in order to see his brothers and nephews; and when Giovanni Antonio had +gone to visit him, M. Paolo, who was desirous that there should be in +his native city of Arezzo men distinguished in all the arts, who might +demonstrate the genius which that air and that sky give to those who are +born there, exhorted him, although there was not much need for +exhortation, that he should go in his company to Rome, where he would +obtain for him every convenience to enable him to attend to the studies +of his art. Having therefore gone with M. Paolo to Rome, he found there +Perino, Rosso, and others of his friends; and besides this he was able +by means of M. Paolo to make the acquaintance of Giulio Romano, +Sebastiano Viniziano, and Francesco Mazzuoli of Parma, who arrived in +Rome about that time. This Francesco, delighting to play the lute, and +therefore conceiving a very great affection for Giovanni Antonio and +consorting continually with him, brought it about that Lappoli set +himself with great zeal to draw and paint and to profit by the good +fortune that he enjoyed in being the friend of the best painters that +there were in Rome at that time. And he had already carried almost to +completion a picture containing a Madonna of the size of life, which M. +Paolo wished to present to Pope Clement in order to make Lappoli known +to him, when, as Fortune would have it, who often sets herself in +opposition to the designs of mankind, there took place on the 6th of +May, in the year 1527, the accursed sack of Rome. On that miserable day +M. Paolo galloped on horseback, and Giovanni Antonio with him, to the +Porta di S. Spirito in the Trastevere, in order to prevent the soldiers +of Bourbon for a time from entering by that gate; and there M. Paolo was +killed and Lappoli was taken prisoner by the Spaniards. And in a short +time, everything being given over to sack, the picture was lost, +together with the designs executed in the chapel and all that poor +Giovanni Antonio possessed. He, after having been much tormented by the +Spaniards to induce him to pay a ransom, escaped in his shirt one night +with some other prisoners, and, after suffering desperate hardships and +running in great danger of his life, because the roads were not safe, +finally made his way to Arezzo, where he was received by M. Giovanni +Pollastra, a man of great learning, who was his uncle; but he had all +that he could do to recover himself, so broken was he by terror and +suffering. + +Then in the same year there came upon Arezzo the great plague in which +four hundred persons died every day, and Giovanni Antonio was forced +once more to fly, all in despair and very loth to go, and to stay for +some months out of the city. But finally, when that pestilence had +abated to such an extent that people could begin to mix together, a +certain Fra Guasparri, a Conventual Friar of S. Francis, who was then +Guardian of their convent in that city, commissioned Giovanni Antonio to +paint the altar-piece of the high-altar in that church for one hundred +crowns, stipulating that he should represent in it the Adoration of the +Magi. Whereupon Lappoli, hearing that Rosso, having also fled from Rome, +was at Borgo a San Sepolcro, and was there executing an altar-piece for +the Company of S. Croce, went to visit him; and after showing him many +courtesies and causing some things to be brought for him from Arezzo, of +which he knew him to stand in need, since he had lost everything in the +sack of Rome, he obtained for himself from Rosso a very beautiful design +of the above-mentioned altar-piece that he had to paint for Fra +Guasparri. And when he had returned to Arezzo he set his hand to the +work, and finished it within a year from the day of the commission, +according to the agreement, and that so well, that he was very highly +praised for it. That design of Rosso's passed afterwards into the hands +of Giorgio Vasari, and from him to the very reverend Don Vincenzio +Borghini, Director of the Hospital of the Innocenti in Florence, who has +it in his book of drawings by various painters. + +Not long afterwards, having become surety for Rosso to the amount of +three hundred crowns, in the matter of some pictures that the said Rosso +was to paint in the Madonna delle Lagrime, Giovanni Antonio found +himself in a very evil pass, for Rosso went away without finishing the +work, as has been related in his Life, and Lappoli was constrained to +restore the money; and if his friends had not helped him, and +particularly Giorgio Vasari, who valued at three hundred crowns the part +that Rosso had left finished, Giovanni Antonio would have been little +less than ruined in his effort to do honour and benefit to his native +city. These difficulties over, Lappoli painted an altar-piece in oils +containing the Madonna, S. Bartholomew, and S. Matthew at the commission +of Abbot Camaiani of Bibbiena, for a chapel in the lower church at S. +Maria del Sasso, a seat of the Preaching Friars in the Casentino; and he +acquitted himself very well, counterfeiting the manner of Rosso. And +this was the reason that a Confraternity at Bibbiena afterwards caused +him to paint on a banner for carrying in processions a nude Christ with +the Cross on His shoulder, who is shedding blood into the Chalice, and +on the other side an Annunciation, which was one of the best things that +he ever did. + +In the year 1534, Duke Alessandro de' Medici being expected in Arezzo, +the Aretines, with Luigi Guicciardini, the commissary in that city, +wishing to honour the Duke, ordained that two comedies should be +performed. The charge of arranging one of those festivals was in the +hands of a Company of the most noble young men in the city, who called +themselves the Umidi; and the preparations and scenery for this comedy, +which had for its subject the Intronati of Siena, were made by Niccolo +Soggi, who was much extolled for them, and the comedy was performed very +well and with infinite satisfaction to all who saw it. The festive +preparations for the other were executed in competition by another +Company of young men, likewise noble, who called themselves the Company +of the Infiammati. And they, in order to be praised no less than the +Umidi, performed a comedy by M. Giovanni Pollastra, a poet of Arezzo, +under his management, and entrusted the making of the scenery to +Giovanni Antonio, who acquitted himself consummately well; and thus +their comedy was performed with great honour to that Company and to the +whole city. Nor must I pass over a lovely notion of that poet's, who was +certainly a man of beautiful ingenuity. While the preparations for these +and other festivals were in progress, on many occasions the young men of +the two Companies, out of rivalry and for various other reasons, had +come to blows, and several disputes had arisen; wherefore Pollastra +arranged a surprise (keeping the matter absolutely secret), which was as +follows. When all the people, with the gentlemen and their ladies, had +assembled in the place where the comedy was to be performed, four of +those young men who had come to blows with one another in the city on +other occasions, dashing out with naked swords and cloaks wound round +their arms, began to shout on the stage and to pretend to kill one +another: and the first of them to be seen rushed out with one temple as +it were smeared with blood, crying out: "Come forth, traitors!" At which +uproar all the people rose to their feet, men began to lay hands on +their weapons, and the kinsmen of the young men, who appeared to be +giving each other fearful thrusts, ran towards the stage; when he who +had come out first, turning towards the other young men, said: "Hold +your hands, gentlemen, and sheathe your swords, for I have taken no +harm; and although we are at daggers drawn and you believe that the play +will not be performed, yet it will take place, and I, wounded as I am, +will now begin the Prologue." And so after this jest, by which all the +spectators and the actors themselves, only excepting the four mentioned +above, were taken in, the comedy was begun and played so well, that +afterwards, in the year 1540, when the Lord Duke Cosimo and the Lady +Duchess Leonora were in Arezzo, Giovanni Antonio had to prepare the +scenery anew on the Piazza del Vescovado and have it performed before +their Excellencies. And even as the performers had given satisfaction on +the first occasion, so at that time they gave so much satisfaction to +the Lord Duke, that they were afterwards invited to Florence to perform +at the next Carnival. In these two scenic preparations, then, Lappoli +acquitted himself very well, and he was very highly praised. + +He then made an ornament after the manner of a triumphal arch, with +scenes in the colour of bronze, which was placed about the altar of the +Madonna delle Chiavi. After a time Giovanni Antonio settled in Arezzo, +fully determined, now that he had a wife and children, to go roaming no +more, and living on his income and on the offices that the citizens of +that city enjoy; and so he continued without working much. Not long, +indeed, after these events, he sought to obtain the commissions for two +altar-pieces that were to be painted in Arezzo, one for the Church and +Company of S. Rocco, and the other for the high-altar of S. Domenico; +but he did not succeed, for the reason that both those pictures were +allotted to Giorgio Vasari, whose designs, among the many that were +made, gave more satisfaction than any of the others. For the Company of +the Ascension in that city Giovanni Antonio painted on a banner for +carrying in processions Christ in the act of Resurrection, with many +soldiers round the Sepulchre, and His Ascension into Heaven, with the +Madonna surrounded by the twelve Apostles, which was all executed very +well and with diligence. At Castello della Pieve he painted an +altar-piece in oils of the Visitation of Our Lady, with some Saints +about her, and in an altar-piece that was painted for the Pieve a San +Stefano he depicted the Madonna and other Saints; which two works +Lappoli executed much better than the others that he had painted up to +that time, because he had been able to see at his leisure many works in +relief and casts taken in gesso from the statues of Michelagnolo and +from other ancient works, and brought by Giorgio Vasari to his house at +Arezzo. The same master painted some pictures of Our Lady, which are +dispersed throughout Arezzo and other places, and a Judith who is +placing the head of Holofernes in a basket held by her serving-woman, +which now belongs to Mons. M. Bernardetto Minerbetti, Bishop of Arezzo, +who loved Giovanni Antonio much, as he loves all other men of talent, +and received from him, besides other things, a young S. John the Baptist +in the desert, almost wholly naked, which is held dear by him, since it +is an excellent figure. + +Finally, recognizing that perfection in this art consists in nothing +else but seeking in good time to become rich in invention and to study +the nude continually, and thus to render facile the difficulties of +execution, Giovanni Antonio repented that he had not spent in the study +of art the time that he had given to his pleasures, perceiving that what +can be done easily in youth cannot be done well in old age. But although +he was always conscious of his error, yet he did not recognize it fully +until, having set himself to study when already an old man, he saw a +picture in oils, fourteen braccia long and six braccia and a half high, +executed in forty-two days by Giorgio Vasari, who painted it for the +Refectory of the Monks of the Abbey of S. Fiore at Arezzo; in which work +are painted the Nuptials of Esther and King Ahasuerus, and there are in +it more than sixty figures larger than life. Going therefore at times to +see Giorgio at work, and staying to discourse with him, Giovanni Antonio +said: "Now I see that continual study and work is what lifts men out of +laborious effort, and that our art does not come down upon us like the +Holy Ghost." + +Giovanni Antonio did not work much in fresco, for the reason that the +colours changed too much to please him; nevertheless, there may be seen +over the Church of Murello a Pieta with two little naked Angels by his +hand, executed passing well. Finally, after having lived like a man of +good judgment and one not unpractised in the ways of the world, he fell +sick of a most violent fever at the age of sixty, in the year 1552, and +died. + +A disciple of Giovanni Antonio was Bartolommeo Torri, the scion of a not +ignoble family in Arezzo, who, making his way to Rome, and placing +himself under Don Giulio Clovio, a most excellent miniaturist, devoted +himself in so thorough a manner to design and to the study of the nude, +but most of all to anatomy, that he became an able master, and was held +to be the best draughtsman in Rome. And it is not long since Don Silvano +Razzi related to me that Don Giulio Clovio had told him in Rome, after +having praised this young man highly, the very thing that he has often +declared to me--namely, that he had turned him out of his house for no +other reason but his filthy anatomy, for he kept so many limbs and +pieces of men under his bed and all over his rooms, that they poisoned +the whole house. Besides this, by neglecting himself and thinking that +living like an unwashed philosopher, accepting no rule of life, and +avoiding the society of other men, was the way to become great and +immortal, he ruined himself completely; for nature will not tolerate the +unreasonable outrages that some men at times do to her. Having therefore +fallen ill at the age of twenty-five, Bartolommeo returned to Arezzo, in +order to regain his health and to seek to build himself up again; but he +did not succeed, for he continued his usual studies and the same +irregularities, and in four months, a little after the death of Giovanni +Antonio, he died and went to join him. + +The loss of this young man was an infinite grief to the whole city, for +if he had lived, to judge from the great promise of his works, he was +like to do extraordinary honour to his native place and to all Tuscany; +and whoever sees any of the drawings that he made when still a mere lad, +stands marvelling at them and full of compassion for his untimely +death. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[31] Don Bartolommeo della Gatta, Abbot of S. Clemente. + + + + +NICCOLO SOGGI + + + + +LIFE OF NICCOLO SOGGI + +PAINTER + + +Among the many who were disciples of Pietro Perugino, there was not one, +after Raffaello da Urbino, who was more studious or more diligent than +Niccolo Soggi, whose Life we are now about to write. This master was +born in Florence, the son of Jacopo Soggi, a worthy person, but not very +rich; and in time he entered the service of M. Antonio dal Monte in +Rome, because Jacopo had a farm at Marciano in Valdichiana, and, passing +most of his time there, associated not a little with that same M. +Antonio dal Monte, their properties being near together. + +Jacopo, then, perceiving that this son of his was much inclined to +painting, placed him with Pietro Perugino; and in a short time, by means +of continual study, he learned so much that it was not long before +Pietro began to make use of him in his works, to the great advantage of +Niccolo, who devoted himself in such a manner to drawing in perspective +and copying from nature, that he afterwards became very excellent in +both the one field and the other. Niccolo also gave much attention to +making models of clay and wax, over which he laid draperies and soaked +parchment: which was the reason that he rendered his manner so dry, that +he always held to the same as long as he lived, nor could he ever get +rid of it for all the pains that he took. + +The first work that this Niccolo executed after the death of his master +Pietro was an altar-piece in oils in the Hospital for Women, founded by +Bonifazio Lupi, in the Via San Gallo at Florence--that is, the side +behind the altar, wherein is the Angel saluting Our Lady, with a +building drawn in perspective, in which there are arches and a groined +vaulting rising above pilasters after the manner of Pietro. Then, in the +year 1512, after having executed many pictures of Our Lady for the +houses of citizens, and other little works such as are painted every +day, hearing that great things were being done in Rome, he departed from +Florence, thinking to make proficience in art and also to save some +money, and went off to Rome. There, having paid a visit to the aforesaid +M. Antonio dal Monte, who was then a Cardinal, he was not only welcomed +warmly, but also straightway set to work to paint, in those early days +of the pontificate of Leo, on the facade of the palace where there is +the statue of Maestro Pasquino, a great escutcheon of Pope Leo in +fresco, between that of the Roman People and that of the Cardinal. In +that work Niccolo did not acquit himself very well, for in painting some +nude figures and others clothed that he placed there as ornaments for +those escutcheons, he recognized that the study of models is bad for him +who wishes to acquire a good manner. Thereupon, after the uncovering of +that work, which did not prove to be of that excellence which many +expected, Niccolo set himself to execute a picture in oils, in which he +painted the Martyr S. Prassedia squeezing a sponge full of blood into a +vessel; and he finished it with such diligence that he recovered in part +the honour that he considered himself to have lost in painting the +escutcheons described above. This picture, which was executed for the +above-mentioned Cardinal dal Monte, who was titular of S. Prassedia, was +placed in the centre of that church, over an altar beneath which is a +well of the blood of Holy Martyrs--a beautiful idea, the picture +alluding to the place where there was the blood of those Martyrs. After +this Niccolo painted for his patron the Cardinal another picture in +oils, three-quarters of a braccio in height, of Our Lady with the Child +in her arms, S. John as a little boy, and some landscapes, all executed +so well and with such diligence, that the whole work appears to be done +in miniature, and not painted; which picture, one of the best works that +Niccolo ever produced, was for many years in the apartment of that +prelate. Afterwards, when the Cardinal arrived in Arezzo and lodged in +the Abbey of S. Fiore, a seat of the Black Friars of S. Benedict, in +return for the many courtesies that were shown to him, he presented that +picture to the sacristy of that place, in which it has been treasured +ever since, both as a good painting and in memory of the Cardinal. + +Niccolo himself went with the Cardinal to Arezzo, where he lived almost +ever afterwards. At the time he formed a friendship with the painter +Domenico Pecori, who was then painting an altar-piece with the +Circumcision of Christ for the Company of the Trinita; and such was the +intimacy between them that Niccolo painted for Domenico in that +altar-piece a building in perspective with columns and arches supporting +a ceiling full of rosettes, according to the custom of those days, which +was held at that time to be very beautiful. Niccolo also painted for the +same Domenico a round picture of the Madonna with a multitude below, in +oils and on cloth, for the baldachin of the Confraternity of Arezzo, +which was burned, as has been related in the Life of Domenico +Pecori,[32] during a festival that was held in S. Francesco. Then, +having received the commission for a chapel in that same S. Francesco, +the second on the right hand as one enters the church, he painted there +in distemper Our Lady, S. John the Baptist, S. Bernard, S. Anthony, S. +Francis, and three Angels in the air who are singing, with God the +Father in a pediment; which were executed by Niccolo almost entirely in +distemper, with the point of the brush. But since the work has almost +all peeled off on account of the strength of the distemper, it was +labour thrown away. Niccolo did this in order to try new methods; and +when he had recognized that the true method was working in fresco, he +seized the first opportunity, and undertook to paint in fresco a chapel +in S. Agostino in that city, beside the door on the left hand as one +enters the church. In this chapel, which was allotted to him by one +Scamarra, a master of furnaces, he painted a Madonna in the sky with a +multitude beneath, and S. Donatus and S. Francis kneeling; but the best +thing that he did in this work was a S. Rocco at the head of the chapel. + +This work giving great pleasure to Domenico Ricciardi of Arezzo, who had +a chapel in the Church of the Madonna delle Lagrime, he entrusted the +painting of the altar-piece of that chapel to Niccolo, who, setting his +hand to the work, painted in it with much care and diligence the +Nativity of Jesus Christ. And although he toiled a long time over +finishing it, he executed it so well that he deserves to be excused for +this, or rather, merits infinite praise, for the reason that it is a +most beautiful work; nor would anyone believe with what extraordinary +consideration he painted every least thing in it, and a ruined building, +near the hut wherein are the Infant Christ and the Virgin, is drawn very +well in perspective. In the S. Joseph and some Shepherds are many heads +portrayed from life, such as Stagio Sassoli, a painter and the friend of +Niccolo, and Papino della Pieve, his disciple, who, if he had not died +when still young, would have done very great honour both to himself and +to his country; and three Angels in the air who are singing are so well +executed that they would be enough by themselves to demonstrate the +talent of Niccolo and the patience with which he laboured at this work +up to the very last. And no sooner had he finished it than he was +requested by the men of the Company of S. Maria della Neve, at Monte +Sansovino, to paint for that Company an altar-piece wherein was to be +the story of the Snow, which, falling on the site of S. Maria Maggiore +at Rome on the 5th of August, was the reason of the building of that +temple. Niccolo, then, executed that altar-piece for the above-mentioned +Company with much diligence; and afterwards he executed at Marciano a +work in fresco that won no little praise. + +Now in the year 1524, after M. Baldo Magini had caused Antonio, the +brother of Giuliano da San Gallo, to build in the Madonna delle Carceri, +in the town of Prato, a tabernacle of marble with two columns, +architrave, cornice, and a quarter-round arch, Antonio resolved to bring +it about that M. Baldo should give the commission for the picture which +was to adorn that tabernacle to Niccolo, with whom he had formed a +friendship when he was working in the Palace of the above-mentioned +Cardinal dal Monte at Monte Sansovino. He presented him, therefore, to +M. Baldo, who, although he had been minded to have it painted by Andrea +del Sarto, as has been related in another place, resolved, at the +entreaties and advice of Antonio, to allot it to Niccolo. And he, having +set his hand to it, strove with all his power to make a beautiful work, +but he did not succeed; for, apart from diligence, there is no +excellence of design to be seen in it, nor any other quality worthy of +much praise, because his hard manner, with his labours over his models +of clay and wax, almost always gave a laborious and displeasing effect +to his work. And yet, with regard to the labours of art, that man could +not have done more than he did or shown more lovingness; and since he +knew that none ...[33] for many years he could never bring himself to +believe that others surpassed him in excellence. In this work, then, +there is a God the Father who is sending down the crown of virginity and +humility upon the Madonna by the hands of some Angels who are round her, +some of whom are playing various instruments. Niccolo made in the +picture a portrait from life of M. Baldo, kneeling at the feet of S. +Ubaldo the Bishop, and on the other side he painted S. Joseph; and those +two figures are one on either side of the image of the Madonna, which +worked miracles in that place. Niccolo afterwards painted a picture +three braccia in height of the same M. Baldo Magini from life, standing +with the Church of S. Fabiano di Prato in his hand, which he presented +to the Chapter of the Canons of the Pieve; and this Niccolo executed for +that Chapter, which, in memory of the benefit received, caused the +picture to be placed in the sacristy, an honour well deserved by that +remarkable man, who with excellent judgment conferred benefits on that +church, the principal church of his native city, and so renowned for the +Girdle of the Madonna, which is preserved there. This portrait was one +of the best works that Niccolo ever executed in painting. It is also the +belief of some that a little altar-piece that is in the Company of S. +Pier Martire on the Piazza di S. Domenico, at Prato, in which are many +portraits from life, is by the hand of the same Niccolo; but in my +opinion, even if this be true, it was painted by him before any of the +other pictures mentioned above. + +After these works, Niccolo--under whose discipline Domenico Giuntalodi, +a young man of excellent ability belonging to Prato, had learned the +rudiments of the art of painting, although, in consequence of having +acquired the manner of Niccolo, he never became a great master in +painting, as will be related--departed from Prato and came to work in +Florence; but, having seen that the most important works in art were +given to better and more eminent men than himself, and that his manner +was not up to the standard of Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso, and the +others, he made up his mind to return to Arezzo, in which city he had +more friends, greater credit, and less competition. Which having done, +no sooner had he arrived than he made known to M. Giuliano Bacci, one of +the chief citizens of that place, a desire that he had in his heart, +which was this, that he wished that Arezzo should become his country, +and that therefore he would gladly undertake to execute some work which +might maintain him for a time in the practice of his art, whereby he +hoped to demonstrate to that city the nature of his talents. Whereupon +Messer Giuliano, an ingenious man who desired that his native city +should be embellished and should contain persons engaged in the arts, so +went to work with the men then governing the Company of the Nunziata, +who in those days had caused a great vaulting to be built in their +church, with the intention of having it painted, that one arch of the +wall-surface of that vaulting was allotted to Niccolo; and it was +proposed that he should be commissioned to paint the rest, if the first +part, which he had to do then, should please the men of the aforesaid +Company. Having therefore set his hand to this work with great +diligence, in two years Niccolo finished the half, but not more, of one +arch, on which he painted in fresco the Tiburtine Sibyl showing to the +Emperor Octavian the Virgin in Heaven with the Infant Jesus Christ in +her arms, and Octavian in reverent adoration. In the figure of Octavian +he portrayed the above-mentioned M. Giuliano Bacci, and his pupil +Domenico in a tall young man draped in red, and others of his friends in +other heads; and, in a word, he acquitted himself in this work in such a +manner that it did not displease the men of that Company and the other +men of that city. It is true, indeed, that everyone grew weary of seeing +him take so long and toil so much over executing his works; but +notwithstanding all this the rest would have been given to him to +finish, if that had not been prevented by the arrival in Arezzo of the +Florentine Rosso, a rare painter, to whom, after he had been put forward +by the Aretine painter Giovanni Antonio Lappoli and M. Giovanni +Pollastra, as has been related in another place, much favour was shown +and the rest of that work allotted. At which Niccolo felt such disdain, +that, if he had not taken a wife the year before and had a son by her, +so that he was settled in Arezzo, he would have departed straightway. +However, having finally become pacified, he executed an altar-piece for +the Church of Sargiano, a place two miles distant from Arezzo, where +there are Frati Zoccolanti; in which he painted the Assumption of Our +Lady into Heaven, with many little Angels supporting her, and S. Thomas +below receiving the Girdle, while all around are S. Francis, S. Louis, +S. John the Baptist, and S. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. In some of +these figures, and particularly in some of the little Angels, he +acquitted himself very well; and so also in the predella he painted some +scenes with little figures, which are passing good. He executed, +likewise, in the Convent of the Nuns of the Murate, who belong to the +same Order, in that city, a Dead Christ with the Maries, which is +wrought with a high finish for a picture in fresco. In the Abbey of S. +Fiore, a seat of Black Friars, behind the Crucifix that is placed on the +high-altar, he painted in oils, on a canvas, Christ praying in the +Garden and the Angel showing to Him the Chalice of the Passion and +comforting Him, which was certainly a work of no little beauty and +excellence. And for the Nuns of S. Benedetto, of the Order of Camaldoli, +at Arezzo, on an arch above a door by which one enters the convent, he +painted the Madonna, S. Benedict, and S. Catharine, a work which was +afterwards thrown to the ground in order to enlarge the church. + +In the township of Marciano in Valdichiana, where he passed much of his +time, living partly on the revenues that he had in that place and partly +on what he could earn there, Niccolo began an altar-piece of the Dead +Christ and many other works, with which he occupied himself for a time. +And meanwhile, having with him the above-mentioned Domenico Giuntalodi +of Prato, whom he loved as a son and kept in his house, he strove to +make him excellent in the matters of art, teaching him so well how to +draw in perspective, to copy from nature, and to make designs, that he +was already becoming very able in all these respects, showing a good and +beautiful genius. And this Niccolo did, besides being moved by the love +and affection that he bore to that young man, in the hope of having one +who might help him now that he was nearing old age, and might give him +some return in his last years for so much labour and lovingness. Niccolo +was in truth most loving with every man, true by nature, and much the +friend of those who laboured in order to attain to something in the +world of art; and what he knew he taught to them with extraordinary +willingness. + +No long time after this, when Niccolo had returned from Marciano to +Arezzo and Domenico had left him, the men of the Company of the Corpo di +Cristo, in that city, had a commission to give for the painting of an +altar-piece for the high-altar of the Church of S. Domenico. Now, +Niccolo desiring to paint it, and likewise Giorgio Vasari, then a mere +lad, the former did something which probably not many of the men of our +art would do at the present day, which was as follows: Niccolo, who was +one of the members of the above-mentioned Company, perceiving that many +were disposed to have it painted by Giorgio, in order to bring him +forward, and that the young man had a very great desire for it, +resolved, after remarking Giorgio's zeal, to lay aside his own desire +and need and to have the picture allotted by his companions to Giorgio, +thinking more of the advantage that the young man might gain from the +work than of his own profit and interest; and even as he wished, so +exactly did the men of that Company decide. + +In the meantime Domenico Giuntalodi, having gone to Rome, found Fortune +so propitious that he became known to Don Martino, the Ambassador of the +King of Portugal, and went to live with him; and he painted for him a +canvas with some twenty portraits from life, all of his followers and +friends, with himself in the midst of them, engaged in conversation; +which work so pleased Don Martino, that he looked upon Domenico as the +first painter in the world. Afterwards Don Ferrante Gonzaga, having been +made Viceroy of Sicily, and desiring to fortify the towns of that +kingdom, wished to have about his person a man who might draw and put +down on paper for him all that he thought of from day to day; and he +wrote to Don Martino that he should find for him a young man who might +be both able and willing to serve him in this way, and should send him +off as soon as possible. Don Martino, therefore, first sent to Don +Ferrante some designs by the hand of Domenico, among which was a +Colosseum, engraved on copper by Girolamo Fagiuoli of Bologna for +Antonio Salamanca, but drawn in perspective by Domenico; an old man in +a child's go-cart, drawn by the same hand and published in engraving, +with letters that ran thus, "Ancora imparo"; and a little picture with +the portrait of Don Martino himself. And shortly afterwards he sent +Domenico, at the wish of the aforesaid lord, Don Ferrante, who had been +much pleased with that young man's works. Having then arrived in Sicily, +there were assigned to Domenico an honourable salary, a horse, and a +servant, all at the expense of Don Ferrante; and not long afterwards he +was set to work on the walls and fortresses of Sicily. Whereupon, +abandoning his painting little by little, he devoted himself to +something else which for a time was more profitable to him; for, being +an ingenious person, he made use of men who were well adapted to heavy +labour, kept beasts of burden in the charge of others, and caused sand +and lime to be collected and furnaces to be set up; and no long time had +passed before he found that he had saved so much that he was able to buy +offices in Rome to the extent of two thousand crowns, and shortly +afterwards some others. Then, after he had been made keeper of the +wardrobe to Don Ferrante, it happened that his master was removed from +the government of Sicily and sent to that of Milan; whereupon Domenico +went with him, and, working on the fortifications of that State, +contrived, what with being industrious and with being something of a +miser, to become very rich; and what is more, he came into such credit +that he managed almost everything in that government. + +Hearing of this, Niccolo, who was at Arezzo, now an old man, needy, and +without any work to do, went to find Domenico in Milan, thinking that +even as he had not failed Domenico when he was a young man, so Domenico +should not fail him now, but should avail himself of his services, since +he had many in his employ, and should be both able and willing to assist +him in his poverty-stricken old age. But he found to his cost that the +judgments of men, in expecting too much from others, are often deceived, +and that the men who change their condition also change more often than +not their nature and their will. For after arriving in Milan, where he +found Domenico raised to such greatness that he had no little difficulty +in getting speech of him, Niccolo related to him all his troubles, and +then besought him that he should help him by making use of his +services; but Domenico, not remembering or not choosing to remember +with what lovingness he had been brought up by Niccolo as if he had been +his own son, gave him a miserably small sum of money and got rid of him +as soon as he was able. And so Niccolo returned to Arezzo very sore at +heart, having recognized that with the labour and expense with which, as +he thought, he had reared a son, he had formed one who was little less +than an enemy. + +In order to earn his bread, therefore, he went about executing all the +work that came to his hand, as he had done many years before, and he +painted among other things a canvas for the Commune of Monte Sansovino, +containing the said town of Monte Sansovino and a Madonna in the sky, +with two Saints at the sides; which picture was set up on an altar in +the Madonna di Vertigli, a church belonging to the Monks of the Order of +Camaldoli, not far distant from the Monte, where it has pleased and +still pleases Our Lord daily to perform many miracles and to grant +favours to those who recommend themselves to the Queen of Heaven. +Afterwards, Julius III having been created Supreme Pontiff, Niccolo, who +had been much connected with the house of Monte, made his way to Rome, +although he was an old man of eighty, and, having kissed the foot of His +Holiness, besought him that he should deign to make use of him in the +buildings which were to be erected, so men said, at the Monte, a place +which the Lord Duke of Florence had given in fief to the Pontiff. The +Pope, then, having received him warmly, ordained that the means to live +in Rome should be given to him without exacting any sort of exertion +from him; and in this manner Niccolo spent several months in Rome, +drawing many antiquities to pass the time. + +Meanwhile the Pope resolved to increase his native town of Monte +Sansovino, and to make there, besides many ornamental works, an +aqueduct, because that place suffered much from want of water; and +Giorgio Vasari, who had orders from the Pope to cause those buildings to +be begun, recommended Niccolo Soggi strongly to His Holiness, entreating +him that Niccolo should be given the office of superintendent over those +works. Whereupon Niccolo went to Arezzo filled with these hopes, but he +had not been there many days when, worn out by the fatigues and +hardships of this world and by the knowledge that he had been abandoned +by him who should have been the last to forsake him, he finished the +course of his life and was buried in S. Domenico in that city. + +Not long afterwards Domenico Giuntalodi, Don Ferrante Gonzaga having +died, departed from Milan with the intention of returning to Prato and +of passing the rest of his life there in repose. However, finding there +neither relatives nor friends, and recognizing that Prato was no abiding +place for him, he repented too late that he had behaved ungratefully to +Niccolo, and returned to Lombardy to serve the sons of Don Ferrante. But +no long time passed before he fell sick unto death; whereupon he made a +will leaving ten thousand crowns to his fellow-citizens of Prato, to the +end that they might buy property to that amount and form a fund +wherewith to maintain continually at their studies a certain number of +students from Prato, in the manner in which they maintained certain +others, as they still do, according to the terms of another bequest. And +this has been carried out by the men of that town of Prato, who, +grateful for such a benefit, which in truth has been a very great one +and worthy of eternal remembrance, have placed in their Council Chamber +the image of Domenico, as that of one who has deserved well of his +country. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[32] See p. 208, Vol. III. + +[33] These words are missing in the text. + + + + +INDEX + + + + +INDEX OF NAMES + +OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME VI + + + Abacco, Antonio L', 113, 114, 130, 136, 137 + + Abbot of S. Clemente (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), 255 + + Agnolo, Baccio d' (Baccio Baglioni), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Agnolo, Battista d' (Battista del Moro), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Agnolo, Domenico di Baccio d', 68, 70, 72 + + Agnolo, Filippo di Baccio d', 68, 70 + + Agnolo, Giuliano di Baccio d', _Life_, 68-72 + + Agnolo, Marco di Battista d', 27, 28 + + Agnolo Bronzino, 118, 256 + + Agostino Viniziano (Agostino de' Musi), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Aimo, Domenico (Il Bologna), 217 + + Alberti, Leon Batista, 45 + + Alberto Monsignori (Bonsignori), 29 + + Albrecht (Heinrich) Aldegrever, 119 + + Albrecht Duerer, _Life_, 92-98. 99, 102, 119, 165 + + Aldegrever, Albrecht (Heinrich), 119 + + Alessandro Cesati (Il Greco), _Life_, 85 + + Alessandro Falconetto, 47, 48 + + Alessandro Filipepi (Sandro Botticelli), 91 + + Andrea Contucci (Andrea Sansovino), 66, 133 + + Andrea dal Castagno, 182 + + Andrea de' Ceri, 190-192, 201 + + Andrea del Sarto, 60, 106, 255-257, 272, 273 + + Andrea Mantegna, 15, 29, 30, 91 + + Andrea Palladio, 28, 48 + + Andrea Sansovino (Andrea Contucci), 66, 133 + + Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 246 + + Anichini, Luigi, 85 + + Anselmo Canneri, 22 + + Antoine Lafrery (Antonio Lanferri), 113 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the elder), 66, 123, 272 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), _Life_, 123-141. 167, 197, + 198, 219, 220, 222 + + Antonio da Trento (Antonio Fantuzzi), 108 + + Antonio del Pollaiuolo, 182, 246 + + Antonio di Giorgio Marchissi, 126 + + Antonio di Marco di Giano (Il Carota), 213 + + Antonio Fantuzzi (Antonio da Trento), 108 + + Antonio l'Abacco, 113, 114, 130, 136, 137 + + Antonio Lanferri (Antoine Lafrery), 113 + + Antonio (or Vittore) Pisano (or Pisanello), 35 + + Antonio Salamanca, 276 + + Antonio Scarpagni (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino,) 10 + + Aretino, Leone (Leone Lioni), 87 + + Aretusi, Pellegrino degli (Pellegrino da Modena, or de' Munari), 125 + + Avanzi, Niccolo, 79, 80 + + + Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini), 60 + + Baccio Baglioni (Baccio d' Agnolo), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Baccio Baldini, 91 + + Baccio Bandinelli, 69-71, 103, 105, 111 + + Baccio d' Agnolo (Baccio Baglioni), _Life_, 65-68. 69, 72 + + Baldassarre Peruzzi, 107, 167, 174, 177, 239 + + Baldini, Baccio, 91 + + Bandinelli, Baccio, 69-71, 103, 105, 111 + + Barile, Giovan, 177 + + Barlacchi, Tommaso, 104, 113 + + Barozzo, Jacopo, 114 + + Bartolommeo da Castiglione, 152 + + Bartolommeo della Gatta, Don (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Bartolommeo di San Marco, Fra, 66 + + Bartolommeo Ridolfi, 48 + + Bartolommeo Torri, 264, 265 + + Battista d' Agnolo (Battista del Moro), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Battista del Cervelliera, 214, 247, 248 + + Battista del Moro (Battista d' Agnolo), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Battista del Tasso, 213 + + Battista Franco, 108, 114, 156 + + Battista Gobbo, 133, 140 + + Battista of Vicenza (Battista Pittoni), 108 + + Baviera, 100, 101, 109, 209 + + Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Il Sodoma), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Beatricio, Niccolo (Nicolas Beautrizet), 114 + + Beccafumi, Domenico (Domenico di Pace), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Beham, Hans, 119 + + Belli, Valerio (Valerio Vicentino), _Life_, 82-84. 76, 79 + + Bellini, Giovanni, 173 + + Bellini, Jacopo, 11, 35 + + Benedetto da Maiano, 66 + + Benedetto Ghirlandajo, 57 + + Benedetto Pagni, 152, 154-156, 169 + + Benozzo Gozzoli, 246 + + Benvenuto Cellini, 86, 87 + + Bernardi, Giovanni (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), _Life_, 76-79. + 83, 84 + + Bernardino Pinturicchio, 195 + + Bologna, Il (Domenico Aimo), 217 + + Bolognese, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Bonasone, Giulio, 114 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Alberto, 29 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Cherubino, 34 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Girolamo, _Life_, 34-35 + + Bonsignori (Monsignori), Francesco, _Life_, 29-35 + + Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Colle), 152, 169 + + Borgo a San Sepolcro, Giovan Maria dal, 256 + + Bosch, Hieronymus, 118 + + Botticelli, Sandro (Alessandro Filipepi), 91 + + Boyvin, Rene (Renato), 115 + + Bramante da Urbino, 6, 124, 126, 136, 138 + + Brescianino (Girolamo Muziano, or Mosciano), 114 + + Bronzino, Agnolo, 118, 256 + + Brunelleschi, Filippo, 68, 71 + + Brusciasorzi, Domenico (Domenico del Riccio), 82 + + Bugiardini, Giuliano, 183 + + Buonaccorsi, Perino (Perino del Vaga, or Perino de' Ceri), + _Life_, 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, + 244, 257-259 + + Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, 57, 59, 60, 66, 68, 78, 79, 85, 92, + 107, 111, 113, 114, 129, 135, 136, 139, 140, 167, 174-177, 183, + 185, 191, 193, 195, 205, 218, 219, 222, 225, 236, 263 + + + Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Calcar, Johann of (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), 116 + + Caliari, Paolo (Paolo Veronese), 22, 27 + + Cammei, Domenico de', 76 + + Canneri, Anselmo, 22 + + Caraglio, Gian Jacopo, 109, 110, 209 + + Caravaggio, Polidoro da, 177, 196 + + Carota, Il (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 213 + + Caroto, Giovan Francesco, _Life_, 15-21. 37 + + Caroto, Giovanni, _Life_, 21-22. 15 + + Carpi, Ugo da, 106, 107 + + Carrara, Danese da (Danese Cattaneo), 26-28, 54 + + Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da Pontormo), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Castagno, Andrea dal, 182 + + Castel Bolognese, Giovanni da (Giovanni Bernardi), _Life_, 76-79. + 83, 84 + + Castelfranco, Giorgione da, 23, 173, 174 + + Castiglione, Bartolommeo da, 152 + + Catanei, Piero, 250 + + Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), 26-28, 54 + + Cavalieri, Giovan Battista de', 113 + + Cavazzuola, Paolo (Paolo Morando), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Cellini, Benvenuto, 86, 87 + + Ceri, Andrea de', 190-192, 201 + + Ceri, Perino de' (Perino del Vaga, or Perino Buonaccorsi), + _Life_, 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, + 257-259 + + Cervelliera, Battista del, 214, 247, 248 + + Cesati, Alessandro (Il Greco), _Life_, 85 + + Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, 34 + + Cicogna, Girolamo, 22 + + Cioli, Simone, 133 + + Clovio, Don Giulio, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Cock, Hieronymus, _Life_, 116-120. 108 + + Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), 152, 169 + + Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino), 66, 133 + + Coriolano, Cristofano, 120 + + Corniole, Giovanni delle, 76, 84 + + Cortona, Luca da (Luca Signorelli), 246 + + Cosimo (Jacopo) da Trezzo, 86 + + Cosini, Silvio, 210 + + Cousin, Jean (Giovanni Cugini), 114 + + Coxie, Michael (Michele), 116, 178 + + Cristofano Coriolano, 120 + + Cristofano Lombardi (Tofano Lombardino), 167 + + Cronaca, Il (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 66, 70 + + Cugini, Giovanni (Jean Cousin), 114 + + Cungi, Leonardo, 225 + + + Danese Cattaneo (Danese da Carrara), 26-28, 54 + + Daniello Ricciarelli, 113, 219, 224 + + David Ghirlandajo, 57 + + Dente, Marco (Marco da Ravenna), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Domenico Aimo (Il Bologna), 217 + + Domenico Beccafumi (Domenico di Pace), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Domenico Brusciasorzi (Domenico del Riccio), 82 + + Domenico de' Cammei, 76 + + Domenico del Riccio (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 82 + + Domenico di Baccio d' Agnolo, 68, 70, 72 + + Domenico di Pace (Domenico Beccafumi), _Life_, 235-251. 108, + 213, 215, 223, 235-251 + + Domenico di Polo, 84 + + Domenico Ghirlandajo, 57, 58, 191 + + Domenico Giuntalodi, 273-279 + + Domenico Morone, _Life_, 35-36. 29, 38 + + Domenico Pecori, 255, 258, 271 + + Domenico Poggini, 87 + + Domenico Viniziano, 182 + + Don Bartolommeo della Gatta (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Don Giulio Clovio, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Donato (Donatello), 220 + + Duccio, 245 + + Duerer, Albrecht, _Life_, 92-98. 99, 102, 119, 165 + + + Enea Vico, _Life_, 111-112 + + + Faenza, Figurino da, 169 + + Fagiuoli, Girolamo, 87, 276 + + Falconetto, Alessandro, 47, 48 + + Falconetto, Giovan Maria, _Life_, 43-48. 22, 29, 42, 43-48 + + Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the elder), 42 + + Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the younger), 42, 43 + + Falconetto, Jacopo, 42, 43 + + Falconetto, Ottaviano, 47, 48 + + Falconetto, Provolo, 47, 48 + + Fantuzzi, Antonio (Antonio da Trento), 108 + + Fattore, Il (Giovan Francesco Penni), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, + 177, 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Fermo Ghisoni, 34, 167, 169 + + Fiacco (or Flacco), Orlando, _Life_, 28 + + Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Fiesole, Maestro Giovanni da, 210 + + Figurino da Faenza, 169 + + Filipepi, Alessandro (Sandro Botticelli), 91 + + Filippino (Filippo Lippi), 66 + + Filippo Brunelleschi, 68, 71 + + Filippo di Baccio d' Agnolo, 68, 70 + + Filippo Lippi (Filippino), 66 + + Filippo Lippi, Fra, 246 + + Filippo Negrolo, 86 + + Finiguerra, Maso, 91 + + Flacco (or Fiacco), Orlando, _Life_, 28 + + Floris, Franz (Franz de Vrient), 119, 120 + + Fra Angelico (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 246 + + Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, 66 + + Fra Cherubino Monsignori (Bonsignori), 34 + + Fra Filippo Lippi, 246 + + Fra Giocondo, _Life_, 3-11. 28, 47, 126 + + Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Fra Giovanni da Verona, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Fra Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), _Life_, 34-35 + + Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo (Sebastiano Luciani), + _Life_, 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Francesco Bonsignori (Monsignori), _Life_, 29-35 + + Francesco da San Gallo, 133, 173 + + Francesco dai Libri (the elder), _Life_, 49. 29 + + Francesco dai Libri (the younger), _Life_, 52-54 + + Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco Salviati), 108, 111, 177 + + Francesco dell' Indaco, 126 + + Francesco Francia, 95 + + Francesco Granacci (Il Granaccio), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Francesco Marcolini, 115 + + Francesco Mazzuoli (Parmigiano), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Francesco Monsignori (Bonsignori), _Life_, 29-35 + + Francesco Morone, _Life_, 36-39. 29, 36-39, 40, 41, 50 + + Francesco Primaticcio, 115, 157 + + Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi), 108, 111, 177 + + Francesco Turbido (Il Moro), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Francesco Ubertini (Il Bacchiacca), 60 + + Franci, Marc' Antonio de' (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or Raimondi), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Francia, Francesco, 95 + + Franco, Battista, 108, 114, 156 + + Franz Floris (Franz de Vrient), 119, 120 + + + Gabriele Giolito, 115 + + Galeazzo Mondella, 42, 80 + + Galeotto, Pietro Paolo, 87 + + Gasparo Misuroni (Misceroni), 86 + + Gatta, Don Bartolommeo della (Abbot of S. Clemente), 255 + + Georg Pencz, 119 + + Gherardo, 92 + + Ghirlandajo, Benedetto, 57 + + Ghirlandajo, David, 57 + + Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 57, 58, 191 + + Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 191, 192 + + Ghisi (Mantovano), Giorgio, 113, 118 + + Ghisoni, Fermo, 34, 167, 169 + + Gian Jacopo Caraglio, 109, 110, 209 + + Giannuzzi, Giulio Pippi de' (Giulio Romano), _Life_, 145-169. + 20, 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, + 221, 259 + + Giannuzzi, Raffaello Pippi de', 168 + + Giano, Antonio di Marco di (Il Carota), 213 + + Giocondo, Fra, _Life_, 3-11. 28, 47, 126 + + Giolito, Gabriele, 115 + + Giorgio Mantovano (Ghisi), 113, 118 + + Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari (Giorgio) + + Giorgione da Castelfranco, 23, 173, 174 + + Giotto, 114, 202, 219, 220, 235 + + Giovan Barile, 177 + + Giovan Battista de' Cavalieri, 113 + + Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Giovan Battista Mantovano (Sculptore), 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Giovan Battista Rosso (or Rosto), 164 + + Giovan Battista Sozzini, 87 + + Giovan Francesco Caroto, _Life_, 15-21. 37 + + Giovan Francesco Penni (Il Fattore), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Giovan Maria dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, 256 + + Giovan Maria Falconetto, _Life_, 43-48. 22, 29, 42, 43-48 + + Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Il Sodoma), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi, 86 + + Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the elder), 42 + + Giovanni Antonio Falconetto (the younger), 42, 43 + + Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, _Life_, 255-265 + + Giovanni Antonio Licinio (Pordenone), 213, 244, 247 + + Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, 214, 215, 247, 248 + + Giovanni Battista Veronese, 13 + + Giovanni Bellini, 173 + + Giovanni Bernardi (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), _Life_, 76-79. 83, 84 + + Giovanni Caroto, _Life_, 21-22. 15 + + Giovanni Cugini (Jean Cousin), 114 + + Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni Bernardi), _Life_, 76-79. 83, 84 + + Giovanni da Fiesole, Fra (Fra Angelico), 246 + + Giovanni da Fiesole, Maestro, 210 + + Giovanni da Lione, 152, 169 + + Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Giovanni da Verona, Fra, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Giovanni delle Corniole, 76, 84 + + Giovanni di Goro, 206 + + Giovanni Ricamatori (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Girolamo Cicogna, 22 + + Girolamo da Treviso, 211, 212, 244 + + Girolamo dai Libri, _Life_, 49-52. 29, 37, 49-52, 54 + + Girolamo Fagiuoli, 87, 276 + + Girolamo Misuroni (Misceroni), 86 + + Girolamo Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra, _Life_, 34-35 + + Girolamo Mosciano (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), 114 + + Girolamo Siciolante (Girolamo Sermoneta), 221, 222, 225 + + Giugni, Rosso de', 87 + + Giuliano Bugiardini, 183 + + Giuliano da Maiano, 131 + + Giuliano da San Gallo, 6, 66, 123, 124, 126 + + Giuliano di Baccio d' Agnolo, _Life_, 68-72 + + Giuliano (di Niccolo Morelli), 251 + + Giuliano Leno, 130, 150 + + Giulio Bonasone, 114 + + Giulio Clovio, Don, 51, 54, 111, 264 + + Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), _Life_, 145-169. 20, + 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, 221, + 259 + + Giuntalodi, Domenico, 273-279 + + Giuseppe del Salviati (Giuseppe Porta), 115 + + Giuseppe Niccolo (Joannicolo) Vicentino, 108 + + Giuseppe Porta (Giuseppe del Salviati), 115 + + Gobbo, Battista, 133, 140 + + Goro, Giovanni di, 206 + + Gozzoli, Benozzo, 246 + + Granacci, Francesco (Il Granaccio), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Greco, Il (Alessandro Cesati), _Life_, 85 + + Guglielmo Milanese, 217 + + + Hans Beham, 119 + + Hans Liefrinck, 117 + + Heemskerk, Martin, 116 + + Heinrich (Albrecht) Aldegrever, 119 + + Hieronymus Bosch, 118 + + Hieronymus Cock, _Life_, 116-120. 108 + + Holland, Lucas of (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + + Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini), 60 + + Il Bologna (Domenico Aimo), 217 + + Il Carota (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 213 + + Il Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiuolo), 66, 70 + + Il Fattore (Giovan Francesco Penni), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Il Granaccio (Francesco Granacci), _Life_, 57-61. 66 + + Il Greco (Alessandro Cesati), _Life_, 85 + + Il Moro (Francesco Turbido), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Il Rosso (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Il Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Indaco, Francesco dell', 126 + + + Jacomo Melighino, 139, 140 + + Jacopo Barozzo, 114 + + Jacopo Bellini, 11, 35 + + Jacopo da Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Jacopo da Trezzo, 86 + + Jacopo (Cosimo) da Trezzo, 86 + + Jacopo Falconetto, 42, 43 + + Jacopo Sansovino, 47, 125, 127, 199 + + Jan Stephanus van Calcker (Johann of Calcar), 116 + + Jean Cousin (Giovanni Cugini), 114 + + Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolo) Vicentino, 108 + + Johann of Calcar (Jan Stephanus van Calcker), 116 + + + Lafrery, Antoine (Antonio Lanferri), 113 + + Lamberto Suave (Lambert Zutmann), 110 + + Lanferri, Antonio (Antoine Lafrery), 113 + + Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, _Life_, 255-265 + + Lappoli, Matteo, 255 + + Laureti, Tommaso (Tommaso Siciliano), 186 + + Leno, Giuliano, 130, 150 + + Leon Batista Alberti, 45 + + Leonardo Cungi, 225 + + Leone Aretino (Leone Lioni), 87 + + Leyden, Luca di (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Liberale, _Life_, 11-15. 23, 24, 35, 36, 49 + + Libri, Francesco dai (the elder), _Life_, 49. 29 + + Libri, Francesco dai (the younger), _Life_, 52-54 + + Libri, Girolamo dai, _Life_, 49-52. 29, 37, 49-52, 54 + + Licinio, Giovanni Antonio (Pordenone), 213, 244, 247 + + Liefrinck, Hans, 117 + + Lione, Giovanni da, 152, 169 + + Lioni, Leone (Leone Aretino), 87 + + Lippi, Filippo (Filippino), 66 + + Lippi, Fra Filippo, 246 + + Lodovico Marmita, 84 + + Lombardino, Tofano (Cristofano Lombardi), 167 + + Luca da Cortona (Luca Signorelli), 246 + + Luca di Leyden (Lucas of Holland, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Luca Penni, 115 + + Luca Signorelli (Luca da Cortona), 246 + + Lucas of Holland (Luca di Leyden, or Lucas van Leyden), _Life_, 96-99 + + Luciani, Sebastiano (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Luigi Anichini, 85 + + Luzio Romano, 212, 222 + + + Maestro Giovanni da Fiesole, 210 + + Maestro Niccolo, 164 + + Maestro Salvestro, 87 + + Maiano, Benedetto da, 66 + + Maiano, Giuliano da, 131 + + Manno, 78 + + Mantegna, Andrea, 15, 29, 30, 91 + + Mantovano (Ghisi), Giorgio, 113, 118 + + Mantovano (Sculptore), Giovan Battista, 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Mantovano, Marcello (Marcello Venusti), 220, 225 + + Mantovano, Rinaldo, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169 + + Marc' Antonio Bolognese (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Marcello Mantovano (Marcello Venusti), 220, 225 + + Marchissi, Antonio di Giorgio, 126 + + Marco da Ravenna (Marco Dente), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Marco da Siena, 223 + + Marco Dente (Marco da Ravenna), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Marco di Battista d' Agnolo, 27, 28 + + Marcolini, Francesco, 115 + + Marmita, 84 + + Marmita, Lodovico, 84 + + Martin Heemskerk, 116 + + Martin Schongauer, _Life_, 91-92 + + Masaccio, 202, 203 + + Maso Finiguerra, 91 + + Masolino da Panicale, 203 + + Matteo dal Nassaro, _Life_, 79-82. 76 + + Matteo Lappoli, 255 + + Maturino, 177, 196 + + Mazzuoli, Francesco (Parmigiano), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Melighino, Jacomo, 139, 140 + + Michael (Michele Coxie), 116, 178 + + Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 57, 59, 60, 66, 68, 78, 79, 85, 92, 107, + 111, 113, 114, 129, 135, 136, 139, 140, 167, 174-177, 183, 185, + 191, 193, 195, 205, 218, 219, 222, 225, 236, 263 + + Michele (Michael Coxie), 116, 178 + + Michele San Michele, 25, 26, 47, 130 + + Michelino, 76 + + Milanese, Guglielmo, 217 + + Minio, Tiziano (Tiziano da Padova), 47 + + Misuroni (Misceroni), Gasparo, 86 + + Misuroni (Misceroni), Girolamo, 86 + + Modena, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), 125 + + Mondella, Galeazzo, 42, 80 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Alberto, 29 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Cherubino, 34 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Fra Girolamo, _Life_, 34-35 + + Monsignori (Bonsignori), Francesco, _Life_, 29-35 + + Montelupo, Raffaello da, 133, 222 + + Morando, Paolo (Paolo Cavazzuola), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Morelli, Giuliano di Niccolo, 251 + + Moro, Battista del (Battista d' Agnolo), _Life_, 27-28. 108 + + Moro, Il (Francesco Turbido), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, 40, + 50, 164 + + Morone, Domenico, _Life_, 35-36. 29, 38 + + Morone, Francesco, _Life_, 36-39. 29, 36-39, 40, 41, 50 + + Mosca, Simone, 133 + + Mosciano, Girolamo (Girolamo Muziano, or Brescianino), 114 + + Munari, Pellegrino de' (Pellegrino da Modena, or degli Aretusi), 125 + + Musi, Agostino de' (Agostino Viniziano), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Muziano, Girolamo (Girolamo Mosciano, or Brescianino), 114 + + + Nanni, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Nassaro, Matteo dal, _Life_, 79-82. 76 + + Navarra, Pietro, 126 + + Negrolo, Filippo, 86 + + Niccola Viniziano, 209 + + Niccolo (called Tribolo), 133 + + Niccolo, Maestro, 164 + + Niccolo Avanzi, 79, 80 + + Niccolo Beatricio (Nicolas Beautrizet), 114 + + Niccolo Soggi, _Life_, 269-279. 261 + + Nicolas Beautrizet (Niccolo Beatricio), 114 + + Nunziata, Toto del, 191, 196 + + + Orlando Fiacco (or Fiacco), _Life_, 28 + + Ottaviano Falconetto, 47, 48 + + + Pace, Domenico di (Domenico Beccafumi), _Life_, 235-251. 108, 213, + 215, 223, 235-251 + + Padova, Tiziano da (Tiziano Minio), 47 + + Pagni, Benedetto, 152, 154-156, 169 + + Palladio, Andrea, 28, 48 + + Panicale, Masolino da, 203 + + Paolo Caliari (Paolo Veronese), 22, 27 + + Paolo Cavazzuola (Paolo Morando), _Life_, 39-42. 15, 24, 25, 29, + 39-42, 50 + + Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), 22, 27 + + Papacello, Tommaso, 152 + + Papino della Pieve, 272 + + Parmigiano (Francesco Mazzuoli), 107-109, 114, 259 + + Pastorino da Siena, 87, 219 + + Pecori, Domenico, 255, 258, 271 + + Pellegrino da Modena (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari), 125 + + Pencz, Georg, 119 + + Penni, Giovan Francesco (Il Fattore), 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, + 193, 194, 207, 216 + + Penni, Luca, 115 + + Perino del Vaga (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), _Life_, + 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, 257-259 + + Perugino, Pietro (Pietro Vannucci), 235, 269 + + Peruzzi, Baldassarre, 107, 167, 174, 177, 239 + + Pescia, Pier Maria da, 76 + + Pier Francesco da Viterbo, 130, 132 + + Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, 257 + + Pier Maria da Pescia, 76 + + Piero Catanei, 250 + + Piero del Pollaiuolo, 182, 246 + + Pietrasanta, Stagio da, 214 + + Pietro Navarra, 126 + + Pietro Paolo Galeotto, 87 + + Pietro Perugino (Pietro Vannucci), 235, 269 + + Pieve, Papino della, 272 + + Piloto, 201, 205, 207 + + Pinturicchio, Bernardino, 195 + + Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del (Sebastiano Luciani), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Pisano (or Pisanello), Vittore (or Antonio), 35 + + Pittoni, Battista (Battista of Vicenza), 108 + + Poggini, Domenico, 87 + + Polidoro da Caravaggio, 177, 196 + + Pollaiuolo, Antonio del, 182, 246 + + Pollaiuolo, Piero del, 182, 246 + + Pollaiuolo, Simone del (Il Cronaca), 66, 70 + + Polo, Domenico di, 84 + + Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), 60, 255-257, 273 + + Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio), 213, 244, 247 + + Porta, Giuseppe (Giuseppe del Salviati), 115 + + Primaticcio, Francesco, 115, 157 + + Provolo Falconetto, 47, 48 + + + Raffaello da Montelupo, 133, 222 + + Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello Sanzio), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Raffaello dal Colle (Raffaello dal Borgo), 152, 169 + + Raffaello Pippi de' Giannuzzi, 168 + + Raffaello Sanzio (Raffaello da Urbino), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Raimondi, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Bolognese, or de' Franci), + _Life_, 95-96, 99-106. 108, 109, 120 + + Ravenna, Marco da (Marco Dente), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Reggio, Sebastiano da, 165 + + Renato (Rene Boyvin), 115 + + Ricamatori, Giovanni (Giovanni da Udine, or Nanni), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Ricciarelli, Daniello, 113, 219, 224 + + Riccio, Domenico del (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 82 + + Ridolfi, Bartolommeo, 48 + + Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 191, 192 + + Rinaldo Mantovano, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169 + + Romano, Giulio (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), _Life_, 145-169. 20, + 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207, 216, 221, 259 + + Romano, Luzio, 212, 222 + + Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco Salviati), 108, 111, 177 + + Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il Rosso), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Rossi, Giovanni Antonio de', 86 + + Rosso (or Rosto), Giovan Battista, 164 + + Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274 + + Rosso de' Giugni, 87 + + Rosto (or Rosso), Giovan Battista, 164 + + + Salamanca, Antonio, 276 + + Salvestro, Maestro, 87 + + Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), 108, 111, 177 + + Salviati, Giuseppe del (Giuseppe Porta), 115 + + S. Clemente, Abbot of (Don Bartolommeo della Gatta), 255 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), 66, 123, 272 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), _Life_, 123-141. 167, 197, + 198, 219, 220, 222 + + San Gallo, Francesco da, 133, 173 + + San Gallo, Giuliano da, 6, 66, 123, 124, 126 + + San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di, 66 + + San Michele, Michele, 25, 26, 47, 130 + + Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, 257 + + Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro Filipepi), 91 + + Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea Contucci), 66, 133 + + Sansovino, Jacopo, 47, 125, 127, 199 + + Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + Sarto, Andrea del, 60, 106, 255-257, 272, 273 + + Sassoli, Stagio, 272 + + Scarpagni, Antonio (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino), 10 + + Schongauer, Martin, _Life_, 91-92 + + Sculptore (Mantovano), Giovan Battista, 110, 111, 157, 164, 165, 169 + + Sebastiano da Reggio, 165 + + Sebastiano Luciani (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Sebastiano Serlio, 113 + + Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, Fra (Sebastiano Luciani), _Life_, + 173-186. 108, 139, 148, 173-186, 217, 259 + + Serlio, Sebastiano, 113 + + Sermoneta, Girolamo (Girolamo Siciolante), 221, 222, 225 + + Siciliano, Tommaso (Tommaso Laureti), 186 + + Siciolante, Girolamo (Girolamo Sermoneta), 221, 222, 225 + + Siena, Marco da, 223 + + Siena, Pastorino da, 87, 219 + + Signorelli, Luca (Luca da Cortona), 246 + + Silvio Cosini, 210 + + Simone Cioli, 133 + + Simone del Pollaiuolo (Il Cronaca), 66, 70 + + Simone Mosca, 133 + + Sodoma, Il (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), 236-238, 247, 249 + + Soggi, Niccolo, _Life_, 269-279. 261 + + Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, 214, 215, 247, 248 + + Sozzini, Giovan Battista, 87 + + Stagio da Pietrasanta, 214 + + Stagio Sassoli, 272 + + Stefano, Vincenzio di, 11 + + Stefano Veronese (Stefano da Zevio), 35, 42 + + Suave, Lamberto (Lambert Zutmann), 110 + + + Tasso, Battista del, 213 + + Tiziano da Cadore (Tiziano Vecelli), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Tiziano da Padova (Tiziano Minio), 47 + + Tiziano Vecelli (Tiziano da Cadore), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Tofano Lombardino (Cristofano Lombardi), 167 + + Tommaso Barlacchi, 104, 113 + + Tommaso Laureti (Tommaso Siciliano), 186 + + Tommaso Papacello, 152 + + Tommaso Siciliano (Tommaso Laureti), 186 + + Torri, Bartolommeo, 264, 265 + + Toto del Nunziata, 191, 196 + + Trento, Antonio da (Antonio Fantuzzi), 108 + + Treviso, Girolamo da, 211, 212, 244 + + Trezzo, Cosimo (Jacopo) da, 86 + + Trezzo, Jacopo da, 86 + + Tribolo (Niccolo), 133 + + Turbido, Francesco (Il Moro), _Life_, 22-28. 14, 15, 21, 22-28, + 40, 50, 164 + + + Ubertini, Francesco (Il Bacchiacca), 60 + + Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Nanni, or Ricamatori), 147, 148, 180, + 194-196 + + Ugo da Carpi, 106, 107 + + Urbino, Bramante da, 6, 124, 126, 136, 138 + + Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104, + 106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, + 174-178, 181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269 + + + Vaga, 191, 192 + + Vaga, Perino del (Perino Buonaccorsi, or Perino de' Ceri), _Life_, + 189-225. 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, 257-259 + + Valerio Vicentino (Valerio Belli), _Life_, 82-84. 76-79 + + Valverde, 116 + + Vannucci, Pietro (Pietro Perugino), 235, 269 + + Vasari, Giorgio-- + as art-collector, 3, 22, 54, 60, 120, 157, 175, 225, 230, 250, + 256, 260, 263 + as author, 3, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 35, 39, 42, + 46, 48, 53, 54, 57-59, 65, 75, 76, 79, 82, 84-87, 91, 93-95, + 105-107, 112, 113, 120, 123, 133, 152, 153, 159, 161, 165-167, + 175, 176, 178, 190, 194, 196, 202, 204, 207, 210-213, 215, 217, + 221, 223, 229-231, 235, 239, 246, 248-250, 258, 261, 264, 269, + 273 + as painter, 22, 72, 120, 215, 221, 263, 264, 276 + as architect, 70, 139, 278 + + Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), 109, 111, 114, 161, 183, 222 + + Venusti, Marcello (Marcello Mantovano), 220, 225 + + Verese, 118 + + Verona, Fra Giovanni da, 38, 39, 51, 218 + + Veronese, Giovanni Battista, 13 + + Veronese, Paolo (Paolo Caliari), 22, 27 + + Veronese, Stefano (Stefano da Zevio), 35, 42 + + Vicentino, Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolo), 108 + + Vicentino, Valerio (Valerio Belli), _Life_, 82-84. 76, 79 + + Vicenza, Battista of (Battista Pittoni), 108 + + Vico, Enea, _Life_, 111-112 + + Vincenzio di Stefano, 11 + + Viniziano, Agostino (Agostino de' Musi), _Life_, 102-103. 106 + + Viniziano, Domenico, 182 + + Viniziano, Niccola, 209 + + Viterbo, Pier Francesco da, 130, 132 + + Vitruvius, 5, 45, 140 + + Vittore (or Antonio) Pisano (or Pisanello), 35 + + Vrient, Franz de (Franz Floris), 119, 120 + + + Zanfragnino (Antonio Scarpagni, or Scarpagnino), 10 + + Zeuxis, 239 + + Zevio, Stefano da (Stefano Veronese), 35, 42 + + Zoppo, 81 + + Zutmann, Lambert (Lamberto Suave), 110 + + +END OF VOL VI. + + + 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