diff options
Diffstat (limited to '42072.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 42072.txt | 16726 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 16726 deletions
diff --git a/42072.txt b/42072.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0c2d483..0000000 --- a/42072.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16726 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cathedral Builders, by Leader Scott - -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: The Cathedral Builders - The Story of a Great Masonic Guild - -Author: Leader Scott - -Release Date: February 11, 2013 [EBook #42072] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATHEDRAL BUILDERS *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation ligatures, diacritical marks and spelling in - the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical - errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Characters which can't be represented in the Latin 1 character set - have been marked as follows: - oe/OE ligature: replaced with oe or OE - other ligatures: [AV] - single or double letters with macron: [=MR] - letter with breve: [)e] - letter with ring above: [ deg.V] - dagger symbol: + - single or double letters with tilde: [~AD] - single or double letters with arch above: [^IF] - - The anchor for Footnote 11 is missing in the text. Its location has - been approximated. - - The reference to Hexham church on page 157 is a possible typo. - - The comma in the Roman numeral on page 204 is a possible typo. - - Schmarzow on pages 230 and 405 should possibly be Schmarsow. - - The index entry to Giovanni Buoni da Bissone points to entries for both - Buoni and Bono, and Bissone and Bissoni. - - - - - - - -THE CATHEDRAL BUILDERS - - - - - [Illustration: CLOISTER OF S. JOHN LATERAN, ROME, 12TH CENTURY. - _Frontispiece_ (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _page 66._] - - - - - THE - CATHEDRAL BUILDERS - - _THE STORY OF A GREAT MASONIC GUILD_ - - BY LEADER SCOTT - - Honorary Member of the 'Accademia delle Belle Arti,' Florence - Author of 'The Renaissance of Art in Italy,' 'Handbook of - Sculpture,' 'Echoes of Old Florence,' etc. - - With Eighty-three Illustrations - - NEW YORK - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS - 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE - - 1899 - - - - - RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, - LONDON & BUNGAY. - - - - -PROEM - - -In most histories of Italian art we are conscious of a vast hiatus of -several centuries, between the ancient classic art of Rome--which was -in its decadence when the Western Empire ceased in the fifth century -after Christ--and that early rise of art in the twelfth century which -led to the Renaissance. - -This hiatus is generally supposed to be a time when Art was utterly -dead and buried, its corpse in Byzantine dress lying embalmed in its -tomb at Ravenna. But all death is nothing but the germ of new life. -Art was not a corpse, it was only a seed, laid in Italian soil to -germinate, and it bore several plants before the great reflowering -period of the Renaissance. - -The seed sown by the Classic schools formed the link between them and -the Renaissance, just as the Romance Languages of Provence and -Languedoc form the link between the dying out of the classic Latin and -the rise of modern languages. - -Now where are we to look for this link? - -In language we find it just between the Roman and Gallic Empires. - -In Art it seems also to be on that borderland--Lombardy--where the -_Magistri Comacini_, a mediaeval Guild of _Liberi Muratori_ -(Freemasons), kept alive in their traditions the seed of classic art, -slowly training it through Romanesque forms up to the Gothic, and -hence to the full Renaissance. It is a significant coincidence that -this obscure link in Art, like the link-languages, is styled by many -writers Provencal or Romance style, for the Gothic influence spread in -France even before it expanded so gloriously in Germany. - -I think if we study these obscure Comacine Masters we shall find that -they form a firm, perfect, and consistent link between the old and the -new, filling completely that ugly gap in the History of Art. So fully -that all the different Italian styles, whose names are legion--being -Lombard-Byzantine at Ravenna and Venice, Romanesque at Pisa and Lucca, -Lombard-Gothic at Milan, Norman-Saracen in Sicily and the south,--are -nothing more than the different developments in differing climates and -ages, of the art of one powerful guild of sculptor-builders, who -nursed the seed of Roman art on the border-land of the falling Roman -Empire, and spread the growth in far-off countries. - -We shall see that all that was architecturally good in Italy during -the dark centuries between 500 and 1200 A.D. was due to the Comacine -Masters, or to their influence. To them can be traced the building of -those fine Lombard Basilicas of S. Ambrogio at Milan, Theodolinda's -church at Monza, S. Fedele at Como, San Michele at Pavia, and San -Vitale at Ravenna; as well as the florid cathedrals of Pisa, Lucca, -Milan, Arezzo, Brescia, etc. Their hand was in the grand Basilicas of -S. Agnese, S. Lorenzo, S. Clemente, and others in Rome, and in the -wondrous cloisters and aisles of Monreale and Palermo. - -Through them architecture and sculpture were carried into foreign -lands, France, Spain, Germany, and England, and there developed into -new and varied styles according to the exigencies of the climate, and -the tone of the people. The flat roofs, horizontal architraves, and -low arches of the Romanesque, which suited a warm climate, gradually -changed as they went northward into the pointed arches and sharp -gables of the Gothic; the steep sloping lines being a necessity in a -land where snow and rain were frequent. - -But however the architecture developed in after times, it was the -Comacine Masters who carried the classic germs and planted them in -foreign soils; it was the brethren of the _Liberi Muratori_ who, from -their head-quarters at Como, were sent by Gregory the Great to England -with Saint Augustine, to build churches for his converts; by Gregory -II. to Germany with Boniface on a similar mission; and were by -Charlemagne taken to France to build his church at Aix-la-Chapelle, -the prototype of French Gothic. - -How and why such a powerful and influential guild seemed to spring -from a little island in Lake Como, and how their world-wide reputation -grew, the following scraps of history, borrowed from many an ancient -source, will, I hope, explain. - -It is strange that Art historians hitherto have made so little of the -Comacine Masters. I do not think that Cattaneo mentions them at all. -Hope, although divining a universal Masonic Guild, enlarges on all -their work as Lombard; Fergusson disposes of them in a single -unimportant sentence; and Symonds is not much more diffuse; while -Marchese Ricci gives them the credit of the early Lombard work and no -more. I was led at length to a closer study of them by the two -ponderous tomes on the _Maestri Comacini_[1] by Professor Merzario, -who has got together a huge amount of material from old writers, old -deeds, and old stones. But valuable as the material is, Merzario is -bewildering in his redundancy, confusing in his arrangement, and not -sufficiently clear in his deductions, his chief aim being to show how -many famous artists came from Lombardy. - -I wrote to ask Signor Merzario if I might associate his name with mine -in preparing a work for the English public, in which his research -would furnish me with so much that is valuable to the history of art, -but to my regret I found he had died since the book was written, so I -never received his permission; though his publisher was very kind in -permitting me to use the book as a chief work of reference. With -Merzario I have collated many other recognized authorities on -architecture and archaeology, besides archivial documents, and old -chronicles. I have tried to make some slight chronological -arrangement, and some intelligible lists of the names of the Masters -at different eras. The researches of the great archivist Milanesi in -his _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, and Cesare Guasti in -his lately published collection of documents relating to the building -of the Duomo of Florence, have been of immense service in throwing a -light on the organization of the Lodges and their government. All that -Signor Merzario dimly guessed from the more fragmentary earlier -records of Parma, Modena, and Verona, shines out clear and -well-defined under the fuller light of these later records, and helps -us to read many a dark saying of the older times. - -My thanks for much kind assistance in supplying me with facts or -authorities, are due to the Rev. Canonico Pietro Tonarelli of Parma -cathedral; the Rev. Vincenzo Rossi, Priore of Settignano; Commendatore -John Temple Leader of Florence; and to my brother, the Rev. William -Miles Barnes, Rector of Monkton, who has written the "English link" -for me. Acknowledgments are also due to Signor Alinari and Signor -Brogi of Florence, and to Signor Ongania of Venice, for permitting the -use of their photographs as illustrations. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] Professor Giuseppe Merzario.--_I Maestri Comacini. Storia -Artistica di Mille duecento anni, 600-1800._ Published in 1893 by -Giacomo Agnelli, of 2, Via S. Margherita, Milan. Two vols., large -octavo. (Price 12 frcs.) - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PROEM V - - - BOOK I - - ROMANO-LOMBARD ARCHITECTS - - CHAP. - I. THE GUILD OF THE COMACINE MASTERS 3 - - II. THE COMACINES UNDER THE LONGOBARDS 31 - - III. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE UNDER THE LONGOBARDS 60 - - IV. COMACINE ORNAMENTATION IN THE LOMBARD ERA 71 - - V. COMACINES UNDER CHARLEMAGNE 90 - - VI. IN THE TROUBLOUS TIMES 108 - - - BOOK II - - FIRST FOREIGN EMIGRATIONS OF THE COMACINES - - I. THE NORMAN LINK 121 - - II. THE GERMAN LINK 133 - - III. THE ORIGIN OF SAXON ARCHITECTURE (A SUGGESTION), - BY THE REV. W. MILES BARNES 139 - - IV. THE TOWERS AND CROSSES OF IRELAND 161 - - - BOOK III - - ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTS - - I. TRANSITION PERIOD 171 - - II. THE MODENA-FERRARA LINK 192 - - III. THE TUSCAN LINK. 1. PISA 206 - - 2. LUCCA AND PISTOJA 225 - - IV. ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ORNAMENTATION 242 - - V. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROMANESQUE ERA 256 - - - BOOK IV - - ITALIAN-GOTHIC, AND RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTS - - I. THE SECESSION OF THE PAINTERS 265 - - II. THE SIENA AND ORVIETO LODGES 282 - - III. THE FLORENTINE LODGE 308 - - IV. THE MILAN LODGE 345 - - 1. THE COMACINES UNDER THE VISCONTI 349 - - 2. THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA 372 - - V. THE VENETIAN LINK 383 - - VI. THE ROMAN LODGE 400 - - - EPILOGUE 423 - - AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 427 - - INDEX 429 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Cloister of S. John Lateran, Rome _Frontispiece_ - - Comacine Panel from the Church of San Clemente, - Rome _To face page 9_ - - Frescoes in the Subterranean Church of San - Clemente, Rome " 10 - - Church of Sta. Costanza, Rome " 12 - - Door of the Church of S. Marcello at Capua " 13 - - Ancient Sculpture in Monza Cathedral " 38 - - Comacine Capital in San Zeno, Verona " 44 - - Basilica of S. Frediano at Lucca " 50 - - Facade of San Michele at Pavia " 52 - - Tracing of an old print of the Tosinghi Palace, - a mediaeval building once in Florence, with - _Laubia_ on the front " 60 - - Tower of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Rome " 64 - - Byzantine Altar in the Church of S. Ambrogio, - Milan " 74 - - Fresco in the Spanish Chapel, S. Maria Novella, - Florence " 78 - - Door of the Church of San Michele, Pavia " 80 - - Comacine Knot on a panel at S. Ambrogio, Milan " 82 - - Sculpture from Sant' Abbondio, Como " 82 - - Pulpit in the Church of S. Ambrogio, Milan " 88 - - Door of a Chapel in S. Prassede, Rome " 90 - - Pluteus from S. Marco dei Precipazi, now in S. - Giacomo, Venice. " 90 - - Comacine Capitals " 96 - - Exterior of San Piero a Grado, Pisa " 102 - - Comacine Capital in San Zeno, Verona, emblematizing - Man clinging to Christ (the Palm) " 110 - - Capital in the Atrium of S. Ambrogio, Milan " 112 - - The West Door, St. Bartholomew, Smithfield " 122 - - South Side of the Choir, St. Bartholomew the - Great, Smithfield " 124 - - Palazzo del Popolo and Palazzo Comunale, Todi " 136 - - Fiesole Cathedral. Interior " 145 - - S. Clemente, Rome. Interior showing ancient screen " 146 - - Tower of S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna " 153 - - Tower of S. Satyrus. Milan " 154 - - S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna " 157 - - Door of the Church of S. Zeno at Verona " 166 - - Baptistery at Parma, designed by Benedetto da - Antelamo " 186 - - Facade of Ferrara Cathedral " 198 - - Church of S. Antonio, Padua " 200 - - Tomb of Can Signorio degli Scaligeri at Verona " 204 - - Interior of Pisa Cathedral " 212 - - Pulpit in the Church of S. Giovanni Fuorcivitas, - Pistoja " 222 - - Church of S. Michele, Lucca " 226 - - Cathedral of Lucca (San Martino) " 228 - - Pulpit in Church of S. Bartolommeo, Pistoja " 230 - - Church of S. Andrea, Pistoja " 234 - - Church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas, Pistoja " 236 - - Church of S. Maria, Ancona " 242 - - Door of S. Giusto at Lucca " 244 - - Pilaster of the Door of the Cathedral of Beneventum " 246 - - Baptismal Font in Church of S. Frediano, Lucca " 248 - - Pulpit in the Church of Groppoli near Pistoja " 249 - - Pulpit in Siena Cathedral " 250 - - The Riccardi Palace, built for Lorenzo dei Medici " 252 - - Tomb of Mastino II. degli Scaligeri, at Verona " 254 - - Capital of a Column in the Ducal Palace, Venice " 256 - - Doorway of the Municipal Palace at Perugia " 258 - - Palazzo Pubblico at Perugia " 260 - - Court of the Bargello, Florence " 262 - - Tower of Palazzo Vecchio at Florence " 263 - - Eighth-century Wall Decoration in Subterranean - Church of S. Clemente, Rome " 266 - - Frescoes of the eighth century in the Subterranean - Church of S. Clemente, Rome, with portraits of - the Patron Beno di Rapizo and his Family " 268 - - Interior of Church of San Piero a Grado near Pisa, - with Frescoes of the ninth century " 270 - - Figures from paintings in Assisi by Magister - Giunta of Pisa " 272 - - Fresco at S. Gimignano " 278 - - Front of Siena Cathedral " 296 - - Door in Orvieto Cathedral " 300 - - Monument to Cardinal de Braye " 314 - - Palazzo Vecchio, Florence " 316 - - Shrine in Or San Michele, Florence " 332 - - Small Cloister of the Certosa of Pavia " 358 - - Marble Work on the Roof of Milan Cathedral " 364 - - Capital in Milan Cathedral " 366 - - North Door of Como Cathedral, sculptured by Tommaso - Rodari " 368 - - Renaissance Front of the Church of the Certosa at - Pavia " 378 - - Facade of Monza Cathedral " 380 - - The Cathedral and Broletta at Como " 382 - - The Ca d'Oro, Venice " 388 - - Ducal Palace at Venice. The side built by the - Buoni Family " 390 - - Court of the Ducal Palace at Venice " 392 - - Apse of the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo on the - Coelian Hill, Rome " 404 - - Basilica of S. Paolo _fuori le mura_, Rome " 406 - - Pulpit in Church of S. Cesareo in Palatio, Rome. - Mediaeval Sculpture inlaid in Mosaic " 408 - - Candelabrum in S. Paolo at Rome " 412 - - - - -BOOK I - -ROMANO-LOMBARD ARCHITECTS - - - - -THE CATHEDRAL BUILDERS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE GUILD OF THE COMACINE MASTERS - - -In looking back to the great church-building era, _i.e._ to the -centuries between 1100 and 1500, do not the questions arise in one's -mind, "How did all these great and noble buildings spring up -simultaneously in all countries and all climates?" and "How comes it -that in all cases they were similar to each other at similar times?" - -In the twelfth century, when the Italian buildings, such as the -churches at Verona, Bergamo, Como, etc., were built with round arches, -the German Domkirchen at Bonn, Mayence, Treves, Lubeck, Freiburg, -etc.; the French churches at Aix, Tournus, Caen, Dijon, etc.; and the -English cathedrals at Canterbury, Bristol, Chichester, St. -Bartholomew's in London--in fact, all those built at the same -time--were not only round-arched, but had an almost identical style, -and that style was Lombard. - -In the thirteenth century, when pointed arches mingled with the round -in Italy, the same mixture is found contemporaneously in all the other -countries. - -Again in the fourteenth century, when Cologne, Strasburg, and -Magdeburg cathedrals were built in pure Gothic; then those of -Westminster, York, Salisbury, etc., arose in England; the Domes of -Milan, Assisi, and Florence in Italy; and the churches of Beauvais, -Laon, and Rouen in France. These all came, almost simultaneously, like -sister buildings with one _impronto_ on them all. - -Is it likely that many single architects in different countries would -have had the same ideas at the same time? Could any single architect, -indeed, have designed every detail of even one of those marvellous -complex buildings? or have executed or modelled one-tenth of the -wealth of sculpture lavished on one of those glorious cathedrals? I -think not. - -The existence of one of these churches argues a plurality of workers -under one governing influence; the existence of them all argues a huge -universal brotherhood of architects and sculptors with different -branches in each country, and the same aims, technique, knowledge and -principles permeating through all, while each conforms in detail to -local influences and national taste. - -If we once realize that such a Guild must have existed, and that under -the united hands of the grand brotherhood, the great age of -church-building was endowed with monuments which have been the glory -of all ages, then much that has been obscure in Art History becomes -clear; and what was before a marvel is now shown to be a natural -result. - -There is another point also to be considered. The great age of -church-building flourished at a time when other arts and commerce were -but just beginning. Whence, out of the dark ages, sprang the skill and -knowledge to build such fine and sculpturesque edifices, when other -trades were in their infancy, and civic and communal life scarcely -organized? - -It is indeed a subject of wonder how the artists of the early period -of the rise of Art were trained. Here we find men almost in the dark -ages, who were the most splendid architects, and at the same time -sculptors, painters, and even poets. How, for instance, did Giotto, a -boy taken from the sheep-folds, learn to be a painter, sculptor, and -architect of such rank that the city of Florence chose him to be the -builder of the Campanile? Did he learn it all from old Cimabue's -frescoes, and half Byzantine _tavole_? and how did he prove to the -city that he was a qualified architect? We find him written in the -archives as _Magister_ Giotto, consequently he must have passed -through the school and _laborerium_ of some guild where every branch -of the arts was taught, and have graduated in it as a master. - -All these things will become more and more clear as we follow up the -traces of the Comacine Guild from the chrysalis state, in which Roman -art hybernated during the dark winter of the Middle Ages, through the -grub state of the Lombard period, to the glorious winged flights of -the full Gothic of the Renaissance. - -And first as to the chrysalis, at little Como. The origin of the name -_Comacine Masters_ has caused a great deal of argument amongst Italian -writers new and old. Some think it merely a place-name referring to -the island of Comacina, in Lake Lario or Como; others take a wider -significance, and say it means not only the city of Como, but all the -province, which was once a Roman colony of great extension. Others -again, among whom is Grotius, suggest that it is not a place-name at -all, but comes from the Teutonic word _Gemachin_ or house-builders. As -the Longobards afterwards called them in Italian _Maestri Casarii_, -which means the same thing, there is perhaps something to be said for -this hypothesis. - -The first to draw attention to the name _Magistri Comacini_, was the -erudite Muratori, that searcher out of ancient MSS., who unearthed -from the archives an edict, dated November 22, 643, signed by King -Rotharis, in which are included two clauses treating of the _Magistri -Comacini_ and their colleagues. The two clauses, Nos. 143 and 144, out -of the 388 inscribed in crabbed Latin, are, when anglicized, to the -following intent-- - -"Art. 143. Of the _Magister Comacinus_. If the Comacine Master with -his _colliganti_ (colleagues) shall have contracted to restore or -build the house of any person whatsoever, the contract for payment -being made, and it chances that some one shall die by the fall of the -said house, or any material or stones from it, the owner of the said -house shall not be cited by the _Magister Comacinus_ or his brethren -to compensate them for homicide or injury; because having for their -own gain contracted for the payment of the building, they must sustain -the risks and injuries thereof."[2] - -"Art. 144. Of the engaging or hiring of _Magistri_. If any person has -engaged or hired one or more of the Comacine Masters to design a work -(_conduxerit ad operam dictandum_), or to daily assist his workmen in -building a palace or a house, and it should happen that by reason of -the house some Comacine should be killed, the owner of the house is -not considered responsible; but if a pole or a stone shall kill or -injure any extraneous person, the Master builder shall not bear the -blame, but the person who hired him shall make compensation."[3] - -These laws prove that in the seventh century the _Magistri Comacini_ -were a compact and powerful guild, capable of asserting their rights, -and that the guild was properly organized, having degrees of different -ranks; that the higher orders were entitled _Magistri_, and could -"design" or "undertake" a work;--_i.e._ act as architects; and that -the _colligantes_ worked under, or with, them. In fact, a powerful -organization altogether;--so powerful and so solid, that it speaks of -a very ancient foundation. - -But when and how did it originate? - -Was it a surviving branch of the Roman _Collegium_? a decadent group -of Byzantine artists stranded in Italy? or was it of older Eastern -origin? A clever logician could prove it to be all three. - -For the Roman theory, he could base his arguments on the Latin -nomenclature of officials, and the Latin form of the churches. - -For the Byzantine theory, he would have the style of certain -ornamentations, and the assertions of German writers, such as Mueller, -and Stieglitz. - -For the ancient Eastern theory, he might plead their Hebrew and -Oriental symbolism. - -We will take the Byzantine theory first. Mueller (_Archaeologie der -Kunst_, p. 224) says that: "From Constantinople as the centre of -mechanical skill, a knowledge of art radiated to distant countries, -corporations of builders of Grecian birth were permitted to exercise a -judicial government among themselves according to the laws of the -country to which they owed allegiance;" and Stieglitz, in his _History -of Architecture_, records a _tradition_ that at the time the Lombards -were in possession of Northern Italy, _i.e._ from the sixth to the -eighth century, the Byzantine builders formed themselves into guilds -and associations, and that on account of having received from the -Popes the privilege of living according to their own laws and -ordinances, they were called Freemasons.[4] Italian and Latin writers, -however, place the advent of these Greek artists at a later period; -they are supposed to have been sculptors, who, rebelling against the -strict Iconoclasm of Leo, the Isaurian--718 A.D. to 741--came over to -Italy where art was more free, and joined the _Collegia_ there. - -But at this time most of the chief Longobardic churches were already -built by the Comacine Masters, and were Roman in form, mediaeval in -ornamentation, and full of ancient symbolism. Herr Stieglitz must have -pre-dated his tradition. Besides this I can find no sign in Italian -buildings, or writers about them, of any lasting Byzantine influence. -Indeed pure Byzantine architecture in Italy seems sporadic and -isolated, not only in regard to site, but in regard to time. The -Ravenna mosaics, a few in Rome, a little work in Venice, is all one -can call absolutely Byzantine; and the influence never spread far. The -Comacine ornamentation indeed has qualities utterly distinct in -spirit, though in some of its forms allied to Byzantine. It is -possible that some of these Eastern exiles joined the Comacine Guild, -but there is quite enough in the communications of Como with the -Greeks, to account for their having imbibed as much as they did of -Byzantine style. Some of the Bishops who were rulers of Como before -and after Lombard times were Greeks; notably Amantius the fourth, who -was translated there from Thessalonica, and his successor, S. -Abbondio. Also through the Patriarch of Aquileja, under whose -jurisdiction they were brought later, the guild was put into contact -with the Greek sculptors then at Venice, Grado, and Ravenna. - - [Illustration: COMACINE PANEL FROM THE CHURCH OF SAN CLEMENTE, ROME. - THE LATTICE-WORK IS MADE OF A SINGLE STRAND INTERLACED. DATE, 6TH - CENTURY. - _To face page 9._] - -We will leave the Oriental theory aside as too vague and traditional -for proof, depending as it does on a few Oriental symbols, and certain -forms of decoration, and will look nearer home--even to Rome, with -which a connection may certainly be found, and that in a form visible -to our modern eyes. - -Rome is almost as full of remains of what is now styled Comacine -architecture, as it is of classic and pagan ruins, and they are nearly -as deeply buried. Go where you will, and in the vestibules or crypts -of churches, now of gaudy Renaissance style, you will find the sign -and seal of the ancient guild. Investigate any church which has a -Lombard tower--and they are many--and you will discover that the hands -which built that many-windowed tower have left their mark on the church. -In that wonderful third-century basilica, which was discovered beneath -the thirteenth-century one of S. Clemente; in the almost subterranean -basilica of _S. Agnese fuori le mura_; in the vestibule of the florid -modern SS. Apostoli; in Santa Maria in Cosmedin; and various other -buildings, are wonderful old slabs of marble with complicated Comacine -knots on them. Our illustration is from a slab in San Clemente, which -was evidently from the buried church, though used as a panel in the -parapet of the existing choir. A marvellous piece of basket-work in -marble, which, if studied, will be found composed of a single cord, -twined and intertwined. An almost identical panel is preserved in the -wall of the staircase to S. Agnese, another has just been found -reversed, and the back of it used for the thirteenth-century mosaic -decoration of the pulpit in S. Maria in Cosmedin. - -Then in the later Lombard churches of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, SS. -Giovanni e Paolo, S. John Lateran, etc., one may see the crouching -Comacine lions, now mostly minus their pillars, and shoved under -square door-lintels, or built into walls, where they remain to tell of -the ancient builders whose sign and seal they were. - -And here and there we get a name. - -In the vestibule of the SS. Apostoli is a red marble lion, on the base -of which in Gothic letters is the name BASSALECTI. Beneath it is an -old inscription, "Opus magister Bassalecti Marmorari Romano sec, -XIII." This same Magister's name, spelt _Vassalecti_, has lately been -discovered inscribed on the capitals of some columns in the nave of S. -John Lateran. - -In the under church of S. Clemente, an ancient fresco of the eighth -century takes us further back than this. Here we see a veritable Roman -_Magister_ directing his men. He stands in magisterial toga (and -surely one may descry a masonic apron beneath it!), directing his men -in the moving of a marble column, and with the naive simplicity of the -primitive artist each man's name is written beside him. Albertel and -Cosmaris are dragging up the column with a rope, the sons of Pute, who -are possibly novices, are helping them, while Carvoncelle is lifting -it from behind with a lever. These men are all in short jerkins, but -the master, Sisinius, is standing in his toga, directing them with -outstretched hand. - -Here is the Magister of a Roman _Collegium_ embalmed and preserved for -us, that we may see him and his men at work as they were in the early -centuries after Christ. We know that Masonic _Collegia_ were still -existing in Rome in the time of Constantine and Theodosius; we know -that Constantine built the basilica of S. Agnese, afterwards restored -by Pope Symmachus; also those of S. Lorenzo--at least the round-arched -part of it--enlarged by Galla Placidia in the fifth century; S. Paolo -_fuori le Mura_, and other ancient churches. We see from remains -recently brought to light, that these were originally of the exact -plan of the churches built "in the Roman manner" at Hexham and York in -England, and of the Ravenna churches, and S. Pietro in Grado at Pisa, -also nearly contemporary. We further realize that all of these were -identical in style with the finer specimens of Lombard building some -centuries later. There is only the natural decline of art which would -have taken place in the century or two of barbarian invasion, between -the two epochs, but the traditionary forms, methods, etc., are all -reproduced in the Lombard-Comacine churches. Compare the -fourth-century door of the church of S. Marcello at Capua with the -eighth-century one of S. Michele at Pavia, and you will find precisely -the same style of art. Compare the Roman capitals of the church of -Santa Costanza, built by Constantine, with the capitals in any -Comacine church up to 1200, and you will see the same mixture of Ionic -and a species of Corinthian with upstanding volutes. Some of the -Comacine buildings have these upright volutes plain instead of -foliaged. The effect is rude, but I think these plainer capitals were -not a sign of incapacity in the architects of the guild, for one sees -richly ornate ones on the same building. It was only the stock design -of the inferior masters, when funds did not allow of payment for -richer work. - - [Illustration: FRESCOES IN THE SUBTERRANEAN CHURCH OF SAN CLEMENTE, - ROME. UPPER LINE, BYZANTINE, 4TH CENTURY; UNDER ONES, COMACINE, 8TH - CENTURY. - _To face page 10._] - -Therefore it may be inferred: (1) That architects of the same guild -worked in Rome and in Ravenna in the early centuries after Christ; (2) -that though the architects were Roman, the decorators up to the fourth -century were chiefly Byzantine, or had imbibed that style as their -paintings show; (3) that in the time when Rome lay a heap of ruins -under the barbarians, _the Collegium_, or _a Collegium_, I know not -which, fled to independent Como; and there in after centuries they -were employed by the Longobards, and ended in again becoming a -powerful guild. - -Hope, the author of an historical Essay on Architecture, had a keen -prevision of this guild, although he had no documents or archives, but -only the testimony of old stones and buildings to prove it. After -sketching the formation of the Roman _Collegia_, and the employment -of their members as Christian architects under the early Popes, he -says "that a number of these, finding their work in Rome gone in the -times of invasion, banded together to do such work in other parts of -the world." He seems to think that the nucleus of this union was -Lombardy, where the superiority of the architecture, under the Lombard -kings, was such that the term _Magistri Comacini_ became almost a -generic name for architects. He says that builders and sculptors -formed a single grand fraternity, whose scope was to find work outside -Italy. Indeed distance and obstacles were nothing to them; they -travelled to England under Augustine, to Germany with St. Boniface, to -France with Charlemagne, and again to Germany with their brother -_magister_, Albertus Magnus; they went to the east under the Eastern -Emperors, to the south under the Lombard Dukes, and in fact are found -everywhere through many centuries. The Popes, one after another, gave -them privileges. Indeed the builders may be considered an army of -artisans working in the interest of the Popes, in all places where the -missionaries who preceded them had prepared the ground for them. - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF STA. COSTANZA, ROME. BUILT IN THE 4TH - CENTURY. - (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _See page 11._] - -Diplomas and papal bulls confirmed to the guild the privileges they -had obtained under their national sovereigns, and besides guaranteed -their safety in every Catholic country which they visited for the -scope of their association. They assumed the right to depend wholly -and solely on the Pope, which absolved them from the observance of all -local laws and statutes, royal edicts, and municipal regulations, and -released them from servitude, as well as all other obligations imposed -on the people of the country. They had not only the power of fixing -their own _honorarium_, but the exclusive right of regulating in their -own lodges everything that appertained to their own internal -government. Those diplomas and bulls prohibited any other artist, -extraneous to the guild, from establishing any kind of competition -with them.... Encouraged by such a special protection, the Romans -in great numbers entered the Masonic Guild, particularly when they -were destined to accompany the missionaries sent by the Pope to -countries hitherto unvisited by them. The Greeks also did not delay to -take part. The Exarchate of Ravenna, first detached from the Greek -Empire by the power of the Lombard princes, had by King Pepin been -given to the Popes.... The commercial relations and communications of -all kinds maintained with Constantinople by the many cities of -Northern Italy, daily attracted many Greeks to this city; finally, the -political turbulence of Constantinople, and chiefly the fanaticism of -the Iconoclasts, continued to associate Greek artists with Italy, and -many of these were received in the lodges, whose number constantly -increased. - - [Illustration: DOOR OF THE CHURCH OF S. MARCELLO AT CAPUA, 4TH - CENTURY. - (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _To face page_ 11 or 13.] - -As civilization became more diffused, the inhabitants of northern -countries, French, Germans, Belgians, and English, were admitted to -form part of these guilds. Without this concession they would probably -have had to fear a perilous competition, encouraged by the sovereigns -of other countries.... These corporations were always in league with -the Church, which in those times of war and constant struggle, of -military service and feudal slavery, was the only asylum for those who -wished to cultivate the arts of peace. Therefore we see ecclesiastics -of high rank, abbots, prelates, bishops, exalting the respect in which -the Freemasons were held, by joining the guild as members. They gave -designs for their own churches, overlooked the building, and employed -their own monks in the manual labour. - -Such is broadly the substance of Hope's account of the great Lombard -Guild. It shows remarkable insight, for when he wrote, the documentary -evidences which have lately been collected were wanting.[5] It also -explains precisely the close connection with monks and the Church, -which appears in all the story of the guild, and it accounts for the -Greek influence in the ornamentation. - -In all the course of the history of building we see that each country -or province had to obtain its architects from this _Collegium_ at -Rome, as Villani says all the cities of Italy did, and were obliged to -apply to the Grand Master of the whole guild. Thus the early Popes had -to beg architects for Rome from the Lombard kings; Pope Adrian had to -apply to Charlemagne for builders; and so on up to the time when all -the church-building Communes had to seek architects from some existing -lodge. - -Giovanni Villani shows us the intimate connection of the Roman -_Collegium_ with Florence. He says that after Caesar had destroyed -Fiesole he wished to build another city to be called Cesaria, but the -Senate would not permit this. The Senate, however, gave his Generals -Macrinus, Albinus, Cneus Pompey, and Martius equal power to build, and -between them they founded Florence, bringing the water from Monte -Morello by an aqueduct. Villani says the _Magistri_ came from Rome for -all these works. That was in the days when the great masonic company -had their Grand Lodge in Rome, before the martyrdom of the _Santi -Quattro_, afterwards their patron saints. - -In Chapter XLII. Villani relates how when the citizens of Florence -wished to build a temple to Mars, they sent to the Senate of Rome to -beg that they would supply the most capable and clever _Magistri_ that -Rome could furnish. This was done,[6] and the Baptistery was erected -in its first form. - -Again whilst Charlemagne and Pope Adrian were employing the Comacines -to rebuild the ruins of Rome, we find from Villani (lib. iii. chap. 1) -that Charlemagne sent some Romans with "all the masters there were in -Rome" (e vennero con quanti maestri n'avea in Roma per piu tosto -murarla) to fortify Florence, which had appealed to him for succour -against the Fiesolans. In this manner, says Villani, "the _Magistri_ -who came with the Romans began to rebuild our noble city of Florence." - -As early as the fifth century Cassiodorus seems to refer to the work -of the Comacines when writing about the "public architects"--the very -expression implies a public company--and admiring the grand Italian -edifices with their "airy columns, slight as canes," he adds, "to be -called _Magister_ is an honour to be coveted, for the word always -stands for great skill."[7] - -This brings us to the question of the Latin nomenclature. No really -qualified Comacine architect is ever mentioned either in sculptured -inscription, parchment deed, or in the registers of the lodges, -without the prefix _Magister_, a title which Cassiodorus, for one, -respected. It was not a term applied indiscriminately to all builders, -like _murarius_; and we find that the subordinate ranks of -stone-cutters or masons were called by the generic name of -_operarius_. I take it that the word, as applied to the higher rank of -the Comacine Guild, has the same value as the title of _Master_ in the -old trade guilds of London, _i.e._ one who has passed through the -lower rank of the schools and laborerium, and has by his completed -education risen to the stage of perfection, when he may teach others. - -Morrona[8] gives the same definition. Judging from ancient -inscriptions and documents, he says that "operator" (Latin -_operarius_) is used for one who works materially; while _Magister_ -signifies the architect who designs and commands. When a _Magister_ -carries out his own designs, he is said to be _operator ipse -magister_, as in the case of Magister Rainaldus, who designed and -sculptured the facade of the Duomo at Pisa. - -In warlike times such as the Middle Ages, the only means by which -artisans could protect their interests was by mutual protection, and -hence the necessity and origin of Trade Guilds in general. The Masonic -one appears to have been a universal fraternity with an earlier -origin; indeed many of their symbols point to a very ancient Eastern -derivation, and it is probable it was the prototype of all other -guilds. - -Since I began writing this chapter a curious chance has brought into -my hands an old Italian book on the institutions, rites, and -ceremonies of the order of Freemasons.[9] Of course the anonymous -writer begins with Adoniram, the architect of Solomon's Temple, who -had so very many workmen to pay, that not being able to distinguish -them by name, he divided them into three different classes, _novices_, -_operatori_, and _magistri_, and to each class gave a secret set of -signs and passwords, so that from these their fees could be easily -fixed, and imposture avoided. It is interesting to know that precisely -the same divisions and classes existed in the Roman _Collegium_ and -the Comacine Guild--and that, as in Solomon's time, the great symbols -of the order were the endless knot, or Solomon's knot, and the "Lion -of Judah." - -Our author goes on to tell of the second revival of Freemasonry, in -its present entirely spiritual significance, and he gives Oliver -Cromwell, of all people, the credit of this revival! The rites and -ceremonies he describes are the greatest tissue of mediaeval -superstition, child's play, blood-curdling oaths, and mysterious -secrecy with nothing to conceal, that can be imagined. All the signs -of masonry without a figment of reality; every moral thing masquerades -under an architectural aspect, in that "Temple made without hands" -which is figured by a Freemasons' lodge in these days. But the -significant point is that all these names and masonic emblems point to -something real which existed at some long-past time, _and, as far as -regards the organization and nomenclature, we find the whole thing in -its vital and actual working form in the Comacine Guild_. Our nameless -Italian who reveals all the Masonic secrets, tells us that every lodge -has three divisions, one for the novices, one for the _operatori_ or -working brethren, and one for the masters, besides a meeting or -recreation room; and that no lodge can be established without a -minimum of two masters. Now wherever we find the Comacines at work, we -find the threefold organization of _schola_ or school for the novices, -_laborerium_ for the _operatori_, and the _Opera_ or _Fabbrica_ for -the Masters of Administration. - -The anonymous one tells us that there is a _Gran Maestro_ or -_Arch-magister_ at the head of the whole order, a _Capo Maestro_ or -chief Master at the head of each lodge. Every lodge must besides be -provided with two or four _Soprastanti_, a treasurer, and a -secretary-general, besides accountants. This is precisely what we find -in the organization of the Comacine Lodges. As we follow them through -the centuries we shall see it appearing in city after city, at first -dimly shadowed where documents are wanting, but at last fully revealed -by the books of the treasurers and _Soprastanti_ themselves, in Siena, -Florence, and Milan. - -Thus, though there is no certain proof that the Comacines were the -veritable stock from which the pseudo-Freemasonry of the present day -sprang, we may at least admit that they were a link between the -classic _Collegia_ and all other art and trade guilds of the Middle -Ages. They were called Freemasons because they were builders of a -privileged class, absolved from taxes and servitude, and free to -travel about in times of feudal bondage. The term was applied to them -both in England and Germany. Findel quotes two old English MSS., one -of 1212, where the words "_sculptores lapidum liberorum_" are in close -conjunction with _coementari_, which is the oldest Latin form for -builder; and another dated 1396, where occurs the phrase "_latomos -vocatos fremaceons_." In the rolls of the building of Exeter and -Canterbury cathedrals the word _Freimur_ is frequent, and no better -proof can be given of the way the early Masonic guild came into -England. The Italian term _liberi muratori_ went into Germany with the -Comacine Masters, who built Lombard buildings in many a German city, -before Gothic ones were known; thence it passed Teutonized as -_Freimur_ into England.[10] - -Cesare Cantu (_Storia di Como_, vol. i. p. 440) thus describes the -Guild-- - -"Our Como architects certainly gave the name to the Masonic companies, -which, I believe, had their origin at this time, though some claim to -derive them from Solomon. These were called together in the _Loggie_ -(hence Lodge) by a grand-master to treat of affairs common to the -order, to accept novices, and confer superior degrees on others. The -chief Lodge had other dependencies, and all members were instructed in -their duties to the Society, and taught to direct every action to the -glory of the Lord and His worship; to live faithful to God and the -Government; to lend themselves to the public good and fraternal -charity. In the dark times which were slowly becoming enlightened, -they communicated to each other ideas on architecture, buildings, -stone-cutting, the choice of materials and good taste in design. -Strength, force, and beauty were their symbols. Bishops, princes, men -of high rank who studied architecture fraternized with them, but the -mixture of so many different classes changed in time the spirit of the -Freemasons. The original forms of building were lost when the science -fell into the hands and caprice of venal artisans."[11] - -We shall see the way in which the Comacines spread fraternity wherever -they went. When they began building in any new place, they generally -founded a lodge there, which comprised a _laborerium_ and school. Thus -we find one under the Antellami family in Parma before 1200, and not -long after one in Modena under the same masters from Campione. The -lodge is clearly defined at Orvieto and Siena. In Lucca there was a -_laborerium_ before the year 1000. In 1332 it had obtained privileges. -At Milan there was evidently another, for on February 3, 1383, the -archbishop invites the architects _Fratelli_ (brethren), and others -who understand the work, to inspect the models for the cathedral; now -these words evidently refer to a Masonic brotherhood, as does the term -_Opera Magiestatem_ so often met with in old documents. - -In the Marches of Ancona is a sepulchre inscribed to the _fratres -Comacini_, and in the Abruzzi are chapels dedicated by them. In Rome -it is recorded that they met in the church of SS. Quattro Coronati. -These patron saints of the guild, the four holy crowned ones (Santi -Quattro Coronati), strike me as having a peculiar significance in -regard to their origin. We are told that during the persecutions under -Diocletian, four brethren, named Nicostratus, Claudius, Castorio, and -Superian[12] (either brothers, or more likely members of the same -_Collegium_), who were famous for their skill in building and -sculpture, refused to exercise their art for the pagan Emperor. "We -cannot," they said, "build a temple for false gods, nor shape images -in wood or stone to ensnare the souls of others." They were all -martyred in different ways: one scourged, one shut up and tortured in -an iron case, one thrown into the sea; the other was decapitated. -Their relics were in the time of St. Leo placed in four urns, and -deposited in the crypt of the church, which was built to their honour, -in the time of Honorius, by the Comacines then in Rome. It has always -been the especial church of the guild, and their meeting-place. They -had an altar dedicated to the same saints at Siena, and another at -Venice. We find from the statutes of the Sienese guild as late as the -fourteenth century, that the _fete_ of the "Quattro" was kept in a -special manner by the Masonic guild. All the Church _fetes_ are -classed together as days when no work is to be done, but the day of -the SS. Quattro has two laws all to itself, and is kept with peculiar -ceremonies.[13] - -On the altar of this church on Mount Aventine are silver busts of the -four Magister martyrs; and on the wall is an ancient inscription, as -follows-- - - BEATVS LEO IIII PAPA - PARITER SVB HOC SACRO ALT[=R] - RE[=C]DENS COLLOCAV[=I] CORPO[=R] SC[=O] - [=MR] CL[AV]DII NICOST[=I] SEMPRO[=N]I - CAS[=T] ET SIM[=P] ET HII F[=R]M SEVERI - SEVERIANI CARPOFORI ET VICTO - RINI [MA]RII AVDIFAX EABBAC[=V] - FELICISSIMO ET AGAPITO YPPOL[=T] - OVDE C[=V] SVA FA[=M]L N[=V]O X ET - VIIII ACQVILINI ET PRISCI ARSEI - AQVNI NARCISI ET MARCELLI - NI FELICIS SIMETRII CANDI - DAE ATO PAVLINAE ANASTASII - ET FELICIS APOLLIONIS - ET BENEDICTI VENANTII - ATO FELICIS DIOGENIS ET LI - BERALIS FESTI ET MARCELLI - ATO SVPERANTII PVDENTIA[=N]E - ET BENEDICTI FELICIS ET BENE - DICTI NEC[=N] CAPITA SANCTO - PROTI S[=C]EO CECILIA E - S[=CI] ALEXANDRI S[=C]IO XISTI - ET S[=CI] SEBASTIANI ATQ - SACRATISSIME VIRGINIS - PRAXEDIS ET ALIA MVLTA - CORPORA SANCTORVM - QVORVM NOMINA DEO - SVNT COGNITA - -If I interpret the abbreviations [=MR]. [=FR]M and F[=AM]L aright, -this inscription would imply that members of each of the three grades -of the Roman Masonic guild, Magister, Fratres, and Famuli -(apprentices), were martyred together, and their remains placed in -this church with the relics of some proto-martyrs. The _Magistri_ were -afterwards canonized, and the four I have named became the patron -saints of the guild. S. Carpophorus was held in special veneration in -Como, of which place he was probably a native, or else a Greek member -of the Comacine Lodge there. - -The other side of the inscription chronicles the restoration of the -altar which was ruined and broken down, in the time of Pope Paschalis -Secundus, A.D. 1111, in the fourth Indiction. - -The church of the SS. Quattro has remains of a fine atrium or portico. -In the wall of the atrium is a fragment of _intreccio_. The original -form of the church is well preserved, and is identical with that of S. -Agnese, _fuori le mura_. The gallery for the women is well preserved. - -The especial veneration for the four crowned martyrs seems to point to -their Roman origin, and to specify the reason why the remnant of the -particular _Collegium_ to which they belonged fled from Rome, and took -refuge in the safe little republic of Como, so that it was not only -the Goths and Vandals from whom they fled. It explains also the -intense religion in their work, and rules; the very first principles -of which were to respect God's name, and do all to His glory. - -It need not excite wonder that any guild should have fled from Rome in -these centuries. This was the time that Gregory the Great, painted so -graphically in his passionate Homily of Ezechiel, preached at Rome. -"Everywhere see we mourning, hear we laments; cities, strongholds, -villages are devastated; the earth is a desert. No busy peasants are -in the fields, few people in the cities, and these last relics of -human kind daily suffer new wounds. There is no end to the scourging -of God's judgment.... We see some carried into slavery, others cruelly -mutilated, and yet more killed. What joy, oh my brethren, is left to -us in life? If it is still dear to us we must look for wounds, and not -for pleasures. Behold Rome, once Queen of the world, to what is she -reduced?--prostrated by the sorrows and desolation of her citizens, by -the fierceness of her enemies and frequent ruin, the prophecy against -Samaria has been fulfilled in her. Here no longer have we a senate; -the people are perished, save the few who still suffer daily. Rome is -empty, and has barely escaped the flames; her buildings are thrown -down. The fate of Nineveh is already upon her...."[14] - -The Longobard invaders were more merciful than the Goths, for not long -after their rule was over, another Pope wrote to Pepin--"Erat sanae hoc -mirabile in regno Longobardorum, nulla erat violenta nulla struebantur -insidiae. Nemo aliquem iniuste angariabat, nemo spoliabat. Non erat -furta, non latrocinia, unusquisque quodlibebat securus sine timore -pergebat."--_Histor. Franc. Scrip._ Tom. III. cap. xvi. - -Whatever the moving cause, the fact remains that in the Middle Ages -the Comacine Masters had a nucleus on that strong little fortified -island of Comacina, which, together with Como itself, stood against -the Lombards in the sixth century for twenty years before being -subjugated; and in the twelfth, held its own independence for a -quarter of a century against Milan and the Lombard League, which it -refused to join. - -When at length the Longobards became their rulers, they respected -their art and privileges. The guild remained free as it had been -before, and in this freedom its power must have increased fast. - -The Masters worked liberally for their new lords, but it was as paid -architects, not as serfs. As a proof we may cite an edict signed by -King Luitprand on February 28, 713. It is entitled _Memoratorio_, and -is published by Troya in his _Codex Diplomaticus Longobardus_. - -It fixes the prices of every kind of building. Here are the titles of -the seven clauses, referring to the payments of the _Magistri -Comacini_: _De Mercede Comacinorum_-- - -CLVII. Capit. i. De Sala. "Si sala fecerit, etc." - -CLVIII. Capit. ii. De Muro. "Si vero murum fecerit qui usque ad pedem -unum sit grossus ... cum axes clauserit et opera gallica fecerit ... -si arcum volserit, etc." - -Capit. iii. De annonam Comacinorum. - -CLIX. Capit. iv. De opera. - -CLX. Similiter romanense si fecerit, sic repotet sicut gallica opera. - -Capit. v. De Caminata. - -CLXI. Capit. vi. De marmorariis. - -CLXII. Si quis axes marmoreas fecerit ... et si columnas fecerit de -pedes quaternos aut quinos ... - -Capit. vii. De furnum. - -CLXIII. Capit. viii. De Puteum. Si quis puteum fecerit ad pedes -centum.[15] - -The Longobard rule explains why the Comacine Masters of the thirteenth -century were known as Lombards, and the architecture of that time as -the "Lombard style." In the same way they were called _Franchi_ when -Charlemagne was their king; and _Tedeschi_ when the German dynasty -conquered North Italy; if indeed the words _artefici Franchi_ do not -merely signify Freemasons, which I strongly suspect is the true -meaning. - -To understand the connection of this guild of architects with little -Como we must glance backwards at the state of that province under the -Romans, when it was a colony ruled by a prefect. Junius Brutus himself -was one of these rulers, and Pliny the Younger a later one. At this -time Como was a large and flourishing city. It had in Caesar's time a -theatre whose ruins were found near S. Fedele; a gymnasium for the -games, which was near the present church of Santa Chiara. A document -dated 1500 speaks of the Arena of Como as then still existing. The -_campus martius_ was at S. Carpoforo, where several Roman -inscriptions, urns, and medals were found. This valuable collection of -Latin inscriptions, found in and about Como, proves the successive -rule of emperors, prefects, military tribunes, naval prefects, -Decurions, etc. We have records also of Senators, Decemviri, and other -municipal magistrates. The inscriptions also show that there were -temples to Jove, Neptune, the _Dea Bona_, the Manes, the _Dea Mater_, -Silvanus, AEsculapius, Mars, Diana, Hygeia, and even Isis. - -Some Cippi are dedicated to Mercury and Hercules; and one found near -S. Maria di Nullate was inscribed by order of the Comacines to -_Fortuna Obsequente_, "for the health of the citizens." To this day a -_Prato Pagano_ (pagan field) exists near Como. All these proofs, -together with Pliny's testimony, go to show that Como was in Roman -times an important centre, and as such was likely to have its own -_Collegia_ or trade guilds, to one of which probably Pliny's builder, -Mustio, belonged, and to which the Roman refugees naturally fled as -brethren. - -Pliny the Younger at that time lived at Como, in his delightful villa, -_Comedia_. In his grounds, on a high hill, were the ruins of the -temple of the Eleusinian Ceres, and he determined to restore this -temple, as devotees flocked there during the Ides of September, and -had no refuge from sun or rain.[16] His letter to "Mustio," a Comacine -architect, gives the commission for this restoration, and after -explaining the form he wished the design to take, he concludes--"At -least unless you think of something better, you, whose art can always -overcome difficulties of position." For Pliny, fresh from Rome, to -give such praise to an architect at Como, shows that even at that time -good masters existed there. - -Another letter of Pliny's (Lib. X. Epist. xlii.) speaks of the villa -of his friend Caninus Rufus, on the same lake, with its beautiful -porticoes and baths, etc., and of the many other villas, palaces, -temples, forums, etc., which embellished Como and its neighbourhood. - -Catullus lived here when the poet Caecilius, whose works have now -perished, invited him to leave the hills of Como, and the shores of -Lario, to join him in Verona. - -Pliny seems to confirm the existence of guilds,[17] as he speaks of -the institution of a _Collegium_ of iron-workers, who wished to be -patented by the Emperor, but Trajan refused to form new guilds, for -fear of the _Hetaeriae_ or factions which might infiltrate into them. - -Mommsen, in his work _De Collegiis et Sodalitiis Romanorum_, says -that under the emperors no guild was allowed to hold meetings, except -by special laws, yet though new companies were not to be formed, the -existing ones of architects and artisans were permitted to continue -after public liberty was lost. Several documents prove that the chief -scope of these unions was to promote the interests of their art, to -provide mutual assistance in the time of need, to succour the sick and -poor, and to bury the dead. - -The trade guilds in London, the _Arti_ in Florence, and the town clubs -kept up in England till lately, seem to be all survivals of these -ancient classical societies. - -Besides the Builders' Society, Como had, in Roman times, a nautical -guild. An inscription is extant, dedicated to C. Messius Fortunatus by -the _Collegium nautarum Comensium_. This guild sent twenty ships of -war to Venice in Barbarossa's time. - -But besides having privileged societies, Como and its Comacine islands -were a privileged territory, and might almost have been called a -republic. We have, it is true, no documentary evidence of this dating -back to pre-Longobardic times, but as Otho in 962[18] confirmed the -islands in all former privileges granted by his predecessors on the -Imperial throne, we may fairly suppose the privileges dated from times -far anterior to himself. - -This is an anglicized version of his decree, which was granted on the -petition of the Empress Adelaide-- - -"In the name of the Holy and indivisible Trinity, Otho, by the will of -God, august Emperor. If we incline to the demands of our faithful -people, much more should we lend our ear to the prayers of our beloved -consort. Know then, all ye faithful subjects of the Holy Church of -God, present and future, that the august Empress Adelaide, our wife, -invokes our clemency, that for her sake we receive under our -protection the inhabitants of the Comacine islands, and surrounding -places known as Menasie (_sic_), and we confirm all the privileges -which they have enjoyed under our predecessors, and under ourselves -before we were anointed Emperor, viz. they shall not be called on for -military service, nor have _arbergario_ (taxes on roads and bridges), -nor pay _curatura_ (tax on beasts), _terratico_ (tax on land), -_ripatico_ (on ships), or the _decimazione_ (tax on householders) of -our kingdom, neither shall they be obliged to serve in our councils, -except the general assembly at Milan, which they shall attend three -times a year. All this we concede, etc. Given on the 8th before the -calends of September, in the year of the Incarnation 962, first year -of the reign of the most pious Otho."--_Indiction V. in Como._ - -The hypothesis that this decree refers to a long-existing liberty is -confirmed by the history of Como in the time of Justinian I. Up to the -middle of the sixth century a certain Imperial Governor of Insubria, -named Francione, who had seen Rome sacked and his own state taken, -fled to Comacina as a free place of refuge when Alboin invaded Italy. -He helped the Comacines to hold out against the barbarians for more -than twenty years, and so secure was the place considered that the -island was by Narses and others made the depositary of infinite -treasures. With him multitudes of Romans had taken refuge there, but -finally even this fell into the hands of the Longobards. We are told -that Autharis subjugated Istria, and after a six months' siege, -possessed himself of the very strongly fortified island of Comacina on -the lake of Como, where he found immense treasures, doubtless part of -the traditional wealth amassed by Narses, and which as well as much -private property had been deposited here for security by the -neighbouring peoples.[19] - -Here then, four centuries before Otho's decree, we have Comacina as a -place of refuge in troublous times, chosen because, being a free city, -it was considered more safe than other towns. We need not then -consider it improbable, if in the dark centuries when the Roman Empire -was dying out, and its glorious temples and streets falling into ruin -under the successive inroads of half-savage despoilers; when the arts -and sciences were falling into disuse or being enslaved; and when no -place was safe from persecution and warfare, the guild of the -Architects should fly for safety to almost the only free spot in -Italy; and here, though they could no longer practise their craft, -they preserved the legendary knowledge and precepts which, as history -implies, came down to them through Vitruvius from older sources, some -say from Solomon's builders themselves. - -Among the treasures must have been works of Greek and Roman art, that -kept alive the old spirit among the guild of builders gathered there; -but alas! after the long generations when art was decaying, and -uncalled for, their hands lost their skill, they could no longer -reproduce the perfect works. - -It was here the Longobards found them, and in their new Christian zeal -soon furnished them with work enough. - -LONGOBARD KINGS - - 568. Alboin conquers Italy; he was poisoned by his wife Rosamund - for compelling her to drink out of her father's skull. - - 573. Cleoph (assassinated). - - 575. Autharis (poisoned). - - 591. Agilulf. - - 615. Adaloald. He was poisoned. - - 625. Ariold. - - 636. Rotharis. He married Ariold's widow, and published a code - of laws. - - 652. Rodoald (son), assassinated. - - 653. Aribert (uncle). - - 661. Bertharis and Godebert (sons); dethroned by-- - - 662. Grimoald, Duke of Beneventum. - - 671. Bertharis (re-established). - - 686. Cunibert (son). - - 700. Luitbert; dethroned by-- - - 701. Ragimbert. - - 701. Aribert II. (son). - - 712. Ansprand elected. - - 712. Luitprand (son); a great prince, favourite of the Church. - - 744. Hildebrand (nephew), deposed. - - 744. Ratchis, Duke of Friuli, elected, but afterwards became a monk. - - 749. Astolfo (brother). - - 756. Desiderius, quarrelled with Pope Adrian, who invited Charlemagne - to Italy. He defeated and dethroned Desiderius, and - put an end to the Lombard kingdom. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] "Si Magister Comacinus, cum collegis suis, domum ad restaurandum, -vel fabricandum super se placito finito de mercede susceperit, et -contigerit aliquem per ipsam domum aut materiam, aut lapide lapso -moti, aut quodlibet damnum fieri, non requiratur domino, cuius domus -fuerit, nisi Magister Comacinus cum consortibus suis ipsum homicidium -aut damnum componat, qui postquam fabulam firmatam de mercede pro suo -lucro susciperit, non immerito sustinet damnum." - -[3] "Si quis Magister Comacinum unum aut plures rogaverit, aut -conduxerit ad operam dictandum, aut solatium diurnum praestandum inter -suos servos ad domum aut casam faciendam et contigerit per ipsam -casam, aliquem ex ipsis Comacinis mori non requiratur ab ipso, cuius -casa est. Nam si cadens arbor, aut lapis ex ipsa fabrica, et occiderit -aliquem extraneum, aut quodlibet damnum fecerit, non reputetur culpa -magistro, sed ille qui conduxit, ipsum damnum sustineat."--From the -_Edict of Rotharis_--edited by Troyes. - -[4] Stieglitz, _Geschichte der Baukunst_, 1827, pp. 423, 424. See also -Hope's _Historical Essay on Architecture_, 1835, pp. 229-237. - -[5] See Hope's _Historical Essay on Architecture_, 3rd edition, 1840, -chap. xxi. pp. 203-216. - -[6] E mandaro al Senato di Roma, che mandassi loro i piu sofficienti -maestri, e piu sottili (subtle) che fossero in Roma: e cosi fu -fatto.--_Storia_ di G. Villani. Libro primo, cap. xlii. - -[7] Cassiodorus, _Variorum_, Lib. VI. Epist. vi. _Ad Prefectum Urbis -De Architecta Publicorum_. - -[8] Morrona, _Pisa illustrata nelle Arti del Disegno_, p. 160. Pisa, -1812. - -[9] _Instituzioni, riti e ceremonie dell' ordine de' Francs-Macons, -ossia Liberi Muratori._--In Venezia MDCCLXXXVIII, presso Leonardo -Bassaglia, Con Licenza de' Superiori. - -[10] The Charter Richard II. for the year 1396, quoted in the _Masonic -Magazine_ (1882), has the following entry--"341 Concessimus -archiepiscopo Cantuar, quod, viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatus ffre -Maceons et viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ligiers ... capere ... -possit." Here then at Canterbury is the same thing as at Milan, and -all other ancient cathedral-building cities,--the master builders are -Freemasons, _i.e._ of the great and universal guild,--the underlings -who assist them have not the same rank and privilege. The Act Henry -VI., c. 12, 1444, says in queer mixed parlance--"Les gagez ascun frank -mason ou maister Carpenter nexcede pas par le jour IIIJ d. (denari) -ovesque mangier & boier ... un rough mason and mesne Carpenter ... III -d. par le jour." Here we recognize the same distinction of grades -between the master who has matriculated and the mason of lower grade. -It is interesting also to note that the master carpenter is equally a -Freemason as well as the master builder. In Italy the same peculiarity -is noticeable; the _magister lignamine_, whose work was to make -scaffoldings and roofs, is a member of the _Maestranze_, just as much -as the _magister lapidorum_, and yet a master in wood is never a -stonemason. The members seem to have been grounded in all the -branches, but only graduated in one of them. The author of the article -"Freemason" in the _New English Dictionary on Historical Principles_, -seems to be perplexed over the expression "_maestre mason de franche -peer_" ("master mason of free-stone"); but this is merely the -equivalent of the Latin _magister lapidus vivum_, from _Saxum vivum_, -free-stone, which merely means a sculptor, in distinction to an -architect, who was _magister inzignorum_. - -[11] At one era in Lombard times a law was made that no marble was to -be used in building, except by royal persons--which accounts for all -the Lombard churches being sculptured in _Saxum vivum_, or free-stone. -There may have been a similar custom in England where marble was -scarce. - -[12] There were other five martyrs of the Masonic guild, whose names -have been given as Carpoferus, Severus, Severanus, Victorianus, and -Symphorian. I have taken the four "Coronati" from the statutes of the -Venetian _Arte_. - -[13] Mrs. Jameson finds the Santi Quattro illustrated in a predella in -Perugia Academy. In one scene they are kneeling before the Emperor -with their implements in their hands. In another they are bound to -four columns and tortured. In a third they are in an iron cage and -being thrown into the sea. In their own church they are represented as -lying in one sarcophagus with crowns on their heads. In sculpture they -also occur on the facades of several early churches; on the Arco di S. -Agostino, and lastly on Or San Michele at Florence, where Nanni di -Banco had so much trouble in squeezing the four of them into one -niche, that Donatello had to help him. These sculptures were placed by -the _Arte_ of masons and stone-cutters, and they naturally chose their -patron saints. - -[14] _Gregor. Epist._ Tom. III. Epist. iv. an. 755. - -[15] Pietro Giannone, an exile from Naples, contemporary of Muratori, -was the first to mention this _Memoratorio_, which he said he had seen -among the precious codices of the monks at Cava dei Tirreni; that it -contained 152 laws, seven of which were added specially for the -Comacine Masters. - -[16] See _Epistola ad Mustio_, 39, lib. ix. - -[17] Lib. X. Epist. xliii. - -[18] Muratori, _Novus Thesaurus veterum Inscriptorum_, Vol. I. chap. -vii. p. 526. - -[19] _Antiq. Long. Mil._ Tom. I. chap. i. p. 17. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE COMACINES UNDER THE LONGOBARDS - - -LONGOBARD MASTERS - - -----+------+-------------------------+------------------------------- - |About | | - 1. | 712 |Magister Ursus | Sculptured the altar at - | | | Ferentilla, and a ciborium at - | | | S. Giorgio di Valpolicella, - | | | for King Luitprand. - | | | - 2&3. | 712 |M. Ivvintino and Ivviano.| Disciples of Ursus. - | | (Joventino and | - | | Joviano) | - | | | - 4. | " |Magister Giovanni | Made the tomb of S. Cumianus. - | | | - 5. | 739 |M. Rodpert | Worked at Toscanella, and - | | | bought land there. - | | | - 6. | 742 |M. Piccone | Architect employed by Gunduald - | | | at Lucca: he received a gift - | | | of lands in Sabine in 742. - | | | - 7. | |M. Auripert | A painter patronized by King - | | | Astolph. - -----+------+-------------------------+------------------------------- - -It was on April 2, 568, that the Longobards under Alboin, with their -wives and children and with all their belongings, "_colle loro mogli e -figli, e con tutte le sostanze loro_," first came down and took -Friuli. Alboin gave the government there to Gisulph, his nephew, -leaving with him many of the chief and bravest families, and a -high-bred race of horses (_generosa razza di cavalli_). - -Next he took Vicenza and Verona, and in September 569 passed into -Liguria--which then extended from the Adda to the Ligurian Sea,--and -conquered Milan. To this add Emilia, and later, Ravenna and Tuscany, -and the first Lombard kingdom was complete. - -From this kingdom depended the three dukedoms of Friuli, Spoleto, and -Beneventum. The last was added in the time of Autharis (575-591) when, -like Canute, he rode into the sea at Reggio in Calabria, and touching -the waves with his lance, cried--"These alone shall be the boundary of -the Longobards."[20] - -This Autharis married Theodolinda, a Christian. He was an Arian, but -by her means he became Catholic. After his death, in 590, she chose -Agilulf, who reigned with her twenty-five years.[21] - -Paulus Diaconus gives the following very pretty account of -Theodolinda's two betrothals-- - -"It was expedient for Autharis, the young King of the Lombards, to -take a wife, and an ambassador was sent to Garibald, King of Bavaria, -to propose an alliance with his daughter Theodolinda. Autharis -disguised himself as one of the suite, with the object of seeing -beforehand what his bride was like. She was sent for by her father and -bidden to hand some wine to the guests. Having served the ambassador -first, she handed the cup to Autharis, and in giving him the serviette -after drinking, he managed to press her hand. The princess blushed, -and told the incident to her nurse, who in a prophetic manner assured -her that he must be the king himself, or he would not have dared to -touch her. - -"Soon after, on the Franks invading Bavaria, Theodolinda with her -brother fled to Italy, where Autharis met her near Verona, and the -marriage was solemnized on the Ides of May, A.D. 589. - -"Amongst the guests were Agilulf, Duke of Turin, and with him a youth -of his suite, son of an augur; in a sudden storm a tree near them was -struck by lightning, on which the young augur said to Agilulf--'The -bride who has arrived to-day will shortly wed you.' Agilulf was so -angry at what seemed a disrespect to the king and queen, that he -threatened to cut off his page's head, who replied--'I may die, but I -cannot change destiny.' And truly, when a few years after Autharis was -poisoned at Pavia, Theodolinda's people were so attached to her, that -they offered her the kingdom if she would elect a Longobard as -husband. - -"Destiny had decreed that she should choose Agilulf. The same ceremony -of offering him a cup of wine was gone through, and he kissed her hand -as she gave it. The queen blushing said--'He who has a right to the -mouth need not kiss the hand.' So Agilulf knew that he was her chosen -king. - -"She was a Christian, and a favourite disciple of Gregory the Great. -Her good life and prayers were able to convert Agilulf to orthodox -Christianity, for like many Longobards of the time he had fallen into -the Arian heresy. In gratitude for this she vowed a church to St. John -Baptist, and a miraculous voice inspired her as to the site at -Modoecia, or '_oppidum moguntiaci_.'" - -It was under these Christianized invaders that the Comacine Masters -became active and influential builders again, and it is here that the -actual history of the guild begins. - -It is apparent that what are called Lombard buildings could not have -been the work of the Longobards themselves. Symonds realized this -difficulty, but had not solved the question as to _who_ built the -Lombard churches, when he wrote[22]--"The question of the genesis of -the Lombard style, is one of the most difficult in Italian art -history. I would not willingly be understood to speak of Lombard -architecture in any sense different from that in which it is usual to -speak of Norman. To suppose that either the Lombards or the Normans -had a style of their own, prior to their occupation of districts from -the monuments of which they learned rudely to use the decayed Roman -manner, would be incorrect. Yet it seems impossible to deny that both -Normans and Lombards, in adapting antecedent models, added something -of their own, specific to themselves as northerners. The Lombard, like -the Norman, or the Rhenish Romanesque, is the first stage in the -progressive mediaeval architecture of its own district." - -It appears possible, however, that the Longobards had very little to -do with the architecture of their era except as patrons. Was there -ever a stone Lombard building known out of Italy before Alboin and his -hordes crossed the Alps? or even in Italy during the reigns of Alboin -and Cleoph, their first kings? - -But there were older buildings of precisely the same style, in Italy -and in Como itself, dating from the time when the Bishops ruled, long -before the Longobards came. There were the churches of S. Abbondio and -S. Fedele. The latter was built in Abbondio's own time, about 440-489, -and first dedicated to S. Euphemia. It was rebuilt later by the -Comacines under the Longobards, but its form was not changed. The -former, said to have been built by the Bishop Amantius, was first -dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, whose relics he placed here. These -two are certainly the oldest churches existing in Como. - -Amantius the Byzantine ordained S. Abbondio, who was a Macedonian, as -his successor, and he too became eminent in his time, and is still -venerated as a patron Saint in all the Milanese district. Pope Leo -sent him to Constantinople as his Legate, to interview the Patriarch -Anastasius, and also deputed him to form the Council with Eusebius, -at Milan. The Greek touch in the Lombard ornamentation may be -accounted for by Greek sculptors assisting the Italian builders in the -time of these Eastern bishops. - -But, to return to the Longobards:--it was only when the civilization -of Italy began to tell on them, and Christianity refined their minds, -that they commenced to patronize the Arts, and revived the fading -traditions of the builders' guild into practice, for the glorification -of their religious zeal. "Little by little," says Muratori, "the -barbarous Longobards became more polished (_andavano disrugginendo_) -by taking the customs and rites of the Italians. Many of them were -converted from Arianism to Catholicism, and they vied with the -Italians in piety and liberality towards the Church of God, building -both Hospices and Monasteries."[23] - -The Comacine Masters were undoubtedly the only architects employed by -them, so we are sure that in the Lombard churches of this era, we see -the Comacine work of the first or Roman-Lombard style. - -Autharis and Theodolinda were the first orthodox Christians: indeed -Theodolinda, who was baptized by Gregory the Great, and formed a -special friendship with him, became a shining light in the Church. To -them is probably due the honour of inaugurating the Renaissance of -Comacine art. Autharis, though an Arian, first employed the Masters of -the guild to build a church and monastery at Farfa on the banks of the -Adda, not far from Monza. They have long been ruined, but ancient -writers quote them as fine and rich works of architecture. Next, -Theodolinda and her second husband, Agilulf, the succeeding king, -built the cathedral at Monza, which they resolved should be worthy of -the new creed. This cathedral was the prototype of all the Lombard -churches. - -Before proceeding further it may be well to define precisely the -difference between Eastern and Western forms in these centuries, while -they were as yet distinct. - -As we have said, the Basilica was the type of Roman or Western -architecture, a type which passed afterwards to the East, where the -cupola was added to it. - -The Comacine Guild, being a survival of the Roman _Collegium_, had of -course Roman traditions, and took naturally this Roman type of the -Basilica,[24] which form they adapted to the uses of the Christian -Church, while its ornamentation was suited to the taste of the -Longobards. - -The Basilica, as Vitruvius explains it, was a room where the ruler and -his delegates administered justice. But when, after the persecutions, -Christians were allowed their churches, the Basilicae so well supplied -the needs of Christian worship, that either the ancient ones were used -as churches, or new buildings were erected in the same form; so that -by the fourth century the word Basilica was understood to mean a -church remarkable for its size, and of a set form and grandeur, with a -raised tribune. The Basilicae of Constantine were all dedicated to -Saints--St. Peter, St. Paul, Beato Marcellino. The Sessorian Basilica -was begun in 330, to hold the relics of the Cross, discovered by the -Empress Helena. From the time of the edict of Theodosius, however, -Christian architecture took a new and independent character; and this -was when the Basilica became amplified and beautified. - -The Oriental churches, on the other hand, were derived from the -antique synagogue, in which concentric forms, either circular or -polygonal, predominated. In their later development four equal arms -were added, and here we get the Greek Cross, in the centre of which -arose the dome. - -In the Romanesque, or Comacine style of the ninth to the fourteenth -centuries, the form becomes more complicated. We have, 1. the -sanctuary or presbytery; 2. the apse for the choir; 3. the transepts; -4. the normal square or centre; 5. the elongated nave; 6. the aisles; -7. the atrium or portico. - -In Theodolinda's time, however, church architecture in Lombardy was -wholly and purely Roman, with the influences of mediaeval Christianity. -Ricci tells us that the construction of the first churches followed a -symbolical expression. "Hermeneutic symbolism required that the apse -or choir should face the east, so that the faithful while praying had -that part before them." - -A very usual form was the tri-apsidal church, of which many specimens -still exist. S. Pietro a Grado, near Pisa, is a beautiful specimen of -this. - -Around the apse of a Lombard church was a portico where the penitents -and catechumens might stand, who were not yet admitted to the altar. -On high were _loggie_ (galleries) "for the virgins and women." The -tribune was elevated and often ornamented with a railing, the crypt or -confessional being beneath it. The crypt signified a memory of the -early Christians, when subterranean catacombs formed the church of the -faithful. The altar was generally the tomb of a martyr, in fulfilment -of the text--"I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain -for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Rev. vi. -9). - -Where the original form of the Lombard church has not been altered, as -in the first Monza church, all these parts may be still seen. - -We are expressly told by Ricci,[25] that for the building of her -church at Monza, Queen Theodolinda availed herself of those _Magistri -Comacini_, who, as Rotharis describes them in his laws 143 and 144, -were qualified architects and builders. - -It seems that even though all Italy was subjugated by the Longobards, -the _Magistri Comacini_ retained their freedom and privileges. They -became Longobard citizens, but were not serfs; they retained their -power of making free contracts, and receiving a fair price for their -work, and were even entitled to hold and dispose of landed -property.[26] - -Therefore it was by a free contract, and not in any spirit of -servitude, that the Comacines undertook the building of Theodolinda's -church. - -It is difficult to imagine what the church was in Theodolinda's time, -as its form was altered in the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Ricci -says that the antique Monza Basilica terminated at what is now the -first octagon column, on which rest the remains of the primitive -facade. Four columns supported the arched tribune, and the high altar -was raised above the level of the church. In front was the _atrium_, -supported by porticoes, and he thinks that the sculptures in the -present facade are the old ones. - - [Illustration: ANCIENT SCULPTURE IN MONZA CATHEDRAL. - _See page 39._] - -Cattaneo, the Italian authority on Lombard architecture, does not -believe in the present existence of even this much of Theodolinda's -church, and in disclaiming the facade, disclaims also the sculpture on -it, especially the one over the door, where Agilulf and Theodolinda -offer the diadem of the cross to St. John the Baptist, and are shown -as wearing crowns, which the early Lombard kings did not do.[27] -The figures have, it is true, the entire style of the twelfth century, -when later Comacines restored the church. Cattaneo thinks that the -only sculpture which can safely be dated from Theodolinda's own time, -is a stone which might have been an altar frontal, on which is a rude -relief of a wheel circle, emblem of Eternity, flanked by two crosses -with the letters _alpha_ and _omega_ hanging to the arms of them. It -is a significant fact that the Alpha is in the precise form of the -Freemason symbol of the compasses, and in the wheel-like circle one -sees the beginning of that symbol of Eternity, the unbroken line with -neither end nor beginning, which the Comacines in after centuries -developed into such wonderful _intrecci_ (interlaced work). The -sculpture is extremely rude; by way of enriching the relief, the -artist has covered the crosses and circles with drill-holes. Now this -is a most interesting link, connecting the debased Roman art with this -beginning of the Christian art in the West (the early Ravenna -sculptors do not count, being imported from the East). On examining -any of the late Roman cameos, or _intagli_, or even their stone -sculpture, after the fall of classical art in Hadrian's time, one may -perceive the way in which the drill is constantly made use of instead -of the chisel. - -So these Comacine artists began with the only style of art they had -been educated up to, and though retaining old traditions they had -fallen out of practice, during a century or two, while invaders -ravaged their country, and had to begin again with low art, little -skill, and unused imagination. But with the new impulse given to art, -their skill increased, they gained a wider range of imagination, -greater breadth of design, going on century by century, as we shall -trace, from the first solid, heavy, little structures, to the airy -lightness of the florid Romanesque--the marriage of East and West. - -Another _chiesa graziosissima_, said to have been founded by -Theodolinda, was that of Santa Maria del Tiglio, near Gravedona, on -the left bank of Lake Como, which Muratori says was already ancient in -823, when the old chronicler Aimoninus describes it (_Aimoninus de -Gestis Francorum_, iv. 3). It has been much altered since that time, -but as Prof. Merzario writes--"When one reflects that it was the work -of a thousand years ago, and when one considers the lightness of -design, the elegance of the arches, windows, columns, and colonnettes, -one must perforce confess that even at that epoch Art was blossoming -in the territory of Como, under the hands of the _Maestri Comacini_." - -Theodolinda also founded the monastery of Monte Barro, near Galbiate; -the church of S. Salvatore in Barzano, a little mountain church at -Besano above Viggiu; that of S. Martino at Varenna; and the church, -baptistery, and castle of Perleda above it; in which latter it is said -she died. Queen Theodolinda was accustomed to spend the hot months of -summer on the banks of the lake, and a part of the road near Perleda -Castle is still called _Via Regina_ (the Queen's road), in memory of -her. King Cunibert, too, loved the banks of Como. - -There is always some pretty, graceful reason in Theodolinda's -church-building, very different to the reasons of many of the kings. -Theirs were too often sin-offerings, built in remorse, but hers were -generally thank-offerings, built in love. For instance, the church at -Lomella, which she erected in memory of having first met her second -husband Agilulf there. - -Theodolinda also built a church to S. Julia at Bonate, near Val San -Martino, in the diocese of Bergamo; but in these days not much sign is -left of it. The author of the _Antichita Long. Mil._ (Dissertation I., -p. 120) says that Mario Lupo has published the plan and section of -the church in his _Codice diplomatico_ (_T. I._, p. 204), together -with another, still more magnificent, of almost the same date. It is -dedicated to S. Tommaso, and stands near the river Brembo, at Lemine -in the same diocese. "This church," says the monk who wrote the -_Antichita_, etc., "still exists (in 1792), and is of circular form, -with inferior and superior _porticati_ in the interior, recalling the -design of the ancient church of S. Vitale at Ravenna." Lupo describes -it even in its ruin as an "admirable temple, whose equal, whether for -size, solidity, or elegance, can scarcely be found in Lombardy. Its -perimeter," he says, "may be traced among the thorns and briars of the -surrounding woods, and its form and size may thus be perceived. The -ruins confirm the assertion of the splendour of buildings in Queen -Theodolinda's time, and show that in the beginning of the seventh -century architecture was not so rude as has been supposed, and that -besides solidity of structure, it preserved a just proportion and -harmony of parts, excepting perhaps in the extreme lightness and -inequality of the columns." - -We read much in ancient authors of Queen Theodolinda's palace, with -its paintings on the walls, representing Alboin and his wild hordes of -Longobards, with their many-coloured garments, loose hosen, and long -beards. We can believe that these paintings were as rude and mediaeval -as their sculpture, whether they were done by savage Longobards or -decayed Romano-Comacine artists. They prove, however, that painting -was one of the branches of art in the guild. - -King Agilulf also employed the architects; but it was in a more -military style of architecture--to build castles and bridges. The -castle of Branigola dates from his reign, as does the fine bridge over -the Brembo, and another over the Breggia, between Cernobbio and -Borgovico, near Como. He is also accredited with the building of the -Palazzo della Torre at Turin, with its two octangular towers, and -mixed brick and stone solid architecture. In all these works the -builders, as in modern times, seem to have sometimes lost their lives. -So much so that King Rotharis, A.D. 636, made, as we have seen, -special laws on the subject. - -Gundeberg, the daughter of Theodolinda, had a similar fate to her -mother in being the wife of two successive kings (Ariold and -Rotharis). She also imitated her in church-building. The church of S. -Giovanni in Borgo at Pavia, was erected by her.[28] It is said that -after S. Michele this was the finest building of the age. It had a -nave and two aisles, with a gallery over the arches. The apse had the -external colonnade, and practicable gallery, and the octagonal dome. -The facade, as usual, was divided into three parts, and was rich in -symbolical friezes. Half-way up the facade was an ambulatory, on six -double arches and small columns, which communicated with the internal -galleries for the women. This was reached by two spiral stairways cut -in the pilasters of the facade. (In reading this we seem to be reading -over again the description of Hexham in England.) The lower half of -the facade was of sandstone, the upper half of brick adorned "a cacabus," -_i.e._ inlaid with various convex plates in different-coloured -smalto.[29] It is a great pity that this interesting church was -destroyed in 1811, and its symbolic reliefs and carved stones -ruthlessly used in the foundation of modern buildings. Some were, -however, saved by a nobleman of Pavia, Don Galeazzo Vitali, and are -preserved in his villa between Lodi and Pavia. Here, on May 13, 1828, -the Signori Sacchi[30] went to see them, and found many valuable -specimens of Comacine symbolical art. Here are square slabs which may -have been parts of friezes or _plutei_ (panels of marble), covered -with interlaced work, formed of entwining vines, or even serpents; -sometimes a simple cord in mystic and continuous knots, precisely -similar to the ones recently discovered in S. Agnese and S. Clemente -at Rome. There were several capitals of columns and pilasters with -significant grotesques, such as a man between two lions; a maze of -vines with a satyr in them, possibly an emblem of Christianity which -constrains and civilizes even the wildest natures; two armed warriors -on horseback meeting in battle, figuring the Church militant. (There -is a similar capital in S. Stefano at Pavia.) In one, two hippogriffs -meet at the angles; in another, two dragons with tails intertwined are -biting a man between them placed at the angle. (The same emblem of the -strife with sin is represented in S. Pietro of the "golden roof.") One -is a curious symbol which would seem to be a remnant of paganism, and -represents the fish goddess of Eastern religions. A woman, with only a -fig-leaf for dress, has a double tail instead of legs. She holds the -two ends of this dual tail, while serpents coiling into it suck her -breasts--a very mystic conception of Eve. There is a very remarkable -round mass of stone, with a toothed circle carved on each side, and in -the circles a cross. It is said by Muratori that this stone was placed -high up over the altar so that all worshippers should behold the -cross. - -A singular ancient Pavian custom was connected with this church. Once -a year a kind of fair was held there, at which nothing was sold but -rings, and no one was allowed to buy them except children and -unmarried women. It is thought that the custom was begun by Gundeberg -herself in commemoration of the gift of three rings, one with a -pearl, and two with jacinth stones, from Gregory the Great.[31] His -letter of congratulation to Theodolinda on the baptism of her little -son Adaloald is still existing. He says "he sends some gifts for her -boy, and three rings for her young daughter Gundeberg." Possibly the -gift of the Pope was placed in the treasury of the church, and -commemorated at first by the sale of blessed amulets in the form of -rings, but which afterwards degenerated into a fair. The custom lasted -till 1669. - -Industries of all kinds seem to have flourished under the Longobards; -and the Popes of Rome and other sovereigns made frequent use of -Lombard artificers. A letter from Gregory to Arichi, Duke of Lombardy, -dated 596, asks him to send workmen and oxen to Brescia, to cut down -and cart to Rome some trees for beams in the church of SS. Peter and -Paul, promising him in return a _dono che non sara indegno di voi_ (a -gift not unworthy of you).[32] - -In A.D. 600, Cacanus, King of the Avari (Huns), sent to Agilulf for -marine architects and workmen to build the boats with which Cacanus -took a certain island in Thrace.[33] - -As for the Comacine Masters at home, they had plenty of -church-building. - -The seventh and eighth centuries were times of great devotion to the -Church, and consequently a great church-building era. King Luitprand -realized this so strongly that he added to the laws of Rotharis, a -clause permitting his subjects to make legacies to the Church _pro -remedio animae suae_; a law, by the way, which was not always healthy in -its action; for it permitted the evil-disposed to indulge in crimes -during their lifetime, and then, by defrauding their natural heirs -of their inheritance, to secure, as they believed, their souls against -eternal punishment, by leaving funds for building a church or a -monastery. - - [Illustration: COMACINE CAPITAL IN SAN ZENO, VERONA. DRAGONS, - INTERLACED. - _See page 43._] - -The will of Eriprand, Duke of Cremona, dated 685, is still extant, -with a legacy to the churches of S. Maria Maggiore, and S. Michele in -Borgo, of that city. Pope Sergius I. restored the Basilica of Ostia, -and founded S. Maria in Via Lata, giving them rich gifts, and Pope -John II. repaired and endowed S. Maria in Trastevere.[34] - -Bertharis and Godebert, sons of Aribert, were in 661 dethroned by -Grimoald, Duke of Beneventum; but Bertharis being re-established in -671, recalled his wife Rodelinda and son Cunibert from Beneventum, -where they had been taken as hostages, and in sign of gratitude for -their release, founded the church of S. Agatha al Monte at Pavia,[35] -while his wife Rodelinda founded that of S. Maria _fuori le mura_ in -the same city. Bertharis dedicated his church to S. Agatha because on -the eve of S. Agatha's day he was miraculously saved from being -assassinated by Grimoald, his deposer. On the facade of the church is -inscribed, "Pertharitus Longobardorum Rex Templum hoc S. Agathae Virg. -et Mart. dicavit anno Christi DCXXVII." - -The church had the usual "three naves," and the facade faced the west. -It has since been turned round. As in the Middle Ages it menaced ruin, -the central nave had to be supported by large external buttresses and -internal arches, one of which may be seen above the present doorway; -it once formed the entrance to the choir. When the nave was restored -some of the old Lombard capitals were discovered under the brickwork. -They show the same style as those at S. Michele, and S. Pietro in Ciel -d'oro at Pavia, and have all the marks of Comacine work. One has two -lions very well carved. They meet at the corner, where one head -serves for both. On another is a human figure, his hands holding two -dragons which he has conquered, but whose tails still coil round him. -A fine mediaeval allegory of man's struggle with sin. - -Rodelinda's round church, S. Maria foris portam (now no more), became -better known as S. Maria _delle pertiche_ (of the poles), because a -royal cemetery was there in which many Lombard kings and nobles were -buried, and according to the usage of the nation the graves were -marked by wooden poles, on the top of each of which was perched a -wooden dove (emblem of the soul), looking towards the place where the -person had died or been killed.[36] - -We may account for its circular shape by the fact that it was more a -ceremonial church, than one for ordinary worship. In it Hildebrand was -crowned, or rather received the regal wand of office. It had an -interior ambulatory, an arched colonnade all round it under the roof -in true Lombard style. This colonnade was much used in circular -churches to assist the want of space on great occasions.[37] Some of -the columns were fluted, and appear to have been adapted from an -earlier Roman edifice. Two of them, shortened and with the fluting -planed down, now adorn the gate of Pavia towards Milan. The foundation -of this church has been attributed by Cattaneo to Ratchis. This cannot -be, for in 736, ten years before Ratchis was king, Luitprand became -very ill, and the Longobards met in the church of S. Maria delle -pertiche, and proclaimed Hildebrand as his successor. - -To Aribert II. (701-712) is attributed the foundation of the church of -S. Salvatore, outside Porta Marengo at Pavia, where, says Malaspina, -may be noted a great improvement in style in the acute arches, and -more regular and elegant proportions. - -The Basilica of S. Pietro de Dom in Brescia dated from about this -time, though it was built independently of Longobardic royal -patronage, being a thank-offering by Bishop Anastasius for the triumph -of the Church over Arianism. This was destroyed when the new Duomo was -built in the seventeenth century, but ancient writers tell us it had -all the true Lombard symbolism of form. The choir was on the west, -facing east; it had the triple nave and triple apse, and the usual -inequality of the columns, some of which are large, others small; some -long, others short, these last being lengthened, some by white marble, -others by dark. I do not understand the significance of this diversity -of column which may be seen in all the Comacine churches of this era. - -If we cannot see S. Pietro de Dom, we may see in Brescia a church -equally old, the Rotonda of Santa Maria Maggiore, which the -chroniclers say was begun by the Brescian Duke Marqward, and finished -by his son Frodward, with the assistance of King Grimoald, about 665. -The plan of the church is very interesting; there are two concentric -circles, the inner one formed by eight pilasters, whose arches sustain -the dome, and form the front of the usual ambulatory above. This is -all that can be judged as belonging to the seventh-century church. The -tribune and the upper parts are later, and the crypt is earlier, -being, it is believed, the remains of an early Christian church of S. -Filastrio, though some claim it as Roman. - -Cunibert is next on the list of Longobardic church-builders. He built -a church to St. George as a votive offering after his escape from the -attempt which was made to dethrone him in 691 by Alachi, Duke of -Brescia, and two citizens named Aldone and Gransone. To the church of -St. George was attached a cloister for monks, the first Longobardic -monastery founded in the diocese of Milan. Documents and diplomas, -dated 784 and 901, prove the existence of both buildings till the -latter date, but a deed of sale in 998 only speaks of the church, -which still existed in 1792. - -On the king's triumphal return to Pavia, he erected at the door of S. -Giovanni, a grand tomb to the priest Zeno, who had lost his life for -him, by dressing in the royal armour and rushing from the king's tent -into the battle. - -In A.D. 700 Cunibert descended to Lucca, which had then become a -Longobardic town, and interested himself in the building of a church -to the three saints, Stephen, Laurence, and Vincent; it afterwards -became S. Fredianus. The actual patron may not have been Cunibert -himself, but his majordomo Faulus, who probably was his vice-gerent -there. Two ancient deeds in the adjoining monastery of St. Vincent and -S. Fredianus, dated respectively 685 and 686, prove that Faulus -restored and richly endowed the monastery, and that Bishop Felix -afterwards conceded to the Abbot Babbinus and his monks, a diploma -confirming the munificence of Faulus. The monastery was, so say the -chroniclers, originally built by S. Frediano, Bishop of Lucca, in the -sixth century, and that, when the first unconverted Longobards came -down and drove him out and destroyed his cathedral, he fled for some -years, but on his return he built another church outside the town with -a monastery attached. In this he availed himself of the sculptured -stones and columns of the ancient Roman amphitheatre, erected in Lucca -by Vibius in the time of Trajan. This was the monastery which was -restored by Faulus. When the bones of S. Fredianus were removed to it, -in the time of the Bishop Giovanni II., the church became known as S. -Fredianus. The church built in Cunibert's time was not by any means -the fine building we see now, though, as in Monza, the form of the -old building may be perceived. The ancient apse which has been traced -in the course of some excavations, is a fifth smaller than the present -one, and it is conjectured that the old church, if turned the same -way, would have ended near where the present pulpit stands; and there -was a portico in front of it which is mentioned in some ancient MSS. - -The church was certainly differently orientalized, following the -symbolic formula that the choir should face the east; for the -excavations disclosed part of the columns of the nave, buried under -the present presbytery at the back. The circular walls of the choir -were retraced in front of the present altar, and it was proved that -the wall was not continued where the semi-circle of the apse opens; -whereas if the church had been in the same direction it now takes, the -walls would have been continued to the length of the nave. - -Cav. Cordero di S. Quintino, in his _Disamine su di alcuni monumenti -Lucchesi_, 1815, was the first to draw attention to the reversed plan -of the old church, which the recent excavations have proved. He states -that it was in the form of a Latin cross, had a nave, and four aisles -and transepts; that its choir was at the west end, facing east, its -facade on the east. It is a misfortune that its origin cannot be -precisely proved, as the archives of S. Fredianus must have been -burned in 1596, when the convent, with other houses, was set on fire, -even if they had survived the former sacking and burning of the -Ghibellines, under Uguccione della Faggiola in 1314. - -Next comes _Hic gloriosissimus Rex_, Luitprand, who, we are told, -built many Basilicae in honour of Christ, in the places where he had -his residences. He was to Lombard art what Lorenzo de' Medici was to -that of the Renaissance. Luitprand was a great employer of our -Comacine Masters, and very probably found them expensive luxuries, -for, as we shall see in the next chapter, he was obliged to legislate -to fix their prices. He even gave the length of his royal foot, as a -guide to measurement. - -Luitprand's foot was said to have been an extra long one, and yet, -after great discussions among writers, it has at length been agreed -that Luitprand's foot, and the Roman one used before it, were of the -same length! - -Very little, which is at all authentic, remains to us of Luitprand's -churches. S. Pietro[38] in Ciel d'oro (of the golden roof), at Pavia, -which was consecrated by Pope Zacharias in 743, is now a mere modern -church, containing nothing but the round form of its apse to speak of -its antiquity. This golden roof must refer to some mosaics originally -in the tribune, and is, I believe, the first instance of mosaics being -used in a Lombard church. It was built by the Christian king, "for the -better reverence of the sacred remains of that great light of the -church, St. Augustine, which were placed here by him." The corpse of -the saint was redeemed from the Saracens in Sardinia in 743, and the -relics remained in S. Pietro for ten centuries.[39] Luitprand's -church, we are told, was symmetrical and graceful (_grazioso_). The -facade was of the usual Lombard form, with a rather flat gable, and -galleries beneath the eaves; it had narrow, round-arched windows, and -a cross over the central one, cut deep in the stone, as we see in S. -Michele in Pavia. - - [Illustration: BASILICA OF S. FREDIANO AT LUCCA, 7TH CENTURY. - (_From a photograph by Brogi._) _See page 49._] - -The finest existing church of the Longobardic times is the Basilica -of S. Michele at Pavia, which is still intact, and may be taken as the -culminating point of the first Lombard style. It has all the -distinctive marks of Comacine work at the period. There is the Roman -form of the Latin cross with nave and two aisles divided by clustered -columns supporting round arches. The walls above the central nave -terminate in a sculptured string course, and over that a clerestory, -the double Lombard arches of which are divided by marble colonnettes -with sculptured capitals. The central nave terminates in a -semi-circular apse, surrounded with pilasters and arches; beneath it -is a crypt supported on two rows of columns whose capitals are covered -with bizarre sculptures. The crypt is now entered by steps beneath the -ones leading to the tribune, but originally it had two entrances at -the sides of the tribune as in the crypt at Torcello, and that of San -Zeno at Verona, which are also of the seventh century. Another -particularity is in the inequality of the aisles, the left wall -tending to the right, the right transept being longer and larger than -the left. This is not, we are told, an accident, but one of the many -symbolical forms used by the Comacines. Cordero and Vitet both refer -to it. The latter says--"Souvent le plan de l'eglise penche de gauche -a droite. Cette inclination est attribuee, comme on sait, au pieux -desirs d'imiter la position du Sauveur expirant sur la croix."[40] As -a whole the interior is grand and imposing, and as it stands now, -retains the general plan of the original church. Some parts have been -restored in the fifteenth century, especially the four principal piers -which sustain the central arch, but by the difference in the work and -in the sculptures we may easily distinguish the added parts. A Latin -inscription in the apse, without date, proves that the great central -arch of the roof and that of the choir were renewed by Bartolommeo -Negri. There was a Bartolommeo Negri who was canon in 1496, but the -antique style of the epitaph would point to an earlier restorer of the -same name (we all know how families keep the same set of Christian -names for centuries in Italy), especially as the painting in the apse -is attributed to Andrino d'Edesia, who lived about 1330. Some -interesting relics in the church are the circular slabs of black and -green marble, now in the floor of the nave. Tradition, confirmed by -Padre Romualdo, says that these were the stones on which the dais was -placed for the coronation of the Lombard kings. - -Just as the interior of S. Michele at Pavia is the most perfect -existing example of the classical form reduced by the Comacines to -Christian use and symbolism, so is the facade as perfect a specimen of -their mediaeval-oriental decoration at this time as can be found. We -give an illustration of it. - -The Comacines at this era were perfectly sincere and their facade was -always a true face to the church. The eaves with the airy gallery of -colonnettes beneath them followed the exact line of the low-pitched -roof. It was only when they became eclectic, and their style got mixed -and over-florid, that the false fronts such as we see at Lucca came -in. The inward division of nave and aisle is faithfully marked on the -outside by piers or pilasters. S. Michele has four pilasters dividing -it into the three portions, each one supplied with its round-arched -door. In the fifteenth century the central windows were altered and a -large ugly round orifice was placed above the three Lombard ones. But -in 1861 they had the good taste to open the original windows, -indications of whose masonry were visible in the wall, and to add the -cross, deep cut in the stone, which was a distinctive feature in -facades of this era. Indeed the church may be taken as a type, in all -its aspects, of the Romano-Lombard building. The most remarkable -part is perhaps its ornamentation, which is unique and fanciful to the -highest degree. Besides the carvings on door and window, the whole -facade is striped with lines of sculptured stones, a queer mixture of -angels, demons, saints, and monsters, that seems a nightmare dream of -mediaeval superstitions, but are really a mystic Bible in stone. I -shall speak more fully of this in the chapter on Lombard -ornamentation. - - [Illustration: FACADE OF SAN MICHELE AT PAVIA. UPPER PART RESTORED TO - ITS ORIGINAL FORM; LOWER PART ANTIQUE. 7TH CENTURY. - _See page 52._] - -We must now turn for a few moments to its history, on which great -uncertainty rests. Some authors say that S. Michele at Pavia was built -by Constantine the Great as a thank-offering for the aid given him by -that Saint in his victory over the Franks in 325; but it is possible -they may have confused this church with the one which Sozomenus -asserts that Constantine erected to St. Michael on the banks of the -Hellespont. Other writers, of whom Malaspina is one, claim it as an -Ostrogoth foundation; others again, finding a suspicion of Arianism in -the sculpture of the Annunciation on the south side of the church, -assign it to Agilulf before his conversion from Arianism; while -Gabriel Rosa, author of _Storia dei feudi e dei comuni in Lombardia_, -attributes it to King Grimoald. - -This last, however, is disproved by one of Paulus Diaconus' curious -stories. He says "that in A.D. 661, King Bertharis being in peril of -his life by the usurper Grimoald, was saved by his faithful servant -Unulphus, who, throwing over his royal master's shoulders a blanket -and a bearskin, drove him with ill words out of the palace, making -believe he was a drunken slave. Having thus eluded the guards, who -were in Grimoald's pay, and put the king in safety, Unulphus fled for -refuge to the Basilica of St. Michael, till the new king pardoned -him."[41] The church is again mentioned by Paulus Diaconus when he -relates how in 737, when Luitprand judged Pemmonis, Duke of Friuli, -and other noble Longobards accused of sacrilege against Callistus, -Patriarch of Aquileja, one of them named Ersemar fled for refuge to -the Basilica of St. Michael. Again in 774 a certain Trinidius, agent -of King Desiderius, left a house near the Po at Gravenate, as a legacy -to the "Basilica beatissimi Archangeli Michaelis intra civitatem -Ticinensum pro anima sua." All these things go to prove that the -church existed before Luitprand's time, and that it was especially -venerated. - -St. Michael, being a warlike saint, was the Longobards' favourite -object of reverence. When Alachi tried to depose King Cunibert, he -suddenly and mysteriously refused to fight the king, because he saw a -vision of St. Michael standing beside him; then Alachi knew the battle -would go against himself if he hazarded it. - -When the Longobards went forth to war, they carried the effigy of St. -Michael before them on their standard. It was also impressed on their -coins with the inscription _S. C. S. Mahel_, or sometimes _Mihail_, -spelling in those days not being at all a fixed quantity. - -But to return to our church-building king, Luitprand. - -He erected the monastery of S. Abbondio at Bercela in the mountains, -and one dedicated to S. Anastasia, near his suburban villa called -_Cortelona_ (Corte di Alona). In this villa he had a private chapel, -he being the first prince who had daily mass said by priests in his -own house.[42] He had a favourite doctor named Gunduald, who, assisted -by Luitprand's royal munificence, founded the monasteries of Palazzolo -and Pitiliano near Lucca. At his intercession Luitprand, by a diploma -dated 742, gave Magister Piccone, Gunduald's architect, lands in -Sabine, which shows the value Luitprand set on the arts, and this -Magister especially. - -Astolfo, a later king, was an equally liberal patron of the arts; he -gave the revenues of the church of S. Pietro at Pavia to Auripert, a -painter whom he greatly esteemed. Astolfo built the monastery of -Nonantola, of which some parts still remain, proving its fine -architecture. He seems to have been very unscrupulous in his avidity -for relics; an anonymous MS. at Salerno, speaking of his fierceness -and audacity, says that, "having taken many bodies of saints from the -neighbourhood of Rome, he had them removed to Pavia."[43] The same old -chronicler does him the justice to say that "he built both churches -and monasteries which he very largely endowed." - -Next followed Ratchis, who on his brother Astolfo's death came out of -the convent to which he had retired on abdicating in 749. His reign -was of the shortest; he soon went back to his convent, for Pope -Stephen III. wrote commanding him not to oppose the election of -Desiderius, who had been Duke of Friuli and was high in favour with -the Pope. - -Desiderius was a liberal patron to the Comacine Guild, and built -monasteries, churches, and palaces. Of the first we may record the -convent for nuns near Milan, known as La Maggiore, or the Greater. Its -foundation by Desiderius is mentioned in a diploma dated A.D. 1002 in -favour of the Abbot of S. Ambrogio, who was in that year appointed -spiritual guardian to the nuns. At Brescia, of which town Desiderius -was a native, he built the monastery near Leno, known as the -_Monasterio Leonense_, and the still more famous one of Santa Giulia -for nuns, which he founded in 766. Desiderius and his wife Ansa -endowed this convent with landed property which spread over all the -Lombard kingdom. It was first called S. Salvatore, but when the -remains of Santa Giulia were brought from Corsica and placed here, it -was re-dedicated to her. Its first Abbess was Desiderius' own -daughter, Anselberga, who took the vows here. Says the old -chronicler--"its opulence and the number of holy virgins who have -lived within its walls render it one of the most illustrious convents -in Italy." - -Signor Odorici has exemplified the church in its Lombard form to have -been quadrilateral, divided by two peristyles of eight columns each, -into a nave and two aisles (or three naves, as Italian architects -say). The arches are _a tutto sesto_ (semi-circular), and support -walls bordered with a simple string course. There was originally a -semi-circular apse or tribune, which was probably flanked by two -smaller ones. The white marble columns are, or were, of different -proportions, the capitals being sculptured, some in marble and some in -_arenaria_.[44] - -The mixture of Roman and Byzantine types in these is taken by -Ricci[45] to be a proof of its really dating from the time of -Desiderius, when the two styles got confused. Some capitals are -entirely of Byzantine design, others imitate the Corinthian. On one is -a mediaeval sculpture of the martyrdom of Santa Giulia, on another is -the effigy of Queen Ansa. These two are doubtless Comacine work of the -eighth century. - -Up on the slope of Monte Civate near Lake Annone, an hour's climb from -the village of Civate, is an ancient Lombard church dedicated to St. -Peter, which is almost intact. It is said to have been built as a -thank-offering by King Desiderius. His son Adelgiso was chasing a wild -boar on this mountain, and suddenly became blind. The father vowed -that if he recovered, a church to St. Peter should be built on the -spot. Adelgiso soon after recovered his eyesight, and Desiderius was -faithful to his oath. An ancient MS. said to be contemporary,[46] -minutely describes the ceremonies, when the king with all his royal -pageantry came up the mountain to lay the first stone. The plan is -similar to most other Lombard churches of its era. A great flight of -twenty-seven steps leads up to the portico, beneath which is the -principal door. This, however, does not lead immediately to the -church, but to a covered atrium, on the lateral walls of which are -sculptured in relief, hippogriffs with triple tails, _i.e._ threefold -mysteries. The entrance into the nave has two spiral columns,[47] an -unusual form for the Comacines of that era. There is a great -peculiarity in the position of the altar, which is a low table without -a reredos, standing on the tribune, to which five steps give access. -The _palio_ faces the choir, so that the priest when celebrating would -confront the people, and face the east.[48] It would be a question for -archaeologists whether, considering the reverse orientalizing of -Lombard churches, in comparison to later ones, the front of the raised -tribune was not the usual position of their altars. This is the only -church which seems enough intact, to judge by. The altar was placed -beneath a canopy supported on four slight columns, whose sculptured -capitals show the symbolic animals of the four Evangelists. The canopy -has rude bas-reliefs of the Saviour and apostles, the crucifixion and -resurrection. There are remains of similar altars at Corneto Tarquinii -in the south, and at S. Piero in Grado near Pisa. The rest of the -building is entirely unadorned, excepting by some carved capitals of -columns in the crypt. - -The church-building days of King Desiderius were now drawing to a -close. He thought he had strengthened his seat on the throne by -alliances with the all-powerful Charlemagne of France, whose brother -Carloman married Desiderius' daughter Gilberga; and some historians -assert that his son Adelchi espoused Gisla, the sister of Charlemagne. -Here we have the link connecting the Comacine Masters under the -Lombard rule, with Charlemagne, through whose patronage they spread -northward, developing the Gothic architecture. Politically the link -was not a strong one. In 770, Charlemagne having been menaced by Pope -Stephen III., the protector of Desiderius, revenged himself by causing -Carloman to repudiate Gilberga and send her back to her father with -her two sons. Carloman died in 771, and Pope Stephen III. did not live -long after him, for in 772 Charlemagne entered into a league with the -new Pope Adrian I. to dispossess Desiderius of his kingdom. This -unkind scheme was by Pope Adrian dignified by the name of a -"restitution to the Holy See." - -The famous unequal fight at Pavia, between Desiderius and the -multitudinous hosts of France, is well known. Desiderius was -vanquished, and the Longobardic supremacy of two centuries was over. - -Charlemagne vaunted himself in having released Italy from the -Longobardic yoke, but whether his own yoke were lighter is an open -question. In any case there was no "restitution to the Holy See." The -Lombard cities were no more given to the Pope by Charlemagne, than -they had been by Desiderius. On the contrary, he crowned himself _Rex -Francorum et Longobardorum_, and his son Pepin inherited the same -title. - -With him begins the next era in the development of Comacine art. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[20] _Antiq. Long. Mil._ vol. i.; _Dissertationi_, p. 17. - -[21] Their daughter Gundeberg had a similar life; she married first -Ariold, and then Rotharis. - -[22] Symonds, _Renaissance of Art, Fine Arts_, chap. ii. - -[23] _Annali d'Italia_, tom. iv. pp. 38, 39. - -[24] The first Roman Basilica was constructed in 231 B.C., by Marcus -Portius Cato, and was called the Basilica Portia. Marcus Fulvis -Nobilior built one, called the Fulvia, in 179 B.C.; Titus Sempronius, -169 B.C. Then followed a long line of these religio-judicial -buildings, up to the Basilica Julia of Augustus, 29 B.C., and ending -with the Ulpian Basilica of Trajan, A.D. 100.--Ricci, _Arch. Ital._ -chap. ii. - -[25] _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, vol. i. p. 174. - -[26] A document, dated 739, in the archives of Monte Amiata, speaks of -a certain Maestro Comacino, named Rodpert, who sold to Opportuno for -30 gold solidi, his property at Toscanella (then a Longobardic -territory), consisting of a house and vineyard, a cloister, cistern, -land, etc. - -[27] Cattaneo, _L' Architettura in Italia_, p. 46. - -[28] Gundiberga ... intra ticinensem Civitatem in honorem Beati -Joannis Baptistae construxit.--_Paul. Diac._ lib. iv. cap. 4. This -must not be confounded with the Baptistery which was built by Bishop -Damiano in the same century. - -[29] Several of the Lombard towers in Rome have this peculiar -ornamentation. - -[30] _Antichita Romantiche d'Italia_, da Difendente e Giuseppe Sacchi, -p. 70, _et seq._ - -[31] Felice quoque meae sorori ejus tres annulos transmisi due cum -jacintis, et unum cum albula.--Gregor. _Epist. ad Teod._ lib. xiv. - -[32] Paulus Diaconus, _Sto. Longo._ lib. iv. cap. 20. - -[33] _Ibid._ iv. 21. - -[34] Ricci, _Architettura d'Italia_, Vol. I. ch. viii. p. 221. - -[35] _Paul Diac._ Lib. V. ch. xxxiv. - -[36] _Antiq. Long. Milanesi_, Tom. I. Dissertation i. p. 46. - -[37] There is a very good instance of this in the Baptistery at -Florence, which was also a ceremonial church. - -[38] This was said to have been built by Agilulf, 591-615, and rebuilt -by Luitprand. It was again restored in 1152, when Pope Innocent II. -reconsecrated it. - -[39] In the fifteenth century the fine mausoleum, known as the Arco di -S. Agostino, was erected over them by a later Comacine Master, Bonino -da Campiglione. In the eighteenth century the church, having fallen -into disuse, was turned into a hay store for the army, and the Arco -was, in 1786, moved into the modern church of Gesu, where it remained -till placed in the cathedral, where it now is. - -[40] _Etudes sur l'histoire de l'art_, vol. ii. p. 157. Paris, 1864. - -[41] Paulus Diaconus Warnefridi, _Chron. de gestis Langobardorum_, -Lib. V. cap. iii. - -[42] _Antiq. Long. Mil._ Tom. I. Dissertation i. p. 68. - -[43] "Prese molti corpi de' santi dai contorni di Roma, fatti poi -trasportare a Pavia." - -[44] It seems probable that the sandstone capitals alone belonged to -the first eighth-century church, and the marble ones to the -eleventh-century restoration. There is now a modern church built over -the old crypt. - -[45] _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, viii. 257. - -[46] _See_ Sacchi, _Antichita Romantiche d'Italia_, p. 98. - -[47] Ricci (_Dell' Architettura_, etc.) tells us the spiral column was -very anciently used in Asia, and that Rome did not adopt it till -Hadrian's return from the East. Under the later Caesars it became -usual, but it fell into disuse in the rest of Italy. The Byzantines -used it in some buildings, and in these two early Longobardic -imitations of the East, we have a curious masonic link with the -ancient traditions of Solomon's Temple, which Josephus tells us was -adorned with spiral columns. It may be that they were old Roman -columns carried up the mountain from some ruin, but I should rather -take them as one of the first instances of the use of the spiral -column by the Comacines, a form to which they were devoted in later -times. There are endless instances of spiral colonnettes on the -facades of Romanesque churches of the thirteenth and fourteenth -centuries. - -[48] I speak of the time when Signor Difendente Sacchi visited the -church in 1828, before writing his work. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CIVIL ARCHITECTURE UNDER THE LONGOBARDS - - -Ecclesiastical as was the work of the guild, the Comacine of Lombard -times was nevertheless a fine civil architect. He worked as willingly -for the prince in palace-building and for the country in -fortification, as for the Church in building monasteries and -cathedrals. Indeed war of all sorts bore such a large proportion in -the life of the Middle Ages that the fortress was of more importance -than the home. - -In civil architecture the _Magistri Comacini_ of the seventh and -eighth centuries followed much the same style as in their -ecclesiastical buildings, of course adapting it to its different uses. -In the Lombard palace we find on the upper floor the usual -double-light windows, with the two round arches and dividing column -enclosed in a larger arch of masonry. - -We also find the inevitable Lombard cornice beneath the roof. In civil -buildings, instead of a complete gallery with colonnettes, this -becomes a row of brackets with carvings in the corbel heads. The -windows of the lower floor are square orifices barred with iron, for -defence in warlike times. The walls are either of the solid brickwork -_opus romanum_, or the great smoothly hewn stones of the _opus -gallicum_. In Lombardy there are more of the former, as clay for -bricks is easily attainable. In Tuscany and southward the buildings -are more frequently of stone. The Florentine Bargello, though -later, offers a very fine specimen of this work, in the older portions -of wall, where the smooth-cut stones fit solidly together. If the -building required an inner courtyard it was of the same Lombard style -as their churches--showing the round arch, and the convex capital, -often sculptured. - - [Illustration: TOSINGHORUM PALATIUM FLORENTIAE CELEBERRIMUM IN FORO - VETERI SITUM LAPIDE DOLATO COMLUMNISQUE MARMOREIS EXTRUCTUM CUI - TURRIS ADJACENS ULNAR. 130 PROCERITATE ERIGEBATUR. - - TRACING OF AN OLD PRINT OF THE TOSINGHI PALACE, A MEDIAEVAL BUILDING - ONCE IN FLORENCE, WITH _Laubia_ ON THE FRONT. - _See page 61._] - -The municipal palace only came in with the Communes after 1100. In -Longobardic times, the only buildings that had any pretensions to -architecture were the palaces of the dukes or kings. Luitprand's -palace in Milan, which fell into disuse after the tenth century, is as -graphically described by old chroniclers and in legal documents in the -archives of St. Ambrose, as Theodolinda's at Monza had been by Paulus -Diaconus. - -Before the days of the Communes, when the Brolio or Broletta, and the -Palazzo Pubblico were as yet unknown, the palace of the ruling prince -was the hall of justice, the nearest Basilica being the public -meeting-place. King Luitprand's palace was styled in his time _Curtis -ducati_. In Charlemagne's reign it was _Curti domum Imperatoris_; in -other parchments _Curtis Mediolanensis_. Across the front ran an open -gallery, called _Laubia_,[49] formed, as were the galleries of the -Comacine churches, of a row of arches on colonnettes. Here the -_placiti_ were held, and sentences pronounced, as in the regal and -imperial public buildings, the populace being assembled in the street -below. The _ringhiera_ of the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence served the -same purpose in Communal times. - -The Loggia, which is such a feature in all old Italian houses, is the -natural descendant of the _Laubia_. In its private aspect, as part of -a citizen's house, the Loggia was the place where the master of the -house received his friends. - -An ancient MS. by Landolfo tells us that the space occupied by -Luitprand's palace was not very wide. It extended from the monastery -of St. Ambrose to the church of St. Protasius ad Monacos (now no -more), and the road leading to it was known as _Strada de Civite -Duce_. - -That King Desiderius also employed the Masonic guild in civil as well -as ecclesiastical architecture seems implied by the tradition of his -palace at S. Gemignano. Certain it is that a solid mediaeval building -with decidedly Lombard windows and Lombard arches under the -machicolations, exists at S. Gemignano, but whether it was really -built by and for Desiderius, I leave wiser antiquaries to judge. The -style is that of the times. - -As a rule, Lombard houses had small rooms. This seems to have applied -even to royal and public buildings, for, as mentioned above, all -public meetings had to be held in a church, or in its ante-portal. -When Desiderius convoked a Diet at Pavia, each prince or bishop was -assigned a house which had a church or oratory near, in which he could -meet his committee. - -The different methods and processes of house-building are very plainly -enumerated in the laws of Luitprand, of which we have given the -headings on a previous page. It would seem that since the reign of -Agilulf, the Masters of the Guild had become overbearing, and by -Luitprand's time required to have special legislation to limit their -prices. Luitprand's code of laws regulated the strength of the -external walls of a building, in regard to the different height, -construction, and material. - -Art. 160 speaks of two different constructions, the Roman mode, and -the Gallic style. It begins--"Similiter romanense si fecerit, sic -repotet sicut gallica opera." (Roman work shall be accounted of equal -value to Gallic work.) This distinction of terms has caused great -argumentation among commentators. Prof. Merzario[50] says that "two -national terms cannot apply to any small distinction of masonry," and -he takes them to mean the Roman style with the round arch, in which -most Lombard churches are built, and the Gothic with the pointed -arches. As, however, Charlemagne's church, the father of the Gothic, -was not yet built in Luitprand's time, we should be more inclined to -take the opinion of Marchese Ricci and Troya, who interpret the phrase -_opus gallicum_ to mean the style which they say was introduced into -Ravenna by Theodoric and his Goths, and which they brought from Gaul. -It was the most solid style imaginable, seemingly a remnant of -Cyclopean building; if so it was not Gallic at all, but came from the -Pelasgi through the Etruscans, and so was a natural sequence of -Italian architecture; the Etruscans having taught the Romans. It -consisted of hewn stones of large size and perfect fitness, still -further strengthened with cement. "Mirum opus manu gothica, et quadris -lapidibus," it was said of the builders of S. Oveno at Rouen. If this -definition be admitted, then the other term _opus romanum_ would mean -building with flat bricks, which was equally practised by the -Comacines, especially in Lombardy. - -Luitprand's laws speak of the _asse_, _tavolati_,[51] _scindule_ -(Longobardic term) by which the houses were internally divided, and of -a cheap species of house-building called by the Gauls _pise_, probably -from the same root as _pigiato_ (pressed together). According to that -method, the walls were composed of masses of earth pressed, and then -bound together so as to form a solid mass. The same method is still -used in Africa and Spain, and in Italy by the peasants in the -subalpine regions near Alessandria (Piedmont). - -In Clause II., _De Muro_, where they use the term _si arcum volserit_, -it cannot refer to vaulted roofs, which were then unknown, but to the -slight arch of the window or door in the thickness of the wall, often -only a sloping off of stones. The roofs were supported on wooden -beams, and the laws determine the size and value of these, according -to whether they are _scapitozzati_ or _capitozzati_, _i.e._ hewn or -carved. They also decide the quality of the wood for beams or -planking, and the cost of roofing in regard to the number of wooden -slabs or tiles required in a raised roof. - -Thus any Longobard who wished to build himself a house, might consult -the laws of Luitprand, and count the cost beforehand. - -These laws also decide the strength of the defensive walls of a city. -Law IV. gives the trade price of this sort of work; for those built -_in massa_, or _per maxa_, the builder shall for every sixty feet be -paid in _solidum unum_ (one soldo, a gold coin). Ricci adds--"This -_per maxa_ is the same construction which the Greeks and Romans styled -_implectans_, _i.e._ conglomerate." - -They had several kinds of walls, some of brick, others with a base of -stone (_nella base a sassi_), like the walls of Milan, which have -lasted till now. - -Luitprand assigns different money for different kinds of work. Thus at -times the _Magistri Comacini_ were paid _solidum unum_ for every foot -of wall, sometimes _solidum vestitum_, a distinction of soldi which -has puzzled commentators very much; some opining that _vestitum_ -refers to a coin on which the emperor is represented as regally clad, -and others that it means a copper coin plated (_vestito_) with gold. - -We find also that terra-cotta vases were much used as ornamentation in -building. This style was, as we have said, called "a cacabus." Broken -vases were adopted in the foundation of large buildings and houses; -others, which probably were not perfect enough for household use, were -built into the walls and put as ornaments between the arches. The -tower of S. Giovanni e Paolo at Rome and the church of S. Eustorgio at -Milan are good instances of this style. - - [Illustration: TOWER OF SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO, ROME, 12TH CENTURY. - (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _page 65._] - -Here we have another link with ancient Rome. Promis instances an -amphora found in the walls of an imperial edifice in Aosta. At the -fountain of Egeria, near the Porta Tiburtina in Rome, the walls are -full of amphorae and oil-jars. - -On the whole these Masonic laws show that the principal scope of the -Longobardic architecture was to make strong and lasting buildings. - -The building of convents were frequent commissions of the Comacines, -and in these, as in their churches, they had a set form. A solid -framework of walls either of hewn stone, in the Gallic manner, or of -brick in the Roman style, and a few beams and planks, were the simple -elements of which a convent was composed. - -But of course a Comacine could not make any building without his -slight columns and arches, and here he disposed of them in his -cloister. This, too, was a heritage from classic Rome, recalling the -atrium. A Lombard or Romanesque cloister is a delight. Here you have a -square court more or less spacious, containing a picturesque well in -the centre, surrounded by a colonnade of small columns generally in -couples, resting on a low wall and supporting a roof on a row of -arches. It was usually on the sunny cloister that the Comacine poured -out his imagination; here are fancifully-sculptured capitals, pillars -of every variety of form and style, grotesque gargoyles between the -arches, and often delicate tracery above them. Hope[52] instances as -the more rude and early style of Lombard cloisters, those of San -Lorenzo at Rome and Santa Sabina and San Stefano at Bologna, and as -models of the more splendid style those of S. John Lateran, which are -resplendent with porphyry, serpentine, and gold enamel, inlaid in the -marble; and those of S. Zeno of Verona of every tint of marble which -the Euganean hills can afford. For the interior arrangements of a -Longobardic monastery we will take Padre Ricci's account of the first -plan of Monte Cassino which Petronax the Brescian engaged the -Comacines to build. "It had on the ground floor a _Sala_ anciently -called _caminata_, because the fire-place was there. The upper floor -was divided by wooden partitions into cells and other rooms requisite -in a cenobitic life. Although at that time houses only had one floor, -monasteries generally had two. Monte Cassino boasted of three storeys, -the upper one being only used for keeping fodder and stores. As the -chief aim was solidity of building, great attention was paid to the -proportionate thickness of the outer walls. The laws determined the -adequate value of these, which were generally of the thickness of five -feet. The inner walls were of planks or _assi_--'si cum axe -clauserit.'" - -This mode of separation by wooden partitions is still usual in -convents, though it has gone out of use in houses. The convents of S. -Marco and S. Salvi at Florence both show this style of division for -the cells. The windows were protected by _abietarii_ or _cancelli_ -(gratings) made of wood. - -A strong point in Lombard building was the fortress, which the -_Magistri_ were past masters in erecting. Their castles and forts and -city walls stand to this day solid and strong, with towers standing up -commandingly in all directions--all the mediaeval cities bristled with -them; the tower was, in fact, a weapon of war. On these, too, they set -their seal--the pillared Lombard window becoming larger and more airy -as the tower rises into the air, and the crowning cornice of bracketed -or pillared archlets.[53] - -Their towers seem to have been of two forms, ecclesiastic and civil. -The ecclesiastical bell-tower, square with a straight unbroken line, -with neither buttress nor projection till the summit, where the -bracket-supported arches expand like a flower. Sometimes each storey -had a string course, with smaller arches beneath it, as in the tower -at Prato. The windows, too, as we have said, had a fixed rule; they -are smaller below, and grow larger and more airy as they ascend. You -go up from a mere orifice on the first floor to a one-arched window on -the second, a two-arched on the third, to a three or even four-arched -one near the summit. - -The characteristics of civil towers at this time were their solidity -as a means of defence, and their height as a means of vigilance; they -appear to be chiefly circular, offering no corners, but a curved -surface from which missiles could easily glance off. The windows were -narrow outside, expanding wider within. If there were a double-light -window, it would be on the very high storeys, out of arrow aim. Nearly -all the ancient fortresses have round towers, but I know of very few -church towers that are so, except the one at Classe near Ravenna. - -Before the thirteenth century, neither brackets nor projecting -cornices were used, and the tower rose in a single straight line from -base to battlement, so that projectiles fell straight down. It was -later that architects discovered the value of the projecting -_baluardo_. As to battlements, these too came from the antique; -Babylon and Nineveh show proofs of them, and Homer speaks of the -battlemented towers of Asia and Greece. Muratori[54] derives the -Italian term _merlo_, from _mirare_ (to take aim), the battlements -being made for the shelter of the archers, and their convenience in -shooting. When fire-arms came in, the need of battlemented towers -ceased. - -The principal Longobardic military towers remaining to our day, are, -the tower of the ruined fortress of Baradello, which dominates the -road to Camerlata, and the towers, now mutilated, in the wall of Como, -one of which, erected on arches, forms the gate of the city towards -Camerlata. - -The ninth-century sculptures on the altar at S. Ambrogio prove that -the Longobards had towers above their city gates. The author of the -_Ant. Longob. Milanesi_ (Dissert. iii. p. 193) says that the ancient -gates of Milan, before the enlargement of the walls, were of this -construction with towers over them. They were furnished with heavy -wooden doors covered with iron, which were suspended on chains, and -slid down in grooves in the wall, thus completely closing the -entrance--a portcullis, in fact. Livy, in his twenty-seventh book, -describes the gates of Rome as being of the same construction; some -existing examples at Rome, Tivoli, and Pompeii prove the fact. A -famous gate in the time of the Longobards was the one chronicled by -Paulus Diaconus, which King Bertharis (671-686) caused the _Magistri_ -to erect beside his palace in Pavia. It was named the Porta -Palatinense, and was, says Paulus Diaconus, an admirable work (_opera -mirifica_). Some antique documents quoted by Passano,[55] prove that -this gateway was furnished with bronze gates.[56] - -Some writers think that the battlemented fortress came from the East, -because ancient specimens of it are found there. In reading an Italian -translation of Procopius, _Degli edifici di Giustiniano Imperatore_, I -was struck by the many slight expressions which seem to prove that -Justinian brought his fortress-builders into Byzantium from Italy. -Procopius says that Justinian made a new style of fortress with towers -all round the walls; with stairs in the towers, and galleries -(_baluards_) round them with holes in them to throw down stones, and -that it was called _Pirgo castello_, because in the Latin tongue, -fortresses are styled _castelli_. Now this description is precisely -that of an Italian fortress, such as the Comacines knew how to build, -and built for centuries all over Italy. If it came from the East in -ancient times, why was it specified by Procopius as a new style -there?--and if its origin were Eastern, why had they no name for it, -but had to take the Latin one? - -The Bishop of Salisbury, in a letter in the _Salisbury Diocesan -Gazette_ (May 1898), speaks of an inscription of the twelfth century, -preserved in the museum at Jaffa, which is in memory of Magister -Filipus, who came over with the King of England (Richard), and who had -built a portion of the wall "from gate to gate": evidently Magister -Filipus from the English Masonic Lodge, fraternized and worked with -his brethren of the Roman and Eastern Lodges. - -Again, on p. 21, Procopius speaks of a town or village now known as -Eufratisia, but which was once called Comagene, because there were -Romans as well as Persians living there. Romans, of course, meant -subjects of the Italian Empire, but the name Comagene is certainly -suggestive of those Italians being the Comacine builders who made the -castles. Then Procopius's description of the rebuilding of the church -of Santa Sofia is, to say the least of it, interesting to a student of -Lombard architecture. The passage translated runs thus--"The church -then (Sta Sofia) being thus burned, was, at that time, entirely -ruined. But Justinian, a long while after, rebuilt it in such a form -that if any one in older times could have foreseen it, he would have -prayed God that the old church might be completely destroyed, so that -it may be rebuilt as it now is. Therefore the Emperor sent to call -artificers _and masters_, as many as there were in all the universal -world. And Anthemius Trallianus, the head architect, was a great -machinist, learned in all kinds of machinery, not only that of his -own time, but in all that the ancients knew, and he had the power to -regulate and organize perfectly the working of all things necessary to -building, and to the ordering and executing of his own designs and -inventions. And Isidore, another Milesian, was also a master of -machinery. The church then, was so marvellously made that it was a -beautiful thing to see; it seems supernatural to those who behold it -with their own eyes, and incredible to those who only hear of it, -because it is so high that it seems to touch the sky.... The face of -the church looks towards the rising sun, but where the secret offices -to God are performed, it is built in this manner. It is a half-round -edifice which those of this profession call _Hemiciclo_, which is to -say half a circle ... and in this there are columns planted beneath -its floor." Here we have a decided Basilica with raised tribune and -semi-circular apse; both the form and nomenclature seem to have been -imported as a new thing from Italy. "The golden dome appears suspended -from heaven, so light are the columns supporting it that it seems to -be in the air.... One can never arrive at understanding how it was -built (_apprendere l'arteficio_), but one goes away astonished at -one's inability to enough admire such a work." - -Does not this seem an argument for the universality of the Masonic -Brotherhood, even in Byzantine days? Here are certainly Italian -artists, Italian basilican forms, and Italian nomenclature, among the -Greeks working at Sta Sofia. And here too are Lombard galleries and -windows with an Eastern touch added. Which way did the influence come? -Was this the origin of that characteristic Eastern mark of the Lombard -style in Italy?--or was it an importation from Italy to Byzantium, -where Procopius at least seems duly astonished by it? It is a question -for experts to solve. There is much for the archaeologist to do yet in -finding the true pedigree of architecture. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[49] Probably the root of our word Lobby. - -[50] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. i. p. 50. - -[51] The words _asse_ and _tavole_ for planks of wood still survive in -Italy. - -[52] Hope, _Storia dell' Architettura_, chap. xxv. p. 179, 180. - -[53] See the illustration of the church of S. Frediano, on page 48, -for a perfect specimen of Lombard tower. - -[54] _Ant. med. aevi_, Tom. I. chap. ii. p. 158. - -[55] _De' real palazzi_, ch. i. par. 4. - -[56] That the Longobards were either metal-workers themselves, or had -Italian artificers in their pay, we know from the specimens preserved -in Monza Cathedral, and especially the crown of Agilulf, of which the -_Antichita Longobardica Milanesi_ gives an illustration. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -COMACINE ORNAMENTATION IN THE LOMBARD ERA - - -The Comacine Masters were distinctly sculptor-architects, and their -ornamentation was an essential part of their buildings. Yet, to them, -sculpture was by no means mere ornament. It was not a mere breaking up -of a plain surface, as a beautifying effect; nor a setting of statues -and niches for symmetry. It was an eloquent part of a primitive -language of religion and art. The very smallest tracery had a meaning; -every leaf, every rudely carved animal spoke in mystic language of -some great truth in religion. But it was a language as yet -artistically unformed, because the mediaeval man had more articles of -creed than he could express in words, and his hand like his mind was -as yet unpractised. - -Thus it came that, as we have said, the Comacine Masters were much -given to symbolism. - -The old Italian writers class this symbolism under two heads--the -_ermetica_ (hermeneutic?), which they define as symbolism of form or -number; and _orfica_ (orphic), that of figures or representations. -Under the first head would fall the symbolical plan of their churches -to which we have referred; the form of the windows, which were -double-lighted, and emblematized the two lights of the law and the -gospel; the rounded apse, emblem of the head of Christ; the threefold -nave shadowing forth the Trinity; the octagonal form of the -baptisteries, which St. Ambrose[57] says was emblematical of the -mystic number 8, etc. - -Under the head of _orphic_ would come all those mystic signs of circle -and triangle; of sacred monograms, and the mysterious Solomon's -knot;--that intricate and endless variety of the single unbroken line -of unity,--emblem of the manifold ways of the power of the one God who -has neither beginning nor end. It would also include all the curious -possible and impossible animals that abound in the Comacine work of -earlier Longobardic times; all the emblematic figures of angels and -saints; and the figurative Bible stories of the later Masters. - -It has been said by Ruskin that the queer monsters sculptured on the -early Longobard churches, such as Sant' Agostino at Milan, San Fedele -at Como, and San Michele at Pavia, were the savage imaginings of the -lately civilized Longobards, as seen through the medium of the -sculptors employed by them. This is, however, proved not to be the -case; animal symbolism was in those days an outward sign of -Christianity, which, in a time when there was no literature, was to -the unlettered masses a mystical religion represented to their minds -in signs and parables. Christ Himself used this parabolic style of -teaching. And it was even more than that,--it was a sign of an older -Bible lore among the Hebrews, and other ancient peoples. As in many -early Christian ceremonies in the West (_i.e._ in Europe) we can trace -the remains of the old Latin paganism, so in the East we may trace -signs of the older Hebrew faith. - -Speaking of the Longobardic mixtures of labyrinths, chimerae, dragons, -lions, and a hundred other things, which at first sight do not seem to -be connected with Christianity, Marchese Ricci asks--"If these queer -mixtures were only the effect of the architects' caprice, whence came -the first impulse to such caprice? Not from classic Rome certainly. -Not from the Goths and Longobards, because they being barbarians had -to employ Italian artists."[58] The theory propounded by Pietro -Selvatico, in an article in the _Rivista Europea_, is suggestive of a -reply to this question. He supposes that the Byzantines originally -took their symbolism from the Hebrews, and from the traditions of -Solomon's Temple, which are also shared by the Phoenicians;[59] and -that this animal symbolism changed its character in the East, owing to -the restrictions imposed by the Emperor Leo and his successors, but -that in freer Italy it still flourished. It is difficult to say -whether the Comacines took their ornamentation direct from the -Byzantines at Ravenna in the early centuries after Christ, or whether -they got it by longer tradition, from that same Eastern source from -which the Byzantines took theirs. It is true that Como had more than -one bishop who was a Greek,[60] and that when it fell under the -government of the Patriarch of Aquileja, the Comacines were employed -by him in Venice, Grado, and Torcello, etc., where they would have -seen a good deal of Byzantine work; but their earliest employment at -Torcello was in the seventh century, and we have seen them using their -chisels for Theodolinda long before that time. - -The Byzantine ornamentation became conventional after 726 A.D., when -the Emperor Leo III. (the Isaurian) promulgated his iconoclastic edict -in the Eastern Empire. Some Greeks had begun to feel that, under the -appearance of Christianity, they were only keeping up the ancient -paganism. They were taunted by the Hebrews and Mussulmen, who, -inspired by the Koran, had a great hatred of images. This sect found -a champion in Leo III., who had lived much among the Arabs, and shared -their prejudices against idols. He convoked a council, prohibited -images, and proscribed all reverence and use of them either public or -private. A figure of the Christ over his own palace fell the first -victim to his iconoclastic destruction. Several Greeks who would not -bow to this decree fled to Italy, and put themselves under the -protection of Pope Gregory II. From this time the eastern Byzantine -architectural ornamentation was entirely confined to linear and -geometric design, and vegetable forms. In pure Byzantine work one sees -no dragons or fighting monsters, only conventional doves and scrolls. -The sculptors took to imitating woven stuffs, and Oriental patterns in -marble, and to twining their capitals with conventional leaves, but -the life had gone out of their work; it was all set and precise, but -dead. - -The Italian architect, not being under the power of the edict of Leo, -continued to carve his mythic animals, his symbolic birds and fishes, -and even tried his hand at the first rude revival of the human figure -in sculpture. His figures were disproportionate and mediaeval in -form,--what could one expect from a man of the Middle Ages just -reawakening to the conception of art?--but they were full of fire and -life. Their mystic beasts were horrible as any nightmare could -conceive them; they were indeed conceived in the darkness of that -night of superstition, ignorance, and fierce strife. Their angels were -grotesque, not from want of imagination, but from want of models of -form and proportion; their men are full of all kinds of expression, -with their heads too large and their limbs too short; but their -attitudes are lively, their faces grotesquely keen. - -As a proof of this distinctive style, compare the Byzantine altar of -S. Ambrogio at Milan, here illustrated, with the Comacine pulpit of -the same church. (_See_ page 88.) - - [Illustration: BYZANTINE ALTAR IN THE CHURCH OF S. AMBROGIO, MILAN. - _page 74._] - -So many students of architecture roughly class as Byzantine every kind -of intricate decorative work of the centuries before the Renaissance; -but I think that, excepting in some instances in Venice and Ravenna -(and not all the work of the era there), most of the Italian -ornamental sculpture is Comacine, and not Byzantine. Certainly if you -see a sly-faced lamb, or a placid lion with rolling eyes, peering out -from beneath the abacus of a column, or a perky bird lifting up its -claw over a vase, with an extremely lively expression of eagerness, -that work is not Byzantine, though it may be surrounded and mixed with -the most intricate possible weaving of lines or foliage. However, I -leave the question of derivation of style to wiser students than -myself, and return to the Comacine Masters and their symbolism. - -It seems impossible that the Comacine sculptures on S. Michele could -have come through the Byzantine. It is true they show rude and -unskilled technical execution, but they have intense spirit, belief, -life, and spontaneity. The _Magistri_ must have got their -ornamentation as they did their architecture from an older -source,--and a traditional one. It came down like their Freemasonry -from ancient Eastern builders through pagan Rome, and ages of mystic -religions such as Gnostic and other deistic forms, till it became -incorporated in Christianity. "We might," says Sacchi,[61] "define -Christian symbolism as the representation of mysteries and religious -truths by means of forms, cyphers, and determinate images." (_La -rappresentazione di dogmi, misteri e verita religiose, per mezzo di -forme, cifre ed immagini determinate._) - -An older and more authoritative testimony is given by Dionysius the -Areopagite, the associate of St. Paul, by whom he was consecrated. In -his _De angelica seu celesti Hierarchia, Epistola ad Timotheum Ephaesiae -civitatis episcopum_, he writes--"It is necessary to teach the mind -as to the spiritual hierarchies, by means of material figures and -formal compositions, so that by comparing the most sacred forms in our -minds, we may raise before us the spiritual and unpictured beings and -similitudes on high." As he says elsewhere, "ascendere per formas -veritatim." - -Again he writes to Titus--"Only by means of occult and difficult -enigmas, is it given to the fathers of science to show forth mystic -and divine truths."[62] In the second epistle to Timotheus, St. -Dionysius writes--"We must raise ourselves from ascetic facts by means -of imaginative forms, and we should not marvel as do the unknowing, if -for this end are chosen many-footed beings, or creatures with many -heads; if we figure bovine images, or lions, or eagles with curved -beaks; flying creatures with three-fold wings, celestial irradiations, -wheel-like forms, vario-tinted horses, the armed Sagittarius, and -every kind of sacred and formal symbol which has come down to us by -tradition." St. Nilus, too, writes to Olimpiodorus--"You ask me if I -think it an honourable thing that you erect temples to the memory of -martyrs as well as to that of the Redeemer--those martyrs who are -certainly among the saints, and whose pains and sufferings have borne -witness to the gospel. You also ask whether it would be wise to -decorate the walls on the right and left with animal figures, so that -we may see hares (conies) and goats, and every kind of beast flying -away, while men and dogs follow them up. Whether it would be well to -represent fish and fishermen throwing the line or the net; whether on -the calcareous stone shall be well-carved effigies of all kinds of -animals, and ornamental friezes and representations of birds, beasts, -and serpents of divers generations?" St. Nilus says later that he -quite agrees with all these things; so if the Fathers of the Church -respected them, we need not heed Mr. Ruskin's diatribes. - -St. Nilus lived in the time of John XVI., 985-996, nearly 900 years -after Dionysius, but this extract from his letter shows that Christian -symbolism had not altered in all those centuries, and the church he -describes is no more or less than a Comacine church of that era. The -chase is figured forth on the facades of S. Michele and S. Stefano at -Pavia, and S. Zeno at Verona. The huntsman and his dogs are generally -used as emblems of the faithful Christian driving out heresies.[63] -The fisherman symbolizes the priesthood, fishing for souls out of the -ocean of sin. There is a beautiful example of this myth in the fresco -of the ship (the ark of the Church) on the roof of the Spanish chapel -at Santa Maria Novella in Florence, where the fisherman is casting his -line from the bank. - -Seen through the medium of these early lights, we no longer look on -the facade of S. Michele as Ruskin does, as a sign of savage atrocity, -but every line of the time-worn sculptured friezes stands out as full -of meaning as an Egyptian hieroglyphic, to one who can interpret it. -On the angle to the left we have the army of the Church militant, -figured as armed soldiers, whose horses trample some quadrupeds -underfoot: symbol--the vanquishing of sins. Above this a frieze of -four animals--first, a lion; second, too much broken to be -decipherable, but from the context it is probably a man-headed -creature; third, a bull; fourth, a winged creature. Here we have the -four beasts of the Apocalypse,--emblems of the Evangelists. "And the -first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the -third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a -flying eagle" (Rev. iv. 7). The connection between the two friezes is -evident. First, the Church militant clad in the whole armour of God, -and the second emblematizing the shield of the Gospel. - -In the next compartment of the facade, that on the left of the door, -we have the chase of a deer and other animals flying from fierce dogs, -which we have explained above; over this a frieze of vine-leaves. -Here, again, the connection of thought is apparent. The vine figures -Christ, the only true refuge from heresy. - -High up on each side of this left door is a peacock with an olive-leaf -in its claw-symbol of the Church bringing peace. In the centre between -these is the bishop with his robes and pastoral staff--the visible -dispenser of peace in the Church. On the fourth frieze, which is above -the door, we go into the mythic animals: here is a hippogriff with the -three-fold tail; a woman with six breasts, carrying two pine-cones; -she is in a long robe with large sleeves, and veiled as an Egyptian; -two sphinxes, on each of which a man rides, and whispers in their -ears; a dragon with wings and bird's feet, on its neck a child; a -priest with vase of holy water and an asperge, who is blessing some -people; a man (Zohak) between two winged serpents which bite his head; -a sphinx to whom a man presents a little branch of a tree; two -hippogriffs, seated opposite each other with a man in the centre who -places their claws on his head. A marvellous frieze indeed, and one -which in spite of St. Dionysius speaks as much of Eastern traditions -long before Christ, as of Christianity itself. The many-breasted woman -with the pine-cones is the ancient mother goddess, Isis, Cybele, or -Cupra, according to the age and clime; here I take it the old image is -turned to new uses, and she figures Eve, the primitive mother. The -two sphinxes are obscure, but they would seem to emblematize man -wresting the secrets of knowledge of good and evil from the mystery of -the unknown, as when Adam and Eve ate the apple; the dragon, always -emblem of sin or the devil, ridden by a child, is a fine symbol of the -child Christ, the seed of Eve, who should overcome sin. Then comes the -purification by benediction, as shadowing Abel's accepted sacrifice, -and the serpent-fanged remorse of Cain, as shown in Zohak. - - "There where the narrowing chasm - Rose loftier in the hill - Stood Zohak, wretched man, condemned to keep - His cave of punishment. - His was the frequent scream - Which when far off the prowling jackal heard, - He howled in terror back. - For from his shoulders grew - Two snakes of monster size - Which ever at his head - Aimed their rapacious teeth. - He, in eternal conflict, oft would seize - Their swelling necks, and in his giant grasp - Bruise them, and rend their flesh with bloody nails - And howl for agony, - Feeling the pangs he gave, for of himself - Co-sentient and inseparable parts - The snaky torturers grew."[64] - - SOUTHEY, _Thalaba the Destroyer_. - -Next the man giving the branch to the sphinx must shadow the -reconciliation of man with God, and the hippogriffs the final -redemption of man. The hippogriff is a combination of horse and eagle. -The horse, as St. Dionysius says, was symbol of evangelical -resignation and submission; if white, it sheds divine light. The -eagle, he tells us, is a high and regal bird, potent, keen, sober and -agile; the winged horse consequently stands for man's upward flight -to heaven through submission to God. In the fifth frieze, the -Christian virtues of strength, fortitude, sobriety, and obedience are -symbolized by bulls and horses. - - [Illustration: FRESCO IN THE SPANISH CHAPEL, S. MARIA NOVELLA, - FLORENCE. - _Page 77, note._] - -Around the door are sculptures of the same kind of emblems with vines -entwining--which teach that all manly strength must be used for -Christ. - -In the central portion are more friezes, all symbolizing the struggle -between good and evil; the war between angels and demons; between -man's earthly nature and his heavenly soul. - -Here are men fighting dragons, and struggling with serpents; winged -angels riding on heavenly horses; and over the door the grand central -idea, St. Michael triumphant over the dragon-serpent, the favourite -hero and great example of those days. - -On the other side of the church we seem to get the symbolism of the -New Testament. Here, mixed still with the dragons and hippogriffs of -the time, we can see the Virgin with the Divine Child at her breast. - -On the capitals of the north door, round the corner, are the entirely -Christian emblems of the man, the lamb, a winged eagle, and two doves -pecking at a vase, in which are heavenly flowers. In the lunette, -Christ is giving to St. Paul on one side a roll of parchment, and on -the other hand entrusting the keys to St. Peter; under it are the -words: _Ordino Rex istos super omnia Regna Magistros_. - -The capitals in the church are carved with similar subjects; one has -the emblems of the evangelists; another Adam and Eve with the tree of -knowledge on one side, and a figure offering a lamb on the other. On -one are griffins at the corners, and Longobards with long vests, -beard, and long hair, crouching between them; on another, a virgin -martyr bearing the palm. The fourth column on the left has a curious -scene of a man dying, and an angel and a demon fighting for his -soul, which has come out of him in the form of a nude child. Two -pilasters show the sacrifice of Isaac, and Daniel in the lions' den. - - [Illustration: DOOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN MICHELE, PAVIA. - _page 80._] - -So we see, that mediaeval as he was at that time, the Comacine Master -of the seventh and eighth centuries, even though his execution were -low, had a high meaning in his work. As to the rudeness of the -handling, there is this to be said. We see the work after more than a -thousand years' exposure to the atmosphere, and the sculptures are not -in durable marble, but in sandstone, which has a habit of getting its -edges decayed, so we may fairly suppose the cutting looked clearer -when the ornamentations were fresh. The form of both animals and men -is, however, and naturally always was, entirely mediaeval, which seems -synonymous with clumsy. - -The use of marble ceased for some centuries with the fall of the Roman -Empire. Theodosius had made a law, forbidding any one below the rank -of a senator to erect a building of marble, or valuable _macigna_; -thus the Christian buildings after the fifth century were generally of -humble sandstone; and this continued till the time of St. Nilus, who -tells his friend that "in _arenaria_ he may effigy every kind of -animal, which will be a delightful spectacle" (_dilettoso spettacolo -di veduta_). It was a stone peculiarly adapted to building, as it was -easily cut, and yielded to all the imaginations of the sculptor with -very little labour. I have given an especially lengthy description of -the facade of S. Michele, because it embodies all the special marks of -the ornamentation of the Comacine under the Longobardic era. The -church of S. Fedele at Como is another instance; here, too, the -capitals of the columns, and the holy water vase, which is held up by -a dragon, are full of orphic symbolism. The left door has an -architrave with obtuse angles bearing a chimerical figure, half human, -half serpent--the gnostic symbol of Wisdom. Serpents and dragons -entwine on the lintels, and emblematize the Church's power to -overcome. - -In studying the scrolls and geometrical decoration of the Comacines, -one immediately perceives that the _intreccio_, or interlaced work, is -one of their special marks. I think it would be difficult to find any -church or sacred edifice, or even altar of the Comacine work under the -Longobards, which is not signed, as it were, by some curious -interlaced knot or meander, formed of a single tortuous line. - -As far as I can find from my own observations, there is this -difference between the Byzantine and Comacine mazes; the Byzantine -worked for effect, to get a surface well covered. His knots and -scrolls are beautifully finished and clearly cut with geometrical -precision, but the line is not continuous; it is a pretty pattern -repeated over and over, but has no suggestion of meaning. - -The Comacine, on the contrary, believed in his mystic knot; to him it -was, as I have said, a sign of the inscrutable and infinite ways of -God, whose nature is unity. The traditional name of these interlacings -among Italians is "Solomon's knot." - -I have seen a tiny ancient Lombard church, in the mountains of the -Apuan Alps, built before the tenth century, of large blocks of stone, -fitted and dovetailed into each other with a precision almost -Etruscan. High up in the northern wall is a single carved stone some -three feet long, representing a rude interlaced knot.[65] We asked a -peasant what it was. - -"Oh, it's an ancient _girigogolo_," said he, by which I presume he -meant hieroglyphic. - -On going to a higher fount and asking the priest, we got the -information that it was a "Solomon's knot," and that such -_intrecci_ were found on nearly all the very ancient churches. He -supposed it had some meaning--and thought it expressed eternity, as -the knots had no end and no beginning. The Italian philologist, -Sebastian Ciampi, gives these interlacings a very ancient origin. "We -may observe," he writes, "in the sculpture of the so-called barbarous -ages on capitals, or carved stones, that they used to engrave serpents -interlaced with curious convolutions. On the wall too they sculptured -that labyrinth of line which is believed to be the Gordian knot, and -other similar ornaments to which Italians give the generic name of -_meandri_. I do not think that all these representations were merely -adapted for ornament, but that they had some mystic meaning. I am not -prepared to say whether our forefathers received such emblems from the -Northern people who so frequently peregrinated in Italy, or from the -Asiatic countries. This is certain, the use of such ornamentation is -extremely antique, and we find it adopted by the Persians, and see it -in Turkish money, and carpets, and other works of Oriental art."[66] -Ciampi goes on to find the root of these emblems, both the Runic knot -and the Comacine _intreccio_, in the Cabirus of the ancient Orientals. -It is possible that the ancient serpent worship of the Druids and -other Northern nations, was in some way descended from the same root. -In any case they were transmitted to the Longobardic Comacines through -the early Christian _Collegia_ of Rome, as we see by the _plutei_ in -San Clemente, S. Agnese, etc., and by the beautiful single-cord -interweavings on the door of a chapel in S. Prassede. - - [Illustration: COMACINE KNOT ON A PANEL AT S. AMBROGIO, MILAN. ONE - STRAND FORMS THE WHOLE. FROM CATTANEO'S "ARCHITETTURA." - _See page 83._] - - [Illustration: SCULPTURE FROM SANT' ABBONDIO, COMO, 5TH CENTURY. (THE - CIRCLE AND CENTRE A SINGLE STRAND.) - _See page 84._] - -There is a marvellous knot sculptured on a marble panel of the ninth -century from S. Ambrogio Milan, which Cattaneo has illustrated.[67] -The whole square is filled with complicated interweavings of a single -strand, forming intricate loops and circles, the spaces between which -are filled with the Christian emblems, the rose, the lily, and the -heart. Another _pluteus_, originally from San Marco dei Precipazi at -Venice, but now over the altar at S. Giacomo, is dated 829 A.D., and -is covered with what seems at first sight a geometric pattern of -circles and diamonds, but if analyzed will be found a single strand -interwoven in the most mysterious and beautiful manner. It seems that -the parapet of the tribune in all these early Basilicas was the place -chosen especially by the Roman architect of the third and fourth -centuries, and the Comacine of the eighth and ninth, to set their -secret and mysterious signs upon, and to mark their belief in God as -showing infinity in unity. - -It is very curious to notice in the churches which the guild restored -in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when their tenets had -altered, and their sign changed, how they themselves removed these old -stones, but yet being careful not to destroy them, they turned them -and sculptured them again on the other side. In the excavations or -restorations in Rome many of the _intrecci_ have come to light at the -back of panels of Comatesque pulpits, recarved into altar frontals, or -used as paving-stones before the altar. - -Some of the earlier and less intricate forms of knots may be seen in -the church of S. Abbondio at Como, which was built in the fifth -century and again rebuilt in the ninth. Some excavations in the last -century revealed the foundations of the fifth-century church, and also -brought to light a number of sculptured stones which had been turned -face downwards to form the pavement. We give illustrations from two of -these which have the Comacine signs plainly written on them, and show -even in this early and simple form the reverence for the line of -unity. Cattaneo thinks they may have formed the front of the gallery -above the nave in the eighth-century building. - -In the museum of Verona is a precious fragment of Comacine work dating -from Luitprand's time. It was a _ciborium_ which Magister Ursus was -commissioned to make for the church of S. Giorgio di Valpolicella. It -is especially valuable as the first dated piece of sculpture of the -Longobardic era, and the first signed specimen of Comacine interlaced -work. The columns which remain support a round arch, covered with -sculptured _intrecci_. As it stands now the two halves of the arch do -not match, so it must be conjectured that the _ciborium_ had four -columns, and that the halves of the arch were originally on different -sides of the erection. The _intrecci_ are beautiful and varied, -displaying the unbroken continuity of the curved line which marks the -Comacine work of the eighth to the twelfth centuries. The capitals are -curious in form and not at all classical. Beneath the capitals of the -two columns are the following inscriptions in rough letters and dog -Latin. One runs--"IN NOMINE DNI. IESU XRISTI DE DONIS SANCTI IUHANNES -BAPTISTE. EDIFICATUS EST HANC CIVORIUM SUB TEMPORE DOMNO NOSTRO -LIOPRANDO REGE, ET VB PATERNO DOMNICO EPESCOPO, ET COSTODES EIUS, -VIDALIANO ET TANCOL, PRESBITERIS, ET REFOL GASTALDO, GONDELME INDIGNUS -DIACONUS SCRIPSI." And the other--"URSUS MAGESTER CUM DISCEPOLIS SUIS, -IVVINTINO ET IVVIANO EDIFICAVET HANC CIVORIUM, VERGONDUS TEODAL -FOSCARI."[68] - -The date of Bishop Dominic's death coincides with Luitprand's -accession to the throne, so we may safely say Magister Ursus worked in -712. _Ursus Magister fecit_ is also engraved in the same style on an -ancient altar recently discovered in the abbey church of Ferentillo -near Spoleto. It is known that Luitprand went to Spoleto in 739, and -installed Hilderic in the Dukedom. In any case this inscription is of -priceless value to our argument that the Comacine Guild which worked -for the Lombard kings was really the same guild that built the latter -Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and palaces. Here we get the exact -organization which becomes so familiar to us in the later lodges whose -archives are kept, Ursus or Orso proves his right to the title of -Magister by having disciples under him. The work is done in the time -of "Our Lord Luitprand and our Father the Bishop," who are the -presidents of the lodge, just as in later lodges the more influential -citizen or body of citizens are presidents of the _Opera_. Then there -is Refol, the _Gastaldo_ (Grand Master). The very same term is kept up -in the Lombard lodges till the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, -when the head of the Venetian _laborerium_ is styled the _Gastaldo_ -instead of _capo maestro_ as in Tuscany; there is even the notary to -the guild, the unworthy scribe Gondelmus. - -The work is so far inferior to the _ciborium_ at Valpolicella, that it -would seem to be, as Cattaneo remarks, by an earlier hand. The -ornamentation is not a finished sculpture, but only rudely cut into -the surface of the stone, like a first sketch. Possibly the -remuneration offered by the employer was not liberal enough to -encourage Orso to put any elaborate work into the altar, or he might -have blocked out the work, and left it unfinished either by reason of -death, or absence. - -Another famous work of that time was one which Luitprand himself -caused to be sculptured by Magister Giovanni, of the Comacine Guild. -It was the covering for the tomb of S. Cumianus in the monastery of -Bobbio. It will be remembered that Agilulf and Theodolinda gave -shelter to the Irish Saint Columbanus, and assisted him to found the -convent of Bobbio. One of the monks there, another Irishman, named -Cumianus, was afterwards canonized, and Luitprand built his tomb. We -are told it was covered with precious marbles, which would seem to -indicate something in the style which the Cosmati afterwards made so -famous. - -The tomb of Theodata at Pavia is a fine specimen of -Comacine-Longobardic sculpture. It is now to be seen in the cortile of -the Palazzo Malaspina with some other old sarcophagi. This has been -called a Byzantine work, but the extreme vitality and expression in -the hippogriffs and the Solomon's knots which sign it, mark the work -as Comacine; besides, we are told by the most early authors that the -Longobards never employed Greek artists. There is the usual mixture of -Christianity and Mediaevalism in the sculptures on the top of the tomb. -Winged griffins with serpent tails prance on each side of a vine, from -which serpents' heads look out. Fishes are in the corner, and an -interlaced border, whose spaces are filled with grapes and mystic -circles, frames, as it were, the design. The side is entirely -Christian; and if the peacocks which drink out of a vase with a cross -in it, were less lively, it might almost pass for a Byzantine design; -but the Comacine Magister has set his mark even here, in his knots -with neither end nor beginning, his concentric circles, and roses of -Sharon; and has told us in his mystic language that Theodata was a -Christian, and though tempted, clung to the cross. Theodata, a noble -Roman dame, was one of the ladies of honour to Ermelind, King -Cunibert's Anglo-Saxon wife.[69] - -One day Ermelind incautiously described the exquisite beauty of this -lady, whom she had seen in the bath, and greatly inflamed his -imagination. He brutally ruined the lovely Theodata, and afterwards -shut her up in a monastery, probably that of St. Agatha, which his -father had built. This took place in A.D. 720. The beautiful tomb was -but a poor atonement for the coarse cruelty which had spoiled her -life. - -The pulpit in S. Ambrogio at Milan is a really fine specimen of -sixth-century work. It is supported on ten columns. Here is the true -Comacine variety of columns: they are all sizes and all shapes; some -round, some hexagonal; some longer, some shorter; the difference in -height being made up by the capitals and pedestals being more or less -high. One, which is peculiarly short, and whose capital is carved in -complicated Solomon's knots, has a lion placed as abacus. This is the -earliest instance I know of, of the use of the lion of Judah, in -connection with the pillar (Christ). Here the lion rests on the column -and supports the arches, instead of being the root of the pillar as it -became in the later Romanesque style. The arches are surrounded with -intricate scrolls and interlaced work; some of them clearly copied -from Byzantine designs. The spaces between the arches are enriched -with allegorical subjects. In one, the emblems of the apostles; in -another, a choir of angels, very mediaeval and heavy-headed; in -another, a winged archangel. At the corner is a man in Lombard dress, -holding two animals, one in each hand. It is peculiarly suggestive of -the Etruscan deity with the two leopards, which is so frequently seen -on the black Chiusi vases, and confirms more than ever, the tendency -in mediaeval Christians to cling to ancient pagan forms, giving them a -new Christian significance. The frieze above the arches which forms -the base of the marble panels of the Ambone, is peculiarly Comacine. -Here are all the mystic animals, representing the powers of -evil;--dragons, wolves, etc., bound together in a knotted scroll of -one continuous vine-branch, here and there training into foliage. -Reading the ornamentation by the light of mediaeval symbolism, the -whole thing gives us lessons appropriate to a pulpit. It tells us that -Christ the pillar of the Church, descended from David the lion of -Judah, is the foundation of all Gospel; that angels and saints sing -the glory of God; and that Christ the vine can bind and subdue the -powers of evil. The fine early Christian tomb beneath the pulpit is -not necessarily connected with it. It has been called the tomb of -Stilicho, with how much reason I am not prepared to say. If so it must -date from the early part of the fifth century, as it was on October 8, -405, that Stilicho marched up to Fiesole from Florence to his victory -over Radagaisus the Goth. The Florentines had but just been converted -to Christianity at that time. The sculpture, though Christian in -subject, has many signs of debased Roman style mingled with much of -the mediaeval. - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN THE CHURCH OF S. AMBROGIO, MILAN, 6TH - CENTURY. - (_From a photograph by Brogi._) _See Page 88._] - -There is a similar pulpit at Toscanella, in the church of S. Maria -Maggiore, a three-naved Lombard church with the choir facing east. The -pulpit, which is of the square form used before A.D. 1000, is -supported on four columns, and has sculptured parapets and arches, on -which are various interlaced designs of marvellous intricacy.[70] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[57] Sancti Ambrosii, _Comment. in S. Luc._ Lib. V. cap. vi. - -[58] _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, cap. viii. p. 245. - -[59] Would this at all explain the Runic knot in Ireland, and in -Scandinavia, where there was very early intercourse with the -Phoenicians? - -[60] Amantius, the fourth Bishop of Como, was translated from the See -of Thessalonica to that of Como. - -[61] _Antichita Romantiche d'Italia_, Vol. I. capo iv. p. 138. - -[62] "Sophiae patres, per quaedam occulta et audacia enigmata, -manifestant divinam, et misticam et inviam immundis veritatum."--Sancti -Dionisii, _de Theologia Simbolica_, Epistola I. ad Titum Pontificem. - -[63] A very pretty later instance of this myth is in the fresco of the -Spanish chapel in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, where the Dominican -monks are figured as the "dogs of the Lord" (_domini canes_--mediaeval -pun), fighting and overwhelming the heretical _paterini_ whom the -monks literally fought with in the streets of Florence. The dog is -always used as emblem of fidelity--the hare treated alone is generally -used as an emblem of unchastity; when in the chase, as unfaithfulness. - -[64] I am informed, by a literary Hindoo lady, that Zohak, so -graphically described by Southey as the emblem of remorse, is from an -ancient Persian legend, and not of Indian origin. - -[65] The stone is evidently a remnant of the ancient architrave of the -facade, where it has been replaced by two modern slabs, and the arch -above filled in with masonry. - -[66] Anglicized from Bigeri Thorlacii et Sebastiani Ciampi. "_De -septentrionalium gentium antiquitatibus, et literis runicis._"--Epistolae -Mediolani._ - -[67] _Architettura d'Italia_, Fig. 119, p. 201. - -[68] Cattaneo, _L' Architettura in Italia_, p. 79. - -[69] Ermelind was from England, which suggests a very early -intercourse between the Lombards and Britain. - -[70] Cattaneo, _L' Architettura in Italia_, p. 167. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -COMACINES UNDER CHARLEMAGNE - - -MASTERS OF THE CARLOVINGIAN ERA - - ---+-------+--------------------------+------------------------------- - 1. | 805 | Magister Natalis | A Lombard, employed at Lucca - | | | to build a church and make - | | | a canal. - | | - 2. | 900? | M. Johannis de Menazio | Built the church of S. Giacomo - | | (and many other Masters | at Pontida. - | | from Como) | - | | | - 3. | " | A "famous Magister" | Worked at S. Zeno at Verona, - | | from Como (name not | and built S. Zeno at Pontida. - | | given) | - | | | - 4. | " | M. Adami | Sculptured the capitals in the - | | | atrium of S. Ambrogio at - | | | Milan. - ---+-------+--------------------------+------------------------------- - -We may safely say that Charlemagne, who was more a warrior than a man -of aesthetic tastes, had no influence whatever on Italian architecture; -neither the form nor the symbolism was changed by him. The Italians -were always conservative, and clung to old traditions. The Roman -basilica, and not the Eastern mosque, still continued to be the plan -of the Italian church. Ricci asserts that by the end of the eighth -century all imitation of Oriental architecture had disappeared from -Italian churches. It was not the same, however, with the -ornamentations, in which the frozen Byzantine forms became vitalized -under hands less technically skilful, but more natural. - - [Illustration: DOOR OF A CHAPEL IN S. PRASSEDE, ROME. - _See page 83._] - - [Illustration: PLUTEUS FROM S. MARCO DEI PRECIPAZI, NOW IN S. GIACOMO, - VENICE. - _See page 84._] - -Charlemagne did not even alter the Longobardic laws, and he -certainly did not interfere with the freedom and privileges of the -Comacines or _Liberi Muratori_. In fact he ratified the Lombard code -(the laws of Rotharis and Luitprand), only adding a few others which -are known as _Capitolari_. - -They do not, however, refer specially to our _Magistri_, but to -jurisprudence in general. The older laws still held good for the -Comacines, and they went on building their Basilican churches, which -were at the same time classic in form, solid in style, and fanciful in -decoration--a curious and characteristic mixture. But Charlemagne -certainly patronized the Comacines, and not only employed them -himself, but sent them to restore Roman churches for Pope Adrian, and -to fortify Florence. - -The early Carlovingian churches in Italy have so much analogy with the -Longobardic ones, that it is very difficult to distinguish precisely -to which era certain churches belong. - -Rumhor instances the Florentine Basilica of S. Scheraggio, which was -much used as a meeting-place for civil councils in the early days of -the Republic. This is usually said to have been a Carlovingian church; -but either it was pure Lombard, as the barbarous name _Scheraggio_ -implies, or else Charlemagne employed the Lombard architects.[71] -Padre Richa, who saw the ruins of it, gives a design of the church, -which was the usual Lombard form, three naves, the central one wide, -and an apse to each. The columns and capitals were from some Roman -building. - -The architecture was entirely similar to that of S. Paolo in ripa -d'Arno, close to Pisa, which has also been styled Carlovingian. The -chronicle of the monk Marco, written in 1287, preserved in the -archives of Vallombrosa, shows that although the guide-books date S. -Scheraggio as twelfth-century architecture because a papal bull of -that time refers to the name, it belonged to the Vallombrosian monks -long before, having been given to them by Countess Beatrice in -1073,[72] and was probably founded in the ninth century. - -We must not omit to mention the most interesting of Comacine churches, -that of San Donato in Polenta, where Dante worshipped, and near which -Paolo and Francesca lived. It was built in the eighth century, and is -mentioned in a document of 976. It is of the usual triple-apsed form. -The columns have diverse capitals, some square, some diminished, -ornamented with foliage and interlaced work; some have grotesque -figures, and animals in low relief, with a rude technique. Here are -men like monkeys, hippogriffs, sea monsters, etc. It has been -graphically described in Sapphic verse by Carducci, as follows-- - - To that gaunt Byzantine there crucified, - Whose hollow eyes gaze from his livid face, - The faithful pray for blessings on their Lord,[73] - And glory to Rome. - - From every capital dread shapes obtrude - And memories bring of ancient sculpturing hands - Whose works show visions weird, and horrors from - The dreadful North. - - The eastern gleam from pallid altar lamps - Falls on degenerate inhuman forms, - Writhing around in many-coiled embrace - Like things of Hell. - - Rude monsters spew above the kneeling flock. - Behind the very font, crouching beast - Red-haired and horned, and demonlike - Doth gaze and grin. - -The original runs thus-- - - Al bizantino crocefisso, atroce - Ne gli occhi bianchi livida magrezza, - Chieser merce de l'alta stirpe e de la - Gloria di Roma. - - Da i capitelli orride forme intruse - A le memorie di scapelli argivi, - Sogni efferati e spasimi del bieco - Settentrione. - - Imbestiati degeneratamente - Ne l'Oriente, al guizzo de le fioca - Lampade, in turpi abbracciamenti attorti, - Zolfo ed inferno. - - Goffi sputavan su la prosternata - Gregge: di dietro al battistero un fulvo - Picciol cornuto diavolo guardava - E subsannava. - -This church, so full of poetic and historic interest, was lately going -to be destroyed, but the priest, Don Luigi Zattini, appealed to the -Inspector of Monuments for the province of Forli, who had recourse to -the _Deputazione Storica Romagnola_. Efforts were made to save it, and -instead of being pulled down, it is now only to be restored, which may -be as fatal. The castle of Guido da Polenta, husband of Francesca da -Rimini and brother of Paolo, is now ruined, but a cypress on a plateau -of the grounds is still called Francesca's cypress. - -It was about this era that the Comacines began their many emigrations, -and spread throughout Italy. The church-building Longobards, being -subjugated themselves, had no longer the power to employ them, so this -large guild had to look further afield for their work. - -Hitherto they seem to have been almost exclusively employed in the -Lombard kingdom and its dukedoms, except the few who went to England -and Germany in the seventh century. But Charlemagne had a wider rule -in Italy; and good architecture was needed in other parts. Some -documents quoted by Professor Merzario[74] not only prove these -travelling days of the _Magistri_, but connect them with many of the -finest and most interesting churches in Central and South Italy. One -is a deed of gift for the weekly distribution of bread and wine to the -poor at Lucca in 805. It begins--"Ego Natalis, homo transpadanus, -magister casarius, Christo auxiliante, aedificavi Ecclesiam in honori -Dei et Mariae et B. Petri Apostoli, intra hanc civitatem"--"I, Natalis, -a man from beyond the Po, being a master builder, by Christ's help -have constructed within this city, a church in honour of God, of Mary, -and of the blessed apostle Peter."[75] Here we see the Comacine Master -settled as leading architect in Lucca, far from his native land beyond -the Po, and so flourishing that he can dispense large charities. He -seems to have done some public works too; there was a canal called the -Fossa Natale, which ran through the city, and had a bridge over it. -There must have been others of the guild in Lucca, before Natalis, -working at the churches of S. Frediano and S. Michele. - -The latter building was not long prior to the era of Magister Natalis. -It was founded in 764 by the Lombard Teutprandus or Iutprand, and his -wife Gumbranda. It coincides with S. Frediano in its plan of the Latin -cross. Here, however, we find no Roman capitals, as in S. Frediano, -but the twelve columns which sustain the arches of the nave are of -rough white marble, from the neighbouring mountains of Carrara. They -are of the same size upward, not narrowed at the top. The capitals are -of somewhat composite order, with a leaning to Orientalism. The eight -columns in the nave have simple arches _a sesto intero_ -(semi-circular) springing from them; the four which support the -tribune are heightened by piers of a Gothic form, flanked by -pilasters, which raise the arch over the central nave. This seems to -be the first instance of an attempt to render the sanctuary of the -high altar more grand and majestic than the rest of the building. The -facade is of quite a different epoch, and has nothing to do with the -interior. It was the work of Guidectus in 1188, who also built the -cathedral of Lucca. - -The windows show the same divergence of style. In S. Frediano they are -large and classical, in S. Michele narrow and Neo-Gothic. - -The other document is less decisive, but has its significance. An -ancient mediaeval _Memoriale_, in the monastery of Pontida,[76] has the -following entry--"Guglielmo de Longhi di Adraria built the church of -San Giacomo di Pontida, employing Magister Johanne de Menazio et -multis aliis de episcopatu comensi." This was finished in 1301, and -was consequently later than the building of S. Zeno at Pontida, of -which another MS. in the same monastery relates a fact, which the -chronicler says happened _avanti il mille_ (before the year 1000). - -"A master very famous in the art of building, who came 'de regione -juxta lacum cumanum' (from the region about Lake Como), met with -robbers at Cisano, as he returned from Verona to his native place. The -which Master being struck with terror, recommended himself, calling -with all his heart on the blessed Zeno, and made a vow that if the -saint brought him safe and sound out of that deadly peril, he would -build a church in his honour. As soon as he had spoken the words, the -horse on which he was mounted took fright and galloped away, so that -the robbers could no more harm him. Thus he escaped safely with all -his belongings ('pote scampare sano con tutte le sue cose'), and -returning the following year with his workmen, he began the building -of the church of S. Zeno at Valle Ponzia (now Pontida), the people of -the neighbourhood lending him aid, both in money and in labour." - -We may be excused for jumping at conclusions if we opine that as he -was returning from Verona after a long sojourn, he had been employed -there. Probably it was at the church of S. Zeno; particularly as he -felt he had a special claim on the help of that saint. - -There is very little left of the first church of S. Zeno at Verona -(which was rebuilt entirely in the twelfth century), except the -curious mausoleum in the crypt, which is supposed to be King Pepin's -tomb. Our Comacine who escaped the brigands may possibly have made -that, as the era (before the year 1000) corresponds. Or he might have -been working at the church which Bishop Lothaire, aided by Bertrada, -mother of Charlemagne, built 780 A.D., and dedicated to S. Maria -Matricolare, and which the Bishop Ratoldo (802-840) chose as the -cathedral. Of this, too, little remains now, it having been rebuilt in -the twelfth century, but some indications of the old building were -found in the excavations made in 1884. At the depth of two metres, in -the Lombard cloister adjoining it, a mosaic pavement was discovered -with a design of foliage, animals, and inscriptions. There was also a -fallen column, which they were able to stand on its own base with its -capital. Cattaneo[77] thinks that these are the remains of Lothaire's -church, as the capital of the column is undoubtedly of the eighth -century. It has a rigid abacus, and the form is rudely Corinthian, -with solid straight leaves curled back, instead of the usual acanthus. -The same style is seen in S. Salvatore of Brescia, and S. Maria in -Cosmedin in Rome, both Comacine works. - - [Illustration: COMACINE CAPITALS. - _See page 96._] - -Another Carlovingian church in Verona is that of S. Lorenzo, said to -have been founded by Pepin. Some interesting bits of its primitive -architecture remain, and are precious relics. There is, for instance, -a little spiral stairway in the wall, which led to different divisions -of the women's gallery.[78] - -At this era a change in the form of windows may be observed; they were -narrowed and heightened, a first step towards the Gothic form. - -In Carlovingian times the Comacines worked much in Rome. Cattaneo[79] -says that there exist letters from Pope Adrian I. to Charlemagne, -begging him to send architects (_Magistri_) from the north of Italy, -to execute some works in Rome. Now these _Magistri_ could be no other -than the Comacine Guild of Lombardy, who with the Longobards had -lately become subjects of Charlemagne, and were without doubt the -finest builders in Italy, if not monopolists of the art. The buildings -which they designed and erected in Rome at that time were the churches -of S. Maria in Cosmedin, S. Lorenzo in Lucina, S. Saba on Mount -Aventine, and the residence of the Patriarch near S. John Lateran. The -door of a chapel in S. Prassede with its Comacine _intrecci_ is a -standing proof of their work there in the ninth century. - -Anastasius, the librarian, gives an account of the rebuilding of the -church of S. Maria in Cosmedin.[80] He says that Adrian found it -absolutely beneath a pile of ruins (_sub ruinis positam_) of a former -temple to Ceres and Proserpine, which literally hung over it. As this -mass of ruin prevented the enlargement of the new church, it was -entirely demolished "by fire, and by the labours of the people." The -space being cleared, a new and spacious Basilica was erected "a -fundamentis tres absides, in ea constituens." - -The writer mentions this form with three apses as being new in Rome. -We have, however, seen that in the north of Italy the Comacines had -been, for the past century or two, building Basilican churches on -precisely this plan. In fact the three round apses had become one of -the special marks of their churches. Cattaneo argues that the form -came from the East, as some of the Syrian churches of the fifth -century and the great Basilica of St. Simeon Stylites at Kaiat Senian, -erected in 500, have signs of the same conformation. Whether these -were of absolutely Oriental origin, or the result of some early -emigration of the _liberi muratori_, archaeologists must judge. The two -rows of columns which divide the nave from the aisles, have solid -piers of masonry interposed between each three columns; these are -elongated above the colonnade to support the roof, and strengthen the -upper gallery.[81] - -It is evident that the Comacines availed themselves of old material in -this work; the columns are of all species and styles, some fluted, -some smooth, some with antique Corinthian capitals, others of Comacine -work. One is of the same form as those we have described in S. Maria -Matricolare at Verona, with solid volutes, placed perpendicularly, -instead of the graceful acanthus. The same capital is seen in S. -Agnese fuori le mura. - -There is in S. Maria in Cosmedin a very interesting fragment of the -Comacine decoration of the time when Adrian I. was the patron of the -guild. It is a bit of cornice, formed of a little colonnade of round -arches; beneath it an inscription in a curious early style, the -letters all sizes and shapes. It runs-- - - "DE DON IS [~DI] ET [~SC]E [~DI] GENETRICIS MARIAE. TEMPORIBUS - D[=ON]I ADRIANI PAPE EGO GREGORIUS." - -I have seen another fragment during the recent restorations. A fine -_intreccio_ on a marble slab in one of the pulpits, which had been -reversed and inlaid on the other side in thirteenth-century mosaic. - -The church of S. Saba on Mount Aventine, which was also built under -Adrian I., has every mark of Comacine work, especially in the mediaeval -and unclassic form of capitals. Probably the supply of ancient -capitals fell short after the building of the other churches, and the -builders had to supply them with their own chisels. They made a rude -imitation of the Ionic form, as far from the classic grace of the -original, as their plain hard volutes were from the elegance of the -Corinthian. - -A better artist seems to have been placed by the Comacine Guild in S. -Lorenzo in Lucina, which was contemporary to this. The capitals of the -same form are much more clearly and firmly cut, and in a better style -of ornamentation. Here too are the Comacine lions, now built into the -wall under the square lintels of the door. Of the Comacine work in the -house of the Patriarch near S. John Lateran, _i.e._ the papal -residence of those times, not much remains to show the hand of the -Comacines, except the sculptures on the well in the cloister, the -parapet of which is adorned with two zones of reliefs, divided by an -interlaced band. The under one consists of alternate crosses and rude -palms, the upper is a row of round arches, adorned with upstanding -volutes, like vine-tendrils; under one arch is a dove with grapes in -his beak, and in the other a cross. There are also two sculptured -stones in the same cloister, one showing various interlaced patterns, -the other a cross formed by weavings of the continued line, enriched -in the groundwork of foliage. - -One of the most interesting churches of the Carlovingian era is that -of San Pietro in Grado near Pisa. In the Middle Ages this was a great -shrine for pilgrimages, being, it is said, built on the spot on which -St. Peter first set foot in Italy. (_Gradus_--a step.) Legend -(supported by the assertion of a certain Archbishop Visconti, who -preached in Pisa in the thirteenth century) says that the Apostle -Peter was driven ashore at that spot, and having made an altar he -began to baptize--giving his disciples commands to build a church -there. What the first church was like is not known; the present one -was built between 600 and 800 A.D., and was decorated with frescoes -before A.D. 1000. There is a great similarity in structure between -this building and that of S. Apollinare in Ravenna; they are both of -similar brick masonry, and three-apsed, and the aisles are in about -the same proportion to the greater height of the nave. The proportions -of the short round arches on the tall classic columns of the interior -are extremely similar, as is the scheme of ornamentation, with the -difference that at Ravenna the medium is mosaic, and at S. Pietro a -Grado it is fresco. The line of Bishops in the spring of the arches in -Ravenna is reproduced at Grado by a line of Popes in medallions, -ending with Leo III., 795, which would probably mark the era of the -foundation of the church.[82] - -San Pietro, however, has one very great peculiarity. It has no facade, -but is built with the usual Lombard three apses at one end, and a -single semi-circular tribune at the other. The only door is at the -side. The priest, who is naturally proud of his church, and learned in -its history, told us that by this peculiar form the builders wished to -represent a ship, and pointing out the great square pilasters that -break the line of columns at the fourth arch from the west, he showed -how the raised poop of a vessel was expressed by the greater height -and width of the four arches at the west end. Certainly the narrowing -effect being towards the chancel instead of the reverse, is most -remarkable. - -I was not, however, convinced by his symbolism, and realizing the -greater proportions of the west end, where three arches with fluted -columns stretched across a tribune, now turned into an organ-loft, I -felt convinced that the present form was not the original. Either the -ancient altar once stood at the west end, and the church, like so many -Lombard ones, had formerly faced the opposite way; or else the -semi-circular tribune, which seems to be of later work, has been added -by restorers, to cover in the three arches of the ancient facade. -That, in fact, the large solid pilasters in the nave marked the -ancient wall of the interior, and the four arches on the other side of -them formed the narthex. To support the first theory, is the fact that -the altar called St. Peter's altar stands now isolated in that west -end, and the canopy in the form of an ancient Lombard _ciborium_ -stands on four columns above it, carved in stone in very early style. -The opposite theory of the narthex having been at that end, may on its -side be confirmed by one of the frescoes, the last but two on the -south wall, which represents the church itself as it was prior to A.D. -1000. Here the artist has, with a curious mediaeval disregard of -perspective and possibility, represented both ends of the church in -one view, and here we see plainly the three apses with their marble -perpendicular ribs on one side, and the facade of large arches with a -row of smaller ones across the building above them on the other. I -leave the question of this puzzling west tribune to wiser judges than -myself, and trust that some new Fergusson, Hope, or Street may some -day discover the truth. - -The columns of the nave are all of antique marble, the ruins of a -Roman temple to Ceres at Pisa; some are of cipollino, others Oriental -granite, one is of fluted white Greek marble. The capitals are mostly -antique and classical, though a few show the hand of the early -Comacine in their straight upstanding volutes. The ingenuity of the -_Magistri_ in making use of old material is shown in the various -devices by which these columns are adapted. Where they are too short -the base is raised on two pedestals; where too small for the massive -pillar, a wide abacus is placed on the top to support the arch. One of -the columns which support the altar is made long enough by a base made -of an antique carved capital reversed beneath it. We have a distinct -sign of the Comacines in a stone let into the wall near the door, and -which evidently formed part of the ancient architrave. It is carved in -an intricate interlaced knot. I shall speak in the chapter on Comacine -painting, of the frescoes in the nave, which are unique of their kind, -and of deep interest to the Art historian. - - [Illustration: EXTERIOR OF SAN PIERO A GRADO, PISA, 8TH CENTURY. - _page 101._] - -These churches of the Carlovingian era in Italy cannot be documentally -proved to have been at all connected with Charlemagne himself, except -that he sent the _Magistri Comacini_ to Rome, at Pope Adrian's -request. The same cannot be said of the great church of -Aix-la-Chapelle, with which his name must be for ever united, but -which is certainly not entirely unconnected with this Lombard -Guild. Where history gives no precise information, and where -authors, ancient and modern, fail to fix the precise era of this -important work, it is of course impossible to say who was the -architect. We can only judge by the style, and by inferences drawn -from previous works of the same style. First, as to the few facts we -are able to gain: Eginbertus, a Lombard, the biographer of -Charlemagne, in his _De vita et gestis Caroli Magni_, Capit. 26, tells -us that Charlemagne "built the Basilica of Aquisgrana of wonderful -beauty, and adorned it with much gold, silver lamps, and with gates -and doors of bronze. For this construction, not being able elsewhere -to find columns and marble, he provided that they should be brought -from Rome and Ravenna." This fact, of a want of proper material in -France, would seem to imply that skilled workmen to build in stone -must have been imported with the material. It is difficult, or indeed -impossible, to prove that French workmen were equal to the occasion, -by showing other contemporary works in France. Any churches they may -have then had, have long since perished, for at that date they were -usually built of wood; another argument that France could not have -supplied accomplished architects in stone. - -Some say the church was designed by Ansige, Abbot of Fontanelles, -others give the credit to Eginhard, or Eginbertus, as his Lombard name -is spelt; but as he does not claim it for himself in his -writing,--indeed, we see from the above extract that he speaks quite -impersonally of it,--there is certainly no documentary evidence to -prove this assertion. Speaking dispassionately, it would be strange -for a man of letters, private secretary to a great king, to suddenly -develop into a full-fledged architect. It is much more likely that as -he was a Lombard, he was interested in employing the builders whom all -his countrymen had employed for centuries. D'Agincourt, who had a good -deal of _amour propre_, and would, if he could, always give glory to -France, says (vol. i. p. 27, 139)--"It is natural to believe that the -Italian architects whom Charlemagne had brought with him, designed the -buildings they made for him in France, on the lines of those of their -own country." Dartein, in his _Lombard Architecture_, writes of -it--"If we inspect the octagonal half-domes which terminate the centre -of the cross in S. Fedele at Como, we see that they reproduce the -rotunda of Aix-la-Chapelle. The form of the shafts, the outline of the -wall, and the disposition of the collateral vaults are alike in both -edifices. The similarity is so great as to prove imitation, especially -as other churches in the Rhone district remind one of churches in the -territory of Como." The fact of similitude is significant, but is it -not more likely that the imitation was the other way? S. Fedele, or S. -Eufemia as it was first called, was built in S. Abbondio's time, A.D. -440, before the era of the Longobards, and we are told is the only -church of that time which retains its original architecture, -especially in the rounded apse. The similarity would then go to prove -what has been an hypothesis, that Charlemagne really brought builders -as well as marble from Italy, and that the _Magistri Comacini_ were -those builders. - -The church has also been compared to S. Vitale at Ravenna, but the -Comacines were accustomed to build circular churches, such as the -Rotunda at Brescia, and others. They were generally used as -baptisteries or mausoleums; in fact were ceremonial churches. - -Aix-la-Chapelle was designed as the tomb of Charlemagne, and here the -builders mingled the rotunda of the ceremonial church with the -basilica for worship. The workmanship is much more rude than that of -S. Vitale, where Greek artists were employed. It is easy to -distinguish the parts added by the Comacines, from the classical and -Byzantine imported adornments furnished by the spoils of Rome and -Ravenna. The Italians were not left entirely free in their designs, -but had to conform to a more northern climate and different national -taste; the windows were narrowed and elongated, and the pitch of the -roof raised to a sharper angle. As Pliny had said to Mustio, his -Comacine architect, seven centuries before--"You Magistri always know -how to overcome difficulties of position," and Charlemagne's -architects, in an equal degree, studied both climate and position. The -further we go south or east the roofs have a tendency to flatten, the -further we go north they have a tendency to rise into sharper gables. -The cause is this, I take it--a climatic one. Where there is much rain -or snow, the sloping roof is a necessity; therefore this first -indication of pointed architecture, as adaptable to the northern -climate, makes Charlemagne's church an interesting link between the -Romano-Lombard and Gothic in the north: just as Romano-Lombard stands -between the classic and Romanesque in the south. If Ansige suggested -these modifications to the Italian builders, he had a wider office in -the history of art than he knew; for Aix-la-Chapelle became the root -from which the French and German so-called Gothic sprang; improved in -the first instance under the hands of the _Franchi-Muratori_, who in -the succeeding generations were called to work on churches in both -countries. After all, the first step was but a slight one, being more -a raising and narrowing of the round arch than the innovation of the -pointed one. It might stand better as a first indication of the -stilted Norman arch. - -Of the civil architecture of the Carlovingian era we have very few -instances remaining. The Emperor Charlemagne built no especial palace -for himself, but used that of Luitprand at Milan, which in -Charlemagne's time was known as _Curtis domum imperatoris_. An old -chronicler tells us that he fortified Verona. He says--"In the time -when King Pepin was still young, the Huns or Avars invaded Italy. When -Charlemagne heard of their approach he caused Verona to be fortified, -and walls erected all round, with towers and moats; and with _pali -fissi_ fortified the city to its very foundations, leaving there his -son Pepin." Forty-eight towers rise from these walls, of which eight -are very high, the others well raised above the walls. These must have -been what the old writer quaintly called _pali fissi_. - -A diploma of Ludovic II., dated 814, proves that the walls of Piacenza -also date from this era. It is in favour of his wife Analberg, giving -her permission to incorporate a part of the walls into a monastery. It -runs--"Of our own authority, we add to the monastery and give in -perpetuity, all the _steccato_, internal and external, of the said -wall of the city, from the foundations to the battlements, as much as -extends from Porta Milano to the next postern gate; and not only this, -but also the _macie_ (rubble) which is found round the walls and -ante-walls, and the same of the towers, gates, and posterns." - -The use of hospices is much connected with Carlovingian times; they -came in when the Church ruled, and pilgrimages became the fashion. The -first hospices were in monasteries. In 752 S. Anselmo founded one for -pilgrims at Nonantola, in Agro Mutinense. The council of Aquisgrana -(Aix-la-Chapelle) made decrees as to the establishment of hospices, -and Charlemagne made laws on the subject, "ut in omni regno nostro, -neque pauper perigrinus hospitia denegare audeant." To the ordinary -fine for homicide, Pepin II. added sixty soldi more if the person -killed were a pilgrim. One who denied food and shelter to a pilgrim -was fined three soldi. These humane provisions, like all such, soon -became abused; so many non-religious people travelled on pilgrims' -privileges, that at the end of Charlemagne's reign it was found -necessary to provide real pilgrims with a _Tessera trattoria_ to -prove their authenticity. - -Among the earliest hospices might be mentioned the leper hospital -founded in Classis near Ravenna in S. Apollinare's time, and one in -Rome, founded by the Roman lady Fabiola for destitute or abandoned -sick and poor. In 785 a certain Datheus, arch-priest at Milan, founded -an _exonodochio_ (home for destitute children), and Queen Amalasunta -built a foundling hospital at Ravenna, in the sixth century. -Charlemagne commanded that there should be a place in the peristyle of -the churches for the reception of foundlings. The Loggia del Bigallo, -though a later building, is a beautiful specimen of such a peristyle. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[71] In 1410, when the street was enlarged, it was half destroyed, and -the south aisle cut off. The last remains were in 1561 incorporated in -the Uffizi by Cosimo I., when the gallery was built. Some capitals may -be seen in the wall of the Palazzo Vecchio. - -[72] See Marchese Ricci, _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, Vol. I. ch. -ix. pp. 302, 342. - -[73] The family of Polenta, their feudal lords. - -[74] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. ch. ii. p. 77. - -[75] This is probably the church of S. Pietro Somaldi, to which a -Lombard, or rather Italian Gothic, front was added in 1203. It was -founded by a Longobard named Somualdo in the eighth century, and -restored in 1199. - -[76] A place between Lecco and Brescia. - -[77] Cattaneo, _Architettura Italiana_, p. 175. - -[78] There is a similar stairway in the church of S. Agnese fuori le -mura, at Rome, which though originally said to have been founded by -Constantine, is not of Greek form, but preserves a perfect Basilican -plan. It was enlarged by Pope Symmachus in the fifth century, and he, -it is known, employed Italian artists. The spiral stairway (_cochlea_) -is also mentioned at Hexham in England. - -[79] _L' Architettura in Italia_, ch. iii. p. 143. - -[80] Anastasii, _Bibliothecarii Vitae Romanorum Pontificum_--in -Muratori, _Sculptores Rerum Italicum_, tom. iii. - -[81] S. Prassede in Rome, which was standing in the time of Pope -Symmachus, when in 477 he held a synod there, has the same -peculiarity. The elongated piers are here placed between every two -columns, and are transverse, _i.e._ the greater width across the -church. Before this time the roofs were always formed of gable-shaped -frames of wood, erected on beams resting on the side walls, but Ricci -sees in this the first advance towards the arched roof. We may see the -next step in the old Lombard church at Tournus in France, where a -succession of arches are thrown across the nave from the piers. - -[82] The tower, which is in a later Lombard style, was rebuilt two -centuries later. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -IN THE TROUBLOUS TIMES - - -After the Carlovingian dynasty had withdrawn from Italy, the country -had two or three centuries of troublous times, in which very few -people thought of church-building, and if the Comacine Masters found -work in their own land, it was more the building of castles and -strongholds in their most solid _opera gallica_, than the sculpturing -of saints or the rearing of gorgeous basilicae. - -After the Carlovingians came the House of Berengarius, which held the -Italian throne from 888 to the intervention of Otho I. of Germany in -951. During this time there was always a military fermentation going -on; Duke Guido of Spoleto fighting Berengarius; Arnolph and his son -Sventebald fighting Guido; the Hungarians overrunning and sacking -Italy on the north, where there were battles at Brenta, Garigliano, -Firenzuola, and bloodshed generally till the murder of Berengarius. - -Nor were things more peaceful in the south. Between A.D. 924 and 950 -the Saracens invaded Sicily, and having established themselves there, -assaulted Rome, and marched on towards the Alps. - -In Central Italy the Dukes of Burgundy, Provence, and Bavaria were -found contesting with Lothaire for the succession. At length, in 951, -Otho came down from Germany and scattered them all, restoring -comparative peace for a time, though an arbitrary one; but it did not -last long. - -Next came superstitious fears; the poor battered Italians, demoralized -by fierce human foes, succumbed entirely to the moral subjugator, -superstition. They were firmly persuaded that the year 1000 should be -the end of the world, and every activity, public and private, was -paralyzed. It was only after that era had passed, and found Italy -still existing, that new life began to stir in its inhabitants. Of -course, fighting still continued, but these were holy wars--the -Crusades, of which Urban II. preached the first in 1096. Then the art -of sculpturesque architecture, which is the handmaid of religious -enthusiasm, began to revive, and the Comacine Masters again had palmy -days. - -But they had not been entirely idle during these warlike times. Prof. -Merzario says[83]-- - -"In this darkness which extended over all Italy, only one small lamp -remained alight, making a bright spark in the vast Italian necropolis. -It was from the _Magistri Comacini_. Their respective names are -unknown, their individual works unspecialized, but the breath of their -spirit might be felt all through those centuries, and their name -collectively is legion. We may safely say that of all the works of art -between A.D. 800 and 1000, the greater and better part are due to that -brotherhood--always faithful and often secret--of the _Magistri -Comacini_. The authority and judgment of learned men justify the -assertion." - -Here Prof. Merzario quotes several of these _uomini dottissimi_. -First, Quatremal de Quincy, in his _Dictionary of Architecture_, who, -under the heading "Comacine," remarks that "to these men, who were -both designers and executors, architects, sculptors, and mosaicists, -may be attributed the renaissance of art, and its propagation in the -southern countries, where it marched with Christianity. Certain it is -that we owe it to them, that the heritage of antique ages was not -entirely lost, and it is only by their tradition and imitation that -the art of building was kept alive, producing works which we still -admire, and which become surprising when we think of the utter -ignorance of all science in those dark ages." Our English writer, -Hope, taking their later appellative of Lombards, credits Lombardy -with being the cradle of the associations of Freemasons, "who were," -he says, "the first after Roman times to enrich architecture with a -complete and well-ordinated system, which dominated wherever the Latin -Church extended its influence from the shores of the Baltic to those -of the Mediterranean."[84] We will omit the witnesses, Kugler of -Germany and Ramee of France, and take the Italian great authority, -Pietro Selvatico.[85] He notes that art in Europe, from the seventh to -the thirteenth century, consisted of a combination of Byzantine and -Roman elements, but in the ninth century a third element mingled, -which had in itself so much that was original, as to constitute an -independent style. "This," he goes on to say, "was the Lombard or -Comacine architecture, as it is called, which is distinguished by its -low-pitched roofs, its circular arches, rounded on columns, which -assimilate to the Greek and Roman styles. This gained a certain -systematic unity after the first half of the ninth century." Prof. -Selvatico seems to have ignored all the Comacine architecture under -the Longobards, who were certainly the nurses of the guild, and takes -it up just when it was freeing itself from the bonds of superstitious -tradition, _i.e._ the transition between Roman-Lombard and Romanesque. - - [Illustration: COMACINE CAPITAL IN SAN ZENO, VERONA, EMBLEMATIZING - MAN CLINGING TO CHRIST (THE PALM). - _page 111._] - -No doubt the genealogy of the style was this. First, the Comacines -continued Roman traditions as the Romans continued Etruscan ones; -next, they orientalized their style by their connection with the East -through Aquileia, and the influx of Greek exiles into the guild. Later -came a different influence through the Saracens into the South, and -the Italian-Gothic was born. - -The Comacine art of the interregnum after Charlemagne may be judged by -the church of S. Zeno at Verona. This had been rebuilt in 810 by King -Pepin, whose palace was in Verona. His church fell a prey to the -devastation dealt by the Huns in 924, and Bishop Rothair restored it -in the tenth century, the Emperor Otho the First furnishing the funds. -There was a third restoration in 1139, when the present front and -portico were added. The general form of Otho's church still remains, -and shows the usual "three naves" (emblematical of the Trinity), and -the circular arches supported by alternate columns and pilasters. The -roof, as in all the older Lombard churches, was of wood, and not -vaulted. It is not recorded whence Otho obtained his architects, but -though no names are written, the Comacine mark is there. Later -restorations have wiped out most of the old signs, but they have left -us some capitals on the columns and the reliefs on the arches leading -into the crypt under the tribune. Two of the columns are here -illustrated. In one may be seen human figures clinging to -palm-branches, by which the Magister who carved it symbolized man -clinging to Christ. The other is a veritable Comacine knot, formed of -mystic winged creatures, with their serpent tails entwined. On the -arches of the crypt are a wealth of mediaeval imaginings, mystic -beasts, Christian symbols, scriptural characters and ancient myths, -all mingled together as only a Freemason of the Middle Ages could -mingle them. Otho's architects were certainly _Magistri_ of our guild, -and probably our friend from Pontida, who called on S. Zeno to save -him from the brigands, was one of them. - -It is undeniable that later Comacines put the elegant facade to the -church in 1139, when Magistri Nicolaus and Guglielmus carved the -wonderful porch with its columns resting on lions, and its very -mediaeval reliefs, in which we see Theodoric, King of the Goths, going -straight to the devil in the guise of a wild huntsman. On the -architraves are allegorical reliefs of the twelve months. But this -front is not of the era we are now discussing, and we shall mention it -again. - -A work which is indubitably of the ninth century, and has all the -marks of the time, is the atrium of S. Ambrogio at Milan, which was a -commission to Magister Adam of the Comacines, by Anspert of Bissone, -who was Archbishop of Milan from 868 to 881. The atrium of a church -was anciently used for the catechumens, as they were not admitted into -the body of the church till they were baptized. The atrium of S. -Ambrogio is a square space surrounded by a portico composed of columns -supporting round arches. The proportions are so fine and majestic that -it is looked on as the best mediaeval edifice existing in Lombard -style. The capitals are composed of foliage, strange ornaments, and -groups of grotesque animals and monsters rudely sculptured; and yet -with the imperfect chiselling there is such a freedom of design and -wealth of imagination as you find in no Byzantine work, however -precise its execution. We give an illustration of one of its capitals. -The Comacine _intreccio_ is there, but floriated and luxurious. The -significance of these sculptures, though unintelligible to us, is -believed to be the occult and conventional art language of the -Comacines or Freemasons. On the doorway, among the foliage and -symbolic animals, one may still read the name of "Adam Magister." - - [Illustration: CAPITAL IN THE ATRIUM OF S. AMBROGIO, MILAN. BY - MAGISTER ADAM. - _page 112._] - -Another very important church of the ninth century is the cathedral -of Grado, near Venice, which had been first built between 571-586, -seemingly by Byzantine artists, though they also used old classical -capitals from former buildings. The plan of this Basilica in its older -form shows very clearly the leaning to one side which we have said was -a symbol of Christ's head being turned in pain on the Cross. Here not -only the left aisle reaches higher up than the right, but the wall of -the facade slopes considerably. In the ninth century Fortunato, -Patriarch of Grado, who lived about 828, sent for _artefici -Franchi_[86] to restore the Baptistery of S. Giovanni on the island -which was the metropolis of maritime Venice. Now what were these -_artefici Franchi_? It is clear they could not have been French, for -Charlemagne himself had to get builders from Lombardy, his own country -not having as yet enough skill in masonry. It is natural to suppose -they were the guild from Cisalpine Gaul, which though composed of -Italians had been styled "Lombards" while under the Lombard kings, and -may have been "Franchi" while the Carlovingian kings ruled. They were -known as "Tedeschi" when later they were under the protection of the -German emperors, a term which puzzled old Vasari greatly. It is still -a question whether the real interpretation would not be the literal -one, Free-masons, who may well have been recalled from France where -they were at work. - -The wording of a phrase in the will of the Patriarch Fortunato, where -he says "_feci venire magistros de Francia_," shows plainly that he -referred to architects belonging to a guild in which the higher orders -were called _Magistri_. - -Having begun to work at Grado, the Lombards were evidently employed in -other Venetian churches. Their style is said to be very evident in the -Duomo of Murano, but how much they did, and whether they worked with -Eastern or other architects, will, I suppose, never be precisely -known. - -A curious little church of this epoch is existing in almost its -original form at a village called Abadia, near Sesto Calende on Lake -Maggiore. It has a crypt and a portico, three naves and three -apses.[87] The crypt is supported on round arches and small thin -columns, the roof is of wood. The portico has three arcades resting on -columns and pilasters with capitals of Lombard-Byzantine style. - -We find the guild at work not only in the north, but in the south of -Italy at this epoch. One of the famous buildings in South Italy with -which the Comacine Masters were connected, is the celebrated monastery -of Monte Cassino with its church. This monastery had been built in the -first instance by a Brescian named Petronax, who made a pilgrimage to -Rome to see Pope Gregory II. The Pope urged Petronax to go to Monte -Cassino where St. Benedict was buried. He went and there was inspired -to found a monastery. - -By the beginning of the eleventh century this had been much ruined by -the Saracens and others, and Desiderius its abbot, in 1066, decided to -restore it. He was of the race of the Lombard Dukes of Beneventum, was -a friend of Pope Gregory VII., and became his successor on the papal -throne under the name of Victor III. Desiring that his church should -be a very "majestic temple," he sent to call artificers from Amalfi -and from Lombardy.[88] Among the Italians was a certain Andrea, from -Serra di Falco, near Como, a fine worker in metal, who, with his -disciples, made the bronze doors. - -Some interesting baptisteries were erected in the tenth century by -the Comacines. The baptistery at this time seems to have had a set -form--the octagon; and a mystical significance, that figure being -highly symbolical of the Trinity, being formed by a conjunction of -three triangles. In the earlier days of the Romano-Lombard style, the -baptistery generally had only a small arcade, or row of brackets -supporting arches round the outer wall beneath the roof, and a -practicable gallery round the interior. Of this shape was the -Florentine Baptistery, that of Como and many others. - -When the later Comacines worked in more florid Romanesque style, the -Baptisteries were often covered with little galleries or rows of -colonnettes like those of Pisa, Parma, Lucca, etc. - -A fine specimen of Lombard work of about 1000 A.D., or a little later, -which shows the approach towards a more Gothic style, may be seen in -the cloister of Voltorre, a little walled town on Lake Varese. The -cloister of Voltorre is thus described--"The beauty of this -eleventh-century Lombard building is singular. The four sides are -formed of porticoes which sustain the upper storey. The porticoes -facing the open court are formed on one side of small graceful arches -in brick, with friezes and reliefs sustained by elegant colonnettes, -some round and some octangular, with capitals of various forms. On two -other sides the colonnettes are smaller and shorter, but still -graceful; they terminate in varied and bizarre capitals surmounted by -a kind of bracket on which the large stones of the upper building -rest. Among the sculptures of the little columns on the left as one -enters the court, is incised in mediaeval characters and abbreviations -the following--'_Lanfrancus magister filius Dom. Ersatii de -Livurno_.'" Livurno most probably stands for Ligurno, a place a few -miles from Voltorre. So our master Lanfranco Ersatti, having graduated -in the Comacine Guild, set himself to embellish his native place. In -1099 Magister Lanfranco designed the Duomo of Modena, which, as will -be seen hereafter, was the work of centuries, he being followed by a -long series of architects. - -Then came more troublous times for the Comacines in their own country. -From 1118 to 1127 A.D. the republic of Como was at fierce war with the -Milanese. A long poem by a Comacine poet, quoted by Muratori, -describes the workmen and artisans fighting in the streets in their -working dress, and wielding any tool or weapon they could find. The -masons and builders worked as sappers and miners, dug the trenches, -built up barricades, and destroyed the enemy's houses and castles. One -of these brave citizens, named Giovanni Buono, is especially mentioned -by the ancient poet, and he is peculiarly connected with the Comacine -Masters as the first of a long line of _Magisters_ of the Buono -family. He forms a tangible link between the half-traditional -Comacines of Lombard times, and the more clearly defined guild of the -Romanesque epoch. From that to the Italian Gothic period their -identity is traceable by documents. A warlike bishop, Guidone, was the -leader of the Comacines, but after three years' war he fell ill, and -on his death-bed prophesied the fall of his fatherland. - -The Comacines were indeed at the end of their resources, they were -exhausted of means, of food, and of warriors; and after several -victories at length fell under the power of the Milanese, becoming a -tributary state. But it was not till Milan had called in the aid of -several other cities that brave little Como succumbed to her on August -27, 1127. She was not enslaved even then, and must have retained her -political freedom, for we find her siding with Frederic Barbarossa in -1167, against the whole Lombard League, to her cost, for she was a -great sufferer in the battle of Legnano on May 29, 1176. - -Barbarossa tried to make some compensation, by ceding to Como the -castles of Baradello and Olona. A coin exists, of the Como mint of -that time, with an eagle and _Imp. Federicus_ on one side, and -_Cumanus populus_ on the other. Frederic had reason to cultivate the -Comaschi, for they sent 200 ships to the Venetian war for him. An -edict of Barbarossa's in 1159, and another dated 1175, shows that he -allowed the Comacines to rebuild their walls and city at that date, -_civitatem in cineres collapsam funditos re aedificavimus nos_. This -occupied them a long time. The tower towards Milan bears the date of -1192. The round tower that of 1250. There were eight gates in these -new walls. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[83] _Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. cap. ii. p. 79. - -[84] Hope, _Storia dell' Architettura_, ch. xxii. p. 159 (Italian -translation). - -[85] _Storia estetico-critica della arti del disegno_, Lezione iv. - -[86] The Act exists still, and is quoted in Sagredo's work, _Sulle -consorterie delle Arti Edificative in Venezia_, p. 28. - -[87] The same form is shown in the contemporary church of St. Victor -at Arsago near Milan. - -[88] Conductis protinus peritissimis artificibus tum amalphitanis, -quam lombardis.--_Cronaca Sacri monasterii Cassinensis_, auctore Leone -Cardinali Episcopo, Lib. III. cap. xxviii. - - - - -BOOK II - -FIRST FOREIGN EMIGRATIONS OF THE COMACINES - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE NORMAN LINK - - -The great building guild of the Middle Ages had another connection -with France, independently of Charlemagne, and one which perhaps left -a more lasting impression on the nation than the church of -Aix-la-Chapelle. It was through the Normans, who held a prominent -place in the history of Romanesque art, some authors giving them the -credit of its introduction into Italy. - -This may be, but between the tenth and twelfth centuries architecture -and sculpture underwent so many transformations and became mingled -with so many different elements that its history is most difficult to -disentangle. There was a maze of different influences brought together -in Sicily, such as Norman, solid and heavy, from the north; Byzantine, -set and precise, from the east; Saracenic, warm and fanciful, from the -south--all mingling together in the temples of Monreale and Palermo, -where I think we may add a fourth and Italian element, in the -Comacines or Lombards. - -The first consideration is: How did the Norman architecture first -arise? Was it indigenous? Did the Normans about the tenth and eleventh -centuries suddenly begin building round-arched and pillared churches -from their own inner consciousness?--for all histories assure us there -were no stone Norman-arched buildings before the tenth century, and -that by 1150 the pointed style had already begun to supersede it. All -the great and typical examples are crowded into the last fifty years -of the eleventh century, at which time the Norman dukes were very -powerful. It was a time of enterprise and excitement of all kinds, not -the least of them being the rage for church-building, awakened by the -early missionaries. - - [Illustration: THE WEST DOOR OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, SMITHFIELD, SHOWING - THE COMACINE STYLE OF BUILDING (_opus gallicum_). - (_From a photograph by Mr. Freeman Dovaston, Oswestry._) - _See page 124._] - -Some light may be thrown on the way the round arch first got into -Normandy, by the following bits of old Norman chronicles, which show -that a very important event took place in the history of the Comacines -at the end of the tenth century, connecting them in a remarkable and -suggestive manner with the rise of Norman architecture. We find from -old chronicles that S. Guillaume, Abbot of S. Benigne in Dijon, was a -Lombard, born in 961 on the island of Santa Giulia, in Lago di Orta, -part of Lago Maggiore. He was the son of a certain Roberto, Lord of -Volpiano; Otho the Great himself had been his godfather at the time -when he besieged the island, and took prisoner Willa, wife of King -Berengarius. Guillaume (William) was, as his friend and biographer, -Glabrius Rodolphus, tells us, "of a keen intellect, and well -instructed in the liberal arts." In his youth he travelled much in -Italy, and was often at Venice, where he formed a close friendship -with Orso Orseolo, Patriarch of Aquileja. The Patriarch Orso was at -that time engaged in the restoration of the church of Torcello, one of -the gems of architecture of the age; while his brother, the Doge Otho -Orseolo, was pressing forward the works of S. Marco at Venice. It was -here probably that S. Guillaume was interested in the Masonic guild, -and recognizing its power as an aid to mission work, would have joined -it. He founded the famous monastery of S. Benigno di Fruttuaria in -Piedmont, and towards the end of the tenth century he went to France -with the venerable Abbot of Cluny; here he decided to build a -monastery to S. Benigne in Dijon, which he himself designed. But to -effect his design he had to send to Italy, his own country, for -"many people, men of letters, masters of divers arts, and others full -of science."[89] The chronicler goes on to say that Guillaume -displayed much wisdom in bringing these masters (_magistri -conducendo_) to superintend the work (_ipsum opus dictando_). These -two phrases are identical with those of Article 145 in the Edict of -Rotharis, and I think might be equivalent to a proof that the Italians -who built S. Benigne at Dijon were indeed of the Comacine Guild. The -chroniclers further tell us that the Abbot Guillaume was invited to -Normandy by Duke Richard II., to "found monasteries and erect -buildings." The very phrase implies his connection with, and command -of architects. He at first refused, because he had heard that the -Dukes of Normandy were barbarous and truculent, and more likely to -deface than to erect sacred temples; but afterwards he decided to go. -He stayed there twenty years, founding forty monasteries, and -restoring old ones, which were in those days chiefly built of wood. -"He had many of his Italian monks trained to continue the work he had -begun. These propagated such love and taste for art in those rude and -bold Normans, that stone buildings multiplied there, and when William -of Normandy conquered England, the style passed over with him." Hope, -whose judgment is unerring on all subjects connected with the Lombard -style, confirms this. He says[90] that some time before the style came -into England, Normandy had given remarkable models of a _tutto-sesto_ -(round-arched) or Lombard style, and that the same precedence is -noticeable in the pointed or composite style. Indeed, the English owe -to the Normans the erection of many fine edifices of both kinds. Thus -some gave the name of Norman to the Gothic buildings and others gave -it to Lombard ones, and it was imagined that the pointed arch came -originally from Normandy. And yet Normandy was one of the stations of -pointed architecture in its pilgrimage towards us from the south. As -an illustration and convincing proof of this pedigree of Norman style -from the Lombard, we may give one of our oldest so-called Norman -churches, that of St. Bartholomew the Great at Smithfield, London. The -original nave has vanished, but the tribune remains, divested, it is -true, of the two great piers in front of the apse, which were removed -in 1410. The semi-circle of the apse has, however, been replaced in -the old style; and, with its pillared arches and ambulatory, -harmonizes well with the ancient part, now the nave, which is -perfectly Lombard. The ambulatories below, and the women's gallery, -such as we find in St. Agnes at Rome, and many Comacine churches, both -have a distinctly Italian origin. Even the stilted arches in the choir -only seem in their outline like magnified Lombard windows. The masonry -is the true Comacine style, great square-cut blocks of stone, smoothed -and fitted with exact precision; while the windows of the triforium -are clearly a four-light development of the two-light Lombard window, -divided by its small column; the very form of the column is identical, -though it lacks the sculpture. Probably the Italian artists were few, -and English assistants not yet trained. The clerestory was a reflex of -a later style, being added in 1410, to replace the so-called Norman -one, which no doubt had the usual round-arched windows with a column -in the centre. Indeed, I think it would be worth the while of -archaeologists to find out whether the whole church were not originally -built by Italian architects, as Rahere, its founder, was in Rome on a -pilgrimage, when he fell very ill of fever, and vowed to build a -hospital if he recovered. He soon after had a vision of St. -Bartholomew, who instructed him to return to London, and build a -church in the suburbs of Smithfield. He founded both the church and -hospital of St. Bartholomew in about 1123. There seems to me to be -such a difference between this church and other more heavy Norman -contemporary buildings, that it might be suspected Rahere followed the -older example of St. Wilfrid and St. Benedict Biscop, and brought over -the Comacines with him. - - [Illustration: SOUTH SIDE OF THE CHOIR, ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE GREAT, - SMITHFIELD. - (_From a photograph by Mr. Freeman Dovaston, Oswestry._) - _See page 124._] - -I cannot agree with Mr. Fergusson in his assertion that the members of -the early Freemason guilds were only masons, and never designed the -works entrusted to them, but always worked under the guidance of some -superior person, whether he were a bishop or abbot, or an accomplished -layman. Certainly the architects who worked for the Longobards must -also have sometimes given the design, or what do the words _opus -dictando_ mean in the Edict of Rotharis? Surely Theodolinda could not -have been architect enough to draw the plan for Monza. Nor do I think -that the word _Magistro_ in the masonic or any other art guild, -applied to mere masons or underlings, but to those who were so far -masters of their craft as to direct others, and make a working plan -for them. The bishop or abbot, or educated layman, might have formed -his own idea about the style he wished his building to take, and have -made a sketch of it; but the practical working plan would have been -drawn by the Magister, who directed his workmen or _colligantes_ to -put it into execution. - -It is true that many ecclesiastics were, like the monks of S. -Guillaume at Dijon and other Dominicans, members of the Masonic -guilds, and were accordingly versed in the science of architecture. In -that case the monk, when he became bishop or abbot, might furnish a -plan, and very often did so. Fra Sisto and Fra Ristori built Santa -Maria Novella in Florence; but they were connected with the Florentine -lodge, so their doing so would certainly be no proof that the Masters -of the guild could not have done equally well themselves. - -That the oldest churches in Normandy have a great affinity to Lombard -buildings is evident on examination. See the Lombard-shaped windows in -the towers of St. Stephen's at Caen; the exterior of the circular apse -of St. Nicholas, Caen, which still keeps its original hexagonal form, -with pilasters like slight columns running from ground to roof at each -division, and a colonnade surrounding it of perfect Lombard -double-arched form, with a small pillar in the centre of each. (_See_ -Fergusson's _Architecture_.) - -The local Norman developments are equally well defined in this -building; the usual little Lombard gallery beneath the roof has given -way to large, deep, circular-headed windows, and the roof has taken -the high pitch natural to the climate. Both of these are climatic -distinctions; the northerner aiming at more light, the southerner -trying to shut out the sun: the damp climate, of course, necessitated -the sloping roof. - -Now, before the Normans came back to Italy they had made Italian -architecture their own, and impressed on it their own character, -rugged and robust, and it was so different to the buildings in South -Italy with which they have been accredited, that I think this theory -will have to be revised. The arts were certainly not influenced in -Sicily by the first Norman invasion in 1058 under Roger I., son of -Tancred, he being entirely a bellicose and rough warrior. It was when -the Normans had taken root there, had become more softened, and had -formed a settled government; in fact, after Roger II. had been crowned -King of Apulia and Sicily in 1130, that they began to give their minds -to artistic architecture. This was a century and a half after Abbot -Guillaume took his countrymen over to build at Dijon. The first stone -of the Duomo of Cefalu was laid in 1131, and the royal palace of -Palermo begun during the next year. Under Roger's successors the fine -churches of Martorana, and the cathedral of Monreale in 1172, the -cathedral of Palermo (1185), and the palace of Cuba arose. An Italian -writer, La Lumia, is very enthusiastic over the Duomo of -Monreale--"that visigoth (_sic_) art which had in Normandy erected the -cathedrals of Rouen, Bayeux, etc., multiplied in Monreale the ogival -forms which had been known and practised in Sicily since the sixth -century,[91] and took its upward flight in towers and bold spires. In -the mosaics and decorations the majestic Arabic art espoused Byzantine -and Christian types. The varied and multiplex association has -impressed on these works an _impront_ both singular and stupendous. -The columns show the ruins of pagan classicism, the incredible -profusion of marbles, verd-antique, and porphyry speak of a rich and -florid political state; while the solemn mystery of those sublime -arcades, profound lines and symbolic forms; the dim religious light, -the ecstatic figures of prophets and saints with the gigantic Christ -over the altar offering benediction to men, all shadow forth the -mediaeval idea of Christianity--full and ingenuous faith, vivified by -conquest." - -Then he goes on grandiloquently to say--"The names of the builders are -unknown to us, and we need not trouble to seek them: a generation and -era is here with all its soul made visible, with all its vigorous and -fruitful activity." - -But if we cannot find the names it would at least be interesting to -know whether the Norman-Siculo architecture were entirely the work of -the Normans or not. Gravina, Boito, and other Italian writers think -that the Normans took a similar position in Sicily to that of the -earlier Longobards in the north, _i.e._ that they were the patrons, -and employed the artists whom they found in Sicily. - -Merzario,[92] giving as his authority Michele Amari,[93] brings -forward as a suggestive fact, that precisely at the time of the Norman -occupation, there was a large emigration into Sicily of members of the -Lombard or Comacine Guild. Amari thinks that the feudal government of -the Normans at that time did not allow their subjects to emigrate from -land to land (excepting of course their armies for purposes of -conquest), while in North Italy feudalism was going out, and with the -establishment of republics the movement of the inhabitants was freer. -"This," he says, "accounts for the so-called colonies of Lombards, -which came to Sicily at that time, but of which, unfortunately, we -have no reliable historical evidence." - -These Lombardo-Siculan colonies, however, have been clearly traced by -an Italian writer, Lionardo Vigo, in his _Monografia critica delle -colonie Lombardo sicule_.[94] He has proved that there were four -Lombard colonies in Sicily. That the first went down with Ardoin and -Mania, between 1002, when, on Otho's death, Ardoin was elected King of -Italy, and his retirement to S. Benigno in 1013 after his long -struggle with Henry II. The second was during the Norman conquest of -Sicily in 1061; the third later in the century, at the time of the -union of the Norman and Swabian dynasties; and the fourth about 1188 -under the Emperor Frederic,--this colony was led by Addo di Camerana. - -The first two colonies left no lasting traces in the island, but the -third founded the town of Maniace, and the last planted a settled -colony which has left its mark, not only in the language, but in the -many Lombard place-names. Thus there are in Sicily villages named -Carona, Gagliano, Novara, Palazzolo, Paderno, Piazza, Sala, and -Scopello, all of which are names of older places in the Comacine -territory. Another name, "Sanfratelli" (the holy brethren), is very -suggestive of the patron saints of the Lombard Guild, the "Quattro -Incoronati." It is in this district precisely that Signor Vigo finds a -special language, which has no affinity with Sicilian, or central -Italian, and which he describes as a "hybrid, bastard language; a -decayed Longobardic, only intelligible to those who use it; a -frightful jargon and perfectly satanic tongue." - -In the same volume of the _Archivio Storico Siciliano_ is another -collection of documents, regarding an episode of the war between the -Latin and Catalonian factions at Palermo in the time of Ludovico of -Aragon, about 1349. It shows in a list of volunteers, several names of -_Magistri_ which seem to be familiar to us. Here is Magister Nicolao -Mancusio, Magister Guillelmo, Magister Nicolao de Meraviglia, Magister -Chicco, Magister Juliano Guzu, Magister Roberto de Juncta (Giunta), -Magister Vitalis, both from the Pisan lodge, Julianus Cuccio, Salvo di -Pietro, etc. We find that Benedictus de Siri, a Lombard, was paid for -twenty soldiers for ten days. Again on July 31, 1349, among the -payments made to those who fought to defend Vicari during the siege, -we find Magister Vanni di Bologna, Paulo de Boni, Magister Gaddi, -Magister Benedicto de Lencio (Lenzo near Como), and Johanni de -Gentile, and various others, all mixed up with ordinary folks who have -no magic _Master_ before their names. This seems to imply that the -Lombard colony at that time had been long enough in Sicily to be -nationalized, and that they furnished men for the war like any other -citizens. - -In some cases the payments are made to the heirs of Magister Johanne -or Vitale, thus proving them to have become possessed of property. -This was a privilege accorded to the Comacine Masters even in feudal -times, when other classes were bound and enslaved. From the example of -Magister Rodpert, the Longobard who sold his land at Toscanella many -centuries before, we judge that when the Comacine remained long in a -place, he made use of his earnings to buy land. Indeed in those days -when no banks existed, landed property was the only secure disposition -for wealth. And having bought his house and vineyards, it was but -natural that he should name the estate after his own native place in -Lombardy. - -It is gratifying to find these direct proofs of the constant presence -of the Lombard Masters in Sicily during the whole Norman and Swabian -dynasties. It accounts for so much. It accounts for the so-called -Norman architecture in Sicily having so much more affinity to Italian -forms than to French-Norman; and it accounts for the Saracenic cast -which Lombard architecture took after that era. The influence was a -lasting one, and showed itself in all the subsequent work of the -guild, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. - -Was this influence imbibed by the Normans who are said to have caused -it? Evidently not. - -Was Norman architecture proper, in the north of Europe, immediately -changed? Not at all. It remained the same through all the Norman rule -from Robert Guiscard to the fall of the line. It was not till the -thirteenth century that the elegant pointed Gothic found its way into -England--but not through Normandy--and took the place of the solid -round-arched, short-pillared buildings introduced by William the -Conqueror. We have seen that this round-arched style was first taught -the Normans by the Italian builders whom the Abbot Guillaume brought -northward with him. - -But the Lombard influence in France was not confined to Normandy nor -to Aix-la-Chapelle. Hope, the English authority on Lombard -architecture, who spent eight years studying European churches, finds -many a sign of Lombard handiwork on French soil. At Tournus is an -abbey church of extremely interesting Lombard form. Fergusson[95] thus -describes it--"Its antiquity is manifested by the rudeness both of its -design and execution. The nave is separated from the aisles by plain -cylindrical columns without bases, the capitals of which are joined by -circular arches at the height of the vaults of the aisle. From the -capitals rise dwarf columns supporting arches thrown across the nave. -From one of these arches to another is thrown a tunnel vault which -runs the cross way of the building, being in fact a series of arches -like those of a bridge extending the whole length of the nave." Here -we have, I believe, the first step towards the vaulted roof of the -later Gothic buildings. The church of Ainay at Lyons, is said by -Fergusson to be very similar to this. - -Then there is the cathedral of Avignon in Provence, with its octagonal -cupola, and its porch of Charlemagne's era in Romano-Lombard style. It -is not unlikely that the earliest Provencal churches were built by -Italian architects, for Avignon was closely connected with the Papacy -at that time, and the Popes as we know were the especial patrons of -the Masonic guild. - -In the church of S. Trophime at Arles we have distinct signs of the -Comacines, in the lion-supported columns of the central porch, and the -frieze of sculpture above. There are three richly-sculptured porches; -the central door is divided in two like a Lombard window, by a slight -column which rests on kneeling figures, and has angels carved in the -capital. The richly ornate architrave has lions on each side of it. - -The church at Cruas in Provence has three apses with Lombard archlets -round them all. Its dome is surrounded by a colonnade, and a -superimposed round turret with Lombard windows. The tower has the -usual double-arched windows. - -Provence shows some beautiful specimens of Italian cloisters, at Aix, -at Arles, and at Fontifroide. The latter has a row of arches supported -by double columns of elegant slightness, and with foliaged capitals of -varied form and great freedom of design. Fergusson says that the -freedom and boldness are unrivalled. The cloister at Elne is still -more varied and unique; the capitals mix up Egyptian, classic, and -mediaeval art in a manner truly unique. - -As for towers, those left in Provence show a distinctly Lombard style. -The tower at Puissalicon near Beziers is perfect in every particular, -with its pillared Lombard windows increasing in width and lightness as -they ascend. - -From Provence, the land of the Popes, the Comacines penetrated further -into France. The church of S. Croix at Bordeaux, attributed to William -the Good, Duke of Aquitaine, who died in 877, has its round-arched -porch, decorated with a profusion of Comacine _intrecci_ of -intertwined vines; and spiral pilasters grouped at the angles. Hope -quotes the facade of the cathedral of San Pietro at Angouleme, as the -finest Lombard one existing. There are numerous files of round arches, -on elegant little columns, statues in niches, rich bas-reliefs, -friezes, and arabesques. The nave is divided into three portions, each -with a cupola. In this we see another step forward towards the vaulted -roof. At Tournus the arches are simply thrown across the three -divisions of the nave; here they are arched into the shape of a dome. -The tower is entirely Lombard in form. There are Lombard churches at -Poictiers, Puy, Auxerre, Caen, Poissy, Compiegne, etc., in all of -which the style is perfectly distinct from the Norman, as it was then -developed; and also from the later Gothic. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[89] "Coeperunt ex sua patria, hoc est Italia, multi ad eum convenire. -Aliqui lyteris bene eruditi: aliqui diversorum operum magisterio -edocti: alii scientia praediti; quorum ars et ingenium huic loco -profuit plurimum."--Chron. S. Benigni Divion, quoted by D'Archery in -_Spicilegio_, vol. ii. p. 384. - -[90] Thomas Hope, _Storia dell' Architettura_, ch. xxxviii. p. 263. - -[91] The Saracens invaded Sicily in 832; the author must mean the -ninth century. - -[92] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iii. p. 121. - -[93] _Storia dei Mussulmani di Sicilia_, Vol. III. chap. i. p. 222, -_et seq._ - -[94] See _Archivio Storico Siciliano_, Nuova serie. Anno ix. 1884. - -[95] Fergusson, _Handbook of Architecture_, p. 652. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE GERMAN LINK - - -The heading of this chapter implies nothing that can impugn the claims -of the Teutons to the perfecting of the Gothic style, which claims are -undoubtedly fair. It only implies that the pointed Gothic architecture -was not an invention of the Germans, so much as a national development -of some earlier form; and, like all developments, must have had some -link connecting it with that earlier source. Was the Comacine Guild -that link? Legends and traditions pointing to it are many, but, as -usual, absolute proofs are few. Some proofs might be found if, with a -clue in one's hand, search could be made among the archives of the -German cities in which round-arched Lombard-style churches were built -before the pointed Gothic and composite style came in. Some German -_savant_ should sift out certain traditions, which, from want of -authorities and unfamiliarity with the language, I am not able to do. -These are-- - -Firstly: That St. Boniface came to Italy before proceeding on his -mission to Germany in A.D. 715, and that Pope Gregory II. gave him his -credentials, instructions, etc., and sent with him a large following -of monks, versed in the art of building, and of lay brethren who were -also architects, to assist them.[96] This is the precise method in -which St. Augustine and St. Benedict Biscop were equipped and sent to -their missions in England, and S. Guillaume to his bishopric in -Normandy. What resulted in England from the missions of St. Augustine, -St. Wilfrid, and St. Benedict? The cathedral of Canterbury, the abbeys -of Hexham, Lindisfarne and others--all distinctly Lombard buildings. -What did S. Guillaume do in Normandy? He built the churches of Caen, -Dijon, etc., also in pure Lombard style, not in the heavier Norman by -which the natives followed it. So in Germany we hear that among the -bishoprics founded by St. Boniface were Cologne, Worms, and -Spires,[97] precisely the cities which have remains of the earliest -churches in Lombard style. There are many other German churches, now -fine Gothic buildings, whose crypts and portals show remains of older -round-arched buildings. - -Secondly: It is necessary to discover the precise connection of the -Emperors Charlemagne, Otho, and the German monarchs who successively -ruled in Lombardy, with the Masonic guild there. Whether, as they -employed them in the Italian part of their kingdom, they did not also -employ them across the Alps. - -Thirdly: To find out whether, when Albertus Magnus went back to -Cologne from Padua, he had not become a _Magister_ in the Masonic -guild, as many monks were, and whether he propagated the tenets of the -brotherhood in Germany. - -Certain proof exists that he designed the choir of the cathedral -there, if nothing more. He also wrote a book entitled _Liber -Constructionum Alberti_, which afterwards became the handbook for -Gothic work. It is probable that this was in great part borrowed from -an earlier Italian work on the construction of churches, named -_L' Arcano Magistero_. This, however, was a secret book of the guild, -and was kept most strictly in the hands of the _Magistri_ themselves. -Kuegler relates that in 1090 a citizen of Utrecht killed a bishop, who -had taken _L' Arcano Magistero_ away from his son who was an architect. -I am strongly of opinion that Albertus Magnus was much connected with -the importation of Freemasons into Germany. - -Fourthly: To discover whether in the cities where great buildings went -on for many years, there remains any trace of the same threefold -Masonic organization, which we find in the Italian cathedral-building -towns; and whether the administration thereof was jointly managed by -the _Magistri_ or head architects, and the patrons or civic -authorities of the city in which the buildings were carried on. - -All these things can only be verified, in case the works of -contemporary chroniclers still exist, or if there remain any traces of -archives of so early a date. - -As far as style in building goes to prove anything, the Lombards -certainly preceded the native Gothic architects in Germany. Hope -enumerates several churches, such as those at Spires, Worms, Zurich, -and several old ones at Cologne, built before or about the -Carlovingian era, which have every sign of Lombard influence. - -The Gross Muenster of Zurich was begun in 966 as a thank-offering of -the Emperor Otho for his victories in Italy, and its plan, arches, -windows, towers (excepting only the climatic addition of the pointed -roofs) are all in Lombard style. The cloister adjoining it is very -Italian, with its double columns and its sculptured capitals. Now, as -Otho granted a special charter to the Masonic guild of Lombardy, it is -natural to suppose that when he wanted a church built, he would employ -this valuable class of his new subjects. At Basle we have a distinct -sign of the Comacine Masters in the _intrecci_ and other symbols -sculptured round the _Gallus-pforte_ of the cathedral, while in the -crypt are two carved lions which were once beneath the columns of the -door. They were removed in the restoration of the cathedral, after the -earthquake of 1356. These lions are precisely the counterparts of -those in the doorways of Modena and Verona. But it is at Cologne, the -city of Albertus Magnus, that the Lombard style is unmistakable. Can -one look at the three apses of the churches of the Apostles and of St. -Martin, with the round arches encircling them, and little pillared -galleries above, or at the double-arched windows in the towers, -without at once recalling the Romanesque churches of Lucca, Arezzo, -and Pisa, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries?[98] - -Santa Maria del Campidoglio at Cologne, which was founded by -Plectrude, wife of Pepin, has the same Lombard galleries running round -the apses, and Cunibert's church in its western door shows not only -pure Comacine sculpture, but the characteristic lion of Judah between -the column and the arch. S. Andrea and S. Pantaleone, both founded in -954 by Bishop Bruno, brother of Otho the Great, were in the same -style. This group of buildings all in one city, and all founded under -the Emperors who ruled in Italy, surely suggest that when Charlemagne -took over the builders for Aix-la-Chapelle, they as usual left their -school and _laborerium_ there, and that Otho and his successors in -their turn had not far to go for architects. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO DEL POPOLO AND PALAZZO COMUNALE, TODI. - _See pages 137 and 257._] - -If their churches are not enough, the civil architecture of that epoch -also affords proof of Lombard influence in Germany. Compare the -windows and style of the ancient dwelling-house at Cologne which -Fergusson illustrates, p. 590, with those of any Lombard building -whatsoever, from the Palace of King Desiderius in the eighth century -to the Bargello of Florence in the thirteenth, and you will find them -identical. The only German innovation is in the high gabled roof. -Again, compare St. Elizabeth's home, the Castle on the Wartburg, -with the ancient Communal Palace at Todi, or at Perugia, or other -Lombard building of the twelfth century, and its genesis will at once -be seen.[99] - -Ferd. Pitou, author of the fine monograph on the Cathedral of -Strasburg, confirms the presence of Italian builders in Germany, not -only in the time of the Carlovingians and the line of Otho, but also -in the later times of the Swabian dynasty. He says, when speaking of -the works at Strasburg, that "colonies of artisans, chiefly sent from -Lombardy and other parts, where church-building was prevalent, -accompanied the monks and ecclesiastics who directed the work. These -spiritual leaders, however, had all the glory of the buildings up to -about the end of the twelfth century, when ogival architecture arose. -These Lombard colonies pushed on beyond the Rhine, to the Elbe, the -Oder, and the Vistula, and even penetrated to the forests and lands of -Sarmatia and Scythia." - -There seems little doubt that the German lodges founded by the -Comacine emigrations took root, and became in time entirely national. -Traditions are many, and most of them point back to Italy. For -instance, legend says a brotherhood of stone-carvers existed in Spires -and Bamberg from the time when those cathedrals were begun. Others say -that Albertus Magnus on his return from Padua formed the first Masonic -association in Germany, making special laws and obtaining especial -privileges for the immense number of builders he collected to put into -execution his cathedral at Cologne.[100] Again, L' Abbe de Grandidier, -writing to a lady in November 1778, tells her that he has discovered -an ancient document three centuries old, which shows that the -much-boasted society of the Freemasons is nothing but a servile -imitation of an ancient and humble confraternity of real builders -whose seat was anciently in Strasburg. Hope, however, says that the -Strasburg lodge, which was the earliest acknowledged German one, was -first recognized by a legal act executed at Ratisbon in 1458, and that -the Emperor Maximilian ratified and confirmed the act by a diploma -given at Strasburg in 1498. - -My theory is this, that in their early emigrations the Comacine -Masters founded the usual lodges; that the Germans entered their -schools and became masters in their turn; that in the end the German -interest outweighed the foreign element in the brotherhood, and the -Germans, wishing to nationalize an art which they had so greatly -developed, split off from the universal Masonic Association, as the -Sienese builders did in Siena in the fourteenth century, and formed a -distinct national branch: that this decisive break probably took place -at Strasburg, and that other lodges followed suit and nationalized -themselves in their turn. No doubt some German searcher into archives -may arise, who will do for Cologne and Strasburg what Milanesi has -done for Siena, and Cesare Guasti for Florence, and so throw light on -the complicated organization of patrons, architects, builders, and -sculptors which banded together under one rule, to build the multiplex -and grand old cathedrals. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[96] See the Letters of Pope Gregory II., and Life of St. Boniface. - -[97] Milman, _Latin Christianity_, Vol. II. chap. v. p. 302, Book IV. - -[98] See illustrations in Fergusson, pp. 578, 579. - -[99] See illustrations in Fergusson's _Handbook of Architecture_, pp. -589, 590. - -[100] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. x. p. 282. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE ORIGIN OF SAXON ARCHITECTURE (A SUGGESTION) - -BY THE REV. W. MILES BARNES[101] - - -Wherever the Romans planted colonies, there they established -_Collegia_; without its colleges Roman society was incomplete; the -_Collegium_ was an element essential to Roman life. - -The _Collegium_ was a corporation or guild of persons associated in -support of a common object; there were colleges of artists, of -architects, builders, and artisans, as well as colleges associated -with the administration and government, with religion and law. - -The _Collegium_ consisted of _Collegae_ or _sodales_ (fellows, as we -should term them), with a president who was styled "_Magister_"; the -_Collegium_ was recognized by the State, which confirmed the -regulations made by the members for the government of their body, -provided they were in conformity with the laws of the land. There is -evidence that Roman _Collegia_ were established in Britain shortly -after its conquest by the Romans, and there was certainly a _Collegium -fabrorum_ in Britain in the reign of Claudius, the first Roman emperor -to whom the island was subject. Under the direction of the Roman -college, the Britons as builders reached a high degree of excellence -in their craft, "so that when the cities of the empire of Gaul and the -fortresses on the Rhine were destroyed, Constantius Chlorus, A.D. 298, -sent to Britain for and employed British architects in repairing and -re-edifying them" (_Archaeologia_, vol. ix. p. 100). - -Mr. Coote affirms that _Collegia_ existed here after the final -departure of the Romans from the island, and that the Saxons found -them here, and did not interfere with them. Now if _Collegia -fabrorum_, which certainly existed in Britain throughout the Roman -occupation, were still in existence during the Saxon occupation, it -needs explanation why the earliest missionaries to the Saxons had to -bring or to send abroad for workmen to build churches. - -On the Continent the barbarians who overran Italy dreaded the -influence of the _Collegia_, and vigorously suppressed them, -prohibiting them everywhere under the hardest penalties; under such -circumstances we can understand that the societies in Rome could -scarcely escape observation, and we shall be prepared to hear that the -college of architects and builders in that city removed from thence -and took refuge elsewhere. According to tradition they settled at or -near Comum, where in mediaeval times, under the title of Comacine -Masters, they gained fame as architects, and their services were in -much request throughout the Continent and beyond it. Had the -barbarians, however, treated the Roman colleges with the same -indifference as the Saxons are reputed to have shown towards them in -England, all guilds of artists and artisans must, for a time at least, -have ceased to exist, or have removed from Rome, where there was no -longer any appreciation of art, or demand for their services. - -It is true there is no documentary evidence to prove the continuous -existence of the _Collegia_ from Roman to mediaeval times, or to show -that the Roman college, which removed to Comum, was identical with the -Comacine Guild which emerged from the darkness which shrouds the -history of those early times;--there is, however, such evidence as can -be derived from the similarity of the institutions, in their aims and -constitutions. In the latter institution even the title of _Magister_ -was retained, though the use of the term was no longer limited to the -president of the body, every competent and fully instructed member of -the society was admitted to the order of _Magistri_,[102]--possibly -because these members formed the governing body--and the president -became a Grand Master. The members generally were called _Liberi -muratori_--Freemasons--because they were not subject to the sumptuary -and other laws which regulated the work and pay of ordinary -workmen.[103] - -Comum, which possessed all the privileges of a Roman _municipium_, -stood at the head of Lacus Larii--the Lake of Como--on the northern -shores of which, from Como to the island of Comacina, P. Strabo and C. -Scipio settled Greek colonies, which Julius Caesar added to and -consolidated. The names of villages on these shores of the lake are -still some guide to its extent and limits. Comum was made the chief -seat of the colony. - -After the fall of the Empire, this Romano-Greek colony seems to have -withstood the attacks of the barbarians, and preserved its -independence for a long time. At the time of the invasion of Italy by -the Longobards, the whole of the northern end of the lake was in the -hands of the imperial (Byzantine) party, and it was not until the year -586 that the island of Comacina fell into the hands of the Longobard -King Autharis, though the lake and country northwards of the island -seem to have still continued under imperial rule. The country around -Comum, therefore, remained in comparative quiet, and if much progress -in art was not possible, there at least it did not become altogether -degenerate. - -The Greek influence was evidently strong in the colony. Even the -bishop in the latter end of the fifth century was a Greek, for S. -Abbondio, who died Bishop of Comum in 489, had previously held the -bishopric of Thessalonica; possibly other bishops of that diocese were -of the same nationality: it would be surprising if the Roman -architectural college, which took refuge there, had been altogether -unaffected by it, particularly as the Romans derived their knowledge -of architecture as well as of art from the Greeks, and Greek -architecture was at all times treated by the great Roman architects -with respect, as we learn from Vitruvius; besides, with the fall of -the Empire, all progress in Roman art had ceased, and Byzantium was -the quarter to which men looked for instruction in Christian and -secular art.[104] It could only be that the work of a Roman society of -architects in the midst of a Greek colony would show marked traces of -Byzantine influence, and none the less because in all probability -there were Byzantine societies of a similar kind beside it. - -Mueller says, after the fall of Rome, Constantinople was regarded as -the centre of mechanical and artistic skill, and a knowledge of art -radiated from it to distant countries.[105] - -Let us turn our attention now to Britain. The Italian chroniclists -relate that Pope Gregory in A.D. 598 sent over the monk Augustine to -convert the British, and with him several of the fraternity of _Liberi -muratori_ (Freemasons), so that the converts might speedily be -provided with churches, oratories, and monasteries; also that -Augustine, in 604, despatched the priest Lorenzo and the monk Pietro -back to Rome with a letter to Pope Gregory, begging him to send more -architects and workmen, which he did.[106] We shall presently see, -that although Bede does not say in so many words that Augustine was -accompanied by architects and builders, yet that is the only inference -which can be drawn from his words, and from Pope Gregory's -instructions to Mellitus. - -It was a common practice in mediaeval times for missionaries, whether -bishops or monks, to have in their train builders and stone-cutters, -and they themselves were often skilful architects. St. Hugh of Lincoln -was not the only bishop who could plan a church, instruct the workmen, -and handle a hod.[107] - -Even female saints appear to have included in their retinue, persons -who were capable of building churches, though the followers of St. -Modwen,[108] who, on landing in England from Ireland about A.D. 500, -left her attendants to erect a church at Streneshalen, near the -Arderne forest, while she went to visit the king, may have been only -capable of building in wattle-work or in wood, "of hewn oak covered -with reed," "after the manner of the Scots." Bede (iii. 25) describes -the church of Lindisfarne as "a church of stone," that material not -being usual amongst the Britons (iii. 4); still it is one instance -among many, of the prevalence of the custom for missionaries, whether -priests, monks, or nuns, to take in their train on their missionary -journeys workmen experienced in building, and to employ them where -necessary to build churches for their converts. - -Professor Merzario states, on the authority of ancient MSS., that the -architects and builders sent were _Liberi muratori_. Now, the members -of the Comacine Society were known and are described in ancient MSS. -under that title; besides, what other guild would Gregory be likely to -invite to send members to join the mission?--were there indeed any -other building guilds existing at the time, except the Byzantine -societies. It is certainly not probable that Gregory would have -invited Greek _etairia_ to send members with the Roman mission, to -build churches "after the Roman manner," which is what the first -builders in Saxon England did, and in preference to builders belonging -to a society which was of Roman origin, and held all the traditions of -the Roman school of architecture. - -But without the record of the Italian chroniclists it would have been -clear to any careful reader that architects accompanied Augustine, and -other early as well as the late missionaries to England. The first -evidence will be found in Bede (i. 26), where it is stated that after -King Ethelbert had been converted to the faith, the missioners built -churches and repaired old Romano-British churches in places whither -they came, for their converts to worship in. - -And again (i. 30), Gregory instructs Mellitus not to destroy the idol -temples, but if well built to cleanse them and put altars in them, and -convert them into churches. Gregory states that he decided on this -course after mature deliberation; which shows that Gregory knew that -many of the old Roman temples were still in use, and that Mellitus had -with him architects who were qualified to carry out the necessary -repairs to them. - - [Illustration: FIESOLE CATHEDRAL INTERIOR. - _To face page 145._] - -Again, in 601, Pope Gregory sent Paulinus and others to assist -Augustine in his work, and by them he sent sacred vessels, ornaments -for the church, and vestments. Now experienced architects and builders -to build churches for the converts were as necessary as the ornaments -wherewith to furnish them, and it is fair to conclude that this -essential had not been overlooked, and that there were with those who -brought the ornaments, men competent to erect the churches to place -them in. Indeed it seems possible that Paulinus himself may have -graduated in the Comacine school of architecture; it is a curious fact -that he is spoken of under the title of _Magister_,[109] the title -given to fully-instructed members of that order, and we know that many -monks were amongst the enrolled members of the Comacine body. - -The strongest evidence, of course, would be the evidence of his work -as a builder; unfortunately very little of that remains--though the -little we know about it is consistent with the fact that either he was -of that order, or he had Comacine Masters with him. The Whalley cross -which is attributed to him is ornamented with that peculiar convoluted -ornament which is found in early Comacine work; and he was certainly a -great builder of churches, of the precise type which the Comacines -would have built at that time. Bede relates that he built in Lincoln a -stone church of beautiful workmanship, in which he consecrated -Honorius, Bishop of Canterbury, in the place of Justus. The "beautiful -workmanship" implies an experienced architect. Bede who thus describes -it was a competent witness, and in all probability he knew the church, -which was in his time roofless. Again, King Edwin under the direction -of Paulinus built a "large and noble church of stone" at York (ii. -14). At this time the Comacine builders had not begun to build in the -style which was afterwards known as the Lombard or Romanesque style, -and of which indeed they were the authors, and this church seems to -have been an Italian Basilican church with an atrium at the west end -as was customary in churches of the period; this particular atrium -being built round the little wooden oratory which Edwin had put up -when under the instruction of the bishop, before his baptism, the -oratory being in the midst of the open court. - -The Basilican church of the period has been so often described that it -will not be necessary to give a detailed description of it. It -generally consisted of a nave, with two aisles separated from the nave -by arcades; at one end (sometimes at both) the building terminated in -an apse, of which the floor was raised; this raised floor in later -times projected into the nave and was protected by a railing.[110] The -altar was in the centre of the string of the arc of the apse, and -round the arc were seats for the clergy, the bishop's throne being in -the centre, in the place which would be occupied in a Roman heathen -Basilica by the presiding magistrate. Beneath the raised floor of the -apse was the _confessio_ or crypt, in which the body or relics of the -saint to whom the church was dedicated were deposited. Plans of -several Saxon crypts still remaining in England will be found in Mr. -Micklethwaite's valuable paper in the _Archaeological Journal_, New -Series, vol. iii. No. 4. - -At a little later period a further change was made; on the floor of -the nave from the chancel westward a space was divided off by a low -screen, in each side of which was a _bema_ or pulpit; from which the -Gospel and Epistle were read, and the services sung by the Canonical -singers.[111] A very complete screen of a little earlier date than St. -Augustine may still be seen in the church of San Clemente, Rome; the -ancient church from which it was removed is underneath the present -church; westward of the church was the atrium, an open court -surrounded by a colonnade; the atrium seems to have been used in some -British churches for the canons, who had cells round it. - - [Illustration: S. CLEMENTE, ROME. INTERIOR SHOWING ANCIENT SCREEN. - _To face page 146._] - -St. Cadoc early in the sixth century built a church in Lancarvan -monastery, which monastery he rebuilt; each of the thirty-six canons -had a residence _in atrio_,[112] the residence being probably a cell -with a door opening into the atrium, such as may still be observed in -some old monastic cloisters on the Continent. There is evidence of an -atrium at the west end of Brixworth church, and the construction of -the basements of the towers at St. Mary, Deerhurst, at Monkswearmouth, -and Barton-on-Humber, seems to show that there was a similar -construction at the west end of those churches. - -The church of S. Ambrogio, Milan, possesses an atrium built by the -Comacines, but it is of much later date, and would therefore afford a -general idea of an early Saxon church atrium only in plan. - -Though we have little ornament of the early Saxon period, and that -little is mainly limited to the ornamentation on early Christian -crosses and fonts, it is clearly of the same character as Comacine -work. The convoluted ornament on Paulinus' cross at Whalley has been -noticed; similar work may be seen on the Kirkdale cross, Bewcastle and -Ruthwell crosses, Crowle and Yarm crosses, and others in England and -Ireland. On the Bewcastle and Ruthwell crosses there are stiff flower -convolutions with birds and beasts on the branches. Collingham cross -has interlacing monsters, and on others are panels sculptured in -representation of Scripture subjects and characters. Some of these -crosses are decorated with another and very mark-worthy ornament, -consisting of bands of interlaced work. These bands are sometimes of a -single strand, but more frequently of three strands. An interlaced -ornament of this kind was found on the Corinthian base of a column in -the church of S. Prassede in Rome. On comparing these interlaced -patterns and convolutions with the carving on the ambo in the Basilica -of S. Ambrogio, Milan, which is Comacine work, it will be seen how -nearly they correspond; whilst the ornaments and sculptured figures in -the facade and round the portals of the doors of S. Michele, Pavia, an -early Lombard church of the eighth century, show treatment similar to -Saxon work. It appears to me possible that this facade has been -rebuilt presumably about the twelfth century, but there can be little -doubt that the carvings as well as a considerable portion of the -church itself are of the earlier date.[113] - -All the crosses above-mentioned bear Runic inscriptions upon them, but -on examination it will be seen that these inscriptions are generally -by another hand, and of ruder workmanship than the carving of the -crosses. Sometimes they are little more than scratches, and in one, -namely, the Yarm cross, a panel was evidently left by the carver for -the inscription, which was afterwards cut upon it, but being too -small, the last two lines had to be compressed to be got into the -space. In the Kirkdale and Lancaster crosses, the runes are certainly -inferior in workmanship, and they seem to have been an afterthought. -The borders on which they are cut do not appear as if they were -originally intended to bear them. - -The date of the fragment of the Yarm cross is fixed by the -inscription, if it has been correctly read, being dedicated to Bishop -Trumberht, Bishop of Hexham, who lived towards the close of the -seventh century. - -The ornament on Saxon fonts, not being so well known, would require -illustrations beyond the scope of this article, to render remarks -upon them intelligible. One instance may, however, be given of the -similarity of ornament in early Italian and Saxon carving. Both the -Saxon font in Toller Fratrum church, Dorset, and the well-head (of the -eighth century) at the office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rome, -are decorated with precisely similar patterns. Interlacing bands in -three strands, bordered by a cable moulding, encircle the top of each. -Similar ornament will be found in Saxon MSS. of the eighth century in -the British Museum Library, as in _Evangelia Sacra Nero_, d. 4. - -Besides the ornament on the ancient crosses and fonts, which clearly -belongs to the Saxon period, there are in our churches fragments of -ornament which in all probability are of that era. - -The angel carved in stone, built into the north wall of Steepleton -church, near Dorchester, may have formed part of the tympanum of the -doorway of the Saxon church. Floating angels with their robes and legs -bent upward from the knee, precisely similar in treatment to the -Steepleton angel, may be seen in illuminations in Saxon MSS. in the -British Museum. I have examined them, but have mislaid my references -to the press-marks. And in the Museum of the Bargello at Florence is a -small antique carving of Christ in Glory (a _vesica piscis_ enclosing -the whole figure), and angels of this form and attitude surrounding it -with curiously drawn symbols of the four evangelists. The angels in -the east wall of Bradford-on-Avon church are of a similar character. - -This seems to be an instance of Byzantine ornament adopted by the -Italian builders. The convoluted and basket-work ornament may also -have been derived from the same source. - -The stiff foliage and _intrecciatura_ on Barnack church tower are rude -imitations of Comacine work. - -Wherever the Comacines established themselves they founded lodges; to -each lodge a _schola_ and a _laborerium_ were attached, where the -members received instruction and training in the several branches of -their craft. The Comacines who settled with Augustine in the royal -city of Canterbury, must have established according to their custom a -lodge and a _schola_ in that city, for there Wilfrid some seventy -years later sent for architects and builders (_coementarii_) to -renew the Cathedral Church of York which had been built by Paulinus, -but possibly through increase of population was now inadequate. The -plan of the ancient church has been traced; it was Basilican in form, -with aisles and an apse.[114] - -Wilfrid, Bishop of York for forty-three years, was, while still a -young man, sent to Rome as a companion to Biscop, a Saxon thane who -was afterwards Abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow. There, says Bede, he -spent some months in the study of ecclesiastical matters. On his way -home he remained in Gaul for three years. When he returned to Britain -at the expiration of that time, King Alfred gave him land and the -monastery of Ripon where he built a spacious church, which excited -universal astonishment and admiration; though not so large as the -church he afterwards built at Hexham, it was a noble building. The -apse with its altar was at the west end, and underneath the apse was a -_confessio_, which with its passages still exists. The round-headed -arches within the church were supported by lofty columns of polished -stone. - -But beautiful as this church was, that at Hexham exceeded it. Eddius -Stephanus, precentor of York, the biographer of Wilfrid, and Richard -of Hexham, give enthusiastic descriptions of it which accord exactly -with what we know the Comacine church of the period to have been.[115] - -From them we learn that St. Andrews, Hexham, built by Wilfrid, was a -Basilican church, and in one respect at least it was similar to Ripon; -the apse was at the west end, and beneath it was a crypt with passages -around it; the crypt with its passages is still to be seen. The -proportions of the church were however nobler and the details richer. -The walls were covered with square stones of divers colours and -polished; the columns were also of polished stone; the capitals of the -columns, arches, and vault of apse, and space over the apse-arch were -decorated with sculptures and histories (_i.e._ with paintings -representing sacred scenes) all very splendid and very beautiful, -according to Eddius. - -As regards the sculptures, the examples we have of Saxon sculptures -show them to have been generally vigorous, and often grotesque. A -writer in _Archaeologia_, vol. viii. p. 174, states that in the vaults -of Hexham there were at the time he wrote many Roman inscriptions and -grotesque carvings. The capitals of columns in Saxon as well as in -later times not infrequently bore grotesque ornament for decoration, -and it was commonly used for other purposes; not even coffins were -exempt from decorations of this nature. Reginaldus de Coldingham (de -virtutibus S. Cuthberti) describes the double coffin of St. Cuthbert, -the inner one being of black oak elaborately carved, the subject of -one of the carvings being a monk turned into a fox for stealing new -cheese. - -As regards their paintings, the Comacines were rather given to -colour--it was in one of their churches, that of S. Maria del Tiglio, -built by Theodolinda, wife of King Autharis, that the Emperor Lothaire -beheld a brilliantly painted picture which adorned the vault of the -apse and represented "The three kings presenting gifts to the Child -Jesus." The picture moved the king to undertake the restoration of the -church. - -The Comacines also used frescoes in Theodolinda's palace at Monza in -the fifth and sixth centuries. - -From the foregoing description of Hexham church by Eddius Stephanus, -it would appear that there were galleries over the aisles to which -access was gained by spiral stairways in the wall. Similar galleries -and spiral stairway still exist in the church of S. Agnese in Rome. In -this church between the nave and the aisles there is a double arcade -of open arches one above the other; the higher arcade on each side -forms the front of the galleries--above these is a clerestory. The -church of S. Lorenzo at Verona, also a Comacine church, contains a -spiral stairway in the wall which led to the different divisions in -the women's gallery for the widows, matrons, and girls. So far I have -not heard of any ancient spiral stairways as still existing in any -other than in these Comacine churches.[116] - - [Illustration: TOWER OF S. APOLLINARE NUOVO, RAVENNA. - _To face page 153._] - -These galleries and arcades may be regarded as the original of the -triforium. - -Eddius relates that there were also bell-towers at Hexham of -surprising height, and this suggests reflections. Hexham was built -about A.D. 674, early in the Saxon period, and these tall towers were -built wholly at that time. What were they like? The early Comacine -towers were built in several stages; the lowest generally had either -no windows or slits; the next stage above had single-light windows, -plain round-headed and straight-sided, as if cut out of the wall; in -the stages above the windows were of two or three lights divided by -colonnettes, the larger number of lights being in the windows of the -upper stages; in each stage there were commonly four windows, one -opening to each quarter of the compass. Wolstan's description of the -tower of Winchester answers very nearly to this. He says it consisted -of five storeys; in each were four windows looking towards the four -cardinal points, which were illuminated every night. - -As examples of early Latin towers, the round towers of S. Apollinare -nuovo, and S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, and perhaps the square -tower of S. Giovanni Evangelista, may be given. Take any one of them, -that of S. Apollinare nuovo, for instance. Cut off the upper stages by -holding the hand above the eyes, and regard only the lower stages with -the single-light windows, and you have a structure which might be -Roman. It looks very much older than the complete tower; and it is -the same with well-known Saxon towers in England, so that some persons -have been misled into thinking that the lowest stages with -straight-cut single-light windows are much older than the upper -portion with double or treble-light windows--which does not at all -follow, at least not from that fact, for they might be of the same -date;--and they have argued that these lower stages both in Italy and -England are older than the upper ones, notwithstanding the -improbability that the old builders would place a heavy tower on walls -originally intended to carry only a light roof. - -The Saxon towers have clearly a Latin or Comacine origin. The walls -are usually of stone grouted in the old Roman manner; and when Lombard -windows, of two or more lights, with a column dividing them, are used, -they are, as a rule, in the upper and not in the lower stages. -Unfortunately we have no towers of the earliest Saxon period still -standing; but the resemblance between the later Saxon and the early -Italian towers is apparent. The same may be said of the later Comacine -towers, S. Satyrus, Milan, for instance (_see_ plate), which Cattaneo -assigns to the ninth century, and regards as the prototype of Lombard -towers; take away the little pensile arch ornament, which was -characteristic of the Comacine style known as Lombard, and you have a -tower which might be Saxon. - -Whilst Wilfrid was engaged in building Hexham, his friend and -companion in travel, Biscop, was building the monastery and monastic -church of Wearmouth. Biscop was a Saxon thane of Northumberland; he -became a monk of the monastery of S. Lerino, and, according to Henry -of Huntingdon, on his return from Rome, King Egfrid gave him sixty -hides of land, on which he built the monastery of Wearmouth. Eight -years later, the king granted him more land at Jarrow, upon which he -built a monastery and church. The former was dedicated to St. Peter, -the latter to St. Paul. - - [Illustration: TOWER OF S. SATYRUS, MILAN. - _To face page 154._] - -On obtaining possession of the lands at Wearmouth, Biscop, according -to Bede,[117] set out for Gaul, to find builders to build the monastic -church, "juxta Romanorum quem semper amabat morem." - -It might be asked, If there was at Canterbury a Comacine school of -architecture whose special function it was to build on the Roman -model, why did not Bishop Benedict send there for architects and -masons? The simple answer is, that Wilfrid had already engaged them -for his work at Hexham. Wilfrid was building both a church and -monastery there, and evidently had employment for every hand he could -obtain. - -The building of Hexham was commenced in 674, and it was not till that -date that Biscop was in a position to engage workmen for Wearmouth, so -that Wilfrid was just beforehand with Biscop, who in consequence had -to look elsewhere for his architects, and he set out for Gaul to -engage them there. - -Now it does not at all follow that because Biscop brought his masons -from Gaul, therefore they were not Comacines. It was as easy to find -Comacines in Gaul as in England. We find them settled there at a later -date, when they were called _artefici Franchi_. There is nothing to -show definitely, but there is presumptive evidence of a settlement of -a guild in Gaul at this time, and it was probably some of the French -Comacines that Biscop employed, for Biscop insisted on a church built -after the Roman manner, a Basilica; he would have nothing else, and no -builders could build a Basilica better than the successors to the -Roman college of architecture.[118] - -It seems further probable that these Gallican architects were -Comacines, from the fact that they followed the practice of the -Comacines in establishing a _schola_ at Wearmouth, possibly amongst -the monks, for Naitan, King of the Picts, sent to Cedfrid, who -succeeded Benedict as abbot, and begged him to send architects to him -to build a church in his nation "after the Roman manner," and the -abbot complied with his request. - -Mr. Micklethwaite states that "the doorway under the tower of the -church at Monkswearmouth in Durham was doubtless a part of the church -which Benedict Biscop erected there in the seventh century in -imitation of the Basilicas in Rome. The twined serpents with birds' -beaks on the right doorpost are, as we know from MSS. of that age, -singularly characteristic of the style."[119] There is a similar -design on the architrave of an ancient door in San Clemente, Rome. - -The decoration of the church seems to have been in the highest style -of ecclesiastical art of the age. Even glass-makers, who might have -been Comacines, were brought from France to make glass for glazing the -windows of the church and of the cells of the monks--no glass had ever -before in Saxon times been used in England for windows--and even -paintings were brought from abroad for the decoration of the walls. -Bede, in his sermon on the anniversary of the death of Benedict, -states that he imported paintings of holy histories, which should -serve not only for the beautification of the church, but for the -instruction of those who looked upon them; vases, vestments, and -other things necessary for the service of the church, were also -brought from Gaul, and those things which could not be obtained there, -were brought "from the country of the Romans." - - [Illustration: S. APOLLINARE IN CLASSE, RAVENNA. - _To face page 157._] - -The church was pronounced by monkish writers to be for two centuries -the grandest and most beautiful church on this side of the Alps; even -Roman architects admitted that they who saw Hexham church might -imagine themselves amidst Roman surroundings.[120] - -There is one point in connection with Saxon architecture not touched. -In much of the Saxon building now standing there are projecting ribs -of stone in the masonry which are commonly known under the name of -pilaster strips. The masonry in which it occurs is perhaps always late -Saxon work. The strips seem to be similar to the pilasters in the -front of Lombard churches; in the latter they are more ornamental in -detail, and are often in the form of shafts occasionally -decorated.[121] - -The external arcading, as in Bradford-on-Avon, seems to be a -modification of late Roman work, followed in various forms in -Comacine, Lombard, Saxon, and Norman work. In its original form it may -be seen on the exterior of the Basilica of S. Apollinare in Classe, -Ravenna, where external arcadings in the masonry of the walls will be -noticed both in the walls of the aisles and in the walls of the nave -above the aisles, the arcading being carried on pilasters built into, -and forming part of, the walls; the pilasters with the arcading -serving to give rigidity to the walls, enabling them to resist the -outward thrust of the roof as buttresses were intended to do in later -times. This church was built about A.D. 300. - -In Comacine or early Lombard churches there was an arcading on steps -in the gable of the west front, the steps giving access to the roof on -the outside. In later Lombard churches this arcading became simply an -ornamental detail to the front. To this type belongs the arcading on -Bradford-on-Avon church. In Norman churches it degenerated into a -corbel table, in which the shafting was omitted, the heads of the -arches being supported on corbels. - -The Byzantine character of some of the ornaments in Comacine and Saxon -work is accounted for by the fact that the Comacine order found refuge -in a Romano-Greek colony in which the Greek influence was strong, and -in all probability there were Byzantine guilds working alongside of -it. That there is a trace of Oriental form in it is not surprising, -when it is remembered how much communication there was between all -parts of the Christian world notwithstanding the difficulties of -travelling. Teliau, David, and Paternus journeyed to Jerusalem. On -arriving at the Temple they were placed in three ancient stalls in the -Temple, and after expounding the Scriptures were elected by the people -and consecrated bishops (_Vita S. Teliaui Episcopi_). Columbanus, an -Irish saint, established a monastery amidst the ruins of the ancient -Roman city of Bobbio in Italy. St. Cumean, born in 592, obtained -possession of a deserted church in the same city, restored it and -served it. - -According to the chronicles of Fontenelle, bishops and clergy, abbots -and monks came from all parts, even from Greece and Armenia, to visit -Richard Duke of Normandy, brother-in-law of our Saxon King Ethelred -and a great church-builder; the Oriental character of some of the -ornaments in Oxford cathedral, which Ethelred rebuilt, is attributed -to the influence of Richard and his Oriental visitors, for Ethelred -took refuge in Normandy for a time to avoid the Danes. - -Some Saxons left England at the Norman Conquest and settled in -Constantinople, where they built a church for themselves and other -members of the Saxon colony there. - -St. Germanus when he left Britain went to Ravenna, then the royal -city. - -Asser relates that Alfred received embassies daily from foreign parts, -from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the farthest limits of Spain, and that he -had seen letters and presents which had been sent to the king by Abel, -Patriarch of Jerusalem. - -Many British monks, some of whose lives and legends may still be found -in early MSS., travelled to the south and east, and all over the known -world, and being skilled in architecture, might readily have made -copies of ornaments which took their fancy when travelling in Eastern -countries, and introduced them on their return. - -Let us restate the argument briefly-- - -1. When Italy was overrun by the barbarians, Roman _Collegia_ were -everywhere suppressed. - -2. The architectural college of Rome is said to have removed from that -city to the republic of Comum. - -3. In early mediaeval times, one of the most important Masonic guilds -in Europe was the Society of Comacine Masters, which in its -constitution, methods, and work was essentially Roman, and seems to -have been the survival of this Roman college. - -4. Italian chroniclists assert that architects and masons accompanied -Augustine to England, and later Italian and continental writers of -repute adopt that view. - -5. Whether this is proved or not, it was customary for missionaries to -take in their train persons experienced in building, and if Augustine -did not do so, his practice was an exception to what seems to have -been a general rule. Besides, a band of forty monks would have been -useless to him unless some of them could follow a secular calling -useful to the mission, for they were unacquainted with the British -language, and could not act independently. - -6. Masonic monks were not uncommon, and there were such monks -associated with the Comacine body; so that qualified architects were -easily found in the ranks of the religious orders. - -7. From Bede's account of the settlement of Augustine's mission in -Britain, it seems clear that he must have brought Masonic architects -with him. - -8. Gregory would be likely to choose architects for the mission from -the Comacine Order, which held the old Roman traditions of building, -rather than those of a Byzantine guild, and the record of their work -in Britain proves that he did. - -9. In Saxon as in the earlier Comacine carvings, there are frequent -representations of fabulous monsters, symbolical birds and beasts, the -subjects of some of these carvings being suggested, apparently, by the -"Physiologus," which had a Latin origin. - -10. In the writings of the Venerable Bede, and Richard, Prior of -Hagustald, we meet with phrases and words which are in the Edict of -King Rotharis of 643, and in the _Memoratorio_ of 713 of King -Luitprand, which show that these writers were familiar with certain -terms of art used by the Comacine Masters.[122] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[101] This chapter was written by my brother in England, with -different sources of information to the Italian ones used by myself. -It did not reach me till the first half of my work was complete, and -it was very gratifying to find our different sources of study had led -to almost identical conclusions. I have altered no fact or argument in -either. (Leader Scott.) - -[102] See chapter i., Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_. - -[103] _Ibid._ - -[104] Care must be taken not to confuse the signification of the word -Greek, as used in two different eras. To the ancient Roman, Greek -architecture would mean the classic style of the Parthenon, etc.; to -the mediaeval Italian, Greek art and architecture meant simply -Byzantine, an entirely different thing. (Leader Scott.) - -[105] "According to Mueller (_Archaeologie der Kunst_) corporations of -builders of Grecian birth were allowed to settle in foreign countries, -and to exercise a judicial government among themselves according to -the laws of the country to which they owed allegiance; the principle -was recognized by all the legal codes of Europe, from the fall of Rome -to late in the thirteenth century. Such associations of builders were -introduced into southern Europe during the reigns of Theodoric and -Theodosius." - -[106] Prof. Merzario, in his _Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. cap. ii. pp. -87, 88, gives as his reference for this Bede's _Ecclesiasticae Historiae -gentis Anglorum libri quinque_, "Vita S. Benedicti Biscopi Abbatis -Vuiremuthensis primi ecc." (L. S.) - -[107] "Vita Sancti Hugonis Episcopi Lincolniensis." - -[108] "Vita S. Moduennae virginis Hibernicae." - -[109] Montalembert, _I Monaci dell' Occidente_, p. 152. - -[110] See Plate, Interior of Fiesole cathedral. - -[111] _Conc. Laodic._, c. 15. - -[112] Passio S. Cadoci. - -[113] See Chapter II., "The Comacines under the Longobards," which -proves Mr. Barnes' conjectures to be true. - -[114] Alcuin (lib. v. 1488) describes the appointments of the Saxon -church at York, which were on a scale of great magnificence. There -were two altars covered with plates of gold and silver, and a -profusion of gems; the tapestries were of the richest, and the walls -of the sanctuary were adorned with foreign paintings. - -[115] Description of the church built in the monastery of Hexham by -Saint Wilfrid, 674-680. See the Appendix to the "Life of St. Wilfrid" -in Montalembert's fine work on _The Saints of the West_. - -"Igitur profunditatem ipsius ecclesiae criptis et oratoriis -subterrancis et viarum anfractibus inferius cum magna industria -fundavit. - -"Parietes autem quadratis et bene politis columpnis suffultos et -tribus tabulatis distinctos immensae longitudinis et altitudinis -erexit. Ipsos etiam et capitella columpnarum quibus sustentantur et -arcum sanctuarii, historiis et ymaginibus et variis coelaturarum -figuris ex lapide prominentibus et picturarum et colorum grata -varietate mirabilique decore decoravit. Ipsum quoque corpus ecclesiae -appentitiis et porticibus nardique circumdixit quae, miro atque -inexplicibili artificio, per parietes et cocleas inferius et superius -distinxit. In ipsis vero cocleis, et super ipsas, ascensoria ex -lapide, et deambulatoria, et varios viarum anfractus, modo sursum, -modo deorsum, artificiosissime ita machinari fecit, ut innumera -hominum multitudo ibi existere et ipsum corpus ecclesiae circumdare -possit, cum a nemine tamen infra in eo existentium videri queat. -Oratoriaque quam plurima, superius et inferius, secretissima e -pulcherrima, in ipsis porticibis cum maxima diligentia et cautela -constituit, in quibus altaria in honore Beatae Dei genitricis -semperque Virginis Mariae, et Sancti Michaelis Archangeli, sanctique -Johannis Baptistae et sanctorum Apostolorum, Martyrum, Confessorum, -atque Virginum, cum eorum apparatibus, honestissime praeparari fecit. -Unde etiam, usque hodie, quaedam illorum ut turres et propugnacula, -supereminent. Atrium quoque templi magnae spissitudinis et fortitudinis -muro circumvallavit. Praeter quem in alveo lapideo aquaeductus, ad -usus officinorum, per mediam villam decurrebat."--Richardi, _Prioris -Historia Hagulstadensis Ecclesiae_, c. iii., Ap. Twysden, _Historiae -Anglicanae Scriptores decem._, et Raine's _Priory of Hexham_, p. 2. - -[116] See Chap. V., "Comacines under Charlemagne." - -[117] Sermo beati Bedae in natale sancti Benedicti Abbatis. - -[118] There is a much easier explanation than this. Lombardy was at -that time part of Gaul--Cisalpine Gaul. The Comacines appear to have -gone to France with Charlemagne; see Chap. V. (Leader Scott.) - -[119] Dr. Raine of Durham believed, on the authority of the Chronicles -of Symeon of Durham, that the churches of Monkswearmouth and Jarrow -were rebuilt by the monks of Durham after 1075, and that the church of -Wearmouth could not have been built on the same site, because in the -account of the House at Wearmouth, 1360, the old church is mentioned -incidentally as used for a barn or storehouse (Parker's Introduction); -but allowing that to be the case, it is by no means improbable that -the old doorway was retained and removed to the new church. - -[120] "Ibi oedificia minaci altitudini murorum erecta multi proprio, -sed et coementariorum quos ex Roma veriunt allequant ut qui -Hagulstadensem fabricam vident, ambitionem romanam se imaginari -jurent."--_Malmesbury, De Gest. Pontiff._ I. iii., f. 155. - -[121] This is a decidedly Comacine form of building. All the earliest -apses of Italian churches have these perpendicular shafts. At S. Piero -in Grado they show signs of having been originally covered with -marble. (Leader Scott.) - -[122] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. ii. pp. 87-89. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE TOWERS AND CROSSES OF IRELAND - - -The saints or early missionaries seem to be as closely connected with -the first church-building in Ireland as they were in Gaul, Normandy, -and England; only by some curious circumstance, Ireland became -christianized and built her churches some centuries earlier than -England and Normandy. It is my conviction that in casting off the -legends connected with saints, we have also cast off much real history -belonging to the early missions. Now, the preceding chapter shows that -it is precisely to these first missionaries that we are indebted for -the imported architecture of the pre-Norman date in England, and -presumably also in Ireland. This architecture has been an enigma and a -stumbling-block to archaeologists for ages; because while rejecting -everything connected with the saints as legend, they also reject the -only reasonable hypothesis of the genesis of these first stone -buildings, which sprang up in a country as yet only accustomed to -build in wood or earth. - -The Round Towers of Ireland, for instance, have formed a greater puzzle -to antiquaries than the churches of Hexham or Lindisfarne--partly -because of their antiquity, and partly from their unlikeness to any -local buildings of the time. The theories in regard to them are wild -beyond all probability. They have been attributed: (1) By Henry -O'Brien to the Tuatha De Danaan, a Persian colony which is supposed to -have built them for phallic worship. (2) By Vellaney to the -Phoenicians, the buildings being afterwards used by the Druids as -fire-towers. (3) By Dr. Lynch, Peter Walsh, Molyneux, etc., to the -Danes, as war-towers. - -Petrie, with clearer arguments, claims them as Christian. In his Prize -Essay on the origin and uses of the Round Towers (A.D. 1820) he proves -that no buildings except these towers were known to have cement in -pre-Christian Ireland. For the Pagans and Druids have left us the -great fortresses of Dun AEngus, and Dun Connor on Aran Mor, and the -great sepulchres of Dowth and New Grange, all built without cement and -of unhewn stones. Now the Round Towers are of hewn stones closely -fitted and cemented, till they are solid as a rock, standing firm as -ever, after their fifteen centuries of existence. They are called in -Ireland by the generic name of "cloic-theack," or bell-house, and are -invariably found close to the ruins of a monastery or a church. In -some cases, like the one at Clonmacnoise, the church has entirely -disappeared, leaving only the graveyard to mark its site, and in the -graveyard a veritable Comacine cross! - -It cannot be proved that the towers belong to an earlier age than the -churches attached, for we have a witness in the ruins themselves. The -masonry of the tower and the remaining walls of the church at -Kilmacduagh is identical, as are the later tower and church-porch at -Roscrea--_i.e._ good, solid _opus gallicum_. - -Miss Stokes and the Rev. John Healy uphold the theory[123] of their -being towers of refuge in warlike times. They may well have been used -as such, on account of their strength, and also their proximity to the -churches, which were always, in the Middle Ages, inviolable cities of -refuge. This, however, does not affect our question as to how the -towers came into Ireland, and whence came their builders. In the -first place, where can similar towers be found dating from times -contemporary? The answer is decided: in Italy. In Ravenna and -Lombardy, from the date A.D. 300 to the fifth and sixth centuries; and -they show just that Eastern touch which distinguishes the -Byzantine-Roman architecture at Ravenna, and has caused authors to -seek the origin of the Round Towers further east than Italy. - -The next question that arises is: What was the point of contact -between Ireland and Italy? As in England and Normandy we shall, I -believe, find it in the first missions. The first Irish missionary was -doubtless St. Patrick, A.D. 373-464, who has been taken as the sign -and symbol of Celticism. Yet he was not an Irishman by birth. His -father was a Christian named Calphurnius, his mother was niece to St. -Martin of Tours; he was consequently of continental origin. His -birthplace was Nempthur near Dumbarton, and while yet a boy he was -carried a prisoner to Ireland, and the heathendom there appealed so -strongly to his feelings, that after his release he was haunted by -visions foretelling his future mission to convert Ireland. Pope -Celestin I. gave him his mission in about A.D. 430, and he settled in -Armagh, where he laboured more than thirty years converting and -baptizing both kings and people. He founded schools and built -churches. Probably the first worship was conducted in the open air, -where a cross was set up, as by the English missionaries. The cross -was of the Byzantine form used at that time in Italy; but on its -adoption by the northern saint-missionaries it became known in Britain -as the Irish cross. The ancient Italian one, once in the Forum at -Rome, is of identical style, though of earlier date. St. Patrick's -influence remained and spread. Many of his followers in the ministry -made the pilgrimage to Rome which he had made, and so great was the -fame of sanctity of these Irish preaching brethren, that they were -reverenced in Italy even more than in their native land. - -S. Fredianus became Bishop of Lucca, and Columban was Abbot of Bobbio. -It is to these later missionaries rather than to St. Patrick himself -that we must look, as having introduced Italian or Comacine -architecture into Ireland. That they were addicted to church-building -is evident from their at once setting to work wherever they went; S. -Fredianus building a church and monastery at Lucca; St. Columban doing -the same at Bobbio. - -And what architects did they employ? Surely some members of the -Comacine Guild, or their monk colleagues. They had seen them at the -court of the Longobardic kings where they tarried and were entertained -during their journey to Rome. And seeing the beautiful churches and -towers in Italy, all made by the magic hands of this guild, is it not -most likely that the Pope, who patronized the guild as one of the most -practical instruments in christianization, should have counselled them -to take back some _Magistri_ with them to Ireland? There is, I -presume, no documentary proof of this, but there are more imperishable -witnesses in the works themselves. The only difference between the -Round Towers of Ireland and those of Italy in the first five centuries -after Christ is the conical roof, which is due entirely to exigencies -of climate. The hewing of the square stones, the close-fitting -masonry, the Roman cement, the simple arches of the windows with their -solidly cut supports, are all pure Lombard-Roman of the time when S. -Fredianus and Columban were in Italy. It is true that with this -similarity there is also a certain clumsiness of workmanship in the -Irish towers, which suggests that either the Italian architects -imported by the Irish missionaries were the less skilful men of the -guild, or, what is more probable, they were few, and had to train -native and unskilled workmen to assist them; but the style they aimed -at, and the forms they used, are the early Italian ones of from A.D. -300 to 500. - -In Cormac's chapel at the Rock of Cashel we get the square tower such -as later Comacines used from the sixth to the tenth centuries, with -the double-arched window of the period; and the church beside it has -the same signs. Here are the string courses supported by the row of -little arches, the projecting apse, and the double-light windows, with -only that same northern desideratum--the high gable and sloping roof. -Cormac was an early Bishop of Cashel, who was killed in 907 A.D. - -Look at the shrine of the Bell of St. Patrick, which I presume dates -from about the eighth century, _i.e._ the time of Fredianus, and you -will see a fine collection of Comacine _intrecci_ or interlaced work -in sculpture. As for the crosses of Ireland, one may trace in them the -development of Comacine work, from the early Christian Roman style to -the mediaeval Lombard. - -The beautifully illustrated article in the _Studio_ for Aug. 15, 1898, -by J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A., shows the whole line. In the earliest -form of Irish cross, _i.e._ that where the cross and Christian symbols -are merely cut into the face of a slab of stone, such as in the cross -at Reask, Co. Kerry, we see precisely the primitive style of art shown -in the Catacombs. The "Gurmarc" stones have their prototype in the -earliest Longobardic carving, such as the _pluteus_ of Theodolinda's -first church at Monza. The smaller of the three inscribed circles has -an even more advanced Comacine _intreccio_ enclosed within the circle, -while the cross of Honelt at Llantwit Major (Fig. 5) has a splendid -Comacine knot such as one sees on every Longobardic church, placed -beneath a very Byzantine geometrical design in which circles, crosses, -triangles, and three-fold knots are marvellously intermingled. These -are all stones merely incised, and foreshadow the predilection of the -Irish converts for the symbolism of the time, the cross of Christ -within the unending circle of eternity. The next development shown by -Mr. Romilly Allen is the upright cross slab at St. Madoes in -Perthshire, where the cross and the circle are in distinct relief and -not merely incised. Here, instead of the circle enclosing the Greek -cross, it has become subordinate, and is placed behind the arms of a -Latin cross. In fact a complete Irish cross in relief. But how is it -adorned?--with splendid Comacine _intrecci_, and all the symbolism so -familiar to us in early Italian art. Here are the coiled serpent and -the dove above, with the four mystic beasts of the Apocalypse below, -two on each side of the stem of the cross; and the workmanship and -designs are literally identical with those of the sculptures on the -facades of the first church of S. Michele at Pavia, and S. Zeno at -Verona, and that of S. Pietro at Spoleto, all of the fifth and sixth -centuries. (Spoleto church was rebuilt in 1329, but the ancient -Lombard sculptures around the doorway were preserved.) - - [Illustration: DOOR OF THE CHURCH OF S. ZENO AT VERONA. A.D. 1139. - _See page 166._] - -By the ninth and tenth centuries the Irish cross had reached its full -development. It was no longer a sign on a slab, but a beautiful -upright sculptured cross, with a circle crowning it like a halo, and -suggesting the eternity of the human cross of our Saviour. And here -again the art is precisely that of the Italian sculptors. There was a -cross of earlier date than either the cross of King Flami at -Clonmacnoise, King's County, A.D. 904, or the cross of Mucreadach at -Monasterboice, Co. Louth, A.D. 924, in the Roman Forum, of which the -shape and ornaments are similar to both of them. The cross of SS. -Patrick and Columban at Kells has, too, all the marks of the Comacine -work in the eighth and ninth centuries, as one sees it in the oldest -churches at Como and Verona, at Toscanella and Spoleto. All these -things being considered, I think Irish archaeologists would do well to -work up the undoubted connection of the early Irish missionaries with -Italy, and the influence their travels there had, not only on the -religion, but the art of Ireland. They might discover whether St. -Columban, when King Agilulf sheltered him at Pavia, took from the -artists then at work at the wondrous front of S. Michele, any ideas -which he caused to be reproduced in the crosses placed by him to -sanctify the open-air worship of his Irish converts; or whether he -took a few monkish _Magistri_ skilled in sculpture from his monastery -at Bobbio to carve those very crosses, and to build the first stone -churches, that now lie in ruins at the feet of the rugged old towers. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[123] See Article on the Round Towers in _St. Peter's Magazine_ for -May 1898. - - - - -BOOK III - -ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -TRANSITION PERIOD - - -THE LODGES OF BERGAMO AND CREMONA - - ----+----+----------------------------+---------------------------------- - 1. |1137| Magister Fredus or | Built S. Maria Maggiore, - | | Gufredus | Bergamo. - 2. |1212| M. Adam of Arogno | Chief architect of Trent - | | | cathedral. - 3. |1274| M. Jacobus Porrata of | Made the wheel window at - | | Como | Cremona. - 4. |1289| M. Bonino with Guglielmo | Made the stairway on the - | | da Campione | north of Cremona cathedral. - 5. |1329| M. Ugo or Ugone of | Sculptured the tomb of Longhi - | | Campione | degli Alessandri at Bergamo. - 6. |1340| M. Giovanni, son of | Built the Baptistery and facade - | | Ugone | of S. Maria Maggiore at - | | | Bergamo. - 7. | | M. Antonio, son of Jacopo} | - | | da Castellazzo in } | Worked under Giovanni di Ugo - | | Val d'Intelvi } | in building Bellano church. - 8. | | M. Comolo, son of M. } | - | | Gufredo da Asteno } | - | | | - 9. | | M. Nicolino, son of } | - | | Giovanni } | - | | } sons of } | Helped Giovanni di Ugone in - 10. |1351| M. Antonio } Cattaneo } | the facade at Bergamo. - 11. | | M. Giovanni } of Campione} | - | | | - 12. | | M. Niccola, son of } | - | | Giovanni } | Worked at the church of St. - 13. | | M. Pergandi, another } | Anthony of Padua in 1263. - | | son of Ugone } | - | | | - 14. |1360| M. Giovanni, son of | Finished his father's work at - | | Giovanni da Campione | Bergamo. - ----+----+----------------------------+---------------------------------- - -THE ANTELAMI SCHOOL.--PARMA - - ------+----+-------------------------+--------------------------------- - 1. |1178| Magister Benedetto da | Pulpit of Parma cathedral - | | Antelamo | (1178). Baptistery of Parma - | | | (1196). - 2 & 3.|1181| M. Martino and M. Otto | - | | Bono | - 4. |1256| M. Giorgio da Iesi | Fermo cathedral (1227). Iesi - | | | (1237). Parma (1256). - 5. |1280| M. Giovanni Bono da } | Chief architect at Padua (1246), - | | Bissone } | at Parma (1280). - 6. | | M. Guido } | Worked with Giovanni Bono at - | | } | Padua and Pistoja. - 7. | | M. Niccolao, son of } | - | | Giovanni } | This group forms the link with - 8. | | M. Bernardino } | Pistoja and the Tuscan - 9. | | M. Johannes Benvenuti } | schools. - ------+----+-------------------------+--------------------------------- - -PADUA - - ------+----+-------------------------+-------------------------------- - 1. | | Magister Graci | Employed. - 2. |1263| M. Egidio, son of M. } | - | | Graci } | - 3. | | M. Ubertino, son of } | - | | Lanfranco } | All worked together at the - 4. | | M. Nicola, son of } | church of St. Anthony. - | | Giovanni } | - 5. | | M. Pergandi, son of } | - | | Ugone of Mantua } | - | | | - 6. | |{ M. Zambono, or } | - | |{ Giovanni } | Father of M. Nicola. These - |1264|{ Bono da Bissone, near} | two form the link with Parma. - | |{ Como } | - 7. |1264| M. Benedetto da Verona | Worked at Padua with Zambono. - | | | At Verona he is - | | | styled Benedetto da Antelamo. - | | | Probably a descendant - | | | of the one at Parma. - ------+----+-------------------------+-------------------------------- - -The rise of the Romanesque is the stepping-stone to the Renaissance of -Art in Italy. We need not enter at length into all the vexed questions -of how this Renaissance began, and which school was the link between -that and classic art, but a slight glance must be given to the -subject. Some make everything begin from Niccolo Pisano, as though he -suddenly sprang ancestorless out of the darkness, a full-fledged -artist. Some date the rise of art from the Byzantines in Aquileja and -Venice; others again from the union of the Normans with the Saracens -in Sicily. - -First, as to Pisa. There are no records or signs of a school of art -indigenous to Pisa, before the building of the Duomo there. Both -Morrona[124] and Ridolfi, the historians of the respective cities, -have well searched the archives in both Pisa and Lucca, but can find -no single reference to any native artist before the Duomo of Pisa was -begun, or even of any Pisan who worked at that building as early as -the eleventh century. All the first architects seem to have been -imported. Morrona asserts that when the cathedral was begun "the most -famous _Masters_ (mark the word) from foreign (_stranieri_) parts, -assembled together to give their work to the building." The word -_stranieri_ is used by all old Italians not only as meaning -foreigners, but Italians from other provinces. Ridolfi, on his part, -affirms that at the beginning, the _Maestri di Como_ were the only -ones employed in building the chief churches at Lucca; adding -that--"Many of the works show certain symbols, monsters and foliage, -which were always a special characteristic of the Comacines, and a -sign of the Freemasonry founded and propagated by them."[125] - -From this it may be deduced that during the eleventh and twelfth -centuries no indigenous Pisan school existed, and that the mediaeval -buildings were of the Lombard type. Certainly the old church of S. -Pietro a Grado, three miles out of Pisa on the Leghorn road, which we -have described, is a standing witness to the presence of the Comacines -before this era. It still exists, the most perfect specimen extant of -a Lombard tri-apsidal church. Not a shaft, not an archlet is wanting. - -As to Aquileja and Venice, Selvatico's[126] theory is that the Friuli -people, and those of Aquileja, being driven out in 450 by Attila, fled -to Grado (another Grado near Venice), thence spread to Torcello and -Murano, and then founded Venice. That they built the cathedrals on -those islands, and founded the Veneto-Oriental school. Did this native -school ever exist? asks Merzario, seeing that the church of Grado was -built by _artefici Franchi_, which might mean Freemasons, or French -builders, _i.e._ the Comacines under Charlemagne; and that those of -Santa Fosca and Murano were, judging by their style, of the same -origin? - -The church of Torcello was rebuilt in the eleventh century by the -Bishop Orso Orseolo, and if it comes into the question at all, would -prove that the Lombard school had something to do with it then. In -spite of these two opposing opinions, it is certain that architecture -took a certain distinctive form in Venice; but it was a later -development which occurred after the twelfth century, and with which -the Greeks and Byzantines had little or nothing to do. - -Selvatico, although the champion of the Veneto-Friuli theory, is -constrained almost in spite of his own arguments to own that the -Lombard architects had their part in early Venetian architecture, -saying--"Although the prevalent architecture of Venice from the -seventh to the thirteenth centuries consists of Byzantine and Roman -elements, yet after A.D. 1000 another element mingled with it, which -though partly the product of the two, nevertheless had in itself -elements so original as to be truly national. This is the art which -modern writers style Lombard, which, born first in Lombardy, diffused -itself over the greater part of Italy, and then crossing the Alps -expanded greatly in Northern Europe."[127] - -The learned Domenico Salazari is at the head of the Siculo-Norman -theory, but the influence of the mingling of Oriental and Saracenic -architecture with the Norman and Lombard elements in Sicily are so -well known, and so fully acknowledged, that it is useless to go over -his prolix arguments. - -It seems to me that each party is right as far as it goes. Venetian -architecture has Oriental elements in it; the Tuscan Renaissance truly -dates from Niccolo Pisano, and the Romanesque style was formed by the -marriage of north and south in Sicily; but none of their advocates -have got hold of the missing link in the development of each special -school from the old classical styles. And that missing link, if -anywhere, is to be looked for in the Comacines. - -In the ninth century they went northward, and laid the seeds of the -round-arched Norman architecture at Dijon, under S. Guglielmo; a seed -which took root and developed. In the next century they appear to have -planted the seed of French Gothic at Aix-la-Chapelle, and of German -Gothic at Cologne and Spires, and these grew to be goodly trees. In -the eleventh century they again met their brethren of the north in -Sicily; and all worked together, adding to their own beauties those of -the rich and varied Saracenic style--and the Romanesque style was thus -formed. - -The Venetian link dates about the same era. Fortunato, the Patriarch -of Aquileja, called in the Comacines about A.D. 828, and their -churches there show a groundwork of form and masonry quite -Romano-Lombard, with an ornamentation of which it is difficult to say -whether it be more Byzantine than Comacine, the two being so similar -in conception, and the distinctive difference in technical work being -at this distance of time not always distinguishable. Where the -Byzantines worked in sandstone, the sharp edges of their precise -cutting would have worn off during many centuries; and where the -Comacines worked in marble, their marvellous knots and interlacings -may look as clean-cut now as any time-worn Byzantine sculptures. In -any case the union of Lombard and Byzantine in Venice was the forging -of the link connecting Venetian art to the classic Roman. - -The part the Comacines had in forging the connecting chain between the -Tuscan Renaissance and the classic Roman, and the artistic pedigree of -Niccolo Pisano, who is the first link in that branch of the threefold -chain, will be traced in a future chapter. We must now inquire how the -first Romano-Lombard style of the Comacines, from the sixth to the -tenth centuries, became changed into the florid Romanesque, in which -the same guild was building in all parts of Italy from the twelfth to -the fifteenth centuries. This development was possibly derived from -both Northern and Southern sources. - -The close connection of the Comacine or Lombard architects with the -Patriarch of Aquileja in the seventh and eighth centuries brought them -in touch with the Greek artists of the earlier period, from whom they -learned much, especially in varying the plan of their circular -churches, and in richness of ornamentation. Their later emigrations to -the southern Lombard dukedoms, and their work in Sicily had a still -greater effect on them. It seemed to break up their fixed traditions -as a thaw breaks up ice. Before this time, every church must be of a -fixed plan; every apse round; every space of wall headed by a gallery -or arched brackets; every arch a pure half-circle on colonnettes. But -the varied arches of the Oriental-Saracenic style influenced their -fancy; they saw that art lay in variety, and learned that the pointed -arch was as strong as the round one, the ogival arch more graceful. -The Moorish arch never entirely took their fancy, though they -sometimes gave a slight Moorish curve to their stilted arches. - -It must be remembered that the _Magistri_ of the Comacine Guild were -no longer of the same calibre as those mediaeval men who built for the -Longobards. Those were the products of an age of slavery and -degeneration, who, lacking literature, clung to tradition, and could -only act according to the small portion of intellectual light -vouchsafed to the Dark Ages. They put stone and stone together, -precisely as their forefathers had taught them. In form they clung to -their ancient teacher, Vitruvius, and for their ornamentation to their -ancient pagan superstitions, grafted on a mystical Christianity. Yet, -as we have seen, they so far improved on these, as to build several -Basilican churches which might be called grand for the time, though -still holding close to traditional forms. - -The Comacine after A.D. 1000 was a man beginning to feel his -intellect; the feudal system was breaking up, republics beginning to -be established, schools were opened, and man began to feel himself no -longer a vassal bound hand and foot, but a human being who might use -his own intellect for his own pleasure and good. - -What wonder then, that the arts began to flourish, commerce to -increase, and riches to accrue in this joyous freedom? - -And what wonder that man's thankfulness for freedom first took the -form of building churches for the glory of the God of the free? - -The architects of the Masonic _loggie_ (lodges) who had held together -through the troublous times, became alive with new enthusiasms. They -compared their own buildings with others, and instead of varying the -principles of Vitruvius, to suit early Christian demands as -heretofore, they passed on to new and freer lines. Instead of solid -and rude strength, elegance of form and aspiring lines gave lightness -and beauty. - -The starting-point of the change was, of course, the adoption of the -pointed arch, which at this time began to be substituted for the -circular one as giving greater strength with greater lightness. -"_Curvetur arcus ut fortior_," says an old chronicler of Subiaco. -According to their method of gradual development the Comacine Masters -did not blindly throw themselves into new forms. They went cautiously, -and first tried their acute arches in clerestories, and triforia, over -naves supported by the old Lombard arches of _sesto intiero_, as we -see in several churches of the Transition period. A little later they -mixed the two inextricably, as in Florence cathedral, where the -windows are pointed with Gothic tracery, the interior arches round and -Roman in form. - -"The early Lombard architecture," said Cesare Cantu,[128] "was not an -order, nor a system, so much as a delirium. Balance and symmetry -utterly disregarded, no harmony of composition or taste, shameful -neglect in form proportion; to the perfect classic design which -satisfies the eye, they substituted incoherent and useless parts, with -frequently the weak placed to support the strong, in defiance of all -laws of statics. Columns--which used to be composed of a base, shaft, -and capital, in just proportions, supporting a well-adapted architrave -or frieze more or less fitly adorned, and a cornice which only added -beauty and strength--were exchanged for certain colonnettes, either -too short or too slight, knotted, spiral, and grouped so as to torture -the eye, and above the disproportioned and inharmonious abacus of the -capitals were placed the arches, which in a good style should rest on -the architrave. In fine, there was an endless _modanature_, ribs, -reliefs, and windows of elongated form and walls of extraordinary -height." In spite of Cantu's leanings to the classic, this tirade -shows the first indication of the change towards the Gothic, and it -only proves that the Comacine Masters did not take up new forms -borrowed entire from other nations, but assimilated what they saw in -other places, gradually developing their style. - -To find the origin of the pointed arch would be difficult. Was it -evolved from the arching trees in the German forest? or was it from -the rich Arabian mosque or ancient Indian temple? or did the Comacines -find it, just as they acquired their Basilican forms, on Italian soil? - -Germany, it is pretty well proved, got the seed of her glorious Gothic -from France or Italy, and nourished it right royally. But the pointed -arch is much more ancient than German Gothic. It is to be seen in the -tomb of Atreus at Mycenae, in an Etruscan tomb at Tarquinii, and even -in the subterranean gallery at Antequere in Mexico.[129] The pointed -arches in the Mosque El Haram on Monte Morea date from Caliph Omar's -time, between 637 and 640. The Mosque of Amrou, with its curious -combination of pointed and horse-shoe arches, dates from 640. - -The church of St. Francis at Assisi (1226) has generally been accepted -as the first instance in Italy, and it was soon followed in the design -for the church of S. Antonio at Padua five years later; but there are -two little churches annexed to the monastery of Subiaco on Monte -Telaso, which were built, so say the chroniclers, one in A.D. 981, -the other in 1053, in which some arches are round and others -acute.[130] Hope[131] quotes examples of this mixture of round and -acute arches in the ninth and tenth centuries at Cluny, 1093-1134; the -Abbey of Malmesbury in England, which is in Lombard style; St. Mark's -at Venice, 976-1071; Subiaco, 847, and others. - -"But," as Selvatico remarks,[132] "these are isolated instances -determined by static reasons, and do not point to a system." The Arab -used the pointed arch as a decorative principle, as well as for -stability. As the style spread in Europe it got modified, some -countries keeping to the ancient type, and others changing its -proportions. So the Arab arch became in the eleventh century the germ -of the ogival arch, and in the twelfth expanded in the North into the -most glorious forms of ecclesiastical Gothic architecture. - -The Comacines made their first steps towards a more florid style, -about the end of the eleventh century. The change, as in all such -growths of circumstance, was a gradual one. First, a little more -ornamentation, then a slight change in the forms of arches; next, a -less fixed ground-plan of the churches, a mingling of the Greek cross -with the square-walled Basilica. After these slight trials of their -wings, came flights of imagination, and endless variety of form and -ornamentation; that variety which could only spring from the ideas of -many minds, united in one work. - -To see the earliest signs of a wider scheme of design we must go to -the region of Parma. Here in a little town called Borgo S. -Donnino--the ancient "Fidentia Julia"--about fifteen miles north of -Parma, is one of the finest early Romanesque churches in Italy. It -was a great place for pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, as it contained -the tomb of S. Domninus, who was martyred in the persecutions of -Maximian. Great miracles were worked at his shrine, and religious -fervour rose to such a height in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, -that the devotees collected money enough to build a church, which they -desired should be the finest and most majestic of those times. - -The work was finished before 1195. An ancient document shows that the -_Rettori_ (civil governors) of Milan, Verona, Mantua, Modena, Brescia, -Faenza, Bologna, Reggio, Gravedone, Piacenza, and Padua, with their -suites, all met there in that year to form a league against Henry VI., -son of Frederic Barbarossa, who seemed likely to carry on the -hostility of his father.[133] We have no documents to show who was the -architect of the fine Basilica of S. Donnino, but as the Comacines had -their _laborerium_ at Parma, and as the work is clearly and distinctly -Romanesque, we may believe the old authors who say that it arose _per -lo scarpello dei Comacini_.[134] If internal evidence is wanting, the -three lion portals of the ornate facade bear witness to the hand of -the Comacines of the Romanesque epoch. - -Another of their buildings which shows a marked advance, was the -cathedral of Trent--the gate of Italy leading into Germany. This had -been built in the first Lombard style between 1124 and 1149, when it -was consecrated by the Patriarch of Aquileja. In 1207 the Bishop -Federigo Manga, Chancellor of the Emperor Otho IV., formed a design to -enlarge and almost rebuild it. He commissioned a _Magistro Comacino_ -to superintend the works, as appears from an inscription in Gothic -letters on the tomb of that very _Magister_. Anglicized it would -run--"In the year of our Lord 1212, the last day of February, Master -Adam of Arogno, of the diocese and district of Como (_Magister Adam de -Arognio cumanae diocesis et circuito_), began the work of this church -and constructed it. He with his sons and his _abbiatici_ (underlings) -built the interior and exterior of this church with its adjoining -parts. He and his sons lie below in this sepulchre. Pray for them." - -Prof. Cipolla, in an article in _Arte e Storia di Firenze_, quotes a -poem written in 1309, in honour of the Duomo of Trent and of the -Comacine Master who had achieved so much with his potent and clever -hands (_Cumani Magistri qui potenti manu non inani complevit_). - -The church has since then undergone several restorations, but in none -of them has its plan been materially altered. There is still the -octagonal dome, the circular apse at one end of the building, and the -narthex at the other. The facade still honestly follows the lines of -the roof, and has its little rows of pillared galleries across. The -outside of the apse shows the new tendency to Romanesque more than the -facade does; here arches and friezes in horizontal circles around it, -take the place of the perpendicular shafts, and the single row of -archlets on the top. It is more in the style of the thirteenth and -fourteenth-century Lucca churches. The arch of the north door rests on -lions, which we may take as the secret sign of Romanesque Comacine -work between the tenth and twelfth centuries, as the _intreccio_ or -Solomon's knot had been their mark in the Lombard period. - -The church of S. Maria Maggiore at Bergamo is a valuable specimen not -only of this transition in its early stage, but of the culmination of -the Romanesque, two centuries later. An inscription on the arch of the -portico records that it was founded in the time of Pope Innocent II. -and King Lothair II., _i.e._ about 1135, Rogerius being then the -Bishop of Bergamo.[135] The builder's name is also recorded as -Magister Fredus, probably short for Godfredus. Magister Fredus is not -expressly said here to be of the Guild of Comacines, but as his work -was entirely in Lombard style, with a few slight indications of a -freer school, and as the architects who succeeded him were, as may be -proved by documents, Comacine Masters chiefly from Campione, we may -fairly make the hypothesis that he too was one of the guild. The -little that remains of his work is to be seen in the interior, where -the round arch still predominates, and in the exterior walls of the -apse, with its crown of arches and colonnettes. - -The parts due to the later brethren of the guild are the rich -ornamentation of the two facades with their grand and characteristic -Comacine porches, and also the Baptistery. It was in 1340 that -Giovanni, son of Ugone (Big Hugh) of Campione, a _celebre scultore ed -architetto_, was commissioned to build this Baptistery. According to -the fixed laws of the Comacines he made it octagonal--the mystic sign -of the Trinity, being formed of a threefold triangle. Around it -entwine circles of arches and colonnettes, some lines having double -columns; these reach to the cornice of the roof, which cornice is -composed of reliefs allusive to the Sacrament of Baptism. - -This work finished, Magister Giovanni went to Bellano on the east bank -of Lake Como, together with two of his brotherhood, the Magister -Antonio, son of the late Jacopo of Castellazzo da Peglio in the valley -of Intelvi, and Magister Comolo, son of the late Magister -Gufredo--probably a descendant of the Magister Fredus mentioned -above--of Asteno, near Porlezza, to rebuild the church there, which -had been ruined by age and repeated floods.[136] This church is in -pure Lombard style, and has a facade in black and white marble, with a -fine rose window, encircled with terra-cotta foliaged decorations. -After this Magister Giovanni of Campione was recalled to Bergamo to -adorn the facades of the church which Fredus had left in a rough state -200 years before. These two facades faced north and south. Strange to -say, the part opposite the altar has no door. In this new emprise -Giovanni brought as his assistants his son Nicolino, a relative named -Antonio (probably the one who had worked with him at Bellano), and a -certain Giovanni Cattaneo, also from Campione. Giovanni, who was head -architect, decided not to renovate the whole south facade facing the -Piazza on which he began first, but to concentrate his ornamentation -on a fine vestibule and doorway, to form a species of frontal. The -vestibule was finished in 1351, having taken only two years. On the -architrave he has himself chronicled it--"1351, m. Johannes de -Campillione C. B. (civis Bergomensis) fecit hoc opus." The whole front -seems to have taken three years more, as on the base of the horse on -which St. Alexander, patron saint of Bergamo, sits, may be -read--"Filius Ughi de Campillione fecit hoc opus 1355." - -Good Master John of Campione did not long survive the execution of -this masterpiece, for on the north porch is inscribed--"1360. Magister -Johannes f. q. (filius quondam) Dom. Johannes de Campilio ... -(abrasion) fecit hoc opus in Christi nomine. Amen." - -This north porch, though so nearly coeval, shows a much greater -advance in style. It is an eloquent proof of how architecture was -progressing at this time by the grafting on of different influences. -John the father, being older, kept more closely to his Lombard -traditions. John the son, being youthful and more open to conviction, -took up new ideas. He has kept the Lombard arch in his porch, the -moulding of which is extremely rich, and the lions of Judah duly -support his pillars, but he has filled in his arch with very Gothic -tracery, in trefoil arches, and over the Lombard columns of the upper -storey of the porch are arches and decorations decidedly Oriental in -appearance. It is about as good a specimen of the rich chaos of ideas -that marks a transition stage as one can get, and shows that John the -younger had been influenced by the Saracen-Norman influence in Sicily. - -Fergusson, in his _Handbook of Architecture_, p. 790, gives an -illustration of this porch. The Campione family evidently came from a -race of sculptor-architects, for the church of S. Maria at Bergamo -contains a sculptural work of much merit for the time, by Ugo da -Campione, the father of Giovanni senior. It is the tomb of Cardinal -Longhi degli Alessandri, who died at Avignon in 1329. The almost -mediaeval artist compares not unfavourably with a very modern master -from Como, Vincenzo Velada Ligurnetto, who in 1855 sculptured the -neighbouring tomb of Donizetti placed near it. - -Coming down the valley of the Po to Cremona, we find ourselves on a -scene of great Comacine industry. There is the Baptistery, dating -before A.D. 1000, and the Cathedral begun in 1100. These were both -works of the Lombard Masters; their style is identical, and over the -architrave of the great cathedral door may be read in the Gothic -characters used by them-- - - MCCLXXIIII. - Magister Jacobus Porrata. - da Cumis, fecit hanc Rotam. - -_Rotam_ refers to the wheel window, which is a remarkably fine one, -and is not, as some writers think, an illiterate mis-spelling of -_portam_ (door). The rose window is prior to the one which Jacopo or -Lapo, the so-called father of Arnolfo, placed in the facade of the -Duomo of Arezzo, and is even superior to it in richness of design. To -Jacobus Porrata is also attributed the principal entrance of Cremona -cathedral, with the statues of the four prophets beside it. Over the -architrave rises a species of porch, formed of little Lombard -galleries, fringing as it were the arch. Below are the usual -lion-supported pillars, the lions being carved in fine red marble. The -vestibule above is formed of pointed arches, on each of which a lion -crouches to sustain the finishing _loggia_. The Comacine Masters seem -to have formed a school and _laborerium_ at Cremona, for among the -archives of the Duomo a deed has been found entitled _laborerio_, of -the year 1289. It was drawn up by the notary Degoldo Malatesta on -December 12 of that year, and on the part of the Revdo. P. -Cozzaconte, Bishop of Cremona, and the monk Ubertini, director and -treasurer to the works of the Duomo, making a contract with Bonino and -Guglielmo da Campione to build a stone stairway on the north of the -cathedral towards S. Nicolo, etc. etc. The stairs still exist, with -remains of some little turrets which formed part of the design. - - [Illustration: BAPTISTERY AT PARMA. DESIGNED BY BENEDETTO DA ANTELAMO, - A.D. 1178. - _See page 187._] - -At Parma we have also precise data, and a name carven in stone. The -cathedral was begun in 1059, four years before that of Pisa. It was -finished by 1106, when Pope Pasquale II. consecrated it, the great -Countess Matilda being present. In 1117 a part of it fell in an -earthquake, and the Bishop Bernardo apportioned the receipts of -several taxes to the rebuilding. Frederic Barbarossa in 1162 confirmed -this disposition of the taxes and the work was continued. The -_laborerium_ of the Comacines at Parma was at different times under -two of their chief sculptor-architects, Benedetto da Antelamo being -master of the lodge in 1178, and Giovanni Bono of Bissone in 1281. -Benedetto sculptured the now ancient pulpit of the cathedral, which -was supported on four columns, and to which the relief of the -Crucifixion, signed by him, belonged. It is now in the third chapel on -the right. He also designed and erected the Baptistery, which, more -than any building of the time, shows an originality of idea quite -remarkable. It is built entirely of white marble, is of course -octagonal, that is _de regle_, and is surrounded by rows of little -pillared galleries, but in these he has made his colonnettes -classical, and has left out the arches entirely, except in the upper -one, substituting a solid flat marble entablature for them. The lower -part only has a circular arch in each of the eight sides. The arches -of the doorways are very deep, and richly sculptured. One has four -dark marble pillars on each side of the door, of which the lintels and -architrave are richly carved in reliefs. The north door has a Nativity -of Christ in the lunette, and a story of John the Baptist beneath it. -The west portal shows a realistic Last Judgment above, and on the -sides the seven ages of man, and Christ performing the seven works of -mercy. On the south door is the allegory of Death from the mediaeval -religious romance of _Barlaam and Josaphat_. The arches between the -doors are filled in with niches containing statues supported on black -marble Corinthian columns. - -All round the building above the base is a frieze of the real old -animal myths and symbols, such as the Comacines of two or three -centuries earlier delighted in. The march of the times had now -substituted actual representations of scriptural subjects, instead of -mere symbols of dark mysteries, but the _Magister_ could not all at -once leave behind him the old emblems which had served his guild for -centuries in the way of ornamentation. The building is unique, and -shows daring independent thought at a time when independence was most -difficult. - -Fergusson, however, blames the false principles of design. He says the -four upper storeys are only built to conceal a dome, which is covered -by a flat wooden roof. The roof seen from above seems to be a flat -tiled roof, and it has a pretty solid bell-turret in the centre. The -little arches forming the upper range are slightly pointed. This -Baptistery, as well as the pulpit in the Duomo, bears the signature of -the builder and sculptor, and the date 1196. - - "Bis binis demptis annis de mille ducentis. - Incepit dictus opus hoc sculptor Benedictus."[137] - -Val d'Antelamo, the native place of Benedictus, is a valley near Lago -Maggiore towards Laveno. It seems probable that a branch school or -lodge of the Comacines existed here, of which Benedetto was at this -epoch at the head,[138] and gave the name to his pupils. They must -have emigrated like other branches of the guild, for in the ancient -statutes of Genoa we find several mentions of experts in architecture, -called _Magistri da Antelamo_, who were called in by the city -magistrates, when any building work had to be valued or judged.[139] - -As early as 1181 in the archives of S. Giorgio, one finds the names -Martino and Ottoboni, Magistri Antelami, and as late as Nov. 27, 1855, -a sentence was given at the Collegio dei Giudici at Genoa by a Maestro -Anteramo. The substitution of r for l is to this day a very common -error among Italians. - -In 1161 a squadron of Masters from Lombardy was called to renovate the -cathedral of Faenza, which was much ruined. These Masters accepted, -and showed themselves most proficient. So says an old writer quoted by -Merzario, but whether these very clever architects were the same -Antelami branch who worked at Parma cannot be decided.[140] A later -Comacine Master at Parma, whose name has come down to us, is Giovanni -Bono of Bissone, a little village between Como and Lugano. The grand -vestibule of the principal door of Parma cathedral, with its -lion-supported columns, its bands of colonnettes and its rich -sculpture, was designed by him. In a Gothic inscription over the door -deciphered by Sig. Pezzana, we learn that the lions were made by -Giovanni Bono da Bissone in 1280, at the time when Guido, Niccolao, -Bernardino, and Benvenuti worked in the _laborerium_.[141] - -This inscription, for which I am indebted to Canonico Pietro -Tonarelli, is especially valuable, not only in fixing the epoch of -Giovanni Buono da Bissoni's work, but as proof of the organization of -the lodge and the brotherhood of its members. The word _fratrum_ -certainly implies that the _laborerium_ was in the hands of a guild. -The Canonico Tonarelli writes in a letter from Parma, that in an -estimate in the archives of the Chapter, dated 1354, the _Fabbriceria_ -was denominated _Domus laborerii seu fabricae ... majoris Ecclesiae_, -and that the administrators were called _fratres de Laborerio_. In -Tuscany they were called _Operai_, and the office of administrator was -the _Opera del Duomo_. The four names of the _fratres_, too, have a -significance when read in the light I have since found thrown on the -organization by the archives of the _Opere_ in Siena and Florence. In -those lodges one perceives plainly that the administration of the -lodge was placed under four persons, of whom two were Masters of the -guild, and two were influential persons of the city, _i.e._ half the -council of administration gave the votes of the architects employed, -and the other half those of the patrons who employed them. That the -same rule held in this earlier lodge at Parma is confirmed by the fact -that Niccolao and Benvenuti are found working together with Giovanni -Buono at Pistoja in 1270.[142] - -Sometimes a single name stands out among the file of Comacines, and -one finds several well-known buildings that have emanated from one -mind. Such a Master was Magister Giorgio of Jesi, near Como. His name -is graven in the stones of many a church. At Fermo on the Adriatic, a -"sumptuous" cathedral was built in 1227; a certain Bartolommeo -Mansionarius being the patron. On the left south door was a slab with -the inscription--"A.D. MCCXXVII Bartolomeus Mansionarius Hoc opus -fieri fecit Per Manus Magistri Georgii de Episcopatu Com".... That the -mutilated word is Como we prove by a similar inscription on the -cathedral at Jesi (the ancient AEsis where the Emperor Frederick II., -grandson of Barbarossa, was born). The ancient cathedral of S. -Septimus, a truly Lombard building, still exists in part. Here the -inscription runs--"A.D. MCCXXXVII tempore D. Gregorii Papae domini -Federici Imperatoris, et domini Severini. episcope. aesini. Magister -Georgius de Cumo civis aesinus fecit hoc opus." - -Here we get the city as well as the bishopric to which Magister -Giorgius belonged. He was a citizen of Jesi in the diocese of Como, -and a qualified member of the higher rank of the Comacine Guild. In -the little town of Penna in the same province, where the church was -ruined in an earthquake, an ancient stone was found with the following -inscription in old Latin--"In the name of God. Amen. This work was -commenced in the time of the Priest Gualtieri, and completed in that -of the Priest Grazia, by Master George of Jesi in the year 1256." By -these stones we find that Master George worked in the province of -Piceno for thirty years, between Fermo, Jesi, and Penna. To him is -attributed the ancient communal palace of Jesi which was rebuilt in -the fifteenth century by other Comacine Masters. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[124] _Pisa illustrata nelle Arti del Disegno._ - -[125] Professor Ridolfi, _L' Arte in Lucca_, p. 74, _et seq._ - -[126] Sull' Architettura e sulla Scultura in Venezia nel medio evo -sino ai nostri giorni. _Studi di P. Selvatico_, cap. ii. p. 48. - -[127] Selvatico, _Storia della Scultura_, Lib. II. cap. ii. - -[128] _Storia di Como_, vol. i. p. 537. - -[129] In a work by Luigi Mazara (_Temple antediluvien decouvert dans -l'ile de Calypso_, Paris 1872) there are two engravings of gateways, -one a subterranean one at Alatri in Latium, which is said to have been -the work of Saturn, and is called the Porta Sanguinaria; the other of -Cyclopean architecture was also in Latium, and called Porta Acuminata; -both of them are pointed arches. This would carry the invention back -to 2000 B.C. Many of the subterranean aqueducts of Rome have acute -arches for purposes of strength. - -[130] Seroux, _Histoire de l'art par les monuments_, p. ii. Paris. - -[131] Hope, _Storia dell' Architettura_, cap. xxxiii. - -[132] Selvatico, _Sull' architettura e scultura in Venezia dal medio -evo_, p. 90. Venezia, 1874. - -[133] Affo, _Storia di Parma_, tomo iii. p. 14. - -[134] See _Borgo S. Donnino e suo Santuario_, pp. 59 and 112, by an -anonymous author. - -[135] "Dicta ecclesia fundata fuit anno Dominicae Incarnationis -millesimo centesimo III gesimo septimo sub dom Papa Innocentio II., -sub Episcopo Rogerio, Regnante Rege Lothario, per Magistrum -Fredum."--_Storia della Citta e Chiesa di Bergamo_, Tomo III. lib. x. - -[136] The contract, which is preserved in the archives of Bellano, is -dated July 18, 1348--"Indictione prima in burgo Bellano, Magister -Johannes filius quondam Magistri Ugonis de Campilione, et Magister -Antonius filius quondam Jacobi de Castelatio de Pelo Vallis Intelvi, -et Magister Comolus filius quondam Magistri Gufredi de Hosteno plebis -Porleciae, qui omnes tres magistri de muro et lignamine laboraverunt -ad laborem Ecclesiae novae," etc. - -[137] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iv. p. 145. - -[138] Documents exist which mention it in King Luitprand's time, A.D. -713, and in that of the Emperor Otho, 989. - -[139] Arbitrio duorum magistrorum antelami seu fabricorum murariorum -eligendorum per magistratus.--Quoted by Merzario, Vol. I. chap. iv. p. -168. - -[140] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. v. p. 171. - -[141] _Storia di Parma_, tom i. Appendix, p. 43. "In mille ducto -octuago p. mo indictione, nona facti fuere leones per Magistrum ianne -bonum d. bixono et tpore fratrum guidi, nicolay, bnardini et bevenuti -di Laborerio." - -[142] This Giambono or Giovanni Buono was, I believe, the founder of -the Lodge at Pistoja, or at least Master of it in about 1260. His -works in Tuscany are many and important, as will be seen when the -Tuscan link is under consideration. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MODENA-FERRARA LINK - - -THE CAMPIONESE SCHOOL AT MODENA - - ----+---------+----------------------------+----------------------------- - 1. | 1050 | Magister Ersati di Ligorno | - | | | - 2. | 1099 | M. Lanfranco, son of | Chief architect at Modena in - | | Ersati | 1099. His son Ubertino - | | | forms a link with Padua, - | | | where he worked at the - | | | church of S. Antonio in - | | | 1263. - 3. | 1130 | M. Guglielmo or Vigilelmo }| Sculptors on the facades of - 4. | | M. Ambroxius, his son }| Modena and Ferrara - 5. | | M. Nicolaus }| cathedrals. - | | | - | | |{ Assist in the facade of - | | |{ Ferrara cathedral. There - 6. | 12th | M. Meo di Cecco, and |{ was a Marco di Frixone da - 7. | century | M. Antonio di Frix of Como |{ Campione at Milan a century - | | |{ later in 1300, probably a - | | |{ descendant of this one. - | | | - 8. | 1209 | M. Anselmo da Campione | Sculptured the porch of - | | | Modena cathedral; was chief - | | | architect in 1181. - | | | - 9. | 1244 | M. Ottaccio } Sons of | The office of head architect - | | } Anselmo da | was made hereditary in the - | | } Campione, | family. - 10. | | M. Alberto } who was | - | | } also called | Jacopo is supposed to be the - 11. | | M. Jacopo } Anselmo | Jacopo Tedesco, reputed - | | } Tedesco. | father of Arnolfo. - | | | - 12. | " | M. Arrigo, son of M. | Arrigo was head architect in - | | Ottaccio | 1244. - | | | - 13. | 1322 | M. Enrico, grandson of M. | Built the tower and - | | Arrigo | sculptured the pulpit at - | | | Modena. - ----+---------+----------------------------+----------------------------- - -At Modena, which was once a prosperous Roman colony, and then an -independent commune, we find a most interesting family of Comacines, -who for more than two centuries worked at the cathedral there, son -succeeding father, and nephews following their uncles as architects. -The building of a worthy church was the first thought of the -newly-made commune in 1099. In Muratori's copy of the _Acts of the -translation of the body of S. Gemignano to Modena_, we read--"So then, -in the year 1099, the inhabitants of the said city began to demand -where they could find an architect for such a work, a builder for such -a church; and at length, by the grace of God, a certain man named -Lanfranco, a marvellous architect, was found, under the counsels of -whom the foundations of the Basilica were laid."[143] - -Lanfranco is a name very frequent in Lombardy, but this man, probably -from his already acquired fame, was the same Magister Lanfrancus -filius Dom. Ersatii de Livurno (Ligurno), who built the cloister of -Voltorre, near Lake Varese, in the neighbourhood of the Antelami.[144] -The fact remains that all his successors were Comacines, and from -places near Ligurno. There is also a similarity of style between the -cloister at Voltorre, and the older parts of S. Gemignano at Modena, -both showing a grafting of Gothic on the Romano-Lombard style. A -curious document exists, a kind of contract, quoted by Tiraboschi in -his _Codice Diplomatico_ in the Appendix to the historical memorials -of the building of the cathedral, long after Lanfranco's part was -done. It runs, when Anglicized--"In the name of Christ, in the year -of His nativity, 1244, in the second indiction, on the day of Mercury -(Wednesday), the last of the month of November. It has been recorded -that between Ser Alberto, once treasurer to the Opera et Fabbrica, and -the late Master Anselmo da Campione in the episcopate of Como -(_Magistrum Anselmum de Campilione, Episcopatus Cumani_), a contract -was made, by which the said Magister and his heirs _in perpetuo_ -should work at the said church of Modena, and either the said Master, -or any other Master, his descendant, should receive every day, six -imperials in the days of May, June, July, and August, but five -imperials only in those of the other months, for their recompense and -their work. Ser Ubaldino, now Administrator of the said _Fabbriceria_, -seeing and considering that the said stipend or remuneration does not -seem sufficient according to the course of these and succeeding times, -has deliberated and taken counsel with the venerable Bishop Signor -Alberto, and with Ser Giovanni, Archpriest of Modena, at the instance -and petition of Magister Arrigo (Henry), son of Magister Ottaccio, who -was the son of Anselmo aforesaid; and in the presence of the -aforementioned Signori, Bishop, and Archpriest, and of the subscribing -witnesses, promises and agrees that to the said Magister Arrigo, for -himself and his sons and heirs, and for Magister Alberto and Magister -Jacopo, his paternal uncles (_patruis suis_), and the sons and heirs -of the same, shall be given over and above to them, and to their said -sons, or successors, who shall be masters in that art (_qui magistri -fuerint hujus artis_), eight imperials for each day they work, from -the calends of April to the calends of October. In the days of the -remaining months in which they shall have worked at the will of the -Administrator of the building, they should, and shall have, only six -imperials, receiving nevertheless their food from the said lodge, not -only on festal days, but on all others, as they have from the -beginning been accustomed to have. And if at the will of the said -Administrator they shall bring other competent Masters necessary to -the said works, these shall receive seven imperials for each day, from -the said calends of April to those of October, but in other months -only five imperials per diem." - -This deed was drawn up in the Canonica of Modena, and duly signed by -witnesses. - -Tracing the predecessors of Arrigo of Campione, father and -grandfather, back from 1244, we come very near the time of the first -Lanfranco; and following his descendants from Arrigo, head architect -in 1244, to his grandson, who finished the tower of the Dome,[145] and -made the marble pulpit in the cathedral in 1322, we get a family line -of builders lasting unbroken for nearly two hundred years. There still -exists an inscription in bad Latin on the cornice of the pulpit, which -says that Tomasino di Giovanni, treasurer of the _Fabbriceria_, S. -Gemignano, had the pulpit carved, and the tower built by Arrigo or -Enrico, the Campionese sculptor (_actibus Henrici sculptoris -campionensis_). It would be difficult now to assign his due share to -each of this long line of master-builders; but the Italian critic, -Marchese Ricci, gives Lanfranco the credit of the interior, which is -in pure Romano-Lombard style, with two aisles and a nave. The nave is -much higher than the aisles, and is supported on columns with high -Corinthian capitals from some ancient Roman temple. Lanfranco has -given a clumsier Lombard air to them by a very large abacus. The crypt -is supported on sixty columns, the capitals of which are all Lombard, -and of endless variety of form and sculpture. In the centre is the ark -(tomb) of S. Gemignano. The wall of the facade, with its little -pillared gallery, is also of Lanfranco's time. - -The porch, with its knotted pillars supported on lions, is adjudged by -Ricci to be the work of Anselmo of Campione in 1209. The sculpture on -the facade by Nicolaus and Guglielmo is said to date from early in the -twelfth century, and probably belonged to Lanfranco's design before -Anselmo put this doorway. They are to our eyes most naive Bible -stories told in rude sculpture--the one side representing the -Creation, the other the first men as far as Noah. To contemporary -eyes, however, they were great works, for an old grandiloquent low -Latin inscription on the facade says--"Inter scultores quanto sis -dignus honore Claret scultura nunc Viligelme tua." "Worthy of honour -art thou among sculptors. So shines, O William, this thy sculpture." -Marchese Ricci, from the peculiar spelling of Guglielmo, thinks that -he might have been a German, but as in the Ferrara inscription he is -spelt in the Italian way, I think the Viligelme may be only one of -those queer reversals of consonants so common in illiterate Italians. -If a poor Florentine has a son named Arturo, he will surely call him -Alturo, or if Alfredo, he will always be Arfledo. In any way we can -descry in this artist, as in many others of his age, the forerunner of -Niccolo Pisano, and see in the art of Niccolo only a link in -development, not a new art entirely. To Nicolaus and Guglielmo are -also attributed the sculptures in the choir, representing the Passion. -We shall find them again at Ferrara. - -We see, then, that the family of Anselmo, hereditary sculptors and -architects of Modena, were certainly the founders of the great school -of the Campionese, which lasted some centuries, and to whose hands may -be attributed nearly all the great churches in North Italy. The -schools, _laborerium_, and _fabbricerie_ of Modena furnish another -prototype of the threefold organization, which becomes so distinct in -the Opera of Florence and the Lodges of Venice, Siena, and Orvieto. -Tiraboschi publishes a notarial Act, dated January 7, 1261, which -speaks of the _laborerium_ near the Duomo, where the stones for the -fabric were carved; and that there was a covered way between the -church and this building which must not be removed or changed. - -Gerolamo Calvi, in his _Matteo de Campione, architetto e scultore_, -says that nearly all the architecture and sculpture executed in and -around Milan in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries may be -attributed to the Campionesi. He instances the Sala della Ragione at -Padua, with its enormous span of roof, its characteristic arcades and -galleries, and the Loggia degli Assi, or Loggia del Consiglio, once -the Podesta's palace; the church of S. Agostino at Bergamo, built by -Ugo da Campione and his son Giovanni, the castle of the Visconti at -Pavia, and many others. Campione, though a place of importance in -Roman times, and cited in Carlovingian documents, is now only a -village on the side of a mountain, near Val d'Intelvi, containing 500 -inhabitants. Calvi writes of it that from the earliest times before -the renaissance of art,[146] the men of Campione dedicated themselves -to building and sculpture, and diffused themselves throughout the -north of Italy, working rudely at first, but gaining in style and -experience till they produced great works worthy of eternal fame. - -It seems probable that in this school we have a link with Florence. -The Jacopo de Campione, who was mentioned in 1244 as uncle of the -petitioner Arrigo, is named in other documents as a Campionese, is -thought by Merzario and other authors to be that famous architect, -Jacopo il Tedesco--or the Lombard, who was for centuries taken with -certainty to be the father of Arnolfo. We shall speak of his pedigree -in another chapter. - -The builders of the Duomo of Ferrara were decidedly connected with the -_laborerium_ at Modena, both lodges originating from the Campione -school. The facade has the usual three perpendicular divisions formed -by means of chiselled shafts, but each division is divided -horizontally into three levels, each one enriched with Lombard -galleries. Besides these is a wealth of ornamentation, figures, -reliefs, _trafori_ (open work), and foliage of the most fantastic -kind. This and the framework of the church are all that remain of the -Comacine work, excepting the vestibule, which has all their signs on -it. Four columns resting on four red marble lions support it; one of -them guards a lamb, and another has a serpent beneath its paw. Here we -have still the Comacine mysticism: the lion of Judah guarding the -Paschal Lamb, and one of the House of Judah crushing the serpent. Over -the porch are more sculptures, and an arched vestibule; over that a -kind of Gothic gable, and above the gable a rose window. The whole -speaks eloquently of its kinship with the churches of Verona, Parma, -and Bergamo. Tradition says the interior and facade were built not -much later than 1103. The inscription over the door runs-- - -"Il mille cento trempta nato. Fo questo templo a Zorzi (Giorgio) -consacrato. Fo Nicolao scultore, e Ghelmo fo lo auctore." These are -evidently the same Guglielmo and Nicolao who sculptured Lanfranco's -front at Modena. Guglielmo was the leading man, and made the design -(_auctore_); Nicolaus chiefly executed it. - -But these two were not the only Comacines employed at Ferrara; a MS. -copy of an ancient inscription on some old reliefs in the front of the -church of St. George, records the names of Meo and Antonio of Como. -"Da Meo di Checco, e da Antonio di Frix. da Como."[147] - - [Illustration: FACADE OF FERRARA CATHEDRAL, 12TH CENTURY. - _See page 198._] - -Before the middle of the thirteenth century, Padua had become the -shrine of a miraculous saint. St. Anthony had come over from Lisbon in -1220, and founded at Padua a new order of monks, called _Minori -Conventuali_, under similar rules to the Franciscans. St. Anthony -attracted great crowds of people by his preaching and miracles, and at -his death in 1231 he was canonized, and his devotees desired to build -a beautiful church over his tomb. The first attempt failed from not -having means to pay a good architect, or competent builders, and in -1265 the commune set to work to remedy their mistake. They assigned -four thousand lire a year to the re-edification, until such time as -the church should be completed. By 1307 all was complete except the -cupola, which was added a century later. Vasari attributes the design -to Niccolo Pisano; but his able commentator, Milanesi, who lived all -his life studying archives, asserts that neither document, -inscription, nor tradition remain to prove Niccolo's connection with -Padua, while the style of the building is utterly unlike the edifices -known to be his. - -Some documents in the archives of Padua, unearthed by Padre Gonzali, -prove that in 1263, on May 11, there were working in the church as -builders, Egidio, son of Magister Gracii; Ubertino, son of Lanfranco; -Niccola, son of Giovanni; and Pergandi, son of Ugone of Mantua; and -that, in 1264, a Zambono of Como and a Benedetto of Verona, who lived -in the district of Rovina, are recorded as builders. There is no -record of the architect who designed the church; but judging from the -Moorish innovations of style it was very probably either planned by -the monks, or designed by them. St. Anthony was a Portuguese. On his -way here he would have passed through Spain, and may have been -attracted by the Moorish architecture. He may have even brought a -drawing or two of some many-domed building, and have given them to the -Lombard architects to work from. Probably some of his monks were--like -many Franciscans and Dominicans--members of the Guild of Freemasons, -and so trained in the science of architecture. - -In any case, the buildings at Padua are neither true Lombard nor true -Gothic, and not even Oriental, but a mixture of all three. The Lombard -has partly had his way in the facade, where the upper part is full of -galleries and archlets; the lover of the new Gothic arches has put his -mark on the lower part of the facade; and the monks, who remembered -the native land of their saint, have put the seven domes and minarets; -the domes, however, were beyond the Comacines of that time, and were -not placed till the fifteenth century, when it is to be imagined that -the Renaissance doorway and various pilasters and adjuncts were added. -Altogether, for a church where Como Masters undoubtedly worked, St. -Anthony of Padua is the most unlike their style. They seem to have -taken so little interest in the outlandish plan, that they did not -sanctify it by a bit of their biblical sculpture. - -That monks at that era really did occupy themselves in architecture, -we have consistent proofs in the monkish builders of fine churches; -and that when they followed this branch, they were probably trained -in, and became members of, the great Masonic Guild, is also indicated -by the close connection between the _Magistri-frati_ and the secular -_Magistri_. In the transactions of the guild, monks were frequently -called into council by the _Opera_ or _Fabbriceria_; and they often -worked at their churches in conjunction with the secular members.[148] -In the church of S. Francesco at Lodi is an interesting old -painting, representing S. Bernardino directing a group of monks -engaged in building a convent. Beneath it is written--"Qualiter in -aedificatione monasterii Bernardinus fratres hortatus fuerit."[149] - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF S. ANTONIO, PADUA, 13TH CENTURY. - _See page 199._] - -It is through this order at Padua that the link with Germany became -strengthened. Albertus Magnus was a Dominican, born in Bavaria. He -came to Padua for his studies in theology and the exact sciences, -which evidently included the science of building. Merzario says that -up to 1223 he taught publicly in Padua, and wrote a work on -Perspective.[150] - -Don Vincenzo Rossi, Prior of Settignano, however, writes to me, I -believe on the authority of Montalembert, that Albertus Magnus -attended the university at Padua, and some think also that at Pavia, -but only as a student. He held a _cattedra_ at Cologne, where St. -Thomas of Aquinas was his pupil.[151] - -The name of Albertus Magnus is much connected with the Freemasonry of -Germany; and soon after his stay in Padua we find Comacine Masters -working in Germany. Some German _savant_ might work out this clue, and -see if he did not start, or aid in establishing, a lodge at Cologne, -for all authors agree that the architectural _Maestranze_ (as the -Italians called the mixed clerical and lay Masonic Guilds) passed over -the Alps from Italy, and flourished greatly in northern cities, such -as Strasburg, Zurich, Cologne, etc., etc. - -In the twelfth century the beautiful church and monastery of -Chiaravalle, near Milan, were erected by the Campionese Masters, on -the commission of the noble family of Archinto of Milan. It is a fine -specimen of Italian Gothic, with the dome peculiar to that style. - -The Visconti of Milan were large patrons of the Campionese school. The -fine castle at Pavia, built in the time of Galeazzo II., shows by its -style the Comacine hand. It has been assigned to Niccola Sella from -Arezzo and Bernardo of Venice, but, as Merzario shows, these men only -came to Pavia thirty years after it was finished. - -The first stone was laid on March 27, 1360. The archives have been -searched in vain to find the architect's name: it is, however, proved -that Bonino da Campione was in Pavia in 1362, working at the Area di -S. Agostino, so it is probable that some of his brethren of the -Campionese school were also employed by Galeazzo. Unluckily, these are -so individually sunk in the company, that one rarely gets a prominent -name. - -Merzario, quoting other writers, attributes to the Campionesi that -sepulchral monument of Beatrice della Scala, now in the church of S. -Maria at Milan; the mausoleum of Stefano Visconti in S. Eustorgio, and -that of Azzo, son of Galeazzo I.; but beyond a tradition that Bonino -da Campione sculptured the last, there is no positive proof.[152] - -Great conjectures have been made as to the real author of the Arca di -Agostino at Pavia. Vasari says--"La quale e di mano _secondo che a me -pare_ di Agnolo e Agostino, scultori senesi." His expression, "As it -seems to me," is not very decisive proof, truly. Cicognara is not more -exact. He "wonders that this most grand and magnificent work is not -more famous than it is--and thinks it shows the style of the Sienese -brothers, but opines it is more likely to be by some pupil of theirs, -if it is not by Pietro Paolo and Jacobello the Venetians." This is -vague with a vengeance. Merzario, however, proves that there are no -documents to show that the Sienese brother sculptors ever came to -Pavia, and asserts that the style of the Arca is not at all Venetian. - -The learned Difendente Sacchi[153] brings more logic and less -imagination to bear on the point. The inscription on the monument -proves that it was begun in 1362, placed in 1365, and that the -accessory ornamentation was finished in 1370. The books of the -administration show that the sums paid for its construction amounted -in all to seventy-two thousand _lire italiane_. - -As no artist in especial is named as having received this sum, I -should myself imagine that as usual several Masters of the guild -worked at it, but that one was _capo maestro_, and drew the design. -Comparing it with the monument of Can della Scala at Verona, which is -a certified work of Bonino da Campione, Sacchi argues that he was the -designer and sculptor of this Arca. The style in both is semi-Gothic, -the arches following the same curve and resting on columns; the -friezes and ornaments are so much alike as to be in some parts -identical in design; the crown of pyramids and _cupolini_ which -finishes the monument on the top, the form of the pinnacles, and their -floriations are more than similar. - -The Arca di S. Agostino is, however, the more elaborate. It has -ninety-five statues in its niches, not counting statuettes. One may -count nearly three hundred distinct works of sculpture in the -composition. (Would not this redundancy prove it the work of a school -rather than one hand?) Sacchi justly observes that if Can Scaliger -confided to Bonino the commission for his monument, it must have been -because he had seen proofs of his skill; and where could this have -been more probable than in the Arca at Milan? - -A suggestive proof of the Arca di S. Agostino being the joint work of -the Comacine Guild, is suggested by Merzario.[154] Over the colonnade -of the Arca are twelve statues, but in front of these stand the -_Quattro Santi Coronati_, the four artist martyrs. One of these is -represented stooping to examine the base of a pillar; another trying -the diminution of a column with the "T" square, and a third -measures a reversed capital, and holds a scroll on which is written in -Gothic letters, _Quatuor Coronatorum_; the fourth is working with -hammer and chisel. - -Now these four saints, being the special patrons of the Comacine -Guild, would have little significance to any other artists. - -The sepulchre of Can Signorio de Scaliger in Verona was begun in his -lifetime, and on his own commission, and cost 10,000 gold florins. He -died in 1375, so it must date slightly prior to that. _Bonino de -Campiglione Mediolanensis_ has signed his name in marble on the -frieze. It is a fine specimen of Gothic ornamentation, at the -culmination of the Campionese school. - -There were also earlier works of Bonino's at Cremona; one a sepulchre -to Folchino de Schicci, a jurisconsult, in the chapel of St. Catherine -in the Duomo, beautifully worked with friezes, etc., in bas-reliefs. -It is signed in Gothic characters-- - - "Hoc sepulcrum est nobilis et - Egregii militis et juris periti - D Folchini de Schiciis qui - obiit anno D,MCCCLVII - Die Julii et heredum ejus - Justitia, Temperantia Fortitudo Prudentia - Magis. Bonino de Campilione me fec."[155] - - [Illustration: TOMB OF CAN SIGNORIO DEGLI SCALIGERI AT VERONA. BY - MAGISTER BONINO DA CAMPIONE, 1374. - _See page 204._] - -The other one is the urn for the relics of S. Omobono, protector of -Cremona. Unfortunately the urn, which is said to have been very rich -and beautifully worked, has been ruined and dispersed. One slab -only remains, bearing the inscription, _Magister Boninus de Campilione -me fecit_, with the date, June 25, 1357. So Can Scaliger would have -had also other famous monumental works to recommend his choice of -Bonino. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[143] "Anno itaque MXCIX ab incolis praefatae urbis quaestum est ubi -tanti operis designator, ubi talis structurae edificator invenire -posset: et tandem Dei gratia inventus est vir quidam nomine Lanfrancus -mirabilis aedificator, cujus concilio indicatum est ejus basilicae -fundamentum."--From Muratori, quoted by Merzario, _I Maestri -Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iv. p. 168. - -[144] See chapter headed "Troublous Times." - -[145] This tower, which is almost as light and elegant as that of -Giotto in Florence, became historically famous in the wars between -Modena and Bologna in 1325, when the famous Secchia was hidden -there--the subject of that curious heroi-comic poem _La Secchia -rapita_. - -[146] Calvi, _Notizie sulla vita e sulle opere dei principali -architetti, pittori e scultori_, etc., vol. i. p. 39. - -[147] Frix is an abbreviation of Frixones, a name we find two -centuries later in an artist of the same guild, working at Milan -cathedral, Marco da Frixone a Campione. Another Frix worked at Ferrara -a century later. - -[148] See chapter on "The Florentine Lodge." - -[149] _Artisti Lombardi del Secolo XV_, di Micheli Caffi. - -[150] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iv. p. 161. - -[151] The silence of that learned St. Thomas was so proverbial that -his fellow-students called him the "Bue muto" (the dumb bull). Apropos -of this, Albertus Magnus made his famous witty prophecy--"Tomaso may -be a dumb bull, but the day will come when his bellowing will be heard -throughout the world." - -[152] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. viii. p. 243. - -[153] Difendente Sacchi, _L' arca di S. Agostina illustrata_, etc. - -[154] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. viii. p. 248. - -[155] V. Vairina, _I Scriptiones Cremonenses Universae_, p. 14, N. 53. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE TUSCAN LINK - - -I.--PISA - -The very mention of Pisa brings to our minds Niccolo Pisano, whose -name stands in all art histories as the fountain-head of that Tuscan -development of art which led to the Renaissance. But where was Niccolo -Pisano trained and qualified for this high post of honour? A great -architect and sculptor does not suddenly become famous and obtain -important commissions without having some undeniable credentials. - -In those mediaeval days, when the arts protected themselves by forming -into constituted guilds, no one could call himself a Master unless he -were trained and qualified in one of these guilds and had reached the -higher grades. To trace Niccolo's place in the great chain of the -Masonic Guild, we must go back a little, and gather together the -threads of information we have been able to glean, as to the expansion -of the guild itself, and here the valuable collections of archivial -documents made by Sig. Milanesi from the books and archives of the -Opera del Duomo at Siena, and by Sig. Cesare Guasti from those of the -cathedral at Florence, will materially assist us. By studying these -and putting facts and statements together the whole organization -becomes clear, and our former glimpses into the threefold aspect of -the lodges at Modena, Parma, and other northern cities become -confirmed. - -Here in Tuscany we again find the three branches. First: There is the -school where novices were trained in the three sister arts--painting, -sculpture, and architecture. When pupils were received from outside -the guild, they had to pass a very severe novitiate before being -admitted as members; but the sons and nephews of _Magistri_ were, we -learn, entitled to be members by heritage without the novitiate.[156] -The hereditary aspect of the lists of Masters certainly displays this -right of heritage very strongly. The qualified Masters were entitled -to take pupils and apprentices in their own studios. The large number -of pupils who studied under Niccolo Pisano suggests his eminent -position in the guild. - -Second: There was the _laborerium_, or great workshop, where all the -hewing of stone, carving of columns, cutting up of wood-work was -done--in fact, the head-quarters of the brethren who had passed the -schools, but were not yet Masters.[157] A graphic sketch from a -Masonic _laborerium_ is given by Nanni di Banco, in the relief under -the shrine of the _Quattro Coronati_ on Or San Michele at Florence, -where the four brethren are all at work. In looking at it, one is -reminded of the old story of the block of marble from which Michael -Angelo's David was made, which had laid for many years in the stores -of the Opera del Duomo at Florence, it having been once assigned to -Agostino di Ducci, who was commissioned in 1464 to make a statue for -the front of the Duomo, which was blocked out so badly that the marble -was taken away from him, and he was expelled from the _laborerium_.[158] - -Third: There was the _Opera_ or Office of Administration, which -formed the link between the guild and its patrons. The Freemasons -evidently adapted their nomenclature to the dialect of the part they -were in. In Tuscany the word for this office was _Opera_ (or Works). -There was the Opera di S. Jacopo at Pistoja as early as 1100; and the -Opera del Duomo at Pisa, Siena, and Florence. In cities of the Lombard -district, such as Modena, Parma, Padua, Milan, etc., the name is -_Fabbriceria_. The members of this Ruling Council are generally four -in number, and are called _Operai_ in Tuscany, and _Fabbricieri_ in -Lombardy. These were elected periodically, two of them being -influential citizens, who acted on the part of the patrons, and two -from the Masters themselves. Where the lodge was very small there was -only one _operaio_, as in Pistoja, when in 1250 Turrisianus was -overseer (_superstans_) for a year. Later, when the Pistoja lodge was -larger, there were two. At Milan there were more than four. Above -these was the _Superiore_, a sort of president. If there were a -reigning Prince, he was usually elected president. In the _Opera_, all -commissions were given, and contracts signed between the city and the -Masters, every contract being duly drawn up in legal manner by the -notary of the _Opera_. Here orders were given for the purchase of -materials, and estimates considered for the payment of either work or -goods. The _Opera_ had to provide the funds for the whole expenses. -Usually this was done in the first instance by appropriating to the -work the receipts of one or more taxes. In course of time people left -legacies, and the _Opera_ had a knack of growing very rich. - -Between the _Opera_ and the _laborerium_ was a responsible officer -called the _Provveditore_. Judging from the entries in his private -memorandum-book, his responsibilities must have been endless, and his -occupations multitudinous. - -There was also a treasurer, a secretary, and two _Probiviri_, -sometimes called _Buon uomini_, who acted as arbiters, for purposes of -appeal and verification of accounts. - -The identical form of the lodges in the different cities is a strong -argument that the same ruling body governed them all. An argument -equally strong is the ubiquity of the members. We find the same man -employed in one lodge after another, as work required. Unfortunately -no documents exist of the early Lombard times, but the archives of the -_Opere_, which in most cities have been faithfully kept since the -thirteenth century, would, if thoroughly examined, prove to be -valuable stores from which to draw a history of the Masonic Guild. - -We will now return to Pisa. - -Sig. Merzario asserts that no school of art indigenous to Pisa existed -there before the building of the Duomo. He might almost have said -before the time of Niccolo, for so far was the half-mythical Buschetto -from being a Pisan, that the world has for eight centuries been -arguing where he came from! To arrive at Niccolo it is necessary to -start from Buschetto. Who was Buschetto? Whence came he? Vasari, in -his ignorance of monumental Latin, says, "From Dulichium," and thus -the idea was promulgated that he was a Greek. But the inscription -(given on next page) on Pisa cathedral says nothing of the kind. It is -a flowery eloquence which Cavalier Del Borgo reads as comparing him -for genius to Ulysses, Duke of Dulichium, and for skill to Daedalus. - -Cicognara judges from his name that he was Italian. Most probably -Buschetto was a nickname, "little bush," given him either from a shock -head of hair, or derived from _Buscare_, to thrash or flog. It is -quite possible, though the proofs are not very strong, that he may -have been of Greek extraction, descended from some of the Byzantine -members of the guild of whom we have spoken before. - - BUSKET.[159] JACE ... HIC .... INGENIO[=RU] - DULICHIO ... PREVALUISSE DUCI[160] - MENIB' JLIACIS CAUTUS DEDIT ILLE RUI[=NA] - HUJUS AB ARTE VIRI MENIA MIRA VIDES. - CALLIDITATE SUA NOCUIT DUX INGENIOS - UTILIS ISTE FUIT CALLIDITATE SUA. - NIGRA DOM' LABERINTUS ERAT TUA DEDALE LAU[=SE] - AT SUA BUSKE[=TU] SPLENDIDA TEMPLA PROBANT. - [=N] HABET EXPLU NIVEO[161] DE MARMORE TEMP[=LU] - QUOD FIT BUSKETI PRORSUS AB INGENIO. - RES SIBI COMISSAS TEMPLI [=CU] LEDERET HOSTIS - PROVIDUS ARTE SUI FORTIOR HOSTE FUIT. - MOLISET IMMENSE PELAGI QUAS TRAXIT AB IMO - FAMA COLUMNARUM TOLLIT AD ASTRA VIRUM - EXPLENDIS A FINE DECEM DE MENSE DIEBUS - SEPTEMBRIS GAUDENS DESERIT EXILIUM. - -The partisans of the Grecian theory hold much to a MS. said to be now -in the archives of the Vatican,--but which Milanesi asserts cannot be -found,--which says that the Pisans "_Buschetum ex Grecia favore -Constantinopolitani Imperatoris obtinuerunt_." Morrona also suspects -this to be apocryphal; but even if it be genuine, the Pisans may only -have asked for one of the Italian architects who were working in large -numbers in the East under the Emperors, and building Lombard churches -on Oriental ground. It was only in 1170 that Desiderius, Abbot of -Monte Cassino, begged Comnenus to send him back some architects, and -the Italian sculptor Olinto was among them. - -It may well be true, as Sig. Merzario says, that no school existed at -Pisa before the Duomo was begun. But soon after that, we certainly -find the usual organization of _laborerium_ and _Opera_. - -Old authors tell us that "the most famous Masters from foreign parts -vied in lending their help to the building of such an important -edifice, under the direction of Buschetto."[162] Another old MS.[163] -records that the "Opera of the Duomo was instituted in 1080, some -years after Buschetto was engaged, and that the first _operai_ of the -Council were Hildebrand, son of the Judge Uberto, son of Leo, -Signoretto Alliata, and Buschetto of Dulichium who was architect. The -head of these was Hildebrand, and the others were ministers and -officers of the Opera, as may be found in the archives of the said -Opera."[164] Here we have the full organization of the Comacine House -of Works. The dignitaries of the city as President, Treasurer, and -Ministers, the head architect also a member of the Council of the -Opera. Another old writer calls Buschetto _capo della scuola Pisana_. - -Niccolo, Giovanni, and Andrea da Pisa are fine proofs that the school -at Pisa flourished and brought forth brave artists. Even as late as -the sixteenth century, when Sansovino was sculpturing the casing of -the Holy House at Loreto, we are told that thirty of the best carvers -in stone were sent from Pisa to work under the Capo Maestro, Andrea -Contucci of Monte Sansovino.[165] - -Among the _Magistri_ from other parts in Buschetto's time, one of the -chief was doubtless Rainaldo, who, judging from the inscription near -the principal door of the facade, was not only a working sculptor in -the guild, but also a full-fledged Master-- - - HOC OPUS EXIMIUM TAM MERUM TAM PRETIOSUM: - RAINALDUS PRUDENS OPERATOR, ET IPSE MAGISTER: - COSTITVIT MIRE, SOLLERTER, ET INGENIOSE. - -It is much to be deplored that this inscription bears no date, so that -we cannot tell whether Rainaldo were chief architect after Buschetto, -or whether he were only sculptor and executed the front; Buschetto -being architect, and designing the whole. Here we have several things -to suggest both these artists as Italians, (1) Their names. (2) The -Comacine form of their institutions, with the _Opera_ at the head. (3) -The concourse of Italian _Magistri_ which followed them; but as usual, -absolute proof is wanting. - -Let us see if their work can throw more light on the question. Is the -Pisan church Byzantine? Decidedly not. There are no domes except the -central one, which is seen in most Lombard churches; no Oriental -arches resting on bulging capitals; but round arches supported on the -identical Romano-Lombard composite capitals one sees in every Italian -church of the time. The facade too is a very wilderness of Lombard -galleries in every direction. Instead of following the line of roof, -they cover the whole front, one below another. If Buschetto had -brought back from Byzantium an idea of more richness of ornamentation, -he certainly worked it out in Italian forms, by merely multiplying his -little pillared galleries till a network was formed over the whole -building. This was not confined to him; it became a mark of Comacine -work for the next two or three centuries, as we may see at Lucca, -Ancona, Arezzo, and other places. The style is called Romanesque, and -it stands between the heavier Lombard style of the earlier Comacines, -and the more finished Italian Gothic of the later ones, as shown in -Florence and Milan. They are all, however, only different developments -of the same guild. - - [Illustration: INTERIOR OF PISA CATHEDRAL, 11TH CENTURY. - _See page 212._] - -The richness of ornamentation suited the temper of the Pisans at that -time. They were proud of many victories, and had brought back from -Majorca, Palermo, and other places, various spoils, such as porphyry -colonnettes, rare marble, etc. etc.[166] They desired a particularly -grand and gorgeous church, and that it should be in a style hitherto -unknown. The many antique capitals and columns among the spoils placed -at his disposal suggested, of course, arches, so by way of being very -original, Buschetto or Rainaldo, whichever of the two designed it, -made his facade with four arcades, instead of one, or two, as his -brethren in the north were accustomed to do. The colonnettes in these -four galleries are fifty-eight in number, some of _rosso antico_, -others of the black and gold-streaked Luna marble. The two large -columns at the central door are also of antique Greek work; they are -beautifully carved in foliage intertwined; the other four columns are -fluted and wreathed with foliage. The capitals also are chiefly -ancient classic work; there are Corinthian and composite ones. The -remaining capitals are Comacine work, and have their usual mixture of -animals and hieroglyphic figures. Here, too, are the lions of Judah in -juxtaposition with the pillars, but as yet they appear above the -pillar and not beneath it, as was the invariable custom a century -later. - -The rude figures of saints at the extremities of the roof, both of the -aisles and nave, mark the beginning of that revival of the human -figure in sculpture, which was the forerunner of the work of Niccolo -Pisano. The tower and Baptistery are the natural results of the -Duomo, the style being identical; the same round arches in the -foundation, and the same circles of Lombard galleries covering the -super-structures. - -The Baptistery was built by Magister Diotisalvi, somewhere about 1152. -We have no proofs of his origin, but his work and title prove him to -have graduated in the same guild as Buschetto and Rainaldo,[167] and -we find his son and grandsons in Siena and other lodges. - -In the Baptistery, the old mystic octagonal form was abandoned, and -the circle takes its place. Diotisalvi has here made a perfect bell in -tone as well as in form. It is the most acoustic building possible, as -any one may prove by singing in rotation the notes of a chord. The -whole chord echoes on for several moments with exquisite effect. The -Baptistery was begun in August 1152, the first stone being laid in the -presence of the Consul Cocco di Tacco Grifi; and two of the _Operai_ -(members of the administrative council or _Opera_) named Cinetto -Cinetti, and Arrigo Cancellieri, were appointed _soprastanti_ -(overseers). Here again we have a distinct connection between the -_Opera del Duomo_ and the _laborerium_. - -Some of the classic spoils of war were given to Diotisalvi for this -building. Several of the capitals on the twenty columns supporting the -foundation circle of round arches, are Corinthian; and the two pillars -at the chief portal are beautiful specimens of ancient work, similar -to those in the facade of the Duomo. Between the classic remains -incorporated into the building, and the statues and sculptures which -belong to a later century, it is difficult to distinguish which were -the absolute work of Diotisalvi himself. The sculptures on the -door-jambs--rather mediaeval scenes relating to Christ and David--and -the hieroglyphics of the months were probably his own work. The -Baptism of Christ on the architrave, which has the mediaeval expression -of baptism by immersion, may be his; and if so, it seems to explain -how the Greek element got into Niccolo di Pisa's work, for here is his -antecedent of a century, showing in his work signs of the same leaning -to classicism in the midst of a rude and early style. How could he -help it when he was living among classic remains of sculpture? - -The other three doors have also antique spiral columns of Greek -marble. A fine piece of work, in Comacine style, is the frieze of -interlaced foliage over the west entrance. The second order is a -colonnade of fifty-eight arches with sculptured capitals. The third -consists of eighteen pilasters and twenty windows. Here are seen the -lion between the pillar and the arch, various animals and human heads -at the spring of the arches, while above each order is a complicated -cornice of pyramids, spires, and arabesques, which suggest a Southern -or Eastern influence. The interior is less ornate, but of fine solid -architecture. Twelve Corinthian columns and four large pilasters -support the arches, forming a peristyle round the building; a similar -gallery with slight columns runs above it. The columns are not all of -antique marble. Three of them are of granite brought from the Isle of -Elba, on May 4, 1155, and two from Sardinia, by Cinetti, one of the -overseers we have mentioned.[168] The first pillar was placed on -October 1, 1156. The capitals are ornate; some antique, Corinthian, -others in Comacine style with animals and _intrecci_. On one of the -pillars is engraved--"Deo-ti-salvi, magister hujus operis." Morrona -thinks the Baptistery shows a Moorish influence. This is possible, as -the whole of the three buildings show the Comacines' first great -change of style, after their works in the south at Palermo, and the -kingdom of Naples. - -Old writers call the style Arabo-Tedesco; and this brings us to the -meaning of the word _Tedesco_ in Italian architecture at this epoch. - -The fallacy that the Italian Gothic came from Germany, must have got -into art histories from a misconception of Vasari's term of -opprobrium, "_quei Tedeschi_." He uses it when he speaks of any -architecture which is not purely classic, even blaming buildings such -as Arnolfo's Florentine dome, the churches of Assisi, Orvieto, Lucca, -Pisa, etc. - -But the writers who interpret this term as meaning the German nation, -are reasoning on a fallacy. In the first place, was there any pointed -Gothic in Germany before the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries? We -will just run over the principal Gothic cathedrals. Bruges was begun -in 1358; Cologne is modern of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; -Lubeck was built in 1341; Attenburg in 1265-1379; Freiburg Dom Kirche -in 1484. At Freiburg in Breisgau, the older parts are of the same -style as Comacine, while the Gothic parts date from 1513; Strasburg, -the Gothic parts between 1318-1439; Magdeburg, 1363. - -Before these were built we have at Cologne, S. Gereon's Kirche, with -circular arches, date 1227, and S. Pantaleon, 980, but there is not a -sign of Gothic in either. Bonn cathedral, built in 1151-1270, is also -round-arched. Coblenz is Carlovingian. Mayence, round-arched of the -tenth and eleventh centuries (the Gothic side-chapels date from 1260 -to 1500). Treves, with round arches, early Romanesque of the eleventh -century; choir, later Romanesque of the twelfth century; some parts -which are pointed were of the thirteenth century. Hildesheim, a -Romanesque Basilica, built in the eleventh century. Dom Insel at -Breslau, 1170, is tripartite, on the Comacine plan, and very quaint. -Worms, 996-1016, Lombard style, with round arches; the parts with -pointed architecture are much more modern. This list proves that the -earliest churches were built by Italian Masters, or at least in the -Italian style. - -Indeed Hope classes most of them as Lombard. The Germans themselves -expanded the Lombard style into the pointed, which also came up -through Italy, its first signs being seen at Assisi, next at Pisa, and -then Florence. - -Milan was a later reflex of the perfected German Gothic, though -chiefly executed, as we shall see later, by the hands of Comacine -Masters. - -As I have before remarked, climatic influences greatly determine the -style of a national architecture. To the sunny south belong the flat -roof; the shady colonnade; the horizontal line and frieze; the -fountained court; the smaller windows; and the solid tower. To the -north the pointed roof, that snow and rain shall not decay it; the -solid buttress to resist the greater outward pressure of the high and -aspiring sloped roof; the perpendicular tendency in design; the larger -windows for a less sunny atmosphere; and the pointed spire to carry up -the general lines. - -On these lines of fitness the Germans and French perfected their -style, and imported it into England. The differences are great, -between this northern Gothic and the Italian Gothic, which is always -more or less Romanesque. Now if in the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries[169] the Germans had not begun to build their glorious -pointed minsters, what did Vasari mean by _quei Tedeschi_? I will show -from his own description. In his chapter called "_dell' -Architettura_," forming the introduction to his _Lives_, after -discussing the three classical orders, he says (I will translate -literally)--"There is another kind of work which they call _Tedesco_ -(German), in which the ornamentation and proportions are very -different from the ancient or the modern. (Modern in Vasari's time -would be the Renaissance style of Michael Angelo.) This is not used by -good architects of these days, but is shunned by them as monstrous and -barbarous. Every sign of order is forgotten, it ought rather to be -called confusion and disorder. In the buildings, which are so many -that they have infected the whole world, you see the portals adorned -with thin columns twisted like a vine, and so slight that they could -not be supposed to support the weight. And then on their facades and -other places they made a cursed mass of little tabernacles (archlets) -one on the other, with many pyramids and points, and such foliage -(here Vasari evidently has his eye on Pisa Baptistery), that it seems -impossible how they clung together; they seem made of paper, rather -than of stone or marble. In these works there are many protuberances, -broken lines, brackets, and _intrecci_, quite disproportionate to the -building; and frequently, by piling one thing on another, they run up -so high that the top of a door touches the roof. (Here Vasari is -certainly thinking of the porches of San Zeno at Verona, and the -cathedral of Bergamo.) This style was invented by the Goths (does he -mean Longobards perhaps?), who having ruined the buildings, and -murdered the architects, made the ones who remained build in this way. -They arched their roofs with acute _quarti_ (vaulted roofs) and filled -all Italy with this cursed style of building.... God save any country -from coming to such ideas and orders of architecture, which, being -utterly deformed and unlike the beauty of our buildings, do not -deserve that we should speak any more of them." - -Again, in the _Proemio delle Vite_, when praising the solid buildings -of the Goths in Ravenna, especially the tomb of Theodoric, with its -huge monolithic roof, he goes on to speak of the Dark Ages--"After -which," he says, "there arose new architects, who from their barbarous -nation derived the kind of buildings which we of to-day call -_tedeschi_, the which seem ridiculous to us, although to them they may -have appeared to be praiseworthy." - -Here are tirades from the old chronicler of art, who swore by the -three classic orders, and worshipped Michael Angelo and the -Renaissance style! Certainly the flat pilaster, triangular pediments, -and straight unadorned lines of that art were as far removed as the -poles from the florid but meaningful sculpture-architecture of the -Comacines in Romanesque times, or its rich Norman and Gothic -developments. - -However, we gather plainly from this, that when Vasari calls a master -_Tedesco_, he means merely Lombard. The reason is easy to see. -Lombardy and North Italy, down to Lucca, were from about 1170 under -the rule of the German Emperors, consequently the Comacines were no -longer Lombards, nor French as in the Carlovingian times, but Germans. - -This is curiously emphasized by an episode in the building of the -cathedral at Pisa. When the Pisans wanted to endow the building fund -of the church, they wished to buy some land on the Serchio, near -Lucca, to help to form a revenue. They had, however, to send Gualando -Orlandi and Aldebrando de' Visconti as ambassadors to Germany to -obtain permission from the Emperor Henry IV., that the lands close by -Lucca might be ceded to Pisa.[170] - -The tower of Pisa is too well known to need any description here. The -joint masters were Bonanno of Pisa, and a very confusing _Tedesco_. In -some authors he is called Giovanni d'Innspruck, in others Guglielmo -from Germany. On inquiry as to how Innspruck comes into the question, -we find the following perplexing passage in Morrona. After quoting -the inscription on the tower, "A.D. MCLXXIV campanile hoc fuit -fundatum mense Agusti," he continues--"We find from ancient documents -belonging to the _Opera_, that the building was begun on the vigil of -San Lorenzo, and the two above-mentioned architects (Bonanno and -Guglielmo) are precisely indicated, excepting only that instead of -_Guglielmo Tedesco_, it is written _Giovanni Onnipotente of -Germany_--a misinterpretation of the word Oenipons or Oenipontanus, -which signifies native of Innspruck."[171] The italics are my own, and -emphasize what Sig. Morrona styles a precise indication! The passage -is an astounding bit of unreason, but as neither Giovanni nor -Guglielmo is a German form of name, I do not think this theory need -trouble us. Whether the builder were German or Italian, whether named -John or William, he only carried out the general design of the two -buildings, and made a veil of Lombard archlets all over his leaning -tower. - -We shall find both Bonanno and Guglielmo working at Orvieto some time -later. The tower was finished much later, when Andrea di Pisa was -Grand Master of the Pisan Lodge; the upper circle of arches belongs to -his part of the work. - -At Pisa then we have an artistic sphere which might well have produced -Niccolo di Pisa, even without the influences of the south. We will, as -far as the few inscriptions and documents allow, see who were the -members of this Masonic lodge, which had painters before even the rise -of the Siena school, and whose building was the earliest model for the -Romanesque style. - -Bonanno, who assisted in the building of the tower, was more famous in -the guild for his metal working than for architecture and marble -sculpture. The fame of the bronze doors of the Duomo which he cast is -now only traditionary, as they were destroyed by the fire on October -25, 1596. The antique inscription has been preserved, and proves that -in 1180 Bonanno cast the doors, which had taken him a year to model, -and that a certain "Benedict" was _operarius_ at the time.[172] - -Bonanno's successor as a master in bronze was a certain Bartolommeo di -Pisa, who was, like Bonanno, sculptor, architect, and metal-worker. He -was much patronized by the Emperor Frederic, for whom he built the -palace at Foggia, and made a tomb. He seems to have been a famous -bell-caster; there are inscriptions quoted by Morrona,[173] which have -been found on bells in the leaning tower of Pisa, the bells of the -churches of St. Francis at Assisi, S. Francesco at Siena, S. Paolo a -Ripa d'Arno, and S. Cosimo at Pisa, S. Michele at Lucca, etc. -Sometimes his name stands alone; sometimes one of his sons, Lotteringo -or Andreotti, is associated with him. Later we find the sons' names -alone in independent works, and then with the distinctive title of -_Magister_. - -Through this group of Pisan Masters a special connection was -established with the south, a link which might account for Pietro, the -father of Niccolo, being called Pietro da Apulia, for there certainly -was an offshoot of the Pisan lodge in that part. Bonanno of Pisa cast -the famous bronze doors of Monreale; Bartolommeo was at Foggia; and -his son, Magister Lotoringus, passed most of his life at Cefalu, where -his name appears on a bell dated A.D. 1263. The Emperor Frederic, his -father's patron, nationalized him in Cefalu, and after ten years of -residence, in 1242 he gave him permission to take a wife from -Castro-Vetere in Calabria. - -Other metal-workers and bell-casters at Pisa were a Nanni, a Pardo -Nardi, and others whose names appear inscribed in the twelfth century. -I do not know whether the Angelo Rossi, whose name with the date 1173 -is on a sculptured bell once in the church of S. Giovanni in Pisa (now -at Villa di Pugnano), was a fellow-pupil or scholar of Bonanno's. His -work is less artistic and masterly. - -And now for the sculptors of the lodge. A famous master of the twelfth -century was Biduinus, who sculptured the facade of the ancient church -of S. Cassiano, near Pisa, the building of which was undoubtedly the -work of the Pisan Lodge. It is a round-arched church of the usual -large smooth square-cut blocks of stone, and is externally adorned by -pilasters with capitals of varied form and sculpture. Biduinus' facade -has five round arches with a simple double-light window above. The -capitals and architraves are all carved with the mystic beasts and -hippogriffs belonging to the religion of the day. The architraves show -the resurrection of Lazarus, and Christ's entry into Jerusalem. On one -of the doors is the inscription in Gothic letters--"_Hoc opus quod -cernis. Biduinus docte peregit_"; the other bears the date 1180. The -whole style of the church is similar to the Pistoja buildings of that -epoch, and recalls the school of Gruamonte. It is certain that -Biduinus as well as Gruamont worked in Lucca, for the relief of the -architrave of S. Salvatore at Lucca is signed "BIDUVINO ME FECIT HOC -OPUS." - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN THE CHURCH OF S. GIOVANNI FUORCIVITAS, - PISTOJA. BY MAGISTER GUGLIELMO D'AGNELLO, 13TH CENTURY. - _See page 223._] - -The next great names are Niccolo and Giovanni Pisani, the glory not -only of their own lodge, but of the universal Guild. Until the time -when his famous pulpit was sculptured, Niccolo seems to have worked -little in Pisa, though he endowed it with one of his most original -designs--the bell-tower of S. Niccolo. From the evidence of -southern influence in his style, it is probable that his father Pietro -was one of the artists whom Frederic called to South Italy, and that -Niccolo passed his novitiate with him there. In any case, by the time -he wrote _Magister_ before his name he had already attained a high -rank as sculptor and architect, and was chosen for most important -works out of Pisa, such as the Arca di S. Domenico at Bologna, and the -building of the church and convent near it. Niccolo Pisano's work in -Florence was almost exclusively architectural; he also designed the -cathedral churches of Arezzo and Cortona. His pupil, Fra Guglielmo, a -relative of the Doge dell' Agnello of Pisa who was Niccolo's assistant -in the Arca di S. Domenico at Bologna in 1272, worked in 1293 at the -reliefs in the facade of Orvieto, and in 1304 put the Romanesque front -to S. Michele in Borgo, in Pisa. The Virgin and Child over the door of -the latter is a copy of Niccolo's famous statue. Some authors give him -the credit of being the _Tedesco_ who Vasari says sculptured the fine -pulpit in S. Gio. Fuorcivitas at Pistoja, and who assisted Bonanno in -the tower of Pisa. - -A sculptor named Bonaiuto must, I think, have belonged to Niccolo's -school. Two interesting sculptured doorways by him still exist in what -was once the Palazzo Sclafani at Palermo (now the barracks of S. -Trinita). The doorway is carved in _tufo_, and above it is a kind of -gable supported by two small pilasters, enclosing the arms of the -family, a pair of cranes; surmounting the gable is a carved eagle, -with a hare in its claws, standing on a kind of capital, which is -unmistakably Comacine; beneath this is a bracket inscribed, "_Bonaiuto -me fe-cit de Pisa_." Sig. Centofanti, in a private letter to Professor -Clemente Lupi, who wrote to ask for information about Bonaiuto, says -that a register of expenses of the Opera del Duomo of Pisa contains -several mentions of the name. In one dated 1315 _Bonaiutus magister -lapidum_ is noted as working at the Duomo, and receiving two soldi a -day, his companions receiving four or five, and the _capo maestro_ -eight. Here it would seem he is still in the lower ranks of the -brotherhood. In 1318 he is noted as Boniautus Michaelis, and receives -four soldi a day. In 1344 he has become full _capo maestro_ of the -Duomo, and is paid nine soldi a day.[174] - -From his school also sprang Arnolfo, the first of a long line of -sculptor-builders of the Florentine Lodge. From it, too, through his -son Giovanni, came the best builders of the Siena cathedral, and their -followers who worked at Orvieto. - -Thus Niccolo and Giovanni are proved to be links in the old chain that -came from classic Rome through the Lombard Comacines to the -Renaissance. All the famous names that ever were, may be traced in -this universal Guild from father to son, from master to pupil. After -Giovanni Pisano went to Siena, Andrea di Pisa, his scholar, carried on -his school in Pisa. In 1299 we first hear of Andrea, the son of a -notary at Pontedera, as _famulus magistri Johannes_.[175] His first -authentic works were the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery, -proving that he had been trained in the many-branched fraternity at -Pisa, where metal-working ranked so high. As instances of his -sculptures in marble, we may take many of the statues which were on -the Duomo at Florence, and the second line of reliefs on Giotto's -campanile. But like all the _Magistri_, he was, above all, an -architect, and in that branch we find him as Grand Master at Orvieto -in 1347. His son Nino succeeded him in the onerous office. His other -son Tommaso was also in the guild, but did not rise to eminence in it. -He designed a palace, and painted two caskets for the Doge dell' -Agnello of Pisa. - -Nino's sculptures show a greater fidelity to nature than those of his -artistic ancestors. A Madonna and two angels over the door of the -canonry of the Duomo at Florence are very charming, as are his statues -in the church of the "Spina" at Pisa. We next find Nino's son Andrea -receiving payment for a sepulchre for the Doge dell' Agnello, which -Nino did not live long enough to finish. - -One among Andrea's pupils who were not his relatives rose to special -and wide-spread eminence in the guild, _i.e._ Magister Giovanni -Balducci di Pisa, whose artistic career was mostly in Milan, where the -Visconti patronized him. He sculptured several tombs, among them the -beautiful Arca of St. Peter Martyr in S. Eustorgio in 1336. The -figures of the Christian Virtues are very sweet and naturalistic. On a -sculptured pulpit at S. Casciano near Florence, of the same shape and -style as that by Guido di Como at Pistoja, but infinitely more -advanced in art, he has signed, "Hoc opus fecit Johs Balducci Magister -de Pisis." The only architectural work that is mentioned as signed by -him is the door of S. Maria in Brera at Milan. - - -II.--LUCCA AND PISTOJA - -THE BUONI FAMILY AT PISTOJA - - ------+------+-----------------------------+----------------------------_ - 1. | 1152 | Magister Buono | Employed at Ravenna and - | | | at Naples, where he built - | | | Castel dell' Uovo and Castel - | | | Capuano. At Arezzo the - | | | palace of the Signory. - | | | - 2 & 3.| 1168 | "M. Johannes and Guitto" | Made the Ciborium at - | | (Guido) | Corneto. - | | | - 4. | 1196 | Magister Buono, called | Built the churches of S. - | | Gruamont | Andrea and S. Gio. - | | | Evangelista at Pistoja. This - | | | man is said by Vasari to be - | | | identical with the first - | | | Buono. - | | | - 5. | | M. Adeodatus, his brother | Worked with him at Pistoja. - | | | - 6. | 1206 | "Magister Bonus," or Buono | Designed Fiesole cathedral. - | | | - 7. | 1264 | M. Giovanni Buono (Zambono) | Worked at S. Anthony, Padua; - | | | in 1265 built the cathedral - | | | of S. Jacopo, in Pistoja. - | | | - 8. | | M. Andrea Buono, his | These brothers worked - | | brother | together at the pulpit at - | | | Corneto Tarquinia, and - | | | probably built the church. - | | | Niccolao di Rannuccio - | | | sculptured the door, inlaid - | | | in Cosmati style. - | | | - 9. | 1285 | M. Alberto di Guido Buono } | - | | } | Sculptured at S. Pietro, - 10. | " | M. Albertino di Enrico } | Bologna. - | | Buono } | - ------+------+-----------------------------+----------------------------- - - The family were leading members of the guild up to the - fifteenth century, when Bartolommeo Buono and his sons won - fame in Venice. - -We have seen the long connection of the Comacines with Lucca, during -Lombard times, when they helped to build S. Frediano and other -churches there. Sig. Ridolfi, author of _L' Arte in Lucca_, proves that -not only the chief churches, but the cathedral itself, were the work -of the Lombard "Maestri Casari" who had established their schools -there, since they restored S. Frediano for the Lombard Faulone in 686, -and built the Basilica of S. Martino for Bishop Frediano in 588. - -By the tenth century the church of S. Martino was very dilapidated, -which much grieved the mind of Bishop Anselmo, who sought to gather -together funds for its restoration. Two wealthy Lucchesi, Lambertus -and Blancarius, both dignitaries of the cathedral, gave large -donations towards it. Not long after this, Bishop Anselmo was elevated -to the Papal See as Pope Alexander II., and immediately began the -long-desired work of rebuilding his ex-cathedral. - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF S. MICHELE, LUCCA. - _See page 228._ ] - -He being a Milanese, and the Comacines his countrymen, besides their -having a long connection with Lucca, it is natural to suppose he -chose them as his architects. Every sign of the work confirms this, -although no names have come down to us. As was frequently the case, -the church was left without a facade for over a century, and at the -end of the twelfth century the Lucchesi wished to put this finishing -touch. - -There was in Lucca at the time a certain Magister Guido da Como, who -had in 1187 built the church of S. Maria Corteorlandini. It was built -for the feudal Lords Rolandinga, whose palace was called Corte -Rolandinga, on the occasion of one of their family joining in the -crusades.[176] There is mention of a Comacine sculptor named Guido -before this date, at Corneto-Tarquinia, where in the church of S. -Maria di Castello is a fine Ciborium, signed "Johannes et Guitto hoc -opus fecerunt, MCLXVIII." This, being only nineteen years previous, -may have been an earlier work of this same Guido. This _Magister_ -evidently had a son who followed his father's art, and was named after -himself Guido, though called Guidetto, or young Guido, to distinguish -him from his father. To these two men were confided the commission for -the front of the Duomo. Probably the elder did not live to complete -it, for although the commission was given to Maestro Guido Marmolario -(_sic_), the inscription on the facade runs--"Mille C.C.|IIII.| -condi|dit|ele|cti tam pul|chras. dextra|Guidecti."[177] Among the -sculptures is one figure with a very young face, supposed to be a -portrait of Guidetto. This facade is a perfect specimen of pure -Comacine-Romanesque, and shows that the Saracen influence under which -the Masters had been placed in the south, when employed by the Lombard -Dukes of Beneventum, had not led them to change entirely their old -style, but only to develop it into a species of Oriental richness -which (so far we may agree with old Vasari) sometimes errs against -truth and good taste. It shows also the close connection between the -Pisan and Lucchese Lodges. - -The row of archlets which used to form a cornice under the roof now, -as at Pisa, run wild over the whole facade. The outlines which used to -follow honestly the shape of nave and aisles, now, for the sake of -heaping on more ornament, stretch up far beyond the roof-line, forming -a mask. - -A still more glaring instance of the same fault is seen in Guidetto's -other church, S. Michele, at Lucca, where the two upper galleries are -the frontage of a mere useless wall in the air. - -As an architect, young Guido left something to be desired; as a -sculptor he was marvellous. Variety seems to have been his aim. In -both S. Martino and S. Michele, among all the hundreds of colonnettes, -you can scarcely find a duplicate. They are plain, fluted, foliaged, -clustered, inlaid; black, white, red, green, yellow or parti-coloured, -in endless variety. As for capitals, you get every imaginable shape -and style, symbol and ornamentation. He outdoes his prototype -Rainaldus of Pisa, and no clearer proof of a guild, rather than a -single mind, can be furnished, than by this infinite variety of -detail, which plainly speaks of the imaginings of many minds. - - [Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LUCCA (SAN MARTINO), ERECTED 11TH CENTURY; - FACADE 1204. BY GUIDECTUS. - _See page 228._] - -The Comacines here are still in the transition stage, though near its -end, for the sign of the lion of Judah holds its place above the -pillar, under the spring of the arch. In the Italian Gothic, their -next development, it is always beneath the column. - -One of the lion-capped columns is entirely covered with sculptures -representing the genealogical tree of the Virgin. The statue above the -door, of St. Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar, is -sufficiently well modelled as to suggest its belonging to a later -century. - -Signor Ridolfi, who has studied much in the archives of Lucca for his -learned work _L' Arte in Lucca_, thinks that, in 1204, Guidetto the -younger was only just beginning his career. His father must have died -about this time, for the son loses his diminutive, and becomes in his -turn Guido _Magistro_. In 1211 he was called to Prato to work at the -Duomo there (then known as S. Stefano). The contract, which still -exists, does not specify what part of the church he was to build. It -is drawn up by the Notary Hildebrand, and binds "Guido, Maestro -marmoraio" of S. Martino of Lucca, to go to Prato on fair terms, and -there to remain working, and _commanding others to work_, at the -church of S. Stefano. After this he was recalled to Lucca, to put the -above-mentioned facade to S. Michele, which Teutprand had built in the -eighth century, and which had been rebuilt, when in 1027 Beraldo de' -Rolandinghi had left a large legacy for the purpose. This facade, -which, as I have said, is precisely similar in style to that of the -Duomo, was finished in 1246.[178] Guido was then called to Pisa, to -sculpture the altar and font in the Baptistery there. Not much remains -of the altar--which appears to have been the usual edifice on four -columns--except some very ancient sculpture, and two small columns -with extremely rude statues on them. The inscription, however, is -preserved, and runs--"A.D. MCCXLVI, sub Jacobi Rectore loci--Guido -Bigarelli da Como fecit hoc opus."[179] This valuable discovery was -made by the German Schmarzow. Here we have the family name of this -busy sculptor, and of his father Guido of Como. It is one of the first -instances, for surnames only became fixed about this time. - -Guido or Guidetto's last work appears to have been the pulpit in San -Bartolommeo in Pantano, at Pistoja, executed in 1250. This is -particularly interesting, as being the immediate precursor of Niccolo -Pisano's pulpit at Pisa in 1260. It has been thought that Guido, -either from death or other cause, left the work imperfect, and his -pupil Turrisianus finished it. The inscription as quoted by Cav. -Tolomei is--"Sculptor laudator qui doctus in arte probatur|Guido de -Como quem cunctis carmine promo| Anno domini 1250|Est operi sanus -superestans Turrisianus |Namque fide prova vigil K Deus indi -corona."[180] - -Tolomei is puzzled by the cypher K, and Ciampi, the collector of -inscriptions, has, in reporting this one, left out the last line -altogether. He interprets it as implying that Guido having left the -work unfinished, Turrisianus finished it. Whilst I was studying lately -some old documents in the archives of S. Jacopo at Pistoja, Signor -Guido Maccio of that city, who kindly assisted me to read the crabbed -old characters, threw a new light on that inscription. He says Tolomei -has misread it; that the cypher is not a K but H C, which was plainly -legible in a rubbing he took of it, and that _superstans_ merely means -overseer; in fact, the Latin form of _operaio_. The same term -_superstans_ was used for the head of the _laborerium_ in Rome up to -the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, and survived in the later -lodges as _soprastante_. Signor Maccio interprets the inscription -thus--"The famous sculptor Guido of Como has proved himself learned in -art, and his name should be sung in verse, A.D. 1250. Turrisianus -(Torrigiani) acted as overseer to this fine work, and may God crown -him for superintending the work so well." I leave more learned -classics to say which interpretation is the true one. But as in most -of the inscriptions, documents, etc. of the guild, the name of the -head of the lodge, and often those of the councillors are put in, I -incline to think Signor Maccio may be right, and the inscription is -another proof of a Masonic lodge in which Torrigiani was, at the time, -the head of the administration. - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN CHURCH OF S. BARTOLOMMEO, PISTOJA. BY GUIDO - DA COMO. - _See page 230._] - -Guido's pulpit is of white marble, and in the ancient square form, -with eight panels in bas-relief. It rests on three columns; the first -stands on a lion with a dragon at its feet, the second on a lioness -suckling a cub, the third on a human figure. In this pulpit, and the -older one at Groppoli, we have a perceptible link, connecting Niccolo -Pisano with the Comacine Guild, which we shall trace more closely when -speaking of Romanesque sculpture. - -There were at that epoch three lodges in the immediate neighbourhood. -One in connection with the Opera del Duomo at Pisa, one at Pistoja in -the Opera di S. Jacopo, and a third one at Lucca, where Guido and -Guidetto were chief sculptors. Besides this there was another in -Apulia, where it is thought Niccolo's father Pietro worked. Niccolo's -work, and that of Guido the younger, are so very much alike as to -warrant the suspicion that they were both pupils of one master, but -that Niccolo had in him these greater qualities which go to form an -epoch-making artist. - -Little has hitherto come to light respecting the Masonic lodges of -Lucca and Pisa. The _laborerium_ at Pistoja is rather more clearly -defined, and furnishes some definite names. It existed from the -twelfth century, but I do not think the archives were kept quite so -early as that. There is the name RODOLFIN'S OP, anni 1167, carved on -the architrave of the principal entrance of the Lombard church of S. -Bartolommeo in Pantano; but as critics cannot tell whether it means -"Rodolfinus opus" or "Rodolfinus operaius" or head of the Opera, it is -not a very decisive bit of history. The reading "Rodolfinus Operaius -for the year 1167" would, like "Turrisianus, overseer in 1250," be -quite intelligible in its connection with the guild. - -The facade of S. Bartolommeo is a masterpiece of Lombard work. It has -the usual three round-arched doors, whose pilasters and architraves -are rich with interlaced scrolls and foliage, and whose richly-carved -arches rest on lions more or less fiercely dominating other animals, -as emblems that divine strength is able to overcome sin. Whether all -the animal sculptures on this church are due to the twelfth-century -builder, or whether some are remains of Gundoaldo's[181] first edifice -in 767, I cannot say. The architraves are certainly of the later date. - -The head, or _capo-maestro_ of the _laborerium_ of Pistoja in the -twelfth century, was evidently one of the Buono family, whose race and -school became as famous as the Antelami and Campionesi, all three -being branches of the original Lombard Guild. Like the Antelami and -the Campionesi, the school founded by the Buoni furnished several -shining lights among the Lombard _Magistri_. The name is first met -with in the poem of which we have spoken,[182] on the Ten Years' War -between Milan and the people of Como. Among the brave citizens who -threw down their tools to take arms, and distinguished themselves in -wielding them, was a certain Giovanni Buono from Vesonzo (now Bissone) -in Vall' Intelvi, who took part in the siege of the fortress of S. -Martino on Lake Lugano. The war took place in the tenth century; the -poem was written a little later than 1100. Sig. Merzario[183] opines -that the Maestro Buono of whom Vasari speaks as the "first architect -who showed a more elevated spirit, and aimed after better things, but -of whose country and family he knows nothing,"[184] was one of this -line of sculptor-architects originally from Vesonzo (Bissone) in -Inteluum (Val d'Intelvi). The name Giovanni occurs constantly in the -lists. - -Certainly the head of the line, as far as regards art, was the -Magister Giovanni Buoni here mentioned by Vasari, who goes on to say -that this Buono in 1152 had been employed on buildings in Ravenna, -after which he was called to Naples, where he built the Castel dell' -Uovo and Castel Capuano; and that in the time of Doge Domenico -Morosini, _i.e._ 1154, he founded the Campanile of S. Marco at Venice, -which Vasari asserts was so well built that up to his time it had -never moved a hair (_non ha mai mosso un pelo_). - -Vasari says that Giovanni Buono was in 1166 at Pistoja, where he built -the church of S. Andrea. Both Milanesi, Vasari's annotator, and -Merzario[185] complain that Vasari was very confused in these -statements. The tower of S. Marco was, Cicognara says, by a later -Bartolommeo Buono from Bergamo, who also built the Procuratie Vecchie -in the sixteenth century. It is curious how Vasari, living in the same -century, could have made such a statement; he must have known whether -the tower were being built then, or had been standing for several -centuries. The fact was that one Buono built the older tower in Venice -to which Vasari refers, and the sixteenth-century Bartolommeo Buono -was its restorer. The style is certainly antique. - -Vasari's annotators agree that this Buono worked at Arezzo, where he -built the bell-tower, and the ancient palace of the Signoria of Arezzo -(_cio e un palazzo della maniera de' Goti_), _i.e._ with large hewn -stones; after which he came to Pistoja, where he built S. Andrea and -other churches. - -But even here some confusion exists. It is difficult to decide whether -the builder of S. Andrea at Pistoja, and the cathedral of Lucca was -indeed named Buono or Gruamonte. There is an inscription on the -sculpture of the architrave of the facade which has been a great bone -of contention. It proves, however, beyond a doubt that the usual -organization, with the _Opera_ as the administrative branch, existed -in Pistoja in 1196. It runs--"Fecit hoc opus Gruamons magister bon(us) -et Adot ... (Adeodatus) frater ejus. Tunc er[=a]t operarii Villanus et -Pathus filius Tignosi A.D. MCIXVI."[186] This work was done by -Gruamons, Master Buono, and Adeodatus his brother; Villanus and -Pathus, son of Tignosi, being then _operai_ (_i.e._ on the -administrative council). - -In that word _bonus_ lies the difficulty. Some say it is merely placed -in encomium: Gruamons the good master; but it does not seem to me -probable that a man would habitually sign his name with a boastful -adjective; and habitual it was, because on the white stripes of the -architrave of the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista Fuorcivitas he has -again signed himself "Gruamons magister bonus fec hoc opus." Knowing -the Italian love of nicknames from the earliest ages, I take it -that the architect was really, as Vasari says, Master Bonus or Buono, -and that either from a long neck and a stoop, or from his clever use -of a crane, he was nicknamed Gruamons, "the crane man,"[187] _grue_ -being Italian for both bird and machine. That the Gruamons who carved -the Magi on the architrave of S. Andrea was one of the very early -Masters, is evident from the mediaeval grossness of his work in carving -the human figure; that he may very likely be Comacine is suggested by -the style and mastery of his _ornamento_ and the life in the figures -of his animals. The capitals supporting this architrave are evidently -by one of his subordinates; they are very rough, but full of meaning, -explaining the mystery of the Annunciation and Conception; below them -the signature _Magister enricus mi fecit_. These early sculptures are -especially interesting, for they are the first efforts of the -Comacines to show Bible events and truths by actual representation -instead of by symbols, and so form the link with the development under -Niccolo Pisano. Hence the greater want of practice in the human -figures, compared to the animals and scrolls, with which the guild had -been familiar for ages. - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF S. ANDREA, PISTOJA. DESIGNED BY GRUAMONS. - _See page 235._] - -It is interesting to compare Gruamons' work with that of the later -sculptor of the facade of S. Bartolommeo, and note the rapid progress -that art was making towards more perfect and natural form in -sculpture. There are only twenty-two years between them, but the -sculptor of S. Bartolommeo is far in advance of Gruamons in his -representation of the human figure. It is said that Gruamons has left -his sign in a portrait of himself on the doorway of S. Andrea, where a -curiously negro-like head stands out from the middle of a column. It -seems, however, to have acquired its blackness by being used through -several centuries as a torch extinguisher at funerals. - -Another of Gruamons' churches in Pistoja is that of S. Giovanni -Evangelista Fuorcivitas, which is extremely interesting as showing a -perfect specimen of the practicable Lombard gallery or outer -ambulatory, which in two orders here surrounds the church. The -building is entirely encrusted with black and white marble, mostly in -alternate lines, but in some places inlaid in chequers. This fashion, -which began in this very city of Pistoja, has an historical -significance, and was introduced as a symbol of the peace between the -factions of Bianchi and Neri, which so long harassed Pistoja. It was -taken up afterwards by Siena and Orvieto, and in Florence and Prato, -when their respective civic feuds were healed. - -Gruamons, or Magister Buono, may have been the chief master of the -_laborerium_ at Pistoja with its accompanying _Opera di S. Jacopo_, -which began to keep its registers in 1145. At any rate his family name -was kept up in that lodge for more than a century. The Buoni followed -the usual custom, and sought commissions in other towns. In 1206 we -find one of them restoring and almost rebuilding the cathedral at -Fiesole, which had been built in 1028, in the time of Bishop Jacopo -Bavaro, but was menacing ruin two centuries later. On the sixth column -of the nave, on the right, is inscribed-- - - "MCCVI. Indict VIII Bonus Magister Restaurus. - Operarius Ecclesiae Fesulanae Fecit AEdificare - IIII columnas I. Allex P.P." - -Here even at this early date we have the _Opera_ or administration -under the direction of the dignitaries of the cathedral. The tower was -built by a Maestro Michele in 1213. An inscription on the left of the -apse tells us that the building of the tower cost seventy _mancussi_, -a gold coin in use in the Middle Ages.[188] It is supposed that -Maestro Buono copied his church from S. Miniato near Florence. The -plan is nearly identical, and both have the same peculiarity of the -omission of the narthex, or portico, which till this time had been an -indispensable part of the ecclesiastic Basilica. It is true the -Fiesole church is built of stone, and is simple in ornament, while S. -Miniato is of marble and rich in decorations, but in plan and form the -two are identical. In each case the same use has been made of the -older buildings on the site by leaving them as crypts. - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN GIOVANNI FUORCIVITAS, PISTOJA. DESIGNED - BY GRUAMONS. - _See page 236._] - -The first San Miniato church was built under Charlemagne, by Bishop -Hildebrand in 774; the second was endowed by the Emperor Henry the -Saint, and Saint Cunegonda his wife; both times the patrons were -accustomed to employ the Comacine Masters. In San Miniato we see one -of their masterpieces. - -In the thirteenth century another distinguished scion of the Buono -race came down to join the lodge at Pistoja. We have seen Giovanni -Buono, or Zambono as he writes himself, at work at S. Antonio at Padua -in 1264, together with Egidio, son of Magister Graci; Nicola, son of -Giovanni; Ubertino, son of Lanfranco, etc. In 1265 Magister Bonus or -Buono was _capo-maestro_ and architect of the Duomo at Pistoja, and in -1266 he erected the tribune of S. Maria Nuova there, on the cornice of -which he has carved--"A.D. MCCLXVI tempore Parisii Pagni[189] et -Simones, Magister Bonus fecit hoc opus," _i.e._ A.D. 1266, in the time -when Paris Pagni and Simones were _operai_, Magister Bonus executed -this work. - -In 1270 Buono was commissioned to make the facade of the church of S. -Salvatore in the same energetic little town. The inscription on the -pretty little facade is-- - - "Anno milleno bis centum septuageno - Hoc perfecit opus qui fertur nomine Bonus - Praestabant operi Jacobus, Scorcione vocatus - Et Benvenuti Joannes, quos Deus omnes - Salvator lenis millis velit augere penis. Amen." - -Here we get the names of two _operai_ instead of one. It is evident -that the lodge has increased since Gruamons was head of the -_laborerium_, and Turrisianus head of the _Opera_. According to -custom, one was an eminent Pistojese, and the other a _Magister_. We -find Johannes Benvenuti working with Giovanni in several other cities. - -The question we have now to answer is whether this Giovanni Buono, who -was in Pistoja from 1265 to 1270, was the same man who worked at Padua -in 1264, and was afterwards head of the lodge at Parma in 1280? An -indication, if not a lateral proof, is found in studying who were his -companions. At Pistoja in 1264, Nicola, son of Giovanni, was his -assistant, and in 1270 Johannes Benvenuti was with him. At Parma in -1280 we find that Guido, Nicola, Bernardino, and Benvenuto were in the -_laborerium_ when he was chief architect. Here we have at least two of -his companions, not including Guido, with him in the works of all -three cities, which would go far to prove his identity. - -The Buono family form a curious connection between Corneto Tarquinia -and Pistoja. We have already spoken of the Ciborium at Corneto, -sculptured by Johannes and Guitto (Guido) in 1168. The pulpit in the -same church, and another at Alba Fucense, are both signed by Giovanni -Buono and Andrea his brother, but date a century later than the -Ciborium, _i.e._ precisely the time of our Giovanni Buono of Pistoja. -The facade of the same church at Corneto Tarquinia is full of Comacine -sculptures; and on the double-arched windows with the tesselated -columns is an epigraph saying that the "inlaid work in porphyry, -serpentine, and _giallo antico_" was done by Nicolao, son of Ranuccio. -Now this must have been the Nicolao who worked under this same -Giovanni Buono in 1280 at Parma, with a certain Guido and Johannes -Benvenuti. Guido was evidently a kinsman of Giovanni Buono, for we -find that in 1285 Albertus, son of Guido Buono, and Albertinus, son of -Enrico Buono, were employed together in the sculptures at S. Pietro at -Bologna. - -In any case we have a long connection of the Buono family with the -Opera di S. Jacopo at Pistoja, and shall find them still engaged in -other important works at Pisa and Lucca, besides being chief -architects at Parma and Padua, etc. Two centuries later their -descendants were building fine Gothic works in Venice. - -The Baptistery of Pistoja has been attributed to Andrea Pisano, but a -document in the archives of the Opera di S. Jacopo not only shows who -was the real architect, or rather head-master, but proves that it was -done by a Magister Cellini of the Masonic Guild from the lodge at -Siena, who became Grand Master of the lodge at Pistoja. It runs--"Et -per Magistrum Cellinum qui est caput magistrorum edificantium -Ecclesiam rotundam S. Joannis Baptistae."[190] There also exists in the -archives the contract made between the _Opera_ (administrative -council) and Magister Cellini on July 22, 1339, for the completion and -ornamentation of the building which he had so far constructed. There -is no mention of Andrea Pisano in either deed. - -The Pistojan Baptistery is not a very pleasing building. There is -something inharmonious in its proportions. It is of the usual -octagonal form, but too high for its width; the horizontal lines of -white and black marble still further detract from its beauty, and cut -up the ornamentation. - -On the whole the architect who wants to study Comacine churches cannot -do so better than at Pistoja, where there is so much of the old work -left. Besides the edifices we have already mentioned, are other two -very interesting churches, S. Piero Maggiore and S. Paolo, although -nothing but the outer shell of either is now remaining.[191] The -architrave of S. Piero Maggiore has a very mediaeval relief on it, -representing Christ giving a huge key to St. Peter, while the Apostles -and the Virgin stand in a row beside them. The capital of one pilaster -has a man-faced lion, whose tail forms an interlaced knot. The other -has upstanding volutes of a heavy kind of foliage. Lions lie beneath -the spring of the arch, and winged griffins and other mystic animals -are on brackets along the facade. I think the capitals and mystic -beasts must have belonged to the first Longobardic church built by -Ratpert, son of Guinichisius, in 748, as well as the lower part of the -facade, which is certainly of the most ancient _opus gallicum_, of -large smooth stones closely fitted. The architrave and the upper part, -which consists of an arcade patched on in white and black marble, -belong to Giovanni Buono's restoration in 1263. In old times a curious -ceremony used to take place in this church, which belonged to the -Convent of Benedictine nuns. When a new bishop took possession of the -see, he was espoused (spiritually of course) to the abbess of this -Order, with solemn rites and ceremonies. - -S. Paolo was a priory church. This, too, had been built in 748 by the -first Comacines under the Longobards, and evidences still remain that -it was originally turned from east to west, the facade being then -where the choir is now. It was rebuilt when S. Atto was bishop of the -city in 1133, and besides a very pretty frontal, has a good specimen -of the upper external gallery surrounding the church. - -I will end my chapter on Pistoja with a mention of an interesting old -MS. from the archives of the Opera di S. Jacopo, which, with Signor -Maccio's aid, we found to be the marriage contract of a certain -Maestro Jacopo Lapi. The bridegroom is named as Jacobus Dominus Lapus, -fili Turdi, di Inghilberti, who wishes to contract marriage with -Marchesana filia Sannutini, and to "live with her according to -Longobardic law." The deed then goes on to specify the lands and -possessions he bestows on his bride as a _morgincap_. This might be -interesting in art history, if it could be proved whether the Jacopo -Lapi were that pupil of Niccolo Pisano's who worked with him and -Arnolfo at Siena in 1266. - -In that case it gives the Jacopo Lapi's family an added interest as of -Longobardic origin through his grandfather, Inghilbert. We further -learn by the document that his great-grandmother's name was Molto-cara -(very dear). This, taken together with the name Tordo (thrush) given -to her son, proves how the nickname outweighed the family or baptismal -name in mediaeval times. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[156] Thomas Hope, _Historical Essay on Architecture_, chap. xxi. - -[157] In the older papers and deeds of Lombard times these were -classically called _colligantes_ or _fratres_; in the later ones they -were Italianized as _fratelli_ or brethren. - -[158] See _Tuscan Studies_, by Leader Scott, pp. 18, 19. - -[159] Some very early Latin authors write the name Bruschettus. - -[160] These two lines, which are partly effaced, have been said to -read originally thus--"Busketus iacet hic qui motibus ingeniorum -Dulichio fertur prevaluisse Duci." - -[161] Daedalus was called by the ancients the Father of architecture -and statuary. He was also the inventor of many mechanical appliances. -In short a good prototype of a Comacine Magister. - -[162] "Concorsero da straniere parti Maestri piu accreditati a -prestare la loro opera in si importante Edifizio, sotto la direzione -di Buschetto." - -[163] Book signed with the number 38, entitled _Santuario Pisano_, in -the archives of the Riformazione, Firenze. - -[164] "Ildebrando del Giudice, Uberto Leone, Signoretto Alliata e -Buschetto da Dulichio che fu Architetto; il capo di detti fu -Ildebrando e gli altri furono Ministri e Uffiziali dell' Opera, come -si trova nell' Archivio di detta Opera." - -[165] Baldinucci, Dec. 4, sec. 6, p. 292. - -[166] Among these were the two porphyry columns now at the door of the -Baptistery in Florence. They were taken by the Pisans 1107 from the -Saracens in Majorca, and as they were especially valuable, being -miraculous, the Florentines claimed them as the spoils of war in 1117. -They were said to guard people against treachery. - -[167] There was a Diotisalvi, a Judge at Pisa in the year 1224, and a -Diotisalvi, son of Bentivenga, is mentioned in a deed executed in -1250, in the Port of Pisa. These may have been some of the architect's -distant descendants, but we have no clue as to his ancestors. The name -would seem to have been a nickname, and not his baptismal one, for in -another round church which he built in Pisa, the Knights Templars' -church of S. Sepolcro, it is engraved, "Hugius operis Fabricator -[=DS]TESALVET nominatur." The author of _Lettere Senesi_ derives the -name from the motto of the Petroni family in Siena. - -[168] Morrona, _Pisa Illustrata_, vol. i. p. 383. - -[169] Vasari, edited by Milanesi, vol. i. p. 137. - -[170] Morrona, _Pisa Illustrata_, vol. i. pp. 142, 143. - -[171] Morrona, _Pisa Illustrata_, vol. i. p. 407. "Si trova in antiche -scritture dell' Opera, che fu la vigilia di S. Lorenzo il giorno, in -cui fu dato principio alla fabbrica; e son precisamente indicati i due -citati Architetti, se non che in vece di Guglielmo Tedesco, si dice -Giovanni Onnipotente di Germania per la mala interpetrazione della -parola Oenipons, o Oenipontanus, che significa nativo d'Innspruck." - -[172] Morrona, _Pisa Illustrata nelle arti_, vol. i. p. 170. - -[173] _Ibid._ vol. ii. pp. 106-211. - -[174] From "_Una scultura di Bonaiuto Pisano_," in _Archivio storico -Siciliano_, Nuova Serie, Anno IX., pp. 438-443, 1884. - -[175] Ciampi, _Archivio del Duomo di Pisa_. - -[176] The inscription, still preserved in the passage leading to the -sacristy of the church, runs thus-- - - + ANNO D[=NI] MO. CO. OCTUA[=GO] SEPTIMO. SEPULCR[=U]. - TEPL[=U]. ET. CRU[=C]E. [=XP]I. SARA. - CENI. CEPERUNT. PERFIDI. SUB. SALADINO. - MILITE.... ANNO. PROXIMO. SEQUENTI. DIE.... - K[=L]. AGOSTO. HEC. HECCL[=A]. DE NOVO REF[=U] - DARI. CEPIT.... SOLO. QUAE LAUDAT. D[=M]. X - BEATE. MARIE. VI[=T]V. BLAS[=IU] CONDOR - [=DI]U. CERBONIU - ET ALEXIUM. - GUIDUS. MAISER, EDIFICAVIT. O.... - -[177] Ridolfi, _Guida di Lucca_, p. 10. - -[178] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. vi. p. 193. - -[179] _S. Martin von Lucca, und die Anfaenge der Toscanischen Sculptur -im Mittelalter_, von August Schmarsow, pp. 56, 57. Breslau, 1890. - -[180] Cav. F. Tolomei, _Guida di Pistoja_, p. 74. Pistoja, 1821. - -[181] Doctor to King Desiderius. - -[182] Reproduced in Muratori's _Rerum Italicum_, verse 636 _et seq._-- - - "Inteluum scandunt et amicos insimul addunt - ... veniunt properantes - Artificesque, boni nimium satis ingeniosi; - Strenuus inter quosque rogatus adesse Joannes - Quinque Bonus de Vesonzo cognomine dictus." - -[183] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iv. pp. 161, 162. - -[184] Vasari, _Life of Arnolfo di Lapo_. - -[185] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. iv. p. 162. - -[186] Milanesi, quoting other experts, says that when IX. is placed -between hundreds and units it signifies 90, consequently the date is -1196. - -[187] One only has to glance at the names of the well-known artists to -see how common this use of nicknames was. We have Masaccio (the bad -Thomas); Cronaca, whose real name was Pollajuolo; Domenico Bigordi, -called Ghirlandajo; the iron-worker Niccolo Grossi, called Caparra; -Antonio Allegri, called Correggio; Francesco Barbieri, known as -Guercino; Alessandro Buonvicino, called Moretto da Brescia (the dark -man from Brescia); Pietro Vanucci, Perugino; Andrea Vanucchi, del -Sarto; Michelangelo Amerighi, nicknamed Caravaggio; Domenico Zampieri, -styled Domenichino; and hundreds of others. No doubt the Buschetto -architect of Pisa was only another instance; probably he had a shock -head of hair and was nicknamed "the little bush." - -[188] Marchese Ricci, _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, Vol. I. cap. ii. -p. 485, note 40. - -[189] The name of this councillor of the _Opera_ still exists in -Lucca, where are more than one family of Pagni. - -[190] Tolomei, _Guida di Pistoja per gli amanti delle belle arti_, -1821.--Pistoja, p. 38 (note). - -[191] S. Paolo was destroyed by fire in 1896, only the outer walls -having escaped. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ORNAMENTATION - - -When the romantic style of building, which the Comacine Masters had -imbibed in Sicily, came in, their serious set-by-rule building went -out. The first use they made of their new ideas was to increase the -richness of decoration, and this they did by the almost childish -expedient of multiplying their old ornaments. Instead of one little -pillared gallery on the top of a facade, they now put whole rows of -galleries, or covered the fronts all over with them, as in Lucca, -Pisa, and Arezzo. There is a very early instance of this in the church -of Santa Maria at Ancona, of which we give an illustration. Here the -network of arches are not real galleries, but only sculpturesque -simulations; each arch is simply placed on the top of the other, -without architrave or frieze. The doorway has the usual Comacine -interlaced knots and no lions, so the facade may stand as an early -sample of the transition into Romanesque, dating about the eleventh -century. - -The style shows a much further advance in Magister Marchionni's facade -to the church of Santa Maria della Pieve at Arezzo, which is a fine -sample of Romanesque. It was done in 1216. The facade has four rows of -arches, one on the other, "growing small by degrees and beautifully -less" as they ascend. Of all the hundred columns which support them, -no two are alike. They are round, square, octagonal, sexagonal, -pentagonal, multi-angular, fluted, twisted, grotesque, crooked, -Byzantine, Corinthian, Ionic, Doric, Gothic, Egyptian, Babylonian, -caryatid, black, green, white, striped, or inlaid. Some have single -bases, a round on a square, or _vice versa_, and so on _ad infinitum_. -Yet with all this variety there is a certain unity of design, which -bespeaks a multitude of Masters, each one using his own fancy in his -particular part of the work, but one chief to whose general design the -masters of the parts are subservient. Ruskin realized the beauty of -this variety of idea, though he had not perceived that it came from a -multitude of minds working together, when he said--"The more -conspicuous the irregularities are, the greater the chance of its -being a good style." And again--"The traceries, capitals, and other -ornaments must be of perpetually varied designs." - - [Illustration: CHURCH OF S. MARIA, ANCONA. - _See page 242._] - -The very same style and variety, showing a multiplex manufacture, is -displayed by the cathedral, and the church of San Michele at Lucca, -and the old church of San Michele in Borgo at Pisa. The two Lucca ones -are extremely enriched by friezes of the symbolic animals above each -row of arches. The cathedral and tower of Pisa show greater unity of -conception. - -The next great change was, that after the eleventh century, the -interlaced work, or Solomon's knot, was no longer the secret sign of -the Comacine work. They probably found that there was a limit even to -the combinations of the interlaced line, or that it did not give -enough relief. Certain it is, that on the rise of Romanesque -architecture, the _intreccio_ faded away into mere mouldings, or got -changed into foliaged scrolls for architraves; but the mystic knot -with neither beginning nor end was no more used with special -significance. The rounded sculpture of figures was everywhere -replacing low relief, and the Comacine sign and seal of this epoch, -was the Lion of Judah. From this time forward for the 400 years that -Romanesque and Gothic architecture lasted, there is, I believe, -scarcely a church built by the great Masonic Guild in which the Lion -of Judah was not prominent. - -My own observations have led me to the opinion that in Romanesque or -Transition architecture, _i.e._ between A.D. 1000 and 1200, the lion -is to be found between the columns and the arch--the arch resting upon -it. In Italian Gothic, _i.e._ from A.D. 1200 to 1500, it is placed -beneath the column. In either position its significance is evident. In -the first, it points to Christ as the door of the Church. In the -second, to Christ the pillar of faith springing from the tribe of -Judah. Thus at Lucca, Pisa, and Arezzo, where the guild worked in the -eleventh and twelfth centuries, the lion is always above the column. -In Verona, Como, Modena, and where Italian Gothic porches were added -in the thirteenth century, and in Florence, Siena, Orvieto, where the -cathedrals date from the fourteenth century, you find the lion beneath -the column. And in minor works of sculpture there is the same -difference. In the pulpit of Sant' Ambrogio at Milan, the lions are -beneath the spring of the arches; in the pulpits of Niccolo Pisano at -Siena and Guido di Como (thirteenth century) at Pistoja, they are -beneath the column. - -A most beautiful instance of the transition between Lombard and -Romanesque is in the door of the church of San Giusto at Lucca, dating -from the twelfth century. The architrave is a grand _intreccio_ of oak -branches while the pilasters, which form the door-jambs, have -richly-carved capitals of mixed acanthus leaves and Ionic volutes, -with a mystic beast clinging to each. The arch superimposed on the -architrave has a rich scroll of cherubs and foliage, and it rests on -two huge lions. It is altogether a perfect Comacine design. - -The next change in the sculpture of the Comacine Masters was the -humanization of their sculpture. The rude old carvings of symbolical -beasts no longer satisfied them. Christianity had now endured a -thousand years and was understood, so that it was no longer needful -to use parables and mystic signs. They still made the fronts of their -churches Bibles in stone, as they had done before; only the Bible was -in a language all could read, _i.e._ the sculptured story. From Adam -and Eve to Christ and the Virgin, and even the least of the Saints, -the Comacine put all Scripture upon his church. His Bible lay open -that all might read. - - [Illustration: DOOR OF S. GIUSTO AT LUCCA, 12TH CENTURY. - _See page 244._] - -The representation of the human figure was at first heavy and -disproportionate, but as the centuries passed on, it grew in grace; -and sculptors were able to express their conceptions more completely. -The animal symbolism did not, however, entirely disappear. It is seen -in every quaint fancy of the Gothic artist of the north, in every -naive bit of church ornamentation in the south; but it is no longer -the object and end of design. It had become subservient; the human -figure now took the first place. - -In the earlier transition stage, even this actual representation was -more or less allegorical. As an interesting instance of the -allegorical nature of Comacine sculpture, we may take the relief of -the Crucifixion in the cathedral at Parma (third chapel on the right), -carved by Benedetto da Antelamo in 1178. In this almost mediaeval -relief, the artist has managed to put a symbolical history of the -greatest events of his own times--the defeat of Barbarossa, the fall -of Victor Antipope, the triumph of Pope Alexander III., the cessation -of schism, and the gleams of coming peace on Italy. Around the cross -where Christ hangs, he represents the Church as a symbolic personage -waving the flag of victory; and the schismatic enemy with his banner -broken. Every figure in the composition has its meaning, and the whole -displays a thinking mind, even though the hand be still a little heavy -and mediaeval. That this is a veritable Comacine work the sculptor -himself has chronicled. On the top of the relief is written in the -Lombard Gothic characters-- - - "Anno milleno centeno septuageno - Octavo scultor patravit [~Ms]e secundo - Antelami dictus scultor fuit, hic Benedictus." - -An old chronicler of the sixteenth century tells us that this relief -once ornamented an ambone or pulpit supported on four columns, which -was destroyed in 1566. - -Another very interesting work is the font for immersion in S. Frediano -at Lucca, sculptured by Maestro Roberto in the twelfth century. The -figures which surround it are as usual full of meaning but grotesque -in proportion; though one can see in the draperies a foreshadowing of -that return to classicality which Niccolo Pisano afterwards advanced -towards perfection. We have here a queer representation of Adam and -Eve, both clad in classical garments and standing by a conventional -fig tree, out of which looks the head of the Eternal Father in a cloud -like a medallion. Eve is clutching the tail of a monstrous serpent. In -the next compartment the four Evangelists carry their emblems on their -shoulders. St. Mark, with his lion, sits in a curule chair, and looks -like a Roman Prefect, mediaevalized. St. John has his eagle standing on -a Roman altar beside him, while St. Matthew carries the child on his -shoulder like a St. Christopher. As the work of a forerunner of -Niccolo Pisano in the same brotherhood, the font is intensely -interesting. - -The cathedral at Beneventum (one of the Lombard dukedoms) has some -beautiful Comacine arabesques on the pilasters of the great door. We -give an illustration from one of them. The interlaced maze is formed -by a conventional vine, in the branches of which are symbolical -animals. Here is the Lamb of God, signed as divine and eternal by -numberless circles all over it. The eagle, symbol of faith, is -strangling sin in the form of a serpent; above, is a calf, emblem of -the Christian, overcoming evil in the form of a bird of prey. In -meaning, the intention is the same as the old sculptures on San -Michele, executed six centuries previously; but speaking -technically, sculpture as an art has advanced greatly. There is rich -and clear relief, and intelligibility of design in this work. - - [Illustration: PILASTER OF THE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL OF BENEVENTUM, - 12TH CENTURY. - _See page 246._] - -Symonds,[192] speaking of this stage of art, says--"The so-called -Romanesque and Byzantine styles were but the dotage of second -childhood (it was a childhood which grew and developed into virility, -however), fumbling with the methods and materials of an irrevocable -past. It is true indeed that unknown mediaeval carvers had shown an -instinct for the beautiful, as well as great fertility of grotesque -invention. The facades of Lombard churches are covered with fanciful -and sometimes forcibly dramatic groups of animals and men in contest; -and contemporaneously with Niccolo Pisano, many Gothic sculptors of -the north were adorning the facades and porches of cathedrals with -statuary unrivalled in one style of loveliness. Yet the founder of a -line of progressive artists had not arisen, and except in Italy the -conditions were still wanting under which alone the plastic arts could -attain independence." Here Symonds goes on to speak of Niccolo Pisano, -as the fountain-head of sculpture. - -And now we can no longer evade the knotty question of who and what -Niccolo was, where did he arise from, and where was he trained in art? - -There are always those conflicting documents which Milanesi found to -be reconciled. The first, in the archives of the Opera di S. Jacopo at -Pistoja, dated July 11, 1272, which runs--_Magister Nichola pisanus, -filius Petri de_--(here is an illegible word which Ciampi reads as -_Senis_[193]). He chose this reading because another document dated -November 13, 1272, styles "Niccolo" Magister Nichola, quondam Petri de -(Senis) Ser Blasii pisa ... (_hiatus_). - -Milanesi, however, who found at Siena the contract for Niccolo's -pulpit there, dated October 5, 1266, says the word _Senis_ should be -read _Sancti_, for in the Sienese contract the words are -plainly--_Magister Niccolus de parroccia ecclesie sancti Blasii de -ponte de Pisis, etc. etc._ In another document also at Siena, in which -Niccolo is commanded to send for his pupil Arnolfo to work with him, -we get _Magistrum Nicholam de Apulia_. In two others of the next year, -_Magister Niccholus olim Petri lapidum de Pisis_. Now all this is very -puzzling, and yet being documentary it must all be true. We will put -Siena entirely out of the question, the word proving to be a -misreading of _Sancti_, so that instead of the second document meaning -Niccolo son of the late Peter son of Ser Blasius or Biagio of Siena, -it must read Niccolo son of Peter of the parish of St. Blasius at -Pisa. We have then the two different nationalities of his father -Pietro--Pisa and Apulia--to account for. Milanesi suggests that Apulia -means a little place near Lucca called Puglia. - -The further light we have found thrown on the peregrinations of -_Magistri_ of the guild may assist us to reconcile the conflicting -statements. It is certain, as we said before, that Niccolo Pisano was -a _Magister_ of the guild, and being a man of genius he became one of -its most important members. His membership was moreover hereditary; -his father had been also a _Magister lapidum_. Now the Comacines had a -lodge in Apulia, from the time of the Longobards, and traces of it -still remained after 1100, in a small colony in the valley of AEterno, -which preserved as a kind of monopoly the art of building.[194] - - [Illustration: BAPTISMAL FONT IN CHURCH OF S. FREDIANO, LUCCA. BY - MAGISTER ROBERTO, 12TH CENTURY. - _See page 246._] - -The church of S. Sofia at Beneventum, A.D. 788, and the monastery of -S. Pietro were built by them, as well as the later cathedrals of -Trani, Bari, and Ruvo. The latter still retains its ancient Lombard -facade covered with figures of animals, the portal being flanked by -columns surmounted by a fine rose window. When the Normans succeeded -the Longobards and Saracens in Apulia, the Masonic Guild was -still more busy there, and it was very probable that Pietro the -sculptor worked in Apulia under the Norman dynasty, with many of his -brethren. I am told that there is in Bari cathedral a pulpit of the -same form as that by Niccolo, but of an earlier date. This is a -significant proof of Niccolo's early training in Apulia, probably -under his own father, as was the custom of the guild. It would also -account for the Saracenic touch in his arches and ornamentation. The -lions under the columns were used by the Masonic Guild a century -before Niccolo's time, so it is evident they were not, as Ruskin and -others suppose, borrowed from the Saracens by Niccolo. There is a most -interesting pulpit of the older square form at Groppoli near Pistoja, -dated 1194, with lions beneath the pillars. It offers one of the very -early specimens of the sculptured scriptural story. The panels -represent the "Nativity of Christ" and the "Flight into Egypt," both -most naively designed. The square pulpit of Guido da Como in S. -Bartolommeo at Pistoja is dated A.D. 1250, and shows the immense -improvement art had made in those sixty years. In some ways Guido da -Como quite equals Niccolo. He does not strain after the classic, but -there is great and simple dignity, and even grace in his figures, some -of which are almost worthy of Fra Angelico. It was ten years after -Guido's lion-pillared pulpit was finished, that we find Niccolo--who -had for some years been working at Pisa, where he was then -domiciled--sculpturing his famous pulpit there, and though altering -the form from square to octagon, using the same symbolism, and in many -ways the same treatment of his subject, as Guido had done before him. -It would be a suggestive proof of the same influence in training, to -compare the panels representing the Nativity, in the three pulpits. -The Lombard one at Groppoli, Guido da Como's at Pistoja, and Niccolo's -at Pisa, and one might add a fourth, _i.e._ Giovanni Pisano's pulpit -in S. Andrea at Pistoja, which is in some respects an advance on his -father's design, although it is evidently not only inspired, but -almost copied from it. There are in all four, the same kind of -_lectis_ for bed, the same cows, out of perspective, high up in the -background, and in the two last the same treatment of drapery. In some -ways, however, Niccolo has passed far beyond Guido. While Guido -followed his forefathers' traditions, Niccolo had been first revelling -in the richness of Saracenic types in Apulia, and then living among -the classic spoils of Pisa, where Diotisalvi had worked before him. - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN THE CHURCH OF GROPPOLI NEAR PISTOJA. A.D. - 1194. - _See page 249._] - -His school at Pisa inaugurated a revival which was to change art for -all the world. Yet it was only a step and not a sudden leap. He was no -ancestorless genius springing from darkness and chaos, but a link in -the chain of art from which in him a new strand departed, leading -towards Donatello and Ghiberti. He took the forms of his sect, but -improved and freed them; he held to the traditional symbolism of his -guild, but classicized and enriched it. His greatest advance was in -the modelling of the human figure, and here his classic models helped -him. One suspects that he depended much on those models, for where he -had no antique to copy from, he degenerated into the mediaevalism of -his fraternity. The mixture of the two styles is very apparent in the -different panels of his pulpit, some of which look as if they had come -from Antonine's column, while others are heavier and less graceful by -far than Guido da Como's simple natural figures. The fact was, that in -his time the whole guild was developing under the freer conditions of -art, and Niccolo was one of its leading masters, and endowed with -especial talent. - -With him the Romanesque period closes, and the Italian Gothic begins. -Led by him the Comacines in Tuscany left the rude, distorted images -and meaningless monsters behind, and marched on towards the perfection -of sculpture of the human form as shown by Donatello and Michael -Angelo. - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN SIENA CATHEDRAL. BY NICCOLO PISANO. A.D. - 1266. - _See page 250._] - -Among the Comacines in Lombardy the same change was in progress. -Jacopo Porrata, working at nearly the same time, carved the life-like -prophets and bas-relief on the facade of the cathedral of Cremona, -which bears the legend, "Magister Jacobus Porrata de Cumis fecit hanc -rotam MCCLXXIIII." - -Antonio de Frix of Como, working in concert with Meo di Checco, carved -the beautiful roof of the Duomo at Ferrara, while other Masters were -sculpturing sacred stories on pulpits and doorways, vestibules and -decorations in many a church which their forerunners had built. - -With the development of the Gothic, the guild again changed the style -of their ornamentation. - -The pointed gable over the circular arch was one of the first signs of -this change. You see it in Siena, Orvieto, Florence, and the -fourteenth-century porches in Lombardy. - -The gable gave an opening for statuary, floriated crockets, and ornate -pinnacles; the pointed arch opened a way to beautiful tracery; the -upward shaft and pilaster afforded space for the ornate tabernacle or -saint-filled niche; for the sculptor-architect never let an inch go -plain which could be effectively sculptured. - -Between the solid Lombard round arch and the pointed traceried one -stands the cusping of the circular arch. Ruskin credits Niccolo Pisano -also with this; saying grandiloquently that "in the five cusped arches -of Niccolo's pulpit you see the first Gothic Christian architecture -... the change, in a word, for all Europe, from the Parthenon to -Amiens cathedral. For Italy it means the rise of her Gothic -dynasty--it means the Duomo of Milan instead of the Temple of -Paestum."[195] This is very poetic, but it will not bear analysis. -The cusps of Niccolo's arches were by no means the first to be seen in -Italy; we find them in several churches of the twelfth century; and as -for Amiens cathedral, that was nearly completed when Niccolo's pulpit -was carved. - -The cusping of the round arch came up from the south; it was suggested -to the Comacines by the Saracenic architecture, as a variety on their -usual twin archlets under a round arch, and was used some time before -they adopted the pointed arch. - -The first real Italian step to the pointed Gothic began at Assisi, in -the hands of Jacopo il Tedesco, and his fellow-countryman, Fra Filippo -di Campello, or Campiglione. Jacopo stands to Italian Gothic -architecture in the same place as Niccolo Pisano stands to Renaissance -sculpture. In Italy, the land of classic Rome, true Gothic never -developed in the form in which we see it further north. Her finest -buildings retained in parts the older forms, and with the humanism of -the classic revival of literature, a classic revival of architecture -also took place. The Gothic style in Italy was strangled in its -infancy by Bramante and Michael Angelo. Even Milan, though a glorious -Gothic building, was masked and disfigured by a Renaissance front, -with its straight lines and geometric pediments. - -The Germans and French, taking the germ from Italy, developed it -magnificently; and it is fortunate that they had broken the bonds of -the old Masonic brotherhood, and nationalized themselves and their art -in time to keep their Gothic forms pure. - -If we should attempt to particularize examples of Italian Gothic -ornamentation, volumes would not be enough. We will be content with a -few instances of sculpture by the Lombard guild at this epoch. - - [Illustration: THE RICCARDI PALACE, BUILT FOR LORENZO DEI MEDICI. - (_From a photograph by Giannini, Florence._) _See page 258._] - -Some beautiful illustrations of their allegorical style are to be -seen in studying the capitals of the colonnade of the Ducal Palace at -Venice, some of which were by Bartolommeo Buono, son of the -fifteenth-century Zambono or Giovanni Buono. We give an illustration -of one with allegorical representations of the classical goddesses, -Venus, Minerva, and Juno, throned in acanthus leaves. Minerva looks -like a mediaeval school-mistress as she teaches Hebe and the Loves, -from a ponderous tome. The famous Adam and Eve capital, of which -Ruskin writes so eloquently, was probably by the same hand. -Bartolommeo's best carving was in his "Porta della Carta," the door of -the Grand Ducal Palace, next San Marco, which is rich in the extreme, -and is signed on the architrave "Opus Bartolommei." - -Bartolommeo's father, Giovanni Buono, was the head architect of the -beautiful "Ca' d'oro," and here the richness of decorative sculpture -under florid Gothic forms reaches its height. - -The family Buono came from Campione, and I think it probable that this -was the same Bartolommeo da Campione whose name is on several of the -Gothic capitals of Milan cathedral. We give an illustration of one of -them, which is extremely rich in statues and pinnacles. - -The rapid march from the early pointed towards florid Gothic -sculpture, is evidenced in a remarkable manner by the tombs of the -Scaligers in Verona. The monument to Mastino II., who died in 1351, by -Magister Porino or Perino, is only a quarter of a century previous to -that of Can Grande, who died in 1375, which was by Bonino da -Campione.[196] Yet between the two there lies an immense development -of style. In Perino's work there are the seeds of all the forms in -Bonino's, but in one the Gothic style is undeveloped, in the other it -is in full flower. - -Perino has his columns; his cusped pointed arches with high gables -above them; his tabernacles, pinnacles, and pyramidal roof, with an -equestrian statue on the summit; but his lines are simple, direct, and -unbroken, though enriched here and there with reliefs and figures. In -Bonino's the columns are richly carved, the arches lavishly cusped, -the tympanum filled with sculptured medallions. The tabernacles are -richer and more emphatically Gothic in their lengthened lines and -multiplied pinnacles. The figures even have grown into more true -proportions, and are elongated into gracefulness. Every inch of the -whole design is foliated and rich to a degree--as beautiful a bit of -Gothic sculpture as any German or English cathedral can show, but yet -the work of pure Italians, and men of the Comacine Guild. - -The sepulchral monument of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Certosa of -Pavia is of an entirely different style to those of the Scaligers. It -is principally the work of Gio. Antonio Amedeo, and has the same -ornate Renaissance style as the facade of the Certosa in which he -assisted. An arched base contains the sarcophagus, on which rests the -beautiful and dignified figure of the Duke, guarded at head and foot -by classic angels. Above this is a statue of the Virgin and Child in a -central niche, flanked by reliefs of scenes from the life of the Duke. -The whole surface of the marble is covered with sculpture, but of a -style removed as far as the poles from the work of the Comacine Guild, -800 years back. There all was life and _naivete_, here all is -classical decorum and convention. Pilasters covered with armour and -coats of mail like a Roman trophy, friezes of set garlands and shields -like a Roman pediment, vases with conventional plants rising stiffly -out of them. The severe architectural lines are straight and unbroken; -here are no Gothic pinnacles and graceful shrines, no ornamental -gables or pyramids, only the plain arch and pediment classically -set and correct. The Italians had revived the Roman; and the -Renaissance style was the result. Comacine art began with true Roman, -and ended with a return to a false classicism, that with rule and line -crushed out the life of the rich Gothic floriation. - - [Illustration: TOMB OF MASTINO II. DEGLI SCALIGERI, AT VERONA. - SCULPTURED BY MAGISTER PERINO, OF THE MILAN LODGE. - _See page 253._] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[192] Symonds, _The Renaissance, etc. Fine Arts_, chap. iii. p. 77. - -[193] Ciampi, _Notizie inedite della Sagrestia Pistojese_. Firenze. - -[194] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. v. p. 177. - -[195] Ruskin, _Val d'Arno_, p. 17. - -[196] This must have been another scion of the Buoni family, probably -a small man, and therefore called "Little Buono." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -CIVIL ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROMANESQUE ERA - - -The Comacines were always fine fortress builders from the early times, -when they fortified not only their own island and city against the -Goths, and against their civil foes at Milan, etc., but also other -cities which had foes to keep off. Their towers and forts were so -solid and strong that their builders were taken by Justinian to the -East to build castles there, with the strong battlemented walls which -aroused Procopius's admiration, and which he confesses were called -_Castelli_, because that was the Italian name for them. - -After the eleventh century, when the Communes were formed, the -building of the fortress was less frequent, and the Communal Palace -took its place. The guild was always gradual in its adoption of new -styles, and the palace of the Podesta or the "Signoria" differed only -in form, and not in style, from the older castle. There is the same -solid masonry--either _opus Gallicum_ of smoothly-hewn stones fitted -with nicety, or _opus Romanum_ of flat wide bricks welded together -with cement till they are strong as a Roman wall. There are the same -battlements and cornice of arches supported on brackets; and wherever -a window is needed, high enough to be safe without an iron grating, it -is invariably of the old Lombard form, with its two round arches -enclosed in a larger one. There was the same pillared courtyard with -its flight of steps to the upper floor. Jacopo Tedesco's Bargello -at Florence, his Castle at Poppi, and his Palazzo Pubblico at Arezzo -are the most beautiful examples of this style. - - [Illustration: CAPITAL OF A COLUMN IN THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE. - _See page 253._] - -Arnolfo's Palazzo Vecchio, the Palazzo of the Commune at Siena, and -the Palazzo Pubblico at Pistoja show the next step towards a less -military style. There still remains much of the fortress, in the -solidity and rigidity of the masonry below, and the battlemented lines -above, but the tower is no longer a solid weapon of war; it becomes an -airy ornamental shrine for a peaceful civic bell, that rings for the -joys and sorrows of the people. - -These buildings may stand as the fair examples of the work of the -Masonic Guild for the thirteenth century; in the fourteenth and -fifteenth the style changed gradually towards less rigid lines. The -windows were widened and cusped, and the arches over the archlets of -the windows became pointed; a gable with crockets placed above the -windows still further lightened the effect, and emphasized the new -Gothic influence. The ancient Palace of the Priors and Palazzo del -Popolo, which stand close together at Todi, of which we give an -illustration, show this progress in a very marked degree. There is -just the difference between the two buildings that there lies between -the palace of King Desiderius at S. Gemignano, and the Palazzo Vecchio -of Florence. The Palazzo Pubblico, at Perugia, with its noble -Ringhiera and Loggia, might be taken as the culminating point of -Romanesque civil building. Its principal doorway is a masterpiece of -Comacine work. The Masters have set their sign of the lion beneath the -column, but both lion and pillar are secularized; instead of the -ecclesiastic column, here is a square pilaster with niches containing -graceful figures of the civic virtues--justice, mercy, fortitude, -charity, etc. In the tympanum of the arch stand three bishops, and -over the architrave two other lions on brackets mark the spring of the -arch. The door is surrounded with course upon course of beautiful -mouldings, arabesques, and spirals rich in the extreme. Though -exceptionally beautiful, yet if one compares this Palazzo Pubblico of -Perugia with other public edifices of its time in Italy, the -similarities are such that one cannot deny that a single influence -must have dominated them all. - -In the Palazzo Pubblico at Udine, which was later, being built in the -fifteenth century by Giovanni Fontana of Melide (Master of Palladio) -and Matteo his son, we get the link between these Romanesque civil -buildings and the Venetian Gothic. The upper windows have still the -Lombard columns, but the little arches are more ornately cusped and -gothicized. The colonnade forming the Ringhiera is formed of decidedly -pointed arches. There is in this a marked affinity to the Venetian -architecture, and its origin accounts for it. The Fontanas were much -employed at Venice, and worked with the Lombardi, to whom Venice is -indebted for so much of her beautiful Gothic civil architecture. In -_cinquecento_ times there was a great call on the Masonic Guild for -palaces. The republics had begun to fade into principalities, wealth -and aristocracy again got the upper hand. The great churches were -already built, and so to employ the many great Masters of architecture -and sculpture whose families had for generations beautified Italian -cities, the dominant families in them vied with each other in palace -building. - - [Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE MUNICIPAL PALACE AT PERUGIA (1340). - _See page 257._] - -In Florence the Medici led the way, the Strozzi following them close. -Then all the other old families, Guicciardini, Rinuccini, Antinori, -Borghini, etc., also called in the masters of the Florentine Guild to -make them palaces. Cronaca, Sangallo, Baccio d'Agnolo, all names whose -ancestors were well known at either Siena, Orvieto, or in Lombardy, -made the plans and directed the works. And one who compares these -palaces one with another, cannot but confess that different as were -the hands that fashioned them, one type and one style shows through -them all, which is to say that the architects were all brethren of the -same guild, and had received the same training. The Florentine palace -bore on its face the imprint of its race; you can trace it gradually -from the Brolio of Lombard times, through the mediaeval fortress, and -the republican public palace. Here in the Riccardi and Strozzi, the -Pitti and Guadagni Palaces, is the same solidity of architecture; but -instead of the smooth hewn blocks, the huge stones are left rough, -_alla rustica_.[197] Here are the same shaped windows, enlarged and -beautified with tracery and mullion in place of the ancient column, -but directly derived from the older form. Here is the ancient crown of -Lombard archlets diminished into a rich cornice; it is only in the -older buildings that the battlements are seen above, as in the Palazzo -Ferroni. - -In the interior the cortile, with its arched and pillared _loggie_ -around it, holds its own in the centre of the building. There is -little change of form between the Court of the Palazzo Vecchio in 1299 -and the Riccardi, Strozzi, and a score of other private palaces of the -fifteenth century. The _loggia_, which was such an important feature -in the private house of the Republic, is now either relegated to the -garden front or the upper storey, where it is a delight to the family -itself, and is no longer the public meeting-place. This is a -difference entirely depending on a changed state of society. - -As in Florence, so it was in Milan, Venice, and other cities where -Masonic lodges were established in the great church-building era. The -nobles employed the builders whose hands were craving for work. And -what palaces they built, and what a wealth of rich Gothic decoration -they lavished on them! We are indebted for most of the Venetian Gothic -palaces to the Buoni and Lombardi families, whose course we have -traced in the chapter on Venice. The Renaissance buildings belong -chiefly to the members of the Florentine Lodge, such as Sansovino and -San Michele, who went to Venice in the sixteenth century. - -At Rome, where the Pope's rule was absolute, there was less -palace-building, but the Lombard Guild was employed greatly in their -old branch of fortress and bridge building. The Masters Bartolommeo -and Bertrando of Como were engaged by Pope Pius II. to strengthen the -fortifications of S. Angelo. Maestro Antonio of Como built the Ponte -Lucano, Maestro Antonio da Castiglione the Ponte Mammolo and Ponte -Molle. Maestro Manfredo da Como was commissioned by Pius II. to build -a new fortress on the heights of Tivoli to defend the valley of the -Anio from incursions on the Abruzzi side. The following entries from -the registers prove Maestro Manfredo's employment there-- - -"1461. August 12. Twenty-five ducats given to the treasurer by command -of his Holiness, to be paid to Maestro Manfred the Lombard, to begin -the castle of Tivoli (_roccha di Tiboli_)." - -"1462. May 14. To Maestro Manfredino, builder, 200 gold florins on -account of the works at the fortress of Tivoli." - -"1462. October 6. 400 _ducats di camera_ to Master Manfredino the -Lombard, who works at the castle of Tivoli."[198] - - [Illustration: PALAZZO PUBBLICO AT PERUGIA. - _See page 257._] - -Master Manfred with Paolo da Campagnano, both Comacines, built the -Ponte Sisto, which has been erroneously attributed to Baccio Pontelli. - -Pope Sixtus IV. employed Giovanni di Dolci to build the citadel of -Civita Vecchia, which Baccio Pontelli finished after Giovanni's death. -Antonio di Giovanni da Canobbio built the fort at Zolfanella in the -same reign, while Francesco di Pietro da Triviago, Francesco da Como, -and Giorgio Lombardo were joint architects of the castle at Santa -Marmella. So we see that nearly all the papal forts were the work of -Lombards connected with the Roman Lodge. In their own native hills the -Lombards were doing similar works. - - [Illustration: COURT OF THE BARGELLO, FLORENCE. BUILT BY JACOPO - "TEDESCO." - _See page 257._] - - [Illustration: TOWER OF PALAZZO VECCHIO AT FLORENCE. DESIGNED BY - MAGISTER ARNOLFO. - _See page 257._] - -In A.D. 1500 Maestro Jacopo Dagurro da Bissone, who was a most able -engineer, constructed a splendid viaduct, forty-eight metres long, -over the Natisone, among the rocks and beetling cliffs of Civitale in -Friuli. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[197] This rustic style is carried to an eccentric excess in some -buildings of the seventeenth century, such as the Parliament House -(Palazzo Monte Citorio) at Rome, and Zucchari's house in Florence. In -Monte Citorio the window-sills are hewn and shaped smoothly for half -their length, the other half being left in the rough. Zucchari has -done the same with his door-lintels and window-panels. The effect is -an incongruity, not pleasing to the eye. - -[198] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. ch. xxxviii. p. 420. - - - - -BOOK IV - -ITALIAN-GOTHIC, AND RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SECESSION OF THE PAINTERS - - -Painting is not generally supposed to be connected in any great degree -with architecture: indeed it has now become a distinctly independent -art. In the Middle Ages I believe the case was different. The great -primitive Comacine Guild seems to have embraced all the decorative -arts, though especially sculpture, as integral branches of -architecture. There are indisputable proofs of the many-sided nature -of the training in a Comacine _laborerium_. There were _Magistri -insigneriorum_, or Master architects; _Magistri lapidum_, or -sculptors, and _Magistri lignorum_, or master carpenters. These latter -seem in old times to have been the designers of scaffoldings and -makers of beams for roofing; wood-carvers and inlayers were called -_Maestri d'intaglio_. Then there were certainly ironworkers and -masters in metal, and fresco-painters, who also attained to the rank -of Master. But no one branch was entirely separate from the others, -until the fourteenth century, when the painters' companies were -founded. We find the same man building, designing, sculpturing, -painting, and even working in gold or iron, and seeming equally good -in all styles, so that the training of the _laborerium_ must have been -especially comprehensive. - -The reason appears to be that all the fine arts--painting, sculpture -and metal-working--were considered by the Comacines as indispensable -handmaids to architecture, and no builder was in their eyes fit to be -a Master till he could not only erect his edifice, but adorn it. Their -symbolic church was to them a kind of Bible, figuring all the points -of creeds, but the building itself was but the paper and binding of -the Bible; the sculptor put the frontispiece which explained its inner -meaning, and the mosaicist and fresco-painter added as it were the -letter-press and illustrations. The churches of Ravenna show how full -and rich was this inner illustration, how Christ and the Apostles, -angels and prophets, saints and martyrs, have shone on those walls, a -beautiful Bible picture-book for ages. That this was the light in -which the early Christians regarded their churches is plain from many -passages in the early Fathers. St. Basil (A.D. 379) in preaching, -says--"Rise up, now, I pray you, ye celebrated painters of the good -deeds of this army. Make glorious by your art the mutilated images of -their leader. With colours laid on by your cunning, make illustrious -the crowned martyr, by me too feebly pictured. I retire vanquished -before you in your painting of the excellences of the martyr, etc. -etc."[199] - - [Illustration: EIGHTH-CENTURY WALL DECORATION IN SUBTERRANEAN CHURCH - OF S. CLEMENTE, ROME. - _See pages 10 and 268._] - -Here is the description of a Christian shrine by St. Gregory of Nyssa -(fourth century)--"Whoso cometh unto some spot like this, where there -is a monument of the just and a holy relic, his soul is gladdened by -the magnificence of what he beholds, seeing a house as God's temple -elaborated most gloriously, both in the magnitude of the structure, -and the beauty of the surrounding ornament. There the artificer has -fashioned wood into the shape of animals; and the stone-cutter has -polished the slabs to the smoothness of silver; and the painter has -introduced the flowers of his art, depicting and imaging the constancy -of the martyrs, their resistance, their torments, the savage forms -of their tyrants, their outrages, the blazing furnace and the most -blessed end of the champion; the representation of Christ in human -form presiding over the contest--all these things as it were in a book -gifted with speech; shaping for us by means of colours, has he -cunningly discoursed to us of the martyr's struggles, has made this -temple glorious as some brilliant fertile mead. For the silent tracery -on the walls has the art to discourse, and to aid most powerfully. And -he who has arranged the mosaics has made this pavement on which we -tread equal to a history." (From Father Mulroody's translation, in -_San Clemente_, pp. 34, 35. St. Gregory wrote before A.D. 395.[200]) - -No doubt the richness of colour in these Byzantine mosaics inspired -the taste for pictorial embellishment in the interiors of buildings, -and the Comacines, not having Greek mosaicists at command, found an -easier and quicker method of writing their scriptures on their -walls--_i.e._ fresco. The first mention of frescoes is of those in the -palace of Theodolinda, where her Lombards were portrayed on the walls. -Several Lombard churches also retain signs of having been frescoed. - -But if one desires to see what the early Christian Comacine could do -in fresco, let him go to that interesting Roman church of San -Clemente, where some excavations made in 1857 revealed the ancient -fourth-century Basilica, almost complete under the present one, which -dates from about the twelfth century. This ancient church was built by -St. Clement, the third bishop of Rome, and in it Gregory the Great -read his thirty-second and thirty-eighth homilies. From the -subterranean remains, with their grand ancient marble pillars and the -huge semi-circle of the tribune, masked and built in though they are -by the foundations of the upper church, we judge that it was a far -finer building than the one above. Its walls were moreover covered -with frescoes, some of which are precisely similar in style to the -ones at S. Piero a Grado, also said to date before the tenth century. -The frescoes, which have been discovered on the subterranean walls, -are, as will be seen by our illustrations of them, in three rows, -which appear to be of three different eras--two certainly. The upper -band of saints and martyrs are distinctly Byzantine in style, drawing, -and colouring. They show the usual rows of immobile saints and martyrs -in set robes with jewelled borders, which are seen in the mosaics of -the Ravenna churches. These would, I believe, date from the -fourth-century church, when the Roman builders were employing -Byzantine decoration. The second row beneath this is of the more -naturalistic Comacine school, and would probably date from Pope -Hadrian's restoration in the eighth century. In these and the frescoes -of S. Piero a Grado one gets the veritable link between the -conventional Byzantine school and the naturalistic Renaissance in -Tuscany. Here are no longer icons or abstract images of saints; the -people are no longer rigid and set, but are full of action and -expression, though both are imperfectly expressed. They are, in fact, -real persons and their stories. The life of St. Clement is all told in -scenes. There are even portraits of living people, such as Beno di -Rapizo and his wife Maria, who "for love of the blessed Clement" -caused the frescoes to be painted. Nor are their children, the boy -Clement (_puerulus Clemens_) and little Atilia his sister, forgotten. -They are veritable portraits, for the face of Beno in two different -scenes is identical. The colouring, too, is unlike the Byzantine -saints above. Those are rich with solid heavy tints; these are -lighter, and more in the style of the early Sienese or Tuscan ones. -Beneath this row of scenes are ornamental friezes, in which one -recognizes Roman classical forms naturalized into floriated scrolls, -and under these a line of panelling in fresco. One panel appears to be -copied from the mosaic of the ceiling at the circular church of Sta. -Costanza; another is suggestive of the emblematic circles and signs of -the Catacombs. A third, the most interesting of all, is the one -commemorating the building of the church to which we have before -referred. Here stands Sisinius, and whether he be the hero of St. -Clement's miracle, as Father Mulroody asserts, or not, he is certainly -a Master architect standing in his toga, and wearing a Freemason's -apron under it, directing his men, Albertus, Cosma, and Carvoncelle, -in the moving of a column. The figures in this are so much more rude -and out of drawing than the ones above, that they scarcely would seem -to be by the same hands. I account for it by the fact that in -representing a natural sketch from real life, the artist had no -traditionary models to guide him, as he had for his saints and -virgins, and consequently he found it difficult to depict his -fellow-workmen in complicated attitudes. The art of the Catacombs has -no affinity with these frescoes, which are of a more free and natural -style, and the true ancestors of the Tuscan school of fresco-painting. - - [Illustration: FRESCOES OF THE 8TH CENTURY IN THE SUBTERRANEAN CHURCH - OF S. CLEMENTE, ROME, WITH PORTRAITS OF THE PATRON BENO DI RAPIZO AND - HIS FAMILY. - _See pages 10 and 268._] - -We might place these as the earliest revival of nature after the -Byzantine conventional influence was withdrawn; the next link is to be -seen in the church of S. Piero a Grado, three miles from Pisa, where -are extant by far the finest specimens of Comacine fresco-painting. -The church, which I have described in the chapter on the Carlovingian -era, was built soon after the time of Pope Leo III. (795-816). The -frescoes are said to date before A.D. 1000. Like those of St. Clement -they are not Byzantine, and yet, though full of life and action, they -have an Eastern air; they are not like the later Tuscan art, the -colouring being lighter and the drawing of the figures different. The -prevailing tint is a beautiful ethereal pale green, which is like -nothing in Tuscan art, though Peruzzi produced a tint something like -it in the sixteenth century. Standing at one end of the church and -looking down the nave, one could imagine a Ravenna church, with its -mosaics softened and toned down into frescoes. They are a valuable -proof that among the Comacine Masters pictorial decoration was -considered an integral part of a building. They told the articles of -their creed in their sculptures outside, but they wrote the history of -the church on the walls inside. The story of the church in the -abstract is told in the line of popes above the arches, ending at Leo -III.; the story of this church in particular is told in large scenes -above them. Here is the church as it looked when built, and here is -the ship of St. Peter cast ashore at Grado, and his preaching and -baptizing, imprisonment, etc. In fact all his life still glows, though -fading out on the south wall. The north wall is given to his death and -miracles. Here is his crucifixion, near an obelisk on the Janicular -Hill, and the beheading of his fellow-martyr St. Paul at the Tre -Fontane, with the mysterious blood-red bird that drank his blood. -Another scene shows the Pope Symmachus (A.D. 498) disinterring the -bodies of the two Saints, and his vow of building S. John Lateran, and -the last scene shows his consecration of that church. It is -interesting to mark the Comacine influence in the drawing. The towers -are Lombard towers, and the buildings all have round apses. The people -who are not ecclesiastic or saints seem to be Longobardic, with -reddish tunics, leather-thonged sandals, and long hair. As for the -lions, which lie waiting before the cross of St. Peter, they are in -the precise form of the crouching lions beneath a Comacine arch. The -drawing of other beasts shows that the artists were less accustomed to -them than to their traditional lions. - - [Illustration: INTERIOR OF CHURCH OF SAN PIERO A GRADO NEAR PISA, WITH - FRESCOES OF THE 9TH CENTURY. - _See page 270._] - -If it be true that these frescoes, like the ones beneath San Clemente, -were really of the ninth or tenth centuries, and if they were by -native artists, this would place Pisa far before Siena in the history -of art, and Merzario would be wrong when he asserts that there was no -school of art in Pisa before the cathedral was begun. The state of art -in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries strongly inclines me to place -these Byzantino-naturalistic paintings, according to legend, in the -ninth century--that is, before the fall of art, which took place -during the times of German invasion and feudal oppression after -Charlemagne. - -Certainly Cimabue, who is called the "Father of Tuscan Art," could not -have painted them, though in the revival of his time he may have -studied them, as earlier works of his guild, for we have documental -evidence of his connection as a _Magister_ with the Pisan Lodge. The -first great painter of that lodge was Giunta di Pisa, sometimes -written _Magister Juncte_. He was the son of a still older painter, -Guidotto dal Colle, who was a Master in A.D. 1202, and lived till -1255.[201] We give a facsimile of an old print showing two of his -paintings, one a figure from the fall of Simon Magus, in the church of -St. Francis at Assisi; another a St. John from an ancient crucifix in -S. M. degli Angeli at Assisi. The Byzantine style in Cimabue's -painting may be traced to the influence of Giunta, of whom an ancient -writer, Padre Angeli, when speaking of his paintings at Assisi, -says--"that though his teachers were Greeks, yet he learned his art in -Italy, about A.D. 1210."[202] This is a proof of the connection of -Eastern artists with the Western architects. - -Giunta, who became a _Magister_ in 1210, preceded Giotto by a century, -in the frescoes of St. Francis of Assisi, where among other things he -painted a crucifix with Frate Elias kneeling at the foot. Brother -Elias was a scholar of St. Francis, and contemporary with Giunta -himself, who has inscribed on his crucifix-- - - FRATER ELIAS FIERI FECIT - JESU CHRISTE PIE - MISERERE, PRECAUTIS HELIC. - GIUNTA PISANUS ME PINXIT A.D. 1236. IND. 9. - -Morrona has reproduced, by a copper engraving, a veritable work of -Giunta's--a crucifix with the Holy Father above, and the Madonna and -St. John at the sides, which was for many years left in the smoke of -the kitchen of the Monastery of St. Anna at Pisa. There is a decided -effort to overcome the stiffness of his first Byzantine teachers, and -a good deal of lifelike expression in the smaller figures. The same -leaning toward nature is visible in the figures of his _Fall of Simon -Magus_ at Assisi. Del Valle and Morrona, judging by evidences of -style, assert that Giunta di Pisa was the master of Cimabue. But as -Giunta graduated as _Magister_ in 1210, and Cimabue was not born till -1240, this does not seem possible. It is more likely, in regard to -time, that Guido of Siena, painter of the famous Madonna in San -Domenico, may have learned something of Giunta; but as all three of -these primary Masters, each of whom became the head of the painting -school in his own lodge, were members of the great guild, the source -of instruction might have been common to all, and moreover that source -must have been originally or partly Byzantine. - - [Illustration: FROM PAINTINGS IN ASSISI BY MAGISTER GIUNTA OF PISA. - _See page 271._] - -While mentioning that Giunta learned of Greek masters in Italy, we may -note that Vasari, _a propos_ of Cimabue, tells a story of the -Florentines calling in Greek masters to teach painting there. The -assertion has been much derided by modern authors, but it might -contain a grain of truth after all. Taking it with the fact (which -becomes impressed on us the more we study early Comacine churches) -that the architecture is Roman, and the ornamentation shows a Greek -influence naturalized, we get at what may be the truth; that the -Byzantine brethren who joined the guild after the edict of Leo the -Isaurian, still had their descendants in it, among the ranks of the -painters, as the Campionese and Buoni families had for centuries -theirs among the architects. This would account for Andrea Tafi -working, together with Apollonius the Greek, at the mosaics in the -tribune of the Florentine Baptistery.[203] - -Del Migliore, in his _Aggiunte_ to Vasari's _Lives_, says that in a -contract dated 1297 he read "Magister Apollonius pictor Florentinus." -Here we get one of the very Greek masters Vasari has been derided for -mentioning, and he is certainly connected with the Masonic lodge. - -With a common origin, each lodge nevertheless developed its own -distinct style, yet so much was general to the whole guild, that in -the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries one spirit seemed to permeate -them all, and only experts can tell a Lorenzetti from a Memmi, or a -Giotto from a Spinello Aretino. We find them working now in one -lodge, now in another. Cimabue, though his principal work was in -Florence where his school was, is found working in the Pisan Lodge in -1301. - -The archives of the Duomo there have three documents of that year -referring to him. One proves the payment of X solidi II libr. a day to -"Magister Cimabue" and his _famulus_ (apprentice) for their work -there. Who knows whether the _famulus_ may not have been young Giotto, -or Joctus, as he is written in old deeds! - -The second paper is Cimabue's receipt for the payment by the _Lord -operaio_ (_Dominus operarius_) for a figure of St. John, painted for -that guild (_Magiestatem_). - -The third seems to be the payment for a coloured glass window which -had been painted on glass by Baccio, son of Jovenchi of Milan, from -Magister Cimabue's design.[204] - -Cimabue's school in Florence must have prospered greatly. A long list -of names of painters between 1294 and 1296, who are qualified and who -agree to teach their art in Florence, may be made from an ancient law -register kept at that date by the notary Ser Matteo Biliotti, which is -preserved in the general archives of Contracts in Florence.[205] Here -we find several of the Masters trained at Pisa, such as Lapo de -Cambio, Lapo di Beliotto, Lapo di Taldo, Corso di Buono, Andrea di -Cante, Grifo di Tancredi, Tura di Ricovero, Vanni di Rinuccio, Michele -di Pino, Ranuccio di Bogolo, Guiduccio di Maso, Cresta di Piero, -Bindaccio di Bruno, Guccio di Lippo, Bertino della Marra, Rossello e -Scalore di Lettieri, Dino and Lippo Benivieni, Asinello d'Alberto, -Lapo di Compagno, called Scartapecchia, Vanuccio di Duccio, and Bruno -di Giovanni, the companion of Buffalmacco and Calandrino, of whom -Vasari tells such funny stories. - -Another act, dated 1282, is a contract by which Azzo, son of the late -Mazzetto painter, of the parish of S. Tommaso, engaged to teach his -art for six years to Vanni di Bruno; probably Giovanni the father of -Bruno mentioned above. - -Rossello di Lottieri was the great-grandfather of Cosimo Rosselli. -Vanuccio was the son of the famous Duccio of the Sienese Lodge. Indeed -I think we could find, by close investigation, that most of these -_Magistri pittori_ were connected with one or other of the Tuscan -Lodges. - -Painters abounded in the guild at this era. There was Tommaso de -Mutina (Modena) whose Madonna painted in 1297 is in the Gallery at -Vienna. There was Margaritone of Arezzo (1216-1293), a great tre-cento -painter of Madonnas and crucifixes, whose works are yet preserved in -Florence, London, Siena, etc. He generally signed them "Margarit . . . -de Aretio pingebat." A portrait of St. Francis, however, in the -Capuchin Convent at Sinigaglia, is inscribed "Margaritonis devotio me -fec. . ." A Madonna enthroned in the church at Monte San Savino is not -only signed but dated 1284. Guido of Siena and Margaritone were the -leaders of that flourishing school at Siena which culminated in -Spinello Aretino and the Lorenzetti, one of whom, Lorenzo Monaco, -rivalled our Fra Angelico. - -Various painters are found in Pisa up to the fourteenth century, -artistic descendants from the school of Giunta. Signor Morrona (_Pisa -Illustrata nelle Arti del Disegno_, vol. ii. p. 154) gives a list of -Giunta's scholars. There are Bonaventura and Apparecchiato da Lucca, -Dato Pisano, Vincino da Pistoja, a list which proves the affinity -between all the Tuscan schools. A little later in 1321 we find a -certain Vicino of Pisa as Gaddo Gaddi's scholar in Florence, where he -finished his master's mosaics in the Baptistery. Ciampi has written a -long dissertation to prove that Vicino of Pisa ought to be Vincino of -Pistoja, because he has found the latter name in some documents. But -as his documents refer to paintings done by Vincino of Pistoja in -1290, and the mosaics of Vicino and Gaddi date 1321, it seems more -probable they were really two different men--one, the Pistojan, being -the scholar of Giunta at Pisa mentioned above; the other, the Pisan, a -scholar of Gaddi in Florence somewhat later. In 1302 we find painters -from all the lodges assembled in Pisa. Here are Magister Franciscus, -painter from S. Simone, named as a _Magister_ of the highest rank. He -works with his son Victorius, and his apprentice Sandruccio. Here are -Lapo of Florence, Benozzo Gozzoli,[206] and "Michaelis the painter"; -Duccio and Tura of Siena, painters; and Datus Pictor, who might be -that Dato Pisano mentioned as a scholar of Giunta.[207] - -The books of the Duomo of Pisa contain among other things an entry -which indicates the use of oil-painting long before the time of -Antonello de Messina. It is nothing less than the payment by the -_Provveditore_ of the _Opera_ for 29 lbs. of turpentine, 104 lbs. of -linseed oil at 28 denari per lb., and 43 lbs. of varnish, all of which -were for the use of the painters of the _operam Magiestatis_. The -entry is dated 1301, and is No. 26 in the books of the _Provveditore_ -of the _Opera_ at Pisa in the year MCCCI. "Johannes Orlandi sua sponte -dixit se habuisse ad Operario libras duas den. pis. pro pretio libre -viginti novem trementine operate adoreram Magiestatis. - -"Libras quinquaginta quatuor, et solidos decem et octo den. pisanorum -minutorum pro pretio centinarum quatuor olei linseminis ad operaio -Magiestatis, et aliarum figurarium que fiunt in majori Ecclesia, ad -rationem denariorum XXVIII pro qualibet libra." - -Upechinus Pictor[208] pro libris quadraginta tribus vernicis emptis -Comunis an. 1303, is named as a painter of Pisa. - -These entries clearly prove what a large part the painters took in the -work of the Masonic brotherhood, and how the frescoing of the wall was -a component part of a Comacine church, and carried on, like their -building, by the joint labour of many Masters. If proof of this is -wanting, go where you will in Italy, and if you can find any church -that has a wall of its original early Christian or mediaeval building -remaining, of any age between the fourth and the fourteenth century, -scratch that wall, and you will find frescoes have been there. For -instance, in Santa Croce, and San Miniato at Florence, and at Fiesole, -wherever the restorer's plaster has been taken off, precious works of -the old Masters have come to light. But in all these we have to -imagine what a mediaeval church was like from the fragments that -remain: to see the real Comacine church of the twelfth or thirteenth -century, one must go to the ancient city of San Gimignano with its -many towers, where they remain untouched by the restorer, and -unwhitewashed by the seventeenth-century destroyer. There the whole -churches, every inch of them, are covered with scripture or saintly -story in glowing colours. Our illustration shows one by Barna of Siena -before the painters seceded. - -The Spanish chapel at S. Maria Novella is another unspoiled and entire -specimen of the profuse use of fresco by the guild. Most of these -churches were decorated by fresco artists who belonged to the Masonic -Guild before the secession of the painters, and being so, it is -probable that they worked together, as the architectural Masters were -accustomed to do, and this would account for the difficulty of -distinguishing in the Spanish chapel between the work of the Memmi and -that of the Lorenzetti, who certainly worked together at Siena, and -probably also in Florence. Cimabue and Giotto were undoubtedly -_Magistri_ of the Masonic Guild, for both of them were builders as -well as painters, and were employed together with other Masters. - -When Cimabue discovered Giotto drawing his sheep, he took him into his -school in the lodge, he being then a qualified Master. But the boy -must have passed his novitiate, not only in Magister Cimabue's own -_atelier_, but also in the wider teaching of the school and -_laborerium_, or he would never have got the commission to build the -tower, nor the power to sculpture his "Hymn of Labour" around it. - -This was the era when pictorial art was freeing its wings from the -shackles of tradition and set conventionalism, and from the bondage of -working under the rule of another art like architecture. The painters, -especially when the oil process was invented, saw a new and -independent career open before them, and struck for freedom. The -Sienese led the way. In 1355 they seceded from the Masonic Guild, and -even forsook their four crowned Saints; inaugurating their own company -under the banner and protection of St. Luke. They called it _L' Arte -de' Pittori Senesi_. In reading their laws[209] one cannot but -recognize that they were framed on the same lines as those of the -Masonic Guild, the chief changes being the difference of patron saint, -and the omission of some technical rules relating especially to -architecture. - - [Illustration: FRESCO AT S. GIMIGNANO. BY MAGISTER BARNA OF SIENA. - _See page 278._] - -The names of the artists forming this first school of painting are -sufficient proof of their former connection with the Comacine Guild. -Here is Francesco di Vannuccio, who was called in a council of the -_Opera_ in 1356, and Lando di Stefano di Meo, whose name appears first -in the Masonic Guild, and then among the painters; Andrea di Vanni, -whose father and ancestors had been in it, and who in 1318 was himself -working in the Duomo of Siena with his father, where he is entered in -the books as Andreuccio (poor little Andrea) di Vanni. There are -sundry other members of the Vanni family, some of whom were on the -lists of the Masonic Guild before they are found as painters. Then -there was Bartolo, son of Magister Fredi, with his son Andrea and -grandson Giorgio. Bartolo must have been an old man at this time, so -that his frescoes at S. Gimignano would have been done before the -painters seceded. We find also Andrea and Benedetto di Bindo in 1363 -inscribed in the roll of "Magistri lapidum," and in 1389 in that of -the painters; several of their family have also enrolled themselves -there. This Magister Bindo was a Lombard from Val D'Orcia; other -Comacine names are there also, such as Domenico di Valtellino, and -Cristofano di Chosona (Cossogna, near Pallanza). - -I believe that after this secession the churches were no longer so -entirely decorated with frescoes. Altar-pieces, introduced by Giotto -and Lorenzo Monaco, partially took their place. - -In 1386 the painters of the Florentine Lodge followed the example of -their _confreres_ at Siena, and put themselves also under the -protection of St. Luke. They called themselves the _Confraternita dei -Pittori_. The meeting-place of this Confraternity was in the old -church of S. Matteo, now no more. Their first company lasted till the -time of Cosimo I., who patronized it, and superintended its -reorganization in 1562. - -In Medicean times great _fetes_ were held on St. Luke's Day, by the -Academy, and all the best pictures in Florence were hung in the -cloisters of the Servite monks. - -By the time of the Grand Dukes the Masonic Guild seems to have -decayed. Owing to the new painting, sculpture, and gold-working -companies, which had freed themselves from the old organization; and -the secularizing of art which followed from these causes, and from the -diminished zeal for church-building, the Freemasons must have dwindled -away, and the guild died a natural death. Cosimo again revived and -united the three sister branches of Art--Architecture, Sculpture, and -Painting--in his _Accademia delle Belle Arti_, where they remain to -this day. The ensign of the Academy was a group of three wreaths, bay, -olive, and oak, with the motto--"_Levan di terra al ciel nostro -intelletto_." - -Lorenzo il Magnifico had paved the way to the revival of sculpture by -the school he started in his gardens. The Academy has now a fine -building for itself, and a very interesting collection of paintings, -chiefly of the early schools. - -Here we will leave the painters, who no longer have any connection -with the great Masonic Guild. That fraternity, nevertheless, forms the -link of connection between the old classic art and the Renaissance in -painting, as in all the other branches. Without it we should have had -no grand frescoes by Giotto, the Lorenzetti, the Memmi, and the Gaddi, -for the lodges at Siena and Florence trained their art; and it is a -certain fact that after the secession of the painters, the glorious -days of fresco-painting were over. The painters no longer worked -together to beautify every inch of the churches built by the -brotherhood, but they painted for themselves, for personal fame and -money. Madonnas, votive pictures, and portraits multiplied: the -commission and the patron ruled the art. Imagination and inspiration -rarely dominated, except in rare cases like Fra Angelico, Fra -Bartolommeo, Raphael, and Michael Angelo, and other of the greatest -Masters who stand forth from the crowd of artists, endowed with true -genius. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[199] Mulroody's _S. Clemente_. St. Asterius, Bishop of Amasia (fourth -century), describes a fresco of the martyr St. Euphemia of -Chalcedonia, which moved him to tears, and St. Paulinus of Nola (died -401) describes a Basilica covered with paintings. - -[200] St. Ephrun, Deacon of Edessa, in his _Sermo I. de Poenitentia -XV._, uses glass mosaic as an illustration of the sacrament of -penance. "Penance is a great furnace: it receives glass and changes it -into gold. It takes lead and makes it silver.... Have you seen glass, -how it is made of the colour of beryl, emerald, and sapphire? You -cannot doubt, too, that penance makes silver of lead and gold of -glass. If human art knows how to mix nature with nature, and change -what was before, how much more would the grace of God be able to -effect? Man has added gold-leaf to glass, and in appearance that seems -gold which was before glass. If man had chosen to mix in gold, the -glass would have been made golden; but avoiding the cost, he invented -the fitting together and inserting the thinnest leaf." - -[201] The Dal Colle family were nobles of Pisa. A deed in the archives -of the Duomo dated 1229 registers the sale of some land to Giunta by -the Archbishop Vitale--"Vendo tibi Juncti q Guidotti de Colle totum -unum edificium," etc. - -[202] "Circa an. sal. 1210, Juncta Pisanus ruditer a Graecis Instructus -amoenitas primus ex Italia artem apprehendit."--Padre Angeli, _Collis -Paradisi seu sacri conv. assissiens. historiae_, Liber I. Tit. xxiv. - -[203] (See Vasari, _Life of Andrea Tafi_.) Tafi was a nickname. In his -matriculation to the Arte de' Medici e Speziali, where the painters -had to enroll themselves after their split from the Masonic Guild, he -is written as "Andreas vocatus Tafi olim Ricchi." - -[204] Archives of Opere Del Duomo, Pisa. Docum. 26, libro sud anno -1301 sud "_Magister Cimabue pictor Magiestatis pro se et famulo suo -pro diebus quatuor quibus laborarunt in dicta Opera ad rationem solid. -X. pro die libr II._ - -"_II. Cimabue pictor Magiestatis sua sponte confessus fuit se habuisse -a D. Operario de summa libr: decem quas dictus Cimabue habere debebat -de figura S. Johannis quas fecit juxta Magiestatem libr V sol X._ - -"_III. Bacciomeus filius Jovenchi mediolanensis ... fuit confessus se -habuisse ... de precio vitri laborati et colorati quem facere debuit -juxta ... et voluntatem magistri Cimabovis pictoris, quem vitris -Bacciomeus vendere et dare debet suprad. operario ad rationem den. -XXIIII pro qualibet libra pro operando ipsum ad illas figuras que -noviter fiunt circe Magiestatem inceptam in majori Ecclesia S. -Maria._"--See Morrona, _Pisa Illustrata_, etc., vol. i. p. 249, notes. - -[205] Quoted by Del Migliore in _Firenze Illustrata_, p. 414. - -[206] Gozzoli is in some books entered as Benozzo di Lese de Fiorenza, -in others as "di Cese de Florentia." So uncertain is mediaeval -spelling. - -[207] Extract from the book entitled in Latin: "Introitus et exilus -facti et habiti a Burgundio Tadi Operario opere s[~ce] marie dis. -majoris eccl[=e]. sub A.D. MCCCII. Ind IIII de mense madij incept... - - Magistri Magiestatis majoris - -Magister Franciscus pictor de S. Simone porte maris cum famulo suo pro -diebus V quibus in dicta opera Magiestatis laborarunt ad rationem -solid. X pro die ... Victorius ejus filius pro se et Sandruccio famulo -suo, etc. Lapus de Florentia, etc ... Michael pictor, etc ... Duccius -pictor, Tura pictor etc. Datus pictor ... Document 25."--See Morrona, -_Pisa Illustrata_, vol. i. p. 249, note. - -[208] Upechinus must be dog Latin for Upettino, who is in the _Breve_ -Pisani "ab eo ad operam Magiestatis." Johannes Orlandi was a member of -a Lombard family, who had been long in the guild. The Orlandi are -found at Milan, Siena, etc. - -[209] See Milanesi's _Documenti per l' Arte Senese_, pp. 1 to 56. Breve -dell' arte de' Pittori Senesi. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE SIENA AND ORVIETO LODGES - - -THE SIENESE SCHOOL - - ----+---------+-----------------------------+---------------------------- - 1. | 1259 | Magister Luglio Benintendi }| - | | }| Architects employed on Siena - 2. | | M. Rubeo q. Bartolomei }| cathedral. - | | }| - 3. | | M. Stephanus Jordanus }| - | | | - 4. | 1260 | M. Bruno Bruscholi }| Engaged on May 31, 1260, for - | | }| work in the cathedral. - 5. | | M. Buonasera Brunacci }| - | | | - 6. | 1266 | M. Niccolo Pisano | Sculptured the pulpit in the - | | | Duomo of Siena. - | | | - 7. | | M. Donato di Ricevuti |{ His pupils and assistants. - | | |{ - 8. | | M. Arnolfo |{ Donato and Lapo were - | | |{ naturalized in 1271 at - 9. | | M. Lapo |{ Siena. Arnolfo went to - | | |{ Florence, and was there - | | |{ made a citizen. - | | |{ - 10. | | M. Johannes filius Niccoli |{ Son of Niccolo Pisano, who - | | (Giovanni Pisano) |{ was made a citizen of - | | |{ Siena. He was chief - | | |{ architect of the Duomo in - | | |{ 1290. - | | | - 11. | 1267 | M. Johannes Stephani |{ Three _Magistri_ employed - | | (son of No. 3) |{ at the Duomo, who witnessed - | | |{ the payment to Niccolo - 12. | | M. Orlando Orlandi |{ Pisano for his pulpit. - | | |{ - 13. | | M. Ventura Diotisalvi of |{ Ventura was probably - | | Rapolano |{ descended from Diotisalvi, - | | |{ the builder of the Tower of - | | |{ Pisa. - | | | - 14. | 1281 | M. Ramo di Paganello | Signed a contract as builder - | | | on Nov. 20, 1281. - | | | - 15. | 1308 | M. Andrea olim Ventura | Son of No. 13. - | | | - | | |{ Worked under Gio. Pisano - 16. | 1310 | M. Lorenzo olim M. Vitalis |{ at Siena during his - | | de Senis (called Lorenzo |{ apprenticeship. Was chief - | | Maitani) |{ architect at Orvieto in - | | |{ 1310. His son Vitale was - | | |{ "_Capo-Maestro_" after him. - | | | - 17. | 1310 | M. Ciolo di Neri } | - | | } | Worked together at Siena. - 18. | " | M. Muto di Neri } | - | | | - 19. | " | M. Teri | Ciolo takes Teri as his - | | | pupil on Sept. 10, 1310. - | | | - 20. | 1318 | *M. Camaino di Crescentini | Grandson of Ventura - | | di Diotisalvi[210] | Diotisalvi - | | | - 21. | | *M. Tino | His son. - | | | - 22. | | *M. Corsino Guidi | - | | | - 23. | | *M. Ghino di Ventura } | Relatives of the Diotisalvi - | | } | family. - 24. | | *M. Ceffo di Ventura } | - | | | - 25. | | *M. Vanni Bentivegno | - | | | - 26. | | *M. Andreuccio Vanni | His son. - | | | - 27. | | *M. Ceccho Ricevuti | A descendant of No. 7. - | | | - 28. | | *M. Gese Benecti | - | | | - 29. | | M. Vanni di Cione of } | - | | Florence } | These four with Lorenzo - | | } | Maitani (No. 16) voted - 30. | | M. Tone Giovanni } | against going on with the - | | } | too large church at Siena, - 31. | | M. Cino Franceschi } | and advised its present - | | } | dimension. - 32. | | M. Niccola Nuti } | - | | | - 33. | 1330 | M. Vitale di Lorenzo | Son of Lorenzo Maitani (No. - | | | 16). C.M. (_Capo-Maestro_) - | | | at Orvieto for six months - | | | after his father's death, - | | | with Niccola Nuti (No. 32.) - | | | - 34. | " | M. Agostino da Siena } | - | | } | - 35. | | M. Giovanni, his son } | These five sculptors were - | | } | engaged to make the tomb of - 36. | | M. Angelo di Ventura } | Bishop Tarlato at Arezzo; - | | } | Agostino being head sculptor - 37. | | M. Simone di Ghino } | and designer. - | | } | - 38. | | M. Jacopo, his brother } | - | | | - 39. | 1333 | [+]M. Paolo di Giovanni[211] | - | | | - 40. | | [+]M. Toro di Mino | - | | | - 41. | | [+]M. Cino Compagni | Worked at the Sienese Duomo - | | | from 1326. - | | | - 42. | | [+]M. Frate Viva di Compagni | A monk of the guild, brother - | | | of the preceding. - | | | - 43. | | [+]M. Guido or Guidone di | Built the castle of Grosseto - | | Pace | with Angelo Ventura. - | | | - 44. | | [+]M. Andrea Ristori | - | | | - 45. | | [+]M. Ambrosio Ture | - | | | - 46. | 1339 | M. Cellino di Nese of Siena | Built the church of St. John - | | | Baptist at Pistoja; the - | | | contract was signed July 22, - | | | 1339. - | | | - 47. | 1339-40 | M. Lando di Pietro | C.M. in 1339. A great artist - | | | in metal, and eminent - | | | architect. - | | | - 48. | 1348 | M. Stefano di Meo | Son of Magister Meo di Piero. - | | | Built the chapel of St. Peter - | | | at Massa. - | | | - 49. | 1349 | M. Giovanni di M. Jacopo } | - | | di Vanni } | These brothers were employed - | | } | at the Fonte Branda. - 50. | " | M. Niccolo di M. Jacopo } | - | | | - 51. | 1356 | M. Gherardo di Bindo | { Paid for advice about the - | | | { new Duomo when Francesco - | | | { Talenti and Benci Cione - 52. | " | M. Francesco di Vannuccio | { came from Florence as - | | | { experts. - | | | - 53. | 1358 | M. Paolo di Matteo } | Elected on Nov. 3, 1358, - | | } | C.M. of Orvieto with Moricus - | | } | as his assistant. He - 54. | | M. Moricus Petrucciani } | resigned, and died in 1360. - | | | - 55. | 1360 | M. Andrea di Cecco Ranaldi | C.M. of Orvieto, Dec. 1360. - | | | - 56. | " | M. Luca di Cecco | His brother and assistant; - | | | designed the steps of the - | | | Duomo in 1386. - | | | - 57. | 1364 | M. Paolo d'Antonio | C.M. of Orvieto from - | | | April 8, 1364. - | | | - 58. | " | M. Antonio di Brunaccio | A descendant of No. 5; he - | | | returned his salary because - | | | he broke his contract, - | | | March 17, 1364. - | | | - 59. | 1369 | M. Johannes Stephani | A descendant of Stefano - | | | Jordanus (No. 3). He worked - | | | at S. John Lateran for Pope - | | | Urban V. in 1369. Elected - | | | C.M. at Orvieto, March 11, - | | | 1375. - | | | - 60. | 1377 | M. Giacomo di Buonfredi | Sculptured the facade of the - | | (detto Corbella) | Duomo of Siena, opposite the - | | | hospital. - | | | - 61. | " | M. Francesco del Tonghio | Sculptured the choir stalls - | | (called Francesco del Coro) | in Siena cathedral in 1377, - | | | also the choir in the Duomo - | | | of Florence. - | | | - 62. | 1379 | M. Giacomo del Tonghio | His son and assistant. He - | | | sculptured the tabernacle of - | | | S. Pietro in the Duomo of - | | | Siena. - | | | - 63. | 1384 | Magister Giacomo di | Contracted on Feb. 24, - | | Castello | 1384-85, to make three - | | | coloured glass windows for - | | | the Duomo; he made also - | | | those in S. Francesco at - | | | Pisa in 1391. - | | | - 64. | 1386 | M. Giovanni Peruzzi | Did some stone building in - | | | the tower at Siena cathedral. - | | | - 65. | 1388 | M. Mariano d'Agnolo | Carved several figures in the - | | Romanelli | choir of Siena cathedral. - | | | - 66. | 1390 | M. Luca di Giovanni | C.M. at Orvieto for the - | | | second time; the first was - | | | in 1387. He was in the - | | | Florentine Lodge in 1386. - | | | - 67. | 1423 | M. Bastiano di Corso (of | Engaged to make 59 _braccia_ - | | Florence) | of inlaid frieze in the - | | | pavement of the steps of the - | | | high altar. - ----+---------+-----------------------------+------------------------------ - -At first sight it would not appear that the Italian-Gothic cathedrals -at Siena and Orvieto could have much to do with the ancient Comacine -church of S. Michele at Pavia, but they are undoubtedly its hereditary -descendants, and in great part the work of Comacine architects. - -Documents prove that a Lombard Guild, with _schola_, _laborerium_, and -_Opera_, existed in Siena long before A.D. 1400. Legend, or rather -tradition, says that this lodge began in Longobardic days, when the -first Sienese Duomo was built by a certain Ava, descendant of -Iselfred, a Longobardic prince. This Ava had, before going to Siena, -caused a church (Aula Santa) to be erected "on an island near -Borgonuovo by the lake" (Insula prope Borgonuovo juxta lacus). This -must be the Comacine island on the lake near Como-nuovo, which was -also called Borgonuovo.[212] It is also said that in 1180 Pope -Alexander III. went to Siena, of which city he was a native, to -consecrate the new Basilica.[213] - -Here we have the first link of the Comacine Guild with Siena, and I -think it offers an explanation of the early existence of the Sienese -school of painting. - -The Longobardic Masonic lodge seems to have been the only one of the -kind then in Siena, and it held on for almost a century after the -secession of the painters in A.D. 1355. - -By that time so many native architects and sculptors had been trained -that there were two distinct parties in the guild, and the Sienese -clique began to feel the need of independent power. In 1441 a schism -was made, the Sienese sculptors forming a branch of their own, called -_L' arte dei maestri di pietra, Senese_, which had its laws and -regulations in due form. The same schism had taken place in Venice in -1307, when the _Arte de taglia pietre_ was formed, and a similar one -took place later in Florence. The Sienese split was not very -satisfactory, for on December 5, 1473, we find they called a meeting -of the two guilds, to further the means of working in better accord -with each other. The following compact was made-- - -(1) That all Masters, Lombard or Sienese, should pay ten soldi for -right of entry on employment. - -(2) That all, equally, should pay five soldi a year for the _festa_ of -the _Santi Quattro_; and that a Lombard _camarlengo_ should be chosen -to work together with the Sienese one, to collect these and other -moneys; that the _camarlengo_ should hold no more in hand than -twenty-five soldi; all money above that to be immediately invested. - -(3) That the Lombard _camarlengo_ shall be subject to the same laws -and rules and fines as the Sienese one. - -(4) That the _garzoni_ (novices or pupils) shall have no claims to -receive pay, but manual labourers shall be paid three soldi a year -each by the Masters employing them, as says the statute. - -(5) That when it is necessary to "make a collection," the Lombard -Masters shall be obliged to attend, equally with the citizens, and -under the same penalties, as by the statute. Here follow the names of -the contracting parties, as inscribed in the original report of the -meeting.[214] - - ET PRIMO, NOMINA MAGISTRORUM SENENSIUM. - - Magister Laurentius Petri - M. Urbanus Petri - M. Franciscus Ducci - M. Dominicus Andreae - M. Petrus Zantebuoni - M. Joannes - M. Vitus Marci - M. Marianus Sani - M. Tullius magistri Marci - M. Mannus Antonii - M. Galganus Ioannis - M. Iulianus Iacobi - M. Iacobus Ioannis - M. Antonius Ghini - M. Dominicus Cambii - M. Aloysius Ruggieri - M. Franciscus Andreae - M. Petrus Antonii - - SEQUNTUR NOMINA MAGISTRORUM LOMBARDORUM. - - Magister Guglielmus Joannis de Sanvito - M. Franciscus Christophori de Cumo (Como) - M. Joannes Guglielmi de Sanvito (son of No. 1) - M. Stephanus Fidelis de Voltolina (Valtellina) - M. Adamus Ioannis de Thori - M. Ioannes Iacobi de Sanvito - M. Alexus Ioannis de Sanvito (his son) - M. Martinus Martii de Sanvito - M. Ioannes Talentine de Sanvito - M. Iacobus Dominici de Lamone - M. Ioannes Iacobi de Lamone (his son) - M. Guglielmus Antonii de Sanvito - M. Paulus Thomae de Charazza - M. Antonius Ioannis de Ponte - M. Iacobus Petri de Condupino - M. Antonius magistri Alberti de Lamone - M. Ioannes Francisci de Lamone - M. Ioannes de Ponte - M. Guglielmus Andreae de Sanvito - - Acta fuerunt, etc. - -But even this did not succeed. On January 6, 1512, we find the Sienese -Lodge making a petition to the Signoria to the effect that whereas in -ancient times the brethren of the Masonic Guild were always accustomed -to hold their meetings and unite for worship in their own chapel of -the _Santi Quattro_ in the cathedral, the "foreign" builders being now -separated from that chapter (lodge), all the money which used to be -collected to endow that chapel, is now collected among themselves, and -sent to Lombardy, without consulting the said chapter (_capitudine_), -"to the grave injury and shame of our city, and of the said chapel," -"thus we pray of your Signoria that you will command that the said -lodge shall meet according to the ancient rules of the order, under -pain of penalties named in the ancient Breve ... the which shall be -useful and honourable to our city and to the said chapel."[215] By -this we realize that the Lombard Masters were not only the earliest -guild of architects at Siena, but also the most powerful, as the -Sienese branch could not even keep up the chapel of their patron saint -without their aid. - -It may be interesting to glance over the headings of the statutes of -the Sienese Masonic Guild, which no doubt were similar to, if not -identical with the original one; at any rate they will throw light on -the organization. - -Cap. I. On he who curses God or the Saints (a fine of twenty-five -lire). - -Cap. II. On he who opposes the Signoria of the city (a fine of -twenty-five lire). - -Cap. III. On the election of _rettore_ and _camarlengo_. (In the -Florentine Lodge which kept up the older Latin, these are called -_caput magister_ and _provveditore_.) - -Cap. IV. On the forming of councils and their duration. - -Cap. V. How to treat underlings (_sottoposti_). - -Cap. VI. On those who disobey the rector or _camarlengo_. - -Cap. VII. On he who refuses a citation (fine of twenty soldi). - -Cap. VIII. Of one who swears by the blood or body of God. - -Cap. IX. Of he who takes work on a risk. - -Cap. X. All names of _sottoposti_ to be written in the Breve. - -Cap. XI. That no one may take work away from another Master. - -Cap. XII. Contracts with pupils must be made before the _camarlengo_. - -Cap. XIII. How the feast of the Four Holy Martyrs is to be kept.[216] - -Cap. XIV. On the entry of a foreign Master into the guild. - -Cap. XV. _Di chi vietasse il pegno al messo._ (I can get no clear -translation of this; I think it means a pledge on receiving a -commission.) - -Cap. XVI. The _camarlengo_ shall hand over all receipts to the Grand -Master. - -Cap. XVII. On the salaries of officials of the guild. - -Cap. XVIII. How _fetes_ must be kept (fines of five soldi to all who -work on _feste_. Forty-nine _fete_ days are named). - -Cap. XIX. One who is sworn to another guild cannot be either the Grand -Master or _camarlengo_. - -Cap. XX. That the _camarlengo_ keeps for the guild all moneys received -from _sottoposti_ (brethren of lower rank). - -Cap. XXI. On good faith in receiving a commission. - -Cap. XXII. How members are to be buried. - -Cap. XXIII. How to insure against risks. - -Cap. XXIV. No arguments or business discussions to be held in the -public streets. - -Cap. XXV. How the _fete_ of the guild is to be kept, the rectors to -have full power to command. - -Cap. XXVI. How wax candles shall be sent to the monks of the -Mantellini for the _festa_. - -Cap. XXVII. How tithes are to be paid. - -Cap. XXVIII. That all orders come from the Grand Master. - -Cap. XXIX. How the outgoing officials shall instruct the new ones. -(_i.e._ The council of administration which was changed periodically.) - -Cap. XXX. That no Master may undertake a second work till the first -has been paid. - -Cap. XXXI. Brick-makers and quarry-men must abide by the rules of the -guild. - - * * * * * - -Cap. XXXIV. On those who lie against others. - -Cap. XXXV. Those who demand a meeting or consultation shall pay -fifteen soldi to the guild. - -Cap. XXXVI. That the Grand Master on retiring from office shall call -three _riveditori_[217] to examine his accounts. - -Cap. XXXIX. That no master of woodwork shall work in stone. - -Cap. XL. The _Breve_ (statutes) shall be revised every year. - -Cap. XLI. On the entry into the lodge, of Masters from the city or -neighbourhood. - -The statutes are very fair and well composed, and must certainly have -been made from long experience in the guild. - -In 1447 we find a further split. The Masters of wood-carving secede -from the sculptors in stone, and form their own statutes. Little by -little, as art becomes more perfect and requires more freedom, the -Masonic monopoly of centuries is dissolving. - -We must now return to the building of the Duomo by this multitude of -brethren. - -It was in 1259 that the civic Council decided to continue the work of -restoration in the Duomo of Siena, and formed a council of nine -influential citizens, together with the _Magistri_ of the Masonic -Guild, to superintend the work. By February 1321 their ideas and -ambitions had so enlarged that they proposed to make the present -church the transept, and to add a great nave, "to make a beautiful and -magnificent church, with all rich and suitable ornamentation." The new -nave was really begun, and a high bare wall with a fine window in it -remains to this day to puzzle the tourist. This vast design was, -however, abandoned, and the building continued on a less ambitious -scale. - -Now for details of all these changes. Before Giovanni Pisano's time we -only get a few quaint names such as Magister Manuellus, son of the -late Rinieri, who made the stalls in the choir in 1259; Luglio -Benintendi, Ventura Diotisalvi, Magister Gratia or Gracii, Ristorus, -Stefano Jordano, Orlando Bovacti, nearly all of whom were Masters from -other lodges either in Lombardy or Pisa. There are besides two other -Venture--one Ventura di Gracii, and one Ventura called Trexsa. All -these are named as being called in a council of the guild of June 9, -1260, to consider the stability of some vaulting lately made, but I -can find no _capo magistro_ at this date. Several of these are names -known in other cities where the guild had lodges. Ventura's father, -Diotisalvi, built the Baptistery at Pisa; Magister Gracii came from -Padua, Stefano Jordanus had a son, Johannes Stephani, who was witness -to Niccolo di Pisa's receipt for payment by Fra Melano of 78 gold lire -and IV denarii for his pulpit in the Duomo on July 26, together with -Orlando, son of Orlando Bovacti, and Ventura di Rapolano. Niccolo -himself had with him his son Giovanni, who also graduated in the guild -from the school of his father. Here, too, were Arnolfo, Lapo (the -younger), with Donato and Goro, who were students in Niccolo's school -of sculpture, and who worked so well at the sculpture at Siena that -when they became _Magistri_ in 1271, the three last were given the -freedom of the city.[218] They were not exclusively sculptors, -however, any more than Arnolfo was. Lapo was employed in 1281 as -architect at Colle, where Arnolfo's reputed father, the elder Lapo or -Jacopo il Tedesco, had been engaged by King Manfred long before him. -Goro di Ciucci Ciuti had three sons, Neri, Ambrogio, and Goro, all in -the guild. In 1306 we find them all engaged together in the fountain -of Follonica at Siena. In 1310 Neri's sons Ciolo and Nuto are -mentioned; one of them, having graduated, is old enough to have a -pupil, named Teri. Here is the deed of apprenticeship-- - - No. 26. "_1310, 16 Settembre._ - - "CIOLO, MAESTRO DI PIETRA DEL FU _NERI_ DA SIENA, PRENDE PER - SUO DISCEPOLO _TERI_ FRATELLO DI BALDINO DA CASTELFIORENTINO - (ARCHIVIO DEL DUOMO DI SIENA. PERGAMENA, 616). - - "In nomini Domini amen. Ex hoc publico instrumento sit omnibus - manifestum; quod _Ciolus_ magister lapidum de cappella sancti - Salvatoris in Ponte, quondam _Nerii_ de Senis, - fecit--Ugolinum, dictum Geriolum, de populo Sancti Joannis de - Senis--suum procuratorem--ad recipiendum pro eo et ejus vice - et nomine, _Terium_, germanum Baldini de Castro Florentino, - nunc commorantem Senis, in discipulum et pro discipulo - suprascripti _Cioli_. Et ad promictendum ipsi _Terio_, vel ali - persone pro eo, quod ipse _Ciolus_ magister tenebit eundem - _Terium_ in suum et pro suo discipulo, ad terminum et terminos - statuendum et statuendos a dicto _Ciolo_; et quod eum dictam - suam artem de lapidibus docebit. - - "Actum Pisis, in via publica ante domum habitationis Duccii - Nerii Bonaveris, positam in via sancte Marie, in cappella - sancte Eufraxie.--Dominice incarnationis anno Domini Millesimo - trecentesimo decimo, Indictione septima, sextodecimo Kal: - Octobris, secundum cursum pisanorum. - - "Ego Bonaccursus filius quondam Provincialis de - Vecchiano--not:--scripsi."--(Reproduced from Milanesi, - _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, vol. i. pp. 174, - 175.) - -In 1281 a Grand Council was called to revoke the banishment of one of -the Lombard Masters, Ramo di Paganello.[219] It seems that Ramo's -father was from Lombardy, "de partibus ultramontanis;" but the son had -been made a citizen of Siena, whence he was exiled for contumacy. -However, he was such a good sculptor that the edict was revoked. The -report begins-- - -"1281, 20 Novembre.--Item cum Magister Ramus filius Paganelli de -partibus ultramontanis, qui olim fuit civis senensis, venerit nunc ad -civitatem Sen: pro serviendo operi beate Marie de Senis; ex eo quod -est de bonis intalliatoribus et sculptoribus, et subtilioribus de -mundo qui inveniri possit: et ad dictum servitium morari non potest, -eo quod invenitur exbannitus et condenpnatus per contumaciam, -occasione quod debuit jacere cum quadam muliere; eo existente extra -civitatem Senensem: si videtur vobis conveniens quod debeat rebanniri -et absolvi de banno et condenpnationibus suis, ad hoc ut possit libere -et secure servire dicto operi ad laudem et honorem Dei, et beate Marie -Virginis, in Dei nomine consulate." - -The first head architect, who is definitely styled _Capo maestro dell' -Opera_, is Giovanni Pisano, who, when he came to work with his father -at the pulpit in 1266, seems to have taken root in Siena, as did his -fellow-pupils Lapo, Donato, and Goro. Arnolfo, the fourth of the -group, found his mission in Florence. - -Signor Milanesi has not succeeded in finding the document referring to -Giovanni da Pisa's election, but he finds that, in 1284, the Sienese, -in gratitude for the services he has rendered in the building of the -Duomo, and especially the facade, gave him the freedom of the city, -and immunity from taxes.[220] - -Like most artists, Giovanni must have been Bohemian in his ways, or -careless in his political expressions, for in October 1290 he was -fined the large sum of 600 lire, and had not the wherewithal to pay. -He got off by paying a third, but even this Fra Jacopo, one of the -_Operai_ of the Duomo, had to advance. It was probably repaid from his -salary by instalments.[221] From these documents we gather that the -facade was not designed by Lorenzo Maitani, as has generally been -supposed. If the Commune of Siena in 1284 acknowledged Giovanni's -talent in building the Duomo and the facade, Lorenzo Maitani, who only -began to be chief architect of Orvieto from 1310, certainly could not -have been old enough to design the front of Siena cathedral. Moreover -Milanesi expressly says that, with all his research in the archives, -he can find no mention whatever of Maitani's being connected in any -prominent manner with Siena cathedral.[222] He most likely worked at -it as Giovanni's pupil, and this, with the general tenets of the -guild, would sufficiently account for the similarity between the two -churches. - -The tenets of the guild were certainly veering towards the Gothic, and -each generation of its members made a new step. Jacopo Tedesco at -Assisi, and Niccolo Pisano in his pulpit, showed the first sign of -transition; their sons and pupils, Arnolfo at Florence, and Giovanni -at Siena, developed the style still further, and their successors -fully expanded it at Milan. - -Giovanni was a lover of the Gothic, but was not yet entirely -converted. His windows, like Arnolfo's, were pointed, the points -emphasized by ornate Gothic gables over them; but the three arches of -the doorways are of a Lombard roundness, the pointed effect being only -conveyed by the superimposed gables. Yet the turrets and saint-filled -niches of the upper part of the facade are as rich, and pointed, and -pinnacled as any Gothic cathedral could be. He had not discovered, as -the Germans afterwards did, the beauty of the upward line. The old -classic leaning to the horizontal line still cuts up the design; and -the little Lombard pillared gallery still stretches across the front, -though beautified and gothicized. He did not forget the sign of the -guild in this transition period; for there on the columns, and beneath -the arches, are the lions of Judah. - -It is not positively certain whether the present facade was the one -originally designed by Giovanni or not. We find that in November 1310, -a commission of ten Master builders was formed, to superintend the -work of the mosaic, already commenced, and to guard against useless -expenses. Milanesi supposes this to refer to some mosaics destined for -the facade, especially as in 1358 a Maestro Michele di Ser Memmo was -paid six gold florins for his work, "per la sua fadigha (fatica) e -magistero di Santo Michele agnolo, a musaica (_sic_) che fecie a la -facciata di duomo nel canto."[223] The front, as it is at present, has -no mosaics; probably Giovanni Pisano's plan was modified in later -days. It is certain that after Giovanni's death in 1299 great changes -of design were made. - -The interior has the same mixture as the facade; there are round -arches below in the nave, and pointed windows above in the clerestory. -The black and white marble, significant of the times though it be, -detracts much from the effect of the really fine architecture by -cutting it up in slices. Fergusson recognized the purely Italian -pedigree of Siena cathedral.[224] "That at Siena," he says, -"illustrates forcibly the tendency exhibited by the Italian architects -to adhere to the domical forms of the old Etruscans, which the -Byzantines made peculiarly their own. It is much to be regretted that -the Italians only, of all the Western mediaeval builders, showed any -predilection for this form of roof. On this side of the Alps it would -have been made the most beautiful of architectural forms." - -We cannot, however, endorse Mr. Fergusson's next assertion--"in Italy -there is no instance of more than moderate success--nothing, indeed, -to encourage imitation." In the face of the domes of St. Peter's at -Rome, S. Marco at Venice, the cathedrals of Florence, Parma, Padua, -Siena, and Monreale, this is rather a hard saying. - -The Sienese had, as we have said, proposed to so enlarge the church by -adding a huge nave, that the present church would only form the -transept. This was begun, but when the works had already advanced the -plan was abandoned. Provisional _Magistri_ were called to form a -committee, which met in council on February 17, 1321, and here, for -the first time in Siena, we find Lorenzo Maitani giving his vote. He -was called to attend the meeting from Orvieto, where he had been _capo -maestro_ of the works from 1310. He, with Niccola Nuti, Gino di -Francesco, Tone di Giovanni, and Vanni di Cione (one of Orcagna's -relatives from Florence), formed the council. After due deliberation -they pronounced on the inconvenience of proceeding with the addition -to the Duomo, and decided to build a new church of more moderate -dimensions, which should still be large and magnificent. The work now -continued without interruption; and on November 20, 1333, we find -another Council of Masters was called, in which twelve of the guild -severally swear "testis juratis die supra scripta et sancta Dei -evangelia, corporaliter tactis scripturis dicere veritatem, suo -juramento testificando dixit," etc., that the walls and foundations -were strong and firm. - - [Illustration: FRONT OF SIENA CATHEDRAL. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER GIOVANNI - PISANO. - _See page 295._] - -The next _capo maestro_ was Master Lando or Orlando di Pieri, son of -Piero, a metal-worker of the guild, who was recalled from Naples in -1339. He was a Lombard, though a naturalized citizen of Siena. They -say Lando is "a most legal man (_omo legalissimus_), not only in his -own special branch (gold-working), but in many others; is a man of the -greatest ingenuity and invention, both with regard to the building of -churches and the erection of palaces and private houses; a good -engineer for roads, bridges, or fountains, and, above all, a citizen -of Siena."[225] Here we see signs of the jealousy of the Lombard -Guild, which caused the schism of which we have spoken. Lando was -truly an acknowledged genius. He made the coronet with which the -Emperor Henry VII. was crowned at Milan in 1311. Muratori (cap. -xiii.), quoting an old Latin dissertation on the "corona ferrea," says -the maker of the crown was present, "presente magistro Lando de Senis, -aurifabro predicti domini Regis, qui predictam coronam propriis -manibus fabricavit." We hear no more of his gold work; but in 1322 he -was employed in Florence to hang the great bell of the palace of the -Signoria, and make it ring (Ita quod de facili pulsatur et pulsari -potest), for which he was paid 300 gold florins. In his architectural -capacity he was employed at Naples by King Robert of Anjou, but was -recalled from there to Siena in 1339, and made _caput magister_ of the -builders of the Duomo. The contract, signed on December 3, 1339, binds -him for three years at a salary of 200 lire a year. - -The accounts of the _Opera_ have some interesting articles connected -with the laying of the foundations of the revised plan. In August 1339 -the Masters were called into council on the enlargement of the Duomo, -as the nave was considered too short, and Ser Bindo, the notary of the -guild, had to supply them with five sheets of parchment at one lire a -sheet to make designs. Also two lire ten soldi were spent in bread, -meat, and wine, which were sent by the guild to the priests who -officiated when the first stone was laid. In March, Maestro Lando -again applied to Ser Bindo for parchment to make designs, which cost -him twenty-three soldi six denari. - -Whether these plans were accepted or not, I cannot tell--probably -not--for in the following March, Lando fell ill and died. He left a -son, Pietro di Lando, also in the guild, and who was naturalized -Florentine when he joined that lodge. A document cited by Gaye -(_Carteggio_, etc. vol. i. p. 73) shows Pietro to have worked with -Giovanni di Lazzero de Como and a Buono Martini at the fortifications -of Castel S. Angelo in Val di Sieve; the three architects solicited -the Signoria for the pay due to them. This Pietro was the father of -Vecchietta, who inherited more than his great-grandsire's talent for -working metal. - -The next _capo maestro_ after Lando was Giovanni, son of the famous -sculptor Agostino of Siena, who was, on March 23, 1340, elected for -five years. He had been head of the works at Orvieto in 1337, but did -not long remain there, for in 1338 we find him again in the pay of the -lodge of Siena, where a document in the archives of the Hospital notes -a payment for some work on April 26, to Maestro Giovanni, son of -Maestro Agostino of the _Opera_, and of the parish of S. Quirico.[226] - -After Giovanni I can find no mention of a _capo maestro_ till February -16, 1435, when Jacopo della Quercia, otherwise "Magister Jacobus, -Magistri Petri," was elected _operajo_ (president of the Council), -_i.e._ Grand Master. His salary was fixed at one hundred gold florins -as long as he lived, and his wife was to have a pension at his death. -There were several conditions specified to which he had to agree. But -he had so many other engagements, at S. Petronio in Bologna, at Parma, -and Lucca, that he absented himself too much from Siena to please the -_Opera_ there. As early as March 1434-35, a month after his election, -we find him leaving two of the Council of Administration to rule in -his absence. The absence must have been a lengthy one, for on October -22, 1435, the Signoria of the Commune write to him as follows--"Magister -Jacobo Pieri electus Operaio, etc. etc.... As you have been fully -informed, you ought before the past month to have taken action, and -performed the duties undertaken by you in regard to the office of -_Operaio_ of our Church, to which our Councils elected you. We and our -councillors have waited all the past month, expecting that, for the -honour of the Commune, and its needs at the hands of the said _Opera_, -you would return. Now we are at October 22, and you do not appear to -think of it. God knows how the citizens are complaining and murmuring -against you. Therefore we have decided to write to you, that without -fail, and with no delay, you must immediately present yourself to -perform your duties, and let nothing hinder you. If you do not do -this, it will cause us great astonishment and inconvenience."[227] - -The Council of the _Opera_ wrote a long Latin letter at the same time, -exhorting their chief to return and satisfy the claims of the Commune. -Whether he came or not I cannot say, but it appears not for any length -of time, as on March 26, 1436, we find him at Parma, writing a defiant -kind of letter to the _Operai_ of San Petronio at Bologna, who had -appealed to him to finish his engagements there. By 1439 we find Jacopo -della Quercia had died, and his brother Priam was writing repeated -petitions to the _Opera_ at Siena about his inheritance from Jacopo, -which it seems a certain pupil of Jacopo's called Cino Bartoli was -withholding from him. - -So the work went on for centuries. There are contracts with different -Masters for sculptures, for windows, for towers, for chapels, each -Master designing the part assigned to him. Francesco del Tonghio -obtained great fame for his carvings of the stalls in the choir in -1377, where his son Giacomo assisted him. We find him in Florence some -time later, and his fame must have preceded him, for he is known there -as "Francesco of the Choir" (Francesco del Coro). - -It is impossible to name a single architect for any of these great -buildings; they were all the united work of a self-governed guild. - -During the centuries when the Duomo of Siena rose into beauty, her -sister of Orvieto also grew under the hands of the same brotherhood. - -Lorenzo Maitani, having been trained by his master, Giovanni di Pisa, -at Siena, was called to Orvieto in 1310. His family lasted long in the -guild, and won much fame. His father Vitale was a master sculptor who -had worked under Niccolo and Giovanni. His sons Vitale and Antonio -both graduated in the Siena or Orvieto Lodge, and Vitale became chief -architect at Orvieto for six months only, on Lorenzo's death, when -Master Meo di Nuti di Neri succeeded him. - -It is not probable that beyond the design, Maitani had much to do with -the facade, which was incomplete till about 1500. The beautiful Bible -in stone which adorns the pilasters of the three fine doors may have -been designed by Maitani, but the work was done by his sons, with the -help of many sculptors of the guild from Siena, Florence, and -Lombardy. The upper part was not added till the time of Michele -Sanmichele of Verona, who in 1509 was nominated chief architect of the -facade at a salary of one hundred florins a year. He is described as -"Magistrum Michaelem, Magistri Johannis de Verona, principalem -magistrum fabrice faciate de Urbe vetere."[228] - - [Illustration: DOOR IN ORVIETO CATHEDRAL. - _See page 305._] - -The enthusiastic work of the numberless artists all vying with each -other in beautifying this marvellous church bore rather heavily on the -funds of the _Opera_, for in August 1521 the _camarlengo_ had to stop -the expenses of the facade and finish some more needful parts of the -church first. So "Mag. Michael Johannes Michaelis, Caput Magister -dicte Fabrice," was given permission to absent himself for three days -a week, for other work (no doubt the church at Spello), and the -_Opera_ continued his salary on half-pay.[229] About this time a -competition was offered among the _Magistri_ for the best design for -the chapel of the Three Kings at Orvieto. Antonio Sangallo and Michele -were the two best, and when Pope Clement VII. fled to Orvieto from the -sack of Rome in 1527, the choice was made with his concurrence, -Michele's being chosen. Both San Michele and San Gallo rose to extreme -eminence in the guild; many of the finest palaces in Florence and -Venice were by them. It is interesting to find that they were both -Lombard brethren of the guild by hereditary descent. - -The preponderance of Lombards in all these later lodges is sufficient -proof of the connection of these lodges with the older Comacines, from -whom their ancestry can be traced direct. - -In April 1422 we find Maestro Piero di Beltrami da Biscione and his -Lombard companions arranging with the _Opera_ for the purchase and -cutting of marbles and travertine. In September 1444 Guglielmo di Como -and his brother Pietro da Como were commissioned to make a mausoleum -in the Duomo for the Bishop of Siena. A contemporary of theirs was -Giuliano da Como, who was of such repute in the guild, that the -Council of the _Opera_, "considering the _virtu_ of Maestro Giuliano -and the desirability of keeping him in Siena, deliberated to accord to -him a loan he requested, of seventy florins to buy a house."[230] - -Again, on May 25, 1421, the Republic of Siena wrote to Filippo -Visconti Duke of Milan that a Maestro Giovanni, son of Maestro Leone -da Piazza near Como, was anxious to return to his native country, to -see his family and to arrange a law-suit; and they recommended him to -the Lords of Milan because he had greatly won the affection and esteem -of the Sienese republic by his good life and his eminence in his art -of sculpture. - -A certain "Maestro Alberto di Martino de Cumo in provincie Lombardie" -was engaged by the _Opera_ on March 2, 1448, as a builder, in company -with Giovan Francesco of Valmaggia and Lanzilotto di Niccola of Como. - -When the Piccolomini wanted to build a splendid palace in Siena, they -did not choose their architects from the faction of their townspeople, -but from the original Lombard branch. Martino di Giorgio da Varenna -(near Bidagio on Lake Como) was chief architect, and Lorenzo from -Mariano in the Lugano valley assisted him as sculptor. He carved the -beautiful capitals and friezes in the palace, and his work so pleased -the Piccolomini, that they employed him to erect an altar and decorate -their chapel in the church of S. Francesco. Milanesi says that Lorenzo -da Mariano was one of the best artists of his time for foliaged -scrolls and grotesques.[231] In 1506 he was _capo maestro_ of the -Duomo of Siena. Maestro Lorenzo was no doubt one of the precursors of -the sculptors of the beautiful cathedral of Como, and the richly -ornate Certosa of Pavia, who were trained in the Sienese _laborerium_. - -A fellow-countryman, named Maestro Matteo di Jacopo, came from Lugano -with Lorenzo, and together with Maestro Adamo da Sanvito (also in Val -di Lugano) undertook the great engineering work of making an -artificial lake, to drain the then malarious country round Massa in -Maremma. - -Martino di Giorgio had a relative who became more famous than himself. -This was Francesco di Giorgio di Martino--three names in rotation are -generally enough to supply an Italian family for centuries,--who -continued the work at Palazzo Piccolomini (Vasari gives him the credit -for the whole), and was one of the architects of the palace at Urbino. - -Milanesi, the commentator of Vasari, asserts that Francesco was the -son of a seller of fowls in Siena, because he found the name of a -"Giorgio di Martino, pollajuolo," in the registers, but seeing that he -was bred in the guild, it is much more likely that he was related to -the Giorgio di Martino already eminent there. His family had certainly -become citizens of Siena by that date. - -Maestro Francesco di Giorgio Martini holds a large share in the -correspondence of the Sienese government and of the _Opera_ in the -latter part of the fifteenth century. - -On December 26, 1486, we find him first entering the pay of the -Sienese Commune as public architect. He has a salary of 800 florins, -and is bound to fix his home at Siena. He was recalled from Urbino for -the purpose, having orders to arrive within six months, but the Duke -Guidobaldo was not at all willing for him to leave. On May 10, 1489, -the Duke writes to say that the absence of his architect (_mio -architector_) would be a serious injury to him. - -During the time Francesco remained in Umbria he seems to have done the -Commune good political service by keeping them informed of the dangers -that threatened Florence from the offensive alliance between Lorenzo -de Medici and the Pope Innocent VIII., who designed to take Citta di -Castello for Francesco Cibo. This would have endangered the peace of -Siena, so the architect warned them to be prepared. - -After this, Magister Francesco became the bone of contention among -several princes and republics. The Duke of Milan wrote, on April 19, -1490, to the Signoria of Siena, begging them to send the -"intellexerimus magistrum Franciscum Giorgium Urbinatem" (see how the -place he last worked at is named as his residence!) to Milan to give -his opinion on the mode of placing the cupola. The Commune gave the -permission, and on June 27, 1490, we find Magistro Francisco di Georgi -di Siena (here again at Milan he is styled of Siena), with Magistro -Johantonio Amadeo (Omodeo) and Johanjacobo Dolzebono (Gian Giacomo -Dolcebono), elected as a supreme council of three, and giving their -advice on the erection of the cupola at Milan, with the exact plan and -measurements which would harmonize with the building as it then stood. -He did not remain to see the plans carried out, but was on his recall -to Siena remunerated with one hundred florins by the Fabbrica -(_Opera_) of Milan. - -On October 24 of the same year, Giovanni della Rovere, the Prefect of -Rome, wrote to the Signoria of Siena praying for the service of their -architect, and on November 4, 1490, Virginio Orsino, Duke of -Bracciano, begged him to go and build a fortress at Campagnano. - -Next Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, wanted him at the Castle of Capua, -where he went between February and May 1491, and in August of the same -year the Anziani, Lords of Lucca, petitioned for him. And so he is -called from end to end of Italy, and wherever he goes he is received -with honour as a grand architect.[232] - -At Orvieto we find the same preponderance of Lombards as in Siena. -The register of the _Opera_ there for August 30, 1293, gives the -salaries of the _Magistri_ in the Loggia (lodge) of the Fabbrica. Here -we find many of our Sienese friends; Magistro Orlando and Guido da -Como receive six soldi a day; Magistro Martino da Como seven. We find -also Pietro Lombardo, Giacomo and Benedetto da Como, sculptors; -Martino, Guido, and Aroldo as successive chief architects in the -Fabbrica or _Opera_. - -In 1305 the _camarlengo_ had to write to Lombardy for more builders -and sculptors, for, says Della Valle, "la fama di volo ne spargesse il -grido fin oltre ai confini d'Italia," and in December four _Magistri_ -arrived--"Mag. Franciscus Lombardus, Mag. Marchettus Lombardus, Mag. -Benedictus Lombardus, and Johannes de Mediolano (Milan)." I do not -know which of these sculptured the door of which we give an -illustration, but the artist has set the sign of his fraternity on it -in the lions beneath the pillars. (One is now missing.) - -The Lodge of Orvieto, sometimes spelt _Loya_ or _Loja_, is described -as a large, spacious, and airy building, in which the sculpturing of -stones and marbles was done, and where the stores and the schools -were.[233] - -The use of the word "Lodge" for this complicated organization seems a -sign of Freemasonry, and suggests that the Comacines followed the -ancient rules of Vitruvius, and kept up the organization of the Roman -_Collegium_. - -We have, I think, proved this to be true, and shown that the same -organization held good up to the fifteenth century, if not longer. -Signor Milanesi's interesting collection of Sienese documents, if -studied closely, contains endless indications of the existence of the -guild. We find several cases of arbitration, such as when Doctor -Filippo Francesconi, and Maestro Lorenzo di Pietro, called -Vecchietta, were chosen on September 20, 1471, as arbiters between -Maestro Urbano di Pietro of Cortona, sculptor, and Bastiano di -Francesco, stone-cutter, his workman, who lodged a complaint against -his master on account of unpaid wages and loss of tools. This same -Urbano appears to have been frequently in need of arbiters, for on -Jan. 27, 1471-72, Bertino di Gherardo was called on to settle a cause -between Madonna Caterina, wife of Silvio Piccolomini, and the sculptor -Urbano, and decided that the lady must pay the artist 100 lire within -the term of four years, the payments to be made quarterly. It was at -the lady's option to pay in kind, such as corn or wine, if it suited -her better.[234] Then there are frequent meetings of councils for -appraising the work of other Masters, and we find the _Operaio_, or -Head of Administration, fixing the salaries of underlings. Precisely -the same meetings, arbitrations, appraisings, went on in Florence. -Indeed, in the fifteenth century the two lodges of Siena and Florence -were so closely intermingled, the Masters appearing now in one city -and then in the other, that there can be no doubt a fraternity existed -between them. We even find Donatello, who came from Florence to make -the bronze doors, sleeping in a feather bed supplied by the -_camarlengo_ of the _Opera_ at Siena.[235] - -Donatello was more or less in Siena between 1457 and 1461. He was -engaged to sculpture the altar of the Madonna of the Duomo there on -October 17, 1457. His accounts are much mixed up with those of Urbano -di Pietro of Cortona, of whom we have spoken. It seems Urbano bought -the metal to cast a half figure of Judith, and one of St. John, both -modelled by Donatello. The money, however, was advanced to Urbano by -the banker Dalgano di Giacomo Bichi. The books of the _camarlengo_ of -the _Opera_ have several entries for expenses of modelling wax, and -metal for casting, etc., used by Donatello in the figures on the altar -of the Madonna delle Grazie; his assistants and pupils on this -occasion were Francesco di Andrea di Ambrogio, of Lombard origin, and -Bartolommeo di Giovanni di Ser Vincenzo. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[210] All the Masters marked * were receiving pay at the Duomo of -Siena in 1318. - -[211] All the Masters marked [+] gave their opinion, on oath, of the -works at the Duomo of Siena in councils in 1333. - -[212] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. vii. p. 210, -quoted from an ancient MS. cited by Cicognara. - -[213] Pope Alexander had a long reign from 1159 to 1181, but there -were four antipopes to harass him during its duration. - -[214] Reproduced in Milanesi's _Documenti per l' Arte Senese_, vol. i. -pp. 128, 129. - -[215] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, p. 130. - -[216] These Four Holy Martyrs are the "Santi Quattro Incoronati," the -patron saints of the guild. We find from the _Breve_ that at the feast -of the dead, on November 2, all the Masters and officers of the guild -had to meet in their chapel to hear mass. Each Master was to bring a -wax taper not weighing less than half-a-pound, and was to make an -offering for the maintenance of the chapel, etc., of whatever he could -afford. The Rector (Grand Master) was obliged by oath to enforce the -strict observance of the day, and to fine any Magister who, being in -Siena, should absent himself from the meeting, fifteen soldi, besides -the offering he ought to have made. They had another greater feast of -the Four Martyrs in June, the grand _fete_ of the guild. - -[217] In Florence and Venice the _riveditori_ are called _probi viri_, -sometimes they are _Buonuomini_. - -[218] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ pp. 153, 154. - -[219] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. 157. - -[220] "De immunitate magistri Johannis quondam magistri Nichole. - -"Item statuerunt et ordinaverunt, quod magister Johannes filius -quondam magistri Nicchole, qui fuit de civitate Pisana, pro cive et -tanquam civis senensis habeatur et defendatur. Et toto tempore vite -sue sit immunis ab omnibus et singulis honeribus comunis Senensis: seu -datiis et collectis et exactionibus et factionibus et exercitiis -faciendis et aliis quibuscumque."--Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. -163. - -[221] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 162. - -[222] _Ibid._ p. 173, note. - -[223] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 103, note. Magister Michele, the -lawyer's son, was in 1360 Master builder of the chapel towards the -Piazza del Campo, and in 1370 was _camarlengo_ of the _Opera_. - -[224] Fergusson, _Handbook of Architecture_, p. 770. - -[225] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 228, gives the original Latin report of -the deliberation. - -[226] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. 242. - -[227] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, vol. ii. -p. 166. - -[228] He was also _capo maestro_ of the works of the cathedral at -Spello, near Orvieto. - -[229] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. vii. p. 231. - -[230] Document quoted by Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. -vii. p. 216. Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 282. - -[231] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 77. - -[232] All these letters are reproduced in Milanesi's _Documenti per -l' Arte Senese_, vol. ii. pp. 430-452. - -[233] "Entro il quale facevasi l'acconciatura delle pietre, el erano -le masserizie e la scuola."--Della Valle, _Il Duomo di Orvieto_. - -[234] Milanesi, _Doc. per la storia_, etc., vol. ii. p. 48. - -[235] 1459. Uno letto e chapezale di penna di peso libbre 200 die dare -lire trenta-una; soldi uno: denari otto. Sono per tanti ne abiamo -messi a uscita di Vanni di Ser Giovanni di Bindo Kamarlingho; il quale -letto lo tiene al presente Maestro Donatello da Firenze che fa le -porti di bronzo. Archivio detto Libro Rosso a carte 162 pergo. -Milanesi, _Documenti_, etc., vol. ii. p. 298. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE FLORENTINE LODGE - - -THE FLORENTINE LODGE - - ----+---------+--------------------------+--------------------------------- - 1. | 1258 | Magister Jacopo Tedesco | Built castles at Arezzo and - | | da Campione | Poppi; and the Bargello at - | | | Florence. - | 1298 } | | - 2. | to } | M. Arnolfo (his son?) | C.M. of the Duomo. Built the - | 1310 } | | Palazzo Vecchio. - | | | - 3. | 1340-48 | M. Giotto | Designed the campanile, and - | | | sculptured the first row of - | | | reliefs. - | | | - 4. | | M. Andrea Pisano | Made door of Baptistery. - | | | - 5. | 1349-59 | M. Francesco Talenti | C.M. of the Duomo. - | | | - 6. | 1350 | M. Neri Fieravanti } | - | | } | - 7. | | M. Niccolaus Beltrami } | Four Masters who went to - | | } | Carrara to buy marbles for the - 8. | | M. Benozzus Niccolaus, } | Campanile, of which they were - | | his son } | joint architects. - | | } | - 9. | | M. Albertus Arnoldi } | - | | | - 10. | 1355 | M. Frate Jacopo | Brother of Francesco Talenti; - | | | sent to Rome for marbles. - | | | - 11. | " | M. Francesco da Siena | Carved stalls in Siena - | | (called Francesco del | cathedral: sent for to carve the - | | Coro) | stalls of the choir of S. Croce. - | | | - 12. | " | M. Benci Cione | { Father of Orcagna. They were - | | | { called in the Council of the - 13. | " | M. Ristoro Cione (a | { Opera to consider Francesco - | | relative) | { Talenti's design for the - | | | { chapels, July 1355. - | | | - 14. | " | M. Lapo Ghino | Descended from Ghini Ventura - | | | di Diotisalvi of Siena. - | | | - 15. | " | M. Giovanni di Lapo | C.M. with F. Talenti, 1360 to - | | Ghino.[236] | 1368. - | | | - 16. | | M. Bartolo da S. Ghallo | A Lombard from S. Gall, - | | | grandfather of the famous - | | | Giuliano and Antonio San Gallo. - | | | - 17. | 1356 | M. Ambrogio Lenzi | Son of Guglielmo da Campione; - | | (Ambroxios da Campione) | was C.M. of the Baptistery in - | | | 1356; C.M. of the Duomo in 1362. - | | | - 18. | | M. Stefano Metti | - | | | - 19. | 1357 | M. Domenico di Noffo | Sent to Siena to buy marbles. - | | | - 20. | " | M. Giovanni Belchari | { These three were joint C. - | | | { Maestri for the upper part of - 21. | | M. Vigi Grilli | { the Campanile. In 1362 Gio. - | | | { Belchari was poor and infirm, - 22. | | M. Bancho Falchi | { and the guild gave him a - | | | { pension. - | | | - 23. | | M. Agostino Falchi } | - | | (brother of the } | Joint Masters for the walls - | | preceding) } | and columns of the Duomo. - | | } | - 24. | | M. Niccolo Megli } | - | | | - 25. | | M. Andrea di Cione | In council with Frati and - | | (Orcagna) | Magistri about the space - | | | between the columns. Later he - | | | became famous as painter and - | | | sculptor, and made the shrine - | | | in Or San Michele. - | | | - 26. | | M. Jacopo di Lapo | Makes a model of the shaft. - | | Chavacciani | - | | | - 27. | | M. Mato di Cenni } | These were engaged for the - | | } | bases of the columns. - 28. | | M. Jacopo di Polo } | - | | | - 29. | 1362 | M. Barna Batis | Provveditore after Filippo - | | | Marsili. - | | | - 30. | | M. Davinus Corsi | - | | | - 31. | 1363 | M. Simone Johannes dal | Engaged to carve the twisted - | | Pino | columns of red marble in the - | | | windows of the Duomo. - | | | - 32. | " | M. Ambrosius Ghini | A relative of Lapo Ghino. - | | | - 33. | 1364 | M. Sandro Macci | In council on the domes, with - | | | many others named before and - | | | after. - | | | - 34. | | M. Francesco Neri | Sculptured pila and relief in - | | Sellari | S. Croce. - | | | - 35. | 1366 | M. Simone di Francesco | C.M. of Or S. Michele in 1376. - | | Talenti | With Taddeo Ristori in 1366 he - | | | made a design for a chapel. - | | | - 36. | " | M. Jacopo Pauli | Engaged Aug. 31, 1366, to make - | | | capitals for columns in the - | | | sacristy. - | | | - 37. | " | M. Mato Jacobi } | - | | } | - 38. | " | M. Aldobrando Jacobi } | His three sons who assisted - | | } | him. - 39. | " | M. Corso Jacobi } | - | | | - 40. | 1367 | M. Bernabe Pieri } | Made a contract on Aug. 31, - | | } | 1366, to carve some capitals. - 41. | " | M. Manetti Pieri } | - | | | - 42. | 1368 | M. Francesco Michaeli | Advises about Or San Michele - | | | with Gio. di Lapo Ghino. - | | | - 43. | | M. Mattheo olim Cionis | One of the Masters employed - | | | in Or San Michele, brother of - | | | Orcagna. - | | | - 44. | 1375 | M. Giovanni Giuntini | - | | | - 45. | | M. Francesco Salvetti | C.M. in 1375, but resigned - | | | later in favour of Giovanni - | | | Fetti. - | | | - 46. | 1376 | M. Taddeo Ristori | One of the Cione family; - | | | architect at Or San Michele, - | | | and the Loggia de' Lanzi after - | | | his uncle Benci Cione. - | | | - 47. | | M. Ambrogio di Vanni } | - | | } | Masters in stone-carving. - 48. | | M. Leonardo olim Masis } | - | | | - 49. | 1377 | M. Johannes Michaeli, | Went to Prato on Oct. 2, 1377, - | | brother of Francesco | with Tommaso Mattei to buy - | | (No. 42) | marble. - | | | - 50. | | M. Tommaso Mattei | Son of Matteo di Cione. - | | | - 51. | | M. Zenobio Bartholi | Was paid 18 florins on Dec. - | | | 15, 1377, for a figure of the - | | | Angel Michael. He also carved - | | | two other figures at 20 - | | | florins. - | | | - 52. | " | M. Simone Francesci | Elected C.M. in 1377. Son of - | | Talenti | the C.M. Francesco. He - | | | sculptured a figure in 1377, - | | | and was paid 13 florins. - | | | - 53. | 1380 | M. Jacopo da Scopeto | Worked in the choir. - | | | - 54. | | M. Pietro Landi of Siena | Son of the famous Lando, C.M. - | | | of Siena Lodge. - | | | - 55. | 1381 | M. Johannes Fetti | Elected C.M. with Guazetta on - | | | March 14, 1381. Designed the - | | | window under the vault on the - | | | north side. - | | | - 56. | | M. Johannes Stefani, | Was a famous Master in - | | called Guazetta, son of | woodwork; he was noted for - | | No. 18. | foundations and scaffolding. - | | | - 57. | 1383 | M. Laurentius Filippi | C.M. of the Loggia dei Lanzi - | | | with Benci Cione, who was - | | | master builder. - | | | - 58. | 1384 | M. Giovanni di Ambrogio | Gave his vote at a meeting on - | | da Lenzo (son of | April 4, 1384, about the - | | No. 17). | pilasters of the tribune. Was - | | | chosen C.M. on Feb. 28, 1400. - | | | - | 1386 | M. Luca di Giovanni da | Carved some angels. - | | Siena | - | | | - 59. | 1388 | M. Michael Johannis Lapi | Succeeded Lorenzo Filippi - | | Ghini | as C.M. on July 15, 1388. - | | | - 60. | 1389 | M. Antonio Francisci | Elected _Arch Magistrum_, - | | | but deposed in 1420 by the - | | | council; and Giovanni di - | | | Ambrogio of Campione was - | | | elected. - | | | - 61. | 1404 | M. Niccolao called Pela | Sculptured the door of the - | | | chapel of the Crucifix from - | | | Giovanni d'Ambrogio's design. - | | | - 62. | 1418 | M. Baptista Antoni (son | Elected C.M. when Giovanni - | | of Antonio, No. 60) | d'Ambrogio resigned by reason - | | | of old age. - | | | - 63. | | M. Piero d'Antonio | Nicknamed Fannulla (Do - | | (another son of Antonio, | nothing). - | | No. 60) | - | | | - 64. | " | *M. Matteo di Leonarda | All the masters marked * sent - | | | in plans for the Cupola. The - 65. | | *M. Vito da Pisa | design of Brunellesco, who I - | | | believe not to have been of - 66. | | *M. Piero di Santa Maria | the guild, was chosen. - | | | - 67. | | *M. Donatello | - | | | - 68. | | *M. Nanni di Banco | - | | | - 69. | | *M. Lorenzo Ghiberti | _Provisore_ of the Cupola with - | | | Baptista Antoni when - | | | Brunellesco's plan was chosen. - | | | - 70. | " | M. Andrea Berti }| - | | Martignoni }| - | | }| - 71. | " | M. Bonaiuti Pauli }| - | | }| All these Masters were employed - 72. | " | M. Papi di Andrea }| to erect a large model of the - | | }| design of Brunellesco for the - 73. | " | M. Aliosso }| Cupola, on the Piazza del - | | }| Duomo. - 74. | " | M. Cristoforo di Simone }| - | | }| - 75. | " | M. Giovanni di Tuccio }| - | | }| - 76. | " | M. Jacobo Rosso }| - | | | - 77. | " | M. Giovanni dell Abbaco | Worked at the Cupola under - | | | Brunellesco. - | | | - 78. | | M. Antonio di Vercelli | - | | | - | | M. Gherardo (_tedesco_) }| - | | }| - | | M. Ghabriella }| Three Germans who were paid - | | (_tedesco_) }| for models of a cupola. - | | }| - | | M. Averardo ("_magistro }| - | | teutonico_") }| - ----+---------+--------------------------+------------------------------- - -Art is like a flower. If the seeds are sown in favourable soil the -plant grows, develops, and bears beautiful blossoms, which in their -turn leave seed for future generations. If the soil be not favourable, -the plant may perhaps reach its flowering season, but it is weak, and -the seeds lack the power of reproduction. - -Thus in small cities like Modena, Parma, Orvieto, etc., the artistic -atmosphere and soil were wanting. The lodges of those cities never -became firmly rooted. The Lombard Masters placed there did their work, -and then moved to other cities, but the natives remained uninfluenced. -In Pisa, art first took root. The Pisans, whose artistic faculties had -been awakened by the classic spoils they had gathered together in -their conquests, found a practical outlet for them in the teaching of -the _laborerium_ set up in their midst by Buschetto and his assistants -and followers. Pisans joined the lodge, and from it great teachers -arose. Siena was the next lodge that took root, and drew native -artists into it; then followed Venice and Florence; and through them -all, distinct as they became in later times, the seed was always sown -by the Comacines or Lombard Masters. The Campionese and Buoni families -are at the bottom of all the Tuscan schools, and every one of these -cradles of art was of the self-same form, _i.e._ composed of the -school, the _laborerium_, and the _Opera_ of the Comacine Masters. - -And what connection had Arnolfo, the first designing architect of the -Florentine cathedral and Palazzo Vecchio, with this Masonic company? -He had much to do with it, inasmuch as he was an hereditary member, in -fact one of the aristocracy of the guild, and he had a most complete -training in it. The first trace we get of Arnolfo is his instruction -in the school of Magister Niccolo Pisano. The proof of this is a deed -drawn up in Siena on May 11, 1266, in which these words -occur--"requisivit Magistrum Nicholam Petri de Apulia quod ipse -faceret et curaret ita; quod Arnolfus discipulus suus statim veniret -Senas ad laborandum in dicto opere, cum ipso magistro Nichola." Here -we have Niccolo di Pisa as Master in the guild, and his disciple -Arnolfo not yet having graduated. - -Another paper relating to Niccolo's work on the pulpit at Siena -says--"Secum ducat Senas Arnolphum et Lapum, suos discipulos." - -By 1277 Arnolfo seems to have graduated, for when Niccolo and Giovanni -di Pisa were at work on the beautiful fountain at Perugia in that -year, Fra Bevignate, the _soprastante_ of the work, sent to call -Magister Arnolfo from Florence to assist in the sculpture of the -fountain. Arnolfo, however, declared in a letter dated Aug. 27, 1277, -that he could not go to Perugia, or undertake any work there without -the consent of King Charles of Anjou (King of Naples and Sicily) or of -Hugo, his vicar in Rome. King Charles was applied to, and on Sept. 10 -of that year he wrote conceding permission to Arnolfo to go and assist -his old master--then 74 years of age--and also to take the marbles -necessary.[237] - -These documents are very valuable apart from the fact they chronicle. -They show how the guild was not only privileged by the reigning -monarch, but that he was the active president of it. It explains all -those queer words on Longobardic inscriptions, beginning--"In tempore -Dominus Honorius Episcopus," "In tempore praesule Paschalis, etc.," -showing that they point out the reigning king, pope, or patron bishop -who was at the time president of the Great Guild. The name of this -highest magnate is usually followed in these inscriptions by the Grand -Master, _soprastante_ or _operaio_ of the special lodge. The -universality of the guild is also shown; its president, the king, -being at Naples, his "vice" at Rome. - -The next place in which we see Arnolfo is in Rome, where he worked -with his _socio_ (fellow Freemason), Pietro, at the tabernacle of San -Paolo fuori le mura. Here, with this ancestor of the Cosmati, Arnolfo -learned his love of polychrome sculpture, which he afterwards adapted -to the larger uses of architecture; for his grand Florentine Dome -seems only a magnified inlaid casket. There is a beautiful piece of -inlaid work in the Opera del Duomo which I believe to have been the -_pluteus_ or parapet of the tribune in Arnolfo's time. It is in the -Cosmatesque work which Arnolfo often executed. That he was as apt a -pupil of the Cosmatesque revival of the _opus Alexandrinum_ as he had -been of Niccolo's figure sculpture, and his father Jacopo's -architecture, is evident by his tomb of Cardinal de Braye at Orvieto, -where we next find him working in 1285.[238] The tomb is a beautiful -mixture of Cosmatesque ornamentation with the legitimate sculpture -which he had learned from Niccolo. The capitals of the spiral inlaid -columns of the sarcophagus are of the true old Romano-Lombard form. In -the simple grace of the recumbent figure we descry a forerunner of -Donatello and Desiderio. - -We have now traced Arnolfo's training through three or four of the -chief lodges, and always under the best Masters. It is then no marvel -that by 1294 his fame had risen so high that he was chosen as -architect of the Duomo of Florence. He was well known to the -Florentines, his master, Jacopo Tedesco, otherwise Lapo, having left -Colle to settle in Florence, where he was engaged to build the Palace -of the Podesta (Bargello). And this brings us to the vexed question of -the parentage of Arnolfo. - -Vasari says that Jacopo or Lapo, whom he calls "il Tedesco" (meaning -Lombard architect), was the father of Arnolfo, and he gives this as a -certain fact, understood to be the case by the world in general for -two or three centuries past. - -Milanesi, on the strength of the document quoted above, "Secum ducat -Senas Arnolphum et Lapum suos discipulos," says that Lapo was only -Arnolfo's contemporary and fellow-pupil. - - [Illustration: MONUMENT TO CARDINAL DE BRAYE. BY MAGISTER ARNOLFO. - _See page 314._] - -But neither Vasari nor Milanesi seem to reflect that there might have -been two Lapi. Certainly, if two youths are fellow-disciples of one -Master, it is not probable that the senior should be the son of the -other. On the other hand, if "Jacopo il Tedesco," said to be Arnolfo's -father, was elected head architect at Assisi in 1228, how could he -have been a young pupil of Niccolo di Pisa in 1266? - -Recognizing these difficulties, Milanesi sets out in search of a -father for Arnolfo, in place of Lapo, his fellow-pupil. He comes -across a document in the archives of the "Riformazione" of Florence, -dated MCCC. Aprile 1, where the privileges of citizenship are accorded -to "Magistrum Arnolphum de Colle, filium olim Cambij."[239] In quoting -this, Gaye[240] says that in spite of it the Florentines will persist -in calling Arnolfo the son of Lapo. Now cannot these conflicting facts -be reconciled? It is a strange fact that in no other Florentine deed -except this one privilege is any sign of parentage given to Arnolfo. -He is so enveloped in the greatness of being _caput magister_, and the -greatest architect of his day, that his parentage seems to be lost -sight of, though the universal custom of the day was to cite the -father's name as well as the son's in a document. Therefore, though we -have never before heard the surname of Jacopo il Tedesco, there is no -reason in the world why it should not be Cambi. By the time Arnolfo -was grown up, Jacopo Tedesco had lived many years in Florence; he -therefore, having become a Florentine citizen, may have taken office -and might have been connected with the Cambio, or Exchange there, -taking his name from that office, as a large family of Cambi during -the Republic seems to have done. - -I incline, however, to another theory--that Cambij is a corruption of -Campij, or Campione--for the following reason--As early as 1228 Jacopo -Tedesco was already a _Magister_, and of such fame that he was chosen -as master architect of the grand church of S. Francesco at Assisi, in -conjunction with Fra Philippus de Campello. In spite of Fergusson's -opinion that the architect of these large buildings was generally a -mere builder, working under some ecclesiastic who drew the plan, the -evidence goes to prove, in this case, that Jacopo the layman was _capo -maestro_, and Fra Philippus the ecclesiastic only _aiutante_ -(assistant). Campello was a corruption of Campiglione or Campione, -which name, first taken from a place near Como, became afterwards the -distinctive title of the Parma school of Comacine Masters. We find it -spelt in different documents: Campillio, Campellio, Campilionum, -Campione, often shortened into Camp[~io] or Cam[~pi]. All the older -writers say that Jacopo Tedesco was a Comacine or Lombard, and if so, -he was one of the Campionesi. His name occurs in a stipulation made at -Modena on Nov. 30, 1240, where he and Alberto are qualified as uncles -of Magister Enrico, one of the contracting parties.[241] This may well -have been the father of Arnolfo, especially as Baldinucci[242] asserts -that Jacopo Tedesco lived at Colle in Val d'Elsa, where Arnolfo was -born, while his father was building the castle there. With these -lights Milanesi's documental "Arnolphus de Cambii" may be accounted -for. If the members of the Campione school in the north took that as -their name, why should not Jacopo also have signed himself Campione? -It is more than probable he shortened it according to custom into -Camp[~io], and may not have been very particular to distinguish -between the kins-letters p and b, a very common fault in the sketchy -spelling of old MSS., and especially likely to occur if, while -Lombardy was a German province, he should have imbibed a German -accent. This would reconcile all the dispute. Arnolfo was evidently -closely connected with the elder Lapo, his style being so similar. -Compare the Palazzo Vecchio and Bargello with Lapo's castle of Poppi, -and the relation is evident. His connection with the younger Lapo is -equally clear. In the list of qualified masters in painting at -Florence, quoted by Migliore in _Firenze illustrata_, p. 414, is -Niccolo Pisano's pupil, who is called Lapo di Cambio. This would -suggest that Arnolfo and his fellow-pupil Lapo were brothers as well -as fellow-pupils, so that when Lapo the younger finished Jacopo -Tedesco's (Lapo the elder's) work at Colle, he was only following out -the usual rules of the guild, in which the son succeeded the father. - - [Illustration: PALAZZO VECCHIO, FLORENCE. DESIGNED BY ARNOLFO. - _See pages 257 and 317._] - -The thirteenth century was a time of immense development in art; what -Niccolo and Giovanni di Pisa did for sculpture, Jacopo Tedesco and -Arnolfo did for architecture. Jacopo was the first to introduce the -pointed arch into Central Italy, at Assisi; Arnolfo further developed -it in his cathedral at Florence, where the arches of the nave are -round, and the windows pointed. After this era we have no more -Romanesque--the reign of Italian Gothic has begun. - -The Basilican form, too, has vanished; we have now the nave and -transepts of the Latin cross. No longer the small double-arched -window, but long pointed arches filled with beautiful tracery. The old -symbolic animals linger on, but in the subordinate form of grotesques -in ornamentation. - -That distinctive mark of the guild, the lion of Judah, takes a new -position in the Italian Gothic. It is no longer between the pillar and -the arch, but beneath the column, as Niccolo and Guido da Como first -placed it in their pulpits. You see it under the pillars of the north -door of the Florentine Duomo, where the transition into Renaissance -is indicated by a particularly classic figure of a child standing by -the lion; and under the central column of the windows of the Spanish -chapel in the cloister of S. Maria Novella, where it serves to mark -the fact that the architects Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro (who in the -documents of the time are styled Magister Fra Sisto and Magister Fra -Ristoro) were members of the Masonic Guild. - -Jacopo, the inaugurator of Italian Gothic, spent all his later years -in Florence, having left Colle many years before, when he had finished -the castle there. Jacopo's work in Florence consisted of the building -of the Bargello, which is a perfect specimen of the late Comacine -style, built in _modo gallico_ with large smoothly-hewn stones. The -connection of the Masters of the guild with the south of Italy is -shown here as well as at Pisa, for it is said that King Manfred -commissioned Jacopo Tedesco to design the sepulchre of the Emperor -Frederic in the abbey church of Monreale in Sicily. (Manfred died in -1266.) - -Jacopo also introduced a reform into Florence. In the time when Messer -Rubaconte of Como was Podesta of Florence (1236, 1237), his -compatriot, Jacopo Tedesco of Campione, near Como, proposed to him -that the streets should be paved with stones instead of bricks, to -which Messer Rubaconte agreed, and the same method of paving still -continues in Florence. - -The second Lapo, Arnolfo's fellow-pupil, and perhaps brother, was the -author of several buildings in the end of the thirteenth century, -which Vasari falsely attributes to Jacopo the elder. He also continued -Jacopo Tedesco's fortifications at Colle.[243] - -Whether we look on Arnolfo as the son of Jacopo Tedesco, or only as -the pupil of Niccolo Pisano, he was, either way, one of the guild; and -more, a follower of Jacopo rather than of Niccolo, his bent being -rather architectural than sculptural. We can, then, place Arnolfo as -the first head of the _laborerium_ of Florence; and in tracing the -formation of this branch of the guild, we shall throw a light on all -the former branches, which, from want of systematic documents, have -remained as formless organizations of _schola_, _laborerium_, and -_Opera_. After trying in vain to find something more explicit about -these organizations at the National Library and State Archives, I -consulted the director of the Opera del Duomo, who kindly saved me the -work of long puzzling over old MSS., by lending me a copy of Cesare -Guasti's valuable collection of abstracts from the books of the -_Opera_, from the earliest days of Arnolfo to the completion of the -cathedral. - -Here the whole organization stands revealed. Here are the meetings of -the lodge, and the subjects discussed; the names of the _Magistri_ and -Council of Administration from year to year; the payments to -architects, artists, and men; the legal contracts and business -reports. - -It is clearly seen how the _Opera_ is connected with the _laborerium_, -and how the meetings are always composed of some civic members from -the Council of Administration, and some from the working Masters of -the lodge. - -One, dated October 15, 1436, reports a meeting in the Opera del Duomo, -at which the attendant _Operai_ or councillors were Ugo Alessandri, -Donato Velluti, Nicolo Caroli de Macignis, and Benedict _Cicciaporci_ -(pig's flesh); here's a nickname! They deliberated on the advisability -of sending for a certain Francesco Livii de Gambasso, _Comitatus -Florentiae_, who was at Lubeck in Germany, to make the painted windows -and mosaics. Francesco, when he came back to the city which he had -known in his boyhood, and where he had learnt his art, bound himself -to work in the _laborerium_ of the _Opera_, "et in dicta civitate -Florentiae in Laboreriis dictae Operae toto tempore suae vitae eidem -continuum, ac firmum inviamentum exhiberent, ita, et taliter, quod -ipse una cum sua familia victum, et vestitum in praefata Civitate -erogare posset."[244] This one document gives valuable proof on -several points. - -It proves that whether or not Italy got her architects from Germany, -Italian Masters were employed in Germany. - -It proves that there was a guild in Florence, "Comitatus Florentiae," -to which Francesco Livii belonged, and that there was a _laborerium_ -in Florence, in which Francesco, when a boy, had learned his art, and -risen to the rank of Master. It proves, moreover, that the -_laborerium_ was connected with the _Opera_. - -Another meeting of the same _Opera_ on November 26, 1435, held to -consider all the designs for the choir of the Duomo, marks this -connection still more plainly. - -"Nobiles viri Johannes Sylvestri de Popoleschis, Johannes Tedicis de -Albizzis, Johannes ser Falconis Falconi, Jacobus Johannis de Giugnis, -et Hieronymus Francisci dello Scarfa, Operarii dictae Operae, existentes -collegialiter congregati in loco eorum residentiae pro factis dictae -Opera utiliter peragendis, absque aliis eorum Collegis, et servatis -servandis: - -"Attendentes ad quandam Commissionem factam per eorum Offitium de -ordinatione Altaris majoris dictae Ecclesiae, et Chori ipsius Ecclesiae -infrascriptis Civibus, et Religiosis Sacrae Theologiae, Magistro Jacobo -Graegorii del Badia Ordinis Fratrum Minorum, Magistro Sandro de -Covonibus Converso Hospitalis Sanctae Mariae Novae de Florentia, -Francisco alterius Francisci Pierotii della Luna Nerio Gini de -Capponibus egregio Medicinae Doctori, Magistro Paulo M. Dominici, et -Juliano Thomasii Gucci, omnibus Civibus Civitatis Florentiae, et ad -quemdam rapportum per eos factum coram eorum Offitio infrascriptae -continentiae."[245] - -Here follow the criticisms of this council on three designs for the -choir: one by Filippo Brunelleschi; one by Nencio di Bartoluccio; a -third by Magister Agnolo da Arezzo. - -Observe that we have as master architects of the guild, a monk and a -hospital warden, called on the Commission with the _Operai_, who were -influential citizens, but not qualified Masters. This seems to throw a -light on the word _colligantes_, "Magister comacinus cum colligantes -suos," in the old laws of Rotharis. Would not the _colligantes_ mean -the Consuls and _Operai_, members of the _Opera_ or administrative -body in these great works of church-building, whom the _Magistri_ of -the guild elected from the influential men of the city in which they -were? - -Here are a few translations of his quaint statements of the orders the -_Provveditore_ received from the _Operai_-- - -"_June 1353._--Operai: Lotto, Lapo, Piero di Cienni, Simone di Michele -Ristori. They tell me to make haste and obtain the payments from the -'Camera' (council), and the 'Gabelle' (octroi). I must manage that by -St. John's Day; the 'covelle' of the Campanile must be finished. And -to do that, I must get two of the _Magistri_ from Or San Michele. And -the scaffolding must be taken down from S. Giovanni (the Baptistery), -so that the work may be seen." - -This entry shows how many buildings the guild were engaged on, and how -the architects of them all were under the command of the _Opera_, or -centre of administration for all. - -"_August 14, 1353._--Piero, Lotto, and Simone." (Every entry begins by -naming the _Operai_ in council.) "To order designs for a -tabernacle.... Get it made. To order the design for the campanile, and -in what kind. Have it done in wood. To order marble, for the work at -the summit. To tell Francesco[246] there is work for a year. About -the rations of Neri Fieravanti. Give him the money to pay all the -master's claims, and you, Filippo, shall be the pay-master, and we -will provide the means." ("Dalle danari per pagare tutti i maestri -loro, e tu Filippo sia loro camarlingo, e noi ti faremo -provedere.")[247] - -The way in which the _Provveditore_, Filippo Marsili, talks of -himself, and puts down his orders from the _Operai_ just in their own -words, is naive in the extreme. His memoranda are certainly -delightful. - -Here is another very busy day-- - -"_September 26, 1353._--Operai: Simone, Migliorozzo, Francescho, -Piero." (This time the head architect, Francesco Talenti, was in -council.) "To elect a salaried lawyer. About a notary for citations. -About the nine hundred and fifty lire which the Commune has of ours. -To pay by the piece, rather than by the day. To send to Carrara (for -marble). Put it off till All Saints' Day. Of the many documents we -need.... To reason with the Regolatori.[248] To speak with the -captains of the Misericordia about our many legacies.... Tell them to -let us know when they meet. About the Wills. To discuss it with Ser -Francescho Federigi (a notary). To find means to get ready money. Try -and get a discount on the tax on assignments. About the wine for the -Masters. Take it away entirely. About Francesco and the window ... to -pay the Master who had the commission ... and when the work is done, -have it valued, and the surplus, or the deficit, will be entered to -Francesco" (head architect). - -Truly it was no sinecure to be _Provveditore_ for the guild of -architects in those days. He must have had his hands full indeed! When -the Masters were not satisfied with their pay, and a work had to be -appraised, like this window, a special council was called, consisting -of the Consuls of the Arte della Lana, who were the Presidents of the -_Opera_, the members of the _Opera_, and all the _Magistri_ of the -_laborerium_. The Masters were then called on one by one to give an -estimate of the work, and discuss its merits; a ratio was taken, and -the medium price fixed. - -The same kind of council was called to consider any designs. -Generally, several of the _Magistri_ sent in their designs, or models -made of wood. These were discussed in council, and votes taken before -the final commission was given. The report of one of these meetings, -where each Master naively voted for his own design, is very amusing. - -The Masters were strictly bound by contract to the _laborerium_. In -some cases they were paid by the day. We find, on May 29, 1355, that -the salaries of Masters were lessened by two soldi a day, and workmen -by one soldo. Sometimes the Commune found them wine and rations; at -others they were paid by the piece, by contract. On June 7, 1456, the -_Provveditore_ writes--"It is desired that on no account shall any -Master go to work outside the Opera, without the deliberation and -consent of all four Operai. If any absent himself without this -permission, he shall be considered as discharged." - -The schools attached to the _laborerium_ must have been very complete. -They trained pupils in the three sister arts--architecture, sculpture, -and painting. One sees the remains of them in the Belle Arti at -Florence, Siena, and other towns, and the Academy of St. Luke at Rome. -Not all the _Magistri_ were teachers, but there were certain of them -who held office as Professors. Niccolo di Pisa was certainly one of -these, and so were Cimabue and _Magister_ Giotto. - -This full art-education accounts for the artist of the Renaissance -being such an all-round man. One finds a painter like Giotto, or a -sculptor like Niccolo Pisano, building grand architectural works. -Sometimes they graduated in all three arts, as did Landi, Giotto, and -Leon Battista Alberti. - -When they graduated in the schools, they became _Magistri_ of the -guild, and could then undertake commissions. Besides the _Magistri -fratelli_, there were the undergraduates as it were; in old Latin -documents they are written as _fratres_; below these were the novices -or pupils. The workmen employed by them were quite unconnected with -the guild, and were paid daily wages as manual labourers. - -The light thus thrown on the organization of the Masonic Guild by the -valuable collection of documents made by Cesare Guasti, seems to me to -explain much that was puzzling in the Florentine city guilds. For -instance, why, among all the _Arti_, is there none which includes -architects, sculptors, or painters? It would have been supposed that -in the early days of the republic, when the Commune spent its wealth -and enthusiasm on erecting great and noble buildings, architecture -would certainly have ranked among the greater _Arti_, even in -competition with the wool-combers and silk-weavers. But there was no -such civic guild. There was a minor one for masons and stone-cutters, -but it was established later for workmen and mere house-builders, and -had nothing to do with great architects or master sculptors; while -painters who wished to be members of the Commune and have any hand in -the government, had to enroll themselves in the Goldsmith Guild, or -the "Arte degli speziali" (doctors and apothecaries). The existence of -this Freemasonic Guild would explain this hiatus in the greater arts. -While such a powerful and self-governing body existed, which had -evidently the monopoly for Italy in the art of church-building, a mere -city guild would never have been able to compete with it, and would -have been superfluous. - -That it really held the monopoly is more than probable. We have traced -the Comacines through each gradation, have seen the successive schools -and branches started by them in each place where they had great works -in hand. The Buoni family at Modena going on to the south of Italy and -then to Pistoja, founded that school. The Campione branch at Verona -and Parma hence passed to Assisi and Florence. The Lucca school of -Lombard Masters spread to Pisa and gathered into it native talent. - -The later gathering of Lombards and Pisans at Siena thence moved to -Orvieto, and sent a branch to Florence in the persons of Jacopo -Tedesco and Arnolfo. There taking root it grew into the goodly flower -of the Renaissance. And after efflorescence,--decay; the old -organization, by degrees, dissolved in the greater freedom of art. -Each Master aimed to stand alone on his own merits, and was no longer -necessarily enrolled as one in a guild. - -A great many things besides are revealed to us by Guasti's collection -of documents. We find that Arnolfo died in 1310; Vasari read it -wrongly as 1300, so that Arnolfo would only have worked a year or two -at his Duomo. The correct entry in the archives is--"IIII idus -(martii) Quiescit magister Arnolfus de l'opera di Santa Reparata -MCCCX."[249] - -It is a strange coincidence that the death registered before Arnolfo -in the Necrology should be a man named Cambio, a locksmith, but he -seems to have no connection with Arnolfo, whose parentage as usual is -not indicated. - -Thus we see that Arnolfo at the most only worked eleven or twelve -years at a building which took more than a century to finish. How much -did he accomplish? Probably not more than the foundations and the -design which he left, and which may be seen to this day; for it is -usually understood that the church in the fresco of the Spanish chapel -represents the Duomo as Arnolfo designed it. After his death Florence -fell upon warlike times, and was unable to continue the work till -1331, when the "city being in a happy and tranquil state, recommenced -the building of the church of Santa Reparata, which had for a long -time been in abeyance, and had made no progress, owing to the many -wars and expenses which the city had undergone." The deed goes on to -relate that the Arte della Lana was placed at the head of the -administration, and that a tax of two denari per libbra on all moneys -paid to the Commune should be appropriated for the expense, as had -been decreed before. They further added another tax on the customs, so -that the two amounted to 12,000 _libbre picciole_ a year. Besides -this, every shop in Florence was to have a money-box where they were -to place _il denaro di Dio_ (tithes) on all they sold.[250] I quote -this to show how cities in the good old church-building days paid -their architects. It is probable that the schools of the guild had -continued in this interval, though the _Magistri_ may have had to seek -work elsewhere, for by July 18, 1334, we find Giotto as a _Magister_, -selected as architect of the Campanile, though he seems to have had -very little to do with the Duomo. His marvellous tower, in its varied -colouring and artistic effect, shows the hand of a painter rather than -an architect. He did not live to see his work completed, for on -January 8, 1336, he died, soon after his return from Milan, where he -had been sent in the services of the Visconti, and had a public -funeral at the expense of the Commune in Santa Reparata. The fact -that the work of his tower went on in his absence, proves that he must -have had brethren in the guild capable of carrying out his plans. As -the foundations were only laid in July 1334, and Giotto died in -January 1336, after a long absence at Milan, one wonders how he found -time to sculpture the reliefs in his Hymn of Labour. However, we must -take Ghiberti's testimony for it. In his second _Commentary_, Ghiberti -says[251]--"The first line of reliefs which are in the Campanile which -he erected were sculptured and designed by his own hand. In my time I -have seen his own sketches beautifully drawn." A contemporary -anonymous commentator on Dante writes[252]--"Giotto designed and -superintended the marble bell-tower of Santa Reparata in Florence, a -notable tower and costly. He committed two errors--one that it had no -base, and the other that it was too narrow. This caused him such grief -that, they say, he fell ill and died of it." I think indeed that if -Giotto had found any error he would have rectified it in the plans -which he left for his successors. That it had no foothold is not true, -for the solid foundation was placed so far beneath the surface that it -stood firm on the solid _macigno_ (kind of granite rock) twenty -_braccia_ below. - -His successor was of another branch of the guild, but a Masonic -_Magister_ all the same. On April 26, 1340, Andrea di Pisa was -elected by vote by the Council of the _Opera_ to succeed Giotto as -head architect.[253] - -There must have been other _Magistri_ proposed as candidates, if the -Council had to resort to black and white beans for the voting. Andrea -only lived a few years; he died, or retired from office, in 1348, the -year of the great plague; and Francesco Talenti became _caput -Magister_ in 1350. Francesco was a brother of Fra Jacopo Talenti, -_Magister lapidum et edificorum_, who was joint architect with Fra -Ristoro of the convent and church of Santa Maria Novella from 1339 to -1362. Francesco, like his brother, must have been in the guild; he -worked at Orvieto cathedral among numbers of Como and Lombard Masters -in 1329. In April 1336 we find him called to Siena as an expert.[254] -There had been discovered some defect in the columns. Francesco's -companion from Florence was Benci di Cione. His office as _capo -maestro_ of the Duomo of Florence continued some years, though he did -not reign alone, but was associated with Giovanni di Lapo Ghino, who -after 1360 is called joint _capo maestro_. The principal documents of -their administration prove that there were endless councils and -arguments about the size, height, and placing of the columns, and -discussions on Talenti's plan for the chapels at the east end. This -seems to have been a crucial question.... Councils of four _Magistri_ -in each were held for three consecutive days--July 15, 16, and 17, -1355; and their opinions given in writing. On August 5 the grand -united council of twelve Masters and the whole lodge was held, when -the proportions for the columns were decided, and Francesco's design -for the chapel approved. - -Another Council was held on June 8, 1357, with the _Operai_ and -Consuls of Arts, and their ecclesiastical colleagues, when the -undermentioned Masters and monks gave their counsel on the church--a -proof of the close affinity of ecclesiastics with the Masonic Guild. - - Frate Francischo of Carmignano - " Jacopo Talenti. S. M. Novella - " Franciescho Salvini. S. Croce - " Tommasino. Ogni Santi - " Jachopo da S. Marcho - " Piero Fuci, e - " Filippo sacrestano di S. Spirito - " Benedetto dalle Champora - Magister Neri di Fieravanti - " Stefano Messi - " Franciescho Salviati - " Giovanni Gherardini - " Giovanni di Lapo Ghini - " Franciesco dal Choro - " Ristori Cione - " Ambrogio Lenzi, or Renzi - -The report was written by Sig. Mino, notary of the guild; the spelling -of the names is his own. - -Several of the same monks met at the _Opera_ on July 12, 1357, to -consult about the placing of the columns in the second foundation. - -Also, on July 17, 1357, to choose between two designs of columns and a -chapel made by Francesco Talenti and Orcagna, when each candidate -elected two Masters as arbiters. Francesco Talenti chose Ambrogio -Lenzi, a Lombard, and Frate Filippo Riniero of S. Croce. Andrea -Orcagna chose Niccolo di Beltramo, also a Lombard, and Francesco di -Neri. These could not decide, and Piero di Migliore the goldsmith was -taken as umpire, the parties binding themselves to abide by his -decision. Giovanni di Lapo Ghino and Francesco Talenti were ordered -to make new designs. At length, on July 28, Orcagna's plan was chosen. - -Talenti's office was no sinecure; we often find him disputing with -other Masters. Indeed, the lodge greatly lacked unity. Disintegration -was beginning. On August 5, 1353, the _Provveditore_, Filippo Marsili, -writes--"I must get Neri di Fioravanti and Francesco Talenti to settle -that dispute within fifteen days. They must choose an arbiter each, -and may elect the third arbiter by joint consent." They chose Benozzi -as mutual third. Again on October 4, 1353--"The Master who executes -Francesco Talenti's design for the window must be paid his demands. -When the work is done, have it valued, and the balance more or less to -go to Francesco's account." - -He seems also to have been an improvident sort of man. Here are two -tell-tale entries in Filippo Marsili's memorandum book--"July 12, -1353. Advance him as soon as convenient the pay for four months. Take -it out, by deducting half his salary weekly." Again in November the -entry is--"Lend him what he wants." - -In 1376 Francesco's son Simone became joint _capo maestro_ with Benci -Cione, Orcagna's father, at a salary of eight gold florins a month. -Simone graduated also in the sculpture school, and executed a figure -for the facade, for which he was paid thirteen florins on September 4, -1377. Zanobi Bartoli, also a _Magister lapidum_ (sculptor), was at the -same time paid twenty gold florins each for two marble figures, though -he received only eighteen florins for his statue of the Archangel -Michael in December of the same year. - -Francesco's colleague, Giovanni di Lapo Ghino, is a good instance--one -of many--of the hereditary nature of the guild. We first hear of Ghino -at Siena in the thirteenth century. On February 7, 1332, his sons -Simone and Jacopo, or Lapo di Ghino, sign a contract with Agostino -and his son Giovanni of Siena, to build a chapel in the Pieve S. Maria -at Arezzo--that of Bishop Tarlati, Bindo de' Vanni and his son -Francesco, with two other _Magistri_, being witnesses.[255] - -In 1362 a certain Ambrosius Ghino is named in a list of the lodge. He -may have been a brother or nephew of Lapo. Then comes the third -generation, and we find Giovanni, son of Lapo di Ghino, at Orvieto. He -afterwards came to Florence, where he was elected _capo maestro_, at -first in unison with Jacopo Talenti, and later by himself. In 1388 old -Ghino's great-grandson, whose whole pedigree is given in the books as -"Michele, Johannis, Lapi, Ghini," became in his turn _capo maestro_ of -the Duomo of Florence. His descendant, Antonio Ghino, also graduated -in the Florentine Lodge, but he went back to Siena, where he appears -as one of the _Magistri_ employed there in 1472. - -This family is only one of many hereditary Masonic brethren. The Cione -family is another instance. The first Masters of the name appear in -Florence on July 1355, as Ristoro and Benci Cione, two members -attending the Council on Francesco Talenti's design for the chapels, -but whether they were brothers or father and son I cannot tell; I -presume brothers, or Benci would have been written down as Benci -Ristori di Cione.[256] We have seen Benci Cione called to Siena as an -arbiter. He was much occupied in Florence, where he worked at the -building, or rather adaptation, of Or San Michele. He and Laurentius -Filippi (Lorenzo, son of Filippo Talenti) were joint architects of the -Loggia dei Lanzi, Lorenzo superintending the sculpture, and Cione the -architecture. Lorenzo has set the sign of the guild on the base of his -columns by surrounding them with small pillars on which lions are -crouching; the proportions and ornamentation of the building are -beautiful. Orcagna has always been credited as the architect of this -Loggia, but he is here proved not to be the original designer, though -he probably worked with his father. - -Orcagna's name, Andrea di Cione, first appears in the great Council -with monks and _Magistri_, held on June 18, 1357, to decide on the -space which should be left between the columns of the Duomo.[257] - -Andrea's nickname of Orcagna, a corruption of Arcangelo (Archangel), -has clung to him through centuries, and over-shadowed his real -patronymic of Cione. The relation between him and Benci di Cione -remains rather obscure. Orcagna has also had the credit of building -the church of Or San Michele. Probably writers confuse Orcagna, or -Andrea di Cione, the sculptor of the beautiful shrine in that church, -which is his masterpiece, with the Benci di Cione who was architect of -the building. From the close connection of the two in the guild, and -from Orcagna having worked so much with Benci, I think it probable -they were father and son. Milanesi is rather uncertain about the -father of Orcagna, and in the genealogical table at the end of his -life he writes him as Cione with a note of interrogation, and no -Christian name, which may well have been Benci. - - [Illustration: SHRINE IN OR SAN MICHELE, FLORENCE. DESIGNED BY - "ORCAGNA" (ANDREA CIONE). - _See page 333._] - -Orcagna first studied painting under his elder brother Nardo (short -for Bernardo), who was enrolled in the "company of St. Luke." But this -was only one branch of Andrea's art-education. He matriculated in the -Masonic Guild (_Arte dei maestri di pietra e legname_), in the books -of which it is written--"Andrea Cioni, called Archangel, a painter of -the parish of S. Michele Visdomini, took his oath and promises in the -said guild, Magister Neri Fioravanti being his sponsor, in 1352, -sixth indication, October 29."[258] - -It was Orcagna's way to emphasize his varied qualifications by signing -his paintings, "Andrea di Cione, scultore," and his sculptures, -"Andrea di Cione, pittore." On his masterpiece, the shrine in Or San -Michele, he has inscribed, "Andreas Cionis, pictor Florentinus, -oratorii arch magister extitit hujus MCCCLIX." The expression -"Archmagister of the Oratory" (or shrine) explains many things. It -tells us that the whole of that complicated piece of sculpture, though -it may have been designed entirely by Orcagna, was not entirely -executed by him, but that, like other _Magistri_, he had a band of -brethren working under him; for how could he have been _chief_ Master -where there were no lesser ones under his command? - -It is interesting in studying the working of the Masonic Guild, of -which Orcagna signs himself Archmagister, to see how they are occupied -in building several grand edifices at once. The immense number of -Masters congregated in the Florentine Lodge rendered this possible, -and wealth was not lacking in the city to employ them. - -The books at the _Opera_ reveal how the Council of Administration -dominates the _laborerium_. We shall see how the busy _Provveditore_ -has to change the _Magistri_ about from Santa Croce to Or San Michele; -or from the Duomo to San Michele Visdomini, just as need presses. He -has to order marbles for all and any of these edifices; to call -councils to consider designs for all kinds of different buildings and -parts of buildings, such as windows, chapels, doors, etc. Sometimes we -find him commissioning a certain architect to make a plan for a -chapel, or a door, or a window. When Talenti and Giovanni Ghino had -both made designs for the tribune in October 1367, the usual councils -were not enough to decide the momentous question which to choose. The -whole city had to be called into council, together with the monks -(_frati colleganti_), the _Magistri_ of the guild, etc. Hundreds and -thousands of people came to the _Opera_, looked at the designs, signed -their names on the list of approval, for one or the other. - -After the joint reign as _capi maestri_ of Giovanni di Lapo Ghino and -Francesco Talenti, came a varied line of master builders lasting for a -hundred years, so that it is impossible to say that any one man was -the architect of the Duomo. Between Arnolfo's first plan and the final -Italian Gothic development of the fifteenth century lies the whole -history of the development of art. - -The next great _capo maestro_ after Talenti was Ambrogio of Lenzo or -Lanzo, near Como, one of the Campione school. His name is given in a -deed of February 3, 1363, as "Ambroxius filius magistri Guglielmi de -Champiglione." It is remarkable that an ancestor and namesake of this -"Ambroxius" was also written down as "filius Magistri Guglielmi" in -1130, two centuries earlier, when they were leading members of the -Campione school at Modena, and sculptured the facades of Modena and -Ferrara cathedrals; so our Ambrogio of Florence was one of the -distinguished aristocracy of the lodge, his family dating from its -cradle in Lombardy. From the deed which we quote we find that Ambrogio -graduated under his father, and made his first contract with Barna -Batis, then _Provveditore_ of the _Opera_ of the Duomo, to provide and -prepare the black marble necessary to the work, for every _braccio_ of -which he was to be paid six soldi eight denari. This is the original-- - - "_Archivio dell' Opera dell Duomo_, February 3, - 1362.--Ambroxius filius magistri Guglielmi de Champiglione, - comitatus Mediolani, emancipatus a Domino magistro Guillielmo - patre suo, ut continere dixit publice manu ser Joannis - Arriglionis notarii de Champiglione, conduxit a Barna olim - Batis provisore Operis Sancte Reparate de Florentia, locante - vice et nomine operariorum ... ad faciendum et digrossandum - totum marmum nigrum quod erit necessarium dicto operi, hinc ad - unum annum proxime venturum, illarum mensurarum prout dicetur - eidem per capomagistros dicti operis. Et dictus Barna locavit - eidem die dictum marmum ad fovendum et digrossandum, et - promisit pro dicto opere eidem Ambroxio de quolibet brachio - dicti marmi dare eidem Ambroxio soldos sex et denarios octo f. - p., etc. Que omnia, etc." - -Ambrogio or Ambrose remained many years in Florence. His name often -appears in council. In 1356 he was elected head architect of the -Duomo, and also of the restorations at the Baptistery. On April 4, -1384, when as an old man he attended a meeting to decide whether the -pilasters of the tribune were strong enough to support the dome, his -name is given as Ambrogio de Renzo. A marked instance of the effect of -twenty years among Florentine dialect, which has an inveterate habit -of mixing up l's and r's. His son, Giovanni d'Ambrogio di Lenzo, who -afterwards became _capo maestro_, was also in council, and Orcagna was -chosen umpire. - -But between the reign of Ambrogio and that of his son we have various -changes in the directorship. In 1381, Giovanni, son of Stefano, called -Guazetta, became _capo maestro_ together with Giovanni Fetti, who was -also of the guild, and preparing first in Siena, and next at Florence, -for his future work in Lucca and Bologna. Giovanni Fetti designed and -made the fine "window towards the houses of the Cornacchini, under the -third arch of the nave." - -Guazetta's peculiar line was laying foundations and devising -complicated scaffolding. He also made the presses of the sacristy. He -was perhaps not enough of a builder to hold the office of chief, for -in 1375 this pair resigned in favour of Francesco Salvetti and Taddeo -Ristori. Salvetti, however, very soon renounced office, preferring to -remain in the guild on a simple salary, rather than incur -responsibilities.[259] - -Then Francesco Talenti's son Simone, who had by this time become a -_Magister_, was put in his place with Taddeo Ristori. Their reign -lasted till 1388, when Michele, son of Giovanni, son of Lapo, son of -Ghino, was elected. In his time the pilasters of the tribune were -begun. - -In 1404 Ambrogio's son Giovanni was elected _capo maestro_. Here is -the part of the entry of the _Deliberation_, November 17, -1404--"Operaris ... elegerunt et nominaverunt et deputaverunt in caput -magister dicte opere Sancte Reparata providum virum Johannem Ambroxii, -etc. etc., cum salario florenum otto, pro quolibet mense cum -auctoritate, balia et potestate usitate et consueta."--_Delib._ xlix. -28. - -Another deliberation, dated June 17, 1415, states that "Johannem -Ambroxii caput magister" shall give the order for the species and form -of the bricks for some special part. - -Giovanni, the last of the Campione school whom we can register, was -deposed for old age, and Baptista Antoni elected in his stead. He was -probably the son of Antonio, the Grand Master mentioned above. - -Giovanni had not always time to carry out his own designs. In 1408 we -find that Magister Niccolao, surnamed Pela, took the contract to carve -in marble the doorway near the chapel of the crucifix, which was -designed by "Johannem Ambroxii, caput magistrum." It is rich with -vines and other ornaments. Niccolao did not push the work, however, -and in May 1408 the _Opera_ decided that he owed the guild the sum of -twenty-five florins for breaking his contract. - -The number of different minds each leading the works in his own -department is bewildering. The beautiful door called the Mandorla, so -rich and elegant in sculpture, which is often said to have been -executed by Jacopo della Quercia, was in reality the work of Nanni di -Antonio di Banco. The books of the _Opera_ register, on June 28, 1418, -a payment of twenty florins on account to Nanni for this doorway, and -in 1421 the last payment was made on the completion of the work. Nanni -was a favourite scholar of Donatello; he was a person of good birth, -who matriculated in the _Arte dei Maestri di Pietra_ on February 2, -1405, and proved his membership by sculpturing the four patron saints -of the Masonic Guild on Or San Michele. - -We further find in this precious collection of documents that Magister -Jacopo di Lapo Cavacciani made a model for a shaft; that Nato di Cenni -and Jacopo di Polo were, in August 1357, engaged to make the bases of -the columns, and that time after time different Masters were called on -to make plans for chapels, windows, doors, etc. - -Now we know the state of the building as it stood in this fourteenth -century, we realize that it was not left for centuries without a dome. -The old chronicler Buoninsegni, in his _Storia Florentina_, lib. iv. -p. 642, says--"A di venti di giugno 1380 si cominciarono a riempire et -murare i fondamenti della cupola di S. Maria del Fiore." Up till this -time the nave only seems to have been built. - -On August 7 a meeting of _Magistri_ was called to consult on the -foundation for the cupola, and on November 12, 1380, there is a long -document commissioning "Bartolommeus Stefani, Johannes Mercati, and -Leonardus Cecchii, Magistri Florentini," to build the pilasters to -support the dome, which are to be of good stone and cement, and the -builders are cautioned not to work in times of frost or snow, etc. -etc. These pilasters caused much anxiety in the guild; in 1384 -constant meetings were held about them. The Masters were afraid the -foundations of the one towards Via dei Servi were not firm; day after -day in July 1384 they met in scores to examine and report on it. Then -they called in the consuls of the _Art of Wool_, the _Operai_, and all -the chief men of the city; and everybody, excepting a certain Messer -Biagio Guasconi (who after all was not an architect), agreed that the -foundation of the pilaster was perfectly safe. However, good Messer -Biagio still held his own opinion and refused to sign approval. - -From the steady way in which the work went on, it is certainly -possible and probable that there would in the natural course of the -work have been a dome to the cathedral even without Filippo -Brunelleschi. It was in the original plan, and the foundations and -pilasters were placed in readiness for it. There was much talk of the -difficulty of placing the framework of the scaffolding for it, but -there seems to have been no doubt that it would be accomplished. In -fact numbers of the Masters sent in plans for it at different times. - -The first time that Brunellesco appears in the records is at a meeting -of consuls, _Opera_, and Masters, convened on November 10, 1404, to -consider a certain error in measurement committed by the _capo -maestro_, Giovanni di Ambrogio. The question turned on the placing of -the (_sprone_) brackets on the facade which interfered with the -windows. - -It does not seem that Brunellesco belonged to the brotherhood. He is -merely mentioned as Filippo the goldworker, son of the notary -Brunelleschi (_Filippus ser Brunelleschi aurifex_). In no place, -either here or elsewhere, is he ever called _Magister_, and throughout -his life his every action was a protest against what he called "the -_Maestranze_" a term of contempt like "their Master-ships," which -Brunelleschi applied to the _Arte dei Maestri_. He had matriculated in -1398, when twenty-one years old, in the _Arte della Seta_, but as his -tastes were strongly artistic, and he refused to follow his father's -profession of lawyer, he enrolled himself in 1404 in the _Arte degli -Orafi_ (goldsmiths), in which so many painters were already eminent. -The goldsmiths or metal-sculptors, who seem to have seceded from the -Freemasons, were still in some measure colleagues of the Masonic -Guild, and their members were often called to vote or advise in the -councils of the _Opera_. - -Thus we find Brunellesco as one of the _orafi_ called into council -about the construction of the brackets. He appears to have held office -as councillor in the _Opera_ for a year till 1405, when he was paid -off. He was probably one of the _Operai_ on the part of the city. - -When in the famous competition of 1402 Brunellesco lost the commission -for the doors of the Baptistery, he left Florence in dudgeon, and with -his friend Donatello went to Rome. His studies of the methods of the -ancient Romans in making their great domes, suggested to him a way of -vindicating his _amour propre_ by defeating the whole guild of -"Masters" on their own ground. He had made architecture a special -study, and now thoroughly investigated the classic methods. He got to -the roof of the Pantheon, and made studies of the stone-work in the -ribs of the cupola, investigated the foundations, the supports, etc., -and came back to Florence, where he let drop mysterious hints among -the influential members of his own trade company, and in the studios -of one or two artists, that even if the "_maestranze_ were to call -their Masters from France or Germany, and all parts of the world, none -of them would be able to make a dome equal to the one he could make." -The Masters of the _laborerium_ at length heard of these assertions, -and called on him to show his plans, which he declined to do. - -Then the _Opera_, on August 19, 1418, announced a competition. Any -artist whatsoever who had made a model of the projected cupola was to -produce it, before the end of September, the model accepted to have a -prize of 200 gold florins. The date of decision was prolonged to -October, and then to December, when a number of models were sent in, -the competitors being Magister Giovanni di Ambrogio, C.M. of the -_laborerium_, Manno di Benincasa, Matteo di Leonardo, Vito da Pisa, -Lorenzo Ghiberti, all _Magistri_ of the Masonic Guild; Piero -d'Antonio, nicknamed Fannulla (do nothing), Piero di Santa Maria in -Monte, masters in wood. There were several models by members of the -civic company, the _Arte dei Scarpellini_ (stone-cutters); and last, -not least, a model in brick and mortar without scaffolding, made by -Brunellesco, Donatello, and Nanni di Banco,[260] so he was obliged -after all to show his design. This last won the prize, but the _Arte -dei Maestri_ had not evidently faith enough in one outside their ranks -to commence at once with the building. In Signor Cesare Guasti's -collection of archivial documents regarding the building of the Duomo, -we find that from October to December 23, 1418, several of the -Masters, including Magistro Aliosso, Mag. Andrea Berti Martignoni, -Mag. Paolo Bonaiuti, Cristofero di Simoni, and Giovanni Tuccio, were -receiving payment for building a model in masonry of Brunellesco's -plan for the cupola. I do not find that Brunellesco himself was -employed in this, the only payment to him being "50 lib. 15 soldi" for -his work on the lantern of the model, between July 11 and August 12, -1419; proving that he put the finishing touch, but that the Masters of -the guild themselves tested his design for the great dome before -finally adopting it. This brick model, which was built on the Piazza -del Duomo, remained there till 1430, when the _Opera_ ordered its -destruction. Guasti[261] gives in full this order, which is dated -January 23, 1430, and is in the usual low Latin of contemporary -documents. When the model was finished, the _Magistri_ of the guild -assembled on May 14, 1421, to hold council on it. There are entries of -expenses for a breakfast to the Masters, and for torch-bearers to -accompany them on their internal investigations. We find the same -ceremony of refreshment to the _Magistri_ who visited the works of the -real cupola in 1424, when six flasks of Trebbiano (the best Tuscan -wine) with fruit and bread were provided. In 1420 Brunellesco was -definitely commissioned to superintend the cupola, but even then the -_Magistri_ could not admit an outsider to full Masonic privileges. He -was not named _caput magister_, as one of the guild would have been, -but he and Ghiberti (whose model had been next best) were named -_provisori_ of the dome, while the Magister Baptista di Antonio was -_caput magister_ proper of the lodge. The terms of the contract were -that "the _provisori_ were to superintend the works, providing, -ordering, building, and causing to build, the cupola from beginning to -end, etc. etc." - -At first both Ghiberti and Brunellesco drew three florins a month. The -head _Magister_, Baptista, had the usual salary of the guild as head -master. - -The story of Brunellesco's restiveness at his old rival Ghiberti being -associated with him in carrying out a design peculiarly his own, and -how he tried to throw scorn on him, by locking up his plans and -feigning illness, thus leaving Ghiberti to work in the dark, is too -well known to need repetition here.[262] Perkins[263] is very hard on -Ghiberti's ignorance, which, he asserts, was so great that he was -obliged to resign because he could not do the work. But there are two -sides to every question. How could a man carry out a work designed -and begun by another without seeing his plans? Besides, Ghiberti's -resignation, or rather relinquishment of his work at the cupola just -then, was, I believe, due to the fact that he had a few months before -received a commission for the second bronze gates of the Baptistery, -and wanted his time free for them. This commission is dated January 2, -1425. His salary as _provisore_ of the cupola ceased for a few months -from June 28, 1425. The dates speak for themselves. He still, however, -held office, or returned to it with partial pay, for in 1428 we find a -decree of the _Opera_ which raises the salary of Brunellesco to 100 -gold florins a year, while Ghiberti only draws his usual three florins -a month. But even then not an order is ever given in Brunellesco's own -name; every document and every receipt was signed by Baptista -d'Antonio, _caput magister_, and Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, -_provisore_. - -And now let us see who were the underlings employed by Brunellesco. -Finding the workmen of the Florentine Lodge were disaffected, he got -ten Lombards, and shut out all the Florentines, till they humbly came -back, begging to be taken on again, which he did at a lower salary -than before. - -The Lombard element was still strong in the guild. A certain _Maestro -di legno_, named Magister Antonio of Vercelli, invented a convenient -mode of drawing up weights into the cupola. The workmen had a kitchen -and eating-house up in the dome, so that they did not need to descend -in the middle of the day. In fact the _Opera_ made strict laws about -this. - -In 1436 another competition of models for the lantern was proclaimed, -and again Brunellesco won the palm against Ghiberti and others. It -seems that when the commission was given to Brunellesco, the Masonic -Guild must have felt it _infra dig._ to make a non-member _capo -maestro_ of the dome. Consequently they matriculated him into the -fraternity. But with his jealousy of the _maestranze_ and -determination to show that one need not be a Freemason to build a -church, he ignored this membership and never paid his fees, on which -the Masters of the _laborerium_ sued him for debt, and he was -imprisoned. This did not suit the City Patrons of the _Opera_, who -were the all-powerful _Arte della Lana_, especially as Brunellesco's -_Arte della Seta_ was also on his side. A stormy meeting was held in -the _Opera_ on August 20, 1434, at which the civic party was too -strong for the _Maestri_. It was decreed that Brunellesco should be -liberated, and one of the _Arte dei Maestri_ was imprisoned, on the -plea of hindering public works![264] - -After this triumph of independent architecture Brunellesco became in a -manner architect in chief to the city. He built the pretty Loggie of -the Foundling Hospital on Piazza della SS. Annunziata, and the Pazzi -Chapel at Sta. Croce, both of which Luca della Robbia adorned with his -beautiful blue and white reliefs. He erected the fine Palazzo -Quaratesi on Piazza Ognissanti, and the remarkably grand church of -Santo Spirito was after his death built from his designs. - -Brunellesco's strike for independence appears to have given the -death-blow to the great Masonic Guild which, as it became more -unwieldy, had been slowly disintegrating. The local members in large -cities like Siena and Florence, becoming too strong for the original -Lombard element, had asserted their independence by forming other -guilds of a local nature, in which even the ancient quartette of -patron saints was forgotten. How long the lodge in Florence kept -together after Brunellesco's defiance I do not know, though its -educative influence certainly lingered on till Michael Angelo's time, -he being as all-round an artist as any _Magister_ of older days who -could build a church and decorate it too. - -The _laborerium_ of the Florentine _Opera_ must, however, have been -closed by the time of Michael Angelo; for Lorenzo de' Medici had to -supplement it by giving up his garden in the Via Larga as a school of -sculpture, there being then no place where the art was taught. His -teaching, however, was a heritage from the ancient guild, for old -Bertoldo, scholar of Donatello, was the Master there, and the works of -the Masonic Brotherhood for two centuries, together with the classic -treasures collected by the Medici, were his models. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[236] (The five preceding artists were in the Council of July 1355.) - -[237] Milanesi's _Vasari, Vita Niccolo e Giovanni Pisano_, vol. i. p. -388. - -[238] The Cardinal died in 1290, so he must have given the commission -during his lifetime. - -[239] In the register of deaths it occurs that Arnolfo's mother's name -was Perfetta. - -[240] Gaye, _Carteggio degli Artisti_, vol. i. pp. 445, 446. - -[241] We find these same men, Alberto and Enrico his kinsman, -sculpturing in San Pietro at Bologna in 1285. - -[242] Baldinucci, tom. iv. p. 96. - -[243] Milanesi, vol. i. p. 283. - -[244] _La Metropolitana Fiorentina Illustrata_, p. 54. Firenze, Molini -e Co., 1820. - -[245] _La Metropolitana Fiorentina Illustrata_, p. 59. Firenze, Molini -e Co. - -[246] Francesco Talenti, head of the _laborerium_. - -[247] Cesare Guasti, _Santa Maria del Fiore_, p. 77. - -[248] Here is another office in the organization of the guild which we -have not hitherto met with. The _Regolatori_ must have formed the -economical council, to control expenses. - -[249] Carta 12 of _Antica Necrologia di Santa Reparata_ in the -Archives of the Opera del Duomo. - -Q. Davanzato f Alfieri. - -Q. Cambio chiavaiuolo. - -Q. Magister Arnolfus de l'opera di Santa Reparata MCCCX. - -[250] Guasti, _Santa Maria del Fiore_, p. 29. - -[251] _Cronaca di Lorenzo Ghiberti MS._ in the Magliabecchian Library, -Florence.--"Le prime storie che sono all'edificio, furono di sua mano -scolpite e disegnate. Nella mia eta vidi provvedimenti di sua mano, di -dette istorie egregissimamente disegnati." - -[252] "Compose et ordino Giotto il campanile di marmo di Santa -Reparata di Firenze, notabile campanile et di gran costo. Commisevi -due errori: l'uno che non ebbe ceppo da pie, l'altro che fu stretto: -posesene tanto dolore al cuore ch'egli, si dice, ne infermo et -morissene."--_Commento alla Divina Commedia d'Anonimo fiorentino del -secolo XIV._, vol. ii. p. 188. Bologna, 1868. - -[253] "Ac etiam cum magistro Andrea, majore magistro dicte opere: -facto prius et oblento partito inter eos ad fabas nigras et albas." -Andrea was a scholar of Giovanni Pisano, and had worked with him at -Pisa and Siena, where he is mentioned as _famulus Magistri Johannis_. - -[254] "A Franciescho Talenti e al compagno da Firenze tre fiorini -d'oro per lo consiglio che diederono del Duomo nuovo."--Milanesi, -_Documenti per l' Arte Senese, Aprile 1336_. - -[255] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, tom. i. -p. 200. - -[256] Ristoro had a son, Taddeo di Ristori, who was _capo maestro_ of -the Loggia dei Lanzi in 1376. - -[257] This and many other deliberations at the same epoch put it -beyond a doubt that Arnolfo's church was considerably changed in form, -as time went on, if not rebuilt entirely. - -[258] "Andreas Cionis, vocatus Arcagnolus, pictor populi Sancti -Michaelis Visdominis, juravit et promisit dicte arte, pro quo -fideiussit Nerius Fioravantis Magister in MCCCLII, indictione sexta, -die XX ottubris" (_sic_).--Milanesi's Vasari, _Vita di Andrea -Orcagna_. - -[259] Extract from the books of the _Opera_, 1372, December -13--"Francischus Salvetti de sua propria et spontanea voluntae qui erat -caput magister dicti operis Sancte Reparate renuntiat et repudiat -dicto officio, et quot non vult confirmus esse caput magistro in -presentae operarorum." - -[260] Milanesi, _Vasari, Vita Filippo Brunelleschi_, vol. ii. p. 351, -note. - -[261] Cesare Guasti, _La Cupola di Santa Maria del Fiore_, pp. 34, 35. - -[262] See _Sculpture, Renaissance and Modern_, pp. 63, 64, published -by Messrs. Sampson Low and Marston. - -[263] _Tuscan Sculptors_, Vol. I. chap. v. p. 135. - -[264] Milanesi's _Vasari, Vita di Filippo Brunellesco_, vol. ii. p. -362, notes. See also Cesare Guasti, _La Cupola di Santa Maria del -Fiore_, p. 54, document 116. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE MILAN LODGE - - -THE MILAN LODGE - - ----+--------+------------------------------+------------------------------ - 1. | 1387 | Magister Simone da Arsenigo | First _capo maestro_ of - | | | Milan cathedral. - | | | - 2. | " | *M. Guarnerio da Sirtori. | Assisted him. - | | | - 3. | " | *M. Marco da Frixone di | Engaged March 5, 1387; C.M. - | | Campione | 1389; D. 1390. - | | | - 4. | " | *M. Jacopo Fusina da | C.M. with Marco in 1389. Head - | | Campione | of the works at Certosa, 1397. - | | | Designed the Certosa. - | | | - 5. | " | *M. Zeno da Campione (his | Brought 21 sculptors on Oct. - | | brother) | 18, 1387. By 1399 he had 250 - | | | under him. - | | | - 6. | " | *M. Andrea degli Argani da | From the Campione school at - | | Modena | Modena; was architect to the - | | | Duke of Milan. Called to - | | | to Milan in 1387 as counsel. - | | | - 7. | " | *M. Lazaro da Campione | - | | | - 8. | " | *M. Rolando or Orlando | - | | | - 9. | " | *M. Zambono (Giovanni Buono | Descendant of Zambono, who - | | da Bissone) | was C.M. at Padua 1264, and - | | | at Parma 1280. - | | | - 10. | " | *M. Fontana da Campione | Probably an ancestor of Giov. - | | | Fontana, the master of - | | | Palladio; and of Matteo - | | | Fontana, architect of Belluno - | | | cathedral in 1517. - | | | - 11. | " | *M. Cressino da Campione | - | | | - 12. | " | *M. Giovanni da Azzo | - | | | - 13. | " | *M. Giovanni da Troenzano | - | | | - 14. | | *M. Martino da Arogno | - | | | - 15. | | *M. Ruggero } da Marogia: | - | | } brothers. | - 16. | | *M. Giorgio } | - | | | - 17. | | *M. Alberto } | All Lombards who worked - | | } | under Giovanni da Bissone - 18. | | *M. Airolo } | (No. 9); the latter was his - | | } | son. - 19. | | *M. Giovannino da Bissone } | - | | | - 20. | 1387 | [+]Magister } | - | | Antonio } di Guido, | - | | } brothers | - 21. | | M. Giovanni } | - | | | - 22. | | [+]M. Adamo | - | | | - 23. | | [+]M. Giovanni di Furno | - | | | - 24. | | [+]M. Adriolo da Campione | - | | | - 25. | | [+]M. Guglielmo di Marco | Son of Marco da Frixone, - | | | architect at Crema; called to - | | | Milan as expert, Oct. 1387. - | | | - 26. | | M. Leonardo Zepo } | Two Masters deputed to take - | | } | note of Magister Andrea's - 27. | | M. Simone da Cavagnera } | suggestion, Oct. 1387. - | | | - 28. | 1388 | *M. Ambrogio Pongione } | Gave his vote at a meeting - | | } | of the lodge on March 20, - | | } | 1388. - | | } | - 29. | | *M. Bonino da Campione } | Voted at the same meeting. - | | } | Had been sculptor of the - | | } | Scaliger tomb at Verona in - | | } | 1375. - | | } | - 30. | | *M. Gasparo da Birago } | A famous iron-worker. - | | } | Magister of the lodge. - | | | - 31. | " | *Magister Ambrogio da } | - | | Melzo } | - | | } | - 32. | | *M. Pietro da Desio } | - | | } | All these * voted with the - 33. | | *M. Filippo Orino } | chief architect Simone at the - | | } | same meeting, March 20, 1388. - 34. | | *M. Ridolfo di Cinisello } | - | | } | - 35. | | *M. Antonio da Troenzano } | - | | (son of Giovanni da } | - | | Troenzano) } | - | | | - 36. | 1390 | M. Niccola del Bonaventura | Made a design for the - | | | windows of the choir at - | | | Milan: not accepted: - | | | discharged from the lodge - | | | on July 21, 1390. - | | | - 37. | 1391 | M. Giovanni da Campione | Sometimes called John from - | | | Fernach. He brought 100 - | | | stone-carvers into the - | | | _laborerium_ in 1391. - | | | - 38. | 1399 | M. Antonio A. Paderno | { Two rising Masters in 1399, - | | | { who fought the great - 39. | " | M. Marco da Carona | { dispute with the French - | | | { architects. - | | | - 40. | " | M. Lorenzo degli Spazi, di | Brought 188 stone-carvers - | | Val d'Intelvi | with him to Milan. He was in - | | | 1396 C.M. at Como, and - | | | probably went to Milan with - | | | all his workmen, when the - | | | works there were suspended - | | | on Gian Galeazzo's death. - | | | - 41. | 1400 | M. Jacopo da Tradate | In 1400 he was chief - | | | sculptor. - | | | - 42. | " | M. Samuele, his son | Sculptured his father's tomb - | | | in 1402. - | | | - 43. | 1400 | M. Bertollo da Campione } | - | | } | - 44. | | M. Giorgio de Sollario } | - | | (Solari) } | - | | } | - 45. | | M. Guglielmo di Giorgio } | - | | (his son) } | - | | } | - 46. | 1410 { | M. Giovanni de Solari } | _Magistri_ working under - | to { | } | Jacopo da Tradate at the - 47. | 1440 { | M. Giovanni di Reghezio } | sculptures for Milan - | | } | cathedral. - 48. | | M. Jacopo da Lanzo } | - | | } | - 49. | | M. Michele di Benedetto da } | - | | Campione } | - | | } | - 50. | | M. Francesco Solari } | - | | } | - 51. | | M. Giovanni da Cairate } | - | | | - 52. | { | *M. Cristoforo da Chiona | All these marked * were - | 1420 { | | master architects, each - 53. | to { | *M. Arasmino Solari da | building a certain part of - | 1440 { | Arogna | the cathedral. - | { | | - 54. | { | *M. Franceschino da Canobbio | Was C.M. in 1448. - | | | - 55. | | *M. Leonardo da Sirtori | Son or grandson of Magister - | | | Guarnerio (No. 2). - | | | - 56. | | *M. Paolino da Arsenigo | Son or grandson of Magister - | | | Simone (No. 1). - | | | - 57. | | *M. Filippino degli Argani | Son of Andrea degli Argani - | | | (No. 6), whom he succeeded - | | | as architect to the Visconti. - | | | Designed the choir window at - | | | Milan. Entered the lodge as - | | | novice, 1400; graduated - | | | master, 1404; C.M. 1417. - | | | - 58. | 1450 | M. Giorgio di Filippo | His son: became C.M. in his - | | | turn in 1450. - | | | - 59. | 1451 | M. Giovanni Solari: son of | C.M. from 1451 to 1470. He - | | Marco da Carona. | forms a link with Venice. - | | | - 60. | 1470 | M. Guiniforte or Boniforte | C.M. in 1470-1481. Built the - | | (son of Giovanni Solari) | Ospedale Maggiore and church - | | | of Le Grazie at Milan. - | | | - 61. | 1481 | Magister Pietro Antonio: his | Went to Russia in 1481. - | | son | - | | | - 62. | 1468 { | M. Martino da Mantegazza | - | to { | | - 63. | 1492 { | M. Dolcebono Rodari | Entered the lodge in 1490; - | | | was sent to Rome for - | | | training. His relative, - | | | Tomaso Rodari, was more - | | | famous than he, and - | | | sculptured the Renaissance - | | | door at Como. - | | | - 64. | | M. Gerolamo della Porta | Was employed later in Rome - | | | and Naples. - | | | - 65. | | M. Salomone, son of Giovan | One of the line descending - | | de Grassi | from Magister Graci, founder - | | | of the lodge at Padua. - | | | - 66. | 1471 | M. Bartolommeo de Gorgonzola | C.M. for the cupola of Milan - | | | cathedral. - | | | - 67. | 1488 | M. Leonardo da Vinci | Engaged for the cupola, but - | | | resigned. - | | | - 68. | | M. Antonio da Paderno | Rectified the mistakes of - | | (descendant of the older | John of Gratz. - | | Antonio, No. 88) | - | | | - 69. | | M. Giovanni Antonio } | Joint architects to finish - | | } | cupola and cathedral of - 70. | | M. Amedeo or Omodeo } | Milan. Amedeo worked - | | } | afterwards in Venice. - | | } | - 71. | | M. Gio. Giacome di } | Dolcebono was son of - | | Dolcebono } | Dolcebono Rodari. - | | | - 72. | | M. Francesco di Giorgio of } | - | | Siena } | Were called to advise on - | | } | the plans of the above - 73. | | M. Luca Fancelli of } | three. - | | Florence } | - | | | - 74. | 1506 | M. Andrea Fusina | Descendant of Jacopo Fuxina. - | | | Andrea was elected C.M. to - | | | replace Dolcebono in 1506. - | | | - 75. | 1502 | M. Cristoforo Gobbo | Sculptured Adam and Eve on - | | | the facade of Milan - | | | cathedral, etc. - | | | - 76. | { | M. Gian Giacomo Bono da } | - | { | Campione } | - | { | } | A later offshoot of the old - 77. | 1618 { | M. Francesco Bono, his son } | family of Bono or Buono, who - | to { | } | have furnished _Magistri_ - 78. | 1647 { | M. Carlo Antonio Bono, a } | since 1152. - | { | relative } | - | { | } | - 79. | { | M. Giuseppe Bono, his son } | - ----+--------+------------------------------+------------------------------ - -All these marked * were engaged on Oct. 4, 1387, to work with Magister -Simone. The second batch given below and marked [+] joined the Lodge -on Oct. 9, five days after. - -FOREIGN ARCHITECTS IN MILAN LODGE - - ----+--------+------------------------------+---------------------------- - 80. | 1389 | Anichino or Annex of | Was paid for the model of a - | | Freiburg | dome which was not used. - | | | - | " | Giacobino de Bruge | Fell ill, and was supported - | | | by the lodge. - | | | - 81. | 1391 | Ulrico di Ensingen | Came for a few months. - | | | - | " | Heinrich di Gmunden | Entered, July 1391; left, - | | | June 1392. - | | | - 82. | 1399 | Jean Mignot de Paris | Came from Paris. - | | | - 83. | | Jean Campanias from Normandy | Campanias did not stay long. - | | | - 84. | | Ulrich de Frissengen } | Worked at Milan for a short - | | } | time. - 85. | | Aulx di Marchestein } | - | | | - 86. | 1482 | Giovanni da Gratz | Engaged, 1482; discharged, - | | | 1488. - ----+--------+------------------------------+---------------------------- - - - -I.--THE COMACINES UNDER THE VISCONTI - -History repeats itself. We began the story of the Comacines in -Lombardy with their works under the invading Longobards, we end it -with their works under the usurping Visconti. The first era shows -their early Roman-Lombard style in its purity; the last shows the -culmination of their later Italian-Gothic style in its fulness. - -Like Florence, Siena, Pisa, Pistoja, and other cities, Milan, on -freeing herself from Longobard and French tyrants, had become a -commune, but she could not escape the usual fate of a mediaeval -commune, _i.e._ party faction, and the supremacy of a dominant family. -As Florence had her Guelphs and Ghibellines, Pistoja her Bianchi and -Neri, so Milan had her two warring families, the Torriani and -Visconti. The conflict was long, but in the end the Visconti -dominated. Matteo I. reigned over Cremona, Lodi, Bergamo, Pavia, -Alexandria, and Vercelli. Azzo Visconti subjugated Piacenza and Como, -etc. Luchino added Asti, Bobbio, and Parma; while his brother, the -Archbishop Giovanni, acquired Brescia, Genoa, and Bologna. His -nephews, Bernabo and Galeazzo II., divided the state, and lost part of -it. Genoa freed herself from Galeazzo, while Bernabo's vices and -cruelties caused rebellion everywhere. - -Galeazzo's son, Gian Galeazzo, who was only fifteen when his father -died in 1378, married Isabella of France, he being then seventeen, and -she a child still. By this he gained, as his bride's portion, the -estate of Vertus in Champagne, and his descendants kept up the title, -which became Italianized into Conte di Virtu. His second wife was his -cousin, Caterina, daughter of Bernabo. To assure himself of her -heritage, he imprisoned his uncle in the castle of Trezza, where he -died a few months after, some say by poison. However this be, Gian -Galeazzo immediately rode into Milan, where he was proclaimed Signore -of Milan. Wenceslaus, Emperor of Germany, had already created him his -Vicar-general in Lombardy, so that his power was great. So great was -it that he was able to oust the Scaligers from Verona in 1386; the -Carraresi from Vicenza and Padua in 1387. In 1395 he induced -Wenceslaus to nominate him Duke of Milan, and to make the title -hereditary. Then, emulating his Longobardic predecessors, he began a -march of conquest southwards; took Perugia, Spoleto, and Assisi in -1400; Lucca in 1401; then he bought Pisa from the Appiani, and Siena -capitulated. Florence was next in his list, but luckily for her he -died at this juncture, and Florence escaped.[265] - -These were the princes under whose auspices the cathedral of Milan -arose, a mountain of sculpture white as snow. In olden times there -were twin churches standing on the site of Milan cathedral: S. Maria -Maggiore, the winter church, and S. Thecla, the _estiva_, or summer -church. Santa Maria had two Baptisteries, one for male children, the -other for female. They both had marvellous towers: that of S. Maria -was two hundred and forty-five _braccia_ (about four hundred and -seventy feet) high, and of "admirable beauty." This tower was thrown -down and the church destroyed in the siege of Milan, 1162. After the -Peace of Costanza, Sta. Maria was restored by public offerings, and -the Milanese ladies, like the ancient Roman dames, threw their jewels -into the treasury. The facade of this restoration was of black and -white marble in squares, and the church was so large that it could -contain 7000 people. - -By the fourteenth century Milan had become so wealthy and powerful -that it determined to build a church more beautiful than any before -it. To Gian Galeazzo is generally given the whole credit of this -initiative, but documents seem to prove it was a general move on the -people's part. On May 12, 1386, Monsignor Antonio dei Marchesi, -Archbishop of Milan, addressed a circular letter to his clergy, saying -that the church of the Blessed Virgin was old and dilapidated, and -"the hearts of the faithful" intended to rebuild it, which work being -very costly, the Archbishop prayed all his clergy to "institute -offerings in their churches, and to pray God to bless the work." - -Again a year later he circulated another letter, to ask that all the -offerings thus gathered should be transmitted to Milan before the -_fete_ of St. Martin, as the faithful were anxious to continue the -work begun. Gian Galeazzo did his part by promulgating two edicts; one -dated October 12, 1386, instituting a _questua_ (collection) in all -the Ducal State for the benefit of the funds for the Duomo; the -second, dated February 7, 1387, decreed that all the money from the -_paratici_ of the city, which shall be paid as offerings during the -_fete_ of the Madonna in February of this and following years, shall -be dedicated to the building fund. The results of all these appeals -and decrees, and the small part the Visconti had in the giving, -appears in a letter from the deputies of the Fabbrica or Opera, -addressed to Gian Galeazzo, on August 3, 1387, saying--"Offerings have -been made with great devotion by every kind of person, rich and poor, -who have copiously and liberally aided the building. Now, O Signore, -we pray that you and your lady mother, your consort, and daughter, may -also transmit your devout oblations to subsidize the church." - -This is the way the funds were found, and now who were the builders? -We have seen in a former chapter that the Visconti patronized the -Campionese school of architect-sculptors, and as the Comacines had -been associated with Milan for centuries, it was not necessary to look -far for architects. Indeed the very first batch of names which meets -our eye in the books of the _laborerium_ are all of the Lombard Guild. -Here is chief architect Simone da Arsenigo written down as _ingegnere -generale_; or _capo maestro_, Guarnerio da Sirtori; Marco, Jacopo, e -Zeno, da Campione; and Andrea from Modena; where we have seen the -Campione Masters established a school. - -On October 16, 1387, a meeting was held by the commission of the Duomo -to discuss a project proposed by the administrators of the Fabbrica, -for forming a regular organization, and electing the proper officials. -It was decided-- - -1. To confirm the present deputies as superintendents of the work. -(Here we have the Tuscan _Operai_.) - -2. To elect a treasurer-general. - -3. To nominate a good and efficient accountant. - -4. Also a good and efficient _spenditore_ (in Tuscany this is the -_Provveditore_). - -5. To confirm the election of Magister Simone da Arsenigo as head -architect of the building, and to nominate enough capable Masters to -assist him. (In Tuscany _capo maestro_ and _Maestri_.) - -6. To confirm (considering their eminence in their art) Dionisolo di -Brugora and Ambrogio da Sala (an island in Lake Como near Comacina) in -their offices, and to choose others equally good to aid in the -building. - -7. To elect two or more _probi uomini_ (arbiters). - -8. To elect lawyer, notary, and _sindaci_ (consuls) of the art. - -9. "We also determine and ordain that Maestro Simone da Arsenigo, as -being chief architect of the said fabric, shall order and provide for -all the works done in the said church, and that he shall show -diligence, etc. etc...." - -Here we have the exact organization we have seen at Siena, Parma, -Florence, etc.; and as there the Lombard Masters are the founders of -it, we find the same filing of documents, the same assigning of -different parts of the building to different Masters, and the same -calling of councils in the guild to consider and value the work. The -registers of administration are kept in precisely the same way. The -_spenditore_ keeps his books just as the Florentine _Provveditore_ -does. Here are a few translations from the bad Latin of his entries-- - -"1387. _January 15._--For two lbs. of _morsecate_ for Maestro Andrea -degli Organi, four lire." (Andrea degli Organi of Modena was the Ducal -architect, the father of Filippo da Modena, a first-rate architect.) - -"_January 19._--For a Master and forty-seven workmen to place the -foundations of the pilasters." - -"_March 19._--To Simone da Arsenigo, chief architect, for eighteen -days in which he was engaged in work himself." (This entry would seem -to prove that when a Master did manual work with his men, he was paid -as they were in addition to his salary as architect.) - -"_April 2._--To Maestro Marco da Frisone" (Magistro Marcho de -Frixono), "who was in the service of the Fabbrica, and began to work -on March 5, and finished on April 2, for his pay 12 lire 13 denari." - -"_April 13._--To Maestro Andrea da Modena, architect to the Duke, for -his pay for the days he gave to the church in Milan, with the -permission of the Vicario Sig. Giovanni de Capelli, and the _XII di -provisione_" (one of the city councils, which acted as the president -of the lodge, as the Arte della Lana did in Florence), "and also of -the deputies of the Fabbrica, L. 19. 4." - -"_May 2._--Lent to Maestro Marco da Frisono, 22 lire." - -"_August 12._--For 84 workmen, 13 lire 13. 6. To 4 master builders, -_i.e._ Giovanni da Arsenigo, 5 lire 10; to Giovannino da Arsenigo, his -son, 5. 10; to Giovanni da Azzo, 5. 9; and Giovanni da Troenzano, 5. -9;--18 lire in all." - -In August we get entries of expenses for rope to draw water from the -well, and rope for raising scaffolding, for nails, baskets, -plumb-lines, water-levels, red paint to mark the planks, and other -things. On October 9, 1387, we find the _spenditore_ paying a -messenger to go to Crema with letters from the lodge to Maestro -Guglielmo di Marco, to call him to Milan to give advice on business -connected with the buildings. - -On October 15 Guglielmo di Marco is paid 16 lire for his journey and -eight days' employment in examining and judging the work of the -church. - -On October 18, 1387, we have payment to Maestro Simone da Arsenigo and -ten companions (eleven in all), master builders. To Maestro Zeno da -Campione and twenty-one companions (twenty-two including himself), -master sculptors of "living stone" (_pietra viva_). The word which I -translate companions is _sotiis_ (_Mag. Symoni de Ursanigo et sotiis, -etc._), which would imply that they were all members (_soci_) of one -society, and is thus valuable as a confirmation of the brotherhood in -this guild. - -In October 1387, Andrea da Modena, the Duke's architect, is again -engaged, but only as adviser; for which he receives _in dono fiorini -venti_; and Leonardo Zepo and Simone da Cavagnera are deputed to take -note of his suggestions. - -"1387. _November 19._--For the payment of two large sheets of -parchment consigned to Simone da Arsenigo." (These must have been to -draw the plans.) - -"1388. _April 19._--Paid Maestro Marco da Frixone and _soci_ for -plaster to make models of the four _piloni_." - -In another entry, noting the payment of 81 lire as salary, Marco da -Frixone is named as Marco da Campione _detto_ di Frisone. - -Merzario is of opinion that such names as Marc the Frisian, who was -one of the Campione school; Jacopo Tedesco, whom all old writers agree -was Italian; Guglielmo d'Innspruck, also a Campionese, have been the -cause of much misunderstanding, and have sent authors off on false -scents. It was the custom, in the books of the Comacines, to name -people from their _provenienza_, i.e. the last place they came from. -Thus at Siena you will find Niccolo da Pisa, while at Pisa he is -Niccolo di Apulia. Lorenzo Maitani was Lorenzo da Siena to the Orvieto -people, and Lorenzo d'Orvieto to the Florentines. Marco il Frisone, -born at Campione, is therefore a link between the German guilds and -the Italian; he must have worked at Friesland, and probably brought -back ideas of a more pointed Gothic from there. - -These registers are ample proof that the builders just called in for -the building of Milan cathedral were of the Lombard Guild, and chiefly -of the Campione branch. It is not till 1389 that we find a single -German name, and then a certain "Anichino (Annex) di Germania" is paid -16 soldi for having made a model of a _tiburio_ (cupola) in lead, and -Giacobino da Bruge, who falls ill while working at the church, has a -slight subsidy given by the guild _per amor di Dio_. They are not -mentioned again, and neither of them seem to be Masters. - -That Simone da Arsenigo was chief architect at this time, not a doubt -can exist. It is especially emphasized in a deed executed in December -1387. In it the Administration, "in consideration of their long and -continued experience of the pure and admirable goodwill, and the -_opera multifaria_ which the worthy man, Magister Simone da Arsenigo, -most worthy chief architect and master, has achieved in this church, -by constant diligence, and wishing to remunerate him better (pro -aliquali remuneratione bene meritorem), decide that whereas his salary -hitherto has been ten imperial soldi a day, it shall now be raised to -ten gold florins a month." - -It is plain, however, that he worked in concert with the guild. Just -as at Florence and Siena, great councils of the Masters, both -architects and sculptors, were held to consider whether the -foundations were strong before continuing the building, so in Milan a -great meeting was called on Friday, March 20, 1388, in which all the -_Magistri_ were cited before their patrons, the Imperial -Vicar-General, and the Council of XII. (In Florence the Arte della -Lana took the post of President of the Works.) All the _Magistri_ were -charged to give their opinion on the building in its present state, -and to suggest any improvements they could. - -First uprose Master Marco da Campione (Surrexit primus Magister -Marchus de Campilione, Inzignerius), and said there was an error in -the wall on the side of Via Compedo, the wall being, in one part, -"half a quarter" wider than the measure given. He suggested undoing -that part to the foundation. - -Then the chief architect, Simone da Arsenigo, rose, and proposed to -cut the stones down to the ground, but not to remove them. - -Maestri Giacomo and Zeno agreed with Maestro Marco, as did Maestro -Guarnerio da Sirtori and Ambrogio Pongione. - -Then uprose Maestro Bonino da Campione (whom we saw last at work on -the Scaligers' tombs at Verona), and said that he not only agreed with -the others, but found an error in the _piloni_ in the body of the -church, towards the door of the facade. - -Gasparolo da Birago, worker in iron, Magistri Ambrogio da Melzo, -Pietro da Desio, Filippo Orino, Ridolfo di Cinisello, and Antonio da -Troenzano, all voted with him. - -The words "according to the measure given" (_justa mensuram super hoc -datam_), prove that however many architects superintended special -parts, there was one supreme Master who made the design. - -This was first, as we have said, Simone da Arsenigo, and after him -Marco the Frisian of Campione, whose salary is paid on March 31, 1389, -naming him as "Mag. Marcho de Campilione dicto de Frixono inzegnerio -fabricae." His name often appears as chief architect till July 10, -1390, when "he died at the Ave Maria in the morning, and was buried -with honours the same evening in the church of S. Thecla."[266] - -One of Marco's contemporaries in the _laborerium_ was Jacopo da -Campione, whose name appears with that of Nicola del Bonaventura, and -Matteo da Campione, and others, at a general meeting held on January -6, 1390. Historical authorities say Jacopo da Campione was of the -Buono family, and some assign as his father Giovanni Buono. He, too, -had a cognomen of Fuxina or Fusina, but whether a family name or a -place name I cannot tell. His name first appears in the books of the -guild with Zambono, or Giovanni Buono, supposed to be his father, with -Magistri Zeno, Andriolo, Lazaro, Rolando, Fontana, Cressino (all from -Campione), and with Alberto, Airolo, and Giovanni da Bissone, and -Anselmo da Como. These must have been the Masters who responded to the -invitation for architects sent out by the Milanese. - -On April 15, 1389, Jacopo da Campione was elected chief architect in -connection with his friend Marco da Campione. - -A competition for designs for the great window of the choir was -announced in 1390, and Jacopo da Campione and Niccola del Bonaventura -each sent a design, from which the archbishop was to choose. He -preferred that of Bonaventura, but the Master fell into disgrace, and -his window was never executed. We find that the Administration, on -July 31, 1390, "deliberated" to discharge Master Bonaventura, give -him the salary due to him, and remove him entirely from the lodge. -Jacopo da Campione remained in office till the end of 1395, when he -and Marco da Carona retired for rest and change to Lake Lugano. They -were not allowed to be away long, for they were recalled on January 9, -1396. - -During that year new honours were preparing for Jacopo. Gian Galeazzo -Visconti was intending to rebuild the Certosa at Pavia, and set his -eyes on Jacopo da Campione as the best architect he could find for it. -The Masters of the Milan Lodge dared not dispute the will of the -all-powerful Duke, and held a meeting on March 4, 1397, at which it -was decided "that Jacopo di Campione, chief architect of the building, -_qui acceptatus est super laboreria Cartuxiae_, should still retain his -position in the works of the Duomo, because the entire absence of the -Master who began the building (_qui principiavit ipsam fabricam_) -would cause grave peril and injury to the work. They proposed, -however, that Maestro Jacopo might, in cases of necessity, assist in -the building of the Certosa, as he had done before." - -This document sets the question beyond a doubt that the architect who -had most to do with the building of Milan cathedral was this Jacopo of -Campione, who had worked with the first architect, Simone, and shared, -on his death, the post of chief, with Marco, his fellow-countryman. He -died on October 30, 1398. - -During the time he was head of the _laborerium_ several Germans worked -under him; Milan being so near the German frontier was always a -favourite object of German travel. Moreover, I fancy there must during -these centuries have been a fraternal intercourse between the Italian -Masonic Guilds and those of Germany. We have so many Italians who -worked in Germany, and coming back were dubbed with the name of the -last place they came from, that it is equally likely that some -Germans crossed the border with those fellow-guildsmen on their -return, and worked at Milan. This intercourse between the two nations -would account for the more German style of Milan cathedral as compared -with other Italian churches. - - [Illustration: SMALL CLOISTER OF THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA. - _See page 358._] - -I have before remarked that the lines of architecture gradually take a -more upward tendency the further north we go. The slight point of the -arch, as seen in Siena and Orvieto and Florence, is much sharpened in -Milan; the rows of little round archlets which covered a Romanesque -building with rich horizontal lines, have here become elongated and -pointed, all the lines tending upwards, till they become almost -monotonous; yet Milan is but the natural northern development of the -southern Italian Gothic. It was always the tendency of the guild to -seek greater richness of ornamentation in multiplying forms already -customary to them. As the Romanesque facade was merely a -multiplication of the Lombard single gallery, so the Gothic of Milan -is but a multiplication and elongation of the turrets and pinnacles of -Siena and Orvieto, and of the pointed gables over elongated arches, -with almost an abuse of the perpendicular shaft. Of course I do not -speak of the facade in these remarks, that being a discord by the -later Renaissance architects. The changes may well have been induced -by the strong German influence in the guild. - -There were also French artists, such as Jean Mignot de Paris, and Jean -de Campanias of Normandy.[267] We hear of a Niccolo Bonaventura from -Paris, but his name is too Italian for his nationality to be mistaken. -He probably had been employed in France, and brought back the French -sculptor-architects with him. All these names, with the Germans -mentioned below, are to be found in the report of a meeting of -_Magistri_ in 1391. They are qualified as _Magistri di pietra viva_ -(sculptors). The German names are, Ulrich de Frissengen di Nein, Aulx -di Marchestein, and Johannes Annex di "Friurgo" (Freiburg?). This last -has been confused by writers with Giovanni de Fernach, who was a -Campionese. Giovanni da Campione worked for many years in Germany, and -when he returned was as usual dubbed a German, being called John from -Fernach. He brought a hundred stone-cutters to the service of the -Duomo of Milan in February 1391. The Administrators approved of him, -and considering that he knew Germany and its language, and was a judge -of good work, they sent him to Cologne to try and procure some good -architects. He went, but finding no one of great talent, he returned -unsuccessful, and was obliged to refund to the guild half the cost of -his journey. As a compensation, the Administration commissioned him to -prepare a design for the southern sacristy. He appears to have shut -himself up to prepare this great plan in secret, for on November 1, -1391, the Deputies of the Administration order the _Provveditore_ to -send "Giovannolo and Beltramolo" to get the Archbishop's order to -command Giovanni de Fernach to explain his intention about the work on -which he was engaged; because, "if his plan was not approved, they -would not wish it proceeded with." - -Then Fernach began to say that Johannes di Firimburg was right, and -that the proportions of the church, with which his sacristy had to -harmonize, were wrong. On this the President, the Archbishop, and the -Deputies sent to Piacenza for an expert, named Gabriele Stornaloco, a -great geometrician, to settle the vexed question. He came, made his -calculations, and decided that the German critics were in the wrong. -Not satisfied with this, they next prayed the Duke to send his -sculptor, Bernardo da Venezia, to give his opinion. He came to Milan -in November 1391, made his computations, and also decided that the -Germans had made a mistake. Then Fernach's plan for the sacristy was -handed over to the chief architect, Jacopo da Campione, to modify its -proportions; and Fernach's name appears no more in the books of the -_spenditore_. - -Another German in the _laborerium_ was an architect, Magister Enrico -or Ulrico di Ensingen, near Ulm. He came in July 1391, but only -remained a few months, and then disappeared. Another Enrico or Ulrico -(the _spenditore's_ orthography is diverse and mixed) da Gamodia or -Gmunden, then appears. This is the Heinrich of Gmunden, whom the -guide-books generally name as the architect of the Duomo. We will now -see precisely how much was due to him. His name appears at a meeting -on May 1, 1392, in which Jacopo da Campione, as usual, holds the first -place. Enrico da Gamodia, as he is written in the books, was but -lately _returned_ (_ritornato_) from Germany, and had offered himself -to design and work in the building of the Duomo. He allowed himself to -raise doubts and express censure of the solidity and strength of the -work already done. Public discussions were raised as to the validity -of his objections. A great meeting was called, in which his name -appears at the bottom of a long list of Masters, all Italian. To the -questions as to the solidity and beauty of the building, and whether -it should be continued on the same plan or not, all the other Masters -agreed that the design could not be improved. Heinrich of Gmunden -alone answered stubbornly, _non assensit_. - -The guild soon after decided on cutting off useless expenses, and -among others the salary of Magister Heinrich, who was "dismissed," and -"sent about his business" (licentietur ad eundum pro factis suis). The -German appealed to the Duke of Milan, who begged the Deputati to -reconsider their decision. They, however, held firm, and calling -Heinrich before them on the 7th of the following July, told him that -he had not served the cause well (in designamentis et aliis -necessariis pro Fabrica male serviverit). They gave him six florins -for his journey and dismissed him. "Yet," as Merzario says,[268] "to -this man who came to Milan at the end of 1391, and left in the middle -of 1392, is given by many people the credit of having designed the -Duomo of Milan, which was begun in 1386, and also of the Certosa of -Pavia begun in 1396." - -Nor did Ulrich da Ulm, whom we have mentioned, achieve much more than -his compatriot. He came in 1391, and only stayed a few months. In -1394, however, he again offered his services, and was reinstalled on a -profitable contract. But he too had the national spirit of criticism, -and vaunted his own plans of improving the church, while he detailed -his opinion of the flaws in the existing plans, and doubts on the -stability of the building. Of course a meeting of the lodge was -called, and as before the majority went against Ulrich's new -improvements. However, they sent to Pavia to ask the Duke to let his -architect, Nicola de Lelli, come to Milan and arbitrate. He replied -that they had better send a deputation with all the plans to Pavia, as -he could not spare the architect. So the _capo maestro_, Jacopo da -Campione, and Giovannino de' Grassi accompanied Ulrich to Pavia, to -confer with the Duke and his architects, with the result that the -present work was pronounced good, and Ulrich's designs and innovations -rejected. The _spenditore_ records that Ulrich's salary was paid: he -too was sent off (ad eundum pro factis suis). - -During the three following years no German names are met with in the -books. Then came the death of Jacopo da Campione in 1398, and the -_laborerium_ seems to have had no capable Master to replace him. And -now we shall see how this Masonic Guild was ramified throughout -Europe. - -The Deputies sent to Giovanni Alcherio, a Milanese living in Paris, to -see if some architect could be spared from the works at Notre Dame. He -proposed Jean Campanias from Normandy and Jean Mignot of Paris, -mentioned above, who were accepted, and came to Milan in 1399, with a -painter named Jacopo Cova. Mignot was made architect of the two -sacristies. He coveted the supreme post of chief architect of the -whole building, but he met with serious rivals in Marco da Carona and -Antonio da Paderno, two young _Magistri_ who were fast rising in the -guild to fill the place of Jacopo and Marco da Campione and Simone da -Arsenigo. - -There was schism in the guild. Mignot found fault with everything in -the Duomo, the size, the proportions, the _piloni_, the capitals, the -windows, the tracery, and all the ornamentation. Marco and Antonio -declared that Mignot's sacristy was of a false rule of measurement, -and the arch of his window wrong in its lines. There were meetings in -the lodge, and endless disputes, till Mignot also disappeared from the -scene. - -The Campione school of Masters still held its own: we now find that -Matteo da Campione was sent for from Monza. Zeno da Campione, brother -of the late Jacopo, also came with two hundred and fifty stone-cutters -under him to carve the capitals, pinnacles, etc. etc. There was -Lorenzo degli Spazi di Laino in Val d'Intelvi, also of the same -school, who brought one hundred and eighty-eight stone-carvers to the -_laborerium_, and who won fame for the fine sculpture they produced. -Can one wonder at the wealth of sculpture in and on the cathedral, -when only two _Magistri_ can furnish more than four hundred workmen -between them? When one looks at the lavish marble work on the roof, -the plurality of artists is well accounted for. - -Giovannino dei Grassi, or Gracii, seems to have succeeded Jacopo as -_capo maestro_, and his designs and Jacopo's were kept with reverence -in the rooms of the Administration. - -In 1400 Jacopo da Tradate is the "supreme sculptor" to the fabric. He -did the statue of Martin V. in commemoration of that Pope's visit to -Milan in 1418, after the Council of Constance, when he consecrated the -principal altar. Jacobino da Tradate also sculptured the mausoleum of -Pietro, son of Guido Torello, Marquis of Guastalla, in S. Eustorgio at -Milan. His son, Samuele, was a friend of Andrea Mantegna's, and once -visited him on the Lago di Garda. He too was a sculptor, and made his -father's tomb in the cloister of S. Agnese, which he inscribed--"Jacobino -de Tradate patri suaviss:--Qui tamquam Praxiteles vivos in marmore -fingebat vultus--Samuel observantis. V. F." - -In 1402 Duke Gian Galeazzo died, and during the minority of his son, -art, architecture, and sculpture languished. Few famous names are -preserved, and all of those were from the neighbourhood of Como. Those -mentioned in the books as continuing the work between 1402 and 1440, -are Jacopo da Tradate, Bertollo da Campione, Giorgio de Sollario, -sculptors, and Paolino da Montorfano, a painter. At a later period -other Masters appeared, and we find Giovanni de Solari from Val -d'Intelvi, Guglielmo di Giorgio and Giovanni di Reghezio, Jacopo da -Lanzo, Michele di Benedetto da Campione, Francesco Solari, and -Giovanni da Cairate, all sculptors, with Cristoforo da Chiona, -Arasmino Solari da Arogna, Franceschino da Canobbio, Leonardo da -Sirtori, Paolino da Arsenigo, and Giovanni Solari, all Lombard -engineers and architects. - -Of all this crowd, two men rose to especial eminence: Magister -Filippino degli Argani da Modena, and Giovanni Solari da Campione, who -had a special connection with the domestic Gothic architecture of -Venice. Filippino was son of Andrea degli Argani, architect to the -Visconti. He showed so much talent for his father's profession that -Duke Gian Galeazzo himself nominated him as a novice in the lodge of -the guild. A letter, dated January 8, 1400, was addressed by the Duke -to the Administrative Council of the lodge, saying--"Considering -the fine genius shown even in boyhood by Filippo, son of our -architect, the late Maestro of Modena, we advise that his talents -shall be cultivated, and that he shall be practised in the technical -arts, especially by the assistance and instruction of good masters.... -Therefore we decree that the said Filippino shall enter the said -_laborerium_ (of the Duomo at Milan), and we recommend him for -instruction therein."[269] - - [Illustration: MARBLE WORK ON THE ROOF OF MILAN CATHEDRAL. - _See page 363._] - -Filippino so far justified this recommendation, that when, on March 6, -1412, a competition was offered for designs for the window behind the -choir, he won the commission. Many authors, not heeding the authentic -documents, have given the credit of that window to Buonaventura from -Paris. In 1404 Filippino was made _Magister_ of the guild, and given -office under Marco da Carona. In 1406 he sculptured a beautiful -sepulchre to Marco Corello, a Milanese who had left all his patrimony -to the works of the Duomo. On Marco da Carona's death he became chief -architect of the cathedral, with the three _Magistri_, Magatto, -Leonardo da Sirtori, and Cristoforo da Chiona under him. An act passed -by the guild on May 19, 1417, confirms him as "Superior et prior -aliorum inzigneriorum de fabbrica," on a term of twelve years, at a -salary of twenty florins a month. At the expiration of the twelve -years he was not removed from office, but was given two colleagues -with equal power to his own. These were Franceschino da Canobbio and -Antonio da Gorgonzola. - -In April 1448, much to his disgust, Filippo was entirely suspended. -Francesco Sforza interceded on his behalf with the Administration, but -they replied that Franceschino suited them better. Again in 1450, when -the Duchess Bianca Visconti recommended Filippo's son Giorgio as a -worthy successor to his father, the Council again asserted that they -had no wish to discharge Franceschino da Canobbio. Then the Duke, -irritated by this repulse, wrote the following strong letter to the -Council--"Our beloved (_Dilecti nostri_). As the illustrious Madonna -Bianca our Consort has advised you, and considering the respect and -devotion which the late Magister Filippino bore to the memory of our -Consort's late celebrated father, also considering his valuable and -praiseworthy works, in the building of the cathedral, and other -edifices and fortresses, I beg that you will be pleased to elect as -architect to the Duomo, Magister Giorgio, son of the said late -Magister Filippino, with the usual salary, and nothing less. If you -wish, you are at liberty to elect four experts, who shall inform -themselves of the capabilities of the said 'Magister Zorgo,' and -whether he be sufficient for the post. We shall be obliged if you will -nominate him to the said office on the usual terms, by which you will -also oblige our Consort. Given from Milan, November 7, 1450." - -The Council had to bow to this command, but the nomination of Giorgio -"degli Argani" was not decided on till the meeting of July 6, 1451, -and then only a moderate salary was given him, "want of funds being -assigned by them as a reason." Giorgio's death, occurring soon after, -ended the difficulty, and Giovanni Solari became his successor. A -convention, dated September 24, 1450, between some masters and the -Council, concludes--"It is to be observed that Giovanni di Solari is -the head architect deputed to this work, which must be done according -to his designs and conditions." - -Giovanni was the son of Marco da Carona, formerly chief architect. In -the deed of his nomination is the sentence--"son of the late Marco, -who through all his life exercised the office of architect in such a -mode that few or none could even equal him."[270] - - [Illustration: CAPITAL IN MILAN CATHEDRAL. SCULPTURED BY MAGISTER - BARTOLOMMEO DA CAMPIONE. - _See page 368._] - -Two months after this election, Duke Francesco Sforza wrote a very -commanding letter from the camp at Trignano, saying, he recommended -the nomination of Antonio da Firenze (Filarete) and Giovanni da -Solari, in place of Filippino degli Argani. The latter was already at -his post, but the Council again defied the Duke by saying they had no -need of Filarete; on which the Duke retired from his self-imposed -office of adviser, and left the lodge to manage its own business, -which it always intended to do. Giovanni da Solari being left in -peace, carried on the works, and so beautiful were they, that even to -the _Magistri_ themselves the building seemed "more divine than -human." - -He was succeeded by his son, Magister Guiniforte, whose name is -sometimes misspelt Boniforte. He was "a man of clear mind, exquisite -sense and strong will; educated amidst grand ideas and grand things by -a wise and talented father; he became _Magister_ at twenty-two years -of age, and worked under his father." When he was thirty-seven, he -took Filarete's place, as chief architect of the Ospedale Maggiore at -Milan, a work almost perfect in its harmonious beauty, and yet showing -in every line its derivation from the civil edifices of the older -Lombards. He was also architect at the Certosa, and built, or rather -designed, the churches of S. Satiro and the Madonna delle Grazie and -the castle of Alliate. Calvi says that Guiniforte, "though following -the older school, knew how to lighten the serious northern style, by -giving it the smile of Italian skies." - -When Guiniforte died in 1481, his son, Pietro Antonio, armed with a -letter of recommendation from the Princess Bona, presented himself at -the lodge, as a candidate for his father's position. The Freemason -Council, however, seemed determined not to bow to royal commands, and -again asserted its independence. Pietro was put off, and in 1489 he -departed to Russia.[271] - -During the years from 1468 to 1492, the books of the lodge, preserved -in the archives, abound in names of _Magistri_ from the neighbourhood -of Como, both architects and sculptors.[272] - -Among them are some famous names, such as Martino da Mantegazza, -Dolcebono Rodari (sculptor of the beautiful north door at Como), and -Gerolamo della Porta, who entered the lodge in May 1490, with a letter -of recommendation from the Duke, advising his being specially trained -in the art of sculpture. His talents warranting this, he was sent to -Rome with four other stone-sculptors, to remain ten years, and perfect -themselves in sculpture, to study the antique, and to return to the -_laborerium_ as fully qualified masters. There was also Bartolommeo da -Campione, who carved some of the richly ornate capitals of the -columns. I suspect he was the man who became famous in Venice. - -The cathedral of Milan was now reaching completion. There only -remained the crucial question of the dome, and with this the Masters -now occupied themselves. Jacopo da Campione had made a model which the -Council of Administration preserved in their rooms, together with a -beautifully made wooden model begun by Giovannino de' Grassi, and -finished on his death by his son, Salomone. These were not adopted, -for on Giovanni Solari's death in 1471, we find the name of -_Bartolomeus de Gorgonzola, magister super Tiburium_. This was on -September 26, 1472. The same phrase is repeated in another entry on -November 25, 1471, where a payment is registered, made to Branda da -Castiglione, on account of the work he has to do at Gandolia, in -making certain columns to place above the _Tiburio_. - - [Illustration: NORTH DOOR OF COMO CATHEDRAL. SCULPTURED BY TOMMASO - RODARI. - _See page 368._] - -The difficult work was suspended on the assassination of Duke Galeazzo -Maria, by reason of want of funds. On the restoration of Gian Galeazzo -in 1482, the subject was again under consideration, and in the -absence of any very eminent Masters at the moment--Guiniforte having -died in 1481--the Duke wrote to Strasburg to beg that some architects -might be spared from the works there. This action is very suggestive -of an affinity between the German and Italian Masonic Lodges. No one -could be spared from Strasburg, but a certain Giovanni da Gratz came -over with a little squadron of Germans, and signed a contract to -superintend the "reparation and completion" of the _Tiburio_ of the -Duomo. The conditions of the contract further stated that when the -cupola should be so far finished as to allow of inspection, a -committee of qualified Masters should be elected to inspect it, and -pronounce if the work were good.[273] - -The words "reparation and completion" would imply that Guiniforte and -Bartolommeo had already begun the dome. The contract with John of -Gratz is signed May 1482, and it would appear not to have been of long -duration, no payments being made to him after February 1486, and on -January 26, 1488, the annals of the Duomo show the following -entry--"To Maestro Antonio da Paderno in recompense for his labours -during the past year in verifying the errors committed by Maestro -Giovanni da Gratz, etc...." Like his forerunner Heinrich da Gmunden, -John of Gratz had to retire from the Milanese Lodge; his name is no -more found in the books, and the Council began to search for a _capo -maestro_ nearer home. Magister Luca Paperio Fancelli was called from -Florence to examine some designs which had been sent in. The one -chosen was by Leonardo of Florence (Da Vinci), who was paid in -anticipation L.56, and a _Maestro in legname_ was assigned as his -assistant, named Bernardino da Abbiate. He probably was to superintend -the scaffolding, and Da Vinci the building. However, the engagement -fell through, and the Duke of Milan wrote to the Pope, the King of -Sicily, and the rulers of Venice and Florence to find an architect for -that puzzling cupola. Two Germans, one named Lorenzo, and one a monk, -John Mayer, were successively refused. At length, in 1490, the Council -finally commissioned Maestro Giovan Antonio Amadeo and Maestro Gio. -Giacomo Dolcebuono as joint architects "to finish the cupola and the -church." They were to choose the model which pleased them best of -those preserved in the Administration, and the one they selected was -to be examined for approval by Maestro Francesco di Giorgio, then -living at Siena, and by Maestro Luca of Florence (Fancelli), then -residing at Mantua, two experts who were by the Council elected as -judges and examiners of the perfection of the model. - -A great meeting of the _Magistri_ of the lodge, and the patron of the -city, presided over by the Duke himself, met on June 27, to examine -the several models, but none were chosen; and Amadeo and Dolcebuono -were ordered to make a revised model, with the concurrence of -Francesco Giorgio. The two former were then confirmed as joint -architects, "to compose and ordinate"--as the Verbale quaintly puts -it--"all the parts needful to constitute the said _Tiburio_, which -must be beautiful, worthy, and eternal," if indeed earthly things can -be eternal. - -Francesco di Giorgio departed laden with presents and payments, and -with the honorary title of architect of the Duomo of Milan; and on -September 9, the two others began their work, which they brought to a -happy conclusion on September 24, 1500. - -The facade was, however, not completed. Indeed, the registers show -that the insignia of the Comacine Masters, the marble lions which were -destined for the great door, were in 1489 still in deposit in the -_laborerium_. - -Dolcebuono died in 1506; and Andrea Fusina was elected in his place. -The famous sculptor, Cristoforo Gobbo, entered the works in 1502, on -the compact that he was not to be under the orders of other -architects, but to make his own contracts. He executed much of the -sculptural ornamentation of the cupola; such as the Doctors of the -Church in medallions; while a master Andrea da Corcano, with other -"brethren," did the pictures. Cristoforo also carved the famous -statues of Adam and Eve on the facade, besides several other statues. -He and Fusina being compatriots, fraternized, and opposed Amadeo, who -had made a too daring design for the lantern on the cupola. Meetings -after meetings were held, and at length Gobbo retired temporarily to -pursue his sculpture in Rome and Venice, where he is entered as -Cristoforo _da Milano_. His nephew, Michele da Merate, and Michele's -son Paolo, both sculptors, worked with him at Milan, where he -continued till his death, in 1527. - -Another long list of names from the books, given between 1500 and 1550 -by Merzario, proves that the Comacines still reigned supreme in the -_laborerium_, the Solari family preponderating. - -As if to connect the last link in the chain with the first, we find -the old family of Bono da Campione still prominent. For nearly thirty -years, _i.e._ between 1618 and 1647, Magister Gian Giacomo Bono da -Campione sculptured in the _laborerium_ of the Duomo, and there his -son Francesco was trained, besides two kinsmen--Carlo Antonio Bono, -painter and sculptor, and his son, Giuseppe. All this family worked -together in the seventeenth century at the facade of the cathedral, -designed by Pellegrini. The fine central door was the work of Gian -Giacomo Bono and Andrea Castelli, both Comacines by birth. - -As for the names of other Comacines who worked at the facade and on -the wondrous roof, one finds them by hundreds in the annals of the -Duomo, as collected by Giulini in his _Memorie della Citta e Campagna -di Milano_. Here you see names repeated which have been familiar in -the guild for centuries; such as the Bono and Solari families, and -Luca Beltrami, who worked at the facade in the seventeenth century, -and whose ancestors were architects at Modena and Parma two hundred -years earlier. - - -II.--THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA - -MAGISTRI AT THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA - - ----+------+------------------------------+-------------------------------- - 1. | 1396 | Magister Bernardo da Venezia | { C.M. for the actual building. - | | | { - 2. | " | M. Jacopo da Campione | { C.M. at Milan to visit and - | | | { superintend. - ----+------+------------------------------+-------------------------------- - These two were the first architects. - ----+------+------------------------------+-------------------------------- - 3. | " | M. Giovanni da Grassi | { Two of the Duke's architects - | | (Graci) | { from Milan, who were also - | | | { called into council on the - 4. | " | M. Marco da Carona | { first plans. - | | | - 5. | " | M. Cristoforo da Lonigo | Drew a design for the church - | | | of the convent. - | | | - 6. | " | M. Domenico Bossi da | Assisted in laying the - | | Campione | foundations. - | | | - 7. | " | M. Giovanni da Campione | Sculptured slabs for three - | | (called Bosio) | reliquaries. - | | | - 8. | 1397 | M. Antonio di Marco | Son of Marco Carona da - | | | Campione: C.M. of Milan; - | | | called from Crema to be - | | | C.M. instead of M. Bernardo. - | | | - | | | { Two brothers left in charge - | | M. Giovanni } | { when Antonio returned to - 9. | | Solari } | { Crema. Giovanni was C.M. - | | } of Campione | { till 1400. Giovanni was the - 10. | | M. Francesco } | { father of the celebrated - | | Solari } | { Guiniforte, C.M. of Milan. - | | | { The Lombardi of Venice were - | | | { descendants ofthis family. - | | | - 11. | 1428 | M. Rodari da Castello } | Ancestor of Tommaso di - | | } | Rodari, who sculptured the - | | } | Renaissance door at Como. - 12. | " | M. Giovanni da Garvagnate } | - | | } | All three were paid for - 13. | " | M. Giovanni da Como } | sculptures in 1428 and 1429. - | | | - 14. | 1429 | M. Antonio } } | - | | } di Val di } | Employed as builders. - 15. | | M. Giovanni } Lugano } | - | | | - 16. | | M. Jacopo Fusina | Frequently mentioned in the - | | | books of the Fabbrica. - | | | - 17. | 1460 | M. Guiniforte Solari | C.M. in place of his father - | | | Giovanni; designed the facade. - | | | - 18. | | M. Gio. Antonio Amadeo | Pupil of Guiniforte; carved the - | | | door between the church and - | | | cloister. He became famous - | | | afterwards in Venice, and - | | | sculptured the Colleone - | | | monument at Bergamo. - | | | - | | | { Came to the Certosa from - 19. | | M. Cristoforo Mantegazza | { their apprenticeship to - | | | { Jacopo da Tradate at Milan. - 20. | | M. Antonio Mantegazza | { Sculptured in the facade of - | | | { the Certosa on Guiniforte's - | | | { plans. - | | | - 21. | 1478 | M. Giovanni, junior, da } | - | | Campione } | Assisted in the sculptures. - | | } | - 22. | | M. Luchino di Cernuscolo } | - | | | - 23. | 1495 | M. Cristoforo Solario | C.M. at the Certosa. C.M. at - | | (Gobbo) | Milan in 1506. - ----+------+------------------------------+-------------------------------- - -Whatever were the faults of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the world has one -great and beautiful legacy to thank him for--the Certosa of Pavia. - -It is said that Stefano Maconi, prior of the Certosa at Garignano, -suggested to the Duke the building of the finest monastery in Italy; -but the funds were certainly provided by Gian Galeazzo, who took a -personal and untiring interest in the work. - -The first documental proof of this is a deed of gift, dated April 15, -1396, whereby Gian Galeazzo gives to the monastery of the Certosa, -landed property to the annual value of 2500 gold florins. On October 6 -of the same year, he makes another endowment of property, yielding -5500 gold florins a year, besides an annual subsidy of 10,000 florins -from his own private purse. - -The history of this beautiful building is much connected with that of -Milan cathedral; the same architects--or rather brethren of the same -Masonic Lodge--worked at both; and at one time Jacopo da Campione was -_capo maestro_ of both works at once, spending a certain proportion of -his time at both. - -Heinrich of Gmunden has had a good deal of credit for this building; -so much so that a certain bust, said to be his likeness, was kept in -the sacristy of the Certosa; and on the strength of that bust, the -Germans erected a statue to him in Gmunden. But as he left Italy in -July 1392, dismissed from Milan after a few months there, it is not -probable that he could have designed the Certosa in 1396. Count -Giulini was the first to draw attention to this error; and a learned -archivist, Girolamo L. Calvi, had the good luck to discover in the -archives of S. Fedele, the ancient register of the Administration of -the building of the Certosa for the year 1396, which settles the -matter completely. The master builder was Bernardo da Venezia, and -Jacopo da Campione worked with him as designing architect and -superintendent. On the official verification of this precious MS. on -April 16, 1862, the bust of Heinrich da Gmunden disappeared from the -sacristy of the Certosa. - -As a proof that the _Magistri_ mentioned were both employed, we will -translate a few of the entries of the _Provveditore_ of the Certosa. - -"1396. _July 26._--In the presence of Pietro Barboti, official of the -Administration, Berto Cordono, cordmaker, was paid for 138 lbs. of -strong cord, for use in the designing and building of the church and -cloister. The cord was consigned in June, at the order of Maestro -Bernardo da Venezia, architect of the said _laborerium_" (Inzignerium -dicti laborerii). - -"1396. _August 14._"--(This should, I think, be September 14). After -registering several payments of wages to workmen who excavated the -foundations, it is written--"Also the above-named Jacopo da Campione, -for his superintendence of the works (tantum qui perseveravit -superdictis laboreriis), together with the Duke's architects during -fourteen days (_i.e._ the last days of August and the first two of the -present September), at the rate of eight imperial soldi a day, as he -had to find his own food." - -"1396.--The Magistri Jacopo da Campione, Giovannino de Grassi, and -Marco da Carona, architects, came from Milan to inspect, order, and -build in the aforenamed works" (causa videndi ordinandi et -hedificandi). The two latter must have been the Duke's architects -spoken of before. All through August and September Jacopo da Campione -was backwards and forwards between Milan and Pavia, and Maestro -Bernardo also received his salary monthly as chief architect. - -Again, on November 22, 1396, we read--"To Master Jacopo da Campione, -architect of Milan cathedral (inzignerio ecclesiae majoris Mediolani), -for fourteen days during October and November, in which he remained -working and superintending in the said _laborerium_ (Certosa) at his -own expense, and in payment for some designs made by him at Milan, and -submitted to the Duke's approval here." - -On December 4, 1396, the _Provveditore_ notes the purchase of twenty -sheets of parchment, most of which were consigned to the Magistri -Jacopo da Campione and Cristoforo da Lonigo for the designs of the -church. From these entries, it would seem that Jacopo was the -architect who drew the designs, and Bernardo da Venezia the master -builder who executed them. As a farther proof, there is the -deliberation of the Administration of Milan, on March 4, 1397, to -which we have already referred, in which it says that Jacopo was in -command of the works at Certosa (qui acceptatus est super laboreria -Carthusiae). - -Other Campionese names also appear in the registers; such as Domenico -Bossi da Campione, who was paid "for four marble slabs, with certain -inscriptions, which were placed under the foundations when the -Visconti laid the first stone on August 27, 1396;" and "Giovanni da -Campione, called Bosio, for three sculptured marble slabs for three -reliquaries." - -In 1397, Gian Galeazzo, being taken up with affairs of state, ceded -the presidency of the Administration of the Certosa Lodge to the Prior -of the Carthusians, adding more donations and an endowment. The -Prior's first actions were to dismiss Bernardo da Venezia as master -builder, and to call Antonio di Marco from Crema. He was son of Marco -da Campione, one of the chief architects of Milan cathedral, and -brother of Guglielmo di Marco, whom we have also found at Milan in -1387, where he was called as an expert to give judgment on some moot -point. - -When Antonio entered office, the monastery had twenty-four cells -already inhabited by as many monks, under their Abbot, Father -Bartolommeo of Ravenna. As soon as the contract was signed, it appears -that Antonio returned to Crema, leaving Giovanni Solari da Campione, -father of Guiniforte, and Francesco Solari, in charge. In the payments -made to Giovanni as chief architect, we find his name written in -different ways. In one, "_Magister Johanni de Campilioni Ingenerio -fabrice Monasterii LXVI_." In another, "_Magister Johanni di Solerio -Inzignero super laboreriis fabrice Monasterii die XIV Maij, pro suo -salario LXVI_;" sometimes he is merely written as "_Johanni -Inzegnero_." - -These payments go on for at least four years, during which time -Antonio di Marco seems to have had little to do with the building. -Sometimes Giovanni Solari even does the commercial business. In 1429, -the register notes 4 lire, 5 soldi paid to him for his expenses in -going to Milan and Pavia, on business connected with the building, -and in the same year he pays six Masters who come from Milan to -Certosa, when there was a competition for some sculptures in marble -for the monastery.[274] The sculptors working under him were mostly -his compatriots. Here are _Maestri_ Rodari da Castello, Giovanni da -Garvagnate, and Giovanni da Como paid for sculptural works in 1428 and -1429; also _Maestro_ Antonio and _Maestro_ Giovanni di Val di Lugano, -employed as builders (rattione edificiorum novorum). - -There are also frequent mentions of Jacopo Fusina, and the two Solari, -who form such a link between Milan and Venice. The Solari were the -stock from which came the famous line of Lombardi, who may be almost -called the makers of Venice. - -To this little group of architects we owe the exquisite cloister of -the Certosa, with its labyrinth of fairy white marble columns, and the -ruddy beauty of ornamentation on terra-cotta arches. Our illustration -shows the beauty of Campionese work at this era. - -Giovanni Solari of Campione, who is said in this work to have -inaugurated the beautiful terra-cotta architecture of Lombardy, -appears to have held office as chief architect up to nearly 1460, when -his son Guiniforte succeeded him. Under Guiniforte, Gio. Antonio -Amadeo, or Omodeo, entered his novitiate. When, in 1466, he reached -the age of nineteen, he was already engaged at the Certosa as a -sculptor. A deed drawn up by the notary Gabbi, on October 10, 1469, -shows that the Administration lent him certain blocks of marble, for -which he was to pay their equivalent in work; the payment he made was -the beautiful door leading from the church into the cloister, still -known as "the door of Amadeo." It is exquisitely decorated in -Bramantesque style; reliefs of angels and foliage surround the door; -and in the tympanum is a fine relief of the Virgin and Child. He, too, -became famous in Venice, as did the two brothers Cristoforo and -Antonio Mantegazza, who had just been trained under Jacopo da Tradate -at Milan. Indeed, the network of this marvellous company of -sculptor-builders is at this epoch interwoven in a most complicated -manner between Milan, Certosa, Como, Monza, and Venice. - -The facade of the Certosa forms precisely the same discord with the -body of the building that the facade of Milan does, but here the -Renaissance face is so rich and gorgeous that one almost forgives the -discord. It has been attributed to Bramante of Urbino, whose name -never appears in the books; to Bernardo of Venice, who died long -before it was begun; and to Borgognone the painter, who was only -invited to the Certosa by the Prior in 1490, when the facade was well -begun. - -Sig. Merzario, with his documental evidence,[275] proves that -Guiniforte di Solario certainly designed it, and for the most part -superintended its execution. On January 14, 1473, the notary Gabbi -registered a contract between the Prior of the Certosa and the -Administration of the Milan Lodge, for the furnishing of 200 cwts. of -white marble of Gandoglia, annually, for ten years, to serve for the -facade of the Certosa church. On October 7, 1473, the same notary -makes the contract, by which the brothers Cristoforo and Antonio -Mantegazza are commissioned to erect all the facade, according to the -plans given them by the monastery.[276] - - [Illustration: RENAISSANCE FRONT OF THE CHURCH OF THE CERTOSA AT - PAVIA. - _See pages 378, 379._] - -This contract very much offended Gio. Antonio Amadeo, who had gone to -Bergamo to make a monument for the Colleoni family, and he appealed to -the Colleoni, and also to the Duke of Milan, to enforce his claims on -the work, which were so far recognized that he was engaged to do half -the work, at a price to be estimated, receiving a _podere_ (vineyard) -in part payment. - -Another act of notary, dated October 12, 1478, records the ceremony of -valuing several works of sculpture, by Amadeo and the brothers -Mantegazza, by two Masters of the guild, Giovanni, junior, da -Campione, and Luchino of Cernuscolo, which took place in the presence -of the Prior and the chief architect, Guiniforte Solari;--a proof that -Solari was still the _capo maestro_. He died early in January 1481, -and on the 13th of the same month, Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza wrote to -the "Dominis Priori et monacis Carthusie Papiensis," to recommend his -son, "Pietro Antonio (suo figliuolo peritissimo de la medesima arte et -de divino ingenio"), as a worthy successor to his father as chief -architect. Antonio Mantegazza succeeded him, but he, too, died in -1495, and Cristoforo Solario, named Gobbo, who had worked with him, -became architect in his turn. His election was on October 11, 1495, by -the recommendation of Ludovico il Moro. Gobbo, however, did not long -remain in office, for in 1497 we find him employed at the Duomo of -Milan, and the sepulchre of Beatrice d'Este, at the church of the -Grazie there. In 1506 he became head architect at Milan. - -In 1499, a letter from B. Calco, dated May 1, declares that the works -at the Certosa are nearly finished (sara presto presso el fine).[277] - -The church had already been opened for service since May 1497, when -the Cardinal di S. Croce came in state to consecrate it, and a grand -refection was offered him. The documents cited by Sig. Merzario are -certainly conclusive as to the epoch and authorship of both the -convent and the church. - -We must not leave the Lombard Lodge without a mention of one of its -principal Masters, Matteo da Campione, who was architect for the -fourteenth-century restoration of the cathedral at Monza, which his -forerunners of the guild had built for Queen Theodolinda. He is spoken -of in the registers at Milan, when he attended a general meeting of -the guild there on January 6, 1390, as Matteo da Campione "inzignero -in Monza," and again on July 10, 1390, when, on the death of Marco da -Campione, it was deliberated in council to send for Maestro Matteo -from Monza, and see whether he would take Marco's place in the works. -He was, like almost all the Comacines, a sculptor as well as -architect. The baptismal font at Monza, which was once noted for its -beauty, is now ruined and mutilated. The pulpit and the sculptures on -the facade of Monza cathedral are attributed to Matteo's own hand. The -pulpit is a fine piece of sculpture in white marble. It was originally -square, but has been altered in form during the last century. Fourteen -figures, the twelve apostles with St. Paul and Barnabas, are -sculptured around it, and there are many small reliefs. It has a -prominent part in the front, called by the Italians the _pulpitino_, -or little pulpit. On this are sculptured the Redeemer with a book, and -a thunderbolt in His hands, and the four Evangelists. The facade is a -curious instance of the transition of Comacine art, between the -Romanesque and the Gothic. The door is very much like those of Verona -and other Comacine churches of the same era. Matteo has put his lions -in front of the pillars of the porch, instead of beneath them. The -mixture of style shows more in the windows. The four lower windows are -distinctly Gothic, with pointed arches, three lights, and Gothic -tracery; the upper ones are round-arched Lombard two-light windows, -the archlets of which are a little cusped. The lines of the facade are -quite Lombard, the internal divisions being marked on the front by -pilasters running the whole height. The Lombard gallery is indicated -like a memory of past time by a row of archlets beneath the eaves, but -they rest on nothing, and are of no practical use as their prototypes -were. Probably, as the interior was not rebuilt, Matteo da Campione so -far respected the work of his older brethren, as to adapt his facade -to the rest of the building. Over the portico is a fine rose window, -and above that a row of saints in niches; the space between them is -filled with geometrical sculpture. He has used the ancient sculpture -of "Agilulf and Theodolinda" in the lunette of the doorway. Its style -is much earlier than the figures above. Matteo was buried in the -church, and on his tomb is the inscription--"Hic jacet magnus ille -aedificator devotus magister Mattheus de Campiliono, qui hujus -sacrosanctae Ecclesiae fatiem aedificavit evangelistarium ac battisterium -qui obiit anno Domini MCCCLXXXXVI die XXIV mensio maii." It is said -that he has sculptured his own likeness in the rigid and thoughtful -figure of the saint near the turret, over the rose window. - - [Illustration: FACADE OF MONZA CATHEDRAL. RESTORED 14TH CENTURY. - _See page 380 et seq._] - -Another work which we have seen commenced by earlier Comacines was the -cathedral of Como. That too was restored and redecorated by Comacines -about this time. The old church had been ruined in the wars between -Como and Milan, and in 1335, Azzo Visconti, building his fortresses at -Como, ran his walls close round the church, cutting it off from the -town. In 1386, however, the Bishop of Como persuaded Gian Galeazzo to -transpose his fort and open the church again to the people. In -gratitude for this, the people proposed to restore their church, and -Gian Galeazzo promised his aid. The work was begun in 1396 and went on -till 1513. Authors disagree as to whether the church were renovated, -_i.e._ restored, or rebuilt. Whichever it was, there is no doubt that -the whole facade was executed in the fifteenth century. The north door -is of rich ornate Renaissance style, and much later than that on the -facade, although the lions are still under the columns. The facade -follows in its lines the old Lombard form, but the dividing pilasters -here are lavishly enriched. They are in fact but a perpendicular line -of niches with a statue in each. The three doorways are round-arched, -the windows above them slightly pointed. Over the central door is a -Gothic vestibule with saints in its canopied arches. - -The first architect of the restoration is indicated in the register of -the Milan Lodge, where on April 30, 1396, Magister Lorenzo degli Spazi -de Laino in Val d'Intelvi is allowed to leave the works at Milan to be -chief architect at Como, "deliberarunt quod licentietur Magister -Laurentius de Spatiis ad eundum Cumas pro laborerio Ecclesie majoris -civitatis Cumarum ad requisitionem comunis et hominum dicte civitatis -Cumarum." He had not long entered on office when Gian Galeazzo died, -and Como was again involved in a fight for freedom with Malatesta and -the Visconti. In 1416 the Como people had to swear allegiance to -Milan, and then Duke Filippo Maria Visconti allowed the works to go -on. On February 19, 1439, Pietro da Bregia near Como was elected -master architect, and he continued Lorenzo de Spazi's work. He changed -the plan so as to bring the facade in a line with the Broletta and -tower of the fortress, which altogether made an imposing mass of -buildings; very interesting as displaying at once the Comacine work in -civil, military, and ecclesiastical architecture. The Broletta is a -particularly good specimen of their civil architecture, of about A.D. -1000, though it loses in proportion owing to the filling up of the -lower level on which it was built, so that the bases of the columns -are completely buried. - - [Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AND BROLETTA AT COMO. - _See page 382._] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[265] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, chap. xii. I have taken the -facts for this chapter from Merzario's collection of documents, not -being able to get at the archives of Milan. - -[266] Magister Marcus de Frixono Inzignerius Fabricae, decessit die -supra scripto (10 Julii 1390) circa horam Ave Marie in mane et Corpus -ejus sepultum fuit honorifice in Ecc. S. Teglae ipsi die post prandium. - -[267] Is this by chance a French rendering of Giovanni da Campione? - -[268] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xii. p. 342. - -[269] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 512. - -[270] Giulini, _Memorie della citta e Campagna di Milano_, lib. lxxxv. -(anno 1452), p. 497. - -[271] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 521. - -[272] See Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. xviii. pp. 522, 523. - -[273] Merzario, Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 526. - -[274] _Pro solvendis magistris sex qui venerunt a Mediolano ad -Monasterium occasione incantandi opus marmoris pro fabrica._ - -[275] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xvii. pp. 494-499. - -[276] Promiserunt et dederunt ad faciendum fabricandum et laborandum -... totam fazatam dicte Ecclesie ac portam, cum fenestris et aliis -laboreriis necessariis pro ipsa fazata ... juxta modum et -designationem ipsis fratribus dandum et dandem per dictum -Monasterium.--Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xvii. p. -508, note 51. - -[277] Archivio di Stato in Milano.--_Reg. Miss._ N. 210, vol. clviii. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE VENETIAN LINK - - -THE VENETIAN LODGE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY - - ----+--------+-----------------------------+------------------------------- - 1. | 1407 | Mistro Lorenzo da Vielino | _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master. - | | | - 2. | 1423 | M. Scipione Buono | Built the Loggia near the - | | | Rialto. - | | | - 3. | 1430 | M. Zambono (Giovanni Buono) | Architect of Ca d'Oro, and - | | | sculptor of capitals in the - | | | Ducal Palace. - | | | - 4. | | M. Bartolommeo Buono | { His sons who worked with - | | | { him in the Ducal Palace up - 5. | | M. Pantaleone " | { to 1463. - | | | - 6. | 1441 | M. Elia da Bissone | Sculptured the door to the - | | | Fraternita dei Calzolai. - | | | - 7. | 1442 | M. Cristoforo da Milano | Built the tower at Udine. - | | | - 8. | 1448 | M. Giorgio da Como | - | | | - 9. | 1449 | M. Lorenzo q. Martino da } | - | | Lugano } | - | | } | All Lombard Masters who - 10. | | M. Giovanni da Marco } | received pay in the Venetian - | | } | Lodge for work in the Ducal - 11. | | M. Anicino } } | Palace. - | | } Lombardi } | - 12. | | M. Luchino } } | - | | | - 13. | 1482 | M. Antonio da Modena } | - | | } | - 14. | | M. Andrea d'Acre } | The Council of Administration - | | } | when the Masonic Lodge was - 15. | | M. Antonio Negro } | built at S. Samuele. - | | } | - 16. | | M. Bonazza } | - | | | - | | | { Father of the famous Pietro - 17. | 1476 } | M. Martino Solari da Carona | { Lombardi, _Proto_ (chief - | to } | | { architect). He designed the - | 1488 } | | { Scuolo di S. Marco. - | | | - 18. | 1488 | M. Moro Lombardo | Son and assistant of Martino - | | | Solari. _Proto_ of S. - | | | Zaccaria in 1488. Bernardino - | | | and Francesco (No. 20 and No. - | | | 21) were his son and - | | | grandson. - | | | - | 1484 } | | { _Proto_ of the lodge from - 19. | to } | M. Antonio Riccio | { 1484 to 1491. He carved the - | 1491 } | | { Adam and Eve. - | | | - 20. | | M. Bernardino da Bissone | Son of No. 18. He assisted - | | | Riccio in the sculptures of - | | | the Cortile. - | | | - 21. | | M. Francesco, his son | - | | | - 22. | | M. Domenico Solari | - | | | - 23. | | M. Paolo Bregno } | - | | } | Sculptor-architects related - 24. | | M. Lorenzo Bregno, his } | to Antonio Riccio or Rizo. - | | son } | - | | | - 25. | | M. Bartolommeo Gonella | _Proto_ till 1505. He came - | | | from Milan. - | | | - 26. | 1505 | M. Bartolommeo Buono | Succeeded him. He built the - | | (descendant of No. 4) | upper part of the Procuratie - | | | Vecchie, and the church of - | | | San Rocco. - | | | - 27. | 1509 | M. Manfred de Polo | Grand Master. - | | | - 28. | 1516 | M. Pietro Lombardo, son of | Founder of the Venetian branch - | | Martino Solari | of the Lombardi. He designed - | | | the Scuola di San Rocco. - | | | - 29. | 1517 | M. Giulio Lombardo } | - | | } his | Worked under their father, - 30. | " | M. Tullio Lombardo } sons | and all became famous. - | | } | - 31. | " | M. Antonio Lombardo } | - | | | - 32. | " | M. Giovanni Fontana | A descendant of M. Fontana da - | | | Campione. He was master of - | | | Palladio, and built the Palace - | | | of the Commune at Udine. His - | | | family became famous at Rome - | | | and Naples. - | | | - 33. | 1524 | M. Sante di Giulio | Built Scuola di San Rocco. - | | | - 34. | | Mistro Matteo Fontana di | Architect of Belluno - | | Melide | cathedral. - | | | - 35. | 1529 | M. Jacopo Sansovino | _Proto_ for the Procuratie - | | | Vecchie; he came from the - | | | Florentine Lodge. - | | | - 36. | " | M. Guglielmo da Alzano | Carved some fine altars, - | | | and built the Tasca and - | | | Camerlinghi palaces. - | | | - 37. | " | M. Gregorio } | Two brothers descended from - | | } da Carona | Marco da Carona of Milan. - 38. | " | M. Giorgio } | They also worked at Udine. - | | | - 39. | " | M. Simeone di Petro di Como | Was paid for sculpture done - | | | in this year. - | | | - 40. | 1530 | M. Donato Busata } | Master architects, sons of - | | } | Ser Piero da Campione. - 41. | | M. Giovanni Busata } | - | | | - 42. | 1527 | Jacopo Sansovino | Called from the Florentine - | to | | Lodge to be _Proto_ of the - | 1534 | | Venetian one. - | | | - 43. | 1548 | Gian Antonio Solari, of | Finished the church of S. - | | Carona | Giorgio. - ----+--------+-----------------------------+------------------------------- - -The connection of the Comacines of Longobardic times with Venice, -through the powerful Lombard Dukes of Friuli, and the Patriarchs of -Aquileja, their metropolitan bishops, has already been touched upon; -and we have mentioned the Patriarch Fortunatus for whom the Masonic -Guild built the churches of Grado and Torcello. The Comacines had, in -the eighth century, also built the Baptistery of Calixtus at Cividale, -and had sculptured the altar of Duke Pemmo in Friuli; in the twelfth -century they rebuilt the Duomo of Cividale for the Patriarch -Pellegrino.... This connection was still further strengthened, when in -1311 the Visconti conquered and exiled from Milan the Torriani family, -their rivals in the Signory there, who retired to Friuli, where they -soon acquired supreme power. Two of the family, Raimondo and Pagano -della Torre, had previously been successively Patriarchs of Aquileja, -and in 1317, Gastone, the exiled Archbishop of Milan, succeeded -Pagano. A second Pagano and a Ludovico Torriani followed him. The -Torriani were from Valsassina near Como, and would consequently have -had more interest in the Comacine Guild than any other, if other there -were; in fact the tombs of the Torriani at Primaluna and at -Chiaravalle show unmistakable signs of Comacine work. At Sacile in the -Friuli district the ancient church with three naves, built in 1400, -can show documents proving its architects to have been Beltramo and -Antonio, both of Como, and who form a link with the Roman Lodge. The -church of Gemona, on the mountains near Tagliamento, was built by -Giovanni Bono, another familiar Comacine name. The choir is in -transition style, _i.e._ semi-Gothic. The two aisles are divided from -the nave by a grand colonnade. The facade is of the style of Siena and -Orvieto, with cusped arches under triangular gables; it has a large -finely-traceried rose window in the centre, and a profusion of -statues. At Venzone, also near Tagliamento, is an ancient Lombard -church with characteristic sculptures, built in 1200. Here is a holy -water vase of a later period, of extremely fine and finished -sculpture, signed Bernardino da Bissone, 1500. Bernardino also -sculptured another holy water vase in the Duomo of Tolmezzo, and the -beautiful door of the church of Tricesimo. All these works prove the -close connection of our guild with the Patriarchs, who ruled over -Venice as well as Friuli. - -Even in 1468, when the Duomo of Cividale was restored by Pietro -Lombardo, several of his brethren worked with him. - -In 1420, the Venetians, led by Roberto Morosini, took Friuli and -annexed it to Venice. By the treaty of Lodi in 1454 they added -Bergamo, Brescia, and Crema. Many Lombards flocked to Venice at that -time, and the Masonic Guild had its schools and _laborerium_ there. -From that date the Masters of the guild were known in Venice as -"Mistri (Masters) Lombardi." Merzario dates from this epoch the -renewed connection of the Comacine Guild with Venice, but it must have -begun much earlier than that, if it had not continued unbroken from -Lombard times. A lodge must certainly have existed in Venice from the -time when the first Maestro Buono (Vasari's Buono) went there in 1150. -It is unlucky for history that the original Freemasons, being a secret -society, kept no archives. It is only after the twelfth century, when -other art guilds were formed on the same system, but without the -secrecy, that we get an insight into what had been, all the ages -through, the management of the guild. At Siena, as we have seen, the -painters seceded in the thirteenth century from the universal -brotherhood, and founded their academy of painters, the sculptors -following their lead. They, not being bound to secrecy, let the world -know their statutes and their customs. - -The same thing took place in Venice. On September 15, 1307, the -sculptors appealed to the Signory of Venice for permission to form -statutes and hold chapters under the denomination of the _Arte de -tajapiere_ (stone-cutters). They were not at liberty to form a Masonic -or building guild, because the original one had then the monopoly. -Sig. Agostino Sagredo,[278] in his valuable work on the building -guilds in Venice, says--"While we are speaking of the Masonic -Companies and their jealous secrecy, we must not forget the most grand -and potent guild of the Middle Ages--that of the Freemasons. -Originating most probably from the builders of Como (_Magistri -Comacini_) it spread beyond the Alps; Popes gave them their -benediction, monarchs protected them, and the most powerful thought it -an honour to be inscribed in their ranks. They, with the utmost -jealousy, practised all the arts connected with building, and by -severe laws and penalties (perhaps also with bloodshed) prohibited -others from the practice of building important edifices. Long and hard -were the initiations to aspirants, mysterious were the meetings and -the teaching, and to ennoble themselves they dated their origin from -Solomon's Temple." This monopoly would account for none of the -Communes having a civic guild of architecture; and their secrecy -explains the want of documentary evidence in the earlier centuries, -while the monopoly was undisputed. - -The new local branches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were -evidently absolved from secrecy; they started fresh as independent -companies, and thus freed, art was able to expand more largely. With -this light on its formation, it is interesting to find in the Venetian -Guild of sculptors, organized in 1307, the self-same rules and -government as in Siena, and all the other cities. We find the school -and _laborerium_ and the usual Administrative Council of four -_Soprastanti_ elected on the first Sunday of every month, the outgoing -officials having to instruct the new ones. In Venice the Grand Master -of the Lodge was called, as in the ancient Lombard Lodges, _Gastaldo_; -the chief architect of a work was designated in more classic language, -_Proto_. - -On the third Sunday of the month every Master of the _arte_ was -obliged to pay a gold _soldo_ to the company, which money was only to -be spent for the use of the school. - -Again a marked similarity. At the beginning of November the feast of -the _Quattro Coronati_ was kept,[279] and no one was to work on that -day under pain of a fine of 100 soldi. There is the usual rule about -every Master bringing a wax candle when he attends a meeting, and on -the day of the Patron Saints the candle must weigh four ounces. The -fines for those who absent themselves from the _fete_ of the Patron -Saints are the same as at Siena, and so also are the rules about -matriculation of members, the making of contracts, the introduction of -foreign Masters, etc. - -The first name of a _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master in the Venetian Lodge -is a Mistro Lorenzo de Vielino in 1407, who makes a law that no Master -shall have more than three _fanti scritti_ (apprentices?) besides his -own sons or brothers. Sagredo says that the Masters in all these -_arti_ were a privileged aristocracy, whose sons were allowed to enter -the guild without the usual novitiate. - -In 1509 Mistro Manfred de Polo was Grand Master, and decreed a kind of -census. Every Master was obliged within eight days to hand in a list -of his relatives in the guild and the apprentices in his studio. - - [Illustration: THE CA' D'ORO, VENICE. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER GIOVANNI - BUONI (ZAMBONO) 1430 A.D. - _See page 389._] - -The head-quarters of the lodge were in the little street known as the -Piscina di S. Samuele. The _Opera_ was a large building, not much -decorated, but there was a fine relief by one of the Lombard Masters -over the door. This was removed, and preserved by the Government -when the building, no longer needful for its former use, was sold. The -altar of the _Quattro Coronati_, sacred to the guild, was in the -church of S. Samuele close by. Here too were the tombs of the brethren -of the lodge. Unfortunately none of the funereal inscriptions remain. -Cicognara has, however, preserved two inscriptions on the building of -the lodge, which are valuable as additional proof of the guild. One -beneath the relief on the facade runs-- - - MCCCLXXXII ADI XXV MARZO. - IN TEPO D(i)MA' ANTONIO DA MODON (Modena) - E SO COMPAGNI MA' ANTONIO NEGRO - E MA BONAZZA E MA' ANDRA (Andrea) D'ACRE. - E SCRIVAN MA' DOLZE (Dolce). - -Here we get the names of the four members of the ruling council in -1482, all _Magistri_, and that of the notary of the guild, Maestro -Dolce.[280] Another inscription on the staircase, which was rebuilt in -1686, announces that the stairs were built by the gifts of the -brethren under the Gastaldo Maestro Domenico Mazzoni, and then follow -the names of his three companions in office, one of whom is Vincenzo -Minella, and that of the notary. - -If we now trace some works in Venice we shall see how intimately -connected this lodge was with that of Milan and other branches of the -guild. In 1430 we find Zambono engaged to decorate the Ca d'Oro or -Palazzo Contarini on the Grand Canal. In his aim at magnificence good -Giovanni Bono of Como not only made the work a masterpiece of Gothic -ornamentation, but he gilded his sculpture till it was refulgent. It -appears that this Zambono, who could not spell his own name, was not -such a master of the pen as he was of the chisel, for his son -Bartolommeo signed the contract for him on April 20, 1430. The gilding -was done by Giovanni da Francia, whose son Francesco signed for him. - -Bartolommeo Bono worked much with his father, and later his younger -brother Pantaleone joined them, and became more famous than either of -them. To these three we owe in a great measure the reconstruction and -decoration of the Ducal Palace, which in the first place had been -built by Justinian and Narses. At the end of the tenth century, the -Doge Pietro Orseolo restored Justinian's building. To this restoration -belong probably some of the fine mediaeval capitals of the columns of -the Loggia, of which we have given an illustration on page 253. It has -been said that Marino Faliero, when Doge, engaged his friend and -fellow-conspirator Filippo Calendario to make a plan for a new palace, -but no proofs of this, nor any designs are to be found. - -Authentic documents, however, prove that a meeting of the Grand -Consiglio was held on September 27, 1422, in which it was proposed to -"rebuild the palace in a decorous and convenient form." On April 20, -1424, the decree went forth that the old walls were to be thrown down, -and the facade rebuilt. The first Masters mentioned in the books are -the three Buoni. A minute, dated September 6, 1463, registers that the -Salt Office should pay "Maistro Pantalon," sculptor, for the work done -for the Ducal Palace--that this work included many other works besides -the figures; and that it should not remain incomplete, the Doge wished -it to extend across the piazza and up to the last built -Sala[281]--_i.e._ the Sala del Squittinio. This would include all the -facade and its colonnades, with the internal Sala del Squittinio and -Scala Foscara leading to it, on which is placed the statue of -Francesco della Rovere.[282] The part of Bartolommeo, brother of -Pantaleone, was the Porta della Carta, of which we speak in the -chapter on decoration. Their father Giovanni (Zambono) must have died -about the time the palace was finished, which was May 13, 1442, for on -November 25, 1443, Bartolommeo writes himself in a notarial act as -"Ego Bartolommeus lapiscida q. ser Johannis Boni." - - [Illustration: DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. THE SIDE BUILT BY THE BUONI - FAMILY. - _See page 390._] - -Part of the palace was burned not many lustres after, and in 1484, -Antonio Rizo or Riccio was nominated _Proto_ for its rebuilding. He -came to Venice with good recommendations. He was the son of a deceased -Magister Giovanni Rizo, as we see in a deed of June 25, 1484, where he -is nominated as "Ser Antonius Rizo lapiscida q. ser Joannis de -contrata sancti Joannis Novi," and had been in the East, where he -built the fortifications of Scutari, for Antonio Loredan. His -fortifications resisted the attack of the Turks so well that they had -to raise the siege, and Antonio, who was wounded, was rewarded by a -pension for himself and children, and by the appointment of chief -architect for the Ducal Palace, when it was restored after the fire. -It would seem that the facade built by the Buono trio had not been -injured, as Rizo turned his attention to the inner court, which he -built in a beautiful style, together with the great staircase, now -known as the "Scala dei Giganti," from Sansovino's two giants, which -were added--not much to the grace of the stairway--in 1566. - -Bernardino da Bissone, and Domenico Solari of Val d'Intelvi, both Como -Masters, assisted in the sculpture of the beautiful balustrade. Riccio -has the characteristic Comacine mixture of round arches in the -foundation, and pointed ones above. He added a third colonnade, in -which the round arches again appear. It is all enriched by exquisite -sculptural decoration; the frieze of Nereids and sea-horses on the -third order is very fine. - -Selvatico attributes also to Riccio much of the side of the palace -towards the prisons. The two statues of Adam and Eve facing the -Giant's Stairs are signed in the plinths, one "Antonio," the other -"Rizo." They are fine works of sculpture, which have been wrongly -attributed, in spite of the signature, to various persons, such as -Antonio Bregno, and Andrea Riccio of Padua. A proof of Rizo's -lengthened tenure of the office of _Proto_ is given in a document in -the Venetian archives quoted by Cadorin. The document, dated October -10, 1491, is an order from the Magistrates of the Salt Office, who -were at the head of the Administration of the works of the Ducal -Palace, "to increase the salary of Rizo Antonio, _Proto_ of the -building works, from one hundred and fifty ducats to two hundred, as -the former salary was not enough to support his family in his old age, -and also having regard to his long and valuable services and fatigues, -and the necessity of retaining him, for the prosperity and the beauty -of the said building."[283] - -Another document, quoted by Merzario from the Diary of Marin Sanuto, -seems to throw a cloud over the close of Antonio's head membership. It -seems that 10,000 ducats were missing from the accounts of the works, -and that Antonio, being unable to explain it, sold all his -possessions, and shouldering his belongings went towards Ancona and -Foligno. This entry is dated April 5, 1498.[284] - - [Illustration: COURT OF THE DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. DESIGNED BY - MAGISTER ANTONIO RIZO OR RICCIO - _See pages 391, 392._] - -It is difficult to say who is the Antonio Bregno that is accredited -with Rizo's works. There was a Lorenzo Bregno, a sculptor to whom -Sansovino attributes the statue of the General Dionisio Naldo of -Brisighella (died 1510), which is placed above the door of San -Giovanni e Paolo. There was also Paolo Bregno, father of Lorenzo, -but the name of Antonio never appears in the books of the -Administration, nor in any archives as far as Sig. Merzario can judge -after a diligent search. As the Bregni were related to Rizo, it seems -probable that this is another misleading case of nicknames, and that -the chief architect's family name was Bregno; so that Antonio Rizo was -only Antonio Bregno, the "curly-headed"--from _riccio_, a curl.[285] - -After Riccio, a Magister Bartolommeo Gonella, who died in 1505, -succeeded as _Proto_, and then Magister Buono succeeded him. Buono was -probably a grandson of the last Bartolommeo, son of "Zambono." This -man, who signs himself "Bartolomeus de Cumis lapizida," had been a -sea-captain, and sailed in the fleet of Melchiorre Trevisan. On his -return in 1498 he resumed his hereditary profession, and in 1505 was -nominated head of the building works of St. Mark's, which were now -occupying the guild. The upper order of the "Vecchie Procuratie" was -built under his supervision. The church of San Rocco, built in 1495, -was, however, his first great work in Venice, and the next was the -restoration and heightening of the tower which another of the Buono -family had built in 1150, more than three centuries earlier. - -When in 1516 the erection of the "Scuola di San Rocco" was proposed, -Bartolommeo Buono, the head architect of the "Vecchie Procuratie," was -unanimously elected. However, when he had drawn his design, and the -edifice began to rise, a certain knowing brother of the confraternity -(_un tal saccente confratello d'essa_) censured the plan of the -stairs, and the work was suspended. Maestro Buono would not -relinquish his design, and retired; on which Pietro Lombardo was -elected in his place to continue the building. Here we have again a -distinct proof of the Masonic organization, and see that in Venice -they held their meetings to consider the work of their brethren, just -as they had done in Milan, Siena, Florence, etc. - -In 1529 Maestro Buono died, and Jacopo Sansovino was nominated _Proto_ -of the Procuratie in his stead. One of Buono's principal assistants -was Guglielmo da Alzano, near Bergamo.[286] He sculptured a beautiful -altar in the Servite church on the commission of Madonna Verde della -Scala. It is now removed to the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. The -great altar in the church of S. Salvadore is also attributed to him. -He was a famous builder as well as sculptor, and was architect of the -Camerlinghi Palace, at the foot of the Rialto in Venice. The beautiful -Tasca palace at Portogruaro, of which the richly-sculptured doorway -was brought to Venice, was his design, as well as the fine gate at -Padua called the "Portello," and the "Porta di S. Tomaso" in Treviso. - -Several other more familiar Comacine names are found in Venice, such -as Gregorio and Giorgio of Carona, whom we have seen sculpturing at -Udine;[287] Bernardino di Martino of Bissone, and Andrea from Milan. -Francesco, son of Bernardo of Como, Simeone of Pietro, sculptor from -Como, with Donato and Giovanni Busata, sons of Ser Piero da Campione, -are all mentioned in the Transactions of the Guild in Venice about -this time. A contract is reported in the _Archivio Veneto_ (vol. xxxi. -anno 1886, fasc. lxii. p. 169), signed on July 26, 1476, "between the -Fraternity of S. Maria in S. Daniele and Maestro Giorgio, sculptor of -Como, who, having made several statues for S. Giacomo in Udine, is -herewith commissioned to make three figures in stone for the door of -S. Maria in S. Daniele, _i.e._ a Madonna and Child and two angels, the -statues to be figures, that may by any good _Magister_ be judged -worthy and beautiful." - -Then comes a name which has become synonymous with the beauty of -Venice--the Lombardi family--to whom are attributed all the principal -late Gothic and Renaissance buildings that enrich the city. As usual, -the name by which the family has come down to posterity in the -histories of art is nothing but a misleading nickname. The Venetians -called them the Lombards. Just as Vannucchi is called Perugino, and -Allegri is called Correggio, so the Solari family were known as -Lombardi. They were among the aristocrats of the guild, however, whose -ancestors had been eminent men for more than a century. We have seen -Marco Solari, and his son Antonio, and also his grandsons Cristoforo -and Guiniforte, at work at Milan, where Marco, Guiniforte, and Pietro -Antonio were successively chief architects. The Lombardi-Solari of -Venice appear to have been another branch of the family, equally -descended from Giovanni da Carona, through his son Martino, the father -of Pietro Lombardi (Peter of the Lombards).[288] - -Martino was the architect of the Scuola di San Marco, near SS. -Giovanni e Paolo. His name appears before that time as "Mistro Martino -tajapiera," when he was, in 1476, sent to Istria to _sbozzare_ the -marbles for the sculptures on S. Zaccaria, of which he was architect, -though his ancestor Antonio di Marco had begun it in 1458. At the -Scuola di San Marco, his son Moro, brother of Pietro, assisted him, -and on Martino's death Moro became _Proto_ of the works at San -Zaccaria, his son Bernardino and grandson Francesco assisting him. The -books of the Administration of that building have notes of payment, in -1488, one "to Bernardo, sculptor, son of Moro our _Proto_," and -another executed on July 20, 1488, where it is written, "And I -Francesco di Bernardo, sculptor from Como." Other papers prove the -sons of Pietro Lombardo as being Giulio, Antonio, and Tullio. In -Tullio's sons two old family names are revived--Marco Antonio and -Sante. - -To this family may be attributed a large part of the finest fifteenth -or sixteenth century buildings of Venice. Pietro's elder brother Moro -built the church of S. Michele at Murano between 1478 and 1481; and at -the same time designed and directed the building of the Vendramin or -Loredan and the Corner Palaces. Moro had been before employed by the -Loredan family to build a part of the church of S. Maria in Isola at -their expense. No doubt he was assisted by his numerous relations in -the guild. - -To Pietro Lombardo belongs the design for the fine exterior of the -Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista. In 1475 he sculptured the -beautiful monument to the Doge Pietro Mocenigo, a grand design with -seventeen life-sized figures carved in Istrian marble. His sons Tullio -and Antonio assisted in this. In 1481 he restored the Scuola della -Misericordia, and finished the ornamental gate of the Scuola dei -Battuti. In the same year he won in a competition for designs for the -church of S. Maria de' Miracoli, and became head architect of that -masterpiece of Renaissance architecture. Here he has curiously revived -some features of the old Lombard architecture of his ancestors in art. -He has made a raised tribune with a dome, but it is square instead of -semi-circular, and he has placed two ambones or pulpits, as in the -early churches. Pietro could build in Gothic style as well as -Renaissance, as is shown in the cusped and pinnacled facade of S. -Cristofero della Pace at Murano. The original Torre dell' Orologio on -Piazza S. Marco was also designed by him. - -On March 14, 1499, he was nominated _Proto maestro_ of the Ducal -Palace in place of Antonio Rizo. Seguso and Selvatico attribute to -him, with his sons and nephews, the rich and beautifully sculptured -capitals of the pillars which support the lower arches "from the Court -of the Senators to the second part of the building"; and the internal -facade of the side towards St. Mark's, which Selvatico pronounces one -of the finest examples of Lombard style. In the interior of the palace -he restored the "Camera del Tormento," and built the hall of the -Council of Ten, the prisons over the Granaries, and the attic prisons -known as "I Piombi." - -As a sculptor he was of remarkable genius. Two signed statues in the -church of San Stefano, one of which represents S. Antonio, are of -extreme beauty, as is the magnificent high relief of the Virgin and -Child in the outer arcade towards the bridge. The monument to Cardinal -Zeno in S. Marco is a beautiful specimen of Lombard ornamentation. It -is rich with carven angels and saints, wreaths of flowers, and all -possible wealth of sculpture. - -In about 1490 Pietro was engaged on a great work of architecture at -Treviso, where the bishop had commissioned him to improve the -cathedral by putting a new and ornate facade with a large window, -besides building three new chapels.[289] His sculpturesque tastes -outweighed his talent for architecture. He left the building at -Treviso in the hands of inferior Masters, and went to Venice to -sculpture in the _laborerium_ of the guild at San Samuele, the statues -and reliefs for its facade. The work not proceeding satisfactorily it -was suspended, and on Pietro Lombardo's death even his design was lost -in some mysterious manner. The church was not ultimately restored till -two centuries later. - -He had also the commission to restore the older church of S. Maria -Maggiore at Treviso, and there, too, having made his design, he left -his son Tullio to execute it. Either for want of means, or -disagreements among the Masters, this also remained incomplete. -Probably Pietro had too many interests in Venice, where in 1514 he was -elected _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master of the lodge; in which office he -continued till his death in 1521, a date proved by his son Tullio -taking out papers of administration in that year. We have no -particular mention of any great buildings by Pietro's eldest son -Giulio, but he was greatly respected in the guild, for on June 3, -1524, the Chapter of S. Roch, while deliberating that "Mistro Bon," -_i.e._ Master Bartolommeo Bono, a famous architect, should be -discharged from the office of chief architect (_Proto_) of the Scuola, -because he is _disobedient and not diligent enough_ (we perceive that -even a _Proto_ had some superior officers or council above him), -elected as _Proto_ in his stead a young Magister Sante, son of Giulio -Lombardo, but with the proviso that his father Giulio should be his -adviser in everything. - -Antonio, Pietro's second son, won a certain rank as sculptor, but he -is better known in Padua and Ferrara. He removed to the latter city in -1505 with his family, and died there in 1515. - -The third son, Tullio, however, was a bright star in the line. His -sculpture was so delicate, and he attained such tenderness in the -flesh of his marble statues, that it is thought he had studied under -Donatello when he was in Padua in 1450. His decorative sculpture may -be judged by the chimney-pieces in the chamber of Udienza, with its -antechamber, in the Grand Ducal Palace; by the doors of the Scuola di -S. Marco, and the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, all done about 1500. -The beauty and grace of his figures may be seen in the four kneeling -angels which support the altar of the Incoronation of the Virgin in S. -Giovanni Crisostomo; a most exquisite group. This work is signed, -"Opus Tullii Lombardi." The fine monument to the Doge Nicolo Marcello, -at SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and those of Marco and Amerigo Barbarigo, in -S. Maria della Carita, are also by him. - -There is some confusion between the two cousins, Sante, eldest son of -Giulio, and Sante, the second son of Tullio. Sante di Giulio was chief -architect of the Scuola di San Rocco, from June 1524 to March 1527, -and all the finest part of the building is attributed to him. He built -the church of S. Giorgio for the Greek colony. This was finished in -1548 by Gian Antonio Lombardo da Cione (Carona), who was son of Pietro -Antonio Solari of Carona, so that in this church the Milanese and -Venetian branches of the Solari family meet, but the Milan branch has -kept the old name, while in Venice it has been merged in the place -name, and they are known as the Lombards. The Palazzo Trevisan, which -belonged to the family of Bianco Capello, was said to be from the -design of Sante. - -We have followed up the Venetian architects sufficiently to prove that -they, too, had their links with the great Comacine or Lombard Guild. -Sansovino, who succeeded the Lombard Solari family in Venice, was a -Master trained in the Florentine Lodge, so even he was not extraneous -to the guild. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[278] _Sulle Consorterie delle Arti Edificative in Venezia_, capo ii. -p. 14. - -[279] "I quattro martiri patroni de la dita arte cioe San Nicostrato, -San Claudio, San Castorio e S. Superian."--Sagredo, _Sulle Consorterie -e, etc._ - -[280] Agostino Sagredo, _Sulle Consorterie delle Arti Edificative in -Venezia_, capo ix. pp. 84, 85. - -[281] Gualandi, _Memorie Originali Italiane risguardanti le Belle -Arti_, Parte vi. p. 108. Bologna, 1485. - -[282] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. II. chap. xxii. p. 16. - -[283] _Notizie storiche intorno al Palazzo Ducale di Venezia_, p. 1, -by Gius. Cadorin. Venezia, 1838. - -[284] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. II. cap. xxii. p. 23. - -[285] Monsignor Paolo Giovio wrote a poem on Antonio. - - "Un Riccio nel contado all 'eta nostra - Nacque di Como, che fu buon scultore - E l'opre di costui Venezia mostra: - Fece un Adamo, ch'e di tanto valore - Che di bellezza cogli antichi giostra," etc. - -[286] To show how difficult it is to trace names through the queer old -documents, we may mention that this sculptor is sometimes written in -the archives as "Guglielmo Bergamasco"--probably he entered the lodge -at Bergamo--and sometimes "Vielmo Vielmi di Alzano." - -[287] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxiii. p. 47. - -[288] The parentage of Pietro is clearly proved by documents in the -Venetian archives. One is a deed dated Sept. 19, 1492, drawn up by the -notary Gerolamo Bossis. It confirms the will of Magister Petrus -Lombardus quondam Martini lapiciola. Another, dated Sept. 8, 1479, -drawn up by the notary Bartolommeo de Vegiis, begins--"Io piero -lombardo fiolo di ser martino de charona, tajapiera in Venesa in la -chontrada de samoele in casa del duse testimonio e scrive de mano -propria." Here Pietro tells us not only his father's name Martin, but -his birthplace Carona, a village near Arogno and Campione--the place -his relative Marco da Carona came from. In fact here we have the -Campionese school still surviving and sending forth fine artists. - -[289] Marchese Ricci, _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, Vol. II. chap. -xix. p. 605. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE ROMAN LODGE - - -THE ROMAN LODGE - - -------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------------- - 1. | A.D. 88 | Magister Mutius | Pliny's architect. - | | | - 2. | 7th or | M. Sisinius | Architect represented in - | 8th | | the ancient frescoes of - | century | | the subterranean church of - | | | St. Clement, as directing - | | | the building of it. - | | | - 3. | | { M. Alberto } | - | | { } | - 4. | | { M. Cosma } | His assistants in the - | | { } | work. - 5. | | { M. Carboncelle } | - | | { } | - 6 & 7. | | { "Sons of PVTE." } | - | | | - 8. | about | M. Paschalis, named RITA | Sculptured the marble - | 11th | | candlestick and inlaid - | century | | pulpit of S. Maria in - | | | Cosmedin. - | | | - 9. | 1148 | M. Paulus | A sculptor in marble. - | | | - 10. | | M. Johannes } | - | | } | - 11. | | M. Petrus } | His four sons who carved - | | } | the ciborium in S. Lorenzo - 12. | | M. Anges (Angelo) } | fuori le mura in 1148. - | | } | - 13. | | M. Sassone } | - | | | - 14. | 12th | M. Niccolo, son of | Sculptured the curious - | century | Angelo di Paulus | mediaeval candelabrum in - | | | San Paolo fuori le mura. - | | | - | | | { Two brothers from the - 15. | 1196 | M. Ubert | { lodge at Piacenza, who - | | | { cast the bronze doors of - 16. | | M. Petrus | { the sacristy of S. John - | | | { Lateran. - | | | - 17. | 1190? | M. Lorenzo (ancestor of | Sculptured the facade of S. - | | the Cosmati) | Maria in Falleri, and the - | | | pulpit at Ara Coeli in - | | | Rome. - | | | - 18. | 1205-10 | M. Jacopo, his son | Sculptured at Civita - | | | Castellana, San Saba, Rome, - | | | and at Subiaco. - | | | - 19. | 1210-77 | M. Cosimo, son of Jacopo | Worked at Anagni. His four - | | | sons made the name of - | | | Cosimo famous, and were - | | | known as the Cosmati. - | | | - 20. | 1231-35 | M. Luca, eldest son of | Died young. - | | Cosimo | - | | | - 21. | 1231-95 | M. Jacopo, second son | C.M. of Orvieto in 1293. - | | | - 22. | 1294 | M. Adeodatus, or | Made the ciborium in S. - | | Deodatus, third son. | Maria in Cosmedin; the - | | | cloister of S. John - | | | Lateran, etc. - | | | - 23. | 1290-1303 | M. Giovanni, fourth son | Made several famous - | | | monuments in Rome. - | | | - 24. | | M. Arnolfo, cum socio } | Made the tabernacle of S. - | | } | Paolo fuori le mura. - 25. | | M. Petro } | - | | | - 26. | 1224 | M. Rainaldo | Canon of Anagni, and member - | | | of the Masonic Guild. - | | | - 27. | 13th | M. Bassaletti (written | His name is on the column - | century | Vassalecti or Basalecti) | of S. John Lateran, and on - | | | a marble lion in the porch - | | | of the S. Apostoli in Rome. - | | | - 28. | 1447 | M. Beltramo da Varese | C.M. of the Roman Lodge - | | | in 1447: he designed - | | | the restorations of the - | | | Campidoglio, and built the - | | | Palace of the Conservators. - | | | - 29. | " | Magister Pietro da | Assisted his uncle. He - | | Varese (nephew) | also worked at Orvieto in - | | | 1450. - | | | - 30. | " | M. Paolo da Campagnano | Worked with his - | | (near Varese) | fellow-countrymen in - | | | 1452-3. Restored the roof - | | | at S. Pietro, 1460. - | | | - 31. | 1455 | M. Antonio di Giovanni | { Joint architects of the - | | | { Pontifical Palace in - 32. | | M. Paolino da Binasco | { the reign of Pope - | | | { Calixtus III. - | | | - 33. | " | M. Bartolommeo of Como | Directed the works of - | | | fortification at Castel S. - | | | Angelo. - | | | - 34. | " | M. Stefano da Bissone of | Sculptured in S. Spirito. - | | Como | - | | | - 35. | 1460 | M. Manfred of Como } | Joint C.M. of the Vatican - | | } | from 1460 to 1463. - 36. | " | M. Domenico of Lugano } | - | | | - 37. | " | M. Angelo of Como } | Adorned some of the rooms - | | } | of the Vatican. - 38. | " | M. Martino Lombardo } | - | | | - 39. | 1466 | M. Giacomo di Cristoforo | A famous builder and - | | | sculptor, C.M. of the - | | | _laborerium_ at Rome. He - | | | designed Palazzo Venezia. - | | | - 40. | " | M. Andrea of Arzo | Sculptor working under - | | | Giacomo. He carved some - | | | inlaid doors at the - | | | Vatican. - | | | - 41. | 1466-70 | M. Giacomo di Giovanni } | - | | da Como } | - | | } | - 42. | | M. Alberto di Giovanni } | - | | da Como (his brother) } | - | | } | - 43. | | M. Nicola di Guglielmo } | - | | da Varese } | - | | } | - 44. | | M. Pietro di } | - | | Cristoforo da Bregnano } | All these were Lombard - | | } | _Magistri_ receiving pay - 45. | | M. Simone di Giovanni } | in the Roman Lodge between - | | da Binego } | 1460 and 1470. - | | } | - 46. | | M. Giovanni di Antonio } | - | | da Bellinzona } | - | | } | - 47. | | M. Michele Lombardo } | - | | } | - 48. | | M. Benedetto Lombardo } | - | | } | - 49. | | M. Domenico di Martino } | - | | Lombardo (son of } | - | | No. 38) } | - | | | - | | | { Two members of the - 50. | 1475 | M. Baccio Pontelli | { Florentine Lodge who were - | | | { employed as architects at - 51. | " | M. Giuliano da Majano | { the Vatican under - | | | { Manfred. - | | | - | | | { Florentine brothers, - 52. | " | M. Giovanni di Dolci | { architects at the - | | | { Vatican, the Sistine - 53. | " | M. Marco di Dolci | { Chapel, and the fort of - | | | { Civitavecchia. - | | | - 54. | 1484-92 | M. Antonio di San Gallo | A Lombard, naturalized - | | | Florentine. He built the - | | | Borgia apartment. - -------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------------- - -NAPLES BRANCH OF THE ROMAN LODGE - - -------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------------- - 1. | 1470 | Magister Pietro di | C.M. and designer of the - | | Martino Lombardo (from | triumphal arch at Castel - | | Milan). | Nuovo. - | | | - 2. | | M. Isaja da Pisa } | - | | } | - 3. | | M. Antonio da Pisa } | - | | } | - 4. | | M. Domenico di } | Sculptors and architects - | | Montemignano } | employed by Pietro di - | | } | Martino in the work of the - 5. | | M. Francesco Arzara } | arch. - | | } | - 6. | | M. Paolo Romano } | - | | } | - 7. | | M. Domenico Lombardo } | - | | di Sumalvito } | - | | | - 8. | 1484 | M. Tomaso da Como | Sculptured monuments in - | | | Monte Oliveto. - | | | - 9. | 1509 | M. Giovanni di Tomaso | Built the crypt of S. - | | (his son) | Gennaro at Naples. - -------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------------- - -Mention has been made, in the second chapter, of the early Christian -Basilicas erected under Constantine, and the forty-six churches of the -same era, which Genseric destroyed, and how the three Basilicas which -were then saved--_i.e._ S. Agnese, San Lorenzo, and S. Maria in -Cosmedin--have, during subsequent restoration, revealed, in the parts -of the original buildings discovered, a style precisely analogous to -the Basilicas which sprang up in the north of Italy in the time of the -Lombards. The only difference between the fourth-century Roman -churches and the seventh-century Lombard ones is not in form or style, -but merely a deterioration in workmanship. This may easily be -accounted for by the two or three centuries of decadence between the -destruction of Rome by Genseric and his successors, in about A.D. 460, -when it is supposed the remnants of the _Collegio_ of architects fled -to Como, and their revival under the Longobardic kings. During those -centuries, no great buildings, or even restoration of edifices, took -place. The Eternal City seemed, even when free of invaders, to be -perishing in the clutches of time. Charlemagne led the way by -rebuilding one or two ancient temples and palaces, and he established -several schools, one of which was for Lombards--a proof that he was -interested in those architects, and that they still had a seat in -Rome, where the church of their four Patron Saints had stood, from the -far-off time of Pope Melchiades--A.D. 311. - -Pope Adrian I. followed the example of his imperial ally, by restoring -several churches, to do which he had to ask Charlemagne for the -builders of the guild under his protection; a proof that no _Collegio_ -existed in Rome at that time. Among these churches, one of the most -interesting was that of S. Agnese fuori le Mura, a beautiful -round-arched Basilica, built by Constantine in 324. As it now stands, -it is so far below the level of the ground that there is a long -descent of forty-five wide marble steps, to reach the vestibule of -the church. The Basilica itself is extremely interesting, as it -remains in its original eighth-century form, as Pope Adrian I. -restored it in 775. The plan is a pure and simple Comacine Basilica, -with its nave and two aisles, circular tribune and an upper gallery, -with the _cochleus_ or spiral staircase leading to it all complete. - -The columns of the nave seem to have been taken from an ancient Roman -building. The capitals are all classical except the four nearest the -tribune, which are quite Comacine, with their simple upright volutes. -But the building space being limited, the extremely tall columns had -to be placed in such close juxtaposition, that the round arches -between them are diminished out of all harmonic proportion. The -triforium gallery, having shorter columns, gives a more pleasing -effect. - -The spiral staircase leading to this is cut in the thickness of a -pilaster. The mosaics in the tribune are the original ones of Pope -Honorius' time, and of Byzantine style; the decorative paintings over -the whole church are mere modern frescoes. - -But that the sculpturesque decorations were done by the Comacines, and -not by the Greek mosaicists, is suggested by several remains of the -ancient decorations of the church, which are preserved on the walls of -the stairway descending to it. Here is a _pluteus_, or stone panel, -probably from the front of the ancient tribune, and it is a beautiful -_intreccio_ precisely like the ones at S. Clemente. Two other panels -of the same parapet are of Roman design. One might imagine that the -Lombard architect copied them from the inner roof of the Arch of -Titus. Probably the guild, being of Roman origin, kept all these -classical decorative designs in its _laborerium_. - -Now and then, in the ages following Adrian, we find a large-minded -Pope, who gave his thoughts to restoring the beauties of Rome: such as -Leo III. (796), Leo IV. (845), Innocent III. (1178), Nicholas III. -(1277), and Boniface VIII. (1294). This latter was the Pope who -consecrated the Duomo of Florence. - - [Illustration: APSE OF THE CHURCH OF SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO, ON THE - COELIAN HILL, ROME. - (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _See page 405._] - -The great Lombard Masonic Guild being under the especial protection of -the Popes, we should expect to see its members employed in the -mediaeval buildings of Rome. And truly, after Adrian's time, here they -are. Hope, Schmarzow, Ricci, and Boito, besides other writers, have -all decided that the ancient cloisters of San Lorenzo--built under -Honorius III. in the beginning of the thirteenth century--as well as -the primitive churches of St. Peter, S. John Lateran, and S. Lorenzo, -were all early Comacine work; and that the exquisite cloister of S. -John Lateran, and the churches of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, Ara Coeli, -San Giovanni e Paolo, S. Maria sopra Minerva, etc., are all equally -Lombard churches of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Several -friezes and inscriptions go to prove the truth of this, besides those -eloquent lions that crouch beneath the columns in the cloister of S. -John Lateran and other places. - -As this is not an architectural dissertation, but merely a tracing of -the work of this great guild, I will keep more to the inscriptions -relative to _Magistri_, than to a description of their works, which -has been done by so many writers. - -In the old times before the painters and sculptors, and after them the -metal-workers, split off and formed companies of their own, every kind -of decoration was practised by the Masters. A church was not complete -unless it were adorned in its whole height and breadth with either -sculpture, mosaic, or paintings, and this from the very early times of -Constantine and his Byzantine mosaicists, and of Queen Theodolinda and -her fresco-painters, up to the revival of mosaics by the Cosmati, and -the fresco-painting in the Tuscan schools. But never were those arts -entirely lost. - -The ideas which the Lombard architects brought up from Sicily, when -working there under the Normans, were the seeds of re-vivification, -and caused a tremendous evolution in the art of the guild. They saw -the decorative value of mosaic as it was used in the twisted Saracenic -columns, and they were charmed by the rich use of sculpture in the -graceful arches. From that time, every lodge throughout the land -seemed to invent a new style peculiar to itself. - -The Romans, with their traditions of classic mosaics, revived the art -in Saracenic style as a means of decoration. The Tuscans, with their -wealth of coloured marbles, enlarged chromatic decoration into -chromatic architecture, and their airy towers and arched churches were -all more or less polychrome. The Lombards, having no marbles at hand, -took from these same Saracens their rich traceries and cuspings, which -they produced in the plastic clay, throwing a veil of ruddy beauty -over the facades and arches of their buildings. - -The name of the Cosmati family has become generic for the peculiar -chromatic sculpture of Rome in the twelfth century; the family were -complete masters of the art. But though they may have taken the idea -of its revival as a decorative aid to sculpture, it was by no means -their invention, or even their monopoly. If you look at a Cosmati -pillar or panel, and then at the floor of any Roman church, you will -see that Cosmatesque decoration is but an adaptation of the old Roman -_opus Alexandrinum_. And we have plenty of proof of the fact that -other _Magistri_ of the guild also practised it. The ambone in S. -Cesareo in Palatio at Rome, of which we give an illustration, is -earlier than any of Cosimo's family. - - [Illustration: BASILICA OF S. PAOLO _fuori le mura_, ROME. - _See page 405._] - -There exists at Florence (in S. Leonardo) the ancient pulpit from S. -Piero Scheraggio, and which was said to have been brought there from -Fiesole. Its date is supposed to be before 1000 A.D. Though of a ruder -style, we have the Cosmatesque inlaying of glass and marble, as a -setting to sculptures distinctly Comacine, and of almost Longobardic -antiquity. In Sta. Maria in Cosmedin are two fine pulpits, on one of -which is a beautiful candlestick formed of a twisted column, inlaid in -the same style. The Comacine lion crouches beneath it, and on the base -is the inscription in Gothic letters, telling us that the worthy and -learned man Paschalis (called Rita), with great study made this -candlestick.[290] Then we have Nicolao di Rannuncio, whose name is -inscribed on the door of inlaid marble in the church of S. Maria at -Toscanella,[291] and a whole family whose names are inscribed on the -ciborium of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura:[292] where it is written--"John, -Peter, Angelo, and Sasso, sons of Paul the sculptor, Magisters of this -Opera. I, the humble Abbot Hugh, had this work executed"[293] (Johs, -Petrus, Ang[)e]s, et. Sasso. Filii. Pauli. Marm[=o]r. Huj'. Opis. -Magister Fuer. Ann d. M. CXLVIII. Ego. Hugo. Humilis. Abbs. Hoc. Opus. -Fieri Feci.). The tabernacle is of the usual four-pillared form; the -columns are ancient porphyry ones adapted; the capitals the usual -Comacine mixture of classic and mediaeval--acanthus leaves and -cornucopiae with the mystic beasts climbing among them. - -Angelo, the third son of Magister Paulus, had a son named Niccolo, and -the two together made the candelabrum of S. Paolo; a quaint mediaeval -piece of sculpture, of the style of Magister Roberto's font, but with -some marvellously beautiful interlaced work. There is also Arnolfo -with his partner Peter (Arnolfus cum suo socio Petro), who made the -inlaid and sculptured tabernacle in S. Paolo fuori le Mura in 1285. - -Merzario says that we must not confuse this Arnolfo with the -Florentine architect. Camille Boito, however, opines that he is the -same. Arnolfo had certainly a taste for the polychrome in -architecture, which may or may not have been imbibed in Rome, while -working at that lodge with Peter--whom Cavalcaselle considers was one -of the Cosmati, and who certainly did the ciborium at S. Paolo, though -Arnolfo's name is absent in that work. I have found some other members -of the Roman Lodge inscribed above a bronze door in S. John Lateran. -On the archivolt is written--"Hui opis Ubert et Petr: [^Fr]s. - M[=a]gistri Lausenen. Fece[[^ru]nt." Over another -bronze door in the sacristy they are written as--"Ubert Magister, et -Petrus. Ei: Fr. Placentini Fecerunt Hoc. op.," and the date A.D. 1196. -Boito[294] sees nothing in this but a perplexing contradiction, that -in one place the brothers say they are from Lausanne, and in another -from Piacenza. It is to me plain enough. They are natives of Lausanne, -and consequently Lombards: they are also brethren of the lodge of -Piacenza, where they had most likely worked while the cathedral and -other buildings were being erected. - -The date of the Baptistery door, and the connection of its maker with -the guild, are verified by the inscription on the other panel of the -bronze door, which says it was done in the fifth year of the -pontificate of Pope Celestine III. (_i.e._ 1196), and that Father -Giovanni, Cardinal of S. Lucia, the _Jubente_, or _camerarius_ of the -_Opera_, had it made.[295] - -This door had engraved on it the design of the ancient facade of S. -John Lateran--a perfectly Lombard front consisting of two round-arched -arcades, with a little pillared gallery above. - - [Illustration: PULPIT IN CHURCH OF S. CESAREO IN PALATIO, ROME. - MEDIAEVAL SCULPTURE INLAID IN MOSAIC. - (_From a photograph by Alinari._) _See page 406._] - -The door of the Sacristy must have been cast before that of the -Baptistery, as in the first work Uberto is entitled _Magister_, and -Petrus only named as his brother, whereas in the second the younger -brother must have also graduated, and has in his turn attained to the -dignity of _Magister_. - -We trace the same gradual progress through the ranks of the Guild in -the Cosmati family, whose connection with the Roman lodge we must now -trace. Several generations of them were _Magistri_-- - - Lorenzo - | - Jacopo (some works, 1205-1210) - | - Cosimo, 1210-1277 - | - +------------+------+------+------------+ - | | | | - Luca Jacopo Adeodatus Giovanni - 1231-1235 1231-1293 1294 1296-1303 - -To Lorenzo belong the facades of Santa Maria in Falleri, and the Duomo -in Civita Castellana, besides the pulpit in Ara Coeli at Rome. In -all these works his son Jacopo worked with him. - -Jacopo alone, with the title of _Magister_, sculptured the smaller -doors in the facade of the Duomo at Civita Castellana, and the door of -San Saba at Rome in 1205; also the inlaid columns at S. Alessio in -Rome, and the Cloister of Santa Scolastica at Subiaco. In Civita -Castellana, above the magnificent portal, is inscribed "Laurentius cum -Jacobo Filio suo, Magistri doctissimi Romani H(oc) opus fecerunt." -This proves my assertion that they had graduated in the Roman Lodge, -and if further proof is required, this portal bears the universal mark -of the Comacine Masters at this era--its columns rest on lions. - -Similar inscriptions are on the ambone of Ara Coeli, and the doorway -at Falleri. The inscription on the door of San Saba, dated 1205, -is--"Ad honorem domini nostri [=IH]U [^XP]I Anno VII. Pontificatus -domini Innocentii III. PP Hoc opus domino Johanne, Abbate -Jubente[296] factum est per manus magistri Jacobi." Up to this time we -have no proof that the family was of Roman origin; they are merely -given as members of the Roman Lodge, which we have seen was of Lombard -origin. They were afterwards made Roman citizens. - -After these works we find Cosmato, the son of Jacopo, old enough to -assist him. That same frontal of the Duomo at Civita Castellana has on -the cornice over the portico these words inlaid in letters of -gold--"Magister Jacobus civis Romanus cum Cosma filio suo, Fieri fecit -hoc opus A. [~DN]I. MCCX." Cosmato's name is also inscribed as -assisting his father in the door of the church of San Tommaso in -Formis at Rome. Next, in 1224, we find young Cosmato a full-fledged -_Magister_, working at the cathedral of Anagni, which was in those -days an important city, and the residence and birthplace of several -Popes. The whole pavement there is a beautiful work of inlaid marbles, -and bears an inscription saying that the Venerable Lord Bishop Albert -had the pavement made; Magister Rainaldo, Canon of Anagni to Pope -Honorius III., and the honourable sub-deacon and chaplain assisting in -the expense, which was a hundred gold _oboli_; Magister Cosmato -executing the work.[297] Magister Rainaldo, the Canon, must have been -one of the ecclesiastic members of the guild, and showed so much -respect for the privilege that he preferred the title of _Magister_ to -the grander one of _Venerabilis_, to which his office of Canon would -have given him right. - -After this time, Cosmato is always written as Magister; his name -appears on the altar of the crypt of S. Magnus in the cathedral of -Anagni, which was also a commission of Bishop Alberto in 1230. Next, -we perceive that Cosmato has married and has a goodly family of sons, -who, according to ancient custom, are all educated in the guild. - -Luca and Jacobo, the two eldest, helped him in the mosaic pavement of -the crypt at Anagni, and in the cloister of Santa Scolastica at -Subiaco. This is a most beautiful work in transition style. The -columns are alternately single and double, the single ones with a wide -projecting abacus. Some are slight and straight, others spiral and -beautifully inlaid between the sculptured ribs. The arches resting on -these fanciful columns are on two sides round, but on the other sides -are slightly pointed. Above the arches is a sculptured cornice and a -frieze of mosaic. It is altogether very beautiful. - -In 1277 Cosmato was employed by Pope Nicholas III. to restore the -chapel "Sancta Sanctorum" in the Basilica of S. John Lateran, the -altar of which was reserved for the Popes alone. Luca appears to have -died young, but Jacopo at eighty years of age was a master builder at -the cathedral of Orvieto, where in 1293 he is written in the books as -"Maestro de' Muratori Jacopo di Cosma Romano." - -The third son, Adeodatus, or Deodatus, rose high in the guild. In the -pavement of S. Jacopo alla Lungara, before it was destroyed, the -following epigraph was inlaid, which was copied by Crescimbeni--"Deodatus -filius Cosmati, et Jacobus fecerunt hoc opus." In a later work, the -ciborium once in S. John Lateran, now in the cloister, we find that -Deodatus has risen to the rank of _Magister_. It was a commission from -the Colonna family, whose arms are sculptured on it. The ciborium in -S. Maria in Cosmedin, ordered by Cardinal Gaetani, nephew of Pope -Boniface VII., must have been earlier than this, for he has merely -signed "Deodat. me fec." - -Cosmato's fourth son, Giovanni, first appears in an independent work -in 1296, when, on the elegant sepulchre of Bishop Durante, he -signs--"J[=oh]s filius Magri Cosmati fe[=c] hoc op." Similar epigraphs -are on the tomb of Cardinal Gonsalvo in S. Maria Maggiore, and a -monument to Stefano de' Surdi in Santa Balbina. - -In all these works of the Cosmati, Camille Boito finds signs of -Lombard principles, and traces in the development of style from father -to son the same gradual movement from older forms towards the Gothic, -which we notice between Jacopo Tedesco and Arnolfo, and between -Niccolo Pisano and his son Giovanni. Living in Rome, however, the -Cosmati never really took up the Gothic style, as it developed further -north; but always kept nearer to classical forms, and so prepared Rome -for the Renaissance style, which arose from the humanist movement in -the Cinque-cento epoch. - -The next great patron of the Lombard Guild in Rome was Pope Nicholas -V. (Thomas of Sarzana), of whom Gregorovius said--"This man had only -two passions--collecting books and building." His dominating idea was -the directing of a new Renaissance. According to him, "Rome ought to -become the imperishable monument of the Church, or rather the Papacy, -and re-arise in admirable magnificence before the eyes of all -people."[298] Nicholas V. had the first idea of the rebuilding of St. -Peter's, and the Vatican, but one man's life was not long enough for -such great works. He, however, restored the Campidoglio, Castel S. -Angelo, San Todaro, S. Stefano Rotondo, the palace of S. Maria -Maggiore, the fountain of Trevi, the walls of Rome, and several of the -State fortresses. - - [Illustration: CANDELABRUM IN S. PAOLO AT ROME, 12TH CENTURY. - _See page 407._] - -He got some of his architects, such as Leon Battista Alberti and -Rossellino, from the Florentine Lodge, but by far the greater part of -them were Lombards. The chief of these was Master Beltramo da Varese, -of whom we have heard much in the Lombard Lodges. With him were his -nephew Maestro Pietro di Giovanni, Maestro Paolo da Campagnano (a -village near Varese), and Maestro Giacomo di Cristoforo. Rossellino -had begun the works at St. Peter's in a kind of reverse fashion, -starting with the apse. The continuation of this tribune was confided -to Maestro Beltramo, who set to work in good earnest. He made vast -lime and brick furnaces, filled the _laborerium_ with wood, ropes, -ladders, etc., engaged sub-architects and _Magistri_ with bands of -workmen under them, most of whom came down from the Como region. In -fact, there was an army of Lombards.[299] The registers of the -_Opera_, now in the Vatican, mark large payments to Magistro Beltramo -and his nephew Pietro di Giovanni, who became chief architect after -his uncle's death. - -Besides the Tribune of St. Peter's, the two relatives were employed to -rebuild the Campidoglio. Muntz publishes some notes taken from the -registers of the Apostolic Camera, recording payments made between -1447 and 1448 to Maestro Beltramo, and some of his associates -(_socii_), for the roof and marble windows of the Campidoglio and the -palace of the Conservators. In 1452 Pietro da Varese is found -continuing the work alone. The documents recently published from the -registers of the Vatican have these entries-- - -"1452. _December 31._--To Maestro Pietro da Varese, nephew of Maestro -Beltramo, 1000 gold ducats for part of the Tower he is building behind -the Campidoglio, at the side where they sell salt by retail. T. S. -1452, fol. 216, cf. fol. 194." - -"1453. _March 9._--D. 112, b. 56, d. c., for remainder and completion -of the contract of the Tower he (Pietro) has made at the Campidoglio, -which in full amounts to 1212 ducats, of which he received last year -at different times, 1000 (and 100) ... and thus it is registered by -Janni di Jordani (Notary V. fl. 126. 10. 93)."[300] - -We find Pietro in 1450 sculpturing in the cathedral at Orvieto, where -in a public act he is described as a good and clever sculptor -("lapidum sculptor bonus et doctus"), and prayed to remain at Orvieto -in the service of the lodge there. - -Muntz speaks very highly in praise of the Lombard sculptor, Giacomo di -Cristoforo[301] da Pietrasanta, saying that although his name is -little known to biographers, he holds a high place in Roman art of the -fifteenth century, and merits to be ranked among the most celebrated -artists of his time. Many of the buildings which Vasari ascribes to -Giuliano da Majano and Baccio Pontelli are in reality due to him; for -instance, the Palazzo Venezia, which was rebuilt under Pope Paul II. -(Pietro Barbo, who succeeded to the papal throne in 1464). Now -Giuliano da Majano only came to Rome towards the end of the reign of -Pope Sixtus IV., and could not therefore have been employed by Paul -II. In fact, Muntz, after many researches, concludes that the chief -architect was Maestro Giacomo da Pietrasanta, who is in the registers -of 1467 qualified by the title of _Soprastante_ in the _laborerium_ of -the church and palace of S. Marco at Rome, and in 1468 is written as -the president of the building of the Palazzo Apostolico or -Vatican.[302] In fact, Giacomo da Pietrasanta, the Lombard, was Grand -Master of the whole Roman Lodge during these years. - -But Maestro Giacomo was not the only Comacine employed in the Palazzo -Venezia. A contract dated June 16, 1466, names Magister Manfred of -Como and Andrea of Arzo, whom we have seen in Venice, as _magistros -architectos_,[303] and the registers reveal a whole army of master -builders and sculptors whose names will be found in the list appended. -Muntz quotes no less than twenty-five, many of whom have been familiar -to us at Milan, Siena, and Florence. - -Although when Calixtus III. (Alfonso Borgia) succeeded Nicholas V. in -1455, he had no great ideas about resuscitating the architectural -glories of ancient Rome, he nevertheless employed the Lombard Masters -to finish the works begun. Maestro Pietro da Varese, and Maestro Paolo -da Campagnano, with Maestro Antonio di Giovanni from Milan, and -Maestro Paolino da Binasco, were joint architects of the Pontifical -Palace. Maestro Bartolommeo da Como, whom we have known at Milan and -Pavia, was director of the works of fortification at Castel S. Angelo, -while Maestro Stefano da Bissone di Como is named as a sculptor in the -church of S. Spirito. - -The next Pope, Pius II. (AEneas Silvio Piccolomini), did so much -building and embellishing in Siena--where the Lombard Masters divided -the honours with their colleagues born in Siena, and trained by -them--that he did little for Rome. He employed the same Pietro da -Giovanni and Paolo da Campagnano between 1460 and 1463, for the roof -of S. Pietro, which menaced destruction. The palace of the Vatican was -placed under the architectural superintendence of Maestro Manfred of -Como and Domenico of Lugano. The first appears to have been designing -architect, and the second master builder, as he commanded squadrons of -workmen, and was assisted in ruling them by his brother Antonio. - -Maestro Angelo da Como, and a certain Martino Lombardo, rebuilt the -chambers which had been destroyed by fire, and adorned the "Hall of -the Pavilion" and "Hall of the Parrot." - -In the time of Sixtus IV. (Francesco della Rovere, 1471-1484) the -Lombards of the Roman Lodge were joined by their brethren from -Florence, and now we find the two groups inextricably mixed. Baccio -Pontelli and Giuliano da Majano work together with Manfred the Lombard -and Paolo da Campagnano in the administration of the works of the -Vatican; while Francesco and Andrea, both Lombards, are found carving -in wood and executing beautiful doors in _intarsia_, together with -Giovanni and Marco di Dolci, Florentines; Giovanni de' Dolci with his -colleagues (chiefly Comacines) worked at the Sixtine Chapel, some -parts of the Vatican, and the fortress of Civita Vecchia, which Baccio -Pontelli finished. Pope Innocent VIII. (Cibo, 1484-92) added the -Loggia Belvedere to the already immense palace of the Vatican, and -Alexander VI., a Spaniard, built the Borgia apartment, for which he -employed Antonio di San Gallo, or from St. Gall, a Lombard naturalized -Florentine, whose assistants in the work seem to have been chiefly -Lombards. - -It was this influx of Florentines, who were fresh from the humanistic -influences of the classic revival of literature under the Medici, and -therefore more open to further inspirations from the influences of -antique Rome, which brought about the revival of classic forms in -architecture in Rome. Bramante and San Gallo began it in 1503, Raphael -and Michael Angelo carried it on; and such hold did the Renaissance -style take on the minds of people in the late Cinque-cento era, that -it spread, and overpowered the Gothic from end to end of Italy. - -Vasari raved about the faults of the old architecture and its -_goffissima_ style, upholding the chastened order of the new, but -whatever may have been the merits of Renaissance, as Bramante and -Michael Angelo practised it, their later followers committed quite as -many sins against reason and good taste as any Comacine or Romanesque -architect ever did. Look, for instance, at the church of S. Carlo, in -the Corso at Rome, with its gigantic pilasters running up the whole -height of a front, which is, by its square windows, cut up into three -storeys, giving the lie to the unity of space implied by the mock -columns; and at San Firenze in Florence, where half an arch runs up -into the air and stops short, as a defiance to all laws of gravity. -Arches or pediments, with a _hiatus_ where the key-stone should be, -and which, logically speaking, can support nothing, are the most -common blots on a late Renaissance building. - -But we have nothing to do with this era. It was only a late survival -of a side issue of the Comacine Guild which had been practically -dissolved before Michael Angelo's time, although the influence of its -smouldering ashes vivified the art even of that great genius. - -The great family of sixteenth-century architects, the Fontana, was of -Comacine origin, though I believe the guild was dissolved by their -time. Domenico Fontana was born at Melide near Como; his elder brother -Giovanni, famous for his stucco work, had preceded him in Rome, but -Domenico was an artist of a wider kind. The Cardinal Felice di -Montalto soon discovered his capacities, and entrusted him with the -erection of the Cappella del Santissimo in S. Maria Maggiore. Here a -very unusual episode occurred. The Cardinal had not means enough to -finish the work, and the brothers Fontana, instead of suing him for -their pay, lent him 1000 scudi. Of course the Cardinal was their great -patron after this, and recommended them to Pope Sixtus V., who -employed them in the Vatican to build the Belvedere and the Library. -Domenico also enshrined the Scala Santa at S. John Lateran; he placed -the obelisks on Piazza S. Giovanni and Piazza S. M. Maggiore; set up -the Castor and Pollux on the Quirinal; built the bridge at Borghetto, -the hospital of S. Sisto, and restored the Alessandrini-Felice -aqueduct; embanked the Fiumicino near Porto; made the water conduit at -Civita Vecchia, which implied tunnelling under a mountain; and the -great aqueduct of Acqua Paola from Bracciano to Rome, thirty-five -miles long; besides constructing fountains everywhere, in Rome and -Frascati. - -In fact, he nearly made Cinque-cento Rome. His brother Giovanni was -nominated architect in general to Pope Clement VIII.; and Paul V. made -him chief architect of St. Peter's, with his nephew Carlo Maderno. He -too was employed in Ferrara. For a century the name and race of -Fontana flourished in Rome, some of the family emigrating to Naples, -where they became equally famous. The number of their buildings was -legion; they and the family Della Porta, who also came to Rome from -Lake Lugano, divided the renovation of Rome between them. Girolamo -della Porta, like the Fontanas, was a naturalized Roman. - -The Fontana family forms a link with Naples, though not the only -connection of that city with the guild. The Comacine Masters kept up -their connection with Naples long after the time of the Normans, when -Maestro Buono built the Castel Capuana for William I. Merzario claims -for one of his descendants, Buono dei Buoni, the credit of having -first invented painting in oils, which he is supposed to have taught -privately to Antonello of Messina.[304] Several names of the Solari -family, so famous at Milan and Venice, turn up at Naples in the -fifteenth century, and then a famous work was put into Lombard hands. -When Alphonso of Aragon made his entry in 1443, the governors of the -city decreed that a triumphal arch should be built to commemorate the -event. It was placed at the entrance of Castel Nuovo, and consists of -two round towers, with an arch between them, supported on Corinthian -columns. The arch is surmounted by a frieze and cornice, with a -parapet above, enriched with bas-reliefs representing the entry of -King Alphonso. The whole is surmounted by statues of saints and the -cardinal virtues. - -The construction of this fine arch has been attributed to Giuliano da -Majano, but as he was at the time only a boy of ten or twelve years -old, this could not be. Sig. Miniero Riccio, after a diligent search -in the Neapolitan archives, has found some acts, which give the names -of sculptors employed on this. We find Pietro di Martino from Milan, -head architect; Isaja da Pisa, Domenico di Montemignano, Antonio da -Pisa, Francesco Arzara, Paolo Romano, and Domenico Lombardo. This -authorship is confirmed by the epigraph in the church of S. Maria la -Nuova in Naples, dated 1470, in memory of Pietro di Martino, Milanese, -who, for his merit in erecting the arch at Castel Nuovo, was created -Cavalier by King Alphonso, and a sepulchre was given in this church -for him and his descendants.[305] - -If the date had only been a little later, we might have supposed this -to be Pietro Lombardo, son of Martino Solario, who had won such fame -in Venice; but as he died in 1512, it is scarcely likely he would have -been well-known enough to have obtained such an important commission -in 1440. Knowing how a certain succession of names was, and is, kept -up in Italian families, this Pietro and Martino might have been the -father and grandfather of the Martino da Carona, father of Pietro -Lombardo, especially as they had Domenico, also a Solari, with them. - -King Alphonso was a good patron to the Comacine Masters, and greatly -appreciated them. On February 16, 1456, a gentleman at Terracina wrote -to the Duke Francesco Sforza, saying that _some master builders from -Como_, in leaving the realm of Naples, had been made to forfeit 190 -ducats, on which they appealed to the King. Alphonso ordered the -restitution of the money, excepting a small tribute to the -confiscators, which he made good to the Comacine Masters out of his -own purse.[306] - -From 1484 to 1508, a Maestro Tomaso da Como, sometimes called _Tomaso -delle parti di Lombardia_, master sculptor, was living in Naples. He -was paid for the carving of the principal door of the church of the -Annunziata, which his son Giovanni finished after his death. His will -still exists. It is dated July 2, 1508, and says that "Mastro Tomaso -de Sumalvito (now Sanvito) de la terra de Como de la parti di -Lombardia, marmorario habitante in Napoli: istituisce herede Joan -Thomaso de Sumalvito de Napoli suo figlio," and declares besides that -a debt of three ducats is still owing to him on the work for the great -doorway of the church of the Annunziata. The fine monument to Signor -Antonio d'Alessandro and his wife, Maddalena Riccio, in the church of -Monte Oliveto, and that of the Bishop of Aversa in the same church, -were sculptured by Tommaso de Sanvito, as he is called in the books of -Orvieto, where he was head architect. - -His son Giovanni built, in 1509, the fine chapel of the Macellai in -the church of S. Eligio, and the "Confession" of S. Gennaro under the -tribune of the cathedral of Naples, where the yearly miracle of the -liquefaction of the blood of S. Gennaro takes place. Even the -beautiful Royal Palace at Capodimonte was built by a Lombard, Domenico -Fontana of Melide, near Como, whose family we have seen was more -famous in Rome than in Naples? Domenico, however, died in Naples in -1607, and was buried in S. Anna dei Lombardi, where his sons Sebastian -and Julius Caesar (Giulio Fontana) wrote on his tomb--"Patritius -Romanus, Summus Romae Architectus. Summus Neapolis." Like so many of -his predecessors in the guild, he had been given the citizenship of -the towns he had embellished. It is this which makes it so difficult -to trace the artists--the same man may appear successively as being a -citizen of Rome, of Orvieto and Siena, and yet have been born at Como -in spite of all. - -Enough has been said to show that at Rome and Naples, as well as in -other cities, the great Lombard Guild led the way. The guild, which -may be looked on as the flower of the Renaissance, had, however, -reached the period when its blossoming time was over; its many petals, -too much spread, were falling from all its branches. Some had dropped -off long since, and new suckers formed in the painting academies, and -the sculptors' companies, at Siena, Florence, Venice, and other parts. -These suckers had, by the fifteenth century, grown into independent -plants, that threatened to overshadow and choke the ancient trunk. Art -knowledge of all kinds had now become dispersed outside the jealous -custody of the once secret Freemasonry, and the Cinque-cento artist -stood alone on his own merit, without needing the _cachet_ of the -Masonic title of _Magister_. There were, after this time, Masters in -every other art or trade guild, the nomenclature of this most ancient -and universal of guilds having been adopted by all other guilds -whatsoever; so that even in our own England we find Master Humphrey -the iron-worker, or Master Ambrose the cloth-weaver; and in Italy -Maestro Giorgio the maker of majolica, and Maestro Pollajuolo the -metal-worker; and in Germany the "Little Masters," who, I opine, were -a German group of painters, who, like their brethren of the South, -seceded from the Masters _par excellence_, i.e. the great Masonic -Guild. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[290] VIR P(RO)BUS. | DOCT' PASCA- | LIS RI | TA, VO CAT: [=SV]MO CUM -STUDIO | [=CO]DIDIT | [=HU]C CEREVM: - -[291] Marchese Ricci, _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, Vol. I. chap. ii. -p. 467. - -[292] _Ibid._ - -[293] _Ibid._ - -[294] Boito, _Architettura del Medio Evo. I Cosmati_, p. 124. - -[295] + ANNO [ deg.V] PONT[^IF] [^DN]I -CELESTINI III [^PP] [^GE] GIO -C[~AD]IN LUCE ET DE [^DN]I PP CAMERARIO JUBENE OPUS ISTUD -FACT[^U] [^E]. - -[296] This Giovanni, _Jubente_ or President of the lodge, would -probably be the same one under whom the bronze doors of the Baptistery -of S. John Lateran were made. By this date he has risen to be Abbot. - -[297] - [~DN]S. Albertus. Venerabilis an - agnin [=ep]s fecit hoc fieri pavimen[~tu] pi (pro illo) construendo - magister Rainaldus anagnin canonicus, - DNI. Honorii III. PP. subdiacon' et capellan' - C obolos aureos erogavit. Magist. Cosmos hoc op fecit. - -[298] _Storia della citta di Roma nel medio evo_, translated into -Italian by Renato Manzato, vol. vii. p. 744. Venice, 1875. - -[299] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxxviii. p. 413. - -[300] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxxvii. p. 415. - -[301] Probably the son of Cristoforo di Milano, who worked so much in -Venice and Udine. He may have been employed by the Medici in their -buildings at Pietrasanta. - -[302] "Superstans marmorariis laborantibus, lapides marmoreas pro -ecclesia et palatio Sancti Marci presidens fabrice palatii -apostolici."--Muntz, _Les Arts a la Cour des Papes_, vol. i. p. 606. -It is interesting to note that the head of the _laborerium_ bore the -same title as in A.D. 1250, when Guido da Como wrote on his pulpit, -"Superstans Turrisianus." - -[303] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxxviii. p. 424. - -[304] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxxvi. p. 359. - -[305] "Petrus de Martino Mediolanensis ob triumphalem arcis novae arcum -solerter structum et multa statuariae artis suo munere hinc oedi -oblata, a divo Alphonso rege in equestrem adscribi ordinem et ab -ecclesia hoc sepulcro pro se ac posteris suis donari meruit -MCCCCLXX."--Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. II. chap. xxxvi. p. 375, note 4. - -[306] Milanese State Archives. Documents of the Dukes Sforza. - - - - -EPILOGUE - - -When I began writing this work, my object was to prove that the -Comacine Masters were the true mediaeval link between Classic and -Renaissance Art. The results have been greater than I then foresaw. In -attaching this link in its true place, the chain of Art History takes -a new and changed aspect, and instead of several loose strands with -here and there detached links, it becomes one continuous whole, from -early Christian Rome to the Rome of Raphael and Michael Angelo. - -The famous artists who formed the rise of the different schools of the -Renaissance, were not each a separate genius inspired from within, but -brethren of one Guild, whose education was identical, and whose -teachers passed on to them what they received from their -predecessors--the accumulated art-teaching of ages. - -I am aware that in tracing the progress of this great Guild, the weak -points are the derivation of the Comacines of Lombard times from the -Roman public architects, who built for Constantine and Pope Adrian; -and the connection of this Lombard Guild with the early Cathedral -builders of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. - -Between each of these transitions there lies a century or two of -decadence, during the barbaric invasions and general demoralization -which I have indicated in the earlier chapters. But I think I have -given arguments enough to prove these affinities. For the first, we -have the identity of form and ornamentation in their works, and the -similarity of nomenclature and organization between the Roman -_Collegio_ and the Lombard Guild of _Magistri_. Besides this, the -well-known fact that the free republic of Como was used as a refuge by -Romans who fled from barbaric invasion, makes a strong argument. - -For the second, we may plead again the same identity of form and -ornamentation, and a like similarity of organization and nomenclature. -Just as King Luitprand's architects were called _Magistri_, and their -grand master the _Gastaldo_, so we have found the great architectural -Guild in Venice, in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth -centuries, using the very same titles, and having the same laws. - -In the Tuscan schools which have been traced direct from Lombard -times, we have the same offices with the titles translated into a more -mediaeval Italian--or late Latin--form; the _Gastaldo_ here becomes -_Arch Magister_. In some Lodges it is more significant still, the -ancient Roman _Superstans_ is modified into _Soprastante_, thus -forming a very suggestive connection between early Christian Rome and -Tuscany. Again, the hereditary descent is marked by the patron saints -of the Lombard and Tuscan Lodges, being four martyr brethren from a -Roman _Collegio_. All these and other indications are surely as strong -as documental proof. - -The lists of the Comacine Guild begin with a few masters, who are -seemingly members of three or four families only, the men of the -Buoni, Antelami, and Campione schools forming the aristocracy of the -Guild. - -We have seen how, as the church-building era developed, the -brotherhood grew and multiplied. - -The Antelami family founded Lodges in Parma, Padua, and Verona; the -Campione at Modena, Bergamo, and Cremona; the Buoni family spread -eastwards to Venice, and southwards to Tuscany, founding everywhere -_laboreriums_ and schools. - -Three hundred years later we see the descendants of the Buoni and -Campione artists together, building the Gothic and Renaissance palaces -at Venice; masters of the Graci and Antelami families rearing the -cathedrals of Siena and Orvieto; and in all the ages dispersing about -Italy from north to south. We have seen how all these schools -increased; native artists joining the Lombard ones, and working -together with them, and though a distinctive local style was the -characteristic of each school, yet in their fundamental principles -they all had one rule and one teaching. - -As the Guild increased and multiplied, in the times of the foundation -of rival Communes, all vying with each other in building glorious -churches, noble palaces, and fine houses, it frequently happened that -the primitive Lombard element was overpowered by the newer local one, -and then schisms and disintegration took place. - -Separate local Guilds were thus formed at Venice, Siena, and Florence. - -The painters next seceded, and started painting as an art independent -of church decoration; and thus the Academies of Art were formed. This -split took place so late after the city _Arti_ or Guilds were -established, that the painters of Florence, having left the -Freemasons, had no Guild of their own; and if they wished to enjoy -civic privileges, they had to enroll themselves in the Company of the -Gold-workers, or that of the Apothecaries. Here we get at once a clear -explanation of the goldsmith painters in Florence. - -This disintegration reached its climax when Brunellesco defied the -_Maestranze_ or Masonic Magisters, proving that the Freemasons had not -the exclusive right to genius; and that genius had its own claims to -be heard, even without the pale of that monopolizing Guild. I think -that his dome literally crushed out the almost effete institution of -Freemasons, and that the Florentine Lodge was broken up soon after; -for by Michael Angelo's time the Medici had to supply a school for -sculptors, which we have seen was placed under the instruction of old -Bertoldo,--a lingering relic of the great company. - -At first sight it might appear that this revelation of the universal -fraternity would materially alter the history of art. In some aspects -it does; for we can no longer say that Maitani built Siena cathedral, -or Arnolfo that of Florence, nor assert that St. Mark's at Venice was -entirely Byzantine, or Milan cathedral the work of a German architect. -They were all the joint labours of the same brotherhood of artists, -the plans made by the first Arch-master being modified a score of -times as the centuries went on, and art developed. But in the great -points the story of Art remains as it was. Certain masters still stand -out as leaders and founders of schools, and every school had its own -separate bias and special development of style; but Niccolo di Pisa's -influence on future ages is not lessened by our finding out the -masters who trained him; the Lorenzetti, Memmi, and Gaddi are not the -less famous because their frescoes illustrated with divine truths the -walls built by the hands of their brethren of the great Guild. - -The recognition of the complex brotherhood only renders history more -compact and concentrated, giving it a rich and perfect unity, and -showing a gradual and consistent development, like some perfect flower -which grows leaf by leaf, bud by bud, until the petals fall from its -own over-blossoming. But its seeds are left to future ages. - - - - -AUTHORITIES CONSULTED - - -TROYA. "Codice diplomatico Longobardo." - -"Antichita Longobardico-Milanese." - -DIFENDENTE E GIUSEPPE SACCHI. "Antichita Romantiche d'Italia. Saggio -primo intorno all' Architettura Simbolica civile e militare usata in -Italia nei secoli VI, VII, e VIII." Milano, 1828. 8vo. - -PROF. MERZARIO. "I Maestri Comacini." Milano, 1893. Two volumes, large -8vo., published at Milan by Giacomo Agnelli. "Via S. Margherita," No. -2; price 12 frs. - -MARCHESE GIUSEPPE ROVELLI. "Storia di Como." - -CESARE CANTU. "Storia di Como." Como, 1829. Ostinello. - -MARCHESE AMICO RICCI. "Storia dell' Architettura in Italia dal secolo -IV al XVIII." Modena, 1857. 3 vols. large 8vo. - -RAFFAELLO CATTANEO. "L' Architettura in Italia dal secolo sesto al -decimo." Venezia, 1889. Ferdinando Ongania. - -DOTT. GAETANO MILANESI. "Documenti per la storia dell' Arte Senese." -Siena, 1854. Porri. 2 vols. 8vo. - -DOTT. GAETANO MILANESI. "Annotazioni alle opere di Vasari." Florence, -1882. Sansoni. 8 vols. large 8vo. - -JAMES FERGUSSON, M.R.I.B.A. "Handbook of Architecture." London, 1859. -Murray. - -ALESSANDRO DA MORRONA. "Pisa illustrata nelle arti del disegno." -Livorno, 1812. 3 vols. - -CAV. FRANCESCO TOLOMEI. "Guida di Pistoja per gli amanti delle Belle -Arti." Pistoja, 1821. - -CESARE GUASTI. "La Cupola di Santa Maria del Fiore." Illustrata con i -documenti dell' archivio. Barbera. Florence, 1857. - -CESARE GUASTI. "Santa Maria del Fiore." La costruzione della chicesa -del campanile, secondo i documenti tratti dall' archivio dell' opera -secolare e da quello di stato. Firenze. Ricci, 1887. - -AGOSTINO SAGREDO. "Sulle Consorterie delle Arti Edificative in -Venezia. Studi storici con documenti inediti." Venezia, 1857. - -TOMMASO HOPE. "Storia dell' Architettura." Italian translation of -Hope's "Historical Essay on Architecture," by Sig. Gaetano Imperatori. -Milano, 1841. - -"Archivio storico Siciliano." Nuova serie, Anno IX. "Una scultura di -Bonaiuto Pisano." - -"Archivio storico Longobardico," 1898. "Descrizione di una chiesa -antica sul monte di Civate." - -GIOVANNI VILLANI. "Storia di Fiorenza." Filippo e Jacopo Giunti, 1587. - -MURATORI. "Annali d'Italia." Milano, 1744. 13 vols. quarto. - -MURATORI. "Scriptores Rerum Italicarum." - -CAMILLO BOITO. "I Cosmati" (pamphlet). - -DOTT. GIOVANNI GAYE. "Carteggio inedito d'artisti dei secoli XIV, XV e -XVI." Firenze, 1839. Molini. 3 vols. 8vo. - -DOTT. CARLO DELL' ACQUA. "Dell' insigne reale Basilica di S. Michele -Maggiore in Pavia." Pavia, 1875. Fusi. - -FATHER MULROODY. "The Basilica of San Clemente." - -DEL ROSSO. "L' Osservatore Fiorentino." Third Edition. 1821. Ricci. -Florence. 8 vols. 8vo. - -CIAMPI. "Archivio del Duomo di Pisa." - -"Instituzioni, riti e ceremonie dell' ordine dei Francs-macons, ossia -Liberi Muratori." Venezia, 1788. Bassaglia. - -MRS. JAMESON. "Sacred and Legendary Art." London, 1879. Longmans, -Green and Co. - -PAULUS DIACONUS. "Storia dei Fatti dei Longobardi." Udine, 1826. -Mattiuzzi. - -JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS. "Renaissance of Art: Fine Arts." London, 1877. -Smith and Elder. - -MONTALEMBERT. "The Monks of the West" (Italian translation). - -PIETRO SELVATICO. "Storia estetico-critica dell' arti del disegno." - -PIETRO SELVATICO. "Sull' architettura e sulla scultura in Venezia nel -medio evo sino ai nostri giorni." Venice, 1847. Ripamonte. - -MILMAN. "A History of Latin Christianity." - -"Borgo San Donnino e suo Santuario" (anonymous). - -AFFO. "Storia della citta di Parma," sino al 1347. Parma, 1837. -Carmignana. - -DIFENDENTE SACCHI. "L' arca di S. Agostino illustrata." - -MICHELE RIDOLFI. "Sopra alcuni monumenti delle belle Arti di Lucca." -Lucca, 1844. Guidotti. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abadia on Lake Maggiore, 114 - - Abbondio, S., bishop of Como, 34, 142 - - Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence, 280 - - Adelgiso, son of Desiderius, 56 - - Adrian I., pope, 403 - - Agilulf, king, marries Theodolinda, 33; - shelters St. Columban, 86 - - Alachi, duke of Brescia, 47, 54 - - Alba Fucense, its pulpit, 238 - - Albertus Magnus, 12, 134, 137, 201 - - Alboin, enters Italy, 31, 32 - - Alexander II., pope, 226 - - Alfonso, duke of Calabria, 304 - - Alfred, king, founds Ripon cathedral, 150 - - Alphonso of Aragon, 419 - - Amalasunta, queen, her hospital, 107 - - Amantius, bishop of Como, 34, 78 - - Anagni, 410 - - Ancona, the Pieve at, 242, 243 - - Andrea Pisano, 211, 328 - - Andrea from Serra di Falco, 114 - - Annex, a German, 355 - - Anselberga, daughter of King Desiderius, 56 - - Ansige, abbot of Fontanelles, 103 - - Antelami (Magistri), 188, 189, 232, 424 - - Antonio di San Gallo, 416 - - Antonio, S., 200 - - Aquisgrana (Aix-la-Chapelle), the Basilica, 103 - - Arca di S. Agostino, 50, 202 _et seq._ - - Arches, first pointed, 178, 179; - cusped arch, 252 - - Ardoin, 128 - - Arezzo, its palace, 234 - - Aribert II., 46 - - Arichi, duke of Lombardy, 44 - - Arnolfo di Cambio, 224, 291, 313; - his death, 325 - - Arte della Lana, 337, 343 - - Arte dei Maestri di Pietra, Senese, 286 - - Arte dei Maestri di Pietra, at Florence, 338, 343 - - Arte de' Medici e Speziali, 273 - - Arte degli Orafi, 339, 425 - - Arte della Seta, 338, 343 - - Arte dei tajapiere, Venice, 387 _et seq._ - - Assisi, first parts Gothic, 252; - painting, 272 - - Asteno, near Porlezza, its church, 184 - - Astolfo, king, 55 - - Autharis, king, takes Comacina, 28, 141; - marries Theodolinda, 32; - builds church of Farfa, 35 - - Ava, the Longobard, 285 - - Azzo Visconti, 381 - - - Baptisteries, their form, 115 - - Barbarossa, Frederic, 116 - - Bargello at Florence, 61, 149 - - Barnack church, 149 - - Basle, Comacine work there, 135 - - Beneventum, dukes of, 114; - cathedral of, 246 - - Benozzo Gozzoli, 276 - - Berengarius, the house of, 109 - - Bertharis, king, dethroned and recalled, 45; - saved by his servants, 53 - - Bianchi and Neri factions, 236 - - Biscop (Benedict), abbot of Wearmouth, 150 - - Boniface, St., his mission to Germany, 133 - - Bradford-on-Avon, 149, 157 - - Bramante, 416 - - Bregno, Antonio, 393 - - Brixworth, 147 - - Broletto at Como, 382 - - Brunellesco, Filippo, 321; - his dome, 340 _et seq._, 428 - - Buono, Giovanni, fights for Como, 116; - his descendants, 233, 239 - - Buono (Maestro), 236, 237. - _See_ Gruamons, 393 - - Buschetto, 209 _et seq._ - - Byzantine work, compared with Comacine, 75, 158 - - - Cadoc, St., 147 - - Cambio, or Exchange, 315 - - Campione school, 196 _et seq._, 232, 352, 425 - - Carloman, 58 - - Casciano, San, near Florence, the pulpit, 225 - - Castel Capuana, 233 - - Castle of Branigola, 41 - - Castle of Perleda, 40 - - Castle of Tivoli, 260 - - Certosa at Pavia, 358 _et seq._ - - Charlemagne, emperor, rebuilds Rome, 15; - defeats Desiderius, 58, 97; - takes Comacines to France, 105 - - Churches: - S. Abbondio, Como, 84 - S. Agatha al Monte, Pavia, 45 - S. Agnese _fuori le mura_, 9, 97, 152, 403 - S. Ambrogio, Milan, 83, 84; - its pulpit, 88, 148; - its atrium, 112, 147, 244 - S. Andrea, Pistoja, 233, 249 - S. Antonio, Padua, 199 - S. Apollinare in Classe, 153, 157 - Ara Coeli, 409 - S. Bartholomew, Smithfield, 124, 125 - S. Bartolommeo, Pistoja, 153, 230, 235, 249 - S. Benigno at Dijon, 122, 123 - S. Cassiano, near Pisa, 222 - S. Clemente, panel of altar, 9; - fresco, 10; - door, 156; - paintings, 266 - S. Croce, 277, 333 - S. Donato at Polenta, 92, 93 - S. Donnino, near Parma, 181 - S. Fedele, Como, 81, 104 - S. Francesco at Assisi, 179 - S. Fredianus, Lucca, 48, 49, 94, 246 - S. Gemignano, Modena, 193 - S. George, Brescia, 47 - S. Giovanni in Borgo, Pavia, 42 - S. Giovanni Evangelista Fuorcivitas, Pistoja, 223, 234, 236 - S. Giovanni Laterano, 408 - S, Giovanni e Paolo, Rome, 65 - S. Giusto, Lucca, 244 - S. Julia at Bonate, 40, 41 - S. Lorenzo _fuori le mura_, Rome, 407 - S. Lorenzo in Lucca, 99 - S. Lorenzo, Verona, 96, 153 - S. Marco dei Precipazi, 84 - S. Maria in Cosmedin, 97-99, 404, 405, 411 - S. Maria _foris portam_, 46 - S. Maria dei Fiori, Florence, 312 _et seq._, 337 - S. Maria Novella, Florence, 278 - S. Maria Maggiore, Bergamo, 182 _et seq._ - S. Maria Maggiore, Brescia, 47 - S. Maria Maggiore, Toscanella, its pulpit, 89 - S. Maria del Tiglio, at Gravedona, 40, 152 - S. Martino at Lucca, 226 - S. Michele in Borgo, Pisa, 223, 245 - S. Michele, Lucca, 228, 243 - S. Michele, Monza, 37 _et seq._ - S. Michele, Pavia, 50 _et seq._; - its facade, 77-80 - Monreale cathedral, 127 - Or San Michele, Florence, 333 - S. Paolo _fuori le mura_, Rome, 407 - S. Paolo, Pistoja, 240 - S. Pier Scheraggio, 91; - its pulpit, 406 - S. Piero in Grado, 37, 50; - its foundation, 100; - its form, 101, 173, 268 - S. Piero Maggiore, Pistoja, 240 - S. Pietro in Ciel d'oro, Pavia, 50 - S. Pietro le Dome, Brescia, 47 - S. Pietro di Monte Civate, 56 _et seq._ - S. Prassede, 97, 148 - SS. _Quattro Coronati_, 22 - S. Salvatore, Pavia, 46 - S. Sofia, Beneventum, 248 - S. Sofia, Constantinople, 69, 70 - S. Tommaso at Lemine, 41 - S. Zeno, Verona, 95, 96, 111 - - Cimabue, 271, 274; - his scholars, 275, 278, 323 - - Cione family, 331 _et seq._ - - Clement VIII., pope, 418 - - Cloisters, San Lorenzo, Rome, 65; - S. John Lateran, 66; - Voltorre, 115; - S. Zeno, Verona, 66 - - Colle in Val d'Elsa, 316, 318 - - Collegia, Romana, 7, 10, 11, 138 _et seq._, 403 - - Cologne, churches at, 136 - - Colonies, Lombard, in Sicily, 128, 129 - - Comacina island a refuge for Romans, 23 - - Comacine Masters, who they were, 5 _et seq._ - - Comagene, now Eufratisia, 69 - - Como, a Roman colony, 5, 141; - its antiquities, 25, 26; - is besieged, 116; - its war with Milan, 233; - its cathedral, 381 _et seq._ - - Confraternity of painters at Florence, 280 - - Constantine the Great, 53; - his Basilica, 403 - - Constantinople, 142 - - Contract of apprenticeship, 292 - - Convents, Comacine, their form and style, 65 - - Corneto Tarquinia, 227; - ciborium there, 238 - - Cortelona, Luitprand's villa, 54 - - Cosimo I., Grand Duke, 280 - - Cosimo Rosselli, 275 - - Cremona, its cathedral, 185, 186 - - Crosses: - Bewcastle, 147 - Clonmacnoise, 166 - Collingham, 147 - Kells, 166 - Kirkdale, 147, 148 - Whalley, 145 - Yarm, 147 - - Cunibert, king, 47; - goes to Lucca, 48; - fights Alachi, 54; - erects tomb to Theodata, 87 - - - Desiderius, abbot, 114, 210 - - Desiderius, king, 55 _et seq._ - - Diotisalvi, Pisan architect, 214 - - Donatello, 306, 337 - - Donnino, Borgo San, its church, 181 - - Duccio of Siena, 276 - - - Edwin, king, builds York cathedral, 145 - - Eginbert, biographer of Charlemagne, 103 - - Eriprand, duke of Cremona, 45 - - Ermelind, queen, 87 - - Ethelred, king, rebuilt Oxford cathedral, 159 - - - Fabiola, her hospice, 107 - - Faliero, Doge Marino, 390 - - Falleri, 409 - - Fermo cathedral, 190 - - Ferrara, its cathedral, 198 - - Fiesole destroyed, 14; - its cathedral, 236 - - Filippo Maria Visconti, 382 - - Florence founded, 14; - its baptistery, 213 _note_; - its Duomo, 312 _et seq._ - - Fontana family, 417 _et seq._ - - Fontana, Giovanni, 258 - - Fontana, Melide, 258 - - Fortresses, Comacine, 66; - Baradello, 68; - Civita Vecchia, 416 - - Fortunato, patriarch, of Grado, 113; - employs Comacines, 175, 176 - - France, Lombard architecture in, 131, 132 - - Francesco del Coro, 300 - - "Franchi Artefici," meaning of the term, 113 - - Frederic, emperor, 128, 318 - - Fredianus, S., bishop of Lucca, 48, 164 - - Freemasons in mediaeval times, 12, 13 - - Freemasons, seventeenth century, Italian, 16 _et seq._; - English building Freemasons, 18 - - French Masters in Italy, 359 - - Frescoes, early Christian, 266 _et seq._; - Byzantine, 268; - Tuscan, 405, 426 - - - Galeazzo, Gian, 351 _et seq._, 358; - his death, 364, 373, 381 - - Gastaldo, Grand Master, 86, 388 _et seq._, 424 - - Genseric destroys Roman churches, 403 - - German Masters in Italy, 320, 358, 360 _et seq._ - - Germany, Lombard architecture there, 133 _et seq._; - its cathedrals, 216 - - Ghiberti employed at the Duomo, 341 _et seq._ - - Ghini family, 331 - - Giotto, 278, 323, 326 _et seq._ - - Giovanni da Gratz, 369 - - Giuliano da Majano, 414, 416, 419 - - Giunta di Pisa, 271; - his scholars, 276 - - Glass, early manufacture of, 156 - - Grado, near Pisa, church at, 100 _et seq._ - - Grado, near Venice, its Basilica, 113, 174 - - Greek Masters in Italy, 74, 273 - - Gregory, pope, 143, 144 - - Grimoald, duke of Beneventum, 45, 47 - - Groppoli, near Pistoja, its pulpit, 249 - - Gruamonte, 234 _et seq._ - - Guazetta, 335 - - Guido da Siena, 272, 275 - - Guidotti dal Colle, 271 - - Guillaume, S., abbot of S. Benigne, 122, 126, 175 - - Gundeberg, queen, 42; - builds churches, 42; - her rings, and the ring fair, 43, 44 - - Gunduald, Luitprand's doctor, 54 - - - Heinrich or Ulric of Gmunden, 361, 369, 374 - - Heinrich of Ulm, 361, 362 - - Hexham church, 150 _et seq._ - - Honorius, Bishop of Canterbury, 145 - - Hospices, 106, 107 - - - Iconoclastic edict, 73 - - - Justinian, emperor, rebuilds Sta. Sofia, 69 - - - Laborerium, 207: - at Canterbury, in fourth century, 148 - Certosa di Pavia, 376 _et seq._ - Cremona, 186 - Florence, 207, 319, 339; - closed, 344 - Lucca before 1000 A.D., 20 - Milan in 1383, 20; - fifteenth century, 355 _et seq._ - Modena under the Campione Masters, 19, 195, 198 - Parma in 1200 A.D., 19, 186, 189, 238 - Pisa, 211, 214, 223, 231, 312 - Pistoja, 190, 231, 233, 236, 238, 241, 247 - Rome, 410 _et seq._ - Siena and Orvieto, 285 _et seq._, 305 - - Leo III., the Isaurian, 73, 74 - - Leonardo da Vinci, 369 - - Lion of Judah, sign of Comacine work, 243, 244 - - Loggie (Lodges), 19, 61, 201, 208, 288, 305 - - Lombard colonies in Sicily, 128 - - Lombard kings, chronological table of, 30 - - Lombard Masters, table of, 31 - - Lombards in Rome, 412; - in Venice, 386; - Siena, 301, 305 - - Lombardi Solari family, 395 _et seq._ - - Lorenzo il Magnifico, 280 - - Lothaire, bishop, his church of S. Zeno, 96 - - Lothaire, king, his wars, 108 - - Lucca, 225 _et seq._, 246 - - Luitprand, king, his laws for Comacines, 24, 44, 63 _et seq._, 160; - his foot, 50; - his churches, 50 _et seq._ - - - Magister, what the term means, 15; - Arch Magister, 17; - Magisters in Sicily, 129; - Magistri frati, 200, 287; - different kinds, 265 - - Magistri: - Adam, atrium of S. Ambrogio, 112 - Adam, de Arogno, 182 - Agostino da Siena, 298 - Albertinus Buono, 239 - Albertus Buono, 239 - Ambrogio Lenzo, 334 - Andrea Fusina, 371 - Andrea da Modena, 352 _et seq._ - Andrea di Pisa, 211, 220, 224 - Anselmo (Tedesco) da Campione, and Arrigo, Alberto, and Jacopo, - his sons, 194 _et seq._ - Antonio of Como, 260 - Antonio Mantegazza, 378 - Antonio da Paderno, 369 - Antonio Rizo, or Riccio, 391, 392, 397 - Apollonius, 273 - Arnolfo, 224, 291, 313, 407 - Auripert, a painter, 55 - Bartolo Fredi, 276 - Bartolommeo Buono, 253, 260, 390, 393, 398 - Bartolommeo de Gorgonzola, 368 - Bartolommeo di Pisa, bronze worker, 221 - Beltramo, 413 _et seq._ - Benedetto da Antelamo, 187, 188, 245 - Bernardino da Bissone, 386, 391 - Bernardo da Venezia, 374 - Bertrando of Como, 260 - Biduinus, 222 - Bonaiuto di Pisa, 223 - Bonanno, 220, 221 - Bonino da Campione, 203 - Buono, 236, 237, 238 - Cellini, 239 - Cimabue, 274 - Cosmato, and his family, 409 _et seq._ - Cristoforo Gobbo, 371, 379 - Cristoforo Mantegazza, 378 - Diotisalvi of Pisa, 214, 250, 291 - Dolcebono Rodari, 368, 377 - Enrico Buono, 239 - Filippino degli Argani, 364 _et seq._, 366 - Francesco di Giorgio Martini, 303, 370 _et seq._ - Francesco Talenti, 328 _et seq._, 334 - Franciscus da S. Simone, 276 - Fredus, 183 - Giacomo Dolcibuono, 370 - Giacomo da Pietrasanta, 414 - Giorgio degli Argani, 366 - Giorgio da Iesi, 190 - Giovan Antonio Amadeo, 370, 377 - Giovanni di Ambrogio, 336 - Giovanni Balducci di Pisa, 225 - Giovanni Buoni da Bissone, 189, 233, 385 - Giovanni Buono, 253; - builds Ca d'Oro, 389 - Giovanni da Campilione, 184 - Giovanni da Carona, 366 _et seq._ - Giovannino dei Graci, 363, 375 - Giovanni di Lapo Ghino, 328 _et seq._, 334 - Giovanni Pisano, 222, 224, 291, 293 _et seq._ - Giovanni Solari, 377 - Graci, 237; - a later one, 291 - Gufredo, 182 - Guglielmo Tedesco, 220, 223 - Guglielmo, his porch at S. Zeno, 112; - facade at Modena, 196; - at Ferrara, 198 - Guidetto, his works at Lucca, 227-231 - Guido da Como, 227, 249, 250 - Guiniforte, 367, 378, 395 - Jacobus Porrata, 186, 251 - Jacopo da Campione, 257 _et seq._, 375 _et seq._ - Jacopo Dagurro da Bissone, 261 - Jacopo della Quercia, 298 _et seq._ - Jacopo (Tedesco) da Campione, 197, 252, 294, 315 _et seq._ - Jacopo da Tradate, 363; - his sons, 364 - Lando, 297 _et seq._ - Lanfrancus, 115, 193 - Lorenzo di Mariano, 302 - Lorenzo de' Spazi, 382 - Luca Fancelli, 369 - Manfredo of Como, 260 - Marco da Carona, 356, 358, 365 - Marco da Frixone, 353 _et seq._ - Martino di Giorgio da Varenna, 302 - Matteo da Campione, 197, 363, 386 _et seq._ - Niccolao Pela, 336 - Niccolo Pisano, 211, 222, 247, 250, 291 - Nicolaus, his porch at S. Zeno, 112; - facade at Modena, 196; - Ferrara, 198 - Nino di Pisa, 224, 225 - Pantaleone Buono, 393 - Paolo da Campagnano, 260 - Paulinus, 145 - Paulus and his sons, 407 - Philippus, an Englishman, 69 - Piccone, 54 - Piero di Beltrami, 301 - Pietro di Apulia, 221, 247 - Pietro Lombardi and his descendants, 395 _et seq._, 398 - Pietro da Varese, 413 _et seq._ - Rainaldo, 212 - Rainaldus, sculptures facade of Pisa cathedral, 16 - Ramo da Paganelli, 293 - Roberto, 246 - Simone da Arsenigo, 352 _et seq._, 354 - Simone Talenti, 331, 336 - Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, 125, 318 - Tommaso di Como, 420 - Uberto and his brother Pietro, 408 - Ugone da Campione and his sons, 183 - Urbano da Cortona, 306 - Ursus, his ciborium, 85 - Zeno da Campione, 363 - - Majorca, 213 - - Manfred, king, 318 - - Maniace, Lombard colony there, 128 - - Margaritone of Arezzo, 275 - - Maximilian, emperor, 138 - - Mellitus, the monk, 144 - - Michael Angelo, 416 - - Milan, its Duomo, 350 _et seq._ - - Missions (early) to Normandy, 123 _et seq._; - to Germany, 133 _et seq._; - to England, 143 _et seq._; - to Ireland, 160 _et seq._ - - Modena, its Duomo, 116, 193 - - Monasteries: - S. Abbondio at Bercela, 54 - S. Fredianus, Lucca, 48 - S. George, 47, 48 - Sta. Giulia, Brescia, 53 - Monte Barro, 40 - Palazzolo at Lucca, 54 - Subiaco, 179 - - Monkswearmouth, Durham, 156 - - Monreale, its cathedral, 127 - - Monte Cassino, convent, 66, 114 - - Monza, its church, 380 _et seq._ - - Mosques, El Haram and Amrou, 179 - - Murano, its church, 113 - - Mythic sculpture, 75, 80 - - - Nanni di Banco, 337 - - Nicholas V., pope, 412 - - Nicknames, their common use, 235 _note_ - - Nino di Pisa, 225 - - Norman architecture, 123, 126, 130 - - Normans, their connection with Sicily, 121, 128 - - - Oil paintings, 277, 418 - - Opera. _See_ Laborerium - - Orcagna, 329, 332 _et seq._ - - Orseolo (Doge Pietro), 390 - - Orsino (Virginio), Duke of Bracciano, 304 - - Orso Orseolo, patriarch of Aquileja, 122 - - Orvieto, its Duomo, 224, 300 _et seq._; - Chapel of Three Kings, 301, 414 - - Otho, emperor, confirms Comacine privileges, 27 - - Otho, his decree, 27, 28; - he conquers Italy, 109, 135 - - Otho Orseolo, Doge of Venice, 122 - - - Padua, church of S. Antonio, 199, 237 - - Painters of the Guild, their secession, 265 _et seq._ - - Palaces (private), Florentine, 258; - Venetian, 260 - - Palace of Desiderius at S. Gemignano, 62, 257 - - Palace, Luitprand's, at Milan, 62 - - Palazzo Pubblico, 256; - at Perugia, 257; - at Todi, 257; - at Udine, 258; - Capodimonte, 421 - - Palazzo Vecchio (Florence), 61, 259 - - Palazzo Venezia (Rome), 415 _et seq._ - - Palermo, its cathedral, 126, 213 - - Papal forts, 260, 261, 415 - - Parma, 238 - - Paulinus, assists St. Augustine, 145 - - Pavia, its church, 50, 77 _et seq._; - its castle, 202; - its Certosa, 373 _et seq._ - - Penna, inscription there, 191 - - Pepin, king, founds church of S. Lorenzo, 96 - - Peter Martyr, St., his tomb, 225 - - Piacenza, its walls, 106 - - Pisa, beginning of the Duomo, 173, 209 _et seq._; - baptistery, 214 - - Pistoja, 223, 225 _et seq._; - its baptistery, 240 - - Pius II., pope, 260 - - Pliny's villa at Como, 26 - - Prato, its Duomo, 229 - - _Provveditore_, his office, 208 _et seq._; - his books, 322 _et seq._ - - - _SS. Quattro Coronati_, 20; - inscription to them, 21; - sculptures representing them, 207; - their _fete_, 289 - - Quercia, Jacopo della, 337 - - - Rahere, founder of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, 124 - - Rainaldo, Magister at Pisa, 211, 212 - - Raphael, 416 - - Ratchis, king, becomes a monk, 55 - - Ravenna, towers at, 153, 154 - - Richard, prior of Hagustald, 160 - - Richard II., of Normandy, duke, 123, 158 - - Roger I., duke, 126 - - Roger II., king of Apulia, 126 - - Rome, Comacine fortresses near, 260; - Lombards in Rome, 412 _et seq._ - - Rotharis, king, his laws, 5, 6, 160 - - Runic inscriptions, 148 - - - Saints: - Augustine, 143, 145 - Boniface, 133, 271, 233, 239 - Columban, founds convent at Bobbio, 86, 164, 167 - Cumianus, his tomb, 86 - Fredianus, 48, 164 - Gregory, 264 - Hugh of Lincoln, 143 - Luke, the company of, 280, 332 - Modwen, 143 - Nilus, his letter, 81 - Patrick, 163 - - Sansovino, Jacopo, 394 - - Saracenic architecture, 121, 177, 406 - - Saxon architecture, Book II. ch. iii. - - Sculptured animals, their meaning, 72, 73 - - Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, 396 - - Scuola di San Marco, 396, 399 - - Sforza, Francesco, 365, 367, 420 - - Sicily, the revival there, 126 _et seq._, 175, 406 - - Siena cathedral, 224, 285 _et seq._ - - Sixtus IV., pope, 261, 416 - - Sixtus V., pope, 418 - - Solari family, 395 _et seq._ - - Solomon's knot, its meaning and origin, 72, 82, 243 - - Spanish chapel, 278, 326 - - Statutes of the Masonic Guild in Siena, 287, 291 - - Steepleton church, Dorset, 149 - - Stilicho the Goth, his tomb, 89 - - Strasburg, Freemasons there, 137 - - Symbolism of the Comacine Guild, 71 _et seq._ - - - Talenti, Francesco, 328 _et seq._ - - "Tedesco," what the word means in architecture, 216, 218 - - Theodata, her tomb at Pavia, 87 - - Theodolinda, her marriages, 32 _et seq._; - her churches, 37-40 - - Theodosius, his laws on building in marble, 81 - - Toller Fratrum, Dorset, 149 - - Tomb of: - Can della Scala, Verona, 203, 204, 252 - Cardinal Longhi degli Alessandri, 185 - S. Domenico, Bologna, 223 - Folchino de Schicci, 204 - Gian Galeazzo Visconti, 254 - Mastino II., dei Scaligeri, 253 - The Bishop of Siena, 301 - Theodoric at Ravenna, 218 - - Tommaso de Mutina (Modena), 275 - - Torcello, 73 - - Torriano family of Milan, 385 - - Toscanella, pulpit there, 89 - - Towers, Comacine, their form, 67, 153; - San Marco, Venice, 233; - round towers of Ireland, 161 _et seq._; - Pisa, 219, 220; - Fiesole, 237 - - Trent, its cathedral, 181 _et seq._ - - Turrisianus of Pistoja, 230, 238 - - - Vatican, 414 _et seq._ - - Vecchietta, 306 - - Venice, 8, 113; - its fifteenth-century restorations, 385 _et seq._, 397 - - Verona fortified by Charlemagne, 106 - - Visconti family, 349, 364, 373 _et seq._ - - Vitale, 300 - - Voltorre, its cloister, 115, 193 - - - Wenceslaus, king, 350 - - Wilfrid, bishop of York, 150, 155 - - William of Normandy, 123 - - Winchester tower, 153 - - - Zambono, northern Italian for Giovanni Buono, 237 - - Zohak, emblem of remorse, 79 - - Zurich, the Gross Muenster, 135 - - -THE END - -_Richard Clay & Sons Limited, London & Bungay._ - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cathedral Builders, by Leader Scott - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATHEDRAL BUILDERS *** - -***** This file should be named 42072.txt or 42072.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/7/42072/ - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at - www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -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 - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 -North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email -contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the -Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |