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diff --git a/7222-h/7222-h.htm b/7222-h/7222-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c571a6f --- /dev/null +++ b/7222-h/7222-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4850 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea D'agnolo, by Leader Scott + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea D'Agnolo, 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: Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea D'Agnolo + +Author: Leader Scott + +Editor: Horace Shipp + Flora Kendrick + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7222] +This file was first posted on March 27, 2003 +Last Updated: May 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRA BARTOLOMMEO AND ANDREA *** + + + + +Text file produced by Michelle Shephard, Tiffany Vergon, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + FRA BARTOLOMMEO and ANDREA D'AGNOLO + </h1> + <h2> + By Leader Scott + </h2> + <h3> + Author Of "A Nook In The Apennines" <br /> <br /> Re-Edited By Horace Shipp + and Flora Kendrick, A.R.B.S. + </h3> + <div class="middle"> + <p> + <i>The reproductions in this series are from official photographs of the + National Collections, or from photographs by Messrs. Andersen, Alinari + or Braun.</i>Unfortunately there are no images included in this file) + </p> + </div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FORE" id="link2H_FORE"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOREWORD + </h2> + <p> + Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: the three great names of the noblest + period of the Renaissance take our minds from the host of fine artists who + worked alongside them. Nevertheless beside these giants a whole host of + exquisite artists have place, and not least among them the three painters + with whom Mr. Leader Scott has dealt in these pages. Fra Bartolommeo + linking up with the religious art of the preceding period, with that of + Masaccio, of Piero de Cosimo, his senior student in the studio of Cosimo + Roselli, and at last with that of the definitely "modern" painters of the + Renaissance, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo himself, is a transition + painter in this supreme period. Technique and the work of hand and brain + are rapidly taking the place of inspiration and the desire to convey a + message. The aesthetic sensation is becoming an end in itself. The + scientific painters, perfecting their studies of anatomy and of + perspective, having a conscious mastery over their tools and their + mediums, are taking the place of such men as Fra Angelico. + </p> + <p> + As a painter at this end of a period of transition—a painter whose + spiritual leanings would undoubtedly have been with the earlier men, but + whose period was too strong for him—Fra Bartolommeo is of particular + interest; and Albertinelli, for all the fiery surface difference of his + outlook is too closely bound by the ties of his friendship for the Frate + to have any other viewpoint. + </p> + <p> + Andrea del Sarto presents yet another phenomenon: that of the artist + endowed with all the powers of craftsmanship yet serving an end neither + basically spiritual nor basically aesthetic, but definitely professional. + We have George Vasari's word for it; and Vasari's blame upon the + extravagant and too-well-beloved Lucrezia. To-day we are so accustomed to + the idea of the professional attitude to art that we can accept it in + Andrea without concern. Not that other and earlier artists were + unconcerned with the aspect of payments. The history of Italian art is + full of quarrels and bickerings about prices, the calling in of referees + to decide between patron and painter, demands and refusals of payment. + Even the unworldly Fra Bartolommeo was the centre of such quarrels, and + although his vow of poverty forbade him to receive money for his work, the + order to which he belonged stood out firmly for the <i>scudi</i> which the + Frate's pictures brought them. In justice to Andrea it must be added that + this was not the only motive for his activities; it was not without cause + that the men of his time called him "<i>senza errori</i>," the faultless + painter; and the production of a vast quantity of his work rather than + good prices for individual pictures made his art pay to the extent it did. + A pot-boiler in masterpieces, his works have place in every gallery of + importance, and he himself stands very close to the three greatest; men of + the Renaissance. + </p> + <p> + Both Fra Bartolommeo and Albertinelli are little known in this country. + Practically nothing has been written about them and very few of their + works are in either public galleries or private collections. It is in + Italy, of course, that one must study their originals, although the great + collections usually include one or two. Most interesting from the + viewpoint of the study of art is the evolution of the work of the + artist-monk as he came under the influence of the more dramatic modern and + frankly sensational work of Raphael, of the Venetians and of Michelangelo. + In this case (many will say in that of the art of the world) this tendency + detracted rather than helped the work. The draperies, the dramatic poses, + the artistic sensation arrests the mind at the surface of the picture. It + is indeed strange that this devout churchman should have succumbed to the + temptation, and there are moments when one suspects that his somewhat + spectacular pietism disguised the spirit of one whose mind had little to + do with the mysticism of the mediaeval church. Or perhaps it was that the + strange friendship between him and Albertinelli, the man of the cloister + and the man of the world, effected some alchemy in the mind of each. The + story of that lifelong friendship, strong enough to overcome the + difficulties of a definite partnership between the strict life of the + monastery and the busy life of the <i>bottega</i>, is one of the most + fascinating in art history. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Leader Scott has in all three lives the opportunity for fascinating + studies, and his book presents them to us with much of the flavour of the + period in which they lived. Perhaps to-day we should incline to modify his + acceptance of the Vasari attitude to Lucrezia, especially since he himself + tends to withdraw the charges against her, but leaves her as the + villainess of the piece upon very little evidence. The inclusion of a + chapter upon Ghirlandajo, treated merely as a follower of Fra Bartolommeo, + scarcely does justice in modern eyes to this fine artist, whose own day + and generation did him such honour and paid him so well. But the author's + general conclusions as to the place in art and the significance of the + lives of the three painters with whom he is chiefly concerned remains + unchallenged, and we have in the volume a necessary study to place + alongside those of Leonardo, of Michelangelo and of Raphael for an + understanding of the culmination of the Renaissance in Italy. + </p> + <p> + HORACE SHIPP. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FORE"> FOREWORD </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>FRA BARTOLOMMEO.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. THOUGHTS ON THE RENAISSANCE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. THE "BOTTEGA" OF COSIMO ROSELLI. A.D. + 1475-1486. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. THE GARDEN AND THE CLOISTER. A.D. + 1487-1495. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. SAN MARCO. A.D. 1496-1500. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. FRA BARTOLOMMEO IN THE CONVENT. A.D. + 1504-1509. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. ALBERTINELLI IN THE WORLD. A.D. + 1501-1510. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. CONVENT PARTNERSHIP. A.D. 1510—1513. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. CLOSE OF LIFE. A.D. 1514—1517. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> PART I. SCHOLARS OF FRA BARTOLOMMEO. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> PART II. SCHOLARS OF MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. RIDOLFO GHIRLANDAJO. A.D. 1483—1560. + </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <b>ANDREA D'AGNOLO</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER I. YOUTH AND EARLY WORKS. A.D. 1487-1511. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER II. THE SERVITE CLOISTER. A.D. 1511-1512. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER III. SOCIAL LIFE AND MARRIAGE. A.D. + 1511-1516. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER IV. WORKS IN FLORENCE. A.D. 1511-1515. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER V. GOING TO FRANCE. A.D. 1518-1519. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER VI. ANDREA AND OTTAVIANO DE' MEDICI. A.D. + 1521-1523. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER VII. THE PLAGUE AND THE SIEGE. A.D. + 1525-1531. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER VIII. SCHOLARS OF ANDREA DEL SARTO. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRA BARTOLOMMEO. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THOUGHTS ON THE RENAISSANCE. + </h2> + <p> + It seems to be a law of nature that progress, as well as time, should be + marked by periods of alternate light and darkness—day and night. + </p> + <p> + This law is nowhere more apparent than in the history of Art. Three times + has the world been illuminated by the full brilliance of Art, and three + times has a corresponding period of darkness ensued. + </p> + <p> + The first day dawned in Egypt and Assyria, and its works lie buried in the + tombs of prehistoric Pharaohs and Ninevite kings. The second day the sun + rose on the shores of many-isled Greece, and shed its rays over Etruria + and Rome, and ere it set, temples and palaces were flooded with beauty. + The gods had taken human form, and were come to dwell with men. + </p> + <p> + The third day arising in Italy, lit up the whole western world with the + glow of colour and fervour, and its fading rays light us yet. + </p> + <p> + The first period was that of mythic art; the world like a child wondering + at all around tried to express in myths the truths it could not + comprehend. + </p> + <p> + The second was pagan art which satisfies itself that in expressing the + perfection of humanity, it unfolds divinity. The third era of Christian + art, conscious that the divine lies beyond the human, fails in aspiring to + express infinitude. + </p> + <p> + Tracing one of these periods from its rise, how truly this similitude of + the dawn of day is carried out. See at the first streak of light how dim, + stiff, and soulless all things appear! Trees and objects bear precisely + the relation to their own appearance in broad daylight as the wooden + Madonnas of the Byzantine school do to those of Raphael. + </p> + <p> + Next, when the sun—the true light—first appears, how it bathes + the sea and the hills in an ethereal glory not their own! What fair liquid + tints of blue, and rose, and glorious gold! This period which, in art, + began with Giotto and ended with Botticelli, culminated in Fra Angelico, + who flooded the world of painting with a heavenly spiritualism not + material, and gave his dreams of heaven the colours of the first pure rays + of sunshine. + </p> + <p> + But as the sun rises, nature takes her real tints gradually. We see every + thing in its own colour; the gold and the rose has faded away with the + truer light, and a stern realism takes its place. The human form must be + expressed, in all its solidity and truth, not only in its outward + semblance, but the hidden soul must be seen through the veil of flesh. And + in this lies the reason of the decline; only to a few great masters it was + given to reveal spirituality in humanity—the others could only + emulate form and colour, and failed. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible to contemplate art apart from religion; as truly as the + celestial sun is the revealer of form, so surely is the heavenly light of + religion the first inspirer of art. + </p> + <p> + Where would the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Etruscan paintings and sculptures + have been but for the veneration of the mystic gods of the dead, which + both prompted and preserved them? + </p> + <p> + What would Greek sculpture have been without the deified personifications + of the mysterious powers of nature which inspired it? and it is the fact + of the pagan religion being both sensuous and realistic which explains the + perfection of Greek art. The highest ideal being so low as not to soar + beyond the greatest perfection of humanity, was thus within the grasp of + the artist to express. Given a manly figure with the fullest development + of strength; a female one showing the greatest perfection of form; and a + noble man whose features express dignity and mental power;—the ideal + of a Hercules, a Venus, and a Jupiter is fully expressed, and the pagan + mind satisfied. The spirit of admirers was moved more by beauty of form + than by its hidden significance. In the great Venus, one recognises the + woman before feeling the goddess. + </p> + <p> + As with their sculpture, without doubt it was also with painting. Mr. + Symonds, in his <i>Renaissance of the Fine Arts</i>, speaks of the Greek + revival as entirely an age of sculpture; but the solitary glance into the + more perishable art of painting among the Greeks, to be seen at Cortona, + reveals the exquisite perfection to which this branch was also brought. It + is a painting in encaustic, and has been used as a door for his oven by + the contadino who dug it up—yet it remains a marvel of genius. The + subject is a female head—a muse, or perhaps only a portrait; the + delicacy and mellowness of the flesh tints equal those of Raphael or + Leonardo, and a lock of hair lying across her breast is so exquisitely + painted that it seems to move with her breath. The features are of the + large-eyed regular Greek type, womanly dignity is in every line, but it is + an essentially pagan face—the Christian soul has never dawned in + those eyes! With this before us, we cannot doubt that Greek art found its + expression as much in colour as in form and that the same religion + inspired both. + </p> + <p> + In an equal degree Renaissance Art has its roots in Christianity; but the + religion is deeper and greater, and has left art behind. + </p> + <p> + The early Christians must have felt this when they expressed everything in + symbols, for these are merely suggestive, and allow the imagination full + play around and beyond them; they are mere stepping-stones to the ideal + which exists but is as yet inexpressible. + </p> + <p> + "Myths and symbols always mark the dawn of a religion, incarnation and + realism its full growth." So after a time when the first vague wonder and + ecstasy are over, symbols no longer content people; they want to bring + religion home to them in a more tangible form, to humanize it, in fact. + From this want it arises that nature next to religion inspires art, and + finally takes its place. For it follows as a matter of course that as art + is a realistic interpreter of the spiritual, so it is more easy to follow + nature than spirituality, nature being the outward or realistic expression + of the mind of God. + </p> + <p> + It was a saying of Buffalmacco, who was <i>not</i> one of the most devout + painters of the fourteenth century, "Do not let us think of anything but + to cover our walls with saints, and out of disrespect to the demons to + make men more devout." And Savonarola, though he has been accused of being + one of the causes of the decline, thus upheld the sacred influences of + art; when he exclaimed in one of his fervent bursts of eloquence, "You see + that Saint there in the Church and say, 'I will live a good life and be + like him.'" If these were the feelings of the least devout and the + religious fanatic, how hallowed must the influences of Christian painting + have been to the intermediate ranks. Mr. Symonds beautifully expresses the + tendency of that time: "The eyes of the worshipper should no longer have a + mere stock or stone to contemplate; his imagination should be helped by + the dogmatic presentation of the scenes of sacred history, and his + devotion quickened by lively images of the passion of our Lord.... The + body and soul moreover should be reconciled, and God's likeness should be + once more acknowledged in the features and limbs of men." [Footnote: + Symonds' <i>Renaissance of the Fine Arts</i>, chap. i. p. 11.] + </p> + <p> + The school of Giotto was the first to feel this need of the soul. He, + taking his ideas from nature, clothed the soul in a thin veil; the + Italians call his school that of poetic art; it reached sentiment and + poetry, but did not pass them. Yet the thirteenth century was sublime for + the expression of the idea; one only has to study the intense meaning in + the works of Giotto, and Orcagna, Duccio, and the Lorenzetti of Siena to + perceive this. The fourteenth century, on the contrary, rendered itself + glorious for manifestation of form. "Artists thought the veil of ideality + a poor thing, and wished to give the solidity of the body to the soul; + they stole every secret from nature; the senses were content, but not + sentiment." [Footnote: <i>Purismo nell' Arte</i>, da Cesare Guasti.] + </p> + <p> + The artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, of whom we have to + speak, blended the two schools, and became perfection as far as they went. + Michelangelo drew more from the vigorous thirteenth-century masters, and + Raphael from the more sensuous followers of Masaccio and Lippi. The former + tried to put the Christian soul into his works, but its infinite depth was + unattainable. As his many unfinished works prove, he always felt some + great overwhelming meaning in his inmost soul, which all his passionate + artistic yearnings were inadequate to express. Raphael tried to bring + realism into religion through painting, and to give us the scenes of our + Lord's and the Apostles' lives in such a humanized aspect, that we should + feel ourselves of his nature. But the incarnation of religion in art + defeated its own ends; sensuousness was introduced in place of the calm, + unearthly spirituality of the earlier masters. Compare the cartoon of S. + Paul preaching at Athens, in which he has all the majesty of a Cæsar in + the Forum, with the lowly spirit of the Apostle's life! In truth, Raphael + failed to approach nearer to sublimity than Fra Angelico, with all his + faulty drawing but pure spirit. + </p> + <p> + After him, artists loved form and colour for themselves rather than for + the spiritual meaning. Miss Owen [Footnote: <i>Art Schools of Medieval + Christendom</i>, edited by Ruskin.] accuses Raphael of having rendered Art + pagan, but this seems blaming him for the weakness of his followers, who + took for their type his works rather than his ideal. The causes of the + decline were many, and are not centred in one man. As long as Religion + slumbered in monasticism and dogma, Art seizing on the human parts, such + as the maternity of the Madonna, the personifications of saints who had + lived in the world, was its adequate exponent. The religion awakened by + the aesthetic S. Francis, who loved all kinds of beauty, was of the kind + to be fed by pictures. But when Savonarola had aroused the fervour of the + nation to its highest point, when beauty was nothing, the world nothing, + in comparison to the infinity of God;—then art, finding itself + powerless to express this overwhelming infinity, fell back on more earthly + founts of inspiration, the classics and the poets. + </p> + <p> + Lorenzo de' Medici and Pope Nicholas V. had fully as much to do with the + decline as Savonarola. The Pope in Rome, and Lorenzo in Florence, led art + to the verge of paganism; Savonarola would have kept it on the confines of + purism; it was divided and fell, passing through the various steps of + decadence, the mannerists and the eclectics, to rise again in this + nineteenth century with what is after all its true aim, the interpretation + of nature, and the illustration of the poetry of a nation. + </p> + <p> + But with the decadence we have happily nothing to do; the artists of whom + we speak first, Fra Bartolommeo and Albertinelli, belong to the + culmination of art on its rising side, while Andrea del Sarto stands as + near to the greatest artists on the other side, and is the last of the + group before the decline. On Fra Bartolommeo the spirituality of Fra + Angelico still lingered, while the perfection of Raphael illumined him. + Andrea del Sarto, on the other side, had gathered into his hands the + gleams of genius from all the great artists who were his elder + contemporaries, and so blending them as to form seemingly a style of his + own, distinct from any, has left on our walls and in our galleries + hundreds of masterpieces of colour, as gay and varied as the tints the + orientals weave into their wondrous fabrics. + </p> + <p> + It might be said with truth that Fra Bartolommeo painted for the soul, and + Andrea del Sarto for the eye. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. THE "BOTTEGA" OF COSIMO ROSELLI. A.D. 1475-1486. + </h2> + <p> + Amongst the thousand arteries in which the life blood of the Renaissance + coursed in all its fulness, none were so busy or so important as the + "botteghe" of the artists. In these the genius of the great masters, the + Pleiades of stars at the culmination of art in Florence, was either + tenderly nursed, or sharply pruned into vigour by struggling against + discouragement and envy. In these the spirit of awakened devotion found an + outlet, in altarpieces and designs for church frescoes which were to + influence thousands. Here the spirit of poetry, brooding in the mysterious + lines of Dante, or echoing from past ages in the myths of the Greeks, took + form and glowed on the walls in mighty cartoons to be made imperishable in + fresco. Here the spirit of luxury was satisfied by beautiful designs for + ornaments, dress stuffs, tapestries, vases and "cassoni," &c., which + brought beauty into every life, and made each house a poem. The soul, the + mind, and the body, could alike be supplied at those fountains of the + beautiful, the artshops or schools. + </p> + <p> + Whilst Michelangelo as a youth was drawing from the cartoons of the + Sassetti chapel in the school of Domenico Ghirlandajo, Cosimo Roselli was + just receiving as a pupil a boy only a little behind him in genius. A + small, delicate-faced, spiritual-eyed boy of nine years, known as Baccio + della Porta, who came with a roll of drawings under his arm and high hopes + in his soul, no doubt trotting along manfully beside Cosimo's old friend, + Benedetto da Majano, the sculptor, who had recommended his being placed in + the studio. + </p> + <p> + By the table given in the note [Footnote: Pietro, a Genoese, came in 1400 + to the parish of S. Michele, at Montecuccioli in Mugello; he was a + peasant, and had a son Jacopo, who was father of Paolo, the muleteer; and + three other sons, Bartolo, Giusto, and Jacopo, who had a <i>podere</i> at + Soffignano, near Prato. Paolo married first Bartolommea, daughter of + Zanobi di Gallone, by whom he had a son, Bartolommeo, known as Baccio + della Porta, born 1475. The first wife dying, Paolo married Andrea di + Michaele di Cenni, who had four sons, Piero, Domenico, Michele, and + Francesco; only Piero lived to grow up, and he became a priest. [<i>Favoured + by Sig. Milanesi.</i>]] it will be seen that Baccio was the son of Paolo, + a muleteer, which no doubt was a profitable trade in those days when the + country roads were mere mule-tracks, and the traffic between different + towns was carried on almost entirely by horses and mulepacks. There is + some doubt as to the place of Baccio's birth, which occurred in 1475. + Vasari gives it as Savignano near Prato; Crowe and Cavalcaselle [Footnote: + Vol. iii. chap. xiii. p. 427.] assert it was Suffignano, near Florence, + where they say Paolo's brothers, Jacopo and Giusto, were contadini or + peasants. + </p> + <p> + But on consulting the post-office authorities we find no place called + Suffignano near Florence; it must therefore have been a village near Prato + called Soffignano, which from similarity of sound Vasari confused with the + larger place, Savignano. This is the more probable, for Rosini asserts + that "Benedetto da Majano, <i>who had bought a podere near Prato</i>, knew + him and took him into his affections, and by his means placed him with + Cosimo." [Footnote: Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, chap. xvii. p. + 47.] + </p> + <p> + It is certainly probable that Paolo's wife lived with his family during + his wanderings, because it is the true Italian custom, and Baccio was in + that case born in his uncle's house; for it is not till 1480 that we find + Paolo retired from trade and set up in a house of his own in Florence at + the gate of S. Pier Gattolini, now the Porta Romana. + </p> + <p> + The friendship begun at Prato must have been continued in Florence, for in + 1480 Paolo not only owned that house at the gate of S. Pier Gattolini, but + was the proud possessor of a podere at Brozzi, which yielded six barrels + of wine. He is a merciful man too, for among his possessions are two mules + <i>disutili e vecchi</i> (old and useless). At this time Baccio was six + years old, and his three stepbrothers quite babies. [Footnote: Archives of + Florence, Portate al Castato, 1480-1.] Paolo, as well as his mules, had + earned his repose, being certainly old, if not useless, and was anxious + for his little sons to be placed out in the world as early as possible. + Thus it came that in 1484 Baccio was taken away from his brothers, who + played under the shadow of the old gateway, and was put to do the drudgery + of the apprenticeship to art. He had to grind colours for Cosimo—who, + as we know, used a great deal of colour, having dazzled the eyes of the + Pope with the brilliancy of his blue and gold in the Sistine Chapel some + years before—he had to sweep out the studio, no doubt assisted by + Mariotto Albertinelli, a boy of his own age, and to run errands, carrying + designs for inspection to expectant brides who wanted the chests painted + to hold their wedding clothes, or doing the messenger between his master + and the nuns of S. Ambrogio, who paid Cosimo their gold florins by the + hand of the boy in 1484 and 1485. [Footnote: Note to Crowe and + Cavalcaselle, vol. iii. chap. xiii. p. 429.] + </p> + <p> + Whether his age made him a more acceptable means of communication with the + nuns, or whether Pier di Cosimo, the elder pupil, already displayed his + hatred of womankind, I know not; perhaps the boy already showed that + innate devotion and especial fitness for sanctity which marks his entire + art career. Truly everything in his youthful life combined to lead his + thoughts to higher things. The first fresco at which he assisted was in + this solemn cloister of St. Ambrogio, and the subject the <i>Miracle of + the Sacrament</i>; the saintly air of the place, the calm faces of the + white-hooded nuns, must all have had an influence in inspiring his + youthful mind with the spirit of devotion. + </p> + <p> + Baccio's fellow-students were not many, but they formed an interesting + group. Pier di Cosimo was the head man, and eldest of all; with such ties + was he bound to his master and godfather, that he was known better as + Cosimo's Peter than by his own patronymic of Chimenti. He was at this time + twenty-two years of age, his registry in the Florentine Guild proves his + birth in 1462, as the son of Lorenzo, son of Piero, son of Antonio, + Chimenti. + </p> + <p> + Being the eldest of five brothers, it is difficult to conceive how a + member of a large family grew up developing such eccentricities as are + usually the fruit of isolation. + </p> + <p> + In the studio Piero was industrious and steady, working earnestly, whether + he was assisting his master's designs or carrying out his own fancies of + monsters, old myths, and classic fairy stories. No doubt the two boys, + Mariotto and Baccio, found little companionship in this abstracted young + man always dreaming over his own ideas. If they told him an anecdote, he + would look up vacantly at the end not having heard a word; at other times + every little noise or burst of laughter would annoy him, and he would be + immoderately angry with the flies and mosquitos. + </p> + <p> + Piero had already been to Rome, and had assisted Cosimo in his fresco of + <i>Christ preaching on Lake Tiberias</i>; indeed most judges thought his + landscape the best part of that work, and the talent he showed obtained + him several commissions. He took the portraits of Virginio Orsini, Ruberto + Sanseverino and Duke Valentino, son of Pope Alessandro VI. He was much + esteemed as a portrait painter also in Florence, and from his love of + classical subjects, and extreme finish of execution, he ranked as one of + the best painters of "cassoni," or bridal-linen chests. + </p> + <p> + This fashion excited the indignation of Savonarola, who in one of his + sermons exclaimed, "Do not let your daughters prepare their 'corredo' + (trousseau) in a chest with pagan paintings; is it right for a Christian + spouse to be familiar with Venus before the Virgin, or Mars before the + saints?" + </p> + <p> + Thus Piero being a finished painter, was often Cosimo Roselli's substitute + in the instruction of the two boys, for Cosimo having come home from Rome + with some money, lived at his ease; but still continued to paint frescoes + in company with Piero. + </p> + <p> + Another pupil was Andrea di Cosimo, whose peculiar branch of art was that + of the grotesque. He no doubt drew designs for friezes and fountains, for + architraves and door mouldings, in which distorted faces look out from all + kinds of writhing scrolls; and lizards, dragons, snakes, and creeping + plants, mingle according to the artist's fancy. Andrea was however often + employed in more serious work, as the records of the Servite Convent + prove, for they contain the note of payment to him, in 1510, for the + curtains of the altarpiece which Filippino Lippi had painted. These + curtains were till lately attributed to Andrea del Sarto, or Francia + Bigio. + </p> + <p> + This is the Andrea Feltrini mentioned by Crowe and Cavalcaselle as working + in the cloister of the Servi with Andrea del Sarto and Francia Bigio + between 1509 and 1514.[Footnote: <i>History of Painting</i>, vol. iii. + chap. xvii. p. 546.] + </p> + <p> + But Baccio's dearest friend in the studio was a boy nearly his own age, + Mariotto Albertinelli, son of Biagio di Bindo, born October 13, 1474. He + had experienced the common lot of young artists in those days, and had + been apprenticed to a gold-beater, but preferred the profession of + painter. From the first these two lads, being thrown almost entirely + together in the work of the studio, formed one of those pure, lasting + friendships, of which so many exist in the annals of art, and so few in + the material world. They helped each other in the drudgery, and enjoyed + their higher studies together; but they did not draw all their + inspirations from the over-coloured works of Cosimo—although + Mariotto once reproduced his red-winged cherubim in after life [Footnote: + In the 'Trinity' in the Belle Arti, Florence.]—nor from the hard and + laboured myths of Piero. + </p> + <p> + They went to higher founts, for scarcely a trace of these early influences + are to be found in their paintings. Vasari says they studied the <i>Cose + di Leonardo</i>. The great artist had at this time left the studio of + Verocchio, and was fast rising into fame in Florence, so it is most + probable that two youths with strong artistic tendencies would study, not + only the sketches, but also the precepts, of the great man. Besides this + there were two national art-schools open to students in Florence: these + were the frescoes of Masaccio and Lippi in the Carmine, and the Medicean + garden in the Via Cavour, then called Via Larga. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE GARDEN AND THE CLOISTER. A.D. 1487-1495. + </h2> + <p> + The two boys left the studio of Cosimo Roselli at an early age. There had + been trouble in the house of Paolo the ex-muleteer, and Baccio's already + serious mind had been awed by the sight of death. His little brother, + Domenico, died in 1486 at seven years of age. His father, Paolo, died in + 1487; thus Baccio, at the age of twelve or thirteen, was left the head of + the family, and the supporter of his stepmother and her babes. This may + account for his leaving Cosimo so young, and setting up his studio with + Mariotto as his companion, in his own house at the gate of S. Pier + Gattolini; this partnership began presumably about the year 1490. + </p> + <p> + Conscious that they were not perfected by Cosimo's teaching, they both set + themselves to undergo a strict discipline in art, and, friends as they + were, their paths began to diverge from this point. Their natural tastes + led them to opposite schools—Baccio to the sacred shrine of art in + the shadowed church, Mariotto to the greenery and sunshine of the Medici + garden, where beauty of nature and classic treasures were heaped in + profusion; whose loggie [Footnote: Arched colonnades.] glowed with the + finest forms of Greek sculpture, resuscitated from the tombs of ages to + inspire newer artists to perfection, but alas! also to debase the aim of + purely Christian art. + </p> + <p> + Baccio's calm devotional mind no doubt disliked the turmoil of this + garden, crowded with spirited youths; the tone of pagan art was not in + accordance with his ideal, and so he learned from Masaccio and Lippi that + love of true form and harmonious composition, which he perfected + afterwards by a close study of Leonardo da Vinci, whose principles of <i>chiaroscuro</i> + he seems to have completely carried out. With this training he rose to + such great celebrity even in his early manhood, that Rosini [Footnote: + Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, chap. xvii. p. 48.] calls him "the + star of the Florentine school in Leonardo and Michelangelo's absence," and + he attained a grandeur almost equal to the latter, in the S. Mark and SS. + Peter and Paul of his later years. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Mariotto was revelling in the Eden of art, drawing daily beneath + the Loggie—where the orange-trees grew close to the pillars—from + the exquisite statues and "torsi," peopling the shades with white forms, + or copying cartoons by the older masters, which hung against the walls. + </p> + <p> + The <i>custode</i> of all these treasures was Bertoldo, an old sculptor, + who boasted of having been the scholar of Donatello, and also heir to his + art possessions. He could also point to the bronze pulpits of San Lorenzo, + which he finished, as proof of his having inherited a portion of his + master's spirit. Bertoldo, having doubtless rendered to Duke Cosimo's + keeping his designs by Donatello, which were preserved in the garden, + obtained the post of instructor there; but his age may have prevented his + keeping perfect order, and the younger spirits overpowered him. There were + Michelangelo, with all the youthful power of passion and force which he + afterwards imparted to his works, and the audacious Torrigiano, with his + fierce voice, huge bulk, and knitted brows, who was himself a discord like + the serpent in Eden. Easily offended, he was prompt in offering outrage. + Did any other young man show talent or surpass him, revenge deep and mean + as that of Bandinelli to Michelangelo was sure to follow, the envied work + being spoiled in his rage. Then there were the fun-loving Francesco + Granacci, and the witty Rustici, as full of boyish pranks as they were of + genius—what could one old man do among so many?—and now comes + the impetuous Mariotto to add one more unruly member to his class. + </p> + <p> + How well one can imagine the young men—in loose blouses confined at + the waist, or in buff jerkins and close-fitting hose, with jaunty cloaks + or doublets, and little red or black caps, set on flowing locks cut square + in front—passing beneath the shadows of the arches among the dim + statues, or crossing the garden in the sunshine amid the orange-trees, + under the splendid blue Italian skies. + </p> + <p> + We can see them painting, modelling, or drawing large cartoons in + charcoal, while old Bertoldo passes from easel to easel, criticising and + fault-finding, detailing for the hundredth time Donatello's maxims, and + moving on, heedless or deaf to the irreverent jokes of his ungrateful + pupils. + </p> + <p> + Then, like a vision of power and grandeur, Lorenzo il Magnifico enters + with a group of his classic friends. Politian and the brothers Pulci + admire again the ancient sculptures which are to them as illustrations of + their readings, and Lorenzo notes the works of all the students who were + destined to contribute to the glory of the many Medicean palaces. How the + burly Torrigiano's heart burns within him when the Duke praises his + compeer's works! + </p> + <p> + Sometimes Madonna Alfonsina, the mother of Lorenzo, and widow of Piero, + walked here, and she also took an interest in the studies of the youths. + Mariotto especially attracted her by his talent and zeal. She commissioned + him to paint some pictures for her to send as a present to her own family, + the Orsini of Rome. These works, of which the subjects are not known, + passed afterwards into the possession of Cæsar Borgia. She also sat to + Mariotto for her own portrait. It is easily imagined how elated the + excitable youth became at this notice from the mother of the magnificent + Lorenzo. He had dreams of making a greater name than even his master, + Cosimo, whose handiwork was in the Sistine; of excelling Michelangelo, of + whose genius the world was beginning to talk; and, as adhering to a party + was the only way to success in those days, he became a strong Pallesco, + [Footnote: The Palleschi were the partizans of the Medici, so called + because they took as their standard the Palle, or Balls, the arms of that + family.] trusting wholly in the favour of Madonna Alfonsina. + </p> + <p> + He even absented himself almost constantly from the studio, which Baccio + shared with him, and worked at the Medici palace, [Footnote: This break is + signified by Baldinucci, <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 84, and by Vasari, who + says that after the exile of Piero he returned to Baccio.] but, alas! in + 1494 this brilliant aspect of his fortunes changed. + </p> + <p> + Lorenzo being dead, Piero de' Medici was banished, the great palace fell + into the hands of the republican Signoria, and all the painters were left + without patronage. + </p> + <p> + Mariotto, very much cast down, bethought himself of a friend who never + failed him, and whose love was not affected by party; and, returning to + the house of Baccio, he set to work, most likely in a renewed spirit of + confidence in the comrade who stood by him when the princes in whom he + trusted failed him. Whatever his frame of mind, he began now to study + earnestly the works of Baccio, who, while he was seeking patronage in the + palace, had been purifying his genius in the Church. Mariotto imbibed more + and more of Baccio's style, till their works so much resembled one another + that indifferent judges could scarcely distinguish them apart. It would be + interesting if we could see those early pictures done for Madonna + Alfonsina, and compare them with the style formed after this second + adherence to Fra Bartolommeo. What his manner afterwards became we have a + proof in the <i>Salutation</i> (1503), in which there is grand simplicity + of motive combined with the most extreme richness of execution and fullest + harmony of colour. + </p> + <p> + This second union between the friends could not have been so satisfactory + to either as the first pure boyish love, when they had been full of + youthful hopes, and felt their hearts expand with the dreams and visions + of genius. Now instead of the mere differences between two styles of art, + there were differences which much more seriously affected their + characters; they were daily sundering, one going slowly towards the + cloister, the other to the world. Albertinelli had gained a greater love + of worldly success and luxury. + </p> + <p> + Baccio's mind, always attuned to devotion, was now intensified by family + sorrows, which no doubt brought him nearer to heaven. Thus softened, he + had the more readily received the seeds of faith which Savonarola + scattered broadcast. + </p> + <p> + Yet though every word of the one was a wound to the other, this strangely + assorted pair of friends did not part. Rosini well defined their union as + "a knot which binds more strongly by pulling contrary ways." [Footnote: <i>Storia + della Pittura,</i> chap. xvii. p. 48] + </p> + <p> + So when Albertinelli, while colouring with zeal a design of Baccio's, + would inveigh against all monks, the Dominicans in particular, and + Savonarola especially, his friend would argue that the inspired prophet + was not an enemy, but a purifier and reformer of art. Probably Baccio was + at the Duomo on that Sunday in Lent, 1495, and reported to Mariotto those + wondrous words of Savonarola, that "Beauty ought never to be taken apart + from the true and good," and how, after quoting the same sentiments from + Socrates and Plato, the preacher went on to say, "True beauty is neither + in form nor colour, but in light. God is light, and His creatures are the + more lovely as they approach the nearer to Him in beauty. And the body is + the more beautiful according to the purity of the soul within it." Certain + it is that this divine light lived ever after in the paintings of Fra + Bartolommeo. + </p> + <p> + He frequented the cloisters of San Marco, where even Lorenzo de' Medici + used to go and hear the prior expound Christianity near the rose tree. + There were Lorenzo di Credi and Sandro Botticelli, both middle-aged men, + of a high standing as artists; there were the Delia Robbias, father and + son, and several others. Sandro, while listening, must have taken in the + inspired words with the scent and beauty of the roses, whose spirit he + gives in so many of his paintings. + </p> + <p> + Young Baccio, on the contrary, feasted his eyes on the speaker's face, + till the very soul within it was imprinted on his mind, from whence he + reproduced it in that marvellous likeness, the year after the martyrdom of + Savonarola. + </p> + <p> + This is the earliest known work of Fra Bartolommeo, and is a faithful + portrait; the deep-sunk eye-socket, and eye like an internal fire, showing + the preacher's powerful mind; the prominent aquiline nose and dilating + vehement nostril bespeaking his earnestness and decision; the large full + mouth alone shows the timorousness which none but himself knew of, so + overpowered was it by his excitable spirit. The handling is Baccio's own + able style, but Sig. Cavalcaselle thinks the influences of Cosimo Roselli + are apparent in the low tone and clouded translucent colour; he signed it + "Hieronymi Ferrariensis, a Deo missi prophetæ effigies," a legend which + expresses the more than reverence which Baccio cherished for the preacher. + This portrait has only lately been identified by its present possessor, + Sig. Ermolao Rubieri, who discovered the legend under a coat of paint. Its + vicissitudes are traceable from the time when Sig. Averardo (or, as Vasari + calls him, Alamanno) Salviati brought it back from Ferrara, where no doubt + it had been in the possession of Savonarola's family. Salviati gave it to + the convent of San Vincenzo at Prato, from which place Sig. Rubieri + purchased it in 1810. The likeness of the reformer in the Belle Arti of + Florence has been supposed to be this one, but it is more likely to be the + one done by Fra Bartolommeo at Pian di Mugnone in after years, when he + drew the friar as S. Peter Martyr, with the wound on his head. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. SAN MARCO. A.D. 1496-1500. + </h2> + <p> + Padre Marchese, himself a Dominican, speaks thus of his convent:—"San + Marco has within its walls the Renaissance, a compendium in two artists. + Fra Angelico, the painter of the ideal, Fra Bartolommeo, of form. The + first closes the antique Tuscan school. He who has seen Fra Angelico, has + seen also Giotto, Cimabue, &c. The second represents the modern + school. In him are almost comprised Masaccio, Lorenzo di Credi, Leonardo, + Buonarroti, and Andrea del Sarto." + </p> + <p> + The first, Fra Angelico, "sets himself to contemplate in God the fount and + architype of the beautiful, and, as much as is possible to mortal hands, + reproduces and stamps it in those works which a sensual mind cannot + understand, but which to the heavenly soul speak an eloquent language. Fra + Bartolommeo, with more analysis, works thoughtfully ... he ascends from + the effect to the cause, and in created things contemplates a reflection + of spiritual beauty." + </p> + <p> + It is true the Dominican order has been as great a patron of arts as the + Franciscan of literature. It united with Niccolo Pisano to give form to + national architecture. It had sculptors, miniaturists, and glass painters. + As a building San Marco has been a shrine of art; since the time that + Michelozzi, with the assistance of the Medici, built the convent for Sant' + Antonino, and Fra Angelico left the impress of his soul on the walls, a + long line of artist monks has lived within its cloisters. With San Marco + our story has now to deal, for it is impossible to write Fra Bartolommeo's + life without touching on the well-known history of Savonarola. The great + preacher's influence in these years, from 1492 to 1497, entered into + almost every individual in Florence, either to draw them to devotion, or + to stir them up to the greatest opposition. + </p> + <p> + The artists, whose minds were probably the most impressional, were his + fervent adherents. He has been accused of being the ruin of art, but "this + cry has only arisen in our time; the silence of contemporaries, although + not friendly to him, proves that he was not in that century so accused." + [Footnote: Gino Capponi, <i>Storia delta Republica di Firenze</i>, lib. + vi. chap. ii.] The only mention of anything of artistic value is a + "tavoliere" [Footnote: A chess or draught board.] of rich work, spoken of + by Burlamacchi and Benivieni, in a "Canzone di un Piagnone sul bruciamento + delle Vanità." Savonarola himself was an artist and musician in early + life, the love of the beautiful was strong within him, only he would have + it go hand in hand with the good and true. His dominant spirit was that of + reform; as he tried to regenerate mind, morals, literature, and state + government, so he would reform art, and fling over it the spiritual light + which illumed his own soul. + </p> + <p> + It was natural that such a mind should act on the devotional character of + Baccio. What could he do but join when every church was full of + worshippers, each shrine at the street corners had a crowd of devout women + on their knees before it—when thousands of faces were uplifted in + the vast expanse of the Duomo, and every face burned with fervour as the + divine flame from the preacher lit the lamp of each soul—when in the + streets he met long processions of men, women, and children, the echoes of + whose hymns (Laudi) filled the narrow streets, and went up to the clear + air above them? + </p> + <p> + Then came that strange carnival when there were no maskers in the city, + but white-robed boys went from house to house to collect the vanities for + the burning—when the flames of the fires, hitherto saturnalian, were + the flames of a holocaust, wherein each one cast the sins and temptations, + even the pretty things which, though dear to himself, withdrew him from + God. And when the white-robed boys came to the studio of the friends at + the gate of S. Pier Gattolini, with what sighs and self-immolation Baccio + looked for the last time at some of his studies which he judged to come + under the head of <i>anathemata</i>, and handed them over to the acolytes. + How Mariotto's soul, warm to Pagan art, burned within him at this + sacrifice! And how he would talk more than ever against the monks, and + hang up his own cartoons and studies of the Greek Venus in the studio for + Baccio's behoof! + </p> + <p> + In these years we have no notice of authentic works done by the youthful + partners, though biographers talk of their having commissions for + madonnas, and other works of art. + </p> + <p> + In 1497 Francesco Valori, the grand-featured, earnest admirer of + Savonarola, became Gonfaloniere in the time of Piero de' Medici's exile, + [Footnote: Gino Capponi, <i>Storia delta Republica di Firenze</i>, lib. + vi. chap. xi. p. 233.] and the friar's party was in the ascendent. Rosini + [Footnote: <i>Storia delta Pittura</i>, chap. xvii. p. 48.] says that + belonging to a faction was a means of fame, and that the Savonarola party + was powerful, giving this as a reason for Baccio's partisanship; but this + we can hardly believe, his whole life proved his earnestness. He was much + beloved in Florence for his calm upright nature and good qualities. He + delighted in the society of pious and learned men, spent much time in the + convent, where he had many friends among the monks; yet with all he kept + still faithful to his early friend Mariotto, whose life was cast so + differently. Savonarola's faction was powerful, but the Medici had still + adherents who stirred up a strong party against him. + </p> + <p> + His spirit of reform at length aroused the ire of the Pope, who forbade + him to preach. He disobeyed, and the sermons on Ezekiel were scenes of + tumult; no longer a group of rapt faces dwelling on his words, but frowns, + murmurs, and anathemas from a crowd only kept off him by a circle of armed + adherents round his pulpit. + </p> + <p> + At length, on June 22nd, the excommunication by Pope Alessandro VI. + (Borgia) fell like a thunderclap, and the Medicean youths marched in + triumphant procession with torches and secular music to burlesque the + Laudi; no doubt Albertinelli was one of these, while Baccio grieved among + the awestruck friars in the convent. + </p> + <p> + In 1498 Savonarola again lifted up his voice; the church was not large + enough, so he preached beneath the blue sky on the Piazza San Marco; and + Fra Domenico Buonvicini da Pescia, in the eagerness of partisanship, said + that his master's words would stand the ordeal of fire. Then came that + tumultuous day of April 7th, the "Sunday of the Olives," when the + Franciscans and Dominicans argued while the fire burnt out before them, + when Savonarola's great spirit quailed within him, and the ordeal failed; + a merciful rain quenching the flames which none dared to brave save the + undaunted Fra Domenico himself. + </p> + <p> + There was no painting done in the studio on that day we may be sure. + Baccio was one of the surging, conflicting crowd gathered beneath the + mingling shadows of Orcagna's arches and Arnolfo's great palace, and at + eventide he was one of the armed partisans who protected the friar back to + his convent, menaced not only by rains from heaven, but by the stormy + wrath of an angry populace, defrauded of the sight they came to see. + </p> + <p> + The next day was the one which determined the painter's future life. + </p> + <p> + There was in the city a curious process of crystallisation of all the + particles held in solution round the fire the previous day. The Palazzo + Vecchio attracted about its doors the "Arrabiati." The "Compagnacci" + assembled, armed, by the Duomo. The streets were full of detached parties + of Piagnoni, treading ways of peril to their centre, San Marco. + </p> + <p> + Passions raged and seethed all day, till at the hour of vespers a cry + arose, "<i>à San Marco</i>," and thither the multitude—500 + Compagnacci, and 300 Palleschi—rushed, armed with picks and + arquebusses, &c. They killed some stray Piagnoni whom they found + praying by a shrine, and placed guards at the streets which led to the + convent; then the assault began. + </p> + <p> + The church was dimly lighted. Savonarola and Fra Domenico kneeled on the + steps of the altar, with many worshippers around them, singing tremulous + hymns; amongst these were Francesco Valori, Ridolfi, and Baccio della + Porta, but all armed, as Cronaca tells us. They still sang hymns when the + doors were attacked with stones; then leaving the priests and women to + pray for them the men rushed to the defence. + </p> + <p> + Old Valori, with a few brave friends, guarded the door; others made + loop-holes of the windows and fired out; some went up the campanile, and + some on the roof. Baccio fought bravely among the rest. The Palleschi were + almost repulsed, but at length succeeded in setting fire to the doors. The + church was filled with smoke; a turbulent crowd rushed wildly in. + Savonarola saw his people fall dead beside him on the altar steps, and, + taking up the Sacrament, he fled to the Greek library, where the + messengers of the Signoria came and arrested both himself and Fra + Domenico. It was in the fierce fight that ensued when the enemies poured + in, laying hands sacrilegiously on every thing sacred, that Baccio made + the vow that if he were saved this peril, he would take the habit—a + vow which certainly was not made in a cowardly spirit, he fighting to the + death, and then espousing the losing cause. [Footnote: Gino Capponi, lib. + vi. chaps. i. and ii., and Padre Marchese, <i>San Marco</i>, p. 147 <i>et + seq.</i>] + </p> + <p> + Then came that sad 23rd of May, the eve of the Ascension, when three + martyrs went calmly to their death beneath the shadow of the old palace, + amidst the insults of an infuriated crowd, and Arno's yellow waters + received their ashes. [Footnote: Capponi, chap. ii. p. 253.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> IMG--></a> + </p> + + <p> + After the death of Savonarola the party had many defaulters; but Baccio, + the Delia Robbias, Credi, Cronaca, and many other artists, were faithful, + and even showed their grief by abandoning for a time the arts they loved. + "It almost seemed as if with him they had lost the sacred flame from which + their fervid imagination drew life and aliment." [Footnote: Marchese, <i>San + Marco</i>, lib. iii. p. 261.] + </p> + <p> + While all these events had been taking place, Baccio had worked as often + as his perturbed spirit would allow, at a great fresco of the <i>Last + Judgment</i>, in a chapel of the cemetery of S. Maria Nuova. A certain + Gerozzi, di Monna Venna Dini, gave him the commission, and as far as he + had gone, the painter had given entire satisfaction. This fresco, his + first as far as is known, shows Baccio's style as fully as his later ones. + We have here his great harmony of form, and intense suggestiveness in + composition. The infinity of heaven is emblematised in circles of saints + and cherubim around the enthroned Christ. The cross, a link between heaven + and earth, is borne by a trinity of angels; S. Michael, as the avenging + spirit, stands a powerful figure in the foreground dividing the saved from + the lost; the whole composition forming a heavenward cross on an earthly + foundation. There are no caves and holes of torture with muscular bodies + writhing within them; but in the despairing figures passing away on the + right, some with heads bowed on clasped hands, others lifting up faces and + arms in a vain cry for mercy, what suggestions there are of infinite + remorse!—more dignified far than the distorted sufferers in the + torture pits of previous masters. These are just indicated by two demons, + and a subterranean fire behind the unblest souls. Miss Owen, [Footnote: <i>Art + Schools of Christendom</i>, edited by Prof. Ruskin.] speaking Mr. Ruskin's + sentiments, calls this a great falling off from Giotto and Orcagna's + conceptions; but though theirs may be more powerful and terrible, a + greater suggestion of Christian religion is here. + </p> + <p> + They, and later, Michelangelo, flung Dante's great struggling soul in + tangible forms upon the walls, and embodied his poem, awful, grand, and + earnest, with all the human passion intensified into human suffering. Fra + Bartolommeo shows the Christian spirit; his faces look beyond the present + judgment, and, instead of wrath, mercy is the predominating idea. It is + like the difference in spirit between the Old Testament and the New. + </p> + <p> + The painter's reverence of Fra Angelico, and estimation of the divinity of + art, is shown by Fra Angelico being placed among the saints of heaven on + the right of the Saviour. + </p> + <p> + Leonardo's instructions for shading off a light sky will occur to any one + who studies the finely gradated tints mingling with the clouds around the + celestial group. But grand as the fresco is, and interesting as it must + have been to the artist at this time, when thoughts of Savonarola mingled + with every stroke, he felt he was not fulfilling his true mission in the + world. Drawn more and more to the convent, hallowed to him by the memory + of the martyr-friar, he was also more attuned to thoughts of retirement by + family bereavements—one young brother, Piero, only being left to him + out of the whole circle. The reluctance to leave this youth alone may have + deferred for a time his taking the monastic vows; but having placed him + under the guardianship of Santi Pagnini, a Dominican, he consigned the <i>Last + Judgment</i> to Mariotto to finish, and leaving his worldly goods to his + brother, took the habit in the convent of S. Domenico, at Prato, on July + 26th, 1500, two years after first making the resolution. His year of + probation over, he took the final vows and became Fra Bartolommeo. + </p> + <p> + A document in S. Marco proves that he was possessed of worldly goods when + he entered, [Footnote: Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, chap xxvii.] + among which were the house of his father in S. Pier Gattolini, and the + podere at Brozzi. Having once given himself up to monasticism, Fra + Bartolommeo would offer no half-service, his brushes were left behind with + all other worldly things, and here closes Baccio della Porta's first + artistic career. + </p> + <p> + His sun was set only to rise again to greater brilliance in the future as + Fra Bartolommeo, a name famous for ever in the annals of art. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. FRA BARTOLOMMEO IN THE CONVENT. A.D. 1504-1509. + </h2> + <p> + Four years had passed, and the monk had never touched a pencil, but his + mission in art was not fulfilled, and events were working towards that + end, for the spirit of art once awakened could not die either in that + convent or in that age. + </p> + <p> + His friend, Mariotto, kept him <i>au courant</i> in all the gossip of art, + and told him of the great cartoons of Leonardo and Michelangelo, which he + too went to see. They might have inspired him afresh, or perhaps in + advising Albertinelli he himself felt impelled to paint, or possibly the + visits of Raphael in 1504 influenced him. + </p> + <p> + Padre Marchese takes the conventional view, and says that Santi Pagnini, + the oriental scholar and lover of art, came back to S. Marco in 1504 as + prior, and used not only his entreaties, but his authority, to induce Fra + Bartolommeo to recommence painting. However this may be, it is certain + that when Bernardo del Bianco, who had built a beautiful chapel in the + Badia from Rovezzano's designs, wished for an altar-piece worthy of its + beauty, which he felt no hand could execute so well as that of the Frate—he + yielded to persuasion, and the <i>Vision of S. Bernard</i> was begun. The + contract is dated 18th November, 1504; a part payment of sixty florins in + gold was made 16th of June, 1507. [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, + iii. vol. ii. p. 594.] + </p> + <p> + This picture, now in the Belle Arti of Florence, is so much injured by + re-painting that some parts seem even crude. The saint is on his knees + writing, while the vision of the Virgin and Child stands poised in air + before him; she inspires his pen, and the infant Christ gives His blessing + on the work. There is great spirituality and ecstasy in St. Bernard's + face, his white robe contrasts well with two saints behind him, which + carry out Fra Bartolommeo's favourite triangular grouping, and with a rich + harmony of colour balance his white robe. + </p> + <p> + The Virgin is drawn with great nobility and grace, her drapery admirably + majestic, yet airy, and a sweet, infantile playfulness renders the Child + charming. The angels beneath the Virgin's feet are lovely, but the group + of seraphs behind are the least pleasing of all. They are of the earth, + earthy, and seem reminiscences of the Florentine maidens the artist met in + the streets. Possibly this is the part most injured by the restorer's + hand. The colouring of the two saints behind S. Bernard-one in a green + robe with bronze-gold shades, and the other blue and orange-is very + suggestive of Andrea del Sarto, and seems to render probable Rosini's + assertion that the Frate "taught the first steps of this difficult career + to that artist who alone was called 'senz' errori.'" + </p> + <p> + Having once retaken the brush, Fra Bartolommeo recovered his former skill + and fame; a beautiful specimen of this period is the <i>Meeting of Christ + with the Disciples of Emmaus</i> (1506), a fresco in a lunette over the + door of the refectory at S. Marco; in which he combines a richness of + colouring rarely obtained in fresco, with a drawing which is almost + perfect. Fra Niccolò della Magna, who was prior in that year, and left in + 1507 to become Archbishop of Capua, sat for one of the saints. + Contemporory with this may be dated also the figure of the <i>Virgin</i>, + painted for Agnolo Doni, now in the Corsini gallery in Rome. Giovanni de' + Medici also gave him a commission. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the <i>S. Bernard</i> was not paid for. Fra Bartolommeo priced + it at 200 ducats, and the convent being the gainer by his works, took his + own valuation. Bernardo offered only eighty ducats; the Frati were + indignant, and called in the Abbot of the Badia as umpire; he being unable + to move Bernardo, retired from office; then a council of friends was + resolved on, in which Mariotto was for the painter, and Lorenzo de Credi + for the purchaser; but this also failed. + </p> + <p> + It was next proposed to submit the question to the Guild of Druggists (<i>arte + degli speziali</i>), which included at that time also doctors and + painters; but the convent, refusing lay judgment, took the offer of + Francesco Magalotti, a relative of Bernardo, who priced it at 100 ducats, + and the monks had to be satisfied. The dispute ended July 17th, 1507. + [Footnote: Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, chap, xxvii. p. 245, and + Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, &c., vol. ii. pp. 42 to 45.] + </p> + <p> + All writers agree as to the fact of Fra Bartolommeo's friendship with + Raphael, but very few are decided as to its date. Raphael was in Florence + in 1504, but then Fra Bartolommeo had not re-commenced painting, and would + have no works in the convent to excite his admiration of the colouring. + Padre Marchese, following Rosini and Padre Luigi Pungeleoni, asserts that + this intimacy was during Raphael's second visit in 1506, when he might + have seen the newly-finished fresco of <i>The Disciples at Emmaus</i>. It + is undoubted that their intercourse was beneficial to both. Raphael + studied anew Leonardo's principles of colour under Fra Bartolommeo's + interpretation of them, and the Frate improved his knowledge of + perspective and harmony of composition. It is said they worked together at + some pictures, of which one is in France, and another at Milan; but there + is not sufficient evidence to prove this. + </p> + <p> + It is also thought that Fra Bartolommeo helped in the composition of + Raphael's famous <i>Madonna del Baldacchino</i>, which is truly very much + in his style. + </p> + <p> + The year 1508 marks the Frate's first acquaintance with the Venetian + school, which was not without its influence upon him. Frequent interchange + of visits took place between the Dominicans in the different parts of + Italy; and Fra Bartolommeo took the opportunity then offered him of going + to visit his brethren at Venice. + </p> + <p> + His namesake, Baccio di Monte Lupo, a sculptor who had fled from Florence + after the death of Savonarola, and who had fought side by side with Baccio + in the siege of S. Mark's church, was in Venice at that time, working on + the tomb of Benedetto da Pesaro in the church of the Frati, and he was + only too delighted to show the beauties of the Queen of the Adriatic to an + artistic mind. Tintoretto was not yet born; Titian was only just rising + into fame, though his style had not yet become what it was after + Giorgione's influence; but Fra Bartolommeo must have found much that was + sympathetic in the exquisite works of Giovanni Bellini and his school, and + much to admire in the glorious colouring of Giorgione. + </p> + <p> + Father Dalzano, the vicar of the monastery of S. Peter Martyr at Murano, + gave the Florentine monk a commission for a picture of the value of + seventy or 100 ducats. Not having time to paint this during his stay, he + promised to execute it on his return to Florence, and the vicar paid him + in advance twenty-eight ducats in money and colours; the rest was to be + raised by the sale of some MS. letters from S. Catherine of Siena, which a + friend of Father Dalzano near Florence held in possession. + </p> + <p> + Fra Bartolommeo, having brought home from the Venetian school a new + impulse for painting, and wishing to diffuse the religious influence of + art more widely, desired to enlarge his atelier and school at San Marco. + His only assistants in the convent were Fra Paolino of Pistoja, and one or + two miniaturists, who were only good at missals. Fra Paolino (born 1490) + took the vows at a very early age, and was removed to Florence from Prato + with Fra Bartolommeo. He was the son of a painter, Bernardino di Antonio, + but though he learned the first principles from him, his real art was + imbibed from the Frate, under whom, together with Mariotto, he worked for + years. + </p> + <p> + But this youthful scholar was not enough for Fra Bartolommeo's new + energies. He pined for his old friend, Mariotto, who could follow out his + designs in his own style so closely, that an unpractised eye could not see + the difference of hand; and such was his influence on the rulers of the + order, that they allowed a most unique partnership to be entered into. + </p> + <p> + The parties were, Albertinelli on one side, and the convent and Fra + Bartolommeo on the other. The partners to provide the expenses, and the + profits to be divided between the convent and Mariotto; the vow of poverty + not allowing Fra Bartolommeo as an individual any personal share. This + began in 1509 and lasted till 1512. The inventory of the profits and the + division made when the partnership was dissolved, given entire by Padre + Marchese, [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, &c., vol. ii.] + are very interesting. The two artists had separate monograms to + distinguish the pictures which were specially their own, besides which the + monk signed his with the touching petition, "<i>orate pro pictore,</i>" + his friend merely Latinising his name; the works painted together were + signed by the combined monograms. Before setting a hand to anything else, + the Frate fulfilled his engagement to the Venetian prior, for whom he + painted the <i>Eternal in Heaven</i>, surrounded by saints and angels; but + of this we will speak later. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. ALBERTINELLI IN THE WORLD. A.D. 1501-1510. + </h2> + <p> + During the interval between the second and third partnership of this + incongruous pair of friends, the life of Albertinelli had been very + different from that of the Frate. So distressed was he at losing Baccio + that he was quite wild for a time. His passions being unruled, that of + grief took entire possession of him. In his despair he vowed to give up + painting; he declared that he would also become a monk, if it were not + that he now hated them more than ever; besides, he was a Pallesco, and + could not desert his party. + </p> + <p> + After a time, however, he calmed down, and, looking on his friend's + unfinished fresco of the <i>Last Judgment</i> as a legacy from him, began + to work at it as a kind of obligation till the occupation wove its own + charm, and he steadily devoted himself to art again, much to the + satisfaction of good Gerozzi Dini, who was in great perturbation, and + declared there was not another hand but his in Florence which could finish + it; and also to the relief of Fra Bartolommeo himself, who, having + received money on account, was troubled in conscience lest it should + remain unfinished. There remained only some figures to put in the + terrestrial group, all the celestial portions having been finished by the + Frate; but they are very well drawn figures, with a good deal of + expression in them. Several are likenesses, amongst whom are Dini and his + wife, Bugiardini, the painter's pupil, and himself. Most of these are now + destroyed by the effects of damp. + </p> + <p> + Mariotto left Fra Bartolommeo's house in S. Pier Gattolini, and took a + room in Gualfonda—now Via Val Fonda—a street leading towards + the fortress, built by the Grand Duke Cosimo on the north of the city; and + here in time quite a school grew up under his tuition. Giuliano Bugiardini + was his head assistant rather than pupil; Francia Bigio, then a boy, + Visino, who afterwards went to Hungary, and Innocenzio da Nicola, besides + Piero, Baccio's brother, were all scholars. Albertinelli's Bottega in Val + Fonda gave some noble paintings to the world, works independently his own, + though Fra Bartolommeo's influence is traceable in most of them. The + finest of these is the <i>Salutation</i>, dated 1503—ordered for the + Church of S. Martino, and now the gem of the hall of the Old Masters in + the Uffizi Gallery—a work which alone has been able to mark him for + all time as a great master. + </p> + <p> + So simple is the subject, and yet so grand the proportions, and in the + figures there is such majesty of maternity and dignity of womanhood! A + decorated portico, with the heavens behind it, forms the background to the + two noble women, in one of whom is expressed the gracious sympathy of an + elder matron with the awful, mysterious joy of the younger. + </p> + <p> + The colouring, perfectly harmonised, is the most masterly blending of a + subdued tone with soft yet brilliant and shows a deep study of the method + of Leonardo. + </p> + <p> + The predella has an <i>Annunciation</i>, <i>Nativity</i>, and <i>Circumcision</i>; + all showing the same able style, but more injured by time than the + picture. + </p> + <p> + Another charming painting of this period is the <i>Nativity</i> at the + Pitti, a round, on panel. The <i>Madonna</i> is not quite so noble as that + of the <i>Salutation</i>, but the limbs of the child are beautifully + rounded. There is a pretty group of three angels singing in the sky; the + landscape is as minute in detail as those his old fellow-pupil Piero used + to paint in Cosimo's studio. + </p> + <p> + In 1504-5 Fra Bartolommeo called upon him for a deed of friendship, which + proves that, whatever biographers (building up theories on a word or two + in Vasari) may say of his want of steadiness, the friend who knew him best + had supreme trust in him. Santi Pagnini, having been removed to Siena as + prior, Fra Bartolommeo made Mariotto guardian and instructor of his young + brother Piero, signing a contract that Mariotto was to have the use and + management of all estates and possessions of Piero, which included several + <i>poderi</i> in the country, as well as the house at the Porta Romana (S. + Pier Gattolini). In return Albertinelli was to keep Piero in his house, + teach, clothe, and provide for him, not, however, being obliged to give + him more than "sette (seven) soldi" a month. Albertinelli was also to have + a mass said yearly in the Church of S. Pier Gattolini for the soul of + Paolo the muleteer, and to use two pounds of wax candles thereat. + [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, vol. ii. pp. 36, 37.] The + contract was signed from 1st January, 1505, and was to last till 1st + January, 1511. It appears that this brother Piero was a great trouble to + the Frate, being of a bizarre disposition, and addicted to squandering + money; he sold some possessions for much less than their worth, [Footnote: + Private communication from Sig. G. Milanesi.] which probably accounts for + the singular contract of guardianship. He did not show enough talent to + become a painter, and took priests' orders later. + </p> + <p> + About this time Fra Bartolommeo recommenced work, and while he was + painting the triptych for Donatello's <i>Madonna</i> (the miniature <i>Nativity</i> + and <i>Circumcision</i> in the Uffizi), Albertinelli was at work in the + convent of the Certosa, at a <i>Crucifixion</i> in fresco. The painting is + extant in the chapterhouse, and is a very fair and unrestored specimen of + his best style. The Virgin and Magdalen are very purely conceived figures; + the idea of the angels gathering the blood falling from the wounded hands + of the crucified Saviour is very tender; there is a great brightness of + colouring, and a greenish landscape almost Peruginesque in feeling. Some + of his pupils worked with him at the Certosa, and nearly brought their + master into trouble. + </p> + <p> + They were not more content with convent fare than was Davide Ghirlandajo, + when the only delicacy supplied him at Vallombrosa was cheese; and to + revenge themselves, they stole round the cloister after the circular + sliding panels by which the rations were sent into the monks' cells were + filled, and feasted on the meals made ready for the good brothers. Great + confusion ensued in the convent, the monks accusing each other of the + theft; but when they found out the real culprits, they made a compromise, + promising double rations if the artists would hasten their work and leave + them their daily dole in peace. + </p> + <p> + The fresco is dated 1506. The same year produced the fine picture now in + the Louvre, which was painted for the church of S. Trinità on the + commission of Zanobio del Maestro. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Madonna</i>, stands on a pedestal, with S. Jerome and S. Zenobio in + front, while episodes from their lives are brought in like distant echoes + in the background. [Footnote: S. Zenobio was the first bishop of Florence, + and is the patron saint of that city.] + </p> + <p> + The nuns of S. Giuliano employed him to paint two pictures, both of which + are now in the Belle Arti. One is an altarpiece; the <i>Madonna enthroned</i>, + with the Divine Child in her arms. Era Bartolommeo's idea of an + angel-sustained canopy is here, but the angels hold it up from the outside + instead of the inside. Before her are S. John the Baptist, S. Julian, S. + Nicholas, and S. Dominic. The S. Julian has a great similarity to the S. + Michael of Perugino, and the S. John, by its good modelling, shows the + result of his studies from the antique in the Medici garden. + </p> + <p> + For the same church he did the curious conventional painting of the <i>Trinity</i> + on a gold ground. The subject is inartistic, because unapproachable; the + attempt to paint that which is a deep spiritual mystery degrades both the + art and the subject; the latter because it lowers it to human grasp, the + former because it shows its powerlessness to shadow forth the infinite. + There is beautiful painting in the heads of the angels, at the foot of the + Cross, but the brilliancy of the gold ground is overpowering to the + colours, albeit he has balanced it by reproducing Cosimo Roselli's + red-winged cherubs. Nothing but Fra Angelico's delicate tints can bear + such a background. No doubt Piero, Baccio's brother, helped to lay on this + gold, for one of the stipulations in the contract with Mariotto was that + he was to "metter d' oro ed altre cose di mazoneria" (to put on gold and + other articles of emblazonment). + </p> + <p> + It has been a great subject of conjecture at what part of his life + Albertinelli took the rash step of throwing up his art and opening a + tavern at Porta S. Gallo. Some say it was in his despair at Fra + Bartolommeo having taken the vows, but this is disproved by his having at + that time finished the <i>Last Judgment</i>, and taken pupils in Val + Fonda. Others assert that it was at the breaking up of the last + partnership in 1513, but there is no hiatus in his work at that time, + existing paintings being dated in 1513 and the following years till his + death, three years after. + </p> + <p> + Vasari, though not to be depended on in regard to dates—chronology + not being his forte—is generally right in the gossip and stories of + the lives near his own time, and it is by collateral evidence from his + pages that we are able to fix with more certainty 1508 or 1509 as the time + of this episode in Albertinelli's life. In 1507 we find him as an artist + helping to value his friend's picture, and mediating between the convent + and Bernardo del Bianco. [Footnote: Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. iii. + chap. xvii. p. 544.] Now, in the 'Life of Andrea del Sarto,' we read that + Francia Bigio, Albertinelli's pupil, made the acquaintance of Andrea while + studying the Cartoons in the Hall of the Council (this was from 1506 to + 1508), and as their friendship increased, Andrea confided to Francia Bigio + that he could no longer endure the eccentricities of Piero di Cosimo, and + determined to seek a home for himself, and that Francia Bigio being also + alone—his master Mariotto Albertinelli <i>having abandoned the art + of painting</i>—they determined to share a studio and rooms. + [Footnote: Vasari, vol. iii. p. 182.] The first works the partners + undertook were the frescoes of the Scalzo and the Servi, which were begun + in 1509. Thus the date is tolerably certain, especially as a gap occurs in + Albertinelli's works at this time. + </p> + <p> + Sig. Gaetano Milanesi's researches in the Archives have thrown a new light + on Mariotto's motives, which were not entirely connected with art; it was + not that he was discouraged by adverse criticism, nor wholly that, as time + divided him from his friend, he felt he could produce no great work away + from his influence, but it was partly that he had married a wife named + Antonia, whose father kept an inn at S. Gallo. It is possible the tavern + came to him by way of <i>dot</i>, and the above reasons making him + discontented with art for a time, might have induced him to carry on the + business himself. Sig. Milanesi says a document exists of a contract in + which Mariotto's name is connected with a tavern, but that he has never + been able to retrace it since the first time he found it. It is his + opinion that the whole story arose from the fact of the wife's family + possessing this wine shop, and his connection with it in that way. + </p> + <p> + But though Albertinelli passed off his pseudo-hostdom with bravado, + talking very wittily about it, the artistic vein was too strong within him + to be subdued; he soon gave up the flask and returned to the brush, for in + 1509, when his quondam pupil, Francia Bigio, was busy at the Servi, we + again find Mariotto's hand in a painting of the <i>Madonna</i>. The + Virgin, holding a pomegranate in her hand, supports with the other the + Child, who stands on a parapet, and clings to the bosom of his mother's + dress for support, in a truly natural way; the infant Baptist stands by. + The painting, signed, and dated 1509, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, + Cambridge, but has been injured by repainting. In spite of this, Messrs. + Crowe and Cavalcaselle believe they perceive Bugiardini's hand in it. + </p> + <p> + In 1510 Albertinelli began one of his masterpieces, the <i>Annunciation</i> + for the company of S. Zenobio, now in the Belle Arti. All his zeal for art + was reawakened, he flung himself <i>con amore</i> into this work, which, + though in oil on panel, was painted on the spot where it was intended to + be placed, that the lights might be managed with the best effect. He was + imbued with Leonardo da Vinci's principle, that the greatest relief and + force are to be combined with softness, and wishing to bring this + combination to a perfection which never before had been reached, he + depended greatly on the natural light to further his design. [Footnote: + Vasari, vol. ii. p. 469.] + </p> + <p> + The picture, although a great work of art, and the most laboured of all + his paintings, failed to satisfy the artist. He tried various experiments, + painting in and painting out, but never reaching his own ideal. According + to Leonardo, he was proving himself a good artist, one of his principles + being, "when his (an artist's) knowledge and light surpass his work so + that he is not satisfied with himself or his endeavours, it is a happy + omen." [Footnote: Leonardo da Vinci, Treatise on Painting.] + </p> + <p> + The work as it stands is a noble one, though darkened by time having + brought out the black pigments used in the shades. The background is an + intricate piece of architecture with vaulted roof, showing that he too had + profited by Raphael's instructions in perspective to Fra Bartolommeo. + </p> + <p> + The Virgin is a tender sweet figure; indeed no artist has given more + gracious dignity to womanhood than Albertinelli, although his detractors + say his life showed no great respect for it. Above, the Almighty is seen + in a yellow light with a circle of angels and seraphs around. It is + strange how the realistic painters stopped at nothing, not even the + representation of the eternal in a human form. Is not this the reason why + art ceased about this time to be the interpreter of religion, and found + its true mission in being the interpreter of nature? Who can draw one + soul? How much more impossible then to depict the incomprehensible soul in + which all others have their being? The utmost we can do is to give the + indication of the spirit in the expression of a face, and that so + imperfectly that not two beholders read it alike. Study Perugino and + Raphael, see how they raise human nature and etherealize it till we see + the divinity of soul in the faces of their saints and martyrs. But the + moment they try to depict the Almighty, or even his angels, they fall at + once below humanity. + </p> + <p> + But to return to the <i>Annunciation</i> of Albertinelli. His impetuous + temper betrayed him even here; he fell into a dispute with his patrons, + who refused to pay the price he asked. The usual "trial by his peers" was + resorted to, Perugino, Granacci, and Ridolfo Ghirlandajo were called into + council to value it according to its merits. + </p> + <p> + On completing this picture the events we have related in the last chapter + took place, Fra Bartolommeo returned from Venice with his enterprise + renewed, and the convent partnership was commenced. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. CONVENT PARTNERSHIP. A.D. 1510—1513. + </h2> + <p> + We now come to the studio of S. Marco, where the two friends, who had + dreamed together as boys, and worked together as youths, now laboured + jointly as men, bringing to light some of the finest works of art that + remain to us. During these three years Albertinelli's star seems merged in + that of his senior, his hand is to be recognised in the lower parts of a + few altarpieces; but it is always difficult to distinguish the two styles. + </p> + <p> + It was a very busy atelier, for they had many patrons. Bugiardini was + still Mariotto's head assistant, and Fra Paolino, and one or two other + monks, worked under Fra Bartolommeo, besides pupils of both, among whom + were Gabriele Rustici and Benedetto Cianfanini. + </p> + <p> + The studio was on the part of the convent between the cloister and Via del + Maglio, [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, vol. ii. p. 69.] and we + can quite picture its interior. There stands the lay figure on which Fra + Bartolommeo draped the garments that take such majestic folds in his + works; [Footnote: Fra Bartolommeo was the inventor of the jointed lay + figure.] there are several casts and models in different parts of the + room; grand cartoons in charcoal hang on the walls, like those we see to + this day in the Uffizi and Belle Arti. So many of these masterly sketches + are the Frate's and so few are Mariotto's that we may presume the former + was in most instances the designer. And to what perfection he carried + design! Not a figure was drawn except its lines harmonised with the + geometric rhythm in the artist's mind. His groups fall by nature into + kaleidoscopic figures of circles, triangles, ellipses, crosses, &c. + Not a cartoon was sketched in which the lights and shadows were not as + gradated and finished as a painting, although they were merely drawn with + charcoal. The following was the method of work in the "bottega." The + panels were prepared with a coating of plaster of Paris, over which, when + dry, a coat of under colour, ground in oil, was passed. The preparing of + the panels fell to the work of one of the monk scholars, Fra + Andrea.[Footnote: The books of the convent have a note of payment to Fra + Bartolommeo for 20th March, 1512, "per parte di lavoro di Fra Andrea + converse per mettere d'oro, et ingessare alle tavole nella bottega in + diversi lavori" (Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, lib. ii. chap. in. p. + 70).] Then the master made his sketch in white, or "sgraffito" (i.e. + graven on the plaster), as in the architectural lines of the pictures of + patron saints in the Uffizi, and the <i>Marriage of S. Catherine</i> in + the Pitti Palace; he also put in the shadows in monochrome. But the + assistants, who were skilled artists, were called to put broad level tints + of local colour on the buildings, &c., the master himself finishing + the faces. No doubt Albertinelli was often deputed to the study of the lay + figure and its drapery. Where he assisted, the monogram, a cross with two + rings and the joint names, marked the work, as en a panel of 1510 in + Vienna, and another at Geneva. + </p> + <p> + Fra Bartolommeo only imitated Leonardo in his intense force and soft + gradations; the general thinness of colour is opposed to his system. He + followed him, however, in his method of painting his shadows with the + brush, instead of "hatching" them; he used the same yellowish ground, and + "sfumato," [Footnote: Eastlake's <i>Materials for a History of Oil + Painting</i>, vol. ii. chap. iv.] <i>i.e.</i> the imperceptible softening + of the transition in half-lights and shadows; it was effected by glazes, + and is not adapted to a thin substance. The great mistake in Fra + Bartolommeo's system was the preparing his paintings like cartoons, and + using asphaltum or lamp-black for outlines and shadows; this in process of + time destroys the super-colour, and gives a general blackness to the + painting. + </p> + <p> + The same kind of talk went on here as in modern studios. When the + frame-maker came, Fra Bartolommeo would be vexed to see how much of his + work was hidden beneath the massive cornice, and would vow to dispense + with frames altogether, which he did in his <i>S. Sebastian</i> and <i>S. + Mark</i>, by painting an architectural niche round the subject like a + carving in relief. + </p> + <p> + The first work begun at the convent studio was the picture for Father + Dalgano of Venice, the subject of which is the <i>Eternal Father in Heaven</i>, + surrounded by seraphs and angels. Perhaps in this we have the source of + the motive of Albertinelli's <i>Annunciation</i>. The colouring is more + brilliant than any of the Frate's works before his visit to Venice. Vasari + says that in this picture Giorgione himself could not have surpassed him + in brilliancy. The saints, although nearly level with the ground, are + given celestial rank by the cherubs and clouds below them. Fra Bartolommeo + was dissatisfied with his angels, which seemed merely lovely children, and + seeking other forms, he thought to picture them better under shapes which + at a distance seem only clouds, but nearer are full of angels' faces, as + in the <i>S. Bernard</i>. But this idea, not having aesthetic beauty, was + also abandoned. [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>I Puristi ed Accademici</i>.] + </p> + <p> + The monks of S. Pietro at Murano did not hasten to claim their picture, + but sent two friars to negotiate about the price; they failed to agree, + and the work is now in the Church of S. Romano in Lucca. + </p> + <p> + Lucca has another exquisite picture of the same year in the Cathedral of + S. Martino, a <i>Madonna and Child</i>—a lovely ideal of joyful + infancy—beneath a veil suspended above her head by two angels. S. + John Baptist and S. Stephen support this airy composition like pillars, + their figures showing in strong relief against the dark shades; the whole + picture is intensely soft, and yet the outlines are perfectly clear. This + is valued at sixty ducats in the Libri di San Marco. + </p> + <p> + Next followed the <i>Virgin and Child with four Saints</i>, in S. Marco, + which is so fine that it has been taken for a Raphael, although, owing to + the use of lamp-black, it has now become very much darkened. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Holy Family</i> which he painted for Filippo di Averardo Salviati, + and which is now in Earl Cowper's collection at Panshanger, is an almost + Raphaelesque work, and attains the greatest excellence in art. The + composition is his favourite triangle, touched in with the flowing lines + of the mother seated on the ground with the two children before her. S. + Joseph is in the background. The greatest softness of flesh tints must + have been perceptible when new, for, "in spite of the abrasions produced + by time, the delicate tones brought out by transparent glazes fused one + over another are apparent." The landscape with an echo subject of the + flight into Egypt is thought by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to be by + Albertinelli. + </p> + <p> + In 1510 the partners had a large order from Giuliano da Gagliano, who, on + the 2nd November, 1510, and 14th January, 1511, paid, in two rates, the + sum of 154 ducats. The picture, which is Fra Bartolommeo's own painting, + unfortunately cannot be traced. + </p> + <p> + In 1511 a long list of works are enumerated—a <i>Nativity</i>, + valued two ducats, a <i>Christ bearing the Cross</i>, and an <i>Annunciation</i>, + sold to the Gonfaloniere for six ducats—pictures which are dispersed + in England, Pavia, &c.; but the masterpiece of the time is the <i>Marriage + of S. Catherine</i>, now in the Louvre. The Florentine government bought + it for 300 ducats in 1512, to present to Jacques Hurault, Bishop of Autun, + who came to Florence as envoy of Louis XII. He left it to his cathedral at + Autun, from whence, at the Revolution, it passed to the Louvre. [Footnote: + Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, lib. iii. ch. iv. p. 77. Crowe and + Cavalcaselle, <i>History of Painting</i>, vol. iii. chap. xiii. p. 452.] + Before it was sent away, Fra Bartolommeo made a replica of it, which is + now in the Pitti Palace. There is his favourite canopy supported by + angels; in this case they are beautifully foreshortened. The Virgin is + seated on a pedestal, holding by one arm an exquisitely moulded child + Jesus of about four years old, who is espousing S. Catherine of Siena, + kneeling at His feet on the left. A semicircle of saints group on each + side of the Virgin, and two angels, with musical instruments, are at her + feet; the upturned face of one is exquisitely foreshortened. The S. George + in armour is a powerful figure; and in S. Bartholomew, on the left, is the + same grand feeling which he afterwards brought to perfection in S. Mark. + The grace of the Virgin's figure is not to be surpassed; if Raphael's + Madonnas have more sentiment, this has more dignified grace. He has + remembered Leonardo's precept, "that the two figures of a group should not + look the same way"; the contrast of the flowing lines in these two forms + is very lovely. The same contrast of lines, and yet balance of form, is + carried out in the two S. Catherines who form the pyramid on each side of + her, and in the varied characters of the encircling group of saints. The + deleterious use of lampblack has spoiled the colouring; it, moreover, + hangs in a bad light at the Pitti Palace. + </p> + <p> + The original subject at the Louvre differs only in a few particulars from + this—the Virgin's hand is on the child's head instead of his arm, + and there are trifling differences in the grouping of the saints, the + semicircle being more rigidly kept. In this the flesh is thin and + uncracked, seeming imbedded in the surrounding colours; the lake draperies + are laid so thinly on the light ground, that the sketch can be seen + through the colour. [Footnote: Eastlake, <i>Materials for a History of Oil + Painting</i>, vol. ii. chap. iv. Crowe and Cavalcaselle speak of the two + paintings as unconnected with each other, and mention the Pitti one as + having unaccountably returned there after having been given to some + bishop. Is it not possible that the gift to a bishop refers to the + painting in the Louvre, and that the other is the replica spoken of by + Vasari, vol. ii. p. 452?] + </p> + <p> + There is a fine painting in the church of S. Caterina of Pisa, in the + chapel of the Mastiani family, Michele Mastiani having given the + commission, and paid thirty ducats, in October, 1511. It represents the <i>Madonna + and Child</i> seated on a base; the action is quiet and yet vivacious; she + is supported on each side by S. Peter and S. Paul, figures as large as + life, and even more noble than the ones in Rome. The colouring has been + much injured by a fire in the seventeenth century, but is robust and + harmonious. It is dated 1511. + </p> + <p> + On the 26th of November, 1510, Fra Bartolommeo had a commission from Pier + Soderini, then Gonfaloniere, to paint a picture for the Council Hall. This + was an unfortunate order; for Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci had both + been commissioned, neither of them finishing the works. Fra Bartolommeo's + forms the third uncompleted painting; it exists still in the form of a + half prepared picture, the design being only shadowed in monochrome, and + this in spite of the payment on account of 100 gold ducats in October, + 1513. [Footnote: See Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, documenti 5 and 6, + vol ii. p. 603.] The reason of this is difficult to assign, but it might + lie in the fact that in 1512 Pier Soderini was deposed and exiled by + Giuliano de' Medici, who assumed the government. Another reason may have + been the failure of Fra Bartolommeo's health after his journey to Rome. + </p> + <p> + In 1512 Santi Pagnini came back from Siena as prior of S. Marco, and he + having no love for Albertinelli, and perhaps a too jealous affection for + the artist Monk, caused the partnership to be dissolved, much to + Mariotto's sorrow. The stock, of which a full list is given by Padre + Marchese, was divided, each taking the pictures in which they had most to + do. The properties—amongst which were the lay figures, easels, + casts, sketches, blocks of porphyry to grind colours on, &c. + [Footnote: Padre Marchese, vol. ii. pp. 184, 185.]—were to be left + for Fra Bartolommeo's use till his death, when they were to be divided + between his heirs and Albertinelli. + </p> + <p> + Mariotto returned disheartened to paint in his solitary studio. A specimen + of this period is the <i>Adam and Eve</i>, now at Castle Howard, which is + said to have been sketched in by Fra Bartolommeo. Eve stands beneath the + serpent-entwined tree, hesitating between the demon's temptations and + Adam's persuasions; the feeling and action are perfectly expressed, the + landscape is minute, but has plenty of atmosphere and good colouring. In + the same collection is a <i>Sacrifice of Abraham</i>, in his best style. + The drawing of the father, reluctantly holding his knife to the throat of + the boy, is extremely true. Munich possesses a fine <i>Annunciation</i>. + Characteristic saints support the composition on each side, the nude S. + Sebastian being a markworthy study; an angel at his side presents the palm + of martyrdom. The picture has suffered much from bad cleaning. + </p> + <p> + In March, 1513, Albertinelli was commissioned by the Medici to paint their + arms, in honour of Leo X.'s elevation to the papacy. He made a fine + allegorical circular picture, in which the arms were supported by the + figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. CLOSE OF LIFE. A.D. 1514—1517. + </h2> + <p> + It is probable that the dissolution of partnership marked the time of Fra + Bartolommeo's visit to Rome. Fra Mariano Fetti, once a lay brother of S. + Marco, who had gone over to the Medici after Savonarola's death, and had + kept so much in favour with Pope Leo X. as to obtain the office of the + Seals (del Piombo), [Footnote: An office for appending seals to papal + documents. Fra Mariano Fetti was elected to it in 1514, after Bramante, + the architect; Sebastiano del Piombo succeeded him.] was pleased to be + considered a patron of art; and welcoming Fra Bartolommeo to Rome, he gave + him a commission for two large figures of S. Peter and S. Paul for his + church of S. Silvestro. The cartoons of these pictures are now in the + Belle Arti of Florence; they are grand and majestic figures, admirably + draped. S. Peter holds his keys and a book; S. Paul rests on his sword. In + executing them in colour, he made some improvements, especially in the + head and hand of S. Peter, but he did not remain long enough in Rome to + finish them. "The colour of the first (S. Peter) is reddish and rather + opaque, the shadows of the head being taken up afresh, and the extremities + being by another painter. The head of the second (S. Paul) is corrected + ... but the tone is transparent, and the execution exclusively that of Fra + Bartolommeo. Whoever may have been employed on the S. Peter, we do not + fancy Raphael to have been that person." This is the opinion of Crowe and + Cavalcaselle, [Footnote: <i>History of Painting</i>, vol. iii. chap. xiii. + p. 460.] who, however, seem to have little faith in any works of the Frate + at Rome. Against this we have the chronicles of quaint old Vasari and + Rosini; besides Baldinucci (ch. iv. p. 83), who says, "Raphael gave great + testimony of his esteem when, in after years, he employed his own brush in + Rome to finish a work begun by Fra Bartolommeo in that city and left + imperfect." + </p> + <p> + His reason for leaving it imperfect was that of ill-health, the air of + Rome not agreeing with him. It seems he brought home <i>malaria</i>, which + never entirely left his system, the low fever returning every year, and + being only mitigated by a change to mountain air. He was well enough at + times to resume painting, but never in full health again. That very summer + he was sent to the Hospice of Sta. Maria Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone, + "dove pure non stette in ozio," [Footnote: Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, + chap, xxvii. p. 245.] where he did not remain idle. The Hospice stands on + a high hill, just the place for Roman fever to disappear as if by magic + for a time, and the patient, relieved of his lassitude, set to work with + energy, aided by Fra Paolino and Fra Agostino. Many of his frescoes still + remain, one of which is a beautiful <i>Madonna</i>, on the wall of the + infirmary, which has since been sawn away from the wall and placed in the + students' chapel in San Marco, Florence. [Footnote: A document of the + Hospice records these paintings, and dates them 10th of July, 1514. Padre + Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, &c., vol. ii. p. 610.] + </p> + <p> + He returned to Florence for the winter, and with renewed vigour produced + his <i>San Sebastian</i>, a splendid study from the nude, which shows the + influence upon him of Michelangelo's paintings in Rome. The picture was + hung in San Marco, but its influence not proving elevating to the sensuous + minds of the Florentines, it was removed to the chapter-house, and Gio + Battista della Palla, the dealer who bought so many of the best pictures + of the time, purchased it to send to the King of France. Its subsequent + fate is not known, although Monsieur Alaffre, of Toulouse, boasts of its + possession. He says his father bought three paintings which, in the time + of the Revolution, had been taken from the chapel of a royal villa near + Paris [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, &c., vol. ii. note p. + 119.], one of which is the <i>S. Sebastian</i>. In design and attitude it + corresponds to the one described by Vasari, the saint being in a niche, + surrounded by a double cornice. The left arm is bound; the right, with its + cord hanging, is upraised in attitude of the faith, so fully expressed in + the beautiful face. Three arrows are fixed in the body, which is nude + except a slight veil across the loins; an angel, also nude, holds the palm + to him. Connoisseurs do not think this painting equal in merit to the + other works of Fra Bartolommeo. It is true it may have been overrated at + the time, for the Frate's chief excellence lay in the grandeur of his + drapery; the test of authenticity for a nude study from him would lie more + in the colouring and handling than in form. + </p> + <p> + In the early part of 1515 Fra Bartolommeo went to pay his old friend Santi + Pagnini, the Oriental scholar, a visit at the convent of San Romano, in + Lucca, of which he was now prior, passing by Pistoja on February 17th to + sign a contract for an altar-piece to be placed in the church of San + Domenico—a commission from Messer Jacopo Panciatichi. The price was + fixed at 100 gold ducats, and the subject to be the Madonna and Child, + with SS. Paul, John Baptist, and Sebastian. On his arrival at Lucca he was + soon busy with his great work, the <i>Madonna della Misericordia</i>, for + the church of San Romano. The composition of this is full and harmonious. + A populace of all ages and conditions, grouped around the throne of the + Madonna, beg her prayers; she, standing up, seems to gather all their + supplications in her hands and offer them up to heaven, from which, as a + vision, Christ appears from a mass of clouds in act of benediction. + Amongst the crowd of supplicants are some exquisite groups. Sublime + inspiration and powerful expression are shown in the whole work. On his + return he stayed again at Pistoja, where he painted a fresco of a <i>Madonna</i> + on a wall of the convent of San Domenico; this, which has since been sawn + from the wall, is at present in the church of the same convent, and though + much injured, is a very light and tender bit of colouring and expression. + It would seem that the altar-piece for the same church, spoken of above, + was never finished, as no traces of it are to be found. + </p> + <p> + In October, 1515, we again find him at Pian di Mugnone; no doubt the + summer heats had induced a return of his fever. Here, again improving in + health, he painted a charming <i>Annunciation</i> in fresco, full of life + and eagerness on the part of the angel, and joy on the Virgin. He did not + remain long, for before the end of the autumn he returned to visit the + home of his youth and see his paternal uncle, Giusto, at Lastruccio, near + Prato. We can imagine the meeting between him and his relatives, and how + the little Paolo, son of Vito, being told to guess who he was, said, "Bis + Zio Bartolommeo," [Footnote: Padre Marchese, <i>Memorie</i>, &c., vol. + ii. chap. vii. pp. 139, 140.] for which he was much applauded. And when + all the country relatives hoped to see him again soon, how the Frate said + that would be uncertain, because the King of France had sent for him, and + with what awe and family pride they would have looked at him! But instead + of going to France for the glory of art, he was returning to Florence to + sorrow. His life-long friend, Mariotto Albertinelli, had been brought home + on a litter from La Quercia, near Viterbo, and now lay on his death-bed; + and what his life had lacked in religion, the prayers of his friend would + go far to atone for at his death. + </p> + <p> + While Fra Bartolommeo had been ailing, Albertinelli had also paid his + visit to the great city, and seen the two great rivals there. He went from + Viterbo, where he had been to finish colouring a work of the Frate's left + unfinished, and also to paint some frescoes in the convent of La Quercia, + near that town. Being so near Borne, he was seized with a great desire to + see it, and left his picture for that purpose. Probably Fra Bartolommeo + had given him an introduction to his friend and patron, for Fra Mariano + Fetti gave Albertinelli a commission to paint a <i>Marriage of S. + Catherine</i> for his church, which he completed, and then left Rome at + once. Nothing is known of the impressions made on him by the works of the + two great masters, and unfortunately his death occurred too soon after for + his own style to have given any evidence of their influence. + </p> + <p> + A Giostra, at Viterbo, proved a very strong attraction to his + pleasure-loving mind. This "Giostra," which the translators of Vasari seem + to find so "obscure," [Footnote: Vasari's <i>Lives</i>, vol. ii. p. 470.] + was no doubt one of those festivals revived by the Medici, in which + mounted cavaliers ride with a lance at a suspended Saracen's head, + striking it at full gallop. Desirous of appearing to advantage before the + eyes of her whom he had elected his queen, he forgot his mature age, and + rushed into the jousts with all the energies of a youth, but alas! fell + ill from over-exertion. Fearing the malarious air was not good for him, he + had a litter made, and was taken to Florence, where Fra Bartolommeo placed + himself at his bedside, soothing his last moments, and leading him as far + heavenward as he could. When Albertinelli died, on the 5th of November, + 1515, his friend followed him to an honourable interment in S. Piero + Maggiore. + </p> + <p> + After Albertinelli's death, the Frate soared to greater heights of genius + than before. + </p> + <p> + The year 1516 marks the birth of his grandest masterpieces, first the + picture in the Pitti Palace called by Cavalcaselle a <i>Resurrection</i>, + but which is more truly an allegorical impersonation of the Saviour. It + was ordered by a rich merchant, Salvadore Billi, to place in a chapel + which Pietro Roselli had adorned with marbles in the church of the + "Annunciata." He paid 100 ducats in gold for it. + </p> + <p> + In its original state the picture was a complete allegory of <i>Christ as + the centre of Religion</i>, between two prophets in heaven, and four + apostles, two at each side—beneath him two angels support the world. + The prophets have been removed, and are placed in the Tribune of the + Uffizi; thus the picture as it stands loses half its meaning. The Christ + is a fine nude figure standing in a niche, and in it Fra Bartolommeo has + solved the problem of obtaining complete relief almost in monochrome, so + little do the lights of the flesh tints, and the warm yellowish tinge of + the background differ from each other. All the positive colour is in the + drapery of the saints, one in red and green, and another in red and blue. + The two angels are exquisitely drawn, and contrast well in their natural + innocence with the sentimental pair in Raphael's <i>Madonna of the + Baldacchino</i> on the same wall of the Pitti Palace. + </p> + <p> + San Marco was rich in frescoes of the <i>Madonna and Child</i>, two of + which are still in the chapel of the convent, and two in the Belle Arti. + Some of these are charming in expression, the children clinging round the + mother's neck in a true childish <i>abandon</i> of affection. What a + tender feeling these monk artists had for the spirit of maternity! Perhaps + by being debarred from the contemplation of maternal love in its humanity, + they more clearly comprehended its divinity. Look at the little + round-backed nestling child in Fra Angelico's <i>Madonna della Stella</i>, + imperfect as it is in form, the whole spirit of love is in it. He does not + give only the mother-love for the child, but the child-love for the + mother, which is more divine, and the same feeling is seen in the <i>Madonna</i> + of Fra Bartolommeo. + </p> + <p> + This year, 1516, also marks a journey to a hermitage of his order at + Lecceto, between Florence and Pisa. Here he painted a <i>Deposition from + the Cross</i> on the wall of the Hospice, and two heads of Christ on two + tiles above the doors. + </p> + <p> + A great many of his works are in private collections in Florence; one of + the most lovely is the <i>Pietà</i>, painted for Agnolo Doni, and now in + the Corsini Gallery at Rome. + </p> + <p> + All this time the great painting of the <i>Enthronement of the Virgin</i>, + ordered by Pier Soderini, before his exile, was still unfinished. He seems + to have taken it in hand again about this time, but being attacked with + another access of fever, again left it, and the painting, shadowed in with + black, remains in the Uffizi. Lanzi writes of it that, imperfect as it is, + it may be regarded as a true lesson in art, and bears the same relation to + painting as the clay model to the finished statue, the genius of the + inventor being impressed upon it. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle + [Footnote: <i>History of Painting</i>, vol. iii. chap. xiii. p. 455.] call + this a <i>Conception</i>, but Vasari's old name of the <i>Patron Saints of + Florence</i> seems to fit it best. S. John the Baptist, S. Reparata, S. + Zenobio, &c., stand in an adoring group around the heavenly powers, S. + Anna above the Virgin and infant Christ forming a charming pyramidal group + in the midst. The whole thing is one of Fra Bartolommeo's richest + compositions. The centre of the three monks on the left is said to be a + portrait of Fra Bartolommeo himself, and to be the original from which the + only known portrait of him is taken (<i>see Frontispiece</i>). Fra + Bartolommeo left another work also unfinished, an apotheosis of a saint, + which is now at Panshanger. This is supposed to have been a small ideal + prepared for a picture to celebrate the canonisation of S. Antonino, which + Leo X. had almost promised the brethren of S. Marco on his triumphant + entry in 1515. The work, if it had been painted in the larger form, would + have been a perfect masterpiece of composition, "a very Beethoven symphony + in colour," if we may judge from the sketch at Panshanger, where a living + crowd groups round the bier of the archbishop, and life, earnestness, + harmony, and richness, are all intense. + </p> + <p> + So ill was Fra Bartolommeo in 1517 that he was ordered to take the baths + at San Filippo, thence he went for the last time to Pian di Mugnone, where + he painted a <i>Vision of the Saviour to Mary Magdalen</i>, above the door + of the chapel. The two figures, nearly life-size, are at the door of the + cave sepulchre. Mary has just recognised her Lord, and in her ecstasy + flings herself forward on her knees before him. The Saviour is a dignified + figure semi-nude, with a white veil wrapped around him. + </p> + <p> + In the Pitti Palace, a charming <i>Pietà</i> of Fra Bartolommeo's occupies + a place near the <i>Pietà</i> of Andrea del Sarto, the two pictures + forming a most interesting contrast of style. The kneeling Virgin and S. + John support the head of the prostrate Saviour, S. Catherine and Mary + Magdalen weep at his feet, the latter in an agony of grief crouches prone + on the ground hiding her face. The colouring is extremely rich, broad + masses of full-tone melting softly into deep shadows. The handling in the + flesh-tones of the dead Saviour, as well as the modelling of form, are + most masterly. It is generally supposed that this was the picture which + Bugiardini is said to have coloured after the master's death; but there is + much divergence among Italian authors both as to whether this was the + painting spoken of, and also as to the meaning of Vasari's words, he using + the phrase "finished" in one place, and "coloured" in another. For charm + of colouring and depth of expression, the <i>Pietà</i> is the most lovely + of all the Frate's works; therefore Bugiardini who was <i>mediocre</i>, + could not have outdone his great master. It was not <i>coloured</i> by + him. Bocchi [Footnote: Bocchi, <i>Bellezze di Firenze</i>, p. 304.] says + there were two other figures, S. Peter and S. Paul, in the picture, where + a meaningless black shadow stretches across the background; but they were + erased by the antique restorer because they were "troppo deboli." Is it + not likely that if Bugiardini had any hand in the work, it was to finish + these figures? + </p> + <p> + Returning in the autumn to Florence, Fra Bartolommeo caught a severe cold, + the effects of which were heightened by eating fruit, and after four days' + extreme illness he died on October 8th, 1517, aged 42. + </p> + <p> + The monks felt his death intensely, and buried him with great honour in + San Marco. + </p> + <p> + He left to art the most valuable legacy possible—a long list of + masterpieces in which religious feeling is expressed in the very highest + language. In all his works there is not a line or tint which transgresses + against either the sentiment of devotion, or the rules of art. He stands + for ever, almost on a level with the great trio of the culmination, + "possessing Leonardo's grace of colour and more than his industry, + Michelangelo's force with more softness, and Raphael's sentiment with more + devotion;" yet with just the inexpressible want of that supernatural + genius which would have placed him above them all. His legacy to the world + is a series of lessons from the very first setting of his ideal on paper + to its finished development. The germ exists in the charcoal sketches at + the Belle Arti and Uffizi; the under-shadowing of the subject is seen in + the <i>Patron Saints</i> at the Uffizi. + </p> + <p> + Many of his drawings are not to be traced. Some were used by Fra Paolino, + his pupil, who at his death passed them to Suor Plautilla Nelli, a nun in + Sta. Caterina, Florence (born 1523, died 1587). When Baldinucci wrote his + work, he said 500 of these were in the possession of Cavaliere Gaburri. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I. SCHOLARS OF FRA BARTOLOMMEO. + </h2> + <p> + Of these, little more than the names have come down to us. Vasari speaks + of Benedetto Cianfanini, Gabbriele Rustici, and Fra Paolo Pistojese; Padre + Marchese mentions two monks, Fra Andrea and Fra Agostino. Of these, the + two first never became proficient, and have left no works behind them. Fra + Andrea seems to have been more a journeyman than scholar, being employed + to prepare the panels and lay on the gilding. Fra Agostino assisted his + master, and Fra Paolo in the subordinate parts of a few frescoes, + especially at Luco in the Mugnone. Fra Paolo is the most known, but + chiefly as a far-off imitator of Fra Bartolommeo, without his mellowness + of execution. His pictures are mostly from his master's designs, which + were left him as a legacy, and this ensures a good composition. + </p> + <p> + He was born at Pistoja in 1490; his father, Bernardino d' Antonio del + Signoraccio, a second-rate artist, taught him the first principles of art. + His knowledge of drawing caused him to be noticed by Fra Bartolommeo, when + at a very early age he entered the order. He was removed from Prato to San + Marco, Florence, in 1503; and here he found another friend who assisted + his artistic tendencies. This was Fra Ambrogio della Robbia, [Footnote: + Padre Marchese, Memorie, &c., lib. in. chap. ii. p. 246.] who taught + him to model in clay; a specimen of his work exists in the Church of Sta. + Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone, where are two statues of S. Domenico and + Mary Magdalen by his hand. + </p> + <p> + His best work is a <i>Crucifixion</i> at Siena, dated 1516, which has been + thought to be Fra Bartolommeo's; but though that master was asked to go + and paint it as a memorial of a certain Messer Cherubino Ridolfo, his many + occupations prevented his accepting the commission, and his disciples, Fra + Paolo and Fra Agostino, went in his place. [Footnote: Padre Marchese, + Memorie, &c., lib. in. chap. ii. p. 251.] Possibly the master supplied + the design, which is very harmonious. The Virgin and S. John stand on each + side of the cross, and Saint Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalen are + prostrate before it. One or two of the female saints are pleasing, but the + nude figure of Christ is hard, exaggerated, and faulty in drawing. + </p> + <p> + The artists got thirty-five lire for the work, though the record in the + archives allows that it was worth more. There is an <i>Assumption</i> in + the Belle Arti of Florence, of which the design is Fra Bartolommeo's, but + the colouring Fra Paolo's. It was painted for the Dominican monks at Santa + Maria del Sasso, near Bibbiena. The colouring is hard and weak, the + shadows heavy, and not fused well in the half tints. Two monks on the left + are tolerably life-like, probably they were drawn from living models; the + S. Catherine on the right is very inferior. + </p> + <p> + The Belle Arti also possesses a <i>Deposition from the Cross</i>, which + Fra Bartolommeo had sketched out and left uncoloured at Pian di Mugnone. + In 1519 Fra Paolo finished it, and it presents the usual disparity between + the composition and colouring, the former being good, the latter weak and + crude. His best known works are a Nativity in the Palazzo Borghese, a <i>Madonna + and Child with S. John Baptist</i> in the Sciarra Colonna, also in Rome; a + <i>Madonna and Child with S. John</i> in the Corsini Gallery, Florence, + and another of the same subject in the Antinori Palace. He painted also at + San Gimignano, Pian di Mugnone, and Pistoja, and died of sunstroke in + 1547. + </p> + <p> + He had as a follower a Suor Plautilla Nelli, born 1523, daughter of a + noble Florentine, Piero di Luca Nelli. She took the vows at the age of + fourteen, in the convent of S. Caterina di Siena, in Via Larga (now + Cavour), Florence. Her sister, Suor Petronilla, in the same convent, was a + writer, and her life of Savonarola is still extant. Suor Plautilla taught + herself to paint. Legend says, that in order to study the nude for a + Christ, she drew from the corpse of a nun—which might account for + the weak stiffness of her design. Fra Paolo, though there is no record of + his having taught her, left her as a legacy the designs and cartoons of + Fra Bartolommeo, one of which, the <i>Pietà</i>, she has evidently made + use of in the painting in the Belle Arti. The grouping is that of the <i>Pietà</i> + of Fra Bartolommeo, now in the Pitti, of which she must have had the + original sketch, for she has put in the two saints in the background, + which have been painted out in that of the Frate, but we will give her the + entire credit of the colouring, which is extremely crude; the contrasting + blues and yellows are in inharmonious tones, the shading harsh, and the + whole picture wanting in chiaroscuro. The Corsini Gallery, Florence, has a + <i>Virgin and Child</i> by her. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II. SCHOLARS OF MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI + </h2> + <p> + The scholars of Mariotto Albertinelli were much more important in the + annals of art, the principal ones being Bugiardini, Francia Bigio, Visino, + and Innocenza d' Imola. + </p> + <p> + Giuliano Bugiardini should be called the assistant rather than the scholar + of Albertinelli, being older than his master. He was born in 1471 in a + suburb outside the Via Faenza, Florence, and was placed in the shop of + Domenico Ghirlandajo, where his acquaintance with Michelangelo—begun + in the Medici Gardens—ripened into intimacy, and he was employed by + him in the Sistine Chapel. Giuliano had that happily constructed mind + which, with an ineffable content in its own works, will pass through life + perfectly happy in the feeling that in reaching mediocrity it has achieved + success. Not only wanting talent to produce better works, he lacked also + the faculty of perceiving where his own were faulty, and having a great + aptitude for copying the works of others, he felt himself as great as the + original artists. Michelangelo was always amused with his naïve + self-conceit, and kept up a friendship with him for many years. He even + went so far as to sit to Bugiardini for his likeness, at the request of + Ottaviano de' Medici. Giuliano, having painted and talked nonsense for two + hours, at last exclaimed, to his sitter's great relief, "Now, + Michelangelo, come and look at yourself; I have caught your very + expression." But what was Michelangelo's horror to see himself depicted + with eyes which were neither straight nor a pair! The worthy artist looked + from his work to the original, and declared he could see no difference + between them, on which Michelangelo, shrugging his shoulders, said, "It + must be a defect of nature," and bade his friend go on with it. This + charming portrait was presented to Ottaviano de' Medici, with that of <i>Pope + Clement VII.</i>, copied from Sebastian del Piombo, and is now in the + Louvre. Bugiardini's works always take the style of other masters. There + is a <i>Madonna</i> in the Uffizi, and one in the Leipsic Museum, both in + Leonardo's style, with his defects exaggerated. The former is a sickly + woman in a sentimental attitude, the child rather heavy, the colouring is + bright and well fused; he has evidently adopted the method which he had + seen Albertinelli use in his studio. + </p> + <p> + During a stay in Bologna he painted a <i>Madonna and Saints</i> as an + altar-piece for the church of S. Francesco, besides a <i>Marriage of S. + Catherine</i>, now in the Bologna Pinacoteca. The composition of this is + not without merit; the child Jesus seated on his mother's knees, gives the + ring to S. Catherine, little S. John stands at the Virgin's feet, S. + Anthony on her left. The colouring is less pleasing, the flesh tints too + red and raw. + </p> + <p> + A round picture in the Zambeccari Gallery, Bologna, shows him in + Michelangelo's style. The Virgin is reading on a wooded bank, but looks up + to see the infant Christ greet the approaching S. John Baptist; this is + carefully, if rather hardly, painted. The lights in the Saviour's hair + have been touched in with gold. The time of his stay in Bologna is + uncertain, but in 1525 he was in Florence, and drawing designs for the + Ringhiera with Andrea del Sarto. There is a document in the archives, + proving that on October 5th, 1526 Bugiardini was paid twenty florins in + gold for his share of the work. He obtained some rank as a portrait + painter, in spite of his failure in that of Michelangelo; and had + commissions from many of the celebrities of Florence. It was in original + composition that his powers failed him. Messer Palla Rucellai ordered a + picture from him of the <i>Martyrdom of S. Catherine</i>, which he began + with the intention of making it a very fine work indeed. He spent several + years in representing the wheels, the lightnings and fires in a + sufficiently terrible aspect, but had to beg Michelangelo's assistance in + drawing the men who were to be killed by those heavenly flames; his design + was to have a row of soldiers in the foreground, all knocked down in + different attitudes. His friend took up the charcoal and sketched in a + splendid group of agonised nude figures; but these were beyond his power + to shade and colour, and Tribolo made him a set of models in clay, in the + attitudes given by Michelangelo, and from these he finished the work; but + the great master's hand was never apparent in it. Bugiardini died at the + age of seventy-five. + </p> + <p> + Of Francesco Bigi, commonly called Francia Bigio or Franciabigio, so much + is said in the following life of Andrea del Sarto, that a slight sketch + will suffice here. He was the son of Cristofano, and was born in 1482. His + early studies were made in the Brancacci Chapel, and the Papal Hall—where + he drew from the cartoons in 1505-6, and the studio of Mariotto + Albertinelli, from which he passed to his partnership with Andrea del + Sarto in 1509. Thus it is that his first style was marked by the influence + of Mariotto and Fra Bartolommeo, while in his later works he approximated + more to Andrea del Sarto. + </p> + <p> + Two of his early paintings were placed in the church of S. Piero Maggiore, + one a <i>Virgin and Child</i> of great beauty. The infant clasps its arms + round its mother's neck—a charming attitude—which suggests a + playful effort to hide from the young S. John, who is running towards him, + by nestling closer to the dearer resting place. The picture is now in the + Uffizi and has been long known as <i>Raphael's Madonna del Pozzo</i>. + [Footnote: Crowe and Cavalcaselle, <i>History of Painting</i>, vol. iii. + chap. xv. p. 501.] No greater testimony to Francia Bigio's excellence can + be given than the frequency of his works being mistaken for those of + Raphael, but the influence of his contemporaries was always strong upon + him. The <i>Annunciation</i>, painted for the same church, is also + described by Vasari as a carefully designed work, though somewhat feeble + in manner. The angel is lightly poised in air, the Virgin kneeling before + a foreshortened building. The picture was lost sight of in the demolition + of the church, but Crowe and Cavalcaselle [Footnote: Crowe and + Cavalcaselle, <i>History of Painting</i>, Vol. iii. p. 500.] believe they + have discovered it in a picture at Turin, the authorship of which is + avowedly doubtful. They mention, however, a celestial group of the Eternal + Father in a cherub-peopled cloud, sending his blessing in the form of a + dove, with a ray of glory. Surely if this be the one described by Vasari + [Footnote: Vasari, vol. iii. p. 336] so minutely, he would not have + omitted a part of the subject so important to the picture. + </p> + <p> + In 1509 we may presumably date the partnership with Andrea del Sarto, that + being about the time when they began to work together in the Scalzo. + Francia Bigio painted some frescoes in the church of S. Giobbe, behind the + Servite Monastery. A <i>Visitation</i> was in a tabernacle at the corner + of the church, and subjects from Job's life on a pilaster within it: these + have long ago disappeared. The altar-piece of the <i>Madonna and Job</i>, + which he painted in oil for the same church, has been more fortunate, as + it still exists in the Tuscan School in the Uffizi. Though much injured, + it shows his earlier style. The <i>Calumny of Apelles</i> in the same + gallery is a curious picture. It is hard and dull in colouring, the + prevailing tone being a heavy drab; there are several nude figures, of + doubtful forms as to beauty of drawing, the flesh is painted in a smooth + glazed style, without relief or tenderness. + </p> + <p> + Francia Bigio shines more in fresco than in oil; his hardness is less + apparent, and he gains in freedom and brilliance of colouring in the more + congenial medium. The finest of his frescoes is, unfortunately, spoiled by + his own hand, and remains as a memorial of his genius and hasty temper. I + allude to the <i>Sposalizio</i> (A.D. 1513) in the courtyard of the + Servite church, where Andrea did his series of frescoes from the life of + Filippo Benizzi. The composition is grand and carefully thought out, the + colouring bright and pleasing; perhaps in emulating Andrea's luxurious + style of drapery he has gone a little too far, and crowded the folds. The + bridegroom is a noble figure, and shows in his face his gladness in the + blossoming rod. A man in the foreground breaks a stick across his knees. + The commentators of Vasari have taken this to emblematize the Roman + Catholic legend of the Virgin having given rods to each of her suitors, + and chosen him whose rod blossomed. Graceful women surround the Virgin, + but there is perhaps a too marked sentimentality about these which + suggests a striving after Raphael's style. There is, however, a great + touch of nature in a mother with a naughty child, who sits crying on the + ground, much to the mother's distress. Francia Bigio commenced this in + Andrea's absence in France, which so excited his former comrade's + emulation that he did his <i>Visitation</i> in great haste, to get it + uncovered as soon as Francia Bigio's. In fact, Andrea's works were ready + by the date of the annual festa of the Servites, and the monks, being + anxious to uncover all the new frescoes for that day, took upon them to + remove the mattings from that of Francia Bigio as well, without his + permission, for he wished to give a few more finishing touches. So angry + was he, on arriving in the cloister, to see a crowd of people admiring his + work in what he felt to be an imperfect condition, that in an excess of + rage he mounted on the scaffolding which still remained, and, seizing a + hammer, beat the head of the Madonna to pieces, and ruined the nude figure + breaking the rod. The monks hastened to the scene in an uproar of + remonstrance, the frantic artist's destructive hand was stayed by the + bystanders, but so deep was his displeasure that he refused to restore the + picture, and no other hand having touched it, the fresco remains to this + day a fine work mutilated. It shows him artistically in his very best, and + morally, at his worst, phase. In 1518, while Andrea was in France, the + monks of the Scalzo employed Francia Bigio to fill two compartments in + their pretty little cloister, where Andrea had commenced his <i>Life of S. + John Baptist</i>. These are spoken of more at length in the life of that + master, who on his return took the work again in his own hands. In 1521 + Bigio competed with Andrea and Pontormo, in the Medici Villa at Poggio a + Cajano; Andrea's <i>Cæsar receiving Tribute</i> occupies one wall of the + hall, and Francia Bigio's <i>Triumph of Cicero</i> another. The subjects + were selected by the historian, Messer Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera; it + only remained for the artists to make the most of the chosen themes. + Francia Bigio filled his background with a careful architectural + perspective, and a crowd of muscular Romans are grouped before it. This + also was left unfinished at the Pope's death, and Allori completed it in + 1582. Francia Bigio, however, did many of the gilded decorations of the + hall. + </p> + <p> + In the Dresden Gallery is a work, Scenes from the Life of David, signed A. + S., MDXXIII., and his monogram, a painting very much in the style of + Andrea del Sarto's <i>Life of Joseph</i>. Reumont [Footnote: Life of + Andrea del Sarto, p. 138 et seq.] claims it as the joint work of Andrea + and Francia Bigio, founding his opinion on the letters A. S. before the + date; but the letters mean only <i>Anno salutis</i>, and are used in very + many of Francia Bigio's signed paintings. He had the commission from Gio + Maria Benintendi in 1523. It is one of those curious pictures which have + many scenes in one—a style which militates greatly against artistic + unity. On the right is David's palace, on the left Uriah's; David is at + his door watching Bathsheba and her maidens bathing. In the centre is the + siege of Rabbah; another well-draped group represents David receiving + Uriah's homage. In the foreground David gives wine to Uriah at a banquet. + There is careful painting and ingenious composition, but a less finished + manner of colouring than in Andrea's Joseph, which was painted about the + same time for Pier Borgherini. + </p> + <p> + Like Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, Francia Bigio fell off in his later style, + partly because his ambition failed him, and also because he began to look + on art as a means of livelihood—a motive which is certain death to + high art. + </p> + <p> + He was especially celebrated as a portrait painter, several of his works + having been attributed to Raphael. Among these are one at the Louvre and + one at the Pitti Palace, both portraits of a youth in tunic and black cap, + with long hair flowing over his shoulders; one in the National Gallery, + formerly in Mr. Fuller Maitland's collection; the portrait of a jeweller, + dated A. S., MDXVI. in Lord Yarborough's gallery; that in the Berlin + Museum, of a man sitting at a desk, dated 1522; and the likeness of Pier + Francesco de Medici at Windsor—all of which bear Francia Bigio's + monogram, often with the letters A. S. (<i>Anno salutis</i>) before the + date. He died on January 14th, 1525. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. RIDOLFO GHIRLANDAJO. A.D. 1483—1560. + </h2> + <p> + RIDOLFO (DI DOMENICO) BIGORDI, called GHIRLANDAJO, &c., was born on + the 4th of January, 1483. Although not strictly a scholar, he is one of + Fra Bartolommeo's principal followers. When quite a child he lost his + father, the famous Domenico, who died of fever, on January 11th, 1494; his + mother and uncle Benedetto only lived a few years after; and Ridolfo, with + his three sisters and two brothers, was left to the guardianship of his + uncle Davide. + </p> + <p> + Ridolfo was the only one who chose the family profession, and he became + the fourth painter of the name of Ghirlandajo. + </p> + <p> + Davide was not a perfect artist, although a good mosaicist, as his works + in the cathedrals of Orvieto, Siena, and Florence show, but he was for + many years Ridolfo's only instructor. As the boy grew up Ridolfo + frequented those public schools of art before spoken of, the Brancacci + Chapel, and the study of the cartoons in the Papal Hall. Here he secured + the friendship not only of Granacci and Pier di Cosimo, but of Raphael + himself, with whom he visited Fra Bartolommeo in his convent. + </p> + <p> + Raphael permitted Ridolfo to assist him in a Madonna for Siena, and tried + to persuade him to accompany him to Rome; but Ridolfo, like a true + Florentine, declined to go "beyond sight of the Duomo." + </p> + <p> + His first great picture was done in 1504 for the church of San Gallo. The + subject was <i>Christ Searing His Cross</i>. His uncle Benedetto had + laboured on a similar picture, now in the Louvre, but Ridolfo's is a great + improvement on this; the composition is well balanced, full of force and + animation, the weeping figures of the Maries and the solicitude of S. + Veronica are very lifelike, although he has not entirely abolished his + uncle's coarseness in the scowling, low-typed men. The Christ and the + Virgin are, on the contrary, so refined as to induce the supposition that + this force of contrast was intentional; the landscape is rather hard and + crude in tone, the flesh tints smooth, and the handling similar to that of + Credi. + </p> + <p> + The original is now in Palazzo Antinori, Florence, but a replica, in which + he was assisted by Michele, his favourite pupil and adopted son, is in + Santo Spirito. + </p> + <p> + Vasari speaks of a <i>Nativity</i>, painted for the Cistercian monks of + Cestello; a beautiful composition, in which the Madonna adores the holy + child, S. Joseph standing near her; S. Francis and S. Jerome kneel in + adoration; the landscape was sketched from the hills near "La Vernia," + where S. Francis received the stigmata. + </p> + <p> + Maselli says the picture was lost when the monastery changed hands, but + Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle [Footnote: History of fainting, vol. in. + chap. xvi. pp. 523, 524.] believe they have found it in the Hermitage at + S. Petersburg, under Granacci's name. It is possible that the favourite + pupil of his father and Ridolfo's own friend may have assisted him. The + landscape is Raphaelesque, and might mark the time when that master and + Fra Bartolommeo influenced his style. His best manner approached so nearly + to that of the Frate, that had he continued he would have very nearly + rivalled his excellence. + </p> + <p> + His two masterpieces are now in the Uffizi; they were painted for the + Brotherhood of S. Zenobio, 1510, to stand one on each side of + Albertinelli's <i>Annunciation</i>. One is <i>S. Zenobio</i> (the first + bishop and patron saint of Florence) <i>restoring a dead child to life</i>; + the other the <i>Funeral Procession of the Saint passing the Baptistery</i>, + where an elm tree, which had been withered, put forth fresh leaves as the + coffin of the bishop touched it. A marble column, with a bronze tree in + relief on it, stands on the spot as a memorial of this miracle. In these + two works Ridolfo Ghirlandajo proved the power which was in him, but they + are the culmination of his art; he never surpassed, or indeed equalled + them again. His richness of colouring and deep relief equalled that of the + Frate, the animation and expression rivalled Andrea del Sarto. In the + first picture, the eagerness of the crowd, the intense feeling of the + mother, in whom grief for the dead child seems almost greater than the + hope of his resuscitation, the sturdy, solid character of the Florentines + of the Republic, are all given with a masterly hand, while a rich blending + of colour fuses the animated crowd in a harmonious unison. In the latter, + grandeur and dignity mark the group of ecclesiastics which surrounds the + archbishop's bier, the full solid falls of their drapery show that he had + well studied his father's works. + </p> + <p> + Ridolfo's brothers became monks, Don Bartolommeo lived in the Camaldoline + Monastery of the Angeli, which Ridolfo beautified with many works. Paolo + Uccelli had adorned the Loggia with frescoed stories from the life of S. + Benedict. Ridolfo added two to the series. In one the Saint is at table + with two angels, waiting for S. Romano to send his bread from the grotto, + but the devil has cut the cord and taken it. + </p> + <p> + Another is <i>S, Benedict investing a youth with the habit of the order</i>. + In the church of the same monastery he painted a beautiful <i>Madonna and + Child, with Angels</i>, above the holy water vase, and <i>S. Romualdo with + the Camaldolese Hermitage in his Hand</i>, in a lunette in the cloister. + All these were done as a brotherly gift, and after they were finished, the + abbot, Don Andrea Dossi, gave him a commission to paint a <i>Last Supper</i> + in the refectory, which he did, placing the portrait of the abbot in the + corner. + </p> + <p> + Ridolfo, like his father, regarded art rather as a means of livelihood + than with any aesthetic feelings, and this is probably the reason of his + never attaining true excellence. His "bottega" was really a shop where any + one might order a work of art, or of artisanship, and he gave as much + attention to painting a banner for a procession as to composing an + altar-piece. He had a great many assistants, whom he called on for help in + various undertakings. They assisted him to prepare the Medici Halls for + the reception of Pope Leo X., and later for the marriages of Giuliano and + Lorenzo, not disdaining to paint scenes for the dramas which were then + given. He painted banners, and designed costumes for the processions of + the "potenze," a festive company, the origin of which is uncertain, but + dating certainly from the Middle Ages. Each quarter of the city had an + emperor, lords, and dignitaries, each of whom carried his banner or + emblazonment. Grand processions, tournaments, and feasts were held once a + year, on S. John's Day, by the potenze. + </p> + <p> + Having assisted at the triumphs and marriages of the Medici princes, he + also furnished the funeral pomp and magnificence on the deaths of the + brothers, that of Giuliano occurring in 1516, of Lorenzo 1519. + </p> + <p> + Lucratively it answered his purpose; the Medici gave him great honour; he + was well paid by them, and got the commission to decorate the Chapel of + the Palazzo Vecchio—a very good specimen of his fresco painting, in + which he never reached his father's excellence, although in oil he far + surpassed him. The chapel is small; the groined roof is covered with + emblematical designs on a blue ground, a Trinity in the midst with angels + bearing symbols of the passions around. The apostles and evangelists + surround this, and the principal wall has a larger fresco of the <i>Annunciation</i>—a + rather conventional rendering. + </p> + <p> + Commissions flowed in on him to such a degree, that although he had + fifteen children, he lived to amass money and lands, to see his daughters + well married, and his sons prosperous merchants trading to distant lands. + He died on the 6th of June, 1561, and lies with his forefathers in the + church of S. Maria Novella. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ANDREA D'AGNOLO, + </h2> + <h3> + CALLED ANDREA DEL SARTO. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. YOUTH AND EARLY WORKS. A.D. 1487-1511. + </h2> + <p> + Andrea Del Sarto is a curious instance of the vital power of art, which, + like a flower forcing its way to the light through walls or rocks, will + find expression in spite of obstacles. + </p> + <p> + Andrea the painter, "senza errori," was an artist in spite of lowering + home influences, of want of encouragement in his patrons—for his + greatest works only brought the smallest remuneration—and even in + spite of his own nature, which was material, wanting in high aims, and + deficient in ideality; yet his name lives for ever as a great master, and + his works rank close to those of the leaders of the Renaissance. + </p> + <p> + In looking at them one sighs even in the midst of admiration, thinking + that if the hand which produced them had been guided by a spark of divine + genius instead of the finest talent, what glorious works they would have + been! The truth is that Andrea's was a receptive, rather than an original + and productive mind. His art was more imitative than spontaneous, and this + forms perhaps the difference between talent and genius. The art of his + time sunk into his mind, and was reproduced. He lived precisely at the + time of the culmination of art, when all the highest masters were bringing + forth their grandest works; therefore he could not do otherwise than to + follow the best examples. + </p> + <p> + He gathered the experience of all—the force of Michelangelo, the + handling of Leonardo, the sentiment of Raphael, so blending them as to + form a style seemingly his own, and in execution following closely on + their excellence. + </p> + <p> + In Giotto's or Masaccio's case the master created the art; in Andrea's it + was the art of the age which made the artist. + </p> + <p> + The question of Andrea del Sarto's birth is a mooted one. Biadi dates it + 1478, but the register he quotes is both vague and doubtful. He also tells + a curious story of his Flemish origin. Signor Milanesi has deduced, from + the archives of Florence, an authentic pedigree from which we learn that + his remote ancestors were peasants, first at Buiano, near Fiesole, and + later at S. Ilario, near Montereggi. His grandfather, Francesco, being a + linen weaver, came to live nearer Florence; his father, Agnolo, son of + Francesco, followed the trade of a tailor—hence Andrea's sobriquet, + "del Sarto"—he took a house in Via Gualfonda, in Florence, about + 1487, with his wife Constanza, and here Andrea was born, he being the + eldest of a family of five—three girls and two boys. From the tax + papers of a few years later it is proved that Andrea was born in 1487. His + full name is Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco. It is by mistake that he has + been called Vannucchi. + </p> + <p> + His parents were young, his father being only twenty-seven years of age at + Andrea's birth. They lived at that time in Val Fonda, where Albertinelli + had his shop, but in 1504 they removed to the popolo, or parish, of S. + Paolo. Boys were not allowed to be idle in those days, but were + apprenticed at an early age; thus Andrea, like most artists of his time, + was bound to a goldsmith. It would be interesting to investigate the great + influence of the guild of goldsmiths on the art of the Renaissance. The + reason why youths who showed a talent for design were entered in that + guild is easy to assign—it was one of the "greater" guilds, that of + the painters being a lesser one, and merged in the "Arte degli Speziali." + At seven years old he left the school where he had learned to read and + write, and entered his very youthful apprenticeship; but he showed so much + more aptitude for the designing than for the executive part of his + profession that <i>Giovanni Barile</i>, who frequented the bottega, was + induced to counsel his being trained especially as a painter, offering + himself as instructor. If Andrea, a contadino by birth, an artisan by + education, was not originally of the most refined nature, his artistic + training did not go far towards refining him. Giovanni Barile was a coarse + painter and a rough man; he had, however, generosity enough to see that + the boy was worthy of better teaching, and got him entered in the bottega + of Piero di Cosimo, who had attained a good rank as a colourist, his + eccentricities possibly adding to his reputation. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly in 1498, Andrea being then eleven years of age, a life of + earnest study began. Piero di Cosimo, odd and misanthropic as he was, had + yet a true appreciation of talent, and showed an earnest interest in his + pupil, giving him—with plenty of queer treatment—a thorough + training. "He was not allowed to make a line which was not perfect" + [Footnote: Rosini, <i>Storia della Pittura</i>, chap. xvii. p. 40.] while + in Piero's school. But excellent as his art teaching may have been, the + boy's morale could not have been raised more here than under the rough but + good-natured Barile. We have seen Piero di Cosimo in his youth, the + serious, absent young man, who never joked with his juniors in Cosimo + Roselli's shop; we see him now, with his youthful oddities hardened into + eccentricities, and his reserve deepened to misanthropy. No woman's hand + softened and refined his house, no cleansing broom was allowed within his + door, and no gardener's hand cleared the weeds or pruned the vines in his + garden. He so believed in nature unassisted that he took his meals without + the intervention of a cook. When the fire was lighted to boil his size or + glue he would cook fifty or sixty eggs and set them apart in a basket, to + which he had recourse when the pangs of hunger compelled him. All this was + morally very bad for a boy so young. And then woe betide the poor little + fellow if he whistled, sneezed, or made any other noise! his nervous + master would be out of temper for a day afterwards. On wet days Piero was + merrier, for he would watch the drops splashing into the pools, and laugh + as if they were fairies. Sometimes he would take Andrea for a walk, and + all at once stop and gaze at a heap of rubbish, or mark of damp on a + lichened wall, picturing all kinds of monsters and weird scenes in its + discolourations. + </p> + <p> + No doubt he was literally carrying out Leonardo da Vinci's advice, headed, + in his treatise, "A new Art of Invention." "Look at some old wall covered + with dirt, or the odd appearance of some old streaked stones; you may + discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, humorous faces, + &c., to furnish the mind with new designs." [Footnote: Leonardo da + Vinci, <i>Treatise on Painting</i>.] Cosimo's mind being fantastic, the + pictures he saw were incomparably grotesque. He delighted in drawing sea + monsters, dragons, wonderful adventures, and heathen scenes; in fact the + boy could have learned neither Christian art nor manners from him. He + learned how to use his brush, however, and, leaving Piero to his minotaurs + and dragons, went off at every spare hour to study at more congenial + shrines. He copied Masaccio at the Brancacci Chapel, and drew so earnestly + from the cartoons in the Hall of the Pope that his achievements reached + the ears of Piero himself, who was not sorry that his pupil surpassed the + rest, and gave him more time for study away from the bottega. Rosini tells + us that "Fra Bartolommeo taught him the first steps." [Footnote: <i>Storia + della Pittura</i>, chap, xxvii. p. 2.] The influence of the Frate may have + reached him in two ways. It is not unlikely that Piero di Cosimo kept up + an interest in his old fellow-pupil; and then again, as Andrea lived in + Val Fonda, it is probable he often visited Albertinelli's studio in that + street, and the friendship with Francia Bigio began before the cartoons of + Michelangelo ripened there. + </p> + <p> + The evidence of style goes to show that the works of Albertinelli and Fra + Bartolommeo influenced him more than those of Piero. Yet though his sphere + was devotional, it was "impelled more by a material sense of beauty than + by the deep religious feeling which inspired the Frate." + </p> + <p> + As time went on the youth in strange old Piero's studio became more famous + than his master, and felt that he could do greater things away from the + stiff method which cramped him, and the whimsicalities which annoyed him. + His friend, Francia Bigio, Mariotto's pupil, having just then lost his + master, who was giving more attention to his father-in-law's business of + innkeeper than his own, was willing to enter into partnership, and the two + youths began life together in 1509 or 1510, in a room near the Piazza del + Grano, in the first house in Via del Moro, which still remains in its old + state. + </p> + <p> + The first bit of patronage recorded is the commission for the frescoes in + the Scalzo; that they had work before is proved by the words in the + contract of the Barefoot Friars, "dettero ad Andrea pittore <i>celeberrimo</i> + il dipingere nel Chiosto." The "celebrated" presupposes works already + done. + </p> + <p> + The Scalzo was a name given to the "Compagnia dei Disciplinati di S. + Giovanni Battista," because they went barefoot when they carried the cross + in their processions. They lived in a convent in Via Larga (now Cavour), + opposite San Marco. A new cloister had been erected there—an elegant + little cortile, thirty-eight feet by thirty-two, adorned with lovely + Corinthian pillars—and the Brethren were anxious to fill the + lunettes of the arches with frescoes at the least possible expense, wisely + judging that a young artist on his way to fame would be the best to + employ. + </p> + <p> + The frescoes, of which there would be twelve large, and four small ones in + the upright spaces by the doors, were to be done in "terretta," or brown + earth, and to be paid fifty-six lire (eight scudi) for the large, and + twenty-one lire (three scudi) each for the lesser frescoes. The small ones + were four figures of the Virtues, <i>Faith</i>, <i>Hope</i>, <i>Justice</i>, + and <i>Charity</i>. <i>Hope</i> is exquisitely expressed, and <i>Charity</i> + a charming group, the children most tenderly drawn. The subjects, though + not all finished till many years later, stand now in the following order; + the second row of figures, with the dates, show the order in which they + were painted:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1. Gabriel appearing to Zacharias Andrea del Sarto 9 1523. + 2. Visitation Andrea del Sarto 10 1523. + 3. Birth of S. John Andrea del Sarto 4 1514. + 4. Zacharias blessing John before going Francia Bigio. + to the desert + 5. S. John meets the Virgin and Infant Francia Bigio. + Christ + 6. Baptism of Christ Andrea del Sarto 1 1509. + 7. Preaching of S. John Andrea del Sarto 2 1514. + 8. Baptism of the Gentiles Andrea del Sarto 3 1514. + 9. S. John bound in the presence of Herod Andrea del Sarto 5 1522. +10. Dance of Herodias Andrea del Sarto 6 1522. 11. Beheading of S. + John Andrea del Sarto 7 1522. 12. Herodias receives the head of S. John + Andrea del Sarto 8 1522. +</pre> + <p> + Of these, No. 6 was the first executed, and it is probable that Francia + Bigio assisted him, for it has not the finished drawing nor careful + handling of any of Andrea's other frescoes. Possibly this is the cause of + the partners never working together afterwards, each taking his own + subjects and signing his own name. The composition, in the <i>Baptism of + Christ</i>, is not original, being very similar to that of Verocchio's, + especially in the two angels kneeling on the left bank; the landscape and + figures, however, are far in advance of that master. + </p> + <p> + It will be well to speak of the whole set of frescoes in this place, for + although they belong to different times and styles, they are a complete + work, and might be taken almost as an epitome of Andrea's career; from the + one above mentioned in which Piero de Cosimo's influence is apparent, to + the Nos. 7 and 8, which very nearly approach Michelangelo's power and + freedom. + </p> + <p> + In No. 1 the expression of muteness about the mouth of Zacharias, as he + stands by the altar, is wonderfully given; you feel sure he could not + speak if he would. The other figures are superfluous to the motive, though + adding grandeur to the work as a whole. + </p> + <p> + In composition Andrea differs widely from Fra Bartolommeo. The latter + delighted in building up a single form, every figure in the whole picture + adding its hue and weight to perfect this pyramid or circle. Andrea + spreads his figures more widely; he likes a double composition, dividing + his pictures into two separate groups, connected by one central figure, or + divided entirely. This is seen in Nos. 3, 10 and 12, which are all double + groupings, the last completely divided in the centre by a table and an + archway behind it. Nos. 7 and 9 are pyramidal compositions. The <i>Preaching + of S. John</i> is one of the best works, and shows his most forcible + style. S. John on a rock stands like a pillar in the centre, the hearers + are dressed in the "lucco" (a Florentine cloak of the 15th century), the + grouping following the lines of the landscape. At the back Jesus kneels on + a rising ground. Vasari says the figures are from Albrecht Dürer, whose + works had made a great impression on the southern world of art; but it is + more probable that they only show his influence, for the dress and style + are Florentine. + </p> + <p> + No. 8, the <i>Baptism of the Gentiles</i>, is another of his best style, + and is, in the drawing of the nude figures, almost Michelangelesque in + power. This is one of his favourite "echo" subjects, a group in the + background of <i>John answering the Pharisees </i>forming an echo to the + principal subject. The muscular life of the spirited crowd of nude figures + is beautifully contrasted by the graceful draped forms in the background. + One of the baptized is the same child whom he had modelled in the <i>Madonna</i> + of S. Francisco. + </p> + <p> + Nos. 4 and 5 are by Francia Bigio, and were done during Andrea's absence + in France, showing that he had so far learned from his friend as almost to + rival him in power. The subjects, although not scriptural, are + conjecturally true. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Zacharias blessing John before he goes to the Desert</i>, the + sitting figure of S. Elizabeth and the kneeling one of the child are very + lovely; the action of Zacharias is not so well defined, the great force in + the uplifted arm betokens anger more than blessing. The grouping follows + the lines of a flight of steps in the background, and is triangular. + </p> + <p> + The same form of composition is apparent in the next group (No. 5), only + the lines form an angle receding from the one just mentioned. The Virgin + is charmingly posed and draped, the children less pleasing. + </p> + <p> + This elegant little cloister is a true shrine of art, although the + frescoes are all in monochrome. So much were they admired at the time, + that an order was issued prohibiting artists to copy them without the + permission of Duke Cosimo. Cardinal Carlo de' Medici had them covered with + curtains, [Footnote: Richa, <i>Delle Chiese</i>] but, in spite of care, + they are very much injured, the under parts almost lost. The precaution of + covering the cloister with a glass roof has only been taken in modern + times, and too late. + </p> + <p> + Andrea's next patrons were the Eremite monks of S. Agostino, at San Gallo, + who ordered of him two pictures for their church. In 1511 he painted <i>Christ + appearing to Mary Magdalen</i>, and an <i>Annunciation</i> in 1512. The + former is said to have had much softness and delicacy, the latter is to be + seen in the Hall of Mars at the Pitti, and is a very pleasing picture. The + Virgin kneels at her prayer desk, S. Joseph behind her—a rather + unusual rendering of the subject—her attitude is graceful and + decorous, the angel calm and gentle, floats in mid air, two other angels + stand on the left. The colouring is varied in the extreme, and the lights + well defined. + </p> + <p> + These two pictures, and the <i>Disputa</i>, painted later, were removed to + the church of S. Jacopo tra Fossi, when the convent was demolished in + 1529. They were still there in 1677, when Bocchi wrote his <i>Bellezze di + Firenze</i>, but the <i>Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen</i> is said to + be now in the church of the Covoni in the Casentino. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. THE SERVITE CLOISTER. A.D. 1511-1512. + </h2> + <p> + The next great works were the frescoes in the Court of S. Annunziata, if + indeed they were not carried on simultaneously with those in the Scalzo. + This famous series of Andrea's works was obtained by cunning, and painted + in emulation. While the two partners, who had differed from the beginning, + and had since become rivals, were engaged in the Scalzo, a certain astute + Fra Mariano, the keeper of the wax candle stores at the Servite Convent—to + which the church of the S. Annunziata belonged—had watched well + those two young painters. Fra Mariano understood human nature, as priests + often do; he had seen the envious rivalship growing between them, as the + friends, who should have worked together, took separate compartments, and + cast jealous criticising glances on each other's designs and method of + work. Having ambition of his own, he knew how to work on that of others to + further his own aspirations, which were, to be considered a patron of art + and a benefactor to his convent. + </p> + <p> + Reading Andrea's heart, he played on all his strongest feelings, placed + before him the glory he would win by covering the lunettes of the arches + in the court of the fine church with frescoes which would carry his name + down to posterity; he said that any other artist would pay much to obtain + leave to paint upon historical walls like those, and how they would all + envy the man who should obtain the coveted honour! Then, with a + half-whispered hint that for one, Francia Bigio was dying to get the + commission for nothing, the wily Frate went his way victorious. Andrea, + scorning to make any pecuniary bargain, only stipulated that no one else + should paint in that courtyard, and forthwith began the <i>Stories from + the Life of S. Filippo Benizzi</i>, having only old Alesso Baldovinetti's + <i>Nativity</i>, and Cosimo Roselli's <i>Miracle of S. Filippo</i>, as + foils to his own. These two works were on the walls on each side of the + church door; there were therefore three entire sides of the cloister to + cover, excepting only the entrance into the courtyard from the Piazza, and + no doubt he felt like Ghirlandajo, when "he wished he had the entire + circuit of the city walls to paint." + </p> + <p> + On the 16th of June, 1511, he began to paint with such vigour that in a + few months the first three were uncovered. + </p> + <p> + 1. <i>S. Philip at Viterbo with the Court, dressing a naked leper in his + own cloak</i>. + </p> + <p> + 2. <i>S. Philip going from Bologna to Modena</i>. He rebukes some + gamblers, telling them the vengeance of God is near. A sudden thunderstorm + and lightning destroy them, thus fulfilling the prediction. There is a + great deal of fine action in this composition; the horror and disbelief + struggling in the faces of the men, and the stormy landscape are all well + rendered. A horse leaps away with strong, terrified action, there is a + masterly grasp of his vivid subject, and a rugged strength in the + execution which gives great life to it. + </p> + <p> + 3. <i>S. Philip exorcises a Girl possessed of a Demon</i>. Here the + composition is very tender, the mother and father support the sick girl, + and form a very pleasing group; the figures of the spectators are full of + life without exaggeration. + </p> + <p> + These works have suffered much from exposure, but the colouring is still + good. The praise that Andrea obtained for them was so great that he + followed them up by the two in the next series. + </p> + <p> + 4. <i>A Child brought to life by touching the bier of S. Philip</i>. This + is a kind of double composition, the child being represented in a twofold + condition in the foreground, first as dead, and then revived at the touch + of the bier. The grouping around the dead saint is very suggestive of + Ghirlandajo, and shews a deep study of his frescoes in the Sassetti + Chapel. The colouring is peculiarly his own; there is the mingling of a + great variety of bright tints of equal intensity, which by some necromancy + are made to relieve each other, instead of being relieved by the art of + chiaroscuro as in the handling of other masters. + </p> + <p> + 5. <i>Children healed by the garments of S. Philip</i>, which are held by + a priest, standing before an altar, the women and their children kneeling + in front of him. The grouping is symmetrical, the figures lifelike, but + not refined, round-cheeked buxom women, and rough, human men's faces, + bespeak Andrea as the painter of reality rather than ideality; there is + vivid life in every attitude, but the life is not high caste. A fine old + man, leaning on his staff, is a portrait of Andrea della Robbia, whose son + Luca stands near. + </p> + <p> + For all these Fra Mariano paid only ten scudi each, and Andrea, feeling + the remuneration not equal to the merit of the work, would have left off + here, but the Frate held him to his bond. Two more lunettes yet remained + to finish, but as these were of a later date, we will reserve them for a + future chapter. He also painted in the <i>orto</i>, or garden, of the + convent, the now perished fresco of the <i>Parable of the Vineyard</i>. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the rival friends had changed lodgings; they left the Piazza + del Grano, and took rooms in the Sapienza, a street between the Piazza San + Marco and the S. Annunziata. Andrea chose this because it was near his + work, and also because his great friends, Sansovino and Rustici, already + lived there. Commissions began to pour in on him, which he fulfilled, + while still at work at the Servi. Judging from the style of his early + manner, we may date at this time a <i>Virgin and Child, with S. John and + S. Joseph</i>, now in the Pitti. It is painted "alla prima," <i>i.e.</i> a + quick method of giving the effect in the first painting,—and is + probably the one spoken of by Vasari as painted for Andrea Santini; it + formerly belonged to Francesco Troschi. [Footnote: <i>Life of Andrea del + Sarto</i>, vol iii, p. 193.] + </p> + <p> + A <i>S. Agnes</i>, in the palace of the Prince Palatine, at Düsseldorf, is + in this early style. He also painted some frescoes at San Salvi, <i>SS. + Giovanni Gualberto and Benedict resting on clouds</i>; they ornamented the + recess where the <i>Last Supper</i> was placed at a later period. + </p> + <p> + In a narrow alley, behind the church of Or San Michele, is a tabernacle on + the wall beneath an ancient balcony. Here the architect, Baccio d'Agnolo, + commissioned Andrea del Sarto to paint an <i>Annunciation</i>. It is so + much injured as to be almost indistinguishable now, but was much admired + at the time, though some say it was too laboured, and so wanting in ease + and grace. [Footnote: Biadi, 26; Vasari, vol. iii, p 189.] It is more + likely that it was one of his early works, and should be classed before + the frescoes of the Scalzo, for it is said that he was living at the time + with his father, whose shop was over the archway, and that he had adorned + the inner walls of the house with two frescoed angels. [Footnote: <i>Firenze + antica e moderna</i> Ed. Flor. 1794, vol. vi, p. 216.] These have perished + completely. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. SOCIAL LIFE AND MARRIAGE. A.D. 1511-1516. + </h2> + <p> + This chapter will speak of the <i>man</i>, and not of the <i>artist</i>. + As it is now understood that history is not a dry record of battles and + laws, but the story of the inner life of a people, so the biography of a + painter ought not to consist wholly in a list and description of his + works, but a picture of his life and inner mind, that we may know the + character which prompted the works. + </p> + <p> + First, as to personal appearance. There are two portraits of Andrea del + Sarto in his youth; one in the Duke of Northumberland's collection + represents him as a young man with long hair, and a black cap, writing at + a table. It is painted in a soft, harmonious style, but not masterly as + regards chiaroscuro. It might be by Francia Bigio, as it has something of + the manner of his master, Albertinelli. + </p> + <p> + Another now in the Uffizi is a most life-like portrait of sombre + colouring, but not highly finished. Here we have the same black cap and + long hair; the dress is a painter's blouse of a blue-grey, which well + brings out the flesh tints. The face is intelligent, but not refined; the + clear dark eyes bespeak the artist spirit, but the full mobile mouth tells + the material nature of the man. In looking at this one can solve the + riddle of the dissonance between his art and his life. As a young man + Andrea was full of spirit; he loved lively society, and knew almost all + the young artists who lived very much as students now. They met each other + in the art schools, and dined and feasted together in the wine shops. + Sometimes they formed private clubs, meeting in certain rooms for purposes + of youthful merriment. + </p> + <p> + Of this kind was the "Society of the Cauldron" ("Società del Paiuolo"), + held at the apartment of the eccentric sculptor, Rustici, which was in the + same street as that of Andrea himself. + </p> + <p> + Sansovino, who also lived near, was not a member of this rollicking club; + he was one of Andrea's more serious friends, and served as companion when + his most exalted moods were upon him. Perhaps Rustici's rooms did not + please Sansovino, for strange inmates were there—a hedgehog, an + eagle, a talking raven, snakes and reptiles, in a kind of aquarium; + besides all these gruesome familiar spirits, Rustici was addicted to + necromancy. The Society of the Cauldron seems only a natural outgrowth + from such a character. It consisted of twelve members, all artists, + goldsmiths, or musicians, each of whom was allowed to bring four friends + to the supper, and bound to provide a dish. Any two members bringing + similar dishes were fined, but the droll part of it was that the suppers + were eaten in a huge cauldron large enough to put table and chairs into; + the handle served as an arched chandelier, the table was on a lift, and + when one course was finished it disappeared from their midst, and + descended to be replenished. As for the viands, the sculptors displayed + their talents in moulding classical subjects in pastry, and turning boiled + fowls into figures of Ulysses and Laertes. The architects built up temples + and palaces of jellies, cakes, and sausages; the goldsmith, Robetta, + produced an anvil and accoutrements made of a calf's head, the painters + treated roast pig to represent a scullery-maid spinning. + </p> + <p> + Andrea del Sarto built up the model of the Baptistery with all kinds of + eatables, with a reading desk of veal, and book with letters inlaid with + truffles, at which the choristers were roast thrushes with open beaks, + while the canons were pigeons in red mantles of beetroot—an idea + more droll than reverential. + </p> + <p> + After this, in 1512, another club, called that of the "Trowel," was + instituted, of which Andrea was not a member, but was chosen as an + associate. The first supper was arranged by Giuliano Bugiardini, and was + held on the <i>aja</i> or threshing floor of S. Maria Nuova, where the + bronze gates of the Baptistery had been cast. + </p> + <p> + In this no two members were allowed to wear the same style of dress under + penalty of a fine. The members were in two ranks, the "lesser" and the + "greater," a parody on the guilds of the city. They were shown the plan of + a building, and the "greater" members, furnished with trowels, were + obliged to build it in edibles, the "lesser" acting as hodmen, and + bringing materials. Pails of ricotta or goat's milk cheese served for + mortar, grated cheese for sand, sugar plums for gravel, cakes and pastry + for bricks, the basement was of meats, the pillars fowls or sausages. + </p> + <p> + Some suppers were classical scenes, others allegorical representations, + always in the same edible form. We can imagine the wit which sparkled + round these strange tables, the jokes of the artists, the songs of the + musicians. Andrea del Sarto is said to have recited an heroi-comic poem in + six cantos called the "Battle of the frogs and mice." Biadi gives it + entire; it seems a kind of satire on Rustici's tastes, with perhaps a hit + at the government, and shows no lack of wit of rather unrefined style; but + the authorship is not proved. Some say Ottaviano de Medici assisted Andrea + in it. + </p> + <p> + It would have been well for Andrea if this innocent jollity had sufficed + for him, but unfortunately he admired a woman whose beauty was greater + than her merits. Probably he began by mere artistic appreciation of her + personal charms, for she sat to him for the <i>Madonna of the Visitation</i>, + which was painted in 1514, two years before their marriage. This Lucrezia + della Fede was the wife of a hatter who lived in Via San Gallo. Her + husband dying after a short illness, Andrea del Sarto married her, and + whatever were her faults, she retained his life-long love. Biadi and + Reumont give the date 26th of December, 1512, as that of the death of her + husband, but Signor Milanesi, from more authentic sources, proves it to + have been in 1516. + </p> + <p> + A great deal has been said and written of the evil influence this woman + had on him, and his very house bears an inscription recording his fame + together with "affanni domestici," but it would seem that posterity has + taken for truth more than the facts of the time imply. That she was proud, + haughty, exacting, and not of a high moral nature, that she was selfish, + and begrudged his helping his own family, her every action proves. That + her manners were not conciliating to the pupils is possible, perhaps their + manners savoured too much of familiarity for a woman who believed in her + own charms; but that she was faithless, which her biographers assert on + the strength of Vasari's phrase, "that Andrea was tormented by jealousy," + there is literally nothing to show. + </p> + <p> + In the first place Vasari—who was one of the scholars she offended + and put down—gives vent to his private pique in his first edition, + and in the second, which only contains a slight mention of her, omits + almost all he had previously said. Now, if the first assertions were true + why should he retract them? Secondly, the sixteenth century was an age of + license in writing and speaking, and had any immoralities been laid to her + charge, not a biographer would have scrupled to particularize them; but + no! her name is never mentioned, except with her husband's, even by her + greatest enemies, who say she was as haughty as she was beautiful. + Thirdly, a faithless woman could never have kept her husband's devoted + love, and had she been so, would that affectionate though exaggerated + letter of hers, recalling him from France, have been written? That a man + who thinks his wife the most lovely creature living may be tormented with + jealousy without wrong doing on her part is more than possible. + </p> + <p> + Let us then place Lucrezia's character where it ought to stand in Andrea + del Sarto's life—as a powerful influence, lowering his moral nature, + weaning him from his duties as a son and brother, by fixing all his care + and affection on herself; she, however, not allowing her own family to be + losers by her marriage, although causing him to slight his own. Even this + much-spoken-of neglect of his own family seems disproved by his will, + which, after a very little more than her own dot left to his wife, makes + his brother and niece heirs of all his estate. + </p> + <p> + Except that she cared more for her own pleasure than his true advancement, + she was not any great hindrance to his artistic career; he painted an + incredible number of pictures, and she was willing to sit for him over and + over again. Indeed if she were his model for all the Madonnas in which her + features are recognisable, she must have had either inexhaustible patience + or great love for the artist. + </p> + <p> + In fact she was thoroughly selfish; as long as she reaped the benefit of + his work she furthered his art; where she was left out of his + consideration he must be brought back to her side at any sacrifice to him. + This is not the stuff of which an artist's wife ought to be made; the + influence of a strong-willed selfish nature on his weak and material one + was not good, and his <i>morale</i> became lowered. + </p> + <p> + He felt this deterioration less than his friends felt it for him; even + Vasari says that "though he lived in torment, he yet accounted it a high + pleasure." It was one of those unions in which the man gives everything, + and the woman receives and allows every sacrifice. Her family were kept at + his expense, her daughter loved as his own, and if she were haughty or + exacting, he suffered with a Socratic patience, thinking life with her a + privilege. + </p> + <p> + It is to be supposed that a member of the societies of the Cauldron and + the Trowel would appreciate good living. He was so devoted to the + pleasures of the table that he went to market himself early every morning + and came home laden with delicacies. [Footnote: Biadi, <i>Notixie inedite</i>, + &c., chap. xix. p. 62.] A curious confirmation of this is to be found + in his house, the dining-room of which is beautifully frescoed, the arched + roof in Raphaelesque scrolls and grotesques; while the lunettes of one + wall have two large pictures, one of a woman roasting birds over a fire, + the other of a servant preparing the table for dinner. This love of good + living, however, in the end shortened his life, according to Biadi. + </p> + <p> + After his marketing was over he turned his attention to art, going to his + fresco painting followed by his scholars, or superintending their work in + the "bottega." He was always a kind and thorough master, his manner just + and fatherly. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes he and Sansovino or other friends lounged away an hour in the + neighbouring shop of Nanni Unghero, where their mutual friend, Niccolò + Tribolo, did all the hard work, fetching and carrying blocks and saws + grumblingly. Tribolo often begged Sansovino to take him as his pupil, + which he did afterwards, and he became a famous sculptor. One of Andrea's + acquaintances was Baccio Bandinelli, who, as he thought he could equal + Michelangelo in sculpture, imagined that only a knowledge of Andrea del + Sarto's method of colouring was necessary to enable him to surpass him in + painting. To gain this knowledge he proposed to sit to Andrea for his + portrait. His friend, discovering his motive, succeeded in frustrating it + by mixing a quantity of colours in seeming confusion on his palette, and + yet getting from this chaos exactly the tints he required. So Baccio never + rivalled his friend in colouring after all, not being able to understand + his method. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. WORKS IN FLORENCE. A.D. 1511-1515. + </h2> + <p> + From 1511 to 1514 Andrea was employed on the two last frescoes in the + courtyard of the SS. Annunziata the <i>Epiphany</i> and the <i>Nativity of + the Virgin</i>. The sum fixed for these was ninety-eight lire, but the + Servite brothers augmented it by forty-two lire more, seeing the work was + "veramente maravigliosa"; thus these two were paid at the same rate as the + other five of S. Filippo—seventy lire or ten scudi each. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Nativity</i>, one of the finest of his frescoes, we see his + favourite double grouping, the interest in the mother being kept to one + side, that of the child and its attendants to the other-a balance of form + united by Joachim, a stern, finely moulded figure in the centre. The + attitudes are natural, the draperies free and graceful. Old Vasari justly + remarks "pajono di carne le figure." The woman standing in the centre of + the room is Lucrezia della Fede; this is the first known likeness of her. + There is a richness of colour without impasto, a modulation of shade + giving full relief without startling contrast, a clear air below and + celestial haze in the angel-peopled clouds above. + </p> + <p> + This might well be classed as on the highest level ever reached in fresco. + Nearly fifty years after it was painted, while Jacopo d'Empoli was copying + this fresco, an old woman came through the courtyard to mass, and, + stopping to watch the young artist at his work, began to talk of the days + of her youth and beauty when she sat for the likeness of that natural + figure in the midst, no doubt sighing as she looked at the freshness of + the fresco, and thought of her many wrinkles and aged limbs, she being + nearly fourscore at the time. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Epiphany</i> is also a remarkable work, more lively than the last; + it is also less carefully painted, the graceful feminine element is + wanting; there is plenty of activity, a crowded composition, and richness + of colour. Three figures are especially interesting as likenesses; that of + the musician Francesco Ajolle—a great composer of madrigals, who + went to France in 1530, and spent the remainder of his life there; + Sansovino, on the right of Ajolle; and near him Andrea himself—the + same face as the portrait in the Uffizi already spoken of. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Madonna del Sacco</i>, over the door of the entrance to the church + from the cloister, would seem to have been painted in the same year, 1514, + judging from Biadi's extract from the MS. account books of the Servite + Fathers existing in the archives, where is an entry "Giugno, 1514, ad + Andrea del Sarto, per resto della Madonna del Sacco, lire 56." This term + <i>resto</i> (remainder) would imply a previous payment. The money was a + thank-offering from a woman for having been absolved from a vow by one of + the Servite priests. Like all his other frescoes of this church, Andrea + only gained ten scudi for this masterpiece. The date of MDXXV. and the + words "Quem genuit adoravit" on the pilasters of this work have led most + writers to suppose it painted in that year; but it is probable they were + added by a later hand. Biadi [Footnote: Biadi, <i>Notizie</i>, &c., p. + 42 note.] says the letters are of the style of nearly two centuries later, + that Andrea would have signed it, like all his other and works, with his + monogram of the crossed A's (i.e. Andrea d' Agnolo). For charming soft + harmonies of colour, simplicity, and grace of design, this surpasses all + his other frescoes. The Madonna has an imposing grandeur of form, there is + a boyish strength and moulding in the limbs of the child which is very + expressive, the dignity of Joseph and majesty of the Virgin are not to be + surpassed; and yet the whole is given in a space so cramped that all the + figures have to be reclining or sitting. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> IMG--></a> + </p> + + <p> + After this Andrea returned to the Scalzo, the Barefoot Brothers offering + better pay than the Servites. Here he did the allegory of <i>Justice</i> + and the <i>Sermon of S. John</i> in monochrome. In these he took a fancy + to retrograde his style, for they have the rugged force and angular form + that recalls the more stern old Italian masters, or that Titan of northern + art, Albrecht Dürer. + </p> + <p> + Of his works in oil at this era we may class— + </p> + <p> + 1. The <i>Story of Joseph</i>, painted for Zanobi Girolami Bracci, which + Borghini judges a beautiful picture. The figures were small, but the + painting highly finished. It came afterwards into the possession of the + Medici family. + </p> + <p> + 2. A <i>Madonna</i>, with decorations and models surrounding it like a + frame, was painted for Sansovino's patron, Giovanni Gaddi, afterwards + clerk of the chamber to Ferdinand I. It was existing in the collection of + the Gaddi Pozzi family in Borghini's time. + </p> + <p> + 3. <i>Annunciation</i>, for Giovanni di Paolo Merciajo, now in the Hall of + Saturn in the Pitti Palace. It is a pretty composition, the Virgin + sitting, yet half kneeling, the angel on his knees before her. There is a + yellowish light in the sky between two looped dark green curtains; the + angel's yellow robe takes the light beautifully. + </p> + <p> + 4. <i>Madonna and Child</i>, in the "Hall of the Education of Jupiter" in + the Pitti Palace, one of his most pleasing groups. This is supposed by the + commentators of Vasari to be the altarpiece painted for Giovanni di Paolo + Merciajo, but Biadi traces it through the possession of Antonio, son of + Zanobi Bracci, to its present possessors. The mistake arises from Vasari + often confusing the names Annunciations and Assumptions with Madonnas. + </p> + <p> + 5. A <i>Holy Family</i>, for Andrea Santini, which awakened great + admiration in Florence. It was in the possession of Signer Alessandro + Curti Lepri, by whose permission Morghen's print was taken. + </p> + <p> + 6. The <i>Head of our Saviour</i>, over the altar of the SS. Annunziata, + ordered by the sacristan of the order. A magnificent head, full of + grandeur and expression, and very clear in the flesh tints. Empoli made + several copies of it. + </p> + <p> + 7. The <i>Madonna di San Francesco</i>, Andrea's masterpiece among easel + pictures. It was a commission from a monk of the order of "Minorites of + Santa Croce," who was intendant of the nuns of S. Francesco, and advised + them to employ Andrea. In grandiose simplicity this surpasses + Albertinelli's <i>Visitation</i>, in soft gradations and rich mellowness + of colour it equals Fra Bartolommeo at his best, for tenderness in the + attitude of the child it is quite Raphaelesque. The Madonna is standing on + a pedestal adorned with sculptured harpies. She holds the Divine Child in + one arm; its little hands are twined tenderly round her neck, and it seems + to be climbing closer to her. The two children at her feet give a + suggestive triangular grouping, while the dignified figures of S. Francis + and S. John the Evangelist form supports on each side, and rear up a + pyramid of beauty. Rosini's term "soave" just expresses this picture, so + fused and soft, rich yet transparent in the colouring. The olive-brown + robe of one saint is balanced by the rich red of the other. In the Virgin, + a deep blue and mellow orange are combined by a crimson bodice. The price + paid to the painter for this was low because he asked little; but a + century or two later, Ferdinando de' Medici, son of Cosmo III., spent + 20,000 scudi to restore the church, and had a copy of the picture made in + return for a gift of the original, which is now the gem of the Tribune in + the Uffizi. + </p> + <p> + 8. The <i>Disputa, di S. Agostino</i> is another masterpiece, showing as + much power as the last-named work displays of softness. It was painted at + the order of the Eremite monks of San Gallo for their church of San Jacopo + tra Fossi, where it was injured by a flood in 1557, and removed later to + the Hall of Saturn in the Pitti Palace. The composition is level, the four + disputing saints standing in a row, the two listeners, S. Sebastian and + Mary Magdalen, kneeling in front. S Agostino, with fierce vehemence, + expounds the mystery of the Trinity; S. Stephen turns to S. Francesco + interrogatively, S. Domenico (whom Vasari, by the way, calls S. Peter + Martyr) has a face full of silent eloquence—he seems only waiting + his turn to speak. In S. Sebastian we have a good study from the nude, and + in Mary Magdalen's kneeling figure—a charming portrait of Lucrezia—is + concentrated the principal focus of colour. + </p> + <p> + 9. <i>Four Saints</i>, SS. Gio. Battista, Gio. Gualberto, S. Michele, and + Bernardo Cardinale, a beautifully-painted picture, once in the Hermitage + of Vallombrosa. There were originally two little angels in the midst + dividing the saints, as in our illustration. When the picture was + transferred to the Gallery of the Belle Arti, where it now is, the angels + were taken out and the divided saints brought into a more compact group. + The angels are in a frame between two frescoed Madonnas of Fra + Bartolommeo. + </p> + <p> + By this time the fame of Andrea del Sarto, both as a fresco and oil + painter, had risen to the highest point. Michelangelo only echoed the + opinion of others when he said to Raphael, "There is a little fellow in + Florence who will bring the sweat to your brow if ever he is engaged in + great works." His style of composition was important, his figures varied + and life-like, his draperies dignified. "The main excellence, however, in + which Andrea stands unique among his contemporaries rests in the + incomparable blending of colour, in the soft flesh tints, in the exquisite + chiaroscuro, in the transparent clearness even of his deepest shadows, and + in his entirely new manner of perfect modelling." [Footnote: <i>Lübke + History of Art</i>, vol. ii. p. 241.] His method, as shown in an + unfinished picture of the <i>Adoration of the Magi</i> in the Guadagni + Palace, was to paint on a light ground; the sketch was a black outline, + the features and details not defined, but often roughly indicated. He + finished first the sky and background. The flesh tints, draperies, &c., + were all true in tone from the first laying in. [Footnote: Eastlake's <i>Materials + for History of Oil Fainting</i>.] He did not place shades one over the + other, and fuse them together glaze by glaze as Leonardo did, but used an + opaque dead colouring which allowed of correction; the system was rapid, + but deficient in depth and mellowness; "the lights are fused and bright," + but "the shadows, owing to their viscous consistency, imperfectly fill the + outlines." [Footnote: Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. in. chap. xvii. p. + 670.] In a <i>Holy Family</i> in the Louvre, S. Elizabeth's hand is + painted across S. John, and shows the shadow underneath it, being grey at + that part. Though more solid, he could not paint light over dark without + injuring his brilliance of colour. + </p> + <p> + Albertinelli, on the contrary, when he painted and repainted his <i>Annunciation</i>, + washed out the under layer with essential oil before making his + "pentimenti" or corrections, and in this way the thinness was kept. + </p> + <p> + In Andrea's early style this thinness is apparent, especially in the + Joseph series, painted for Pier Francesco Borgherini. + </p> + <p> + Biadi classes Andrea's works in three styles. The first showing the + influence of Piero di Cosimo, the second—to which the best works in + the Servi cloisters belong—is a larger and more natural style, after + the study of Michelangelo and Leonardo. + </p> + <p> + The third is the natural development in his own practice of a perfect + knowledge of art, and a just appreciation of nature. The <i>Birth of the + Baptist</i> and the <i>Cenacolo</i>, of San Salvi, belong to his last and + greatest manner. In 1515 the Florentine artists were employed on more + perishable works than frescoes. Leo X., the Medici Pope who had been + elected in 1513, made his triumphal entry into Florence on the 3rd of + September, 1515, on his way to meet Francis I. of France at Bologna. All + the guilds and ranks of Florence vied with each other to make his + reception as artistic as possible. He and his suite were obliged to stay + three days in the Villa Gianfigliazzi at Marignolle while the triumphal + preparations were being completed. The churches had temporary <i>façades</i> + of splendid architecture in fresco; arches were erected at the Porta + Romana and Piazza San Felice, covered with historical paintings; Giuliano + del Tasso adorned the Ponte Santa Trinità with statues; Antonio San Gallo + made a temple on the Piazza della Signoria, and Baccio Bandinelli prepared + a colossus in the Loggia dei Lanzi. Various decorations adorned other + streets, and Andrea del Sarto surpassed them all with a <i>façade</i> to + the Duomo, painted in monochrome on wood. His friend Sansovino designed + the architecture, and he painted the sculpture and adornments with such + effect that the Pope declared no work in marble could have been finer. + </p> + <p> + Andrea lent his talent to another kind of decorative art. The guild of + merchants were desirous of inaugurating a festa for the day of S. + Giovanni, and had ten chariots made from the model of the ancient Roman + ones, to institute chariot races in the piazza. Andrea painted several of + these with historical subjects, but they have long been lost. The chariot + races were revived under the Grand Dukes, but not with any success. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. GOING TO FRANCE. A.D. 1518-1519. + </h2> + <p> + Meanwhile fate was working Andrea del Sarto on to what might have been the + culminating point of his fame, had not his weakness rendered it a blot on + his honour; i.e. his journey to France. His fame was rising high; a + picture of the <i>Dead Christ surrounded by Angels</i>, weeping over the + body they support, having been sent to France, [Footnote: It was engraved + by the Venetian, Agostino, before it went to France; the engraving is + signed 1516. It did not please Andrea, who never allowed any others to be + engraved.] the king was so pleased with it that he wished another work by + the same artist. Andrea painted a very beautiful <i>Madonna</i>, for + which, however, he only obtained a quarter of the price which the king + paid to the merchants. The king was so delighted with it that he sent the + artist an invitation to come to Paris in his employ, promising to pay all + his expenses. In the Pitti Palace there is a portrait of Andrea and his + wife, in which he has commemorated the reception of this letter. He is + looking very interested over it, while his wife has the blankest + expression possible. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1518 he started with his pupil, Andrea Sguazzella, called + Nanoccio. Such a journey was in those days considered as little less than + a parting for life. It is plain that Lucrezia's family looked on her as + almost a widow, for they made him sign a deed of acknowledgement for the + 150 florins of her <i>dote</i>. Some authors have taken this document as a + proof of their marriage in that year, but it was merely a precaution + against loss by her family; the Italian law being that the husband is + obliged to render the portion obtained with his wife to her family if she + dies without issue, and in case of his own death, the widow is entitled to + it. + </p> + <p> + He was well received in Paris, and employed immediately on a likeness of + the infant Dauphin Henri II., then only a few months old. For this he + obtained 300 scudi: and a monthly salary was allowed him. What a mine of + gold the French court must have seemed to him after working for years at + large frescoes for ten scudi each! + </p> + <p> + He did no less than fifty works of art while there, most of which have + been engraved by the best French artists.[Footnote: See <i>Catalogue of + Royal Pictures in France</i>, by M. Lepiscié.] The <i>Carità</i> is signed + 1518, and is in Andrea's best style—perhaps with a leaning towards + Michelangelo. The <i>S. Jerome in Penitence</i>, which he painted for the + king's mother, and obtained a large price for, cannot be traced. His life + in Paris was a new revelation, and not without its effect on his + character, always alive to substantial pleasure. + </p> + <p> + The king and his courtiers frequented his atelier, and delighted to watch + him paint, vieing with each other in the richness of their gifts, among + which were splendid brocade dresses and beautiful ornaments and jewels, in + which he longed to adorn his wife. While he was engaged in painting the <i>S. + Jerome</i> for the queen-mother, a letter from Lucrezia aroused his + longings for home to the uttermost; she—the wife who has been + branded by the name of faithless—wrote that she was disconsolate in + his absence, and that if he did not soon return he would find her dead + with grief. + </p> + <p> + Vasari, quoting this exaggerated letter, says in his first edition that + she only wanted money to give her friends, but this also he retracts in + the second. Whether it expressed her feelings truly or not, the letter had + such an effect on Andrea's mind that he decided to return home at any + cost. + </p> + <p> + During Andrea's absence the house in Via S. Sebastiano, behind the + Annunziata, was being prepared under her superintendence and with his + sanction. His scholars had decorated the walls and ceilings with frescoes, + and no doubt Lucrezia was as anxious for him to see the new house as he + was to adorn her with Parisian brocades and jewellery. + </p> + <p> + Being able to satisfy her ambitious soul, Andrea too readily flung away + all his brilliant prospects to return, and willingly take again the yoke + of the burden of his wife and her family. He made promises that he would + bring her back to Paris with him, and the king in all faith allowed him to + depart, confiding to him large sums of money for the purchase of works of + art to be sent to France. + </p> + <p> + Sguazzella, wiser than his master, preferred to stay in Paris under the + patronage of Cardinal de Tournon. He painted a great many works, much in + the style of Andrea, but with less excellence. It is possible that some of + M. Lepiscié's long list are, in fact, the work of the pupil rather than + the master. When Benvenuto Cellini went to France in 1537 he lodged in + Sguazzella's house, with his three servants and three horses, at a weekly + rate of payment (<i>a tanto la settimana</i>). + </p> + <p> + But to return to Andrea: this is an episode in his life which we would + gladly pass over if it were possible, for it forms the moral blot on a + great artistic career. + </p> + <p> + Returning home he fell once more under the strong will of his wife, but + with his principles weakened by the effect of a luxury and prosperity + which has always a greater deteriorating effect on a nature such as his + than on a finer mind. Bringing grand ideas from the palaces of the French + nobles, he not only fell in with Lucrezia's plans for beautifying the new + house, but even surpassed her wildest schemes. The staircase was + embellished with rich oaken balustrades, the rooms were all frescoed. + Cupids hide in the Raphaelesque scrolls on the arches, classic divinities + rest on the ceilings, but in the dining room the homely nature of the man + who did his own marketing, creeps out. It is a charming room, the windows + opening on a garden courtyard, where a vine trellis leads round to what + used to be the side door of his studio which has its entrance in another + street. + </p> + <p> + The roof is vaulted and covered with exquisite decorative frescoes, but in + the lunettes of the two largest arches are the domestic scenes of cooking + and laying the cloth, spoken of at page 90. Two or three of the up stairs + rooms are very fine, especially the one in which Andrea is said to have + died. [Footnote: This description is due to the kindness of the present + resident in the house, who kindly showed it to the writer, pointing out + all the unrestored portions.] It is probable the furniture matched the + style of the rooms, and that much money was spent on carved chairs and <i>cassoni</i>. + Certain it is that the King of France's commissions were unfulfilled, and + his money misappropriated. + </p> + <p> + Andrea would have returned to France, but his wife, who had an Italian + woman's dread of leaving her own country, put every obstacle in his way, + adding entreaties to tears which the uxorious Andrea could not resist. As + usual he tried to please her, and she only cared to please herself. + </p> + <p> + He fell greatly in the estimation of the King, who was justly angry; + albeit the artist salved his own too easy conscience by sending a few of + his own paintings to Francis I., one of which, the <i>Sacrifice of Abraham</i>, + still remains in France, and another a half length figure of <i>S. John + the Baptist</i>. The place of this picture is much disputed; it is said to + be at present in the Pitti Palace. Argenville speaks of it among the + French pictures as if it had returned subsequently to Florence, while + Vasari asserts that it never went there, but was sold to Ottaviano de' + Medici. [Footnote: <i>Life of Andrea, del Sarto</i>, vol. in. p. 212.] As + Andrea painted no less than five pictures of this subject, of which + Argenville mentions that there were two in France, one of which was sold + to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, it is probable that the Pitti one is not + that painted for Francis I. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. ANDREA AND OTTAVIANO DE' MEDICI. A.D. 1521-1523. + </h2> + <p> + The Medici, always patrons of art, did not neglect to enrich their palaces + with the works of Andrea del Sarto. Ottaviano de' Medici, a cousin of the + reigning branch, was an especial friend of his, from the time that Andrea + began the fresco of <i>Caesar receiving tribute of animals</i> in the Hall + of Poggio a Cajano. The commission came really from Pope Leo X., who + deputed Cardinal Giulio, his cousin, to have the hall of the favourite + family villa adorned with frescoes. He in turn handed over the direction + to Ottaviano, who was a great amateur of art. It was designed that Andrea + del Sarto should cover a third of the Hall, the other two-thirds being + given to Pontormo and Francia Bigio. The payment of thirty scudi a month + was arranged. In this Andrea has shown his genius in a style entirely new, + the composition being crowded, the perspective intricate, the background a + building adorned with statues. The subject being allegorical, he has given + the reins to his fancy and produced a wonderful assemblage of strange + beasts and stranger human beings, Moors, Indians, and dwarfs. There are + giraffes, lions, and all kinds of animals, which he had an opportunity of + studying in the Serraglio of Florence. The drawing is true and free, the + figures and animals full of life, the colouring as usual well harmonised + and bright. The Pope died about this time in 1522, and the picture was + left to be finished by Allori in 1580. + </p> + <p> + Ottaviano de' Medici, being a great lover of art, was often a patron on + his own account; for him Andrea painted the <i>Holy Family</i> now in the + Pitti Palace. It is a most charmingly natural group: the Virgin seated on + the ground dances the divine child astride on her knee, he is turning his + head to the infant S. John who struggles to escape from his mother's arms + to get to him. The fresh youth of the Virgin and the saintly age of S. + Elizabeth are well contrasted. By the time this picture was finished the + siege of Florence had begun, and when the painter took it to Ottaviano, + he, having other claims on his means, excused himself from buying it, and + recommended Andrea to offer it elsewhere. But the artist replied, "I have + laboured for you, and the work shall be always yours." "Sell it and get + what you can for it," again replied Ottaviano. Andrea carried the painting + home again and would never sell it to any one. A few years after, the + siege being over, and the Medici re-instated, he again took the <i>Holy + Family</i> to Ottaviano, who was so delighted that he paid him double the + price for it. + </p> + <p> + Ottaviano also bought from Carlo Ginori a <i>Madonna</i> and <i>S. Job</i>, + a nude half figure, which were by Andrea's hand. He it was who + commissioned him to paint the portrait of Cardinal Giulio, afterwards Pope + Clement VII., and it was also at his instance that the imitation Raphael + was painted for the Duke of Mantua. The Duke had set his heart on + obtaining the picture painted by Raphael representing <i>Leo X. between + the Cardinals Giulio and Rossi</i>, and got a promise of it as a gift from + Pope Clement. His Holiness wrote to Ottaviano desiring him to have it sent + to Mantua. But Ottaviano, appreciating the treasure as much as the Duke of + Mantua, determined to secure it to the house of Medici. Under the pretence + of having a new frame made he gained time, and meanwhile employing Andrea + del Sarto secretly to make an exact copy of it, he sent that to the Duke + instead of the original. So well had Andrea imitated the great master's + style that every one in Mantua, even Giulio Romano, Raphael's own scholar, + was deceived, and it was only some years later that George Vasari divulged + the secret and showed Andrea's monogram on the side of the panel beneath + the frame. This copy is now at Naples. + </p> + <p> + The fresco at Poggio a Cajano abandoned, Andrea returned to the Scalzo, + where he painted the <i>Dance of Herodias, Martyrdom of S. John Baptist, + Presentation of the Head, Allegory of Hope</i>, and the <i>Apparition of + the Angel to Zacharias</i>. The last was paid for August 22nd, 1523. + </p> + <p> + About this time there was a great wedding in Florence. Pier Francesco + Borgherini espoused Margherita Accajuoli, and Salvi, the bridegroom's + father, determined to prepare for his son's bride a wedding chamber which + should be famous in all ages. + </p> + <p> + Baccio d' Agnolo had carved wonderful coffers, chairs, and bedsteads in + walnut wood. Pontormo painted beautiful cabinets and <i>cassoni</i>, and + Granacci, Francesco d' Ubertini Verdi, called Bacchiacca, and Andrea were + all employed on the walls. Andrea furnished two pictures; the one tells + the story of Joseph in Canaan, the other gives his life in Egypt. The + style is that of Piero di Cosimo, but with greater excellence and more + dignified figures. The landscape is highly finished and minute, and has a + part of the story in every nook of it. + </p> + <p> + The centre group, where Joseph leaves his father and mother to go to his + brethren, is very dignified, although fine enough to be a miniature. In + the second Pharaoh's palace is [Footnote: Reumont (<i>Life of Andrea del + Sarto</i>, p. 134) dates these works 1523; the style, which is very much + that of Piero di Cosimo, would seem to place them earlier.] represented as + a medieval Italian castle, the dresses are all Italian, and as an instance + of Andrea's versatility of talent they are very interesting paintings. + </p> + <p> + During the siege of Florence, Borgherini was absent, and the picture + dealer, Giovanni Battista della Palla, who prowled like a harpy to carry + off treasures for the King of France, made an effort to obtain these + paintings by inducing the government to confiscate them and sell them to + him. But Margherita was equal to the occasion, and meeting the despoiler + at her door, she poured out such a torrent of indignation, exhortation, + and defiance as drove the broker away crestfallen. + </p> + <p> + On the Medici's return della Palla was imprisoned as a traitor, and + beheaded at Pisa. The paintings passed into the possession of the Medici, + by purchase, during Andrea's life. [Footnote: Biadi, <i>Notizie</i>, &c., + p. 146, note 2.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. THE PLAGUE AND THE SIEGE. A.D. 1525-1531. + </h2> + <p> + From 1524 to 1528 the plague desolated Italy, never entirely leaving it. + During this time Andrea obtained a commission through Antonio Brancacci, + to paint some pictures in the convent of S. Piero at Luco in Mugello, + where he retired with his wife and her relations, and his pupil Raffaelo. + They spent a very pleasant summer: the nuns made much of his wife and her + sisters, and he passed his time in earnest painting. The fruits of his + labour are a <i>Pietà</i>, a <i>Visitation</i>, and a <i>Head of Christ</i>—almost + a replica of the one in the SS. Annunziata. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Pietà</i> is full of expression and feeling, but more realistic and + less dignified than that of Fra Bartolommeo, which now hangs on the same + wall of the Hall of Apollo at the Pitti. + </p> + <p> + In colouring also there is a great contrast between the two, that of Fra + Bartolommeo being deep, rich, and mellow, while Andrea's is more profuse, + diffused, and wanting in depth of shadow. + </p> + <p> + S. John and the Virgin raise the dead Saviour, the Magdalen and S. + Catherine weep at his feet; S. Peter and S. Paul at the back express their + grief in the manner natural to their characters. S. Peter, in his vehemence, + flings up his arms in a madness of sorrow. S. Paul, with more dignity, is + half stupefied with the intensity of woe. + </p> + <p> + If those saints had been left in Fra Bartolommeo's <i>Pietà</i>, the two + pictures would have had the very same figures, in each: but how different + the composition, feeling, and expression! The Frate's group is a compact + triangle; that of Andrea a scattered arrangement. The Magdalen of the + Frate is overwhelmed with the very excess of love and grief, all of which + is expressed intensely, yet her face is hidden; that of Andrea is a mere + woman dressed in flying scarf and flowing garments, but with very little + soul in her face. + </p> + <p> + The characteristics of the two painters can be well studied in these + works, so near together, so similar, and yet so different. + </p> + <p> + For the three works painted at Luco Andrea was paid ninety florins in + gold. The <i>Pietà</i>, was bought in later years by the Grand Duke + Leopold, and now adorns the Pitti Palace. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Visitation</i> was placed in the church of the convent over a + presepio. [Footnote: In 1818 it was restored by Luigi Scotti and sold.] + Biadi gives the following document:—"Io Andrea d'Angiolo del Sarto, + à di 11 Ottobre 1528 ho ricevuto fiorini 80 d' oro di quei larghi [<i>i.e.</i> + of two scudi each] della Tavola dell' Altar grande e di una mezza tavola + della Visitazione, da Donna Caterina della Casa Fiorentina, Badessa di + Luco." [Footnote: 2 Vol. in. p, 571, note.] + </p> + <p> + Andrea was paid ten florins for the <i>Head of the Saviour</i>, through + his assistant, Raffaello. This receipt would prove either that he went to + Luco later than 1524, or that he returned there to finish the works in the + year 1528. + </p> + <p> + On their return to Florence in the autumn Andrea painted a fine work for + his friend, Beccuccio da Gambassi, a glass-worker. It is an apotheosis of + the <i>Madonna</i>, with four figures beneath—S. John Baptist, Mary + Magdalen, S. Sebastian, and S. Rocco; not S. <i>Onofrio</i>, as Bottari + has named it. The predella, now lost, had portraits of the patron and his + wife. Crowe and Cavalcaselle speak of six saints in this picture, four + standing and two kneeling. + </p> + <p> + This description seems to point more certainly to the Sarzana <i>Madonna</i>, + which is now in the Hall of Apollo, in the Pitti Palace. That for + Beccuccio is described, with the four above-mentioned saints only, by all + the Italian authors. + </p> + <p> + The tabernacle, at the corner of the convent, outside the Porta Pinti, + Florence, was painted about this time. It is now quite destroyed by age + and weather; a good copy by Empoli, exists, however, in the western + corridor of the Uffizi. It is a charming <i>Holy Family, with the infant + S. John</i>,—a sweet laughing face. The Madonna is a portrait of + Lucrezia. + </p> + <p> + In the siege when the convent of the Ingesuate—at the corner of + which it stood—was razed to the ground, this fresco, although + loosened from the wall, was spared by the soldiers, who had not courage to + injure it. The Grand Duke Cosimo was anxious to have it brought to + Florence, and often came with engineers and architects, but they never + hazarded its removal. [Footnote: Bocchi, <i>Bellezze di Firenze</i>, p. + 482.] + </p> + <p> + The Duomo of Pisa has five saints painted by Andrea; they originally + formed one large picture in five compartments, and were painted for the + church of the now suppressed convent of S. Agnes; but in 1618 they were + divided into five pictures, and removed to the Duomo, where <i>S. + Catherine Martyr</i>, <i>S. Margaret</i>, <i>S. Peter</i>, and <i>S. John + the Baptist</i> hang on each side of the altar. <i>S. Agnes</i>, with her + lamb by her side, is placed on a pilaster towards the southern door. This + and <i>S. Margaret</i> are especially graceful and expressive. There is + much of the feeling of Correggio, but with more natural grace and less + voluptuousness. The cutting and retouching had injured them greatly, but + in 1835 Antonio Garazalli took off the repainting and restored them more + delicately. + </p> + <p> + In 1525 Andrea had a commission to draw cartoons for painting the + balustrade of the Ringhiera—a kind of wide terrace in front of the + Palazzo della Signoria, from which speeches were made to the populace. His + designs were very beautiful and appropriate, the compartments being + emblematical of the different quarters of the city; besides which were + allegories of mountains, rivers, and virtues. The designs were left + unfinished at his death, and the Ringhiera was never painted. + </p> + <p> + In 1526-7 he worked at the fresco of the <i>Last Supper</i>, at S. Salvi, + which was intended to have been done when he began the four saints there, + in 1510, had not some misunderstanding between the rulers of the order + prevented their continuation. [Footnote: Vasari's <i>Lives</i>, vol. iii. + p. 224.] Even now he worked in a desultory manner, doing it bit by bit, + but in the end producing a marvellous work. + </p> + <p> + The refectory is a long vaulted hall, and the frescoed table, with its + life-size figures, fills the whole arch of the wall opposite the door. + One's natural impulse on entering it is to exclaim, "How life-like!" There + is a great and living animation in the figures; the characters of the + Apostles are written on their expressive faces. Judas is not placed away + alone, as in many renderings of the subject, but is next to Christ, the + contrast of the two faces being thus emphasized by proximity. S. Peter, + though old, has all the vehemence and intensity of his character. Add to + the feeling a brilliancy of colour of which Andrea alone had the secret, + for without deep shadows, and keeping up the same intensity of tone + throughout, he yet obtained great harmony and full relief where others + would have produced a clash and flatness. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle + say with justice, "From the contemplation of the <i>Cena</i>, at Milan, we + should say that the painter is high bred; looking at that of S. Salvi, + that he is accustomed to lowly company." [Footnote: <i>Hist. of Painting</i>, + vol. iii. chap. xvii. p. 574.] But in some subjects a rugged strength is + more important than a high refinement, and in the group of humble + fishermen who formed the first church this is not out of place. If he + could only have spiritualised Christ, nothing would be left to be desired. + </p> + <p> + Andrea del Sarto was a member of a sacred company called the "Fraternità + del Nicchio," for which he painted a standard to be carried in their + processions. It is now in the Hall of the Old Masters in the Uffizi, and + is a charming group of <i>S. James, with two children dressed in white + surplices</i>—the habit of the company. The saint is caressing one, + who kneels at his feet; the other has an open book in his hand. The + draperies are especially graceful, and the expressions soft and pleasing. + </p> + <p> + After finishing a portrait of the Intendant of the monks at Vallombrosa, + which the said monk afterwards placed in an arbour covered with vines, + regardless of the injuries of wind and rain—Andrea, having some + colours still left on his palette, took up a tile and called his wife to + sit for her portrait, that all might see how well she had kept her good + looks from her youth; but Lucrezia not being inclined to sit, he got a + mirror and painted <i>his own portrait</i> on the tile instead. It was one + of his later works, and Lucrezia kept it till her death. It is now in the + room of portraits in the Uffizi, but much blackened by time; probably also + from the tile not having been properly prepared. [Footnote: This portrait + is given as a frontispiece.] + </p> + <p> + The next year or two were taken up in producing a number of large + altar-pieces, and in painting pictures for the dealer, Giovanni Battista + della Palla, who was still intent on supplying the King of France with + Italian works of art. For him he painted a <i>Sacrifice of Abraham</i>, + which Vasari thinks one of his most excellent works. The face of the + patriarch is full of faith, and yet self-sacrifice; the nude figure of + Isaac, bronzed in the parts which have been exposed to the sun, most + tenderly expresses a trembling dread, mingled with trust in his father; + the landscape is also very airy and beautiful, and a characteristic group + of a servant and the browsing ass is very effective in the background. + </p> + <p> + He also painted a lovely picture of <i>Charity with three Children</i> for + Della Palla. Both these works were done with great care, for he hoped by + their means to regain the lost favour of the King of France. It was too + late for this, however; and, as it happened, neither of these works + reached its destination. The siege of Florence took place about this time + (1529); the dealer, Battista della Palla, had his head cut off in his + dungeon at Pisa, and all hope of his mediation with Francis I. was at an + end. The <i>Charity</i> was sold to Domenico Conti, the painter, after + Andrea's death, and thence passed into the hands of the Antinori family. + The <i>Sacrifice of Abraham</i> has had more vicissitudes. Filippo Strozzi + purchased and gave it to the Marchese del Vasto, who had it in his castle + at Ischia many years. Later it was sent from Florence to Modena in + exchange for a Correggio, and Augustus II. of Saxony becoming its + purchaser, placed it in the Dresden Gallery. + </p> + <p> + This seems to have been a favourite subject with Andrea del Sarto, who + repeated it five times. + </p> + <p> + 1. The one done by himself for the King of France. + </p> + <p> + 2. Also in France, having been purchased from the Grand Duke of Tuscany. + (See Argenville.) + </p> + <p> + 3. The one mentioned above, done for G. B. della Palla. + </p> + <p> + 4. A smaller one, painted for Paolo da Terra Rossa; a fine painting, for + which the artist asked so small a price that the purchaser was ashamed to + pay it. Paolo sent it to Naples. + </p> + <p> + 5. An unfinished painting of <i>Abraham holding Isaac by the Hand</i>, now + in the possession of the Zonadari family, who obtained it from the + Peruzzi. + </p> + <p> + During the siege, work was found for artists, but of an unpleasant nature. + Andrea was commissioned, in 1530, to paint the effigies of some traitors + on the palace of the Signoria. He dared not refuse, but remembering that + his namesake, Andrea del Castagno, who had been similarly employed, gained + the name of "Andrea degli Impiccati," he was anxious that the same name + should not attach to himself. Accordingly he had an enclosed platform + made, and giving out that his pupil, Bernardino del Buda, was going to + paint the effigies, he worked at them himself secretly, till, on being + uncovered, they seemed to be real persons writhing on the gibbet. + </p> + <p> + No trace of them remains now, but the studies are in the collection of + drawings in the Uffizi. + </p> + <p> + A fine half-length figure of <i>S. Sebastian</i>, for the brotherhood of + that name, which had its head-quarters in the street in which Andrea + lived, was almost his last work in Florence. + </p> + <p> + The siege was now over, but the influx of soldiers from the camp brought a + return of the plague, which awakened great terror in the city. Andrea's + mode of life and love of good living did not conduce to his safety; he was + taken ill suddenly, and gave himself up for lost. Neither Vasari nor Biadi + says he was entirely deserted by his wife; they only hint that she came to + his room as little as she could, having a great fear of the plague. + </p> + <p> + It is more than probable that Andrea himself kept her away from him, for + his love was always unselfish, and he thought only of her good. However + this be, he died, aged forty-two, on the 22nd of January, 1531, and was + buried very quietly by the "Brethren of the Scalzo" in the church of the + S. Annunziata. His tomb is beneath the pavement of the presbytery, on the + left hand. His older biographers seem to think this unostentatious funeral + a great slight to his merits, but if there were any doubts as to his + illness being the plague, it would only have been a natural precaution to + avoid spreading contagion by making his interment quite private. + </p> + <p> + That Andrea had not wholly neglected his own family is proved by his will, + which left his property (after paying back Lucrezia's <i>dot</i> of 100 + scudi, and the money for the improvement of the new house in Via Crocetta + for her and her daughter) to his brother Domenico, with the proviso that + after his death half the bequest should be given to Domenico's daughter as + <i>dot</i>, the rest to accrue to the hospital of the Innocenti + (Foundlings). [Footnote: Ricordanze nel Archivio del E. Spedate degli + Innocenti di Firenze. Biadi, <i>Notizie</i>, p. 127.] + </p> + <p> + Lucrezia lived to a good old age, being nearly ninety when she died; she + seems to have lived a very quiet life, and to have kept Andrea's paintings + with great care, except a few only which she sold. The house in Via + Crocetta passed many years afterwards into the possession of another + painter, Zuccheri, who embellished the studio front with reliefs in stone, + representing the paraphernalia of an atelier; but it is Andrea's name + which lives in the house, as his memory does in the hearts of the + Florentine people, and his works in the cloisters of the Florentine + churches. The people of the city always seem to claim Del Sarto as + especially their own. He is always <i>nostro pittore</i>, or <i>nostro + maestro</i>-and indeed as a master of fresco he never was surpassed. In + colouring he was in his way unique; in modelling, original and graceful; + while the transparent clearness of his shadows and brilliant blending of + tints in the lights render his handling incomparable. A little more + refinement and aesthetic feeling would have placed him on a level with the + great leaders of the Renaissance. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. SCHOLARS OF ANDREA DEL SARTO. + </h2> + <p> + Andrea's scholars were numerous, though only a few rose to any great + eminence. Of these, JACOPO CARRUCCI, "da Pontormo" (born 1494, died 1557), + was by far the most talented. Left an orphan at an early age, the charge + of his sister devolved on him, and he placed her with a relation while he + was pursuing his art training. He studied under a diversity of masters, + including Leonardo da Vinci, Albertinelli, Piero di Cosimo; and finally, + in 1512, he entered Andrea del Sarto's school, but did not stay long there + either. Some say Andrea was jealous of his success; he, however, had + generosity enough to praise and acknowledge his talent, and to show his + appreciation by giving him important work to do in his own studio. + </p> + <p> + Pontormo did the predella to Andrea's altar-piece of the <i>Annunciation</i> + for the convent of S. Gallo. His hand is to be seen also in several of his + master's works. He drew public attention first by painting two figures of + <i>Faith</i> and <i>Charity</i> on the escutcheon of the Medici for Andrea + di Cosimo, who had obtained the commission, but did not feel equal to + executing it. Michelangelo, on seeing these figures, prophesied great + things for the youth, who was at that time only nineteen years of age. + </p> + <p> + The people of Pontormo, his native town, were so proud of him, that they + sent for him to emblazon the arms of Pope Leo over the gate of their city. + </p> + <p> + He was next employed by one of the festal companies of the age, called the + Company of the Diamond, to design cars, banners, and costumes for a + triumphal procession in honour of Leo X.'s elevation to the papal chair; + and he organised a very suggestive array of the ages of man, illustrated + historically. He decorated the Papal Hall for Leo X.'s entrance, and later + began to be employed on more serious and lasting works. + </p> + <p> + Some good frescoes of his existed in the convent of Santa Caterina, but + were destroyed when the building was reconstructed in 1688. + </p> + <p> + A very charming fresco of the <i>Visitation</i> still exists in the court + of the SS. Annunziata. It shows him as a good pure colourist, the flesh + tints being especially tender; the composition is lively, full, and + effective. + </p> + <p> + In 1518 he painted a fine altar-piece for the church of S. Michele + Visdomini, Florence, by commission of Francesco Pucci. The <i>Madonna</i>, + seated, is showing the Child Jesus to S. Joseph, whose face is most + expressive and full of smiling admiration. S. John Baptist stands near, at + the sides are S. John Evangelist, S. James, and S. Francis, the latter + kneeling in ecstatic admiration. + </p> + <p> + In some cases he was placed in direct competition with his master, Andrea + del Sarto, being employed by Borgherini to paint the coffers and cabinets + in the same room for which Andrea did the <i>History of Joseph</i>; and + again later at Poggio a Cajano, where the ends of the great hall were + assigned to him to paint, Andrea and Francia Bigio taking the larger walls + at the sides. On one end he designed an allegory of <i>Vertumnus</i>, with + his husbandmen around him busy with their labours, and on the other <i>Pomona, + Diana, &c</i>. Perhaps in these last he has carried his imitation of + Andrea del Sarto rather too far in the matter of draperies, which are too + profuse and studied. Indeed the whole works are overdone; he was so + anxious to rival his master that he forced his invention, altering and + labouring till all spontaneity was taken out of his work. Some of his + frescoes were in the cloister of the Certosa, but they are not fair + specimens of his best style, as they were done when the Florentine artists + were smitten with the mania of imitating Albrecht Dürer, and in these he + has entirely followed the harder manner of that artist without obtaining + his strength. The frescoes are all scenes from the <i>Life of Christ</i>, + and he spent several years over them; after which he painted an + altar-piece. + </p> + <p> + Giovanni Battista della Palla commissioned him to paint a picture to be + sent to the King of France, and Pontormo returning wisely to his natural + style, painted one of his masterpieces, the <i>Resurrection of Lazarus</i>. + The Pitti Palace possesses a curious specimen of his work, the 11,000 + martyrs crucified in a wood in the persecution under the Emperor + Diocletian. + </p> + <p> + He rose to renown as a portrait painter, but lost patronage in later year + by his capricious behaviour, refusing to work except for whom and when he + pleased. In company with his favourite pupil, Bronzino, he did the + frescoes in the Loggie of the Medici villa at Careggi; one Loggia was soon + completed, to the great delight of the Duke, but Jacopo shut himself up in + the second and allowed no one to see what he was doing for five years; + when at length he uncovered the frescoes general disappointment was the + result. He pursued much the same line of conduct in the frescoes of the + roof of the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo. He kept the chapel closed with + walls and planks for eleven years, no one seeing his progress except some + young men who removed one of the rosettes from the ceiling to peep in on + him, but he discovered their plan, and closed the holes more assiduously + than ever. The composition is as confused as it is diffusive; he tried to + embody the whole teaching of the Bible, but becoming overwhelmed with the + vastness of his subject, fell short even of the excellence of his own + previous works. He died before this work was completed, of hydropsy, and + was buried in the Servite Church. + </p> + <p> + GIORGIO VASARI, better known as the chronicler of the works of other + artists than for the excellence of his own, was born at Arezzo, 1512—died + at Florence, 1574. His father was a painter, and the family was connected + by ties of relationship with Luca Signorelli of Cortona. Among the many + masters under whom he studied was Andrea del Sarto. He did not remain long + under his tuition, having contrived to offend Lucrezia in some way. He + painted a great many frescoes at Arezzo, where he lived in his youth with + his paternal uncle Don Antonio. Don Miniato Pitti, prior of the convent of + Monte Oliveti, near Siena, next employed him to adorn the portico of his + church. He had the good fortune to attract the notice of Cardinal Ippolito + de' Medici, who took him to Rome in his suite, where he gained much + advantage by the study of the works of the great masters there. The Medici + family, especially Andrea del Sarto's patron, Ottaviano, were his constant + friends: and their palaces are profusely decorated by him. The Riccardi + Palace has a room with fresco scenes from the life of Cæsar. While + painting these Duke Alessandro gave him a salary of six crowns a month + with a place at his table, and board for his servant, &c. The palace + has several oil paintings by Vasari, amongst which are portraits of the + Duke and his sister. After the death of Duke Alessandro and Ottaviano he + wandered from city to city, painting so energetically that there are few + of the principal towns which do not possess some of his works, especially + Naples, Pisa, Bologna, and Arezzo. The Palazzo San Giorgio of the Farnese + family, in Rome, has a large hall richly frescoed by Vasari, but the best + of his works are to be seen on the walls of the great hall of the Palazzo + Vecchio in Florence, where he has illustrated the battles of the + Florentines, and in several other rooms of the same palace; he having + continued all the later years of his life in the service of Duke Cosimo, + by whom the palace was restored and decorated. His works are too numerous + and not sufficiently important to catalogue or describe, his composition + is overcrowded and wanting in perspective. There is generally a + superabundance of flesh; muscular limbs in all attitudes form a great part + of his pictures, but as the flesh tints he used were wanting in mellowness + and shadow, and have turned pink with age, they compare disadvantageously + with those of the more solid masters who preceded him. After all, Vasari's + name and fame rest principally on the labours of his pen, not those of his + brush. His "<i>Lives of the Painters,</i>" although not a model of + precision in facts or chronology, is nevertheless the mine from which all + subsequent art historians quarry to obtain their information. + </p> + <p> + One of the most valuable books of the day is probably the new edition of + Vasari with corrections and notes taken from the archives by Signer + Gaetano Milanesi. + </p> + <p> + FRANCESCO ROSSI, DE' SALVIATI (born at Florence, 1510—died at Borne, + 1563) was a great friend of Vasari; his real name was Rossi, his father + being a weaver of velvets, but he obtained the name of Salviati from being + the protégé of the Cardinal of that name. His first master was Raffaello + del Brescia, but in 1529 he, with his friend Nannoccio, entered the school + of Andrea del Sarto, with whom they stayed during the siege. Becoming + known by some paintings done for the friars of the Badia, Cardinal + Salviati took him into his house, gave him a stipend of four crowns a + month, and an apartment at the Borgo Vecchio, he painting any works the + Cardinal wished. Francesco was not idle, a great number of frescoes, + altar-pieces, and portraits, &c., &c., testifying to his industry. + In his later years he was employed with his friend Vasari in the Palazzo + Vecchio, where he painted the frescoes in the smaller Hall of Audience. + These are principally scenes from the <i>Life of Camillus</i>. The story + of the schoolmaster of Falerii is very spirited, and the <i>Triumph of + Camillus</i> varied and pleasing in colouring. Although melancholy and + suspicious, often making enemies and losing patronage by + misunderstandings, Rossi and Vasari were always faithful to their first + boyish friendship, often working together, but never with any spirit of + rivalry. Salviati's style was bold and spirited; he was rich in invention, + but perhaps a little wild in the matter of draperies and bizarre costumes. + His colouring is more pleasing than that of Vasari, but is diffusive and + wanting in depth. + </p> + <p> + DOMENICO CONTI never became famous, but in spite of want of genius, he was + Andrea's favourite pupil. All his master's designs and cartoons came into + his possession at Andrea's death, but he was unfortunately robbed of them + soon afterwards. The inscription to Andrea del Sarto which once existed in + the church of SS. Annunziata was put up by Conti. + </p> + <p> + JACOPO DEL CONTE (1510-1598), who in Vasari's time lived in Rome, is + chiefly noted for his likenesses of several pontiffs and personages of the + Papal Court. There are a few altar-pieces by him in Rome, and a <i>Deposition</i> + in the church of the Misericordia in Florence, but he was almost + exclusively a portrait painter. + </p> + <p> + ANDREA SGUAZZELLA, called NANNOCCIO, remained in France after having + accompanied Andrea del Sarto thither. Cardinal Tournon took him under his + patronage, and he painted a large number of works in the style of Andrea. + </p> + <p> + JACOPO, called JACONE, was another of Andrea's favourite disciples. His + frescoes, of which some existed till of late years on the façade of the + Palazzo Buondelmonte, in Florence, were much in Del Sarto's manner. He + assisted his master in a great many of his works, while of his independent + paintings many were sent to France; no doubt some of these, as well as + Sguazzella's, figure under the master's name in that list of fifty works + given by Argenville. He was too idle and fond of pleasure to rise to + eminence, though he did some good frescoes in the Palazzo Capponi at + Florence, and in the Capponi Villa at Montici, and assisted Jacopo da + Pontormo in the Hall of the Medici villa at Careggi. He died in 1553, in + great poverty. + </p> + <p> + PIER FRANCESCO DI JACOPO DI SANDRO was said to have had some talent. He + and Domenico Conti were employed among others in decorating the court of + the Palazzo Vecchio on the occasion of Cosimo de' Medici's marriage with + Leonora di Toledo. There are some altar-pieces of his in the church of + Santo Spirito, Florence. + </p> + <p> + SOLOSMEO, RAFFAELLO, and BERNARDINO DEL BUDA were three <i>garzoni</i> in + Andrea's studio. They were employed in the subordinate work and manual + labour, but were not trained as artists. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1886. G. GRUYER. Fra Bartolommeo della Porta and M. Albertinelli. + 1903. F. KNAPP. Fra Bartolommeo della Porta. + 1922. H. GABLENTZ. Fra Bartolommeo. + 1902. M. E. JAMES. Fra Bartolommeo. + 1899. H. GUINNESS. Andrea del Sarto. (The Great Masters Series.) + 1905. MASTERPIECES OF ANDREA DEL SARTO. (Gowan's Art Books.) + 1928. F. KNAPP. Andrea del Sarto. + 1864-66. CROWE AND CAVALCASELLE. A New History of Painting in Italy + from the 2nd to the 16th Century. Three Volumes. +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea D'Agnolo, by +Leader Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRA BARTOLOMMEO AND ANDREA *** + +***** This file should be named 7222-h.htm or 7222-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/2/2/7222/ + + +Text file produced by Michelle Shephard, Tiffany Vergon, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +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. 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