THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF PAINTING 
 
 IN 
 
 ITALY, 
 
 iOM TIIE PERIOD OF THE REVIVAL OF THE FINE ARTS TO THE END 
 OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: TRANSLATED FROM 
 THE ITALIAN OF THE 
 
 I 
 
 ABATE LUIGI LANZI. 
 
 BY THOMAS ROSCOE. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 NTAINING THE SCHOOLS OF NAPLES, VENICE, LOMBARDY, MANTUA, 
 MODENA, PARMA, CREMONA, AND MILAN. 
 
 GrUtttfln, rcbteclf. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LL AND DALDY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 1868. 
 
 ND 
 
 (oi4 
 
 LA 
 
 v.2. 
 
LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET 
 AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
 THE J. PAUL GETTY CUN*u.ii 
 LIBRARY 
 
CONTENTS OE VOLUME II. 
 
 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN LOWER ITALY. 
 
 Book IY. 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Epoch I.— The old masters ... ... ... ... 1 
 
 Epoch II.—Modern Neapolitan style, founded on the 
 
 schools of Raffaello and Michelangelo .. 16 
 
 Epoch III.—Corenzio, Ribera, Caracciolo, flourish in 
 
 Naples—Strangers who compete with them ... 30 
 
 Epoch IY.—Luca Giordano, Solimene, and their scholars 54 
 
 UPPER ITALY. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 Epoch I.—The ancients ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 Epoch II.—Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Jacopo da 
 
 Bassano, Paolo Yeronese ... ... ... 128 
 
 Epoch III.—Innovations of the mannerists of the seven¬ 
 teenth century. Corruption of Yenetian paint- 
 in ... ... ... ... ... ... 233 
 
 Epocn IY.—Of exotic and new styles in Venice ... 292 
 
 Book II. 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LOMBARDY. 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL. 
 
 Epoch I. —Of Mantegna and his successors 
 Epoch II. — Giulio Romano and his school 
 Epoch III. — Decline of the school, and foundation of an 
 academy in order to restore it ... 
 
 a 
 
 32 5 
 331 
 
 339 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Epoch" I.—The old masters ... ... ... ... 343 
 
 Epoch II. — Imitation of Raffaello and Correggio in the 
 
 sixteenth century ... ... ... ... 350 
 
 Epoch III.—The Modenese artists of the seventeenth 
 century chiefly follow the example of the 
 Bolognese .. ... ... ... ... 360 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA. 
 
 Epoch I. — The ancients ... ... ... ... 371 
 
 Epoch II. — Correggio, and those who succeeded him in 
 
 his school ... ... ... ... ... 374 
 
 Epoch III. — Parmese school of the Caracci, and of 
 other foreigners until the period of the foun¬ 
 dation of the academy ... ... ...410 
 
 Chap. IV. 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA. 
 
 Epoch I.—The ancients ... ... ... ... 419 
 
 Epoch II.—Camillo Boccaccino, II Soiaro, the Campi.. 428 
 Epoch III. — Decline of the school of the Campi. Trotti 
 
 and other artists support it ... ... ... 441 
 
 Epoch IV.—Foreign manners introduced into Cremona 449 
 
 Chap. V. 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN. 
 
 Epoch I.—Account of the ancient masters until the time 
 
 of Vinci ... ... ... ... ... 457 
 
 Epoch II. — Vinci establishes an academy of design at 
 Milan. His pupils and the best native artists 
 down to the time of Gaudenzio ... ... 478 
 
 Epoch III. — The Procaccini and other foreign and native 
 artists form a new academy, with new styles, 
 in the city and state of Milan ... ... 508 
 
 Epoch IV.—After the time of Daniele Crespi the art 
 declines. A third academy is founded for its 
 improvement ... ... ... ... ... 522 
 
HISTORY OF'PAINTING 
 
 IN 
 
 LOWER ITALY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 We are now arrived at a school of painting widen possesses 
 indisputable proofs of having, in ancient times, ranked among 
 the first in Italy, as in no part of that country do the re¬ 
 mains of antiquity evince a more refined taste, nowhere do 
 we find mosaics executed with more elegance,* nor any thing 
 more beautiful than the subterranean chambers which are 
 ornamented with historical designs and grotesques. The cir¬ 
 cumstance of its deriving its origin from ancient Greece, and 
 the ancient history of design, in which we read of many of 
 its early artists, have ennobled it above all others in Italy, 
 and on this account w r e feel a greater regret at the barbarism 
 which overwhelmed it in common with other schools. We 
 may express a similar sentiment with regard to Sicily, which, 
 from its affinity in situation and government, I shall include 
 in this Fourth Book, but generally in the notes.t That 
 island, too, possessed many Greek colonies, who have left 
 vases and metals of such extraordinary workmanship, that 
 
 * In the Museo of the Sig. D. Franc. Daniele, are some birds not 
 inferior to the doves of Furietti. 
 
 t I adopt this mode because * ‘ little has hitherto been published on the 
 Sicilian school,” as the Sig. Hackert observes in his “ Memorie de* 
 Pittori Messinesi.” I had not seen that book when I published the for¬ 
 mer edition of the present work, and I was then desirous that the me- 
 VOL. II. B 
 
2 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 many have thought that Sicily preceded Athens in carrying 
 this art to perfection. But to proceed to the art of painting 
 in Naples, which is our present object, we may observe, that 
 Dominici and the other national writers, the notice of whom 
 I shall reserve for their proper places, affirm, that that city 
 was never wholly destitute of artists, not only in the ancient 
 times, which Filostrato extols so highly in the proemium of 
 his “ Immagini,” but even in the dark ages. In confirmation 
 of this, they adduce devotional pictures by anonymous artists 
 anterior to the year 1200 ; particularly many Madonnas in an 
 ancient style, which were the objects of adoration in various 
 churches. They subjoin a catalogue of these early artists, 
 and bitterly inveigh against Vasari, who has wholly omitted 
 them in his work. 
 
 The first painter whom we find mentioned at the earliest 
 period of the restoration of the art, is Tommaso de' Stefani, 
 who was a contemporary of Cimabue, in the reign of Charles 
 of Anjou.* That prince, according to Vasari, in passing 
 through Florence, was conducted to the studio of Cimabue to 
 see the picture of the Virgin, which he had painted for the 
 chapel of the Rucellai family, on a larger scale than had ever 
 before been executed. He adds, that the whole city collected 
 in such crowds thither to view it, that it became a scene of 
 public festivity, and that that part of the city in which the 
 
 moirs of the Sicilian painters should be collected together and given to 
 th^ public. I rejoice that we have had memoks presented to us of those 
 of Messina, and that we shall also have those of the Syracusans and 
 others, as the worthy professor gives us reason to hope in the preface to 
 the “ Memorie ” before mentioned, which wex-e written by an anonymous 
 writer, and published by Sig. Hackert with his own remarks. 
 
 * The history of the art in Messina enumerates a series of pictures 
 from the year 1267, of which period is S. Placido of the cathedral, 
 painted by an Antonio d’Antonio. It is supposed that this is a family of 
 painters, which had the surname of Antonj, and that many pictures in S. 
 Francesco, S. Anna, and elsewhere, are by different Antonj, until we 
 come to Salvatore di Antonio, father of the celebrated Antonello di 
 Messina, and himself a master ; and there remains by him a S. Francis 
 in the act of receiving the Stigmata, in the church of his name. Thus 
 the genealogy of this Antonello is carried to the before-mentioned Antonio 
 d’ Antonio, and still further by a writer called II Minacciato (Hack. p. 11), 
 although Antonio never, to my knowledge, subscribed himself degli Antonj, 
 having always on hi# pictures, which I have seen, inscribed his country, 
 instead of his surname, as Messinensis, Messineus, Messir.se. 
 
TOMMASO DE’ STEFANI. S 
 
 1 
 
 artist resided, received in consequence the name of Borgo Al¬ 
 legri, which it has retained to the present day. Dominici has 
 not failed to make use of this tradition to the advantage of 
 Tommaso. He observes, that Charles would naturally have 
 invited Cimabue to Naples if he had considered him the first 
 artist of his day; the king, however, did not do so, but at the 
 same time employed Tommaso to ornament a church which he 
 had founded, and he therefore must have considered him su¬ 
 perior to Cimabue. This argument, as every one will imme¬ 
 diately perceive, is by no means conclusive of the real merits 
 of these two artists. That must be decided by an inspection 
 of their works; and with regard to these, Marco da Siena, 
 who is the father of the history of painting in Naples, declares 
 that in respect to grandeur of composition, Cimabue was en¬ 
 titled to the preference. Tommaso enjoyed the favour also of 
 Charles II., who employed him, as did also the principal per¬ 
 sons of the city. The chapel of the Minutoli in the Duomo, 
 mentioned by Boccaccio, was ornamented by him with various 
 pictures of the Passion of our Saviour. Tommaso had a 
 scholar in Filippo Tesauro, who painted in the church of S. 
 Restituta, the life of B. Niccolo, the hermit, the only one of 
 his frescos which has survived to our days. 
 
 About the year 1325, Giotto was invited by King Robert 
 to paint the church of S. Chiara in Naples, which he decorated 
 with subjects from the New Testament, and the mysteries of 
 the Apocalypse, with some designs suggested to him at a for¬ 
 mer time by Dante, as was currently reported in the days 'of 
 Vasari. These pictures were effaced about the beginning of 
 the present century, as they rendered the church dark ; but 
 there remains, among other things in good preservation, a 
 Madonna, called della Grazia, which the generous piety of 
 the religious possessors preserved for the veneration of the 
 faithful. Giotto painted some pictures also in the church of 
 S. Maria Coronata; and others, which no longer exist, in the 
 Castello dell’ Uovo. He selected for his assistant in his 
 labours, a Maestro Simone, who, in consequence of enjoying 
 Giotto’s esteem, acquired a great name in Naples. Some 
 consider him a native of Cremona, others a Neapolitan, which 
 seems nearer the truth. His style partakes both of Tesauro 
 and Giotto, whence some consider him of the first, others of 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 the second master ; and he may probably have been instructed 
 by both. However that may be, on the departure of Giotto 
 he was employed in many works which King Robert and the 
 Queen Sancia were prosecuting in various churches, and par¬ 
 ticularly in S. Lorenzo. He there painted that monarch in 
 the act of being crowned by the Bishop Lodovico, his brother, 
 to whom, upon his death and subsequent canonization, a chapel 
 was dedicated in the Episcopal church, and Simone appointed 
 to decorate it, but which he was prevented from doing by 
 death. Dominici particularly extols a picture by him of a 
 Deposition from the Cross, painted for the great altar of the 
 Incoronata; and thinks it will bear comparison with the 
 works of Giotto. In other respects, he confesses that his 
 conception and invention were not equally good, nor did his 
 heads possess so attractive an air as those of Giotto, nor his 
 
 colours such a suavity of tone. # . 
 
 He instructed in the art a son, called Francesco di Simone, 
 who was highly extolled for a Madonna in chiaroscuro, in the 
 church of S. Chiara, and which was one of the works which 
 escaped being effaced on the occasion before mentioned. He 
 had two other scholars in Gennaro di Cola, and Stefanone, 
 who were very much alike in their manner, and on that 
 account were chosen to paint in conjunction some large com¬ 
 positions, such as the pictures of the Life of S. Lodovico, 
 bishop of Tolosa, which Simone had only commenced, and 
 various others of the life of the Virgin, in S. Giovanni, da 
 Carbonara, which were preserved for a long period. Notwith¬ 
 standing the similarity of their styles, we may perceive a 
 difference in the genius of the two artists; the first being in 
 reference to the second, studied and correct, and anxious to 
 overcome all difficulties, and to elevate the art, on which 
 account lie appears occasionally somewhat laboured : the 
 second discovers more genius, more confidence, and a greater 
 freedom of pencil, and to his figures lie gives a spirit that 
 might have assured him a distinguished place, if he had been 
 born at a more advanced period of art. 
 
 Before Zingaro (who will very soon occupy our attention) 
 introduced a manner acquired in other schools, the art had 
 made little progress in Naples and her territories. This 
 is clearly proved by Colantonio del Fiore, the scholar of 
 
ANTONIO SOLARIO. 
 
 Francesco, who lived till the year 1444, of whom Dominici 
 mentions some pictures, though he is in doubt whether they 
 should not be assigned to Maestro Simone ; which is a tacit 
 confession, that in the lapse of a century the art had not 
 made any considerable progress. It appears, however, that 
 Colantonio after some time, by constant practice, had con¬ 
 siderably improved himself, having painted several works in 
 a more modern style, particularly a S. Jerome, in the church 
 of S. Lorenzo, in the act of drawing a thorn from the foot of 
 a lion, with the date of 143C. It is a picture of great truth, 
 removed afterwards, for its merit, by the P. P. Conventuali, 
 into the sacristy of the same church, where it was for a long 
 time the admiration of strangers. He had a scholar of the 
 name of Angiolo Franco, who imitated better than any other 
 Neapolitan the manner of Giotto ; adding only a stronger 
 style of chiaroscuro, which he derived from his master. 
 
 The art was, however, more advanced by Antonio Solario, 
 originally a smith, and commonly called lo Zingaro. His 
 history has something romantic in it, like that of Quintin 
 Matsys, who, from his first profession, was called il Fabhro, 
 and became a painter from his love to a young girl, who 
 promised to marry him when he had made himself a proficient 
 in the art of painting. Solario, in the same manner, being 
 enamoured of a daughter of Colantonio, and receiving from 
 him a promise of her hand in marriage in ten years, if he 
 became an eminent painter, forsook his furnace for the 
 academy, and substituted the pencil for the file. There is an 
 idle tradition of a queen of Naples having been the author oi 
 this match, but that matter I leave in the hands of the nar¬ 
 rator of it. It is more interesting to us to know that 
 Solario went to Bologna, where he was for several years the 
 scholar of Lippo Dalmasio, called also Lippo delle Madonne, 
 from his numerous portraits of the Virgin, and the grace 
 with which he painted them. On leaving Bologna he visited 
 other parts of Italy, in order to study the works of the best 
 artists in the various schools; as Vivarini, in Venice ; Bicci, 
 in Florence; Galasso, in Ferrara; Pisanello, and Gentile da 
 Fabriano, in Rome. It has been thought that he assisted the 
 two last, as Luca Giordano affirmed, that among the pictures 
 in the Lateran. he recognised some heads which were in- 
 
6 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 disputably by Solario. He excelled in this particular, and 
 excited the admiration of Marco da Siena himself, who 
 declared that his countenances seemed alive. He became also 
 a good perspective painter for those times, and respectable in 
 historical compositions, which he enlivened with landscape in 
 a better style than other painters, and distinguished his figures 
 by drapery peculiar to the age, and carefully drawn from 
 nature. He was less happy in designing his hands and feet, 
 and often appears heavy in his attitudes, and crude in his 
 colouring. On his return to Naples, it is said that he gave 
 proofs of his skill, and was favourably received by Colantonio, 
 and thus became his son-in-law nine years after his first 
 departure ; and that he painted and taught there under King 
 Alfonso, until the year 1455, about which time he died. 
 
 The most celebrated work of this artist was in the choir of 
 S. Severino, in fresco, representing, in several compartments, 
 the life of S. Benedict, and containing an incredible variety 
 of figures and subjects. He left also numerous pictures with 
 portraits, and Madonnas of a beautiful form, and not a few 
 others painted in various churches of Naples. In that of S. 
 Domenico Maggiore, where he painted a dead Christ, and in 
 that of S. Pier Martire, where he represented a S. Vincenzio, 
 with some subject from the life of that saint, it is said that he 
 surpassed himself. Thus there commenced in Naples a new 
 epoch, which from its original and most celebrated prototype, 
 is called by the Cav. Massimo, the school of Zingaro, as in 
 that city those pictures are commonly distinguished by the 
 name of Zingaresque, which were painted from the time of 
 that artist to that of Tesauro, or a little later, in the same way 
 that pictures are everywhere called Cortonesque, that are 
 painted in imitation of Berettini. 
 
 About this time there flourished two eminent artists, whom 
 I deem it proper to mention in this place before I enter on 
 the succeeding scholars of the Neapolitan school. These 
 were Matteo da Siena, and Antonello da Messina. The first 
 we noticed in the school of Siena, and mentioned his having 
 painted in Naples the Slaughter of the Innocents. It exists 
 in the church of S. Caterina a Formello, and is engraved 
 in the third volume of the Lettere Senesi. The year 
 M.cccc. xviii. is attached to it, but we ought not to yield 
 
ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 
 
 I 
 
 implicit faith to this date. II P. della Valle, in p. 56 of the 
 above-mentioned volume, observes, that Matteo, in the 
 year 1462, when he painted with his father in Pienza, was 
 young, and that in the portrait which he painted of himself 
 in 1491, he does not appear aged. He could not therefore 
 have painted in Naples in 1418. After this we may believe 
 it very possible, that in this date an l has been inadvertently 
 omitted, and that the true reading is m.cccc.lxviii. Thus the 
 above writer conjectures, and with so much the more probabi¬ 
 lity, as he advances proofs, both from the form of the letters 
 and the absence of the artist from his native place. Whoever 
 desires similar examples, may turn to page 119 of vol. i., 
 and he will find that such errors have occurred more than 
 once in the date of books. Guided by this circumstance, we 
 may correct what Dominici has asserted of Matteo da Siena 
 having influenced the style of Solario. It may be true that 
 there is a resemblance in the air of the heads, and the general 
 style,_ but such similarity can only be accounted for by Matteo 
 deriving it from Solario, or both, as often happens, imitating it 
 from the same master. 
 
 Antonello, of the family of the Antonj, universally known 
 under the name of Antonello da Messina, is a name so illus¬ 
 trious in the history of art, that it is not sufficient to have 
 mentioned him in the first book and to refer to him here 
 again, as he will claim a further notice in the Venetian School, 
 and we must endeavour too to overcome some perplexing diffi¬ 
 culties, to ascertain with correctness the time at which he 
 flourished, and attempt to settle the dispute, whether he were 
 the first who painted in oil in Italy, or whether that art was 
 practised before his time. Vasari relates, that when young, 
 after having spent many years in Rome in the study of 
 design,* and many more at Palermo, painting there with the 
 reputation of a good artist, he repaired first to Messina, and 
 
 * The Memorie de’ Pittori Messinesi assert, that at Rome he was 
 attracted by the fame of the works of Masaccio, and that he there also 
 designed all the ancient statues. They add, too, that he arrived at such 
 celebrity, that his works are equal to those of the best masters of his time. 
 I imagine it must be meant to allude to those who preceded Pietro Peru- 
 gino, Francia, Gio. Bellini, and Mantegna, as his works will not bear 
 any comparison with those of the latter masters. 
 
8 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 from thence passed to Naples, where he chanced to see a large 
 composition painted in oil by Gio. da Bruggia, which had been 
 presented by some Florentine merchants to King Alfonso. 
 Antonello, smitten with this new art, took his departure to 
 Flanders, and there, by his affability, and by a present of some - 
 drawings of the Italian school, so far ingratiated himself with 
 Giovanni, as to induce him to communicate to him the secret, 
 and the aged painter dying soon afterwards, thus left him 
 instructed in the new art. This must have happened about 
 .the year 1440, since that time is required to support the sup¬ 
 position that Giovanni, born about 1370, died at an advanced 
 age, as the old writers assert, or exactly in 1441, as is asserted 
 by the author of the “ Galleria Imperiale.” Antonello then 
 left Flanders, and first resided for some months in his native 
 place; from thence he went to Venice, where he communi¬ 
 cated the secret to Domenico Veneziano ; and having painted 
 there a considerable time, died there at the age of forty-nine. 
 All this we find in ~V asari, and it agrees with what he relates 
 in the life of Domenico Veneziano, that this artist, after 
 having learnt the new method from Antonello in Venice, 
 painted in Loreto with Piero della Francesca, some few years 
 before that artist lost his eyesight, which happened in 145S. 
 Thus the arrival of Antonello in Venice must have occurred 
 about the year 1450, or some previous year; but this con¬ 
 clusion is contrary to Venetian evidence. The remaining 
 traces of Antonello, or the dates attached to his works there, 
 commence in 1474, and terminate according to Ridolfi in 1490. 
 There does not appear any reason whatever, why he should 
 not have attached dates to his pictures, until after residing 
 twenty-four years in Venice. Besides, how can it be main¬ 
 tained that Antonello, after passing many years in Rome 
 as a student, and many in Palermo as a master, and 
 some years in Messina and Flanders, should not in Ve¬ 
 nice, in the forty-ninth year after the death of Giovanni, 
 have passed the forty-ninth year of his age? Hackert 
 quotes the opinion of Gallo, who in the “ Annali di Mes¬ 
 sina,” dates the birth of Antonello in 1447, and his death 
 at forty-nine years of age, that is, in 1496. But if this 
 were so, how could he have known Gio. da Bruggia ? Yet if 
 such fact be denied, we must contradict a tradition which has 
 
ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 
 
 9 
 
 been generally credited. I should be more inclined to believe 
 that there is a mistake in his age, and that he died at a more 
 advanced period of life. Nor on this supposition do we wrong 
 Vasari, others having remarked what we shall also on a proper 
 opportunity confirm, that as far as regards Venetian artists, 
 Vasari errs almost in every page from the want of accurate 
 information. I further believe that, respecting the residence 
 of Antonello in Venice, he wrote with inaccuracy. That he 
 was there about the year 1450, and communicated his secret 
 to Domenico, is a fact which, after so many processes made in 
 Florence on the murder of Domenico, and so much discussion 
 respecting him, must have been well ascertained, not depend¬ 
 ing on the report contained in the memoirs of the painters by 
 Grillandajo, or any other contemporary, in whose writings 
 Vasari might search for information. But admitting this, I 
 am of opinion that Antonello did not reside constantly in 
 Venice from the year 1450 until his death, as Vasari insi¬ 
 nuates. It appears that he travelled afterwards in several 
 countries, resided for a long time in Milan, and acquired there 
 a great celebrity, and that he repaired afresh to Venice, and 
 enjoyed there for some years a public salary. This we gather 
 from Maurolico, quoted by Haclcert: Ob mirumhic ingenium 
 Venetiis aliquot annos publice conductus vixit: Mediolani 
 quoque fuit percelebris ( Hist . Sican. pi. 186, prim, edit.), 
 and if he was not a contemporary writer, still he was not very 
 far removed from Antonello. This is the hypothesis I propose 
 in order to reconcile the many contradictory accounts which 
 we find on this subject in Vasari, Ridolfi, and Zanetti; and 
 when we come to the Venetian school, I shall not forget to 
 adduce further proofs in support of it. Others may perhaps 
 succeed better than I have done in this task, and with that 
 hope I shall console myself; as in my researches I have no 
 other object than truth, I shall be equally satisfied whether I 
 discover it myself, or it be communicated to me by others. 
 
 That therefore Antonello was the first who exhibited a per¬ 
 fect method of practising painting in oil in Italy, is an asser¬ 
 tion that, it seems to me, may be with justice maintained, or 
 at least it cannot be said that there is proof to the contrary. 
 And yet in the history of the art in the Two Sicilies, this 
 honour is strongly disputed. In that history we find the de- 
 
10 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 scription of a chapel in the Duomo of Messina, called Madonna 
 della Lettera, where it is said there exists a very old Greek 
 picture of the Virgin, an object of adoration, which was said 
 to be in oil. If this were even adm ted, it could not detract 
 from the merit of Antonello in having restored a beautiful art 
 that had fallen into desuetude : but in these Greek pictures, 
 the wax had often the appearance of oil, as we observed in 
 \ol. i. p. 86. Marco da feiena, in the fragment of a discourse 
 which Dominici has. preserved, asserts that the Neapolitan 
 painters of 1300 continued to improve in the two manners of 
 painting in fresco and oil. When I peruse again what I have 
 written in vol. i. p. 86, where some attempt at colouring in 
 oil anterior to Antonello is admitted, I may be permitted not 
 to rely on the word of Pino alone. There exist in Naples 
 many pictures of 1300, and I cannot imagine why, in a con¬ 
 troversy like this, they are neither examined nor alluded to, 
 and why the question is rested solely on a work or two of 
 C-olantonio. fsome national writers, and not long since, Sig¬ 
 norelli, in his “ Coltura delle due Sicili,” tom. iii. p. 171, have 
 pretended that Colantonio del Fiore was certainly the first to 
 paint in oil, and adduced in proof the very picture of S. Jerome, 
 before mentioned, and another in S. Maria Nuova. II Sig! 
 Piacenza, after inspecting them, says that he was not able to 
 decide whether these pictures were really in oil or not. Zanetti 
 (P. V. p. 20) also remarks, that it is extremely difficult to 
 pass a decided judgment on works of this kind, and I have 
 made the same observation with respect to Van Eyck, which 
 will, I hope, convince every reader who will be at the’trouble 
 to refer to vol. i. p. 84. And unless that had been the 
 case, how happened it that all Europe was filled with 
 the name of Van Eyck in the course of a few years; 
 that every painter ran to him; that his works were coveted 
 by princes, and that they who could not obtain them, pro¬ 
 cured the works of his scholars, and others the works of Ausse 
 Ugo d’Anversa, and Antonello; and of Ruggieri especially’ 
 of whose great fame in Italy we shall in another place adduce 
 the documents ?* On the other hand, who, beyond Naples and 
 its territory, had at that time heard of Colantonio ? Who ever 
 sought with such eagerness the works of Solario ? And if this 
 
 * In the first epoch of the Venetian School, 
 
ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 
 
 11 
 
 last was tlie scholar and son-in-law of a master who painted 
 so well in oil, how happened it that he was neither distin¬ 
 guished in the art, nor even acquired it ? Why did he himself 
 and his scholars work in distemper ? Why did the Sicilians, 
 as we have seen, pass over to Venice, where Antonello resided, 
 to instruct themselves, and not confine themselves to Naples ? 
 Why did the whole school of Venice, the emporium of Eu¬ 
 rope, and capable of contradicting any false report, attest, on 
 the death of Antonello, that he was the first that painted in 
 oil in Italy, and no one opposed to him either Solario or 
 Colantonio ?* They either could not at that time have been 
 acquainted with this discovery, or did not know it to an ex¬ 
 tent that can contradict Vasari, and the prevailing opinions 
 respecting Antonello. Dominici has advanced more on this 
 point than any other person, asserting that this art was dis¬ 
 covered in Naples, and was carried from thence to Flanders 
 by Van Eyck himself, to which supposition, after the obser¬ 
 vations already made, I deem it superfluous to reply, f 
 
 * The following inscription, composed at the instance of the Venetian 
 painters, is found in Ridolfi, p. 49. “ Antonius pictor, prsecipuum 
 
 Messanse suae et totius Siciliae ornamentum, hac humo contegitur: non 
 solum suis picturis, in quibus singulare artificium et venustas fuit: 
 sed et quod coloribus oleo miscendis splendorem et perpetuitatem 
 primus Italije Picture contulit, summo semper artificum studio 
 celebratus.” 
 
 •f- A letter of Summonzio, written on the 20th March, 1524, has been 
 communicated to me by the Sig. Cav. de’ Lazara, extracted from the 60th 
 volume of the MSS. collected in Venice by the Sig. Ab. Profess. Daniele 
 Francesconi. It is addressed to M. A. Michele, who had requested from 
 him some information respecting the ancient and modern artists of Naples ; 
 and in reference to the present question he thus speaks : “ Since that 
 
 period (the reign of King Ladislaus), we have not had any one of so much 
 talent in the art of painting as our Maestro Colantonio of Naples, who 
 would in all probability have arrived at great eminence, if he had not died 
 young. Owing to the taste of the times, he did not arrive at that perfec¬ 
 tion of design founded on the antique, which his disciple Antonello da 
 Messina attained, an artist, as I understand, well known amongst you. 
 The style of Colantonio was founded on the Flemish, and the colouring of 
 that country, to which he was so much attached, that he had intended to 
 go thither, but the King Raniero retained him here, satisfied with shew¬ 
 ing him the practice and mode of such colouring.” From this letter, 
 which seems contrary to my argument, I collect sufficient, if I err not, to 
 confirm it. For, 1st, the defence of those writers falls to the ground, 
 who assume that the art of oil-colouring was derived from Naples, while 
 
12 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 I 
 
 We shall now return to the scholars of Solario, who were 
 very numerous. Amongst them was a Niccola di Vito, who 
 may be called the Buftalmacco of this school, for his singular 
 humour and his eccentric invention, though in other respects 
 he was an inferior artist, and little deserving commemoration. 
 Simone Papa did not paint any large composition in which he 
 might be compared to his master ; he confined himself to 
 altar-pieces, with few figures grouped in a pleasing style, and 
 finished with exquisite care, so that he sometimes equalled 
 Zingaro, as in a S. Michele, painted for S. Maria Nuova. 
 Of the same class seems to have been Angiolillo di Roccadi- 
 rame, who in the church of S. Bridget, painted that saint 
 contemplating in a vision the birth of Christ, a picture which 
 even with the experienced might pass for the work of his 
 master. More celebrated and more deserving of notice, are 
 Pietro and Polito (Ippolito) del Donzello, sons-in-law of 
 Angiolo Franco, and relatives of the celebrated architect 
 Giuliano da Maiano, by whom they were instructed in that 
 art. Vasari mentions them as the first painters of the Nea¬ 
 politan school, but does not give any account of their master, 
 or of what school they were natives, and he writes in a way 
 that might lead the reader to believe that they were Tuscans. 
 He says that Giuliano, having finished the palace of Poggio 
 Reale for King Robert, the monarch engaged the two brothers 
 
 we see that Colantonio, by means of the king, received it from Flanders. 
 2ndly, Van Eyck himself is not here named, but the painters of Flanders 
 generally, which country first awakened, as we have observed, by the 
 example of Italy, had discovered new, and it is true, imperfect and in¬ 
 efficient methods, but still superior to distemper ; and who knows if this 
 were adopted by Colantonio. 3rdly, It is said that he died young, a 
 circumstance which may give credit to the difficulty that he had in com¬ 
 municating the secret: in fact, it is not known that he communicated it 
 even to his son-in-law, much less to a stranger. 4thly, Hence the neces¬ 
 sity of Antonello undertaking the journey to Flanders to learn the secret 
 from Van Eyck, who was then in years, and not without difficulty com¬ 
 municated it to him. 5thly, If w'e believe with Ridolfi that Antonello 
 painted in 1494 in Trevigi, and credit the testimony of Vasari, that he 
 was not then more than forty-nine years of age, how could it be the 
 scholar of Colantonio, who, according to Dominici, died in 1444 ? 
 It is with diffidence I advance these remarks on a matter on which I have 
 before expressed my doubts, and I have been obliged to leave some points 
 undecided, or decided rather according to the opinions of others than my 
 own. 
 
THE TWO DONZELLI. 
 
 13 
 
 to decorate it, and that first Giuliano dying, and the king 
 afterwards. Polito returned to Florence.* Bottari observes, 
 that he did not find the two Donzelli mentioned by Orlandi, 
 nor by any one else, a clear proof that he did not himself 
 consider them natives of Naples, and on that account he did 
 not look for them in Bernardo Dominici, who has written at 
 length upon them, complaining of the negligence or inad¬ 
 vertent error of Vasari. 
 
 The pictures of the two brothers were painted, according to 
 Vasari, about the year 1447. But as he informs us that 
 Polito did not leave Naples until the death of Alfonso, this 
 epoch should be extended to 1463, or beyond, as he remained 
 for a year longer, or thereabouts, under the reign of Ferdi¬ 
 nand, the son and successor of Alfonso. He painted for that 
 monarch some large compositions in the refectory of S. Maria 
 Nuova, partly alone and partly in conjunction with his 
 brother, and both brothers combined in decorating for the 
 king a part of the palace of Poggio Reale. We may here 
 with propriety also mention, that they painted in one of the 
 rooms the Conspiracy against Ferdinand, which being seen by 
 Jacopo Sannazzaro, gave occasion to his writing a sonnet, the 
 41st in the second part of his “ Rime.” Their style resembles 
 that of their master, except that their colouring is softer. 
 They distinguished themselves also in their architectural 
 ornaments, and in the painting of friezes and trophies, and 
 subjects in chiaroscuro, in the manner of bassi-rilievi, an art 
 which I am not aware that any one practised before them. 
 The younger brother leaving Naples, and dying soon after¬ 
 wards, Pietro remained employed in that city, where he and 
 his scholars acquired a great reputation by their paintings in 
 oil and fresco. The portraits of Pietro had all the force of 
 nature, and it is not long since that, on the destruction of 
 some of his pictures on a wall in the palace of the dukes of 
 Matalona, some heads were removed with the greatest care, 
 and preserved for their excellence. 
 
 We may now notice Silvestro de’ Buoni, who was placed 
 
 * In the ducal gallery in Florence, is a Deposition from the Cross, 
 wholly in the style of Zingaro : and I know not whether it ought to be 
 ascribed to Polito, who certainly resided in Florence, or to some other 
 painter of the Neapolitan school. 
 
14 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 by his father in the school of Zingaro, and on his death 
 attached himself to the Donzelli. His father was an indifferent 
 painter, of the name of Buono, and from that has arisen the 
 mistake of some persons, who have ascribed to the son 6ome 
 works of the father in an old style, and unworthy the reputa¬ 
 tion of Silvestro. This artist, in the opinion of the Cav. 
 Massimo, had a finer colouring and a superior general effect 
 to the Donzelli ; and in the force of his chiaroscuro, and in 
 the delicacy of his contours, far surpassed all the painters ol 
 his country who had lived to that time. Dominici refers to 
 many of his pictures in the various churches of Naples. One 
 of the most celebrated is that of S. Giovanni a Mare, in 
 which he included three saints, all of the same name, S. John 
 the Baptist, the Evangelist, and S. Chrysostom. 
 
 Silvestro is said to have had a disciple in Tesauro, whose 
 Christian name has not been correctly handed down to us; 
 but he is generally called Bernardo. He is supposed to have 
 been of a painter’s family, and descended from that Filippo 
 who is commemorated as the second of this school, and father 
 or uncle of Raimo, whom we shall soon notice. This Ber¬ 
 nardo, or whatever his name may have been, made nearer 
 approaches to the modern style than any of the preceding 
 artists; more judicious in his invention, more natural in his 
 figures and drapery ; select, expressive, harmonized, and 
 displaying a knowledge in gradation and relief, beyond what 
 could be expected in a painter who is not known to have 
 been acquainted with any other schools, or seen any pictures 
 beyond those of his own country. Luca Giordano, at a time 
 when he was considered the Coryphaeus of painting, was 
 struck with astonishment at the painting of a soffitto by 
 Tesauro at S. Giovanni de’ Pappacodi, and did not hesitate 
 to declare that there were parts in it, which in an age so 
 fruitful in fine works, no one could have surpassed. It 
 represents the Seven Sacraments. The minute description 
 which the historian gives of it, shews us what sobriety and 
 judgment there were in his composition ; and the portraits of 
 Alfonso II. and Ippolita Sforza, whose espousals he repre¬ 
 sented in the Sacrament of Marriage, afford us some light for 
 fixing the date of this picture. Raimo Tesauro was very 
 much employed in works in fresco. Some pictures by him 
 
GIO. ANTONIO d’aMATO. 
 
 15 
 
 are also mentioned in S. Maria Nuova, and in Monte 
 Vergine ; pictures, says the Cav. Massimo, “very studied 
 and perfect, according to the latest schools succeeding our 
 Zingaro.” 
 
 To the same schools Gio. Antonio d’Amato owed his first 
 instructions; but it is said, that when he saw the pictures 
 which Pietro Perugino had painted for the Duomo of Naples, 
 he became ambitious of emulating the style of that master. 
 By diligence, in which he wa3 second to none, he approached, 
 as one may say, the confines of modern art; and died at an 
 advanced period of the sixteenth century. He is highly 
 extolled for his Dispute of the Sacrament, painted for the 
 Metropolitan church, and for two other pictures placed in 
 the Borgo di Chiaia, the one at the Carmine, the other at 
 S. Leonardo. And here we may close our account of the early 
 painters, scanty indeed, but still copious for a city harassed 
 by incessant hostilities.* 
 
 * In Messina, towards the close of the fifteenth century, or at the 
 beginning of the sixteenth, some artists flourished who practised their 
 native style, not yet modernized on the Italian model, as Alfonso Franco, 
 a scholar of Jacopello d’Antonio, and a Pietro Oliva, of an uncertain 
 school. Both are praised for their natural manner, the peculiar boast of 
 that age, but in the first we admire a correct design and a lively expres¬ 
 sion, for which his works have been much sought after by strangers, who 
 have spared only to his native place a Deposition from the Cross, at 
 S. Francesco di Paolo, and a Dispute of Christ with the Doctors, at 
 S. Agostino. Still less remains of Antonello Rosaliba, always a grace¬ 
 ful painter. This is a Madonna with the Holy Infant, in the village of 
 Postunina 
 
16 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Modern Neapolitan Style, founded on the Schools of Raffaello and 
 
 Michelangelo. 
 
 It lias already been observed, that at tbe commencement of 
 the sixteenth century, the art of painting seemed in every 
 country to have attained to maturity, and that every school 
 at that time assumed its own peculiar and distinguishing cha¬ 
 racter. Naples did not, however, possess a manner so decided 
 as that of other schools of Italy, and thus afforded an oppor¬ 
 tunity for the cultivation of the best style, as the students 
 who left their native country returned home, each with the 
 manner of his own master, and the sovereigns and nobility 
 of the kingdom invited and employed the most celebrated 
 strangers. In this respect, perhaps, Naples did not yield 
 precedence to any city after Rome. Thus the first talents 
 were constantly employed in ornamenting both the churches 
 and palaces of that metropolis. Nor indeed was that country 
 ever deficient in men of genius, who manifested every requi¬ 
 site quality for distinction, particularly such as depended on a 
 strong and fervid imagination. Hence an accomplished writer 
 and painter has observed, that no part of Italy could boast of 
 so many native artists, such are the fire, the fancy, and free¬ 
 dom which characterize, for the most part, the works of these 
 masters. Their rapidity of execution was another effect of 
 their genius, a quality which has been alike praised by the 
 ancients* and tho moderns, when combined with other more 
 requisite gifts of genius. But this despatch in general ex¬ 
 cludes correct design, which from that cause is seldom found 
 
 * Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxsv.cap.il. Nec ullius velocior in pictura 
 manus fuit. 
 
ANDREA SABBATINI. 
 
 17 
 
 in that school. Nor do we find that it paid much attention 
 to ideal perfection, as most of its professors, following the 
 practice of the naturalists, selected the character of their 
 heads and the attitudes of their figures from common life ; 
 some with more, and others with less discrimination. With 
 regard to colour, this school changed its principles in con¬ 
 formity to the taste of the times. It was fertile in invention 
 and composition, but deficient in application and study. The 
 history of the vicissitudes it experienced will now occupy the 
 attention of the reader. 
 
 The epoch of modern painting in Naples could not have 
 commenced under happier auspices than those which it had 
 the good fortune to experience. Pietro Perugino had painted 
 an Assumption of the Virgin, which I am informed exists in 
 the Duomo, or S. Reparata, a very ancient cathedral church, 
 since connected with the new Duomo. This work opened the 
 way to a better taste. When Raffaello and his school rose 
 into public esteem, Naples was among the first distant cities 
 to profit from it, by means of some of his scholars, to whom 
 were also added some followers of Michelangelo, about the 
 middle of the century. Thus till nearly the year 1600 , this 
 school paid little attention to any other style than that of 
 these two great masters and their imitators, except a few 
 artists who were admirers of Titian. 
 
 We may commence the new series with Andrea Sabbatini 
 of Salerno. This artist was so much struck with the style of 
 Pietro when he saw his picture in the Duomo, that he imme¬ 
 diately determined to study in the school of Perugia. lie 
 took his departure accordingly for that city, but meeting on 
 the road some brother painters who much more highly extolled 
 the works of Raffaello, executed for Julius II., he changed 
 his mind and proceeded to Rome, and there placed himself 
 in the school of that great master. He remained with him, 
 however, only a short time, as the death of his father com¬ 
 pelled him to return home, against his wishes. But he arrived 
 a new man. It is related that he painted with Raffaello at 
 the Pace and in the Vatican, and that he became an accom¬ 
 plished copyist of his works, and successfully emulated the 
 style of his master. Compared with his feliw-scholars, al¬ 
 though he did not rival Giulio Romano, he yet surpassed 
 
 VOL. II. c 
 
18 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Raffaele del Colle, and others of that class. He had a cor 
 rectness of design, selection in his faces and in his attitudes, 
 a depth of shade, and the muscles rather strongly expressed ; 
 a breadth in the folding of his drapery, and a colour which 
 still preserves its freshness after the lapse of so many years. 
 He executed many works in Naples, as appears from the ca¬ 
 talogue of his pictures. Among his best works are numbered 
 some pictures at S. Maria delle Grazie; besides the frescos 
 which he executed there and in other places, extolled by 
 writers as miracles of art, but few of which remain to the 
 present day. He painted also in his native city, in Gaeta, 
 and indeed in all parts of the kingdom, both in the churches 
 and for private collections, where many of his Madonnas, of 
 an enchanting beauty, are still to be seen.* 
 
 * The style of Raffaello found imitators also in Sicily, and the first to 
 practise it was Salvo di Antonio, the nephew of Antonello, by whom 
 there is, we are told, in the sacristy of the cathedral, the death of the 
 Virgin, “in the pure Raffaellesque style,” although Salvo is not the 
 painter who has been called the Raffaello of Messina : this was Girolamo 
 Alibrandi. A distinguished celebrity has of late been attached to this 
 artist, whose name was before comparatively unknown. Respectably 
 born, and liberally educated, instead of pursuing the study of the law, 
 for which he was intended, he applied himself to painting, and haying 
 acquired the principles of the art in the school of the Antonj of Messina, 
 he went to perfect himself in Venice. The scholar of Antonello, and the 
 friend of Giorgione, he improved himself by the study of the works of 
 the best masters. After many years’ residence in Venice he passed to 
 Milan, to the school of Vinci, where he corrected some dryness of style 
 which he had brought thither with him. Thus far there is no doubt about 
 his history; but we are further told, that being recalled to his native 
 country, he wished first to see Correggio and Raffaello, and that he 
 repaired to Messina about the year 1514 ; a statement which is on the 
 face of it incorrect, since Lionardo left Milan in 1499, when Raffaello 
 was only a youth, and Correggio in his infancy. But I have before 
 observed, that the history of art is full of these contradictions ; a painter 
 resembling another, he was therefore supposed his scholar, or at all 
 events acquainted with him. On this subject I may refer to the Milanese 
 school in regard to Luini (Epoch II.), and observe that a follower of the 
 style of Lionardo almost necessarily runs into the manner of Raffaello. 
 Thus it happened to Alibrandi, whose style however bore a resemblance 
 to others besides, so that his pictures pass under various names. There 
 remains in his native place, in the church of Candelora, a Purification of 
 the Virgin, in a picture of twenty-four Sicilian palms, which is the chef 
 d’oeuvre of the pictures of Messina, from the grace, colouring, perspec¬ 
 tive, and every other quality that can enchant the eye. Polidoro was so 
 
ANDREA SABBATINI. 
 
 19 
 
 Andrea had several scholars, some of whom studied under 
 other masters, and did not acquire much of his style. Such 
 was Cesare Turco, who rather took after Pietro; a good 
 painter in oil, but unsuccessful in fresco. But Andrea was 
 the sole master of Francesco Santafede, the father and master 
 of Fabrizio; painters who in point of colouring have few 
 equals in this school, and possessing a singular uniformity of 
 style. Nevertheless, the experienced discover in the father 
 more vigour and more clearness in his shadows ; and there are 
 by him some pictures in the Soffitto of the Nunziata, and a 
 Deposition from the Cross in the possession of the prince di 
 Sornma, highly celebrated. But of all the scholars of Andrea, 
 one Paolillo resembled him the most, whose works were all 
 ascribed to his master, until Dominici restored them to their 
 right owner. He would have been the great ornament of this 
 school had he not died young. 
 
 Polidoro Caldara, or Caravaggio, came to Naples in the 
 year of the sacking of Rome, 1527. He was not, as Vasari 
 would have us believe, in danger of perishing through want 
 at Naples; for Andrea da Salerno, who had been his fellow- 
 disciple, generously received him into his house, and in¬ 
 troduced him in the city, where he obtained many commis¬ 
 sions, and formed several scholars before he went to Sicily. 
 He had distinguished himself in Rome by his chiaroscuri, as 
 we have related; and he painted in colours in Naples and 
 Messina. His colour in oil was pallid and obscure, at least 
 for some time, and in this style I saw some pictures of the Pas¬ 
 sion in Rome, which Gavin Hamilton had received from Sicily. 
 In other respects they were valuable, from their design and 
 invention. Vasari mentions this master with enthusiasm, calls 
 him a divine genius, and extols to the skies a picture which 
 he painted in Messina a little while before his death. This 
 was a composition of Christ on his way to Mount Calvary, 
 
 much captivated with this work, that he painted in distemper a picture of 
 the Deposition from the Cross, as a precious covering to this picture, 
 in order that it might be transmitted uninjured to posterity. Girolamo 
 died in the plague of 1524, and at the same time other eminent artists of 
 this school; a school which was for some time neglected, but which has, 
 through the labours of Polidoro, risen to fresh celebrity. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 surrounded by a great multitude, and lie assures us that the 
 
 colouring was enchanting. , 
 
 Giambernardo Lama was first a scholar of Amato, ana 
 afterwards attached himself to Polidoro, in whose manner he 
 painted a Pietii at S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, which, from 
 its conception, its correctness, and vigour of design, variety 
 in attitude, and general style of composition, was by many 
 ascribed to that master. In general, however, he displayed a 
 softer and more natural manner, and was partial to the style 
 of Andrea di Salerno. Marco di Pino, an imitator of Michel¬ 
 angelo, as we have observed, though sober and judicious, 
 was held in disesteem by him. In the “Segretano of 
 Capece, there is an interesting letter to Lama, where amongst 
 other things he says, “ I hear that you do not agree with 
 Marco da Siena, as you paint with more regard to beauty, 
 and he is attached to a vigorous design without softening his 
 colours. I know not what you desire of him, but pray leave 
 him to his own method, and do you follow yours.” _ . 
 
 A Francesco Ruviale, a Spaniard, is also mentioned m 
 Naples, called Polidorino, from his happy imitation of his 
 master, whom lie assisted in painting for the Orsmi some 
 subjects illustrative of the history of that noble family; and 
 after the departure of his master, he executed by himself 
 several works at Monte Oliveto and elsewhere. The greater 
 part of these have perished, as happened in Rome to so many 
 of the works of Polidoro. This Ruviale appears to me to be 
 a different artist from a Ruviale, a Spaniard, who is enume¬ 
 rated among the scholars of Salviati, and the assistants. of 
 Vasari, in the painting of the Chancery ; on which occasion 
 Vasari says, he formed himself into a good painter. This 
 was under Paul V. in 1544, at which time Polidorino must 
 already have been a master. Palomino has not said a word 
 of any other Ruviale, a painter of his country ; and this is a 
 proof that the two preceding artists never returned home to 
 Spain. 
 
 Some have included among the scholars of Polidoro, an 
 able artist and good colourist, called Marco Calabrese, whose* 
 surname is Cardisco. Vasari ranks him before all his Nea¬ 
 politan contemporaries, and considers his genius a fruit pro- 
 
CARDISCO. 
 
 21 
 
 ducecl remote from its native soil. This observation cannot 
 appear correct to any one who recollects that the Calabria of 
 the present day is the ancient Magna Grtecia, where in 
 former times the arts were carried to the highest pitch of 
 perfection. Cardisco painted much in Naples and in the 
 State. His most celebrated work is the Dispute of S. Agos- 
 tino in the church of that saint in Aversa. He had a scholar 
 in Gio. Batista Crescione, who together with Lionardo Cas- 
 tellani, his relative, painted at the time Vasari wrote, which 
 was an excuse for his noticing them only in a cursory manner. 
 We may further observe that Polidoro was the founder of a. 
 florid school in Messina, where we must look for his most 
 able scholars.* 
 
 * I here subjoin a list of them. Deodato Guinaccia may be called the 
 Giulio of this new Raffaello, on whose death he inherited the materials of 
 his art, and supported the fame of his school; and like Giulio, completed 
 some works left unfinished by his master ; as the Nativity in the church 
 of Alto Basso, which passes for the best production of Polidoro. In this 
 exercise of his talents he became a perfect imitator of his master’s style, 
 as in the church of the Trinita a Pellegrini, and in the Transfiguration at 
 S. Salvatore de’ Greci. He imparted his taste to his scholars, the most 
 distinguished of whom for works yet remaining, are Cesare di Napoli, 
 and Francesco Comande, pure copyists of Polidoro. With regard to *he 
 latter, some errors have prevailed ; for having very often worked in con¬ 
 junction with Gio. Simone Comande, his brother, who had an unequivocal 
 Venetian taste, from having studied in Venice, it not unfrequently hap¬ 
 pens, that when the pictures of Comande are spoken of, they are imme¬ 
 diately attributed to Simone, as the more celebrated artist; but an expe¬ 
 rienced eye cannot be deceived, not even in works conjointly painted, as 
 in the Martyrdom of S. Bartholomew, in the church of that saint, or the 
 Magi in the monastery of Basicb. There, and in every other picture, 
 whoever can distinguish Polidoro from the Venetians, easily discovers the 
 style of the two brothers, and assigns to each his own. 
 
 Polidoro had in his academy Mariano and Antonello Riccio, father and 
 son. The first came in order to change the manner of Franco, his for¬ 
 mer master, for that of Polidoro ; the second to acquire his master’s style. 
 Both succeeded to their wishes ; but the father was so successful a rival 
 of his new master, that his works are said to pass under his name. This 
 is the common report, but I think it can only apply to inexperienced 
 purchasers, since if there be a painter, whose style it is almost impos¬ 
 sible to imitate to deception, it is Polidoro da Caravaggio. In proof, 
 the comparison may be made in Messina itself, where the Pieta of Poli¬ 
 doro, and the Madonna della Carita of Mariano, are placed near each 
 other. 
 
 Stefano Giordano was also a respectable scholar of Caldara, and we may 
 
22 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Gio. Francesco Penni, or as he is called, il Fat-tore, came 
 to Naples some time after Polidoro, but soon afterwards fell 
 sick, and died in the year 1528. He contributed in two 
 different ways to the advancement of the school of Naples. In 
 the first place he left there the great copy of the Transfigu¬ 
 ration of Raffaello, which he had painted in Rome in con¬ 
 junction with Perino, and which was afterwards placed in 
 S. Spiri-to degl’ Incurabili, and served as a study to Lama, and 
 the best painters, until, with other select pictures and sculp¬ 
 tures at Naples, it was purchased and removed by the viceroy 
 Don Pietro Antonio of Aragon. Secondly, he left there a 
 scholar of the name of Lionardo, commonly called il Pistoja, 
 from the place of his birth; an excellent colourist, but not a 
 very correct designer. We noticed him among the assistants 
 of Raffaello, and more at length among the artists of the 
 Florentine state, where we find some of his pictures, as in 
 \ olterra and elsewhere. After he had lost his friend Penni 
 in Naples, he established himself there for the remainder of 
 his days, where he received sufficient encouragement from the 
 
 mention, as an excellent production, his picture of the Supper of our 
 Lord in the monastery of S. Gregory, painted in 1541. With him we 
 may join Jacopo Vignerio, by whom we find described, as an excellent 
 work, the picture of Christ bearing his Cross, at S. Maria della Scala, 
 bearing the date of 1552. 
 
 We may close this list of the scholars of Polidoro with the infamous 
 name of Tonno, a Calabrian, who murdered his master in order to possess 
 himself of his money, and suffered for the atrocious crime. He evinced a 
 more than common talent in the art, if we may judge from the Epiphany 
 which he painted for the church of S. Andrea, in which piece he intro¬ 
 duced the portrait of his unfortunate master. 
 
 Some writers have also included among the followers of Polidoro, 
 Antonio Catalano, because he was a scholar of Deodato. We are in¬ 
 formed he went to Rome and entered the school of Barocci; but as Barocci 
 never taught in Rome, we may rather imagine that it was from the works 
 of that artist he acquired a florid colouring, and a sfumatezza, or lucid tone, 
 with which he united a portion of the taste of Raffaello, whom he greatly 
 admired. His pictures are highly valued from this happy union of excel¬ 
 lences ; and his great picture of the Nativity at the Capuccini del Gesso 
 is particularly extolled. W e must not mistake this accomplished painter 
 for Antonio Catalano il Giovane , the scholar of Gio. Simone Comande, 
 from whose style and that of others he formed a manner sufficiently 
 spirited, but incorrect, and practised with such celerity, that his works are 
 as numerous as they are little prized 
 
PISTOJA. 
 
 23 
 
 nobility of that city, and painted less for the churches than 
 for private individuals. He chiefly excelled in portrait. 
 
 Pistoja is said to have been one of the masters of Francesco 
 Curia, a painter who, though somewhat of a mannerist in the 
 style of Yasari and Zucchero, is yet commended for the 
 noble and agreeable style of his composition, for his beautiful 
 countenances, and natural colouring. These qualities are 
 singularly conspicuous in a Circumcision painted for the church 
 della Pieta, esteemed by Ribera, Giordano, and Solimene, one 
 of the first pictures in Naples. He left in Ippolito Borghese 
 an accomplished imitator, who was absent a long time from 
 his native country, where few of his works remain, but those 
 are highly prized. He was in the year 1620 in Perugia, as 
 Morelli relates in his description of the pictures and statues of 
 that city, and painted an Assumption of the Virgin, which 
 was placed in S. Lorenzo. 
 
 There were two Neapolitans who were scholars and assist¬ 
 ants of Perino del Yaga in Rome; Gio. Corso, initiated in 
 the art by Amato, or as others assert by Polidoro ; and Gian- 
 filippo Criscuolo, instructed a long time by Salerno. There 
 are few remains of Corso in Naples, except such as are re¬ 
 touched ; nor is any piece so much extolled as a Christ with 
 a Cross painted for the church of S. Lorenzo. Criscuolo in 
 the short time he was at Rome, diligently copied Raftaello, 
 and was greatly attached to his school. Lie followed, how¬ 
 ever, his own genius, which was reserved and timid, and 
 formed for himself rather a severe manner; a circumstance to 
 his honour, at a time when the contours were overcharged and 
 the correctness of Raffaello was neglected. He is also highly 
 commended as an instructor. 
 
 From his school came Francesco Imparato, who was after¬ 
 wards taught by Titian, and so far emulated his style, that a 
 S. Peter Martyr by him in the church of that saint in Naples 
 was praised by Caracciolo as the best picture which had then 
 been seen in that city. We must not confound this Francesco 
 with Girolamo Imparato, his son, who flourished after the end 
 of the 16th century, and enjoyed a reputation greater than he 
 perhaps merited. He, too, was a follower of the Venetian, 
 and afterwards of the Lombard style, and he travelled to im¬ 
 prove himself in colouring, the fruits of which were seen in 
 
24 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 the picture of the Rosario at S. Tommaso d’Aquino, and in 
 others of his works. The Cav. Stanzioni, who knew him, and 
 was his competitor, considered him inferior to his father in 
 talent, and describes him as vain and ostentatious. 
 
 . ^ t ! iese Pointers of the school of Raffaello, there succeeded 
 in Naples two followers of Michelangelo, whom we have before 
 
 ? ot . lc ® f ; Tlie ® rst these was Masari, who was called thither 
 in^544, to paint the refectory of the P. P. Olivetani, and was 
 afterwards charged with many commissions in Naples and in 
 Kome. By the aid of architecture, in which he excelled more 
 than in painting, he converted that edifice, which was in what 
 is commonly called the Gothic style, to a better form ; altered 
 the vault, and ornamented it with modern stuccos, which were 
 the first seen in Naples, and painted there a considerable 
 number of subjects, with that rapidity and mediocrity that 
 characterize the greater part of his works. He remained there 
 tor the space of a year, and of the services he rendered to the 
 city, we may judge from the following passage in his life “ It 
 is extraordinary," lie says, “that in so large and noble a city, 
 there should have been found no masters after Giotto, to have 
 executed any work of celebrity, although some works by 
 erugino and by Raffaello had been introduced. On these 
 grounds I have endeavoured, to the best of my humble talents 
 to awaken the genius of that country to a spirit of emulation’ 
 and to the accomplishment of some great and honourable 
 work ; and from these my labours, or from some other cause 
 
 we now see many beautiful works in stucco and painting,--in 
 
 addition to the before-mentioned pictures.” It is not easy to 
 conjecture why Vasari should here overlook many eminent 
 painters, and even Andrea da Salerno himself, so illustrious an 
 artist, and whose name would have conferred a greater honour 
 wi h .\ S b °°^ than it could possibly have derived from it. 
 Whether self-love prompted him to pass over that painter and 
 other Neapolitan artists, in the hope that he should himself be 
 considered the restorer of taste in Naples ; or whether it was 
 the consequence of the dispute which existed at that time 
 between him and the painters of Naples; or whether as I 
 observed in my preface, it sometimes happens in this art, that 
 a picture which delights one person, disgusts another, I know 
 not, and every one must judge for himself. For myself, how- 
 
MARCO DI PINO. 
 
 25 
 
 ever much disposed I should be to pardon him for many omis - 
 sions, which in a work like his are almost unavoidable, still 
 I cannot exculpate him for this total silence. Nor have the 
 writers of Naples ever ceased complaining of this neglect, and 
 some indeed have bitterly inveighed against him, and accused 
 him of contributing to the deterioration of taste. So true is it, 
 that an offence against a whole nation is an offence never 
 pardoned. 
 
 The other imitator, and a favourite of Michelangelo (not 
 his scholar, as some have asserted), who painted in Naples, 
 was Marco di Pino, or Marco da Siena, frequently before 
 mentioned by us. Pie appears to have arrived in Naples after 
 the year 1560. He was well received in that city, and bad 
 some privileges conferred on him ; nor did the circumstance 
 of his being a stranger create towards him any feeling of jea¬ 
 lousy on the part of the Neapolitans, who are naturally hos¬ 
 pitable to strangers of good character; and he is described 
 by all as a sincere, affable, and respectable man. He enjoyed 
 in Naples the first reputation, and was often employed in 
 works of consequence in some of the greater churches of the 
 city, and in others of the kingdom at large. He repeated on 
 several occasions the Deposition from the Cross, which he 
 painted at Pome, but with many variations, and the one the 
 most esteemed w r as that which lie placed in S. Giovanni de’ 
 Piorentini, in 1577- The Circumcision in the Gesu Yecchio, 
 where Parrino traces the portrait of the artist and his wife,* 
 the Adoration of the Magi at S. Severino, and others of his 
 works, contain views of buildings not unworthy of him, as 
 he was an eminent architect, and also a good writer on that 
 art. Of his merit as a painter, I believe I do not err when I 
 say that, among the followers of Michelangelo, there is none 
 whose design is less extravagant and whose colour is more 
 vigorous. He is not, however, always equal. In the church 
 of S. Severino, where he painted four pictures, the Nativity 
 of the Virgin is much inferior to the others. A mannered 
 style was so common in artists of that age, that few were 
 
 * These traditions are frequently nothing more than common rumour, 
 to which, without corroborating circumstances, we ought not to gwe credit. 
 It has happened more than once, that such portraits have been found to 
 belong to the patrons of the church. 
 
26 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 exempt from it. He had many scholars in Naples, but none of 
 the celebrity .of Gio. Angelo Criscuolo. This artist was the 
 brother of Gio. Filippo, already mentioned, and exercised the 
 profession of a notary, without relinquishing that of a minia¬ 
 ture painter, which he had learnt in his youth. He became 
 desirous of emulating his brother in larger compositions, and 
 under the direction of Marco succeeded in acquiring his style. 
 
 These two painters laid the foundation of the history of the 
 art in Naples. In 1568, there issued from the Giunti press 
 in Florence, a new edition of the works of Vasari, in which 
 the author speaks very briefly of Marco da Siena, in the life 
 of Daniello da Volterra. He only observes that he had de- 
 riv ed the greatest benefit from the instructions of that master, 
 ami that he had afterwards chosen Naples for his country, 
 and settled and continued his labours there. Marco, either 
 not satisfied with this eulogium, or displeased at the silence 
 of Vasari with regard to many of the painters of Siena, and 
 almost all those of Naples, determined to publish a work of 
 his own in opposition to him. Among his scholars was the 
 notaiy before mentioned, who supplied him with memoirs of 
 the Neapolitan painters taken from the archives of the city, 
 and from tradition ; and from these materials Marco prepared 
 a “ Discorso.” He composed it in 1569, a year after the pub¬ 
 lication of this edition of Vasari’s works, and it was the first 
 sketch of the history of the fine arts in Naples. It did not, 
 however, then see the light, and was not published until 1742, 
 and then only in part, by Dominici, together with notes writ¬ 
 ten by Criscuolo in the Neapolitan dialect, and with the addi¬ 
 tion of other notes collected respecting the subsequent artists, 
 and arranged by two excellent painters, Massimo Stanzioni, 
 and Paolo de Matteis. Dominici himself added some others 
 of his own collecting, and communicated by some of Ins 
 learned friends, among whom was the celebrated antiquarian 
 Matteo Egizio. The late “ Guida or Breve Descrizione di 
 IVapoli says, this voluminous work stands in need of more 
 information, a better arrangement, and a more concise style. 
 There might also be added some better criticisms on the an¬ 
 cient artists, and less partiality towards some of the modern. 
 Still, this is a very lucid work, and highly valuable for the 
 opinions expressed on the talents of artists, for the most part 
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS. 
 
 27 
 
 by other artists, whose names inspire confidence in the reader. 
 Whether the sister arts of architecture and sculpture are as 
 judiciously treated of, it is not our province to inquire. 
 
 In the above work, the reader may find the names of other 
 artists of Naples, who belong to the close of this epoch, as 
 Silvestro Bruno, who enjoyed in Naples the fame of a good 
 master; a second Simone Papa, or del Papa, a clever fresco 
 painter, and likewise another Gio. Ant. Amato, who to dis¬ 
 tinguish him from the first is called the younger. He was 
 first instructed in the art by his uncle, afterwards by Lama, 
 and successively imitated their several styles. He obtained 
 considerable fame, and the infant Christ painted by him in 
 Banco de’ Poveri is highly extolled. To these may be 
 added those artists who fixed their residence in other parts of 
 Italy, as Pirro Ligorio, honoured, as we have observed, by 
 Pius IY. in Pome, and who died in Ferrara, engineer to 
 Alfonso II.; and Gio. Bernardino Azzolini, .or rather Maz- 
 zolini, in whose praise Soprani and Ratti unite. He arrived 
 in Genoa about 1510, and there executed some works wor¬ 
 thy of that golden age of art. He excelled in wax-work, 
 and formed heads with an absolute expression of life. He 
 extended the same energetic character to his oil pictures, par¬ 
 ticularly in the Martyrdom of S. Agatha in S. Giuseppe. 
 
 The provincial cities had also in this age their own schools, 
 or at least, their own masters; some of whom remained in 
 their native places, and others resided abroad. Cola dell’ 
 Amatrice, known also to Vasari, who mentions him in his 
 life of Calabrese, took up his residence in Ascoli del Piceno, 
 and enjoyed a distinguished name in architecture and in paint¬ 
 ing, through all that province. He had somewhat of a hard 
 manner in his earlier paintings, but in his subsequent works 
 he exhibited a fulness of design, and an accomplished modern 
 style. He is highly extolled in the Guida di Ascoli for his 
 picture in the oratory of the Corpus Domini , which repre¬ 
 sents the Saviour in the act of dispensing the Eucharist tc 
 the Apostles. 
 
 Pompeo dell’ Aquila was a finished painter and a fine 
 colourist, if we are to believe Orlandi, who saw many of his 
 works in Aquila, particularly some frescos conducted in a 
 
28 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCIIOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 noble style. In Rome, in S. Spirito in Sassia, there is a fine 
 Deposition from the Cross by him. This artist is not men¬ 
 tioned either by Baglione or any other writer of his time. 
 Giuseppe Valeriani, another native of Aquila, is frequently 
 mentioned. He painted at the same period, and in the same 
 church of S. Spirito, where there exists a Transfiguration by 
 him. We perceive in him an evident desire of imitating F. 
 Sebastiano, but he is heavy in his design, and too dark in his 
 colours. He entered, afterwards, into the society of Jesuits, 
 and improved his first manner. His best works are said to 
 be a Nunziata in a chapel of the Gesu, with other subjects 
 from the life of Christ, in which are some most beautiful 
 draperies added by Scipio da Gaeta. This latter artist also 
 was a native of the kingdom of Naples; but of him, and of 
 the Cav. di Arpino, who both taught in Rome, we have 
 already spoken in that school. 
 
 Marco Mazzaroppi di S. Germano died young, but is known 
 for his natural and animated colouring, almost in the Flemish 
 style. At Capua, they mention with applause the altar- 
 pieces and other pictures of Gio. Pietro Russo, who, after 
 studying in various schools, returned to that city, and there 
 left many excellent works. Matteo da Lecce, whose educa¬ 
 tion is uncertain, displayed in Rome a Michelangelo style, or 
 as some say, the style of Salviati. It is certain that he had 
 a strong expression of the limbs and muscles. He worked 
 for the most part in fresco, and there is a prophet painted by 
 him for the company of the Gonfalone, of such relief, that 
 the figures, says Baglione, seem starting from the wall. Al¬ 
 though there were at that time many Florentines in Rome, he 
 was the only one who dared in the face of the Last Judgment 
 of Michelangelo, to paint the Fall of the Rebel Angels, a 
 subject which that great artist designed to have painted, but 
 never put his intentions into execution. He chose too to ac¬ 
 company it with the combat between the Prince of the 
 Angels and Lucifer, for the body of Moses; a subject taken 
 from the epistle of S. James, and analogous to that of the 
 other picture. Matteo entered upon this very arduous task 
 with a noble spirit ; but, alas! with a very different result. 
 He painted, afterwards, in Malta, and passing to Spain and 
 
MATTEO DA LECCE. 
 
 29 
 
 to the Indies, he enriched himself by merchandise, until turn¬ 
 ing to mining, he lost all his wealth, and died in great indi¬ 
 gence. We may also mention two Calabrians, of doubtful 
 parentage. Nicoluccio, a Calabrian, who will be mentioned 
 among the scholars of Lorenzo Costa, but only cursorily, as I 
 know nothing of this parricide, as he may be called, except 
 that he attempted to murder his master. Pietro Negroni, a 
 Calabrian also, is commemorated by Dominici as a diligent 
 and accomplished painter. In Sicily, it is probable that 
 many painters flourished, belonging to this period, besides 
 Gio. Borghese da Messina, a scholar also of Costa, and Lau- 
 reti, whom I notice in the schools of Rome and Bologna, and 
 others, whose names I may have seen, but whose works have 
 not called for my notice. The succeeding epoch we shall 
 find more productive in Sicilian art. 
 
30 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 —*— 
 
 Corenzio, Ribera, Caracciolo, flourish in Naples. Strangers who compete 
 
 with them. 
 
 About the middle of the 16th century, Tintoretto was con¬ 
 sidered one of the first artists in Venice; and towards the 
 close of the same century Caravaggio in Rome, and theCaracci 
 in Bologna, rose to the highest degree of celebrity. The 
 several styles of these masters soon extended themselves into 
 other parts of Italy, and became the prevailing taste in Naples, 
 where they were adopted by three painters of reputation, 
 Corenzio, Ribera, and Caracciolo. These artists rose one 
 after the other into reputation, but afterwards united together 
 in painting, and assisted each other interchangeably. At the 
 time they flourished, Guido, Doinenichino, Lanfranco, and 
 Artemisia Gentileschi, were in Naples; and there and else¬ 
 where contributed some scholars to the Neapolitan school. 
 'Thus the time which elapsed between Bellisario and Giordano 
 is the brightest period of this academy, both in respect to the 
 number of excellent artists and the works of taste. It is 
 jiowever the darkest era, not only of the Neapolitan school, 
 but of the art itself, as far as regards the scandalous artifices, 
 and the crimes which occurred in it. I would gladly pass over 
 those topics in silence, if they were foreign to my subject, but 
 they are so intimately connected with it, that they must, at 
 all events, be alluded to. I shall notice them at a proper 
 time, adhering to the relation of Malvasia, Passeri, Bellori, 
 and more particularly of Dominici. 
 
 Bellisario Corenzio, a Greek by birth, after having passed 
 five years in the school of Tintoretto, settled in Naples about 
 the year 1590. He inherited from nature a fertile imagina- 
 
BELLISARIO CORENZIO. 
 
 31 
 
 tion and a rapidity of hand, which enabled him to rival his 
 master in the prodigious number of his pictures, and those too 
 of a large class. Four common painters could scarcely have 
 equalled his individual labour. He cannot be compared to 
 Tintoretto, who, when he restrained his too exuberant fancy, 
 was inferior to few in design ; and excelled in invention, ges¬ 
 tures, and the airs of his heads, which, though the Venetians 
 have always had before their eyes, they have never equalled. 
 Corenzio successfully imitated his master when he painted 
 with care, as in the great picture in the refectory of the Bene¬ 
 dictines, representing the multitude miraculously fed ; a work 
 he finished in forty days. But the greater part of the vault 
 resembles in many respects the style of the Gav. d Arpino, x 
 other parts partake of the Venetian school, not without some 
 character peculiar to himself, particularly in the glories, which 
 are bordered with shadowy clouds. In the opinion of the 
 Cav. Massimo, he was of a fruitful invention, but not select. 
 He painted very little in oil, although he had great merit in 
 the strength and harmony of his colours. The desire of gain 
 led him to attempt large works in fresco, which he composed 
 with much felicity, as he was copious, varied, and energetic. 
 He had a good general effect, and was finished in detail and 
 correct, when the proximity of some eminent rival compelled 
 him to it. This was the case at the Certosa, in the chapel of 
 S. Grennaro. He there exerted all his talents, as he was excited 
 to it by emulation of Caracciolo, who had painted in that 
 place a picture, which was long admired as one of his finest 
 works, and was afterwards transferred into the monastery. In 
 other churches we find some sacred subjects painted by him in 
 smaller size, which Dominici commends, and adds too, that he 
 
 '* i n tom. iii. of the “ Lett. Pittoriche,” is a letter of P. Sebastiano 
 Resta dell’ Oratorio, wherein he says it is probable that the Cay. d Arpino 
 imitated him in his youth ; which cannot be admitted, as it is known 
 that Cesari formed himself in Rome, and resided only in Naples when an 
 adult. As to the resemblance between them, that applies as well to 
 other artists. In the same letter Corenzio is called the Cav. Bellisario, 
 and some anecdotes are related of him, and among others, that he lived to 
 the age of a hundred and twenty. This is one of those tales to which 
 this writer so easily gives credit. In proof of this we may refer to Tira- 
 boschi, in the life of Antonio Allegri, where similar instances of his ere- 
 duiity are noticed. 
 
32 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 assisted M. Desiderio, a celebrated perspective painter, whose 
 views he accompanied with small figures beautifully coloured 
 and admirably appropriate. 
 
 The birthplace of Giuseppe Ribera has been the subject of 
 controversy. Palomino, following Sandrart and Orlandi, 
 represents him as a native of Spain, in proof of which they 
 refer to a picture of S. Matteo, with the following inscription. 
 “ Jusepe de Ribera espanol de la ciutad de Xativa, reyno de 
 Valencia, Academico romano ano 1630.” The Neapolitans, 
 on the contrary, contend that he was born in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Lecce, but that his father was from Spain; and that 
 in order to recommend himself to the governor, who was a 
 Spaniard, he always boasted of his origin, and expressed it in 
 his signature, and was on that account called Spagnoletto. 
 Such is the opinion of Dominici, Signorelli, and Galanti. 
 This question is, however, now set at rest, as it appears from 
 the “ Antologia di Roma” of 1795, that the register of his 
 baptism was found in Sativa (now San Filippo), and that he 
 was born in that place. It is further said, that he learnt the 
 principles of the art from Francesco Ribalta of Valencia, a 
 reputed scholar of Annibale Caracci. But the History of 
 Neapolitan Artists, which is suspicious in my eyes as relates 
 to this artist, affirms also, that whilst yet a youth, or a mere 
 boy, he studied in Naples under Michelangiolo da Caravaggio, 
 when that master fled from Rome for homicide, and fixing 
 himself there about 1606,executed many works both public and 
 private.* But wherever he might have received instruction in 
 his early youth, it is certain that the object of his more matured 
 admiration was Caravaggio. On leaving him, Ribera visited 
 Rome, Modena, and Parma, and saw the works of Raffaello 
 and Annibale in the former place, and the works of Correggio 
 
 * Caravaggio had another scholar of eminence in Mario Minniti of 
 Syracuse, who however passed a considerable part of his life in Messina. 
 Having painted for some time in Rome with Caravaggio, he imbibed his 
 taste ; and though he did not equal him in the vigour of style, he dis¬ 
 played more grace and amenity. There are works remaining of him in 
 all parts of Sicily, as he painted much, and retained in his service twelve 
 scholars, whose works he retouched, and sold as his own. Hence his 
 pictures do not altogether correspond with his reputation. Messina pos¬ 
 sesses several, as the Dead of Naim at the church of the Capuchins, and the 
 Virgin, the tutelar saint, at the Virginelle. 
 
RIBERA. 
 
 33 
 
 in the two latter cities, and adopted in consequence a more 
 graceful style, in which he persevered only for a short time, 
 and with little success ; as in Naples there were others who 
 pursued, with superior skill, the same path. He returned 
 therefore to the style of Caravaggio, which for its truth, force, 
 and strong contrast of light and shade, was much more calcu¬ 
 lated to attract the general eye. In a short time he was ap¬ 
 pointed painter to the court, and subsequently became the 
 arbiter of its taste. 
 
 His studies rendered him superior to Caravaggio in inven¬ 
 tion, selection, and design. In emulation of him, he painted 
 at the Certosini that great Deposition from the Cross, which 
 alone, in the opinion of Giordano, is sufficient to form a great 
 painter, and may compete with the works of the brightest 
 luminaries of the art. Beautiful beyond his usual style, and 
 almost Titianesque, is his Martyrdom of S. Januarius, painted 
 in the Royal Chapel, and the S. Jerome at the Trinity. He 
 was much attached to the representation of the latter saint, 
 and whole lengths and half-figures of him are found in many 
 collections. In the Panfili palace in Rome, we find about 
 five, and all differing. Nor are his other pictures of similar 
 character rare, as anchorets, prophets, apostles, which exhibit 
 a strong expression of bone and muscle, and a gravity of cha¬ 
 racter, in general copied from nature. In the same taste are 
 commonly his profane pictures, where he is fond of represent¬ 
 ing old men and philosophers, as the Democritus and the 
 Heraclitus, which Sig. March. Girolamo Durazzo had in his 
 collection, and which are quite in the manner of Caravaggio. 
 In his selection of subjects, the most revolting were to him the 
 most inviting, as sanguinary executions, horrid punishments, 
 and lingering torments; among which is celebrated his Ixion 
 on the Wheel, in the palace of Buon Ritiro at Madrid. His 
 works are very numerous, particularly in Italy and Spain. 
 IIis scholars flourished chiefly at a lower period of art, where 
 they will be noticed towards the conclusion of this epoch. 
 With them we shall name those few who rivalled him success¬ 
 fully in figures and half-figures ; and we must not, at the same 
 time, neglect to impress on the mind of the reader, that among 
 so many reputed pictures of Spagnoletto found in collections, 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
31 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 we may rest assured that they are in great part not justly en¬ 
 titled to his name, and ought to be ascribed to his scholars. 
 
 Giambatista Caracciolo, an imitator, first of Francesco Im- 
 parato, and afterwards of Caravaggio, attained a mature age 
 without having signalized himself by any work of peculiar 
 merit. But being roused by the fame of Annibale, and the 
 general admiration which a picture of that master had excited, 
 he repaired to Rome, where, by persevering study in the Far- 
 nese gallery, which he carefully copied, he became a correct 
 designer in the Caracci style.* Of this talent he availed 
 himself to establish his reputation on his return to Naples, 
 and distinguished himself on some occasions of competition, 
 as in the Madonna at S. Anna de’ Lombardi, in a S. Carlo in 
 the church of S. Agnello, and Christ bearing his Cross at the 
 Incurabili, paintings praised by connoisseurs as the happiest 
 imitations of Annibale. But his other works, in the breadth 
 and strength of their lights and shades, rather remind us of 
 the school of Caravaggio. Fie was a finished and careful 
 painter. There are, however, some feeble works by him, 
 which Dominici considers to have been negligently painted, 
 through disgust, for individuals who had not given him his 
 own price, or they were perhaps executed by Mercurio 
 d’Aversa, his scholar, and an inferior artist. 
 
 The three masters whom I have just noticed in successive 
 order, were the authors of the unceasing persecutions which 
 many of the artists who had come to, or were invited to 
 Naples, were for several years subjected to. Bellisario had 
 established a supreme dominion, or rather a tyranny, over the 
 Neapolitan painters, by calumny and insolence, as well as by 
 his station. He monopolized all lucrative commissions to 
 himself, and recommended, for the fulfilment of others, one or 
 other of the numerous and inferior artists that were dependent 
 on him. The Cav. Massimo, Santafede, and other artists of 
 talent, if they did not defer to him, were careful not to offend 
 him, as they knew him to be a man of a vindictive temper, 
 
 * Among the scholars of Annibale, I find Carlo Sellitto mentioned, 
 to whom Guarienti assigns a place in the Abbeccadario, and I far¬ 
 ther find him commended in some MS. notices of eminent artists of the 
 school. 
 
BELLISARIO. 
 
 35 
 
 treacherous, and capable of every violence, and who was 
 known, through jealousy, to have administered poison to 
 Luigi Roderigo, the most promising and the most amiable of 
 
 his scholars. . _ ; 
 
 Bellisario, in order to maintain himself in his assumed 
 authority, endeavoured to exclude all strangers who painted 
 rather in fresco than in oil. Annibale arrived there in 1609, 
 and was engaged to ornament the churches of fepirito feanto 
 and Gesu Nuovo, for which, as a specimen of his style, he 
 painted a small picture. The Greek and his adherents being 
 required to give their opinion on this exquisite production, 
 declared it to be tasteless, and decided that the painter oi it 
 did not possess a talent for large compositions. This divine 
 artist in consequence took his departure under a burning sun 
 for Rome, where he soon afterwards died. But the work in 
 which strangers were the most opposed was the chapel of S. 
 Gennaro, which a committee had assigned to the Cav. d Ar- 
 pino, as soon as he should finish painting the choir of the 
 Certosa. Bellisario leaguing with Spagnoletto (like himself 
 a fierce and ungovernable man) and with Caracciolo, who as¬ 
 pired to this commission, persecuted Cesari in such a manner, 
 that before he had finished the choir he fled to Monte Cassino, 
 and from thence returned to Rome. The work was then 
 given to Guido, but after a short time, two unknown persons 
 assaulted the servant of that artist, and at the same time de¬ 
 sired him to inform his master that he must prepare himself 
 for death, or instantly quit Naples, with which latter mandate 
 Guido immediately complied. Gessi, the scholar of Guido, 
 was not however intimidated by this event, but applied for 
 and obtained the honourable commission, and came to Naples 
 with two assistants, Gio. Batista Ruggieri and Lorenzo Me- 
 nini. But these artists were scarcely arrived, when they were 
 treacherously invited on board a galley, which immediately 
 weighed anchor and carried them off, to the great dismay of 
 their master, who, although he made the most diligent in¬ 
 quiries both at Rome and Naples, could never procure any 
 tidings of them. 
 
 Gessi also in consequence taking his departure, the com¬ 
 mittee lost all hope of succeeding in their task, and were in 
 the act of yielding to the reigning cabal, assigning the fresco 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 work to Corenzio and Caracciolo, and promising the pictures 
 to Spagnoletto, when suddenly repenting of their resolution, 
 they effaced all that was painted of the two frescos, and 
 intrusted the decoration of the chapel entirely to Dome- 
 nichino. It ought to be mentioned to the honour of these 
 munificent persons, that they engaged to pay for every entire 
 figure 100 ducats, for each half-figure 50 ducats, and for 
 each head 25 ducats. They took precautions also against 
 any interruption to the artist, threatening the viceroy’s high 
 displeasure if he were in any way molested. But this was 
 only matter of derision to the junta. They began imme¬ 
 diately to cry him down as a cold and insipid painter, and to 
 discredit him with those, the most numerous class in every 
 place, who see only with the eyes of others. They harassed 
 him by calumnies, by anonymous letters, by displacing his 
 pictures, by mixing injurious ingredients with his colours, 
 and by the most insidious malice they procured some of his 
 pictures to be sent by the viceroy to the court of Madrid ; 
 and these, when little more than sketched, were taken from 
 his studio and carried to the court, where Spagnoletto ordered 
 them to be retouched, and, without giving him time to finish 
 them, hurried them to their destination. This malicious 
 fraud of his rival, the complaints of the committee, who 
 always met with some fresh obstacle to the completion of the 
 work, and the suspicion of some evil design, at last determined 
 Domenichino to depart secretly to Rome. As soon however 
 as the news of his flight transpired, he was recalled, and 
 fresh measures taken for his protection ; when he resumed 
 his labours, and decorated the walls and base of the cupola, 
 and made considerable progress in the painting of his pictures. 
 
 But before he could finish his task he was interrupted by 
 death, hastened either by poison, or by the many severe 
 vexations he had experienced both from his relatives and his 
 adversaries, and the weight of which was augmented by the 
 arrival of his former enemy Lanfranco. This artist super¬ 
 seded Zampieri in the painting of the basin of the chapel ; 
 Spagnoletto, in one of his oil pictures ; Stanzioni in another ; 
 and each of these artists, excited by emulation, rivalled, if he 
 did not excel, Domenichino. Caracciolo was dead. Belli- 
 sario, from his great age, took no share in it, and was soon 
 
D0MENICH1N0. 
 
 37 
 
 afterwards killed by a fall from a stage, which lie had erected 
 for the purpose of retouching some of his frescos. Nor did 
 Spagnoletto experience a better fate; for, having seduced a 
 young girl, and become insupportable even to himself from 
 the general odium which he experienced, he embarked on 
 board a ship ; nor is it known whither he fled, or how he 
 ended his life, if we may credit the Neapolitan writers. 
 Palomino however states him to have died in Naples in 1656, 
 aged sixty-seven, though he does not contradict the first part 
 of our statement. Thus these ambitious men, who by violence 
 or fraud had influenced and abused the generosity and taste 
 of so many noble patrons, and to whose treachery and san¬ 
 guinary vengeance so many professors of the art had fallen 
 victims, ultimately reaped the merited fruit of their conduct 
 in a violent death ; and an impartial posterity, in assigning 
 the palm of merit to Domenichino, inculcates the maxim, that 
 it is a delusive hope to attempt to establish fame and fortune 
 on the destruction of another’s reputation. 
 
 The many good examples in the Neapolitan school in¬ 
 creased the number of masters, either from the instruction of 
 the above-mentioned masters, or from an inspection of their 
 works ; for there is much truth in the observation of Passeri, 
 “ that a painter who has an ardent desire of learning, receives 
 as much instruction from the works of deceased artists as 
 from living masters.” It was greatly to the honour of the 
 Neapolitan artists, amidst such a variety of new styles, to 
 have selected the best. Cesari had no followers in Naples, if 
 we except Luigi Roderigo,'* who exchanged the school of 
 Bellisario for his, but not without a degree of mannerism, 
 although he acquired a certain grace and judgment, which his 
 
 * There is a different account of him in the “ Memorie de’ Pittori 
 Messinesi,” where it is said that his true family name was Rodriguez. 
 It is there said that he studied in Rome, and went from thence to work in 
 Naples, in the Guida of which city he is frequently mentioned. It is 
 added that, from his Roman style, he was called by his brother Alonso 
 the slave of the antique; and that he returned the compliment by 
 calling his brother, who was instructed in Venice, the slave of nature. 
 But Alonso, who spent his life in Sicily, surpassed his brother in reputa¬ 
 tion ; and it is a rare commendation that he painted much and well. He 
 particularly shone in the Probatica in S. Cosmo de' Medici, and the 
 picture of two founders of Messina in the senatorial palace, a work re- 
 
38 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH III. 
 
 master did not possess. He initiated a nephew, Gianber- 
 nardino, in the same style; who, from his being an excellent 
 imitator of Cesari, was employed by the Carthusian monks to 
 finish a work which that master had left imperfect. 
 
 Thus almost all these artists trod in the steps of the 
 Caracci, and the one that approached nearest to them was the 
 Gav. Massimo Stanzioni, considered by some the best example 
 of the Neapolitan school, of which, as we have observed, he 
 compiled some memoirs. He was a scholar of Caracciolo, to 
 whom he bore some analogy in taste, but he availed himself 
 of the assistance of Lanfranco, whom in one of his MS. he 
 calls his master, and studied too under Corenzio, who in his 
 painting of frescos yielded to few. In portrait he adopted 
 the principles of Santafede, and attained an excellent Titian- 
 esque style. Going afterwards to Rome, and seeing the 
 works of Annibale, and, as some assert, making acquaintance 
 with Guido, he became ambitious of uniting the design of the 
 first with the colouring of the second, and we are informed 
 by Galanti, that he obtained the appellation of Guido Beni 
 di Napoli. His talents, which were of the first order, 
 enabled him in a short time to compete with the best masters. 
 He painted in the Certosa a Dead Christ, surrounded by the 
 Maries, in competition with Ribera. This picture having 
 become somewhat obscured, Ribera persuaded the monks to 
 have it washed, and he purposely injured it in such a way 
 with a corrosive liquid, that Stanzioni refused to repair it, 
 declaring that such an instance of malice ought to be per¬ 
 petuated to the public eye. But in that church, which is in 
 fact a museum of art, where every artist, not to be surpassed 
 by his rivals, seems to have surpassed himself, Massimo left 
 some other excellent works, and particularly a stupendous 
 altar-piece, of S. Bruno presenting to his brethren the rules 
 of their order. His works are not unfrequent in the col¬ 
 lections of his own country, and are highly esteemed in other 
 places. The vaults of the Gesu Nuovo and S. Paolo entitle 
 him to a distinguished place among fresco painters. His 
 
 warded with a thousand scudi. His fame declined, and he began to fail 
 in commissions on the arrival of Barbalunga. But he did not, on that 
 account, refuse him his esteem, as he was accustomed to call him the 
 Caracci of Sicily. 
 
FRANCESCO DI ROSA. 
 
 39 
 
 paintings were highly finished, and he studied perfection 
 during his celibacy, but marrying a woman of some rank, in 
 order to maintain her in an expensive style of living, he 
 painted many hasty and inferior pictures. It may be said that 
 Cocchi, in his “ Ragionamento del Matrimonio,” not without 
 good reason took occasion to warn all artists of the perils of 
 the wedded state. 
 
 The school of Massimo produced many celebrated scholars, 
 in consequence of his method and high reputation, confirming 
 that ancient remark, which has passed into a proverb, primus 
 discendi ardor nobilitas est magistri (the example of the 
 master is the greatest incentive to improvement). Muzio 
 Rossi passed from his school to that of Guido, and was chosen 
 at the age of eighteen to paint in the Certosa of Bologna, in 
 competition with the first masters, and maintained his station 
 on a comparison ; but this very promising artist was imma- 
 turely cut off, and his own country does not possess any work 
 by him, as the Tribune of S. Pietro in Majella, which he 
 painted a little time before his death, was modernized, and his 
 labours thus perished. This is the reason that his works in 
 the Certosa just mentioned, and which are enumerated by 
 Crespi, are held in great esteem. Another man of genius of 
 this school, Antonio de Beilis, died also at an early age ; he 
 pain'ed several subjects from the life of S. Carlo, in the church 
 of that saint, which were left imperfect by his death. His 
 manner partakes somewhat of Guercino, but is in fact founded, 
 like that of all the scholars of Massimo, on the style of Guido. 
 
 Francesco di Rosa, called Pacicco, was not acquainted with 
 Guido himself, but under the direction of Massimo devoted 
 himself to the copying of his works. He is one of the few 
 artists commemorated by Paolo de’ Matteis, in one of his MSS. 
 which admits no artists of inferior merit. He declares the 
 style of Rosa almost inimitable, not only from his correct de¬ 
 sign, but from the rare beauty of the extremities, and still 
 more from the dignity and grace of the countenances, tie had 
 in his three nieces the most perfect models of beauty, and he 
 possessed a sublimity of sentiment which elevated his mind to 
 a high sense of excellence. His colouring, though conducted 
 with exquisite sweetness, had a strong body, and his pictures 
 
40 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL—EPOCH III. 
 
 preserve a clear and fresh tone. . These are frequently to be 
 found in the houses of the nobility, as he lived long. He 
 painted some beautiful altar-pieces, as S. Tommaso d’Aquino 
 at the Sanita, the Baptism of S. Candida at S. Pietro d’Aram, 
 and othe? pieces. 
 
 This artist had a niece of the name of Aniella di Rosa, who 
 may be called the Sirani of the Neapolitan school, from her 
 talents, beauty, and the manner of her death, the fair Bolog^- 
 nese being inhumanly poisoned by some envious artists, and 
 Aniella murdered by a jealous husband. This husband was 
 Agostino Beltrano, her fellow-scholar in the school of Massi¬ 
 mo, where he became a good fresco painter, and a colourist in 
 oil of no common merit, as is proved by many cabinet pictures 
 and some altar-pieces. His wife also painted in the same 
 style, and was the companion of his labours, and they jointly 
 prepared many pictures which their master afterwards finished 
 in such a manner that they were sold as his own. Some, how¬ 
 ever, pass under her own name, and are highly extolled, as 
 the Birth and Death of the Virgin, at the Pieta, not however 
 without suspicion that Massimo had a considerable share in 
 that picture, as Guido had in several painted by Gentileschi. 
 But at all events, her original designs prove her knowledge 
 of art, and her contemporaries, both painters and writers, do 
 not fail to extol her as an excellent artist, and as such Paolo 
 de’ Matteis, has admitted her name in his catalogue. 
 
 Three young men of Orta became also celebrated scholars 
 in this academy; Paol Domenico Finoglia, Giacinto de’ 
 Popoli, and Giuseppe Marullo. By the first there remains 
 at the Certosa at Naples, the vault of the chapel of S. Gen- 
 naro, and various pictures in the chapter-house. Fie had a 
 beautiful expression, fertility, correctness, a good arrangement 
 of parts, and a happy general effect. The second painted in 
 many churches, and is admired more for his style of composi¬ 
 tion, than for his figures. The third approached so near to 
 his master in manner, that artists have sometimes ascribed 
 his works to Massimo; and in truth he left some beautiful 
 productions at S. Severino, and other churches. He had 
 afterwards a dry style of colouring, particularly in his con¬ 
 tours, which on that account became crude and hard, and he 
 
BERNARDO CAVALLINO. 
 
 41 
 
 gradually lost the public favour. His example may serve 
 as a warning, to every one to estimate his own powers cor¬ 
 rectly, and not to affect genius when he does not possess it. 
 
 Another scholar who obtained a great name, was Andrea 
 Malinconico, of Naples. There do not exist any frescos by 
 him, but he left many works in oil, particularly in the church 
 de’ Miracoli, where he painted almost all the pictures 
 himself. The Evangelists, and the Doctors of the church, 
 subjects with which he ornamented the pilasters, are the most 
 beautiful pictures, says the encomiast of this master; as 
 the attitudes are noble, the conception original, and the whole 
 painted with the spirit of a great artist, and with an asto¬ 
 nishing freshness of colour. There are other fine works by 
 him, but several are feeble and spiritless, which gave a con¬ 
 noisseur occasion to remark, that they were in unison with 
 the name of the painter. 
 
 But none of the preceding artists were so much favoured 
 by nature as Bernardo Cavallino, who at first created a 
 jealous feeling in Massimo himself. Finding afterwards that 
 his talent lay more in small figures than large, he pursued 
 that department, and became very celebrated in his school, 
 beyond which he is not so well known as he deserves to be. 
 In the galleries of the Neapolitan nobility are to be seen by 
 him, on canvas and copper, subjects both sacred and profane, 
 composed with great judgment, and with figures in the style 
 of Poussin, full of spirit and expression, and accompanied by 
 a native grace, and a simplicity peculiarly their own. In 
 his colouring, besides his master and Gentileschi, who were 
 both followers of Guido, he imitated Rubens. He possessed 
 every quality essential to an accomplished artist, as even 
 the most extreme poverty could not induce him to hurry his 
 works, which he was accustomed frequently to retouch before 
 he could entirely satisfy himself. Life was alone wanting to 
 him, which he unfortunately shortened by his irregularities.* 
 
 * I find in Messina, Gio. Fulco, who imbibed the principles of the art 
 under the Cav. Massimo ; a correct designer, a lively and graceful painter, 
 particularly of children, excepting a somewhat too great freshness, and a 
 trace of mannerism. Many of his works in his native country were 
 destroyed by an earthquake. Some remain at the Nunziata de’ Teatini, 
 where in the chapel of the Crucifix are his frescos, and a picture by him 
 in oil of the Nativity of the Virgin. 
 
42 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Andrea Vaccaro was a contemporary and rival of Massimo, 
 but at the same time his admirer and friend, a man of great 
 imitative powers. He at first followed Caravaggio, and in 
 that style his pictures are frequently found in Naples, and 
 some cabinet pictures, which have even imposed upon con¬ 
 noisseurs, who have bought them for originals of that master. 
 After some time Massimo won him over to the style of Guido, 
 in which he succeeded in an admirable manner, though lie 
 did not equal his friend. In this style are executed his most 
 celebrated works at the Certosa, at the Teatini and Rosario, 
 without enumerating those in collections, where he is fre¬ 
 quently found. On the death of Massimo, he assumed the 
 first rank among his countrymen. Giordano alone opposed 
 him in his early years, when on his return from Rome he 
 brought with him a new style from the school of Cortona, 
 and both artists were competitors for the larger picture of 
 S. Maria del Pianti. That church had been lately erected in 
 gratitude to the Virgin, who had liberated the city from 
 pestilence, and this was the subject of the picture. Each 
 artist made a design, and Pietro da Cartona being chosen 
 umpire, decided against his own scholar in favour of Vaccaro, 
 observ ing, that as he was first in years, so he was first in 
 design and natural expression. He had not studied frescos 
 in his youth, but began them when he was advanced in life, 
 in order that he might not yield the palm to Giordano, but 
 by the loss of his fame, he verified the proverb, that ad 
 omnem disciplinam tardior est senectus. 
 
 Of his scholars, Giacomo Farelli was the most successful, 
 who by his vigorous talents, and by the assistance of his 
 master, painted a picture in competition with Giordano. The 
 church of S. Brigida has a beautiful picture of that saint by 
 Farelli, and its author is mentioned by Matteis as a painter 
 of singular merit. He declined however, in public esteem, 
 from wishing at an advanced age to change his style, when 
 he painted the sacristy of the Tesoro. He was on that 
 occasion anxious to imitate Domenichino, but he did not 
 succeed in his attempt, and indeed he never afterwards ex¬ 
 ecuted any work of merit. 
 
 Nor did Domenichino fail to have among the painters of 
 
COZZA. 
 
 43 
 
 "Naples, or of that state, many deserving followers.* Cozza, 
 a Calabrian, who lived in Rome, I included in that school, as 
 also Antonio Ricci, called il Barbalunga, who was of Messina, 
 and well known in Rome. I may add, that he returned to 
 Messina, and ornamented that city with many works ; as at 
 S. Gregorio, the saint writing ; the Ascension at S. Michele, 
 two Pietas of different designs at S. Niccolo and the Spedale. 
 He is considered as one of the best painters of Sicily, where 
 good artists have abounded more than is generally imagined. 
 He formed a school there, and left several scholars.t 
 
 * Gio. Batista Durand, of Burgundy, was established in Messina. He 
 was the scholar of Domenichino, and was always attached to liis manner. 
 Of his larger works we find only a S. Cecilia in the convent of that saint, 
 as he was generally occupied in painting portraits. He had a daughter 
 called Flavia, the wife of Filippo Giannetti, skilled in portraits, and an ex¬ 
 cellent copyist. 
 
 f Domenico Maroli, Onofrio Gabriello, and Agostino Scilla, were the 
 three painters of Messina who did him the most honour, although from 
 being engaged in the revolutions of 1674 and 1676, the first lost his life, and 
 the other two were long exiles from their country. Maroli did not adopt 
 the style of Barbalunga exclusively, but having made a voyage to Venice, 
 and there studied the works of the best Venetian artists, and particularly 
 of Paolo, he returned with many of the excellences of that great master, 
 brilliant flesh-tints, a beautiful air in his heads, and a fine style in his 
 drawings of women, a talent which he abused as much or more than Liberi. 
 To this moral vice he added a professional one, which was painting some¬ 
 times on the first ground, and generally with little colour ; whence his 
 works, which were extolled and sought after when new, became, when old, 
 neglected, like those dark paintings of the Venetian school, which we 
 have mentioned. Messina has many of them : the Martyrdom of S. 
 Placido at the Suore di S. Paolo, the Nativity of the Virgin in the church 
 della Grotta, and some others. In Venice there must also be remaining 
 in private collections some of his paintings of animals in the style of 
 Bassano, as we have before mentioned. Onofrio Gabriello was for six 
 years with Barbalunga, and for some further time with Poussin, and then 
 with Cortona in Rome, until passing another nine years in Venice with 
 Maroli, he brought back with him to Messina that master’s vicious method 
 of colour, but not his style. In the latter he aimed at originality, exhi¬ 
 biting much lightness, grace, and fancy in the accessory parts, and in 
 ribands, jewels, and lace, in which he particularly excelled. He left many 
 pictures in Messina, in the church of S. Francesco di Paola; many also 
 in Padua, in the Guida of which city various pictures by him are enume¬ 
 rated, without mentioning his cabinet pictures and portraits in private 
 collections. I have seen several in possession of the noble and learned 
 Sig. Co. Antonio Maria Borromeo ; amongst which is a family piece with 
 a portrait of the painter. 
 
44 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. — EPOCn III. 
 
 I ought after him to mention another Sicilian, Pietro del 
 1 o da Palermo, a good engraver, and better known in Rome 
 in that capacity than as a painter. There is a S. Leone by 
 him at the church of the Madonna di Costantinopoli; an 
 
 Agostino Scilla, or Silla, as Orlandi calls him, opened a school in 
 Messina, which was much frequented while it lasted, but the scholars were 
 dispersed by the storm of revolutions, in which they took a part, not with¬ 
 out great injury both to the art and themselves. He possessed an elegant 
 genius for painting, which lie cultivated, and added to it a taste for poetry, 
 natural history, and antiquities. His genius raised such high expectations 
 in Baibalunga, that he procured a pension for him from the senate in 
 order to enable him to reside in Rome under Andrea Sacchi. After four 
 years he returned to Messina, highly accomplished, from his study of the 
 antique and of Raffaello, and if his colouring was at first somewhat dry, 
 he soon rendered it rich and agreeable. He excelled in figures and in 
 heads, particularly of old men, and had a peculiar talent in landscapes, 
 animals, and fruit. For this I may refer to the Roman school, where he 
 is mentioned with his brother and son. There are few of his works in 
 Rome, but many in Messina. His frescos are in S. Domenico, and in the 
 Nlunziata de Teatini, and many paintings in other places, among which is 
 
 llarione dying, in the church of S. Ursula, than which work there is no 
 greater favourite with the public. 
 
 Of the scholars of Scilla, who remained in Messina after the departure 
 of their master, there is not much to be said. F. Emanuel da Como we 
 have mentioned elsewhere. Giuseppe Balestriero, an excellent copyist of 
 the works of Agostino, and a good designer, after painting some pictures, 
 became a priest, and took leave of the art Antonio la Falce was a good 
 painter in distemper and in oil. He afterwards attempted frescos, and 
 painted tavern scenes. Placido Celi, a man of singular talents, but bad 
 habits, followed his master to Rome. He there changed his style for that 
 of Maratta and Morandi; after whose works he painted in Rome, in the 
 churches dell’ Anima and Traspontina, and in several churches of his 
 own country, but he never passed the bounds of mediocrity. A higher 
 reputation belongs to Antonio Madiona, of Syracuse, who, although he 
 separated himself from Scilla in Rome, to follow il Preti to Malta, was 
 nevertheless an industrious artist, and painted both there and in Sicily in 
 a strong and vigorous style, which partakes of both his masters. And 
 this may suffice for the members of this unfortunate school 
 
 To complete the list of the chief scholars of Barbalunga, I may mention 
 here Bartolommeo Tricomi, who confined himself to portrait painting, 
 and in this hereditary gift of the school of Domenichuio, he greatly ex- 
 celled. lie had notwithstanding in Andrea Suppa a scholar who surpassed 
 him. The latter learned also of Casembrot, as far as regards landscape 
 and architecture ; but he formed himself principally on the antique; 
 and by constantly studying Raffaello and the Caracci, and other select 
 masters, or their drawings, he acquired a most enchanting style of coun¬ 
 tenance, and indeed of every part of his composition. His works are as 
 
THE TWO POS. 
 
 45 
 
 altar-piece which however does not do him so much honour as 
 the pictures which he painter for collections, some of which 
 are in Spain; and particularly some small pictures which he 
 executed in the manner of miniatures with exquisite taste. 
 Two of this kind I saw in Piacenza, at the Sig. della Missione, 
 a Decollation of S. John, and a Crucifixion of S. Peter in his 
 best manner, and with his name. This artist, after working 
 in Rome, settled in Naples with a son of the name of Giacomo, 
 who had been instructed in the art by Poussin and himself. 
 He also taught a daughter of the name of Teresa, who was 
 skilled in miniatures. The two Pos were well acquainted 
 with the principles of the art, and had taught in the academy 
 of Rome. But the father painted little in Naples ; the son 
 found constant employ in ornamenting the halls and galleries 
 of the nobility with frescos. His intimacy with letters aided 
 the poetic taste with which his pictures were conceived, and 
 his varied and enchanting colours fascinated the eye of every 
 spectator. Pie was singular and original in his lights, and 
 their various gradations and reflections. In his figures and 
 drapery he became, as is generally the case with the machinists, 
 mannered and less correct; nor has he any claim as an imita¬ 
 tor of Domenicliino, except from the early instructions of his 
 father. In Rome there are two paintings by him, one at 
 S. Angiolo in Pescheria, the other at S. Marta ; and there are 
 some in Naples ; but his genius chiefly shines in the frescos of 
 the gallery of the Marchese Genzano, and in the house of the 
 duke of Matalona, and still more in seven apartments of the 
 prince of Avellino. 
 
 A more finished imitator of Zampieri than the two Pos was 
 a scholar of his, of the name of Francesco di Maria, the 
 
 fine as miniature, and are perhaps too highly finished. His subjects, in 
 unison with his genius, are of a pensive and melancholy cast, and are 
 always treated in a pathetic manner. He excelled in frescos, and painted 
 the vaults in the Suore in S. Paolo ; he excelled equally in oils, as may be 
 seen from the picture of S. Scolastica, there also. Some of his works 
 were lost by earthquakes. His style was happily imitated by Antonio 
 Bova, his scholar, and we may compare their works together at the Nun- 
 ziata de’ Teatini. He painted much in oil, as well as fresco, and from his 
 placid and tranquil disposition, took no part in the revolutions of Messina, 
 but remained at home, where he closed his days in peace, and with him 
 expired the school of Barbalunga. 
 
46 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH IIL 
 
 author of few works, as he willingly suffered those reproaches 
 of slowness and irresolution which accompanied the unfortu¬ 
 nate Domenichino to the grave. But his works, though few 
 in number, are excellent, particularly the history of S. Lorenzo 
 at the Conventuals in Naples, and also many of his portraits. 
 One of the latter exhibited in Rome, together with one by 
 Vandyk and one by Rubens, was preferred by Poussin, Cor¬ 
 tona, and Sacclii, to those of the Flemish artists. Others of 
 his pictures are bought at great prices, and are considered by 
 the less experienced as the works of Domenichino. He re¬ 
 sembled that master indeed in every quality, except grace, 
 which nature had denied him. Hence Giordano said of his 
 figures, that when consumption had reduced the muscles and 
 bones, they might be correct and beautiful, but still insipid. 
 In return he did not spare Giordano, declaring his school 
 “ heretical, and that he could not endure works which owe all 
 their merit to ostentatious colour and a vague design,” as 
 Matteis, who is partial to the memory of Francesco, attests. 
 
 Lanfranco in Naples had contributed, as I have observed, 
 to the instruction of Massimo, but that artist renounced the 
 style of Lanfranco for that of Guido. The two Pos, however, 
 were more attached to him, and imitated his colouring. Pas- 
 coli doubts whether he should not assign Preti to him, an error 
 which we shall shortly confute. Dominici also includes among 
 his countrymen Brandi, a scholar of Lanfranco : collecting 
 from one of his letters that he acknowledged Gaeta for his 
 native place. His family was probably from thence, but he 
 himself was born in Poli.* I included him among the painters 
 of Rome, where he studied and painted ; and I mentioned at 
 the same time the Cav. Giambatista Benaschi, as he is called 
 by some, or Beinaschi by others. This variation gave occasion 
 to suppose that there were two painters of that name ; in the 
 same way there may be a third, as the name is sometimes 
 written Bernaschi. Some contradictions in his biographers, 
 which it is not worth our while to enter on, have contributed 
 to perpetuate this error. I shall only observe, that he was 
 not born until 1636, and was not a scholar of Lanfranco, but 
 of M. Spirito, in Piedmont, and of Pietro del Po, in Roma. 
 
 * Pascoli, Vite, tom. i. p. 129. 
 
PRETI. 
 
 47 
 
 Thus Orlandi writes ot him, who had a better opportunity 
 than Pascoli, or Domiuici, of procuring information from 
 Angela, the daughter of the Cayaliere, who lived in Rome in 
 his time, and painted portraits in an agreeable style. He is 
 considered both by Pascoli and Orlandi as a painter of Rome, 
 but he left very few works there, as appears from Titi. Naples 
 was the theatre of his talents, and there he had numerous 
 scholars, and painted many cupolas, ceilings, and other con¬ 
 siderable works, and with such a variety of design, that there 
 is not an instance of an attitude being repeated by him. Nor 
 was he deficient in grace, either of form or colour, as long as 
 he trod in the steps of Lanfranco, as he did in the S. M. di 
 Loreto, and in other churches, but aspiring in some others to 
 a more vigorous style, he became dark and heavy. He ex¬ 
 celled in the knowledge of painting figures seen from below, 
 and displayed extraordinary skill in his fore-shortenings. The 
 painters in Naples have often compared among themselves, 
 says Dominici, the two pictures of S. Michael, the one by 
 Lanfranco, and the other by Benaschi, in the church of the 
 Holy Apostles, without being able to decide to which master 
 they ought to assign the palm of merit. 
 
 Guercino himself was never in Naples, but the Cav. Mattia 
 Preti, commonly called il Cav. Calabrese, allured by the 
 novelty of his style, repaired to Cento, to avail himself of his 
 instructions. This information we have from Doininici, who 
 had heard him say, that he was in fact the scholar of Guer¬ 
 cino, but that he had, moreover, studied the works of all the 
 principal masters; and he had indeed visited almost every 
 country, and seen and studied the best productions of every 
 school, both in and beyond Italy. Hence in his painting he 
 may be compared to a man whose travels have been extensive, 
 and who never hears a subject started to which he does not 
 add something new, and, indeed, the drapery and ornaments, 
 and costume of Preti, are highly varied and original. He 
 confined himself to design, and did not attempt colours until 
 his twenty-sixth year. In design he was more vigorous and 
 robust than delicate, and sometimes inclines to heaviness. In 
 his colouring he was not attractive, but had a strong impasto , 
 a decided chiaroscuro, and a prevailing ashy tone, that was 
 well adapted for his mournful and tragical subjects; for, fol- 
 
48 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH III. 
 
 lowing the bent of his genius, he devoted his pencil to the 
 representation of martyrdoms, slaughters, pestilence, and the 
 pangs of a guilty conscience. It was his custom, says Pascoli, 
 at least in his large works, to paint at the first conception, 
 and true to nature, and he did not take much pains afterwards 
 in correction, or in the just expression of the passions. 
 
 He executed some large works in fresco in Modena, Naples, 
 and Malta. He had not equal success at S. Andrea della 
 Valle, in Rome, where he painted three histories of that saint, 
 under the tribune of Domenichino ; a proximity from which 
 his work sutlers considerably, and the figures appear out of 
 proportion, and not well adapted to the situation. His oil 
 pictures in Italy are innumerable, as he lived to an advanced 
 age ; he had a great rapidity of hand, and was accustomed, 
 wherever he went, to leave some memorial of his talents, 
 sometimes in the churches, but chiefly in private collections, 
 and they are, in general, figures of half-size, like those of 
 Guercino and Caravaggio. Naples, Rome, and Florence, all 
 abound with his works, hut above all Bologna. In the Ma- 
 rulli palace is his Belisarius asking alms, in that of Ratti, a 
 S. Penitente, chained in a suffering position; in the Malvezzi 
 palace, Sir Thomas More in prison ; in that of the Ercolani, 
 a Pestilence, besides many more in the same, and other galle¬ 
 ries of the nobility. Amongst his altar-pieces, one of the 
 most finished is in the Duomo of Siena, S. Bernardino preach¬ 
 ing to and converting the people. In Naples, besides the 
 soffitto of the church de’ Celestini, he painted not a little ; 
 less however than both he himself and the professors of a 
 better taste desired, and in conjunction with whom he resisted 
 the innovations of Giordano. But that artist had an unpre¬ 
 cedented popularity, and in spite of his faults triumphed over 
 all his contemporaries, and Preti was himself obliged to re¬ 
 linquish the contest, and close his days in Malta, of which 
 order, in honour of his great merit as a painter, he was made 
 a commendatore. He left some imitators in Naples, one of 
 whom was Domenico Viola; but neither he nor his other 
 scholars passed the bounds of mediocrity. The same may be 
 said of Gregorio Preti, his brother, of whom there is a fresco 
 at S. Carlo de’ Catinari, in Rome. 
 
 After this enumeration of foreign artists, we must now 
 
DISCIPLES OF RIBERA. 
 
 49 
 
 return to the national school, and notice some disciples of Ri¬ 
 bera. It often happens that those masters who are mannerists 
 form scholars who confine their powers to the sole imitation of 
 their master, and thus produce pictures that deceive the most 
 experienced, and which in other countries are esteemed the 
 works of the master himself. This was the case with Gio¬ 
 vanni Do, and Bartolommeo Passante, in regard to Spagno- 
 letto, although the first in progress of time softened his 
 manner, and tamed his flesh-tints; while the second added 
 only to the usual style of Spagnoletto a more finished design 
 and expression. Francesco Fracanzani possessed a peculiar 
 grandeur of style, and a noble tone of colour ; and the Death 
 of S. Joseph, which he painted at the Pellegrini, is one of the 
 best pictures of the city. Afterwards, however, his necessities 
 compelled him to paint in a coarse manner in order to gratify 
 the vulgar, and he fell into bad habits of life, and was finally, 
 for some crime or other, condemned to die by the hands of the 
 hangman, a sentence which, for the honour of the art, was 
 compounded for his secret death in prison by poison.* 
 
 * I may insert at the close of this epoch the names of some Sicilian 
 painters, who flourished in it, or at the beginning of the following, in¬ 
 structed by various masters. They were furnished to me by the Sig. 
 Ansaldo, whose attentions I have before acknowledged, and were trans¬ 
 mitted to him by a painter of that island. Filippo Tancredi was of 
 Messina, but is not assigned to any of the before-mentioned masters, 
 as he studied in Naples and in Rome under Maratta. He was a skilful 
 artist, composed and coloured well; was celebrated in Messina, and also 
 in Palermo, where he lived many years, and where the vault of the church 
 de’ Teatini, and that also of the Gesh Nuovo were painted by him. The 
 Cav. Pietro Novelli (or Morelli, which latter however I regard as an 
 error), called Monrealese from his native place, also enjoyed the reputa¬ 
 tion of a good painter and an able architect. He there left many works 
 in oil and fresco, and the great picture of the Marriage at Cana, in the 
 refectory of the PP. Benedettini, is particularly commended. He resided 
 for a long time in Palermo, and the greatest work he there executed was 
 in the church of the Conventuals, the vault of which was divided into 
 compartments, and wholly painted by himself. Guarienti eulogizes him 
 for his style, as diligent in copying nature, correct in design, and graceful 
 in his colouring, with some imitation of Spagnoletto ; and the people of 
 Palermo confer daily honour on him, since, whenever they meet with a 
 foreigner of taste, they point out to him little else in the city than the 
 works of this great man. Pietro Acpiila, of Marzalla, a distinguished 
 artist, who engraved the Farnese gallery, left no works to my knowledge 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
50 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Aniello Falcone and Salvator Rosa are tlie great boast of 
 this school; although Rosa frequented it but a short time and 
 improved himself afterwards by the instructions of Falcone. 
 Aniello possessed an extraordinary talent in battle-pieces. He 
 painted them both in large and small size, taking the subjects 
 from the sacred writings, from profane history, or poetry ; 
 his dresses, arms, and features were as varied as the com¬ 
 batants he represented. Animated in his expression, select 
 and natui'al in the figures and action of his horses, and intel¬ 
 ligent in military affairs, though he had never been in the 
 army, nor seen a battle ; he drew correctly, consulted truth 
 in every tlhng, coloured with care, and had a good impasto. 
 That he taught Borgognone as some have supposed, it is 
 difficult to believe. Baldinucci, who had from that artist 
 himself the information which he published respecting him, 
 does not say a word of it. It is however true, that they 
 were acquainted and mutually esteemed each other; and if 
 the battle-pieces of Borgognone have found a place in the 
 collections of the great, and have been bought at great prices, 
 those of Aniello have had the like good fortune. He had 
 many scholars, and by means of them and some other painters, 
 his friends, he was enabled to revenge the death of a relation and 
 also of a scholar, whom the Spanish authorities had put to death. 
 On the revolution of Maso Aniello, he and his partisans 
 formed themselves into a company called the Band of Death ; 
 and protected by Spagnoletto, who excused them to the vice¬ 
 roy, committed the most revolting and sanguinary excesses ; 
 until the state was composed, and the people reduced to 
 submission, when this murderous band fled, to escape the 
 hands of justice. Falcone withdrew to France for some 
 
 in Home : in Palermo there remain of him two pictures in the church 
 della Pieta, representing the parable of the Prodigal Son. Lo Zoppo di 
 Gangi is known at Castro Giovanni, where in the Duomo he left several 
 works. Of the Cav. Giuseppe Paladini, a Sicilian, I find commended at 
 S. Joseph di Castel Termini, the picture of the Madonna and the tutelar 
 Saint. I also find honourable mention among the chief painters of this 
 island, of a Carrega, who I believe painted for private individuals. Others, 
 though I know not of what merit, are found inscribed in the academy of 
 S. Luke, from the registers of which I have derived some information for 
 my third and fourth volumes (Ital. ed.), communicated to me by the 
 Sig. Maron, the worthy secretary of the academy. 
 
SCHOLARS OP FALCONE. 
 
 51 
 
 years, and left many works there ; the remainder fled to 
 Rome, or to other places of safety. 
 
 The most celebrated of the immediate scholars of Falcone 
 was Salvator Rosa, whom we have elsewhere noticed, who 
 began his career by painting battles, and became a most dis¬ 
 tinguished landscape painter; and Domenico Gargiuoli, called 
 Micco Spadaro, a landscape painter of merit, and a good 
 painter in large compositions, as he appears at the Certosa, 
 and in other churches. He had an extraordinary talent too 
 in painting small figures, and might with propriety be called 
 the Cerquozzi of his school. Hence Yiviano Codagora, who 
 was an eminent landscape painter, after becoming acquainted 
 with him, would not permit any other artist to ornament his 
 works with figures, as he introduced them with infinite grace ; 
 and this circumstance probably led to their intimate friend¬ 
 ship, and to risking their lives in the same cause as we have 
 before related. The Neapolitan galleries possess many of 
 their pictures; and some have specimens of capricci, or 
 humorous pictures, all by the hand of Spadaro. He indeed 
 had no equal in depicting the manners and dresses of the 
 common people of his country, particularly in large assem¬ 
 blies. In some of his works of this kind, the number of his 
 figures has exceeded a thousand. He was assisted by the 
 etchings of Stefano della Bella, and Callot, both of whom 
 were celebrated for placing a great body of people in a little 
 space; but it was in the true spirit of imitation, and with¬ 
 out a trace of servility; on the contrary, he improved the 
 principal figures (where bad contours are with difficulty con¬ 
 cealed) and corrected the attitudes, and carefully retouched 
 them. 
 
 Carlo Coppola is sometimes mistaken for Falcone from their 
 similarity of manner; except that a certain fulness with 
 which he paints his horses in his battle-pieces may serve as a 
 distinction. Andrea di Lione resembles him, but in his battles 
 we easily trace his imitation. Marzio Masturzo studied some 
 time with Falcone ; but longer with Rosa in Rome, and was 
 his best scholar; but he is sometimes rather crude in his 
 figures, and rocks, and trunks of trees, and less bright in 
 his skies. His flesh-tints are not pallid, like those of Rosa, 
 as in these he followed Ribera. 
 
52 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCIIOOL.—EPOCH III. 
 
 I shall close this catalogue, passing over some less cele¬ 
 brated artists, with Paolo Porpora, who from battles was 
 directed by the impulse of his genius to the painting of ani¬ 
 mals, but succeeded best in fish, and shells, and other marine 
 productions, being less skilled in flowers and fruit. But 
 about his time Abraham Brughel painted these subjects in an 
 exquisite style in Naples, where he settled and ended his 
 days. From this period we may date a favourable epoch 
 for certain pictures of minor rank, which still add to the 
 decoration of galleries and contribute to the fame of their 
 authors. After the two first we may mention Giambatista 
 Ruoppoli and Onofrio Loth, scholars of Porpora, excelling 
 him in fruits, and particularly in grapes, and little inferior 
 in other respects. 
 
 Giuseppe Cav. Recco, from the same school, is one of the 
 most celebrated painters in Italy, of hunting, fowling, and 
 fishing pieces, and similar subjects. One of his best pictures 
 which I have seen, is in the house of the Conti Simonetti 
 d’Osimo, on which the author has inscribed his name. He 
 was admired in the collections also for his beautiful colour¬ 
 ing, which he acquired in Lombardy; and he resided for 
 many years at the court of Spain, whilst Giordano was there. 
 There was also a scholar of Ruoppoli, called Andrea Bel¬ 
 vedere, excelling in the same line, but most in flowers and 
 fruit. There arose a dispute between him and Giordano, 
 Andrea asserting that the historical painters cannot venture 
 with success on these smaller subjects; Giordano, on the 
 contrary, maintaining that the greater included the less; 
 which words he verified by painting a picture of birds, 
 flowers, and fruit, so beautifully grouped, that it robbed 
 Andrea of his fame, and obliged him to take refuge among 
 men of letters ; and indeed in the literary circle he held 
 a respectable station. 
 
 Nevertheless his pictures did not fall in esteem or value, 
 and his posterity after him still continue to embellish the 
 cabinets of the great. His most celebrated scholar was 
 Tommaso Realfonso, who to the talents of his master, added 
 that of the natural representation of every description of 
 utensils, and all kinds of confectionery and eatables. He 
 had also excellent imitators in Giacomo Nani and Baldassar 
 
GASPAR LOPEZ. 
 
 53 
 
 Caro, employed to ornament the royal court of King Charles 
 of Bourbon ; and Gaspar Lopez, the scholar first of Dub- 
 bisson, afterwards of Belvedere. Lopez became a good land¬ 
 scape painter, was employed by the grand duke of Tus¬ 
 cany, and resided a considerable time in Venice. Accord¬ 
 ing to Dominici he died in Florence, and the author of the 
 Algarotti Catalogue in Venice, informs us, that that event 
 took place about the year 1732. We may here close the 
 series of minor painters of the school of Aniello,* and may 
 now proceed to the succeeding epoch, commencing with the 
 historical painters. 
 
 * In this epoch flourished in Messina one Abraham Casembrot, •<< 
 Dutchman, who was considered one of the first painters of his time, of. 
 landscape, sea-pieces, harbours, and tempests. He professed architecture 
 also, and was celebrated for his small figures. He was accustomed to 
 give the highest finish to every thing he painted. The church of S. Gio- 
 vacchino has three pictures of the Passion by him. Some individuals of 
 Messina possess delightful specimens of him, though not many, as he 
 sold them at high prices, and generally in Holland. Hence most of the 
 collectors of Messina turned to Socino, the contemporary of Casem¬ 
 brot ; a painter of a vigorous imagination and rapid execution. His 
 landscapes and views are still prized, and maintain their value. I do not 
 find that Casembrot wholly formed any scholar at Messina. He commu¬ 
 nicated, however, the elements of architecture and perspective to several, 
 as well as the principles of painting. For this reason we find enumerated 
 among his scholars the Capuchin P. Feliciano da Messina (Domenico 
 Guargena), who afterwards studied Guido in the convent of Bologna, and 
 imbued himself with his style. Hackert makes honourable mention of a 
 Madonna and Child and S. Francesco by him at the church of that order 
 in Messina, and he assigns the palm to him among the painters of his 
 order, which boasted not a few. 
 
54 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH IV. 
 
 Luca Giordano, Solimene, and their scholars. 
 
 A little beyond the middle of the seventeenth century, Luca 
 Giordano began to flourish in Naples. This master, though 
 he did not excel his contemporaries in his style, surpassed 
 them all in good fortune, for which he was indebted to his 
 vast talents, confidence, and unbounded powers of invention, 
 which Maratta considered unrivalled and unprecedented. In 
 this he was eminently gifted by nature from his earliest youth. 
 Antonio, his father, placed him first under the instructions of 
 Ribera, and afterwards under Cortona in Rome,* and having 
 conducted him through all the best schools of Italy, he brought 
 him home rich in designs and in ideas. His father was an 
 indifferent painter, and being obliged in Rome to subsist by 
 his son’s labours, whose drawings were at that time in the 
 greatest request,t the only principle that he instilled into him 
 
 * Cortona had in Sicily a good scholar in Gio. Quagliata, who, in the 
 “ Memorie Messinesi,” is said to have been favoured and distinguished by 
 his master ; and to have afterwards returned to his native country to paint 
 in competition with Rodriguez, and what surprises me still more, with Bar- 
 balunga. If we may be allowed to judge of these two artists by their 
 works which remain in Rome, Barbalunga in S. Silvestro at Monte 
 Cavallo, appears a great master; Quagliata at the Madonna di C. P. a 
 respectable scholar. The former is celebrated and known to every painter 
 in Rome, the latter has not an admirer. In Messina he perhaps painted 
 better. His biographer commends him as a graceful and sober painter, 
 as long as his rivals lived ; and adds, that after their death he devoted him¬ 
 self to frescos, when the exuberance of his imagination is evident in the 
 strong expression of character, and in the superfluity of architectural and 
 other ornaments. Andrea, his brother, was not in Rome; he is, how¬ 
 ever, in Messina, considered a good artist. 
 
 f Giordano is said at this period to have copied the Chambers and the 
 Gallery of Raffaello no lesss than twelve times, and perhaps twenty times 
 
LUCA GIORDANO. 
 
 55 
 
 was one dictated by necessity, despatch. A humorous anec¬ 
 dote is related, that Luca, when he was obliged to take re¬ 
 freshments, did not retire from his work, but, gaping like a 
 young bird, gave notice to his father of the calls of hunger, 
 who, always on the watch, instantly supplied him with food, 
 at the same time reiterating with affectionate solicitude, Luca 
 fa presto. Upon this incident he was always afterwards 
 known by the name of Luca fa presto , among the students 
 in Rome, and which is also his most frequent appellation in 
 the history of the art. By means like these, Antonio ac¬ 
 quired for his son a portentous celerity of hand, from which 
 quality he has been called il Fulmine della pittura. The 
 truth however is, that this despatch was not derived wholly 
 from rapidity of pencil, but was aided by the quickness of 
 his imagination, as Solimene often observed, by which he was 
 enabled to ascertain, from the first commencement of his 
 work, the result he proposed to himself, without hesitating to 
 consider the component parts, or doubting, proving, and se¬ 
 lecting like other painters. He also obtained the name of 
 the Proteus of painting, from his extraordinary talent in 
 imitating every known manner, the consequence of his strong 
 memory, which retained every thing he had once seen. There 
 are numerous instances of pictures painted by him in the style 
 of Albert Durer, Bassano, Titian, and Rubens, with which he 
 imposed on connoisseurs and on his rivals, who had more 
 cause than any other persons to be on their guard against 
 him. These pictures are valued by dealers at more than 
 double or triple the price of pictures of his own composition. 
 There are examples of them even in the churches of Naples ; 
 as the two pictures in the style of Guido at S. Teresa, and 
 particularly that of the Nativity.* There is also at the court 
 of Spain a Holy Family, so much resembling Raffaello, that, 
 as Mengs says in a letter (tom. ii. p. 67 ), whoever is not 
 
 the Battle of Constantine, painted by Giulio Romano, without reckoning 
 his designs after the works of Michelangelo, Polidoro, and other great 
 masters. See “ Vite del Bellori,” edited in Rome in 1728, with the addi¬ 
 tion of the life of Giordano, page 307. 
 
 * He painted for the noble house of Manfrinat Venice, the “ Fortune,” 
 taken from Guido’s picture, and confronted with the original, it is not 
 easy to decide which to prefer. 
 
56 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 conversant with the quality of beauty essential to the works 
 of that great master, would be deceived by the imitation of 
 Giordano. 
 
 He did not however permanently adopt any of these styles 
 as his own. At first he evidently formed himself on Spagno- 
 letto ; afterwards, as in a picture of the Passion, at S. Teresa, 
 a little before mentioned, he adhered to Paul Veronese; and 
 he ever retained the maxim of that master, by a studied deco¬ 
 ration to excite astonishment and to fascinate the eye. From 
 Cortona he seems to have taken his contrast of composition, 
 the great masses of light, and the frequent repetition of the 
 same features, which, in his female figures, he always copied 
 from his wife. In other respects, he aimed at distinguishing 
 himself from every other master by a novel mode of colouring. 
 He was not solicitous to conform to the true principles of art ; 
 his style is not natural either in tone or colour, and still less 
 so in its chiaroscuro, in which Giordano formed for himself a 
 manner ideal and wholly arbitrary. He pleased, notwith¬ 
 standing, by a certain deceptive grace and attraction, which 
 few attempt, and which none have found it easy to imitate. 
 Nor did he recommend this style to his scholars, but on the 
 contrary reproved them when he saw them disposed to imitate 
 him, telling them that it was not the province of young stu- 
 lents to penetrate so far. He was well acquainted with the 
 principles of design, but would not be at the trouble of ob¬ 
 serving them ; and in the opinion of Dominici, if he had ad¬ 
 hered to them too rigidly ho would have enfeebled that spirit 
 which is his greatest merit; an excuse which, perhaps, will 
 not appear satisfactory to every amateur. Another reason 
 may with more probability of truth be assigned, which was his 
 unbounded cupidity, and his habit of not refusing commissions 
 from the meanest quarter, which led him to abuse his facility 
 to the prejudice of his reputation. Hence, among other things, 
 hehasbeen accused of often having painted superficially, without 
 impasto, and w ith a superabundance of oil, so that some of his 
 pictures have almost disappeared fiom the canvas. 
 
 Naples abounds with the works of Giordano both public 
 and private, lhere is scarcely a church in that great city which 
 does not boast some work by him. A much admired piece is 
 the Expulsion of the Sellers and Buyers from the Temple at 
 
LUCA GIORDANO. 
 
 the PP. Girolamini ; the architectural parts of which are 
 painted by Moscatiello, a good perspective painter. Of his 
 frescos, those at the Treasury of the Certosa are esteemed the 
 best. They were executed by him when his powers were 
 matured, and appear to unite in themselves all the best 
 qualities of the artist. Every one must be forcibly struck 
 by the picture of the Serpent raised in the Desert, and the 
 throng of Israelites, who, assailed in a horrible manner, turn 
 to it for relief. The other pictures on the walls and in the 
 vault, all scriptural, are equally powerful in effect. The 
 cupola of S. Brigida is also extolled, which was painted 
 in competition with Francesco di Maria, and in so very 
 short a time, and with such fascinating tints, that it was 
 preferred by the vulgar to the work of that accomplished 
 master, and thus served to diffuse less solid principles among 
 the rising artists. As a miracle of despatch we are also 
 shewn the picture of S. Saverio, painted for the church ol 
 that saint in a day and a half, full of figures, and as beau¬ 
 tiful in colour as any of his pictures. Luca went to Flo¬ 
 rence to jiaint the Capella Corsini and the Ricardi Gallery, 
 besides many works in the churches and for individuals, 
 particularly for the noble house of Rosso, who possessed 
 the Baccanali of Giordano, afterwards removed to the palace 
 of the Marchese Gino Capponi. He was also employed 
 by the grand duke ; and Cosmo III., in whose presence 
 he designed and painted a large picture in less time than 
 I dare mention, complimented him by saying that he was 
 a fit painter for a sovereign prince. The same eulogium 
 was passed on him by Charles II. of Spain, in whose court 
 he resided thirteen years; and, to judge from the num¬ 
 ber of works he left there, it might be supposed that he 
 had consumed a long life in his service. He continued ana 
 finished the series of paintings begun by Cambiasi of Genoa, 
 in the church of the Fscurial, and ornamented the vault, 
 the cupola, and the walls with many scriptural subjects, 
 chiefly from the life of Solomon. He painted some other 
 large compositions in fresco in a church of S. Antonio, in 
 the palace of Buonritiro, in the Hall of the Ambassadors ; 
 and for the queen mother a Nativity, most highly finished, 
 which is said to be a surprising picture, and perhaps superior 
 
58 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 to any other of his painting. If all his works had been 
 executed with similar care, the observation, that his example 
 had corrupted the Spanish school, might perhaps have been 
 spared.* In his old age he returned to his native place, 
 loaded with honours and riches, and died lamented and re¬ 
 gretted as the greatest genius of his age. 
 
 His school produced but few designers of merit; most of 
 them were contaminated by the maxim of their master, that 
 it is the province of a painter to please the public, and that 
 their favour is more easily won by colour than by correct de¬ 
 sign ; so that, without much attention to the latter, they gave 
 themselves entirely to facility of hand. His favorite scho¬ 
 lars were Aniello Rossi of Naples, and Matteo Pacelli della 
 Basilicata, whom he took with him to Spain, as assistants, 
 and who returned with him home with handsome pensions, 
 and lived after in leisure and independence. Niccolo Rossi, 
 of Naples, became a good designer and colourist in the style 
 of his master, although somewhat too red in his tints. In 
 some of nis more important works, as in the soffitto of the 
 royal chapel, Giordano assisted him with his designs. He 
 painted much for private individuals, and was considered 
 next to Reco in his drawings of animals. The Guida , of 
 Naples, commends him and Tominaso Fasano for their skill 
 in painting in distemper some very fine works for Santi Se- 
 polcri and Quarantore. Giuseppe Simonelli, originally a ser¬ 
 vant of Giordano, became an accurate copyist of his works, 
 and an excellent imitator of his colouring. He did not suc¬ 
 ceed in design, though he is praised for a S. Niccola di 
 
 * It may be observed, that if he had followers, some of them did not 
 copy him implicitly. Palomino, although much attached to Giordano, 
 forsaking letters for painting, when his style was so much in vogue, did 
 not imitate him servilely, but in conjunction with the style of other dis¬ 
 tinguished painters of his age ; a good artist, and appointed by Charles II. 
 painter to himself. This is the same Palomino who has merited the ap¬ 
 pellation of the “ \ asari of Spain,” and whom I have so often cited. 
 They who are acquainted with that noble language highly commend his 
 style, which is perhaps the reason that copies of his “ Teorica e Pratica 
 della Pittura ” (2 vols. fol.) are so rare out of Spain. But in point oi 
 accuracy, like Vasari himself, he often errs. I fancy that he frequently 
 adopted traditions, without sufficiently weighing them, which I am led to 
 suspect from the circumstance that in the scholars assigned to masters, 
 he is guilty of many anachronisms. 
 
PAOLO DE* MATTEIS. 
 
 59 
 
 Tolentino in the church of Montesanto, which approaches to 
 the best and most correct manner of Giordano. Andrea Mig- 
 lionico had more facility of invention, and equal taste in 
 colour, but he has less grace than Simonelli. Andrea also 
 painted in many churches in Naples, and I find him highly 
 commended for his picture of the Pentecost, in the S.S. Nun- 
 ziata. A Franceschitto, a Spaniard, was so promising an 
 artist, that Luca was accustomed to say that he would prove 
 a greater man than his master. But he died very young, 
 leaving in Naples a favourable specimen of his genius in the 
 S. Pasquale, which he painted in S. Maria del Monte. It 
 contains a beautiful landscape, and a delightful choir of 
 angels. 
 
 But his first scholar, in point of excellence, was Paolo de’ 
 Matteis, mentioned also by Pascoli among the best scholars of 
 Morandi, and an artist who might vie with the first of his 
 age. He was invited to France, and during the three years 
 that he resided there, obtained considerable celebrity in the 
 court, and in the kingdom at large. He was then engaged 
 by Benedict XIII. to come to Rome, where he painted at 
 the Minerva and at the Ara Ceeli. He decorated other cities 
 also with his works, particularly Genoa, which has two very 
 valuable pictures, by him, at S. Girolamo; the one, that 
 saint appearing and speaking to S. Saverio in a dream ; the 
 other, the Immaculate Conception with an angelic choir, as 
 graceful as ever was painted. His home was, notwithstand- 
 ing, in Naples, and that is the place where we ought to view 
 him. He there decorated with his frescos the churches, gal¬ 
 leries, halls, and ceilings in great number; often rivalling the 
 celerity without attaining the merit of his master. It was 
 his boast to have painted in sixty-six days a large cupola, 
 that of the Gesu Nuovo, a few years since taken down, in 
 consequence of its dangerous state; a boast which, when So- 
 limene heard, he sarcastically replied, that the work declared 
 the fact itself, without his mentioning it. Nevertheless, 
 there were so many beauties in it in the style of Lanfranco, 
 that its rapid execution excited admiration. 
 
 TV hen he worked with care, as in the church of the Pii 
 Operai, in the Matalona Gallery, and in many pictures for 
 private individuals, he left nothing to desire, whether in his 
 
60 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 composition, in the grace of his contour, in the beauty of his 
 countenances, though there was little variety in the latter, or 
 in any of the other estimable qualities of a painter. His 
 colouring was at first Giordanesque ; afterwards he painted 
 with more force of chiaroscuro, but with a softness and deli¬ 
 cacy of tint, particularly in the Madonnas and children, where 
 he sometimes displays the sweetness of Albano, and a trace 
 of the Roman school, in which he had also studied. He was 
 not very happy in his scholars, who were not numerous. 
 Giuseppe Mastroleo is the most distinguished, who is much 
 praised for his S. Erasmus at S. Maria Nuova. Gio. Batista 
 Lama was a fellow-disciple, and afterwards a relative of 
 Matteis, and received some assistance from him in his studies. 
 Excited by the example of Paolo, he attained a suavity of 
 colour and of chiaroscuro, much praised in his larger works, 
 as the gallery of the duke of S. Niccola Gaeta, and particu¬ 
 larly in his pictures of small figures in collections. In these, 
 he was fond of representing mythological stories, and they are 
 not unfrequent in Naples and its territories. 
 
 Francesco Solimene, called L’Abate Ciccio, born at Nocera 
 de' Pagani, was the son of Angelo, a scholar of Massimo. 
 Early imbibing a love of painting, he forsook the study of 
 letters, and after receiving the first rudiments of the‘art from 
 his father, he repaired to Naples. He there entered the 
 school of Francesco di Maria, but soon left it, as he thought 
 that master too exclusively devoted to design. He then fre¬ 
 quented the academy of Po, where he industriously began at 
 the same time to draw from the naked figure and to colour. 
 Thus he may be said to have been the scholar of the best 
 masters, as he always copied and studied their works. At 
 first, he imitated Pietro da Cortona, but afterwards formed a 
 manner of his own, still retaining that master as his model, 
 and copying entire figures from him, which he adapted to bis 
 new style. This new and striking style of Solimene ap¬ 
 proached nearer than any other to that of Preti. The design 
 is not so correct, the colouring not so true, but the faces have 
 more beauty: in these, he sometimes imitated Guido, and 
 sometimes Maratta, and they are often selected from nature. 
 Hence by some he was called il Cav. Calabrese ringentilito. 
 To the style of Preti, he .added that of Lanfranco, whom he 
 
FRANCESCO SOLIMENE. 
 
 61 
 
 named his master, and from whom he adopted that curving 
 form of composition, which he perhaps carried beyond pro¬ 
 priety. From these two masters he took his chiaroscuro, 
 which he painted strong in his middle age, but softened as he 
 advanced in years, and then attached himself more to facility 
 and elegance of style. He carefully designed every part of 
 his picture, and corrected it from nature before he coloured 
 it; so that in preparing his works, he may be included among 
 the most correct, at least in his better days, for he latterly 
 declined into the general facility, and opened the way to 
 mannerism. He possessed an elegant and fruitful talent of 
 invention, for which he is celebrated by the poets of the day. 
 He was also characterized by a sort of universality in every 
 style he attempted, extending himself to every branch of the 
 art; history, portrait, landscape, animals, fruit, architecture, 
 utensils; and whatever he attempted he seemed formed for 
 that alone. As he lived till the age of ninety, and was en¬ 
 dowed with great celerity of pencil, his works, like those of 
 Giordano, were spread over all Europe. Of that artist, he 
 was at the same time the competitor and the friend, less 
 powerful in genius, but more correct in his principles. When 
 Giordano died, and Solimene became the first painter in Italy, 
 notwithstanding what his rivals said of his colours not being- 
 true to nature, he began to ask extravagant prices for his pic¬ 
 tures. and still abounded in commissions. 
 
 One of his most distinguished works is the sacristy of the 
 PP. Teatini, of S. Paolo Maggiore, painted in various com¬ 
 partments. His pictures also in the arches of the chapels in 
 the church of the Holy Apostles deserve to be mentioned. 
 That work had been executed by Giacomo del Po, to corre¬ 
 spond with the style of the tribune, and the other works 
 which Lanfranco had painted there : but Po did not satisfy 
 the public expectation. The whole work was therefore 
 effaced, and Solimene was employed to paint it over again, 
 and proved that he was more worthy of the commission. The 
 chapel of S. Filippo in the church of the Oratory, is a proof 
 of his extreme care and attention ; every figure in it being 
 almost as finely finished as a miniature. Among private 
 houses the most distinguished is the Sanfelice, so called from 
 the name of his noble scholar Ferdinand, for whom he 
 
62 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IT. 
 
 painted a gallery, which afterwards became an academy for 
 young artists. Of his large pictures we may mention that of 
 the great altar in the church of the monks of S. Gaudioso, 
 without referring to others in the churches and in various 
 parts of the kingdom ; particularly at Monte Cassino, for the 
 church of which he painted four stupendous pictures in the 
 choir. They will be found in the “ Descrizione Istorica del 
 Monistero di Monte Cassino,” edited in Naples in 1751. He 
 is not often met with in private collections in Italy, beyond 
 the kingdom of Naples. In Rome the princes Albani and 
 Colonna have some large compositions by him, and the 
 Bonaccorsi family a greater number in the gallery of Mace- 
 rata; and among them the Death of Dido, a large picture ol 
 flue effect. IIis largest work in the Ecclesiastical state, is a 
 Supper of our Lord, in the refectory of the Conventuals of 
 Assisi, an elegant composition, painted with exquisite care, 
 where the artist has given his own portrait among ths train of 
 attendants. 
 
 Solimene instilled his own principles into the minds of his 
 disciples, who formed a numerous school, which extended 
 even beyond the kingdom of Naples, about the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century. Among those who remained in 
 Naples, was Ferdinando Sanfelice, lately noticed by us, a 
 nobleman of Naples, who put himself under the instructions 
 of Francesco, and became as it were the arbiter of his wishes. 
 As the master could not execute all the commissions which 
 crowded on him from every quarter, the surest mode to 
 engage him was to solicit him through Sanfelice, to whom 
 alone he could not deny any request. By the assistance of 
 Solimene, Sanfelice attained a name among historical painters, 
 and painted altar-pieces for several churches. He took great 
 delight in fruit, landscapes, and views, in which he particu¬ 
 larly excelled, aud had also the reputation of an eminent 
 architect. But perhaps none of the disciples of Solimene 
 approached nearer to the fame of their master than Francesco 
 de Mura, called Franceschiello. He was a Neapolitan by 
 birth, and contributed much to the decoration of his native 
 city, both in public and private. Perhaps no work on the 
 whole procured him a greater degree of celebrity than the 
 frescos painted in various chambers of the royal palace of 
 
FERDINANDO SANFELICE. 
 
 n 
 
 Turin, where lie competed with Beaumont, who was then in 
 the height of his reputation. He there ornamented the 
 ceilings of some of the rooms which contain the Flemish 
 pictures. The subjects which he chose, and treated with 
 much grace, were the Olympic Games, and the Deeds of 
 Achilles. In other parts of the palace he also executed 
 various works. Another artist, who was held in consideration, 
 was Andrea dell’ Asta, who after being instructed by Soli- 
 mene, went to finish his studies in Rome, and engrafted on 
 his native style some imitation of Raffaello and the antique. 
 We may enumerate among his principal works, the two large 
 pictures of the Nativity, and the Epiphany of Christ, which 
 he painted in Naples for the church of S. Agostino de’ PP. 
 Scalzi. Niccolo Maria Rossi was also reputably employed in 
 the churches of Naples, and in the court itself. Scipione 
 Cappella excelled all the scholars of Solimene in copying his 
 pictures, which were sometimes touched by the master and 
 passed for originals. Giuseppe Bonito had a good invention, 
 and was a distinguished portrait painter, and was considered 
 one of the best imitators of Solimene. He was at the time of 
 his death painter to the court of Naples. Conca and he 
 excelled their fellow-disciples in the selection of their forms. 
 Other scholars in Naples and Sicily,* less known to me, will 
 
 * The “ Memorie de’ Messinesi Pittori ” mentions a Gio. Porcello, 
 who, after studying under Solimene, returned, it is said, to his native 
 country, where he found the art at an extremely low ebb ; and he at¬ 
 tempted to revive it by opening an academy in his house, and diffusing 
 the taste of his master, which he fully possessed. A still better style of 
 painting was brought from Rome by Antonio and Paolo, two brothers, 
 who, fresh from the school of Maratta, also opened an academy in 
 Messina, which was greatly frequented. They worked in conjunction in 
 many churches, and excelled in fresco, but in oil Antonio was much 
 superior to his brother. There was also a third brother, Gaetano, who 
 executed the ornamental parts. Their works on the walls and on canvas 
 are to be seen in S. Caterina di Valverde, in S. Gregorio delle Monache, 
 and elsewhere. There flourished at the same time with the Filocami, 
 Litterio Paladino, and Placido Campolo, a scholar of Conca in Rome, 
 where he derived more benefit from the antique marbles than from the 
 instructions of his master. Both these artists executed works on a ven r 
 large scale ; and of the first they particularly commend the vault of the 
 church of Monte Vergine, and, of the second, the vault of the gallery of 
 the Senate. Both are esteemed for their correct design ; but the taste of 
 the second is more solid and more free from mannerism. The above- 
 
64 
 
 NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 be found in the History of Painting in Naples, which has been 
 recently published by the accomplished Sig. Pietro Signorelli, 
 a work which I have not in my possession, but which is cited 
 by me, as is the case with several more, on the authority of 
 others. 
 
 Some artists, who resided out of the kingdom, we shall 
 notice in other schools, and in the Roman School we have 
 already spoken sufficiently of Conca and Giaquinto ; to whom 
 we may add Onofrio Avellino, who resided some years in 
 Rome, executing commissions for private persons, and painting 
 in the churches. The vault of S. Francesco di Paola is the 
 largest work he left. The works of Maja and Campora are to 
 be found in Genoa, those of Sassi in Milan, and of others of 
 the school of Solimene in various cities. These artists, it is to 
 be regretted, sometimes passed the boundaries prescribed by 
 their master. His colouring, though it might be more true to 
 nature, is yet such as never offends, but possesses on the con- 
 
 named five artists all died in the fatal year of 1743. Luciano Foti sur¬ 
 vived them, an excellent copyist of every master, but particularly of 
 Polidoro, whose style he adopted in his own composition. But his cha¬ 
 racteristic merit consisted in his penetration into the secrets of the art, 
 which enabled him to detect every style, every peculiar varnish, and the 
 various methods of colouring, so that he not only ascertained many 
 doubtful masters, but restored pictures, damaged by time, in so happy a 
 manner as to deceive the most experienced. A man of such talents out¬ 
 weighs a host of common artists. 
 
 To these we may add other artists of the island itself, born in different 
 places. Marcantonio Bellavia, a Sicilian, who painted in Rome, at S. 
 Andrea delle Fratte, is conjectured, though not ascertained, to be a scholar 
 of Cortona. Calandrucci, of Palermo, is named among the scholars of 
 Maratta. Gaetano Sottino painted the vault of the oratory at the Madonna 
 di C. P., a respectable artist. Giovacchino Martorana, of Palermo, was 
 a machinist, and in his native city they boast of the Chapel de’ Crociferi, 
 and S. Rosalia, four large pictures from the life of S. Benedict. Olivio 
 Sozzi, of Catania, painted much in Palermo ; particularly at S. Giacomo, 
 where all the altars have pictures by him, and the tribune three large sub¬ 
 jects from the infancy of Christ. Another Sozzi, of the name of Fran¬ 
 cesco, I find praised for a picture of Five Saints, bishops of Agrigentum, 
 in the Duomo of that city. Of Onofrio Lipari, of Palermo, there are 
 two pictures of the Martyrdom of S. Oliva in the Church de’ Paolotti. 
 Of Filippo Randazzo, there are to be seen in Palermo some vast works 
 in fresco, as well as of Tommaso Sciacca, who was an assistant of Cava- 
 lucci in Rome, and who left some large compositions at the Duomo and 
 at the Olivetani of Rovigo. 
 
NICCOLA MASSARO. 
 
 65 
 
 trary a degree of amenity which pleases us. But his scholars 
 and imitators did not confine themselves within their master’s 
 limits, and it may be asserted, that from no school has the art 
 suffered more than from them. Florence, Yerona, Parma, 
 Bologna, Milan, Turin, in short, all Italy, was infected with 
 their style ; and by degrees their pictures presented so man¬ 
 nered a colouring, that they seemed to abandon the represen¬ 
 tation of truth and nature altogether. The habit too of leaving 
 their pictures unfinished, after the manner of Giordano and 
 Solimene, was by many carried so far, that instead of good 
 paintings, many credulous buyers have purchased execrable 
 sketches. The imitation of these two eminent men carried 
 too far, has produced in our own days pernicious principles, as 
 at an earlier period did the imitation of Michelangelo, Tinto¬ 
 retto, and even of Raffaello himself, when carried to an ex¬ 
 treme. The principal and true reason of this deterioration is 
 to be ascribed generally to the masters of almost all our schools, 
 who, abandoning the guidance of the ancient masters, endea¬ 
 voured in their ignorance to find some new leader, without 
 considering who he might be, or whither he might lead them. 
 Thus, at every proclamation of new principles, they and their 
 scholars were ready to follow in their train. 
 
 In the time of Giordano and Solimene, Niccola Mas- 
 saro was considered a good landscape painter. He was a 
 scholar of Salvator Rosa, but rather imitated him in design 
 than in colour. In the latter he was insipid, nor even 
 added the accompaniment of figures to landscapes, but was 
 assisted in that respect by Antonio di Simone, not a finished 
 artist, but of some merit in battle-pieces.* Massaro in¬ 
 structed Gaetano Martoriello, who was a landscape painter 
 of a free style, but often sketchy, and his colouring not 
 true to nature. In the opinion of connoisseurs, a better 
 style was displayed by Bernardo Dominici, the historio¬ 
 grapher, and the scholar of Beych in landscape, a careful 
 
 * Gio. Tuccari of Messina, the son of an Antonio, a feeble scholar of 
 Barbalunga, although he painted much in other branches of the art, owes 
 the celebrity of his name to his battle-pieces, which, by the despatch of 
 his pencil, were multiplied beyond number. They were frequently sent 
 into Germany, where they were engraved. He had a fruitful and spirited 
 genius, but he was not a correct designer. 
 
 VOL. II. v 
 
(JG NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IT. 
 
 and minute painter of Flemish subjects and bambocciate. 
 There were two Neapolitans, Ferraiuoli and Sammartino, who 
 settled in Romagna, and were good landscape painters. In 
 perspective views Moscatiello was distinguished, as we ob¬ 
 served when we spoke of Giordano. In the life of Solimene, 
 Arcangelo Guglielmelli is mentioned as skilled in the same 
 art. Domenico Brandi of Naples, and Giuseppe Tassoni ot 
 Rome, were rivals in animal painting. In this branch, and 
 also in flowers and fruits, one Paoluccio Cattamara, who flou¬ 
 rished in the time of Orlandi, was celebrated. Lionardo 
 Coccorante, and Gabriele Ricciardelli, the scholar of Oriz- 
 zonte, were distinguished in sea-views and landscapes, and 
 were employed at the court of King Charles of Bourbon.* 
 
 By the accession of this prince, a munificent patron of the 
 fine arts, wherever he reigned, the Neapolitan school was 
 regenerated and invigorated; employment and rewards 
 awaited the artists; the specimens of other schools were mul¬ 
 tiplied, and Mengs, who was invited to paint the royal 
 family, and a large cabinet picture, laid the foundations of 
 a more solid style, at the same time improving his own for¬ 
 tune, and giving a considerable impulse to art. But the 
 greatest benefit this monarch has conferred on the arts is to 
 be found at Ercolano, where, under his orders, so many speci¬ 
 mens of sculpture and ancient paintings, buried for a long 
 lapse of ages, have been brought to light, and by his direction 
 accurately drawn and engraved, and illustrated with learned 
 notes, and communicated to all countries. Lastly, in order 
 that the benefits which he had conferred on his own age 
 might be continued to the future masters of his country, he 
 turned his attention to the education of youthful artists. Of 
 this fact I was ignorant at the time of my first edition, but 
 now write on the information afforded me at the request of 
 the Marchesc D. Francesco Taccone, treasurer of the kingdom, 
 
 * Among the painters of Messina is mentioned Niccolo Cartissani, who 
 died in Rome with the name of a good landscape painter, and Filippo 
 Giannetti, a scholar of Casembrot, who in the vastness of his landscapes 
 and his views surpassed his master ; but he will not bear a comparison in 
 the correctness of his figures and in finishing; though he was, from his 
 facility and rapidity of pencil, denominated the Giordano of landscape 
 painters. He^vas esteemed and protected by the Viceroy Co. di S. Ste- 
 fano, and painted in Palermo and Naples. 
 
KING CHARLES OF BOURBON. 
 
 67 
 
 by the very learned Sig. Daniele, Regio Antiquario, both of 
 whom, with true patriotic feelings, have devoted themselves 
 to the preservation of the antiquities of their country, and 
 are equally polite in communicating to others that information 
 for which they are themselves so distinguished. There for¬ 
 merly existed at Naples the academy of S. Luke, founded at 
 the Gesu Nuovo, in the time of Francesco di Maria, who was 
 one of the masters, and taught in it anatomy and design. 
 This institution continued for some years. King Charles in 
 some measure revived this establishment by a school for 
 painting, which he opened in the Laboratory of mosaics and 
 tapestry. Six masters of the school of Solimene were placed 
 there as directors, and some good models being provided in 
 the place, young artists were permitted to attend and study 
 there. Bonito was engaged as the acting professor, and after 
 some time Mura was associated with him, but died before the 
 professor. Ferdinand IV. treading in the steps of his august 
 father, has, by repeated instances of protection to these 
 honourable pursuits, conferred fresh honours on the Bourbon 
 name, and rendered' it dearer than ever to the fine arts. He 
 transferred the academy to the new royal museum, and sup¬ 
 plied it with all requisites for the instruction of young artists. 
 On the death of Bonito he bestowed the direction of it on the 
 first masters, and having established pensions for the mainte¬ 
 nance in Rome of a certain number of young men, students in 
 the three sister arts, he assigned four of these to those students 
 who were intended for painters; thus confirming by his suf¬ 
 frage to the city of Rome that proud appellation which the 
 world at large had long conceded to her, the Athens of 
 Modern Art. 
 
68 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 This school would have required no farther illustration 
 from any other pen, had Signor Antonio Zanetti, in his highly 
 esteemed work upon Venetian Painting, included a more 
 ample consideration of the artists of the state, instead of 
 confining his attention wholly to those whose productions, 
 ornamenting the churches and other public places, had all 
 been completed in the city of Venice alone. He has, never¬ 
 theless, rendered distinguished service to any one ambitious 
 of succeeding him, and of extending the same subject bevond 
 these narrower limits, since he has observed the most lucid 
 order in the arrangement of epochs, in the description of 
 styles, in estimating the merits of various painters, and thus 
 ascertaining the particular rank as well as the age belonging 
 to each. Those artists then, whom he has omitted to com¬ 
 memorate, may be easily reduced under one or other of the 
 divisions pointed out by him, and the whole history enlarged 
 upon the plan which he first laid down. 
 
 In cultivating an acquaintance with these additional names, 
 the memorials collected by Vasari; afterwards, on a more 
 extensive scale, by the Cavaliere Ridolfi, in his Lives of the 
 Venetian Painters ; and by Boscliini, in the “ Miuiere della 
 Pittura, in the “ Carta del Navegar Pittoresco,” and in 
 other works : materials drawn from all parts of the Venetian 
 state—will be of signal advantage to us. No one, it is 
 hoped, will feel displeased at the introduction of the name of 
 Vasari, against whom the historians of the Venetian school 
 were louder in their complaints than even those of the 
 Roman, the Sienese, and the Neapolitan schools ; all whose 
 causes of difference I have elsewhere recounted, addin< T to 
 
 
ERRORS OP EARLY WRITERS. 
 
 69 
 
 them, whenever I found them admissible, my own refuta¬ 
 tions.* These it would be needless now to repeat, in reply 
 to the V enetian writers. I shall merely observe that Vasari 
 bestowed very ample commendations upon the Venetian 
 professors, in different parts of his history, and more par¬ 
 ticularly in the lives of Carpaccio, of Liberate, and of 
 Pordenone. Let me add that if he was occasionally betrayed 
 into errors, either from want of more correct information, 
 or from a degree of jealousy or spirit of patriotic rivalry, 
 which probably may have secretly influenced him in his 
 opinions, it will be no difficult task in the present enlightened 
 period,t to substitute the real names, more exact accounts, 
 and more impartial examinations of the earlier professors of 
 the school.| 
 
 In respect to the more modern, up to whose period he did 
 not reach, I possess historical matter, which, if not very 
 copious, is certainly less scanty than such as relates to many 
 of the other schools of Italy. Besides Ridolfi, Boschini, 
 and Zanetti, it includes the historians of the particular cities, 
 the same from whom Orlandi selected his various notices of 
 artists ; and among whom none is to be preferred to Signor 
 Zamboni for the fulness and authenticity of his materials, 
 in his work entitled “ Pabbriche di Brescia.” I am, more¬ 
 over, in possession of several authors who have distinctly 
 treated of the lives, or published other accounts of those who 
 flourished in their own cities ;—such as the Commendatore 
 
 * Which of the schools, if we except that of Florence, has not cause to 
 complain at times of his too evident partiality ? Has he perhaps eulogized 
 the Lombard school, and the early painters, its contemporaries ?—Ital. ed. 
 
 + It is observed by Signor Bottari, that Giorgio, in his life of Franco, 
 was too sparing of his praises of Tintoret and Paul Veronese; and the 
 same might be said also of Gambera, and many others, who flourished at 
 the same period, or were already deceased when he wrote. To his opin¬ 
 ions have succeeded those of theCar&eci, and of many other distinguished 
 professors of the art, which may be safely relied upon. 
 
 + There very opportunely appeared, in the year 1800, at Bassano, a 
 “ Notizia d’Opere di Disegno ”—“ Upon works of Design,” the anony¬ 
 mous production, apparently, of some inhabitant of Padua, about 1550. 
 It was published and illustrated by the learned Abbate Morelli, and 
 contains several anecdotes, relating more particularly to the Venetian 
 school. 
 
70 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 del Pozzo, in his notice of the Veronese,* Count Tassi of 
 those of Bergamo, and Signor Verci of the Bassanese artists. 
 And no slight assistance may also he drawn from the dif¬ 
 ferent “ Guides,” or descriptions of paintirfgs, exhibited in 
 many cities of the state, although they are far from being 
 all of equal merit. There is the “ Guida Trevigiana,” of 
 Rigamonti, that of Vicenza, printed by Vendramini Mosca, 
 that of Brescia by Carboni, and that of Verona, expressly 
 drawn from the “Verona Illustrata” of the Marquis Maffei, 
 with the still more valuable one of Venice, dated 1733, from 
 the able pen of Antonio M. Zanetti. To these we may 
 likewise add that first published by Rossetti, now revised and 
 improved by Brandolese, abounding with historical memoirs 
 of the painters of Padua; and the Guide of Rovigo by 
 Bartoli, communicating much new and interesting informa¬ 
 tion, which serves to point out more accurately certain eras 
 among the professors of the art, while the same may, in part, 
 be observed of that of Bergamo, by the Dottore Pasta. Nor 
 are these all; for I am not a little indebted to several notices 
 published in the “ Elogj” of Signor Longhi, and in some 
 ol the catalogues of private collections; besides other anec¬ 
 dotes, in part collected by myself, in part+ communicated 
 by my friends, and in particular by the very accomplished 
 Sig. Gio. Maria Sasso,^; who has already promised to gratify 
 
 * The celebrated painter Cignaroli, besides drawing up a complete 
 Catalogue raisonne, of the painters of Verona, already published in the 
 Chronicle of Zagata, vol. iii., left behind him MS. notes upon the entire 
 work of Pozzo, in the margin. 
 
 f I have been enabled in this edition, by means of Cpunt Cav. de 
 Lazzara, to avail myself of a MS. from the pen of Natal Melchiori, enti¬ 
 tled, “ Lives of the Venetian Painters,” drawn up in 1728. The author 
 is deserving of credit, no less on account of having been himself a painter, 
 than from his personal acquaintance with the chief part of those whose 
 lives he commemorated. 
 
 + This excellent man is now no more, and his work has not hitherto 
 appeared. That, however, by the Sig. Co. Canonico de Rinaldis, on the 
 painters of Friuli, we have received. It embraces a much more correct 
 and enlarged view of that noble school than we before possessed in the 
 scantier notices from the pen of Altan. Still he is not always exact, and 
 he would undoubtedly have written better, had he seen more. At length, 
 however, we are in possession of the work of Padre M. Federici, in two 
 
VARIOUS “ GUIDES” TO THE ART. 
 
 71 
 
 us with his “ Yenezia Pittrice,” accompanied with designs 
 of the most esteemed paintings of this school, accurately 
 engraved. 
 
 volumes, relating to the artists of the “ Marca Trevigiana,” accompanied 
 by documents ; a work better calculated than the former to satisfy the 
 expectations of a reader of taste. But, as is generally the case, when an 
 author hazards new opinions, we are sometimes compelled to suspend our 
 assent to his conclusions. 
 
72 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 —*— 
 
 The Ancients. 
 
 If in the outset of each school of painting I were to pursue 
 the example held up in the “ Etruria Pittrice,” of introducing 
 the account of its pictures by that of some work in mosaic, 
 1 ought here to mention those of Grado, wrought in the 
 sixth century, distinguished by the name of the Patriarch 
 Elia, those of Torcello, and a few other specimens that 
 
 appeared at Venice, in the islands, and in Terra Feraia, pro¬ 
 
 duced at periods subsequent to the increase of the edifices, 
 together with the grandeur of the Venetian state. But 
 .admitting that these mosaics, like many at Rome, may 
 really be the production of the Greeks; the title of my 
 work, confined as it is to painting, and to the period of its 
 revival in Italy, leads me to be little solicitous respecting 
 those more ancient monuments of the fine arts, remnants o*f 
 which are to be found scattered here and there, without any 
 series of a school. I shall still, however, occasionally allude 
 to them, according as I find needful, were it only for the 
 
 sake ol illustration and comparison, as I proceed. But 
 
 such information ought to be sought for in other works; 
 mine professes only to give the history of painting from 
 the period of its revival. 
 
 The most ancient pictorial remains in the Venetian ter¬ 
 ritories I believe to be at Verona, in a subterraneous part 
 of the nunnery of Santi Nazario and Celso, which, however 
 inaccessible to the generality of virtuosi, have, nevertheless, 
 been engraved on a variety of plates by order of the in¬ 
 defatigable Signor Dionisi. In this, which was formerly the 
 Chapel of the Faithful, are represented several mysteries 
 of our redemption ; some apostles, some holy martyrs, and 
 
FIRST ESSAYS IN THE ART. 
 
 73 
 
 in particular the transit of one of the righteous from this life, 
 on whom the archangel, St. Michael, is seen bestowing his 
 assistance. Here the symbols, the workmanship, the at¬ 
 titudes, the drapery of the figures, and the characters united, 
 permit us not to doubt that the painting must he much an¬ 
 terior to the revival of the arts in Italy. But most 
 writers seem to trace the rudiments of Venetian painting 
 from the 11th century, about the year 1070, at the period 
 when the Doge Selvo invited the mosaic workers from 
 Greece to adorn the magnificent temple consecrated to St. 
 Mark the Evangelist. Such artificers, however rude, must 
 have been acquainted, in some degree, with the art of paint¬ 
 ing ; none being enabled to work in mosaic who had not 
 previously designed and coloured, upon pasteboard or cartoon, 
 the composition they intended to execute. 
 
 And these, observe the same writers, were the first essays 
 of the art of painting in Venice. However this may be, it 
 speedily took root, and began to flourish after the year 1204, 
 when Constantinople being taken, Venice was in a short 
 time filled, not indeed with Grecian artists, but with their 
 pictures, statues, and bassi-rilievi.* Had I not here restricted 
 my observations to existing specimens of the art, bestowing 
 only a rapid glance upon the rest, along with their authors, 
 I might prove, that from the above period, the city was no 
 longer destitute of artists; and was enabled, in the 13th 
 century, to form a company of them with their appropriate 
 laws and institutions. 
 
 But of these elder masters of the art, there remains either 
 only the name, as of a Giovanni da Venezia and a Martinello 
 da Bassano, or some solitary relic of their labours without a 
 name, as in the sarcophagus, in wood, of the Beata Giuliana, 
 painted about the year 1262, the same in which she died. 
 This monument remains in her own monastery of San 
 Biagio alia Giudecca, long held in veneration, even after 
 the body of the blessed saint had been removed, in the 
 year 1297, into an urn of stone. There are represented 
 San Biagio, the titular saint of the church, San Cataldo, 
 the bishop, and the blessed Giuliana, the two former in an 
 upright, the latter in a kneeling posture ; their names are 
 
 * Rannusio, Guerra di Costantinopoli. book iii. p. 94. 
 
74 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 written in Latin, and the style, although coarse, is never¬ 
 theless not Greek. Probably, that of the painter is also 
 in the same corner, a picture of whom, a Pieta, has recently 
 been discovered by the Ab. Boni, who considers him 
 a new Cimabue of the Venetian art. As it has already been 
 described by him in his Florentine collection of “ Opuscoli 
 Scientifici,”* I shall not extend my account of it, for the 
 reader will there find other names, as will afterwards be 
 shewn, recently discovered by the indefatigable author of 
 some early Venetian writers, until this period unknown to 
 history. Among these, are Stefano Pievano, of S. Agnese, a 
 picture by whom, dated 1381, is described; Alberegno, be¬ 
 longing to the 15th century, and one Esegrenio, who flourished 
 somewhat later, to which time we may refer two fine and 
 highly valued figures of holy virgins, not long since disco¬ 
 vered, of Tommaso da Modena, and which, from the disputes 
 they have elicited, have been subjected to experiments at 
 Florence, to ascertain whether they are painted in oil or dis¬ 
 temper—experiments that tend only to prove that this Tom¬ 
 maso was unacquainted with the art of colouring in oil. 
 
 It was only subsequent to the year 1300, that the names, 
 united to the productions of the Venetians, began to make 
 themselves manifest; when, partly by the examples held out 
 by Giotto, partly by their own assiduity and talent, the 
 painters of the city and of the state visibly improved, and 
 softened the harshness of their manner. Giotto, according 
 to a MS. cited by Rossetti,+ was at Padua in 1306 ; accord¬ 
 ing to Vasari, he returned from Avignon in 1316, and a 
 little while afterwards he was painting at Verona, in the 
 palace of Can della Scala, and at Padua, employed on a 
 chapel in the church of the titular saint. He adds, that to¬ 
 wards the close of his days, he was again invited there, and 
 embellished other places with his pieces. Nothing, however, 
 remains of him in Verona; but in Padua there still exists 
 the chapel of the Nunziata all’ Arena, divided all round into 
 compartments, in each of which is represented some scrip¬ 
 tural event. It is truly surprising to behold, not less on ac- 
 
 * Yol. vi. p. 88, anno 1808. 
 
 t See his “ Descrizione delle Pitture,” &c. p. 19. The learned Morelli 
 also, in his Annotations to the Notizia, confirms by fresh arguments the 
 same epoch, p. 146. 
 
OIUSTO PADOVANO. 
 
 75 
 
 count of its high state of preservation beyond any other of 
 his frescos, than for its full expression of native grace, toge¬ 
 ther with that air of grandeur which Giotto so well knew 
 how to unite. With respect to the chapel, it is believed that 
 Vasari was less accurately informed, inasmuch as Savonarola, 
 who has been cited by Sig. Morelli,* relates that Giotto or¬ 
 namented the little church of the Arena, capitulumque An- 
 tonii nostri ,—and the chapter of our St. Antony. And, in 
 fact, in the apartment of the chapter-house, there yet remain 
 several traces of ancient painting, though turned white with 
 age. In a very ancient MS., of the year 1312,t there is 
 made mention of his also having been employed in Palatio 
 Comitis , which others suppose ought to be read Communis , 
 intended to apply to the Saloon, of which I shall shortly have 
 to give some account. 
 
 To Giotto succeeded Giusto Padovano, so called from the 
 place of his naturalization and usual residence, being, in 
 truth, a Florentine, sprung from the family of the Menabuoi. 
 As a disciple of Giotto, Vasari attributes to him the very 
 extensive work which adorns the church of St. John the 
 Baptist. In the picture over the altar, if it he his, Giusto 
 has exhibited various histories of St. John the Baptist; on 
 the walls are represented both scriptural events and myste¬ 
 ries of the Apocalypse; and on the cupola he has drawn a 
 Choir of Angels, where we behold, as if in a grand consistory, 
 the blessed arrayed in various garments, seated upon the 
 ground; simple, indeed, in its conception, but executed 
 with an incredible degree of diligence and felicity. It is 
 mentioned in the “ Notizia Morelli,” that formerly there was 
 to be read there an inscription over one of the gates—“ Opus 
 Johannis et Antonii de Padua,”—probably, companions of 
 Giusto, and, probably, as is conjectured by the author of the 
 MS. above alluded to, the painters of the whole temple. 
 This would seem to augment the number of the Paduan 
 artists, no less than the imitators of Giotto, since the works, 
 already described, are equally as much in his manner as 
 
 * Page 101. 
 
 -f- This was given to the public by Muratori, with the following title— 
 “ Riccobaldi Ferrariensis, sive anonimi scriptoris compilatio chronologica 
 usque ad annum 1312.”—Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. ix. p. 255. 
 
76 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 those by Taddeo Gaddi, or any other of his fellow-pupils in 
 Florence. The same commendation is bestowed upon Jacopo 
 Davanzo, of whom I treat more at length in the school of 
 Bologna. A less faithful follower of Giotto was Guariento, 
 a Paduan, held in high esteem about the year 1360, as ap¬ 
 pears from the honourable commissions he obtained from the 
 Venetian senate. One of his frescos and a crucifixion yet 
 remain at Bassano ;* and in the choir of the Eremitani, at 
 Padua, there are many of his figures now retouched, from 
 which Zanetti took occasion to commend him for his rich in¬ 
 vention, the spirit of his attitudes, and the felicity with 
 which, at so early a period, he disposed his draperies. At 
 Padua, there is an ancient church, dedicated to St. George, 
 erected about 1377, which boasts some history pieces of St. 
 James, executed by the hand of Alticherio, or Aldigieri, da 
 Zevio in the Veronese; and others of St. John, the work of 
 one Sebeto,+ says the historian, a native of Verona. These, 
 likewise, approach pretty nearly the style of Giotto, and 
 more especially the first, who painted also a good deal in his 
 native place 
 
 To these two, I may add Jacopo da Verona, known only 
 by his numerous paintings in fresco, at San Michele of Padua, 
 which remain in part entire ; and Taddeo Bartoli, of Siena, 
 who has shewn himself ambitious, at the Arena, of emulating 
 the contiguous labours of Giotto, without attaining the ob- 
 
 * Sig. Sasso observed one extremely like it in Venice, with the sub¬ 
 scription “ Guglielmus pinxit, 1368;” from which he inferred that he 
 had belonged to the school of Guariento. 
 
 f This Sebeto of Vasari appeared so new to Maffei, that he would will¬ 
 ingly have substituted Stefano (see Ver. Illust. p. iii. col. 152) ; but 
 Stetano da Verona, or da Zevio, is a name posterior to these time6. 
 The Notizia of the anonymous writer, recently published, says, 
 that the church of the before-mentioned S. George was ornamented 
 by “ Jacopo Davanzo, a Paduan, or a Veronese, if not, as some will 
 have it, a Bolognese ; by Altichiero Veronese, according to Campagnuola” 
 (p. 6). It must be observed that Vasari also consulted the latter, or 
 probably one of his Latin letters to Niccolo Leonico Tomeo, quoting it 
 several times. (See Morelli, p. 101.) Now in this it was probably 
 written, “ ab Alticherio de Jebeto that is, da Zevio, which was at one 
 tune called Jebetum, and Vasari believed it to be the name of an unknown 
 painter. Such is the conjecture communicated to me by Sig. Brandolese, 
 and it appears extremely probable 
 
MINIATURE PAINTERS. 
 
 77 
 
 ject in view. Another production of the same period is seen 
 in the great hall at Padua, reported to be one of the largest 
 in the world, consisting, as it does, of a mixture of sacred 
 historic pieces, of celestial signs borrowed from Igino, and of 
 the various operations carried on during the respective months 
 of the year, besides several other ideas certainly furnished 
 by some learned man of that age. It is partly the work, 
 says Morelli, in his “Notizia,” upon the authority of Cam- 
 pagnuola, of an artist of Ferrara, and partly that of Gio. 
 Miretto, a Paduan. This recent discovery justifies my own 
 previous opinions, having been unable to prevail upon myself 
 to ascribe such a production to Giotto, although it partakes 
 strongly of his style, which appears to have spread pretty 
 rapidly throughout the territories of Padua, of Verona, of 
 Bergamo, and great part of the Terra Ferma. 
 
 Besides this manner, which may be, in some measure, pro¬ 
 nounced foreign, there are others equally observable in 
 Venice, no less than in Treviso, in the chapter of the Padri 
 Predicatori, and in other of the subject cities, and these might 
 more accurately be termed national, so remote are they from 
 the style of Giotto, and that of his disciples before mentioued. 
 I have elsewhere pointed out how far the miniature painters 
 contributed to this degree of originality, a class of artists 
 with whom Italy, at no time destitute, more fully abounded 
 about that period, while they still continued to improve by 
 employing their talents in drawing objects from the life, and 
 not from any Greek or Italian model. Indeed, they had 
 already made no slight advances in every branch of painting, 
 when Giotto first arrived in those parts. I have myself seen, 
 in the grand collection of MSS. made in Venice by the Ab- 
 bate Canonici, a book of the Evangelists, obtained in Udine, 
 illustrated with miniatures in pretty good taste for the 13th 
 century, in which they were produced ; and similar relics arc 
 by no means rare throughout the libraries of the state. I 
 suspect, therefore, that many of those new painters, either 
 having been pupils of the miniaturists, or induced to imitate 
 them from the near connection between the arts, attempted to 
 vie with them in design, in the distribution of their colours, 
 and in their compositions. Hence, it is clearly accounted for 
 why they did not become the disciples, though acquainted 
 
78 
 
 V ENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 with the works, of Giotto, but produced several respectable 
 pieces of their own. 
 
 To this class belongs M. Paolo, whom Zanetti found re¬ 
 corded in an ancient parchment, bearing the date of 1346. 
 He is the earliest in the national manner, of whom there 
 exists a work with the indisputable name of its author. It 
 is to be seen in the great church of St. Mark, consisting of a 
 tablet, or, as it is otherwise called, Ancona, divided into 
 several compartments, representing the figure of a dead 
 Christ, with some of the Apostles, and historic incidents from 
 the holy Evangelist. There is inscribed underneath— Ma- 
 gister Paulus , cum Jacobo et Johanne Jiliis fecit hoc opus ; 
 and Signor Zanetti, page 589, observes in regard to it as fol¬ 
 lows :— Among the specimens of simple painting, in St. 
 Mark's, the ball centre of the great altar is remarkable for 
 several small tablets of gold and silver, on which are painted 
 several figures in the ancient Greek manner. San Pietro 
 Urseolo had it constructed about the year 980, at Constanti¬ 
 nople, and it was removed to this place in the time of the 
 Doge Ordelafo Faliero, in 1102, though it was afterwards 
 renovated by command of the Doge Pietro Ziani, in 1209. 
 This historian did not discover the inscription which I found 
 upon it in the year 1782. The artist is sufficiently distin¬ 
 guished for the period in which he flourished, although the 
 stiffness in the design, false action, and expression, beyond 
 those of the best followers of Giotto, are perceptible, so much 
 as to remind us of the Greek specimens of art.* 
 
 There can, likewise, be no doubt that a painter of the 
 name of Lorenzo was one of these Venetians whose altar- 
 piece in St. Antony of Castello, to which is attached his 
 
 * Signor Abbate Morelli, since P. della Valle, has discovered another 
 painting existing in the sacristy of the Padri Conventuali, at Vicenza, 
 with this inscription, 1333, paulus de venetiis pinxit hoc opus 
 (Notiz. p. 222). He adds also, two other Venetian painters, with whom 
 I have enriched this new edition ; the name of one found in a small pic¬ 
 ture of the Conventuali, at S. Arcangelo, under an image of the Virgin, 
 among various saints, dated 1385. “ Jachobelus de Bonomo Venetus 
 
 pinxit hoc opus.” The other, in the territory of Verruchio, on a cruci¬ 
 fixion, with the symbols of the four Evangelists, is in the possession of the 
 Agostiniani, and inscribed 1404 : “ Nicbolaus Paradixi miles de Venetiis 
 pinxit.” 
 
NICCOLO SEMITECOLO. 
 
 79 
 
 name, with the date of 1358, paid him three hundred gold 
 ducats , has been commended by Zanetti. Besides, we read 
 inscribed on a picture belonging to the noble house of Erco- 
 lani, at Bologna, the words manu laurentii de venetiis, 
 1368 , and there is every appearance of his being the author 
 of the fresco in the church of Mezzaratta, not far from Bo¬ 
 logna, representing Daniel in the lion's den, and bearing the 
 signature of “ Laorentius, P.” It is a work that bears no 
 resemblance to the style of Giotto, and appears to have been 
 completed about the year 1370. It is equally certain that 
 Niccolo Semitecolo was a Venetian, he having also in¬ 
 scribed his name as we find it written upon a Trinity, 
 which represents the Virgin along with some histories of St. 
 Sebastian, still preserved in the chapter library of Padua :— 
 “ Nicoleto Semitecolo da Veniexia impense, 1367.” The 
 work is an excellent specimen of this school ; the naked parts 
 are tolerably well drawn, and the proportions of the figures, 
 though sometimes extraA r agantly so, are bold and free ; and 
 what is more important to our present purpose, it discovers 
 no resemblance to the style of Giotto, being inferior in point 
 of design, though equal to him in regard to the colouring. 
 Two other painters, whose style betrays nothing of Giotto, 
 were discovered by Signor Sasso, in Venice, upon the strength 
 of two altar-pieces, to which they had affixed their names. 
 Upon one, found in the convent of “ Corpus Domini,” he read 
 “ Angelus pinxit ;”and upon the other, also in the same place, 
 Katarinus pinxit.” While on this subject, I ought not to 
 pass over the opinion of Baldinucci himself, who always ap¬ 
 pears to have respected the freedom and independence of the 
 V enetian as opposed to the Florentine school, by refusing to 
 insert the name of a single Venetian in his tree of Cimabue. 
 He merely maintained, that the Venetian painters had im¬ 
 proved their style by the labours of Angiol Gaddi, and of one 
 Antonio, a Venetian, whom, spite of the authority of Vasari, 
 he has declared to be a Florentine, on which point we must 
 refer to what has already been stated in the first volume 
 (p. 68) of this work. Moreover, he asserts of the same 
 Antonio, that he took up his residence at Venice, and thence 
 acquired the appellation of Veneziano ; but that he took his 
 departure again, owing to the intrigues of the national pro- 
 
80 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 fessors, as much as to say, of a school formed anterior to his 
 arrival. And so long anterior was it, indeed, that the whole 
 state, as well as the adjacent places, abounded not less with 
 pictures than with pupils, although few of their names with 
 their productions have survived.* 
 
 Among these few is a, Simon da Cusighe, who painted an 
 altar-piece and a fresco, still remaining in his native parish, 
 situated near the city of Belluno, where there exist memorials 
 of one Pietro, and other artists of the thirteenth century, 
 along with some very tolerably executed figures, bearing the 
 epigraph of “ Simon pinxit.” To these I add a native of Friuli, 
 of whom there are no authentic remains beyond Gemona, 
 where he painted the facade of the dome, and under a picture 
 of the martyrdom of I know not what saint, appears his 
 name written, mcccxxxii. magister nicolaus pintor me 
 fecit. To this artist is ascribed, by some writers, that vast 
 and meritorious production, still in such a fine state of pre¬ 
 servation, ornamenting the dome of Venzone, and which 
 represents the solemn scene of the Consecration ; but its 
 author is a matter of mere conjecture, founded in this instance 
 upon the vicinity of the place and time, and resemblance of 
 manner. There are also Pecino and Pietro de Nova, who 
 
 * Among these is counted Stefano Pievano, of St. Agnese, an able 
 artist, who left his name along with the date, 1381, on an altar-piece of 
 the Assumption :—a piece in which the Venetian colouring is displayed 
 to advantage, while the expression, lively aDd full 'of meaning, compen¬ 
 sates for its inaccuracy of design. Another artist, deserving of being 
 known, is Jacopo di Alberegno, whose family still remains in Venice, and 
 who has been ascertained to be the author of a painting without date, 
 representing the Crucifixion of our Saviour, among various saints. 
 Tommaso da Modena has also been referred to the Venetian school, who, 
 about the period of 1351, produced two Holy Virgins at Venice ; a St. 
 Catherine, at present in the gallery of N. H. Ascanio Molin, together 
 with the two preceding, and other rare Venetian pictures of the same 
 epoch ; and a S. Barbara, belonging to the Abbate Mauro Boni, so 
 fraught with expression, grace, and power of colouring, as to lead me to 
 conjecture he had flourished at a much later period, were it not for the 
 inscribed date. His beginning to be known at Venice is some reason 
 why he should be referred to this school, if the name of his native 
 place, de Mutina, did not restrain us from so doing without some further 
 doubt. The Ab. Boni, who has given us an account of these pictures in 
 an article put forth by the Italian academy, was the first to discover 
 them 
 
THE YIYARINI. 
 
 81 
 
 employed their talents, during a period of many years subse¬ 
 quent to 1363, in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, at 
 Bergamo. But these, like the artist of Padua before men¬ 
 tioned, approach very nearly the composition of Giotto, and 
 possibly might have imbibed such a taste at Milan.* 
 
 The splendour of Venetian painting becomes more strikingly 
 manifest in the fifteenth century, a period that was gradually 
 preparing the way for the grand manner of the Giorgioni and 
 the Titians. The new style took its rise in one of the islands 
 called Murano, but it was destined to attain its perfection in 
 Venice. I first recognised the work of one of the oldest of 
 these artists, subscribing himself “ Quiricius de Muriano,” in 
 the studio of Signor Sasso. It represents our Saviour in a sitting 
 posture, at whose feet stands a veiled devotee ; but there is 
 no mark by which to ascertain its age. There is, likewise, of 
 uncertain date, yet still very ancient, a Bernardino da Mu¬ 
 rano, of whose productions Zanetti saw nothing more than a 
 rude altar-piece. An Andrea da Murano flourished about 
 the period 1400, whose style, whatever it may retain of 
 harsh and dry, neither superior in composition, nor in choice 
 of features, to that of his predecessors, discovers him to 
 have been tolerably skilful in design, even in regard to the ex¬ 
 tremities, and in placing his figures well on the canvas. 
 
 There remains in his native place, at San Pier Martire, an 
 altar-piece painted by his hand, in which a St. Sebastian forms 
 so conspicuous a figure for the beauty of its torso, that Zanetti 
 suspects it must have been copied from some ancient statue. 
 It is he who introduced the art into the house of the Vivarini, 
 his compatriots, who, in a continued line of succession, pre¬ 
 served the school of Murano for nearly a century, and who 
 produced as rich a harvest of their labours in Venice, as 
 did the Campi afterwards in the city of Cremona, or the 
 Procaccini in Milan. I shall treat of them with bre¬ 
 vity, but with such new sources of information as will 
 
 * Before their time, however, Bergamo could boast a school of paint¬ 
 ing, as witness what Count Tassi adduces in a parchment of the year 1296, 
 naming a certain Guglieltno, pittore. It does not appear in what style he 
 drew. One of his successors, who painted the tree of St. Bonaventura, 
 abounding in sacred figures, shews himself an artist more rude, indeed, 
 but more original than either pf the brothers de Nova. Of his name we 
 are, however, ignorant, as he only attached the date of 1347. 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
82 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 at once serve to correct and. amplify what has already been 
 written. 
 
 The first among the Yivarini mentioned by historians is 
 Luigi, of whom a painting at Santi Giovanni e Paolo, lias 
 been cited by them, which represents our Redeemer bearing 
 the cross upon his shoulders. The work has been a good deal 
 re-touched, and there has been added to it another portion, 
 which gives the name of the author, dated 1414. Not being 
 an autograph, we are led to expect some kind of mistake 
 attaching either to the name or the date ; there having been 
 another Luigi Yivarini, as we shall shew, towards the close of 
 the century. The one in question, then, might probably be 
 an ancestor to the latter, though it is difficult to persuade 
 ourselves of it, as there remains no other superscription, or 
 notice of any of that name so ancient. 
 
 Next to this artist, according to Ridolfo and Zanetti, are to 
 be enumerated Giovanni and Antonio Vivarini, who flourished 
 about the year 1440. The authority they-adduce for this is an 
 altar-piece in San Pantaleone, which bears the inscription of 
 “ Zuane e Antonio da Muran pense 1444.” But this Gio¬ 
 vanni,* if I mistake not, is the same who signs his name on 
 another picture in Yenice, “ Joanne3 de Alemania et Anto- 
 
 * In the work entitled “ Narrazione dell’ Isola di Murano,” by G. A. 
 Moschini, the supposition I have above stated has been combated by its 
 excellent author. A picture in the gallery of the N. H. Molin, at Venice, 
 subscribed “ Johannes Vivarinus,” seems to have persuaded him of my. 
 mistake. In a work embracing an account of some thousand painters, I 
 cannot pretend to boast of its being free from some human errors, and 
 was about to express my gratitude to the above-mentioned author for 
 having pointed one of them out. But I am now convinced that the pic¬ 
 ture is from the hand of another artist, anc that the signature in question 
 is a forgery, the author of which has confounded the character of what is 
 called Gothic and Roman, in place of imitating the true character of those 
 times, which he might very easily have done, inasmuch as he had before 
 his eyes a small chart, with a most devout oration, Deus meus charitas, 
 &c. in the most complete Gothic, or rather ucj-inan character, that can be 
 conceived. The impostor, therefore, must have been extremely ignorant 
 of his art. The examination was made by the cavalier Gio. da Lazara, 
 Abate Mauro Boni, Bartolommeo Gamba, names sufficiently known to 
 the public to justify our adoption of their opinion. The very able Bran- 
 dolese has likewise pronounced the inscription false, and published thereon 
 a little work, entitled “ Doubts respecting the existence of such a painter 
 as Giovanni Vivarino da Murano, newly confirmed; and a refutation of 
 
GIOVANNI AND ANTONIO VIVARINI. 
 
 83 
 
 nius de Muriano pinxit;” or as it is thus written in Padua, 
 “Antonio de Muran e Zohan Alamanus pinxit.” Giovanni, 
 therefore, was a companion of Antonio, a German by birth, 
 and traces of a foreign style are clearly perceptible in his 
 paintings, dhe reason of his omitting to insert his birth¬ 
 place in the picture at San Pantaleone, arose, I suspect, from 
 the fact of his name and acquaintance with Antonio being too 
 well known to admit of doubt. After the year 1447 there is 
 no more mention made of Giovanni, but only of Antonio; 
 sometimes alone, sometimes together with some other of the 
 Yivarini. Thus, his name is subscribed alone in San Antonio 
 Abate di Pesaro, upon an altar-piece of the titular saint, sur¬ 
 rounded by the figures of three young martyrs, with some 
 smaller paintings attached, the production of a very ani¬ 
 mated colourist, and displaying forms inferior to none in the 
 school of Murano. I have seen two other specimens, in 
 which he is mentioned together with a second Vivarino. 
 The least excellent of these is to be found in San Francesco 
 Grande at Padua, consisting of a Madonna, with some saints, 
 in various compartments, and at the foot of it is the follow- 
 ing memorandum, “Anno 1451, Antonius et Bartliolomeus 
 fratres de Murano pinxerunt hoc opus.” Similar to this, the 
 two brothers had produced another the year preceding, in the 
 Certosa of Bologna, where it is still in a high state of preser 
 vation, beyond any other specimen I have seen belonging to 
 this family. There is much worthy of commendation in 
 each figure of the whole piece ; features dignified and devout, 
 appropriate dresses, care in the disposition of the hair and 
 beards, united to a colouring warm and brilliant. 
 
 According to what appears, Bartolommeo must have been 
 held of less account than Antonio, until the discovery of 
 painting in oil being introduced into Venice, he became one 
 among the first to profit by it, and, towards the period in 
 which the two Bellini appeared, was held in pretty high 
 
 Ihe first specimen of his painting in oil exists at S. Gio¬ 
 vanni e Paolo, not far from the gate, and exhibits, among 
 
 some recently asserted authority, to confirm them.” And in this he dis¬ 
 plays much sound criticism, and many arguments, all tending to strengthen 
 my own conjecture. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 other saints, P. San Agostino, with an indication cf the year 
 1473. From that period he continued to distinguish himself, 
 producing a great number of pieces both in oil and in water 
 colour, sometimes with more, and sometimes with less care, 
 but always in the ancient taste for subdividing the altar-piece 
 into several parts, in each of which he represented separate 
 heads or entire figures. In these he often marked the name 
 of Vivarino, with the year of their production, and occa¬ 
 sionally he has added a finch or linnet by way of allusion to 
 his family name. His last work, bearing the date of the year, 
 is a Christ risen from the dead, at San Giovanni, in Bragora, 
 where Boscliini read the date of 1498, which is now no 
 longer apparent; but it is a piece which, in every part, may 
 be said to vie with that of the best Venetian artists who 
 flourished during the same period. 
 
 Contemporary with him was a Luigi of the same name, 
 one of whose productions was seen by Zanetti, in a collection 
 of paintings, with the date of 1490,* and as appeared to him, 
 strongly approaching, in point of taste, to the best style of 
 Bartolommeo. To Luigi, also, must undoubtedly be ascribed 
 the altar-piece, which, in San Francesco di Trevigi, bears his 
 name. There is another at the Battuti, in Belluno, repre¬ 
 senting the saints Piero, Girolamo, and some others, a work 
 which cost that school 100 gold ducats, besides the expenses 
 of the artist, who has attached to it his name. But superior 
 to every other of his existing specimens, is that fine picture 
 in the school of San Girolamo, at Venice, in which he repre¬ 
 sented a history of the titular saint, in emulation of Giovanni 
 Bellino, whom he here equalled, and of Carpaccio, whom he 
 surpassed. He has drawn the saint in the act of caressing a 
 lion, while several monks are seen flying in terror at the 
 sight. The composition is very fine; the passions are tole¬ 
 rably well portrayed, the colours as soft and delicate as in 
 any other of the Vivarini; the architecture solid, and in the 
 ancient taste, while the epoch is more modern than that 
 
 * There is a half-figure in oil representing the Saviour now in the 
 R. Pinacoteca at Milan, a work, which for high finish and care in the exe- 
 execution may challenge comparison with any production of the contem¬ 
 porary painters. It bears the following inscription :—“ Alovisius Viva- 
 rinus de Muriano pinx. mcccclxxxxviii.” 
 
GENTILE DA FABRIANO. 
 
 85 
 
 which. could be ascribed to the supposed Luigi, the elder. 
 Such is our exposition of the whole series of the school of 
 Murano, up to the period of its greatest improvement, so as 
 to bring it under one point of view. I shall now, therefore, 
 resume the thread of my narrative, relating to the elder 
 artists of the fourteenth century, who competed with the 
 oldest of the school of Murano, until the era of painting in 
 oil; and I shall afterwards proceed to treat apart of the 
 more modern. 
 
 In the early part of the century, an artist of the name of 
 Gentile da Fabriano had been employed in the public palace 
 at Venice, highly distinguished in his time, but of whom I 
 must not here repeat what has been said in the first volume of 
 this work. He there depicted a naval battle-scene, a pro¬ 
 duction greatly extolled in former times, which has long 
 since perished. He produced, also, some disciples, as we find 
 mention of a Jacopo Nerito, from Padua, who, in a painting 
 at San Michele di Padova, according to Rossetti, subscribes 
 himself one of his pupils. Nasocchio di Bassano, the elder, 
 is to be ranked also, either as one of his scholars or his 
 imitators, if, indeed, a small picture pointed out to me by the 
 late Signor Verci was by his hand. 
 
 Among other Venetians, Jacopo Bellini, at once the father 
 and the master of Gentile and Giovanni of the same name, 
 of whom more hereafter, was certainly a pupil of Gentile da 
 Fabriano. Jacopo, however, is better known by the celebrity 
 of his sons than by his own works, at this time either de¬ 
 stroyed or unknown. He had painted in the school of S. 
 Giovanni Evangelista at Venice, and in the chapel of the 
 Gatta Melata, at the Santo di Padova, about 1456; but 
 these labours survive only in history, nor have I met with 
 any other specimen besides a Madonna, discovered by Sig. 
 Sasso, bearing the signature of its author. The style appears 
 taken from that of Squarcione, to which he is supposed to 
 ha\ e applied himself in his more advanced years. 
 
 Theie was also another Jacopo in very high repute,* called 
 
 *. ought not to be confounded with Jacometto da Venezia, 
 
 a miniature painter, and artist of the same age, but who flourished some¬ 
 what later. He also was celebrated in his day, and is frequently recorded 
 m the “ Notizia Morelli” for his small pictures, adapted for private 
 
86 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 Jacobello del Fiore, who has been falsely accused by Vasari, 
 of having drawn his figures all resting on the tip of their toes 
 m the manner of the Greeks. His father, Francesco, was 
 considered m the light of a Coryphaeus of the art, and his 
 tomb is still to be. seen at Santi Giovanni e Paolo, with a 
 figure of him in his toga, and a commendatory epitaph in 
 Latm verse. No works of his, however, are to be seen in 
 Venice,* a dittico, or small altar, with his name, having been 
 conveyed to London, bearing the date 1412. It was obtained 
 by the Chevalier Strange, together with some other produc¬ 
 tions of the old Venetian artists. The son of Francesco rose 
 to a still higher degree of celebrity. He began to make 
 himself known as early as 1401, by producing an altar-piece 
 at San Gassiano di Pesaro, in which city I discovered another, 
 w^h the date of 1409, and both bear the signature of “ Jaco- 
 metto de Flor. A much nobler work is a Coronation of the 
 irgin, in the cathedral of Ceneda, extremely rich in figures 
 insomuch as to have deserved the name of the “ Painting of 
 Paradise, ’ in a MS. of the lives of the bishops of that pfice, 
 which is preserved in the episcopal residence, and declares 
 the work to have been executed “ ab eximio illius temporis 
 pictore Jacobello de Flore, 1432,” at the expense of the 
 bishop, Ant. Correr. There is a Madonna, indisputably by 
 h!s hand, in possession of Sig. Girolamo Manfrini, painted in 
 1436, besides the “ Giustizia,” drawn between two archangels, 
 in the Magistrato del Proprio,” bearing the date of 1421. 
 1 may venture to say that few artists of that time equalled 
 him, both on account of his having few rivals who had so 
 early ventured to attempt drawing figures as large as the life, 
 and because of his power of conferring upon them a certain 
 grace and dignity, and, where called for, a vigour and ease 
 rarely to be met with in other paintings. The two lions 
 which he represented as symbols of his Giustizia (Justice), 
 
 wh°p?W hlS P °l; traits ’ t nd h ' S f miniature s- It was sometimes doubted 
 whether a certam work was from the hand of John of Bruges of 4n 
 
 tonello da Messma, or of Jacometto da Venezia.—See “ Notizfa Moreili ” 
 
 p. 
 
 I S ok T df£nn ” eferre f 1° v Y tj ! C P - M ° Schini > in his “ Narrazione dell’ 
 k hei^^rc^l l t0 be admnted as genuine, the inscription upon 
 
 Vivnrinf hlf d j ? me author w ho counterfeited that of Giovanni 
 Vivanm, before alluded to in the note to page 82. 
 
DONATO AND CRIVELLI. 
 
 87 
 
 are truly grand, though the rest of the figures would have 
 appeared to more advantage had they been less loaded with 
 ornaments, and in particular the draperies glowing with gold 
 lace, according to the custom of his age. He had a rival in 
 Giacomo Morazone, known by an altar-piece seen in the 
 island of St. Elena, of which I shall have to speak elsewhere. 
 
 Two pupils of Jacobello are recorded by Ridolfi, one of 
 whom, Donato, is superior to his master in point of style, and 
 the other, Carlo Crivelli, of whom the capital can boast only 
 one or two pieces, and of whom little mention is made in 
 Venetian history. It would appear that he long resided out 
 of his native place, and in the Marca Trevigiana,* from 
 which circumstance we find him repeatedly named in the 
 “ Storia Picena,” in the “ Guida di Ascoli,” and in the cata¬ 
 logue of Fabrianese paintings. At San Francesco di Matelica, 
 I saw an altar-piece and grado by his hand, with his name in 
 the following inscription—“ Carolus Crivellus Venetus miles 
 pinxit,” as well as another with his name at the Osservanti, 
 in Macerata, and a third which bears the year 1476, in pos¬ 
 session of the Cardinal Zelada. He is an artist more re¬ 
 markable for his force of colouring than for his correctness of 
 design ; and his principal merit consists in those little history- 
 pieces, in which he has represented beautiful landscapes, and 
 given to his figures grace, motion, and expression, with some 
 traces of the colouring of the school of Perugia. Hence his 
 productions have occasionally been taken for those of Pietro, 
 as in the instance of that in Macerata; and if I mistake not, 
 such an opinion was entertained even by the learned Father 
 Civalli (p. 60). In Piceno, likewise, in Monsanmartino, or 
 in Penna S. Giovanni, there remain altar-pieces by Vittorio 
 Crivelli, a Venetian, most probably of the same family, and 
 produced in the years 1489 and 90, from which period I lost 
 sight of him, whether owing to his early decease, or his 
 having set out in pursuit of better fortune into foreign parts. 
 
 Hitherto we have examined only the productions of the 
 capital and of the annexed island. But in each of the other 
 cities, now comprehended in the state, there flourished painters 
 
 * Crivelli, in short, painted in the Marca more than elsewhere. His 
 pictures abound there, and the R. Pinacoteca obtained thence a number of 
 productions with the painter’s name affixed to them. 
 
88 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 (luring the same period, guided by maxims differing both from 
 those of Venice and of Murano. The school of Bergamo had 
 even then made distinguished progress under the direction of 
 the two Nova, who died at the commencement of the century; 
 and mention is made of a Commenduno, one of their pupils, 
 besides some other contemporaries, whose works, however, 
 cannot, with any degree of certainty, be pointed out. The 
 same may be said of those in the adjacent city of Brescia, 
 which could then, also, boast of possessing some excellent 
 artists. Of these, there is nothing more than the name now 
 remaining; yet Brandolin Testorino and Ottaviano Brandino 
 are names placed in competition with that of Gentile di 
 Fabriano, and, perhaps, they are preferred to him. The 
 former was supposed to have been engaged along with Alti- 
 chiero, in ornamenting the great hall in Padua, entitled Sala 
 de Giganti.* 
 
 Subsequent to both of these appeared Vincenzio Foppa, of 
 Brescia, founder of an ancient school at Milan, of which I 
 shall treat more at length in the following book. Vasari 
 makes mention of a Vincenzio da Brescia, or Vincenzio 
 Verchio, who is the same Vincenzo Oiverchio di Crema, com¬ 
 mended by Ridolfo, and so much admired by the French in 
 the capture of Crema, that they fixed upon one of his 
 pictures, then ornamenting the public palace, to be pre¬ 
 sented to their king, and to this artist we shall also again 
 allude. 
 
 About the commencement of the fifteenth century there 
 flourished, in Verona, an artist of the name of Stefano,+ de¬ 
 clared, as it appears to me, by Vasari, sometimes a native of 
 Verona, sometimes of Zevio, a territory adjacent to the 
 former. The same author makes honourable mention of him 
 in several places, exalting him above the best disciples of 
 Angiolo Gaddi, to whose style, judging from what I have my- 
 
 * See “ Morelli Notizia,” p. 157. 
 
 t I had supposed, in my first edition of this work, misled by the oppo¬ 
 site names, that Sebeto was a different personage from this Stefano da 
 Zevio. I was afterwards undeceived by the appearance of the work ot' 
 the learned Brandolese, pronouncing them one and the same artist; and 
 I willingly here retract what 1 had before advanced, expressing at the 
 same time my acknowledgments for the emendation. 
 
STEFANO DA ZEVIO. 
 
 89 
 
 self observed at San Fermo and elsewhere, be added a certain 
 dignity and beauty of form, while such was his excellence 
 in frescos, as to be extolled by Donatello beyond any of the 
 artists who w r ere then known for similar compositions in those 
 parts.* 
 
 The Commendatore del Pozzo brings his labours down as 
 far as the year 1463, an incredible assertion, as applied to a 
 scholar of Gaddi. To this period might better be referred 
 Vincenzio di Stefano, apparently one of his sons, of whom 
 nothing survives but his name, and the tradition of having 
 conferred the first lessons of the art upon Liberale. 
 
 Highly distinguished, on the other hand, both by the con¬ 
 sent of the Veronese and of foreigners, is the name of Vittore 
 Pisanello ; although there exists great confusion of dates in his 
 history. Vasari makes him a disciple of Castagno, who died 
 about the year 1480, yet del Pozzo informs us that he has 
 in his house a holy figure, with the annexed signature of 
 Vittore, and dated 1406, most probably before the birth of 
 Castagno. Again, we are told by Oretti that he was in pos¬ 
 session of one of his medals, representing the Sultan Mahomet, 
 struck in the year 1481, a supposition which, admitting the 
 picture of Pozzo, we are unable to reconcile to facts, so that 
 the medal was, perhaps, taken from some painting of Pisanello, 
 coloured at a foi’mer time. To whatever master Vittore may 
 have been indebted, certain it is that several of his too partial 
 
 * “ Drawn in the most perfect manner," are the words of Vasari, while 
 he adds, that the whole of his works were imitated and copied by Pietro 
 di Perugia, an experienced artist in fresco, and more especially in minia¬ 
 ture, with which he ornamented the whole of the books in the library of 
 Pope Pius, in the dome at Siena. He is not known, however, in Perugia, 
 nor mentioned at Siena among those employed at the cathedral, as is 
 noticed by Father della Valle, yet the present work abounds with examples 
 of artists, unknown in their own cities, on account of having resided else¬ 
 where ; and the before-mentioned annotator of Vasari was unable to dis¬ 
 cover the name of Liberal da Verona, an undoubted illustrator of the 
 books, in such registers. I think we ought not to refuse to give credit, 
 therefore, to Vasari, as Father Guglielmo insists, but to admit a new 
 Pietro di Perugia, anterior to Vanucci, who might design the frescos of 
 Stefano in Verona and Mantua, so extolled in the early part of 1400, and 
 who copied them in those very beautiful and graceful miniatures at Siena, 
 an art which he probably acquired at Verona, where it was then in such 
 high repute. 
 
90 
 
 VENETIAN SCIIOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 admirers have placed him above Masaccio, in regard to the ser¬ 
 vices rendered by him towards the progress of the art, though 
 impartial judges will not refuse to give him a station near him. 
 The whole of his labours, both in Venice and in Rome, have 
 now perished. At Verona, also, little remains; even that 
 noble piece of San Eustachio, so highly extolled by Vasari 
 himself, having been destroyed ; and his “ Nunziata,” at San 
 Fermo, being greatly defaced by time, in which, however, is 
 still visible a country-house, thrown into such admirable per¬ 
 spective, as to delight the beholder. There remain several little 
 altar-pieces, containing histories of San Bernardino, finished in 
 the style of the miniaturists, in the sacristy of San Francesco ; 
 but they are crude in their colouring, and the figures more than 
 usually long and dry. The “ Guide ” of the city announces 
 them as the productions of Pisanello ; but there is no authority 
 for this, and upon the strength of a date of 1473, which is 
 seen upon one ot them, I do not scruple to pronounce them by 
 another hand. He is commended by Facio (p. 47) for his 
 almost poetical style of expression ; and there is a specimen of 
 an effort at caricature, with which Vittore embellished his 
 historic painting of Frederick Barbarossa, in the ducal palace 
 at Venice. He is, moreover, praised by the same author for 
 his skill in drawing horses and other animals, in which he 
 surpassed every other artist. His name is not unknown to the 
 antiquaries ; many medals struck by him, of different princes, 
 being found in museums, which acquired for him, in an equal 
 degree with his pictures, the esteem and applauses of Guarino, 
 of Vespasiano Strozza, of Biondo, and of several other distin¬ 
 guished scholars. 
 
 In the adjacent city of Vicenza resided a Jacopo Tintorello, 
 strongly resembling Vittore in his style of colouring, however 
 inferior to him in the perfection of his design, as far as we 
 are enabled to judge from a picture of the Saviour, with a 
 crown of thorns, exhibited at Santa Corona, a piece which 
 reflects credit upon that school. It is yet more highly ho¬ 
 noured by an “ Epiphany,” painted in San Bartolommeo, by 
 Marcello Figolino, an artist commemorated by Ridolfi, under 
 the name of Giovanni Batista, and who flourished, according 
 to his account, at the period of the two Montagna. He must, 
 however, at that time, have been far advanced in years, if it 
 
JACOPO TINTORELLO. 
 
 91 
 
 be true that the era of his birth preceded that of Gian Bellini.* 
 His manner is undoubtedly original; so much so, that I find 
 nothing resembling it,'f either in Venice or elsewhere; it em¬ 
 braces great diversity of countenance, and of costume, skilful 
 gradation of light and shade, with landscape and perspective, 
 and is remarkable for ornament, and the finish and smoothness 
 of every part. It was fully entitled to render its author the 
 father of a new epoch in the history of the art; if, indeed, we 
 are to believe him, which does not sufficiently appear to be as 
 ancient as has been affirmed. 
 
 Up to this period I have described the merits of the artists 
 of the city and of the state, who appeared in the early part 
 of the century, but I have not yet recorded its greatest 
 master, I mean Squarcione, of Padua, who, from his ability 
 in bringing up pupils, was pronounced by his followers the 
 first master of painters, and continued to educate them until 
 they amounted to 137. Ambitious of seeing more of the 
 woild, he not only traversed the whole of Italy, but, passing 
 into Greece, he took designs of the best specimens, both in 
 painting and sculpture, of every thing he met with, besides 
 purchasing several. On returning to his native place, he began 
 to form a studio, which proved the richest of any known at 
 that period, not merely in designs, but in statues, torsos, bassi- 
 nlievi, and funeral urns. Thus devoting himself to the in¬ 
 struction of students, with such copies, aided by his precepts, 
 rather than by his own example, he continued to live in com- 
 parath e affluence, and divided many of the commissions which 
 he received among his different pupils. In the church of the 
 Misericordia is preserved a book of anthems, illustrated with 
 very beautiful miniatures, commonly ascribed to Mantegna, 
 the ornament of that school; but so great is the variety of the 
 different styles, that the most competent judges conclude it 
 to be one of the works committed to Squarcione, and by him 
 distributed among his disciples. Of these we are not yet 
 
 head, the “ Descrizione delfe Bellezze di Vicenza,” 
 
 * See on this 
 P. 1 >P . 7. 
 
 t This painter, so truly graceful and pleasing, is foreign to the Vene¬ 
 tian scnool. His composition approaches Raffaello’s manner when he 
 
 honourableme j- eru ® iao ' s sc ^ 00 b a “d he is in every respect deserving of 
 
92 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH L 
 
 prepared to treat, the chief part of whom are known to have 
 flourished subsequent to the introduction of painting in oils, 
 while little can be said of the productions of Squarcione 
 himself, though much in respect to his labours as a master. 
 And, indeed, he may be considered the stock, as it were, 
 whose branches we trace, through Mantegna, in the grand 
 school of Lombardy; through Marco Zoppo in the Bolognese; 
 while it extended some degree of influence over that of Venice 
 itself, b or Jacopo Bellini, having come to exercise his talents 
 in Padua, it would appear that he took Squarcione for his 
 model, as before stated. 
 
 J here is nothing remaining from the hand of Squarcione, 
 in Padua, that can be relied upon with certainty, except an 
 altar-piece, formerly to be seen at the Carmelitani, but now 
 in possession of the accomplished Conte Cav. de Lazara. It 
 is drawn in different compartments; the chief place is occu¬ 
 pied by the figure of San Girolamo. Around him appear 
 other saints ; but the work is in parts re-touched, though 
 there is sufficient of what is original to establish the cha¬ 
 racter of the painter. Rich in colouring, in expression, and 
 above all in perspective, it may be declared one of the best 
 specimens of the art produced in those parts. The painting 
 of the altar-piece, here alluded to, was assigned him by the 
 noble family of the Lazara, of which the contract is still pre¬ 
 served by them, dated 1449, the salary being paid in 1452, 
 the period at which it was completed. The artist subscribes 
 himself “ Francesco Squarcione,” whence we are enabled to 
 correct the mistake of Vasari, who, invariably unfortunate in 
 his nomenclature of the Venetians, announces his name as 
 Jacopo, an error repeated also in the dictionaries of artists. 
 Besides this specimen, there still exist, in a cloister of San 
 Irancesco Grande, some histories of that saint in “terra 
 verde,” which are to be referred to the early part of his life, 
 there being good authority for believing them to be by the 
 same hand, though with the assistance of his school, as the 
 more and less perfect parts render sufficiently apparent. Near 
 them were placed some other pieces of Squarcione, also in 
 “ terra verde,” which were defaced in the time of Algarotti, 
 who regrets their loss in one of his elegant and pleasing let¬ 
 ters. Their style is altogether analogous to that of his school; 
 
ANONYMOUS PAINTERS. 
 
 93 
 
 animated figures, neat in the folds, foreshortenings not usual in 
 works of that age, and attempts, though yet immature, at ap¬ 
 proaching towards the style of the ancient Greeks. 
 
 Proceeding from Padua, in the direction of Germany, we 
 meet with some anonymous paintings, in the districts of Trevigi 
 and Friuli, which ought, apparently, to be referred to this 
 epoch, so far removed are they in style from the nobler 
 method we shall shortly have to describe. The name of An¬ 
 tonio is well known in Treviso, an artist who produced a S. 
 Cristoforo, of gigantic stature, tolerably well executed, in San 
 Niccolo, and that of Liberale da Campo, author of a Christ in 
 the Manger, which is placed in the cathedral. Superior to both 
 of these must have been Giorgio da Trevigi, if we are to 
 believe Rossetti, where he mentions his introduction into Pa¬ 
 dua, in 1437, in order to paint the celebrated tower of the 
 Horologe. There exist other pictures of the 14th century, 
 more or less perfect, interspersed throughout the Marca Tre- 
 vigiana, and more particularly in Serravalle. Other places 
 in Italy, indeed, bear the same name, derived from the inclosed 
 form of the mountains ; this, however, is the largest of the 
 whole, being a rich and ornate city, where Titian was in the 
 habit of spending some months in the year at the house of his 
 son-in-law, by way of amusement, and has left there several 
 memorials of his art. But the whole of the church of the 
 Battuti appears ornamented in a more antique taste, executed 
 in such a manner, that I was assured, by a person who wit¬ 
 nessed it, that it most of all resembled a sacred museum of art 
 The whole must have been the work of the same artists that 
 we have just been recording in other cities, inasmuch as the 
 names of no natives are known beyond the single one of Va¬ 
 lentina. He, indeed, verged upon the improved age ; but in 
 Ceneda, that boasts various altar-pieces of his hand, as well 
 as in Serravalle itself, where he painted another, with some 
 saints of the Holy Family, he still appears a disciple of the 
 ancients, and a copyist of Squarcione, of Padua. We shall 
 soon discover more celebrated artists rising up in this province, 
 after the introduction into the Trevigiana, of the method of 
 the Bellini. 
 
 The artists of Friuli availed themselves of it less early, not 
 having sufficiently imbibed the principles of modern taste, 
 
94 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 even as late as the year 1500, either, in the opinion of Rinal¬ 
 dis, from the secluded situation of the place, or from the dis¬ 
 turbed and revolutionary character of the times. Hence it is 
 that the provincial painters of that period are t-o be referred 
 wholly to this, not to the subsequent era of the art. To such 
 belongs Andrea Bellunello, of San Yito, whose master-piece 
 is a Crucifixion, among various saints, with the date of 1475, 
 exhibited in the great council-chamber at Udine. It has 
 some merit in regard to the size, and the distribution of its 
 figures, but displays neither beauty of forms nor colour, and 
 we might almost pronounce it an ancient piece of tapestry, 
 when placed by the side of a beautiful picture. Nevertheless, 
 in his own district, he was considered the Zeuxis and Apelles 
 of his age.* Contemporary with him, was Domenico di 
 Tolmezzo, who painted an altar-piece in various compartments 
 for the cathedral of Udine ; a Madonna, in the taste of those 
 times, with some saints, figures which all partake of the an¬ 
 cient Venetian style, even to the colouring, insomuch that one 
 might believe him to have been a disciple of that school. He 
 has attached his name and the year 1479, and it would 
 appear that there belonged to the same piece, exhibiting a 
 figure of the blessed Bertrando, patriarch of Aquileja, two 
 oblong tablets, one of which represents his offering of alms, 
 the other the circumstances of the death he suffered. The 
 whole of these paintings, which I have noticed, are tolerably 
 executed, in particular the two histories, and are preserved in 
 two chambers of the Canonica. Not far from the same place 
 is seen a figure of the saint, in fresco, painted by Francesco de 
 Alessiis, in 1494, and placed over the door of a house, for¬ 
 merly the college of S. Girolamo. 
 
 While the schools of the state thus continued to advance, a 
 knowledge of design became more general in Venice; and in 
 the latter part of the century, its artists, for the most part, 
 had acquired a taste similar to what I have already described 
 as influencing those of other places—a taste rather removed 
 from the antique coarseness, than adorned with the elegance 
 
 * In the cathedral of Pordenone, under one of his altar-pieces, we 
 read— 
 
 “ Andreas Zeusis nostraeque retatis Apelles 
 Hoc Bellunellus nobile pinxit opus.”— Altan. 
 
DISCOVERY OF OIL-COLOUR. 
 
 95 
 
 of the moderns. Although the use of canvas had been 
 already adopted in Venice, like that of boards elsewhere, a 
 circumstance for which Vasari accounts in treating of the 
 Bellini, there was no composition besides water-colours or 
 distemper, excellent, indeed, for the preservation of tints, as 
 we perceive from unfaded specimens in the present day, but 
 unfriendly to the production of union, smoothness, and soft¬ 
 ness. At length appeared the secret of colouring in oils from 
 Flanders, a discovery conferring a happier era upon the Italian 
 schools, and in particular upon that of Venice, which availed 
 itself of it above every other, and apparently the very first of all. 
 In the Florentine school I have described the origin of this 
 invention, ascribing it, along -with Vasari, to GioVanni Van 
 Eycli, and both there and in the Neapolitan I have also 
 shewn that the first who communicated it to Italy was Anto- 
 nello da Messina, having been instructed in it by Giovanni 
 himself in Flanders. The historical account of this Messi- 
 nese, as I have repeatedly before observed, has never been 
 sufficiently elucidated. Vasari and Ridolfi state such facts 
 respecting him as are not easily reconcilable to the period of 
 life in general assigned to him, reaching only to forty-nine 
 years; and I have proved, in collecting memorials to which 
 they had no access, alluded to in the Neapolitan school, that 
 there were two district visits made by Antonello to Venice. 
 The first, it appears to me, must have taken place soon after 
 his return into Italy, at which time he concealed the disco¬ 
 very from every one, except it were Domenico Veneziano, 
 who is known to have availed himself of it for many years, 
 both in Venice and elsewhere. During that period Antonello 
 visited other places, and more especially Milan, whence he 
 returned to Venice for the second time, and, as it is said, 
 “ received a public salary,” and then he divulged the method 
 of painting in oils to the Venetian professors, a circumstance 
 which, according to the superscriptions attached to his pic¬ 
 tures, appears to have taken place about the year 1474. Other 
 signatures are to be met with as late as 1490, insomuch that 
 he must have run a longer career than that which has above 
 been assigned him. And we are here arrived at an era at 
 once the happiest and most controverted of any. But of the 
 Venetians we shall treat presently, after alluding to the works 
 
96 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL*-EPOCH I. 
 
 of this foreign artist apart. Two altar-pieces by his hand are 
 recorded, which were painted for the two churches of the 
 Dominante, besides several Madonnas, and other holy pieces 
 intended for private houses, together with some few produc¬ 
 tions in fresco. There is no doubt but that he also produced 
 many others, both at the instance of natives and of foreigners, 
 relieving himself from the multiplicity of his commissions by 
 the aid of Pino di Messina, the same who is commended in 
 the memoirs of Hackert as the pupil and companion of An¬ 
 ton ell o’s labours at Venice. It is not mentioned whether he 
 produced any specimens of his art in Sicily, nor am I certain 
 whether he returned thither. In many Venetian collections, 
 however, they are still preserved, and display a very correct 
 taste, united to a most delicate command of the pencil; and 
 among others is a portrait in the possession of the family 
 Martinengo, bearing the inscription “Antonellus Messaneus 
 me fecit, 1474.” 
 
 In the council-hall of the Ten, is also to be seen one of his 
 pictures of a Pieta, half-length, subscribed, “ Antonius Mes- 
 sinensis.” The features of the countenances, though animated, 
 are not at all select, nor have much of the Italian expres¬ 
 sion ; and his colours in this and other of his productions 
 that I have seen, are less vivid than in some Venetian artists 
 of that age, who carried the perfection of colouring to its 
 highest pitch. 
 
 There is good authority for believing that, together with 
 Antonello, or very near the same period, there flourished in 
 Venice oue of the best Flemish disciples of Giovanni Van 
 Eycli, called by Vasari, Ruggieri da Bruggia. There ap¬ 
 pears, in the Palazzo Nani, adorned by its present owner in 
 the hereditary taste of his noble family, with the most splen¬ 
 did monuments of antiquity, a San Girolamo between two 
 holy virgins, a picture, as is shewn from the following in¬ 
 scription, by his hand,—“ Sumus Rugerii manus.” It is 
 drawn with more merit in point of colouring than of design, 
 upon Venetian pine-wood, not upon Flemish oak, and for 
 this reason it is considered by Zanetti as the production of 
 a native artist. But if the Venetians had really possessed a 
 painter of so much merit towards the year 1500, how is it 
 possible that he should be distinguished only by this solitary 
 
ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 
 
 97 
 
 specimen of his powers. Even the very imposing formula 
 he made use of in subscribing his name, contrary to the 
 usual practice of those times, without mention either of 
 family or <ff place, is it not altogether like that of an artist 
 who feels and displays his own celebrity ?* To me, it does 
 not appear at all improbable that Ruggieri, on arriving in 
 ■Italy,f sought to employ his talents upon some subject, in 
 the same way as Ausse,* his disciple, Ugo d’Anversa, and 
 other blemish painters of that period, whose names are com¬ 
 memorated along with his by Vasari, in the twenty-first 
 chapter of his introduction. 
 
 r>-? e Z ert re t0 Antone . 1]o ’ we are tolcl h y Borghini and 
 Kidolfi, that Gian Bellini, having assumed the dress and cha¬ 
 racter of a Venetian gentleman, for the pretended purpose of 
 having his portrait taken, penetrated by this disguise into 
 the studio, of the Messinese; and watching him while he 
 painted, discovered the whole secret of the new method, 
 which he speedily applied. But Zanetti conjectures that 
 Antonello was not very jealous of his secret, by which means 
 it was quickly diffused among the different professors of the 
 art. And this is clearly shewn by a picture of Vivarini, 
 coloured in oil as early as 1473, no less than by others from 
 liferent hands in the years following. Argenville even 
 goes farther; for he asserts that such was the generosity with 
 which Antonello taught in Venice, that he drew a crowd of 
 
 * Ruggieri indeed had acquired a great reputation in Italy as early as 1449 
 when Cinaco Ancomtano, being in Ferrara, saw a picture of Christ taken 
 
 u e n Cr0SS ’ t0 , the d «ke. He thus writes respecting the 
 
 artist.: Kugerus Brugiensis pictorum decus ArA0HI TTXHI._ Rugie- 
 
 rius in Brussella post prseclarum ilium Brugiensem pictune decus 
 Joannem, insigms N. T. Pictor habetur,” &c.—See Colucci A P 
 
 F,An X !n‘w' rif' H ^' S al *° c T ommended m high terms by Bartolommeo 
 p 239 h 1 CWOrk DeViris ihnstribus.” See Morelli, Notizia, 
 
 hb^cif e p ai 45 ed there ’ and WaS at R ° me “ tbe anno Sant0 - See Facius, 
 
 n U » SUal mistakes found in Vasari. Baldinucci 
 whi<.h i '} Cabs b ' m ^ nS 0r Bans. This is his Flemish appellation, 
 he ip Tongue, signifies Giovanni; and in the “ Notizia Morelli ” 
 he is termed Gianes da Brugia ; somewhat nearer our own tongue. With 
 Sansovmo he is Gio. di Bruggia, John of Bruges. See Morelli, p. 117 ; 
 and by him he is distinguished from Gio. Van Eych. 1 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
98 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 pupils, wlio assisted in spreading a knowledge of the disco¬ 
 very through all parts. And among these we find several 
 foreigners, such as Theodore Harlem, Quintinus Messis, along 
 with several others mentioned in the preface to the third 
 volume, p. iii. This we are likewise inclined to admit dur¬ 
 ing the period of his public instructions in the city. 
 
 All that now remains, before we reach the times of Titian 
 and Giorgione, is comprised in that last stage of the art 
 which, in every school, has opened a path to the golden 
 period which ensued. The masters who were to distinguish 
 the stage alluded to, in Venice, as in almost all other parts, 
 are found to retain traces of the ancient stiffness of manner, 
 and sometimes exhibit, like the naturalists, imperfect forms 
 copied from the life; as, for instance, in those extravagantly 
 long and spare figures which we noticed in Pisanello. In 
 Venice, such forms were in high repute with Mansueti, Se- 
 bastiani, and other of their contemporaries, nor were they 
 disliked by the Bellini themselves. And, indeed, where they 
 selected good proportions, they are apt to arrest the attention 
 by that simplicity, purity, care, and, as it were, timidity of 
 design, which attempts to avoid every approach to exaggera¬ 
 tion. Such artists, we might suppose to have been educated 
 by the more aucient Greek sculptors, in whose works the 
 exhibition of truth attracts the spectator, like that of grandeur 
 in others. Their heads, more particularly, are correct and 
 fine; consisting of portraits taken from the life, both among 
 the populace, and among persons of superior birth, whether 
 distinguished for learning, or for their military exploits. 
 And to this practice, familiar also to artists of the 13th cen¬ 
 tury, we are indebted for many likenesses which were copied 
 at the instance of Giovio, for his museum. Thence they 
 were again multiplied both by painting and engraving, in 
 different parts of the world. Often also the artist of those 
 times inserted his own portrait in his composition ; a circum¬ 
 stance so favourable to Vasari’s history; but this species of 
 ostentation was gradually abandoned, as real cultivation in 
 Italy advanced. But then, as in the heroic and still more 
 uncivilized times, such species of boasting was not esteemed 
 offensive : and surely, if the literati of the 14th century were 
 in the habit of extolling themselves in their own works; if 
 

 IMPROVEMENT IN DESIGN. 
 
 99 
 
 t1ie . t yi.?S ra P hers were so fond of exalting themselves and 
 their editions by superb titles, and more vaunting epigrams, 
 even to a ridiculous degree; the more modest ambition of 
 sometimes handing down their own features to posterity may 
 be excused in our painters. J 
 
 The colours of these artists are likewise simple and natu¬ 
 ral, though not always in union, more especially with the 
 ground, nor sufficiently broken by the chiaroscuro. But, 
 above all, they are most remarkable for the extreme simpli¬ 
 city of the composition of their pieces. It was very seldom 
 they inserted histories, it being sufficient for the ambition of 
 those times to give a representation of our Lady upon a 
 throne, surrounded with a number of saints, such as the de¬ 
 votion of each was supposed to require. Nor were those 
 drawn in the manner they had before been, all erect at equal 
 distances, and in the least studied motions ; but their authors 
 attempted to give them some degree of contrast, so that 
 while one was drawn gazing upon the Virgin, another ap¬ 
 peared reading a book; if this were in a kneeling attitude, 
 that is seen standing erect. The national genius, always 
 lively and joyous, even then sought to develope itself in more 
 brilliant colours than those of any other school. And, per¬ 
 haps, in order that the figures, of such glowing tints, might 
 stand in bolder relief, they kept the colour of the airs most 
 generally pale and languid. They aimed, indeed, as much 
 as lay m their power, at enlivening their compositions with 
 the most pleasing images; freely introducing into their sacred 
 pieces, sportive cherubs, drawn as if vieing with each other 
 in airy grace and agility; some in the act of singing, some of 
 playing; and not unfrequently bearing little baskets of fruit 
 and flowers so exquisitely drawn as to appear moist with 
 recent dew. In the drapery of their figures they were sim¬ 
 ple and natural; the most exempt perhaps from that trite 
 and exact folding, as well as from that manner of bandao-W 
 the bodies so common in Mantegna, and which infected some 
 other schools. 
 
 Nor did they lay small stress upon certain accessaries of 
 their art, such as the thrones, which they composed in the 
 richest and most ostentatious manner; and the landscapes. 
 Which they drew with an astonishing degree of truth from 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 nature, besides tbe architecture frequently constructed in the 
 forms of porticos or tribunes. It may sometimes be observed, 
 also, that, adapting themselves to the workmanship and to 
 the design of the altar, they feigned a continuation of it 
 within the painting, so that by the resemblance of colour and 
 of taste, the eye is deceived, the illusion produced rendering 
 it doubtful where the exterior ornament* terminates, and 
 where the picture begins. We ought not, therefore, easily 
 to give credit to certain writers who have undervalued the 
 merits of such masters, pronouncing their labours mechanical, 
 as those of mere practical artificers, inasmuch as Serlio is 
 known to have supplied several of them with architectural 
 designs.t We ought rather to subscribe to the opinion of 
 Daniel Barbaro, whose extensive learning did not prevent 
 him, in his work entitled “ Pratica di Prospettiva," from ex¬ 
 pressing his admiration of them, even from the commence¬ 
 ment, as follows : “ In this art, they left many fine remnants 
 of excellent works, in which we behold not only landscapes, 
 mountains, woods, and edifices, all admirably designed; but 
 even the human form, and other animals, with lines drawn to 
 the eye, as if to a centre placed in the most exact perspective. 
 But in what manner, and by what rules they proceeded, no 
 author of whom I am aware has left any account to in¬ 
 struct us.” 
 
 * In a similar taste was the perspective introduced by Giovanni Bellino 
 in his celebrated altar-piece at San Zaccaria, in Venice. Another was 
 placed in the great altar of the dome at Capo d’Istria, by Carpaccio the 
 elder, still more striking. In the back-ground of the picture, the Virgin 
 appears seated on a magnificent throne, with the divine infant, in an up¬ 
 right posture, upon her knees, surrounded by six of the most venerable 
 patrons of the place, disposed around her, in three ranks, displaying a 
 fine diversity of drapery as well as of action. To these are added some 
 cherubs, engaged in playing upon musical instruments, and apparently 
 beholding the spectator with an air of puerile simplicity, as if inviting 
 him to caress them. A long and lofty colonnade, in excellent perspective, 
 leads the way to the throne, at one time united to a fine stone colonnade, 
 which extended from the altar-piece through the chapel, producing a fine 
 illusion, amounting to a sort of enchantment of perspective. It was re¬ 
 moved along with the stone columns, in order to enlarge the tribune. 
 The oldest citizens, who witnessed this beautiful spectacle, speak of it to 
 strangers with delight, and I am glad to out it on record, before the re¬ 
 collection of it be entirely obliterated, 
 f Notizia, p. 63. 
 
GIOVANNI BELLINI. 
 
 101 
 
 As this progress of style was more greatly promoted by 
 Gian Bellini than by any other master, with him I shall com¬ 
 mence my account, afterwards proceeding to treat of his con¬ 
 temporaries, and such of his scholars as more or less resem¬ 
 bled him. Nor, I flatter myself, will it be unpleasing to the 
 reader, to find mention of the imitation of Giorgione and of 
 Titian, as it were anticipated, inasmuch as it happens with 
 the professors of the art of painting, as occasionally with 
 those writers who have flourished on the confines of two 
 ages; that their style to a certain degree seems to partake of 
 the colour of both. Thus, Giovanni Bellini himself will 
 afford us, in his numerous productions, which commence be¬ 
 fore 1464, and continue down to the year 1516, a sort of 
 regular gradation of his progress, that may be considered, at 
 the same time, the progress of his school. Even in his ear¬ 
 liest pictures, we trace the ambition of the artist to ennoble 
 and to enlarge the national manner. The noble house of 
 their Excellencies Corer, which at the time of the Queen of 
 Cyprus, gave frequent commissions to his hand, possesses 
 several specimens of his first style, proceeding gradually to 
 others, appearing always to grow more beautiful. Among 
 these last, is a San Francesco drawn amidst a thick wood; a 
 piece that might well excite the envy of the best landscape 
 masters themselves. Having reached the period of 1488, in 
 which he produced an altar-piece still preserved in the 
 sacristy of the Conventuali, we find he extorts the praises of 
 Vasari, no less as a good mannerist than a fine designer. 
 With still greater success he executed other works from the 
 examples afforded by Giorgione. It was then he conceived 
 his subjects more boldly, gave rotundity to his forms, and 
 warmth to his colours; he passed more naturally from con¬ 
 trasted tints, his naked figures became more select, his dra¬ 
 pery more imposing; and if he had succeeded in acquiring a 
 more perfect degree of softness and delicacy in his contours, 
 he might have been held up as one of the most finished ex¬ 
 amples of the modern style. Neither Pietro Perugino, Ghir- 
 landajo, nor Mantegna attained to it in an equal degree. 
 The lover of art will find various specimens of him, both in 
 Venice and elsewhere. His altar-piece, painted for San 
 Zaccaria, in 1505, is well worthy his attention, as well as 
 
102 
 
 "VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH I. 
 
 that of S. Giobbe, of the date of 1510. To these we may 
 add a KaceW 1 , ln the villa Aldobrandini, at Rome, dated 
 
 1 ^ •’ W ’ ° n accoun ^ °f the artist’s advanced age, was 
 lett imperfect. I have seen other pictures by his hand, with¬ 
 out date, but of striking merit ; more especially a Virgin in 
 the cathedral of Bergamo; a Baptism of our Lord at Santa 
 Corona, of V icenza, a Holy Child slumbering on the lap of 
 ae ngin, between two angels, a production that lies trea¬ 
 sured up in a chest at the Capuchins, in Venice, and which 
 truly fascinates the eye of the beholder. It displays a strik- 
 lng union of that beauty, grace, and expression, of which, in 
 this school, he may be said to have set the example. It 
 would appear that he continued to employ his talents to an 
 extreme old age, there remaining, in the select gallery of 
 Santa Gmstma, at Padua, one of his Madonnas, painted in 
 1516. Such figures, together with those of the Dead 
 C rist, are the most frequent paintings of his hand that we 
 meet with. Should any one, not content with the commenda- 
 
 i, ia T e ^ es ^ owe< ^5 feel inclined to prefer a Bellini to a 
 va ae o, because he was his superior in architectural design, 
 et him consult the opinion of Boschini, p. 28 of his “ Carta 
 a avigare, but let him recollect that the same writer pos¬ 
 sesses nothing of the poet beyond the measure of the verse, 
 an< f the exaggeration of his praises. 
 
 The name of Giovanni ought not to go down unaccom- 
 P a .^ ie . °f his brother Gentile, who preceded him, 
 
 alike in the period of his birth and of his death. Though 
 lh ing apart, in regard to family, they were of congenial mind 
 and disposition, esteeming one another as friends and brethren, 
 mutually encouraging and respecting each other, as superior 
 in merit. But in Giovanni this was modesty, in Gentile only 
 truth. For the latter had a more confined genius ; but by 
 diligence, that sometimes compensates the neglect of nature, 
 
 * Albert Durer, arriving the same year at Venice, bestowed on Gio¬ 
 vanni one of the most favourable testimonies to his talents that now re¬ 
 mains. After rebuking the envy of the other painters, who spoke of 
 him with contempt, he says of him:—“ Every one assures me that he is 
 Gran Galantuomo, for which reason I wish him well. He is already very 
 old, but, notwithstanding, the best painter we have.”—V. Morel. Not. 
 p. 224. 
 
GENTILE BELLINI. 
 
 103 
 
 he was enabled to attain an honourable station among his con¬ 
 temporaries. He was employed by the republic upon an 
 equal footing with his brother, to adorn the hall of the great 
 council ; and when the Grand Turk sent to Venice in search 
 of an eminent portrait painter, he was commissioned by the 
 senate to go to Constantinople, where in the exercise of his 
 profession he added glory to the Venetian name. Besides his 
 works in painting, he there struck a tine medallion for Maho¬ 
 met II., bearing the head of the emperor, with three crowns 
 on the reverse ; a rare work, of which, however, I learn there 
 is a specimen in possession of his Excellency Theodore Corer. 
 However inferior we are to consider him to his brother, and 
 tenacious of that ancient harshness in many of his works, 
 there are still several of a more beautiful description, such as 
 his histories of the Holy Cross at San Giovanni, and the 
 Preaching of S. Mark, at the college of that saint ;* a piece 
 which, placed near that of a Paris Bordone, does no discredit 
 to its author. He shews himself a faithful copyist, inasmuch 
 as every thing he remarked in a concourse of people is faith¬ 
 fully portrayed. The features of the audience, and the pe¬ 
 culiar conformations of the body, are as diversified as we see 
 them in nature, including even instances of deformity, into 
 which through her own general laws, nature is known to fall; 
 and we are thus presented with caricatures, with bald, and 
 lean, and pursy, and, what is more remarkable, the auditors 
 of S. Mark are drawn without regard to times, in the cos¬ 
 tume of Venetians or of Turks. Yet from its exact imitation 
 of the truth, its arrangement, and its animated style, the 
 work does not fail to please and strike the beholder. I shall 
 even go further; for there are pictures on a smaller scale, by 
 the same hand, executed with so much taste, that they may 
 be esteemed not unworthy of the name of his brother. Such 
 is a Presentation of the infant Jesus at the Temple, in half- 
 length, which adorns the Palazzo Barbarigo, at San Polo, a 
 duplicate of which was painted for that of the Grimani, with 
 still more delicacy and care. Opposite to this of Gentile is a 
 fine picture of Gian Bellini, which, however superior in the 
 
 * This much-admired picture is in the R. Pinacoteca of Milan, and 
 among the early productions ranks as one of the most beautiful and 
 
 valuable. 
 
104 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 softness of its tints, is considered scarcely equal in point of 
 beauty and other qualities of the art. 
 
 The two Bellini and the last of the Yivarini had a compe¬ 
 titor in Vittore Carpaccio, either a Venetian or a native of 
 Capo d’lstria,* and along with these he was selected to orna¬ 
 ment the ducal palace. It was destroyed by fire in 1576, 
 when that noble collection of ancient historic pieces perished, 
 though subsequently restored by the most celebrated artists of 
 later times. Yet there still remains a specimen of Vittore’s 
 style in the oratory of Santa Ursula, sufficient to entitle him 
 to rank among the best artists of the age. It consists of eight 
 histories drawn from the acts of that saint, and of her eleven 
 thousand companions, which were all about that time very 
 generally admitted to be true. The production is not wanting 
 in power of conception, developing numerous and novel com¬ 
 binations, nor in the order of their distribution, in richness 
 of ideas, both in varying the features and costume; nor in 
 architectural skill and landscape, serving to adorn them. Still 
 more remarkable is its expression of nature and simplicity ; 
 an expression which so frequently invited Zanetti himself to 
 a renewed contemplation of it. He there remarked the va¬ 
 rious passions of the people, who appeared to understand 
 every thing passing ; and, in their earnest attention, expressed 
 sentiments in unison with the representation ; whence he con¬ 
 cludes his description by saying that Carpaccio felt the truth 
 in his very heart. 
 
 * The country is impressed with this persuasion in spite of his own 
 signatures, attached even to the pictures in Istria. In that, cited at page 
 100. it is written “ Victor Charpatius Venetus pinxit, 1516 in another, 
 at San Francesco di Pirano, “ Victoris Charpatii Veneti opus, 1519.” 
 Benedetto Carpaccio, probably a son or nephew of the preceding, was also 
 a Venetian, of whom there remains a picture of the Coronation of the 
 Virgin, at Capo d’lstria, in the Rotunda, subscribed, “ Benetto Carpathio 
 Veneto pingeva, 1537.” At the Osservanti is the picture of the Nome 
 di Gesu, with the same words, but dated 1541. He is not mentioned in 
 Venetian history, though highly deserving a place in it; for whatever 
 traces he retains of the ancient stiffness of manner, in the extremity of 
 his figures, yet he yields not to many in softness of tints ; in the taste of 
 his colours ; expression of features, and the effect of his chiaroscuro. I 
 am led to think, that from residing out of the capital, this artist was sup¬ 
 posed to be a native of Istria, but he was indisputably of a Venetian family, 
 most probably tracing its origin from Murano 
 
VITTORE CARPACCIO. 
 
 105 
 
 He produced still nobler specimens of his genius in the 
 college of San Girolamo, which rivalled those of Giovanni 
 Bellini, without, in this instance, yielding to them. His cha¬ 
 racter, which might frequently be confounded with that of 
 Gentile, shines most conspicuous, perhaps, in his altar-pieces, 
 where he is original in almost every composition. The most 
 celebrated in Venice is one of the Purification at San Giobbe, 
 in which, however, the S. Vecchio Simeone is represented in 
 a pontifical dress, between two servants arrayed like cardinals. 
 If we except this error in point of costume, and add a little 
 more warmth of colours to the flesh, more delicacy of contour, 
 the piece would not discredit the first artist of any times. 
 Owing to the fault of his early education, however, these 
 qualities he never attained. This, also, happened to Lazzaro 
 Sebastiani, his disciple and follower; to Giovanni Mansueti, 
 to Marco, and to Pietro Veglia, as well as to Francesco 
 Rizzo, of San Croce, a territory in the district of Bergamo ;* 
 artists who, however nearly touching upon the golden period, 
 did not succeed in freeing themselves from the influence of the 
 old and uniform taste, and for this reason are often confounded 
 with each other. I do not here treat of the paintings left by 
 them at Venice, as they have so frequently been described 
 elsewhere. It will be enough to inform the reader that in 
 these, also, we discover several noble traces of the style of 
 Gentile and Carpaccio, more especially in the architecture, 
 and that their colouring, which in this school is considered 
 
 * We find traces of his paintings from the year 1507. See Tassi, in 
 his “ Lives of the Painters, &c.” p. 56, where he corrects a mistake of 
 Zanetti, who, instead of one painter, had divided him into two. One of 
 his pictures, in the parish church of Endine, will remove every doubt. 
 There he signed himself, “ Franciscus Rizus Bergomensis habitator 
 Venetiis, 1529.” In another piece, in the parochial church of Serina, he 
 wrote “ Francesco Rizo da Santa Croxe depense, 1518.” His last work 
 of which I find any account is also in the parochial church of Chirignano, 
 in the Mestrina, dated 1541. Father Federici, who describes it, makes 
 Francesco the son of Girolamo da S. Croce, or S. Croce, whose name we 
 find subscribed in both ways, but not ever Rizo. I cannot agree with 
 him, first, because Ridolfi says only (p. 62) that they were of the same 
 family ; second, because the pictures of Girolamo, according to Tassi, 
 commence later, and are traced also later than those of Francesco, that 
 is in 1549; and thirdly, because the style of Girolamo is incomparably 
 more modernized, as we shall presently shew. 
 
106 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 cold and languid, would be termed, in several of the others, 
 both soft and animated enough for that period. The one who, 
 if I mistake not, approaches nearer to the modern, and in 
 some degree towards the style, of Giorgione, is Benedetto 
 Diana, as well in his altar-piece of Santa Lucia, at the SS. 
 Apostoli, as in the Limosina de’ Confratelli di San Giovanni, 
 painted at their college in competition with the Bellini. 
 
 We next come to Marco Basaiti, sprung from a Greek 
 family in the Friuli, and a rival also of Giovanni; but more 
 successful than Carpaccio. The church of San Giobbe, here 
 mentioned for the third time, possesses his picture of Christ 
 praying in the Garden, painted in 1510. It is now a little 
 defaced, but has been highly extolled by Ridolfi and others, 
 who beheld it in a more perfect condition. Above all his pro¬ 
 ductions, however, the Vocation of San Pietro to the Apostle- 
 ship, in the church of the Certosa, is the most celebrated; a 
 piece of which there is seen a duplicate in the imperial gallery 
 at Vienna. It is certainly one of the most beautiful pictures 
 of that age ; and most generally there is no kind of merit in 
 Gian Bellini, in which Basaiti does not either equal, or very 
 closely approach him. Indeed he appears to exhibit even a 
 freer genius, a more happy composition, and a more skilful 
 art in uniting the grounds of his pictures with the figures.* 
 These are beautiful, and for the most part incline to the free 
 style ; their look is full of fire; the tints of the fleshy parts 
 of a rosy glow; the middle tints inclining sometimes to pale¬ 
 ness, but not without grace. Though not a native, he resided 
 a long period at Venice, which contains a good number of his 
 works', a few of which are in the ancient taste, but the most 
 part bordering upon the modern. His native place of Friuli 
 possesses no other specimen besides a Christ taken from the 
 Cross, in the monastery of Sesto, consisting of large figures, 
 with a fine group in the back-ground of the picture, and with 
 a landscape full of nature. In several parts it is defaced by 
 age ; but a true connoisseur will still, perhaps, prefer it to 
 the others, for being free from the retouches of modern art. 
 
 * To this praise might be added, a certain strength of chiaroscuro, 
 which gives striking relief to his figures, and approaches the composition 
 of Da Vinci, 
 
PUPILS OF BELLINI. 
 
 107 
 
 Among the pupils of Gian Bellini, who were very nume¬ 
 rous, are some who ought to be referred to another epoch, like 
 Giorgione, and to different schools, like Rondinello of 
 Ravenna; several, however, take their place here, who, in 
 the opinion of their national contemporaries, did not fully 
 attain to the possession of the new style. The family of the 
 heads of the school produced also a Beilin Bellini, who being 
 educated in that academy, very happily imitated its manner. 
 He painted Madonnas for private individuals, which, their 
 author being little known, are for the most part attributed to 
 Gentile, or to Giovanni. The artist who is mentioned by 
 Yasari as the pupil of Giovanni, named Girolamo Mocetto, 
 was one of the earliest and least polished among his disciples. 
 He did not reach the sixteenth century; and left behind him 
 some engravings upon copper, now become extremely rare ; 
 besides small pictures, one of which, subscribed with the 
 author’s name, in 1484, is in the possession of the before- 
 mentioned house of Corer. The Veronese, who are in pos¬ 
 session of his portrait, amongst those of the painters of their 
 town, in the Scuola del Nudo, can also boast one of his altar- 
 pieces, bearing the name and date of 1493, in their church of 
 S. Nazario e Celso. Such information I obtained from 
 Signor Saverio dalla Rosa, a Veronese painter of merit. 
 Another less distinguished, and somewhat stiff scholar or 
 imitator of Bellini, has affixed his name in several places, at 
 the foot of sacred figures, as follows : “ Marcus Martialis 
 Venetus and in a Purification, existing in the Conservatory 
 of the Penitents, we meet with the year 1488. And from a 
 Supper of Emaus, belonging to the family of the Contarini, 
 with the painter’s name, we learn that in the year 1506 he 
 was still alive. 
 
 An artist of a better taste appeared in Vincenzio Catena, a 
 wealthy citizen, who obtained a good deal of celebrity by his 
 portraits and pictures for private rooms. His master-piece 
 consists of a Holy Family, in the style of Giorgione, orna¬ 
 menting the noble Pesaro gallery; and if he had produced 
 nothing more than this, he would no longer be included in 
 the present epoch; but his other pieces, exhibiting more 
 traces of the old style, which remain at San Maurizio, at San 
 Simeone Grande, at the Carita, and elsewhere, authorize our 
 
108 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 enumeration of them here. They are beautiful; but not 
 sufficiently in the modern taste. His reputation, however, 
 while living, was so great, that in a letter written by Marc 
 Antonio Michiel from Rome, to Antonio di Marsilio in 
 Venice, dated 11th of April, 1520, when Ratfaello was just 
 deceased and Bonarruoti infirm, it is recommended to Catena 
 to be upon his guard, “ since danger seems to be impending 
 over all very excellent painters.”* One Giannetto Cordegli- 
 aglii enjoyed also a high reputation, if l?e be rightly named 
 by "V asari, who commends him for his soft and delicate man¬ 
 ner, superior to many of his contemporaries ; adding, that he 
 had produced an infinite number of pictures for private per¬ 
 sons. In Venice, he is termed, I suppose for the sake of 
 brevity, Cordelia; and to him is attributed the beautiful por¬ 
 trait of the Cardinal Bessarione in the college of La Carit^, 
 with a few other specimens, the rest having dropped into ob¬ 
 livion. Probably his real name was double, Cordelia Aghi. 
 It is certain that Zanetti read, upon a beautiful Madonna, 
 belonging to the learned Zeno, « Andreas Cordelle Agi, F.” 
 This last is of the same family as Giannetto ; or perhaps also 
 in place of Giannetto, Vasari ought to have written Andrea; 
 as instead of Jacopo, he ought to have said Francesco Squar- 
 cione. Nor can it be denied that, if we except the artists of 
 Verona and Friuli, this historian was deficient in information, 
 as he himself declares, relating to the Venetian school. It 
 is sufficient to turn to his proemium of the life of Carpaccio, 
 in order to observe how many times, in a very few lines, he 
 is guilty of making mistakes. Of Lazzaro Sebastiani,’ he 
 made two painters; two others out of Marco Basaiti, divid- 
 ing him into Marco Basarini and Marco Bassiti, and assimi- 
 iog to each his several works. Moreover, he wrote Vittore 
 Scarpaccia, Vittor Bellini, Giambatista da Cornigliano, and 
 confounded the labours of all the three together. "Elsewhere 
 we meet with Mansuchi for Mansueti; Guerriero arid Guar- 
 riero, instead of Guariento; Foppa is made into Zoppa, 
 Giolfino into Uisino, Morazone into Mazzone, Bozzato into 
 Bazzacco, Zuccati into Zuccheri and Zuccherini; and thus he 
 continued to blunder through other Lombard and Venetian 
 
 * Morelli Notizia, p. 212. 
 
GIROLAMO DI SAN CROCE. 
 
 109 
 
 names, insomuch as almost to vie with Harms, with Cochin, 
 ancl with similar inaccurate foreigners. 
 
 The following names were slightly esteemed by or slightly 
 known to Vasari, and therefore omitted in his history: Pier- 
 maria Pennacchi of Trevisi, and Pier Francesco Bissolo, a 
 Venetian. Of the former there remain two entablatures, 
 painted for churches, more excellent in point of colouring 
 than design. One is in Venice, the other at Murano. Of 
 these artists, Pier Francesco painted on the least extensive 
 scale, but was more finished and beautiful. His altar-pieces 
 in Murano, and in the cathedral of Trevigi, may be put in 
 competition with those of the elder Palma; and one in pos¬ 
 session of the family of Renier, representing the Meeting 
 of Simeon, still more nearly approaches to the fulness and 
 softness of the moderns. 
 
 Girolamo di San Croce was still more deserving of com¬ 
 memoration than these. Yet Vasari omitted him; Boschini 
 is silent on the subject; and Ridolfi has found in him more to 
 blame than to praise, asserting that he had never freed him¬ 
 self from the ancient style, though flourishing at a period 
 when the less celebrated geniuses attempted to modernize 
 their taste. Happily, however, for this distinguished man, 
 not a few of his best labours have been preserved, of which 
 Zanetti has ‘pronounced his opinion that “ he approaches 
 nearer to the manner of Giorgione and Titian than any of 
 the others.” And such commendation is justified by his 
 altar-piece of S. Parisio, so highly mentioned in the Guide of 
 Treviso, and which is to be seen at the church of that saint. 
 In Venice itself there are some of his pictures which display 
 uncommon merit, such as the Supper of our Saviour, with 
 the name of Santa Croce, which is in S. Martino ; and a 
 Salvatore, at S. Francesco della Vigna, which though in a 
 precise taste, shews extreme richness of colouring. There 
 also appears, at the same place, his picture of the Martyr¬ 
 dom of S. Lorenzo ; a repetition of which is found in the 
 noble house of Collalto, nearly resembling the original, and 
 in other places. It abounds in figures of about a palm’s 
 length, imitated, in some part, from the celebrated composi¬ 
 tion of Bandinelli, engraved by Marc Antonio, whose impres¬ 
 sions to Girolamo proved a rich mine of art, affording originals 
 
110 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 for those small but valuable paintings meant to adorn private 
 rurms. In none of them, however, was he a mere copyist; 
 he varied the figures, and more especially the landscapes, in 
 which he was a very skilful hand. In this manner he pro¬ 
 duced many of those Bacchanals, which are to be met with 
 in different collections. In that of the Casa Albani, at Ber¬ 
 gamo, is a S. Gio. Elemosinario (almsgiver) in grand archi¬ 
 tecture, seen among a crowd of paupers ; and in the collection 
 of Count Carrara, also at Bergamo, there is a “ Saviour taken 
 from the Cross,” highly valued for the portrait of the artist, 
 which points to a holy cross, the symbol of his name. Not 
 any of these productions are embued with traces of the an¬ 
 cient style. They display a grace of composition, study of 
 foreshortening, and of the naked parts, a harmony of colours, 
 forming a mixture of different schools, in which the Roman 
 predominates, and least of all the Venetian. Further we 
 would refer the reader to what has already been stated at 
 page 105. 
 
 To these Venetian professors, or at least, established, in 
 Venice, it will be proper to add several educated by Giovanni, 
 in the provinces, and in this way resume the thread of our 
 pictoric history of the state. There was no place in the whole 
 dominion which did not boast either of his disciples or 
 imitators. We shall proceed to treat severally of these, begin¬ 
 ning with the name of Conegliano, which he derived from a 
 city in the Marca Trevigiana, his native place, whose moun¬ 
 tainous views he has introduced into his paintings, as if to 
 serve for his device. 
 
 The artist’s name, however, is Giambatista Cima, and his 
 style most resembles the better part of that of Gian Bellini. 
 The professors indeed may often be confounded together; to 
 such a degree do we find Conegliano diligent, graceful, lively 
 in his motions and his colouring, although less smooth than 
 Bellini. Perhaps one of his best pieces that I have seen is 
 in the cathedral at Parma, though it is omitted in the cata¬ 
 logue of his works. That at the church of Santa Maria dell’ 
 Orto, one of the most rich in paintings in all Venice, possesses 
 less softness; but in point of architecture, in the air of its 
 heads, and in the distribution of its colours, there is something 
 so extremely attractive, that we are never weary of contem- 
 
PUPILS OF BELLINI. 
 
 Ill 
 
 plating it. The different collections in Italy, no less than 
 those in other parts, are many of them in possession, or said 
 to be in possession, of specimens from this artist’s hand; and 
 if we add to these his altar-pieces, sufficiently numerous, they 
 will be found to amount to a very considerable class. We are 
 informed, however, by Padre Federici, that one of Cima’s 
 sons, of the name of Carlo, imitated so closely the style of his 
 father, that there are pictures which ought often to be attri¬ 
 buted to the former instead of to the latter. 
 
 The artist resided but a short time in his own province; 
 and the altar-piece placed by him in the cathedral of his native 
 place, in 1493, is considered a youthful performance. He con¬ 
 tinued to exercise his art until the year 1517, according to 
 Ridolfi, and died in the maturity of his powers. The date of 
 1542, which we find at San Francesco di Rovigo placed upon 
 an altar-piece of Conegliano (if it be not a copy), marks only 
 the era of the erecting of the altar, which was painted after¬ 
 wards. He is said by Boschini to have been the tutor of 
 Vittor Belliniano, by Vasari called Bellini; the same who 
 represented in the college of St. Mark’s the martyrdom of the 
 saint. The best portion of this history is the architecture it 
 displays. 
 
 The artists, educated in the school of Giovanni, who flou¬ 
 rished at Friuli, were two natives of Udine : Giovanni di M. 
 Martino, as he is entitled in some family documents, and Gio. 
 Martini, by Vasari; and Martino d’Udine, who in the “Storia 
 Pittorica,” is called Pellegrino di S. Daniello. The style of the 
 former was harsh and crude, though not destitute of grace in 
 the countenances and in the colouring. The name of Pelle¬ 
 grino was bestowed upon the latter by Bellini, in honour of 
 his rare genius, while the name of the country was attached 
 to him from his long residence in S. Daniello, a territory not 
 far from Udine. This city is, nevertheless, the place where 
 he appears to most advantage, in competition with Giovanni; 
 as the same emulation they had felt while fellow-pupils, con¬ 
 tinued, as sometimes happens, when they became masters. In 
 that city appear the labours of each, and more particularly in 
 the two chapels contiguous to the dome, where the first of 
 them was employed in the year 1501, the second in 1502. Gio¬ 
 vanni, in his altar-piece of St. Mark, there produced the 
 
112 
 
 VENETIAN' SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 richest specimen which appeared from his hand ; and Pel¬ 
 legrino left that of his St. Joseph, preferred by Yasari, in some 
 degree, to the work of Martini. I have seen the last-men¬ 
 tioned picture in oil, faded indeed in colour, and in other 
 respects defaced ; yet still worthy of admiration for its archi¬ 
 tecture, which gives a graceful fulness to the whole canvas, 
 and striking relief to the three figures, consisting of S. Joseph 
 with the holy child in his arms, and S. John the Baptist, each 
 of which displays the finest contours and the best forms. 
 Other specimens of the same pencil are to be seen in Udine, 
 among which are the SS. Agostino and Girolamo, in the 
 public council-hall, a picture remarkable also for its power of 
 colouring. 
 
 As this artist advanced in age, he improved in the softness 
 of his tints, as well as in every other quality. The altar- 
 piece at Santa Maria de’ Battuti, which is in Cividale, and 
 represents the Virgin seated between the four virgins of 
 Aquileja, besides the Saints Batista and Donato, and a cherub, 
 partakes of Giorgione ; it is enumerated among the rarest 
 paintings of Friuli, and was executed in the year 1529. Yet 
 above any of his productions, are esteemed those various 
 histories of the life of our Saviour, painted in fresco at 
 S. Daniele, in the church of S. Antonio, together with this 
 titular saint, and several other portraits of the brethren of 
 that chapel, so richly adorned by his hand, all breathing and 
 glowing proofs of his art. By his means, also, one of the 
 pictoric schools of Friuli rose into high repute, and will be 
 elsewhere described. 
 
 At Rovigo, in possession of the noble family of Casalini, is 
 a picture of the Circumcision of our Saviour, bearing this 
 memorandum : “ Opus Marci Belli discipuli Johannis Bellini.” 
 He is a good disciple of the school, and would appear to be a 
 different artist from that Marco, son of Gio. Tedesco, who 
 was employed in 1463 at Rovigo. 
 
 In the adjacent city of Padua, the style of the Bellini was 
 less followed, a very natural circumstance in a place where 
 Squarcione, the avowed rival of Giovanni, held supreme sway. 
 Still there are several pictures belonging to this age remaining 
 there, which partake of the Venetian style; and Vasari, in 
 his life of Carpaccio, records that in fact Niccolo Moreto 
 
MONTAGNANA OR MANTEGNA. 
 
 113 
 
 executed many works in Padua,* besides many otlier artists 
 connected with the Bellini. A picture of Christ risen from 
 the dead merits particular mention; it adorns the episcopal 
 palace at Padua, along with the portraits of all the Paduan 
 bishops, and the busts of the apostles, including several of 
 their acts, executed with much elegance in chiaroscuro. The 
 work is dated 1495, in which the painter subscribes his name 
 Jacobus Montagnana; not Mantegna, as it is written in Vasari 
 and Ridolfi. 
 
 There remains of his a very extensive altar-piece, at the 
 Santo, the style inclining as much as in any others to the 
 modern ; and to whatever degree it may partake of the Vene¬ 
 tian in taste of colours, in its design it partakes of a more 
 precise and spare expression, upon the principle of the Paduan 
 school. To this, also, he very manifestly conformed himself 
 in that celebrated picture left in Belluno, at the hall of coun¬ 
 cil, in which he representedt Roman histories. It is an im¬ 
 mense production, and at the first view would incline us to 
 attribute it to the pencil of Mantegna, such are the design, the 
 drapery, and the composition of the figures; while even 
 several of them are known to have been accurately copied, 
 with the same forms and motions, from those Mantegna had 
 already introduced into his grand chapel at the Eremitani. 
 Here we have a clear proof that both received the same edu¬ 
 cation, or at least, that Montagnana had profited much by the 
 Paduan school. I say only much, for in point of costume he 
 does not shew any traces of the erudite instructions of 
 
 * In the “ Statuti de’ Pittori,” it is written Mireti; and the same 
 work contains memoirs of him in 1423 and 1441 ; years, however, which 
 do not accord with his dependence on the Bellini. This Girolamo might 
 possibly have been the brother, or other relation, of that Gio. Miretto, 
 for whom see p. 77. These two names will do away with the Moreto of 
 Vasari, and we must substitute Mireto or Miretto. 
 
 i I repeat the epigram, which is subscribed in ancient characters, on 
 the strength of which we may believe that the work was esteemed one of 
 the most valuable the art had produced up to that period, transcribed by 
 the very frequently commended Sig. Co. Cav. Lazara; it is thus: 
 
 Non hie Parrhasio, non hie tribuendus Apelli, 
 
 Hos licet Auctores dignus habere labor. 
 
 Euganeus, vixdum impleto ter mense, Jacobus 
 Ex Montagnana nobile pinxit opus. 
 
 1 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
114 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 Squarcione; but commits faults resembling those of the 
 Bellini, to whom by popular opinion, recorded by the very 
 diligent author of the new Guide of Padua, he has been given 
 as a pupil. 
 
 I have before treated of Squarcione, and of his method, re¬ 
 serving for a fitter place the consideration of his disciples, 
 more especially Andrea Mantegna. He will, however, be 
 included in the present list as a scholar, although, as a mas¬ 
 ter of the school of Lombardy, we are bound to speak of him 
 with more commendation in another chapter. But even the 
 first essays of great characters are valuable, and Yasari does 
 not scruple to commend Andrea’s first altar-piece as a work 
 worthy of his old age. It was placed in Santa Sofia, where 
 the artist has signed himself “ Andreas Mantinea Patavinus 
 annos YII. et X. natussuamanu pinxit, 1448.” Squarcione 
 was so much delighted with his early genius, that he adopted 
 him for his son. But he afterwards regretted his own generosity, 
 when the young artist took to wife the daughter of his rival, 
 Jacopo Bellini; so that he then began to blame him, yet at 
 the same time to instruct him better. Andrea having been 
 educated in an academy which adopted the study of marbles, 
 indulged great admiration of several Greek bassi-rilievi, in 
 the ancient style, such as is that of the Primarii Dei, in an 
 altar of the Capitol. He was therefore extremely bent upon 
 acquiring the chasteness of the contours, the beauty of the 
 ideas and of the bodies ; nor did he only adopt that straitness 
 of the garment, those parallel folds, and that study of parts 
 which so easily degenerate into stiffness, but he neglected 
 that portion of his art which animates the otherwise unin¬ 
 formed images—expression. In this respect be greatly failed 
 in his picture of the Martyrdom of S. Jacopo, placed in the 
 church of the Eremitani, and from which Squarcione took 
 occasion to reprehend him severely. These complaints led 
 him to adopt a better method, and in his representation of the 
 history of S. Cristoforo, placed opposite his S. Jacopo, he 
 threw more expression into his figures ; and in particular his 
 production about the same period of San Marco in the act of 
 writing the gospel, painted for Santa Giustina, displays in the 
 features the absorbed mind of the philosopher and the enthu- 
 
Mantegna’s pupils. 
 
 115 
 
 siasm of a saint.* If Squarcione thus contributed by his 
 reproaches to render this artist great, the Bellini, perhaps, co¬ 
 operated with him by friendship and relationship in producing 
 the same result. He resided little in Venice, but during that 
 time he did not fail to avail himself of the best portion of that 
 school; and we thus perceive in some of his pictures, land¬ 
 scapes and gardens quite in the Venetian character, besides a 
 knowledge of colours not inferior to the best Venetian artists 
 of his age. I am uncertain whether he or some other com¬ 
 municated to the Bellini that species of perspective so much 
 commended by Barbaro; but I know that Lomazzo, in his 
 “ Tempio della Pittura,” page 53, has put on record that 
 Mantegna was the first who gave us true notions relating to 
 this art: and I know that the most distinguished characters 
 of those times were equally eager, either to become scholars in 
 such points as they were themselves deficient in, or masters in 
 such as were wanting in others. 
 
 The style of Mantegna being known, it will not be difficult 
 to divine that of his fellow-pupils, educated in the same 
 maxims, and instructed by his examples. The chapel before 
 mentioned exhibits specimens of three, the first of whom, 
 Niccolo Pizzolo, is pointed out by Vasari. A picture of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin in an altar-piece, with other figures 
 on the wall, are by his hand. There is also a fresco in one of 
 the fafjades with the motto “ Opus Nicolettiand in both 
 places he not only strongly resembles, but approaches near the 
 composition of Mantegna. Two other artists also painted 
 there certain histories of S. Cristoforo, undergone of which is 
 inserted “ Opus Boni under the other, “ Opus Ansuini,” an 
 artist of Forli. Both of these might elsewhere have been ad¬ 
 mired, but there they appear only as scholars by the side of 
 their master. An artist more nearly approaching Mantegna, 
 and who, in the chief part of his figures, might be mistaken for 
 him, is Bernardo Parentino, who painted for a cloister of Santa 
 Giustina, ten acts in the life of San Benedetto, and little his¬ 
 tories in chiaroscuro, representing upon each the portrait of a 
 pontiff of the name of Benedettino. I have seen no painting 
 
 * This picture, divided into severaf compartments, represents, in addi¬ 
 tion to San Marco, other saints, and is also one of the ornaments of the 
 Pinatoteca. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 adapted to a religions cloister so well conceived in every part; 
 and it is known that it was superintended by a distinguished 
 scholar of that learned order, the Abate Gaspero da Pavia. 
 Attached to it is the name of Parentino, and the dates of 1489 
 and 1494. The work was continued by a Girolamo da Padua, 
 or Girolamo dal Santo, celebrated for his miniatures, as it is 
 recorded by Vasari and Ridolfi. Here, however, he exhibits 
 himself a poor artist in point of design, and still more so in 
 expression, though praiseworthy in many accessories of his art, 
 more particularly in his study of ancient costume, an acqui¬ 
 sition as general in this, as rare in the Venetian school. Those 
 histories, indeed, are frequently found ornamented with ancient 
 bassi-rilievi, with sarcophagi, and with inscriptions copied, for 
 the most part, from Paduan marbles; a practice followed also 
 by Mantegna, but with more moderation, in the chapel of the 
 Eremitani. 
 
 The rest of his contemporaries in Padua, were Lorenzo da 
 Lendinara, esteemed an excellent artist, but of whom no traces 
 remain ; Marco Zoppo, of Bologna, who more nearly resembled, 
 perhaps, his master than his fellow-pupil, but of honourable 
 account, as the head of the Bolognese school; and Dario da 
 Trevigi, whose productions are to be seen in S. Bernardino, at 
 Bassano, opposite to those of Mantegna, as if to exhibit their 
 inferiority. Girolamo, or rather Gregorio* Schiavone, whose 
 style is between that of Mantegna and the Bellini, is a pleasing 
 artist, whose pictures are frequently to be met with, orna¬ 
 mented with architectural views, with fruits, and above all 
 with joyous little cherubs. One of the most delightful I have 
 seen was in Fossombrone, in possession of a private individual, 
 and it bears inscribed, “ Opus Sclavonii Dalmatici Squarzoni 
 S. (Scholaris).” Hieronymus Tarvisio is another, but doubt¬ 
 ful pupil of Squarcione, whose name I found subscribed in 
 some pictures at Trevigi, an artist poor in colours, but not un¬ 
 acquainted with design. We find mention in Sansovino, an 
 author not always to be relied upon in his account of Ve¬ 
 netian paintings, of Lauro Padovano, who produced several 
 histories of S. Giovanni for the Carita in Venice ; but I so tar 
 
 * He is thus named in the “ Statuti de’ Pittori,” of Padua, and in the 
 n MS. Zen.” whence we may correct Ridolfi, who calls him Girolamo. 
 
DA PONTE. 
 
 117 
 
 agree with the above author, in pronouncing these altogether 
 in the style of Mantegna. Nearly approaching also to the com¬ 
 position of this school, is the style of Maestro Angelo, who 
 painted in the ancient refectory of Santa Giustina, a Cru¬ 
 cifixion of the Saviour, with figures, both in proportions and 
 in spirit truly great. I have nothing to add to the name of 
 Mattio dal Pozzo, enumerated in this class by Scardeone 
 (p. 371), inasmuch as there are none of his works known to 
 exist. 
 
 At the period when the school of Padua was opposed 
 to the Venetian, the other cities of the state, as far as we 
 can learn, had adopted a taste rather for the ornamental 
 style of the latter, than the more erudite maxims of the 
 former; it might, perhaps, be added, on account of its 
 greater facility, because the beauty of nature is everywhere 
 more obvious than the monuments of the antique. Bassano 
 then boasted a Francesco da Ponte, Vicenza the two Mon¬ 
 tagna and Bonconsigli, all of whom, though born in the 
 immediate vicinity of Padua, became disciples of the Bellini. 
 Da Ponte, a native of Vicenza, was pretty well embued 
 with a taste for polite literature and philosophy, extremely 
 desirable in the head of a school, such as he became in the 
 instruction of Jacopo, and through him of the Bassanese ; a 
 school highly distinguished during, and even beyond, the 
 16th century. The style of his altar-pieces, when com¬ 
 pared with each other, acquaints us with the earliest and 
 latest specimens of his pencil. He is diligent, but dry 
 in that of his S. Bartolommeo, in the cathedral at Bassano; 
 more soft in another at the church of S. Giovanni, but far 
 better in one of the Pentecost, which he painted for the 
 village. of Oliero, almost in the style of the moderns, 
 displaying studied composition, and a colouring various, 
 beautiful, and harmonious; and what is still more, a fine 
 expression of the passions, best adapted to the mystery. 
 We are led to believe that he likewise painted, at another 
 period, in Lombardy, from the account of Lomazzo ; observ¬ 
 ing that a certain Francesco, of Vicenza, produced a work 
 at the Grazie of Milan, well executed in point of design, 
 but not so pleasing in the effect of its lights and shades. 
 
 The two Montagna flourished about the period 1500, in 
 
118 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 \ icenza, and were employed together, however unequal in 
 genius, being equally followers of the Bellini, at least if we 
 are to give credit to Ridolfi, who must have seen many of 
 their productions, now no longer in existence. In those 
 which I have seen, there appeared strong traces of the style 
 of Mantegna. Benedetto is not mentioned by Vasari, who 
 is apt to omit the names of all artists whom he accounted of 
 inferior worth. He mentions Bartolommeo, as a pupil of 
 Mantegna,* and he would certainly have done him more 
 justice had he seen the works he produced in his native 
 place, which, so far from having done, he asserts that the 
 artist constantly resided in Venice. Vicenza boasts many 
 of his pieces, which display the gradual progress of his style. 
 If we wish to estimate the extent of his powers, we ought 
 to consult his altar-piece at S. Michele, and another at S. 
 Rocco, to which may be added a third, in that of the Semi- 
 nary at Padua. In none of these are we able to discover 
 any composition beyond what was in most general use at 
 that period, already so frequently mentioned by us; and 
 they retain more of the practice of gilding, which, in other 
 places, was then becoming obsolete. In fine, this artist will 
 be found to rank equal with the chief part of his contem¬ 
 poraries ; exact in design, skilful in the naked parts, while 
 his colours are fresh and warm. His cherubs are peculiarly 
 graceful, and pleasing, and in his altar-piece, at S. Michele, 
 he has introduced an architecture which recedes from and 
 deceives the eye with a power of illusion sufficient of itself 
 to have rendered him conspicuous. Of Giovanni Speranza, 
 there remain a few pieces which are much esteemed, though 
 not remarkable for strength of colouring. But we can meet 
 with no public specimens of Veruzio, and most probably his 
 name is a mere equivoque of Vasari.f Giovanni Bon- 
 
 * ^ vol. iii. ed. Rom. p. 427, it is written by mistake Mantegna, 
 where it says that he, Speranza, and Veruzio, studied design under Man¬ 
 tegna. 
 
 t Padre Faccioli, in his third volume of the “ Inscrizioni della Citta 
 e territorio di Vicenza,” records the following epigraph—“ Jo. Sperantise 
 de Vangeribus me pinxit,” in which Vangeribus may, perhaps, apply to 
 some small village in the territory of Vicenza. He is wholly silent re¬ 
 specting Veruzio, thus confirming the suspicion that his name is a mere 
 mistake of Vasari, whom it is hoped our posterity will still continue to 
 
GIOVANNI BONCONSIGLI. 
 
 119 
 
 consigli, called Marescalco, or the steward, was esteemed 
 beyond any other of the artists of Vicenza who flourished 
 at this period, and he certainly approaches nearest to the 
 modern style and that of the Bellini. The practice, how¬ 
 ever, of ornamenting friezes with tritons and similar figures, 
 taken from the antique, he most likely derived from the 
 adjacent cities of Padua or Verona, one of which then pro¬ 
 fessed the study of antiquity, the other that of monuments. 
 Neither Vasari nor Ridolfi gives any account of his produc¬ 
 tions, except such as he painted in Venice, at this time either 
 wholly perished or defaced. Those which he executed in 
 Vicenza are still in good condition, nor ought a stranger of 
 good taste to leave the place without visiting the chapel de’ 
 Turchini, to admire his Madonna in the style of Raflaello, 
 seated upon a throne, between four saints, among which the 
 figure of S. Sebastian is a master-piece of ideal beauty. 
 Indeed, an able professor of the city considered it one of 
 the finest specimens of the art the place could boast, though 
 in possession of many of the first merit. In common with 
 Montagna, Figolino, and Speranza, Bonconsigli abounds in 
 perspective views, and discovers a natural genius for archi¬ 
 tecture ; like them, he appears to give promise of the ap¬ 
 proach of a divine Palladio, the glory of his country and of 
 his art: along with the Scamozzi, and many other citizens, 
 
 correct, and yet leave sufficient employment for their children. The fol¬ 
 lowing is my conjecture. P. Faccioli gives an account of a picture that 
 remains in Francesco di Schio; it is composed in the manner usually 
 adopted in the composition of the Marriage of S. Catherine ; and there are 
 also other saints well executed in the Mantegna style, as is observed by the 
 Cav. Gio. de Lazara, whose authority I esteem excellent. It bears the in¬ 
 scription, “ Franciscus Verlus de Vicentia pinxit xx. Junii. M.D. XII.;”(a) 
 and to this is added by Faccioli another old painting by the same hand, 
 remaining at Sercedo. Now, I contend that the name of this painter, 
 being reported to Vasari, with its diminutive termination, like many others, 
 borrowed either from the stature or the age (in the Venetian dialect it was 
 Verlucio or Verluzo), it was afterwards given by him in his history as 
 Veruzio. The critics of the Greek writers will know how to do me justice 
 in this, for this mode of discovering and correcting names I have derived 
 from them. 
 
 (a) Franciscus Verla is found inscribed upon a picture in canvas by the 
 same artist, now in possession of the Royal Academy at Milan. 
 
120 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH I. 
 
 who have rendered Vicenza at once the boast and wondei, 
 as well as the school of architects. There are two altar- 
 pieces of his hand remaining in Montagnana. This artist 
 must not be confounded with Pietro Marescalco, surnamed 
 Lo Spada (the sword), whom the MS. history of Feltre men¬ 
 tions as a native of this city, and complains of Vasari’s 
 silence upon it. One of his altar-pieces is to be seen at the 
 Nunnery of the Angeli, at Feltre, where Signor Cav. de 
 Lazara informs me that he read the name of Petrus Mares- 
 calcus P. Among other figures is a Madonna, between 
 two angels, upon a large scale, and in good design, sufficient 
 to entitle Pietro to an honourable rank in the history of art. 
 If we compare him with Giovanni, he will be found less 
 \ h id in point of colouring, and, apparently, of a somewhat 
 later age. 
 
 In the order of our narrative,, we ought now to pass on to 
 Verona, where Liberale, a disciple of Vincenzio di Stefano, at 
 that time held sway. lie had also been a scholar or rather 
 imitator of Jacopo Bellini, to whose style, says Vasari, he inva¬ 
 riably adhered. Moreover, in his picture of the Epiphany, to 
 be seen in the cathedral, there is a choir of angels with a 
 graceful folding of drapery, and a taste so peculiarly that of 
 Mantegna, that I was easily led to believe him an artist be¬ 
 longing to that class. Certain it is that the vicinity of Mantua 
 might also have facilitated his imitation of Mantegna, traces 
 of which are visible in some other of his works, as well as in 
 those of the more and less known Veronese artists of the time. 
 He did not attain the excellence of Giovanni Bellini, nor did 
 he give the same grandeur to his proportions, and the same 
 enlargement of the ancient style, although he continued to 
 flourish until the year 1535. The colour of his tints is 
 strong, his expression studied and graceful, a very general 
 merit in the painters of Verona; and his care is exquisite, 
 especially in his diminutive figures, an art in which he became 
 extremely expert, owing to his habit of illustrating books in 
 miniature, which are still to be seen in Verona and in Siena. 
 
 He had a competitor, at his native place, in Domenico 
 Morone, or rather the latter, educated also by a disciple of 
 Stefano, is to be held second to him. This artist was sue- 
 
GIROLAMO DA’ LIBRI. 
 
 121 
 
 ceeded in the course of time by liis son, Francesco Morone, 
 superior to his father, and by Girolamo da’ Libri. These two, 
 bound by the strictest habits of friendship from their youth, 
 were frequently employed in the same labours together, and 
 may be said to have adopted the same maxims. The first has 
 been commended by Yasari for the grace, the design, the 
 harmony, and the warm and beautiful colouring he contrived 
 to bestow upon his pictures, in a degree inferior to none. 
 From the same source we learn that the year of his decease is 
 supposed to have been 1529. But Girolamo da’ Libri was his 
 superior, both in point of taste and general celebrity. The 
 son of a miniature-painter of choral books and of anthems, who 
 had hence acquired the name of Francesco da’ Libri, from his 
 father he received both a knowledge of the art and his sur¬ 
 name, both of which he also transmitted to his son Francesco, 
 as we again learn from Yasari. 
 
 It is not, however, within my province to enter into a con¬ 
 sideration of their books; but in regard to the altar-pieces of 
 Girolamo I cannot remain silent. That of S. Lionardo, 
 near Verona, I have never seen, a picture in which the artist 
 having drawn a laurel, the birds are said to have frequently 
 entered at the church windows, fluttering around as if wishing 
 to repose in its branches. Another which I beheld at S. 
 Giorgio, with the date 1529, scarcely retains a trace of the 
 ancient character. It represents the Virgin between two 
 holy bishops, portraits select and full of meaning, together 
 with three exquisitely graceful figures of cherubs, both in face 
 and gesture. In this little picture may be traced, to a certain 
 degree, the character of a miniaturist who paints, or a painter 
 drawing miniature; while the charms of the several profes¬ 
 sions are seen there exhibited in one point of view. The 
 church, indeed, is a rich gallery, containing numerous master¬ 
 pieces of the art; among which the S. Giorgio of Paolo 
 (Veronese) too far transcends the rest; but the painting of 
 Girolamo shines almost like a precious jewel, surprising the 
 spectator by an indescribable union of what is graceful, 
 bright, and lucid, which it presents to the eye. He survived 
 many years after the production of this piece, highly esteemed, 
 and in particular for his miniatures, in which he was accounted 
 the first artist in Italy; and as if to crown his reputation, he 
 
122 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 became the instructor, in such art, of Don Giulio Clovio, a 
 sort of Roscius, if we may so say, of miniature painting. 
 
 However flourishing in valuable masters we may consider 
 the city of Venice during this era, the fame of Mantegna, 
 with the vicinity of Mantua, where he taught, attracted 
 thither two artists from Verona, whom I reserve for that 
 school, of which they were faithful followers. These were 
 Monsignori and Gio. Francesco Carotto, formerly a pupil of 
 Liberate. His brother Giovanni, a noble architect and de¬ 
 signer of ancient edifices, was but a feeble imitator of bis 
 style. He richly deserves a place in history as the instructor 
 of Paolo, an artist excellent in many branches of painting, 
 and in architecture almost divine. It is supposed that Paolo 
 must have acquired this degree of excellence by studying at 
 first under Carotto, and afterwards perfecting himself, as we 
 shall shew, by means of Badile. To such as are most known 
 we might here add names less celebrated, which the Marchese 
 Maffei, however, has already inserted in his history ; as, for 
 instance, a Matteo Pasti, commended by us in the first vo¬ 
 lume (p. 129) ; but I have, perhaps, already treated suffi¬ 
 ciently of the merits of the old Veronese artists. 
 
 About this period there flourished two distinguished artists 
 in Brescia, who were present at the terrific sackage of that 
 opulent city, in the year 1512, by Gaston de Foix. One of 
 these is Fioravante Ferramola, who was honoured and remu¬ 
 nerated upon that occasion by the French victor for his strik¬ 
 ing merit, and became sufficiently conspicuous in various 
 churches of the country. His painting of S. Girolamo is seen 
 at Le Grazie, extremely well conceived, with fine landscape, 
 and in a taste so like that of Muziano, that we might almost 
 suppose it prognosticated his appearance. And it might be 
 said that he afforded the latter a prototype, if he does not 
 aspire to the name of his master. The other is Paolo Zoppo, 
 who depicted the above desolation of the city in miniature, 
 upon a large crystal basin ; a work of immense labour, in¬ 
 tended to be presented to the doge Gritti; but in transporting 
 it to Venice, the crystal was unfortunately broken, and the 
 unhappy artist died of disappointment and despair. The spe¬ 
 cimens of his style remaining at Brescia, among which is one 
 of Christ going up to Mount Calvary, at S. Pietro in Oliveto 
 

 ANDREA PREVITALI. 
 
 123 
 
 —a piece falsely attributed by others to Foppa—serve to shew 
 that he approached near to the modern manner, and was not 
 unacquainted with the Bellini. 
 
 Finally, Bergamo boasted in Andrea Previtali one of the 
 most excellent disciples of Gian Bellini. He appears, indeed, 
 less animated than his master, and less correct in the extre¬ 
 mities of his figures; neither have I discovered any of his 
 compositions which are free from the ancient taste, whether in 
 the grouping of his forms, or in the minute ornamenting oi 
 the accessories of his art. Nevertheless, in a few pictures 
 produced, perhaps, later in life, such as his S. Giovanni 
 Batista, at S. Spirito; his S. Benedetto, in the dome of Ber¬ 
 gamo, and several more in the Carrara Gallery, he very 
 nearly attained to the modern manner ; and was indisputably 
 one of the most distinguished artists, in point of colours aij-d 
 perspective, belonging to the school of the Bellini. His 
 Madonnas are held in the highest esteem, in whose features 
 he appears less a disciple of Gian Bellini, than of Raffaello 
 and of Vinci. Two of them at Milan I have seen, both 
 bearing his name : one is in possession of the Cavalier Melzi; 
 the other in that of Monsig. Arciprete Rosales, painted in 
 1522; and both are surrounded with figures of other saints, 
 portraits executed with discrimination and truth. There is 
 also a picture of Our Lord announced by the Angel, at 
 Ceneda, a work so uncommonly beautiful in regard to the two 
 heads, that Titian, in passing occasionally through the place, 
 is said, according to Ridolfi, to have repeatedly contemplated 
 it with rapture, charmed by the spririt of devotion it ex¬ 
 pressed. Upon the same boundaries, between the ancient and 
 modern taste, we find various other painters, natives of the val¬ 
 leys of Bergvmo, a fruitful source both of wealth and intellect 
 to the city. Such is Antonio Boselli,* from the Valle Brem- 
 bana, of whom there has recently been discovered a fine altar- 
 piece at the Santo of Padua ; besides two other artists of the 
 same vale, who approach even nearer to the softness, if not to 
 
 To judge from some pictures at Bergamo, we might suppose him edu¬ 
 cated in the style of the fourteenth century ; but he afterwards approached 
 nearer to the modern, as we perceive at Padua, where he resembles Palma 
 V ecchio ; and this is sufficiently conspicuous also in Friuli, where we make 
 mention of him at a more cultivated era. 
 
124 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 the elegance of Previtali. These are Gian Giacomo and 
 Agostino Gavasii di Pascante. We may add to them Jacopo 
 degli Scipioni, of Averara, and Caversegno, of Bergamo, 
 besides others handed down to us by Tassi. These, having 
 flourished at a period so distinguished for the art of colouring, 
 may be compared to certain writers of the fourteenth century, 
 who throw little light upon learning; but who, observes Salvini, 
 in respect to language, appear to me as if every separate page 
 were embued with gold. 
 
 I have already pointed out to the reader the best masters 
 of the Venetian school contemporary with the followers of 
 Gian Bellini ; a number which, though we subtract from it 
 several names of inferior note, will leave a larger proportion 
 than is generally supposed. The state, indeed, is full of spe¬ 
 cimens founded upon his models, the authors of which remain 
 doubtful ; yet it is certain that they composed in Bellini’s 
 style, while their designs partake more or less both of modern 
 and ancient taste.* Undoubtedly, no other school affords a 
 
 * In this character is the larger picture at S. Niccolo, a church of the 
 Dominicans in Treviso, in which the cupola, the columns, and the per¬ 
 spective, with the throne of the Virgin seated with the infant Jesus, and 
 surrounded by saints standing, the steps ornamented by a harping seraph, 
 all discover BeDini’s composition ; but I had not seen the work until after 
 the former edition of my history at Bassano. It was painted in 1520, by 
 P. Marco Pensaben, assisted by P. Marco Maraveia, both Dominican 
 priests, engaged for the purpose from Venice. They remained there until 
 July, 1521, when the first of them secretly fled from the convent, and 
 the altar-piece of Treviso was completed in a month by one Gian-Giro- 
 lamo, a painter invited from Venice, supposed to be Girolamo Trevisano, 
 the younger. This artist is not, however, mentioned, as I am aware, either 
 by the citizens, or by foreigners, by any other name than Girolamo, and, 
 calculating from the chronology of Ridolfi, he must then have been thir¬ 
 teen years of age. Until this subject be more clearly investigated, I must 
 confess my ignorance cf such a Gian-Girolamo. But I am better ac¬ 
 quainted with the name of Pensaben, who was afterwards found, and in 
 1524 was, as before, a Dominican friar at Venice; but a few years after, 
 in 1530, is mentioned in authentic books belonging to the order, being 
 registered among those who had either left the order or were dead. 
 P. Federici believes him to have been the same as F. Bastiano del Piornbo, 
 an untenable supposition, as I have elsewhere shewn. I believe Pensaben 
 to have been an excellent artist in the Bellini manner, though not com¬ 
 memorated in history, nor by his order. In an order so prolific with genius, 
 and in an age abounding with great names, he is by no means a solitary in¬ 
 stance of this: the present work being found to contain many other examples. 
 
DISCIPLES OF BELLINI. 
 
 125 
 
 proof of so great a number of disciples from one master, and 
 following so closely in bis footsteps. Granting this, I cannot 
 easily give credit to the numerous specimens of Madonnas 
 attributed to his single hand, besides other pictures in different 
 collections. A cautious judge will not be apt to pronounce 
 any work his which displays much ideal beauty, Bellini 
 having, for the most part, repeated in his feminine figures an 
 expression of countenance partaking in some degree of an 
 apish character. Nor will he be easily led to ascribe to him 
 pictures which display a minute care and finish, approaching 
 to the miniature style, inasmuch as he embodied and coloured 
 his conceptions with a free and fearless hand. In short, a 
 certain vigour and colour, warm and lively ; a certain reddish 
 tinge of the drapery, approaching a rosy hue ; a certain bright¬ 
 ness of varnish, are not the usual characteristics of his hand, 
 however much his style of design may be mixed up with them ; 
 and such pieces may reasonably be presumed the production 
 of artists of the state bordering nearest upon Lombardy, 
 whence likewise a few of the Venetian state derived the 
 mechanical part of their colouring. 
 
 Within the limits proposed to myself, I may here annex to 
 my consideration of the painters in water-colours and in oil, 
 other less distinguished branches of the art. Among these is 
 that species of inlaid work with wood of different colours, 
 which was intended more particularly for the ornament of 
 choirs where the divine service was chanted. I can trace 
 nothing of its inventors, whether of German or other origin,* 
 though it is said to have taken its rise in an imitation of mo- 
 i saic-work and of works in stone. No other coloured woods 
 besides black and white were at first in use; nor any other 
 objects beyond large edifices, temples, colonnades, and in short 
 ornaments with architectural views, attempted to be repre¬ 
 sented. Brunelleschi at Florence gave instructions in per- 
 
 * As early as the eleventh century, or thereabouts, it would appear that 
 some similar kind of art was in repute in Germany. The monk Theophilus, 
 in the work before mentioned, “ De omni scientia artis pingendi,” al¬ 
 luding, at the commencement, to the most esteemed productions of every 
 eountry, observes: “ quidquid. in fenestrarum varietate preciosa diligit 
 Francia: quidquid in auri, argenti, cupri, ferri, lignorum, lapidumque 
 subtilitate sobers laudat Germania.” Codice Viennese. 
 
126 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 spective to architects, that edifices might he drawn according 
 to good rules ; and Masaccio in painting greatly availed him¬ 
 self of his precepts, as well as Benedetto da Majano in his 
 inlaid works. There remain at Florence, as well as other 
 places in Italy, several ancient choirs very highly prized in 
 that age, but afterwards despised, when the art of staining 
 wood with boiled water-colours and penetrative oils came into 
 use. Thus, after the imitation of buildings, easily drawn from 
 the number of their right lines, that of figures began to be 
 practised in an able manner, though it had formerly been tried 
 with less success. The chief merit of such improvement, or 
 rather perfection of the art, was due to the Venetian school. 
 Lorenzo Canozio da Lendinara, a fellow-student of Mantegna, 
 who died about*1477, inlaid the entire choir of the church ot 
 S. Antonio, even, as it would appear, with figures. The whole, 
 however, having been consumed by fire, there is nothing re¬ 
 maining but the epitaph of the artificer, in which he is highly 
 applauded for his labours. There likewise exist other works 
 of the same kind, in the armadj of the sacristy, and, as it is 
 supposed, also in some of the confessionals. Besides Lorenzo, 
 his brother Cristofano, and his son-in-law Pierantonio, who 
 assisted him in these labours, are equally applauded by Matteo 
 Siculo, as worthy of vieing with Phidias and Apelles them¬ 
 selves. Tiraboschi likewise enumerates the two brothers 
 among the artists of Modena, whose fellow-citizens they were. 
 
 But the fame of these soon expired. For Giovanni da 
 Verona, a layman of Oliveto, not long after surpassed them in 
 the same art. He practised it in various cities of Italy, and 
 at Rome itself, in the service of Pope Julius II.; but still 
 more successfully in the sacristy of his own order, where his 
 works are still to be seen in the best condition, h. "V incenzo 
 dalle Yacclie, also a native of Verona, and a layman^ of 
 Oliveto, mentioned by the learned Morelli in his “ Notizia of 
 works of design, during the first half of the 16th century, 
 deserves mention here for the merit of his inlaid works ; and 
 in particular for those wrought in Padua, at the church of S. 
 Benedetto Novello. Unacquainted, however, with the period 
 in which he flourished, I shall not venture to announce him 
 either as pupil or assistant to Fra Giovanni. Similar pro¬ 
 ductions, from the hand of Fra Raffaello da Brescia, also of 
 
FRA DAMIANO DA BERGAMO. 
 
 127 
 
 Oliveto, adorning the choir of S. Michele in Bosco at Bologna, 
 might here be mentioned in competition with those in the 
 sacristy of Verona, by natives of Oliveto. 
 
 Moreover, there remains Fra Damiano da Bergamo, a Do¬ 
 minican monk, who ornamented his own church at Bergamo, 
 and that of Bologna in a still better style, in which the choir 
 is inlaid with the greatest art. In S. Pietro, at Perugia, he 
 also wrought the most beautiful histories. The same artist, 
 as we find recorded in Vasari, succeeded also in refining the 
 art of colours and of shades to such a degree as to be held the 
 very first in this line. He possessed either a rival or a pupil 
 in Gianfrancesco Capodiferro, whose mansions at S. Maria 
 Maggiore, in Bergamo, are the finest specimens of the kind, 
 though occasionally betraying some traces of stillness in their 
 manner. There, too, he worked after the designs of Lotto, 
 and instructed in the art his brother Pietro and his son Zi- 
 nino, so that the city continued to be supplied with excellent 
 artificers during a number of years. The largest and most 
 artificially wrought figures I have seen in this line are in a 
 choir of the Certosa at Pavia, distributed one by one upon 
 each side. The artificer is said to have been one Bartolommeo 
 da Pola, whose name I have not met with elsewhere. In each 
 of the squares is represented a bust of one of the Apostles, or 
 some other saint, designed in the taste of the Da Vinci school. 
 A few of the pictures of these artists are to be found in 
 galleries of art ; among which, those from the hand of F. 
 Damiano are the most esteemed. Finally, this species of 
 workmanship, embracing materials too much exposed to the 
 moth and to the fire, by degrees began to grow out of date ; 
 and if more lately it appears to have again revived, it has 
 failed hitherto in producing any works deserving of commemo¬ 
 ration. 
 
12S 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Giorgione, Titian, Tintoret, Jacopo da Bassano, Paolo Veronese. 
 
 We have at length arrived at the golden period of the Vene¬ 
 tian school, which, like the others of Italy, produced its most 
 distinguished ornaments about the year 1500; artists who at 
 once eclipsed the fame of their predecessors, and the hopes of 
 attaining to equal excellence on the part of their successors. 
 In reaching this degree of eminence, it is true they pursued 
 different paths, though they all aimed at acquiring the same 
 perfection of colouring, the most natural, the most lively, and 
 the most applauded of any single school of the age, a dis¬ 
 tinction they likewise conferred upon their posterity, forming 
 the distinguishing characteristic of the Venetian painters. 
 The merit of this has been attributed by some to the climate, 
 who assert, that in Venice, and the adjacent places, nature 
 herself has bestowed a warmer and deeper colour upon objects 
 than elsewhere; a frivolous supposition, and undeserving of 
 much of our attention, inasmuch as the artists of Holland and 
 Flanders, in climates so extremely opposite, have obtained 
 the same meed of praise. Neither is it to be attributed to the 
 quality of the colours, both Giorgione and Titian having 
 been known to make use of few, and these, so far from being 
 selected or procured elsewhere, exposed to sale in all the 
 public shops in Venice. If it should again be objected, that 
 in those days the colours were sold purer and less adulterated, 
 I admit there may be some degree of truth in this, inasmuch 
 as Passeri, in his life of Orbetto, complained at that time of 
 the early decay of many pictures, “ owing to the quality of 
 the colours fraudulently sold by the retailers.” But I would 
 merely inquire, if it were possible, that materials thus pure 
 and uncontaminated should so often fall into the hands of the 
 
ART OF COLOURING. 
 
 129 
 
 Venetians and their Flemish imitators, yet be so seldom met 
 with in the rest of the schools. The cause of their superiority 
 is to be sought, therefore, in their mechanism and art of 
 colouring; in regard to which the best Venetian painters 
 conformed, in some points, to the most celebrated artists of 
 Italy. In other points, however, they differed from them. 
 It was a common practice at that period, to prepare with a 
 chalk-surface the altar-pieces and pictures which were in¬ 
 tended to be executed ; and that white ground, favourable to 
 every variety of tint the painter could lay upon it, equally 
 favoured the production of a certain polish, floridity, and sur¬ 
 prising transparency : a custom which, being laid aside out 
 of indolence and avarice, I am happy to perceive seems about 
 to be renewed. But in addition to this, the Venetians were 
 in possession of an art that may be considered peculiar to 
 themselves. For it may be observed, that the chief part of 
 them during these three centuries, produced the effect of their 
 paintings, not so much by a strong layer of colours, as by 
 separate strokes of the pencil ; and each colour being thus 
 adapted to its place, without much repeating or refining it, 
 they still continued augmenting the work, by which the tints 
 were preserved clean and virgin; a result which requires no 
 less promptness of hand than of intellect, besides education, 
 and a taste cultivated from the earliest period. Hence the 
 artist Vecchi was accustomed to say, that by dint of copying 
 pictures executed with diligence, a painter will acquire the 
 same quality ; but to succeed in copies from a Titian or a 
 Paolo, and to imitate their stroke, is a task surmounted only 
 by the Venetians, whether natives or educated in their school. 
 (Boschini, p. 27 4.) 
 
 Should it here be inquired what good result may attend such 
 a method, I reply that Boschini points out two very consider¬ 
 able ones. The first of them is, that by this mode of colour¬ 
 ing, which he terms di macchia and di pratica , a certain 
 hardness of style may more easily be avoided ; and the other, 
 that, better than any other, it gives a bolder relief to paintings 
 in the distance: and pictures being intended to be thus 
 viewed, rather than closer to the eye, such an object is by 
 this process most easily attainable. I am aware of the 
 moderns having misapplied and abused these maxims ; but 
 
 VOL. II. k 
 
130 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 they were meant to have been judiciously employed, and I 
 only wish to propose as examples the most celebrated of the 
 school who so ably comprehended the method, and the limits 
 of such a practice. Nor was the harmony of colours better 
 understood by any other artists, insomuch, that the mode of 
 assimilating and of contrasting them may be considered as 
 the second source of the delightful and lively, so predominant 
 in their works, and more especially in those of Titian and his 
 contemporaries. 
 
 Such skill was not merely confined to the fleshy parts, in 
 whose colour the disciples of Titian have so far excelled every 
 other school; it extended also to the drapery. For indeed, 
 there are no pieces of velvets, of stuffs, or of crapes, which 
 they did not imitate to perfection, more particularly in their 
 portraits, in which the Venetians of that period abounded, 
 displaying specimens the most ornamental and beautiful. 
 The Cavalier Mengs is of opinion, that also to this branch of 
 the art, requiring the strictest attention to truth, and con¬ 
 ferring a peculiar kind of interest upon a picture, may be in 
 some measure attributed the degree of power and truth 
 acquired by those eminent colourists. Their merit was more¬ 
 over conspicuous in imitating every kind of work in gold, in 
 silver, and every species of metal; so much so, that there are 
 no royal palaces or lordly feasts, read of in any poet, which 
 do not appear more nobly represented in some Venetian 
 paintings. It was equally remarkable in point of landscape, 
 which sometimes surpassed the efforts of the Flemish painters, 
 and in architectural views, which, with a magnificence 
 unknown elsewhere, they succeeded in introducing into their 
 compositions, as we had before occasion to observe of the 
 artists of the fourteenth century ; a species of industry ex¬ 
 tremely favourable, likewise, to the distribution, the variety, 
 and to the complete effect of groups of figures. 
 
 In these extensive compositions, which about the period of 
 the Bellini abounded in half-length or diminutive figures, 
 there has since been displayed a grandeur of proportions 
 which has led the way to the most enlarged productions, on 
 the scale we have more recently seen. The most terrific 
 among these is the Supper of Paolo Veronese, at S. Gior¬ 
 gio, in which the gifts of nature are so nobly seconded by the 
 
OPINIONS OF REYNOLDS. 
 
 131 
 
 exhibition of talent, which appears to have been transmitted 
 by succession through this school, nearly until the present 
 day. Such ability consists in finely designing all the details 
 of any work, however great, including the transmission and 
 gradations of light, so that the eye of itself seems to follow 
 its track, and embraces the entire effect from one end of the 
 canvas to the other. And it has been observed by several 
 who have witnessed ancient paintings (a violation of good 
 taste, of late but too common), cut up and curtailed to adapt 
 them to the size of walls and doors, that such an operation 
 often succeeds tolerably well with the pictures of other schools, 
 but is extremely difficult with those of the Venetians; so in¬ 
 timately is one part connected with another, and harmonized 
 with the whole. 
 
 These, along with other similar qualities that flatter the 
 eye of the spectator, that attract the learned and the un¬ 
 learned, and seem to transport the mind by the novelty and 
 the reality of the representation, constitute a style which is 
 termed by Reynolds, the ornamental, who, likewise, among 
 all the schools, yields the palm in this to the Venetians ; a 
 style afterwards introduced by Vovet into France, by Rubens 
 into Flanders, and by Giordano into Naples and into Spain. 
 The same English critic places it in the second rank, next to 
 the grand style, and remarks that the professors of the 
 sublime were fearful of falling into luxurious and pompous 
 exhibitions of the accessaries; no less because prejudicial to 
 the artist s industry in point of design and in point of expres¬ 
 sion, than because the transitory impression which it produces 
 upon the spectator seldom reaches the heart. And truly, as 
 the sublime of Tully is more simple than the ornament of 
 Pliny, and seems to dread any excitement of admiration for 
 the beautiful, lest its energy should be unnerved by too 
 studied a degree of elegance ; so is it with the grandeur of 
 Michaelangelo and of RafFaello, that without seeking to oc¬ 
 cupy us with the illusions of art, goes at once to the heart ; 
 terrifies or inspires us; awakens emotions of pity, of venera¬ 
 tion, and the love of truth, exalting us, as it were, above our¬ 
 selves, and leading us to indulge, even in spite of ourselves, 
 the most delicious of all feelings, in that of wonder. It is 
 upon this account that Reynolds considered it dangerous for 
 
132 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 students to become enamoured of the Venetian style; an 
 opinion which, judiciously understood, may prove of much 
 service to such artists as are calculated to succeed in the 
 more sublime. But since amidst such diversity of talent, 
 there must appear artists better adapted to adorn than to ex¬ 
 press, it would not be advisable that their genius should be 
 urged into a career in which it will leave them always among 
 the last, withdrawing them, at the same time, from another 
 in which they might have taken the lead. Let him, there¬ 
 fore, who in this art of silent eloquence possesses not the 
 energy and spirit of Demosthenes, apply himself wholly, 
 heart and soul, to the elegance, the pomp, and the copious¬ 
 ness of Demetrius Phalereus. 
 
 Let it not from this be supposed, that the sole merit of the 
 Venetians consists in surprising the spectator by the effects 
 of ornament and colour, and that the customary style and 
 true method of painting were not understood in those parts. 
 Yet I am aware of the opinion of many foreigners, who, hav¬ 
 ing never removed beyond their native spot, are inclined to 
 pronounce a general censure upon these artists, as being igno¬ 
 rant of design, too laboured in their composition, unacquainted 
 with ideal beauty, and even unable to understand expression, 
 costume and grace; finally, that the rapidity so much in 
 vogue with the whole of the school,* led them to despise the 
 rules of art, not permitting them to complete the work before 
 them, out of an anxiety to engage in other labours, for the 
 sake of the profits afforded by them. To some of their 
 painters, doubtless, these observations may apply, but as¬ 
 suredly not to the whole; for if one city be obnoxious to 
 them, another is not so much so ; or if they can be affirmed of 
 a certain epoch or class of artists, it would be an idle at¬ 
 tempt to fix them upon all. This school is in truth most 
 
 * It is related by Vasari, that Titian was in the habit of painting natu¬ 
 ral objects from the life, without making any previous design, “ a prac¬ 
 tice adopted for many years by the Venetian painters, by Giorgione, by 
 Palma, by Pordenone, and others who never visited Rome, nor studied 
 other specimens of greater perfection than their own.” I know not how 
 far the above writer was acquainted with their method. But their designs 
 are still extant in various collections ; and the Cartoon of the celebrated 
 S. Agostino, painted by Pordenone in that city, is now in possession of 
 the Count Chiappini in Piacenza, in good condition. 
 
GIORGIONE. 
 
 133 
 
 abundant, no less in artists than in fine examples in every 
 characteristic of the art; but neither one nor the other are 
 sufficiently known and appreciated. Yet it is hoped the 
 reader will be enabled to form a more correct idea of both; 
 and after having cultivated an acquaintance with the Bellini, 
 the Giorgioni, and the Titians, besides other masters, will 
 trace, as it were from one parent stock, the various offshoots 
 transplanted throughout the state, imbibing, according to the 
 nature of the soil, and the vicinity of other climes, new tastes 
 and qualities, without losing at the same time their original 
 and native llavour. And if in the progress of our history, 
 we shall here and there, among plants of nobler growth, meet 
 with some “ lazzi sorbi,” to use the words of our poet, some 
 bitter apples, growing at their side; let these only be at¬ 
 tacked ; but let not the disgrace attaching to a few careless 
 artists be calumniously extended to the whole of their school. 
 
 The happy era we are now entering upon commences with 
 Giorgione and with Titian, two names which, connected 
 together, yet in competition with each other, divided between 
 them, as it were, the whole body of disciples throughout the 
 capital and the state ; insomuch that we find no city that had 
 not more or less adopted for its model one or other of these 
 masters. I shall proceed to describe them separately, each 
 with his own class, as I believe such a method most 
 favourable, to shew how the whole of the school I am describ¬ 
 ing was almost entirely derived and propagated from two 
 masters of a similar style. Giorgio Barbarelli, of Castelfranco, 
 more generally known by the name of Giorgione, from a 
 certain grandeur conferred upon him by nature, no less of 
 mind than form, and which appears also impressed upon his 
 productions, as the character is said to be in the hand-writing, 
 was educated in the school of the Bellini. But impelled by 
 a spirit conscious of its own powers, he despised that minute¬ 
 ness in the art which yet remained to be exploded, at once 
 substituting for it a certain freedom and audacity of manner, 
 in which the perfection of painting consists. In this view he 
 may be said to be an inventor; no artist before his time 
 having acquired that mastery of his pencil, so hardy and 
 determined in its strokes, and producing such an effect in the 
 distance. From that period he continued to ennoble his 
 
134 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 manner, rendering the contours more round and ample, the 
 fore-shortenings more new, the expression of the countenance 
 more warm and lively, as well as the motions of his figures. 
 His drapery, with all the other accessaries of the art, became 
 more select, the gradations of the different colours more soft 
 and natural, and his chiaroscuro more powerful and effective. 
 It was in this last, indeed, that Venetian painting was the 
 most deficient, while it had been introduced into the rest of 
 the schools by Vinci previous to the sixteenth century. 
 Vasari is of opinion that from the same irtist, or rather from 
 some of his designs, it was first acquired by Giorgione, a sup¬ 
 position that Boschini will not admit, maintaining that he 
 was only indebted for it to himself, being his own master and 
 scholar. And, in truth, the taste of Lionardo, and of the 
 Milanese artists who acquired it from him, not only differs in 
 point of design, inclining in the contours and in the features 
 more towards the graceful and the beautiful, while Giorgione 
 affects rather a round and full expression; but it is contrasted 
 with it, likewise, in the chiaroscuro. The composition of 
 Lionardo abounds much more in shades, which are gradually 
 softened with greater care ; while in regard to his lights he is 
 far more sparing, and studies to unite them in a small space 
 with a degree of vividness that produces surprise. Giorgione’s 
 composition, on the other hand, is more clear and open, and 
 with less shade; his middle tints, also, partake in nothing of 
 the iron-cast and grey, but are natural and beautiful; and in 
 short, he approaches nearer to the style of Coreggio, if Mengs 
 at least judges rightly, than to any other master. Still I am 
 far from concluding that Vinci in no way contributed to the 
 formation of Giorgione’s new manner; every improvement in 
 the art having taken its rise from some former one, which 
 being admired for its novelty, became familiar to surrounding 
 artists by example, and to more distant ones by its reputation, 
 thus adding what was before wanting to the perfection of the 
 art. And in this way have geniuses in different parts arisen, 
 destined to increase and improve such advantages. This, if I 
 mistake not, has been the case with the science of perspective, 
 subsequent to the time of Pier della Prancesca ; with regard 
 to fore-shortening after Melozzo ", and also with chiaroscuro 
 after Lionardo. 
 
WORKS OF GIORGIONE. 
 
 135 
 
 The works of Giorgione were, for the chief part, executed 
 in fresco, upon the facjades of the houses, more particularly in 
 Venice, where there now remains scarcely a relic of them, as 
 if to remind us only of what have perished. Many of his 
 pictures, on the other hand, both there and in other places, 
 painted in oil and preserved in private houses, are found in 
 excellent condition ; the cause of which is attributed to the 
 strong mixture of the colours, and to the full and liberal use 
 of his pencil. In particular we meet with portraits, remark¬ 
 able for the soul of their expression, for the air of their heads, 
 the novelty of the garments, of the hair, of the plumes, and of 
 the arms, no less than for the lively imitation of the living 
 flesh, in which, however warm and sanguine are the tints 
 which he applied, he adds to them so much grace, that in 
 spite of thousands of imitators, he still stands alone. In 
 analyzing some of these tints, Ridoifi discovered that they 
 bore little resemblance to those used by the ancient Greeks, 
 and quite distinct from those tawny, brown, and azure colours, 
 since introduced at the expense of the more natural. Such of 
 his pictures as are composed in the style of his Dead Christ, 
 in the Monte di Pieta at Trevigi, the S. Omobono, at 
 the Scuola de’ Sarti, in Venice, or the Tempest stilled 
 by the Saint, at that of S. Marco, in which among other 
 figures are those of three rowers drawn naked, excellent 
 both in their design and their attitudes ; such are the rarest 
 triumphs of his art. The city of Milan possesses two of an 
 oblong shape, in which several of the figures extend beyond 
 the proportions of Poussin, and may be pronounced rather full 
 than beautiful. One of these is to be viewed at the 
 Ambrosiana, the other in the archiepiscopal palace ; esteemed 
 by some the happiest effort of Giorgione that now survives.* 
 It represents the child Moses just rescued from the Nile, 
 and presented to the daughter of Pharoah. Very few colours, 
 but well harmonized and distributed, and finely broken with 
 the shade, produce a sort of austere union, if I maybe allowed 
 the expression, and may be assimilated to a piece of music 
 composed of few notes, but skilfully adapted, and delightful 
 beyond any more neusy combination of sounds. 
 
 * It has been removed from the archieoiscopal palace into that of 
 Brera, and now adorns the R. R. Gallery 
 
136 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Giorgione died at the early age of thirty-four, in 1511. 
 Thus his productions, rather than the pupils he educated, 
 lemained to instruct the Venetians. Vasari, however, men- 
 tions several who have been contested by other writers. A 
 Pietro Luzzo is recorded by Ridolfia native of Feltre, 
 called Zarato, or Zarotto,—who after being a pupil became 
 a rival of Giorgione, and seduced from his house a woman, 
 to whom he was passionately attached, at whose loss, it has 
 been asserted by some that the disappointed artist died in 
 despair. By others, on the contrary, he is said to have died 
 of a disease contracted during his intercourse with the same 
 lady. This Zarato, as we read in a MS. history of Feltre 
 and upon a MS. upon the pictures of Udine, is the same 
 whom Vasari entitles, Morto da Feltro ; and adds, that 
 he went when young to Rome, and subsequently flourished in 
 I lorence and elsewhere, distinquished for his skill in gro¬ 
 tesques; of which more hereafter. Going afterwards to 
 enice, he is known to have assisted Giorgione in the paint- 
 ings he made for the Fondaco de’ Tedeschi, about the year 
 1505 ; and, lastly, having remained some time at his native 
 place, he embraced a military life, obtaining the rank of 
 captain. Proceeding to Zara, he fell in battle near that 
 place in his forty-fifth year; at least such is the account of 
 Vasari. From the mention of his native place of Feltre, 
 his assisting Giorgione in his works, and his surnames of 
 Zarato and Morto, I think there is some degree of probability 
 in the assertion contained in these MSS. though the dates at¬ 
 taching to the life of Morto in Vasari will not countenance 
 the supposition of Ridolfi, of his being the pupil of Gioro-ione, 
 a man considerably younger than himself; so that I should 
 
 C ^ n ^P tur . e t ^ iat ma y have denominated him a scholar 
 
 of Giorgione, because, when already of a mature age, he 
 painted under him as his assistant. Notwithstanding the 
 assertion of "V asari, he had a tolerable genius for figures and 
 in the history already cited, written by Cambrucci, and in 
 possession of the bishop of Feltre, a picture of our Lady 
 between Saints Francesco and Antonio, placed at S. Spirito, 
 and another at Villabruna, besides a figure of Curtius on 
 horseback, upon a house at Teggie, are attributed to his hand. 
 >\ e gather from the same history that another Luzzi, by 
 
FRA BEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO. 
 
 137 
 
 name Lorenzo, a contemporary and perhaps friend of Pietro, 
 painted very skilfully in fresco, at the church of S. Stefano; 
 and that he was equally successful in oils, he himself assures 
 us. in his altar-piece of the proto-martyr S. Stefano, con¬ 
 spicuous for correctness of design, beauty of forms, force of 
 tints, and bearing his name and the date of 1511. 
 
 The most distinguished disciple of the school of Giorgione 
 is Sebastiano, a Venetian, commonly called, from the habit 
 and office he assumed at Rome, Fra Sebastiano del Piombo. 
 Having left Gian Bellini, he attached himself to Giorgione, 
 and in the tone of his colours, and the fulness of his forms, 
 imitated him better than any other artist. An altar-piece 
 in S. Gio. Crisostomo, from his hand, was by some mistaken 
 for the work of his master; so strikingly does it abound with 
 his manner. It may be presumed, indeed, that he was 
 assisted in the design; Sebastiano being known to possess no 
 surprising richness of invention,—slow in the composition of 
 most of his figures; irresolute; eager to undertake, but 
 difficult to commence, and most difficult in the completion. 
 Hence we rarely meet with any of his histories or his altar- 
 pieces, comparable to the Nativity of the Virgin, at S. 
 Agostino, in Perugia, or the Flagellazione, at the Osser- 
 vanti of Viterbo, which is esteemed the best picture in the 
 city. Pictures for private rooms, and portraits, he painted 
 in great number, and with comparative ease; and we no¬ 
 where meet with more beautiful hands, more rosy flesh tints, 
 or more novel accessaries than in these. Thus, in taking the 
 portrait of Pietro Aretino, he distinguished five different 
 tints of black in his dress ; imitating with exactness those of 
 the velvet, of the satin, and so of the rest. Being invited 
 to Rome by Agostino Chigi, and there esteemed as one of the 
 first colourists of his time, he painted in competition with 
 Peruzzi, and with Raffaello himself; and the rival labours of 
 all three are still preserved in a hall of the Farnesina, at 
 that period the house of the Chigi. 
 
 Sebastiano became aware, that in such a competition, his 
 own design would not appear to much advantage in Rome, 
 and he improved it. But occasionally he fell into some 
 harshness of manner, owing to the difficulties he there en¬ 
 countered. Yet, in several of his works, he was assisted by 
 
138 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Michelangelo, from whose design he painted that Pieta, 
 placed at the Conventuali of Viterbo, and the Transfigura¬ 
 tion, with the other pieces which he produced, during six 
 years, for S. Pietro in Montorio, at Rome. It is stated by 
 ' asar b that Michelangelo united with him, in order to op¬ 
 pose the too favourable opinion entertained by the Romans, 
 of Raffaello. He adds, that on the death of the latter, 
 Sebastiano was universally esteemed the first artist of his 
 time, upheld by the favour of Michelangelo; Giulio Ro¬ 
 mano, and the rest of the rival school, being all inferior to 
 him. I am almost at a loss how to judge of a fact, which, if 
 discredited, seems to cast an imputation upon the historian, 
 and, if received, reflects very little credit upon Buonarotti j 
 and the reader will do best, perhaps, to decide for himself. 
 Ihe name of Sebastiano must also be added to the list of in¬ 
 ventors, for his new method of oil painting upon stone, upon 
 winch plan he executed the Flagellazione, for S. Pietro in 
 Montorio, a work as much defaced by time as the others 
 which he made in fresco remain at the same place entire, 
 lie coloured also upon stone several pictures for private 
 houses, a practice highly esteemed at its earlier period, but 
 which was soon abandoned owing to the difficulty of carriage. 
 Upon this plan, or some other resembling it, we find several 
 pictures of the sixteenth century executed, and which, at this 
 period, are esteemed in museums real antiques.* 
 
 l * 1 ma , de K r en ^ 0 ? e J, SC o h f e ° f P ‘ Federici ’ s supposition, as being at 
 kast probable, that F. Sebastiano was the same person as F. Marco 
 Pensaben, a Dominican. The year of their birth is certainly the same. 
 Hut other dates are too discordant; if, indeed, we are not to suppose that 
 the whole of what Vasari has written of Sebastiano, in his life of him, as 
 well as in those of Sanzio and Peruzzi, is merely fanciful. It is by no 
 means worth our while to draw minute comparisons between the epochs 
 of these two painters. In 1520, we found Pensaben in Venice ; next at 
 Trevigi, where he remained till July, 1521. Now, Sebastiano, the Venetian, 
 was at this very period, at Rome. The Car. Giulio de’ Medici had com¬ 
 mitted to Raffaello the picture of the Transfiguration, which, having 
 hardly completed, that artist died on Good Friday, 1520 ; and during the 
 same time, as if in competition with Raffaello, Sebastiano was employed 
 in painting the Resurrection of Lazarus, for the same cardinal, which, 
 soon after, was exhibited along with the Transfiguration, and then sent 
 into France. More still—he likewise drew the Martyrdom of Santa Agata, 
 tor the cardinal of Aragona ; a piece which, in the time of Vasari, was 
 
IMITATORS OP GIORGIONE. 
 
 139 
 
 Among the disciples of the school of Giorgione, were, like¬ 
 wise, Gio. da Udine and Francesco Torbido, a Veronese, who 
 has been surnamed il Moro, and both were distinguished 
 practisers of his tints. In regard to Giovanni, afterwards a 
 pupil of RafFaello, we have written, and we shall again write 
 elsewhere. Moro remained but little with Giorgione, a much 
 longer while with Liberale. Of this last he imitated very 
 truly both the diligence and the design, in the former even 
 surpassing him; always a severe critic upon himself, and 
 slow in completing his undertakings. We rarely meet, with 
 him in altar-pieces, still more rarely in collections of paintings, 
 for which he was often employed in sacred subjects and in 
 portraits ; deficient in nothing, except, perhaps, we could wish 
 to see somewhat greater freedom of hand. In the dome of 
 Verona, he painted several histories in fresco, among which is 
 the Assumption of the Virgin, truly admirable; but the 
 designs are not his, Giulio Romano having prepared the car¬ 
 toons. His style of execution, however, is clearly enough 
 perceived, which, in respect to colouring and to chiaroscuro, 
 discovers him to be an artist, as Vasari has recorded, “as care¬ 
 ful in regard to his use of colours, as any other who flourished 
 at the same period.” 
 
 The other names that here follow are included, according 
 to history, in the train of Giorgione, not as his pupils, but his 
 imitators. Yet all exhibit traces of Bellini, because the 
 Venetian manner, up to the time of Tintoretto, did not so 
 much aim at inventing new things, as at perfecting such as 
 had already been discovered ; not so desirous of relinquishing 
 the taste of the Bellini, as of modernizing it upon the model of 
 Titian and Giorgione. Hence it arose, that a people of pain¬ 
 ters were formed in a taste extremely uniform ; and the 
 exaggerated observation, “ that whoever had cultivated an 
 acquaintance with one Venetian artist of that age, knew them 
 
 in possession of the duke of Urbino ; then in the Palazzo Pitti at Florence, 
 whence it passed into France. There is the name of Sebastianus Venetus, 
 and the year 1520, affixed to it. This artist therefore can, by no means, 
 be confounded, with F. Marco, nor the painting of this last at Trevigi be 
 ascribed to the former. Such a mistaken opinion has been attributed to 
 me by the learned P. Federici ( vol. i. p. 120) ; but on what ground I 
 know not. 
 
140 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 all,” seemed to have some ground in truth. But still, as I 
 have said, it is exaggeration, as there is certainly much diver¬ 
 sity of style and merit when ^compared with one another. 
 Among the leading disciples of Giorgione are to be ranked 
 three, who belong to the city or territory of Bergamo, and 
 these are Lotto, as is most generally supposed, Palma, and 
 Cariani. They resemble their master most frequently in ful¬ 
 ness, but in the mixture and selection of colours they often 
 appear of the school of Lombardy. More particularly in 
 Cariani there is apparent a certain superficies, like that of 
 wax, equally diffused over the canvas, which shines so as to 
 enliven the eye; and when seen at a distance, with but little 
 light, appears in full relief, a result which others have also 
 noticed in the works of Coreggio. 
 
 The name of Lorenzo Lotto is recorded by Vasari and 
 elsewhere, in which accounts his country is considered as 
 consisting of the entire state, as he himself, indeed, affixed to 
 his picture of S. Christoforo di Loreto, “ Laurentius Lottus 
 Pictor Venetus.”* The late annotator of Vasari, observing 
 the grace of countenance and the turn of the eyes remarkable 
 in his pictures, supposed him to be a disciple of Vinci, an 
 opinion that might be supported by the authority of Lomazzo, 
 who mentions the names of Cesare da Sesto and Lorenzo Lotto 
 together, both being imitators, in the distribution of their 
 lights, of da Vinci. Lotto most likely profited by his vici¬ 
 nity to Milan, in order to cultivate an acquaintance w r ith, and 
 to imitate Vinci in many points; though I am not, therefore, 
 inclined to discredit the account which gives him for a pupil 
 to Bellini, and a rival to Castelfranco. But the style of the 
 
 * We confess our obligations to Sig. Giuseppe Beltramelli, who informs 
 us, in a work published in 1806, that this painter, generally supposed from 
 Bergamo, was really a Venetian, being thus mentioned in a public con¬ 
 tract: “ M. Laurentius Lottus de Venetiis nunc habitator Bergomi.” 
 Father Federici, who, on the strength of some historian, pronounces him 
 of Trevigi, brings forward another document in which Lotto is called, 
 “ 1L Laurentii Lotti pictoris, et de presenti Tarvisii commorantis.” If, 
 therefore, “ habitator Bergomi ” does not prove him a native of Bergamo, 
 will the words “Tarvisii commorantis” make him a native of Trevigi? 
 But Father Affb, in one of his earliest pictures, found him entitled “ Tar- 
 visinus.” Who, however, can assure us that it is in fact the hand¬ 
 writing of Lotto, which he there found written ? 
 
LORENZO LOTTO. 
 
 141 
 
 disciples of Lionardo, so uniform in Luini and in the other 
 Milanese, is very slightly perceptible in the productions of 
 Lotto. His manner is, in truth, wholly Venetian, bold in its 
 colours, luxurious in its draperies, and like Giorgione, of a 
 deep red in the fleshy parts. His hand, however, is less bold 
 and free than that of the latter, whose loftier character he is 
 fond of tempering with the play, as it were, of bis middle tints ; 
 selecting, at the same time, lighter forms, to whose heads he 
 gives a character more placid and a beauty more ideal. In 
 the back-ground of his pictures he often retains a peculiar 
 clear or azure colour, which, if it do not harmonize so much 
 with the figures, confers distinctness on each individual, and 
 presents them in a very lively manner to the eye. His pictures 
 of S. Antonio, at the Dominicans in Venice, and-of S. Niccolo, 
 at the Carmine, which design he repeated in the S. Vincenzio, 
 of the Dominicans at Recanati, are compositions extremely 
 novel and original. In his others he varies little from the 
 usual style; that of a Madonna seated on a throne, sur¬ 
 rounded with saints, with cherubs in the air, or upon the 
 steps. Yet these he relieves by the novelty of perspective, 
 or by attitudes, or contrasted views. Thus in his specimen of 
 the S. Bartolommeo, at Bergamo, entitled by Ridolfi, won¬ 
 derful, he bestows upon the Virgin and the infant Jesus such 
 finely diversified and contrasted motions, that, they seem as it 
 conversing with the holy bystanders, the one on the right and 
 the other on the left hand. And in that of S. Spirito, spark¬ 
 ling as it were with graces, we meet with a figure of S. John 
 the Baptist, drawn as a child, standing at the foot of the 
 throne, in the act of embracing a lamb, and expressing so 
 natural and lively a joy, at once so simple and innocent, with 
 a smile so beautiful, that we can hardly believe while we 
 gaze upon it, that Raflaello or Correggio could have gone be¬ 
 yond it. 
 
 Such master-pieces as these, with others that are to be seen 
 at Bergamo, in churches and private collections, place him 
 almost on a level with the first luminaries of the art. If Va¬ 
 sari did not fairly appreciate his merits, it arose only from his 
 having viewed several of his less studied and less noble 
 pieces. And it is true that he has not always exhibited the 
 same degree of excellence, or force of design. The period in 
 
142 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 which he chiefly flourished may be computed from the year 
 1513, when he was selected, among many professors of repu¬ 
 tation, to adorn the altar for the church of the Dominicans at 
 Bergamo; and, perhaps, the decline of his powers ought to 
 be dated from 1546, an epoch inscribed upon his picture of 
 San Jacopo dell’ Orio, in Venice. He was employed also at 
 Ancona, and in particular at the church of S. Dominico, at 
 Recanati, where, interspersed among pieces of superior power, 
 more especially in his smaller pictures, we detect some incor¬ 
 rectness in his extremities, and stiffness of composition, 
 resembling that of Gian Bellini; whether, as it is conjectured 
 by Vasari, they were among the earliest, or more probably 
 amongst some of his latest efforts. For it is well known, that 
 when far advanced in years, he was accustomed to retire to 
 Loreto, a little way from Recanati, and that engaged in con¬ 
 tinual supplication to the Virgin, in order that she might 
 guide him into a better method, he there closed the period of 
 his days in tranquillity. 
 
 Jacopo Palma, commonly called Palma Vecc/tio , to dis¬ 
 tinguish him from his great-nephew Jacopo, was invariably 
 considered the companion and rival of Lotto, until such time 
 as Combe first confused the historical dates relating to him. 
 By Ridolfx we are told that Palma employed himself in com¬ 
 pleting a picture left imperfect by Titian, at the period of his 
 death in 1576. Upon this, and similar authorities, Combe 
 takes occasion to postpone the birth of Palma, until 1540 ; 
 adding to which the forty-eight years assigned him by Vasari, 
 the time of his decease is placed in 1588. In such arrange¬ 
 ment the critic seems neither to have paid attention to the 
 style of Jacopo, still retaining some traces of the antique, nor 
 to the authority of Ridolti, who makes him the master of Bo- 
 nifazio, any more than to Vasari’s testimony, in the work 
 published in 1568, declaring him to have died several years 
 before that period in Venice. He does not even consider, 
 what he might more easily have ascertained, that there was 
 another Jacopo Palma, great-nephew of the elder, who, ac¬ 
 cording to the authority of Boschini (p. 110), was a pupil of 
 Titian’s as long as the latter survived; and that Ridolfi, on 
 this occasion, entitled him Palma without the addition of 
 younger on account of its being so extiemely unlikely that 
 
JACOPO PALMA. 
 
 143 
 
 any would confound him with the elder Palma.* Such, not¬ 
 withstanding, was the case, and is, in fact, only a slight sample 
 of the inaccuracies of the whole work. The same error has 
 been repeated by too many authors, even among the Italians; 
 and the most amusing of all is, that Palma the elder is said to 
 have been born about the year 1540, while, almost, in the same 
 breath, the younger Palma is declared to have been born in 
 1544. So much must here suffice as to his age, proceeding in 
 the next instance to his style. 
 
 Much attached to the method of Giorgione, he aimed at 
 attaining his clearness of expression, and vivacity of colouring. 
 In his celebrated picture of Saint Barbara, at S. Maria For¬ 
 mosa, one of his most powerful and characteristic productions, 
 Jacopo more especially adopted him as his model. In some 
 of his other pieces, he more nearly approaches Titian, a re¬ 
 semblance, we are told by Ridolfi, consisting in the peculiar 
 grace which he acquired from studying the earliest productions 
 of that great master. Of this kind is the Supper of Christ, 
 painted for Santa Maria Mater Domini , with the Virgin at 
 San Stefano di Vicenza, executed with so much sweetness of 
 expression as to be esteemed one of his happiest productions. 
 There are many examples of both styles to be met with in the 
 grand Carrara collection, as given in the list of Count Tassi 
 (p. 93). Finally, Zanetti is of opinion that in some others he 
 displays a more original genius, as exemplified in the Epiphany 
 of the island of Saint Helena,+ where he equally shines in the 
 character of a naturalist who selects well, who carefully dis¬ 
 poses his draperies, and who composes according to good rules. 
 The distinguishing character then of his pieces is diligence, 
 refinement, and a harmony of tints, so great as to leave no 
 traces of the pencil; and it has been observed by one of his 
 historians, that he long occupied himself in the production of 
 each piece, and frequently retouched it. In the mixture of 
 his colours, as well as other respects, he often resembles Lotto, 
 and if less animated and sublime, he is, perhaps, generally 
 speaking, more beautiful in the form of his heads, especially 
 in those of boys and women. It is the opinion of some, that 
 
 * Several works of the elder Palma are met with in Sermalta, a place 
 in the province of Bergamo. A. 
 
 + This picture is now in the I. R. Pinacoteca of Milan. 
 
144 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-FPOCII II. 
 
 in several of his countenances he expressed the likeness of his 
 daughter Violante, very nearly related to Titian, and a por¬ 
 trait of whom, by the hand of her father, was to be seen in the 
 gallery of Sera, a Florentine gentleman, who purchased at 
 Venice many rarities for the House of the Medici, as well as 
 for himself (Boschini, p. 368). A variety of pictures in¬ 
 tended for private rooms, met with in different places in Italy, 
 have also been attributed to the hand of Palma ; besides por¬ 
 traits, one of which has been commended by Vasari as truly 
 astonishing, from its beauty ; and Madonnas, chiefly drawn 
 along with other saints, on oblong canvas; a practice in 
 common use by many artists of that age, some of whom we 
 have already recounted, and others are yet to come. But the 
 least informed among people of taste, being ignorant of their 
 names, the moment they behold a picture between the dryness 
 of Giovanni Bellini and the softness of Titian, pronounce it to 
 be a Palma, and this, more particularly, where they find coun¬ 
 tenances well rounded and coloured, landscape exhibited with 
 care, and roseate hues in the drapery, occurring more fre¬ 
 quently than any of a more sanguine dye. In this way Palma 
 is in the mouths of all, while other artists, also very numerous, 
 are mentioned only in proportion as they have attached their 
 own names to their productions. One of these, resembling 
 Palma and Lotto, but slightly known beyond.the precincts of 
 Bergamo and some adjacent cities, is Giovanni Cariani, as to 
 whom Vasari is altogether silent. One of his pieces, repre¬ 
 senting our Saviour, along with several saints, and dated 1514,1 
 have myself seen at Milan, which appears to have been alto¬ 
 gether formed upon the model of Giorgione. If I mistake not, it 
 is a juvenile production, and when compared with some others, 
 which I saw at Bergamo, very indifferent in its forms. The most 
 excellent of any from his hand, is a Virgin, preserved at the 
 Servi, with a group of beatified spirits, a choir of angels, andother 
 angels at her feet, engaged in playing upon theirharps inconcert. 
 J t is an exceedingly graceful production, delightfully orna¬ 
 mented with landscape and figures in the distance; very 
 tasteful in its tints, which are blended in a manner equal to 
 the most studied specimens of the two artists of Bergamo, 
 already mentioned ; thus forming with them a triumvirate, 
 calculated to reflect honour upon any country. It has been 
 
BOCCO MARCONI AND PARIS BORDONE. 
 
 145 
 
 stated by Tassi, that the celebrated Zuccherelli never visited 
 Bergamo, without returning to admire the beauties of this 
 picture, pronouncing it one of the finest specimens of the art 
 he had ever beheld, and the best which that city had to 
 boast. Cariani was also no less distinguished as a portr it- 
 painter, as we gather from a piece belonging to the counts 
 Albani, containing various portraits of that noble family ; and 
 which, surrounded with specimens of the best colourists, 
 would almost appear to be the only one deserving of peculiar 
 admiration. 
 
 The city of Trevigi may boast of two artists belonging to 
 the same class, though widely differing from each other. One 
 of these is Rocco Marconi, distinguished by Zanetti among 
 some of the best disciples of Bellini, and erroneously referred 
 by Ridolfi to the school of Palma. He excelled in accuracy 
 of design, taste of colouring, and diligence of hand, though 
 not always sufficiently easy in his contours, and for the most 
 part exhibiting a severity almost approaching to plebeian 
 coarseness in his countenances. Even in the earliest produc¬ 
 tion attributed to him, executed in the year 1505, and pre¬ 
 served in the church of San Niccolo, at Trevigi, Ridolfi 
 detects that peculiar clearness of style, which may be traced 
 also so strongly in his Three Apostles, at SS. Giovanni and 
 Paolo, as well as in his few other pictures dispersed among 
 the public places. Indeed, half-length figures of this artist 
 are by no means of rare occurrence in private collections, 
 though he can boast no single specimen so beautiful, or so 
 completely Giorgionesque, as his Judgment of the Adulte¬ 
 ress, to be seen in the chapter of San Giorgio Maggiore, and 
 of which there is either a duplicate or a copy at San Pantaleo, 
 and in other places. The other of these two artists, is Paris 
 Bordone, the elevation of whose mind and genius seemed to 
 correspond with that of his birth. After having been a pupil 
 of Titian for a short period, he became an enthusiastic imita¬ 
 tor of Giorgione, finally adopting an originality of manner, 
 whose peculiar grace bears no resemblance to that of any 
 other painter. His forms may truly be said to breathe, to 
 glow, and even to laugh, with a force of colouring, which, in¬ 
 capable of displaying a greater degree of truth than that of 
 Titian, aimed, nevertheless, at more variety and attraction ; 
 
 ' OL. II. L 
 
146 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 while, at the same time, they were not wanting in delicacy of 
 design, novelty of drapery, propriety of composition, and a 
 peculiarly lively air of the heads. In the church of S. 
 Giobbe, he produced a picture of S. Andrew embracing his 
 Cross, with an angel seen hovering above, in the act of be¬ 
 stowing upon him the crown of martyrdom; while in one of 
 the two saints, represented at the side, he drew the figure of 
 S. Peter, in the act of gazing upon him with a kind of envy; 
 an idea equally novel and picturesque. A similar method he 
 adopted in other of his works, produced in great part for the 
 ornament of his native place and its vicinity. Not a subject 
 but is taken from the antique; yet each of them is treated 
 with originality. Of such kind, is that picture of a true 
 Paradise, seen in the Ognissanti at Trevigi, and those evan¬ 
 gelical mysteries in the cathedral of the same city, repre¬ 
 sented in an altar-piece, divided into six different groups, at 
 the request, it is presumed, of the person who engaged him to 
 execute it. Here, we behold, assembled in a small space, 
 every thing of the most pleasing and beautiful kind, which he 
 has elsewhere scattered throughout the whole of his works. 
 In Venice, his representation of the restoration of the ring to 
 the Doge, by a fisherman, possesses a high reputation; and 
 this, accompanied with that of the Tempest, shortly before de¬ 
 scribed, by Giorgione, forms an admirable contrast in its 
 beauty to the terrors abounding in the latter. Decorated 
 with the finest specimens of architecture, and a profusion of 
 animated and well-adapted figures, as varied in their actions 
 as in their draperies, it has been commended by Vasari as 
 the master-piece of his labours. The same artist is, likewise, 
 highly prized in collections. Madonnas of his are to be met 
 with, characterized by the uniformity of their countenance, as 
 well a.s some of his portraits, often attired in the manner of 
 Giorgione, and composed with fine and novel embellishments. 
 Being invited to the court of Francis II., he acquired the 
 favour of that monarch and of his successor, thus enriching 
 himself by the exercise of his talents. He had a son who 
 pursued the same branches of the art; but from his picture of 
 Daniel, remaining at Santa Maria Formosa, in Venice, it is 
 evident how very inferior he must have been. 
 
 At the same time flourished one Girolamo da Trevigi, a 
 
GIO. ANTONIO LICINIO. 
 
 147 
 
 different artist to his namesake already mentioned by us, 
 who, induced probably by the example of his noble fellow- 
 citizen, and turning his attention to a more select style than 
 the generality of the Venetian school, applied himself to the 
 models of Raffaello and the Romans. He is entitled by 
 Padre Federici, upon the authority of Mauro, Pennacchi, and 
 ,is considered by him the son of that Piermaria of whom we 
 made brief mention before (page 109). There is little from 
 his hand remaining at Venice, but more in Bologna, particu¬ 
 larly at San Petronio, where he painted in oil the histories of 
 S. Antony of Padua, with judgment and grace, combined 
 with an exquisite degree of polish, which obtained for him 
 the commendation of \ asari. It was here he happily suc¬ 
 ceeded in uniting the excellences of the two schools, though 
 he did not flourish long enough to mature them, having de¬ 
 voted himself to the military occupation of an engineer, to 
 which service he fell a victim in 1544, while in England ; he 
 was killed, according to Vasari, in his thirty-sixth year. * On 
 this last point, we can scarcely admit the emendation offered 
 us by the author of the “ Description of Vicenza,” who would 
 substitute for this earlier date the age of seventy-six years, a 
 period of life when men seldom encounter their final doom’in 
 the field. In this instance, perhaps, the emendator was not 
 aware that there exist signatures of a Girolamo da Treviso, 
 met with upon pictures from the year 1472 to that of 1487, 
 uniformly of ancient design; an artist, who could not, in the 
 common course of life, have survived to become an excellent 
 disciple of Raffaello, and the assistant of Pupini at Bologna, 
 about the year 1530. He failed, therefore, to make a dis¬ 
 tinction between two painters of the same name, as it will be 
 perceived we have done, followed by the authority of Padre 
 Federici. 
 
 . Finally, in this list must be enumerated Gio. Antonio Li- 
 cinio, either Sacchiense, or Cuticello,* until such period, as 
 happening to be wounded in the hand by his brother, he re¬ 
 nounced all title to his family name, assuming the appellation 
 
 * Thus called by the oldest writers, though, from his father’s testa¬ 
 ment, recently brought to light, it appears to be erroneous. Here his 
 father is entitled, Angelus de Lodesanis de Corticellis (or in a MS. of the 
 Signori Mottensi of Pordenone, de Corticelsis) Brixiensis. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 of Regill o. He is commonly, however, called Pordenone, from 
 his native place, formerly a province, and now a city of the 
 Friuli. “ In this province,” it is observed by Vasari, “there 
 flourished, during his time, a great number of excellent artists, 
 who had never visited either Florence or Rome ; but he stood 
 pre-eminent above all, surpassing his predecessors in the con¬ 
 ception of his pieces, in design, in boldness, in the use of his. 
 colours, in his frescos, in rapidity, in grandeur of relief, and, 
 indeed, in every other attribute of the arts.” It is uncertain 
 whether he attended the school of Castelfranco, as it has been 
 supposed by some, and much more so, whether he was a fellow- 
 student along with him and Titian, under Giovanni Bellini, a 
 supposition started by Rinaldis (p. 62). To me, the opinion 
 reported by Ridolfi appears nearer the truth, that having first 
 studied, in his youth, the productions of Pellegrino, at Udine, 
 he subsequently adopted the manner of Giorgione, following 
 the bias of his own genius, invariably the artist’s safest guide 
 in the formation of a style. Other disciples of Giorgione more 
 or less resembled him in manner, but Pordenone seemed to vie 
 with him in spirit, a spirit equally daring, resolute, and great; 
 surpassed by no other, perhaps, in the Venetian school. Yet 
 in Lower Italy he is little known beyond his name. The pic¬ 
 ture with the portraits of his family, preserved in the Palazzo 
 Borghese, is the best production of his that I have met with 
 in these parts. And elsewhere, indeed, we rarely behold such 
 histories as his exquisite picture of the Raising of Lazarus, in 
 possession of the Conti Lecchi, at Brescia. Nor does he 
 abound in altar-pieces, beyond the province of Friuli, which 
 boasts of several in different places, though not all equally 
 genuine. The few executed in Pordenone are unquestionably 
 his, inasmuch as he has himself described them in a memorial 
 still extant.* The collegiate church possesses two of these ; 
 one consisting of a Holy Family, with S. Christopher, executed 
 in 1515, very finely coloured, but not exempt from some in¬ 
 accuracies. The other bears the date of 1535, representing 
 S. Mark in the act of consecrating a bishop, along with other 
 
 * It is inserted in a Transunto of MSS. belonging to the noble Ernesto 
 Mottensi of Pordenone, communicated to me by the P. D. Michele 
 Turriani Barnabita, extremely skilled in the parchments and ancient 
 memorials of Friuli. 
 
WORKS OF LICINIO. 
 
 149 
 
 saints, and with perspective; a piece, says its author, pasta 
 in opera , non Jinita, begun, indeed, but not finished. A more 
 complete specimen was to be seen at San Pier Martire di 
 Udine, in his Annunciation, since retouched and destroyed. 
 Some there are who have preferred, before every other, that 
 preserved in S. Maria dell’ Orto, at Venice. It consists of 
 San Lorenzo Giustiniani, surrounded by various saints, among 
 whom S. John the Baptist appears naked according to the 
 rules of the most learned schools ; while the arm of S. Augus¬ 
 tine is seen, as it were, stretched forth out of the picture, an 
 effect of perspective this artist has repeated in various other 
 places. The most beautiful of his pieces in Piacenza, where 
 he had established himself, is his picture of the Marriage of 
 S. Catherine, upon a dark ground, which gives a roundness to 
 the whole of the figures; it is full of grace in those of a more 
 tender character, and displays grandeur in the forms of 
 S. Peter and S. Paul, represented on the two sides; in the last 
 of whom, as well as in the S. Rocco of Pordenone, he gave a 
 portrait of himself. 
 
 But his works in fresco display the highest degree of merit; 
 great part of which he produced in the Friuli, besides 
 numerous others scattered throughout castles and villas, no 
 longer distinguished by strangers, except from the circum¬ 
 stance of possessing some painting of Pordenone. Such places 
 are Castions, Valeriano, Villanova, Varmo, Pallazuolo, where 
 he is with certainty known to have employed his talents. A 
 few remnants are likewise preserved in Mantua, in the Casa 
 de’ Cesarei, and in the palazzo Doria, at Genoa; some at 
 S. Rocco, and the cloisters of S. Stefano, in Venice, and many 
 specimens in high preservation in the dome of Cremona, and 
 at Santa Maria di Campagna, in Piacenza, where, in collec¬ 
 tions, and in the fafjades of houses, other pieces of his are 
 pointed out. His labours in fresco, however, are not all 
 equally studied and correct; more particularly those in his 
 native Friuli, which he produced at an early age in great 
 abundance, and for a small price. He is more select in his 
 male forms than in those of his women, whose model he ap¬ 
 pears to have frequently taken from very robust rather than 
 very beautiful subjects, most probably met with in the adja¬ 
 cent province of Carnia, where he is said to have indulged his 
 
150 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 early passions. But in every tiling he undertook we may in¬ 
 variably trace the workings of a vigorous fancy, rich in con¬ 
 ceiving, in varying, and developing his ideas; powerful in his 
 exhibition of the passions, displaying the master-hand that 
 encounters the difficulties of the art with the most novel com¬ 
 binations in the science of fore-shortening, with the most 
 laboured perspective, and with a power of relief which appears 
 perfectly starting from the canvas. 
 
 In Venice, he seemed to surpass all he had before done. 
 The competition, or rather enmity, subsisting between him 
 and litian, served as a spur, both by day and night, to 
 actuate him to fresh exertions. He was at times even 
 accustomed to paint with arms at his side; and it is the 
 opinion of many, that such emulation was of no less ad¬ 
 vantage to Titian, than was the rivalship of Michelangelo to 
 Raflaello. . In this instance, also, the one excelled in strength, 
 the other in grace of hand ; or, as it has been observed by 
 Zanetti, nature prevailed in Titian in a superior degree to 
 manner, while in Pordenone both shone with an equal degree 
 of excellence. To have competed with Titian is a circum¬ 
 stance not a little honourable to his name, and has acquired 
 for him in the A enetian school the second rank, at least, in a 
 period so prolific in excellent artists. A portion of the 
 people, indeed, then preferred him to Titian; for, as I have 
 elsewhere observed, there is nothing so well calculated to 
 surprise the multitude as the production of fine effect and of the 
 chiaroscuro, in which art he is known to have first preceded 
 Guercino. . Pordenone was highly favoured, and presented 
 with the title of cavalier by Charles V. ; and being subse¬ 
 quently invited to the court of Ercole II., duke of Ferrara, 
 he died there shortly after, not without suspicion of having 
 been poisoned. V e have in the next place to give an 
 account of his school. 
 
 Bernardino Licinio, from his surname probably a relation 
 of the foregoing, was an artist who is here deserving of men¬ 
 tion. V e gather from history, as well as from his manner, that 
 he was also a pupil of Pordenone; and there remains at the 
 C onventuali, in Venice, an altar-piece of the usual antique 
 c omposition, quite in the style of the other Licinio, from his 
 hand. It is reported, likewise, that some of his portraits are 
 
DISCIPLES OF PORDENONE. 
 
 151 
 
 preserved in different collections which have been erroneously 
 ascribed to the elder Pordenone. Sandrart makes mention of 
 Giulio Licinio da Pordenone, a nephew and scholar to Gio. 
 Antonio, adding that he employed himself in Venice; thence 
 transferred his residence to Augusta, where he left behind 
 him some truly surprising specimens in fresco, which obtained 
 for him with some a higher reputation than his uncle. He 
 would appear to be the same Giulio Lizino, who, in competi 
 tion with Schiavone, Paul Veronese, and other artists, pro¬ 
 duced the three circular pieces, in the library of St. Mark, 
 in the year 1556. By Zanetti he is considered of Roman 
 origin,* but this is a mistake, arising from Giuiio’s having 
 assumed the title of Romano during his residence in the 
 capital; while he retained it in Venice, the better to dis¬ 
 tinguish him from the other Licinj, in the same manner as we 
 have already observed of one of the Trevisani, about the 
 same period. 
 
 Giannantonio Licinio the younger was a brother to Giulio, 
 and more commonly named Sacchiense, an artist who has 
 been highly commended, but whose works are no longer to be 
 seen, not even in Como, as far as we can learn, where he died. 
 
 After the Licinj we ought next to record the name of Cal- 
 derari, a distinguished pupil of Gio. Antonio, who has suc¬ 
 ceeded in sometimes imposing upon the most acute judges. 
 Thus it has occurred in the parish church of Montereale, 
 where he produced many scripture histories in fresco, which 
 had been uniformly ascribed to the hand of Pordenone, until 
 the discovery of a document establishing the contrary. He 
 is even little known in his native place of Pordenone, and 
 his frescos in the cathedral were attributed to the pencil of 
 Amalteo. Pordenone may also boast of another disciple in 
 Francesco Beccaruzzi da Conigliano. For this we have the 
 authority of Ridolfi, confirmed by the artist's own work, 
 ornamenting his native place, of St. Francis in the act of re¬ 
 ceiving the stigmata, or marks of Christ, a figure more strik- 
 ing in point of relief than of colouring. To the same school 
 has been added by Orlandi, the name of Gio. Batista Grassi, 
 a good painter, but more excellent as an architect, and the 
 
 * See his work on Venetian Painting, p. 250. 
 
152 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 same from whom Vasari drew his notices of the painters of 
 Friuli. I should be inclined, however, to refer him to some 
 other school, both on account of Vasari’s silence on a point 
 so creditable to him, and his resemblance to the manner of 
 Titian in such of the few pieces as have been well preserved, 
 and are exempt from modern retouches of art. Of this kind 
 are his pictures of the Annunciation ; the Translation of 
 Elias ; and the Vision of Ezekiel, in the cathedral of Gemona, 
 on the doors of the organ there. 
 
 The last name to be enumerated in this class, is that of 
 Pomponio Amalteo, a native of San Vito, and of a noble fa¬ 
 mily which yet boasts its descendants at Uderzo. He was 
 one of the most excellent of Giannantonio’s pupils, and 
 introduced his master’s style into the Friuli, for which reason 
 we shall here give him a place, together with the whole of his 
 followers. He was son-in-law to Pordenone, and the artist 
 who succeeded him in his school at Friuli. Both there and 
 in other places he employed himself in works of distinguished 
 merit. He preserved the manner of his father-in-law, as has 
 been observed by Ridolfi, who erroneously ascribes to Licinio 
 the Three Judgments, indisputably the production of Amalteo, 
 which he represented in a gallery at Ceneda, in which causes 
 are decided. They consist of the Judgment of Solomon, of 
 that of Daniel, and a third of Trajan ; the whole completed 
 in the year 1536. It is everywhere evident that he aspired 
 to originality of manner; his shading is less strong, his 
 colours are brighter, and the proportions of his figures and 
 all his ideas are upon a less elevated scale than those of his 
 father-in-law. Some faint idea of his works may be gathered 
 from Vasari and Ridolfi, who omitted, however, many of 
 them, among others the five pictures of Roman histories 
 adorning the Hall of the Notaries at Belluno; but it is only 
 some faint idea, inasmuch as neither these two writers, nor 
 Altan, who collected memorials of him in a little work, were 
 at all enabled to do full justice to the labours of an artist who 
 continued to occupy himself, assisted by various other hands, 
 until the latest period of his life. Hence it is that the bulk 
 of his works can by no means boast the same degree of ex¬ 
 cellence as the Three Judgments we have mentioned, or the 
 picture of S. Francis, at the church of that name, in Udine, 
 
ANTONIO BOSELLO. 
 
 153 
 
 esteemed one among the valuable pieces belonging to the city. 
 Still, wherever or upon whatever subject he employed him¬ 
 self, he displayed the powers of a great master, educated by 
 Pordenone ; and one who not only shewed himself, with the 
 generality of Venetians, a splendid colourist, but designed far 
 more accurately. The same merit continued, for some period, 
 to characterize his successors, who, however, if I mistake not, 
 were greatly inferior to him in genius; excepting only his 
 brother, with whom we shall commence the history of Pom- 
 ponio's school. 
 
 His name was Girolamo, and, receiving the instructions of 
 his brother, he is supposed to have assisted him in his labours, 
 giving proofs of a noble genius, which he more peculiarly 
 manifested in works of design ; in small pictures, which ap¬ 
 peared like miniature ; in several fables executed in fresco, and 
 in an altar-piece which he painted in the church of San Vito. 
 Ridolfi commends him highly for his spirited manner, and 
 another of the old writers, as we learn from Rinaldis, gives 
 his opinion, that if he had flourished for a longer period, he 
 would, perhaps, have proved no way inferior to the great 
 Pordenone. Hence I find reason to conclude that Girolamo 
 continued, during life, the exercise of his art; and that the 
 report transmitted to us through Ridolfi, about a century after 
 his death, of his brother Pomponio having devoted him, out of 
 jealousy of his genius, to mercantile pursuits, as was certainly 
 the case with a brother of Titian, must have been wholly 
 without foundation. 
 
 Pomponio likewise availed himself of the aid of Antonio 
 Bosello in the paintings he produced at Ceneda, as well as for 
 the Patriarch within the gallery just before recorded, and for 
 the canons in the organ of the cathedral. This artist must 
 assuredly have arrived at some degree of perfection, inasmuch 
 as we are in possession of the particulars of various salaries 
 paid to him, distinct from such as were paid to the principal. 
 As I find mention in Bergamo of an Antonio Boselli, me¬ 
 morials of whom subsist there between the period of 1509 and 
 that of 1527, it is extremely probable that he was the same 
 painter, who, being unable to contend with the fame of Lotto, 
 and so many other of his contemporaries in that celebrated 
 school, sought for better fortune beyond his native place. It 
 
154 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 is certain he exercised his talents in Padua, and thence he 
 might easily penetrate into Friuli, and give his assistance to 
 Pomponio, whilst employed at Ceneda during the years 1534, 
 1535, and 1536. 
 
 In the course of time, Amalteo, having bestowed two of 
 his daughters in marriage, appears to have obtained the assist¬ 
 ance of his sons-in-law, both painters, and promoted by him 
 in the progress of their art. Quintilia, who had the reputa¬ 
 tion of a fine genius, familiar with the principles both of 
 painting and engraving, and more particularly excellent in 
 portraits, became united to Gioseffo Moretto, of Friuli, 
 although there remains only a single altar-piece of his in the 
 Friuli, in the province of San Yito, bearing the following 
 inscription : “ Inchoavit Pomponius Amalteus, perfecit Joseph 
 Moretius, anno 1588 a short time previous to which date, 
 his father-in-law had resigned his profession with his life. 
 The other daughter espoused Sebastiano Seccante, mentioned 
 by Ridolfi, and esteemed in Udine for his two grand pictures 
 embellished with fine portraits, with which he ornamented the 
 castle of the city ; and still more so for several of his altar- 
 pieces. Of these there i3 one at San Giorgio, representing 
 the Redeemer, suffering under the cross, between various 
 figures of cherubs, holding other instruments of his passion ; 
 a piece that displays all the excellent maxims derived from 
 his education. This artist may be pronounced the last of the 
 great school, whose productions do credit to a good collection. 
 His brother, Giacomo, who did not apply himself to painting 
 until he had attained his fiftieth year; Sebastiano, the son of 
 Giacomo, who became early initiated in the art, without even 
 equalling his father, with their relative Seccante, who lived 
 at the same period, were none of them esteemed, even in 
 Udine, beyond mediocrity in their respective lines. Two 
 natives, however, of San Yito, named Pier Antonio Alessio, 
 and Cristoforo Diana, were much commended by Cesarini, 
 one of Amalteo’s contemporaries. They were employed in 
 their studies at the very period that the former wrote his 
 dialogue ; though there remain no memorials of Pier Antonio, 
 similar to those of Cristoforo, of whom Altan discovered 
 several specimens at San Yito, in a very good style, besides 
 one preserved in the monastery of Sesto, bearing traces of his 
 
DISCIPLES OP PELLEGRINO. 
 
 155 
 
 name, which he had inscribed upon it. TVe shall close this 
 catalogue wdth the name of another disciple of Amalteo, be¬ 
 longing to ban Daniele, where, among some other remains, 
 there is a tolerably good fresco, preserved in the fa 9 ade of one 
 of. the inns in the suburbs of the place. It represents the 
 ^ irg’hi, seated with the divine child, her throne surrounded 
 b y Thomas the Apostle, and S. Valentine, along with 
 other saints ; and it bears the inscription “ Opus Julii 
 Urbanis, 1574 ; it partakes of the taste of Amalteo, and of 
 Pordenone, the succession of whose school we have just 
 completed, history affording us no further materials for 
 description. 
 
 lii t the school of Amalteo continued to embellish various 
 cities, provinces, and villas of the Priuli, another from the 
 same place started into competition with it, first introduced 
 by Pellegrino, of which mention has been made at page 111, 
 though I reserved its description for this place. The whole of 
 Pellegrino s disciples followed him at a very unequal pace, and 
 few of their works can be pointed out which appear to catch the 
 spirit of his fresco of S. Daniel, or his altar-piece at Cividale, 
 alieady mentioned with praise. Luca Monverde was an 
 artist who flourished but for a short period, nor ever advanced 
 beyond the Bellini manner, imbibed from his master at a very 
 early age.. In this, however, he arrived at so high a degree 
 of perfection, that his picture, adorning the great altar of the 
 Grazie at Udine, a church dedicated to S. Gervasio and 
 S.. Protasio, which is there placed around the throne of the 
 Virgin, was highly commended previous to its being re¬ 
 touched. And we are elsewhere informed that Luca, while 
 he flourished, was regarded as a sort of prodigy of genius. 
 Girolamo d Udine, supposed also to come under this standard, 
 has been omitted by Grassi, in his sketch of the painters 
 transmitted to Vasari, and is no otherwise known than for his 
 little picture of the Coronation of our Lady, remaining in 
 Sau Francesco at Udine, with his name attached. The 
 vigour of its colours is striking, the invention novel, but 
 rather strained; and, if I mistake not, the whole betrays an 
 artist educated with other maxims. I pass over Martini, 
 though I am aware Altan maintains him to have been a 
 scholar, rather than a fellow-pupil of Pellegrino; but the 
 
156 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 authority of Vasari, combined with his own beautiful picture 
 at S. Mark’s, so nearly simultaneous with that of Pellegrino, 
 induce me to retain my own opinion. I should hardly ven¬ 
 ture to decide to which of the two preceding masters Bernar¬ 
 dino Blaceo ought to be referred ; an artist who appears, from 
 the great altar-piece of S. Lucia, with his name attached, to 
 have retained the ancient style of composition, while in other 
 points his manner is sufficiently graceful and modern. Another 
 artist who has been with more certainty given as a pupil to 
 Pellegrino, was by birth a Greek, of singular merit in his 
 art, but who has retained only his national appellative of 
 N. Greco. Thus the number of disciples from San Daniele, at 
 all worthy of such a master, is reduced to two, Florigerio and 
 Floriani. The labours of the former in Udine, executed in 
 fresco, have however perished, though his picture ofS. George, 
 in the church of the same name, still survives, of itself suffi¬ 
 cient to constitute an artist’s fame. It is esteemed by many 
 the best specimen in the city, displaying both in the figures 
 and the landscape a strength of hand which appears to rival 
 Giorgione more than any other model we could mention. He 
 painted, likewise, with equal spirit, though scarcely, perhaps, 
 with equal softness, in the city of Padua; and there he 
 subscribed his name to one of his frescos, Florigerio, as 
 it has been read by the “ Guida” of Padua, in which I 
 agree; and not Flerigorio, as he has been called by some 
 historians. Francesco Floriani, together with his brother 
 Antonio, though devoting his talents to the service of Maxi¬ 
 milian II., at Vienna, boasts, nevertheless, a high reputation 
 in Udine. lie was more particularly excellent in portrait, a 
 specimen of which is in possession of Signor Gio. Batista de 
 Rubeis; being a portrait of Ascanio Belgrado, which might 
 almost be placed in competition with Moroni or Tinelli. He 
 produced several altar-pieces for churches, the most highly 
 admired of which was, perhaps, that placed at Reana, a°vil- 
 lage near Udine. It has recently been purchased and divided 
 into as many small pictures as the number of saints which it 
 contained, and which now belong to a private collection. 
 
 But it is at length time to proceed to Tiziano Vecellio, a 
 name the reader has probably long wished to greet. Yet I 
 fear I shall hardly gratify his expectations ; for where we 
 
TITIAN. 
 
 157 
 
 have formed enlarged ideas of an artist’s worth, every attempt 
 to do justice to the splendid merits we admire appears not 
 only inferior, but in some measure derogatory to the character 
 we would exalt. But if in treating on the qualities of artists, 
 we may consider a particular estimation of their characteristic 
 talents preferable to warm commendations, I shall avail 
 myself of the judgment of an excellent critic, who was accus¬ 
 tomed to say that Titian observed and drew nature in all her 
 truth, better than any other artist. To this I might add the 
 testimony of another, that of all painters, he was most 
 familiar with nature, in all her forms; the universal 
 master, who in every subject he undertook, whether figures, 
 elements, landscape, or other pieces, imprinted upon all that 
 lively nature constituting the great charm of his genius. He 
 was gifted, likewise, with a peculiarly sound judgment, tran¬ 
 quil, penetrative, and decidedly studious of what was true, 
 rather than what was novel and specious ; a character no less 
 essential to the production of true painters than of true writers. 
 
 The education he first received from Sebastiano Zuccati, a 
 native of the Yalteline, though supposed to have been of Tre- 
 vigi,* and next from Gian Bellini, had the effect of rendering 
 
 * By means of Sig. Ab. Gei, of Cadore, a young man of the most 
 promising abilities, I have obtained notice of an artist belonging to that 
 place, who, from various authorities, is supposed to have been the in¬ 
 structor of the great Titian. It is certain he flourished towards the close 
 of the fifteenth century; nor does there exist accounts of any other ar¬ 
 tist of Cadore, capable of initiating his countrymen in a knowledge of the 
 art. Three of his pictures in water-colours, in the usual style of compo¬ 
 sition at that time, so frequently described, are yet extant; the first, a 
 fine altar-piece, adorning the parish church at Selva, in which the titular 
 S. Lorenzo, with others, in an upright posture, are seen surrounding the 
 throne of the Virgin ; a second, of smaller size, is in the Oratory of Sig. 
 Antonio Zamberlani, in the parish church of Cadore, where the throne 
 appears encompassed with cherubs playing upon instruments ; the third, 
 placed at San Bartolommeo of Nabiu, is divided into six compartments; 
 the best, or at least the most free from harshness of manner of the whole. 
 It is inferior, however, in design to Jacopo Bellini, though equal, perhaps, 
 in point of diligence and colouring, and similar in its style. Upon the 
 first he has inscribed, “ Antonius Rubeus de Cadubrio pinxitupon the 
 second, “ Opus Antonii Rubei but the letter e being defaced, the 
 word looks like Rubli ; upon the third is found “ Antonius Zaudanus 
 (da Zoldo) pinxit.” Thus, if we combine these inscriptions, it will ap¬ 
 pear that this ancient painter, whom we now place at the head of the 
 artists belonging to that prolific clime, was Antonio Rossi Cadorino. 
 
158 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 him a minute observer of every object falling under the 
 senses. To such a degree of excellence did he carry it, that 
 when, later in life, he wished to compete with Albert Durer, 
 and produced, at Ferrara, the Christ to whom the Pharisee is 
 seen offering the piece of money,* he executed it with so much 
 exactness as to surpass even the minuteness which character¬ 
 izes that artist. Indeed, in several of those figures, the hairs 
 might be numbered, the skin of the hands, the very pores of 
 the flesh, and the reflection of objects in the pupils; yet with 
 all this, the work failed not of success, for where the pictures 
 of Durer appear to diminish and lose their effect at a distance, 
 this improves in size, and grows, as it were, upon the spec¬ 
 tator. But he never repeated any specimen in this style, 
 adopting, as is well known, while yet very young, that free 
 and unshackled manner, first originating with his fellow-stu¬ 
 dent, afterwards his rival, Giorgione. A few of the portraits, 
 indeed, painted by Titian, during that short period, are not 
 to be distinguished from those of Giorgione himself. I say 
 during that period, because shortly afterwards he formed a 
 new style, less bold, clear, and fiery, but one peculiarly his, 
 the sweetness of which attracts the spectator more by its art¬ 
 less representation of truth, than by the novelty of its effect. 
 The first specimen he is known to have produced altogether 
 in the Titian manner is preserved in the sacristy of San 
 Marziale, representing the archangel Raphael, with Tobias at 
 his side, painted in the thirtieth year of his age. Following 
 at a short interval, if we are to give credit to Ridolfi, he next 
 produced that fine representation of our Lord, for the college 
 of the Caritti, one of the grandest pictures, and the richest, 
 perhaps, in point of figures, which we have now to boast ; 
 many of them having since perished in different conflagrations. 
 
 From these, and a few others, painted in the zenith*of his 
 
 * Ridolfi. This picture is now in Dresden, and Italy abounds with 
 copies. One of these I saw at S. Saverio di Rimini, inscribed with the 
 name of Titian on the band of the Pharisee, a very beautiful production, 
 and believed by many to be a duplicate rather than a copy. Albert was 
 in Italy in 1495 and in 1506. In Venice, one of his pictures, in the 
 council of the Ten, is cited by Zanetti; it is Jesus Christ shewn to the 
 people; and an altar-piece is also mentioned by Sansovino, placed at 
 S. Bartolommeo, commended both by him and by other writers. fSee 
 the Sig. Morelli’s Annotations on the “ Notizia,” p. 223.) 
 
TITIAN. 
 
 159 
 
 fame, his critics have gathered the general idea of his style ; 
 the greatest contest which they have amongst themselves, 
 relating to the design. By Mengs he is denied the title to 
 rank among good designers,* considering him an artist of 
 ordinary taste, by no means familiar with, however well he 
 might, if he pleased, have succeeded in the study of the an¬ 
 tique, possessing so very exact an eye in copying objects from 
 nature. Yasari appears to be of the same opinion, where he 
 introduces Michelangelo observing, after viewing the Leda 
 of Titian,t “that it was a great pity the Venetian artists 
 were not earlier taught how to design.” The judgment 
 formed of him by Tintoret, though placed in competition with 
 him, was less severe, namely, “ that Titian had produced some 
 things which it was impossible to surpass, but that others 
 might have been more correctly designed.” And among 
 these more excellent pieces, he might indisputably have in¬ 
 cluded his San Pietro Martire, in the church of SS. Giovanni 
 and Paolo, a piece, says Algarotti, which the best masters 
 have agreed in pronouncing “ free from every shade of de¬ 
 fect ;” besides that fine Bacchanal, and a few others, orna¬ 
 menting a cabinet of the duke of Ferrara, and declared by 
 Agostini. Caracci prodigies of art, and the finest paintings in 
 the world. J Fresnoy was of opinion that in the figures of 
 his men he was not altogether perfect, and that in his dra¬ 
 peries he was somewhat insignificant ;§ but that many of his 
 women and boys are exquisite, both in point of design and 
 colouring. This commendation is confirmed by Algarotti, in 
 respect to his female forms, and by Mengs in those of his boys. 
 Indeed it is almost universally admitted that in such kind of 
 figures, no artist was ever comparable to him ; and that Pous¬ 
 sin and Fiammingo,|| who so greatly excelled in this parti¬ 
 cular, acquired it only from Titian’s pictures. Reynolds^ 
 also affirms that, “ although his style may not be altogether 
 as chaste as that of other schools of Italy, it nevertheless 
 possesses a certain air of senatorial dignity; and that he 
 shone in his portraits as an artist of first-rate characterand 
 
 * Opere, tome i. p. 177. f See his Life of Titian. 
 
 J See Bottari, Notes to Vasari, in the Life of Titian. 
 
 § See “ Idea della Pittura,” edizione Rom. p. 287. 
 
 || See Passeri. On the Arts of Design, Discourse, &c. 
 
160 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 he concludes by observing that be may be studied with ad¬ 
 vantage even by lovers of the sublime.* 
 
 Zanetti assigns him the first rank in design, among all the 
 most distinguished colourists ; asserting that he was much de¬ 
 voted to the study of anatomy, and copying from the best 
 antique ;t but supposes that he was not ambitious of affecting 
 an extensive knowledge of the muscles, nor aimed at display¬ 
 ing an ideal beauty in his contours ; whether he had not early 
 enough acquired facility in these, or for some other reasons. 
 For the rest, he adds, the Titian manner was uniformly ele¬ 
 gant, correct, and dignified in its female forms, and in its 
 boys; elevated, great, and learned for the most part in those 
 of its men ; while in testimony of his naked figures, he adduces 
 the history-pieces, painted for the sacristy of La Salute, whose 
 beauty of design appears to triumph, even in the extremities, 
 while it boasts the rare merit of a striking acquaintance with 
 the science of foreshortening, both appearing blended together. 
 Had the historian been desirous of extending his notice to such 
 works as are to be met with in foreign parts, he might have 
 added much valuable matter upon the subject of his Bacchanals, 
 and his pictures of the Venus ; one of which, adorning the 
 royal gallery at Florence, was justly thought to vie with that 
 of the Medici herself, the most exquisite triumph of Grecian 
 art. For skill in his draperies, Zanetti further brings the ex¬ 
 ample of his S. Peter, painted on an altar of the Casa Pesaro, 
 with a very artificially wrought mantle ; adding that he occa¬ 
 sionally sacrificed the appearance of the drapery, purposely 
 to give relief to some neighbouring object. In this contest ot 
 opinion, between true judges of the art, I shall decline inter- 
 
 * To this opinion of the English writer, however preferable to that of 
 other critics, we might add that Titian’s style, nevertheless, is not generally 
 so chaste as that of some of the other schools of Italy.—A. 
 
 •f* He drew his head of San Niccolo a’ Frari from a cast of the Laocoon ; 
 and from other models of the antique, that of S. John the Baptist, and 
 of the Magdalen of Spain. From a Greek basso-rilievo he likewise co¬ 
 pied the angels of his S. Peter Martyr. The same artist drew the Cesars, 
 at Mantua, a work very highly commended, and impossible to have been 
 so well executed without a knowledge of ancient sculpture, of which there 
 yet exists a fine collection at Mantua. But what he drew from the an¬ 
 tique, he also inspired with nature, the sole method of profiting by it, 
 when a painter aspires to a higher character than that of a mere statuary. 
 —See Ridolfi, p. 171. 
 
TITIAN. 
 
 161 
 
 fering with my own, observing only, in justice to so extraordi¬ 
 nary a genius, that if happier combinations had led him to 
 become familiar with more profound maxims of design, he 
 would probably have ranked as the very first painter in the 
 world. For he would have been allowed to be the first and 
 most perfect in design, as he is by all allowed to have no equal 
 in point of colouring. 
 
 Many critics have pushed their inquiries from the artist 
 into the peculiar character of his chiaroscuro ; and the most 
 copious among these is Signor Zanetti, who devoted years to 
 its examination. I select some of his observations, premising, 
 however, that he left a large portion of them to the more stu¬ 
 dious, desirous themselves of developing them, in the works of 
 Titian. And, in truth, his pictures are the best masters to 
 direct us in the right method of colouring; but, like the an¬ 
 cient classics, that are equally open, and equally the subjects 
 of commentary to all, they are only of advantage to those who 
 are accustomed to reflect. I have already mentioned the lucid 
 clearness predominating in Venetian paintings, and more 
 especially in those of Titian, wdiom the rest adopted for their 
 model. I then, too, pronounced it to be the result of very 
 clear primary grounding, upon which a repetition of colours 
 being laid, it produces the effect of a transparent' veil, and 
 renders the tints of a cast no less soft and luscious than lucid. 
 Nor did he adopt any other plan in his strongest shades, veil¬ 
 ing them with fresh colour, when dry; renewing, invigorating 
 them, and warming the confines that pass into the middle tints. 
 He availed himself, very judiciously, of the power of shade; 
 , forming a method not altogether that of a mere naturalist, but 
 partaking of the ideal. In his naked forms he cautiously 
 avoided masses of strong shades and bold shadows, although 
 they are sometimes to be seen in nature. They certainly add 
 to the relief, but they much diminish the delicacy of the fleshy 
 parts. Titian, for the most part, affected a deep and glowing 
 light; whence, in various gradations of middle tints, he formed 
 the work of the lower parts ; and having very resolutely 
 drawn the other parts, with the extremities, stronger, perhaps, 
 than in nature, he gave to objects that peculiar aspect which 
 presents them, as it were, more lively and pleasing than the 
 truth. Thus, in his portraits, he centres the chief power ia 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
162 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 the eyes, the nose, and the mouth, leaving the remaining parts' 
 in a kind of pleasing uncertainty, extremely favourable to the 
 spirit of the heads, and to the whole effect. 
 
 But since the variations of depth and delicacy of shades are 
 insufficient, without the aid of colours, in this branch he like¬ 
 wise found for himself an ideal method, consisting of the use, 
 in their respective places, of simple tints, copied exactly from 
 the life, or of artificial ones, intended to produce the illusion 
 required. He was in the habit of employing only few and 
 simple colours ; but they were such as afforded the greatest 
 variety and contrast; he knew all their gradations, and the 
 most favourable moments for their application and opposition 
 to each other. There appears no effort, no degree of violence 
 in them, and that striking diversity of colours which seems to 
 strive, one above another, for the mastery, as it were, in his 
 pictures has all the appearance of nature, though an effect of 
 the most bold and arduous art. A white dress, placed near a 
 naked figure, gives it all the appearance of being mingled with 
 the warmest crimson, while he employed nothing beyond sim¬ 
 ple terra rossa, with a little lake in the contours, and towards 
 the extremities. Certain objects, in themselves dark and even 
 black, prqduce a similar effect upon his canvas ; and which, 
 besides enlivening the adjacent colour, give force to the figures, 
 wrought, as was before stated, with gradual middle tints. It 
 is said to have been his favourite opinion, transmitted to us 
 by Boschini (p. 341), that whoever aspires to become a painter, 
 must make himself familiar with three colours, and have them 
 ready upon his palette ; these are white, red, and black; and 
 that an artist, while attempting the fleshy parts, must not ex¬ 
 pect to succeed at once, but by repeated application of opposite 
 tints, and kneading of his colours. 
 
 Here I shall subjoin some observations by the Cavalier 
 Mengs, who entered so very deeply into the Titian manner. 
 He pronounces him the first, who, subsequent to the revival 
 of painting, knew how to avail himself of the ideal, as it were 4 
 of different colours in his draperies. Before his time all 
 colours had been applied indifferently, and artists used them 
 in the same measure for clear and for obscure. Titian was 
 aware, if indeed he did not acquire his knowledge from Gior¬ 
 gione, that red brings objects nearer to the eye, that yellow 
 
TITIAN. 
 
 163 
 
 retains the rays of light, that azure is a shade, and adapted 
 for deep obscure. Nor was he less intimate with the effects 
 of juicy colours, and was thus enabled to bestow the same de¬ 
 gree of graco, clearness of tone, and dignity of colour, upon 
 his shades and middle tints, as upon his lights, as well as to 
 mark with great diversity of middle tints, the various com¬ 
 plexions, and the various superficies of bodies. No other 
 artist, likewise, was more accurately acquainted with the 
 mutual power or equipoise of the above three colours, upon 
 which the harmony of pictures so much depends ; an equipoise, 
 too, so difficult in practice, to which not even Rubens, however 
 excellent a colourist, perfectly attained. 
 
 Both Titian’s inventions and compositions partake of his 
 usual character; he produced nothing in which nature was 
 not consulted. In the number of his figures he is inclined to 
 be moderate; and in grouping them he displays the finest 
 unshackled art; an art he was fond of exemplifying by com¬ 
 parison with a bunch of grapes, where a number of single ones 
 compose the figure of a whole, agreeably rounded, light through 
 the openings, distinct in shades, in middle tints, and in lights, 
 according as it receives more or less of the solar rays. No 
 contrasts are to be met with in these compositions that betray 
 a studied effect; no violent action that is not called for by 
 the incidents of the story ; the actors in general preserve their 
 dignity, and a certain composure, as if each seemed to respect 
 the assembly of which he formed a part. Whoever is at¬ 
 tached to the taste of the Greek bassi-rilievi, in which all is 
 nature and propriety, will invariably prefer the sober compo¬ 
 sition of Titian to the more fiery one of Paul Veronese and 
 Tintoret, whose merits we shall canvass in another place. 
 Neither was Titian ignorant of those strong contrasts of limbs 
 and action, then in such high vogue with his countrymen ; 
 but these he reserved for his bacchanals, his battle-pieces, 
 and other subjects, in fine, which called for them. 
 
 It is on all hands admitted, that as a portrait-painter, he 
 was quite incomparable; and to this species of excellence he 
 was in great part indebted for his fortune, smoothing, as it 
 did, his reception into some of the most splendid courts, such 
 as were that of Rome in the time of Paul III. and those of 
 Vienna and of Madrid, during the reign of Charles V. ana 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 liis successors. It is the opinion of Yasari that in this branch 
 of his art he was inimitable ; being engaged in drawing the 
 portraits of numbers of the most distinguished characters, both 
 for rank and letters, who flourished during the same period. 
 We wish we could add to these the name of Cosmo I., grand 
 duke of Tuscany, who, little to his credit, evinced an objection 
 to have his likeness taken by so celebrated a hand. He was 
 no less successful in depicting the passions of the mind. The 
 death of S. Peter the Martyr, at Venice, with that of a de¬ 
 votee of S. Antony, at the college of the same name in Padua, 
 display scenes than which I know not whether painting can 
 afford us anything more terrific in the ferocity of those who 
 strike, or more full of compassion in the whole attitude of the 
 falling saint. And thus the grand picture of the Coronation 
 of Thorns, in the Grazie at Milan, abounds with powers of 
 expression that enchant us.* He has left us also not a few 
 exaniples of costume, and of erudition in the antique, every 
 way worthy of imitation, as we may observe in the Corona¬ 
 tion above alluded to, where, desirous of marking the precise 
 period of the event, he inserted in the Pretorium a bust of 
 Tiberius ; an idea that could not have been better conceived, 
 either by Raffaello or by Poussin. In his architecture he 
 sometimes availed himself of other works, in particular those 
 of the Rosa, of Brescia ; but his perspectives, like that of his 
 picture of the Presentation, are extremely beautiful. He was 
 equalled by none in his landscape ; and he was careful not to 
 employ it, like some artists, as a mere embellishment; several 
 artists, esteeming themselves so highly in this particular, that 
 they hardly scruple to present us with cypress trees, growing 
 out of the sea. But Titian makes his landscape subservient 
 to history, as in that horrific wood, whose dreary aspect adds 
 so much to the solemnity of S. Peter’s death ; or to give force 
 to his figures, as we perceive them in those pieces where the 
 landscape is thrown into the distance. His natural manner 
 of representing the various effects of light may be best gathered 
 from bis martyrdom of San Lorenzo, belonging to the Jesuits 
 at Venice, in which he displayed such an astonishing diver- 
 
 * This picture, perhaps one of the best preserved among Titian’s many 
 productions, was taken by the French to Paris, and is one of those which 
 in the subsequent political vicissitudes was not restored.—A. 
 
TITIAN. 
 
 165 
 
 sity in the splendour of fire, in that of torch-lights, and in 
 that of a supernatural light, which appears to fall upon the 
 martyr; a picture unfortunately much defaced by age, but 
 of which there is a near imitation or duplicate in the Escurial. 
 He likewise expressed, with the utmost felicity, the time of 
 the day in which the event is supposed to have taken place, 
 and he frequently selected night-fall, drawing forth all its 
 most beautiful attributes for the canvas. 
 
 From the whole of this it may be inferred that Titian is 
 not to be included in that class of Venetian artists, whose 
 rapidity of hand overpowered their judgment, rendering them 
 somewhat careless and inaccurate ; though, at the same time, 
 we must speak of his celerity with some degree of reservation. 
 A freedom of pencil must doubtless be granted to him, and he 
 thus applied it without failing in point of design, to his paint¬ 
 ings in fresco, as they are to be seen in Padua, and which, in 
 some measure, compensate us for the loss of those in the 
 Venetian capital. In that city we have nothing of the same 
 kind in preservation, if we except, perhaps, his S. Christopher, 
 adorning the ducal palace ; a majestic figure, both in its cha¬ 
 racter and its expression. We are not, however, to look for 
 the same degree of freedom in his pictures in oil. Indeed he 
 was by no means ambitious of displaying it, but rather en¬ 
 countered much painful labour to arrive at a perfect know¬ 
 ledge of his subjects. With this view, after throwing off a 
 rough draught of his intended works, with a certain freedom 
 and resolution, he was in the habit of laying them for some 
 time aside, and again returned to them with an eye prepared 
 to detect every the least defect. The noble Casa Barbarigo, 
 among a fine selection of his most highly finished pictures, 
 preserves, also, a few of these first sketches. It is well known 
 that he underwent extreme labour in the completion of his 
 works, and, at the same time, was very solicitous to conceal 
 the pains he bestowed upon them. Yet in some of his pieces 
 such spirited and resolute strokes are to be met with as seem 
 to imprint upon every object the true character of nature, 
 attain at once the points that have been long laboriously 
 aimed at, and perfectly delight professors. To this practice 
 he adhered in the zenith of his fame ; nor was it until near the 
 close of his existence, falling a victim to the plague when 
 
166 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 within a year of completing a century, that both his hand and 
 eyes failing him, his style became less elegant, being compelled 
 to paint with repeated efforts of the brush, and with difficulty 
 mingling his tints. Vasari, who saw him once more in 1566, 
 even then was no longer able to recognise Titian in Titian, 
 and it must have been much more difficult in the few follow¬ 
 ing years. Yet, as is customary with old age, he was not at 
 all aware of his failings, and continued to receive commis¬ 
 sions until the final year of his life. 
 
 There remains at S. Salvatore, one of these pictures of the 
 Annunciation, which attracts the spectator only from the 
 name of its master. Yet when he was told by some that it 
 was not, or at least appeared not to have been executed by 
 his hand, he was so much irritated, that in a fit of senile in¬ 
 dignation, he affixed to it the following words, “ Tizianus 
 fecit fecit.” Still the most experienced judges are agreed 
 that much may be learned even from his latest works ; in the 
 same manner as the poets pronounce judgment on the Odys¬ 
 sey, the product of old age, but still by Homer. Several of 
 these last specimens, distributed throughout private collec¬ 
 tions, are nevertheless doubtful, as well as a few copies made 
 by his pupils, but retouched by his hand ; and in particular 
 some Madonnas and Magdalens, which I have seen in various 
 places, displaying little or no variety. Upon this point we 
 ought not to omit the account given by Ridolfi, of his having 
 purposely left his studio open for the free access of his dis¬ 
 ciples, in order that they might secretly take copies of such 
 pictures as he had placed there. That afterwards when he 
 found such copies became vendible, he gladly took possession 
 of them, and retouching them with little trouble, they were 
 passed as his originals. The reporter of this incident added 
 a marginal note to his account, as follows : “ Vedi che ac- 
 cortezza ! ” behold what a degree of forecast! And to this 
 I might rejoin with another of my own : “ Note, that the 
 worth of Titian ought not to be estimated, as is too often the 
 case, by this multiplication of originals.” 
 
 Following the usual order, I shall now proceed to describe 
 the imitators of Titian : by no means so excellent a master 
 as an artist. Whether disliking the interruption and tedious¬ 
 ness attaching to such a character, or apprehensive of meet- 
 
IMITATORS OF TITIAN. 
 
 167 
 
 ing with a rival, he was always averse to affording his 
 instructions. He was extremely harsh with Paris Bordone, 
 and even entered into decided hostility against him, an artist 
 who burned with an ambition to resemble him. He banished 
 Tintoretfrom his studio, and artfully directed his own brother 
 to mercantile pursuits, though he displayed uncommon talents 
 for painting. “Hence,” observes Vasari, “there are few 
 who can really be called his disciples, inasmuch as he taught 
 little; but each learned more or less according as he knew 
 how to avail himself of the productions of Titian.” 
 
 His family of itself enumerated several artists, the series 
 of whom may be seen at Cadore, and in part at the adjacent 
 city of Belluno. There, too, contemporary with the Vecellj, 
 flourished one Nicolo di Stefano, a painter deserving of com¬ 
 mendation, no less for having competed with the family of 
 Titian, than for the reputation he acquired in such competi¬ 
 tion. His rivals among the Vecellj, were Francesco, the 
 brother, and Orazio, a son of Titian, who approached him 
 pretty nearly in point of style. They devoted, however, 
 little attention to the arts, one of them having duties of a 
 military and mercantile nature to discharge, and the other 
 having thrown away much of his time and fortune upon the 
 idle pursuit of alchemy. Several pictures by Francesco are 
 to be seen at San Salvatore, in Venice, consisting of a tolera¬ 
 bly well executed Magdalen, appearing at the feet of Christ 
 risen, at Oriago, on the banks of the river Brenta, and a 
 grand Nativity of our Lord, at San Giuseppe, in Belluno, 
 which, until lately, was esteemed a fine specimen of Titian, 
 when Monsignor Doglioni traced it by authentic documents 
 to its real author. The production, however, which gave rise 
 to Titian’s jealousy, was the altar-piece at San Vito, in Ca¬ 
 dore, in which, among the other saints, he represented the 
 figure of the denominator of the town, in a military dress. 
 Orazio was considered a good portrait painter, even so far as 
 co rival his father ; and he likewise painted, for the public 
 palace, a history-piece, very beautiful, though retouched by 
 Titian’s hand, which has since perished by fire. I find no 
 account of Pomponio, another son of Titian’s, having applied 
 himself to the art, though he survived his father and brother, 
 who both died in the same year, and dissipated iiis inheritance. 
 
168 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Marco Vecellio conferred more honour upon his family, 
 and being the nephew, the pupil, and intimate companion of 
 the great Vecellio in his travels, received the title of Marco 
 di liziano. In simple composition and mechanism of the 
 art, he was a good disciple of his master; but he had not the 
 genius to inspire his figures and interest the eye of the spec¬ 
 tator, like his great contemporary. lie was, nevertheless, 
 esteemed worthy of the honour of ornamenting several cham¬ 
 bers of the Venetian senate, with history-pieces and portraits 
 of saints that are yet preserved. Some of his altar-pieces, 
 likewise, still exist at Venice, in Trevigi, and in the Friuli; 
 while one of his large pictures, adorning the parish church at 
 Cadore, the native place of the Vecellj, has more particularly 
 elicited the highest commendations. In this appears the 
 Crucifixion, represented in the midst, with two histories of S. 
 Catherine, V. M., her controversy, and her martyrdom, sup¬ 
 porting either side. Tiziano Vecellio, called, to distinguish 
 him from the former, Tizianello, was the son of Marco, whose 
 name I include with those of the other Vecellj, in order to 
 avoid recurring to a family of artists which ought to be made 
 known and described in full. This last artist flourished about 
 the beginning of the seventeenth century, when mannerism 
 began its innovations upon Venetian painting. And those 
 specimens of him possessed by Venice, at the Patriarchal 
 church, at the Servi, and elsewhere, exhibit him in a very 
 opposite taste to that of his predecessors, with larger forms, 
 but less imposing; a full and free pencil, but destitute of 
 softness of hand; so powerful is the influence of reigning 
 example over family descent and education. In portraits, 
 nevertheless, and in heads, very capriciously varied and orna¬ 
 mented, I find him to be in much esteem among artists. 
 
 Fabrizio di Fttore traced his origin to another branch of 
 the Vecellj. His name had hitherto been confined within his 
 native spot of Cadore, until brought to light by Renaldis, 
 who gives some account of a fine painting he executed for 
 the council-hall of the parish, and for which he was paid six¬ 
 teen gold ducats, no despicable sum at the period when he 
 flourished. He died in the year 1580. His brother, of the 
 name Cesare, was likewise long unknown to pictorial history, 
 although his productions are pointed out at Lintiai, at Vigo, 
 
IMITATORS OF TITIAN. 
 
 169 
 
 at Candide, and at Padola. His name is more familiar to 
 engravers, inasmuch as lie gave to the world two works of 
 etchings, during the period of his residence in Venice. One 
 of these, at present very scarce, contains, “ Ogni sorte di 
 mostre di punti tagliati, punti in aria,” &c. The other is 
 upon “ancient and modern costume,” and has been several 
 times republished, and once in 1664, with a false title ; where 
 Cesare is mentioned as a brother of the great Titian.* A 
 third Vecellio, an artist of the name of Tommaso, has, in a 
 similar way, sprung into notice, one of whose productions, 
 consisting of a “ Nunziata,” is preserved in the parish church 
 of Lozzo, as well as a Supper of our Lord, both which the 
 historian pronounces estimable. This artist died in 1620. 
 
 Another scion from the stock, though not from the studio 
 of Titian, is Girolamo Dante, otherwise Girolamo di Tiziano, 
 and first among his followers to be here mentioned. He was 
 educated and employed, both as a scholar and assistant, by 
 Titian, in his less important works. And in fact, by dint of 
 assisting and copying the originals of his master, he attained 
 such a degree of excellence, that such of his pieces as were 
 retouched by Titian, bid defiance often to the most exact con¬ 
 noisseurs. He also produced works of design, and the altar- 
 piece attributed to him at San Giovanni in Olio, reflects 
 credit upon so great a school. Domenico delle Greche, 
 named in the dictionary of artists, Domenico Greco, and in 
 another article, Domenico Teoscopoli, was an artist employed 
 by Titian in engraving his designs. The very copious print 
 of the “ Submersion of Pharaoh,” to say nothing of the others, 
 is sufficient proof of his worth in this kind of engraving. No 
 specimen of his painting is pointed out with certainty in 
 Italy; many, however, in Spain, where, having accompanied 
 his master thither, he resided during the remainder of hie 
 days. There, too, he produced portraits and altar-pieces, 
 which, according to Palomino, appeared to be from the hand 
 of Titian himself. But he entered upon a new style, in which 
 he altogether failed, and for a more particular account of this 
 
 * There is a small picture by Cesare Vecellio, in the I. R. Pinacoteca 
 of Milan, representing the Father supporting the crucified Son, with the 
 Holy Spirit hovering above to complete the triad.—A. 
 
170 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 artist, we must here refer the reader to the “Lettere Pit- 
 toriche” (vol. vi. p. 314). 
 
 The shortness of their career interrupted the fame of two 
 other Venetians, both dying young, after having given the 
 most astonishing and lively promise of future distinction. 
 The name of one was Lorenzino, who produced, at SS. Gio¬ 
 vanni and Paolo, several finely designed ornaments over a 
 tomb, with two noble figures of Virtues, still highly esteemed 
 for their symmetry, their attitude, and their colouring. The 
 other was Natalino da Murano, as excellent in portrait as any 
 other of the fellow-pupils of his time, as well as a good com¬ 
 poser of pictures for private ornament, from which Venetian 
 dealers reaped greater profit than the artist. One of his 
 Magdalens, which, in spite of frequent retouches, preserved 
 much of the Titian manner, was put up to sale in Udine, 
 where I saw it; and after some difficulty, deciphered his 
 name and the date of 1558, in very faint characters. There 
 was likewise one Polidoro, a Venetian, who supplied the 
 shops to abundance with specimens of his sacred figures. He 
 appears, for the most part, a feeble disciple of Titian ; one 
 who made a trade of his profession. To judge from an altar- 
 piece preserved at the Servi, and some other pictures in 
 Venice, we may pronounce him a tolerably good composer, 
 though he never distinguished himself much in the rank of 
 his contemporaries. Yet when the great school declined, his 
 labours, such as they were, acquired more esteem, and were 
 exhibited in the studios of those artists, much in the same 
 manner as sculptors are accustomed to collect specimens of 
 ancient marbles, however inferior, as advantageous in the pur¬ 
 suit of their art. Such is the influence of a great master’s 
 reputation, and the maxims of a flourishing epoch, in the esti¬ 
 mation of an artist’s merit. Doubts have been started as to 
 his real name, although in the Necrologio of S. Pantaleone he 
 is expressly called Polidoro Pittore. This supposition ap¬ 
 pears to have arisen from a little oblong painting, in the style* 
 of Polidoro’s Madonnas, preserved by the noble Casa Pisani, 
 where is formed so valuable a collection of monuments and 
 books. The painter’s name affixed to it, is “ Gregorius Pori- 
 deusbut whatever resemblance we trace in the two names, 
 
BONIFAZIO VENEZIANO. 
 
 171 
 
 it is not sufficient to mark Polidoro for the author of that 
 piece, most probably the production of one of Titian’s imita¬ 
 tors, whose name is fallen, with many others of an inferior 
 class, into oblivion. We must not, however, include that of 
 Gio. Silvio, a Venetian, which, omitted in the history of his 
 native place, still vindicates its title to notice, by numerous 
 works dispersed throughout the state of Trevigi, and a very 
 elegant altar-piece, executed in 1532, for the collegiate church 
 of Piove di Sacco, a municipality of the Padovano. It repre¬ 
 sents San Martino in his episcopal chair, between the two 
 Apostles Peter and Paul; three angels form the accessaries, 
 two in the act of raising his pastoral staff, and the third play¬ 
 ing upon a harp, at the foot of the throne, extremely graceful, 
 like the rest, and displaying a degree of taste and nature, 
 such as we find in Titian. If we cannot then adduce autho¬ 
 rity sufficient to prove that Silvio was his scholar, it may, at 
 least, from such a specimen, be strongly suspected. 
 
 I am indebted to Sig. Ab. Morelli, who, in the “ Notizia” 
 already cited, has pointed out the true birth-place of Boni- 
 fazio Veneziano, who appears, notwithstanding the authority 
 of Vasari, Ridolfi, and Zanetti, to have been a native of Ve¬ 
 rona, not of Venice. He is pronounced by Ridolfi, a pupil 
 of Palma, and by Boschini, on the other hand, the disciple of 
 Titian, whom he followed as closely as his shadow. It was 
 an usual observation, during the time of Boschini, and yet 
 repeated, indeed, in regard to certain doubtful pieces : is it a 
 Titian or a Bonifazio ? He approached nearest, perhaps, to 
 Vecellio, in his Supper of our Lord, preserved in the monas¬ 
 tery of the Certosa. For the most part he boasts a freedom, 
 a spirit, and grandeur of hand, peculiarly his own ; although 
 it is known that he greatly admired the vigour of Giorgione, 
 the delicate taste of Palma, and the attitude and composition 
 of Titian. The merit of this professor of the art was early 
 appreciated, and historians have often observed that the three 
 most distinguished artists of that period were Titian, Palma, 
 and Bonifazio. Public edifices abound with his productions, 
 and the ducal palace, among other of his historical pieces, 
 boasts that grand Expulsion of the Money-dealers from the 
 Temple, which, for the number of the figures, for its spirit, 
 and power of colouring, as well as for its fine perspective, is 
 
172 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 enough to render his name immortal. A more than mortal 
 air of divinity shines in the countenance of the Redeemer, 
 who, alone and unsupported, throws consternation into a 
 crowd of people intent upon their worldly interests, with a 
 mere scourge of ropes, from which they fly in the utmost ter¬ 
 ror. And how anxiously is some wretch seen collecting his 
 money upon those tables glittering with silver and gold ; and 
 with what dread he looks back, in order that he may escape 
 from the blows! What an expression of alarm is seen in the 
 countenance of each spectator; women, boys, people of every 
 rank, terrified at the strangeness of the spectacle ! This noble 
 picture was presented to the public collection, not long ago, 
 by the family of the Contarini ; and for this reason we find 
 no notice taken of it in the work of Zanetti. Other paintings 
 might be mentioned upon a grand scale, and rich in figures, 
 adapted for private collections; the most celebrated, perhaps, 
 of which are his series of Triumphs, taken from Petrarch; 
 productions which subsequently passed into England. He 
 likewise employed himself upon pictures of a smaller size, 
 rarely, however, to be met with. One of these, a Holy Fa¬ 
 mily at Rome, is in possession of Prince Rezzonico. The 
 scene represents the workshop of S. Joseph, where he is seen 
 reposing, while the Virgin is intent upon her domestic duties, 
 and a group of angels surrounds the infant Jesus, who is play¬ 
 ing with the instruments of the saint’s occupation. One of 
 these is employed in placing two pieces of wood in the form 
 of a cross, an idea frequently imitated by Albano. It is worth 
 observation that Orlandi and other writers have confounded 
 this artist with Bonifazio Bembo, many years anterior to him, 
 and born at Cremona. The resemblance of names has like¬ 
 wise misled a more recent author in regard to another Vene¬ 
 tian painter, mistaken for a native of Lucca. He painted a 
 Virgin with four saints for San Francesco, at Padua; a piece 
 between the style of the moderns and the Bellini, to which is 
 affixed the name “ Paulus Pinus Ven. 1565.” And in the 
 castle of Noale, in the state of Trevigi, he adorned the public 
 gallery, both interior and exterior, with historical figures, 
 adapted to the place near which the judge is accustomed to 
 hear cases and decide differences. Whoever is acquainted 
 with the “ Dialogue upon Painting,” published by this pro- 
 
 « 
 
ANDREA SCHIAVONE. 
 
 173 
 
 fessor at Venice as early as 1548, where, in the dedication, 
 he professes himself a Venetian, and whoever has seen his 
 works will be in no danger of confounding him with Paul Pini, 
 of Lucca, of the Carracci School, whom we shall meet with 
 beyond the precincts of his native place, like numerous others 
 of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 An imitator of Titian, in his colouring, though with a share 
 of original vivacity, is Andrea Schiavone, of Sebenico, sur- 
 named Medula. Few artists have so early evinced a decided 
 taste for their profession, of which it is said his father became 
 aware when accompanying him through the city, yet a child, 
 in order to fix upon his future destination. Observing him 
 highly entertained with productions of the art, he instantly 
 applied to the artists, and devoted him to the profession. 
 But fortune was not favourable to him, and he became com¬ 
 pelled, by penury, to obtain a subsistence rather as a daily 
 hireling than as an artist. Hence it was, that, destitute of a 
 knowledge of design, he was obliged to paint, meeting with 
 no other patrons than some master muratore, or wall-painter, 
 who had it in his power to recommend him for the facades, or 
 some painter of household articles to employ him as an as¬ 
 sistant. Titian conferred upon him some degree of credit, by 
 proposing him, along with others, for ornamenting the library 
 of S. Mark, where he worked more correctly, perhaps, than 
 in any other place. Tintoret, also, did him justice, often 
 aiding him in his labours, to observe the artifice of his colour¬ 
 ing ; and even gave one of his pictures a place in his own 
 studio, observing that it would be well if every other artist 
 would follow his example, though he would do ill not to 
 design better than his model. Moreover he wished to imitate 
 him, and placed an altar-piece at the church of the Carmini, 
 so much resembling his style, that Vasari pronounced it to be 
 the work of Schiavone. \ et the same historian held him in 
 such slight esteem, as to say that it was only by mistake that 
 he occasionally produced a good piece ; a sentence severely 
 criticised by Agostin Caracci, as we gather from Bottari, in 
 his “ Life of Franco.” And, in truth, except for design, the 
 whole composition of Schiavone is highly commendable ; 
 spirited in his attitudes, drawn from the engravings of P ar ~ 
 migianino ; his colours, approaching to the sweetness of 
 
174 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Andrea del Sarto, beautiful; and his hand altogether that of 
 a great master. His fame increased after his death, and his 
 paintings, for the most part, of a mythological character, 
 were removed from the chests and benches to adorn the 
 cabinets of connoisseurs. Guarienti cites three of these in 
 the collection at Dresden, and Rosa four, in the Cesarean one 
 of Vienna. I have seen several very graceful specimens in 
 the Casa Pisani, at San Stefano, and almost in every other 
 gallery in Venice. In Rimini, also, I saw two of his pic¬ 
 tures, painted as companions, at the Padri Teatini ; the 
 Nativity of our Lord, and the Assumption of the Virgin, 
 small figures upon the Poussin scale, and among the most 
 beautiful he ever drew. Santo Zago, and Orazio da Castel- 
 franco, called dal Paradiso, are known for a very few works 
 in fresco, but too well executed to be here omitted. Cesare 
 da Conegliano, also, is the author of a single altar-piece, at 
 the Santi Apostoli, of the same place, which represents our 
 Lord’s Supper, and sufficient of itself to place him near 
 Bonifazio, and the best of that class. 
 
 Vasari, who has omitted some of the preceding, twice 
 makes honourable mention of Gio. Calker, or Calcar, as it is 
 written by others as an excellent portrait painter, of Flemish 
 extraction. He was also a good painter, both of small and 
 large figures, several of which, according to Sandrart, have 
 been attributed to Titian ; and others, when he changed his 
 manner, to Raffaello He died young, in 1546, at Naples. 
 Treating of Dietrico Barent, in Venice known by the name 
 of Sordo Barent, Baldinucci supposes him to have been 
 Titian’s pupil, by whom he was regarded as his son. To 
 these Ridolfi adds three excellent foreigners, one Lamberto, a 
 German,* who is supposed the Lombardo, or Sustermans, 
 
 * Lamberto Lombardo, of Liege, is the artist whose life was written 
 in Latin, by his disciple Golzio, a work edited in Bruges in 1565. In 
 his youth he adopted the surname of Suterman, or Susterman, in the 
 Latin tongue Suavis, and having likewise been an excellent engraver, his 
 signature was sometimes L. L., at others, L. S. The whole of this ac¬ 
 count is to be met with in Orlandi, and other books. Yet Orlandi, and 
 the new Guide of Padua, acknowledge another Lamberti, also surnamed 
 Suster, upon the authority of Sandrart, who mentions him, p. 224. Ac¬ 
 cording to Orlandi, this artist was the assistant to Titian and Tintoret, by 
 whom he is first recorded as Lamberto Suster, and again as Lamberto 
 
PUPILS OF TITIAN. 
 
 175 
 
 who gave assistance in their landscapes alternately to Titian 
 and to Tintoret, and left a very beautiful picture of San 
 Girolamo, at the Teresiani, in Padua; the others were Cris- 
 toforo Suarz, and one Emanuel, a German. These, like 
 many others, resorting to Titian for instruction, on their return 
 to their native place introduced a taste for the Venetian 
 school; and there continued to flourish. He must have pre¬ 
 sented more disciples to Spain, when being invited by 
 Charles V. he removed to his court, and founded in his 
 dominions a school which acquired and continued to boast of 
 excellent artists, particularly in point of colouring. One 
 Don Paolo de las Roelas is mentioned by Preziado, who, in 
 mature age, became a priest and a canon. There is a grand 
 picture from his hand in the parochial church of San Isidoro, 
 at Seville, representing the death of the bishop. The style is 
 altogether that of Titian, though he could not have been his 
 disciple, if he was, indeed, born in 1560, when that artist was 
 no longer in Spain. But in regard to foreigners, it is enough 
 to have alluded to them in a history of Italians ; and we must 
 return to those natives of Italy, in particular of the state of 
 Venice, who are esteemed among Titian’s imitators. We 
 may begin with the Friuli; although, owing to the school of 
 the great Pordenone there holding the sway, the genuine fol¬ 
 lowers of Titian, excepting the Cadorini already mentioned, 
 are very few and almost forgotten in history. Among 
 others of Friuli, Ridolfi mentions a Gaspero Nervesa, who 
 painted at Spilimbergo, and calls him Titian’s scholar. No 
 genuine picture of his, however, is pointed out, though Father 
 Federici discovered one at Trevigi. The same author like¬ 
 wise extols Irene de’ Signori di Spilimbergo, a lady of singular 
 
 Tedesco. The same author mentions a Federigo di Lamberto, whose 
 name occurs in our first volume, likewise called del Padovano and Sustris, 
 certainly from Suster, for which see Vasari and his annotators. These 
 Lamberti, founded upon the diversity between the Liege and German 
 names of Susterman and Suster, received upon the authority of Sandrart, 
 not always very critical, are, I have reason to think, one and the same 
 artist. For in Venice, one Lamberto only is alluded to by Ridolfi, Bos- 
 chini, and Zanetti, without a surname, but by the last held to be the same 
 as Lombardo; and what signifies it, whether he was called Suster or 
 Susterman, of Germany, or of Liege, in Italy. 
 
176 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 accomplishments, highly celebrated by the poets of the 
 fifteenth century. She left behind her three little pictures of 
 sacred histories, preserved by the noble family of Maniago, 
 and which are still to be seen at the house of Conte Fabio, 
 equally distinguished for his acquaintance with science and 
 with art. They display but little skill in the design, though 
 they are coloured with a degree of masterly power, not 
 unworthy the first artist of the happiest period. A Bacchanal, 
 by the same hand, is at Monte Albodo, in possession of the 
 Claudj family. Titian took the portrait of this lady, being 
 known to be extremely intimate with her family; and for 
 this reason it is believed that he must have had some share 
 in the pictorial education of the fair artist. 
 
 Lodovico Fumieelli was an artist of Trevigi, reported to 
 have been a pupil of Titian. At all events he was one of his 
 most distinguished imitators. One of his pieces, adorning the 
 great altar of the church of the Eremitani, at Padua, displays 
 both the design and colouring of a great master. His native 
 place can boast works that have been equally extolled. It is 
 mortifying then to recall to mind that he abandoned his pro¬ 
 fession for the art of fortification. One of his assistants, in 
 Trevigi, was Francesco Dominici, who may be said to rival 
 him in the cathedral of the city, in those two processions 
 which they painted, opposite to each other. This young 
 artist, of great promise, especially in portraits, produced little, 
 being cut off in the flower of his days. With pleasure I annex 
 to these a friend of Paolo, and excellent pupil of Titian’s, 
 whom, in some things, he imitated, but who has been errone¬ 
 ously denominated by historians ;* my information respecting 
 him, as well as other artists of Castelfranco, has been obtained 
 from a MS. communicated to me by the learned Dottore 
 Trevisani.t He took the name of Gio. Batista Ponchino, and 
 the surname of Bozzato, a city of his native place, where 
 
 * He is called by Vasari, Zanetti, and Guarienti, Bazzacco and Braz- 
 zacco da Castelfranco, and Guarienti makes him a scholar of Badile. 
 
 -f They consist only of a few pages relating to the painters of Castel¬ 
 franco. I cannot explain why Padre Federici (Pref. p. 17) supposes that 
 I should have announced this as the MS. Melchiori, although Sig. Trevi- 
 sani may have drawn various notices from that quarter. 
 
MAZZA AND CAMPAGNOLA. 
 
 177 
 
 several of his paintings in fresco still exist, together with his 
 celebrated piece of the Limbo,* in San Liberale, the finest, if 
 •we except the works of Giorgione, which that city has to 
 boast, and it is greatly admired by strangers. He painted 
 also at Venice and Vicenza, during the lifetime of his consort, 
 a daughter of Dario Varotari; but on her deatli he assumed 
 the ecclesiastical habit, nor interested himself much in his art. 
 
 Padua boasted two noble scholars from the hand of Titian ; 
 Damiano Mazza, and Domenico Campagnola. The former, 
 however, was rather promised than conferred upon us, dying 
 very young, after producing a single piece deserving of com¬ 
 memoration, in his native place. This was a Ganymede borne 
 away by the Eagle, depicted on an entablature, which, for its 
 exquisite beauty, was attributed to the hand of Titian, and 
 removed from the place. Venice must have been his sphere 
 of action ; a few of his pictures remaining in different churches, 
 executed with striking power and relief, if not with much 
 delicacy of hand. The other artist is better known, said to 
 have been of the family of Campagnola, though with no 
 authority for the assertion. He was nephew to the Girolamo 
 mentioned by Vasari among the disciples of Squarcione, and 
 son to that Giuliot whose genius is commended in the Lite¬ 
 rary History of Tiraboschi (vol. vi. p.792), and in the “ Storia 
 Pittorica ” of Vasari. Lie was a fine linguist, miniature- 
 painter, and engraver, and the author of several altar-pieces, 
 which betray some traces of the ancient style. Domenico’s 
 appears more modern, so much so, as to have awakened, it is 
 said, the jealousy of Titian, an honour he enjoyed in common 
 with Bordone, with Tintoret, and other rare artists. And his 
 works give authority to the tradition, not so much in Venice 
 as in Padua, a city for whose embellishment he would appear 
 to have risen up. He painted in fresco, at the college of the 
 Santo, in the style of an able scholar, emulating an incom- 
 
 * Padre Coronelli, in his Travels in England (part i. p. 66), ascribes 
 this picture to Paul Veronese, a mistake that is cleared up by the tenor of 
 the contract, preserved in the archives of San Liberale. He adds that 
 the picture contained a number of naked figures, to which draperies were 
 afterwards adapted by another hand—an assertion wholly groundless. 
 
 f In a MS. by a contemporary author, cited in the new Guide of Padua, 
 he is called Domenico Veneziano, educated by Julio Campagnola. 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
178 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 parable master of his art. His pictures in oil resemble him 
 the nearest of any, as we see in the college of S. INI. del Parto 
 a complete cabinet of his works. He represented on the en¬ 
 tablature the Holy Evangelists, with other saints, in various 
 compartments ; and he seems to have aspired to a vastness of 
 design beyond that of Titian, and to mark the naked parts 
 with a more evident degree of artifice. 
 
 Contemporary with Campagnola, though scarcely heard of 
 beyond Padua, were Gualtieri, one of his relatives, and a 
 Stefano del Arzere, who, in his picture of Christ upon the 
 Cross, at San Giovanni di Yerzara, appears ambitious, how¬ 
 ever rudely, of imitating Titian. Both were, nevertheless, 
 esteemed by Ridolfi for their paintings in fresco, and both, 
 together with Domenico, were employed in ornamenting a 
 large hall, representing the figures of emperors and illustrious 
 characters, upon nearly a colossal scale. For this reason it 
 was denominated the Sala de’ Giganti, afterwards converted 
 into a public library. These figures are, for the most part, of 
 an ideal cast, \ r arious in point of design, in some dignified, in 
 others heavy. The antique costume is not always strictly ob¬ 
 served, but the colouring is rich and of a fine chiaroscuro, and 
 it would be difficult to find in all Italy a piece which appears 
 to have suffered less from time. Niccolo Frangipane is sup¬ 
 posed to have been a Paduan, though his birthplace is dis¬ 
 puted,* and he is not mentioned by Ridolfi. Still he may be 
 esteemed worthy of being recorded for his exquisite style as a 
 naturalist, in which he painted his picture of the Assumption, 
 at the Conventuali, in Bimini, dated 1565, and a half-length 
 figure of San Francesco, with that of 1588, at S. Bartolommeo, 
 
 * Thus stated in the “ Lettere Pittoriche,” vol. i. p. 248. Recent 
 writers of Friuli make him a native of Udine, a modern supposition, in¬ 
 asmuch as Grassi, a very diligent correspondent of Vasari, would hardly 
 have been silent upon such a name. It took its rise, most likely, from 
 the existence of a noble family of the same surname, in Udine, and from 
 three of the artist's pictures having been discovered in the same place, 
 one with the date 1595. Yet none are to be seen at Casa Frangipani, a 
 circumstance very unusual in regard to excellent artists. We must look, 
 therefore, for other proofs before we can pronounce him a native of Udine, 
 and before we can assent to the conjecture of Rinaldis, who would admit 
 two artists of the name of Niccolo Frangipane, the one a painter by pro¬ 
 fession, and the other a dilettante ; and yet contemporaries, as appears 
 from the authority of the dates of the pictures already referred to. 
 
GIAMBATISTA MAGANZA. 
 
 179 
 
 in Padua. A picture also of San Stefano is attributed to him 
 by the “Guide of Pesaro,” though his genius was more adapted 
 to burlesques, several specimens of which are yet in the pos¬ 
 session of private individuals. 
 
 Vicenza boasts the name of Giambatista Maganza, the head 
 of a family of artists who long devoted themselves, both in 
 public and private, to the ornament of their native province. 
 His descendants, however, adopted various styles, as we shall 
 see, while Giambatista was only ambitious of treading in the 
 steps of Titian, his master, which he did with success. He 
 was an excellent portrait-painter, and also left several works 
 of pure invention at Vicenza, in which he displayed the same 
 easy genius as in his poetry. He wrote in the rustic idiom of 
 Padua, under the name of “ Magagno,” while such contempo¬ 
 raries as Sperone, Trissino, Tasso, and other celebrated wits, 
 not ignorant of the dialect, applauded the excellence of his 
 rude and sylvan strains. Giuseppe Scolari was an artist, 
 supposed by most to have been a native of Vicenza, though 
 referred by the Cavalier Pozzo to Verona. A pupil of 
 Maganza, he excelled in works in fresco and in chiaroscuro, 
 enlivened by certain yellow tints, at that period in great vogue. 
 He was a good designer, which appears from his works, both 
 in Vicenza and Verona; and he likewise produced several 
 large pictures in oil at Venice, much commended by Zanetti. 
 Possibly another disciple of Maganza, from the period at 
 which he flourished, was Gio. de Mio, of Vicenza, an artist 
 who competed with Schiavone, Porta, Zelotti, Franco, and 
 with Paul Veronese himself, in the library of S. Mark, though 
 history makes no mention of his master any more than of Mio ; 
 if, indeed, he should not be the same as Fratina, recorded by 
 Ridolfi as one of the assistants in ornamenting the library. 
 The name of Gio. de Mio was met with in one of the archives, 
 and Fratina was possibly his surname. 
 
 . Among the Veronese disciples of Titian, we have to men¬ 
 tion Brusasorci, and, according to some writers, also Farinato. 
 Both at least visited Venice, either for the purpose of study- 
 ing his works, or in his school. Zelotti has been pronounced 
 in more open terms the scholar of Titian. But of these and 
 other distinguished artists of Verona, it will be preferable to 
 give the reader some account when treating on the merits of 
 
 n 2 
 
180 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Paul Caliari, a plan that will bring under immediate view the 
 state of that noble school during its most flourishing period. 
 
 About the same time several Brescian artists greatly distin¬ 
 guished themselves, although too little known for want of 
 enjoying a metropolitan city for their sphere of action. Luca 
 Sebastiano, an Aragonese, who died towards the close of the 
 sixteenth century, was celebrated, we are told, rather as a 
 tine designer than a painter. An altar-piece with the initial 
 letters L. S. A. has been attributed to his hand. It is the 
 Saviour represented between two saints, the composition of 
 which is common ; the foldings of the drapery want softness, 
 but the figures, the colours, and the attitudes are excellent. 
 I apprehend that, however learned in his art, he would have 
 been anxious to avoid competition with the two celebrated 
 citizens of whom we shall now give some description. The 
 first is Alessandro Bonvicino, commonly called Moretto of 
 Brescia, who was among the earliest of Titian’s school to in¬ 
 troduce his master’s whole style of composition into his native 
 district. This is clearly seen in his picture of S. Niccolo, 
 painted in 1532 for the Madonna de’ Miracoli, in which he 
 depicted several figures of children, and of a man presenting 
 them to the saint; portraits in Titian’s best manner. Sub¬ 
 sequently attracted by the composition of Raffaello, as ex¬ 
 hibited in some pictures and engravings, he changed his style, 
 adopting one altogether new, and so rich in its attractions, 
 that many dilettanti have gone out of their way, and visited 
 Brescia, for the sole purpose of feasting their eyes with them. 
 The manner of Raffaello may be as strongly traced as we can 
 imagine possible for a painter who had never seen Rome ; we 
 meet with graceful features, elegant proportions, if they do 
 not sometimes appear too slender; accuracy in the attitudes 
 and expression, which, in his sacred subjects, display, as it 
 were, the peculiar feeling of remorse, of pity, and even of 
 charity itself. The drapery is diversified, but not sufficiently 
 select, while all the accessories of the perspective and other 
 embellishments are as splendid as in any Venetian artist; 
 although not lavished with so much profusion ; and he dis¬ 
 plays an exact, diligent, and delicate hand, which appears, to 
 use a modern expression often applied, to write what it paints. 
 In regard to colouring, Moretto pursued a method which 
 
MORETTO OP BRESCIA. 
 
 181 
 
 surprises by its combined novelty and effect. Its chief cha¬ 
 racteristic consists of a very beautiful play of light and sha¬ 
 dow, not disposed in great masses, but finely tempered and 
 contrasted with each other. The same degree of art he 
 applies both to his figures and his skies, where he sometimes 
 depicts clouds whose colours are contrasted in a similar way. 
 For the most part his grounds are clear and bright, from 
 which the figures seem to rise with admirable relief. His 
 fleshy parts often remind us of the freshness of Titian’s ; in his 
 tints, moreover, he is more varied than the latter, or any other 
 of the Venetians. Little azure appears in his draperies, the 
 union of reds and yellows in a picture having been apparently 
 more to his taste. It is the same with other colours, a cir¬ 
 cumstance I have noticed in some of his contemporaries, both 
 of Brescia and Bergamo. Vasari, who has recorded his 
 name, along with that of many other Brescian artists, in his 
 life of Carpi, commends him for his skill in imitating every 
 kind of velvet, satin, or other cloth, either of gold or silver ; 
 but as he did not see, or failed to commemorate, some of his 
 choicest works, he has by no means done justice to his cha¬ 
 racter. 
 
 Moretto produced some works in fresco, though, if I 
 mistake not, he coloured better in oils ; as is the case where 
 diligence and depth of parts are not equally matched with 
 pictorial rapidity and fire. He employed himself a good 
 deal in his native province and the adjacent parts, in general 
 distinguishing himself more by his delicacy than by his 
 grandeur of hand. A fine specimen of this last, however, 
 may be seen in his terrific picture of Elias, placed in the old 
 cathedral. He was intimate with all the best methods of his 
 art ; but he did not always care to practise them. His pic¬ 
 ture of S. Lucia, in the church of S. Clemente, is not so much 
 studied as that of S. Catherine, and even tnis yields to his 
 painting of the great altar, representing our Lady in the air, 
 with the titular and other saints seen below. The composi¬ 
 tion is conducted in every part with exquisite taste, and the 
 piece is considered one of the best the city has to boast. An 
 altar-piece, consisting of various saints, at S. Andrea, in Ber¬ 
 gamo, another at S. Giorgio, in Verona, with the Fall of S. 
 Paul, at Milan, with which last he appears to have been so 
 
 
182 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 much pleased, as to subscribe, which was very unusual with 
 him, his name—are all likewise of the most finished composi¬ 
 tion. He was esteemed excellent in portrait, and educated 
 for this branch of art Gio. Batista Moroni. 
 
 This last was a native of Albino, in the territory of Ber¬ 
 gamo, where he produced, both for the city and the state, a 
 variety of altar and history pieces, which he continued to 
 supply from early youth, until within a few months of his 
 decease. So much has been made out, from authentic docu¬ 
 ments, by the Conte Tassi, who brought forward a long series 
 of his noble compositions. This artist is not, however, at all 
 comparable to his master in point of invention, of composi¬ 
 tion, or design; which last sometimes betrays a dryness ap¬ 
 proaching that of the quattrocentisti. Pasta notices the same 
 defect, in his Incoronazione of our Lord at the Trinita, al¬ 
 though very finely coloured, and a work equalling any of his 
 others in point of merit. For the rest, it is certain that no 
 artist of the Venetian school, besides Titian, has excelled him 
 in the truth and nature of his portraits, and in the life and 
 spirit of his heads, insomuch that Titian was in the habit of 
 recommending him to the governors of Bergamo, as the best 
 face-painter he could offer them. There exist specimens in 
 the Carrara collection, in possession of the Conti Spini, and 
 in other noble houses, which still appear to breathe and live ; 
 the drapery is in the Titian manner, and if any thing can be 
 said to be wanting, it is a greater degree of mastery in the 
 design and attitude of the hands. 
 
 Francesco Ricchino, of Brescia, is another name deserving 
 of record among the better disciples of Moretto, even in point 
 of colouring. He was desirous, however, from what we learn 
 from his pieces at San Pietro in Oliveto, of extracting im¬ 
 provement from the pictures, or at least from the engravings 
 of Titian. Luca Mombelli followed him in some of his ear¬ 
 liest works, until giving in to too great delicacy of manner, his 
 productions became somewhat feeble and tame. Girolamo 
 Rossi, another pupil or imitator, has, if I mistake not, better 
 displayed his master’s manner than any other, particularly in 
 an altar-piece, placed at San Alessandro, representing the 
 Virgin between various saints. Bagnatore was also a good 
 copyist of the same style, an artist who, in his Slaughter of 
 
ROMANINO. 
 
 183 
 
 the Innocents, subscribes his name Balneator, and who, if not 
 displaying great power, is nevertheless judicious, correct, and 
 sober in his works in oil; and he was one to whom was com¬ 
 mitted by public order the task of copying a picture by 
 Moretto. 
 
 Contemporary with Moretto flourished Romanino, of Bres¬ 
 cia, about the year 1540 ; the same who in S. Giustina, at 
 Padua, subscribes his name Hieronymus Rumanus. He was 
 the rival of Bonvicino, inferior to him in the opinion of Va¬ 
 sari, but his equal according to Ridolfi. And truly it would 
 appear that he surpassed him in genius and boldness of hand; 
 but could boast neither the same taste nor diligence, several 
 of his works appearing to be executed with a hasty pencil. 
 Still he in general displays the qualities of a great master, 
 both in his altar-pieces and in his histories, to say nothing of 
 his burlesque compositions. The same character he main¬ 
 tained at Verona, where he painted the martyrdom of the 
 titular saint, at S. Giorgio, in four large pictures abounding 
 wdth great variety of figures, some of the most spirited, and 
 the most terrible, in the executioners, that I ever saw. The 
 same richness of invention, accompanied even with more 
 select forms, is displayed in his altar-piece of the Holy Vir¬ 
 gin in Calcara, at Brescia, in which he represented the bishop, 
 S. Apollonio, administering the Eucharist to the crowd. It 
 is a work altogether charming; the splendour of the place, 
 and of the sacred vessels, the religious aspect of the prelate, 
 ol the Levites, and of the people ; the great variety of features 
 and of rank; so many singular pictorial beauties are all 
 placed within the limits of propriety and truth. Less full, 
 but no less perfect, is his Descent of Christ from the Cross, 
 at SS. Faustino and Giovita, a piece commended by Palma 
 for its extreme resemblance to the Venetian style, most pro¬ 
 bably alluding to that of Titian, although in some other works 
 he very strongly resembles Bassano. Titian, however, would 
 appear to have been his model, to which he wholly devoted 
 himself; whether he acquired so high a regard for him from 
 his own master, Stefano Rizzi, an artist of mediocrity, or de¬ 
 spairing of forming a new style, like his rival, he was in 
 hopes of surpassing him by such means. And, in fact, he still 
 retains admirers in those parts, who prefer him to Moretto, 
 
184 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 as well for grandeur of composition and energy of expression, 
 as for a capacity of genius that embraced every variety of 
 subject. 
 
 Girolamo Muziano acquired the art of design from Ro- 
 manino, and taking his style of colouring from the works of 
 litian, he subsequently flourished at Rome, in which school 
 he has been already mentioned. In this place we must in¬ 
 clude Lattanzio Gambara, the pupil and companion of Ro- 
 manino, as well as his son-in-law, at least if We are to credit 
 Ridolfi and other writers, in this last point sanctioned by the 
 popular tradition of Brescia. Vasari alone, who resided in 
 his house only a short time before he gave some account of 
 him, observes that he was son-in-law to Bonvicino, a point in 
 which his memory, doubtless, betrayed him. Lattanzio was 
 not inferior to his master in spirit, and, at the same time, bet¬ 
 ter instructed in the rules of the art, and more learned. Hav¬ 
 ing attended the academy of Campi, in Cremona, until his 
 eighteenth year, and cultivated an acquaintance with the best 
 foreign masters that he always retained, he added to this 
 knowledge all the richest and most tasteful colours'of the 
 Venetian school. Like Pordenone, he employed his talents, 
 for the most part, in frescos, which are still to be seen at 
 Venice, as well as within and without the confines of the 
 state. His manner, however, was less strong and shaded, 
 but in other points much Eesembling him in the beauty and 
 variety of his forms, variously coloured according to his sub¬ 
 jects ; in his knowledge of anatomy, without affectation, 
 spirited attitudes, difficult foreshortenings ; in a relief that 
 deceives the eye, and in novelty and play of invention. To 
 these we may add even a greater propriety of ideas, and 
 sweetness of tints, acquired from other schools; Lattanzio 
 having studied Giulio Romano at Mantua, and Correggio in 
 Parma. In the Corso de Ramai, at Brescia, there yet re¬ 
 main three facades, adorned with various histories and fables, 
 truly beautiful, executed by his hand. They are not, how¬ 
 ever, so imposing as some of his scriptural pieces, to be seen 
 in still better preservation in the cloister of S. Enphemia, en¬ 
 gravings of which have been promised to the public. The 
 spectator often recurs to them, and always with fresh plea¬ 
 sure. AY hen for want of space the figures could not be put 
 
GER0N1M0 SAVOLDO. 
 
 IS 5 
 
 in an upright posture, lie foreshortened them with admirable 
 nature and facility, so that no other attitudes could be 
 imagined so becoming to each figure. Professors have de¬ 
 tected some degree of imperfection in the naked parts, very 
 common, indeed, to the most celebrated painters of frescos; 
 but it is such as cannot be perceived at a distance, or if seen, 
 resembles only some false quantity in a good poet, easily to be 
 pardoned in the number of poetical beauties with which his 
 verses abound. He painted still more copious histories for 
 the cathedral at Parma, containing, perhaps, his greatest and 
 most studied production, and which fails not to please, even 
 in the presence of those of Correggio. There are several 
 altar-pieces likewise in oil at San Benedetto, in Mantua, all 
 of which are not equally happy. A Nativity of our Lord, at 
 SS. Faustino and Giovita, is his only picture in oil remaining 
 at his native place in public; it is very graceful, displaying 
 certain traits of the RafFaello manner. His picture of a 
 Pieta, at San Pietro, in Cremona, is also highly esteemed by 
 professors, one among whom, who had designed a good deal 
 from the works of Lattanzio, declared to me that he had never 
 witnessed any other so exquisite in point of design, nor 
 coloured with so much delicacy, clearness, and taste and soft¬ 
 ness of tints. Yet this great artist only reached his thirty- 
 second year, leaving in Giovita, a Brescian artist (likewise 
 called Brescianino), an excellent disciple, particularly of works 
 in fresco. 
 
 Geronimo Savoldo, sprung of a noble family in Brescia, 
 flourished also about 1540, and is ranked by Paolo Pino 
 among the best artists of his age. I know not where he ac¬ 
 quired the rudiments of his art; but from a specimen which I 
 saw at Brescia, he must have possessed great accuracy and deli¬ 
 cacy of hand. Upon transferring his residence to Venice, he is 
 known to have become one of the most formidable of Titian’s 
 rivals ; not, indeed, in works of a large scale, but in smaller 
 pieces conducted with an exquisite degree of care, which may, 
 in a manner, be said to have been his chief characteristic. 
 With such as these he beguiled his time, presenting them 
 gratuitously as ornaments for churches. He produced others 
 for private persons, now extremely rare and valuable, in dif¬ 
 ferent collections. 
 
1 SO VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Zanetti, iu his description of his little Presepio (Christ in 
 the manger), recently retouched, which is to be seen at San 
 Giobbe, observes that the tint of his pictures is truly beauti¬ 
 ful, and the whole composition conducted with a singular 
 degree of care. In Venice, says Ridolfi, he is known by the 
 name ot Girolamo Bresciano, neither Romanino nor Muziano 
 having employed themselves there, with whom he might pos¬ 
 sibly have been confounded. There he resided for many 
 years, and terminated his days at the same place. His 
 happiest production, though unknown to the historian, was 
 placed in the Altar-Maggiore, of the Padri Predicatori, at 
 Pesaro, a noble piece, which produces a striking impression 
 upon the eye.Our Lord is seen placed on high, seated 
 upon a cloud, which appears truly illuminated by the sun, 
 and on the foreground are represented four saints, drawn 
 with a force of colouring that seems to bring them as near to 
 the eye, as the soft colour of the perspective and of the upper 
 part of the picture throws its objects into the distance. A 
 small, but beautiful piece, in excellent preservation, is also 
 seen in the Royal Gallery of Florence, exhibiting the Trans¬ 
 figuration of our Lord, placed there along with specimens of 
 other \ enetian artists, by the Cavalier Puccini, one who has 
 conferred so many obligations upon that princely collection 
 of art. 
 
 Finally, after Savoldo, may be placed, among the Brescian 
 disciples ot Titian, Pietro Rosa, son of Cristoforo, and 
 nephew to Stefano Rosa, both excellent artists in oil. He 
 was one of those pupils whom Titian, induced by the friend¬ 
 ship he bore his father, instructed with most care, and the 
 best success. Hence it is that we trace that clear and true 
 foice of colouring, which shines in every one of his pieces. 
 Biescia boasts several, at the church of San Francesco, in the 
 Dome, and at the Grazie, where such as have the fewest 
 figures produce the happiest effect. In his composition he is 
 not so perfect as in other parts, whether it were that he had 
 not naturally the best talent for it, or, as is more probable, 
 that it is a branch of the art most difficult to young prac- 
 
 * This painting is now in the I. R. Pinacoteca, at Milan. It is wholly 
 Titianesque, and is only wanting in more choice selection in the figures 
 of the lower ground. 
 
GIROLAMO COLLEONI. 
 
 187 
 
 titioners. For he died in the outset of liis career, at the same 
 period as his lather, in 1576, whether from the plague or 
 from poison is not known. 
 
 Although Bergamo, at that period, boasted many distin¬ 
 guished imitators of Giorgione, it yet produced an artist, 
 Girolamo Colleoni, who ought to be included in the present list. 
 Some frescos from his hand are found at Bergamo, and an oil- 
 painting in the Carrara Gallery. It exhibits the marriage of 
 S. Catherine, which the best judges, on a first view, pro¬ 
 nounced to be the work of Titian, till the superscription, with 
 the name of Hieronymus Colleo, 1555, vindicated it for his 
 own. This distinguished artist, conscious of his merit, and 
 not finding himseli appreciated in his own country, foreign 
 and inferior painters being preferred before him, sought better 
 fortune at the court of Madrid. But before setting out, he 
 painted upon a facade the figure of a horse, of which great 
 encomiums, in difterent works, are all that remain ; and to 
 this he affixed as a motto, “ Nemo propheta in patria.” He 
 is known to have employed, as an assistant, Filippo Zanchi, 
 who, together with a brother of the name of Francesco, has 
 more recently been brought into view by Count Tassi, 
 besides some others who might here add to the number, but 
 not to the eminence, of so rich a school. An artist celebrated 
 also by Ridolfi, ought not, in this place, to be omitted ; the 
 beauty ol his tints, the design of his infant fingers, and the 
 nature of his landscape, all shewing that he aspired to the 
 Titian manner. He painted in fresco, but possessed an uni¬ 
 versal genius, as has been pronounced by Muzio, in his 
 w Teatro di Bergamothe truth of which more clearly 
 appears from his own works. His name was Giovan-Batista 
 Averara, and ‘he died young about the middle of the most 
 flourishing period of the art. Another artist deserving com¬ 
 memoration is Francesco Terzi, who long resided at the 
 Austrian conrt, and is distinguished in most of the capitals of 
 Italy for works he has there left. He has been mentioned by 
 Lomazzo, in whose native place are still seen, at San Sem- 
 pliciano, two noble histories, representing our Lord with his 
 Apostles, somewhat dry in point of design, but bold in 
 colouring. 
 
 In Gio. da Monte, Crema boasted a disciple of Titian, as 
 
188 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 he is described by Torre, who numbers him among the more 
 distinguished artists who ornamented IVIilan. A grado, exe¬ 
 cuted by him in chiaroscuro for an altar of Santa Maria, at 
 San Celso,. where he ought also to have painted the altar- 
 piece, obtained for him a high reputation; but he was 
 deprived of the altar-piece, owing to the intrigues of Antonio 
 Campi.* I he work of Campi still remains there, and the 
 opinion is, that though it was paid for at a higher rate than 
 the Grado itself, it is yet a work of inferior merit to that of 
 Giovanni, which much resembles Polidoro da Caravaggio, 
 gn mg rise to a suspicion that Aurelio Buso, of Cremona, a 
 scholar and assistant of Polidoro’s, in Rome, may have been 
 the only, or at least the earliest master of Giovanni. We 
 know from Ridolfi that Buso produced various histories, in 
 his native place, in the manner of his master, and historians 
 of Genoese art record other works from his hand in their 
 city, f’hej' assert that he departed thence unexpectedly, 
 while Ridolfi concludes his life, by saying, that notwithstand¬ 
 ing nis worth, he died in poverty. Prom the period in which 
 lie flourished, he might possibly have been the master of 
 Gio. da Monte, no less than Titian. 
 
 Callisto Piazza is likewise announced, by Orlandi, as 
 anothei imitator of the latter, which is very evident from Ins 
 picture of the Assumption, in the collegiate church of 
 Codogno. It contains figures of apostles, and two portraits 
 of Marchesi Trivulzi, not unworthy of any of Titian’s disci¬ 
 ples. And for such, indeed, was Callisto esteemed, both 
 beyond its limits, and in Lodi itself, where in the church of 
 the Incoronata, are three chapels, each ornamented with four 
 of his very beautiful histories. One of these contains the 
 mysteries of the Passion, another the acts of S. John the 
 Baptist, and the third displays histories in the life of the 
 Virgin. A report is current there, that Titian, in passing 
 through. Lodi, produced several heads, probably only a story 
 originating in the exceeding beauty that may be observed in 
 some.. It appears, however, certain, that he also imitated 
 Giorgione, in whose style he conducted his altar-piece, repre- 
 
 . * _This fact cannot easily be refuted, in the manner attempted by Zaist, 
 m ms “ Historical Notices of the Cremonese Painters,” with true party 
 zeal. p. 162. (See the New Guide of Milan, p. 139.) V * 
 
CALLISTO PIAZZA. 
 
 189 
 
 senting tlie Virgin between various saints, at San Francesco, 
 in Brescia, esteemed one of the most beautiful in the whole 
 city. He produced others for Brescia, for Crema, for the 
 dome of Alessandria, and for Lodi, though in this last he 
 succeeded better in fresco than in oil. From the circumstance 
 of his residing in so many different, places, I shall not refer 
 him to the school of Milan, preferring to place him here, no 
 less because of the vicinity of Crema to Lodi, than from his 
 belonging to the list of the imitators of Titian.* Little justice 
 has been done to the memory of such a man by Ridolfi, who 
 eonnnends him for nothing besides his colouring in fresco and 
 water-colours; when, in fact, he boasts very noble design, 
 and forms tolerably select, more particularly in the Assump¬ 
 tion already mentioned. Moreover, he calls him Callisto da 
 Lodi Bresciano, as if da Lodi were a family name ; although 
 in signing his own name, he gave it Callixtus de Platea, at 
 the Incoronata, and elsewhere desirous of marking his country, 
 Callixtus Laudensis. Ridolfi, too, says little or nothing of 
 the period in which he flourished. Padre Orlandi found, 
 affixed to one of his pictures, at Brescia, the date of 1524. I 
 may add, that in Lodi he gave the years 1527 and 1530 ; 
 and that, in the Nuptials of Cana, in the refectory of the 
 Padri Cisterciensi, at Milan, he marked 1545. It is truly a 
 surprising production, no less for its boldness of hand than 
 for the number of its figures, although the whole of them are 
 not equally well studied, and a few, among others that seem 
 to breathe and live, are really careless and incorrect.f He 
 painted in the same city, within a court-yard, the Choir of 
 
 the Muses, including the portraits of the president Sacco, the 
 
 »• 
 
 * To these the name of Francesco da Milano has recently been added, 
 on the strength of an altar-piece, quite Titianesque, exhibited with his 
 name in the parish church of Soligo, to which is added the date of 1540 : 
 —time may probably clear up the doubt it involves. 
 
 f He flourished several years subsequent, as appears from the “ New 
 Milan Guide,” with MS. corrections, by Signor Bianconi, of which the 
 Cavalier Lazara has a copy. He there remarks that he had seen in the 
 greater monastery, now suppressed, belonging to the nuns of San Mau- 
 rizio, other paintings by Piazza ; as Washing the Disciples’ feet, in the 
 Refectory, and the Multiplication of Loaves, upon canvas. Also within 
 the interior church, among other scriptural stories in fresco, is found the 
 Adoration of the Magi, the Marriage of Cana, and the Baptism of Christ, 
 bearing the date of 1556. 
 
190 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 master of the house, and of his wife ; respecting which, writes 
 Lomazzo, “ I may, without fear of temerity, observe, that it is 
 impossible to produce any thing more perfectly graceful and 
 pleasing, more beautiful in point of colouring, among works 
 in fresco.” (Trat. p. 598.) 
 
 We next arrive at the name of Jacopo Robusti, the son of a 
 Venetian dyer, and for this reason surnamed Tintoretto. He 
 was pupil to Titian, who, jealous of his talents, soon banished 
 him from his studio. He did not aspire, like the preceding 
 artists, to the name of Titian’s follower ; for he burned with 
 ambition to become the head of a new school which should 
 carry his manner to perfection, adding to it all that was yet 
 wanting; a vast idea, the offspring of a grand and fervid ge¬ 
 nius, and as bold as it was great, not even banishment from 
 his master’s school being able to damp his ardour. Con¬ 
 strained by circumstances to confine himself to an incommo¬ 
 dious apartment, he ennobled it with specimens of his early 
 studies. Over the door of it he wrote, “ Michelangelo’s de¬ 
 sign, and the colouring of Titian and as he was an indefa¬ 
 tigable imitator of the latter, so he was equally studious, both 
 night and day, in copying the models, taken from the statues 
 in Florence, belonging to the former. To these he added 
 many more of bassi-rilievi, and of ancient statues. In a cata¬ 
 logue of ancient pieces of sculpture, cited by Morelli, and 
 belonging to the year 1695, is recorded a head of Vitellius, 
 upon which “ Tintoretto was always employed in design¬ 
 ing and learning” (note, p. 152). He was frequently in the 
 habit of designing his models by lamp-light, the better to 
 obtain strong shades, and thus acquire skill in the use of a 
 bold chiaroscuro. With the same view, he wrought models in 
 wax and chalk, and having clothed them carefully, he adapted 
 them to little houses composed of pasteboard, and slips of 
 wood, supplying them through the windows with small lights 
 by which he might thus regulate his oAvn lights and shades. 
 The models themselves he suspended from the ceiling by cords, 
 placing them in a variety of positions, and designing them 
 from different points of view, the better to acquire a mastery 
 of foreshortening, as seen from below, a science not so fami¬ 
 liar to his school as to that of Lombardy. Nor did he neglect 
 the study of anatomy, to obtain a thorough knowledge of the 
 
TINTORETTO. 
 
 191 
 
 muscles, and the structure of the human frame. He designed 
 also the naked parts, as much as possible, in various shorten¬ 
 ings and attitudes, in order to render his compositions as 
 diversified as nature herself. By such studies he prepared 
 himself to introduce the true method to be pursued by his 
 followers, beginning with the designing from the best models, 
 and having obtained the idea of a correct style, proceeding to 
 copy the naked parts, and to correct their defects.* To 
 similar aids he united a genius which extorted the admiration 
 of Vasari, one of his severest critics, who pronounced it the 
 most terrible of which the art could boast—an imagination 
 fertile in new ideas, and a pictorial fire which inspired him 
 with vigour to conceive well the boldest character of the pas¬ 
 sions, and continued to support him until he had given full 
 expression to them on his canvas. 
 
 Yet, what is the noblest genius, what are all the rarest 
 qualities meeting in a single artist, without diligence, a virtue 
 which of itself, says Cicero, seems to include all the rest ? 
 Tintoretto possessed it for a. period, and produced works in 
 which the most captious of critics could not find a shade of 
 defect. Of such kind is that Miracle of the Slave, adorning 
 the college of St. Mark, apiece he executed in his thirty-sixth 
 year, and which is held up as one of the wonders of Venetian 
 art. The colours are Titian’s, the chiaroscuro extremely 
 strong, the composition correct and sober, select forms, studied 
 draperies; while equally varied, appropriate, and animated 
 beyond conception, are the attitudes of the men assisting at 
 the spectacle, in particular of the saint who flies to succour, 
 giving an idea of the swiftness of an aerial being. Hiere, 
 too, he painted other beautiful pieces, whose merit extorted 
 from the lips of Pietro da Cortona these words: “ Did I 
 reside in Venice, not a festival should pass without still 
 resorting to this spot, in order to feast my eyes with such 
 objects, and above all, with the design !” ITis picture of the 
 
 * Zanetti, p. 147. See also Ridolfi, parte ii. p. 10, where he informs 
 us that Tintoret, in the maturity of his powers, being employed in paint¬ 
 ing for the church of La Ti'inita, Adam and Eve seduced by the Serpent, 
 and the Death of Abel, “ designed the figures from nature, placing over 
 them a thin veil; to which figures he added a peculiar grace of contours, 
 which he acquired from studying rilievi.” 
 
192 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Crucifixion at the college of San Rocco, is also esteemed a 
 work of singular merit; displaying as it does, so much novelty 
 upon so hackneyed a subject.* Nor are other examples of 
 his surpassing power wanting in the same place, filled with 
 pictures as various as new; but, for brevity’s sake, I shall 
 merely record, in the third place, his Supper of our Lord, 
 now at the Salute, having been removed from the refectory of 
 the Crociferi, for which it was drawn. Those who have be¬ 
 held it in its place, write of it as a miracle in the art, inas¬ 
 much as the construction of the place was so well repeated in 
 the picture, and imitated with so much knowledge of perspec¬ 
 tive, as to make the apartment appear double its real size. 
 Nor a,re these three works to which he affixed his name, as 
 his favourite productions, the only ones worthy of his genius, 
 Zanetti having enumerated many more, conducted with the 
 most finished care, all exhibited to the Venetian public, with¬ 
 out including those dispersed throughout the different cities of 
 Europe. 
 
 But diligence is rarely found long united to a rage for 
 achieving much ; the true source in this instance, as in nume¬ 
 rous others, of false, or at least of inferior composition. Hence, 
 Annibale Caracci observed, that in many pieces Tintoretto 
 was inferior to Tintoretto ; while Paul Veronese, so ardent 
 an admirer of his talents, was in the habit of reproaching him 
 with doing injustice to the professors of the art, by painting 
 in every manner, a plan that went far to destroy the reputa¬ 
 tion of the profession ( Ridolfi ). Similar exceptions will be 
 found to apply to such of his works as, conceived at a heat, 
 executed by habit, and in great part left imperfect, betray 
 certain errors both in point of judgment and design. Some¬ 
 times there appears a crowd of superfluous or badly grouped 
 figures, and most generally all in the most energetic actions, 
 without any spectators regarding them in quiet, as was prac¬ 
 tised by Titian and all the best composers. Neither in these 
 figures are we to look for that senatorial dignity which Rey¬ 
 nolds discovers in Titian. 
 
 Tintoretto aimed rather at liveliness than at grace, and from 
 the studied observation of the people of his native state, per- 
 
 * It was engraved by Agostino Caracci, and assuredly is the master¬ 
 piece of this painter.—A. 
 
TINTORETTO. 
 
 193 
 
 haps the most spirited in Italy, he drew models for his heads, 
 as well as his attitudes, sometimes applying them to the most 
 important subjects. . In a few specimens of his Suppers, the 
 Apostles might occasionally be taken for gondoliers, just when 
 their arm is raised, ready to strike the oar, and with an air of 
 native fierceness they raise the head either to look out to 
 ridicule, or to dispute. He likewise varied Titian’s method 
 of colouring, making use of primary grounds no longer white 
 and composed of chalk, but shaded; owing to which his 
 Venetian pictures have felt the effects of time more than the 
 rest. Neither was the choice, nor the general tone of his 
 colouring the same as Titian’s; the blue, or the ash-coloured, 
 being that which predominates ; one which assists the effect 
 of the chiaroscuro, as much as it diminishes the amenity of the 
 whole. In his fleshes there appears a certain vinous colour 
 and more particularly in his portraits. The proportions of 
 his bodies are also different; he does not affect the fulness of 
 Iitian ; he aims more at lively action than the latter, and 
 sometimes attenuates his figures too much. The least correct 
 portion of Ins pictures is the drapery ; few of them being free 
 from those long and straight folds, or flying abroad, or in 
 some other way too common and obvious. It would be use¬ 
 less to insist upon his want of judgment, or rather his pictorial 
 extravagances, Yasari having already said too much of them 
 
 upon the subject of his Universal Judgment, at Santa Maria 
 dell Orto. 
 
 lie ought to have tempered the severity of his criticism 
 however, by admitting, that if the author of that great picture 
 had bestowed as much pains upon the several parts as upon 
 the whole, it would have been a magnificent production. Even 
 in those pictures, in which he wished to display the talent as 
 it were of an improvisator, he still vindicated his title to 
 the name of a great master, in the command and rapidity of 
 his pencil, in his manifestations of original powers, where he 
 seems to triumph in his play of light, in the most difficult 
 shortenings, in fanciful inventions, in his relief, in harmony 
 and, in the best supported of his pieces, even in the beauty of 
 his tints. But his sovereign merit consisted in the animation 
 ol his figures, it being an universal opinion, that has almost 
 
 acquired the force of a proverb, that the power of action 
 
 VOL. II. 0 
 
] 94 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 ought to be studied in Tintoretto. Upon this point Pietro da 
 Cortona used to observe, that if we carefully examine the 
 whole of those pictures which have been engraved, no artist 
 will be found equal to him in the pictorial fire he infused into 
 his forms (Boschini, p. 285). He flourished for a long period, 
 exerting his talents until we could with difficulty make a 
 catalogue of his works, still giving the rein to his divine 
 ardour in many pieces of great size, or at least abounding with 
 a great variety of actors. Among these last, his picture of the 
 Paradiso, in the hall of tbe great council, was greatly esteemed, 
 even by the Caracci; and though the production of advanced 
 age, the figures are almost innumerable. Had they only been 
 better grouped and distributed, the artist would not have given 
 occasion for Algarotti to criticise such a painting as he did, 
 adducing it as an example of badly conceived composition. 
 Tintoretto’s genuine productions are not often met with in the 
 different collections of Italy. In Venice, however, they are not 
 rare, and there we may learn, what appears so very impro¬ 
 bable in the Ridolfi, that Tintoretto wrought with a degree of 
 finish equal to that of a miniature-painter. The noble Casa 
 Barbarigo, at S. Polo, possesses a “ Susanna ” of this character, 
 where, in small space, is included a park, with birds and rabbits 
 disporting, together with every thing desirable in a pleasure- 
 garden ; the whole as studiously finished as his figures. 
 
 There is little to add relating to his school, on which none 
 conferred greater credit than his son, Domenico Tintoretto. 
 He trod in the steps of his father; but like Ascanius follow¬ 
 ing iEneas, “ non passibus asquis.” Still he may boast much 
 resemblance in his countenances, in his colouring, and in har¬ 
 mony, but there is a wide distinction in point of genius, though 
 some of his most spirited pieces have been ascribed to his 
 father, or at least suspected of having been chiefly indebted to 
 his hand. Many works, however, upon a large scale, are at¬ 
 tributed to the son; those which he has filled with portraits 
 being far the most commended; his merit in this branch 
 having been thought equal by Zanetti to that of his father. 
 One of these is seen at tbe college of St. Mark, where, as in 
 the rest of his compositions, tbe figures are disposed with more 
 sobriety than those of Jacopo, as well as finished with more 
 carej and with more enduring colours. As he grew older his 
 
TINTORETTO. 
 
 195 
 
 style fell somewhat into that of a mannerist, which at that 
 period, as we shall see, much prevailed. By these distinctions 
 his productions may be frequently known from his father’s 
 and we may be enabled to refute the assertions of dealers’ 
 who, to obtain a higher price, attribute them indiscriminately 
 to Jacopo. Yet Domenico produced many pieces, more es¬ 
 pecially portraits for different collections, besides several my¬ 
 thological and scriptural histories, to which he sometimes 
 added his name as m his picture boasting such exquisite tints 
 which adorns the Campidoglio, the subject of which is a 
 penitent Magdalen. Contemporary with Domenico, we ouo-ht 
 not to omit the name of his sister Marietta, so exquisite a 
 painter of portraits, as to receive invitations from the emperor 
 Maximilian, and from Philip II. of Spain, to visit their re¬ 
 spective courts. But her father would never consent to such 
 a measure, in order to enjoy her society at home, though he 
 was deprived of her not long afterwards, cut off in the flower 
 o er genius and her age. Jacopo possessed few disciples 
 beyond Ins two children though he profited in some measure 
 from these few. Paolo Franceschi, or de’ Freschi, a Fleming 
 and Martino de Vos d’Anversa, were artists he employed to 
 draw Ins landscapes. The former was esteemed one of the 
 best landscape painters of his time, while he succeeded also in 
 figures. He was engaged to paint for the Polazzo Publico 
 and several churches in Venice, where he terminated his days! 
 The second resided also at Rome; and, in the church of San 
 Francesco a Ripa, painted his “ Concezione,” a picture, indeed 
 abounding with too many figures, but beautiful and exquisite 
 m its tints. With still greater felicity he depicted the four 
 seasons for the Colonna family, very pleasing little pictures, 
 presenting a happy union of various schools, fine perspective, 
 fine relief, with correct and graceful design. Passing into 
 Hermany and increasing in reputation no less by his works 
 than by the engravings made of them by Sadeler, there, full 
 of years and fame, he died. Lamberto Lombardo has been 
 
 just before recorded as the assistant of Tintoretto, but not his 
 disciple. 
 
 Odofardo Fialetti, a native of Bologna, was educated in the 
 
 ool of Tintoretto, where he acquired a reputation for good 
 design, and a thorough acquaintance will all the precepts of 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 the art, yet he was still far from emulating his master, not 
 possessing vivacity of genius equal to the task. To avoid a 
 competition with the Caracci he long continued, and died at 
 Venice, where many of his works are highly esteemed, and in 
 particular his picture of the Crucifixion, painted for the Croce. 
 
 Among the imitators of Tintoretto appears the name of 
 Cesare dalle Ninfe, an artist who aimed at reaching the sharp 
 expression of ridicule, the novelty of ideas, and the rapidity 
 of hand, so remarkable in his prototype, though unequal in 
 his design. Flaminio Floriano seems to have been ambitious 
 of imitating only the more correct parts of his model, so uni¬ 
 formly exact, temperate, and precise does he appear in his 
 picture of San Lorenzo, to which he affixed his name. 
 
 The name of Melchior Colonna also occurs, though hardly 
 known in Venice, and some perhaps would add that of Bertoli, 
 a Venetian, to be met with affixed to a picture at the chapel 
 of San Niccola, in Tolentino. It represents the Plague that 
 visited that city, if I mistake not, and which disappeared at 
 the solicitation of the patron saint. There is also an account 
 of another artist, who from his age might have received the 
 instructions of Tintoretto, or at all events obtained them from 
 his works; his name was Gio. Rotlienamer di Monaco. Ar¬ 
 riving in Italy with but a small fund of knowledge, acquired 
 in the studio of a poor national artist, he distinguished him¬ 
 self at Rome, and perfected his style in Venice, adopting in a 
 great measure the maxims of Tintoretto. There at the Incu- 
 rabili, he left a Santa Cristina, a Nunziata at San Bartolom¬ 
 meo, and as we have reason to believe, other works in private 
 possession, by which he obtained some degree of credit. Sub¬ 
 sequently arriving at a handsome practice in England, he 
 nevertheless died there in poverty, his funeral expenses being 
 defrayed by the alms of some Venetians. But few others, 
 observes Zanetti, pursued the same path, probably because at 
 that period more pleasing and popular styles were in vogue. 
 Ridolfi, on the other hand, asserts, that all young artists 
 towards the end of the century were anxious to study him for 
 their model; and we shall find, in treating of the mannerists , 
 that he was acknowledged by them as their sovereign master. 
 We must, in the next place, enter upon a consideration of the 
 school of Bassano. 
 
JACOPO DA PONTE. 
 
 197 
 
 Jacopo da Ponte, son to that Francesco, who, in the pre¬ 
 ceding epoch, was commended as one of the better artists who 
 flourished during the fourteenth century, was nearly contem¬ 
 porary with Tintoretto, and was instructed by his father in 
 the art. Ilis earliest efforts, that are seen in the church of 
 San Bernardino, in his native place, bear the impress of such 
 an education. On resorting to Venice he was recommended 
 to Bonifazio,. a master, no less jealous of his art than Titian or 
 Tintoretto; insomuch, that Jacopo never obtained the advan¬ 
 tage of seeing him colour, except by secretly watching him 
 through a crevice in the door of his studio. He resided but a 
 little time in Venice, employed in designing the cartoons of 
 Parmigianino, and in taking copies of the pictures of Bonifazio 
 and Titian, whose scholar, upon the authority of some manus¬ 
 cript he had also been. And, if conformity of manner were 
 sufficient evidence, by no means always a certain guide, we 
 might admit the truth of such supposition; his second style 
 being altogether that of Titian. A few of his pictures are 
 met with in his native place, such as his Flight into Egypt, 
 at San Girolamo, and a Nativity of the Redeemer, in posses¬ 
 sion of Sig. Dottor Barber, both youthful productions, but 
 which seemed to promise another Titian, so richly were they 
 imbued with his sweetness of taste. 
 
 Upon his father’s death Jacopo was compelled to return, 
 and settle in his own province, whose city is at this day both 
 rich and populous, and in those times it was esteemed by no 
 means despicable, its situation delightful, abounding with 
 flocks and herds, and well adapted for the sale of merchandize, 
 and for fairs. From these elements arose by degrees his for¬ 
 mation of a third style, full of simplicity and grace, and which 
 gave the first indications in Italy of a taste altogether foreign, 
 that of the Flemish. In the use of his pencil, Jacopo may be 
 said to have pursued two different methods. The first of these 
 is much softened with a fine union of tints, and at last deter¬ 
 mined with free strokes. The second, resulting in a great 
 measure from the other, was formed by simple strokes of the 
 pencil, with clear and pleasing tints, and with a certain com¬ 
 mand, or rather audacity of art, that, nearly viewed, appears 
 a confused mixture, but forms in the distance an enchanting 
 effect of colouring. In both of these he displays the origina- 
 
198 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 lity of his own style, chiefly consisting in a certain soft and 
 luscious composition. It partakes at once of the triangular 
 and the circular form, and aims at certain contrasts of pos¬ 
 tures ; so that if one of the figures is in full face, the other 
 turns its shoulders ; and at the same time at a kind of ana¬ 
 logy, so that a number of heads shall meet in the same line, or 
 in want of these, some other form elevated in the same direc¬ 
 tion. In regard to his lights, he appears partial to such as 
 are confined to one part, and displayed masterly power in 
 rendering it subservient to the harmony of the whole; for 
 with these rare lights, with the frequent use of middle tints, 
 and the absence of deep obscure, he succeeded admirably in 
 harmonizing the most opposite colours. In the gradation of 
 lights he often contrives that the shadow of the interior figure 
 shall serve as a ground for one more forward, and that the 
 figures should partake of few lights, but extremely bold and 
 vivid at their angles : as for instance, on the top of the shoulder, 
 on the knee, and on the elbow, for which purpose he makes 
 use of a flow or sweep of folds, natural to all appearance, but 
 in fact highly artificial, to favour his peculiar system. In 
 proportion to the variety of his draperies, he varies the folds 
 with a delicacy of judgment that falls to the share of few. 
 His colours every where shine like gems ; in particular his 
 greens, which display an emerald tinge peculiar to himself. 
 Whoever would become more familiar with the mechanism, 
 and at the same time peruse a very full analysis of Bassano’s 
 style, may refer to Sig. Yerci, the able historian of the Marca 
 Trevigiana, who drew it up from the “ MS. Volpati,” cited by 
 us in another epoch, and in the index to the writers. 
 
 At the outset Jacopo aspired to a grandeur of style, which 
 is apparent from some of his pictures remaining in the fa<jade 
 of the Casa Michieli. Among these, a Sampson slaying the 
 Philistines meets with much praise, and, indeed, they all par¬ 
 take of the boldness of Michelangelo. But, whether the 
 result of disposition or of judgment, he afterwards confined 
 himself to smaller proportions, and to subjects of less power. 
 Even the figures in his altar-pieces are generally less than 
 life, and so little animated, that it was observed by some one, 
 that in Tintoretto even his old men were spirited, but that 
 the youths of Bassano were mere dotards. We do not meet 
 
JACOPO DA PONTE. 
 
 199 
 
 with any of that noble architecture in his paintings, that adds 
 so much dignity to those of the Venetian School. He ap¬ 
 pears rather anxious to find subjects in which to introduce 
 candle-light, cottages, landscape, animals, copper vessels, and 
 all such objects as passed under his eye, and which he copied 
 with surprising accuracy. His ideas were limited, and he 
 often repeated them, a fault to be attributed to his situation, 
 it being an indisputable fact, that the conceptions both of 
 artist and of writers become enlarged and increased in great 
 capitals, and diminish in small places. All this may be 
 gathered from his pictures produced for private ornament, the 
 most familiar occupation of his life, inasmuch as he executed 
 very few large altar-pieces. He conducted them at leisure in 
 his studio, and, assisted by his school, he prepared a great 
 number of various dimensions. He then despatched them 
 to Venice, and sometimes to the best frequented fairs, thus 
 rendering the number so very great, as to make it rather a 
 disgrace for a collection not to possess copies by his hand, 
 than an honour to have them. In these may be viewed, al¬ 
 most invariably, the same subjects; consisting of acts of the 
 Old and New Testament; the Feasts of Martha, of the 
 Pharisee, of the Glutton, with a splendid display of brazen 
 vessels; the Ark of Noah, the Return of Jacob, the A nnun- 
 ciation of the Angel to the Shepherds, with great variety of 
 animals. To these we may add, the Queen of Sheba, the 
 three Magi, with regal pomp of dress, and the richest array; 
 the Deposition of our Lord from the Cross, by torch-light. 
 His pieces upon profane subjects exhibit the sale of beasts and 
 of brazen vessels, sometimes rural occupations, corresponding 
 to the seasons of the year; and sometimes without human 
 figures, merely a kitchen furniture, a fowl-yard, or similar ob¬ 
 jects. Nor is it only the histories or the compositions them¬ 
 selves that recur in every collection to the eye; but even 
 countenances taken from individuals of his own family; for 
 instance, arraying his own daughter either as a Queen of 
 Sheba,. or a Magdalen, or as a villager presenting fowls 
 to the infant Jesus. I have likewise seen entire pieces, with 
 the title of the “ Family of Bassano,” sometimes in small size, 
 and sometimes in larger. Of the former, I remarked a speci¬ 
 men in Genoa, in possession of Signor Ambrogio Durazzo, 
 
200 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH II. 
 
 where the daughters of the painter are seen intent upon their 
 feminine occupations, a little boy playing, and a domestic in 
 the act of lighting a candle. One of the second kind may be 
 seen in the Medicean Museum, a picture which represents an 
 academy of music. 
 
 By this method he seemed to confess the poverty of his 
 imagination, though he derived from it a very remarkable 
 advantage. By dint of continually repeating the same things, 
 be hi ought them to the utmost point of perfection of which 
 they were susceptible ; as we may gather from his picture of 
 the Nativity of our Lord, placed at San Giuseppe, in Bassano, 
 the master-piece not only of Jacopo, but in point of force of 
 colouis and the chiaroscuro, of every thing that modern paint¬ 
 ing has to boast. The same is seen in his Burial of Christ, 
 at the Seminario of Padua, a picture of which an engraving 
 was taken by order of Madame Patin, among “ the Portraits 
 of Celebrated Paintershaving met with no other that 
 seemed to breathe such a spirit of pity and holy terror. 
 Finally, in his Sacrifice of Noah, at Santa Maria Maggiore 
 in Venice, in which he collected specimens of all the birds 
 and animals he had drawn elsewhere, he preserved the same 
 character; and by this production so far won the regard of 
 Titian, that he wished to purchase a copy for the ornament of 
 his own studio. 
 
 Hence it happens, that the works of Bassano, conducted at 
 a > certain age and with singular care, are estimated very 
 highJy, and purchased at large sums, though not altogether 
 exempt from some errors of perspective, from some awkward¬ 
 ness of posture, and some fault in composition, particularly in 
 point of symmetry. Indeed it was the general belief, that he 
 possessed little practical skill in designing the extremities, 
 thus a\ oiding, as much as lay in his power, the introduction 
 of feet and hands into his pictures. These accusations, with 
 others before alluded to, might be greatly extenuated by pro¬ 
 ducing such examples of Bassano as would fully prove, that 
 he could, when he pleased, draw much better than he was ac¬ 
 customed to do. He knew how to vary his compositions, as 
 we perceive in his Nativity, at the Ambrosiana in Milan ; 
 and he might as easily have varied his other pieces. He was 
 capable also of conceiving with equal novelty and propriety, 
 
JACOPO DA PONTE. 
 
 201 
 
 as we gather from his San Rocco, at Vicenza; and he mio-ht 
 thus have shone on other occasions. Moreover, he knew how 
 to draw the extremities, as appears from his picture of S. 
 Peter, at Venice, adorning the church of the Umilta; and 
 he could give dignity to his countenaces, as in his Queen of 
 Sheba, which I have seen in Brescia; and he might have dis¬ 
 played the same dignity in other pieces. But whether he 
 found such a task too irksome, or from whatever other cause, 
 he displayed his powers rarely; content with having arrived 
 at his peculiar method of colouring, of illuminating, and of 
 shading, with a sovereign skill. So universally was he ad¬ 
 mired, that he received innumerable commissions from various 
 courts, and an invitation to that of Vienna. What is more 
 honourable, notwithstanding his defects, he extorted the 
 highest praises, if not from Vasari, from many of the most 
 renowned artists; from Titian, from Annibal Caracci, who 
 was so much deceived by a book painted upon a table, that he 
 stretched out his hand to take it up; and from Tintoretto, 
 who commended his colouring, and in some measure wished 
 to imitate him. Above all, he was highly honoured by Paul 
 Veronese, who intrusted him with his son Carletto, for a 
 pupil,, to receive his general instructions, “ and more particu- 
 laily in regard to that just disposition of lights reflected from 
 one object to. another, and in those happy counter-positions, 
 owing.to which -the depicted objects seemed clothed with a 
 profusion of light. Such is the flattering testimony given 
 by Algarotti to the style of Jacopo da Ponte. 
 
 Bassano educated four of his sons to the same profession, 
 which thus became transmitted to others, so that the Bassa- 
 nese. school continued for the length of a century, though still 
 declining and departing fast from its primitive splendour. 
 Francesco and Leandro were the two members of Jacopo’s 
 family best disposed, to pursue his footsteps, and he was ac¬ 
 customed to pride himself upon the inventive talents displayed 
 by .the former, and the singular ability of the latter for por¬ 
 trait-painting. Of his two other sons, Giambatista and Giro¬ 
 lamo, he used to observe, that they were the most accurate 
 copyists of his own works. All of these, more especially the 
 two latter, were instructed by their father in those refinements 
 of the art he himself practised, and they so far succeeded, 
 
202 
 
 VENETIAN SCIICOL.-EPOCH If. 
 
 that many c>f their copies, made both during and after the life¬ 
 time of their father, very frequently imposed upon professors, 
 being received for the originals of Jacopo. The whole of 
 them, however, produced original works, and Francesco the 
 eldest, having established himself in Venice, gave ample 
 proof of it in those histories drawn from Venetian records, 
 which he painted for the Palazzo Grande. They are placed 
 near those of Paul Veronese, and appear to advantage even 
 in such competition. His father here assisted him with his 
 advice ; himself attending upon the spot, and instructing him 
 where he found occasion, how to add force to his tints, to im¬ 
 prove his perspective, and to bring the whole work to the 
 most perfect degree of art. His pencil may be very clearly 
 traced in that of his son, as well as his style, which in the opi 
 nion of critics is somewhat too much loaded, especially in his 
 shades.. Francesco likewise produced several beautiful altar- 
 pieces, in which, on the other hand, he appears less vigorous 
 than his father, as may be seen in his Paradiso, at the Gesu, 
 in Rome, or in his San Apollonio, at Brescia, one of the most 
 beautiful pieces in the church of S. Afra, and much admired 
 by foreigners. And he would have achieved still greater 
 things, had he not been afflicted with severe fits of melancholy, 
 such as to deprive him of the use of his faculties and his time, 
 until he was driven by sudden desperation to throw himself 
 from a window, and, by this accident, still in the prime of his 
 days, he lost his life. 
 
 The works which he left imperfect in the Ducal Palace, 
 and in other places, were completed by Leandro, the third son 
 of Jacopo, and a professor in high repute. He followed the 
 same maxims in the art, except that by his practice in portrait 
 taking, he acquired more originality of countenance, and in 
 the use of his pencil approaches nearer to the first than to the 
 second style of Jacopo. He is, moreover, more variable in it, 
 and inclines somewhat to the mannerism of his age. One of 
 h\s best performances, perhaps, is to be seen at San Francesco, 
 in Bassano, Santa Catenna crowned by our Lord, amidst 
 various saints, distributed upon the steps of the throne, with 
 figures larger than customary in the Bassanese school. His 
 pictures likewise of the Resurrection of Lazarus, placed at the 
 Carita, and of the Nativity of the Virgin, at Santa Sofia, 
 
da ponte’s sons. 
 
 203 
 
 besides others he produced at Venice, as well as for the state, 
 are distinguished by their large proportions. If familiar with 
 the father s productions, we may often detect domestic plagia¬ 
 risms in Leandro, who often repeats the family of da Ponte, 
 copied in innumerable pieces by Jacopo, by his sons, and by 
 their descendants. Even in his pictures for private ornament, 
 conducted according to his own style and fancy, he was fond 
 of adopting paternal subjects and examples, being skilful in 
 drawing animals of every kind from nature. But nothing 
 proved so favourable to his reputation, both in Italy and 
 throughout Europe, as the immense number of his portraits, 
 admirably executed, and not unfrequently with a certain ori¬ 
 ginal fancy, both for private persons and for princes. Those 
 that he executed for the Imperial Palace were particularly 
 relished; insomuch, that he received an invitation from 
 Rodolphe II., to accept the place of his court painter, an 
 honour which Leandro thought fit to refuse. He was 
 more ambitious of enjoying fame at Venice than at Vienna, 
 for the Doge Grimani, the better to obtain a noble portrait of 
 himself, had already created him his cavalier. And Leandro 
 supported his dignity with an imposing demeanour : he lodged, 
 dressed, and maintained his table in a noble manner. He 
 appeared in public ornamented with a collar of gold, and with 
 the insignia of St. Mark, accompanied by a train of disciples, 
 who dwelt at his house. One of these bore his gold cane, ano¬ 
 ther the repertory, in which he noted down all that was to be 
 done during the day. The same where bound to attend upon 
 him at table; and as he was suspicious of poison, he was ac¬ 
 customed, like the great, to have his tasters, who took some¬ 
 thing of every dish he eat; but they were ordered not to 
 taste much, as in such case the great man became little, and 
 gave rise to much mirth. Like his brother, he was sub¬ 
 ject to fits of melancholy, but he contrived to manage them 
 so well, as only to give birth to comic, never to tragic scenes. 
 
 # Giambatista da Ponte, is a name almost unmentioned in 
 history, nor is there any production attributed to him, besides 
 an altar-piece in Gallio, with his name, and which by some 
 writer has been given, from its style, to Leandro. Girolamo, 
 the last of the family, is better known by an altar-piece 
 which he conducted in Venice, after the composition of Lean- 
 
204 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 dro, as well as for others executed in Bassano and its vicinity. 
 He cannot be denied a certain graceful air in his counte¬ 
 nances ; and in some of his works, displaying the simplest 
 composition, and very graceful colouring. Such is his picture 
 of S. Barbara, adorning the church of S. Giovanni, at Bassano. 
 where the saint is seen between two upright figures of virgins, 
 with their eyes fixed upon heaven, where the holy mother is 
 represented in the usual manner of the times. 
 
 Not only was Jacopo attached to the soil and very walls of 
 his native country, from which no prospects of honour or or 
 profit could tempt him away, but he liberally granted his in¬ 
 structions to his fellow-citizens, which both his sons and their 
 family continued after his decease. The best disciple whom 
 they produced, was Jacopo Apollonio, the offspring of Jacopo’s 
 daughter. Though only acquainted with the two least cele¬ 
 brated of his uncles, he made rapid progress in his art, a case 
 in which he may be compared to certain writers, who have 
 wholly made use of their native dialect, without mingling it 
 with any of a foreign growth. In like manner, he is Bas- 
 sanese in his ideas, in his draperies, in his architecture, and 
 more than all, in his landscape, which he touched with a mas¬ 
 ter’s hand. He might easily at times be mistaken for the 
 real Bassani, were he not inferior to them in the vigour of his 
 tints, in the delicacy of his contours, and in the strokes of his 
 pencil. Some of his best works consist of a Magdalen, seen 
 in the Dome of Bassano, and a San Francesco at the Rifor- 
 mati, which present fair examples by which to judge of his 
 style. Yet above all, his picture of the Titular with various 
 other saints at San Sebastiano, is one of the most exquisite 
 finish, and possesses every estimable quality in the art, ex¬ 
 cept that of softness. Some have considered him the only 
 artist among the disciples of this school worthy of commemo¬ 
 ration. \ et the natives of Bassano set some store by two 
 brothers named Giulio and Luca Martinelli, very estimable 
 scholars of Jacopo. They also hold in some esteem Antonio 
 Scajario, son-in-law to Giambatista da Ponte, as well as his 
 heir, owing to which he sometimes signs himself Antonio da 
 Ponte, Antonio Bassano. Nor do they omit the name of Ja¬ 
 copo Guadagni, the offspring of a daughter of Francesco da 
 Ponte, who acquired some merit in portrait-painting, and in 
 
DESCENDANTS OF DA PONTE. 
 
 205 
 
 copying, however feebly, the works of his ancestors. Upon 
 his decease in 1633, every vestige of the manner and of the 
 school of Jacopo became extinct in Bassano. There never¬ 
 theless arose about the same period in Cittadella, a place ad¬ 
 jacent to Bassano, a young genius of the name of Gio. Batista 
 Zampezzo, who, directed by Apollonio, and having concluded 
 his studies at Venice, devoted himself to copying the works 
 of Jacopo. So well did he imitate his Santa Lucilla baptized 
 by San Valentino, a piece at the Grazie in Bassano, that 
 Bartolommeo Scaligero pronounced it comparable with the 
 original. He flourished about 1660 ;* and subsequent to him 
 appeared the noble Gio. Antonio Lazzari, a Venetian, who 
 succeeded in deceiving the most skilful artists, says Melchiori, 
 by dint of copying Jacopo, and passing for him. It will not 
 have been irksome, I trust, to my readers, thus to have con¬ 
 nected together a series of the school of Bassano, by aid of 
 which the copies taken by so many artists, at different 
 periods, and with various degrees of merit, may be better dis¬ 
 tinguished, t 
 
 Whilst the Bassanese school employed itself in drawing the 
 simplest objects of rural nature upon a small scale, a different 
 
 * This date is pointed out by Boschini, and corresponds with the 
 fortieth year of the artist, who, on the authority of Melchiori, made a 
 noble copy of Giorgione’s San Liberale, at Castelfranco, besides pro¬ 
 ducing several original works in his native place and the vicinity. Speci¬ 
 mens of his labours exist in water-colours, taken from pictures in fresco 
 executed by Paolo and by Zelotti, in different palaces belonging to Vene¬ 
 tian noblemen. The cavalier Liberi, his Venetian master, aware of his 
 singular talent for such species of painting, often employed him, to the 
 no small advantage both of his art and his fortune. 
 
 f It would be too difficult to attempt to enumerate the names of his 
 foreign imitators, particularly the Flemish, who were much devoted to his 
 style, some of whose copies I have seen in collections believed to be ori¬ 
 ginals. But the handle of their pencil, the clearness of colouring, and 
 sometimes the diminution of the figures, not common to the Bassani, 
 afford means to distinguish them not, however, with such a degree of 
 certainty, but that connoisseurs themselves are of different opinions. 
 This occurred in my own time at Rome, respecting a fine picture of the 
 Nativity of Jesus Christ, in the Rezzonico collection. One of the best 
 imitators of that style was David Teniers, who, by his exquisite skill, ac¬ 
 quired the surname of Bassano. To him I am happy to add another 
 foreigner, Pietro Orrente di Murcia, whom Spanish writers give as a 
 pupil to Jacopo ; and were there no other authority, we might upon that 
 
206 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 one sprung up in Verona, wliicli surpassed all others by copy¬ 
 ing, upon the most ample grounds, every thing most beautiful 
 in art; such as architecture, costume, ornaments, the splen¬ 
 dour of trains of servants, and luxury worthy of kings. This 
 then remained still to be completed, and it was reserved for 
 the genius of Paul Caliari to accomplish. The son of Ga¬ 
 briele, a sculptor at Verona, he was destined by his father for 
 the same art. Instructed in a knowledge of design, and 
 modelling in clay, he nevertheless evinced so strong a genius 
 for painting, as to induce his father to give him as a pupil to 
 Badile, under whom, in a short time, he made an astonishing 
 progress. He had, however, appeared in an age that made it 
 incumbent on him to exert himself greatly, such were the 
 splendid talents that distinguished the Veronese School. It 
 is deserving, indeed, of separate mention, inasmuch as it 
 might of itself form a school apart, were it not that its prin¬ 
 cipal masters had acquired a knowledge of their art, either 
 from Mantegna of Padua, or from the Venetian Bellini; from 
 Giorgione, or as we shall have occasion to see, from Titian. 
 It was thus derived rather from the artists of the state, than 
 from its own or from foreign sources, though it flouri-hed by 
 its own industry, and produced as many various styles as any 
 other place in the terra firnia. I have already alluded to the 
 remark of Vasari, that “ Verona having constantly devoted 
 itself, after the death of F. Giocondo, to the study of design, 
 produced at all times excellent artists, &c.” such praise as he 
 bestowed on no other city of the Venetian state. I noticed 
 also its superiority in force of expression, and its very general 
 taste, in animating and giving an air of liveliness to its heads, 
 so general indeed as to be almost characteristic of the nation. 
 To these it added a beauty peculiar to itself; more light and 
 elegant, and less full than in the Venetian paintings, though 
 not so fresh and rubicund in the fleshy parts. It is also 
 equally happy with any other in its inventions, availing itself 
 of mythology and history to form fanciful compositions, and 
 for the ornament of palaces and villas. The national genius 
 
 of Sig Conca, receive him as his very exact imitator. In his two pic¬ 
 tures referred to (vol. i. p. 266) he is pronounced superior to the Bassani, 
 meaning, perhaps, superior to the sons of Jacopo ; it would be too absurd 
 a proposition to prefer him to the head of the school. 
 
INFERIOR ARTISTS. 
 
 207 
 
 so well adapted for poetry, aided the artists in the conception 
 of such compositions; while the advice of able men, always 
 abounding in the city, helped to perfect them. The climate 
 too was favourable for the production, as well as for the pre¬ 
 servation of paintings, for while at Venice, the saltness of 
 the air destroyed many beautiful pieces in fresco, in Verona, 
 and its adjacent towns, a great number remained entire. 
 
 TVe have already alluded to its leading masters of the pre¬ 
 ceding epoch, observing that many were entitled from their 
 works to rank in this brighter period. To these I add Paolo 
 Cavazzola, pupil to Moroni, and in the opinion of Vasari, 
 much superior to him. He died at the age of thirty-one’ 
 leaving many fine specimens of a mature judgment in different 
 churches. The two Falconetti were also worthy of some no¬ 
 tice. Gio. Antonio, an excellent draughtsman of fruits and 
 animals ; and Gio. Maria, a scholar of Melozzo (Notizia, p. 
 10), and a celebrated architect and painter, though not one of 
 the most copious, more especially in fresco. These two brothers 
 were descendants of old Stefano da Verona, or da Sevio, 
 whichever he is to be called. Nor less worthy, in the opinion 
 of \ asari, was one Tullio, or India il Vecchio, an able artist 
 in fresco, a portrait-painter, and a celebrated copyist. His 
 son Bernardino appears to advantage, no less in a bold than a 
 delicate style, in which last, if I mistake not, he is superior, 
 as we perceive from specimens in the churches, and other 
 collections in Verona. Many of his pictures betray a style 
 approaching that of Giulio Romano. He is recorded by 
 Vasari, together with Eliodoro Forbicini, famous for his Gro¬ 
 tesques, and assistant in many of his labours to India, as well 
 as to various other artists of no mean fame. 
 
 Dionisio Battaglia distinguished himself by an altar-piece 
 of Santa Barbara, mentioned by Pozzo as being at Santa Eu- 
 femia; no less than did Scalabrino by his two scriptural 
 histories placed at San Zeno. Two other artists of the same 
 period are very deserving of mention, both on account of their 
 productions and their pupils ; Niccolo Giolfino (in Vasari 
 called Ursino), the master of Farinato ; and Antonio Badile, 
 the tutor and the uncle of Caliari. Giolfino, or Golfino, ac¬ 
 cording to Ridolfi, partakes something of the dryness of the 
 Quattrocentisti, less select and animated than the best of his 
 
208 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 contemporaries, his colours not very vivid, but pleasing ana 
 harmonious. Most probably educated by some one of these 
 miniaturists, he succeeded better in pictures upon a small than 
 upon a large scale, such as in his Resurrection of Lazarus, to 
 be seen in the church of Nazareth. Born in 1480, Badile 
 flourished during another eighty years, and was the first, per¬ 
 haps, of any in Verona, to exhibit painting altogether free 
 from traces of antiquity, while he excelled no less in external 
 forms than in depicting the inward affections and passions of 
 the mind. He was moreover the author, at the same time, of 
 a peculiar softness, yet freedom of hand, though it is not 
 known from whom he acquired it. He affixed to his works 
 only the first syllable of his name, formed in a cypher. His 
 picture of the Raising of Lazarus, painted for San Bernardino, 
 and another with some holy bishops at San Nazaro, both so 
 much commended by Ridolfi, serve to shew from what source 
 his two pupils, Paolo and Zelotti, derived that elegant manner, 
 which they mutually improved by assisting one another. A 
 similar style was for some years displayed by Orlando Fiacco, 
 or Fiacco, from which he is supposed to have been a scholar 
 of Badile, though Vasari, who extols him particularly in por¬ 
 trait, gives him to another school. However this may be, it 
 is certain he inclined to a boldness of style, approaching that 
 of Caravaggio. He flourished but a short period, during 
 which he acquired more merit than fortune. 
 
 This resulted from the too great abundance of good artists 
 in Verona, a circumstance that induced many to seek better 
 fortune in foreign parts. Orlandi, on the authority of Vasari, 
 has inserted in the Abecedairo a professor of the name of 
 Zeno, or Donato, a native of Verona, who, in the church of 
 San Marino at Rimino, painted the titular saint with singular 
 care. I saw it, and it displayed great simplicity of composi¬ 
 tion, good design, and still better colouring, more particularly 
 in the dress of the bishop, which he laboriously ornamented 
 with little figures of saints. He seems to have belonged to 
 the golden period of art; and it is known that he left other 
 works at the same place, and most probably never changed 
 his residence, or at least did not return, so far as we know, to 
 Verona. Two other artists, named Batista Fontana, much 
 engaged at the imperial court of Vienna, and Jacopo Ligozzi, 
 
GIAMBATISTA. 
 
 209 
 
 who long flourished at the court of Tuscany, as I have ob¬ 
 served in its place, also adopted the resolution of quitting their 
 native city. Of the former scarcely any thing remains there : 
 though there are a few pieces by the hand of the second 
 among which at S. Luca a Saint Helena, who, surrounded by 
 her court ladies, assists in the discovery of the Holy Cross a 
 picture displaying the best Venetian taste in its tints, and ’in 
 the richness of its draperies; but certainly the worst, in re¬ 
 gard to transferring our own customs to more ancient times. 
 Oiovanni Ermanno had either a brother or other relation who 
 approached him very nearly in point of merit, as may clearly 
 be seen at the Santi Apostoli in Verona. 
 
 But those who had there obtained the ascendancy, when 
 Baul Veronese first began to make himself known, were three 
 tellow-citizens, who still maintain a high character in their 
 native place, inferior only to that of Paul himself. Their 
 names are Batista d’Angelo, surnamed del Moro, as the son- 
 in-law and pupil of Torbido; Domenico Ricci, called il 
 Brusasorci, from his father’s custom of burning rats ; and 
 
 Raul Farinato, likewise called degli Uberti. All three’were 
 
 .... ' y. , -- & uiree were 
 
 invited by the cardinal Ercole Gonzaga to Mantua, in order 
 that each might exhibit in the cathedral an altar-piece : while 
 together with these appeared Paul, the youngest of the whole- 
 but who, according to Vasari and Ridolfi, surpassed them in 
 the competition. But it is not yet time to enter upon his 
 merits having first to treat of his rivals, before we venture 
 upon him and his followers, so as not to have occasion for in¬ 
 terrupting the remainder of this history, until we arrive at a 
 new epoch. 
 
 Giambatista was the least celebrated of the three, though 
 each of his works obtained so much credit, that when Santa 
 Eutemia had one of its walls demolished to make way for a 
 new edifice, his picture of St. Paul before Ananias, that 
 adorned it, was carefully preserved at considerable expense, 
 and replaced over the door of the church ; yet this was one of 
 is earliest productions. He produced a great many others, 
 both m oil and in fresco, not unfrequently in competition with 
 rauJ. He follows Torbido in point of diligence, and in his 
 strong and unctuous colouring. He has more softness, how¬ 
 ever, o design, and, if I mistake not, more grace, of which 
 
 VOL. II. „ o’ 
 
210 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 he o-ave a distinguished specimen in an Angiolo at San Ste- 
 fano, in the act of distributing the palms to the SS. Innocenti. 
 He was employed, also, in Venice, where the most studied 
 and animated production, going by his name, is not positively 
 pronounced his by Ridolh, but only esteemed to be his , while 
 it is ascribed by Boschini to I rancesco Alberti, a "V enetian, 
 known merely by this single production. It is an altar-piece 
 in Santa Maria Maggiore, representing the Virgin between 
 St. John and St. Mark, and several lords in ducal robes, with 
 their sons, in the act of adoring her ; very lively portraits of 
 the Marcello family, for whom the altar was painted. Vasari 
 fives a brief account both of him and his son Marco, his pupil 
 and assistant, though he did not mention Giulio, brother to 
 Batista, who distinguished himself alike in all the arts, and is 
 called by Zanetti dotto pittore. Both, like Batista, exercised 
 their talents in Venice, and whoever compares the four Coro- 
 nati of Giulio, placed at San Apollinare, with the Paradiso of 
 Marco at San Bartolommeo, will discover an elegance, a pre¬ 
 cision, and an arrangement of style, sufficient to mark them 
 for disciples of the same school. 
 
 Brusasorci may be termed the Titian of this school. It is 
 not known that he received the instructions of any other 
 master besides Giolfino, but it is certain that he studied the 
 works of Giorgione and of Titian, in Venice. He has 
 exhibited the style of the latter in a few of his pictures with 
 great accuracy, as we see in his San Rocco, in the church of 
 the Padri Agostiniani at Verona, and in several other pictures 
 for private persons, among which he has drawn nymphs and 
 Venuses. An eye accustomed to the originals of the best 
 Venetians detects a diversity of tints, which in the artist of 
 Verona are less glowing. His genius could not confine itself 
 to the imitation of a single model, like some of the Venetians; 
 he became fond of Giorgione, and to judge from one of his 
 pieces remaining at Mantua, also of Parmigianino. There in 
 the ducal palace we met with the Fable of Phaeton exhibited 
 in different pieces, which, however much defaced by time, are 
 still admired for the fancy and vivacity they display, no less 
 than for their abundance of figures, and the difficult fore¬ 
 shortenings he has inserted. But his chief merit was shewn 
 in his frescos, with which he decorated villas and palaces with 
 
FELICE RICCIO. 
 
 211 
 
 the erudition of a fine poet and the execution of a fine painter. 
 He produced, likewise, his histories ; and the master-piece of 
 all I have seen is the Procession of Clement VIII. and of 
 Charles V. through Bologna, a picture exhibited in a hall of 
 the noble casa Ridolfi, and which has been engraved. A 
 nobler spectacle cannot well be imagined ; and although other 
 specimens, both of this and similar subjects, are met with very 
 generally at Rome, in Venice, and in Florence, none produce 
 equal effect; combining in one piece, a large concourse, fine 
 distribution of figures, vivacity of countenances, noble atti 
 tudes in the men and horses; variety of costume, pomp, and 
 splendour, and dignity, all bearing an expression of pleasure 
 adapted to such a day. This piece may compete with another 
 in the palazzo Murari at Ponte Nuovo also in fresco; and 
 this last is even preferred in the estimation of many before 
 that of the casa Ridolfi, as I have been informed by the 
 learned Signor dalla Rosa. 
 
 Felice Riccio, otherwise Brusascorci the younger, and the 
 son of Domenico, became an orphan before he had completed 
 his studies with his father, which he continued under the care 
 of Ligozzi, at Florence. On returning thence to Verona, he 
 introduced a style very different to the manner of his father. 
 It is extremely elegant and refined, as displayed in his 
 Madonnas, with boys and beautiful cherubs, adorning various 
 collections ; and with features something resembling those of 
 Paul Veronese, if not a little more spare. Nor is he deficient 
 in strength where his subject requires it, as I remarked in a 
 picture belonging to the Conti Gazzola, representing the forge 
 of Vulcan, with Cyclops, designed in good Florentine taste, 
 and powerfully coloured. Many of Felice's works are inter¬ 
 spersed through the churches of Verona, among which his 
 Santa Elena, belonging to the church of that name, is ex¬ 
 tremely beautiful. He did not exercise his talents, like his 
 father, in fresco, nor had he equal genius ; though he produced 
 pieces on a large scale, the extreme of which was the Fall of 
 Manna, painted for the church of S. Giorgio, a picture both 
 vast and well conceived, and which received its last touches 
 from Ottini and Orbetto, two of his best disciples, whose 
 names I reserve to another epoch. Several little pictures, 
 likewise, both on sacred and other subjects, executed on stone 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 or marble, which he coloured with great skill, availing himself 
 for his shades of the marble itself, are attributed to his hand. 
 Even his portraits are held in high esteem; though nearly 
 equalled by those of his sister Cecilia, who acquired skill in 
 the art from her father. Gio. Batista Brusasorci, brother of 
 the preceding artists, and a scholar of Paul Veronese, pre¬ 
 sented Verona with several highly esteemed pictures; but, 
 passing into Germany, he became painter to the emperor, in 
 whose service he died. 
 
 Surviving the whole of these, and almost all the Caliari 
 family, we meet with the name of Paolo Farinato, as grand 
 as an artist perhaps as his namesake was beautiful. After 
 leaving the school of Giolfino, he is supposed to have studied 
 the works of Titian and Giorgione, at Venice; and if we 
 may judge also from his style, he must have received the 
 instructions of Giulio Romano in design ; though he made 
 use of the Venetian tints, out of which he formed a system of 
 his own. He survived till his eighty-first year, still preserv¬ 
 ing his natural good humour ; and as is customary with men 
 of so advanced an age, he prided himself upon it, affixing his 
 name to a picture he produced at San Giorgio, placed opposite 
 to one by Felice, stating that he had painted it in his seventy- 
 ninth year. It is a representation of the multiplication of 
 loaves in the desert, abounding with very numerous figures, 
 in part portraits of his own family, and in part ideal heads. 
 He is one of the few painters whose merit did not deteriorate 
 in advanced age, for though in some early pieces he betrays a 
 certain dryness of manner, in this last he left nothing imper¬ 
 fect, neither in fulness of contours, in the fancy of his dra¬ 
 peries and embellishments, nor in the study of his figures and 
 landscape. His design has been much commended, which 
 was the case with few others of his school; and even in the 
 time of Ridolfi his sketches, the cartoons of his first studies, 
 and his models of figures in wax, were all eagerly sought after 
 for ornamental cabinets. A San Onofrio is pointed out at 
 the church of San Tommaso, in a sitting posture, taken from 
 the celebrated torso di Belvedere ; which, as well as many 
 other of his attitudes and subjects where he introduced naked 
 figures, discovers an acquaintance with the ancient style not 
 common among the Venetians. To his fleshes he gives a 
 
PAOLO FARINATO. 
 
 213 
 
 bronze colour, which produces a pleasing effect, and harmo¬ 
 nizes well w r ith his tints, for the most part sober and even 
 flat in his grounds ; giving a repose to the eye which attracts 
 without dazzling it. He is generally esteemed, however, a 
 weak colourist, and better in his frescos than in oil. I know 
 not whether it may be owing to partiality, or to the merit of 
 this great man, but certain it is, that on my quitting Bologna 
 he was the only artist the whole of whose works I regretted 
 not having seen, so much of all that is rare and beautiful 
 did I meet with in those I saw. More likewise I beheld in 
 Mantua, in San Sisto at Piacenza, in the Ducal Gallery at 
 Modena, in Padua, and other places. I have sometimes ob 
 served a kind of snail that Paolo is said to have chosen for 
 his device, remarking that he likewise bore his house upon 
 his head, whence he might strike at presuming impostors. 
 
 His son Orazio practised the art only for a few years. His 
 best praise is, that during that short period he made ap¬ 
 proaches towards the style and merit of his father. There is one 
 of his pieces at San Stefano, representing the Faithful receiving 
 the Holy Spirit from the Apostles;* and, if we except only 
 Paul Veronese, it makes a distinguished figure, placed near 
 some of the best artists of Verona. 
 
 Resuming here the thread of our former discourse, we must 
 observe thatPaul Caliari found the public prepossessed in favour 
 of the three foregoing artists, and obtained little consideration in 
 his own district while young. The world, ever disinclined to 
 admit the claims of rising reputation, either knew not, or 
 believed not, that in his competition with the Mantuan artists 
 he had surpassed them all; insomuch that this youthful genius 
 was compelled by penury to quit Verona, leaving behind him, 
 upon an altar at San Fermo, a Madonna between two Saints, 
 with a few other proofs of his early powers. He first went to 
 Vicenza, and thence passed on to Venice. His genius was 
 naturally noble, and even magnificent and vast, as well as 
 pleasing ; and no provincial city was capable of supplying 
 him with ideas proportionate to his genius, like Venice. There 
 he aimed at improving his style of colouring, upon the models 
 
 * It is, as I am informed^ by Signor dalla Rosa, a picture of the 
 Pentecost. 
 
214 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCn II. 
 
 of Titian and Tintoretto, as well as to surpass them, as it 
 would appear, in elegance and variety of ornament. Hence 
 his pupils were accustomed to say, that at that time he devoted 
 himself to the study of casts taken from ancient statues, to 
 the engravings of Parmigiano, and to those of Albert Durer. 
 The first works that he produced for the sacristy of S. Sebas- 
 tiano in Venice, present us only with the elements of that 
 style he subsequently acquired, in the air of the heads, and in 
 the variety of drapery and of attitudes. For the rest his 
 pencil was still timid, inclined rather to unite his tints with 
 care, than to a bold and free manner of handling. But it was 
 not long before he displayed more freedom and more attrac¬ 
 tion, in painting the ceilings of the same church, where he 
 represented the history of Esther, a work whose novelty con¬ 
 ciliated public admiration, and became a stepping-stone to very 
 honourable commissions from the senate. 
 
 In the meanwhile he enjoyed an opportunity of visiting 
 Rome, in company with the ambassador Grimani, where, sur¬ 
 rounded by its grand ancient and modern productions, “ al 
 volo suo sentl crescer le penne” he felt his wings enlarging as 
 he rose, of which he soon gave proofs in the Palazzo Pubblico, 
 at Venice. Here his imagination seems to revel in every 
 subject coloured by his hand, but particularly in that which 
 may be called the apotheosis of Venice, in regal costume, 
 seated on high, crowned by Glory, celebrated by Fame, and 
 atteuded by Honour, Liberty, and Peace. Juno and Ceres 
 are seen assisting at the spectacle, as symbols of grandeur 
 and felicity. The summit is decorated with specimens of 
 magnificent architecture, and with columns; while lower 
 down appears a great concourse of ladies with their lords and 
 sons, in various splendid habits, all represented in a gallery; ! 
 and on the ground are represented warriors upon their char¬ 
 gers, arms, ensigns, prisoners, and trophies of war. This 
 oval picture presents us with a union of those powers, with 
 which Paul so much fascinates the eye, producing a general 
 effect altogether enchanting, and includes numerous parts all 
 equally beautiful; bright aerial spaces, sumptuous edifices, 
 which seem to invite the foot of the spectator; lively fea¬ 
 tures, dignified, selected for the most part from nature, and 
 embellished by art. Add to these, very graceful motions, fine 
 
PAUL C A LIAR I. 
 
 215 
 
 contrasts and expressions; noble vestments, both for their 
 shape and materials ; with crowns and sceptres, magnificence 
 worthy of so august a scene; perspective that gives distance 
 to objects, without displeasing us when near ;* the most lively 
 colours,+ whether similar or contrasted, and harmonized with 
 a peculiar degree of art, such as is not to be taught. Not 
 inferior to these was the handling of his pencil, which to the 
 utmost rapidity unites the greatest judgment, that effects, de¬ 
 cides, and achieves something in every stroke ; gifts which he 
 had at that age rendered familiar to him, and which form the 
 character of his genius. Whoever has resolution enough to 
 read Boschini (for it is not every one in Italy that can boast 
 as much) will find at p. 643 and further, in addition to the 
 description of this picture, the commendations he bestowed on 
 it, along with Strozza, Mignard, and other able artists, as one 
 of the rarest specimens in the world. Yet this did not obtain 
 for him so high a reputation as his “ Suppers.” Whoever 
 undertakes to describe his style ought by no means to pass 
 over a representation, perhaps the most familiar to him of all, 
 having repeated it so many times, until by force of exercising 
 his powers and varying it in different ways, the first sovereigns 
 in the world became desirous of obtaining copies- Several I 
 have seen upon a small scale, but always beautiful ; one, the 
 Supper of the Eucharist, at Santa Sofia, in Venice ; another, 
 upon the same subject, and of exquisite workmanship, at the 
 Casa Borghese, in Rome ; and the feast given by San Gre¬ 
 gorio-to the poor, belonging to the Serviti, in Vicenza; besides 
 others in different collections. In Venice he painted four 
 Suppers for the same number of refectories in religious 
 houses, both large and rich in point of invention. The first, 
 representing the Marriage of Cana, is still preserved at San 
 Giorgio Maggiore, thirty palms in length, copies of which 
 
 * He attained this effect by drawing these figures with rather bold con¬ 
 tours, and the other parts after his works were completed. Owing to his 
 knowledge, as well as his felicity and grace of hand, they are not in the 
 least disagreeable to those who observe them near. (Zanetti, p. 181.) 
 
 t This was easily produced by his rapidity of execution, by which his 
 tints always remained clear and simple. The artist who repeats his 
 touches frequently, and uses much research, can with difficulty preserve 
 freshness, to obtain which another method must undoubtedly be pursued. 
 (Zanetti, p. 1G3.) 
 
216 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 every where abound, and which is highly estimable on account 
 of the great number of the figures, amounting to one hundred 
 and thirty, as well as for its portraits of princes and illus¬ 
 trious men who flourished at the period. It was nevertheless 
 executed for the price of only ninety ducats. The second is 
 in better preservation, placed at San Giovanni and San Paolo 
 representing the supper prepared by Matthew for our Lord • 
 and is very highly extolled for its heads, all of which Ricci’ 
 at a mature age, copied for his studio. The third is at San 
 Sebastiano, consisting of the Feast of Simon. The fourth, 
 along with the same Feast, formerly placed at the Refectory 
 of the Servi, was presented to Louis XIY. of France, and 
 deposited at Versailles; and this was preferred by Venetian 
 professors to all the rest. For this reason numerous copies 
 were presented by them to the world; although the artist 
 himself took one for the refectory of the monks of SS. Naza- 
 rio and Gelso, along with the same Supper, now in the fine 
 1 011 a collection at Genoa; and which, however inferior in 
 size to the rest, is considered equal to any of the preceding 
 and has been engraved by the hand of the celebrated Volpato! 
 Another, likewise of Simon, was sent from Venice to Genoa, 
 which I saw in possession of the Durazzo family, with a 
 Magdalen that may be esteemed a miracle of art; and I also 
 met with an old copy* in the Casa Paolucci, at Pesaro. 
 \v hat novel methods he adopted in all these to decorate the 
 place with architecture, and how well he availed himself of 
 them to add to the spectators at the festival! What passions 
 depicted in each of the principal actors, and how appropriate 
 to the period ! What splendour in the preparation, luxury of 
 dishes, and pomp of guests ! Whoever considers these, will 
 easi y excuse such an artist for some occasional imperfection 
 o design, and tor inattention to ancient costume, in which he 
 is always faulty.f Even Guido, an artist so highly celebrated, 
 
 * To this description of all his suppers might be added the one which 
 he painted for the nuns of S. Teonisto in Treviso, but which now adorns 
 the 1. K. Pinacoteca at Milan. 
 
 f It has been stated in his defence, that had he clothed the whole of 
 his figures with those tunics and ancient mantles, he would have become 
 monotonous, and consequently uninteresting in his great history pieces. 
 Hut I am of opinion, that whoever is familiar with ancient statues and 
 
PAUL CALIARI. 
 
 217 
 
 so far excused them, that he was accustomed to say, “ were 
 it given me to choose what painter I would be, I should prefer 
 being Paul Veronese, for in others every thing appears the 
 effect of art, but he alone seems all nature.” 
 
 He continued to produce specimens until he was sixty years 
 of age, though he cannot, like many others, be accused of 
 having painted too much ; each piece is worthy of Paul Vero¬ 
 nese, and each has been multiplied by some copyist, an hon¬ 
 our that artists have not bestowed upon the works of Tinto¬ 
 retto, or those of many others. His method of making use of 
 clear grounds, and as much as possible of virgin colours, has 
 greatly contributed to the preservation and freshness of his 
 colouring. In Venice we meet with several of his pictures 
 yet glowing with the peculiar grace he shed over them. A 
 remarkable specimen is seen in that belonging to the noble 
 house of Pisani, exhibiting the family of Darius presented to 
 Alexander, which surprises as much by its splendour as it 
 affects us by its expression. Equal admiration was at one 
 time evinced for his Rape of Europa, which he drew upon a 
 large scale, in various groups, much in the same manner as 
 Coreggio, in his Leda. In the first she appears among her 
 virgins in the act of caressing the animal, and desirous of 
 being borne upon him ; in the second, she is seen carried along, 
 applauded by her companions, as she enjoys the scene riding 
 along the shore. In the third (the only one in grand dimen¬ 
 sions) she cleaves the sea in terror, in vain desired and 
 lamented by her virgin train. This work, ornamenting the 
 Ducal Palace, suffered much from the effects of time, and has 
 subsequently been restored. 
 
 In y erona, boasting a clime more favourable to paintings, 
 we more frequently meet with his pictures in complete pre¬ 
 servation. Many noble houses, in particular that of Bevilac- 
 qua, at one period his patrons, are in possession of several. 
 As an expression of his gratitude, he represented in a portrait 
 of one of the Bevilacqua family, his own figure standing up¬ 
 right, with the air of his attendant. But his San Giorgio, 
 
 bassi-relievi, will find means of varying his compositions. The Cavalier 
 Canova has recently produced two bassi-relievi on the condemnation of 
 Socrates. The Greek vests are two, the tunic and pallium ; yet these are 
 finely varied, though there are a number of spectators. 
 
218 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 surrounded by the two grand histories of Farinate and of 
 Brusasorci already described, by some esteemed to be the best 
 painting in Verona, is perhaps, the most perfect state of any 
 that remain. The San Giuliano of Rimini is likewise a valu¬ 
 able piece, which may, perhaps, compete with the San 
 Giorgio. The San Afra, at Brescia, and the S. Giustina, at 
 Padua, placed in their respective churches, have also suffered 
 little ; but the last, indeed, is in too lofty a situation. His 
 labours for different collections were very great, consisting of 
 portraits, Venus, Adonis, Cupids, Nymphs, and similar figures, 
 in which he displayed the most rich and varied beauty of 
 forms, fancy in their embellishment, and novelty in his inven¬ 
 tions ; all subjects indeed familiar to his pencil, and which are 
 to be seen in different galleries, not omitting the imperial one. 
 Among his sacred subjects he was more particularly attached 
 to the marriage of St. Catherine, one of the most laboured 
 of which fell to the share of the royal collection of Pitti. He 
 produced, also, several Holy Families, in which the better to 
 depart from the common practice, he gave birth to new inven¬ 
 tions. They are to be met with in Ridolfi (p. 307), copied 
 from one of his own MSS. But his devotional pieces were 
 also, for the most part, copious histories ; such as the Slaughter 
 of the Innocents, laboured in the miniature style, at the Palazzo 
 Borghese; the Esther, at Turin, in possession of the King of 
 Sardinia. The Queen of Sheba, among a troop of handmaids 
 at the throne of Solomon, a picture lately acquired by the reign¬ 
 ing sovereign at Florence. Halls, chambers, and fa 9 ades like¬ 
 wise, decorated by him in fresco with allegorical poems and 
 representations of histories, are frequently met with in Venice, 
 and in the palaces and seats belonging to the state. Highly 
 meriting notice is the palace of His Serene Highness Manin, 
 Doge of Venice, to be seen in the territory of Asolo ; the archi¬ 
 tecture is that of Palladio ; the stuccoes, of Vittoria ; while 
 the pictures of the Muses, and of many other Pagan deities, 
 are from the hand of Paul; forming a union of artists sulli- 
 cient to render the place as celebrated among modern villas, 
 as was that of Lucullus amona: the ancients. 
 
 The school of Paul Veronese commences, like those already 
 described, with his own family ; in the first place, with Bene¬ 
 detto, his younger brother, and with his two sons, Carlo and 
 
PAUL CALIARI. 
 
 219 
 
 Gabriele. Benedetto was remarkable for the fraternal affec¬ 
 tion he displayed towards Paul, assisting him in the orna¬ 
 mental part of his labours, particularly in his perspectives, in 
 which he possessed considerable skill. And, after his death, 
 he shewed the same affection to the two sons, directing them 
 by his advice, supporting them in their undertakings, and 
 leaving his inheritance to their family. His genius for the 
 art was not very great, and in the pieces conducted by his 
 own hand, he appears only as an imitator of Paul, occasionally 
 happy however in a few heads, or in his drapery, but by 
 no means equal with himself. There is hardly a work 
 in which the connoisseur may not easily detect something 
 weak or faulty, as in the Last Supper, in the Flagellation, in 
 the Appearance of the Saviour before the Tribunal of Pilate, 
 which he painted for the church of San Niccolo, and which 
 are some of his best productions. If he ever appears to have 
 surpassed himself, as in the instance of his picture of St. 
 Agatha, placed at the Angeli, in Murano, the work has been 
 ascribed to Paul, and has even been engraved under his name. 
 According to Ridolfi, he succeeded better in fresco than in 
 oils; and both he and Boschini, who examined his Roman 
 histories, and his mythological fables, painted in stone colour, 
 in the Cortile of the Mocenighi, give us a very favourable 
 idea of them; and the same where they speak of his orna¬ 
 mental work, in halls and other places, which admitted of his 
 introducing a display of architecture and embellishments, 
 rather than of figures. 
 
 Carlo Caliari, generally entitled Carletto, the diminutive 
 of his name, from the circumstance of his dying at the early 
 age of twenty-four,* as we find in the register of his parish, 
 owing to his excessive application to study, was gifted with a 
 genius like that of his father. His disposition was particu¬ 
 larly docile and attentive, and he was the boast of his parent, 
 whose style he emulated better than any other artist. But 
 Paul, ambitious that he should even excel him, was unwilling, 
 that by forming himself upon a single model, he should suc¬ 
 ceed only in becoming a feeble sectarist. He sent him s there¬ 
 fore, to study the school of Bassano, the robustness of which 
 
 _ * According to Ridolfi, however, he is said to have attained his twenty- 
 sixth year ; but certainly not more. 
 
220 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 blended with his own elegance, would, he expected, produce 
 an original manner superior to either of the other two. At 
 the period when Carletto closed the eyes of his beloved fa¬ 
 ther, he was only in his sixteenth, or at farthest his eighteenth 
 year, though he had attained such progress and reputation in 
 the art as to be enabled to complete several pictures left un¬ 
 finished by his parent, nor was he ever in want of commis¬ 
 sions. His productions often appear by the hand of Paul; 
 whether at that time he did not wholly depend upon his own 
 resources, or that his father, at least, might have retouched 
 his pieces, is not certain. Skilful judges, indeed, have pre¬ 
 tended to discern, or rather to count the number, of the 
 strokes traced by the paternal pencil, from their inimitable 
 ease, lightness, and rapidity. Thus it has occurred in an 
 altar-piece of San Frediano Yescovo, to which is added St. 
 Catherine, and some other saint, placed in the Medicean Mu¬ 
 seum, and bearing the son’s name, though boasting at the 
 same time all the grace of his father. But, wherever Carlo 
 executed his pieces alone, he is easily distinguishable ; his 
 pencil is somewhat more full and heavy, while his tints are 
 stronger and deeper than those of his father. We have an 
 instance in his San Agostino, at the church of La Caritit, 
 whose colouring betrays that union of the two schools so 
 much desired by Paul. 
 
 Gabriele executed little in which he was not assisted by 
 his brother. In several altar-pieces we read as follows: 
 “ Heredes Pauli Caliari Veronensis feceruntwhich alludes 
 to such pieces as Paul himself left imperfect, the completion 
 of which became a joint labour; a system they continued, 
 likewise, in others, which they produced for churches, and for 
 the public palace. Ridolfi awards the chief merit to Carlo, 
 placing Gabriele second, and adding, that Benedetto had 
 likewise his share, more especially in the architectural parts. 
 Probably too some other pupil of Paul assisted them. For 
 in these, we find represented the maxims of the master, even 
 his studies and the same figures as his. Still there is occa¬ 
 sionally some diversity of hand perceptible, as in the martyr¬ 
 dom of an Apostle at S. Giustina of Padua, where one of the 
 figures appears so much loaded with shade, as not merely to 
 betray a difference of hand, but of schools. Gabriele sur- 
 
DISCIPLES OP PAUL CALIARI. 
 
 221 
 
 vived the other artists of his family; residing subsequently in 
 Venice, more in the character of a merchant than a painter. 
 Still he continued occasionally to produce a few portraits in 
 crayons, extremely rare, or some picture of a cavalcade ; nor 
 did he desist from visiting the studio of the artists, where he 
 assisted them, when agreeable, with his advice. Arriving at 
 the period of 1531, memorable for the great pestilence in 
 Italy, and impelled by those noble precepts of humanity in¬ 
 culcated in the gospel, he generously exposed his life in the 
 service of his afflicted fellow-citizens, and fell a sacrifice to 
 the task. 
 
 Proceeding to the other disciples of Paul, and to his imita¬ 
 tors, it will not be found easy to enumerate them. For hav¬ 
 ing been interested beyond any other painter in the cultivation 
 of an art whose object is to give pleasure, so he excelled all 
 others in the number of his followers. We are told by 
 Zanetti, that many of them were also very successful, owing 
 to which, less accurate judges are apt to confound the master 
 with those of his school, if they do not cautiously attend to 
 the two following points, in which none will be found to 
 equal him. These are, 1st, the fineness and peculiar light¬ 
 ness of his pencil combined with sound judgment; 2d, a very 
 ready and spirited expression of grace, and a dignity in his 
 forms, particularly in the air of his heads. It must, however, 
 be observed, that his scholars, in the progress of time, for the 
 most part varied the grounds and the colouring, as they ap¬ 
 proached the style of the succeeding epoch. Among the 
 Venetians, there is only enumerated by Zanetti the name of 
 Parrasio Michele,* an artist who enriched with the designs of 
 
 * Father Federici has, in the course of this year, 1803, brought to light 
 another scholar of Paul, and afterwards of Carletto, born, like Parrasio, 
 in Venice. He calls him Giacomo Lauro, and Giacomo da Trevigi, be¬ 
 cause, having established himself in that city with his family while still a 
 youth, no one could distinguish him by any other patronymic than that of 
 Trevigiano. Thus speak several anonymous contemporaries, from whose 
 MSS. the reverend father has extracted no slight information relative to 
 the pictures executed by Lauro in his new country. There he enjoyed 
 the friendship of the fathers of San Domenico, for whose church he 
 painted his celebrated picture of St. Roceo, in which he exhibited, with 
 great tragic power, the terrific scourge of the plague. It is honouiab.e 
 to this artist, who died young, that this altar-piece, as well as his other 
 
222 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Paul, and experienced in the art of colouring them, produced 
 several works worthy of him, more especially that of a Pietk, 
 adorning a chapel within the church of San Giuseppe, a piece 
 in which he added a portrait of himself. The people of 
 Coneglia have preserved the recollection of one of their citizens 
 named Ciro, to whom they attribute an altar-piece of the Na¬ 
 tivity of Christ, as nearly resembling the style of Paul as pos¬ 
 sible, for which reason it was transferred from the church of 
 the Riformati in that city to Rome ; and they add, that its 
 author was a youth, who never attained to mature age. Cas- 
 telfranco boasts one Cesare Castagnoli as a pupil of Paul; 
 though in his numerous paintings in fresco he cannot be said 
 to display much power, at least beyond a certain degree of 
 spirit, promptness, and copiousness of ideas. A few less 
 shewy and fanciful productions from the hand of Bartolo, his 
 brother, executed in oil, acquired for him higher reputation 
 than that of Cesare. Angelo Naudi, an Italian, is much 
 commended by Palomino for his labours in the royal palaces, 
 and in various churches in Spain, when painter to the court 
 of king Philip. There is reason to doubt whether he really 
 received the instructions of Paul, instead of imbibing his man¬ 
 ner by dint of study and copying, like Bombelli and many 
 others; it being recorded of this writer, otherwise very esti¬ 
 mable, that in regard to masters he was apt to embrace opinions 
 by no means always true. Omitting the names of a great 
 number of foreigners, we make mention here only of the 
 Veronese, in order that their master should not appear unac¬ 
 companied by the noble train of disciples bestowed by him 
 upon his country. 
 
 Luigi Benfatto, known by the name of dal Friso, a sister’s 
 son, and for many years the guest of Paul, copied him in the 
 outset even to servility, though he afterwards gave himself 
 up to an easy and rapid style of composition, little short of 
 the licence of the mannerists. It has been supposed that he 
 only availed himself of this facility in such commissions as 
 were of small value. He approaches nearest to Paul in the 
 church of San RafFaello ; in other places he resembles Palma. 
 
 pictures, both in oil and in fresco, have, until lately, been attributed 
 either to Paul or to Carlo, or to some less celebrated hands, but always 
 to good aDd experienced artists. 
 
DISCIPLES OF PAUL CALIARI. 
 
 223 
 
 A more free and spirited imitator of Paul was found in Maffeo 
 Verona, a pupil and son-in-law to Luigi, but the quantity 
 of vermilion with which he heightened the colour of his fleshes 
 detracts from his work. Francesco Montemezzano, a Vero¬ 
 nese, approached still more frequently than either of the pre¬ 
 ceding to the character of the head of his school. He acquired 
 great reputation by a picture of the Annunciation, painted 
 for the church of the Osservanti alia Vigna, and he was em¬ 
 ployed also in the Ducal Palace. He partakes of Caliari in 
 his countenances, in his costume, and in the beauty of his 
 figures: as to the rest, he was slow of hand, and feeble in his 
 colouring. His picture at San Giorgio, in Verona, consisting 
 of the Apparition of Christ to the Magdalen, appears ex¬ 
 tremely languid in competition with that of Paul, which is 
 one of the most brilliant productions remaining of that period. 
 To these we might add the names of other Veronese, as Ali- 
 prando, and Anselmo Canneri, characterised by Vasari as an 
 able assistant to Paul his master. 
 
 Among all the Veronese artists most resembling Paul, when 
 ambitious of doing so, was his friend and companion, though 
 his rival, Batista Zelotti. Instructed in the same academy, 
 he was occasionally the companion of his labours, and occa¬ 
 sionally taught and executed works himself—always, however, 
 observing the same rules. Vasari mentions him with commen¬ 
 dation in his life of Sanmiclieli, where he entitles him Batista 
 da Verona, and includes him among the disciples of Titian. 
 I have seen a Holy Family by this artist, in Titian’s style, in 
 the Carrara collection, frequently extolled by us before, and 
 from such a studio it would appear we are to look for that 
 warmth of tints, in which for the most part he excels Caliari, 
 as well as that power of design in which Zanetti is of opinion 
 that he also surpassed him, although others think very differ¬ 
 ently. He often surpasses him, likewise, in grandeur, and 
 in what appertains to painting in fresco, a circumstance Paul 
 was aware of, and for that reason sought to obtain his assist¬ 
 ance in works of that kind. He possessed great fertility of 
 ideas and a rapid hand, Avliile he was profound and judicious 
 in his compositions. Indeed, he might have been esteemed 
 another Paul, had he been able to compete with him in the 
 beauty of his heads, in variety, and in grace. In truth, his 
 
224 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 productions were frequently given to Paul, even those be 
 painted for the Council of Ten having been engraved under 
 the latter name by Valentino le Febre. He was doubtless 
 one of the first artists of his time, though not estimated ac¬ 
 cording to his deserts, from having worked chiefly in fresco, 
 and at a distance from capital cities, in villages, in country 
 seats, and palaces. One of his grandest works is seen at 
 Cataio, a villa belonging to the Marchese Tommaso Obizzi, 
 where about 1570, he represented in different rooms, 
 the history of that very ancient family, distinguished no 
 less in the council than in arms. The place is continually 
 sought by foreigners, attracted thither by its splendour, 
 by the fame of these pictures, and by the valuable museum 
 of antiquities, collected by the hand of the Marchese, a 
 task of few years, but in point of taste, abundance, and 
 rarity of specimens, calculated to confer honour upon the 
 state. In his oil-paintings Zelotti could not compete with 
 Caliari, though he approached him near enough, in his Fall 
 of St. Paul, and his Fishing of the Apostles, which he exe¬ 
 cuted for the dome of Vicenza, to merit the honour of having 
 them attributed to the pencil of Caliari. 
 
 This city was his chief theatre of action ; he remained there 
 during some time, and initiated one Antonio, a youth called 
 Tognone, in the art, from whose hand a few works in fresco 
 are pointed out in the city, while he is honoured by Ridolfi 
 both with a life and eulogy. Zelotti was in Vicenza, both 
 alone and together with Paul, where 'with the help of one of his 
 best pupils he established a school, which partook of the taste 
 of both these masters. I reserve a list of his followers for the 
 succeeding epoch. 
 
 It is here the place to inform our readers, that the various 
 styles, hitherto described as attaching to the Venetian School, 
 do not comprehend all that flourished in the state. Ridolfi 
 remarks this in his preface, and laments, that owing to the 
 conflagrations occurring in the city, or by the neglect of 
 writers, not a few materials had perished that might have 
 added interest to his history. In truth, he was not merely 
 ignorant of several of the more ancient artists, but in the 
 period we are describing omitted the names of Jacopo Fallaro 
 and Jacopo Pisbolica, whom Vasari, in his Life of Sansovino, 
 
BATISTA FRANCO. 
 
 225 
 
 records with praise, citing from the hand of the former a pic¬ 
 ture of San Gio. Colombino, at the Domenicani delle Zattere; 
 and of the latter, his Ascension of Christ at Santa Maria 
 Maggiore. He likewise passed over Vitrulio, several of 
 whose productions are the ornament of Monte Novissimo, 
 bearing his name. These artists, judging from their manner 
 and other points, are to be referred to the age of Titian. 
 Ridolfi made mention, and more at length, of another, who, 
 exactly contemporary with Paul, continued to flourish many 
 years after him, but always assailed by fortune; and though 
 a good colourist, being greatly deficient in point of invention 
 and design. TIis name was Antonio Foler; and, as a con¬ 
 vincing proof of his mediocrity, it will be sufficient to allude 
 to his Martyrdom of St. Stephen, at the church of that name ; 
 it is nevertheless one of his best altar-pieces. In small figures, 
 however, he appears to have had merit. 
 
 Before concluding the present epoch, it will be proper to 
 mention two painters; one a foreigner, the other a Venetian, 
 both of whom followed a style altogether different from such 
 as we have already described. The artist of Venice is Batista 
 Franco, called Semolei. He has been treated of in the first 
 volume in several parts, and especially in what relates to 
 Baroccio, to whom he was master. He pursued his studies in 
 Rome, and so great was his progress in the art of design, 
 that he was accounted one of the best imitators of Michel¬ 
 angelo. In ornamenting San Gio. Decollato, a church belong¬ 
 ing to the Florentines in Rome, he appears to have been 
 ambitious of making a parade of his powers, and his style be¬ 
 came somewhat loaded in the attempt. In his other pictures 
 which I have seen in the dome at Urbino, and in that of 
 Osimo, where he painted in 1547, in Bologna, and in Venice, 
 I have not met with any thing similar. He invariably 
 appears to have been an able follower of Michelangelo, and a 
 more powerful colourist than the chief part of the Florentine 
 artists. It is easier to become acquainted with him in the 
 States of the Church than in his native city of Venice, whi¬ 
 ther he seems to have retired towards the close of his days, 
 since, in 1556, he was among the artists selected to adorn the 
 library of St. Mark. There he represented his fable of 
 Actaeon, along with several symbolical inventions; and a 
 
 VOL. II. q, 
 
226 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 few other of his pictures are exhibited there in public. lie 
 died not long subsequently in the year 1561. 
 
 The foreign artist is Giuseppe Porta della Garfagnana, 
 already mentioned, likewise, under the Roman School, in 
 which he was instructed by Francesco Salviati, whose sur¬ 
 name he assumed. For this reason he is sometimes entitled 
 in history Salviati the younger. He accompanied his master 
 to Venice, on the latter being invited by the Patriarch 
 Grimani to embellish his palace, where he produced his cele¬ 
 brated Psyche, still to be seen there, near two pictures by 
 the hand of Porta. Francesco, however, soon left Venice; 
 Vasari adducing as a very sufficient reason, that it was no 
 place for the residence of artists distinguished for excellence 
 in design. But the success of Porta, who became established 
 and died at Venice, clearly proves the contrary. Initiated 
 in a knowledge of design by Francesco, he wholly retained 
 the character of the Florentine School, only enlivening it 
 with tints in the Venetian taste. Nevertheless, he was 
 approved by Titian, and selected along with Paul and other 
 leading names to paint in the library of St. Mark; he was 
 continually engaged to work in fresco and in oil, both in 
 public and in private; and was always distinguished there asone 
 of the most able masters of his age.* Several of his altar- 
 pieces remain, and among others one of the Assumption; a 
 beautiful piece, at the Servi, in Venice, besides a Christ taken 
 from the Cross, at Murano, displaying powers of invention 
 wholly original, full of expression, and an air of majesty not 
 very usual in this school. He repeated the same subject fre¬ 
 quently ; and there was a duplicate in the Ducal collection at 
 Modena, subsequently transferred to Dresden. 
 
 Following these artists, the reader must not be surprised to 
 meet with the name of Jacopo Sansovino, who, as will appear 
 from the index, derived his surname also from his master.. He 
 was much courted in Venice, owing to his excellence in the 
 art of statuary, as well as in that of an architect, with which 
 he ornamented public places. Still he failed not to exercise 
 some influence over that of painting, at least of design ; in 
 which he had been well instructed by Andrea del Sarto, m 
 
 * See Boschini, Carta, p. 160. Zanetti, p. 494. 
 
GIUSEPPE CALIMBERG. 
 
 227 
 
 Florence. Indeed, as the director of the edifice of St. Mark, 
 numerous artists were dependent upon him; and it is known, 
 that he received some commissions for designs in mosaic work, 
 which I do not, however, find particularized; as well as 
 others, most probably in tapestry, for the altar of the sacra¬ 
 ment, as it has been conjectured from their style, by Signor 
 Zanetti. In regard to foreign styles, we must proceed, 
 without dwelling upon the Cavalier Zuccaro, Passignano, and 
 others already treated in their respective schools, to make 
 brief mention of Giuseppe Calimberg, by birth a German, 
 who flourished a considerable time at Venice, where he died 
 about 1570. There is the Battle of Constantine, by his hand, 
 still preserved at the Servi; and had he always displayed the 
 same taste, I should not scruple to pronounce him excellent, 
 though somewhat heavy, in the practice of his art. Subsequent 
 to him appears to have flourished Gio. di Chere Loranese, 
 who ought to be mentioned, before we proceed to treat of the 
 sect of mannerists, and of the Tenebrosi.* Ranking among 
 the scholars of the best Venetian masters, he produced a his¬ 
 tory-piece for the grand council hall. Other names of foreign 
 artists are to be looked for in the Guida : it is my object in 
 this school, as in the rest, to record only such as are most de¬ 
 serving of commemoration. 
 
 In the progress of the present history, the reader may pro¬ 
 bably have observed, that no distinction had yet been made 
 between certain species of painting, previous to the sixteenth 
 century. The figurist copied everything, and availed himself 
 of every thing to adorn his compositions; landscapes, animals, 
 fruits, flowers, and perspective, were all employed as acces¬ 
 saries in favour of the leading art ; the execution of which 
 was about as difficult to the great masters as the throne 
 of Jupiter to Phidias, after having completed the figure of the 
 god. By degrees, however, they began to separate, and to 
 treat these parts of painting severally. The Flemish were 
 among the first, who, pursuing the bent ot their genius, se¬ 
 lected their respective branches, and composed pictures, in 
 which landscape, for example, became the principal object, 
 
 * A class of artists so called, from their excessive use of deep shades 
 and dark colours.—Tr. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 while the figure in its turn became an accessary. Andv-e 
 may here remark, with Bellori, that “ the best of these artists 
 dipped their pencil in those fine Venetian colours; by no 
 means one of the least boasts of the Venetian School. The 
 Italians, likewise, attended severally to these branches of the 
 art, and in particular to landscapes. It was Titian who 
 opened the true path to our landscape painters; although 
 nearly the whole of his champaign scenery was introduced in 
 aid of his figures ; never the contrary. One of these, con¬ 
 sisting of a Holy Family, was in possession of the Duchess of 
 Massa and Carrara, lately deceased, who left it as a legacy to 
 the Prince Carlo Albani, of Milan. It is one of the most 
 beautiful of the kind I ever saw. Titian was. imitated by 
 many Flemish artists; and among the Venetians by Gio. 
 Maria Verdizzotti, one of his literary friends, who painted 
 under his direction several landscapes, much esteemed in difle- 
 rent collections, where they are rarely to be seen. 
 
 The Bassani produced examples of small pictures of qua¬ 
 drupeds and birds, which consisting of copies taken from 
 those seen in their histories, are easily recognised. They are 
 not so numerous, however, as their history pieces ; nor do 1 
 recollect having seen specimens of them except in the V ene¬ 
 tian state. In drawing fish, an artist of the name of Genzio 
 or Gennesio Liberale, a native of Friuli, has been mentioned 
 with praise by Vasari, and afterwards by Ridolfi. ^ 
 
 A taste for grotesques, was introduced into "V enice from 
 Rome, by a citizen of the republic, recorded by me elsewhere 
 as the master of this kind of art. His name was Morto da 
 Feltro, who, in the company of Giorgione, employed himself 
 in Venice, though without leaving any traces of his hand. 
 There are specimens of grotesques, in the Ducal Palace, painted 
 by Batista Franco, who had likewise beheld ancient examples 
 of them at Rome. There were others painted for the Patri¬ 
 arch of Aquileja, his patron, by Giovanni di Udine, men¬ 
 tioned by Vasari under the names of Manni and Ricamatore; 
 an artist very celebrated in his line, and almost unique in 
 drawing every kind of birds, quadrupeds, fruits, and flowers. 
 I have “included him in the school of Giorgione; and he is 
 stated more at length in that of Raffaello; for he remained 
 but little while with his first master, and in Upper Italy ; but 
 
GIORGIO BELLUNESE. 
 
 229 
 
 longer in Rome, and during some time in Florence His pic 
 tures of birds, or fruits, executed in oil, are pointed out in 
 different collections, though, if I mistake not, they are not all 
 genuine. It is not, indeed, that he produced no specimens in 
 oil, although it is extremely difficult to discover any that are 
 certain ; nor that he was incapable of drawing larger figures 
 than such as we see in his satyrs, in his boys, and nymphs, 
 with which he diversified the little landscapes and the tracery 
 of his grotesques. Yasari mentions some of his standards, 
 one of which, executed in Udine, for the Fraternity of Cas- 
 tello, presents in rather large proportions, a blessed virgin 
 with the divine child, and an angel making her an offering of 
 the same castle. The original, though much defaced, still 
 exists, and there is also a copy in the chapel, executed by 
 Pini in 1653. There likewise remains in the archiepiscopal 
 palace, a chamber which contains, among some grotesques, 
 two scriptural histories, drawn in half-length figures, not so 
 perfect as the ornamental part, but valuable from their rarity. 
 His other productions, both in Udine and the state, have been 
 enumerated in a learned letter written by the Ab. Boni, upon 
 the standard or gonfalone, just described. If we might hazard 
 a conjecture relative to the school of Giovanni and of Feltro, 
 we should be inclined to give for a pupil to one of these, 
 Giorgio Bellunese, an artist, as we are informed by Cesarini, 
 “very excellent in friezes and in minute ornaments,” and 
 moreover an able portrait-painter. He flourished at San 
 Vito, a place in the Friuli, about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century; so that the time, the place, and his employment in 
 ornamental work, seem equally to favour our opinion. 
 
 The art of architectural design received great assistance in 
 Venice during this period, from the works of Sansovino, Pal¬ 
 ladio, and other consummate architects, who gave finished 
 examples of magnificent edifices; while Daniel Barbaro com¬ 
 posed very useful treatises upon perspective; and it became 
 an attribute of the art to feign colonnades, galleries, and rich 
 cornices, for those halls in which real architecture would not 
 admit of them. In this, Cristoforo and Stefano Rosa more 
 particularly distinguished themselves. They were from 
 Brescia, very intimate with Titian, and merited the honour of 
 being employed by him, in his architectural ornaments for 
 
230 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 several of his subjects. In Brescia, in Venice, and particu¬ 
 larly in the ante-chamber to the library of St. Mark, we may 
 meet with some of their perspectives, so admirably executed 
 as to surprise us by their air of majesty, cheating the eye by 
 their relief; and when beheld in different points of view, 
 always producing a good effect. Their school continued to 
 flourish during many years, in their native state; and was 
 subsequently supported by Bona, excellent also in figures, as 
 well as by other artists. Boschini bestows many commen¬ 
 dations upon it in different parts of his work in verse; and 
 in particular at p. 225, where he declares, that Brescia was 
 the source of this art; which applies of course to the Venetian 
 state. 
 
 Finally, the art of mosaic work, in stone and coloured 
 glass, at that time attained such a degree of perfection in 
 Venice, that Vasari observed with surprise, “ that it would 
 not be possible to effect more with colours.”* The church 
 and portico of St. Mark remains an invaluable museum of the 
 kind ; where, commencing with the eleventh century, we may 
 trace the gradual progress of design belonging to each age up 
 to the present, as exhibited in many works in mosaic, be¬ 
 ginning from the Greeks, and continued by the Italians. They 
 chiefly consist of histories from the Old and New Testament, 
 and at the same time furnish very interesting notices relating 
 to civic and ecclesiastical antiquity. A portion of the most 
 ancient specimens had long either perished, or fallen into 
 decay, and it had been resolved to substitute fresh ones in 
 their place. It is not improbable, that after the year 1400, 
 upon the revival of painting, a desire prevailed to banish the 
 taste of the Greeks; and certain it is, that in the mosaics of 
 that age we meet with the modern antique style, the same 
 as in regard to pictures. It will be enough to cite the 
 chapel of the Mascoli, decorated by Michele Zambono with 
 
 * There was an attempt to revive it made in Florence. Roscoe, in his 
 “ Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici” (vol. ii. p. 220, 6th ed.), relates, that, 
 with Gherardo, Lorenzo associated Domenico Ghirlandajo to work in 
 mosaic at the chapel ot San Zenobio : but that this undertaking, so ad¬ 
 mirably begun, was interrupted by Lorenzo’s death ; insomuch that “ his 
 attempts,” observes the historian, “ were thus in a great degree frus¬ 
 trated.” This honour appeared to be reserved for Venice. 
 
FRANCESCO AND VALERIO ZUCCATI. 
 
 231 
 
 histories of the life of the virgin, executed with extraordinary 
 care, and designed in the best taste of the Yivarini. 
 
 The same taste prevailed in the time of Titian ; and to this 
 he gave a renewed spirit, and even furnished several of these 
 artists with designs. Marco Luciano Rizzo and Vincenzio 
 Bianchini are the first, who, about 1517, succeeded in a com¬ 
 plete reform of the art. To the last is referred that celebrated 
 Judgment of Solomon, which adorns the portico or vestibule. 
 Both these, however, were surpassed by Francesco and Va¬ 
 lerio Zuccati of Treviso, or rather of the Valtelline, sons of 
 the same Sebastian who initiated Titian in the first rudiments 
 of the art. Of these, likewise, there appears in the portico 
 a San Marco, among various prophets and doctors, and with 
 two histories that may be pronounced the best mosaic works, 
 produced during the age of painting. I have seen altar- 
 pieces for churches, and pictures for private ornament, in the 
 same taste. The Royal Gallery at Florence possesses a por¬ 
 trait from life of Cardinal Bembo, worked by Valerio ; and 
 a San Giarolamo, by Francesco, is known to have been pre¬ 
 sented by the republic to the court of Savoy. Subsequent to 
 these, whom Vasari erroneously calls sometimes Zuccheri, 
 sometimes Zuccherini, Arminio, a son of Valerio, was in much 
 repute. Nor did this family only possess the art of colour¬ 
 ing stone and glass with admirable skill ; but they understood 
 the principles of design, more particularly Francesco, who 
 had been a painter before entering upon mosaic works. The 
 family of Bianchini, and the other artists then employed at 
 St. Mark, were not equally well instructed; and, stimulated 
 by feelings of envy, they declared open enmity against the 
 Zuccati, for having assisted with the brush to supply some 
 parts of the design to be executed in mosaic ; nor did they 
 fail to cry down the ability of Valerio, to whom it would ap¬ 
 pear that Titian and his son afforded succour. It would be 
 tedious here to relate the various persecutions, litigations, and 
 losses, owing to this quarrel ; the particulars of which were 
 extracted by Zanetti from authentic documents, and minutely 
 described. Enough, that he concludes with extolling the Zuc¬ 
 cati, together with Vincenzio Bianchini; to whom, as being 
 acquainted with design, it was sufficient to furnish a rough 
 draught for the intended work. Others were, for the most 
 
232 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 part in want of cartoons and complete paintings, in order to 
 model their mosaic works, and even then they conducted them 
 with skill much inferior to their predecessors. In this list he 
 computes Domenico, the brother, and Gio. Antonio, the son of 
 Vincenzio Bianchini, as well as Bartolommeo Bozza, at one 
 time a pupil, and then an accuser along with the rest, of the 
 Zuccati In the time of these artists were first adopted, and 
 practically applied, the works and designs of Salviati and of 
 lintoretto. The names succeeding these, were Gio. Antonio 
 " arini, a pupil of Bozza, and Lorenzo Ceccato, both admira¬ 
 ble artificers ; Luigi Gaetano and Jacopo Pasterini, with 
 Irancesco luressio, notices of whom are brought up to the 
 year 1618. They worked after the cartoons of the two Tin- 
 toretti, of Palma the younger, of Maffeo Verona, of Leandro 
 Bassano, of Aliense, of Padovanino, of Tizianello, besides 
 seveial others. About the year 1600 commenced a series of 
 aitibts less generally known ; a list of whose works may be 
 consulted at the close of that very valuable publication, 
 e a Pittura "V eneziana. These last, however, have 
 confined their labours to the decoration of new walls, from 
 modern designs; as since 1610, a decree has been in force 
 against the destruction of ancient mosaic works, in however 
 rude or Greekish a taste ; but in case of impending destruc¬ 
 tion, they were to be removed and restored with care, and 
 alter war d3 refixed in the same place. By this measure a se¬ 
 ries ol monuments is preserved to posterity, which, in its kind, 
 is quite unique in Italy and the world. 
 
233 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 Innovations of the Mannerists of the Seventeenth Century. Corruption 
 
 of Venetian Painting. 
 
 A sort of fatality seems to prevail in all human things, ren¬ 
 dering their duration in the same state of short continuance ; 
 so that after attaining their highest elevation, we may as¬ 
 suredly at no distant period look for their decline. The glory 
 of precedency, of whatever kind, will not long remain the 
 boast of one place, or in possession of a single nation. It 
 migrates from country to country ; and the people that yester¬ 
 day received laws from another, will to-morrow impose them. 
 Those who to-day are the instructors of a nation, will to-mor¬ 
 row become ambitious of being admitted in the number of its 
 disciples. Numerous examples might be adduced in support 
 of this proposition, but it would be quite superfluous. For 
 whoever is even slightly acquainted with civil or literary his¬ 
 tory, whoever has observed the passing events of the age in 
 which we live, will easily furnish himself with proofs, without 
 the aid of writers to direct him. We have already traced the 
 same revolution of affairs in the art of painting, in the two 
 schools of Rome and Florence, which, arriving at the zenith 
 of their fame, fell into decay precisely at the period when that 
 of Venice began to exalt itself. And we shall now perceive 
 the decline of the latter, during the same age in which the 
 Florentine began to revive, in which the school of Bologna ac¬ 
 quired its highest degree of reputation ; and what is still more 
 surprising, seemed to rise by studying the models of the Ve¬ 
 netian. So indeed it was : the Caracci were much devoted to 
 Titian, to Giorgione, to Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto, and 
 thence formed styles, and produced pupils that conferred 
 honour upon the whole of the seventeenth century. The Ve- 
 
234 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.- —EPOCH III. 
 
 netians, too, studied the same examples, and derived from them 
 a certain mannerism reprehensible enough in them, but much 
 more so in their disciples. These, devoting themselves in their 
 first studies to more classical artists, and attaining a certain 
 practice both in design and colouring, next aimed at display¬ 
 ing upon a grand scale, figures, not so much taken from life, 
 as from engravings and pictures, or from their own imagina¬ 
 tions ; and the more rapidly these were executed, the better 
 did they suppose they had succeeded. I am inclined to be¬ 
 lieve, that the examples of Tintoretto proved, in this respect, 
 more prejudicial than useful. Few were ambitious of emu¬ 
 lating his profound knowledge, which in some measure serves 
 to veil his defects ; but his haste, his carelessness, and his 
 grounds, they more willingly adopted ; while his great name 
 was advanced as a shield to cover their own faults. And the 
 earliest of these, not yet unmindful of the maxims of a better age, 
 did not rush blindly into all these errors and excesses; but by 
 their superiority of spirit, and by their tints, maintained their 
 ground better than the mannerists of the Roman and Floren¬ 
 tine styles. But to these succeeded others, whose schools 
 degenerated still more from the ancient rules of art. We 
 advance this without meaning to cast the least imputation 
 upon really good artists, who flourished even during this 
 period ; for an age rarely occurs in which good sense becomes 
 altogether extinct. Even during the barbarity of the dark 
 ages, we meet with specimens of some marble busts of the 
 Caesars, and some of their medals, which approach a better 
 taste ; and thus also in the age we are describing appeared 
 geniuses, who either wholly, or in great measure, kept them¬ 
 selves free from the general infection ; “ et tenuere animum 
 contra sua saecula rectum.”— Propert. 
 
 Jacopo Palma the younger, so called to distinguish him 
 from the other Palma, his great uncle, was an artist who 
 might equally be entitled the last of the good age, and the 
 first of the bad. Born in 1544, after receiving the instruc¬ 
 tions of his father Antonio, a painter of a confined genius, he 
 exercised himself in copying from Titian, and the best of the 
 national artists. At the age of fifteen years he was taken un¬ 
 der the patronage of the Duke of Urbino, and accompanied 
 him to his capital. He afterwards spent eight years in 
 
JACOPO PALMA THE YOUNGER. 
 
 235 
 
 Rome, where he laid a good foundation for his profession, by 
 designing from the antique, copying Michelangelo and Raf- 
 faello; and, in particular, by studying the chiaroscuros of 
 Polidoro. This last was his great model, and next to him 
 came Tintoretto; he being naturally inclined, like them, to 
 animate his figures with a certain freedom of action, and a 
 spirit peculiarly their own. On his return to Venice, he dis¬ 
 tinguished himself by several works, conducted with singular 
 care and diligence ; nor are there wanting professors who have 
 bestowed on him a very high degree of praise, for displaying 
 the excellent maxims of the Roman, united to what was best 
 in the Venetian School. It is observed by Zanetti, that some 
 of his productions were attributed by professors to the hand 
 of Giuseppe del Salvia ti, whose merit, in point of design and 
 solidity of style, has been already noticed. The whole of 
 these are executed with peculiar facility, a dangerous gift 
 both in painting and in poetry, which this artist possessed in 
 a remarkable degree. Though he made the greatest exertions 
 to bring himself into notice, he was little employed; the post 
 was already occupied by men of consummate ability, by Tin¬ 
 toretto and Paul Veronese; and these monopolized all the 
 most lucrative commissions. Palma, however, obtained the 
 rank of third ; chiefly by means of Vittoria, a distinguished 
 sculptor and architect; whose opinion was adopted in the dis¬ 
 tribution of the labours even of artists themselves. Dis¬ 
 pleased at the little deference shewn him by Robusti and 
 Paul, he began to encourage Palma, and to assist him also 
 with his advice, so that he shortly acquired a name. We 
 have related a similar instance in regard to Bernini, who 
 brought forward Cortona against Sacchi, at Rome, besides 
 several more, productive of the greatest detriment to the art. 
 So true it is that the same passions prevail in every age, 
 everywhere pursue the same track, and produce the same re¬ 
 sults. 
 
 Nor was it long before Palma, overwhelmed with commis¬ 
 sions, remitted much of his former diligence. In progress of 
 time, he became even yet more careless, until upon the death 
 of his eldest rivals, including Corona, who in his latest works 
 had begun to surpass him, free from competition he asserted 
 unquestioned sway, and despatched his pieces rapidly. His 
 
236 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 pictures, indeed, might often be pronounced rough draughts, 
 a title bestowed upon them in ridicule by the Cavalier d’Ar- 
 pino. In order to prevail upon him to produce a piece wor¬ 
 thy of his name, it became requisite, not only to allow him 
 the full time he pleased, but the full price he chose to ask, 
 without further reference, except to his own discretion, in 
 which truly he did not greatly abound. Upon such terms he 
 executed that fine picture of San Benedetto, at the church of 
 SS. Cosmo and Damiano, for the noble family of Moro. It 
 resembled many of those he had produced in his best days at 
 Venice, and in particular that celebrated naval battle-piece of 
 Francesco Bembo, placed in the Palazzo Pubblico. Other 
 valuable specimens are found scattered elsewhere, in part 
 mentioned by Ridolfi, and in part unknown to him. Suck 
 are his Santa Apollonia, at Cremona, his San Ubaldo and his 
 Nunziata, at Pesaro, and his Invenzione della Croce, at Ur- 
 bino, a piece abounding in figures, and full of beauty, variety, 
 and expression. His tints are fresh, sweet, and clear, less 
 splendid than those of Paul, but more pleasing than in Tin¬ 
 toretto ; and though scantily applied, they are more durable 
 than those of certain foreign pictures more heavily laid on. 
 In the animation of his figures he approaches the two preced¬ 
 ing artists, particularly in his more studied works, as he has 
 shewn in his Chastisement of the Serpents, a picture that 
 seems embued with horror. In every other instance he has 
 always sufficient art to please ; and it is surprising how a 
 man who led the way to the most corrupt period in Venice, as 
 it has been observed of Vasari at Florence, and of Zuccaro at 
 Rome, could thus exhibit so many attractions, both of nature 
 and of art, calculated to feast the eye, and to fix the soul of 
 the spectator. Both Guercino and Guido were sensible of the 
 power of his pencil; and when examining one of his altar- 
 pieces, at the Cappucini, in Bologna, “ What a pity,” they 
 exclaimed, “ that the master of such a pencil should be no 
 more.” (Boscliini, p. 383.) 
 
 In observance of my plan of accompanying each master 
 with his train of followers, I set out with Marco Boschini, a 
 Venetian, who flourished during this same deterioration of a 
 nobler age. He was a pupil to Palma, and has left some me¬ 
 morials of the different professors of the third epoch, not to be 
 
MARCO BOSCHINI. 
 
 237 
 
 met with in any other work. Professing the art of engraving, 
 rather than that of painting, he had, nevertheless, so much 
 merit in the latter, as to approach the manner of Palma, in 
 his picture of the Supper of our Lord, in the Sacristy of San 
 Girolamo; as well as that of Tintoretto, as we gather from a 
 few of his altar-pieces in the territory of Padua, and his pic¬ 
 tures for private ornament, remaining at Venice, at least as 
 far as I can learn. He was the author of several works re¬ 
 corded in the preface to this work, the most remarkable of 
 which is composed in “quartine,” with the following title; 
 and by this production he is, perhaps, best known : “ The 
 Chart of pictorial Navigation, a Dialogue between a Venetian 
 senator (a dilettante) and a professor of painting, under the 
 names of Ecelenza and Compare, divided into eight renti, or 
 winds, with which the Venetian vessel is borne into the deep 
 Sea of Painting, as its Absolute Mistress, to the confusion of 
 such as do not understand the loadstone and the compass.” 
 
 Thus, much in the same manner as we judge from the 
 fa 9 ade of the style of a whole edifice in the gothic taste, the 
 reader may gather, from this very loaded title, the exact na¬ 
 ture of Boschini’s work. It is, indeed, written in the most 
 verbose style of the Seicentisti ; a mixture of unsound reason¬ 
 ing, strange allegory, tame allusions, frivolous conceits in¬ 
 vented on every name, and phraseology that surpasses even 
 that of Ciampoli and Melosio; for these at least wrote in the 
 Italian dialect, whereas Boschini protests that he does not 
 pretend to a foreign idiom, but to speak like the Venetian 
 people. From this undistinguisliing kind of nationality arises 
 his malevolence against Vasari, and the methods of the 
 foreign schools, as well as his exaggerated praise of the Vene¬ 
 tian artists, whom he prefers, as we learn from his title-page, 
 to all the painters in the world, not merely as respects their 
 manner of colouring, but in point of invention and design. 
 What is worse, he makes no distinction between the fine old 
 painters and the mannerists of his own times, and speaks as if 
 the masters of the former age were still flourishing, and teach¬ 
 ing in their schools, or as if the modern possessed the same 
 powers and the same reputation ; a gross equivocation into 
 which the tiresome Compare, or gossip, is continually falling, 
 and which his credulous Excellency as frequently commends. 
 
238 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 If, however, in treating of Vasari, I in some measure ex¬ 
 cused his partialities, in consideration of prejudices imbibed 
 by his education, which are afterwards with difficulty eradi¬ 
 cated, I ought to make use of the same liberality in regard 
 to Boschini, more especially as he possessed fewer opportuni¬ 
 ties of ridding himself of them, never having visited Rome or 
 Florence, and giving his opinions upon foreign schools, from 
 the hearsay relations of others. It is true that he cites in 
 favour of the Venetians the opinion of many distinguished 
 men; as that of V elasco, who protested to Salvator Rosa, 
 that Raffaello was no longer a favourite with him after hav¬ 
 ing seen Venice ; or that of Rubens, who, after spending up 
 wards of six years at Rome to little purpose, formed his style 
 on the models of Titian. Albano likewise regretted that he 
 had not commenced his studies in Venice, preferably to Rome ; 
 and Pier da Cortona having seen the works of the Venetian 
 School, cancelled some of his labours, and ornamented afresh 
 two chambers of the Palazzo Pitti, and one in the Casa Bar- 
 berini. But these authorities, which he adduces along with 
 others, taken chiefly from artists who preferred beauty of 
 colouring to accuracy of design, do not prove much, and might 
 be opposed by other authorities, even of great painters, more 
 particularly English and French, who embraced a contrary 
 opinion. Besides, the panegyrists thus cited by him, did not 
 commend the modern so much as the ancient Venetian pain¬ 
 ters, so as by no means to possess the weight he would attri¬ 
 bute to them. Moreover, in the present day, when so much 
 has been written upon Italian painting, we shall not, on in¬ 
 vestigating what is to be admired and imitated, and wbat to 
 be shunned or approved in the examples of the Venetians, 
 appeal to the vain boastings of the sixteenth century, but to 
 the critics of our own times. Still we do not mean to deny, 
 but that the work in question, however strangely written, con¬ 
 tains many valuable historical notices, and many pictorial 
 precepts, particularly useful to such as cannot aspire to any 
 thing beyond the character of mere naturalists, incapable of 
 drawing a stroke that does not appear in their model, and 
 content with portraying the dimensions of any kind ol head 
 or body, provided they be of the human shape, inventing with 
 infinite difficulty, slow in resolving, and quite incapable of 
 
LEONARDO CORONA. 
 
 239 
 
 forming a grand history, more especially of battles, of flights, 
 in short of any objects they never saw. This sect, which at 
 that period boasted many followers, and which is not even yet 
 extinct, is there ridiculed in a vein it is impossible to surpass, 
 and would that the party proceeding to the opposite extreme 
 of mannerism, at that time triumphant in Venice, had not 
 met with equal applause ! But how difficult is it to observe 
 the golden mean ; though the artists of Bologna will point out 
 the way in due time. At present we must return to those of 
 Venice. 
 
 Numerous other artists very nearly approached the style of 
 Palma. Boschini enumerates six, whose manner so extremely 
 resembles him, as to impose upon those who have not tact 
 enough to detect the peculiar characteristics of each, (and in 
 Palma there is a mixture of the Roman and Venetian,) con¬ 
 sisting of the names of Corona, Vicentino, Peranda, Aliense, 
 Malombra, and Pilotto. The same author extols them as 
 illustrious painters; and truly, besides the splendour of their 
 colouring, they composed upon a magnificent scale, emulating, 
 for the most part, the fire and the striking contrasts that 
 produced such an impression after the time of Titian, exe¬ 
 cuting pictures every way deserving of a place in good collec¬ 
 tions. 
 
 Leonardo Corona, of Murano, who, from a copyist, suc¬ 
 ceeded in becoming a painter, was the rival of Palma, and 
 nevertheless enjoyed the patronage of Vittoria; whether to 
 keep alive the emulation of the former, or for some other 
 reason, is uncertain. He sometimes prepared models in clay, 
 to discover the best distributions of liis chiaroscuro. By aid 
 of these he painted his Annunciation, at SS. Giovanni and 
 Paolo, a work very highly commended, as well as his picture 
 at San Stefano, displaying a grandeur that arrests the eye, 
 and reminds us more of Titian than any other model. In 
 general, however, Corona exhibited more of Tintoretto, if not 
 in his colouring, which in the present day appears to more 
 advantage, at least in many other points. He produced a 
 crucifixion so much in this artist’s style, that Ridolfi has 
 defended him with the utmost difficulty from the charge of 
 theft. He availed himself likewise of the engravings of 
 Flemish artists, particularly in the composition of his land- 
 
240 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 scape. He did not long flourish ; but left an excellent imita¬ 
 tor of his style in Baldassare d’ Anna, an artist of Flemish 
 origin, who completed a few of his master’s pieces. He also 
 produced some original pieces for the Servi and other churches, 
 which, though inferior to those of Corona in the selection of 
 forms, yet surpass them in the softness, and sometimes in the 
 force of their chiaroscuro. 
 
 Andrea Yicentino was, according to some writers, a Vene¬ 
 tian, and pupil to Palma; not excelling in point of taste, he 
 was nevertheless very skilful in the handling of his colours, 
 and shewed great power of invention. Being employed in 
 many labours, both within and without the boundaries of 
 Venice, and even in depicting histories of the Republic, which 
 still continue to adorn several halls in the Palazzo Grande, he 
 was one of the most popular artists of his time. He rarely 
 fails to exhibit in his works some perspective, or some figure 
 borrowed, according to the custom of the plagiarists, from the 
 best masters : including even Bassano, an artist of few ideas 
 constantly repeated, and so far less easily pillaged with im¬ 
 punity. At the same time he bestows upon his plagiarisms a 
 beauty of composition, and a general effect that does honour 
 to his talents, applicable to every variety of subject. He 
 could also employ a very delicate, tasteful, and effective 
 pencil, when he chose to exert himself. In his grounds, 
 however, he must have been less successful, many of his 
 paintings being already much defaced. In collections, always 
 more favourable to their duration than public places, we may 
 find several in good preservation, and deserving of much com¬ 
 mendation, as we gather from his Solomon anointed on 
 becoming king of Israel, preserved in the Royal Gallery at 
 Florence. Marco Vicentino, son of Andrea, also acquired 
 some celebrity by his imitations, and more by the name of his 
 father. 
 
 Santo Peranda, a scholar of Corona and of Palma, and 
 tolerably well versed in Roman design, having passed some 
 time in Rome, aimed at a diversity of styles. His usual 
 manner a good deal resembles that of Palma, while, in his 
 large histories, which he produced at Venice and at Miran- 
 dola, he appears in a more poetical character of his own. 
 Yet he was naturally of a more slow and reflective turn, and 
 
ANTONIO VASSILACCHI. 
 
 241 
 
 more studious of art, qualities that in the decline of age led 
 him to adopt a very delicate and laboured manner. He was 
 not ambitious of equalling his contemporaries in the abundance 
 of his works; his aim was to surpass them in correctness ; 
 nor did he any where succeed better in his object than in his 
 Christ taken from the Cross, painted for the church of San 
 Procolo. Among his disciples, Matteo Ponzone, from Dal¬ 
 matia, more particularly distinguished himself, assisting 
 Peranda in his great works executed at Mirandola. In pro¬ 
 gress of time he formed an original style, which surpasses in 
 softness that of his master, though not equal to it in point of 
 elegance. He was fond of copying from the life, without 
 attempting much to add to its dignity. His scholar, Gio. 
 Carboncino, pursued his studies at Rome also, where we do 
 not, however, find mention of him,* owing probably to his 
 speedy return to Venice. Among the few pieces produced 
 by him for churches, there is a Bto. Angelo, at the Carmini, 
 which has been much commended by Melchiori, and a San 
 Antonio, at La Pieta, mentioned by Guarienti. Two others, 
 named Maffei, of Vicenza, and Zanimberti, of Brescia, will 
 come under consideration in their respective states. 
 
 Antonio Vassilacchi, called Aliense, a native of the island 
 of Milo, inherited from the fine climate of Greece a genius 
 adapted to confer honour upon the arts, and particularly in 
 works of a vast and imaginative character. Paul Veronese, 
 struck Avith his first efforts, banished him, with a feeling of 
 jealousy, from his studio, advising him at the same time to 
 confine himself to small pictures. Aliense observing Paul 
 engaged in reviving the examples of Titian, renewed as far as 
 lay in his power those of Tintoretto. He studied casts taken 
 from the antique, designing from them both day and night; 
 he exercised himself in acquiring a knowledge of the human 
 frame, modelled in wax, copied Tintoretto with the utmost 
 
 * In the “ Memorie Trevigiane,” I find that this artist was known also 
 at Rome, in the Guide to which place, however, his name is not to be met 
 with. I have some doubt it may have been confounded with that of Gio. 
 Carbone. But this last was from S. Severino, and a follower of. Cara¬ 
 vaggio ; the other a Venetian, attached to Titian ; and, in some pictures 
 he produced at San Niccolo of Trevigi, he subscribes not Carbonis, but 
 Carboncini opus. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 VENETIAN SCIIOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 assiduity, and, as if wholly to forget what he had learnt from 
 Paul, he sold the designs made at his school. Yet he could 
 not so far divest himself of them, but that in his earliest pro¬ 
 ductions, remaining at the church of Le Yergini, he displayed 
 the manner of Paul. He has been accused by historians of 
 having abandoned this style for one less adapted to his genius ; 
 and moreover of having been misled by the innovations of the 
 mannerists. Sometimes, however, he painted with extreme 
 care, as in his Epiphany, for the Council of Ten, though in 
 general he abused the facility of his genius, without fear of 
 risking his credit, inasmuch as his rivals Palma and Corona 
 pursued the same plan. In order better to oppose, his great 
 enemy Yittoria, he attached himself to another architect, who 
 possessed much influence, named Girolamo Campagna, tlie 
 disciple of Sansovino; and he moreover enjoyed the favour 
 of Tintoretto. In this manner Aliense obtained many com¬ 
 missions, both for the public palace and the Venetian churches, 
 besides being engaged in many works for other cities, more 
 especially for Perugia, at S. Pietro, all upon a magnificent 
 scale ; yet without acquiring that degree ot estimation which 
 the felicity of his genius deserved. He was assisted by 
 Tommaso Dolobella, of Belluno, a good practitioner, and 'well 
 received in Poland, where he long continued in the service of 
 Sigismond III. In his Life of Aliense, Ridolfi makes men¬ 
 tion also of Pietro Mera, a Fleming, whose portrait Aliense 
 painted, as being his friend; but neither from history, nor 
 from his own style, can we gather that he was Aliense.s dis¬ 
 ciple. He resided, and employed himself much in Venice, at 
 SS. Giovanni and Paolo, at La Madonna dell Orto, and 
 elsewhere : while the judgment pronounced upon him by 
 Zanetti is, that he appeared to have greatly attached himself 
 to the Venetian artists, and to have derived suflicient profit. 
 
 Pietro Malombra, a Venetian by birth, deserves almost to 
 oe excluded from the list of Palma’s disciples, and even from 
 that, of the mannerists. If he sometimes deviated from the 
 right path, it must rather be attributed to human error, than 
 to erroneous maxims. Born in a degree of comparative ease, 
 he acquired from education a sense of the value of that ex¬ 
 cellent axiom, “ that honour is better than gain.” After 
 employing himself in the studio of Salviati, where he obtained 
 
GIROLAMO PILOTTO. 
 
 243 
 
 a good knowledge of design, he continued to paint foi his own 
 pleasure. But equally intelligent and docile, he never 
 scrupled to bestow the utmost pains to bring his works to a 
 higher degree of perfection, than was the usual practice of his 
 times. Afterwards experiencing a reverse of fortune, he 
 entered upon the art as his profession, and ornamented parts 
 of the Ducal Palace. In his portraits and pictures upon a 
 small scale, he was also very successful. He represented at 
 San Francesco di Paola, various miracles of the saint, in four 
 pictures; and his figures display a precision in their contours, 
 a grace, and an originality which lead us to doubt whether 
 they can belong, not merely to the epoch, but to the school of 
 which we are here treating. Similar specimens he produced 
 for galleries, sometimes enlivening with them his perspective 
 pieces, in which he possessed equal skill and assiduity. Those 
 in which he exhibited the grand piazza, or the great hall of 
 council, representing in them their respective sacred or civil 
 ceremonies, processions, ingresses, public audiences, great 
 spectacles, to which the place adds an air of grandeur, ex¬ 
 torted the plaudits of all ranks. 
 
 Girolamo Pilotto occupies the sixth place among those, 
 who, in the opinion of Boscliini, are apt tc be confounded 
 with Palma. Zanetti is content with observing, that he was 
 a true follower of that style, and that in his works may be 
 recognised the ideas of his masteif conducted in a very happy 
 manner. Venice boasts few of his pieces, although we are 
 elsewhere informed that he died at an advanced age. His pic¬ 
 ture of the Nuptials of the Sea. painted for the public palace, 
 is extolled in high terms by Orlandi, while others have greatly 
 admired his San Biagio, which he produced for the great altar 
 of the Fraglia, in Rovigo ; a picture displaying great sweet¬ 
 ness of manner, and signed with his name. 
 
 To attempt a full list of the rest of the mannerists, who 
 followed more or less the composition of Palma, would only 
 weary the reader with a repetition of names. From these I 
 select, therefore, merely a few of the most remarkable in Ve¬ 
 nice and its vicinity, having to make mention of others in the 
 respective schools of terra-firma. Girolamo Gamberati, a scholar 
 of Porta, acquired the art of colouring from Palma, upon 
 whose model he painted at Le Vergini, and other places, it is 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL,-EPOCH III. 
 
 still suspected, however, that the character displayed in his 
 pieces, must have come from the hand of Palma, whose friend¬ 
 ship occasionally assisted him. In the Guide by Zanetti, we 
 find mention of a Jacomo Alberelli, a disciple of Palma, who 
 painted the Baptism of Christ at the church of the Ognisanti. 
 There is a slight allusion to him in Ridolfi, by whom he is 
 entitled Albarelli; and he adds, that he produced the bust for 
 the tomb of his master, in whose service he lived during thirty- 
 four years. Camillo Bellini is also recorded among the Pal- 
 mese mannerists, whether a native of Venice or of the state is 
 not certain. In his manner he is pleasing, though neither 
 spirited nor vigorous ; and he was likewise employed in the 
 Ducal Palace. Boschini moreover extols Bianchi, Dimo, and 
 Donati, all Venetians, and his own friends; but I would omit 
 them, finding no commendations in any other work. I omit 
 also Antonio Cecchini da Pesaro, whose age, as reported in 
 the index, cannot be brought to agree with the period of Pal¬ 
 ma’s professorship. 
 
 In Trevigi, Ascanio Spineda, a noble of that city, is held 
 in some estimation, and included among the disciples of 
 Palma ; from whom he is sometimes with difficulty distin¬ 
 guished. One of the most exact in point of design, he also 
 colours with much sweetness and grace of tints ; an artist 
 deserving to be known in his native district, which abounds 
 with the best of his works. He employed himself there, 
 for many churches, succeeding perhaps better at San Teo- 
 nisto than at any other place. No one surpassed him in 
 the number of his pieces for public exhibition, if we except 
 indeed one Bartolommeo Orioli, who, about the same period, 
 displayed the talent of a good practiser, though with less 
 repute. This last belonged to that numerous tribe who, in 
 in Italy, were ambitious of uniting in themselves the powers 
 of poetry and painting ; but who, not having received suffi¬ 
 cient polish either in precept or in art, gave vent to their in¬ 
 spiration in their native place, covering the columns with 
 sonnets, and the churches with pictures, without exciting the 
 envy of the adjacent districts. Father Federici praises him 
 for his portraits ; a valued ornament, at that period, of large 
 pictures, and well introduced by Orioli, in the church of 
 ISt. Croce, where a numerous procession of the people of Tre- 
 
PAOLO PIAZZA.-MATTEO INGOLI. 
 
 24.5 
 
 vigi appears, taken from the life. Burcliiellati, a contempo¬ 
 rary historian of the place, adds, as a companion to the foregoing, 
 the name of Giacomo Bravo, a painter of figures and orna¬ 
 mental works, which are still held in some degree of estimation. 
 
 Paolo Piazza, of Castelfranco, who afterwards became a 
 Capuchin by the name of Father Cosimo, is enumerated by 
 Baglione among the good practisers, and the pupils of Palma. 
 Yet he bears little resemblance to him, having formed a style 
 of his own, not powerful indeed, but free and pleasing, which 
 attracted the eye of Paul V., the Emperor Rodolph II., and 
 the Uoge Priuli; all of whom availed themselves of his abi¬ 
 lity. Both the capital and the state boast many of his pieces 
 in fresco, and some altar-pieces : nor is Rome without them, 
 v here, in the Palazzo Borghese, he painted those very fanciful 
 ornaments in friezes, for various chambers, as well as histories 
 of Cleopatra for the Great Hall, and in the Campidoglio at 
 the Conservatori, a celebrated picture of Christ taken from the 
 Cross. While residing in Rome he attended to the instruction 
 of Andrea Piazza, his nephew, who in course of time entered 
 the service of the Duke of Lorraine, by whom he had the 
 honour of being made a cavalier. LTpon returning to his 
 own state, he produced his great picture of the Marriage of 
 Cana, for the church of Santa Maria; one of the best pieces 
 that adorn the place. 
 
 Matteo Ingoli, a native of Ravenna, resided from early 
 youth, until the period of his immature decease, in the city of 
 Venice. He sprung from the school of Luigi del Friso, and 
 proposed for himself, says Boschini, Paul Veronese and Palma 
 as his models. If I mistake not, however, he aspired to a 
 more solid, but less beautiful style, as far as we can gather 
 from one of his pictures at the Corpus Domini, from his Sup¬ 
 per of our Lord at San Apollinare, and from others of his 
 works ; in all which we trace the hand of precision and assi¬ 
 duity. He was also a good architect, and terminated his 
 days during one of those awful periods in which the Venetian 
 state was visited by the plague, adding another instance of 
 loss to the fine arts, similar to those which we have noticed in 
 other schools. 
 
 Another victim to the same contagion was Pietro Damini, 
 of Castelfranco, who, it is averred, had he survived a little 
 
246 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 longer, would have displayed the powers of a Titian ; an 
 expression we are to receive as somewhat hyperbolical. He 
 acquired the art of colouring from Gio. Batista Novelli, a good 
 scholar of Palma, who, more for amusement than for gain, 
 ornamented Castelfranco and the adjacent places with several 
 well executed pieces. Damini next devoted much time to the 
 theory of the art, and to the study of the best engravings, 
 upon which he modelled his design. By this method, it is 
 said that he freed himself from the shackles of the mannerists, 
 though it gave to his colours a degree of crudity; and in truth 
 this is a defect that strikes the eye in many of his productions. 
 Numerous specimens remain at Padua, where he established 
 himself at the age of twenty ; several at Vicenza, at Venice, 
 and still more in Castelfranco, where his altar-piece of the 
 Simone Stoch at Santa Maria, is highly estimated, as well as 
 the Tabernacle surrounded with twelve histories, from both the 
 Old and New Testaments; a novel idea, and executed with 
 real taste. His style is elegant and pleasing, but not uniformly 
 excellent. He is observed to have frequently changed his 
 manner, in aspiring to reach a higher degree of perfection in 
 his art. We might, in some instances, pronounce him an ex¬ 
 cellent naturalist; in others more of an adept in ideal beauty, 
 as we gather from his picture of the Crucifixion at Santo di 
 Padova, which displays rare beauty and harmony combined, 
 though he did not live long enough to produce others of equal 
 merit. He died early, and at a short interval his brother 
 Giorgio, seized by the same disorder, followed him to the 
 tomb, an artist excellent in portrait, and pictures with small 
 figures. 
 
 Subsequent to this period (1630, 1631), in which the deaths 
 of a number of artists occur, the traces of the old Venetian 
 style, in its best school, began still more to disappear; and the 
 Venetian paintings produced after the middle of the century, 
 display for the most part a different character. It is remarked 
 by Signor Zanetti, that several foreign artists established them¬ 
 selves about this period in the city, and held sway over the 
 art at their own discretion. Attached to various schools, and 
 chiefly admirers of Caravaggio, in his plebeian manner, they 
 agreed amongst themselves in nothing, perhaps, except two 
 points. One of these was, to consult truth in a greater degree 
 
THF TENEBROSI. 
 
 247 
 
 than had before been done ; an extremely useful idea to render 
 art, now degenerated into a paltry trade, once more real art. 
 But the plan was not well executed by many, who were either 
 incapable of selecting what was natural, or of ennobling it 
 when found; while, at all events, they were too apt to man- 
 nerize it with an excessive use of strong shades. The other 
 plan was to avail themselves of very dark and oily grounds, 
 which were as favourable to despatch as injurious to the dura¬ 
 tion of paintings, as we have more than once had occasion to 
 observe. Indeed this had so far come into vogue, in most 
 places, as even to infect, in some degree, the great school of 
 the Caracci. Hence it has arisen that in many of those pic¬ 
 tures the lights only have remained durable, the masses of 
 shade, the middle tints having disappeared ; insomuch that 
 posterity has distinguished this class of artist by the new ap¬ 
 pellation of the sect of Tenebrosi , or the dark colourists. Bos- 
 chini, who first put forth his Carta del Navegar Pitoresco in 
 1660, is very severe, as we have before stated, upon the sect 
 of mere naturalists, stigmatizing them generally, and upbraid¬ 
 ing them for coming to seek their bread at Venice; while, at 
 the time that they employed themselves in crying down the 
 taste, the spirit, and the rapid hand of the Venetians, their 
 own productions bore ample witness to the pitiable efforts by 
 which they were produced. He gives no names; but it is not 
 difficult to gather from the whole his aversion to the Roman 
 and Florentine artists, of whom we shall shortly give an ac¬ 
 count. Upon these he certainly does nojt bestow encomiums, 
 as he does upon all others at that period engaged in Venice, 
 his commendations being sometimes extremety vague, and at 
 others extravagant. 
 
 If we wish to avoid forming erroneous judgments, then we 
 must abandon his Painter's Chart of Navigation, and attach 
 ourselves to the Pittura Veneziana, a very different guide to 
 that of Boschini. In this the author takes care to distinguish, 
 with the precision of a good historian, such as were followers 
 of Caravaggio, like Saraceni; excellent pupils of Guercino, 
 like Triva ; fine colourists, liov r ever much accustomed to copy 
 rather than invent, like Strozza, and though less select, his 
 scholar Langetti ; to whom we may add a third Genoese ar¬ 
 tist, who flourished during those times at Venice, though he 
 
248 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III 
 
 left no public specimen of his labours ; this was Niccolo Cas- 
 sana. Of these, as well as of a few others, I shall treat in the 
 schools to which they respectively belong. Several other 
 names are omitted by the author, either on account of such 
 artists having produced little in the city, or from his being 
 unacquainted with their education and the place of their birtlu 
 Among these is Antonio Beverense, an artist who painted for 
 the college of the Nunziata, the Marriage of the Virgin Mary, 
 a picture that displays accuracy of design, superiority of forms' 
 and a very fine chiaroscuro. He was, for the most part, a dis¬ 
 ciple of the Bolognese, and from his united taste and diligence 
 fully deserving of being more generally known. I suspect, 
 however, that he ought to be named a native of Bavaria, and 
 to the circumstance of his speedy return into his own country, 
 we are, perhaps, to ascribe the little notice he seems to have 
 attracted. Returning to the authority of Zanetti, we find, 
 that besides giving a favourable opinion of the authors just 
 mentioned, he bestows equal commendation upon those who 
 are soon to follow; explaining their respective excellences and 
 defects, and detecting such as belonged to the class of Tene- 
 btosi through their own fault, and such as became so owing to 
 the bad priming of those times ; in treating of whom I follow 
 the path he has pointed out. 
 
 Pietio Ricchi w as an artist who resided for a long period at 
 Venice, where he left a great number of works, and is generally 
 known by the name of il Lucchese. It remains doubtful whe¬ 
 ther he deserves to l^e accused of having introduced the oily 
 and obscure method of painting already mentioned. It is at 
 least certain, that besides having made use of bad priming, he 
 was in the habit of covering his canvas with oil whenever he 
 applied his pencil, which has occasioned the loss of so many 
 of his works that once produced an excellent effect, but which 
 are now either defaced or perished. This is the case with 
 those that remained in Venice, in Vicenza, Brescia, Padua, 
 and Udine; some of which, indeed, are not greatly to be re¬ 
 gretted ; the production of mere mechanic skill, and that not 
 always executed correctly. A few, however, are conducted 
 with much care, as we find in his S. Raimond, at the Domi¬ 
 nicans of Bergamo, and his Epiphany at the patriarchal church 
 m A enice, br tli highly deserving of commemoration, no less 
 
FEDERIGO CERVELLI. 
 
 249 
 
 for the union of their colours, than for the taste displayed in 
 the whole composition. We may easily perceive that they are 
 the productions of a scholar, or at least of an imitator of 
 Guido ; of one accustomed to consult the pictures of Tinto¬ 
 retto, and of the most celebrated Venetians. Another artist 
 equal to Ricchi in the handling of his pencil, and more accu¬ 
 rate in the union of his colours, will be found in Federigo 
 Cervelli of Milan, who, on opening his school at a somewhat 
 later period in Venice, obtained the celebrated Ricci for one 
 of his pupils. At the school of San Teodoro, w^e meet with a 
 history-piece of that saint, from the hand of Cervelli; and in 
 this we may trace all the features of the same style that was 
 afterwards continued by Ricci, who added dignity, however, 
 to its forms, and executed them upon canvas and upon 
 grounds better calculated to bear the effects of age. 
 
 The other artists to be enumerated in the same class, are 
 Francesco Rosa, a pupil rather than follower of Cortona, for 
 an account of whom we must refer the reader to the fifth book 
 of the third volume; and Giovanni Batista Lorenzetti, whose 
 composition, bold, rapid, and magnificent, displays a powerful 
 and correct hand. The merit of the second is conspicuous in 
 his frescos, exhibited at Santa Anastasia, in his native city of 
 \ erona, for which he received twelve hundred ducats, includ¬ 
 ing only the decoration of the chapel. Add to these the name 
 of Ruschi, or Rusca, a Roman, and a disciple of Caravaggio 
 in his forms, and of his age in the mixture of his colours. 
 He was wholly unknown at Rome, though he acquired some 
 degree of reputation in the cities of Venice, of Vicenza, and 
 of Trevigi. His paintings are admitted into collections, 
 where several of his oblong pieces are to be met with in pretty 
 feood preservation. Contemporary with him was Girolamo 
 Pellegrini, a native of the same place, not mentioned in the 
 Guide of Rome, but commemorated in that of Venice for 
 some works, chiefly executed in fresco upon a large scale, in 
 which he appears neither a very select, various, nor spirtied 
 painter, though of a sufficiently elevated character. Bastiano 
 Mazzoni, a h lorentine, is another artist unknown in his native 
 city, belonging to the class of the naturalists, though pos¬ 
 sessed of a certain delicacy, roundness of style, and ease of 
 handling. He was also an excellent architect, of whose 
 
 • 
 
253 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 talents the Cavalier Liberi availed himself in the erection of 
 his fine palace at "V enice, which appears to exceed the fortune 
 of a painter. Count Ottaviano Angarano, a Venetian noble, 
 if he did not altogether avoid the style then current, avoided 
 at least its extravagance; and the Nativity which he placed 
 at ban Danieie, confers upon him double honour, having been 
 both painted and engraved by his hand. Stefano Pauluzzi, a 
 citizen of Venice,has been enumerated among the best belonging 
 to this sect, if indeed he is to be included in it, as the dete¬ 
 rioration of his pictures may be rather attributed to the bad¬ 
 ness of his grounds than to the artist. Niccolo Renieri 
 Mabuseo also flourished at the same period, an artist, who at 
 Rome, under Manfredi, a follower of Caravaggio, formed a 
 taste partaking of his early Flemish and of his Italian educa¬ 
 tion ; very pleasing in the opinion of Zanetti, and in general 
 displaying much strength of hand. He had four daughters 
 who inherited their father s talents, all of whose productions 
 were highly admired in Venice. Two of these, of the name 
 of Angelica and Anna, remained with their parent; Clorinda 
 entered into an union with Vecchia, and Lucrezia with 
 Daniel Vandych, a Frenchman, who afterwards entered into 
 the service of the Duke of Mantua, as the keeper of his gal¬ 
 lery of pictures ; himself a fine portrait-painter, and by no 
 means despicable in his histories. To his I add the name of 
 D. Ermanno Stroifi, a Paduan, first a pupil, and an excellent 
 imitator of Prete the Genoese, and afterwards of Titian, 
 though occasionally, owing to an excessive attention to the 
 chiaroscuro, he deviated too much from the right path. We 
 are informed by Boschini that he travelled for the purpose of 
 observing other schools, and that on returning to Venice, he 
 still continued to rise in the estimation of the Venetians.’ A 
 Madonna from his hand is to be seen at the great altar of the 
 Carmini in that city; and in Padua, his PietiL, placed at San 
 lommaso Cantuariense. I conclude this list with one Mat- 
 teo, a Florentine artist, not commemorated in his own state, 
 from the circumstance of having resided abroad ; better known 
 y t le name of Matteo da Pitocchi. He displayed most 
 talent in his representation of Mendicants, heads of which 
 class are to be met with in Venice, in Verona, in Vicenza, 
 and elsewhere, as well as several burlesques and other fanci- 
 
GIOVAN COJSTARINO. 
 
 251 
 
 fui pieces, in the galleries of many Italian nobles. He 
 painted likewise for churches, more particularly in Padua, 
 where he most probably died; and the Serviti are in posses¬ 
 sion of some on a larger scale, designed in the character of a 
 mere naturalist. These names we trust will be found suffi¬ 
 cient, however various and unequal both in point of style and 
 merit, as affording examples of the taste of that age. 
 
 But inasmuch as it is difficult, as I have before observed, 
 for an entire age to become wholly corrupt, so among the man¬ 
 nerists, who mark the character of this epoch, there flourished 
 some good imitators of Titian, of Paul Veronese, and of Raf- 
 faello himself, both in the capital and its adjacent provinces. 
 In the last, indeed, they were more numerous, because the 
 artists of the terra-firma did not so greatly abound in those 
 master-pieces of the art, of which the Venetians themselves 
 were enabled so easily to become the plagiarists, to the serious 
 deterioration of the art. In the first rank then of supporters or 
 the solid style, I must mention Giovan Contarino, who flou¬ 
 rished in the time of Palma, a companion of Malombra, and 
 an exact imitator of Titian’s method. He did not always suc¬ 
 ceed in improving and embellishing the nature which he 
 copied, though, at the same time, he displayed a soundness of 
 taste that was truly that of Titian. He shewed exquisite 
 skill in his foreshortening seen from below, and in the church 
 of San Francesco di Paola, he exhibited a Resurrection in the 
 entablature, or ceiling, along with other mysteries and figures, 
 so beautifully coloured, so distinct, and so finely expressed, as 
 to be considered some of the most perfect of which the city 
 can boast. He employed himself much for collections, even 
 extending to Germany, by which he obtained from the Em¬ 
 peror Rodolph II., the collar of the order of cavaliers. His 
 favourite subjects were such as he drew from mythology, being 
 possessed of sufficient learning to treat them with classic pro- 
 priety, and of these, in the Barbarigo collection, I saw a con¬ 
 siderable number. He was so extremely accurate in his 
 portraits, that on sending home one which he had taken of 
 Marco Dolce, his dogs, the moment it appeared, began to fawn 
 upon it, mistaking it for their master. His fame was never¬ 
 theless eclipsed in portrait by Tiberio Tinelli, at first his scho¬ 
 lar, afterwards an imitator of Leandro Bassano, and raised to 
 
252 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 the rank of cavalier by the King of France. Pietro da Cor¬ 
 tona, on beholding one of his portraits, exclaimed that Tiberio 
 had not merely infused into it tbe whole soul of the original, 
 but added his own also. I have met with several at Rome, 
 bearing a very high price, and still more are to be seen in the 
 Venetian state. Sometimes they are left unfinished, at the 
 desire of the parties for whom they were taken, in order to 
 diminish their price; sometimes they are thrown into an his¬ 
 torical character; and a Venetian Lord, for instance, will ap¬ 
 pear as Marc Antony—his wife, as Cleopatra. Many of this 
 artist’s pieces for private ornament, of the portrait size, are very 
 highly estimated : they are alternately borrowed from scrip¬ 
 ture and from fable. Such is that of his Iris, belonging to the 
 Conti Vicentini, at Vicenza, simple in point of composition, 
 very natural and pleasing; and what is still more surprising, 
 quite original. He did not display equal facility in more 
 copious compositions, requiring a larger portion of time and 
 leisure than he ever enjoyed, in order to leave behind him a 
 work which could give him full satisfaction. 
 
 Succeeding him, appears Girolamo Forabosco, a distin¬ 
 guished portrait-painter, of Venetian origin according to 
 Orlandi, though believed by the Paduans to have been one of 
 their fellow-citizens. Two of the most celebrated schools con¬ 
 tended for the honour of adding him to their respective ranks. 
 He flourished in the time of Boschini, who bestowed upon him 
 and Liberi the precedency over all other Venetians of the age. 
 In order better to commend him in the spirit of his age, he 
 puns upon his name, declaring Forabosco one of those who 
 emerged fuor del bosco , or out of the wood, into full day; in 
 other words that he rose out of obscurity into considerable 
 note. We are to forgive similar conceits upon the part of 
 Boschini, in consideration of the notices he handed down to 
 us; and we may add likewise with Zanetti, that Forabosco 
 possessed a noble and penetrating genius; a genius delighting 
 the professed artist by its display of judgmen* ; arresting the 
 observer by its beauty; and which unites sweetness with re¬ 
 finement, beauty with force, studious in every part, but par¬ 
 ticularly in the airs of its heads, that appear endued with life. 
 To form an adequate idea of these, we ought not so much to 
 direct our enquiries to churches, which rarely boast any of his 
 
CARLO RIDOLFI. 
 
 253 
 
 altar-pieces, as to those collections which preserve his por¬ 
 traits ; his half-length figures of saints, and his little history- 
 pieces, of which three are recorded in the catalogue of the 
 Dresden gallery. Resembling Forabosco in diligence and 
 delicacy of finish, though inferior to him in genius, we may 
 mention his pupil Pietro Bellotti. By some he is reproached 
 for his minuteness and dryness of style, which leads him to 
 distinguish almost every hair, though always an exact and 
 faithful transcriber of nature. Boschini considers him in the 
 light of a prodigy, for having succeeded in uniting to so much 
 diligence, a most exquisite delicacy in his tints, to a degree 
 never before known. His compositions, more particularly his 
 portraits and his caricatures, which are to be met with in gal¬ 
 leries, are held in much esteem. Several I have seen in dif¬ 
 ferent places, even out of the limits of the state ; two of them 
 very excellent—portraits of an old man and an old woman, 
 in possession of the Cavalier Melzi, at Milan, and such as are 
 not to be exceeded by the most polished and exquisite speci¬ 
 mens of Flemish art. 
 
 At the same period flourished the Cavalier Carlo Ridolfi, a 
 native of Vicenza, but who received his education and distin¬ 
 guished himself at Venice. His natural good sense led him 
 to shun the peculiar style of his times, no less in writing than 
 in painting; and we may observe the same character that is 
 displayed in his “Lives of the Venetian Painters,” written 
 with equal fidelity and judgment, preserved also in his pic¬ 
 tures. Thus his Visitation, painted for the church of the 
 Ognissanti at Venice, has been much extolled; a piece that 
 exhibits some novelty in the adaptation of the colours ; a fine 
 relief, and exactness in every part. Other specimens of him 
 are to be met with in public places, both in Venice and 
 throughout the state; but a great part of his productions were 
 for private persons, consisting of portraits, half-length figures, 
 and historical pieces. Ridolfi imbibed excellent principles of 
 the art from Aliense, which he afterwards improved in Vi¬ 
 cenza and Verona, by copying the best models he could find, 
 and attending to perspective, to the belles lettres, and to other 
 pursuits best calculated to form a learned artist. Such he like¬ 
 wise appears in the two volumes of his “ Lives,” which are at 
 present extremely rare, and deserving of republication, either 
 
O "4 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 with the plates, which I heard were still in existence at Bas- 
 sano, or without them, since it is no very serious loss after all 
 to remain ignorant of the features of celebrated men, provided 
 we become acquainted with their virtues. Upon a comparison 
 of Ridolfi’s style of writing with that of Boschini, we might 
 suppose that these authors flourished at two different epochs, 
 though they were very nearly contemporary. Bayle’s observa¬ 
 tion, indeed, may be considered correct, as applied to them ; 
 that there exists a certain mental, as well as physical epi¬ 
 demic ; and as, in the last, every individual is not seized with 
 the disorder, so, in the former, good sense, as evinced in think¬ 
 ing and in writing, does not become altogether extinct. Thus 
 the Cav. Carlo, as I before noticed, was not only a good 
 writer, but one of the best biographers of artists we have. 
 Not that he was wholly exempt from every kind of gram¬ 
 matical error, any more than Baldinucci himself, though one 
 of the della Crusca academicians ; but he knew how to avoid 
 errors of judgment, into which others fell; such as relating 
 old stories, fit only to amuse children when they first begin to 
 draw eyes and ears; making inquisition into the life and man¬ 
 ners of every artist, and wasting time in long preambles, epi¬ 
 sodes, and moral reflections, quite out of place. On the contrary 
 he is precise, rapid, and eager to afford fresh information for his 
 readers in a small space, with the exception of quoting largely 
 sometimes from the poets. His pictorial maxims are just, his 
 complaints against Vasari always in a moderate tone, and his 
 descriptions of paintings and of grand compositions very exact, 
 and displaying great knowledge, both of mythology and his¬ 
 tory. He concludes the work with an account of his life, in 
 which he complains of the envy of rivals, and the ignorance 
 of the great, too often combining together to trample upon 
 real merit. His epitaph, as given by Sansovino, a contem¬ 
 porary writer, and afterwards by Zanetti, refers the year of 
 his decease to 1658. Boschino, on the contrary, in his Carta, 
 page 509, speaks of him as one of the living authors in 1660, 
 in which year his book was given to the world. I am in¬ 
 clined to think that those verses in which Ridolfi is com¬ 
 mended, were the production of Boschini while the former 
 was still living, and that after his death he neglected to re¬ 
 touch them. 
 
PIETRO VECCIIIA. 
 
 255 
 
 Two others, among the best of these imitators of a more 
 solid taste, are Vecchia and Loth, fully entitled as much as 
 the rest to the rank they hold. Pietro Yecchia sprung from 
 the school of Padovanino, but he did acquire altogether his 
 style, most probably because Padovanino, like the Caracci, 
 gave an individual direction to the talents of his pupils, in the 
 path he judged best adapted to their success. The genius of 
 Yecchia was not at all calculated for lighter subjects. He 
 had imbibed from his master an admiration of the ancients, 
 as well as the art of imitating them; and with these princi¬ 
 ples he arrived at such a degree of excellence, that several of 
 his pictures pass for those of Giorgione, of Licinj, and even of 
 Titian. It is true, that by dint of copying and exactly 
 imitating old paintings, much darkened by time, he contracted 
 the habit of colouring with considerable dulness of lights, 
 affording an example for every young artist, that he should 
 learn to tinge with lively colours, previous to taking copies of 
 similar pictures. For though he, indeed, acquired the colour¬ 
 ing of the ancients, he added neither much variety nor much 
 choice of countenances; and he still remained a naturalist, 
 limited in his ideas, and more inclined towards the burlesque 
 than the serious. Some of his best productions consist of pic¬ 
 tures for private ornament ; of youths armed, or equipped and 
 ornamented with plumes, in the manner of Giorgione, though 
 not without some degree of caricature. One of these, an astro¬ 
 loger telling their fortune to some soldiers, is in possession of 
 the senator Rezzonico at Rome, altogether of so beautiful a 
 character that Giordano painted a companion to it; a little 
 picture quite in the same taste. But although his humorous 
 pieces please us in some, they disgust us in many of his other 
 subjects, and more particularly in the Passion of our Saviour ; 
 a sacred mystery, in which the spectator ought never to be pre¬ 
 sented with cause for mirth. But Yecchia seemed to forget this, 
 and introduces, like Callot, certain caricatures among his 
 sacred pieces, of which specimens are to be seen in the church 
 of Ognissanti at Yenice ; in possession of the Conti Bevilacqua 
 at Yerona, and in other places. In other points, with a style 
 rather strong and loaded with shade than pleasing, he shewed 
 himself an excellent artist, both in his naked parts and his dra¬ 
 peries; which he designed and coloured at the same time in the 
 
256 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 academies. His fleshes are dark red, his handling easy, his colour 
 thick and heavy, the effects of his light new and studied, and his 
 whole taste so far from any degree of mannerism, and of such a 
 composition, that to any one unversed in pictorial history, he 
 would appear to have flourished at least two ages before his real 
 time. Melchiori bestows particular commendation upon him for 
 his talent in restoring old pictures ; and conjectures that he in 
 this way, acquired the appellation of Vecchia, his family name 
 being, as we have noted in the index, that of Muttoni. He in¬ 
 structed several pupils in the art, none of whom pursued, their 
 master’s career. Agostino Litterini, and Bartolommeo his son, 
 were among these, both artists well known in Venice and the 
 islands, and both distinguished for clearness and. boldness of 
 style, though the latter surpassed his father in this way. A 
 specimen of his altar-pieces at San Paterniano displays an 
 imitator of Titian, and of the better age. Melchiori likewise 
 gives the reputation of an excellent artist to his daughter 
 Caterina, though commendations of this sort ought always to 
 be understood in reference to the time in which the artists 
 flourished. The same reasoning might apply also to politics. 
 The title of your Excellency used once to be applied to minor 
 sovereigns, but it has since become applicable also to the great 
 officers and ministers of state. 
 
 Gian Carlo Loth, an artist from Monaco, resided during a 
 long period, and subsequently died, at Venice, in the year 
 1698 , aged sixty-six years, as we find written in his epitaph. 
 Both Orlandi and Zanetti are mistaken in giving him as a 
 scholar to Caravaggio, who died before Carlo was born. It 
 is probable, however, that he acquired his strong and loaded 
 manner of Composition, and his exact representation of nature 
 without ennobling it, from the study of Caravaggio’s pictures. 
 And if he were really the pupil, as is supposed, of Liberi, he 
 failed to make himself master of that lively and ideal character 
 of that school; nor did he perhaps derive any thing from it, 
 but a certain rapidity of hand, and an elevation of manner 
 that distinguished him from the naturalists of his time. He 
 took a rank among the first four painters of his age, all of 
 whom bore the name of Carlo, as I have elsewhere observed. 
 He was much employed in Germany for the Emperor Leopold I., 
 as well as in Italy for the churches, and still more for dif- 
 
GIAN CARLO OTH. 
 
 257 
 
 ferent collections. Many cabinet pictures from his hand are 
 to be met with in every state, in the style of Caravaggio and 
 Guercino, with histories ; of which kind is the Dead Abel, so 
 much praised, in the royal gallery at Florence. One in the 
 best preservation I have seen is to be found at Milan ; a 
 picture of Lot inebriated, in the Trivulzi palace, celebrated 
 among men of taste as a museum of antiquities ; newly 
 arranged by the present young and accomplished marquis, and 
 forming a collection not unworthy of a royal house. Daniele 
 Seiter, a fine colourist, to whom we shall again allude, was 
 instructed in the art by Loth, during a period of twelve years. 
 He was distinguished both in Rome and at Turin; and was 
 succeeded by Ambrogio Bono, one of the best disciples formed 
 by the same master in Venice, where he left a variety of works, 
 all executed in the taste he had so early imbibed. 
 
 Other artists, about the same period, flourished in Venice, 
 who by dint of imitating the most approved models, and also 
 through their own talents, obtained easy access into the most 
 choice collections. Jean Lys, from Oldenburg, came early 
 among these, bearing along with him the style of Golzio. 
 But, on beholding the Venetian and Roman schools, he 
 adopted an exceedingly graceful style, partaking of the Italian 
 in its design, and of the Flemish in its tints. He chiefly pro¬ 
 duced figures upon a middle scale, such as his Prodigal Son, 
 in the royal museum at Florence; or of smaller dimensions’ 
 as in his various little pictures of village sports and combats 
 with similar subjects, in the Flemish mode of composition. 
 Yet he produced a few pictures for churches, like his St. 
 Peter in the act of resuscitating Tabitha, at the Filippini, in 
 Fano; and his more celebrated San Girolamo, at the Teatini, 
 in Venice, where he died. Valentino le Febre, from Brus¬ 
 sels, is a name omitted by Orlandi; while his very numerous 
 engravings of Paul Veronese, and of the best Venetian artists, 
 are ascribed by him to another artist of the same name. He 
 painted little; and always pursued the track of Paul Vero¬ 
 nese,. of whom he was one of the most successful imitators and 
 copyists known. His countenances bear no stamp of a 
 foreign origin, and his colours none of the bad character of 
 his age; while his. touches are always strong, without offend¬ 
 ing our taste. His smaller pieces are full of research and 
 
 VOL. II. s 
 
258 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 finish; though he has less merit upon a larger scale, and is 
 occasionally wanting in point of composition. We meet with 
 another distinguished imitator of Paul, in Sebastiano Bom- 
 belli, from Udine, Guercino’s scholar in the outset, and sub¬ 
 sequently a fine copyist of the best works of Paul Veronese, 
 which are scarcely to be distinguished from the copies he 
 took. But he gave up the more inventive branches of the 
 art, and devoted his attention to portraits. Here he restored 
 the lost wonders of a former age; his portraits being remark¬ 
 able for strong likeness, vivacity, and truth of colouring, both 
 in the drapery and the fleshes. In his painting there is a 
 happy union of the Venetian and the Bolognese manner; and 
 in some specimens of his portraits that I have seen, he seems 
 to have preferred the delicacy of Guido to the vigour of his 
 own master. He was esteemed also beyond Italy; he was 
 employed by the archduke Joseph at Inspruck; took the por¬ 
 traits of several German electors; of the king of Denmark, 
 and of the emperor Leopold I., by whom he was largely 
 honoured and rewarded. It is a matter of regret, that, owing 
 to a peculiar varnish of pitch and gum,* which at the time 
 produced a good effect, a great portion of his pictures should 
 have become obscured; and that many by the more ancient 
 masters, which he wished to restore, should have been altoge¬ 
 ther blemished or destroyed like his own. Among the imita¬ 
 tors of Titian, of Tintoretto, and of Paul, one Giacomo Barri 
 is likewise mentioned by Melcliiori; though he is the sole 
 authority we have upon the point. It is now easy to meet with 
 his engravings in aqua fortis, but not with his pictures. He 
 was also the author of a little work entitled by him “ Viaggio 
 Pittoresco d’ltalia,” which has become somewhat rare, owing, 
 I imagine, to its small dimensions, and to the researches made 
 after it by those who preserve a series of pictorial works; for 
 the rest, his authority is of a middling character. 
 
 In the changes which produced such an alteration in the 
 
 * Let no one, from this instance, altogether condemn the use of var¬ 
 nishes in the restoration of paintings; for by the application of mastic, 
 and of gum-water, according to all the most recent experiments, the 
 colour does not suffer. But oil is injurious to ancient paintings, for the 
 new never becomes incorporated with the old, and, in a short time, every 
 fresh touch is converted into a stain. 
 
 * 
 
EUGENIO PINT. 
 
 259 
 
 state of painting at Venice, several cities of the provinces also 
 in some measure partook, but in others many eminent 
 geniuses arose, capable of resisting the moral contagion that 
 invaded the capital, and of barring its entrance into their 
 native provinces. The school of the Friuli, after the death of 
 Pomponio Amalteo and Sebastiano Seccante, owing to the 
 mediocrity of Sebastiano’s followers, or of the younger 
 branches of his family, had declined, as we before stated, from 
 its original splendour. It numbered, indeed, other pupils by 
 different masters ; limited in point of invention, dry in design, 
 and somewhat hard in their colouring. None appeared capa¬ 
 ble of restoring the art, and succeeded only in furnishing the 
 city with works reasonably well executed, more or less, and 
 borrowed from familiar models. To this class belong Vin¬ 
 cenzo Lugaro, mentioned by Ridolfi for his altar-piece of San 
 Antonio, at the Grazie in Udine; Giulio Brunelleschi, whose 
 Nunziata in one of the Fraternities presents a good imitation 
 of the style of Pellegrino ; and Fulvio Griffoni, who received 
 a commission from the city to produce a picture of the Mira¬ 
 cle of the Manna, to be placed in the public palace near the 
 Supper of Amalteo. Add to these Andrea Petreolo, who or¬ 
 namented the panels of the organ, in the dome of his native 
 town of Venzone, as well on the interior, where, in a very 
 beautiful manner, he exhibited tke histories of San Geronimo 
 and San Eustachio, as on the outside, where, surrounded with 
 fine architecture, he represented the Parable of the wise and 
 foolish Virgins. Without dwelling upon the names of Lorio 
 and Brugno, of whom there remain but few works, which 
 obtained little celebrity, we shall newly record the name of 
 Eugenio Pini, the last it may be said of those artists who but 
 slightly addicted themselves to foreign methods. He flourished 
 about the middle of the seventeenth century, was frequently 
 employed at Udine, and in his own state; extremely diligent 
 and skilled in every office of a painter, if we except, perhaps, 
 his want of a more perfect harmony of tints. The Repose of 
 Egypt, in the dome of Palma, and his San Antonio in that 
 of Gemona, are pronounced by the Abbate Boni among his 
 noblest productions. 
 
 During the period the latter flourished at Udine, Antonio 
 Carnio, a native of a town of Portogruaro, came to establish 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 himself in the city. Instructed in the art by his own father, 
 a very able artist, he subsequently appears, as far as we may 
 judge from his style, to have studied the works of Paul Vero¬ 
 nese and Tintoretto. Next to Pordenone, the Friuli perhaps 
 never produced a finer genius; equally original in all the 
 branches of historic painting, bold in his design, happy in his 
 colouring, more particularly of his fleshes ; expressive in every 
 variety of passion; and all these comprehended within the 
 limits of a grand naturalist, though he frequently became a 
 mannerist, in order to expedite his works. Several of his 
 best productions are, at this period, lost to Udine, owing to 
 the fault of the artist who retouched them; and among the 
 most studied and the best preserved, there still remains his 
 San Tommaso di Villanuova, adorning an altar of Santa 
 Lucia. He produced likewise several histories for private 
 ornament, half-length figures, portraits and heads in carica¬ 
 ture, for which he displayed a peculiar talent, and which still 
 exist at Udine. Both the city and province are well supplied 
 with his pieces, few of which, however, are to be found 
 coloured with strength of handling or very highly finished. 
 He was never without numerous commissions, even though 
 confining his talents to the Friuli; but either from want of 
 prudence, or some other reason, he nevertheless died in 
 penury near Portogruaro. %A. few of his pictures in that 
 place are still pointed out; but those seen at San Francesco, 
 among which are the Washing the Disciples’ Feet, and our 
 Lord’s Last Supper, said to have been executed by him in 
 1804, either bear a false date, or are rather to be attributed 
 to his father; for, at that period, Antonio could not have 
 produced them, since he was still alive in the year 1680; and 
 on this point we ought to admit the authority of Pavona, at 
 one time his pupil, from whom Guarienti received his notices 
 of Carnio, which he inserted in the Abecedario. This artist 
 must not be confounded with another Carnio, named Giacomo, 
 who flourished posterior to him, and was much inferior to An¬ 
 tonio in point of merit. 
 
 Sebastiano Bombelli was born at Udine, as I just observed, 
 though he studied and resided at other places. He left no 
 specimens of his art in the Friuli, if we except a few portraits 
 and pieces for private ornament, aloDg with some heads or 
 
DARIO VAROTARI. 
 
 261 
 
 busts of saints; while his altar-piece of the Redeemer upon 
 the Cross, between some saints, in the parochial church of 
 Tricesimo, is considered a very rare piece. He had a brother 
 of the name of Raphael, whose labours were more abundant, 
 but the whole of them, together with his name, were confined 
 within the limits of the Friuli. 
 
 While the art thus declined in these parts of the Venetian 
 dominions, it appeared equally to revive in others; from 
 whence it arose, that though greatly diminished in the capital, 
 the glory of the state did not become wholly extinct. The 
 city of Verona was its greatest support; for in addition to 
 having given birth to Ridolfi, to Turchi, and Ottoni, all of 
 whom did honour to their country, it produced likewise 
 Dario Varotari, who having established himself at Padua, 
 laid the foundation of a very flourishing school. He exer¬ 
 cised his talents under Paul Veronese, at Verona, to whom 
 he has occasionally some resemblance, though his taste ap¬ 
 pears to have been chiefly formed upon other models. His 
 design is very chaste, by no means an uncommon acquisition 
 among the Veronese ; though he shews some traces of timidity 
 in the method of some of those pupils of the quattro-eentisti ,* 
 who, whilst they draw their contours fuller than those of their 
 masters, appear as if they were afraid m every line of de¬ 
 parting too far from the models Jbefore them; and this he has 
 exemplified in the pictures of San Egidio at Padua. In 
 others, conducted at a more mature age, he seems to have 
 aspired at imitating more modern artists, sometimes Paul 
 Veronese, and sometimes Titian himself in point of design, 
 particularly in the airs of the heads; although his colours, 
 however true and harmonious, can boast neither the Venetian 
 strength nor beauty. Dario painted in V enice, at Padua, 
 and in the Polesine; yet he produced little in reference to the 
 age in which he flourished. He educated several pupils, 
 among whom was Gio. Batista Bissoni, whose life has been 
 given us by Ridolfi. This last was also a scholar of Apollo- 
 doro, named di Porcia, a portrait-painter of much celebrity, 
 and the style which he formed for himself is exactly that of a 
 good painter of portraits, with which he is fond of filling his 
 
 * Quattro-eentisti —Artists of the fourteenth century. 
 
262 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 pictures, clothing them in the manner of his time. TVe may 
 observe this in his Miracles of San Domenico, placed in the 
 church belonging to his order, drawn upon a large scale, as 
 well as in other pieces, scattered throughout the city in 
 almost every street. J 
 
 We must not omit the name of his daughter, Chiara Dario, 
 a lady extolled by Ridolfi for the beauty of her portraits, and 
 f ully deserving of the honour conferred upon her by the fraud 
 dukes of luscany, who placed one of herself in their'noble 
 series of painters, where it is still to be seen. Boschini seems 
 to be of opinion that she gave public instructions in the same 
 manner as the fair Sirani of Bologna; and that she initiated 
 in the art Caterina Taraboti and Lucia Scaligeri, a niece of 
 Bartolommeo. Yet the passage referring to this (p. 526), in 
 the Venetian poet, is somewhat ambiguous, and he perhaps 
 only meant to assert that these two young women pursued the 
 some career. But the chief honour and crown of Dario’s 
 reputation, was his own son and pupil, named Alessandro, 
 who though left an orphan at an early age, shortly after set 
 out ior Venice, where he soon began to distinguish himself. 
 He there received the name of Padovanino, which he retained 
 at an advanced age, and by which he is now generally 
 known. J 
 
 He first studied Titian’s works in fresco, such as he found 
 in Padua, and his copies still continue to attract the admira¬ 
 tion of the greatest professors. In Venice he persevered in 
 his assiduous attention to the same incomparable master, 
 penetrating so far by degrees into his peculiar character, as to 
 be preferred by many to any of Titian’s other disciples. But 
 comparison is invariably disagreeable, and I am inclined to 
 think that those who personally received from the lips of great 
 artists a few brief and sound rules as to what ought to be 
 avoided or achieved in order best to resemble them, are 
 entitled to a high degree of respect; all the speculations of the 
 finest genius upon their works are not half so valuable; for 
 the second century is fast passing away, since the oral tradi¬ 
 tion of the best colourists wholly ceased, and we have been 
 attempting to attain their method, in which we cannot succeed. 
 Padovanino was always equal to the task of handling any 
 subject that had before been treated by Titian; his softer 
 
PADOVANINO. 
 
 263 
 
 ones with grace, his more powerful with strength, his heroic 
 pieces with dignity ; in which last, if I mistake not, he sur¬ 
 passed every other disciple of this master. “ Le donne, i ca¬ 
 valier, l’armi, e gli Amori,” these, and let us add to them his 
 boys, were the favourite subjects of his pencil, which he exhi¬ 
 bited to most advantage, and which he most frequently intro¬ 
 duced into his compositions.* And he knew how to treat 
 landscape as well; which in some of his small pictures he has 
 succeeded in admirably. He was familiar with the science of 
 the sotto in su,+ of which he gave the most favourable specimen 
 in the church of San Andrea di Bergamo, in three admirable 
 histories of that saint. It is a work embellished with beau¬ 
 tiful architecture, and replete with graces in every part. He 
 has approached equally near his model in the sobriety of his 
 composition, in the very difficult use of his middle tints, in his 
 contrasts, in the colour of his fleshes, in smoothness and faci¬ 
 lity of hand. But Titian was still to remain unequalled in 
 his art; and Yarotari is not a little inferior to him in ani¬ 
 mation, and in the expression of truth. Nor can I believe 
 that his method of preparing his canvas, and of colouring it, 
 was the same as that pursued by Titian’s disciples, many of 
 his pieces being much darkened, with the shades either 
 deepened or altered. This is very perceptible even in Varo- 
 tari’s Dead Christ, at Florence, a painting which the prince 
 not very long since purchased for his gallery there. 
 
 In other points he appears to me to have observed the same 
 method, in regard to his model, as Poussin, who aimed at 
 Raffaello’s manner, without reaching it, either from want of 
 ability, or from a dread of falling into servility. His master¬ 
 piece is said to be the Supper of Cana, a piece that has been 
 engraved by Patina, among the Select Paintings. It was 
 formerly in Padua, and is now at Venice in the chapter of 
 La Caritk; with few figures in proportion to the place ; a 
 rich display of costume and ornament; dogs that appear like 
 those of Paul, full of life; grand attendance, women of the 
 most exquisite forms warmed with more ideal beauty than 
 
 * The picture which he executed for the church della Salute deserves 
 commemoration for the exquisite delicacy of tints in its boys. 
 
 t Foreshortening on a ceiling, so as to produce a correct point of view 
 for the figures, as seen from below.—T. R. 
 
VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH III. 
 
 2t)4 
 
 those of Titian, and drawn in the most graceful attitudes. Still 
 it is not every one who will approve of his introduction of 
 them for the service of such a table, in preference to men, as 
 is the more general custom. The above picture cannot, 
 however, boast such fresh and lucid tints as his four histories 
 of the Life of San Domenico, which are to be seen in a refec¬ 
 tory of Santi Giovanni and Paolo, containing as it were the 
 flower of Padovanino’s best style. This very elegant artist 
 spent his time between the capital and his native province, 
 where alone his pictures abound in public ; in other cities 
 they are more rarely met with, and are scarce even in private 
 collections. 
 
 In forming a judgment of his productions, it is necessary 
 to be upon our guard against a variety of copies, many of his 
 disciples having so happily imitated him, that Venetian pro¬ 
 fessors themselves with difficulty distinguish their hand from 
 that of their master. 
 
 Bartolommeo Scaligero ranks among the most celebrated 
 pupils and imitators of Padovanino, an artist enumerated by 
 the people of Padua among their fellow-citizens, although 
 they can boast little from his pencil; while the Venetians are 
 in possession of his pictures in various churches, the most 
 beautiful, perhaps, at the Corpus Domini. Gio. Batista 
 Rossi, from Rovigo, produced one of his pictures for San 
 Clemente at Padua; subsequently he flourished at Venice, 
 executing few things for public exhibition, but which are much 
 extolled by Boschini. Giulio Carpioni was accounted also 
 among the pupils of Varotari, and acquired a reputation rather 
 for his small than his larger compositions; but we shall have 
 occasion to allude to him again. Maestri and Leoni are 
 names recorded in the “ Guida” of Venice, distinguished for 
 their works in fresco, exhibited at the Conventuali. The 
 former was most probably a foreigner, as well as the latter, 
 whom we shall find at Rimino. Were Boschini somewhat of 
 a less profuse panegyrist, we might here add to this list the 
 name of Dario, a son of Padovanino, uniting the character of 
 the physician, the poet, the painter, and engraver. In the 
 index to the “ Carta del Navegar,” we find him placed in the 
 rank of Dilettanti, from the circumstance of his producing 
 little in the art, and this more with the object of presenting 
 
PIETRO LIBERI. 
 
 265 
 
 his pictures as gifts than of gain. Nevertheless we meet with 
 an encomium upon them, '" sufficient to satisfy the claims even 
 ©f a good profeasor; besides which, several of his virtues and 
 poi traits, with an excellent body of colouring, are equally 
 extolled foi the spirit of their attitudes, and exquisite taste in 
 the Giorgione manner. 
 
 Ti e have next to treat of Pietro Liberi, an artist who suc¬ 
 ceeded Padovanino in sustaining the honour of his native 
 place. He ranks among the great men of his art, and is 
 esteemed by many the most learned in point of design, of all 
 who adorned the "V enetian school. From his early studies of 
 the 1 antique at Rome, of Michelangelo, and of Raffaello, of 
 Correggio at Parma, and of all the most excellent masters in 
 the city of Venice, he was led to form a style partaking of 
 every school; a style that pleased in Italy, but far more in 
 Germany, and which obtained for him the titles of Count and 
 Cavaliei, with wealth to support them handsomely in Venice. 
 And, in fact, to estimate his merits rightly, we ought not to 
 consider him as a painter in one style, but in many. For ac- 
 coiding to his own confession, he employed for the eye of true 
 judges a free, and rapid pencil, not very studious of finish ; 
 for. the less intelligent he worked with a very careful one, 
 which bestowed the last touch upon every part, distinguishing 
 the very hairs in such a manner that one might number them ; 
 and these paintings he executed on panels of cypress wood. 
 Most probably the fire of this man’s genius became quenched 
 whenever he attempted to paint slowly, and his pieces were 
 certainly less perfect, which is known to have occurred to 
 several, painters in fresco. But with the exception of these 
 enthusiasts, who are extremely rare, and always adduced by 
 the indolent in defence of their haste, an observing diligence 
 is the perfection of every artist; and even those two thunder¬ 
 bolts, let us call them, of art, Tintoretto and Giordano, where 
 they most practised it, succeeded most in charming the eye of 
 taste. The style of this artist may also be distinguished into 
 tne sublime and beautiful. He produced fewer specimens, 
 however, in the former, of which Venice boasts a Slaughter 
 
 * Vide pp. 512 and 513. 
 
266 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH III. 
 
 of the Innocents, Vicenza a Noah just landed from the Ark, 
 Bergamo the Great Deluge, in which the sea-shore is said to 
 have been the work of M. Montague; the whole of them painted 
 for churches, robust in their design, displaying fine variety of 
 foreshortenings and of attitudes, with naked parts in grand 
 character, and more in emulation of the Caracci than of Michel¬ 
 angelo. He even abused the singular skill that he thus dis¬ 
 played ; drawing the Supreme Deity by an unprecedented 
 example, without the least drapery, in the church of Santa 
 Caterina at Vicenza, an error of judgment which detracts from 
 the worth of one of his most beautiful productions. In a 
 lighter character he produced several pictures for private 
 ornament, sometimes consisting of fables familiar to us, and 
 sometimes of capricci and allegorical subjects, too obscure even 
 for CEdipus himself to unravel. Most frequently he drew 
 naked figures of Venus, in the taste of Titian ; and these are 
 esteemed his master-pieces, which have acquired for him, 
 indeed, the name of Libertino. It is asserted, that being 
 unequal to the formation of the folds of his draperies, for the 
 most part ill-disposed and vague, he the more willingly exer¬ 
 cised himself in these schools. We meet with a great number 
 in different collections, and after beholding one, we are at no 
 loss to recognise the remainder, both from the heads, which are 
 often repetitions of each other, and from the rosy tinge of his 
 fleshes, and of the general tone of his picture. He was extrava¬ 
 gantly fond indeed of this last colour ; which he often misap¬ 
 plied in regard to the hands and the extremities of the fingers. 
 For the rest the composition of his colours was sweet; his 
 shades delicate, in the Correggio manner, and his profiles often 
 borrowed from the antique, while his whole handling was free 
 and elevated. 
 
 Marco Liberi, his son, was not in any way comparable to 
 his father, either in point of dignity or beauty, when left to 
 his own invention. His forms are either caricatures, in a man¬ 
 ner, of those of his father, or are very inferior where they are 
 original. This striking difference may be observed in nume¬ 
 rous collections, where their paintings of Venus are placed to¬ 
 gether, as we see in that of Prince Ercolani at Bologna. Still 
 he was an excellent copyist of his fathers works, a talent 
 
LUCA FERRARI. 
 
 267 
 
 possessed by many others of the same school, whose imita¬ 
 tions are easily mistaken for originals, even by professors 
 themselves. 
 
 An excellent foreign artist ought not to be omitted in this 
 place, one -who flourished during a long period, and taught and 
 died in Padua. His name is Luca Ferrari, from Reggio, fully 
 deserving of being enrolled in the “ Abbeccedario Pittorico. 
 Although Guido’s pupil, his style became rather lofty than 
 delicate ; so that judging by the pictures that he produced for 
 Santa Maria della Ghiaja in Reggio, Scannelli pronounced 
 him a disciple of Tiarini. In some of the airs of his heads, 
 however, and in certain graceful motions, he shews himself 
 not unworthy of the character of the former master. In Padua 
 there is a Pietit of his at San Antonio, of a very masterly kind, 
 a picture that displays the rarest beauty of colouring. In his 
 pieces abounding with figures, like that of the Plague of 1630 , 
 painted for the Domenicani, he does not appear to so much 
 advantage ; nor had Guido, indeed, offered him any great 
 examples in this line, being accustomed rather to weigh than 
 to number his figures. Minorello and Cirello, two of his pupils 
 and followers, continued to support in Padua some relish of 
 the Bolognese school. Their names might be added to the 
 dictionary above mentioned, as Rosetti seemed to wish, and 
 the former, who might sometimes be confounded with Luca, 
 ought to hold a higher place in it than the latter. Francesco 
 Zanella deserves likewise to be recorded there, as an artist of 
 spirit, though neither very diligent nor very learned in his art. 
 He is esteemed almost the Giordano of this city, from the 
 great number of his works conducted in a short time, and may 
 be computed almost as the last of the school ; for Pellegrini, 
 who flourished during the same age, was not a native, though 
 tracing his origin to Padua ; nor did he reside there many 
 years. 
 
 The city of Yicenza produced nothing original during this 
 epoch ; though it possessed a school, sprung from that of Paul 
 Veronese and from Zelotti, of which I promised the reader a 
 series in a more appropriate part of the work. In regard to 
 its style, this school, in part, belongs to a better age ; but its 
 productions are chiefly so very indifferent, and so much the 
 result of mechanic art, that it may rather be ascribed to the 
 
268 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 present. Vicenza indeed might have had reason to boast, had 
 it possessed artists at all equal in point of genius to its archi¬ 
 tects. I shall first commence with the name of Lucio Bruni, 
 whether a native of the state or a foreigner is uncertain, an 
 artist who produced, for San Jacopo, a little altar-piece, re¬ 
 presenting the Marriage of S. Catherine, executed in 1585, 
 and partaking of the genius of a better age. I have met with 
 no other notice of him; for as he was probably little known 
 in times when Italy abounded with the choicest artists, he 
 found no historian who might have rescued his reputation from 
 oblivion. Yet this I would willingly do, if not by giving 
 him a rank in this school, at least including him in the list of 
 artists of the city, where I find mention of his name. Gian- 
 nantonio Fasolo received the instructions of Paul, and for a 
 longer period those of Zelotti; still adhering, however, to 
 Paul as his first example. At San Rocco, there is one of his 
 pictures, a Probatica, so beautifully decorated with perspec¬ 
 tive, and so finely filled with sick figures, in various groups 
 and distances, that Paul Veronese would not have disclaimed 
 it for his own. There are likewise three Roman histories in 
 the ceiling of the prefectory palace; Mutius Scsevola before 
 Porsenna, Ploratius at the Bridge, and Curtius before the 
 Gulph ; the whole of them nobly executed. By some strange 
 mistake Orlandi mentions Verona as the place of his birth, 
 and where he exercised his talents. 
 
 Among his pupils was Alessandro Maganza, son of the 
 same Giambatista whose name I recorded among Titian’s fol¬ 
 lowers. Fasolo inspired him with his own taste ; and we may 
 likewise consider him a fine imitator of Zelotti and of Paul 
 Veronese; as he has shewn in his Epiphany, at San Dome¬ 
 nico; and in his Martyrdom of S. Giustina, at San Pietro. In 
 his architecture ho was excellent, judicious in his composition, 
 very pleasing in his countenances; in his fleshes inclining 
 towards white; in his folds somewhat hard and monotonous; 
 and for the most part wanting in expression. Vicenza has an 
 abundance of his paintings, both private and in public ; be¬ 
 sides the provinces and the adjacent cities, to such an amount, 
 that we have no difficulty in believing that he flourished 
 till his seventy-fourth year; that he painted for good prices, 
 and with little trouble. A few of his pictures, such as 
 
ALESSANDRO MAGANZA. 
 
 269 
 
 we meet with at Vicenza, are amply sufficient to give 
 us an idea of the rest; not unfrequently presenting us with 
 the same features and the same attitudes and motions. We 
 are to look for the cause of this, not so much in his genius, 
 which he shews in many of his works to have been excellent, 
 as in his domestic anxieties, occasioned by a numerous family 
 for whom he had to provide. This artist was extremely un¬ 
 fortunate as a father. Giambatista, the eldest of his sons, 
 emulated him in knowledge; and if we may venture to judge 
 from one of his histories, of San Benedetto, at the church of 
 S. Giustina, in Padua, he was superior to him in point of ele¬ 
 gance. But the support he derived from this young man’s 
 talents was soon cut off by his early death, leaving a young 
 family of his own to the care of their grandfather. His 
 second son, Girolamo, who had also to make provision for his 
 own children, and Marcantonio, quite a youth, afterwards 
 assisted their father in his productions, and already began to 
 acquire some degree of reputation from their own. When, in 
 the year 1630, their native place was ravaged by the plague, 
 Alessandro had the grief to witness the death of his two sons, 
 and, one by one, of the whole of his grandchildren ; until left 
 “ the last of his race,” to lament over the destruction of his 
 kindred, he shortly followed them to the tomb, closing with 
 his death that noble school which the two illustrious Veronese 
 had founded in Vicenza. 
 
 Yet it did not altogether perish; but was continued by 
 Maffei, by Carpioni, and by Cittadella, three artists wdio, com¬ 
 pared with the Maganza, sometimes appear to have sprung 
 from the same academy, either from having studied in Vicenza 
 the models they imitated, or because the style, which partakes 
 both of that of Paul and Palma, was then in high repute, as 
 that of Cortona at another period among us. They were all 
 three, like Alessandro himself, rapid in their composition • 
 and were their pictures, even belonging to the city, to be enu¬ 
 merated, they would most likely be found to equal those of all 
 the other foreign or native artists employed there. Francesco 
 Maffei, from Vicenza, had been the pupil of Peranda, some of 
 whose unfinished pieces he completed. He next undertook to 
 imitate Paul Veronese, with a tolerable degree of spirit and 
 learning. His style is on a lofty scale ; insomuch that Bos- 
 
270 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 chini entitles him the great mannerist, extolling him as the 
 painter of giants. Nor is he wanting in a certain grace pe¬ 
 culiarly his, which distinguishes him from the mannerists. 
 His picture of St. Anna, at San Michele di Vicenza, besides 
 many works produced at the same place for the public palace, 
 and elsewhere, extremely poetical, full of fine portraits, and 
 coloured in the best Venetian taste, shew that he was able to 
 compete with more skilful artists than Carpioni and Cittadella, 
 his contemporaries. And as he, perhaps, did not consider 
 them very formidable rivals, he did not finish his pieces with 
 much care, leaving many of his heads, besides other portions 
 of his figures, incomplete ; scanty in his colouring, employing 
 dark grounds, and altogether painting rather for years than 
 for ages. At San Francesco, in Padua, there is a grand pic¬ 
 ture of his “ Paradise,” which, owing to this method, has lost 
 almost every trace of colour. This result extinguishes the 
 praise which Boschini bestows upon him, that with four 
 touches of his pencil he could make the observer raise his 
 eyebrows with admiration, and is a very excellent warning, we 
 think, for over expeditious artists. Their pictures may be 
 said, indeed, to resemble certain children, the offspring of un¬ 
 healthy parents, who sometimes exhibit a florid countenance 
 in youth, accompanied with every other symptom of health, 
 but, declining as they advance, their constitution becomes 
 exhausted in a few years. 
 
 Giulio Carpioni, a pupil to Padovanino, and for the same 
 reason familiar with the composition of Paul Veronese, has 
 assuredly more vivacity, power of expression, and poetry than 
 Maffei. He was not, however, equally inclined to grand pro¬ 
 portions, and works upon an extensive scale. His figures do 
 not usually exceed the size of those of Bassauo ; and they are 
 more frequently met with in collections than in churches, 
 throughout the whole Venetian state. In many noble houses 
 we also find pictures consisting of bacchanals, dreams, fables, 
 and capricci, or fancy-pieces, as well as histories, all touched 
 with a spirit and a taste in his tints, which his master himself 
 might have thought worthy of his pencil. He appears to 
 have produced others for the people, if indeed they are not 
 the work of his pupils, or of his son Carlo, who is supposed 
 to have followed, in all points, the example of his father; 
 
GIULIO CARPIONI. 
 
 271 
 
 though I never met with any piece that was positively genuine. 
 He was, likewise, a good portrait-painter ; and in the public 
 Council Hall at Vicenza, as well as in the church of the Servi 
 at Monte Berico, appear the portraits of several of the magis¬ 
 trates in that government, accompanied by their trains; in 
 which, to singular correctness of feature, we meet with much 
 ideal beauty in his representation of the Virtues, that he 
 introduced with appropriate and noble inventions. Such an 
 artist ought to be well known in A r enice and Vicenza, where 
 he flourished during many years. He passed his latter days 
 in Verona, where his contemporary, Bartolommeo Cittadella, 
 had likewise taken up his residence; last of the three whom 
 I have just before mentioned. It is uncertain whether he was a 
 pupil, or only a companion of Carpioni; but he is indisputably 
 his inferior in point of genius and ability. To the same school 
 we may add the name of Niccolo Miozzi, of Vicenza, recorded 
 in the “ Gioielli Pittoreschi” of Boschini; and, though more 
 doubtful, that of Marcantonio Miozzi, known by his super¬ 
 scription attached to a sacred subject, in possession of the 
 house of Muttoni, at Rovigo. 
 
 Towards the close of the century, one of the artists in most 
 request was Menarola, whose style approaches nearest to the 
 modern. He was pupil to Volpato, though chiefly following 
 the manner of Carpioni. Next to him was Constantin Pas- 
 qualotto, more distinguished for colouring than for design ; 
 and Antonio de’ Pieri, called lo Zoppo, of Vicenza, who pos¬ 
 sessed a rapid, but less decided hand ; along with some others 
 who may be recognised in this description. Still higher in 
 repute than these was Pasquale Rossi, little of whom remains 
 in Vicenza, he having chiefly attached himself to the Roman 
 school, where he will be found mentioned. Gio. Bittonte, 
 leaving Vicenza, established himself, and painted a good deal 
 at Castelfranco; where, from the circumstance of founding a 
 school both of painting and of dancing, he acquired the sur¬ 
 name of Ballerino. Melchiori represents him as pupil to Maffei, 
 and master of Melcliiore, his father, who lived also in Castel¬ 
 franco, where he was much employed, although engaged also 
 at Venice, in the Casa Morosini, where he competed with the 
 Cavalier Liberi. 
 
 When the ancient school had become wholly extinct at 
 
272 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Bassano, there appeared a Gio. Batista Yolpati, who produced 
 many pictures for his native state ; somewhat resembling Car- 
 pioni in his capricci and in his style, but more common, per¬ 
 haps, in his features and whole design. His pupils are said 
 to have been one Trivellini and one Bernardoni, both still in¬ 
 ferior to their master. He left behind him several treatises 
 upon the pictoric art, which are yet existing in MS. in the 
 rich and select library of Count Giuseppe Remondini. In 
 the preface to these he asserts that he had no master, though 
 he is said, in a MS. at Castelfranco, to have been a pupil of 
 Novelli. The work is interspersed with good remarks, such 
 as to lead us to suppose him a tolerable theorist ; and Alga- 
 rotti took a copy of it, as we learn from the index of his 
 works upon the fine arts, already before the public. 
 
 We have above alluded to a branch of the Veronese school, 
 transplanted to Padua, where it flourished with extraordinary 
 success. Referring to its origin, and to those Veronese 
 artists who lived contemporary with Palma, and until the 
 close of the 17tli century, it must be observed that they main¬ 
 tained the national reputation no less than those of Padua, and 
 were even more constant in the good old method of managing 
 their grounds and their style of colouring. I have noticed 
 the name of Claudio Ridolfi* in a former school, from the cir¬ 
 cumstance of his having flourished in the Pontifical state. He 
 did not, however, desist from his labours in the Venetian 
 state, some of which appear in the capital and the adjacent 
 cities, particularly in his native place, and Padua. In the 
 celebrated church of S. Giustina, there is a very fine piece, re¬ 
 presenting the honours of the Benedictine order, professed by 
 princes, adorned by martyrs, and the nurse of the most distin¬ 
 guished pastors of the holy church. The invention is very 
 appropriate, the execution altogether elegant and well finished, 
 and the ornaments equally rich as in any of his other works. 
 He presented his country with a good disciple of his style, in 
 Gio. Batista Amigazzi, though his chief talent seemed to con¬ 
 sist in the excellence of his copies. In San Carlo, at Verona, 
 
 * V. tom. i. p. 449; and, in the same place, I gave him as a pupil to 
 Dario Pozzo, on the authority of the Commendatore del Pozzo. But 
 writers disagree in regard to the chrouology of this man ; which, until it 
 be further cleared up, may rest, for me, without this honour. 
 
ALESSANDRO TURCHI. 
 
 273 
 
 there is one taken from a Supper by Paul Veronese, not only 
 finely drawn, but exhibiting colours fresh and vivid even at the 
 present day. Still superior to him, and almost equal to his 
 master, we meet with Benedetto Marini, of Urhino, an artist 
 unheard of in his own country, though greatly distinguished 
 at Piacenza.* 
 
 Posterior to Ridolfi appeared three scholars of Felice Bru- 
 sasorci, in addition to Creara, an artist less celebrated ; all of 
 whom, on the death of their master, pursued their studies at 
 Rome. There they imbibed, more or less, the prevailing style ; 
 and all of them occupy a distinguished rank in the history of 
 the art. Alessandro Turchi, surnamed Orbetto , is, in particular, 
 distinguished among the first of his age; he was called Or¬ 
 betto, observes Pozzo, because, when quite a boy, he was in 
 the habit of guiding an old blind mendicant, either his father, 
 or some other person. Passeri declares that he derived it from 
 his having a defect in one of his eyes, which was observable 
 in his left eye, as I am informed by Signor Brandolese, after 
 having seen his portrait, engraved after the original, in posses¬ 
 sion of the Signori Vianelli. Brusasorci, from certain undoubted 
 symptoms, discovered in him a fine genius for the art, and, 
 giving him the best instructions, in a few years encountered a 
 rival, rather than a disciple. Residing afterwards in "V enice, 
 under Carlo Caliari, and thence proceeding to Rome, he formed 
 a style wholly his own, possessing some strength but more 
 elegance. He established himself in Rome, where he entered 
 into competition with the followers of the Caracci, with Sacclii, 
 and with Berrettini, with whom he appears to advantage in 
 the church of the Concezione, as well as in a few others. But 
 no city has so many of his pieces in public as Verona, to say 
 nothing of those he painted for private persons. The family 
 of the Marcliese Girardini alone, who patronised him and sup¬ 
 ported him at Rome, for which we have original letters and 
 documents, possesses sufficient to enrich several collections, 
 among which it is amusing to trace his progress from the in¬ 
 ferior to the more correct specimens, and from a lower degree 
 of ornament to the highest. Some, indeed, have ventured to 
 
 * An account of him may be found, tom. ii. p. 198, and in the series 
 of painters of the Barocci school, 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 put him in competition with Annibal Caracci,—a comparison 
 that, in other times, would have created as great a sensation in 
 Bologna as the celebrated Rape of the Bucket, and one which 
 ought not to he listened to, indeed, any where. _ Annibal was 
 a painter worthy of our veneration, and Turchi succeeded in 
 imitating his design in the “ Sisara” of the Casa Colonna and 
 elsewhere. But he was not so happy in every instance, and, 
 generally, his naked figures (which approach, in Annibal, to 
 those of the ancient Greeks) are not equal to such as he has 
 thrown into costume. On the contrary, Passeri, in describing 
 his pictures at the Oamaldolesi, in Rome, admits that he did 
 not display perfect taste in his art, while Pascoli, in his life of 
 Gimignani, says he enjoyed some degree of reputation at 
 Rome; an incautious expression, if I mistake not, but which 
 at least shews that Turchi is not entitled to a comparison with 
 Annibal Caracci. Still he exhibts so many attractions, that 
 he never fails to please us in every subject. He seems to have 
 aimed at forming a union of various schools, and added to it 
 a certain originality in giving dignity to the portraits intro¬ 
 duced into his histories, with the most animated, yet the most 
 delicate complexions. He excelled in the choice and distribu¬ 
 tion of his colours, among which he introduces a reddish tint, 
 which much enlivens his pictures, and is one of the indications 
 by which we may recognise the author. He is said to have 
 employed exquisite care in the application of his tints, and to 
 have possessed some secret art, by means of which they con¬ 
 tinue to attract the envy of posterity. The truth is, he se¬ 
 lected, purified, and kneaded well his colours, besides consult¬ 
 ing chemists upon the subject. From some pictures we feel 
 inclined to turn away in disgust, so extremely do the colours 
 resemble the tints made use of by coach-painters ; and we have 
 reason to complain of want of refinement in many instances. 
 But how very few apply themselves seriously to select and 
 refine their materials, to make experiments, and to analyse 
 those colours that have been once applied! 
 
 At the church of San Stefano, in Verona, there is exhi¬ 
 bited his “ Passion of the Forty Martyrs,” a work that, in 
 regard to depth of colours and fore-shortening, partakes much 
 of the Lombard; in point of expression and design, of the 
 Roman ; and in its colouring, of the Venetian School. It is 
 
PASQUALE OTTINI. 
 
 275 
 
 one of the most studied, finished, and animated pieces that he 
 produced : there is a choiceness in the heads that approaches 
 Guido’s ; and a skill of composition, that throws into the back¬ 
 ground of the picture a great portion of the multifarious his¬ 
 tory, as appearing in a field of vast extent, where his figures 
 are admirably varied, according to the distances in which 
 they are supposed to appear. Yet he does not belong to that 
 class of artists who go about in search of personages for their 
 histories, in order to fill them with figures. On the other hand, 
 he appears to take more pleasure in introducing an inferior 
 number. Thus his picture of a Pieta, painted for the church 
 of La Misericordia, at Verona, exhibits only a dead Christ, 
 the Virgin, and Nicodemus, but the whole so well designed, 
 arranged, and animated, as well as coloured, that it has been 
 esteemed by many his master-piece, and is certainly one of 
 the best paintings in Verona. In that of his Epiphany also, 
 in possession of the Signori Girardini, of which the rough 
 draft is preserved in the Casa Fattorini, at Bologna, he is by 
 no means lavish of his figures ; but he succeeded in arraying 
 those of the Magi in so noble a manner, as to remind us of 
 Titian and Bassano. Turchi died at Rome, leaving behind 
 him two excellent disciples in Gio. Ceschini, and Gio. Batista 
 Rossi, called il Gobbino. The first of these produced copies 
 of his master’s works, that had all the appearance of originals. 
 Both continued to employ themselves at Verona, though de¬ 
 clining in importance and in credit in proportion as they ad¬ 
 vanced in years. 
 
 Pasquale Ottini, the same who, with Orbetto, completed 
 some pictures by Felice, was a good artist in regard to his 
 forms, and of no common expression, particularly in the works 
 he conducted after having seen Rafiaello’s. Of this we have 
 a striking specimen in the “ Slaughter of the Innocents," 
 placed at San Stefauo, although it is subjected to an unfavour¬ 
 able comparison, being placed opposite to one of the finest 
 productions of Orbetto. He appears to more advantage, 
 perhaps, at San Giorgio, where we meet with his picture of 
 San Niccolo, with other saints, in the best Venetian style of 
 colouring; whereas, in other instances, his colours are some¬ 
 what languid,—a defect most probably arising from time and 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 unfavourable situations. Finally, be is in liigh repute in bis 
 own country; and in the learned Alessandro Carli’s “ His¬ 
 tory of Verona,” be is mentioned as approaching the nearest 
 of all, in point of excellence, to Paul Veronese. Subsequent 
 to him, and not inferior in talent, we meet with Marc Anto¬ 
 nio Bassetti, who, leaving bis fellow-pupils, set out very 
 young to complete bis studies at Venice. After again joining 
 them, be next transferred bis residence to Rome, and having 
 copied from the best models of both schools, be ultimately re¬ 
 turned to his native place. He is particularly commended by 
 Ridolfi in the branch of design, in which he was truly great; 
 add to which he was an excellent colorist. And he was accus¬ 
 tomed to advise those who aimed at good colouring to return, 
 in the first place, to Venice, and again to consult the most 
 beautiful productions of the art. There is one of his altar- 
 pieces at San Stefano, in Verona, representing various holy 
 bishops of the city, all arrayed in their sacred habits, all admi¬ 
 rably contrasted, and in a taste nearly approaching that of 
 Titian, were it not for the vicinity of Turclii, who seems here 
 again to throw him somewhat into the shade. He left no sue- 
 cession of the school,* nor, indeed, many works of Ins own, 
 though they were highly valued. For he was accustomed to 
 say that painting ought not to be pursued by journeymen, like 
 a mechanic art, but with the leisure that is bestowed upon 
 literature, for the sake of the pleasure it affords. It would 
 appear that Dante adopted almost the same maxim in his 
 poetry, when he watched for, observed, and encouraged the 
 
 * Melchiori informs me of a pupil of his, unknown to Pozzo, probably 
 because a non-resident in Verona. This was Father Massimo Cappucino, 
 a Veronese by birth, and, in the historian’s opinion, an excellent artist. 
 In proof of this, he mentions four large pictures, placed in the dome of 
 Montagnana, besides several altar-pieces, distributed by him among the 
 churches of his order. Along with this ecclesiastic I find mention of two 
 contemporary lay-brothers, who assisted him in the art, neither of them 
 unworthy of being placed upon record. These are Fra Semplice, a native 
 of Verona, and pupil to Brusasorci, and Fra Santo, of Venice ; both of 
 whom were particularly employed in painting for churches and convents, 
 within the Venetian territory. Fra Semplice produced also some for 
 Rome. A fine picture of San Felice, from his hand, placed at Castel- 
 franco, was engraved in 1712. 
 
VARIETY OP STYLES. 
 
 277 
 
 impressions that nature, the first guide of all true geniuses, 
 implanted in his spirit.* These two friends met their fate 
 together, dying of the plague in the year 1630, as well as 
 many other scholars of Brusasorci, mentioned by the Commen- 
 datore del Pozzo. But I omit their names, either because of 
 their early death, or want of talent to distinguish themselves. 
 Thus, about the same year, when Orbetto had already established 
 himself in Rome, the succession of Brusasorci’s school ceased 
 in Verona. The disciples of Paul Veronese, mentioned subse¬ 
 quent to him, Montemezzano, Benfatto, Verona, and others, 
 •died likewise about this period ; insomuch that every trace of 
 the municipal school may be said to have disappeared, and it 
 was succeeded by a variety of foreign styles. 
 
 Indeed, for some time before, the young Veronese artists 
 had become attached to foreign academies, and several stran¬ 
 gers had established themselves in Verona. Dionisio Guerri 
 had formed, under the direction of Feti, a very striking and 
 clear style ; in himself equal to repairing the loss of many 
 artists. But he died young, in 1640, leaving few works be¬ 
 hind him, in a great measure dispersed through foreign collec¬ 
 tions ; and he was much lamented. Francesco Bernardi, called 
 Bigolaro, supposed to have been a native of Brescia, until the 
 Commendatore del Pozzo proved him to have been of Verona, 
 was an artist educated by the same master. He exhibited, in 
 his picture of the Titular Saint, at the church of S. Carlo, seen 
 in the act of attending his infected brethren, as well as in an¬ 
 other piece, a companion to it, all the taste of his master : hut 
 he produced much more for private collections than for the 
 public. The Cavalier Barca was an artist who sprang from 
 Mantua, though he subsequently became a citizen of Verona. 
 It is uncertain whether he was instructed by Feti. His style 
 is various; and in a Pieta of his, remaining at San Fermo, he 
 appears a painter capable of producing a good effect; in other 
 pieces, at the Scala, he abounds with pictorial grace and beauty, 
 and he is fully worthy of commemoration. 
 
 The city of Bologna, likewise, contributed to repair the loss 
 
 * Io mi son un che quando 
 Amore spira noto ; ed a quel modo 
 Che detta dentro vo significando.—Purg. C. 24. 
 
278 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IIL 
 
 sustained by Verona of so many artists. Guido and Albani 
 conferred great obligations, by instructing the Cavalier Coppa 
 (his real name, however, was Antonio Giarola, or Gerola), who 
 is to be enumerated in the list of their best disciples, though 
 he is somewhat too loaded in his composition, and, with a view 
 of catching the sweetness of Guido, became wanting in strength 
 of colouring. There is one of his Magdalens in the Desert, 
 however, placed at the Servi, which is full of fine expression. 
 
 And in the refectory, also, of the Veronese college, is his 
 Supper of Emmaus, a picture conducted in the style of the 
 best Venetians. Although addicted to the style of Guido, he 
 was also considered by Albani as one of his favourite pupils, 
 who sent him as court-painter to the Duke of Mantua, as we 
 are informed by Malvasia.* From the same academy sprang 
 Giacomo Locatelli, distinguished for several works, chiefly pro¬ 
 duced for San Procolo, as well as on account of the merit of 
 some of his pupils. They rose into notice on the decline of the 
 art, about the close of the seventeenth century. Andrea Vol- 
 tolino, a careful but cold painter, was more fitted to succeed in 
 portraits than in compositions; Biagio Falcieri, instructed also / 
 by the Cavalier Liberi at Venice, possessed much of the fire 
 and imagination abounding in the Venetian school. Of this 
 he gave an example in his great picture representing the Coun¬ 
 cil of Trent, where the figure of St. Thomas, in the act of over¬ 
 throwing heretics, appears conspicuous on high,—a piece that 
 adorns the church of the Dominicans. Santo Prunato was 
 instructed by these two professors,—an artist who brought the 
 Veronese school into fresh notice, as we shall have occasion to 
 observe in the following period. 
 
 The school of Moretto continued during this epoch to 
 flourish in Brescia ; a master exquisitely delicate in his colours, 
 and extremely diligent, as is evident from his works. Such is 
 the opinion expressed by Vasari; but he did not always pre¬ 
 serve the same excellence. There is not the same degree of 
 finish in his disciples; and it was, indeed, too difficult, while so 
 large a portion of the state put a high value upon celerity of 
 hand, to pursue more tedious processes. The Brescian artists 
 who succeeded him, having in part received a Venetian educa- 
 
 * Tom ii. p. 266. 
 
FRANCESCO ZUGNI. 
 
 279 
 
 tion, the city abounded in mannerists and the class of tenebrosi. 
 Still there appeared among these some excellent painters. 
 Antonio Gandini and Pietro Moroni, or Maroni, are enume¬ 
 rated among the pupils of Paul. The former sometimes imi¬ 
 tated Vanni, without neglecting Palma; vast, varied, and 
 ornate in his compositions, an artist every way deserving of 
 consideration in the grand history of the Cross, which he 
 painted in the old cathedral, where his son Bernardino, a poor 
 imitator of his father, also employed himself. Moroni studied 
 a good deal the works of Titian, and was one of the most 
 accurate and finest designers the school could, at that time, 
 boast; nor does he yield to any of his contemporaries in the 
 strong body and in the clearness of his colouring. Such at 
 least he appeared to me at San Barnaba, in his picture of 
 Christ going to Mount Calvary, when compared with other 
 productions of the same period exhibited there. 
 
 Filippo Zanimberti, pupil to Peranda, and an artist of fine 
 character, and a fine hand, as well as a very natural colourist, 
 has never been sufficiently appreciated in Brescia. But in 
 Venice, where he resided many years, and where he painted 
 with real genius and skill for different churches, he is very 
 highly esteemed. In Santa Maria Nuova appears his grand 
 picture of the Manna, so much commended by Itidolfi, by 
 Boschini, and by Zanetti; though he chiefly seems to have 
 employed himself in the ornament of palaces. He possessed 
 singular talent for drawing small figures, and composing fables 
 and histories, which were eagerly sought after, insomuch that 
 the poet of the Venetian paintings affirms that whoever pos¬ 
 sessed Zanimberti’s pictures was sure of his money. 
 
 Francesco Zugni, of Brescia, is mentioned by Ridolfi among 
 the best of Palma’s disciples. He could not compete with 
 him in the beauty of his forms and attitudes, though he sur¬ 
 passed him in the fulness of his colouring, and in the spirit in 
 which he conducted his works. These were for the most part 
 in fresco, and frequently exhibited the perspectives of Sandrini, 
 an architect of great merit. With him he was employed in 
 the hall of the Podesta, in that of the Capitano, and in several 
 villas. He displayed equal excellence in his oil paintings, as 
 we gather from that of the Circumcision at the Grazie, and 
 
280 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 from some small figures adorning one of the choirs, designed 
 and touched with great spirit. 
 
 Grazio Cossale, or Cozzale, produced a variety of pieces 
 upon a large scale, still remaining in his native province. He 
 was gifted with a rich imagination, and of a character, com¬ 
 pared by Cozzando, the historian of Brescia, to that of Palma; 
 and he indeed appears to have emulated his facility without 
 abusing it. His picture of the Presentation, which he left at 
 the church of the Miracoli; his Epiphany at the Grazie, and 
 other pieces dispersed throughout Brescia, are all calculated to 
 arrest the eye of the spectator, who must likewise possess little 
 feeling should he fail to lament the unhappy fate of so great a 
 man, who fell by the hand of one of his own sons. Neither in 
 Camillo Rama, Ottavio Amigoni, nor in Jacopo Barucco, all 
 disciples of Palma, have I met with any works of equal beauty 
 throughout that city, the last of whom, indeed, has loaded his 
 pieces with a more than ordinary degree of shade. Amigoni, 
 who had been pupil to Gandino, likewise held his school, in 
 which he counted, among other scholars, Pompeo Ghiti, an 
 artist who, under Zoppo of Lugano, succeeded in improving 
 his manner, or rendered it at least more powerful. He pos¬ 
 sessed a rich imagination, excellent in the art of design, and in 
 his touch similar to, though perhaps not so strong as the 
 Luganese. Francesco Paglia was a pupil and imitator of 
 Guercino, and the father of Antonio and Angelo, both devoted 
 to the art. He was most successful in his portraits, though he 
 painted also scriptural pieces; one of the most esteemed of 
 which is to be seen at La Carita. He was excellent in the 
 laying on of his colours, and in chiaroscuro, hut displayed lit¬ 
 tle spirit, while his proportions were frequently too long and 
 slender. But to describe minutely the manner of the succes¬ 
 sors of Ghiti and Paglia, would occupy too much of our space; 
 such are the names of Tortelli, very spirited in Venetian com¬ 
 position, of Cappelli, instructed likewise by Pasinelli at Bo¬ 
 logna, and by Baciccio at Rome, along with some others of a 
 more modern character, who succeeded tolerably in the path 
 marked out by the artists of Bologna, and a few of whom 
 may be referred to the ensuing epoch. 
 
 During the time of Palma and the Venetian mannerists, the 
 
enea salmeggia. 
 
 281 
 
 art liad been maintained in Bergamo by the successors of 
 Lotto, and bis contemporaries. We meet with ample com¬ 
 mendations of Gio. Paolo Lolmo, a good artist in diminutive 
 pictures. In the altar-piece of Santi Rocco and Sebastiano at 
 S. Maria Maggiore, and executed about 1587, not one of his 
 earliest pieces, he displayed a great partiality for the design of 
 the fourteenth century; diligent, a minute observer of refine¬ 
 ments in figures, though not sufficiently modern. But there 
 were two excellent artists, altogether in the modern style, who 
 flourished at the same period, Salmeggia and Cavagna, who 
 competed with one another in perfect amity, for many years, 
 in ornamenting their native province. One of them died in 
 1626, the other in the following year. 
 
 Enea Salmeggia, called Talpino, received instructions in the 
 art from the Campi at Cremona, and from the Procaccini in 
 Milan ; whence proceeding to Rome, he studied for a period of 
 fourteen years the models of Raffaello, imitating him during 
 the remainder of his life. Orlandi and other writers join in 
 extolling his San Vittore, at the Olivetani in Milan, as well as 
 a few other of his works, observing that they had been even 
 iscribed to Raffaello. And whoever attentively examines that 
 fine specimen, will not feel inclined to refuse Salmeggia one of 
 the most distinguished places in the rank of Raffaello’s fol¬ 
 lowers. The clearness of his contours (sometimes, however, 
 carried to the borders of littleness), the expression of his youth¬ 
 ful countenances, the smoothness of his pencil and the flow of 
 his drapery, together with a certain graceful air in the motions 
 and expressions, sufficiently mark him for an admirer of that 
 sovereign master, however much inferior to him in point of 
 dignity, in imitation of the antique, and in felicity of composi¬ 
 tion. His method of colouring was also different. He affects 
 greater variety of colours in his draperies ; the tints in a large 
 portion of his works are at present faded; and the shades, as 
 in .other pictures of the same period, are much altered. Yet 
 it is probable that this great artist, as it has been observed of 
 Poussin and of Raffaello himself, did not always bestow the 
 same degree of care upon his colouring, satisfied with display¬ 
 ing from time to time his surpassing excellence in this depart¬ 
 ment. In the church of La Passione at Milan, he produced 
 his Christ Praying in the Garden, as well as his picture of the 
 
282 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Flagellazione, works conducted in his best style. The former 
 of these is finely coloured in the manner of the Bassani; and 
 the latter, of a more lofty and animated character, is superior 
 to the other, even in force of colouring. Bergamo boasts other 
 specimens of him, and in particular in the two great altars of 
 Santa Marta and of Santa Grata. There we meet with two 
 noble pictures, each of which may boast its separate admirers 
 who prefer it to the other; and each displays a union of 
 colours, at once so fresh, clear, and beautiful, that we are never 
 weary of contemplating them. In b.oth he has observed the 
 same general composition; the Virgin being represented on 
 high, crowned with a glory, while below her are seen the 
 figures of several saints; but in the second, perhaps, he has 
 employed a greater degree of care. Here he has introduced a 
 splendid variety of shortenings, of attitudes, and of lineaments; 
 and has even inserted the city of Bergamo, with some fine archi¬ 
 tecture in the style of Paul Veronese. The figures are arrayed 
 with extreme care, among which appears a bishop in his sacred 
 paraphernalia, that serves to remind us of Titian himself. His 
 pictures for private ornament are rare and valuable, but not 
 sufficiently known beyond his native province and its vicinity, 
 —a circumstance common to many very excellent artists belong¬ 
 ing to all our schools. Italy, indeed, is too abundantly sup¬ 
 plied with distinguished names to admit of the whole of them 
 being generally known and estimated as they deserve. 
 
 The style of Enea was not such as to be easily maintained, 
 without consulting the great examples of Raffaello as he had 
 done. His two sons, Francesco and Chiara, although educated 
 by their father, succeeded rather in imitating his studies and 
 his figures, than in thoroughly penetrating into the principles 
 of his art. The fruits, however, of a good education were 
 sufficiently apparent in them; and when placed in competition 
 with some of their contemporaries, they appear, if not very 
 animated, at least very sedulous artists, and greatly exempt 
 from the faults of the mannerists. The city is in possession of 
 many of their public works ; in some of the best of which their 
 father is supposed to have afforded them his assistance. 
 
 Gianpaolo Cavagna seems in some way to have escaped the 
 notice of Boschini, and even of Orlandi, who had bestowed so 
 much commendation upon his rival. He ranks, in his native 
 
GIANPAOLO CAVAGNA. 
 
 283 
 
 province, as high as Salmeggia, and he certainly appears to 
 have possessed a still more enlarged genius, more decision, and 
 more talent for extensive works. A pupil of Morone, the 
 great portrait-painter, as we have already mentioned, he 
 evinced a taste for the Venetian School, attaching himself in 
 particular to Paul Veronese, in whose style he conducted some 
 of his best productions. He was ambitious of surpassing him 
 likewise in point of design, which he assuredly did in his naked 
 figures, exhibiting even the adult form with a degree of mas- 
 terly power. He had acquired the best method of painting in 
 fresco in his native place, and he succeeded in it admirably, 
 as appears from the choir of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he 
 represented the Virgin received into Heaven, a very spirited 
 and varied composition, abounding with figures of angels and 
 of prophets, truly great,—the distinguishing characteristic, per¬ 
 haps, of this artist’s genius. Nor did he appear to less advan¬ 
 tage in oils, more particularly when the immediate vicinity of 
 other celebrated painters put his talents to the test. Of this 
 kind the most successful, perhaps, are his Daniel in the Lions’ 
 Den, and his picture of San Francesco receiving the Stigmata, 
 forming side pictures to one of the best altar-pieces by Lo¬ 
 renzo Lotto at San Spirito; yet they are nevertheless worthy 
 of. that distinguished post. His Crucifixion, between various 
 saints, placed at Santa Lucia, has been still more highly ex¬ 
 tolled as one of the finest productions the city has to boast, and 
 preferred by many judges to any of the altar-pieces of Tai- 
 pino. I shall abstain from expressing an opinion upon a sub¬ 
 ject in which artists themselves would disagree, merely observ¬ 
 ing that it is more difficult to meet with inferior or careless 
 pieces from the hand of Salmeggia than from Cavagna’s. He 
 had also a son a painter, of the name of Francesco, called 
 Cavagnuola, who, surviving his father, acquired some degree 
 of celebrity. He attached himself wholly to the style of Gian- 
 paolo, as well as certain foreigners sprung from the same 
 school,—such as Girolamo Grifoni, in whose productions we 
 seem to trace the copy of a copy of the style of Paul. If the 
 artists named Santa Croce belong to Bergamo, and to one 
 family, as we are informed in the “ Guida” of Padua, we ought 
 here to insert the name of Pietro Paolo, the least distinguished 
 among the Santa Croce, but not unworthy of commemoration 
 
284 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 for one of his Madonnas at the Arena, and for other pictures 
 at different churches in Padua, in all of which he appears 
 attached to the school of Cavagna, or at least to the less man¬ 
 nered class of the Venetians. 
 
 Subsequent to the above two artists, we meet with the name 
 of Francesco Zucco, a good pupil of the Campi at Verona, and 
 of Maroni at Bergamo. From this last he acquired the art of 
 giving a singular degree of spirit to his portraits, and from 
 Paul Veronese the mode of ornamenting them with most taste 
 and fancy. Even in his larger compositions he sometimes 
 adhered so closely to the same artist, that several of them were 
 ascribed even by his fellow-citizens to Paul, a circumstance that 
 occurred to his pictures of the Nativity and of an Epiphany, 
 on the organ of San Gottardo. He adopted, moreover, a va¬ 
 riety of manners, apparently ambitious of displaying to the 
 public his power of imitating Cavagna or Talpino, as he pleased. 
 Contemporary with these artists, he so far rivalled them (as 
 in his San Diego at Le Grazie, or in the larger altar-piece at the 
 Cappuccine,) as to approve himself worthy of such emulation. 
 In other works he gives us occasion to wish for a better union 
 of his colours, in which he cannot be pronounced equal to the 
 first masters of the school, so admirable in this department. 
 
 Subsequent to the year 1627, there was no want of artists 
 of ability at Bergamo, among whom we may mention a Fabio 
 di Pietro Ronzelli, whose style, if not sufficiently select and 
 ideal, was at least solid and robust. To his we may add the 
 name of Carlo Ceresa, an artist of much study and research, 
 pleasing in his colouring, and having apparently formed his 
 taste upon the models of the best age, successful in giving ideal 
 beauty to his countenances. The former of these, most pro¬ 
 bably the son of one Piero, known as a good portrait-painter, 
 and respectable in point of composition, painted the Martyrdom 
 of San Alessandro for the church of Santa Grata, while the 
 latter added the two side pictures without the least traces of 
 mannerism. Contemporary with both these, Domenico Ghis- 
 landi distinguished himself as a painter of frescos, more parti¬ 
 cularly in architecture. He was the father of Fra Vittore, 
 called likewise Frate Paolotto, whom we shall have occasion 
 to mention hereafter. At present it will hardly be desirable 
 that I should extend my remarks to other names scarcely 
 
CARLO URBINI. 
 
 285 
 
 heard of beyond the limits of their native province ; though in 
 justice to the city I must observe 1 that in its dearth of native 
 talent, it spared no expense in decorating public places with 
 the works of the best foreign artists of every country. Ample 
 proofs of this liberality may be seen in the cathedral and the 
 adjacent church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Such are among 
 the advantages enjoyed by cities, which are equally in posses¬ 
 sion of taste and of riches. But when deficient in either of 
 these, they will be compelled to adopt the plan pursued in rural 
 occupations, where each agriculturist employs the oxen that 
 belong to his own fields. 
 
 Crema, at this period, might pride itself on having produced 
 such an artist as Carlo Urbini, who, though of limited genius, 
 was very pleasing, skilful in perspective, and equal to grand 
 historical pieces. He had afforded a specimen of his powers 
 in one of the public balls, in which be exhibited national bat¬ 
 tles and victories, besides having employed his talents in dif¬ 
 ferent churches. In ornamenting that of San Domenico, 
 however, an artist of the name of Uriele, most probably of the 
 Gatti family at Cremona, was preferred before him, though 
 extremely inferior. This injustice seemed to alienate bis mind 
 from his native place, and he proceeded to Milan, by whose 
 writers he has been recorded with honour. Yet his history- 
 piece at San Lorenzo, conducted in fresco, seems to contain 
 rather the seeds than the fruits of noble painting; and he ap¬ 
 pears to greater advantage in oil colours, as we gather from 
 his picture of our Saviour taking leave of his virgin mother 
 previous to his sufferings,—a production ornamenting Santa 
 Maria near San Celso, where it may compete with the best 
 Lombard masters of that time. Lomazzo makes mention of 
 him in reference to such as produced pieces more suitable to 
 the places for which they were intended,—a useful practice, 
 familiar to the old masters, who took care to adapt their pic¬ 
 tures, not only to places, but to household furniture, in¬ 
 somuch that in many of their vases and drinking cups, which 
 we meet with in the kingdom of Naples, are represented, for 
 the most part, scenes of festivity, mysteries, and fables of the 
 Bacchanalian god. Subsequent to him flourished Jacopo 
 Barbello, whose paintings in various churches at Bergamo are 
 extolled by Pasta, more particularly in that of San Lazzaro, 
 
280* 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 an altar-piece representing ttie titular saint, remarkable no less 
 for its dignity of design than for decision of band. In the series 
 of this school I find mention of no other artist after him, a 
 school distinguished in its origin by the name of Polidoro, and 
 afterwards adorned by few but very select artists. 
 
 We shall next proceed, according to our plan, to treat of 
 certain painters of landscape, of battle-pieces, of perspective, 
 flowers, and similar subjects. Henry de Bles, a Bohemian, 
 better known under the name of Civetta, an owl, from the fre¬ 
 quent introduction of that bird into his landscapes, was an 
 artist who resided for a long period in the Venetian state. 
 Besides his specimens of landscape to be met with in Venice, 
 and which uniformly present some traces of ancient crudeness, 
 he painted a Nativity of our Lord for San Nazaro in Brescia, 
 resembling in its style of composition the manner of Bassano. 
 Its prevailing tone is sky-coloured, and in the features of its 
 countenances it partakes of a foreign expression. I have also 
 seen small pictures from his hand intended for cabinets, often 
 thronged with minute figures, known by the name of Chimere 
 and Stregozzi, or witch-pieces, a kind in which he was ex¬ 
 tremely fanciful. But on this head we shall have occasion to 
 return to him in a short time, and proceed to a F lemish artist, 
 who flourished, about the beginning of 1600, in the state. 
 His name was Lodovico Pozzo, or Pozzoserrato, called also da’ 
 Trevigi, from his long residence in that city, where he died, 
 leaving'it, as Frederici relates, beautifully decorated with spe¬ 
 cimens of his hand. He excelled in the representation of 
 distant objects, like his rival Paol Brilli of A enice, in such as 
 were viewed near; and he is more pleasing and select than 
 the latter in his variation of clouds and distinctions of light; 
 while at the same time he was celebrated for his altar-pieces. 
 Subsequent to these appeared several foreign artists, eminent 
 for their skill in landscape, in the time of Boschini at Venice, 
 where several specimens of their art must be still in existence. 
 They where afterwards extolled likewise by Orlandi. There 
 was a Mr. Filgher, a German, who very happily represented 
 the different seasons of the year, and even the different lights 
 throughout the day; a Mons. Giron, a French artist, ex¬ 
 tremely natural in all kinds of views, both of a terrestrial and 
 aerial character; and a M. Cusin, who imitated the noble 
 
FRANCESCO MONTI. 
 
 287 
 
 manner of Titian in his landscapes with much success. Nor 
 ought we to omit Biagio Lombardo, a citizen of Venice, an 
 artist highly commended by Ridolfi, who declares that he 
 rivalled both the best Italian and Flemish painters in his 
 landscape. Girolamo Vernigo, surnamed also da’ Paesi, and 
 particularly celebrated in his native city of Verona, where he 
 fell a victim to the plague in 1630, is intitled to rank in the 
 same list. Jacopo Maffei succeeded admirably in his display 
 of incidents at sea, a picture of which kind was engraved by 
 Boschini. Another artist of the name of Bartolommeo Calo- 
 mato has been pointed out to me by his excellency Persico, in 
 his cabinet of medals; and he ought apparently to be referred 
 to this epoch, judging from his less vigorous and less refined 
 style, although graceful and lively in his expression. He 
 was remarkable for his small pictures representing both rural 
 and civic views, along with small figures very animated and 
 well composed. 
 
 A taste for battle-pieces had begun to gain ground in this 
 part of Italy from the time of Borgognone. The first who pro¬ 
 cured for himself a name in this branch was Francesco Monti, 
 of Brescia, and a pupil of Ricchi, as well as of Borgognone 
 himself. He was commonly called II Brescianino delle Bat- 
 taglie, the Brescian battle-painter, in which line he exercised 
 his talents in different Italian cities, ultimately establishing 
 himself at Parma, where he opened a school, and instructed 
 one of his sons in the same style of painting. He pursued, as 
 far as lay in his power, his master’s example, though he 
 remained much inferior to him in point of colouring. His 
 productions are not scarce, but in many collections they do not 
 appear under his name, being frequently attributed to the 
 school at large of Borgognone. One of - his fellow-citizens and 
 scholars, called Fiamminghino, but whose real name was 
 Angelo Everardi, acquired great reputation also by his battle- 
 scenes ; but they are seldom to be met with, owiug to his hav¬ 
 ing died young. Another of his disciples, a native of Verona, 
 named Lorenzo Comendich, flourished also about the year 
 1700, in high repute at Milan. Antonio Calza, a Veronese, 
 is to be referred to the same period. Being ambitious of 
 representing military actions, ho left the school of Cignani, 
 and transferred his residence to Rome, where, assisted b y 
 
288 
 
 VENETIAN SCIIOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Cortesi himself, lie met with success. He spent his time in 
 Tuscany, at Milan, and in particular at Bologna. There we 
 meet with his pictures pretty abundantly, innumerable copies 
 of them having been taken by his pupils, who by frequently 
 varying the disposition of the groups, succeeded in giving a 
 seeming novelty to his pictures. Upon the authority of the 
 Melchiori MS., I am inclined to add to the list of good battle- 
 painters Agostino Lamina, a Venetian, who employed himself 
 for collections ; and in that of Sig. Gio. Batista Curti, there is 
 a piece of his representing the Siege of Vienna, very excellent 
 in point of taste, modelled according to his custom upon that 
 of Matteo Stom. 
 
 Towards the year 1660, when the three artists, Civetta, 
 Bosch, and Carpioni, had already filled the galleries with that 
 very tasteful class of pictures called capricci; when Salvator 
 JRosa had produced such curious examples of his transforma¬ 
 tions and necromancies; and Brughel, surnamed dall’ Inferno, 
 had drawn from the scenes of that abyss, and from its mon¬ 
 sters, a large supply for every capital in Italy ;—at that period 
 another artist, Gioseflo Ens, or Enzo, the son of him I have 
 mentioned in the Preface, and father of Danielc, a tolerably 
 good figurist, was acquiring rapid celebrity in Venice with 
 some highly imaginative little pictures, partaking in some 
 measure of the style of the above artists. For the chief part 
 they represent allegorical fictions, in which are introduced 
 sphinxes, chimerse, and monsters in grotesque shape; or to 
 speak more correctly, perhaps, extravagances of imagination 
 quite unauthorized by ancient example, and formed out of the 
 grotesque union of various parts of different animals, much in 
 the same manner as they are seen by persons in their delirious 
 dreams. Boschini adduces an example of this strange poetical 
 folly at page 604, where Pallas is seen putting to flight a 
 troop of these wild fancies, haunting an old decayed mansion, 
 buried in fire and smoke, as the symbol of Virtue dispersing 
 the shades of ignorance and error. In such a career did Enzo 
 arrive at the honour of being made a Chevalier of the Cross 
 by his Holiness Pope Urban VIII. Subsequently, however, 
 he applied himself with more judgment to the study of truth, 
 and left behind him, in Venice, several altar-pieces, one of 
 which adorning the church of the Ognissanti is extremely 
 
FRANCESCO MONTOVANO. 
 
 289 
 
 beautiful. I have also noticed in different collections some 
 burlesques of dwarfs, &c. from the hand of Faustino Bocclii, a 
 Brescian, and pupil to Fiammingliino. Fie was admirable in 
 his portraits of these embryos, as it were, of the human race; 
 representations by no means displeasing to some of the an¬ 
 cients, and of which we have examples afforded us in what are 
 termed Etruscan vases. In the production of fables, in which 
 the dwarfs were to appear as actors, he displayed the most 
 fanciful combinations, and in the Carrara collection at Ber¬ 
 gamo, there is represented a sacrifice of these pigmies, and a 
 popular feast in honour of an idol, full of humour, in which one 
 of them is seen caught in the claws of a crab, while some of 
 his own party attempt to save him, and his mother hastens, 
 half distracted, to his relief. In order to convey a better idea 
 of their size, he inserted a small water-melon, which appears 
 almost like a mountain by their side. The design does not 
 seem to differ much from that of Timanthes, who introduced 
 little satyrs, in the act of measuring one of the Cyclop’s 
 thumbs with their thyrsus, as he lies asleep, to give a just 
 notion of his bulk. It is to be regretted that Bocchi became 
 addicted to the sect of the Tenebrosi, owing to which many of 
 his labours seem to be fast losing their value. 
 
 The same period likewise abounded in painters of flowers 
 and fruits, in every part of Italy; but I observe that their 
 names are, for the most part, forgotten, or where they exist in 
 books, are accompanied by no mention of their works. For¬ 
 tunately, among the pictures at Rovigo, I meet with the name 
 of Francesco Mantovano, whether his surname or patronymic 
 is uncertain, an artist who excelled in similar works about the 
 time of Borghini; besides those of Antonio Bacci and Antonio 
 Lecchi, or Lech, both florists, and all mentioned by Martinioni 
 in his “ Additions to Sansovino.” To the number of these add 
 the name of Marchioni, a native of Rovigo, an artist consi¬ 
 dered as the Bernasconi of the Venetian school, from her sin¬ 
 gular skill in flower-painting, though not equalling the Roman 
 lady in point of celebrity. Their works are to be seen in some 
 of the collections at Rovigo, which abound also with many 
 celebrated figure-painters, no less of the Venetian than of other 
 Italian schools. 
 
 Pictures of animals do not seem to have been much in vogue 
 
 VOL. it. u 
 
290 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 with Venetian artists about this period, if, indeed, we are not 
 to include Giacomo da Gastello in the Venetian state. From 
 verbal communications I learn that in collections at Venice he 
 is not at all rare. I have seen only a few specimens at the 
 Casa Rezzonico, and these consisting of various species of birds, 
 drawn with great truth and force of colouring, as well as 
 beautifully disposed. Domenico Maroli, a painter of flocks 
 and herds, as well as of other rural subjects, was born at Mes¬ 
 sina, and exercised his talents in Venice. He was intimate with 
 Boschini, who extolled him as a new Bassano, and as a speci¬ 
 men of his talents, inserted in his “ Carta del Navegar” an 
 encraving after one of his designs. It represents a shepherd 
 with his flocks, figures of cows with a dog, very forcibly and 
 beautifully drawn ; and it is altogether one of the best designs 
 that has been engraved for that work. There resided also at Ve- 
 nice, where he was employed in the Casa Sagredo, and in that 
 of Contarini, an artist named Gio. Fayt di Anversa, who, in 
 addition to his paintings of fruits and various rural implements, 
 was esteemed one of the best copyists of animals, both alive and 
 dead, in which he displayed a very polished, natural, and novel 
 manner. 
 
 Among the perspective pieces of this epoch, ornamenting dif¬ 
 ferent collections, those by Malombra, as I have before stated, 
 have been particularly commended by Ridolfi. And in archi¬ 
 tectural views we may mention Aviani, a native of Vicenza, 
 very superior in this branch, as well as in sea-views and land¬ 
 scapes. He was born during the lifetime of Palladio, or at 
 least while his school still flourished, and resided in a city 
 where every street presented specimens of a taste for architec¬ 
 ture. He thus produced pictures of so fine a character, filled 
 with little figures by Carpioni, under his direction, so ex¬ 
 tremely pleasing, that it is surprising he did not acquire 
 equal celebrity with Viviano and other first-rate artists. 
 Probably he did not long flourish, and then, for the mosi 
 part, in his native place. In the Foresteria, or Stranger's 
 lodge, of the Padri Serviti, are four of his views, exhi¬ 
 biting temples and other magnificent edifices, while several 
 more are to be met with in possession of the Marchesi Capra, 
 in the celebrated Rotunda of Palladio, as well as of other nobles 
 in various places. He likewise decorated the ceilings or 
 
EVAllISTO BASCHEMS. 
 
 291 
 
 cupolas of several churches. Indeed there was then a pretty 
 considerable school established for this branch of the art in 
 Brescia. Tommaso Sandrino was an artist who distinguished 
 himself in it, as well as Ottavio Viviani, his pupil, though he 
 displayed a less sound and more loaded style than his master. 
 Faustino Moretto, belonging to the same state, employed him¬ 
 self more at Venice than at Brescia. Domenico Bruni was 
 an artist highly extolled by Orlandi ; he exercised his talents 
 at the Carmini, in his native place, as well as at Ve¬ 
 nice, along with Giacomo Pedrali, also a Brescian, who flou¬ 
 rished in the time of Boschini. Together with these appeared 
 Bortolo Ceru, whose scenes have been engraved in aqua fortis 
 by Boschini himself. Zanetti also records the name of Giu¬ 
 seppe Alabardi, called Schioppi, and of Giulio Cesare Lom¬ 
 bardo, an artist still superior to him. I might here introduce 
 other artists and architects of the ornamental class, distin¬ 
 guished in proportion to their antiquity ; for towards the close 
 of the century architectural exhibitions became too much loaded 
 with vases, figures, and a variety of ornament, which detracted 
 much from that simplicity of taste so essential in some way 
 towards the effect of every thing really great or beautiful. 
 
 A kind of minor painting is believed to have been intro¬ 
 duced at this epoch, by a priest called Evaristo Baschenis, 
 from Bergamo. He flourished contemporary with the three great 
 artists, Cavagna, Salmeggia, and Zucchi; and he appears to 
 have been instructed by one of these in representing every 
 kind of musical instrument with much nature and effect. He 
 arranged them upon tables covered with the most beautiful 
 kinds of cloth, and mingled with them music-books, leaves, 
 boxes, fruits, inkstands, &c., drawn just as they might happen 
 to lie; and from these objects he composed pictures executed 
 with so much art as quite to deceive the spectator. Such was 
 their effect, that they are still very much valued in different 
 collections. There were formerly eight of them to be seen in 
 the library of San Giorgio, the ingenuity of which has been 
 highly commended by Zanetti. 
 
292 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH IV. 
 
 Of Exotic and New Styles in Venice. 
 
 If, according to the plan laid down by Pliny, and wliicli I 
 have hitherto observed, each several epoch ought to be deduced 
 from one or more masters of a school, who may have given a new 
 aspect to the art, it will be proper, in this instance, to vary 
 my system. The epoch here nearest to us will be found to 
 take its rise at a period when the Venetian artists, having al¬ 
 most wholly abandoned their national models, attached them¬ 
 selves some to one, and some to another foreign method, or 
 formed out of them one of their own. Such were the times of 
 which Signor Zanetti, in his work, observes, “ there appeared 
 in Venice as many different manners as there were artists to 
 practise them.” This would appear to have been the state of 
 the art towards the end of the 17th century. Those artists 
 who followed, approaching still nearer to modern times, 
 although various in point of style, resembled each other in a 
 study of ideal beauty, and all agreed in copying from the 
 modern Roman, or Bolognese schools, with the addition, how¬ 
 ever, of their own defects. Still the old masters were not, on 
 this account, underrated ; but were rather spoken of as the 
 ancients who flourished at a golden period, whose customs are 
 to be admired, indeed, but not imitated. Fashion, as it some¬ 
 times happens also in sciences, had usurped the seat of reason; 
 ■while the artists who followed in her train alleged in excuse, 
 that the age was fond of such novelties, and that it was incum¬ 
 bent upon them to second its inclination, injustice to their own 
 fortunes. Amidst these changes, the Venetian school, which 
 had always preserved its ascendancy in point of colouring, then 
 began to alter, losing the truth of nature, as it became more bril- 
 
ANDREA CELESTI. 
 
 293 
 
 liant. Thus few artists flourished at that period who might not, 
 more or less, be termed mannerists in colouring. But in other 
 respects the school appears to have improved, and particularly in 
 treating its history-pieces more appropriately, without the in¬ 
 troduction of portraits, dresses, and other accessaries, ill adapted 
 to them ; a defect to which it had been more attached, and had 
 more obstinately adhered, than any other of the schools. Yet 
 it cannot be denied, that during this period of the decline or 
 art throughout Italy, the Venetian school shone peculiarly con¬ 
 spicuous in the number of superior inventors it produced. For 
 whilst Lower Italy aimed at nothing beyond the striking con¬ 
 trasts of the followers of Cortona ; whilst in so many schools of 
 Upper Italy, the imitators of the imitators of the Caracci were 
 esteemed the great models; in Venice, and the adjacent state, 
 various styles were seen to spring up, which, though not per¬ 
 fect, were at least original, and valuable in their way ; if, in¬ 
 deed, the whole of Europe has not been deceived in its estima¬ 
 tion of them, purchasing the pictures of the Ricci, of Tiepolo, of 
 Canaletto, of Rotari, and of numerous other artists of the same 
 time, at immense sums. But we must take a more particular 
 survey of them. 
 
 The Cavalier Andrea Celesti, who died in the early part of 
 the century, was disciple to Ponzoni, but without becoming his 
 imitator. As an artist, he is very pleasing, fertile in noble 
 images, flowing in his outlines, with delightful scenery, with 
 airs, with features, and with draperies all graceful, and often 
 resembling Paul Veronese. His style of colouring, also, was 
 not. remote from nature, equally lucid, pleasing, and soft. 
 Owing to his fondness for the chiaroscuro, one of the chief 
 attractions of his style, or rather, perhaps, to the imperfection 
 of his grounds, there are few of his productions that continue 
 to preserve their original beauty. Occasionally he seems to 
 belong to the sect of Tenebrosi, and his middle tints have in 
 some instances disappeared, destroying the harmony that in 
 some of his best-conducted pictures was admirable. His dis¬ 
 tinguishing character was a happy audacity of hand, in which 
 he is excelled by very few. He painted both history, and 
 altar-pieces for churches, a specimen of which is seen in his 
 Probatica at the Ascension. In the public palace there is one 
 of his histories from the Old Testament, abounding with all 
 
294 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.—EPOCH IV. 
 
 that masterly talent for which he was so remarkable, creating 
 at once admiration and surprise. He produced pieces for pri¬ 
 vate ornament, from profane history, with conversations, games, 
 and rencounters, like Caravaggio’s. Alberto Calvetti, an in 
 ferior artist, educated in his school, resembles him as little in 
 talent, as, for the most part, in his style. 
 
 Antonio Zanchi da Este was an artist, also, better known in 
 Venice for the number, than for the excellence of his works. 
 His style is altogether distinct from that of the foregoing, and 
 it is uncertain whether he derived it from his master Ruschi, 
 or from some other of the sect of naturalists whom we have 
 before described. Such, at least, appears the cast of his genius, 
 common in its forms, sombre in its colours; but nevertheless 
 exciting surprise, by a certain fulness and felicity of hand, by 
 its picturesque spirit, by its effect of chiaroscuro, and by a 
 grand general result, which imposes upon us by its power. If 
 we examine more particularly into his manner, we shall not 
 unfrequently discover an incorrectness of design, along with 
 that kind of indecision, and indistinctness of outline, which is 
 mostly the resource of weak, or, at least, of very hasty artists. 
 He chiefly attached himself to Tintoretto, some traces of whom 
 may be found in his style. In the college of S. Rocco, where 
 that great master rendered his name immortal, we behold one 
 of the best specimens of Zanchi. The subject, admirably 
 fitted to his manner, contributed greatly to his success. He 
 has there given a bold exhibition of the great plague that 
 afflicted Yenice in 1630, a picture filled with a concourse of 
 the sick, the dying, and the dead, borne to one universal grave. 
 Opposite to this grand painting there is another from the hand 
 of Pietro Negri, his pupil, as is supposed, but more probably 
 his rival, which represents the liberation of the city from that 
 fatal scourge; and in it, too, we perceive the peculiar ease, 
 and the manner of Zanchi, somewhat improved, however, and 
 ennobled in its forms. Francesco Trevisani, another of his 
 pupils, took up his residence at Rome, in the list of whose 
 professors he has already been commended (tom. i. p. 514). 
 Gio. Bonagrazia, however, remained in the Venetian state; 
 and acquired some reputation in his native town and province 
 of Trevigi, more particularly for his paintings at San Vito. 
 
 Antonio Molinari belonged, likewise, to the same school, but 
 
ANTONIO MOLINARI. 
 
 295 
 
 almost wholly renounced the maxims he had acquired in it.* 
 His style is by no means equally sustained; a case that fre¬ 
 quently occurs to such as abandon the methods in which they 
 have been educated, and attempt to strike into new paths. I 
 have seen some of his pictures at Venice, and elsewhere, in 
 fine relief, and others quite the contrary; at times, too, he ap¬ 
 pears beautiful, but cold. In the vigour of his powers, how¬ 
 ever, when he produced the works most decisive of his merits, 
 such as his History of Oza, at the Corpus Domini, he displays 
 a style no less solid than pleasing, and which equally satisfies 
 the judgment and the eye. There is a study both of design 
 and of expression, ample beauty of forms, richness of drapery, 
 with a taste and harmony of tints not surpassed by any artist 
 of the times. 
 
 We may mention, likewise, as distinguished by their man¬ 
 ner, Antonio Bellucci, and Giovanni Segala, two painters who, 
 like their masters, became addicted to the use of strong shades. 
 Yet they possessed sufficient intelligence to derive some ad¬ 
 vantage even from a wrong direction of their powers. For the 
 former disposed them in grand masses, yet delicate, and more¬ 
 over united to pleasing colouring; while the latter made use 
 of dark grounds, which he contrasted with very spirited lights, 
 and with a skill that enlivens while it enchants us. Indeed, 
 the style of both seemed adapted for great works, and both 
 possessed genius enough to conduct them well. Segala, how¬ 
 ever, is preferred by Zanetti to his contemporary, and his pic¬ 
 ture of the Conception, executed for the college of La Carita, 
 is particularly extolled by him, and, in truth, he there com¬ 
 petes with, if he does not surpass, some of the first painters of 
 the age. We ought to estimate the merit of Bellucci from 
 those specimens he conducted with most care, and upon the 
 best grounds, such as his scripture-piece in the church of the 
 Spirito Santo. He appears to most advantage, perhaps, in 
 small figures, many of which he inserted in the landscapes of 
 the celebrated Tempesta. When at Vienna, he became court- 
 painter to Joseph I. and to Charles VI.; and subsequently to 
 
 * Melchiori mentions also with commendation Gio. Batista, father of 
 Antonio, and pupil to Vecchia, who had been unable to assist his son 
 Antonio, left an orphan at a very tender age. 
 
296 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 other German princes, which he chiefly owed to this kind of 
 talent.* 
 
 To this epoch, also, belongs the name of Gio. Antonio Fu- 
 miani, who acquired from the Bolognese school, in which he 
 was educated, an excellent taste, both in composition and 
 design. And from the works of Paul, which he studied with 
 assiduity, he obtained a knowledge of architectural and other 
 ornaments. Some have considered him deficient in warmth of 
 tints, and in a just counterpoise of lights and shades, to which 
 I should add, also in expression ; appearing, as he does to me, 
 cold in all his attitudes, even beyond the custom of this school. 
 Perhaps his Dispute of Jesus with the Doctors, at the church 
 of La Carita, is his finest work. Bencovich, having resided at 
 Bologna, will be enumerated among the followers of Cignani. 
 
 Nearly contemporary with Fumiani, though he flourished 
 longer and painted more, was the Cav. Niccolo Bambini, a 
 pupil of Mazzoni, in Venice, and afterwards of Maratta, at 
 Rome. There he became accomplished in design, exact and 
 elegant, and capable of sustaining those noble conceptions de¬ 
 rived from nature, which he developed in very enlarged works, 
 both of oil and fresco. Fortunate, indeed, had he succeeded 
 as well in his colouring; in which branch he was so sensible 
 of his own mediocrity, as to forbid his scholars practising the 
 art from his pictures. IBs taste is sometimes wholly Roman, 
 as in his altar-piece at San Stefano, executed soon after his 
 return from Rome. At other times, he has a more flowing 
 manner, like that of Liberi, which he imitated for several years 
 with success, ever afterwards retaining the beauty of his heads, 
 especially in his women. Again he occasionally soars above 
 himself, and in such works as he himself conceived and ex¬ 
 ecuted, and which were afterwards re-touched and animated, 
 as it were, by Cassana, the Genoese, he shines as a great por¬ 
 trait-painter, and a very powerful colourist. In the “ Guida” 
 of Zanetti, we meet with the names of Giovanni and Stefano 
 Bambini, two of his sons, and most probably his pupils, though 
 from the same, and from another more extensive work, where 
 
 * Father Federici mentions also his son Gio. Batista, citing a fine altar- 
 piece of his at Sorigo, and adds, that he would have become celebrated 
 had he not preferred the ease permitted him by a handsome fortune to 
 the glory of a great painter. 
 
GREGORIO LAZZARINI. 
 
 297 
 
 lie makes no mention of them, we can gather that they were 
 held in very small esteem. Girolamo Brusaferro and Gaetano 
 Zompini were also his pupils, and ambitious, as well, of 
 imitating Ricci, forming a kind of mixed style not altogether 
 destitute of originality. The second of these received honour¬ 
 able commissions from the court of Spain, in which he dis¬ 
 played a rich fund of imagination, and, in some measure, dis¬ 
 tinguished himself by his engravings. 
 
 Gregorio Lazzarini was pupil to Rosa, and not only freed 
 himself from the sombre sect, but rising into great reputation, 
 wholly banished it from the Venetian school, of which, for 
 accuracy of design, he might be pronounced to be the Raf- 
 faello. Whoever contemplates the pictures of Lazzarini 
 would, at first, suppose he must have received his education at 
 Bologna, or rather, perhaps, at Rome. Yet he never left 
 Venice, and by the strength of his genius alone, acquired the 
 esteem of the most learned professors in the art, and particu¬ 
 larly of Maratta, a very scrupulous panegyrist of his contem¬ 
 poraries. Thus the Venetian ambassador at Rome, having 
 occasion to apply to him for a picture, intended to ornament 
 the hall of the Scrutinio, he declined the commission, express¬ 
 ing his surprise that it should be deemed requisite to apply to 
 him at Rome, while they had Lazzarini at Venice. And the 
 latter artist produced a piece which justified the judgment of 
 Maratta, representing in the noblest manner the triumphal 
 memory of Morosini, surnamed by the Venetians Pelopon- 
 nesiaco, which adorns the aforementioned hall. lie most dis¬ 
 tinguished himself by his picture of San Lorenzo Giustiniani, 
 painted for the patriarchal church; perhaps the best specimen 
 in oil displayed by the Venetian school during this period, 
 whether for its taste of composition, its elegance of contours, 
 or the original beauty and variety of its countenances and its 
 attitudes. It possesses, likewise, force of colouring, in which 
 he was not always equally successful. In small figures he 
 was extremely graceful, a specimen of which may be seen in a 
 choir of Santa Caterina, at Vicenza, where he executed some 
 very beautiful histories, in the most glowing colours imagin¬ 
 able. The last altar-piece, bearing his own name, was com¬ 
 pleted by his excellent pupil, Giuseppe Camerata, who in this, 
 as well as other pieces produced for churches, pursued the 
 
298 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 same career as his master. Another of Lazzanni’s pupils, 
 however, Silvestro Manaigo, persevered in an opposite course, 
 for though of a fine character, he was too rapid, and too much 
 of a mannerist. 
 
 There flourished, likewise, at that period, two artists of 
 Trevisi, Francesco, included in the list of the Roman school, 
 and Angiolo Trevisani, who, both by birth and domicile, must 
 be claimed for that of Venice. Fine in his inventive pieces, 
 as we gather from those at La Carita, and various other 
 churches in the capital, he was still more celebrated for his 
 portraits. In exercising this branch, he formed a style 
 founded upon nature, not, indeed, sublime, but very select, 
 and in part conformable to the schools then in vogue. His 
 pencil displayed diligence and research, especially in his 
 management of the chiaroscuro. 
 
 Jacopo Amigoni can scarcely be justly estimated in Venice, 
 where, if we except his picture of the Visitation at the monas¬ 
 tery of San Filippo, there is nothing of his remaining in pub¬ 
 lic in his best manner; that which he acquired by studying 
 the master-pieces of the Flemish school in Flanders. It was 
 there that his genius, naturally fertile and animated, uniting 
 with facility qualities of grandeur and of beauty, and seizing 
 upon the finest subject for copious histories, also discovered 
 the kind of colouring he had in vain sought for at Venice. 
 There, too, he “achieved the art of attaining, by force oi 
 shades, even to pure black, which colour he employed to pro¬ 
 duce perfect clearness, without injuring the beauty of his 
 piece:” thus we are informed by Signor Zanetti. Had he 
 succeeded in giving a little more relief to his pictures, and 
 employed less care in giving brilliance to every part of his 
 composition, he would have appeared to more advantage; but 
 only in the eyes of good judges, as the multitude could not 
 well be presented with any thing more calculated to enchant 
 them than one of his pictures. Nor was it without reason 
 that his style was so much applauded throughout England, 
 Germany, and Spain, in which last country he died, when 
 painter to the court, in 1752. Various productions of Ids 
 hand are to be met with, though but rarely, in possession of 
 private families in Italy, chiefly consisting of little histories, 
 conversations, and similar pieces, in the manner of the Flemish 
 
GIAMBATISTA PITTONI. 
 
 299 
 
 artists.. Of the Flemish, I say, in respect to the size, not the 
 perfection of the drawing, this artist being accustomed to alter 
 his tints in some degree, particularly in the shifting hues, to 
 labour by touching, often leaving his outline undefined, and to 
 raise the colour so as to produce effect in the distance. His 
 pieces upon a larger scale are more rare, though I have seen 
 several exhibiting great truth in the expression of counte¬ 
 nance, and a rich flo w of drapery, in possession of the cele¬ 
 brated musician, Farinello, at Bologna. And in these portraits 
 the musician himself always appeared, as received at different 
 courts, and in the act of being applauded and rewarded by the 
 European sovereigns. 
 
 Giambatista Pittoni, though less generally known than the 
 preceding, is still entitled to a rank among the first artists of 
 his age. The disciple and nephew of Francesco Pittoni, here 
 mentioned, rather from his pupil’s merit than his own, he sub¬ 
 sequently became attached to foreign schools, and formed a 
 style which displays some novelty in the warmth of its colour- 
 ing, and in a certain pictorial amenity and attraction which 
 prevail throughout the whole. He cannot, indeed, be said to 
 be very select, but he is in general correct, polished, and intel¬ 
 ligent in his entire composition. He particularly shone in 
 figures smaller than the life; and the galleries in the Venetian 
 state are thus by no means scantily furnished with his his¬ 
 tories ; while we may observe of his altar-pieces that they 
 seem to increase in beauty in proportion to the diminution of 
 their size. This we perceive at the Santo in Padua, where he 
 painted in competition with the best of his contemporaries, the 
 Martyrdom of San Bartolommeo, which he coloured upon a 
 small canvas. A very hasty tourist attributes this produc¬ 
 tion to the pencil of Tiepolo, whose manner is altogether dif¬ 
 ferent. 
 
 Gio. Batista Piazzetta, on the other hand, was an artist of 
 as sombre a cast as the two preceding were animated and 
 lively. . He had acquired a good knowledge of design, either 
 under his father, a tolerably skilful statuary in wood, or under 
 some very exact naturalist ; and in his early attempts he 
 painted in a free and open style. Afterwards he embraced an 
 opposite manner, and employing himself with Spagnuolo at 
 Bologna, and there likewise studying Guercino, he aimed at 
 
300 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 producing an effect by strong contrasts of lights and shades, 
 and in this he succeeded. He had long, as it is supposed, ob¬ 
 served the effects of light applied to statues of wood and 
 models in wax ; and by this he was enabled to draw, with con¬ 
 siderable judgment and exact precision, the several parts that 
 are comprehended in the shadowing, owing to which art his 
 designs were eagerly sought after, and his works repeatedly 
 engraved with assiduity. One of these, placed at the Domeni- 
 cani delle Zattere was engraved by the celebrated Bartolozzi ; 
 another by his school: that is to say, his San Filippo, painted 
 for the church of that name in Venice. Many were engraved 
 also by Pitteri, by Pelli, and by Monaco, besides other prints 
 that were executed in Germany. His method of colouring, 
 however, diminished in a great measure the chief merit of his 
 pictures. Thus his shades having increased and altered, his 
 lights sunk, his tints become yellow, there remains only an 
 inharmonious and unformed mass, which the venerators of 
 names, indeed, may admire, but can hardly give a reason why. 
 Where we happen to meet with a few of his pictures in good 
 preservation, the effect is altogether so novel and original as to 
 make a strong impression at first sight, more especially where 
 the subject requires a terrific expression, as that of his behead¬ 
 ing of St. John the Baptist in prison, produced at Padua, a 
 work placed in competition with those of the first artists in the 
 state, and at that period esteemed the .best of all. Yet if we 
 examine him more narrowly, he will not fail to displease us by 
 that monotonous and mannered colour of lakes and yellows, 
 and by that rapidity of hand, by some called spirit, though to 
 others these often appear neglect, desirous of abandoning its 
 labour before it is complete. 
 
 Piazzetta could hardly boast strength enough to deal with 
 pictures abounding with figures, and having received a com¬ 
 mission from a Venetian noble to represent the Rape of the 
 Sabines, he spent many years in conducting it. In his altar- 
 pieces and other sacred subjects he produced a pleasing effect 
 from the spirit of devotion, but never for the dignity he dis¬ 
 played in them. Duly estimating his own ability, he was 
 more desirous of painting busts and heads for pictures adapted 
 for private rooms than any other subjects. In his caricatures 
 he succeeded admirably, several of which in possession of the 
 
GIO. BATISTA TIEPOLO. 
 
 301 
 
 Conti Leopardi d’Osimo would excite the risible muscles of a 
 professed enemy to mirth. At one period this artist had a 
 great number of followers, a fashion nevertheless that soon 
 ceased. Francesco Polazzo, a good painter, but a better re¬ 
 storer of ancient pictures, somewhat softened down the style 
 of Piazzetta with that of Picci. Domenico Maggiotto also 
 tempered it in his Miracle of San Spiridione, and in his other 
 works engraved at Venice and in Germany. Various artists 
 of this school in the same way gave softness to his manner by 
 studying other models. Perhaps the one most addicted to his 
 method was Marinetti, from the name of his native place more 
 commonly called Chiozzotto. 
 
 The last of the Venetian artists who procured for himself a 
 great reputation in Europe, was Gio. Batista Tiepolo, so fre¬ 
 quently commended by Algarotti. He was honoured likewise 
 with a poetical eulogy by the Ab. Bettinelli, and became cele¬ 
 brated in Italy, in Germany, and in Spain, where he died 
 painter to the court of Madrid. Pupil to Lazzarini, whose 
 deliberate and cautious style served to curb his too great 
 warmth and rapidity, he subsequently studied Piazzetta, ani¬ 
 mating and enlivening as it were his manner, as he appears to 
 have done in his picture of the Shipwreck of San Satiro at 
 San Ambrogio in Milan. He next became an assiduous imi¬ 
 tator of Paul Veronese, whom, though inferior to him in the 
 airs of his heads, he very nearly approached in his folds and 
 his colouring. From the engravings also of Albert Durer, 
 that storehouse of copious composers, he derived no little ad¬ 
 vantage. Nor did he at any time abandon the study of nature 
 in observing all the accidents of light and shade, and the con¬ 
 trasts of colour best adapted to produce effect. In this branch 
 he succeeded admirably, particularly in his works in fresco, for 
 which he appears to have been endued by nature with prompt¬ 
 ness, rapidity, and facility in great compositions. While 
 others were accustomed to display the most vivid colours, he 
 only availed himself in his frescos of what are termed low and 
 dusky colours; and by harmonizing them with others of a 
 common kind, but more clear and beautiful, he produced a 
 species of effect in his frescos, a beauty, a sunlike radiance, 
 unequalled, perhaps, by any other artist. Of this the grand 
 vault belonging to the Teresiani in Venice presents a fine spe- 
 
302 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 cimen. He has there represented the Santa Casa, accompa¬ 
 nied by numerous groups of angels finely foreshortened and 
 varied, surrounded by a field of light that appears to rise into 
 the firmament. Such an artist would have been truly great, 
 had he, in works upon this scale, succeeded in observing equal 
 correctness in every part; in the whole he always produces an 
 agreeable effect. He appears more correct and careful in his 
 oil-pieces, which we find dispersed throughout the metropoli¬ 
 tan city as well as the state. At San Antonio in Padua we 
 meet with his Martyrdom of Santa Agatha, a picture alluded 
 to by Algarotti as a very rare example of fine expression, at 
 once uniting that of terror at the approach of death, and of 
 joy for the glory of beatitude in view. Many other beauties 
 are remarked by Rossetti in this picture, which he admits, 
 however deeply interested in defending it from every imputa¬ 
 tion cast upon it by Cochin, is not altogether perfect in point 
 of design. 
 
 In the list of his disciples we find the nameofFabio Canale, 
 mentioned with honour in the work so often cited, from the 
 pen of Zanetti; and to such of his pictures as he mentions we 
 may add those he produced in Palazzo Zen at the Frari, and 
 in that of the Priuli at the bridge of the Miglio. To this 
 artist we might join a few others of this last age, recorded in 
 the Guide to Venice, the same that was published by Zanetti 
 in 1733, and some of whom are likewise mentioned in the 
 “ Pittura Veneziana,” where, beginning at p. 470, he gave a 
 catalogue of the names of such of the members of that esti¬ 
 mable academy, as were then alive, and some of whom are 
 still in existence. But whoever is desirous of cultivating an 
 acquaintance with them and with their works which are in 
 possession of the public, may consult the above books as well 
 as some of the more recent Guides of the city, which have 
 continued from time to time to appear. I ought to add, that 
 the Signor Alessandro Longhi has presented us with the por¬ 
 traits and the Elogj of the most celebrated of these moderns, 
 in the year 1762, and this work also may supply what my 
 brevity or my silence has omitted or compressed. 
 
 Proceeding in the next place from Venice to the cities of 
 the state, we shall find that these also have produced many 
 memorable artists. The Friuli will occupy but little of our 
 
GIULIO QUAGLIA. 
 
 803 
 
 attention, as it boasts few masters, and none of them distin¬ 
 guished for their figures. Pio Fabio Paolini, a native of 
 Udine, studied at Rome, where he produced in fresco his San 
 Carlo, which adorns the Corso, and became an associate of 
 the academy there in 1678. Returning thence into his own 
 country, he painted several altar-pieces and other minor pic¬ 
 tures, such as to entitle him to a high place among the 
 followers of Cortona. Giuseppe Cosattini, born at the same 
 place, and canon of Aquileja, devoted himself to the same 
 pursuit, and rose into so much estimation as to be declared 
 painter to the imperial court. He particularly distinguished 
 himself by his picture of San Filippo preparing to celebrate 
 mass, painted for the Congregation of Udine ; the work of a 
 real artist, not of a dilettante, as he appears in some other of 
 his paintings. Pietro Yenier, a disciple of the Venetian 
 artists, displayed some merit in his oil-pieces, not uncommon 
 at Udine ; and more in his frescos in the ceiling of the church 
 of San Jacopo, where he appears to great advantage. But 
 the best painter of frescos in these latter times, amongst his 
 countrymen, was Giulio Quaglia, a native of Como. From 
 his age and style I should suspect that he belonged to the 
 school of the Recchi, although his design is less finished than 
 that of Gio. Batista Recchi, the head of that family of 
 painters. It would appear that he visited Friuli young, 
 towards the close of the last century, and there he conducted 
 works, for the most part, in fresco, to an amount that almost 
 defies enumeration. His histories of our Saviour’s Passion, 
 ornamenting the chapel of the Monte di Pieth, at Udine, are 
 held in high estimation, although he conducted works upon a 
 much larger scale, for various halls of many noble families, 
 in all which we trace a fecundity of ideas, a decision of 
 pencil, a power for vast compositions, sufficient to have distin ¬ 
 guished him in his age not only in the limits of Como but at 
 Milan. I omit the names of those professors of the art who 
 merely designed without colouring, or who never attained to 
 mature age ; and those of a few others I have to reserve for 
 foreign schools, and for different branches of painting. 
 
 Proceeding towards the Marca Trevigiana, I meet with an 
 artist’s name that has been claimed by different schools of 
 Italy, according to the place in which he painted, or studied, 
 
304 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 or gave instructions in the art. For tliis reason I liave 
 judged it best to speak of him as connected with his native 
 place, which boasts a sufficient number of his works. This 
 artist is Sebastiano Ricci, which the Venetians write Rizzi, 
 one who can be reckoned second to none among the professors 
 of our own epoch, in point of genius for the art, and the 
 taste and novelty of his style. He was born in Cividal di 
 Belluno, educated, as we have observed, by Cervelli at Venice, 
 and afterwards conducted by his master into Milan; he there 
 acquired, both from him and from Lisandrino, every thing 
 that was of importance in the pursuit of his profession. 
 Thence he went to study at Bologna and at Venice, subse¬ 
 quently transferring his residence to Rome and Florence. 
 Lastly he made the tour of all Italy, employing his pencil 
 wherever he received commissions, at any price. Having 
 acquired reputation, and being invited by different potentates, 
 he passed into Germany, England, and Flanders, in which last 
 country he perfected his style of colouring, which had been 
 always very pleasing and spirited, even in his first attempts. 
 From his acquaintance with such a variety of schools, he 
 stored his mind with fine images, and by dint of copying 
 many models, his hand became practised in different styles. 
 In common with Giordano he possessed the art of imitating 
 every manner; some of his pictures in the style of Bassano 
 and of Paul, continuing yet to impose upon less skilful judges, 
 as in the instance of one of his Madonnas at Dresden, for 
 some time attributed to Correggio. The chief advantage he 
 derived from his travels was, that on having occasion to 
 represent any subject, he was enabled to recollect the manner 
 in which different masters might have treated it, availing 
 himself of it without plagiarism accordingly. Thus the Ado¬ 
 ration of the Apostles at the Last Supper, a piece adorning 
 the church of Santa Giustina at Padua, betrays many points 
 of resemblance to the painting on the cupola of San Giovanni 
 at Parma, while his San Gregorio at San Alessandro, in Ber¬ 
 gamo, recalls to mind one by Guercino, executed at Bologna. 
 The same method he observed in his scriptural histories, pro¬ 
 duced for SS. Cosmo and Damiano, which are preferred to 
 any others he conducted in Venice, or perhaps in any other 
 parts, and which frequently present us with fine imitationr. 
 
SEBASTIANO RICCI. 
 
 305 
 
 but never with plagiarisms. He did not early acquire a good 
 knowledge of design, but he afterwards succeeded in this 
 object, which he cultivated with extreme assiduity in the 
 academies, even in mature age. The forms of his figures are 
 composed with beauty, dignity, and grace, like those of Paul 
 Veronese; the attitudes are more than usually natural, prompt, 
 and varied, and the composition appears to have been managed 
 with truth and with good sense. Although rapid in the 
 handling, he did not abuse his celerity of hand, as so many 
 artists have been known to do. His figures are accurately 
 designed, and appear starting from the canvas, most frequently 
 coloured with a very beautiful azure, in which they shine 
 conspicuous over all. Such pieces as he conducted in fresco 
 still preserve the native freshness of their tints; while some 
 of his others seem to have suffered, owing to the badness of 
 the grounds, or of the body of colour, which was weaker in 
 the later than in the earliest Venetian artists. The amenity 
 of Ricci’s style soon procured for him disciples, in the list of 
 whom Marco, his nephew, greatly distinguished himself, and 
 subsequently devoting himself to the composition of landscape, 
 he accompanied his master upon his travels, employing himself 
 a good deal both at Paris and in London. Gasparo Diziani, 
 his fellow-countryman, was an artist who excelled in his 
 facility of painting large theatrical works, and in that line 
 was employed in Germany. He was, moreover, a very pleas¬ 
 ing composer of pictures for private ornament, several of 
 which are now to be met with in the collections of the Signori 
 Silvestri and the Signori Casalini at Rovigo. Francesco Fon- 
 tebasso, a pupil also of Bastiano, succeeded, notwithstanding 
 some degree of crudeness, in acquiring a celebrity in his day, 
 both in Venice and the adjacent cities. 
 
 In the Guide of Padua Rossetti includes, in the list of its 
 painters, Antonio Pellegrini, as being the son of one of its 
 citizens, who had established himself, however, at Venice, 
 where Antonio was born. And the Venetians, indeed, may 
 concede him to that city without much sacrifice of fame. 
 For the surprising success he met with in some of the most 
 civilized kingdoms of Europe, is to be attributed to the 
 decline of the art, and to the lively and mannered style he 
 assumed, which found a welcome reception in all parts. He 
 
 VOL. II. x 
 
306 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 may be pronounced an artist of some ingenuity, facility, and 
 sprightly conception ; but he was by no means well grounded 
 in the art; and he expressed his ideas with so little deci¬ 
 sion, that the objects which he represents sometimes appear 
 to float in a kind of half-existence between visible and invi¬ 
 sible. He was so very superficial a colourist, that even in his 
 own times it was said his productions would not continue to 
 last during a half-century. And, in truth, those I have seen 
 at Venice and at Padua are already become extremely pallid ; 
 while such as he executed at Paris will, doubtless, be in the 
 same state. Yet in that city he obtained a large sum in the 
 year 1720, for merely painting a frieze in the celebrated hall 
 of the Mississippi, which he executed in about three months. 
 His best work is, perhaps, to be found at San Moise, con¬ 
 sisting of the Serpent of Bronze, erected by Moses in the 
 Desert; no other equal to it having issued from his studio. 
 
 As the preceding one is considered the last of the Paduan 
 artists of any note, we may mention, as the last among those 
 of Bergamo, at least of any merit in composition, Antonio 
 Zifrondi, or Cifrondi, pupil to Franceschini. Indeed he 
 greatly resembled the former in his natural bias for the art, 
 in an imagination adapted for great compositions, in facility 
 and rapidity of hand, to such a degree as to dash off a picture 
 in two hours. He likewise passed into h ranee,. though 
 without meeting with success, and then resided in his native 
 place, employing himself for those churches that are adorned 
 with so many of his pictures, few of which are free from 
 errors of over-haste and carelessness. Thus he did not scruple 
 at the church of S. Spirito, to place near his picture of a Nun- 
 ziata, conducted in his best style, three other historical pieces 
 of quite an opposite character. We meet with his name men¬ 
 tioned more than once, in the u Lettere Pittoriche, with much 
 commendation. Several other artists, whose names are to be 
 met with in Tassi and his continuator, are known to have 
 flourished at the same period. Nor ought we, by any means, 
 here to omit that of Vittore Ghislandi, who though little 
 skilled in works of invention, yet in his portraits, and some 
 of his heads, in the way of capricci, has almost equalled, in 
 our own times the excellence of the ancients. He was in¬ 
 structed in the art by Bombelli, and by dint of very assiduous 
 
PIETRO AVOGADRO. 
 
 307 
 
 study, particularly in the heads of Titian, in order to deve- 
 lope his whole artifice, he attained a degree of perfection that 
 is truly surprising. Whatever can he esteemed most de¬ 
 sirable in a portrait-painter, such as lively features, natural 
 fleshes, imitations of the most varied drapery, to make a dis¬ 
 tinction in dresses ; these constitute a portion of his merits. 
 The Carrara collection, above any other, may boast of several, 
 distinct both in point of age and costume ; and though sur¬ 
 rounded by very select pictures from every school, and though 
 mere portraits, they fail not to attract and surprise us. Less 
 celebrated than many others, he is nevertheless an artist 
 whose productions would do no discredit to any palace. One 
 more generally known, however, is Bartolommeo Nazzari, 
 pupil to Trevisani in Venice, and afterwards under Luti, and 
 the other Trevisani, he perfected himself at Rome. Finally 
 he established himself at Venice, though he continued to visit 
 various capitals, both of Italy and of Germany, invariably 
 extolled, as well for his portraits of princes and of their cour¬ 
 tiers, as for his heads of old men and youths, drawn from life, 
 very fancifully dressed and ornamented. 
 
 Pietro Avogadro was a Brescian, and the scholar of Ghiti, 
 who adopted the models of Bologna, imitating them without 
 affectation, and adding some mixture of Venetian colour, more 
 particularly in his ruddier fleshes. The contours of his figures 
 are correct, his shortenings pleasing and appropriate, and his 
 compositions very judicious ; the whole expressing great har¬ 
 mony and beauty. Next to the three leading artists of this 
 city, he is entitled to the fourth place, at least in the esteem 
 of many. Perhaps his master-piece is to be seen in the church 
 of San Giuseppe, representing the Martyrdom of the saints 
 Crispino and Crispiniano. Andrea Toresani was also a 
 Brescian, who flourished at the same period; excellent in 
 design, with which he ornamented the cities of Venice and 
 Milan more than his native place. His chief merit, however, 
 lay in an inferior branch, that of painting animals, sea-views, 
 and landscapes in the Titian manner, often accompanied with 
 figures in tolerably good taste. 
 
 Having taken a hasty view of the other cities of the state, 
 we must dwell some little while on that of Verona, which, 
 from the beginning of the century until the present time, has 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 enjoyed a high degree of reputation. Though ravaged by the 
 plague, we have already seen how it again flourished, with the 
 aid of other Italian schools, to which we might add that of 
 the French, inasmuch as Louis Dorigny, a Parisian, and pupil 
 of Le Brun, arriving in Italy at an early age, devoted himself 
 to the study of Roman and Venetian models. He established 
 himself at Verona, where, having for some time employed his 
 talents, and obtained several pupils, he died in the year 1742. 
 He also left works behind him in Venice, the most esteemed 
 of which adorns the church of San Silvestro, as well as in 
 other cities, both of the state and of all Italy, tie resided 
 likewise with Prince Eugene in Germany. 
 
 There was another foreigner, who, about the same period, 
 became a resident at Verona. His name was Simone Bren- 
 tana, a Venetian, well versed in literature, as well as in the 
 information necessary to form an artist. He devoted himself 
 with extreme assiduity to the works of Tintoretto, whom he 
 emulated in his pictorial enthusiasm, which scarcely per¬ 
 mitted him to bestow sufficient time upon the completion of 
 his labours. In his forms and colouring he partakes of the 
 Roman manner of his time, and displays something extremely 
 novel and original in his compositions. His pictures were 
 sought after to adorn the galleries of sovereigns, no less than 
 for private persons. Several are to be met with in the churches 
 of the state, and in that of S. Sebastiano at Verona is one 
 representing the Titular Saint, well drawn, without drapery, 
 in the act of consummating his martyrdom, while an angel is 
 supporting him in his arms, a figure both in aspect and in at¬ 
 titude extremely graceful. Girolamo Ruggieri, an artist born 
 at Vicenza, was pupil to Cornelio Dusman of Amsterdam, 
 and having established himself at Verona, he there produced 
 several history-pieces, landscapes, and battle-scenes, in the 
 Flemish style. 
 
 Approaching the Veronese artists and their neighbours, 
 some of them will be found to have flourished in the begin¬ 
 ning of the century, whose merits deserve to be here recorded. 
 One of these is Alessandro Marchesini, pupil to Cignani, of 
 whom there remains little exhibited in public at Venice, and 
 not much at Verona. He chiefly employed himself for private 
 persons, with fables and histories, consisting of small figures, 
 
ANTONIO BALESTRA. 
 
 309 
 
 in which he succeeded, though having addicted himself to 
 these compositions as a trade, he despatched them with more 
 facility than care. In similar little pieces Francesco Barbieri 
 also displayed the most merit, an artist called il Legnago, from 
 his native place. An imitator of Ricchi, and in some measure 
 of Carpioni, he displayed great pictorial enthusiasm in every 
 kind of history, in capricci, and in rural views; but he was 
 inferior in point of design, having applied himself to it too late 
 in life. 
 
 Antonio Balestra of Verona was at first devoted to a mer¬ 
 cantile life, until at the age of twenty-one, after studying in 
 Venice under Bellucci, and thence passing to Bologna, and 
 afterwai’ds to Rome, under Maratta, he selected the best from 
 every school, uniting a variety of beauties in a style of his 
 own, which partakes least of all of the Venetian. lie is an 
 artist of judgment and high finish, well versed in design, of a 
 rapid hand, lively and animated, but always with a solidity 
 of talent that makes us respect him. He taught in Venice 
 and in the college of La Carita, where he painted the Nativity 
 of our Lord, and the Deposition from the Cross, while he 
 competes equally well with the first artists of his time in 
 other places. Commissions from foreign courts and the 
 cities of the state, never allowed him to be idle. He was 
 particularly employed at Padua in an altar-piece for the 
 church del Santo, representing Santa Chiara. He painted 
 also a good deal for his native place; his picture of San 
 Vincenzo at the Dominicans,* being one of the finest altar- 
 pieces he ever produced, and one of the best preserved, for 
 his method of colouring with boiled oils has been found inju¬ 
 rious to many of his pieces. Such as he painted, however, in 
 oil less boiled, have better resisted the effects of time. Many 
 of these figures are in possession of the Conti Gazzola, orna¬ 
 menting one of their halls, and in particular a very beautiful 
 one of Mercury. He promoted the reputation of the Vene¬ 
 tian school, both by his lectures and example, besides afford- 
 
 t * In the Guide of Verona, of which I availed myself, I only found one 
 picture by Rotari in the refectory at Santa Anastasia. I inquired by 
 whom that of S. Vincenzo, which appeared extremely beautiful, was 
 painted. I received for answer, that it was by Balestra, but it is in fact 
 from the hand of Rotari, and engraved by Valesi. 
 
310 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV 
 
 ing an excellent imitator in Gio. Batista Mariotti, and in liis 
 pupil Giuseppe Nogari, a painter of portraits, as well as of 
 half-length figures, held in much esteem, insomuch as to 
 recommend him, for a great length of time, to the service of 
 the court of Turin. In pieces of composition, such as his 
 San Piero, placed in the cathedral of Bassano, he appears a 
 respectable artist, and somewhat ambitious of reconciling his 
 masters style with that of Piazzetta. Another Venetian of 
 the name of Pietro Longhi, first instructed by Balestra, and 
 afterwards by Crespi, aimed at pleasing the eye in collections, 
 by those humorous representations of masks, of conversa¬ 
 zioni, landscapes, &c. which we find in various noble houses. 
 Angelo Venturini, also a Venetian, is mentioned in the Guida 
 of Zanetti, for his paintings in the church of Gesu e Maria, 
 of which he adorned the ceiling, and various portions of the 
 walls. Another pupil of Balestra’s, in Verona, was Carlo 
 Salis, who approached very near his style, more particularly 
 in the handling of his colours. Tie prosecuted his first studies 
 in Bologna, under Giuseppe dal Sole. Some of his pictures 
 are also to be met with in the state, such as his San Vincenzio, 
 in the act of administering to the sick at Bergamo, a piece 
 finely mellowed, and more than commonly spirited. An 
 artist named Cavalcabo, a native of a district in Roveredo, 
 was instructed by Balestra, and afterwards by Maratta. In 
 the choir of the Carmine at his native place, he left behind 
 him a very beautiful altar-piece, representing the Holy Simone 
 Stoch, with four lateral pieces of great merit. For a more 
 particular account of these and other works by this artist, we 
 may refer the reader to his life, written by the Cavalier 
 Vannetti. 
 
 The whole of the names, however, we have here mentioned, 
 scarcely excepting that of Balestra himself, have been thrown 
 into the shade by the talent of the Conte Pietro Rotari. He 
 was honoured with the title of painter to her court, by the 
 empress of all the Russias, and in her dominions he closed the 
 period of his days. This very elegant artist, having devoted 
 many years to the art of design, succeeded in attaining a 
 grace of feature, a delicacy of outline, united to a vivacity of 
 motion and expression, and to a natural and easy mode of 
 drapery, that would have left him second to none of his age, 
 
CONTE PIETRO ROTARI. 
 
 311 
 
 had he possessed, in an equal degree of perfection, the art of 
 colouring. But his productions often partake so much of the 
 chiaroscuro, or at least of a strorig ash-colour, as to render 
 them remarkable among all. Some, indeed, have attributed 
 this defect to want of clearness of sight, while others con¬ 
 jecture it must have been owing to his long practice in design, 
 previous to his attempting colours, in the same manner as 
 Polidoro da Caravaggio and the Cavalier Calabrese are known 
 to have failed as colourists, falling like him into a weak and 
 languid tone. The education he received from Balestra may 
 also have tended to produce it, as both he and the disciples of 
 Maratta were somewhat addicted to a certain duskiness of 
 tone, which we may particularly observe in several examples 
 seen at Naples, where he resided for some time. Whatever 
 it be owing to, there still prevails a repose and harmony in 
 that melancholy expression of his colouring, that is far from 
 unpleasing, in particular where he affords somewhat warmer 
 touches to his tints. This he appears to have done in his 
 picture of a Nunziata at Guastalla, in that of San Lodovico 
 in the church del Santo at Padua, and in a Nativity of the 
 Virgin at San Giovanni, in the same city. This last specimen, 
 indeed, is almost unequalled in its attractions, and seems to 
 authorize the praises bestowed upon Rotari by a poet, “ that 
 he resembled his fellow-citizen Catullus in being nursed by the 
 Graces,” a species of eulogy applicable also to Balestra and to 
 other Veronese artists. 
 
 Santo Prunati was contemporary with Marchesini and 
 Balestra, and after receiving the instructions of Voltolino and 
 Falcieri in Verona, he attended those of Loth in Venice. 
 Better to acquire superior correctness and dignity of manner, 
 he next proceeded to Bologna. In that school he found the 
 taste in colouring that he wanted, at once soft and natural. 
 In the design, and in the expression of his heads, he displays 
 more of the naturalist, if I mistake not, than any of those 
 who preceded him. He was engaged also for larger composi¬ 
 tions, in which he distinguished himself, both in his own 
 district and elsewhere, and left behind him a son named 
 Michelangelo, who pursued, as far as lay in his power, the 
 footsteps of his father. In the cathedral of Verona, however, 
 is one of his pictures, placed near the San Francesco di Sales 
 
312 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 of his father, which serves to mark the wide difference that 
 exists between them. 
 
 In the same school, along with Michelangelo, studied Gio. 
 Bettino Cignaroli, an artist instructed also by Balestra. 
 Until about the year 1770 he ranked among the first of his 
 time, receiving very flattering invitations from foreign courts, 
 to which he invariably preferred the convenience of his own 
 house and country. The prices he was in the habit of attach¬ 
 ing to his works were, nevertheless, those of a court painter; 
 and many were executed for the principal royal galleries, as 
 well as for the cities of the state, and those of other parts of 
 Italy; but which, we must admit, are by no means of equal 
 merit. I omit his paintings in fresco, on account of his having 
 abandoned that branch of the art, owing to his state of health^ 
 while yet young, though not until he had afforded specimens 
 of his powers in the noble house of Labia at Venice, during a 
 four years’ residence there. It is his pictures in oil of which 
 we here speak, and to which he owed his great reputation. 
 The one at Pontremoli, however, representing, as it is said, a 
 San Francesco in the act of receiving the marks of Christ, 
 and extremely well executed, I have not seen. His San Zorzi 
 at Pisa stands conspicuous among a number of excellent 
 pencils, all employed in the ornament of that single cathedral. 
 Perhaps his finest is his Journey into Egypt, seen at San 
 Antonio Abate in Parma. In this he has represented the 
 Virgin with the Holy Child, in the act of passing a narrow 
 bridge, while S. Joseph appears engaged in assisting them to 
 cross it in safety. In the countenance and whole action of 
 the saint, his anxiety for them is strongly depicted, which is 
 beautifully expressed by his disregarding a part of his mantle, 
 fallen from his shoulders into the water below, an image 
 equally skilful and natural in every point of view. The rest 
 of the picture is also in his best style. The angels in attend¬ 
 ance, the Divine Infant, the Holy Virgin, all drawn, as he so 
 well knew how, with a sedate and dignified beauty, in the 
 usual manner of Maratta. In some points, indeed, Cignaroli 
 much resembled him ; in certain attitudes, in a peculiar sobri- 
 ety of composition, in a certain choice and vicinity of colours, 
 though not in their just and equal tone. His fleshes, too 
 much mannered with green, in a few places touched with red, 
 
GIO. BETTINO CIGNAROLI. 
 
 313 
 
 render his colouring less agreeable to admirers of what is 
 true, while his chiaroscuro, sometimes sought for beyond the 
 limits of nature, is apt to produce an effect in his paintings, 
 not so pleasing to the judgment as to the eye. He often 
 displays novelty in the individual parts, availing himself of 
 architecture, of sea-views, and of landscape, in a manner 
 above common; besides introducing into his compositions, for 
 the most part of a scriptural character, the playful figures of 
 cherubim, with other enlivening incidents. This artist was 
 indisputably possessed of a fine genius, and born in times 
 favourable to the eminence which he enjoyed. Memoirs of 
 him were collected and published by the celebrated Padre 
 Bevilacqua dell’ Oratorio in the year 1771, and eulogies were 
 pronounced upon him both in prose and verse, by a number 
 of literary characters connected with that city, so highly 
 polished and so grateful to such of its citizens as reflect honour 
 upon their native place. A collection of these was subse¬ 
 quently made, and put forth in the year 1772, and from such 
 publications it would appear that few artists had received 
 equal honours, during their lifetime, from the great, particu¬ 
 larly from the Emperor Joseph II., who was used to declare 
 '‘that he had beheld two very rare sights in Yerona—one the 
 Amphitheatre, and the other the most celebrated painter in 
 Europe.” He appears, likewise, to have been an artist of 
 great learning, as well as fond of conversing with learned 
 men; he was acquainted with philosophical systems, wrote 
 Tuscan poetry, relished the Roman classics, besides producing 
 treatises on his own art, written with so much taste and sound 
 judgment, that we have only to regret, for the sake of the art 
 he loved, the too sparing use he made of such talents. The 
 academy, on which he bestowed the whole of his works 
 upon Painting, after his decease, still preserves his bust along 
 with his eulogy, a farther honour conferred upon him by the 
 liberality of his country. He left several pupils, among whom 
 Giandomenico, his brother, produced some paintings in Ber¬ 
 gamo that have been commended by Pasta. The Padre Felice 
 Cignaroli, Minore Osservante, is an artist likewise worthy of 
 mention. He painted little, and his master-piece appears in 
 the refectory of San Bernardino, his convent at Verona, con- 
 
314 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 sisting of a Supper at Emmaus, in which, though less studied, 
 he displays no less invention than his brothers. 
 
 Next to these, who escaped oblivion as belonging to the 
 family of Cignaroli, an artist named Giorgio Anselmi deserves 
 best to be put upon record, and in particular for his painting 
 of the cupola of San Andrea at Mantua, ably executed in 
 fresco : at one time he was the pupil of Balestra. Marco 
 Marco!a was an almost universal artist, rapid in his labours, 
 and abundant in his inventions, though I am unable to learn 
 who had been his master. Tiepolo gave instructions to Fran¬ 
 cesco Lorenzi, distinguished both for his frescos and his oils, 
 and always by his adherence to his master’s example. There 
 are various ceilings painted by his hand in Verona, and Bres¬ 
 cia presents a Holy Family, all of which display an able artist, 
 according to the manner of the age. 
 
 In inferior branches of the art, there flourished, during this 
 period, professors of much repute. The art of drawing in 
 crayons rose to a high degree of excellence, through the genius 
 of a distinguished lady of the name of Rosalba Carriera,* 
 whose paintings in miniature have been highly commended by 
 Orlaijdi. She next proceeded to the use of oils, but finally 
 devoted her talents to that of crayons. So great was her 
 progress in this branch, that her specimens in point of force 
 were often equal to oil-pieces. They were in much request 
 from the period in which she flourished, both in Italy and in 
 other parts ; nor did they merely please by their clearness and 
 beauty of colouring, but were remarkable for the grace and 
 dignity of design with which she animated every thing she 
 drew. Tier Madonnas and other scriptural subjects at once 
 unite elegance and majesty of manner, while her portraits con¬ 
 tinued to increase in value without losing any thing of their 
 truth. We meet with another excellent portrait-paintress in 
 Niccola Grassi, pupil to Cassana, of Genoa, and a rival of 
 
 * Melchiori gives us an account of this lady’s master, not undeserving 
 of being added to the last edition. This was the noble Gio. Antonio 
 Lazzari, a Venetian, who had talents that rivalled those of Rosalba in 
 crayons, had not his natural timidity proved a bar to his fame. In paint- 
 ing also he attempted little of an inventive character, copying much, and 
 more particularly from Bassano, with great success, as we have observed 
 at page 205. 
 
D. GIUSEPPE RONCELLI. 
 
 315 
 
 Rosalba. Nor was she unequal to works of invention, one of the 
 most extensive of which adorns the church of San Valentino in 
 Udine, where she painted the Assumption in the ceiling, a fine 
 piece on the large altar, and drew figures for other pictures of 
 various saints belonging to the Order of the Serviti. Pietro 
 Uberti, son of Domenico, an artist of mediocrity, is celebrated 
 in the Guida of Zanetti for his portraits, of which he produced 
 eight, representing the Avogadori of his times, for the Avo- 
 garia or court-house, which was considered a very honourable 
 commission, bestowed formerly upon Paolo de’ Freschi, Do¬ 
 menico Tintoretto, Tinelli, Bombelli, artists all celebrated in 
 the same career. Orlandi bestows great commendation upon 
 Gio. Batista Canziani of Verona, distinguished likewise in 
 this branch, and who, on being banished from his native place 
 for an act of homicide, continued to exercise it with success in 
 Bol&gna. 
 
 I do not recollect to have seen the landscapes of Pecchio in 
 Verona, though the fine encomium bestowed upon him by 
 Balestra, in one of his “ Lettere Pittoriche,” leads me to hold 
 him in high esteem. In the adjacent parts at Said appeared 
 Gio. Batista Cimaroli, a pupil of Calza, who was much admired, 
 both by foreigners and natives at Venice. Among landscape- 
 painters I find in several galleries the name of Formentini, the 
 figures of whose pieces were from the pencil of Marchesini. 
 D. Giuseppe Roncelli of Bergamo is another artist who 
 acquired ruputation, and whose virtues procured for him, from 
 the pen of Mazzoleni, the honour of a life, while his singular 
 skill in depicting nocturnal conflagrations, as well as landscapes, 
 induced Celesti to add figures to them. In Padua the land¬ 
 scapes of Marini were in high repute, to which Brusaferro 
 likewise added variety with his figures. Still more than these 
 Luca Carlevaris, an excellent painter of landscape at Udine, 
 rose into notice, no less distinguished also by his perspectives 
 and sea-views. Public specimens of his labours still remain at 
 "V enice, though not so numerous as in private houses, particu¬ 
 larly in possession of the Zenobri family, who so far patronized 
 his talents as to procure for him the name of Luca di Ca Zeno- 
 brio. To him succeeded the nephew of Sebastiano Ricci, 
 named Marco, who, pursuing the safe career chalked out by 
 Titian, and availing himself of the delightful site of his native 
 
316 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 place at Belluno, became one of tbe ablest landscape-painters 
 belonging to the Venetian school. It would be no exaggera¬ 
 tion to say that few before his time distinguished themselves 
 with equal force of truth, and that those who succeeded him 
 have never equalled him in this respect. In order to estimate 
 his worth, we are not to consult such landscapes as he painted 
 for sale and disposed of to dealers; nor those executed in 
 water-colours upon goat-skin, which, though very pleasing, are 
 wanting in solidity. We ought to consult only his oil produc¬ 
 tions, conducted with far more care, and more commonly to be 
 met with in England than in Italy. Indeed he had a much 
 more extended taste than he displayed in his works. The two 
 brother artists named Valeriano, declared that he had afforded 
 them the most enlightened views of the art. These were 
 Domenico, a painter of perspectives, and Giuseppe, a figure- 
 painter, both employed in ornamenting different churches, and 
 more particularly theatres, in Venice, and indeed throughout 
 Italy and other parts of Europe. Francesco Zuccarelli passed 
 a great portion of his life in the city of Venice, an artist already 
 recorded by us among the Florentines, and by whose example 
 Giuseppe Zais was formed as a landscape-painter, being parti¬ 
 cularly employed in that branch by the British consul Smith, 
 a distinguished patron of youthful genius devoted to the art 
 In point of invention he was more varied and copious than his 
 master, but inferior to him in the mellowness of his tints. 
 He had acquired from Simonini, who also resided during a 
 long period at Venice, the art of painting battle-pieces, in 
 which he shewed equal skill. But he failed to sustain either 
 his own dignity or that of his art, and giving himself up to 
 carelessness and dissipation, he died a common mendicant in 
 the hospital of Trevigi. 
 
 Carlevaris and Ricci are names likewise highly esteemed in 
 architectural painting. Several specimens of this are to be 
 seen in possession of his Excellency Girolamo Molin, placed 
 as if in competition with each other in one of the halls. If 
 we compare them, the former will appear somewhat languid 
 and monotonous, although he must be allowed to be an 
 accurate observer of perspective, and succeeds in harmonizing 
 his figures well with the picture. The latter, however, dis¬ 
 plays more strength, partaking of the erudite taste of Viviano, 
 
ANTONIO CANALETTO. 
 
 317 
 
 while the figures introduced into it by his uncle are full of 
 pictorial fire and attraction, and greatly add to its worth. 
 But both of these, to use the language of Dante, were after¬ 
 wards carciati di nido , driven from their nest, by Antonio 
 Canal, more generally called Canaletto. Sprung from a 
 painter of theatres of the name of Bernardo, he embraced the 
 profession of his father, attaining to a novelty of design, and 
 a promptness of hand in this branch, that were afterwards of 
 great use to him in painting innumerable smaller pictures for 
 private ornament. Disgusted with his first profession, he 
 removed while still young to Rome, where he wholly devoted 
 himself to drawing views from nature, and in particular from 
 ancient ruins. On returning into Venice he continued in like 
 manner to take views of that city, views that nature and art 
 seem to have vied with each other in rendering the most novel 
 and magnificent in the world. A great part he drew exactly 
 as he saw them, a pleasing illusion for the satisfaction of those 
 who were never so fortunate as to behold the Adriatic Queen 
 with their own eyes. He moreover composed a great number 
 of inventive pieces, forming a graceful union of the modern 
 and the antique, of truth and fancy together. Several of 
 these he produced for Algarotti; but the most novel and 
 instructive of any, as it seems to me, is the production in 
 which the grand bridge of Rialto, designed by Palladio, 
 instead of that which at present is seen, overlooks the great 
 canal, crowned beyond with the cathedral of Vicenza, and 
 the Palazzo Chericato, Palladio’s own works, along with other 
 choice edifices, disposed according to the taste of that learned 
 writer, who has so much contributed to improve that of all 
 Italy, and even beyond Italy itself. For the greater correct¬ 
 ness of his perspectives, Canaletto made use of the optic 
 camera, though he obviated its defects, especially in the tints 
 of the airs. The first indeed to point out the real use of it, 
 he limited it only to what was calculated to afford pleasure. 
 He aimed at producing great effect, and in this partakes some¬ 
 what of Tiepolo, who occasionally introduced figures into his 
 pieces for him. In whatever he employs his pencil, whether 
 buildings, waters, clouds, or figures, he never fails to impress 
 them with a vigorous character, always viewing objects in 
 their most favourable aspect. When he avails himself of a 
 
318 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 certain pictorial license, he does it with caution, and in such a 
 way that the generality of spectators consider it quite natural, 
 while true judges only are sensible of its art, an art that he 
 possessed in a very eminent degree. 
 
 His nephew and pupil, Bernardo Bellotto, approached so 
 nearly to his style, that it is with difficulty their respective 
 pieces are distinguished. He also visited Rome, though when 
 Orlandi bestowed his encomiums upon him in his work, he 
 was at Dresden, and it is uncertain whether lie again returned 
 into Italy. Francesco Guardi was recently esteemed a second 
 Canaletto, his views of Venice having attracted the admiration 
 not only of Italy but of foreign parts, yet with such persons 
 alone who are satisfied with the spirit, the taste, and the fine 
 effect which he invariably studied; as in other points, in 
 accuracy of proportions, and in judgment as regards the art, 
 lie cannot pretend to vie with his master. Several others 
 likewise excelled in this species of painting, whose pictures I 
 saw in the Algarotti collection and in other places ; such as 
 Jacopo Marieschi, who was also a good figurist, and Antonio 
 ^ isentini, whose views were ornamented with the figures of 
 Tiepolo and Zuccherelli. Gio. Colombini of Trevigi, pupil to 
 Bastian Ricci, whose Pecile was the Dominican convent in 
 that place, succeeded in his perspectives in giving illusion to 
 the eye, and in the masterly gradation of the different objects 
 of view. The figures he has introduced are his own, though 
 he was less skilful in this branch. He filled that place with 
 his portraits, introducing another family, as it were, of 
 painted Dominicans, and not without some appearance of 
 caricature. 
 
 In other minor branches of the art, the flowers of Domenico 
 Lero were extremely admired. He was pupil to Felice Bigi 
 of Parma, who opened school in Verona. To his we may add 
 those of one Catfi and a few other natives, though the most 
 choice collectors pride themselves upon the specimens of Gas- 
 pero Lopez, a Neapolitan. Thus at least he subscribes himself 
 in one of his most beautiful works, in possession of the Conti 
 Lecchi at Brescia, where, as well as in the capital, he resided 
 during a long period. About the middle of the century there 
 appeared one of his imitators, named in various collections 
 Duramauo, an artist somewhat too much given to mannerism. 
 
RIDOLFO MANZONI. 
 
 319 
 
 Both the flowers and birds of Count Giorgio Durante of 
 Brescia were eagerly sought after, no less on account of their 
 exact imitation of the life, than for their taste of composition, 
 and the truly beautiful and picturesque attitudes in which they 
 were drawn. They are rarely to be met with beyond Brescia, 
 though several noble Venetian families, and among these that 
 of Nani, possess a few specimens ; but the best, perhaps, 
 of all is to be seen in the royal court at Turin. The name of 
 Ridolfo Manzoni is distinguished in the same line of compo¬ 
 sition ; he was a native of Castelfranco, and several of his 
 little pictures in oil, in the best taste, are there found in pos¬ 
 session of different individuals. But he derived his chief 
 reputation, as well as profit, from his miniature productions. 
 In the “ History of Painting in the Frioul,” we meet with the 
 name of another artist, Paolo Paoletti, a native of Padua. He 
 passed his early youth in Udine, and was employed for many 
 years in the house of the Conti Caiselli. Although more par¬ 
 ticularly celebrated in his flowers, he drew with great truth 
 all kinds of fruits, herbs, fishes, and game. The family in 
 which he was domesticated possesses quite a museum of these 
 rarities, and numerous specimens are met with in other hands, 
 both within and beyond the limits of the Frioul. In his 
 flower-paintings be is compared by Altan even with the cele¬ 
 brated Segers, an extent of liberality in which I by no means 
 agree. 
 
 In the last place we have here to treat of an art that received 
 great improvement during this century in Venice, an art which, 
 though not directed to the increase of copies, is nevertheless 
 of some importance to painting, inasmuch as it favours the 
 duration of ancient productions, by adopting the most judi¬ 
 cious means of preserving and restoring them. Such methods 
 were more valuable also to Venice than to any other city, its 
 climate being particularly unfavourable to paintings in oil, 
 owing to the salts with which the air is impregnated, gra¬ 
 dually eating away or injuring the colours. For this reason 
 the government very judiciously appointed a number of artists 
 to inspect the public exhibitions, and watch over the preser¬ 
 vation of the paintings which were found inclined to decay, 
 restoring them without incurring the risk, as it sometimes 
 
320 
 
 VENETIAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 happens, of anew one being substituted for an ancient speci¬ 
 men. A studio for this purpose was opened in 1778, consist¬ 
 ing of a large saloon at the Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the super¬ 
 intendence of which was intrusted to the care of the learned 
 Peter Edwards, who received the title of President. The 
 various processes adopted in the restoration of each specimen 
 are extremely long and tedious, and executed with surprising 
 accuracy ; and in instances where the picture has not suffered 
 too greatly from the effects of injury or time (like the 
 S. Lorenzo of Titian), it returns with renewed youth from the 
 studio, calculated to survive the lapse of many more years. 
 
 Other equally useful methods have been adopted by the 
 Republic for the preservation of the fine models that adorn its 
 churches, in order that they should not run the risk of being 
 sold and carried away. Plence it is that the state, even 
 throughout its most diminutive districts and towns, has been 
 enabled to preserve so many valuable paintings ; while, at the 
 same time, it has furnished provision for its youthful artists, 
 best calculated to facilitate their improvement. During seve¬ 
 ral centuries the ancient company of painters, ennobled by 
 the names of distinguished pupils, continued to flourish ; but 
 there was still wanting the sort of reputation arising from 
 dignity of situation and establishment, from the number and 
 assiduity of its masters, and from the distribution of rewards. 
 Since the year 1724 it was decreed, and confirmed in 1766, 
 that a magnificent academy should be erected, devoted to the 
 fine arts, “ upon the plan,” as was further stated, “ of the 
 principal institutions in Italy aud throughout Europe.” And 
 it forms indeed an object gratifying to the mind of the most 
 accomplished foreigners, to behold this seat of art, and <;o cul¬ 
 tivate an acquaintance with its objects and pursuits. These 
 views of the government have been promoted by the private 
 individuals of that most splendid body of nobility, an assem¬ 
 bly in which the Abate Filippo Farsetti very liberally dis¬ 
 tinguished himself, by presenting the institution with a large 
 collection of paintings, and casts taken from the finest antique 
 statues. Their successors have displayed the same kind of spirit, 
 nor did they merely afford students access to the study of 
 these monuments; but their finest productions, in every year, 
 
OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 321 
 
 are selected according to the juugment of public professors, 
 and rewarded with all the ceremony and munificence worthy 
 of such an institution. 
 
 Nor have other nobles and gentlemen throughout the city 
 and the state of Venice been wanting in liberality towards 
 young artists of genius, enabling them to pursue their studies 
 both at home and abroad, until they have completed their 
 education. Few contributions indeed confer so much honour 
 upon families as these ; for in addition to the merit of succouring 
 a fellow-creature and a fellow-citizen, there are thus expec¬ 
 tations to be indulged that some genius may rise up capable 
 of conferring honour upon the arts, and perhaps restoring them 
 to their ancient merit. We have it in our power to record 
 various instances of this liberal spirit ; we could mention a 
 number of excellent artists who express their gratitude for 
 the kindness of their patrons, did not the rule we have laid 
 down for ourselves not to introduce the eulogies of living 
 artists, in order to avoid occasion of complaint to such as may 
 be omitted, forbid the enumeration of them. Still I may 
 allude to an instance of it in another branch of the art, which 
 is very generally known, and this is the generous encourage¬ 
 ment afforded by their Excellencies Falier and Zulian to 
 Antonio Canova, the celebrated sculptor, encouragement to 
 which Rome and Italy are in a great degree indebted for such 
 an artist. He suffices to convince us, that though Fortune 
 may indeed deprive our country of her great master-pieces 
 of art, she cannot destroy the genius capable of reproducing 
 them. 
 
 VOL. II, 
 
322 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE SCHOOLS OE LOMBARDY. 
 
 After a consideration of the principles and progress of paint¬ 
 ing in Lombardy, I came to the conclusion that its history 
 ought to be treated and arranged in a manner altogether dif¬ 
 ferent from the rest of the schools. Indeed those of Florence, 
 of Rome, of Venice, and of Bologna, may be almost consi¬ 
 dered in the light of so many dramas, in which there occurs 
 an interchange of acts and scenes, for such are the epochs of 
 each school; and there is also a change of actors, for such are 
 the masters of each new period ; but the unity of place, which 
 is no other than the capital city, is invariably preserved ; 
 while the principal actors, and as it were protagonists of the 
 story, always continue in action, at least in the way of exam¬ 
 ple. Every capital, it is true, is in possession of its own 
 state, and in that ought to be comprehended the various other 
 cities, and the revolutions in each; but these are in general so 
 nearly connected with those of the metropolis as to be easily 
 reducible to the same leading law, either because the state 
 artists have acquired the art in the principal city, or because 
 they have taught it there, as may easily be gathered from the 
 history of the Venetian school; while the few who wander 
 out of the usual routine, cannot be said to infringe greatly 
 upon the unity of the school and the succession of its histories. 
 But it happens differently in the history of Lombardy, which, 
 in the happier periods of the art, being divided into many 
 more districts than it now is, possessed in each state a school 
 distinct from all the others ; enumerated also distinct eras ; 
 and when the style of one influenced that of another, such a 
 circumstance occurred neither so universally, nor so near in 
 
SCHOOLS OF LOMBARDY. 
 
 323 
 
 regard to time, as to admit of the same epoch being applied to 
 many of them. Hence it is, that even from the outset of this 
 book, I renounce the received manner of speaking which 
 would mention the Lombard school, as if in itself consti¬ 
 tuting one school, in such a way as to be compared for in¬ 
 stance with the Venetian, which in every place acknowledged 
 the sway of its sovereign masters; of the Bellini first, next 
 of Titian and his noblest contemporaries, and then of Palma ; 
 and moreover established several characteristics of design, of 
 colouring, of composition, of the use of the pencil, so as easily 
 to distinguish it from every other school. But in that which 
 is called the Lombard the case is otherwise. For its founders, 
 such as Lionardo, Giulio, the Canipi, and Correggio, are too 
 widely opposed to each other to admit of being brought under 
 one standard of taste, and referred to the same epoch. I am 
 aware that Correggio, being by birth a Lombard, and the origi¬ 
 nator of a new style that afforded an example to many artists 
 in that part of Italy, has conferred the name of Lombard school 
 upon the followers of his maxims; and according to these 
 characteristics the contours were to be drawn round and full, 
 the countenance warm and smiling, the union of the colours 
 strong and clear, the foreshortenings frequent, with a parti¬ 
 cular regard to the chiaroscuro. But the school thus circum¬ 
 scribed, where shall we find a place for the Mantuans, the 
 Milanese, the Cremonese, and the many others who, having 
 been born, and having flourished in Lombardy, and moreover 
 being the tutors of a long extended line, justly deserve a rank 
 among the Lombards. 
 
 From such considerations I have judged it most advisable 
 to treat severally of each school, enlarging upon them more or 
 less, according as the number of the professors and the infor¬ 
 mation respecting them may seem to render it requisite. 
 For the accounts of some of these schools have been already 
 separately compiled; Zaist having treated of the Gremonese 
 painters, and Tiraboschi of the Modenese ; thus conferring 
 upon artists the same obligations which he so richly conferred 
 upon the literati in a still greater work; a rare writer, for 
 whose loss we yet indulge a mournful recollection. In the 
 rest of the schools I shall be supplied with ample materials 
 from Vasari, from Lomazzo, and the Guides of the cities, 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LOMBARDY. 
 
 besides some authors to be cited when requisite, together with 
 iny own observations and sources of information borrowed 
 from different places; whence it is hoped that the pictoric 
 history of Lombardy, the least known amongst all the schools 
 of Italy, may by my means have at least some additional 
 light thrown upon it. 
 
325 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 Of Mantegna and his Successors. 
 
 I shall first commence with Mantua, from which there 
 emanated two sister schools, those of Modena and of Parma. 
 Were any one desirous of investigating the most ancient 
 remains that the art of colouring in that state can boast, he 
 might record the celebrated anthem book, still preserved at 
 S. Benedetto at Mantua, a gift of the Countess Matilda to 
 that monastery, which being founded by her long preserved 
 her remains, transferred during the late century into the 
 Vatican. In this book, shewn me by the learned and cour¬ 
 teous Abbate Mari, are exhibited several little histories of the 
 life and death of the Virgin, which, notwithstanding the bar¬ 
 barous period in which they were produced, display some 
 taste, insomuch that I do not remember having seen any work 
 of the same age at all equal to it. Upon this subject it may 
 not be useless to observe, that in ages less uncivilized, and 
 nearer our own, the art of miniature was practised in Mantua 
 by a great number of professors, among whom is Gio. de 
 Russi, who, about the year 1455, illustrated, for the Duke 
 Borso of Modena, the Bible of Este, in large folio, one of the 
 rarest specimens of that distinguished collection. But in 
 regard to pictures, I have been able to discover no artist who 
 flourished in that place previous to Mantegna; and it is only 
 some anonymous productions belonging to the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries, that can be mentioned as remaining to this 
 day. Of the former age, I saw in the cioister of S. Fran¬ 
 cesco, a sepulchre, erected in 1303, with a Madonna among 
 various angels, all rude and disproportioned figures, though 
 
326 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I 
 
 coloured with such strong and animated tints as to appear 
 truly surprising. I doubt not but that the revival of painting 
 in Lombardy, through the genius of its natives, might be fairly 
 proved from the existence of this monument, as its age is 
 anterior to that of the followers of Giotto, scattered through¬ 
 out Italy ; besides, the style is different. Of the fifteenth I 
 have seen another Madonna upon an altar likewise of S. Fran¬ 
 cesco ; and whoever may have been the author, he has shewn 
 that the art, even in those days, had already emerged from its 
 infancy, without arriving at that rank to which the great 
 Andrea Mantegna conducted it, of whom we have twice 
 already had occasion to speak shortly in the course of this 
 work; a subject which we now resume, and shall enlarge 
 upon more fully. 
 
 Although the honour of having given birth to Mantegna 
 can no longer, as formerly, be denied to Padua, his school was, 
 nevertheless, established in Mantua, where, under the auspices 
 of Marcliese Lodovico Gonzaga, he settled with his family, 
 without, however, ceasing to exert his talents elsewhere, and 
 more particularly in Rome. The chapel which he painted at 
 the desire of Innocent VIII. in the Vatican still exists, though 
 injured by time ; and it is clear that in the imitation of the 
 antique constantly pursued by him he greatly improved, 
 through the number of examples to be found throughout the 
 city. He never varied his manner, which I described when 
 I treated of him as a pupil of Squarcione in Padua; but he 
 still continued to perfect it. Several works produced during 
 his latter years are yet extant at Mantua , and far surpassing 
 the rest is his picture of Victory, painted upon canvas. 
 Another is the Virgin, amidst various saints, among whom 
 S. Michele the archangel, and S. Maurizio, are seen holding 
 her mantle, which is stretched over Francesco Gonzaga ; he 
 is in a kneeling posture, while the Virgin extends her hand 
 over him in sign of protection : more in the back-ground 
 appear the two patrons of the city, S. Andrea and S. Longino, 
 and the infant St. John before the throne, with S. Anna, as 
 is supposed at least by Vasari and Ridolfi, little exact in their 
 description of this picture, inasmuch as the rosary held in her 
 hand distinguishes her for the princess, consort of the Mar- 
 chese, kneeling at her husband’s side. Mantua, perhaps, 
 
ANDREA MANTEGNA. 
 
 327 
 
 boasts no other specimen equally sought after and admired by 
 strangers ; and though produced in 1495, it is still free, in a 
 conspicuous degree, from the effects of three ages, which it has 
 already survived. It is truly wonderful to behold carnations 
 so delicate, coats of armour so glittering, draperies so finely 
 varied, with ornamental fruits still so fresh and dewy to the eye. 
 Each separate head might serve as a school, from its fine cha¬ 
 racter and vivacity, and not a few from imitation of the antique ; 
 while the design, as well in its naked as in its clothed parts, 
 expresses a softness which sufficiently repels the too general 
 opinion, that the stiff style and that of Mantegna are much 
 the same thing. There is also an union of colours, a delicacy 
 of hand, and a peculiar grace, that to me appears almost the 
 last stage of the art towards that perfection which it acquired 
 from Lionardo. His works upon canvas remind us of that 
 exquisite taste to which he had been habituated by Squarcione, 
 who supplied him with pictures of the same kind from various 
 places, and indeed the whole of the above specimen discovers 
 him to have been an artist who spared neither his colours nor 
 his time, to produce works that might satisfy his own ideas, 
 as well as the eye of the spectator. 
 
 His great master-piece, nevertheless, according to the judg¬ 
 ment of Yasari, is the Triumph of Caesar, represented in 
 different pictures, which, becoming the prey of the Germans 
 in the sackage of the city, were finally sent into England. 
 They belonged to a great hall in the palace of S. Sebastiano, 
 “ which was completed,” says Equicola, an historian of his 
 native place, “ by Lorenzo Costa, an excellent artist, who 
 added to it all that pomp which used to attend upon a triumph, 
 besides the spectators before wanting.” But these pictures 
 having perished, there yet remain other considerable robes 
 from the works of Andrea, in a saloon of the castle, entitled 
 by Ridolfi the Camera degli Sposi. We there behold copious 
 productions executed in fresco, and among them several por¬ 
 traits of the Gonzaga family, still in good preservation ; and 
 some genii drawn over a door-way, so joyous, animated, and 
 airy, that nothing can be supposed to surpass them. Among 
 collections of art we more rarely meet with specimens of him 
 than is really believed, his genuine hand being recognised, not 
 only by its lightness, by its rectilinear folds, or by its yellowish 
 
328 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 landscape, spread with certain minute and broken stones; but 
 by the skill of its design and the delicacy of its pencil. It 
 does not appear that he produced many pictures for private 
 exhibition, engaged as he was in works of greater magnitude, 
 and upon many engravings. More than fifty of these last 
 have been enumerated, for the chief part abounding with 
 figures; labours which must have occupied a large portion of 
 his best time. But there are some persons, as I have observed 
 (vol. i. p. 116), who would considerably reduce this number, 
 whether correctly or not posterity will, perhaps, ascertain. 
 
 The style of Andrea greatly influenced that of his age, and 
 imitations of it are to be seen even beyond his school, which 
 was extremely flourishing in Mantua. We enumerate among 
 his most distinguished disciples Francesco, and one of his 
 other sons. There is a paper yet extant, in which they 
 undertake to complete the chamber of the castle just alluded 
 to, of which their father, Andrea, had only painted the walls. 
 To these they added the beautiful vaulted recess. Whoever 
 examines it must confess that the science of foreshortening, 
 originally attributed to Melozio, was here improved and nearly 
 brought to perfection by Mantegna and his sons.* In the 
 same work appear several exquisitely drawn infantine figures, 
 under different points of view, and admirably shortened so as 
 to lose nothing in comparison with those of Melozio, though 
 his painting of Paradise, drawn for the church of SS. Apos- 
 toli, was afterwards cut down and placed in the grand 
 Palazzo Quirinale. The same sons of Mantegna likewise 
 added lateral pictures to an altar-piece of their father, in a 
 family chapel they had, attached to the church of S. Andrea j 
 and in the same place they raised a beautiful monument to his 
 memory in 1517, which has been falsely supposed by some 
 to be in© year of his death, whereas it appears, from many 
 authentic works, that he closed his days in 1505. 
 
 After the death of Mantegna, Lorenzo Costa held the first 
 
 * Mantegna’s chef-d'oeuvre in this line now adorns the I. R. Pinaco- 
 teca of Milan. Brought to that city by the Cav. Giuseppe Bossi, it was 
 purchased by the government, and represents a Dead Christ, with the 
 two Marys weeping. 1 he foreshortening is so perfect, the perspective so 
 correct, that from whatever point it is viewed, the body is still seen ex¬ 
 tended in its full proportion in length.—A. 
 
CARLO DLL MANTEGNA. 
 
 329 
 
 rank, an artist of whom we shall treat more at length in the 
 Bolognese school. He adorned the palace with various histo¬ 
 ries, and the churches with many of his pictures, continuing 
 under Francesco to reside in the same place, and afterwards 
 under Federigo, until beyond the year 1525, in which time 
 he produced also his picture for his family chapel. There too, 
 like Mantegna, he wished to have his remains deposited. 
 Following his example, he established his family in Mantua, 
 where some of his descendants will again appear at a more 
 modern epoch. But the young Mantegni must be referred to 
 this more ancient period, and along with them ought to be 
 mentioned Carlo del Mantegna, who having studied some 
 length of time under Andrea, and cultivated a complete 
 acquaintance with his style, afterwards introduced it, as we 
 shall shew, into Genoa. Carlo is supposed to have assisted in 
 the labours of the palace and the chapel above mentioned, as 
 well as in many others ascribed to the disciples of Mantegna, 
 among which are two histories of the ark preserved in the 
 monastery of S. Benedetto at Mantua, where Andrea’s manner 
 appears somewhat more amplified, though boasting less beauti¬ 
 ful forms. But few certain productions of his followers can 
 be fixed upon, their laboui’s being confounded by connoisseurs, 
 from their resemblance of their style and name to those of 
 their master. And it has thus happened in an extremely 
 interesting historical point; for Correggio having studied, it 
 appears, under Francesco Mantegna, was believed a scholar of 
 Andrea, already deceased before Allegri had attained his 
 twelfth year. 
 
 Still more celebrated than the preceding were the names of 
 Gianfrancesco Carotto and Francesco Monsignori, of Yerona. 
 Such was the progress made by the former, that Andrea was 
 in the habit of sending forth his labours as the work of his 
 own hand. He was celebrated for his portraits; and for 
 his composition, equally excellent in large as in small pieces ; 
 and he was employed by the Visconti, at Milan, as well as in 
 the court of Monferrato, and to a still greater extent in his 
 native place. Although an artist who flourished at so early a 
 period, in a few of his pictures he might be pronounced more 
 great and harmonious than Andrea himself; as we may gather 
 from his fine altar-piece of S. Fermo, at Verona, and from 
 
330 
 
 MANTUAJS SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 that of his Angioli, at Santa Eufemia, whose side pictures 
 represent two virgins, very manifestly imitated from Raffaello. 
 He is not to be confounded with Giovanni Carotto, his brother 
 and his pupil, and very greatly inferior to him. Francesco 
 Monsignori ought not to be referred to Verona, but to Mantua, 
 where he established himself, honoured by the Marchese 
 Francesco with his confidence, and remunerated in the most 
 liberal manner. If this artist, also, does not exhibit the 
 beautiful forms, and the purity of design so remarkable in the 
 works of his master, he approaches nearer to the modern 
 taste; his contours more full, his drapery less trite, and his 
 softness more finely studied. In his drawings of animals, he 
 was also considered the Zeuxis of his age; insomuch that he 
 succeeded in imposing upon a real dog with a copy of the animal. 
 In perspective he was a master ; and in the refectory of the 
 Franciscans, there is a picture of our Lord amidst the apostles, 
 exhibiting an architecture, which, however much retouched, 
 does not fail to produce great effect. In the pulpit of the 
 same church is also a S. Bernardino, with a S. Lodovico, one 
 of his most beautiful pieces; * and elsewhere altar-grades, 
 with figures which appear like miniature. He had a brother 
 of the name of Girolamo, of the order of S. Domenico, also 
 an excellent artist. The Last Supper, to be seen in the grand 
 library of S. Benedetto, copied from that of Leonardo, in 
 Milan, is from his hand. By many it is esteemed the best 
 copy of that miracle of art which now remains to us. I have 
 before treated of several of Andrea’s scholars, natives of 
 Vicenza; and another of Cremona, I shall have to mention 
 in due time. Yet the entire series of this school will not be 
 completed with these names, as there are specimens of many 
 unknown artists executed in fresco, interspersed throughout 
 different places in Mantua. They are for the most part to be 
 met with on the fa<jades of buildings, and in the churches; 
 while in several of the galleries we may observe pictures in 
 oil, which appear to exhibit more of the defects than of the 
 excellences of Mantegna. 
 
 * This highly lauded work by Monsignori has also been added to the 
 valuable collection of the I. R. Pinacoteca at Milan.— A. 
 
:i3! 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Giulio Romano and his School. 
 
 The school of the Mantegneschi having become extinct in 
 Mantua, another of a more beautiful and distinguished cha¬ 
 racter arose, sufficient to excite the envy even of Rome. 
 Duke Federigo had succeeded to Francesco, a prince of much 
 enlargement of mind, and so much devoted to the fine arts, 
 that no artist of common genius would have been equal to 
 execute his ideas. Through the interest of Baldassar Casti- 
 glione, then extremely intimate with Raffaello, Giulio Romano 
 was prevailed upon to visit Mantua, where he became at once 
 engineer and painter to Duke Federigo. The duties, how¬ 
 ever, of the first, occupied him more than those of the second. 
 For the city having been damaged by the waters of the 
 Mincio, the buildings being insecure or badly planned, and 
 the architecture inferior to the dignity of a capital, he was 
 thus furnished with sufficient materials on which to employ 
 his talents, and to render him, as it were, a new founder of 
 Mantua ; insomuch, that its ruler, in a transport of gratitude, 
 was heard to exclaim, that Giulio was in truth more the 
 master of the city than he himself. The whole of these works 
 are extensively recorded in different books of architecture. 
 The duty here required of me is to point out to the reader 
 the originality of this artist’s character ; a solitary instance 
 perhaps in history, of one who, having erected the most 
 noble and beautiful palaces, villas, and temples, painted and 
 ornamented a considerable portion of them with his own 
 hand ; while at the same time a regular school of his pupils 
 and assistants was formed in Mantua, which continued for a 
 length of years to do equal honour to the country and to the 
 city of Lombardy. 
 
332 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 We have already considered Giulio, in treating of the 
 Roman school, in the character of a scholar, as well as heir 
 and continuator of the works of Raffaello ; but herd’ he is to 
 appear in that of a master, pursuing the method of the head 
 of this school, both in teaching and composition. When he 
 came to Mantua, he found abundance of ancient marbles, to 
 which he continued to add specimens, out of which the 
 statues, the busts, and the bassi-rilievi, still preserved in the 
 academy, are mere relics. To such materials, collected by 
 the Gonzaghi, he united some of his own. He was abundantly 
 furnished with designs, as well copied from the antique in 
 Rome, as executed by the hand of Raffaello. Nor were his 
 own immediate studies less valuable, no designer having better 
 succeeded in uniting freedom of invention with selection, 
 rapidity with correctness, a knowledge of fable and of history 
 with a certain popular manner, and facility in treating them. 
 Upon the death of his master he began to give a freer scope 
 to his natural genius, which inclined rather to the bold than 
 to the beautiful, and induced him more to adopt the experience 
 acquired by many years of application, than his own know¬ 
 ledge of nature and of truth. He considered it, therefore, 
 mere amusement to adorn the palace of Mantua, and the great 
 suburban of the Te (to say nothing of his numerous other 
 works), m the style that Vasari relates, and which is, in part, 
 to be seen at the present day. So many chambers with gilded 
 entablatures \ such a variety of beautiful stucco-work, the 
 figures of which have been removed for the instruction of 
 youth ; so many stories and capricci finely conceived and 
 connected with one another, besides such a diversity of labours 
 adapted to different places and subjects, altogether form a 
 collection of wonders, the honour of which Giulio divided 
 with no other artist. For he himself conceived, composed, 
 and completed these vast undertakings. 
 
 He was accustomed himself to prepare the cartoons, and 
 afterwards having exacted from his pupils their completion, 
 he went over the entire work with his pencil, removed its 
 defects, impressing at the same time upon the whole the 
 stamp of his own superior character. This method he ac¬ 
 quired from Raffaello ; and he is commended by Vasari as the 
 best artist known for his production of distinguished pupils. 
 
GIULIO ROMANO. 
 
 333 
 
 It was the misfortune of Giulio to liaTe the touches of his 
 own hand, in his labours at the Te, modernized by other 
 pencils, owing to which the beautiful fable of Psyche, the 
 moral representations of human life, and his terrible war of 
 the giants with Jove, where he appeared to compete with 
 Michelangelo himself in the hardihood of his design, still 
 retain, indeed, the design and composition, but no longer the 
 colours of Giulio. In these last his hand will more truly 
 appear in his War of Troy, preserved at the royal court; in 
 his history of Lucretia; and in those little cabinets orna¬ 
 mented by him with grotesques and other ingenious fancies. 
 There we might sometimes pronounce him a Homer, treating 
 of arms, or sometimes an Anacreon, celebrating the delights 
 of wine and love. Nor did he employ his powers less nobly 
 in sacred subjects, more particularly for the dome, which, by 
 commission of the Cardinal Gonzaga, brother to Federigo, and 
 guardian of his young nephew, he not only built, but in part 
 ornamented, though his death occurred before he was enabled 
 to complete his celebrated work. The paintings produced for 
 other churches by his own hand are not very numerous; such, 
 consisting more particularly of his three histories of the 
 Passion, coloured in fresco, at S. Marco; of his Santo 
 Cristoforo, in the large altar of that church, in which he is 
 represented with an uncommon degree of strength, yet groan¬ 
 ing under the burden of the Lord of the Universe, who in 
 the figure of an infant is borne upon his shoulders ; an incident 
 originating in the name itself of Cristoforo. But let us come 
 to the school of Giulio, in Mantua. It will not occupy many 
 pages, since it did not mix the style of this artist, as in other 
 places has happened, with foreign styles, being peculiarly true 
 to its prototype, so that in each countenance we may trace, as 
 it were, his own exact features, although copied unequally. 
 
 In his Mantuan school there appeared several foreigners, 
 among whom Primaticcio proved the most celebrated; an 
 artist whom Giulio employed to work in stucco, and whom, 
 on being invited into the service of the king of France, he 
 sent to that country in his stead. But we shall take no fur¬ 
 ther notice of him here, having to treat of him more fully in 
 our account of the Bolognese. The Veronese, who are in 
 possession of a beautiful fresco, in the Piazza delle FuFe, with 
 
334 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 the name of Alberto Cavalli Savonese, have supposed this 
 painter a scholar of Giulio, but without any other foundation 
 beyond a strong resemblance to the style of Pippi, in the 
 naked parts. It is strange that no other specimen of such a 
 distinguished hand should be known in Italy, nor any memo¬ 
 rial of him, notwithstanding the great researches that have 
 been made; nor is it very improbable that he also may have 
 changed his country, and died in foreign parts. Benedetto 
 Pagni from Pescia had already tried his abilities in Rome, 
 together with Bartolommeo da Castiglioni, with Paparello da 
 Cortona, and with Gio. da Leone ; artists of whom I know 
 not if there exist any thing beyond the name ; while Pagni, 
 who accompanied Giulio into Mantua, has been as highly 
 esteemed by Vasari as any other name. From his hand, 
 besides what remains in his native place, we possess a S. Lo¬ 
 renzo, painted in S. Andrea, at Mantua, which does credit 
 to such a school. Companion to him in the numerous works 
 of the Te, we find Rinaldo Mantovano, considered by Vasari 
 the most celebrated painter of the city, while he laments 
 the untimely termination of his days. His altar-piece of 
 S. Agostino, at the Trinita, proves him to have been great even 
 in his youth, so much is the design beyond the expectation of 
 such an age; and it has by some been pronounced the work 
 of his master. Fermo Guisoni had a longer career; he 
 painted in the cathedral the Vocation of S. Pietro and S. 
 Andrea, copied from one of the most beautiful and studied 
 cartoons of Giulio. Other pieces of his are extant, in part 
 designed by Bertani, and in part from his own hand. Such 
 is a picture of the Crucifixion at S. Andrea, which both in 
 point of design and force of colouring is indeed admirable. 
 
 In this series Vasari has omitted to mention several others 
 whom the Mantuans have enumerated as belonging to the 
 school of Giulio, and as natives of their country. Among 
 these is a Teodoro Ghigi, a Mantuan, as he subscribes himself, 
 an excellent designer, and so familiar with the manner of the 
 leader of his school, that on the decease of the latter, he was 
 employed in the service of the prince, to complete his labours 
 in the city and in the country. Ippolito Andreasi also 
 painted a good deal upon the cartoons of Giulio, and pro¬ 
 duced pictures of merit in S. Barbara as well as elsewhere. 
 
GIO. BATISTA BERTANI. 
 
 335 
 
 There are moreover two frescos in the dome, at the chapel of 
 S. Lorenzo, attributed to one Francesco Perla; an altar-piece 
 at S. Cristoforo by Gio. Batista Giacarolo, neither of them 
 greatly celebrated in this class. Raffaello Pippi was a son of 
 the bead of the school; and there only remains of him the 
 honourable recollection of the very promising efforts of his 
 youthful genius, cut off in its happiest spring. 
 
 Following Giulio, his pupil, the cavalier Gio. Batista Ber- 
 tani continued to labour, and to instruct the school. He had 
 accompanied his master to Rome; he was a great architect, 
 and an excellent writer on the subject, as well as a painter of 
 no ordinary talent. Assisted by his brother of the name of 
 Domenico, he ornamented several chambers in the castle of 
 the court ; and he committed various altar-pieces to different 
 painters, in the dome erected by Giulio, in Sta. Barbara, 
 which is the work of Bertani himself, and in other churches 
 of the place. To some of these artists he gave his designs. 
 He was esteemed almost as another Giulio by Duke Vincen- 
 zio, though very inferior to his predecessor. For what 
 Yasari observes of him, that his knowledge did not equal that 
 of his master, is no less true, than that the chief part of his 
 own assistants surpassed him. His assistants were Gio. Ba¬ 
 tista del Moro, Geronimo Mazzuola, Paol Farinato, Domenico 
 Brusasorci, Giulio Campi, Paol Veronese ; whose works, dis¬ 
 played in that cathedral, do no less honour to the sanctuary 
 than to the city. Yet let this be said without the least 
 reflection upon his merit, which, particularly in design, was 
 undoubtedly very great. This, indeed, we gather from his 
 picture of the Martyrdom of Sta. Agata, which, executed 
 from the design of Bertani by Ippolito Costa, approaches 
 much nearer to the composition of Giulio than other works of 
 Ippolito, drawn from his own invention. 
 
 There is reason to believe that Ippolito was of the family 
 of Lorenzo Costa, together with Luigi, and another Lorenzo, 
 both named Costa, and both Mantuans. Orlandi states 
 Ippolito to have been a pupil of Carpi. Baldinucci includes 
 him in the school of Giulio, either from his having frequented 
 his academy, or in other ways having availed himself of his 
 instructions and his models; and, indeed, his style betrays 
 no slight traces of them. Lamo, who wrote an account of the 
 
336 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 artists of Cremona, describes him to us as a master, who about 
 1538 instructed Bernardino Campi; and moreover gives us 
 reason to suppose that his brother Luigi was likewise initiated 
 by him in the art. But he proved an inferior artist, and drew 
 his chief celebrity from his surname. Among the assistants of 
 Taddeo Zuccari, about 1560, Yasari mentions Lorenzo Costa, 
 a Mantuan ; and it seems likely that he sprung either from 
 Luigi or from Ippolito; and had such name conferred upon 
 him, as was usual, in memory of Lorenzo Costa, his grand¬ 
 father, or from some other relationship to him. We frequently 
 read in the Guide of Mantua, written by Cadioli, that such a 
 painting is from the hand of Costa, without giving his proper 
 name ; and it appears probable, that pursuing their labours in 
 the same studio, they may have contracted a sort of family 
 style, not indeed very correct or learned, but of a practical 
 kind. There is a pleasing air about the heads, and some care 
 in the colours; for the rest it is minute; not exact, nor suffi¬ 
 ciently shaded ; and in fine, modelled upon the composition of 
 one who aimed at imitating the grace, not of rivalling the 
 power of Giulio. The Costa are esteemed in Mantua among 
 the last disciples of the great school; nor do I know of their 
 having produced any pupil besides Facchetti, who devoted 
 himself altogether to portraits. 
 
 It will here be proper to state that Giulio, in imitation of 
 RafFaello, gave rise, by the influence of his taste, to a great 
 number of artificers, who ornamented other professions. He 
 was possessed of those general ideas of beauty and proportion, 
 from which he drew his rules for the particular direction of 
 every work ; an enviable distinction of that age, in which the 
 leading men were at once painters, modellers, and architects, 
 extending their influence even from the noblest works of art 
 down to vases and plates of earthenware, and cornices of wood. 
 I am not certain whether Giulio, like RafFaello, formed the 
 taste of another Gio. da Udine, in drawing fruits and trees, 
 &c.; but I know that Camillo, a Mantuan, declared by Vasari 
 to be most excellent in point of landscape,* flourished about 
 this period. Some specimens in fresco still continue to adorn 
 his native place ; but he chiefly produced his works in Venice, 
 
 * In the “ Life of Genga.” 
 
D. G1ULI0 CLOVIO. 
 
 337 
 
 in Urbino, and at the ducal palace in Pesaro, where, in a 
 chamber, since changed into an armour-room, he painted a 
 grove, executed with so much taste and truth, that it would 
 not be difficult to number every separate leaf upon the trees. 
 It is certain that Giulio educated a pupil as his Perino, for his 
 stuccos; and this was, besides Primaticcio, a Gio. Batista 
 Briziano, commonly called Mantovano, who likewise became 
 his Marc Antonio, engraving on copper many of the pictures 
 of his master, as well as of other distinguished artists of his 
 day. To him ought to be added Giorgio Ghisi, or Ghigi, who 
 flourished at the same period; and to these succeeded Diana, 
 daughter of Gio. Batista,* celebrated for her fine engravings; 
 and this branch of art, introduced into Mantua by that 
 eminent artist, continued to prosper there for a long course of 
 years. 
 
 Another branch of the fine arts, that of miniature, seemed 
 to attain its perfection under one of Giulio’s scholars. His 
 name was D. Giulio Clovio, of Croazia, a regular Scopetine 
 canon, afterwards becoming a layman by a dispensation from 
 the Pope. He had first turned his attention to the higher 
 branches of the art, but Giulio, who saw he possessed a pecu¬ 
 liar talent for diminutive figures, prevailed upon him to apply 
 himself to these ; and taught him the first of any in Rome, the 
 method of applying tints and colours in gum and water-colours, 
 while in miniature he obtained instructions from Girolamo aa 
 Libri of Verona. He is esteemed at the head of his profession 
 in this line. In his design he displays a good deal of study of 
 Michelangelo and of the Roman school, though approaching 
 nearer to the practice of a good naturalist, exquisitely grace¬ 
 ful in his colours, and admirable in his exactness of drawing 
 the minutest objects. Great part of his labours were under¬ 
 taken for sovereigns and princes, in whose libraries may be 
 found books ornamented by him in miniature with such a 
 degree of truth and spirit, that we appear to view these 
 diminutive objects rather through some camera-optica, than in 
 a picture. It is related by Vasari, than in an Office of the 
 
 _ * She is also called Civis Volat.errana, from her connection with that 
 city ; an instance that ought to be present to our recollection, when wc 
 find that different writers ascribe different countries to the same painter. 
 
 VOL. II. z 
 
338 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Virgin, made for the Cardinal Farnese, there were figures 
 which did not exceed the size of a small ant; and that each 
 part was nevertheless distinctly drawn. It is worth while, 
 indeed, to read the whole description given by that historian 
 of the miniatures there inserted, in which he likewise selected 
 subjects adapted for a multitude of figures, such as the pro¬ 
 cession of the Corpus Domini at Rome, and the feast of the 
 Monte Testaceo ; a labour of nine years, which was distributed 
 into twenty-six little histories. He produced numerous small 
 portraits painted for private people (an art in which he is 
 said by Vasari to have equalled Titian) ; besides a few little 
 pictures. These are rarely to be met with in collections. 
 There is one of the Deposizione, in the library of the Padri 
 Cisterciensi, at Milan, a piece quite original in its composition, 
 but which breathes altogether the taste of the golden period. 
 Indeed, I am inclined to be of opinion that Giulio promoted 
 this very study in Mantua; having myself seen there some 
 exquisite miniatures, though by unknown hands. It is also 
 worthy of notice, as Vasari remarks, that by means of Giulio, 
 the art advanced towards perfection, not only in Mantua, but 
 throughout all Lombardy (a state which, in the native ac¬ 
 ceptation of the term, includes also a portion of the modern 
 Venetian territories). This we have already in part seen ; 
 and in part shall continue to see more clearly in the course of 
 this history. 
 
339 
 
 * 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 —*— 
 
 Decline of the School, and Foundation of an Academy in order to 
 
 restore it. 
 
 Subsequent to the period in which Giulio flourished, the 
 school of Mantua produced no new names which at all ap¬ 
 proached the reputation of the first. The disposition of its 
 sovereigns was always inclined rather to invite painters of 
 celebrity from elsewhere, with a sure prospect of being speedily 
 and well served, than to promote the education of their young 
 subjects in the study of an art, slow in producing fruits, and 
 subject to rapid decay. We have already recounted a tole¬ 
 rable number assembled by Duke Yincenzio for the object of 
 ornamenting his churches ; of several of whom he also availed 
 himself for the decoration of the palaces. Antonmaria Yiani, 
 called il Vianino , a native of Cremona and a scholar of the 
 Campi, thus filled the double capacity of an artist and an ar¬ 
 chitect. The frieze surrounding the gallery of the court pre¬ 
 sents a specimen of their style, where in a ground of gold, are 
 seen a group of most beautiful boys, painted in chiaroscuro, 
 and playing amidst luxuriant festoons of flowers. In the same 
 taste of the Campi he produced several sacred pieces ; such as 
 the picture of S. Michele at Sta. Agnese ; the Paradiso at the 
 Orsoline ; and subsequent to Duke Yincenzio, he was em¬ 
 ployed by his three successors, and died in Mantua, after 
 having established his family in that city. 
 
 Not very long afterwards, Domenico Feti from Rome was 
 declared painter of the same court, an artist of whose educa¬ 
 tion, received under Cigoli, I have treated elsewhere. Car¬ 
 dinal Ferdinando, succeeding to the dukedom of Mantua, had 
 brought him from Rome to his own court, where he had op¬ 
 portunities of improving himself, by studying the finest Lom- 
 
 z 2 
 
340 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 bard models, along with several of the Venetians. He pro¬ 
 duced many pictures in oil, for various temples and galleries ; 
 one of which, representing the Multiplication of Loaves, exists 
 in the Mantuan academy, abounding with figures rather truly 
 noble than large; but varied, shortened, and coloured in a 
 very masterly style. A still more copious work was that in 
 the choir of the cathedral, though his pieces in fresco, like 
 those of Cigoli, have less merit than those painted in oil. 
 With all the excellence of his compositions, he has certainly 
 the fault of being too symmetrical in his groups, which conse¬ 
 quently seem to correspond in an exact order, calculated in 
 architecture to please both the eye and mind, but by no means 
 so in painting. His own youthful excesses deprived Venice of 
 this fine genius, and distinguished ornament of his art, in the 
 very flower of his age. The names of other artists likewise 
 engaged in the service of the same court, where a relish for 
 the fine arts seems to have been almost indigenous, were Titian, 
 Correggio, Genga, Tintoretto, Albani, Rubens, Gessi, Gerola, 
 Vermiglio, Castiglione, Lodovico Bertucci, with others of 
 eminent abilities; some of whom were invited for particular 
 commissions, and others permanently engaged for a length of 
 time. Thus the city of Mantua became one of the most richly 
 ornamented in all Italy ; insomuch that after suffering the 
 sackage of 1630 , in which the ducal palace was despoiled of 
 the noble collection, now dispersed abroad, it still can boast, 
 both in private and public exhibitions, sufficient to engage the 
 curiosity of cultivated strangers for a period of many days. 
 
 The city in the meanwhile was not deficient in native artists 
 of superior genius, such as Venusti, Manfredi, and I acchetti; 
 all of whom, on account of their residence in Rome, we have 
 treated of in that school: while in that of Parma we shall 
 have occasion to insert the name of Giorgio del Grano, sup¬ 
 posed to be of Mantua, and of Andrea Scutellari in that of 
 Cremona, in which he became fixed. Francesco Borgani is 
 one of those who resided in his native place, and who adopted 
 a good style from the paintings of Parmigianino, in which he 
 composed several pictures in S. Pietro, in S. Simone, in 
 S. Croce, as well as in other places, by which he deserves to 
 be better known than he now is. This artist flourished until 
 the latter half of the past century. 
 
GIOVANNI BAZZANI. 
 
 341 
 
 Towards the same period Giovanni Canti, while yet young, 
 came from Parma and settled in Mantua, an artist whose 
 merits, consisting in his landscapes and battle-scenes, are to 
 be sought for in galleries of art, not in the specimens of his 
 altar-pieces in churches, which are very inferior. He was 
 one of those who lay too much stress on their rapidity of hand. 
 Schivenoglia, whose proper name was Francesco Ranieri, was 
 one of his scholars, equally distinguished for his battles as for 
 his landscape; superior to his master in design, but inferior 
 in point of colouring. Next to him Giovanni Cadioli was 
 considered a good landscape-painter, and better in fresco than 
 in oils. He wrote an account of the pictures of Mantua, and 
 at the same period was one of the earliest founders and the 
 first director of the academy for design at that place. 
 
 Giovanni Bazzani, a pupil of Canti, was endowed with a 
 higher genius for the art than his master, and laid a better 
 foundation for excellence by the cultivation of his mind, by 
 careful study, and by copying from the most esteemed models. 
 He more particularly directed his attention towards Rubens, 
 whose footsteps he diligently pursued to the end of his career. 
 He was long employed in Mantua and in its adjacent monas¬ 
 tery, principally in works of fresco, displaying an easy, 
 spirited, and imaginative character, in a manner that does 
 credit to his genius. He was universally allowed to possess 
 uncommon powers, but being crippled and infirm, he was 
 unable to exhibit them as he wished ; and besides, the rapid 
 manner acquired from Canti, diminished, for the most part, 
 the value of his works. 
 
 Giuseppe Bottani of Cremona, educated at Rome under 
 Masucci, afterwards established himself in Mantua, where he 
 acquired the reputation of a good landscape-painter in the 
 manner of Poussin, and of a good figurist in that of Maratta. 
 His best pictures are found beyond the confines of the city; 
 in a church at Milan, dedicated to Saints Cosma and Damiano, 
 is to be seen a Santa Paola by his hand, taking farewell of 
 the domestics, a piece by no means inferior to that of Batoni, 
 which is placed at its side. It had been well for his reputa¬ 
 tion as an artist had he always exerted himself with equal 
 care, for in every composition be might have approved him- 
 
342 
 
 MANTUAN SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 self an excellent disciple of the school of Rome. His extreme 
 haste, however, rendered him inconsistent with himself, so that 
 in the city where he taught, there can hardly be enumerated 
 one or two specimens among the great number he produced in 
 public, which can at all vie with the Milanese. The reader 
 may have already learned, in the course of this work, that 
 of all faults celerity is one of the most fatal to the reputation 
 of artists; the rock upon which many of the finest geniuses 
 have struck. To few, indeed, has it been given to produce 
 with rapidity and to produce well. 
 
 The academy of Mantua not only still exists, but has been 
 furnished by the princes of the house of Austria with splendid 
 rooms, with select casts, and other advantages for the improve¬ 
 ment of youth, so as to render it one of the finest academies 
 in Italy.* There have appeared, under the auspices of Signor 
 Volta, one of its members, compendious notices of the artists 
 of Mantua, down from the year 1777 ; an earnest of a more 
 extended work that we are in hopes of receiving from his able 
 and accomplished pen. With these notices, as well as others 
 afforded us in conversation with the same enlightened scholar, 
 we have been glad to enrich the present chapter. Nor have 
 we failed to keep in view the two Discourses upon the Letters 
 and the Arts of Mantua, recited in the academy, and after¬ 
 wards made public by the Sig. Abate Bettinelli, in which his 
 character, as a fluent orator, and a diligent historian, in the 
 various notes he has added, appears to equal advantage. 
 
 * Upon the establishment of the Italian republic, according to what I 
 have recently heard from the learned P. Pompilio Pozzetti Scolopio, 
 public librarian at Modena, the academies were reduced to two ; the one 
 in Bologna, the other in Milan ; and in the rest of the cities they continue 
 to exist as schools of the fine arts. To both of these the government is 
 extremely favourable, as well as to letters, both very interesting objects 
 of public education. And now, by the union of the Venetian states, the 
 academy of Venice is greatly strengthened and increased, established by 
 decree of the government in the year 1724 . 
 
343 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MODENESE SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 The Ancients. 
 
 The state of Modena, such as it is now reunited under the 
 happy government of the house of Este, will form the subject 
 of the following chapter ; and no other portion of my work 
 can be pronounced superior in point of interest to this. Since 
 the feeble attempts of Vedriani, and of other writers, more 
 eager than sagacious, the pictoric history of the entire 
 dominion has been recently illustrated, as I observed at the 
 commencement, by a distinguished historian. I have no fur¬ 
 ther object in view than to adapt it to my usual method, 
 omitting at the same time a few names, which, either from 
 their mediocrity, from the loss of their works, or other reasons, 
 cannot be presumed to be greatly interesting to my readers. 
 
 The antiquity of this school may be sought for as far back 
 as 1235, at least if it may be supposed that Berlingeri of 
 Lucca, certainly the author of a S. Francesco remaining in 
 the castle of Guiglia, painted in the above year, likewise pro¬ 
 duced pupils to the state of Modena, a matter which is still 
 involved in doubt. There is another sacred figure, also the 
 production of a Modenese, consisting of the Blessed Virgin, 
 between two military saints, a picture brought from Prague 
 into the imperial gallery at Vienna. We read inscribed 
 upon it in ancient character the two following lines:— 
 
 Quis opus hoc finxit ? Thomas de Mutina pinxit; 
 
 Quale vides Lector Rarisini filius auctor; 
 
 in which we ought to read “ Barisini,” both on account of Sig. 
 
344 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 Garampi, who is profoundly skilled in the ancient characters, 
 having thus understood it, and because this name approaches 
 nearer to those which, though certainly different, are known 
 to apply to the father of Tommaso, as well in Modena as in 
 Tievigi. In the former I know not that there now remains 
 any thing of him but the name ; but in the latter is to be seen 
 a very extensive work in the chapter of the Padri Predicatori. 
 Here are^ represented the saints and scholars of the order, and 
 the artist’s name also appears with the date of 1352.* The 
 design of this piece is tolerably good for those times, as appears 
 from the engravings taken of it by the Dominican, Father 
 r ederici, the same who presented us with a learned work upon 
 the Antiquities of Trevigi. He discovered that the father of 
 Tommaso, by name Borasino or Bizzarrino, an abbreviation, 
 he says, of Buzzaccarino, became nominated to the citizenship, 
 and to the public notaryship of Trevigi, in 1315 ; in all which 
 his family was called di Modena, as that of Girolamo Ferrarese 
 was called di Carpi. On the strength of these documents 
 lrevigi may, perhaps, dispute with Modena the honour of 
 producing such an artist; but I shall take no share in the 
 question. I would here merely observe that the superscription 
 does not say “Thomas de Mutina,” from which we might 
 gather that .Modena was the cognomen of the family ; but that 
 Thomas pictor de Mutina pinxit istud whence to conclude 
 that he there gave the name of his real country, either because 
 he was born in Modena, or because, descended from a Mode¬ 
 nese family, he retained his citizenship, and rather wished to 
 appear a native of Modena than of Trevigi. However this 
 may be, it is a signal honour for Italy to have given such an 
 artist to Germany, a name of which the historians of that 
 great nation have mistakenly, availed themselves, in the outset 
 oi the historic series of their painters, tracing his origin to 
 Muttersdorff, and making him the master of Theodoric of 
 Prague followed in succession by Wmser, Schoen, Wolgemut, 
 and Albert Durer. 
 
 l 9q7 It ^ aS , b f ell ® ved s ome time ago that this painting was produced in 
 
 rmLr • < r te u emg f °! ind on the P icture - and Sig. Mechel having thus 
 published it in his catalogue of the royal gallery at Vienna. Whether 
 
 to b th emainS thUS mserted 1 know not 5 but undoubtedly it ought not 
 
TOMMASO. 
 
 34 n 
 
 Next to the pictures of Tommaso, ought to be enumerated 
 an altar-piece by Barnaba da Modena, preserved together with 
 the author’s name in Alba, and dated 1377, a piece by one 
 writer supposed anterior to Giotto; and in addition to this an 
 “ Ancona,” from the hand of Serafino de’ Serafini da Modena, 
 containing various busts and entire figures, with the name also 
 of the painter, and the year 1385. It is placed in the cathe¬ 
 dral, and its principal subject is the Incoronation of the Vir¬ 
 gin. In its composition it very nearly resembles that of Giotto 
 and his school, of which, indeed, more than of any other, the 
 whole character of the piece partakes, only the figures are, 
 perhaps, a little more full, and as it were better fed than those 
 of the Florentine school. If the origin of such resemblance 
 should be sought for, let us consider that Giotto not only 
 employed himself in the adjacent city of Bologna, but likewise 
 in Ferrara, which, together with Modena, was then subject to 
 the house of Este, so that one city might easily afford precepts 
 and examples to another. 
 
 Vasari remarked at Modena some ancient paintings at 
 S. Domenico, and he might have seen more in possession of the 
 Padri Benedettini, and elsewhere; from which he judged, that 
 u in every age there had been excellent artists in that place.” 
 Their names, which were unknown to Vasari, have in part 
 been collected from MSS., consisting of a Tommaso Bassini,* 
 whose age and productions are uncertain, and some others of 
 the fourteenth century, approaching nearer to a more improved 
 era. One of these was Andrea Campana, to whom a work, 
 
 * This information, taken from Tiraboschi, does not seem to favour the 
 system of Father Federici, who says, that in the fourteenth century names 
 were frequently shortened, adducing, at the same time, several examples 
 (vol. i. p. 53). He thus explains how Buzzaccarino became Bizzarrino, 
 Barisino, Borasino, with many more strange terms in Trevigi. Now 
 why might not this artist’s name become Bassino, in Modena ? And if in 
 reading Tommaso di Bassino da Modena in the authorities of Tiraboschi, 
 every one perceives the name of the painter, that of the father, and ot 
 the country to which he belonged; then why, on reading upon pictures 
 Tommaso di Barisino, or Borisino, da Modena, are we bound to believe 
 this last the name of a family ; and so much more, as there were then 
 few families distinguished by their surnames ? Tommaso, therefore, 
 wished it to be understood that he came from Modena ; and if this 
 became a surname which distinguished his family in Trevigi, it must have 
 been at a later period, and he himself knew nothing of it. 
 
346 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 bearing the initials of his name, in the Colorno Villa of the 
 duke of Parma, has been attributed, representing the acts of 
 S. Piero Martire, a piece extremely pleasing and well coloured. 
 Another is Bartolommeo Bonasia, excellent both in painting 
 and inlaid-work, a specimen of which he left in a picture placed 
 in the convent of S. Vincenzo. There are, moreover, in Sas- 
 suolo, some notices of Raflaello Calori of Modena, beginning 
 in 1452 and terminating in 1474 ; besides a picture of the 
 Virgin in the best manner of those times, during which he was 
 in the service of Duke Borso. Later than he flourished 
 Francesco Magagnolo, an artist who terminated his career early 
 in the sixteenth century, and one of the first who drew coun¬ 
 tenances in such a manner as to appear looking at the spec¬ 
 tator, in whatever point of view he might observe them. His 
 contemporaries, it appears, were Cecchino Setti, whose labours 
 have wholly perished, with the exception of a few altar-orna¬ 
 ments, in the most finished taste; Nicoletto da Modena, at 
 once a painter, and one of the very earliest engravers, whose 
 prints are much sought after for cabinets, and are placed at 
 the head of collections ; Giovanni Munari, commended by his¬ 
 torians, and distinguished for the great name of his son and 
 pupil Pellegrino ; and finally Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, who 
 died in 1510. To this last has been ascribed the honour of 
 instructing Correggio, which, however, can by no means be 
 asserted beyond dispute. One of his altar-pieces was formerly, 
 to be seen in S. Francesco, executed with some degree of 
 modern softness, though still partaking of the ancient stiffness, 
 and the eyes designed without a due regard to rotundity. 
 
 In the smaller capitals, also, about this period, flourished 
 artists of considerable merit. Reggio still boasts a Madonna 
 of Loreto, painted in the dome by the hand of Bernardino 
 Orsi, with the date of 1501 ; while in S. Tommaso, and else¬ 
 where, we meet with some paintings of Simone Fornari, also 
 called Moresini, and of Francesco Caprioli. I mention them 
 here, not so much on account of the period which they adorned, 
 as for the resemblance of their manner to the two Francia, 
 more especially Fornari; many of his pictures having been 
 attributed to those distinguished ornaments of Bologna. 
 
 Carpi, likewise, preserves several relics of the ancient arts: 
 besides a frieze in the rudest style of sculpture, in the fa 9 ade 
 
ANTONIO ALLEGRI. 
 
 347 
 
 of the old cathedral, a work of the twelfth century. To the 
 same church are attached two chapels, exhibiting the com¬ 
 mencement and the progress of painting in those parts. In 
 one is seen the spousals of Santa Caterina, a piece so extremely 
 infantile, that it would be difficult to find a similar example 
 in Italy. The painting upon the walls is, however, superior; 
 displaying an original style, no less in the drapery than in the 
 ideas, and forcible in its action. The other chapel is divided 
 into various niches, with the effigy of a saint in each; and in 
 this work, which is the latest of the two, appear some traces 
 of the style of Giotto. There is no nomenclature giving us 
 any account of artists so very ancient. The list of the school 
 commences with Bernardino Loschi, who, sprung from a 
 family in Parma, signs his own name, Carpense , in some of 
 his pictures. Without such elucidation, these might have 
 been pronounced the works of one or other of the Francia. 
 Loschi was employed in the service of Alberto Pio; and 
 there exist memorials of him from the year 1495 until 1533. 
 There remains on record the name of one of his contempo¬ 
 raries, Marco Meloni, one of the most accurate of artists, of 
 whom every thing may be included in the observation, that 
 his pictures at S. Bernardino, and elsewhere, partake in the 
 same degree of the Bolognese manner. Probably he was a 
 pupil of that school, as well as Alessandro da Carpi, enume¬ 
 rated by Malvasia among the disciples of Costa. 
 
 Finally, Correggio likewise cultivated the fine arts before 
 Antonio Allegri came into the world. For not many years 
 ago a fresco of tolerable execution was discovered in that 
 cathedral, ascribed by tradition to Lorenzo Allegri, who, in 
 a letter of donation, subscribed by him in 1527, is called 
 “Magister Laurentius, Filius Magistri Antonii de Allegris 
 Pictor.” This artist is believed to have been the first instructor 
 of Antonio Allegri, his brothers son; and it is, at least, 
 certain that he had a school in which he taught the rules of 
 art to another of his nephews, as I have heard from the 
 learned Dottore Antonioli, who is busied in preparing a life 
 of his very distinguished fellow-citizen. At present there are 
 few paintings in Correggio displaying the taste of the artists 
 of the fourteenth century, from which we might judge of that 
 school. A Madonna, painted in 1511, when Antonio Allegri 
 
348 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH I. 
 
 had attained his seventeenth year, is, however, to be met with 
 in the Catalogue of the Este Gallery, whither it had been 
 transferred. It is attributed to Antonio Allegri, but there is 
 no sufficient evidence of the fact; and we should have about 
 equal authority for giving it to Lorenzo. The style is but 
 middling, and in point of forms, the ancient character is not 
 wholly laid aside in the folds of the drapery: it may, how¬ 
 ever, be pronounced of a softer tone than that of the chief 
 part of its contemporaries, and nearer to the modern manner. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it will be right to inform the 
 reader of a certain advantage that this tract of country, and 
 Modena in particular, enjoyed from the commencement of the 
 fifteenth century, consisting in the abundance of its excellent 
 modellers in clay. Of this art, the parent of sculpture, and 
 the nurse of painting, that city has since produced the most 
 exquisite specimens in the world; and this, if I mistake not, 
 is the most characteristic, rare, and admirable advantage of 
 the school. Guido Mazzoni, otherwise Paganini, a name 
 highly celebrated by Yasari, had the reputation of an excellent 
 artist from the time he produced his Holy Family at St. 
 Margherita, in 1484, presenting statues of a vivacity and 
 expression truly surprising. This great artificer was employed 
 by Charles VIII. both in Naples and France, where he 
 remained upwards of twenty years, retiring at length into his 
 native country, full of honours, to terminate his days. No 
 slight commendation has likewise been bestowed by the 
 historian Lancillotto, upon Gio. Abati, father of Niccolo, and 
 his contemporary, whose sacred images in chalk were held in 
 the highest esteem; more particularly the crucifixions, exe¬ 
 cuted with a knowledge of anatomy, most exact in every 
 separate vein and nerve. He was nevertheless far surpassed 
 by Antonio Begarelli, probably his pupil, who by his works 
 in clay, with figures even larger than life, has succeeded in 
 bearing away the palm from all his competitors. In the 
 church and monastery of the Padri Benedettiui, there is 
 preserved a noble collection of them. As he flourished during 
 a long period, he filled those churches with monuments, 
 groups, and statues, to say nothing of others which he pro¬ 
 duced in Parma, Mantua, and other places. Vasari praises 
 him for “the fine air of his heads, beautiful drapery, exquisite 
 
ANTONIO BEGARELLI. 
 
 349 
 
 proportions, and colour of marble;” and the same author 
 continues to relate, that they appeared so excellent to Bonar- 
 ruoti that he said, “ if this clay were only to become marble, 
 woe betide the ancient statues.” I am at a loss to imagine 
 what species of eulogy could be more desirable to an artist ; 
 in particular when we reflect upon the profound science of 
 Bonarruoti, and how tardy he was to praise. We ought not 
 to omit to mention, that Begarelli was likewise excellent in 
 design, and acted as a master, both of that and modelling, in 
 the instruction of youth. Hence he greatly influenced the art 
 of painting, and to him we are in a great measure to trace 
 that correctness, that relief, that art of foreshortening, and 
 that degree of grace approaching nearly to Raffaello’s, in all 
 of which this part of Lombardy boasted such a conspicuous 
 share. 
 
350 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Imitation of Raffaello and Correggio, in the Sixteenth Century. 
 
 Such were the preparatory efforts throughout all these districts, 
 as far as we have hitherto considered them : but the best pre¬ 
 paration lay in the natural talent of the young artists. Of 
 these we are told, upon the authority of Tiraboschi, that the 
 Card. Alessandro d’Este observed, that “they appeared to 
 have been born with a natural genius for the fine arts :" an 
 opinion fully borne out during the lapse of the sixteenth cen¬ 
 tury, when if every province of Italy produced some great 
 name, in painting, this little district of itself abounded with 
 a sufficient number to reflect honour upon a whole kingdom. 
 I commence my account from the city of Modena; no other 
 city of Lombardy earlier appreciated the style of Raffaello, nor 
 did any city of all Italy become more deeply attached to, and 
 produce more enthusiastic imitators of it. I have already 
 treated of Pellegrino da Modena (vol. i. p. 397), called in 
 the Chronicle of Lancillotti degli Aretusi, alias de Munari. 
 He received his education in his native place, and produced a 
 picture there as early as 1509, still preserved at S. Giovanni, 
 in excellent condition, and creditable to the talent of its author, 
 even before he entered the school of Raffaello. But such was 
 here his improvement, that his master availed himself of his 
 assistance in adorning the open galleries of the Vatican, as well 
 as in other works executed in Rome, sometimes along with 
 Perino del Vaga, and sometimes by himself. Several of his 
 pieces at S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli boasted figures of such a 
 truly graceful and Raffaellesque air, according to the account 
 of Titi, that the modern retouches they received was a circum- 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 351 
 
 stance truly to be deplored. He is better known in his own 
 country than at Rome, in particular at S. Paolo, where there 
 remains a Nativity of our Lord which seems to breathe in 
 every part the graces of him of Urbino. This unhappy 
 artist had a son who, having committed homicide, was threat¬ 
 ened with the vengeance of the parents of the deceased ; and 
 meeting with the father, they directed their fury against him, 
 and slew him upon the spot, a truly tragic event, which 
 occurred in 1523. Another of his sons, Tirabosclii conjectures 
 to have been Cesare di Pellegrino Aretusi, the same, who by 
 many writers is called Modenese, having been born in Modena; 
 Bolognese by others, because he lived in Bologna, and there 
 took up his citizenship. This artist, to whom we shall again 
 refer, formed his taste in Bologna by copying Bagnacavallo, 
 being unable to obtain the instructions of Pellegrino. A 
 Giulio Taraschi, however, was more fortunate, and benefited 
 much by his instructions, as appears from many of his paint¬ 
 ings at S. Pietro, in Modena, in the Roman taste; a taste 
 which he is said to have cultivated in two of his brothers, and 
 transmitted to others whose names will appear as we proceed. 
 
 Somewhat later, also, Correggio began to afford a new model 
 for the school of Modena; he who is now held their master, 
 and whose skull is preserved, upon the example set by Rome 
 (vol. i. p. 415), in the academy recently opened with so much 
 splendour. He employed himself a good deal in Parma, in 
 which school we shall more decidedly treat of him, though he 
 also in some measure adorned Modena, Reggio, Carpi, and 
 Correggio ; drawing scholars from all these places, who will 
 appear in a catalogue with the rest in their appropriate 
 chapter. In this way he early began to exercise an influence 
 over the school of Modena, and to be esteemed in it a sort of 
 master, whose manner might be pursued with advantage, 
 either in emulating it altogether, or uniting it with that of 
 Raffaello. 
 
 This became more particularly the case when his fame 
 increased, after his decease ; and when the best specimens he 
 left behind him were collected by degrees, both from the 
 capital and from the adjacent cities, by different dukes of 
 Este, to adorn their gallery, where they were to be seen until 
 
352 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH XI. 
 
 nearly the middle of the present century.* At that periou 
 Modena was thronged with artists of every country, coming 
 to take copies of those great productions, and to study the 
 rules of their composition ; an object in which the natives 
 themselves were not remiss; insomuch that we trace vestiges 
 of their imitation in every separate hand. In regard, how¬ 
 ever, to the earliest and more ancient, it would appear that 
 their predilection and their genius were more decidedly directed 
 towards Raffaello and the Roman manner ; whether it be 
 that exotic commodities are more highly valued than those of 
 native growth, or whether it were that the successors of Pel¬ 
 legrino alone continued for a length of time to instruct youth, 
 and to maintain a reputation in those parts. 
 
 It would be desirable in the history of so excellent a school, 
 that writers should inform us by whom many of those masters 
 were educated who flourished towards the middle, or latter 
 half of the century. Observation, however, may in some 
 degree serve to supply the omission of historians, as the style 
 in many approaches so nearly that of Raffaello, as to lead us 
 to conclude that they must have imbibed it from Munari him¬ 
 self, or from the Taraschi, who succeeded him in his school. 
 
 Among the works of Gaspare Pagani, who was also a por¬ 
 trait-painter, the picture of S. Chiara is the only remaining 
 specimen. Of Girolamo da Yignola, a few frescos remain at 
 S. Piero. Both were professed imitators of Raffaello ; but the 
 last one of the most happy whom that age produced. Alberto 
 Fontana displayed equal excellence in his frescos, and orna¬ 
 mented both within and without the public market-place ; 
 pictures, says Scanelli, which appear like Raffaello’s, while he 
 erroneously ascribes them to the hand of Niccolo dell’ Abate. 
 And in truth, from the observation of Vedriani, the style of 
 one very much resembles that of the other ; whether they may 
 have both equally imbibed it from Begarelli, which the same 
 historian seems to insinuate, or whether they derived it through 
 some other channel, in the academy of Munari. Still the 
 similitude of their manner is not such as to merge their more 
 
 * Francesco III. disposed of one hundred pictures to the court of 
 Dresden ; among which were five from the hand of Correggio, for 130,000 
 zechins, which were coined in Venice. 
 
NICCOLINO. 
 
 353 
 
 peculiar distinctions; so that if the heads of Alberto's figures 
 are remarkable tor a fine air, and for tints that rival those of 
 Isiccolo, we can easily point out less perfect design, and 
 occasionally a certain rudeness and heaviness. But let us 
 turn to his competitor, and dwell upon the subject more at 
 length, as becomes the character of a painter, enumerated by 
 Algarotti “ among the first who have adorned the world.” 
 
 . is supposed by some to have been instructed by Correg¬ 
 gio, an assertion which cannot wholly be discredited, when 
 we cast our eye upon some instances of his foreshortening, and 
 of his fine rilievo. But Vasari nowhere mentions such a 
 circumstance ; and it is only on adverting to the Martyrdom 
 of the chiefs of the Apostles, painted by him at the Monaci 
 ^ eri, that he remarks, that the figure of en executioner is 
 taken from a picture by Correggio at S. Giovanni of Parma. 
 Whoever may have been the tutor of Niccolino, he very 
 evidently betrays his enthusiam for the Roman school, in his 
 frescos at Modena, supposed to be one of his earliest works. 
 The same might be averred of his twelve fresco pictures upon 
 the twelve books of the iEneid, removed from the fortress of 
 Candiano, and now adorning the ducal palace; sufficient of 
 themselves to exhibit him as an excellent hand in figures, in 
 landscape, in architecture, and in animals j in every merit 
 requisite to a distinguished disciple of Raffaello. Proceeding 
 at a maturer age to Bologna, he painted under the portico of 
 the Lions, a Nativity of our Lord, in such a manner that 
 neither in those of Raffaellino del Borgo, nor of any other artist 
 educated in Rome, do I recollect meeting with so decided a 
 resemblance to the head of the school. I know that a distin¬ 
 guished proiessor was in the habit of pronouncing it the most 
 perfect painting in fresco that the city of Bologna possessed. 
 It formed likewise the admiration and model of the Caracci, 
 no less than other works of Niccolino, remaining in the city. 
 Among these, the most admired by strangers, is that fine 
 Conversazione of ladies and youths, which serves for a frieze 
 in the hall of the Institute. Next to Raffaello this artist did 
 not refuse to imitate some others. There is recorded, and 
 indeed impressed upon the memory of most painters, a sonnet 
 of Agostino Caracci, from which we learn, that in Niccolino 
 alone were assembled the symmetry of Raffaello, the terror of 
 VOL. II. 2 A 
 
354 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Michelangelo, the truth of Titian, the dignity of Correggio, 
 the composition of Tibaldi, the grace of Parmigianino ; in a 
 word, the best of every best professor, and of every School. 
 Such an opinion, though to be taken with some grains of allow¬ 
 ance, from a poet passionately attached to the honour of his 
 native school, might perhaps obtain more supporters, did the 
 pieces of Abate appear somewhat more frequently in different 
 collections. But they are extremely rare ; no less because of 
 the superior number of his frescos, than from the circumstance 
 of his having passed into France at the age of forty. He 
 was invited thither by the Abate Primaticcio, to assist him in 
 some of his greatest works, intended for Charles IX., nor did 
 he ever return into Italy. Hence arose the story of his 
 having been a pupil of Primaticcio, and taking from him his 
 cognomen of Abate ; when in fact he drew that title from his 
 own family. About 1740 there were remaining at Fontaine¬ 
 bleau the Histories of Ulysses, to the number of thirty-eight, 
 painted by Niccolo from designs of Primaticcio ; the most ex¬ 
 tensive of any of his works executed in France. According to 
 Algarotti, it was afterwards destroyed, though engravings of it, 
 from the hand of Van-Thulden, a pupil of Rubens, still remain. 
 
 Niccolo’s family, also, for along period, continued to main¬ 
 tain a reputation in many branches of the art. One of his 
 brothers, Pietro Paolo, distinguished himself by his happj 
 manner of representing warlike skirmishes, in particular the 
 terrific charges of horse ; several small pictures in the ducal 
 gallery, from their peculiar character, are thus ascribed to his 
 hand ; and they are to be seen placed immediately below those 
 of the iFneid. In the Chronicle of Lancillotto we meet with 
 Giulio Camillo, son of Niccolo, who accompanied his father 
 into France; his name thus remaining nearly unknown in 
 Italy. The most distinguished name in the family after 
 Niccolo, is that of Ercole, son of Giulio, though its lustre was 
 impaired by an abandoned course of life, productive of great 
 unhappiness. He painted a good deal ; but, as is too fre¬ 
 quently the case with persons of his character, he diminished 
 the value of his productions by the haste and inaccuracy of 
 his hand. Of his superior merit, however, we are assured by 
 the number of commissions bestowed upon him by the Mode¬ 
 nese court, to which we are inclined to give more credit than 
 
ERCOLE DE* SETTI. 
 
 355 
 
 to the venal strains of Marino, who extols him to the skies. 
 His picture of the Marriage of Cana, remaining in the ducal 
 gallery, would be sufficient to establish his fame ; it is in his 
 finest manner, and in many points displays much of the taste 
 of the Venetian school. His most extensive work was pro¬ 
 duced for the hall of council, where he had a companion and 
 a rival in Schedone, assisting him in those pictures which they 
 undertook in conjunction, and vieing with him in his separate 
 works. Nor ought it to be esteemed any diminution of his 
 merit to have been surpassed by so great a competitor. The 
 last of these family artists is Pietro Paolo, son of Ercole, who 
 died in his eight and thirtieth year, 1630. I include his name 
 here, in order not to separate him from his ancestors, of none of 
 whom he was unworthy. Though hardly with equal genius, he 
 pursued the manner of his father ; there is a tame expression 
 in several of his best authenticated pieces ; I say best authenti¬ 
 cated, because it is doubtful whether we should consider some 
 pictures, attributed to him, as inferior specimens of his father, 
 or the best of his own. 
 
 Besides the disciples and imitators of Raffaello, I find other 
 artists of Modena, who during the sixteenth century became 
 attached to a different style ; and no one among these is to be 
 preferred to Ercole de’ Setti, an excellent engraver, as well as 
 a painter of considerable merit. A few of his altar-pieces re¬ 
 main at Modena ; and I have seen, though very rarely, some 
 little pieces painted for galleries, dignified rather than beau¬ 
 tiful in point of design. He is cautious and studied in the 
 naked parts, nearly equal to the style of the Florentines, 
 spirited in his attitudes, and strong in his colouring. W e find 
 his name subscribed Ercole de’ Setti , and also in Latin, 
 Hercules Septimius. Along with his name Vedriani enume¬ 
 rates that of a Francesco Madonnina, entitling him one of the 
 most celebrated artists in the city; but there is too little 
 of his remaining in Modena to form a judgment of his style. 
 As little also remains of Giovanni Batista Ingoni, a rival of 
 Niccolo, as he is termed by Vasari; and what yet exists is 
 by no means to be held in high estimation. I have discovered 
 nothing from the hand of Gio. Batista Codibue, though I have 
 read of his Annunciation at the Carmine being highly esteem¬ 
 ed, besides other productions both in painting and sculpture. 
 
 2 a 2 
 
356 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 High commendations have likewise been bestowed upon 
 Domenico Carnevale for his frescos, that have now perished, 
 though a few oil-paintings still exist, held in much esteem; 
 one of the Epiphany, belonging to one of the prince’s collec¬ 
 tions, and another of the Circumcision, in the palace of the 
 Conti Cesi. He also distinguished himself at Rome ; and it 
 will be sufficient to add, that he was the artist selected to 
 restore the pictures of Michelangelo, as we find recorded in 
 the notes to Yasari. 
 
 Reggio boasts the honour of having derived its first school 
 from Raffaello ; and Bernardino Zacchetti is supposed to 
 have been one of his disciples, though the authorities cited to 
 this effect by most historians are not entirely conclusive. Per¬ 
 haps his picture at S. Prospero, designed and coloured in the 
 taste of Garofolo, and others which partake of that of Raffaello, 
 may have given rise to this opinion. But Italy then abounded 
 with the disciples of that great master, no longer instructed, 
 indeed, by his voice, but by his paintings and engravings. j 
 The works, said to have been produced by him in Rome, and 
 the assistance afforded to Bonarruoti, in his labours at the 
 Sistine chapel, are assertions of Azzari, contained in his 
 Compendio , which remain unquestioned by any ancient writer. 
 We might, more easily, however, grant him the proposition 
 of Giarola having been a pupil of Correggio, and as such I have 
 reserved him for the school of Parma. 
 
 Not long after these flourished Lelio Orsi, of Reggio. 
 Banished from his native place, he took up his residence at 
 Novellara, a city then in the possession of the Gonzaghi, where 
 he established himself, and derived his name of Lelio da 
 Novellara. This distinguished character, of whom no account 
 had been given, beyond a slight notice in the Abbecedario, has 
 recently been honoured with an excellent life, from the pen of 
 the Cavalier Tiraboschi, compiled from a variety of sources. 
 Whether he was really a disciple of Correggio still remains a 
 disputed point with historians, though it is certain he flou¬ 
 rished sufficiently near, both in regard to time and place, to 
 have become acquainted with him. He, at least, studied and 
 Copied his works, of which there is an instance in a copy of 
 the celebrated Night, in possession of the noble house of Gaz- 
 zola, at Yerona. Nor are there wanting writers who maintain 
 
 
LELIO ORSI. 
 
 357 
 
 that Parma, likewise, was embellished bj his hand, a city in 
 which the chief ornaments of that school employed themselves. 
 And there are false accounts, still in some measure credited, of 
 his having been a pupil of Michelangelo ; of Correggio havincr 
 corresponded with him, and even consulted him in his designs'? 
 It is true, indeed, he is an ingenious, accurate, and powerful 
 designer. Whether he imbibed his taste at Rome, as Tira- 
 boschi, upon the authority of a MS., seems to believe; or from 
 Vn. 1° 111 <% Mantua; or, again, from studying the 
 
 designs and models of Michelangelo; a knowledge of the path 
 being itself sufficient to enable enlightened spirits to run the 
 same career with success. Decidedly his design is not of the 
 bombard school; and hence arises the difficulty of supposing 
 him one of the scholars of Correggio, in which case his earlier 
 pieces, at least, would have partaken of a less robust character. 
 Me has admirably succeeded, however, in attaining the same 
 grace m his chiaroscuro, in the spreading of his colours, and in 
 the beauty and delicacy of his youthful heads. Both Reggio 
 and JNovellara possess many of his pictures in fresco, now, for 
 the most part, perished; and we are indebted to the glorious 
 memory of Francesco III. for such as are now to be seen at 
 Modena, in the palace of his highness, transferred thither from 
 t e ortress of Novellara. ^ Few of his altar-pieces remain in 
 public in either of the cities, the rest being removed; one of 
 which last, representing the Saints Rocco and Sebastiano, aloncr 
 with S. Giobbe, I happened to meet with in the studio of 
 Signor Armanno, at Bologna. A few others attributed to him 
 at Parma,* at Ancona, and at Mantua, are by no means of so 
 authentic a character; and there is every reason to believe that 
 belio, dividing his time between Reggio and JNovellara, never 
 absented himself from those places long together ; and has thus 
 remained less known than many other painters of inferior rank, 
 ike silence of Vasari, of Lomazzo, of Baldinucci, as well as 
 the chief part of foreigners, is thus likewise accounted for. 
 
 From the school of Lelio, in all probability, sprang Jacopo 
 Borbone, of Novellara, who, in the year 1614, painted a por- 
 tion of the cloister at the church of the Osservanti, in Mantua; 
 also, Oiazio Perucci, of whom there remain various pictures in 
 
 * See Father Affo, pp. 27—124. 
 
358 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH II. 
 
 private houses, and an altar-piece at S. Giovanni. Raffaello 
 Motta was undoubtedly a pupil of Orsi, better known under 
 the name of Raffaellino da Reggio, who left in bis native place 
 a few of his productions in fresco ; an astonishing genius, 
 deserving of Rome for his theatre of action, as indeed I before 
 observed, and of being lamented like a new Raffaello, prema¬ 
 turely passing away. 
 
 At this period Carpi had to boast the name of Orazio Gril- 
 lenzone, who resided mostly in Ferrara, where, enjoying the 
 acquaintance of Tasso, he was honoured and immortalized by 
 his pen, being rendered the subject of that dialogue, bearing 
 for its title, “ II Grillenzone, or the Epitaph.” But none of 
 his paintings are now to be found in that city ; and even what 
 remains of his in Carpi is of a very disputable character. I do 
 not here speak of the celebrated Girolamo of Carpi; because 
 he was in fact a native of Ferrara, as I elsewhere observed. 
 There is little to be said of Ugo da Carpi, as a painter: he was 
 of an inferior genius when he applied himself to his pencil; 
 and fell still further below mediocrity when he became whim¬ 
 sical enough to paint with his fingers, recording the exploit 
 upon the canvas, as he did in the figure of the Volto Santo, 
 the Holy Face, at S. Pietro, in Rome. Still we ought to bear 
 honourable testimony to his merit, as the inventor of wood 
 engraving in two, and next in three blocks, or pieces, by which 
 he expressed the three different tints, the shade, the middle 
 tints, and the light.* In this way he produced many designs 
 
 * The Germans claim the invention of the art of engraving in wood, 
 in chiaroscuro, before Ugo announced it to the Italians. For this, they 
 produce the cards of Gio. Ulderico Pilgrim, which, although Gothic, ob¬ 
 serves Huber (p. 89), •produce an admirable effect in regard to chia¬ 
 roscuro. They make out the inventor to be very ancient, enumerating 
 Mair and others, equally celebrated at the same period. We are told 
 nothing, however, in regard to their mechanism, which was probably not 
 the same as that of Ugo. 
 
 It will not here be thought irrelevant to record the new method of en¬ 
 graving in the Dutch manner, in imitation of coloured designs, though 
 not executed by process of wood, but of copper. It has been introduced 
 into Tuscany, through the efforts of the distinguished Cosimo Rossi, a 
 gentleman of Pistoia, and vice-president of the academy. After various 
 experiments, and making the first trials upon some representations of 
 tombs, in the solid Egyptian style of his own invention, it soon became 
 also imitated in other modes of engraving, and more especially in tha 
 
UGO DA CARPI. 
 
 359 
 
 and inventions of Raffaello, with greater clearness than even 
 Marc Antonio had before done ; besides opening to posterity 
 a new path, as it were, of painting in chiaroscuro, very easily 
 imitated and multiplied. Vasari particularly treats upon it at 
 the close of his Introduction ; and there, no less than in other 
 places, commends the genius of Ugo as one of the most acute 
 that was ever directed towards the fine arts. 
 
 Viaggio Pittorico of Traballesi. It were desirable that the before- 
 mentioned gentleman should continue to apply the same in works of 
 architecture and perspective ; in which he succeeds admirably also with 
 his pencil, very happily emulating the style of Canaletto. The method 
 ought to be explained very minutely; but it is both too complicate and 
 too extensive to be adapted to the degree of brevity we have bound our¬ 
 selves to observe upon similar subjects. 
 
360 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 The Modenese Artists of the Seventeenth Century chiefly follow the 
 example of the Bolognese. 
 
 The taste introduced by Munari into Modena and tbe state, 
 together with the example of Correggio and Lelio, did not 
 become wholly extinct in the seventeenth century. It was in 
 some measure continued by several of their pupils and imita¬ 
 tors, but in proportion as those of the Caracci grew into greater 
 credit, gradually extending their influence over the other 
 schools of Italy, it began to decline apace. It is well known 
 that some of the Modenese frequented their academy, and Barto¬ 
 lommeo Schedone is included by Malvasia among the scholars 
 of the Caracci. If such be the fact, we must conclude, either 
 that his first productions are not known, or that he merely 
 saluted that school, as it were, from the threshold; inasmuch 
 as the larger works which are pointed out as his, betray few 
 traces of the style of the Caracci. It seems more probable 
 that he employed himself in following the successors of Raf- 
 faello in his native place, and in particular Correggio, of whom 
 there remained so many original pieces. His pieces in fresco, 
 executed in competition with Ercole Abati, about 1604, still 
 exist in the public palace ; and among these is the beautiful 
 history of Coriolanus, and the Seven Sisters, who are meant 
 to represent Harmony ; whoever observes these will find they 
 possess a mixture of the two characters before alluded to. 
 There is, moreover, in the cathedral, a half-figure of S. Gemi- 
 niano, with an infant boy restored by him to life, supporting 
 himself by the saint s staff, and apparently returning his 
 thanks. It may be enumerated among the best of his 
 works, and bears a striking resemblance to those of Cor¬ 
 reggio. The same resemblance was affirmed from that period 
 in other of his pictures transferred elsewhere; and Marini 
 
BARTOLOMMEO SCHEDONE. 
 
 361 
 
 mentions them in one of his letters as a kind of phenomenon. 
 Scanelli, who wrote about forty years after the death of Sche- 
 done, also confirms such an opinion; though to make the imi¬ 
 tation complete, he would have wished a little more practice 
 and solidity, in which I rather think he alludes to his perspec¬ 
 tive and design, not always quite correct. For the rest his 
 figures, both in their character and their action, are very 
 pleasing, while his colouring in fresco is very vivid and lively; 
 in oils he is more serious, but more harmonious, though not 
 always free front the ill effect produced by the bad grounds 
 usual in the age of the Caracci. His pictures on a larger 
 scale, such as his Pieta, now in the academy of Parma, are 
 extremely rare, and also his history-pieces, as the Nativity of 
 our Lord and that of the Virgin, placed for lateral ornaments 
 to an altar-piece by Filippo Bellini. Of his Holy Families, 
 and little sacred pieces, there are some remaining; such as 
 are found in galleries being highly valuable, so much so, that 
 Tiraboschi records the sum of 4,000 crowns having been re¬ 
 quired for one of them. The court of Naples is extremly rich 
 in them, having, together with the other Farnesian pictures, 
 obtained also those painted by Schedone while in the service 
 of Duke Ranuccio, his most liberal patron. This artist pro¬ 
 duced but little, being seduced by the love of gambling • nor 
 did he survive very long after losing a large sum of money, 
 about the end of the year 1615. 
 
 The. three following names belong to the school of the 
 Caracci, also in regard to style. Giacomo Cavedone, born in 
 Sassuolo, but absent from the state after the period of youth, 
 was esteemed one of the best disciples of Lodovico. Giulio 
 Secchiari, of Modena, resided also at Rome, and in Mantua, 
 where he produced several excellent pictures for the court, 
 which perished in the sack of 1630. What remains of him in 
 his native place, and in particular the Death of the Virgin, in 
 the subterranean part of the cathedral, with four crowns 
 around, is calculated to give rise to lively regret, that Giulio 
 should not be equally well known in different collections, with 
 the other disciples of the Caracci. Camillo Gavassetti, like¬ 
 wise of Modena, may boast also of a greater degree of merit 
 than of fame ; no less because he died young, than because of 
 his attaching himself to works in fresco, which, confined to 
 
3 62 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 the place in which they are produced, confine also the reputa¬ 
 tion of the artist. He his better known in Piacenza than in 
 Modena, Parma, or, indeed, any other city. One of his paint¬ 
 ings adorns the presbytery of the church of S. Antonino, 
 accompanied with figures taken from the Apocalypse, so finely 
 executed as to induce Guercino, when coming to Piacenza to 
 complete his finest work, to bestow the highest commendation 
 upon it ; and it is still enumerated among the chief ornaments 
 of that rich and ornate city. There is something so grand, 
 spirited, and choice, in its whole expression, combined with so 
 much grace and harmony of tints, that it equally surprises us 
 when viewed together, and satisfies us when examined part by 
 part. The action only is sometimes too extravagant, and 
 some of the figures are hardly sufficiently studied. In fact, 
 this artist preferred expedition to high finish ; and held a dis¬ 
 pute, reported by Baldinucci, with Tiarini, who practised and 
 maintained the contrary, a plan by which, in all works of im¬ 
 portance, he was preferred to him in Parma. In Santa Maria 
 di Campagna, at Piacenza, however, where they both painted 
 scriptural histories in opposition, Gavassetti maintains his 
 ground against Tiarini and other competitors, very numerous 
 and distinguished for that period. 
 
 When the pupils of the Caracci succeeded their masters in 
 Bologna, the young artists of the neighbouring state of Modena 
 continued to receive instructions from them, being highly 
 esteemed in the court of Este. At that period flourished 
 Francesco I. and Alfonso IV., both of whom, according to 
 the history of Malvasia, were greatly attached to the followers 
 of the Caracci; some of these they invited into their ser¬ 
 vice, others they employed in their palaces, and at their public 
 festivals; and from all they were anxious to obtain designs 
 and pictures which they might exhibit in their churches, or in 
 their grand collection of paintings, rendered by their means 
 one of the richest in Europe. Hence the artists who next 
 iollow, with the exception of a very few, among whom is 
 Romani of Reggio, will be included in one school. It seems 
 certain that Romani studied in Venice, and there became 
 attached to Paolo, whose style he adopted in the Mysteries of 
 the Rosario; aud even more so to Tintoretto, whose rules he 
 usually practised, and very successfully. 
 
GIOVANNI BOULANGER. 
 
 363 
 
 Guido Reni was either the master or the prototype of Gio. 
 Batista Pesari; if this artist, who resembles Guido in his 
 Madonna at S. Paolo, imitated him as closely in his other 
 works. But of this we cannot judge, as he flourished only 
 during a short period, and part of that time in Venice, where 
 he died before enjoying any degree of fame. Guido himself 
 undoubtedly bestowed his instructions on Luca da Reggio, 
 and on Bernardo Cervi da Modena. Luca I have mentioned 
 in the preceding book. The second, according to the judgment 
 of Guido, was possessed of distinguished talents for design ; 
 and though meeting with a premature fate in the pestilence of 
 1630, he left behind him works in the cathedral, and other 
 churches, not inferior, perhaps, to those of Luca. From the 
 same school sprung Giovanni Boulanger, of Troyes, painter 
 to the court of Modena, and master in that city. We find, in 
 the ducal palace, various specimens of his pencil truly delicate, 
 though his want of good grounds in many pictures occa¬ 
 sionally casts some reflection upon his merit. Lie is happy in 
 his inventions, warm and harmonious in his colours, spirited 
 in his attitudes, but not without some touch of excessive 
 enthusiasm. The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, if a genuine pro¬ 
 duction, is sufficient to establish his character; although the 
 figure of Agamemnon may appear veiled in a capricious style, 
 scarcely adapted to an heroic subject. Two of his best imitators 
 and disciples are Tommaso Costa, of Sassuolo, and Sigismondo 
 Caula, of Modena ; the first of whom succeeded as a powerful 
 colourist, of very general talent, and was eagerly employed 
 by the neighbouring courts and cities in perspective, in land¬ 
 scape, and in figures. Reggio, where he usually resided, 
 retains many of his productions : Modena has several, and in 
 particular the cupola of S. Vincenzo bears proud testimony to 
 his merit. Caula left his native place, only in order to 
 improve his knowledge in Venice. Thence he returned with 
 the acquisition of a copious and richly-coloured style, as 
 Orlandi very justly remarks, in regard to his great picture of 
 the Plague, at S. Carlo. He subsequently changed his tints, 
 which became more languid, and in such taste are most of the 
 pictures he produced for the ornament of altars and cabinets. 
 
 Many artists of Reggio were initiated in the art by Lionello 
 Spada, and by Desani, his pupil and assistant in the numerous 
 
364 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 labours be executed at that place. Among these are Sebas- 
 tiano Vercellesi, Pietro Mart.re Armani, and in particular 
 Orazio Talami, who, not content, like the rest, to remain in 
 his native place, traversed Italy, studied with unwearied care 
 the models of the Caracci, and succeeded so well in his 
 figures, that he might be mistaken for one of their scholars. 
 While at Rome, which he twice visited, he devoted himself 
 much to perspective, and very scrupulously observes its rules 
 in the noble and extensive representations of architectural 
 objects, which he introduced into his compositions. In all 
 respects his style is inclined rather to solidity than to amenity. 
 His native place boasts many of his labours, and more espe¬ 
 cially two large pictures abounding in figures, preserved in 
 the presbytery of the cathedral. Jacopo Baccarini was an 
 imitator of his style, two of whose pictures have been 
 engraved by Buonvicini; a Riposo di Eyitto , and a S. Alessio 
 Morto, both of which are to be seen at S. Filippo. This 
 artist’s manner displays much judgment, accompanied with a 
 good deal of grace. Mattia Benedetti, a priest of Reggio, 
 commended in the Abbecedario, was instructed in the art of 
 perspective by Talami himself, and, together with his brother 
 Lodovico, occupies an honourable place in this class. Paolo 
 Emilio Besenzi, a particular imitator of Albano, either from 
 natural taste or education, differs a good deal in the former 
 from Lionello. Reggio retains many pieces, especially at 
 S. Pietro, highly creditable to this artist’s talents ; besides 
 statues and buildings in very good taste; as he.succeeded in 
 uniting, like some of the best among the ancients, the various 
 qualities of the three sister arts. 
 
 Guercino likewise presented the state with an excellent 
 scholar in Antonio Triva di Reggio. He distinguished him¬ 
 self in various cities of Italy, and even in Venice, whither he 
 conducted his sister Flamminia, who possessed a genius for 
 the art. Here they both employed themselves in several 
 public works, which acquired for them the commendation of 
 Boschini. Occasionally he adheres so faithfully to his master, 
 as in the Orto at Piacenza, as not even to yield to Cesare 
 Gennari. In other pieces he is more free; though still his 
 manner retains strong traces of his school, really beautiful, as 
 it is pronounced by Zanetti, and, if I mistake not, full of 
 
L0D0V1C0 LANA. 
 
 365 
 
 truth. He finally visited the court of Bavaria, where he was 
 employed until the period of his death. 
 
 To Guercino, also, we must refer another imitator of his 
 style, in Lodovico Lana. He was instructed, however, by 
 Scarsellini, and from that circumstance, has been enumerated 
 by some among the artists of Ferrara. But Lana, most 
 likely, was born in the state of Modena, in whose city he 
 resided and held his school. His reputation there is great, as 
 well on account of many very beautiful pieces, as more par¬ 
 ticularly for that in the Chiesa del Yoto, in which he repre¬ 
 sented Modena freed from the scourge of the plague. It is 
 generally agreed that he never produced a finer specimen of 
 his ait, and there are few, at this time, in those churches, that 
 can be said to rival it in point of composition, in force of 
 colouring, harmony, and a certain novelty and abundance of 
 images, that produce surprise in the spectator. Lana is one 
 of the freest among the imitators of Guercino ; his touch is 
 the same, though less strong, and in taste they exactly coin¬ 
 cide. In Ins motions he has something of Tintoretto, or more 
 properly of Scarsellini ; but in his colours, and the expressions 
 of his countenances, he preserves an originality of character. 
 Pesan and he were rivals, as were the masters whom they 
 respectively followed, on account of their contrast of style. 
 Pesan, however, seemed to yield, as he transferred his talents 
 to Venice, while his competitor became the director of an 
 academy in Modena, which, supported by his credit, then 
 became celebrated throughout Italy. The name of Lana 
 continues to maintain its ground in Bologna and other adjacent 
 places, while it is not unknown in Lower Italy. The chief 
 part of his specimens to be met with in collections, consist of 
 heads of aged men, full of dignity, and touched with a certain 
 boldness of hand, which declares the master. 
 
 Those who flourished after him, belonging to the city of 
 Modena and the state, were for the most part educated else¬ 
 where. Bonaventura Lamberti, of Carpi, as I have observed 
 in the Roman school, was instructed by Cignani ; and there he 
 had a noble theatre for the display of his powers. At the 
 same period flourished Francesco Stringa, in Modena, where 
 he painted a good deal in a style, if I mistake not, that 
 approached, or seemed rather ambitious of approaching, that 
 
366 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 of Lana, and Guercino himself. By some, he is supposed to 
 have been a pupil of the first; by others, of the second of 
 these artists; but it is known only with certainty, that he 
 formed himself upon their model, and that of other excellent 
 masters, whose works, during his superintendence of the great 
 Este gallery, he might consult at his pleasure. Endowed 
 with a rich imagination, spirited and rapid in execution, he 
 produced much, which was greatly commended, both in the 
 cathedral and in the churches. His distinguishing charac¬ 
 teristic is the depth of his shades, the somewhat dispropor- 
 tioned length of his figures, and an inclination to the capri¬ 
 cious in his actions and composition. When in advanced 
 years, he began to deteriorate in style, a case common to most 
 artists. 
 
 He was the first master of Jacopo Zoholi, who, proceeding 
 from Modena into Bologna, and thence to Rome, settled there, 
 and died in 1761, with the reputation of a good artist. This 
 he in a high degree acquired by his labours in the church of 
 S. Eustachio, where he is distinguished amongt the more 
 modern productions by his S. Girolamo, displaying singular 
 diligence, polish, and harmony of colours, by no means gene¬ 
 ral in those times. The Primaziale of Pisa also boasted a 
 grand picture by his hand, representing S. Matteo, in the act 
 of dedicating a young princess to a holy life, by the imposi¬ 
 tion of the sacred veil. Two other artists of Modena, Fran¬ 
 cesco Yellani and Antonio Consetti, who died near the same 
 time, not very long ago, were instructed in the art by Stringa 
 and his school. Both are in a taste much resembling that of 
 the Bolognese of their own age. The former however, is not 
 so accurate in point of design as the latter, a strict and com¬ 
 mendable master in that art. It is true, he has a crudeness 
 of colours, not very pleasing to the eye; no new circumstance 
 in an artist educated in the school of Creti. Both Modena 
 and the state are in possession of many of their pieces. 
 
 Still more modern artists have supported with honour the 
 reputation of such predecessors ; but I could not here, without 
 deviating from my original system, venture to mention them. 
 The place will invariably serve to forward instruction; a col¬ 
 lection of designs and paintings being now exhibited in the 
 ducal gallery, which does honour to Italy, no less than to the ' 
 
PAOLO GIBERTONI. 
 
 ,367 
 
 noble taste of the family of Este that established it. Nor has 
 it omitted, from time to time, to provide for young artists the 
 assistance of the academy, which continued to flourish there, 
 from the times of Lana, often closed, and afterwards re¬ 
 opened, until beyond the age of Consetti. But it proved too 
 difficult an attempt to support another academy so near that 
 of Bologna, so widely distinguished and attended.* 
 
 The same celebrated state, so fruitful in every kind of 
 merit, produced also able professors in other branches of the 
 art. Lodovico Bertucci, of Modena, was a painter of capricci, 
 which were at that period much admired and admitted even 
 into palaces; and perhaps there are many of his specimens 
 still preserved there, but known under other names. A Pel¬ 
 legrino Ascani, of Carpi, was an admirable flower-painter, 
 and was succeeded, after a long interval, by Felice Rubbiani. 
 This last was a scholar of Bettini, the companion of his tra¬ 
 vels and the imitator of his taste. He was a favourite at 
 court, in the cities, and the vicinity; and had commissions 
 bestowed upon him to the number of thirty-six pictures, by 
 the Marchesi Riva, of Mantua, all of which he varied in the 
 most astonishing manner. There was, moreover, a Matteo 
 Coloretti, from Reggio, excellent in portraits, and a lady of 
 the name of Margherita Gabassi, who succeeded admirably in 
 humorous pieces. Nor ought we to omit the name of Paolo 
 Gibertoni, of Modena, who settled at Lucca, and for this rea¬ 
 son less known in his native place. His grotesques in fresco 
 boast no ordinary merit; and these he varied with every spe¬ 
 cies of strange animals, executed with great spirit. He was 
 likewise very pleasing in his landscapes, which rose in value 
 after his death, and are still much esteemed. 
 
 Most part of the artists of the Modenese state distinguished 
 themselves in ornamental work and in architecture; such as 
 Girolamo Comi, whose fine perspectives deserved to have been 
 accompanied with superior figures; and Gio. Batista Modonino, 
 called by mistake Madonnino in the Dictionary of Artists, who 
 acquired a high reputation in Rome, and probably left several 
 
 * The latest attempt to restore it was made in 1786, when it continued 
 to flourish with some credit, during ten years. In the close of the year 
 1796 it assumed the name of school, as I before remarked, directed by a 
 master in the art of designing figures, together with an assistant. 
 
368 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 frescos in the Palazzo Spada. He died of the plague, in Naples, 
 1656. Antonio Ioli met with a better fate there, about the same 
 period ; having acquired the theory of architecture, he passed 
 into Rome, and entering the school of Paunini, he became one 
 of the most celebrated painters in architecture and ornamental 
 work known to the present century. Applauded in the 
 theatres of Spain, England, and Germany, all of which he 
 adorned, he afterwards went to Naples, and became painter to 
 Carlo III. and to his successor. Giuseppe Dallamano, a 
 weak man, and, as it is said, unacquainted with his alphabet, 
 was ignorant even of the common principles of the art; though 
 by an extraordinary sort of talent, and especially in colouring, 
 he attained a degree of excellence truly surprising, even to the 
 learned ; by which he continued to live, employing himself in 
 the service of the royal family at Turin. His pupil Fassetti 
 was, likewise, an extraordinary character; applying himself, 
 at the age of twenty-eight, to the grinding of colours, he soon 
 began to imitate his master; and ultimately, with the assist¬ 
 ance of Francesco Bibiena, lie became one of the most skilful 
 among the theatrical painters of Lombardy. He came from 
 as well as his contemporary Zinani and the younger 
 Spaggiasi, both educated in the school of Bibiena ; although of 
 the father of Spaggiasi, who died in the service of the king of 
 Poland, the master’s name remains unknown. To these we 
 might add the name of Bartoli, Zannichelli, Bazzani, and of 
 others, either yet flourishing or deceased ; names by which the 
 Cavalier Tiraboschi is justified in observing, that “ Reggio had 
 the honour of having at all times produced excellent theatrical 
 painters.” 
 
 Carpi enjoys a different, kind of honour, though as great in 
 its way. For there were first commenced the works termed 
 a scagliola or a mischia , of mixed workmanship, the first 
 inventor of which was Guido Fassi, or del Conte.* The 
 stone, called selenite, forms the first ingredient in it. It is 
 
 * In the Novelle Letterarie of Florence,” 1771, it is asserted that 
 this art was introduced about two ages back into Tuscany, giving rise to 
 imitations of marbles, besides some fancy-pieces. I have diligently sought 
 after specimens thus antique, both at Florence and at Vallombrosa, where 
 this art was in great vogue; but what I have seen are very trivial in their 
 character, nor do they appear of so ancient a date. 
 
GIOVANNI CAVIONANI. 
 
 369 
 
 pounded and mixed with colours, and by the application of a 
 certain glue, the composition becomes as hard as stone, forming 
 a kind of marble, capable, with further care, of taking a 
 gradual polish. The first trial was made upon cornices, which 
 thus assume the appearance of fine marbles ; and there remain 
 also in Carpi, of the same composition, two altars by the hand 
 of Guido himself. His fellow-citizens began to avail them¬ 
 selves of this discovery; some adding one thing to it, and 
 some another. Annibal Griffoni, a pupil of Guido, applied it 
 to monuments, and even ventured upon the composition of 
 pictures, intended to represent engravings upon copper, as 
 well as pictures in oil; an attempt not very successful, inso¬ 
 much that the specimens by his son Gaspero are not valued 
 beyond a few tabernacles, and things in a similar taste. 
 Giovanni Cavignani afforded assistance first to Guido, and 
 next to Griffoni, surpassing both in a skilful application of the 
 art. Thus, the altar of S. Antonio, in the church of S. Niccolo, 
 at Carpi, is still pointed out as something extraordinary, con¬ 
 sisting of two columns of porphyry, and adorned with a pallium 
 embroidered with lace ; an exact imitation of the covers of the 
 altar, while it is ornamented in the margin with medals, 
 bearing beautiful figures. Nor is the monument from the 
 hand of one Ferrari in the cathedral, less perfect in its kind ; 
 where the marbles are so admirably counterfeited, that several 
 tourists of the best taste have been induced to break a small 
 portion, to convince themselves of the fact. There are, also, 
 pictures preserved in private houses thus drawn by Cavignani; 
 one of which consists of the Rape of Proserpine, executed with 
 much elegance, in possession of Signor Cabassi. 
 
 Leoni, who resided in Cremona, was a disciple of the 
 Griffoni, and the artificer of two very beautiful desks, pre¬ 
 served in the ducal museum at Modena, as well as Paltronieri 
 and Mazzelli, who introduced the art into Romagna, where it 
 still continues to flourish. We there meet with altars, that 
 equally deceive the eye by their colour, and the touch by the 
 freshness of the marble. But the most celebrated pupil of the 
 Griffoni was a priest called Gio. Massa, who, together with 
 Gio. Pozzuoli, produced wonderful specimens of the art in his 
 native place, in the adjacent cities, in Guastalla, Novedara, 
 and elsewhere. The priest proved equally successful in draw- 
 
 VOL. II. 2 B 
 
370 
 
 MODENESE SCHOOL.-EPOCH III. 
 
 ing distant views, gardens, and in particular architecture, 
 besides adorning with it tablets, and coverings of altars, in 
 such a manner as to reach the very perfection of the art. 
 The most dignified objects possessed by Rome were those 
 which he most delighted in for his views ; such as the facade 
 of the temple of the Vatican, its colonnade, and its piazza. 
 It appears the duke of Guastalla took singular pleasure in 
 similar works; and at his desire were prepared those two 
 little tables, in the possession of Signor Alberto Pio, cited by 
 Tiraboschi, and which were, perhaps, the master-pieces of 
 Massa. No objects appeared to me more remarkable than 
 such works abounding almost in every church throughout 
 those parts; and it would be very desirable that the plan of 
 representing architectural views, by this process, should 
 become more frequent. Massa also included figures, the 
 honour of perfecting which has fallen upon Florence ; a subject 
 I have treated in my first volume (p. 251). I shall merely 
 notice here, that after the practice of modelling had been 
 brought to vie with sculpture ; and after engraving upon wood 
 had so well counterfeited works of design, we have to record 
 this third invention, belonging to a state of no great dimen¬ 
 sions. Such a fact is calculated to bring into still higher 
 estimation the geniuses who adorned it. There is nothing of 
 which man is more ambitious than of being called the inventor 
 of new arts : nothing is more flattering to his intellect, or 
 draws a broader line between him and the animals that are 
 incapable of such inventions, or of carrying them beyond the 
 limits prescribed by instinct. In short, nothing was held in 
 higher reverence among the ancients ; and hence it is, that 
 Virgil, in his Elysian fields, represented the band of inven¬ 
 tors with their brows crowned with white chaplets, equally 
 distinct in merit as in rank, from the more vulgar shades 
 around them. 
 
37 ; 
 
 v 
 
 THE SCHOOL OF PARMA. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 The Ancients. 
 
 Text in order to the school of Modena, I rank that of 
 Parma and its state ; and I should very gladly have united 
 them together, as other writers have done, if in addition to the 
 distinction of dominions there had not also existed an evident 
 distinction in point of taste ; for it appears to me, as I have 
 before had occasion to observe, that in the former of these 
 cities the imitation of Raffaello prevailed; in the second that 
 of Correggio. This last indeed is the founder of the school of 
 Parma, which preserved a series of disciples for several gene¬ 
 rations, so strongly attached to his examples as to bestow no 
 attention upon any other model. The situation in which he 
 found the city on his first arrival is apparent from the ancient 
 figures scattered throughout, which by no means discover a 
 progress in the art of painting equal to that of many other 
 cities in Italy. Not that this arose from any want of acquaint¬ 
 ance with the arts of design ; for there flourished there as early 
 as the 12th century an artist named Benedetto Antelani, of 
 whom a basso-rilievo, representing the Crucifixion of our 
 Lord, is in the cathedral, which, though the production of a 
 rude age, had nothing in sculpture equal to it that I have been 
 able to meet with, until the period of Giovanni Pisano. 
 Respecting the art of painting, the celebrated Father Affo has 
 extracted very interesting notices from published documents 
 and MSS., in order to shew, that before 1233, both figures and 
 historical pieces had been painted in Parma.* Upon the com- 
 
 * The notices of the artists of Parma communicated by him to the pub¬ 
 lic, are in part contained in the Life of Parmigianino, and partly in a 
 humorous little work, entitled, “ II Parmigiano servitor di Piazza and 
 some further information on this subject I have myself received from the 
 lips of this learned ecclesiastic. 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH I. 
 
 pletion of the baptismal font, about 1260, that assemblage of 
 paintings was there executed, which may now be regarded as 
 one of the finest remaining monuments of the ancient manner 
 that Upper Italy has to boast. The subjects are in the usual 
 taste of those times; the style is less angular and rectilinear 
 than that of the Greek musaicists ; and displays some origi¬ 
 nality in the draperies, in the ornamental parts, and in the 
 composition. Above all, it shews very skilful mechanism in 
 regard to gilding and colouring, which notwithstanding the 
 distance of five centuries,retain much of their original strength. 
 
 Down from that period there appear in several places, both 
 at Piacenza and Parma, further specimens of the Trecentisti , 
 sometimes with annexed dates, and sometimes without any. 
 Such as belong to Piacenza, are in the church and cloister of 
 the Predicatori; but the best preserved of all is an altar-piece 
 at San Antonio Martire, with histories of the titular saint in 
 small figures, tolerably well drawn, and in costume which 
 seems to have been borrowed, as it were, from some municipal 
 usages peculiar to the place. Parma, likewise, possesses some 
 of the same date, besides a few others remaining at San Fran¬ 
 cesco, in a somewhat more polished style, attributed to Bar¬ 
 tolommeo Grossi, or to Jacopo Loschi, his son-in-law, both of 
 whom were employed there in 1462. Subsequent to these 
 flourished Lodovico da Parma, a pupil of Francia, whose 
 Madonnas, executed in his master’s manner, are easily recog¬ 
 nised in Parma \ and a Cristoforo Caselli (not Castelli, as he 
 is termed by Yasari), or Cristoforo Parmense, enumerated by 
 Ridolfi among the pupils of Gian Bellino. He produced a 
 very beautiful painting for the hall of the Consorziali, bearing 
 the date of 1499 ; and he is much commended by Grappaldo 
 in his work De partihus JEdium, who next to him ranks 
 Marmitta, of whom there is no authentic specimen remaining. 
 Still his name ought to be recorded, were it for no other reason 
 than his being the supposed master of Parmigianiuo. Along 
 -with these we may mention Alessandro Araldi, one of the 
 scholars of Bellini, of whom there remains a Nunziata, at the 
 Padri del Carmine, with his name, besides altar-pieces in dif¬ 
 ferent churches. He was indisputably a good artist in the 
 mixed manner, that is now called antico moderno. The family 
 of the Mazzuoli was much employed about the same period in 
 
THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 373 
 
 Parma, consisting of three brother artists, Michele and Pieri- 
 lario, falsely supposed to have been the first masters of Correg¬ 
 gio, and Filippo, called dalle Erbette , from succeeding better 
 in fruits and flowers than in figure-pieces. There remains an 
 altar-piece of Pierilario in the sacristy of Santa Lucia, exe¬ 
 cuted iu a method very superior to that of the “ Baptism of 
 Christ/’ painted for the baptismal font by his brother Filippo. 
 But, however inferior to his other brothers in this line him¬ 
 self, Filippo may be pronounced at least more fortunate in his 
 posterity, being the father of Parmigianino, whom we have 
 so lately had occasion to commend. 
 
 Yet the two most excellent of the Mazzuoli could not, any 
 more than their contemporaries, have been considered artists 
 upon a great scale, when the Padri Cassinensi, instead of 
 availing themselves of their services to decorate the tribune 
 and cupola of their magnificent temple, dedicated to St. John, 
 preferred inviting Antonio Allegri da Correggio, a foreigner 
 and a youth, to undertake the immense task; a choice which 
 may be said to have conferred a lasting obligation upon pos¬ 
 terity. For Correggio, like llaffaello, stood in need of some 
 extensive undertaking in order to bring his powers into full 
 play, and to open a new path for labours upon a grand scale, 
 as be had before done in those of a smaller class. But of an 
 artist who forms an era in Italian painting itself, not in this 
 particular school only, it becomes us to treat, as well as of his 
 imitators, in a separate chapter. 
 
374 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 "■» ■ 
 
 Correggio, and those who succeeded him in his School. 
 
 We are at length arrived at one of those distinguished cha¬ 
 racters, whom, from his high reputation, and the influence he 
 exercised over the style of painting in Italy, we can by no 
 means dismiss with our accustomed brevity. His name, how¬ 
 ever, must still be confined within compendious limits, adding 
 whatever new information and reflections we may think best 
 adapted for the illustration of such a subject; the life of 
 Correggio being involved in so much obscurity, as to admit, 
 beyond that of any other artist, of fresh discussion. The 
 more curious may consult the notices of him by the Cavalier 
 Mengs, contained in his second volume, a little work by 
 Cavalier Ratti, upon the life and works of Allegri, published 
 in Finale in 1781, and Tiraboschi in his Notices of the profes¬ 
 sors of Modena, besides Padre AfFb, in his works already 
 cited, the most accurate, perhaps, of any in point of chro¬ 
 nology. 
 
 The whole of these writers, following the example of Scan- 
 nelli and Orlandi, have complained of Vasari for having falsely 
 asserted the abject condition of Antonio,* sprung, in fact, from 
 a tolerably good family in an illustrious city, and not destitute 
 of those conveniences of fortune that might enable him from 
 the first to obtain an education adapted to the success of his 
 
 * In the opening of the Life we find,—“ He was of a very timid dispo¬ 
 sition, and with extreme inconvenience devoted himself to incessant labour 
 in order to provide for a numerous family.’' Towards the conclusion, he 
 adds,—“ Like those who have a numerous family, Antonio was desirous ” 
 (he had four sons) “ of hoarding his money, and thus soon became one of 
 the most miserable of men.” Elsewhere it is observed,—“ He held him¬ 
 self in slight esteem, and was satisfied with little.” 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 375 
 
 future efforts. They have also in particular reproached him 
 with his excessive credulity, in representing him to us as a 
 suffering and unhappy object, burdened with a numerous 
 family, little appreciated and badly rewarded for his labours. 
 On the contrary they observe, we know that he was respected 
 by the great, richly recompensed, and enabled to leave a fair 
 heritage for his family. Now I admit that Vasari is guilty 
 of much exaggeration, though not without some show of truth ; 
 for we only need to compare the commissions and gains of 
 Correggio with those of Raffaello, of Michelangelo, of Titian, 
 and even of Vasari himself, to divest us of all surprise at the 
 honest commiseration of the historian. Annibal Caracci did 
 not only compassionate his condition, but is said to have 
 bewailed it with his tears.* Besides, if we reflect that the terms 
 made use of by Vasari, of Correggio having become si misero , 
 so wretched, that nothing could be worse, do not exactly sig¬ 
 nify miserabile , miserable, as interpreted by some of his critics, 
 but rather mean, miserly , and sparing , renouncing certain 
 conveniences of life, in order to spend as little as possible, it 
 will alter the complexion of the case. In the same manner 
 he states, or rather as some think, imagines that Antonio, 
 though enabled to travel like others, by water, mounted horse 
 during the summer solstice, and shortly after died. And 
 indeed, if we consider the singular deprivations to which very 
 wealthy people, for the same reason, will submit, we do not 
 see how a reference to the possessions of the Allegri family, 
 not without some degree of exaggeration, as has more than 
 once been done, can disprove this charge of meanness and 
 extreme parsimony. We trust that the Signor Dottor An- 
 tonioli will inform us more distinctly respecting the amount 
 of Antonio’s property, though we are inclined to believe it 
 could not have exceeded the limits of mediocrity. The highest 
 
 • “ It almost drives me mad with grief to think of the wretchedness of 
 poor Antonio ; to think that so great a man, if he were not an angel in 
 human shape, should be thus lost in a country which could not appreciate 
 Rim, and though with a reputation reaching to the skies, destined to die 
 in such a place so unhappily.” In a letter to Lodovico, written from 
 Parma, 1580 (Malvas. vol. i. p. 366). Annibal likewise exaggerated, 
 because the Padri Benedettini, as well as others, were aware of the value 
 of Antonio. 
 
376 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 salaries received by him have been ascertained. For the 
 cupola and larger nave of the church of San Giovanni, he was 
 paid four hundred and seventy-two gold ducats, or Venetian 
 zecchins, and for the cupola of the cathedral, three hundred 
 and fifty; doubtless considerable sums, though we should 
 consider he was occupied from the year 1520 until 1530, in 
 the designs and labours requisite for works of such magnitude, 
 and which prevented him from accepting other offers of any 
 account during the interval. He earned forty gold ducats by 
 his celebrated picture of Night ; his San Girolamo brought 
 him forty-seven ducats, or zecchins, besides his subsistence 
 during six months he was employed on it; and thus, in equal 
 pioportion, we may suppose him to have been recompensed 
 for the time bestowed upon his lesser pieces. The two which 
 he painted for the duke of Mantua we may reckon at some¬ 
 thing more ; but these were the only ones he produced at the 
 request of sovereigns. Thus much being certain, it is hardly 
 credible, that after deducting the expense of colours, of models, 
 and of assistants, including the maintenance of his family, 
 there should still have remained enough to leave that family 
 in a state of affluence. 
 
 But although we admit the reality of his supposed indigence, 
 it can form no reproach, no drawback upon the excellences of 
 so great a man, crowning him rather with additional honour, 
 in particular when we reflect, that with such limited means 
 he was invariably lavish of his colours, to a degree beyond 
 example. There is not a single specimen, whether executed 
 on copper, on panels, or on canvas, always sufficiently choice, 
 that does not display a profusion of materials, of ultramarine, 
 the finest lake and green, with a strong body, and repeated 
 retouches; yet for the most part laid on without ever remov¬ 
 ing his hand from the easel before the work was completed. 
 In short he spared neither time nor expense, contrary to the 
 custom of all other painters, with very few exceptions. Such 
 liberality, calculated to do honour to a rich amateur, painting 
 for amusement, is infinitely more commendable in an artist of 
 such circumscribed resources. It displays, in my opinion, all 
 the grandeur of character that was supposed to animate the 
 breast of a Spartan. And this we would advance, no less in 
 reply to Vasari, who cast undue reflections upon Correggio’s 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 377 
 
 economy, than as an example for such young artists as may 
 he desirous of nourishing sentiments worthy of the noble 
 profession they embrace. 
 
 It is still current in Correggio that Antonio commenced his 
 first studies under his uncle Lorenzo. Subsequent to which, 
 according to Vedriani, he entered into the school of Francesco 
 Bianchi, called II Frari, who died in 1510, a school established 
 in Modena. There also it appears he acquired the art of 
 modelling, at that time in great repute; and he thus prepared 
 m clay, along with Begarelli, the group of that Pieta, in 
 Santa Margherita, where the three most beautiful figures are 
 attributed to Correggio. In the same highly distinguished 
 city it is most probable that he also laid the foundation of 
 that learned and cultivated taste so conspicuous in his works; 
 the geometrical skill exhibited in his perspective, the archi¬ 
 tectural rules of his buildings, and the poetry of his warm 
 and lively conceptions. Thus his historians, judging from the 
 specimens of his early style, assert that he must have sought 
 it in the academy of Andrea Mantegna at Mantua; but the 
 recently discovered fact of Andrea’s having died in 1506, 
 does away with such a supposition. It is, nevertheless, 
 extremely probable that he acquired it by studying the works 
 left by Andrea at Mantua, for which I can adduce various 
 arguments. I have described pretty fully the character of 
 Mantegna s picture of Victory, the most extraordinary of all 
 he produced; imitations of this are to be met with in many 
 of the works of Correggio, but most evidently so in the 
 picture of his St. George at Dresden. The manner in which 
 Correggio could haA'e imbibed so exquisite a taste, was always 
 considered surprising and unaccountable, prevailing every¬ 
 where, as we find it in his canvas, in his laying on his colours, 
 in the last touches of his pictures; but let us for a moment 
 suppose him a student of Andrea’s models, surpassing all 
 others in the same taste, as we before observed, and the 
 wonder will be accounted for. Let us moreover consider the 
 grace and vivacity so predominant in the compositions of 
 Correggio ,• that rainbow as it were of colours, that accurate 
 care in his foreshortenings, and of those upon ceilings; his 
 abundance of laughing boys and cherubs, of flowers, fruits, 
 and all delightful objects; and let us then ask ourselves 
 
378 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 whether his new style does not appear an exquisite completion 
 of* that of Mantegna, as the pictures of Raffaello and Titian 
 display the progress and perfection of those of Perugino and 
 Giovanni Bellini. 
 
 In regard to his education in the studio of Mantegna, the 
 generally received opinion in Lombardy is, that Yedriani 
 must have been mistaken in a name; and that in place of 
 Andrea, he ought to have pronounced his son Francesco, the 
 master with whom it is maintained Correggio resided, either 
 in quality of pupil or assistant. Mantegna’s school, indeed, 
 had risen into great reputation, having given striking proof 
 of its excellence even in foreshortening upon the ceiling; 
 besides surpassing Melozio, as I elsewhere observed, so as 
 only to leave another step before reaching the modern manner. 
 This was reserved for the genius of Correggio, in common 
 with the master spirits of every other school, who flourished 
 during the same period. In truth, from his very first attempts, 
 he appears to have aimed at a softer and fuller style than 
 Mantegna's; and several, among whom is the Abate Betti- 
 nelli, have pointed out some such specimens in Mantua. 
 Signor Yolta, member of the Royal Academy there, assured 
 me that Correggio is named in the books of the Opera di 
 S. Andrea, for which reason, several of the figures on the 
 outside of the church, and in particular a Madonna, better 
 preserved than the rest, a youthful essay, but from the hand 
 of one freed from the stiffness of the quattrocentisti, have 
 been attributed to him.* In Mantua likewise I saw a little 
 picture in the possession of the Abate Bettinelli, about to be 
 engraved, representing a Holy Family, in which, if we except 
 a degree of stiffness in the folds, the modern manner is 
 complete. A few other of Correggio’s Madonnas, to be 
 referred to this period, are to be seen in the ducal gallery at 
 Modena, with other works mentioned in various places. 
 Among these is a picture of our Lord taking farewell of the 
 
 * There is a document existing in the same archives, where Francesco 
 Mantegna binds himself to ornament the outside of the church. It may 
 thus be conjectured, that the picture of the Ascension, placed over the 
 gateway, is from his hand, while the Madonna, evidently from another, is 
 the work of Correggio. The master, in executing his commissions, often 
 employed his pupil or his assistant. 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 379 
 
 Virgin mother, previous to his passion, a piece recognised as 
 a genuine Correggio by the Abate Carlo Bianconi at Milan.* 
 Doubtless many of his other early productions were of an 
 inferior description, and are dispersed abroad, either unknown, 
 or disputed, Vasari having recorded of him that “he com¬ 
 pleted many pictures and works.” 
 
 V herefore is it then that in the published catalogues we 
 meet with so very scanty a list of his pictures, nearly all 
 esteemed excellent ? It is because whatever does not appear 
 superlatively beautiful has been doubted, denied, and cast 
 aside as unworthy of him, or attributed to some of his school. 
 Mengs himself, who investigated the relics of this great artist, 
 and was very cautious of admitting any disputed productions, 
 declares that he had only seen one specimen of his early style, 
 that of his S. Antony in the gallery of Dresden. This, as 
 well as a S. Francis and the Virgin, he painted in 1512, in 
 Carpi, when he was eighteen years of age.t From the 
 stiffness apparent in this last, and the contrasted softness of 
 the others, he was led to conjecture that Correggio must have 
 suddenly altered his manner, and attempted to penetrate into 
 the unknown cause of it. He suspected, therefore, that what 
 De Piles, followed by Resta, and some other writers, first 
 advanced in his Dissertations, against the authority of Vasari, 
 must be correct, j; namely, that Correggio visited Rome, and 
 having observed the ancient style, and that of Raffaello and 
 Michelangelo, along with Melozio’s pictures in the art of 
 foreshortening, seen from below, he returned into Lombardy 
 with a different taste, acquired during his stay in the capital. 
 
 Yet this able scholar proposes such a view of the case, with 
 singular deference to the contrary opinion of others, and even 
 presents his reader with arguments against that view, to the 
 following effect:—“ If he did not behold the antique ” (and 
 the same may be averred of the two distinguished moderns), 
 
 * This excellent judge of art, more particularly in point of engravings, 
 and also extremely skilful in portraits drawn with the pen, departed this 
 life at the beginning of 1802. 
 
 f Thus conjectures Tiraboschi, with arguments that prove the fact 
 rather than shew its probability. 
 
 + Ortensio Landi, in his Observations, had put on record that Correggio 
 died young, without seeing Rome.—Tiraboschi. 
 
380 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 “ such as it exists in Rome, he may still have seen it as it 
 appears at Modena and Parma ; and the mere sight of an 
 object is enough to awaken in fine spirits the idea of what it 
 ought to be.” And my readers, indeed, will be at no loss to 
 find examples to confirm such an opinion ; Titian and Tin¬ 
 toretto, by the mere use of modelling, having far surpassed 
 those who designed statues ; and Baroccio happening to cast 
 his eye upon a head of Correggio, soon distinguished himself in 
 the same style. And if we may further adduce an example 
 of the power of sovereign genius, from the sciences, let us 
 look at Galileo watching the oscillations of a bell in a church 
 at Pisa, from which he drew the doctrine of motion and the 
 principles of the new philosophy. So likewise might this 
 great pictorial genius conceive the idea of a new style, from a 
 few faint attempts of art, and thus win the applauses of the 
 world of art, bestowed upon him from the time of Vasari, as 
 something due less to a mortal than to a god. Doubtless in 
 the first instance he received no slight impulse from the finer 
 works of Andrea, from the collection of ancient relics in 
 Mantua and Parma, from the studio of the Mantegni, and that 
 of Begarelli, equally rich in models and designs. To these 
 we may add an acquaintance with artists, familiar with Rome, 
 with Munari, with Giulio Romano himself; and finally the 
 general influence of the age, everywhere dissatisfied with the 
 meanness of the late style, and aiming at a more soft, full, 
 and clear development of the contours. All these united in 
 facilitating the progressive step which Correggio had to take, 
 though his own genius was destined to achieve the task. This 
 it was that first led him to study nature, with the eye of the 
 ancient Greeks, and that of his great Italian predecessors. 
 The leading geniuses of their age have often pursued the same 
 career, unknown to each other, as Tully has expressed himself 
 “Et quadam ingenii divinitate, in eadem vestigia incur- 
 rerunt. But we must here check ourselves, in regard to this 
 portion of the subject, having to treat of it anew at the 
 distance of not many pages. At present we have only to 
 inquire whether Correggio really adopted the modern style at 
 once, as has been asserted, or by gradual study. 
 
 Upon this point it is much to be regretted that the Cavalier 
 Mengs did not obtain a sight of some paintings in fresco, 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 381 
 
 executed by Correggio, as it is said, in his early youth, during 
 the period he was employed by the Marchesa Gambara; but 
 which have now perished. For, doubtless, he would thus 
 have been enabled to throw much light upon the subject; and 
 at least I could have wished that he had met with two pictures 
 produced by Antonio in his native place, though but recently 
 discovered, as in these, perhaps, he might have detected that 
 sort of middle style, which is seen to exist between his St. 
 Antony and his St. George at Dresden. The first of these 
 has been called in question by Tiraboschi, on the ground of 
 there being no authentic document assigning it to Correggio ; 
 though I think it ought to be admitted as his, until stronger 
 arguments, or the authority of experienced professors of the 
 art, compel us to deny it. This picture was formerly placed 
 in the chapel of La Misericordia , and very old copies of it 
 are still preserved in many private houses at Correggio. It 
 represents a beautiful landscape, together with four figures of 
 saints, St. Peter, St. Margherita, the Magdalen, and another, 
 most likely St. Raimond, yet unborn.* The figure of St. 
 Peter bears some resemblance to one of Mantegna, in his 
 Ascension of St. Andrew, just alluded to; while the wood 
 and the ground are extremely like that master’s composition. 
 This fine piece was much damaged by the lights, or, as some 
 suspect, by the varnish, purposely laid on, in order, by 
 decreasing its value, to prevent its being carried away; but, 
 on the contrary, it appears for this very reason to have been 
 removed from the altar, and a copy substituted, in which the 
 last of the above figures was exchanged for one of St. Ursula. 
 The original afterwards came into the possession of Signor 
 Antonio Armanno, one of the best connoisseurs at this time 
 known, in respect to the value of engravings, as well as of 
 other productions of our best artists, which he has likewise, in 
 a singular degree, the art of restoring even when much 
 defaced. So iu this instance, by the most persevering care, 
 
 * Tiraboschi, p. 257, gives a different account of it, and appears to 
 confound the original with the copy, which for a long time has been placed 
 on the altar, also considerably defaced and discoloured. Respecting this 
 picture, likewise, we hope we shall be better informed by the Dottor 
 Antonioli, to whom we here confess our obligations for much information 
 inserted in this chapter, obtained from his own mouth upon the spot. 
 
382 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 during a whole year, he at length succeeded in removing this 
 ugly veil, which concealed the beauty of the work, now 
 renewed in all its pristine excellence, and attracting crowds 
 of accomplished strangers to gaze upon its merits. It is 
 generally allowed to exhibit a softer expression, in the modern 
 style, than the St. Antony of Dresden, though yet far distant 
 from the perfection of the St. George and others produced 
 about the same time. 
 
 About this period, Allegri painted in the church of the Con¬ 
 ventuals, at Correggio, what is termed an Ancona, a small 
 altar-piece in wood, consisting of three pictures. It appears 
 certain, that the two altar-pieces already mentioned opened 
 the way also to this fresh commission; for from the written 
 agreement, he seems to have been in his twentieth year, and 
 the price fixed upon was one hundred gold ducats, or one 
 hundred zecchins, which proves the esteem in which his talents 
 were held. He here represented St. Bartholomew and St. John, 
 each occupying one side ;* while in the middle department, 
 he drew a Repose of the Holy Family flying into Egypt, to 
 which last was added a figure of St. Francis. So greatly was 
 Francesco I., duke of Modena, delighted with this picture, 
 that he sent the artist Boulanger with the orders to copy it 
 for him ; and thus obtaining possession of the original, he 
 dexterously contrived to substitute his own copy in its place, 
 a deception which he afterwards repaired by presenting the 
 convent with some fresh lands. It is believed that it was 
 afterwards presented to the Medicean family, and by them 
 was given in exchange to the house of Este, for the Sacrifice 
 of Abraham, from the hand of Andrea del Sarto. It is certain 
 that it was to be seen in the royal gallery at Florence, from 
 the end of the last century, and was there commended by 
 Barri, in his “ Viaggio Pittoresco,” as original. In progress 
 
 * These two saints had already been withdrawn from the altar (Tira- 
 boschi, p. 253), nor does a copy of them remain at San Francesco. That 
 made by Boulanger is in the convent, and was evidently produced in haste, 
 and upon a bad ground ; hence it is neither very exact, nor in good pre¬ 
 servation. It is, nevertheless, valuable as throwing light upon Correggio’s 
 history, and his different styles ; while it also tends to prove, that if the 
 ancona was made of wood, the picture was made portable, and painted on 
 canvas. 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 383 
 
 of time, it began to be less esteemed, because less perfect, 
 perhaps, than some of the master-pieces of Correggio, and not 
 long after, assuming another name, it began to be pointed out 
 by some as a Baroccio, and by others as a Yanni. The same 
 Signor Armanno, before mentioned, who was the first to recall 
 to mind the copy remaining at Correggio, presented us, also, 
 with this hidden treasure. Its originality, however, was dis¬ 
 puted from the first, it being objected, in particular, that 
 Allegri had depicted the subject upon board, whereas this 
 Medicean painting was found to he upon canvas. But this 
 doubt was removed on comparing the work with the copy of 
 Boulanger, made upon canvas; for certainly if the genuine 
 production were really painted upon board, the imitator could 
 hardly have succeeded in palming upon the holy brethren 
 one of his copies upon canvas. The probability of its 
 genuineness is still greater when we reflect, that no gal¬ 
 lery was ever in possession of a Repose similar to it, so 
 as to have contested with the city of Florence the pos¬ 
 session of the original; so frequent an occurrence, both 
 now and in other times, with works of art repeated in 
 different places. Besides, the hand of the master is, in 
 itself, nearly enough to pronounce it genuine ; we see 
 the remains of a varnish peculiar to the author; a tone of 
 colouring perfectly agreeing with his pictures at Palma; inso¬ 
 much, that many very experienced judges of art, and among 
 others Gavin Hamilton, whose opinion carries great weight, 
 have united in giving it to Correggio. At the same time, they 
 admit, that it is a piece partaking of an union of his styles, 
 during the progress of the second; and if we are careful in 
 comparing it with his other representation of the Repose, at 
 S. Sepolcro, in Parma, commonly entitled the Madonna della 
 Scod-ella, we shall discover much the same difference as 
 between Raffaello’s paintings in Citta di Castello and those at 
 Rome. Such a distinction was noticed by some very respectable 
 professors, even during the heat of the controversy, who agreed 
 in declaring, that the Medicean picture in part resembled 
 Correggio in his best manner, and in part differed from it. 
 
 There are two other pictures of his, mentioned by the Ca¬ 
 valier Mengs, which may be referred to the same class. One 
 ol them is the “ Noli me tangere in the Casa Ercolani, but 
 
384 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 which suosequently passed into the Escurial; the other a 
 picture of the Yirgin in the act of adoring the Divine Infant, 
 which adorns the royal gallery in Florence ; both of which he 
 declares are in a taste which he failed to discover in the most 
 sublime and celebrated pictures of Correggio. To these we 
 may add the Marsyas of the Marchesi Litta, at Milan, with a 
 few other works of Correggio’s inserted in the catalogue of 
 Tirabosclii, which is the most copious extant. From such 
 evidence it must, in short, be admitted, that this artist was 
 possessed of a sort of middle style, between that which he 
 formed as a scholar and that which he completed as a master. 
 And we have equal reason for believing what has been stated 
 respecting Correggio’s having attempted a variety of styles, 
 before he made choice of the one by which he so greatly dis¬ 
 tinguished himself, and thus laid the foundation for his pieces 
 being attributed, as they have been, to different masters. In 
 fact, his conceptions of the beautiful and the perfect were 
 deduced in part from other artists, and in part created by 
 himself; conceptions that could not be matured without much 
 time and labour ; on which account he was compelled, as it 
 were, to imitate those natural philosophers who try an infinite 
 number of different experiments to discover some single truth 
 which they have in view. 
 
 During a progress thus gradually pursued, and by an artist 
 who in every new production succeeded in surpassing himself, 
 it is difficult to fix the precise epoch of his new style. I 
 once saw in Rome a very beautiful little picture, representing, 
 in the back-ground, the taking of Christ in the garden ; and 
 in the fore part, the youth Joseph, who, in the act of flying, 
 leaves his mantle behind him ; the original of which is in 
 England, and a duplicate at Milan, in possession of Count de 
 Keweniller; the picture at Rome bore in ancient character 
 the date of 150.5, indisputably false. A more correct one, how¬ 
 ever, is to be found upon that of the Marriage of St. Cathe¬ 
 rine, in possession of Count Brull, late prime minister to the 
 king of Poland, which is every way corresponding to the 
 other remaining at Capo di Monte ; it bears the date of 1517- 
 It is probable, that in this year, when the artist was just 
 twenty-three, he had already sufficiently mastered his new 
 style, from the fact of his having about 1518, or 1519, pro- 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 385 
 
 duced in Parma the picture which is still in existence at the 
 monastery of St. Paul. This, after various disputes, has 
 recently been acknowledged to be “ one of the most grand, 
 spirited, and laboured productions that ever proceeded from 
 that divine hand and it has been illustrated with its real 
 epoch, from an excellent little work of the celebrated Padre 
 Affo. Such a work, indeed, confers a benefit upon history. He 
 there explains the manner in which Correggio might have 
 imitated the ancients with such advantages only as he found 
 in Parma ; and endeavours to account for the difficulty pre¬ 
 sented to us in the silence of Mengs, who, having beheld this 
 very picture, omitted to mention it among Antonio’s other 
 works. We are relieved, also, from another difficulty in 
 respect to the manner in which a piece representing the Chase 
 of Diana, abounding with such a variety of loves and cupids, 
 could have been painted for a holy monastery, accompanied 
 by those profane representations distributed throughout the 
 same chamber, in various circular pieces, such as the Graces, 
 the Fates, the Vestals; a naked Juno, suspended from the 
 heavens, in the method described by Homer, in his fifteenth 
 book of the Iliad ; with other similar objects, still less becom¬ 
 ing the sphere of a cloister. But our wonder will cease when 
 we reflect, that the same place was once the residence of a 
 lady abbess, at a time in which the nuns of S. Paolo lived 
 unguarded by grates; in which every abbess sought to enjoy 
 herself; held jurisdiction over lands and castles, and, inde¬ 
 pendent of the bishop, lived altogether as a secular personage, 
 a license in those days extremely general, as is justly observed 
 by Muratori, in his “ Italian Antiquities,” tom. iii. p. 332 . 
 The above work was a commission given by a Donna Giovanna 
 di Piacenza, who was then the superior of the monastery ; and 
 whatever degree of learning we meet with in the painting' and 
 in the devices or conceits, was, most probably, communicated 
 to the artist by Giorgio Anselmi, a celebrated scholar, whose 
 own daughter belonged to the same establishment. But we 
 must not allow ourselves to proceed further in our notice of a 
 dissertation, assuredly one of the most profound and ingenious 
 that we ever recollect to have read. The pictures are about to 
 be engraved by the hand of Signor Rosaspina, after those of 
 S. Giovanni, in which the learned Abate Mazza is at present 
 VOL. II. 2 c 
 
386 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 so laudably engaged, no less to the advantage of the arts than 
 of bis own reputation.* 
 
 The vast undertaking, so finely executed by Correggio, at 
 S. Paolo, obtained for him so high a name, that the Padri 
 Cassinensi invited him to engage in the equally extensive one 
 of San Giovanni, entered upon in 1520,t and completed in 
 1524, as we find mentioned in the books. There, also, in 
 addition to several minor works, he decorated the tribune, 
 which being afterwards removed, in order to extend the choir, 
 and rebuilt, was repainted, as we shall notice elsewhere, by 
 Aretusi. On the demolition of the tribune, the picture of the 
 Incoronation of the Virgin, the leading subject in the fresco, 
 was saved, and is now exhibited in the royal library; and 
 various heads of angels, which in like manner escaped the same 
 destruction, are preserved in the Palazzo Rondanini at Rome. 
 There are, now, in the church of San Giovanni, two pictures 
 in oil, placed opposite to one another, in one of the chapels; 
 one, a Christ taken from the Cross ; the other, the Martyrdom 
 of St. Placidus, both painted on canvas made for the purpose, 
 like some of the pictures of Mantegna. On the exterior of 
 one of the other chapels is a figure of St. John the Evangelist, 
 executed in the noblest manner. And, finally, there is the 
 grand cupola, where the artist represented the Ascension of 
 Jesus to his Father; the apostles looking on in mingled vene¬ 
 ration and surprise ; a production in which, whether we regard 
 the proportion, and the shortening of the figures, the naked 
 parts, or the draperies, or gaze upon it as a whole, we must 
 alike confess that it was an unexampled specimen of the art, 
 in its kind; the terrific Judgment of Michelangelo j: not having 
 then assumed its place in the Vatican. 
 
 * Some writers attempt to prove from this work that Correggio had 
 already visited Rome. 
 
 f Tiraboschi was unable to discover any certain work from the hand of 
 Antonio, between the years 17 and 20, of the same age. This gave rise to 
 the assertion of Vasari’s annotator, that he remained in Rome in quality 
 of Raft'aello’s pupil during this interval, and on his master's death, in 1520, 
 returned to Lombardy. Such a supposition becomes utterly void, after 
 the above epochs adduced by us. 
 
 £ It is worth notice, that Ratti, persuaded of Correggio’s residence at 
 Rome, has availed himself of the argument of certain figures being bor¬ 
 rowed by him from the Judgment, before Michelangelo had painted it. 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 387 
 
 Astonishing, however, as such a production must be allowed 
 to be, it will still be found to yield the palm to another, which 
 the hand of Correggio alone could have rendered superior. 
 This is the celebrated Assumption of the Virgin, in the 
 cathedral of Parma, completed in the year 1530. It is 
 indisputably more ample; and in the back-ground the figures 
 of the same apostles are reproduced, as was customary, ex¬ 
 pressing feelings of surprise and piety, though in a manner 
 altogether different from the former. In the upper part is 
 represented an immense crowd of happy spirits, yet distributed 
 in the finest order, with a number of angels of all dimensions, 
 and full of action ; some employed in assisting the flight of 
 the Virgin, others singing and dancing, and the rest engaged 
 in celebrating the triumph with applause, songs, torches, and 
 the burning of celestial perfumes. In all, the countenances 
 beam with mingled beauty, hilarity, and triumph; a halo of 
 light seems to envelope the whole, so that, notwithstanding the 
 piece is much defaced, it is still calculated to awaken such an 
 enchantment of the soul, that the spectator almost dreams he 
 is in elysium. These magnificent works, as it has been 
 observed of the chambers of Raffaello, were calculated to 
 promote the dignity of his manner, and led the way to that 
 height of perfection which he attained in the difficult art of 
 working in fresco. To estimate it aright, we ought to approach 
 near, to mark the decision and audacity as it were of every 
 stroke; the parts, that at a distance appear so beautiful, yet 
 effected by few lines ; and that colouring, and that harmony 
 which unite so many objects in one, produced, as it were, in 
 
 Equally valid is his conjecture, founded upon several figures of Raffaello’s, 
 which he detected in Correggio, as if these two artists had never studied 
 from the same book of nature. Such an opinion is asserted also by Padre 
 della Valle, cited in our first volume, p. 401. But writers will always 
 be liable to these mistakes, as long as they pretend to make discoveries 
 and throw light upon ancient facts, without adhering to historical dates, 
 and in their conjectures rather consult novelty and their own vanity than 
 truth. But this fault, brought into vogue about the middle of the eigh¬ 
 teenth century, has produced no little evil, both in letters and religion, 
 and surely cannot continue to receive encouragement at this enlightened 
 period. Let us rather trust that the love of truth, never altogether extin¬ 
 guished, will resume its former influence in the investigation of historical 
 points, and that one of its leading objects will be to free both sacred and 
 profane history from those foolish sophisms that so much obscure it. 
 
 2 c 2 
 
388 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 sportful play. The renowned artist survived only four years, 
 subsequent to the completion of the cupola; without com¬ 
 mencing, during the interval, the painting of the tribune, for 
 which he had pledged himself, and received part of the 
 remuneration, which was afterwards restored to the revenues 
 of the cathedral by his heirs. It has been conjectured, that 
 the conductors of the works must, in some way, have given 
 him offence ; since the artist Sojaro, on being invited to paint 
 at the Stecccita , objects to it in the following terms : “ Not 
 wishing to remain at the discretion of so many different heads ; 
 and you know,” he continues to his friend, “ what was said to 
 Correggio in the dome.” Now this, it would appear, must 
 have consisted of some expressions derogatory to his talents; 
 probably some words which one of the artificers is said to have 
 applied to the diminutiveness of his figures: “ Ci avete fatto 
 un guazzetto di rane.” “ You have presented us with a hash 
 of frogs.” Words from a workman, for which Correggio might 
 easily have consoled himself, as they did not express the 
 opinion of the city of Parma. 
 
 He died, however, about four years afterwards, at his native 
 place, before he had completed his undertaking ; and without 
 leaving any portrait of himself which can be considered 
 genuine. Vasari’s editor, at Rome, produces one of a bald old 
 man, little agreeable to our ideas of Correggio, who died at the 
 age of forty. It is taken from a collection of designs by the 
 Padre Resta, which he entitled, the “ Portable Gallery,” and 
 which both the Cavalier Tiraboschi and the Padre della Yalle 
 mentioned as having been lost. Nevertheless it exists in the 
 Ambrosian collection, and contains, among other designs, one 
 which Resta, in the notes added thereto, declares to be the 
 family of Correggio, consisting of the portrait of himself, his 
 wife, and his sons, altogether forming one female and three 
 male heads, poor, and wretchedly attired. But it betrays 
 evident marks of its want of genuineness, and not the least in 
 the description of the family; inasmuch as Antonio is known 
 to have had one son and three daughters, two of whom appear 
 to have died at an early age. The portrait remaining at 
 Turin, in the Yigna della Regina, engraved by the very able 
 Yalperga, bears an inscription, in part hidden by the cornice. 
 Still I contrived to decipher the words, Antonius Cor rights , 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 3S9 
 
 / (that is , fecit), one of the first arguments for not admitting 
 it, as some hare done, to be a head of Correggio. A further 
 one may be derived from the inscription itself being written in 
 large letters, and in a space occupying the whole length of the 
 canvas, a method occasionally adopted to explain the subject 
 oi the piece, but never the name of the artist. There was 
 another portrait sent from Genoa into England, with an 
 inscription upon the back, indicating it to be that of Antonio 
 da Correggio, drawn by Dosso Dossi, which is to be found in 
 the memoirs of Ratti. I have no sort of ground for asserting 
 such a signature to have been introduced several years sub¬ 
 sequent; a plan which was, and still is frequently adopted, by 
 an accurate imitation of the ancient characters; I would 
 merely observe, that there was also a distinguished painter in 
 miniature, of the name of M. Antonio da Correggio, who 
 traversed Italy about the time of Dosso, and whose merits I 
 shall treat of hereafter. Of the portrait taken of Correggio, 
 by Gambara, in the cathedral of Parma, it would here be 
 improper to speak, otherwise than as of an idle popular 
 rumour. In conclusion, therefore, I am inclined to admit the 
 seeming truth of what is advanced by Vasari, that this noble 
 artist entertained no idea of transmitting his likeness to pos¬ 
 terity, not justly estimating his own excellence, but adding to 
 his numerous other accomplishments that of a remarkable 
 modesty, conferring real honour upon our history. 
 
 The latest and most perfect style of Correggio has been 
 minutely analysed by the Cavalier Mengs, in the same man¬ 
 ner as he examined that of Raffaello and of Titian. And in 
 this famous triumvirate he accorded to him the second rank, 
 alter Raffaello, observing, that this last depicted more exqui¬ 
 sitely the affections of the soul, though inferior to him in the 
 expression of external forms. In this, indeed, Correggio wajs 
 a true master, having succeeded by his colouring, and yet more 
 by ins chiaroscuro, in introducing into his pictures an ideal 
 beauty, surpassing that of nature, and at the same time attract¬ 
 ing the admiration of the most learned, by an union of art and 
 nature in its rarest forms, such as they never before beheld. 
 And such admiration, and such applauses, were in particular 
 bestowed upon his St. Jerome, preserved in the academy at 
 
390 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Parma. Algarotti declares, that he was inclined to prefer it 
 to any other of his productions; and to exclaim in his heart : 
 
 “ Tu solo mi piaci !’' “ Thou alone pleasest me !” Annibal Car¬ 
 racci himself, upon first beholding this picture, as well as a few 
 others from the same hand, declares, in the letter already cited 
 to his brother Lodovico, that he would not even exchange them 
 with the St. Cecilia of Raffaello, which is still to be seen in 
 the city of Bologna. And it may be truly said, that the same 
 art that had been carried to such a pitch of sublimity by Mi¬ 
 chelangelo—to such an exquisite degree of natural grace and 
 expression by Raffaello, and from Titian received such inimi¬ 
 table perfection in its tones of colouring—displayed in Correg¬ 
 gio such an union of excellences, as in the opinion of Mengs, 
 carried the whole of these to their highest point of perfection, 
 adding to all their dignity and truth his own peculiar elegance, 
 and a taste as captivating to the eye as to the heart of the 
 spectator. 
 
 In design he exhausted not all that depth of knowledge, so 
 conspicuous in Bonarruoti ; but it was at once so great and so 
 select, that the Caracci themselves adopted it for their model. 
 
 I am aware, that Algarotti considered him to be somewhat 
 incorrect in the expression of his contours ; while Mengs, on 
 the other hand, defends him very warmly from such a charge. 
 Truly, there does not appear the same variety in his lines as is 
 to be found in Raffaello and the ancients, inasmuch as he pur¬ 
 posely avoided angles and rectilinear lines, preserving as much 
 as lay in his power, an undulating sweep of outline, sometimes 
 convex and sometimes concave ; while it is maintained, that 
 his grace results, in a great measure, from this practice ; so 
 that Mengs in uncertainty appears at one time to commend, 
 and at another to excuse him for it. He is lavish of his praises 
 on the design of his draperies, on whose masses Correggio 
 bestowed more attention than on the particular folds ; he being 
 the first who succeeded in making drapery a part of the com¬ 
 position, as well by force of contrast as by its direction ; thus , 
 opening a new path which might render it conspicuous in large 
 works. In particular, his youthful and infantile heads are 
 greatly celebrated ; the faces beaming with so much nature and 
 simplicity, as to enchant, and to compel us, as it were, to smile 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 391 
 
 as they smile.* Each separate figure may be pronounced original, 
 from the infinite variety of foreshortenings he has introduced; 
 there is scarcely a single head that is not seen from a point of 
 view either above or below; not a hand, not a whole figure, 
 whose attitude is not full of an ease and grace of motion, 
 beyond example. By his practice of foreshortening figures 
 upon ceilings, which was avoided by Raffaello, he overcame 
 many difficulties still remaining to be vanquished after the 
 time of Mantegna, and in this branch of perspective is justly 
 entitled to the merit of having rendered it complete. 
 
 His colouring is allowed to correspond beautifully with the 
 grace and selection of his design, Giulio Romano having been 
 heard to assert that it was altogether the best he had ever 
 seen ; nor was he averse to the Duke of Mantua giving the pre¬ 
 ference to Correggio above himself, when about to make a pre¬ 
 sentation of pictures to the Emperor Charles V. Equal com¬ 
 mendation is bestowed upon him by Lomazzo, when he pro¬ 
 nounces that, among the colourists, he is to be considered rather 
 as unique than as rare in point of merit. No artist before him 
 ever bestowed so much attention upon his canvas, which after 
 a slight covering of chalk, received his colours, both in point 
 of quantity ^nd quality, as we have before stated, from a lavish 
 hand.t In the impasto , or laying on his colours, he approaches 
 the manner of Giorgione, in their tone he resembles Titian, 
 
 * This is an expression of Annibal Caracci. Elsewhere he observes : 
 “ This kind of delicacy and purity, which is rather truth itself than veri¬ 
 similitude, pleases me greatly. It is neither artificial nor forced, but quite 
 natural.” 
 
 t One of the professors being employed in restoring a piece of Cer- 
 reggio, analyzed the mode of colouring. Upon the chalk, he said, the 
 artist appeared to have laid a surface of prepared oil, which then received 
 a thick mixture of colours, in which the ingredients were two-thirds of oil 
 and one of varnish ; that the colours seemed to have been very choice, and 
 particularly purified from all kinds of salts, which in progress of time eat 
 and destroy the picture; and that the before-mentioned use of prepared 
 oil must have greatly contributed to this purification by absorbing the 
 saline particles. It was, moreover, his opinion that Correggio adopted 
 the method of heating his pictures, either in the sun, or at the fire, in order 
 that the colours might become as it it were interfused, and equalized in 
 such a way as to produce the effect of having been poured, rather than laid 
 on. Of that lucid appearance which, though so beautiful, does not reflect 
 objects, and of the solidity of the surface, equal to the Greek pictures, he 
 
392 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 though in their various gradations, in the opinion of Mengs. 
 he is even more expert. There prevails likewise in his 
 colouring a clearness of light, a brilliancy rarely to be met with 
 in works of others ; the objects appear as if viewed through 
 a glass, and towards evening, when the clearness of other paint¬ 
 ings begins to fade with the decay of light, his are to be seen 
 as.it were in greater vividness, and like phosphoric beams 
 shining through the darkness of the air. Of the kind of var¬ 
 nish for which Apelles has been so commended by Pliny, we 
 appear to have no.idea since the revival of the art, or if, indeed, 
 we at all possess it, we must confess our obligations to Correg¬ 
 gio. Some there have been who could have liked more deli¬ 
 cacy in his flesh tints; but every one must allow, that accord¬ 
 ing to the .age and the subjects he had to deal with, he has 
 succeeded in.varying them admirably, impressing them at the 
 same time with something so soft, so juicy, and so full of life, 
 as to appear like truth itself. 
 
 But his grand and mastering quality, his crowning triumph 
 and distinction above all the other artists known to us, is his 
 thorough knowledge of lights and shades. Like nature her¬ 
 self he does not present objects to us with the same force of 
 light, but varied according to the surfaces, oppositions, and 
 distances; it flows in a gradation insensibly increasing and 
 diminishing, a distinction essential in aerial perspective, in 
 which he is so great, and contributing finely to the general 
 harmony.. He observed the same principle in his shades, 
 representing the reflection of colour upon each, in .so deli¬ 
 cate a degree, that though using them so abundantly, his 
 shadows are always varied like nature’s, never monotonous. 
 This quality is eminently conspicuous in his night-piece in the 
 Dresden gallery ;* and in his Magdalen, there seen reposing 
 m a cave ;f a small picture it is true, but estimated in the 
 purchase at twenty-seven thousand crowns. By the use of 
 
 remarks, that it must have been obtained by some strong varnish unknown 
 to the Flemish painters themselves, who prepared it of equal clearness and 
 liveliness, but not of equal strength. See vol. i. p. 60. 
 
 * It is more accurately entitled by others the Opening of Day. 
 
 f The Magdalen at Dresden has not in the back ground a cave, but a 
 desert spot. For this we refer to the engraving by the Cav. Professor 
 Longhi, after an exact design from the original, and to the numerous 
 copies of this little painting which still exist 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 393 
 
 Ins chiaroscuro he not only gave superior softness and rotun¬ 
 dity to his forms, but displayed a taste in the whole composi¬ 
 tion, such has had never been witnessed before. He disposed 
 the masses of his lights and shades with an art, purely natural 
 in its foundation, but in the selection and effect altogether 
 ideal. And he arrived at this degree of perfection by the 
 very same path pursued by Michelangelo, availing himself 
 of models in clay and wax, the remains of some of which are 
 said to have been found in the cupola at Parma not many 
 years ago. It is also currently reported, that while employed 
 in that city, he engaged the assistance of the famous modeller 
 Begarelli, whom he conducted thither at his own expense. 
 
 Though excellent in all, in other portions of his art he 
 cannot be pronounced equally excellent. His conceptions 
 were good, but occasionally they betrayed a want of unity, 
 representing as he did one and the same story in different 
 parts. Thus in the fable of Marsyas, in the Palazzo Litta at 
 Milan, his contest with Apollo, Minerva consigning him over 
 to punishment, and the punishment itself, are distributed into 
 separate groups. The same kind of repetition will, I think, 
 be found in the story of Leda, executed for Charles V., in 
 which the swan is twice brought into view, proceeding by 
 degrees to familiarize himself with her charms, until in the 
 third group he possesses her. In fact his inventions, for the 
 most part, are like the strains of Anacreon, in which the young 
 loves, and in sacred themes the angels, are introduced under 
 the most agreeable forms and actions. Thus in the picture of 
 S. George, they are seen sporting about the sword and helmet 
 of the saint; and in S. Jerome an angel is engaged in shewing 
 our Lord the book of that great doctor of our holy church, 
 while another is holding under his nose the uncovered vase of 
 ointment belonging to the Magdalen. Of his powers of com¬ 
 position we have a proof in the execution of the cupola, 
 already so highly commended, in which it appears as if the 
 architecture had been formed for the effect of the painting, so 
 admirably is this last adapted, and not the production for the 
 place. He was fond of contrasts, no less in whole figures 
 than their parts; but he never arbitrarily affected them, or 
 carried them to the extravagant degree we have since beheld, 
 in violation of all decorum and truth. In force of expression, 
 
394 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 more particularly upon tenderer subjects, be stands, perhaps, 
 without a rival or an example; such is his Magdalen just 
 alluded to, as she is seen bending to kiss the feet of the Holy 
 Child, with a countenance and action expressive of all the 
 different beauties, scattered over the works of many other 
 artists, a sentiment more fully expressed by Mengs : of this 
 picture we may truly say with Catullus, tc Omnibus una 
 onmes surripuit Veneres.” Grief was a passion likewise 
 depicted by him with singular power; admirably varied ac¬ 
 cording to circumstances in his Dead Christ at Parma, most 
 heartfelt in that of the Magdalen, profound in the Virgin, and 
 in a middling degree in the other female face. And though 
 we do not meet with many examples of a loftier cast, still he 
 could depict the fiercer passions with sufficient power, as wit¬ 
 ness the Martyrdom of S. Placidus, in which piece an execu¬ 
 tioner is so nobly drawn, that Domenichino avowedly imitated 
 it in his celebrated picture of S. Agnes. 
 
 Finally the costume of his sacred history-pieces is deficient 
 in. nothing we could desire; though in his fables, indeed, he 
 might have improved it, by adhering, like Raffaello and the 
 moderns, more closely to the ancients. Thus in his Leda he 
 has represented Juno in the guise of an elderly lady, full of 
 spite and jealousy, secretly beholding the stolen embraces of 
 her lord. She approaches in nothing to the antique, either in 
 her countenance or in her symbols, and hence in the usual 
 interpretations she is considered as a mere cypher. In the 
 fable of Marsyas, he bears no resemblance to the Faun ; Mi¬ 
 nerva has no Atgis, nor any other of her usual attributes; 
 while Apollo is endued neither with the limbs nor aspect 
 which are awarded him at this day; and so far from boasting 
 of his lyre, he plays upon a violin.* Here again we might 
 adduce a fresh argument for Correggio having never visited 
 Rome, where even artists of mediocrity, instructed in a know¬ 
 ledge of the antique, knew how to avoid similar errors. In 
 him, however, they are scarcely blemishes, and rather flattering 
 to the name of Correggio, inasmuch as they serve more fully 
 
 * Here Raffaello was equally in fault, having so represented Apollo in 
 his Parnassus. A et he was advised by his most learned contemporaries ; 
 and it is still a question among archaeologists what was the form of the 
 armed shell vielded by Mercury to Apollo. 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 395 
 
 to convince us that he partakes not the glory of his sovereign 
 style with many masters or many assistants, standing great 
 and alone. Regarded in this view, he appears indeed some¬ 
 thing more than mortal; and in his presence, as Annibal 
 Caracci truly wrote, Parmigianino and others of his rank seem 
 to shrink into nothing.* But the productions of this great 
 master are daily becoming more rare in Italy, such are the 
 prices offered, so great the eagerness of strangers to obtain 
 them, and the esteem in which he is held. We are still con¬ 
 soled for their loss by several ancient copies, more especially 
 of his smaller pictures, such as the Marriage of S. Catherine, 
 the Reposing Magdalen, the Young Man’s Escape, pieces already 
 mentioned; but to which we may add his Christ praying in the 
 Garden, placed in the Escurial, and his Zingherina, the Gipsey 
 Girl, in the gallery at Dresden. The most estimable among the 
 old copies are by Schidone, Lelio da Novellara, Girolamo da 
 Carpi, and by the Caracci, who, by dint of copying Correggio’s 
 pieces, approached very nearly the style of the originals; though 
 more in point of design than in skill and delicacy of colouring. 
 
 Hitherto I have treated of the Y uanner of Antonio, and in 
 so doing have described the maniu. of his school; not, indeed, 
 that any single artist at all equalled or approached him, but 
 that all held very nearly the same maxims, mixed, in some 
 instances, with different styles. The prevailing character of 
 the school of Parma, by way of distinction likewise called the 
 Lombard school, is the excellence of its shortenings, like the 
 delineation of the nerves and muscles in that of Florence. 
 Nor is it any reproach that its artists, in some instances, have 
 become extravagant and affected in their foreshortening, as the 
 Florentines in their representations of the naked limbs : to 
 imitate well is in all places a difficult art. Its character may 
 further be said to consist in a fine study of the chiaroscuro 
 and of draperies, rather than of the human figure, in which 
 few artists of the school can boast much excellence. Their 
 
 * His words are, “ It is my unalterable opinion that Parmigianino in 
 no way approaches Correggio, whose thoughts and fine inventions are all 
 clearly drawn from himselt, always original. All other artists look out for 
 some support, some foundations tor their efforts taken from other sources ; 
 one to models, one to statues, another to cartoons : all their productions 
 are represented such as they might have been, Correggio’s such as they 
 really are.”—See second Letter to Lodovico, Malvasia, vol. i. p. 307. 
 
396 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 contours are broad, tbeir countenances selected rather from 
 among the people, than of an ideal cast, being well rounded, 
 high coloured, and exhibiting those features and that joyous¬ 
 ness esteemed so original in Correggio, as it has been well 
 remarked by a professor long resident in Parma. There we 
 have reason to believe that our artist instructed more pupils 
 than have been recorded by Yasari, to whose observations and 
 opinions much additional matter has been supplied by writers 
 of the present age, though doubts continue to prevail respect¬ 
 ing some of his reputed scholars. I shall treat this great 
 master as others have done in regard to Raffaello, com¬ 
 prehending, within the limits of his school, all those assistants 
 and others who, educated in different academies, subsequently 
 attached themselves to his, availing themselves of his instruc¬ 
 tions and examples. 
 
 First upon the list, therefore, I place bis own son, Pom- 
 ponio Allegri. He had hardly time to benefit by bis fathers 
 instructions, or to receive his earliest rudiments, having lost 
 him at the age of twelve. His grandfather then took him 
 under his care, until the period of his death, occurring five 
 years after, when he left a pretty handsome provision for the 
 orphan, who boasted likewise no common degree of talent. 
 With whom he pursued his education, however, is not known, 
 whether with Rondani, a faithful disciple of his father, or 
 with some other of the same school. It is certain he was 
 a youth of fair abilities, and that with the aid of his father’s 
 studies he acquired some reputation, and established himself 
 at Parma. In the cathedral there appears, wrought upon 
 a large earthen basin, the story of the Israelites awaiting the 
 arrival of Moses, to whom the Lord has just consigned the 
 tablets of the law. Though not very successful as a whole, 
 the work displays great merit in particular parts; many of 
 the heads are beautiful, many of the motions spirited, and 
 there are tones of colouring extremely clear and natural. It 
 was believed that Pomponio had early abandoned the use of 
 his pencil, disposing of his property in Correggio, and after¬ 
 wards dying in great poverty at an early age. These false or 
 uncertain reports, however, have been rendered nugatory by 
 authentic documents brought forward by Father Afto, stating 
 him to have enjoyed, in Parma, high reputation and honour- 
 
GIOVANNI GIAROLA. 
 
 397 
 
 able public commissions, and confirmed by a public decree 
 recording him, while the best disciples of the school of Parma 
 were yet alive, as being ottimo pittore. 
 
 We now proceed to other artists belonging to the city and 
 state of Modena. Among these we find the name of Fran¬ 
 cesco Cappelli, a native of Sassuolo, who established himself 
 in Bologna, without, however, leaving there any public speci¬ 
 men of his labours. Most probably he was employed by 
 private persons, or, as Vedriani is led to conjecture, also by 
 princes; though in respect to their names he is certainly 
 mistaken. There is an altar-piece in S. Sebastiano at Sas¬ 
 suolo, commonly attributed to his hand, representing a figure 
 of the Virgin, with- some saints, among which last appears 
 the titular, the most noble and conspicuous of the whole, in 
 such fine impasto and relief, as to be attributed to the pencil 
 of his master. 
 
 Another of the school is Giovanni Giarola da Reggio, 
 whose productions there in fresco are to be seen in the 
 Palazzo Donelli and other places, though they have perished 
 in Parma. He cannot, however, be pronounced exempt from 
 the usual negligence of fresco painters in their contours ; still 
 he was much esteemed, while he flourished, for the spirit and 
 delicacy of his manner. Although epitaphs are by no means 
 the most desirable sort of testimony to the worth of the 
 deceased, it will be, nevertheless, worth while to recall that of 
 Giarola, from which, if we deduct even nine parts of the 
 commendation, the tenth will confer upon him no slight 
 honour :—“ Io. Gerolli, qui adeo excellentem pingendi artem 
 edoctus fuerat, ut alter Apelles vocareturwho had arrived 
 at such a masterly degree of excellence in this noble art that 
 he was entitled to the name of another Apelles. To him we 
 have to add a fellow-citizen and namesake of Correggio, 
 called Antonio Bernieri, sprung from a noble stock, and who 
 having lost his master at the age of eighteen years, inherited, 
 in a manner, the appellation of Antonio da Correggio, thus 
 giving rise to several historical doubts and inaccuracies. He 
 is enumerated by Landi, and by Pietro Aretino, among the 
 most distinguished of the miniature painters; and also men¬ 
 tioned by D. Veronica Gambara, Marchioness of Correggio. 
 There is no genuine painting by him, however, in oil, though 
 
398 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 I have no reason for refusing him the degree of reputation so 
 general among the miniaturists; and the portrait at Turin, 
 described in the present volume (p. 388), ought certainly, I 
 think, to be attributed to him rather than to Antonio Allegri. 
 He long flourished in Venice, visited Rome, and died at his 
 native place. The next I have to add to this list is a name 
 unknown, as far as I can learn, to history, and one which I 
 only discovered from a beautiful design I happened to meet 
 with in a collection by Father Fontana Barnabita, a collection 
 mentioned by me with commendation in my first volume 
 (p. 77). His name is Antonio Bruno, a native of Modena, 
 and an artist who ably emulated the genius of Correggio in 
 his grace, his nature, his foreshortenings, and his broad lights, 
 though with far less correct a pencil. 
 
 Further, among the scholars of Parma, there remain several 
 who acquired less fame. A Daniello de Por is mentioned by 
 Vasari in his life of Taddeo Zuccaro, who, according to his 
 account, received some assistance from Daniello, more in the 
 way of instructions than example. Yet he records no other 
 of his productions besides a piece in fresco, to be seen at Vito, 
 near Sora, where he invited Zuccaro to join him as an 
 assistant; nor does it appear that he commends him for any 
 thing beyond having acquired from Correggio and Parmigia¬ 
 nino a tolerable degree of softness of manner. In fact he 
 must have rather occupied the place of a journeyman than of 
 an assistant of Correggio, and I suspect he is the same from 
 whom Vasari obtained some information respecting this artist, 
 in particular, such as related to his avarice, which the histo¬ 
 rian had assuredly no reason either for disbelieving or invent¬ 
 ing. But a superior pupil of the same school will be found 
 in M. Torelli, called a native of Milan in the MS. of Resta, 
 where he is mentioned as the companion of Rondani, in 
 executing the frieze at San Giovanni in Parma, painted in 
 chiaroscuro. It was taken from the design of Correggio, who 
 received likewise the proceeds from the work. It is added by 
 Ratti, that the first cloister of the same monastery was also 
 adorned with singular felicity by the same hand. 
 
 The names of the following artists all enjoy more or less 
 celebrity in Italy at the present day; but it is not therefore 
 certain that they were all the pupils of Correggio, nor that 
 
RONDANI. 
 
 399 
 
 they all observed the same manner. Like young swimmers, 
 some of them seem cautious of leaving the side of their master, 
 while others appear fearful only of being seen to approach 
 him too nearly, as if proud of the skill they had already 
 acquired. To the first class belongs Rondani, Avho was 
 employed along with Correggio at the church of S. Giovanni, 
 and to him is chiefly attributed a grotesque contained in the 
 monastery, assigned to the school of Antonio, though we may 
 detect some figures of cherubs which appear from the master’s 
 hand. Yet Rondani was accustomed to imitate his master 
 pretty accurately in his individual figures; and on the exte¬ 
 rior of the church of S. Maria Maddalena, he drew a Madonna, 
 that, in want of historical evidence, might have been attributed 
 to Correggio. There is also an altar-piece at the Eremitani, 
 representing saints Agostino and Geronimo, so much in the 
 Correggio manner as to be esteemed one of the best pictures in 
 Parma. But Rondani was unable to reach the grandeur of 
 the head of the school; he is accused on the other hand of 
 having been too careful and minute in the accessaries of his art, 
 which we gather, indeed, from one of his frescos in a chapel of 
 the cathedral, and in general from his other works. They are 
 rarely to be met with in collections, though I have seen one of 
 his Madonnas, with a Child, in possession of the Marchesi 
 Scarani at Bologna, the figure bearing a swallow in her hand, 
 in allusion to the painter’s name ; besides the portrait of a man, 
 draped and designed in the Giorgione taste, at the house of 
 the Sig. Bettinelli in Mantua. 
 
 I have already alluded to Michelangelo Anselmi, in the 
 school of Siena, and I again prepare to treat of him more fully, 
 from documents since published, or which I have since read. 
 Upon the authority of these it is very certain that he traced 
 his family several generations back to the city of Parma ; 
 though he is denominated da Lucca , from the circumstance of 
 his having been born at that place, according to Ratti, in 1591, 
 and he has been also called da /Siena, because, as I am inclined 
 to conjecture, he may have resided and pursued his studies 
 there w’hile young. Resta, in the MS. I have so frequently 
 cited, contends that he acquired his art from Sodoma; Azzolini, 
 from Riccio, son-in-law to Sodoma, both of whom are known 
 to have remained a considerable time at Lucca. There he may 
 
400 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 have been instructed in the first rudiments, and afterwards 
 have completed his studies at Siena, where he produced the 
 altar-piece of Fontegiusta, which bears no traces of the 
 Lombard style. When practised in the art he returned to 
 Parma, he was older than Correggio, and then only capable of 
 improving his style by availing himself of his advice and 
 example, in the same way as Garofolo and many others, by 
 the example of Raffaello. 
 
 When in the year 1522 Correggio was engaged to paint the 
 cupola of the cathedral and the great tribune, Anselmi, together 
 with Rondani, and Parmigianino, were fixed upon to adorn 
 the contiguous chapels. The undertaking was never executed ; 
 but such a selection shews that he was esteemed capable of 
 accompanying the style of Correggio, and his works sufficiently 
 attest that he became a devoted follower of it. He. is full in 
 his outlines, extremely studied in the heads, glowing.in his 
 tints, and very partial to the use of red, which he contrives to 
 vary and to break as it were into different colours in the same 
 picture. Perhaps his least merit consists in his composition, 
 which he sometimes overloads with figures. He painted in 
 various churches at Parma; and one of the most pleasing of 
 his productions, approaching nearest to his great model, is at 
 S. Stefano, in which S. John the Baptist along with the 
 titular saint, is seen kneeling at the feet of the Virgin. His 
 largest work, however, is to be met with at the Steccata, 
 where, upon the testimony of Vasari, he executed the cartoons 
 of Giulio Romano. But this is disproved by the contract, 
 which assigns to Anselmi himself a chamber in which to com¬ 
 pose his cartoons ; nor did Giulio do more than send a rough 
 sketch of the work to Parma. In collections his speci¬ 
 mens are rare and valuable, although he flourished, to say the 
 least, as late as the year 1554, in which he added a codicil to 
 
 his will. ' 
 
 Bernardino Gatti, named from his father s profession Soiaro, 
 of whom I shall again make mention in the Cremonese school, 
 is an artist, who, in different countries, left various specimens 
 of his art. Parma, Piacenza, and Cremona abound with them. 
 He ranks among the least doubtful disciples of Correggio, and 
 was strongly attached to his maxims, more especially in regard 
 to the subjects treated by the hand of his master. His picture 
 
BERNARDINO GATTI. 
 
 401 
 
 of a Pieta, at the Magdalen, in Parma, that of his Repose in 
 Egypt, at S. Sigismond, in Cremona, with his Christ in the 
 Manger, at S. Peter’s, in the same city, afford ample evidence 
 of his power of imitating Correggio without becoming a servile 
 copyist. No one has emulated him better in the delicacy of 
 his countenances. His young girls and his boys appear ani¬ 
 mated with the spirit of innocence, grace, and beauty. He is 
 fond of whitish and clear grounds, and infuses a sweetness into 
 his whole colouring which forms one of his characteristics. Nor 
 does he want relief in his figures, from which, like the head of 
 the school, he seems never to have removed his hand until he 
 had rendered them in every way perfect and complete. He 
 possessed singular talent for copying, as well as for imitating 
 those masters whom he had engaged to assist. He succeeded 
 to the place of Pordenone, in Piacenza, where he painted the 
 remainder of the tribune at S. M. di Campagna, of which 
 Vasari observes, that the whole appeared the work of the same 
 hand. His picture of S. George, at the same church, is 
 deserving of mention, placed opposite to that of S. Augustine 
 by Pordenone, a figure displaying powerful relief and action, 
 which he executed from the design of Giulio Romano, at the 
 request, it is supposed, of the person who gave the commission. 
 We may form an estimate of his unassisted powers by what 
 he has left in the churches at Parma, and more particularly 
 in the cupola of the Steccata. It is an excellent production 
 in every part, and in its principal figure of the Virgin truly sur¬ 
 prising. Another of his pieces, representing the Multiplication 
 of Loaves, is highly deserving of mention. It was executed 
 for the refectory of the Padri Lateranensi at Crenv na, nd 
 to this his name, with the date of 1552, is affixed. It may be 
 accounted one of the most copious paintings to be met with 
 in any religious refectory, full of figures larger than the life, 
 and varied equal to any in point of features, drapery and atti¬ 
 tudes, besides a rich display of novelty and faucy; the whole 
 conducted upon a grand scale, with a happy union and taste 
 of colouring, which serves to excuse a degree of incorrectness 
 in regard to his aerial perspective. There remain few of his 
 pieces in private collections, a great number having been trans¬ 
 ferred into foreign countries, particularly into Spain. 
 
 Giorgio Gandini, likewise surnamed del Grano, from the 
 VOL. II. 2 D 
 
402 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.— EPOCH II. 
 
 maternal brancli of his family, was an artist formerly referred 
 to Mantua, but who has since been claimed by Padre Affh, 
 who traced his genealogy, for the city of Parma. According 
 to the account of Orlandi, he was not only a pupil of Correg¬ 
 gio, but one whose pieces were frequently retouched by the 
 hand of his master. P. Zapata, who illustrated in a Latin 
 work the churches of Parma, ascribes to him the principal 
 painting in S. Michele, the same which, in the Guide of Ruta, 
 was attributed by mistake to Lelio di Novellara. It is one 
 calculated to reflect honour upon that school, from its power 
 of colouring, its relief, and its ease and sweetness of hand, 
 though it occasionally displays a somewhat too capricious 
 fancy. How highly he was esteemed by his fellow-citizens 
 may be inferred from the commission which they allotted him 
 to paint the tribune of the cathedral, as a substitute for Cor¬ 
 reggio, who died before he commenced the task which he had 
 accepted. The same happened to Gandini, and the commis¬ 
 sion was bestowed upon a third artist, Girolamo Mazzuola, 
 whose genius was not then sufficiently matured to cope with 
 such vast undertakings. 
 
 The names of Lelio Orsi and Girolamo da Carpi, I assign 
 to another place, both of whom are enumerated by other 
 writers in the school of Parma, b or this alteration I shall give 
 a sufficient reason when I mention them. The last belonging 
 to the present class, are the two Mazzuoli; and I commence 
 with Francesco, called Parmigianino, whose life, by Father 
 Affo, has been already written. This writer does not rank 
 him in the list of Correggio’s scholars, but in that of his two 
 uncles, in whose studio he is supposed to have painted^ his 
 Baptism of Christ, which is now in possession of the Conti 
 Sanvitali, and as the production of a boy of fourteen years of 
 age, it is indeed a wonderful effort of genius. It is remarked^ by 
 the same historian of his life, that having seen the works of Cor¬ 
 reggio, Francesco began to imitate him; and there are some 
 pictures ascribed to him at that period, which are evidently 
 formed upon that great model. Of such kind is a Holy Fa¬ 
 mily, belonging to the President Bertioli, and a S. Bernardino, 
 at the Padri Osservanti, in Parma. Independently of these, 
 the fact of Francesco’s having been chosen, together with 
 Rondaui and Anselmi, to decorate a chapel near the Cupola 
 
PARMIGIANINO 
 
 403 
 
 of Correggio, shews, that he must have acquired great simi¬ 
 larity of style, and possessed docility, equal to the other two, 
 in following the directions of such a master. He had too 
 much confidence, however, in his own powers, to he second in 
 the manner of another artist, when he was capable of forming 
 one of his own. And this he subsequently achieved ; for 
 owing to the delays experienced in the above undertaking, he 
 had time to make the tour of Italy, and meeting with Giulio, 
 in Mantua, and Raffaello, at Rome, he proceeded to form a 
 style that has been pronounced original. It is at once great, 
 noble and dignified ; not abounding in figures, but rendering 
 a few capable of filling a large canvas, as we may observe in 
 his S. Rocco, at San Petronio, in Bologna; or in his Moses, 
 at the Steccata of Parma, so celebrated a specimen of chiaro- 
 sfcuro. 
 
 The prevailing character, however, in which this artist so 
 greatly shone, was grace of manner ; a grace which won for 
 him at Rome that most flattering of all eulogies, that the spirit 
 of Raffaello had passed into Parmigianino. Among his de¬ 
 signs are to be seen repeated specimens of the same figure, 
 drawn for the purpose of reaching the highest degree of grace, in 
 the person, in the attitudes, and in the lightness of his drapery, 
 in which he is admirable. It is the opinion of Algarotti, that 
 he sometimes carried his heads to an extreme, so as to border 
 upon effeminacy; a judgment analogous to the previous 
 observation of Agostino Caracci, that he could wish a painter 
 to have a little of Parmigianino’s grace; not all, because he 
 conceived that he had too much. In the opinion of others, his 
 excessive study of what was graceful led him sometimes to 
 select proportions somewhat too long, no less in respect to 
 stature than in the fingers and the neck, as we may observe in 
 his celebrated Madonna, at the Pitti Palace, which, from this 
 defect, obtained the appellation of collo lungo , or long neck ;* 
 
 * He might have pleaded the example of the ancients, who in their 
 draped statues, observed similar proportions, in order to avoid falling into 
 vulgarity. The length of the fingers was rather subject of praise, as is 
 noticed by the commentators on Catullus. (See his 44th Ode.) A long 
 neck in virgins is inculcated by Malvasia, as a precept of the art (tom. 
 i. p. 303) ; and the Can. Lazzarini drew his Madonnas according to this 
 rule. These observations are all intended to be applied with that judg¬ 
 ment, which, in every art, is not presumed to be taught, but understood. 
 
 2 D 2 
 
404 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.—EPOCn II. 
 
 but it boasted likewise of its advocates. His colouring, also, 
 evidently aims at grace, and for the most part is preserved 
 moderate, discreet, and well tempered, as if the artist feared, 
 by too much brilliancy, to offend the eye; which, both in 
 drawings and paintings, is apt to diminish grace. If we admit 
 Albano as a good judge, Parmigianino was not very studious 
 of expression, in which he has left few examples ; if, indeed, 
 we are not to consider the grace that animates his cherubs and 
 other delicate figures, as meriting the name of expression, or 
 if that term apply only to the passions, as very abundantly 
 supplying its place. It is, in truth, on account of this rare 
 exhibition of grace, that every thing is pardoned, and that in 
 him defects themselves appear meritorious. 
 
 He would seem to have been slow in his conceptions, being 
 accustomed to form the whole piece in idea, before he once 
 handled his pencil; but was then rapid in his execution. 
 Strokes of his pencil may sometimes be traced so very daring 
 and decided, that Albano pronounces them divine, and de¬ 
 clares, that to his experience in design, he was indebted for 
 that unequalled skill, which he always united to great dili¬ 
 gence and high finish. His works, indeed, are not all equally 
 well and powerfully coloured, nor produce the same degree of 
 effect ; though there are several which are conducted with so 
 much feeling and enthusiasm as to have been ascribed to 
 Correggio himself. Such is the picture of Love, engaged in 
 fabricating his bow, while at his feet appear two cherubs, one 
 laughing and the other weeping; a piece, of which a number 
 of duplicates, besides that contained in the imperial gallery, are 
 enumerated, so great a favourite was it either with the artist 
 or some other person. In regard to this production, I agree 
 with Vasari, whose authority is further confirmed by Father 
 Affo and other judges, whom I have consulted upon the sub¬ 
 ject ; although it is true that this Cupid, together with the 
 Ganymede, and the Leda, which are mentioned in the same 
 context (p. 302), have been positively assigned by Boschini to 
 Correggio, an opinion that continues to be countenanced by 
 many other persons. 
 
 His minor paintings, his portraits, his youthful heads, and 
 holy figures, are not very rare, and some are found multiplied 
 in different places. One that has been the most frequently 
 
PARMIGIANINO. 
 
 405 
 
 repeated in collections, is a picture of the Virgin and Infant 
 with S. Giovanni; while the figures of St. Catherine and 
 Zaccarias, or some similar aged head, are to be seen very near 
 them. It was formerly met with in the Farnese gallery, at 
 Parma, and is still to be seen, sometimes the same, and some¬ 
 times varied, in the royal gallery, at Florence; in the 
 Capitoline ; in those of the princes Corsini, Borghesi, and 
 Albani, at Rome. In Parma, also, it is in possession of the 
 Abate Mazza,* and is found in other places; insomuch, that 
 it is difficult to suppose that they could all have been repeated 
 by Parmigianino, however old in appearance. He produced 
 few copious compositions, such as the Preaching of Christ to 
 the Crowd, which is contained in a chamber of the royal 
 palace, at Colorno, forming a real jewel of that beautiful and 
 pleasant villa. His altar-pieces are not numerous, of which, 
 however, none is more highly estimated than his St. Margarita, 
 at Bologna. It is rich in figures, which the Caracci were 
 never weary of studying; while Guido, in a sort of trans¬ 
 port of admiration, preferred it even to the St. Cecilia of 
 RafFaello. His fresco, which he began at the Steccata, is 
 a singular production ; besides the figure of Moses, exhibited 
 in chiaroscuro, he painted Adam and Eve, with several 
 Virtues, without, however, completing the undertaking, for 
 which he had been remunerated. The history of the affair is 
 rather long, and is to be found in Father Affo, where it is 
 divested of many idle tales, with which it had been con¬ 
 founded. I shall merely state, that the artist was thrown 
 into prison for having abandoned his task, and afterwards led 
 a fugitive life in Casale, where he shortly died, in his thirty- 
 seventh year, exactly at the same age as his predecessor 
 Raffaello. He was lamented as one of the first luminaries, 
 not only of the art of painting, but of engraving; though of 
 this last I must say nothing, in order not to deviate from the 
 plan I have laid down. 
 
 Parma was in some degree consoled for the loss of Fran- 
 
 * It is mentioned and compared with that of the Borghesi (in both the 
 Virgin is seen on one side), by P. Affo, in a letter edited by the Advocate 
 Bramieri, in the notes to the “ Elogio d’ Ireneo Affo,” composed by P. 
 D, Pompilio Pozzetti; a very excellent scholar (no less than his annotator), 
 and deserving to stand high in the estimation of all learned Italians. 
 
406 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 cesco, by Girolamo di Micbele Mazzuola, his pupil and his 
 cousin. They had been intimate from the year 1520, and 
 apparently had contracted their friendship some years before 
 Francesco set out for Rome, which was continued unabated 
 after his return. Most probably, however, it at length expe¬ 
 rienced an interruption, owing to which Francesco named two 
 strangers his heirs, omitting his cousin. This last is not 
 known beyond Parma and its confines, though he was de¬ 
 serving of more extensive fame, in particular for his strong 
 impasto, and his knowledge of colouring, in which he has few 
 equals. There is reason to suppose, that some of the works 
 ascribed to Francesco, more especially such as displayed 
 warmer and stronger tints, were either executed or repeated 
 by this artist. Not having been in Rome, Girolamo was 
 more attached to the school of Correggio than Francesco, and 
 in his style composed his picture of the Marriage of St. 
 Catherine, for the church of the Carmine; a piece that 
 proves how well he could exhibit that great master’s character. 
 He was excellent in perspective, and in the Supper of our 
 Lord, painted for the refectory of S. Giovanni, he represented 
 a colonnade so beautiful, and well adapted to produce illusion, 
 as to compete with the best specimens from the hand of 
 Pozzo. He could, moreover, boast ease and harcjiony, with a 
 fine chiaroscuro; while in his larger compositions in fresco, 
 he was inventive, varied, and animated. No single artist, 
 among his fellow citizens, had the merit of decorating the 
 churches of Parma with an equal number of oil paintings ; 
 no one produced more in fresco for the cathedral and for the 
 Steccata ; to say nothing of his labours at S. Benedetto, in 
 Mantua, and elsewhere. It is from this rage for accomplish¬ 
 ing too much, that we find so many of his pieces that are 
 calculated to surprise us at first sight, diminish in merit upon 
 an examination of their particular parts. Not a few defects 
 are observable amidst all his beauties ; the design in his naked 
 figures is extremely careless ; his grace is carried to a degree , 
 of affectation, and his more spirited attitudes are violent. 
 But these faults are not wholly attributable to him, inasmuch 
 as he occasionally painted the same work in conjunction with 
 other artists. This occurred in his large picture of the 
 Multiplication of Loaves, placed at S. Benedetto, in Mantua, 
 
JACOPO BERTOIA. 
 
 407 
 
 in which, from documents discovered by the Ab. Mari, 
 Girolamo would appear to have been assisted in his labours ; 
 there are in it groups of figures, whose beauty would confer 
 credit upon any artist; while, on the other hand, there are 
 faults and imbecilities that must have proceeded from some 
 other pencil. It is true that he has admitted the same in 
 other of his works, and there they are wholly to be ascribed 
 to his haste. We likewise find mention of an Alessandro 
 Mazzuola, son of Girolamo, who painted in the cathedral, in 
 1571; but he is a weak imitator of the family style; the 
 usual fate of pictoric families, when arrived at the third 
 generation. 
 
 Such was the state of the art in Parma about the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, at which period the Farnese family 
 acquired dominion there, and greatly contributed to promote 
 the interest of that school. Correggio’s disciples had already 
 produced pupils in their turn; and though it be difficult to 
 ascertain from what school each artist proceeded, it is easy to 
 conjecture, from their respective tastes, that they were all 
 inclined to pursue the career of the two most illustrious masters 
 of the school of Parma; yet Mazzuola was, perhaps, more 
 followed than Correggio. It is too favourite an opinion, both 
 with dilettanti and artists, that the new style must invariably 
 be the most beautiful; permitting fashion even to corrupt the 
 arts. Parmigianino, perhaps, educated no other pupil besides 
 his cousin ; Daniel da Parma had studied also under Correg¬ 
 gio ; and Batista Fornari, after acquiring little more than a 
 knowledge of design from Francesco, turned his attention to 
 sculpture, producing, among other fine statues, for the Duke 
 Ottavio Farnese, the Neptune, which is now placed in the 
 royal gardens. The name of Jacopo Bertoia (often written by 
 mistake Giacinto), has been added by some to this list. He 
 was a good deal employed by the court at Parma and Capra- 
 rola ; and not very long ago, some of his small paintings were 
 transferred from the palace of the royal garden into the 
 academy. The subjects are fabulous, and both in the figures 
 of his nymphs, and in every thing else, the grace of Francesco 
 is very perceptible. Yet the memorials discovered by P. Affo, 
 do not permit us to name Parmigianino as his master. He 
 
408 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 was still young in 1573, and Lomazzo, in his “ Tempio,” calls 
 him the pupil of Ercole Procaccini. He produced many small 
 pictures for private ornament, which were at one time in great 
 repute ; nor does Parma possess any large painting by his 
 * hand, excepting two banners for companies or associations. 
 
 It is rather, likewise, from a resemblance of style, than upon 
 historical authority, that one Pomponio Amidano has been 
 enumerated among the pupils of Parmigianino. He may be 
 mentioned, however, as one of his most strenuous followers; 
 insomuch as to have had one of his altar-pieces, which adorns 
 the church of Madonna del Quartiere, attributed even by no 
 common artists to the hand of Francesco. It is the most 
 beautiful work of its author that the city of Parma has to 
 boast. The style of this artist is full and noble, were it not, 
 adds the Cav. Patti, that it is sometimes apt to appear some¬ 
 what flat. 
 
 Pier Antonio Bemabei, called della Casa, does not belong 
 to the school of Parmigianino, but is to be referred to some 
 other assistant or pupil of Correggio. I cannot account for the 
 slight praise bestowed upon him by Orlandi, when his painting 
 of the cupola at the Madonna del Quartiere is calculated to 
 impress us with the opinion that his powers were equal to 
 those of any artist who then flourished in Lombardy, or even in 
 Italy, as a painter of frescos. He there represented, as was very 
 common upon the cupolas, a Paradise, very full, but without any 
 confusion ; with figures in the Correggio manner ; his tints are 
 powerful, and relieved with a force which might be pronounced 
 superfluous in the more distant figures, from a deficiency of the 
 due gradations. This cupola still remains perfectly entire 
 after the lapse of more than two centuries, and is his great 
 master-piece, though some of his other paintings likewise 
 produce a great effect. Aurelio Barili, and Innocenzio Mar¬ 
 tini, of Parma, must have enjoyed very considerable reputation 
 in their day, having been employed at S. Giovanni and the 
 Steccata : some specimens of their fresco work are still pointed 
 out, but are cast into the shade by the vicinity of more attrac¬ 
 tive beauties. 
 
 About the same period another subject of the same state 
 painted, in his native place of Piacenza. His name was Giulio 
 
GIULIO MAZZONI. 
 
 409 
 
 Mazzoni, at one time pupil to Daniel da Voltera, in the life of 
 whom he is much commended by Vasari. Some figures of tho 
 Evangelists still remain in the cathedral by his hand, though 
 the ceiling of S. M. di Campagna, which he adorned with 
 histories, has beer renewed by another pencil. lie did not 
 acquire a knowledge of foreshortening seen from below in the 
 school of Daniello, and here he failed, however respectable in 
 other points. 
 
410 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 Parmese pupils of the Caracci, and of other foreigners, until the period of 
 the foundation of the academy. 
 
 [n the year 1570, when the most celebrated imitators of the 
 Correggio manner were either greatly advanced in years, or 
 already deceased, the Parmese school began to give place to 
 that of Bologna; and I proceed to explain the mode, and the 
 causes, which, partly by design and partly by chance, led to 
 that event. It was intended to ornament a chapel in the 
 cathedral, a commission bestowed upon Rondani and Parmi¬ 
 gianino, but which, through a variety of interruptions, had 
 been so long deferred, that both artists died before undertaking 
 it. Orazio Sammachini was then invited from Bologna; he 
 gave satisfaction, and if I mistake not, derived great improve¬ 
 ment from his study of Correggio, whom he more nearly 
 resembled than any other Bolognese artist of that age. Ercole 
 Procaccini, likewise, painted in the dome itself; nor was it 
 long before Cesare Aretusi was invited from Bologna, to 
 become court-painter to Duke Ranuccio. This artist, as we 
 before observed, was employed in restoring the painting of 
 the tribune at S. Giovanni. In order to lengthen the choir, 
 it was resolved to destroy the old tribune; but such parts as 
 Correggio had there painted, were to be correctly repeated to 
 adorn the new; an example that deserves to be adopted as a 
 law, wherever the fine arts are held in esteem. We are 
 informed by Malvasia, that Aretusi undertook this task, 
 though he refused to take a copy of it upon the spot; observ¬ 
 ing, that such an employment was more adapted for a pupil 
 than for a master. Annibal Caracci was in consequence of 
 this called in, and assisted by hie brother Agostino, he took a 
 
ANNIBAL CARACCI. 
 
 411 
 
 copy of that vast work in various portions, which are now at 
 Capo di Monte. Guided by these, Aretusi was afterwards 
 enabled to repaint the new edifice in the year 1587. To this 
 account Afio opposes the contract of Aretusi, drawn out in 
 1586, where he binds himself “ to make an excellent copy of 
 the Madonna Coronata ; ’ and provision is promised him for 
 a boy who is to prepare the cartoons: a circumstance that 
 cannot be made applicable to Annibal, who appeared in the 
 character of a master as early as 1586. TVhat conclusion 
 we are to draw from such a fact, no less than from the 
 cartoons so generally attributed to Annibal, and which are 
 pronounced worthy of his hand, qucerere distuli; nec scire 
 fas est omnia. Hor. I shall merely observe, that Annibal, 
 after spending several months in studying and copying Cor- 
 reggio during 1580, frequently returned again to admire him, 
 and that such devoted enthusiasm was of wonderful advantage 
 to. him in acquiring the character of his model. It was at 
 this time that he painted the picture of a Pieta for the 
 Capuchin friars, at Parma, approaching the nearest that ever 
 was seen to that at S. Giovanni, and from that period the 
 Duke Ranuccio gave him several commissions for pictures, 
 which are now to be met with at Naples. 
 
 The duke was a great lover of the arts, as we gather from 
 a selection of artists employed by him, among whom were 
 Lionello Spada, Schedoni, Trotti, and Gio. Sons, an able 
 figure and a better landscape painter, whom Orlandi believes 
 to have been instructed in Parma, and perfected in the art at 
 Antwerp. It appears, that he also had much esteem for 
 Ribera, who painted a chapel, which is now destroyed, at 
 Santa Maria Bianca, in so fine a style, that according to 
 Scaramuccia, it might have been mistaken for Correggio’s, 
 and it awakened emulation even in the breast of Lodovico 
 Caracci.'* The chief merit, however, of the duke, and of his 
 brother, the cardinal, consisted in estimating and employing 
 the genius of the Caracci. In that court they were both 
 fairly remunerated, and held in esteem ; though, owing to the 
 arts of some courtiers, history has preserved circumstances 
 
 * See Lettere Pittoriche, tom. i. p. 211. 
 
412 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH III, 
 
 regarding these great men, calculated to move compassion.* 
 To this early patronage we may trace the events which we 
 find in the history of the Caracci at different periods : Annibal 
 engaged to paint the Farnese Gallery at Rome; Agostino 
 called to Parma, in quality of its court-painter, an office in 
 which he died ; and Lodovico sent to Piacenza, along with 
 Camillo Procaccini, in order to decorate the cathedral of that 
 city. Hence also arose the principles of a new style at 
 Parma, or rather of several new styles, which during the 
 seventeenth century continued to spread both there and 
 throughout the state, and which were first introduced by the 
 artists of Bologna. 
 
 Their scholars, besides Bertoia, were Giambatista Tinti, 
 pupil to Sammachini, Giovanni Lanfranco, and Sisto Bada- 
 locchi, who, having been acquainted with the younger Caracci, 
 at Parma, became first attached to the school of Lodovico, in 
 Bologna, and afterwards followed Annibal to Rome, where 
 they continued to reside with him. These, although they were 
 educated by the Bolognese, resemble certain characters who, 
 though they may abandon their native soil, are never able to 
 divest themselves of its memory or its language. In respect 
 to Lanfranco, it is agreed by all, that no artist better imitated 
 the grandeur of Correggio in works upon a large scale; although 
 he is neither equal to him in colouring, nor at all approaches 
 him in high finish, nor is destitute of an air of originality pecu¬ 
 liar to the head ot a school. At Parma, he produced a picture 
 representing all the saints in the church that bears their name; 
 and in Piacenza, besides his saints Alessio and Corrado at the 
 cathedral, works highly commended by Bellori, he painted an 
 altar-piece of St. Luke, at the Madonna di Piazza, as well as 
 a cupola, so avowedly imitated from that of S. Giovanni at 
 Parma, that it can scarcely escape the charge of servility. 
 Sisto Badalocchi,+ no way inferior to Lanfranco in point of 
 facility, and other endowments of the art, approached very 
 nearly to his style. It was even doubted in Parma, whether 
 
 * Bellori, in his Life of Annibal, pp. 34, 35. See also Malvasia, tom. 
 i. pp. 334, 404, 405, 442. And Orlandi under the head “ Gio. Batt. 
 Trotti.” 
 
 + By Malvasia, tom. i. p. 517, he is called “ Sisto Rosa/' 
 
GIAMBATTISTA TINTI. 
 
 413 
 
 the picture of S. Quintino, in the church of that name, was 
 the production of Lanfranco or his. Of the rest who flourished 
 for the most part among the disciples of the .Caracci, beyond 
 the limits of their own state, we shall treat more opportunely 
 under the Bolognese school. 
 
 Giambatista Tinti acquired the art of design and of colour¬ 
 ing from Sammachini at Bologna; he studied Tibaldi with 
 great assiduity, and painted upon his model at S. Maria della 
 Scala, not without marks of plagiarism.* Having subse¬ 
 quently established himself at Parma, he selected for his chief 
 model the works of Correggio, and next proceeded to the study 
 of Parmigianino. The city retains many of his productions, 
 both in private and in public, among which that of the 
 Assumption in the cathedral, abounding with figures, and the 
 Catino, at the old Capuchin Nuns, are accounted some of the 
 last grand works belonging to the old school of Parma. 
 
 From the time these artists ceased to flourish, the art invari¬ 
 ably declined. Towards the middle of the seventeenth cen¬ 
 tury we find mention, in the Guide of Parma, of Fortunato 
 Gatti and Gio. Maria Conti, both Parmese, who were shortly 
 followed, if I mistake not, by Giulio Orlandini. They are 
 better qualified to shew the succession of Parmese artists than 
 of great painters. The name of one Girolamo da’ Leoni, of 
 Piacenza, is also recorded, who was employed along with 
 Cunio, a Milanese, about the time of the Campi. At Pia¬ 
 cenza likewise, after the middle of the century, appeared one 
 Bartolommeo Baderna, pupil to the Cavalier Ferrante, whose 
 works display more diligence than genius; whence Frances- 
 chini took occasion to say, that he had knocked loudly at the 
 door of the great painters without being able to gain admis¬ 
 sion. In the mean while the court continued to promote the 
 study of the fine arts throughout the state. It even sent a 
 young man of talent, named Mauro Oddi, under the direction 
 of Berettini, with a salary to Rome. He fulfilled the expec¬ 
 tations of his patrons by bis productions at the villa of Colorno, 
 find he adorned some churches with specimens of his altar- 
 pieces ; but still he aimed more at the fame of an architect 
 than of a painter. At the same time there was employed at 
 
 * Maivasia, tom. i. p. 212. 
 
414 
 
 SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 court an artist named Francesco Monti, who painted likewise 
 for churches and private collections. He was mentioned in 
 the Venetian school, and exercised a more marked influence 
 over the art at Parma, presenting it in Ilario Spolverini with 
 a disciple of merit. Ilario, no less than his master, acquired 
 reputation from his battle-pieces ; and whether owing to exag¬ 
 geration or to truth, it was commonly said that the soldiers of 
 Monti threatened, and that those of Spolverini seemed to kill. 
 He threw no less fierceness and terror into some of his assassin 
 scenes, which are esteemed equal to his battles. He painted 
 chiefly for the Duke Francesco, though there are some of his 
 works on a larger scale, in oil and in fresco, placed in the 
 cathedral, at the Certosa, and other places throughout the city 
 and the state. 
 
 Spolverini instructed in the art Francesco Simonini, a dis¬ 
 tinguished battle-painter of that period. Orlandi says he was 
 a scholar of Monti, and educated at Florence upon the model 
 of Borgognone. He long resided at Venice, where, in the 
 Sala Cappello, and in different collections, he left pictures 
 which abound in figures, ornamented with fine architecture, 
 and varied with every kind of skirmish and military exploits. 
 Ilario instructed several young Parmese in the art, among 
 whom, perhaps, were Antonio Fratacci, Clemente Ruta, and 
 more indisputably the Ab. Giuseppe Peroni. The first under 
 Cignani became a better copyist of his master than a painter, 
 being called pittor pratico , a mechanical hand, by Bianconi in 
 his Guide to Milan, where, as well as in Bologna, a few of his 
 pictures are to be seen. At Parma he was not employed in 
 public, as far as I can learn, but for collections, in which he 
 holds a pretty high rank. Ruta was likewise educated in the 
 academy of Cignani at Bologna. Returning to his native 
 state, whose paintings he has described, he there entered into 
 the service of the Infant Charles of Bourbon, as long as he 
 remained at Parma, after which he accompanied his patron to 
 Naples. Subsequently returning to Parma, he continued to 
 employ himself with credit, until, near the period of his • 
 decease, he lost the use of his eyes. 
 
 The Ab. Peroni, in the first instance, repaired to Bologna, 
 where he received the instructions of Torelli, of Creti, and of 
 Ercole Belli. He next visited Rome, where he became pupil 
 
AB. PERONI. 
 
 415 
 
 to Masucci; though it is probable that he was struck with 
 the colouring of Conca and Giacquinto, who were then much 
 in vogue, as his tints partake more or less of their verds, and 
 other false use of colouring. For the rest, he could design well, 
 and in elegant subjects partakes much of Maratta, as we per¬ 
 ceive from his S. Philip in S. Satiro at Milan, and from the 
 Conception, in possession of the Padri dell’ Oratorio, at Turin. 
 In Parma his productions are to be seen at S. Antonio Abbate, 
 where his frescos appear to advantage, and there is an altar- 
 piece of Christ Crucified, placed in competition with Battoni 
 and Cignaroli, and here more than elsewhere he is entitled to 
 rank among the good painters of this last age. He adorned 
 his native place and its academy with his pictures, and died 
 there at an advanced age. The career of Pietro Ferrari was 
 much shorter, although he had time to produce several fine 
 pictures for the public, besides that of his B. da Corleone in 
 the church of the Capuchins, as well as more for private col¬ 
 lections. He imitated the ancient manner of his school, no 
 less than more recent styles.* 
 
 In Piacenza there flourished Pier Antonio Avanzini, 
 educated by Franceschini at Bologna. He is said to have 
 been wanting in imagination, which led him, for the most part, 
 to copy from his master’s designs. Gio. Batista Tagliasacchi, 
 from Borgo S. Donnino, sprung from the school of Giuseppe 
 del Sole, and displayed a fine genius for elegant subjects, 
 which induced him to study Correggio, Parmigianino, and 
 Guido. He was particularly ambitious of adding Raffaello to 
 the list, but his parents would not permit him to visit Rome. 
 He resided and employed himself chiefly at Piacenza, where 
 
 * I wish here to offer a brief tribute to the merit of his deceased master 
 (he died two years since), who, though a native of Pavia, resided a long 
 period at Parma. He studied in Florence under Meucci, next at Paris, 
 where one of his pictures was greatly applauded, and the artist elected to 
 a place in that distinguished academy of art. On his return he became 
 first painter to the court at Parma, and produced works no less than pupils 
 calculated to reflect credit on his country. His Prometheus freed by Her¬ 
 cules, placed at the academy, his large portrait-piece of the family of 
 Philip, duke of Parma, which is pointed out in the Guardarobas as his best 
 specimen, fully justify the reputation he enjoyed while living, and which 
 continues beyond the tomb. The name of this artist was Giuseppe Bal- 
 drighi, and he died at Parma, aged eighty years. 
 
4If) SCHOOL OP PARMA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 there is a Holy Family much admired in the cathedral, 
 which, in its ideal cast of features, partakes of the Roman style, 
 and is not inferior to the Lombards in point of colouring. 
 He was an artist, if I mistake not, of far greater merit than 
 fortune. 
 
 Finally, the state was never in want of excellent masters in 
 minor branches of the art. Fabrizio Parmigiano is commended 
 by Baglioni amongst the landscape painters of his age. He 
 was assisted by his wife Ippolita in drawing for Italian col¬ 
 lections, and he visited a variety of places previous to his 
 arrival at Rome, where he also adorned a few of the churches 
 with his wood scenes, and views, with hermits, &c. and died 
 there at an early age. His style was, perhaps, more ideal 
 than true, as it prevailed before the time of the Caracci; but 
 it was spirited and diligent. There is known also one Gialdisi, 
 of Parma, whom, from his residence in Cremona, Zaist 
 enumerates among the professors of that school as a celebrated 
 painter of flowers. He frequently represented them upon 
 small tables covered with tapestry, and he added also musical 
 instruments, books, and playing-cards, the whole depicted 
 with an air of truth and a fine colouring, that obtained for him 
 from such inconsiderable objects a large portion of fame. 
 I must also record Felice Boselli of Piacenza, who became, 
 under the direction of the Nuvoloni, a tolerable artist in 
 figures, though he succeeded best in copying ancient pictures, 
 even so as to deceive the eye of experienced judges by the 
 exactness of his imitations. Following the bent of his genius, 
 he began to draw animals, sometimes with their skins, and at 
 others as they are exposed to view in the shambles ; besides 
 collections of birds and fishes, arranging them in order, and all 
 coloured from the life. The palaces in Piacenza abound with 
 them, Boselli having survived beyond his eightieth year, and 
 despatching them with facility and mechanically, whence all 
 liiS productions are not equally entitled to esteem. Gianpaolo 
 Pannini belonged to the Roman school, in which he both 
 learned and taught, and in treating of which I rendered him 
 that justice which the public admiration of his perspective 
 views, and of his peculiar grace in small figures, seemed to 
 require. Many fine specimens were sent from Rome to his 
 native country, and among these the Signori della Missione 
 
OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 417 
 
 possess a very rare picture, inasmuch as the figures are on a 
 larger scale than those which he in general drew. It represents 
 the Money Changers driven out of the Temple by our Lord ; 
 the architecture is truly magnificent, and the figures are full 
 of spirit and variety. The governor, Count Carasi, the able 
 illustrator of the public paintings in Piacenza, declared that 
 he was the only artist then deceased, of whom the city could 
 justly boast. Such deficiency ought not to be ascribed to its 
 climate, abounding as it does with genius, but to the want of 
 a local school, a want, however, which was converted into a 
 source of great utility to the city. If we examine the cata¬ 
 logue M painters who flourished there, with which the Count 
 Carasi closes his work, we shall find that, with the exception 
 of the capitals, no other city of Italy was so rich in excellent 
 painters belonging to every school. Had it possessed masters, 
 they would have produced for every excellent disciple, at least 
 twenty of only middling talent, whose works would have filled 
 its palaces and churches, as it has happened to so many other 
 secondary cities. 
 
 Like one university for letters, one academy for the fine 
 arts is usually found sufficient for a single state; and in par¬ 
 ticular, where it is established, supported, and encouraged in 
 the manner of that at Parma. It owed its origin to Don 
 Philip of Bourbon, in 1757, the tenth year of his government ; 
 and his son, who at this time bears sway, continues to promote 
 the interests of the institution.* Nothing can be better calcu¬ 
 lated to revive among us the noble genius of the art of paint¬ 
 ing, than the method there adopted in the distribution of 
 premiums.. The subject of the painting being proposed, the 
 young artists invited to the competition are not confined to 
 those of the state; and consequently the industry of the most 
 able and best matured students is laid under contribution, in 
 every place, for the service of Parma. The method of holding 
 the assembly, the skill and integrity of the umpires, and the 
 whole form of the decision, excludes every doubt or suspicion 
 respecting the superiority of the piece adjudged. The artist 
 is largely remunerated; but his highest ambition is gratified 
 
 * The professors who reflect credit upon it are enumerated by P. Affo 
 in the works cited in this chapter. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 E 
 
418 
 
 SCHOOL OF PARMA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 in Laving been pronounced the first among so many competi¬ 
 tors, and before such an assemblage. This is of itself always 
 sufficient to raise the successful candidate above the common 
 standard, and often leads to fortune. The prize painting 
 assumes its perpetual station in one of the academic balls, 
 along with the favourite pieces of previous years, forming a 
 series which already excites a warm interest among the lovers 
 of the fine arts. Since the period when the Cortona man¬ 
 ner began to lose ground in Italy, a manner that, under 
 such a variety of names and sects, had usurped so wide 
 a sway, the art in our own times has approached a sort 
 of crisis, which as yet forms an essay of new styles, rather 
 than any prevailing one characteristic of this new era. It is 
 in such a collection, better than in any book, that we may study 
 the state of our existing schools; what maxims are now 
 enforced ; what kind of imitation, and with how much freedom, 
 is allowed; from what source we are to look for a chance of 
 recovering the ancient art of colouring; what profit painting 
 has derived from the copies of the best pictures published in 
 engravings, and from the precepts of the masters communicated 
 through the medium of prints. I am aware that a variety of 
 opinion is entertained on this head, nor would my own, were 
 I to interpose it, give weight to any of the conflicting argu¬ 
 ments in this matter. But I am happy to say, that finding at 
 length appeals made to reason, which were formerly referred to 
 practice, I feel inclined rather to indulge hopes than doubt or 
 diffidence in regard to the future. 
 
419 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA. 
 
 EPOCH I. 
 
 The Ancients. 
 
 I have never perused tlae history of Bernardino, and the rest 
 of the pictoric family of the Campi, written some time since 
 by Baldinucci, and more recently by Giambatista Zaist, with¬ 
 out thinking that I see in the school which these artists 
 established at Cremona, a sketch of that which was sub¬ 
 sequently formed by the Caracci in Bologna. In both these 
 cities a single family projected the formation of a new style of 
 painting, which should partake of all the Italian schools, 
 without committing plagiarism against any; and from each 
 family in its respective city sprang a numerous series of 
 excellent masters, who, partly by themselves, and partly by 
 means of their disciples, adorned their country with their 
 works, the art by their example, and history itself with their 
 names. Why the Cremonese school did not keep pace with 
 that of Bologna in reputation, nor continue so long as the 
 Caraccis, and why the latter completed in a manner what the 
 other only essayed, was occasioned by a variety of causes 
 which I shall gradually explain in the course of the present 
 chapter. In the outset, agreeably to my usual plan, I mean 
 to investigate the origin and principles of this school; nor 
 shall we need to go farther back than the foundation of the 
 magnificent cathedral in 1107, which as speedily as possible 
 was decorated with all that sculpture and painting could afford. 
 Its specimens of both are such as to gratify the eye of the an¬ 
 tiquary, who may wish to trace through what channels, and 
 by what degrees, the arts first began to revive in Italy. The 
 sculpture there does not indeed present us with any works that 
 
 2 e 2 
 
420 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH I. 
 
 may not likewise be found in Verona, in Crema, and other 
 places; whereas the paintings remaining in the ceilings of the 
 two lateral n.wes may be considered uniques, and deserve the 
 trouble of examining them more nearly, on account of the 
 smallness of the figures and the want of light. They consist 
 of sacred histories; the design is extremely dry, the colours 
 are strong, and their drapery wholly novel, except that some 
 of them still continue to be seen in the modern masks and 
 theatres of Italy. Some specimens of architecture are intro¬ 
 duced, presenting only right lines, like what we see in our 
 oldest wood engravings, and explanations are also inserted, 
 indicating the principal figures, in the manner of the more 
 ancient mosaic-workers, when the eye, yet unaccustomed to 
 behold pictoric histories, required some such illustration of the 
 subject. Yet we can gather no traces of the Greek mosaics ; 
 the whole is Italian, national, and new. The characters leave 
 us in doubt whether we ought to ascribe them to the age of 
 Giotto, or to that preceding him, but the figures attest that 
 their author was indebted neither to Giotto nor his master for 
 what he knew. I can learn nothing of his name from the 
 ancient historians of the school, neither from Antonio Campi, 
 Pie'ro Lamo, nor Gio. Batista Zaist, whom I have already 
 cited, and who compiled two volumes of memoirs of the old 
 artists of Cremona, edited by Panni in the year 1774. 
 
 I may, however, safely assert that there were painters who 
 flourished in the Cremonese as early as 1213 ; for on occasion 
 of the city obtaining a victory over the people of Milan, the 
 event was commemorated in a picture, in the palace of Lan- 
 franco Oldovino, one of the leaders of the Cremonese army, 
 and for this we have the testimony of Flameno in his History 
 of Castelleone.* There is also recorded by the Ab. Sarnelli, 
 in his “ Foreigner’s Guide to Naples,” as well as by the Can. 
 Celano, in the “ Notices of the Beauties of Naples,” a M. Si¬ 
 mone of Cremona, who, about 1335, painted in S. Chiara, and 
 is the same mentioned by Surgente, author of the “ Naples 
 Illustrated,” as Simon da Siena, and by Dominici as Simone 
 Napolitano. In a former volume I adhered to the opinion of 
 Dominici, inasmuch as he cites Criscuolo and his archives ; 
 
 \ 
 
 • See Zaist, p. 12. 
 
TIIE ANCIENTS. 
 
 421 
 
 but let the authority rest with them. Other names might he 
 added, which Zaist has in part collected from MSS., and in 
 part from published documents, such as Polidoro Casella, who 
 flourished about 1345, Angelo Bellavita in 1420, Jacopino 
 Marasca, mentioned in 1430, LucaSclavo, named by Flameno, 
 subsequent to 1450, among excellent painters, and among the 
 friends of Francesco Sforza, besides Gaspare Bonino, who 
 became celebrated about the year 1400. Hence it may be 
 perceived that this school was not destitute of a series of artists, 
 during a long period, although no specimens of their art sur¬ 
 vive to confirm it. 
 
 The earliest that is to be met with, bearing a name and cer¬ 
 tain date, is a picture which belonged to Zaist, representing 
 Julian (afterwards the saint) killing his father and mother, 
 whom he mistakes for his wife and her paramour. Below the 
 couch on which they are found, are inscribed the two follow¬ 
 ing verses :— 
 
 Hoc quod Mantenese didicit sub dogmate clari, 
 
 Antonii Comae dextera pinxit opus.— mcccci.xxviii. 
 
 The name of Antonio della Corna is handed down to us by 
 history, and from this monument he is discovered to have 
 been a pupil of Mantegna, and a follower of the first rather 
 than the second style of his master. But he does not appear 
 to have flourished a sufficient time, or he was not in repute 
 enough to have a place among the painters of the cathedral, 
 in the fourteenth century, who left there a monument of the 
 art that may vie with the Sistine chapel ; and if I mistake 
 not the figures of those ancient Florentines are more correct, 
 those of the cathedral more animated. There is a frieze sur¬ 
 rounding the arches of the church, divided into several squares, 
 each of which contains a scriptural history painted in fresco. 
 Upon this work a number of Cremoncse artists, all of high 
 repute, were successively employed. 
 
 The first in this list, subscribed in one of these compart¬ 
 ments, Bcmhus incApicns , and in the other compartment 14— 
 .... under his paintings of the Epiphany and the Purifica¬ 
 tion. The remaining figures after the above, have long been 
 concealed by a side wing of the organ. But the sense is very 
 clear, the name and the date of the centuries appearing toge- 
 
*22 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.-EPOCH I. 
 
 >her ; nor are we at a loss to perceive that the artist, in an 
 undertaking to be conducted by many, and during many years, 
 was desirous of commemorating his name, as the first who 
 commenced it, and in what year. Some, nevertheless, have 
 wished to infer, by detaching the words Bcmbus incipiens 
 from the rest, that the artist meant to inform us he was then 
 first entering upon his profession ; as if the people of Cremona, 
 in the decoration of their finest temple, which was long con¬ 
 ducted by the most celebrated painters, would have selected a 
 novice to begin. It is, however, a question whether the 
 inscription refers to Bonifazio Bembo, or to Gianfrancesco his 
 younger brother; but apparently we ought to give it, with 
 Vasari, to the former, a distinguished artist who was employed 
 by the court of Milan as early as 1461, while Gio. Francesco 
 flourished later, as we shall shortly have occasion to shew. 
 In the two histories with which Bembo commenced his labours, 
 as well as in those that follow, he shews himself an able artist, 
 spirited in his attitudes, glowing in his colours, magnificent in 
 his draperies, although still confined within the sphere of the 
 naturalists, and copying from the truth without displaying 
 much selection, if he does not occasionally transgress it by 
 want of correctness. Both our dictionaries of artists and Bot- 
 tari have confounded this Bonifazio with a Venetian of the 
 same name, whom we have mentioned in his place. 
 
 Opposite to those of Bembo is a painting, a history of the 
 Passion, representing our Redeemer before his judges, painted 
 by Cristoforo Moretti,* the same, according to Lomazzo, who 
 was employed with Bembo in the court of Milan, and also 
 painted at the church of S. Aquilino. One of his Madonnas 
 is still to be seen there, seated amid different saints, and upon 
 her mantle I was enabled to decipher, Christophorus de Moretis 
 de Cremona , in characters interweaved in the manner of gold 
 lace. Cremonese writers call him the son of Galeazzo Rivello, 
 and father and grandfather to several other Rivelli, all artists, 
 Moretti being only an assumed appellation. From the inscrip¬ 
 tion I have adduced, there appears some difficulty in the way 
 of such a tradition, since de Moretis is an expression importing 
 a family name, not an acquired one. Whatever may be 
 
 * See Lomazzo, Treatise on Eainting, p. 405. 
 
MELONE AND BOCCACCINO. 
 
 423 
 
 thought on this head, it is certain that he was one of the re¬ 
 formers of the art in Lombardy, and particularly in the branches 
 of perspective and design; and in this history of the Passion, 
 in which he excluded all kind of gilding, he is seen to approach 
 the moderns. 
 
 Somewhat later, and not before 1497, Altobello Meloneand 
 Boccaccio Boccaccino, two Cremonese artists, were employed 
 in completing the frieze of the cathedral. The former, ac¬ 
 cording to Yasari, painted several histories of the Passion, 
 truly beautiful and deserving of commendation. But he was 
 the least consistent in point of style, introducing, as it has 
 been observed, figures of small and large proportions in the 
 same piece, and also least excellent in his frescos, colouring 
 them in a manner that now gives them the look of tapestry. 
 But he excelled in his oil paintings, as we gather from his 
 altar-piece of Christ descending into Limbo, which is pre¬ 
 served in the sacristy of the Sacramento, a piece for which 
 the canons refused to receive a large sum that was offered for 
 it. The figures are very numerous, of somewhat long propor¬ 
 tions, but coloured with equal softness and strength. His 
 knowledge of the naked figure is beyond that of his age, com¬ 
 bined with a grace of features and of attitudes that conveys 
 the idea of a great master. In the Notizia of Morelli, his pic¬ 
 ture of Lucretia, painted for private ornament, is mentioned. 
 It is executed in the Flemish style, and he is said to have 
 been the pupil of Armanino, perhaps an artist of that nation. 
 
 Boccaccio Boccaccino bears the same character among the 
 Cremonese as Grillandaio, Mantegna, Vannucci, and Francia, 
 in their respective schools, the best modern among the 
 ancients, and the best of the ancients in the list of the 
 moderns. He had the honour of instructing Garofolo during 
 two years previous to his visiting Rome in 1500. In the 
 frieze of the cathedral, Boccaccino painted the Birth ot 
 the Virgin, along with other histories, relating to her and 
 the Divine Infant. The style is in part original, and 
 in part approaches that of Pietro Perugino, whose pupil 
 Pascoli says he was. But he is less regular in his com¬ 
 position, less beautiful in the air of his heads, and less 
 powerful in his chiaroscuro, though richer in his drapery, with 
 more variety of colours, more spirit in his attitudes, and 
 
424 
 
 SCIIOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH I. 
 
 scarcely less harmonious or less pleasing in his architecture and 
 landscape. He is, pernaps, least attractive in some of his 
 figures, which are somewhat coarse, owing to their having a 
 fulness of drapery, and not being sufficiently slender, a defect 
 carefully avoided by the ancient statuaries, as I have formerly 
 observed. - * It is remarked by Yasari that he visited Rome, in 
 which I agree with him, both because it is in some degree 
 alluded to by Antonio Campi, and because there are evident 
 traces of his imitation of Pietro, as in his Marriage of the 
 Virgin Mary, and in a very magnificent temple, that appears 
 erected upon lofty steps, a subject repeated by Pietro several 
 times. It has been also noticed that his Madonna at S. Vin¬ 
 cenzo, with the titular saint and S. Antonio, seems like the 
 work of Vannucci, and he certainly approaches very near him 
 in other figures. I can easily believe, therefore, that Boccac- 
 cini was at Rome ; but I also believe that what is written of 
 him by Vasari and by Baldinucci, if not fictitious, is at least 
 wide of the mark. 
 
 Let us briefly examine this matter. It is said that he there 
 attempted to depreciate the works of Michelangelo, and that 
 after exhibiting his own productions at the Traspontina, which 
 met with ridicule from the Roman professors, in order to 
 escape from the hisses they excited on all sides, he was com¬ 
 pelled to return to his native place. This story, added to 
 others of a like nature, irritated the Lombard artists. Hence 
 Scanelli in his Microcosm, Lamo in his Discourse on Painting, 
 and Campi in his History, renewed the complaints of the 
 other schools against Vasari. These are recorded by Zaist 
 (p. 72 ) with the addition of his own refutation of this account. 
 The refutation rests upon the epochs which Vasari himself 
 points out, and which of themselves, say his opponents, afford 
 a decided negative to the story of Boccaccino’s journey to 
 Rome in time to have cast reflections upon the paintings of 
 Michelangelo. It is the custom of less accurate historians, when 
 they give the substance of a fact, to add to it circumstances 
 of time, of place, or of a manner, that had really no existence. 
 Ancient history is full of such examples, and the severest criti¬ 
 cism does not presume to discredit facts on the strength of some 
 
 * Chapter iii. 
 
BERNARDINO RICCA. 
 
 425 
 
 interpolated circumstance, provided there be others sufficiently 
 strong to sanction them. In this instance, the historian, and 
 a great friend of Michelangelo, narrates an affair relating to 
 that friend, and which is supposed to have taken place at 
 Rome, only a short period before the author wrote. We can 
 hardly then believe it to have been a mere idle report without 
 any foundation in truth. I would reject indeed some of its acces¬ 
 saries, and in particular condemn those unwarranted reflec¬ 
 tions in which Vasari indulges, at the expense of one of the 
 most distinguished artists who at that time flourished in Lom¬ 
 bardy. 
 
 Next to the four historical paintings just mentioned, follow 
 those conducted by Romanino di Brescia and by Poraenone, 
 two master spirits of their age, who left examples of the Ve¬ 
 netian taste at the cathedral, which were not neglected by the 
 Cremonese, as will be seen. We ought in justice to add, that 
 their city has always shewn a laudable wish to preserve these 
 ancient productions from the effects of age, as far as in her 
 power. When towards the close of the sixteenth century 
 they began to exhibit marks of decay, they were instantly 
 ordered to be examined and restored by a painter and archi¬ 
 tect ot some reputation, called II Sabbionetta, his real name 
 being Martire Pesenti. The same degree of care and attention 
 has been shewn them in the present day by the Cav. Borroni. 
 
 Two other citizens exhibited specimens in the same place, 
 of the style which is now called antico moclerno. Alessandro 
 Pampurini, as it is said, drew some figures of cherubs, round 
 a cartellone , or scroll for inscriptions, together with a kind of 
 arabesques, bearing the date of 1511 ; and in the subsequent 
 year Bernardino Ricca, or Ricco, produced a similar work op¬ 
 posite to it, which owing to its having been executed with too 
 much dryness, perished in a few years, and was renewed by a 
 different hand. But there still exists his picture of a Pieta at 
 S. Pietro del Po, with some specimens likewise by his com¬ 
 panion, sufficient to prove that both are worthy of comme¬ 
 moration for their time. 
 
 Having thus described the series of artists who decorated 
 the cathedral, there remain a few other names unconnected 
 with that great undertaking, but which, nevertheless, enjoyed 
 considerable celebrity in their day. Such are Galeazzo Campi, 
 
426 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.-EPOCH I. 
 
 the father of the three distinguished brothers, and Tommaso 
 Aleni. This last so nearly resembled Campi in his manner, 
 that their pictures can with difficulty be distinguished, as may 
 be seen at S. Domenico, where they painted in competition 
 with each other. It is loosely conjectured by many that they 
 were the pupils of Boccaccino, an opinion which I cannot 
 entertain. The disciples of the best masters in the fourteenth 
 century continued to free themselves, the longer they flourished, 
 from the dry manner of their early education. Galeazzo, on 
 the other hand, the only one we need here mention, approaches 
 less closely to the modern style than his supposed master, as 
 we perceive in the suburban church of S. Sebastiano, where 
 he painted the tutelar saint and S. Rocco, standing near the 
 throne of the Virgin with the Infant Christ. The picture 
 bears the date of 1518, when he was already a finished 
 master, and nervertheless he there appears only a weak fol¬ 
 lower of the Perugino manner. His colours are good and 
 natural, but he is feeble in chiaroscuro, dry in design, cold in 
 his expression ; his countenances have not a beam of meaning, 
 while that of the holy infant seems as if copied from a child 
 suffering under an obliquity of the eyes, those of the figure are 
 so badly drawn. The observation, therefore, of Baldinucci, 
 or of his continuator, that he “ had rendered himself celebrated 
 even beyond Italy,” would seem in want of confirmation ; nor 
 do I know whence such confirmation can be derived. Cer¬ 
 tainly not from the ancients, for even his own son Antonio 
 Campi only remarks of Galeazzo, that he was “ a tolerable 
 painter for his age.” ' 
 
 Nor did some others of Galeazzo’s contemporaries rise 
 much above mediocrity. To this class belonged Antonio 
 Cigognini and Francesco Casella, a few of whose productions 
 remain in their native place ; Galeazzo Pesenti, called 11 Sab- 
 bioneta, a painter and sculptor; Lattanzio of Cremona, who 
 having painted at the school of the Milanese in Venice, has 
 been recorded'by Boschini in his “ Min ere della Pittura,” 
 besides Niccolo da Cremona, who was employed, according to 
 Orlandi, in 1518 at Bologna. There are two, however, who 
 merit a larger share of consideration, having produced works 
 of a superior character which still exist, and belong in some 
 degree to the golden period of the art. The name of the first 
 
 ■ iA CL* A 
 
ZUPELLI AND BEMBO. 
 
 427 
 
 is Gio. Batista Zapelli, of whom the Eremitani possess a fine 
 landscape with a Holy Family. His taste, although dry, is 
 apt to surprise the eye by its originality, and attracts us by a 
 natural and peculiar grace, with which all his figures are de¬ 
 signed and animated, as well as by a certain softness and fulness 
 of colouring. If Soiaro had not acquired the principles of his 
 art from Correggio, we might suppose that this Zupelli had 
 instructed him in regard to the strong body of his colouring, 
 which is remarkable both in him aud in his school. The 
 second is Gianfrancesco Bembo, the brother and disciple of 
 Bonifazio, highly commended by Vasari, if, indeed, he be, as 
 is supposed, the same Gianfrancesco, called II Vetraro, who is 
 recorded by the historian in his Life of Polidoro da Caravaggio. 
 It appears certain that he must have visited Lower Italy, from 
 the style which he displays in one of his altar-pieces, repre¬ 
 senting saints Cosma and Damiano, at the Osservanti, to which 
 his name, with the date of 1524, is affixed. I have not observed 
 any thing in a similar taste, either in Cremona or in its vici¬ 
 nity. It retains very slight traces of the antique, much as 
 may be observed in those of F. Bartolommeo della Porta, 
 whom he greatly resembled in point of colouring, however 
 inferior in the dignity of his figures and his draperies. A few 
 more of his specimens are met with in public places and the 
 houses of noblemen, which exhibit him as one of those 
 painters who added dignity to the style of painting in Lom¬ 
 bardy, and improved upon the ancient manner. 
 
428 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Camillo Boccacci.no, II Soiaro, the Campi. 
 
 After the time of Vetraro, nothing occurs worthy of putting 
 on record until we reach the moderns; and here we ought to 
 commence with the three distinguished artists, who, according 
 to Lamo, were employed in Cremona in the year 1522. 
 These were Camillo Boccaccino, son of Boccaccio, Soiaro, 
 recorded in the preceding chapter, and Giulio Campi, who 
 subsequently became the head of a numerous school. Other 
 Cremonese artists, it is true, flourished about the same period, 
 such as the two Scutellari, Francesco and Andrea, who have 
 been referred by some writers to the state of Mantua; but as 
 few of their works remain, and those of no great merit, we 
 shall proceed at once to the great masters of the school whom 
 we have mentioned above. The grand undertaking of the 
 cathedral proved useful likewise in the advancement of these 
 artists, and in particular the church of S. Sigismondo, already 
 erected by Francesco Sforza at a little distance from the city, 
 where these artists and their descendants, painting as it were 
 in competition, rendered it a noble school for the fine arts. 
 We may there study a sort of series of these artists, their 
 various merit, their prevailing tastes in the Correggio manner, 
 their different style of adapting it, and their peculiar skill in 
 fresco compositions. With these they not only decorated 
 temples, but by applying them to the fa 9 ades of palaces and 
 private houses, they gave an appearance of splendour to the 
 state, which excited the admiration of strangers. They were 
 surprised, on first entering Cremona, to behold a city arrayed 
 as if for a jubilee, full of life, and rich in all the pride of art. 
 Strange then that Franzese, who wrote the lives of the best 
 
CAMILLO BCCCACCINO. 
 
 429 
 
 painters (in four volumes), should have compiled nothing 
 relating to the Cremonese, far more deserving of comme¬ 
 moration than many others in his collection whom he has 
 greatly praised. 
 
 Camillo Boccaccino was the leading genius of the school. 
 Grounded in the ancient maxims of his father, though his 
 career was short, he succeeded in forming a style at once strong 
 and beautiful, insomuch that we are at a loss to say which is 
 the prevailing feature of his character. Lomazzo pronounces 
 him “ very able in design, and a noble colourist,” placing him, 
 as a model for the graceful power of his lights, for the sweet¬ 
 ness of his manner, and for his art of drapery, on a level with 
 da Vinci, Correggio, Gaudenzio, and the first painters in the 
 world. According to the opinion of Vasari, against whom the 
 Cremonese have so bitterly inveighed, Camillo was “ a good 
 mechanical hand, and if he had flourished for a longer period 
 would have had extraordinary success, but he produced few 
 works except such as are small, and of little importance.” In 
 respect to his paintings at S. Sigismondo, he adds, not that they 
 are, but are only “ believed by the Cremonese to be, the best 
 specimens of the art they have to boast.” They are still to 
 be seen in the cupola, in the grand recess, and on the sides of 
 the great altar. The most distinguished pieces are the four 
 Evangelists in a sitting posture, excepting the figure of S. John, 
 who, standing up in a bending attitude with an expression of 
 surprise, forms a curved outline opposed to the arch of the ceil¬ 
 ing, a figure greatly celebrated, no less on account of the per¬ 
 spective than the design. It is truly surprising how a young 
 artist, who had never frequented the school of Correggio, 
 could so well emulate his taste, and carry it even farther 
 within so short a period ; this work, displaying such a know¬ 
 ledge of perspective and foreshortening, having been executed 
 as early as the year 1587. 
 
 The two side pictures are also highly celebrated, both in 
 Cremona and abroad. One of these represents the Raising of 
 Lazarus, the other the Woman taken in Adultery, both sur¬ 
 rounded with very elegant ornaments, representing groups of 
 cherubs, which are seen in the act of playing with the mitre, 
 the censer, and other holy vessels in their hands. In these 
 histories, as well as in their decorations, the whole of the 
 
 
430 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 figures are arranged and turned in such a way, as scarcely to 
 leave a single eye in the figures visible, a novelty in respect 
 to drawing by no means to he recommended. But Camillo 
 was desirous of thus proving to his rivals that his figures were 
 not, as they asserted, indebted for their merit to the animated 
 expression of the eyes, but to the whole composition. And 
 truly in whatever way disposed, they do not fail to please 
 from the excellence of the design, their fine and varied atti¬ 
 tudes, the foreshortening, the natural colouring, and a strength 
 of chiaroscuro which must have been drawn from Pordenone, 
 and which makes the surrounding paintings of the Campi 
 appear deficient in relief. Had he exhibited a little more 
 choice in his heads of adults, with a little more regularity 
 in his composition, there would, perhaps, have been nothing 
 farther to desire. We may, moreover, mention his painting 
 on a fa 9 -ade in one of the squares of Cremona, where, not long 
 ago, were to be seen the remains of figures which Camillo 
 executed so as to excite the admiration of Charles V., and 
 obtain the highest commendations. There remain likewise 
 two of his altar-pieces, one at Cistello and the other at S. Bar¬ 
 tolommeo, both extremely beautiful. 
 
 The name of Bernardino, or Bernardo Gatti, for he subscribed 
 both to his pictures, was mentioned at length among the pupils 
 of Parma; and I have now to record it among the best mas¬ 
 ters of Cremona. Both Campi and Lapi refer him without 
 scruple to Cremona, though he is given by others to Vercelli, 
 and supposed to be the same Bernardo di Vercelli who suc¬ 
 ceeded Pordenone in painting S. Maria di Campagna at Pia¬ 
 cenza, as we find related in Vasari. By others he is supposed 
 again to have come from Pavia, where he was employed in the 
 cupola of the cathedral, and according to the testimony of 
 Count Carasi, mentioned before with commendation, he there 
 subscribes his name Bernardinus Gatti Papiensis , 1553. I 
 leave the question to others, though it seems hardly credible 
 that two contemporary historians, who wrote shortly after the 
 death of Bernardino, while the public recollection of his native 
 place must have been yet fresh, and ready to refute them, 
 should have each fallen into error. We might add that Cre¬ 
 mona is in possession of many of Soiaro’s paintings from his 
 earliest age until he became an octogenarian, and owing to a 
 
GERVASIO GATTI. 
 
 431 
 
 paralytic affection was in the habit of painting with his left 
 hand. At that advanced period he produced for the cathedral 
 his picture of the Assumption,fifty hands in height, and which, 
 although he never lived to complete it, is a work, as is justly 
 observed by Lamo,that excites our wonder. Moreover lie left 
 his possessions and a family at Cremona, from which sprung 
 two artists deserving of record, one of whom is celebrated in 
 history, the other never before noticed. As there still remains 
 some degree of foundation for attributing him to Pavia, upon 
 the authority also of Spelta, who wrote the Lives of the Pavese 
 Bishops, and was almost contemporary with Bernardino, and 
 what is more, he himself thinks that the difference might be 
 thus reconciled, we may agree with him in stating that our 
 artist was neither derived from, ora citizen of Pavia, and at 
 the same time a citizen and a resident at Cremona. 
 
 Gervasio Gatti, II Soiaro, nephew to Bernardino, was ini¬ 
 tiated by him in the same maxims and principles which he 
 had himself imbibed, by studying and copying the models left 
 by Correggio at Parma. The advantage he derived from them 
 may be known from his S. Sebastiano, which was painted for 
 S. Agatha, at Cremona, in 1578, a piece that appears designed 
 from the antique, and coloured by one of the first figurists and 
 landscape painters in Lombardy. In the same city is his 
 Martyrdom of S. Cecilia, at S. Pietro, surrounded with angels, 
 in the Correggio manner, a picture nobly coloured, and finished 
 with exquisite care. In composition it resembles those of his 
 uncle, for one of which it might be mistaken, did we not find 
 the name of Gervasio and the date of 1601. But he was not 
 always equally diligent, and sometimes betrays a mechanical 
 hand, while there is often a monotony in his countenances, 
 and a want of selection in his heads, no unusual fault in portrait- 
 painters, among whom he held a high rank. It is most pro¬ 
 bable that he saw the works of the Caracci, traces of which 
 I have discovered in some of his productions, and particularly 
 in those at S. S. Pietro and Marcellino. Perhaps it was 
 a brother of this artist who left a picture of a Crucifixion, sur¬ 
 rounded by different saints, at S. Sepolcro in Piacenza, bearing 
 an inscription of Uriel de Qattis dictus Sojarius , 1601. It 
 boasts great strength ot colouring, combined with no little ele- 
 
432 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 gance, but the manner is insignificant, and it is feeble in chiaro¬ 
 scuro. This, if I mistake not, is the same Uriele who, on the 
 testimony of the Cav. Ridolfi, had been selected for some 
 undertaking at Crema in preference to Urbini, as I formerly 
 observed. Bernardino likewise instructed Spranger, a favou¬ 
 rite artist of the Emperor Rodolph II. as well as the Anguis- 
 sole, of both of whom we shall give some account shortly. 
 What more peculiarly distinguishes him is his title to be con¬ 
 sidered the great master of the Cremonese school, which, 
 benefited by his presence and guided by his precepts and 
 examples, produced during so long a period such a variety of 
 admirable works. To speak frankly what I think, Cremona 
 would never have seen her Campi, nor her Boccaccino rise so 
 high, if Soiaro had not exhibited his talents in that city. 
 
 The remaining portion of our chapter will be devoted almost 
 wholly to the Campi, a family that filled Cremona, Milan, 
 and other cities of that state, both in private and public, with 
 their paintings. They consisted of four individuals, all of 
 whom devoted themselves indefatigably to the art until they 
 reached an extreme old age. They were by some denominated 
 the Vasari and the Zuccari of Lombardy, a comparison 
 founded on some degree of truth in regard to the extent and 
 the vast mechanism of their compositions; but not just, as 
 far as intended to be applied to any desire of achieving much, 
 rather than what was excellent in its kind. Giulio and Ber¬ 
 nardino, the most accomplished of their family, were accused 
 of too great rapidity and want of accuracy ; but they are not 
 very often liable to the charge, and many of their faults must 
 be ascribed to their assistants. They generally produced 
 good designs, which were invariably well couloured, and these 
 still remain entire, while those of Vasari and Zuccari stand in 
 need of continual restoration and retouching, from the fading 
 of their colours. Of both these masters, however, as well as 
 the rest of the Campi, we must now proceed to treat in their 
 individual character. 
 
 Giulio may be pronounced the Lodovico Caracci of his 
 school. The eldest brother of Antonio and Vincenzo, and the 
 relation, or the instructor at least, of Bernardino, he formed 
 the project of uniting the best qualities of a number of styles 
 
GIUL10 CAMPI. 
 
 433 
 
 in one. His father, who was his first preceptor,* not con¬ 
 ceiving himself equal to perfecting him in the art, sent him to 
 the school of Giulio Romano, established at that period in 
 Mantua, ar.d which had begun, according to Vasari, to propa¬ 
 gate the taste imbibed by its master from the most distin¬ 
 guished ornament of the art. Romano, too, instructed his 
 pupils in the principles of architecture, painting, and modelling, 
 and rendered them capable of directing and conducting all the 
 branches of a vast and multiplied undertaking with their own 
 hands. Such an education was enjoyed by the eldest Campi, 
 and by his brothers, owing to his care. The church of S. Mar- 
 gherita was wholly decorated by him ; and the chapels at 
 S. Sigismondo were all completed by him and his family. 
 They contain almost every variety of the art, large pictures, 
 small histories, cameos, stuccos, chiaroscuros, grotesques, 
 festoons of flowers, pilasters, with gold recesses, from which 
 the most graceful forms of cherubs seem to rise with symbols 
 adapted to the saint of that altar; in a word, the whole of the 
 paintings and their decorations are the work of the same 
 genius, and sometimes of the same hand. This adds greatly 
 to their harmony, and in consequence to their beauty, nothing 
 in fact being truly beautiful that has not perfect unity. It is 
 a real loss to the arts that these various talents should be 
 divided, so as to compel us to seek a different artist for works 
 of different sorts ; whence it arises that in a number of halls 
 and churches we meet with collections, histories, and orna¬ 
 ments of every kind, so extremely opposite, that not only one 
 part fails to remind us of the other, but sometimes repe'ls it, 
 and seems to complain of its forced and inharmonious union. 
 But we must again turn our attention to Giulio Campi. 
 
 It appears then that he laid the foundation of his taste and 
 principles under Giulio Romano. From him he derived the 
 dignity of his design, his knowledge of anatomy, variety and 
 fertility of ideas, magnificence in his architecture, and a 
 general mastery over every subject. To these he added 
 strength when he visited Rome, where he studied Raffaello 
 and the antique, designing with a wonderful degree of accuracy 
 
 * We may here correct the mistake of Orlandi, who assigns the death 
 of Galeazzo to the year 1536, and Giulio's birth to 1540, when it is known 
 that he began his labours as early as 1522. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 F 
 
434 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 the column of Trajan, universally regarded as a school of the 
 ancients aiways open to the present day. Either at Mantua 
 or elsewhere he likewise studied Titian, and imitated him in 
 an equal degree with any other foreign artist. In his native 
 state he met with two more models in Pordenone and Soiaro, 
 in whose style, according to Yasari, he exercised himself, before 
 he became acquainted with the works of Giulio. From such 
 preparatory studies, combined with imitating whatever he 
 met with in Raffaello and Correggio, he acquired that style 
 which is found to partake of the manner of so many different 
 artists. On visiting the church of S. Margherita just alluded 
 to, in company with an able professor of the art, we there 
 noticed several of his heads, each drawn after a different 
 model, insomuch that on viewing the works of this artist we 
 feel inclined to pronounce the same opinion on him, as Alga- 
 rotti did on the Caracci, that in one of their pictures one kind 
 of taste prevails, and in another an opposite manner. Thus in 
 his S. Girolamo, in the cathedral at Mantua, and in his Pen¬ 
 tecost at S. Gismondo in Cremona, we meet with all the 
 strength of Giulio, though his most successful imitation is to be 
 found in the castle of Soragno in the territory of Parma, 
 where he represented the labours of Hercules in a grand hall, 
 which might be pronounced an excellent school for the study 
 of the naked figure. In the larger picture at the church of 
 S. Gismondo, where the duke of Milan is seen with his duchess 
 in the act of being presented by the patron saints to the Holy 
 Virgin, and also in that of saints Pietro and Marcellino at the 
 church bearing their name, Campi displays so much of the 
 Titian manner as to have been mistaken for that artist. One 
 of his histories of the Passion, in the cathedral, representing 
 Christ before Pilate, was also supposed to be from the hand of 
 Pordenone, though ascertained to be his. Finally, in a Holy 
 Family, painted at S. Paolo in Milan, particularly in the 
 figure of the child seen caressing a holy prelate, who stands 
 lost in admiration, we are presented with all the natural 
 grace, united to all the skill that can be required in an 
 imitator of Correggio. The picture is exquisitely beautiful, 
 and an engraving of it in large folio was taken by Giorgio 
 Ghigi, a celebrated artist of Mantua. 
 
 Nor did Giulio’s admiration of great painters lead him to 
 
ANTONIO CAMPI. 
 
 435 
 
 neglect the study of nature. It was nature he consulted, and 
 selected from ; a study which he inculcated likewise upon the 
 rest of the Campi. A choice is thus perceptible in their heads, 
 more especially in those of their women, evidently drawn from 
 nature, and I may add from national truth, inasmuch as they 
 express ideas and attitudes that are not usually met with in 
 other artists ; the hair and temples often appearing bound with 
 a ribbon, as was then customary in the city, and is still in use 
 in some of the villages. The colouring of the heads approaches 
 near that of Paul Veronese, and in the whole of their paint¬ 
 ings the Campi were accustomed to make use of the distribu¬ 
 tion of colours that had prevailed before the time of the 
 Caracci, though in their manner of disposing and animating 
 them they acquired a peculiar beauty which Scaramuccio pro¬ 
 nounces wholly original. Judging, therefore, from their co¬ 
 lours, and the hair of their heads, it is difficult to discern the 
 individual hands of the Campi; but if we examine the design 
 we shall more easily distinguish them. Giulio surpasses the 
 rest in point of dignity; and he likewise aims at displaying 
 more knowledge, both of the human frame and of the 
 effects of lights and shadows. In correctness too he is 
 superior to his two brothers, though he is not equal to Ber¬ 
 nardino. 
 
 The Cav. Antonio Campi was instructed by his brother in 
 architecture and painting, in the former of which he employed 
 himself more than Giulio. This was useful to him in the dis¬ 
 tribution of his large works, where he often introduced per¬ 
 spective A'iews of great beauty, and displayed great skill in 
 foreshortening. A fine specimen of his powers is to be seen in 
 the sacristy of S. Pietro, with that beautiful colonnade, above 
 which appears the chariot of Elias in the distance. Antonio 
 was also a modeller, an engraver, and the historian of his 
 native state, whose annals, enriched with many of his copper¬ 
 plates, he published in 1585. In the Campi family, therefore, 
 he will be found to occupy the same place as Agostino among 
 the Caracci, an artist of great versatility, conversant with 
 polite letters. He was well known and appreciated by Agoe- 
 tino, who engraved one of his most beautiful productions, the 
 Apostle of the Gentiles in the act of raising a person from the 
 dead. It is placed at S. Paolo in Milan, a noble church, 
 
 2 p 2 
 
436 
 
 SCnOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 where all the Carapi, in the same manner as at S. Sigismondo, 
 are seen in competition with each other. Antonio there 
 appears to great advantage, no less in the forementioned 
 picture than in that of the Nativity, though the frescos adorn¬ 
 ing the chapels, ascribed to him, are deficient in accuracy. 
 Thus he also produced works of unequal merit at S. Sigis¬ 
 mondo, as if he wished to shew that he knew more than he was 
 ambitious of expressing. His most familiar model, as is 
 remarked also by Lomazzo, was Correggio, and the feature that 
 he most aimed at expressing was that of grace. To this he 
 often attained in point of colouring, but was less happy in 
 design, where, owing to his study of elegance, he at times 
 becomes disproportionately thin, and at others, in order to dis¬ 
 play his power, he exhibits a foreshortening somewhat out of 
 place. He is still more mannered in his more robust subjects, 
 and occasionally borders upon heaviness and vulgarity, into 
 which his imitation of Correggio’s grandeur, more difficult, 
 perhaps, than his grace, doubtless betrayed him. There are 
 many of these exceptions, however, along with his incorrect¬ 
 ness of design, so often discernible, which are to be attributed 
 to his numerous assistants, employed in these vast undertakings. 
 But this will not apply to his over-grouping, which is so 
 remarkable in some of his compositions, nor to the introduction 
 of caricatures into his holy histories, which is a sort of jesting 
 out of season. In a word his genius was vast, spirited, reso¬ 
 lute, but often in want of the rein ; and in this respect, and 
 generally in what relates to pictorial learning, we should do 
 wrong to put him in competition with Lodovico Caracci. 
 
 In the church of S. Paolo, at Milan, there is an inscription 
 by Vincenzio Campi, in which he mentions Giulio and 
 Antonio as his younger brothers. Most probably, however, 
 it has been inserted there by some other hand, being quite 
 contradictory to what is established by history. For he is 
 represented by Antonio as the youngest of the brothers, and 
 by others as an indefatigable assistant in their labours, and 
 little more worthy of being compared with them than Fran¬ 
 cesco Caracci with his brother Annibal or Agostino. His 
 portraits, however, are held in esteem, as well as his fruit 
 pieces, which he painted on a small scale for private rooms in 
 a very natural manner, and they are by no means rare at 
 
BERNARDINO CAMPI. 
 
 437 
 
 Cremona. In the colouring of his figures he was equal to his 
 brothers, but in point of invention and design greatly inferior 
 to them. He appears to have imitated Antonio rather than 
 Giulio, as far as we can judge from the few works he has left, 
 which are now known to be his. He painted a few altar- 
 pieces for his native place, four of which consist of Descents 
 from the Cross. That in the cathedral extorted the praise of 
 Baldinucci; and truly in the figure of Christ his foreshortening 
 deceives the eye like that of Pordenone in his Dead Christ, 
 while his heads and his colouring have likewise been com¬ 
 mended. I cannot, however, think that the attitude of the 
 "V irgin Mother, who is seen grasping his face with both her 
 hands, is very becoming; nor do I approve of the saints An¬ 
 tonio and Raimondo, who lived at a period so remote from 
 that of Christ, being here introduced, the one supporting his 
 arm, the other kissing his hand. It moreover betrays several 
 errors, of a kind which Baldinucci, so familiar with a more 
 learned and severe school, would not so easily have forgiven 
 had he happened to have beheld this picture. Vincenzio 
 seems to have possessed greater skill in small than in large 
 figures, in common indeed with a great number of artists. 
 Mention is made in his Life of six little pictures which he 
 executed on slate, and which were sold after his death for 
 three hundred ducats. Zaist, whom I follow in my index, 
 has presented us with the epochs applying to these three 
 artists in such a manner as to leave them in considerable 
 doubt. The inscription at S. Paolo in Milan, recorded in the 
 Guide (p. 152) is as follows :—Vincentius una cum Julio et 
 Antonio fratribus pinxerunt an. mdlxxxviii. Now Bian- 
 coni does not seem inclined to credit the authenticity of this; 
 nor is it improbable but it may have been written some years 
 subsequent to the painting, and by another hand. 
 
 Bernardino Campi, perhaps some way related to the other 
 three Campi, occupied the same place in his family as Annibal 
 Caracci amongst his brothers. Receiving liis # first instructions 
 from the eldest Campi, he entered into similar views of form¬ 
 ing a style which should include that of many other artists, and 
 in a short time he rivalled, and in the opinion of many sur¬ 
 passed his master. He had at first attached himself to the 
 goldsmiths art, by the advice of his father; but happening to 
 
438 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.—EPOCH II. 
 
 behold two tapestries, copied by Giulio Campi from Raffaello, 
 he resolved to change his profession, and devoting himself to 
 the school of Campi at Cremona, and next to that of Ippolito 
 Costa at Mantua, he began to profess the art at the age of 
 nineteen, and acquired a great proficiency in it at that early 
 age. At Mantua he cultivated an acquaintance with Giulio 
 Romano and his school, and we may infer, that from the 
 study of his works he was enabled to enlarge his views and 
 his capacity for great undertakings. But the love of Raffaello 
 was fixed in his heart, and he took delight in nothing so much 
 as his pictures, his designs, and his engravings; while in 
 Giulio and the rest he was only anxious to emulate those por¬ 
 traits which appeared to him to bear some resemblance to his 
 Raffaello. There too he applied himself to the study of 
 Titian’s series of the Caesars, eleven in number; and after 
 having copied them he added a twelfth in a style so perfectly 
 consistent, as to exhibit no traces of imitation. By the 
 liberality of one of his patrons he was enabled also to visit 
 Parma, Modena, and Reggio, in order to become acquainted 
 with the manner of Correggio; and the advantage he thence 
 derived, his pictures at S. Gismondo sufficiently display. 
 From these first principles, with such as he studied in his 
 native place, he derived one of the most original styles that is 
 to be met with in the list of imitators. His imitation is never, 
 like that of so many others, apparent to the eye, but rather 
 resembles our poet Sannazzaro’s, of the best Roman writers, 
 who colours with them every line, but that line is still his 
 own. In so great a variety of models, the most beloved and 
 the most honoured, as Virgil was by Sannazzaro, was Raffaello 
 by Bernardino ; but it was unfortunate for him that he did not 
 see Rome, and the originals which that great pictoric genius 
 there produced. The want of this he supplied with ability, 
 and formed for himself several maxims drawn from nature and 
 simplicity, which serve to distinguish him from the rest of his 
 school. By the side of the other Campi he perhaps appears 
 the most timid artist, but the most correct; he has not the 
 magnificence of Giulio, but he has more ideal beauty, and 
 much more captivates the heart. He resembles Antonie 
 rather than Giulio in the length of his proportions; but not so 
 in other points, for he occasionally borders upon dryness, as 
 
BERNARDINO CAMPI. 
 
 439 
 
 in his Assumption at the cathedral, in order to avoid falling 
 into mannerism. 
 
 But it is the church of S. Sigismondo which inspires us 
 with the loftiest ideas of this artist, in every view. We can 
 imagine nothing more simply beautiful, and more consistent 
 with the genius of the best age, than his picture of S. Cecilia, 
 in the act of playing on the organ, while St. Catherine is seen 
 standing near her, and above them a group of angels, apparently 
 engaged with their musical instruments and with their voices, 
 in pouring forth in concert with the two innocent virgins, 
 strains worthy of Paradise. This painting, with its surround¬ 
 ing decoration of cherub figures, displays his mastery in grace. 
 Still he appears to no less advantage in point of strength in his 
 figures of the Prophets, grandly designed, for the same place ; 
 although he seems more anxious to invest them with dignity 
 of feature and of action, than to give strength and muscle to 
 their proportions. Above all he shone with most advantage 
 in the grand cupola, with which few in Italy will bear a com¬ 
 parison, and still fewer can be preferred for the abundance, 
 variety, distribution, grandeur, aud gradation of the figures, 
 and for the harmony and grand effect of the whole. In this 
 empyrean, this vast concourse of the blessed, belonging to the 
 Old and New Testament, there is no figure that may not be 
 recognised by its symbols, and that is not seen in perfection 
 from its own point of view, whence all appear of the natural 
 proportion, although they are on a scale of seven braccia in 
 height. Such a work is one of those rare monuments which 
 serve to prove, that it is possible for a great genius to execute 
 rapidly and well; it was wholly conducted by him in seven 
 months ; and to satisfy the workmen, who were more sensible 
 of the brevity of the time than the merit of the work, he 
 obtained a written acknowledgment from Soiaro and Giulio 
 Campi, that he had achieved a laudable task. Bernardino 
 was younger than either of them, or than Boccaccino, and the 
 citizens took pleasure in placing him in competition with one 
 or the other of them in their public works, in order that a 
 noble emulation might call forth all their powers, nor suffer 
 them to slumber. Nevertheless, the Nativity of our Lord, at 
 S. Domenico, has been pronounced his master-piece ; a kind 
 of abstract, in which he aimed at comprehending the various 
 
440 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH II. 
 
 excellences of the art. This, at least, is the opinion of Lamo, 
 who composed a diffuse Life of this artist; such as to render 
 his information far the most copious we possess upon the 
 subject. He also compiled a correct catalogue of his works, 
 executed both in his native place and at Milan, where he 
 passed a great part of his time, and of those he painted in 
 foreign parts. We find a great number of portraits of princes, 
 as well as of private persons, enumerated ; his skill in this 
 branch of the art, in which very few equalled him, greatly 
 adding to his fame and fortune. The precise period of his 
 decease is not known, though it must have been somewhere 
 towards 1590, at which time the art assumed quite a new 
 aspect at Cremona. 
 

 441 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 Decline of the School of the Campi. Trotti and other Artists support it. 
 
 From the brief description already given, it will easily be 
 perceived bow far the Campi school was a sort of sketch of 
 that of the Caracci; and what were the causes which con¬ 
 tributed to the superiority of the latter, although they had 
 both the same original outline. The Caracci were all excel¬ 
 lent designers, and invariably aimed at appearing such ; they 
 were likewise united by affection, no less than by their place 
 of residence, and were continually engaged in assisting each 
 other. Finally, they supported an academy, much frequented, 
 the object of which was, not so much to study the various 
 manners of different artists, as to examine the different effects 
 produced by nature, so as to render their works her real 
 offspring, as it were, and not her more distant relations. The 
 Campi, on the other hand, did not so uniformly aspire to the 
 same excellence, nor did they reside, and unite together in 
 forming so methodical and well-established an academy ; each 
 maintaining a separate school and residence, and teaching, if 
 I mistake not, rather how their pupils should imitate them, 
 than how they should paint. Hence it arose, that while 
 Domenichino, Guido, Guercino, and others of the Caracci 
 school, distinguished themselves by their novelty and origin¬ 
 ality of manner, the scholars of the Campi were confined to 
 the sphere of imitating, as nearly as lay in their power, the 
 painters of their own city, either severally or in a select 
 number. And thus, as man is everywhere the same, it here 
 ensued, as in the rest of the Italian schools, that having 
 acquired a tolerable degree of skill in imitating their predeces¬ 
 sors, artists began to slacken their industry. The first had 
 
442 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 accustomed themselves to copy only from the life ; they drew 
 cartoons, they modelled in wax, and carefully arranged all the 
 divisions of their folds, with every accessary ; but the second 
 contented themselves with making a few sketches, and some 
 heads taken from nature, executing the rest of their work in 
 a mere mechanical manner, and as they judged to be most 
 convenient. Thus by degrees this great school degenerated, 
 and it happened also about the same period, when the disciples 
 of Procaccini observed the same method at Milan. From 
 this cause, during the seventeeth century, Lombardy was filled 
 with the sectarists of the art, among whom the followeis of 
 Zuccheri themselves would have appeared in the rank of 
 masters. A few there were who struggled to free themselves 
 from the herd of imitators; and Caravaggio afforded them an 
 opportunity. Born in the vicinity of Cremona, he was partly 
 considered their compatriot, and the more willingly followed 
 by the Cremonese ; more particularly as it became popular to 
 cry down the style of the last masters as feeble, and to demand 
 one of a more vigorous character. The attempt succeeded 
 admirably in a few; while others, on the contrary, as it 
 occurred in Venice, at Cremona also became only coarse and 
 sombre. I have not been very anxious to cultivate an acquaint¬ 
 ance with the artists of this period ; though I shall take care 
 to make mention of such as succeeded in raising themselves 
 above the crowd. 
 
 Each of the Campi, therefore, claims his own disciples, 
 though they have not always been distinguished in history, 
 being described under the general designation of pupils of the 
 Campi; as the two Mainardi, Andrea and Marc Antonio, by 
 Orlandi. The two pupils of Giulio, best entitled to commen¬ 
 dation, namely, Gambara of Brescia, and Viani of Cremona, 
 having flourished in other schools, have been recorded by us, 
 the first among the Venetians, and the second among the 
 Mantuan artists. 
 
 Antonio Campi has left us an account of three of his own 
 disciples; Ippolito Storto, Gio. Batista Belliboni, and Gio. 
 Paolo Fondulo, who passed into Sicily. All of them remained 
 in obscurity, however, in Lombardy, and are omitted in the 
 Painters’ Dictionaries. Towards the close of his life, he 
 instructed one Galeazzo Ghidone, an artist of weak health, 
 
LUCA CATTAPANE. 
 
 443 
 
 who employed himself only at intervals, but with success ; as 
 we may judge from his picture of the Preaching of St. John 
 the Baptist, at S. Mattia, in Cremona, which has been highly 
 commended by good connoisseurs. Another is Antonio Be- 
 duschi, who, in his twenty-sixth year, produced a Pietk for 
 S. Sepolcro, in Piacenza, and a still superior painting of the 
 Martyrdom of S. Stefano ; he is referred to the school of the 
 Campi, and strongly partakes of the style of Antonio ; I 
 esteem him one of his imitators, if not in the list of his pupils. 
 He was unknown to the historian Zaist, and is indebted for 
 commemoration to the Sig. Proposto Carasi. 
 
 Luca Cattapane was initiated in the art by Yincenzio, and 
 devoted much time to copying the works of the Campi family. 
 He succeeded in this by exhibiting a rare boldness of hand, so 
 as to give his pieces the air of originals, and they continue to 
 impose upon the most experienced, even to the present day. 
 He likewise counterfeited the style of Gambara in a Pietii 
 of his, at the church of S. Pietro, in Cremona; and in order 
 to enlarge the picture, he added three figures in a taste agree¬ 
 able to the former. For the rest, being misled by his ambi¬ 
 tion to form a new style, or to approach nearer Caravaggio, he 
 became even more sombre than the Campi, with still less taste. 
 Many of his altar-pieces yet remain. In S. Donato, at Cre¬ 
 mona, he represented the Beheading of St. John; one of his 
 most successful works, in which the effect is superior either 
 to the design or to the expression. To these we may add a 
 number of his fresco paintings, though inferior to those exe¬ 
 cuted in oil. 
 
 Bernardino, however, was the favourite master, and the 
 most frequented of any belonging to the school. His succes¬ 
 sors have continued to flourish longer, and even reached the 
 confines of the present age. I first propose to enumerate a 
 few of his most distinguished scholars, who either did not 
 teach, or taught the art only to a few; and I shall afterwards 
 treat of Malosso and his school, which, about the year 1630, 
 held the chief sway in Cremona, and became one of the most 
 celebrated throughout Lombardy. 
 
 Coriolano Malagavazzo, who is erroneously called Girolamo 
 Malaguazzo, in the Painters’ Dictionary, assisted in the 
 labours of his master, insomuch as to render it uncertain 
 
444 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 whether Cremona possesses any painting designed and executed 
 by himself; for it is supposed that he drew his fine altar-piece 
 in S. Silvestro, representing the Virgin with S. S. Francesco 
 and Ignazio, the martyr, from one of Bernardino’s designs. 
 Nothing, likewise, that has not been questioned, remains of 
 Cristoforo Magnani da Pizzighettone, a young artist of great 
 promise, as we are informed by Antonio Campi, who laments 
 the shortness of his career. Lamo, too, complains of his loss, 
 when he mentions him and Trotti as the two greatest geniuses 
 of the school. His chief talent lay in portraits ; though he was 
 also well skilled in compositions. I have seen one of his pro¬ 
 ductions, consisting of Saints Giacomo and Giovanni, at S. 
 Francesco, in Piacenza, an early effort, but very well conceived 
 andexecuted. Andrea Mainarcb called Chiaveghino, employed 
 himself both singly and with Marcantonio, his nephew, in 
 painting for the city, and more especially for its environs. By 
 Baldinucci, he is pronounced a weak painter ; and such indeed 
 he appears whenever he worked in haste, and for a small 
 sum. But several of his altar-pieces, laboured with more care, 
 tend to redeem his character ; there he shews himself a suc¬ 
 cessful disciple of Bernardino, both in his minute style, as in 
 his Marriage of S. Anne, at the Eremites, and in his loftier 
 manner, as in his large picture of the Divin Sangue, or divine 
 blood. He exhibits that prophetic idea, torcular calcavi solus , 
 and the Redeemer is seen standing upright under a wine-press, 
 and, crushed by the Divine Justice, emitting from his holy body, 
 through the open wounds, whole streams of blood, which are 
 received into sacred vessels by S. Agostino, and three other 
 doctors of the church ; and are afterwards shed for the bene¬ 
 fit of an immense crowd of the Faithful, who are seen gathered 
 round. The same subject I saw in one of the churches of 
 Recanati, and in some others, but no where so appropriately 
 expressed. It is a picture that would reflect credit on any 
 school; exhibiting fine forms, rich draperies, warm and lively 
 colouring. In the distribution of his small and frequent 
 lights he might, indeed, have been more happy, as well as in 
 the grouping of his figures ; a fault, however, common to 
 many of his school. 
 
 The best, however, of these disciples of Bernardino, with 
 a number of others whom I omit, were all surpassed by a fair 
 
SOFONISBA ANGUSSOLA. 
 
 445 
 
 votary of the art named Sofonisba Angussola, sprung from a 
 noble family at Cremona. Along with her younger sister, 
 Elena, who afterwards took the veil, she received his instruc¬ 
 tions at her father’s request, in his own house. Upon his 
 going to Milan, Soiaro was selected to supply the place of 
 Bernardino, and Sofonisba soon attained to such a degree of 
 excellence, more particularly in portraits, as to be esteemed 
 one of the most finished painters of her age. She at first 
 superintended the pictorial education of her four younger 
 sisters, whose names were Lucia and Minerva, who died 
 young ; Europa and Anna Maria, of whom the former mar¬ 
 ried, and died in the flower of her age; and of the second, 
 likewise married, there remains no further account. Vasari 
 bestows the highest commendations upon Sofonisba, and upon 
 the other sisters, with whom he was acquainted at Cremona, 
 when they were young. At that period Sofonisba had already 
 been invited as court painter, by Philip II. into Spain, where, 
 besides the portraits she took of the royal family and of Pope 
 Pius IV., she painted several other princes and lords of rank, 
 all ambitious of the same honour, insomuch that we might 
 apply to her the words of Pliny : “ Ulos nobilitans quos esset 
 dignata posteris tradere.” Entering afterwards into matrimony 
 wdth one Moncada, she resided with him some years at 
 Palermo, and after his death again married a gentleman of the 
 name of Lomellino. She died at Genoa, at a very advanced 
 age, infirm and blind : though she continued to converse and 
 give her advice upon the art until her last moments ; insomuch 
 that Vandyck was heard to say, that he had acquired more 
 knowledge from her, than from any one else he knew. Her 
 portraits are greatly esteemed in Italy; and in particular, two 
 which she took of herself; one of which is in the ducal gal¬ 
 lery at Florence, and the other in possession of the Lomellini 
 family at Genoa. 
 
 I next approach that celebrated pupil of Bernardino, whom 
 I promised to mention at the close of the chapter ; and this is 
 the Cavalier Gio. Batista Trotti, who published his master’s 
 Life, during his lifetime, written by Lamo. None of Campi’ 
 pupils was so much attached to him as this artist, who mar¬ 
 ried his niece, and was left heir to his valuable studio. On 
 his competing at Parma with Agostino Caracci, and being 
 
446 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.—EPOCH III. 
 
 more applauded at court, it was said by Agostino, with plea¬ 
 santry, that they had given him a hard bone to gnaw. Hence 
 he acquired the surname of Malosso, which he adopted, and 
 sometimes made use of in signing his name, besides transmit¬ 
 ting it, as an hereditary appellation, to his nephew. Thus 
 he converted into a source of applause, the satiric trait 
 launched against him by Caracci, meant to convey, that the 
 people of Parma had preferred to him an artist of inferior 
 worth. Nor indeed was Malosso his equal either in design or 
 in solid judgment; though he could boast pictoric attractions 
 which made him appear to advantage when opposed to other 
 artists. He displayed little of Bernardino’s taste, except in 
 a few of his first efforts ; he afterwards studied Correggio, 
 and, most of all, aimed at resembling Soiaro, whose gay, open, 
 and brilliant style, varied shortenings, and spirited attitudes, 
 he exhibited in the chief part of his works. But he carried 
 it too far, making an extravagant display of his white and 
 other clear colours, without sufficiently tempering them with 
 shade, insomuch that I have heard his paintings compared to 
 those on porcelain ; while he has been accused of want of 
 relief, or according to Baldinucci, of some degree of harshness. 
 His heads are, however, extremely beautiful, smiling with 
 loveliness, and of a graceful roundness, not unlike Soiaro’s; 
 though he is too apt to repeat them on the same canvas, nearly 
 alike in features, colours, and attitude. Here his rapidity of 
 hand alone was in fault, as he was in no want of fertility of 
 ideas. When he pleased he could give variety to his linea¬ 
 ments, as we gather from his Beheading of St. John, at 
 S. Domenico, in Cremona, as well as to his compositions ; 
 having represented at S. Francesco and at S. Agostino, in 
 Piacenza, and if I mistake not, elsewhere, a picture of the 
 Conception of the Virgin, in every instance abounding with 
 fresh ideas. Nor do we often meet with any of his paintings 
 throughout the numerous cities in which he was employed, 
 that have much resemblance in point of invention. He was 
 equally varied in his imitations when he pleased, as appears 
 from his Crucifixion, surrounded by saints, in the cathedral of 
 Cremona, executed in the best Venetian taste ; while his S. 
 Maria Egiziaca driven from the Temple, to be seen at S. Pietro 
 in the same town, partakes as much of the Roman. There is 
 
GIO. BATISTA TROTTI. 
 
 447 
 
 also a Pieti of his at S. Abbondio, which shews that he was 
 occasionally happy in catching the Caracci manner. 
 
 His most esteemed works in fresco, for which he was ho¬ 
 noured with the title of cavaliere, were exhibited in the palace 
 called del Giardino, at Parma. His labours in the cupola of 
 S. Abbondio, before-mentioned, were on a magnificent scale, 
 though designed from Giulio Campi. But they display a 
 mastery of hand, and strength of colouring, fully equal, if not 
 superior, to the invention of the work. For Giulio, indeed, 
 did not possess the same skill in varying his groups of angels 
 as the Caracci ; inasmuch as both he and his family were accus¬ 
 tomed to arrange them like the horses we see in the ancient 
 chariots, all drawn up in a line, or in some other manner un¬ 
 usual in the best schools. The Cremonese historian endeavours, 
 in some degree, to defend Trotti from the charge of harshness, 
 casting it upon his assistants and disciples, whose altar-pieces 
 have been attributed to Malosso, by Baldinucci. This may be 
 the case with some, but there are others inscribed with the 
 name of Trotti, especially at Piacenza, which more or less 
 exhibit the same fault. Nor ought we to cast reflections upon 
 an artist of a secondary character, on account of some errors, 
 as these are precisely the cause of his exclusion from the rank 
 of the very first masters.* 
 
 Trotti educated a number of artists who flourished about the 
 year 1600, devoted to his manner, although in course of time 
 the method of preparing grounds becoming corrupted through¬ 
 out Italy, and the age attached to a more sombre style of 
 colouring, they were induced to abandon much of that clear¬ 
 ness which forms a chief characteristic of his colouring. Baldi¬ 
 nucci gives some account of Ermenegildo Lodi, as well as 
 Orlandi, who could not discern which of two paintings 
 belonged to the master, and which to the scholar. This, I 
 conjecture, arose from painting under the eye of his precepto., 
 whom he assisted in many of his labours, together with his 
 brother Manfredo Lodi. When we consult the few which he 
 executed alone, particularly at S. Pietro, they discover nothing 
 
 * Although not exempt from faults, Trotti may be fairly admitted to 
 rank with the best of the Campi, who, either from excessive composition 
 or prevailing mannerism, are obnoxious to the same censure. A. 
 
448 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH III. 
 
 to have excited the jealousy of Agostino Caracci, nor to have 
 gained for the artist the appellation of Malosso. The produc¬ 
 tions likewise of Giulio Calvi, called II Coronaro, might he 
 mistaken for the least perfect of those of Trotti, says Zaist, 
 where they are not inscribed with his name. The same may 
 be averred of two other artists, Stefano Lambri, and Cristoforo 
 Augusta, a youth of great promise, cut off in the flower of his 
 age, and both excellent disciples of the school. These, no less 
 than Coronaro, may be seen and compared with each other in 
 the church and convent of the Padri Predicatori, which possess 
 specimens of each. 
 
 Of Euclide Trotti, before-mentioned, there remains in his 
 native place no work clearly ascertained to be his, except two 
 history-pieces of St. James the Apostle, at S. Gismondo. 
 These too were sketched by Calvi, and completed by Euclide, 
 with a very able imitation of his uncle Gio. Batista s style. 
 The altar-piece of the Ascension, however, at S. Antonio, in 
 Milan, is wholly ascribed to him ; and displays much beauty, 
 and a more serious manner than is generally to be met with in 
 the works of the elder Malosso. No other painting is attri¬ 
 buted to him, nor was he capable of executing many. For 
 while yet young, he was tried and found guilty of felony against 
 the prince. Being thrown into prison, he is there supposed to 
 have died by poison, which was administered by his friends, 
 in order to avoid the disgrace of a public execution. In con¬ 
 clusion, we must not omit the name of Panfilo Nuvolone. He 
 was attached to Malosso, whom he imitated from the outset ; 
 but he afterwards followed a more solid and less attractive 
 style. One of his works, which is omitted in the account of 
 his life, is his S. Ubaldo giving his benediction to the sick, at 
 S. Agostino in Piacenza. Mention will be made of this 
 painter also in the Milanese school, where he flourished, to¬ 
 gether with his two sons, Giuseppe, and Carlo who obtained 
 the appellation of the Guido of Lombardy. 
 
449 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREM0N4. 
 
 EPOCH IV. 
 
 —♦— 
 
 Foreign Manners introduced into Cremona. 
 
 Among the descendants of Malosso the Cremonese school con¬ 
 tinued to decline ; and here, as in the instance of so many 
 others, it was compelled to resort to foreign sources, in order 
 to restore its somewhat aged and exhausted powers. Carlo 
 Picenardi, of a patrician family, was the first to lead the 
 way, an artist who had ranked among the favourite pupils 
 of Lodovico Caracci. He was very successful in burlesque 
 histories, and likewise exhibited to the public some of his 
 paintings, executed for churches, which were imitated by 
 another Carlo Picenardi, called the younger, who had formed 
 his style in Venice and at Rome. * Other artists of the city 
 attached themselves to other schools, insomuch, that before 
 the middle of the seventeenth century many new manners had 
 arisen, which assumed the place of more native styles. In the 
 train of Malosso, Zaist enumerates Pier Martire Neri, or Ne^ri, 
 a good portrait-painter and composer, though, adds the histo¬ 
 rian, he procured from a foreign source a character of more 
 boldness and strength of shadow, at the same time adducing as 
 an instance, his great picture of the Man born blind receiving 
 las sight from our Saviour, which is preserved at the hospital 
 of Cremona. He painted likewise a S. Giuseppe at the Cer- r 
 tosa, in Pavia, a work which, if I mistake not, is superior in 
 point of taste to the former, and there are others to be met 
 with in Rome, where the artist’s name is found among the 
 academicians of S. Luke. 
 
 Andrea Mainardi opened school simultaneously with Mal¬ 
 osso ; and two of his pupils, Gio. Batisto Tortiroli and Carlo 
 Natali, became particularly distinguished. Both abandoned 
 their native place, Gio. Batista going first to Rome, and thence 
 to \ enice, where he formed a style which partakes most of the 
 VOL. II. 2 G 
 
450 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 younger Palma, united to an evident imitation of Raffaello. 
 Such it appears in his picture of the Slaughter of the Innocents, 
 at S. Domenico, commendable in point of composition, and 
 extremely well coloured. This, and a few other productions, 
 are regarded however only as specimens of his powers, the 
 artist dying in his thirtieth year, leaving behind him a pupil 
 of the name of Gio. Batista Lazzaroni. This last flourished 
 at Piacenza and in Milan, was an excellent portrait-painter, and 
 much employed by the princes of Parma and other personages 
 of high rank. Carlo Natali, surnamed II Guardolino, attended 
 tne school of Mainardi, and afterwards that of Guido Rem, 
 to which he added a long residence at Rome and Genoa, 
 observing all that was most valuable, and exerting his own 
 talents in the art. It was while engaged in executing a frieze 
 in the Doria palace at Genoa, that he instructed Giulio Cesare 
 Procaccini in the principles of painting, who had previously 
 devoted himself to sculpture, and in him he presented us with 
 one of the most successful imitators of Correggio. Carlo’s 
 attachment to architecture, however, permitted him to produce 
 few specimens, which are highly esteemed in his native state, 
 in particular his Sauta Francesca Romana, painted for S. Gis 
 mondo, a piece, which if not perfect, is certainly above medi¬ 
 ocrity. 
 
 He had a son named Giambatista, whom he instructed in 
 both these arts ; though he was desirous that he should acquire 
 a more perfect knowledge of them under Pietro da Cortona at 
 Rome. There he pursued his studies, and left some specimens 
 of altar-pieces, producing works upon a still more extensive 
 scale upon his return to Cremona, where he opened school, and 
 introduced the Cortona manner, although with little success. 
 There is a large picture of his at the P. Predicatori, dis¬ 
 playing some skilful architecture, and in which the holy pa¬ 
 triarch is seen in the act of burning some heretical books ; nor 
 is it at all unworthy of a disciple of Pietro. In the archives 
 of the royal gallery at Florence I discovered, at the period I 
 was drawing up my index, some letters addressed by Gio. 
 Batista to the Card. Leopoldo de’ Medici, one of which was 
 written from Rome, dated 1674, wherein he states that he 
 was then engaged in collecting notices respecting the artists 
 of his native place. Hence we may gather tbe real origin of 
 
LUIGI MIRADORO. 
 
 451 
 
 their lives, as contained in the work of Baldinucci, for whom 
 the cardinal, who patronized him, likewise procured other 
 materials for his history from different places. Had Zaist 
 been informed of this, he would rather have directed both his 
 eulogies and his complaints to Natali, than to Baldinucci or 
 his continuator. The pupils of Natali were Carlo Tassone, 
 who became, on the model of Lovino, a painter of portraits, 
 much admired at Turin and other courts; Francescantonio 
 Caneti, afterwards a Capuchin friar, and a pretty good 
 miniature-painter in his day, and who left a fine painting in 
 the church of his own order at Como; with Francesco Boc- 
 caccino, the last of that pictoric family, who died about the 
 year 1760. Having familiarized himself at Rome, first with 
 the school of Brandi, and next with that of Maratta, he ac¬ 
 quired a manner that came into some repute in private collec¬ 
 tions, for which he employed himself more than for churches. 
 He resembles Albano, and was fond of portraying mythological 
 subjects. A few of his altar-pieces still adorn Cremona, 
 which may be esteemed good for the period at which they 
 were produced. 
 
 While the Cremonese artists left their native state in search, 
 as we have observed, of more novel methods, a foreigner took 
 up.his residence, and not only studied, but taught at Cremona. 
 This was Luigi Miradoro, commonly called II Genovesino,’ 
 from his native city of Genoa, whence, after being initiated 
 in the principles of his art, he appears to have gone, while 
 young, to Cremona, towards the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century. There he began to study the works of Panfilo Nu- 
 volone, and afterwards formed a manner partaking of the 
 Caracci, though neither so select nor studied, but bold, large, 
 correct in colouring, harmonious, and productive of fine effect. 
 This artist, equally unknown in his native place and in 
 foreign cities, as well as passed over by Orlandi and his con¬ 
 tinuator, is nevertheless held in high repute in Lombardy, and 
 particularly in Cremona, where his pictures adorn several 
 churches, among which that of his S. Gio. Damasceno, at 
 S. Clemente, has been most highly commended. The Mer¬ 
 chants College likewise at Piacenza possesses a very beautiful 
 painting of a Pieta from his hand. In all subjects he was 
 successful, and remarkably so in those of a terrific cast. In 
 
 2 g 2 
 
452 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 the Casa Borri at Milan there is a piece representing a variety 
 of punishments inflicted upon some accomplices in a conspi¬ 
 racy, a magnificent production of its kind. Others are to be 
 met with, though not very frequently, in collections belonging 
 to the above mentioned cities, on one of which I read the date 
 of 1639. 
 
 Agostino Bonisoli was pupil to Tortiroli, and subsequently, 
 for the space of a year, to Miradoro, though he was more in¬ 
 debted to his own genius than to any master, with the aid of 
 studying excellent models, more especially that of Paul Ve¬ 
 ronese. From him he borrowed his grace and spirit, his 
 design from other artists. He painted little for churches, and 
 Cremona possesses scarcely any other specimen than the Dia¬ 
 logue of S. Antonio with the tyrant Ezzelino, which is pre¬ 
 served at the church of the Conventuali. His portraits and 
 history-pieces are to be met with in private houses, for the 
 most part taken from sacred records, and intended for the de¬ 
 coration of rooms. Many of these passed into Germany and 
 other foreign parts ; for, having been in the service of Gio. 
 Francesco Gonzaga, prince of Bozolo, in which he remained 
 twenty-eight years, liis paintings were frequently presented 
 as gifts, or requested by foreigners of rank. As long as 
 he continued in his native state he maintained an academy 
 for tins study of naked figures, in which he gave instructions 
 to youth. 
 
 Two other artists flourished after him in Cremona, of whom 
 their biographer observes that they must have drunk at the 
 same fountain, from the great resemblance of their paintings, 
 at least during a certain period, though they differed greatly 
 in point of colouring. One is Angelo Massarotti, a native of 
 Cremona, the other Roberto la Longe, born at Brussels, 
 ranked among those artists who have been denominated Fiam- 
 minghi, or Flemish, in Italy, an appellation which has given 
 rise to frequent mistakes in history. Angelo was undoubtedly 
 pupil to Bonisoli, and though he studied many years with 
 Cesi at Rome, where he painted at S. Salvatore in Lauro, he 
 exhibits very little of the Roman, except a more regular kind 
 of composition than belongs to the Cremonese style. For the 
 rest he was fonder of introducing portraits than ideal forms 
 into his canvas, nor was he sufficiently careful to shun the 
 
ROBERTO LA LONGE. 
 
 453 
 
 faults of the naturalists j owing to which, more particularly 
 in his draperies, he sometimes became heavy. He boasts 
 moreover a more rich and oily colouring than was then preva¬ 
 lent at Rome, which gives, his pictures an appearance of ful¬ 
 ness and roundness, while it adds to their preservation. Per¬ 
 haps his master-piece is to be seen at S. Agostino, a vast 
 production, in which the saint is represented giving rules to 
 various religious orders, which form a body militant under his 
 banners, and in such a crowd of figures, the ideas, the atti¬ 
 tudes, and the draperies are all well varied. 
 
 Most probably Roberto la Longe frequented the academy of 
 Bonisoli, and occasionally^ as we have observed, conformed to 
 the manner of Massarotti. But both there and at Piacenza, 
 where he long resided and closed his days, he painted in a 
 variety of styles, yet always soft, clear, and harmonious, much 
 as if he had never ventured beyond the confines of Flanders. 
 At times he emulates Guido, as in some histories of S. Teresa, 
 painted for S. Sigismondo at Cremona; and in some histories 
 of S. Antonio Martire, at Piacenza, he approaches Guercino, 
 while at others he displays a mixture of strength, delicacy, 
 and beauty, as in his picture of S. Saverio, in the cathedral at 
 Piacenza, seen in the act of dying, and supported by angels. 
 His landscapes give singular attraction to his figures, though 
 the latter might be better designed, and more gradation may 
 be desired in his landscape, as well as in other parts of his 
 works. 
 
 Both these last masters had for their pupil Gian Angiolo 
 Borroni, who being taken under the patronage of the noble 
 house of Crivelli, was retained many years at Bologna, during 
 the period the Creti rose into repute. Monti and GiangiosefFo 
 del Sole, to whose style he most attached himself, were then 
 likewise flourishing at the same place. He was particularly 
 employed in ornamenting the palaces of his patrons, who were 
 desirous of having him with them, both at Cremona and at 
 Milan, and in this last city he spent the best part of his life, 
 dying very infirm in the year 1772. There, too, he left the 
 chief portion ot his works, some of which are upon a very large 
 scale, distributed throughout its temples and palaces, besides 
 others in different cities of the Milanese, more especially in his 
 native place. In the cathedral remains his picture of S. Be- 
 
454 
 
 SCHOOL OP CREMONA.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 nedetto, in the act of offering up prayers for the city, of which 
 he is the patron, to paint which the Cav. Borroni exerted his 
 utmost degree of industry and art. Its success was sufficient 
 indeed to have placed it upon an equality with the best of its 
 age, had the draperies been folded with a degree of skill at all 
 corresponding to the rest of the work ; but in this he certainly 
 was not happy. A little subsequent to him began to flourish 
 Bottani, an artist who has been mentioned also in the Man¬ 
 tuan school; for, though a native of Cremona, he resided else¬ 
 where. Good artists continue to flourish at Cremona to this 
 day, whose merits, however, according to my plan, I leave 
 untouched to the judgment of posterity. 
 
 Professors of minor branches of painting were not wanting 
 in this school, one of whom, named Francesco Bassi, who had 
 fixed his residence at Venice, was there called II Cremonese 
 da Paesi. His powers were extremely varied and pleasing, 
 united to great polish, powerful in his shadows, warm in his 
 airs, while he often added to his pieces figures of men and 
 animals in a pretty correct taste. They enrich many collec¬ 
 tions both in Italy and elsewhere, and some, as we find from 
 the catalogue published in Venice, were included in Algarotti’s. 
 V e must be cautious to avoid mistaking this painter for 
 another Francesco Bassi, also a Cremonese, who is in that city 
 called the younger. He was a pupil of the former in the art 
 of landscape, and although much inferior to him, is not un- 
 knov n in diffeient collections. But a still higher rank in the 
 same class is occupied by Sigismondo Benini, a scholar of 
 Massarotti, the inventor of beautiful methods in his landscapes, 
 with well retiring grounds, and with all the accidents of light 
 well portrayed. His composition is polished, distinct, and 
 coloured with equal harmony and vigour, though to continue 
 agreeable he ought not to have transgressed the "limits of land¬ 
 scape ; for, by the addition of his figures, he diminished the 
 value of his works. 
 
 About the same period a family, sprung from Casalmaggiore 
 in the Ciemonese, distinguished itself in the lino of architec¬ 
 tural and ornamental painting. Giuseppe Natali, the elder, 
 impelled by his natural inclination for this art, entered upon 
 it notwithstanding the opposition of his father, which, being 
 at length overcome, he was permitted to visit Rome, and to 
 
GIUSEPPE NATALI. 
 
 455 
 
 remain some time at Bologna in order to qualify himself. He 
 flourished precisely at the period which the architectural 
 painters are fond of considering as the happiest for their art. 
 It had very recently been improved by Dentone, by Colonna, 
 by Mitelli, and boasted, from its attractive novelty, a number of 
 young geniuses, whom it inspired with the dignity of masters, 
 and with the prospect of rewards, a subject on which I shall 
 treat more particularly in the Bolognese school. He formed a 
 style at once praiseworthy for the architectural, and judiciously 
 pleasing for the ornamental parts. He gratifies the eye by 
 presenting it with those views which are the most charming, 
 and gives it repose by distributing them at just distances. In 
 his grotesques he retains much of the antique, shunning all use¬ 
 less exhibition of modern foliages, and varying the painting from 
 time to time with small landscapes, which he also executed well 
 in little oil pictures, which were in the highest request. The 
 softness and harmony of his tints extorted great commendation. 
 He did not permit his talents to remain idle, ornamenting a 
 number of halls, chambers, chapels, and churches throughout 
 Lombardy, often with a rapidity that appears almost incredible. 
 He more particularly distinguished himself at San Sigismondo, 
 and in the palace of the Marchesi Yidoni. 
 
 He had three brothers who followed in his footsteps, and all 
 of whom he had himself instructed. Francesco, the second, 
 approached nearest to Giuseppe in point of merit, and even 
 surpassed him in dignity. He was employed in works on a 
 large scale for the churches of Lombardy and Tuscany, as well 
 as for the courts of the dukes of Massa, of Modena, and of 
 Parma, in which city he closed his days. Lorenzo, the third, 
 chiefly assisted his brothers, or if he had the misfortune to exe¬ 
 cute any works alone, he was rather pitied than applauded. 
 Pietro, the fourth brother, died young and uncommemorated. 
 There were two sons, the one of Giuseppe, the other of Fran¬ 
 cesco, who were initiated by their parents in the same art. 
 The first, named Giambatista, became court-painter to the 
 elector of Cologne ; and the second, who bore the same name, 
 honourably occupied a similar rank at the court of Charles, 
 king of the two Sicilies, and in that of his son, a station in 
 which he died. Giuseppe educated a pupil of merit in Gio. 
 
456 
 
 SCHOOL OF CREMONA.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 Batista Zaist, a name to which we have frequently referred 
 Memoirs of him were collected by Sig. Panni, both his pupii 
 and ielation. To him also we are indebted for the publication 
 of the work of Zaist, by which we have been guided in this ac¬ 
 count. It is a guide, however, not to be followed by a reader 
 who is in haste, inasmuch as he is found to proceed very 
 leisurely, and is very apt to go over the same ground a-ain 
 
457 
 
 CHAPTER Y 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN. 
 
 EPOCH I 
 —♦—■ 
 
 Account of the Ancients until the time of Vinci. 
 
 If in eacli of our pictoric schools we have adhered to the plan 
 of tracing back the memorials of more barbarous ages, and 
 thence proceeding to more cultivated periods, Milan, more espe- 
 cially as the capital of Lombardy, and the court of the Lom¬ 
 bard kings, will afford us an epoch remarkable no less for its 
 lofty character than for the grandeur of its monuments. When 
 Italy passed from the dominion of the Goths to that of the 
 Longobards, the arts, which invariably follow in the train 
 of fortune, transferred their primary seat from Ravenna to 
 Milan, to Monza, and to Pavia. Each of these places still 
 retains traces of the sort of design now entitled, both on 
 account of the place and the time, Longobardic, much in the 
 same manner as in the diplomatic science we distinguish by 
 the same name certain characters peculiar to that age, or rather 
 to those ages; for after the Longobards were driven from Italy, 
 the same taste in writing and sculpture continued to flourish 
 during a great part of them. This style, as exhibited in works, 
 both of metal and of marble, is coarse and hard beyond the 
 example of any preceding age, and is seen most frequently and 
 to most advantage in the representation of monsters, birds, and 
 quadrupeds rather than of human figures. At the cathedral 
 at S. Michele, and at S. Giovanni in Pavia, appear some friezes 
 over the gates, consisting of animals chained in a variety of 
 ways to one another, sometimes in natural positions, and some¬ 
 times with the head turned behind. In the interior of the 
 same churches, as well as in some others, we meet also with 
 
458 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 capitals, presenting similar figures, not unfrequently united to 
 historical representations of men, differing so much from the 
 human figure as to appear belonging to another species. The 
 same kind of abuse of the art was practised in places under 
 the sway of the Longobard dukes, one of which was the 
 Friuli, which still preserves a number of these barbarous 
 efforts. In Cividale there is a marble altar, first begun by 
 Duke Pemmone, and completed by his son Ratchi, who lived 
 during the eighth century. The bassirilievi consist of Christ 
 seated between different angels, his Epiphany, and the Visi¬ 
 tation of the Blessed Virgin.* Art would appear scarcely 
 capable of producing any thing more rude than these figures, 
 yet whoever will be at the pains of examining the frieze on a 
 gate at the same place, or the capitals of the pillars of S. Celso 
 at Milan,t works of the tenth century, will admit that it was 
 susceptible of still greater corruption when it added absurdity 
 to its coarseness, and produced distorted and dwarfish figures, 
 all hands and all heads, with legs and feet incapable of support¬ 
 ing them. There are an infinite number of similar marbles, 
 and of like design, at Verona and other places. To these, 
 nevertheless, are opposed other monuments which will not per¬ 
 mit us to admit, as a general rule, that every trace of good 
 taste was then extinct in Italy. I might easily adduce in¬ 
 stances, drawn from different arts, and in particular from that 
 of working in gold, which, during the tenth century, boasted 
 its Volvino, who produced the very celebrated altar-piece at 
 S. Ambrogio in Milan, a work which may be pronounced 
 equal in point of style to the finest specimens of the dittici, or 
 small ivory altar-pieces, that the museums of sacred art can 
 boast. 
 
 Confining myself, however, to the subject before me, we 
 know, that Tiraboschi remarked in the palace of Monza, some 
 of the most ancient pictures belonging to those ages,! while 
 
 * The inscription is annexed to it, and may be found in Bertoli, 
 Antichita di Aquileia, num. 516. 
 
 t See the Dottore Gaetano Bugati, in his Historical and Critical 
 account of the relics and the worship of San Celso the Martyr, p. 1 ; 
 and the P. M. Allegranza, Explanations and Reflections relating to some 
 sacred monuments at Milan, p. 168. 
 
 + In the same place are still to be seen where Troso da Monza painted 
 some reliques of the art. A. 
 
THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 459 
 
 other similar reliques are pointed out at S. Michele in Pavia, 
 although placed in too elevated a situation to permit us to 
 form an exact judgment of them. Others yet more extensive 
 exist in Galliano, of which a description is given in the Opus- 
 coli of P. Allegranza, (p. 193). Upon this point I may ob¬ 
 serve, that the Treatise upon Painting already mentioned, was 
 discovered in a manuscript in the University of Cambridge to 
 have had this title :— Theophilus Monachus (elsewhere qui et 
 HugeriusJ, de omni scientia artis pingendi. Incipit Trac- 
 tatus Lumbardicus qualitcr temperantur colores , 8$c. This 
 is a convincing proof, that if painting could then boast an 
 asylum in Italy, it must have been more particularly in Lom¬ 
 bardy. And in the church of S. Ambrogio, just mentioned, 
 proofs of this are not wanting. Over the confessional is seen 
 a ceiling in terra cotta , with figures in bassorelievo, tolerably 
 designed and coloured, resembling the composition of the best 
 mosaic-workers in Kavenna and in Rome, supposed to be the 
 work of the tenth century, or thereabouts. The figures of the 
 Sleeping Saints are also seen near the gate, which must have 
 been painted about the same time, and were at one time 
 covered with lime, though they have since been brought to 
 light and very carefully preserved by the learned ecclesiastics 
 who are entrusted with the care of the temple. The portico 
 has also a figure of the Redeemer, with a holy man worship¬ 
 ping at his feet, wholly in the Greek manner ; besides a 
 Crucifixion, which, to judge from the characters, might more 
 suitably be ascribed to the thirteenth century than to the next. 
 I omit the mention of several figures of the Crucified Saviour 
 and of the Virgin, interspersed through the city and the state ; 
 contenting myself with referring to those of our Lady placed 
 at S. Satiro and at Gravedona, which are of very ancient 
 date. 
 
 From the period of these first efforts, I am of opinion that 
 the art of painting continued to flourish throughout the state 
 and city of Milan, though we are not fortunate enough to 
 retain sufficient memorials of it to compile a full historical ac¬ 
 count. For little mention has been made by our oldest writers 
 concerning the artists, except incidentally, as by Vasari in his 
 Lives of Bramante, of Vinci, and of Carpi, and by Lomazzo, 
 
460 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 in his Treatise, and in his Temple, or Theatre* of Painting. 
 As. little likewise has been said by several of the more modern 
 writers, nor that always with good authority, such as Torre, 
 Latuada, Santagostini, whose narratives were collected by 
 Orlandi,.and inserted in his Dictionary. Some supplementary 
 information has been supplied by “ Notices of the Paintings of 
 Italy as to a variety of artists, and their exact age ; and by 
 the New Guide to Milan, truly new and unique until this 
 period in Italy, and reflecting the highest credit upon the Ab. 
 Bianconi, who not only points out every thing most rare in 
 the city, but teaches us, by sound rules, how best to distin¬ 
 guish excellence from mediocrity and inferiority in the art. 
 To this we may add the name of the Consiglier de’ Pagave, 
 who published very interesting notices relating to this school’ 
 in the third, fifth, and eight volumes of the new Sienese edi¬ 
 tion of Vasari, t I am also enabled to furnish considerable 
 information in addition, politely transmitted to me in manu¬ 
 script by the last writer, for the present work. From these I 
 am happy to announce that we may become acquainted with 
 t e names of new masters, along with much chronological infor- 
 mation of a sounder kind, relating to those already known, 
 frequently derived from the “ Necrologio” of Milan, which 
 
 had been carefully preserved by one of the public functionaries 
 of that city. 
 
 By aid of these, and other materials I have to bring forward, 
 I piepare to treat of the Milanese school from as early a date 
 as 1335, when Giotto was employed in ornamenting various 
 places in the city, which, down to the time of Vasari, conti¬ 
 nued to be esteemed as most beautiful specimens of the art. 
 Not.long subsequent to Giotto, an artist named Stefano Fio- 
 rentmo was invited thither by Matteo Visconti, and is cele- 
 
 H e borrowed the idea of this work from the Theatre of Giulio 
 Gamillo, with whom he compares his own Treatise in chap. ix. Hence, 
 as in the case of some books which have two titles, I judge it best to call 
 it by this name (Theatre) also, as others have done. 
 
 t The Pagave MSS. formerly in possession of the Cav. Bossi, himself 
 a pain er, came into the hands of Sig. G. Cattanio, Director of the I. R. 
 Collection of Coins. By the light of these and the memorials left by 
 Bossi, added to the materials supplied by himself, the Lives of the 
 Lombard Artists are being prepared, and will very shortly appear. A. 
 
MICHEL DE RONCHO. 
 
 461 
 
 brated as one of the most accomplished pupils of the former. 
 But he was compelled by indisposition to abandon the work 
 he had undertaken in that city; nor do we know that at that 
 period he had any successor in the Giotto manner. About the 
 year 1370, Gio. da Milano, pupil to Taddeo Gaddi, arrived 
 there, so able an artist that his master, at his death, entrusted 
 to him the care of his son Angiolo, and another son, whom 
 he was to instruct in a knowledge of the art. It is therefore 
 evident that the Florentine early exercised an influence over the 
 Milanese School. We are informed at the same time of two 
 native artists, who, according to Lomazzo, flourished at the 
 period of Petrarch and of Giotto. These are Laodicia di 
 Pavia, called by Guarienti, piltrice, and Andrino di Edesia, 
 also said to belong to Pavia, although both his name and that 
 of Laodicia lead us to conjecture that they must have been of 
 Greek origin. To Edesia and his school have been attri¬ 
 buted some frescos which yet remain at S. Martino and other 
 places in Pavia.* I cannot speak positively of the authors ; 
 their taste is tolerably good, and the colouring partakes of 
 that of the Florentines of the age. Michel de Roncho, a Mi¬ 
 lanese, is another artist discovered by Count Tassi, at the 
 same time that he gives some account of the two Nova who 
 flourished at Bergamo. Michele is said to have assisted in 
 their labours in the cathedral of that city, from the year 1375 
 to 1377, and remnants of these paintings survive, which shew 
 that they approached nearer the composition of Giotto than 
 the artists of Pavia. There are some pictures in Domodossola 
 that also bring us acquainted with an able artist of Nova. 
 They are preserved in Castello Sylva and elsewhere, and bear 
 the following memorandum —Ego Petrus films Petri Pictoris 
 de Novaria hoc opus pinxi, 1370. Without, however, going 
 farther than Milan, we there find in the sacristy of the Con- 
 ventuali, as w r ell as in different cloisters, paintings produced 
 in the fourteenth century, without any indication of their 
 authors, and most frequently resembling the Florentine manner, 
 though occasionally displaying a new and original style, not 
 common to any other school of Italy. 
 
 Among these anonymous productions in the ancient style, 
 
 * See Notizie delle Pitture, Sculture, ed Architetture d’ Italia, by Sig. 
 Bertoli, p. 41, &c. 
 
462 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCn I. 
 
 the most remarkable is what remains in the sacristy of Le 
 Grazie, where every panel presents us with some act from the 
 Old or the New Testament. The author would appear to have 
 lived during the latter part of the fourteenth and beginning oi 
 the fifteenth centuries; nor is it easy to meet with any other 
 Italian production, conducted during that age by a single 
 artist, so abundantly supplied with figures. The style is dry, 
 but the colouring, where it has escaped the power of the sun, 
 is so warm, so well laid on, so boldly relieved from its grounds, 
 that it yields in nothing to the best Venetian or Florentine 
 pieces of the time, insomuch that whoever be the artist he is 
 fully entitled to all the praise of originality. Another Lom¬ 
 bard artist, formerly believed to be a Venetian, is better 
 known. His name has been incorrectly given by Vasari, in 
 his life of Carpaccio, and in that of Gian Bellini, as well as by 
 Orlandi and by Guarienti, in three articles inserted in the Dic¬ 
 tionary of Art. In one article, following Vasari, he is called 
 by Orlandi, Girolamo Mazzoni, or Morzoni, and in the two 
 others he is named Giacomo Marzone, and Girolamo Morzone, 
 by Guarienti, a writer more expert perhaps in adding to the 
 errors and prejudices entertained about the old painters, than 
 in correcting them. His real name is to be found upon an 
 altar-piece which is still preserved at Venice, or in its island 
 of S. Elena, a piece representing the Assumption of the Virgin, 
 with the titular saint, S. Gio. Batista, S. Benedetto, and a 
 holy Martyr, along with the following inscription —Giacomo 
 Morazone a. laurel questo lauorier. An. Dni. mccccxxxxi. 
 The excellent critic Zanetti is persuaded, from its Lombard 
 dialect, as well as from the fact of the artist having painted a 
 good deal in different cities of Lombardy, as related by Vasari, 
 that he does not belong to the Venetian, but to the Lombard 
 school, and the more so as he took his name from Morazzone, 
 a place in Lombardy. It is true, that granting this, there is 
 no great sacrifice made, inasmuch as this Giacomo, who, when 
 in Venice, was the competitor of Jacobello del Fiore, displayed 
 little merit, at least in this picture, which cannot boast even a 
 foot placed upon the ground according to the rules of perspec¬ 
 tive, nor any other merit that raises it much above the cha¬ 
 racter of the thirteenth century. 
 
 Michelino was an artist who also retained the ancient style, 
 
BRAMANTINO. 
 
 463 
 
 and continued to the last the practice of making his figures 
 large and his buildings small, a practice blamed by Lomazzo 
 even in the oldest painters. He assigns to him a rank, how¬ 
 ever, among the best of his age, on account of his designs of 
 animals of every kind, which he painted, says Lomazzo, 
 wonderfully well, and of the human figure, which he executed 
 with effect, rather in burlesque than in serious subjects; and 
 in this style was esteemed the model of his school.* He would 
 appear likewise, to have been esteemed by foreigners, as we 
 find in the Notizia Morelli, that in the house of the Vendra- 
 mini at Venice there was preserved “a small book in 4to. 
 bound in kid-skin, with figures of animals coloured” by this 
 artist. At a little interval, according to Pagave, we are to 
 place the period of Agostino di Bramantino, an artist unknown 
 to Bottari, as well as to more recent investigators of pictorial 
 history. I apprehend that an error committed by Vasari gave 
 rise to an additional one in the mind of Pagave, a very accurate 
 writer. Vasari, remarking that in a chamber of the Vatican, 
 which was subsequently painted by Eaffaello, the previous 
 labours of Pier della Francesca, of Bramantino, of Signorelli, 
 and of the Ab. di S. Clemente, were destroyed to accommodate 
 the former, supposes that the two first of the artists, thus 
 sacrificed, conducted them contemporaneously under Nicholas 
 V. about 1450 . Induced by the esteem he had for the same 
 Bramantino, he collected notices also of his other works, and 
 discovered him to be the author of the Dead Christ fore¬ 
 shortened, of the Family which deceived the horse at Milan, and 
 of several perspectives ; the whole of which account is founded 
 in error, when attributed to a Bramantino, who flourished 
 about 1450 , yet the whole is true when we suppose them to 
 have been the work of one Bramantino, pupil to Bramante, 
 who lived in the year 1529 . I cannot perceive, however, in 
 what way the Consiglier Pagave could have detected Vasari’s 
 mistake in the Milanese works ; whilst in those of the Vatican, 
 which, according to Vasari himself, all belong to the same 
 individual, he has taken occasion to repeat it. He had better 
 
 * The figures which he painted in the Cortile of the Casa Borromeo 
 partake in nothing of the burlesque. The painter’s name to them was 
 recently discovered by Sig. Cataneo; and in point of composition, they 
 place him among the most eminent disciples of Giotto. A. 
 
464 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 have asserted that the historian had erred in point of chrono¬ 
 logy, in supposing that Bramantino painted under the pontifi¬ 
 cate of Nicholas V. than have ventured on the hypothesis of 
 the existence of an ancient Bramantino, called Agostino, by 
 whom a very beautiful work was to be seen in the papal 
 palace, and no other specimen at Rome, at Milan, or elsewhere. 
 I disclaim all belief then in this old artist, until more authentic 
 proofs are brought forward of his existence; and I shall be 
 enabled to throw new light upon the subject before I conclude 
 the present epoch. 
 
 In the time of the celebrated Francesco Sforza, and of the 
 Cardinal Ascanio his brother, both desirous no less of enrich¬ 
 ing the city with fine buildings than these last with the most 
 beautiful decorations, there sprung up a number of architects 
 and statuaries, and, what is more to our purpose, of very able 
 painters for the age. Their reputation spread through Italy, 
 and induced Bramante to visit Milan, a young artist who 
 possessed the noblest genius, both for architecture and paint¬ 
 ing, and who, after acquiring a name in Milan, taught the arts 
 to Italy and to the world. The former had made little pro¬ 
 gress in point of colouring, which, though strong, was some¬ 
 what heavy and sombre, nor in regard to their drapery, which 
 is disposed in straight, hard folds, until the time of Bramante, 
 while they are also cold in their features and attitudes. They 
 had improved the art, however, in regard to perspective, no 
 less in execution than in writing on the subject; a circumstance 
 that led Lomazzo to observe, that as design was the peculiar 
 excellence of the Romans, and colouring of the Venetians, so 
 perspective seemed to be the chief boast of the Lombards. 
 It will be useful to report his own words, from his Treatise 
 upon Painting, p. 405. “ In this art of correctly viewing 
 
 objects, the great inventors were Gio. da Valle, Constantino 
 Vaprio, Foppa, Civercliio, Ambrogio and Filippo Bevilacqui, 
 and Carlo, all of them belonging to Milan. Add to these 
 Fazio Bembo da Valdarno, and Cristoforo Moretto of Cremona, 
 Pietro Francesco of Pavia, and Albertino da Lodi;* who, 
 
 * Note that Lomazzo would not have passed over the name of Agostino 
 di Bramantino, were it true that he had flourished as early as 1420, and 
 employed himself at Rome, an honour to which the rest of these Milanese 
 did not attain. 
 
VICENZIO FOPPA. 
 
 465 
 
 besides the works they produced at other places, painted for 
 the Corte Maggiore at Milan, those figures of the armed 
 barons, in the time of Francesco Sforza, first duke of Milan 
 that is to say, between the period of 1447 and 1466. 
 
 In treating of these artists, I shall observe nothing further 
 in reference to the last four, having described those of 
 Cremona in their own place, and not being aware that any 
 thing more than the name of the other two survives at Milan ; 
 
 I say at Milan, because Pier Francesco of Pavia, whose sur¬ 
 name was Sacchi, left, as we shall find, some fine specimens at 
 Genoa, where he resided during some time. It is doubtful 
 whether any altar-piece remains by the first of these (Gio. 
 della Valle), it being impossible to ascertain the fact. Nor do 
 I know of any genuine work belonging to Costantino Vaprio, 
 though there is a Madonna painted by another Vaprio, sur¬ 
 rounded by saints in different compartments, at the Serviti, in 
 Pavia, with this inscription :—Augustinus tie Vaprio pinxit, 
 1498 : a production of some merit. 
 
 Vicenzio Foppa, said by Ridolfi to have flourished about 
 the year 1407, is esteemed almost the founder of the Milanese 
 school, in which he distinguished himself during the sovereignty 
 of Filippo Visconti, and that of Francesco Sforza. I alluded 
 to his name in the Venetian school, to which he is referable, 
 from his being of Brescia, whatever Lomazzo may on the other 
 hand contend. It is my wish to avoid all questions of 
 nationality, and the compendious method of my work will be 
 a sufficient apology in this respect, more particularly as far as 
 relates to the names of less celebrated artists. But with the 
 head of a school, such as Foppa, I cannot consider it a loss of 
 time to investigate his real country, in particular as the eluci¬ 
 dation of many confused and doubtful points in the history of 
 the art is found to depend upon this. In Vasari’s Life of Scar- i 
 paccia we find it mentioned, that about the middle of the cen¬ 
 tury “ Vincenzio, a Brescian painter, was held in high repute, 
 as it is recounted by Filarete.” And in the Life of this excel¬ 
 lent architect, as well as in that of Michelozzo, he says, that 
 in some of their buildings, erected under Duke Francesco, 
 Vicenzo di Zoppa (read Foppa), a Lombard artist, painted the 
 interior, “as no better master was to be met with in the sur¬ 
 rounding states.” Now that there was a Vincenzo, a Brescian 
 
 VOL. II. 2 H 
 
46G 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.—EPOCn I. 
 
 artist, who then and subsequently flourished, and who ranked 
 among the best artists, is proved by Ambrogio Calepino, in his 
 ancient edition of 1505, at the word pingo. There, after 
 having applauded Mantegna beyond all other artists of his age, 
 he adds :—“ Iduic aceedunt Jo. Bellinus Yenetus, Leonardus 
 Florentinus, et Vincentius Brixianus, excellentissimo ingenio 
 homines, ut qui cum omni antiquitate de pictura possint con¬ 
 tendere.” After so high a testimony to his merits, written, if 
 I mistake not, while Foppa was still living, though edited after 
 his decease (as we noticed from the eulogy written by Bos- 
 chini on Ridolfi, in its proper place), let us next attend to 
 that found on his monument in the first cloister of S. Barnaba 
 at Brescia, which runs as follows :—“ Excellentiss. ac. eximii. 
 pictoris. Yincentii. de. Foppis. ci. Br. 1492.” (Zamb. p. 32.) 
 To these testimonials I may add that from the hand of the 
 author, which I discovered in the Carrara Gallery at Bergamo, 
 where, on a small ancient picture, conducted with much care, 
 and a singular study of foreshortening, extremely rare for the 
 period, representing Christ crucified between the two Thieves, 
 is written :—Vincentius Brixiensis fecit , 1455. What proof 
 more manifest can be required for the identity of one and the 
 same painter, recorded by various authors with so much con 
 tradiction with regard to name, country, and age ? 
 
 It must therefore be admitted, after a comparison of the pas¬ 
 sages adduced, that there is only a single Brescian artist in 
 question, that he is not to be referred to so remote a period as 
 reported, and that he could not hove painted in the year 1407 
 of the vulgar era, inasmuch as he very nearly reaches the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century. We may for the same 
 reasons dismiss from history those specious accounts inter¬ 
 spersed by Lomazwj, asserting that Foppa drew the proportions 
 of his figures from Lysippus; that Bramanto acquired the art 
 of perspective from his writings, out of which he composed a 
 treatise of essential utility to Raffaello, to Polidoro, and to 
 Gaudenzio ; and that Albert Durer and Daniel Barbaro availed 
 themselves, by plagiarism, of Foppa’s inventions. Such as¬ 
 sertions, already in a great measure refuted by the learned 
 Consiglier Pagave in his notes to Vasari,* first took their rise 
 
 * Vasari, vol. iii. p. 233. 
 
VINCENZO CIVERCIIIO. 
 
 467 
 
 in supposing that the age of Foppa was anterior to Piero della 
 Francesca, from whom perspective in Italy may truly be said 
 to have dated its improvement. Next to him Foppa was one 
 of the first who cultivated the same art, as clearly appears 
 from the little picture already mentioned at Bergamo. In 
 Milan there are some of his works remaining at the hospital, 
 executed upon canvas, and a Martyrdom of S. Sebastiano, at 
 Brera, in fresco, which, for design of the naked figure, for the 
 natural air of the heads, for its draperies and for its tints, is 
 very commendable, though greatly inferior in point of attitude 
 and expression. I have frequently doubted whether there 
 were two Yincenzi of Brescia, since Lomazzo, besides Yincenzio 
 Foppa, whom, against the received opinion, he makes a native 
 of Milan, marks down in his index a Vincenzio Bresciano, of 
 whom I am not aware that he makes the slightest mention 
 throughout the whole of his work. I am led to suspect that, 
 meeting with some works bearing the signature of Vincenzio 
 Bresciano , without the surname of Foppa, beyond the limits 
 of Milan, the historian, fixed in his persuasion that Foppa 
 must be a native of Milan, set down two artists of the name 
 instead of a single one, and that this, moreover, was perhaps 
 an old prejudice, prevailing in the Milanese school, and which 
 Lomazzo was unable to dismiss. National errors and preju¬ 
 dices are always the last to be renounced. In the Notizia 
 Morelli, a Yincenzo Bressano the elder is twice mentioned, an 
 adjunct, which, if not a surname, as it was in the instance of 
 Minzocchi, may have arisen from some false report connected 
 with the two Vincenzi Bresciani. Indeed we have repeatedly 
 observed that the names of artists have been very frequently 
 drawn, not from authentic writings, but from common report, 
 which generally presents us with a worse account of what has 
 been ill heard or understood. 
 
 Yincenzo Civerchio, denominated by Yasari Yerchio, to 
 which Lomazzo, who asserts him to have been a Milanese, 
 added the surname of II Yecehio, is an artist whom we have 
 recorded in the Venetian school, to which he is referred as a 
 native of Crema, though he resided at Milan, and educated 
 several excellent pupils for that school, and with the excep¬ 
 tion of Yinci is the best entitled of any master to its gratitude. 
 Yasari, when he praises his works in fresco, considers him in 
 
 2 u 2 
 
468 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-Ei'OCH I. 
 
 no way inferior to Foppa. In liis figures he was extremely 
 studied, and admirable in his method of grouping them in the 
 distance, so as to throw the low grounds back, and bring down 
 the higher parts with a gentle gradation. Of this he affords 
 a model at S. Eustorgio in some histories of S. Peter Martyr, 
 painted for a chapel of that name, which are highly com¬ 
 mended by Lomazzo, though they have since been covered 
 with plaster, there remaining only from the hand of Civer- 
 cliio the summits of the cupola, which we trust will enjoy a 
 longer date.'* Ambrogio Bevilacqua is an artist known by a 
 production at S. Stefano, representing S. Ambrogio with saints 
 Gervasio and Protasio standing at his side. Other paintings 
 procured for him the reputation of a fine drawer of perspec¬ 
 tive, though in the specimen here mentioned he has undoubt¬ 
 edly not adhered to its rules. The design, however, is such 
 as approaches, with some slight traces of dryness, to a good 
 style. Memorials of this artist are found as early as 1486; 
 but of his brother Filippo, his assistant, and of Carlo, a native 
 of Milan, mentioned by Lomazzo in the same work, I am able 
 to find no account. There are two, however, who are referred 
 by our already highly commended correspondent to this more 
 remote epoch. These are Gio. de’ Ponzoni, who left a picture 
 of S. Cristoforo in a church near the city, called Samaritana, 
 and a Francesco Crivelli, who is reported to have been the 
 first who painted portraits in the city of Milan. 
 
 Of those who here follow, a part formed the body of painters 
 under the government of Lodovico the Moor, during whose 
 time Vinci resided at Milan, and others were gradually 
 making progress during the following years, though not any 
 wholly succeeded in freeing themselves from the old style. 
 The first on the list are the two Bernardi, as frequently also 
 called Bernardini, natives of Trevilio, in the Milanese, the one 
 of the family Butinoni, the other of that of Zenale, both pupils 
 of Civerchio, and his rivals both in painting and in writing. 
 
 * The epochs relating to this artist appear difficult, and almost irre¬ 
 concilable. From Lomazzo’s account he was a painter as early as 1460, 
 and according to Ronna, in his “ Zibaldone Cremasco,” for the year 1795, 
 p. 84, there are existing documents which prove that he was still living in 
 1535. If we give credit to these, Civerchio must have flourished to an 
 extreme age, so as to he ranked in this point with Titian, with Calvi, and 
 the other hoary-headed octogenarians of the art. 
 
TIIE BERN AUDI. 
 
 469 
 
 Trevilio is a territory in the Milanese, at that period included 
 in that of Bergamo, and for this reason comprehended by 
 Count Tassi in its school. It is also a considerable distance 
 from Trevigni, where he took advantage of the resem¬ 
 blance of the name to announce one Bernardino da Trevigi, 
 a painter and architect, who never existed. Yasari mentions 
 a Bernardino da Trevio (he meant to say Trevilio), who, in 
 the time of Bramante, was an engineer at Milan, “a very 
 able designer, and esteemed an excellent master by Yinci, 
 though his manner was somewhat harsh and dry in his pic¬ 
 tures and he then cites among his other works a picture of 
 the Resurrection at the cloister of the Grazie, which presents 
 some beautiful foreshortenings. It is surprising how Bottari 
 should have changed Trevio into Trevigi, and how Orlandi 
 should have understood Yasari as writing of Butinone, when, 
 guided by Lomazzo, at page 271, and in other parts of the 
 treatise, it was easy to conjecture that he was there speaking 
 of Zenale of Trevilio. He was a distinguished character, in 
 the confidence of Yinci,* and in the treatise upon painting 
 compared with Mantegna, besides being continually referred 
 to as an example in the art of perspective, on which, when old, 
 in 1524, he composed a work, and put down a variety of ob¬ 
 servations. There, too, among others, he treated the question 
 so long contested in those days, whether the objects represented 
 small and in the distance ought to be less distinct, in order to 
 imitate nature, than those that are larger and more near, a 
 question which he explained in the negative, contending rather 
 that distant objects should be as highly finished and well pro¬ 
 portioned as those more fully before the eye. This, then, is the 
 Bernardino, so much commended by Yasari, whose opinion of 
 this artist may be verified by viewing the Resurrection at Le 
 Grazie, and aNunziata at San Sempliciano, presenting a very 
 fine piece of architecture, calculated to deceive the eye. This, 
 
 * Lomazzo, in his treatise (book i. chap. ix.), relates that Vinci in his 
 Supper had endued the countenance of both the saints Giacomo with so 
 much beauty, that, despairing to make that of the Saviour more imposing, 
 he went to advise with Bernardo Zenale, who to console him said, “ Leave 
 the face of Christ unfinished as it is, as you will never be able to make it 
 worthy of Christ among those Apostles,” and this Lionardo did. 
 
470 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 however, is the best portion of the painting, as the figures are 
 insignificant, both in themselves and in the drapery. In 
 respect to Butinone, his contemporary, and companion also 
 when he painted at San Pietro in Gessato, we may conclude 
 that he displayed an excellent knowledge of perspective, since 
 it is affirmed by Lomazzo. For the rest, his works, with the 
 exception of a few pictures for rooms, better designed than 
 coloured, have all perished. There is a Madonna represented 
 between some saints, which I saw in possession of the Con- 
 siglier Pagave, at whose suggestion I add to the pupils of 
 Civerchio a Bartolommeo di Cassino of Milan, and Luigi de’ 
 Donati of Como, of whom authentic altar-pieces remain. 
 
 At the period when these artists were in repute, Bramante 
 came to Milan. His real name, as reported to us by Cesa- 
 riani, his disciple and the commentator on Vitruvius, was 
 Donato, and he was, as is supposed, of the family of Lazzari, 
 though this has been strongly contested in the Antichita 
 Picene, vol. x. There it is shewn, at some length, that his 
 real country w r as not Castel Durante, nowUrbania, as so 
 many writers assert, but a town of Castel Fermignano. Both 
 places are in the state of Urbino, whence he used formerly to 
 be called Bramante di Urbino. There he studied the works 
 of Fra Carnevale, though Vasari gives no further information 
 respecting his education. He continues to relate that on 
 leaving his native place he wandered through several cities in 
 Lombardy, executing, to the best of his ability, small works, 
 until his arrival at Milan, where, becoming acquainted with the 
 conductors of the cathedral, and among these with Bernardo, 
 he resolved to devote himself wholly to architecture, which 
 he did. Before the year 1500 he went to Rome, where he 
 entered the service of Alexander VI. and Julius II., and died 
 there in his seventieth year, in 1514. AVe may here conjecture 
 that the historian gave himself very little anxiety about inves¬ 
 tigating the memoirs of this great man. Sig. Pagave has proved 
 to be a far more accurate inquirer into the truth. Animated 
 by his love of this quality, the soul of all history, he at once 
 renounced the honour his country would have derived from 
 having instructed a Bramante ; nor yet as he referred him as 
 a pupil to Carnevale, or to Pierro della Francesca, or to Man- 
 
BRAMANTE. 
 
 4?1 
 
 tegna, like some writers cited by Signor Colucci. He lias 
 properly noticed his arrival at Milan, already as a master, in 
 1476, after having erected both palaces and temples in the 
 state of Romagna. From this period, until the fall of Lodo- 
 vico, that is until 1499, he remained at Milan, where he exe¬ 
 cuted commissions, with large salaries, for the court, and was 
 employed as well by private persons in works of architecture, 
 and sometimes of painting. 
 
 Cellini in his second treatise denies Bramante the fame of 
 an excellent painter, placing him in the middling class, 
 and at this period he is known by few in Lower Italy, 
 where he is never named in collections, though he is very 
 generally met with in the Milanese. Cesariano and Lomazzo 
 had already asserted the same thing, the latter having fre¬ 
 quently praised him in his work Avhen giving an account 
 of his pictures both sacred and profane, in distemper aud 
 in fresco, as well as of his portraits. His general manner, he 
 observes, much resembles that of Andrea Mantegna. Like 
 him he had employed himself in copying from casts, which 
 led him to throw his lights with too much force on his fleshes. 
 In the same manner also as Mantegna he covered his models 
 with glued canvas, or with pasteboard, in order that in the 
 curves and folds he might correct the ancients. And like him 
 he employed for painting in distemper, a kind of viscous water, 
 an instance of which is adduced by Lomazzo, who repaired one 
 of the specimens. Most of Bramante’s pictures in fresco, men¬ 
 tioned by Lomazzo and by Scaramuccia as adorning the public 
 places in Milan, are now destroyed or defaced, if we except 
 those that are preserved in the chambers of the Palazzi Borri 
 and Castiglioni, which are pretty numerous. There is also a 
 chapel in the Certosa at Pavia, said to have beeD painted by 
 him. His proportions are square, and sometimes have an air 
 of coarseness, his countenances are full, the heads of his old 
 men grand, his colouring is very lively and well relieved from 
 the ground, though not free from some degree of crudity. 
 This character I have remarked in one of his altar-pieces, wit i 
 various saints, and with fine perspective, in possession of the 
 Cav. Melzi, and the same in a picture at the Incoronata in 
 Lodi, a very beautiful temple erected by Gio. Bataggio, a 
 native of the place, from the design of Bramante. His master- 
 
472 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 piece, which is to be seen at Milan, is a S. Sebastiano, in that 
 saint’s church, where scarcely a trace of the style of the four¬ 
 teenth century is perceptible. The Notizia Morelli points out 
 his picture of a Pieta, at S. Pancrazio, in Bergamo, which 
 Pasta had mistaken for one of Lotto, and mentions also his 
 picture of the Philosophers, painted by Bramante in 1486, 
 belonging to the same city. 
 
 _ educated two pupils in Milan, whose names have sur¬ 
 vived. One of these is Nolfo da Monza, who is said to have 
 painted from the designs furnished by Bramante, at S. Satiro 
 and other places ; an artist who, if not equal to the first paint¬ 
 ers, was nevertheless, it is remarked by Scanelli, of a superior 
 character. In the sacristy also of S. Satiro, placed near the 
 beautiful little temple of Bramante, are a number of old pictures, 
 most probably from the hand of Nolfo. The other artist is 
 Bramantino, supposed by Orlandi to have been the preceptor 
 of Bramante, by others confounded with him, and finally dis¬ 
 covered to have been his favourite disciple, from which cir¬ 
 cumstance he obtained his surname. His real name was 
 Bartolommeo Suardi, an architect, and, what is more to my 
 puipose, a painter of singular merit. In deceiving the eye of 
 animals, lie equalled the ancients, as we are acquainted by 
 Lomazzo in the opening of his third book. During a period 
 he followed his master; but on occasion of visiting Rome he 
 improved his style, though not so much in regard to his figures 
 and proportions, as in his colouring and his folds, which he 
 made moie wide and spacious. lie was doubtless invited or 
 conducted to Rome by Bramante, and there, under Pope 
 Julius II., painted those portraits so highly praised by Vasari, 
 ami which when about to be removed, to give place to Rafl’a- 
 ello s, weie first copied at the request of Jovius, who wished 
 to insert them in his museum. It is certain that the Vatican 
 paintings by Bramantino do not belong to the time of Nicho¬ 
 las V. as we have shewn. He returned from Rome to Milan, 
 as we are informed by Lomazzo ; and to their more favourable 
 period Ave may refer his production of S. Ambrogio, and that 
 of S. Michele, with a figure of the "N irgin, coloured in the 
 Venetian style, and recorded in the select Melzi gallery, and 
 to be mentioned hereafter. There are also some altar-pieces 
 both designed and coloured by him, in the church of S. Fran- 
 
bramantino. 
 
 473 
 
 cesco, which display more elevation and dignity than belonged 
 to his age. But his chief excellence was in perspective, and 
 his rules have been inserted by Lomazzo in his work, out of 
 respect to this distinguished artist. He likewise holds him 
 up as a model, in his picture of the Head Christ between the 
 Maries, painted for the gate of S. Sepolcro, a work which 
 produces a fine illusion ; the legs of the Redeemer, in whatever 
 point they are viewed, appearing with equal advantage to the 
 e y e - Other artists I am aware have produced the same effect; 
 but it is a just, though a trite saying, that an inventor is worth 
 more than all his imitators. The Cistercian fathers have a 
 grand perspective in their monastery, representing the Descent 
 of Christ into Purgatory, from his hand. It consists of few 
 figures, little choice in the countenances, but their colouring is 
 both powerful and natural; they are well placed and well pre¬ 
 served in their distance, disposed in beautiful groups, with a 
 pleasing retrocession of the pilasters, which serve to mark the 
 place, united to a harmony that attracts the eye. He had a pupil 
 named Agostin da Milano, well skilled in foreshortening, and 
 who painted at the Carmine a piece that Lomazzo proposes, 
 along with the cupola of Correggio at the cathedral of Parma, 
 as a model of excellence in its kind. His name is made very 
 clear in the index of Lomazzo, as follows: — “ Agostino di 
 Bramantino of Milan, a painter and disciple of the same 
 Bramantino.” I cannot imagine how such a circumstance 
 escaped the notice of Sig. Pagave, and how he was led to pre¬ 
 sent us with that more ancient Agostino Bramantino (so 
 called from his family name, not from that of his master), 
 whose existence we have shewn to have been ideal, wholly 
 arising out of a mistake of Vasari. The one here mentioned 
 was real, though his name is so little known at Milan, as to 
 lead us to suppose he must have passed much of his time in 
 foreign parts. And we are even authorized to conjecture that 
 he may be the same Agostino dclle Prospettive whom we meet 
 with in Bologna, in 1525. All the circumstances are so 
 strong, that in a matter of justice, they would have proved 
 sufficient to establish his identity ; his name of Agostino, his 
 age, suitable to the preceptorship of Suardi, his excellence in 
 the art, which procured for him his surname, and the silence 
 of Malvasia, who could not be ignorant of him, but who, 
 
474 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 because he was drawing up a history of the Bolognese school 
 only, omitted to mention him. 
 
 There were other artists about 1500, who, as it is said, fol¬ 
 lowing Foppa, painted in the style which we now call antico 
 inoderno. Ambrogio Borgognone represented at S. Simpli- 
 ciano the histories of S. Sisinio and some accompanying mar¬ 
 tyrs, which adorn one of the cloisters. The thinness of the 
 legs, and some other remains of his early education, are not so 
 displeasing in this work, as we lind its accurate study, and the 
 natural manner in which it is conducted, calculated to please. 
 The beauty of his youthful heads, variety of countenance, 
 simplicity of drapery, and the customs of those times faithfully 
 portrayed in the ecclesiastical paraphernalia, and mode of 
 living, together with a certain uncommon grace of expression, 
 not met with in this or any other school,* are sufficient to 
 attract attention. 
 
 Gio. Donato Montorfano painted a Crucifixion, abounding 
 with figures, for the refectory of Le Grazie, where it is unfortu¬ 
 nately thrown into the shade by the Grand Supper of Vinci. 
 He cannot compete with a rival to whom many of the greatest 
 masters are compelled to yield the palm. He excels only in 
 his colouring, which has preserved his work fresh and entire, 
 while that of Vinci shewed signs of decay in a few years. 
 What is original in Montorfano is a peculiar clearness in his 
 features, as well as in his attitudes, and which, if united to a 
 little more elegance, would have left him but few equals in his 
 line. He represents a group of soldiers seen playing, and in 
 every countenance is depicted attention, and the desire of 
 conquest. He has also some heads of a delicate air, extremely 
 beautiful, though the distance in regard to their position is not 
 well preserved. The architecture introduced, of the gates and 
 edifices of Jerusalem, is both correct and magnificent, present¬ 
 ing those gradual retrocessions in perspective upon which this 
 school at the time so much prided itself. He retained the 
 habit which continued till the time of Gaudenzio at Milan, 
 
 * It is only necessary to view the cupola of S. Simpliciano at Milan 
 to admit the justice of a much longer eulogy of this master. It exhibits 
 a grandeur which eclipses all the productions of that age. In the heads, 
 where he has chosen to complete them, he closely approaches the compo¬ 
 sition of Da Vinci.—A. 
 
AMBROGIO DA FOSSANO. 
 
 475 
 
 though long before reformed in other places, of mixing with 
 his pictures some plastic work, in composition, and thus giving 
 in relief glories of saints, and ornaments of men and horses. 
 
 Ambrogio da Fossano, a place in the Piedmontese,* was an 
 artist, who, at the grand Certosa in Pavia, designed the superb 
 fa 9 ade of the church, being an architect as well as a painter. 
 In the temple before mentioned there is an altar-piece, which 
 is ascribed either to him or his brother, not very highly 
 finished, but in a taste not very dissimilar from that of Man¬ 
 tegna. Andrea Milanese, who has been confounded by one of 
 Vasari’s annotators with Andrea Salai, extorted the admira¬ 
 tion of Zanetti, by an altar-piece he produced at Murano, 
 executed in 1495, and it would appear that he studied in 
 Venice. I cannot agree with Bottari that he is the same as 
 Andrea del Gobbo, mentioned by Vasari in his Life of Correg¬ 
 gio, since this last was a disciple of Gaudenzio.t About the 
 same time flourished Stefano Scotto, the master of Gaudenzio 
 Ferrari, much commended by Lomazzo for his art in arabesques, 
 and of his family is perhaps a Felice Scotto, who painted 
 a good deal at Como for private individuals, and left a number 
 of pictures in fresco at S. Croce, relating to the life of S. Ber¬ 
 nardino. His genius is varied and expressive, he displays 
 judgment in composition, and is one of the best artists of the 
 fourteenth century known in these parts. He was probably 
 a pupil of some other school, his design being more elegant, 
 and his colouring more clear and open than those of the 
 Milanese. We might easily amplify the present list with 
 other names, furnished by Morigia in his work on the Milanese 
 nobility, where we find mentioned with praise Nicolao Pic- 
 cinino, Girolamo Chiocca, Carlo Valli, or di Valle, brother to 
 Giovanni, all of them Milanese, besides Vincenzo Moietta, a 
 native of Caravaggio, who flourished in Milan about 1500, or 
 something earlier, along with the foregoing. About the same 
 
 * A number of places which are now included in the Piedmontese, 
 formerly belonged to the state of Milan, as we have already observed. 
 The city of Vercelli was united to the house of Savoy in 1427, and was 
 subsequently subject to a variety of changes. Many of its more ancient 
 painters are referred to the Milanese as their scholars; but they may be 
 enumerated among the Piedmontese as citizens. This remark will apply 
 to many different passages, both in this and in the fifth (Italian) volume. 
 
 f Lomazzo, Trattato, c. 37 
 
476 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH I. 
 
 period the study of miniature was greatly promoted by the 
 two Ferranti, Agosto the son, and Decio the father, three 
 works by whom are to be seen in the cathedral at Vigevano, 
 consisting of a Missal, a book of the Evangelists, and one of 
 the Epistles illuminated with miniatures in the most exact 
 taste. 
 
 Other professors then flourished throughout the state, of 
 whom either some account remains in books, or some works 
 with the signature of their names. At that period the 
 Milanese was much more extensive than it has been since the 
 cession of so large a portion to the house of Savoy. The 
 artists belonging to the ceded portion will be considered by me 
 in this school, to which they appertain, being educated in it, 
 and instructing other pupils in it, in their turn. Hence besides 
 those of Pavia, of Como, and others of the modern state, we 
 shall in this chapter give some account of the Novarese and 
 Vercellese artists (of whom I shall also give the information 
 found in the prefaces to the tenth and eleventh volumes of 
 Yasari, edited at Siena by P. della Valle), with others who 
 flourished in the old state. Pavia boasted a Bartolommeo 
 Bononi, by whom there is an altar-piece bearing the date of 
 1507, at San Francesco, and also one Bernardin Colombano, 
 who produced another specimen at the Carmine in 1515. In 
 other churches I likewise met with some specimens by an 
 unknown hand (but perhaps by Gio. di Pavia, inserted by 
 Malvasia in his catalogue of the pupils of Lorenzo Costa), 
 partaking a good deal of the Bolognese style of that age. 
 At the same period flourished Andrea Passeri of Como, for 
 whose cathedral he painted the Virgin among different apostles, 
 in which the heads and the whole composition have some 
 resemblance to the modern. But there is a dryness in the 
 hands, with use of gilding unworthy of the age (1505) in 
 which his picture was painted. A Marco Marconi of Como, 
 who flourished about 1500, displayed much of the Giorgione 
 manner, and was probably a pupil of the Venetians. Troso 
 da Monza was employed a good deal at Milan, and painted 
 some pieces at S. Giovanni in his native place. Several his¬ 
 tories of the Queen Teodelina, adorning the same church, exe¬ 
 cuted in various compartments in 1444, are now also ascribed 
 to him. It is not very easy to follow his inventions, some- 
 
MARCO MARCONI. 
 
 477 
 
 what confused and new in regard to the drapery and the 
 Longobardish customs which he has there exhibited. There 
 are some good heads, and colouring by no means despicable ; 
 for the rest, it is a mediocre production, and perhaps executed 
 early in life. He is an artist much praised by Lomazzo for 
 his other works which he left at the Palazzo Landi. They 
 consist of Roman histories, a production, says Lomazzo, 
 (p. 272) “ quite surprising for the figures as well as the archi¬ 
 tecture and the perspective, which is stupendous.” Father 
 Resta, cited by Morelli, who saw it in 1707, says that it 
 almost astounded him by its surpassing excellence, beauty, 
 and sweetness. (Lett. Pittor. tom. iii. p. 342.) 
 
 In the new state of Piedmont is situated Novara, where, in 
 the archives of the cathedral, Gio. Antonio Merli painted in 
 green earth Pietro Lombardo, with three other distinguished 
 natives of Novara; an excellent portrait-painter for his age. 
 In Vercelli, adjoining it, there flourished about 1460 Boni- 
 forte, Ercole Oidoni, and F. Pietro di Vercelli, of which last 
 there is an ancient altar-piece preserved at S. Marco. Gio- 
 venone afterwards appeared, who is esteemed in that city as 
 the first instructor of Gaudenzio, although Lomazzo is silent 
 upon it. If he was not, he was worthy of the charge. The 
 Augustin fathers possess a Christ risen from the Dead, 
 between Saints Margaret and Cecilia, with two angels, a pic¬ 
 ture of a noble character, in the taste of Bramantiuo and the 
 best Milanese artists, and conducted with great knowledge of 
 the naked figure and of perspective. 
 
478 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN. 
 
 EPOCH II. 
 
 Lionardo da Vinci establishes an Academy of Design at Milan. His 
 Pupils and the best native Artists down to the time of Gaudenzio. 
 
 In treating of the Florentine school we took occasion to enter 
 into a brief examination of the pictoric education of Vinci, of 
 his peculiar style, and of his residence in different cities, 
 among which was mentioned Milan, and the academy which 
 he there instituted. He arrived in that city, according to the 
 testimony of Vasari, in the year 1594, the first of the reign of 
 Prince Lodovico il Moro ; or rather he resided there, if not 
 altogether, at least for the execution of commissions, from 1482, 
 as it has been recently supposed,* and left it after its capture 
 by the French in 1499. The years spent by Lionardo at 
 Milan were, perhaps, the happiest of his life, and certainly 
 productive of the most utility to the art of any in the whole 
 period of his career. The duke had deputed him to super¬ 
 intend an academy of design, which, if I mistake not, was 
 the first in Italy, which gave the law to the leading ones in 
 other parts. It continued to flourish after the departure of 
 Vinci, was much frequented, and formed excellent pupils, 
 maintaining in the place of its first director, his precepts, his 
 writings, and his models. No very distinct accounts indeed 
 of his method have survived ; but we are certain that he 
 formed it on scientific principles, deduced from philosophical 
 reasoning, with which Vinci was familiar in every branch. 
 His treatise upon painting is esteemed, however imperfect, as 
 a kind of second canon of Polycletes, and explains the manner 
 in which Lionardo taught.t We may also gather some know- 
 
 * Amoretti, Memorie Storiche di Lionardo da Vinci, p. 20. 
 
 f This work was reprinted at Florence, together with the figures, 1792, 
 an edition taken from a copy in the hand of Stefano della Bella, belonging 
 
LIONARDO DA VINCI. 
 
 479 
 
 ledge of it from liis other numerous and various writings, 
 which, having been left to the care of Melzi, and in the course 
 of time distributed, now form the ornament of different cabinets. 
 Fourteen volumes of these presented to the public, are in the 
 Ambrosian collection, and many of them are calculated to 
 smooth the difficulties of the art to young beginners. It is 
 further known that the author, having entered into a familiar 
 friendship with Marcantonio della Torre, lecturer of Pavia, 
 united with him in illustrating the science of anatomy, then 
 lptle known in Italy, and that he represented with the utmost 
 exactness, in addition to the human figure, that of the horse, 
 in a knowledge of which he was esteemed quite unrivalled. 
 The benefit he conferred upon the art by the study of optics 
 is also well known, and no one was better acquainted with 
 the nature of aerial perspective,* which became a distinctive 
 and hereditary characteristic of his school. He was extremely 
 well versed in the science of music, and in playing upon the 
 lyre, and equally so in poetry and history. Here his example 
 was followed by Luini and others; and to him likewise it was 
 owing that the Milanese school became one .of the most accu¬ 
 rate and observing in regard to antiquity and to costume. 
 Mengs has noticed before me that no artist could surpass Vinci 
 in the grand effect of his chiaroscuro. He instructed his pupils 
 to make as cautious a use of light as of a gem, not lavishing it 
 too freely, but reserving it always for the best place. And hence 
 we find in his, and in the best of his disciples’ paintings, that 
 fine relief, owing to which the pictures, and in particular the 
 countenances, seem as if starting from the canvas. 
 
 For a long period past, the art had become gradually more 
 refined, and considered its subjects more minutely ; in which 
 Botticelli, Mantegna, and others had acquired great reputa¬ 
 tion. As minuteness, however, is opposed to sublimity, it ill 
 accorded with that elevation in which the supreme merit of the 
 
 to the Riccardi library. It was published by the learned librarian, the 
 Ab. Fontani, with the eulogy of Vinci, abounding with information on 
 his life and paintings, as well as on his designs attached to it. To this is 
 added the eulogy of Stefano, and a Dissertation of Lami upon the Italian 
 painters and sculptors who flourished between the tenth and the thirteenth 
 centuries. 
 
 * Cellini declares that he borrowed a great number of excellent observa¬ 
 tions upon perspective from one of Vinci’s discourses. (Tratt. ii. p. 153.) 
 
480 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 art would seem to consist. In my opinion Lionardo suc¬ 
 ceeded in uniting these two opposite qualities, before any other 
 artist. In subjects which he undertook fully to complete, he 
 was not satisfied with only perfecting the heads, counterfeiting 
 the shining of the eyes, the pores of the skin, the roots of 
 the hair, and even the beating of the arteries; he likewise 
 portrayed each separate garment and every accessary with 
 minuteness. Thus, in his landscapes also, there was not a 
 single herb or leaf of a tree, which he had not taken like a 
 portrait, from the select face of nature ; and to his very leaves 
 he gave a peculiar air, and fold, and position, best adapted to 
 represent them rustling in the wind. While he bestowed his 
 attention in this manner upon the minutiae, he at the same 
 time, as is observed by Mengs, led the way to a more enlarged 
 and dignified style ; entered into the most abstruse inquiries 
 as to the source and nature of expression, the most philoso¬ 
 phical and elevated branch of the art; and smoothed the way, 
 if I may be permitted to say so, for the appearance of Raf- 
 faello. No one could be more curious in his researches, more 
 intent upon observing, or more prompt in catching the motions 
 of the passions, as exhibited either in the features or the 
 actions. He frequented places of public assembly, and all 
 spectacles in which man gave free play to his active powers; 
 and there, in a small book always ready at hand, he drew the 
 attitudes which he selected ; and these designs he preserved 
 in order to apply them, with expressions more or less powerful, 
 according to the occasion, and the degree of expression he 
 wished to introduce. For it was his custom, in the same 
 manner as he gradually strengthened his shadows until he 
 reached the highest degree ; so also in the composition of his 
 figures, to proceed in heightening them until he attained the 
 perfection of passion and of motion. The same kind of grada¬ 
 tion he observed in regard to elegance, of which he was 
 perhaps the earliest admirer ; since previous artists appeared 
 unable to distinguish grace from beauty, and still more so to 
 adapt it to pleasing subjects in such a way as to rise from the 
 less to the more attractive points, as was practised by Lionardo 
 da Vinci. lie even adhered to the same rule in his bur¬ 
 lesques; always throwing an air of greater ridicule over one than 
 another., insomuch that he was heard to say, that they ought 
 
LIONARDO DA VINCI. 
 
 481 
 
 to be carried to such a height, if possible, as even to make a 
 dead man laugh. 
 
 The characteristic, therefore, of this incomparable artist, 
 consists in a. refinement of taste, of which no equal example, 
 either preceding or following him, is to be found; if, indeed, 
 we may not admit that of the old Protogenes, in whom Apelles 
 was unable to find any reason why he himself should be pre¬ 
 ferred to him, except it were the superabundant industry of 
 his competitor.* And, in truth, it would appear that Vinci 
 likewise did not always call to mind the maxim of “ ne quid 
 nimis,” in the observance of which the perfection of human 
 pursuits is to be found. Phidias himself, said Tully, bore in 
 his mind a more beautiful Minerva and a grander Jove, than 
 he was capable of exhibiting with his chisel; and it is prudent 
 counsel, that teaches us to aspire to the best, but to rest satis¬ 
 fied with attaining what is good. Vinci was never pleased 
 with his labours if he did not execute them as perfectly as he 
 had conceived them ; and being unable to reach the high point 
 proposed with a mortal hand, he sometimes only designed his 
 work, or conducted it only to a certain degree of completion. 
 Sometimes he devoted to it so long a period as almost to renew 
 the example of the ancient who employed seven years over his 
 picture. But as there was no limit to the discovery of fresh 
 beauties in that work, so, in the opinion of Lomazzo, it happens 
 with the perfections of Vinci’s paintings, including even those 
 which Vasari and others allude to as left imperfect. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it becomes our historical duty, 
 having here mentioned his imperfect works, to inform the 
 reader of the real sense in which the words are to be taken 
 when applied to Vinci. It is certain he left a number of 
 works only half-finished, such as his Epiphany, in the ducal 
 gallery at Florence, or his Holy Family, in the archbishop’s 
 palace at Milan, t Most frequently, however, the report is 
 grounded upon his having left some portion of his pieces less 
 
 * Plin. lib . xxxv. c. 10. Uno se prastare, quod manum ille de tabula 
 nesciret tollere. This he said in reference to that Jalysus on which Pro¬ 
 togenes had bestowed no less than seven years. 
 
 + With regard to this picture, now in the I. R. Pinacoteca at Milan, 
 and which was made known in the work entitled “ School of Liohardo da 
 Vinci in Lombardy,” we may refer to what is said of it by the editor.—A. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 I 
 
482 
 
 SCnOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCII II. 
 
 perfectly finished than the rest; a deficiency, nevertheless, 
 that cannot always be detected even by the best judges. The 
 portrait, for instance, of M. Lisa Gioconda, painted at Florence 
 in the period of four years, and then, according to Vasari, left 
 imperfect, was minutely examined by Mariette, in the collec¬ 
 tion of the king of France, and was declared to be carried to 
 so high a degree of finish, that it was impossible to surpass it. 
 The defect will be more easily recognised in other portraits, 
 several of which are yet to be seen at Milan ; for instance, 
 that of a lady belonging to the Sig. Principe Albani; and one 
 of a man, in the Palazzo Scotti Gallerati. Indeed Lomazzo 
 has remarked, that, excepting three or four, he left all the rest 
 of his heads imperfect. But imperfections and faults like his 
 would have been accounted distinguishing qualities in almost 
 any other artist. 
 
 Even his grand Supper has been stated in history as an 
 imperfect production, though at the same time all history is 
 agreed in celebrating it as one of the most beautiful paintings 
 that ever proceeded from the hand of man. It was painted 
 for the refectory of the Dominican fathers, at Milan, and may 
 be pronounced a compendium not only of all that Lionardo 
 taught in his books, but also of what he embraced in his 
 studies. lie here gave expression to the exact point of time 
 best adapted to animate his history, which is the moment when 
 the Redeemer addresses his disciples, saying, “ One of you will 
 betray me.” Then each of his innocent followers is seen to 
 start as if struck with a thunderbolt; those at a distance seem 
 to interrogate their companions, as if they think they must 
 have mistaken what he had said ; others, accoi-ding to their 
 natural disposition, appear variously affected ; one of them 
 swoons away, one stands lost in astonishment, a third rises in 
 indignation, while the very simplicity and candour depicted 
 upon the countenance of a fourth, seem to place him beyond 
 the reach of suspicion. But Judas instantly draws in his 
 countenance, and while he appears as it were attempting to 
 give it an air of innocence, the eye rests upon him in a moment 
 as the undoubted traitor. Vinci himself used to observe, that 
 for the space of a whole year, he employed his time in medita¬ 
 ting how he could best give expression to the features of so 
 bad a heart; and that being accustomed to frequent a place 
 
LIONARDO DA VINCI. 
 
 483 
 
 where the worst characters were known to assemble, he there 
 met with a physiognomy to his purpose; to which he also 
 added the features of many others. In his figures of the two 
 saints Jacopo, presenting fine forms, most appropriate to the 
 characters, he availed himself of the same plan ; and being 
 unable with his utmost diligence to invest that of Christ with 
 a superior air to the rest, he left the head in an unfinished state, 
 as we learn from Vasari, though Armenini pronounced it 
 exquisitely complete. The rest of the picture, the table-cloth 
 with its folds, the whole of the utensils, the table, the archi¬ 
 tecture, the distribution of the lights, the perspective of the 
 ceiling (which in the tapestry of San Pietro, at Rome, is 
 changed almost into a hanging garden), all was conducted with 
 the most exquisite care; all was worthy of the finest pencil 
 in the world. Had Lionardo desired to follow the practice of 
 his age in painting in distemper, the art at this time would 
 have been in possession of this treasure. But being always 
 fond of attempting new methods, he painted this master-piece 
 upon a peculiar ground, formed of distilled oils, which was the 
 reason that it gradually detached itself from the wall, a mis¬ 
 fortune which had also nearly befallen one of his Madonnas, 
 at S. Onofrio, at Rome, though it was preserved under glass. 
 About half a century subsequent to the production of his great 
 Supper, when Armenini then saw it, it was already half 
 decayed; and Scanelli, who examined it in 1642, declares that 
 it “ was with difficulty he could discern the history as it had 
 been.” In the present century a hope had been indulged of 
 this magnificent painting being restored by aid of some varnish, 
 or other secret, as may be seen by consulting Bottari. In 
 regard to this, however, and the other vicissitudes of this great 
 picture,* we ought also to consider what is stated in a tone of 
 ridicule and reproach by Bianconi, in his “ New Guide.’M It 
 will be sufficient for my purpose to add, that nothing remains 
 
 * In order to afford a more accurate idea of the vicissitudes to which 
 the work has been subjected, of the manner in which it was painted, and 
 of its merits, we may refer to the Cav. Bossi’s learned “ Dissertation 
 upon the Last Supper.”—A. 
 
 t (Page 329.) The Sig. Baldassare Orsini has likewise inveighed 
 against the inconsiderate retouchings of old paintings, in his “ Risposta/ 
 p. 77 ; where he also alludes to a letter of Hakert's, in defence of var- 
 
 2 I 2 
 
484 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.—EPOCH II. 
 
 in the modern picture from the hand of Vinci, if we except three 
 heads of apostles, which may be said to be rather sketched 
 than painted. Milan boasts few of his works, as those which 
 are ascribed to him are for the most part the productions of his 
 school, occasionally retouched by himself, as in the altar-piece 
 of S. Ambrogio ad nemus * which has great merit. A 
 Madonna, however, and Infant, in the Belgioioso d’Este palace, 
 as well as one or two other pictures in private possession, are 
 undoubtedly from his hand. We are assured, indeed, that he 
 left few pieces at Milan, as well from his known fastidiousness 
 in painting, as from his having been diverted from it, both by 
 inclination and by the commissions received from the prince, 
 to conduct works connected with engineering, hydraulics, and 
 machinery for a variety of purposes, besides those of archi¬ 
 tecture ;+ and especially in regard to that celebrated model of 
 a horse, of which, owing to its size, as we are told by Vasari, 
 no cast could be taken in bronze. And this writer is the more 
 entitled to credit, as well because he flourished near the period 
 of which he treats, as because he could hardly be ignorant of a 
 work, which would almost have placed the fame of our Italian 
 on an equality with that of Lysippus.£ 
 
 Of all his labours in Milan, therefore, nothing is better de¬ 
 serving of our notice than the academy which he founded, 
 whose pupils constitute the proudest and most flourishing 
 
 nishes, and to another in reply, in which the use of them is disapproved 
 by force of examples. He moreover cites a Supplementary Letter drawn 
 from the Roman Journal of Fine Arts, for December, 1788. 
 
 * This picture, which represents the Madonna, with the SS. Doctors, 
 Lodovico il Moro, his wife Beatrice, and their two sons in the act of 
 prayer, belongs to a preceding school, and is by the hand of Zenale da 
 Trevilio, where there is a large altar-piece of like composition which 
 bears the painter’s name.—A. 
 
 f A number of designs are to be seen in his MS. volumes belonging 
 to the Ambrosian collection. See Mariette’s letter, in vol. ii. of “ Lett. 
 Pittoriche,” p. 171 ; and also, “ Observations upon the Designs of 
 Lionardo,” hy the Ab. Amoretti, ed. of Milan, 1784. 
 
 + It was intended for the equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, father 
 of Lodovico. The Cav. Fr. Sabba da Castiglione has mentioned in his 
 Ricordi, No. 109, that this very ingenious model, so greatly celebrated in 
 the annals of the arts, w'hich cost Vinci sixteen years to complete, was 
 seen by the writer in 1499, converted into a target for the Gascon bowmen 
 in the service of Louis XII. when he became master of Milan. 
 
CESAR DA SESTO. 
 
 485 
 
 epoch of this school. They are not all equally well known ; 
 and we often find, both in collections and in churches, that 
 pictures are pointed out as being of the school of Yinci, 
 without specifying the particular artists. Their altar-pieces 
 seldom display composition, varying much from that common 
 to. other schools of the age; namely, figures of the Virgin 
 with the Infant, upon a throne, surrounded by saints, chiefly 
 in an erect posture, and a few cherubs on the steps. Vinci's 
 disciples, how T ever, if I mistake not, were the first who con¬ 
 ferred on their figures some degree of unity in action, so as 
 to give them the appearance of conversing with each other. 
 Tn the remaining parts, also, they exhibit a pretty uniform 
 taste; they represent the same faces, all somewhat oval, 
 smiling lips, the same manner in their precise and somewhat 
 dry outlines, the same choice of temperate colours, well har¬ 
 monized, together with the same study of the chiaroscuro, 
 which the less skilful artists overcharge with darkness, while 
 the better ones apply it in moderation. 
 
 One who approached nearest to his style, at a certain period, 
 was Cesar da Sesto, likewise called Cesare Milanese, though 
 not recorded by Vasari, or Lomazzo, in the list of his disciples. 
 Still he is generally admitted by more modern writers. In 
 the Ambrosian collection is the head of an old man, so ex¬ 
 tremely clear and studied, in the Vinci manner, by this artist, 
 as to surprise the beholder. In some of his other works he 
 followed Raffaello, whom he knew in Rome; and it is re¬ 
 ported, that this prince of painting one day said to him, “ It 
 seems to me strange that being bound in such strict ties of 
 friendship as we two are, we do not in the least respect each 
 other with our pencils,” as if they had been rivals on a sort 
 of equality. lie was intimate too with Baldassar Peruzzi, 
 and was employed with him in the castle of Ostia. In this 
 work, which was one of the earliest efforts of Baldassare, 
 Vasari seems inclined to yield the palm of excellence to the 
 Milanese artist. He was esteemed Vinci’s best pupil; and he 
 is more than once held up by Lomazzo, as a model in design, 
 in attitude, and more particularly in the art of using his lights. 
 He cites an Herodias by him, of which I have seen a copy in 
 possession of the Consiglier Pagave, and the countenance bore 
 
486 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.—EPOCH II. 
 
 an extreme resemblance to the Fornarina of Raffaello.* The 
 Cav. D. Girolamo Melzi has likewise one of his Holy Fami¬ 
 lies, in the Raffaello manner, which he obtained a few years 
 ago at an immense sum, as well as that celebrated altar-piece 
 painted for S. Rocco.'j' It is divided into compartments; in 
 the midst is seen the titular saint and the Holy Virgin, with 
 the Infant, imitated from a figure by Raffaello, which is at 
 Foligno. From his Dispute of the Sacrament he likewise 
 borrowed the S. Gio. Batista seated on a cloud, which is ac¬ 
 companied with the figure of St. John the Evangelist, placed 
 in the same position. These decorate the upper part of the 
 picture ; the lower being occupied by the figures of the two 
 half-naked saints, Cristoforo and Sebastiano, both appropriately 
 executed, and the last exhibiting a new and beautiful fore¬ 
 shortening. They are on a larger scale than the figures of 
 Poussin, and with such resemblance to Correggio’s, that, in 
 the opinion of the Ab. Bianconi, they might have been easily 
 ascribed to him, in default of the artist’s name; such is the 
 softness, union, and brightness of the fleshes, such their beauty 
 of colouring, and the harmony investing the whole painting. 
 It used to be closed with two panels, where, with a certain 
 correspondence of subjects, were drawn the two princes of the 
 Apostles, with Saints Martino and Giorgio on horseback ; all 
 of which display the same maxims, though not equal diligence 
 in the art. Hence we may infer that this artist did not, like 
 ^ inci, aspire at producing master-pieces as an invariable 
 rule, but was content, like Luini, with occasional efforts of the 
 kind. 
 
 At the church of Sarono, situated between Pavia and Milan, 
 are seen the figures of four saints, drawn on four narrow pi¬ 
 lasters ; the two equestrian saints already mentioned, and 
 Saints Sebastiano and Rocco, to whom especially invocations 
 are made against the plague. They are inscribed with the 
 
 * "The original, formerly in the gallery of the Archiepiscopal palace, 
 was, in the first occupation of the French, adjudged to Madame la Pagerie, 
 wife of the then General Bonaparte, and passed into France._A. 
 
 1" The price in this instance, 600 sequins, would in this day be con¬ 
 sidered of trivial amount. Besides, it is not the sum paid which establishes 
 the character of a work.—A. 
 
bernazzano. 
 
 487 
 
 name Cassar Magnus , f. 1533 : tlie foreshortening is well 
 adapted to the place j and the figure of S. Rocco more espe¬ 
 cially displays a composition such as we have mentioned. The 
 features are not very pleasing, with the exception of those of 
 St. George, as they are somewhat too round and full. These 
 pieces are in general assigned to the artist of whom we here 
 treat, and many are inclined to infer, from the inscription, that 
 he belonged to the family of the Magni. But it is doubted br¬ 
 others ; the frescos not appearing to justify his high reputa¬ 
 tion, however excellent in their way. Besides, I find the death 
 of Cesare da Sesto recorded, in a MS. communicated to me by 
 Sig. Bianconi, as occurring in the year 1524, though not in 
 such a manner as to remove all kind of doubt. I find some 
 reason for inclining to an opposite opinion in the great diver¬ 
 sity of style, remarkable in this artist, the conformity of 
 various ideas in the frescos and in his altar-piece, together 
 with the silence of Lomazzo, generally so exact in his mention 
 of the best Lombards, and who records no other Cesare but Da 
 Sesto. 
 
 I ought not to separate the name of this noble figurist from 
 that of Bernazzano, the landscape painter, as they were united 
 no less in interest than in friendship. It is uncertan whether 
 he was instructed by Yinci; he doubtless availed himself of his 
 models, and in drawing rural landscape, fruits, flowers, and 
 birds, he succeeded so admirably as to produce the same won¬ 
 derful effects as are told of Zeuxis and Apelles, in Greece. 
 This indeed Italian artists have frequently renewed, though 
 with a less degree of applause. Having represented a straw¬ 
 berry-bed in a court-yard, the peafowl were so deceived by 
 its resemblance, that they pecked at the wall until the painting 
 was destroyed. He painted the landscape part for a picture 
 of the Baptism of Christ, and on the ground drew some birds 
 in the act of feeding. On its being placed in the open air, 
 the birds were seen to fly towards the picture, as if to join 
 their companions.* As this artist had the sense to perceive 
 his own deficiency in figures, he cultivated an intimacy 
 with Cesare, who added to his landscapes fables and his- 
 
 * This very beautiful painting is one of the chief ornaments in the 
 gallery of the distinguished family of the Trotti at Milan.—A. 
 
488 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 tories, sometimes with a degree of license that is reprobated 
 by Lomazzo. These paintings are held in high esteem, 
 where the figure-painter has made a point of displaying his 
 powers. 
 
 Gio. Antonio Beltraffio, as his name is written on his monu¬ 
 ment,* was a gentleman of Milan, who employed only his 
 leisure hours in painting, and produced some works at Milan 
 and other places ; but the best is at Bologna. It is placed at 
 the Misericordia, and bore his signature, with that of his 
 master inci, and the date 1500, though these have been 
 since erased.t In it is represented the Virgin between Saints 
 John the Baptist and Bastiano, while the figure of Giro¬ 
 lamo da Cesio, who gave the commission for the picture, 
 is seen kneeling at the foot of the throne. It forms the 
 only production of Beltraffio placed in public, and is on 
 that account esteemed the more valuable. The whole of it 
 exhibits the exact study of his school in the air of the heads, 
 judicious in composition, and softened in its outlines. Ilis 
 design, however, is rather more dry than that of his fellow- 
 pupils ; the effect, perhaps, of his early education, under the 
 Milanese artists of the fourteenth century, not sufficiently cor¬ 
 rected. 
 
 h rancesco Melzi was another Milanese of noble birth, enu¬ 
 merated among Leonardo’s disciples, though he had only the 
 benefit of his instructions in design during his more tender 
 years. lie approached nearest of any to Vinci’s manner, con¬ 
 ducting pieces that are frequently mistaken for those of his 
 master ; but he employed himself seldom, because he was rich.* 
 He was greatly esteemed by Vinci, inasmuch as he united a 
 very fine countenance to the most amiable disposition, his gra- 
 
 * This monumental stone is now in the I. It. Academy. Several works 
 by this painter have been discovered in Milan since the time when the 
 author wrote. By some it is asserted that he succeeded da Vinci in the 
 direction of the academy.—A. 
 
 t The lower part of this picture was cut away, and with it the inscrip¬ 
 tion placed by the author, as proved by the composition, since the feet of 
 the two saints, and those ot the \ irgin, now touch the cornice. From 
 Bologna it was brought into the Milanese gallery, and thence into France, 
 on occasion of an exchange effected with the museum under the former 
 government.—A. 
 
 + Amoretti, Mem. Stor. del Vinci, p. 130 
 
ANDREA SALAI. 
 
 489 
 
 titude inducing him to accompany his master on his last visit 
 into Franee. He was as generously rewarded for it, becoming 
 heir to the whole of Yiuci’s designs, instruments, books, and 
 manuscripts. He promoted as far as possible the reputation 
 of his master, by furnishing both Yasari and Lomazzo with 
 notices for his life; and by preserving for the eye of posterity 
 the valuable collection of his writings. For as long as the 
 numerous volumes deposited at the Ambrosian library conti¬ 
 nue to exist, the world must admit that he was one of the 
 chief revivers, not only of painting but of statics, of hydro¬ 
 statics, of optics, and of anatomy. 
 
 Andrea Salai, or Salaino, was, from similiar qualities, a 
 great favourite with Yinci, who chose him, according to the 
 language of the times, as his creato , using him as a model for 
 beautiful figures, both of a human and angelic cast. He 
 instructed him, as we are told by Vasari, in matters pertain¬ 
 ing to the art, and retouched his labours, which I think must 
 gradually have changed their name; as a Salai is not now 
 esteemed like a Yinci. There is a St. John the Baptist 
 pointed out as his, elegant, but rather dry, in the archbishop’s 
 palace; a very animated portrait of a man, in the Aresi 
 palace; with a few other pieces. His picture in the sacristy 
 of S. Celso is more particularly celebrated. It was drawn 
 from the cartoon of Lionardo, executed at Florence, and so 
 greatly applauded, that the citizens ran to behold it, as they 
 would have done some great solemnity. Yasari calls it the 
 cartoon of St. Anna, who, with the Virgin, is seen fondling 
 the Holy Child, while the infant John the Baptist is playing 
 with him. Subsequently, this cartoon rose into such repute, 
 that when Francis I. invited Yinci to his court, he entreated 
 that he would undertake the colouring; but the latter, says 
 Yasari, according to his custom, amused him a long while 
 with words. It appears, moreover, from a letter of P. Resta, 
 inserted in the third volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, that 
 Yinci formed three cartoons of his St. Anna, one of which was 
 coloured by Salai. This artist admirably fulfilled the design 
 of the inventor, in the taste of his well-harmonized and low 
 colours, in the agreeable character of his landscape, and in 
 grand effect. In the same sacristy, opposite to it, was placed, 
 for some time, a Holy Family by Iiaffaello, now removed to 
 
490 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Vienna; nor did it shrink from such competition. A similar 
 copy of the same cartoon was obtained from Vienna for our 
 reigning sovereign, Ferdinand III. and now adorns the ducal 
 gallery at Florence, likewise, perhaps, from the hand of Salai. 
 
 Marco Uglone, or Uggione, or da Oggione, ought to be 
 included among the best Milanese painters. He did not 
 employ himself exclusively on favourite pictures, like most of 
 the scholars of Vinci, who preferred to paint little and well; 
 but was celebrated for his frescos ; and his works at the Pace 
 still maintain their outline entire, and their colours bright. 
 Some of these are in the church, and a very magnificent pic¬ 
 ture of the Crucifixion is to be seen in the refectory; surpris¬ 
 ing for the variety, beauty, and spirit of its figures. Few 
 Lombard artists attained the degree of expression that is here 
 manifested ; and few to such mastery of composition and 
 novelty of costume. In his human figures, he aimed at ele¬ 
 gance of proportion ; and in those of horses he is seen to be the 
 disciple of Vinci. For another refectory, that of the Certosa, 
 in Pavia, he copied the Supper of Lionardo, and it is such as 
 to supply, in some measure, the loss of the original. Milan 
 boasts two of his altar-pieces, one at S. Paolo in Compito, and 
 another at S. Eufemia, in the style of the school we have 
 described, and both excellent productions; though the manner 
 which he observed in his frescos is more soft and analogous 
 to modern composition. 
 
 In the historical memoirs of Vinci, written by Amoretti, 
 one Galeazzo is mentioned as one of his pupils, though it is 
 difficult to decide who he was, along with other artists 
 recorded in the Vinci MSS. These are one Jacomo, one 
 Fanfoia, and a Lorenzo, which might perhaps be interpreted 
 to be Lotto, did not the epochs pointed out by Count Tassi 
 and P. Federici, relating to this artist, appear inapplicable to 
 the Lorenzo of Vinci, who was born in 1488, and came to 
 Lionardo in April, 1505, and probably while Vinci was at 
 Fiesole, since he was there in the month of March in that 
 year; that is, a month before,* and continued to reside with 
 him at least while he remained in Italy. I am inclined to 
 believe he filled the place of his domestic. 
 
 * See Amoretti, p. 90. 
 
COUNT FRANCESCO D’ADDA. 
 
 491 
 
 Father Resta, in his “ Portable Gallery,” cited by me in 
 the third chapter, inserts also, among Vinci's Milanese disci¬ 
 ples, one Gio. Pedrini, and Lomazzo, a Pietro Ricci, of whom 
 I can learn nothing farther. Some, indeed, include in the 
 same list Cesare Cesariano, an architect and painter in minia¬ 
 ture, whose life has been written by Poleni. Lattuada, too, 
 mentions Niccola Appiano, and makes him the author of a 
 fresco-painting oyer the gate of the Pace, which is certainly 
 in the Vinci manner. Cesare Arbasia, of whom we shall fur¬ 
 ther treat in the sixth book of the third volume, under the 
 head of Piedmont, was erroneously referred, at Cordova, to 
 the school of Vinci, and is mentioned as his pupil by Palomino. 
 This was impossible, if we consider the epochs of his life, 
 together with the character of his paintings. Were a resem¬ 
 blance of style enough to decide the question of preceptorship, 
 I might here add to Lionardo’s school a number of other 
 Milanese, both of the city and the state. I cannot, however, 
 dispense with a maxim, which, under a variety of forms, I 
 have recommended to my readers; that history alone can 
 ascertain for us the real pupils, as style does such as are imi¬ 
 tators. Being unable, therefore, to pronounce them disciples, 
 I shall give to Vinci only as his imitators the names of Count 
 Francesco d’Adda, who was accustomed to paint on panels 
 and on slate for private cabinets; Ambrogio Egogni, of whom 
 there remains at Nerviano a fine altar-piece, executed in 
 1527; Gaudenzio Vinci, of Nova, who is distinguished also 
 for another altar-piece at Arona, with a date anterior to the 
 preceding. I never saw any of these; but it is agreed by all, 
 that they are in the Vinci manner; and that the last especially 
 is an astonishing production. Another work, which made its 
 appearance only a few years ago at Rome, representing the 
 figure of the Virgin, and quite in Lionardo’s composition, as I 
 have heard, bears the following inscription : “ Bernardinus 
 Faxolus de Papia fecit, 1518.” It was purchased by the Sig. 
 Principe Braschi, for his very choice gallery ; and it appeared 
 truly surprising atRome,that such a painter should be presented 
 to our age, as it were alone, and without a word of recom¬ 
 mendation from any historian. Yet similar occurrences are 
 not unknown in Italy, and it forms a portion of her fame to 
 enumerate her celebrated artists by ranks and not by nnmbers. 
 
492 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCn II. 
 
 It remains for us to do justice to Vinci’s most distinguished 
 imitator, Bernardin Lovino, as he writes it, or Luini, as it is 
 generally expressed ; a native of Luino, in the Lago Maggiore. 
 Resta asserts, that he did not arrive at Milan until after the 
 departure of Vinci, and that he was instructed by Scotto. 
 The author of the Guide (at page 120) includes him in the 
 lists of Lionardo’s pupils, and this, from the period when he 
 flourished, might, I think, have been the case. Because if 
 Gaudenzio, born in 1484, was at once the disciple of Scotto 
 and of Lovino , as we are informed in the treatise of Lomazzo 
 (p. 421), it follows, that Bernardino must already have been a 
 master about 1500, the time when Vinci left Milan. To 
 much the same period Vasari refers Bernardino da Lupino 
 (he should have said da Luino), an artist who painted the 
 Marriage and other histories of the Virgin in so highly finished 
 a taste at Sarono. One of Vasari’s annotators erroneously 
 again changes the name of Lupino into Lanino, a pupil of 
 Gaudenzio. My supposition respecting the age of Bernardino 
 is further confirmed by a portrait which he drew of himself at 
 Sarono, in his Dispute of the Child Jesus with the Doctors, 
 where he appears then old, and this picture was executed in 
 the year 1525, as appears from the date. Luini, therefore, 
 may have been one of Vinci’s disciples; and he certainly 
 frequented his academy. Others indeed of the school sur¬ 
 passed him in delicacy of hand, and in the pleasing effect of 
 the chiaroscuro, a quality for which Lomazzo commends Cesaro 
 da Sesto, declaring that Luini drew his shadows in too coarse 
 a style. Notwithstanding this, no artist approached nearer 
 Vinci both in point of design and colouring than Bernardino, 
 who very frequently composed in a taste so like that of his 
 master, that out of Milan many of his pieces pass for those of 
 Vinci. Such is the opinion of true connoisseurs, as reported 
 and approved by the author of the New Guide, who is 
 assuredly one belonging to this class. He adduces two 
 examples in the pictures at the Ambrosiana; namely, the 
 Magdalen, and the St. John, who is seen caressing his lamb, a 
 piece which foreigners can hardly be persuaded is not from 
 Vinci’s own hand. I have seen other pictures of equal, or 
 nearly equal, merit, in different Milanese collections which I 
 have frequently mentioned. 
 
BERNARDINO DA LUINI. 
 
 493 
 
 We must, however, add what I observed in reference to 
 Cesare da Sesto just before, that in some of his works there is 
 great resemblance to the manner of Raffaello, such as in a 
 Madonna, belonging to the prince of Keweniller, and one or 
 two others which I know were purchased under the impres¬ 
 sion of their being Raffaello’s. Hence, I imagine, must have 
 arisen the opinion, that he had visited Rome, which is very 
 properly questioned by the Ab. Bianconi (p. 391), who rather 
 inclines to the negative. Nor cau I myself admit it without 
 some further proofs, a similarity of manner to me appearing 
 far too weak an argument to decide the fact. The same point 
 was discussed in the third chapter on the subject of Correggio ; 
 and if we found reason to conclude that Correggio succeeded 
 in enlarging and refining his divine genius to such a degree, 
 without seeing either Raffaello or Michelangelo at Rome, we 
 may admit the same to have been the case in the instance of 
 Luini. The book of nature is equally open to all artists ; taste 
 is a sure guide to selection; and, by degrees, practice leads to 
 the complete execution of what is thus selected. Vinci’s taste 
 so nearly resembled that of Raffaello in point of delicacy, 
 grace, and expression of the passions, that had he not been 
 diverted by other pursuits, and had he sacrificed some degree 
 of his high finish, for the sake of adding to his facility, 
 amenity, and fulness of outline, his style would naturally have 
 run into competition with that of Raffaello, with whom, as it 
 is, in some of his heads especially, he has many points in com¬ 
 mon. It was the same with Bernardino, who had embued 
 himself with the taste of Vinci, and flourished during a period 
 that bordered on an improved degree of freedom and softness 
 of manner. At first, indeed, he adopted a less full and some¬ 
 what dry style, such as we easily recognise in his Pieta, at the 
 Passione; subsequently he proceeded gradually to modernize it. 
 Even that fine little picture of the Ebriety of Noah, which is 
 shewn at S. Barnaba, as one of his most exquisite pieces, 
 retains a certain precision in its design, a hardness of drapery 
 and a direction of folds, which remind us of the fourteenth 
 century. He becomes more modern in his histories of S. Croce, 
 executed about 1520, several of which he repeated at Sarono 
 five years after, where he appears to surpass his own produc¬ 
 tions. These last are the works which most resemble Raf- 
 
494 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.—EPOCH II. 
 
 faello's composition; though they retain that minuteness in 
 decoration, the gilding of glories, and the abundance of little 
 ornament in the temples, such as we see in Mantegna and his 
 contemporaries; all of which were abandoned by Raffaello, 
 when he arrived at his best manner. 
 
 It is my opinion, in fact, that this artist was not so much 
 indebted to Rome, from whose masters he probably only imi¬ 
 tated some prints or copies, as to Vinci’s academy, with whose 
 maxims he became completely familiar; and more especially 
 to his own genius, vast in its kind, and equalled by very few. 
 I say in its kind ; for I allude to all that is sweet, beautiful, 
 pious, and sensitive in the art. In those histories of our Lady, 
 at Sarono, her features present us with a lovely union of 
 beauty, dignity, and modesty, such as approach to Raffaello, 
 although they are not his. They are, moreover, always con¬ 
 sistent with the history the artist represents, whether we 
 behold the Virgin at the marriage, or listening with wonder to 
 the prophecies of Simeon; when, penetrated with the grand 
 mystery, she receives the wise men of the East; or when, with 
 a countenance of mingled joy and sorrow, she inquires of her 
 Divine Son, teaching in the temple, why he had thus left her. 
 The other figures possess a corresponding beauty ; the heads 
 appear to live, the looks and motions seem to be expecting a 
 reply; combined with a variety of design, of drapery, and of 
 passions, all borrowed from nature ; a style in which every 
 thing appears natural and unstudied, which gains at a first 
 view, which compels the eye to study part by part, and from 
 which it cannot withdraw itself without an effort; such is the 
 character of Luini’s style in that temple. We observe little 
 variation in his other pictures, which he executed with more 
 care, and at a more mature age, at Milan ; nor can I imagine 
 what could lead Vasari to assert that the ichole of his icorks 
 are tolerable ; when we meet with so many calculated to excite 
 our wonder. Let us consult his picture of Christ scourged, at 
 S. Giorgio, and inquire by what hand the countenance of our 
 Redeemer has been drawn more full of kindness, humility, and 
 piety ; or turn to his smaller cabinet paintings in the possession 
 of the Signori Litta, and other noble houses, so beautifully 
 finished, and inquire again how many artists in his own times 
 could have equalled him in these ? The genius of Luini docs 
 
AUltELIO LUINI. 
 
 49 5 
 
 not, moreover, appear, to have been at all fastidious or slow; 
 at least in his fresco-paintings. Thus his Crown of Thorns, 
 placed at the college of S. Sepolcro, a picture abounding with 
 figures, for which he received one hundred and fifteen lire, 
 occupied him thirty-eight days, besides eleven more, during 
 which one of his pupils was engaged on the work. He availed 
 himself of similar aid, likewise, in painting the choir of Sarono, 
 in the Monistero Maggiore, at Milan, in several churches of 
 Lago Maggiore, and in other places; and to these assistants 
 we ought apparently to ascribe whatever parts we find less 
 perfect. 
 
 Two only of his disciples, his own sons, as far as I can learn, 
 are known. At the period when Lomazzo published his trea¬ 
 tise, in 1584, they were both living, and both mentioned by 
 him with commendation. Of Evangelista, the second brother, 
 he remarks, that in the art of ornamenting and festooning, he 
 was equally ingenious and fanciful, at the same time giving 
 him a high rank in other branches of painting; though it is 
 to be regretted that he did not point out any of his produc¬ 
 tions. Aurelio Luini is frequently praised in the same work, 
 as well as in the Teatro, for his knowledge of anatomy, and for 
 his skill in landscape and perspective. He is subsequently 
 introduced in the Treatise upon Painting, among the most 
 celebrated artists of Milan who then flourished, as a successful 
 rival of Polidoro’s style, of which a specimen is praised, con¬ 
 sisting of a large fresco, on the facjade of the Misericordia. 
 After the lapse of two centuries, Bianconi has written of him 
 with more freedom, declaring, that though the son, he was not 
 the follower of Bernardino, the purity of whose style he was 
 far from attaining. And, in truth, it we except his composi¬ 
 tion, there is not much calculated to please in this artist. M e 
 may, indeed, often trace the paternal manner, much deterio¬ 
 rated however, and tainted with mannerism ; his ideas are 
 common, his attitudes less natural, the folds of his drapery are 
 minute, and drawn in a mechanical manner. This character 
 prevails in some genuine pieces of his that I have seen ; among 
 which is one in the Mclzi collection, with his name and the date 
 of 1570. Others, however, which I have examined at Milan, 
 are in a better taste, especially at S. Lorenzo, where an altar- 
 piece with the Baptism of Christ, is ascribed to him, that 
 
49G 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH II 
 
 would have done credit to Bernardino. Aurelio instructed in 
 the art Pietro Gnocchi ; and if I mistake not, he was surpassed 
 by his pupil, both in selection and in good taste. A Pietro 
 Luini, having the reputation of a soft and accurate hand, and 
 ‘ esteemed the last of the Luini, being admitted in history, I doubt 
 whether he be not the Pietro of whom we here treat, occasion¬ 
 ally surnamed from the house of his master, as we find in the 
 case of Porta, and others of the sixteenth century. To him 
 was ascribed the S. Pietro, painted for S. Yittore, seen in the 
 act of receiving the keys ; but in the “ New Guide” it is cor¬ 
 rectly given to the hand of Gnocchi. 
 
 Having thus shewn, as in a family tree, the regular suc¬ 
 cessors of Lionardo at Milan, we must prepare to examine 
 the other school, that traces its origin to Foppa, and other 
 artists of the fourteenth century, who are mentioned in their 
 place. It is not to be confounded with that of Yinci, and is 
 separately considered by writers on the subject, though it is 
 known to have derived great advantage from his models, and, 
 I believe, from his discourse, inasmuch as he is allowed, like 
 Eaffaello, to have been extremely courteous and agreeable in 
 his reception of every one, and in communicating his know¬ 
 ledge to all who desired it without any feeling of jealousy. If 
 we take the pains to examine Bramantino and the rest of the 
 Milanese artists, subsequent to the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, we shall find them all more or less imitators of Yinci, 
 aiming at his mode of chiaroscuro and his expression, rather 
 dark in their complexions, and addicted to colour rather with 
 force than with amenity. They are, however, less studious of 
 ideal beauty, less noble in their conceptions, less exquisite in 
 their taste, with the exception of Gaudenzio, who in every 
 thing rivals the first artist of his age ; and he is the only one 
 of the ancient school who inculcated its maxims by teaching 
 as well as by example. 
 
 Gaudenzio Ferrari da Yaldugia is called by Yasari Gau¬ 
 denzio Milanese. We mentioned him among RafFaello’s 
 assistants, referring to the account of Orlandi, who gives him 
 as a pupil to Pietro Perugino, and noticing certain pictures 
 that are attributed to him in Lower Italy. But in those parts, 
 where he only tarried a short time, or attempted some new 
 method, he can scarcely be recognised, the information regard- 
 
GAUDENZIO FERRARI 
 
 497 
 
 ing it being very doubtful, which will be further shewn under 
 the Ferrarese school. In Lombardy we may now treat of him 
 with more certainty, many of his works being met with, and 
 many particulars of him from the pen of Loinazzo, his suc¬ 
 cessor in the art, as we shall shortly shew. He mentions 
 Scotto as his master, and next to him Luini j and that previous 
 to either of these he studied with Giovanone, is a current 
 tradition at Vercelli. Novara is thought to be in possession of 
 one of his first paintings, an altar-piece with various divisions 
 at the cathedral, in the taste of the fourteenth century, and 
 with the gilt decorations then so much in request. Vercelli 
 possesses at S. Marco his copy of the cartoon of S. Anna, to 
 which are added the figures of S. Joseph and some other saints. 
 It is a youthful production, but which shews Gaudenzio to 
 have been an early imitator of Yinci, from whom, says Vasari, 
 he derived great assistance. He went young to Rome, where 
 he is said to have been employed by Raffaello, and acquired a 
 more enlarged manner of design, and greater beauty of colour¬ 
 ing than had been practised by the Milanese artists. Lomazzo, 
 against the opinion of Seannelli, ranks him among the seven 
 greatest painters in the world, among whom he erred in not 
 including Correggio. For whoever will compare the cupola 
 of S. Giovanni at Parma with that of S. Maria near Sarono, 
 painted by Gaudenzio about the same period, must admit that 
 there are a variety of beauties in the former, we may in vain 
 seek for in the latter. Although we must admit that it 
 abounds with fine, varied, and well-expressed figures, yet 
 Gaudenzio will be found in this, as in some other of his works, 
 to retain traces of the old style; such as a degree of harsh¬ 
 ness ; too uniform a disposition of his figures; his draperies, 
 particularly of his angels, some of them drawn in lines like 
 Mantegna’s ; with figures occasionally relieved in stucco, and 
 then coloured, a practice he observed also in his trappings of 
 horses, as well as in other accessaries, in the manner of Mon- 
 torfano. 
 
 With the exception of these defects, which he wholly 
 avoided in his more finished pieces, Gaudenzio must be pro¬ 
 nounced a very great painter, and one who approached nearest 
 of any among Raffaello’s assistants to Perino and to Giulio 
 Romano. He displays also a vast fund of ideas, though of au 
 
 VOL. II. 2 K 
 
498 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 opposite cast, Giulio having frequently directed his genius to 
 profane and licentious subjects, while the former confined him¬ 
 self to sacred compositions. He appears truly unequalled in 
 his expression of the divine majesty, the mysteries of religion, 
 and all the feelings of piety, of which he himself oflered a 
 laudable example, receiving the title of Eximie plus in one of 
 the Novarese assemblies. He was excellent in strong expres¬ 
 sion ; not that he aimed at exhibiting highly-wrought mus¬ 
 cular powers, but his attitudes were, as Yasari entitles them, 
 wild, that is, equally bold and terrible where his subjects 
 admitted of them. Such is the character of his Christ’s Pas¬ 
 sion, at the Grazie in Milan, where Titian was his competitor ; 
 and his Fall of S. Paul, at the Conventual friars in Vercelli, 
 a picture approaching the nearest of any to that of Michel¬ 
 angelo in the Pauline chapel. In the rest of his pictures he 
 shews great partiality for the most difficult foreshortenings, 
 which he introduces very frequently. If he fails in reaching 
 the peculiar grace and beauty of Raffaello, he at least, greatly 
 partakes of that character, as we observe in his S. Cristoforo, 
 at Vercelli, where, in addition to the picture of the titular 
 saint, he painted upon the walls various histories of Jesus 
 Christ, and others of Mary Magdalen. In this great work he 
 appears, more perhaps than in any other, in the character of a 
 beautiful painter, presenting us with the most lovely heads, 
 and with angels as lively in their forms as spirited in their 
 attitudes. I have heard it praised as his master-piece, though 
 Lomazzo and the author of the Guide both agree in asserting 
 that the manner he adopted in the Sepolcro of Yarallo sur- 
 passsed all he had elsewhere produced. 
 
 If we examine into further particulars of his style, we 
 shall find Ferrari’s warm and lively colouring so superior to 
 that of the Milanese artists of his day, that there is no diffi¬ 
 culty in recognising it in the churches where he painted ; the 
 eye of the spectator is directly attracted towards it; his car¬ 
 nations are natural, and varied according to the subjects; his 
 draperies display much fancy and originality, as varied as the 
 ' art varies its draperies; with middle tints, blended so skil¬ 
 fully as to equal the most beautiful produced by any other 
 artist. And if we may so say, he represented the minds even 
 better than the forms of his subjects. He particularly studied 
 
ANDREA SOLARI. 
 
 490 
 
 this branch of tlic art, and we seldom observe more marked 
 attitudes or more expressive countenances. Where he adds 
 landscape or architecture to his figures, the former chiefly 
 consists of very fanciful views of cliffs and rocks, which are 
 calculated to charm by their novelty; while his edifices are 
 conducted on the principles of the best perspective. As 
 Lomazzo, however, has dwelt so much at length on his admir¬ 
 able skill both in painting and modelling, it would be idle to 
 insist upon it further. . But I ought to add, that it is a great 
 reflection upon Vasari that he did not better know, or better 
 estimate such an artist; so that foreigners, who form their 
 opinions only from history, are left unacquainted with his 
 merit, and have uniformly neglected to do him justice in their 
 writings. 
 
 Ferrari s disciples for a long period maintained the manner 
 of their master, the first in succession with more fidelity than 
 the second class, and the second than the third. The chief 
 part were more eager to imitate his expression and his facility 
 than the elegance of his design and colouring, even so far as 
 to fall into the bordering errors of negligence and of caricature. 
 The. less celebrated scholars of Gaudenzio were Antonio La- 
 netti da Bugnato, of whom I know of no remaining genuine 
 production ; Fermo Stella da Caravaggio, and Giulio Cesare 
 Luini Valsesiano, who are still to be met with in some of the 
 chapels at Varallo. Lomazzo, in the thirty-seventh chapter 
 of his Treatise, besides Lanino, to come shortly under consi 
 deration, mentions, as imitators of Gaudenzio, Bernardo Fer 
 rari of Vigevano, where two sides of the cathedral organ are 
 painted by his hand; and Andrea Solari, or del Gobbo, or 
 Milanese, as he is called by Vasari at the close of his life of 
 Correggio, in whose age he flourished. He says he was “ a 
 very excellent and beautiful painter, and attached to the 
 labours of the art,” adducing some of his pictures in private, 
 and an Assumption at the Certosa in Pavia, in which Torre 
 (p. 138) gives him Salaino as a companion. His two most 
 distinguished pupils were Gio. Batista della Cerva and Ber¬ 
 nardino Lanino, from whom sprung two branches of the same 
 school, the Milanese and that of Vercelli. 
 
 . Cerva took up his abode at Milan, and if he painted every 
 picture like that which adorns San Lorenzo, representing the 
 
 2 K 2 
 
500 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 Apparition of Jesus Christ to S. Thomas and the other Apos¬ 
 tles, he is entitled to rank with the first of his school, such is 
 the choice and spirited character of the heads, such the warmth 
 and distribution of his colouring, and so truly noble and har¬ 
 monious is its effect as a whole. He must have been deeply 
 versed in the art, though we possess no more of his public 
 works, as he became the master of Gio. Paolo Lomazzo of 
 Milan, who acquired from him the maxims he afterwards 
 published in his Treatise upon Painting in 1584, and which he 
 condensed in his “ Idea of the Temple of Painting,” printed 
 in 1590, to say nothing of his verses, for the most part con¬ 
 nected with the same profession. 
 
 In his account of this writer Orlandi inserted several erro¬ 
 neous epochs of his life, subsequently cleared up by Bianconi, 
 who fixes that of his loss of sight about 1571, in the thirty- 
 third year of his age. Until this misfortune he had continued 
 to cultivate all the knowledge he could derive from those 
 times, which indeed in certain branches are in some measure 
 undervalued. He took a tour through Italy, attaching him¬ 
 self to polite letters and to the sciences, for which he indulged 
 such an enthusiasm, in his ill-placed ambition to appear a 
 philosopher, astrologer, and mathematician, that he treated 
 matters even the most obvious, in an abstruse and often false 
 manner, as mistaken as the principles of the current astrology 
 itself. This defect is very perceptible in his larger work, 
 though being dispersed scantily here and there, it is the more 
 easily excused. But it is more serious in his compendium, or 
 “ Idea of the Temple of Painting,” where it is presented to us 
 in a point of view truly repugnant to common sense. Whilst 
 engaged in teaching an art which consists in designing and 
 colouring well, he flies from planet to planet; to each of the 
 seven painters, whom he calls principals, he assigns one of 
 these celestial bodies, and afterwards one of the metals to cor¬ 
 respond. Extravagant as this idea is, he gave scope to still 
 more strange fancies; so that with this method, combined 
 with a most fatiguing prolixity, and the want of an exact 
 index, his treatises have been little read. It would be well 
 worth while to re-model this work, and to separate the fruit 
 from the husk, as it abounds not only with much pleasing 
 historical information, but with the best theories of art, heard 
 
GIO. PAOLO LOMAZZO. 
 
 501 
 
 from the lips of those who knew both Lionardo and Gauden- 
 zio, as well as with excellent observations upon the practice 
 of the best masters, and much critical knowledge relating to 
 the mythology, history, and customs of the ancients. His 
 rules of perspective are particularly valuable. They were 
 compiled from the MSS. of Foppa, of Zenale, of Mantegua, 
 and of Vinci (Tratt. p. 264) ; in addition to which he has 
 preserved some fragments of Bramantino, who was extremely 
 ingenious in this art (p. 276). By these qualities, united to 
 a certain ease of style, not so agreeable perhaps as that of 
 V asari, yet not so mysterious and obscure as that of Zuccaro, 
 nor so mean as that of Boschini; the treatise of Lomazzo is 
 deserving of attention, even from confessed masters, and of 
 their selection of some of the best chapters for the benefit of 
 their oldest pupils. I know of no other better adapted to 
 furnish youthful genius with fine pictoric ideas on every 
 theme, none more likely to attach him, and to instruct him how 
 to treat questions upon ancient art, none that displays a more 
 extensive acquaintance with the human heart—what are its 
 passions, and by what signs they are manifested, and how 
 they assume a different dress in different countries, with their 
 appropriate limits ; and no writer, finally, includes in a single 
 volume, more useful precepts for the formation of a reflecting 
 artist, a fine reasoner, in a spirit congenial to Vinci, at once 
 the father of the Milanese school, and I may add of pictoric 
 philosophy, which consists in sound reflection upon each 
 branch of the profession. 
 
 None of Lomazzo’s paintings are doubtful, as the author 
 has celebrated his own life and works in certain verses, com¬ 
 posed, as I have reason to think, to beguile the tedium of hours 
 wholly passed in darkness, and which he entitled “Grot- 
 teschi. * His first efforts, as in all instances, are feeble, of 
 
 * Can there be any doubt whether he was blind or not, when he wrote 
 the following verses :— 
 
 Quindi Andai a Piacenza, et ivi fei 
 Nel refetorio di Sant’ Agostino 
 La facciata con tal historia pinta. 
 
 Da lontan evvi Piero in Orazione 
 Che vede giu dal ciel un gran lenzuolo 
 Scender pien d’ animai piccioli e grandi 
 Onde la Quadragesma fu introdotta, &c. 
 
502 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 which kind is his copy of Vinci’s Supper, which may be seen 
 at the Pace. In his others we trace the hand of a master 
 eager to put his maxims into execution, and who succeeds 
 more or less happily. One of the most fundamental of 
 these was to consider as dangerous the imitation of other 
 artists, whether taken from paintings or engravings. It 
 is contended that an artist should aim at - becoming original, 
 forming the whole of his composition in his own mind, and 
 copying the individual portions from nature and from truth. 
 This precept, first derived from Gaudenzio, was put in 
 force both by Lomazzo and others of his own time. In his 
 pictures we may always discover some original traits, as 
 in that at S. Marco’s, where, instead of putting the keys in 
 the hands of S. Peter, according to the usual custom, he re¬ 
 presents the Holy Child offering them to him in a playful 
 attitude. His novelty appears still more conspicuous in his 
 large histories, such as his Sacrifice of Melchisedech, in the 
 library of the Passione, a picture abounding with figures, in 
 which the knowledge of anatomy is equal to the novelty of the 
 drapery, and the animation of the colours to that of the atti¬ 
 tudes. He has added to it a combat in the distance, well con¬ 
 ceived, and in good perspective. I have seen no other painting 
 of his that displays more knowledge. In other instances he 
 is confused and overloaded, sometimes also extravagant, as in 
 that grand fresco painted for the refectory of S. Agostino at Pia¬ 
 cenza, or as it is called of the Rocchettini, which represents the 
 subject of the Forty Days’ Fast. This is an ideal feast of 
 meagre meats, where the sovereigns are seen in different seats 
 (some of them portraits of the age), with lords of rank feasting 
 at a splendid banquet of fish, while the poor are devouring 
 such food as they have, and a greedy man is struggling with a 
 huge mouthful sticking in his throat. The Lord blesses the ta¬ 
 ble, and above is seen the sheet wdiich was shewn in a vision to 
 S. Peter. It is a grand picture, calculated to surprise the eye by 
 the exactness with which the particular parts are copied from 
 nature, and with a delicacy that Girupeno asserts was un¬ 
 equalled even by Lomazzo in the works he executed at Milan. 
 But it is not happy as a whole ; the canvas is too full, and there 
 is a mixture of sacred and burlesque subjects, from scripture 
 and from the tavern, that cannot be reconciled or approved. 
 
AMBROGIO FIGINO. 
 
 503 
 
 ri J- j0jnazzo gives the names of two Milanese as his pupils, 
 Oristoforo Ciocca and Ambrogio Figino. He could not long 
 lave afforded them his instructions, as at the period when he 
 vrote his Treatise, being then blind, they were both still in 
 urly youth. He commends them for their portraits, and the 
 Srst would appear never to have been an able composer, 
 haying left, perhaps, no other pieces in public, except his his¬ 
 tories of S. Cristoforo, at S. Vittore al Corpo, by no means 
 3xcellent. Figino succeeded no less admirably in portraits, 
 vvhich he painted also for princes, with high commendation 
 from the Cav. Marino, than in large compositions almost always 
 executed in oil, and more distinguished by the excellence than 
 by the number of the figures. Some of his pictures, as his 
 S. Ambrogio, at S. Eustorgio, or his S. Matteo, at S. Raffaello, 
 though presenting few figures, fail not to please by the gran¬ 
 deur of character expressed in the faces of those saints ; nor 
 has any other artist of Milan approached in this art nearer to 
 Gaudenzio, who left such noble examples in his S. Girolamo and 
 S. Paolo. In works of a larger scale, such as his Assumption 
 of S. Fedele, and the very elegant Concezione at S. Antonio, 
 he also excels. His method is described by his preceptor, in 
 his Treatise (p. 438). He proposed for his imitation the 
 lights and the accuracy of Lionardo, the dignity of Raffaello, 
 Correggio’s colouring, and the outlines of Michelangelo. Of 
 the last in particular he was one of the most successful imita¬ 
 tors in his designs, which are consequently in the highest 
 repute ; but independent of which he is little known, either in 
 collections or in history, further than Milan.* This artist must 
 not be mistaken for Girolamo Figino, his contemporary, a very 
 able painter, and an exact miniaturist, if we are to credit 
 Morigia. There is also ranked, among Lomazzo’s disciples, a 
 Pietro Martire Stresi, who acquired some reputation by his 
 copies from Raffaello. 
 
 The other branch of Gaudenzio’s school, before mentioned, 
 sprung from Bernardino Lauini of Vercelli, who there pro¬ 
 duced some excellent early imitations of the style of Gaudenzio, 
 
 * In his later works, in order to exhibit his skill in anatomy, he gave 
 in to mannerism, which rendered him hard in his figures, and languid in 
 colouring. Many pictures by his hand have been elsewhere attributed to 
 Michelangelo.—A. 
 
504 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCn II. 
 
 his master. At S. Giuliano there is a Pieta, with the date of 
 1547, which might be ascribed to Gaudenzio, had not the 
 name of Bernardino been affixed. It is the same with his 
 other pictures, executed at his native place, when still young, 
 and perhaps the chief distinction consists in his inferior accu¬ 
 racy of design, and less force of chiaroscuro. At a riper age 
 he painted with more freedom, and a good deal in the manner 
 of the naturalists, ranking among the first in Milan. He had 
 a very lively genius both for conceiving and executing, and 
 adapted like that of Ferrari for noble histories. The one of 
 S. Catherine, in the church of that name, near S. Celso, is 
 greatly celebrated, and the more so, from what Lomazzo* has 
 said of it, being full of pictoric spirit in the features and the 
 attitudes, with colouring like Titian’s, and embued with grace, 
 no less in the face of the saint, which partakes of Guido, than 
 in the choir of angels, which rivals those of Gaudenzio. If 
 there be any portion deficient, it is in the want of more care 
 in arranging his drapery. He was much employed both for 
 the city and the state, particularly at the cathedral of Novara, 
 where he painted his Sibyllo, and his Padre Eterno, so greatly 
 admired by Lomazzo; besides several histories of the Virgin, 
 which though now deprived of their colour, still attract us by 
 the spirit and clearness of the design. He was sometimes 
 fond of displaying the manner of Vinci, as in his picture of the 
 Patient Christ, between two angels, painted for the church of 
 Ambrogio; so complete in every part, so beautiful and devo¬ 
 tional, combined with so fine a relief, as to be esteemed one of 
 the .most excellent productions that adorn that church.f 
 
 Bernardino had two brothers, not known beyond Vercelli; 
 Gaudenzio, of whom there is said to be an altar-piece in the 
 sacristy of the Padri Barnabiti, representing the Virgin be¬ 
 tween various saints ; and his second brother Girolamo, from 
 whose hand I have seen a Descent from the Cross, belonging 
 to a private individual. Both display some distant resem- 
 
 * This S. Catherine is not now at S. Celso, but in the oratory annexed 
 to S. Nazzaro, and in design and colouring is equal to Gaudenzio. In 
 the church of S. Ambrosio are equally beautiful specimens of his frescos, 
 which are highly estimated.—A. 
 
 t Let us rather prize a view of his Baptism of Christ, a painting in 
 oil, now in the I. R. Pinacoteca_ A. 
 
FRANCESCO VINCENTINO. 
 
 505 
 
 blance to Bernardino in tlie natural expression of the counte¬ 
 nances, the former also in the force of his colouring, though alike 
 greatly inferior in design. Three other Giovenoni, subsequent to 
 Girolamo, flourished about the period of Lanini, whose names 
 were Paolo, Batista, and Giuseppe; the last became an excellent 
 portrait-painter. He was brother-in-law to Lanini, two of 
 whose sons-in-law were likewise good artists ; Soleri, whom I 
 reserve for the school of Piedmont, and Gio. Martino Casa, a 
 native of Vercelli, who resided, however, at Milan, whence I 
 obtained my information. Perhaps the last in the list of this 
 school was Vicolungo di Vercelli. In a private house at that 
 place, I saw his Supper of Belshazzar, tolerably well coloured, 
 abounding with figures, extravagant drapery, poor ideas, and 
 no way calculated to surprise, except by exhibiting the suc¬ 
 cessors of Raffaello reduced thus gradually to so mean a state. 
 
 Good landscape painters were not wanting in this happy 
 epoch in Milan, particularly in the school of Bernazzano, 
 their productions appearing in several collections, though their 
 names are unknown. To this list perhaps belongs the Fran¬ 
 cesco Vicentino, a Milanese so much commended by Lomazzo, 
 who, in a landscape, succeeded even in shewing the dust 
 blown about by the wind. He was also a good figure-painter, 
 of which a few fine specimens remain at the Grazie and other 
 churches. Some ornamental painters and of grotesques we 
 have already noticed, to which list we may add Aurelio Buso, 
 mentioned with praise among the native Venetian artists, and 
 here again justly recorded for his labours. Vincenzio Laviz- 
 zario, an excellent portrait-painter, may be esteemed the 
 Titian of the Milanese, to whose name we may unite that of 
 Gio. da Monte of Crema, treated in the preceding book and 
 deserving of repetition here. Along with him flourished 
 Giuseppe Arcimboldi, selected for his skill in portrait, as the 
 court-painter of Maximilian II., in which office he continued 
 also under the Emperor Rodolph. Both these artists were 
 much celebrated for those capricci, or fancy-pieces, which 
 afterwards fell into disuse. At a distance they appeared 
 to be figures of men and women ; but on a nearer view 
 the Flora disappeared in a heap of flowers and leaves, and 
 the Vertumnus was metamorphosed into a composition of 
 fruits and foliage. Nor did these fanciful artists confine 
 
506 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH II. 
 
 themselves to subjects taken from ancient fable ; they added 
 others in which they poetically introduced various personifi¬ 
 cations. The former even represented Cucina, with her head 
 and limbs composed only of pots and pans and other kitchen 
 utensils ; while the latter, who acquired great credit from 
 these strange inventions, produced a picture of Agriculture, 
 consisting of spades, ploughs, and scythes, with other appro¬ 
 priate implements. 
 
 We have lastly to record an art connected with the inferior 
 branches of painting, scarcely noticed by me in any other 
 place, being, indeed, purposely reserved for the Milanese 
 school, where it more particularly flourished. This is the art 
 of embroidering, not merely flowers and foliage, but extensive 
 history and figure-pieces. It had continued from the time of 
 the Romans in Italy, and there is a very valuable specimen 
 remaining in the so-called Casula Dit.tica, at the Museo di 
 Classe at Ravenna, or more properly some strips of it brocaded 
 with gold, on which, in needlework, appear the portraits of 
 Zenone, Montano, and other saintly bishops. It is a monu¬ 
 ment of the sixth century, and has been described by the Ab. 
 Sarti, and afterwards by Monsig. Dionisi. The same custom of 
 embroidering sacred walls with figures would appear, from the 
 ancient pictures, to have continued during the dark ages, and 
 there are yet some relics to be seen in some of our sacristies. 
 The most entire are at S. Niccolo Collegiata in Fabriano, 
 consisting of a priest’s cope, with figures of apostles and 
 different saints ; and a vestment with mysteries of the passion, 
 worked in embroidery, with the dry and coarse design of the 
 fourteenth century. In Vasari we find frequent mention of 
 this art; and, to say nothing of the ancients, he presents us 
 with many names greatly distinguished in it in more cultivated 
 ages j such as Paolo da ^ erona, and one Niccolo Veneziano, 
 who being in the service of the Prince Doria, at Genoa, 
 introduced Perin del Vaga at that court, as well as Antonio 
 Ubertini, a Florentine, to whom we alluded under his own 
 school. 
 
 Lomazzo traces the account of the Milanese from the earliest 
 period. Luca Schiavone, he observes, carried this branch to 
 the highest degree, and communicated it to Girolamo Delfi- 
 none, who flourished in the times of the last Duke Sforza, 
 
CATERINA CANTONA. 
 
 507 
 
 whose portrait he executed in embroidery, besides several 
 large works, among which is the Life of our Lady, worked for 
 the Cardinal Baiosa. This skill became hereditary in the 
 family, and Scipione, the son of Girolamo, was equally dis- 
 tinguished. His chases of different animals were in great 
 request for royal cabinets, a number of them being collected 
 by Philip of Spain and the English king Henry. Marcan- 
 tonio, son of Scipione, followed the genius of the family, and 
 is mentioned by Lomazzo in 1591 as a youth of great promise. 
 This writer has also praised for her skill in the same line, 
 Caterina Cantona, a noble Milanese lady, and has omitted 
 the name of Pellegrini, the Minerva of her time, only perhaps 
 because she had then hardly become celebrated. Other indi¬ 
 viduals of this house are mentioned in the list of artists. 
 Andrea, who painted in the choir of S. Girolamo, and a 
 Pellegrino, his cousin, celebrated in the history of Palomino 
 for his productions in the Escurial, and being both architect 
 and painter to the royal court. The lady of whom I write, 
 how far related to them I know not, devoted herself wholly to 
 her needle, and by her hand were embroidered the great 
 pallium (vestment) and other sacred furniture, still preserved 
 in the sacristy of the cathedral, and exhibited to strangers 
 with other curious specimens of ancient learning and the arts. 
 In the Guide for 1783, she is called Antonia, and in that for 
 1787 Lodovica, unless, indeed, they were two different per¬ 
 sons. In the following age Boschini mentioned, with high 
 commendation, the unrivalled Dorothea Aromatari, who, he 
 adds, produced with her needle all those beauties which the 
 finest and most diligent artists exhibited with their pencil. 
 To hers he unites with praise the names of some other female 
 embroiderers of the age; and we, in mentioning that of 
 Arcangela Paladini, had occasion to commend her paintings 
 and her needlework at the same time. 
 
508 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN. 
 
 EPOCH III. 
 
 The Procaccini and other Foreign and Native Artists establish a new 
 Academy, with new styles, in the city and state of Milan. 
 
 The two series which we have hitherto described have gradu¬ 
 ally brought us towards the seventeenth century, when there 
 scarcely remained a trace either of the Yinci or Gaudenzio 
 manner. This arose from their latest successors, who adopted, 
 more or less, those new manners which were gradually intro¬ 
 duced into Milan at the expense of the ancient style. As 
 early as the time of Gaudenzio appeared in that city the 
 Coronation of Thorns, painted by Titian, which was so greatly 
 admired that several of his pupils came to establish themselves 
 there, besides other foreigners. Some unfortunate circum¬ 
 stances also occurred ; particularly the plague, which more 
 than once, in the same century, desolated the state, and which 
 sweeping off native artists, opened the way to strangers who 
 succeeded to their commissions. Hence Lomazzo, at the close 
 of his Tempio, only commends three among the Milanese 
 figure-painters, who then flourished, Luini, Gnocchi, and 
 Duchino, the rest being all foreigners. The attachment 
 shewn by several noble families to the arts, conduced to 
 invite them thither, and in particular that of the Borromea, 
 which presented to the archiepiscopal seat of their country 
 two distinguished prelates, Cardinal Carlo, who added to the 
 number of saints at the altar, and Federigo, who nearly 
 attained the same honours. Both were inspired by the same 
 spirit of religion; they were simple in private, but splendid 
 and liberal in public. Out of their economy they clothed and 
 fed numbers of citizens, and promoted the dignity of the 
 sanctuary, and of their country. They erected and restored 
 many noble edifices, and decorated with paintings a far greater 
 
CARDINAL FEDERIGO. 
 
 50D 
 
 number both in and beyond the city, insomuch as to make it 
 observed that Milan was no less indebted to the Borromei 
 than Florence to her Medici, or Mantua to her Gonzairhi. 
 The Car. Fedengo, who received his education first at 
 Bologna, then at Rome, not only possessed a decided incli¬ 
 nation but a taste for the fine arts ; and he also enjoyed a 
 longer and more tranquil pontificate than Carlo, so as to 
 enable him to afford them superior patronage. Not satisfied 
 with employing the ablest architects, sculptors, and painters 
 in public works, he rekindled, as it were, the spark that yet 
 survived of Vinci’s academy, instituting, with much care and 
 expense, a new academy of the fine arts. He provided it 
 with schools, with casts, and a very choice picture-gallery,* 
 for the benefit of the young students, taking advantage of the 
 plan and rules of the Roman academy, founded a few years 
 before with his co-operation. The grand colossal figure of 
 S. Carlo reflects equal honour on the new school and on its 
 founder, being executed in bronze from the design of Cerani, 
 and exhibited at Arona, the place where the saint was born; 
 a statue fourteen times the height of the human figure, and 
 vieing with the grandest productions of Greek or Egyptian 
 statuary. In painting, however, to say the truth, the new 
 is not equal to the ancient school, though by no means 
 deficient in fine artists, as we shall shew. Meanwhile we 
 must resume the thread of our history, and explain how the 
 Milanese, being reduced to very few artists, while painters 
 were much in request for the ornament of churches and other 
 public edifices, greatly on the increase, were superseded by 
 foreign artists, such as the Campi, the Semini, the Procaccini, 
 
 * He was one of the first in Italy who collected paintings of the 
 Flemish school, which was then fast rising into reputation. His agree¬ 
 ment with Gio. Brenghel still exists, who painted for the academic col¬ 
 lection at Milan the Four Elements, pictures very often repeated, of 
 which copies are to be seen in the royal gallery at Florence, in the Melzi 
 collection at Milan, and in several at Rome, The artist, who had great 
 skill in drawing flowers, fruits, herbs, birds, and animals, of which he 
 formed copious and beautiful compositions, displayed a grand variety in 
 these, and was no less admirable in his high finish, in the clearness of his 
 colours, and in other qualities which acquired him the esteem of the 
 greatest artists, among whom Rubens was one who availed himself of his 
 talents for landscape, which he introduced into his own pictures. 
 
51 0 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH III. 
 
 and the Nuvoloni, who introduced new styles, while others 
 were sought out in foreign parts by some of the citizens of 
 Milan, particularly by Cerano and by Morazzone. These 
 became the instructors of almost all the Milanese youth, and 
 of the state; these commencing their labours about 1570, 
 which they continued until after 1600, at length rose so supe¬ 
 rior to the ancient schools, not so much in soundness of taste 
 and maxims, as in the amenity of their colours, as gradually 
 to extinguish them. Nor did they only aim at teaching new 
 styles; some of them began to treat them with so much haste 
 as to fall into mannerism, from which period their school 
 began to decline and appeared to have adopted as a maxim to 
 praise the theory of the ancients, and to practise the haste of 
 the moderns. But let us return to our subject. 
 
 I mentioned, not far back, in treating of Titian’s disciples, 
 the names of Callisto da Lodi and Gio. da Monte, and I have 
 here to add that of Simone Peterzano or Preterazzano, who, 
 on his Pieta, at S. Fedele, inscribed himself Titiani Discipu- 
 lus ; and his close imitation seems to confirm its truth. He 
 produced also works in fresco, and particularly at S. Barnaba 
 several histories of St. Paul. He there appears to have aimed 
 at uniting the expression, the foreshortening, and the perspec¬ 
 tive of the Milanese, to the colouring of the Venetian artists; 
 noble works, if they were thoroughly correct; and if the 
 author had been as excellent in fresco as in oil-painting. 
 From Venice, or rather from its senate, we trace the name 
 of Cesare Dandolo, who went to settle at Milan, and whose 
 paintings adorn various palaces, esteemed no less for their art 
 than on account of the rank of the noble artist. 
 
 The Campi were among the most eager to establish them¬ 
 selves at Milan, where they were much employed, and Bernar¬ 
 dino more than the rest. He painted, likewise, in the adja¬ 
 cent cities, and it was at that period that he completed for 
 the Certosa, at Pavia, the before-mentioned altar-piece of 
 Andrea Solari, which, remaining unfinished at his death, was, 
 after the lapse of many years, completed in the same style by 
 Bernardino, so as to appear wholly from the same hand. 
 Unable alone to despatch his commissions, he had his cartoons 
 coloured by his pupils, who became, like their master, accurate, 
 precise, and worthy of the commendations bestowed upon 
 
THE SEMINI. 
 
 511 
 
 them by Lomazzo. One of these was Giuseppe Meda, both 
 painter and architect, who represented upon an organ, in the 
 Metropolitana, the figure of David seen playing before the 
 ark. This work is cited by Orlandi, under the name of 
 Carlo Meda, who, perhaps belonged to the family of the 
 preceding, and who, as stated in the dictionary, appears 
 younger. Few of his other pictures are to be seen, as is 
 observed by Scannelli. Another was Daniello Cunio, of 
 Milan, who became a landscape painter of great merit; per¬ 
 haps a brother, or other relation of the same Ridolfo Cunio, 
 who is met with in several Milanese collections, and is parti¬ 
 cularly celebrated for his design. The third was Carlo Urbini 
 da Crema, one of the least celebrated but most deserving 
 artists of his age, and one whom we have commemorated 
 elsewhere. Lamo observes, that Bernardino had a vast num¬ 
 ber of scholars and assistants, and from his account, we are 
 here enabled to add the names of Andrea da Yiadana, Giuli- 
 ano or Giulio de’ Capitani, of Lodi, and Andrea Marliano, of 
 Pavia. Perhaps, also, Andrea Pellini belongs to this list, 
 who, though unknown in his native city of Cremona, is cele¬ 
 brated at Milan for his Descent from the Cross, placed at 
 S. Eustorgio, in 1595. 
 
 Of a later date, appeared at Milan the two Semini, from 
 Genoa; both of whom were much employed, and both dis¬ 
 ciples of the Roman more than any other style. Ottavio, the 
 eldest, instructed Paol Camillo Landriani, called 11 Duchino, 
 who was justly praised in the Tempio of Lomazzo as a youth 
 of the greatest promise. He subsequently produced a number 
 of altar-pieces, among which was a Nativity at S. Ambrogio, 
 in which, to the design and elegance of his master, he unites 
 perhaps a greater degree of softness. The professors hitherto 
 described do not reach the era of the art's decline, except, 
 possibly, in their extreme old age; insomuch as to be fully 
 worthy of the praise I bestow. 
 
 The artists, however, who more particularly employed them¬ 
 selves in painting and teaching at Milan during this period, 
 were the Procaccini of Bologna. Though not mentioned by 
 Lomazzo in his Treatise, in the year 1584, they are afterwards, 
 in 1590, recorded with much honour in hisTempio ; so that we 
 may infer that they became celebrated during the intervening 
 
512 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.—EPOCH III. 
 
 period at Milan, where they afterwards established themselves in 
 1609. Ercole is at the head of this family, whom Orlandi, follow¬ 
 ing Mai vasia, represents in a military manner, as having lost the 
 field at Bologna, where he could no longer “ make head against 
 the Samacchini, the Cesi, the Sabbatini, the Passarotti, the Fon¬ 
 tana, the Caracci, though he afterwards encountered the Figini, 
 the Luini, the Cerani, and the Morazzoni, at Milan." I am 
 at a loss how to verify such an assertion. Ercole was born in 
 1520, as I gathered from a MS. of P. Resta, in the Ambrosian 
 library ; and in 1590, when the “ Temple of Painting” first 
 issued from the press, he was very old, nor did he ever exhibit 
 any of his pictures in public at Milan, so that Lomazzo ought 
 to have sought subjects for commendation of him from Parma, 
 and more particularly Bologna. Many of his works still re¬ 
 main there, from which we may decide whether Malvasia and 
 Baldinucci had more reason to represent him as an artist of 
 mediocrity, or Lomazzo to entitle him a very successful imi¬ 
 tator of the great Correggio’s colouring, as well as of his grace 
 and beauty. In my own opinion he appears somewhat minute 
 in design, and feeble in his colouring, resembling the tone of 
 the Florentines ; a thing so common am&ng his contemporaries, 
 that I know not why it should be made a peculiar reproach to 
 him. For the rest he is more pleasing, accurate, and exact, 
 than most artists of his age; and possibly his over-diligence 
 acted as an obstacle to him in a city where the rapid Fontana 
 bore the chief sway. But this quality, besides exempting him 
 from the mannerism then beginning to prevail, rendered him 
 an excellent preceptor ; whose principal duty is found to con¬ 
 sist in checking the impatience of young artists, and accustom¬ 
 ing them to precision and delicacy of taste. Thus many 
 excellent pupils sprung from his school, such as Samacchini,'* 
 Sabbatini, and Bertoia. He instructed also his three sons, 
 Camillo, Giulio Cesare, and Carlo Antonio, from which last 
 sprung Ercole the younger ; all masters of young Milanese 
 artists, and of whom it will be our business to treat in suc¬ 
 cession. 
 
 Camillo is the only one of the three who was known to 
 Lomazzo, who describes him as an artist distinguished both foi 
 his design and his colouring. He received his first instructions 
 from his father, and often displays a resemblance in his heads, 
 
PAOL CAMILLO LANPRIANI. 
 
 513 
 
 and in the distribution of his tints ; though, where he painted 
 with care, he both warmed and broke them, as well as employed 
 the middle colours, in a superior manner. He studied other 
 schools, and if we are to believe some of his biographers, he 
 practised at Rome from the models of Ralfaello and Michel¬ 
 angelo, besides being passionately devoted to the heads of 
 Parmigianino, an imitation of which is perceptible in all his 
 works. He possessed wonderful facility both in conception 
 and execution ; added to nature, beauty and spirit, always 
 attractive to the eye, though they do not always satisfy the 
 judgment. Nor is this surprising, as he early threw off the 
 reign of paternal instruction, and executed works enough to 
 have employed ten artists at Bologna, at Ravenna, Reggio, Pia¬ 
 cenza, Pavia, and Genoa. He was by many called the Vasari, 
 and the Zuccaro of Lombardy; although, to say truth, he sur¬ 
 passes them in sweetness of style and of colours. He was parti¬ 
 cularly engaged at Milan, a city which boasts some of his best 
 productions, by which he obtained reputation there ; and many 
 of his worst, with which he satisfied those who valued his 
 name. Of his earliest works there, and the most free from 
 mannerism, are those adorning the exterior of the organ at the 
 Metropolitana, along with various mysteries of our Lady, and 
 two histories of David playing upon his harp ; all described 
 very minutely by Malvasia. But he produced nothing in 
 Milan equal to his Judgment at S. Procol di Reggio, esteem¬ 
 ed one of the finest specimens of fresco in all Lombardy ; and 
 to his S. Rocco among the sick and dying of the plague, a 
 picture that intimidated Annibal Caracci, when he had to paint 
 a companion for it (see Malvasia, p. 466). The pictures pro¬ 
 duced by Camillo, in the cathedral of Piacenza, where the 
 duke of Parma had placed him in competition with Lodovico 
 Caracci, whose genius was then mature, are well and carefully 
 executed. He there represented our Lady crowned Queen of 
 the Universe by the Almighty, surrounded with a very full 
 choir of angels, in whose forms he displayed the most finished 
 beauty. It was the part of Lodovico to represent other angels 
 around; and opposite to the Coronation the Padri del Limbo. 
 The first occupied the most distinguished place in the tribune; 
 though both then and now he was esteemed by spectators the 
 least worthy of the two. However advantageously he there 
 VOL. II. 2 L 
 
514 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH III. 
 
 appears, and entitled to the applause of Girupeno and other 
 historians, as well as travellers, he at the same time loses a 
 portion of his consequence at the side of Caracci, who, by the 
 novelty of his ideas, the natural expression of his countenances, 
 of his attitudes, and of his symbols, especially in those angels 
 opposed to the more common conceptions of his rival, makes 
 the monotony and weakness of Procaccini the more remarkable. 
 Caracci’s superior dignity, likewise, in his figures of the patri¬ 
 archs, throws that of Camillo’s Divinity into the shade. They 
 also executed some histories of the Madonna, placed opposite 
 each other ; and almost bearing the same proportion as we 
 have already mentioned. But as the Caracci were few, Pro¬ 
 caccini for the most part triumphed over his competitors. He 
 is even now well received in the collections of the great, and 
 our own prince has recently obtained one of his Assumptions, 
 with Apostles surrounding the tomb of Jesus, a picture full of 
 variety, and in a grand manner. 
 
 Giulio Cesare, the best of the Procaccini, at first devoted 
 himself to sculpture with success, subsequently attaching him¬ 
 self to painting, as to a less laborious and more pleasing art. 
 He frequented the Caracci Academy at Bologna; and it is 
 said, that taking offence at some satirical observations of 
 Annibal’s, he struck, and even wounded him. His French 
 biographer states Giulio’s birth to have occurred in 1548, 
 though he postpones this quarrel until 1609, in which year 
 the Procaccini established themselves at Milan. It must have 
 occurred, however, much earlier, as in 1609 Giulio was a 
 renowned painter, while Annibal was in his decline, Giulio 
 Cesare’s studies were directed to the models of Correggio, and 
 it is the opinion of many, that no one approached nearer to 
 the grand style of that artist. In his small pictures, with few 
 figures, in which imitation is more easy, he has often been 
 mistaken for his original, though his elegance cannot boast 
 the same clear and native tone, nor his colours the same rich 
 and vigorous handling. One of his Madonnas, at S. Luigi 
 de’ Francesi, at Rome, was, in fact, engraved not long since 
 for a work of Allegri, by an excellent artist; and there are 
 other equally fine imitations in the Sanvitali Palace, in 
 Parma; in that of the Careghi, in Genoa, and other places. 
 Among his numerous altar-pieces, the one I have seen, 
 
GIULIO CESARE. 
 
 51 b 
 
 which displays most of the Correggio manner, is at S. Afra, in 
 Brescia. It represents the Virgin and Child, surrounded with 
 some figures of angels and saints, which are seen gazing and 
 smiling upon him. He has perhaps, indeed, gone somewhat 
 beyond, the limits of propriety, in order to attain more grace, 
 which is the case with his Nunziata, at S. Antonio, in Milan; 
 in which the Holy Virgin and angel are seen smiling at each 
 other, a circumstance hardly compatible either with the time 
 or the mystery. In his attitudes, also, he was occasionally 
 guilty of extravagance, as in his Martyrdom of S. Nazario, 
 in the church of that name, a picture attractive by its har¬ 
 mony and its grace, though the figure of the executioner is in 
 too forced a position. Giulio left many very large histories, 
 such as his Passage of the Red Sea, at S. Vittore, in Milan; 
 and more in Genoa, where Soprani has pointed them out. 
 What is surprising, in so vast a number of his pieces, is the 
 accuracy of his design, the variety of his ideas, and his dili¬ 
 gence both in his naked and dressed parts, combined at the 
 same time with a grandeur, which, if I mistake not, he 
 derived from the Caracci. In the Sacristy of S. Maria, at 
 Sarono,. is his picture of Saints Andrea, Carlo, and Ambrogio, 
 displaying the most dignified character of their school; if, 
 indeed, we are not to suppose, that in common with the 
 Caracci, he acquired it from those magnificent models of the 
 art at Parma. 
 
 To these two may be added Carlantonio Procaccini, not as 
 a figure, but a good landscape painter, and a tolerable hand in 
 drawing fruits and flowers. He produced a variety of pieces 
 tor the Milanese gallery, which happening to please the 
 court, then one of the branches of Spain, he had frequent 
 commissions from that country, insomuch that he rose, though 
 the weakest of the family, into the highest repute. 
 
 The Procaccini opened schools at Milan, where they obtained 
 the reputation of kind and able masters, educating, both for 
 the city and state, so great a number of artists, that it would 
 be neither possible nor useful to comprise them all in a his¬ 
 tory. They could boast among them some inventors of anew 
 style, the same as the disciples of the Caracci; though most 
 of them aimed at observing the manner of their masters ; 
 some maintaining it by their accuracy, and others injuring it 
 
 2 l 2 
 
516 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH III. 
 
 bv their over haste. We reserve the series of them, however, 
 to the last epoch, in order not to disperse the same school 
 through different parts. 
 
 The last of the foreigners who then gave instructions at 
 Milan, was Panfilo Nuvolone, a noble Cremonese, of whose 
 style we treated at length in the list of the Cav. Trotti’s 
 disciples. He was a diligent rather than an imaginative 
 artist, and produced no works of any extent at Milan, except 
 for the nunneries of Saints Domenico and Lazzaro, where he 
 painted in the ceiling the history of Lazarus and the Rich 
 Man, with true pictoric splendour; which is no less apparent 
 in his Assumption of the Virgin, in the cupola of the Passione. 
 In his altar-pieces, and histories executed for the ducal gallery 
 at Parma, he aimed rather at perfecting than at multiplying 
 his figures. He instructed his four sons, two of whom are 
 unknown in the history of the art, and the two others are fre¬ 
 quently mentioned by different illustrators of the paintings of 
 Milan, of Piacenza, of Parma, and of Brescia: where they 
 are also surnamed, from their father, the Panfili. We shall, 
 however, treat of them more particularly in the age during 
 which they flourished. 
 
 Fede Galizia introduced another foreign style into Milan, a 
 female artist, who, according to Orlandi, was a native of 
 Trent. Her father, Annunzio, was a celebrated miniaturist, 
 born at the same place, and a resident at Milan, and from him 
 perhaps she acquired that taste for accurary and finish of hand, 
 no less remarkable in her figures than in her landscapes; in 
 other points more similar to the Bolognese predecessors of the 
 Caracci, than to any other school. There are some specimens 
 of her style in foreign collections. One of her best-studied 
 pictures is seen at S. Maria Maddalena, where she painted the 
 titular saint, with the figure of Christ in the dress of a 
 gardener.* This lady has been criticised by the excellent 
 author of the Guide, for her too great study of the ideal, 
 which she aimed at introducing both into her design and 
 colouring, at the expense of nature and of truth, a practice 
 pretty much in vogue at that period in Italy. About the 
 same time, one Orazio Vaiauo was employed a good deal at 
 
 * This picture is now in the I. R. Pinacoteca at Milan.—A. 
 
FEDERIGO ZUCCARI. 
 
 517 
 
 Milan, where he long resided, called II Fiorentino from his 
 extraction. He, in some way, came to be confounded, in 
 some of his pictures, with the elder Palma, as we are informed 
 by Orlandi; but how, it is difficult to say. The specimens of 
 his composition at S. Carlo and at S. Antonio Abate, are 
 judicious and diligent, though somewhat feeble in point of 
 colouring ; and in the distribution of their lights much resem¬ 
 bling the tone of Roncalli. He likewise visited Genoa; but 
 neither he nor Galizia, as I am aware, left any pupils at 
 Milan. The same may be said of the two Carloni, noble 
 fresco-painters belonging to Genoa, and of Valerio Profonda- 
 valle, from Lovanio, who painted glass, as well as in oil 
 and in fresco, lor all which he had frequent commissions at 
 court. 
 
 M e ought here to add the name of Federigo Zuccari, an 
 artist invited by the Card. Federigo Borromeo to take up his 
 residence at Milan, where, as well as at Pavia, he painted, as 
 we have mentioned (at p. 412, vol. i.). I am indebted to 
 the polite and kind attention of Sig. Bernardo Gattoni, chap¬ 
 lain and rector of the other Borromean college at Pavia, for 
 correcting an error into which I had fallen, from following the 
 local tradition rather than the written authority of the same 
 Zuccheri, in his “ Passaggio per l’ltalia,” a very rare work, 
 and which I had not seen at that time. In it are described 
 the pictures of the Borromean college at Pavia; and it 
 appears, that Zuccari produced no other besides the principal 
 picture, that of S. Carlo, who is seen in the consistory in the 
 act of receiving the cardinal’s hat; the rest being from the 
 hand of Cesare Nebbia, who flourished at the same period. 
 In order to have them retouched at leisure, while they were 
 left to dry, the cardinal Federigo despatched the two artists 
 to visit the sacred mount of Varallo, whence they passed to 
 Arona, and next to the Isola Bella, situated upon the Lago 
 Maggiore, where the cardinal joined them, and where each of 
 them left a work in fresco, upon two pilasters of the chapel at 
 that place. There has since been found in the archives of the 
 college, an original letter of the cardinal, in which he recom¬ 
 mends to the then rector, that Nebbia should be received into 
 the college, and the sums of money disbursed to both entered 
 in the books of account. 
 
518 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH III. 
 
 Proceeding next to those artists who studied at other places, 
 I shall briefly mention Ricci of Novara, with Paroni and 
 Nappi of Milan, not omitting others of the same place, com¬ 
 memorated in the Lives of Baglioni. Residing at Rome, they 
 in no way contributed to the fame of their native school, 
 neither by their pupils, nor their example ; and even at Rome, 
 they may be said to have added rather to the number of 
 paintings than to the decoration of the city. Ricci was a 
 fresco-painter, very well adapted to the hasty temper of 
 Sixtus V., whose works he superintended, and promoted the 
 effeminate taste then so prevalent; he possessed much facility 
 and beauty of forms. Paroni pursued the manner of Cara¬ 
 vaggio, but his career was short. Nappi displays great 
 variety; and when he painted in his Lombard manner, such 
 as in his Assumption, at the cloister of the Minerva, with 
 other pieces at the Umilta, he shewed himself a naturalist far 
 more pleasing than the mannerists of his time. 
 
 There flourished likewise, for a few years, at Rome, the Cav. 
 Pier Francesco Mazzuchelli, called from his birthplace Moraz- 
 zone. After practising there for a period, from all the best 
 models, which influenced both his mind and his productions, 
 he directed his attention to the Milanese school, in which he 
 taught and succeeded beyond all example, in improving his own 
 style. It will be sufficient to compare his picture of the Epi¬ 
 phany which he painted in fresco for one of the chapels of 
 S. Silvestro, in capite , which boasts no beauty beyond that of 
 colouring ; and his other Epiphany, placed at S. Antonio 
 Abate, at Milan, which appears like the production of another 
 hand; such are the superiority of the design, the effect, 
 and the display of drapery, in the manner of the Venetians. 
 He is said to have studied Titian and Paul Veronese; 
 and some of his angels are painted with arms and legs, 
 in those long proportions that are not the best characteristics 
 of Tintoretto. In general, the genius of Morazzone was not 
 adapted for the graceful, but for the strong and magnificent; 
 as appears in his S. Michael’s Conquest over the bad Angels, 
 at S. Gio. di Como, and in the chapel of the Flagellazione, at 
 Varese. In 1626 he was invited to Piacenza, to paint the 
 grand cupola of the cathedral, a work which was left very 
 incomplete by his death, and bestowed upon Guercino. He 
 
GIO. BATISTA CRESPI. 
 
 619 
 
 had drawn the figures of two prophets, winch in any other 
 place would have appeared to the greatest advantage, but 
 there they are thrown into the shade by those of his suc¬ 
 cessor, that magician of his art, who threw into it the whole 
 enchantment of which he was capable. Morazzone was em¬ 
 ployed for different collections, no less than for churches, and 
 received a number of commissions from Cardinal Federico, 
 and the king of Sardinia, from which last he received his title 
 of cavalier. 
 
 Contemporary with him flourished Gio. Batista Crespi, 
 better known by the name of Cerano, his native place, a small 
 town in the Novarese. Sprung from a family of artists, which 
 left specimens of its genius at S. Maria di Busto, where his 
 grandfather Gio. Piero, and Raffaello, his father or uncle 
 (I am not certain which), had been employed. He studied at 
 Rome and at Venice, uniting to that of painting great know¬ 
 ledge in the art of modelling, as well as in architecture ; 
 being, moreover, distinguished for good taste in literature and 
 for polite accomplishments. With such qualifications, he took 
 the lead at the court of Milan, from which he received a 
 salary; no less than in the great undertakings of the Card. 
 Federigo, and the direction of the academy. Not to dwell upon 
 the buildings, statues, and bassi-rilievi, which he either de¬ 
 signed or executed, but which are less connected with my 
 subject, he painted a great number of altar-pieces, in which 
 he at once exhibited, if I mistake not, great excellences and 
 great defects.* He is invariably free, spirited, and harmo¬ 
 nious ; but he frequently, from too great affectation of grace 
 or of magnificence, falls into a degree of mannerism, as in 
 some of his histories at the Pace, where his naked figures are 
 heavy, and the attitudes of others too extravagant. In his 
 two other subjects these defects are less apparent; but he has 
 overloaded his shadows. In the greater part of his works, 
 notwithstanding, the correct and the beautiful so far abound, 
 
 * Cerano, in addition to the design, executed the model, and directed 
 the artistic labours of the grand colossus of S. Carlo sopra Arona. The 
 cartoou of this monument is in the Ambrosian library. He produced 
 also highly-valued works in architecture and sculpture ; among others, 
 the facade, in Milan, the side structure of St. Paul’s, the principal open¬ 
 ing of the dome, with the richly-sculptured ornaments. 
 
520 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH III. 
 
 as to shew that he was one of the first masters of his school. 
 Thus in his Baptism of S. Agostino, painted for S. Marco, he 
 rivals Giulio Cesare Procaccini, whose productions are placed 
 opposite, and in the opinion of some he surpasses him. Another 
 instance occurs in his altar-piece of Saints Carlo and Ambrogio, 
 and Santo Paolo, where, in taste of colouring at least, he sur¬ 
 passes the Campi; and a third in his celebrated picture of the 
 Rosario, . at S. Lazzaro, which casts into shade the fine 
 fresco-painting of Nuvoloni. He was particularly skilled in 
 diawing birds and quadrupeds, of which he composed pictures 
 for private ornament, as we gather from Soprani in his Life of 
 Sinibaldo Scorza. lie educated many pupils, whom we shall 
 reserve for an inferior epoch, excepting Daniele Crespi of 
 Milan, who, on account of his worth, and the period in which 
 he flourished, ought not to be separated from his master.* 
 Daniele is one among those distinguished Italians who are 
 hardly known beyond their native place. He possessed, how¬ 
 ever, rare genius, and, instructed by Cerano, and afterwards 
 by the best of the Procaccini, undoubtedly surpassed the first, 
 and in the opinion of many likewise the second, though he 
 did not live to reach the age of forty. He had great pene¬ 
 tration in learning, and equal facility in executing, selecting 
 the best part of every master he studied, and knowing how 
 to reject the worst. Familiar with the maxims of the Caracci 
 school, even without frequenting it, he adopted and practised 
 them with success, hie shews this in his distribution of 
 colours, and in the varied expression of his countenances ; 
 select and careful in disposing them according to the prevail- 
 ing passions of the mind ; and above all, admirable in catch¬ 
 ing the beautiful and devotional spirit that ought to inspire 
 the heads of saints. In the distribution of his figures he at 
 once observes a natural and well-judged order, so that no one 
 would wish to behold them placed otherwise than they 
 are * Their drapery is finely varied, and very splendid in the 
 more imposing characters of the piece. His colouring is ex¬ 
 tremely powerful, no less in oil than in fresco ; and in the 
 
 * Daniele Crespi’s master, according to tradition, was the Cav. Ver- 
 miglio, and bis style demonstrates it; and as regards the best of the 
 Procaccini, cited by Lanzi as another instructor, there is reason to con¬ 
 clude that Crespi was rather a rival than a pupil of the latter.—A. 
 
DANIELE CRESPI- 
 
 521 
 
 higlily ornamented church of La Passione, for which he painted 
 his grand Descent from the Cross, he left many portraits of 
 distinguished cardinals, all composed in the best Titian taste. 
 He is indeed one of those rare geniuses who delight in beinf' 
 constant rivals of themselves, calling forth their highest ener¬ 
 gies in each production, in order that they may in some way 
 surpass the last; geniuses, who know how to correct in their 
 later paintings the errors they committed in their first, ex¬ 
 hibiting in them the full maturity of those excellences which 
 they discovered in their early attempts. His last pieces, con¬ 
 sisting of acts from the life of S. Brunone, at the Certosa, in 
 Milan, are of all the most admired. That of the Dottor Pari- 
 gino is more particularly celebrated, in which having raised 
 himself on his bier, he declares his state of reprobation. What 
 desperation he exhibits ! what horror in the faces of the be¬ 
 holders ! Nor is that of the Duke of Calabria less excellent, 
 where, in going to the chase, he meets with the holy hermit, 
 a picture upon which the artist inscribed, Daniel Crispus 
 Mediolanensis pinxit hoc temphim. An. 1629. This was the 
 year before his death, as he was unhappily cut off by the 
 plague of 1530, together with his whole family. 
 
 We may here add, as a sort of corollary to the foregoing, 
 the names of some other artists who displayed great merit, 
 though it is uncertain of what school. Such is Gio. Batista 
 Tarillio, by whom there was an altar -piece with the date of 
 1575, painted for the now suppressed church of S. Martino in 
 Compito. There are some pictures by another native of Milan, 
 named Ranuzio Prata, at Pavia. These I have not seen; 
 they are, however, greatly commended by others. He flou¬ 
 rished about 1635. The Novarese also boasted at that period 
 two artists who were brothers, both of whom coloured in 
 pretty good taste. These were Antonio and Gio. Melchiore 
 Tanzi, the former a very able designer, who competed with 
 Carloni at Milan, distinguished himself at Varallo, and 
 painted at S. Gaudenzio di Novara the Battle of Sennacherib, 
 a work full of spirit and intelligence. There are likewise 
 other of his works preserved in the galleries of Vienna, of 
 ^ enice, and of Naples, representing both histories and per¬ 
 spectives ; but of his brother there is nothing remaining of 
 any great degree of merit. 
 
522 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN. 
 
 EPOCH IV. 
 
 The Art continues to decline after the time of Daniele Crespi. A third 
 Academy is founded with a view of improving it. 
 
 "We now approach the last epoch, which maybe truly entitled 
 the decline of this school. I recollect hearing the opinion of 
 a good judge, that Daniele Crespi might be called the last of 
 the Milanese, just as in another sense Cato was pronounced 
 ultimus Romanorum. The observation is correct, so far as it 
 applies to certain geniuses superior to the common lot, but 
 false if we should extend it to the exclusion of every artist of 
 merit from the period which it embraces. It would be 
 injustice to the names of Nuvoloni and Cairo, and several 
 others who flourished in an age nearer our own. But in the 
 same way as Cassiodorus and some other writers are unsuffi¬ 
 cient to remove the stain of barbarism from their age, so the 
 artists we treat of cannot redeem theirs from the stigma of its 
 decline. It is the majority which invariably gives a tone to 
 the times; and he who may have seen Milan and its state 
 would be at no loss to remark, that after the introduction of 
 the Procaccini school, design was more than ever neglected, 
 and mechanical practice succeeded to reason and taste. 
 Artists, after the visitation of the plague, had become more 
 rare ; and subsequent to the death of the Cardinal Borromeo, 
 in 1631, they became less united, insomuch that the academy 
 founded by him remained closed during twenty years; and if 
 by the exertions of Antonio Busca it was then re-opened, still 
 it never afterwards produced works similar to those of other 
 times. Whether owing to the manner of teaching, to the 
 want of its great patron, or to the abundance of commissions 
 and the kindness of those who gave them, which urged young 
 
INFERIOR ARTISTS. 
 
 523 
 
 artists prematurely to make abortive efforts ; no school per¬ 
 haps, on the loss of its great masters, was filled with so great 
 a number of inferior and bad ones. I shall not give much 
 account of them, yet must not omit such names as have 
 attained to some consideration. In general it may be remarked 
 of the artists of this epoch, that though the pupils of different 
 schools, they display a mutual resemblance, as much as if they 
 had been instructed by the same master. They possess no 
 character that strikes the eye, no beauty of proportions, no 
 vivacity of countenance, no grace in their colouring. Their 
 whole composition appears languid, even their imitation of the 
 head of the school does not please, as it is either deficient, or 
 overdone, or falls into insignificance. In their choice 01 
 colours we detect a certain resemblance to the Bolognese 
 school, to which their guides were not very much opposed, 
 though we often perceive that sombre cast which then prevailed 
 in nearly all the other schools. 
 
 To this uniformity of style in Milan, Ercole Procaccini the 
 younger most probably contributed, an artist in whom an 
 unprejudiced critic will be at no loss to detect the character 
 we have described. But in his more studied works, as we 
 find in an Assumption, at S. M. Maggiore, in Bergamo, he 
 exhibits dignity, spirit, and a happy imitation of the Correg¬ 
 gio manner. He received his first instructions from his father 
 Carlantonio, and next from Giulio Cesare, his paternal uncle. 
 It is known that by public report, by his insinuating manners, 
 and by the family reputation, he arrived at a degree of con¬ 
 sideration beyond his merit, and lived till he reached the age 
 of eighty. Hence he induced many to follow his maxims, 
 and the more as he kept an open academy for the study of the 
 naked figure at his own house, and succeeded his uncles in 
 their instructions ; equal to them perhaps in rapidity, but not 
 so well grounded in the art. He painted much; and in the 
 best collections in Milan, if he is not in as much request as 
 many others, he yet maintains his place. 
 
 Two young artists educated in his school reflected credit 
 upon it; Carlo Vimercati, who owed his success to the most 
 pertinacious study of Daniele’s works at the Certosa, which 
 he daily visited for a long period while at Milan, and Antonio 
 
I 
 
 524 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCn IV. 
 
 Busca, who likewise employed his talents upon the best models 
 both at Milan and Rome. \ imercati exhibited few of his 
 pictures in public at Milan ; he painted more at Codogno, 
 and in his best manner, as well as in a new one in which 
 he was greatly inferior. Busca assisted his master, and at 
 S. Marco also was employed in competition with him. There, 
 placed opposite to some histories by Procaccini, is seen his 
 picture of the Crucifixion, full of pious beauty, surrounded 
 with figures of the Virgin, of Mary Magdalen, and S. John, 
 who are all weeping, and almost draw tears from the eyes of 
 the spectator. But he did not always succeed as in this speci¬ 
 men ; the gout deprived him of the use of his feet, and he fell 
 into a weak and abject style, the result of mere mechanic 
 practice. In this state of health, I imagine, he must have 
 conducted two holy histories, placed opposite each other, in 
 the chapel of S. Siro at the Certosa in Pavia, in which he 
 idly repeated in the second the same features as distinguished 
 the first, so greatly is an artist sometimes in contradiction with 
 himself. A similar complaint might be alleged, for a different 
 reason, in regard to the style of Cristoforo Storer, a native of 
 Constance. A pupil to the same Ercole, he also produced 
 works of solid taste, as in the instance of his S. Martino, 
 which I saw in possession of the Ab. Bianconi, a picture 
 much valued by its intelligent owner. Subsequently he 
 became a mannerist, and not unfrequently adopted gross or 
 common ideas. In other points he displays much spirit, and 
 is one of the few belonging to that age who may lay claim to 
 the title of a good colourist. I am uncertain whether Gio. 
 Ens, of Milan, sprung from the same school, as well as at what 
 precise time he flourished ; I know that he was an artist of 
 less talent, whose delicacy often bordered upon weakness, as 
 we may perceive at S. Marco in Milan. Lodovico Antonio 
 David of Lugano, a scholar of Ercole, of Cairo, and of Cig- 
 nani, resided at Rome. There he produced some portraits, 
 and at one period made the tour of Italy. The city of Venice 
 possesses one of his Nativities at S. Silvestro, conducted in a 
 minute manner, that betrays a disciple of Camillo more than 
 of any other of the Procaccini. He wrote too upon painting, 
 and compiled some account of Correggio, for which the reader 
 
CAV. FEDERIGO BIANCHI. 
 
 525 
 
 may consult Orlandi under tlie head of that artist,* or perhaps 
 in preference, Tiraboschi, in his life of him. 
 
 Next to the nephew of the best Procaccini, I may place the 
 son-in-law of one of the others. This is the Cav. Federico 
 Bianchi, on whom, after affording him his instructions, Giulio 
 Cesare bestowed the hand of one of his daughters. He 
 derived from his father-in-law his maxims, rather than his 
 forms and attitudes, which display an original air in Bianchi, 
 and are at once graceful and beautiful without affectation. 
 Some of his Holy Families at S. Stefano and at the Passione 
 are held in much esteem, besides some of his other pictures 
 exhibiting few, but well-conceived figures. Such is that of a 
 Yisitazione at S. Lorenzo, every way creditable to one of the 
 favourite pupils of Giulio Cesare. He was not distinguished 
 in compositions of a grander character; but he was full of 
 ideas, united to harmony and good-keeping, and altogether one 
 of the first Milanese artists in the present age.f He was 
 much employed in Piedmont, and we are indebted to him for 
 notices of many artists which he communicated to P. Orlandi, 
 by whom they were made public. This artist is not to be 
 confounded with one Francesco Bianchi, a friend and almost 
 inseparable companion of Antonmaria Ruggieri. They painted 
 together for the most part in fresco, and without the least 
 dispute consented to share all the emoluments, all the praise 
 and blame they might receive. They belong to the present 
 age, to which they have bequeathed a more noble example of 
 mutual attachment than of the art they professed. 
 
 The greater part of the Procaccini disciples sprung from the 
 school of Camillo. He had likewise taught at Bologna, 
 though his only pupil known there is Lorenzo Franco, who, 
 with his instructions, afterwards became an excellent imitator 
 of the Caracci. In the opinion of P. Resta, however, his 
 style was somewhat too minute; this artist resided and died 
 
 * In the additions to the Dictionary, made by Guarienti, following the 
 article Orlandi, we find Lodovico David of Lugano, of whose pencil he 
 could only trace the picture at S. Silvestro in Venice. This is one of the 
 mistakes committed by this continuator. 
 
 t Federico Bianchi, called II Crespino, employed his pencil in the ser¬ 
 vice of the Car. Fred. Borromeo; and in the Ambrosiana, we admire 
 among his classical productions the half-length figures forming the Supper 
 of Lionardo to the Graces.—A. 
 
526 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.—EPOCH IV. 
 
 at Reggio. The school of Camillo at Milan was always full, 
 and no one reflected upon it greater credit than Andrea Sal- 
 meggia of Bergamo, of whom we treated in the preceding 
 book. Becoming a follower of Raffaello at Rome, he oc¬ 
 casionally returned to his native place, where he attracted 
 admiration by his productions. Like the rest, Gio. Batista 
 Discepoli, called Zoppo di Lugano, was at one time the disci¬ 
 ple of Camillo, but afterwards added much of other styles, 
 and was one of the most natural, powerful, and rich colourists 
 of his time. For the rest he is to be included in the rank of 
 the naturalists, rather than among the lovers of the ideal. 
 Several of his pictures are at Milan, in particular that of his 
 Purgatorio at S. Carlo, executed with much skill; and he 
 painted a good deal for his native place and its confines, as 
 well as at Como, where he ornamented Santa Teresa with a 
 picture of the titular saint, with lateral squares, esteemed one 
 of the best altar-pieces belonging to the city.* Carlo Cor- 
 nara acquired equal reputation, though in an opposite style. 
 He produced few works, but all conducted with an exquisite 
 degree of taste, peculiarly his own, which renders them 
 valuable in collections.t One of his best altar-pieces was 
 painted for S. Benedetto, at the Certosa, in Pavia, a picture 
 now much defaced by time, and there are a few others com¬ 
 pleted by one of his daughters after his death, who added to 
 them some original pieces of her own. 
 
 Giovanni Mauro Rovere, an artist who exchanged the man¬ 
 ner of Camillo for that of Giulio Cesare, was among the 
 earliest followers of the Procaccini, and might be referred to 
 their epoch from the period in which he flourished, did not his 
 inferior character, arising from too great rapidity of hand, 
 prevent his admission into the same rank. He had all that 
 fire, which, when directed with judgment, is the soul of paint¬ 
 ing, but when abused destroys the beauty of the art. It wa 3 
 very seldom that he was able to command it, though, in a 
 
 * If the “ Presentation of the Wise Men,” at the I. R. Pinacoteca, 
 be examined, the connoisseur will be better enabled to appreciate the 
 judgment of the author.—A. 
 
 t In Cornara, we recognise an imitator of Correggio; but whether 
 from his making use of dark grounds, or from employing too little colour, 
 his paintings are weak and pallid.—A. 
 
THE TWO NUVOLONI. 
 
 527 
 
 Supper of our Lord, at S. Angelo, in which he used great 
 care, he obtained corresponding success. He had two brothers, 
 named Giambatista and Marco, who assisted him in his labours 
 both for churches and private houses, both of whom were 
 inaccurate but spirited. They have left works in fresco, 
 besides some histories in oil, perspectives, battle-pieces, and 
 landscapes, to be met with in almost every corner of the city. 
 I find that they were also surnamed Rossetti, and still better 
 known under the name of Fiamminghini, derived from their 
 father Ricardo, who came from Flanders to establish himself 
 at Milan. 
 
 To these three Rossetti, succeeded the three Santagostini, 
 of whom the first, named Giacomo Antonio, was pupil to Carlo 
 Procaccini. He gave few pieces to the public, though his sons 
 Agostino and Giacinto were more indefatigable, both con¬ 
 jointly, as we may gather from their two grand histories at 
 S. Fedele, and separately. They were distinguished above 
 most of their contemporaries, more especially Agostino. He 
 was the first who wrote a. little work upon the paintings of 
 Milan; it was entitled “ L’lmmortalita e Glorie del Pen- 
 nello,” and published in 1671. Whatever rank a book with 
 such a title ought to assume among the writers of the age, it is 
 certain that his pictures exhibit him in the light of a good 
 painter for his time, in particular a Holy Family, painted for 
 S. Alessandro, and a few others among the more highly 
 finished, in which he displays expression, beauty, and har¬ 
 mony, although somewhat too minute. The names of Ossana, 
 Biffi, Ciocca, Ciniselli, with others still less celebrated at 
 Milan, I may venture to pass over without much loss to this 
 history. 
 
 The two Nuvoloni, not long since mentioned, though in¬ 
 structed by their father, may be said, in some way, to belong 
 to the Procaccini. Thus Carlo Francesco, the elder, early 
 adopted the manner of Giulio Cesare; and in Giuseppe we 
 everywhere trace a composition and colouring derived from 
 that school. The former, however, impelled by his genius, 
 became a follower of Guido, and so far succeeded as to deserve 
 the name, which he still enjoys, of the Guido of Lombardy. 
 He does not abound in figures, but in these be is pleasing arid 
 graceful, elegant in his forms and the turn and air of his heads, 
 
528 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 united to a sweetness and harmony of tints which are sel loin 
 met with. I saw one of his heads at S. Vittore, where he 
 drew the Miracle of St. Peter over the Porta Speciosa, and 
 many other pieces at Milan, Parma, Cremona, Piacenza, and 
 Como, in the same excellent taste. This artist was selected 
 to take the portrait of the queen of Spain when she visited 
 Milan; and there still appear in private houses those of many 
 noble individuals who employed him. The faces of his Ma¬ 
 donnas are in high request for collections, one of which is in 
 the possession of the Conti del Verme, displaying all the grace 
 and beauty so peculiar to him, and which he has here perhaps 
 indulged at the expense of that dignity which should never be 
 lost sight of. Orlandi gives an account of his devotional exer¬ 
 cises, which he always performed previous to his painting the 
 portraits of the Virgin. I know not what opinion may be 
 formed upon this point, either by his or my readers. For my 
 own part I indulge the same peculiar admiration of this artist 
 in the rank of painters, as I do of Justus Lipsius among lite¬ 
 rary men, who though both seculars, always observed great 
 filial piety towards our Holy Lady ; a piety that has descended 
 from the earliest fathers of the church, in a regular line, down 
 to the elect of our own times. His younger brother painted on 
 a much larger scale ; boasted more pictoric fire and more fancy; 
 but he did not always display equal taste, nor was exempt 
 from harsh and sombre shadows that detract from his worth. 
 He was more indefatigable than Carlo, painting not only for 
 the cities of Lombardy above mentioned, but for the state of 
 Venice, and many churches in Brescia. His pictures at S. 
 Domenico in Cremona, in particular his grand piece of the 
 Dead Man raised by the saint, adorned with beautiful archi¬ 
 tecture, and animated with the most natural expression, are 
 among some of his best works. They were apparently exe¬ 
 cuted in the vigour of life, inasmuch as there are others bear¬ 
 ing traces of infirmity, he having pursued the art until his 
 eightieth year, in which his death occurred. 
 
 I cannot learn that he left any pupils of note. His brother. 
 Carlo Francesco, however, instructed Gioseffo Zanata, ex¬ 
 tremely well versed in the art, according to the opinion of 
 Orlandi. Under him, and subsequently under the Venetian 
 artista, studied likewise Federigo Panza, an artist who begaD 
 
MELCHIORRE GIRALDINI. 
 
 529 
 
 with using strong shadows, which he improved as his genius 
 grew more mature. He was well employed and remunerated 
 by the court of Turin. Filippo Abbiati frequented the same 
 school, a man of wonderful talent, adapted for works on an 
 immense scale; rich in ideas, and resolute in executing, them. 
 He painted with a certain freedom, amounting to audacity, 
 which, however imperfect, does not fail to please, and would 
 have pleased much more had he been better versed in the prin¬ 
 ciples of his art. He was placed in competition with Fede- 
 rigo Bianclii, in the grand ceiling of S. Alessandro Martire, 
 and with other fine fresco-painters ; and he everywhere left 
 evidence of a noble genius. He appears to singular advantage 
 in his Pleaching of b. John the Baptist at Sarono, a picture 
 to which is affixed his name. It has few figures, but they art 
 fine and varied, with strong tints, and very appropriate sha¬ 
 dows, which produce a good effect. Pietro Maggi, his disciple, 
 was not equal to him in genius, nor did he observe his mode¬ 
 ration and care. Giuseppe Rivola, employed for private persons 
 more than for the public, is also deserving of mention, his fellow- 
 citizens esteeming him among the best of Abbiati’s pupils. 
 
 Cerano, though engaged in a variety of other labours, in¬ 
 structed many pupils, and more particularly Melchiorre Giral- 
 dini, with success. He very happily caught the manner of 
 his teacher, easy, agreeable, and harmonious, but still inferior 
 to him in the more masterly power of his pencil. At the 
 Madonna at S. Celso is seen a picture of S. Caterina da Siena 
 by his hand, that has been greatly commended. Cerano gave 
 him his daughter in marriage, and left him the whole of his 
 studio. He engraved in acqua-forte some minute histories 
 and battle-pieces in the manner of Callot, and he instructed 
 his son in the same branch, whose battle-pieces have been 
 much prized in collections. He also taught a young artist 
 of Gallarate, named Carlo Cane, who, devoting himself 
 at a more advanced age to the manner of Morazzone, 
 became a great proficient in it. He imitated with some 
 success his strength of colouring and his relief; in other 
 points he was common both in his forms and conceptions. He 
 painted some altars, and in the larger one of the cathedral at 
 Monza, there is one representing different saints, at the feet 
 VOL. II. 2 M 
 
530 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 of whom is seen the figure of a dog, which he inserted in all 
 his pieces, even that of Paradise, to express his name. He 
 observed an excellent method in his frescos, his histories of 
 Saints Ambrogio and Ugo, which he painted for the grand 
 church of the Certosa at Pavia, as well as others, still retain¬ 
 ing all their original freshness. He opened school at Milan, 
 and we may form an idea of the character of his pupils from 
 his own mediocrity. Cesare Fiori, indeed, acquired some 
 degree of reputation, several of whose ornamental works on a 
 great scale, have been made public. He too had a scholar 
 named Andrea Porta, who aimed at catching the manner of 
 Legnanino. There are others who approach the two best of 
 the Cerani, namely, Giuliano Pozzobonelli, an artist of good 
 credit, and Bartolommeo Genovesini,* by whom there remain 
 works possessing some degree of grandeur ; besides Gio. Ba¬ 
 tista Secchi, surnamed from his country Caravaggio, who 
 painted for S. Pietro in Gessato, an altar-piece of the Epi¬ 
 phany with his name. 
 
 Morazzone had to boast a numerous list of pupils, imitators, 
 and copyists, both at Milan and elsewhere. The Cav. Fran¬ 
 cesco Cairo reflected honour upon this school, who having 
 commenced his career, as is usual, by pursuing his master’s 
 footsteps, afterwards changed his manner on meeting with 
 better models, which he studied at Rome and Venice. He 
 also worked on a great scale, and coloured with effect, united, 
 however, to a delicacy of hand and grace of expression, alto¬ 
 gether forming a style that surprises us by its novelty. His 
 pictures of the four saints, founders of the church at S. Vit¬ 
 tore, of his S. Teresa swooning with .celestial love at S. Carlo, 
 his S. Saverio at Brera, various portraits in the Titian manner, 
 and other pieces, public and private, at Milan, at Turin, and 
 elsewhere, entitle him to rank high in the art, though he is 
 not always free from the reproach of sombre colouring. 
 Morazzone derived some credit from the two brothers Gioseffo 
 and Stefano Danedi, more commonly called the Montalti. 
 The first, after being instructed by him in the art, became 
 
 * I thus named him in the former edition, because all other writers 
 had so done before me, but his family name was Roverio, and his sur¬ 
 name Genovesino. See the first index. 
 
THE BROTHERS RECCHI. 
 
 531 
 
 more refined in his taste under Guido Reni, of whose style he 
 sufficiently partakes, as we may perceive in his Slaughter of 
 the Innocents at S. Sebastiano, and in his Nunziata its com¬ 
 panion. Stefano frequented no foreign schools that I know of, 
 though he did not wholly coniine himself to Morazzone’s 
 manner, rather aiming at refining it upon the example of his 
 brother, and painting with a degree of accuracy and study 
 that he did not find recommended by the taste of his times. 
 His martyrdom of S. Giustina, which he produced for S. Maria 
 m Pedone, forms a specimen of this refinement, while it is 
 moreover exempt from that cold and languid tone which 
 diminishes the value of his other works. One of those artists 
 most attached to Morazzone’s style, and who nearest approaches 
 him in the boldness of his pencil, is the Cav. Isidoro Bianchi, 
 otherwise called Isidoro da Campione, a better fresco than oil 
 painter, from what we gather at the church of S. Ambrosio at 
 Milan, and in others at Como. He was selected by the duke 
 of Savoy to complete a large hall at Rivoli, left imperfect by 
 the decease of Pier Francesco. There he was declared painter 
 to the ducal court in 1631. 
 
 About the same period flourished at Como, besides the 
 Bustini, * the two brothers Gio. Paolo and Gio. Batista Recchi, 
 whose chief merit was in painting frescos, disciples likewise of 
 Morazzone. These artists decorated S. Giovanni, and other 
 churches of their native place, two chapels at Varese, with 
 others in the same vicinity. The second of them also became 
 eminent beyond the state, particularly at S. Carlo in Turin, 
 where he is placed near his master. His style is solid and 
 strong, his colouring forcible, and in the skill of his foreshort¬ 
 ening on ceilings, he yields to very few of his day. Pasta, in 
 his Guide for Bergamo, has deservedly praised him on this 
 score, when speaking of a Santa Grata, seen rising into 
 heaven, a work, he observes, that is admirably delightful. In 
 some of the chambers of the V eneria, at Turin, he was assisted 
 by one Gio. Antonio, his nephew. The Milanese Guide men¬ 
 tions several other artists, apparently, judging from their style, 
 
 * Benedetto Crespi, who possessed, according to Orlandi, a manner at 
 once strong and elegant, with Antonio Maria, his son and pupil, and 
 Pietro Bianchi, to whom he left his designs, sdl three called Bustini. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 N 
 
.'>32 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 instructed by the preceding, such as Paolo Caccianiga, Tom- 
 maso Formenti, and Giambatista Pozzi. 
 
 Whilst the Milanese school was thus hastening to its close, 
 and no longer afforded masters of equal promise, either to the 
 first or second of its series, its youth were compelled to have 
 recourse to richer and more genuine sources, and at this period 
 began to disperse in search of new styles. I omit the family 
 of the Cittadini, which established itself at Bologna, or to say 
 truth, I reserve it to its own school. Stefano Legnani, called 
 II Legnanino, in order to distinguish him from his father Cris- 
 toforo, a portrait-painter, became one of the most celebrated 
 artists in Lombardy towards the beginning of this century, 
 having studied the schools of Cignani at Bologna, and Maratta 
 at Rome. In either of these cities he would have been esteem¬ 
 ed one of the best disciples of these two masters, had he left 
 there any of his productions; although in the course of time he 
 fell into a degree of mannerism. He is tasteful, sober, and 
 judicious in his compositions, with a certain strength and clear¬ 
 ness of colouring, not common among the disciples of Maratta. 
 He became famous for his fresco histories, which are seen at 
 S. Marco and at S. Angiolo, where there is also one of his 
 
 battles, which is won by the protection of St. James the 
 
 Apostle, which shews a pictoric fire equal to handling the most 
 difficult themes. He left too a variety of works in Genoa, 
 Turin, and Piedmont, besides his painting of the cupola at 
 Novara, in the church of S. Gaudenzio, than which he pro¬ 
 duced nothing more truly beautiful. 
 
 Andrea Lanzani, after receiving the instructions of Scara- 
 muccia, pupil to Guido, who remained for some period at 
 
 Milan, passed into the school of Maratta at Itome. But lr.s 
 
 genius finally decided him to adopt a less placid style, and he 
 began to imitate Lanfranco. His best productions, as it has 
 been observed of others, are those which on his first return 
 from Rome he executed in his native place, while still fresh 
 from the Roman maxims and the Roman models. A proof of 
 this is seen in his S. Carlo Beatified, which on certain days is 
 exhibited along with other pictures in the capital. He painted 
 also a fine piece for the Ambrosian library, representing the 
 actions of Cardinal Federigo, in which there is a rich display 
 
PIETRO GILARDI. 
 
 .533 
 
 of imagination, of drapery, and good efiect of chiaroscuro. He 
 is for the most part praised on account of his facility, and the 
 boldness of his hand. He died in Germany, after being hon¬ 
 oured with the title of Cavalier, and left no better pupil behind 
 him in Italy than Ottavio Parodi, who resided for a long 
 period at Rome, and is mentioned with commendation by 
 Orlandi. From Rome also, and from the school of Ciro Ferri, 
 Ambrogio Besozzi returned to Milan, in order to study the 
 Cortona manner as a counterpoise to that of Maratta. But he 
 chiefly employed himself in ornamental, rather than historic 
 painting, though very able in the last as far as we may judge 
 from his S. Sebastian, at S. Ambrogio. He studied Pagani at 
 Venice, and likewise taught there, boasting the celebrated Pel¬ 
 legrini as one of his disciples. Zanetti remarks that he intro¬ 
 duced into the academies of that city a new taste of design 
 for the naked figure, somewhat overstrained, indeed, but 'of 
 good effect. He left there a few pieces in public, and returned 
 to close his days in Lombardy. The churches and collections 
 of Milan abound with his pictures, and there are others in the 
 Dresden gallery. 
 
 Pietro Gilardi passed from his native school into that of 
 Bologna, and there, under Franceschini and Giangioseffo del 
 Sole, greatly improved himself. His style is clear, easy, har¬ 
 monious, and adapted to adorn cupolas, ceilings, and magni¬ 
 ficent walls, as appears in the refectory of S. Vittore at Milan, 
 where his works do him credit. At Varese he comrleted the 
 chapel of the Assumption, after the cartoons of Legna -„ino, who 
 died before it was finished; and a few of his own works left 
 imperfect by death were, in their turn, continued and finished 
 by the Cav. Gio. Batista Sassi. 
 
 The style of this artist, who had assiduously employed him¬ 
 self under Solimene in Naples, is tolerable in regard to design. 
 Though he painted for several churches in Pavia, and at Milan, 
 he acquired most reputation from his small pictures, intended 
 for private ornament. I am not certain whether he introduced 
 into these parts those greenish tints in colouring, which, from 
 ^Naples, spread through different schools, or whether it came 
 by way of Turin, where one Corrado Giaquinto was employed 
 in drawing figures, and in painting. Such method, however, 
 did not here displease. Gioseffo Petrini da Carono, pupil to 
 
534 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 Prete of Genoa, has carried it to its highest point, while Piero 
 Magatti of Varese is not wholly free from it, who flourished 
 very recently; both were reputed good artists according to 
 their time. Nor could so great a city be in want of some Ve¬ 
 netian disciples, who have distinguished themselves in our 
 own times; we behold some imitations of Piazzetta, and some 
 of Tiepolo, in a few of the churches, it being usual with young 
 artists to follow living masters in lucrative practice, in prefer¬ 
 ence to the deceased, whose emoluments are past. We ought 
 here to insert the name of an eminent Milanese, who reflected 
 honour on his native state in foreign parts. This was Fran¬ 
 cesco Caccianiga, well known at Rome, though little among his 
 own countrymen. Having treated of him, however, in the 
 Roman school, I shall merely recall his memory aud merits to 
 my readers. Neither must I omit his contemporary, Antonio 
 Cucchi, who remained at Milan, not as his equal, but because 
 be became eminent in the footsteps of the Romans, for the dili¬ 
 gence, if not for the spirit of his pencil. Nor shall I pass ovelr 
 Ferdinando Porta, distinguished for a number of pictures, con¬ 
 ducted in imitation of Correggio ; an artist, however, too in¬ 
 constant and unequal to himself. These names will suffice for 
 the present epoch, which produced, indeed, others of some note, 
 but not known beyond the confines of their own state. Such 
 works as the Pitture d’ Italia , and the Nuova Guida di 
 Milano , will furnish the curious with information respecting 
 them, until some further accounts of them be presented to the 
 public. 
 
 From the period, when the capital began to encourage the 
 foreign schools preferably to her own, the cities of the state 
 followed the example, in particular that of Pavia, which, during 
 this last century, has had to boast more professors than any 
 other state. Yet none of these moderns are much known 
 beyond the precincts of their native place. Carlo Soriani,* 
 however, deserved to be better known, an artist who painted 
 for the cathedral his picture of the Rosario, accompanied by 
 fifteen mysteries, an elegant production in the taste of Soiaro. 
 The series of the artists alluded to begins with Carlo Sacchi, 
 who is said by Orlandi to have been taught by Rosso of Pavia, 
 
 * He is thus called by Bartoli. 
 
OBSCURE ARTISTS. 
 
 535 
 
 but most probably by Carlantonio Rossi, a Milanese, who 
 painted for the cathedral of Pavia his S. Siro, and two lateral 
 pieces in the best Procaccini taste, and is described in the 
 Abbeccedario as an eccentric man, though well versed in his 
 art. Sacchi continued his studies at Rome and Venice, and 
 when he wished to imitate Paul Veronese, as in his Miracle 
 of the Dead resuscitated by S. Jacopo, which is placed at the 
 Osservanti, he succeeded admirably, shewing himself a good 
 colourist, splendid in ornament, spirited in attitude, except that 
 in these he is somewhat extravagant and affected. He sup¬ 
 plied different collections, and I saw an Adam and Eve by 
 him in possession of the Cav. Brambilla at Pavia, entitled to a 
 place in that fine collection. It is doubtful whether Gio. 
 Batista Tassinari ought to be ranked among his fellow-disci¬ 
 ples if we only regard the period in which he flourished. But 
 we may with more certainty, upon Orlandi's authority, pro¬ 
 nounce Carlo Bersotti to have been his pupil, an excellent 
 artist in inferior branches, to which he confined himself. Tom- 
 maso Gatti, together with Bernardino Ciceri, were, however, 
 his best pupils, the first of whom pursued his studies at Venice, 
 the second at Rome, and both succeeded at least as practical 
 artists. Gatti instructed Marcantonio Pellini, and then con¬ 
 signed him to the schools of Venice and Bologna, which did 
 not carry him beyond the sphere of his master. Ciceri was 
 succeeded by his disciple Gioseffo Crastona, who, embued with 
 Roman erudition, became a painter of figures and of landscapes 
 in that city, of which a number may be seen at Pavia. Among 
 the latest are Pierantonio Barbieri, pupil to Bastiano Ricci, 
 and Carlantonio Bianchi, a disciple of the Roman manner. 
 The artists whom I have described almost in a series, have 
 filled all the churches of Pavia, though many, with their 
 respective paintings and their frescos, conferring additional 
 novelty perhaps, but little additional splendour upon their 
 native state ; and no one visits Pavia altogether on their 
 account. 
 
 Others also belonging to the state and its vicinity, about 
 the time of Sacchi, quitted their native place, and became 
 celebrated in other quarters; as Mola, of the state of Como, 
 of whom we have treated ; and Pietro de’ Pietri, who, born 
 
536 
 
 SCHOOL OF MILAN.—EPOCn IV. 
 
 in the Novarese, studied and died at Rome, where he has been 
 commended by us in the school of Maratta. Antonio Sacclii, 
 also a native of Como, acquired his knowledge at Rome] 
 whence returning into Lombardy, he undertook to paint a 
 cupola for his native place, but fixing on too high a point of 
 perspective, he made his figures so gigantic that he broke his 
 heart and died. From Como likewise sprung one Fra Ema¬ 
 il uele, of the order of the Minori Riformati, whose name is 
 incorrectly inserted by Orlandi in the “ Abbeccedario,” as a 
 self-taught painter. The fact is, that on being sent to reside 
 at Messina, he became a pupil to Silla, and improving the 
 feeble manner he had acquired in his native town, he decorated 
 a number of places belonging to his order, both in Rome and 
 Sicily, in a better taste, I here are two of his pictures at 
 Como, at. the Riformati; a Supper in the refectory, feebly 
 executed in the style of the declining school of Milan, and a 
 Pieta in the church, with different saints, in a better manner ; 
 such is the advantage of practice, reflection, and good guidance 
 even at a mature age. 
 
 This epoch produced a fine perspective painter, of whom 
 mention is made under the Roman school, in which he studied 
 and left some works. This is Gio. Ghisolfi, a pupil of Sal¬ 
 vator Rosa, who, on his return to Milan, besides his architec¬ 
 tural pieces, which were esteemed among the very first, devoted 
 himself to large histories and altar-pieces, and executed frescos 
 in a good taste for the Certosa of Pavia, and the Santuario of 
 Varese. He was followed with success by one of his nephews, 
 Bernardo Racchetti, whose perspectives, no less than those of 
 Clemente Spera, are frequently met with in collections. Torre 
 makes mention also of a native of Lucca, who succeeded in 
 perspective and in figures, named Paolo Pini. X have seen 
 only of his a history of Rahab, at S. Maria di Campagna, at 
 Piacenza, of which the architecture is very fine, the figures light 
 and touched with a spirited hand. In extensive works of orna¬ 
 mental fresco, Pier Francesco Prina is commended by Orlandi, 
 with the two Mariani, Domenico and his son Gioseffo. The 
 father remained stationary at Milan, and educated, among 
 other pupils, Castellino da Monza; but the son visited Bologna, 
 and there succeeded in improving his paternal manner so as to 
 
ALESSANDRO MAGNASCO. 
 
 537 
 
 distinguish himself throughout Italy and Germany. These 
 names will suffice to give a view of a period, not remarkable 
 for the best taste in this species of painting. 
 
 Fabio Ceruti was a landscape painter of some repute in the 
 style of Agricola his master. His pictures are pretty numerous, 
 both throughout the city and the state. Mention is also made 
 of one Perugini, recorded by the Cav. Patti, in his life of Ales¬ 
 sandro Magnasco of Genoa, called Lisandrino. The latter, 
 educated in the school of Abbiati, and a long time resident in 
 Milan, added to the pictures of Perugini, of Spera, and other 
 artists, small figures of such merit as will be entitled to a par¬ 
 ticular description in his native school. 
 
 In compositions of a minor branch, wholly executed by him¬ 
 self, Magnasco may be pronounced an able artist, especially in 
 those diminutive pieces on the Flemish scale, consisting of child¬ 
 ish scenes and representations of a popular cast, with which he 
 decorated many collections. He also opened school at Milan, 
 and was imitated by Coppa and other artists, though Bastiano 
 Ricci approached him the nearest of any, possessing a 
 wonderful versatility of genius in respect to imitation. In a 
 similar taste Martino Cignaroli painted at Milan, who had 
 acquired at Verona and at the school of Carpioni, singular skill 
 in conducting pictures for private cabinets. He established 
 himself together with Pietro his brother and his family, in this 
 his new abode, where he had a son named Scipione, who 
 became a good landscape painter at Rome, and subsequently 
 flourished at Milan and at Turin. 
 
 About the year 1700 Lorenzo Comendich established him¬ 
 self in the former of these cities, an artist already recorded in 
 this work among the disciples of Monti. In the residence of 
 the Baron Martini, his patron, he produced a variety of works, 
 the most commended among which was his Battle of Luzzara, 
 won by Louis XIV., who is said to have beheld it, as repre¬ 
 sented by this artist, with singular pleasure. 
 
 In pictures of herds of animals of every kind, more perhaps 
 than for his human figures, Carlo Cane rose into some repute. 
 Orlandi likewise greatly commends Angiolmaria Crivelli in 
 the same branch, though I have seen nothing from his hand 
 entitling him to so much eulogy. At Milan this artist is 
 known by the name of Crivellone, in distinction to his son 
 
538 
 
 SCHOOL OP MILAN.-EPOCH IV. 
 
 Jacopo, whose principal merit lay in his drawings of birds and 
 fishes; He was much employed by the court of Parma, and 
 died in 1760. Still nearer us in point of time is Londonio, 
 an artist also of some repute for his herds of cattle : his rural 
 and pastoral views are in possession of the Counts Greppi, and 
 other noble houses. At Como flourished one Maderno, whose 
 skill consisted in drawing all kind of kitchen furniture, in 
 the taste of the Bassani, with whom less experienced judges 
 are apt to confound him. I have seen several small pictures 
 by him in possession of the Counts Giovio, that display great 
 beauty. He was also a fine flower-painter, though he was 
 here surpassed by Mario de’ Crespini, one of his pupils, whose 
 productions are interspersed throughout his own and the adja¬ 
 cent cities. Of some other artists of inferior note I have given 
 accounts in different places. 
 
 It remains for me to mention a third academy which was 
 founded at Milan 1 < 75, by that distinguished princess Maria 
 Theresa, and which was afterwards invariably encouraged by 
 new benefactions from her two sons, the emperors Joseph and 
 Leopold,. and by their successor to the empire, Francis II., 
 who, amidst all the distractions of war, is not unmindful of 
 the prosperity of the fine arts. The complete institutions of 
 which this academy had to boast, even in its outset, are de¬ 
 scribed in a compendious manner by its accomplished secretary, 
 in his work entitled the New Guide, already frequently cited. 
 In this we find an account of the number, the variety, and 
 the merit of the different professors ; the collections of models, 
 of designs, of prints, and of books, which are there provided 
 for the use of the students; to which he adds the methods 
 of education there inculcated, to the great benefit of the 
 nation, which has already, for some time past, been embued 
 with a more refined taste, and displayed a more extended 
 cultivation. 
 
 END OF VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON : 1‘RINTKD BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET 
 AND CHARING CROSS. 
 

 
 
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