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SPELLO. 
 
 fJpHE ancient town of Spello rises upon the ruins of the Roman 
 Hispellum, on a precipitous slope of the Apennines over- 
 hanging the rich valley of Foligno, and but a little apart from one 
 of the great highways between Northern Italy and Rome. It still 
 preserves, amidst the square brick towers of the middle ages, its 
 arched gateway of the Imperial times.* At the end of the 
 fifteenth century it was, with its dependent lands, by pontifical 
 grant, a lordship of the Baglioni of Perugia. 
 
 One of the members of that noble family, Trojolo dci Baglioni, was 
 then Prior of the “ Collegiata,” or collegiate church of Sta. Maria 
 
 * The woodcut represents the entrance to the town from the Roman road. 
 
4 
 
 Maggiore. Wishing, according to the custom of the time, to adorn 
 a chapel to the glory of the Virgin, and to employ an artist of 
 repute to decorate it with frescoes, he invited to Spcllo Bernardino 
 Pinturicchio, as one of the most renowned painters of the day. 
 
 Bernardino was the son of one Benedetto di Biagio, and was 
 born at Perugia in the year 1454. He was called after his father, 
 Hi Betto or Betti (the familiar contraction of Benedetto) ; from the 
 lowness of his stature, Pinturicchio, or Picturicchio (the little 
 painter) ; and sometimes, from his deafness, “ II Sordicchio.” He 
 had probably been brought up in the “ bottega,” or workshop of 
 Benedetto Bonfigli, a painter of considerable merit, who had founded 
 a school in Perugia, in which the celebrated Pietro Vannucci, or 
 Perugino, had also learnt his art. 
 
 Rosin i * conjectures that he may have also studied under Vittore 
 Pisanello, when that painter was employed upon the series of 
 pictures still preserved in the church of S. Francesco at Perugia ; 
 and there is certainly much in Pinturiccliio’s elaborate architectural 
 backgrounds, in his arabesques, in the action of his figures, and 
 in the arrangement of his draperies, which might be traced to the 
 influence of that celebrated Veronese artist, f 
 
 Pietro Perugino was but eight years older than Pinturicchio, 
 
 * “Storia della Pittura,” vol. iii. p. 182. The earliest work attributed to Pintu- 
 ricchio is a figure of S. Anzano in fresco in the chapel of Sta. Caterina at Assisi, the 
 interior of which was painted by Matteo da Gualdo, under whom he may also have 
 studied. The influence of Matteo may perhaps be traced in some of his works. 
 
 t It must, however, be observed that considerable doubt exists as to whether these 
 pictures are really by Pisanello. 
 
5 
 
 and they may have been apprenticed together. A close friendship 
 existed between them, and when Sixtus IV. summoned the great 
 Umbrian painter to Rome to decorate the Vatican and other buildings 
 in his capital, Pinturicchio accompanied him as his assistant. 
 They lived there together, and in company with Luca Signorelli, 
 Bramante, and other distinguished artists of the time." His 
 abilities were soon recognised, and we find him at an early age 
 engaged alone upon important works. Before he was thirty 
 he had painted for the Cardinal della Rovere a part of his palace, 
 and the fine frescoes in the church of Sta. Maria del Popolo. 
 
 He was subsequently invited to Orvieto to assist in completing 
 the internal decoration of the cathedral, — that magnificent shrine 
 of the arts of the fifteenth century. All the frescoes which lie 
 painted there have perished except eight figures of the evan- 
 gelists and doctors of the church. From Orvieto he was 
 called back to Rome by Alexander VI., and was engaged for four 
 years, with occasional interruptions, in adorning with frescoes, still 
 well preserved, the new halls in the Vatican, now known as the 
 “ Appartamento Borgia,” and numerous chambers in the Castle of 
 S. Angelo, in which no traces of his paintings now exist. Partly 
 as a reward for these labours he received a grant of land in the 
 Perugian territory of Chiugi, for which he was to pay a yearly 
 quit-rent of thirty measures of corn, afterwards commuted by 
 order of the Pope, as too onerous a charge, to two pounds of white 
 wax. He was engaged at Rome to the end of the century upon 
 
 * Gio. Battista Caporali, in his commentaries on Vitruvius, mentions a supper in the 
 house of Bramante at which the three painters were present, but the date is uncertain. — 
 Vermiglioli, Vita di Pinturicchio, p. 5. 
 
6 
 
 many other works, and especially upon the frescoes in the Bufalini 
 Chapel in the church of Sta. Maria in Aracoeli, which may be 
 classed amongst his best productions.* 
 
 Having completed these undertakings, and being in the full 
 maturity of his powers — for he was now in his forty-sixth year — 
 Pinturicchio commenced the work confided to him by the Prior at 
 Spello. The subjects selected to occupy the three sides of the 
 chapel — the fourth being entirely open to the church — were the 
 Annunciation, the Nativity, and Christ disputing with the Doctors. 
 In the four compartments of the groined vault, and in the midst of 
 graceful arabesques, he painted the four Sibyls foretelling the coming 
 of the Saviour ; thus connecting the ceiling with the walls, and 
 uniting the whole in one story. These frescoes were com- 
 menced in the year 1500, and according to the date affixed by 
 the painter to one of them, appear to have been completed in 
 the following year, when his patron, the Prior, had been promoted 
 to the dignity of Bishop of his native city of Perugia. 
 
 The frescoes of the Spello Chapel have been more fortunate than 
 most works of the period in escaping restoration, but they have 
 not been treated with less neglect and indifference. The rain 
 having been long allowed to penetrate through the roof, and to 
 trickle down the walls, the plaster loosened by the damp is peeling 
 off, and the colours have lost their original brilliancy. The frescoes 
 on the roof are fast disappearing altogether. As the chapel is 
 
 * The frescoes in the tribune of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme, attributed to him, have 
 either been so entirely repainted as to leave but few traces of his brush, or are the 
 works of an indifferent imitator or scholar. 
 
7 
 
 unlighted by windows, and almost blocked up by a modern altar, 
 the paintings can only be well seen during two or three hours in the 
 middle of a bright day. I have had opportunities of watching, 
 during repeated visits, their rapid decay, and of noting the changes 
 which are from year to year taking place in them. 
 
 A traveller rarely wanders from the main road to thread on 
 foot the narrow and precipitous streets, inaccessible to a carriage, 
 which lead to the Collegiata ; and as the frescoes, although perhaps 
 the best works of the painter, have not even been mentioned by 
 Vasari, and have consequently not been described in books on art, 
 they are known but to a few. This was precisely a case in which 
 the Arundel Society coidd render good service to the arts, by having- 
 accurate copies made of these paintings before they had entirely 
 perished.* Signor Mariannecci, who had copied the “ Martyrdom 
 of S. Sebastian ” by Pietro Perugino, already pnblished by the 
 Society, was commissioned to make them. But nearly three years 
 elapsed before the difficulties thrown in his way by the canons of 
 the church could be overcome, and drawings of the three frescoes 
 secured. This was only accomplished after reiterated orders from 
 Rome, and through the kind intervention of Cardinal Antonelli. 
 The priests, perceiving that foreigners took an interest in these 
 works of art, were suddenly struck with the idea that they must 
 be of some value, and were seized with the fear that to allow copies 
 to be taken of them would be to detract from their pecuniary worth, 
 by deterring travellers from visiting, and paying for the privilege 
 of seeing, the originals. 
 
 * Some very bad engravings in outline, from drawings by one Mariani, have been 
 published of them, but they are scarcely deserving of mention. 
 
The first of the three subjects, the Annunciation, is to the left 
 on entering the chapel. The Virgin, a most graceful figure with an 
 exquisite expression of modest purity, stands before a high reading 
 desk, and rests one hand upon an open book. The kneeling angel, 
 holding in one hand a lily, and raising the other in the act of 
 delivering his holy message, his golden hair floating in rich profusion 
 upon his shoulders, and his limbs enveloped in flowing robes, is 
 one of the noblest figures of this class that Pinturicchio ever painted. 
 The Almighty, supported by cherubim, sends the mystic dove towards 
 the Virgin. In the background is an arcade, the columns of which 
 are ornamented with arabesques. Through the arches is seen a 
 second colonnade, and a distant landscape with a walled city on a 
 hill, probably intended for Spello. To the right, beneath a 
 window, is represented, as suspended to the wall, the portrait of the 
 painter with the inscription — bernakdinvs pictoricivs pervsinvs. 
 On a column is inscribed the date of the execution of the work, 
 1501. The composition is very simple, the subject being treated 
 somewhat in the conventional manner of the Umbrian school. But 
 the story is clearly and naturally told, and the action, both of the 
 Virgin and Angel, is full of truth and grace. The elaborate archi- 
 tectural background and the landscape are very characteristic of the 
 master. The colour throughout is rich and harmonious.* 
 
 The second subject, on the wall facing the entrance, is the 
 Nativity. The divine Infant is stretching out its hands to its mother, 
 who is in an attitude of adoration before her son. Two angels 
 kneel at its head, one raising the white cloth, embroidered with a 
 
 ' A chromolith of this fresco 'will he included in a future publication of the Arundel 
 Society. 
 
9 
 
 cross, upon which it is lying. S. Joseph stands near the Virgin, and 
 gazes in wonder upon the child. An ox and an ass are seen behind 
 him. The stable is a mined building of debased classic architecture, 
 with pilasters adorned with arabesques. Three shepherds kneel before 
 the Infant, and a fourth brings a ram as an offering. In the middle 
 distance are the three Kings coming with their gifts, and attended by 
 men on horse and foot, one bearing a shield with the Baglioni arms. 
 On a hill behind this group the Angel is represented appearing 
 to the Shepherds. In the distance is seen the city of Bethlehem, 
 over which hangs the guiding star, and beyond is a sea or lake 
 with a ship. In the sky is a group of angels singing from a roll of 
 music.* 
 
 The composition of this subject is less conventional than that of 
 the previous one. Like most works of the school and period, it wants 
 unity of action. The principal group — that surrounding the Infant — 
 is too scattered and formal. There is an attempt to give 
 individuality of character, and natural expression and action, to the 
 shepherds, which marks the position of Pinturicchio in the Umbrian 
 school with reference to Pietro Perugino, and shows an advance 
 upon his conventional style. The angels in the sky, however, are 
 quite Peruginesque, and have all Pietro’s grace. 
 
 The third fresco represents Christ disputing with the Doctors.! 
 The child is surrounded by a crowd of listeners, some in Eastern 
 costume, others in the dress of the fifteenth century. He places 
 the joined fingers of the right hand upon the centre finger of the left. 
 
 '* This subject is included in the publications of the Arundel Society for tiro year 1S5S. 
 
 f Included in the publications of the Society for the year 1857. 
 
10 
 
 — an action still commonly used by the Italians in argument, and 
 frequently depicted by other painters when representing the same 
 subject. The figure of the youthful Christ is simple and dignified. 
 He is clothed in a tunic, and in ample drapery which falls to the 
 ground. His hair clusters in ringlets about his neck. S. Joseph 
 points to the child, and appears to wish to advance towards him, but 
 is restrained by the Virgin, who, marvelling at the flow of divine 
 wisdom, with a timid downcast look, places her hand upon her 
 husband’s girdle. On the pavement in the midst of the assembly are 
 scattered in disorder the books of the old law, as if to mark the 
 triumph of the new. 
 
 In the group of figures to the spectator’s left, the painter has 
 introduced his patron, the Prior Trojolo. He is dressed in the long 
 black robe and cap of his office, as prothonotary of the Apostolic 
 See. By his side is a second figure, also in priest’s garb, probably 
 his treasurer, for in one hand he carries a purse, evidently to 
 denote that the paintings were executed at his master’s expense. 
 On the opposite side an old man, wearing a peculiar conical 
 head-dress, holds a scroll inscribed with the painter’s name, 
 written Pintorichio. 
 
 In the background is one of those domed polygonal buildings of 
 so-called classic architecture which Bramante had brought into fashion 
 about this period, and which were chosen by some of the principal 
 painters of the day, his contemporaries and friends, as the most fit 
 representation of the temple of Jerusalem — as by Pietro Perugino in 
 his fresco in the Sistine chapel of “Christ’s Charge to Peter,” 
 and by Raphael in his “ Marriage of the Virgin ” in the Brera. 
 
ii 
 
 Pinturicchio has also introduced a similar building in other of his 
 works, as in the “ Death of S, Bernardino” in the church of the 
 Aracoeli at Rome. On either side of this edifice, which occupies 
 the centre of the background, is a landscape with trees, treated in 
 the usual stiff conventional manner of the master. 
 
 The composition of this subject is more elaborate and ambitious 
 than that of the other two, and very characteristic of the place 
 which Pinturicchio holds in the Umbrian school, as the link 
 between Pietro Perugino and Raphael. lie can scarcely be called 
 the pupil of the former, having been rather his fellow-labourer and 
 assistant. But there can be no doubt that his style was influenced 
 by Pietro’s works, especially in his altar-pieces and easel-pictures, in 
 which he frequently introduces angels and other figures almost 
 copied from that master. On the other hand, the youthful Raphael 
 appears to have assisted him in some of his later works, and if 
 Vasari’s statement is to be credited, to have been even employed by 
 him in making designs for some of his principal compositions.* 
 Pinturicchio stands as a painter between the two. lie marks the 
 transition between the Umbrian school, and the Roman founded by 
 
 * The editors of Lemonnier’s edition of Vasari’s Lives have shown that considerable 
 doubt exists as to the extent of the assistance received by Pinturicchio from Raphael 
 in the frescoes of the Piccolomini Library at Siena. In the contract for those works, still 
 preserved, it is specially stipulated that both the cartoons, or original designs, and the 
 heads in the frescoes themselves, should be by Pinturicchio’s own hand. “ Item , sia 
 tenuto fare tutti li disegni delle istorie di sua mano in cartoni e in rnuro, fare le teste de 
 sua mano tutte in fresco et in secho ritocchare e finiro infi.no a la perfectione sua.” 
 Sketches aro preserved, one in the Gallery at Florence, the other in the Paldeschi 
 collection at Perugia, of two of the subjects of these frescoes, and are attributed to Raphael 
 — upon what evidence, except the authority of Vasari, I am ignorant. The proof 
 afforded by their style is not, to my mind, conclusive. It is scarcely probablo that 
 Pinturicchio, a painter of great reputation and experience, should have employed 
 Raphael, then but a mere youth, to make sketches for so important a work. 
 
Raphael,* showing the first decay of that spiritualism which especially 
 distinguishes the former. A less brilliant and subtle colorist than 
 Pietro, less tender, and less deeply religious in sentiment, he 
 displays greater dramatic vigour and dramatic unity in his works. 
 He attempts to portray with truth, and with a more exact 
 imitation of nature, the various emotions and feelings of the 
 actors in the events he depicts, and endeavours to depart from a 
 mere conventional treatment. He may consecjuently be considered 
 as the first of the historical painters of the Umbrian school, being 
 in this respect considerably in advance of Lo Spagna, l’lngegno, 
 and other pupils of Perugino. Thus, in the “ Christ Disputing 
 with the Doctors ” at Spello, there is an endeavour to show in 
 the countenances and action of those who surround the Saviour, 
 the particular e fleet of his words upon each of them, and to give a 
 natural variety to each expression. But in this attempt he is still 
 far behind the great historical painters of the Tuscan school who had 
 immediately preceded him, or were his contemporaries — Masolino, 
 Masaccio, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Ghirlandajo. They were superior to 
 him in the representation of true dignity and in elevated conception 
 of character. Pinturicchio, in comparison with them, is frecpiently 
 weak and even common-place, as well as inferior in variety of action ; 
 showing the influence of that conventional spirit of the Umbrian 
 school, from which Raphael alone entirely freed himself. 
 
 In technical treatment, Pinturicchio holds the same relative place. 
 
 * As a proof of this transition of style, it may be mentioned that a picture in the 
 Gallery of the Vatican, which was once attributed to Pinturicchio, is now attributed to 
 Pietro, Pinturicchio, and Raphael together, and that the fresco of the Last Supper, 
 recently discovered at Florence, is sometimes assigned to Raphael, and sometimes to Pintu- 
 ricchio. It is certainly not by the former. 
 
13 
 
 Ills draperies are usually broader and less mannered and affected 
 than those of Pietro, and are frequently disposed with grace and 
 truth. His coloring has much of the brilliancy, yet softness and 
 harmony, of the Umbrian school, but is inferior to that of Pietro’s 
 best works. It is, however, sometimes exceedingly rich and 
 powerful, as in the case of his own portrait in the fresco of the 
 Annunciation, which is almost Venetian in depth of tone. Ilis 
 drawing is generally careful and accurate. His outline is sometimes 
 dry, but is often marked by great sweetness and tenderness ; as 
 in the figure of the Virgin in each of the Spello frescoes, and in the 
 fresco over the altar of the Della Rovere chapel in the church of 
 Sta. Maria del Popolo at Rome ; and in the head of the Angel, of 
 which an engraving in outline will be published by the Arundel 
 Society. Like Pietro, he avoids the nude, and an undraped figure is 
 of rare occurrence in his works. In his composition he occasionally 
 betrays an evident imitation of the Florentine school, as in the 
 fresco of the death of S. Bernardino in the church of the Aracccli 
 at Rome. Many of his heads are marked by great strength 
 and originality of character, as that of the shepherd in the 
 “ Nativity,” of which a traced outline is also published by the 
 Society. 
 
 In the representation of suggestive scenery, he was inferior to Pietro 
 Perugino, showing less true feeling for the beauties ol nature, and less 
 refined sentiment. There is a delightful calm and repose in Pietro’s 
 landscapes, which is rarely, if ever, seen in those of Pinturicchio. 
 It was in rich architectural backgrounds that he excelled, and he 
 rarely omits to introduce into his pictures some highly ornamented 
 building or monument, although altogether inconsistent with the 
 
14 
 
 subject. He was the first in Italy, says Vasari, to imitate the 
 Flemish manner, in a series of landscapes and views of cities which 
 he painted for Innocent VIII. in his palace of the Belvidere. Indeed 
 in minuteness of detail, and in hard conventional treatment, he 
 resembles to a certain extent the painters of the Flemish school. In the 
 variety and richness of his arabesques he has scarcely been excelled, 
 and even Raphael seems to have derived much from him in this 
 branch of his art. Amongst the best specimens of his taste and 
 skill in this style are the Piccolomini Library of Siena, the vault of 
 the choir in the church of Sta. Maria del Popolo at Rome, and the 
 ceiling of the chapel at Spello. 
 
 Pinturicchio was essentially a painter in fresco, and a decorator of 
 architecture. Authentic easel-pictures by him are rare, although 
 many worthless specimens of the Umbrian school pass under his 
 name. Ilis best are probably a large altar-piece now in the public 
 gallery at Perugia, an Assumption at Naples, and a Holy Family 
 and Saints in the Church of S. Francesco at Spello. 
 
 He painted in “ buonfresco,” or true fresco, and thoroughly 
 understood the capabilities of the material. His works were, 
 however, usually finished in tempera, according to the custom of 
 many painters of the time. In the contract for the decoration of 
 the library at Siena, he binds himself, indeed, to complete the heads 
 “ in secf/o.” * He was fond of introducing gold ornaments in high 
 relief, bosses, and gilding into his pictures, a custom which Vasari 
 condemns as “ goffissimo.” Although this practice is opposed to 
 true art, it has frequently a rich and pleasing effect in architectural 
 
 * See ante. Note, p. 11. 
 
15 
 
 decoration. The frescoes of Spcllo are, however, freer than most of 
 his works from such ornamentation. 
 
 As a decorator of interior architecture Pinturicchio has scarcely had 
 an equal. The celebrated library attached to the cathedral at Siena, 
 and adorned with ten subjects from the life of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, 
 Pope Pius II., and with a profusion of arabesques and architectural 
 ornaments of the greatest variety and elegance, will probably ever 
 remain the most perfect example of this style of decoration. 
 
 The great facility attained by Pinturicchio in fresco led him 
 frequently, as has been the case with other artists, to paint care- 
 lessly and mechanically, some of his works almost justifying the 
 contemptuous manner in which Vasari speaks of him.* Many of 
 these were probably executed in great part by pupils or assistants. 
 Of his scholars, none distinguished themselves. ITe founded no 
 school, and exercised no real influence on art. 
 
 Like his fellow citizen Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio was enrolled 
 in 1501 among the decemvirs, or supreme magistrates of his 
 native city. After the completion of his great work in the Picco- 
 lomini Library, he was released by the Balia, or magistracy of 
 Siena, from the payment of all taxes and imposts, except those 
 levied at the city gates. These marks of honourable distinction, 
 his friendship with Raphael, and the esteem in which he was held 
 by some of the most illustrious men of his time, ill agree with the 
 character given of him by Vasari — always unfavourable to the 
 Umbrian school, and especially hostile to Pinturicchio — that he was 
 
 * This is seen in somo of the frescoes in the “ Appartamento Iiorgia,” in the Vatican. 
 
16 
 
 one of the most fantastic, strange, and malicious men of whom there 
 is record in the history of painting. Nor does there appear to be 
 aI)y truth in that biographer’s account of the painter’s death. 
 According to him Pinturicchio, whilst employed upon an altar-piece 
 for the friars of S. Francesco at Siena, perversely insisted upon the 
 removal of an old chest from a room in their convent in which he 
 worked. A part of it giving way, five hundred golden ducats rolled 
 out on the floor. He was so envious of the good fortune of the poor 
 monks at the discovery, through his means, of this treasure, that he 
 took to his bed and died of grief and mortification. A more authentic 
 and probable narrative of Ins death has, however, been preserved. 
 He appears to have made, like Andrea del Sarto, an unfortunate 
 marriage. Whilst he was suffering under a severe illness, his wife 
 qnitted° the house with a lover, closed the door, and left the 
 unhappy painter to die of neglect and starvation. He expired on 
 the 11th of December, 1513, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, and 
 was buried at Siena, in the church of SS. Vincenzio and Anastasio, 
 now the oratory of the Contrada dell’ Istrice* No monument 
 marked his grave until a lover of the fine arts, the Abate de Angelis, 
 placed, a few years ago, an inscribed slab over liis remains. 
 
 A. H- LAYARD. 
 
 IZnt of His death from tome eld women of the quarter who were present. Vennr>h, 
 Vita di Pinturicchio, p. 1 89. 
 
 PRINTED EOU THE ARUNDEL SOCIETY, 24, OLD BOND STREET. 
 PUBLICATION OF THE TENTH YEAR, 1858.