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From the Library oftlic
Fogg ^Museum of Art Harvard University
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LIVES
or THE MOST BMINENT
PAINTERS, SCULPTOES, ^ ARCHITECTS:
TRANSLATED PBOM THK ,1^1.,^^ OF
GIORGIO VASARI.
AND ITALUN OOllMENTATOfiS. BY
VOL. IV.
HENBY a BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT
GARDEN.
M-DCOC.LI.
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1. HADDON, PRINTBR, CA8TLB 8TRBBT, FUTSBTRT.
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^iM^^i^slM^i-M^:^^^^^^
29. SHERIDAN'S DRAMATIC WORKS AND UFE. Fortrait.
30. COXE'S MEMOIRS OF MARLBOROUGH. VOL.2. Portrait of the Duchess,
31. GOETHE'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 13 BOOKS. PORTRAIT.
32. RANKE'S HISTORY OF THE POPES. VOL 2. mth Index, and Portrait
VOL. 3. With a Memoir
of Innocent X
33. LAMARTINE'S HISTORY OF THE GIRONDISTS.
of Laiaartine, and a Sketch of the last Revolution.
34. COXE'S MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. VOL. 3.
35. WHEATLEY ON THE COMMON PRAYER. FRONTISPIECE 30. RANKE'S POPES. VOL.3. Portrait of Clement VIL
37. MILTON'S PROSE WORKS. VOL 1. Portrait.
38. MENZEL'S HISTORY OF GERMANY. COMPLETE IN 3 VOLS. VOL 1.
Portrait of Charlemagne.
39. MILTON'S PROSE WORKS. VOL 2. Frontispiece.
40. MILTON'S PROSE WORKS. VOL 3. Portrait of Laud.
41. MENZEL'S HISTORY OF GERMANY. VOL 2. Portrmt of Charles F.
42. SCHLEGEL'S>ESTHETIC AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, CONTAINING
Letters on Christian Art, Essay on Gothic Architecture, Remarks on the Romance- Poetry of the Middle Ages, on Shakspeare, the Limits of the Beautiful, and on the Language and Wisdom of the Indians.
GOETHE'S WORKS. VOL 2, containing the remainder of his Autobiography, together with his Trayels in Italy, France, and Switzerland.
44. SCHILLER'S WORKS. VOL4, CONTAINING "THE ROBBERS/ "FIESKO,' "Love and Intrigue," and "The Ghost-Seer," translated by Uemrt 6. Bohn.
46. MENZEL'S GERMANY. VOL 3. Portrait of Prince Mettemich.
SCHLEQEL'S LECTURES ON MODERN HISTORY.
LAMARTINES HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1843. With- Frouiiipieee, cotUaiKin^ 5 Forirailx.
4S,
-^5>.;
J U N I U S S LETTERS , W^T H A LL TH E NOTES OF WOOD FA L L'S I D ITION, SJ'G'N
49. V ASARJ S LI VES Of TH E MOST C E LEB R ATE D P Al NT ER S, SC U LPTO R S , ^^pl ;
AKD ARCHITECTS. Trmwlntqa by Mes, Fosteji. YoL I, Furlrait. ^f^i,V;
00' JUNIUSS LETTERS. yOL S, cuntoiuing ihe PrtvAtc uid MisceUuucuttB ^^k^' i
Letters, an Eflsiiy dijicloBlag thft AnthorBbip, anil a T^-ry cLnbonite Iiidu. ^--^.-h. l/i
51. TAYLOR'S (JEREMY) HOLY LIVING ANO DYING, fcrtraii. S£l)^'^^
52. GOETHE'S WORKS. VOL 3* CONTAiNlNQ "FAUST," " IPHIGENIA.** *r v -"fr "'K3RUUATO TASJ^O." and ^^EGMONT.*" Traiinlftted by MiSfl SwASffics. ^^^^}^>S--
With " GOETZ YON BEKLICHISGEN/* by Sir Wii^Tim Sco-rr. ^^ J-1^1
63. NEAMDERS CHURCH : HISTORY, THE TRANSLATION CAREFULLY fcfe'/,
Herist,^ by the iUY. A. J, W. Moaitiaos. VoL 1. CTo'^^f
54, NEANDEfl S UFE OF CHRIST. COMPLETE IN 1 VOL ^M^K
66. VASARI'S LIVES, BY MRS. FOSTER. VOL 2. ^^'iH
56. NEANDER'S CHURCH HISTORY. VOL. 2. K^'^'^
Vmf^rm with his Stas Diau Libkaat. priaf Sj, CJ.,
BOHM'S EXTRA VOLUMES.
K^x^Vxt^ '> ). GRAMMONTS MEWOiRS OF THE COURT OF CHARLES ll.
^iy%-!^* 2*^3- RABELAIS' WORKS. COMPLETE IN 2 VOLS. 4. COUNT HAMILTON S FAIRY TALES. PORTRAIT.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Pager Antonio da San Gallo . . .1
Giulio IU>inano . . ^ . . .25
Fra Sebastiano del Fiombo . . • .59
Perino del Vaga . . . . .75
Domenico Beccafumi . . . . 125
'Giovan- Antonio LappoH . . . . 146
INiccolo Soggi . ..... 158
Niccolo, called Tribolo. .172
Pierino da Vinci . . .219
Bacdo Bandinelli ..... 232
Griuliano Bugiardini ..... 296
Cristofano Gherardi, called Doceno of Borgo-a-San
SepolcTO . . . . . . 304
Jacopo da Puntormo ..... 336
Simone Mosca ...... 384
Girolamo Genga and Battista San Marino . . 398
Idichde San Michele ..... 418.
Giovan-Antonio Razzi, called Sodona, Sodone, or
Sogdona ...... 452
Bastiano, called Aristofile da San Gallo • . 470
Benvenuto Garofalo and Girolamo da Carpi, painters of
Ferrara, ahd other Lombard masters • . 493
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LIVES
OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS, SCDX.PTOBS, AND ARCHITECTS.
THE FLORENTINE ARCHITECT, ANTQNIO DA SAN GALLO. [bout 148. . t— DIED 1546.]
How many great and illustrious princes, richly abounding in the goods of fortune, would leave an enduring glory attached to their names, if, together with the distinction of riches and station, they bad also received minds attuned to greatness and disposed to such pursuits as not only tend to promote the embellishment (^ the world, but are likewise capable of securing infinite advantage and perpetual enjoyment to the whole human race! But what can, or should great men and princes do the most efTectually to profit by the various endowments c^ those who serve them, and to maintain the memories of such men and of themselves in perpetual duration, if not to erect great and magnificent edifices ? For what, of all the vast outlay made by the ancient Romans when at the topmost summit of their glory, what other has remained to uSy upholding the eternal splendour of the Roman name^ what but those relics of buildings which we honour almost as something holy, and labour incessantly to imitate tat the sole erections really beautiful ? And to what extent the minds of certain princes who were ruling in the daj# of the Florentine architect Antonio da San Gallo were disposed to these things, will be clearly seen in the life of ^lat master which we are now about to write.
Antonio was the son of Bartolommeo Picconi, a cooper of Mngello, and having learned the craft of the carpenter in his early youth, he departed from the city of Florence on hearing that his uncle Giuliano da San Gallo was employed in Rome, tc^eth^ with Antonio da San Gallo* the brother of Giuliano ;
* For the lives of these masters see vol. ii. of the present work. VOL. IV. /J B
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Z LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
and followed them thither,* where he devoted himself with his whole heart to the study of architecture, giving promise at once of that distinction which we have seen him evince at a more mature age in the many works produced by his skill in all parts of Italy.
Now it chanced that Giuliano, disabled by the internal disease with which he had been long afflicted, was compelled to return to Florence, but Antonio had by that time been made known to the architect Bramante of Castel Durante,f who was also become old, and being no longer able to work as he had formerly done, from gout and paralysis of the hands, received assistance from Antonio in the designs which he was preparing. These the young architect completed to such perfection that Bramante, finding his sketches executed with the utmost exactitude, became more and more disposed to leave the charge of such works as he was then conducting to the care of Antonio, Bramante describing the arrangements which he desired to have made, and supplying all the com- positions and inventions for every operation that remained to be accomplished.
With so much judgment, care, and expedition did Bra- mante then find himself served on all these occasions by Antonio, that in the year 1512 he committed to him the care of the Corridor which led towards the trenches of the Castel Sant' Angelo, an occupation which brought him in ten scudi per month ; but the death of Pope Julius II. then intervening, the work remained unfinished. Antonio had meanwhile already acquired the reputation of possessing considerable ability in architecture, and was reputed to give evidence of a very good manner in building ; this caused Alessandro, who was first Cardinal Farnese, and afterwards Pope Paul III., to conceive the idea of restoring, by his help, the old palace in the Campo di Fiore, in which he dwelt together with his family ; and Antonio, anxious to put himself forward, prepared numerous designs in diiferent manners. Among these, one by which the fabric was divided into two separate dwellings was that which best pleased his most reverend lordship, he having two sons, the Signer Pier Luigi and the Signer Ranuccio, whom he
♦ It was therefore that he afterwards received the name of San Gallo. t See vol. ii.
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AMTOmO DA SAN GALLO. 3
thought he should leave well accommodated hj that arrange- ment. The edifice was commenced accordingly; a certain portion heing regularly constructed every year.
The church of Santa Maria di Loreto in Rome, which is situate at the Macello de' Corhi, near the Column of Trajan, was at this time in course of erection, and was finished by Antonio with decorations of the utmost beauty ;* soon after the completion of this work, Messer Marchionne Baldassini caused a Palace to be erected near Sant* Agostino, after the designs and under the direction of Antonio. This building is arranged in such a manner, that small as it is, it merits to be and is considered the most commodious and most judi- ciously arranged dwelling in Bome : the steps, the court, the loggie, the doors, the communications, all parts, in short, are distributed in the most admirable manner, and each separate portion is finished with the most perfect grace.t Messer Marchionne was highly satisfied with this result, and deter- mined that the Florentine painter, Perino del Vaga, should adorn one of the Halls with paintings of historical repre- sentations and other figures, as will be further described in his life, and these decorations imparted infinite grace and beauty to that portion of the fabric. The House of the Centelli family, near the Torre di Nona, was likewise com- pleted under the direction of Antonio ; this also is small, but exceedingly conmiodious.
No long time elapsed after these things before the archi- tect was sent to Gradoli, a place within the domain of the most reverend Cardinal Famese, where he directed the building of a very handsome and commodious Palace for that Prelate ; and in his way to Gradoli, he performed a very important service, the restoration, namely, of the Fortress of Capo di Monte, which he furthermore caused to be sur- rounded by a low wall of most judicious construction. He prepared, at the same time, the design for the Fortress of Capraruola; and Monsignore, the most reverend Cardinal
t
* ** For the honour of thw architect," ohserves Bottari, " I must needg obflenre, that the completion of the Cupola of the Madonna of Loretto, the architecture of which is very singular and strange, is not by Antonio^ but was designed by the Sicilian, Giacomo del Duca."
i* Milizia remarks that the pedestals of the ^ohmms which flank the portal are ** immeasurably high.''
B 2
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4 LZYSS OF THB ARTISTS.
Farnese, perceiving himself to be served in a maim^ so 8atisfactor7 bj Antonio in these numerous works, was con- strained to ieei great good-will for him, and as his estimation of him continually increased, he always favoured Antonio in all his undertakings to the utmost of his power.
The Cardinal Alborense, then desiring to leave a memonal of hiotself in the church of his native city, caused Antonio to construct a marble chapel in the church of San Jacopo degli Spagnuoli, with a tomb for himself. This chapel was afterwards painted, in the intercohimniations that is to say, by Pellegrino da Mjodena, as I have related : on the altar, like- wise, there was placed a very beautiful statue in marble of San Jncopo which was executed by Jaeopo Sansovino. The whole work is considered a very fine one, the architecture being greatly extolled, more particularly for the marble vaulting, which has octangular compartments of great beauty.
No long time after the completion of this work, Messer Bartdommeo Fcrratino, for his own convenience and the ei\joyment of his Mends, as well as in the hc^ of leaving an enduring and honourable memorial of himself caused a palace to be buUt by Antonio on the Piazza d' Amelia, and this also is a very creditable and beautiful work, from which the architect derived no small r^mtation as well as advantage.
Now at that time Antonio di Monte, Cardinal of Santa Prassedia, was in Rome, and desired that Antonio should build for him the Palace,* in which he afterwards dwelt, and which looks into the Piazza, whereon stands the Statue of Maestro Pasquino.f In the centre of that side which is turned to the Piazza^ the Cardinal caused a Tower to be erected, and this was adorned from the first to the third story with a beautiful ©omposition of columns and windows, all arranged and completed after the design of Antonio with
* Which stood where now stands the Palazzo Braschi, built alter the deugn of Morelli, towards the close of the last centiuy.
f This figure is the upper part of the Statue of Menelaus, and belongs to a celebrated antique group, of which there exist several copies and sonSe lepetitioas ; £rom these we learn that the hero was represented in the act of supporting Patroclus. It was called Pasquino, because the fiagment was disGovered near the diop o{ a firee-spoken tailor so called, and was erected before the same. On this figure were afterwards appended the satirical songs and caustic remarks, called from ihat drcumstance " Pas-
• des."
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ANTONIO DA SAN GALJUX ^
infinite jodgment and grace ; it was then decorated^ both within and wiUuHit, hy Francesco dell' Indaco^ with figures and historical rei»:esentations in terretta.
Antonio was now much employed by the Cardinal of Bimini also, and that Prelate commissioned him to erect for his use a Palace at Tolentino in the March. For this work he was not only most liberally rewarded by the Cardinal, but was ever afterwards considered by that personage to have laid his lordship under great obligations. While these matters v^ere in progress, and the fame of Antonio, increas- ing largely, became bruited abroad, it happened that the advanced age of Bramante, with various infirmities, ren- dered him the denizen of another world, whereupon three architects were inmiediately appointed by Pope Leo to take charge of the church of San Pietro, JRaphael of Urbino, namely, GiuHano da San Gallo (the uncle of Antonio), and Fra G-iocondo da Verona. But no long time had elapsed before Fra Giocondo left Home, and Giuliano da San Gallo having become old, received his dismissal from the Ponti£^ and was enabled to return to Florence. Then Antonio, b^ng in the service of the most reverend Cardinal Famese, earnestly requested him to make supplication to Pope Leo, to the intuit that the "pLuce of his uncle Giuliano might be granted to himself.* And this was a thing very easy of attainment^ first, because of the abilities of Antonio, which rendered him worthy of that appointment, and next on account of the interest made for him by the friendly feeling that existed between the Pontiff and the most reverend Cardinal ; thus, in company with Eaphael da Urbino, Anto- nio continued the building, which proceeded coldly and slowly enough.
About this time Pope Leo repaired to Civita Vecchia, to fiMrtify that city, and with him there went a large number of nobles, Giovan-Paolo B^lione and the Signor Vitello among others, with certain men of distinction for ability, as were the engineer Pietro Navarro, and the architect Antonio Mar- chisi, who then superintended the Fortifications. The lat- ter had repaired thither from Naples, by command of Pope
• Antonio had already taken part in the buildings, but is mentioned in liie books of the works as a carpenter only. After the 22nd Jan., 1517, • Aa appears as " Ajuiante del ArchUetto."
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6 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
Leo, and as the discourse very frequently turned on the best methods of fortifying Civita Vecchia, opinions respecting the same were many and various, some proposing one design and some another. Among so many plans, Antonio da San Gallo displayed one which was declared by the Pontiff and all those nobles knd architects, to be superior to all the rest, both for beauty and strength ; it was further commended for the admirable forethought displayed in its many appropriate provisions. This brought Antonio into very great credit with the court, and his abilities were soon afterwards further displayed by the reparation of a very serious oversight which he effected, and the matter was on this wise : —
Raphael of Urbino, for the purpose of obliging certain persons about the court, had permitted several void spaces to be left in the walls beneath the papal apartments and loggie, to the great injury of the whole fabric, seeing that the strength of those parts was not able to support the weight laid upon them, and the edifice abeady began to show signs of weakness from the insuflSciency of power to sustain the superincumbent weight ; nay, that part would without doubt have come down, had the abilities of Antonio not been brought to jaid : but he, by means of piles and beams, filled in those little chambers or cavities thus left in the building, and, refounding the whole, imparted so much strength to the walls, that they were rendered firmer and more secure than they had ever been.
Meanwhile the Florentine nation, or community of that people abiding in Rome, had commenced the erection of their church, which is situate behind the Banchi in the Via Q-iulia, after a design prepared by Jacopo Sansovino ; but they had brought their fabric too close to the river, and saw themselves compelled to expend a sum of twelve thousand scudi on foundations which had to be laid in the water. This was effected in a very secure and beautiful manner by Antonio da San Gallo, and the method for doing this, which Jacopo Sansovino could not discover, was found by Antonio, who erected several braccia of the edifice on the water, making a model for the same which was of such extraordinary beauty, that the work, had it been completed after that model, would without doubt have been most admirable and even astonish- ing. It was nevertheless a great mistake to bring the fabric
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ANTOKIO DA 8AK GALLO. 7
80 close to the river, and their having done so proves that there was but little discretion in those who were then chief of the Florentine nation in Rome. It is certain that architects should never be permitted to found a church of such extent in a river so violent, for the mere sake of obtain- ing some twenty braccia of length, thereby casting away so many thousands of scudi for no better purpose than that of having ever afterwards to maintain an eternal combat with the waters.
These rulers were besides all the more to blame, because they might very easily have raised their church on land had they been willing to extend their limits in another direction, and agreed to give the building a different form, nay, what is more, they might have almost brought the whole to com- pletion at the cost here expended so injudiciously. But if those who governed the affair put their trust in the riches possessed by the merchants of that nation, they were taught in good time the perfect fallacy of their hopes, since in all the years that the papal throne was held by Leo X. by Clemente de* Medici, by Julius III., and by Marcellus (although the latter it is true occupied it but a short time), all of whom were of the Florentine people ; — through all the time of these pontiffs, I say, and notwithstanding the great- ness of so many cardinals and the riches of so many mer- chants, the building has remained, and still remains at the same point wherein it was left by our San Gallo.* It is manifest therefore, that architects, and all else who have to do with the erection of buildings, should think much and well of the end, taking every thing carefully into consideration, before they lay hands on a work of importance. |
But to return to Antonio : this architect restored the Fortress of Monte Fiascone, which had been constructed by Pope Urban, and for the restoration of which he received commission from the Pontiff, who took him to those parts
♦ It was afterwards completed by Giacomo della Porta. — Ed. Flor., 1882-8.
i* Bottaii connders the want of judgment here reproved to have been manifested principally in the rejection of three plans, all presented by Michael Angelo, but not one of which found fitvour in the eyes of the chiefs. These plans were afterwards lost by the neglect of the same penons.
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8 UTES OF THE ABTISTS,
one sammer in his train.* In the island of Yiscentina also, which is in the lake of Bolsena, he built two small temples for the Cardinal Famese, one of which he made an octangle on the outside, and round within, while the other was a square extems^lj, but octangular within, the latter having four niches at the angles, one at each angle namely. These two little temples, completed as they were in a very fine manner, bore testimony to the extent of Antonio's abilities and to the variety which he was capable of imparting in architecture.t While they were still in course of erection, Antonio returned to Eome, where he commenced a palace for the Bishop of Cervia ; that fabric was situated at the comer of Santa Lucia, where the New Mint now stands, but the building was not brought to completion. This architect con- structed the church of Santa Maria di Monferrato which is near the Corte Savella, and is considered exceedin^y beauti- ful ; he also built a house for a certain Marrano which is behind the palace of Gibo, and near the houses of the Massimi family.
Th^i followed the death of Pope Leo X. and with him were buried all those beautiful and noble arts which had been recalled to life by his care and by that of his predecessor Julius n. ; for when Adrian VI. succeeded to the pontificate, the arts and talents of all kinds were held in so little esteem, that if he had long retained the apostoUc seat, there would once more have happened in Bome under his government what had taken place at a former period, when all the statues left by the Goths, the good as well as the bad, were con- demned to the fire. Nay, Pope Adrian had already begun, perhaps in imitation of the pontifls of the times just mentioned, to talk of his intention to destroy the chapel of the divine Michelangelo, declaring it to be a congregation of naked figures, and expressing his contempt for the best pictures and statues, which he called sensualities of the world, and maintained them to be shameful and abominable inven- tions. This caused not only San Gallo but all the other men of genius to repose during the pontificate of that Pope, seeing that no works of any kind were proceeded with in Adrian's time ; nay, to make no mention of other buildings,
* This fortress is almost entirely destroyed. — Botiari, t The little temples still remain on the island. — Ibid.
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ANTONIO BA SAN OALLO. 9
^ere was scarcely aEtything done to the diurch of San Pietro to t^e progress of which he might at least have proved himself Mendly, since he displayed so much enmity for all worldly things.''^
At this time ther^<»*e, Antonk) found leisure to give his attention to w<H:ks of no great importance, and under that Pontiff he restored the side-aisles of the chnrch of San Jacopo degli Spagnuoli, furnishing the principal front with hanc^me windows. He also constructed the tabernacle for the image of the bridge which is in Travertine, and, though amaWj is a very graceful work ; it was afterwards adorned by Perino del Yaga, with a beautiful painting in &esco. The unfortunate uia were already beginning to suffer great wrong from Adrian's modes of thinking, when Heaven, taking pity upon them, decreed Uiat by the death of one man thousands should receive new life ; wherefore the command went forth which removed Pope Adrian from this life, and made him give place to one who could more worthily fill the station which he had held, and who would handle the affairs of this world in a different spirit. Such was Pope Clement YH. his successor, full of generous sentiments, pursuing the traces of Leo, and liie other foranmners of liis illustrious house ; and, remembering that in his cardinalate he had already called many fine memorials of himself into existence, he considered that during his papacy it behoved him to surpass all who had preceded him, in the section, rest(»*ation, and adornment of buildings.
The election of this pontiff was thus as the restoraticm to life of many a timid and dejected spirit, many were the artists consoled and reassured by that event ; and to those who had sunk into despair, the accession of Clement imparted new courage and unhoped-for life ; yea, these spirits, thus resuscitated, then produced those noble and beautiful works, which we now behold with so much admiration. Antonio was among the first of those who were called into action by the new pontiff, and, receiving a commission from his Holiness for the restoration of the court before the loggie of Raphael,
* Yasari, as an artist, censures Pope Adrian for his neglect of the fine arts; but the churchman Bottari has most justly eulogized his holy life, and the efforts made by this excellent Pontiff in the service of religion and moralB. See also Ranker History qf the Popes, vol. L
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10 UYES OP THE ABTISTS.
he set instantly to work. The court was soon rendered hj his labours a very beautiful and commodious one, for whereas the passage had previously been by narrow and tortuous ways, San Gallo extended the latter and gave all a better form. But this part of the palace is not now as Antonio left it. Pope Julius m. having taken from it the granite columns wherewith it was adorned, to decorate his villa with the same ; the place is therefore entirely changed.
The principal facade of the Old Mint of Rome, which is situate in Banchi, was very beautifully restored by Antonio, who turned the angle of that building in a circular form, which is considered a very difficult thing to accomplish, and is much admired ; on this building the architect placed the arms of the Pontiff. The death of Pope Leo had prevented the completion of the papal Loggie, and the carelessness of Pope Adrian had caused them to remain in their unfinished state ; in his pontificate they were indeed not even touched, but Antonio was now commanded to proceed with them, and at the desire of Pope Clement, they were at length brought to a conclusion.
His Holiness then determined to fortify Parma and Pla- cenza, when, after many plans and models had been made by divers artists, Antonio was sent to those places, and with him Giuliano Leno, the inspector of the fortifications ; San Gallo had his disciple Labacco to assist him in this work, and Pier Francesco da Viterbo, a very skilful engineer, was also there, as was the Veronese architect Michele da San Michele ; when all together they brought the designs for those fortifications to perfection. Antonio then left the others remaining there and returned to Rome.* Here he received a commission from the Pope to build certain apartments in the Papal palace, where there was but little convenience in respect to the Cambers ; he commenced those over the Perraria accordingly, where the public concistory is now held, and these he arranged in such a manner that the Pope was highly satisfied with his work, and caused him to erect rooms for the cham- berlains of his Holiness above those before-mentioned.
* In the first edition, we find ** Antonio departed alone, and going to Rome, he took Florence in his way, for the purpose of visiting his friends, and this happened in the year mdxxvi." Then follows the account of his marriage, as it will be given in a subsequent note.
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ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO. 11
Over tliese chambers, moreover, Antonio raised others, which were exceedingly commodious, although the construction thereof was a very difficult undertaking by reason of the new foundations required for the same. On this point Antonio was of a truth very skilful, his buildings never show a crack, nor has there ever been one among the archi- tects of modern times who has proved himself to be more cautious, or who has displayed greater prudence in the exe- cution of masonry.
In the time of Pope Paul 11. the church of the Madonna of Loretto, was very small, and had its roof erected immediately over the columns, which were constructed of brick in a very rude manner ; but during the pontificate of that Pope, this church was partially rebuilt and enlarged to the extent we now see, by favour of the genius and skill of Giuliano da Majano. Under Sixtus IV. and others it was continued to a certain height, as we have before said ; but in the year 1526, and in the time of Pope Clement YII., although there had before never been the slightest intimation of decay perceived, the edifice began to crack in such a manner, that not only were the arches of the Tribune in danger of falling, but the whole church also was in many places threatened with ruin, the cause being that the founda- tions were not sufficiently strong, nor of adequate depth. Antonio was therefore sent to Loretto by the Pontiff, to the end that he might repair so grievous a disorder ; and having arrived there, he gave the requisite supports to the arches, and providing for every demand, lite the bold and judicious architect that he was, he restored the whole fabric, strength- ening the piers and walls both within and without, giving the building a beautiful form in the whole ; and carefully regulating the proportions of each separate part ; he thus finally rendered the walls strong enough to bear any weight that might require to be laid on them, however massive.
Antonio continued the transept and aisles of the church in one and the same order, adorning the architraves over the arches with superb mouldings ; the frescoes and cornices also being equally beautiful: he likewise imparted the utmost richness to the basement of the four great piers, which, .passing around the eight sides of the tribune, support the four arches, three of which are in the transepts namely, where the
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12 LIYSS OF THE ABTISTS.
chapels are constructed, and the larger one in ike middle aisle. Now this work does certainly merit to be celebrated as the best which Antonio ever perfcHmed, and that not with- out reasonable cause, for while he who constmcts an entirely new building, erecting it from its foundations, has full power to raise or lower it at his pleasure, and to Wing it to such perfection as he will or can, without impediment of any kind ; he, on the contrary, who has to rectify or restore the edifice commenced by others, but who have succeeded badly, either by misfortune or by the inability of the artist, finds himself to possess none of these advantages ; wherefore, it may be truly affirmed, that Antonio resuscitated the dead, and performed that which was all but impossible. Having efiected all that we have related, the master then arranged for the covering of the church with lead, and gave directions for the manner in which all that still remained to be completed should be done ; insomuch, that by his endeavours this most renowned temple may be said to have received a better form, and more perfect grace, than it had previously possessed^ wit^ the hope idso of a very long duration.
Erom Loretto Antonio returned to Bome, which he did
after that city had been plundered, and when the Pope was
abiding in Orvieto. The whole court was then suffering the
utmost inconvenience from the want of water ; for which
cause, and by command of the Pontiff, Antonio constructed
a fountain for the city of Orvieto, sinking the well for
that purpose, and executing the work entirely in stone, the
width being twenty-five braccia, and the descent by a
winding stair. This is cut in the Tufa, one step above
another, according to the winding of the path to the well, to
the bottom of which one descends by these spiral stairs with
all convenience ; and the animals which carry the water,
entering by one door, descend by one of these planes or steps,
and having arrived at the platform where they take in their
load, they receive the water, and, without turning round,
they pass to the other branch of the spiral ascent which turns
over that by which they descended, and thus emerge from
the well by a different and opposite door to that by which
they entered it. This construction, which was a most
ingenious, useful, and admirably beautiful work,* had almost
* Bottari tells us that there is a well of this kind hi the Palace of
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AKTONIO DA SAN OALLO. 18
attained completion before the death of Clement, and as the 0DI7 part remaining to be executed was the month of the w^ Pope Pool in. c(HBmanded that it should be finished, bnt not after the rnann^ in which Pope Clement, following the counsels of Antonio, had intended to have it c(»npleted. The master was greatly extoUed for this beantiful work, and it is certain that the ancients never produoed anything of the kind wfaich could be considered equal to it, whether as regards the art or laborioos industry manifested in its construction ; the circular space of the centre is contrived in such a maoner that it gives light to the two staircases we have mentioned, even down to £be bottom, by means of windows inserted at given distances.*
While this work was m progress, the same architect was also direetii^ those of the fortress of Ancooa, which was completed at a Utter period. Pope Clement at ^e same time resolved to construct an impregnable fortress in Florence, of which city his nephew Alessancbx) de' Medici was then Duke.t Alessandro Vitelli, Pier-Francesco of Yiterbo, and Antonio Sangallo took orders for this enterprise accordingly, and by them the Castel or Fort,X which stands between the gate of Prato and that of San Gallo, was erected and completed with such expedition that no edifice of the kind, either in ancient or modern times, was ever brought to conclusion in so short a period. Beneath one of the towers, that namdy which was the first founded^ and which was called the Tower of Toso, various inscriptions and medals were deposited with great solemnity and splendour. This work is now famous throughout the world, and is considered to be entirely impregnable. §
By the direction of Antonio da San Gallo it was that the
Chambord, the-weU-known ** PleaBuie-houae" of Francis I. of France, and bis saccesson.
♦ Milizia, Memorie degli Architetti Antichi e Modemi, mentions a con- ttmctiion of similar character as existing at Tnrin.
t Gaye, Carteggio inedito, &c., gives a letter from Alexander de' Medici to Antonio da San Gallo, bearing date the 10th March, 1634, and wherein the Duke proposes this undertaking to the architect.
X The fort here in question is that called the Fortezza da Basso, and also that of San Giovanni Batti8ta.--JS:rf. F^or, 1832-8.
J This would now no longer be affirmed of the fort in question.— Mofselli,
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14 LIVES OF TH£ ABTISTS.
sculptor Tribolo, Raffaello da Monte Lupo, Francesco da San Gallo, who was then very young, and Simon Cioli, were invited to Loretto, when the stories in marble, which had been commenced by Andrea Sansovino, were completed by those masters. Antonio likewise invited to the same place, the Florentine Antonio H Mosca, an excellent worker in marbles, and who was at that time occupied, as will be related in his life, with the execution of a mantel-piece, in stone for the heirs of Pellegrino da Fossombrone, which, proved to be a most divine work of carving, when fully completed.* This Mosca, I say, complying with the request of Antonio, repaired to Loretto, where he executed certain festoons and garlands in stone, which are most exquisitely beautiful ; and the decoration of that Chamber of Our Lady was thus completed with diligence and promptitude by the cares of Sangallo, although he had at that time five works of importance on his hands. Nay, though all of these were in different places, and distant each from the other, yet did Antonio so arrange his time that he never suffered any one to be neglected, and if at any time he was unable to be present when required at either of them, he sent his brother Battista as his substitute. These five works were : first the above-named Fortress of Florence,! next that of Ancona, thirdly the Chapel of Loretto, fourthly the Apostolic Palace, and finally the Well of Orvieto.
On the death of Pope Clement VII., and when Cardinal Farnese had been elected High Pontiff, taking the name of Paul III., Antonio San Gallo, who had been the friend of the new Pope during his cardinalate, rose into still higher credit, and his Holiness having created his son, Pier-Luigi, Duke of Castro, despatched Antonio to Castro, there to prepare designs for the Fortress, which the Duke Pier-Luigi pro- posed to construct at that place, as also other designs for the Palace to be erected on the Piazza, called FOsteria, and for the Mint, which is built in the same place of Travertine, and
♦ This work, of which more in the Life of Mosca, is now in the Casa Falciu at Borgo Maestro. — Forster.
f From the letters of Naiini Uughero to Antonio, and which will be found in the Lettere Pitioriche, we learn that Sangallo sent plans and directions for this work from Loretto to Florence, for the guidance of those to whom the superintendence of the works had been committed.
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ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO. 15
after the plan of that in Borne. Nor were these the onlj plans prepared by Antonio in that city ; he also made designs for many other palaces and buildings of yarioos character, for different persons, some natives of the pTace, and some strangers. These edifices were in many instances erected at such enormous cost that to whoever has not seen them, the account would seem incredible; they were finished at all points, with the most commodious arrangements, and in the richest manner ; this being done by many, without doubt for the purpose of gaining credit with the Pope, for so it is that many seek to obtain favour for themselves by flattering the humour of princes, and in such cases as tiiese it may at least be admitted that the thing deserves conmiendation in a cer- tain sense, inasmuch as that it redounds to the convenience, advantage, and enjoyment of alL*
In the year which saw Charles V. returning victorious from Tunis, and when there were erected in Messina, Apu- glia, and Naples, very magnificent Arches of Triumph in cele- bration of so great a victory, Antonio received a commission from the Pope to erect a Triumphal Archj" of wood-work at the Palace of San Marco in Rome likewise, the Emperor being expected to visit that city also. This construction presented a square of four sides, being intended to form the entrance of two streets, and was so beautiful, that a more admirably proportioned or more superb work in wood has never been seen. Nay, if the splendour and cost of marble had been added to the forethought, art, and care, bestowed on the design, formation, and construction of this fabric, it might with truth have been enumerated — the perfection of its statues, decorations in painting, and other ornaments consi- dered— ^among the seven wonders of the world. The Arch was placed at the outermost angle of the place, where it turns towards the principal piazza namely; it was of the Corinthian order, the four round columns of silver-gilt standing on each side, the capitals thereof being beautifully carved in fdiage, and richly gilded with gold. Over the columns, both within and without, there were also very superb archi-
* The dty having been afterwards demolished, allthe works here alluded to have perished^ — Boitari.
t A particular description of this arch, with its elaborate ornaments, will be found in the Life of Battista Franco, which follows.
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16 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
traves, friezes, cornices, and ressaults, with four historical delineations painted between the columns, two on each side namely ; so that there were in the whole eight of these representations, the subjects of several among them being events from the life of the Emperor Charles, as will be further described in the lives of the artists by wiiom th^ were painted.
The splendour of this erection was further enhanced by the addition of two figures in relief, each four brac^ia and a half high, which were placed on the summit of the two sides <^ the said arch, and presented the effigies of Rome, her %ure standing between two others, rein-esenting Emperors of the House of Austria that is to say, those at the one side being Albert and Maximilian, those on the other Frederick and Eudolph. At the angles, on each of the sides were furth^- more placed Four Captives, two on each side, with a vast number of Trophies, also in relief, and with the Arms of his Majesty ; the whole of. which Antonio da Sangallo caused to be executed under his own direction by the most eminent sculptors and the best painters then to be found in Rome. Nor was this all; for not only was the arch directed by Antonio, but every other preparation for the festival to be held on the reception of this great and invincible monarch was arranged under the direction of the same artist.
Our architect then continued the Fortress of Nepi, for the Duke of Castro; with the fortifications of the entire city, which is very beauti^l as well as impregnable. He laid out many streets also in the same place, and prepared designs for numerous houses and palaces by commission from the citi- zens thereof. His Holiness then caused the bastions of Rome, which are of great strength, to be constructed, and the Gate of Santo Spirito being included among these woAs ; this last was built after the design and under the direction of Antonio, by whom it was adorned with decorations of Travertine, in the rustic manner. This work unites so much strength with its extraordinary magnificence, that it may well bear comparison with the labours of witiquity. Attempts were made, after the death of Antonio, by those who were actuated by envy rather than by considerations of a more reasonable character, to procure the destruction of this gate, and that by very unusual means, but they did not
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ANTOKIO BA SAN GALLO. 17
obtain their ends from the rulers who were in power at the time.*
It was under the direction of the same architect, that aknost the whole of the foundations beneath the Apostolic Palace were strengthened and restored ; many parts besides those we have mentioned, being in great danger of ruin, more particularly on one side of the Sistine Chapel, that whereon are the works of Michelagnolo namely, and on the facade also, .ik This Antonio effected in such a manner, that not the slig. iest cleft or crack was afterwards perceptible ; a work in which there was more danger than honour. He also enlarged the great hall of the Sistine chapel, and in two lunettes on the principal side he constructed those two immense windows which we now see there, with their extra- ordinary sashes, and compartments thrown forward into the vaulting and decorated with stucco-work : all which was done at great cost, and is a work of so much beauty that this may be considered the richest and most beautiful hall which had then been seen in the world. To this hall the master added a magnificent staircase, form- ing the communication between the Sistine Chapel and the church of San Pietro : this also is so beautiful and commo- dious an erection, that nothing better has ever been seen, whether among the ancients or modems. The Pauline Chapel, wherein the sacrament is deposited, is likewise by Antonio Sangallo, and is a building of singularly beautiful and attractive character ; it is indeed so exquisitely propor- tioned and arranged, that the graceful fabric appears to pre- sent itself arranged in festive smiles, as if to welcome the entrance of the visitor.
At the time when contentions were existing between the Pope and the people of Perugia, Antonio constructed the fortifications of that city ; this work, in the progress of which the dwellings of the Baglioni family were razed to the ground, was completed by the architect with extraordinary rapidity, and was considered to be very finely executed. Antonio also built the fortress of Ascoli, and brought it to such a state in the course of a few days, that it could be held
♦ This mi gnificent gate was never completed, and will now very probably T^nain onfii ished, the extension given to the walls of San Pancrazio by Pop« Uiban VIII. having rendered the gate of Santo Spirito useless.
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18 UYBS OF THB ABTISTS.
hj the gusuxl ; whereas the Aflcolani, as well as other people, having supposed that it could not be put forward to that extent under a lapse of years, stood confounded on seeing the garrison so instantly appointed and installed ; — ^the people, I say, remained looking at each other in utter astonishment, and could with difficulty credit what their eyes beheld. For his own house in the Strada Giulia at Rome, Antonio subse- quently made new foundations ; these being needful for the better defence of the same against the floods of the Tiber ; and he not only began but also completed a great part of the palace near San Biagio, which he then inhabited himself, but which is now the property of the Cardinal Riccio da Montepulciano,* who has added many beautiful rooms thereto, and decorated the whole at a great cost in addition to what had been expended by Antonio, which was not less than many thousands of scudi.
But all the works performed by Antonio da San Gallo for the use and advantage of the world, were as nothing in comparison with the model of the most venerable and most stupendous fabric of San Pietro at Rome, which, having been first planned by Bramante, was afterwards re-arranged and enlarged in a most extraordinary manner, and after a new plan by himself, who imparted its due dignity to the whole as well as correct proportion and befitting arrangement to every separate part. The truth of this assertion may be seen by the model made of wood and finished at every point with the utmost exactitude, by the hand of San Gallo's disciple, Antonio Labacco. This model, by which San Gallo acquired a very great increase of fame, was engraved and published after his death, together with the ground-plan of the whole edifice, by Antonio Labacco, who proposed thereby to make known the extent of ability possessed by San Gallo, and also to the end that all men might learn what had been the real opinions and intentions of that architect, seeing that new orders of a totally opposite character had been given by Michelagnolo, and out of these changes and new arrange- ments there had arisen many disputes and contentions, as
• Agincourt, Histoire de V Art dC apres les Monumens, has given a plate of this building. No. 3*2, pi. lxxii. It is now in the Sacchetti Palace.
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ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO. 19
will be related in the proper place.* It appeared to Michel- agnolo and to many others also, by whom the model of Antonio Sangallo has been examiiH^ and who have seen such portions of the work as were executed bv him, that he has iDJored the ^ect of the whole, and diminished its force, by the many ressanlts and divisions which he has adopted, and by members which are too small, as are the columns for example, and those arches above arches and cornices over cornices with which he has loaded his worli;.
It appeared also that the decoration or garland of columns, small and numerous, with which he had surrounded the two bell'-towers of his plan as well as the four small tribunes and the principal Cupola, had failed to give satisfaction, neither did or do please very greatly all those minute pyramids of which he proposed to form the finish^ seeing that in all these things the model does rather seem to imitate the Teutonic or Grothic manner than the good and ancient one now usually followed by the best architects All these various parts being completed by Labacco soon after the death of Antonio, it was found that the above-described model of San Pietro, in that which appertains to the wood-work and the carpenters only, had cost a sum of 4184 scudi ; but the said Labacco, who had the charge of that work, did certainly acquit himself exceedingly well in the construction of the same, he being intimately acquainted with the details of architecture, as may be clewly perceived by the book which he has published in relation to the buildings of Rome, and which is indeed an extremely beautiful work* With respect to the model here in question, and which may now be seen in the principal chapel of San Pietro,t the length thereof is thirty-five palms md ^e width twenty^six, its height is twenty palms and a half, whence the completed work would have had a length, according to this model, of 1040 palms or 104 canne, and the width would have been 360 palms or sixty-three canne, for,
* In the Life of Michael Angelo.
t The useless repetition of columns, pilasters, and decoretions of aU kinds to be lemarked in this model, which is still preserved in the '< Otta- gono di San Gregorio," fully- justifies the dissaturfaction here intimated by Vasari. We find it related that, to one who was remarking that this Sftodel ** afforded a fine field," Michael Angelo replied, mterr«qiting, « Aye, verily, for oxen and homed cattle, who understand but littie of archi- tecture."
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20 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
according to the measure of the masons, the canna used at Rome consists of ten palms.
For the labour he had given to this model of his and for various designs presented by him, Antonio was adjudged by the superintendents who were over the fabric of San Pietro to receive a sum of fifteen hundred scudi, and of these he was at once paid a thousand, but he never received the remainder, seeing that shortly after he had completed such model he passed to the other life. Antonio enlarged and increased the strength of the piers in the above-named church of San Pietro, to the intent that the weight of the tribune might repose securely thereon, he also filled in all the scattered parts of the foundations with solid material, and thereby rendered the whole so strong, that there is now no cause of fear lest the fabric should display further cracks, nor is there any chance of its beicg in danger of falling as was the case in the time of Bramante. And if this master- piece of care and prudence were upon the earth instead of being hidden as it is beneath it, the work would cause the boldest genius to stand amazed, for which cause the name and fame of this admirable artist must ever retain a place among those most distinguished in the domain of art.*
We find that even as early as the times of the ancient Romans, the dwellers in Terni and the men of Narni were ever at the bitterest enmity with each other, and so does it remain with those people to the present day ; and the reason has been, that the lake of Marmora, sometimes becoming stagnant, frequently caused very great injury to one of the aforesaid communities ; but when the people of Narni would fain have given outlet to the waters, the men of Terni could by no means be brought to consent thereto, for which reason there has ever been strife between them, whether Pontiffs or Emperors were ruling in Rome. We find that in the time of Cicero, that orator was despatched by the senate to compose these differences ; but the quarrel remained unappeased never- theless. In the year 1546 ambassadors were sent on the same
* The principal merit of Antonio San Gallo consisted in the solidity of his buildings, as Vasari has before remarked. Bramante, on the contrary, neglected this essential point in his great haste, and constructed edifices >7hich have cost more to maintain them in order than they did to erect thera.~£«. Flar., 1832-8.
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ANTONIO DA SAN GALLO. 21
subject to Pope Paul III., who thereupon commissioned Antonio Sangallo to repair to the place, and do his best for the terniination of the contest. It was then resolved, by the advice of the architect, that an outlet should be made for the lake on the side whereon the wall is situated, and Antonio caused it to be cut through at that part, but not without extreme difficulty. The heat also was very great, and this, with other inconveniences, Antonio being now old and weakly, caused him to fall sick of a fever at Temi, when he soon after gave up the ghost.
The death of Antonio was the occasion of infinite grief to his friends and kindred, many buildings also were much de- layed by tliis event, more particularly the palace of the Famese family, near the Campo di Fiore. Pope Paul III., while he was still Cardinal Alessandro Famese, had already brought that fabric to a considerable height, the first floor in the principal front was in process of construction, the inner hall and one side of the court-yard were likewise erected, but the building had not proceeded to such extent as to display the perfection of its details, when the Cardinal, being elected Pontiff, Antonio changed the whole plan, since it appeared to him that he had no longer to erect the palace of a Cardinal, but of a Pope.* Having demolished certain of the old houses that stood around it, therefore, and taken down the staircase, which he rebuilt in a more commodious form, he extended the court and the entire palace, enlarged the halls, added to the number of the rooms, and enriched the whole with elaborately-carved ceilings, and many other deco- rations.
Antonio had thus completed the principal front to the fiecond floor, and nothing was now wanting than that the oofmce, which was to surround the whole, should be added to flie fabric ; but as the Pope, who was a man of an aspiring mind and possessed very good judgment, desired to have ^ coamice more beautiful and richer than had ever been seen iu Any other palace whatever, he determined that, in addition to Ae designs prepared by Antonio, all the best architects of Borne should prepare one, each after his own manner, from
* Ferrario, Paiazzi di Roma, has given the sketch of this palace. IWfetcs of the same may also be found in D'Agincourt, De' Rossi, and
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22 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
which the Pontiff might then choose that which best pleased him, but intending, nevertheless, that Sangallo should carry the design chosen into execution. Thus it happened one morn- ing, while the Pontiff was at breakfast in the Belvidere, that these collected designs were laid before his Holiness in the presence of Antonio, the masters proposing these plans being Perino del Yaga, Fra Bastiano del Piombo, Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and Giorgio Vasari, who was then very young and in the service of the Cardinal Fainese, by commission from whom and from the Pope, he had prepared not one only but two designs of different character for that work. It is true, that Buonarroti did not take his own design himself^ but sent it by the above-named Giorgio Vasari, who had gone to him to show the designs which he had made, to the end that Michelagnolo as a friend might give him his opinion respecting them. To Vasari, therefore, Michelagnolo gave his design, desiring that he would present it to the Pope, and would at the same time make an excuse for that he, being indisposed, had not brought it in person.
The designs being all laid before the Pontiff accordingly, his Holiness examined them all attentively and for a long time, commending all as ingenious and beautiful, but extolling that of the divine Michel^nolo above alL Now all this did not take place without some vexation to Antonio, whom that mode of proceeding on the part of the Pope could not much gratify, since he would fain have done every thing by him- self ; but the thing which displeased him more than all the rest was to see that Pope Paul made great account of a certain Jacopo Melighino of Ferrara, and even availed him- self of his services as an architect in the building of San Pietro 5 nay, although Melighino possessed no ability in design and showed no judgment in his proceedings, the Pope had conferred on him a stipend equal to that of Antonio, on whom all the labours devolved. And this happened because this Melighino, having been a faithful follower of the Pope !for many years without any reward, his Holiness was pleased to make it up to him in that manner. He had besides the care of the Belvidere, and of some other build- ings belonging to the Pope.
When his Holiness, therefore, had sufficiently examined all the designs presented to him by the above-named masters^
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ANTONIO DA &&N GALLO. 23
he remarked, perhaps by way oi puttiiig Antonio to the trial, "All these are beauti^ but it would not be amiss that we should look at one which has been made by our Melighino.** Thereupon Antonio, getting somewhat angry, and convinced that the Pope was only making a jest of him, relied, " Holy Father, Melighino is but an architect in joke." Hearing which, the Pope, who was seated, turned towards Antonio, and bowing his head almost to the ground, made answer : ^Antonio, it is our pleasure that Melighino should be an architect in earnest, and so you may see by the stipend he receives." Having said this, he rose and went away, dis- missing all who were present, and herein he perhaps intended to show that it is sometimes by the will of princes, rather than by their own merits, that certain men are conducted to such greatness as the said princes shall please to confer.* The cornice in question was afterwards erected by Michel- agnolo, who gave an almost entirely different form to the greater part of that palace, as will be related in his life.
At the death of Antonio Sangallo, there remained behind him his brother, Battista Gobbo, a man of considerable ingenuity, who had devoted nearly the whole of his time to the buildings of his brother, but was not treated very well by him. This Battista did not live many years after Antonio, and when he died he left all that he possessed to the Floren- tine Brotherhood of the Misericordia in Home, but with the condition that they should cause to be printed a book of Bemarks on Vitruvius, which he had written. That book has^ nevertheless, not been given to the world, although it is helieved that it may be a good one,! seeing that Battista was well acquainted with the details of his art, possessed admi- rable judgment, and was a most upright and sincere man.
But to return to Antonio. His death having taken place at Tend, he was carried to Rome and there borne to the tcxnb with very great pomp, being followed to his grave by aU the
^ Piacenza, in his additions to Baldinucci, has the following plaint : — *^ many of the race of the Melighini may be found, even in our own «fi Bor is ihete any lack of the Paul III. genus."
t In the Coruni Library in Rome is still preserved the printed copy of "taivius, on which Battista wrote his maiginal notes, and wherein he jteBped numerous figures, by way of illustration to the text. His trans- *tM MS. of the same work is also there, but is exceedingly obscure, and this may periiaps have been one cause of its not having been printed.
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artists in design and many other persons. His remains were deposited in the church of San Pietro, by command of the superintendents of that fabric, being placed in a sepulchre near the chapel of Pope Sixtus, which is in that church, and here he was honoured with the following inscription : *
Antonio Sancti Galli Florentino urbe munienda ac Publ, operibu*, precipueq, D, Petri Templo oman. architectorum facile principi, dum Velini Locus emissionem paratt Pooh Pont. Max, auctore, interamne inteftipestine extincio, Isabella Deta uxor Mastiss posuit, mpxlvi. hi Calend, Octobris,
And of a truth, Antonio, having been a most excellent architect, has no less merited to be extolled and renowned, as his works fully demonstrate, than any other master in the same art, whether ancient or modern.f
* This inscription is no longer to be seen.
f Antonio left two sons, Orazio and Giulio, the mother of whom, Isabella, or Lisabetta Deti, was a woman of singular beauty ; the relation of his marriage with her is inserted in the first edition of our author, but is omitted in the second. After speaking of Antonio's return from Parma to Florence, Vasari proceeds to say: *' And so, as it chanced that he looked about him in the streets as one does after a long absence on returning to the native place, he espied a young girl of most beautiful aspect, with whom for her beauty and her grace he forthwith fell in love ; when conferring with his kindred respecting a marriage with this girl, they discouraged that purpose greatly, but in despite of all, and much to the discontent of his brother, he persisted in his intention, and fulfilled his wishes. Antonio had always shown himself harsh and obstinate towards his parents, nay, the life of his father was shortened visibly by the grief he felt at being abandoned by his son. This woman, whom Antonio thus married against all counsel, soon proved herself exceedingly proud and haughty ; she lived rather in the manner of a most splendid lady than of an architect's wife, running into such disorders and making such outlay, that her husband's gains, large as they were, proved as nothing to the pomps and vanities of this woman. She drove her mother-in-law from the house, and caused her to die in misery ; never could she look with a peaceful eye at any one of Antonio's relations, she thought of nothing but exalting her own kindred, but as for his relations, they might get them beneath the earth. Yet, not for all this did Battista, who was singularly endowed by nature and richly adorned with goodness, refrain from honouring and serving his brother ; but all in vain, for he never received any token of affection from Antonio, either during the life or at the death of the latter." The widow of Antonio soon married again, seeing that in the year 1548 we find mention of her as the wife of the Florentine, Giovanni Romei of Castiglion, when she waa involved in much trouble on account of her first husband's affairs.
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THE PAINTER, GIULIO ROMANO.^
[born 1492— died 1546.]
Among the inanj, nay, rather, the innumerable scholars of Kaphad of Urbino, although the greater part of them became able artists, there was none who pursued the footsteps of the master more closely, whether as regarded manner, invention, design, or colouring, than Giulio Romano ; nor was there any one among them who was better versed in the principles of art, of bolder genius, richer fancy, or more varied and abun- _ dant resources :t to say nothing at the present moment of his pleasing conversation, his cheerful and obliging dispo- sition, his graceful demeanour, or the propriety of his deport- ment, qualities for which he was so much beloved by Baphae^ that he could scarcely have been more so had he been a son of his own. Whence it happened, that on all occasions of especial importance, it was of Giulio's services that Raphael constantly availed himself, and this was more particularly the case in the works undertaken by the divine master for Pope Leo X.J in the papal Loggie. The designs for the architectural detaib for the ornaments, and for the pictures, were prepared by Raphael, but he then made Giulio Komano execute several of these pictures, as for example, the Creation of Adam and Eve, that of the Animals, the Building of Noah's Ark, the Sacrifice, and many other works, which arc known by the manner ; among others that of the Daugh- ter of Pharaoh, who, with her women, discovers Moses in his ark of bulrushes, when he has been thrown into the river by Ae Hebrews : a work considered admirable for the beauty of a landscape, which is very finely executed therein.
Giulio Romano assisted Raphael in the painting of many things in that apartment of the Torre Borgia wherein is the Conflagration of the Borgo, more particularly the basement,
• The family name of Giulio Romano was Pippi.
t Modem authorities are not in all cases willing to subscribe to the UMNint of praise bestowed by our author on Giulio Romano. See Kugler, G«Kkichte derMalerei; Platncrand Buneen, Beschreibung der Si€uit Rom, f ■ndotbcFB.
t The paintings of the Loggia have been engraved in thirty plat^ by 0. OttaTiani. It will be observed that in the IHb of Raphael Yasari haa Bpoken of Giulio Romano as having worked but little in the Loggia.
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26 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
which 18 painted in colours to imitate bronze, and where Giulio depicted figures of the Countess Matilda, King Pepin, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, and other benefactors of the church ; these are all works of great merit, and no long time since there were published engrav- ings of parts thereof, executed after a design made by Giulio himself. He also depicted the larger portion of the stories in fresco which adorn the loggia of A^ostino Chigi, and worked much upon a most beautiful picture in oil of Sanf Eliza- betta, which Raphael had prepared for the purpose of sending the same to Francis King of France ; with another picture of Santa MargareCa,* which was almost entirely painted by Giulio Romano, after the design of Raphael, who sent a portrait of ihe Vice-Queen of Naples to the same monarch, whereof he had but taken the likeness of the head from the life, all the rest being executed by Giulio.t These pictures, which were exceecUngly welcome to that sovereign, are still in France, at Fontainebleau that is to say, in the chapel, of llie king.
Proceeding thus in the service of Raphael his master, and acquiring a knowledge of the most intricate difficulties of his art, which were taught to him by Raphael with the utmost affection and solicitude, Giulio soon became, well able to draw perfectly in perspective, to measure edifices and take plans of buildings, Raphael frequently designing and sketch- ing certain inventions, after his own fashion, which he would then leave to Giulio, to the end that the latter might com- plete them on an enlarged scale, and with the exact measure- ment and proportions, so that they could afterwards be used by the master in his architectural undertakings. In these last-mentioned labours more particularly, Giulio Romano soon began to take great delight, and devoted his attention thereto in such sort, that, when at a later period he exercised the vocation of the architect, he proved himself to be a very ex- cellent master. After Raphael's death, therefore, and when Giulio and Giovan-Francesco, called H Fattore, being left his
* Now in the Louvre. The St. Elizabeth hai been engraved by Ede- linck and by Jacob Frey ; the St. Margaret by Desnoyers.
f The portrait of Joanna of Arragon, Vice-Queen of Naples, is also in the Gallery of the Louvre. This work is among those engraved by Raphael Morghen.
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l^rs, wete charged with the office of completing the works commenced by Raphael, it was by Giulio Romano that the greater part of the same were creditably conducted to perfection.
Now, the Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who was afterwards Pope Qement VIL, had about that pmod taken possession of a piece of ground at Rome, which was situate beneath the Monte Mario, and where, in addition to a beautiful view, there was a fine running stream, with richly wooded banks in some parts, and at others an agreeable extent of plain, running along the shore of the Tiber, as far as the Ponte Molle ;* on each side of the river moreover, there was a range of meadow lands stretching almost to the Gate of San Pietra Cardinal Giulio therefore resolved to erect a palace on the highest point of the shore, "where there was a level space, well suited to that purpose ; proposing to furnish his new building with all the beauties and conveniences of fine apartments, gardens, Ic^gie, fountains, groves, and every other embellishment that could be devised ; the charge of the whole^Jbeing given to Giulia Very willingly did the latter put Sand to that work, and in due time he completed the pa]|i6e, (which was then called the Yigna de' Medici, but is nowlpiown as the Madama,t) bringing it to that perfection of wl&ck we shall discourse at more length below.
The principal front, in pursuance of the desire of the Car- dinal, and to accommodate the building to the site, wa« constructed in the form of a half circle, after the manner of a theatre, with an alternation of niches and windows of the Ionic order, which was so beautiful that many believed the first sketch to have been made by Raphael himself^ and tiiat the structure was but. continued and brought to its con- clusion by Giulio. That artist then executed numerous paintings in the apartments and other portions of the build- ing, more particularly in a most beautiful Loggia, which passes behind the first vestibule, and is decorated all around with niches, large and small, wherein are vast numbers of
• The Milvian Bridge.
f The building reoeired the n<iine of the Villa Madama from the Duchess Maigareta Famese. It i» now the property of the Neapolitan crown. The exterior does not correspond wiUi Giulio Romano's sketch, nor has it even been completed.
J In the Life of Raphael, Vasaii plainly affirms this to have been the case. See vol. u, p. 46.
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^ 28 LIVES OP THE ABTISTS.
ancient statues; among others was formerlj a Jupiter of great value, but this was afterwards sent bj the Farnese family, with many other beautiful statues, to the Bang Francis of France. In addition to those statues, tlie Loggia in question is also richly adorned with stucco-work, the walls and ceilings being likewise decorated with arabesques and grot- tesche by the hand of Giovanni da Udine.* And at the head of the same is a fresco painted by Giulio himself, and repre- senting Poliphemus, a figure of immense size, with a vast number of children and little satyrs sporting around him. The master obtained high commendation for this group, as he did indeed for all the works designed and executed by him at that palace, which he adorned with fountains, grat- toes, groves, fish-ponds, ornamental pavements, and other decorations of similar kind, all executed with the most per- fect order and judgment
It is indeed true, that on the death of Pope Leo, the work was discontinued for the time, seeing that when Pope Adrian had been chosen Pontiff, and the Cardinal de' Medici returned to Florence, this fabric was left neglected, with all the other public buildings commenced by Adrian's predecessor. But Giulio, in the meantime, employed himself, with Giovan- Francesco, in the completion of different works left unfinished by Raphael, and those artists prepared themselves to execute a portion of the Cartoons, which their master had designed for the great hall of the palace, and wherein he had himself commenced the painting of four stories from the life of the Emperor Constantine; nay, at the moment when he died, Raffaello had covered one side of the hall with the proper groundwork for painting on it in oil. The two disciples,^ nevertheless, soon perceived that Adrian, as a man who cared neither for paintings, sculptures, nor any other good work, had no mind to see these pictures finished, and they were discouraged almost to desperation, seeing that they themselves, with Perino del Vaga, Giovanni da Udine, Bas- tiano Veniziano, and many other excellent artists, were all, during the life of Adrian, but little better than dying with hunger.
But as it pleased God, while all the court, accustomed to the
* Lanzi calls this artist Gioyanni Ricamatore. See History, ftc, vol. i. p. 395.
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GIULIO BOMAKO. 29
splendours and liberalities of Leo, were dismayed and bewil- dered, and tlie best of the artists were b^inning to consider where they might seek a refuge for the abilities which they saw to be no longer prized; — as it pleased God, I say, Adrian died,"*" and the Cardinal Giulio de* Medici, who took the name of Clement VII., was created High Pontiff in his room. On that day the arts of design, together with all the other arts, were recalled to new life, and Giulio and Giovan Francesco set themselves joyfully to work, by command of the Pontiff, to finish the above-named hall of Constantine* The prepa- ration of grounding which had been made for painting in oil they threw down ; leaving nevertheless two figures, which Raphael had previously painted in oil as a sort of ornamental frame-work to certain popes : these were a figure of Justice, and another figure of similar character.! The compartments of this hall had been designed with great judgment by Raphael, who had carefully kept in view the fact that it was somewhat deficient in height : over all the doors he had designed niches with decorations of children holding the various devices of the house of Medici, lions, lilies, diamonds, plumes, and other emblems used by that family.
In each of these niches was seated the shaded figure of a Pope in pontifical robes, and around these figures were angels represented by groups of children, and holding books and other appropriate objects in their hands, each pope had more- over a figure presenting a virtue on each side of him, and between whom he sat, these being selected as was deemed befitting the character and deserts of the Pontiff, as for example Religion was placed on one side of the apostle Peter, and Charity or Piety on the other, and thus of all, each was accompanied by his appropriate virtues ; and the Popes thus represented were, Damarus I., Alexander I., Leo III., Gregory, Silvester, and some others. These figures were all exceedingly well executed by Giulio, who performed all the best parts of this work in fresco, and took extraordinary
* Our author, as it has been justly remarked, appears to forget that the protection of the fine arts is not the sole merit of a sovereign, but it must not be concealed that Adrian, who found the finances of the state pre- tiously disordered by the prolusion of his predecessors, commenced the reform of expenditure by first reducing that of his own household.
f This figure has a Dove, and is believed by some to represent Hu- mility; by others, Innocence or Clemency.
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30 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
pains therewith, as maj be seen in a drawing of the San Silvestro, admirably designed by his own hand, and which is perhaps a more graceful work than the finished picture of the same. It may indeed be affirmed, that Giulio always expressed his thoughts more effectually in drawings than in execution, or in the finished pictures, the former displaying more life, power, and feeling, a fact that may have arisen from the circumstance, that the drawing was executed at a sitting, and while he was well warmed with his subject, while over the paintings he sometimes consumed months and even years, insomuch that they became wearisome to him; the glowing inspiration and ardent love which is felt at the conmiencement of a work were then wanting, whence it is not to be wondered at, if he did not in such a case impart to the painting all that perfection which had been promised by the design.
But to return to the stories. In one of the compartments
of the Hall of ConstAntine, Giulio depicted that Emperor
making a speech to his soldiers, while in the air above is seen
the sign of the cross appearing in a splendour of light, sur-
I rounded by angels in the form of children and with the
' words, " In hoc Signo vinces." A Dwarf, standing at the
feet of Constantine, and placing a helmet on his head, is
executed with much art.* On the principal or largest
. facade there is the battle of Cavalry at the Ponte Molle,'|'
I where Maxentius was routed by Constantine : this work is
I considered to be one of great merit for the treatment of the
/ dead and wounded, the variety and appropriate character of the
attitudes given to the different groups of foot and horse, seen
fighting in different parts of the combat, and all very power-
• fully rendered. There are besides many portraits from the
life in this work, and if the picture were not too much
darkened, and too heavily loaded with shadows, of which
• GTadaaso Beretta da Norcia, the Dwarf of the Cardinal Hyppolito de' Medici, celebrated for Ws uglineee by Berni, Opere Burlesche, vol. i. p. 42. This Dwarf, with the two noble Pages bemde the Emperor, is an addition of Giulio's, not being in the original design of Raphael, which is in the collection of the Duke of Devonriike.
+ Engraved by many of the older masters, and at a later period by Pictro Aquila, who copied the picture very closely. The original drawing was formerly in the possession of Malvasia, but afterwards fell into the hands of Crozat of Paris. See FelHna Pittriee, vol. iiL p. 522.
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OIULIO BOKAKa 31
Giulio was ever profuse in his colouring, it would have been altogether perfect, but this darkness takes from the work much of its grace and beauty."' In the painting here in question, there is a landscape representing the entire declivity of Monte Mario> with the river Tiber, through which Max- entios is swimming his horse, in a bold and fierce attitude ; GrioHo has, in short, acquitted himself in such a manner throughout this picture, that all the artists who have succeeded him have found the work a great light and Taluable assistance for battles of similar kind. He had him- self meanwhile acquired much knowledge from the study of Trajan s pillar, of the column of Antonine, and of other antique pillars which exist in Rome, and of which he availed himself largdy for the dresses of the soldiers, and for the arms, ensigns, bastions, stoccades, battering-rams, and other engines of war, examples of which are to be seen depicted over every part oi that Hall. Beneath these stories, and in colour to imitate bronze, the master then depicted various subjects, all of which are beautiful and praiseworthy pro- ductions.f ^.- - -
On the other side our artist painted Pope Investor baptiz- ing Constantine, and here he represented the very bs^tistery which is now at San Giovanni Laterano and was erected by Constantine himself. Here we have the Pontiff, Clement VIL also, taken from the life and r^resented as Pope Silvester, with numerous assistants in their priestly vest- nients, and a large body of the people. Among the many attendants of the Pope here taken from nature, was the little Cavalier Messer Niccolo Vespucci, Knight of Rhodes, who ^ras at that time all-powerful with his Holiness. Beneath this story, and in the basement, Giulio painted a group to imitate bronze, the subject presenting the Emperor Constan- tine, engaged in the building of the church of San Pietro at Bome, and alluding to Pope Clement : in this part of the work •re ihe architect Bramante and Giuliano Lemi, f the latter
* For whidi reason Mengs accuses Giulio Romano of having a naturally cold and hard taste.— ^rf» F/or,, 1832-8.
t The chiari-scuri of this hall, as well as the other frescoes, were ad- "™>l)r engrared by Pietro Santi Ban oli.
t Or Lwio, named by Vasari in fha Lives of Bramante and Marc- "ntonio. The execution of this work is ^inributed by some authorities to II Fattore.
ly
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32 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
holding the ground-plan of the church in his hand ; an ex- ceedingly meritorious picture.
On the fourth wall, and over the mantel-piece of the said Hall, is a view in perspective of San Pietro at Rome, with the canopy of the Pope, exactly as it appears when the holy father in his pontificals reads mass, the circle of Car- dinals and all the other prelates in their robes ; the whole court in short, with the chapel of choristers and singers, the Pope himself being seated and depicted as San Silvestro with Constantine kneeling at bis feet. The Emperor presents a golden figure of Rome to the Pontiff, made after the manner of those on the ancient medals, and intended to signify the dowry, wherewith Constantine had invested the Roman church. In this picture there are many women regarding the ceremony in a kneeling position, they are exceedingly beau- tiful, as is likewise a child playing with a dog. A Beggar imploring alms is also very fine, and the Lancers of the guard, compelling the people to stand back and make place, as is customary, are figures full of spirit. Among the many portraits from the life which are to be found in this work, is one of the painter Giulio Romano himself, with that of his intimate friend Count Baldassare Castiglione, author of " the Cortigiano^"* and those of Pontano, Murallo, and others, men of letters as well as courtiers. Around the Hall jand between the windows, Giulio painted various devices and fantasies of very pleasing and graceful character, and the Pope, who was much pleased with every thing that he had done, rewarded him very liberally for his labours.
While this Hall was in process of execution, Giulio and Giovan Francesco, who were not able to satisfy the demands of their friends even in part, undertook to paint a picture of the Assumption of the Madonna for Perugia, to which city the work was despatched on its completion, being there placed in the convent of the nuns of Monteluci-f This was a picture of great beauty. Having then withdrawn himseli entirely apart from II Fattore, Giulio painted by himself a figure of Our Lady with a cat near her, and this animal was
* II CortigianOf or the Courtier, maa the title of a book whereby Cas- tiglione proposed to teach the true method of becoming a perfect courtier, ** useful to your prince, and wortly of the imitation of all other persons." ^ f Now in the Vatican.
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GIULIO BOXAKO. 88
80 life-like that the pictare is alwajrs called the paintiilg of the Cat.* In another picture, which was of large aise, oar artbt dq[HCted Christ bound to the column and scourged ; this was placed on the altar of the church of Santa Pra88edia» at Roine.t No long time af^er the comj^etion of this wori^, Messer Giovan Matteo Giberti, who was at that time Datary to Pope Clement, and afterwards became bishop of Verona, caused Giulio, who was his frequent associate and intimate friend, to prepare a design for certain apartments which were built of brick, in the immediate yicinitj of the papal palace : they looked on the Piazza di San Pietro, being intended for the rec^tion of the trumpeters, who sound the trumpets while the cardinals are proceeding to the concistorj, and are furnished with a rery commodious means of ascent, a stair namely, which could be mounted on horseback as well as on foot.*
Fot the same Messer Giovan Matteo, Giulio likewise painted a picture of the Stoning of St. Stephen ; this work Messer Giovan Matteo sent to a benefice which he had at Genoa, and which was called St. Stephen. The invention and composition of this painting are alike beautiful and graceful, the young man Saul is seen seated by the garments, while the Jews are engaged in the martyrdom of the saint^ Giulio R(»ciano never executed a more admirable painting than this, the fierce attitudes and expression of the persecntors are rendered equally well with the patience of the martyr, ^hose look, which is turned upward, is such, that he truly appears to see the Saviour Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, in a Heaven which is indeed most divinely painted. This picture, with the benefice to which it was sent, Messer Giovan Matteo presented to the monks of Monte Oliveto, who have turned the latter into a monastery. §
* The woik is in tiie Mmeo Boi-bonicoat NaplM. It has been engntred in ottline by the jroimger Larinio^ in the pttblicaden whieh deseiibM the Mx>Te-mentbned gallery.
1* Now in the Sacristy of the Ghurdi of St Prazida.
X These rooms were demolished for the construction of the new boild-
§ This was among the pictures taken to Paris, and would of itself suffice to estaUish the &me of Gkilio Romano. It was struck by a canon ball during the Revolution, and the mouth of the saint reoinved considenfble
VOL. IV* B
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34 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
For the Grerman, Jacob Fugger, the same artist painted an exceedingly beautiful picture in oil, to be placed in a chapel of the church of Santa Maria dell* Anima in Rome. The subject of the work is Our Lady with Sant* Anna, San Giuseppe, San Jacopo, San Giovanni as a child, and San Marco £yangelista, kneeling with a lion at his feet : the animal is holding a book and the hair on his body is turned in accordance with the position he has taken, a very difficult and well-considered thing ; he has besides wings on his shoulders, and the plumage of these wings is so downy and soft, that one scarcely comprehends how it is possible for the hand of the artist to produce so dose an imitation of nature. There is likewise a buUding of a circular form and decorated in the manner of a theatre, with statues so beautiful in them- selves and so well arranged, that nothing better could be seen. There is a woman moreover who is spinning, and is at the same time looking at a hen with her chickens ; nothing can be more natural than this figure. Above Our Lady, are hovering, angels in the form of children, they hold a canopy over her head and are exceedingly graceful and beautifuL This picture also, having been too heavily loaded with dark tints has become excessively dark, but for which it would be indeed most admirable.* The black has however caused the labour of the master to be almost entirely lost, for although it has been covered with varnish, this black never- theless destroys the best qualities of the work, having in it a consuming dryness, whether it be from charcoal, burnt ivory,' lamp-black, or burnt paper.
Giulio had many disciples during the time that he was employed in the labours above described, and among them were Bartolommeo da Castiglione, Tommaso Paparello of
injuij, but the painting was afterwards careftilly restored. It is now in the Church of San Ste&no at Genoa. The Cartoon for this picture, formerly in the Yallioella Library in Rome, but afterwards transferred to the Vatican, has been engraved in outline by Guattani, and will be found in the col- lection of the most celebrated pictures of that Palace, which was published at Rome in 1820. See Tav. xix.
* Now at the High Altar of the Church of Santa Maria dell' Anima. Bottari tells us that the lower part of this picture was injured by an inundation of the Tiber, but that injuries still more cruel were inflicted on it by the deaniug and janaaheB,
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6IULI0 BOMANO. 85
Cortona,* and Benedetto Pagni of Pescia,t but those of whose services the master most frequentlj availed himself, were Giovanni da Lione and Raffaello dal CoUe of Borgo-a- San Sepolcro, both of whom assisted him in the execution of the pictures in the Hall of Constantine as well as in that of manj of the other works whereof there has been discourse. Wherefore, I do not think it well to omit mentioning, that being very skilful in painting, and close imitators of the manner of Giulio in the execution of all which he confided to them, these two artists punted an Escutcheon of the arms of Pope Clement, at the Old Mint in the Banchi, each painting the half namely after the design of Giulio, with two figures in the manner of Tennini. Rafiaello dal Colle moreover no long time after, having terminated his share of this work, depicted a fresco, from a Cartoon designed by Giulio, within the door of the palace which belongs to the Cardinal della VaUe. This work which is in a lunette, represents Our Lady covering the divine Child, who is sleeping, with a mantle : on one side is St. Andrew the apostle, and on the other St. Nicholas, the picture was with justice considered an exceedingly fine one.
Giulio himself meanwhile, living on very intimate terms with Messer Baldassare Turini of Pescia, received from him the commission to prepare a design and model for a palace to be constructed on the mount Janiculum, where there are certain vineyards which have a most beautiful view. This building was erected with the utmost care, and was a very graceful structure ; it was furnished with all the conveniences which could possibly be desired to enhance the pleasantness of that site, of which it was entirely worthy, and more than that could not be said. The rooms moreover were adorned not only with stucco-work, but also with paintings, Giulio having painted with his own hand stories from the life of Numa Pompilius, who had been buried there.} In the bath of this palace Giulio painted pictures of Venus and Cupii
* Fbrster affirms that " no independent work by these artists is to be
. f This-artast was also invited to Mantna by Giulio Romano. X This Tilla now belongs to the B<»ghe8e family. i>2
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86 LI7£8 OF THB ABTISTS.
and of Apollo and Hyaciiitliy all of which are published in engravings.*
After GriuHo had separated himself eaiirdj from Oiovan- Francesoo, he undertook varions architeetural works in Rome, as for example, the design for t^e house of the Alberini in Ban- chiy although some believe that the plan of this woriL is due to Raphael himself. Giulio likewise designed a Palace which is on the piazza of the Dogana in Rome, and this, being con- sidered very beautiful, has, (or that reason, been engrared. He abo built a house for himself at one corner of the Ma- cello de' Corbi, where stood that in which he was bom. The principal range of windows is very beautiful, and, however small this building, it is, nevertheless, a very grao^l one. < The excellent quaHties of Giulio causing him to be esteemed >s5 the best artist in Italy, after the death of Raphael, the Count ^ Baldassare CastigKone, who was then in Rome as ambassa- / dor from Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and was the intimate friend of Giulio, as we have said, did his utmost, ■ by prayers and promises, to prevail on that master to accom- pany lum to Mantua, Baldassare having been commanded by the Marquis, his master, to send him an architect,! of whose services he might avail himself, whether for his own palace or the necessities of the city, and having moreover observed that it would be particularly agreeable to him if he could have Giulio. The latter, thereupon, declared at length that he would certainly go, provided they could obtain the per- mission of the Pope; and the desired licence being secured, Baldassare, who was returning to Mantua, thence to proceed as ambassador from the Pope to the Emperor, took Giulio with him to that city.
Arrived in Mantua, he was presented by Castiglione to the Marquis, who, after a most amicable reception, caused him to be given a dwelling very honourably appointed, with a liberal stipend:): and a table, not for himself only, but for
* In the Life of Marcantonio it has already been stated that the pictures of Apollo vrere engrayed by that artist.
t Gaye, Corieggio inedito tT ArtitH, gives the letter Written on this subject, by the Marquis to Castiglione, with the Count's reply ; the first bears date 29th August, 1524 ; the second 5th Sept. of that year.
t From the books of the Mmtutria VeccMa^ as cited by Bottari in a subsequent note, we find that thi» was not less than 500 gold ducats; a large sum for the period.
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las disciple, Ben^etto Pagm, and for another jouth, who likewise served bim ;* nay, what is more, the Marquis sent )4m sev^rnl jB^pda of silk, velvet, and <rther ck>ths for pieces <^ do^hing; aad being informed that Giulio possessed no horse, he caused a fayourite horse ef his own, called Bnggieri, to he brought^ which he munediately premnited to the painter. Tlois, mauAted on this ^w gift, our artist tiien rode forth in company with l^e Marquis himself by whmn he was con* djucted to ft place without the walls, and at about a bow-ohof from the gate of San Bastiaaio, where his Excellency had a place with sonie stables, called the T,! aituated in the midst of meadowsi^ and where he k^ his breeding stud. Arrived here, the Maiquis obsi^^ed, that without destroying the old waUs he ivould be glad to have a little space arranged to which he could occainottally resort fe^ amusement, and to tajbe ft dinaer or supper for his recreation.
Having heard the will of the Marquis, Giulio eza* odned the whde p^bce, and taking a plan of the site, set hand to the work. He availed himself of the old waUs, and in the principal exl^it of the space at his disposal, erected the ^ret baU which is seen on entering, with the series of apartments to be observed on each side thereof: and as theve is XK) stone on the place, nor any quarries whence materials for carved ornaments or hewn stone could be excavated, such as are used in masonry by all who can obtain them, oar artist contented himself with bricks and similar substitutes £ar stone, whidi he aflberwards covered with stucco, and ttam these materials he made columns, bases, capitals, cor* mces, doors, windows, and other requbites to a finished fabric, all with the most beautiful proportions and decora- tions;, in a new and fbnciful manner, more particularly as
' ^ Tvfl yean after ius antrvil Sa Maatua, Giulib Romaao raeeiTed tha BglitB al Aituemhip in tihai oily. This bcnour was Ibllowed by that of clevatiou to the degree of a nobk, and hi^ af>poiiitiBeDt by the Maiqidf to the office of Ficario tH Corte ; and in 1529 we find Jiim soleoMpising hia maniage wilh Heloia, a davgbker of the noble house 4if €kii^so>Liiiidi, vito hdofigfat faun a dowry of 7^ ^d ducats. — Gaye, B^Uragem, smr dInftedWfi UekermiMung dsM Vtuari^ Mwuiblati, 1838, Mo* 71.
t Many affirm this pakoe to be so called, because the groiui4-plaa is m the form of a T, but this letter b mote peohably the initial of the name only, as Tejetto, or Theyeto, since we find it Bosnedmeswwtitten as TV, some- tameaas 77W-*£Ul Fiar.,183^>8.
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88 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
r^arded the vaultings. The distribution also was remark- ably good, and the vestibules were very richly adorned ; all which induced the Marquis to change lus purpose, and from a small beginning, he determined that the whole edifice should be arranged after the manner of a great palace.
Giulio thereupon constructed a most beautiful model, the outer walls, as also the interior towards the court-yard, being in the rustic manner, all which pleased the Marquis so greatly, that having ordered a good provision of money to be made, and numerous builders being assembled by Giulio, the work was brought to a ccmclusion with great promptitude, and the form of that structure was on this wise :* The building is a rectangle with an open court in the centre, which is rather like a meadow or public square, into which open four ways in the form of a cross ; one conducts into a very wide and extensive Loggia, whence another entrance leads into the gardens, while two others open into various apartments, all which are decorated with stucco-work and paintings. In the hall to which the first of these doors gives entrance, is a ceiling divided into numerous compartments, and the walls ^ are adorned with portraits of all the most beautiful and most valued blood-horses of the Marquis, with those of his dogs also; the latter being of the same colour and having the same marks with the horses,t and ecich having his name depicted with his portrait All these por- traits were designed by Giulio, and painted in fresco on the plaster by Benedetto PagniJ and Rinaldo of Mantua, § both painters who were his disciples; and these animals are in truth so well portrayed that they seem to be alive.
* Richardson gives a plan of this palace, but a very inaccurate one ; a more satis&ctory plan, with two elevations, one of the principal front, and one of a lateral portion of the building, will be found in a Uttle work by the punter Carlo Bottari, ^ disieto daW Aw, Volta" and entitled, Des- erizume Storiea delle Pitture del Regio-Ducale Palaggo del Te fuori delta porta di Manteva delta Ptuterlai Mantua, 1783, printed by Gius. Bragliia, at the sign of the Virgil.
f The portraits of these dogs, so curiously described as mmtdhing the horses m colour and marke, are not now to be found in these paintings. Yasari must therefore have merely seen the sketches of Giulio Romano, or if these dogs ever were thus depicted, they have since been cancelled, and the spaces covered with other subjects.
t There are works of merit by this artist in his native dty of Pesda.
§ This artist died young, but there are works by his hand in Mantua.
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From this hall we proceed to a room which forms an angle of the palace, and the vaulting of which is heautifuUj divided into compartments hj stucco-work; the cornices also are beautifully varied, and in some places are heightened with gold. The whole surface is divided by these compartments into foor octangular spaces which surround a painting ooca- pying the highest part of the vaulted ceiling and represent- ing the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in the presence of all the gods, Jupiter himself being seen in the summit of the picture seated in a dazzling splendour of celestial light. This story is such that it would not be possible to discover anything more admirably designed, or executed in a more graceful manner : the foreshortenings of those figures in par- ticular have been managed with so much judgment that although some of them are scarcely a braccio in length, they have nevertheless the appearance as seen, from ^e floor below, of being three braccia high, they are indeed executed with marvellous art and ingenuity, the master having found means to produce such effect that they seem to be alive (so much relief has he given them), and with the truthfulness of their appearance they pleasantly deceive the eye that r^ards them. In the octangles are the principal events in the history of Psyche,* with the sufferings which she endured from the anger of Venus, all executed with the same beauty and per- fection : the angles of the windows exhibit numerous Loves, which are distributed according to the space at the disposal of the artist ; the whole ceiling being painted in oil by the above-named Benedetto and Rinaldo. The remainder of the pictures from the history of Psyche are on the walb beneath and are painted in fresco, they are much larger than those on the ceiling. In one of these stories is Psyche in the Bath; she is surrounded by the Loves who are gracefully laving her beautiful limbs ; near this is another picture, where, with gestures equally graceful, the Loves are drying the delicate form.t In another part of the work is
* Many of these jnctures were engraved by Diana Ghiai, of Mantua, and by Antonio Venenano.
t For more minute details lee Cadioli, DeserUume di Maniova e dei mot Omtomt, Mantua, 1763. See also Bottari, De»erixx<me Storiea, 1783, with Le Pitture di Giulio Romano nel Palazxo del T, fwH di Mantova, ^-^' 1881.
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40 hPTEa OP 9HS ARTISTS.
Mercury preparing the banqaet, wlnle Fsyehe takes lier bath ; the Bacchantes are sounding musical instruments, and the Graces ue busied in the decoration oi the table, whidi th^ adorn wiih. flowers. Silenus is sustained upon his ass by Satyrs, and near him is a Groat suckling two children ; Bacchus is also present with two Tigers at his feet ; he is leaning on the credenza or beaufet with one arm, and on one side of this table is a Camel, on the other an Elephant: ^e decorations of the credenza, which is of a coved shape, and forms a half-circle, being of festoons, foliage, and fruits inter- twined; it is furthermore covered with vines laden witii grapes, winch throw their leaves and tendrils over three ranges g£ fancifully-shaped vases, goblets, beakers, and cups of the most fantastic and varied forms, all shining in such a manper that tiliey appear to be of veritable silver and gold ; the imi- tation being nevertheless effected by means of a simple yellow and some other colours only, but so admirably done that they bear ample testimony to the genius, talent, and art of Giulio, who proved himself in this part of the work to be gifted with the richest powers of invention and the most varied resources in art.
At no great distance from this picture is seen Psyche in the midst of a group of women, who serve, attend, and present her; ♦ and here we have Phoebus in the distance, rising fVom between the hills f in his solar chariot, whidi is drawn by four horses, while Zephyr lies nude amidst fleecy clouds, breathing soft airs from a cornicle, which he has in his mouth, and wherewith he renders the atmosphere around the form of Psyche cheering and ^reeable. These stories were engraved not many years since after the designs of Battista Franco of Venice, who copied them exactly as they had been painted by Benedetto of Pescia and by Rinaldo of Mantua, who followed the great cartoons of Giulio, and by whom all the stories were executed, with the exception of the Bac- chus, the Silenus, and the Two Children suckled by the Goat. It is true, that the work was afterwards almost whoUy retouched by Giulio, whence it is very much as it might have
* Engraved by Diana of Mantua, and dedicated to Claudio Gonzaga, in 1575.
t In the engraving of Diana Ghisi above named, the car of the sun rises from the sea, and not from behind the hills. — Boitari,
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bfiea had it been entirelj executed with his own hand. And this mode of proceeding, which he had derived from Raphael bis maater, is exceedingly advantageous to the disciple, who obtains much practice thereby, and thus becomes in his tura a good master. It is true, that the student sometimes per- suades himself to believe his own powers superior to those of him bj whom he should be guided, but if perchance he dipuld los^ this guidance, and be deprived too early of the dissign and direction of the master, before he has attained the due end of his labours, and has acquired firmness in design, and facility in execution, such disciple too often finds that he has been wasting his efforts, and has but involved himself i«i a sea of errors, amidst the infinite vastness of which he wanders as do the blind.
But let us return to the apartments of the T. From this room of the Psyche we pass into another, with double fidezes, imd deoorated with figures in baaso-rilievo» exe* cuted in stucco after the designs of Giulio^ by Franeeaoa Primaticeio of Bologna,* who was then but a youth ; and by Giovanni Battista of Mantua^t In these friezes are seen all the variously clothed and armed bands of the Soldiers on the cdunm of Trajan at Rome, faithfully copied and executed in a very beautiful manner.| Among the decorationsof the ceiling in one of the ante-rooms, is a painting in oil, representing Icarus § instructed by his father Daadalus in the art of fiying, but who, after he has seen the sign of the crab and the chariot q( the sun drawn by four horses, which are finely foreshortened^ — ^when he is i^proaching the sign of the hpn, that is to say — ^is left without his wings, the heat of Uie sun having melted the wax wherewith they were listened ; near this is another picture, in which he is seen agajn, bvyt now plunging down from the heights, and with so
* Who repaired to Mantua for the purpose of studying under Giulio, in the year 152a, remaining there until 1531, when he became the disciple of f^Bsnda.
i* Hentioned in the life of Maramtonio, see vol. iii. p. 51 1 , #1 seq,
% These frieze* represent the triumphs of the £)pperor Sigismund, by whom the grandfather of the then Marquis Federigo, Gio-Francesco Gonzaga namely, was declared Marquis of Mantua, in the year 1438. They are engraved by Pietro Santi Bartoli.
{ Botttyi, De^fiHMwns SioHoa, &c, calls this the fidl of Phaeton.
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42 LIVES OF THE ABTI8TS.
precipitous a descent, tbat to the spectator below he i^pears to be on the very point of falling upon him. The face of Icarus is pale as that of a corpse, and the whole composition is so admirably worked out, that it appears to be the reality itself ; the effect of the sun's heat, as it destroys the wings of the unhappy youth, is rendered palpable to sight ; the kind- Hug fire is seen to give out smoke, one almost hears the crack- ling of the burning plumes, and while the agony of death appears upon the face of Icarus ; the suffering and grieToos sorrow of Dsodalus are written in characters equally legible on his countenance. In our book we have the design of this most beautiful picture by Giulio's own hand.
In the same place our artist painted stories characteristic of the twelve months of the year, describing in all the occupations in which men most frequently employ them- selves during each ; a work which is no less remarkable and pleasing for the beautiful and fanciful invention dis- played therein than for the judgment and care of its exe- cution. Having passed the great Loggia with its deco- rations in stucco, the numerous arms and other fanciful ornaments, with which it is adorned, we arrive in apartments so rich in a thousand various fantasies that the mind is over- whelmed and becomes confounded amidst them. Original and ingenious as he was, Qiulio desired here to display all his resources ; and in a part of the palace which forms an angle corresponding with that wherein is the above-described room of the Psyche, he determined to construct an apart- ment, of which the masonry should be accommodated to the requirements of the painting, thereby the more effectually to deceive the eye of the spectator. Having first secured this angle, therefore, which was on a marshy soil, by means of double foundations of great depth, he caused a large circular chamber to be erected; giving extraordinary thickness to the walls, to the end that the four external angles of the same might have all the strength required for the support of a double vaulting, which he proposed to make in a round form, like that of an oven or furnace. This done, he caused the doors, windows, and mantelpiece of the room to be formed in rustic masonry, purposely constructed so much out of square, and set together in so disjointed and distorted a fashion, that they really appeared to be leaning on one side,
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and seemed as if they mast of necessity fall into the room. The apartment being thus constmcted in a manner so nnusuaJ, GiuHo set himself to paint therdn the most extra- ordinary inventions that he coidd possibly de\'ise ; the subject chosen was Jupiter launching his thunderbolts at the Giants, and having depicted the Olympian Heaven in the highest part of the vaulting, he there placed the Throne of Jove, foreshortened, as seen from b^ow ; showing also the front and interior of a round temple, with columns of the Ionic order : the Grod has a canopy midway over his seat, and his eagle is beside him, all which the master displayed as home on the clouds. Lower down he has depicted Jupiter in anger hurling his thunder-bolts at the Giants, with Juno still further down, who is assisting him. Around them are the Winds, represented by the most extraordinary visages, blow- ing towards the earth, while the Goddess Ops turns away with her lions at the terrible clamour of the thunders, as do the other gods and goddesses, more particularly Venus, who is beside Mars, and Momus, who, with his arms cast wide apart, appears to be expecting that heaven itself shall fall asunder, but stands nevertheless immoveable, awaiting the result.*
The Gbaces are seen in like manner equally filled with dread, and all the gods in short, seized with terror, take to flight, each in his chariot. The Moon, Saturn, and Janus turn towards that part of the heavens which is least involved in darkness, as if to remove themselves as far as possible from that horrible tumult and terror, as does Neptune, who, with his dolphins, appears trying to maintain himself on his trid^it, while Pallas, with the nine muses, stands watching the fearful event that is taking place before them, as question- ing what so dreadful an occurrence may portend. Pan embraces, with supporting arms, a nymph who is trembling with fear, he seems anxious to shelter her from those lightning-flashes and that conflagration with which the
* Algarotd, Saggio sopra la Piitura, compares this work to a magic- lanthom, but he had IkUe admiration for Giulio Romano as a painter. Lanzi, on the contrary, condders that master to have rivalled Michael Angelo in the boldness of his design, and laments that this work has been so Uttle respected by the audacious pencils of those who have pretended to xe0U>ieit
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heayena are filled. Buechus and Silenus, with thd Satyrs and Nymphs, hetraj the utmost horror and anxiety ; Yuloan with his ponderous hammer on his shoulder is turning his looks towards Hercules, who is speaking with Mercnrj ^ the passing event : near tbeae is Pomona with a terror-stradL aspect, a similar appearance ib presented by Vertunmus and the other god% who are dispersed over heaven. But whether i^ those who fly or those who stay> all the effecitA of &ar are rendered with so much force, that it is not possible, I do not say to see, but to imagine, a more admirable composition in painting than this is.
In the lower part, on the walls that is to say, are the Giants, some of whom, those namely who are nearest to Jupiter, have mountains and enormous rocks on their backs, these they support on their powerful should^a, proposing to make a pile wherewith to scale the beaveos, where their ruin is preparing, where Jupiter is thundering, where aU the deni- zens of heaven are kindled with anger against th^n, and where the whole assembly appears not only to have a sense of terror at the rash presumption of those giants cm whc^n it is^ casting mountains, but as if apprehensive that the whole world was in uproar and coming to an end. In this lower part of the painting, Giulio has also depicted Briareus in a dark cavern almost covered with enormous masses of rod^ with other giants lying crushed and some dead beneath th0 ruins of the mountains. Throiigh the cleft oi another dark cave in the distance, moreover, and which is managed with infinite judgment, there are seen other giants in full flight, ^ruck b^ the thunderbolts of Jove, they seem also on the ppint o£ being crushed, as are the others, beneath the ruins of th^ mountains. In another part of the picture also, are sitlll more slants, on whom are falling temples, columns, B»d other fragments of buildings, maUug an immense slaughter apd destruction of those proud assailants of the gods.* ft ia amidst these falling ruins that the fire-place of the ap^- ment is placed, and when fire is lighted therein the giants are seen as if burning amidst the flames. Here the master has depicted Pluto in his chariot; drawn by meagre bare-boned horses, and, accompanied by the Furies, he is
* The part of this work contaioing th^ Battle of ike QianU was en- graved by Cornelius Bos.
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ftTing towards thd centre : the artist never departing from ^be purpose he had preposed to himself in any portion of the lecture ; by this invention of the fire for example, he gave an sppropriate as well as beauUfui character to his chimney- piece ; and the same may be said of every other part of the painting.*
To render his work still more fearfhl and terrible, Ginlio has exhibited many of the giants, who are of the most extraordinary forms, as well as of immense statnre, in the act of falling to the earth, some backwards, others on their fac^ as they are differently struck and wounded by the lightnings and thunder-bolts ; some are already dead, othera writhing with their wounds, and still more lying crushed and partially covered by the mountains and edifices which have ^en upon them. Wherefore let none believe that he could ever behold any work of the pencil better calculated to awaken fear and horror, or more truly natural and life-like^ than ^at before us ; nay, whosoever enters liiat chamber and sees all the doors, windows, and other piu*ts, constructed as they are awry, and as it were on the point of falling with the build- ings, and even the mountains tumbling around in min, cannot fail to be in doubt whether all be not about to topple down upon him, and the rather as he sees the very gods in heaven, some rushing here, and others there, but all taking to flightt
Another circumstance remarkable in this work is the fact, that it has neither beginning nor end ; the whole is neverthe- less well connected in all its parts, and continued throughout unbroken by division or the intervention of firame-work or decorations, so that all the objects which are near the build- ings appear to be of great size, while those at a distance and scatte^ about the landsc]^>es:( seem to diminish gradually,
* The chimney was closed up, the fires made in it d<mig injury, by the smoke they threw out, to the pictures above. These trere cleened towards the year ] 786 by the painter Carlo Bottani, the author of the De*drUiume Storica, before cited.
f Pietro Saati Bartoli gires eight engravings of the pictures in this room, but would seem to have copied from the Cartoons of Giulio Romano, since the engravings do not strictly follow the paintings, in which the master is known to have made several changes from the original designs.
1 According to Gaye, thp Landscape in this work is by Fermo of Caravaggio
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46 LIVES OF THE ABTI8T8.
until thej become lost amidst infinite space. Whence this apartment, which is not more than fifteen braccia long, has rather the appearance of a wide tract of country. The flooring also is formed of small round stones, the similitude of which is continued in painting on the commencement of the upright walls, so that the separation of the floor and walls is not too apparent ; there sere no sharp angles, and the level of the country there represented is thus made to seem of great extent ; all this was put into execution and finished with the most profound art and the highest perfection of judgment, by the master, to whom all those who are occupied with our arts owe much gratitude for these singular inven- tions.*
By the- practice obtained in this work, the above-named Binfddo Mantovano was rendered a distinguished painter, since it was by him that the whole was conducted and brought to completionf after the cartoons of Giulio Bomano.t He worked in the other apartments also, and if this artist had not been so early taken from the world, he would doubtless have obtained honour for himself after the death of Giulio, as he did honour to the instructions of that master while he lived. »
After having completed the palace of the T, in which Giulio executed many other works, all worthy of com- mendation, but respecting which I remain silent, desiring to avoid too much prolixity; — after completing this structure, I say, this master reconstructed from the ground up many apartments in the palace which the Duke inhabited at Mantua, erecting two very broad spiral staircases also, and adorning numerous chambers with rich decorations in stucco.
* Faduoli of Mantua has sought to pove his countxyman Rinaldo the author of these paintings, in a book entitled La Sola de* Giganti dimosirata invenxume ed opera di Rinaldo Mantovano ,* but Gaye, Carteggio inedito, has combated liiis opinion, the propriety of which he further questions in the KunstblaU for 1838, No. 71.
f The account of expenditure in the household of the Marquis for this period has the following item: — **lst March, 1532, to the painter Binaldo, for the painting of a great chamber, which he undertook by com- mand of our illustrious Lord, and also b^ that of the much to be honoured Giulio Romano, dght gold crowns, for his monthly payment."
X It irill be remembered that in the document cited in the preceding note there is no word of the part taken by Giulio in the work, but in
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Id one of the halls of the palace in Mantua* moreoyer, this artist painted the whole history and events of the TVojan War ;1; and in one of the ante-chamhers he painted twdve stories in oil, beneath the twelve heads of the £mpeior8 which had previously been depicted there bj Titian of Yecelli, works which were held in the highest estimation.^
At Marmiruolo likewise, aplace distant about five miles from Mantua, there was a very conmiodious building erected after the design and under the direction of Giulio, and which was adorned by him with large pictures, § no less beautiful than are those of the palace in Mantua and that of the T. The same master furthermore depicted a figure of Our Lady in a painting in oil executed for the chapel of the Signora Isabella Boschetta, in the church of Sant' Andrea in Mantua: the Madonna is in the act of adoring the Infant Jesus, who is lying on the earth, Joseph with the Ass and an Ox are seen near the manger, which is close by, and on one side is San Giovanni Evangelista, with San Longinus on the other. Both these figures are of the size of life.|| On the walls of the same chapel, GiuHo further caused Rinaldo to paint two very beautiful pictures after his own designs; one of these represents the Crucifixion of Our Saviour Christ, with the Two Thieves ; in the air above are Angels, and beneath are the Executioners, with the Maries and many Horses, in which Giulio always delighted greatly, and which he ren- dered admirably well, making them beautiful to a marvel : there are numerous Soldiers also in finely varied attitudes. The second picture executed in this chapel by Einaldo^ after
Giulio's design, is that Discovery of the Blood of Christ
another place we 6nd him observing that he had made the Cartoon fbr the painter, <^ to the intent that the latter might not lose time with the deeora- tions."
* Gaye, Chrteggio inediio <fArtitHf gives letters written on the subject of this work from Giulio Romano to the Marquis.
{These works are in tolerable preservation. The paintings of Giulio, as weU as the Caesars by Titian, disappeaied in the deplorable sack of Mantua, which took place in 1680. In one Hall of the Pidace there are nevertheless still to be seen paintings attri- buted to this master; they represent the goddess Diana in various scenes ot her history.
§ This palace has been destroyed.
I This work is now in the Louvre. It has been engraved by Louis Desplaces.
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48 LIVES OF THB JLBT1ST8.
which was made in the time of the Countess Matilda, ftml this picture also is a very beautiful work.*
For the Duke Federige, GiuHo painted a picture with his own hand, the subject is Our Ladj wasMng the Infant Christ, who stands upright in a basin, while San Giovanni, also a child, is pouring water from a VBse ; these two figures, ' which tore of the siee of life, are both very beautifttl.| In the distance are seen small figures representing Wom^n who are approaching to visit the Madonna* This picture was afterwards presented by the Duke to the Signora Isabella Buschetta, whose portrait, which is a very beautiful one, was taken by Giulio in a little picture not more than a bracdo high, which is now in the possession of the Signor Vespa- siano Gkmzag% with another, presented to him by the Duke Federigo and also by the hand of GiuKo, representing a Youth affectionately caressing a maiden, while an old woman is secretly observing them from behind a door ; the figures in this work are somewhat less than the size of life, and are very gracefully depicted4 Anoth^ and most admi- rable picture by Giulio, in possession of the same person, is a figure of San Jeronimo, and is one of extraordinary beauty and merit. A picture of Alexander the Great, holding the figure of Victory in his hand, and very finely painted by Giulio Romano, is now in the possession of the Count Nic- colb Maffei ; the figure is of the size of life, it is copied from an ancient medal, and is very beautiful.
After the completion of these works, Giulio painted a fresco over a chimney-piece for his friend Messer Girdamo, the Organist of the cathedral at Mantua. The subject of this work is Vulcan working his bellows with one hand, while with the other he holds between a pair of tongs the iron of an arrow which he is forging; Venus is near him, and is tempering in a vase the arrows already formed, which she then places in the quiver of Cupid. § This is one Xi£ the
* These frescoes liie well preserr^d, and Kt^ thdr plaee.
+ This fine work of the master is in the Royal Gallery of Dresden.
J According to Fbrster this picture is now in the Royal Collection of Berlin, but he considers it to be entirely undeserving of the praise be- stowed on it.
§ There is a picture on this subject by Giulio Romano in the Louvre, which is anv>ng those engraved by Marco di Ravenna*
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GIULIO BOMANa 49
most beautifal works ever executed by Giolio, from whose hand there are indeed but few paintings in fresco to be found.* In a picture, pidnted by commission for Messer Ludovico da Fermo and intended for the church of San Domenico, Giulio represented the Saviour Christ dead, and about to be pre- pared for the tomb by Joseph and Nicodemus ; near them is the Virgin Mother, with the other Maries, and San Giovanni Evangelista. Another small picture, wherein our artist like- wise depicted the Dead Christ, is now at Venice in the house of the Florentine Tommaso da Empoli.
Now, it happened about the time when Giulio was occu- pied with these and other pictures that the Signer Giovanni de' Medici, having been wounded by a musket ball, was carried to Mantua, where he died. Then Messer Pietro of Arezzo, who had been a most devoted servant of that Signer and was a fast friend of Giulio's, desired that, thus dead as he was, the latter would make his portrait. Our artist took a cast from the face accordingly, and from this he executed a likeness which remained for many years in the possession of the above-named Messer Pietro.f
When the Emperor Charles V. arrived in Mantua,^ Giulio made many magnificent preparations for his reception by order of the Duke : these consisted of arches, perspective scenes for dramatic representations, and various matters of similar kind, in the invention of which Giulio Bomano never had his equal, for never was there any man who, in the arrangement of masquerades, or the preparation of extraordi- nary habiliments for jousts, festivals, and tournaments, dis- placed fancy and variety of resource such as he possessed : this was acknowledged with astonishment and admiration at the time by the Emperor Charles, and by as many other per- sons as were present. Besides all these things Giulio Bomano prepared numerous designs at di£ferent periods for the city of Mantua: chapels, houses, fronts of palaces,§ gardens, all were
* The Count D*Arco, Vita di Giulio Romano, affirms that no trace of this fresco is now to be found in Mantua.
f The &te of this work is not known.
I In the year 1530.
§ That of the Marchese Torelli for example, which he decorated with mythological paintings in fresco, many of which still exist, although the pi^ace Iws been rebuilt. A description of these frescoes, with plates, was published in the year 1832.
VOL. IV. S
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50 LIVES OP THK ARTISTS.
eonstructed and arranged bj his hand, and so mnch pleasure did he find in adorning and embellishing that city, that whereas he had first found it buried in mud, witii the streets full of foetid water, and eYea the houses sometimes scarcely halntable from the same cause^ he brought tl\^ whole to such a condition that it is now dry, healthy, and agreeable; all which is attributable to the labours of Giulio Romano.
While our artist was thus in the service of the Duke of Mantua, it happened in a certain year, that the river Po burst its bounds and inundated the city to such a degree that in the lower parts of the town the waters attained the height of nearly four braccia, so that, in those places frogs were found almost all the year round for a very long time. Giulio thereupon set himself to consider how this evil was to be remedied ; and first of all he took measures whereby the river was forced back within its original bounds ; next, and to the end that no such event should occur again, he caused the streets at that quarter of the town to be raised, by com- mand of the Duke, until their height surpassed that of the river, and the houses then erected in that district were thus elevated above the reach of the waters. There had pre- viously been nothing more than small, slightly built, and unimportant dwellings in those parts, but the Duke now commanded that the whole should be brought into better order ; and demolishing these houses to raise the level of the streets, he caused much larger and more commodious build- ings to be erected on the site, thereby increasing the beauty and contributing to the convenience of the city. It is true that many opposed themselves to this measure, complaining to the Duke that Giulio was making too much destruction, but Federigo would not hear any of these men ; on the c<m- trary, he appointed Giulio inspector of roads, and gave orders that no building should be erected in the city without his consent and advice.
Enraged at this, many repeated their complaints, while some threatened the master with violence ; but this coming to the ears of the Duke, he used such words in speaking of Giulio that all perceived his favour to be very great, and became aware of the fact that whatever might be done to his injury or displeasure would be reputed as done to Federigo himself, and recompensed accordingly. The Duke was indeed
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80 well cBsposed towards Giulio, for the sake of his abilities, Uiat he was unwillizig to lose sight of him ; and the master, on his part, returned that farour with so much reTerence towards the J}ukey that words coald not snfficientlj describe it. Wherefore Giulio never requested a favour either for himself or others, that be did not obtain it, and it was found at his death that the mmoont he had received from that Prince had made an ineome of not less than a thousand ducats.
Giulio Bomano built a house for himself in Mantua, and <^[>poffite to the church of San Bamaba, the front of tUs he adorned with a fantastic decoration of cdoured stuccoes, causing it at the same time to be painted and adorned with stucco-work within ; here he arranged the numerous antiqui- ties which he had brought from Rome, with others which he had received from the Duke, to whom he gave many of his own instead.
Tlus artist produced so many designs both in Mantua and for other places, that their amount appears incredible^ but, as we have said, there could be no palace or other building of importance erected, .more especially within the city of Mantua, unless it were constructed after a design from him. He rebuilt the church of San Benedetto in Mantua, a very large and rich edifice belonging to the Black Friars, situate on the old walls, and near the river Po : after his designs also was the whde church embellished and adorned with beautiful pictures and fine paintings in fresco.
The wpi^s of Giulio Romano were in very high repute throughout Lombardy likewise, insomuch that the bishop of Verona, Giovanni Matteo Giberti, desired to have the tribune of the cathedral of that city decorated entirely after designs prepared by that master, and painted by the Veronese artist II Moro, as we have related dsewhere.* For the Duke of Ferrara, Giulio likewise made designs for tapestry and cloth of arras, these were afterwards executed in silk and gold by th.e Flemings, Maestro Niccolo and Giovan Battista Rosso : copper-plate engravings from them being also published by Giovanni Battista of Mantua, by whom a large number of the works produced by Giulio were engraved. Among others were three battle-pieces which were likewise engraved by other artists, with a picture of a physician, who is applying • In the additions to the Life of Fra Giocondo and Liberale, vol. iii, E 2
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52 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
cupping-glasses to the shoulders of a woman, and the flight of Our hkdj into Egypt, with Joseph leading the Ass bj the bndle, and angels bending down the branches of a date-tree, thereby enabling the Divine Child to gather the fruits thereof.
The same engraver executed other works after the designs of Giulio Romano, the Wolf namely suckling Romulus and Remus on the shores of the Tiber, with four stories of Pluto, Jupiter, and Neptune, who are dividing the heavens, the earth, and the sea among them by lot. Giovan Battista likewise engraved the picture of the Goat Alfea,* which is held by Melissa, and gives nourishment to the Infant Jupiter, as he did also a very large plate representing men in prison, and who are subjected to various kinds of torments. The plate which represents Scipio and Hannibal addressing their armies on the shore of the river, was in like manner engraved after a design by Giulio, as was also the birth of San Giovanni Battista, which was engraved by Sebastiano del Reggio, with many others engraved and published in Italy. In Flanders also and in France many plates have been engraved from the designs of Giulio, but of these, however beautiful they may be, it does not need that we should now make mention, nor would it be easy to enumerate all his designs, seeing that he produced them, so to speak, in loads ; let it suffice to say that he had such extraordinary facility in all works of art, but more particularly in design, that there is no memorial of any artbt who has performed more numerous works than himself.
Giulio Romano was a man of very extensive cultivation, he spoke well on all subjects, but more particularly was he acquainted with all that related to medals, for which, and in the acquirement of knowledge respecting them, he expended large sums of money as well as much time. He was almost always occupied with some great and important work ; but would nevertheless not refuse to set his hand to the most trifling matter, when the object was to do service to his lord or give pleasure to his friends ; and the speaker had scarcely opened his mouth to express the wish formed or the thought conceived, before Giulio had comprehended his purpose, nay,
* Jupiter suckled hy the Goat Amalihea was engraved by Pietro Sand Bartoli.
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GIULIO BOKANO. 53
liad designed the object desired. Among the manj ralaable
things which he had in his house was the likeness of Albert
Biirer, drawn from the life on exceedingly fine linen bj the
hand of Albert himself, by whom it was sent, as we have
before related, as a gift to Raphael. This portrait was a verj
extraordinary w^ork painted in water colours with extreme
care, and Albert had finished it without the use of any
white, having nsed the white of the linen itself for the hieh
lights ; and in the exceedingly fine and subtle threads of this
texture, he had so delicately rendered the hairs of the beard,
that it was a thing which cannot even be fully imagined,
much less imitated, and being held up to the light it shone
through, and was seen on both sides. This portrait, which
was held as a most precious possession by Giidio, was shown
to me by himself as a kind of miracle, when I once went
during his life-time for my affairs to the city of Mantua.
When the Duke Federigo died, Giulio Romano, who had been much favoured by that prince, nay, beloved by him more than words could express, was so deeply grieved that he would have left Mantua, if the Cardinal, the brother of the Duke, on whom the government of the state had devolved, because his children were very young, had not retained him in that city ; persuading him to abide where he had a wife and children, and possessed houses and villas, with every other means of enjojnnent that needs to be demanded by the richest nobleman. And to this the Cardinal was induced by the wish he felt to avail himself of the counsels and aid of Giulio Romano in the project which he was then meditating of restoring, nay, almost of rebuilding the whole fabric of the cathedral of Mantua. The master accordingly consented to set hand to that work in which he made con- siderable progress, imparting a very beautiful form to the fabric*
About the same time Giorgio Vasari, who was on the most friendly terms with Giulio, although they knew each other by fame and letters only — Giorgio Vasari, I say, being on his way to Venice, took the road by Mantua, for the purpose of there visiting Giulio and seeing his works. Arrived there,
* The building commenced by Giulio was continued and completed some ycare after by the Maiituan architect, Gio-Battista Bertani, who adhered closely to the plans of his predecessor.
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54 LIVES or THE ASTISTS.
the aboveHoamed Giorgio went to seek the friend whom lie had never jet seen, but 1^ moment they met^ these two knew each other no less or otherwise than thej might have done if ihej had associated personailj a thousand times before. And herein Giidio foimd so much pleasure and enjoyment, that for four days he never separated himself from Giorgio, to whom he showed all his works, but more especially die gmund-plans of all the ancient edifices in Borne, Naples, PoezuoIo, the Campagna, and every <^er example of the most noble antiquities of which there is knowledge, part of which were made by himself and part by others. He then opened an immense press or wardrobe, uad laid bef<Hre his guest all the plans of the various buildings which had be^i erected after his own designs, and under his direction, not in Mantua and Borne only, but in various places tluoughout all Lombardy ; and these were so beautiful that, for my own part, 1 do not believe it would be possible to imagine buildings that should disj^y more <»:iginality of invention, greater omvenienoe in the arrangement, or a richer fancy in decoration.
The Cardinal afterwards inquired of Gicffgio what he thought of Giulio's works, whin Giorgio replied, GKulio being present, that he thought them such as to be of opini<m that the artist had deserved to see a statue of himself erected at every confer of the city. It is indeed certain, that since Giulio liad renewed the very existence of that place, and restored a large portion of it to a state of splendour, even this would not have sufficed adequately to rewfurd him for his cares and labours. To Giorgio s remark the. Cardinal replied, that Giulio was in fact more completely master of that state than he was himself. This master was of a most obliging disposition, more particularly towards his friends ; there was no mark of kindness, and even of aflfecdon, which Giorgio did not receive at his hands ; and Vasari, on his part, having departed from Mantua, and proceeding to Venice, had thence returned to Bome exactly at the time when Michelagnolo had uncovered his Last Judgment in the chapel, sent Giulio three plates of the Seven Mortal Sins, taken from the above-named Last Judgment of Michelagnolo.*
* Bottan conjectures that these plates represented groups of souls con- demned for the sins in question.
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Th^se w^re cfmweyed to Giulio lij MesBer Nino Nini of Cortona, Secretarj to the above-mentioiied Cardinal of Mantua^ and were beyond measure welcome to the ardst, not only for themselres, and as being what the j were, bat also be<^nse ho had at that time to paint a chap^ in the palace for the aforesaid Cardinal, and these works senred to awaken in his mind the idea of greater and higher things than he had before conceived the tiiought of producing. Giving all his powers, therefore, to the preparation <^ Ihe cartoon, and using the utmost diligence, fen: that work he composed a very finely-imagined picture of Peter and Andrew called by Christ from their nets, and preparing to fi^ow him, to the end that they might no longer be seekers of fishes, but might become fishers of men. This cartoon, which proved to be the most beautiful one ever prepared by Giuho^ was afterwards executed by the painter Fermo Gusoni, then the disciple of Giulio, and now an excellent master.*
No long time after these things, the superintendents to the building of San Petronio in Bologna, desiring to commence the principal front o£ that church, contrived, after great effoTtSy to prevail on Giulio Bomano to repair thither, and the master went accordingly, in company with a Milanese architect, called Tofano L^bardino, a man greatly esteemed at that time in Lombardy, for the many buildings there to be seen from his hand. These masters, therefore, having made numerous designs, those o£ the Sienese Baldassare Peruzzi having been lost ; one among them, which had been pr^ared by Giulio, was found to be so beautiful and well-cffdered that it received, as it well merited, the highest commendations from that people, and the master received very liberal pre- sents on his return to Mantua.
Now in those days the architect Antonio Sangallo died in Borne, and the superintendents of San Pietro found them- selves in no small embarrassment, not knowing towards whom to turn themselves, or on what master they might devolve
* Of this picture, which afterwards passed into the cathedral <^ Mantua, there is now a modem copy onlj, by Felice Canapi, in that cfauKh. The osaffsaal was taken to Pans in 17d7, and has never been returned. A dinunished copy made duiing Giulio^ft life is now in the posBesoioa of the Signer Gaetano Susaoi of liiatiuu— Coont D'Anxv Vita di GivUo Romano.
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S6 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
the charge of conducting so great a falmc to its conclusioDy after the manner already commenced. None appeared to them better fitted for that ofilce than Giulio Bomano, with whose admirable qualifications they were all acquainted, and who, as they believed, would accept the charge more than willingly, for the purpose of honourably reinstating himself in his own country, and that with a large income. They consequently caused him to be questioned on the* subject by several of his friends, but in vain, for although he would him- self have agreed to this proposal with the utmost readiness, two things withheld him from doing so— the opposition of the Cardinal, who would on no account permit him to leave Mantua, and that of his wife with her kindred and friends, who discouraged the idea of his removal by all the means in their power.
It is true, that neither of these two obstacles might have been sufficient to restrain him, had he been in perfect health, seeing that his conviction of the great advantage that must needs be secured to himself and his children from the acceptance of so honourable an appointment, had fully disposed him to accept it ; he was indeed prepared to make every effort that might induce the Cardinal to refrain from offering impediments to his purpose, when his malady began to give evidence Ox aggravation. It was in fact decreed from on high, that he was no more to visit Rome, and that this was to be the final termination of his days : thus, between vexation and sickness, his life departed, and he died after the lapse of a few days, in Mantua, which city might, nevertheless, have permitted that, as he had embellished her, so he might also have adorned and done honour to his own native city of Rome.
Giulio died in his fifty-fourth year,* leaving one male child only, to whom he had given the name of Raphael, for the love which he bore to the memory of his master. But
* Gave, Kunstblatt for 1838, No. 73, cites a document from a public office in Mantua, whence it appesus tliat there died " on the first of No- vember, 1546, II s-ior Julio romano di Pipi, superior de le Fabriche Ducale, de febra, infirmo giomo 15, morto di anni 47." — ^" Julio Pippi of Rome, Intendant of the Ducal bmldings, died after illness from fever or fifteen days, at the age of forty-seven." The Abate Znni remarks with justice that the age has here been most probably g^ven after some inaccurate report ; all the probabilities being in favour of the more advanced age: assigned by Vasaji.
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GIULIO BOMAKO. 57
tMs youth had scarcely acquired the first principles of art, in which he gave promise of hecoming an able master, when he also died :* this happened not many years after the death of his father, as did also the decease of his mother, the con- sort of Giulio. There then remained of the artist no other descendant than a daughter called Virginia, who is now the wife of Ercole Malatesta, and still abiding in Mantua.
The deaih of GiuHo Romano caused infinite grief to all who had known him ; he received the rites of sepulture in San Bamaba, where it was intended that some honourable monument should be erected to his memory, but the wife and children deferring the execution of this purpose from day to day, have themselves for the most part departed from life, without having proceeded further in the matter. It is meanwhile to be regretted that in a city which he so richly adorned, there has been found no one to take count of his de- serts, except at such times as they required his services, when they were ready enough to think of him : but the art from which he obtained so much honour in life has raised him a monument in his works which neither time nor the years shall have power to consume.
Giulio Romano was neither tall nor short of stature, was rather firmly than slightly built, had black hair, a pleasing countenance, the eyes dark and cheerful, of a kindly db- I)osition and graceful deportment, regular in his life, frugal in eating, but fond of dressing and living in an honourable manner. He had a considerable number of disciples, but the most distinguished among them were Gian dal Lione, Rafiaellino dal Colle of Borgo, Benedetto Pagni of Pescia, Figurino of Faenza,t Rinaldo and Giovan-Battista of Mantua, and Fermo Guisoni, who is still living in Mantua, and does honour to his master, seeing that he is an excellent painter. J The same may be said of Benedetto of Pescia, who has produced many works in his native city, with a
• According to Lanri, whose authority was Camillo Volta, prefect of the Mantuan Museum, Kaphael Pippi, the son of Giulio, attained his thirtieth year.
t Figurino of Faenza, or Marc Antonio Rocchetti. Giulio Tonduzzi of Faenza may also be added to the list of Giulio's disciples.
i For details respecting these and other Mantuan painters, see the MonumenH ManCovam of Carlo D'Arco.
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58 LIVES OF THE ABTI8TS.
picture for the Cathedral of Pua, which is now in the hoase of the Wardens of worim, Benedetto has likewise painted a picture of the Madonna, and this work gives proof <^ a truly poetical invention ; the artist having represented a figure of Florence, who is presenting the dignitaries of the house of Medici to the px>tection of the Virgin. This work is DOW in the possession of the Signor Mondragcme, a Spaniard, very highly favoured by the nwet illusteioos Sigoor, the Prince of Florence.
Giulio died on the day of All Saints, in the year 1546, and over his tomb * were placed the following lines : — BamuHuu morietu seemn ires Julius ArUit, AbttuSU (haud minim) quaUuor trnmsraLt
THE PAINTEB* FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO OF VENICE.
[bobh 1485->died 1547.]
The first profession of Sebastiano,| as many affirm, was not painting, but music ; for, besides that he was a singer, he delighted to perform on various instruments, but more es- pecially on the lute, that being an instrument which permits the player to take all the parts himseli^ without requiring any one to accompany him. His accomplishments in this matter rendered him for a time exceedingly acceptable to the
* In tiie re-oonstniction of the Ghurdi of San Baroaba all trace of this distiiiguished artist's tomb has disappeared. The history <^ Giulio Romauo is perhaps unique, observes Lanzi, &>r where besides will be found the man who after having erected so many grandiose and beautiful build- ings, has then painted and adorned them with his own hands ! See History of Painting (English edition), voL iL p. 331.
f In the first edition this dii^h is preceded by the following inscription:^
^ Vkiebat JuppOer corpora scvlpta piehtque Spirarey et odes mortaKum aquarier Oib Jtdii virtute Romani : tunc iratus . ConcUio divorum omnium vocato lUum e terris sustulU ; quod paii neqwret, Vinci aut aquari ab ftomine terrigina**
X This painter's £imily name was Ludani, Federid, in his Memorie Trevigiane, affirms Fia Sebastiano del Fiombo and Fra Marco Pensaben to be one and the same peraon, but Lanzi and Zani have proved Federid to be in error.
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FBA. SKBJLSTIAJfO IWL FIOUBO. 59
nobies of y«&ice, yn^ wiioniy as a man of abilitj, he ever £yed in <XHifid»itial intercoarse. The wish to devote himself to painting having been conceived bj Sd)astiano while he WHS still TOiing, 1^ acquired the first principles of his art inm Giovan^Bellini, then an old man ; bat when Giorgione da Cast^ Franco bconght into Venice the newer manner, with its superior harmony and increased vividness of colour* ing, Sdbastiano left Bellini to {dbce himself with Giorgione.
With the la^named artist, Sebastiano remained so long that he acquired his manner to a considerable d^ree. He executed numeroos portraits from the life in Venice, which were r^rated to be exceiient likenesses ; among oth^ that of the Frenchman Verdeiotto, an accomplished musician, who was th»i chapel-master (^Maesiro di CapeUa) in San Muco, and in the same picture Sebastiano painted the pw- trait (^ the singer Uberto, the associate of Verdeiotto. Has W(»k was Inought to Florence by Verddotto, whoi the latter repaired to that city as Maestro di Capdla at San GiovannL It is now in the possession of the sculptor, Francesco Sangalla About the same time, Sdmstiano painted a picture in the Church of San Giovanni Giiso6t<Hno at Venice^ with figures whkh have so much of the manner of Gioigione, that they have sometimes been taken by persons who have not much acquaintance with matters of art, to be by ihe hand of Giorgione himsdf. The worit is a very beautiful one, and has a manner of colouring which secures great relief to the picture.*
By this work the r^utaticm of the artist was much ex- tended, and Agostino Chigi, a very rich merchant of Siena, who had Sequent communications with Venice, hearing him much extolled in Bome, made efibrts to attract him thither, the abilities of Sebastiano in playing on the lute being equally pleasing to Agostino with his acquirement as a painter; »id the latter was furthermore incited hy the agreeable c<mversation oi Sebastiano, which was also mudi commended. No great labour was required to lead Sebas-
* Tka& pictiire, which represents liie Ikiadoima with St Qiiysoitom and other saints, is on the High Altar of the above named-church. It was re- rtored some years since bj Bernardino Oomiani degli Algarotti. There are worics of this master in the Church of San BartoI<Hnmeo at Venice. These also have been re-touched. — Venetian Edition of Vasaru
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60 LIVES OF THE ABTI8T8.
liano to Rome ; nay, knowing how helpful and favourable that citjy as the common country of all distinguished men, had ever proved herself towards such, he went thither more than willingly. Having arrived in Eome accordingly, Agostino set him instantly to work, and the first thing which he did was to paint the small arches above the Loggia, whicli looks into the garden of Agostino's palace in the Trastevere, where the whole of the vaulting had been decorated by Baldassare of Siena. In these arches, Sebastiano painted many poesies * or fanciful subjects, in the manner which he had brought with him from Venice, and which were very different from the works usually produced in Rome by the distinguished painters of that time.
After this work, Raffaello having executed a story of Galatea in that place, Agostino desired that Sebastiimo should paint a Polyphemus in fresco beside it jf and here, impelled by a spirit of rivalry with Baldassare of Siena, and afterwards with Raphael, he did his very utmost to distin- guish himself. He likewise executed certain works in oil, and of these, seeing that he had obtained from Giorgione a certain mode of colouring which was tolerably soft, much account was made at Rome. While Sebastiano was thus producing these pictures in Rome, Raffaello da Urbino had risen into great credit as a painter, and his friends and adherents maintained that his works were more strictly in accordance with the rules of art than those of Michael Agnolo, affirming that they were graceful in colouring, of beautiful invention, admirable in expression, and of charac- teristic design ; while those of Michael Agnolo, it was averred, had none of these qualities with the exception of the design. For these reasons, Raphael was judged by those who thus opined, to be fully equal, if not superior, to Michelagnolo in painting generally, and was considered by the same to be decidedly superior to him as regarded colouring in particular. These ideas, promulgated by many
* As our author calls every work having an historical character, a slorp, so he calls those taken from the poets or works of pure foncj, a poesy, — Ed. Flor,, 1832-8.
f The Polyphemus of Fra Sebastiano has perished, and another has been fabricated in its place by some painter who was but ''one of a dozen." — Bottari,
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FBA SEBiLSTIAKO DEL PIOHBO. 61
ardstSy -were very widely diffused, and found favour among those T^bo preferred the grace of Raphael to the profundity of Miclielagnolo, and who showed themselves on many oc- casions to be more favourable to Raphael in their judgment, than to Buonarroti.
But not so Sebastiano, he was not among the followers of these extreme opinions ; possessing an exquisite judgment, he fully and exactly appreciated the value of both these masters ; the mind of Buonarroti was thereby disposed towards him, and being greatly pleased with the grace and beauty of his colouring, he took him into his protection, thinking also that by assisting Sebastiano in design, he might succeed without doing anything himself in confound- ing those who held the above-described opinions, while he, under the shadow of a third person, might appear as judge between the two, Raphael or Sebastiano, deciding which of them was the best*
Things being at this point, and the works of Sebastiano having been exalted to great, or rather, infinite reputation by the praises lavished on them by Michelagnolo, to say nothing of the fact that they were in themselves beautiful and com- mendable, there was a certain Messer, I know not who, from Viterbo, who stood in high favour with the Pope, and who commissioned Sebastiano to paint a Dead Christ, with Our Lady weeping over him, for a certain chapel which he had caused to be erected in the Church of San Francesco at Viterbo ; but although the work was finished with infinite care and zeal by Sebastiano, who executed a twilight Xiandscape therein, yet the invention was Michelagnolo's, and the cartoon was prepared by his hand, t The picture
* Of the many opinions expieaaed by various authorities respecting this passage, we can make but slight mention here. Some ask if it be probable that Michael Angelo would resort to the plan here alluded to for the pur- pose described, others descant on the increase of glory which results to Raphael fiom the confesaon of inferiority implied by the admission that the miion <rf two artists was required to produce works that should equal those by his hand ; and others again, proceed to question the truth of the motive here assgned by Yasari as that by which his master was actuated, even while they admit that the proceeding attributed to him may be authen- ticated.
t There is a picture on this subject painted in oil by Sebastiano del Fiombo, after the design of Michael Angelo, in the Bridgewater CoUecUon,
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62 LIYES OF THE ASTIBTS.
was esteemed a truly beaatifnl one by all who beheld it, and acquired a great increase of reputation for Sebastiano, confinmng the opinions of those by whom he was favoured ;* then the Florentine merchant^ Her Francesco Borgherini, haying obtained possession of a chapel in San Pietro-in- Montorio^ on the right of the entrance into that church, commissioned Sebastiano to paint the same ; induced thereto by the favour shown to Sebastiano by Michelagnolo^ and thinking moreover that the latter would himself execute the drawing of the whole work, which, as the matter happened, was in fact the truth.
Having commenced the paintings, accordingly, Sebastiano set hand to the work with such perfect goodwill, and completed it with so much care and study, that it is indeed a most beautiful picture ; and as, from the small design prepared by Michelagnolo, Sebastiano made several others of burger size for his own convenience, one among them, very beauti- fully executed by his hand, is now to be found in our book, Sebastiano was convinced that he had discovered the true method of painting in oil cm the wall, he therefore covered the plaster of the chapel in San Pietro-in-Montorio with a preparation for the intonaco, which appeared to him to be properly suited for that purpose, and on this he executed the part whereon is the representation of Christ scourged at the Column, entirely in oil.t Nor will I conceal, ^t many believe Michelagnolo to have made^ not the small design for this work only, but even the outline of that figure of Christ scourged at the Column, seeing that there is a great difference in the degree of excellence to be perceived in the figure here in question, and that of all the others. But had Sebastiano never executed any work excepting this one he would have
but it has unhappily suffered greatly. The work, whidi -vras obtained from the Orleans Gallery, has been engraved by De Launay.
* Waagen maintains that in the Holy Family by Sebastiano, now in the collection of the Baring iamlly, the spirit of Michael Angelo is equally manifest, and the same, according to this authority, may be affirmed of the Holy Family in Lord Radnor's Collection, as well as in the large picture of the Yintation in the Louvre, which last bears the inscription, Sel^asHanus Venetus faciebaty Roma, mdxxxi.
t The Flagellation has much darkened ; experience has indeed proved that oil painting on the wall does not retfun its beauty, whatever tnay he the precautions used to secure it — Bottaru
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-well deaerred eternal fiune for this tikme ; the heads are admirably well done, manj of tbe hands and feet are most beautify, and although his manner was a little hard, on effect of the great pains which he took in the copying of the objects depicted, li^ may nevertheless be justly enumerated among the good and praiseworthy artists of his time.
Above this story Sebastiano painted two Prophets in fresco, with a Transfiguration in the vaulted ceiling, and there are besides two Saints standing one on each side of the lowermost pcture, San Hero, and San Francesco namely, which are figures of great force and animation.* It is true that Sebstiano laboui^ for six years over this smaU undertaking, but when works are well executed, one ought not to inquire whether they have been finished more or less expeditiously, although there is no doubt that he who executes his works rapidly, and yet completes them well, does merit to be the more highly extolled ; still, if, when the wcHrk does not give satisfaction, the painter seeks to excuse himself by allying the rapidity of the execution, this allegation is so far from pre- senting an excuse fot the defect, that it is, on the contrary, a further accusation against himself, unless indeed he has been compelled to such haste. But when this work of Sebastia- no's was uncovered, it was found to be a good one ; where- fore, although he had toiled wearily over it, yet^ as he had done well, the evil tongues were silenced, and there were few who presumed to censure him.
When, some time aflierwards, Baphael painted for the Cardinal de' Medici that picture wliich was to be sent into France, but which after the death of the master was placed <m the high ahar of San Fietro in Montcoio, the Transfigu- ration namely, Sebastiano executed one at the same time and -of the same sijce, almost as in rivalry of Baphael, the subject being a Resurrection of La2arus, after he had been in the grave four days. This also was painted with tbe most earnest care, under the direction, and in some parts with the design, of Michael Angelo. These pictures being finished, were pub- licly displayed together in the Hall of the Consistory ; they were both very highly extolled, and, although the works of Baphael had no equal for their extraordinary grace and
• The Tnmsfigaration has maintained itself better. Here atoo the bold manner of Michael Angelo is dearlj- apparent. — BottttrL
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64 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
beauty, the labours of Sebastiano, nevertheless, found honourable acknowledgment and were commended hj all. One of these pictures* was sent hj the Cardmal de' Medici to his episcopal residence at Narbonne in France,f the other was placed in the Chancery, where it remained until it had received the frame prepar^ for it by Giovanni Bariie,| when it was taken to San Pietro in Montorio. Having per- formed good service by this work in the estimation of the Cardinal, Sebastiano was much favoured and very liberally rewarded during the pontificate of the 8ame.§
No long time afterwards, and when, Raplmel having died, the first place in painting was universally accorded to Sebas- tiano, in consequence of the favour which the latter received from Michelagnolo, Giulio Eomano, Giovan Francesco of Florence, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro Maturino, Baldassare oi Siena, and the rest were compelled to give way ;|| where- fore Agostino Chigi, who had caused his chapel and tomb in Santa Maria del Popolo to be constructed under the direc- tion of Raphael, agreed with Sebastiano that the latter should execute the whole of the painting, and he having erected his enclosure accordingly, the chapel remained thus concealed without ever being seen by any one, until the year 1554, at which time Luigi the son of Agostino, resolved that although his father had not been permitted to see that work finished, yet he would himself behold the completion thereof. He, therefore, commissioned Francesco Salviati to paint the Altar-piece and the chapel, when the last-mentioned artist brought the work in a short time to that perfection which would never have been given to it by the tiurdiness and irre- solution of Sebastiano, who, so far as can be ascertained, had done but little thereto, although he had received from the liberality of Agostino and his heirs, a much larger sum than would have been due to him even had he completed the whole. But this was what Sebastiano did not do, whether because he had become weary of the labours of art, or
* That of Sebastiano namely.
f The manner in which this picture finally became incorporated with our own " National Galley" is too well known to need repetition here. ± A celebrated Sicnese carver in wood, mentioned in the Life of RaphaoL $ The Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was afterwards Pope Clement VII. y Lanzi remarks that he knows not what to think of a fiict that, if true,
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because lie was too busily occupied with the interests and pleasures of the world.* In the same manner he treated Messer Filippo of Siena, Clerk of the Chamber, for whom he conuuenced a story in oil on the wall, above the high altar of the chiirch of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome, and never finished it at all, insomuch that the monks, when they had fallen quite into despair respecting it, were compelled to remove the scaffolding, which they found to encumber their church and impede the services, having no further resource but that of taking patience, and permitting the part to re- main covered with a doth,' as it continued to be during all the remainder of Sebastiano's life, but when he was dead, and the monks uncovered the picture so that what he had done could be seen, the portion that had been accomplished was acknow- ledged to be an exceedingly beautiful worLf There are many female heads for example, in that planting (which shows Our Lady visiting Sant' Elizabetta) that are singularly pleasing and display file most attractive grace, but here also there is evidence that this man performed all that he did with infinite difficulty and most laborious pains-taking, and that no part of his work was effected with that facility with which Nature and study will sometimes reward those who delight in their vocation and are perpetually occupied therewith.
A proof of what is here affirmed may be found in this same church of the Pace, and in the chapel of Agostino Chigi, where Baphael had painted the Sybils and the Prophets ; for Sebastiano, in the hope of surpassing Raphael, undertook to paint something of his own in the niches beneath these sybils and prophets, proposing to execute his work on the stone, and covering it to that end with peperigno, the inter- stices being filled in with stucco under the action of fire, but he spent so much time in consideration of the matter that he
does Michiael Angelo so little credit, but which jet he dares not disbelieve, in the fear of doing wrong to Yasari.
* **And this man," remarks a compatriot of our author, "this man, with his slowness of intellect, his idle and self-indulgent disposition, this man was the lance with which Michael Angelo intended to lift the Urbinese from his saddle T*
t ^^ the works which Vasari reports Fra Sebastiano to have commenced in the Church of the Pace, no trace now remains. — Bottari, VOL. IV. F
i
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left the yroA after aH in a state of i»reparala<m 011I7, seeii^ that when it had been ten years in that condition Sebastiano died.
It is true tliat there was no difficulty in obtatniag some portrait taken from the life tnym SdimstaaxH) : this he did with tolerable ease and promptitude, but witii anything app^- taining to stories or other figures, it was idtogether the reverse. Nay, to tell the truth, portrait painting was the proper vocation of Sebastian© ; and of this we have some evidence in the likeness of Marcantonio Ck>lonna, which is so well done that it seems to be alive, as well as in Ihose of Ferdinando, Marquis of Pescara, and of the Signora Vittoria Colonna,* which are most beautiful. This master likewise took the portrait of Pope Adrian VI., when he first arrived in Rome, as he did also that of the Cardinal Hinchlbrt. This prelate afterwards desired that Sebastiano should paint a chapel for him in the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima in Rome, but the artist put him off "from to-day to to-morr6w," in such a manner that the Cardinal at length caused his chapel to be painted by the Flemish painter Miche^t his compatriot, who there depicted stories in fresco from the life of Santa Barbara, imitating our Italian manner exceedingly well. He painted the portrait of the above-named Carding also in this work.
But to return to Sebastiano : he also painted the likeness of the Signer Federigo da Bozzolo, with that of some captain^ I know not whom, wearing armour : this last is in the possession of Giulio de' Nobifi in Florence ? and in the house of Luca Torrigiani, there is a Woman in the Roman habit, by the hand of this artist. Giovanni Battista Cavalcanti has also a head painted by him, but this is not entirely finished; Sebastiano inrthermore executed a picture of Our Lady, covering the Divine Child with a veil, an admirable work, now in the Guardaroba of the Cardinal Famese. Our artist also sketched, but did not finish, a very fine picture of San Michele, stan^ng orer the prostrate fcwm of the Devil, a figure of colossal proportions, and this was intended for the
• The portrait of Victoria Colonna waa engraved by Holler. + Michael Cocceis, or Coxis, of Mechlin. His worli in this CSiapcl have suffered greatly^— Bo/tort.
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King of France, who had previotidj received a picture by the Iwmd of the same artist.*
When Gialio Cardinal de* Medici was created supreme Pontiff, and took the name of Clement VII. he caused Sebastiano to understand, by means of the Bishop of Vasona, that the time was come when his Holiness could be of service to him, a circumstance of which he (Sebastiano) should not fail to have proof when the occasion might present itself. Sebastiano meanwhile, being excellent at the taking of portraits as we have said, painted many from the life while he was entertaining the h(^ thus awakened, and among others was that of Pope Clement himself, who did not theil wear his beard ; of this portrait Sebastiano made a TCpEca, the original b^ing for the Bishop of Vasona: the repetition, which was of larger size, a half-length figure seated, is now in the possession of Sebastiano's family.f He likewise portrayed the Florentine Anton Francesco degli Albizzi, who was then in Rome for certain of his affairs ; a work of such merit that it does not seem to be painted but fitu^ : wherefore Anton Francesco, esteeming it as he might have done some precious jewel, despatched it to his home in Florence. The head and hands of this portrait are indeed a «ort of miracle, to say nothing of the admirable manner in which the artist has depicted the Velvets, linings, satins, and other portions of the picture. Sebastiano did certainl}- Wffpass all others in the painting of portraits ; in that branch of art no one has ever equalled the delicacy and excellence of his woik, and all Florence was amazed at this portrait of Anton Francesco.
About the same, time our artist painted the likeness of Messer Ketro Aretino, and this also he executed in such a manner, that, not to mention the resemblance, which is never- theless most exact, the picture is wonderful, if it were only for the difference which the painter has made so clearly
• There is now in the Louvre no other work by Sebastiano than the "V^itation and the portrait of the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli.
t In the Museo Borbonico at Naples there is a pcalrait called that of Pope Alexander VI., but rince that Pontiff died long before the period of Sebastiano's artistic activity, it has been conjecture^ and with reasons of some weight, the grounds for which cannot be given here, that this is the portiait now in question, and should be called Clement VII.
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68 LIVES OF THE ABTISTS.
obvious in the various kinds of blacks, not less than five or six, to be seen therein; velvet, satin, silk of Mantua, damask, and cloth namely all black, with a very black beard, finely distinguished on this sable clothing, and all so well executed that lUe itself could scarcely be more life-like. In the hand this portrait holds a branch of laurel with a scroll, whereon there is written the name of Clement VII. ; two masks lie before him, one beautiful, to intimate Virtue, the other hideous to represent Vice. This picture was presented by Messer Pietro to his native city, and the people of Arezzo have placed it, in the public hall of their council,* thus doing honour to the memory of their ingenious fellow citizen, and receiving no less from his famcf At a later period Sebastiano painted the likeness of Andrea Doria:|: which was also an admirable work, with the head of the Florentine Bacdo Valori ; a painting the beauty and excellence of which it would not be possible adequately to describe.
Now it happened about this time, that Mariano Fetii Frate del Piombo§ died, and Sebastiano, remembering the promises made to him by the above-named Bishop of Vasona, master of the household to his Holiness, made interest to obtain the office of the seal, thus vacated ; wherefore, although that office was in like manner sought by Giovanni da Udine, who had also been in the service of the Pope in minoribusy and was still serving him, yet the Pontiff moved by the prayers of the Bishop, and also by his conviction that the abilities of Sebastiano merited that favour, bestowed the desired office on Sebastiano, but commanded that he should pay three hundred scudi per annum out of the same, as a pension to Giovanni da Udine.
Thereupon Sebastiano assumed the habit of a monk: when it soon appeared as if he felt his very soul changed thereby, for perceiving that he had now the means of satisfying his desires without stroke of pencil, he gave himself up to his repose, and indemnified himself, by the enjoyments which his income supplied, for aU the painfid nights and laborious days
* It 18 still in the public Palace of Arezzo.
+ There is a portrait of Pietro Aretino by Sebastiano, in the Gallery of Berlin. t Now in the Doria Gallery at Rome. § Mentioned in the Life of Fra Bartolommeo. See vol. ii. p. 454.
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which he Lad previoosljr spent : or if on any occasion he felt obliged to execute a painting, he went to his woriL with such manifest reluctance that he might have been supposed to be rather going to his death. And from this we may perceire how poorly we are conducted by our own wisdom and by human prudence, for how frequently, nay, rather most commonly, do we covet that which we should least seek and do least require : supposing, as the Tuscan proverb goes, that we are about to cross ourselves with the finger, we plunge it into the eye instead. It is the common belief, for example, that by rewards and honours the minds of mortals are stimalated to increased exertion in the study of those arts which they perceive to be well remunerated, and that, on the contrary, the perception that they who have the power to reward exertion, neglect and disr^ard those who distin- guish th^nselves thereby, has the effect of causing such men to become discouraged and to abandon their vocation. Thinking thus, both ancients and modems have ever censured, with all the force of expression which they can find, such princes as have failed to protect talents of all kinds, and have withheld from those who labour conscientiously the honours and rewards which are so justly their due. But although this rule does, for the most part, hold good, we have nevertheless occasion sometimes to remark that the Hherality of just and magnanimous princes has, in certain iiwtances, produced a contrary effect, seeing that there are many who are more disposed to contribute to the advantage and utility of the world, while in depressed and moderate condition, than when exalted to greatness and possessing an abundance of all things. And here we have a case in point. The magnificence and liberality of Clement VII., hy too largely rewarding Sebastiano, who had previously wrved him as an excellent painter, was a temptation to that Piaster, from the careful and pains-taking artist that he had ^n, to become most idle and negligent ; and whereas while fte struggle between himself and Raphael da Urbino con- tinued, and Sebastiano lived in a poor condition, he was ^houring continually, he had no sooner obtained what sufficed to his wants, than he passed his time in a totally Afferent manner. But be this as it may, and leaving to the judgment of
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prodait i«inees to c^osider haw» when, towards whoxD^ in what maaner, by what rul^ and in what maafiure, thej are to exercise thdr liberalit j in the case of artists and other men of distinction, I return to Sebastiano, and say that he executed with muclx delay (for he had then been made Frate del Piombo), a commission which he had receiyed from the Patriarch of Aqoil^a i the sulject of the w<»*k being Our Saviour Christ, a half-kngth figure painted on stcma This , picture was much coaun^ided, m(»:e particularly for the head and hands, parts in which Sebastiano was indeed truly excellent. No long time after this, the niece of the Pope, who afterwards beo&me and still is Que^i of France, * ar- riyed in Rome, when Fra Sebastiano began to paint her por- trait, but nerer having completed the same, the unfinished work has remained in the Guardaroba of the PontifiT.
About the same time, the Cardinal IppoUto de' Medici fell in love with the Sign(»ra Giulia Gonzaga, who then dwelt at Fondi ; the said Cardinal therefore sent Sebastiano vdih four swift horses to that place, for the purpose of taking her portrait, and in about a nKmth, the artist com-, pleted the likeness, when, what with the celestial beauties of that lady, and what with the able hand of so accomplished a master, the picture proved to be a most divine one.t Having brought his work to Bome, he received a rich re- ward from the Cardinal, who acknowledged, as was the case, that this portrait greatly surpassed all that Sebastiano had ever before acc(Mnplished. The work was afterwards presented to Francis, king of France, who placed it in his palace of Fonlainebleau.
This painter having discovered a new method of painting on stone, very greatly pleased the people thereby, since it appeared that by this means pictures might be rendered eternal, seeing that neither fire nor the worm could injure them. Thereupon Sebastiano began to execute various works in this manner, surrounding them with ornaments made (^ other stones, varied in cc^our, and which being polished formed a most beautiful decoration to the same. H
* Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II.
t The portrait called that of Giulia Gonzaga in our National Galleiy is supposed, but not admitted by all authorities, to be the work here in question.
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h tJTtte tbat wh^ tbejr were finisfaed, tJ^se painiiiigii^ both OQ aceount of their own weigkt And that of thietr decoration^ were ioeapftl^ e£ being moved^ bat with the utmost pains and dildcui^. Yet, many persona^ attracted by the norelty of the work and Hoe beauty of the art, gave earnest-money to the painter, to the end that he might execute such for th^oa ; hot Sebastiano, who found more pleasure in talking of these pictures than in making them, put off and delayed all these things from day to day. He did, nevertheless^ coD3{dete a Dend Christ, with the Madonna in stone, lor Bon F^rrante G<Mizaga, by whom it waa sent into Spain. This woik had a frame or ornament, also in stone ; it was considered to be an exceedingly beautiful one, and Sebastiano was paid fiye hundred scudi for the same by Messer Niccol6 da Cortona, agent in B<»ne for the Cardinal of Mantua.
Hiere was one tMng wherdn Sebastiano merited con- siderable praise, for wbereas Domenico^ Ms compatriot, who was the first to attempt painting in oil cm stone, could nev^ find the means of preventing the works which he executed in that manner itom becoming Uaek and looki]^ prematurely faded, nor could Andrea d^ Castagno, Antonio^ and Piero M Pollaiholo, or any other of the masters who followed him SQcceed better in that quest, yet Sebastians discovered the desired method effectually,* and the figure of Christ scourged at the Column, which he executed for the Churcb of Sfui Pietro-in-Montorio, has never changed as yet, but retains its freshness and anim^ion unimpaired as <mi the first day.t Sebastiano used very great and many pre* cautions in his preparations for these works,|'^ forming his iotonaco with mastic and ptch from the pine, all mixed carefully over the fire, and laid on the wall, where it was laid smoothly with a trowel, and covered with a surfisbce oc plaster, br(»ight glowing &om the fire. By tiiis process his w(»ks have been enabled to ves^ the effects of damp and escape all evil consequences &xmk humidity, inscmiach that they preserve their colours admirably we^ and without
* There is a picture on stone bj this master in the B^lin GaUery, which win excdlent pres^rration ; it represents Our Saviour on the Cross.
t Tlus work had blackened considerably in Bottari's time (17&8).
t la the Indole de' SaeerdoH (Hoepitai of the Priests), in Patenno, w«e is a Pieta on stone by Sebastiano, which is in rery gocSd presecTatioiu
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72 UYES OF THE ASTISTS.
suffering any change. With the same mixture, Sebastiano worked on peperigno marbles of different kinds, vari^coloured stones, porphyries, and other very hard surfaces, paintings which may without doubt be expected to endure for a vast period of time. He has besides hereby taught us how we may paint on silver, copper, brass, and other metals.
This man had so much pleasure in gossipping and gabbling that he would waste whole days therein, or if at length he proceeded to his work, it was easy to perceive that he was subjecting himself to infinite suffering, and this may perhaps have been one cause of an opinion which he held, which was that his works could not be adequately paid for, whatever the price he received for them. For the Cardinal of Ara- gona Sebastiano painted a picture, wherein he depicted an exceedingly beautiful figure of Sant' Agatha, naked, and subjected to the frightful tortures of her martyrdom.* This picture, which is indeed a most admirable work, is now in the Guadaroba of the Signor Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino,t and is in no respect inferior to the many other beautiful paintings by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino, of Titian, and of other masters, which are in the same place. Sebastiano likewise executed a portrait from life of the Signor Piero Gonzaga ; this was painted in oil on stone, and was a most beautiful and admirable likeness, but the artist laboured over it for three entire years before he finished it.
Now in the time of Pope Clement, and when Michel- agnolo was in Florence, employed about the new Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Giuliano Bugiardini was commissioned to execute a painting for Baccio Valori, the work to repre- sent the likeness of the Pope, with that of Baccio himself, while in another he was to depict his Holiness, with the Archbishop of Capua, this last picture being to be painted for Messer Ottaviano de' Medici. Michelagnolo therefore had re- course to Fra Sebastiano, whom he requested to send him from Home the head of the Pontiff painted in oil ; this Sebastiano executed, and sent him accordingly, having succeeded in his
• The reader who may desire to see the details of this martyr's suffer- ings is referred to the Sacred and Legendary Art of Mrs. Jameson, vol. ii. p. 229, et seq,
t Now in the Pitti Palace. This picture was among those taken to Paris, but was restored to Italy in 1814.
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worl^ to perfection. When Gioliano had used the head for that purpose therefore, and had finished his pictures, Michel- agnolo, who was a gossip of the said Messer Ottaviano, made the latter a present thereof ; and certainly, among the many portraits painted by Sebastiano, this is one of the most beautiful. It is besides an exceedingly faithful resemblance, as may be seen in the house of the heirs of Messer Ottaviano, where it now is. This master likewise painted the portrait of Tope Paul, who had been Cardinal Famese, so soon as he was raised to the Pontificate, and commenced that of the Duke of Castro, son of his Holiness, but left it unfinished, as he did so many of the other works of which he had made a b^inning.
Fra Sebastiano had a tolerably good house which he had built for himself near the Porta del Popolo at Rome, and there he lived in the utmost content, without troubling him- self further about painting or working in any way. " It is a great fatigue," he would often remark, " to expose one's self in age to the necessity of restraining those ardours which artists are induced to excite in themselves by the desire for honour, by emulation, and by the love of gain, although this might be endured in youth ;" and he would add that it was quite as prudent to seek the quiet of life as to consume one's days in labour and discomfort, in the hope of leaving a name after one's death, seeing that the labours thus endured, with the works which were the result of them, would alike come to an end at some time, sooner or later, be they what they might. And as he would say these things, so also would he practise and put them in execution to the utmost of his power, seeking the best wines and the most inviting meats that could be found for his table, and ever thinking more of the enjoyments of life than of art.
A friend to all distinguished men, Fra Sebastiano fre- quently invited Molza* and Messer Gandolfo f to sup with him, when he would make them right good cheer. The Florentine, Messer Francesco Berni, was also his very inti- mate friend, and wrote a poem to him ; whereunto Sebas- tiano replied by another, which was not without merit, for,
'» • A poerof Modeiia.s
t This is the Measer Gandolfo Porrini, to whom Caaa addressed his poem on the name of Giovanni.— ^of/art.
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74 UTSS or THE ABTItTg.
being a man of varied aeqidrementfly he knew, amcmg^c^her things^ how to write Tuseim Terse in a jesting huixKNir. Being reproached by certain persons, who declared it to be a shunefui thing that he woi^ no kmger work, because he had sufficient to live cm, Fra Sdt)astiano replied in this manner : ^^ Naj, since I hare enough to suj^port me, I will not work ; there are geniuses now in the world who do more in two months than I used to do in two years ; I think, indeed, that if I Hye much longer I shall find that every thing has been painted which it is possible to paint, and since these good pec^le are doing so much, it is upon the whole well that there is one who is content to do nothing, to the end that they may have all the more to do." With tibeae and other pleasantries, Fra Sebastiano was ever ready to reply, always facetious and amusii^ as he was ; a better or more agreeable companion than himsdf, of a truth, there never lived. Sebastiano, as we have sai<^ was much beloved by Michelagnok), but it is also true that when that part of the chapel whereon is executed the Last Judgment of Buonarroti had to be painted, there did arise some anger between them; Sebastiano having persuaded the Pope to make Miehelagnolo execute the work in oil, while the latter would do it in no other manner than fresco. But Miehel- agnolo saying neither yes nor no, the wall was prepared after the fasluon of Fra Sebastiano, and Buonarroti suffered it to remain thus for several months, without ddng anything to the work. At length, and when pressed on the subject, he declared that he would only do it in fresco^ '^ oil-painting being an art only fit for women, or idle and leisurely people like Fra Bastiano." The preparations made by Sebastiano were therefore removed, and everything being made ready for the painting in fresco, Miehelagnolo then set hand to the work, but he never forgot the aflBront which it appeared to him that he had received from Fra Sebastiano, and main- tained a feeling of hatred against him almost tothe Frate's death. Being finally brought to a state wherein he would neither work nor do any other thing but just attend to his office as Frate del Piombo,* and give himself good cheer, Fra
* The reader who may desire an explanation of the nature ef this office, wHI find H in the Life of Fra Bartol<wuneo, vol. ii« of the pcosent woric, p. 452, note.
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Sebaatiaiio fell stek of a most violent fever, and being of verj fall habit^ the disease attained to such a height that in a very few dajs he resigned his sonl to Grod. Having made a will, he commanded that his remains should be carried to the tomb withcmt any ceremony of priests or friars, nor would he have any expenses incurred for lights^ but ordered tkat the amount which would have been thus expended should be distribated to the poor, fcnr the love of God : and so was it done. Fra Sebastiano was buried in the Church of the PqK)lo^ in the month of June of the year 1547.
The ^th of this master could scarcely be considered a great loss to Art, since from the moment that he had assomed the habit of a monk, he might very justly have been aeoonnted among the departed. It is true that his pleasant qualities in omversation did cause many of his friends to lament his death, and indeed, many artists also. Totmg men, in some considerable number, resorted to Se- hastiano at divers times, for the purpose of studying their art, but they rarely made any great profit^ since from his exao^le, they could learn little be^de the art of good living. But from this remark we must except Tommaso Laurati,^ a Sicilian, who, besides many other works, has executed in Bologna an exceedingly graceful picture of Venus, embracing and kissing her son Cupid. This work is in the house of Messer Francesco Bok^ettL He has likewise painted the portrait of tiie Signer Bernardino Savelli, which is highly commended; vnth other pictures, of which there is no need to xoake farther mention.
THE FLORENTINE PAINTER, PERINO DEL VAGA. [boui 1600— xoep 1547.]
Vert great, without doubt, is the value of art, which, far from having regard to the favours of fortune, the possession of power, or the nobility of blood, is much more frequently found to bless, to sustain, nay, rather to exidt above the ^Brth, some child of poverty, than one cradled amidst the luxuries of wealth. And this is so decreed by Heaven for
* The name d this artist was LauietL The beautifiil fbimtain on the **»>& of Bologna is after his design.
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76 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
the purpose of teaching us how effectual is the influence of the stars and constellations, distrihuting as thej do, to one more, to another less, of the celestial favours ; for these influences are, for the most part, the cause wherefore some of us are horn with dispositions more or less energetic or slothful, more or less weak or powerful, impetuous or gentle, fortunate or unfortunate, gifted with genius or destitute of ability ; and he who shsdl in any manner doubt the truth of this doctrine, will find himself undeceived by the life of the excellent and very ingenious painter, Perino* del Vaga.t
Bom of indigent parents and abandoned by his kimired in his earliest youth, Perino was guided and governed by art alone — art, which he always acknowledged as his true mother, and ever honoured as such. With so much zeal accordingly did he devote himself to the study of painting, and such was the success of his unremitting endeavours to attain perfection, that he became capable of executing those most admirable and justly renowned works, by which in his day the glory of Genoa and the fame of the Prince Doria were so largely increased.^ Safely, and without hesitation may we believe therefore, that by Heaven alone are men of a condition so lowly conducted from the infinite depression in which they were born, to the summit of great- ness whither they are seen to ascend, when, by the works they produce, and by the persistence of their endeavours in the vocation they have chosen, these men prove themselves to be true and earnest followers of knowledge. It was thus and with no inferior degree of zeal and truthfulness that Perino del Vaga, while in his youth, pursued, as he had adopted, the art of design, wherein he attained the highest distinction, and gave early evidence of the grace and perfec- tion of manner which he afterwards acquired. This artist moreover, not only equalled the ancients in stucco-work, but
* Pietro that is to say ; Perino or Pierino being the diminutive of Piero, the Florentine form of Pietro.
i" The reproaches with which our good Giorgio has been assailed for this his dictum, by more than one of lus compatriots, shall suffice, if you 80 please, 0 reader, for his castigation : you and I will e*en content ourselves with tfiking leave to dissent from his opinion.
X Vasari here alludes to the works executed m the beautiful Palace of the Doria family, outside the gate of San Tommaso, and of which he speaks at greater length in a subsequent page.
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prored Mmself to possess every advantage exhibited by the be^ modern artists in the whole domain of painting ; nay, all Hiat can be desired from human genius, or from him who shall aspire to make manifest, by the beauty of colouring and the attraction of ornament, the difficulties, the excellence, and the grace which exist in the regions of that art ; all, I say, were combined in Perino.
But let us speak more particularly concerning the origin of this artist. In the city of Florence there lived a man called Giovanni Buonaccorso, who distinguished himself greatly in the wars of Charles VIII., fing of France. YonMul, courageous, and liberal, Giovanni dissipated his patrimony in gaming and in the duties of the field, until he bad spent all that he possessed in the service of that prince wherein he finally lost his life also.* To this man was bom a son whom he named Piero, and whose mother having died of the plague when he was but two months old, he was suckled by a goat, and brought up in the utmost poverty at a farm-house, while his father, having departed to Bologna, there took a second wife. Tbia woman, who had lost her previous husband and her children in the plague, completed, with her pest-infected milk, the nursing of the infant Piero, whom they called Pierino by way of nom de caresse, as is for the most part the custom with respect to little children, and this name he retained ever afterwards.*!"
Being taken to Florence by his father, the little Piero was there left with certain kinsfolk of Giovanni, while the latter returned to France, but these relations, either not having the ^nll to encumber themselves with the charge left to them, or not possessing the means to support the child and have him taught some ingenious occupation, apprenticed him to the apothecary of the Pinadoro,^ to the intent that the boy should acquire has vocation ; but Piero found no pleasure therein,
* Charles VIII. died in 1498, and as Perino was not bom until the year loOO, hia fether could not have lost hb life under Charles, whom he may neTertheless have served, probably during the expedition to Naples in 1495.
+ "Our Pierino," observes a Florentine annotator, « lived afterwards in ^«w where this form of his name is not used, and is consequently better nwwn as Perino."
^.So called from the sicn of his shop, which was a gilded fir-cone (Wiafd'oro).
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and was Aen taken as Miop-<x>3r by tlie painter Aadtea cb' Ceri, who was pleased with the i^pearance and manners of the child, and who thought he perceived in him a certain something indicatiye of a lively genius, whence it might he hoped atoA with time some good result would proceed from the cidtivation of his abilities.
Andrea was not a distinguished artist ; on the contrary, he was an ordinary painter, one of those who stand openly in their shops, working at every kind of mechanical operatioia for the public ; he was moreover accustomed to paint a certain number of wax lights every year (on the festival of San Giovanni namely), which were then, and indeed still are,* sent with the other tributes of the city ; for this reason the painter was called Andrea de' Geri,t and &om that name Perino was for some time called Perino de' Geri.
Wh^i Andrea had kept the child some years^ teaching him the firi^ princifdes of the art in the best manner that he was able, he was compelled to seek for him a better master thsm he could himself pretend to be. This happened when the boy had attained his eleventh year, and Andrea being on terms of strict intimacy with Bidolfo, the son of Domenico Ghirlandajo, who, as we shall rdate hereafter, was l^ld'to be a very good and able painter, — Andrea I say, placed Perino with Bidolfo Ghirlandiyo, to the end that hy bun the child might be propeiiy instructed, »id might labour under his direction, with all ihe zeal and love that he could command, to acquire the needful attainments in ihe art, towards which his genius appeared so strongly to dispose him. Pursuing his studies accordingly, among the many other young people whom Bidolfo had in his bottega to learn their calling, Perino displayed a d^ree of care and attention which caused him very soon to surpass all the rest. Among others was one called Toto del Nunziata, in whom Perino found a spur by which he was perpetually impelled to exertion, and who also attained in time to a place among the most distinguished artists- But Toto left Florence at a subsequent period, with certain Florentine merchants and repaired to England, where all his works were performed, seeing that he entered the service of the king of that country, for whom he executed
"* Tlus practice is now cUscontinued. — Matselli. + Ceri, wax-lights.
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nmeroitt irorks ; some cif theise were m architectiire^ moire t^pemally the prindpid palace <^ that monarch,^ hj whom i» was very largely remunerated.
This Totio md FeriDo, thus labouring in emulaition of each other, devoted themselves to their studies with to much zeal that no kmg time had elapsed before they both became excelient in their art. Pterino, moreover, drawing with otliCT young people, Florentines and strangers alike, after the cartoon of Michelagnolo, acquired and maintained the first ]^ace among them all, ther^y awakening those expectations which ike admirable works, afterwards executed by him with so lauch art and excellence, so amply ftilfilled.
Now at that time it happened that the Florentine painter Vjga made a visit to his native city of Florence. He was BO very distinguished artist, and was executing coarse kinds of work at Toscanella, in the States of the Church ; but he wasovarwhehned with commissions, and requiring assistance, was disposed to take with him from Florence some youth, who might supply him witii aid in design, wherein he felt himself to be wanting, as well as in other matters connected with his art; he also desired to find a shop-boy whom he might in like DMBiner take with him. Vaga chanced to see Perino drawing with othCT young men in the bottega of Ridolfo, and was freatly astonished at the extent of that ability by which he perceived him to surpass all those around him. Nay, what is still more, this Vaga was equally pleased with the aspect and ttanners of Perino, who was a very beautiftil youth, courteous, ttodest, and pleasing in his deportment, his whcie person, in short, corresponding externally with the endowments of his Dttind: Vaga was indeed so greatly charmed with Perino, fiat he inquired at once if he would go with him to Rome, declaring moreover, that he would do all that he possibly «rald to secure his advancement in his studies, would confer on him all the benefits in his power, and would make such cmiditioiis with him as he should demand.
The desire of Perino for the attainment of perfection in Us art was so powerful, that he no sooner heard the name of
* Laazi tpeaka of this aitist aa << hot little known amongst ns (the Mians) though considered by the English to be the best of the Italian aiiutt who hare vimted their island during that century.*' See Hittory qf PamHng (En^ish Edition), vol. i. p. 165.
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Borne mentioned, than he was instantly moved to a great degree, but told Yaga that he must speak respecting the matter with Andrea de' Ceri, who had been his aid and support to that time, and whom he would not leave without first having obtained his consent. Ultimately, Yaga found means to prevail on Ridolfo, Perino's master, as well as on Andrea de' Ceri, with whom the youth still had his abode, to permit his departure, when the latter, with a companion whom Yaga had also engaged, set off with him to Toscanella. Here they all began to work, and not only completed the undertaking with which Yaga was then oc- cupied, but also many others, which he conunenced after- wards. But the promises, with which Ferino had been allured into the Roman states, not being fulfilled; the advan- tage and profit which Yaga derived from the services of Perino, causing him to defer the expected visit to Rome; the youth determined to proceed thither alone, whereupon Yaga left all his works unfinished, and himself conducted the young artist to that city. Arrived in Rome, Perino returned, with all his wonted love of art, to his,4c&£i!^& and after having been thus occupied for many weeks, the zeal with which he devoted himself thereto seemed daily to become more fervid ; but Yaga was anxious to return to Toscanella, and therefore made Perino known to many of the ordinary painters, recommending him, as one belonging to himself, to the kindness and good offices of all the friends that he had in Rome, whom he entreated to assist and favour the youth in his absence; from this circumstance he was ever afterwards called Perino del Yaga.
Thus left in Rome, and beholding the ancient works in sculpture, and the most admirable structure of the buildings, now for the most part in ruins, he stood lost in astonishment at the power and greatness of those exalted and illustrious men by whom such works had been performed, and his love of art becoming ever more and more inflamed, he was per- petually glowing with the desire of attaining in some manner to a certain vicinity with those noble masters, and in his turn to win a name for himself as well as do service to the world by means of his works, as had been done by the men who had awakened so profound a sense of admiration within him, as he gazed on their beautiful productions. But while he
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was thus contemplating the features of these his idols, from the depths of his infinite lowliness and poverty ; comparing the debasement of the last with the elevation of the first» and conscious that he had nothing hut the force of his will to assist him in his purpose of attaining to the eminence whereon they shone ; he reflected that there was none to aid or minister to him for the support of his life. He was thus compelled, if he would possess the means of existence, to work, now for this painter and then for another, in any shop that might be open to him, precisely in the manner of a labourer who delves for his daily hire. But the grief with which he reflected on the impediments oflered to his studies by this mode of life was very bitter, nor could he fail to i^^oark, that the progress he made was but small as compared with that to which his love of art, his desire for improve- iQent, and his potent necessities were all alike impelling him.
He therefore resolved to make an equal division of his time, giving the one half of the week to working at day- work, and reserving the other half for his labours in design : to this second portion he added all the festivals and a great part of the nights, stealing time from Time as it were, in the hope of one day becoming famous, and for the present pur- P<^ of escaping so far as was possible from dependence on others.
Having carried this determination into practice, Perino began to draw in the chapel of Pope Julius, wherein Michel* ^olo had depicted the ceiling, but imitating the manner and modes of proceeding of Raflaello da Urbino. He then proceeded to design the antiquities in marble, and to copy the grottesche which he found in the subterranean portions of the Roman edifices, being pleased with the originality and varied power of invention displayed therein. He acquired *he methods of working in stucco likewise, earning with toilsome labour his scanty crust meanwhile, and enduring, overy extreme of poverty and wretchedness in the hope q£ J^dering himself excellent in his vocation.
Nor did any great length of time elapse before he became the best and most accomplished designer of all the many ^«o then studied drawing in Rome, seeing that he had a more exact knowledge of the muscular development, and
VOL. IV. G *
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92 LIVSS OF THE ABTI8TS.
was perhaps more profoundly conversant with the difficulties presented by the nude form,than many who were at that time accounted among the best masters ; nay, at length he began to be known lor what he was, not only to the men of his own profession^ but to many {delates and nobles also. It chanced moreover, thait Giulio Bomano and Giovan Francesco, called H Fattore, the disciples of Raffaello da Urbino, extolled him not a little to their master, inspiring the latter with a wish to become acquainted with Perino, and to see his works in deaigny when having done so, he was greatly pleased, and not <mly with his jaroductions but with his character, deport- ment, and mod© of life, predicting that, among the noany aspirants to distinction whom he had known> this would be the one who would attain to the highest perfection in art.
The papal Loggie, the construction of which had been commanded by Pope JjOQ X., had meanwhile been completed by Raphael of Urbino, and by the same Pontiff it was furthermore commanded that Kaphael should cause that fabric to be decorated with stucco-work, as well as painted and gilded, as it should seem best to his judgment. Giovanni da Udine was therefore appointed chief of the work by Raphael, fca: the grottesche and stuccoes that is to say, Giovanni being most distinguished, nay, unique in these c^rations, but principally as respected animals, fruits, and other minute portions of the work. There had likewise been collected from distant parts, as well as chosen from among the artists in Bwne, a large number of the. most able masters, insomuch that there was a company of eminent men assembled, some working in stucco, some remarkaWe fop the execution of grottesche, others for historical representations, some for foliage, or festoons, or other matters, but all distin- guished for excellence in one department or another.
As each of the persons thus employed made progress and improved, so was he brought forward by the master, and obtained increased remuneration ; a mode of proceeding by which th^e was so much emulaticm awakened among the younger artists, that by means of this work many of them were l^ought to a high degree of perfection, and afterwards became truly excellent in their various departments. In this company Perino, amcmg others, was consigned by Raphael to Giova»ni da Udine, for the purpose of painting stories waid
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groitesche, being given to understand at the same time, that accordingly as he should acquit himself so would he he em- ployed by Giovanni. Incited hy emulation therefore, and working to give proof of what he could do, many months liad not elapsed before Perino was accounted the first among aft who were there employed, whether for design or colouring; the best in short, the most graceful in manner, and most delicate in finish, executing both figures and grottesche with more facility and animation than any other artist. And that this was indeed the fact is amply proved in the stories, festoons, and grottesche by his hand, which appear in this work, and which not only surpass all the rest, but are more- over much more faithful to the designs and sketches which were prepared for them by Raphael.* This may be clearly seen from a certain portion of the stories which are on the centre of the vaulting in that Loggia wherein are depicted the Hebrews crossing the river Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, as also in that picture wherein the Jews are seen to be compassing about the walls of Jericho, those walls being in the very act of falling as they proceed, and in the repre- sentations which follow, one of which exhibits Joshua, when, in conflict with