"Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects"
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PART II
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Jacopo
della Quercia |
Niccolo di
Piero Lamberti |
Dello Delli |
Nanni di
Banco |
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Luca Della
Robbia and family |
Paolo
Uccello |
Lorenzo
Ghiberti |
Masolino da
Panicale |
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Parri
Spinelli |
Masaccio di
San Giovanni |
Filippo
Brunelleschi |
Donatello |
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Michelozzo
Michelozzi |
Antonio
Filarete and Simone |
Giuliano da
Maiano |
Piero della
Francesca |
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Fra
Angelico |
Leon
Battista Alberti |
Lazzaro
Vasari |
Antonello
da Messina |
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Alesso
Baldovinetti |
Vellano da
Padova (Bellano) |
Fra Filippo
Lippi |
Paolo
Romano, Maestro Mino,
C. Camicia |
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Domenico
Veneziano and
Andrea del Castagno |
Gentile da
Fabriano and
Antonio Pisanello |
Pesello e
Francesco Peselli (Pesellino) |
Benozzo
Gozzoli |
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Francesco
di Giorgio and Lorenzo Vecchietto |
Galasso
Galassi |
Antonio and
Bernardo Rossellino |
Desiderio
da Settignano |
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Mino da
Fiesole |
Lorenzo
Costa |
Ercole
Roberti |
Jacopo,
Giovanni and
Gentile Bellini |
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Cosimo
Rosselli |
Il Cecca |
Don
Bartolomeo della Gatta |
Gherardo,
the miniaturist |
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Domenico
Ghirlandaio |
Antonio and
Piero Pollaiuolo |
Sandro
Botticelli |
Benedetto
da Maiano |
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Andrea del
Verrocchio |
Andrea
Mantegna |
Filippino
Lippi |
Bernardino
Pinturicchio |
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Francesco
Francia |
Pietro
Perugino |
Vittore
Scarpaccia (Carpaccio) |
Jacopo
L'Indaco |
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Luca
Signorelli |
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JACOPO DELLA QUERCIA (circa 1367-1438)
Vasari's Lives of
the Artists
The sculptor Jacopo, son of Maestro Piero di
Filippo of La Quercia, a place in the district of
Siena, was the first--after Andrea Pisano, Orcagna,
and the others mentioned above--who, laboring in
sculpture with greater zeal and diligence, began to
show that it was possible to make an approach to
nature, and the first who encouraged the others to
hope to be able in a certain measure to equal him.
His first works worthy of account were made by him
in Siena at the age of nineteen, with the following
occasion. The people of Siena having their army in
the field against the Florentines under the
captainship of Gian Tedesco, nephew of Sacone da
Pietramala, and of Giovanni d'Azzo Ubaldini, this
Giovanni d' Azzo fell sick in camp and was carried
to Siena, where he died; wherefore, being grieved at
his death, the people of Siena caused to be made for
his obsequies, which were most honourable, a
catafalque of wood in the shape of a pyramid, and on
this they placed the statue of Giovanni himself on
horseback, larger than life, made by the hand of
Jacopo with much judgment and invention.
For he, in order to execute this work, discovered
a method of making the skeletons of the horse and of
the figure which had never been used up to that
time--namely, with pieces of wood and planking
fastened together, and then swathed round with hay,
tow, and ropes, the whole being bound firmly
together; and over all there was spread clay mixed
with paste, glue, and shearings of woollen cloth.
This method, truly, was and still is better than any
other for such things, for, although the works that
are made in this fashion have the appearance of
weight, none the less after they are finished and
dried they turn out light, and, being covered with
wile, look like marble and are very lovely to the
eye, as was the said work of Jacopo. To this it may
be added that statues made in this fashion and with
the said mixtures do not crack, as they would do if
they were made simply of pure clay. And in this
manner are made to-day the models for sculpture,
with very great convenience for the craftsmen, who,
by means of these, have ever before them the
patterns and the true measurements of the sculptures
that they make; and for this method no small
obligation is owed to Jacopo, who is said to have
been its inventor.
After this work, Jacopo made in Siena two panels
of limewood, carving the figures in them, with their
beards and hair, with so great patience that it was
a marvel to see. And after these panels, which were
placed in the Duomo, he made some prophets in
marble, of no great size, which are in the facade of
the said Duomo; and he would have continued to
labour at the works of this building, if plague,
famine, and the discords of the citizens of Siena
had not brought that city to an evil pass; for,
after having many times risen in tumult, they drove
out Orlando Malevolti, by whose favour Jacopo had
enjoyed creditable employment in his native city.
Departing then from Siena, he betook himself by the
agency of certain friends to Lucca, and there, in
the Church of San Martino, he made a tomb for the
wife, who had died a short time before, of Paolo
Guinigi, who was Lord of that city; on the base of
which tomb he carved some boys in marble that are
supporting a garland, so highly finished that they
appeared to be of flesh; and on the sarcophagus laid
on the said base he made, with infinite diligence,
the image of the wife of Paolo Guinigi herself, who
was buried within it, and at her feet, from the same
block, he made a dog in full relief, signifying the
fidelity shown by her to her husband. After Paolo
had departed, or rather, had been driven out of
Lucca in the year 1429, when the city became free,
this sarcophagus was removed from that place and was
almost wholly destroyed, by reason of the hatred
that the people of Lucca bore to the memory of
Guinigi; but the reverence that they bore to the
beauty of the figure and of the so many ornaments
restrained them, and brought it about that a little
time afterwards the sarcophagus and the figure were
placed with diligence near the door of the sacristy,
where they are at present, while the Chapel of
Guinigi was taken over by the Commune.
Meanwhile Jacopo had heard that the Guild of the
Merchants of Calimara in Florence wished to have a
bronze door made for the Church of San Giovanni,
where, as it has been said, Andrea Pisano had
wrought the first; and he had come to Florence in
order to make himself known, above all because this
work was to be allotted to the man who, in making
one of those scenes in bronze, would give the best
proof of himself and of his talent. Having therefore
come to Florence, he not only made the model, but
delivered one very well executed scene, completely
finished and polished, which gave so great
satisfaction, that, if he had not had as rivals
those most excellent masters, Donatello and Filippo
Brunelleschi, who in truth surpassed him in their
specimens, it would have fallen to him to make this
work of so great importance. But the business having
concluded otherwise, he went to Bologna, where, by
the favour of Giovanni Bentivogli, he was
commissioned by the Wardens of Works of San Petronio
to make in marble the principal door of that church,
which he continued in the German manner, in order
not to alter the style wherein it had already been
begun, filling up what was lacking in the design of
the pilasters that support the cornice and the arch,
with scenes wrought with infinite love within the
space of the twelve years that he was engaged in
this work, wherein he made with his own hand all the
foliage and ornamentation of the said door, with the
greatest diligence and care that he could command.
On each of the pilasters that support the
architrave, the cornice, and the arch, there are
five scenes, and five on the architrave, making
fifteen in all; and in them all he carved in
low-relief stories from the Old Testament--namely,
from the Creation of man by God up to the Deluge and
Noah's Ark, thus conferring very great benefit on
sculpture, since from the ancients up to that time
there had been no one who had wrought anything in
low-relief, wherefore that method of working was
rather out of mind than out of fashion. In the arch
of this door he made three figures in marble, as
large as life and all in the round--namely, a very
beautiful Madonna with the Child in her arms, St.
Petronius, and another Saint, all very well grouped
and in beautiful attitudes; wherefore the people of
Bologna, who did not think that there could be made
a work in marble, I do not say surpassing, but even
equaling that one which Agostino and Agnolo of Siena
had made in the ancient manner on the high-altar of
San Francesco in their city, were amazed to see that
this one was by a great measure more beautiful.
After this, being requested to return to Lucca,
Jacopo went there very wilingly,and made on a marble
panel in San Friano, for Federigo di Maestro Trenta
del Veglia, a Virgin with her Son in her arms, and
St. Sebastian, St. Lucia, St. Jerome, and St.
Gismondo, with good manner, grace, and design; and
in the predella below he made in half-relief, under
each saint, some scene from the life of each, which
was something very lovely and pleasing, seeing that
Jacopo gave gradation to his figures from plane to
plane with beautiful art, making them lower as they
receded. In like manner, he gave much encouragement
to others to acquire grace and beauty for their
works with new methods, when he portrayed from the
life the patron of the work, Federigo, and his wife,
on two great slabs wrought in low-relief for two
tombs; on which slabs are these words:
HOC OPUS FECIT JACOBUS MAGISTRI PETRI DE SENIS,
1422
Afterwards, on Jacopo coming to Florence, the
Wardens of Works of Santa Maria del Fiore, by reason
of the good report that they had heard of him,
commissioned him to make in marble the frontal that
is over that door of the church which leads to the
Nunziata, wherein, in a mandorla, he made the
Madonna being borne to Heaven by a choir of angels
sounding instruments and singing, with the most
beautiful movements and the most beautiful
attitudes--seeing that they have vivacity and motion
in their flight--that had ever been made up to that
time. In like manner, the Madonna is draped with so
great grace and dignity that nothing better can by
imagined, the flow of the folds being very beautiful
and soft, while the borders of the draperies are
seen following closely the nude form of the figure,
which, with its very covering, reveals every curve
of the limbs; and below this Madonna there is a St.
Thomas, who is receiving the Girdle. In short, this
work was executed by Jacopo in four years with all
the possible perfection that he could give to it,
for the reason that, besides the natural desire that
he had to do well the rivalry of Donato, of Filippo,
and of Lorenzo di Bartolo, from whose hands there
had already issued some works that were highly
praised, incited him even more in the doing of what
he did; and that was so much that this work is
studied eve to-day by modern craftsmen, as something
very rare. On the other side of the Madonna,
opposite to St. Thomas, Jacopo made a bear that is
climbing a pear-tree; and with regard to this
caprice, even as may thing were said them, so also
there could be others said by me, but I will
forbear, wishing to let everyone believe and think
in his own fashion in the matter of this invention.
After this, desiring to revisit his own country,
Jacopo returned to Siena, where, on his arrival,
there came to him, according to his desire, an
occasion to leave therein some honourable memorial
of himself. For the Signoria of Siena, having
resolved to make a very rich adornment in marble for
the waters that Agostino and Agnolo of Siena had
brought into the square in the year 1343, allotted
that work to Jacopo, at the price of 2,200 crowns of
gold; wherefore he, having made the model and
collected the marbles, put his hand to the work and
finally completed it so greatly to the satisfaction
of his fellow-citizens, that he was ever afterwards
called, not Jacopo della Quercia, but Jacopo della
Fonte.
In the middle of this work, then, he carved the
Glorious Virgin Mary, the particular Patroness of
that city, a little larger than the other figures,
and in a manner both gracious and singular. Round
her, next, he made the seven Theological Virtues,
the heads of which are delicate, pleasing, beautiful
in expression, and wrought with certain methods
which show that he began to discover the god and the
secrets of the arts, and to give grace to the
marble, sweeping away that ancient manner which had
been used up to that time by the sculptors, who made
their figures rigid and without the least grace in
the world; whereas Jacopo made them as soft as
flesh, giving finish to his marble with patience and
delicacy.
Besides this, he made there some stories from the
Old Testament--namely, the Creation of our first
parents, and the eating of the forbidden fruit,
wherein, in the figure of the woman, there is seen
an expression of countenance so beautiful, with a
grace and an attitude so deferential towards Adam as
she offers him the apple, that it appears impossible
for him to refuse it; to say nothing of the
remainder of the work, which is all full of most
beautiful ideas, and adorned with the most beautiful
children and other ornaments in the shape of lions
and she-wolves, emblems of the city, all executed by
Jacopo with love, mastery, and judgment in the space
of twelve years. By his hand, likewise, are three
very beautiful scenes in half-relief from the life
of St. John the Baptist, wrought in bronze, which
are round the baptismal font of San Giovanni, below
the Duomo; and also some figures in the round,
likewise in bronze, one braccio in height, which are
between each of the said scenes, ad are truly
beautiful and worthy of praise.
Wherefore, by reason of these works, which showed
his excellence, and of the goodness and uprightness
of his life, Jacopo was deservedly made chevalier by
the Signoria of Siena, and, shortly afterwards,
Warden of the Works of the Duomo; which office he
filled so well that neither before nor since were
these Works better directed, for, although he did
not live more than three years after undertaking
this charge, he made many useful and honourable
improvements in that Duomo.
And although Jacopo was only a sculptor,
nevertheless he drew passing well, as is
demonstrated by some drawings made by him, to be
found in our book, which appear to be rather by the
hand of an illuminator than of a sculptor. And his
portrait, similar to the one that is seen above, I
had from Maestro Domenico Beccafumi, painter of
Siena, who has related to me many things about the
excellence, goodness, and gentleness of Jacopo, who
finally died, exhausted by fatigues and by
continuous labour, at the age of sixty-four, and was
lamented and honourably buried in Siena, the place
of his birth, by his friends and relatives--nay, by
the whole city. And truly it was no small
good-fortune for him to have his so great excellence
recognized in his own country, seeing that it rarely
comes to pass that men of excellence are universally
loved and honoured in their own country.
A disciple of Jacopo was Matteo, a sculptor of
Lucca, who made the little octagonal temple of
marble--in the Church of San Martino in his own
city,in the year 1444, for Domenico Galigano of
Lucca--wherein there is the image of the Holy Cross,
a piece of sculpture miraculously wrought, so it is
said, by Nicodemus, one of the seventy-two disciples
of the Savior; which temple is truly nothing if not
very beautiful and well-proportioned. The same man
carved in marble a figure ofSt. Sebastian wholly in
the round, three braccia high, and very beautiful by
reason of its having been made with good design and
in a beautiful attitude and wrought with a high
finish. by his hand, also, is a panelwherein there
are three very beautiful figures in three niches, in
the church where the body of St. Regulus is said to
be; and likewise the panelthat is in San Michele,
wherein are three figures in marble; and in like
manner the statue that is on the corner of the said
church, on the outer side--namely, a Madonna, which
shows that Matteo was ever striving to equal his
master Jacopo.
Niccolo Bolognese was also a disciple of Jacopo,
and he, among other works, brought to completion
divinely well--having found it unfinished--the
marble sarcophagus full of scenes and figures
wherein lies the body of St. Dominic, a work made
long ago by Niccola Pisano in Bologna; and he gained
thereby, besides profit, that name of honour,
Maestro Niccolo dell'Arca, which he bore ever after.
He finished this work in the year 1460, and
afterwards, for the facade of the palace where the
Legate of Bologna now lives, he made a Madonna in
bronze, four braccia high, and placed it in position
in the year 1478. In a word, he was a able master
and a worthy disciple of Jacopo della Quercia of
Siena.
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NICCOLO ARETINO
[NICCOLO D'AREZZO OR NICCOLO DI PIERO LAMBERTI] (c.
1370-c. 1451)
SCULPTOR
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ABOUT the same time, engaged in the same pursuit
of sculpture, and almost of the same excellence in
the art, lived Niccolo di Piero, a citizen of
Arezzo, to whom Nature was as liberal with her gifts
of intellect and vivacity of mind as Fortune was
niggardly with her benefits. He, then, being a needy
fellow, and having received some affront from his
nearest of kin in his own country, departed, in
order to come to Florence, from Arezzo, where under
the discipline of Maestro Moccio, sculptor of Siena,
who, as it has been said in another place, wrought
some works in Arezzo he had applied himself to
sculpture with no little fruit, although the said
Maestro Moccio was not very excellent. And so,
having arrived in Florence, Niccolo at first for
many months wrought whatsoever work came to his
hand, both because poverty and want were pressing
him hard, and also out of rivalry with certain young
men, who, competing together honourably with much
study and labor, were occupying themselves with
sculpture. Finally, after many labors, Niccolo
became a creditable sculptor, and was commissioned
by the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del Fiore to
make two statues for the Campanile; these statues,
having been placed therein on the side facing the
Canon's house, stand one on either side of those
that Donato afterwards made ; and since nothing
better in full-relief had been seen, they were held
passing good.
Next, departing from Florence by reason of the
plague of 1383, he went to his own country. There he
found that by reason of the said plague the men of
the Confraternity of S. Maria della Misericordia,
whereof we have spoken above, had acquired great
wealth by means of bequests made by diverse persons
in the city through the devotion that they felt for
that holy place and for its brethren, who attend to
the sick and bury the dead in every pestilence,
without fear of any peril; and that therefore they
wished to make a facade for that place, but in
grey-stone, for lack of a supply of marble. This
work, which had been begun before in the German
style, he undertook to do; and assisted by many
stonecutters from Settignano, he brought it to
perfect completion, making with his own hand, in the
lunette of the facade, a Madonna with the Child in
her arms, and certain angels who are holding open
her mantle, under which the people of that city
appear to be taking shelter, while S. Laurentino and
S. Pergentino, kneeling below, are interceding for
them. Next, in two niches at the sides, he made two
statues, each three braccia high namely, one of S.
Gregory the Pope, and one of S. Donatus the Bishop,
Protector of that city, with good grace and passing
good manner. It appears that in his youth, before
making these works, he had formerly made three large
figures of terracotta which were placed over the
door of the Vescovado, and which are now in great
part eaten away by frost, as is also a S. Luke of
grey stone, made by the same man while he was a
youth and placed in the facade of the said
Vescovado. In the Pieve, likewise, in the Chapel of
S. Biagio, he made a very beautiful figure of the
said Saint in terracotta; and one of that Saint in
the Church of S. Antonio, also in terra-cotta and in
relief; and another Saint, seated, over the door of
the hospital of the said city.
While he was making these and some other similar
works, the walls of Borgo a San Sepolcro were ruined
by an earthquake, and Niccol6 was sent for to the
end that he might make as he did with good judgment
a design for a new wall, which turned out much
better and stronger than the first. And so,
continuing to work now in Arezzo, and now in the
neighbouring places, Niccolo was living very quietly
and at his ease in his own country, when war, the
capital enemy of the arts, compelled him to leave
it, for, after the sons of Piero Saccone had been
driven out of Pietramala and the castle had been
destroyed down to its foundations, the city and the
district of Arezzo were all in confusion. Wherefore,
departing from that territory, Niccolo betook
himself to Florence, where he had worked at other
times, and for the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del
Fiore he made a statue of marble, four braccia high,
which was afterwards placed on the left hand of the
principal door of that church. In this statue, which
is an Evangelist seated, Niccolo showed that he was
truly an able sculptor, and he was therefore much
praised, since up to then there had not been seen,
as there was afterwards, any better work in wholly
round relief. Being then summoned to Rome by order
of Pope Boniface IX, as the best of all the
architects of his time, he fortified and gave better
form to the Castle of S. Angelo. On returning to
Florence, he made two little figures in marble for
the Masters of the Mint, on that corner of
Orsanmichele that faces the Guild of Wool, in the
pilaster, above the niche wherein there is now the
S. Matthew, which was made afterwards ; and these
figures were so well made and so well placed on the
summit of that shrine that they were then much
extolled, as they have been ever afterwards, and in
them Niccolo appears to have surpassed himself, for
he never did anything better. In short, they are
such that they can stand beside any other work of
that kind; wherefore he acquired so great credit
that he was thought worthy to be in the number of
those who were under consideration for the making of
the bronze doors of S. Giovanni, although, when the
proof was made, he was left behind, and they were
allotted, as it will be said in the proper place, to
another. After these labors Niccolo went to Milan,
where he was made Overseer of the Works of the Duomo
in that city; and there he wrought some things in
marble which gave great satisfaction.
Finally, being called back to his own country by
the Aretines to the end that he might make a
tabernacle for the Sacrament, while returning he was
forced to stay in Bologna and to make the tomb of
Pope Alexander V, who had finished the course of his
years in that city, for the Convent of the Friars
Minor. And although he was very unwilling to accept
this work, he could not, however, but comply with
the prayers of Messer Leonardo Bruni, the Aretine,
who had been a highly favored Secretary of that
Pontiff. Niccolo, then, made the said tomb and
portrayed that Pope thereon from nature; although it
is true that from lack of marble and other stone the
tomb and its ornaments were made of stucco and
brickwork, and likewise the statue of the Pope on
the sarcophagus, which is placed behind the choir of
the said church. This work finished, Niccolo fell
grievously sick and died shortly afterwards at the
age of sixty-seven, and was buried in the same
church, in the year 1417. His portrait was made by
Galasso of Ferrara, very much his friend, who was
painting at that time in Bologna in competition with
Jacopo and Simone, painters of Bologna, and one
Cristofano I know not whether of Ferrara, or, as
others say, of Modena who all painted many works in
fresco in a church called the Casa di Mezzo, without
the Porta di S. Mammolo. Cristofano painted scenes
on one side, from the Creation of Adam by God up to
the death of Moses, Simone and Jacopo painted thirty
scenes, from the Birth of Christ up to the Last
Supper that He held with the Apostles, and Galasso
then painted the Passion, as it is seen from the
name of each man, written below. These pictures were
made in the year 1404, and afterwards the rest of
the church was painted by other masters with stories
of David, wrought with a high finish. And in truth
it is not without reason that these pictures are
held in much esteem by the Bolognese, both because,
for old things, they are passing good, and also
because the work, having been preserved fresh and
vivacious, deserves much praise. Some say that the
said Galasso, when very old, painted also in oil,
but neither in Ferrara nor in any other place have I
found any works of his save in fresco. A disciple of
Galasso was Cosme, who painted a chapel in S.
Domenico at Ferrara, and the folding doors that
close the organ of the Duomo, and many other works,
which are better than the pictures of Galasso, his
master.
Niccolo was a good draughtsman, as it may be seen
in our book, wherein there are an Evangelist and
three heads of horses by his hand, very well drawn.
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LIFE OF DELLO DELLI (c. 1403- c. 1470)
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ALTHOUGH DELLO THE FLORENTINE, while he lived,
had only the name of painter, which he has had ever
since, he applied himself none the less also to
sculpture nay, his first works were in sculpture,
seeing that, long before he began to paint, he made
in terracotta a Coronation of Our Lady in the arch
that is over the door of the Church of S. Maria
Nuova, and, within the church, the twelve Apostles;
and, in the Church of the Servi, a Dead Christ in
the lap of the Virgin, with many other works
throughout the whole city. But, being capricious,
and also perceiving that he was gaining little by
working in terracotta and that his poverty had need
of some greater succour, he resolved, being a good
draughts- man, to give his attention to painting;
and in this he succeeded with ease, for the reason
that he soon acquired a good mastery in colouring,
as many pictures demonstrate that he made in his own
city, and above all those with little figures,
wherein he showed better grace than in the large.
And this ability served him in good stead, because
the citizens of those times used to have in their
apartments great wooden chests in the form of a
sarcophagus, with the covers shaped in various
fashions, and there were none that did not have the
said chests painted ; and besides the stories that
were wrought on the front and on the ends, they used
to have the arms, or rather, insignia of their
houses painted on the corners, and sometimes
elsewhere. And the stories that were wrought on the
front were for the most part fables taken from Ovid
and from other poets, or rather, stories related by
the Greek and Latin historians, and likewise chases,
jousts, tales of love, and other similar subjects,
according to each man's particular pleasure. Then
the inside was lined with cloth or with silk,
according to the rank and means of those who had
them made, for the better preservation of silk
garments and other precious things. And what is
more, it was not only the chests that were painted
in such a manner, but also the couches, the chair
backs, the mouldings that went right round, and
other similar magnificent ornaments for apartments
which were used in those times, whereof an infinite
number may be seen throughout the whole city.
And for many years this fashion was so much in
use that even the most excellent painters exercised
themselves in such labours, without being ashamed,
as many would be today, to paint and gild such
things. And that this is true has been seen up to
our own day from some chests, chair backs, and
mouldings, besides many other things, in the
apartments of the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici,
the Elder, whereon there were painted by the hand,
not of common painters, but of excellent masters,
and with judgment, invention, and marvellous art all
the jousts, tournaments, chases, festivals, and
other spectacles that took place in his times. Of
such things relics are still seen, not only in the
palace and the old houses of the Medici, but in all
the most noble houses in Florence; and there are men
who, out of attachment to these ancient usages,
truly magnificent and most honorable, have not
displaced these things in favour of modern ornaments
and usages. Dello, then, being a very good and
practised painter, and above all, as it has been
said, in making little pictures with much grace,
applied himself for many years, to his great profit
and honor, to nothing else save adorning and
painting chests, chair backs, couches, and other
ornaments in the manner described above, insomuch
that it can be said to have been his principal and
peculiar profession. But since nothing in this world
has permanence or can endure any long time, however
good and praiseworthy it may be, it was not long
before the refinement of men's intellects led them
from that first method of working to the making of
richer ornaments and of carvings in walnut- wood
overlaid with gold, which make a very rich
adornment, and to the painting and colouring in oil
of very beautiful stories on similar pieces of
household furniture, which have made known, as they
still do, both the magnificence of the citizens who
use them and the excellence of the painters.
But to come to the works of Dello, who was the
first who occupied himself with diligence and good
mastery in such labours ; for Giovanni de' Medici,
in particular, he painted the whole furniture of an
apartment, which was held something truly rare and
Very beautiful of its kind, as some relics
demonstrate that are still left. And Donatellg, then
quite young, is said to have assisted him, making
there by his own hand, with stucco, gesso, glue, and
pounded brick, some stoiies and ornaments in
low-relief, which, being afterwards overlaid with
gold, made a beautiful accompaniment for the painted
stories. Of this work and many others like it Drea
Cennini makes mention in a long discourse in his
work, whereof there has been enough said above; and
since it is a good thing to maintain some memory of
these old things, I have had some of them, by the
hand of Dello himself, preserved in the Palace of
the Lord Duke Cosimo, where they are, and they will
be ever worthy of being studied, if only for the
various costumes of those times, both of men and
women, that are seen in them. Dello also wrought the
story of Isaac giving his benediction to Esau, in
fresco and with terra verde, in a corner of the
cloister of S. Maria Novella.
A little after this work, being summoned to Spain
to enter the service of the King, he came into so
great credit that no craftsman could have desired
much more ; and although it is not known precisely
what works he made in those parts, it may be judged,
seeing that he returned thence very rich and highly
honoured, that they were numerous and beautiful and
good. After a few years, having been royally
rewarded for his labors, Dello conceived the wish to
return to Florence, in order to show his friends how
he had climbed from extreme poverty to great riches.
Wherefore, having gone for permission to that King,
not only did he obtain it readily (although the
former would have willingly retained him, if Dello
had been so minded), but he was also made chevalier
by that most liberal King, as a greater sign of
gratitude. Whereupon he returned to Florence in
order to obtain the banners and the confirmation of
his privileges, but they were denied him by the
agency of Filippo Spano degli Scolari, who had just
come back from his victories over the Turks as Grand
Seneschal of the King of Hungary. But Dello having
written immediately to the King of Spain to complain
of this affront, the King wrote so warmly on his
behalf to the Signoria that the due and desired
honor was conceded to him without opposition. ; It
is said that Dello, while returning to his house on
horseback, with Tiis banners, having been honoured
by the Signoria and robed in brocade, was mocked at,
in passing through Vacchereccia, where there were
then many goldsmiths' shops, by certain old friends,
who, having known him in youth, did this either in
scorn or in jest ; and that he, turning in the
direction whence he had heard the voice, made a
gesture of contempt with both his hands and went on
his way without saying a word, so that scarcely
anyone noticed it save those who had derided him.j
By reason of this and other signs, which gave him to
know that envy was no less active against him in his
own country than malice had been formerly when he
was very poor, he determined to return to Spain ;
and so, having written, and having received an
answer from the King, he returned to those parts,
where he was welcomed with great favour and ever
afterwards regarded with affection, and there he
devoted himself to work, living like a nobleman, and
ever painting from that day onwards in an apron of
brocade. Thus, then, he gave way before envy, and
lived in honour at the Court of that King ; and he
died at the age of forty-nine, and was given
honourable burial by the same man, with this
epitaph:
DELLUS EQUES FLORENTINUS
PICTURE ARTE PERCELEBRIS
REGISQUE HISPANIARUM LIBERALITATE
ET ORNAMENTIS AMPLISSIMUS.
H. S. E.
S. T. T. L.
Dello was no very good draughtsman, but was well
among the first who began to show judgment in
revealing the muscles in nude bodies, as it is seen
from some drawings in our book, made by him in
chiaroscuro. He was portrayed in chiaroscuro by
Paolo Uccello in S. Maria Novella, in the story
wherein Noah is made drunk by his son Ham.
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NANNI DI BANCO
sculptor of Florence (1384/90-1421)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
NANNI D'ANTONIO DI BANCO was not only rich enough
by patrimony, but also by no means humble in origin,
yet, delighting in sculpture, he was not only not
ashamed to learn and practise it, but took no small
pride therein, and made so much advance that his
fame will ever endure; and it will be all the more
celebrated in proportion as men know that he applied
himself to this noble art not through necessity, but
through a true love of the art itself. This man, who
was one of the disciples of Donato [Donatello],
although I have place him before his master because
he died long before him, was a somewhat sluggish
person, but modest, humble, and kindly in his
dealings.
There is by his hand, in Florence, the St. Philip
of marble which is on a pilaster on the outside of
the Oratory of Orsanmichele. This work was at first
allotted to Donato by the Guild of Shoemakers, and
then, since they could not agree with him about the
price, it was transferred, as though in despite of
Donato, to Nanni, who promised that he would take
whatsoever payment they might give him, and would
ask no other.
But the business fell out otherwise, for, when
the statue was finished and set in its place, he
asked a much greater price for his work than Donato
had done at the beginning; wherefore the valuation
of it was referred by both parties to Donato, the
Consuls of that Guild believing firmly that he, out
of envy at not having made it, would value it at
much less than if it were his own work; but they
were disappointed in their belief,for Donato judged
that much more should be paid to Nanni for his state
than he had demanded. Being in no way willing to
abide by this judgment, the Consuls made an outcry
and said to Donato: "Why dost thou, after
undertaking to make this work at a smaller price,
value it higher when made by the hand of another,
and constrain us to give him more for it than he
himself demands? For thou knowest, even as we do
also, that from thy hands it would have come out
much better." Donato answered, laughing: "This good
man is not my equal in the art, and endures much
more fatigue than I do in working: wherefore, if you
wish to give him satisfaction, like the just men
that I take you for, you are bound to pay him for
the time that he has spent." And thus the award of
Donato was carried into effect, both parties having
agreed to abide by it.
This work stands well enough, and has good grace
and liveliness in the head; the draperies are not
hard, and are in no wise badly arranged about the
figure. In another niche below this one there are
four saints in marble, which the same Nanni was
commissioned to make by the Guild of Smiths,
Carpenters, and Masons; and it is said that, having
finished them all in the round and detached one from
another, and having prepared the niche, it was with
great difficulty that he could get even three of
them into it, for he had made some of them in
attitudes with the arms outstretched; and that he
besought Donato, in grief and despair, to consent
with his counsel to repair his own misfortune and
lack of foresight. And Donato, laughing over the
mischance, answered: "If thou wilt promise to pay
for a supper for me and all my apprentices, I will
undertake to get the saints into the niche without
any trouble." This Nanni promised to do right
willingly, and Donato sent him to Prato, to take
certain measurements and to do some other business
that would take him some days.
Whereupon, Nanni having departed, Donato, with
all his disciples and apprentices, set to work and
cut some of the statues down in the shoulders and
some in the arms, in such wise that he contrived to
group them close together, each making place for the
other, while he made a hand appear over the
shoulders of one of them. And thus the judgment of
Donato, having joined them harmoniously together,
concealed the error of Nanni so well that they still
show, in that place where they were fixed, most
manifest signs of concord and brotherhood; and
anyone who does not know the circumstance sees
nothing of the error.
Nanni, finding on his return that Donato had
corrected everything and put all his disorder to
rights, rendered him infinite thanks, and with great
goodwill paid for the supper for him and his pupils.
Under the feet of these four saints, in the ornament
of the shrine, there is a scene in marble and in
half-relief, wherein a sculptor is carving a boy
with great animation, and a master is building, with
two men assisting him; and all these little figures
are seen to be very well grouped and intent on what
they are doing.
In the facade of Santa Maria del Fiore, on the
left side as one enters the church by the central
door, there is an Evangelist by the hand of the same
man, which is a passing good figure for those times.
It is also reputed that the St. Lo which is without
the said Oratory of Orsanmichele, and which was made
for the Guild of Farriers, is by the hand of the
same Nanni, and likewise the marble shrine, in the
base of which, at the foot, there is a scene wherein
St. Lo, the Farrier, is shoeing a frenzied horse, so
well made that Nanni deserved much praise for it;
and he would have deserved and obtained much greater
praise with other works, if he had not died, as he
did, while still young. None the less, by reason of
these few works Nanni was held a passing good
sculptor; and being a citizen, he obtained many
offices in his native city of Florence, and because
he bore himself like a just and reasonable man both
in these and in all his other affairs, he was
greatly beloved. He died of colic in the year 1430,
at the age of forty-seven.
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Luca Della Robbia (1400-1482)
and the Della Robbia Family
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
DELLA ROBBIA, sculptor of Florence, was born in
the year 1388 the house of his ancestors, which is
in Florence, below the Church of Barnaba ; and
therein he was honestly brought up until he had
learnt not only to read and write but also to cast
accounts, in so far as it was likely to be needful,
after the custom of most Florentines. And afterwards
he was placed by his father to learn the art of the
goldsmith with Leonardo di Ser Giovanni, who was
then held the best master of that art in Florence.
Now, having learnt under this man to make designs
and to work in wax, Luca grew in courage and applied
himself to making certain things in marble and in
bronze, which, seeing that he succeeded in them well
enough, brought it about that he completely
abandoned his business of goldsmith and applied
himself to sculpture, insomuch that he did nothing
but ply his chisel all day and draw all night ; and
this he did with so great zeal, that, feeling his
feet very often freezing at night, he took to
keeping them in a basket full of shavings, such as
carpenters strip from planks when they shape them
with the plane, in order to warm them without giving
up his drawing. Nor do I marvel in any way at this,
seeing that no one ever became excellent in any
exercise whatsoever without beginning from his
childhood to endure heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and
other discomforts; wherefore those men are entirely
deceived who think to be able, at their ease and
with all the comforts of the world, to attain to
honorable rank. It is not by sleeping but by waking
and studying continually that progress is made.
Luca was barely fifteen years of age when he was
summoned, together with other young sculptors, to
Rimini, in order to make some figures and other
ornaments in marble for Sigismondo di Pandolfo
Malatesti, Lord of that city, who was then having a
chapel made in the Church of S. Francesco, and a
tomb for his wife, who had died. Luca had given an
honorable proof of his knowledge in some low reliefs
in this work, which are still seen there, when he
was recalled by the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del
Fiore to Florence, where, for the campanile of that
church, he made five little scenes in marble, which
are on the side that faces the church, and which
were wanting, according to the design of Giotto, to
go with that wherein are the Sciences and Arts,
formerly made, as it has been said, by Andrea
Pisano. In the first Luca made Donato teaching
grammar; in the second, Plato and Aristotle,
standing for philosophy; in the third, a figure
playing a lute, for music; in the fourth, a Ptolemy,
for astrology; and in the fifth, Euclid, for
geometry. These scenes, in perfection of finish, in
grace, and in design, were far in advance of the two
made, as it has been said, by Giotto, in one of
which Apelles, standing for painting, is working
with his brush, while in the other Pheidias,
representing sculpture, is laboring with his chisel.
Wherefore the said Wardens of Works who, besides
the merits of Luca, were persuaded thereunto by
Messer Vieri de' Medici, then a great citizen and a
friend of the people, who loved Luca dearly
commissioned him, in the year 1405, to make the
marble ornament for the organ which the Office of
Works was then having made on a very grand scale, to
be set up over the door of the sacristy of the said
church. In certain scenes at the base of this work
Luca made the singing choirs, chanting in various
fashions; and he put so much zeal into this labor
and succeeded so well therein, that, although it is
sixteen braccia from the ground, one can see the
swelling of the throats of the singers, the leader
of the music beating with his hands on the shoulders
of the smaller ones, and, in short, diverse manners
of sounds, chants, dances, and other pleasing
actions that make up the delight of music. Next, on
the great cornice of this ornament Luca placed two
figures of gilded metal namely, two nude angels,
wrought with a high finish, as is the whole work,
which was held to be something very rare, although
Donatello, who afterwards made the ornament of the
other organ, which is opposite to the first, made
his with much more judgment and mastery than Luca
had shown, will be told in the proper place; for
Donatello executed that work Imost wholly with bold
studies and with no smoothness of finish, to ic end
that it might show up much better from a distance,
as it does, lan that of Luca, which, although it is
wrought with good design and liligence, is
nevertheless so smooth and highly finished that the
eye, reason of the distance, loses it and does not
grasp it well, as it does lat of Donatello, which
is, as it were, only sketched.
To this matter craftsmen should pay great
attention, for the reason lat experience teaches us
that all works which are to be viewed from distance,
whether they be pictures, or sculptures, or any
other similar ling whatsoever, have more vivacity
and greater force if they are made the fashion of
beautiful sketches than if they are highly finished
; id besides the fact that distance gives this
effect, it also appears that /ery often in these
sketches, born in a moment from the fire of art, a
lan's conception is expressed in a few strokes,
while, on the contrary, fort and too great diligence
sometimes rob men of their force and judg- icnt, if
they never know when to take their hands off the
work that they re making. And whosoever knows that
all the arts of design, not to speak only of
painting, are similar to poetry, knows also that
even as poems thrown off by the poetic fire are the
true and good ones, and better than those made with
great effort, so, too, the works of men excellent in
the arts of design are better when they are made at
one sitting by the force of that fire, than when
they go about investigating one thing after another
with effort and fatigue. And he who has from the
beginning, as he should have, a clear idea of what
he wishes to do, ever advances resolutely and with
great readiness to perfection. Nevertheless, seeing
that all intellects are not of the same stamp, there
are some, in fact, although they are rare, who
cannot work well save at their leisure; and to say
nothing of the painters, it is said that the most
reverend and most learned Bembo among the poets
sometimes labored many months, perchance even years,
at the making of a sonnet, if we can believe those
who affirm it; wherefore it is no great marvel that
this should happen sometimes to some of the masters
of our arts. But for the most part the rule is to
the contrary, as it has been said above, although
the vulgar think more of a certain external and
obvious delicacy that proves to lack the essential
qualities, which are made up for by diligence, than
of the good, wrought with reason and judgment, but
not so highly finished and polished on the outside.
But to return to Luca; the said work being
finished and giving great satisfaction, he was
entrusted with the bronze door of the said sacristy,
which he divided into ten squares namely, five on
either side, making the head of a man at every
corner of each square, in the border; and he varied
the heads one from another, making young men, old,
and middle-aged, some bearded and some shaven, and,
in short, each one beautiful of its kind in diverse
fashions, so that the framework of that door was
beautifully adorned. Next, in the scenes in the
squares to begin at the upper part he made the
Madonna with the Child in her arms, with most
beautiful grace; and in the one beside it, Jesus
Christ issuing from the Sepulchre. Below these, in
each of the first four squares, is the figure of an
Evangelist; and below these, the four Doctors of the
Church, who are writing in different attitudes. And
the whole of this work is so highly finished and
polished that it is a marvel, and gives us to know
that it was a great advantage to Luca to have been a
goldsmith.
But since, on reckoning up after these works how
much there had come to his hand and how much time he
spent in making them, he recognized that he had
gained very little and that the labour had been very
great, he resolved to abandon marble and bronze and
to see whether he could gather better fruits from
another method. Wherefore, reflecting that clay
could be worked easily and with little labour, and
that it was only necessary to find a method whereby
works made with it might be preserved for a long
time, he set about investigating to such purpose
that he found a way to defend them from the injuries
of time; for, after having made many experiments, he
found that by covering them with a coating of glaze,
made with tin, litharge, antimony, and other
minerals and mixtures fused together in a special
furnace, he could produce this effect very well and
make works in clay almost eternal. For this method
of working, as being its inventor, he gained very
great praise, and all the ages to come will
therefore owe him an obligation.
Having then succeeded in this as much as he could
desire, he resolved that his first works should be
those that are in the arch over the bronze door
which he had made for the sacristy, below the organ
of S. Maria del Fiore ; and therein he made a
Resurrection of Christ, so beautiful for that time
that it was admired, when placed in position, as
something truly rare. Moved by this, the said
Wardens of Works desired that the arch over the door
of the other sacristy, where Donatello had made the
ornament of the other organ, should be filled by
Luca in the same manner with similar figures and
works in terracotta; wherefore Luca made therein a
very beautiful Jesus Christ ascending into Heaven.
Now, not being yet satisfied with this beautiful
invention so lovely and so useful, above all for
places where there is water, and where, because of
damp or other reasons, there is no scope for
paintings Luca went on seeking further progress,
and, instead of making the said works in clay simply
white, he added the method of giving them colour,
with incredible marvel and pleasure to all.
Wherefore the Magnificent Piero di Cosimo de'
Medici, one of the first to commission Luca to
fashion coloured works in clay, caused him to
execute the whole of the round vaulting of a study
in the Palace built, as it will be told, by his
father Cosimo with various things of fancy, and
likewise the pavement, which was something singular
and very useful for the summer. And seeing that this
method was then very difficult, and that many
precautions were necessary in the firing of the
clay, it is certainly a marvel that Luca could
execute these works with so great perfection that
both the vaulting and the pavement appear to be
made, not of many pieces, but of one only. The fame
of these works spreading not only throughout Italy
but throughout all Europe, there were so many who
desired them that the merchants of Florence, keeping
Luca, to his great profit, continually at this
labor, sent them throughout the whole world. And
because he could not supply the whole, he took his
brothers, Ottaviano and Agostino, away from the
chisel, and set them to work on these labors,
wherein the three of them together gained much more
than they had done up to then with the chisel, for
the reason that, besides those of their works that
were sent to France and Spain, they also wrought
many things in Tuscany ; and in particular, for the
said Piero de' Medici, in the Church of S. Miniato
al Monte, the vaulting of the marble chapel, which
rests on four columns in the middle of the church,
and which they divided most beautifully into
octagons. But the most notable work of this kind
that ever issued from their hands was the vaulting
of the Chapel of S. Jacopo, where the Cardinal of
Portugal is buried, in the same church. In this,
although it has no salient angles, they made the
four Evangelists in four medallions at the corners,
and the Holy Spirit in a medallion in the middle of
the vaulting, filling the other spaces with scales
which follow the curve of the vaulting and diminish
little by little till they reach the centre,
insomuch that there is nothing better of that kind
to be seen, nor anything built and put together with
more diligence.
Next, in a little arch over the door of the
Church of S. Piero Buonconsiglio, below the Mercato
Vecchio, he made the Madonna with some angels round
her, all very vivacious; and over a door of a little
church near S. Piero Maggiore, in a lunette, he made
another Madonna with some angels, which are held
very beautiful. And in the Chapterhouse of S. Croce,
likewise, built by the family of the Pazzi under the
direction of Pippo di Ser Brunellesco, he made all
the glazed figures that are seen therein both within
and without. And Luca is said to have sent some very
beautiful figures in full relief to the King of
Spain, together with some works in marble. For
Naples, also, he made in Florence the marble tomb
for the infant brother of the Duke of Calabria, with
many glazed ornaments, being assisted by his brother
Agostino.
After these works, Luca sought to find a way of
painting figures and scenes on a level surface of
terracotta, in order to give long life to pictures,
and made an experiment in a medallion which is above
the shrine of the four saints without Orsanmichele,
on the level surface of which, in five parts, he
made the instruments and insignia of the Guilds of
the Masters in Wood and Stone, with very beautiful
ornaments. And he made two other medallions in the
same place, in relief, in one of which, for the
Guild of Apothecaries, he made a Madonna, and in the
other, for the Mercatanzia, a lily on a bale, which
has round it a festoon of fruits and foliage of
various sorts, so well made, that they appear to be
real and not of painted terracotta. In the Church of
S. Brancazio, also, he made a tomb of marble for
Messer Benozzo Federighi, Bishop of Fiesole, and
Federighi himself lying on it, portrayed from
nature, with three other half-length figures; and in
the ornament of the pilasters of this work, on the
level surface, he painted certain festoons with
clusters of fruit and foliage, so lifelike and
natural, that nothing better could be done in oil
and on panel with the brush. Of a truth, this work
is marvellous and most rare, seeing that Luca made
the lights and shades in it so well, that it
scarcely appears possible for this to be done by the
action of fire. And if this craftsman had lived
longer than he did, even greater works would have
been seen to issue from his hands, since, a little
before he died, he had begun to make scenes and
figures painted on a level surface, whereof I once
saw some pieces in his house, which lead me to
believe that he would have easily succeeded in this,
if death, which almost always snatches the best men
away just when they are on the point of conferring
some benefit on the world, had not robbed him of
life before his time.
Luca was survived by Ottaviano and Agostino, his
brothers, and from Agostino there was born another
Luca, who was very learned in his day. Now Agostino,
pursuing the art after the death of Luca, made the
facade of S. Bernardino in Perugia in the year 1461,
with three scenes in low relief therein and four
figures in the round, executed very well and with a
delicate manner; and on this work he put his name in
these words,
AUGUSTINI FLORENTINI LAPICIDE.
Of the same family was the nephew of Luca,
Andrea, who worked very well in marble, as it is
seen in the Chapel of S. Maria delle Grazie, without
Arezzo, where he made for the Commune, in a great
ornament of marble, many little figures both in the
round and in half relief; which ornament was made
for a Virgin by the hand of Parri di Spinello of
Arezzo. The same man made the panel in terracotta
for the Chapel of Puccio di Magio, in the Church of
S. Francesco in the same city, and that representing
the Circumcision for the family of the Bacci. In S.
Maria in Grado, likewise, there is a very beautiful
panel by his hand with many figures; and on the high
altar of the Company of the Trinita there is a panel
by his hand containing a God the Father, who is
supporting Christ Crucified in His arms, surrounded
by a multitude of angels, while S. Donatus and S.
Bernard are kneeling below. In the church and in
other parts of the Sasso della Vernia, likewise, he
made many panels, which have been well preserved in
that desert place, where no painting could have
remained fresh for even a few years. The same Andrea
wrought all the figures in glazed terracotta which
are in the Loggia of the Hospital of S. Paolo in
Florence, and which are passing good ; and likewise
the boys, both swathed and nude, that are in the
medallions between one arch and another in the
Loggia of the Hospital of the Innocenti, which are
all truly admirable and prove the great talent and
art of Andrea; not to mention many, nay, innumerable
other works that he made in the course of his life,
which lasted eighty-four years. Andrea died in the
year 1528, and I, while still a boy, talked with him
and heard him say nay, boast that he had taken part
in bearing Donato to the tomb; and I remember that
the good old man showed no little pride as he spoke
of this.
But to return to Luca; he was buried, with the
rest of his family, in their ancestral tomb in S.
Piero Maggiore, and in the same tomb there was
afterwards buried Andrea, who left two sons, friars
in S. Marco, where they received the habit from the
Reverend Fra Girolamo Savonarola, to whom that Delia
Robbia family was ever devoted, portraying him in
that manner which is still seen to-day in the
medals. The same man, besides the said two friars,
had three other sons: Giovanni, who devoted himself
to art and had three sons, Marco, Lucantonio, and
Simone, who died of plague in the year 1527, having
given great promise; and Luca and Girolamo, who
devoted themselves to sculpture. Of these two, Luca
was very diligent in glazed works, and he made with
his own hand, besides many other things, the
pavements of the Papal Loggie which Pope Leo X
caused to be made in Rome under the direction of
Raffaello da Urbino, and also those of many
apartments, wherein he put the insignia of that
Pontiff. Girolamo, who was the youngest of all,
devoted himself to working in marble, in clay, and
in bronze, and had already become an able man, by
reason of competing with Jacopo Sansovino, Baccio
Bandinelli, and other masters of his time, when he
was brought by certain Florentine merchants to
France, where he made many works for King Francis at
Madri, a place not far distant from Paris, and in
particular a palace with many figures and other
ornaments, with a kind of stone like our Volterra
gypsum, but of a better quality, for it is soft when
it is worked, and afterwards with time becomes hard.
He also wrought many things in clay at Orleans
and made works throughout that whole kingdom,
acquiring fame and very great wealth. After these
works, hearing that he had no relative left in
Florence save his brother Luca, and being himself
rich and alone in the service of King Francis, he
summoned his brother to join him in those parts, in
order to leave him in credit and good circumstances,
but it fell out otherwise, for in a short time Luca
died there, and Girolamo once more found himself
alone and without any of his kin; wherefore he
resolved to return, in order to enjoy in his own
country the riches that his labor and sweat had
brought him, and also to leave therein some memorial
of himself, and he was settling down to live in
Florence in the year 1553, when he was forced to
change his mind, as it were, for he saw that Duke
Cosimo, by whom he was hoping to be honorably
employed, was occupied with the war in Siena;
whereupon he returned to die in France. And not only
did his house remain closed and his family become
extinct, but art was deprived of the true method of
making glazed work, for the reason that, although
there have been some after them who have practised
that sort of sculpture, nevertheless they have all
failed by a great measure to attain to the
excellence of the elder Luca, Andrea, and the others
of that family. Wherefore, if I have spoken on this
subject at greater length, perchance, than it
appeared to be necessary, let no man blame me,
seeing that the fact that Luca discovered this new
form of sculpture which, to my knowledge, the
ancient Romans did not have made it necessary to
discourse thereon, as I have done, at some length.
And if, after the Life of the elder Luca, I have
given some brief account of his descendants, who
have lived even to our own day, I have done this in
order not to have to return to this subject another
time.
Luca, then, while passing from one method of work
to another, from marble to bronze, and from bronze
to clay, did this not by reason of laziness or
because he was, as many are, capricious, unstable,
and dis- contented with his art, but because he felt
himself drawn by nature to new things and by
necessity to an exercise according to his taste,
both less fatiguing and more profitable. Wherefore
the world and the arts of design became the richer
by a new, useful, and most beautiful art, and he
gained immortal and everlasting glory and praise.
Luca was an excellent and graceful draughtsman, as
it may be seen from some drawings in our book with
the lights picked out with white lead, in one of
which is his portrait, made by him with much
diligence by looking at himself in a mirror.
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PAOLO UCCELLO (1397-1475)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
PAOLO UCCELLO would have been the most gracious
and fanciful genius that was ever devoted to the art
of painting, from Giotto's day to our own, if he had
labored as much at figures and animals as he labored
and lost time over the details of perspective; for
although these are ingenious and beautiful, yet if a
man pursues them beyond measure he does nothing but
waste his time, exhausts his powers, fills his mind
with difficulties, ad often transforms its fertility
and readiness into sterility and constraint, and
renders his manner, by attending more to these
details than to figures, dry and angular, which all
comes from a wish to examine things too minutely;
not to mention that very often he becomes solitary,
eccentric, melancholy, and poor, as did Paolo
Uccello.
This man, endowed by nature with a penetrating
and subtle mind, knew no other delight than to
investigate certain difficult, nay, impossible
problems of perspective, which, although they were
fanciful and beautiful, yet hindered him so greatly
in the painting of figures, that the older he grew
the worse he did them. And there is no doubt that if
a man does violence to his nature with too ardent
studies, although he may sharpen one edge of his
genius, yet nothing that he does appears done with
that facility and grace which are natural to those
who put each stroke in its proper place temperately
and with a calm intelligence full of judgment,
avoiding certain subtleties that rather burden a
manUs work with a certain laboured, dry,
constrained, and bad manner, which moves those who
see it rather to compassion than to marvel; for the
spirit of genius must be driven into action only
when the intellect wishes to set itself to work and
when the fire of inspiration is kindled, since it is
then that excellent and divine qualities and
marvellous conceptions are seen to issue forth.
Now Paolo was for ever investigating, without a
moment's intermission, the most difficult problems
of art, insomuch that he reduced to perfection the
method of drawing perspectives from the ground plans
of houses and from the profiles of buildings,
carried right up to the summits of the cornices and
the roofs, by means of intersecting lines, making
them foreshortened and diminishing towards the
centre, after having first fixed the eye level
either high or low, according to his pleasure. So
greatly, in short, did he occupy himself with these
difficulties, that he introduced a way, method, and
rule of placing figures firmly on the planes whereon
their feet are planted, and foreshortening them bit
by bit, and making them recede by a proportionate
diminution; which hitherto had always been done by
chance. He discovered, likewise, the method of
turning the intersections and arches of vaulted
roofs; the foreshortening of ceilings by means of
the convergence of the beams; and the making of
round columns at the salient angle of the walls of a
house in a manner that they curve at the corner,
and, being drawing in perspective, break the angle
and cause it to appear level.
For the sake of these investigations he kept
himself in seclusion and almost a hermit, having
little contact with anyone, and staying weeks and
months in his house without showing himself. And
although these were difficult and beautiful
problems, if he had spent that time in the study of
figures, he would have brought them to absolute
perfection; for even so he made them with passing
good draughtsmanship. But, consuming his time in
these researches, he remained throughout his whole
life more poor than famous; wherefore the sculptor
Donatello, who was very much his friend, said to him
very often--when Paolo showed him mazzocchi with
pointed ornaments, and squares drawn in perspective
from diverse aspects; spheres with seventy-two
diamond-shaped facts, with wood-shavings would round
sticks on each fact; and other fantastic devices on
which he spent and wasted his time--"Ah, Paolo, this
perspective of yours makes you abandon the substance
for the shadow; these are things that are only
useful to men who work at the inlaying of wood,
seeing that they fill their borders with chips and
shavings, with spirals both round and square, and
with other similar things."
The first pictures of Paolo were in fresco, in a
oblong niche painted in perspective, at the Hospital
of Lelmo--namely, a figure of St. Anthony the Abbot,
with St. Cosimo on one side and St. Damiano on the
other. In the Annalena, a convent of nuns, he made
two figures; and within the church of Santa Trinita,
over the left-hand door, he painted stories of St.
Francis in fresco--namely, the receiving of the
Stigmata; the supporting of the Church, which he is
upholding with his shoulders; and his conference
with St. Dominic. In Santa Maria Maggiore, also, in
a chapel near the side door which leads to San
Giovanni, where there are the panel and predella of
Masaccio, he wrought an Annunciation in Fresco,
wherein he made a building worthy of consideration,
which was something new and difficult in those
times, seeing that it was the first possessing any
beauty of manner which was see by craftsmen, showing
them with grace and proportion how to manage the
receding of lines, and how to give so great an
extent to a level space which is small and confined,
that it appears far distant and large; and when to
this, with judgment and grace, men can add shadows
and lights by means of colours in their proper
places, thee is no doubt that they cause an illusion
to the eye, so that it appears that the painting is
real and in relief. And not being satisfied with
this, he wished to demonstrate even greater
difficulties in some columns, which, foreshortened
in perspective, curve round and break the salient
angle of the vaulting wherein are the four
Evangelists; which was held something beautiful and
difficult, and, in truth, in that branch of his
profession Paolo was ingenious and able.
In a cloister of San Miniato outside of Florence,
also, he wrought the lives of the Holy Fathers,
chiefly in terra verde, and partly in colour;
wherein he paid little regard to effecting harmony
by painting with one colour, as should be done in
painting stories, for he made the fields blue, the
cities red, and the buildings varied according to
his pleasure; and in this he was at fault, for
something which is meant to represent stone cannot
and should not be tinted with another colour. It is
said that while Paolo was labouring at this work,
the Abbot who was then head of that place gave him
scarcely anything to eat but cheese. Wherefore
Paolo, having grown weary of this, determined, like
the shy fellow that he was, to go more to work
there; whereupon the Abbot sent to look for him, and
Paolo, when he heard friars asking for him, would
never be at home, and if by chance he met any
couples of that Order in the streets of Florence, he
would start running and flying from them with all
his might.
Now two of them, more curious than the rest and
younger than Paolo, caught him up one day and asked
him for what reason he did not return to finish the
work that he had begun, and why he fled at the sight
of a friar; and Paolo answered: "You have murdered
me in a manner that I not only fly from you, but
cannot show myself near any carpenter's shop or pass
by one, and all because of the thoughtlessness of
your Abbot, who, what with pies and and with soups
always made of cheese, has crammed so much cheese
into me that I am in terror lest, being nothing but
cheese, they may use me for making glue. And if it
were to go on any longer, I would probably be no
more Paolo, but cheese." The friars, leaving him
with peals of laughter, told everything to the
Abbot, who made him return to his work, and ordered
him some other fare than cheese.
After this, he painted the dossal of St. Cosimo
and St. Damiano in the Carmine, in the Chapel of St.
Girolamo (of the Pugliesi). In the house of the
Medici he painted some scenes on canvas and in
distemper, representing animals; in these he eve
took delight, and in order to paint them well he
gave them very great attention, and, what is more,
he kept ever in his house pictures of birds, cats,
dogs and every sort of strange animal whereof he
could get the likeness, being unable to have them
alive by reason of his poverty; and because he
delighted in birds more than in any other kind, he
was given the name of "Paolo of the Birds" (Paolo
Uccelli).
In the said house, among other pictures of
animals, he made some lions, which were fighting
together with movements and a ferocity so terrible
that they appeared alive. But the rarest scene among
them all was one wherein a serpent, combating with a
lion, was showing its ferocity with violent
movements, with the venom spurting from its mount
and eyes, while a country girl who is present is
looking after an ox made with most beautiful
foreshortening. The actual drawing for this ox, by
the hand of Paolo, is in my book of drawings, and
likewise that of the peasant girl, all full of ear,
and in the act of running away from those animals.
Thee are likewise certain very lifelike shepherds,
and a landscape which was held something very
beautiful in his time. In the other canvases he made
some studies of men-at-arms of those times, on
horseback, with not a few portraits from the life.
Afterwards he was commissioned to paint some
scenes in the cloister of Santa Maria Novella; and
the first, which are at the entrance from the church
into the cloister, represent the Creation of the
animals, with an infinite number and variety of
kinds belonging to water, earth, and air. And since
he was very fanciful and took great delight, as it
has been said, in painting animals to perfection, he
showed in certain lions, who are seeking to bite
each other, the great ferocity that is in them, and
swiftness and fear in some stags and fallow-deer;
not to mention that the birds and fishes, with their
feathers and scales, are most lifelike. He made
there the Creation of man and of woman, and their
Fall, with a beautiful manner and with good and
careful execution. And in this work he took delight
in making the trees with colours, which the painters
of those times were not wont to do very well; and in
the landscapes, likewise, he was the first among the
old painters to make a name for himself by his work,
executing them well and with greater perfection than
the painters before him had done; although
afterwards there came men who made them more
perfect, for with all his labour he was never able
to give them that softness and harmony which have
been given to them in our ow day by painting them in
oil-colours.
It was enough for Paolo to go on, according to
the rules of perspective, drawing and foreshortening
them exactly as they are, making in them all that he
saw--namely, ploughed fields, ditches, and other
minutenesses of nature--with that dry and hard
manner of his; whereas, if he had picked out the
best from everything and had made use of those parts
only that come out well in painting, they would have
been absolutely perfect. This labour finished, he
worked in the same cloister below two stories by the
had of others; and lower down he painted the Flood,
with Noah's Ark, into which he put so great pains
and so great art and diligence into the painting of
the dead bodies, the tempest, the fury of the winds,
the flashes of the lightning, the shattering of
trees, and the terror of men, that it is beyond all
description. And he made, foreshortened in
perspective, a corpse from which a raven is picking
out the eyes, and a drowned boy, whose body, being
full of water, is swollen out into the shape of a
very great arch. He also represented various human
emotions, such as the little fear of the water shown
by the two men who are fighting on horseback, and
the extreme terror of death seen in a woman and a
man who are mounted on a buffalo, which is filling
with water from behind, so that they are losing all
hope of being able to save themselves; and the whole
work is so good and so excellent, that it brought
him very great fame.
He diminished the figures, moreover, by means of
lines in perspective, and made mazzocchi and other
things, truly very beautiful in such a work. Below
this story, likewise, he painted the drunkenness of
Noah, with the contemptuous action of his son
Hamm--in whom he portrayed Dello, the Florentine
painter and sculptor, his friend--with Shem and
Japhet, his other sons, who are covering him up as
he lies showing his nakedness. Here, likewise, he
made in perspective a cask that curves on every
side, which was held something very beautiful, and
also a pergola covered with grapes, the wood-work of
which, composed of squared planks, goes on
diminishing to a point; but here he was in error,
since the diminishing of the plane below, on which
the figures are standing, follows the lines of the
pergola, and the cask does not follow these same
receding lines; wherefore I marvel greatly that a
man so accurate and diligent could make an error so
notable. He made there also the Sacrifice, with the
Ark open and drawn in perspective, with the rows of
perches in the upper part, distributed row by row;
these were the resting-places of the birds, many
kinds of which are seen issuing and flying forth in
foreshortening, while in the sky there is seen God
the Father, who is appearing over the sacrifice that
Noah and his sons are making; and this figure, of
all those that Paolo made in this work, is the most
difficult, for it is flying, with the head
foreshortened, towards the wall, and has such force
and relief that it seems to be piercing and breaking
through it. Besides this, Noah has round him an
infinite number of diverse animals, all most
beautiful. In short, he gave to all this work so
great softness and grace, that it is beyond
comparison superior to all his others; wherefore it
has been greatly praised from that time up to our
own.
In Santa Maria del Fiore, in memory of Giovanni
Acuto, an Englishman, Captain of the Florentines,
who had died in the year 1393, he made in terra
verde a horse of extraordinary grandeur, which was
held very beautiful, and on it the image of the
Captain himself, in chiaroscuro and coloured with
terra verde, in a picture ten braccia high on the
middle of one wall of the church; where Paolo drew
in perspective a large sarcophagus, supposed to
contain the corpse, and over this he placed the
image of him in his Captain's armour, on horseback.
This work was and still is held to be something very
beautiful for a painting of that kind, and if Paolo
had not made that horse move its legs on one side
only, which naturally horses do not do, or they
would fall--and this perchance came about because he
was not accustomed to ride, nor used to horses as he
was to other animals--this work would be absolutely
perfect, since the proportion of that horse, which
is colossal, is very beautiful; and on the base
there are these letters: PAULI UCCELLI OPUS.
At the same time, and in the same church, he
painted in colours the hour-dial above the principal
door within the church, with four heads coloured in
fresco at the corners. He wrought in terra verde,
also, the loggia that faces towards the west above
the garden of the Monastery of the Angeli, painting
below each arch a story of the acts of St. Benedict
the Abbot, and of the most notable events of his
life, up to his death. Here, among many most
beautiful scenes, there is one in which a monastery
is destroyed by the agency of the Devil, while a
friar is left dead below the stones and beams. No
less notable is the terror of another monk, whose
draperies, as he flies, cling round his nude form
and flutter with most beautiful grace; whereby Paolo
awakened the minds of the craftsmen so greatly, that
they have ever afterwards followed that method. Very
beautiful, also, is the figure of St. Benedict, the
while that with dignity and devoutness, in the
presence of his monks, he restores the dead friar to
life. Finally, in all these stories there are
features worthy of consideration, and above all in
certain places where the very tiles of the roof,
whether flat or round, are drawn in perspective. And
in the death of St. Benedict, while his monks are
performing his obsequies and bewailing him, there
are some sick men and cripples, all most beautiful,
who stand gazing on him; and it is noticeable, also,
that among many loving and devout followers of that
Saint there is an old monk with crutches under his
arms, in whom there is seen a marvellous expression,
with even a hope of being made whole. In this work
there are no landscapes in colour, nor many
buildings, nor difficult perspectives, but there is
truly great design, with no little of the good.
In many houses of Florence there are many
pictures in perspective by the had of the same man,
for the adornment of couches, beds, and other little
things; and in Gualfonda, in particular, on a
terrace in the garden which once belonged to the
Bartolini, there are four battle-scenes painted on
wood by his hand, full of horses and armed men, with
very beautiful costumes of those days; and among the
men are portraits of Paolo Orsino, Ottobuono da
Parma, Luca da Canale, and Carlo Malatesti, Lord of
Rimini, all captains-general of those times. And
these pictures, since they were spoilt and had
suffered injury, were restored in our own day by the
agency of Giuliano Bugiardini, who did them more
harm than good.
Paolo was summoned to Padua by Donatello, when
the latter was working there, and at the entrance of
the house of the Vitali he painted some giants in
terra verde, which, as I have found in a Latin
letter written by Girolamo Campagnola to Messer
Leonico Tomeo, the philosopher, are so beautiful
that Andrea Mantegna held them in very great
account. Paolo wrought in fresco the Volta
de'Peruzzi, with triangular sections in perspective,
and in the angles of the corners he painted the four
elements, making for each an appropriate animal--for
the earth a mole, for the water a fish, for the fire
a salamander, and for the air a chameleon, which
lives on it and assumes any colour. And because he
had never seen a chameleon, he painted a camel,
which is opening its mouth and swallwing air, and
therewith filling its belly; and great, indeed, was
his simplicity in making allusion by means of the
name of the camel to an animal that is like a little
dry lizard, and in representing it by a great
uncouth beast.
Truly great were the labours of Paolo in
painting, for he drew so much that he left to his
relatives, as I have learnt from their own lips,
whole chests of drawings. But, although it is a good
thing to draw, it is nevertheless better to make
complete pictures, seeing that pictures have longer
life than drawings. In our book of drawings there
are many figures, studies in perspective, birds, and
animals, beautiful to a marvel, but the best of all
is a mazzocchio drawn only with lines, so beautiful
that nothing save the patience of Paolo could have
executed it. Paolo, although he was an eccentric
person, loved talent in his fellow craftsmen, and in
order that some memory of them might go down to
posterity, he painted five distinguished men with
his own hand on a long panel, which he kept in his
house in memory of them. One was Giotto, the
painter, standing for the light and origin of art;
the second was Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, for the
architecture; Donatello, for sculpture; himself, for
perspective and animals; and, for mathematics,
Giovanni Manetti, his friend, with whom he often
conferred and discoursed on the problems of Euclid.
It is said that having been commissioned to
paint, over the door of San Tommaso in the Mercato
Vecchio, that Saint feeling for the would in the
side of Christ, Paolo put into that work all the
effort that he could, saying that he wished to show
the full extent of his worth and knowledge; and so
he caused a screen of planks to be made, to the end
that no one might be able to see his work until it
was finished. Donatello, meeting him one day all
alone, said to him: "And what sort of work may this
be of yours, that you keep it screened so closely?"
And Paolo said in answer: "You will see it. Let that
satisfy you." Donatello would not constrain him to
say more, thinking to see some miracle, as usual,
when the time came. Afterwards, chancing one morning
to be in the Mercato Vecchio buying fruit, Donatello
saw Paolo uncovering his work, whereupon he saluted
him courteously, and was asked by Paolo himself, who
was curious and anxious to hear his judgment on it,
what he thought of that picture. Donatello, having
studied the work long and well, exclaimed: "Ah,
Paolo, you should be covering it up, and here you
are uncovering it!" At this Paolo was much
aggrieved, feeling that he was receiving much more
by way of blame than he expected to receive by way
of praise for this last labour of his; and not
having courage, lowered as he was, to go out any
more, he shut himself up in his house, devoting
himself to perspective, which kept him ever poor and
depressed up to his death. And so, growing very old,
and having but little contentment in his old age, he
died in the eighty-third year of his life, in 1432
[sic; ca. 1472], and was buried in Santa Maria
Novella.
He left a daughter, who had knowledge of drawing,
and a wife, who was wont to say that Paolo would
stay in his study all night, seeking to solve the
problems of perspective, and that when she called
him to come to bed, he would say "Oh, what a sweet
thing is this perspective!" And in truth, if it was
sweet to him, it was not otherwise than dear and
useful, thanks to him, to those who exercised
themselves therein after his time.
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LORENZO GHIBERTI (1378-1455)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
THERE IS NO DOUBT that in every city those who,
by reason of any talent, come into some fame among
men, are a most blessed light and example to many
who are either born after them or live in the same
age, not to mention the infinite praise and the
extraordinary rewards that they themselves gain
thereby while living. Nor is there anything that
does more to arouse the minds of men, and to render
the discipline of study less fatiguing to them, than
the honour and profit which are afterwards won by
laboring at the arts, for the reason that these make
every difficult undertaking easy to them all, and
give a greater stimulus to the growth of their
talents, when they are urged to greater efforts by
the praises of the world. Wherefore infinite numbers
of men, who feel and see this, put themselves to
great fatigues, in order to attain to the honor of
winning that which they see to have been won by some
compatriot; and for this reason in ancient times men
of talent were rewarded with riches, or honored with
triumphs and images. But since it is seldom that
talent is not persecuted by envy, men must continue
to the best of their power, by means of the utmost
excellence, to assure it of victory, or at least to
make it stout and strong to sustain the attacks of
that enemy; even as Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti,
otherwise called Di Bartoluccio, was enabled to do
both by his own merits and by fortune. This man well
deserved the honor of being placed before themselves
by the sculptor Donato and by the architect and
sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi, both excellent
craftsmen, since they recognized, in truth, although
instinct perchance constrained them to do the
contrary, that Lorenzo was a better master of
casting than they were. This truly brought glory to
them, and confusion to many who, presuming on their
worth, set themselves to work and occupy the place
due to the talents of others, and without producing
any fruits themselves, but laboring a thousand years
at the making of one work, impede and oppress the
knowledge of others with malignity and with envy.
Lorenzo, then, was the son of Bartoluccio
Ghiberti, and from his earliest years learnt the art
of the goldsmith from his father, who was an
excellent master and taught him that business, which
Lorenzo grasped so well that he became much better
therein than his father. But delighting much more in
the arts of sculpture and design, he would sometimes
handle colors, and at other times would cast little
figures in bronze and finish them with much grace.
He also delighted in counterfeiting the dies of
ancient medals, and he portrayed many of his friends
from the life in his time.
Now, while he was working with Bartoluccio and
seeking to make progress in his profession, the
plague came to Florence in the year 1400, as he
himself relates in a book by his own hand wherein he
discourses on the subject of art, which is now in
the possession of the Reverend Maestro Cosimo
Bartoli, a gentleman of Florence. To this plague
were added civil discords and other troubles in the
city, and he was forced to depart and to go in
company with another painter to Romagna, where they
painted for Signer Pandolfo Malatesti, in Rimini, an
apartment and many other works, which were finished
by them with diligence and to the satisfaction of
that Lord, who, although still young, took great
delight in matters of design. Meanwhile Lorenzo did
not cease to study the arts of design, and to work
in relief with wax, stucco, and other similar
materials, knowing very well that these small
reliefs are the drawing exercises of sculptors, and
that without such practice nothing can be brought by
them to perfection. Now, when he had been no long
time out of his own country, the pestilence ceased;
wherefore the Signoria of Florence and the Guild of
Merchants since at that time sculpture had many
excellent craftsmen, both foreign and Florentine
determined that there should be made, as it had been
already discussed many times, the other two doors of
S. Giovanni, a very ancient temple, indeed, the
oldest in that city; and they ordained among
themselves that instructions should be sent to all
the masters who were held the best in Italy, to
repair to Florence in order that their powers might
be tested by a specimen scene in bronze, similar to
one of those which Andrea Pisano had formerly made
for the first door.
Word of this determination was written to
Lorenzo, who was working at Pesaro, by Bartoluccio,
urging him to return to Florence in order to give a
proof of his powers, and saying that this was an
occasion to make himself known and to demonstrate
his genius, not to mention that he might gain such
profit that neither the one nor the other of them
would ever again need to labor at making earrings.
The words of Bartoluccio stirred the spirit of
Lorenzo so greatly, that although Signor Pandolfo,
with all his Court and the other painter, kept
showing him the greatest favor, Lorenzo took leave
of that lord and of the painter, and they, with
great unwillingness and displeasure, allowed him to
go, neither promises nor increase of payment
availing to detain him, since to Lorenzo every hour
appeared a thousand years until he could return to
Florence. Having departed, therefore, he arrived
safely in his own city. Many foreigners had already
assembled and presented themselves to the Consuls of
the Guild, by whom seven masters were elected out of
the whole number, three being Florentines and the
others Tuscans; and it was ordained that they should
have an allowance of money, and that within a year
each man should finish a scene in bronze by way of
test, of the same size as those in the first door.
And for the subject they chose the story of Abraham
sacrificing his son Isaac, wherein they thought that
the said masters should be able to show their powers
with regard to the difficulties of their art, seeing
that this story contained landscapes, figures both
nude and clothed, and animals, while the foremost
figures could be made in full relief, the second in
half relief, and the third in low relief.
The competitors for this work were Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, Donato, and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio, all
Florentines; Jacopo della Quercia of Siena, and
Niccolo d' Arezzo, his pupil; Francesco di
Valdambrina; and Simone da Colle, called Simone de'
Brozzi. All these men promised before the Consuls
that they would deliver their scenes finished within
the said time; and each making a beginning with his
own, with all zeal and diligence they exerted all
their strength and knowledge in order to surpass one
another in excellence, keeping their work hidden and
most secret, lest they should copy each other's
ideas. Lorenzo alone, who had Bartoluccio to guide
him and to compel him to labor at many models before
they resolved to adopt any one of them Lorenzo alone
was ever inviting the citizens, and sometimes any
passing stranger who had some knowledge of the art,
to see his work, in order to hear what they thought
and these opinions enabled him to execute a model
very well wrought and without one defect. And so,
when he had made the moulds and cast the work in
bronze, it came out very well; whereupon, with his
father Bartoluccio, he polished it with such love
and patience that nothing could be executed or
finished better. And when the time came for
comparing the various works, his and those of the
other masters were completely finished, and were
given to the Guild of Merchants for judgment; but
after all had been seen by the Consuls and by many
other citizens, diverse opinions were expressed
about them. Many foreigners had assembled in
Florence, some painters, some sculptors, and others
goldsmiths; and they were invited by the Consuls to
give judgment on these works, together with the
other men of that profession who lived in Florence.
They numbered thirty-four in all, each well
experienced in his own art. Now, although there were
differences of opinion among them, some liking the
manner of one man and some that of another,
nevertheless they were agreed that Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio had composed
and completed their scenes better and with a richer
abundance of figures than Donato had done in his,
although in that one, also, there was grand design.
In that of Jacopo della Quercia the figures were
good, but they had no delicacy, although they were
made with design and diligence. The work of
Francesco di Valdambrina had good heads and was well
finished, but was confused in the composition. That
of Simone da Colle was a beautiful casting, because
the doing of this was his art, but it had not much
design. The specimen of Niccolo d' Arezzo, which was
made with good mastery, had the figures squat and
was badly finished. Only that scene which Lorenzo
made as a specimen, which is still seen in the
Audience Chamber of the Guild of Merchants, was in
every part wholly perfect. The whole work had
design, and was very well composed. The figures had
so graceful a manner, being made with grace and with
very beautiful attitudes, and the whole was finished
with so great diligence, that it appeared not made
by casting and polished with tools of iron, but
blown with the breath. Donato and Filippo, seeing
the diligence that Lorenzo had used in his work,
drew aside, and, conferring together, they resolved
that the work should be given to Lorenzo, it
appearing to them that thus both the public and the
private interest would be best served, and that
Lorenzo, being a young man not more than twenty
years of age, would be able to produce by this
exercise of his profession those greater fruits that
were foreshadowed by the beautiful scene which he,
in their judgment, had executed more excellently
than the others; saying that there would have been
more sign of envy in taking it from him, than there
was justice in giving it to him.
Beginning the work of that door, then, for that
entrance which is opposite to the Office of Works of
S. Giovanni, Lorenzo made for one part of it a large
framework of wood, of the exact size that it was to
be, with mouldings, and with the ornaments of the
heads at the corners, round the various spaces
wherein the scenes were to be placed, and with those
borders that were to go round them. Having then made
and dried the mould with all diligence, he made a
very great furnace (that I remember seeing) in a
room that he had hired opposite to S. Maria Nuova,
where to-day there is the Hospital of the Weavers,
on the spot that was called the Aia, and he cast the
said framework in bronze. But, as chance would have
it, it did not come out well; wherefore, having
realized the mischief, without losing heart or
giving way to depression, he promptly made another
mould and cast it again, without telling anyone
about it, and it came out very well. Whereupon he
went on and continued the whole work in this manner,
casting each scene by itself, and putting it, when
finished, into its place. The arrangement of the
scenes was similar to that which Andrea Pisano had
formerly made in the first door, which Giotto
designed for him. He made therein twenty scenes from
the New Testament; and below, in eight spaces
similar to these, after the said scenes, he made the
four Evangelists, two on each side of the door, and
likewise the four Doctors of the Church, in the same
manner; which figures are all different in their
attitudes and their draperies. One is writing,
another is reading, others are in contemplation, and
all, being varied one from another, appear lifelike
and very well executed; not to mention that in the
framework of the border surrounding the scenes in
squares there is a frieze of ivy leaves and other
kinds of foliage, with mouldings between each; and
on every corner is the head of a man or a woman in
the round, representing prophets and sibyls, which
are very beautiful, and demonstrate with their
variety the excellence of the genius of Lorenzo.
Above the aforesaid Doctors and Evangelists,
which are in the four squares below, there follows,
on the side towards S. Maria del Fiore, the first
scene; and here, in the first square, is the
Annunciation of Our Lady, wherein, in the attitude
of the Virgin, he depicted terror and a sudden
alarm, as she turns away gracefully by reason of the
coming of the Angel. And next to this he made the
Nativity of Christ, wherein the Madonna, having
given birth to Him, is lying down and taking repose;
with Joseph in contemplation, the shepherds, and the
Angels singing. In the scene next to this, on the
other half of the door, on the same level, there
follows the story of the coming of the Magi, and of
their adoration of Christ, while they give Him their
tribute; and their Court is following them, with
horses and other equipage, wrought with great
genius. And beside this, likewise, there is His
Disputation with the Doctors in the Temple, wherein
the admiration and the attention which the Doctors
give to Christ are no less well expressed than the
joy of Mary and Joseph at finding Him again.
Above these beginning again over the Annunciation
there follows the story of the Baptism of Christ by
John in the Jordan, wherein there are seen in their
gestures the reverence of the one and the faith of
the other. Beside this there follows the Temptation
of Christ by the Devil, who, terrified by the words
of Jesus, stands in an attitude of terror, showing
thereby that he knows Him to be the Son of God. Next
to this, on the other side, is the scene where He is
driving the traders from the Temple, overturning
their money and the victims, doves, and other
merchandise; wherein the figures, falling over each
other, have a very beautiful and well conceived
grace in their headlong flight. Next to this Lorenzo
placed the shipwreck of the Apostles, wherein S.
Peter is issuing from the ship and is sinking into
the water, and Christ is upholding him. This scene
shows an abundance of various gestures in the
Apostles, who are toiling to save the ship; and the
faith of S. Peter is recognized in his coming
towards Christ. Beginning again above the story of
the Baptism, on the other side, there is His
Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, wherein Lorenzo
demonstrated, in the attitudes of the three
Apostles, how celestial visions dazzle the eyes of
mortals; even as the Divinity of Christ is also
recognized as He holds His head high and His arms
outstretched, between Elias and Moses. And next to
this is the Resurrection of the dead Lazarus, who,
having issued from the sepulchre, is standing
upright with his feet and his hands bound, to the
marvel of the bystanders. Martha is there, with Mary
Magdalene, who is kissing the feet of the Lord with
very great humility and reverence.
Beside this, on the other half of the door, there
follows the scene when He rides on an ass into
Jerusalem, while the children of the Hebrews, in
various attitudes, are casting their garments on the
ground, with the olives and palms ; not to mention
the Apostles, who are following the Saviour. And
next to this is the Last Supper, very beautiful and
well composed, the Apostles being placed at a long
table, half on the near side and half on the farther
side. Above the scene of the Transfiguration there
is the Prayer in the Garden, wherein the three
Apostles are seen asleep in various attitudes. And
beside this there follows the scene when He is taken
and Judas kisses Him, wherein there are many things
worthy of consideration, since we see therein both
the Apostles, who are flying, and the Jews, who, in
taking Christ, are making most violent gestures and
efforts. On the other side, next to this, is the
scene when He is bound to the Column, wherein is the
figure of Jesus Christ writhing not a little with
the pain of the blows, in a pitiful attitude, while
there are seen, in those gestures that the Jews who
are scourging Him are making, terrible rage and lust
of vengeance. Next to this there follows the leading
of Christ before Pilate, who washes his hands and
condemns Him to the Cross. Above the Prayer in the
Garden, on the other side and in the last row of
scenes, is Christ bearing His Cross and going to His
death, led by a crowd of soldiers, who appear, with
strange attitudes, to be dragging Him by force;
besides the gestures of sorrow and lamentation that
the Maries are making, insomuch that one who was
present could not have seen them better. Beside this
he made Christ on the Cross, and Our Lady and S.
John the Evangelist seated on the ground, with
gestures full of sorrow and wrath. Next to this, on
the other side, there follows His Resurrection,
wherein the guards, stunned by the thunder, are
lying like dead men, while Christ is ascending on
high in such an attitude that He truly appears
glorified, by reason of the perfection of His
beautiful limbs, wrought by the most ingenious
industry of Lorenzo. In the last space is the coming
of the Holy Spirit, wherein are very sweet
expressions and attitudes in those who are receiving
it.
This work was brought to that completion and
perfection without sparing any labor or time that
could be devoted to a work in bronze, seeing that
the limbs of the nudes are most beautiful in every
part; and in the draperies, although they hold a
little to the old manner of Giotto's time, there is
a general feeling that inclines to the manner of the
moderns, and produces, in figures of that size, a
certain very lovely grace. And in truth the
composition of each scene is so well ordered and so
finely arranged, that he rightly deserved to obtain
that praise which Filippo had given him at the
beginning nay, even more. And in like manner he
gained most honorable recognition among his fellow
citizens, and was consummately extolled by them and
by the native and foreign craftsmen. The cost of
this work, with the exterior ornaments, which are
also of bronze, wrought with festoons of fruits and
with animals, was 22,000 florins, and the bronze
door weighed 34,000 libbre.
This work finished, it appeared to the Consuls of
the Guild of Merchants that they had been very well
served, and by reason of the praises given by all to
Lorenzo they determined that he should make a statue
of bronze, four braccia and a half high, in memory
of S. John the Baptist on a pilaster without
Orsanmichele, in one of the niches there namely, the
one facing the Clothdressers. This he began, nor did
he ever leave it until he delivered it finished. It
was and still is a work highly raised, and in it, on
the mantle, he made a border of letters, wherein he
wrote his own name. In this work, which was placed
in position in the year 1414, there is seen the
beginning of the good modern manner, in the head, in
an arm which appears to be living flesh, in the
hands, and in the whole attitude of the figure. He
was thus the first who began to imitate the works of
the ancient Romans, whereof he was an ardent
student, as all must be who desire to do good work.
And in the frontal of that shrine he tried his hand
at mosaic, making therein a half-length prophet.
The fame of Lorenzo, by reason of his most
profound mastery in casting, had now spread
throughout all Italy and abroad, insomuch that
Jacopo della Fonte, Vecchietto of Siena, and Donato
having made for the Signoria of Siena some scenes
and figures in bronze that were to adorn the
baptismal font of their Church of S. Giovanni, the
people of Siena, having seen the works of Lorenzo in
Florence, came to an agree- ment with him and caused
him to make two scenes from the life of S. John the
Baptist. In one he made S. John baptizing Christ,
accom- panying it with an abundance of figures, both
nude and very richly draped; and in the other he
made S. John being taken and led before Herod. In
these scenes he surpassed and excelled the men who
had made the others; wherefore he was consummately
praised by the people of Siena, and by all others
who have seen them.
The Masters of the Mint in Florence had a statue
to make for one of those niches that are round
Orsanmichele, opposite to the Guild of Wool, and it
was to be a S. Matthew, of the same height as the
aforesaid S. John. Wherefore they allotted it to
Lorenzo, who executed it to perfection; and it was
much more praised than the S. John, for he made it
more in the modern manner. This statue brought it
about that the Consuls of the Guild of Wool
determined that he should make in the same place,
for the niche next to that, a statue likewise in
bronze, which should be of the same proportions as
the other two, representing S. Stephen, their Patron
Saint. And he brought it to completion, giving a
very beautiful varnish to the bronze; and this
statue gave no less satisfaction than the other
works already wrought by him.
The General of the Preaching Friars at that time,
Maestro Lionardo Dati, wishing to leave a memorial
of himself to his country in S. Maria Novella, where
he had taken his vows, caused Lorenzo to construct a
tomb of bronze, with himself lying dead thereon,
portrayed from nature; and this tomb, which was
admired and extolled, led to another being erected
by Lodovico degli Albizzi and Niccolo Valori in S.
Croce.
After these things, Cosimo and Lorenzo de'
Medici, wishing to honor the bodies and relics of
the three martyrs, Protus, Hyacinthus, and Nemesius,
had them brought from the Casentino, where they had
been held in little veneration for many years, and
caused Lorenzo to make a sarcophagus of bronze, in
the middle of which are two angels in low-relief who
are holding a garland of olive, within which are the
names of those martyrs; and they caused the said
relics to be put into the said sarcophagus, which
they placed in the Church of the Monastery of the
Angeli in Florence, with these words below, carved
in marble, on the side of the church of the monks:
CLARISSIMI VIRI COSMAS ET LAURENTIUS FRATRES
NEGLECTAS DIU
SANCTORUM RELIQUIAS MARTYRUM RELIGIOSO STUDIO AC
FIDELISSIMA
PIETATE SUIS SUMPTIBUS NEREIS LOCULIS CONDENDAS
COLENDASQUE
CURARUNT.
And on the outer side, facing the little church
in the direction of the street, below a coat of arms
of balls, there are these other words carved on
marble:
HIC CONDITA SUNT CORPORA SANCTORUM CHRISTI
MARTYRUM PROTI ET
HYACINTHI ET NEMESII, ANN. DOM. 1428.
And by reason of this work, which succeeded very
nobly, there came a wish to the Wardens of Works of
S. Maria del Fiore to have a sarcophagus and tomb of
bronze made to contain the body of S. Zanobi, Bishop
of Florence. This tomb was three braccia and a half
in length, and two in height; and besides adorning
it with diverse varied orna- ments, he made therein
on the front of the body of the sarcophagus itself a
scene with S. Zanobi restoring to life a child which
had been left in his charge by the mother, and which
had died while she was on a pilgrimage. In a second
scene is another child, who has been killed by a
wagon, and also the Saint restoring to life one of
the two servants sent to him by S. Ambrose, who had
been left dead on the Alps; and the other is there,
making lamentation in the presence of S. Zanobi,
who, seized with compassion, said: "Go, he doth but
sleep; thou wilt find him alive." And at the back
are six little angels, who are holding a garland of
elm-leaves, within which are carved letters in
memory and in praise of that Saint. This work he
executed and finished with the utmost ingenuity and
art, insomuch that it received extraordinary praise
as something beautiful.
The while that the works of Lorenzo were every
day adding lustre to his name, by reason of his
laboring and serving innumerable persons, working in
bronze as well as in silver and gold, it chanced
that there fell into the hands of Giovanni, son of
Cosimo de' Medici, a very large cornelian containing
the flaying of Marsyas by command of Apollo,
engraved in intaglio ; which cornelian, so it is
said, once served the Emperor Nero for a seal. And
it being something rare, by reason both of the size
of the stone, which was very great, and of the
marvellous beauty of the intaglio, Giovanni gave it
to Lorenzo, to the end that he might make a gold
ornament in relief round it; and he, after toiling
at it for many months, finished it completely,
making round it a work in relief of a beauty not
inferior to the excellence and perfection of the
intaglio on the stone; which work brought it about
that he wrought many other things in gold and
silver, which today are not to be found. For Pope
Martin, likewise, he made a gold button which he
wore in his cope, with figures in full relief, and
among them jewels of very great price a very
excellent work; and likewise a most marvellous mitre
of gold leaves in openwork, and among them many
little figures in full relief, which were held very
beautiful. And for this work, besides the name, he
acquired great profit from the liberality of that
Pontiff. In the year 1439, Pope Eugenius came to
Florence where the Council was held in order to
unite the Greek Church with the Roman; and seeing
the works of Lorenzo, and being no less pleased with
his person than with the works themselves, he caused
him to make a mitre of gold, weighing fifteen
libbre, with pearls weighing five libbre and a half,
which, with the jewels set in the mitre, were
estimated at 30,000 ducats of gold. It is said that
in this work were six pearls as big as filberts, and
it is impossible to imagine, as was seen later in a
drawing of it, anything more beautiful and bizarre
than the settings of the jewels and the great
variety of chil- dren and other figures, which
served for many varied and graceful orna- ments. For
this work he received infinite favors from that
Pontiff, both for himself and his friends, besides
the original payment.
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MASOLINO DA PANICALE (1400-1447)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
TRULY GREAT, I believe, must be the contentment
of those who are approaching the highest rank in the
science wherein they are laboring; and those,
likewise, who, besides the delight and pleasure that
they feel in working valiantly, enjoy some fruit
from their labors, without doubt live a quiet and
very happy life. And if perchance it comes to pass
that one, while advancing towards perfection in any
science or art, is overtaken by death in the happy
course of his life, his memory does not become
wholly spent, if only he has labored worthily in
order to attain to the true end of his art.
Wherefore every man should labor the most that he
can in order to attain to perfection, since,
although he may be hindered in the midst of his
course, he will gain praise, if not for the works
that he has not been able to finish, at least for
the excellent intention and diligent study which are
seen in the little that he leaves behind.
Masolino da Panicale of Valdelsa, who was a
disciple of Lorenzo di Bartoluccio Ghiberti, was a
very good goldsmith in his youth, and the best
finisher that Lorenzo had in the labor of the doors;
and he was very dexterous and able in making the
draperies of the figures, and had very good manner
and understanding in the work of finishing.
Wherefore with his chisel he made with all the more
dexterity certain soft and delicate hollows, both in
human limbs and in draperies. He devoted himself to
painting at the age of nineteen, and practised it
ever afterwards, learning the art of colouring from
Gherardo Stamina. And having gone to Rome in order
to study, the while that he dwelt there he painted
the hall of the old house of the Orsini on Monte
Giordano; and then, having returned to Florence by
reason of a pain in the head that the air was
causing him, he made in the Carmine, beside the
Chapel of the Crucifixion, that figure of S. Peter
which is still seen there. This figure, being
praised by the craftsmen, brought it about that he
was commissioned to adorn the Chapel of the
Brancacci, in the said church, with the stories of
S. Peter; of which chapel, with great diligence, he
brought a part to completion, as on the vaulting,
where there are the four Evangelists, with Christ
taking Andrew and Peter from the nets and then Peter
weeping for the sin committed in denying Him, and
next to that his preaching in order to convert the
Gentiles. He painted there the shipwreck of the
Apostles in the tempest, and the scene when S. Peter
is delivering his daughter Petronilla from sickness;
and in the same scene he made him going with S. John
to the Temple, where, in front of the portico, there
is the lame beggar asking him for alms, and S.
Peter, not being able to give him either gold or
silver, is delivering him with the sign of the
Cross. Throughout all that work the figures are made
with very good grace, and they show grandeur in the
manner, softness and harmony in the coloring, and
relief and force in the draughtsmanship; the work
was much esteemed by reason of its novelty and of
the methods used in many parts, which were totally
different from the manner of Giotto; but, being
overtaken by death, he left these scenes unfinished.
Masolino was a person of very good powers, with
much harmony and facility in his pictures, which are
seen to have been executed with diligence and with
great love. This zeal and this willingness to labor,
which he never ceased to show, brought about in him
a bad habit of body, which ended his life before his
time and snatched him prematurely from the world.
Masolino died young, at the age of thirty-seven,
cutting short the expectations that people had
conceived of him. His pictures date about the year
1440. And Paolo Schiayp who painted the Madonna and
the figures with their feet foreshortened on the
cornice on the Canto de' Gori in Florence strove
greatly to the manner of Masolino, from whose works,
having studied them many times, I find his manner
very different from that of those who were before
him, seeing that he added majesty to the figures,
and gave softness and a beautiful flow of folds to
the draperies. The heads of his figures, also, are
much better than those made before his day, for he
was a little more successful in making the roundness
of the eyes, and many other beautiful parts of the
body. And since he began to have a good knowledge of
light and shade, seeing that he worked in relief, he
made many difficult foreshortenings very well, as is
seen in that beggar who is seeking alms from S.
Peter; for his leg, which is trailing behind him, is
so well proportioned in its outlines, with regard to
draughtsmanship, and in its shadows, with regard to
coloring, that it appears to be really piercing the
wall. Masolino began likewise to give more sweetness
of expression to the faces of women, and more
loveliness to the garments of young men, than the
old craftsmen had done; and he also drew passing
well in perspective. But that wherein he excelled,
more than in anything else, was coloring in fresco,
for this he did so well that his pictures are
blended and harmonized with so great grace, that his
painting of flesh has the greatest softness which
one is able to imagine; wherefore, if he had shown
absolute perfection in draughtsmanship, as perchance
he might have done if he had lived longer, he might
have been numbered among the best, since his works
are executed with good grace, and with grandeur in
the manner, softness and harmony in the coloring,
and much relief and force in the draughtsmanship,
although this is not in all parts perfect.
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PARRI SPINELLI
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
PARRI DI SPINELLO SPINELLI, painter of Arezzo,
having learnt the first principles of art from his
own father, was brought to Florence by the agency of
Messer Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo, and was received by
Lorenzo Ghiberti into his school, where many young
men were learning under his discipline: and since
the doors of S. Giovanni were then being given their
finish, he was put to labor on those figures, in
company with many others, as it has been said above.
And having, in this work, contracted a friendship
with Masolino da Panicale, and being pleased with
his method of drawing, he set about imitating him in
many respects, as he also imitated in others the
manner of Don Lorenzo degli Angeli.
Parri made his figures much longer and more
slender than any painter who had lived before him,
and whereas the others make them in the proportion
of ten heads at most, he gave them eleven, and
sometimes twelve; nor did this make them awkward,
although they were slender and were ever bent in an
arch either to the right side or to the left, for
the reason that this, as it appeared to him, and as
he himself said, gave them more vigor. The flow of
his draperies was very delicate, with abundance of
folds, which fell from the arms of his figures right
down to the feet. He colored very well in distemper,
and perfectly in fresco, and he was the first who,
in working in fresco, ceased to use verdaccio below
flesh colors, to be afterwards washed over with rosy
flesh tints in chiaroscuro, in the manner of water
colors, as Giotto and the other old masters had
done. Parri, on the other hand, used body colors in
making his grounds and tints, placing them with much
discretion where it appeared to him that they would
look best that is, the lights on the highest points,
the middle tints towards the sides, and the darks on
the outlines; with which method of painting he
showed more facility in his works and gave longer
life to pictures in fresco, seeing that, having laid
the colors in their places, he would blend them
together with a rather thick and soft brush, and
would execute his works with so high a finish that
nothing better can be desired; and his coloring has
no equal.
Parri, then, having been absent many years from
his country, was recalled by his relatives, after
the death of his father, to Arezzo, where, besides
many works which it would take too long to recount,
he made some which do not in any way deserve to be
passed over in silence. In the Duomo Vecchio he made
in fresco three different figures of Our Lady; and
within the principal door of that church, on the
left hand as one enters, he painted in fresco a
story of the Blessed Tommasuolo, a sack-cloth hermit
and a holy man of that time. And since this man was
wont to carry in his hand a mirror wherein he saw,
so he declared, the Passion of Christ, Parri
portrayed him in that story kneeling, with that
mirror in his right hand, which he was holding
uplifted towards Heaven. And painting Jesus Christ
above on a throne of clouds, and round him all the
Mysteries of the Passion, with most beautiful art he
made them all reflected in that mirror, in such wise
that not only the Blessed Tommasuolo but all who
beheld that picture could see them, which invention
was truly fanciful and difficult, and so beautiful
that it taught those who came after him to
counterfeit many things by means of mirrors. I Nor
will I forbear to tell, now that I am dealing with
this subject, what this holy man did once in Arezzo;
and it is this. Laboring continually, without ever
ceasing, to induce the Aretines to live at peace
with one another, now preaching, and now foretelling
many misadventures, he recognized finally that he
was wasting his time. Whereupon, entering one day
into the Palace where the Sixty were wont to
assemble, the said Blessed Tommasuolo who saw them
every day deliberating, and never coming to any
resolution save such as injured the city when he saw
that the Hall was full, placed a quantity of burning
coals into a great fold in his robe, and, advancing
with these towards the Sixty and all the other
magistrates of the city, he threw them boldly at
their feet, saying: "My lords, the fire is among
you; take heed lest ruin come upon you; " and this
said, he went his way. Such was the effect of the
simplicity, and, as it pleased God, of the good
counsel of that holy man, that the said action
completely accomplished what his preachings and
threatenings had never been able to do, insomuch
that, becoming united among themselves no long time
after, they governed that city for many years
afterwards with much peace and quiet for all.
But returning to Parri: after the said work, he
painted in fresco in a chapel of the Church and
Hospital of S. Cristofano, beside the Company of the
Nunziata, for Mona Mattea de' Testi, wife of
Carcascion Florinaldi, who left a very good
endowment to that little church; and there he made
Christ Crucified, with many angels round Him and
above Him, flying in a certain dark sky and weeping
bitterly. At the foot of the Cross, on one side, are
the Magdalene and the other Maries, who are holding
the fainting Madonna in their arms: and on the other
side are S. James and S. Christopher. On the walls
he painted S. Catherine, S. Nicholas, the
Annunciation, and Jesus Christ at the Column; and,
in an arch over the door of the said church, a
Pieta, S. John, and Our Lady. But the paintings
within (save those of the chapel) have been spoilt,
and the arch was pulled down in the substituting of
a modern door of greystone, and in the making of a
convent for one hundred nuns with the revenues of
that Company. For this convent Giorgio Vasari made a
most careful model, but it was afterwards altered,
nay, reduced to the vilest form, by those who most
unworthily had charge of so great a fabric. For it
comes to pass very often that one stumbles against
certain men, said to be very learned, but for the
most part ignorant, who, under pretence of
understanding, set themselves arrogantly many times
to try to play the architect and to superintend; and
more often than not they spoil the arrangements and
the models of those who, having spent their lives in
the study and practice of building, can act with
judgment in works of architecture; and this brings
harm to posterity, which is thus deprived of the
utility, convenience, beauty, ornament, and grandeur
that are requisite in buildings, and particularly in
those that are to be used for the public service.
In the Church of S. Bernardo, also, a monastery
of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, Parri painted two
chapels, one on either side within the principal
door. In that which is on the right hand, dedicated
to the Trinity, he made a God the Father, who is
supporting Christ Crucified in His arms, and above
there is the Dove of the Holy Spirit in the midst of
a choir of angels; and on one wall of the same
chapel he painted some saints in fresco, perfectly.
In the other, dedicated to Our Lady, is the Nativity
of Christ, with some women who are washing Him in a
little wooden tub, with a womanly grace marvellously
well expressed. There are also some shepherds in the
distance, who are guarding their sheep, clothed in
the rustic dress of those times and very lifelike,
and listening attentively to the words of the Angel,
who is telling them to go to Nazareth. On the
opposite wall is the Adoration of the Magi, with
baggage, camels, giraffes, and all the Court of
those three Kings, who, reverently offering their
treasures, are adoring Christ, who is lying upon the
lap of His mother. Besides this, he painted on the
vaulting, and in the frontals of some arches
outside, some very beautiful scenes in fresco.
It is said that while Parri was executing this
work, Fra Bernardino da Siena, a friar of S. Francis
and a man of holy life, was preaching in Arezzo, and
that having brought many of his brother monks into
the true religious life, and having converted many
other persons, he caused Parri to make the model for
the Church of Sargiano, which he was building for
them; and that afterwards, having heard that many
evil things were going on in a wood near a fountain,
a mile distant from the city, he went there one
morning, followed by the whole people of Arezzo,
with a great wooden cross in his hand, such as he
was wont to carry, and after preaching a solemn
sermon he had the fountain destroyed and the wood
cut down ; and a little later he caused a beginning
to be made with a little chapel which was built
there in honour of Our Lady, with the title of S.
Maria delle Grazie, wherein he afterwards asked
Parri to paint with his own hand, as he did, the
Virgin in Glory, who, opening her arms, is covering
under her mantle the whole people of Arezzo. This
most holy Virgin afterwards worked and still
continues to work many miracles in that place. The
Commune of Arezzo has since caused a very beautiful
church to be built in this place, accommodating
within it the Madonna made by Parri, for which many
ornaments of marble have been made, with some
figures, both round and above the altar, as it has
been said in the Lives of Luca della Robbia and of
his nephew Andrea, and as it will be said in due
succession in the Lives of those whose works adorn
that holy place. No long time after, by reason of
the devotion that he bore to that holy man, Parri
portrayed the said S. Bernardino in fresco on a
large pilaster in the Duomo Vecchio; in which place,
in a chapel dedicated to the same Saint, he also
painted him glorified in Heaven and surrounded by a
legion of angels, with three half-length figures,
one on either side Patience and Poverty and one
above Chastity with which three virtues that Saint
held company up to his death. Under his feet he had
some Bishops' mitres and Cardinals' hats, in order
to show that, laughing at the world, he had despised
such dignities ; and below these pictures was
portrayed the city of Arezzo, such as it was in
those times. For the Company of the Nunziata,
likewise, in a little chapel, or rather maesta,*
without the Duomo, Parri made a Madonna in fresco,
who, receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, is
turning away all in terror ; and in the sky on the
vaulting, which is groined, he made angels, two in
each angle, who, flying through the air and making
music with various instruments, appear to be playing
together, so that one almost hears a very sweet
harmony ; and on the walls are four saints namely,
two on each side. But the pictures wherein he showed
best his power of varying the expression of his
conception are seen on the two pilasters that
support the arch in front, where the entrance is,
for the reason that on one there is a very beautiful
Charity, who is affectionately suckling one infant,
fondling a second, and holding a third by the hand,
while on the other there is Faith, painted in a new
manner, holding the Chalice and the Cross in one
hand, and in the other a cup of water, which she is
pouring over the head of a boy, making him a
Christian. All these figures are without doubt the
best that Parri ever made in all his life, and even
in comparison with the modern they are marvellous.
Within the city, in the Church of S. Agostino, in
the choir of the friars, the same man painted many
figures in fresco, which are known by the manner of
the draperies, and by their being long, slender, and
bent, as it has been said above. In the tramezzo of
the Church of S. Giustino he painted in fresco a S.
Martin on horseback, who is cutting off a piece of
his garment to give it to a beggar, and two other
saints. In the Vescovado, also, on the face of one
wall, he painted an Annunciation, which today is
half spoilt through having been exposed for many
years. In the Pieve of the same city he painted the
chapel which is now near the Office of Works; and
this has been almost wholly ruined by damp. Truly
unfortunate has this poor painter been with his
works, seeing that almost the greater part of them
have been destroyed, either by damp or by the ruin
of the buildings. On a round column in the said
Pieve he painted a S. Vincent in fresco; and in S.
Francesco he made some saints round a Madonna in
half-relief, for the family of the Viviani, with the
Apostles on the arch above, receiving the Holy
Spirit, and some other saints in the vaulting, and
on one side Christ with the Cross on His shoulder,
pouring blood from His side into the Chalice, and
round Christ some angels very well wrought. Opposite
to this, in the Chapel of the Company of
Stone-cutters, Masons, and Carpenters, dedicated to
the four Crowned Saints, he made a Madonna, and the
said Saints with the instruments of those trades in
their hands, and below, also in fresco, two scenes
of their acts, and the Saints being beheaded and
thrown into the sea. In this work there are very
beautiful attitudes and efforts in the figures that
are raising those bodies, placed in sacks, on their
shoulders, in order to carry them to the sea, for
there are seen in them liveliness and vivacity.
In S. Domenico, also, near the high altar, on the
right hand wall, he painted in fresco a Madonna, S.
Anthony, and S. Nicholas, for the family of the
Alberti da Catenaia, of which place they were the
Lords before its destruction, when they came to
dwell, some in Arezzo and some in Florence. And that
they are one and the same family is shown by the
arms of both one and the other, which are the same;
although it is true that to-day those of Arezzo are
called, not "Degli Alberti," but "Da Catenaia," and
those of Florence not " Da Catenaia," but " Degli
Alberti." And I remember to have seen, and also
read, that the Abbey of the Sasso which was in the
mountains of Catenaia, and which has now been pulled
down and rebuilt lower down towards the Arno was
erected by the same Alberti for the Congregation of
Camaldoli; and today it belongs to the Monastery of
the Angeli in Florence, which acknowledges it as
coming from the said family, which is among the
noblest in Florence.
In the old Audience Chamber of the Fraternity of
S. Maria della Misericordia, Parri painted a Madonna
who has under her mantle the people of Arezzo,
wherein he portrayed from the life those who then
ruled that holy place, clothed according to the use
of those times ; and among them one called Braccio,
who is now called, when there is talk of him,
Lazzaro Ricco, and who died in the year 1422,
leaving all his riches and means to that place,
which dispenses them in the service of God's poor,
performing the holy works of mercy with much
charity. On one side of this Madonna is S. Gregory
the Pope, and on the other S. Donatus, Bishop and
Protector of the people of Arezzo. And since those
who then ruled that Fraternity had been very well
served in this work by Parri, they caused him to
make on a panel, in distemper, a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, with some angels who are opening
her mantle, beneath which is the said people; with
S. Laurentino and S. Pergentino, the martyrs, below.
This panel is brought out every year on the second
day of June, and, after it has been borne in solemn
procession by the men of the said Company as far as
the church of the said Saints, there is placed over
it a coffer of silver, wrought by the goldsmith
Forzore, brother of Parri, within which are the
bodies of the said SS. Laurentino and Pergentino; it
is brought out, I say, and the said altar is made
under covering of a tent in the Canto alia Croce,
where the said church stands, because, being a small
church, it would not hold ah 1 the people who
assemble for this festival. The predella whereon the
said panel rests contains the martyrdom of those two
Saints, made with little figures, and so well
wrought, that for a small work it is truly a marvel.
In Borgo Piano, under the projection of a house,
there is a shrine by the hand of Parri, within which
is an Annunciation in fresco, which is much
extolled; and in S. Agostino, for the Company of the
Puraccioli, he made in fresco a very beautiful
picture of S. Catherine, virgin and martyr. In the
Church of Muriello, likewise, for the Fraternity of
the Clerks, he painted a S. Mary Magdalene, three
braccia high; and in S. Domenico, at the entrance of
the door, where the bell ropes are, he painted in
fresco the Chapel of S. Niccolo, making therein a
large Crucifix with four figures, so well wrought
that it seems made only yesterday. In the arch he
painted two stories of S. Nicholas namely, his
throwing the golden balls to the maidens, and his
delivering two from death, while the executioner is
seen apparelled and ready to cut off their heads,
and very well wrought.
The while that Parri was making this work, he was
set upon with weapons by some of his relatives, with
whom he had a dispute about some dowry; but, since
some other men ran up immediately, he was succoured
in a manner that they did him no harm. But
nevertheless, so it is said, the fright that he
experienced brought it about that, besides making
his figures bending over to one side, from that day
onward he made them almost always with an expression
of terror. And since he found himself many times
attacked by slanderous tongues and torn by the tooth
of envy, he made in that chapel a scene of tongues
burning, with some devils round them that were
heaping them with fire; and in the sky was Christ
cursing them, and on one side these words: "To the
false tongue."
Parri was very studious in the matters of art,
and drew very well, as it is shown by many drawings
by his hand, which I have seen, and in particular by
a border of twenty scenes from the life of S.
Donatus, made for a sister of his own, who
embroidered very well; and this he is reputed to
have done because there was a question of making
adornments for the high altar of the Vescovado. And
in our book there are some drawings by his hand,
done very well with the pen. Parri was portrayed by
Marco da Montepulciano, a disciple of Spinello, in
the cloister of S. Bernardo in Arezzo. He lived
fifty-six years, and he shortened his life by reason
of being by nature melancholic, solitary, and too
assiduous in the studies of his art and in his
labors. He was buried in S. Agostino, in the same
tomb wherein his father Spinello had been laid, and
his death caused displeasure to all the men of
culture who knew him.
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MASACCIO (1401-1428)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT IS THE CUSTOM of nature, when she makes a man
very excellent in any profession, very often not to
make him alone, but at the same time, and in the
same neighborhood, to make another to compete with
him, to the end that they may assist each other by
their talent and emulation; which circumstance,
besides the singular advantage enjoyed by the men
themselves, who thus compete with each other, also
kindles beyond measure the minds of those who come
after that age, to strive with all study and all
industry to attain to that honour and that glorious
reputation which they hear highly extolled without
ceasing in those who have passed away. And that this
is true we see from the fact that Florence produced
in one and the same age Filippo, Donato, Lorenzo,
Paolo Uccello, and Masaccio, each most excellent in
his own kind, and thus not only swept away the rough
and rude manners that had prevailed up to that time,
but incited and kindled so greatly, by reason of the
beautiful works of these men, the minds of those who
came after, that the work of those professions has
been brought to that grandeur and to that perfection
which are seen in our own times. Wherefore, in
truth, we owe a great obligation to those early
craftsmen who showed to us, by means of their
labors, the true way to climb to the greatest
height; and with regard to the good manner of
painting, we are indebted above all to Masaccio,
seeing that he, as one desirous of acquiring fame,
perceived that painting is nothing but the
counterfeiting of all the things of nature, vividly
and simply, with drawing and with colors, even as
she produced them for us, is that he who attains to
this most perfectly can be called excellent.
This truth, I say, being recognized by Masaccio,
brought it about that by means of continuous study
he learnt so much that he can be numbered among the
first who cleared away, ['--in a great .measure,?
SIC] the hardness, the imperfections, and the
difficulties of the [art/ ana SIC ]that he gave a
beginning to beautiful attitudes, movements,
liveliness, and vivacity, and to a certain relief
truly characteristic and natural; which no painter
up to his time had ever done. And since he had
excellent judgment, he reflected that all the
figures that did not stand firmly with their feet in
foreshortening on the level, but stood on tip-toe,
were lacking in all goodness of manner in the
essential points, and that those who make them thus
show that they do not understand foreshortening. And
although Paolo Uccello had tried his hand at this,
and had done something, solving this difficulty to
some extent, yet Masaccio introducing many new
methods, made foreshortenings from every point of
view much better than any other who had lived up to
that time. And he painted his works with good unity
and softness, harmonizing the flesh-colors of the
heads and of the nudes with the colors of the
draperies, which he delighted to make with few folds
and simple, as they are in life and nature. This has
been of great use to craftsmen, and he deserves
therefore to be commended as if he had been its
inventor, for in truth the works made before his day
can be said to be painted, while his are living,
real, and natural, in comparison with those made by
the others.
This man was born at Castello San Giovanni in
Valdarno, and they say that one may still see there
some figures made by him in his earliest childhood.
He was a very absent-minded and careless person, as
one who, having fixed his whole mind and will on the
matters of art, cared little about himself, and
still less about others. And since he would never
give any manner of thought to the cares and concerns
of the world, or even to clothing himself, and was
not wont to recover his money from his debtors, save
only when he was in the greatest straits, his name
was therefore changed from Tommaso to Masaccio,
[Careless Tom, or Hulking Tom (not necessarily in
disapproval)] not, indeed, because he was vicious,
for he was goodness itself, but by reason of his so
great carelessness; and with all this, nevertheless,
he was so amiable in doing the service and pleasure
of others, that nothing more could be desired.
He began painting at the time when Masolino da
Panicale was working on the Chapel of the Brancacci
in the Carmine, in Florence, ever following, in so
far as he was able, in the steps of Filippo and
Donato, although their branch of art was different,
and seeking continually in his work to make his
figures very lifelike and with a beautiful
liveliness in the likeness of nature. And his
lineaments and his painting were so modern and so
different from those of the others, that his works
can safely stand in comparison with any drawing and
coloring of our own day. He was very zealous at his
labours, and a marvellous master of the difficulties
of perspective, as it is seen in a story painted by
him with small figures, which is today in the house
of Ridolfo del Ghirlandajo. In this story, besides a
Christ who is delivering the man possessed by a
devil, there are very beautiful buildings in
perspective, drawn in a manner that they show at one
and the same time both the inside and the outside,
by reason of his having chosen the point of view,
not of the front, but over the corners, as being
more difficult. He sought more than any other master
to make his figures nude and foreshortened, which
was little done before his day. He had great
facility in handling, and, as it has been said, he
is very simple in his draperies.
There is a panel by his hand, wrought in
distemper, wherein is a Madonna upon the lap of S.
Anne, with the Child in her arms. This panel is
today in S. Ambrogio in Florence, in the chapel that
is beside the door that leads to the parlour of the
nuns. And in the tramezzo of the Church of S.
Niccolo, on the other side of the Arno, there is a
panel by the hand of Masaccio, painted in distemper,
wherein, besides the Madonna, who is receiving the
Annunciation from the Angel, there is a building
with many columns, drawn in perspective and very
beautiful, seeing that, besides the drawing of the
lines, which is perfect, he made it recede by means
of the colouring, in a manner that little by little,
almost imperceptibly, it is lost to view; thus
showing clearly his knowledge of perspective. In the
Badia of Florence, on a pilaster opposite to one of
those that support the arch of the high altar, he
painted in fresco S. Ivo of Brittany, representing
him within a niche, in order that the feet might
appear foreshortened to the eye below ; which
device, not having been used so well by others,
acquired for him no small praise. And below the said
Saint, over another cornice, he made a throng of
widows, orphans, and beggars, who receive assistance
from that Saint in their needs. In S. Maria Novella,
also, below the tramezzo of the church, he painted a
Trinity in fresco, which is placed over the altar of
S. Ignazio, with Our Lady on one side and S. John
the Evangelist on the other contemplating Christ
Crucified. On the sides are two figures on their
knees, which, in so far as it can be determined, are
portraits of the men who had the picture painted;
but little is seen of them, for they have been
covered with a gilt ornament. But the most beautiful
thing, apart from the figures, is a barrel-shaped
vaulting, drawn in perspective and divided into
squares filled with rosettes, which are
foreshortened and made to diminish so well that the
wall appears to be pierced. In S. Maria Maggiore,
also, near the side-door that leads to S. Giovanni,
on the panel of a chapel, he painted a Madonna, with
S. Catherine and S. Julian. On the predella he made
some little figures, connected with the life of S.
Catherine, with S. Julian murdering his father and
mother; and in the middle he made the Nativity of
Christ, with that simplicity and vividness which
were characteristic of his work.
In the Church of the Carmine in Pisa, on a panel
that is in a chapel in the tramezzo, f there is a
Madonna with the Child, by his hand, and at her feet
are certain little angels sounding instruments, one
of whom, playing on a lute, is listening attentively
to the harmony of that sound. On either side of the
Madonna are S. Peter, S. John the Baptist, S.
Julian, and S. Nicholas, all very lifelike and
vivacious figures. In the predella below are scenes
from the lives of those Saints, with little figures;
and in the centre are the three Magi offering their
treasures to Christ. In this part are some horses
portrayed from life, so beautiful that nothing
better can be desired; and the men of the Court of
those three Kings are clothed in various costumes
that were worn in those times. And above, as an
ornament for the said panel, there are, in several
squares, many saints round a Crucifix. It is
believed that the figure of a saint, in the robes of
a Bishop and painted in fresco, which is in that
church, beside the door that leads into the convent,
is by the hand of Masaccio; but I hold it as certain
that it is by the hand of Fra Filippo, his disciple.
Returning from Pisa to Florence, he wrought there
a panel containing a man and a woman, nude and of
the size of life, which is today in the Palla
Rucellai Palace. Then, not feeling at ease in
Florence, and stimulated by his affection and love
for art, he determined to go to Rome, in order to
learn and to surpass others; and this he did. And
having acquired very great fame there, he painted
for Cardinal San Clemente a chapel in the Church of
S. Clemente, wherein he made in fresco the Passion
of Christ, with the Thieves on the Cross, and the
stories of S. Catherine the martyr. He also made
many panels in distemper, which have been all lost
or destroyed in the troublous times of Rome ; one
being in the Church of S. Maria Maggiore, in a
little chapel near the sacristy, wherein are four
saints, so well wrought that they appear to be in
relief, and in the midst of them is S. Maria della
Neve, with the portrait from nature of Pope Martin,
who is tracing out the foundations of that church
with a hoe, and beside him the Emperor Sigismund II.
Michelagnolo and I were one day examining this work,
when he praised it much, and then added that these
men were alive in Masaccio's time. To him, while
Pisanello and Gentile da Fabriano were laboring in
Rome for Pope Martin on the walls of the Church of
S. Gianni, these masters had allotted a part of the
work, when he returned to Florence, having had news
that Cosimo de' Medici, by whom he was much assisted
and favored, had been recalled from exile; and there
he was commissioned to paint the Chapel of the
Brancacci in the Carmine, by reason of the death of
Masolino da Panicale, who had begun it; but before
putting his hand to this, he made, by way of
specimen, the S. Paul that is near the bell ropes,
in order to show the improvement that he had made in
his art. And he demonstrated truly infinite
excellence in this picture, for in the head of that
Saint, who is Bartolo di Angiolino Angiolini
portrayed from life, there is seen an expression so
awful that there appears to be nothing lacking in
that figure save speech; and he who has not known S.
Paul will see, by looking at this picture, his
honorable Roman culture, together with the
unconquerable strength of that most divine spirit,
all intent on the work of the faith. In this same
picture, likewise, he showed a power of
foreshortening things viewed from below upwards
which was truly marvellous, as may still be seen
to-day in the feet of the said Apostle, for this was
a difficulty that he solved completely, in contrast
with the old rude manner, which, as I said a little
before, used to make all the figures on tip-toe;
which manner lasted up to his day, without any other
man correcting it, and he, by himself and before any
other, brought it to the excellence of our own day.
It came to pass, the while that he was laboring
at this work, that the said Church of the Carmine
was consecrated; and Masaccio, in memory of this,
painted the consecration just as it took place, with
terra verde and in chiaroscuro, over the door that
leads into the convent, within the cloister. And he
portrayed therein an infinite number of citizens in
mantles and hoods, who are following the procession,
among whom he painted Filippo di Ser Brunellesco in
wooden shoes, Donatello, Masolino da Panicale, who
had been his master, Antonio Brancacci, who caused
him to paint the chapel, Niccolo' da Uzzano,
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, and Bartolommeo
Valori, who are all also portrayed by the hand of
the same man in the house of Simon Corsi, a
gentleman of Florence. He also painted there Lorenzo
Ridolfi, who was at that time the ambassador of the
Florentine Republic in Venice; and not only did he
portray there the aforesaid gentlemen from the life,
but also the door of the convent and the porter with
the keys in his hand. This work, truly, shows great
perfection, for Masaccio was so successful in
placing these people, five or six to a file, on the
level of that piazza., and in making them diminish
to the eye with proportion and judgment, that it is
indeed a marvel, and above all because we can
recognize there the wisdom that he showed in making
those men, as if they were alive, not all of one
size, but with a certain discretion which
distinguishes those who are short and stout from
those who are tall and slender; while they are all
standing with their feet firmly on one level, and so
well foreshortened along the files that they would
not be otherwise in nature.
After this, returning to the work of the Chapel
of the Brancacci, and continuing the stories of S.
Peter begun by Masolino, he finished a part of them
namely, the story of the Chair, the healing of the
sick, the raising of the dead, and the restoring of
the cripples with his shadow as he was going to the
Temple with S. John. But the most notable among them
all is that one wherein S. Peter, at Christ's
command, is taking the money from the belly of the
fish, in order to pay the tribute, since (besides
the fact that we see there in an Apostle, the last
of the group, the portrait of Masaccio himself, made
by his own hand with the help of a mirror, so well
that it appears absolutely alive) we can recognize
there the ardor of S. Peter in his questioning and
the attentiveness of the Apostles, who are standing
in various attitudes round Christ, awaiting his
determination, with gestures so vivid that they
truly appear alive. Wonderful, above all, is the S.
Peter who, while he is labouring to draw the money
from the belly of the fish, has his head suffused
with blood by reason of bending down; and he is even
more wonderful as he pays the tribute, for here we
see his expression as he counts it, and the
eagerness of him who is receiving it and looking at
the money in his hand with the greatest pleasure.
There, also, he painted the resurrection of the
King's son, wrought by S. Peter and S. Paul;
although by reason of the death of Masaccio the work
remained unfinished, and was afterwards completed by
Filippino. In the scene wherein S. Peter is
baptizing, a naked man, who is trembling and
shivering with cold among the others who are being
baptized, is greatly esteemed, having been wrought
with very beautiful relief and sweet manner; which
figure has ever been held in reverence and
admiration by all craftsmen, both ancient and
modern. For this reason that chapel has been
frequented continually up to our own day by
innumerable draughtsmen and masters; and there still
are therein some heads so lifelike and so beautiful,
that it may truly be said that no master of that age
approached so nearly as this man did to the moderns.
His labors therefore deserve infinite praise, and
above all because he gave form in his art to the
beautiful manner of our times.
And that this is true is proved by the fact that
all the most celebrated sculptors and painters, who
have lived from his day to our own, have become
excellent and famous by exercising themselves and
studying in this chapel namely, Fra Giovanni da
Fiesole, Fra Filippo, Filippino, who finished it,
Alesso Baldovinetti, Andrea dal Castagno, Andrea del
Verrocchio, Domenico del Ghirlandajo, Sandro di
Botticello, Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, Fra
Bartolommeo di San Marco, Mariotto Albertinelli, and
the most divine Michelagnolo Buonarroti; likewise
Raffaello da Urbino, who owed to this chapel the
beginning of his beautiful manner, Granaccio,
Lorenzo di Credi, Ridolfo del Ghirlandajo, Andrea
del Sarto, Rosso, Franciabigio, Baccio Bandinelli,
Alonso Spagnuolo, Jacopo da Pontormo, Pierino del
Vaga, and Toto del Nunziata; and in short, all those
who have sought to learn that art have ever gone to
this chapel to learn and to grasp the precepts and
the rules for good work from the figures of
Masaccio. And if I have not named many foreigners
and many Florentines who have gone to that chapel
for the sake of study, let it suffice to say that
where the heads of art go, the members also follow.
But although the works of Masaccio have ever been in
so great repute, it is nevertheless the opinion nay,
the firm belief of many, that he would have produced
even greater fruits in his art, if death, which tore
him from us at the age of twenty-six, had not
snatched him away from us so prematurely. But either
by reason of envy, or because good things rarely
have any long duration, he died in the flower of his
youth, and that so suddenly, that there were not
wanting people who put it down to poison rather than
to any other reason.
It is said that Filippo di Ser Brunellesco,
hearing of his death, exclaimed, " We have suffered
a very great loss in Masaccio," and that it grieved
him infinitely, for he had spent much time in
demonstrating to Masaccio many rules of perspective
and of architecture. He was buried in the same
Church of the Carmine in the year 1443, and
although, since he had been little esteemed when
alive, no memorial was then placed over his tomb,
yet after his death there were not wanting men to
honor him with these epitaphs :
BY ANNIBAL CARO:
PINSI, E LA MIA PITTURA- AL VER FU PARI
L' ATTEGGIAI, L' AVVIVAI, LE DIEDI IL MOTO,
LE DIEDI AFFETTO. INSEGNI IL BUONARROTO
A TUTTI GLI ALTRI, E DA ME SOLO IMPARI.
BY FABIO SEGNI:
INVIDA CUR LACHESIS PRIMO SUB FLORE JUVENTAE
POLLICE DISCINDIS STAMINA FUNEREO
HOC UNO OCCISO INNUMEROS OCCIDIS APELLES
PICTURAE OMNIS OBIT, HOC OBEUNTE, LEPOS.
HOC SOLE EXTINCTO, EXTINGUUNTUR SIDERA CUNCTA.
HEU ! DECUS OMNE PERIT, HOC PEREUNTE, SIMUL.
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FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI (1377-1446)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Part I: Early Life and Sculpture
MANY MEN ARE CREATED by nature small in person
and in features, who have a mind full of such
greatness and a heart of such irresistible
vehemence, that if they do not begin difficult--nay,
almost impossible--undertakings, and bring them to
completion to the marvel of all who behold them,
they have never any peace in their lives; and
whatsoever work chance puts into their hands,
however lowly and base it may be, they give it value
and nobility. Wherefore no one should turn up his
nose when he encounters people who have not, in
their aspect, that primal grace or beauty which
nature should give, on his coming into the world, to
a man who works at any art, seeing that there is no
doubt that beneath the clods of the earth are hidden
veins of gold. And very often, in those who are most
insignificant in form, there are born so great
generosity of mind and so great sincerity of heart,
that, if nobility be mingled with these, nothing
short of the greatest marvels can be looked for from
them, for the reason that they strive to embellish
the ugliness of the body with the beauty of the
intellect; as it is clearly seen in Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, who was no less insignificant in person
than Messer Forese da Rabatta and Giotto, but so
lofty in intellect that it can be truly said that he
was sent to us by Heaven in order to give new form
to architecture, which had been out of mind for
hundreds of years; for the men of those times had
spent much treasure to no purpose, making buildings
without order, with bad method, with sorry design,
with most strange inventions, with most ungraceful
grace, and with even worse ornament.
And Heaven ordained, since the earth had been for
so many years without any supreme mind or divine
spirit, that Filippo should bequeath to the world
the greatest, the most lofty, and the most beautiful
building that was ever made in modern times, or even
in those of the ancients, proving that the talent of
the Tuscan craftsmen, although lost, was not
therefore dead. Heaven adorned him, moreover, with
the best virtues, among which was that of
kindliness, so that no man was ever more benign or
more amiable than he. In judgment he was free from
passion, and when he saw worth and merit in others
he would sacrifice his own advantage and the
interest of his friends. He knew himself, he shared
the benefit of his own talent with many, and he was
ever succoring his neighbor in his necessities. He
declared himself a capital enemy of vice, and a
friend of those who practiced virtue. He never spent
his time uselessly, but would labor to meet the
needs of others, either by himself or by the agency
of other men; and he would visit his friends on foot
and ever succor them.
It is said that there was in Florence a man of
very good repute, most praiseworthy in his way of
life and active in his business, whose name was Ser
Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, who had had a grandfather
called Cambio, who was a learned person and the son
of a physician very famous in those times, named
Maestro Ventura Bacherini. Now Ser Brunellesco,
taking to wife a most excellent young woman from the
noble family of the Spini, received, as part payment
of her dowry, a house wherein he and his sons dwelt
to the day of their death. This house stands
opposite to one side of San Michele Berteldi, in a
close past the Piazza degli Agli. The while that he
was occupying himself thus and living happily, in
the year 1398 there was born to him a son, to whom
he gave the name Filippo, after his own father, now
dead; and he celebrated this birth with the greatest
gladness possible. Thereupon he taught him in his
childhood, with the utmost attention, the first
rudiments of letters, wherein the boy showed himself
so ingenious and so lofty in spirit that his brain
was often in doubt, as if he did not care to become
very perfect in them--nay, it appeared that he
directed his thoughts on matters of greater
utility--- wherefore Ser Brunellesco, who wished him
to follow his own vocation of notary, or that of his
great-great-grandfather, was very much dis pleased.
But seeing him continually investigating ingenious
problems of art and mechanics, he made him learn
arithmetic and writing, and then apprenticed him to
the goldsmith's art with one his friend, to the end
that he might learn design. And this gave great
satisfaction to Filippo, who, not many years after
beginning to learn and to practice that art, could
set precious stones better than any old craftsman in
that vocation. He occupied himself with niello and
with making larger works, such as some figures in
silver, whereof two, half-length prophets, are
placed at the head of the altar of San Jacopo in
Pistoia; these figures, which are held very
beautiful, were wrought by him for the Wardens of
Works in that city; and he made works in low relief,
wherein he showed that he had so great knowledge in
his vocation that his intellect must needs overstep
the bounds of that art. Wherefore, having made
acquaint with certain studious persons, he began to
penetrate with his fancy into questions of time, of
motion, of weights, and of wheels, and how the
latter can be made to revolve, and by what means
they can be set in motion; and thus he made some
very good and very beautiful clocks with his own
hand.
Not content with this, there arose in his mind a
very great inclination for sculpture; and this took
effect, for Donatello, then a youth, being held an
able sculptor and one of great promise, Filippo
began to be ever in his company, and the two
conceived such great love for each other, by reason
of the talents of each, that one appeared unable to
live without the other. Whereupon Filippo, who was
most capable in various ways, gave attention to many
professions~ nor had he practiced these long before
he was held by persons qualified to judge to be a
very good architect, as he showed in many works in
connection with the fitting up of houses, such as
the house of Apollonio Lapi, his kinsman, in the
Canto de' Cini, towards the Mercato Vecchio, wherein
he occupied himself greatly while the other was
having it built ; and he did the same in the tower
and in the house of Petraia at Castello without
Florence. In the Palace that was the habitation of
the Signoria, he arranged and distributed all those
rooms wherein the officials of the Monte had their
office, and he made doors and windows there in the
manner copied from the ancient, which was then
little used, for architecture was very rude in
Tuscany. In Florence, a little later, there was a
statue of limewood to be made for the Friars of
Santo Spirito, representing St. Mary Magdalene in
Penitence, to be placed in a chapel ; and Filippo,
who had wrought many little things in sculpture,
desiring to show that he was able to succeed in
large works as well, undertook to make the said
figure, which, when put into execution and finished,
was held something very beautiful ; but it was
destroyed afterwards, together with many other
notable works, in the year 1471, when that church
was burnt down.
He gave much attention to perspective, which was
then in a very evil plight by reason of many errors
that were made therein; and in this he spent much
time, until he found by himself a method whereby it
might become true and perfect--namely, that of
tracing it with the groundplan and profile and by
means of intersecting lines, which was something
truly most ingenious and useful to the art of
design. In this he took so great delight that he
drew with his own hand the Piazza di San Giovanni,
with all the compartments of black and white marble
wherewith that church was incrusted, which he
foreshortened with singular grace; and he drew,
likewise, the building of the Misericordia, with the
shops of the Wafer-Makers and the Volta de' Pecori,
and the column of San Zanobi on the other side. This
work, bringing him praise from craftsmen and from
all who had judgment in that art, encouraged him so
greatly that it was not long before he put his hand
to another and drew the Palace, the Piazza, and the
Loggia of the Signori, together with the roof of the
Pisani and all the buildings that are seen round
that Piazza; and these works were the means of
arousing the minds of the other craftsmen, who
afterwards devoted themselves to this with great
zeal. He taught it, in particular, to the painter
Masaccio, then a youth and much his friend, who did
him credit in this art that Filippo showed him, as
it is apparent from the buildings in his works. Nor
did he refrain from teaching it even to those who
worked in intarsia, which is the art of inlaying
colored woods ; and he stimulated them so greatly
that he was the source of a good style and of many
useful changes that were made in that craft, and of
many excellent works wrought both then and
afterwards, which have brought fame and profit to
Florence for many years.
Now Messer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, returning
from his studies, and chancing one evening to be at
supper in a garden with some of his friends, invited
Filippo, who, hearing him discourse on the
mathematical arts, formed such an intimacy with him
that he learnt geometry from Messer Paolo ; and
although Filippo had no learning, he reasoned so
well in every matter with his instinct, sharpened by
practice and experience, that he would many times
confound him. And so he went on to give attention to
the study of the Christian Scriptures, never failing
to be present at the disputations and preachings of
learned persons, from which he gained so much
advantage, by reason of his admirable memory, that
the aforesaid Messer Paolo was wont to extol him and
to say that in hearing Filippo argue he appeared to
be hearing a new St. Paul. He also gave much
attention at this time to the works of Dante, which
he under stood very well with regard to the places
described and their proportions, and he would avail
himself of them in his conversations, quoting them
often in making comparisons. He did naught else with
his thoughts but invent and imagine ingenious and
difficult things; nor could he ever find an
intellect more to his satisfaction than that of
Donato [Donatello], with whom he was ever holding
familiar discourse, and they took pleasure in one
another and would confer together over the
difficulties of their vocation.
Now in those days Donato had finished a Crucifix
of wood, which was placed in Santa Croce in
Florence, below the scene of the child being
restored to life by St. Francis, painted by Taddeo
Gaddi, and he wished to have the opinion of Filippo
about this work; but he repented, for Filippo
answered that he had placed a ploughman on the
Cross; whence there arose the saying, "Take wood and
make one thyself," as it is related at length in the
Life of Donato. Whereupon Filippo, who would never
get angry, whatever might be said to him, although
he might have reason for anger, stayed in seclusion
for many months until he had finished a Crucifix of
wood of the same size, so excellent, and wrought
with so much art, design, and diligence, that
Donato--whom he had sent to his house ahead of
himself, as it were to surprise him, for he did not
know that Filippo had made such a work--having an
apron full of eggs and other things for their common
dinner, let it fall as he gazed at the work, beside
himself with marvel at the ingenious and masterly
manner that Filippo had shown in the legs, the
trunk, and the arms of the said figure, which was so
well composed and united together that Donato,
besides admitting himself beaten, proclaimed it a
miracle. This work is placed today in Santa Maria
Novella, between the Chapel of the Strozzi and that
of the Bardi da Vernia, and it is still very greatly
extolled by the moderns. Wherefore, the talent of
these truly excellent masters being recognized, they
received a commission from the Guild of Butchers and
from the Guild of Linen-Manufacturers for two
figures in marble, to be made for their niches,
which are on the outside of Orsanmichele. Having
undertaken other work, Filippo left these figures to
Donato to make by himself, and Donato executed them
to perfection.
After these things, in the year 1401, now that
sculpture had risen to so great a height, it was
determined to reconstruct the two bronze doors of
the Church and Baptistery of San Giovanni, since,
from the death of Andrea Pisano to that day, they
had not had any masters capable of executing them.
This intention being, therefore, communicated to
those sculptors who were then in Tuscany, they were
sent for, and each man was given a provision and the
space of a year to make one scene; and among those
called upon were Filippo and Donato, each of them
being required to make one scene by himself, in
competition with Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della
Fonte [Jacopo della Quercia], Simone da Colle,
Francesco di Valdambrina, and Niccolo d' Arezzo.
These scenes, being finished in the same year and
being brought together for comparison, were all most
beautiful and different one from the other; one was
well designed and badly wrought, as was that of
Donato; another was very well designed and
diligently wrought, but the composition of the
scene, with the gradual diminution of the figures,
was not good, as was the case with that of Jacopo
della Quercia; a third was poor in invention and in
the figures, which was the manner wherein Francesco
di Valdambrina had executed his; and the worst of
all were those of Niccolo d' Arezzo and Simone da
Colle. The best was that of Lorenzo di Cione
Ghiberti, which had design, diligence , invention,
art, and the figures very well wrought. Nor was that
of Filippo much inferior, wherein he had represented
Abraham sacrificing Isaac; and in that scene a slave
who is drawing a thorn from his foot, while he is
awaiting Abraham and the ass is browsing, deserves
no little praise.
The scenes, then, being exhibited, Filippo and
Donato were not satisfied with any save with that of
Lorenzo, and they judged him to be better qualified
for that work than themselves and the others who had
made the other scenes. And so with good reasons they
persuaded the Consuls to allot the work to Lorenzo,
showing that thus both the public and the private
interest would be best served; and this was indeed
the true goodness of friendship, excellence without
envy, and a sound judgment in the knowledge of their
own selves, whereby they deserved more praise than
if they had executed the work to perfection. Happy
spirits! who, while they were assisting one another,
took delight in praising the labors of others. How
unhappy are those of our own day, who, not sated
with injuring each other, burst with envy while
rending others. The Consuls besought Filippo to
undertake the work in company with Lorenzo, but he
refused, being minded rather to be first in an art
of his own than an equal or a second in that work.
Wherefore he presented the scene that he had wrought
in bronze to Cosimo de' Medici, who after a time had
it placed on the dossal of the altar in the old
Sacristy of San Lorenzo, where it is to be found at
present; and that of Donato was placed in the Guild
of the Exchange.
The commission being given to Lorenzo Ghiberti,
Filippo and Donato, who were together, resolved to
depart from Florence in company and to live for some
years in Rome, to the end that Filippo might study
architecture and Donato sculpture; and this Filippo
did from his desire to be superior both to Lorenzo
and to Donato, in proportion as architecture is held
to be more necessary for the practical needs of men
than sculpture and painting. After he had sold a
little farm that he had at Settignano, they departed
from Florence and went to Rome, where, seeing the
grandeur of the buildings and the perfection of the
fabrics of the temples, Filippo would stand in a
maze like a man out of his mind. And so, having made
arrangements for measuring the cornices and taking
the groundplans of those buildings, he and Donato
kept laboring continually, sparing neither time nor
expense. There was no place, either in Rome or in
the Campagna without, that they left unvisited, and
nothing of the good that they did not measure, if
only they could find it. And since Filippo was free
from domestic cares, he gave himself over body and
soul to his studies, and took no thought for eating
or sleeping, being intent on one thing only--namely,
architecture, which was now dead (I mean the good
ancient Orders, and not the barbarous German, which
was much in use in his time).
And he had in his mind two vast conceptions, one
being to restore to light the good manner of
architecture, since he believed that if he could
recover it he would leave behind no less a name for
himself than Cimabue and Giotto had done; and the
other was to find a method, if he could, of raising
the Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence,the
difficulties of which were such that after the death
of Arnolfo Lapi there had been no one courageous
enough to think of raising it without vast
expenditure for a wooden framework. Yet he did not
impart this his invention to Donato or to any living
soul, nor did he rest in Rome till he had considered
all the difficulties connected with the Ritonda,
wondering how the vaulting was raised. He had noted
and drawn all the ancient vaults, and was for ever
studying them; and if peradventure they had found
pieces of capitals, columns, cornices, and bases of
buildings buried underground, they would set to work
and have them dug out, in order to examine them
thoroughly.
Wherefore a rumor spread through Rome, as they
passed through the streets, going about carelessly
dressed, so that they were called the
"treasure-seekers," people believing that they were
persons who studied geomancy in order to discover
treasure; and this was because they had one day
found an ancient earthenware vase full of medals.
Filippo ran short of money and contrived to make
this good by setting jewels of price for certain
goldsmiths who were his friends; and thus he was
left alone in Rome, for Donato returned to Florence,
while he, with greater industry and labor than
before, was for ever investigating the ruins of
those buildings. Nor did he rest until he had drawn
every sort of building--round, square, and octagonal
temples, basilicas, aqueducts, baths, arches,
colossea, amphitheaters, and every temple built of
bricks, from which he copied the methods of binding
and of clamping with ties, and also of encircling
vaults with them; and he noted the ways of making
buildings secure by binding the stones together by
iron bars, and by dovetailing; and, discovering a
hole hollowed out under the middle of each great
stone, he found that this was meant to hold the iron
instrument, which is called by us the ulivella,
wherewith the stones are drawn up; and this he
reintroduced and brought into use afterwards. He
then distinguished the different Orders one from
another--Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian; and so
zealous was his study that his intellect became very
well able to see Rome, in imagination, as she was
when she was not in ruins. In the year 1407 the air
of that city gave Filippo a slight indisposition,
wherefore, being advised by his friends to try a
change of air, he returned to Florence. There many
buildings had suffered by reason of his absence; and
for these, on his arrival, he gave many designs and
much advice.
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DONATELLO (1386-1466)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
DONATO, who was called Donatello by his relatives
and wrote his name thus on some of his works, was
born in Florence in the year 1403. Devoting himself
to the arts of design, he was not only a very rare
sculptor and a marvelous statuary, but also a
practiced worker in stucco, an able master of
perspective, and greatly esteemed as an architect;
and his works showed so great grace, design, and
excellence, that they were held to approach more
nearly to the marvelous works of the ancient Greeks
and Romans than those of any other craftsman
whatsoever. Wherefore it is with good reason that he
is ranked as the first who made a good use of the
invention of scenes in low relief, which he wrought
so well that it is recognized from the thought, the
facility, and the mastery that he showed therein,
that he had a true understanding of them, making
them with a beauty far beyond the ordinary; for not
only did no craftsman in this period ever surpass
him, but no one even in our own age has equaled him.
Donatello was brought up from his early childhood
in the house of Ruberto Martelli, where, by his good
qualities and by his zealous talent, he won the
affection not only of Martelli himself but of all
that noble family. As a youth he wrought many
things, which were not held in great account, by
reason of their number ; but what made him known for
what he was and gave him a name was an Annunciation
in greystone, which was placed close to the altar of
the Chapel of the Cavalcanti, in the Church of Santa
Croce in Florence. For this he made an ornament
composed in the grotesque manner, with a base of
varied intertwined work and a decoration of
quadrantal shape, adding six boys bearing certain
festoons, who appear to be holding one another
securely with their arms in their fear of the
height. But the greatest genius and art that he
showed was in the figure of the Virgin, who, alarmed
by the unexpected apparition of the Angel, is making
a most becoming reverence with a sweet and timid
movement of her person, turning with most beautiful
grace towards him who is saluting her, in a manner
that there are seen in her countenance that humility
and gratitude which are due to one who presents an
unexpected gift, and the more when the gift is a
great one. Besides this, Donato showed a masterly
flow of curves and folds in the draperies of that
Madonna and of the Angel, demonstrating with the
suggestion of the nude forms below how he was
seeking to recover the beauty of the ancients, which
had lain hidden for so many years ; and he displayed
so great facility and art in this work, that nothing
more could be desired, in fact, with regard to
design, judgment, and mastery in handling the
chisel.
In the same church, below the tramezzo, and
beside the scene painted by Taddeo Gaddi, he made a
Crucifix of wood with extraordinary care; and when
he had finished this, thinking that he had made a
very rare work, he showed it to Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, who was very much his friend, wishing
to have his opinion. Filippo, whom the words of
Donato had led to expect something much better,
smiled slightly on seeing it. Donato, perceiving
this, besought him by all the friendship between
them to tell him his opinion; whereupon Filippo, who
was most obliging, replied that it appeared to him
that Donato had placed a ploughman on the Cross, and
not a body like that of Jesus Christ, which was most
delicate and in all its parts the most perfect human
form that was ever born. Donato, hearing himself
censured, and that more sharply than he expected,
when he was hoping to be praised, replied, "If it
were as easy to make this figure as to judge it, my
Christ would appear to thee to be Christ and not a
ploughman; take wood, therefore, and try to make one
thyself." Filippo, without another word, returned
home and set to work to make a Crucifix, without
letting anyone know; and seeking to surpass Donato
in order not to confound his own judgment, after
many months he brought it to the height of
perfection.
This done, he invited Donato one morning to dine
with him, and Donato accepted the invitation.
Whereupon, as they were going together to the house
of Filippo, they came to the Mercato Vecchio, where
Filippo bought some things and gave them to Donato,
saying, "Do thou go with these things to the house
and wait for me there, I am coming in a moment."
Donato, therefore, entering the house and going into
the hall, saw the Crucifix of Filippo, placed in a
good light; and stopping short to study it, he found
it so perfectly finished, that, being overcome and
full of amazement, like one distraught, he spread
out his hands, which were holding up his apron;
whereupon the eggs, the cheese, and all the other
things fell to the ground, and everything was broken
to pieces. But he was still marveling and standing
like one possessed, when Filippo came up and said
with a laugh, "What is thy intention, Donato, and
what are we to have for dinner, now that thou hast
upset everything?" "For my part," answered Donato,
"I have had my share for this morning: if thou must
have thine, take it. But enough; it is thy work to
make Christ and mine to make ploughmen."
In the Church of San Giovanni in the same city
Donato made a tomb for Pope Giovanni Coscia, who had
been deposed from the Pontificate by the Council of
Constance. This tomb he was commissioned to make by
Cosimo de' Medici, who was very much the friend of
the said Coscia. He wrought therein with his own
hand the figure of the dead man in gilded bronze,
together with the marble statues of Hope and Charity
that are there; and his pupil Michelozzo made the
figure of Faith. In the same church, opposite to
this work, there is a wooden figure by the hand of
Donato of St. Mary Magdalene in Penitence, very
beautiful and excellently wrought, showing her
wasted away by her fastings and abstinence, insomuch
that it displays in all its parts an admirable
perfection of anatomical knowledge. On a column of
granite in the Mercato Vecchio there is a figure of
Abundance in hard greystone by the hand of Donato,
standing quite by itself, so well wrought that it is
consummately praised by craftsmen and by all good
judges of art. The column on which this statue is
placed was formerly in San Giovanni, where there are
the others of granite supporting the gallery within
; it was removed and its place was taken by a fluted
column, on which, in the middle of that temple,
there once stood the statue of Mars which was taken
away when the Florentines were converted to the
faith of Jesus Christ.
The same man, while still a youth, made a figure
of the Prophet Daniel in marble for the facade of
Santa Maria del Fiore, and afterwards one of St.
John the Evangelist seated, four braccia high, and
clothed in a simple garment : which figure is much
extolled. On one corner of the same place, on the
side that faces towards the Via del Cocomero, there
is an old man between two columns, more akin to the
ancient manner than any other work that there is to
be seen by the hand of Donato, the head revealing
the thoughts that length of years brings to those
who are exhausted by time and labor. Within the said
church, likewise, he made the ornament for the
organ, which stands over the door of the old
sacristy, with those figures so boldly sketched, as
it has been said, that they appear to the eye to
have actual life and movement. Wherefore it may be
said of this man that he worked as much with his
judgment as with his hands, seeing that many things
are wrought which appear beautiful in the rooms
where they are made, and afterwards, on being taken
thence and set in another place, in a different
light or at a greater height, present a different
appearance, and turn out the contrary to what they
appeared; whereas Donato made his figures in such a
manner, that in the room where he was working they
did not appear half as good as they turned out to be
in the positions where they were placed. For the new
sacristy of the same church he made the design for
those boys who uphold the festoons that go round the
frieze, and likewise the design for the figures that
were wrought in the glass of the round window which
is below the cupola, namely, that one which contains
the Coronation of Our Lady ; which design is greatly
superior to those of the other round windows, as it
is clearly evident. For San Michele in Orto in the
said city he wrought the marble statue of St. Peter
which is to be seen there, a most masterly and
admirable figure, for the Guild of Butchers; and for
the Guild of Linen-manufacturers he wrought the
figure of St. Mark the Evangelist, which, after
being commissioned to make it in company with
Filippo Brunelleschi, he finished by himself with
the consent of Filippo. This figure was wrought by
Donato with so great judgment that its excellence
was not recognized, while it stood on the ground, by
those who had no judgment, and the Consuls of that
Guild were inclined to refuse to have it put into
place; whereupon Donato besought them to let him set
it on high, saying that he wished to work on it and
to show them a different figure as the result. His
request being granted, he covered it up for a
fortnight, and then uncovered it without having
otherwise touched it, filling everyone with wonder.
For the Guild of Armorers he made a most spirited
figure of St. George in armor, in the head of which
there may be seen the beauty of youth, courage and
valor in arms, and a proud and terrible ardor; and
there is a marvelous suggestion of life bursting out
of the stone. It is certain that no modern figure in
marble has yet shown such vivacity and such spirit
as nature and art produced in this one by means of
the hand of Donato. In the base that supports the
shrine enclosing that figure he wrought in marble
the story of the Saint killing the Dragon, in low
relief, wherein there is a horse that is much
esteemed and greatly extolled; and in the frontal he
made a half-length figure of God the Father in low
relief. Opposite to the church of the said oratory
he wrought the marble shrine for the Mercatanzia,
following the ancient Order known as Corinthian, and
departing entirely from the German manner; this
shrine was meant to contain two statues, but he
refused to make them because he could not come to an
agreement about the price. After his death these
figures were made in bronze by Andrea del
Verrocchio, as it will be told. For the main front
of the Campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore he wrought
four figures in marble, five braccia in height, of
which the two in the middle are portrayed from life,
one being Francesco Soderini as a youth, and the
other Giovanni di Barduccio Cherichini, now called
Il Zuccone. The latter was held to be a very rare
work and the most beautiful that Donato ever made,
and when he wished to take an oath that would
command belief he was wont to say, " By the faith
that I place in my Zuccone" ; and the while that he
was working on it, he would keep gazing at it and
saying, " Speak, speak, plague take thee, speak !"
Over the door of the campanile, on the side facing
the Canon's house, he made Abraham about to
sacrifice Isaac, with another Prophet : and these
figures were placed between two other statues.
For the Signoria of that city he made a casting
in metal which was placed under an arch of their
Loggia in the Piazza, representing Judith cutting
off the head of Holofernes; a work of great
excellence and mastery, which, if one considers the
simplicity of the garments and aspect of Judith on
the surface, reveals very clearly below the surface
the great spirit of that woman and the assistance
given to her by God, even as one sees the effect of
wine and sleep in the expression of Holofernes, and
death in his limbs, which have lost all life and are
shown cold and limp. This work was so well executed
by Donato that the casting came out delicate and
very beautiful, and it was afterwards finished so
excellently that it is a very great marvel to
behold. The base, likewise, which is a baluster of
granite, simple in design, appears full of grace and
presents an aspect pleasing to the eye. He was so
well satisfied with this work that he deigned to
place his name on it, which he had not done on the
others ; and it is seen in these words, " Donatelli
opus."
In the courtyard of the Palace of the said
Signori there is a life-size David, nude and in
bronze. Having cut off the head of Goliath, he is
raising one foot and placing it on him, holding a
sword in his right hand. This figure is so natural
in its vivacity and its softness, that it is almost
impossible for craftsmen to believe that it was not
molded on the living form. This statue once stood in
the courtyard of the house of the Medici, but it was
transported to the said place on the exile of
Cosimo. In our own day Duke Cosimo, having made a
fountain on the spot occupied by this statue, had it
removed, and it is being kept for a very large
courtyard that he intends to make at the back of the
palace, that is, where the lions formerly stood. In
the hall where there is the clock of Lorenzo della
Volpaia, on the left, there is a very beautiful
David in marble; between his legs, under his feet,
he has the head of the dead Goliath, and in his hand
he holds the sling wherewith he slew him. In the
first courtyard of the house of the Medici there are
eight medallions of marble, wherein there are copies
of ancient cameos and of the reverse sides of
medals, with certain scenes, all made by him and
very beautiful, which are built into the frieze
between the windows and the architrave above the
arches of the loggie.
In like manner he restored an ancient statue of
Marsyas in white marble, which was placed at the
entrance of the garden ; and a great number of
ancient heads, which were placed over the doors,
were restored and embellished by him with wings and
diamonds (the emblem of Cosimo), wrought very well
in stucco. He made a very lovely vessel of granite,
which poured forth water, and he wrought a similar
one, which also pours forth water, for the garden of
the Pazzi in Florence. In the said Palace of the
Medici there are Madonnas of marble and bronze made
in low relief, besides some scenes in marble with
most beautiful figures, marvelous in their flat
relief. So great was the love that Cosimo bore to
the talent of Donato that he kept him continually at
work, and Donato, on the other hand, bore so great
love to Cosimo that he could divine his patron's
every wish from the slightest sign, and obeyed him
in all things.
It is said that a Genoese merchant caused Donato
to make a lifesize head of bronze, which was very
beautiful and also very light, because it had to be
carried to a great distance; and that the commission
for this work came to him through the recommendation
of Cosimo. Now, when the head was finished and the
merchant came to pay for it, it appeared to him that
Donato was asking too much; wherefore the matter was
referred to Cosimo, who had the head carried to the
upper court of the palace and placed between the
battlements that overlook the street, to the end
that it might be seen better. When Cosimo sought to
settle the difference, he found the offer of the
merchant very far from the demand of Donato, and he
turned round and said that it was too little.
Whereupon the merchant, thinking it too much, said
that Donato had wrought it in a month or little
more, and that this meant a gain of more than half a
florin a day. Donato, thinking this too much of an
insult, turned round in anger and said to the
merchant that in the hundredth part of an hour he
would have been able to spoil the value of a year's
labor; and giving the head a push, he sent it flying
straightway into the street below, where it broke
into a thousand pieces ; saying to him that this
showed that he was more used to bargaining for beans
than for statues. Wherefore the merchant, regretting
his meanness, offered to give him double the sum if
he would make another; but neither his promises nor
the entreaties of Cosimo could induce Donato to make
it again. In the houses of the Martelli there are
many scenes in marble and in bronze; among others, a
David three braccia high, with many other works
presented by him as a free gift to that family in
proof of the devotion and love that he bore them ;
above all, a St. John of marble, made by him in the
round and three braccia high, a very rare work,
which is today in the house of the heirs of Ruberto
Martelli. With regard to this work, a legal
agreement was made to the effect that it should be
neither pledged, nor sold, nor given away, without
heavy penalties, as a testimony and token of the
affection shown by them to Donato, and by him to
them out of gratitude that he had learnt his art
through the protection and the opportunities that he
received from them.
He also made a tomb of marble for an Archbishop,
which was sent to Naples and is in San Angelo di
Seggio di Nido ; in this tomb there are three
figures in the round that support the sarcophagus
with their heads, and on the sarcophagus itself is a
scene in low relief, so beautiful that it commands
infinite praise. In the house of the Count of
Matalone, in the same city, there is the head of a
horse by the hand of Donato, so beautiful that many
take it for an antique. In the township of Prato he
wrought the marble pulpit where the Girdle is shown,
in which, in several compartments, he carved a dance
of children so beautiful and so admirable, that he
may be said to have demonstrated the perfection of
his art no less in this work than in his others. To
support this pulpit, moreover, he made two capitals
of bronze, one of which is still there, while the
other was carried away by the Spaniards who sacked
that district.
It came to pass about this time that the Signoria
of Venice, hearing of his fame, sent for him to the
end that he might make the monument of Gattamelata
in the city of Padua; wherefore he went there right
willingly and made the bronze horse that is on the
Piazza di San Antonio, wherein are perceived the
panting and neighing of the horse, with great spirit
and pride, most vividly expressed by his art, in the
figure of the rider. And Donato proved himself such
a master in the proportions and excellence of so
great a casting, that he can truly bear comparison
with any ancient craftsman in movement, design, art,
proportion, and diligence wherefore it not only
astonished all who saw it then, but continues to
astonish every person who sees it at the present
day. The Paduans, moved by this, did their utmost to
make him their fellow citizen, and sought to detain
him with every sort of endearment.
In order to keep him in their midst, they
commissioned him to make the stories of St. Anthony
of Padua on the predella of the high altar in the
Church of the Friars Minor, which are in low relief,
wrought with so great judgment, that the most
excellent masters of that art stand marveling and
amazed before them, as they consider their beautiful
and varied compositions, with the great abundance of
extraordinary figures and diminishing perspectives.
Very beautiful, likewise, are the Maries that he
made on the altar dossal, lamenting the Dead Christ.
In the house of one of the Counts Capodilista he
wrought the skeleton of a horse in wood, which is
still to be seen today without the neck; wherein the
various parts are joined together with so much
method, that, if one considers the manner of this
work, one can judge of the ingenuity of his brain
and the greatness of his mind. In a convent of nuns
he made a St. Sebastian in wood at the request of a
chaplain, a Florentine, who was their friend and an
intimate of his own. This man brought him a figure
of that Saint that they had, old and clumsy,
beseeching him to make the new one like it.
Wherefore Donato strove to imitate it in order to
please the chaplain and the nuns, but, although he
imitated it, clumsy as it was, he could not help
showing in his own the usual excellence of his art.
Together with this figure he made many others in
clay and in stucco, and on one end of an old piece
of marble that the said nuns had in their garden he
carved a very beautiful Madonna. Throughout that
whole city, likewise, there are innumerable works by
his hand, by reason of which he was held by the
Paduans to be a marvel and was praised by every man
of understanding; but he determined to return to
Florence, saying that if he remained any longer in
Padua he would forget everything that he knew, being
so greatly praised there by all, and that he was
glad to return to his own country, where he would
gain nothing but censure, since such censure would
urge him to study and would enable him to attain to
greater glory. Having departed from Padua,
therefore, he returned by way of Venice, where, as a
mark of his friendliness towards the Florentine
people, he made them a present of a St. John the
Baptist, wrought by him in wood with very great
diligence and study, for their chapel in the Church
of the Friars Minor. In the city of Faenza he carved
a St. John and a St. Jerome in wood, which are no
less esteemed than his other works.
Afterwards, having returned to Tuscany, he made a
marble tomb, with a very beautiful scene, in the
Pieve of Montepulciano, and a lavatory of marble, on
which Andrea Verrocchio also worked, in the Sacristy
of San Lorenzo in Florence ; and in the house of
Lorenzo della Stufa he wrought some heads and
figures that are very spirited and vivacious. Then,
departing from Florence, he betook himself to Rome,
in order to try to imitate the antiques to the best
of his ability; and during this time, while studying
these, he made a tabernacle of the Sacrament in
stone, which is to be seen in San Pietro at the
present day. Passing through Siena on his way back
to Florence, he undertook to make a door of bronze
for the Baptistery of San Giovanni; and he had
already made the wooden model, and the wax molds
were almost finished and successfully covered with
the outer moldings, ready for the casting, when
there arrived, on his way back from Rome, one
Bernardetto di Mona Papera, a Florentine goldsmith
and an intimate friend of Donato, who wrought upon
him so strongly both with words and in other ways,
either for some business of his own or for some
other reason, that he brought him back to Florence;
wherefore that work remained unfinished, nay, not
begun. There only remained in the Office of Works of
the Duomo in that city a St. John the Baptist in
bronze by his hand, with the right arm missing from
the elbow downwards; and this Donato is said to have
done because he had not been paid in full.
Having returned to Florence therefore, he wrought
the Sacristy of San Lorenzo in stucco for Cosimo de'
Medici, making four medallions on the pendentives of
the vault containing stories of the Evangelists,
with grounds in perspective, partly painted and
partly in low relief. And in the said place he made
two very beautiful little doors of bronze in low
relief, with the Apostles, Martyrs, and Confessors;
and above these he made some flat niches, one
containing a St. Laurence and a St. Stephen, and the
other St. Cosmos and St. Damian. In the transept of
the church he executed four saints in stucco, each
five braccia high, which are wrought in a masterly
manner. He also designed the bronze pulpits that
contain the Passion of Christ, a work displaying
design, force, invention, and an abundance of
figures and buildings; but these his old age
prevented him from executing, and his pupil Bertoldo
finished them and brought them to the utmost
perfection. For Santa Maria del Fiore he made two
colossal figures of brick and stucco, which are
placed by way of ornament without the church, at the
corners of the chapels. Over the door of Santa Croce
there is still to be seen a St. Louis wrought by him
in bronze, five braccia high; for this someone
criticized him, saying that it was stupid and
perhaps the least excellent work that he had ever
made, and he answered that he had made it so of set
purpose, seeing that the Saint had been stupid to
give up his throne and become a monk. The same man
made the head of the wife of the said Cosimo de'
Medici in bronze, and this head is preserved in the
guardaroba of the Lord Duke Cosimo, wherein there
are many other works in bronze and marble by the
hand of Donato; among others, a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, sunk in the marble in
flat-relief, which is the most beautiful work that
it is possible to see, and the rather as it is sur
rounded by a border of scenes done in miniature by
Fra Bartolommeo, which are admirable, as it will be
told in the proper place.
The said Lord Duke has a very beautiful, nay,
miraculous Crucifix in bronze, by the hand of
Donato, in his study, wherein there are innumerable
rare antiquities and most beautiful medals. In the
same guardaroba there is a bronze panel containing
the Passion of Our Lord in low relief, with a great
number of figures; and in another panel, also in
metal, there is another Crucifixion. In like manner,
in the house of the heirs of Jacopo Capponi, who was
an excellent citizen and a true gentleman, there is
a marble panel with the Madonna in half-relief,
which is held to be a very rare work. Messer Antonio
de' Nobili, who was Treasurer to his Excellency, had
in his house a marble panel by the hand of Donato,
in which there is a half-length Madonna in low
relief, so beautiful that the said Messer Antonio
valued it as much as all his possessions ; nor is it
less valued by his son Giulio, a youth of singular
goodness and judgment, a friend to lovers of art and
to all men of excellence. In the house of Giovan
Battista d'Agnol Doni, a gentleman of Florence,
there is a Mercury of metal in the round by the hand
of Donato, one braccio and a half in height and
clothed in a certain bizarre manner; which work is
truly very beautiful, and no less rare than the
others that adorn his most beautiful house.
Bartolommeo Gondi, of whom we have spoken in the
Life of Giotto, has a Madonna in half-relief by the
hand of Donato, wrought with so great love and
diligence that it is not possible to see anything
better, or to imagine the fancifulness which he gave
to her head dress and the loveliness that he put
into the garments which she is wearing. In like
manner, Messer Lelio Torelli, First Auditor and
Secretary to our Lord the Duke, and no less devoted
a lover of all the honorable sciences, arts, and
professions, than he is excellent as a jurist, has a
marble panel of Our Lady by the hand of the same
Donatello.
But if one were to give a complete account of his
life and of the works that he made, it would be a
far longer story than it is our intention to give in
writing the Lives of our craftsmen, seeing that he
put his hand not only to great things, of which
there has been enough said, but also to the smallest
things of art, making the arms of families on the
chimney pieces and on the fronts of the houses of
citizens, a most beautiful example of which may be
seen in the house of the Sommai, which is opposite
to that of the baker Della Vacca. For the family of
the Martelli, more over, he made a coffin in the
form of a cradle wrought of wicker-work, to serve
for a tomb; but it is beneath the Church of San
Lorenzo, because no tombs of any kind are to be seen
above, save only the epitaph of the tomb of Cosimo
de' Medici, and even that one has its entrance
below, like the others.
It is said that Simone, the brother of Donato,
having wrought the model for the tomb of Pope Martin
V, sent for Donato to the end that he might see it
before it was cast. Going to Rome, therefore, Donato
found himself in that city at the very moment when
the Emperor Sigismund was there to receive the crown
from Pope Eugenius IV; wherefore he was forced, in
company with Simone, to occupy himself with making
the magnificent preparations for that festival,
whereby he acquired very great fame and honor.
In the guardaroba of Signor Guidobaldo, Duke of
Urbino, there is a very beautiful head of marble by
the hand of the same man, and it is believed that it
was given to the ancestors of the said Duke by the
Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici, at the time when he
was staying at that Court, which was full of most
cultured gentlemen. In short, the talent of Donato
was such, and he was so admirable in all his
actions, that he may be said to have been one of the
first to give light, by his practice, judgment, and
knowledge, to the art of sculpture and of good
design among the moderns ; and he deserves all the
more commendation, because in his day, apart from
the columns, sarcophagi, and triumphal arches, there
were no antiquities revealed above the earth. And it
was through him, chiefly, that there arose in Cosimo
de' Medici the desire to introduce into Florence the
antiquities that were and are in the house of the
Medici; all of which he restored with his own hand.
He was most liberal, gracious, and courteous, and
more careful for his friends than for himself; nor
did he give thought to money, but kept his in a
basket suspended by a cord from the ceiling,
wherefore all his workmen and friends could take
what they needed without saying a word to him. He
passed his old age most joyously, and, having become
decrepit, he had to be succored by Cosimo and by
others of his friends, being no longer able to work.
It is said that Cosimo, being at the point of death,
recommended him to the care of his son Piero, who,
as a most diligent executor of his father's wishes,
gave him a farm at Cafaggiuolo, which produced
enough to enable him to live in comfort. At this
Donato made great rejoicing, thinking that he was
thus more than secure from the danger of dying of
hunger ; but he had not held it a year before he
returned to Piero and gave it back to him by public
contract, declaring that he refused to lose his
peace of mind by having to think of household cares
and listen to the importunity of the peasant, who
kept pestering him every third day--now because the
wind had unroofed his dovecote, now because his
cattle had been seized by the Commune for taxes, and
now because a storm had robbed him of his wine and
his fruit. He was so weary and disgusted with all
this, that he would rather die of hunger than have
to think of so many things. Piero laughed at the
simplicity of Donato; and in order to deliver him
from this torment, he accepted the farm (for on this
Donato insisted), and assigned him an allowance of
the same value or more from his own bank, to be paid
in cash, which was handed over to him every week in
the due proportion owing to him ; whereby he was
greatly contented.
Thus, as a servant and friend of the house of
Medici, he lived happily and free from care for the
rest of his life. When he had reached the age of
eighty-three, however, he was so palsied that he
could no longer work in any fashion, and took to
spending all his time in bed in a poor little house
that he had in the Via del Cocomero, near the
Nunnery of San Niccolo ; where, growing worse from
day to day and wasting away little by little, he
died on December 13, 1466. He was buried in the
Church of San Lorenzo, near the tomb of Cosimo, as
he had himself directed, to the end that his dead
body be near him, even as he had been ever near him
in spirit when alive. His death caused great grief
to his fellow-citizens, to the craftsmen, and to all
who knew him when living. Wherefore, in order to
honor him more after death than they had done in his
life, they gave him most honorable obsequies in the
aforesaid church, and he was accompanied to the
grave by all the painters, architects, sculptors,
and goldsmiths, and by almost all the people of that
city which continued for a long time to compose in
his honor various kinds of verses in diverse
tongues, whereof it must suffice us to cite the few
that are to be read below.
But before I come to the epitaphs, it will not be
amiss to relate the following story of him as well.
When he had fallen sick, and only a little before
his death, certain of his relatives went to visit
him; and after they had greeted him, as is
customary, and condoled with him, they said that it
was his duty to leave them a farm that he had in the
district of Prato, although it was small and
produced a very meager income; and they prayed him
straitly to do it. Hearing this, Donato, who showed
something of the good in all that he did, said to
them, "I cannot satisfy you, my kinsmen, because I
intend to leave it--as it appears to me
reasonable--to the peasant, who has always worked it
and endured great labor thereby, and not to you,
who, without having bestowed upon it anything more
profitable than the thought of possessing it, expect
me to leave it to you because of this your visit!
Go, and may God bless you!" Of a truth such
relatives, who have no love unconnected with
advantage or with the hope of it, should be ever
treated in this fashion. Sending therefore for a
notary, he left the said farm to the laborer who had
always worked it, and who perchance had behaved
better to him in his need than those relatives had
done. His art-possessions he left to his pupils,
namely, Bertoldo, a sculptor of Florence, who
imitated him closely enough, as may be seen from a
very beautiful battle between men on horseback,
wrought in bronze, which is now in the guardaroba of
the Lord Duke Cosimo; Nanni d'Antonio di Banco, who
died before him; and Rossellino, Desiderio, and
Vellano da Padova. In short, it may be said that
every man who has sought to do good work in relief
since the death of Donato, has been his disciple. He
was resolute in draughtsmanship, and he made his
drawings with such mastery and boldness that they
have no equals, as may be seen in my book, wherein I
have figures drawn by his hand, both clothed and
nude, animals that make all who see them marvel and
other most beautiful things of that kind. His
portrait was made by Paolo Uccello, as it has been
said in his Life. The epitaphs are as follows:
SCULTURA H.M. A FLORENTINIS FIERI VOLUIT
DONATELLO, UTPOTE
HOMINI, QUI El, QUOD JAMDIU OPTIMIS ARTIFICIBUS
MULTISQUE SAECULIS
TUM NOBILITATIS TUM NOMINIS ACQUISITUM FUERAT,
INJURIAVE TEMPOR.
PERDIDERAT IPSA, IPSE UNUS UNA VITA INFINITISQUE
OPERIBUS CUMU LATISS.
RESTITUERIT : ET PATRIAE BENEMERENTI HUJUS
RESTITUTAE
VIRTUTIS PAIAMAM REPORTARIT.
EXCUDIT NEMO SPIRANTIA MOLLIUS AERA ;
VERA CANO ; CERNES MARMORA VIVA LOQUI.
GRAECORUM SILEAT PRISCA ADMIRABILIS AETAS
COMPEDIBUS STATUAS CONTINUISSE RHODON.
NECTERE NAMQLIE MAGIS FUERANT HAEC VINCULA DIGNA
ISTIUS EGREGIAS ARTIFICIS STATUAS.
QUANTO CON DOTTA MANO ALLA SCULTURA
GIA FECER MOLTI, OR SOt DONATO HA FATTO ;
RENDUTO HA VITA A MARMI, AFFETTO, ED ATTO ;
CHE PIU, SE NON PARLAR, PUO DAR NATURA ?
The world remained so full of his works, that it
may be affirmed right truly that no craftsman ever
worked more than he did. For, delighting in every
kind of work, he put his hand to anything, without
considering whether it was of little or of great
value. Nevertheless it was indispensable to
sculpture, this vast activity of Donato in making
figures in every kind of relief, full, half, low,
and the lowest; because, whereas in the good times
of the ancient Greeks and Romans it was by means of
many that it became perfect, he alone by the
multitude of his works brought it back to marvelous
perfection in our own age. Wherefore craftsmen
should trace the greatness of this art rather to him
than to any man born in modern times, seeing that,
besides rendering the difficulties of the art easy,
in the multitude of his works he combined together
invention, design, practice, judgment, and every
other quality that ever can or should be looked for
in a divine genius. Donato was very resolute and
ready, executing all his works with consummate
facility, and he always accomplished much more than
he had promised.
He left all his work to be completed by his pupil
Bertoldo, and particularly the bronze pulpits of San
Lorenzo, which were afterwards finished in great
part by him, and brought to the state in which they
are seen in the said church. I will not forbear to
say that the most learned and very reverend Don
Vincenzo Borghini, of whom mention has been made
above with regard to some other matter, has
collected into a large book innumerable drawings by
excellent painters and sculptors, both ancient and
modern; and on the ornamental borders of two leaves
opposite to each other, which contain drawings by
the hand of Donato and of Michelangelo Buonarroti,
he has written, with much judgment, two Greek
epigrams; on Donato, and on Michelangelo, which mean
in Latin, " Aut Donatus Bonarrotum exprimit et
revert ; auto Bonarrotus Donatum," and in our own
tongue, "Either the spirit of Donato works in
Buonarroti, or that of Buonarroti began by working
in Donato."
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MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI (1396-1472)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IF EVERY MAN who lives in this world were to
realize that he may have to live when he is no
longer able to work, there would not be so many
reduced to begging in their old age for that which
they consumed without any restraint in their youth,
when their large and abundant gains, blinding their
true judgment, made them spend more than was
necessary and much more than was expedient. For,
seeing how coldly a man is looked upon who has
fallen from wealth to poverty, every man should
strive--honestly, however, and maintaining the
proper mean--to avoid having to beg in his old age.
And whosoever will act like Michelozzo--who did not
imitate his master Donato in this respect, although
he did in his virtues--will live honorably all the
course of his life, and will not be forced in his
last years to go about miserably hunting for the
wherewithal to live.
Now Michelozzo applied himself in his youth to
sculpture under Donatello, and also to design; and
although he realized their difficulties,
nevertheless he went on ever practicing so
diligently with clay, with wax, and with marble,
that he ever showed ability and great talent in the
works that he made afterwards. There was one art in
which he surpassed many and even his own self, for,
after Brunellesco, he was held to be the most
methodical architect of his times, and the one who
was best able to arrange and contrive palaces,
convents, and houses for human habitation, and who
designed them with the greatest judgment, as will be
told in the proper place. Of this man Donatello
availed himself for many years, because he was very
well practiced in working marble and in the business
of casting in bronze; of which we have proof in a
tomb in San Giovanni at Florence (which was made by
Donatello, as it has been said, for Pope Giovanni
Coscia), since the greater part was executed by
Michelozzo; and there we can see a very beautiful
marble statue by his hand, two braccia and a half in
height, representing Faith (in company with one of
Hope and one of Charity made by Donatello, of the
same size), which does not suffer by comparison with
the others. Moreover, above the door of the sacristy
and the Office of Works, opposite to San Giovanni,
Michelozzo made a little St. John in full-relief,
wrought with diligence, which was much extolled.
Michelozzo was so intimate with Cosimo de' Medici
that the latter, recognizing his genius, caused him
to make the model for the house and palace at the
corner of the Via Larga, beside San Giovannino; for
he thought that the one made by Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, as it has been said, was too sumptuous
and magnificent, and more likely to stir up envy
among his fellow citizens than to confer grandeur or
adornment on the city, or bring comfort to himself.
Wherefore, being pleased with the model that
Michelozzo had made, he had the building brought to
completion under his direction in the manner that we
see at the present day, with all the beautiful and
useful arrangements and graceful adornments that are
seen therein, which have majesty and grandeur in
their simplicity; and Michelozzo deserves all the
greater praise in that this was the first palace
which was built in that city on modern lines, and
which was divided up into rooms both useful and most
beautiful. The cellars are excavated to more than
half their depth underground, namely, four braccia
below, with three above for the sake of light; and
there are also wine-cellars and store-rooms. On the
ground-floor there are two courtyards with
magnificent loggie, on which open saloons, chambers,
antechambers, studies, closets, stove-rooms,
kitchens, wells, and staircases both secret and
public, all most convenient. On each floor there are
apartments with accommodation for a whole family,
with all the conveniences that are proper not only
to a private citizen, such as Cosimo then was, but
even to the most splendid and most honor able of
Kings; wherefore in our own times Kings, Emperors,
Popes, and all the most illustrious Princes of
Europe have been comfortably lodged there, to the
infinite credit both of the magnificence of Cosimo
and of the excellent ability of Michelozzo in
architecture.
In the year 1433, when Cosimo was driven into
exile, Michelozzo, who loved him very greatly and
was most faithful to him, accompanied him of his own
free will to Venice and insisted on remaining with
him all the time that he stayed there; and in that
city, besides many designs and models that he made
for private dwellings and public buildings and
decorations for the friends of Cosimo and for many
gentlemen, he built, at the command and expense of
Cosimo, the library of the Monastery of San Giorgio
Maggiore, a seat of the Black Friars of Santa
Justina ; and this was not only finished with regard
to walls, book-shelves, woodwork, and other
adornments, but was also filled with many books.
Such was the occupation and amusement of Cosimo
during that exile, from which he was recalled to his
country in the year 1434; whereupon he returned
almost in triumph, and Michelozzo with him. Now,
while Michelozzo was in Florence, the Palazzo
Pubblico della Signoria began to threaten to
collapse, for some columns in the courtyard were
giving way, either because there was too much weight
pressing on them, or because their foundations were
weak and awry, or even perchance because they were
made of pieces badly joined and put together.
Whatever may have been the reason, the matter was
put into the hands of Michelozzo, who accepted the
undertaking willingly, because he had provided
against a similar peril near San Barnaba in Venice,
in the following manner. A gentleman had a house
that was in danger of falling down, and he entrusted
the matter to Michelozzo; wherefore he--according to
what Michelangelo Buonarroti once told me--caused a
column to be made in secret, and prepared a number
of props; and hiding everything in a boat, into
which he entered together with some builders, in one
night he propped up the house and replaced the
column.
Michelozzo, therefore, emboldened by this
experience, averted the danger from the palace,
doing honor both to himself and to those by whose
favor he had received such a charge ; and he
refounded and rebuilt the columns in the manner
wherein they stand today. First he made a stout
framework of props and thick beams standing upright
to support the centers of the arches, made of
nutwood, and upholding the vaulting, so that this
came to support equally the weight that was
previously borne by the columns; then, little by
little removing those that were made of pieces badly
joined together, he replaced them with others made
of pieces and wrought with diligence, in such a
manner that the building did not suffer in any, way
and has never moved a hair's breadth. And in order
that his columns might be known from the others, he
made some of them at the corners with eight sides,
with capitals that have the foliage carved in the
modern fashion, and some round; and all are very
easily distinguished from the old columns that
Arnolfo [Arnolfo di Cambio] made formerly.
Afterwards, by the advice of Michelozzo, it was
ordained by those who then governed the city that
the arches of those columns should be unburdened and
relieved of the weight of the walls that rested upon
them; that the whole courtyard should be rebuilt
from the arches upwards, with a row of windows in
modern fashion, similar to those that he had made
for Cosimo in the courtyard of the Palace of the
Medici ; and that designs in rustic work should be
carved on the walls, for the reception of those
golden lilies that are still seen there at the
present day. All this Michelozzo did with great
promptitude ; and on the second tier, directly above
the windows of the said courtyard, he made some
round windows (so as to have them different from the
aforesaid windows) to give light to the rooms on
that floor, which are over those of the first floor,
where there is now the Sala de' Dugento. The third
floor, where the Signori and the Gonfalonier lived,
he made more ornate, and on the side towards San
Piero Scheraggio he arranged a series of apartments
for the Signori, who had previously slept all
together in one and the same room. These apartments
consisted of eight for the Signori and a larger one
for the Gonfalonier, and they all opened on a
corridor which had windows overlooking the
courtyard.
Above this he made another series of commodious
rooms for the household hold of the Palace, in one
of which, used today as the Treasury, there is a
portrait by the hand of Giotto of Charles, Duke of
Calabria, son of King Robert, kneeling before a
Madonna. There, also, he made apartments for the
bailiffs, ushers, trumpeters, musicians, pipers,
mace-bearers, heralds, that are court servants, and
with all the other apartments required in such a
palace. On the upper part of the gallery, moreover,
he made a stone cornice that went right round the
courtyard, and beside it a water cistern that was
filled by the rains, to make some artificial
fountains play at certain times. Michelozzo also
directed the restoration of the chapel wherein Mass
is heard, and beside it many rooms, with very rich
ceilings painted with golden lilies on a ground of
blue. He had other ceilings made both for the upper
and the lower rooms of the Palace, covering up all
the old ceilings that had been made before in the
ancient manner. In short, he gave it all the
perfection that was demanded by so great a building
; and he contrived to convey the water from the
wells right up to the highest floor, to which it
could be drawn up by means of a wheel more easily
than was usual. One thing alone the genius of
Michelozzo could not remedy, namely, the public
staircase, because it was badly conceived from the
beginning, badly situated, awkwardly built, steep,
and without lights, while from the first floor
upwards the steps were of wood.
He labored to such purpose, however, that he made
a flight of round steps at the entrance of the
courtyard, and a door with pilasters of hard stone
and most beautiful capitals carved by his hand,
besides a well designed cornice with a double
architrave, in the frieze of which he placed all the
arms of the Commune. And what is more, he made the
whole staircase of hard stone up to the floor where
the Signori lived, fortifying it at the top and
half-way up with a portcullis at each point, in case
of tumults; and at the head of the staircase he made
a door which was called the "catena," beside which
there was ever stand ing an usher, who opened or
closed it according as he was commanded by those in
authority. He strengthened the tower of the
campanile, which had cracked by reason of the weight
of that part which stands out over space on corbels
on the side towards the Piazza, with very stout
bands of iron. Finally, he improved and restored
that Palace so greatly, that he was therefore
commended by the whole city and made, besides other
rewards, a member of the College, which is one of
the most honorable magistracies in Florence. And if
it should appear to anyone that I have perchance
spoken at greater length about this building than
was needful, I deserve to be excused, because--after
having shown in the Life of Arnolfo, in connection
with its original erection, which was in the year
1298, that it was built out of the square and wholly
wanting in reasonable pro portion, with unequal
columns in the courtyard, arches both large and
small, inconvenient stairs, and rooms awry and badly
proportioned--it was necessary for me to show also
to what condition it was brought by the intellect
and judgment of Michelozzo; although even he did not
arrange it in such a manner that it could be
inhabited comfortably, without very great
inconvenience and discomfort. Finally, when the Lord
Duke Cosimo came to occupy it in the year 1538, his
Excellency began to bring it into better form; but
since those architects who served the Duke for many
years in that work were never able to grasp or to
carry out his conception, he determined to see
whether he could effect the restoration without
spoiling the old part, in which there was no little
of the good; giving better order, convenience, and
proportion, according to the plan that he had in
mind, to the awkward and inconvenient stairs and
apartments.
Sending to Rome, therefore, for Giorgio Vasari,
painter and architect of Arezzo, who was working for
Pope Julius III, he commissioned him not only to put
in order the rooms that he had caused to be begun in
the upper part of the side opposite to the Corn
Market, which were out of the straight with regard
to the groundplan, but also to consider whether the
interior of the Palace could not, without spoiling
the work already done, be brought to such a form
that it might be possible to go all over it, from
one part to another and from one apartment to
another, by means of staircases both secret and
public, with an ascent as easy as possible.
Thereupon, while the said rooms, already begun, were
being adorned with gilded ceilings and scenes
painted in oil, and with pictures in fresco on the
walls, and others were being wrought in stucco,
Giorgio took a tracing of the groundplan right round
the whole of the Palace, both the new part and the
old; and then, having arranged with no small labor
and study for the execution of all that he intended
to do, he began to bring it little by little into a
good form, and to unite, almost without spoiling any
of the work already done, the disconnected rooms,
which previously varied in height even on the same
floor, some being high and others low.
But in order that the Duke might see the design
of the whole, in the space of six months he had made
a well-proportioned wooden model of the whole of
that pile, which has the form and extent rather of a
fortress than of a palace. According to this model,
which gained the approval of the Duke, the building
was united and many commodious rooms were made, as
well as convenient staircases, both public and
secret, which give access to all the floors; and in
this manner a burden was removed from the halls,
which were formerly like public streets, for it had
been impossible to ascend to the upper floors
without passing through them. The whole was
magnificently adorned with varied and diverse
pictures, and finally the roof of the Great Hall was
raised twelve braccia above its former height;
insomuch that if Arnolfo, Michelozzo, and the others
who labored on the building from its first
foundation onwards, were to return to life, they
would not recognize it--nay, they would believe that
it was not theirs but a new erection and a different
edifice.
But let us now return to Michelozzo; the Church
of San Giorgio had just been given to the Friars of
San Domenico da Fiesole, but they only remained
there from about the middle of July to the end of
January, for Cosimo de' Medici and his brother
Lorenzo obtained for them from Pope Eugenius the
Church and Convent of San Marco, which was
previously the seat of Silvestrine Monks, to whom
the said San Giorgio was given in ex change. And
Cosimo and Lorenzo, being very devoted to religion
and to divine service and worship, ordained that the
said Convent of San Marco should be rebuilt entirely
anew after the design and model of Michelozzo, and
should be made very vast and magnificent, with all
the conveniences that the said friars could possibly
desire. This work was begun in the year 1437, and
the first part to be built was that opening out
above the old refectory, opposite to the ducal
stables, which Duke Lorenzo de' Medici formerly
caused to be built. In this place twenty cells were
built, the roof was put on, and the wooden furniture
was made for the refectory, the whole being finished
in the manner wherein it still stands today. But for
some time the work was carried no further, for they
had to wait to see what would be the end of a
lawsuit that one Maestro Stefano, General of the
said Silvestrines, had brought against the Friar of
San Marco with regard to that convent. This suit
having concluded in favor of the said Friars of San
Marco, the building was once more continued. But
since the principal chapel, which had been built by
Ser Pino Bonaccorsi, had afterwards come into the
hands of a lady of the Caponsacchi family, and from
her to Mariotto Banchi, some lawsuit suit was fought
out over this, and Mariotto, having upheld his
rights and having taken the said chapel from Agnolo
della Casa, to whom the said Silvestrines had given
or sold it, presented it to Cosimo de' Medici, who
gave Mariotto 500 crowns in return for it.
Later, after Cosimo had likewise bought from the
Company of the Spirito Santo the site where the
choir now stands, the chapel, the tribune, and the
choir were built under the direction of Michelozzo,
and completely furnished in the year 1439.
Afterwards the library was made, eighty braccia in
length and eighteen in breadth, and vaulted both
above and below, with sixty-four shelves of cypress
wood filled with most beautiful books. After this
the dormitory was finished, being brought to a
square shape; and finally the cloister was
completed, together with all the truly commodious
apartments of that convent, which is believed to be
the best designed, the most beautiful, and the most
commodious that there is in Italy, thanks to the
talent and industry of Michelozzo, who delivered it
completely finished in the year 1452. It is said
that Cosimo spent 36,000 ducats on this fabric, and
that while it was building he gave the monks 366
ducats every year for their maintenance. Of the
construction and consecration of this holy place we
read in an inscription on marble over the door that
leads into the sacristy, in the following words:
CUM HOC TEMPLUM MARCO EVANGELiSTAE DICATUM
MAGNIFICIS SUMPTIBUS
CL. V. COSMI MEDICIS TANDEM ABSOLUTUM ESSET,
EUGENIUS QUARTUS
ROMANUS PONTIFEX MAXIMA CARDINALIUM,
ARCHiEPISCOPORUM, EPISCO PORUM,
ALIORUMQUE SACERDOTUM FREQUENTIA COMITATUS, ID CELE
BERRIMO EPIPIIANIAE
DIE, SOLEMNI MORE SERVATO, CONSECRAVIT. TUM
ETIAM QUOTANNIS OMNIBUS, QUI LODEM DIE FESTO ANNUAS
STATASQUE
CONSECRATIONIS CEREMONIAS CASTE PIEQUE CELEBRARINT
VISLRINTVE
TEMPORIS LUENDIS PECCATIS SUIS DEBITI SEPTEM ANNOS
TOTIDEMQUE
QUADRAGLSIMAS APOSTOLICA REMISIT AUCTORITATE, A.
MCCCCXLII.
In like manner, Cosimo erected from the design of
Michelozzo the noviciate of Santa Croce in Florence,
with the chapel of the same and the entrance that
leads from the church to the sacristy, to the said
noviciate, and to the staircase of the dormitory.
These works are not inferior in beauty, convenience,
and adornment to any building whatsoever of all
those which the truly magnificent Cosimo de' Medici
caused to be erected, or which Michelozzo carried
into execution; and besides other parts, the door
that leads from the church to the said places, which
he made of greystone, was much extolled in those
times by reason of its novelty and of its
beautifully made frontal, for it was then very
little the Custom to imitate the good manner of
antique work, as this door does. Cosimo de' Medici
also built, with the advice and design of
Michelozzo, the Palace of Cafaggiuolo in Mugello,
giving it the form of a fortress with ditches round
it ; and he laid out farms, roads, gardens,
fountains with groves round them, fowling-places,
and other appurtenances of a villa, all very
splendid; and at a distance of two miles from the
said palace, in a place called the Bosco a' Frati,
with the advice of Michelozzo, he carried out the
building of a convent for the Frati de' Zoccoli of
the Order of St. Francis, which is something very
beautiful. At Trebbio, likewise, he made many other
improvements which are still to be seen ; and at a
distance of two miles from Florence, also, he built
the palatial Villa of Careggi, which was very rich
and magnificent ; and thither Michelozzo brought the
water for the fountain that is seen there at the
present day.
For Giovanni, son of Cosimo de' Medici, the same
master built another magnificent and noble palace at
Fiesole, sinking the foundations for the lower part
in the brow of the hill, at great expense but not
without great advantage, for in that lower part he
made vaults, cellars, stables, vat stores, and many
other beautiful and commodious offices; and above,
besides the chambers, halls, and other ordinary
rooms, he made some for books and certain others for
music. In short, Michelozzo showed in this building
how great was his skill in architecture, for,
besides what has been mentioned, it was constructed
in such a manner that, although it stands on that
hill, it has never moved a hair's breadth. This
palace finished, he built above it, almost on the
summit of the hill, the Church and Convent of the
Friars of San Girolamo, at the expense of the same
man. The same Michelozzo made the design and model
which Cosimo sent to Jerusalem for the hospice that
he caused to be erected there, for the pilgrims who
visit the Sepulcher of Christ. He also sent the
design for six windows in the facade of San Pietro
in Rome, which were made there afterwards with the
arms of Cosimo de' Medici ; but three of them were
removed in our own day and replaced by Pope Paul III
with others bearing the arms of the house of
Farnese. After this, hearing that there was a lack
of water at Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, to
the very great discomfort of the people who go there
every year on August 1 to receive Absolution, Cosimo
sent thither Michelozzo, who brought the water of a
spring, which rose halfway up the brow of the hill,
to the fountain, which he covered with a very rich
and lovely loggia resting on some columns made of
separate pieces and bearing the arms of Cosimo.
Within the convent, also at the commission of
Cosimo, he made many useful improvements for the
friars; and these the magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici
afterwards renewed with more adornment and at
greater expense, besides presenting to that Madonna
the image of her in wax which is still to be seen
there. Cosimo also caused the road that leads from
the said Madonna degli Angeli to the city to be
paved with bricks; nor did Michelozzo take his leave
of those parts before he had made the design for the
old Citadel of Perugia. Having finally returned to
Florence, he built a house on the Canto de'
Tornaquinci for Giovanni Tornabuoni, similar in
almost every way to the palace that he had made for
Cosimo, save that the facade is not in rustic-work
and has no cornices above, but is quite plain.
After the death of Cosimo, by whom Michelozzo had
been loved as much as a dear friend can be loved,
his son Piero caused him to build the marble Chapel
of the Crucifix in San Miniato sul Monte ; and in
the half circle of the arch at the back of the said
chapel Michelozzo carved in low relief a Falcon with
the Diamond (the emblem of Cosimo, father of Piero),
which was truly a very beautiful work. After these
things, the same Piero de' Medici, intending to
build the Chapel of the Nunziata, in the Church of
the Servi, entirely of marble, besought Michelozzo,
now an old man, to give him his advice in the
matter, both because he greatly admired his talents
and because he knew how faithful a friend and
servant he had been to his father Cosimo. This
Michelozzo did, and the charge of constructing it
was given to Pagno di Lapo Partigiani, a sculptor of
Fiesole, who, as one who wished to include many
things in a small space, showed many ideas in this
work. This chapel is supported by four marble
columns about nine braccia high, made with double
flutings in the Corinthian manner, with the bases
and capitals variously carved and with double
members. On the columns rest the architrave, frieze,
and cornice, likewise with double members and
carvings and wrought with various things of fancy,
and particularly with foliage and the emblems and
arms of the Medici.
Between these and other cornices made for another
range of lights, there is a large inscription, very
beautifully carved in marble. Below, between the
four columns, forming the ceiling of the chapel,
there is a coffer work canopy of marble all carved,
full of enamels fired in a furnace and of various
fanciful designs in mosaic wrought with gold color
and precious stones. The surface of the pavement is
full of porphyry, serpentine, variegated marbles,
and other very rare stones, put together and
distributed with beautiful design. The said chapel
is enclosed by a grille made of bronze ropes, with
candelabra above fixed into an ornament ment of
marble, which makes a very beautiful finish to the
bronze and to the candelabra; and the door which
closes the chapel in front is likewise of bronze and
very well contrived. Piero left orders that the
chapel should be lighted all round by thirty silver
lamps, and this was done. Now, as these were ruined
during the siege, the Lord Duke gave orders many
years ago that new ones should be made, and the
greater part of them are already finished, while the
work still goes on ; but in spite of this there has
never been a moment when there has not been that
full number of lamps burning, according to the
instructions of Piero, although, from the time when
they were destroyed, they have not been of silver.
To these adornments Pagno added a very large lily
of copper, issuing from a vase which rests on the
corner of the gilt and painted cornice of wood which
holds the lamps; but this cornice does not support
so great a weight by itself, for the whole is
sustained by two branches of the lily, which are of
iron painted green, and are fixed with lead into the
corner of the marble cornice, holding those that are
of copper suspended in the air. This work was truly
made with judgment and invention ; wherefore it is
worthy of being much extolled as some thing
beautiful and bizarre. Beside this chapel, he made
another on the side towards the cloister, which
serves as a choir for the friars, with windows which
take their light from the court and give it both to
the said chapel and also (since they stand opposite
to two similar windows) to the room containing the
little organ, which is by the side of the marble
chapel. On the front of this choir there is a large
press, in which the silver vessels of the Nunziata
are kept; and on all these ornaments and throughout
the whole are the arms and emblem of the Medici.
Without the Chapel of the Nunziata and opposite to
it, the same man made a large chandelier of bronze,
five braccia in height, as well as the marble holy
water font at the entrance of the church, and a St.
John in the center, which is a very beautiful work.
Above the counter where the friars sell the candles,
moreover, he made a half-length Madonna of marble
with the Child in her arms, in half relief, of the
size of life and very devout; and a similar work in
the Office of the Wardens of Works of Santa Maria
del Fiore.
Pagno also wrought some figures in San Miniato al
Tedesco in company with his master Donato, while a
youth; and he made a tomb of marble in the Church of
San Martino in Lucca, opposite to the Chapel of the
Sacrament, for Messer Piero di Nocera, who is
portrayed there from nature. Filarete relates in the
twenty-fifth book of his work that Francesco Sforza,
fourth Duke of Milan, presented a very beautiful
palace in Milan to the Magnificent Cosimo de'
Medici, and that Cosimo, in order to show the Duke
how pleased he was with such a gift, not only
adorned it richly with marbles and with carved
woodwork, but also enlarged it under the direction
of Michelozzo, making it eighty - seven braccia and
a half, whereas it had previously been only
eighty-four braccia. Besides this, he had many
pictures painted there, particularly the stories of
the life of the Emperor Trajan in a loggia, wherein,
among certain decorations, he caused Francesco
Sforza himself to be portrayed, with the Lady
Bianca, his consort, Duchess of Milan, and also
their children, with many other noblemen and great
persons, and likewise the portraits of eight
Emperors; and to these portraits Michelozzo added
that of Cosimo, made by his own hand. Throughout all
the apartments he placed the arms of Cosimo in
diverse fashions, with his emblem of the Falcon and
Diamond. The said pictures were all by the hand of
Vincenzio di Foppa, a painter of no small repute at
that time and in that country.
It is recorded that the money that Cosimo spent
in the restoration of this palace was paid by
Pigello Portinari, a citizen of Florence, who then
directed the bank and the accounts of Cosimo in
Milan and lived in the said palace. There are some
works in marble and bronze by the hand of Michelozzo
in Genoa, and many others in other places, which are
all known by the manner; but what we have already
said about him must suffice. He died at the age of
sixty-eight, and he was buried in his own tomb in
San Marco at Florence. His portrait, by the hand of
Fra Giovanni, is in the Sacristy of Santa Trinita,
in the figure of an old man with a cap on his head,
representing Nicodemus, who is taking Christ down
from the Cross.
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ANTONIO FILARETE (circa 1400-circa 1469)
and SIMONE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IF POPE EUGENIUS IV, when he resolved to make the
bronze door for San Pietro in Rome, had used
diligence in seeking for men of excellence to
execute that work (and he would easily have been
able to find them at that time, when Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, Donatello, and other rare craftsmen
were alive), it would not have been carried out in
the deplorable manner which it reveals to us in our
own day. but perchance the same thing happened to
him that is very often wont to happen to the greater
number of Princes, who either have no understanding
of such works or take very little delight in them.
Now, if they were to consider how important it is to
show preference to men of excellence in public
works, by reason of the fame that comes from these,
it is certain that neithre they nor their ministers
would be so negligent; for the reason that he who
encumbers himself with poor and inept craftsmen
ensures but a short life to his works or his fame,
not to mention that injury is done to the public
interest and to the age in which he was born, for it
is firmly believed by all who come after, that, if
there had been better masters to be found in that
age, the Prince would have availed himself rather of
them than of the inept and vulgar.
Now, after being created Pontiff in the year
1431, Pope Eugenius IV, hearing that the Florentines
were having the doors of San Giovanni made by
Lorenzo Ghiberti, conceived a wish to try to make
one of the doors of San Pietro in like manner in
bronze. But since he had no knowledge of such works,
he entrusted the matter to his ministers, with whom
Antonio Filarete, then a youth, and Simone, the
brother of Donatello, both sculptors of Florence,
had so much interest, that the work was allotted to
them. Putting their hands to this, therefore, they
toiled for twelve years to complete it; and although
Pope Eugenius fled from Eome and was much harassed
by reason of the Councils, yet those who had charge
of San Pietro contrived to prevent that work from
being abandoned.
Filarete, then, wrought that door in low-relief,
making a simple division, with two upright figures
in each part--namely, the Saviour and the Madonna
above, and St. Peter and St. Paul below; and at the
foot of St. Peter is that Pope on his knees,
portrayed from life. Beneath each figure, likewise,
there is a little scene from the life of the Saint
that is above; below St. Peter, his crucifixion, and
below St. Paul, his beheading; and beneath the
Saviour and the Madonna, also, some events from
their lives. At the foot of the inner side of the
said door, to amuse himself, Antonio made a little
scene in bronze, wherein he portrayed himself and
Simone and their disciples going with an ass lade
with good cheer to take their pleasure in a
vineyard. But since they were not always at work on
the said door during the whole of those twelve
years, they also made in San Pietro some marble
tombs for Popes and Cardinals, which were thrown to
the ground in the building of the new church.
After these works, Antonio was summoned to Milan
by Duke Francesco Sforza, then Gonfalonier of the
Holy Church (who had seen his works in Rome), to the
end that there might be made with his design, as it
afterwards was, the Albergo de'poveri di Dio, which
is a hospital that serves for sick men and women,
and for the innocent children born out of wedlock.
The division for the men in this place is in the
form of a cross, and extends 160 braccia in all
directions; and that of the women is the same. The
width is 16 braccia, and within the four square
sides that enclose the crosses of each of these two
divisions there are four courtyards surrounded by
porticoes, loggie, and rooms for the use of the
director, the officials, the servants, and the
nurses of the hospital, all very commodius and
useful. On one side there is a channel with water
continually running for the service of the hospital
and for grinding corn, with no small benefit and
convenience for that place, as all may imagine.
Between the two divisions of the hospital there
is a cloister, 80 braccia in extent in one direction
and 160 in the other, in the middle of which is the
church, so contrived as to serve for both divisions.
In a word, this place is so well built and designed,
that I do not believe that there is its like in
Europe. According to the account of Filarete
himself, the first stone of this building was laid
with a solemn procession of the whole of the clergy
of Milan, in the presence of Duke Francesco Sforza,
the Lady Bianca Maria, and all their children, with
the Marquis of Mantua, the Ambassador of Kind
Alfonso of Arragon, and many other lords. On the
first stone which was laid in the foundations, as
well as on the medals, were these words:
FRANCISCUS SFORTIA DUX IV, QUI AMISSUM PER
PRAECESSORUM OBITUM
URBIS IMPERIUM RECUPERAVIT, HOC MUNUS CHRISTI
PAUPERIBUS DEDIT
FUNDAVITQUE MCCCCLVII, DIE XII APRIL.
These scenes were afterwards depicted on the
portico by Maestro Vincenzio di Zoppa, a Lombard,
since no better master could be found in these
parts.
A work by the same Antonio, likewise, was the
principal church of Bergamo, which he built with no
less diligence and judgment than he had shown in the
above-named hospital. And because he also took
delight in writing, the while that these works were
in progress he wrote a book divided into three
parts. In the first he treats of the measurements of
all edifices, and of all that is necessary for the
purpose of building. In the second he speaks of the
methods of building, and of the manner wherein a
most beautiful and most convenient city might be
laid out. In the third he invents new forms of
buildings, mingling the ancient with the modern. The
whole work is divided into twenty-four books,
illustrated throughout by drawings from his own
hand; but, although there is something of the good
to be found in it, it is nevertheless mostly
ridiculous, and perhaps the most stupid book ever
written. It was dedicated by him in the year 1464 to
the Magnificent Piero di Cosimo de'Medici, and it is
now in the collection of the most Illustrious Lord
Duke Cosimo. And in truth, since he put himself to
so great pains, the book might be commended in some
sort, if he had at least made some records of the
masters of his day and of their works; but as there
are few to be found therein, and those few are
scattered throughout the book without method and in
the least suitable places, he has toiled only to
beggar himself, as the saying goes, and to be
thought a man of little judgment for meddling with
something that he did not understand.
But I have said quite enough about Filarete, and
it is now time to turn to Simone, the brother of
Donato [Donatello]. This man, after the work of the
door, made the bronze tomb of Pope Martin. He
likewise made some castings that were sent to
France, of many of which the fate is not known. For
the Church of the Ermini, in the Canto alla Macine
in Florence, he wrought a life-size Crucifix for
carrying in processions, and it render it the
lighter he made it of cork. In Santa Felicita he
made a terra-cotta figure of St. Mary Magdalene in
Penitence, three braccia and a half in height and
beautifully proportioned, and revealing the muscles
in such a manner as to show that he had a very good
knowledge of anatomy. He also wrought a marble
tombstone for the Company of the Nunziata in the
Church of the Servi, inlaying it with a figure in
grey and white marble in the manner of a painting
(which was much extolled), like the work already
mentioned as having been done by the Sienese Duccio
in the Duomo of Siena.
At Prato he made the bronze grille for the Chapel
of the Girdle. At Forli, over the door of the
Canon's house, he wrought a Madonna with two angels
in low-relief; and he adorned the Chapel of the
Trinita in San Francesco with work in half-relief
for Messer Giovanni da Riolo. In the Church of San
Francesco at Rimini, for Sigismondo Malatesta, he
built the Chapel of San Sigismondo, wherein there
are many elephants, the device of that lord, carved
in marble. To Messer Bartolommeo Scamisci, Canon of
the Pieve of Arezzo, he sent a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, made of terra-cotta, with certain
angels in half-relief, very well executed; which
Madonna is now in the said Pieve, set up against a
column. For the baptismal font of the Vescovado of
Arezzo, likewise, he wrought, in some scenes in
low-relief, a Christ being baptized by St. John. In
the Church of the Nunziata in Florence he made a
marble tomb for Messer Orlando de'Medici.
Finally, at the age of fifty-five, he rendered up
his spirit to God who had given it to him. Nor was
it long before Filarete, having returned to Rome,
died at the age of sixty-nine, and was buried in the
Minerva, where he had caused Giovanni Foccora, a
painter of no small repute, to make a portrait of
Pope Eugenius, while he was staying in Rome int he
service of that Pontiff. The portrait of Antonio, by
his own hand, is at the beginning of his book, where
he gives instructions for building. His disciples
were Varrone and Niccolo, both Florentines, who made
the marble statue for Pope Pius II near Pontemolle,
at the same time when he brought the head of St.
Andrew to Rome. By the order of the same Pope they
restored Tigoli [???] almost from the foundations;
and in San Pietro they made the ornament of marble
that is above the columns of the chapel wherein the
said head of St. Andrew is preserved. Near that
chapel is the tomb of the said Pope Pius, made by
Pasquino da Montepulciano, a disciple of Filarete,
and Bernardo Ciuffagni. This Bernardo wrought a tomb
of marble for Sigismondo Malatesta in San Francesco
at Rimini, making his portrait there from nature;
and he also executed some works, so it is said, in
Lucca and in Mantua.
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GIULIANO DA MAIANO (1432-1490)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
NO SMALL ERROR do those fathers of families make
who do not allow the minds of their children to run
the natural course of their childhood, and do not
suffer them to follow the calling that is most in
accordance with their taste; for to try to turn them
to something for which they have no inclination is
manifestly to prevent them from ever being excellent
in anything, because we almost always find that
those who labor at something that they do not like
make little progress in any occupation whatsoever.
On the other hand, those who follow the instinct of
nature generally become excellent and famous in the
arts that they pursue; as was seen clearly in
Giuliano da Maiano.
The father of this man, after living a long time
on the hill of Fiesole, in the part called Maiano,
working at the trade of stone-cutter, finally betook
himself to Florence, where he opened a shop for the
sale of dressed stone, keeping it furnished with the
sort of work that is apt very often to be called for
without warning by those who are erecting some
building. Living in Florence, then, there was born
to him a son, Giuliano, whom his father, growing
convinced in the course of time that he had a good
intelligence, proposed to make into a notary, for it
appeared to him that his own occupation of
stonecutting eas too laborious and too unprofitable
an exercise. But this did not come to pass, because,
although Giuliano went to a grammar school for a
little, his thoughts were never there, and in
consequence he made no progress; nay, he played
truant very often, and showed that he had his mind
wholly set on sculpture, although at first he
applied himself to the calling of joiner and also
gave attention to drawing.
It is said that in company with Giusto and
Minore, masters of intarsia, he wrought the seats of
the Sacristy of the Nunziata, and likewise those of
the choir that is beside the chapel, and many things
in the Badia of Florence and in San Marco; and that,
having acquired a name through these works, he was
summond to Pisa, in the Duomo of which he wrought
the seat that is beside the high-altar, in which the
priest, the deacon, and the sub-deacon sit when Mass
is being sung; making intarsia on the back of this
seat, with tinted and shaded woods, the three
prophets that are seen therein. In this work he
availed himself of Guido del Servellino and Maestro
Domenico di Mariotto, joiners of Pisa, to whom he
taught the art so well that they afterwards wrought
the greater part of that choir both with carvings
and with intarsia work; which choir has been
finished in our own day, with a manner no little
better, by Batista del Cervelliera of Pisa, a man
truly ingenious and fanciful.
But to return to Giuliano; he made the presses of
the Sacristy of Santa Maria del Fiore, which were
held at that time to be admirable examples of
intarsia and inlaid work. Now, while Giuliano thus
continued to devote himself to intarsia, to
sculpture, and to architecture, Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco died; whereupon, being chosen by the
Wardens of Works to succeed him, he made the
borders, incrusted with black and white marble,
which are round the circular windows below the vault
of the cupola; and at the corners he placed the
marble pilasters on which Baccio d'Agnolo afterwards
laid the architrave, frieze, and cornice, as will be
told below. It is true that, as it appears from some
designs by his hand that are in our book, he wished
to make another arrangement of frieze, cornice, and
gallery, with pediments on each of the eight sides
of the cupola; but he had not time to put this into
execution, for, being carried away by an excess of
work from one day to another, he died.
Before this happened, however, he went to Naples
and designed the architecture of the magnificent
Palace at Poggio Reale for King Alfonso, with the
beautiful fountains and conduits that are in the
courtyard. In the city, likewise, he made designs
for many fountains, some for the houses of noblemen
and some for public squares, with beautiful and
fanciful inventions; and he had the said Palace of
Poggio Reale all wrought with paintings by Piero del
Donzello and his brother Polito. Working in
sculpture likewise, for the said King Alfonso, then
Duke of Calabria, he wrought scenes in low relief
over a door (both within and without) in the great
hall of the Castel of Naples; and he made a marble
gate for the castel after the Corinthian Order, with
an infinite number of figures, giving to that work
the form of a triumphal arch, on which stories
fromthe life of that King and some of his victories
are carved in marble. Giuliano also wrought the
decorations of the Porta Capovana, making therein
many varied and beautiful trophies; wherefore he
well deserved that great love should be felt for him
by that King, who, rewarding him liberally for his
labours, enriched his descendants.
Giuliano had taught to his nephew Benedetto the
arts of intarsia and architecture, and something
about working in marble; and Benedetto was living in
Florence, devoting himself to working in intarsia,
because this brought him greater gains than the
other arts did. Now Giuliano was summoned to Rome by
Messer Antonio Rosello of Arezo, Secretary to Pope
Paul II, to enter the service of that Pontiff.
Having gone thither, he designed the loggie of
travertine in the first court of the Palace of San
Pietro, with three ranges of columns, of which the
first is on the lowest floor, where there are now
the Signet Office and other offices; the second is
above this, where the Datary and other prelates
live; and the third and last is where those rooms
are that look out on the court of San Pietro, which
he adorned with gilded ceilings and other
ornatments. From his design, likewise, were made the
marble loggie from which the Pope gives his
benediction--a very great work, as may still be seen
today. But the most stupendous and marvellous work
that he made was the palace that he built for that
Pope, together with the Church of San Marco in Rome,
for which there was used an infinite quantity of
travertine blocks, said to have been excavated from
certain vineyards near the Arch of Constantine,
where they served as buttresses for the foundations
of that part of the Colosseum which is now in ruins,
perchance because of the weakening of that edifice.
Giuliano was sent by the same Pontiff to the
Madonna of Loreto, where he rebuilt the foundations
and greatly enlarged the body of the church, which
had formerly been small and built over piers in
rustic work. He did not go higher than the
stringcourse that was there already; but he summond
his nephew Benedetto to that place, and he, as will
be told, afterwards raised the cupola. Being then
forced to return to Naples in order to finish the
works that he had begun, Giuliano received a
commission from King Alfonso for a gate near the
castle, which was to include more than eighty
figures, which Benedeto had to execute in Florence;
but the whole remained unfinished by reason of the
death of that King. There are still some relics of
these figures in the Misericordia in Florence, and
there were others in our own day in the Canto alle
Macine; but I do not know where these are now to be
found. Before the death of the King, however,
Giuliano died in Naples at the age of seventy, and
was greatly honored with rich obsequies; for the
King had fifty men clothed in mourning, who
accompanied Giuliano to the grave, and then he gave
orders that a marble tomb should be made for him.
The continuation of his work was left to Polito,
who completed the conduits for the waters of Poggio
Reale. Benedetto, devoting himself afterwards to
sculpture, surpassed his uncle Giuliano in
excellence, as will be told; and in his youth he was
the rival of a sculptor named Modanino da Modena,
who worked in terracotta, and who wrought for the
said Alfonso a Pietˆ with an infinite number of
figures in the round, made of terracotta and
colored, which were executed with very great
vivacity, and were placed by the King in the Church
of Monte Oliveto, a very highly honored monastery in
the city of Naples. In this work the said King is
portrayed on his knees, and he appears truly more
than alive; wherefore Modanino was remunerated by
him with very great rewards. But when the King died,
as it has been said, Polito and Benedetto returned
to Florence, where, no long time after, Polito
followed Giuliano into eternity. The sculptures and
pictures of these men date about the year of our
salvation 1447.
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PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA (1416-1492)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
TRULY UNHAPPY are those who, laboring at their
studies in order to benefit others and to make their
own name famous, are hindered by infirmity and
sometimes by death from carrying to perfection the
works that they have begun. And it happens very
often that, leaving them all but finished or in a
fair way to completion, they are falsely claimed by
the presumption of those who seek to conceal their
asses' skin under the honorable spoils of the lion.
And although time, who is called the father of
truth, sooner or later makes manifest the real state
of things, it is none the less true that for a
certain space of time the true craftsman is robbed
of the honor that is due to his labors; as hap
happened to Piero della Francesca of Borgo a San
Sepolcro. He, having been held a rare master of the
difficulties of drawing regular bodies, as well as
of arithmetic and geometry, was yet not able,being
overtaken in his old age by the infirmity of
blindness, and finally by the close of his life,to
bring to light his noble labors and the many books
written by him, which are still preserved in the
Borgo, his native place. The very man who should
have striven with all his might to increase the
glory and fame of Piero, from whom he had learnt all
that he knew, was impious and malignant enough to
seek to blot out the name of his teacher, and to
usurp for himself the honor that was due to the
other, publishing under his own name, Fra Luca dal
Borgo, all the labors of that good old man, who,
besides the sciences named above, was excellent in
painting.
Piero was born in Borgo a San Sepolcro, which is
now a city, although it was not one then; and he was
called Della Francesca after the name of his mother,
because she had been left pregnant with him at the
death of her husband, his father, and because it was
she who had brought him up and assisted him to
attain to the rank that his good-fortune held, out
to him. Piero applied himself in his youth to
mathematics, and although it was settled when he was
fifteen years of age that he was to be a painter, he
never abandoned this study; nay, he made marvelous
progress therein, as well as in painting. He was
employed by Guidobaldo Feltro the elder, Duke of
Urbino, for whom he made many very beautiful
pictures with little figures, which have been for
the most part ruined on the many occasions when that
state has been harassed by wars. Nevertheless, there
were preserved there some of his writings on
geometry and perspective, in which sciences he was
not inferior to any man of his own time, or
perchance even to any man of any other time; as is
demonstrated by all his works, which are full of
perspectives, and particularly by a vase drawn in
squares and sides, in such a manner that the base
and the mouth can be seen from the front, from
behind, and from the sides; which is certainly a
marvelous thing, for he drew the smallest details
therein with great subtlety, and foreshortened the
curves of all the circles with much grace. Having
thus acquired credit and fame at that Court, he
resolved to make himself known in other places;
wherefore he went to Pesaro and Ancona, whence, in
the very thick of his work, he was summoned by Duke
Borso to Ferrara, where he painted many apartments
in his palace, which were afterwards destroyed by
Duke Ercole the elder in the renovation of the
palace, insomuch that there is nothing by the hand
of Piero left in that city, save a chapel wrought In
fresco in San Agostino; and even that has been
injured by damp. Afterwards, being summoned to Rome,
he painted two scenes for Pope Nicholas V in the
upper rooms of his palace, in competition with
Bramante da Milano; but these also were thrown to
the ground by Pope Julius Il, to the end that
Raffaello da Urbino might paint there the
Imprisonment of St. Peter and the Miracle of the
Corporale of Bolsena,together with certain others
that had been painted by Bramantino, an excellent
painter in his day.
Now, seeing that I cannot write the life of this
man, nor particularize his works, because they have
been ruined, I will not grudge the labor of making
some record of him, for it seems an apt occasion. In
the said works that were thrown to the ground, so I
have heard tell, he had made some heads from nature,
so beautiful and so well executed that speech alone
was wanting to give them life. Of these heads not a
few have come to light, because Raffaello da Urbino
had them copied in order that he might have the
likenesses of the subjects, who were all people of
importance; for among them were Niccolo
Fortebraccio, Charles VII, King of France, Antonio
Colonna, Prince of Salerno, Francesco Carmignuola,
Giovanni Vitellesco, Cardinal Bessarione, Francesco
Spinola, and Battista da Canneto. All these
portraits were given to Giovio by Giulio Romano,
disciple and heir of Raffaello da Urbino, and they
were placed by Giovio in his museum at Como. Over
the door of San Sepolcro in Milan I have seen a Dead
Christ wrought in foreshortening by the hand of the
same man, in which, although the whole picture is
not more than one braccio in height, there is an
effect of infinite length, executed with facility
and with judgment. By his hand, also, are some
apartments and loggie in the house of the Marchesino
Ostanesia in the same city, wherein there are many
pictures wrought by him that show mastery and very
great power in the foreshortening of the figures.
And without the Porta Vercellina, near the Castle,
in certain stables now ruined and destroyed, he
painted some grooms currying horses, among which
there was one so lifelike and so well wrought, that
another horse thinking it a real one, lashed out at
it repeatedly with its hooves.
But to return to Piero della Francesca; his work
in Rome finished, he returned to the Borgo, where
his mother had just died; and on the inner side of
the central door of the Pieve he painted two saints
in fresco, which are held to be very beautiful. In
the Convent of the Friars of St. Augustine he
painted the panel of the high altar, which was a
thing much extolled; and he wrought in fresco a
Madonna della Misericordia for a company, or rather,
as they call it, a confraternity; with a
Resurrection of Christ in the Palazzo de'
Conservadori, which is held the best of all the
works that are in the said city, and the best that
he ever made. In company with Domenico da Vinezia,
he painted the beginning of a work on the vaulting
of the Sacristy of Santa Maria at Loreto; but they
left it unfinished from fear of plague, and it was
afterwards completed by Luca da Cortona,
[Signorelli] a disciple of Piero, as will be told in
the proper place.
Going from Loreto to Arezzo, Piero painted for
Luigi Bacci, a citizen of Arezzo, the Chapel of the
high altar of San Francesco, belonging to that
family, the vaulting of which had been already begun
by Lorenzo di Bicci. In this work there are Stories
of the Cross, from that wherein the sons of Adam are
burying him and placing under his tongue the seed of
the tree from which there came the wood for the said
Cross, down to the Exaltation of the Cross itself
performed by the Emperor Heraclius, who, walking
barefoot and carrying it on his shoulder, is
entering with it into Jerusalem. Here there are many
beautiful conceptions and attitudes worthy to be
extolled; such as, for example, the garments of the
women of the Queen of Sheba, executed in a sweet and
novel manner; many most lifelike portraits from
nature of ancient persons; a row of Corinthian
columns, divinely well proportioned; and a peasant
who, leaning with his hands on his spade, stands
listening to the words of St. Helena,while the three
Crosses are being disinterred,with so great
attention, that it would not be possible to improve
it. Very well wrought, also, is the dead body that
is restored to life at the touch of the Cross,
together with the joy of St. Helena and the
marveling of the bystanders, who are kneeling in
adoration. But above every other consideration,
whether of imagination or of art, is his painting of
Night, with an angel in foreshortening who is flying
with his head downwards, bringing the sign of
victory to Constantine, who is sleeping in a
pavilion, guarded by a chamberlain and some
men-at-arms who are seen dimly through the darkness
of the night; and with his own light the angel
illuminates the pavilion, the men-at-arms, and all
the surroundings. This is done with very great
thought, for Piero gives us to know in this darkness
how important it is to copy things as they are and
to ever take them from the true model; which he did
so well that he enabled the moderns to attain, by
following him, to that supreme perfection wherein
art is seen in our own time. In this same story he
represented most successfully in a battle fear ,
animosity, dexterity, vehemence, and all the other
emotions that can be imagined in men who are
fighting, and likewise all the incidents of battle,
together with an almost incredible carnage, what
with the wounded, the fallen, and the dead.
In these Piero counterfeited in fresco the
glittering of their arms, for which he deserves no
less praise than he does for the flight and
submersion of Maxentius painted on the other wall,
wherein he made a group of horses in foreshortening,
so marvelously executed that they can be truly
called too beautiful and too excellent for those
times. In the same story he made a man, half nude
and half-clothed in the dress of a Saracen, riding a
lean horse, which reveals a very great mastery of
anatomy, a science little known in his age. For this
work, therefore, he well deserved to be richly
rewarded by Luigi Bacci, whom he portrayed there in
the scene of the beheading of a King, together with
Carlo and others of his brothers and many Aretines
who were then distinguished in letters; and to be
loved and revered ever after wards, as he was, in
that city, which he had made so illustrious with his
works. In the Vescovado of the same city, also, he
made a St. Mary Magdalene in fresco beside the door
of the sacristy; and for the Company of the Nunziata
he painted the banner that is carried in
processions. At the head of a cloister at Santa
Maria delle Grazie, without that district, he
painted St. Donatus in his robes, seated in a chair
drawn in perspective, together with certain boys;
and in a niche high, up on a wall of St. Bernard,
for the Monks of Monte Oliveto, he made a St.
Vincent, which is much esteemed by craftsmen. In a
chapel at Sargiano, a seat of the Frati Zoccolanti
di S. Francesco, without Arezzo, he painted a very
beautiful Christ praying by night in the Garden.
In Perugia, also, he wrought many works that are
still to be seen in that city; as, for example, a
panel in tempera in the Church of the Nuns of St.
Anthony of Padua, containing a Madonna with the
Child in her lap, St. Francis, St. Elizabeth, St.
John the Baptist, and St. Anthony of Padua. Above
these is a most beautiful Annunciation, with an
Angel that seems truly to have come out of Heaven;
and, what is more, a row of columns diminishing in
perspective, which is indeed beautiful. In the
predella there are scenes with little figures,
representing St. Anthony restoring a boy to life;
St. Elizabeth saving a child that has fallen into a
well; and St. Francis receiving the Stigmata. In St.
Ciriaco at Ancona, on the altar of St. Giuseppe, he
painted a most beautiful scene of the Marriage of
Our Lady. Piero, as it has been said, was a very
zealous student of art, and gave no little attention
to perspective; and he had a very good know ledge of
Euclid, insomuch that he understood all the best
curves drawn in regular bodies better than any other
geometrician, and the clearest elucidations of these
matters that we have are from his hand. Now Maestro
Luca dal Borgo, a friar of St. Francis, who wrote
about the regular geometrical bodies, was his pupil;
and when Piero, after having written many books,
grew old and finally died, the said Maestro Luca,
claiming the authorship of these books, had them
printed as his own, for they had fallen into his
hands after the death of Piero.
Piero was much given to making models in clay, on
which he spread wet draperies with an infinity of
folds, in order to make use of them for drawing. A
disciple of Piero was Lorentino d' Angelo of Arezzo,
who made many pictures in Arezzo, imitating his
manner, and completed those that Piero, overtaken by
death, left unfinished. Near the St. Donatus that
Piero wrought in the Madonna delle Grazie, Lorentino
painted in fresco some stories of St. Donatus, with
very many works in many other places both in that
city and in the district, partly because he would
never stay idle, and partly to assist his family,
which was then very poor. In the said Church of the
Grazie the same man painted a scene wherein Pope
Sixtus IV, between the Cardinal of Mantua and
Cardinal Piccolomini (who was afterwards Pope Pius
III), is granting an indulgence to that place; in
which scene Lorentino portrayed from the life, on
their knees, Tommaso Marzi, Piero Traditi, Donato
Rosselli, and Giuliano Nardi, all citizens of Arezzo
and Wardens of Works for that building. In the hall
of the Palazzo de' Priori, moreover, he portrayed
from the life Cardinal Galeotto da Pietramala,
Bishop Guglielmino degli Ubertini, and Messer Angelo
Albergotti, Doctor of Laws; and he made many other
works, which are scattered throughout that city.
It is said that once, when the Carnival was close
at hand, the children of Lorentino kept beseeching
him to kill a pig, as it is the custom to do in that
district; and that, since he had not the means to
buy one, they would say, "What will you do about
buying a pig, father, if you have no money?" To
which Lorentino would answer, "Some Saint will help
us." But when he had said this many times and the
season was passing by without any pig appearing,
they had lost hope, when at length there arrived a
peasant from the Pieve a Quarto, who wished to have
a St. Martin painted in fulfillment of a vow, but
had no means of paying for the picture save a pig,
which was worth five lire. This man, coming to
Lorentino, told him that he wished to have the St.
Martin painted, but that he had no means of payment
save the pig. Whereupon they came to an agreement,
and Lorentino painted him the Saint, while the
peasant brought him the pig; and so the Saint
provided the pig for the poor children of this
painter.
Another disciple of Piero was Pietro da Castel
della Pieve [Pietro Perugino], who painted an arch
above St. Agostino, and a St. Urban for the Nuns of
Santa Caterina in Arezzo, which has been thrown to
the ground in rebuilding the church. His pupil,
likewise, was Luca Signorelli of Cortona, who did
him more honor than all the others. Piero Borghese,
whose pictures date about the year 1458, became
blind through an attack of catarrh at the age of
sixty, and lived thus up to the eighty-sixth year of
his life. He left very great possessions in the
Borgo, with some houses that he had built himself,
which were burnt and destroyed in the strife of
factions in the year 1536. He was honorably buried
by his fellow-citizens in the principal church,
which formerly belonged to the Order of Camaldoli,
and is now the Vescovado. Piero's books are for the
most part in the library of Frederick II, Duke of
Urbino, and they are such that they have deservedly
acquired for him the name of the best geometrician
of his time.
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FRA ANGELICO (circa 1400-1455)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
FRA GIOVANNI ANGELICO DA FIESOLE, who was known
in the world as Guido, was no less excellent as
painter and illuminator than he was up right as
churchman, and for both one and the other of these
reasons he deserves that most honorable record
should be made of him. This man, although he could
have lived in the world with the greatest comfort
fort, and could have gained whatever he wished,
besides what he possessed , by means of those arts,
of which he had a very good knowledge even in his
youth, yet resolved, for his own peace and
satisfaction, being by nature serious and upright,
and above all in order to save his soul, to take the
vows of the Order of Preaching Friars; for the
reason that, although it is possible to serve God in
all walks of life, nevertheless it appears to some
men that they can gain salvation in monasteries
better than in the world. Now in proportion as this
plan succeeds happily for good men, so, on the
contrary, it has a truly miserable and unhappy issue
for a man who takes the vows with some other end in
view.
There are some choral books illuminated by the
hand of Fra Giovanni in his Convent of San Marco in
Florence, so beautiful that words are not able to
describe them; and similar to these are some others
that he left in San Domenico da Fiesole, wrought
with incredible diligence. It is true, indeed, that
in making these he was assisted by an elder brother,
who was likewise an illuminator and well practiced
in painting. One of the first works in painting
wrought by this good father was a panel in the
Certosa of Florence, which was placed in the
principal chapel (belonging to Cardinal Acciaiuoli);
in which panel is a Madonna with the Child in her
arms, and with certain very beautiful angels at her
feet, sounding instruments and singing; at the sides
are St. Laurence, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Zanobius,
and St. Benedict; and in the predella are little
stories of these Saints, wrought in little figures
with infinite diligence. In the cross of the said
chapel are two other panels by the hand of the same
man; one containing the Coronation of Our Lady, and
the other a Madonna with two saints, wrought with
most beautiful ultramarine blues. Afterwards, in the
tramezzo of Santa Maria Novella, beside the door
opposite to the choir, he painted in fresco St.
Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Peter
Martyr; and some little scenes in the Chapel of the
Coronation of Our Lady in the said tramezzo. On
canvas, fixed to the doors that closed the old
organ, he painted an Annunciation, which is now in
the convent, opposite to the door of the lower
dormitory, between one cloister and the other.
This father was so greatly beloved for his merits
by Cosimo de' Medici, that, after completing the
construction of the Church and Convent of San Marco,
he caused him to paint the whole Passion of Jesus
Christ on a wall in the chapterhouse; and on one
side all the Saints who have been heads and founders
of religious bodies, mourning and weeping at the
foot of the Cross, and on the other side S. Mark the
Evangelist beside the Mother of the Son of God, who
has swooned at the sight of the Savior of the world
Crucified, while round her are the Maries, all
grieving and supporting her, with San Cosimo and San
Damiano. It is said that in the figure of San Cosimo
Fra Giovanni portrayed from the life Nanni d'
Antonio di Banco, a sculptor and his friend. Below
this work, in a frieze above the paneling, he made a
tree with St. Dominic at the foot of it, and, in
certain medallions encircled by the branches, all
the Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, Saints, and Masters
of Theology whom his Order of Preaching Friars had
produced up to that time. In this work he made many
portraits traits from nature, being assisted by the
friars, who sent for them to various places; and
they were the following: St. Dominic in the middle,
grasping the branches of the tree; Pope Innocent V.
a Frenchman: the Blessed Ugone, first Cardinal of
that Order; the Blessed Paolo, Florentine and
Patriarch; San Antonino, Archbishop of Florence; the
Blessed Giordano, a German, and the second General
of that Order; the Blessed Niccolo, the Blessed
Remigio, a Florentine; and the martyr Boninsegno, a
Florentine; all these are on the right hand. On the
left are Benedict II of Treviso; Giandomenico, a
Florentine Cardinal; Pietro da Palude, Patriarch of
Jerusalem; Alberto Magno, a German; the Blessed
Raimondo di Catalonia, third General of the Order;
the Blessed Chiaro, a Florentine tine, and
Provincial of Rome; S. Vincenzio di Valenza; and the
Blessed Bernardo, a Florentine. All these heads are
truly gracious and very beautiful. Then, over
certain lunettes in the first cloister, he made many
very beautiful figures in fresco, and a Crucifix
with S. Dominic at the foot, which is much extolled;
and in the dormitory, besides many other things
throughout the cells and on the surface of the
walls, he painted a story from the New Testament, of
a beauty beyond the power of words to describe.
Particularly beautiful and marvelous is the panel of
the high altar of that church; for, besides the fact
that the Madonna rouses all who see her to devotion
by her simplicity, and that the Saints that surround
her are like her in this, the predella, in which
there are stories of the martyrdom of San Cosimo,
San Damiano. and others, is so well painted, that
one cannot imagine it possible ever to see a work
executed with greater diligence, or little figures
more delicate or better conceived than these are.
In San Domenico da Fiesole, likewise, he painted
the panel of the high altar, which has been
retouched by other masters and injured, perchance
because it appeared to be spoiling. But the predella
and the Ciborium of the Sacrament have remained in
better preservation; and the innumerable little
figures that are to be seen there, in a Celestial
Glory, are so beautiful, that they appear truly to
belong to Paradise, nor can any man who approaches
them ever have his fill of gazing on them. In a
chapel of the same church is a panel by his hand,
containing the Annunciation of Our Lady by the Angel
Gabriel, with features in profile, so devout, so
delicate, and so well executed, that they appear
truly to have been made rather in Paradise than by
the hand of man; and in the landscape at the back
are Adam and Eve, because of whom the Redeemer was
born from the Virgin. In the predella, also, there
are some very beautiful little scenes.
But superior to all the other works that Fra
Giovanni made, and the one wherein he surpassed
himself and gave supreme proof of his talent and of
his knowledge of art, was a panel that is beside the
door of the same church, on the heft hand as one
enters, wherein Jesus Christ is crowning Our Lady in
the midst of a choir of angels and among an infinite
multitude of saints, both male and female, so many
in number, so well wrought, and with such variety in
the attitudes and in the expressions of the heads,
that incredible pleasure and sweetness are felt in
gazing at them; nay, one is persuaded that those
blessed spirits cannot look otherwise in Heaven, or,
to speak more exactly, could not if they had bodies;
for not only are all these saints, both male and
female, full of life and sweet and delicate in
expression, but the whole coloring of that work
appears to be by the hand of a saint or an angel
like themselves; wherefore it was with very good
reason that this excellent monk was ever called Fra
Giovanni Angelico. Moreover, the stories of the
Madonna and of St. Dominic in the predella are
divine in their own kind; and I, for one, can
declare with truth that I never see this work
without thinking it something new, and that I never
leave it sated.
In the Chapel of the Nunziata in Florence which
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici caused to be built, he
painted the doors of the press (in which the silver
is kept) with little figures executed with much
diligence. This father painted so many pictures, now
to be found in the houses of Florentine citizens,
that I sometimes stand marveling how one single man
could execute so much work to such perfection, even
in the space of many years. The Very Reverend Don
Vincenzio Borghini, Director of the Hospital of the
Innocenti, has a very beautiful little Madonna by
the hand of this father; and Bartolommeo Gondi, as
devoted a lover of these arts as any gentleman that
one could think of, has a large picture, a small
one, and a Crucifix, all by the same hand. The
pictures that are in the arch over the door of San
Domenico are also by the same man; and in the
Sacristy of Santa Trinita there is a panel
containing a Deposition from the Cross, into which
he put so great diligence, that it can be numbered
among the best works that he ever made. In San
Francesco, without the Porta a San Miniato, there is
an Annunciation; and in Santa Maria Novella, besides
the works already named, he painted with little
scenes the Paschal candle and some Reliquaries which
are placed on the altar in the most solemn
ceremonies.
Over a door of the cloister of the Badia in the
same city he painted a St. Benedict, who is making a
sign enjoining silence. For the Linen manufacturers
he painted a panel that is in the Office of their
Guild; and in Cortona he painted a little arch over
the door of the church of his order, and likewise
the panel of the high altar. At Orvieto, on a part
of the vaulting of the Chapel of the Madonna in the
Duomo, he began certain prophets, which were
finished afterwards by Luca da Cortona [Signorelli].
For the Company of the Temple in Florence he painted
a Dead Christ on a panel; and in the Church of the
Monks of the Angeli he made a Paradise and a Hell
with little figures, wherein he showed fine judgment
by making the blessed very beautiful and full of
jubilation and celestial gladness, and the damned
all ready for the pains of Hell, in various most
woeful attitudes,a nd bearing the stamp of their
sins and unworthiness on their faces. The blessed
are seen entering the gate of Paradise in celestial
dance, and the damned are being dragged by demons to
the eternal pains of Hell. This work is in the
aforesaid church, on the right hand as one goes
towards the high altar, where the priest sits when
Mass is sung. For the Nuns of San Piero Martier--who
now live in the Monastery of Santa Felice in Piazza,
which used to belong to the Order of Camaldoli--he
painted a panel with Our Lady, St. John the Baptist,
St. Dominic, St. Thomas, and St. Peter Martyr, and a
number of little figures. And in the tramezzo of
Santa Maria Nuova there may also be seen a panel by
his hand.
These many labors having made the name of Fra
Giovanni illustrious throughout all Italy, Pope
Nicholas V sent for him and caused him to adorn that
chapel of his Palace in Rome wherein the Pope hears
Mass with a Deposition from the Cross and some very
beautiful stories of S. Laurence, and also to
illuminate some books, which are most beautiful. In
the Minerva he painted the panel of the high altar,
and an annunciation that is now set up against a
wall beside the principal chapel. He also painted
for the said Pope in the Palace the Chapel of the
Sacrament, which was afterwards destroyed by Paul
III in the making of a staircase through it. In that
work, which was an excellent example of his manner,
he had wrought in fresco some scenes from the life
of Jesus Christ, and he had made therein many
portraits from life of distinguished persons of
those times, which would probably now be lost if
Giovio had not caused the following among them to be
preserved for his museum, namely, Pope Nicholas V;
the Emperor Frederick, who came to Italy at that
time; Frate Antonino, who was afterwards Archbishop
of Florence; Biondo da Forli; and Ferrante of
Arragon. Now Fra Giovanni appeared to the Pope to
be, as indeed he was, a person of most holy life,
peaceful and modest; and, since the Archbishopric of
Florence was at that time vacant, the Pope had
judged him worthy of that rank; but the said friar,
hearing this, implored His Holiness to find another
man, for the reason that he did not feel himself
fitted for ruling others, whereas his Order
containeda brother most learned and well able to
govern, a God-fearing man and afriend of the poor,
on whom that dignity would be conferred much more
fittingly than on himself.
The Pope, hearing this and remembering that what
he said was true, granted him the favor willingly;
and thus the Archbishopric of Florence was given to
Frate Antonino of the Order of Preaching Friars, a
man truly very famous both for sanctity and for
learning, and of such a character, in short, that he
was deservedly canonized in our own day by Adrian
VI. Great excellence was that of Fra Giovanni, and a
thing truly very rare, to resign a dignity and honor
and charge so important, offered to himself by a
Supreme Pontiff, in favor of the man whom he, with
his singleness of eye and sincerity of heart, judged
to be much more worthy of it than himself. Let the
churchmen of our own times learn from this holy man
not to take upon themselves charges that they cannot
worthily carry out, and to yield them to those who
are most worthy of them. Would to God, to return to
Fra Giovanni (and may this be said without offense
to the upright among them), that all churchmen would
spend their time as did this truly angelic father,
seeing that he spent every minute of his life in the
service of God and in benefiting both the world and
his neighbor. And what can or ought to be desired
more than to gain the kingdom of Heaven by living a
life of holiness, and to win eternal fame in the
world by laboring virtuously? And in truth a talent
so extraordinary and so supreme as that of Fra
Giovanni could not and should not descend on any
save a man of most holy life, for the reason that
those who work at religious and holy subjects should
be religious and holy men; for it is seen, when such
works are executed by persons of little faith who
have little esteem for religion, that they often
arouse in men's minds evil appetites and licentious
desires; whence there comes blame for the evil in
their works, with praise for the art and ability
that they show.
Now I would not have any man deceive him self by
considering the rude and inept as holy, and the
beautiful and excellent as licentious; as some do,
who, seeing figures of women or of youths adorned
with loveliness and beauty beyond the ordinary,
straight-way censure them and judge them licentious,
not perceiving that they are very wrong to condemn
the good judgment of the painter, who holds the
Saints, both male and female, who are celestial, to
be as much more beautiful than mortal man as Heaven
is superior to earthly beauty and to the works of
human hands; and, what is worse, they reveal the
unsoundness and corruption of their own minds by
drawing evil and impure desires out of works from
which, if they were lovers of purity, as they seek
by their misguided zeal to prove themselves to be,
they would gain a desire to attain to Heaven and to
make themselves acceptable to the Creator of all
things, in whom, as most perfect and most beautiful,
all perfection and beauty have their source. What
would such men do if they found themselves, or
rather, what are we to believe that they do when
they actually find themselves, in places containing
living beauty, accompanied by licentious ways,
honey-sweet words, movements full of grace, and eyes
that ravish all but the stoutest of hearts, if the
very image of beauty, nay, its mere shadow, moves
them so profoundly? However, I would not have any
believe that I approve of those figures that are
painted in churches in a state of almost complete
nudity, for in these cases it is seen that the
painter has not shown the consideration that was due
to the place; because, even although a man has to
show how much he knows, he should proceed with due
regard for circumstances and pay respect to persons,
times, and places.
Fra Giovanni was a man of great simplicity, and
most holy in his ways; and his goodness may be
perceived from this, that, Pope Nicholas V wishing
one morning to entertain him at table, he had
scruples of conscience about eating meat without
leave from his Prior, forgetting about the authority
of the Pontiff. He shunned the affairs of the world;
and, living a pure and holy life, he was as much the
friend of the poor as I believe his soul to be now
the friend of Heaven. He was continually laboring at
his painting, and he would never paint anything save
Saints. He might have been rich, but to this he gave
no thought; nay, he used to say that true riches
consist only in being content with little. He might
have ruled many, but he would not, saying that it
was less fatiguing and less misleading to obey
others. He had the option of obtaining dignities
both among the friars and in the world, but he
despised them, declaring that he sought no other
dignity save that of seeking to avoid Hell and draw
near to Paradise. And what dignity, in truth, can be
compared to that which all churchmen, nay, all men,
should seek, and which is to be found only in God
and in a life of virtue? He was most kindly and
temperate; and he lived chastely and with drew
himself from the snares of the world, being wont
very often to say that he who pursued such an art
had need of quiet and of a life free from cares, and
that he whose work is connected with Christ must
ever live with Christ. He was never seen in anger
among his fellow-friars, which is a very notable
thing, and almost impossible, it seems to me, to
believe; and it was his custom to admonish his
friends with a simple smile. With incredible
sweetness, if any sought for works from him, he
would say that they had only to gain the consent of
the Prior, and that then he would not fail them. In
short, this never to be sufficiently extolled father
was most humble and modest in all his works and his
discourse, and facile and devout in his pictures;
and the Saints that he painted have more the air and
likeness of Saints than those of any other man.It
was his custom never to retouch or improve any of
his pictures, but toleave them ever in the state to
which he had first broughtthem; believing, so he
used to say, that this was the will of God. Some say
that Fra Giovanni would never have taken his brushes
in his handwithout first offering a prayer. He never
painted a Crucifix without the tears stream ing down
his cheeks; wherefore in the countenances
andattitudes of his figures one can recognize the
goodness, nobility, and sincerity of his mind
towards the Christian religion.
He died in 1455 at the age of sixty-eight, and
left disciples in Benozzo, a Florentine, who ever
imitated his manner, and Zanobi Strozzi, who painted
pictures and panels throughout all Florence for the
houses of citizens, and particularly a panel that is
now in the tramezzo of Santa Maria Novella, beside
that by Fra Giovanni, and one in San Benedetto, a
monastery of the Monks of Camaldoli without the
Porta a Pinti, now in ruins. The latter panel is at
present in the little Church of San Michele in the
Monastery of the Angeli, before one enters the
principal church, set up against the wall on the
right as one approaches the altar. There is also a
panel in the Chapel of the Nasi in Santa Lucia, and
another in San Romeo; and in the guardaroba of the
Duke there is the portrait of Giovanni di Bicci de'
Medici, with that of Bartolommeo Valori, in one and
the same picture by the hand of the same man.
Another disciple of Fra Giovanni was Gentile da
Fabriano, as was also Domenico di Michelino, who
painted the panel for the altar of St. Zanobius in
San Apollinare at Florence, and many other pictures.
Fra Giovanni was buried by his fellow-friars in
the Minerva [Santa Maria Sopra Minerva] in Rome,
near the lateral door beside the sacristy, in a
round tomb of marble, with himself, portrayed from
nature, lying thereon. The following epitaph may be
read, carved in the marble:
NON MIHI SIT LAUDI, QUOD ERAM VELUT ALTER
APELLES,
SED QUOD LUCRA TUIS OMNIA, CHRISTE, DABAM;
ALTERA NAM TERRIS OPERA EXTANT, ALTERA CAELO.
URBS ME JOANNEM FLOS TULIT ETRURIAE.
In Santa Maria del Fiore are two very large books
illuminated divinely well by the hand of Fra
Giovanni, which are held in great veneration and
richly adorned, nor are they ever seen save on days
of the highest solemnity.
A celebrated and famous illuminator at the same time
as Fra Giovanni was one Attavante, a Florentine, of
whom I know no other name. This man, among many
other works, illuminated a Silius Italicus, which is
now in San Giovanni e Polo in Venice; of which work
I will not with hold certain particulars, both
because they are worthy of the attention of
craftsmen, and because, to my knowledge, no other
work by this master is to be found; nor should I
know even of this one, had it not been for the
affection borne to these noble arts by the Very
Reverend Maestro Cosimo Bartoli, a gentleman of
Florence, who gave me information about it, to the
end that the talent of Attavante might not remain,
as it were, buried out of sight.
In the said book, then, the figure of Silius
hason the head a helmet with a crest of gold and a
chaplet of laurel; he iswearing a blue cuirass
picked out with gold in the ancient manner, while he
is holding a book in his right hand, and the left he
has on a short sword. Over the cuirass he has a red
chlamys, fastened in front with a knot, and fringed
with gold, which hangs down from his shoulders. The
inside of this chlamys is seen to be of changing
colors and embroidered with gold. His buskins are
yellow, and he is standing on his right foot in a
niche. The next figure in this work represents
Scipio Africanus. He is wearing a yellow cuirass,
and his sword-belt and sleeves, which are blue in
color, are all embroidered with gold. On his head he
has a helmet with two little wings and a fish by way
of crest. The young man's countenance is fair and
very beautiful; and he is raising his right arm
proudly, holding in that hand a naked sword, while
in the left hand he has the scabbard, which is red
and embroidered with gold. The hose are green in
color and plain; and the chlamys, which is blue, has
a red lining with a fringe of gold all round, and it
is fastened at the throat, leaving the front quite
open, and falling behind with beautiful grace. This
young man, who stands in a niche of mixed green and
grey marble, with blue buskins embroidered with
gold, is looking with indescribable fierceness at
Hannibal, who faces him on the opposite page of the
book.
This figure of Hannibal is that of a man about
thirty-six years of age; he is frowning, with two
furrows in his brow expressive of impatience and
anger, and he, too, is looking fixedly at Scipio. On
his head he has a yellow helmet, with a green and
yellow dragon for crest and a serpent for chaplet.
He is standing on his left foot and raising his
right arm, with which he holds the shaft of an
ancient javelin, or rather, of a little partisan.
His cuirass is blue, his sword-belt partly blue and
partly yellow, his sleeves of changing blue and red,
and his buskins yellow. His chlamys, of changing red
and yellow, is fastened on the right shoulder and
lined with green; and, holding his left hand on his
sword, he is standing in a niche of varicolored
marbles, yellow, white, and changing. On another
page is Pope Nicholas V, portrayed from the life,
with a mantle of changing purple and red and all
embroidered with gold. He is without a beard and in
full profile, and he is looking towards the
beginning of the book, which is opposite to him; and
he is pointing to it with his right hand, as though
in a marvel. The niche is green, white, and red.
Then in the border there are certain little
half-length figures in an ornament composed of ovals
and circles, and other things of that kind, together
with an infinite number of little birds and
children, so well wrought that nothing more could be
desired. Close to this, in like manner, are Hanno
the Carthaginian, Hasdrubal, Laelius, Massinissa, C.
Salinator, Nero, Sempronius, M. Marcellus, Q.
Fabius, the other Scipio, and Vibius. At the end of
the book there is seen a Mars in an antique chariot
drawn by two reddish horses. On his head he has a
helmet of red and gold, with two little wings; on
his left arm he has an antique shield, which he
holds before him, and in his right hand a naked
sword. He is standing on his left foot only, holding
the other in the air. He has a cuirass in the
antique manner, all red and gold, as are his hose
and his buskins. His chlamys is blue without, and
within all green and embroidered with gold. The
chariot is covered with red cloth embroidered with
gold, with a border of ermine all round; and it
stands in a verdant and flowery champaign country,
surrounded by cliffs and rocks; while landscapes and
cities are seen in the distance, with a sky of a
most marvelous blue. On the opposite page is a young
Neptune, whose clothing is in the shape of a shirt,
embroidered all round with the color formed from
terretta verde. The flesh color is very pale. In his
right hand he is holding a little trident, and with
his left he is raising his dress. He is standing
with both feet on the chariot, which has a covering
of red, embroidered with gold and fringed all round
with sable. This chariot has four wheels, like that
of Mars, but it is drawn by four dolphins, and
accompanied by three sea-nymphs, two boys, and a
great number of fishes, all wrought with a
watercolor similar to the terretta, and very
beautiful in expression. After these is seen
Carthage in despair, in the form of a woman standing
upright with disheveled hair. Her upper garment is
green, and it is open from the waist downwards,
being lined with red cloth embroidered in gold; and
through this opening there may be seen another
garment, delicate and of changing purple and white
color. The sleeves are red and gold, with certain
puffs and floating folds made by the upper garment,
and she is stretching out her left hand towards
Rome, who is opposite to her, as though saying,
"What is thy wish? I have my answer ready;" and in
her right hand she holds a naked sword, with an air
of frenzy. Her buskins are blue, and she is standing
on a rock in the middle of the sea, surrounded by a
very beautiful sky.
Rome is a maiden as beautiful as it is possible
for man to imagine, with disheveled hair and certain
tresses wrought with infinite grace. Her clothing is
pure red, with only an embroidered border at the
foot; the lining of her robe is yellow, and the
garment beneath, which is seen through the opening,
is of changing purple and white. Her buskins are
green; in her right hand she has a scepter, in her
left a globe; and she, too, is standing on a rock,
in the midst of a sky that could not be more
beautiful than it is. Now, although I have striven
to the best of my power to show with what great art
these figures were wrought by Attavante, let no one
believe that I have said more than a very small part
of what might be said about their beauty, seeing
that, considering the time, there are no better
examples of illumination to be seen, nor any work
wrought with more invention, judgment, and design;
and the colors, above all, could not be more
beautiful or laid in their places more delicately,
so perfect is their grace.
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LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI (1404-1472)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
VERY GREAT is the advantage bestowed by
learning,without exception, on all those craftsmen
who take delight in it, but particularly on
sculptors, painters, and architects, for it opens up
the way to invention in all the works that are made;
not to mention that a man cannot have a perfect
judgment, be his natural gifts what they may, if he
is deprived of the complemental advantage of being
assisted by learning. For who does not know that it
is necessary, in choosing sites for buildings, to
show enlightenment in the avoidance of danger from
pestiferous winds, insalubrious air, and the smells
and vapors of impure and unwholesome waters? Who is
ignorant that a man must be able, in whatever work
he is seeking to carry out, to reject or adopt
everything for himself after mature consideration,
without having to depend on help from another man's
theory? For theory, when a separated from practice,
is generally of very little use; but when the two
chance to come together, there is nothing that is
more helpful to our life, both because art becomes
much richer and more perfect by the aid of science,
and because the counsels and the writings of learned
craftsmen have in themselves greater efficacy and
greater credit than the words or works of those who
know nothing but mere practice, whether they do it
well or ill. And that all this is true is seen
manifestly in Leon Batista Alberti, who, having
studied the Latin tongue, and having given attention
to architecture, to perspective, and to painting,
left behind him books written in such a manner,
that, since not one of our modern craftsmen has been
able to expound these matters in writing, although
very many of them in his own country have excelled
him in working, it is generally believed; such is
the influence of his writings over the pens and
speech of the learned;that he was superior to all
those who were actually superior to him in work.
Wherefore, with regard to name and fame, it is seen
from experience that writings have greater power and
longer life than anything else; for books go every
where with ease, and everywhere they command belief,
if only they be truthful and not full of lies. It is
no marvel, then, if the famous Leon Batista is known
more for his writings than for the work of his
hands.
This man, born in Florence of the most noble
family of the Alberti, of which we have spoken in
another place, devoted himself not only to studying
geography and the proportions of antiquities, but
also to writing, to which he was much inclined, much
more than to working. He was excellent in arithmetic
and geometry, and he wrote ten books on architecture
in the Latin tongue, which were published by him in
1481, and may now be read in a translation in the
Florentine tongue made by the Reverend Maestro
Cosimo Bartoli, Provost of S. Giovanni in Florence.
He wrote three books on painting, now translated
into the Tuscan tongue by Messer Lodovico Domenichi;
he composed a treatise on traction and on the rules
for measuring heights, as well as the books on the
"Vita Civile," and some erotic works in prose and
verse; and he was the first who tried to reduce
Italian verse to the measure of the Latin, as is
seen in the following epistle by his pen:
Questa per estrema miserabile pistola mando
A te, Che spregi miseramente noi.
Arriving at Rome in the time of Nicholas V, who
had turned the whole of Rome upside down with his
manner of building, Leon Batista, through the agency
of Biondo da Forli, who was much his friend, became
intimate with that Pope, who had previously carried
out all his building after the advice of Bernardo
Rossellino, a sculptor and architect of Florence, as
will be told in the Life of his brother Antonio.
This man, having put his hand to restoring the
Pope's Palace and to certain works in S. Maria
Maggiore, thenceforward, according to the will of
the Pope, ever sought the advice of Leon Batista.
Wherefore, using one of them as adviser and the
other as executor, the Pope carried out many useful
and praiseworthy works, such as the restoring of the
conduit of the Acqua Vergine, which was in ruins;
and there was made the fountain on the Piazza de'
Trevi, with those marble ornaments that are seen
there, on which are the arms of that Pontiff and of
the Roman people.
Afterwards, having gone to Signor Sigismondo
Malatesti of Rimini, he made for him the model of
the Church of S. Francesco, and in particular that
of the facade, which was made of marble; and
likewise the side facing towards the south, which
was built with very great arches and with tombs for
the illustrious men of that city. In short, he
brought that building to such a form that in point
of solidity it is one of the most famous temples in
Italy. Within it are six most beautiful chapels, one
of which, dedicated to S. Jerome, is very ornate;
and in it are preserved many relics brought from
Jerusalem. In the same chapel are the tombs of the
said Signor Sigismondo and of his wife, constructed
very richly of marble in the year 1450; on one there
is the portrait of Sigismondo himself, and in
another part of the work there is that of Leon
Batista.
After this, in the year 1457, when the very
useful method of printing books was discovered by
Johann Gutenberg the German, Leon Batista, working
on similar lines, discovered a way of tracing
natural perspectives and of effecting the diminution
of figures by means of an instrument, and likewise
the method of enlarging small things and reproducing
them on a greater scale; all ingenious inventions,
useful to art and very beautiful.
In Leon Batista's time Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai
wished to build the principal facade of S. Maria
Novella entirely of marble at his own expense, and
he spoke of this to Leon Batista, who was very much
his friend; and having received from him not only
counsel, but the actual model, Giovanni resolved to
have the work executed at all costs, in order to
leave it behind him as a memorial of himself. A
beginning having been made, therefore, it was
finished in the year 1477, to the great satisfaction
of all the city, which was pleased with the whole
work, but particularly with the door, from which it
is seen that Leon Batista took more than ordinary
pains. For Cosimo Rucellal, likewise, he made the
design for the palace which that man built in the
street which is called La Vigna, and that for the
loggia which is opposite to it. In the latter,
having turned his arches over columns close
together, both in the front and at the ends, since
he wished to adhere to this plan and not to make one
single arch, he had a certain space left over on
each side; wherefore he was forced to make certain
projections at the inner corners. And then, when he
wished to turn the arch of the inner vaulting,
having seen that he could not give it the shape of a
half-circle, which would have been flat and awkward,
he resolved to turn certain small arches at the
corners from one projection to another; and this
lack of judgment in design gives us to know clearly
that practice is necessary as well as science, for
the judgment can never become perfect unless science
attains to experience by actual work.
It is said that the same man made the design for
the house and garden of these Rucellai in the Via
della Scala. This house is built with much judgment
and very commodious, for, besides many other
conveniences, it has two loggie, one facing south
and the other west, both very beautiful, and made
without arches on the columns, which is the true and
proper method that the ancients used, for the reason
that the architraves which are placed on the
capitals of the columns lie level, whereas a
four-sided thing like a curving arch cannot rest on
a round column without the corners jutting out over
space. The good method, therefore, demands that
architraves should rest on columns, and that, when
arches are to be turned, piasters and not columns
should be made. For the same Rucellai Leon Batista
made a chapel in the same manner in S. Pancrazio,
which rests on great architraves placed on two
columns and two pilasters, piercing the wall of the
church below; which is a difficult thing, but safe;
wherefore this work is one of the best that this
architect ever made. In the middle of this chapel is
a tomb of marble, wrought very well in the form of a
rather long oval, and similar, as may be read on it,
to the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
About the same time Lodovico Gonzaga, Marquis of
Mantua, wished to build the tribune and the
principal chapel in the Nunziata, the Church of the
Servi in Florence, after the design and model of
Leon Batista; and pulling down a square chapel, old,
not very large, and painted in the ancient manner,
which stood at the head of the church, he built the
said tribune in the bizarre and difficult form of a
round temple surrounded by nine chapels, all curving
in a round arch, and each within in the shape of a
niche. Now, since the arches of the said chapels
rest on the pilasters in front, the result is that
the stone dressings of the arches, inclining towards
the wall, tend to draw ever backwards in order to
meet the said wall, which turns in the opposite
direction according to the shape of the tribune;
wherefore, when the said arches of the chapels are
looked at from the side, it appears that they are
falling backwards, and that they are clumsy, as
indeed they are, although the proportions are
correct, and the difficulties of the method must be
remembered.
Truly it would have been better if Leon Batista
had avoided this method for, although there is some
credit for the difficulty of its execution, it is
clumsy both in great things and in small, and it
cannot have a good result. And that this is true of
great things is proved by the great arch in front,
which forms the entrance to the said tribune; for,
although it is very beauti ful on the outer side, on
the inner side, where it has to follow the curve of
the chapel, which is round, it appears to be falling
backwards and to be extremely clumsy. This Leon
Batista would perhaps not have done, if, in addition
to science and theory, he had possessed practical
experience in working; for another man would have
avoided this difficulty, and would have Father aimed
at grace and greater beauty for the edifice. The
whole work is otherwise in itself very beautiful,
bizarre, and diffi cult; and nothing save great
courage could have enabled Leon Batista to vault
that tribune in those times in the manner that he
did. Being then summoned by the same Marquis
Lodovico to Mantua, Leon Batista made for him the
models of the Church of S. Andrea and of some other
works ; and on the road leading from Mantua to Padua
there may be seen certain temples built after his
manner. Many of the designs and models of Leon
Batista were carried into execution by Salvestro
Fancelli, a passing good architect and sculptor of
Florence, who, according to the desire of the said
Leon Batista, executed with judgment and extra
ordinary diligence all the works that he undertook
in Florence. For those in Mantua he employed one
Luca, a Florentine, who, living ever afterwards in
that city and dying there, left his name--so
Filarete tells us--to the family of the Luchi, which
is still there today. It was no small good fortune
for him to have friends who understood him and were
able and willing to serve him, because architects
cannot be always standing over their work, and it is
of the greatest use to them to have a faithful and
loving assistant; and if any man ever knew it, I
know it very well by long experience.
In painting Leon Batista did not do great or very
beautiful works, for the few by his hand that are to
be seen do not show much perfection; nor is this to
be wondered at, seeing that he devoted himself more
to his studies than to draughtsmanship. Yet he could
express his conceptions well enough in drawing, as
may be seen from some sketches by his hand that are
in our book, in which there are drawn the Bridge of
S. Angelo and the covering that was made for it with
his design in the form of a loggia, for protection
from the sun in summer and from the rain and wind in
winter. This work he was commissioned to execute by
Pope Nicholas V, who had intended to carry out many
similar works through out the whole of Rome; but
death intervened to hinder him. There is a work of
Leon Batista's in a little Chapel of Our Lady on the
abutment of the Ponte alla Carraja in Florence,
namely, an altar predella, containing three little
scenes with some perspectives, which he was much
more able to describe with the pen than to paint
with the brush. In the house of the Palla Rucellai
family, also in Florence, there is a portrait of
himself made with a mirror ; and a panel with rather
large figures in chiaroscuro. He also made a picture
of Venice in perspective, with S. Marco, but the
figures therein were executed by other masters; and
this is one of the best examples of his painting
that there are to be seen.
Leon Batista was a person of most honest and
laudable ways, the friend of men of talent, and very
open and courteous to all; and he lived honorably
and like a gentleman--which he was--through the
whole course of his life. Finally, having reached a
mature enough age, he passed content and tranquil to
a better life, leaving a most honorable name behind
him.
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LAZZARO VASARI
Vasari's Lives of the Artist
TRULY GREAT is the pleasure of those who find one
of their ancestors and of their own family to have
been distinguished and famous in some profession,
whether that of arms, or of letters, or of painting,
or any other noble calling whatsoever; and those men
who find some honorable mention of one of their
forefathers in history, if they gain nothing else
thereby, have an incitement to virtue and a bridle
to restrain them from doing anything unworthy of a
family which has produced illustrious and very
famous men. How great is this pleasure, as I said at
the beginning, I have experienced for myself in
finding that one among my ancestors, Lazzaro Vasari,
was famous as a painter in his day not only in his
native place, but throughout all Tuscany; and that
certainly not without reason, as I could clearly
prove, if it were permissible for me to speak as
freely of him as I have spoken of others. But, since
I was born of his blood, it might be readily
believed that I had exceeded all due bounds in
praising him ; wherefore, leaving on one side the
merits of the man himself and of the family, I will
simply tell what I cannot and should not under any
circumstances withhold, if I would not fall short of
the truth, on which all history hangs.
Lazzaro Vasari, then, a painter of Arezzo, was
very much the friend of Piero della Francesca of
Borgo a San Sepolcro, and ever held acquiantance
with him while Piero was working, as it has been
said, in Arezzo. And, as it often comes to pass,
this friendship brought him nothing but advantage,
for the reason that, whereas Lazzaro had formerly
devoted himself only to making little figures for
certain works according to the custom of those
times, he was persuaded by Piero della Francesca to
set himself to do bigger things. His first work in
fresco was a S. Vincent in S. Domenico at Arezzo, in
the second chapel on the left as one enters the
church ; and at his feet he painted himself and his
young son Giorgio kneeling, clothed in honourable
costumes of those times, and recom mending
themselves to the Saint, because the boy had
inadvertently cut his face with a knife. Although
there is no inscription on this work, yet certain
memories of old men belonging to our house, and the
fact that it contains the Vasari arms, enable us to
attribute it to him without a doubt. Of this there
must certainly have been some record in that
convent, but their papers and everything else have
been destroyed many times by soldiers, and I do not
marvel at the lack of records. The manner of Lazzaro
was so similar to that of Piero Borghese, that very
little difference could be seen between one and the
other. Now it was very much the custom at that time
to paint various things, such as the quarterings of
arms, on the caparisons of horses, according to the
rank of those who bore them ; and in this work
Lazzaro was an excellent master, and the rather as
it was his province to make very graceful little
figures, which were very well suited to such
caparisons. Lazzaro wrought for Niccolo Piccino and
for his soldiers and captains many things full of
stories and arms, which were held in great price,
with so much profit for himself, that the gains that
he drew from this work enabled him to recall to
Arezzo many of his brothers, who were living at
Cortona and working at the manufacture of
earthenware vases. He also brought into his house
his nephew, Luca Signorelli of Cortona, his sister's
son, whom he placed, by reason of his good
intelligence, with Piero Borghese, to the end that
he might learn the art of painting; which he
contrived to do very well, as will be told in the
proper place.
Lazzaro, then, devoting himself continually to
the study of art, became every day more excellent,
as is shown by some very good drawings by his hand
that are in our book. And because he took much
pleasure in depicting certain natural effects full
of emotions, in which he expressed very well
weeping, laughing, crying, fear, trembling, and the
like, his pictures are mostly full of such
inventions; as may be seen in a little chapel
painted in fresco by his hand in San Gimignano at
Arezzo, where there is a Crucifix, with the Madonna,
St. John, and the Magdalene at the foot of the
Cross, in various attitudes, and weeping so
naturally, that they acquired credit and fame for
him among his fellow-citizens. For the Company of
San Antonio, in the same city, he painted a cloth
banner that is borne in processions, on which he
wrought Jesus Christ at the Column, naked and bound
and so lifelike, that He appears to be trembling,
and, with His shoulders all drawn together, to be
enduring with incredible humility and patience the
blows that two Jews are giving Him. One of these,
firmly planted on his feet, is plying his scourge
with both his hands, turning his back towards Christ
in an attitude full of cruelty. The other is seen in
profile, raising himself on tip-toe; and grasping
the scourge with his hands, and gnashing his teeth,
he is wielding it with so great rage that words are
powerless to express it. Both these men Lazzaro
painted with their garments torn, the better to
reveal the nude, contenting himself with covering
after a fashion their private and less honorable
parts. This work painted on cloth has lasted all
these years--which truly makes me marvel--right up
to our own day; and by reason of its beauty and
excellence the men of that Company caused a copy to
be made of it by the French Prior, as we will relate
in the proper place.
At Perugia, also, Lazzaro wrought some stories of
the Madonna, with a Crucifix, in a chapel beside the
Sacristy of the Church of the Servi. In the Pieve of
Montepulciano he executed a predella with little
figures, and at Castiglione Aretino he painted a
panel in distemper in S. Francesco; together with
many other works, which, for the sake of brevity, I
refrain from describing, more particularly many
chests that are in the houses of citizens, which he
painted with little figures. In the Palace of the
Guelphs in Florence, among the ancient arms, there
may be seen some caparisons wrought very well by
him. He also painted a banner for the Company of San
Sebastiano; containing the said Saint at the column,
with certain angels crowning him ; but it is now
spoilt and all eaten away by time.
In Lazzaro's time there was one who made glass
windows in Arezzo, Fabiano Sassoli, a young Aretine
of great excellence in that profession, as is proved
by those of his works that are in the Vescovado, the
Abbey, the Pieve, and other places in that city; but
he knew little of design, and he was very far from
reaching the excellence of those that Parri Spinelli
made. Wherefore he determined that, even as he knew
well how to fire, to put together, and to mount the
glass, so he would make some work that should also
be passing good with regard to the painting; and he
caused Lazzaro to execute for him two cartoons of
his own invention, in order to make two windows for
the Madonna delle Grazie. Having obtained these from
Lazzaro, who was his friend and a courteous
craftsman, he made the said windows, which turned
out so beautiful and so well wrought that there are
not many to which they have to give precedence. In
one there is a very beautiful Madonna ; and in the
other, which is by far the better of the two, there
is the Resurrection of Christ, with an armed man in
foreshortening in front of the Sepulchre; and it is
a marvel, considering the small size of the window
and consequently of the picture, how those figures
can appear so large in so small a space. Many other
things could I tell of Lazzaro, who was a very good
draughtsman, as may be seen from certain drawings in
our book; but I think it best for me to pass them
by.
Lazzaro was a pleasant person and very witty in
his speech; and although he was much given to
pleasure, nevertheless he never strayed from the
path of right living. His life lasted seventy-two
years, and he left a son called Giorgio, who
occupied himself continually with the ancient
Aretine vases of terracotta; and at the time when
Messer Gentile of Urbino, Bishop of Arezzo, was
dwelling in that city, Giorgio rediscovered the
method of giving red and black colors to terracotta
vases, such as those that the ancient Aretines made
up to the time of King Porsena. Being a most
industrious person, he made large vases with the
potter's wheel, one braccio and a half in height,
which are still to be seen in his house. Men say
that while searching for vases in a place where he
thought that the ancients had worked, he found three
arches of their ancient furnaces three braccia below
the surface in a field of clay near the bridge at
Calciarella, a place called by that name ; and round
these he found some of the mixture for making the
vases, and many broken ones, with four that were
whole. These last were given by Giorgio, through the
mediation of the Bishop, to the Magnificent Lorenzo
de' Medici on his visiting Arezzo; wherefore they
were the source and origin of his entering into the
service of that most exalted family, in which he
remained ever afterwards. Giorgio worked very well
in relief, as may be seen from some heads by his
hand that are in his house. He had live sons, who
all followed the same calling ; two of them, Lazzaro
and Bernardo, were good craftsmen, of whom the
latter died very young in Rome ; and in truth, by
reason of his intelligence, which is known to have
been dexterous and ready, if death had not snatched
him so prematurely from his house, he would have
brought honour to his native place.
The elder Lazzaro died in 1452, and his son,
Giorgio, died in 1484 at the age of sixty-eight ;
and both were buried in the Pieve of Arezzo at the
foot of their own Chapel of San Giorgio, where the
following verses were set up after a time in praise
of Lazzaro:
ARETII EXULTET TELLUS CLARISSIMA ; NAMQUE EST
REBUS IN ANGUSTIS, IN TENUIQUE LABOR.
VIX OPERUM ISTIUS PARTES COGNOSCERE POSSIS:
MYRMECIDES TACEAT ; CALLICRATES SILEAT.
Finally, the last Giorgio Vasari, writer of this
history, in gratitude for the benefits for which he
has to thank in great measure the excellence of his
ancestors, having received the principal chapel of
the said Pieve as a gift from his fellow citizens
and from the Wardens of Works and Canons, as was
told in the Life of Pietro Laurati, and having
brought it to the condition that has been described,
has made a new tomb in the middle of the choir,
which is behind the altar; and in this he has laid
the bones of the said Lazzaro the elder and Giorgio
the elder, having re moved them from their former
resting-place, and likewise those of all the other
members of the said family, both male and female;
and thus he has made a new burial-place for all the
descendants of the house of Vasari. In like manner,
the body of his mother (who died in Florence in the
year 1557), after having remained for some years in
S. Croce, has been deposited by him in the said
tomb, according to her own desire, together with
Antonio, her husband and his father, who died of
plague at the end of the year 1527. In the predella
that is below the panel of the said altar there are
portraits from nature, made by the said Giorgio, of
Lazzaro, of the elder Giorgio, his grandfather, of
his father Antonio, and of his mother Monna
Maddalena de' Tacci. And let this be the end of the
Life of Lazzaro Vasari, painter of Arezzo.
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ANTONELLO DA MESSINA (ca. 1430-1479)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WHEN I CONSIDER within my own mind the various
qualities of the benefits and advantages that have
been conferred on the art of painting by many
masters who have followed the second manner, I
cannot do otherwise than call them, by reason of
their efforts, truly industrious and excellent,
because they sought above all to bring painting to a
better condition, without thinking of discomfort,
expense, or any particular interest of their own.
They continued, then, to employ no other method of
coloring save that of distemper for panels and for
canvases, which method had been introduced by
Cimabue in the year 1250, when he was working with
those Greeks, and had been afterwards followed by
Giotto and by the others of whom we have spoken up
to the present; and they were still adhering to the
same manner of working, although the craftsmen
recognized clearly that pictures in distemper were
wanting in a certain softness and liveliness, which,
if they could be obtained, would be likely to give
more grace to their designs, loveliness to their
coloring, and greater facility in blending the
colors together; for they had ever been wont to
hatch their works merely with the point of the
brush. But although many had made investigations and
sought for something of the sort, yet no one had
found any good method, either by the use of liquid
varnish or by the mixture of other kinds of colors
with the distemper.
Among many who made trial of these and other
similar expedients, but all in vain, were Alesso
Baldovinetti, Pesello, and many others, not one of
whom succeeded in giving to his works the beauty and
excellence that he had imagined. And even if they
had found what they were seeking, they still lacked
the method of making their figures on panel adhere
as well as those painted on walls, and also that of
making them so that they could be washed without
destroying the colors, and would endure any shock in
handling. These matters a great number of craftsmen
had discussed many times in common, but without
result.
This same desire was felt by many lofty minds
that were devoted to painting beyond the bounds of
Italy--namely, by all the painters of France, Spain,
Germany, and other countries. Now, while matters
stood thus, it came to pass that, while working in
Flanders, Johann of Bruges [Jan van Eyck], a painter
much esteemed in those parts by reason of the great
mastery that he had acquired in his profession, set
himself to make trial of various sorts of colors,
and, as one who took delight in alchemy, to prepare
many kinds of oil for making varnishes and other
things dear to men of inventive brain, as he was.
Now, on one occasion, having tken very great pains
with the painting of a panel, and having brought it
to completion with much diligence, he gave it the
varnish and put it to dry in the sun, as was the
custom. But, either because the heat was too
violent, or perchance because the wood was badly
joined together or not seasoned well enough, the
said panel opened out at the joinings in a ruinous
fashion. Whereupon Johann, seeing the harm that the
heat of the sun had done to it, determined to bring
it about that the sun should never again do such
great damage to his works.
And so, being disgusted no less with his varnish
than with working in distemper, he began to look for
a method of making a varnish that should dry in the
shade, without putting his pictures in the sun.
Wherefore, after he had made many experiments with
substances both pure and mixed together, he found at
length that linseed oil and oil of nuts dried more
readily than all the others that he had tried.
These, then, boiled together with other mixtures of
his, gave him that varnish that he--nay, all the
painters of the world--had long desired. Afterwards,
having made experiments with many other substances,
he saw that mixing the olors with those oils gave
them a very solid consistency, not only securing the
work, when dried, from all danger from water, but
also making the color so brilliant as to give it
lustre by itself without varnish; and what appeared
most marvellous to him was this,that it could be
blended infinitely better than distemper. Rejoicing
greatly over such a discovery, as was only
reasonable, Johann made a beginning with many works
and filled all those parts with them, with
incredible pleasure for others and very great profit
for himself; and, assisted by experience from day to
day, he kept on ever making greater and better
works.
The fame of this invention soon spread not only
through Flanders, but to Italy and many other parts
of the world, and great desire was aroused in other
artists to know how he brought his works to such
perfection. And seeing his pictures, and not knowing
how they were done, finally they were obliged to
give him great praise, while at the same time they
envied him with a virtuous envy, especially because
for a time he would not let any one see him work, or
teach any one his secret. But when he was grown old
he at last favoured Roger of Bruges, his pupil, with
the knowledge, who passed it on to his disciple
Ausse [Hans Memling?] and to the others whom we have
mentioned in speaking of coloring in oil with regard
to painting. But although the merchants bought the
paintings and sent them to princes and other great
personages to their great profit, the thing was not
known beyond Flanders; and although these pictures
had a very pungent odor given to them by the mixture
of colors and oils, particularly when they were new,
so that it would seem the secret might have been
discovered; but for many years it was not.
It came about then that some Florentines who
traded between Flanders and Naples sent a picture by
Johann containing many figures painted in oil to
King Alfonso I of Naples, and the picture pleasing
him from the beauty of the figures and the new
method of colouring, all the painters in the kingdom
came together to see it, and it was highly praised
by all. Now there was a one Antonello da Messina, a
man of an acute mind and well skilled in his art,
who had studied drawing [disegno] in Rome for many
years and afterwards retired to Palermo, where he
had worked for many years, and finally came back to
Messina his native place, where he had confirmed by
his works the good opinion that his countrymen had
of his excellent ability in painting. This man,
then, going once on some business of his own from
Sicily to Naples, heard that the said King Alfonso
had received from Flanders the aforesaid panel by
the hand of Johann of Bruges, painted in oil in such
a manner that it could be washed, would endure any
shock, and was in every way perfect. Thereupon,
having contrived to obtain a view of it, he was so
strongly impressed by the liveliness of the colors
and by the beauty and harmony of that painting, that
he put on one side all other business an every
thought and went off to Flanders.
Having arrived in Bruges, he became very intimate
with the said Johann, making him presents of many
drawings in the Italian manner and other things,
insomuch that the latter, moved by this and by the
respect shown by Antonello, and being now old, was
content that he should see his method of coloring in
oil; wherefore Antonello did not depart from that
place until he had gained a thorough knowledge of
that way of coloring, which he desired so greatly to
know. And no long time after, Johann having died,
Antonello returned from Flanders in order to revisit
his native country and to communicate to all Italy a
secret so useful, beautiful, and advantageous. Then,
having stayed a few months in Messina, he went to
Venice, where, being a man much given to pleasure
and very licentious, he resolved to take up his
abode and finish his life, having found there a mode
of living exactly suited to his taste. And so,
putting himself to work, he made there many pictures
in oil according to the rules that he had learned in
Flanders; these are scattered throughout the houses
of noblemen in that city, where they were held in
great esteem by reason of the novelty of the work.
He made many others, also, which were sent to
various places. Finally, having acquired fame and
great repute there, he was commissioned to paint a
panel that was destined for San Cassiano, a parish
church in that city. This panel was wrought by
Antonio with all his knowledge and with no sparing
of time; and when he finished, by reason of the
novelty of the coloring and the beauty of the
figures, which he had made with good design, it was
much commended and held in very great price. And
afterwards, when men heard of the new secret that he
had brought from Flanders to that city, he was ever
loved and cherised by the magnificent noblemen of
Venice throughout the whole course of his life.
Among the other painters of name who were then in
Venice, the chief was a Master Domenico. He received
Antonello when he came to Venice with as much
attention and courtesy as if he were a very dear
friend. For this reason Antonello, who would not be
beaten in courtesy, by Master Domenico, after a few
months taught him the secret of coloring in oil.
NOthing could have been dearer to Domenico than this
extraordinary courtesy and friendliness; and well
might he hold it dear, since it caused him, as he
had foreseen, to be greatly honored ever afterwards
in his native city. Grossly decieved, in truth, are
those who think that, while they grudge to others
even those things that cost them nothing, they
should be served by all for the sake of their sweet
smile, as the saying goes. The courtesies of Maestro
Domenico Viniziano wrested from the hands of
Antonello that which he had won for himself with so
much fatigue and labor, and which he would probably
have refused to hand over to any other even for a
large sum of money. But since, with regard to
Maestro Domenico, we will mention in due time all
that he wrought in Florence, and who were the men
with whom he generously shared the secret that he
had received as a courteous gift from another, let
us pass on to Antonello.
After the panel for San Cassiano, he made many
pictures and portraits for various Venetian
noblemen. Messer Bernardo Vecchietti, the
Florentine, has a painting by his hand of St.
Francis and St. Dominic, both in the one picture,
and very beautiful. Then, after receiving a
commission from the Signoria to paint certain scenes
in their Palace (which they had refused to give to
Francesco di Monsignore of Verona, although he had
been greatly favored by the Duke of Mantua), he fell
sick of a pleurisy and died at the age of
forty-nine, without having set a hand to the work.
he was greatly honored in his obsequies by the
craftsmen, by reason of the gift bestowed by him on
art in the form of the new manner of coloring, as
the following epitaph testifies:
D.O. M.
ANTONIUS PICTOR, PRAEXIPUUM MESSANAE SUAE ET
SICILIAE TOTIUS
ORNAMENTUM, HAC HUMO CONTEGITUR. NON SOLUM SUIS
PICTURS, IN
QUIBUS SINGULARE ARTIFICIUM ET VENUSTAS FUIT, SED ET
QUOD
COLORIBUS OLEO MISCENDIS SPLENDOREM ET PERPETUITATEM
PRIMUS ITALICAE CONTULIT, SUMMO SEMPER ARTIFICIUM
STUDIO CELEBRATUS.
The death of Antonello was a great grief to his
many friends, and particularly to the sculptor
Andrea Riccio, who wrought the nude marble statues
of Adam and Eve, held to be very beautiful, which
are seen in the courtyard of the Palace of the
Signoria in Venice. Such was the end of Antonello,
to whom our craftsmen should certainly feel no less
indebted for having brought the method of coloring
in oil into Italy than they should to Johann of
Bruges for having discovered it in Flanders. Both of
them benefited and enriched the art; for it is by
means of this invention that craftsmen have since
become so excellent, that they have been able to
make their figures all but alive. Their services
should be all the more valued, inasmuch as there is
no writer to be found who attributes this manner of
coloring to the ancients; and if it could be known
for certain that it did not exist among them, this
age would surpass all the excellence of the ancients
by virtue of this perfection. Since, however, even
as nothing is said that has not been said before, so
perchance nothing is done that has not been done
before, I will let this pass without saying more;
and praising consummately those who, in addition to
draughtsmanship, are ever adding something to art, I
will proceed to write of others.
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ALESSO BALDOVINETTI (ca. 1425-1499)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
So great an attraction has the noble art of
painting, that many eminent men have deserted the
callings in which they might have become very rich,
and, drawn by their inclination against the wishes
of their parents, have followed the promptings of
their nature and devoted themselves to painting, to
sculpture, or to some similar pursuit. And, to tell
the truth, if a man estimates riches at their true
worth and no higher, and regards excellence as the
end of all his actions, he acquires treasures very
different from silver and gold; not to mention that
he is never afraid of those things that rob us in a
moment of those earthly riches, which are foolishly
esteemed by men at more than their true valude.
Recognizing this, Alesso Baldovinetti, drawn by a
natural inclination, abandoned commerce--in which
his relatives had ever occupied themselves, insomuch
that by practising it honorably they had acquired
riches and lived like noble citizens--and devoted
himself to painting, in which he showed a peculiar
ability to counterfeit very well the objects of
nature, as may be seen in the pictures by his hand.
This man, while still very young, and almost
against the wish of his father, who would have liked
him to give his attention to commerce, devoted
himself to drawing; and in a short time he made so
much progress therein, that his father was content
to allow him to follow the inclination of his
nature. The first work that Alesso executed in
fresco was in Santa Maria Nuova, on the front wall
of the Chapel of San Gilio, which was much extolled
at that time, because, among other things, it
contained a Sant'Egidio that was held to be a very
beautiful figure. In like manner he painted in Santa
Trinita the chapel in fresco and the chief panel in
distemper, for Messer Gherardo and Messer Bongianni
Gianfigliazzi, most honorable and wealthy gentlemen
of Florence. In this chapel Alesso painted some
scenes from the Old Testament, which he first
sketched in fresco and then finished on the dry,
tempering his colors with yolk of egg mingled with a
liquid varnish prepared over a fire. This vehicle,
he thought, would preserve the paintings from the
damp; but it was so strong that where it was laid on
too thickly the work has peeled off in many places;
and thus, whereas he thought he had found a rare and
very beautiful secret, he was deceived in his hopes.
He drew many portraits from nature, and in the
scene of the Queen of Sheba going to hear the wisdom
of Solomon, which he painted in the aforesaid
chapel, he portrayed the Magnificent Lorenzo
de'Medici, father of Pope Leo X, and Lorenzo della
Volpaia, a most excellent maker of clocks and a very
fine astrologer, who was the man who made for the
said Lorenzo de'Medici the very beautiful clock that
the Lord Duke Cosimo now has in his palace; in which
clock all th wheels of the planets are perpetually
moving, which is a rare thing, and the first that
was ever made in this manner. In the scene opposite
to that one Alesso portrayed Luigi Guicciardini the
elder, Luca Pitti, Diotisalvi Neroni, and Giuliano
de'Medici, father of Pope Clement VII; and beside
the stone pilaster he painted Gherardo Gianfigliazzi
the elder, the Chevalier Messer Bongianni, who is
wearing a blue robe, with a chain round his neck,
and Jacopo and Giovanni, both of the same family.
Near these are Filippo Strozzi the elder and the
astrologer Messer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli. On the
vaulting are four patriarchs, and on the panel is
the Trinity, with San Giovanni Gualberto kneeling,
and another Saint. All these portraits are very
easily recognized from their similarity to those
that are seen in other works, particularly in the
houses of their descendants, whether in gesso or in
painting. Alesso gave much time to this work,
because he was very patient and liked to execute his
works at his ease and convenience.
He drew very well, as may be seen from a mule
drawn from nature in our book, wherein the curves of
the hair over the whole body are done with much
patience and with beautiful grace. Alesso was very
diligent in his works, and he strove to be an
imitator of all the minute details that Mother
Nature creates. He had a manner somewhat dry and
harsh, particularly in draperies. He took much
delight in making landscapes, copying them from the
life of nature exactly as they are; wherefore there
are seen in his pictures streams, bridges, rocks,
herbs, fruits, roads, fields, cities, castles, sand,
and an infinity of other things of the kind. In Ss
Annunziata at Florence, in the court, exactly behind
the wall where the Annunciation itself is painted,
he painted a scene in fresco, retouched on the dry,
in which there is a Nativity of Christ, wrought with
so great labor and diligence that one could count
the stalks and knots of the straw in a hut that is
there; and he also counterfeited there the ruin of a
house with the stones mouldering, all eaten away and
consumed by rain and frost, and a thick ivy root
that covers a part of the wall, wherein it is to be
observed that with great patience he made the outer
side of the leaves of one shade of green, and the
under side of another, as Nature does, neither more
nor less; and, in addition to the shepherds, he made
a serpent, or rather, a grass-snake, crawling up a
wall, which is most life-like.
It is said that Alesso took great pains to
discover the true method of making mosaic, but that
he never succeeded in anything that he wanted to do,
until at length he came across a German who was
going to Rome to obtain some indulgences. This man
he took into his house, and he gained from him a
complete knowledge of the method and the rules for
executing mosaic, insomuch that afterwards, having
set himself boldly to work, he made some angels
holding the head of Christ over the bronze doors of
San Giovanni, in the arches on the inner side. His
good method of working becoming known by reason of
this work, he was commissioned by the Consuls of the
Guild of the Merchants to clean and renovate all the
vaulting of that church, which had been wrought, as
has been said, by Andrea Tafi; for it had been
spoilt in many places, and was in need of being
renewed and restored. This he did with love and
diligence, availing himself for that purpose of a
wooden staging made for him by Cecca, who was the
best architect of that age. Alesso taught the craft
of mosaic to Domenico Ghirlandajo, who portrayed him
afterwards near himself in the Chapel of the
Tornabuoni in Santa Maria Novella, in the scene
where Joachim is driven from the Temple, in the form
of a clean-shaven old man with a red cap on his
head.
Alesso lived eighty years, and when he began to
draw near to old age, as one who wished to be able
to attend with a quiet mind to the studies of his
profession, he retired to the Hospital of San Paolo,
as many men are wont to do. And perhaps to the end
that he might be received more willingly and better
treated (or it may have been by chance), he had a
great chest carried into his rooms in the said
hospital, giving out that it contained a good sum of
money. Wherefore the Director and the other
officials of the hospital, believing this to be
true, and knowing that he had bequeathed to the
hospital all that might be found after his death,
showed him all the attention in the world. But on
the death of Alesso, there was nothing found in it
save drawings, portraits on paper, and a little book
that explained the preparation of the stones and
stucco for mosaic and the method of using them. Nor
was it any marvel, so men said, that no money was
found there, because he was so open-handed that he
had nothing that did not belong as much to his
friends as to himself.
A disciple of Alesso was the Florentine
Graffione, who wrought in fresco, over the door of
the Innocenti, that figure of God the Father and
those angels that are still there. It is said that
the Magnificent Lorenzo de'Medici, conversing one
day with Graffione, who was an original, said to
him, "I wish to have all the ribs of the inner
cupola adorned with mosaic and stucco work"; and
that Graffione replied, "You have not the masters."
To which Lorenzo answered, "We have enough money to
make some." Graffione instantly retorted, "Ah,
Lorenzo, 'tis not the money that makes the masters,
but the masters that make the money." This man was a
bizarre and fantastic person. In his house he would
never eat off any tablecloth save his own cartoons,
and he slept in no other bed than a chest filled
with straw, without sheets.
But to return to Alesso: he took leave of his art
and of his life in 1448, [SIC] and he was honorably
buried by his relatives and fellow-citizens.
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BELLANO DA PADOVA: BARTOLOMMEO BELLANO
(1435-1496/97)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
SO GREAT IS THE EFFECT of counterfeiting anything
with love and diligence, that very often, when the
manner of any master of these our arts has been well
imitated by those who take delight in his works, the
imitation resembles the thing imitated so closely,
that no difference is discerned save by those who
have a sharpmess of eye beyond the ordinary; and it
rarely comes to pass that a loving disciple fails to
learn, at least in great measure, the manner of his
master.
Bellano da Padova strove with so great diligence
to countefeit the manner and the method of Donato
[Donatello] in sculpture, particularly in bronze,
that in his native city of Padua he was left the
heir to the excellence of the Florentine Donatello;
and to this witness is borne by his works in the
Santo, which nearly every man that has not a
complete knowledge of the matter attributes to
Donato, so that every day many are deceived, if they
are not informed of the truth. This man, then, fired
by the great praise that he heard given to Donato,
the sculptor of Florence, who was then working in
Padua, and by a desire for those profits that come
into the hands of good craftsmen through the
excellence of their works, placed himself under
Donato in order to learn sculpture, and devoted
himself to it in such a manner, that, with the aid
of so great a master, he finally achieved his
purpose; wherefore, before Donatello had finished
his works and departed from Padua, Vellano had made
such great progress in the art that great
expectations were already entertained about him, and
he inspired such confidence in his master as to
induce him (and that rightly) to leave his pupil all
the equipment, designs, and models for the scenes in
bronze that were to be made round the choir of the
Santo in that city.
This was the reason why, when Donato departed, as
has been said, the commission for the whole of that
work was publicly given to Bellano in his native
city, to his very great honor. Whereupon he made all
the scenes in bronze that are on the outer side of
the choir of the Santo, wherein, among others, there
is the scene of Samson embracing the column and
destroying the temple of the Philistines, in which
one sees the fragments of the ruin building duly
falling, and the death of so many people, not to
mention a great diversity of attitudes among them as
they die, some through the ruins, and some through
fear; and all this Vellano represented marvellously.
In the same place are certain works in wax and the
models for these scenes, and likewise some bronze
candelabra wrought by the same man with much
judgment and invention. From what we see, this
craftsman appears to have had a very great desire to
attain to the standard of Donatello; but he did not
succeed, for he aimed too high in a most difficult
art.
Bellano also took delight in architecture, and
was more than passing good in that profession;
wherefore, having gone to Rome in the year 1464, at
the time of Pope Paul the Venetian, for which
Pontiff Giuliano da Maiano was architect in the
building of the Vatican, he too was employed in many
things; and by his hand, among other works that he
made, are the arms of that Pontiff which are seen
there with his name beside them. he also wrought
many of the ornaments of the Palace of San Marco for
the same Pope, whose head, by the hand of Bellano,
is at the top of the staircase. For that building
the same man designed stupendous courtyard, with a
commodious and elegant flight of steps, but the
death of the Pontiff intervened to hinder the
completion of the whole. The while that he stayed in
Rome, Bellano made many small things in marble and
in bronze for the said Pope and for others, but I
have not been able to find them. In Perugia the same
master made a bronze statue larger than life, in
which he portrayed the said Pope from nature, seated
in his pontifical robes; and at the foot of this he
placed his name and the year when it was made. This
figure is in a niche of several kinds of stone,
wrought with much diligence, without the door of San
Lorenzo, which is the Duomo of that city. The same
man made many medals, some of which are still to be
seen, particularly that of the aforesaid Pope, and
those of Antonio Rosello of Arezzo and Batista
Platina, both Secretaries to that Pontiff.
Having returned after these works to Padua with a
very good name, Bellano was held in esteem not only
in his native city, but in all Lombardy and in the
March of Treviso, both because up to that time there
had been no craftsmen of excellence in those parts,
and because he had very great skill in the founding
of metals. Afterwards, when Bellano was already old,
the Signoria of Venice determined to have an
equestrian statue of Bartolommeo da Bergamo made in
bronze; and they allotted the horse to Andrea del
Verrocchio of Florence, and the figure to Bellano.
On hearing this, Andrea, who thought that the whole
work should fall to him, knowing himself to be, as
indeed he was, a better master than Bellano, flew
into such a rage that he broke up and destroyed the
whole model fo the horse that he had already
finished, and went off to Florence. But after a
time, being recalled by the Signoria, who gave him
the whole work to do, he returned once more to
finish it; at which Bellano felt so much displeasure
that he departed from Venice, without saying a word
or expressing his resentment in any manner, and
returned to Padua, where he afterwards lived in
honor for the rest of his life, contenting himself
with the works that he had made and with being loved
and honored, as he ever was, in his native place. He
died at the age of ninety-two, and was buried in the
Santo with that distinction which his excellence,
having honored both himself and his country, had
deserved. His portrait was sent to me from Padua by
certain friends of mine, who had it, so they told
me, from the very learned and very reverend Cardinal
Bembo, whose love of our arts was no less remarkable
than his supremacy over all other men of our age in
all the rarest qualities and gifts both of mind and
body.
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FRA FILIPPO LIPPI (1406-1469)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Fra FILIPPO DI TOMMASO LIPPI, a Carmelite, was
born in Florence in a street called Ardiglione,
below the Canto alla Cuculia and behind the Convent
of the Carmelites. By the death of his father
Tommaso he was left a poor little orphan at the age
of two, with no one to take care of him, for his
mother had also died not long after giving him
birth. He was left, therefore, in the charge of one
Mona Lapaccia, his aunt, sister of his father, who
brought him up with very great inconvenience to
herself; and when he was eight years of age and she
could no longer support him, she made him a friar in
the aforesaid Convent of the Carmine. Living there,
in proportion as he showed himself dexterous and
ingenious in the use of his hands, so was he dull
and incapable of making any progress in the learning
of letters, so that he would never apply his
intelligence to them or regard them as anything save
his enemies. This boy, who was called by his secular
name of Filippo, was kept with others in the
novitiate under the discipline of the schoolmaster,
in order to see what he could do; but in place of
studying he would never do anything save deface his
own books and those of the others with caricatures.
Whereupon the Prior resolved to give him every
opportunity and convenience for learn ing to paint.
There was then in the Carmine a chapel that had
been newly painted by Masaccio, which, being very
beautiful, pleased Fra Filippo so greatly that he
would haunt it every day for his recreation; and
continually practicing there in company with many
young men, who were ever drawing in it, he surpassed
the others by a great measure in dexterity and
knowledge, insomuch that it was held certain that in
time he would do something marvelous. Nay, not
merely in his maturity, but even in his early
childhood, he executed so many works worthy of
praise that it was a miracle. It was no long time
before he wrought in terra-verde in the cloister,
close to the Consecration painted by Masaccio, a
Pope confirming the Rule of the Carmelites; and he
painted pictures in fresco on various walls in many
parts of the church, particularly a S. John the
Baptist with some scenes from his life. And thus,
making progress every day, he had learnt the manner
of Masaccio very well, so that he made his works so
similar to those of the other that many said that
the spirit of Masaccio had entered into the body of
Fra Filippo. On a pilaster in the church, close to
the organ, he made a figure of S. Marziale which
brought him infinite fame, for it could bear
comparison with the works that Masaccio had painted.
Wherefore, hearing himself so greatly praised by the
voices of all, at the age of seventeen he boldly
threw off his monastic habit.
Now, chancing to be in the Marches of Ancona, he
was disporting himself one day with some of his
friends in a little boat on the sea, when they were
all captured together by the Moorish galleys that
were scouring those parts, and taken to Barbary,
where each of them was put in chains and held as a
slave; and thus he remained in great misery for
eighteen months. But one day, seeing that he was
thrown much into contact with his master, there came
to him the opportunity and the whim to make a
portrait of him; whereupon, taking a piece of dead
coal from the fire, with this he portrayed him at
full length on a white wall in his Moorish costume.
When this was reported by the other slaves to the
master (for it appeared a miracle to them all, since
drawing and painting were not known in these parts),
it brought about his liberation from the chains in
which he had been held for so long. Truly glorious
was it for this art to have caused one to whom the
power of condemnation and punishment was granted by
law, to do the very opposite—nay, in place of
inflicting pains and death, to consent to show
friendliness and grant liberty! After having wrought
some works in color or his master, he was brought
safely to Naples, where he painted for King Alfonso,
then Duke of Calabria, a panel in distemper for the
Chapel of the Castle, where the guard-room now is.
After this there came upon him a desire to return
to Florence, where he remained for some months.
There he wrought a very beautiful panel for the
high-altar of the Nuns of S. Ambrogio, which made
him very dear to Cosimo de' Medici, who became very
much his friend for this reason. He also painted a
panel for the Chapter-house of S. Croce, and another
that was placed in the chapel of the house of the
Medici, on which he painted the Nativity of Christ.
For the wife of the said Cosimo, likewise, he
painted a panel with the same Nativity of Christ and
with S. John the Baptist, which was to be placed in
the Hermitage of Camaldoli, in one of the hermits'
cells, dedicated to S. John the Baptist, which she
had caused to be built in proof of her devotion. And
he painted some little scenes that were sent by
Cosimo as a gift to Pope Eugenius IV, the Venetian;
wherefore Fra Filippo acquired great favor with that
Pope by reason of this work.
It is said that he was so amorous, that, if he
saw any women who pleased him, and if they were to
be won, he would give all his possessions to win
them; and if he could in no way do this, he would
paint their portraits and cool the flame of his love
by reasoning with himself. So much a slave was he to
this appetite, that when he was in this humor he
gave little or no attention to the works that he had
undertaken; where fore on one occasion Cosimo de'
Medici, having commissioned him to paint a picture,
shut him up in his own house, in order that he might
not go out and waste his time; but after staying
there for two whole days, being driven forth by his
amorous—nay, beastly— passion, one night he cut some
ropes out of his bed-sheets with a pair of scissors
and let himself down from a window, and then
abandoned himself for many days to his pleasures.
Thereupon, since he could not be found, Cosimo sent
out to look for him, and finally brought him back to
his labor; and thenceforward Cosimo gave him liberty
to go out when he pleased, repenting greatly that he
had previously shut him up, when he thought of his
madness and of the danger that he might run. For
this reason he strove to keep a hold on him for the
future by kindnesses; and so he was served by
Filippo with greater readiness, and was wont to say
that the virtues of rare minds were celestial
beings, and not slavish hacks.
For the Church of S. Maria Primerana, on the
Piazza of Fiesole, he painted a panel containing the
Annunciation of Our Lady by the Angel, which shows
very great diligence, and there is such beauty in
the figure of the Angel that it appears truly a
celestial thing. For the Nuns of the Murate he
painted two panels: one, containing an Annunciation,
is placed on the high-altar; and the other is on an
altar in the same church, and contains stories of S.
Benedict and S. Bernard. In the Palace of the
Signoria he painted an Annunciation on a panel,
which is over a door; and over another door in the
said Palace he also painted a S. Bernard. For the
Sacristy of S. Spirito in Florence he executed a
panel with the Madonna surrounded by angels, and
with saints on either side— a rare work, which has
ever been held in the greatest veneration by the
masters of these our arts. In the Chapel of the
Wardens of Works in S. Lorenzo he wrought a panel
with another Annunciation.; with one for the Della
Stufa Chapel, which he did not finish.
For a chapel in S. Apostolo, in the same city, he
painted a panel with some figures round a Madonna.
In Arezzo, by order of Messer Carlo Marsuppini, he
painted the panel of the Chapel of S. Bernardo for
the Monks of Monte Olive to, depicting therein the
Coronation of Our Lady, sur rounded by many saints;
which picture has remained so fresh, that it appears
to have been made by the hand of Fra Filippo at the
present day. It was then that he was told by the
aforesaid Messer Carlo to give attention to the
painting of the hands, seeing that his works were
much criticized in this respect; wherefore from that
day onwards, in painting hands, Fra Filippo covered
the greater part of them with draperies or with some
other contrivance, in order to avoid the aforesaid
criticism. In this work he portrayed the said Messer
Carlo from the life.
For the Nuns of Annalena in Florence he painted a
Manger on a panel; and some of his pictures are
still to be seen in Padua. He sent two little scenes
with small figures, painted by his hand, to Cardinal
Barbo in Rome; these were very excellently wrought,
and executed with great diligence. Truly marvelous
was the grace with which he painted, and very
perfect the harmony that he gave to his works, for
which he has been ever esteemed by craftsmen and
honored by our modern masters with consummate
praise; nay, so long as the voracity of time allows
his many excellent labors to live, he will be held
in veneration by every age. In Prato, near Florence,
where he had some relatives, he stayed for many
months, executing many works throughout that whole
district in company with Fra Diamante, a friar of
the Carmine, who had been his comrade in the
novitiate. After this, having been commissioned by
the Nuns of S. Margherita to paint the panel of
their high-altar, he was working at this when there
came before his eyes a daughter of Francesco Buti, a
citizen of Florence, who was living there as a ward
or as a novice. Having set eyes on Lucrezia (for
this was the name of the girl), who was very
beautiful and graceful, Fra Filippo contrived to
persuade the nuns to allow him to make a portrait of
her for a figure of Our Lady in the work that he was
doing for them. With this opportunity he became even
more enamored of her, and then wrought upon her so
mightily, what with one thing and another, that he
stole her away from the nuns and took her off on the
very day when she was going to see the Girdle of Our
Lady, an honored relic of that township, being
exposed to view. Whereupon the nuns were greatly
disgraced by such an event, and her father,
Francesco, who never smiled again, made every effort
to recover her; but she, either through fear or for
some other reason, refused to come back—nay, she
insisted on staying with Filippo, to whom she bore a
male child, who was also called Filippo, and who
became, like his father, a very excellent and famous
painter.
In San Domenico, in the aforesaid Prato, there
are two of his panels; and in the tramezzo of the
Church of S. Francesco there is a Madonna, in the
removing of which from the place where it was at
first, it was cut out from the wall on which it was
painted, in order not to spoil it, and bound round
with wood, and then transported to that wall of the
church where it is still to be seen to-day. In a
courtyard of the Ceppo of Francesco di Marco, over a
well, there is a little panel by the hand of the
same man, containing the portrait of the said
Francesco di Marco, the creator and founder of that
holy place. In the Pieve of the said t ownship, on a
little panel over the side-door as one ascends the
steps, he painted the Death of St. Bernard, by the
touch of whose bier many cripples are being restored
to health. In this picture are friars bewailing the
death of their master, and it is a marvelous thing
to see the beautiful expression of the sadness of
lamentation in the heads, counterfeited with great
art and resemblance to nature. Here there are
draperies in the form of friars' gowns with most
beautiful folds, which deserve infinite praise for
their good design, coloring, and composition; not to
mention the grace and proportion that are seen in
the said work, which was executed with the greatest
delicacy by the hand of Fra Filippo.
The Wardens of Works for the said Pieve, in order
to have some memorial of him, commissioned him to
paint the Chapel of the High-Altar in that place;
and he gave great proof of his worth in that work,
which, besides its general excellence and
masterliness, contains most admirable draperies and
heads. He made the figures therein larger than life,
thus introducing to our modern craftsmen the method
of giving grandeur to the manner of our own day.
There are certain figures with garments little used
in those times, whereby he began to incite the minds
of men to depart from that simplicity which should
be called rather old-fashioned than ancient. In the
same work are the stories of St. Stephen (the
titular Saint of the said Pieve), distributed over
the wall on the right hand- namely, the Disputation,
the Stoning, and the Death of that Protomartyr, in
whose face, as he disputes with the Jews, Filippo
depicted so much zeal and so much fervor, that it is
a difficult thing to imagine it, and much more to
express it; and in the faces and the various
attitudes of the Jews he revealed their hatred,
disdain, and anger at seeing them selves overcome by
him. Even more clearly did he make manifest the
brutality and rage of those who are slaying him with
stones, which they have grasped, some large, some
small, with a horrible gnashing of teeth, and with
gestures wholly cruel and enraged. None the less,
amid so terrible an onslaught, St. Stephen, raising
his countenance with great calmness to Heaven, is
seen making supplication to the Eternal Father with
the warmest love and fervor for the very men who are
slaying him. All these conceptions are truly very
beautiful, and serve to show to others how great is
the value of invention and of knowing how to express
emotions in pictures; and this he remembered so
well, that in those who are burying S. Stephen he
made gestures so dolorous, and some faces so
afflicted and broken with weeping, that it is
scarcely possible to look at them without being
moved.
On the other side he painted the Birth of St.
John the Baptist, the Preaching, the Baptism, the
Feast of Herod, and the Beheading of the Saint.
Here, in his countenance as he is preaching, there
is seen the Divine Spirit; with various emotions in
the multitude that is listening, joy and sorrow both
in the women and in the men, who are all hanging
intently on the teaching of St. John. In the Baptism
are seen beauty and goodness; and, in the Feast of
Herod, the majesty of the banquet, the dexterity of
Herodias, the astonishment of the company, and their
immeasurable grief when the severed head is
presented in the charger. Round the banqueting-table
are seen innumer able figures with very beautiful
attitudes, and with good execution both in the
draperies and in the expressions of the faces. Among
these, with a mirror, he portrayed himself dressed
in the black habit of a prelate; and he made a
portrait of his disciple Fra Diamante among those
who are bewailing St. Stephen. This work is in truth
the most excellent of all his paintings, both for
the reasons mentioned above, and because he made the
figures somewhat larger than life, which encouraged
those who came after him to give grandeur to their
manner. So greatly was he esteemed for his excellent
gifts, that many circumstances in his life that were
worthy of blame were passed over in consideration of
the eminence of his great talents. In this work he
portrayed Messer Carlo, the natural son of Cosimo
de' Medici, who was then Provost of that church,
which received great benefactions from him and from
his house.
In the year 1463, when he had finished this work,
he painted a panel in tempera, containing a very
beautiful Annunciation, for the Church of San Jacopo
in Pistoia, by order of Messer Jacopo Bellucci, of
whom he made therein a most vivid portrait from the
life. In the house of Pulidoro Bracciolini there is
a picture by his hand of the Birth of Our Lady; and
in the Hall of the Tribunal of Eight in Florence he
painted in distemper a Madonna with the Child in her
arms, on a lunette. In the house of Lodovico Capponi
there is another picture with a very beautiful
Madonna; and in the hands of Bernardo Veechietti, a
gentleman of Florence and a man of a culture and
excellence beyond my power of expression, there is a
little picture by the hand of the same man,
containing a very beautiful St. Augustine engaged in
his studies. Even better is a St. Jerome in
Penitence, of the same size, in the guardaroba of
Duke Cosimo; for if Fra Filippo was a rare master in
all his pictures, he surpassed himself in the small
ones, to which he gave such grace and beauty that
nothing could be better, as may be seen in the
predelle of all the panels that he painted. In
short, he was such that none surpassed him i n his
own times, and few in our own; and Michelagnolo has
not only always extolled him, but has imitated him
in many things.
For the Church of San Domenico Vecchio in
Perugia, also, he painted a panel that was
afterwards placed on the high-altar, containing a
Madonna, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Louis, and St.
Anthony the Abbot. Messer Alessandro degli
Alessandri, a Chevalier of that day and a friend of
Filippo, caused him to paint a panel for the church
of his villa at Vincigliata on the hill of Fiesole,
containing a St. Laurence and other Saints, among
whom he portrayed Alessandro and two sons of his.
Fra Filippo was much the friend of gay spirits, and
he ever lived a joyous life. He taught the art of
painting to Fra Diamante, who executed many pictures
in the Carmine at Prato; and he did himself great
credit by the close imitation of his master's
manner, for he attained to the greatest perfection.
Sandro Botticelli, Pesello, and Jacopo del Sellaio
of Florence worked with Fra Filippo in their youth
(the last-named painted two panels in San Friano,
and one wrought in distemper in the Carmine), with a
great number of other masters, to whom he ever
taught the art with great friendliness. He lived
honorably by his labors, spending extraordinary sums
on the pleasures of love, in which he continued to
take delight right up to the end of his life. He was
requested by the Commune of Spoleto, through the
mediation of Cosimo de' Medici, to paint the chapel
in their principal church (dedicated to Our Lady),
which he brought very nearly to completion, working
in company with Fra Diamante, when death intervened
to prevent him from finishing it. Some say, indeed,
that in consequence of his great inclination for his
blissful amours some relations of the lady that he
loved had him poisoned.
Fra Filippo finished the course of his life in
1438, at the age of fifty- seven, and left a will
entrusting to Fra Diamante his son Filippo, a little
boy of ten years of age, who learnt the art of
painting from his guardian. Fra Diamante returned
with him to Florence, carrying away three hundred
ducats, which remained to be received from the
Commune of Spoleto for the work done; with these he
bought some property for himself, giving but a
little share to the boy. Filippo was placed with
Sandro Botticelli, who was then held a very good
master; and the old man was buried in a tomb of red
and white marble, which the people of Spoleto caused
to be erected in the church that he had been
painting.
His death grieved many friends, particularly
Cosimo de' Medici, as well as Pope Eugenius, who
offered in his lifetime to give him a dispensation,
so that he might make Lucrezia, the daughter of
Francesco Buti, his legitimate wife; but this he
refused to do, wishing to have complete liberty for
himself and his appetites. While Sixtus IV was
alive, Lorenzo de' Medici became ambassador to the
Florentines, and made the journey to Spoleto, in
order to demand from that community the body of Fra
Filippo, to the end that it might be laid in Santa
Maria del Fiore in Florence; but their answer to him
was that they were lacking in ornaments, and above
all in distinguished men, for which reason they
demanded Filippo from him as a favor in order to
honor themselves, adding that since there was a vast
number of famous men in Florence, nay, almost a
superfluity, he should consent to do without this
one; and more than this he could not obtain. It is
true, indeed, that afterwards, having determined to
do honor to him in the best way that he could, he
sent his son Filippino to Rome to paint a chapel for
the Cardinal of Naples; and Filippino, passing
through Spoleto, caused a tomb of marble to be
erected for him at the commission of Lorenzo,
beneath the organ and ever the sacristy, on which he
spent one hundred ducats of gold, which were paid by
Nofri Tornabuoni, master of the bank of the Medici;
and Lorenzo also caused Messer Angelo Poliziano to
write the following epigram, which is carved on the
said tomb in antique lettering:
CONDITUS HIC EGO SUM PICTURAE FAMA PHILIPPOS;
NULLI IGNOTA MEAE EST GRATIA MIRA MANUS.
ARTIFICES POTUI DIGITIS ANIMARE COLORES,
SPERATAQUE ANIMOS FALLERE VOCE DIU.
IPSA MEIS STUPUIT NATURA EXPRESSA FIGURIS,
MEQUE SUIS FASSA EST ARTIRUS ESSE PAREM.
MARMOREO TUMULO MEDICES LAURENTIUS HIC ME
CONDIDIT; ANTE HUMILI PULVERE TECTUS ERAM.
Fra Filippo was a very good draughtsman, as may
be seen in our book of drawings by the most famous
painters, particularly in some wherein the panel of
S. Spirito is drawn, with others showing the chapel
in Prato.
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LIVES OF PAOLO ROMANO AND MAESTRO MINO, [MINO DEL
REGNO, OR MINO DEL REAME] SCULPTORS
and CHIMENTI CAMICIA, ARCHITECT
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WE HAVE NOW TO SPEAK of Paolo Romano and Mino del
Regno, who were contemporaries and of the same
profession, but very different in character and in
knowledge of art, for Paolo was modest and quite
able, and Mino much less able, but so presumptuous
and arrogant, that he was not only overbearing in
his actions, but also with his speech exalted his
own works beyond all due measure. When Pope Pius II
gave a commission for a figure to the Roman sculptor
Paolo, Mino tormented and persecuted him out of envy
so greatly, that Paolo, who was a good and most
modest man, was forced to show resentment. Whereupon
Mino, falling into a rage with Paolo, offered to bet
a thousand ducats that he would make a figure better
than Paolo's; and this he said with the greatest
presumption and effrontery, knowing the nature of
Paolo, who disliked any annoyance, and believing
that he would not accept such a challenge. But Paolo
accepted the invitation, and Mino, half repentant,
bet a hundred ducats merely to save his honor. The
figures finished, the victory was given to Paolo as
a rare and excellent master, which he was; and Mino
was scorned as the sort of craftsman whose words
were worth more than his works.
By the hand of Mino are certain works in marble
at Naples, and a tomb at Monte Cassino, a seat of
the Black Friars in the kingdom of Naples; the S.
Peter and the S. Paul that are at the foot of the
steps of S. Pietro in Rome, and the tomb of Pope
Paul II in S. Pietro. The figure that Paolo made in
competition with Mino was the S. Paul that is to be
seen on a marble base at the head of the Ponte S.
Angelo, which stood unnoticed for a long time in
front of the Chapel of Sixtus IV. It afterwards came
to pass that one day Pope Clement VII observed this
figure, which pleased him greatly, for he was a man
of knowledge and judgment in such matters; wherefore
he determined to have a S. Peter made of the same
size, and also, after removing two little chapels of
marble, dedicated to those Apostles, which stood at
the head of the Ponte S. Angelo and obstructed the
view of the Castle, to put these two statues in
their place.
It may be read in the work of Antonio Filarete
that Paolo was not only a sculptor but also an able
goldsmith, and that he wrought part of the twelve
Apostles in silver which stood, before the sack of
Rome, over the altar of the Papal Chapel. Part of
the work of these statues was done by Niccol6 della
Guardia and Pietro Paolo da Todi, disciples of
Paolo, who were afterwards passing good masters in
sculpture, as is seen from the tombs of Pope Pius II
and Pope Pius III, on which the said Pontiffs are
portrayed from nature. By the hand of the same men
are medals of three Emperors and other great
persons. The said Paolo made a statue of an armed
man on horseback, which is now on the ground in S.
Pietro, near the Chapel of S. Andrea. A pupil of
Paolo was the Roman Gian Cristoforo, who was an able
sculptor ; and there are certain works by his hand
in S. Maria Trastevere and in other places.
Chimenti Camicia, of whose origin nothing is
known save that he was a Florentine, was employed in
the service of the King of Hungary, for whom he made
palaces, gardens, fountains, churches, fortresses,
and many other buildings of importance, with
ornaments, carvings, decorated ceilings, and other
things of the kind, which were executed with much
diligence by Baccio Cellini. After these works,
drawn by love for his country, Chimenti returned to
Florence, whence he sent to Baccio (who remained
there), as presents for the King, certain pictures
by the hand of Berto Linaiuolo, which were held very
beautiful in Hungary and much extolled by that King.
This Berto (of whom I will not refrain from making
this record as well), after having painted many
pictures in a beautiful manner, which are in the
houses of many citizens, died at the very height of
his powers, cutting short the great expectations
that had been formed of him. But to return to
Chimenti; he had not been long in Florence when he
returned to Hungary, where he continued to serve the
King; but while he was journeying on the Danube in
order to give designs for mills, in consequence of
fatigue he was seized by a sickness, which carried
him off in a few days to the other life. The works
of these masters date about the year 1470.
About the same time, during the pontificate of
Pope Sixtus IV, there lived in Rome one Baccio
Pintelli, a Florentine, who was rewarded for the
great skill that he had in architecture by being
employed by that Pope in all his building
enterprises. With his design, then, were built the
Church and Convent of S. Maria del Popolo, and
certain highly ornate chapels therein, particularly
that of Domenico della Rovere, Cardinal of San
Clemente and nephew of that Pope. The same Pontiff
erected a palace in Borgo Vecchio after the design
of Baccio, which was then held to be a very
beautiful and well-planned edifice. The same master
built the Great Library under the apartments of
Niccola, and that chapel in the Palace that is
called the Sistine, which is adorned with beautiful
paintings. He also rebuilt the structure of the new
Hospital of S. Spirito in Sassia (which was burnt
down almost to the foundations in the year 1471),
adding to it a very long loggia and all the useful
conveniences that could be desired. Within the
hospital, along its whole length, he caused scenes
to be painted from the life of Pope Sixtus, from his
birth up to the completion of that building nay, up
to the end of his life. He also made the bridge that
is called the Ponte Sisto, from the name of that
Pontiff; this was held to be an excellent work,
because Baccio built it with such stout piers and
with the weight so well distributed, that it is very
strong and very well founded. In the year of the
Jubilee of 1475, likewise, he built many new little
churches throughout Rome, which are recognized by
the arms of Pope Sixtus in particular, S. Apostolo,
S. Pietro in Vincula, and S. Sisto. For Cardinal
Guglielmo, Bishop of Ostia, he made the model of his
church, with that of the facade and of the steps, in
the manner wherein they are seen today. Many declare
that the design of the Church of S. Pietro a
Montorio in Rome was by the hand of Baccio, but I
cannot say with truth that I have found this to be
so. This church was built at the expense of the King
of Portugal, almost at the same time that the
Spanish nation had the Church of S. Jacopo erected
in Rome.
The talent of Baccio was so highly esteemed by
that Pontiff, that he would never have done anything
in the way of building without his counsel;
wherefore, in the year 1480, hearing that the Church
and Convent of S. Francesco at Assisi were
threatening to fall, he sent Baccio thither; and he,
making a very stout counterfort on the side of the
plain, rendered that marvellous fabric perfectly
secure. On one buttress he placed a statue of that
Pontiff, who, not many years before, had caused to
be made in that same convent many apartments, in the
form of chambers and halls, which are known not only
by their magnificence but also by the arms of the
said Pope that are seen in them. In the courtyard
there is one coat of arms much larger than the
others, with some Latin verses in praise of Pope
Sixtus IV, who gave many proofs that he held that
holy place in great veneration.
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ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO (c.1423-1457) and DOMENICO
VENEZIANO (c.1400-1461)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
HOW REPREHENSIBLE is the vice of envy, which
should never exist in anyone, when found in a man of
excellence, and how wicked and horrible a thing it
is to seek under the guise of a feigned friendship
to extinguish not only the fame and glory of another
but his very life, I truly believe it to be
impossible to express with words, for the wickedness
of the act overcomes all power and force of speech,
however eloquent. For this reason, without enlarging
further on this subject, I will only say that in
such men there dwells a spirit not merely inhuman
and savage but wholly cruel and devilish, and so far
removed from any sort of virtue that they are no
longer men or even animals, and do not deserve to
live. For even as emulation and rivalry, when men
seek by honest endeavour to vanquish and surpass
those greater than themselves in order to acquire
glory and honor, are things worthy to be praised and
to be held in esteem as necessary and useful to the
world, so, on the contrary, the wickedness of envy
deserves a proportionately greater meed of blame and
vituperation, when, being unable to endure the honor
and esteem of others, it sets to work to deprive of
life those whom it cannot despoil of glory; as did
that miserable Andrea dal Castagno, who was truly
great and excellent in painting and design, but even
more notable for the rancour and envy that he bore
towards other painters, insomuch that with the
blackness of his crime he concealed and obscured the
splendour of his talents.
This man, having been born at a small village
called Castagno in Mugello, in the territory of
Florence, took that name as his own surname when he
came to live in Florence, which came about in the
following manner. Having been left without a father
in his earliest childhood, he was adopted by an
uncle, who employed him for many years in watching
his herds, since he saw him to be very ready and
alert, and so masterful, that he could look after
not only his cattle but the pastures and every-
thing else that touched his own interest. Now, while
he was following this calling, it came to pass one
day that he chanced to seek shelter from the rain in
a place wherein one of those local painters, who
work for small prices, was painting a shrine for a
peasant. Whereupon Andrea, who had never seen
anything of the kind before, was seized by a sudden
marvel and began to look most intently at the work
and to study its manner ; and there came to him on
the spot a very great desire and so violent a love
for that art, that without losing time he began to
scratch drawings of animals and figures on walls and
stones with pieces of charcoal or with the point of
his knife, in so masterly a manner that it caused no
small marvel to all who saw them. The fame of this
new study of Andrea's then began to spread among the
peasants; whereupon, as his good fortune would have
it, the matter coming to the ears of a Floren- tine
gentleman named Bernardetto de' Medici, whose
possessions were in that district, he expressed a
wish to know the boy; and finally, having seen him
and having heard him discourse with great readiness,
he asked him whether he would like to learn the art
of painting. Andrea answered that nothing could
happen to him that would be more welcome or more
pleasing than this, and Bernardetto took the boy
with him to Florence, to the end that he might
become perfect in that art, and set him to work with
one of those masters who were then esteemed the
best.
Thereupon Andrea, following the art of painting
and devoting himself heart and soul to its studies,
displayed very great intelligence in the
difficulties of that art, above all in
draughtsmanship. But he was not so successful in the
colouring of his works, which he made somewhat crude
and harsh, thus impairing to a great extent their
excellence and grace, and depriving them, above all,
of a certain quality of loveliness, which is not
found in his colouring. He showed very great
boldness in the movements of his figures and much
vehemence in the heads both of men and of women,
making them grave in aspect and excellent in
draughtsmanship. There are works colored in fresco,
painted by his hand in his early youth, in the
cloister of S. Miniato al Monte as one descends from
the church to go into the convent, including a story
of S. Miniato and S. Cresci leaving their father and
mother. In S. Bene- detto, a most beautiful
monastery without the Porta a Pinti, both in a
cloister and in the church, there were many pictures
by the hand of Andrea, of which there is no need to
make mention, since they were thrown to the ground
in the siege of Florence. Within the city, in the
first cloister of the Monastery of the Monks of the
Angeli, opposite to the principal door, he painted
the Crucifix that is still there to-day, with the
Madonna, S. John, S. Benedict, and S. Romualdo ; and
at the head of the cloister, which is above the
garden, he made another like it, only varying the
heads and a few other details. In S. Trinita, beside
the Chapel of Maestro Luca, he painted a S. Andrew.
In a hall at Legnaia he painted many illustrious men
for Pandolfo Pandolfini ; and a standard to be borne
in processions, which is held very beautiful, for
the Company of the Evangelist.
In certain chapels of the Church of the Servi in
the said city he wrought three flat niches in
fresco. In one of these, that of S. Giuliano, there
are scenes from the life of that Saint, with a good
number of figures, and a dog in foreshortening that
was much extolled. Above this, in the chapel
dedicated to S. Girolamo, he painted that Saint
shaven and wasted away, with good design and great
diligence. Over this he painted a Trinity, with a
Crucifix so well foreshortened that Andrea deserves
to be greatly extolled for it, seeing that he
executed the foreshortenings with a much better and
more modern manner than the others before him had
shown; but this picture, having been afterwards
covered with a panel by the family of the Montaguti,
can no longer be seen. In the third, which is beside
the one below the organ, and which was erected by
Messer Orlando de' Medici, he painted Lazarus,
Martha, and the Magdalene. For the Nuns of S.
Giuliano, over their door, he made a Crucifix in
fresco, with a Madonna, a S. Dominic, a S. Julian,
and a S. John; which picture, one of the best that
Andrea ever made, is universally praised by all
craftsmen.
In the Chapel of the Cavalcanti in S. Croce he
painted a S. John the Baptist and a S. Francis,
which are held to be very good figures. (But what
caused all the craftsmen to marvel was a very
beautiful picture in fresco that he made at the head
of the new cloister of the said convent, opposite to
the door, of Christ being scourged at the Column,
wherein he painted a loggia with columns in
perspective, and groined vaulting with diminishing
lines, and walls inlaid in a pattern of mandorle,
with so much art and so much diligence, that he
showed tliat he had no less knowledge of the
difficulties of perspective than he had of design in
painting"^ In the same scene there are beautiful and
most animated attitudes in those who are scourging
Christ, showing hatred and rage in their faces as
clearly as Jesus Christ is showing patience and
humility. In the body of Christ, which is bound
tightly with ropes to the Column, it appears that
Andrea tried to demonstrate the suffering of the
flesh, while the Divinity concealed in that body
maintains a certain noble splendour, which seems to
be moving Pilate, who is seated among his
councillors, to seek to find some means of
liberating Him. In short, this picture is such that,
if the little care that has been taken of it had not
allowed it to be scratched and spoilt by children
and simpletons, who have scratched all the heads and
the arms and almost the entire persons of the Jews,
as though they would thus take vengeance on them for
the wrongs of Our Lord, it would certainly be the
most beautiful of all the works of Andrea. And if
Nature had given grace of colouring to this
craftsman, even as she gave him invention and
design, he would have been held truly marvellous.
In S. Maria del Fiore he painted the image of
Niccold da Tolentino on horseback ; and while he was
working at this a boy who was passing shook his
ladder, whereupon he flew into such a rage, like the
brutal man that he was, that he jumped down and ran
after him as far as the Canto de' Pazzi.j In the
cemetery of S. Maria Nuova, also, below the Ossa, he
painted a S. Andrew, which gave so much satisfaction
that he was afterwards commissioned to paint the
Last Supper of Christ with His
Apostles in the refectory, where the nurses and
other attendants have their meals. Having acquired
favour through this work with the house of Portinari
and with the Director of the hospital, he was
appointed to paint a part of the principal chapel,
of which another part was allotted to Alesso
Baldovinetti, and the third to the then greatly
celebrated painter Domenico da Venezia, who had been
summoned to Florence by reason of the new method
that he knew of painting in oil. Now, while each of
them applied himself to his part of the work, Andrea
was very envious of Domenico, because, while knowing
himself to be superior to the other in design, he
was much displeased that the Venetian, although a
foreigner, should be welcomed and entertained by the
citizens ; wherefore anger and disdain moved him so
strongly, that he began to think whether he could
not in one way or another remove him from his path.
Andrea was no less crafty in dissimulation than he
was excellent in painting, being cheerful of
countenance at his pleasure, ready of speech, fiery
in spirit, and as resolute in every bodily action as
he was in mind ; he felt towards others as he did
towards Domenico, and, if he saw some error in the
works of other craftsmen, he was wont to mark it
secretly with his nail. And in his youth, when his
works were criticized in any respect, he would give
the critics to know by means of blows and insults
that he was ever able and willing to take revenge in
one way or another for any affront.
But let us say something of Domenico, before we
come to the work of the said chapel. Before coming
to Florence, Domenico had painted some pictures with
much grace in the Sacristy of S. Maria at Loreto, in
com- pany with Piero della Francesca; which
pictures, besides what he had wrought in other
places (such as an apartment in the house of the
Baglioni in Perugia, which is now in ruins), had
made his fame known in Florence. Being summoned to
that city, before doing anything else, he painted a
Madonna in the midst of some saints, in fresco, in a
shrine on the Canto de' Carnesecchi, at the corner
of two streets, of which one leads to the new Piazza
di S. Maria Novella and the other to the old. This
work, being approved and greatly extolled by the
citizens and by the craftsmen of those times, caused
even greater disdain and envy to blaze up in the
accursed mind of Andrea against poor Domenico ;
wherefore Andrea, having determined to effect by
deceit and treachery what he could not carry out
openly without manifest peril to himself, pretended
to be very much the friend of Domenico, who, being a
good and affectionate fellow, fond of singing and
devoted to playing on the lute, received him as a
friend very willingly, thinking Andrea to be a
clever and amusing person. And so, continuing this
friendship, so true on one side and so false on the
other, they would come together every night to make
merry and to serenade their mistresses ; and this
gave great delight to Domenico, who, loving Andrea
sincerely, taught him the [ method of colouring in
oil, which as yet was not known in Tuscany.
Andrea, then (to take events in their due order),
working on his wall in the Chapel of S. Maria Nuova,
painted an Annunciation, which is held very
beautiful, for in that work he painted the Angel in
the air, which had never been done up to that time.
But a much more beautiful work is held to be that
wherein he made the Madonna ascending the steps of
the Temple, on which he depicted many beggars, and
one among them hitting another on the head with a
pitcher; and not only that figure but all the others
are wondrously beautiful, for he wrought them with
much care and love, out of rivalry with Domenico.
There is seen, also, in the middle of a square, an
octagonal temple drawn in perspective, standing by
itself and full of pilasters and niches, with the f
a9ade very richly adorned with figures painted to
look like marble. Round the square are various very
beautiful buildings ; and on one side of these there
falls the shadow of the temple, caused by the light
of the sun a beautiful conception, carried out with
great ingenuity and art.
Maestro Domenico, on his part, painting in oil,
represented Joachim visiting his consort S. Anna,
and below this the Birth of Our Lady, wherein he
depicted a very ornate chamber, and a boy beating
very gracefully with a hammer on the door of the
said chamber. Beneath this he painted the Marriage
of the Virgin, with a good number of portraits from
the life, among which are those of Messer
Bernardetto de' Medici, Constable of the
Florentines, wearing a large red barret-cap ;
Bernardo Guadagni, who was Gonfalonier; Folco
Portinari, and others of that family. He also
painted a dwarf breaking a staff, very life-like,
and some women wearing garments customary in those
times, lovely and graceful beyond belief. But this
work remained unfinished, for reasons that will be
told below.
Meanwhile Andrea had painted in oil on his wall
the Death of Our Lady, in which, both by reason of
his rivalry with Domenico and in order to make
himself known for the able master that he truly was,
he wrought in foreshortening, with incredible
diligence, a bier containing the dead Virgin, which
appears to be three braccia in length, although it
is not more than one and a half. Round her are the
Apostles, wrought in such a manner, that, although
there is seen in their faces their joy at seeing
their Madonna borne to Heaven by Jesus Christ, there
is also seen in them their bitter sorrow at being
left on earth without her. Among the Apostles are
some angels holding burning lights, with beautiful
expressions in their faces, and so well executed
that it is seen that he was as well able to manage
oil-colours as his rival Domenico. In these pic-
tures Andrea made portraits from life of Messer
Rinaldo degli Albizzi, Puccio Pucci, and
Falganaccio, who brought about the liberation of
Cosimo de' Medici, together with Federigo Malevolti,
who held the keys of the Alberghetto. In like manner
he portrayed Messer Bernardo di Domenico della
Volta, Director of that hospital, who is kneeling
and appears to be alive ; and in a medallion at the
beginning of the work he painted himself with the
face of Judas Iscariot, whom he resembled both in
appearance and in deed.
Now Andrea, having carried this work very nearly
to completion, being blinded by envy of the praises
that he heard given to the talent of Domenico,
determined to remove him from his path ; and after
having thought of many expedients, he put one of
them into execution in the following manner. One
summer evening, according to his custom, Domenico
took his lute and went forth from S. Maria Nuova,
leaving Andrea in his room drawing, for he had
refused to accept the invitation to take his
recreation with Domenico, under the pretext of
having to do certain drawings of importance.
Domenico therefore went to take his pleasure by
himself, and Andrea set himself to wait for him in
hiding behind a street corner ]; and when Domenico,
on his way home, came up to him, he crushed his lute
and his stomach at one and the same time with
certain pieces of lead, and then, thinking that he
had not yet finished him off, beat him grievously on
the head with the same weapons; and finally, leaving
him on the ground, he returned to his room in S.
Maria Nuova, where he put the door ajar and sat down
to his drawing in the manner that he had been left
by Domenico. Meanwhile an uproar had arisen, and the
servants, hearing of the matter, ran to call Andrea
and to give the bad news to the murderer and traitor
himself, who, running to where the others were
standing round Domenico, was not to be consoled, and
kept crying out: "Alas, my brother ! Alas, my
brother !" Finally Domenico expired in his arms; nor
could it be discovered, for all the diligence that
was used, who had murdered him; and if Andrea had
not revealed the truth in confession on his
deathbed, it would not be known now.)
In S. Miniato fra le Torri in Florence Andrea
painted a panel containing the Assumption of Our
Lady, with two figures ; and in a shrine in the Nave
a Lanchetta, without the Porta alia Croce, he
painted a Madonna. In the house of the Carducci, now
belonging to the Pan- dolfini, the same man depicted
certain famous men, some from imagination and some
portrayed from life, among whom are Filippo Spano
degli Scolari, Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, and
others. At Scarperia in Mugello, over the door of
the Vicar's Palace, he painted a very beautiful nude
figure of Charity, which has since been ruined. In
the year 1478, when Giuliano de' Medici was killed
and his brother Lorenzo wounded in S. Maria del
Fiore by the family of the Pazzi and their adherents
and fellow-conspirators, it was ordained by the
Signoria that all those who had shared in the plot
should be painted as traitors on the wall of the
Palace of the Podesta. This work was offered to
Andrea, and he, as a servant and debtor of the house
of Medici, accepted it very willingly, and, taking
it in hand, executed it so beautifully that it was a
miracle. It would not be possible to express how
much art and judgment were to be seen in those
figures, which were for the most part portraits from
life, and which were hung up by the feet in strange
attitudes, all varied and very beautiful. This work,
which pleased the whole city and particularly all
who had understanding in the art of painting,
brought it about that from that time onwards he was
called no longer Andrea dal Castagno but Andrea
degl' Impiccati.
Andrea lived in honorable style, and since he
spent his money freely, particularly on dress and on
maintaining a fine household, he left little
property when he passed to the other life at the age
of seventy-one. But since the crime that he had
committed against Domenico, who loved him so, became
known a short time after his death, it was with
shameful obsequies that he was buried in S. Maria
Nuova, where, at the age of fifty-six, the unhappy
Domenico had also been buried. The work begun by the
latter in S. Maria Nuova remained unfinished, nor
did he ever complete it, as he had done the panel of
the high altar in S. Lucia de' Bardi, wherein he
executed with much diligence a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, S. John the Baptist, S. Nicholas,
S. Francis, and S. Lucia ; which panel he had
brought to perfect completion a little before he was
murdered.
Disciples of Andrea were Jacopo del Corso, who
was a passing good master, Pisanello, Marchino,
Piero del Pollaiuolo, and Giovanni da Rovezzano.
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GENTILE DA FABRIANO (ca. 1370-1427) and
ANTONIO PISANELLO of Verona (1395-1455)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
VERY GREAT is the advantage enjoyed by one who
follows in the steps of a predecessor who has gained
honor and fame by means of some rare talent, for the
reason that, if only he follows to some extent the
path prepared by his master, he seldom fails to
arrive without much fatigue at an honorable goal;
where, if he had to reach it by himself, he would
have need of a much longer time and far greater
labors. The truth of this could be seen, ready for
the finger to point to, as the saying is, among many
other examples, in that of Pisano, or rather,
Pisanello, a painter of Verona, who, having spent
many years in Florence with Andrea del Castagno, and
having finished his works after his death, acquired
so much credit by means of Andrea's name, that Pope
Martin V, coming to Florence, took him in his train
to Rome, where he caused him to paint some scenes in
fresco in San Giovanni Laterano, which are very
lovely and beautiful beyond belief, because he used
there a great abundance of a sort of ultramarine
blue given to him by the said Pope, which was so
beautiful in color that it has never yet been
equalled.
In competition with Pisanello, below the
aforesaid scenes, certain others were painted by
Gentile da Fabriano; of which Platina makes mention
in his Life of Pope Martin, saying that when that
Pontiff had caused the pavement, the ceiling, and
the roof of San Giovanni Laterano to be
reconstructed, Gentile da Fabriano painted many
pictures there, and, among other figures between the
windows, in terretta and in chiaroscuro, certain
prophets, which are held to be the best paintings in
the whole of the work. The same Gentile executed an
infinite number of works in the Marches,
particularly in Agobbio, where some of them are
still to be seen, and likewise throughout the whole
state of Urbino.
He worked in San Giovanni at Siena; and in the
Sacristy of Santa Trinita in Florence he painted the
Story of the Magi on a panel, in which he portrayed
himself from life. In San Niccolo, near the Porta a
San Miniato, for the family of the Quaratesi, he
painted the panel of the high altar, which appears
to me without a doubt the best of all the works that
I have seen by his hand, for, not to mention the
Madonna surrounded by many saints, all well wrought,
the predella of the said panel, full of scenes with
little figures from the life of St. Nicholas, could
not be more beautiful or executed better than it is.
In Santa Maria Nuova in Rome, in a little arch over
the tomb of the Florentine Cardinal Adimari,
Archbishop of Pisa, which is beside that of Pope
Gregory IX, he painted the Madonna with the Child in
her arms, between St. Benedict and St. Joseph. This
work was held in esteem by the divine Michelangelo,
who was wont to say, speaking of Gentile, that his
hand in painting was similar to his name. The same
master executed a very beautiful panel in San
Domenico in Perugia; and in San Agostino at Bari he
painted a Crucifix outlined in the wood, with three
very beautiful half-length figures, which are over
the door of the choir.
But to return to Vittore [sic, Antonio] Pisano;
the account that has been given of him above was
written by us, with nothing more, when this our book
was printed for the first time, because we had not
then received that information and knowledge of the
works of this excellent craftsman which we have
since gained from notices supplied by that very
reverend and most learned Father, Fra Marco
de'Medici of Verona, of the Order of Preaching
Friars, and from the narrative of Biondo da Forli,
where he speaks of Verona in his "Italian
Illustrata." Vittore was equal in excellence to any
painter of his age; and to this, not to speak of the
works enumerated above, most ample testimony is
borne by many others that are seen in his most noble
city of Verona, although many are almost eaten away
by time.
And because he took particular delight in
depicting animals, he painted in the Chapel of the
Pellegrini family, in the Church of S. Anastasia at
Verona, a St. Eustace caressing a dog spotted with
white and tan, which, with its feet raised and
leaning against the leg of the said Saint, is
turning its head backwards as though it had heard
some noise; and it is making this movement with so
great vivacity, that a live dog could not do it
better. Beneath this figure there is seen painted
the name of Pisano, who used to call himself
sometimes Pisano, and sometimes Pisanello, as may be
seen from the pictures and the medals by his hand.
After the said figure of St. Eustace, which is truly
very beautiful and one of the best that this
craftsman ever wrought, he painted the whole outer
wall of the same chapel; and on the other side he
made a St. George clad in white armour made of
silver, as was the custom in that age not only with
him but with all the other painters. This St.
George, wishing to replace his sword in the scabbard
after slaying the Dragon, is raising his right hand,
which holds the sword, the point of which is already
in the scabbard, and is lowering the left hand, to
the end that the increased distance may make it
easier for him to sheathe the sword, which is long;
and this he is doing with so much grace and with so
beautiful a manner, that nothing better could be
seen.
Michele San Michele of Verona, architect to the
most illustrious Signoria of Venice, and a man with
a very wide knowledge of these fine arts, was often
seen during his life contemplating these works of
Vittore [sic, Antonio] in a marvel, and then heard
to say that there was little to be seen that was
better than the St. Eustace, the dog, and the St.
George described above. Over the arch of the said
chapel is painted the scene when St. George, having
slain the Dragon, is liberating the King's daughter,
who is seen near the Saint, clad in a long dress
after the custom of those times. Marvellous,
likewise, in this part of the work, is the figure of
the same St. George, who, armed as above, and about
to remount his horse, is standing with his face and
person turned towards the spectator, and is seen,
with one foot in the stirrup and his left hand on
the saddle, almost in the act of leaping on to the
horse, which has its hindquarters towards the
spectator, so that the whole animal, being
foreshortened, is seen very well, although in a
small space. In a word, it is impossible to
contemplate without infinite marvel--nay,
amazement--a work executed with such extraordinary
design, grace, and judgment.
The same Pisano painted a picture in San Fermo
Maggiore at Verona (a church of the Conventual
Friars of S. Francis), in the Chapel of the
Brenzoni, on the left as one enters by the principal
door of the said church, over the tomb of the
Resurrection of Our Lord, wrought in sculpture and
very beautiful for those times; he painted, I say,
as an ornament for that work, the Virgin receiving
the Annunciation from the Angel, which two figures,
picked out with gold according to the use of those
times, are very beautiful, as are certain very well
drawn buildings, as well as some little animals and
birds scattered throughout the work, which are as
natural and lifelike as it is possible to imagine.
The same Vittore [sic, Antonio] cast in medallions
innumerable portraits of Princes and other persons
of his time, from which there have since been made
many portraits in painting. And Monsignor Giovio,
speaking of Vittore Pisano in an Italian letter
written to the Lord Duke Cosimo, which may be read
in print together with many others, says the
following words:
"This man was also very excellent in the work of
low-relief, which is esteemed very difficult among
craftsmen, because it is the mean between the flat
surface of painting and the roundness of statuary.
For this reason there are seen many highly esteemed
medals of great Princes by his hand, made in a large
form, and in the same proportions as that reverse of
the horse clad in armor that Guidi has sent me. Of
these I have that of the great King Alfonso with his
hair long, with a captain's helmet on the reverse;
that of Pope Martin, with the arms of the house of
Colonna as the reverse; that of the Sultan Mahomet
(who took Constantinople), showing him on horseback
in Turkish dress, with a scourge in his hand;
Sigismondo Malatesta, with Madonna Isotta of Rimini
on the reverse; and that of Niccolo Piccinino,
wearing a large oblong cap on his head, with the
said reverse sent to me by Guidi, which I am
returning. Besides these, I have also a very
beautiful medal of John Palaeologus, Emperor of
Constantinople, with that bizarre Greek cap which
the Emperors used to wear. This was made by Pisano
in Florence, at the time of the Council of Eugenius,
at which the aforesaid Emperor was present; and it
has on the reverse the Cross of Christ, sustained by
two hands--namely, the Latin and the Greek."
So far Giovio, and still further. Vittore also
made medals with portraits of Fiippo de' Medici,
Archbishop of Pisa, Braccio da Montone, Giovan
Galeazzo Visconti, Carlo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini,
Giovan Caracciolo, Grand Seneschal of Naples, Borso
and Ercole D'Este, and many other nobles and men
distinguished in arms and in letters. By reason of
his fame and reputation in that art, this master
gained the honour of being celebrated by very great
men and rare writers; for, besides what Biondo wrote
of him, as has been said, he was much extolled in a
Latin poem by the elder Guerino, his compatriot and
a very great scholar and writer of those times; of
which poem, called, from the surname of its subject,
"Il Pisano del Guerino" honourable mention is made
by Biondo. He was also celebrated by the elder
Strozzi, Tito Vespasiano, father of the other
Strozzi, both of whom were very rare poets in the
Latin tongue. The father honored the memory of
Vittore Pisano with a very beautiful epigram, which
is in print with the others. Such are the fruits
that are borne by a worthy life.
Some say that when he was learning art in
Florence in his youth, he painted in the old Church
of the Temple, which stood where the old Citadel now
is, the stories of that pilgrim who was going to San
Jacopo di Galizia, when the daughter of his host put
a silver cup into his wallet, to the end that he
might be punished as a robber; but he was rescued by
San Jacopo, who brought him back home in safety. In
this Pisano gave promise of becoming, as he did, an
excellent painter. Finally, having come to a good
old age, he passed to a better life. And Gentile,
after making many works in Citta di Castello, became
palsied, and was reduced to such a state that he
could no longer do anything good; and at length,
wasted away by old age, and having lived eighty
years, he died. The portrait of Pisano I have not
been able to find in any place whatsoever. Both
these painters drew very well, as may be seen in our
book.
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PESELLO (1367-1446) and FRANCESCO PESELLI
(PESELLINO) (1422-1457)
PAINTERS OF FLORENCE
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT IS RARELY WONT to happen that the disciples of
the best masters, if they observe their precepts,
fail to become very excellent, or, if they do not
actually surpass them, at least to equal them and to
make themselves in every way like them. For the
burning zeal of imitation, with assiduity in
studying, has power to make them equal the talent of
those who show them the true method of working;
wherefore the disciples become such that they
afterwards compete with their masters, and even find
it easy to outstrip them, because it is always but
little labor to add to what has been discovered by
others. That this is true is proved by Francesco di
Pesello, who imitated the manner of Fra Filippo so
well that he would have surpassed him by a long way,
if death had not cut him off so prematurely. It is
also known that Pesello imitated the manner of
Andrea dal Castagno; and he took so much pleasure in
counterfeiting animals, of which he kept some of all
sorts alive in his house, and made them so lifelike
and vivacious, that there was no one in his time who
equalled him in this branch of his profession. He
worked up to the age of thirty under the discipline
of Andrea, learning from him, and became a very good
master. Wherefore, having given good proof of his
knowledge, he was commissioned by the Signoria of
Florence to paint a panel in distemper of the Magi
bringing offerings to Christ, which was placed
half-way up the staircase of their Palace, and
acquired great fame for Pesello, above all because
he had made certain portraits therein, including
that of Donato Acciaiuoli. In S. Croce, also, in the
Chapel of the Cavalcanti, below the Annunciation of
Donato, he painted a predella with little figures,
containing stories of S. Nicholas.
In the house of the Medici he adorned some
panelling very beautifully with animals, and certain
coffers with little scenes of jousts on horseback.
And in the same house there are seen to this day
certain canvases by his hand, representing lions
pressing against a grating, which appear absolutely
alive; and he made others on the outside, together
with one fighting with a serpent; and on another
canvas he painted an ox, a fox, and other animals,
very animated and vivacious. In the Chapel of the
Alessandri, in S. Piero Maggiore, he made four
little scenes with little figures of S. Peter, of S.
Paul, of S. Zanobi restoring to life the son of the
widow, and of S. Benedict. In S. Maria Maggiore in
the same city of Florence, in the Chapel of the
Orlandini, he made a Madonna and two other very
beautiful figures. For the children of the Company
of S. Giorgio he painted a Crucifix, S. Jerome, and
S. Francis; and he made an Annunciation on a panel
in the Church of S. Giorgio. In the Church of S.
Jacopo at Pistoia he painted a Trinity, S. Zeno, and
S. James; and throughout the houses of citizens in
Florence there are many pictures, both round and
square, by the hand of the same man.
Pesello was a temperate and gentle person; and
whenever it was in his power to assist his friends,
he would do it very lovingly and willingly. He
married young, and had a son named Francesco, known
as Pesellino, who became a painter, following very
closely in the steps of Fra Filippo. From what is
known of this man, it is clear that if he had lived
longer he would have done much more than he did, for
he was a zealous student of his art, and would draw
all day and night without ceasing. In the Chapel of
the Noviciate in S. Croce, below the panel by Fra
Filippo, there is still seen a most marvellous
predella with little figures, which appear to be by
the hand of Fra Filippo. He made many little
pictures with small figures throughout Florence,
where, having acquired a great name, he died at the
age of thirty-one; to the great grief of Pesello,
who followed him after no long time, at the age of
seventy-seven.
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BENOZZO GOZZOLI (circa 1420-1497)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
HE WHO PURSUES the path of excellence in his
labors, although it is, as men say, both stony and
full of thorns, finds himself finally at the end of
the ascent on a broad plain, with all the blessings
that he has desired. And as he looks downwards and
sees the difficult and perilous way that he has
come, he thanks God for having brought him out
safely, and with the greatest contentment he blesses
those labors that he has just been finding so
burdensome. And so, recompensed for his past
sufferings by the gladness of the happy present, he
labors without fatigue, in order to demonstrate to
all who see him how heat, cold, sweat, hunger,
thirst, and all the other discomforts that are
endured in the acquiring of excellence, deliver men
from poverty, and bring them to that secure and
tranquil state in which, with so much contentment,
Benozzo Gozzoli enjoyed repose from his labors. This
man was a disciple of Fra Giovanni Angelico, by whom
he was loved with good reason; and by all who knew
him he was held to be a practiced master, very rich
in invention, and very productive in the painting of
animals, perspectives, landscapes, and ornaments. He
wrought so many works in his day that he showed that
he cared little for other delights; and although, in
comparison with many who surpassed him in design, he
was not very excellent, yet in this great mass of
work he surpassed all the painters of his age, for
in such a multitude of pictures he succeeded in
making some that were good. In his youth he painted
a panel for the altar of the Company of San Marco in
Florence, and, in San Friano, a picture of the
passing of St. Jerome, which has been spoilt in
restoring the facade of the church along the street.
In the Chapel of the Palace of the Medici he painted
the Story of the Magi in fresco. In the Araceli at
Rome, in the Chapel of the Cesarini, he painted the
stories of St. Anthony of Padua, wherein he made
portraits from life of Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini
and Antonio Colonna. In the Conti Tower, likewise,
over a door under which one passes, he made in
fresco a Madonna with many saints; and in a chapel
in Santa Maria Maggiore, on the right hand as one
enters the church by the principal door, he painted
many figures in fresco, which are passing good.
************* After returning from Rome to Florence,
Benozzo went to Pisa, where he worked in the
cemetery called the Camposanto, which is beside the
Duomo, covering the surface of a wall that runs the
whole length of the building with stories from the
Old Testament, wherein he showed very great
invention. And this may be said to be a truly
tremendous work, seeing that it contains all the
stories of the Creation of the world from one day to
another. After this came Noahs Ark and the
inundation of the Flood represented with very
beautiful composition and n abundance of figures.
Then there follow the building of the proud Tower of
Nimrod, the burning of Sodom and the other
neighboring cities, and the stories of Abraham,
wherein there are some very beautiful effects to be
observed, for the reason that, although Benozzo was
not remarkable for the drawing of figures, yet he
showed his art effectually in the Sacrifice of
Isaac, for there he painted an ass foreshortened in
such a manner that it seems to turn to either side,
which is held something very beautiful. After this
comes the Birth of Moses, together with all those
signs and prodigies that were seen, up to the time
when he led his people out of Egypt and fed them for
so many years in the desert. To these he added all
the stories of the Hebrews up to the time of David
and his son Solomon; and in this work Benozzo
displayed a spirit truly more than bold, for,
whereas so great an enterprise might very well have
daunted a legion of painters, he alone wrought the
whole and brought it to perfection. Wherefore,
having thus acquired very great fame, he won the
honor of having the following epigram placed in the
middle of the work:
QUID SPECTAS VLUCRES, PISCES, ET MONSTRA FERARUM,
ET VIRIDES SILVAS AETHEREASQE DOMOS,
ET PUEROS, JUVENES, MATRES, CANOSQUE PARETES,
QUEIS SEMPER VIVUM SPIRAT IN ORE DECUS?
NON HAEC TAM VARIIS FINXIT SIMULACRA FIGURIS
NATURA, INGENIO FOETIBUS APTA SUO;
O SUPERI, VIVOS FUDITE IN ORA SONOS.
Throughout this whole work there are scattered
innumerable portraits from the life; but, since we
have not knowledge of them all, I will mention only
those that I have recognized as important, and those
that i know by means of some record. In the scene of
the Queen of Sheba going to visit Solomon there is
the portrait of Marsilio Ficino among certain
prelates, with those of Argiropolo, a very learned
Greek, and of Batista Platina, whom he had
previously portrayed in Rome; while he himself is on
horseback, in the form of an old man shaven and
wearing a black cap, in the fold of which there is a
white paper, perchance as a sign, or because he
intended to write his own name thereon.
In the same city of Pisa, for the Nuns of San
Benedetto a Ripa dArno, he painted all the stories
of the life of that Saint; and in the building of
the Company of the Florentines, which then stood
where the Monastery of San Vito now is, he wrought
the panel and many other pictures. In the Duomo,
behind the chair of the Archbishop, he painted a St.
Thomas Aquinas on a little panel in distemper, with
an infinite number of learned men disputing over his
works, among whom there is a portrait of Pope Sixtus
IV, together with a number of Cardinals and many
Chiefs and Generals of various Orders. This is the
best and most highly finished work that Benozzo ever
made. In Santa Caterina, a seat of the Preaching
Friars of the same city, he executed two panels in
distemper, which are known very well by the manner;
and he also painted another in the Church of San
Niccola, with two in Santa Croce without Pisa. In
his youth, Benozzo also painted the altar of San
Sebastiano in the Pieve of San Gimignano, opposite
to the principal chapel; and in the Hall of the
Council there are some figures, partly by his hand,
and partly old works restored by him. For the Monks
of Monte Oliveto, in the same territory, he painted
a Crucifix and other pictures; but the best work
that he made in that place was the principal chapel
of San Agostino, where he painted stories of St.
Augustine in fresco, from his conversion to his
death; of the whole of which work I have the design
by his hand in my book, together with many drawings
of the aforesaid scenes in the Camposanto of Pisa.
In Volterra, likewise, he executed certain works, of
which there is no need to make mention.
Now, while Benozzo was working in Rome, there was
another painter there called Melozzo, who came from
Forli; and many who know no more than this, having
found the name of Melozzo written and having
compared the dates, have believed that Melozzo
stands for Benozzo; but they are mistaken, for the
said painter was one who lived at the same time and
was a very zealous student of the problems of art,
devoting particular diligence and study to the
making of foreshortenings, as may be seen in San
Apostolo at Rome, in the tribune of the high altar,
where, in a frieze drawn in perspective, as an
ornament for that work, there are some figures
picking grapes, with a cask, which show no little of
the good. But this is seen more clearly in the
Ascension of Jesus Christ, in the midst of a choir
of angels who are leading him up to Heaven, wherein
the figure of Christ is so well foreshortened that
it seems to be piercing the ceiling, and the same is
true of the angels, who are circling with various
movements through the spacious sky. The Apostles,
likewise, who are on the earth below, are so well
foreshortened in their various attitudes that the
work brought him much praise, as it still does, from
the craftsmen, who have learnt much from his labors.
He was also a great master of perspective, as is
demonstrated by the buildings painted in this work,
which he executed at the commission of Cardinal
Riario, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, by whom he was
richly rewarded.
But to return to Benozzo: wasted away at last by
length of years and by his labors, he went to his
true rest, in the city of Pisa, at the age of
seventy-eight, while dwelling in a little house that
he had bought in Carraia di San Francesco during his
long sojourn there. This house he left at his death
to his daughter; and, mourned by the whole city, he
was honorably buried in the Camposanto, with the
following epitaph, which is still to be read there:
HIC TUMULUS EST BENOTII FLORENTINI, QUI PROXIME
HAS PINXIT
HISTORIAS. HUNC SIBI PISANOR. DONAVIT HUMANITAS,
MCCCCLXXVIII.
Benozzo ever lived the well-ordered life of a
true Christian, spending all his years in honorable
labor. For this and for his good manner and
qualities he was long looked upon with favor in that
city. The disciples whom he left behind him were
Zanobi Machiavelli, a Florentine, and others of whom
there is no need to make further record.
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The Life of Francesco di Giorgio
Martini(1439-1502)
and the Life of Lorenzo Vecchietto (ca. 1412-1480)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Francesco di Giorgio of Siena, who was an
excellent sculptor and architect, made the two
bronze angels that are on the high altar of the
Duomo in that city. These were truly very beautiful
pieces of casting, and he finished them afterwards
by himself with the greatest diligence that it is
possible to imagine. This he could do very
conveniently, for he was endowed with good means as
well as with a rare intelligence; wherefore he would
work when he felt inclined, not through greed of
gain, but for his own pleasure and in order to leave
some honorable memorial behind him. He also gave
attention to painting and executed some pictures,
but these did not equal his sculptures. He had very
good judgment in architecture, and proved that he
had a very good knowledge of that profession; and to
this ample testimony is borne by the palace that he
built for Duke Federigo Feltro at Urbino, which is
commodiously arranged and beautifully planned, while
the bizarre staircases are well conceived and more
pleasing than any others that had been made up to
his time. The halls are large and magnificent, and
the apartments are conveniently distributed and
handsome beyond belief. In a word, the whole of that
palace is as beautiful and as well built as any
other that has been erected down to our own day.
Francesco was a very able engineer, particularly
in connection with military engines, as he showed in
a frieze tht he painted with his own hand in the
said palace at Urbino, which is all full of rare
things of that kind for the purposes of war. He also
filled some books with designs of such instruments;
and the Lord Duke Cosimo de'Medici has the best of
these among his greatest treasures. The same man was
so zealous a student of the warlike machines and
instruments of the ancients, and spent so much time
in investigating the plans of the ancient
amphitheatres and other things of that kind, that he
was thereby prevented from giving equal attention to
sculpture; but these studies brought him and still
bring him no less honor than sculpture could have
gained for him. For all these reasons he was so dear
to the said Duke Federigo, whose portrait he made
both on medals and in painting, that when he
returned to his native city of Siena he found his
honors were equal to his profits.
For Pope Pius II he made all the designs and
models of the Palace and Vescovado of Pienza, the
native place of the said Pope, which was raised by
him to the position of a city, and called Pienza
after himself, in place of its former name of
Corsignano. These buildings were as magnificent and
handsome as they could be for that place; and he did
the same for the general form and the fortifications
of the said city, together with the palace and
loggia built for the same Pontiff. Wherefore he ever
lived in honor, and was rewarded with the supreme
magistracy of the Signoria in his native city; but
finally, having reached the age of forty-seven, he
died. His works date about 1480. He left behind him
his companion and very dear friend, Jacopo
Cozzerello, who devoted himself to sculpture and to
architecture, making some figures of wood in Siena,
and a work of architecture without the Porta a
Tufi--namely, Santa Maria Maddalena, which remained
unfinished by reason of his death. To him we are
also indebted for the portrait of the aforesaid
Francesco, which he made with his own hand; to which
Francesco much gratitude is due for his having
facilitated the art of architecture, and for his
having rendered it greater services than any other
man had done from the time of Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco to his own.
A Sienese and also a much extolled sculptor was
Lorenzo, the son of Piero Vecchietti, who, having
first been a highly esteemed goldsmith, finally
devoted himself to sculpture and to casting in
bronze; which arts he studied so zealously that he
became excellent in them, and was commissioned to
make a tabernacle in bronze for the high altar of
the Duomo in his native city of Siena, together with
the marble ornaments that are still seen therein.
This casting, which is admirable, acquired very
great fame and repute for him by reason of the
proportion and grace that it shows in all its parts;
and whosoever observes this work well can see that
the design is good, and that the craftsman was a man
of judgment and of practised ability.
For the Chapel of the Painters of Siena, in the
great Hospital of the Scala, the same man made a
beautiful metal casting of a nude Christ, of the
size of life and holding the Cross in His hand;
which work was finished with a love and diligence
worthy of the beautiful success of the casting. In
the pilgrim's hall in the same place there is a
scene painted in colors by Lorenzo. Over the door of
San Giovanni he painted an arch with figures wrought
in fresco; and in like manner, since the baptismal
font was not finished, he wrought for it certain
little figures in bronze, besides finishing, also in
bronze, a scene formerly begun by Donatello. In this
place two scenes in bronze had been already wrought
by Jacopo della Fonte [Jacopo della Quercia], whose
manner Lorenzo ever imitated as closely as he was
able. This Lorenzo brought the said baptismal font
to perfect completion, adding to it some bronze
figures, formerly cast by Donatello but entirely
finished by himself, which are held to be very
beautiful.
For the Loggia of the Ufficiali [The officials of
the Mercanzia] in Banchi Lorenzo made two life-size
figures in marble of St. Peter and St. Paul, wrought
with consummate grace and executed with fine
mastery. He disposed the works that he made in such
a manner that he deserves as much praise for them
after death as he did when alive. He was a
melancholic and solitary person, ever lost in
contemplation; which was perchance the reason that
he did not live longer, for he passed to the other
life at the age of fifty-eight. His works date to
about the year 1482.
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GALASSO GALASSI (FERRARESE) (Active, 1450-1488)
PAINTER
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WHEN FOREIGNERS come to do work in a city in
which there are no craftsmen of excellence, there is
always some man whose intelligence is afterwards
stirred to strive to learn that same art, and to
bring it about that from that time onwards there
should be no need for strangers to come and
embellish his city and carry away her wealth, which
he now labors to deserve by his own ability, seeking
to acquire for himself those riches that seemed to
him too splendid to be given to foreigners. This was
made clearly manifest by Galasso Ferrarese, who,
seeing Piero dal Borgo a San Sepolcro rewarded by
the Duke of Ferrara for the works that he executed,
and also honorably received in Ferrara, was incited
so strongly by such an example, after Piero's
departure, to devote himself to painting, that he
acquired the name of a good and excellent master in
Ferrara. Besides this, he was held in all the
greater favor in that place for having gone to
Venice and there learnt the method of painting in
oil, which he brought to his native place, for he
afterwards made an infinity of figures in that
manner, which are scattered about in many churches
throughout Ferrara.
Next, having gone to Bologna, whither he was
summoned by certain Dominican friars, he painted in
oil a chapel in S. Domenico; and so his fame
increased, together with his credit. After this he
paintedmany pictures in fresco in S. Maria del
Monte, a seat of the Black Friars without Bologna,
beyond the Porta di S. Mammolo; and the whole church
of the Casa di Mezzo, on the same road, was likewise
painted by his hand with works in fresco, in which
he depicted the stories of the Old Testament.
His life was ever most praiseworthy, and he
showed himself very courteous and agreeable; which
arose from his being used to live and dwell more out
of his native place than in it. It is true, indeed,
that through his being somewhat irregular in his way
of living, his life did not last long; for he left
it at the age of about fifty, to go to that life
which has no end. After his death he was honored by
a friend with the following epitaph:
GALASSUS FERRARIENSIS.
SUM TANTO STUDIO NATURAM IMITATUS ET ARTE
DUM PINGO RERUM QU^E GREAT ILLA PARENS ;
HMC UT SEPE QUIDEM NON PICTA PUTAVERIT A ME,
A SE CREDIDERIT SED GENERATA MAGIS.
In these same times lived Cosine, also of
Ferrara. Works by his hand that are to be seen are a
chapel in S. Domenico in the said city, and two
folding-doors that close the organ in the Duomo.
This man was better as a draughtsman than as a
painter; indeed, from what I have been able to
gather, he does not seem to have painted much.
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ANTONIO (1427-1479) and BERNARDO (1409-1464)
ROSSELLINO
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT HAS EVER BEEN a truly laudable and virtuous
thing to be modest and to be adorned with that
gentleness and those rare qualities that are easily
recognized in the honorable actions of the sculptor
Antonio Rossellino, who put so much grace into his
art that he was esteemed by all who knew him as
something much more than man, and adored almost as a
saint, for those supreme virtues that were united to
his talent. Antonio was called Rossellino dal
Proconsolo, because he ever had his shop in a part
of Florence called by that name, He showed such
sweetness and delicacy in his works, with a finish
and a refinement so perfect, that his manner may be
rightly called the true one and truly modern.
For the Palace of the Medici he made the marble
fountain that is in the second court; in which
fountain are certain children opening the mouths of
dolphins that pour out water; and the whole is
finished with consummate grace and with a most
diligent manner. In the Church of Santa Croce, near
the holy-water basin, he made a tomb for Francesco
Nori, with a Madonna in low-relief above it; and
another Madonna in the house of the Tornabuoni,
together with many other things sent to various
foreign parts, such as a tomb of marble for Lyons in
France.
At San Miniato al Monte, a monastery of White
Friars without the walls of Florence, he was
commissioned to make the tomb of the Cardinal of
Portugal, which was executed by him so marvelously
and with such great diligence and art, that no
craftsman can ever expect to be able to see any work
likely to surpass it in any respect whatsoever with
regard to finish or grace. And in truth, if one
examines it, it appears not merely difficult but
impossible for it to have been executed so well; for
certain angels in the work reveal such grace,
beauty, and art in their expressions and their
draperies, that they appear not merely made of
marble but absolutely alive. One of these is holding
the crown of chastity of that Cardinal, who is said
to have died celibate; the other bears the palm of
victory, which he had won from the world. Among the
many most masterly things that are there, one is an
arch of grey-stone supporting a looped-back curtain
of marble, which is so highly-finished that, what
with the white of the marble and the grey of the
stone, it appears more like real cloth than like
marble. On the sarcophagus are some truly very
beautiful boys and the dead man himself, with a
Madonna, very well wrought, in a medallion. The
sarcophagus has the shape of one made of porphyry
which is in the Piazza della Ritonda in Rome.
This tomb of the Cardinal was erected in 1459;
and its form, with the architecture of the chapel,
gave so much satisfaction to the Duke of Malfi,
nephew of Pope Pius II, that he had another made in
Naples by the hand of the same master for his wife,
similar to the other in every respect save in the
figure of the dead. For this, moreover, Antonio made
a panel containing the Nativity of Christ and the
Manger, with a choir of angels over the hut, dancing
and singing with open mouths, in such a manner, that
he truly seems to have given them all possible
movement and expression short of breath itself, and
that with so much grace and so high a finish, that
iron tools and manUs intelligence could effect
nothing more in marble. Wherefore his works have
been much esteemed by Michelagnolo and by all the
rest of the supremely excellent craftsmen. In the
Pieve of Empoli he made a St. Sebastian of marble,
which is held to be a very beautiful work; and of
this we have a drawing by his hand in our book,
together with others of all the architecture and the
figures in the said chapel in San Miniato al Monte,
and likewise his own portrait.
Antonio finally died in Florence at the age of
forty-six, leaving a brother called Bernardo, an
architect and sculptor, who made a marble tomb in
Santa Croce for Messer Lionardo Bruni of Arezzo, who
wrote the History of Florence and was a very learned
man, as all the world knows. This Bernardo was much
esteemed for his knowledge of architecture by Pope
Nichols V, who loved him dearly and made use of him
in very many works that he carried out in his
pontificated, of which he would have executed even
more if death had not intervened to hinder the works
that he had in mind. He caused him, therefore,
according to the account of Giannozzo Manetti, to
reconstruct the Piazza of Fabriano, in the year when
he spent some months there by reason of the plague;
and whereas it was narrow and badly designed, he
enlarged it and brought it to a good shape,
surrounding it with a row of shops, which were
useful, very commodious, and very beautiful.
After this he restored and founded anew the
Church of San Francesco in the same district, which
was going to ruin. At Gualdo he rebuilt the Church
of San Benedetto; almost anew, it may be said, for
he added to it good and beautiful buildings. At
Assisi he made new and stout foundations and a new
roof for the Church of San Francesco, which was
ruined in certain parts and threatened to go to ruin
in certain others. At Civitavecchia he built many
beautiful and magnificent edifices. At Civita
Castellana he rebuilt more than a third part of the
walls in a good form. At Narni he rebuilt the
fortress, enlarging it with good and beautiful
walls. At Orvieto he made a great fortress with a
most beautiful palace--a work of great cost and no
less magnificence. At Spoleto, likewise, he enlarged
and strengthened the fortress, making within it
dwellings so beautiful, so commodious, and so well
conceived, that nothing better could be seen. He
restored the baths of Viterbo at great expense and
in a truly royal spirit, making certain dwellings
there that would have been worthy not merely of the
invalids who went to bathe there every day, but of
the greatest of Princes. All these works were
executed by the said Pontiff without the city of
Rome, from the designs of Bernardo.
In Rome he restored, and in many places renewed,
the walls of the city, which were for the greater
part in ruins; adding to them certain towers, and
enclosing within these some new fortifications that
he built without the Castle of SantUAngelo, with
many apartments and decorations that he made within.
The said Pontiff also had a project in his mind, of
which he brought the greater part nearly to
completion, of restoring or rebuilding, according as
it might be necessary, the forty Churches of the
Stations formerly instituted by the Saint, Pope
Gregory I, who received the surname of Great. Thus
he restored Santa Maria Trastevere, Santa Prassedia,
San Teodoro, San Pietro in Vincula, and many other
minor churches. But it was with much greater zeal,
adornment, and diligence that he did this for six of
the seven greater and principal churches--namely,
San Giovanni Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santo
Stefano in Celio Monte, Sant'Apostolo, San Paolo,
and San Lorenzo extra muros. I say nothing of San
Pietro, for of this he made an undertaking by
itself.
The same Pope was minded to make the whole of the
Vatican into a separate city, in the form of a
fortress; and for this he was designing three roads
that should lead to San Pietro, situated, I believe,
where the Borgo Vecchio and the Borgo Nuovo now are;
and on both sides of these roads he meant to build
loggie, with very commodious shops, keeping the
nobler and richer trades separate from the humbler,
and grouping each in a street by itself. He had
already built the Great Round Tower, which is still
called the Torrione di Niccola. Over these shops and
loggie were to be erected magnificent and commodious
houses, built in a very beautiful and very practical
style of architecture, and designed in such a manner
as to be sheltered and protected from all the
pestiferous winds of Rome, and freed from all the
inconveniences of water and garbage likely to
generate unhealthy exhalations. All this the said
Pontiff would have finished if he had been granted a
little longer life, for he had a great and resolute
spirit, and an understanding so profound, that he
gave as much guidance and direction to the craftsmen
as they gave to him. When this is so, and when the
patron has knowledge of his own and capacity enough
to take an immediate resolution, great enterprises
can be easily brought to completion; whereas an
irresolute and incapable man, wavering between yes
and no in a sea of conflicting designs and opinions,
very often lets time slip past unprofitably without
doing anything. But of this design of Nicholas there
is no need to say any more, since it was not carried
into effect.
Besides this, he wished to build the Papal Palace
with so much magnificence and grandeur, and with so
many conveniences and such loveliness, that it might
be in all respects the greatest and most beautiful
edifice in Christendom; and he intended that it
should not only serve for the person of the Supreme
Pontiff, the Chief of all Christians, and for the
sacred college of Cardinals, who, being his
counselors and assistants, had always to be about
him, but also that it should provide accommodation
for the transaction of all the business,
resolutions, and judicial affairs of the Court; so
that the grouping together of all the offices and
courts would have produced great magnificence, and,
if such a word may be used in such a context, an
effect of incredible pomp. What is infinitely more,
it was meant for the reception of all Emperors,
Kings, Dukes, and other Christian Princes who might,
either on affairs of their own or out of devotion,
visit that most holy apostolic seat.
It is incredible, but he proposed to make there a
theatre for the crowning of the Pontiffs, with
gardens, loggie, aqueducts, fountains, chapels,
libraries, and a most beautiful building set apart
for the Conclave. In short, this edifice--I know not
whether I should call it palace, or castle, or
city--would have been the most superb work that had
ever been made, so far as is known, from the
Creation of the world to our own day. What great
glory it would have been for the Holy Roman Church
to see the Supreme Pontiff, her Chief, gather
together, as into the most famous and most holy of
monasteries, all those ministers of God who dwell in
the city of Rome, to live there, as it were in a new
earthly Paradise, a celestial, angelic, and most
holy life, giving an example to all Christendom, and
awakening the minds of the infidels to the true
worship of God and of the Blessed Jesus Christ! But
this great work remained unfinished--nay, scarcely
begun--by reason of the death of that Pontiff; and
the little that was carried out is known by his
arms, or the device that he used as his arms,
namely, tow keys crossed on a field of red. The
fifth of the five works that the same Pope intended
to execute was the Church of San Pietro, which he
had proposed to make so vast, so rich, and so
ornate, that it is better to be silent than to
attempt to speak of it, because I could not describe
even the least part of it, and the rather as the
model was afterwards destroyed, and others have been
made by other architects. If any man wishes to gain
a full knowledge of the grand conception of Pope
Nicholas V in this matter, let him read what
Giannozzo Manetti, a noble and learned citizen of
Florence, has written with the most minute detail in
the Life of the said Pontiff, who availed himself in
all the aforesaid designs, as has been said, as well
as in his others, of the intelligence and great
industry of Bernardo Rossellino.
Antonio, brother of Bernardo (to return at length
to the point whence, with so fair an occasion, I
digressed), wrought his sculptures about the year
1490; and since the more menUs works display
diligence and difficulties the more they are
admired, and these two characteristics are
particularly noticeable in AntonioUs works, he
deserves fame and honor as a most illustrious
example from which modern sculptors have been able
to learn how those statues should be made that are
to secure the greatest praise and fame by reason of
their difficulties. For after Donatello he did most
towards adding a certain finish and refinement to
the art of sculpture, seeking to give such depth and
roundness to his figures that they appear wholly
round and finished, a quality which had not been
seen to such perfection in sculpture up to that
time; and since he first introduced it, in the ages
after his and in our own it appears a marvel.
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Desiderio da Settignano (1428-1464)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Very great is the obligation that is owed to
Heaven and to Nature by those who bring their works
to birth without effort and with a certain grace
which others cannot give to their creations, either
by study or by imitation. It is a truly celestial
gift, which pours down on these works in such a
manner, that they ever have about them a loveliness
and a charm which attract not only those who are
versed in that calling, but also many others who do
not belong to the profession. And this springs from
facility in the production of the good, which
presents no crudeness or harsheness to the eye, such
as is often shown by works wrought with labor and
difficulty; and this grace and simplicity, which
give universal pleasure and are recognized by all,
are seen in all the works made by Desiderio.
Of this man, some say that he came from
Settignano, a place two miles distant from Florence,
while certain others hold him to be a Florentine;
but this matters nothing, the distance between the
one place and the other being so small. he was an
imitator of the manner of Donatello, although he had
a natural gift of imparting very great grace and
loveliness to his heads; and in the expressions of
his women and children there is seen a delicate,
sweet, and charming manner, produced as much by
nature, which had inclined him to this, as by the
zeal with which he had practised his intelligence in
the art. In his youth he wrought the base of
Donatello's David, which is in the Duke's Palace in
Florence, making on it in marble certain very
beautiful harpies, and some vine-tendrils in bronze,
very graceful and well conceived. On the facade of
the house of the Gianfigliazzi he made a large and
very beautiful coat of arms, with a lion; besides
other works in stone, which are in the same city.
For the Chapel of th Brancacci in the Carmine, he
made an angel of wood; and he finished with marble
the Chapel of the Sacrament in San Lorenzo, carrying
it to complete perfection with much diligence. There
was in it a child of marble in the round, which ws
removed and is now set up on the altar at the
festivals of the Nativity of Christ, as an admirable
work; and in place of this Baccio da Montelupo made
another, also of marble, which stands permanently
over the Tabernacle of the Sacrament.
In Santa Maria Novella he made a marble tomb for
the Blessed Villana, with certain graceful little
angels, and portrayed her there from nature in such
a manner that she appears not dead but asleep; and
for the Nuns of the Murate he wrought a little
Madonna with a lovely and graceful manner, in a
tabernacle standing on a column, insomuch that both
of these works are very highly esteemed and very
greatly prized. In San Pietro Maggiore, also, he
made the Tabernacle fo the Sacrament in marble with
his usual diligence; and although there were no
figures in this work, yet it shows a beautiful
manner and infinite grace, like his other works. And
he portrayed from the life, likewise in marble, the
head of Marietta degli Strozzi, who was so beautiful
that the work turned out very excellent.
In Santa Croce he made a tomb for Messer Carlo
Marsuppini of Arezzo, which not only amazed the
craftsmen and the people of understanding who saw it
at that time, but still fills with marvel all who
see it at the present day; for on the sacrophagus he
wrought some foliage, which, although somewhat stiff
and dry, was held--since but few antiquities had
been discovered up to that time--to be something
very beautiful. Among other parts of the said work
are seen certain wings, acting as ornaments for a
shell at the foo of the sacrophagus,w hich seem to e
made not of marble but of feathers--difficult things
to imitate in marble, seeing that the chisel is not
able to counterfeit hair and feathers. There is a
large shell of marble, more real than if it were an
actual shell. There are also some children and some
angels, executed with a beautiful and lively manner;
and consummate excellence and art are likewise seen
in the figure of the dead, portrayed from nature on
the sarcophagus, and in a Madonna in low relief on a
medaillion, wrought after the manner of Donatello
with judgment and most admirable grace; as are many
other works he made in low relief on marble, some of
which are in the guardaroba of the Lord Duke Cosimo,
and in particular a medaillion with the head of our
Lord Jesus Christ and with that of John the Baptist
as a boy. At the foot of the tomb of the said Messer
Carlo he laid a large stone in memory of Messer
Giorgio, a famous Doctor, and Secretary to the
Signoria of Florence, with a very beautiful portrait
in low relief of Messer Giorgio, clad in his
Doctor's robes according to the use of those times.
If death had not snatch so prematurely from the
world a spirit which worked so nobly, he would have
done so much later on by means of experience and
study, that he would have outstripped in art all
those whom he had surpassed in grace. Death cut the
thread of his life at the age of twenty-eight, which
caused great grief to those who were looking forward
to seeing so great an intellect attain to perfection
in old age; and hey were left in the deepest dismay
at such a loss. He was followed by his relatives and
by many friends to the Church of the Servi; and a
vast number of epigrams and sonnets continued for a
long time to be placed on his tomb, of which I have
contented myself with including only the following:
COME VIDE NATURA
DAR DESIDERIO AI FREDDI MARMI VITA,
E POTER LA SCULTURA
AGGUAGLIAR SUA BELLEZZA ALMA A INFINITA,
SI FERMO SBIGOTTITA
E DISSE: OMAI SARA MIA GLORIA OSCURA.
E PIENA D'ALTO SDEGNO
TRONCO LA VITA A COSI BELL'INGEGNO.
MA IN VAN; CHE SE COSTUI
DIE VITA ETERNA AI MARMI, E I MARMI A LUI.
The sculptures of Desiderio date about 1485. He
left unfinished a figure of St. Mary Magdalene in
Penitence, which was afterwards completed by
Benedetto da Maiano, and is now in Santa Trinita in
Florence, on the right hand as one enters the
church; and the beauty of this figure is beyond the
power of words to express. In our book are certain
very beautiful pen drawings by Desiderio; and his
portrait was obtained from some of his relatives in
Settignano.
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MINO DA FIESOLE (1429 - 1484)
SCULPTOR
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WHEN OUR CRAFTSMEN seek to do no more in the
works that they execute than to imitate the manner
of their masters, or that of some other man of
excellence whose method of working pleases them,
either in the attitudes of the figures, or in the
expressions of the heads, or in the folds of the
draperies, and when they study these things only,
they may with time and diligence come to make them
exactly the same, but they cannot by these means
alone attain to perfection in their art, seeing that
it is clearly evident that one who ever walks behind
rarely comes to the front, since the imitation of
nature becomes fixed in the manner of a craftsman
who has developed that manner out of long practice.
For imitation is a definite art of copying what you
represent exactly after the model of the most
beautiful things of nature, which you must take pure
and free from the manner of your master or that of
others, who also reduce to a manner the things that
they take from nature. And although it may appear
that the imitations made by excellent craftsmen are
natural objects, or absolutely similar, it is not
possible with all the diligence in the world to make
them so similar that they shall be like nature
herself, or even, by selecting the best, to compose
a body so perfect as to make art excel nature.
Now, if this is so, it follows that only objects
taken from nature can make pictures and sculptures
perfect, and that if a man studies closely only the
manner of other craftsmen, and not bodies and
objects of nature, it is inevitable that he should
make works inferior both to nature and to those of
the man whose manner he adopts. Where- fore it has
been seen in the case of many of our craftsmen, who
have refused to study anything save the works of
their masters, leaving nature on one side, that they
have failed to gain any real knowledge of them or to
surpass their masters, but have done very great
injury to their own powers; whereas, if they had
studied the manner of their masters and the objects
of nature together, they would have produced much
greater fruits in their works than they did. This is
seen in the works of the sculptor Mino da Fiesole,
who, having an intelligence capable of achieving
whatsoever he wished, was so captivated by the
manner of his master Desiderio da Settignano, by
reason of the beautiful grace that he gave to the
heads of women, children, and every other kind of
figure, which appeared to Mino's judgment to be
superior to nature, that he practised and studied it
alone, abandoning natural objects and thinking them
useless; wherefore he had more grace than solid
grounding in his art.
It was on the hill of Fiesole, a very ancient
city near Florence, that there was born the sculptor
Mino di Giovanni, who, having been apprenticed to
the craft of stone cutting under Desiderio da
Settignano, a young man excellent in sculpture,
showed so much inclination to his master's art,
that, while he was labouring at the hewing of
stones, he learnt to copy in clay the works that
Desiderio had made in marble ; and this he did so
well that his master, seeing that he was likely to
make progress in that art, brought him forward and
set him to work on his own figures in marble, in
which he sought with very great attention to
reproduce the model before him. Nor did he continue
long at this before he became passing skilful in
that calling; at which Desiderio was greatly
pleased, and still more pleased was Mino by the
loving-kindness of his master, seeing that Desiderio
was ever ready to teach him how to avoid the errors
that can be committed in that art. Now, while he was
on the way to becoming excellent in his profession,
his ill luck would have it that Desiderio should
pass to a better life, and this loss was a very
great blow to Mino, who departed from Florence,
almost in despair, and went to Rome. There,
assisting masters who were then executing works in
marble, such as tombs of Cardinals, which were
placed in S. Pietro, although they have since been
thrown to the ground in the building of the new
church, he became known as a very experienced and
capable master; and he was commissioned by Cardinal
Guglielmo Destovilla, who was pleased with his
manner, to make the marble altar where lies the body
of S. Jerome, in the Church of S. Maria Maggiore,
together with scenes in low relief from his life,
which he executed to perfection, with a portrait of
that Cardinal.
Afterwards, when Pope Paul II, the Venetian, was
erecting his Palace of S. Marco, Mino was employed
thereon in making certain coats of arms. After the
death of that Pope, Mino was commissioned to make
his tomb, which he delivered finished and erected in
S. Pietro in the space of two years. This tomb was
then held to be the richest, both in ornaments and
in figures, that had ever been made for any Pontiff;
but it was thrown to the ground by Bramante in the
demolition of S. Pietro, and remained there buried
among the rubbish for some years, until 1547, when
certain Venetians had it rebuilt in the old S.
Pietro, against a wall near the Chapel of Pope
Innocent. And although some believe that this tomb
is by the hand of Mino del Reame, yet,
notwithstanding that these two masters lived almost
at the same time, it is without doubt by the hand of
Mino da Fiesole. It is true, indeed, that the said
Mino del Reame made some little figures on the base,
which can be recognized; if in truth his name was
Mino, and not, as some maintain, Dino.
But to return to our craftsman; having acquired a
good name in Rome by the said tomb, by the
sarcophagus that he made for the Minerva, on which
he placed a marble statue of Francesco Tornabuoni
from nature, which is held very beautiful, and by
other works, it was not long before he returned to
Fiesole with a good sum of money saved, and took a
wife. And no long time after this, working for the
Nuns of the Murate, he made a marble tabernacle in
half-relief to contain the Sacrament, which was
brought to perfection by him with all the diligence
in his power. This he had not yet fixed into its
place, when the Nuns of S. Ambrogio who desired to
have an ornament made, similar in design but richer
in adornment, to contain that most holy relic, the
Miracle of the Sacrament hearing of the ability of
Mino, commissioned him to execute that work, which
he finished with so great diligence that those nuns,
being satisfied with him, gave him all that he asked
as the price of the work. And a little after this he
undertook, at the instance of Messer Dietisalvi
Neroni, to make a little panel with figures of Our
Lady with the Child in her arms, and S. Laurence on
one side and S. Leonard on the other, in
half-relief, which was intended for the priests or
chapter of S. Lorenzo; but it has remained in the
Sacristy of the Badia of Florence. For those monks
he made a marble medallion containing a Madonna in
relief with the Child in her arms, which they placed
over the principal door of entrance into the church;
and since it gave great satisfaction to all, he
received a commission for a tomb for the Magnificent
Chevalier, Messer Bernardo de' Giugni, who, having
been an honorable man of high repute, rightly
received this memorial from his brothers. On this
tomb, besides the sarcophagus and the portrait from
nature of the dead man, Mino executed a figure of
Justice, which resembles the manner of Desiderio
closely, save only that its draperies are a little
too full of detail in the carving.
This work induced the Abbot and Monks of the
Badia of Florence, in which place the said tomb was
erected, to entrust Mino with the making of one for
Count Ugo, son of the Marquis Uberto of Magdeburg,
who bequeathed great wealth and many privileges to
that abbey. And so, desiring to honor him as much as
they could, they caused Mino to make a tomb of
Carrara marble, which was the most beautiful work
that Mino ever made; for in it there are some boys,
upholding the arms of that Count, who are standing
in very spirited attitudes, with a childish grace;
and besides the figure of the dead Count, with his
likeness, which he made on the sarcophagus, in the
middle of the wall above the bier there is a figure
of Charity, with certain children, wrought with much
diligence and very well in harmony with the whole.
The same is seen in a Madonna with the Child in her
arms, in a lunette, which Mino made as much like the
manner of Desiderio as he could ; and if he had
assisted his methods of work by studying from the
life, there is no doubt that he would have made very
great progress in his art. This tomb, with all its
expenses, cost 1,600 lire, and he finished it in
1481, thereby acquiring much honor, and obtaining a
commission to make a tomb for Lionardo Salutati,
Bishop of Fiesole, in the Vescovado of that place,
in a chapel near the principal chapel, on the right
hand as one goes up; on which tomb he portrayed him
in his episcopal robes, as lifelike as possible. For
the same Bishop he made a head of Christ in marble,
life-size and very well wrought, which was left
among other bequests to the Hospital of the
Innocenti; and at the present day the Very Reverend
Don Vincenzio Borghini, Prior of that hospital,
holds it among his most precious examples of these
arts, in which he takes a delight beyond my power to
express in words.
In the Pieve of Prato Mino made a pulpit entirely
of marble, in which there are stories of Our Lady,
executed with much diligence and put together so
well, that the work appears all of one piece. This
pulpit stands over one corner of the choir, almost
in the middle of the church, above certain ornaments
made under the direction of the same Mino. He also
made portraits of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici and
his wife, marvellously lifelike and true to nature.
These two heads stood for many years over two doors
in Piero' s apartment in the house of the Medici,
each in a lunette; afterwards they were removed,
with the portraits of many other illustrious men of
that house, to the guardaroba of the Lord Duke
Cosimo. Mino also made a Madonna hi marble, which is
now in the Audience Chamber of the Guild of the
Masters in Wood and Stone; and to Perugia, for
Messer Baglione Ribi, he sent a marble panel, which
was placed in the Chapel of the Sacrament in S.
Pietro, the work being in the form of a tabernacle,
with S. John on one side and S. Jerome on the other
good figures in half relief. The Tabernacle of the
Sacrament in the Duomo of Volterra is likewise by
his hand, with the two angels standing one on either
side of it, so well and so diligently executed that
this work is deservedly praised by all craftsmen.
Finally, attempting one day to move certain
stones, and not having the needful assistance at
hand, Mino fatigued himself so greatly that he was
seized by pleurisy and died of it; and he was
honorably buried by his friends and relatives in the
Canon's house at Fiesole in the year 1486. The
portrait of Mino is in our book of drawings, but I
do not know by whose hand; it was given to me
together with some drawings made with blacklead by
Mino himself, which have no little beauty.
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LORENZO COSTA (circa 1460-1535)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ALTHOUGH MEN HAVE EVER practiced the arts of
design more in Tuscany than in any other province of
Italy, and perhaps of Europe, yet it is none the
less true that in every age there has arisen in the
other provinces some genius who has proved himself
rare and excellent in the same professions, as has
been shown up to the present in many of the Lives,
and will be demonstrated even more in those that are
to follow. It is true, indeed, that where there are
no studies, and where men are not disposed by custom
to learn, they are not able to advance so rapidly or
to become so excellent as they do in those places
where craftsmen are forever practicing and studying
in competition. But as soon as one or two make a
beginning, it seems always to come to pass that many
others--such is the fore of excellence--strive to
follow them, with honor both for themselves and for
their countries.
Lorenzo Costa of Ferrara, being inclined by
nature to the art of painting, and hearing that Fra
Filippo, Benozzo, and others were celebrated and
highly esteemed in Tuscany, betook himself to
Florence in order to study their works; and on his
arrival, finding that their manner pleased him
greatly, he stayed there many months, striving to
imitate them to the best of his power, particularly
in drawing from nature. In this he succeeded so
happily, that, after returning to his own country,
although his manner was a little dry and hard, he
made many praise-worthy works there; as may be seen
from the choir of the Church of San Domenico in
Ferrara, wrought entirely by his hand, from which it
is evident that he used great diligence in his art
and put much labor into his works. In the guardaroba
of the Lord Duke of Ferrara there are seen portraits
from life in many pictures by his hand, which are
very well wrought and very lifelike. In the houses
of noblemen, likewise, there are works by his hand
which are held in great veneration.
In the Church of San Domenico at Ravenna, in the
Chapel of San Sebastiano, he painted the panel in
oil and certain scenes in fresco, which were much
extolled. Being next summoned to Bologna, he painted
a panel in the Chapel of the Mariscotti in San
Petronio, representing St. Sebastian bound to the
column and pierced with arrows, with many other
figures, which was the best work in distemper that
had been made up to that time in the city. By his
hand, also, was the panel of St. Jerome in the
Chapel of the Castelli, and likewise that of St.
Vincent, wrought in like manner in distemper, which
is in the Chapel of the riffoni; the predella of
this he caused to be painted by a pupil of his, who
acquitted himself much better than the master did in
the panel, as will be told in the proper place. In
the same city, and in the same church, Lorenzo
painted a panel for the Chapel of the Rossi, with
Our Lady, St. James, St. George, St. Sebastian, and
St. Jerome; which work is better and sweeter in
manner than any other that he ever made.
Afterwards, having entered the service of Signor
Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Lorenzo
painted many scenes for him, partly in gouache and
partly in oil, in an apartment in the Palace of San
Sebastiano. In one is the Marchioness Isabella,
portrayed from life, accompanied by many ladies who
are singing various parts and making a sweet
harmony. In another is the Goddess Latona, who is
transforming certain peasants nto frogs, according
to the fable. In the third is the Marquis Francesco,
led by Hercules along the path of virtue upon the
summit of a mountain consecrated in Eternity. In
another picture the same Marquis is seen triumphant
on a pedestal, with a staff in his hand; and round
him are many nobles and retainers with standards in
their hands, all rejoicing and full of jubilation at
his greatness, among whom there is an infinite
number of portraits from the life. And in the great
hall, where the triumphal processions by the hand of
Mantegna now are, he painted two pictures, one at
each end. In the first, which is in gouache, are
many naked figures lighting fires and making
sacrifices to Hercules; and in this is a portrait
from life of the Marquis, with his three sons,
Federigo, Ercole, and Ferrante, who afterwards
became very great and very illustrious lords; and
there are likewise some portraits of great ladies.
In the other, which was painted in oil many years
after the first, and which was one of the last works
that Lorenzo executed, is the Marquis Federigo,
grown to mans estate, with a staff in his hand, as
General of Holy Church under Leo X; and round him
are many lords portrayed by Costa from life.
In Bologna, in the Palace of Messer Giovanni
Bentivogli, the same man painted certain rooms in
competition with many other masters; but of these,
since they were thrown to the ground in the d
estruction of that palace, no further mention will
be made. But I will not forbear to say that, of the
works that he executed for the Bentivogli, only one
remained standing--namely, the chapel that he
painted for Messer Giovannin in San Jacopo, wherein
he wrought two scenes of triumphal processions,
which are held very beautiful, with many portraits.
In the year 1497, also, for Jacopo Chedini, he
painted a panel for the chapel in San Giovanni in
Monte, in which he wished to be buried after death;
in this he made a Madonna, St. John the Evangelist,
St. Augustine, and other saints. On a panel in San
Francesco he painted a Nativity, St. James, and St.
Anthony of Padua. In San Pietro he made a most
beautiful beginning in a chapel for Domenico
Garganelli, a gentleman of Bologna; but, whatever
may have been the reason, after making some figures
on the ceiling, he left it unfinished, nay, scarcely
begun.
In Mantua, besides the works that he executed
there for the Marquis, of which we have spoken
above, he painted a Madonna on a panel for San
Silvestro; and on one side, St. Sylvester
recommending the people of that city to her, and, on
the other, St. Sebastian, St. Paul, St. Elizabeth,
and St. Jerome. It is reported that the said panel
was placed in that church after the death of Costa,
who, having finished his life in Mantua, in which
city his descendants have lived ever since, wished
to have a burial-place in that church both for
himself and for his successors.
The same man made many other pictures, of which
nothing more will be said, for it is enough to have
recorded the best. His portrait I received in Mantua
from Fermo Ghisoni, an excellent painter, who
assured me that it was by the hand of Costa, who was
a passing good draughtsman, as may be seen from a
pen drawing on a parchment in our book, wherein is
the Judgment of Solomon, with a St. Jerome in
chiaroscuro, which are both very well wrought.
Disciples of Lorenzo were Ercole da Ferrara, his
compatriot, whose Life will be written below, and
Lodovico Malino, likewise of Ferrara, by whom there
are many works in his native city and in other
laces; but the best that he made was a panel which
is in the Church of San Francesco in Bologna, in a
chapel near the principal door, representing Jesus
Christ at the the age of twelve disputing with the
Doctors in the Temple. The elder Dosso of Ferrara,
of whose works mention will be made in the proper
place, also learnt his first principles from Costa.
And this is as much as I have been able to gather
about the life and works of Lorenzo Costa of
Ferrara.
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ERCOLE ROBERTI/Ercole Ferrarese (1456-1496)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ALTHOUGH, long before Lorenzo Costa died, his
disciple Ercole Ferrarese was in very good repute
and was invited to work in many places, he would
never abandon his master (a thing which is rarely
wont to happen), and was content to work with him
for meager gains and praise, rather than labor by
himself for greater profit and credit. For this
gratitude, in view of its rarity among the men of
today, all the more praise is due to Ercole, who,
knowing himself to be indebted to Lorenzo, put aside
all thought of his own interest in favor of his
master's wishes, and was like a brother or a son to
him up to the end of his life. Ercole, then, who was
a better draughtsman than Costa, painted, below the
panel executed by Lorenzo in the Chapel of San
Vincenzio in San Petronio, certain scenes in tempera
with little figures, so well and with so beautiful
and good a manner, that it is scarcely possible to
see anything better, or to imagine the labor and
diligence that Ercole put into the work; and thus
the predella is a much better painting than the
panel. Both were wrought at one and the same time
during the life of Costa.
After his master's death, Ercole was employed by
Domenico Garganelli to finish that chapel in San
Petronio which Lorenzo, as has been said above, had
begun, completing only a small part. Ercole, to whom
the said Domenico was giving four ducats a month for
this, with his own expenses and those of a boy, and
all the colors that were to be used for the
painting, set himself to work and finished the whole
in such a manner, that he surpassed his master by a
long way both in drawing and coloring as well as in
invention. In the first part, or rather, wall, is
the Crucifixion of Christ, wrought with much
judgment: for besides the Christ, who is seen there
already dead, he represented very well the tumult of
the Jews who have come to see the Messiah on the
Cross, among whom there is a marvelous variety of
heads, whereby it is seen that Ercole sought with
very great pains to make them so different one from
another that they should not resemble each other in
any respect.
There are also some figures bursting into tears
of sorrow, which demonstrate clearly enough how much
he sought to imitate reality. There is the swooning
of the Madonna, which is most moving; but much more
so are the Maries, who are facing her, for they are
seen full of compassion and with an aspect so heavy
with sorrow, that it is almost impossible to imagine
it, at seeing that which mankind holds most dear
dead before their eyes, and themselves in danger of
losing the second. Among other notable things in
this work is Longinus on horseback, riding a lean
beast, which is foreshortened and in very strong
relief; and in him we see the impiety that made him
pierce the side of Christ, and the penitence and
conversion that followed from his enlightenment. He
gave strange attitudes, likewise, to the figures of
certain soldiers who are playing for the raiment of
Christ, with bizarre expressions of countenance and
fanciful garments. Well wrought, too, with beautiful
invention, are the Thieves on the Cross. And since
Ercole took much delight in making foreshortenings,
which, if well conceived, are very beautiful, he
made in that work a soldier on a horse, which,
rearing its forelegs on high, stands out in such a
manner that it appears to be in relief; and as the
wind is bending a banner that the soldier holds in
his hand, he is making a most beautiful effort to
hold it up. He also made a S. John, flying away
wrapped in a sheet. In like manner, the soldiers
that are in this work are very well wrought, with
more natural and appropriate movements than had been
seen in any other figures up to that time; and all
these attitudes and gestures, which could scarcely
be better done, show that Ercole had a very great
intelligence and took great pains with his art.
On the wall opposite to this one the same man
painted the Passing of Our Lady, who is surrounded
by the Apostles in very beautiful attitudes, among
whom are six figures portrayed so well from life,
that those who knew them declare that these are most
vivid likenesses. In the same work he also made his
own portrait, and that of Domenico Garganelli, the
owner of the chapel, who, when it was finished,
moved by the love that he bore to Ercole and by the
praises that he heard given to the work, bestowed
upon him a thousand lire in Bolognese currency. It
is said that Ercole spent twelve years in laboring
at this work; seven in executing it in fresco, and
five in retouching it on the dry. It is true,
indeed, that during this time he painted some other
works; and in particular, so far as is known, the
predella of the high altar of San Giovanni in Monte,
in which he wrought three scenes of the Passion of
Christ.
Ercole was eccentric in character, particularly
in his custom of refusing to let any man, whether
painter or not, see him at work; wherefore he was
greatly hated in Bologna by the painters of that
city, who have ever borne an envious hatred to the
strangers who have been summoned to work there; nay,
they sometimes show the same among themselves out of
rivalry with each other, although this may be said
to be the particular vice of the professors of these
our arts in every place. Certain Bolognese painters,
then, having come to an agreement one day with a
carpenter, shut themselves up by his help in the
church, close to the chapel where Ercole was
working; and when night came, breaking into it by
force, they did not content themselves with seeing
the work, which should have sufficed them, but
carried off all his cartoons, sketches, and designs,
and every other thing of value that was there. At
this Ercole fell into such disdain that when the
work was finished he departed Bologna, without
stopping another day there, taking with him Duca
Tagliapietra, a sculptor of much renown , who carved
the very beautiful foliage in marble which is in the
parapet in front of the chapel wherein Ercole
painted the said work, and who afterwards made all
the stone windows of the Ducal Palace at Ferrara,
which are most beautiful. Ercole, therefore , weary
at length of living away from home, remained ever
after in company with this man in Ferrara, and made
many works in that city.
Ercole had an extraordinary love of wine, and his
frequent drunkenness did much to shorten his life,
which he had enjoyed without any accident up to the
age of forty, when he was smitten one day by
apoplexy, which made an end of him in a short time.
He left a pupil, the painter Guido Bolognese, who,
in 1491, as may be seen from the place where he put
his name, under the portico of San Pietro at
Bologna, painted a Crucifixion in fresco, with the
Maries, the Thieves, horses, and other passing good
figures. And desiring very greatly to become
esteemed in that city, as his master had been, he
studied so zealously and subjected himself to so
many hardships that he died at the age of
thirty-five. If Guido had set himself to learn his
art in his childhood, and not, as he did, at the age
of eighteen, he would not only have equaled his
master without difficulty, but would even have
surpassed him by a great measure. In our book there
are drawings by the hands of Ercole and Guido, very
well wrought, and executed with grace and in a good
manner.
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JACOPO (c. 1400-c. 1461),
GIOVANNI (c. 1428-1516),
and GENTILE BELLINI (c.1426-1507) of Venice
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ENTERPRISES that are founded on excellence,
although their beginnings often appear humble and
mean, keep climbing higher step by step, nor do they
ever halt or take rest until they have reached the
supreme heights of glory: as could be clearly seen
from the poor and humble beginning of the house of
the Bellini, and from the rank to which it
afterwards rose by means of painting. Jacopo
Bellini, a painter of Venice, having been a disciple
of Gentile da Fabriano, worked in competition with
that Domenico who taught the method of coloring in
oil to Andrea dal Castagno; but, although he labored
greatly to become excellent in that art, he did not
acquire fame therein until after the departure of
Domenico [Domenico Veneziano] from Venice. Then,
finding himself in that city without any competitor
to equal him, he kept growing in credit and fame,
and became so excellent that he was the greatest and
most renowned man in his profession. And to the end
that the name which he had acquired in painting
might not only be maintained in his house and for
his descendants, but might grow greater, there were
born to him two sons of good and beautiful
intelligence, strongly inclined to the art: one was
Giovanni, and the other Gentile, to whom he gave
that name in tender memory of Gentile da Fabriano,
who had been his master and like a loving father to
him. Now, when the said two sons had grown to a
certain age, Jacopo himself with all diligence
taught them the rudiments of drawing; but no long
time passed before both one and the other surpassed
his father by a great measure, whereat he rejoiced
greatly, ever encouraging them and showing them that
he desired them to do as the Tuscans did, who
gloried among themselves in making efforts to
outstrip each other, according as one after another
took up the art: even so should Giovanni vanquish
himself, and Gentile should vanquish them both, and
so on in succession.
The first works that brought fame to Jacopo were
the portraits of Giorgio Cornaro and of Caterina,
Queen of Cyprus; a panel which he sent to Verona,
containing the Passion of Christ, with many figures,
among which he portrayed himself from the life; and
a picture of the Story of the Cross, which is said
to be in the Scuola of San Giovanni Evangelista. All
these works and many others were painted by Jacopo
with the aid of his sons; and the last-named picture
was painted on canvas, as it has been almost always
the custom to do in that city, where they rarely
paint, as is done elsewhere, on panels of the wood
of that tree that is called by many oppio and by
some gattice. This wood, which grows mostly beside
rivers or other waters, is very soft, and admirable
for painting on, for it holds very firmly when
joined together with carpenters' glue. But in Venice
they make no panels, and, if they do make a few,
they use no other wood than that of the fir, of
which that city has a great abundance by reason of
the River Adige, which brings a very great quantity
of it from Germany, not to mention that no small
amount comes from Sclavonia. It is much the custom
in Venice, then, to paint on canvas, either because
it does not split and does not grow worm-eaten, or
because it enables pictures to be made of any size
that is desired, or because, as was said elsewhere,
they can be sent easily and conveniently wherever
they are wanted, with very little expense and labor.
Be the reason what it may, Jacopo and Gentile, as
was said above, made their first works on canvas.
To the last-named Story of the Cross Gentile
afterwards added by himself seven other pictures, or
rather, eight, inwhich he painted the miracle of the
Cross of Christ, which the said Scuola preserves as
a relic; which miracle was as follows. The said
Cross was thrown, I know not by what chance, from
the Ponte della Paglia into the Canal, and, by
reason of the reverence that many bore to the piece
of the Cross of Christ that it contained, they threw
themselves into the water to recover it; but it was
the will of God that no one should be worthy to
succeed in grasping it save the Prior of that
Scuola. Gentile, therefore,representing this story,
drew in perspective, along the Grand Canal,
manyhouses, the Ponte della Paglia, the Piazza di
San Marco, and a long procession of men and women
walking behind the clergy; also many who have leapt
into the water, others in the act of leaping, many
half immersed, and others in other very beautiful
actions and attitudes; and finally he painted the
said Prior recovering the Cross. Truly great were
the labor and diligence of Gentile in this work,
considering the infinite number of people, the many
portraits from life, the diminution of the figures
in the distance, and particularly the portraits of
almost all the men who then belonged to that Scuola,
or rather, Confraternity. Last comes the picture of
the replacing of the said Cross, wrought with many
beautiful conceptions. All these scenes, painted on
the aforesaid canvases, acquired a very great name
for Gentile.
Afterwards, Jacopo withdrew to work entirely by
himself, as did his two sons, each of them devoting
himself to his own studies in the art. Of Jacopo I
will make no further mention, seeing that his works
were nothing out of the ordinary in comparison with
those of his sons, and because he died not long
after his sons withdrew themselves from him; and I
judge it much better to speak at some length only of
Giovanni and Gentile. I will not, indeed, forbear to
say that although these brothers retired to live
each by himself, nevertheless they had so much
respect for each other, and both had such reverence
for their father, that each, extolling the other,
ever held himself inferior in merit; and thus they
sought modestly to surpass one another no less in
goodness and courtesy than in the excellence of
their art.
The first works of Giovanni were some portraits
from the life, which gave much satisfaction, and
particularly that of Doge Loredano, although some
say that this was a portrait of Giovanni Mozzenigo,
brother of that Piero who was Doge many years before
Loredano. Giovanni then painted a panel for the
altar of Santa Caterina da Siena in the Church of
San Giovanni, in which picture,a rather large one,
he painted Our Lady seated, with the Child in her
arms, and St. Dominic, St. Jerome, St. Catherine,
St. Ursula, and two other Virgins; and at the feet
of the Madonna he made three boys standing, who are
singing from a book, a very beautiful group. Above
this he made the inner part of a vault in a
building, which is very beautiful. This work was one
of the best that had been made in Venice up to that
time. For the altar of San Giobbe in the Church of
that Saint, the same man painted a panel with good
design and most beautiful coloring, in the middle of
which he made the Madonna with the Child in her
arms, seated on a throne slightly raised from the
ground, with nude figures of St. Job and St.
Sebastian, beside whom are St. Dominic, St. Francis,
St. John, and St. Augustine; and below are three
boys, sounding instruments with much grace. This
picture was not only praised then, when it was seen
as new, but it has likewise been extolled ever
afterwards as a very beautiful work.
Certain noblemen, moved by the great praises won
by these works, began to suggest that it would be a
fine thing, in view of the presence of such rare
masters, to have the Hall of the Great Council
adorned with stories , in which there should be
depicted the glories and the magnificence of their
marvelous city,her great deeds, her exploits in war,
her enter prises, and other things of that kind,
worthy to be perpetuated by painting. in the memory
of those who should come after,to the end that there
might be added, to the profit and pleasure drawn
from the reading of history, entertainment both for
the eye and for the intellect, from seeing the
images of so many illustrious lords wrought by the
most skillful hands, and the glorious works of so
many noblemen right worthy of eternal memory and
fame. And so Giovanni and Gentile, who kept on
making progress from day to day, received the
commission for this work by order of those who
governed the city, who commanded them to make a
beginning as soon as possible. But it must be
remarked that Antonio Viniziano had made a beginning
long before with the painting of the same Hall, as
was said in his Life, and had already finished a
large scene, when he was forced by the envy of
certain malignant spirits to depart and to leave
that most honorable enterprise without carrying it
on further.
Now Gentile, either because he had more
experience and greater skill in painting on canvas
than in fresco, or for some other reason, whatever
it may have been, contrived without difficulty to
obtain leave to execute that work not in fresco but
on canvas. And thus, setting to work, in the first
scene he made the Pope presenting a wax candle to
the Doge, that he might bear it in the solemn
processions which were to take place; in which
picture Gentile painted the whole exterior of San
Marco, and made the said Pope standing in his
pontifical robes, with many prelates behind him, and
the Doge likewise standing, accompanied by many
Senators. In another part he represented the Emperor
Barbarossa; first, when he is receiving the Venetian
envoys in friendly fashion, and then, when he is
preparing for war, in great disdain; in which scene
are very beautiful perspectives, with innumerable
able portraits from the life, executed with very
good grace and amid a vast number of figures. In the
following scene he painted the Pope exhorting the
Doge and the Signori of Venice to equip thirty
galleys at their common expense, to go out to battle
against Frederick Barbarossa. This Pope is seated in
his rochet on the pontifical chair, with the Doge
beside him and many Senators at his feet. In this
part, also, Gentile painted the Piazza and the
facade of San Marco, and the sea, but in another
manner, with so great a multitude of men that it is
truly a marvel. Then in another part the same Pope,
standing in his pontifical robes, is giving his
benediction to the Doge, who appears to be setting
out for the fray, armed, and with many soldiers at
his back; behind the Doge are seen innumerable
noblemen in a long procession, and in the same part
are the Palace and San Marco, drawn in perspective.
This is one of the best works that there are to
be seen by the hand of Gentile, although there
appears to be more invention in that other which
represents a naval battle, because it contains an
infinite number of galleys fighting together and an
incredible multitude of men, and because, in short,
he showed clearly therein that he had no less
knowledge of naval warfare than of his own art of
painting. And indeed, all that Gentile executed in
this work,the crowd of galleys engaged in battle;
the soldiers fighting; the boats duly diminishing in
perspective; the finely ordered combat; the soldiers
furiously striving, defending, and striking; the
wounded dying in various manners; the cleaving of
the water by the galleys; the confusion of the
waves; and all the kinds of naval armament; all this
vast diversity of subjects, I say, cannot but serve
to prove the great spirit, art, invention, and
judgment of Gentile, each detail being most
excellently wrought in itself, as well as the
composition of the whole. In another scene he made
the Doge returning with the victory so much desired,
and the Pope receiving him with open arms, and
giving him a ring of gold wherewith to espouse the
sea, as his successors have done and still do every
year, as a sign of the true and perpetual dominion
that they deservedly hold over it. In this part
there is Otto, son of Frederick Barbarossa,
portrayed from the life, and kneeling before the
Pope; and as behind the Doge there are many armed
soldiers, so behind the Pope there are many
Cardinals and noblemen. In this scene only the poops
of the galleys appear; and on the Admiral's galley
is seated a Victory painted to look like gold, with
a crown on her head and a scepter in her hand.
The scenes that were to occupy the other parts of
the Hall were entrusted to Giovanni, the brother of
Gentile; but since the order of the stories that he
painted there is connected with those executed in
great part, but not finished, by Vivarino, it is
necessary to say something of the latter. That part
of the Hall which was not done by Gentile was given
partly to Giovanni and partly to the said Vivarino,
to the end that rivalry might induce each man to do
his best. Vivarino, then, putting his hand to the
part that belonged to him, painted, beside the last
scene of Gentile, the aforesaid Otto offering to the
Pope and to the Venetians to go to conclude peace
between them and his father Frederick; and, having
obtained this, he is dismissed on oath and goes his
way. In this first part, besides other things, which
are all worthy of consideration, Vivarino painted an
open temple in beautiful perspective, with steps and
many figures. Before the Pope, who is seated and
surrounded by many Senators, is the said Otto on his
knees, binding himself by an oath. Beside this
scene, he painted the arrival of Otto before his
father, who is receiving him gladly; with buildings
wrought most beautifully in per perspective,
Barbarossa on his throne, and his son kneeling and
taking his hand, accompanied by many Venetian
noblemen, who are portrayed from the life so finely
that it is clear that he imitated nature very well.
Poor Vivarino would have completed the remainder of
his part with great honor to himself, but, having
died, as it pleased God, from exhaustion and through
being of a weakly habit of body, he carried it no
further, nay, even what he had done was not wholly
finished, and it was necessary for Giovanni Bellini
to retouch it in certain places.
Meanwhile, Giovanni had also made a beginning
with four scenes, which follow in due order those
mentioned above. In the first he painted the said
Pope in San Marco,which church he portrayed exactly
as it stood,presenting his foot to Frederick
Barbarossa to kiss; but this first picture of
Giovanni's , whatever may have been the reason , was
rendered much more lifelike and incomparably better
by the most excel lent Tiziano. However, continuing
his scenes, Giovanni made in the next the Pope
saying Mass in San Marco, and afterwards, between
the said Emperor and the Doge, granting plenary and
perpetual indulgence to all who should visit the
said Church of San Marco at certain times,
particularly at that of the Ascension of Our Lord.
There he depicted the interior of that church, with
the said Pope in his pontifical robes at the head of
the steps that issue from the choir, surrounded by
many Cardinals and noblemen,a vast group, which
makes this a crowded, rich, and beautiful scene. In
the one below this the Pope is seen in his rochet,
presenting a canopy to the Doge, after having given
another to the Emperor and keeping two for himself.
In the last that Giovanni painted are seen Pope
Alexander, the Emperor, and the Doge arriving in
Rome, without the gates of which the Pope is
presented by the clergy and by the people of Rome
with eight standards of various colors and eight
silver trumpets, which he gives to the Doge, that he
and his successors may have them for insignia. Here
Giovanni painted Rome in somewhat distant
perspective, a great number of horses, and an
infinity of foot soldiers, with many banners and
other signs of rejoicing on the Castle of SantU
Angelo. And since these works of Giovanni, which are
truly very beautiful, gave infinite satisfaction,
arrangements were just being made to give him the
commission to paint all the rest of that Hall, when,
being now old, he died.
Up to the present we have spoken of nothing save
the Hall, in order not to interrupt the sequence of
the scenes; but now we must turn back a little and
say that there are many other works to be seen by
the hand of the same man. One is a panel which is
now on the high altar of San Domenico in Pesaro. In
the Church of San Zaccheria in Venice, in the Chapel
of San Girolamo, there is a panel of Our Lady and
many saints, executed with great diligence, with a
building painted with much judgment ; and in the
same city, in the Sacristy of the Friars Minor,
called the "Ca Grande," there is another by the same
man's hand, wrought with beautiful design and a good
manner. There is likewise one in San Michele di
Murano, a monastery of Monks of Camaldoli; and in
the old Church of San Francesco della Vigna, a seat
of the Frati del Zoccolo, there was a picture of a
Dead Christ, so beautiful that it was highly
extolled before Louis XI, King of France, whereupon
he demanded it from its owners with great
insistence, so that they were forced, although very
unwillingly, to gratify his wish. In its place there
was put another with the name of The same Giovanni,
but not so beautiful or so well executed as the
first; and some believe that this substitute was
wrought for the most part by Girolamo Moretto, a
pupil of Giovanni. The Confraternity of San Girolamo
also possesses a work with little figures by the
same Bellini, which is much extolled. And in the
house of Messer Giorgio Cornaro there is a picture,
likewise very beautiful, containing Christ,
Cleophas, and Luke.
In the aforesaid Hall he also painted, though not
at the same time, a scene of the Venetians summoning
forth from the Monastery of the Carita a Pope--I
know not which--who, having fled to Venice, had
secretly served for a long time as cook to the monks
of that monastery; in which scene there are many
portraits from the life, and other very beautiful
figures. No long time after, certain portraits were
taken to Turkey by an ambassador as presents for the
Grand Turk, which caused such astonish and marvel to
that Emperor, that, although pictures are forbidden
among that people by the Mahometan law, nevertheless
he accepted them with great good-will, praising the
art and the craftsman without ceasing; and what is
more, he demanded that the master of the work should
be sent to him. Whereupon the Senate, considering
that Giovanni had reached an age when he could ill
endure hardships, not to mention that they did not
wish to deprive their own city of so great a man,
particularly because he was then engaged on the
aforesaid Hall of the Great Council, determined to
send his brother Gentile, believing that he would do
as well as Giovanni.
Therefore, having caused Gentile to make his
preparations, they brought him safely in their own
galleys to Constantinople, where, after being
presented by the Commissioner of the Signoria to
Mahomet, he was received very willingly and treated
with much favor as something new, above all after he
had given that Prince a most lovely picture, which
he greatly admired, being well-nigh unable to
believe that a mortal man had within himself so much
divinity, so to speak, as to be able to represent
the objects of nature so vividly. Gentile had been
there no long time when he portrayed the Emperor
Mahomet from the life so well, that it was held a
miracle. That Emperor, after having seen many
specimens of his art, asked Gentile whether he had
the courage to paint his own portrait; and Gentile,
having answered "Yes," did not allow many days to
pass before he had made his own portrait with a
mirror, with such resemblance that it appeared
alive.
This he brought to the Sultan, who marveled so
greatly thereat, that he could not but think that he
had some divine spirit within him; and if it had not
been that the exercise of this art, as has been
said, is forbidden by law among the Turks, that
Emperor would never have allowed Gentile to go. But
either in fear of murmurings, or for some other
reason, one day he summoned him to his presence, and
after first causing him to be thanked for the
courtesy that he had shown, and then praising him in
marvelous fashion as a man of the greatest
excellence, he bade him demand whatever favor he
wished, for it would be granted to him with out
fail. Gentile, like the modest and upright man that
he was, asked for nothing save a letter of
recommendation to the most Serene Senate and the
most Illustrious Signoria of Venice, his native
city. This was written in the warmest possible
terms, and afterwards he was dismissed with
honorable gifts and with the dignity of Chevalier.
Among other things given to him at parting by that
Sovereign, in addition to many privileges, there was
placed round his neck a chain wrought in the Turkish
manner, equal in weight to 250 gold crowns, which is
still in the hands of his heirs in Venice.
Departing from Constantinople, Gentile returned
after a most prosperous voyage to Venice, where he
was received with gladness by his brother Giovanni
and by almost the whole city, all men rejoicing at
the honors paid to his talent by Mahomet.
Afterwards, on going to make his reverence to the
Doge and the Signoria, he was received very warmly,
and commended for having given great satisfaction to
that Emperor according to their desire. And to the
end that he might see in what great account they
held the letters in which that Prince had
recommended mended him, they decreed him a provision
of 200 crowns a year, which was paid to him for the
rest of his life. Gentile made but few works after
his return; finally, having almost reached the age
of eighty, and having executed the aforesaid works
and many others, he passed to the other life, and
was given honorable burial by his brother Giovanni
in San Giovanni e Paolo, in the year 1501.
Giovanni, thus bereft of Gentile, whom he had
ever loved most tenderly, went on doing a little
work, although he was old, to pass the time. And
having devoted himself to making portraits from the
life, he introduced into Venice the fashion that
everyone of a certain rank should have his portrait
painted either by him or by some other master;
wherefore in all the houses of Venice there are many
portraits, and in many gentlemen's houses one may
see their fathers and grandfathers, up to the fourth
generation, and in some of the more noble they go
still farther back,a fashion which has ever been
truly worthy of the greatest praise, and existed
even among the ancients. Who does not feel infinite
pleasure and contentment, to say nothing of the
honor and adornment that they confer, at seeing the
images of his ancestors, particularly if they have
been famous and illustrious for their part in
governing their republics, for noble deeds performed
in peace or in war, or for learning or any other
notable and distinguished talent? And to what other
end, as has been said in another place, did the
ancients set up images of their great men in public
places, with honorable inscriptions, than to kindle
in the minds of their successors a love of
excellence and of glory?
For Messer Pietro Bembo, then, before he went to
live with Pope Leo X, Giovanni made a portrait of
the lady that he loved, so lifelike that, even as
Simone Sanese had been celebrated in the past by the
Florentine Petrarca, so was Giovanni deservedly
celebrated in his verses by this Venetian, as in the
following sonnet:
O imagine mia celeste e pura,
where, at the beginning of the second quatrain,
he says,
Credo che'1 mio Bellin con la figura,
with what follows. And what greater reward can
our craftsmen desire for their labors than that of
being celebrated by the pens of illustrious poets,
as that most excellent Tiziano has been by the very
learned Messer Giovanni della Casa, in that sonnet
which begins-
Ben veggio, Tiziano, in forme nuove,
and in that other-
Son queste, Amor, le vaghe treccie bionde.
But to return to the works of Giovanni,that is,
to his principal works, for it would take too long
to try to make mention of all the pictures and
portraits that are in the houses of gentlemen in
Venice and in other parts of that country. In
Rimini, for Signor Sigismondo Malatesta, he made a
large picture containing a Pieta, supported by two
little boys, which is now in S. Francesco in that
city. And among other portraits he made one of
Bartolommeo da Liviano, Captain of the Venetians.
Giovanni had many disciples, for he was ever most
willing to teach anyone. Among them, now sixty years
ago, was Jacopo da Montagna, who imitated his manner
closely, in so far as is shown by his works, which
are to be seen in Padua and in Venice. But the man
who imitated him most faithfully and did him the
greatest honor was Rondinello da Ravenna, of whom
Giovanni availed himself much in all his works. This
master painted a panel in San Domenico at Ravenna,
and another in the Duomo, which is held a very
beautiful example of that manner. But the work that
surpassed all his others was that which he made in
the Church of San Giovanni Battista, a seat of the
Carmelite Friars, in the same city; in which
picture, besides Our Lady, he made a very beautiful
head in a figure of San Alberto, a friar of that
Order, and the whole figure is much extolled. A
pupil of Giovanni's, also, although he gained but
little thereby, was Benedetto Coda of Ferrara, who
dwelt in Rimini, where he made many pictures,
leaving behind him a son named Bartolommeo, who did
the same. It is said that Giorgione da
Castelfranco,/b> also pursued his first studies of
art under Giovanni, and likewise many others, both
from the territory of Treviso and from Lombardy, of
whom there is no need to make record.
Finally, having lived ninety years, Giovanni
passed from this life, overcome by old age, leaving
an eternal memorial of his name in the works that he
had made both in his native city of Venice and
abroad; and he was honorably buried in the same
church and in the same tomb in which he had laid his
brother Gentile to rest. Nor were there wanting in
Venice men who sought to honor him when dead with
sonnets and epigrams, even as he, when alive, had
honored both himself and his country. About the same
time that these Bellini were alive, or a little
before, many pictures were painted in Venice by
Giacomo Marzone, who, among other things, painted
one in the Chapel of the Assumption in Santa Lena,
namely, the Virgin with a palm, St. Benedict, St.
Helen, and St. John; but in the old manner , with
the figures on tip-toe, as was the custom of those
painters who lived in the time of Bartolommeo da
Bergamo.
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COSIMO ROSSELLI (1439-1507)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
MANY men take an unholy delight in covering
others with ridicule and scorn,a delight which
generally turns to their own confusion, as it came
to pass in the case of Cosimo Rosselli, who threw
back on their own heads the ridicule of those who
sought to vilify his labors. This Cosimo, although
he was not one of the rarest or most excellent
painters of his time, nevertheless made works that
were passing good. In his youth he painted a panel
in the Church of S. Ambrogio in Florence , which is
on the right hand as one enters the church; and
three figures over an arch for the Nuns of S. Jacopo
delle Murate. In the Church of' the Servi, also in
Florence, he painted the panel of the Chapel of S.
Barbara; and in the first court, before one enters
into the church, he wrought in fresco the story of
the Blessed Filippo taking the Habit of Our Lady.
For the Monks of Cestello he painted the panel of
their high altar, with another in a chapel in the
same church; and likewise that one which is in a
little church above the Bernardino, beside the
entrance to Cestello. He painted a standard for the
children of the Company of the said Bernardino, and
likewise that of the Company of S. Giorgio, on which
there is an Annunciation.
For the aforesaid Nuns of S. Ambrogio he painted
the Chapel of the Miracle of the Sacrament, which is
a passing good work, and is held the best of his in
Florence; in this he counterfeited a procession on
the piazza of that church, with the Bishop bearing
the Tabernacle of the said Miracle, accompanied by
the clergy and by an infinity of citizens and women
in costumes of those times. Here, among many others,
is a portrait from life of Pico della Mirandola, so
excellently wrought that it appears not a portrait
but a living man. In the Church of San Martino in
Lucca, by the entrance into the church through the
lesser door of the principal facade, on the right
hand, he painted a scene of Nicodemus making the
statue of the Holy Cross, and then that statue being
brought by sea in a boat and by land to Lucca. In
this work are many portraits, and in particular that
of Paolo Guinigi, which he copied from one done in
clay by Jacopo della Fonte[Jacopo della Quercia]
when the latter made the tomb of Paolo's wife. In
San Marco at Florence, in the Chapel of the Cloth
Weavers, he painted a panel with the Holy Cross in
the middle, and, at the sides, St. Mark, St. John
the Evangelist, St. Antonino, Archbishop of
Florence, and other figures.
Being afterwards summoned, with the other
painters, to execute the work that Pope Sixtus IV
had undertaken in the Chapel of the Palace, he
labored there in company with Sandro Botticelli,
Domenico Ghirlandaio , the Abbot of San Clemente,
Luca da Cortona, and Pietro Perugino, and painted
three scenes with his own hand, wherein he depicted
the Submersion of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the
Preaching of Christ to the people on the shore of
the Sea of Tiberias, and the Last Supper of the
Apostles with the Savior. In this last scene he made
an octagonal table drawn in perspective, with the
ceiling above it likewise octagonal, the eight
angles of which he foreshortened so well as to show
that he had as good a knowledge of this art as any
of the others. It is said that the Pope had offered
a prize, which was to be given to the man who, in
the judgment of the Pontiff himself, should turn out
to have done the best work in these pictures.
The scenes finished, therefore, His Holiness went
to see them; and each of the painters had done his
utmost to merit the said prize and honor. Cosimo,
feeling himself weak in invention and
draughtsmanship, had sought to conceal his
shortcomings by covering his work with the finest
ultramarine blues and other lively colors, and had
illuminated his scenes with a plentiful amount of
gold, so that there was no tree, or plant, or
drapery, or cloud, that was not thus illuminated;
for he was convinced that the Pope, like a man who
knew little of that art, must therefore give him the
prize of victory. When the day arrived on which the
works of all were to be unveiled, that of Cosimo was
seen with the rest, and was scorned and ridiculed
with much laughter and jeering by all the other
craftsmen, who all mocked him instead of having
compassion on him. But the scorners turned out to be
the scorned, for, as Cosimo had foreseen, those
colors at the first glance so dazzled the eyes of
the Pope, who had little knowledge of such things,
although he took no little delight in them, that he
judged the work of Cosimo to be much better than
that of the others. And so, causing the prize to be
given to him, he bade all the others cover their
pictures with the best blues that could be found,
and to pick them out with gold, to the end that they
might be similar to those of Cosimo in coloring and
in richness. Whereupon the poor painters, in despair
at having to satisfy the small intelligence of the
Holy Father, set themselves to spoil all the good
work that they had done; and Cosimo laughed at the
men who had just been laughing at his methods.
Afterwards, returning to Florence with some
money, he set himself to work as usual, living much
at his ease, and having as his companion that Piero,
his disciple, who was ever called Piero di Cosimo,
and who assisted him in his labors in the Sistine
Chapel at Rome, and painted there, besides other
things, a landscape in the picture of the Preaching
of Christ, which landscape is held to be the best
thing there. Andrea di Cosimo also worked with him,
occupying himself much with grotesques. Finally,
having reached the age of sixty-eight, Cosimo died
in the year 1484, wasted away by a long infirmity;
and he was buried in Santa Croce by the Company of
Bernardino.
Cosimo took so much delight in alchemy that he
wasted therein all that he possessed, as all do who
meddle with it, insomuch that it swallowed up all
his means and finally reduced him from easy
circumstances to the greatest poverty. He was a very
good draughtsman, as may be seen in our book, not
only from the drawing of the aforesaid story of the
Preaching which he painted in the Sistine Chapel,
but also from many others made with the style and in
chiaroscuro. And in the said book we have his
portrait by the hand of Agnolo di Donnino, a painter
who was much his friend. This Agnolo showed great
diligence in his works, as may be seen, not to
mention his drawings, in the loggia of the Hospital
of Bonifazio, where, upon the corbel of a vault,
there is a Trinity in fresco by his hand; and beside
the door of the said hospital, where the foundlings
now live, there are certain beggars painted by the
same man , with the Director receiving them, all
very well wrought, and likewise certain women. This
man spent his life laboring and wasting all his time
over drawings, without putting them into execution;
and at length he died as poor as he could well be.
But to return to Cosimo; he left only one son, who
was a builder and a passing good architect.
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IL CECCA (Francesco d'Angelo) (1446-1488)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IF necessity had not forced men to exercise their
ingenuity for their own advantage and convenience ,
architecture would not have become so excellent and
so marvelous in the minds and in the works of those
who have practiced it in order to acquire profit and
fame, gaining that great honor which is paid to them
every day by all who have knowledge of the good. It
was necessity that first gave rise to buildings;
necessity that created ornaments for them; necessity
that led to the various Orders, the statues, the
gardens, the baths, and all those other sumptuous
adjuncts which all desire but few possess; and it
was necessity that excited rivalry and competition
in the minds of men with regard not only to
buildings, but also to their accessories. For this
reason craftsmen have been forced to display
industry in inventing appliances for traction, and
in making engines of war, waterworks, and all those
devices and contrivances which, under the name of
mechanical and architectural inventions, confer
beauty and convenience on the world, discomfiting
their enemies and assisting their friends. And
whenever a man has been able to make such things
better than his fellows, he has not only raised
himself beyond all the anxieties of want, but has
also been consummately extolled and prized by all
other men.
This was the case in the time of our fathers with
the Florentine Cecca, into whose hands there came
many highly honorable works in his day; and in these
he acquitted himself so well, toiling in the service
of his country with economy and with great
satisfaction to his fellow-citizens, that his
ingenious and industrious labors have made him
famous and illustrious among the number of
distinguished and renowned craftsmen. It is said
that in his youth Cecca was a very good carpenter,
and that he had concentrated all his powers on
seeking to solve the difficulties connected with
engines, and how to make machines for assaulting
walls in war,scaling-ladders for climbing into
cities, battering-rams for breaching fortifications,
defenses for protecting soldiers in the attack, and
everything that could injure his enemies and assist
his friends--wherefore, being a person of the
greatest utility to his country, he well deserved
the permanent provision that the Signoria of
Florence gave him. For this reason, when there was
no war going on, he would go through the whole
territory inspecting the fortresses and the walls of
cities and townships, and, if any were weak, he
would provide them with designs for ramparts and
everything else that was wanting.
It is said that the Clouds which were borne in
procession throughout Florence on the festival of
St. John,things truly most ingenious and beautiful,
were invented by Cecca, who was much employed in
such matters at that time, when the city was greatly
given to holding festivals. In truth, although such
festivals and representations have now fallen almost
entirely out of use, they were very beautiful
spectacles, and they were celebrated not only by the
Companies, or rather, Confraternities, but also in
the private houses of gentlemen, who were wont to
form certain associations and societies, and to meet
together at certain times to make merry; and among
them there were ever many courtly craftsmen, who,
besides being fanciful and amusing, served to make
the preparations for such festivals. Among others,
four most solemn public spectacles took place almost
every year, one for each quarter of the city, with
the exception of that of San Giovanni, for the
festival of which a most solemn procession was held,
as will be told. The quarter of Santa Maria Novella
kept the feast of Sant¹ Ignazio; Santa Croce, that
of St. Bartholomew, called San Baccio; Santo
Spirito, that of the Holy Spirit; and the Carmine,
those of the Ascension of Our Lord and of the
Assumption of Our Lady.
This festival of the Ascension, for of the others
of importance an account has been or will be given,
was very beautiful, seeing that Christ was uplifted
on a cloud covered with angels from a Mount very
well made of wood, and was borne upwards to a
Heaven, leaving the Apostles on the Mount; and the
whole was so well contrived that it was a marvel,
above all because the said Heaven was somewhat
larger than that of Santa Felice in Piazza, although
the machinery was almost the same. And since the
said Church of the Carmine, where this
representation used to take place, is no little
broader and higher than that of Santa Felice, in
addition to the part that supported Christ another
Heaven was sometimes erected, according as it was
thought advisable, over the chief tribune, wherein
were certain great wheels made in the shape of
reels, which, from the centers to the edges, moved
in most beautiful order ten circles standing for the
ten Heavens, which were all full of little lights
representing the stars, contained in little copper
lamps hanging on pivots, so that when the wheels
revolved they remained upright, in the manner of
certain lanterns that are now universally used by
all. From this Heaven, which was truly a very
beautiful thing, there issued two stout ropes
fastened to the staging or tramezzo which is in the
said church, and over which the representation took
place.
To these ropes were attached by each end of a
so-called brace-fastening, two little bronze pulleys
which supported an iron upright fixed into a level
platform, on which stood two angels fastened by
their girdles. These angels were kept upright by a
counterpoise of lead which they had under their
feet, and by another that was under the platform on
which they stood; and this also served to make them
balanced one with another. The whole was covered
with a quantity of cotton-wool, very well arranged
in the form of a cloud, which was full of cherubim
and seraphim, and similar kinds of angels, varied in
color and very well contrived. These angels, when a
little rope was unwound from the Heaven above, came
down the two larger ropes on to the said tramezzo,
where the representation took place, and announced
to Christ that He was to ascend into Heaven, and
performed their other functions. And since the iron
to which they were bound by the girdle was fixed to
the platform on which they stood, in such a way that
they could turn round and round, they could make
obeisance and turn about both when they had come
forth and when they were returning according as was
necessary; wherefore in reascending they turned
towards the Heaven, and were then drawn up again as
they had come down.
These machines and inventions are said to have
been Cecca's, for, although Filippo Brunelleschi had
made similar things long before, many additions were
made to them with great judgment by Cecca; and it
was from these that the thought came to the same man
to make those Clouds which were borne in procession
through the city every year on St. John's Eve, and
the other beautiful things that were made. And this
was his charge, because, as it has been said, he was
a servant of the public. Now with this occasion it
will not be out of place to describe some of the
features of the said festival and procession, to the
end that some memory of them may descend to
posterity, seeing that they have now for the most
part fallen into disuse. First, then, the Piazza di
San Giovanni was all covered over with blue cloth,
on which were sewn many large lilies of yellow
cloth; and in the middle on certain circles also of
cloth, and ten braccia in diameter, were the arms of
the People and Commune of Florence, with those of
the Captain of the Guelph party and others; and all
around, from the borders of the said canopy, which
covered the whole piazza, vast as it is, there hung
great banners also of cloth, painted with various
devices, with the arms of magisterial bodies and
guilds, and with many lions, which form one of the
emblems of the city. This canopy, or rather ,
awning, made thus, was about twenty braccia off the
ground, and was supported by very strong ropes
fastened to a number of irons, which are still to be
seen round the Church of San Giovanni, on the facade
of Santa Maria del Fiore and on the houses that
surround the said piazza on every side. Between one
rope and another ran cords that likewise supported
the awning, which was so well strengthened
throughout, par particularly at the edges, with
ropes, cords, linings, double widths of cloth, and
hems of sacking, that it is impossible to imagine
anything better. What is more, everything was
arranged so well and with such great diligence, that
although the awning was often swelled out and shaken
by the wind, which is always very powerful in that
place, as everyone knows, yet it was never disturbed
or damaged in any way whatever.
This awning was made of five pieces, to the end
that it might be easier to handle, but, when set
into place, they were all joined and fastened and
sewn together in such a manner that it appeared like
one whole. Three pieces covered the piazza and the
space that is between San Giovanni and Santa Maria
del Fiore; and in the middle piece, in a straight
line between the principal doors, were the aforesaid
circles containing the arms of the Commune. And the
remaining two pieces covered the sides,one towards
the Misericordia, and the other towards the Canon's
house and the Office of Works of San Giovanni.
The Clouds, which were made of various kinds and
with diverse inventions by the Companies, were
generally fashioned in the following manner. A
square framework was made of planks, about two
braccia in height, with four stout legs at the
corners, contrived after the manner of the trestles
of a table, and fastened together with crosspieces.
On this framework two panels were laid crosswise,
each one braccio wide, with a hole in the middle
half a braccio in diameter, in which was fixed a
high pole, whereon there was placed a mandorla all
covered with cotton-wool, cherubim, lights, and
other ornaments, and within this, on a horizontal
bar of iron, there sat or stood, according as might
be desired, a person representing that Saint whom
the particular Company principally honored as their
peculiar patron and protector,to be exact, a Christ,
or a Madonna , or a St. John, or some other,and the
draperies of this figure covered the iron bar in
such a manner that it could not be seen. Round the
same pole, lower down, below the mandorla, there
radiated four or five iron bars in the manner of the
branches of a tree, and at the end of each, attached
likewise with irons, stood a little boy dressed like
an angel. These boys could move round and round at
pleasure on the iron brackets on which their feet
rested, for the brackets hung on hinges. And with
similar branches there were sometimes made two or
three tiers of angels or of saints, according to the
nature of the subjects to be represented.
The whole of this structure, with the pole and
the iron bars (which some times represented a lily,
sometimes a tree, and often a cloud or some other
similar thing), was covered with cotton-wool, and,
as has been said, with cherubim seraphim, golden
stars, and other suchlike ornaments. Within were
porters or peasants, who carried it on their
shoulders, placing them selves round the wooden base
that we have called the framework, in which, below
the places where the weight rested on their
shoulders, were fixed cushions of leather stuffed
with down, or cotton-wool, or some other soft and
yielding material. All the machinery, steps, and
other things were covered, as has been said above,
with cotton-wool, which made a beautiful effect; and
all these contrivances were called Clouds. Behind
them came troops of men on horseback and
foot-soldiers of various sorts, according to the
nature of the story to be represented, even as in
our own day they go behind the cars or other things
that are used in place of the said Clouds. Of the
form of the latter I have some designs in my book of
drawings, very well done by the hand of Cecca ,
which are truly ingenious and full of beautiful
conceptions.
It was from the plans of the same man that those
saints were made that went or were carried in
processions, either dead or tortured in various
ways, for some appeared to be transfixed by a lance
or a sword, others had a dagger in the throat, and
others had other suchlike weapons in their bodies.
With regard to this, it is very well known today
that it is done with a sword, lance, or dagger
broken in half, the pieces of which are held firmly
opposite to one another on either side by iron
rings, after taking away the proportionate amount
that has to appear to be fixed in the person of the
sufferer; wherefore I will say no more about them ,
save that they seem for the most part to have been
invented by Cecca.
The giants, likewise, that went about in the said
festival, were made in the following manner. Certain
men who were very skillful at walking on stilts, or,
as they are called in other parts, on wooden legs,
had some made five or six braccia high, and, having
dressed and decked them with great masks and other
ornaments in the way of draperies, and imitations of
armor, so that they seemed to have the members and
heads of giants, they mounted them and walked
dexterously along, appearing truly to be giants. In
front of them, however, they had a man who carried a
pike, on which the giant leant with one hand, but in
such a fashion that the pike appeared to be his own
weapon, whether mace, lance, or a great
bell-clapper, such as Morgante is said by the poets
of romance to have been wont to carry. And even as
there were giants, so there were also giantesses,
which produced a truly beautiful and marvelous
effect.
Different from these, again, were the little
phantoms, for these walked on similar stilts five or
six braccia high, without anything save their own
proper form, in such a manner that they appeared to
be true spirits. They likewise had a man in front of
them with a pike to assist them; but it is stated
that some actually walked very well at so great a
height without leaning on anything whatsoever, and I
am sure that he who knows what Florentine brains are
will in no way marvel at this. For, not to mention
that native of Montughi (near Florence) who has
surpassed all the masters that ever lived at
climbing and dancing on the rope, whoever knew a man
called Ruvidino, who died less than ten years ago,
remembers that climbing to any height on a rope or
cord, leaping from the walls of Florence to the
earth, and walking on stilts much higher than those
described above, were as easy to him as it is for an
ordinary man to walk on level. Wherefore it is no
marvel if the men of those times, who practiced
suchlike exercises for money or for other reasons,
did what has been related above, and even greater
things.
I will not speak of certain waxen candles which
used to be painted with various fanciful devices,
but so rudely that they have given their name to
vulgar painters, insomuch that bad pictures are
called "candle puppets "; for it is not worth the
trouble. I will only say that at the time of Cecca
they fell for the most part into disuse, and that in
their place were made the cars that are still used
today, in the form of triumphal chariots. The first
of these was the car of the Mint, which was brought
to that perfection which is still seen every year
when it is sent out for the said festival by the
Masters and Lords of the Mint, with a S. John on the
highest part and with many other angels and saints
around and below him, all represented by living
persons. Not long ago it was determined that one
should be made for every borough that gave an
offering of wax, and ten were made, in order to do
magnificent honor to that festival; but the plan was
carried no further, by reason of events that
supervened no long time after. That first car of the
Mint, then, was made under the direction of Cecca by
Domenico, Marco, and Giuliano del Tasso, who were
among the best master-carpenters, both in
squared-work and in carving, who were then working
in Florence; and in this car, among other things, no
small praise is due to the wheels below it, which
are pivoted, in order that the structure may be able
to turn sharp corners, and may be managed in such a
manner as to shake it as little as possible,
particularly for the sake of those who stand
fastened upon it. The same man made a structure for
the cleaning and restoration of the mosaics in the
tribune of San Giovanni which could be turned,
raised, lowered, and advanced at pleasure, and that
with such ease that two men could handle it; which
invention gave Cecca very great repute.
When the Florentine army was besieging
Piancaldoli, Cecca ingeniously contrived to enable
the soldiers to enter it by means of mines, without
striking a blow. Afterwards, continuing to follow
the same army to certain other strongholds, his evil
fortune would have it that he should be killed while
attempting to measure certain heights at a difficult
point; for when he had put his head out beyond the
wall in order to let a plumb-line down, a priest who
was with the enemy (who feared the genius of Cecca
more than the might of the whole camp) discharged a
catapult at him and fixed a great dart in his head,
inso much that the poor fellow died on the spot. The
fate and the loss of Cecca caused great grief to the
whole army and to his fellow-citizens; but since
there was no remedy, they sent him back in a coffin
to Florence, where his sisters gave him honorable
burial in San Piero Scheraggio; and below his
portrait in marble there was placed the following
epitaph:
FABRUM MAGISTER CICCA, NATUS OPPIDIS VEL
OBSIDENDIS VEL TUENDIS,
HIC JACET. VIXIT ANN. XXXXI, MENS. IV, DIES XIV.
OBIIT PRO PATRIA
TELO ICTUS. PIAE SORORES MONUMENTUM FECERUNT
MCCCCXCLX.
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BARTOLOMMEO DELLA GATTA (1435-1496/97)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
RARELY DOES IT HAPPEN that a man of good
character and exemplary life fails to be provided by
Heaven with the best of friends and with honorable
dwellings, or to be held in veneration when alive by
reason of the goodness of his ways, and very greatly
regretted when dead by all who knew him, as was Don
Bartolommeo della Gatta, Abbot of San Clemente in
Arezzo, who was excellent in diverse pursuits and
most praiseworthy in all his actions. This man, who
was a monk of the Angeli in Florence , a seat of the
Order of Camaldoli, was in his youth--perchance for
the reasons mentioned above in the Life of Don
Lorenzo--a very rare illuminator, and a very able
master of design. Of this we have proof in the books
that he illuminated for the Monks of SS. Fiore e
Lucilla in the Abbey of Arezzo, particularly a
missal that was presented to Pope Sixtus, in which,
on the first page of the Secret Prayers, there was a
very beautiful Passion of Christ. Those are likewise
by his hand which are in San Martino, the Duomo of
Lucca.
A little while after these works the said Abbey
of San Clemente in Arezzo was presented to this
father by Mariotto Maldoli of Mezzo, General of the
Order of Camaldoli, who belonged to the same family
from which sprang that Maldolo who gave the site and
lands of Camaldoli, then called Campo di Maldolo, to
San Romualdo, the founder of that Order. Don
Bartolommeo , in gratitude for that benefice,
afterwards executed many works for that General and
for his Order. After this there came the plague of
1468, by reason of which the Abbot, like many
others, stayed indoors without going about much, and
devoted himself to painting large figures; and
seeing that he was succeeding as well as he could
desire, he began to execute certain works. The first
was a San Rocco that he painted on a panel for the
Rectors of the Confraternity of Arezzo, which is now
in the Audience Chamber where they assemble. This
figure is recommending the people of Arezzo to Our
Lady, and in this picture he portrayed the Piazza of
the said city and the holy house of that
Confraternity, with certain gravediggers who are
returning from burying the dead. He also painted
another San Rocco for the Church of San Pietro,
likewise on a panel, wherein he portrayed the city
of Arezzo exactly as it stood at that time, when it
was very different from what it is today. And he
made another, which was much better than the two
mentioned above, on a panel which is in the Chapel
of the Lippi in the Church of the Pieve of Arezzo;
and this S. Rocco is a rare and beautiful figure,
almost the best that he ever made, and the head and
hands are as beautiful and natural as they could be.
In the same city of Arezzo, in San Pietro, a seat of
the Servite Friars, he painted an Angel Raphael on a
panel; and in the same place he made a portrait of
the Blessed Jacopo Filippo of Piacenza.
Afterwards, being summoned to Rome, he painted a
scene in the Chapel of Pope Sixtus, in company with
Luca da Cortona [Signorelli] and Pietro Perugino. On
returning to Arezzo, he painted a St. Jerome in
Penitence in the Chapel of the Gozzari in the
Vescovado; and this figure, lean and shaven, with
the eyes fixed most intently on the Crucifix, and
beating his breast, shows very clearly how greatly
the passions of love can disturb the chastity even
of a body so grievously wasted away. In this work he
made an enormous crag, with certain cliffs of rock,
among the fissures of which he painted some stories
of that Saint, with very graceful little figures.
After this, in a chapel in San Agostino, for the
Nuns of the Third Order, as they are called, he
wrought in fresco a Coronation of Our Lady, which is
very well done and much extolled; and below this ,
in another chapel, a large panel with an Assumption
and certain angels beautifully robed in delicate
draperies. This panel, for a work made in tempera,
is much extolled, and in truth it was wrought with
good design and executed with extraordinary
diligence. In the lunette that is over the door of
the Church of San Donato, in the Fortress of Arezzo,
the same man painted in fresco a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, Donatus, and San Giovanni
Gualberto, all very beautiful figures. In the Abbey
of Santa Fiore in the said city, beside the
principal door of entrance into the church, there is
a chapel painted by his hand, wherein are St.
Benedict and other saints, wrought with much grace,
good handling, and sweetness.
For Gentile of Urbino, Bishop of Arezzo, who was
much his friend, and with whom he almost always
lived, he painted a Dead Christ in a chapel in the
Palace of the Vescovado; and in a loggia he
portrayed the Bishop himself, his vicar, and Ser
Matteo Francini, his court notary, who is reading a
Bull to him; and there he also made his own portrait
and those f certain canons of that city. For the
same Bishop he designed a loggia which issues from
the Palace and leads to the Vescovado, on the same
level with both. In the center of this the Bishop
had intended to make place of burial for himself in
the form of a chapel, in which he wished to be
interred after his death; and he had carried it well
on, when he was overtaken by death, and it remained
unfinished, for, although he left orders that it
should be completed by his successor, nothing more
was done, as generally happens with works of this
sort which are left by a man, to be finished after
his death. For the said Bishop the Abbot painted
large and beautiful chapel in the Duomo Vecchio,
but, as it had only a short life, there is no need
to say more about it.
Besides this, he made works in various places
throughout the whole city, such as three figures in
the Carmine , and the Chapel of the Nuns of Santa
Orsina. At Castiglione Aretino, for the Chapel of
the High altar in the Pieve of San Giuliano, he
painted a panel in tempera, containing a very
beautiful Madonna, St. Julian, and St.
Michelangelo--figures very well wrought and
executed, particularly St. Julian, who, with is eyes
fixed on the Christ lying in the arms of the
Madonna, appears to be much afflicted at having
killed his father and mother. In a chapel little
below this, likewise, is a little door painted by
his hand (which formerly belonged to an old organ),
wherein there is a St. Michael, which is held to be
a marvelous thing, with a child in
swaddling-clothes, which appears alive, in the arms
of a woman. For the Nuns of the Murate at Arezzo he
painted the Chapel of the high altar, a work which
is truly much extolled. At Monte San Savino he
painted a shrine opposite to the Palace of Cardinal
di Monte, which was held very beautiful. And at
Borgo San Sepolcro, where there is now the
Vescovado, he decorated a chapel, which brought him
very great praise and profit.
Don Clemente was a man of very versatile
intelligence, and, besides being a great musician,
he made organs of lead with his own hand. In San
Domenico he made one of cardboard, which has ever
remained sweet and good; and in San Clemente there
was another, also by his hand, which was placed on
high, with the keyboard below on the level of the
choir- -truly with very beautiful judgment, since,
the place being such that the monks were few, he
wished that the organist should sing as well as
play. And since this Abbot loved his Order, like a
true minister and not a squanderer of the things of
God, he enriched that place greatly with buildings
and pictures, particularly by rebuilding the
principal chapel of his church and painting the
whole of it; and in two niches, one on either side
of it, he painted a St. Rocco and a St. Bartholomew,
which were ruined together with the church.
But to return to the Abbot, who was a good and
worthy church man. He left a disciple in painting
named Maestro Lappoli, an Aretine, who was an able
and practiced painter, as is shown by the works from
his hand which are in S. Agostino, in the Chapel of
San Sebastiano, where there is that Saint wrought in
relief by the same man, with figures round him, in
painting, of San Biagio, San Rocco, San Antonio of
Padua, and San Bernardino; while on the arch of the
chapel is an Annunciation, and on the vaulting are
the four Evangelists, wrought in fresco with a high
finish. By the hand of the same man , in another
chapel on the left hand as one enters the said
church by the side-door, is a Nativity in fresco,
with the Madonna receiving the Annunciation from the
Angel, in the figure of which Angel he portrayed
Giuliano Bacci, then a young man of very beautiful
aspect. Over the said door, on the outer side, he
made an Annunciation , with St. Peter on one side
and St. Paul on the other, portraying in the face of
the Madonna the mother of Messer Pietro Aretino, a
very famous poet.
In San Francesco, for the Chapel of San
Bernardino, he painted a panel with that Saint, who
appears alive, and so beautiful that this is the
best figure that he ever made. In the Chapel of the
Pietramaleschi in the Vescovado covado he painted a
very beautiful Sant' Ignazio on a panel in tempera;
and in the Pieve, at the entrance of the upper door
which opens on the piazza, a St. Andrew and a St.
Sebastian. For the Company of the Trinita, by order
of Buoninsegna Buoninsegni of Arezzo, he made a work
with beautiful invention, which can be numbered
among the best that he ever executed, and this was a
Crucifix over an altar, with a St. Martin on one
side and a St. Rocco on the other, and two figures
kneeling at the foot, one in the form of a poor man,
lean, emaciated, and wretchedly clothed, from whom
there issued certain rays that shone straight on the
wounds of the Savior, while the Saint gazed on him
most intently; and the other in the form of a rich
man, clothed in purple and fine linen, and all ruddy
and cheerful in countenance, whose rays, as he was
adoring Christ, although they were issuing from his
heart, like those of the poor man, appeared not to
shine directly on the wounds of the Crucified
Christ, but to stray and spread over certain plains
and fields full of grain, green crops, cattle,
gardens, and other suchlike things, while some
diverged over the sea towards certain boats laden
with merchandise; and others, finally, shone on
certain moneychangers' tables. All these things were
wrought by Matteo with judgment, great mastery, and
much diligence; but they were thrown to the ground
no long time after in the making of a chapel.
Beneath the pulpit of the Pieve the same man made a
Christ with the Cross for Messer Leonardo
Albergotti.
A disciple of the Abbot of San Clemente,
likewise, was a Servite friar of Arezzo, who painted
in colors the facade of the house of the Belichini
in Arezzo, and two chapels in fresco, one beside the
other, in San Pietro. Another disciple of Don
Bartolommeo was Domenico Pecori of Arezzo, who made
three figures in tempera on a panel at Sargiano, and
painted a very beautiful banner in oil, to be
carried in processions, for the Company of Santa
Maria Maddalena. For Messer Presentino Bisdomini, in
the Chapel of San Andrea in the Pieve, he made a
picture of Sant¹ Apollonia- -similar to that
mentioned above--and he finished many works left
incomplete by his master, such as the panel of St.
Sebastian and St. Fabiano with the Madonna, in San
Pietro, for the family of the Benucci in the Church
of San Antonio he painted the panel of the high
altar, wherein is a very devout Madonna, with some
saints; and since the said Madonna is adoring the
Child, whom she has in her lap, he made it appear
that a little angel, kneeling behind her, is
supporting Our Lord on a cushion, the Madonna not
being able to uphold Him because she has her hands
clasped in the act of adoration. in the Church of S.
Giustino for Messer Antonio Roselli, he painted a
chapel with the Magi in fresco; and for the Company
of the Madonna, in the Pieve, he painted a very
large panel containing a Madonna in the sky, with
the people of Arezzo beneath, in which he made many
portraits from the life. in this last work he was
helped by a Spanish painter, who painted very well
in oil and therein gave assistance to Domenico, who
had not as much skill in painting in oil as he had
in tempera.
With the help of the same man he executed a panel
for the Company of the Trinita, containing the
Circumcision of Our Lord, which was held a very good
work, and a "Noli Me Tangere" in fresco in the
garden of Santa Fiore. Finally, he painted a panel
with many figures in the Vescovado, for Messer
Donato Marinelli, Primicere. This work, which then
brought him and still continues to bring him very
great honor, shows good invention, good design, and
strong relief; and in making it, being now very old,
he called in the aid of a Sienese painter, Capanna,
a passing good master, who painted so many walls in
chiaroscuro and so many panels in Siena, and who, if
he had lived longer, would have done himself much
credit in his art, in so far as one may judge from
the little that he executed. Domenico wrought for
the Confraternity of Arezzo a baldacchino painted in
oil, a rich and costly work, which was lent not many
years ago for the holding of a representation in San
Francesco at the festival of St. John and St. Paul,
to adorn a Paradise near the roof of the church. A
fire breaking out in consequence of the great
quantity of lights, this work was burnt, together
with the man who was representing God the Father,
who, being fastened, could not escape, as the angels
did, and many church-hangings were destroyed, while
great harm came to the spectators, who, terrified by
the fire, struggled furiously to fly from the
church, everyone seeking to be the first, so that
about eighty were trampled down in the press, which
was something very pitiful. This baldacchino was
afterwards reconstructed with greater richness, and
painted by Giorgio Vasari. Domenico then devoted
himself to the making of glass windows, and there
were three by his hand in the Vescovado, which were
ruined by the artillery in the wars.
Another pupil of the same master was the painter
Angelo di Lorentino , who was a man of passing good
ability. He painted the arch over the door of San
Domenico, and if he had received assistance he would
have become a very good master. The Abbot died at
the age of eighty-three, l eaving unfinished the
Temple of the Madonna delle Lacrime, for which he
had made a model; it was afterwards completed by
various masters. He deserves praise, then, as
illuminator, architect, painter, and musician. He
was given burial by his monks in his Abbey of San
Clemente, and his works have ever been so highly
esteemed in the said city that the following verses
may be read over his tomb:
PINGEBAT DOCTE ZEUSIS, CONDEBAT ET AEDES
NICON, PAN CAPRIPES, FISTULA PRIMA TUA EST.
NON TAMEN EX VOBIS MECUM CERTAVERIT ULLUS;
QUAE TRES FECISTIS, UNICUS HAEC FACIO.
He died in 1461, having added to the art of
illumination that beauty which is seen in all his
works, as some drawings by his hand can bear witness
which are in our book. His method of working was
afterwards imitated by Girolamo Padovano in some
books that he illuminated for Santa Maria Nuova in
Florence; by Gherardo, a Florentine illuminator;
(and by Attavante,) who was also called Vante, of
whom we have spoken in another place, particularly
with regard to those of his works which are in
Venice; with respect to which I included word for
word a note sent to me by certain gentlemen of
Venice, contenting myself, in order to recompense
them for the great pains that they had taken to
discover all that is to be read there, with relating
the whole as they wrote it, since I had no personal
knowledge of these works on which to form a judgment
of my own.
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GHERARDO (1445-1497)
ILLUMINATOR OF FLORENCE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT IS CERTAIN that among all the enduring works
that are made in colors there is none that resists
the assault of wind and water better than mosaic.
And well was this known hi his day to the elder
Lorenzo de' Medici of Florence, who, like a man of
spirit given to investigating the memorials of the
ancients, sought to bring back into use what had
been hidden for many years, and, since he took great
delight in pictures and sculptures, could not fail
to take delight also in mosaic. Wherefore, seeing
that Gherardo, an illuminator of that time and a man
of inquiring brain, was investigating the
difficulties of that calling, he showed him great
favour, as one who ever assisted those in whom he
saw some germ of spirit and intellect. Placing him,
therefore, in the company of Domenico del
Ghirlandajo, he obtained for him from the Wardens of
Works of S. Maria del Fiore a commission for
decorating the chapels of the transepts, beginning
with that of the Sacrament, wherein lies the body of
S. Zanobi. Whereupon Gherardo, growing ever in
keenness of intelligence, would have executed most
marvellous works in company with Domenico, if death
had not intervened, as may be judged from the
beginning of that chapel, which remained unfinished.
Gherardo, in addition to his mosaics, was a most
delicate illuminator, and he also made large figures
on walls. Without the Porta alia Croce there is a
shrine in fresco by his hand, and there is another
in Florence, much extolled, at the head of the Via
Larga. On the fagade of the Church of S. Gilio at S.
Maria Nuova, beneath the stories painted by Lorenzo
di Bicci, wherein is the consecration of that church
by Pope Martin V, Gherardo depicted the same Pope
conferring the monk's habit and many privileges on
the Director of the Hospital. In this scene there
were far fewer figures than it appeared to require,
because it was cut in half by a shrine containing a
Madonna, which has been removed recently by Don
Isidoro Montaguto, the present Director of that
place, in the reconstructing of a principal door for
the building; and Francesco Brini, a young painter
of Florence, has been commissioned to paint the rest
of the scene. But to return to Gherardo; it would
scarcely have been possible for even a
well-practised master to accomplish without great
fatigue and diligence what he did in that work,
which is wrought most excellently in fresco. For the
church of the same hospital Gherardo illuminated an
infinite number of books, with some for S. Maria del
Fiore in Florence, and certain others for Matthias
Corvinus, King of Hungary. These last, on the death
of the said King, together with some by the hand of
Vante and of other masters who worked for that King
in Florence, were purchased and taken over by the
Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, who placed them
among those so greatly celebrated which were being
collected for the formation of the library
afterwards built by Pope Clement VII, which is now
being thrown open to the public by order of Duke
Cosimo.
Having thus developed, as has been related, from
a master of illumination into a painter, in addition
to the said works, he made some great figures in a
large cartoon for the Evangelists that he had to
make in mosaic in the Chapel of S. Zanobi. But
before the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici had
obtained for him the commission for the said chapel,
wishing to show that he understood the art of
mosaic, and that he could work without a companion,
he made a life-size head of S. Zanobi, which
remained in S. Maria del Fiore, and on days of the
highest solemnity it is set up on the altar of the
said Saint, or in some other place, as a rare thing.
The while that Gherardo was laboring at these
things, there were brought to Florence certain
prints in the German manner wrought by Martin and by
Albrecht Duerer; whereupon, being much pleased with
that sort of engraving, he set himself to work with
the graver and copied some of those plates very
well, as may be seen from certain examples that are
in our book, together with some drawings by the same
man's hand. Gherardo painted many pictures which
were sent abroad, one of which is in the Chapel of
S. Caterina da Siena in the Church of S. Dom- enico
at Bologna, containing a very good painting of S.
Catherine. And in S. Marco at Florence, over the
table of Pardons, he painted a lunette full of very
graceful figures. But the more he satisfied others
the less did he satisfy himself in any of his works,
with the exception of mosaic, in which sort of
painting he was rather the rival than the companion
of Domenico Ghirlandajo; and if he had lived longer
he would have become most excellent in that art, for
he was very willing to take pains with it, and he
had discovered the greater part of its best secrets.
Some declare that Attavante, otherwise Vante, an
illuminator of Florence, of whom we have spoken
above in more than one place, was a disciple of
Gherardo, as was Stefano, likewise a Florentine
illuminator; but I hold it as certain, considering
that both lived at the same time, that Attavante was
rather the friend, companion, and contemporary of
Gherardo than his disciple. Gherardo died well
advanced in years, leaving everything that he used
in his art to his disciple Stefano, who, devoting
himself no long time after to architecture,
abandoned the art of illuminating, and handed over
all his appliances in connection with that
profession to the elder Boccardino, who illuminated
the greater part of the books that are in the Badia
of Florence. Gherardo died at the age of
sixty-three, and his works date about the year of
our salvation 1470.
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DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO (circa 1446-1490)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
DOMENICO DI TOMMASO DEL GHIRLANDAJO, who, from
his talent and from the greatness and the vast
number of his works, may be called one of the most
important and most excellent masters of his age, was
made by nature to be a painter ; and for this
reason, in spite of the opposition of those who had
charge of him (which often nips the finest fruits of
our intellects in the bud by occupying them with
work for which they are not suited, and by diverting
them from that to which nature inclines them), he
followed his natural instinct, secured very great
honour for himself and profit for his art and for
his kindred, and became the great delight of his
age. He was apprenticed by his father to his own art
of goldsmith, in which Tommaso was a master more
than passing good, for it was he who made the
greater part of the silver votive offerings that
were formerly preserved in the press of the
Nunziata, and the silver lamps of the chapel, which
were all destroyed in the siege of the city in the
year 1529. Tommaso was the first who invented and
put into execution those ornaments worn on the head
by the girls of Florence, which are called
ghirlande; whence he gained the name of Ghirlandajo,
not only because he was their first inventor, but
also because he made an infinite number of them, of
a beauty so rare that none appeared to please save
such as came out of his shop.
Being thus apprenticed to the goldsmith's art,
but taking no pleasure therein, he was ever occupied
in drawing. Endowed by nature with a perfect spirit
and with an admirable and judicious taste in
painting, although he was a goldsmith in his
boyhood, yet, by devoting himself ever to design, he
became so quick, so ready, and so facile, that many
say that while he^ was working as a goldsmith he
would draw a portrait of all who passed the shop,
producing a likeness in a second ; and of this we
still have proof in an infinite number of portraits
in his works, which show a most lifelike
resemblance.
His first pictures were in the Chapel of the
Vespucci in Ognissanti, where there is a Dead Christ
with some saints, and a Misericordia over an arch,
in which is the portrait of Amerigo Vespucci, who
made the voyages to the Indies; and in the refectory
of that place he painted a Last Supper in fresco. In
S. Croce, on the right hand of the entrance into the
church, he painted the Story of S. Paulino ;
wherefore, having acquired very great fame and
coming into much credit, he painted a chapel in S.
Trinita for Francesco Sassetti, with stories of S.
Francis. This work was admirably executed by him,
and wrought with grace, lovingness, and a high
finish ; and he counterfeited and portrayed therein
the Ponte a S. Trinita, with the Palace of the
Spini. On the first wall he depicted the story of S.
Francis appearing in the air and restoring the child
to life ; and here, in those women who see him being
restored to life after their sorrow for his death as
they bear him to the grave there are seen gladness
and marvel at his resurrection. He also
counterfeited the friars issuing from the church
behind the Cross, together with some grave- diggers,
to bury him, all wrought very naturally; and there
are likewise other figures marvelling at that event
which give no little pleasure to the eye, among
which are portraits of Maso degli Albizzi, Messer
Agnolo Acciaiuoli, and Messer Palla Strozzi, eminent
citizens often cited in the history of the city. On
another wall he painted S. Francis, in the presence
of the vicar, renouncing his inheritance from his
father, Pietro Bernardone, and assuming the habit of
sackcloth, which he is girding round him with the
cord. On the middle wall he is shown going to Rome
and having his Rule confirmed by Pope Honorius, and
presenting roses in January to that Pontiff. In this
scene he depicted the Hall of the Consistory, with
Cardinals seated around, and certain steps ascending
to it, furnishing the flight of steps with a
balustrade, and painting there some half- length
figures portrayed from the life, among which is the
portrait of the elder Lorenzo de' Medici, the
Magnificent; and there he also painted S. Francis
receiving the Stigmata.
In the last he made the Saint dead, with his
friars mourning for him, among whom is one friar
kissing his hands an effect that could not be
rendered better in painting; not to mention that a
Bishop in full robes, with spectacles on his nose,
is chanting the prayers for the dead so vividly,
that only the lack of sound shows him to be painted.
In one of two pictures that are on either side of
the panel he portrayed Francesco Sassetti on his
knees, and in the other his wife, Monna Nera, with
their children (but these last are in the aforesaid
scene of the child being restored to life), and with
certain beautiful maidens of the same family, whose
names I have not been able to discover, all in the
costumes and fashions of that age, which gives no
little pleasure. Besides this, he made four Sibyls
on the vaulting, and an ornament above the arch on
the front wall without the chapel, contain- ing the
scene of the Tiburtine Sibyl making the Emperor
Octavian adore Christ, which is executed in a
masterly manner for a work in fresco, with much
vivacity and loveliness in the colours. To this work
he added a panel wrought in distemper, also by his
hand, containing a Nativity of Christ that should
amaze any person of understanding, wherein he
portrayed himself and made certain heads of
shepherds, which are held to be something divine. Of
this Sibyl and of other parts of this work there are
some very beautiful drawings in our book, made in
chiaroscuro, and in particular the view in
perspective of the Ponte a S. Trinita.
For the Frati Ingesuati he painted a panel for
their high altar, with certain Saints kneeling
namely, S. Giusto, Bishop of Volterra, who was the
titular Saint of that church; S. Zanobi, Bishop of
Florence; an Angel Raphael; a S. Michael, clad in
most beautiful armor; and other saints. (For this
work Domenico truly deserves praise, for he was the
first who began to counterfeit with colors certain
trimmings and ornaments of gold, which had not been
done up to that time ; and he swept away in great
measure those borders of gilding that were made with
mordant or with bole, which were more suitable for
church-hangings than for the work of good masters.)
More beautiful than all the other figures is the
Madonna, who has the Child in her arms and four
little angels round her. This panel, which is
wrought as well as any work in distemper could be,
was then placed in the church of those friars
without the Porta a Pinti; but since that building,
as will be told elsewhere, was destroyed, it is now
in the Church of S. Giovannino, within the Porta S.
Piero Gattolini, where there is the Convent of the
aforesaid Ingesuati.
In the Church of Cestello he painted a panel
afterwards finished by his brothers David and
Benedetto containing the Visitation of Our Lady,
with certain most charming and beautiful heads of
women. In the Church of the Innocenti he painted the
Story of the Magi on a panel in distemper, which is
much extolled. In this are heads most beautiful in
expression and varied in features, both young and
old; and in the head of Our Lady, in particular, are
seen all the dignity, beauty, and grace that art can
give to the Mother of the Son of God. On the
tramezzo * of the Church of S. Marco there is
another panel, with a Last Supper in the guest room,
both executed with diligence; and in the house of
Giovanni Tornabuoni there is' a round picture with
the Story of the Magi, wrought with diligence. In
the Little Hospital, for the elder Lorenzo de'
Medici, he painted the story of Vulcan, in which
many nude figures are at work with hammers making
thunderbolts for Jove. And in the Church of
Ognissanti in Florence, in competition with Sandro
di Botticello, he painted a S. Jerome in fresco
(which is now beside the door that leads to the
choir), surrounding him with an infinite number of
instruments and books, such as are used by the
learned. The friars having occasion to remove the
choir from the place where it stood, this picture,
together with that of Sandro di Botticello, has been
bound round with irons and transported without
injury into the middle of the j church, at the very
time when these Lives are being printed for the 11
second time. He also painted the arch over the door
of S. Maria Ughi, and a little shrine for the Guild
of Linen Manufacturers, and likewise a very
beautiful S. George, slaying the Dragon, in the same
Church of Ognissanti. And in truth he had a very
good knowledge of the method of painting on walls,
which he did with very great facility, although he
was scrupulously careful in the composition of his
works.
Being then summoned to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to
paint his chapel, in company with other masters, he
painted there Christ calling Peter and Andrew from
their nets, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
the greater part of which has since been spoilt in
consequence of being over the door, on which it
became necessary to replace an architrave that had
fallen down. There was living in Rome at this same
time Francesco Tornabuoni, a rich and honoured
merchant, much the friend of Domenico. This man,
whose wife had died in childbirth, as is told in the
Life of Andrea Verrocchio, desiring to honor her as
became their noble station, had caused a tomb to be
made for her in the Minerva; and he also wished
Domenico to paint the whole wall against which this
tomb stood, and likewise to make for it a little
panel in distemper. On that wall, there- fore, he
painted four stories two of S. John the Baptist and
two of the Madonna which brought him truly great
praise at that time. And Francesco took so much
pleasure in his dealings with Domenico, that, when
the latter returned to Florence rich in honor and in
gains, Francesco recommended him by letters to his
relative Giovanni, telling him how well the painter
had served him in that work, and how well satisfied
the Pope had been with his pictures. Hearing this,
Giovanni began to contemplate employing him on some
magnificent work, such as would honour his own
memory and bring fame and profit to Domenico.
Now it chanced that the principal chapel of S.
Maria Novella (a convent of Preaching Friars),
formerly painted by Andrea Orcagna, was injured in
many parts by rain in consequence of the roof of the
vaulting being badly covered. For this reason many
citizens had wished to restore it, or rather, to
have it painted anew; but the owners, who belonged
to the family of the Ricci, had never consented to
this, being unable to bear so great an expense
themselves, and unwilling to allow others to do so,
lest they should lose the rights of ownership and
the distinction of the arms handed down to them by
their ancestors. Giovanni, then, being desirous that
Domenico should make him his memorial there, set to
work in this matter, trying various ways; and
finally he promised the Ricci to bear the whole
expense himself, to give them some sort of
recompense, and to have their arms placed in the
most conspicuous and honorable place in that chapel.
And so they came to an agreement, making a contract
in the form of a very precise instrument according
to the terms described above. Giovanni allotted this
work to Domenico, with the same subjects as were
painted there before; and they agreed that the price
should be 1,200 gold ducats of full weight, with 200
more in the event of the work giving satisfaction to
Giovanni. Thereupon Domenico put his hand to the
work and laboured without ceasing for four years
until he had finished it which was in 1485 to the
very great satisfaction and contentment of Giovanni,
who, while admitting that he had been well served,
and confessing ingenuously that Domenico had earned
the additional 200 ducats, said that he would be
pleased if he would be satisfied with the original
price. And Domenico, who esteemed glory and honor
much more than riches, immediately let him off all
the rest, declaring that he set much greater store
on having given him satisfaction than on the matter
of complete payment.
Giovanni afterwards caused two large coats of
arms to be made of stone one for the Tornaquinci and
the other for the Tornabuoni and placed on the
pilasters without the chapel, and in the arch he
placed other arms belonging to that family, which is
divided into various names and various arms namely,
in addition to the two already mentioned, those of
the Ghiachinotti, Popoleschi, Marabottini, and
Cardinali. And afterwards, when Domenico painted the
altar panel, he caused to be placed in the gilt
ornament, under an arch, as a finishing touch to
that panel, a very beautiful Tabernacle of the
Sacrament, on the frontal of which he made a little
shield a quarter of a braccio in length, containing
the arms of the said owners that is, the Ricci. And
a fine jest it was at the opening of the chapel, for
these Ricci looked for their arms with much ado, and
finally, not being able to find them, went off to
the Tribunal of Eight, contract in hand. Whereupon
the Tornabuoni showed that these arms had been
placed in the most conspicuous and most honorable
part of the work; and although the others exclaimed
that they were invisible, they were told that they
were in the wrong, and that they must be content,
since the Tornabuoni had caused them to be placed in
so honorable a position as the neighbourhood of the
most Holy Sacrament. And so it was decided by that
tribunal that they should be left untouched, as they
may be seen today. Now, if this should appear to
anyone to be outside the scope of the Life that I
have to write, let him not be vexed, for it all
flowed naturally from the tip of my pen. And it
should serve, if for nothing else, at least to show
how easily poverty falls a prey to riches, and how
riches, if accompanied by discretion, achieve
without censure anything that a man desires.
But to return to the beautiful works of Domenico;
in that chapel, first of all, are the four
Evangelists on the vaulting, larger than life ; and,
on the window-wall, stories of S. Dominic, S. Peter
Martyr, S. John going into the Desert, the Madonna
receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, and many
patron saints of Florence on their knees above the
window; while at the foot, on the right hand, is a
portrait from life of Giovanni Tornabuoni, with one
of his wife on the left, which are both said to be
very lifelike. On the right hand wall are seven
scenes six below, in compartments as large as the
wall allows, and the last above, twice as broad as
any of the others and bounded by the arch of the
vaulting; and on the left hand wall are also seven
scenes from the life of S. John the Baptist. The
first on the right hand wall is the Expulsion of
Joachim from the Temple, wherein patience is
depicted in his countenance, with that contempt and
hatred in the faces of the others which the Jews
felt for those who came to the Temple without having
children. In this scene, in the part near the
window, are four men portrayed from life, one of
whom, old, shaven, and wearing a red cap, is Alesso
Baldovinetti, Domenico's master in painting and in
mosaic. Another, bare- headed, who is holding one
hand on his side and is wearing a red mantle, with a
blue garment below, is Domenico himself, the master
of the work, who portrayed himself in a mirror. The
one who has long black locks and thick lips is
Bastiano da San Gimignano, his disciple and
brother-in- law; and the last, who has his back
turned, with a little cap on his head, is the
painter David Ghirlandajo, his brother. All these
are said, by those who knew them, to be truly vivid
and lifelike portraits.
In the second scene is the Nativity of Our Lady,
executed with great diligence, and, among other
notable things that he painted therein, there is in
the building (drawn in perspective) a window that
gives light to the room, which deceives all who see
it. Besides this, while S. Anna is in bed, and
certain ladies are visiting her, he painted some
women washing the Madonna with great care one is
getting ready the water, another is preparing the
swaddling clothes, a third is busy with some
service, a fourth with another, and, while each is
attending to her own duty, another woman is holding
the little child in her arms and making her laugh by
smiling at her, with a womanly grace truly worthy of
such a work ; besides many other expressions that
are in each figure. In the third, which is above the
first, is the Madonna ascending the steps of the
Temple, with a building which recedes from the eye
correctly enough, in addition to a nude figure that
brought him praise at that time, when few were to be
seen, although it had not that complete perfection
which is shown by those painted in our own day, for
those masters were not as excellent as ours. Next to
this is the Marriage of Our Lady, wherein he
represented the unbridled rage of those who are
breaking their rods because they do not blossom like
that of Joseph; and this scene has an abundance of
figures in an appropriate building. In the fifth are
seen the Magi arriving in Bethlehem with a great
number of men, horses, and dromedaries, and a
variety of other things a scene truly well composed.
Next to this is the sixth, showing the impious
cruelty practised by Herod against the Innocents,
wherein there is seen a most beautiful combat
between women and soldiers, with horses that are
striking and driving them about; and in truth this
is the best of all the stories that are to be seen
by his hand, for it is executed with judgment,
intelligence, and great art. There may be seen
therein the impious resolution of those who, at the
command of Herod, without regard for the mothers,
are slaying those poor infants, among which is one,
still clinging to the breast, that is dying from
wounds received in its throat, so that it is
sucking, not to say drinking, as much blood as milk
from that breast an effect truly natural, and, being
wrought in such a manner as it is, able to kindle a
spark of pity in the coldest heart. There is also a
soldier who has seized a child by force, and while
he runs off with it, pressing it against his breast
to kill it, the mother is seen hanging from his hair
in the utmost fury, and forcing him to bend his back
in the form of an arch, so that three very beautiful
effects are shown among them one in the death of the
child, which is seen expiring; the second in the
impious rage of the soldier, who, feeling himself
drawn backwards so strangely, is shown in the act of
avenging himself on the child; and the third is that
the mother, seeing the death of her babe, is seeking
with fury, grief, and disdain to prevent the villain
from going off scathless; and the whole is truly
more the work of a philosopher admirable in judgment
than of painter. There are many other emotions
depicted, which will demonstrate to him who studies
them that this man was without doubt an excellent
master in this time.
Above this, in the seventh scene, which embraces
the space of two, and is bounded by the arch of the
vaulting, are the Death and the Assumption of Our
Lady, with an infinite number of angels, and
innumerable figures, landscapes, and other
ornaments, of which he used to paint an abundance in
his facile and practised manner. On the other wall
are stories of S. John, and in the first is
Zacharias sacrificing in the Temple, when the Angel
appears to him and makes him dumb for his unbelief.
In this scene, showing how sacrifices in temples are
ever attended by a throng of the most distinguished
men, and wishing to make it as honorable as he was
able, he portrayed a good number of the Florentine
citizens who then governed that State, particularly
all those of the house of Tornabuoni, both young and
old. Besides this, in order to show that his age was
rich in every sort of talent, above all in learning,
he made a group of four half-length figures
conversing together at the foot of the scene,
representing the most learned men then to be found
in Florence. The first of these, who is wearing the
dress of a Canon, is Messer Marsilio Ficino; the
second, in a red mantle, with a black band round his
neck, is Cristofano Landino; the figure turning
towards him is Demetrius the Greek; and he who is
standing between them, with one hand slightly
raised, is Messer Angelo Poliziano; and all are very
lifelike and vivacious. In the second scene, next to
this, there follows the Visitation of Our Lady to S.
Elizabeth, with a company of many women dressed in
costumes of those times, among whom is a portrait of
Ginevra de' Benci, then a most beautiful maiden.
In the third, above the first, is the birth of S.
John, wherein there is a very beautiful scene, for
while S. Elizabeth is lying in bed, and certain
neighbours come to see her, and the nurse is seated
suckling the infant, one woman is joyfully demanding
it from her, that she may show to the others what an
unexampled feat the mistress of the house has
performed in her old age. Finally, there is a woman,
who is very beautiful, bringing fruits and flasks
from the country, according to the Florentine
custom. In the fourth scene, next to this, is
Zacharias, still dumb, marvelling but with undaunted
heart that this child should have been born to him;
and while they keep asking him about the name, he is
writing on his knee, with his eyes fixed on his son,
whom a woman who has knelt down before him is
holding reverently in her arms, and he is tracing
with his pen on the paper, "John shall be his name,"
to the no little marvel of many other figures, who
appear to be in doubt whether the thing be true or
not. There follows in the fifth his preaching to the
multitude, in which scene there is shown that
attention which the populace ever gives when hearing
new things, particularly in the heads of the
Scribes, who, while listening to John, appear from a
certain expression of countenance to be deriding his
law, and even to hate it; and there are seen many
men and women, variously attired, both standing and
seated. In the sixth S. John is seen baptizing
Christ, in whose reverent expression Domenico showed
very clearly the faith that should be placed in such
a Sacrament. And since this did not fail to achieve
a very great effect, he depicted many already naked
and barefooted, waiting to be baptized, and
revealing faith and willingness carved hi their
faces; and one among them, who is taking off his
shoe, personifies readiness itself. In the last,
which is in the arch next to the vaulting, are the
sumptuous Feast of Herod and the Dance of Herodias,
with an infinite number of servants perform- ing
various services in that scene; not to mention the
grandeur of an edifice drawn in perspective, which
proves the talent of Domenico no less clearly than
do the other pictures.
The panel, which stands by itself, he executed in
distemper, as he did the other figures in the six
pictures. Besides the Madonna, who is seated in the
sky with the Child in her arms, and the other saints
who are round her, there are S. Laurence and S.
Stephen, who are absolutely alive, with S. Vincent
and S. Peter Martyr, who lack nothing save speech.
It is true that a part of this panel remained
unfinished in consequence of his death ; but he had
carried it so far on that there was nothing left to
complete save certain figures on the back, where
there is the Resurrection of Christ, with three
figures in the other pictures, and the whole was
afterwards finished by Benedetto and David
Ghirlandajo, his brothers. This chapel was held to
be a very beautiful work, grand, ornate, and lovely,
through the vivacity of the colours, through the
masterly finish in their application on the walls,
and because very little retouching was done on the
dry, not to mention the invention and the
composition of the subjects . And in truth Domenico
deserves the greatest praise on all accounts,
particularly for the liveliness of the heads, which,
being portrayed from nature, present to every eye
most lifelike effigies of many distinguished
persons. >P>For the same Giovanni Tornabuoni, at his
Villa of Casso Maccherelli, which stands on the
River Terzolle at no great distance from the city,
he painted a chapel which has since been half
destroyed through being too near to the river; but
the paintings, although they have been un- covered
for many years, continually washed by rain and
scorched by the sun, have remained so fresh that one
might think they had been covered so great is the
value of working in fresco, when the work is done
with care and judgment and not retouched on the dry.
He also made many figures of Florentine Saints, with
most beautiful adornments, in that hall of the
Palace of the Signoria which contains the marvellous
clock of Lorenzo della Volpaia. And so great was his
love of working and of giving satisfaction to all,
that he commanded his lads to accept any work that
might be brought to his shop, even hoops for women's
baskets,; saying that if they would not do them he
would paint them himself, to the end that none might
leave the shop unsatisfied. But when household cares
fell upon him he was troubled, and he therefore laid
the charge of all expenditure on his brother David,
saying to him, "Leave me to work, and do thou
provide, for now that I have begun to understand the
methods of this art, it grieves me that they will
not commission me to paint the whole circuit of the
walls of the city of Florence with stories"; thus
revealing a spirit absolutely invincible and
resolute in every action.
For S. Martino in Lucca he painted S. Peter and
S. Paul on a panel. In the Abbey of Settimo, without
Florence, he painted the wall of the principal
chapel in fresco, with two panels in distemper in
the tramezzo* of the church. In Florence, also, he
executed many pictures, round, square, and of other
kinds, which can only be seen in the houses of
individual citizens. In Pisa he painted the recess
behind the high- altar of the Duomo, and he worked
in many parts of that city, painting, for example,
on the front wall of the Office of Works, a scene of
King Charles, portrayed from life, making
supplication for Pisa; and two panels in distemper,
that of the high altar and another, for the Frati
Gesuati in S. Girolamo. In that place there is also
a picture of S. Rocco and S. Sebastian by the hand
of the same man, which was given by one or other of
the Medici to those fathers, who have therefore
added to it the arms of Pope Leo X.
He is said to have been so accurate in
draughtsmanship, that, when making drawings of the
antiquities of Rome, such as arches, baths, columns,
colossea, obelisks, amphitheatres, and aqueducts, he
would work with the eye alone, without rule,
compasses, or measurements; and after he had made
them, on being measured, they were found absolutely
correct, as if he had used measurements. He drew the
Colosseum by the eye, placing at the foot of it a
figure standing upright, from the proportions of
which the whole edifice could be measured; this was
tried by some masters after his death, and found
quite correct.
Over a door of the cemetery of S. Maria Nuova he
painted a S. Michael in fresco, clad in armor which
reflects the light most beautifully a thing seldom
done before his day. At the Abbey of Passignano, a
seat of the Monks of Vallombrosa, he wrought certain
works in company with his brother David and Bastiano
da San Gimignano. Here the two others, finding
themselves poorly fed by the monks before the
arrival of Domenico, complained to the Abbot,
praying him to have them better served, since it was
not right that they should be treated like
bricklayers' laborers. This the Abbot promised to
do, saying in excuse that it was due more to the
ignorance of the monks who looked after strangers
than to malice. Domenico arrived, but everything
continued just the same; whereupon David, seeking
out the Abbot once again, declared with due
apologies that he was not doing this for his own
sake but on account of the merits and talents of his
brother. But the Abbot, like the ignorant man that
he was, made no other answer. That evening, then,
when they had sat down to supper, up came the
stranger's steward with a board covered with bowls
and messes only fit for a hangman, exactly the same
as before. Thereupon David, flying into a rage,
upset the soup over the friar, and, seizing the loaf
that was on the table, fell upon him with it and
belabored him in such a manner that he was carried
away to his cell more dead than alive. The Abbot,
who was already in bed, got up and ran to the noise,
believing that the monastery was tumbling down; and
finding the friar in a sorry plight, he began to
upbraid David. Enraged by this, David bade him be
gone out of his sight, saying that the talent of
Domenico was worth more than all the pigs of Abbots
like him that had ever lived in that monastery.
Whereupon the Abbot, seeing himself in the wrong,
did his utmost from that time onwards to treat them
like the important men that they were.
This work finished, Domenico returned to
Florence, where he painted a panel for Signor di
Carpi, sending another to Rimini for Signor Carlo
Malatesta, who had it placed in his chapel in S.
Domenico. The latter panel was in distemper, with
three very beautiful figures, and with little scenes
below ; and behind were figures painted to look like
bronze, with very great design and art. Besides
these, he painted two panels for the Abbey of S.
Giusto, a seat of the Order of Camaldoli, without
Volterra ; these panels, which are wondrously
beautiful, he executed at the order of the
Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, for the reason that
the abbey was then held "in commendam" by his son
Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, who was afterwards
Pope Leo. This abbey was restored not many years ago
by the Very Reverend Messer Giovan Batista Bava of
Volterra, who likewise held it "in commendam," to
the said Congregation of Camaldoli.
Being then summoned to Siena through the agency
of the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, Domenico
undertook to adorn the facade of the Duomo with
mosaics, Lorenzo acting as surety for him in this
work to the extent of 20,000 ducats. And he began
the work with much confidence and a better manner,
but, being overtaken by death, he left it unfinished
; even as, by reason of the death of the aforesaid
Magnificent Lorenzo, there remained unfinished at
Florence the Chapel of S. Zanobi, on which Domenico
had begun to work in mosaic in company with the
illuminator Gherardo. By the hand of Domenico is a
very beautiful Annunciation in mosaic that is to be
seen over that side door of S. Maria del Fiore which
leads to the Servi; and nothing better than this has
yet been seen among the works of our modern masters
of mosaic. Domenico used to say that painting was
mere drawing, and that the true painting for
eternity was mosaic.
A pupil of his, who lived with him in order to
learn, was Bastiano Mainardi da San Gimignano, who
became a very able master of his manner in fresco;
wherefore he went with Domenico to San Gimignano,
where they painted in company the Chapel of S. Fina,
which is a beautiful work. Now the faithful and
willing service of Bastiano, who acquitted himself
very well, induced Domenico to judge him worthy to
have a sister of his own for wife; and so their
friendship was changed into relationship a proof of
liberality worthy of a loving master, who was
pleased to reward the proficiency that his disciple
had acquired by labouring at his art. Domenico
caused the said Bastiano to paint a Madonna
ascending into Heaven in the Chapel of the
Baroncelli and Bandini in S. Croce (although he made
the cartoon himself), with S. Thomas below receiving
the Girdle a beautiful work in fresco. In Siena, in
an apartment of the Palace of the Spannocchi,
Domenico and Bastiano together painted many scenes
in distemper, with little figures ; and in Pisa, in
addition to the aforesaid recess in the Duomo, they
filled the whole arch of that chapel with angels,
besides painting the folding doors that close the
organ, and beginning to overlay the ceiling with
gold. Afterwards, just when Domenico was about to
put his hand to some very great works both in Pisa
and in Siena, he fell sick of a most grievous putrid
fever, which cut short his life in five days. As he
lay ill, the Tornabuoni sent him a hundred ducats of
gold as a gift, proving their regard and particular
friendship for Domenico in return for his unceasing
labours in the service of Giovanni and of his house.
Domenico lived forty-four years, and he was buried
with beautiful obsequies in S. Maria Novella by his
brothers David and Benedetto and his son Ridolfo,
amid much weeping and sorrowful regrets. The loss of
so great a man was a great grief to his friends; and
many excellent foreign painters, hearing that he was
dead, wrote to his relatives lamenting his most
untimely death. The disciples that he left were
David and Benedetto Ghirlandajo, Bastiano Mainardi
da San Gimignano, the Florentine Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, Francesco Granaccio, Niccold Cieco,
Jacopo del Tedesco, Jacopo dell' Indaco, Baldino
Baldinelli, and other masters, all Florentines. He
died in 1495.
Domenico enriched the art of painting by working
in mosaic with a manner more modern than was shown
by any of the innumerable Tuscans who essayed it, as
is proved by the works that he wrought, few though
they may be. Wherefore he has deserved to be held in
honour and esteem for such rich and undying benefits
to art, and to be celebrated with extraordinary
praises after his death.
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ANTONIO (1429-1498) and PIERO POLLAIUOLO
(1443-1496)
PAINTERS and SCULPTORS OF FLORENCE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
MANY MEN BEGIN in a humble spirit with
unimportant works, who, gaining courage from
proficiency, grow also in power and ability, in such
a manner that they aspire to greater undertakings
and almost reach Heaven with their beautiful
thoughts. Raised by fortune, they very often chance
upon some liberal Prince, who, finding himself well
served by them, is forced to remunerate their labors
so richly that their descen- dants derive great
benefits and advantages from them. Wherefore such
men walk through this life to the end with so much
glory, that they leave marvellous memorials of
themselves to the world, as did Antonio and Piero
del Pollaiuolo, who were greatly esteemed in their
day for the rare acquirements that they had made
with their industry and labour.
These men were born in the city of Florence, one
no long time after the other [sic], from a father of
humble station and no great wealth, who, recognizing
by many signs the good and acute intelligence of his
sons, but not having the means to educate them in
letters, apprenticed Antonio to the goldsmith's art
under Bartoluccio Ghiberti, a very excellent master
in that calling at that time; and Piero he placed
under Andrea dal Castagno, who was then the best
painter in Florence, to learn painting. Antonio,
then, being pushed on by Bartoluccio, not only
learnt to set jewels and to fire enamels on silver,
but was also held the best master of the tools of
that art. Wherefore Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was then
working on the doors of S. Giovanni, having observed
the manner of Antonio, called him into that work in
company with many other young men, and set him to
labor on one of the festoons which he then had in
hand. On this Antonio made a quail which is still in
existence, so beautiful and so perfect that it lacks
nothing but the power of flight. Antonio, therefore,
had not spent many weeks over this work before he
was known as the best, both in design and in patient
execution, of all those who were working there, and
as more gifted and more diligent than any other.
Whereupon, growing ever both in ability and in fame,
he left Bartoluccio and Lorenzo, and opened a fine
and magnificent goldsmith's shop for himself in the
Mercato Nuovo in that city. And for many years he
followed that art, never ceasing to make new
designs, and executing in relief wax candles and
other things of fancy, which in a short time caused
him to be held as he was the first master of his
calling.
There lived at the same time another goldsmith
called Maso Finiguerra, who had an extraordinary
fame, and deservedly, since there had never been
seen any master of engraving and of niello who could
make so great a number of figures as he could,
whether in a small or in a large space; as is still
proved by certain paxes in the Church of S. Giovanni
in Florence, wrought by him with most minutely
elaborated stories from the Passion of Christ. This
man drew very well and in abundance, and in our book
are many of his drawings of figures, both draped and
nude, and scenes done in watercolor. In competition
with him Antonio executed certain scenes, in which
he equalled him in diligence and surpassed him in
design; wherefore the Consuls of the Guild of
Merchants, seeing the excellence of Antonio, and
remembering that there were certain scenes in silver
to be wrought for the altar of S. Giovanni, such as
it had ever been the custom for various masters to
make at different times, determined among themselves
that Antonio also should make some. This came to
pass; and his works turned out so excellent, that
they are recognized as the best among them all.
These were the Feast of Herod and the Dance of
Herodias; but more beautiful than anything else was
the S. John that is in the middle of the altar, a
work wrought wholly with the chasing-tool, and much
extolled. For this reason he was commissioned by the
said Consuls to make the candelabra of silver, each
three braccia in height, and the Cross in
proportion; which work he brought to such
perfection, with such an abundance of carving, that
it has ever been esteemed a marvellous thing both by
foreigners and by his countrymen. In this calling he
took infinite pains, both with the works that he
executed in gold and with those in enamel and
silver. Among these are some very beautiful paxes in
S. Giovanni, colored by the action of fire, which
are such that they could be scarcely improved with
the brush; and some of his marvellous enamels may be
seen in other churches in Florence, Rome, and other
parts of Italy.
He taught this art to the Florentine Mazzingo and
to Giuliano del Facchino, both passing good masters,
and to Giovanni Turini of Siena, who surpassed these
his companions considerably in that profession, in
which, from Antonio di Salvi who made many good
works, such as a large silver Cross for the Badia of
Florence, and other things to our own day, there has
been nothing done than can be held in particular
account. But of his works and of those of the
Pollaiuoli many have been destroyed and melted down
to meet the necessities of the city in times of war.
For this reason, recognizing that this art gave
no long life to the labors of its craftsmen, and
desiring to gain a more lasting memory, Antonio
resolved to pursue it no longer. And so, his brother
Piero being a painter, he associated himself with
him in order to learn the methods of handling and
using colors; but it appeared to him an art so
different from the goldsmith's, that, if he had not
been so hasty in resolving to abandon his own art
entirely, it might well have been that he would
never have brought himself to turn to the other.
However, spurred by fear of shame rather than by
hope of profit, in a few months he acquired a
practical knowledge of coloring and became an
excellent master. He associated himself entirely
with Piero, and they made many pictures in company ;
among others, since they took great delight in
colour, a panel in oil in S. Miniato al Monte
without Florence, for the Cardinal of Portugal. On
this panel, which was placed on the altar of his
chapel, they painted S. James the Apostle, S.
Eustace, and S. Vincent, which have been much
extolled. Piero, in particular, painted certain
prophets on the wall in oil (a method that he had
learnt from Andrea dal Castagno), in the corners of
the angles below the architrave, where the lunettes
of the arches run; and in one of the lunettes he
painted the Virgin receiving the Annunciation, with
three figures. For the Capitani di Parte he painted
a Madonna with the Child in her arms in a lunette,
with a frieze of seraphim all round, also wrought in
oil.
They also painted in oil, on canvas, on a
pilaster of S. Michele in Orto, an Angel Raphael
with Tobias; and they made certain Virtues in the
Mercatanzia of Florence, in the very place where
that Tribunal holds its sittings. In the
Proconsulate Antonio made portraits from life of
Messer Poggio, Secretary to the Signoria of
Florence, who continued the History of Florence
after Messer Leonardo d'Arezzo, and of Messer
Giannozzo Manetti, a man of no small learning and
repute, in the same place where other masters some
time before had made portraits of Zanobi da Strada,
a poet of Florence, Donato Acciaiuoli, and others.
In the Chapel of the Pucci, in S. Sebastiano de'
Servi, he painted the panel of the altar, which is a
rare and excellent work, containing marvellous
horses, nudes, and very beautiful figures in
foreshortening, and S. Sebastian himself portrayed
from life namely, from Gino di Lodovico Capponi.
This work received greater praise than any other
that Antonio ever made, since, seeking to imitate
nature to the utmost of his power, he showed in one
of the archers, who is resting his cross-bow against
his chest and bending down to the ground in order to
load it, all the force that a man of strong arm can
exert in loading that weapon, for we see his veins
and muscles swelling, and the man himself holding
his breath in order to gain more strength. Nor is
this the only figure wrought with careful
consideration, for all the others in their various
attitudes also demonstrate clearly enough the
thought and the intelligence that he put into this
work, which was certainly appreciated by Antonio
Pucci, who gave him 300 crowns for it, declaring
that he was barely paying him for the colors. It was
finished in the year 1475.
Gaining courage from this, therefore, he painted
at S. Miniato fra le Torri, without the Gate, a S.
Cristopher ten braccia in height, a very beautiful
work executed in a modern manner, the figure being
better proportioned than any other of that size that
had been made up to that time. He then made a
Crucifix with S. Antonino, on canvas, which was
placed in the chapel of that Saint in S. Marco. In
the Palace of the Signoria of Florence, at the Porta
della Catena, he made a S. John the Baptist; and in
the house of the Medici he painted for the elder
Lorenzo three figures of Hercules in three pictures,
each five braccia in height. The first of these,
which is slaying Antaeus, is a very beautiful
figure, in which the strength of Hercules as he
crushes the other is seen most vividly, for the
muscles and nerves of that figure are all strained
in the struggle to destroy Antaeus. The head of
Hercules shows the gnashing of the teeth so well in
harmony with the other parts, that even the toes of
his feet are raised in the effort. Nor did he take
less pains with Antaeus, who, crushed in the arms of
Hercules, is seen sinking and losing all his
strength, and giving up his breath through his open
mouth. The second Hercules, who is slaying the Lion,
has the left knee pressed against its chest, and,
setting his teeth and extending his arms, and
grasping the Lion's jaws with both his hands, he is
opening them and rending them asunder by main force,
although the beast is tearing his arms grievously
with its claws in self-defence. The third picture,
wherein Hercules is slaying the Hydra, is something
truly marvellous, particularly the serpent, which he
made so lively and so natural in coloring that
nothing could be made more lifelike. In that beast
are seen venom, fire, ferocity, rage, and such
vivacity, that he deserves to be celebrated and to
be closely imitated in this by all good craftsmen.
For the Company of S. Angelo in Arezzo he
executed an oil painting on cloth, with a Crucifix
on one side, and on the other S. Michael in combat
with the Dragon, as beautiful as any work that there
is to be seen by his hand; for the figure of S.
Michael, who is bravely confronting the Dragon,
setting his teeth and knitting his brows, truly
seems to have descended from Heaven in order to
effect the vengeance of God against the pride of
Lucifer, and it is indeed a marvellous work. He had
a more modern grasp of the nude than the masters
before his day, and he dissected many bodies in
order to study their anatomy. He was the first to
demonstrate the method of searching out the muscles,
in order that they might have their due form and
place in his figures, and he engraved on copper a
battle of nude figures all girt round with a chain;
and after this one he made other engravings, with
much better workmanship than had been shown by the
other masters who had lived before him.
For these reasons, then, he became famous among
craftsmen, and after the death of Pope Sixtus IV he
was summoned by his successor, Pope Innocent, to
Rome, where he made a tomb of metal for the said
Innocent, wherein he portrayed him from nature,
seated in the attitude of giving the Benediction;
and this was placed in S. Pietro. That of the said
Pope Sixtus, which was finished at very great cost,
was placed in the chapel that is called by the name
of that Pontiff. It stands quite by itself, with
very rich adornments, and on it there lies an
excellent figure of the Pope ; and the tomb of
Innocent stands in S. Pietro, beside the chapel that
contains the Lance of Christ. It is said that the
same man designed the Palace of the Belvedere for
the said Pope Innocent, although, since he had
little experience of building, it was erected by
others. Finally, after becoming rich, these two
brothers died almost at the same time in 1498, and
were buried by their relatives in S. Pietro in
Vincula; and in memory of them, beside the middle
door, on the left as one enters into the church,
there were placed two medallions of marble with
their portraits and with the following epitaph:
ANTONIUS PULLARIUS PATRIA FLORENTINUS, PICTOR
INSIGNIS, QUI DUORUM PONTIF. XISTI ET INNOCENTII
^EREA MONIMENTA MIRO OPIFIC. EXPRESSIT, RE FAMIL.
COMPOSITA EX TEST. HIC SE CUM PETRO FRATRE CONDI
VOLUIT. VIX. AN. LXXII. OBIIT ANNO SAL. MUD.
The same man made a very beautiful battle of nude
figures in low relief and of metal, which went to
Spain; of this every craftsman in Florence has a
plaster cast. And after his death there were found
the design and model that he had made at the command
of Lodovico Sforza for the equestrian statue of
Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, of which design
there are two forms in our book; in one the Duke has
Verona beneath him, and in the other he is on a
pedestal covered with battle pieces, in full armor,
and forcing his horse to leap on a man in armour.
But the reason why he did not put these designs into
execution I have not yet been able to discover. The
same man made some very beautiful medals; among
others, one representing the conspiracy of the
Pazzi, containing on one side the heads of Lorenzo
and Giuliano de* Medici, and on the reverse the
choir of S. Maria del Fiore, with the whole event
exactly as it happened. He also made the medals of
certain Pontiffs, and many other things that are
known to craftsmen.
Antonio was seventy-two years of age when he died,
and Piero sixty-five. The former left many
disciples, among whom was Andrea Sansovino. Antonio
had a most fortunate life in his day, finding rich
Pontiffs, and his own city at the height of its
greatness and delighting in talent, wherefore he was
much esteemed; whereas, if he had chanced to live in
an unfavorable age, he would not have produced such
fruits as he did, since troublous times are deadly
enemies to the sciences in which men labor and take
delight.
For S. Giovanni in Florence, after the design of
this man, there were made two dalmatics, a chasuble,
and a cope, of double brocade, all woven in one
piece without a single seam ; and for these, as
borders and ornaments, there were embroidered the
stories of the life of S. John, with most delicate
workmanship and art, by Paolo da Verona, a divine
master of that profession and rare in intelligence
beyond all others, who executed the figures no less
well with the needle than Antonio would have done
them with his brush; wherefore we owe no small
obliga- tion to the one for his design and to the
other for his patience in em- broidering it. This
work took twenty-six years to complete; but of these
embroideries, which, being made with the close
stitch, are not only more durable but also seem like
a real painting done with the brush, the good method
is now all but lost, since we now use a more open
stitch, which is less durable and less lovely to the
eye.
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SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1447-1510)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
At the same time with the elder Lorenzo'de
Medici, the Magnificent, which was truly a golden
age for men of intellect, there also flourished one
Alessandro, called Sandro after our custom, and
surnamed Di Botticello for a reason that we shall
see below. This man was the son of Mariano
Filipeppi, a citizen of Florence, who brought him up
with care, and had him instructed in all those
things that are usually taught to children before
they are old enough to be apprenticed to some
calling. But although he found it easy to learn
whatever he wished, nevertheless he was ever
restless, nor was he contented with any form of
learning, whether reading, writing, or arithmetic,
insomuch that his father, eary of the vagaries of
his son's brain, in despair apprenticed him as a
goldsmith with a boon-companion of his own, called
Botticello, no mean master of that art in his day.
Now in that age there was a very close
connection--nay, almost a constant
communication--between the goldsmiths and the
painters; wherefore Sandro, who was a ready fellow
and had devoted himself wholly to design, became
enamored ob painting, and determined to devote
himself to that. For this reason he spoke out his
mind freely to his father, who, recognizing the
inclination of his brain, took him to Fra Filippo of
the Carmine, a most excellent painter of that time,
with whom he placed him to learn the art, according
to Sandro's own desire. Thereupon, devoting himself
heart and soul to that art, Sandro followed and
imitated his master so well that Fra Filippo,
growing to love him, taught him very thoroughly, so
that he soon rose to such a rank as none would have
expected for him.
While still quite young, he painted a figure of
Fortitude in the Mercatanzia of Florence, among the
pictures of Virtues that were wrought by Antonio and
Piero del Pollaiuolo. For the Chapel of the Bardi in
S. Spirito at Florence he painted a panel, wrought
with diligence and brought to a fine completion,
which contains certain olive-trees and palms
executed with consummate lovingness. He painted a
panel for the Convertite Nuns, and another for those
of S. Barnaba. In the tramezzo of the Ognissanti, by
the dooor that leads into the choir, he painted for
the Vespucci a S. Augustine in fresco, with which he
took very great pains, seeking to surpass all the
painters of his time, and particularly Domenico
Ghirlandaio, who had made a S. Jerome on the other
side; and this work won very great praise, for in
the head of that Saint he depicted the profound
meditation and acute subtlety that are found in men
of wisdom who are ever concentrated on the
investigation of the highest and most difficult
matters. This picture, as was said in the Life of
Ghirlandaio has this year (1564) been removed safe
and sound from its original position.
Having thus come into credit and reputation, he
was commissioned by the Guild of Porta Santa Maria
to paint in s. Marco a panel with the Coronation of
Our Lady and a choir of angels, which he designed
and executed very well. He made many works in the
hour of the Medici for the elder Lorenzo,
particularly a Pallas on a devie of great branches,
which spouted forth fire: this he painted of the
size of life, as he did a S. Sebastian. In S. Maria
Maggiore in Florence, beside the Chapel of the
Panciatichi, there is a very beautiful Pieta' with
little figures. For various houses throughout the
city he painted round pictures, and many female
nudes, of which there are still two at Castello, a
villa of Duke Cosimo's; one representing the birth
of Venus, with those Winds and Zephyrs that bring
her to the earth, with the Cupids; and likewise
another Venus, whom the Graces are covering with
flowers as a symbol of spring; and all this he is
seen to have expressed very gracefully. Round an
apartment of the house of Giovanni Vespucci, now
belonging to Piero Salviati, in the Via de'Servi, he
made many pictures wich were enclosed by frames of
walnut-wood, by way of ornament and panelling, with
many most lively and beautiful figures.
In the house of the Pucci, likewise, he painted
with little figures Boccaccio's tale of Nastagio
degli Onesti in four square pictures of most
charming and beautiful workmanship, and the Epiphany
in a round picture. For a chapel in the Monastery of
Cestello he painted an Annunciation on a panel. Near
the side-door of S. Pietro Maggiore, for Matteo
Palmieri, he painted a panel with an infinite number
of figures--namely, the Assumption of Our Lady, with
the Zones of Heaven as they are represented, and the
Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles, the
Evangelists, the Martyrs, the Confessors, the
Doctors, the Virgins, and the Hierarchies; all from
the design given to him by Matteo, who was a learned
and able man. This work he painted with mastery and
consummate diligence; and at the foot is a portrait
of Matteo on his knees, with that of his wife. But
for all that the work is most beautiful, and should
have silenced envy, nevertheless there were certain
malignant slanderers who, not being able to do it
any other damange, said that both Matteo and Sandro
had committed therein the grievous sin of heresy. As
to whether this be true or false, I cannot be
expected to judge; it is enough that the figures
painted therein by Sandro are truly worthy of
praise, by reason of the pains that he took in
drawing the zones of Heaven and in the distribution
of figures, angels, foreshortenings, and views, all
varied in diverse ways, the whole being executed
with good design.
At this time Sandro was commissioned to paint a
little panel with figures three-quarters of a
braccio in length, which was placed between two
doors in the principal facade of S. Maria Novella,
on the left as one enters the church by the door of
the center. It contains the Adoration of the Magi,
and wonderful feeling is seen in the first old man,
who, kissing the foot of Our Lord, and melting with
tenderness, shows very clearly that he was achieved
the end of his long journey. The figure of this King
is an actual portrait of the elder Cosimo de'Medici,
the most lifelike and most natural that is to be
found of him in our own day. The second, who is
Giuliano de'Medici, father of Pope Clement VII, is
seen devoutly doing reveence to the Child was a most
intent expression, and presenting Him with his
offering. The third, also on his knees, appears to
be adoring Him and giving Him thanks, while
confessing that He is the true Messiah; this is
Giovanni, son of Cosimo.
It is not possible to describe the beauty that
Sandro depicted in the heads that are therein seen,
which are drawn in various attitudes, some in full
face, some in profile, some in three-quarter face,
others bending down, and others, again, in various
manners; with different expressions for the young
and the old, and with all the bizarre effects that
reveal to us the perfection of his skill; and he
distinguished the Courts of the three Kings one from
another, insomuch that one can see which are the
retainers of each. This is truly a most admirable
work, and executed so beautifully, whether in
coloring, drawing, or composition, that every
craftsman at the present day stands in a marvel
thereat. And at that time it brought him such great
fame, both in Florence and abroad, that Pope Sixtus
IV, having accomplished the building of the chapel
of his palace in Rome, and wishing to have it
painted, ordained that he should be made head of
that work; whereupon he painted therein with his own
hand the following scenes--namely, the Temptation of
Christ by the Devil, Moses slaying the Egyptian,
Moses receiving drink from the daughters of Jethro
the Midianite, and likewise fire descending from
Heaven on the sacrifice of the sons of Aaron, with
certain Sanctified Popes in the niches above the
scenes. Having therefore acquired still greater fame
and reputation among the great number of competitors
who worked with him, both Florentines and ment of
other cities, he received from the Pope a good sum
of money, the whole of which he consumed and
squandered in a moment during his residence in Rome,
where he lived in haphazard fashion, as was his
wont.
Having at the same time finished and unveiled the
part that had been assigned to him, he returned
immediately to Florence, where, being a man of
inquiring maind, he made a commentary on part of
Dante, illustrated the Inferno, and printed it; on
which he wasted much of his time, bringing infinite
disorder into his life by neglicting his work. He
also printed many of the drawings that he had made,
but in a bad manner, for the engraving was poorly
done. The best of these that is to be seen by his
hand is the Triumph of the Faith effected by Fra
Girolamo Savonarola of Ferrara, of whose sect he was
so ardent a partisan that he was thereby induced to
desert his painting, and, having no income to live
on, fell into very great distress. For this reason,
persisting in his attachement to that party, and
becoming a Piagnone [Mourner, or Weeper] (as the
members of the sect were then called), he abandoned
his work; wherefore he ended in his old age by
finding himself so poor, that if Lorenzo de'Medici,
for whom, besides many other things, he had done
some work at the little hospital in the district of
Volterra, had not succoured him the while that he
lived, as did afterwards his friends and many
excellent men who loved him for his talent, he would
have almost died of hunger.
In S. Francesco, without the Porta a San Miniato,
there is a Madonna in a round picture by the hand of
Sandro, with some angels of the size of life, which
was held a very beautiful work. Sandra was a man of
very pleasant humor, often playing tricks on his
disciples and his friends; wherefore it is related
that once, when a pupil of his who was called Biagio
had made a round picture exactly like the one
mentioned above, in order to sell it, Sandro sold it
for six florins of gold to a citizen; then, finding
Biagio, he said to him, "At last I have sold this
thy picture; so this evening it must be hung on
high, where it will be seen better, and in the
morning though must go to the house of the citizen
who has bought, and bring him here, that he may see
it in good light in its proper place; and then he
will pay thee the money." "Oh, my master," said
Biagio,"how well you have done." Then, going ino the
shop, he hung the picture at a good height, and went
off. Meanwhile Sandro and Jacopo, who was another of
his disciples, made eight caps of paper, like those
worn by citizens, and fixed them with white wax on
the heads of the eight angels that surrounded the
Madonna in the said picture. Now, in the morning, up
comes Biagio with his citizen, who had bought the
picture and was in the secret. They entered the
shop, and Biagio, looking up, saw his Madonna
seated, not among his angels, but among the Signoria
of Florence, with all those caps. Thereupon he was
just about to begin to make an outcry and to excuse
himself to the man who had bought it, when, seeing,
that the other, instead of complaining, was actually
praising the picture, he kept silent himself.
Finally, going with the citizen to his house, Biagio
received his payment of six florins, the price for
which his master had sold the picture; and then,
returning to the shop just as Sandro and Jacopo had
removed the paper caps, he saw his angels as true
angels, and not as citizens in their caps. All in
amaze, and not knowing what to say, he turned at
last to Sandro and said: "Master, I know not whether
I am dreaming, or whether this is true. When I came
here before, these angels had red caps on their
heads, and now they have not; what does that mean?"
"Thou art out of thy wits, Biagio," said Sandro;
"this money has turned thy head. If it were so,
thinkest thou that the citizen would have bought the
picture?" "It is true", replied Biagio, "that he
said nothing to me about it, but for all that it
seemed to me strange." Finally, all the other lads
gathered around him and wrought on him to believe
that it had been a fit of giddiness.
Another time a cloth-weaver came to live in a
house next to Sandro's, and erected no less than
eight looms, which, when at work, not only deafened
poor Sandro with the noise of the treadles and the
movement of the frames, but shook his whole house,
the walls of which were no stronger than they should
be, so that what with the one thing and the other he
could not work or even stay at home. Time after time
he besought his neighbor to put an end to this
annoyance, but the other said that he both would and
could do what he pleased in his own house; whereupon
Sandro, in disdain, balanced on the top of his own
wall, which was higher than his neighbor's and not
very strong, an enormous stone, more than enough to
fill a wagon, which threatened to fall at the
slightest shaking of the wall and to shatter the
roof, ceilings, webs, and looms of his neighbor,
who, terrified by this danger, ran to Sandro, but
was answered in his very own words--namely, that he
both could and would do whatever he please in his
own house. Nor could he get any other answer out of
him, so that he was forced to come to a reasonable
ageement and to be a good neighbor to Sandro.
It is also related that Sandro, for a jest,
accused a friend of his own of heresy before his
vicar, and the friend, on appearing, asked who the
accuser was and what the accusation; and having been
told that it was Sandro, who had charged him with
holding the opinion of the Epicureans, and believing
that the soul dies with the body, he insisted on
being confronted with the accuser before the judge.
Sandro therefore appeared, and the other said: "It
is true that I hold this opinion with regard to this
man's soul, for he is an animal. Nay, does it not
seem to you that he is the heretic, since without a
scrap of learning, and scarcely knowing how to read,
he plays the commentator to Dante and takes his name
in vain?"
It is also said that he had a surpassing love for
all whom he saw to be zealous students of art; and
that he earned much, but wasted everything through
negligence and lack of management. Finally, having
grown old and useless, and being forced to walk with
crutches, without which he could not stand upright,
he died, infirm and decrepit, at the age of
seventy-eight, and was buried in Ognissanti at
Florence in the year 1515.
In the guardaroba of the Lord Duke Cosimo there
are two very beautiful heads of women in profile by
his hand, one of which is said to be the mistress of
Giuliano de'Medici, brother of Lorenzo, and the
other Madonna Lucrezia de'Tornabuoni, wife of the
said Lorenzo. In the same place, likewise by the
hand of Sandro, is a Bacchus who is raising a cask
with both his hands, and putting it to his mouth--a
very graceful figure. And in the Duomo of Pisa he
began an Assumption, with a choir of angels, in the
Chapel of the Impagliata; but afterwards, being
displeased with it, he left it unfinished. In S.
Francesco at Montevarchi he painted the panel of the
high altar; and in the Pieve of Empoli, on the same
side as the S. Sebastian of Rossellino, he made two
angels. He was among the first to discover the
method of decorating standrds and other sorts of
hangings with the so-called inlaid work, to the end
that the colors might not fade and might show the
tint of the cloth on either side. By his hand, and
made thus, is the baldacchino of Orsanmichele,
covered with beautiful and varied figures of Our
Lady; which proves how much better such a method
preserves the cloth than does the use of mordants,
which eat it away and make its life but short,
although, being less costly, mordants are now used
more than anything else.
Sandro's drawings were extraordinarily good, and
so many, that for some time after his death all the
craftsmen strove to obtain some of them; and we have
some in our book, made with great mastery and
judgment. His scenes abounded with figures, as may
be seen from the embroidered border of the Cross
that the Friars of S. Maria Novella carry in
processions, all made from his design. Great was the
praise, then, that Sandro deserved for all the
pictures that he chose to make with diligence and
love, as he did the aforesaid panel of the Magi in
s. Maria Novella, which is marvellous. Very
beautiful, too, is a little round picture by his
hand that is seen in the apartment of the Prior of
the Angeli in Florence, in which the figures are
small but very graceful and wrought with beautiful
consideration. Of the same size as the aforesaid
panel of the Magi, and by the same man's hand, is a
picture in the possession of Messer Fabio Segni, a
gentleman of Florence, in which there is painted the
Calumny of Apelles, as beautiful as any picture
could be. Under this panel, which Sandro himself
presented to Antonio Segni, who was much his friend,
there may now by read the following verses, written
by the said Messer Fabio:
INDICIO QUEMQUAM NE FALSO LEDERE TENTENT
TERRARUM REGES, PARVA TABELLA MONET.
HUIC SIMILEM AEGYPTI REGI DONAVIT APPELLES;
REX FUIT ET DIGNUS MUNERE, MUNUS EO.
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BENEDETTO DA MAIANO (1442-1497)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
BENEDETTO DA MAIANO, a sculptor of Florence, who
was in his earliest years a wood carver, was held
the most able master of all who were then handling
the tools of that profession; and he was
particularly excellent as a craftsman in that form
of work which, as has been said elsewhere, was
introduced at the time of Filippo Brunelleschi and
Paolo Uccello--namely, the inlaying of pieces of
wood tinted with various colors, in order to make
views in perspective, foliage, and many other
diverse things of fancy. In this craft, then,
Benedetto da Maiano was in his youth the best master
that there was to be found, as is clearly
demonstrated by many works of his that are to be
seen in various parts of Florence, particularly by
all the presses in the Sacristy of Santa Maria del
Fiore, the greater part of which he finished after
the death of his uncle Giuliano; these are full of
figures executed in inlaid work, foliage, and other
devices, all wrought with great expense and
craftsmanship.
Having gained a very great name through the
novelty of this art, he made many works, which were
sent to diverse places and to various Princes; and
among others King Alfonso of Naples had the
furniture for a study, made under the direction of
Giuliano, uncle of Benedetto, who was serving that
King as architect. Benedetto himself went to join
him there; but, being displeased with the position,
he returned to Florence, where, no long time after,
he made for Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, who
had many Florentines in his court and took delight
in all rare works, a pair of coffers inlaid in wood
with difficult and most beautiful craftsmanship. He
then determined, being invited with great favor by
that King, to consent to go thither at all costs;
and so, having packed up his coffers and embarked
with them on board ship, he set off for Hungary.
There, after doing obeisance to that King, by
whom he was received most graciously, he sent for
the said coffers and had them unpacked in the
presence of the monarch, who was very eager to see
them; whereupon he saw that the damp from the water
and the exhalations from the sea had so softened the
glue, that, on the opening of the waxed cloths,
almost all the pieces which had been attached to the
coffers fell to the ground. Whether Benedetto,
therefore, in the presence of so many nobles, stood
in dumb amazement, everyone may judge for himself.
However, putting the work together as well as he was
able, he contrived to leave the King well enough
satisfied; but in spite of this he took an aversion
to that craft and could no longer endure it, through
the shame that it had brought upon him.
And so, casting off all timidity, he devoted
himself to sculpture, in which art he had already
worked at Loreto while living with his uncle
Giuliano, making a lavatory [ie, wash basin] with
certain angels of marble for the sacristy. Laboring
at this art, before he left Hungary he gave that
King to know that if he had been put to shame at the
beginning, the fault had lain with that craft, which
was a mean one, and not with his intellect, which
was rare and exalted. Having therefore made in those
parts certain works both in clay and in marble,
which gave great pleasure to that King, he returned
to Florence; and he had no sooner arrived there than
he was commissioned by the Signori to make the
marble ornament for the door of their Audience
Chamber.
For this he made some boys supporting with their
arms certain festoons, all very beautiful; but the
most beautiful part of the work was the figure in he
middle, two braccia in height, of a young St. John,
which is held to be a thing of rare excellence. And
to the end that the whole work might be by his own
hand, he made by himself the wood-work that closes
the said door, and executed a figure with inlaid
woods on either part of it, that is, Dante on one
and Petrarca on the other; which two figures are
enough to show to any man who may have seen no other
work of that kind by the hand of Benedetto, how rare
and excellent a master he was of that craft. This
Audience Chamber has been painted in our own day by
Francesco Salviati at the command of Lord Duke
Cosimo, as will be told in the proper place.
In Santa Maria Novella at Florence, where
Filippino painted the chapel, Benedetto afterwards
made a tomb of black marble, with a Madonna and
certain angels in a medallion, with much diligence,
for the elder Filippo Strozzi, whose portrait, which
he made there in marble, is now in the Strozzi
Palace. The same Benedetto was commissioned by the
elder Lorenzo de'Medici to make in Santa Maria del
Fiore a portrait of the Florentine painter Giotto,
which he placed over the epitaph, of which enough
has been said above in the Life of Giotto himself.
This piece of marble sculpture is held to be passing
good.
Having afterwards gone to Naples by reason of the
death of his uncle Giuliano, who heir he was,
Benedetto, besides certain works that he executed
for that King, made a marble panel of the the Count
of Terranuova in the Monastery of the Monks of Monte
Oliveto, containing an Annunciation with certain
saints, and surrounded by very beautiful boys, who
are supporting some festoons; and in the predella of
the said work he made many low relief carvings in a
good manner. In Faenza he made a very beautiful tomb
of marble for the body of St. Savino, and on this he
wrought six scenes in low relief from the life of
that Saint, with much invention and design both in
the buildings and in the figures; insomuch that both
from this work and from others by his hand he was
recognized as a man excellent in sculpture.
Wherefore, before he left Romagna, he was
commissioned to make a portrait of Galeotto
Malatesta. He also made one, I know not whether
before this or after, of Henry VII, King of England,
after a drawing on paper that he had received from
some Florentine merchants. The studies for these two
portraits, together with many other things, were
found in his house after his death.
Having finally returned to Florence, he made in
Santa Croce, for Pietro Mellini, a citizen of
Florence and a very rich merchant at that time, the
marble pulpit that is seen there, which is held to
be a very rare thing and more beautiful than any
other that has ever been executed in that manner,
since the marble figures that are to be seen
therein, in the stories of St. Francis, are wrought
with so great excellence and diligence that nothing
more could be looked for in marble. For with great
art Benedetto carved there trees, rocks, houses,
views in perspective, and certain things in
marvelously bold relief; not to mention a projection
on the ground below the said pulpit, which serves as
a tombstone, wrought with so much design that it is
not possible to praise it enough. It is said that in
making this work he had some difficulty with the
Wardens of Works of Santa Croce, because, while he
wished to erect the said pulpit against a column
that sustains some of the arches which support the
roof, and to perforate that column in order to
accommodate the steps and the entrance to the
pulpit, they would not consent, fearing lest it
might be so weakened by the hollow required for the
steps as to collapse under the weight above, with
great damage to a part of that church. But Mellini
having guaranteed that the work would be finished
without any injury to the church, they finally
consent. Having, therefore, bound the outer side of
the column with bands of bronze (the part, namely,
from the pulpit downwards, which is covered with
hard stone), Benedetto made within it the steps for
ascending to the pulpit, and in proportion as he
hollowed it out within, so did he strengthen the
outer side with the said hard stone, in the manner
that is still to be seen. And he brought this work
to perfection to the amazement of all who see it,
showing in each part and in the whole together the
utmost excellence that could be desired in such a
work.
Many declare that the elder Filippo Strozzi, when
intending to build his palace, sought the advice of
Benedetto, who made him a model, according to which
it was begun, although it was afterwards carried on
and finished by Cronaca on the death of Benedetto.
The latter, having acquired enough to live upon,
would do no more works in marble after those
described above, save that he finished in Santa
Trinita the St. Mary Magdalene begun by Desiderio da
Settignano, and made the Crucifix that is over the
altar of Santa Maria del Fiore, with certain others
like it.
As for architecture, although he put his hand to
but few works, yet in these he showed no less
judgment than in sculpture; particularly in three
ceilings which were made at very great expense,
under his guidance and direction, in the Palace of
the Sigornia at Florence. The first of these was the
ceiling of the hall that is now called the Sala
deUDugento, over which it was proposed to make, not
a similar hall, but two apartments, that is, a hall
and an audience chamber, so that it was necessary to
make a wall, and no light one either, containing a
marble door of reasonable thickness; wherefore, for
the execution of such a work, there was need of
intelligence and judgment no less than those
possessed by Benedetto.
Benedetto, then, in order not to diminish the
said hall and yet divide the space above into two,
went to work in the following manner. On a beam one
braccio in thickness, and as long as the whole
breadth of the hall, he laid another consisting of
two pieces, in such a manner that it projected with
its thickness to the height of two-thirds of a
braccio. At the ends, these two beams, bound and
secured together very firmly, gave a height of two
braccia at the edge of the wall on each side; and
the said two ends were grooved with a claw-shaped
cut, in such a way that there could be laid upon
them an arch of half a braccio in thickness, made of
two layers of bricks, with its flanks resting on the
principal walls. These two beams, then, were
dove-tailed together with tenon and mortise, and so
firmly bound and united with good banks of iron,
that out of two there was made one single beam.
Besides this, having made the said arch, and
wishing that these timbers of the ceiling should
have nothing more to sustain than the wall under the
arch, and that the arch itself should sustain he
rest, he also attached to this arch two great
supports of iron, which, being firmly bolted to the
said beams below, upheld and still uphold them;
while, even if they were not to suffice by
themselves, the arch would be able--by means of the
said supports which encircle the beams, one on one
side of the marble door and one on the other--to
support a weight much greater than that of the
partition wall, which is made of bricks and half a
braccio in thickness. What is more, he had the
bricks in the said wall laid on edge and in the
manner of an arch, so that the pressure came against
the solid part, at the corners, and the whole was
thus more stable. In this manner, by means of the
good judgment of Benedetto, the said Sala de'Dugento
remained as large as before, and over the same
space, with a partition wall between, were made the
hall that is called the Sala dell'Orivolo and the
Audience Chamber wherein is the Triumph of Camillus,
painted by the hand of Salviati. The soffit of this
ceiling was richly wrought and carved by Marco del
Tasso and his brothers, Domenico and Giuliano, who
likewise executed that of the Sala dell'Orivolo and
that of the Audience Chamber. And since the said
marble door had been made double by Benedetto, on
the arch of the inner door--we have already spoken
of the outer one--he wrought a seated figure of
Justice in marble, with the globe of the world in
one hand and a sword in the other; and round the
arch run the following words:
DILIGITE JUSTITIAM QUI JUDICATIS TERRAM
The whole of this work was executed with
marvelous diligence and art.
For the church of the Madonna delle Grazie, which is
a little distance outside the city of Arezzo, the
same man made a portico with a flight of steps in
front of the door. In making the portico he placed
the arches on the columns, and right round alongside
the roof he made an architrave, frieze, and great
cornice; and in the latter, by way of drip, he
placed a garland of rosettes carved in grey stone,
which jut out to the extent of one braccio and a
third, insomuch that between the projection of the
front of the cyma above to the dentils and ovoli
below the drip there is a space of two braccia and a
half, which, with the half braccio added by the
tiles, makes a projecting roof all round of three
braccia in width, beautiful, rich, useful, and
ingenious.
In this work there is a contrivance worthy to be
well considered by craftsmen, for, wishing to give
this roof all that projection without modillions or
corbels to support it, he made the slabs, on which
the rosettes are carved, so built into the solid
wall; wherefore, being thus counterpoised, they were
able to support the rest and all that was laid upon
them, as they have done up to the present day,
without any danger to that building. And since he
did not wish this roof to appear to be made, as it
was, of pieces, he surrounded it all, piece by
piece, with a molding made of sections well
dovetailed and let into one another, which served as
a ground to the garland of rosettes; and this united
the whole work together in such a manner that all
who see it judge it to be of one piece. In the same
place he had a flat ceiling made of gilded rosettes,
which is much extolled.
Now Benedetto had bought a farm outside of Prato,
on the road from the Porta Fiorentina in he
direction of Florence, and no more than half a mile
from that place. On the main road, beside the gate,
he built a most beautiful little chapel, with a
niche in which he placed a Madonna with the Child in
her arms, so well wrought in terracotta, that even
as it is, with no color, it is as beautiful as if it
were of marble. So are two angels that are above by
way of ornament, each with a candelabrum in his
hand. On the predella of the altar there is a Pieta
with Our Lady and St. John, made of marble and very
beautiful. At his death he left in his house many
things begun both in clay and in certain drawings in
our book. Finally he died in 1498, at the age of
fifty-four, and was honorably buried in San Lorenzo;
and he left directions that all of his property,
after the death of certain of his relatives, should
go to the Company of the Bigallo.
While Benedetto in his youth was working as a
joiner and at the inlaying of wood, he had among his
rivals Baccio Cellini, piper to the Signoria of
Florence, who made many very beautiful inlaid works
in ivory, and among others an octagon of figures in
ivory, outlined in black and marvelously beautiful,
which is in the guardaroba of the Duke. In like
manner, Girolamo della Cecca, a pupil of Baccio and
likewise piper to the Signoria, also executed many
inlaid works at that same time. A contemporary of
these was David Pistoiese, who made a St. John the
Evangelist of inlaid work at the entrance to the
choir of San Giovanni Evangelista in Pistoia--a work
more notable for great diligence in execution than
for any great design. There was also Geri Aretino,
who wrought the choir and the pulpit of
Sant'Agostino at Arezzo with figures and views in
perspective, likewise of inlaid wood. This Geri was
a very fanciful man, and he made with wooden pipes
an organ most perfect in sweetness and softness,
which is still at the present day over the door of
the Sacristy of the Vescovado at Arezzo, with its
original goodness as sound as ever--a work worthy of
marvel, and first put into execution by him.
But not one of these men, nor any other, was as
excellent by a great measure as was Benedetto;
therefore he deserves to be ever numbered with
praise among the best craftsmen of his professions.
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ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO (1435-1488)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO, a Florentine, was in his
day a goldsmith, a master of perspective, a
sculptor, a wood-carver, a painter, and a musician;
but in the arts of sculpture and painting, to tell
the truth, he had a manner somewhat hard and crude,
as one who acquired it rather by infinite study than
by the facility of a natural gift. Even if he had
been as poor in this facility as he was rich in the
study and dilitence that exalted him, he would have
been most excellent in those arts, which, for their
highest perfection, require a union of study and
natural power. If either of these is wanting, a man
rarely attains to the first rank; but study will do
a great deal, and thus Andrea, who had it in greater
abundance than any other craftsman whatsoever, is
counted among the rare and excellent masters of our
arts.
In his youth he applied himself to the sciences,
particularly to geometry. Among many other things
that he made while working at the goldsmith's art
were certain buttons for copes, which are in S.
Maria del Fiore at Florence; and he also made larger
works, particularly a cup, full of animals, foliage,
and other bizarre fancies, which is known to all
goldsmiths, and casts are taken of it; and likewise
another, on which there is a very beautiful dance of
little children. Having given a proof of his powers
in these two works, he was commissioned by the Guild
of Merchants to make two scenes in silver for the
ends of the altar of S. Giovanni, from which, when
put into execution, he acquired very great praise
and fame.
There were wanting at this time in Rome some of
those large figures of the Apostles which generally
stood on the altar of the Chapel of the Pope, as
well as certain other works in silver that had been
destroyed; wherefore Pope Sixtus sent for Andrea and
with great favor commissioned him to do all that was
necessary in this matter, and he brought the whole
to perfection with much diligence and judgment.
Meanwhile, perciving that the many antique statues
and other things that were being found in Rome were
held in very great esteem, insomuch that the famous
bronze horse was set up by the Pope at S. Giovanni
Laterano, and that even the fragments--not to speak
of complete works--which were being discovered every
day, were prized, Andrea determined to devote
himself to sculpture. And so, completely abandoning
the goldsmith's art, he set himself to cast some
little figures in bronze, which were greatly
extolled. Thereupon, growing in courage, he began to
work in marble. Now in those days the wife of
Francesco Tornabuoni had died in childbirth, and her
husband, who had loved her much, and wished to honor
her in death to the utmost of his power, entrusted
the making of a tomb for her to Andrea, who carved
on a slab over a sarcophagus of marble the lady
herself, her delivery, and her passing to the other
life; and beside this he made three figures of
Virtues, which were held very beautiful, for the
first work that he had executed in marble; and this
tomb was set up in the Minerva.
Having then returned to Florence with money,
fame, and honor, he was commissioned to make a David
of bronze, two braccia and a half in height, which,
when finished, was placed in the Palace, with great
credit to himself, at the head of the staircase,
where the Catena was. The while that he was
executing the said statue, he also made that Madonna
of marble which is over the tomb of Messer Lionardo
Bruni of Arezzo in S. Croce; this he wrought, when
still quite young, for Bernardo Rossellino,
architect and sculptor, who executed the whole of
that work in marble, as has been said. The same
Andrea made a half-length Madonna in half-relief,
with the Child in her arms, in a marble panel, which
was formerly in the house of the Medici, and is now
placed, as a very beautiful thing, over a door in
the apartment of the Duchess of Florence. He also
made two heads of metal, likewise in half-relief;
one of Alexander the Great, in profile, and the
other a fanciful portrait of Darius; each being a
separate work by itself, with variety in the crests,
armor, and everything else. Both these heads were
sent to Hungary by the elder Lorenzo de'Medici, the
Magnificent, to King Matthias Corvinus, together
with many other things, as will be told in the
proper place.
Having acquired the name of an excellent master
by means of these works, above all through many
works in metal, in which he took much delight, he
made a tomb of bronze in S. Lorenzo, wholly in the
round, for Giovanni and Pietro di Cosimo de'Medici,
with a sarcophagus of porphyry supported by four
corner-pieces of bronze, with twisted foliage very
well wrought and finished with the greatest
diligence. This tomb stands between the Chapel of
the Sacrament and the Sacristy, and no work could be
better done, whether wrought in bronze or cast;
above all since at the same time he showed therein
his talent in architecture, for he placed the said
tomb within the embrasure of a window which is about
five braccia in breadth and ten in height, and set
it on a base that divides the said Chapel of the
Sacrament from the old Sacristy. And over the
sarcophagus, to fill up the embrasure right up to
the vaulting, he made a grating of bronze ropes in a
pattern of mandorle, most natural, and adorned in
certain places with festoons and other beautiful
things of fancy, all remarkable and executed with
much mastery, judgment, and invention.
Now Donatello had made for the Tribunal of Six of
the Mercanzia that marble shrine which is now
opposite to S. Michael, in the Oratory of
Orsamichele, and for this there was to have been
made a S. Thomas in bronze, feeling for the wound in
the side of Christ; but at that time nothing more
was done, for some of the men who had charge of this
wished to have it made by Donatello, and others
favored Lorenzo Ghiberti. Matters stood thus as long
as Donatello and Ghiberti were alive; but finally
the said two statues were entrusted to Andrea, who,
having made the models and moulds, cast them; and
they came out so solid, complete, and well made,
that it was a most beautiful casting. Thereupon,
setting himself to polish and finish them, he
brought them to that perfection which is seen at the
present day, which could not be greater than it is,
for in S. Thomas we see incredulity and a too great
anxiety to assure himself of the truth, and at the
same time the love that makes him lay his hand in a
most beautiful manner on the side of Christ; and in
Christ Himself, who is raising one arm and opening
His raiment and with a most spontaneous gesture, and
dispelling the doubts of His incredulous disciple,
there are all the grace and divinity; so to speak,
that art can give to any figure. Andrea clothed both
these figures in most beautiful and well-arranged
draperies, which give us to know that he understood
that art no less than did Donato, Lorenzo, and the
others who had lived before him; wherefore this work
well deserved to be set up in a shrine made by
Donatello, and to be ever afterwards held in the
greatest pride and esteem.
NOW THE FAME of Andrea could not go further or
grow greater in that profession, and he, as a man
who was not content with being excellent in one
thing only, but desired to become the same in others
as well by means of study, turned his mind to
painting, and so made the cartoons for a battle of
nude figures, very well drawn with the pen, to be
afterwards painted in colors on a wall. He also made
the cartoons for some historical pictures, and
afterwards began to put them in execution in colors;
but for some reason, whatever it may have been, they
remained unfinished. There are some drawings by his
hand in our book, made with much patience and very
great judgment, among which are certain heads of
women, beautiful in expression and in the adornment
of the hair, which Leonardo da Vinci was ever
imitating for their beauty. In our book, also, are
two horses with the due measures and protractors for
reproducing them on a larger scale from a smaller,
so that there may be no errors in the proportions;
and there is in my possession a horse's head of
terracotta in relief, copied from the antique, which
is a rare work. The Very Reverend Don Vincenzio
Borghini has some of his drawings in his book, of
which we have spoken above; among others, a design
for a tomb made by him in Venice for a Doge, a scene
of the Adoration of Christ by the Magi, and the head
of a woman painted on paper with the utmost
delicacy. He also made for Lorenzo de'Medici, for
the fountain of his Villa at Careggi, a boy of
bronze squeezing a fish, which the Lord Duke Cosimo
has caused to be placed, as may be seen at the
present day, on the fountain that is in the
courtyard of his Palace; which boy is truly
marvelous.
Afterwards, the building of the Cupola of S.
Maria del Fiore having been finished, it was
resolved, after much discussion, that there should
be made the copper ball which, according to the
instructions left by Filippo Brunelleschi, was to be
placed on the summit of that ediice. Whereupon the
task was given to Andrea, who made the ball four
braccia high, and, placing it on a knob secured it
in such a manner that afterwards the cross could be
safely erected upon it; and the whole work, when
finished, was put into position with very great
rejoicing and delight among the people. Truly great
were the ingenuity and diligence that had to be used
in making it, to the end that it might be possible,
as it is, to enter it from below, and also in
securing it with good fastenings, lest the winds do
it damage.
Andrea was never at rest, but was ever laboring
at some work either in painting or in sculpture; and
sometimes he would change from one to another, in
order to avoid growing weary of working always at
the same thing, as many do. Wherefore, although he
did not put the aforesaid cartoons into execution,
yet he did paint certain pictures: among others, a
panel for the nuns of San Domenico in Florence,
wherein it appeared to him that he had acquitted
himself very well; when, no long time after, he
painted another in San Salvi for the monks of
Vallombrosa, containg the Baptism of Christ by St.
John. In this work he was assisted by Leonardo da
Vinci, his disciple, then quite young, who painted
therein an angel with his own hand, which was much
better than the others parts of the work; and for
that reason Andrea resolved never again to touch a
bruch, since Leonardo, young as he was, had acquited
himself in that art much better than he had done.
Now Cosimo de'Medici, having received many
antiquities from Rome, had caused to be set up
within the door of his garden, or rather, courtyard,
which opens on the Via de'Ginori, a very beautiful
Marsyas of white marble, bound to a tree trunk and
ready to be flayed; and his grandson Lorenzo, into
whose hands there had come the torso and head of
another Marsyas, made of red stone, very ancient,
and much more beautiful than the first, wished to
set it beside the other, but could not because it
was so imperfect.
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ANDREA MANTEGNA (1431-1506)
PAINTER OF MANTUA
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
HOW GREAT is the effect of reward on talent is
known to him who labors valiantly and receives a
certain measure of recompense, for he feels neither
discomfort, nor hardship, nor fatigue, when he
expects honor and reward for them; nay, what is
more, they render his talent every day more renowned
and illustrious. It is true, indeed, that there is
not always found one to recognize, esteem, and
remunerate it as that of Andrea Mantegna was
recognized. This man was born from very humble stock
in the district of Mantua; and, although as a boy he
was occupied in grazing herds, he was so greatly
exalted by destiny and by his merit that he attained
to the honorable rank of Chevalier, as will be told
in the proper place. When almost full grown he was
taken to the city, where he applied himself to
painting under Jacopo Squarcione, a painter of
Padua, who as it is written in a Latin letter from
Messer Girolamo Campagnola to Messer Leonico Timeo,
a Greek philosopher, wherein he gives him
information about certain old painters who served
the family of Carrara, Lords of Padua took him into
his house, and a little time afterwards, having
recognized the beauty of his intelligence, adopted
him as his son. Now this Squarcione knew that he
himself was not the most able painter in the world;
wherefore, to the end that Andrea might learn more
than he himself knew, he made him practise much on
casts taken from ancient statues and on pictures
painted upon canvas which he caused to be brought
from diverse places, particularly from Tuscany and
from Rome. By these and other methods, therefore,
Andrea learnt not a little in his youth; and the
competition of Marco Zoppo of Bologna, Dario da
Treviso, and Niccolo Pizzolo of Padua, disciples of
his master and adoptive father, was of no small
assistance to him, and a stimulus to his studies.
Now after Andrea, who was then no more than
seventeen years of age, had painted the panel of the
high altar of S. Sofia in Padua, which appears
wrought by a mature and well-practised master, and
not by a youth, Squarcione was commissioned to paint
the Chapel of S. Cristofano, which is in the Church
of the Eremite Friars of S. Agostino in Padua; and
he gave the work to the said Niccolo Pizzolo and to
Andrea. Niccolo made therein a God the Father seated
in Majesty between the Doctors of the Church, and
these paintings were afterwards held to be in no way
inferior to those that Andrea executed there. And in
truth, if Niccolo, whose works were few, but all
good, had taken as much delight in painting as he
did in arms, he would have become excellent, and
might perchance have lived much longer than he did;
for he was ever under arms and had many enemies, and
one day, when returning from work, he was attacked
and slain by treachery. Niccolo left no other works
that I know of, save another God the Father in the
Chapel of Urbano Perfetto.* [* This seems to be a
printer's or copyist's error for Prefetto.]
Andrea, thus left alone in the said chapel,
painted the four Evangelists, which were held very
beautiful. By reason of this and other works Andrea
began to be watched with great expectation, and with
hopes that he would attain to that success to which
he actually did attain; wherefore Jacopo Bellini,
the Venetian painter, father of Gentile and
Giovanni, and rival of Squarcione, contrived to get
him to marry his daughter, the sister of Gentile.
Hearing this, Squarcione fell into such disdain
against Andrea that they were enemies ever
afterwards; and in proportion as Squarcione had
formerly been ever praising the works of Andrea, so
from that day onward did he ever decry them in
public. Above all did he censure without reserve the
pictures that Andrea had made in the said Chapel of
S. Cristofano, saying that they were worthless,
because in making them he had imitated the ancient
works in marble, from which it is not possible to
learn painting perfectly, for the reason that stone
is ever from its very essence hard, and never has
that tender softness that is found in flesh and in
things of nature, which are pliant and move in
various ways; adding that Andrea would have made
those figures much better, and that they would have
been more perfect, if he had given them the colour
of marble and not such a quantity of colors, because
his pictures resembled not living figures but
ancient statues of marble or other suchlike things.
This censure piqued the mind of Andrea; but, on the
other hand, it was of great service to him, for,
recognizing that Squarcione was in great measure
speaking the truth, he set himself to portray living
people, and made so much progress in this art, that,
in a scene which still remained to be painted in the
said chapel, he showed that he could wrest the good
from living and natural objects no less than from
those wrought by art. But for all this Andrea was
ever of the opinion that the good ancient statues
were more perfect and had greater beauty in their
various parts than is shown by nature, since, as he
judged and seemed to see from those statues, the
excellent masters of old had wrested from living
people all the perfection of nature, which rarely
assembles and unites all possible beauty into one
single body, so that it is necessary to take one
part from one body and another part from another.
In addition to this, it appeared to him that the
statues were more complete and more thorough in the
muscles, veins, nerves, and other particulars, which
nature, covering their sharpness somewhat with the
tenderness and softness of flesh, sometimes makes
less evident, save perchance in the body of an old
man or in one greatly emaciated; but such bodies,
for other reasons, are avoided by craftsmen. And
that he was greatly enamored of this opinion is
recognized from his works, in which, in truth, the
manner is seen to be somewhat hard and sometimes
suggesting stone rather than living flesh. Be this
as it may, in this last scene, which gave infinite
satisfaction, Andrea portrayed Squarcione in an ugly
and corpulent figure, lance and sword in hand. In
the same work he portrayed the Florentine Noferi,
son of Messer Palla Strozzi, Messer Girolamo della
Valle, a most excellent physician, Messer Bonifazio
Fuzimeliga, Doctor of Laws, Niccolo', goldsmith to
Pope Innocent VIII, and Baldassarre da Leccio, all
very much his friends, whom he represented clad in
white armor, burnished and resplendent, as real
armor is, and truly with a beautiful manner. He also
portrayed there the Chevalier Messer Bonramino, and
a certain Bishop of Hungary, a man wholly witless,
who would wander about Rome all day, and then at
night would lie down to sleep like a beast in a
stable; and he made a portrait of Marsilio Pazzo in
the person of the executioner who is cutting off the
head of S. James, together with one of himself. This
work, in short, by reason of its excellence, brought
him a very great name.
The while that he was working on this chapel, he
also painted a panel, which was placed on the altar
of S. Luca in S. Giustina, and afterwards he wrought
in fresco the arch that is over the door of S.
Antonino, on which he wrote his name. In Verona he
painted a panel for the altar of S. Cristofano and
S. Antonio, and he made some figures at the corner
of the Piazza, della Paglia. In S. Maria in Organo,
for the Monks of Monte Oliveto, he painted the panel
of the high altar, which is most beautiful, and
likewise that of S. Zeno. And among other things
that he wrought while living in Verona and sent to
various places, one, which came into the hands of an
Abbot of the Abbey of Fiesole, his friend and
relative, was a picture containing a half-length
Madonna with the Child in her arms, and certain
heads of angels singing, wrought with admirable
grace; which picture, now to be seen in the library
of that place, has been held from that time to our
own to be a rare thing.
Now, the while that he lived in Mantua, he had
labored much in the service of the Marquis Lodovico
Gonzaga, and that lord, who always showed no little
esteem and favor towards the talent of Andrea,
caused him to paint a little panel for the Chapel of
the Castle of Mantua; in which panel there are
scenes with figures not very large but most
beautiful. In the same place are many figures
foreshortened from below upwards, which are greatly
extolled, for although his treatment of the
draperies was somewhat hard and precise, and his
manner rather dry, yet everything there is seen to
have been wrought with much art and diligence. For
the same Marquis, in a hall of the Palace of S.
Sebastiano in Mantua, he painted the Triumph of
Caesar, which is the best thing that he ever
executed. In this work we see, grouped with most
beautiful design in the triumph, the ornate and
lovely car, the man who is vituperating the
triumphant Caesar, and the relatives, the perfumes,
the incense, the sacrifices, the priests, the bulls
crowned for the sacrifice, the prisoners, the booty
won by the soldiers, the ranks of the squadrons, the
elephants, the spoils, the victories, the cities and
fortresses counterfeited in various cars, with an
infinity of trophies borne on spears, and a variety
of helmets and body armor, headdresses, and
ornaments and vases innumerable; and in the
multitude of spectators is a woman holding the hand
of a boy, who, having pierced his foot with a thorn,
is showing it, weeping, to his mother, in a graceful
and very lifelike manner. Andrea, as I may have
pointed out elsewhere, had a good and beautiful idea
in this scene, for, having set the plane on which
the figures stood higher than the level of the eye,
he placed the feet of the foremost on the outer edge
and outline of that plane, making the others recede
inwards little by little, so that their feet and
legs were lost to sight in the proportion required
by the point of view; and so, too, with the spoils,
vases, and other instruments and ornaments, of which
he showed only the lower part, concealing the upper,
as was required by the rules of perspective; which
same consideration was also observed with much
diligence by Andrea degli Impiccati* [* Andrea dal
Castagno.] in the Last Supper, which is in the
Refectory of S. Maria Nuova. Wherefore it is seen
that in that age these able masters set about
investigating with much subtlety, and imitating with
great labor, the true properties of natural objects.
And this whole work, to put it briefly, is as
beautiful and as well wrought as it could be; so
that if the Marquis loved Andrea before, he loved
and honored him much more ever afterwards.
What is more, he became so famous thereby that
Pope Innocent VIII, hearing of his excellence in
painting and of the other good qualities wherewith
he was so marvellously endowed, sent for him, even
as he was sending for many others, to the end that
he might adorn with his pictures the walls of the
Belvedere, the building of which had just been
finished. Having gone to Rome, then, greatly favored
and recommended by the Marquis, who made him a
Chevalier in order to honor him the more, he was
received lovingly by that Pontiff and straightway
commissioned to paint a little chapel that is in the
said place. This he executed with diligence and
love, and with such minuteness that the vaulting and
the walls appear rather illuminated than painted ;
and the largest figures that are therein, which he
painted in fresco like the others, are over the
altar, representing the Baptism of Christ by S.
John, with many people around, who are showing by
taking off their clothes that they wish to be
baptized. Among these is one who, seeking to draw
off a stocking that has stuck to his leg through
sweat, has crossed that leg over the other and is
drawing the stocking off inside out, with such great
effort and difficulty, that both are seen clearly in
his face; which bizarre fancy caused marvel to all
who saw it in those times. It is said that this
Pope, by reason of his many affairs, did not pay
Mantegna as often as he would have liked, and that
therefore, while painting certain Virtues in
terretta in that work, he made a figure of
Discretion among the rest, whereupon the Pope,
having gone one day to see the work, asked Andrea
what figure that was; to which Andrea answered that
it was Discretion; and the Pope added: "If thou
wouldst have her suitably accompanied, put Patience
beside her." The painter understood what the meaning
of the Holy Father was, and he never said another
word. The work finished, the Pope sent him back to
the Duke with much favor and honorable rewards.
The while that Andrea was working in Rome, he
painted, besides the said chapel, a little picture
of the Madonna with the Child sleeping in her arms;
and within certain caverns in the landscape, which
is a mountain, he made some stone-cutters quarrying
stone for various purposes, all wrought with such
delicacy and such great patience, that it does not
seem possible for such good work to be done with the
thin point of a brush. This picture is now in the
possession of the most Illustrious Lord, Don
Francesco Medici, Prince of Florence, who holds it
among his dearest treasures.
In our book is a drawing by the hand of Andrea on
a half-sheet of royal folio, finished in
chiaroscuro, wherein is a Judith who is putting the
head of Holofernes into the wallet of her Moorish
slave-girl; which chiaroscuro is executed in a
manner no longer used, for he left the paper white
to serve for the light in place of white lead, and
that so delicately that the separate hairs and other
minute details are seen therein, no less than if
they had been wrought with much diligence by the
brush; wherefore in a certain sense this may be
called rather a work in color than a drawing. The
same man, like Pollaiuolo, delighted in engraving on
copper; and, among other things, he made engravings
of his own Triumphs, which were then held in great
account, since nothing better had been seen.
One of the last works that he executed was a
panel picture for S. Maria della Vittoria, a church
built after the direction and design of Andrea by
the Marquis Francesco, in memory of the victory that
he gained on the River Taro, when he was General of
the Venetian forces against the French. In this
panel, which was wrought in distemper and placed on
the high altar, there is painted the Madonna with
the Child seated on a pedestal; and below are S.
Michelagnolo, S. Anna, and Joachim, who are
presenting the Marquis who is portrayed from life so
well that he appears alive to the Madonna, who is
offering him her hand. Which picture, even as it
gave and still continues to give universal pleasure,
also satisfied the Marquis so well that he rewarded
most liberally the talent and labor of Andrea, who,
having been remunerated by Princes for all his
works, was able to maintain his rank of Chevalier
most honorably up to the end of his life.
Andrea had competitors in Lorenzo da Lendinara
who was held in Padua to be an excellent painter,
and who also wrought some things in terracotta for
the Church of S. Antonio and in certain others of no
great worth. He was ever the friend of Dario da
Treviso and Marco Zoppo of Bologna, since he had
been brought up with them under the discipline of
Squarcione. For the Friars Minor of Padua this Marco
painted a loggia which serves as their chapterhouse;
and at Pesaro he painted a panel that is now in the
new Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista; besides
portraying in a picture Guidobaldo da Montefeltro,
at the time when he was Captain of the Florentines.
A friend of Mantegna's, likewise, was Stefano, a
painter of Ferrara, whose works were few but passing
good; and by his hand is the adornment of the
sarcophagus of S. Anthony to be seen in Padua, with
the Virgin Mary, that is called the Vergine del
Pilastro.
But to return to Andrea himself; he built a very
beautiful house in Mantua for his own use, which he
adorned with paintings and enjoyed while he lived.
Finally he died in 1517, at the age of sixty-six,
and was buried with honorable obsequies in S.
Andrea; and on his tomb, over which stands his
portrait in bronze, there was placed the following
epitaph:
ESSE PAREM HUNG NORIS, SI NON PRjEPONIS, APELIT,
jENEA MANTINE^E QUI SIMULACRA VIDES.
Andrea was so kindly and praiseworthy in all his
actions, that his memory will ever live, not only in
his own country, but in the whole world; wherefore
he well deserved, no less for the sweetness of his
ways than for his excellence in painting, to be
celebrated by Ariosto at the beginning of his
thirty-third canto, where he numbers him among the
most illustrious painters of his time, saying:
Leonardo, Andrea Mantegna, Gian Bellino.
This master showed painters a much better method
of foreshortening figures from below upwards, which
was truly a difficult and ingenious invention; and
he also took delight, as has been said, in engraving
figures on copper for printing, a method of truly
rare value, by means of which the world has been
able to see not only the Bacchanalia, the Battle of
Marine Monsters, the Deposition from the Cross, the
Burial of Christ, and His Resurrection, with
Longinus and S. Andrew, works by Mantegna himself,
but also the manners of all the craftsmen who have
ever lived.
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FILIPPO LIPPI, CALLED FILIPPINO (1457-1504)
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
THERE WAS AT THIS SAME TIME in Florence a painter
of most beautiful intelligence and most lovely
invention, namely, Filippo, son of Fra Filippo of
the Carmine, who, following in the steps of his dead
father in the art of painting, was brought up and
instructed, being still very young, by Sandro
Botticelli, notwithstanding that his father had com-
mended him on his deathbed to Fra Diamante, who was
much his friend nay, almost his brother. Such was
the intelligence of Filippo, and so abundant his
invention in painting, and so bizarre and new were
his ornaments, that he was the first who showed to
the moderns the new method of giving variety to
vestments, and embellished and adorned his figures
with the girt-up garments of antiquity. He was also
the first to bring to light grotesques, in imitation
of the antique, and he executed them on friezes in
terretta or in colors, with more design and grace
than the men before him had shown; wherefore it was
a marvellous thing to see the strange fancies that
he expressed in painting. What is more, he never
executed a single work in which he did not avail
himself with great diligence of Roman antiquities,
such as vases, buskins, trophies, banners,
helmet-crests, adornments of temples, ornamental
head-dresses, strange kinds of draperies, armor,
scimitars, swords, togas, mantles, and such a
variety of other beautiful things, that we owe him a
very great and perpetual obligation, seeing that he
added beauty and adornment to art in this respect.
In his earliest youth he completed the Chapel of
the Brancacci in the Carmine at Florence, begun by
Masolino, and left not wholly finished by Masaccio
on account of his death. Filippo, therefore, gave it
its final perfection with his own hand, and executed
what was lacking in one scene, wherein S. Peter and
S. Paul are restoring to life the nephew of the
Emperor. In the nude figure of this boy he portrayed
the painter Francesco Granacci, then a youth; and he
also made portraits of the Chevalier, Messer Tommaso
Soderini, Piero Guicciardini, father of Messer
Francesco the historian, Piero del Pugliese, and the
poet Luigi Pulci; likewise Antonio Pollaiuolo, and
himself as a youth, as he then was, which he never
did again throughout the whole of his life, so that
it has not been possible to find a portrait of him
at a more mature age. In the scene following this he
portrayed Sandro Botticelli, his master, and many
other friends and people of importance; among
others, the broker Raggio, a man of great
intelligence and wit, who executed in relief on a
conch the whole Inferno of Dante, with all the
circles and divisions of the pits and the nethermost
well in their exact proportions, and all the figures
and details that were most ingeniously imagined and
described by that great poet; which conch was held
in those times to be a marvellous thing.
Next, in the Chapel of Francesco del Pugliese at
Campora, a seat of the Monks of the Badia, without
Florence, he painted a panel in distemper of S.
Bernard, to whom Our Lady is appearing with certain
angels, while he is writing in a wood; which picture
is held to be admirable in certain, respects, such
as rocks, books, herbage, and similar things, that
he painted therein, besides the portrait from life
of Francesco himself, so excellent that he seems to
lack nothing save speech. This panel was removed
from that place on account of the siege, and placed
for safety in the Sacristy of the Badia of Florence.
In S. Spirito in the same city, for Tanai de' Nerli,
he painted a panel with Our Lady, S. Martin, S.
Nicholas, and S. Catherine; with a panel in the
Chapel of the Rucellai in S. Pancrazio, and a
Crucifix and two figures on a ground of gold in S.
Raffaello. In front of the Sacristy of S. Francesco,
without the Porta a S. Miniato, he made a God the
Father, with a number of children. At Palco, a seat
of the Frati del Zoccolo, without Prato, he painted
a panel; and in the Audience Chamber of the Priori
in that territory he executed a little panel
containing the Madonna, S. Stephen, and S. John the
Baptist, which has been much extolled. On the Canto
al Mercatale, also in Prato, in a shrine opposite to
the Nuns of S. Margherita, and near some houses
belonging to them, he painted in fresco a very
beautiful Madonna, with a choir of seraphim, on a
ground of dazzling light. In this work, among other
things, he showed art and beautiful judgment in a
dragon that is at the feet of S. Margaret, which is
so strange and horrible, that it is revealed to us
as a true fount of venom, fire, and death; and the
whole of the rest of the work is so fresh and
vivacious in colouring, that it deserves infinite
praise.
He also wrought certain things in Lucca,
particularly a panel in a chapel of the Church of S.
Ponziano, which belongs to the Monks of Monte
Oliveto; in the centre of which chapel there is a
niche containing a very beautiful S. Anthony in
relief by the hand of Andrea Sansovino, a most
excellent sculptor. Being invited to go to Hungary
by King Matthias, Filippo refused, but made up for
this by painting two very beautiful panels for that
King in Florence, and sending them to him; and in
one of these he made a portrait of the King, taken
from his likeness on medals. He also sent certain
works to Genoa; and beside the Chapel of the High
Altar in S. Domenico at Bologna, on the left hand,
he painted a S. Sebastian on a panel, which was a
thing worthy of much praise. For Tanai de' Nerli he
executed another panel in S. Salvadore, without
Florence; and for his friend Piero del Pugliese he
painted a scene with little figures, executed with
so much art and diligence that when another citizen
besought him to make a second like it, he refused,
saying that it was not possible to do it.
After these things he executed a very great work
in Rome for the Neapolitan Cardinal, Olivieri
Caraffa, at the request of the elder Lorenzo de'
Medici, who was a friend of that Cardinal. While
going thither for that purpose, he passed through
Spoleto at the wish of Lorenzo, in order to give
directions for the making of a marble tomb for his
father Fra Filippo at the expense of Lorenzo, who
had not been able to obtain his body from the people
of Spoleto for removal to Florence. Filippo,
therefore, made a beautiful design for the said
tomb, and Lorenzo had it erected after that design
(as has been told in another place), sumptuous and
beautiful. Afterwards, having arrived in Rome,
Filippo painted a chapel in the Church of the
Minerva for the said Cardinal Caraffa, depicting
therein scenes from the life of S. Thomas Aquinas,
and certain most beautiful poetical compositions
ingeniously imagined by himself, for he had a nature
ever inclined to this. In the scene, then, wherein
Faith has taken Infidelity captive, there are all
the heretics and infidels. Hope has likewise
overcome Despair, and so, too, there are many other
Virtues that have subjugated the Vice that is their
opposite. In a disputation is S. Thomas defending
the Church "ex cathedra" against a school of
heretics, and holding vanquished beneath him
Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and others, all clothed
in graceful garments ; of which scene we have in our
book of drawings the original design by Filippo's
own hand, with certain others by the same man,
wrought with such mastery that they could not be
bettered. There, too, is the scene when, as S.
Thomas is praying, the Crucifix says to him, "Bene
scripsisti de me, Thoma "; while a companion of the
Saint, hearing that Crucifix thus speaking, is
standing amazed and almost beside himself. In the
panel is the Virgin receiving the Annunciation from
Gabriel; and on the main wall there is her
Assumption into Heaven, with the twelve Apostles
round the sepulchre. The whole of this work was
held, as it still is, to be very excellent and
wrought perfectly for a work in fresco. It con-
tains a portrait from life of the said Cardinal
Olivieri Caraffa, Bishop of Ostia, who was buried in
this chapel in the year 1511, and afterwards removed
to the Piscopio in Naples.
Having returned to Florence, Filippo undertook to
paint at his leisure the Chapel of the elder Filippo
Strozzi in S. Maria Novella, and he actually began
it; but, having finished the ceiling, he was
compelled to return to Rome, where he wrought a tomb
with stucco work for the said Cardinal, and
decorated with gesso a little chapel beside that
tomb in a part of the same Church of the Minerva,
together with certain figures, some of which were
executed by his disciple, Raffaellino del Garbo. The
chapel described above was valued by Maestro
Lanzilago of Padua and by the Roman Antonio, known
as Antoniasso, two of the best painters that were
then in Rome, at 2,000 ducats of gold, without the
cost of the blues and of the assistants. Having
received this sum, Filippo returned to Florence,
where he finished the aforesaid Chapel of the
Strozzi, which was executed so well, and with so
much art and design, that it causes all who see it
to marvel, by reason of the novelty and variety of
the bizarre things that are seen therein armed men,
temples, vases, helmet crests, armor, trophies,
spears, banners, garments, buskins, headdresses,
sacerdotal vestments, and other things all executed
in so beautiful a manner that they deserve the
highest commendation. In this work there is the
scene of Drusiana being restored to life by S. John
the Evangelist, wherein we see most admirably
expressed the marvel of the bystanders at beholding
a man restore life to a dead woman by a mere sign of
the cross; and the greatest amazement of all is seen
in a priest, or rather philosopher, whichever he may
be, who is clothed in ancient fashion and has a vase
in his hand. In the same scene, likewise, among a
number of women draped in various manners, there is
a little boy, who, terrified by a small spaniel
spotted with red, which has seized him with its
teeth by one of his swathingbands, is running round
his mother and hiding himself among her clothes, and
appears to be as much afraid of being bitten by the
dog as his mother is awestruck and filled with a
certain horror at the resurrection of Drusiana. Next
to this, in the scene where S. John himself is being
boiled in oil, we see the wrath of the judge, who is
giving orders for the fire to be increased, and the
flames reflected on the face of the man who is
blowing at them; and all the figures are painted in
beautiful and varied attitudes.
On the other side is S. Philip in the Temple of
Mars, compelling the serpent, which has slain the
son of the King with its stench, to come forth from
below the altar. In certain steps the painter
depicted the hole through which the serpent issued
from beneath the altar, and so well did he paint the
cleft in one of the steps, that one evening one of
Filippo's lads, wishing to hide something, I know
not what, from the sight of someone who was knocking
for admittance, ran up in haste in order to conceal
it in the hole, being wholly deceived by it. Filippo
also showed so much art in the serpent, that its
venom, fetid breath, and fire, appear rather real
than painted. Greatly extolled, too, is his
invention in the scene of the Crucifixion of that
Saint, for he imagined to himself, so it appears,
that the Saint was stretched on the cross while it
lay on the ground, and that ropes and cords are
wound round certain fragments of antiquities, pieces
of pillars, and bases, and pulled by certain
ministers. On the other side the weight of the said
cross and of the Saint who is stretched nude thereon
is supported by two men, on the one hand by a man
with a ladder, with which he is propping it up, and
on the other hand by another with a pole, upholding
it, while two others, setting a lever against the
base and stem of the cross, are balancing its weight
and seeking to place it in the hole made in the
ground, wherein it had to stand upright. But why say
more? It would not be possible for the work to be
better either in invention or in drawing, or in any
other respect whatsoever of industry or art. Besides
this, it contains many grotesques and other things
wrought in chiaroscuro to resemble marble, executed
in strange fashion with invention and most beautiful
drawing.
For the Frati Scopetini, also, at S. Donate,
without Florence, which is called Scopeto and is now
in ruins, he painted a panel with the Magi
presenting their offerings to Christ, finished with
great diligence, wherein he portrayed the elder Pier
Francesco de' Medici, son of Lorenzo di Bicci, in
the figure of an astrologer who is holding a
quadrant in his hand, and likewise Giovanni, father
of Signer Giovanni de' Medici, and another Pier
Francesco, brother of that Signer Giovanni, and
other people of distinction. In this work are Moors,
Indians, costumes of strange shapes, and a most
bizarre hut. In a loggia at Poggio a Cajano he began
a Sacrifice in fresco for Lorenzo de' Medici, but it
remained unfinished. And for the Nunnery of S.
Geronimo, above the Costa di S. Giorgio in Florence,
he began the panel of the high altar, which was
brought nearly to completion after his death by the
Spaniard Alonzo Berughetta, but afterwards wholly
finished by other painters, Alonzo having gone to
Spain. In the Palazzo della Signoria he painted the
panel of the hall where the Council of Eight held
their sittings, and he made the design for another
large panel, with its ornament, for the Sala del
Consiglio; which design his death prevented him from
beginning to put into execution, although the
ornament was carved; which ornament is now in the
possession of Maestro Baccio Baldini, a most
excellent physician of Florence, and a lover of
every sort of talent. For the Church of the Badia of
Florence he made a very beautiful S. Jerome; and he
began a Deposition from the Cross for the high altar
of the Friars of the Nunziata, but only finished the
figures in the upper half of the picture, for, being
overcome by a most cruel fever and by that
contraction of the throat that is commonly known as
quinsy, he died in a few days at the age of
forty-five.
Thereupon, having ever been courteous, affable,
and kindly, he was lamented by all those who had
known him, and particularly by the youth of his
noble native city, who, in their public festivals,
masques, and other spectacles, ever availed
themselves, to their great satisfaction, of the
ingenuity and invention of Filippo, who has never
had an equal in things of that kind. Nay, he was so
excellent in all his actions, that he blotted out
the stain (if stain it was) left to him by his
father blotted it out, I say, not only by the
excellence of his art, wherein he was inferior to no
man of his time, but also by the modesty and
regularity of his life, and, above all, by his
courtesy and amiability ; and how great are the
force and power of such qualities to conciliate the
minds of all men without exception, is only known to
those who either have experienced or are
experiencing it. Filippo was buried by his sons in
S. Michele Bisdomini [Visdomini] , on April 13,
1505; and while he was being borne to his tomb all
the shops in the Via de' Servi were closed, as is
done sometimes for the obsequies of great men.
Among the disciples of Filippo, who all failed by
a great measure to equal him, was Raffaellino del
Garbo, who made many works, as will be told in the
proper place, although he did not justify the
opinions and hopes that were conceived of him while
Filippo was alive and Raffaellino himself still a
young man. The fruits, indeed, are not always equal
to the blossoms that are seen in the spring. Nor did
any great success come to Niccolo Zoccolo, otherwise
known as Niccolo Cartoni, who was likewise a
disciple of Filippo, and painted at Arezzo the wall
that is over the altar of S. Giovanni Decollate; a
little panel, passing well done, in S. Agnesa; a
panel over a lavatory in the Abbey of S. Fiora,
containing a Christ who is asking for water from the
woman of Samaria; and many other works, which, since
they were commonplace, are not mentioned.
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BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO
PAINTER OF PERUGIA
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
EVEN AS MANY are assisted by fortune without
being endowed with much talent, so, on the contrary,
there is an infinite number of able men who are
persecuted by an adverse and hostile fortune; whence
it is clearly manifest that she acknowledges as her
children those who depend upon her without the aid
of any talent, since it pleases her to exalt by her
favor certain men who would never be known through
their own merit; which is seen in Pinturicchio of
Perugia, who, although he made many works and was
assisted by various helpers, nevertheless had a much
greater name than his works deserved. However, he
was a man who had much practice in large works, and
ever kept many assistants to aid him in his labors.
Now, having worked at many things in his early youth
under his master Pietro da Perugia,* [* Pietro
Perugino] receiving a third of all that was earned,
he was summoned to Siena by Cardinal Francesco
Piccolomini to paint the library made by Pope Pius
II in the Duomo of that city. It is true, indeed,
that the sketches and cartoons for all the scenes
that he painted there were by the hand of Raffaello
da Urbino, then a youth, who had been his companion
and fellow disciple under the same Pietro, whose
manner the said Raffaello had mastered very well.
One of these cartoons is still to be seen at the
present day in Siena, and some of the sketches, by
the hand of Raffaello, are in our book.
Now the stories in this work, wherein
Pinturicchio was aided by many pupils and
assistants, all of the school of Pietro, were
divided into ten pictures. In the first is painted
the scene when the said Pope Pius II was born to
Silvio Piccolomini and Vittoria, and was called
Eneas, in the year 1405, in Valdorcia, at the
township of Corsignano, which is now called Pienza
after the name of that Pope, who afterwards enriched
it with buildings and made it a city ; and in this
picture are portraits from nature of the said Silvio
and Vittoria. In the same is the scene when, in
company with Cardinal Domenico of Capranica, he is
crossing the Alps, which are covered with ice and
snow, on his way to the Council of Bale. In the
second the Council is sending Eneas on many
embassies --namely, to Argentina (three times), to
Trent, to Constance, to Frankfurt, and to Savoy. In
the third is the sending of the same ^Eneas by the
Antipope Felix as ambassador to the Emperor
Frederick III, with whom the ready intelligence, the
eloquence, and the grace of Eneas found so much
favor that he was given the poet's crown of laurel
by Frederick himself, who made him his Protonotary,
received him into the number of his friends, and
appointed him his First Secretary. In the fourth he
is sent by Frederick to Eugenius IV, by whom he was
made Bishop of Trieste, and then Archbishop of
Siena, his native city. In the fifth scene the same
Emperor, who is about to come to Italy to receive
the crown of Empire, is sending Eneas to Telamone, a
port of the people of Siena, to meet his wife,
Leonora, who was coming from Portugal. In the sixth
Eneas is going to Calistus IV,* [* This seems to be
an error for Calistus III.] at the bidding of the
said Emperor, to induce him to make war against the
Turks ; and in this part, Siena being harassed by
the Count of Pittigliano and by others at the
instigation of King Alfonso of Naples, that Pontiff
is sending him to treat for peace. This effected,
war is planned against the Orientals; and he, having
returned to Rome, is made a Cardinal by the said
Pontiff. In the seventh, Calistus being dead, Eneas
is seen being created Supreme Pontiff, and called
Pius II.
In the eighth the Pope goes to Mantua for the
Council about the expedition against the Turks,
where the Marquis Lodovico receives him with most
splendid pomp and incredible magnificence. In the
ninth the same Pope is placing in the catalogue of
saints or, as the saying is, canonizing Catherine of
Siena, a holy woman and nun of the Preaching Order.
In the tenth and last, while preparing a vast
expedition against the Turks with the help and favor
of all the Christian Princes, Pope Pius dies at
Ancona; and a hermit of the Hermitage of Camaldoli,
a holy man, sees the soul of the said Pontiff being
borne by Angels into Heaven at the very moment of
his death, as may also be read. Afterwards, in the
same picture, the body of the same Pope is seen
being borne from Ancona to Rome by a vast and
honourable company of lords and prelates, who are
lamenting the death of so great a man and so rare
and holy a Pontiff. The whole of this work is full
of portraits from the life, so numerous that it
would be a long story to recount their names; and it
is all painted with the finest and most lively
colors, and wrought with various ornaments of gold,
and with very well designed partitions in the
ceiling. Below each scene is a Latin inscription,
which describes what is contained therein. In the
centre of this library the said Cardinal Francesco
Piccolomini, nephew of the Pope, placed the three
Graces of marble, ancient and most beautiful, which
are still there, and which were the first
antiquities to be held in price in those times. This
library, wherein are all the books left by the said
Pius II, was scarcely finished, when the same
Cardinal Francesco, nephew of the aforesaid Pontiff,
Pius II, was created Pope, choosing the name of Pius
III in memory of his uncle. Over the door of that
library, which opens into the Duomo, the same
Pinturicchio painted in a very large scene,
occupying the whole extent of the wall, the
Coronation of the said Pope Pius III, with many
portraits from life; and beneath it may be read
these words:
PIUS III SENENSIS, PII SECUNDI NEPOS, MDIII,
SEPTEMBRIS XXI, APERTIS
ELECTUS SUFFRAGIIS, OCTAVO OCTOBRIS CORONATUS EST.
When Pinturicchio was working with Pietro
Perugino and painting at Rome in the time of Pope
Sixtus, he had also been in the service of Domenico
della Rovere, Cardinal of San Clemente; wherefore
the said Cardinal, having built a very beautiful
palace in the Borgo Vecchio, charged Pinturicchio to
paint the whole of it, and to make on the facade the
coat of arms of Pope Sixtus, with two little boys as
supporters. The same master executed certain works
for Sciarra Colonna in the Palace of S. Apostolo;
and no long time after namely, in the year 1484
Innocent VIII, the Genoese, caused him to paint
certain halls and loggie in the Palace of the
Belvedere, where, among other things, by order of
that Pope, he painted a loggia full of landscapes,
depicting therein Rome, Milan, Genoa, Florence,
Venice, and Naples, after the manner of the
Flemings; and this, being a thing not customary at
that time, gave no little satisfaction. In the same
place, over the principal door of entrance, he
painted a Madonna in fresco. In S. Pietro, in the
chapel that contains the Lance which pierced the
side of Christ, he painted a panel in distemper,
with the Madonna larger than life, for the said
Innocent VIII; and he painted two chapels in the
Church of S. Maria del Popolo, one for the aforesaid
Domenico della Rovere, Cardinal of San Clemente, who
was afterwards buried therein, and the other for
Cardinal Innocenzio Cibo, wherein he also was
afterwards buried; and in each of these chapels he
portrayed the Cardinal who had caused him to paint
it. In the Palace of the Pope he painted certain
rooms that look out upon the courtyard of S. Pietro,
the ceilings and paintings of which were renovated a
few years ago by Pope Pius IV. In the same palace
Alexander VI caused Pinturicchio to paint all the
rooms that he occupied, together with the whole of
the Borgia Tower, wherein he wrought stories of the
liberal arts in one room, besides decorating all the
ceilings with stucco and gold; but, since they did
not then know the method of stucco work that is now
in use, the aforesaid ornaments are for the most
part ruined. Over the door of an apartment in the
said palace he portrayed the Signora Giulia Farnese
in the countenance of a Madonna, and, in the same
picture, the head of Pope Alexander in a figure that
is adoring her.
Bernardino was much given to making gilt
ornaments in relief for his pictures, to satisfy
people who had little understanding of his art with
the more showy lustre that this gave them, which is
a most barbarous thing in painting. Having then
executed a story of S. Catherine in the said
apartments, he depicted the arches of Rome in relief
and the figures in painting, insomuch that, the
figures being in the foreground and the buildings in
the background, the things that should recede stand
out more prominently than those that should strike
the eye as the larger a very grave heresy in our
art.
In the Castello di S. Angelo he painted a vast
number of rooms with grotesques; and in the Great
Tower, in the garden below, he painted stories of
Pope Alexander, with portraits of the Catholic
Queen, Isabella ; Niccolo Orsino, Count of
Pittigliano; Gianjacomo Trivulzi, and many other
relatives and friends of the said Pope, in
particular Caesar Borgia and his brother and
sisters, with many talented men of those times. At
Monte Oliveto in Naples, in the Chapel of Paolo
Tolosa, there is a panel with an Assumption by the
hand of Pinturicchio. This master made an infinite
number of other works throughout all Italy, which,
since they are of no great excellence, and wrought
in a superficial manner, I will pass over in
silence. Pinturicchio used to say that a painter
could only give the greatest relief to his figures
when he had it in himself, without owing anything to
principles or to others. He also made works in
Perugia, but these were few. In the Araceli he
painted the Chapel of S. Bernardino ; and in S.
Maria del Popolo, where, as we have said, he painted
the two chapels, he made the four Doctors of the
Church on the vaulting of the principal chapel.
Afterwards, having reached the age of fifty-nine,
he was commissioned to paint the Nativity of Our
Lady on a panel in S. Francesco at Siena. To this he
set his hand, and the friars assigned to him a room
to live in, which they gave to him, as he wished,
empty and stripped of everything, save only a huge
old chest, which appeared to them too awkward to
remove. But Pinturicchio, like the strange and
whimsical man that he was, made such an outcry at
this, and repeated it so often, that finally in
despair the friars set themselves to carry it away.
Now their good fortune was such, that in removing it
there was broken a plank which contained 500 Roman
ducats of gold; at which Pinturicchio was so
displeased, and felt so aggrieved at the good luck
of those poor friars, that it can hardly be imagined
nay, he took it so much to heart, being unable to
get it out of his thoughts, that it was the death of
him. His pictures date about the year 1513.
A companion and friend of Pinturicchio, although
he was a much older man, was Benedetto Buonfiglio, a
painter of Perugia, who executed many works in
company with other masters in the Papal Palace at
Rome. In the Chapel of the Signoria in Perugia, his
native city, he painted scenes from the life of S.
Ercolano, Bishop and Protector of that city, and in
the same place certain miracles wrought by S. Louis.
In S. Domenico he painted the story of the Magi on a
panel in distemper, and many saints on another. In
the Church of S. Bernardino he painted a Christ in
the sky, with S. Bernardino himself, and a multitude
below. In short, this master was in no little repute
in his native city before Pietro Perugino had come
to be known.
Another friend of Pinturicchio, associated with
him in not a few of his works, was Gerino Pistoiese,
who was held to be a diligent colorist and a
faithful imitator of the manner of Pietro Perugino,
with whom he worked nearly up to his death. He did
little work in his native city of Pistoia; but for
the Company of the Buon Gesu' in Borgo San Sepolcro
he painted a Circumcision in oil on a panel, which
is passing good. In the Pieve of the same place he
painted a chapel in fresco; and on the bank of the
Tiber, on the road that leads to Anghiari, he
painted another chapel, also in fresco, for the
Commune. And he painted still another chapel in the
same place, in S. Lorenzo, an abbey of the Monks of
Camaldoli. By reason of all these works he made so
long a stay in the Borgo that he almost adopted it
as his home. He was a sorry fellow in matters of
art, laboring with the greatest difficulty, and
toiling with such pains at the execution of a work,
that it was a torture to him.
At this same time there was a painter in the city
of Foligno, Niccolo Alunno, who was held to be
excellent, for it was little the custom before
Pietro Perugino's day to paint in oil, and many were
held to be able men who did not afterwards justify
this opinion. Niccolo therefore gave no little
satisfaction with his works, since, although he only
painted in distemper, he portrayed the heads of his
figures from life, so that they appeared alive, and
his manner won considerable praise. In S. Agostino
at Foligno there is a panel by his hand with a
Nativity of Christ, and a predella with little
figures. At Assisi he painted a banner that is borne
in processions, besides the panel of the high altar
in the Duomo, and another panel in S. Francesco. But
the best painting that Niccolo ever did was in a
chapel in the Duomo, where, among other things,
there is a Pieta', with two angels who are holding
two torches and weeping so naturally, that I do not
believe that any other painter, however excellent,
would have been able to do much better. In the same
place he also painted the facade of S. Maria degli
Angeli, besides many other works of which there is
no need to make mention, it being enough to have
touched on the best. And let this be the end of the
Life of Pinturicchio, who, besides his other
qualities, gave no little satisfaction to many
princes and lords because he finished and delivered
his works quickly, which is their pleasure, although
such works are perchance less excellent than those
that are made slowly and deliberately.
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FRANCESCO FRANCIA (1450-1517)
GOLDSMITH and PAINTER OF BOLOGNA
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
FRANCESCO FRANCIA, who was born in Bologna in the
year 1450, of parents who were artisans, but honest
and worthy enough, was apprenticed in his earliest
boyhood to the goldsmith's art, in which calling he
worked with intelligence and spirit; and as he grew
up he became so well-proportioned in person and
appearance, and so sweet and pleasant in manner and
speech, that he was able to keep the most melancholy
of men cheerful and free from care with his talk;
for which reason he was beloved not only by all
those who knew him, but also by many Italian princes
and other lords. While working as a goldsmith, then,
he gave attention to design, in which he took so
much pleasure, that his mind began to aspire to
higher things, and he made very great progress
therein, as may be seen from many works in silver
that he executed in his native city of Bologna, and
particularly from certain most excellent works in
niello. In this manner of work he often put twenty
most beautiful and well-proportioned little figures
within a space no higher than the breadth of two
fingers and not much more in length. He also
enamelled many works in silver, which were destroyed
at the time of the ruin and exile of the Bentivogli.
In a word, he did everything that can be done in
that art better than any other man.
But that in which he delighted above all, and in
which he was truly excellent, was the making of dies
for medals, wherein he was the rarest master of his
day, as may be seen in some that he made with a most
lifelike head of Pope Julius II, which bear
comparison with those of Caradosso; not to mention
that he made medals of Signer Giovanni Bentivogli,
in which he appears alive, and of an infinite number
of princes, who would stop in Bologna on their way
through the city, whereupon he would make their
portraits in wax for medals, and afterwards, having
finished the matrices of the dies, he would send
them; for which, besides immortal fame, he also
received very rich presents. As long as he lived he
was ever Master of the Mint in Bologna, for which he
made the stamps of all the dies, both under the rule
of the Bentivogli and also during the lifetime of
Pope Julius, after their departure, as is proved by
the coins struck by that Pope on his entrance into
the city, which had on one side his head portrayed
from life, and on the other these word: BONONIA PER
JULIUM A TYRANNO LiBERATA. So excellent was he held
in this profession, that he continued to make the
dies for the coinage down to the time of Pope Leo;
and the impressions of his dies are so greatly
prized, and those who have some hold them in such
esteem, that money cannot buy them.
Now it came to pass that Francia, being desirous
of greater glory, and having known Andrea Mantegna
and many other painters who had gained wealth and
honors by their art, determined to try whether he
could succeed in that part of painting which had to
do with color; his drawing was already such that it
could well bear comparison with theirs. Thereupon,
having made arrangements to try his hand, he painted
certain portraits and some little things, keeping in
his house for many months men of that profession to
teach him the means and methods of coloring,
insomuch that, having very good judgment, he soon
acquired the needful practice. The first work that
he made was a panel of no great size for Messer
Bartolommeo* Felicini [* The text says " Messer
Bart. ..." ], who placed it in the Misericordia, a
church without Bologna; in which panel there is a
Madonna seated on a throne, with many other figures,
and the said Messer Bartolommeo portrayed from life.
This work, which was wrought in oil with the
greatest diligence, was painted by him in the year
1490; and it gave such satisfaction in Bologna, that
Messer Giovanni Bentivogli, desiring to honor his
own chapel, which was in S. Jacopo in that city,
with works by this new painter, commissioned him to
paint a panel with the Madonna in the sky, two
figures on either side of her, and two angels below
sounding instruments; which work was so well
executed by Francia, that he won from Messer
Giovanni, besides praise, a most honorable present.
Wherefore Monsignore de' Bentivogli, impressed by
this work, caused him to paint a panel containing
the Nativity of Christ, which was much extolled, for
the high altar of the Misericordia; wherein, besides
the design, which is not otherwise than beautiful,
the invention and the coloring are worthy of nothing
but praise. In this work he made a portrait of
Monsignore de' Bentivogli from the life (a very good
likeness, so it is said by those who knew him),
clothed in that very pilgrim's dress in which he
returned from Jerusalem. He also painted a panel in
the Church of the Nunziata, without the Porta di S.
Mammolo, representing the Madonna receiving the
Annunciation from the Angel, with two figures on
either side, which is held to be a very well
executed work.
Now that Francia's works had spread his fame
abroad, even as his painting in oil had brought him
both profit and repute, so he determined to try
whether he would succeed as well at working in
fresco. Messer Giovanni Bentivogli had caused his
palace to be painted by diverse masters of Ferrara
and Bologna, and by certain others from Modena; but,
having seen Francia's experiments in fresco, he
determined that this master should paint a scene on
one wall of an apartment that he occupied for his
own use. There Francia painted the camp of
Holofernes, guarded by various sentinels both on
foot and on horseback, who were keeping watch over
the pavilions; and the while that they were intent
on something else, the sleeping Holofernes was seen
surprised by a woman clothed in widow's garments,
who, with her left hand, was holding his hair, which
was wet with the heat of wine and sleep, and with
her right hand she was striking the blow to slay her
enemy, the while that an old wrinkled handmaid, with
the true air of a most faithful slave, and with her
eyes fixed on those of her Judith in order to
encourage her, was bending down and holding a basket
near the ground, to receive therein the head of the
slumbering lover. This scene was one of the most
beautiful and most masterly that Francia ever
painted, but it was thrown to the ground in the
destruction of that edifice at the time of the
expulsion of the Bentivogli, together with another
scene over that same apartment, colored to look like
bronze, and representing a disputation of
philosophers, which was excellently wrought, with
his conception very well expressed. These works
brought it about that he was loved and honored by
Messer Giovanni and all the members of his house,
and, after them, by all the city.
In the Chapel of S. Cecilia, which is attached to
the Church of S. Jacopo, he painted two scenes
wrought in fresco, in one of which he made the
Marriage of Our Lady with Joseph, and in the other
the Death of S. Cecilia a work held in great esteem
by the people of Bologna. And, indeed, Francia
gained such mastery and such confidence from seeing
his works advancing towards the perfection that he
desired, that he executed many pictures, of which I
will make no mention, it being enough for me to
point out, to all who may wish to see his works,
only the best and most notable. Nor did his painting
hinder him from carrying on both the Mint and his
other work of making medals, as he had done from the
beginning. Francia, so it is said, felt the greatest
sorrow at the departure of Messer Giovanni
Bentivogli, for he had received such great benefits
from Messer Giovanni, that it caused him infinite
grief; however, like the prudent and orderly man
that he was, he kept at his work. After his parting
from his patron, he painted three panels that went
to Modena, in one of which there was the Baptism of
Christ by S. John; in the second, a very beautiful
Annunciation; and in the last, which was placed in
the Church of the Frati dell' Osservanza, a Madonna
in the sky with many figures.
The fame of so excellent a master being spread
abroad by means of so many works, the cities
contended with one another to obtain his pictures.
Whereupon he painted a panel for the Black Friars of
S. Giovanni in Parma, containing a Dead Christ in
the lap of Our Lady, surrounded by many figures ;
which panel was universally held to be a most
beautiful work ; and the same friars, therefore,
thinking that they had been well served, induced him
to make another for a house of theirs at Reggio in
Lombardy, wherein he painted a Madonna with many
figures. At Cesena, likewise for the church of these
friars, he executed another panel, painting therein
the Circumcision of Christ, with lovely coloring.
Nor would the people of Ferrara consent to be left
behind by their neighbors; nay, having determined to
adorn their Duomo with works by Francia, they
commissioned him to paint a panel, on which he made
a great number of figures; and they named it the
panel of Ognissanti. He painted one in S. Lorenzo at
Bologna, with a Madonna, a figure on either side,
and two children below, which was much extolled; and
scarcely had he finished this when he had to make
another in S. Giobbe, representing a Crucifixion,
with that Saint kneeling at the foot of the Cross,
and two figures at the sides.
So widely had the fame and the works of this
craftsman spread throughout Lombardy, that even from
Tuscany men sent for something by his hand, as they
did from Lucca, whither there went a panel con-
taining a S. Anne and a Madonna, with many other
figures, and a Dead Christ above in the lap of His
Mother; which work is set up in the Church of S.
Fridiano, and is held in great price by the people
of Lucca. For the Church of the Nunziata in Bologna
he painted two other panels, which were wrought with
much diligence; and in the Misericordia, likewise,
without the Porta a Stra Castione, at the request of
a lady of the Manzuoli family, he painted another,
wherein he depicted the Madonna with the Child in
her arms, S. George, S. John the Baptist, S.
Stephen, and S. Augustine, with an angel below, who
has his hands clasped with such grace, that he
appears truly to belong to Paradise. He executed
another for the Company of S. Francesco in the same
city, and likewise one for the Company of S.
Gieronimo. He lived in close intimacy with Messer
Polo Zambeccaro, who, being much his friend, and
wishing to have some memorial of him, caused him to
paint a rather large picture of the Nativity of
Christ, which is one of the most celebrated works
that he ever made; and for this reason Messer Polo
commissioned him to paint at his villa two figures
in fresco, which are very beautiful. He also
executed a most charming scene in fresco in the
house of Messer Gieronimo Bolognino, with many
varied and very beautiful figures.
All these works together had won him such
veneration in that city, that he was held in the
light of a god; and what made this infinitely
greater was that the Duke of Urbino caused him to
paint a set of horse's caparisons, in which he made
a vast forest of trees that had caught fire, from
which there were issuing great numbers of all sorts
of animals, both of the air and of the earth, and
certain figures a terrible, awful, and truly
beautiful thing, which was held in no little esteem
by reason of the time spent in painting the plumage
of the birds, and the various sorts of terrestrial
animals, to say nothing of the diversity of foliage
and the variety of branches that were seen in the
different trees. For this work Francia was rewarded
with gifts of great value as a recompense for his
labors, not to mention that the Duke ever held
himself indebted to him for the praises that he
received for it. Duke Guido Baldo, also, has in his
guardaroba a picture of the Roman Lucretia, which he
esteems very highly, by the same man's hand,
together with many other pictures, of which mention
will be made when the time comes.
After these things he painted a panel for the
altar of the Madonna in SS. Vitale e Agricola; in
which panel are two very beautiful angels, who are
playing on the lute. I will not enumerate the
pictures that are scattered throughout Bologna in
the houses of gentlemen of that city, and still less
the infinite number of portraits that he made from
life, for it would be too wearisome. Let it be
enough to say that while he was living in such glory
and enjoying the fruits of his labors in peace,
Raffaello da Urbino was in Rome, and all day long
there flocked round him many strangers, among them
many gentlemen of Bologna, eager to see his works.
And since it generally comes to pass that every man
extols most willingly the intellects of his native
place, these Bolognese began to praise the works,
the life, and the talents of Francia in the presence
of Raffaello, and they established such a friendship
between them with these words, that Francia and
Raffaello sent letters of greeting to each other.
And Francia, hearing such great praise spoken of the
divine pictures of Raffaello, desired to see his
works; but he was now old, and too fond of his
comfortable life in Bologna.
Now after this it came about that Raffaello
painted in Rome for Cardinal Santi Quattro, of the
Pucci family, a panel picture of S. Cecilia, which
had to be sent to Bologna to be placed in a chapel
of S. Giovanni in Monte, where there is the tomb of
the Blessed Elena dall' Olio. This he packed up and
addressed to Francia, who, as his friend, was to
have it placed on the altar of that chapel, with the
ornament, just as he had prepared it himself. Right
readily did Francia accept this charge, which gave
him a chance of seeing a work by Raffaello, as he
had so much desired. And having opened the letter
that Raffaello had written to him, in which he
besought Francia, if there were any scratch in the
work, to put it right, and likewise, as a friend, to
correct any error that he might notice, with the
greatest joy he had the said panel taken from its
case into a good light. But such was the amazement
that it caused him, and so great his marvel, that,
recognizing his own error and the foolish
presumption of his own rash confidence, he took it
greatly to heart, and in a very short time died of
grief.
Raffaello's panel was divine, not so much painted
as alive, and so well wrought and colored by him,
that among all the beautiful pictures that he
painted while he lived, although they are all
miraculous, it could well be called most rare.
Wherefore Francia, half dead with terror at the
beauty of the picture, which lay before his eyes
challenging comparison with those by his own hand
that he saw around him, felt all confounded, and had
it placed with great diligence in that chapel of S.
Giovanni in Monte for which it was destined; and
taking to his bed in a few days almost beside
himself, thinking that he was now almost of no
account in his art in comparison with the opinion
held both by himself and by others, he died of grief
and melancholy, so some believe, overtaken by the
same fate, through contemplating too attentively
that most lifelike picture of Raffaello's, as befell
Fivizzano from feasting his eyes with his own
beautiful Death, about which the following epigram
was written:
Me veram pictor divinus mente recepit ;
Admota est operi deinde perita manus.
Dumque opere in facto defigit lumina pictor,
Intentus nimium, palluit et moritur.
Viva igitur sum mors, non mortua mortis imago,
Si fungor quo mors fungitur officio.
However, certain others say that his death was so
sudden, that from many symptoms it appeared to be
due rather to poison or apoplexy than to anything
else. Francia was a prudent man, most regular in his
way of life, and very robust. After his death, in
the year 1518, he was honorably buried by his sons
in Bologna.
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PIETRO PERUGINO (c.1445-1523)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
How great a benefit poverty may be to men of
genius, and how potent a force it may be to make
them become excellent nay, perfect in the exercise
of any faculty whatsoever, can be seen clearly
enough in the actions of Pietro Perugino, who,
flying from the extremity of distress at Perugia,
and betaking himself to Florence in the desire to
attain to some distinction by means of his talent,
remained for many months without any other bed than
a miserable chest to sleep in, turning night into
day, and devoting himself with the greatest ardour
to the unceasing study of his profession. And,
having made a habit of this, he knew no other
pleasure than to labour continually at his art, and
to be for ever painting ; for with the fear of
poverty constantly before his eyes, he would do for
gain such work as he would probably not have looked
at if he had possessed the wherewithal to live.
Riches, indeed, might perchance have closed the path
on which his talent should advance towards
excellence, no less effectually than poverty opened
it to him, while necessity spurred him on in his
desire to rise from so low and miserable a
condition, if not to supreme eminence, at least to a
rank in which he might have the means of life. For
this reason he never took heed of cold, of hunger,
of hardship, of discomfort, of fatigue, or of
ridicule, if only he might one day live in ease and
repose ; ever saying, as it were by way of proverb,
that after bad weather there must come the good, and
that during the good men build the houses that are
to shelter them when there is need.
But in order that the rise of this craftsman may
be better known, let me begin with his origin, and
relate that, according to common report, there was
born in the city of Perugia, to a poor man of
Castello della Pieve, named Cristofano, a son who
was baptized with the name of Pietro. This son,
brought up amid misery and distress, was given by
his father as a shop-boy to a painter of Perugia,
who was no great master of his profession, but held
in great veneration both the art and the men who
were excellent therein; nor did he ever cease to
tell Pietro how much gain and honour painting
brought to those who practised it well, and he would
urge the boy to the study of that art by recounting
to him the rewards won by ancient and modern
masters; wherefore he fired his mind in such a
manner, that Pietro took it into his head to try, if
only fortune would assist him, to become one of
these. For this reason he was often wont to ask any
man whom he knew to have seen the world, in what
part the best craftsmen in that calling were formed
; particularly his master, who always gave him one
and the same answer namely, that it was in Florence
more than in any other place that men became perfect
in all the arts, especially in painting, since in
that city men are spurred by three things. The first
is censure, which is uttered freely and by many,
seeing that the air of that city makes men's
intellects so free by nature, that they do not
content themselves, like a flock of sheep, with
mediocre works, but ever consider them with regard
to the honor of the good and the beautiful rather
than out of respect for the craftsman.
The second is that, if a man wishes to live
there, he must be industrious, which is naught else
than to say that he must continually exercise his
intelligence and his judgment, must be ready and
adroit in his affairs, and, finally, must know how
to make money, seeing that the territory of Florence
is not so wide or abundant as to enable her to
support at little cost all who live there, as can be
done in countries that are rich enough. The third,
which is perchance no less potent than the others,
is an eager desire for glory and honor, which is
generated mightily by that air in the men of all
professions; and this desire, in all persons of
spirit, will not let them stay content with being
equal, much less inferior, to those whom they see to
be men like themselves, although they may recognize
them as masters nay, it forces them very often to
desire their own advancement so eagerly, that, if
they are not kindly or wise by nature, they turn out
evil-speakers, ungrateful, and unthankful for
benefits. It is true, indeed, that when a man has
learnt there as much as suffices him, he must, if he
wishes to do more than live from day to day like an
animal, and desires to become rich, take his
departure from that place and find a sale abroad for
the excellence of his works and for the repute
conferred on him by that city, as the doctors do
with the fame derived from their studies^ For
Florence treats her craftsmen as time treats its own
works, which, when perfected, it destroys and
consumes little by little.
Moved by these counsels, therefore, and by the
persuasions of many others, Pietro came to Florence,
minded to become excellent; and well did he succeed,
for the reason that in those times works in his
manner were held in very great price. He studied
under the discipline of Andrea Verrocchio, and his
first figures were painted without the Porta a
Prato, in the Nunnery of S. Martino, now in ruins by
reason of the wars. In Camaldoli he made a S. Jerome
on a wall, which was then much esteemed by the
Florentines and celebrated with great praise, for
the reason that he made that Saint old, lean, and
emaciated, with his eyes fixed on the Crucifix, and
so wasted away, that he seems like an anatomical
model, as may be seen from a copy of that picture
which is in the hands of the aforesaid Bartolommeo
Gondi. In a few years, then, he came into such
credit, that his works filled not only Florence and
all Italy, but also France, Spain, and many other
countries to which they were sent. Wherefore, his
paintings being held in very great price and repute,
merchants began to buy them up wholesale and to send
them abroad to various countries, to their own great
gain and profit.
For the Nuns of S. Chiara he painted a Dead
Christ on a panel, with such lovely and novel
coloring, that he made the craftsmen believe that he
would become excellent and marvellous. In this work
there are seen some most beautiful heads of old men,
and likewise certain figures of the Maries, who,
having ceased to weep, are contemplating the Dead
Jesus with extraordinary awe and love; not to
mention that he made therein a landscape that was
then held most beautiful, because the true method of
making them, such as it appeared later, had not yet
been seen. It is said that Francesco del Pugliese
offered to give to the aforesaid nuns three times as
much money as they had paid to Pietro, and to have a
similar one made for them by the same man's hand,
but that they would not consent, because Pietro said
that he did not believe he could equal it. There
were also many things by the hand of Pietro in the
Convent of the Frati Gesuati, without the Porta a
Pinti; and since the said church and convent are now
in ruins, I do not wish, with this occasion, and
before I proceed further with this Life, to grudge
the labour of giving some little account of them.
This church, then, the architect of which was
Antonio di Giorgio of Settignano, was forty braccia
long and twenty wide. At the upper end one ascended
by four treads, or rather steps, to a platform six
braccia in extent, on which stood the high altar,
with many ornaments carved in stone; and on the said
altar was a panel with a rich ornament, by the hand,
as has been related, of Domenico Ghirlandajo.
In the center of the church was a partition wall,
with a door wrought in open-work from the middle
upwards, on either side of which was an altar, while
over either altar, as will be told, there stood a
panel by the hand of Pietro Perugino. Over the said
door was a most beautiful Crucifix by the hand of
Benedetto da Maiano, with a Madonna on one side and
a S. John on the other, both in relief. Before the
said platform of the high altar, and against the
said partition wall, was a choir of the Doric Order,
very well wrought in walnut wood; and over the
principal door of the church there was another
choir, which rested on well-strengthened woodwork,
with the under part forming a ceiling, or rather
soffit, beautifully partitioned, and with a row of
balusters acting as parapet to the front of the
choir, which faced towards the high altar. This
choir was very convenient to the friars of that
convent for holding their night services, for saying
their individual prayers, and likewise for weekdays.
Over the principal door of the church which was made
with most beautiful ornaments of stone, and had a
portico in front raised on columns, which made a
covered way as far as the door of the convent was a
lunette with a very beautiful figure of S. Giusto,
the Bishop, and an angel on either side, by the hand
of the illuminator Gherardo; and this because that
church was dedicated to the said S. Giusto, and
within it those friars preserved a relic of that
Saint that is, an arm.
At the entrance of the convent was a little
cloister of exactly the same size as the church
namely, forty braccia long and twenty wide with
arches and vaulting going right round and supported
by columns of stone, thus making a spacious and most
commodious loggia on every side. In the center of
the court of this cloister, which was all neatly
paved with squared stone, was a very beautiful well,
with a loggia above, which likewise rested on
columns of stone, and made a rich and beautiful
ornament. In this cloister were the chapterhouse of
the friars, the side door of entrance into the
church, and the stairs that ascended to the
dormitory and other rooms for the use of the friars.
On the farther side of this cloister, in a straight
line with the principal door of the convent, was a
passage as long as the chapterhouse and the
steward's room put together, leading into another
cloister larger and more beautiful than the first;
and the whole of this straight line that is, the
forty braccia of the loggia of the first cloister,
the passage, and the line of the second cloister
made a very long enfilade, more beautiful than words
can tell, and the rather as from that farther
cloister, in the same straight line, there issued a
gardenwalk two hundred braccia in length; and all
this, as one came from the principal door of the
convent, made a marvellous view. In the said second
cloister was a refectory, sixty braccia long and
eighteen wide, with all those well-appointed rooms,
and, as the friars call them, offices, which were
required in such a convent. Over this was a
dormitory in the shape of a T, one part of which
namely, the principal part in the direct line, which
was sixty braccia long was double that is to say, it
had cells on either side, and at the upper end, in a
space of fifteen braccia, was an oratory, over the
altar of which there was a panel by the hand of
Pietro Perugino; and over the door of this oratory
was another work by the same man's hand, in fresco,
as will be told. And on the same floor, above the
chapterhouse, was a large room where those fathers
worked at making glass windows, with the little
furnaces and other conveniences that were necessary
for such an industry; and since while Pietro lived
he made the cartoons for many of their works, those
that they executed in his time were all excellent.
Then the garden of this convent was so beautiful and
so well kept, and the vines were trained round the
cloister and in every place with such good order,
that nothing better could be seen in the
neighborhood of Florence. In like manner the room
wherein they distilled scented waters and medicines,
as was their custom, had all the best conveniences
that could possibly be imagined. In short, that
convent was one of the most beautiful and best
appointed that there were in the State of Florence;
and it is for this reason that I have wished to make
this record of it, and the rather as the greater
part of the pictures that were therein were by the
hand of our Pietro Perugino.
Returning at length to this Pietro, I have to say
that of the works that he made in the said convent
none have been preserved save the panels, since
those executed in fresco were thrown to the ground,
together with the whole of that building, by reason
of the siege of Florence, when the panels were
carried to the Porta a S. Pier Gattolini, where a
home was given to those friars in the Church and
Convent of S. Giovannino. Now the two panels on the
aforesaid partition-wall were by the hand of Pietro;
and in one was Christ in the Garden, with the
Apostles sleeping, in whom Pietro showed how well
sleep can prevail over pains and discomforts, having
represented them asleep in attitudes of perfect
ease. In the other he made a Pieta' that is, Christ
in the lap of Our Lady surrounded by four figures no
less excellent than any others in his manner; and,
to mention only one thing, he made the Dead Christ
all stiffened, as if He had been so long on the
Cross that the length of time and the cold had
reduced Him to this; wherefore he painted Him
supported by John and the Magdalene, all sorrowful
and weeping. In another panel he painted the
Crucifixion, with the Magdalene, and, at the foot of
the Cross, S. Jerome, S. John the Baptist, and the
Blessed Giovanni Colombini, founder of that Order;
all with infinite diligence .These three panels have
suffered considerably, and they are all cracked in
the dark parts and where there are shadows; and this
comes to pass when the first coat of color, which is
laid on the ground (for three coats of colour are
used, one over the other) , is worked on before it
is thoroughly dry; wherefore afterwards, with time,
in the drying, they draw through their thickness and
come to have the strength to make those cracks;
which Pietro could not know, seeing that in his time
they were only just beginning to paint well in oil.
Now, the works of Pietro being much commended by
the Florentines, a Prior of the same Convent of the
Ingesuati, who took delight in art, caused him to
make a Nativity, with the Magi, on a wall in the
first cloister, after the manner of a miniature.
This he brought to perfect completion with great
loveliness and a high finish, and it contained an
infinite number of different heads, many of them
portrayed from life, among which was the head of
Andrea del Verrocchio, his master. In the same
court, over the arches of the columns, he made a
frieze with heads of the size of life, very well
executed, among which was one of the said Prior, so
lifelike and wrought in so good a manner, that it
was judged by the most experienced craftsmen to be
the best thing that Pietro ever made. In the other
cloister, over the door that led into the refectory,
he was commissioned to paint a scene of Pope
Boniface confirming the habit of his Order to the
Blessed Giovanni Colombino, wherein he portrayed
eight of the aforesaid friars, and made a most
beautiful view receding in perspective, which was
much extolled, and lightly, since Pietro made a
particular profession of this. In another scene
below the first he began a Nativity of Christ, with
certain angels and shepherds, wrought with the
freshest coloring. And in an arch over the door of
the aforesaid oratory he made three half-length
figures Our Lady, S. Jerome, and the Blessed
Giovanni with so beautiful a manner, that this was
held to be one of the best mural paintings that
Pietro ever wrought.
The said Prior, so I once heard tell, was very
excellent at making ultramarine blues, and,
therefore, having an abundance of them, he desired
that Pietro should use them freely in all the
above-mentioned works; but he was nevertheless so
mean and suspicious that he would never trust
Pietro, and always insisted on being present when he
was using blue in the work. Wherefore Pietro, who
had an honest and upright nature, and had no desire
for another man's goods save in return for his own
labor, took the Prior's distrust very ill, and
resolved to put him to shame; and so, having taken a
basin of water, and having laid on the ground for
draperies or for anything else that he wished to
paint in blue and white, from time to time he caused
the Prior, who turned grudgingly to his little bag,
to put some ultramarine into the little vase that
contained the tempera-water, and then, setting to
work, at every second stroke of the brush Pietro
would dip his brush in the basin, so that there
remained more in the water than he had used on the
picture. The Prior, who saw his little bag becoming
empty without much to show for it in the work, kept
saying time after time: "Oh, what a quantity of
ultramarine this plaster consumes!" " Does it not?"
Pietro would answer. After the departure of the
Prior, Pietro took the ultramarine from the bottom
of the basin, and gave it back to him when he
thought the time had come, saying: "Father, this is
yours; learn to trust honest men, who never cheat
those who trust them, although, if they wished, they
could cheat such distrustful persons as yourself."
By reason of these works, then, and many others,
Pietro came into such repute that he was almost
forced to go to Siena, where he painted a large
panel, which was held very beautiful, in S.
Francesco; and he painted another in S. Agostino,
containing a Crucifix with some saints. A little
time after this, for the Church of S. Gallo in
Florence, he painted a panel picture of S. Jerome in
Penitence, which is now in S. Jacopo tra Fossi,
where the aforesaid friars live, near the Canto
degli Alberti. He was commissioned to paint a Dead
Christ, with the Madonna and S. John, above the
steps of the side-door of S. Pietro Maggiore ; and
this he wrought in such a manner, that it has been
preserved, although exposed to rain and wind, as
fresh as if it had only just been finished by
Pietro's hand. Truly intelligent was Pietro's
understanding of color, both in fresco and in oil;
wherefore all experienced craftsmen are indebted to
him, for it is through him that they have knowledge
of the lights that are seen throughout his works.
In S. Croce, in the same city, he made a Pieta
that is, Our Lady with the Dead Christ in her arms
and two figures, which are marvellous to behold, not
so much for their excellence, as for the fact that
they have remained so fresh and vivid in coloring,
painted as they are in fresco. He was commissioned
by Bernardino de' Rossi, a citizen of Florence, to
paint a S. Sebastian to be sent into France, the
price agreed on being one hundred gold crowns ; but
this work was sold by Bernardino to the King of
France for four hundred gold ducats. At Vallombrosa
he painted a panel for the high altar; and in the
Certosa of Pavia, likewise, he executed a panel for
the friars of that place. At the command of Cardinal
Caraffa of Naples he painted an Assumption of Our
Lady, with the Apostles marvelling round the tomb,
for the high altar of the Piscopio; and for Abbot
Simone de' Graziani of Borgo a San Sepolcro he
executed a large panel, which was painted in
Florence, and then borne to S. Gilio in the Borgo on
the shoulders of porters, at very great expense. To
S. Giovanni in Monte at Bologna he sent a panel with
certain figures standing upright, and a Madonna in
the sky.
Thereupon the fame of Pietro spread so widely
throughout Italy and abroad, that to his great glory
he was summoned to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to work in
his chapel in company with the other excellent
craftsmen. There, in company with Don Bartolommeo
della Gatta, Abbot of S. Clemente at Arezzo, he
painted the scene of Christ giving the keys to S.
Peter; and likewise the Nativity and Baptism of
Christ, and the Birth of Moses, with the daughter of
Pharaoh finding him in the little ark. And on the
same wall where the altar is he painted a mural
picture of the Assumption of Our Lady, with a
portrait of Pope Sixtus on his knees. But these
works were thrown to the ground in preparing the
wall for the Judgment of the divine Michel agnolo,
in the time of Pope Paul III. On a vault of the
Borgia Tower in the Papal Palace he painted certain
stories of Christ, with some foliage in chiaroscuro,
which had an extraordinary name for excellence in
his time. In S. Marco, likewise in Rome, he painted
a story of two martyrs beside the Sacrament one of
the best works that he made in Rome. For Sciarra
Colonna, also, in the Palace of S. Apostolo, he
painted a loggia and certain rooms.
These works brought him a very great sum of
money; wherefore, having resolved to remain no
longer in Rome, and having departed in good favor
with the whole Court, he returned to his native city
of Perugia, in many parts of which he executed
panels and works in fresco; and, in particular, a
panel-picture painted in oils for the Chapel of the
Palace of the Signori, containing Our Lady and other
saints. In S. Francesco del Monte he painted two
chapels in fresco, one with the story of the Magi
going to make offering to Christ, and the other with
the martyrdom of certain friars of S. Francis, who,
going to the Soldan of Babylon, were put to death.
In S. Francesco del Convento, likewise, he painted
two panels in oil, one with the Resurrection of
Christ, and the other with S. John the Baptist and
other saints. For the Church of the Servi he also
painted two panels, one of the Transfiguration of
Our Lord, and in the other, which is beside the
sacristy, the Story of the Magi; but, since these
are not of the same excellence as the other works of
Pietro, it is held to be certain that they are among
the first that he made. In the Chapel of the
Crocifisso in S. Lorenzo, the Duomo of the same
city, there are by the hand of Pietro the Madonna,
the other Maries, S. John, S. Laurence, S. James,
and other saints. And for the Altar of the
Sacrament, where there is preserved the ring with
which the Virgin Mary was married, he painted the
Marriage of the Virgin.
Afterwards he painted in fresco the whole of the
Audience Chamber of the Cambio, adorning the
compartments of the vaulting with the seven planets,
drawn in certain cars by diverse animals, according
to the old usage; on the wall opposite to the door
of entrance he painted the Nativity and Resurrection
of Christ, with a panel containing S. John the
Baptist in the midst of certain other saints. The
side-walls he painted in his own manner; one with
figures of Fabius Maximus, Socrates, Numa Pompilius,
F. Camillus, Pythagoras, Trajan, L. Sicinius, the
Spartan Leonidas, E ratius Codes, Fabius,
Sempronius, the Athenian Pericles, and Cincinnatus.
On the other wall he made the Prophets, Isaiah,
Moses, Daniel, David, Jeremiah, and Solomon ; and
the Sibyls, the Erythraean, the Libyan, the
Tiburtine, the Delphic, and the others. Below each
of the said figures he placed, in the form of a
written motto, something said by them, and
appropriate to that place. And in one of the
ornaments he made his own portrait, which appears
absolutely alive, and he wrote his own name below it
in the following manner:
PETRUS PERUSINUS EGREGIUS PICTOR.
PERDITA SI FUERAT, PINGENDO HIC RETULIT ARTEM
SI NUNQUAM INVENTA ESSEX HACTENUS, IPSE DEBIT.
ANNO D. 1500.
This work, which was very beautiful and more
highly extolled than any other that was executed by
Pietro in Perugia, is now held in great price by the
men of that city in memory of so famous a craftsman
of their own country. Afterwards, in the principal
chapel of the Church of S. Agostino, the same man
executed a large panel standing by itself and
surrounded by a rich ornament, with S. John
baptizing Christ on the front part, and on the back
that is, on the side that faces the choir the
Nativity of Christ, with certain saints in the upper
parts, and in the predella many scenes wrought very
diligently with little figures. And in the Chapel of
S. Niccolo, in the said church, he painted a panel
for Messer Benedetto Calera.
After this, returning to Florence, he painted a S.
Bernard on a panel for the Monks of Cestello, and in
the chapterhouse a Crucifix, the Madonna, S.
Benedict, S. Bernard, and S. John. And in S.
Domenico da Fiesole, in the second chapel on the
right hand, he painted a panel containing Our Lady
and three figures, among which is a S. Sebastian
worthy of the highest praise. Now Pietro had done so
much work, and he always had so many works in hand,
that he would very often use the same subjects ; and
he had reduced the theory of his art to a manner so
fixed, that he made all his figures with the same
expression. By that time Michelagnolo Buonarroti had
already come to the front, and Pietro greatly
desired to see his figures, by reason of the praise
bestowed on him by craftsmen; and seeing the
greatness of his own name, which he had acquired in
every place through so grand a beginning, being
obscured, he was ever seeking to wound his fellow
workers with biting words. For this reason, besides
certain insults aimed at him by the craftsmen, he
had only himself to blame when Michelagnolo told him
in public that he was a clumsy fool at his ait[SIC].
But Pietro being unable to swallow such an affront,
they both appeared before the Tribunal of Eight,
where Pietro came off with little honor.
Meanwhile the Servite Friars of Florence, wishing
to have the altarpiece of their high altar painted
by some famous master, had handed it over, by reason
of the departure of Leonardo da Vinci, who had gone
off to France, to Filippino; but he, when he had
finished half of one of two panels that were to
adorn the altar, passed from this life to the next;
wherefore the friars, by reason of the faith that
they had in Pietro, entrusted him with the whole
work. In that panel, wherein he was painting the
Deposition of Christ from the Cross, Filippino had
finished the figures of Nicodemus that are taking
Him down; and Pietro continued the lower part with
the Swooning of the Madonna, and certain other
figures. Now this work was to be composed of two
panels, one facing towards the choir of the friars,
and the other towards the body of the church, and
the Deposition from the Cross was to be placed
behind, facing the choir, with the Assumption of Our
Lady in front; but Pietro made the latter so
commonplace, that the Deposition of Christ was
placed in front, and the Assumption on the side of
the choir. These panels have now been removed, both
one and the other, and replaced by the Tabernacle of
the Sacrament; they have been set up over certain
other altars in that church, and out of the whole
work there only remain six pictures, wherein are
some saints painted by Pietro in certain niches. It
is said that when the work was unveiled, it received
no little censure from all the new craftsmen,
particularly because Pietro had availed himself of
those figures that he had been wont to use in other
pictures; with which his friends twitted him, saying
that he had taken no pains, and that he had
abandoned the good method of working, either through
avarice or to save time. To this Pietro would
answer: "I have used the figures that you have at
other times praised, and which have given you
infinite pleasure; if now they do not please you,
and you do not praise them, what can I do?" But they
kept assailing him bitterly with sonnets and open
insults; whereupon, although now old, he departed
from Florence and returned to Perugia.
There he executed certain works in fresco in the
Church of S. Severo, a place belonging to the Monks
of the Order of Camaldoli, wherein Raffaello da
Urbino, when quite young and still the disciple of
Pietro, had painted certain figures, as will be told
in his Life. Pietro likewise worked at Montone, at
La Fratta, and in many other places in the district
of Perugia; more particularly in S. Maria degli
Angeli at Assisi, where he painted in fresco a
Christ on the Cross, with many figures, on the wall
at the back of the Chapel of the Madonna, which
faces the choir of the monks. And for the high altar
of the Church of S. Pietro, an abbey of Black Friars
in Perugia, he painted a large panel containing the
Ascension, with the Apostles below gazing up to
Heaven; in the predella of which panel are three
stories, wrought with much diligence namely, that of
the Magi, the Baptism of Christ, and His
Resurrection. The whole of this picture is seen to
be full of beautiful and careful work, insomuch that
it is the best of those wrought in oil by the hand
of Pietro which are in Perugia. The same man began a
work in fresco of no small importance at Castello
della Pieve, but did not finish it.
It was ever Pietro's custom on his going and
coming between the said Castello and Perugia, like a
man who trusted nobody, to carry all the money that
he possessed about his person. Wherefore certain
men, lying in wait for him at a pass, robbed him,
but at his earnest entreaty they spared his life for
the love of God; and afterwards, by means of the
services of his friends, who were numerous enough,
he also recovered a great part of the money that had
been taken from him; but none the less he came near
dying of vexation. Pietro was a man of very little
religion, and he could never be made to believe in
the immortality of the soul nay, with words in
keeping with his head of granite, he rejected most
obstinately every good suggestion. He placed all his
hopes in the goods of fortune, and he would have
sold his soul for money. He earned great riches; and
he both bought and built houses in Florence, and
acquired much settled property both at Perugia and
at Castello della Pieve. He took a most beautiful
young woman to wife, and had children by her; and he
delighted so greatly in seeing her wearing beautiful
headdresses, both abroad and at home, that it is
said that he would often tire her head with his own
hand. Finally, having reached the! age of
seventy-eight, Pietro finished the course of his
life at Castello della Pieve, where he was honorably
buried, in the year 1524.
Pietro made many masters in his own manner, and
one among them, who was truly most excellent,
devoted himself heart and soul to the honorable
studies of painting, and surpassed his master by a
great measure; and this was the miraculous Raffaello
Sanzio of Urbino, who worked for many years under
Pietro in company with his father, Giovanni de'
Santi. Another disciple of this man was
Pinturicchio, a painter of Perugia, who, as it has
been said in his Life, ever held to Pietro's manner.
His disciple, likewise, was Rocco Zoppo, a painter
of Florence, by whose hand is a very beautiful
Madonna in a round picture, which is in the
possession of Filippo Salviati; although it is true
that it was brought to completion by Pietro himself.
The same Rocco painted many pictures of Our Lady,
and made many portraits, of which there is no need
to speak I will only say that in the Sistine Chapel
in Rome he painted portraits of Girolamo Riario and
of F. Pietro, Cardinal of San Sisto. Another
disciple of Pietro was Montevarchi, who painted many
pictures in San Giovanni di Valdarno ; more
particularly, in the Madonna, the stories of the
Miracle of the Milk. He also left many works in
Montevarchi, his birth-place. Likewise a pupil of
Pietro's, working with him for no little time, was
Gerino da Pistoia, of whom there has been mention in
the Life of Pintu- ricchio ; and so also was Baccio
Ubertino of Florence, who was most diligent both in
colouring and in drawing, for which reason Pietro
made much use of him. By this man's hand is a
drawing in our book, done with the pen, of Christ
being scourged at the Column, which is a very lovely
thing.
A brother of this Baccio, and likewise a disciple
of Pietro, was Fran- cesco, called II Bacchiaccha by
way of surname, who was a most diligent master of
little figures, as may be seen in many works wrought
by him in Florence, above all in the house of Giovan
Maria Benintendi and in that of Pier Francesco
Borgherini. Bacchiaccha delighted in painting
grotesques, wherefore he covered a little cabinet
belonging to the Lord Duke Cosimo with animals and
rare plants, drawn from nature, which are held very
beautiful. Besides this, he made the cartoons for
many tapestries, which were afterwards woven in silk
by the Flemish master, Giovanni Rosto, for the
apartments of his Excellency's Palace. Still another
disciple of Pietro was the Spaniard Giovanni, called
Lo Spagna by way of surname, who was a better
colorist than any of the others whom Pietro left
behind him at his death; after which this Giovanni
would have settled in Perugia, if the envy of the
painters of that city, so hostile to strangers, had
not persecuted him in such wise as to force him to
retire to Spoleto, where, by reason of his
excellence and virtue, he obtained a wife of good
family and was made a citizen of that city. He made
many works in that place, and likewise in all the
other cities of Umbria ; and at Assisi, in the lower
Church of S. Francesco, he painted the panel of the
Chapel of S. Caterina, for the Spanish Cardinal
Egidio, and also one in S. Damiano. In S. Maria
degli Angeli, in the little chapel where S. Francis
died, he painted some half-length figures of the
size of life that is, certain companions of S.
Francis and other saints all very lifelike, on
either side of a S. Francis in relief.
But the best master among all the aforesaid
disciples of Pietro was Andrea Luigi of Assisi,
called L' Ingegno, who in his early youth com- peted
with Raffaello da Urbino under the discipline of
Pietro, who always employed him in the most
important pictures that he made; as may be seen in
the Audience Chamber of the Cambio in Perugia, where
there are some very beautiful figures by his hand;
in those that he wrought at Assisi; and, finally, in
the Chapel of Pope Sixtus at Rome. In all these
works Andrea gave such proof of his worth, that he
was expected to surpass his master by a great
measure, and so, without a doubt, it would have come
to pass ; but fortune, which is almost always
pleased to oppose herself to lofty beginnings, did
not allow L' Ingegno to reach perfection, for a flux
of catarrh fell upon his eyes, whence the poor
fellow became wholly blind, to the infinite grief of
all who knew him. Hearing of this most pitiful
misfortune, Pope Sixtus, like a man who ever loved
men of talent, ordained that a yearly provision
should be paid to Andrea in Assisi during his
lifetime by those who managed the revenues there;
and this was done until he died at the age of
eighty-six.
Likewise disciples of Pietro, and also natives of
Perugia, were Eusebio San Giorgio, who painted the
panel of the Magi in S. Agostino; Domenico di Paris,
who made many works in Perugia and in the
neighbouring townships, being followed by his
brother Orazio; and also Gian Niccola, who painted
Christ in the Garden on a panel in S. Francesco, the
panel of Ognissanti in the Chapel of the Baglioni in
S. Domenico, and stories of S. John the Baptist in
fresco in the Chapel of the Cambio. Benedetto
Caporali, otherwise called Bitti, was also a
disciple of Pietro, and there are many pictures by
his hand in his native city of Perugia. And he
occupied himself so greatly with architecture, that
he not only executed many works, but also wrote a
commentary on Vitruvius in the manner that all can
see, for it is printed; in which studies he was
followed by his son Giulio, a painter of Perugia.
But not one out of all these disciples ever
equalled Pietro's diligence, or the grace of
coloring that he showed in that manner of his own,
which pleased his time so much, that many came from
France, from Spain, from Germany, and from other
lands, to learn it. And a trade was done in his
works, as has been said, by many who sent them to
diverse places, until there came the manner of
Michelagnolo, which, having shown the true and good
path to these arts, has brought them to that
perfection which will be seen in the Third Part,
about to follow, wherein we will treat of the
excellence and perfection of art, and show to
craftsmen that he who labors and studies
continuously, and not in the way of fantasy or
caprice, leaves true works behind him and acquires
fame, wealth, and friends.
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Life of VITTORE CARPACCIO (1455-1523/26)
and of other Venetian and Lombard Painters
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT IS VERY WELL KNOWN that when some of our
craftsmen make a beginning in some province, they
are afterwards followed by many, one after another;
and very often there is an infinite number of them
at one and the same time, for the reason that
rivalry, emulation, and the fact that they have been
dependent on others, one on one excellent master,
and one on another, bring it about that the
craftsmen seek with all the greater effort to
surpass one another, to the utmost of their ability.
And even when many depend on one, no sooner do they
separate, either at the death of their master or for
some other reason, than they straightway also
separate in aim ; whereupon each seeks to prove his
own worth, in order to appear better than the rest
and a master by himself.
Of many, then, who flourished almost at one and
the same time and in one and the same province, and
about whom I have not been able to learn and am not
able to write every particular, I will give some
brief account, to the end that, now that I find
myself at the end of the Second Part of this my
work, I may not omit some who have labored to leave
the world adorned by their works. Of these men, I
say, besides having been unable to discover their
whole history, I have not even been able to find the
portraits, excepting that of Scarpaccia, whom for
this reason I have made head of the others. Let my
readers therefore accept what I can offer in this
connection, seeing that I cannot offer what I would
wish. There lived, then, in the March of Treviso and
in Lombardy, during a period of many years, Stefano
Veronese, Aldigieri da Zevio, Jacopo Davanzo of
Bologna, Sebeto da Verona, Jacobello de Flore,
Guerriero da Padova, Giusto, Girolamo Campagnola and
his son Giulio, and Vincenzio Bresciano; Vittore,
Sebastiano,* and Lazzaro * Scarpaccia [It is now
generally accepted that these two men are one, under
the name of Lazzaro Bastiani], Venetians; Vincenzio
Catena, Luigi Vivarini, Giovan Battista da
Conigliano, Marco Basarini, Giovanetto Cordegliaghi,
II Bassiti, Bartolommeo Vivarini, Giovanni Mansueti,
Vittore Bellini, Bartolommeo Montagna of Vicenza,
Benedetto Diana, and Giovanni Buonconsigli, with
many others, of whom there is no need to make
mention here.
To begin with the first, I start by saying that
Stefano Veronese, of whom I gave some account in the
Life of Agnolo Gaddi, was a painter more than
passing good in his day. And when Donatello was
working in Padua, as has been already told in his
Life, going on one of several occasions to Verona,
he was struck with marvel at the works of Stefano,
declaring that the pictures which he had made in
fresco were the best that had been wrought in those
parts up to that time. The first works of this man
were in the tramezzo of the Church of S. Antonio at
Verona, at the top of a wall on the left, below the
curve of a part of the vaulting; and the subjects
were a Madonna with the Child in her arms, and S.
James and S. Anthony, one on either side of her.
This work is held very beautiful in that city even
at the present day, by reason of a certain
liveliness that is seen in the said figures,
particularly in the heads, which are wrought with
much grace. In S. Niccolo, a parish church of that
city, likewise, he painted a S. Nicholas in fresco,
which is very beautiful. On the front of a house in
the Via di S. Polo, which leads to the Porta del
Vescovo, he painted the Virgin, with certain very
beautiful angels and a S. Christopher; and over the
wall of the Church of S. Consolata in the Via del
Duomo, in a recess made in the wall, he painted a
Madonna and certain birds, in particular a peacock,
his emblem. In S. Eufemia, a convent of the Eremite
Friars of S. Augustine, he painted over the side
door a S. Augustine with two other saints, and under
the mantle of this S. Augustine are many friars and
nuns of his Order; but the most beautiful things in
this work are two half-length prophets of the size
of life, for the reason that they have the most
beautiful and most lifelike heads that Stefano ever
made; and the coloring of the whole work, having
been executed with diligence, has remained beautiful
even to our own day, notwithstanding that it has
been much exposed to rain, wind, and frost. If this
work had been under cover, it would still be as
beautiful and fresh as it issued from his hands, for
the reason that Stefano did not retouch it on the
dry, but used diligence in executing it well in
fresco; as it is, it has suffered a little.
Within the church, in the Chapel of the Sacrament
namely, round the Tabernacle he afterwards painted
certain angels flying, some of whom are sounding
instruments, some singing, and others burning
incense before the Sacrament; together with a figure
of Jesus Christ, which he painted at the top as a
finish to the Tabernacle. Below there are other
angels, who are supporting Him, clothed in white
garments reaching to their feet, and ending, as it
were, in clouds, which was an idea peculiar to
Stefano in painting figures of angels, whom he
always made most gracious in countenance and very
beautiful in expression. In this same work are
lifesize figures of S. Augustine and S. Jerome, one
on either side; and these are supporting with their
hands the Church of God, as if to show that both of
them defend Holy Church from heretics with their
learning, and support her. On a pilaster of the
principal chapel in the same church he painted a S.
Eufemia in fresco, with a beautiful and gracious
expression of countenance; and there he wrote his
own name in letters of gold, perchance since it
appeared to him to be, as in fact it is, one of the
best pictures that he had made; and according to his
custom he painted there a very beautiful peacock,
and beside it two lion cubs, which are not very
beautiful, because at that time he could not see
live ones, as he saw the peacock. He also painted
for the same place a panel containing, as was the
custom in those times, many half-length figures,
such as S. Niccola da Tolentino and others; and he
filled the predella with scenes in little figures
from the life of that Saint. In S. Fermo, a church
in the same city belonging to the Friars of S.
Francis, he painted, as an ornament for a Deposition
from the Cross on the wall opposite to the side door
of entrance, twelve half-length prophets of the size
of life, with Adam and Eve lying below them, and his
usual peacock, which is almost the hallmark of
pictures executed by him.
In Mantua, at the Martello gate of the Church of
S. Domenico, the same Stefano painted a most
beautiful Madonna; the head of which Madonna, when
they had need to build in that place, those fathers
placed with care in the tramezzo of the church that
is, in the Chapel of S. Orsola, which belongs to the
Recuperati family, and contains some pictures in
fresco by the hand of the same man. And in the
Church of S. Francesco, on the right hand as one
enters by the principal door, there is a row of
chapels formerly built by the noble Della Ramma
family, in one of which are seated figures of the
four Evangelists, painted on the vaulting by the
hand of Stefano; and behind their shoulders, for a
background, he made certain espaliers of roses, with
a cane trellis-work in a pattern of mandorle, above
which are various trees and other greenery full of
birds, particularly of peacocks; and there are also
some very beautiful angels. In this same church, on
a column on the right hand as one enters, he painted
a lifesize figure of S. Mary Magdalene. And in the
same city, on the frontal of a door in the street
called Rompilanza, he painted in fresco a Madonna
with the Child in her arms, and some angels kneeling
before her; and the background he made of trees
covered with fruit.
These, then, are the works that are found to have
been executed by Stefano, although it may well be
believed, since his life was not a short one, that
he made many others. But even as I have not been
able to discover any more of them, so I have failed
to find his surname, his father's name, his
portrait, or any other particulars. Some declare
that before he came to Florence he was a disciple of
Maestro Liberale, a painter of Verona; but this
matters nothing. It is enough that he learnt all
that there was of the good in him from Agnolo Gaddi
in Florence.
Of the same city of Verona was Aldigieri da
Zevio, who was very much the friend of the Signori
della Scala, and who, besides many other works,
painted the Great Hall of their Palace (which is now
the habitation of the Podesta), depicting therein
the War of Jerusalem, according as it is described
by Josephus. In this work Aldigieri showed great
spirit and judgment, distributing one scene over the
walls of that hall on every side, with a single
ornament encircling it right round; on the upper
part of which ornament, as it were to set it off, he
placed a row of medallions, in which it is believed
that there are the portraits from life of many
distinguished men of those times, particularly of
many of those Signori della Scala ; but, since the
truth about this is not known, I will say no more of
it. I must say, indeed, that Aldigieri showed in
this work that he had intelligence, judgment, and
invention, seeing that he took into consideration
all the things that can be taken into consideration
in a serious war. Besides this, the coloring has
remained very fresh; and among many portraits 01 men
of distinction and learning, there is seen that of
Messer Francesco Petrarca.
Jacopo Avanzi, a painter of Bologna, shared the
work of this hall with Aldigieri, and below the
aforesaid pictures he painted two most beautiful
Triumphs, likewise in fresco, with so much art and
so good a manner, that Girolamo Campagnola declares
that Mantegna used to praise them as pictures of the
rarest merit. The same Jacopo, together with
Aldigieri and Sebeto da Verona, painted the Chapel
of S. Giorgio, which is beside the Church of S.
Antonio, in Padua, according to the directions left
in the testaments of the Marquesses of Carrara.
Jacopo Avanzi painted the upper part; below this
were certain stories of S. Lucia, with a Last
Supper, by Aldigieri; and Sebeto painted stories of
S. John. Afterwards these three masters, having all
returned to Verona, joined together to paint a
wedding feast, with many portraits and costumes of
those times, in the house of the Counts Serenghi.
Now the work of Jacopo Avanzi was held to be the
best of all; but, since mention has been made of him
in the Life of Niccolo d' Arezzo by reason of the
works that he made in Bologna in competition with
the painters Simone, Cristofano, and Galasso, I will
say no more about him in this place.
A man who was held in esteem at Venice about the
same time, although he adhered to the Greek manner,
was Jacobello de Flore, who made a number of works
in that city; in particular, a panel for the Nuns of
the Corpus Domini, which stands on the altar of S.
Domenico in their church. A competitor of this
master was Giromin Morzone, who painted a number of
pictures in Venice and in many cities of Lombardy;
but, since he held to the old manner and made all
his figures on tip-toe, we will say nothing about
him, save that there is a panel by his hand, with
many saints, on the Altar of the Assumption in the
Church of S. Lena.
A much better master than Morzone was Guerriero,
a painter of Padua, who, besides many other works,
painted the principal chapel of the Eremite Friars
of S. Augustine in Padua, and a chapel for the same
friars in the first cloister. He also painted a
little chapel in the house of the Urban Prefect, and
the Hall of the Roman Emperors, where the students
go to dance at the time of the Carnival. He also
painted in fresco, in the Chapel of the Podesta of
the same city, some scenes from the Old Testament.
Giusto, likewise a painter of Padua, painted in
the Chapel of S. Giovanni Battista, without the
Church of the Vescovado, not only certain scenes
from the Old Testament and the New, but also the
Revelations of the Apocalypse of S. John the
Evangelist; and in the upper part he made a Paradise
containing many choirs of angels and other
adornments, wrought with beautiful conceptions. In
the Church of S. Antonio he painted in fresco the
Chapel of S. Luca; and in a chapel in the Church of
the Eremite Friars of S. Augustine he painted the
liberal arts, with the virtues and vices beside
them, and likewise those who have been celebrated
for their virtues, and those who have fallen by
reason of their vices into the extreme of misery and
into the lowest depth of Hell.
There was working in Padua, in this man's time,
Stefano, a painter of Ferrara, who, as has been said
elsewhere, adorned with various pictures the chapel
and the tomb wherein is the body of S. Anthony, and
also painted the Virgin Mary that is called the
Vergine del Pilastro. Another man who was held in
esteem in the same times was Vincenzio, a painter of
Brescia, according to the account of Filarete} as
was also Girolamo Campagnola, another Paduan
painter, and a disciple of Squarcione. Then Giulio,
son of Girolamo, made many beautiful works of
painting, illumination, and copper-engraving, both
in Padua and in other places. In the same city of
Padua many things were wrought by Niccolo Moreto,
who lived eighty years, and never ceased to exercise
his art.
Besides these there were many others, who were
connected with Gentile and Giovanni Bellini; but
Vittore Scarpaccia [Carpaccio] was truly the first
among them who made works of importance. His first
works were in the Scuola of S. Orsola, where he
painted on canvas the greater part of the stories
that are there, representing the life and death of
that Saint; the labors of which pictures he
contrived to carry out so well and with such great
diligence and art, that he acquired thereby the name
of a very good and practised master. This, so it is
said, was the reason that the people of Milan caused
him to paint a panel in distemper with many figures
for the Friars Minor, in their Chapel of S.
Ambrogio. On the altar of the Risen Christ in the
Church of S. Antonio he painted the scene of Christ
appearing to the Magdalene and the other Maries, in
which he made a very beautiful view in perspective
of a landscape receding into the distance; and in
another chapel he painted the story of the Martyrs
that is, their crucifixion in which work he made
more than three hundred figures, what with the large
and the small, besides a number of horses and trees,
an open Heaven, figures both nude and clothed in
diverse attitudes, many foreshortenings, and so many
other things, that it can be seen that he did not
execute it without extraordinary labor.
For the altar of the Madonna, in the Church of S.
Giobbe in Canareio, he painted her presenting the
Infant Christ to Simeon, and depicted the Madonna
herself standing, and Simeon in his cope between two
ministers clothed as Cardinals; behind the Virgin
are two women, one of whom has two doves, and below
are three boys, who are playing on a lute, a
serpent, and a lyre, or rather a viol; and the
coloring of the whole panel is very charming and
beautiful. And, in truth, Vittore was a very
diligent and practised master, and many pictures by
his hand that are in Venice, both portraits from
life and other kinds, are much esteemed for works
wrought in those times. He taught his art to two
brothers of his own, who imitated him closely, one
being Lazzaro, and the other Sebastiano: and by
their hand is a panel on the altar of the Virgin in
the Church of the Nuns of the Corpus Domini, showing
her seated between S. Catherine and S. Martha, with
other female saints, two angels who are sounding
instruments, and a very beautiful view of buildings
in perspective as a background to the whole work, of
which we have the original drawings, by the hand of
these men, in our book.
Another passing good painter in the time of these
masters was Vincenzio Catena, who occupied himself
much more with making portraits from the life than
with any other sort of painting; and, in truth, some
that are to be seen by his hand are marvellous among
others, that of a German of the Fugger family, a man
of rank and importance, who was then living in the
Fondaco de' Tedeschi at Venice, was painted with
great vivacity.
Another man who made many works in Venice, about
the same time, was a disciple of Giovanni Bellini,
Giovan Battista da Conigliano, by whose hand is a
panel on the altar of S. Pietro Martire in the
aforesaid Church of the Nuns of the Corpus Domini,
containing the said Saint, S. Nicholas, and S.
Benedict, with landscapes in perspective, an angel
tuning a cithern, and many little figures more than
passing good. And if this man had not died young, it
may be believed that he would have equalled his
master.
The name of a master not otherwise than good,
likewise, in the same art and at the same time, was
enjoyed by Marco Basarini, who, painting in Venice,
where he was born from a Greek father and mother,
executed in S. Francesco della Vigna a panel with a
Deposition of Christ from the Cross, and another
panel in the Church of S. Giobbe, representing
Christ in the Garden, and below Him the three
Apostles, who are sleeping, and S. Francis, S.
Dominic, and two other saints; but what was most
praised in this work was a landscape with many
little figures wrought with good grace. In that same
church the same Marco painted S. Bernardino on a
rock, with other saints.
Giovanetto Cordegliaghi made an infinity of
devotional pictures in the same city; nay, he
scarcely worked at anything else, and, in truth, he
had in this sort of painting a very delicate and
sweet manner, no little better than that of the
aforesaid masters. In S. Pantaleone, in a chapel
beside the principal one, this man painted S. Peter
making disputation with two other saints, who are
wearing most beautiful draperies, and are wrought
with a beautiful manner.
Marco Bassiti was in good repute almost at the
same time, and by his hand is a large panel in the
Church of the Carthusian Monks at Venice, in which
he painted Christ between Peter and Andrew on the
Sea of Tiberias, with the sons of Zebedee; making
therein an arm of the sea, a mountain, and part of a
city, with many persons in the form of little
figures. Many other works by this man could be
enumerated, but let it be enough to have spoken of
this one, which is the best.
Bartolommeo Vivarini of Murano also acquitted
himself very well in the works that he made, as may
be seen, besides many other examples, in the panel
that he executed for the altar of S. Luigi in the
Church of SS. Giovanni e Polo; in which panel he
portrayed the said S. Luigi seated, wearing the
cope, with S. Gregory, S. Sebastian, and S. Dominic
on one side of him, and on the other side S.
Nicholas, S. Jerome, and S. Rocco, and above them
half-length figures of other saints.
Another man who executed his pictures very well,
taking much delight in counterfeiting things of
nature, figures, and distant landscapes, was
Giovanni Mansueti, who, imitating the works of
Gentile Bellini not a little, made many pictures in
Venice. At the upper end of the Audience Chamber of
the Scuola of S. Marco he painted a S. Mark
preaching on the Piazza; in which picture he painted
the facade of the church, and, among the multitude
of men and women who are listening to the Saint,
Turks, Greeks, and the faces of men of diverse
nations, with bizarre costumes. In the same place,
in another scene wherein he painted S. Mark healing
a sick man, he made a perspective view of two
staircases and many loggie. In another picture, near
to that one, he made a S. Mark converting an
infinite multitude to the faith of Christ; in this
he made an open temple, with a Crucifix on an altar,
and through- out the whole work there are diverse
persons with a beautiful variety of expression,
dress, and features.
The work in the same place was continued after
him by Vittore Bellini, who made a view of buildings
in perspective, which is passing good, in a scene
wherein S. Mark is taken prisoner and bound, with a
number of figures, in which he imitated his
predecessors. After these men came Bartolommeo
Montagna of Vicenza, a passing good painter, who
lived ever in Venice and made many pictures there;
and he painted a panel in the Church of S. Maria d'
Art one at Padua. Benedetto Diana, likewise, was a
painter no less esteemed than the masters mentioned
above, as is proved, to say nothing of his other
works, by those from his hand that are in S.
Francesco della Vigna at Venice, where, for the
altar of S. Giovanni, he painted that Saint standing
between two other saints, each of whom has a book in
his hand.
Another man who was accounted a good master was
Giovanni Buonconsigli, who painted a picture in the
Church of SS. Giovanni e Polo for the altar of S.
Tommaso d' Aquino, showing that Saint surrounded by
many figures, to whom he is reading the Holy
Scriptures; and he made therein a perspective view
of buildings, which is not otherwise than worthy of
praise. There also lived in Venice throughout almost
the whole course of his life the Florentine
sculptor, Simon Bianco, as did Tullio Lombardo, an
excellent master of intaglio.
In Lombardy, likewise, there were excellent
sculptors in Bartolommeo Clemente of Reggio and
Agostino Busto; and, in intaglio, Jacopo Davanzo of
Milan, with Gasparo and Girolamo Misceroni. In
Brescia there was a man who was able and masterly at
working in fresco, called Vincenzio Verchio, who
acquired a very great name in his native place by
reason of his beautiful works. The same did Girolamo
Romanino, a fine master of design, as is clearly
demonstrated by the works made by him in Brescia and
in the neighbourhood for many miles around. And not
inferior to these nay, even superior was Alessandro
Moretto, who was very delicate in his coloring, and
much the friend of diligence, as the works made by
him demonstrate.
But to return to Verona, in which city there have
flourished excellent craftsmen, even as they
flourish more than ever today; there, in times past,
were excellent masters in Francesco Bonsignori and
Francesco Caroto, and afterwards Maestro Zeno of
Verona, who painted the panel of S. Marino in
Rimini, with two others, all with much diligence.
But the man who surpassed all others in making
certain marvellous figures from life was II Moro of
Verona, or rather, as others called him, Francesco
Turbido, by whose hand is a portrait now in the
house of Monsignor de' Martini at Venice, of a
gentleman of the house of Badovaro, painted in the
character of a shepherd; which portrait appears
absolutely alive, and can challenge comparison with
any of the great number that have been seen in these
parts. Battista d' Angelo, son-in-law of this
Francesco, is also so lovely in coloring and so
masterly in drawing, that he is rather superior than
inferior to his father-in-law. But since it is not
my intention to speak at present of the living, it
must suffice me to have spoken in this place of some
with regard to whose lives, as I said at the
beginning of this Life, I have not been able to
discover every particular with equal minuteness, to
the end that their talents and merits may receive
from me at least all that little which I, who would
fain make it much, am able to give them.
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JACOPO L'INDACO (1476-1531)
PAINTER
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
JACOPO, CALLED L'Indaco, who was a disciple of
Domenico del Ghirlandajo, and who worked in Rome
with Pinturicchio, was a passing good master in his
day; and although he did not make many works, yet
those that he did make are worthy of commendation.
Nor is there any need to marvel that only very few
works issued from his hands, for the reason that,
being a gay and humorous fellow and a lover of good
cheer, he harbored but few thoughts and would never
work save when he could not help it; and so he used
to say that doing nothing else but labor, without
taking a little pleasure in the world, was no life
for a Christian. He lived in close intimacy with
Michelagnolo, for when that craftsman, supremely
excellent beyond all who have ever lived, wished to
have some recreation after his studies and his
continuous labors of body and mind, no one was more
pleasing to him for the purpose or more suited to
his humour than this man.
Jacopo worked for many years in Rome, or, to be
more precise, he lived many years in Rome, working
very little. By his hand, in that city, is the first
chapel on the right hand as one enters the Church of
S. Agostino by the door of the facade; on the
vaulting of which chapel are the Apostles receiving
the Holy Spirit, and on the wall below are two
stories of Christ in one His taking Peter and Andrew
from their nets, and in the other the Feast of Simon
and the Magdalene, in which there is a ceiling of
planks and beams, counterfeited very well. In the
panel of the same chapel, which he painted in oil,
is a Dead Christ, wrought and executed with much
mastery and diligence. In the Trinita at Rome,
likewise, there is a little panel by his hand with
the Coronation of Our Lady. But what need is there
to say more about this man? What more, indeed, is
there to say? It is enough that he loved gossiping
as much as he always hated working and painting.
Now seeing that, as has been said, Michelagnolo
used to take pleasure in this man's chattering and
in the jokes that he was ever making, he kept him
almost always at his table; but one day Jacopo
wearied him as such fellows more often than not do
come to weary their friends and patrons with their
incessant babbling, so often ill- timed and
senseless; babbling, I call it, for reasonable talk
it cannot be called, since for the most part there
is neither reason nor judgment in such people and
Michelagnolo, who, perchance, had other thoughts in
his mind at the time and wished to get rid of him,
sent him to buy some figs; and no sooner had Jacopo
left the house than Michelagnolo bolted the door
behind him, determined not to open to him when he
came back. L' Indaco, then, on returning from the
market square, perceived, after having knocked at
the door for a time in vain, that Michelagnolo did
not intend to open to him; whereupon, flying into a
rage, he took the figs and the leaves and spread
them all over the threshold of the door. This done,
he went his way and for many months refused to speak
to Michelagnolo; but at last, becoming reconciled
with him, he was more his friend than ever. Finally,
having reached the age of sixty-eight, he died in
Rome.
Not unlike Jacopo was a younger brother of his,
whose proper name was Francesco, although he too was
afterwards called L' Indaco by way of surname; and
he, likewise, was a painter, and more than passing
good. He was not unlike Jacopo I mean, in his
unwillingness to work (to say the least), and in his
love of talking but in one respect he surpassed
Jacopo, for he was ever speaking evil of everyone
and decrying the works of every craftsman. This man,
after having wrought certain things in Montepulciano
both in painting and in clay, painted a little panel
for the Audience Chamber of the Company of the
Nunziata in Arezzo, containing an Annunciation, and
a God the Father in Heaven surrounded by many angels
in the form of children. And in the same city, on
the first occasion when Duke Alessandro went there,
he made a most beautiful triumphal arch, with many
figures in relief, at the gate of the Palazzo de'
Signori; and also, in competition with other
painters who executed a number of other works for
the entry of the said Duke, the scenery for the
representation of a play, which was held to be very
beautiful. Afterwards, having gone to Rome at the
time when the Emperor Charles V was expected there,
he made some figures in clay, and a coat of arms in
fresco for the Roman people on the Campidoglio,
which was much extolled. But the best work that ever
issued from the hands of this master, and the most
highly praised, was a little study wrought in stucco
for the Duchess Margherita of Austria in the Palace
of the Medici at Rome a thing so beautiful and so
ornate that there is nothing better to be seen; nor
do I believe that it is possible, in a certain
sense, to do with silver what L' Indaco did in this
work with stucco. From these things it may be judged
that if this man had taken pleasure in work and had
made use of his intelligence, he would have become
excellent.
Francesco drew passing well, but Jacopo much
better, as may be seen in our book.
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LUCA SIGNORELLI, painter of Cortona (ca.
1450-1523)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
LUCA SIGNORELLI, an excellent painter, of whom,
according to the order of time, we have now to
speak, was more famous throughout Italy in his day,
and his works were held in greater price than has
ever been the case with any other master at any time
whatsoever, for the reason that in the works that he
executed in painting he showed the true method of
making nudes, and how they can be caused, although
only with art and difficulty, to appear alive. He
was a pupil and disciple of Piero dal Borgo a San
Sepolcro, and greatly did he strive in his youth to
imitate his master, and eve to surpass him; and the
while that he was working with Piero at Arezzo,
living in the house of his uncle Lazzaro Vasari, as
it has been told, he imitated the manner of the said
Piero so well that the one could scarcely be
distinguished from the other.
The first works of Luca were in San Lorenzo at
Arezzo, where he painted the Chapel of St. Barbara
in fresco in the year 1472; and he painted for the
Company of Santa Caterina, on cloth and in oil, the
banner that is borne in processions, and likewise
that of the Trinita, although this does not appear
to be by the hand of Luca, but by Piero dal Borgo
himself. In Sant'Agostino in the same city he
painted the panel of San Niccola da Tolentino, with
most beautiful little scenes, executing the work
with good drawing and invention; and in the same
place, in the Chapel of the Sacrament, he made two
angels wrought in fresco. In the Chapel of the
Accolti in the Church of San Francesco, for Messer
Francesco, Doctor of Laws, he painted a panel in
which he portrayed the said Messer Francesco with
some of his relatives. In this work is a St. Michael
weighing souls, who is admirable; and in him there
is seen the knowledge of Luca, both in the splendour
of his armour and in the reflected lights, and, in
short, throughout the whole work. In his hands he
placed a pair of scales, in which are nude figures,
very beautifully foreshortened, one going up and the
other down; and among other ingenious things that
are in this picture is a nude figure most skillfully
transformed into a devil, with a lizard licking the
blood from a would in its body. Besides this, there
is a Madonna with the Child on her lap, with St.
Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Catherine, and two
angels, of whom one is playing on a lute and the
other on a rebec; and all these figures are draped
and adorned so beautifully that it is a marvel. But
the most miraculous part of this panel is the
predella, which is full of Friars of the said St.
Catherine in the form of little figures.
In Perugia, also, he made many works; among
others, a panel in the Duomo for Messer Jacopo
Vannucci of Cortona, Bishop of that city; in which
panel are Our Lady, St. Onofrio, St. Ercolano, St.
John the Baptist, and St. Stephen, with a most
beautiful angel, who is tuning a lute. At Volterra,
over the altar of a Company in the Church of San
Francesco, he painted in fresco the Circumcision of
Our Lord, which is considered beautiful to a marvel,
although the Infant, having been injured by damp,
was restored by Sodoma and made much less beautiful
than before. And, in truth, it would be sometimes
better to leave works half spoilt, when they have
been made by men of excellence, rather than to have
them retouched by inferior masters. In San Agostino
in the same city he painted a panel in distemper,
and the predella of little figures, with stories of
the Passion of Christ; and this is held to be
extraordinarily beautiful. At Santa Maria a Monte he
painted a Dead Christ on a panel for the monks of
that place; and at Citta di Castello a Nativity of
Christ in San Francesco, with a St. Sebastian on
another panel in San Domenico. In Santa Margarita, a
seat of the Frati del Zoccolo in his native city of
Cortona, he painted a Dead Christ, one of the rarest
of his works; and for the Company of the Gesue, in
the same city, he executed three panels, of which
the one that is on the high altar is marvellous,
showing Christ administering the Sacrament to the
Apostles, and Judas placing the Host into his
wallet.
In the Pieve, now called the Vescovado, in the
Chapel of the Sacrament, he painted some lifesize
prophets in fresco; and round the tabernacle are
some angels who are opening out a canopy, with St.
Jerome and St. Thomas Aquinas at the sides. For the
high altar of the said church he painted a panel
with a most beautiful Assumption, and he designed
the pictures for the principal round window of the
same church; in which pictures were afterwards
executed by Stagio Sassoli of Arezzo. In Castiglione
Aretino he made a Dead Christ, with the Maries, over
the Chapel of the Sacrament; and in San Francesco,
at Lucignano, he painted the folding doors of a
press, wherein there is a tree of coral surmounted
by a cross. At Siena, in the Chapel of San
Cristofano in San Agostino, he painted a panel with
some saints, in the midst of whom is a St.
Christopher in relief.
Having gone from Siena to Florence in order to
see both the works of those masters who were then
living and those of many already dead, he painted
for Lorenzo de'Medici certain nude gods on a canvas,
for which he was much commended, and a picture of
Our Lady with two littel prophets in terretta, which
is now at Castello, a villa of Duke Cosimo. These
works, both the one and the other, he presented to
the said Lorenzo, who would never be beaten by any
man in liberality and magnificence. He also painted
a round picture of Our Lady, which is in the
Audience Chamber of the Captains of the Guelph
party--a very beautiful work.
At Chiusuri in the district of Siena, the
principal seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, he
painted eleven scenes of the life and acts of St.
Benedict on one side of the cloister. And from
Cortona he sent some of his works to Montepulciano;
to Foiano the panel which is on the high altar of
the Pieve; and other works to other places in
Valdichiana. In the Madonna, the principal church of
Orvieto, he finished with his own hand the chapel
that Fra Giovanni da Fiesole had formerly begun
there; in which chapel he painted all the scenes of
the end of the world with bizarre and fantastic
invention--angels, demons, ruins, earthquakes,
fires, miracles of the Antichrist, and many other
similar things besides, such as nudes,
foreshortenings, and many beautiful figures; imaging
the terror that there shall be on that last and
awful day.
By means of this he encouraged all those who have
lived after him, insomuch that since then they have
found easy the difficulties of that manner;
wherefore I do not marvel that the works of Luca
were ever very highly extolled by Michaelangelo, nor
that in certain parts of his divine Judgement, which
he made in the chapel, he should have deigned to
avail himself in some measure of the inventions of
Luca, as he did in the angels, the demons, the
division of the Heavens, and other things, in which
Michaelangelo himself imitated Luca's method, as all
may see. In this work Luca portrayed himself and
many of his friends; Niccolo, Paolo, and Vitelozzo
Vitelli, Giovan Paolo and Orazio Baglioni, and
others whose names are not known. In the Sacristy of
Santa Maria at Loreto he painted in fresco the four
Evangelists, the four Doctors, and other saints, all
very beautiful; and for this work he was liberally
rewarded by Pope Sixtus.
It is said that a son of his, most beautiful in
countenance and in person, whom he loved dearly, was
killed at Cortona; and that Luca, heart-broken as he
was, had him stripped naked, and with the greatest
firmness of soul, without lamenting or shedding a
tear, portrayed him, to the end that, whenever he
might wish, he might be able by means of the work of
his own hands to see what nature had given him and
adverse fortune had snatched away.
Finally, having executed works for almost every
Prince in Italy, and being now old, he returned to
Cortona, where, in those last years of his life, he
worked more for pleasure than for any other reason,
as one who, being used to labor, neither could nor
would stay idle. In this his old age, then, he
painted a panel for the Nuns of Santa Margherita at
Arezzo, and one for the Company of San Girolamo,
which was paid for in part by Messer Niccolo
Gamurrini, Doctor of Laws and Auditor of the Ruota,
who is portrayed from life in that panel, kneeling
before the Madonna, to whom he is being presented by
a St. Nicholas who is in the same panel; there are
also St. Donatus and St. Stephen, and lower down a
nude St.Jerome, and a David who is singing to a
psaltery; and also two prophets, who, as it appears
from the rolls that they have in their hands, are
speaking about the Conception. This work was brought
from Cortona to Arezzo on the shoulders of the men
of that Company; and Luca, old as he was, insisted
on coming to set it in place, and partly also in
order to revisit his friends and relatives.
And since he lodged in the house of the Vasari,
in which I then was, a little boy of eight years
old, I remember that the good old man, who was most
gracious and courteous, having heard from the master
who was teaching me my first letters, that I gave my
attention to nothing in lesson-time save to drawing
figures, I remember, I say, that he turned to my
father Antonio and said to him: "Antonio, if you
wish little Giorgio not to become backward, by all
means let him learn to draw, for, even were he to
devote himself to letters, design cannot be
otherwise than helpful, honorable, and advantageous
to him, as it is to every gentleman." Then, turning
to me, who was standing in front of him, he said:
"Mind your lessons, little kinsman." He said many
other things about me, which I withhold, for the
reason that I know that I have failed by a great
measure to justify the opinion which the good old
man had of me. And since he heard, as was true, that
the blood used to flow from my nose at that age in
such quantities that this left me sometimes half
dead, with infinite lovingness he bound a jasper
round my neck with his own hand; and this memory of
Luca will stay forever fixed in my mind. The said
panel set in place, he returned to Cortona,
accompanied for a great part of the way by many
citizens, friends, and relatives, as was due to the
excellence of Luca, who always lived rather as a
nobleman of rank than as a painter.
About the same time a palace had been built for
Cardinal Silvio Passerini of Cortona, half a mile
beyond the city, by Benedetto Caporali, a painter of
Perugia, who, delighting in architecture, had
written a commentary on Vitruvius a short time
before; and the said Cardinal determined to have
almost the whole of it painted. Wherefore Benedetto,
putting his hand to this with the aid of Maso
Papacello of Cortona (who was his disciple and had
also learnt not a little from Giulio Roman, as will
be told), of Tommaso, and of other disciples and
lads, did not cease until he had painted it almost
all over in fresco. But the Cardinal wishing to have
some painting by the hand of Luca as well, he, old
as he was, and hindered by palsy, painted in fresco,
on the altarwall of the chapel of that palace, the
scene of St. John the Baptist baptizing the Savior,
but he was not able to finish it completely, for
while still working on it he died, having reached
the age of eighty-two.
Luca was a man of most excellent character, true
and loving with his friends, sweet and amiable in
his dealings with every man, and, above all,
courteous to all who had need of him, and kindly in
teaching his disciples. He lived spendidly, and he
took delight in clothing himself well. And for these
good qualities he was ever held in the highest
veneration both in his own country and abroad.
And so, with the end of this master's life, which
was in 1521, we will bring to an end the Second Part
of these Lives; concluding with Luca, as the man
who, with his profound mastery of design,
particularly in nudes, and with his grace in
invention and in the composition of scenes, opened
to the majority of craftsmen the way to the final
perfection of art, to which those men who followed
were afterwards enabled to add the crown, of whom we
are henceforward to speak.
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