"Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects"
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PART IV
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Jacopo da Pontormo |
Simone Mosca |
Girolamo and
Bartolommeo Genga, and G. Battista San Marino |
Michele Sanmicheli |
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Il Sodoma |
Bastiano, called
Aristotile da San Gallo |
Benvenuto Garofalo |
Girolamo Da Carpi |
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Lombard Sculptors and
Painters |
Sofonisba Anguisciuola
and Others |
Milanese Artists |
Ridolfo, David and
Benedetto Ghirlandaio |
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Giovanni da Udine |
Battista Franco |
Jacopo Tintoretto |
Andrea Schiavone |
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Giovan Francesco
Rustici |
Fra Giovann' Agnolo
Montorsoli |
Francesco Salviati |
Daniele da Volterra (Ricciarelli) |
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Taddeo Zucchero |
Michelangelo |
Francesco Primaticcio |
Titian |
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Paris Bordone |
Jacopo Sansovino |
Solosmeo da Settignano
and Jacopo Colonna |
Tiziano da Padova [Minio]
and
Pietro da Salo |
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Alessandro Vittoria |
Tommaso da Lugano and
Jacopo Bresciano |
Bartolommeo Ammanati |
Danese Cattaneo |
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Andrea Palladio |
Leone Leoni and others |
Giulio Clovio |
Other Italian Artists |
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JACOPO DA PONTORMO, (1494-1557)
Painter of Florence
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the
Artists
THE ancestors or rather, the elders of Bartolommeo di Jacopo di
Martino, the father of Jacopo da Pontormo, whose Life we are now
about to write had their origin, so some declare, in Ancisa, a
township in the Upper Valdarno, famous enough because from it the
ancestors of Messer Francesco Petrarca likewise derived their
origin. But, whether it was from there or from some other place that
his elders came, the above-named Bartolommeo, who was a Florentine,
and, so I have been told, of the family of the Carrucci, is said to
have been a disciple of Domenico Ghirlandajo, and, after executing
many works in the Valdarno, as a painter passing able for those
times, to have finally made his way to Empoli to carry out certain
labours, living there and in the neighbouring places, and taking to
wife at Pontormo a most virtuous girl of good condition, called
Alessandra, the daughter of Pasquale di Zanobi and of his wife Monna
Brigida. To this Bartolommeo, then, there was born in the year 1493
our Jacopo. But the father having died in the year 1499, the mother
in the year 1504, and the grandfather in the year 1506, Jacopo was
left to the care of his grandmother, Monna Brigida, who kept him for
several years at Pontormo, and had him taught reading, writing, and
the first rudiments of Latin grammar; and finally, at the age of
thirteen, he was taken by the same guardian to Florence, and placed
with the Pupilli, to the end that his small property might be
safeguarded and preserved by that board, as is the custom. And after
settling the boy himself in the house of one Battista, a shoemaker
distantly related to him, Monna Brigida returned to Pontormo, taking
with her a sister of Jacopo's. But not long after that, Monna
Brigida herself having died, Jacopo was forced to bring that sister
to Florence, and to place her in the house of a kinsman called
Niccolaio, who lived in the Via de' Servi; and the girl, also,
following the rest of her family, died in the year 1512, before ever
she was married.
But to return to Jacopo; he had not been many months in Florence
when he was placed by Bernardo Vettori with Leonardo da Vinci, and
shortly afterwards with Mariotto Albertinelli, then with Piero di
Cosimo, and finally, in the year 1512, with Andrea del Sarto, with
whom, likewise, he did not stay long, for the reason that, after
Jacopo had executed the cartoons of the little arch for the
Servites, of which there will be an account below, it appears that
Andrea never again looked favourably upon him, whatever may have
been the reason. The first work, then, that Jacopo executed at that
time was a little Annunciation for one his friend, a tailor; but the
tailor having died before the work was finished, it remained in the
hands of Jacopo, who was at that time with Mariotto, and Mariotto
took pride in it, and showed it as a rare work to all who entered
his workshop. Now Raffaello da Urbino, coming in those days to
Florence, saw with infinite marvel the work and the lad who had done
it, and prophesied of Jacopo that which was afterwards seen to come
true. Not long afterwards, Mariotto having departed from Florence
and gone to Viterbo to execute the panel-picture that Fra
Bartolommeo had begun there, Jacopo, who was young, solitary, and
melancholy, being thus left without a master, went by himself to
work under Andrea del Sarto, at the very moment when Andrea had
finished the stories of S. Filippo in the court of the Servites,
which pleased Jacopo vastly, as did all his other works and his
whole manner and design. Jacopo having then set himself to make
every effort to imitate him, no long time passed before it was seen
that he had made marvellous progress in drawing and colouring,
insomuch that from his facility it seemed as if he had been many
years in art.
Now Andrea had finished in those days a panel picture of the
Annunciation for the Church of the Friars of S. Gallo, which is now
destroyed, as has been related in his Life; and he gave the predella
of that panel picture to Jacopo to execute in oils. Jacopo painted
in it a Dead Christ, with two little Angels who are weeping over Him
and illuminating Him with two torches, and, in two round pictures at
the sides, two Prophets, which were executed by him so ably, that
they have the appear- ance of having been painted not by a mere lad
but by a practised master; but it may also be, as Bronzino says,
that he remembers having heard from Jacopo da Pontormo himself that
Rosso likewise worked on this predella. And even as Andrea was
assisted by Jacopo in executing the predella, so also was he aided
by him in finishing the many pictures and works that Andrea
continually had in hand.
In the meantime, Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici having been elected
Supreme Pontiff under the title of Leo X, there were being made all
over Florence by the friends and adherents of that house many escut-
cheons of the Pontiff, in stone, in marble, on canvas, and in
fresco. Wherefore the Servite Friars, wishing to give some sign of
their service and devotion to that house and Pontiff, caused the
arms of Leo to be made in stone, and placed in the centre of the
arch in the first portico of the Nunziata, which is on the piazza;
and shortly afterwards they arranged that it should be overlaid with
gold by the painter Andrea di Cosimo, and adorned with grotesques,
of which he was an excellent master, and with the devices of the
house of Medici, and that, in addition, on either side of it there
should be painted a Faith and a Charity. But Andrea di Cosimo,
knowing that he was not able to execute all these things by himself,
thought of giving the two figures to some other to do ; and so,
having sent for Jacopo, who was then not more than nineteen years of
age, he gave him those two figures to execute, although he had no
little trouble to persuade him to undertake to do it, seeing that,
being a mere lad, he did not wish to expose himself at the outset to
such a risk, or to work in a place of so much importance. However,
having taken heart, although he was not as well practised in fresco
as in oil-painting, Jacopo undertook to paint those two figures.
And, withdrawing for he was still working with Andrea del Sarto to
draw the cartoons at S. Antonio by the Porta a Faenza, where he
lived, in a short tune he carried them to completion; which done,
one day he took his master Andrea to see them. Andrea, after seeing
them with infinite marvel and amazement, praised them vastly; but
afterwards, as has been related, whether it was from envy or from
some other reason, he never again looked with a kindly eye on
Jacopo; nay, Jacopo going several times to his workshop, either the
door was not opened to him or he was mocked at by the assistants,
insomuch that he retired altogether by himself, beginning to live on
the least that he could, for he was very poor, and to study with the
greatest assiduity.
When Andrea di Cosimo, then, had finished gilding the escutcheon
and all the eaves, Jacopo set to work all by himself to finish the
rest; and being carried away by the desire to make a name, by his
joy in working, and by nature, which had endowed him with
extraordinary grace and fertility of genius, he executed that work
with incredible rapidity and with such perfection as could not have
been surpassed by an old, well-practised, and excellent master.
Wherefore, growing in courage through this experience, and thinking
that he could do a much better work, he took it into his head that
he would throw to the ground all that he had done, without saying a
word to anyone, and paint it all over again after another design
that he had in his brain. But in the meantime the friars, having
seen that the work was finished and that Jacopo came no more to his
labour, sought out Andrea, and so pestered him that he resolved to
uncover it. Having therefore looked for Jacopo, in order to ask him
whether he wished to do any more to the work, and not finding him,
for the reason that he stayed shut up over his new design and would
not answer to anyone, Andrea had the screen and scaffolding removed
and the work uncovered. The same evening Jacopo, having issued from
his house in order to go to the Servite convent, and, when it should
be night, to throw to the ground the work that he had done, and to
put into execution the new design, found the scaffolding taken away
and every- thing uncovered, and a multitude of people all around
gazing at the work. Whereupon, full of fury, he sought out Andrea,
and complained of his having uncovered it without his consent, going
on to describe what he had in mind to do. To which Andrea answered,
laughing: "You are wrong to complain, because the work that you have
done is so good that, if you had it to do again, you may take my
word for it that you would not be able to do it better. You will not
want for work, so keep these designs for another occasion." That
work, as may be seen, was of such a kind and so beautiful, what with
the novelty of the manner, the sweet- ness in the heads of those two
women, and the loveliness of the graceful and lifelike children,
that it was the most beautiful work in fresco that had ever been
seen up to that time; and, besides the children with the Charity,
there are two others in the air holding a piece of drapery over the
escutcheon of the Pope, who are so beautiful that nothing better
could be done/ ot to mention that all the figures have very strong
relief and are so ey ;uted in colouring and in every other respect
that one is not able to j> aise them enough. And Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, seeing the work one day, and reflecting that a youth of
nineteen had done it, said: " This young man, judging from what may
be seen here, will become such that, if he lives and perseveres, he
will exalt this art to the heavens." This renown and fame being
heard by the men of Pontormo, they sent for Jacopo, and commissioned
him to execute in their stronghold, over a gate placed on the main
road, an escutcheon of Pope Leo with two little boys, which was very
beautiful; but already it has been little less than ruined by rain.
At the Carnival in the same year, all Florence being gay and full
of rejoicing at the election of the above-named Leo X, many festive
spectacles were ordained, and among them two of great beauty and
extraordinary cost, which were given by two companies of noblemen
and gentlemen of the city. One of these, which was called the
Diamante,* had for its head the brother of the Pope, Signor Giuliano
de' Medici, who had given it that name because the diamond had been
a device of his father, the elder Lorenzo; and the head of the
other, which had as name and device the Broncone,f was Signor
Lorenzo, the son of Piero de' Medici, who had for his device a
Broncone that is, a dried trunk of laurel growing green again with
leaves, as it were to signify that he was reviving and restoring the
name of his grandfather.
By the Company of the Diamante, then, a commission was given to
M. Andrea Dazzi, who was then lecturing on Greek and Latin Letters *
Diamond. | Trunk or branch. at the Studio in Florence, to look to
the invention of a triumphal procession; whereupon he arranged one
similar to those that the Romans used to have for their triumphs,
with three very beautiful cars wrought in wood, and painted with
rich and beautiful art. In the first was Boyhood, with a most
beautiful array of boys. In the second was Manhood, with many
persons who had done great things in their manly prime. And in the
third was Old Age, with many famous men who had performed great
achievements in their last years. All these persons were very richly
apparelled, insomuch that it was thought that nothing better could
be done. The architects of these cars were Raffaello delle Vivole,
II Carota the wood-carver, the painter Andrea di Cosimo, and Andrea
del Sarto; those who arranged and prepared the dresses of the
figures were Ser Piero da Vinci, the father of Leonardo, and
Bernardino di Giordano, both men of beautiful ingenuity; and to
Jacopo da Pontormo alone it fell to paint all the three cars,
wherein he executed various scenes in chiaroscuro of the
Transformations of the Gods into different forms, which are now in
the possession of Pietro Paolo Galeotto, an excellent goldsmith. The
first car bore, written in very clear characters, the word "
Erimus," the second "Sumus," and the third "Fuimus" that is, "We
shall be," " We are," and " We have been." The song began, "The
years fly on. . . ."
Having seen these triumphal cars, Signer Lorenzo, the head of the
Company of the Broncone, desiring that they should be surpassed,
gave the charge of the whole work to Jacopo Nardi, a noble and most
learned gentleman, to whom, for what he afterwards became, his
native city of Florence is much indebted. This Jacopo prepared six
triumphal cars, in order to double the number of those executed by
the Diamante. The first, drawn by a pair of oxen decked with
herbage, represented the Age of Saturn and Janus, called the Age of
Gold; and on the summit of the car were Saturn with the Scythe, and
Janus with the two heads and with the key of the Temple of Peace in
the hand, and at his feet a figure of Fury bound, with a vast number
of things around appertaining to Saturn, all executed most
beautifully in different colours by the genius of Pontormo.
Accompanying this car were six couples of Shepherds, naked but for
certain parts covered by skins of marten and sable, with footwear of
various kinds after the ancient manner, and with their wallets, and
on their heads garlands of many kinds of leaves. The horses on which
these Shepherds sat were without saddles, but covered with skins of
lions, tigers, and lynxes, the paws of which, overlaid with gold,
hung at their sides with much grace and beauty. The ornaments of
their croups and of the grooms were of gold cord, the stirrups were
heads of rams, dogs, and other suchlike animals, and the bridles and
reins made with silver cord and various kinds of verdure. Each
Shepherd had four grooms in the garb of shepherd-boys, dressed more
simply in other skins, with torches fashioned in the form of dry
trunks and branches of pine, which made a most beautiful sight.
Upon the second car, drawn by two pairs of oxen draped in the
richest cloth, with garlands on their heads and great paternosters
hanging from their gilded horns, was Numa Pompilius, the second King
of Rome, with the books of religion and all the sacerdotal
instruments and the things appertaining to sacrifices, for the
reason that he was the originator and first founder of religion and
sacrifices among the Romans. This car was accompanied by six priests
on most beautiful she-mules, their heads covered with hoods of linen
embroidered with silver and gold in a masterly pattern of
ivy-leaves; and on their bodies they had sacerdotal vestments in the
ancient fashion, with borders and fringes of gold all round, and in
the hands one had a thurible, another a vase of gold, and the rest
other similar things. At their stirrups they had attendants in the
guise of Levites, and the torches that these had in their hands were
after the manner of ancient candelabra, and wrought with beautiful
artistry.
The third car represented the Consulate of Titus Manlius
Torquatus, who was Consul after the end of the first Carthaginian
war, and governed in such a manner, that in his time there
flourished in Rome every virtue and every blessing. That car, upon
which was Titus himself, with many ornaments executed by Pontormo,
was drawn by eight most beautiful horses, and before it went six
couples of Senators clad in the toga, on horses covered with cloth
of gold, accompanied by a great number of grooms representing
Lictors, with the fasces, axes, and other things appertaining to the
administration of justice.
The fourth car, drawn by four buffaloes disguised as elephants,
represented Julius Caesar in Triumph for the victory gained over
Cleopatra, the car being all painted by Pontormo with his most
famous deeds. That car was accompanied by six couples of men-at-arms
clad in rich and brightly shining armour all bordered with gold,
with their lances on their hips; and the torches that the half-armed
grooms carried had the form of trophies, designed in various ways.
The fifth car, drawn by winged horses that had the form of
gryphons, bore upon it Caesar Augustus, the Lord of the Universe,
accompanied by six couples of Poets on horseback, all crowned, as
was also Caesar, with laurel, and dressed in costumes varying
according to their provinces; and these were there because poets
were always much favoured by Caesar Augustus, whom they exalted with
their works to the heavens. And to the end that they might be
recognized, each of them had across his forehead a scroll after the
manner of a fillet, on which was his name.
On the sixth car, drawn by four pairs of heifers richly draped,
was Trajan, that just Emperor, before whom, as he sat on the car,
which was painted very well by Pontormo, there rode upon beautiful
and finely caparisoned horses six couples of Doctors of Law, with
togas reaching to their feet and with capes of miniver, such as it
was the ancient custom for Doctors to wear. The grooms who carried
their torches, a great number, were scriveners, copyists, and
notaries, with books and writings in their hands.
After these six came the car, or rather, triumphal chariot, of
the Age or Era of Gold, wrought with the richest and most beautiful
artistry, with many figures in relief executed by Baccio Bandinelli,
and very beautiful paintings by the hand of Pontormo; among those in
relief the four Cardinal Virtues being highly extolled. From the
centre of the car rose a great sphere in the form of a globe of the
world, upon which there lay prostrate on his face, as if dead, a man
clad in armour all eaten with rust, who had the back open and cleft,
and from the fissure there issued a child all naked and gilded, who
represented the new birth of the age of gold and the end of the age
of iron, from which he was coming forth into that new birth by
reason of the election of that Pontiff; and this same significance
had the dry trunk putting forth new leaves, although some said that
the matter of that dry trunk was an allusion to the Lorenzo de'
Medici who became Duke of Urbino. I should mention that the gilded
boy, who was the son of a baker, died shortly after- wards through
the sufferings that he endured in order to gain ten crowns.
The chant that was sung in that masquerade, as is the custom, was
composed by the above-named Jacopo Nardi, and the first stanza ran
thus:
Colui che da le leggi alia Natura
E i varii stati e secoli dispone,
D'ogni bene e cagione;
E il mal, quanto permette, al Mondo dura;
Onde questa figura
Contemplando si vede,
Come con certo piede
L' un secol dopo 1' altro al Mondo viene
E muta il bene in male, e 'l male in bene.
From the works that he executed for this festival Pontormo gained,
besides the profit, so much praise, that probably few young men of
his age ever gained as much in that city ; wherefore, Pope Leo
himself after- wards coming to Florence, he was much employed in the
festive prepara- tions that were made, for he had attached himself
to Baccio da Montelupo, a sculptor advanced in years, who made an
arch of wood at the head of the Via del Palagio, at the steps of the
Badia, and Pontormo painted it all with very beautiful scenes, which
afterwards came to an evil end through the scant diligence of those
who had charge of them. Only one remained, that in which Pallas is
tuning an instrument into accord with the lyre of Apollo, with great
grace and beauty; from which scene one is able to judge what
excellence and perfection were in the other works and figures. For
the same festivities Ridolfo Ghirlandajo had received the task of
fitting up and embellishing the Sala del Papa, which is attached to
the Convent of S. Maria Novella, and was formerly the residence of
the Pontiffs in the city of Florence; but being pressed for tune, he
was forced to avail himself in some things of the work of others,
and thus, after having adorned all the other rooms, he laid on
Jacopo da Pontormo the charge of executing some pictures in fresco
in the chapel where his Holiness was to hear Mass every morning.
Whereupon, setting his hand to the work, Jacopo painted there a God
the Father with many little Angels, and a Veronica who had the
Sudarium with the image of Jesus Christ; which work, thus executed
by Jacopo in so short a time, was much extolled.
He then painted in fresco, in a chapel of the Church of S.
Ruffillo, behind the Archbishop's Palace in Florence, Our Lady with
her Son in her arms between S. Michelagnolo and S. Lucia, and two
other Saints kneeling; and, in the lunette of the chapel, a God the
Father with some Seraphim about Him. Next, having been commissioned
by Maestro Jacopo, a Servite friar, as he had greatly desired, to
paint a part of the court of the Servites, because Andrea del Sarto
had gone off to France and left the work of that court unfinished,
he set himself with much study to make the cartoons. But since he
was poorly provided with the things of this world, and was obliged,
while studying in order to win honour, to have something to live
upon, he executed over the door of the Hospital for Women behind the
Church of the Priest's Hospital, between the Piazza di S. Marco and
the Via di S. Gallo, and exactly opposite to the wall of the Sisters
of S. Catharine of Siena two most beautiful figures in chiaroscuro,
with Christ in the guise of a pilgrim awaiting certain women in
order to give them hospitality and lodging; which work was
deservedly much extolled in those days, as it still is, by all good
judges. At this same time he painted some pictures and little scenes
in oils for the Masters of the Mint, on the Carro della Moneta,
which goes every year in the procession of S. John; the workmanship
of which car was by the hand of Marco del Tasso. And over the door
of the Company of Cecilia, on the heights of Fiesole, he painted a
S. Cecilia with some roses in her hand, coloured in fresco, and so
beautiful and so well suited to that place, that, for a work of that
kind, it is one of the best paintings in fresco that there are to be
seen.
These works having been seen by the above-named Servite friar,
Maestro Jacopo, he became even more ardent in his desire, and he
determined at all costs to cause Jacopo to finish the work in that
court of the Servites, thinking that in emulation of the other
masters who had worked there he would execute something of
extraordinary beauty in the part that remained to be painted. Having
therefore set his hand to it, from a desire no less of glory and
honour than of gain, Jacopo painted the scene of the Visitation of
the Madonna, in a manner a little freer and mffie lively than had
been his wont up to that time; which circumstance gave "aiTinnnite
excellence to the work, in addition to its other extraordinary
beauties, in that the women, little boys, youths, and old men are
executed in fresco with such softness and such harmony of colouring,
that it is a thing to marvel at, and the flesh-colours of a little
boy who is seated on some steps, and, indeed, those likewise of all
the other figures, are such that they could not be done better or
with more softness in fresco. This work, then, after the others that
Jacopo had executed, gave a sure earnest of his future perfection to
the craftsmen, comparing them with those of Andrea del Sarto and
Franciabigio. Jacopo delivered the work finished in the year 1516,
and received in payment sixteen crowns and no more.
Having then been allotted by Francesco Pucci, if I remember
rightly, the altarpiece of a chapel that he had caused to be built
in S. Michele Bisdomini in the Via de' Servi, Jacopo executed the
work in so beautiful a manner, and with a colouring so vivid, that
it seems almost impossible to credit it. In this altar-piece Our
Lady, who is seated, is handing the Infant Jesus to S. Joseph, in
whose countenance there is a smile so animated and so lifelike that
it is a marvel ; and very beautiful, likewise, is a little boy
painted to represent S. John the Baptist, and also two other little
children, naked, who are upholding a canopy. There may be seen also
a S. John the Evangelist, a most beautiful old man, and a S. Francis
kneeling, who is absolutely alive, for, with the fingers of one hand
interlocked with those of the other, and wholly intent in
contemplating fixedly with his eyes and his mind the Virgin and her
Son, he appears really to be breathing. And no less beautiful is the
S. James who may be seen beside the others. Wherefore it is no
marvel that this is the most beautiful altarpiece that was ever
executed by this truly rare painter.
I used to believe that it was after this work, and not before,
that the same Jacopo had painted in fresco the two most lovely and
graceful little boys who are supporting a coat of arms over a door
within a passage on the Lungarno, between the Ponte S. Trinita and
the Ponte alia Carraja, for Bartolommeo Lanfredini; but since
Bronzino, who may be supposed to know the truth about these matters,
declares that they were among the first works that Jacopo executed,
we must believe that this is so without a doubt, and praise Pontormo
for them all the more, seeing that they are so beautiful that they
cannot be matched, and yet were among the earliest works that he
did.
But to resume the order of our story: after these works, Jacopo
executed for the men of Pontormo an altar-piece wherein are S.
Michel agnolo and S. John the Evangelist, which was placed in the
Chapel of the Madonna in S. Agnolo, their principal church. At this
time one of two young men who were working under Jacopo that is,
Giovan Maria Pichi of Borgo a S. Sepolcro, who was acquitting
himself passing well, and who afterwards became a Servite friar, and
executed some works in the Borgo and in the Pieve a S. Stefano while
still working, I say, under Jacopo, painted in a large picture a
nude S. Quentin in martyrdom, in order to send it to the Borgo. But
since Jacopo, like a loving master to his disciple, desired that
Giovan Maria should win honour and praise, he set himself to retouch
it, and so, not being able to take his hands off it, and retouching
one day the head, the next day the arms, and the day after the body,
the retouching became such that it may almost be said that the work
is entirely by his hand. Wherefore it is no marvel that this
picture, which is now in the Church of the Observantine Friars of S.
Francis in the Borgo, is most beautiful.
The second of the two young men, who was Giovanni Antonio Lappoli
of Arezzo, of whom there has been an account in another place, like
a vain fellow had taken a portrait of himself with a mirror, also
while he was working under Jacopo. But his master, thinking that the
portrait was a poor likeness, took it in hand himself, and executed
a portrait that is so good that it has the appearance of life; which
portrait is now at Arezzo, in the house of the heirs of that
Giovanni Antonio.
Pontormo also portrayed in one and the same picture two of his
dearest friends one the son-in-law of Beccuccio Bicchieraio, and
another, whose name likewise I do not know; it is enough that the
portraits are by the hand of Pontormo. He then executed for
Bartolommeo Ginori, in anticipation of his death, a string of
pennons, according to the custom of the Florentines; and in the
upper part of all these, on the white taffeta, he painted a Madonna
with the Child, and on the coloured fringe below he painted the arms
of that family, as is the custom. For the centre of the string,
which was of twenty-four pennons, he made two all of white taffeta
without any fringe, on which he painted two figures of S.
Bartholomew, each two braccia high. The size of all these pennons
and their almost novel manner caused all the others that had been
made up to that time to appear poor and mean ; and this was the
reason that they began to be made of the size that they are at the
present day, with great grace and much less expense for gold.
At the head of the garden and vineyard of the Friars of S. Gallo,
without the gate that is called after that Saint, in a chapel that
is in a line with the central entrance, he painted a Dead Christ, a
Madonna weeping, and two little Angels in the air, one of whom was
holding the Chalice of the Passion in his hands, and the other was
supporting the fallen head of Christ. On one side was S. John the
Evangelist, all tearful, with the arms stretched out, and on the
other S. Augustine in episcopal robes, who, leaning with the left
hand on the pastoral staff, stood in an attitude truly full of
sorrow, contemplating the Dead Saviour. And for Messer Spina, the
familiar friend of Giovanni Salviati, he executed in a courtyard,
opposite to the principal door of his house, the coat of arms of
that Giovanni (who had been made a Cardinal in those days by Pope
Leo), with the red hat above and two little boys standing works in
fresco which are very beautiful, and much esteemed by Messer Filippo
Spina, as being by the hand of Pontormo.
Jacopo also worked, in competition with other masters, on the
ornamentation in wood that was formerly executed in a magnificent
manner, as has been related elsewhere, in some apartments of Pier
Francesco Borgherini; and, in particular, he painted there with his
own hand on two coffers some stories from the life of Joseph in
little figures, which were truly most beautiful. And whoever wishes
to see the best work that he ever did in all his life, in order to
consider how able and masterly was Jacopo in giving liveliness to
heads, in grouping figures, in varying attitudes, and in beauty of
invention, let him look at a scene of some size, likewise in little
figures, in the corner on the left hand as one enters through the
door, in the chamber of Borgherini, who was a nobleman of Florence;
in which scene is Joseph in Egypt, as it were a Prince or a King, in
the act of receiving his father Jacob with all his brethren, the
sons of that Jacob, with extraordinary affection. Among these
figures he portrayed at the foot of the scene, seated upon some
steps, II Bronzino, who was then a boy and his disciple a figure
with a basket, which is lifelike and beautiful to a marvel. And if
this scene were on a greater scale, on a large panel or a wall,
instead of being small, I would venture to say that it would not be
possible to find another picture executed with the grace,
excellence, and even perfection wherewith this one was painted by
Jacopo; wherefore it was rightly regarded by all craftsmen as the
most beautiful picture that Pontormo ever executed. Nor is it to be
wondered at that Borgherini should have prized it as he did, and
should have been besought to sell it by great persons as a present
for mighty lords and princes.
On account of the siege of Florence Pier Francesco retired to
Lucca, and Giovan Battista della Palla, who desired to obtain,
together with other things that he was transporting into France, the
decorations of this chamber, so that they might be presented to King
Francis in the name of the Signoria, received such favours, and went
to work so effectively with both words and deeds, that the
Gonfalonier granted a commission that they should be taken away
after payment to the wife of Pier Francesco. Whereupon some others
went with Giovan Battista to execute the will of the Signori; but,
when they arrived at the house of Pier Francesco, his wife, who was
in the house, poured on Giovan Battista the greatest abuse that was
ever spoken to any man. "So you make bold, Giovan Battista," said
she, "you vile slop-dealer, you little two- penny pedlar, to strip
the ornaments from the chambers of noblemen and despoil our city of
her richest and most honoured treasures, as you have done and are
always doing, in order to embellish with them the countries of
foreigners, our enemies ! At you I do not marvel, you, a base
plebeian and the enemy of your country, but at the magistrates of
this city, who aid and abet you in these shameful rascalities. This
bed, which you would seize for your own private interest and for
greed of gain, although you keep your evil purpose cloaked with a
veil of righteousness, this is the bed of my nuptials, in honour of
which my husband's father, Salvi, made ah 1 these magnificent and
regal decorations, which I revere in memory of him and from love for
my husband, and mean to defend with my very blood and with life
itself. Out of this house with these your cut-throats, Giovan
Battista, and go to those who sent you with orders that these things
should be removed from their places, for I am not the woman to
surfer a single thing to be moved from here. If they who believe in
you, a vile creature of no account, wish to make presents to King
Francis of France, let them go and strip their own houses, and take
the ornaments and beds from their own chambers, and send them to
him. And you, if you are ever again so bold as to come to this house
on such an errand, I will make you smart sorely for it, and teach
you what respect should be paid by such as you to the houses of
noblemen." Thus spoke Madonna Margherita, the wife of Pier Francesco
Borgherini, and the daughter of Ruberto Acciaiuoli, a most noble and
wise citizen; and she, a truly courageous woman and a worthy
daughter of such a father, with her noble ardour and spirit, was the
reason that those gems are still preserved in that house.
Giovan Maria Benintendi, about this same time, had adorned an
antechamber in his house with many pictures by the hands of various
able men; and after the work executed for Borgherini, incited by
hearing Jacopo da Pontormo very highly praised, he caused a picture
to be painted by him with the Adoration of the Magi, who went to
Bethlehem to see Christ; which work, since Jacopo devoted to it much
study and diligence, proved to be well varied and beautiful in the
heads and in and to be truly worthy of all praise. Afterwards he
executed for Messer Goro da Pistoia, then Secretary to the Medici, a
picture with the portrait of the Magnificent Cosimo de' Medici, the
elder, from the knees upwards, which is indeed worthy to be
extolled; and this portrait is now in the house of Messer Ottaviano
de' Medici, in the possession of his son, Messer Alessandro, a young
man besides the distinction and nobility of his blood of most
upright character, well lettered, and the worthy son of the
Magnificent Ottaviano and of Madonna Francesca, the daughter of
Jacopo Salviati and the maternal aunt of the Lord Duke Cosimo.
By means of this work, and particularly this head of Cosimo,
Pontormo became the friend of Messer Ottaviano; and the Great Hall
at Poggio a Caiano having then to be painted, there were given to
him to paint the two ends where the round openings are that give
light that is, the windows from the vaulting down to the floor.
Whereupon, desiring to do himself honour even beyond his wont, both
from regard for the place and from emulation of the other painters
who were working there, he set himself to study with such diligence,
that he overshot the mark, for the reason that, destroying and doing
over again every day what he had done the day before, he racked his
brains in such a manner that it was a tragedy; but all the time he
was always making new discoveries, which brought credit to himself
and beauty to the work. Thus, having to execute a Vertumnus with his
husbandmen, he painted a peasant seated with a vine-pruner in his
hand, which is so beautiful and so well done that it is a very rare
thing, even as certain children that are there are lifelike and
natural beyond all belief. On the other side he painted Pomona and
Diana, with other Goddesses, enveloping them perhaps too abundantly
with draperies. However, the work as a whole is beautiful and much
extolled; but while it was being executed Leo was overtaken by
death, and so it remained unfinished, like many other similar works
at Rome, Florence, Loreto, and other places; nay, the whole world
was left poor, being robbed of the true Maecenas of men of talent.
Having returned to Florence, Jacopo painted in a picture a seated
figure of S. Augustine as a Bishop, who is giving the benediction,
with two little nude Angels flying through the air, who are very
beautiful; which picture is over an altar in the little Church of
the Sisters of S. Clemente in the Via di S. Gallo. He carried to
completion, likewise, a picture of a Pieta with certain nude Angels,
which was a very beautiful work, and held very dear by certain
merchants of Ragusa, for whom he painted it; but most beautiful of
all in this picture was a landscape taken for the most part from an
engraving by Albrecht Diirer. He also painted a picture of Our Lady
with the Child in her arms, and some little Angels about her, which
is now in the house of Alessandro Neroni; and for certain Spaniards
he executed another like it that is, of the Madonna but different
from the one described above and in another manner, which picture,
being for sale in a second-hand dealer's shop many years after, was
bought by Bartolommeo Panciatichi at the suggestion of Bronzino.
Then, in the year 1522, there being a slight outbreak of plague
in Florence, and many persons therefore departing in order to avoid
that most infectious sickness and to save themselves, an occasion
presented itself to Jacopo of flying the city and removing himself
to some distance, for a certain Prior of the Certosa, a place built
by the Acciaiuoli three miles away from Florence, had to have some
pictures painted in fresco at the corners of a very large and
beautiful cloister that surrounds a lawn, and Jacopo was brought to
his notice; whereupon the Prior had him sought out, and he, having
accepted the work very willingly at such a time, went off to
Certosa, taking with him only Bronzino. There, after a trial of that
mode of life, that quiet, that silence, and that solitude all things
after the taste and nature of Jacopo he thought with such an
occasion to make a special effort in the matters of art, and to show
to the world that he had acquired greater perfection and a different
manner since those works that he had executed before. Now not long
before there had come from Germany to Florence many sheets printed
from engravings done with great subtlety with the burin by Albrecht
Diirer, a most excellent German painter and a rare engraver of
plates on copper and on wood; and, among others, many scenes, both
large and small, of the Passion of Jesus Christ, in which was all
the perfection and excellence of engraving with the burin that could
ever be achieved, what with the beauty and variety of the vestments
and the invention. Jacopo, having to paint at the corners of those
cloisters scenes from the Passion of the Saviour, thought to avail
himself of the above-named inventions of Albrecht Diirer, in the
firm belief that he would satisfy not only himself but also the
greater part of the craftsmen of Florence, who were all proclaiming
with one voice and with common consent and agreement the beauty of
those engravings and the excellence of Albrecht. Setting himself
therefore to imitate that manner, and seeking to give to the
expressions of the heads of his figures that liveliness and^variety
which Albrecht had given to his, he caught it so thoroughly, that
the charm of his own early manner, which had been given to him by
nature, all full of sweetness and grace, suffered a great change
from that new study and labour, and was so impaired through his
stumbling on that German manner, that in all these works, although
they are all beautiful, there is but a sorry remnant to be seen of
that excellence and grace that he had given up to that time to all
his figures.
At the entrance to the cloister, then, in one corner, he painted
Christ in the Garden, counterfeiting so well the darkness of night
illumined by the light of the moon, that it appears almost like
daylight; and while Christ is praying, not far distant are Peter,
James, and John sleeping, executed in a manner so similar to that of
Diirer, that it is a marvel. Not far away is Judas leading the Jews,
likewise with a countenance so strange, even as the features of all
those soldiers are depicted in the German manner with bizarre
expressions, that it moves him who beholds it to pity for the
simplicity of the man, who sought with such patience to learn that
which others avoid and seek to lose, and all to lose the manner that
surpassed all others in excellence and gave infinite pleasure to
everyone. Did not Pontormo know, then, that the Germans and Flemings
came to these parts to learn the Italian manner, which he with such
effort sought to abandon as if it were bad ?
Beside this scene is one in which is Christ led by the Jews
before Pilate, and in the Saviour he painted all the humility that
could possibly be imagined in the Person of Innocence betrayed by
the sins of men, and in the wife of Pilate that pity and dread for
themselves which those have who fear the divine judgment; which
woman, while she pleads the cause of Christ before her husband,
gazes into His countenance with pitying wonder. Round Pilate are
some soldiers so characteristic in the expressions of the faces and
in the German garments, that one who knew not by whose hand was that
work would believe it to have been_ executed in reality by
ultramontanes. It is true, indeed, that in the distance in this
scene there is a cup-bearer of Pilate's that is descending some
steps with a basin and a ewer in his hands, carrying to his master
the means to wash the hands, who is lifelike and very beautiful,
having in him something of the old manner of Jacopo.
Having next to paint the Resurrection of Christ in one of the
other corners, the fancy came to Jacopo, as to one who had no
steadfastness in his brain and was always cogitating new things, to
change his colour- ing; and so he executed that work with a
colouring in fresco so soft and so good, that, if he had done the
work in another manner than that same German, it would certainly
have been very beautiful, for in the heads of those soldiers, who
are in various attitudes, heavy with sleep, and as it were dead,
there may be seen such excellence, that one cannot believe that it
is possible to do better.
Then, continuing the stories of the Passion in another of the
corners, he painted Christ going with the Cross upon His shoulder to
Mount Calvary, and behind Him the people of Jerusalem, accompanying
Him; and in front are the two Thieves, naked, between the ministers
of justice, who are partly on foot and partly on horseback, with the
ladders, the inscription for the Cross, hammers, nails, cords, and
other suchlike instru- ments. And in the highest part, behind a
little hill, is the Madonna with the Maries, who, weeping, are
awaiting Christ, who has fallen to the ground in the middle of the
scene, and has about Him many Jews that are smiting Him, while
Veronica is offering to Him the Sudarium, accom- panied by some
women both young and old, all weeping at the outrage that they see
being done to the Saviour. This scene, either because he was warned
by his friends, or perhaps because Jacopo himself at last became
aware, although tardily, of the harm that had been done to his own
sweet manner by the study of the German, proved to be much better
than the others executed in the same place, for the reason that
certain naked Jews and some heads of old men are so well painted in
fresco, that it would not be possible to do more, although the same
German manner may be seen constantly maintained in the work as a
whole.
After these he was to have gone on with the Crucifixion and the
Deposition from the Cross in the other corners; but, putting them
aside for a time, with the intention of executing them last, he
painted in their stead Christ taken down from the Cross, keeping to
the same manner, but with great harmony of colouring. In this scene,
besides that the Magdalene, who is kissing the feet of Christ, is
most beautiful, there are two old men, representing Joseph of
Arimathaea and Nicodemus, who, although they are in the German
manner, have the most beautiful expressions and heads of old men,
with beards feathery and coloured with marvellous softness, that
there are to be seen.
Now Jacopo, besides being generally slow over his works, was
pleased with the solitude of the Certosa, and he therefore spent
several years on these labours; and, after the plague had finished
and he had returned to Florence, he did not for that reason cease to
frequent that place constantly, and was always going and coming
between the Certosa and the city. Proceeding thus, he satisfied
those fathers in many things, and, among others, he painted in their
church, over one of the doors that lead into the chapels, in a
figure from the waist upwards, the portrait of a lay-brother of that
monastery, who was alive at that time and one hundred and twenty
years old, executing it so well and with such finish, such vivacity,
and such animation, that through it alone Pontormo deserves to be
excused for the strange and faniaatic new manner with which he was
saddled by that solitude and by living far from the commerce of men.
Besides this, he painted for the Prior of that place a picture of
the Nativity of Christ, representing Joseph as giving light to Jesus
Christ in the darkness of the night with a lantern, and this in
pursuit of the same notions and caprices which the German engravings
put into his head. Now let no one believe that Jacopo is to blame
because he imitated Albrecht Duerer in his inventions, for the
reason that this is no error, and many painters have done it and are
continually doing it; but only because he adopted the unmixed German
manner in everything, in the draperies, in the expressions of the
heads, and in the attitudes, which he should have avoided, availing
himself only of the inventions, since he had the modern manner in
all the fullness of its beauty and grace.*] For ' the Stranger's
Apartment of the same monks he painted a large picture on canvas and
in oil-colours, without straining himself at all or forcing his
natural powers, of Christ at table with Cleophas and Luke, figures
of the size of life; and since in this work he followed the bent of
his own genius, it proved to be truly marvellous, particularly
because he portrayed among those who are serving at that table some
lay-brothers of the convent, whom I myself have known, in such a
manner that they could not be either more lifelike or more animated
than they are.
Bronzino, meanwhile (that is, while his master was executing the
works described above in the Certosa), pursuing with great spirit
the studies of painting, and encouraged all the time by Pontormo,
who was very loving with his disciples, executed on the inner side
over an arch above the door of the cloister that leads into the
church, without having ever seen the process of painting in
oil-colours on the wall, a nude S. Laurence on the gridiron, which
was so beautiful that there began to be seen some indication of that
excellence to which he has since attained, as will be related in the
proper place; which circumstance gave infinite satisfaction to
Jacopo, who already saw whither that genius would arrive.
Not long afterwards there returned from Rome Lodovico di Gino
Capponi, who had bought that chapel in S. Felicita, on the right
hand of the entrance into the church, which the Barbadori had
formerly caused to be built by Filippo di Ser Brunellesco ; and he
resolved to have all the vaulting painted, and then to have an
altar-piece executed for it, with a rich ornament. Having therefore
consulted in the matter with M. Niccold Vespucci, knight of Rhodes,
who was much his friend, the knight, who was also much the friend of
Jacopo, and knew, into the bargain, the talent and worth of that
able man, did and said so much that Lodovico allotted that work to
Pontormo. And so, having erected an enclosure, which kept that
chapel closed for three years, he set his hand to the work. On the
vaulted ceiling he painted a God the Father, who has about Him four
very beautiful Patriarchs ; and in the four medallions at the angles
he depicted the four Evangelists, or rather, he executed three of
them with his own hand, and Bronzino one all by himself. And with
this occasion I must mention that Pontormo used scarcely ever to
allow himself to be helped by his assistants, or to suffer them to
lay a hand on that which he intended to execute with his own hand;
and when he did wish to avail himself of one of them, chiefly in
order that they might learn, he allowed them to do the whole work by
themselves, as he allowed Bronzino to do here.
In the works that Jacopo executed in the said chapel up to this
point, it seemed almost as if he had returned to his first manner;
but he did not follow the same method in painting the altarpiece,
for, thinking always of new things, he executed it without shadows,
and with a colouring so bright and so uniform, that one can scarcely
distinguish the lights from the middle tints, and the middle tints
from the darks. In this altar-piece is a Dead Christ taken down from
the Cross and being carried to the Sepulchre. There is the Madonna
who is swooning, and the Maries, all executed in a fashion so
different from his first work, that it is clearly evident that his
brain was always busy investigating new conceptions and fantastic
methods of painting, not being content with, and not fixing on, any
single method. In a word, the composition of this altarpiece is
altogether different from the figures on the vaulting, and likewise
the colouring; and the four Evangelists, which are in the medallions
on the spandrels of the vaulting, are much better and in a different
manner.
On the wall where the window is are two figures in fresco, on one
side the Virgin, and on the other the Angel, who is bringing her the
Annunciation, but so distorted, both the one and the other, that it
is evident that, as I have said, that bizarre and fantastic brain
was never content with anything. And in order to be able to do as he
pleased in this, and to avoid having his attention distracted by
anyone, all the time that he was executing this work he would never
allow even the owner of the chapel himself to see it, insomuch that,
having painted it after his own fancy, without any of his friends
having been able to give him a single hint, when it was finally
uncovered and seen, it amazed all Florence. For the same Lodovico he
executed a picture of Our Lady in that same manner for his chamber,
and in the head of a S. Mary Magda- lene he made the portrait of a
daughter of Lodovico, who was a very beautiful young woman.
Near the Monastery of Boldrone, on the road that goes from there
to Castello, and at the corner of another that climbs the hill and
goes to Cercina (that is, at a distance of two miles from Florence),
he painted in fresco in a shrine Christ Crucified, Our Lady weeping,
S. John the Evangelist, S. Augustine, and S. Giuliano; all which
figures, his caprice not being yet satisfied, and the German manner
still pleasing him, are not very different from those that he
executed at the Certosa. He did the same, also, in an altar-piece
that he painted for the Nuns of S. Anna, at the Porta a S. Friano,
in which altar-piece is Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and S.
Anne behind her, with S. Peter, S. Benedict, and other Saints, and
in the predella is a small scene with little figures, which
represent the Signoria of Florence as it used to go in procession
with trumpeters, pipers, mace-bearers, messengers, and ushers, with
the rest of the household; and this he did because the commission
for that altar-piece was given to him by the Captain and the
household of the Palace.
The while that Jacopo was executing this work, Alessandro and
Ippolito de' Medici, who were both very young, having been sent to
Florence by Pope Clement VII under the care of the Legate, Silvio
Passerini, Bishop of Cortona, the Magnificent Ottaviano, to whom the
Pope had straitly recommended them, had the portraits of both of
them taken by Pontormo, who served him very well, and made them very
good likenesses, although he did not much depart from the manner
that he had learned from the Germans. In the portrait of Ippolito he
also painted a favourite dog of that lord, called Rodon, and made it
so characteristic and so natural, that it might be alive. He took
the portrait, likewise, of Bishop Ardinghelli, who afterwards became
a Cardinal; and for Filippo del Migliore, who was much his friend,
he painted in fresco in his house on the Via Larga, in a niche
opposite to the principal door, a woman representing Pomona, from
which it appeared that he was beginning to seek to abandon in part
his German manner.
Now Giovan Battista della Palla perceived that by reason of many
works the name of Jacopo was becoming every day more celebrated;
and, since he had not succeeded in sending to King Francis the
pictures executed by that same master and by others for Borgherini,
he resolved, knowing that the King had a desire for them, at all
costs to send him something by the hand of Pontormo. Whereupon he so
went to work that he persuaded Jacopo to execute a most beautiful
picture of the Raising of Lazarus, which proved to be one of the
best works that he ever painted and that was ever sent by Giovan
Battista, among the vast number that he sent, to King Francis of
France. For, besides that the heads were most beautiful, the figure
of Lazarus, whose spirit as he returned to life was re-entering his
dead flesh, could not have been more marvellous, for about the eyes
he still had the hue of corruption, and the flesh cold and dead at
the extremities of the hands and feet, where the spirit had not yet
come.
In a picture of one braccio and a half he painted for the Sisters
of the Hospital of the Innocenti, with an infinite number of little
figures, the story of the eleven thousand Martyrs who were condemned
to death by Diocletian and all crucified in a wood. In this Jacopo
represented a battle of horsemen and nude figures, very beautiful,
and some most lovely little Angels flying through the air, who are
shooting arrows at the ministers of the crucifixion; and in like
manner, about the Emperor, who is pronouncing the condemnation, are
some most beautiful nude figures who are going to their death. This
picture, which in every part is worthy to be praised, is now held in
great price by Don Vincenzio Borghini, the Director of that
Hospital, who once was much the friend of Jacopo. Another picture
similar to that described above he painted for Carlo Neroni, but
only with the Battle of the Martyrs and the Angel baptizing them;
and then the portrait of Carlo himself. He also executed a portrait,
at the time of the siege of Florence, of Francesco Guardi in the
habit of a soldier, which was a very beautiful work; and on the
cover of this picture Bronzino afterwards painted Pygmalion praying
to Venus that his statue, receiving breath, might spring to life and
become as, according to the fables of the poets, it did flesh and
blood. At this time, after much labour, there came to Jacopo the
fulfilment of a desire that he had long had, in that, having always
felt a wish to have a house that might be his own, so that he should
no longer live in the house of another, but might occupy his own and
live as pleased himself, finally he bought one in the Via della
Colonna, opposite to the Nuns of S. Maria degli Angeli.
The siege finished, Pope Clement commanded Messer Ottaviano de'
Medici that he should cause the hall of Poggio a Caiano to be
finished. Whereupon, Franciabigio and Andrea del Sarto being dead,
the whole charge of this was given to Pontormo, who, after having
the staging and the screens made, began to execute the cartoons;
but, for the reason that he went off into fantasies and cogitations,
beyond that he never set a hand to the work. This, perchance, would
not have happened if Bronzino had been in those parts, who was then
working at the Imperiale, a place belonging to the Duke of Urbino,
near Pesaro; which Bronzino, although he was sent for every day by
Jacopo, nevertheless was not able to depart at his own pleasure, for
the reason that, after he had executed a very beautiful naked Cupid
on the spandrel of a vault in the Imperiale, and the cartoons for
the others, Prince Guidobaldo, having recognized the young man's
genius, ordained that his own portrait should be taken by him, and,
seeing that he wished to be portrayed in some armour that he was
expecting from Lombardy, Bronzino was forced to stay with that
Prince longer than he could have wished. During that time he painted
the case of a harpsichord, which much pleased the Prince, and
finally Bronzino executed his portrait, which was very beautiful,
and the Prince was well satisfied with it. Jacopo, then, wrote so
many times, and employed so many means, that in the end he brought
Bronzino back ; but for all that the man could never be induced to
do any other part of this work than the cartoons, although he was
urged to it by the Magnificent Ottaviano and by Duke Alessandro. In
one of these cartoons, which are now for the most part in the house
of Lodovico Capponi, is a Hercules who is crushing Antaeus, in
another a Venus and Adonis, and in yet another drawing a scene of
nude figures playing football.
In the meantime Signor Alfonso Davalos, Marchese del Vasto,
having obtained from Michelagnolo Buonarroti by means of Fra Niccolo
della Magna a cartoon of Christ appearing to the Magdalene in the
garden, moved heaven and earth to have it executed for him in
painting by Pontormo, Buonarroti having told him that no one could
serve him better than that master. Jacopo then executed that work to
perfection, and it was accounted a rare painting by reason both of
the grandeur of Michelagnolo's design and of Jacopo's colouring.
Wherefore Signor Alessandro Vitelli, who was at that time Captain of
the garrison of soldiers in Florence, having seen it, had a picture
painted for himself from the same cartoon by Jacopo, which he sent
to Citta di Castello and caused to be placed in his house. It thus
became evident in what estimation Michelagnolo held Pontormo, and
with what diligence Pontormo carried to completion and executed
excellently well the designs and cartoons of Michelagnolo, and
Bartolommeo Bettini so went to work that Buonar- roti, who was much
his friend, made for him a cartoon of a nude Venus with a Cupid who
is kissing her, in order that he might have it executed in painting
by Pontormo and place it in the centre of a chamber of his own, in
the lunettes of which he had begun to have painted by Bronzino
figures of Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio, with the intention of
having there all the other poets who have sung of love in Tuscan
prose and verse. Jacopo, then, having received this cartoon,
executed it to perfection at his leisure, as will be related, in the
manner that all the world knows without my saying another word in
praise of it. These designs of Michel- agnolo's were the reason that
Pontormo, considering the manner of that most noble craftsman, took
heart of grace, and resolved that by hook or by crook he would
imitate and follow it to the best of his ability. And then it was
that Jacopo recognized how ill he had done to allow the work of
Poggio a Caiano to slip through his hands, although he put the blame
in great measure on a long and very troublesome illness that he had
suffered, and finally on the death of Pope Clement, which brought
that undertaking completely to an end.
Jacopo having executed after the works described above a picture
with the portrait from life of Amerigo Antinori, a young man much
beloved in Florence at that time, and that portrait being much
extolled by everyone, Duke Alessandro had him informed that he
wished to have his portrait taken by him in a large picture. And
Jacopo, for the sake of convenience, executed his portrait for the
time being in a little picture of the size of a sheet of half-folio,
and with such diligence and care, that the works of the miniaturists
do not in any way come up to it; for the reason that, besides its
being a very good likeness, there is in that head all that could be
desired in the rarest of paintings. From that little picture, which
is now in the guardaroba of Duke Cosimo, Jacopo afterwards made a
portrait of the same Duke in a large picture, with a style in the
hand, drawing the head of a woman; which larger portrait Duke
Alessandro afterwards presented to Signora Taddea Malespina, the
sister of the Marchesa di Massa. Desiring at all costs to reward
liberally the genius of Jacopo for these works, the Duke sent him a
message by Niccolo da Montaguto, his servant, that he should ask
whatever he wished, and it would be granted to him. But such was the
poor spirit or the exces- sive respect and modesty of the man, I
know not which to call it, that he asked for nothing save as much
money as would suffice him to redeem a cloak that he had pledged;
which having heard, the Duke, not without laughing at the character
of the man, commanded that fifty gold crowns should be given and a
salary offered to him; and even then Niccolo had much ado to make
him accept it.
Meanwhile Jacopo had finished painting the Venus from the cartoon
belonging to Bettini, which proved to be a marvellous thing, but it
was not given to Bettini at the price for which Jacopo had promised
it to him, for certain tuft-hunters, in order to do Bettini an
injury, took it almost by force from the hands of Jacopo and gave it
to Duke Alessandro, restoring the cartoon to Bettini. Which having
heard, Michelagnolo felt much displeasure for love of the friend for
whom he had drawn the cartoon, and he bore a grudge against Jacopo,
who, although he received fifty crowns for it from the Duke,
nevertheless cannot be said to have defrauded Bettini, seeing that
he gave up the Venus at the command of him who was his lord. But of
all this some say that Bettini himself was in great measure the
cause, from his asking too much.
The occasion having thus presented itself to Pontormo, by means
of these moneys, to set his hand to the fitting up of his house, he
made a beginning with his building, but did nothing of much
importance. i Indeed, although some persons declare that he had it
in mind to spend largely, according to his position, and to make a
commodious dwelling and one that might have some design, it is
nevertheless evident that what he did, whether this came from his
not having the means to spend i or from some other reason, has
rather the appearance of a building erected by an eccentric and
solitary creature than of a well-ordered habitation, for the reason
that to the room where he used to sleep and at times to work, he had
to climb by a wooden ladder, which, after he had gone in, he would
draw up with a pulley, to the end that no one might go up to him
without his wish or knowledge. But that which most displeased other
men in him was that he would not work save when and for whom he
pleased, and after his own fancy; wherefore on many occasions, being
sought out by noblemen who desired to have some of his work, and
once in particular by the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, he would
not serve them; and then he would set himself to do anything in the
world for some low and common fellow, at a miserable price. Thus the
mason Rossino, a person of no small ingenuity considering his
calling, by playing the simpleton, received from him in payment for
having paved certain rooms with bricks, and for having done other
mason's work, a most beautiful picture of Our Lady, in executing
which Jacopo toiled and laboured as much as the mason did in his
building. And so well did the good Rossino contrive to manage his
business, that, in addition to the above-named picture, he got from
the hands of Jacopo a most beautiful portrait of Cardinal Giulio de'
Medici, copied from one by the hand of Raffaello, and, into the
bargain, a very beautiful little picture of a Christ Crucified,
which, although the above-mentioned Magnificent Ottaviano bought it
from the mason Rossino as a work by the hand of Jacopo, nevertheless
is known for certain to be by the hand of Bronzino, who executed it
all by himself while he was working with Jacopo at the Certosa,
although it afterwards remained, I know not why, in the posses- sion
of Pontormo. All these three pictures, won by the industry of the
mason from the hands of Jacopo, are now in the house of M.
Alessandro de' Medici, the son of the above-named Ottaviano.
Now, although this procedure of Jacopo's and his living solitary
and after his own fashion were not much commended, that does not
mean that if anyone wished to excuse him he would not be able, for
the reason that for those works that he did we should acknowledge
our obligation to him, and for those that he did not choose to do we
should not blame or censure him. No craftsman is obliged to work
save when and for whom he pleases ; and, if he suffered thereby, the
loss was his. As for solitude, I have always heard say that it is
the greatest friend of study ; and, even if it were not so, I do not
believe that much blame is due to him who lives in his own fashion
without offence to God or to his neighbour, dwelling and employing
his time as best suits his nature.
But to return, leaving these matters on one side, to the works of
Jacopo: Duke Alessandro had caused to be restored in some parts the
Villa of Careggi, formerly built by the elder Cosimo de' Medici, at
a distance of two miles from Florence, and had carried out the
ornamentation of the fountain and the labyrinth, which wound through
the centre of an open court, into which there opened two loggie, and
his Excellency ordained that those loggie should be painted by
Jacopo, but that company should be given him, to the end that he
might finish them the quicker, and that conversation with others,
keeping him cheerful, might be a means of making him work without
straying so much into vagaries and dis- tilling away his brains.
Nay, the Duke himself sent for Jacopo and besought him that he
should strive to deliver that work completely finished as soon as
possible. Jacopo, therefore, having summoned Bronzino, caused him to
paint a figure on each of five spandrels of the vaulting, these
being Fortune, Justice, Victory, Peace, and Fame; and on the other
spandrel, for they are in all six, Jacopo with his own hand painted
a Love. Then, having made the design for some little boys that were
going in the oval space of the vaulting, with various animals in
their hands, and all foreshortened to be seen from below, he caused
them all, with the exception of one, to be executed in color by
Bronzino, who acquitted himself very well. And since, while Jacopo
and Bronzino were painting these figures, the ornaments all around
were executed by Jacone, Pier Francesco di Jacopo, and others, the
whole of that work was finished in a short time, to the great
satisfaction of the Lord Duke. His Excellency wished to have the
other loggia painted, but he was not in time, for the reason that
the above-named work having been finished on the I3th of December in
the year 1536, on the 6th of the January following that most
illustrious lord was assassinated by his kinsman Lorenzino; and so
this work and others remained without their completion.
The Lord Duke Cosimo having then been elected, and the affair of
Montemurlo having passed off happily, a beginning was made with the
works of Castello, according as has been related in the Life of
Tribolo, and his most illustrious Excellency, in order to gratify
Signora Donna Maria, his mother, ordained that Jacopo should paint
the first loggia, which one finds on the left hand in entering the
Palace of Castello. Whereupon, setting to work, Jacopo first
designed all the ornaments that were to be painted there, and had
them executed for the most part by Bronzino and the masters who had
executed those of Careggi. Then, shutting himself up alone, he
proceeded with that work after his own fancy and wholly at his
leisure, studying with all diligence, to the end that it might be
much better than that of Careggi, which he had not executed entirely
with his own hand. This he was able to do very con- veniently,
having eight crowns a month for it from his Excellency, whom he
portrayed, young as he was, in the beginning of that work, and like-
wise Signora Donna Maria, his mother. Finally, after that loggia had
been closed for five years, no one being able to have even a glance
at what Jacopo had done, one day the above-named lady became enraged
against him, and commanded that the staging and the screen should be
thrown to the ground. But Jacopo, having begged for grace and having
obtained leave to keep it covered for a few days more, first
retouched it where it seemed to him to be necessary, and then caused
a cloth of his own contriving to be made, which should keep that
loggia covered when those lords were not there, to the end that the
weather might not, as it had done at Careggi, eat away those
pictures, which were executed in oils on the dry plaster; and at
last he uncovered it, amid the lively expectation of everyone, all
thinking that in that work Jacopo must have surpassed himself and
done something altogether stupendous. But the effect did not
correspond completely to the expectations, for the reason that,
although many parts of the work are good, the general proportion of
the figures appears very poor in form, and certain distorted
attitudes that are there seem to be wanting in measure and very
strange. But Jacopo excused himself by saying that he had never
worked very willingly in that place, for the reason that, being
without the city, it seemed much exposed to the fury of the soldiery
and to other suchlike dangers ; but there was no need for him to be
afraid of that, seeing that time and the weather, from the work
having been executed in the manner already described, are eating it
away little by little.
In the center of the vaulting, then, he painted a Saturn with the
Sign of Capricorn, and a Hermaphrodite Mars in the Sign of the Lion
and of the Virgin, and some little Angels who are flying through the
air, like those of Careggi. He then painted in certain gigantic
women, almost entirely nude, Philosophy, Astrology, Geometry, Music,
Arithmetic, and a Ceres ; with some little scenes in medallions,
executed with various tints of colour and appropriate to the
figures. Although this work, so fatiguing and so laboured, did not
give much satisfaction, or, if a certain measure of satisfaction,
much less than was expected, yet his Excellency declared that it
pleased him, and availed himself of Jacopo on every occasion,
chiefly because that painter was held in great venera- tion by the
people on account of the very good and beautiful works that he had
executed in the past.
The Lord Duke then brought to Florence the Flemings, Maestro I
Giovanni Rosso and Maestro Niccol6, excellent masters in arras-
tapes tries, 1 to the end that the art might be learned and
practised by the Florentines, and he ordained that tapestries in
silk and gold should be executed for the Council Hall of the Two
Hundred at a cost of 60,000 crowns, and that Jacopo and Bronzino
should make the cartoons with the stories of Joseph. But, when
Jacopo had made two of them, in one of which is the scene when the
death of Joseph is announced to Jacob and the bloody garments are
shown to him, and in the other the Flight of Joseph from the wife of
Potiphar, leaving his garment behind, they did not please either the
Duke or those masters who had to put them into execu- tion, for they
appeared to them to be strange things and not likely to be
successful when executed in woven tapestries. And so Jacopo did not
go on to make any more cartoons, but returned to his usual labours
and painted a picture of Our Lady, which was presented by the Duke
to Signer Don . . . [SIC], who took it to Spain.
Now his Excellency, following in the footsteps of his ancestors,
has always sought to embellish and adorn his city; and he resolved,
the necessity having come to his notice, to cause to be painted all
the principal chapel of the magnificent Temple of S. Lorenzo,
formerly built by the great Cosimo de' Medici, the elder. Whereupon
he gave the charge of this to Jacopo da Pontormo, either of his own
accord, or, as was said, at the instance of Messer Pier Francesco
Ricci, his major-domo; and Jacopo was very glad of that favour, for
the reason that, although the greatness of the work, he being well
advanced in years, gave him food for thought and perhaps dismayed
him, on the other hand he reflected how, in a work of such
magnitude, he had a fair field to show his ability and worth. Some
say that Jacopo, finding that the work had been allotted to him
notwithstanding that Francesco Salviati, a painter of great fame,
was in Florence and had brought to a happy conclusion the painting
of that hall in the Palace which was once the audience-chamber of
the Signoria, must needs declare that he would show the world how to
draw and paint, and how to work in fresco, and, besides this, that
the other painters were but ordinary hacks, with other words equally
insolent and overbearing. But I myself always knew Jacopo as a
modest person, who spoke of everyone honourably and in a manner
proper to an orderly and virtuous craftsman, such as he was, and I
believe that these words were imputed to him falsely, and that he
never let slip from his mouth any such boastings, which are for the
most part the marks of vain men who presume too much upon their
merits, in which manner of men there is no place for virtue or good
breeding. And, although I might have kept silent about these
matters, I have not chosen to do so, because to proceed as I have
done appears to me the office of a faithful and veracious his-
torian; it is enough that, although these rumours went around, and
particularly among our craftsmen, nevertheless I have a firm belief
that they were the words of malicious persons, Jacopo having always
been in the experience of everyone modest and well-behaved in his
every action.
Having then closed up that chapel with walls, screens of planks,
and curtains, and having given himself over to complete solitude, he
kept it for a period of eleven years so well sealed up, that
excepting himself not a living soul entered it, neither friend nor
any other. It is true, indeed, that certain lads who were drawing in
the sacristy of Michel- agnolo, as young men will do, climbed by its
spiral staircase on to the roof of the church, and, removing some
tiles and the plank of one of the gilded rosettes that are there,
saw everything. Of which having heard, Jacopo took it very ill, but
took no further notice beyond closing up everything with greater
care ; although some say that he persecuted those young men sorely,
and sought to make them regret it.
Imagining, then, that in this work he would surpass all other
painters, and perchance, so it was said, even Michelagnolo, he
painted in the upper part, in a number of scenes, the Creation of
Adam and Eve, the Eating of the Forbidden Fruit, their Expulsion
from Paradise, the Tilling of the Earth, the Sacrifice of Abel, the
Death of Cain, the Blessing of the Seed of Noah, and the same Noah
designing the plan and the measurements of the Ark. Next, on one of
the lower walls, each of which is fifteen braccia in each direction,
he painted the inundation of the Deluge, in which is a mass of dead
and drowned bodies, and Noah speaking with God. On the other wall is
painted the Universal Resurrection of the Dead, which has to take
place on the last and final day ; with such variety and confusion,
that the real resurrection will perhaps not be more confused, or
more full of movement, in a manner of speaking, than Pontormo
painted it. Opposite to the altar and between the windows that is,
on the central wall there is on either side a row of nude figures,
who, clinging to each other's bodies with hands and legs, form a
ladder where- with to ascend to Paradise, rising from the earth,
where there are many dead in company with them, and at the end, on
either side, are two dead bodies clothed with the exception of the
legs and also the arms, with which they are holding two lighted
torches. At the top, in the centre of the wall, above the windows,
he painted in the middle Christ on high in His Majesty, who,
surrounded by many Angels all nude, is raising those dead in order
to judge them.
But I have never been able to understand the significance of this
scene, although I know that Jacopo had wit enough for himself, and
also associated with learned and lettered persons; I mean, what he
could have intended to signify in that part where there is Christ on
high, raising the dead, and below His feet is God the Father, who is
creating Adam and Eve. Besides this, in one of the corners, where
are the four Evangelists, nude, with books in their hands, it does
not seem to me that in a single place did he give a thought to any
order of composition, or measure- ment, or time, or variety in the
heads, or diversity in the flesh-colors, l \ [SIC] or, in a word, to
any rule, proportion, or law of perspective; for the whole work is
full of nude figures with an order, design, invention, com-
position, colouring, and painting contrived after his own fashion,
and with such melancholy and so little satisfaction for him who
beholds the work, that I am determined, since I myself do not
understand it, although I am a painter, to leave all who may see it
to form their own judgment, for the reason that I believe that I
would drive myself mad with it and would bury myself alive, even as
it appears to me that Jacopo in the period of eleven years that he
spent upon it sought to bury himself and all who might see the
painting, among all those extraordinary figures. And although there
may be seen in this work some bit of a torso with the back turned or
facing to the front and some attachments of flanks, exe- cuted with
marvellous care and great labour by Jacopo, who made finished models
of clay in the round for almost all the figures, nevertheless the
work as a whole is foreign to his manner, and, as it appears to
almost every man, without proportion, the torsi for the most part
being large and the legs and arms small, to say nothing of the
heads, in which there is not a trace to be seen of that singular
excellence and grace that he used to give to them, so greatly to the
satisfaction of those who examine his other pictures. Wherefore it
appears that in this work he paid no atten- tion to anything save
certain parts, and of the other more important parts he took no
account whatever. In a word, whereas he had thought in this work to
surpass all the paintings in the world of art, he failed by a great
measure to equal his own works that he had executed in the past;
whence it is evident that he who seeks to strive beyond his strength
and, as it were, to force nature, ruins the good qualities with
which he may have been liberally endowed by her. But what can we or
ought we to do save have compassion upon him, seeing that the men of
our arts are as much liable to error as others ? And the good Homer,
so it is said, even he sometimes nods ; nor shall it ever be said
that there is a single work of Jacopo's, however he may have striven
to force his nature, in which there is not something good and worthy
of praise.
He died shortly before finishing the work, and some therefore
declare that he died of grief, ending his life very much
dissatisfied with himself; but the truth is that, being old and much
exhausted by making portraits and models in clay and labouring so
much in fresco, he sank into a dropsy, which finally killed him at
the age of sixty-five. After his death there were found in his house
many designs, cartoons, and models in clay, all very beautiful, and
a picture of Our Lady executed by him excellently well and in a
lovely manner, to all appearance many years before, which was sold
by his heirs to Piero Salviati. Jacopo was buried in the first
cloister of the Church of the Servite Friars, beneath the scene of
the Visitation that he had formerly painted there; and he was
followed to the grave by an honourable company of the painters,
sculptors, and architects.
Jacopo was a frugal and sober man, and in his dress and manner of
life he was rather miserly than moderate; and he lived almost always
by himself, without desiring that anyone should serve him or cook
for him. In his last years, indeed, he kept in his house, as it were
to bring him up, Battista Naldini, a young man of fine spirit, who
took such care of Jacopo's life as Jacopo would allow him to take;
and under his master's discipline he made no little proficiency in
design, and became such, indeed, that a very happy result is looked
for from him. Among Pontormo's friends, particularly in this last
period of his life, were Pier Francesco Vernacci and Don Vincenzio
Borghini, with whom he took his recreation, sometimes eating with
them, but rarely. But above all others, and always supremely beloved
by him, was Bronzino, who loved him as dearly, being grateful and
thankful for the benefits that he had received from him.
Pontormo had very beautiful manners, and he was so afraid of
death, that he would not even hear it spoken of, and avoided having
to meet dead bodies. He never went to festivals or to any other
places where people gathered together, so as not to be caught in the
press ; and he was solitary beyond all belief. At times, going out
to work, he set himself to think so profoundly on what he was to do,
that he went away without having done any other thing all day but
stand thinking. And that this happened to him times without number
in the work of S. Lorenzo may readily be believed, for the reason
that when he was determined, like an able and well-practised
craftsman, he had no difficulty in doing what he desired and had
resolved to put into execution.
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SIMONE MOSCA (1492-1553)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
FROM the times of the ancient Greek and Roman sculptors to our
own, no modern carver has equaled the beautiful and difficult works
that they executed in their bases, capitals, friezes, cornices,
festoons, trophies, masks, candelabra, birds, grotesques, or other
carved cornice work, save only Simone Mosca of Settignano, who in
our own days has worked in such a manner in those kinds of labor,
that he has made it evident by his genius and art that all the
diligence and study of the modern carvers who had come before him
had not enabled them up to that time to imitate the best work of
those ancients or to adopt the good method in their carvings, for
the reason that their works incline to dryness, and the turn of
their foliage to spikiness and crudeness. He, on the other hand, has
executed foliage with great boldness, rich and abundant in new
curves, the leaves being carved in various manners with beautiful
indentations and with the most lovely flowers, seeds and creepers
that there are to be seen, not to speak of the birds that he has
contrived to carve so gracefully in various forms among his foliage
and festoons, insomuch that it may be affirmed that Simone alone 9be
it said without offense to the others 9has been able to remove from
the marble that hardness which craftsmen are wont very often to
leave in their sculptures, and has brought his works by his handling
of the chisel to such a point that they have the appearance of
things real to the touch, and the same may be said of the cornices
and other suchlike labors, executed by him with most beautiful grace
and judgment.
This Simone, having given his attention to design in his
childhood with much profit, and having then become well-practiced in
carving, was taken by Maestro Antonio da San Gallo, who recognized
his genius and noble spirit, to Rome, where he caused him to
execute, as his first works, some capitals and bases and several
friezes of foliage for the Church of San Giovanni de¹ Fiorentini,
and some works for the Palace of Alessandro, the first Cardinal
Farnese. Simone meanwhile devoting himself, particularly on
feast-days, and whenever he could snatch the time, to drawing the
antiquities of that city, no long time passed before he was drawing
and tracing ground-plans with more grace and neatness than did
Antonio himself, insomuch that, having applied himself heart and
soul to the study of designing foliage in the ancient manner, of
giving a bold turn to the leaves, and of perforating his works in
such a way as to make them perfect, taking the best from the best
examples, one thing from one and one from another, in a few years he
formed a manner of composition so beautiful and so catholic, that
afterwards he did everything well, whether in company or by himself.
This may be seen in some coats of arms that were to be placed in
the above-named Church of San Giovanni in the Strada Giulia; in one
of which coats of arms, making a great lily, the ancient emblem of
the Commune of Florence, he carved upon it some curves of foliage
with creepers and seeds executed so well that they made everyone
gasp with wonder. Nor had any long time passed when Antonio da San
Gallo 9who was directing for Messer Agnolo Cesis the execution of
the marble ornaments of a chapel and tomb for himself and his
family, which were afterwards erected in the year 1550 in the Church
of Santa Maria della Pace 9caused part of certain pilasters and
socles covered with friezes, which were going into that work, to be
wrought by Simone, who executed them so well and with such beauty,
that they make themselves known among the others, without my saying
which they are, by their grace and perfection; nor is it possible to
see any altars for the offering of sacrifices after the ancient use
more beautiful and fanciful than those that he made on the base of
that work. Afterwards the same San Gallo, who was superintending the
execution of the mouth of the well in the cloister of San Pietro in
Vincula, caused Mosca to make the borders with some large masks of
great beauty.
Not long afterwards he returned one summer to Florence, having a
good name among craftsmen, and Baccio Bandinelli, who was making the
Orpheus of marble that was placed in the court of the Medici Palace,
after having the base for that work carried out by Benedetto da
Rovezzano, caused Simone to execute the festoons and other carvings
therein, which are very beautiful, although one festoon is
unfinished and only worked over with the gradine. Having then done
many works in gray sandstone, of which there is no need to make
record, he was planning to return to Rome, when in the meantime the
sack took place, and he did not go after all. But, having taken a
wife, he was living in Florence with little to do: wherefore, being
obliged to support his family, and having no income, he was
occupying himself with any work that he could obtain. Now in those
days there arrived in Florence one Pietro di Subisso, a master-mason
of Arezzo, who always had under him a good number of workmen, for
the reason that all the building in Arezzo passed through his hands;
and he took Simone, with many others, to Arezzo. There he set Simone
to making a chimney-piece of gray sandstone and a water-basin of no
great cost, for a hail in the house of the heirs of Pellegrino da
Fossombrone, a citizen of Arezzo; which house had been formerly
erected by M. Piero Geri, an excellent astrologer, after the design
of Andrea Sansovino, and had been sold by his nephews.
Setting to work, therefore, and beginning with the chimney-piece,
Simone placed it upon two pilasters, making two niches in the
thickness of the wall, in the direction of the fire, and laying upon
those pilasters architrave. frieze, and great cornice, and over all
a pediment with festoons and with the arms of that family. And thus,
proceeding with it, he executed it with carvings of such a kind and
so well varied, and with such subtle craftsmanship, that, although
that work was of gray sandstone, under his hands it became more
beautiful than if it had been of marble, and more astounding; which,
indeed, came to pass the more readily because that one is not as
hard as marble and, if anything, rather sandy. Putting extraordinary
diligence, therefore, into the work, he executed on the pilasters
trophies in half relief and low relief, than which nothing more
bizarre or more beautiful could be done, with helmets, buskins,
shields, quivers, and various other arms; and he likewise made there
masks, sea monsters, and other graceful fantasies, all so well
figured and cut out that they have the appearance of silver. The
frieze that is between the architrave and the great cornice he made
with a most beautiful turn of foliage, all pierced through and full
of birds that are executed so web, that they seem to be flying
through the air; and it is a marvelous thing to see their little
legs, no larger than life, and yet completely in the round and
detached from the stone in such a way as one cannot believe to be
possible; and, in truth, the work seems rather a miracle than a
product of human art. Besides all this, he made there in a festoon
some leaves and fruits so web cut out, and wrought with such
delicacy and care, that in a certain sense they surpass the reality.
Lastly, the work is finished off by some great masks and candelabra,
which are truly most beautiful. Although Simone need not have given
such care to a work of that kind, for which he was to be but poorly
paid by those patrons, who could not afford much, yet, drawn by the
love that he bore to art and by the pleasure that a man feels in
working web, he chose to do so; but he did not do the same with the
water-basin for the same patrons, for he made it beautiful enough,
but simple.
At the same time he assisted Pietro di Subisso, who did not know
much, to make many designs of buildings and plans of houses, doors,
windows, and other things appertaining to that profession. On the
Canto degli Albergotti, below the school and university of the
Commune, there is a window of considerable beauty constructed after
his design; and there are two of them in the house of Ser Bernardino
Serragli in the Pelliceria. On the corner of the Palazzo de¹ Priori
there is a large escutcheon of Pope Clement VII in gray sandstone,
by the hand of the same master; and under his direction, and partly
by his hand, was executed for Bernardino di Cristofano da Giuovi a
chapel of gray sandstone in the Corinthian Order, which was erected
in the Abbey of Santa Fiore, a passing handsome monastery of Black
Friars in Arezzo. For this chapel the patron wished to have the
altarpiece painted by Andrea del Sarto, and then by Rosso, but in
this he never succeeded, seeing that, being hindered now by one
thing and now by another, they were not able to serve him.
Finally Bernardino turned to Giorgio Vasari, but with him also he
had difficulties, and there was much trouble in finding a way of
arranging the matter, for the reason that, the chapel being
dedicated to St. James and St. Christopher, he wished to have in the
picture Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and also the giant St.
Christopher with another little Christ on his shoulder; which
composition, besides that it appeared monstrous, could not be
accommodated, nor was it possible to paint a giant of six braccia in
an altarpiece of four braccia. Giorgio, then, being desirous to
serve Bernardino, made him a design in this manner: he placed Our
Lady upon some clouds, with a sun behind her back, and on the ground
he painted St. Christopher kneeling on one side of the picture, with
one leg in the water, and with the other in the act of moving in
order to rise, while Our Lady is placing upon his shoulders the
Infant Christ with the globe of the world in His hands. In the rest
of the altarpiece, also, were to be St. James and the other Saints,
accommodated in such a manner that they would not have been in the
way; and this design, pleasing Bernardino, would have been put into
execution, but Bernardino in the meantime died, and the chapel was
left in that condition to his heirs, who have not done anything
more.
Now, while Simone was laboring at that chapel, there passed
through Arezzo Antonio da San Gallo, who was returning from the work
of fortifying Parma and was going to Loreto to finish the work of
the Chapel of the Madonna, to which he had sent Tribolo, Raffaello
da Montelupo, the young Francesco da San Gallo, Girolamo da Ferrara,
Simone Cioli, and other carvers, masons, and stonecutters, in order
to finish that which Andrea Sansovino at his death had left
incomplete; and he contrived to take Simone to work there. He
ordained that Simone should have charge not only of the carvings,
but also of the architecture and of the other ornaments of that
work; in which commissions Mosca acquitted himself very well, and,
what is more, executed many things perfectly with his own hands,
particularly some little boys of marble in the round, which are on
the pediments of the doors; and although there are also some by the
hand of Simone Cioli, the best 9-and rare indeed they are- 9are all
by Mosca. He made, likewise, all the festoons of marble that are
around all that work, with most beautiful artistry and carvings full
of grace and worthy of all praise; wherefore it is no marvel that
these works are so esteemed and admired, that many craftsmen from
distant parts have set off in order to go to see them.
Antonio da San Gallo, then, recognizing how much Mosca was worth,
made use of him in any undertaking of importance, with the intention
of remunerating him some day when the occasion might present itself,
and of giving him to know how much he loved him for his abilities.
When, therefore, after the death of Pope Clement, a new Supreme
Pontiff had been elected in Paul III of the Farnese family, who
ordained that, the mouth of the well at Orvieto having remained
unfinished, Antonio should have charge of it. Antonio took Mosca
thither, to the end that he might carry that work to completion,
which presented some difficulties, and particularly in the
ornamentation of the doors, for the reason that, the curve of the
mouth being round, convex without and concave within, those two
circles conflicted with each other and caused a difficulty in
accommodating the squared doors with the ornaments of stone.
But the virtue of that singular genius of Simone¹s solved every
difficulty, and executed the whole work with such grace and
perfection, that no one could see that there had ever been any
difficulty. He finished off the mouth and border of the well in gray
sandstone, filled in with bricks, together with some very beautiful
inscriptions on white stone and other ornaments, making the doors
correspond with one another. He also made there in marble the arms
of the above-named Pope Paul Farnese, or rather, where they had
previously been made of balls for Pope Clement, who had carried out
that work, Mosca was forced 9and he succeeded excellently well 9to
make lilies out of the balls in relief, and thus to change the arms
of the Medici into those of the house of Farnese; notwithstanding,
as I have said (for so do things go in this world), that the author
of that vast, regal, and magnificent work was Pope Clement VII, of
whom in this last and most imposing part no mention whatever was
made.
While Simone was engaged in finishing this well, the Wardens of
Works of Santa Maria, the Duomo of Orvieto, desiring to give
completion to the chapel of marble that had been carried as far as
the socle under the direction of Michele San Michele of Verona, with
some carvings, besought Simone, whom they had come to know as a
master of true excellence, that he should attend to it. Whereupon
they came to terms, and Simone, liking the society of the people of
Orvieto, brought his family thither, in order to live in greater
comfort; and then he set himself to work with a quiet and composed
mind, being greatly honored by everyone in that place. When,
therefore, as it were by way of sample, he had made a beginning with
some pilasters and friezes, the excellence and ability of Simone
were recognized by those men, and there was assigned to him a salary
of two hundred crowns of gold a year, and with this, continuing to
labor, he carried that work well forward. Now in the center, to fill
up the ornaments, there was to go a scene of marble in half relief,
representing the Adoration of the Magi; and there was summoned at
the suggestion of Simone his very dear friend Raffaello da
Montelupo, the Florentine sculptor, who, as has been related,
executed half of that scene in a very beautiful manner.
In the ornamentation of this chapel, then, are certain socles,
each two and a half braccia in breadth, which are on either side of
the altar, and upon these are pilasters five braccia high, two on
either side, between which is the story of the Magi; and on the
pilasters next to the story, of which two of the faces are seen, are
carved some candelabra, with friezes of grotesques, masks, little
figures, and foliage, which are things divine. In the predella at
the foot, which runs right over the altar from pilaster to pilaster,
is a little half-length Angel who is holding an inscription with his
hands, with festoons over all, between the capitals of the
pilasters, where the architrave, frieze and great cornice project to
the extent of the depth of the pilasters. Above those in the center,
in a space equal to their breadth, curves an arch that serves as an
ornament to the above-named story of the Magi, and in this, namely,
in the lunette, are many Angels; and above the arch is a cornice,
which runs from one pilaster to another, that is, from those on the
outside, which form a frontispiece to the whole work. In this part
is a God the Father in half relief; and at the sides, where the arch
rises over the pilasters, are two Victories in half relief. All this
work, then, is so well composed, and executed with such a wealth of
carvings, that one cannot have enough of examining the minute
details of the perforations and the excellence of all the things
that are in the capitals, cornices, masks, festoons, and candelabra
in the round, which form the completion of a work truly worthy to be
admired as something rare.
Simone Mosca thus dwelling in Orvieto, a son of his called
Francesco, and as a bye-name il Moschino, a boy fifteen years of
age, who had been produced by nature with chisels in his hand, as it
were, and with so beautiful a genius, that he did with supreme grace
whatsoever thing he desired to do, executed in this work under the
discipline of his father, miraculously, so to speak, the Angels that
are holding the inscriptions between the pilasters, then the God the
Father in the pediment, as well as the Angels that are in the
lunette of that work, above the Adoration of the Magi executed by
Raffaello da Montelupo, and finally the Victories at the sides of
the lunette; by which works he caused everyone to wonder and marvel.
All this was the reason that, when the chapel was finished, Simone
was commissioned by the Wardens of Works of the Duomo to make
another similar to it, on the other side, to the end that the space
of the Chapel of the High Altar might be suitably set off, on the
understanding that the figures should be varied without varying the
architecture, and that in the center there should be the Visitation
of Our Lady, which was allotted to the above-named Moschino.
Then, having made an agreement about every matter, the father and
son set their hands to the work; and, while they were engaged upon
it, Mosca was very helpful and useful to that city, making for many
citizens architectural designs of houses and many other edifices.
Among other things, he executed in that city the groundplan and
facade of the house of Messer Raffaello Gualtieri, father of the
Bishop of Viterbo, and of Messer Felice, both noblemen and lords of
great excellence and reputation; and likewise the ground-plans of
some houses for the honorable Counts della Cervara. He did the same
in many places near Orvieto, and made, in particular, the models of
many structures and buildings for Signor Pirro Colonna da
Stripicciano.
The Pope then causing the fortress to be built in Perugia where
there had stood the houses of the Baglioni, Antonio da San Gallo,
having sent for Mosca, gave him the charge of making the ornaments;
where there were executed after his designs all the doors, windows,
chimney pieces, and other suchlike things, and in particular two
large and very beautiful escutcheons of his Holiness. In that work
Simone formed a connection with M. Tiberio Crispo, who was Castellan
there; and he was sent by M. Tiberio to Bolsena, where, on the
highest point of that stronghold, overlooking the lake, he arranged
a large and beautiful habitation, partly on the old structure and
partly founding anew, with a very handsome flight of steps and many
ornaments of stone. Nor did any long time pass before Messer
Tiberio, having been made Castellan of the Castello di Sant¹ Angelo,
caused Mosca to go to Rome, where he made use of him in many matters
in renovating the apartments of that castle; and, among other
things, he caused him to make over the arches that rise over the new
loggia, which faces towards the meadows, two escutcheons of the
above-named Pope in marble, which are so well wrought and perforated
in the mitre, or rather, triple crown, in the keys, and in certain
festoons and little masks, that they are marvelous.
Having then returned to Orvieto in order to finish the work of
the chapel, he labored there continuously all the time that Pope
Paul was alive, executing it in such a manner that it proved to be,
as may be seen, no less excellent than the first, and perhaps even
better. For Mosca, as has been said, bore such love to art, and took
such pleasure in working, that he could never have enough of it,
almost striving after the impossible, and that rather from a desire
for glory than from any wish to accumulate gold, for he was more
pleased to work well at his profession than to acquire property.
Finally, Julius III having been elected Pope in the year 1550,
and all men thinking that work would be begun in earnest on the
building of San Pietro, Mosca went off to Rome and sought to obtain
at a fixed price from the superintendents of that building the
commission for some capitals of marble, but more to accommodate Gian
Domenico, his son-in-law, than for any other reason. Now Giorgio
Vasari, who always bore love to Mosca, found him in Rome, whither he
also had been summoned to the service of the Pope, and he thought
that without fail he would have some work to offer him, for the
reason that the old Cardinal dal Monte, when he died, had left
directions with his heirs that a tomb of marble should be built for
him in San Pietro a Montorio, and the above-named Pope Julius, his
nephew and heir, had ordained that this should be done, and had
given the charge of the matter to Vasari; and Giorgio wished that in
that tomb Mosca should execute some extraordinary work in carving
But, after Giorgio had made some models for that tomb, the Pope
discussed the whole matter with Michelangelo Buonarroti before he
would make up his mind; whereupon Michelangelo told his Holiness
that he should not involve himself with carvings, saying that,
although they enrich a work, they confuse the figures, whereas
squared work, when it is well done, is much more beautiful than
carving and is a better accompaniment for the figures, for the
reason that figures do not brook other carvings about them: and even
so did his Holiness order the work to be done. Wherefore Vasari was
not able to give Mosca anything to do in that work, and he was
dismissed; and the tomb was finished without any carvings, which
made it much better than it would have been with them.
Simone having then returned to Orvieto, arrangements were made to
erect after his designs, in the cross at the head of the church, two
great tabernacles of marble, works truly graceful, beautiful, and
well-proportioned, for one of which Raffaello da Montelupo made in
marble a nude Christ with the Cross on His shoulder in a niche, and
for the other Moschino made a St. Sebastian, likewise nude. Work
being then continued on the execution of the Apostles for the
church, Moschino made a St. Peter and a St. Paul of the same size,
which were held to be creditable statues. Meanwhile the work of the
above-mentioned Chapel of the Visitation was not abandoned, and it
was carried so far forward during the lifetime of Mosca, that there
was nothing left to do save two birds, and even these would not have
been wanting, had not M. Bastiano Gualtieri, Bishop of Viterbo, as
has been related, kept Simone occupied with an ornament of marble in
four pieces, which, when finished, he sent to France to the Cardinal
of Lorraine, who held it very dear, for it was beautiful to a
marvel, all full of foliage and wrought with such diligence, that it
is believed to have been one of the best that Simone ever executed.
Not long after he had finished that work, in the year 1554,
Simone died, at the age of fifty-eight, to the no small loss of that
church of Orvieto, in which he was buried with honor.
Francesco Moschino was then elected to his father's place by the
Wardens of Works of that same Duomo, but, thinking nothing of it, he
left it to Raffaello da Montelupo, and went to Rome, where he
finished for M. Ruberto Strozzi two very graceful figures in marble,
the Mars and Venus, namely, which are in the court of his house in
the Banchi. Afterwards he executed a scene with little figures,
almost in full-relief, in which is Diana bathing with her Nymphs,
who changes Actaeon into a stag, and he is devoured by his own
hounds; and then Francesco came to Florence, and gave the work to
the Lord Duke Cosimo, whom he much desired to serve. Whereupon his
Excellency, having accepted and much commended it, did not
disappoint the desire of Moschino, even as he has never disappointed
anyone who has sought to work valiantly in any calling. For he was
attached to the Works of the Duomo at Pisa, and has labored up to
the present day with great credit to himself in the Chapel of the
Nunziata, formerly built by Stagio da Pietrasanta, executing the
Angel and the Madonna in figures of four braccia, together with the
carvings and every other thing; in the center, Adam and Eve, who
have the apple-tree between them; and a large God the Father with
certain little boys on the vaulting of that chapel, which is all of
marble, as are also the two statues, which have gained for Moschino
no little fame and honor. And since that chapel is little less than
finished, his Excellency has given orders that the chapel opposite
to it should be taken in hand, which is called the Chapel of the
Incoronata and stands immediately at the entrance of the church, on
the left hand. The same Moschino, in connection with the nuptial
festivities of her most serene Majesty. Queen Joanna and the most
illustrious Prince of Florence, has acquitted himself very well in
those works that were given him to do.
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GIROLAMO GENGA
with the Lives of Bartolommeo Genga and G. Battista San Marino
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
GIROLAMO GENGA, who was of Urbino, was apprenticed by his father
at the age of ten to the wool trade, but he followed it with the
greatest ill-will, and, according as he could find time and place,
he was for ever drawing in secret with charcoal or an ordinary pen.
Which circumstance being observed by some friends of his father,
they exhorted him to remove the boy from that trade and to set him
to painting; wherefore he placed Girolamo with certain masters of
little reputation in Urbino. But, having seen his beautiful manner,
and that he was like to make proficience, when the boy was fifteen
years of age the father apprenticed him to Maestro Luca Signorelli
of Cortona, an excellent master in painting of that time; with whom
he stayed many years, following him to the March of Ancona, to
Cortona, and to many other places where he executed works, and in
particular to Orvieto, in the Duomo of which city, as has been
related, Luca painted a chapel of Our Lady with an infinite number
of figures. At this our Girolamo worked continually, and he was
always one of the best disciples that Luca had.
Then, having parted from Signorelli, he placed himself with
Pietro Perugino, a much esteemed painter, with whom he stayed about
three years, giving considerable attention to perspective, which was
so well grasped and understood by him, that it may be said that he
became very excellent therein, even as is evident from his works in
painting and architecture. This was at the same time that there was
with Pietro the divine Raffaello da Urbino, who was much the friend
of Girolamo.
After leaving Pietro, he went off to live in Florence, where he
studied for some considerable time. Then, having gone to Siena, he
stayed there for months and even years with Pandolfo Petrucci, in
whose house he painted many rooms, which, from their being very well
designed and colored in a pleasing manner, were rightly admired and
praised by all the people of Siena, and particularly by the
above-named Pandolfo, by whom he was always looked upon with great
favor and cherished most dearly. Pandolfo having died, he then
returned to Urbino, where Guidobaldo, the second Duke, retained him
for a considerable time, causing him to paint horse¹s caparisons,
such as were used in those times, in company with Timoteo da Urbino,
a painter of passing good name and much experience, together with
whom he painted a chapel of San Martino in the Vescovado for Messer
Giovan Piero Arrivabene of Mantua, then Bishop of Urbino. In this,
both the one and the other of them gave proof of very beautiful
genius, as the work itself demonstrates, in which is a portrait of
the above-named Bishop, which has all the appearance of life. Genga
was also particularly employed by the same Duke to execute scenery
and settings for comedies, which, since he had a very good
understanding of perspective and was well-grounded in architecture,
he made marvelously beautiful.
He then departed from Urbino and went to Rome, where he executed
in painting, in S. Caterina da Siena on the Strada Giulia, a
Resurrection of Christ, wherein he made himself known as a rare and
excellent master, having done it with good design and with figures
foreshortened in beautiful attitudes and well colored, to which
those who are of the profession and have seen it are able to bear
ample testimony. While living in Rome, he gave much attention to
measuring the antiquities there, as is proved by writings in the
possession of his heirs.
At this time, Duke Guido having died, and having been succeeded
by Francesco Maria, third Duke of Urbino, Girolamo was recalled from
Rome by Francesco Maria, and constrained to return to Urbino at the
time when the above-named Duke took to wife and brought into his
dominions Leonora Gonzaga, the daughter of the Marquis of Mantua;
and he was employed by his Excellency in making triumphal arches,
festive preparations, and scenery for comedies, which were all so
well arranged and carried into execution by him, that Urbino could
be likened to a Rome in triumph; from which he gained very great
fame and honor. Afterwards, in due course, the Duke was expelled
from his state for the last time, when he went to Mantua, and
Girolamo followed him, even as he had already done in his other
periods of exile, always sharing one and the same fortune with him;
and he retired with his family to Cesena.
There he painted for the high-altar of Sant' Agostino an
altarpiece in oils at the top of which is an Annunciation, and below
that a God the Father and still lower down a Madonna with the Child
in her arms, between the four Doctors of the Church 9a work truly
beautiful and worthy to be esteemed. He then painted in fresco a
chapel on the right hand in S. Francesco at Forli, containing the
Assumption of the Madonna, with many Angels and other figures
9Prophets, namely, and Apostles 9 around; in this, also, it is
evident how admirable was his genius, and this work was judged to be
very beautiful. He also painted there the story of the Holy Spirit,
which he finished in the year 1512, for Messer Francesco Lombardi, a
physician; and other works throughout Romagna, for all which he
gained honor and rewards.
The Duke having then returned to his state, Girolamo also
returned and was retained by him and employed as architect in
restoring an old palace on the Monte dell' Imperiale, above Pesaro,
and adding to it another tower. That palace was adorned with scenes
in painting from the actions of the Duke, after the directions and
designs of Girolamo, by Francesco da Forli and Raffaello dal Borgo,
painters of good repute, and by Camillo Mantovano, a very rare
master in painting landscapes and verdure; and the young Florentine
Bronzino also worked there, among others, as has been related in the
Life of Pontormo. Thither, likewise, were summoned the Dossi of
Ferrara, and a room was assigned to them to paint; but since, when
they had finished that room, it did not please the Duke, he had it
thrown down and repainted by the masters mentioned above.
Girolamo then erected the tower there, one hundred and twenty
feet in height, with thirteen flights of wooden steps whereby to
ascend to the top, so well fitted and concealed in the walls, that
they can be withdrawn with ease from story to story, which renders
that tower very strong and marvelous. A desire afterwards came to
the Duke to fortify Pesaro, and he caused Pier Francesco da Viterbo,
a most excellent architect, to be sent for; and Girolamo always
taking part in the discussions that arose about the fortifications,
his discourse and his opinions were held to be good and full of
judgment. Wherefore, if I may be allowed to say it, the design of
that fortress came rather from Girolamo than from any other,
although that sort of architecture was always little esteemed by
him, appearing to him to be of small value and dignity.
The Duke, then, perceiving how rare a genius he had at his
command. determined to build on the above-named Monte dell'
Imperiale, near the old palace, a new palace; and so he built that
to be seen there at the present day, which being a very beautiful
and well-planned fabric, and full of apartments, colonnades, courts,
loggie, fountains, and most delightful gardens, there is no Prince
passes that way that does not go to see it. Wherefore it was right
fitting that Pope Paul III, on his way to Bologna with all his
Court, should go to see it and find it entirely to his satisfaction.
From the design of this same master, the Duke caused the Palace at
Pesaro to be restored, and also the little park, making within it a
house representing a ruin, which is a very beautiful thing to see.
Among other things there, is a staircase similar to that of the
Belvedere in Rome, which is very handsome. By means of him the Duke
had the fortress of Gradara restored, and likewise the Palace at
Castel Durante, insomuch that all that is good in those works came
from that admirable genius. Girolamo also built the corridor of the
Palace at Urbino, above the garden, and he enclosed a courtyard on
one side with perforated stone-work executed with great diligence.
From the design of the same master, likewise, were begun the
Convent of the Frati Zoccolanti at Monte Baroccio and Santa Maria
delle Grazie at Sinigaglia, which in the end remained unfinished by
reason of the death of the Duke. And about the same time was begun
after his directions and design the Vescovado of Sinigaglia, of
which the model, made by him, is still to be seen. He also executed
some works in sculpture and figures of clay and wax in the round,
beautiful enough, which are in the house of his family at Urbino.
For the Imperiale he made some Angels in clay, which he afterwards
caused to be cast in bronze and placed over the doors of the rooms
decorated with stucco-work in the new palace; and these are very
beautiful. For the Bishop of Sinigaglia he executed some fantasies
in wax in the form of drinking-cups, which were afterwards to be
made in silver; and with greater diligence he made some others, most
beautiful, for the Duke¹s credence. He showed fine invention in
masquerades and costumes, as was seen in the time of the above-named
Duke, by whom he was passing well rewarded, as he deserved, for his
rare parts and good qualities.
His son, Guidobaldo, who reigns at the present day, having then
succeeded him as Duke, caused a beginning to be made by the
above-named Genga with the Church of S. Giovan Battista at Pesaro,
which, having been carried out according to the model of Girolamo by
his son Bartolommeo, is of very beautiful architecture in every
part, for he imitated the antique considerably, and made it in such
a manner that it is the most beautiful temple that there is in those
parts, as the work itself clearly demonstrates, being able to
challenge comparison with the most famous buildings in Rome. After
his designs and directions, likewise, there was executed in S.
Chiara at Urbino by the Florentine sculptor Bartolommeo Ammanati,
who was then very young, the tomb of Duke Francesco Maria, which,
for a simple work of little cost, proved to be very beautiful. In
like manner, the Venetian painter Battista Franco was summoned by
him to paint the great chapel of the Duomo at Urbino, at the time
when there was being made after his design the ornament of the organ
of that Duomo, which is not yet finished.
Shortly afterwards, the Cardinal of Mantua having written to the
Duke that he should send him Girolamo, because he wished to restore
the Vescovado of that city. Girolamo went thither and fitted it up
very well with lights and with all that the above-named lord
desired. Besides this, the Cardinal, wishing to make a beautiful
facade for the Duomo, caused him to prepare a model for it, which
was executed by him in such a manner, that it may be said that it
surpassed all the architectural works of his time, for the reason
that in it may be seen grandeur, proportion, grace, and great beauty
of composition. Having then returned from Mantua, now an old man, he
went to live at a villa of his own, called Le Valle, in the
territory of Urbino, in order to rest and enjoy the fruits of his
labors; in which place, not wishing to remain idle, he executed in
chalk a Conversion of St. Paul with figures and horses of
considerable size and in very beautiful attitudes which was finished
by him with such patience and diligence, that a greater could be
either described or seen, as is evident from the work itself now in
the possession of his heirs, by whom it is treasured as a very dear
and precious thing.
There, while living with a tranquil mind, he was attacked by a
terrible fever, and, after he had received all the Sacrament of the
Church, finished the course of his life, to the infinite grief of
his wife and children, on the 11th of July in the year 1551, at the
age of about seventy-five. Having been carried from that place to
Urbino, he was buried with honor in the Vescovado, in front of the
Chapel of S. Martino formerly painted by him; and his death caused
extraordinary sorrow to his relatives and to all the citizens.
Girolamo was always an excellent man, insomuch that nothing was
ever heard of any bad action committed by him. He was not only a
painter, sculptor, and architect, but also a good musician and a
fine talker, and his society was very agreeable. He was full of
courtesy and lovingness towards his relatives and friends; and, what
entitles him to no little praise, he laid the foundation of the
house of Genga at Urbino with his good name and property. He left
two sons, one of whom followed in his footsteps and gave his
attention to architecture, in which, if he had not been hindered by
death, he was like to become most excellent, as his beginnings
demonstrate; and the other, who devoted himself to the cares of the
family, is still alive at the present day.
A disciple of Girolamo, as has been related, was Francesco
Menzochi of Forli, who first began to draw by himself when still a
child, imitating and copying an altarpiece in the Duomo of Forli, by
the hand of Marco Parmigiano of Forli, containing a Madonna, St.
Jerome, and other Saints, and held at that time to be the best of
the modern pictures; and he occupied himself likewise with imitating
the works of Rondinino da Ravenna, a painter more excellent than
Marco, who a little time before had placed on the high-altar of the
above-named Duomo a most beautiful altarpiece, in which was painted
Christ giving the Communion to the Apostles, and in a lunette above
it a Dead Christ, and in the predella of that altarpiece very
graceful scenes with little figures from the life of St. Helen.
These works brought him forward in such a manner, that, when
Girolamo Genga went, as we have said, to paint the chapel in San
Francesco at Forli for M. Bartolommeo Lombardino, Francesco at that
time went to live with Genga, seizing that opportunity of learning,
and did not cease to serve him as long as he lived. There, and also
at Urbino and in the work of the Imperiale at Pesaro, he labored
continually, as has been related, esteemed and beloved by Genga,
because he acquitted himself very well, as many altarpieces by his
hand bear witness that are dispersed throughout the city of Forli,
and particularly three of them which are in S. Francesco, besides
that there are some scenes of his in fresco in the hall of the
Palace.
He painted many works throughout Romagna; and at Venice, also,
for the very reverend Patriarch Grimani, he executed four large
pictures in oils that were placed in the ceiling of a little hail in
his house, round an octagon that Francesco Salviati painted; in
which pictures are the stories of Psyche, held to be very beautiful.
But the place where he strove to do his utmost and to put forth all
his powers, was the Chapel of the most holy Sacrament in the Church
of Loreto, in which he painted some Angels round a tabernacle of
marble wherein rests the Body of Christ, and two scenes on the walls
of that chapel, one of Melchizedek and the other of the Manna
raining down, both executed in fresco; and over the vaulting he
distributed fifteen little scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ,
nine of which he executed in painting, and six in half relief.
This was a rich work and well conceived, and he won for it such
honor, that he was not suffered to depart until he had decorated
another chapel of equal size in the same place, opposite to the
first, and called the Chapel of the Conception, with the vaulting
all wrought with rich and very beautiful stucco-work; in which he
taught the art of stucco-work to his son Pietro Paolo, who has since
done him honor and has become a well-practiced master in that field.
Francesco, then, painted in fresco on the walls the Nativity and the
Presentation of Our Lady, and over the altar. he painted St. Anne
and the Virgin with the Child in her arms, and two Angels that are
crowning her. And, in truth, his works are much extolled by the
craftsmen, and likewise his ways and his life, which was that of a
true Christian; and he lived in peace, enjoying that which he had
gained with his labors.
A pupil of Genga, also, was Baldassarre Lancia of Urbino, who,
having given his attention to many ingenious matters, has since
practiced his hand in fortifications, at which he worked on a salary
for the Signoria of Lucca, in which place he stayed for some time.
He then attached himself to the most illustrious Duke Cosimo de¹
Medici, whom he came to serve in the fortifications of the states of
Florence and Siena; and the Duke has employed and still employs him
in many ingenious works, in which Baldassarre has labored valiantly
and with honor, winning remunerations from that grateful lord.
Many others also served Girolamo Genga, of whom, from their not
having attained to any great excellence, there is no need to speak.
To the above-named Girolamo, at Cesena, in the year 1518, the while
that he was accompanying the Duke his master in exile, there was
born a son called Bartolommeo, who was brought up by him very
decently, and then, when he was well grown, placed to learn grammar,
in which he made more than ordinary proficience. Afterwards, when he
was eighteen years of age, the father, perceiving that he was
inclined more to design than to letters, caused him to study design
under his own discipline for about two years: which finished, he
sent him to study design and painting in Florence, where he knew
that the true study of that art was to be found, on account of the
innumerable works by excellent masters that are there, both ancient
and modern. Living in that place, and attending to design and to
architecture, Bartolommeo formed a friendship with Giorgio Vasari,
the painter and architect of Arezzo, and with the sculptor
Bartolommeo Ammanati, from whom he learned many things appertaining
to art.
Finally, after having been three years in Florence, he returned
to his father, who was then attending to the building of San
Giovanni Battista at Pesaro. Whereupon, the father having seen the
designs of Bartolommeo, it appeared to him that he acquitted himself
much better in architecture, for which he had a very good
inclination, than in painting; wherefore, keeping him under his own
care some months, he taught him the methods of perspective. And
afterwards he sent him to Rome, to the end that he might see the
marvelous buildings, both ancient and modern, that are there, of
which, in the four years that he stayed there, he took the
measurements, and made therein very great proficience. Then, on his
way back to Urbino, passing through Florence in order to see
Francesco San Marino, his brother-in-law, who was living there as
engineer to the Lord Duke Cosimo, Signor Stefano Colonna da
Palestrina, at that time general to that lord, having heard of his
ability, sought to engage him with himself, with a good salary. But
he, being much indebted to the Duke of Urbino, would not attach
himself to others, and returned to Urbino, where he was received by
that Duke into his service, and ever afterwards held very dear.
Not long afterwards, the Duke taking to wife Signora Vittoria
Farnese, Bartolommeo received from the Duke the charge of executing
the festive preparations for those nuptials, which he did in a truly
honorable and magnificent manner. Among other things, he made a
triumphal arch in the Borgo di Valbuona, so beautiful and so well
wrought, that there is none larger or more beautiful to be seen;
whence it became evident how much knowledge of architecture he had
acquired at Rome. Then the Duke, having to go into Lombardy, as
General to the Signoria of Venice, to inspect the fortresses of that
dominion, took with him Bartolommeo, of whom he availed himself much
in preparing designs and sites of fortresses, and in particular at
the Porta Santa Felice in Verona.
Now, while Bartolommeo was in Lombardy, the King of Bohemia, who
was returning from Spain to his kingdom, passed through that
province and was received with honor by the Duke at Verona; and he
saw those fortresses. And, since they pleased him, after he had
become acquainted with Bartolommeo, he wished to take him to his
kingdom, in order to make use of him in fortifying his territories,
with a good salary; but the Duke would not give him leave, and the
matter went no further.
When they had returned to Urbino, no long time passed before
Girolamo, the father, came to his death; whereupon Bartolommeo was
set by the Duke in the place of his father over all the buildings of
the state, and sent to Pesaro, where he continued the building of
San Giovanni Battista, after the model of Girolamo. During that time
he built in the Palace of Pesaro, over the Strada de' Mercanti, a
suite of rooms which the Duke now occupies; a fine work, with most
beautiful ornaments in the form of doors, staircases, and
chimney-pieces, of which things he was an excellent architect. Which
having seen, the Duke desired that in the Palace of Urbino as well
he should make another suite of apartments, almost entirely on the
facade that faces towards S. Domenico; and this, when finished,
proved to be the most beautiful suite in that court, or rather,
palace, and the most ornate that is there. Not long afterwards, the
Signori of Bologna having asked for him for some days from the Duke,
his Excellency granted him to them very readily; and he, having
gone, served them in what they desired in such a manner, that they
remained very well satisfied and showed him innumerable courtesies.
He then made for the Duke, who desired to construct a seaport at
Pesaro, a very beautiful model; and this was taken to Venice, to the
house of Count Giovan Giacomo Leonardi, at that time the Duke's
Ambassador in that place, to the end that it might be seen by many
of the profession who often assembled, with other choice spirits, to
hold discussions and disputations on various matters in the house of
the above-named Count, who was a truly remarkable man. There, then,
after that model had been seen and the fine discourse of Genga had
been heard, the model was held by all without exception to be
masterly and beautiful, and the master who had made it a man of the
rarest genius. But, when he had returned to Pesaro, the model after
all was not carried into execution, because new circumstances of
great importance drove that project out of the Duke's mind.
About that time Genga made the design of the Church of Monte
L¹Abbate, and also that of the Church of San Piero in Mondavio,
which was carried into execution by Don Pier Antonio Genga in such a
manner, that, for a small work, I do not believe that there is
anything better to be seen. These works finished, no long time
passed before, Pope Julius III having been elected, and the Duke of
Urbino having been created by him Captain General of Holy Church,
his Excellency went to Rome, and Genga with him. There, his Holiness
wishing to fortify the Borgo, at the request of the Duke Genga made
some very beautiful designs, which, with a number of others, are in
the collection of his Excellency at Urbino. For these reasons the
fame of Bartolommeo spread abroad, and the Genoese, while he was
living with the Duke in Rome, asked for him from his Excellency, in
order to make use of him in some fortifications of their own; but
the Duke would not grant him to them, either at that time or on
another occasion when they again asked for him, after his return to
Urbino.
In the end, when he was near the close of his life, there were
sent to Pesaro by the Grand Master of Rhodes two knights of that
Order of Jerusalem, to beseech his Excellency that he should deign
to lend them Bartolommeo, to the end that they might take him to the
Island of Malta, in which they wished to construct not only very
large fortifications wherewith to defend themselves against the
Turks, but also two cities, so as to unite many villages that were
there into one or two places. Whereupon the Duke, whom the
above-named knights in two months had not been able to induce to
grant them Bartolommeo, although they had availed themselves of the
good services of the Duchess and others, finally complied with their
request for a fixed period, at the entreaty of a good Capuchin
father, to whom his Excellency bore a very great affection, and
refused nothing that he asked; and the artifice that was used by
that holy man, who made it a matter of conscience with the Duke,
saying that it was in the interest of the Christian Republic, was
not otherwise than highly commendable and worthy of praise.
And thus Bartolommeo, who had never received any favor greater
than this, departed with the above-named knights from Pesaro on the
20th of January, 1558; but they lingered in Sicily, being delayed by
the fortune of the sea, and they did not reach Malta, where they
were received with rejoicing by the Grand Master, until the fifth of
March. Having then been shown what he was to do, he acquitted
himself so well in those fortifications, that it could not be
expressed in words; insomuch that to the Grand Master and all those
noble knights it appeared that they had found another Archimedes,
and this they proved by making him most honorable presents and
holding him, as a rare master, in supreme veneration.
Then, after having made the models of a city, of some churches,
and of the palace and residence of the same Grand Master, with most
beautiful invention and design, he fell sick of his last illness,
for, having set himself one day in the month of July, the heat in
that island being very great, between two doors to refresh himself,
he had not been there long when he was assailed by insufferable
pains of the body and by a cruel flux, which killed him in seventeen
days, to the infinite sorrow of the Grand Master and to those most
honorable and valiant knights, to whom it appeared that they had
found a man after their own hearts, when he was snatched from them
by death. The Lord Duke of Urbino, having been advised of this sad
news, felt indescribable sorrow, and bewailed the death of poor
Genga; and then, having resolved to demonstrate to the five children
whom he had left behind him the love that he bore to him, he took
them under his particular and loving protection.
Bartolommeo showed beautiful invention in masquerades, and was a
rare master in making scenic settings for comedies. He delighted to
write sonnets and other compositions in verse and prose, and in none
was he better than in the ottava rima, in which manner of writing he
was an author of passing good renown. He died at the age of forty,
in the year 1558.
Giovan Battista Bellucci of San Marino having been the son-in-law
of Girolamo Genga, I have judged that it would not be well to
withhold what I have to say of him, after the Lives of Girolamo and
Bartolommeo Genga, and particularly in order to show that men of
fine intellect, if only they be willing, succeed in every thing,
even if they set themselves late in life to difficult and honorable
enterprises; for study, when added to natural inclination, has often
been seen to accomplish marvelous things. Giovan Battista, then, was
born in San Marino on the 27th of September, 1506, to Bartolommeo
Bellucci, a person of passing good family in that place; and after
he had learned the first rudiments of the humanities, when eighteen
years of age, he was sent by that same Bartolommeo, his father, to
Bologna, to attend to the pursuit of commerce under Bastiano di
Ronco, a merchant of the Guild of Wool.
Having been there about two years, he returned to San Marino sick
of a quartan fever, which hung upon him two years; of which being
finally cured, he set up a wool business of his own, with which he
continued up to the year 1535, at which time his father, perceiving
that Giovan Battista was in good circumstances, gave him for a wife
in Cagli a daughter of Guido Peruzzi, a person of considerable
standing in that city. But she died not long afterwards, and Giovan
Battista went to Rome to seek out Domenico Peruzzi, his
brother-in-law, who was equerry to Signor Ascanio Colonna; and by
means of him Giovan Battista lived for two years with that lord as a
gentleman. He then returned home; and it came about that, as he
frequented Pesaro, Girolamo Genga, having come to know him as an
excellent and well-behaved young man, gave him a daughter of his own
for wife and took him into his house. Whereupon Giovan Battista,
being much inclined to architecture, and giving his attention with
much diligence to the architectural works that his wife¹s father was
executing, began to gain a very good grasp of the various manners of
building, and to study Vitruvius; and thus, what with that which he
acquired by himself and that which Genga taught him, he became a
good architect, and particularly in the matter of fortifications and
other things relating to war.
Then, in the year 1541, his wife died, leaving him two boys; and
he remained until 1543 without coming to any further resolution
about his life. At that time, in the month of September, there
appeared in San Marino one Signor Gustamante, a Spaniard, sent by
his Imperial Majesty to that Republic on some affairs. Giovan
Battista was recognized by him as an excellent architect, and at his
instance he entered not long afterwards into the service of the most
illustrious Lord Duke Cosimo, as engineer. And thus, having arrived
in Florence, his Excellency made use of him for all the
fortifications of his dominion, according to the necessities that
arose every day; and, among other things, the fortress of the city
of Pistoia having been begun many years before, San Marino, by the
desire of the Duke, completely finished it, with great credit to
himself, although it is no great work.
Then, under the direction of the same architect, a very strong
bastion was built at Pisa. Wherefore, his method of work pleasing
the Duke, his Excellency caused him to construct 9where, as has been
related, there had been built on the hill of San Miniato, without
Florence, the wall that curves from the Porta San Niccolo to the
Porta San Miniato 9the fortification that encloses a gate by means
of two bastions, and guards the Church and Monastery of San Miniato;
making on the summit of that hill a fortress that dominates the
whole city and looks on the outer side towards the east and the
south, a work that was vastly extolled. The same Giovan Battista
made many designs and ground-plans of various fortifications for
places in the states of his Excellency, and also various rough
models in clay, which are in the possession of the Lord Duke. And
since San Marino was a man of fine genius and very studious, he
wrote a little book on the methods of fortifications; which work, a
beautiful and useful one, is now in the possession of Messer
Bernardo Puccini, a gentleman of Florence, who learned many things
with regard to the matters of architecture and fortification from
San Marino, who was much his friend.
Giovan Battista, after having designed in the year 1554 many
bastions that were to be built round the walls of the city of
Florence, some of which were begun in earth, went with the most
illustrious lord, Don Garzia di Toledo, to Monte Alcino, where,
having made some trenches, he mined under a bastion and so shattered
it, that he threw down the breastwork; but as it was falling to the
ground a harquebusball struck San Marino in the thigh. Not long
afterwards, his wound being healed, he went secretly to Siena and
took the ground-plan of that city, and of the earthworks that the
people of Siena had made at the Porta Camollia; which plan of
fortifications he then showed to the Lord Duke and to the Marchese
di Marignano, making it clear to them that the work was not
difficult to capture or to secure afterwards on the side towards
Siena. That this was rue was proved by the fact, the night that it
was taken by the above-named Marquis, with whom Giovan Battista had
gone by order and commission of the Duke.
On that account, then, the Marquis, having conceived an affection
for him and knowing that he had need of his judgment and ability in
the field (that is, in the war against Siena), so went to work with
the Duke, that his Excellency sent Giovan Battista off as captain of
a strong company of foot-soldiers; whereupon he served from that day
onward in the field, as a valiant soldier and an ingenious
architect. Finally, having been sent by the Marquis to Aiuola, a
fortress in the Chianti, while disposing the artillery he was
wounded in the head by a harquebus-ball; wherefore he was taken by
his soldiers to the Pieve di San Paolo, which belongs to Bishop da
Ricasoli, and died in a few days, and was carried to San Marino,
where he received honorable burial from his children.
Giovan Battista deserves to be highly extolled, for the reason
that, besides having been excellent in his profession, it is a
marvelous thing that, having set himself to give attention to it
late in life, at the age of thirty-five, he should have made in it
the proficience that he did make; and it may be believed that if he
had begun younger, he would have become a very rare master. Giovan
Battista was something obstinate, so that it was a serious
undertaking to move him from any opinion. He took extraordinary
pleasure in reading stories, and turned them to very great
advantage, writing down with great pains the most notable things in
them. His death much grieved the Duke and his innumerable friends;
wherefore his son Gian Andrea, coming to kiss his Excellency¹s
hands, was received kindly by him and welcomed most warmly with very
generous offers, on account of the ability and fidelity of the
father, who died at the age of forty-eight.
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MICHELE SANMICHELI (1484-1559)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
MICHELE SANMICHELI, who was born at Verona in the year 1484, and
learned the first principles of architecture from his father
Giovanni and his uncle Bartolommeo, both excellent architects, went
off at sixteen years of age to Rome, leaving his father and two
brothers of fine parts, one of whom, called Jacopo, devoted himself
to letters, and the other, named Don Camillo, was a Canon Regular
and General of that Order. Having arrived there, he studied the
ancient remains of architecture in such a manner, and with such
diligence, observing and measuring every thing minutely, that in a
short time he became renowned and famous not only in Rome, but
throughout all the places that are around that city. Moved by his
fame, the people of Orvieto summoned him as architect to their
celebrated temple, with an honorable salary; and while he was
employed in their service, he was summoned for the same reason to
Monte Fiascone, as architect for the building of their principal
temple; and thus, serving both the one and the other of these
places, he executed all that there is to be seen in these two cities
in the way of good architecture. Among other works, a most beautiful
tomb was built after his design in S. Domenico at Monte Fiascone, I
believe, for one of the Petrucci, a nobleman of Siena,which cost a
great sum of money, and proved to be marvelous. Besides all this, he
made an infinite number of designs for private houses in those
places, and made himself known as a man of great judgment and
excellence.
Thereupon Pope Clement VII, proposing to make use of him in the
most important operations of the wars that were stirring at that
time throughout all Italy, gave him as a companion to Antonio da San
Gallo, with a very good salary, to the end that they might go
together to inspect all the places of greatest importance in the
States of the Church, and, wherever necessary, might see to the
construction of fortifications; above all, at Parma and Piacenza,
because those two cities were most distant from Rome, and nearest
and most exposed to the perils of war. Which duty having been
executed by Michele and Antonio to the full satisfaction of the
Pontiff, there came to Michele a desire, after all those years, to
revisit his native city and his relatives and friends, and even more
to see the fortresses of the Venetians. Wheref ore, after he had
been a few days in Verona, he went to Treviso to see the fortress
there, and then to to Padua for the same purpose; but the Signori of
Venice, having been been warned of this, became suspicious that
Sanmicheli might be going about about inspecting those fortresses
with a hostile intent. Having therefore been arrested at Padua at
their command and thrown into prison, he was examined at great
length; but, when it was found that he was an honest man, he was not
only liberated by them, but also entreated that he should consent to
enter the service of those same Signori of Venice, with honor able
rank and salary. He excused himself by saying that he was not able
to do that for the present, being engaged to his Holiness; but he
gave them fair promises, and then took his leave of them.
Now he had not been away long, when he was forced to depart from
Rome,to such purpose did those Signori go to work in order to secure
him, and to go, with the gracious leave of the Pope, whom he first
satisfied in full, to serve those most illustrious noblemen, his
natural lords. Abiding with them, he gave soon enough a proof of his
judgment and knowledge by making at Verona (after many difficulties
which the work appeared to present) a very strong and beautiful
bastion, which gave infinite satisfaction to those Signori and to
the Lord Duke of Urbino, their Captain After these things, the same
Signori, having determined to fortify Legnago and Porto, places most
important to their dominion and situated upon the River Adige, one
on one side and the other on the opposite side, but joined by a
bridge, commissioned Sanmicheli to show them by of a model how it
appeared to him that those places could and should be fortified.
Which having been done by him, his design gave infinite satisfaction
to the Signori and teost the Duke of Urbino. Whereupon, arrangements
having been made for all that had to be done, Sanmicheli executed
the fortifications of those two places in such a manner, that among
works of that kind there is nothing better to be seen, or more
beautiful, or more carefully considered, or stronger, as whoever has
seen them well knows.
This done, he fortified in the Bresciano, almost from the
foundations, Orzinuovo, a fortress and port similar to Legnago.
Sanmicheli being then sought for with great insistence by Signor
Francesco Sforza, last Duke of Milan, the Signori consented to grant
him leave, but for three months only. Having therefore gone to
Milan, he inspected all the fortresses of that State, and gave
directions in every place for all that it seemed to him necessary to
do, and that with such credit and so much to the satisfaction of the
Duke, that his Excellency, besides thanking the Signori of Venice,
presented five hundred crowns to Sanmicheli. And with this occasion,
before returning to Venice, Michele went to Casale di Monferrato, in
order to see that very strong and beautiful fortress and city, the
architecture of which was the work of Matteo Sanmicheli, an
excellent architect, his cousin; and also an honored and very
beautiful tomb of marble erected in San Francesco in the same city,
likewise under the direction of Matteo.
Having then returned home, he had no sooner arrived than he was
sent with the above-named Duke of Urbino to inspect La Chiusa, a
fortress and pass of much importance, above Verona, and then all the
places in Friuli, Bergamo, Vicenza, Peschiera, and others, of all
which, and of what seemed to him to be required, he gave minute
information in writing to the Signori. Having next been sent by the
same Signori to Dalmatia, to fortify the cities and other places of
that province, he inspected every thing, and carried out
restorations with great diligence wherever he saw the necessity to
be greatest; and, since he could not himself dispatch all the work,
he left there Gian Girolamo, his kinsman, who, after fortifying Zara
excellently well, erected from the foundations the marvelous
fortress of San Niccolo over the mouth of the harbor of Sebenico.
Meanwhile Michele was sent in great haste to Corfu, and restored the
fortress there in many parts; and he did the same in all the places
in Cyprus and Candia. Even so, not long afterwards,on account of a
fear that the island might be lost, by reason of the war with the
Turks, which was imminent, he was forced to return there, after
having inspected the fortresses of the Venetian dominion in Italy,
to fortify, with incredible rapidity, Canea, Candia, Retimo, and
Settia, but Particularly Canea and Candia, which he rebuilt from the
foundations and made impregnable. Napoli di Romania being then
besieged by the Turks, what with the diligence of Sanmicheli in
fortifying it and furnishing it with bastions, and the valor of
Agostino Chisoni of Verona, a very valiant captain. in defending it
with arms, it was not after all taken by the enemy or forced to
surrender.
These wars finished, Sanmicheli went with the Magnificent M.
Tommaso Mozzenigo, Captain General of the Fleet, to fortify Corfu
once again; and they then returned to Sebenico, where the diligence
of Gian Girolamo, shown by him in constructing the above-mentioned
fortress of San Niccolo was much commended. Sanmicheli having then
returned to Venice, where he was much extolled for the works
executed in the Levant in the service of that Republic, the Signori
resolved to build a fortress on the Lido, at the mouth of the port
of Venice. Wherefore, giving the charge of this to Sanmicheli, they
said to him that, if he had done such great things far away from
Venice, he should think how much it was his duty to do in a work of
such importance, which was to lie for ever under the eyes of the
Senate and of so many great lords; and that in addition, besides
beauty and strength in the work, there was expected of him
particular industry in founding truly and well in a marshy spot,
which was surrounded on all sides by the sea and exposed to the ebb
and flow of the tide, a pile of such importance. Sanmicheli having
therefore not only made a very beautiful and solid model, but also
considered the method of laying the foundations and carrying it into
effect, orders were given to him that he should set his hand to the
work without delay.
Whereupon, after receiving from those Signori all that was
required, he prepared the materials for filling in the foundations,
and, besides this, caused great numbers of piles to be sunk in
double rows, and then, with a vast number of persons well acquainted
with those waters, he set himself to make the excavations, and to
contrive by means of pumps and other instruments to keep the water
pumped out, which was seen continually rising from below, because
the site was in the sea. One morning, finally, resolving to make a
supreme effort to begin the foundations, and assembling as many men
fit for the purpose as could be obtained, with all the porters of
Venice, and many of the Signori being present, in a moment, with
incredible assiduity and promptitude, the waters were mastered for a
little to such purpose, that the first stones of the foundations
were thrown instantly upon the piles already driven in; which
stones, being very large, took up much space and made an excellent
foundation. And so, continuing to keep the water pumped out without
losing any time, almost in a flash those foundations were laid,
contrary to the expectation of many who had looked upon that work as
absolutely impossible.
The foundations, when finished, were allowed sufficient time to
settle, and then Michele erected upon them a mighty andmarvelous
fortress, building it on the outer side all in rustic work, withvery
large stones from Istria, which are of an extreme hardness and able
to with stand wind, frost, and the worst of weather. Wherefore that
fortress, besides being marvelous with regard to the site on which
it is built, is also, from the beauty of the masonry and from its
incredible cost, one of the most stupendous that there are in Europe
at the present day, rivalling the grandeur and majesty of the most
famous edifices erected by the greatness of the Romans; for, besides
other things, it appears as if made all from one block, and as
though a mountain of living rock had been carved and given that
form, so large are the blocks of which it is built, and so well
joined and united together, not to speak of the ornaments ments and
other things that are there, seeing that one would never be able to
say enough to do them justice. Within Michele afterwards made a
piazza, divided by pilasters and arches of the Rustic Order, which
would have proved to be a very rare work, if it had not been left
unfinished.
This vast pile having been carried to the condition that has been
described, some malign and envious persons said to the Signoria
that, although it was very beautiful and built with every possible
consideration, nevertheless it would be useless for any purpose, and
perhaps even dangerous, for the reason that on discharging the
artillery,on account of the great quantity and weight of artillery
that the place required, it was almost inevitable that the edifice
should split open and fall to the ground. It therefore appeared to
those prudent Signori that it would be well to make certain of this,
the matter being one of great importance; and they caused to be
taken there a vast quantity of artillery, the heaviest that could be
found in the Arsenal. Then, all the embrasures both above and below
having been filled with cannon, and the cannon charged more heavily
than was usual, they were all fired off together; whereupon such
were the noise, the thunder, and the earthquake that resulted, that
it seemed as if the world had burst to pieces, and the fortress,
with all those flaming cannon, had the appearance of a volcano and
of Hell itself. But for all that the building stood firm in its
former strength and solidity, whereby the Senate was convinced of
the great worth of Sanmicheli, and the evil-speakers were put to
scorn as men of little judgment, although they had put such terror
into everyone, that the ladies then pregnant, fearing some great
disaster, had withdrawn from Venice.
Not long afterwards a place of no little importance on the coast
near Venice, called Marano, having returned under the dominion of
the Venetians, was restored and fortified with promptitude and
diligence under the direction of Sanmicheli. And about the same
time, the fame of Michele and of his kinsman, Gian Girolamo,
spreading ever more widely, they were requested many times, both the
one and the other, to go to live with the Emperor Charles V and with
King Francis of France; but, although they were invited under most
honorable conditions, they would not leave their own masters to
enter into the service of foreigners. Indeed, continuing in their
offices, they went about inspecting and restoring every year,
wherever it was necessary, all the cities and fortresses of the
State of Venice. But more than all the rest did Michele fortify and
adorn his native city of Verona, making there, besides other things,
those most beautiful gates of the city, which have no equal in any
other place. One was the Porta Nuova, all in the Dorico-rustic
Order, which in its solidity and massive firmness corresponds to the
strength of the site, being all built of tufa and pietra viva, and
having within it rooms for the soldiers who mount guard there, and
many other conveniences never before added to that kind of building.
That edifice, which isquadrangular and open above serving with
its embrasures as a cavalier, defends two great bastions, or rather,
towers, which stand one on either side of the gate at proper
distances; and all is done with so much judgment, cost, and
magnificence, that no one thought that for the future there could be
executed any work of greater grandeur or better design, even as none
such had been seen in the past. But a few years afterwards the same
Sanmicheli founded and carried upwards the gate commonly called the
Porta dal Palio, which is in no way inferior to that described
above, but equally beautiful, grand, and magnificent, or even more
so, and designed excellently well. And, in truth, in these two gates
the Signori of Venice may be seen to have equaled, by means of the
genius of this architect, the edifices and fabrics of the ancient
Romans.
This last gate, then, is on the outer side of the Doric Order,
with immense projecting columns, all fluted according to the manner
of that Order; and these columns, which are eight in all, are placed
in pairs. Four serve to enclose the gate, with the arms of the
Rectors of the city, between one and another, on either side, and
the other four, likewise in pairs, make a finish to the angles of
the gate, the facade of which is very wide and all of bosses, or
rather, blocks, not rough, but made smooth, with very beautiful
ornamentation; and the opening, or rather passage, through the gate,
is left quadrangular, but of an architecture that is new, bizarre,
and most beautiful. Above it is a great and very rich Doric cornice,
with all its appurtenances , over which, as may be seen from the
model, was to go a fronton with all its ornaments, forming a parapet
for the artillery, since this gate, like the other, was to serve as
a cavalier. Within the gate are very large rooms for the soldiers,
with other apart ments and conveniences.
On the front that faces towards the city, Sanmicheli made a most
beautiful loggia, all of the Dorico-rustic Order on the outer side,
and on the inner all in rustic work, with very large piers that have
as ornaments columns round on the outside and on the inside square
and projecting to the half of their thickness, and all made of
pieces in rustic masonry, with Doric capitals without bases; and at
the top is a great cornice, likewise Doric, and carved, passing
along the whole loggia, which is of great length, both within and
without. In a word, this work is marvelous; wherefore it was well
and truly spoken by the most illustrious Signor Sforza Pallavicino,
Captain General of the Venetian forces, when he said that there was
not to be found in all Europe any structure that could in any way
compare with it. This was the last of Michele's marvels, for the
reason that he had scarcely erected the whole of the first range
described above, when he finished the course of his life. Wherefore
the work remained unfinished, nor will it ever be finished at all,
for there are not wanting certain malignant persons, as always
happens with great works,who censure it, striving to diminish the
glory of others by their malignity and evil-speaking, since they
fail by a great measure to achieve similar things with their own
powers.
The same master built another gate at Verona, called the Porta di
San Zeno, which is very beautiful; in any other place, indeed, it
would be marvelous, but in Verona its beauty and artistry are
obscured by the two others described above. A work of Michele's,
likewise, is the bastion, or rather rampart, that is near this gate,
and also another that is lower down, opposite to San Bernardino, and
another between them, called Dell' Acquaio, which is opposite to the
Campo Marzio; and also that surpassing all the others in size, which
is placed by the Chain, where the Adige enters the city.
At Padua he built the bastion called the Cornaro, and likewise
that of Santa Croce, which are both of marvelous size, and
constructed in the modern manner, according to the order invented by
Michele himself. For the method of making bastions with angles was
the invention of Michele, and before his day they were made round;
and whereas that kind of bastion was very difficult to defend, at
the present day , having an obtuse angle on the outer side, they can
be defended with ease, either from the cavalier erected between the
two bastions and near to them, or, indeed, from the other bastion,
provided that it be near the one attacked and the ditch wide. His
invention, also, was the method of making bastions with three
platforms, whereby the two at the sides guard and defend the ditch
and the curtains, with their open embrasures, and the merlon in 'the
center defends itself and attacks the enemy in front. This method of
fortification has since been imitated by everyone, causing the
abandonment of the ancient fashion of subterranean embrasures,
called casemates, in which, on account of the smoke and other
impediments, the artillery could not be well handled; not to mention
that they often weakened the foundations of the towers and walls.
The same Michele built two very beautiful gates at Legnago. He
directed at Peschiera the work of the first foundation of that
fortress, and likewise many works at Brescia; and he always did
everything with such diligence and such good foundations, that not
one of his buildings ever showed a crack. Finally, he restored the
fortress of La Chiusa above Verona, making it possible for persons
to pass by without entering the fortress, but yet in such a manner
that, on the raising of a bridge by those who are within, no one can
pass by against their will, or even show himself on the road, which
is very narrow and cut out of the rock. He also built at Verona,
just after he had returned from Rome, the very beautiful bridge over
the Adige, called the Ponte Nuovo, doing this at the commission of
Messer Giovanni Emo, at that time Podesta of that city; which bridge
was on account of its strength, as it still is, a marvellous thing.
Michele was excellent not only in fortifications, but also in
private buildings and in temples, churches, and monasteries, as may
be seen from many buildings at Verona and other places, and
particularly from the most ornate and beautiful Chapel of the
Guareschi in San Bernardino, which is round after the manner of a
temple, and in the Corinthian Order, with all the ornaments which
that manner admits. That chapel, I say, he built all of that white
pietra viva, which, from the sound that it makes when it is being
worked, is called in that city "Bronzo "; and, in truth, that kind
of stone, after fine marble, is the most beautiful that has been
found down to our own times, being absolutely solid and with out
holes or spots that might spoil it. Since that chapel, then, is
built on the inside all of that most beautiful stone, and wrought by
excellent masters of carving, and put together very well, it is
considered that among works of that kind there is at the present day
no other more beautiful in all Italy.
For Michele made the whole work curve in a circle in such a
manner, that three altars which are in it, with their pediments and
cornices, and likewise the space of the door, all turn in a perfect
round, almost after the likeness of the entrances that Filippo
Brunelleschi made in the Chapels of the Temple of the Angeli in
Florence; which is a very difficult thing to do. Michele then made
therein a gallery over the first range of columns, which circles
right round the chapel, and there are to be seen most beautiful
carvings in the form of columns, capitals, foliage, grotesques,
little pilasters, and other things, carved with incredible
diligence. The door of that chapel he made quadrangular on the outer
side, of the Corinthian Order and very beautiful, and similar to an
ancient door that he saw, so he used to say, in some place at Rome.
It is true, indeed, that this work, after having been left
unfinished by Michele, I know not for what reason , was given,
either from avarice or from lack of judgment, to certain others to
be finished, who spoiled it, to the infinite vexation of Michele,
who in his lifetime saw it ruined before his very eyes, without
being able to prevent it; wherefore he used to complain at times to
his friends, but only on this account, that he had not thousands of
ducats wherewith to buy it from the avaricious hands of a woman who,
by spending less than she was able, was shamefully spoiling it.
A work of Michele's was the design of the round Temple of the
Madonna di Campagna, near Verona, which was very beautiful, although
the parsimony, weakness, and little judgment of the Wardens of that
building have since disfigured it in many parts; and even worse
would they have done, if Bernardino Brugnuoli, a kinsman of Michele,
had not had charge of it and made a complete model, after which the
building of that temple, as well as of many others, is now being
carried forward. For the Friars of Santa Maria in Organo, or rather,
the Monks of Monte Oliveto in Verona, he made a design of the
Corinthian Order, which was most beautiful, for the facade of their
church. This facade, after being carried to a certain height by
Paolo Sanmicheli, was left not long since in that condition, on
account of many expenses that were incurred by those monks in other
matters, but even more by reason of the death of him who had begun
it, Don Cipriano of Verona, a man of saintly life and of much
authority in that Order, of which he was twice General. At San
Giorgio in Verona , a convent of the Regular Priests of San Giorgio
in Alega, the same Michele directed the building of the cupola of
that church, which was a very beautiful work, and succeeded against
the expectations of many who did not think that the structure would
ever remain standing, on account of the weakness of its supports;
but these were then so strengthened by Michele, that there is no
longer anything to fear. In the same convent he made the design and
laid the foundations of a very beautiful campanile of hewn stone,
partly tufa and partly pietra viva, which was carried well forward
by him, and is now being continued by the above-mentioned
Bernardino, his nephew, who is employed in carrying it to
completion.
Monsignor Luigi Lippomani, Bishop of Verona, having resolved to
carry to completion the campanile of his church, which had been
begun a hundred years before, caused a design for this to be made by
Michele, who did it very beautifully, taking into consideration the
preserving of the old part and the expense that the Bishop was able
to incur. But a certain Messer Domenico Porzio, a Roman, and his
vicar, a person with little knowledge of building, although
otherwise a worthy man, allowed himself to be imposed upon by one
who also knew little about it, and gave him the charge of carrying
on that fabric. Whereupon that person built it of unprepared stone
from the mountains, and made the stairs in the thickness of the
walls, doing all this in such a manner, that everyone who was even
slightly conversant with architecture foretold that which afterwards
happened; namely, that the structure would not remain standing. And,
among others, the very reverend Fra Marco de' Medici of Verona, who,
in addition to his other more serious studies, has always delighted
in architecture, as he still does, predicted what would happen to
such a building; but he was answered thus: "Fra Marco counts for
much in his own profession of letters, philosophy, and theology,
wherein he is public lecturer, but in architecture he does not fish
so deeply as command belief."
Finally, that campanile, having risen to the level where the
bells were to be, opened out in four parts in such a manner, that,
after having spent many thousands of crowns in building it, they had
to give three hundred crowns to the builders to throw it to the
ground, lest it should fall by itself, as it would have done in a
few days, and destroy everything all around. And it is only right
that this should happen to those who desert good and eminent
masters, and mix themselves up with bunglers. The above-named
Monsignor Luigi having afterwards been chosen Bishop of Bergamo,
Monsignor Agostino Lippo mani was made Bishop of Verona in his
place, and he commissioned Michele to reconstruct almost anew the
model of that campanile, and to set to work. And after him,
according to the same model, Monsignor Girolamo Trivisani, a friar
of St. Dominic, who succeeded the last-named Lippomani in the
bishopric, has caused that work to be continued, which is now
progressing passing slowly. The model is very beautiful, and the
stairs are being accommodated within the tower in such a manner,
that the fabric remains stable and very strong.
For the noble Counts della Torre of Verona, Michele built a very
beautiful chapel in the manner of a round temple, with the altar in
the center, at their villa of Fumane. And in the Church of the
Santo, at Padua, a very handsome tomb was built under his direction
for Messer Alessandro Contarini, Procurator of St. Mark, who had
been Proveditor to the Venetian forces; in which tomb it would seem
that Michele sought to show in what manner such works should be
done, departing from a kind of commonplace method which, in his
opinion, had in it more of the altar or chapel than of the tomb.
This work, which is very rich in ornaments mentation, solid in
composition, and warlike in character, has as ornaments a Thetis and
two prisoners by the hand of Alessandro Vittoria, which are held to
be good figures, and a head, or rather, effigy from life of the
above-named lord, with armor on the breast, executed in marble by
Danese da Carrara. There are, in addition, other ornaments in
abundance; prisoners, trophies, spoils of war, and others, of which
there is no need to make mention.
In Venice he made the model of the Convent of the Nuns of San
Biagio Catoldo, which was much extolled. It was then resolved at
Verona to rebuild the Lazzaretto, a dwelling, or rather, hospital,
which serves for the sick in times of plague, the old one having
been destroyed together with other edifices that had been in the
suburbs; and Michele was completion. missioned to make a design for
this (which proved to be beautiful beyond all expectations), to the
end that it might be put into execution on a spot near the river, at
some distance from the city and beyond the esplanade. But this
design, truly most beautiful and excellently well considered in
every part, which is now in the possession of the heirs of Luigi
Brugnuoli, Michele's nephew, was not carried completely into
execution by certain persons, by reason of their little judgment and
poverty of spirit, but much restricted, curtailed, and reduced to
mean proportions by those persons, who used the authority that they
had received in the matter from the public in disfiguring the work,
in consequence of the untimely death of some gentlemen who were in
charge of it at the beginning, and who had a greatness of spirit
equal to their nobility of blood.
A work of Michele's likewise, was the very beautiful palace that
the noble Counts of Canossa have at Verona, which was built at the
completion. mission of the very reverend Monsignor di Bajus, who
once was Count Lodovico Canossa, a man so much celebrated by all the
writers of his time. For the same Monsignor Michele built another
magnificent palace in the Villa of Grezzano, in the Veronese
territory. Under the direction of the same architect the facade of
the Counts Bevilacqua was reconstructed, and all the apartments were
restored in the castle of those lords, called La Bevilacqua. And at
Verona, likewise, he built the house and facade of the Lavezzoli,
which were much extolled. In Venice he built from the foundations
the very rich and magnificent cent palace of the Cornaro family,
near San Polo, and restored another palace, also of the Cornaro
family, which is by San Benedetto all' Albore, for M. Giovanni
Cornaro, of whom Michele was much the friend; and this led to
Giorgio Vasari painting nine pictures in oils for the ceiling of a
magnificent apartment, all adorned with woodwork carved and richly
overlaid with gold, in that palace. In like manner, he restored the
house of the Bragadini, opposite to Santa Marina, and made it very
commodious and ornate. And in the same city he founded and raised
above the ground after a model of his own, at incredible cost, the
marvelous palace of the most noble M. Girolamo Grimani, near San
Luca, on the Grand Canal; but Michele, being overtaken by death, was
not able to carry it to completion himself, and the other architects
chosen in his stead by that nobleman altered his design and model in
many parts.
Near Castelfranco, on the borders of the territories of Padua and
Treviso, there was built under the direction of the same Michele the
most famous Palace of the Soranzi , called by that family La
Soranza; which palace is held to be, for a country residence, the
most beautiful and the most commodious that had been built in those
parts up to that time. He also built the Casa Cornara at Piombino,
in that territory, and so many other private houses, that it would
make too long a story to attempt to speak of them all; let it be
enough to have made mention of the most important. I will not ,
indeed, refrain from recording that he made most beautiful gates for
two palaces, one of which was that of the Rectors and of the
Captain, and the other that of the Palazzo del Podesta, both in
Verona and worthy of the highest praise, although the latter, which
is in the Ionic Order, with double columns and very ornate
intercolumniations, and some Victories at the angles, has a somewhat
dwarfed appear by reason of the lowness of the site where it stands,
particularly because it is without pedestals and very wide on
account of the double columns; but such was the wish of Messer
Giovanni Delfini, who had it made.
While Michele was enjoying a tranquil ease in his native place,
and the reputation and renown that his honorable labors had brought
him, there came to him a piece of news that so afflicted him, that
it finished the course of his life. But to the end that the whole
may be better understood, and that all the beautiful works of the
Sanmicheli family may be made known in this Life, I shall say
something of Gian Girolamo, the kinsman of Michele. This Gian
Girolamo, then, was the son of Paolo, the cousin of Michele,and,
being a young man of very beautiful genius, was instructed with such
diligence by Michele in the matters of architecture, and so beloved
by him, that he would always have the young man with him in all
under takings of importance, and particularly in fortifications.
Having there fore become in a short time so excellent, with the help
of such a master, that the most difficult work of fortification
could be entrusted to him, in which manner of architecture he took
particular delight, his ability was recognized by the Signori of
Venice, and he was placed with a good salary among the number of
their architects, although he was very young, and then sent now to
one place and now to another, to inspect and restore the fortresses
of their dominion, and at times to carry into execution the designs
of his kinsman Michele.
And, among other places, he took part with much judgment and
labor in the fortification of Zara, and in the marvelous fortress of
San Niccolo at Sebenico, placed, as has been mentioned, at the mouth
of the port; which fortress, erected by him from the very
foundations, is held to be, for a private fortress, one of the
strongest and best designed that there are to be seen. He also
reconstructed after his own designs, with the advice of his kinsman,
the great fortress of Corfu, which is considered the key of Italy on
that side. In this fortress, I say, Gian Girolamo rebuilt the two
great towers that face towards the land, making them much larger and
stronger than they were before, with open embrasures and platforms
that flank the ditch in the modern manner , after the invention of
his kinsman. He then caused the ditches to be made much wider than
they were before, and had a hill leveled, which, being near the
fortress, appeared to command it. But, besides the many other works
that he did there with great consideration, what gave most
satisfaction was that in one corner of the fortress he made a place
of great size and strength, in which in time of siege the people of
that island can stay in safety without any danger of being captured
by the enemy.
On account of these works Gian Girolamo came into such credit
with the above-named Signori, that they ordained him a salary equal
to that of his kinsman, judging him to be not inferior to Michele,
and even superior in that work of fortification: which gave the
greatest contentment to Sanmicheli, who saw his own art advancing in
the person of his relative in proportion as old age was taking away
from himself the power to go further. Gian Girolamo, besides his
great judgment in recognizing the nature of different sites, showed
much industry in having them represented by designs and models in
relief, insomuch that he enabled his patrons to see even the most
minute details of his fortifications in very beautiful models of
wood that he would cause to be made; which diligence pleased them
vastly, for without leaving Venice they saw every day how matters
were proceeding in the most distant parts of their State. In order
that they might be the more readily seen by everyone, these models
were kept in the Palazzo del Principe, in a place where the Signori
could examine them at their convenience; and to the end that Gian
Girolamo might continue to pursue that course, they not only
reimbursed him the expenses that he incurred in making the
above-mentioned models, but also showed him many other courtesies.
Gian Girolamo could have gone to serve many lords, with large
salaries, but he would never leave his Venetian Signori; nay, at the
advice of his father and his kinsman Michele, he took a wife in
Verona, a noble young woman of the Fracastoro family, with the
intention of always living in those parts. But he had been not more
than a few days with his beloved bride, who was called Madonna
Ortensia, when he was summoned by his patrons to Venice, and thence
sent in great haste to Cyprus to inspect every place in that island,
orders having been given to all the officials that they should
provide him with all that he might require for any purpose. Having
then arrived in that island, in three months Gian Girolamo went all
round it and diligently inspected every thing, putting every detail
into writing and drawing, in order to be able to give an account of
the whole to his masters. But, while he was attending with too much
care and solicitude to his office, paying little regard to his own
life, in the burning heat which prevailed at that time in the island
he fell sick of a pestilential fever, which robbed him of life in
six days; although some said that he had been poisoned. However that
may have been, he died content in being in the service of his
masters and employed by them in works of importance, knowing that
they had trusted more in his fidelity and his skill in fortification
than in those of any other man. The moment that he fell sick,
knowing that he was dying, he gave all the drawings and writings
that he had prepared on the works in that island into the hands of
the architect Luigi Brugnuoli, his kinsman by marriage (who was then
engaged in the fortification of Famagosta, which is the key of that
kingdom), to the end that he might carry them to his masters.
When the news of Gian Girolamo's death arrived in Venice, there
was not one of the Senate who did not feel indescribable sorrow at
the loss of such a man, who had been so devoted to that Republic.
Gian Girolamo died at the age of forty-five, and received honorable
burial from his above-named kinsman in San Niccolo at Famagosta.
Then, having returned to Venice, Brugnuoli presented Gian Girolamo's
drawings and writings; which done, he was sent to give completion to
the fortifications of Legnago, where he had spent many years in
executing the designs and models of his uncle. But he had not been
long in that place when he died, leaving two sons, who are men of
passing good ability in design and in the practice of architecture.
Bernardino, the elder, has now many undertakings on his hands, such
as the building of the campanile of the Duomo, that of San Giorgio,
and that of the church called the Madonna di Campagna, in which and
other works that he is directing at Verona and other places, he is
succeeding excellently well; and particularly in the ornamental work
of the principal chapel of San Giorgio at Verona, which is of the
composite order, and such that in size, design, and workmanship, the
people of Verona declare that they do not believe that there is one
equal to it to be found in Italy.
This work, which follows the curve of the recess, is of the
Corinthian Order, with completion. posite capitals and double
columns in full relief, and pilasters behind. In like manner, the
frontispiece which surmounts the whole also curves in very masterly
fashion according to the shape of the recess, and has all the
ornaments which that Order embraces. Wherefore Monsignor Barbaro,
Patriarch-elect of Aquileia, a man with a great knowledge of the
profession, who has written of it, on his return from the Council of
Trent saw not without marvel all that had been done in that work,
andthat which was being done every day; and, after considering it
several times, he had to say that he had never seen the like, and
that better could be done. And let this suffice as a proof of what
may be expected from the genius of Bernardino, who was born on the
mother's side from the Sanmicheli family. But let us return to
Michele, from whom we digressed, not without purpose reason, some
little time back. He was struck by such grief at the death of Gian
Girolamo, in whom he saw the house of Sanmicheli become extinct,
since his kinsman left no children, that, although he strove to
conquer or conceal it, in a few days he was overcome by a malignant
fever, to the inconsolable sorrow of his country and of his most
illustrious patron. Sanmicheli died in the year 1559, and was buried
in San Tommaso, a church of Carmelite Friars, where there is the
ancient burial-place of his forefathers; and at the present day
Messer Niccolo Sanmicheli, a physician, has set his hand to erecting
him an honorable tomb, which is even now being carried into
execution.
Michele was a man of most upright life, and most honorable in his
every action. He was a cheerful person, yet with an admixture of
seriousness. He feared God, and was very religious, insomuch that he
would never set himself to do anything in the morning without having
first heard Mass devoutly and said his prayers; and at the beginning
of any undertaking of importance, in the morning, before doing any
other thing, he would always have the Mass of the Holy Spirit or of
the Madonna solemnly chanted. He was very liberal, and so courteous
with his friends, that they were as much masters of his possessions
as he was himself. And I will not withhold a proof of his great
loyalty and goodness, which I believe few others know besides
myself. When Giorgio Vasari, of whom, as has been told, he was much
the friend, parted from him for the last time in Venice, Michele
said to him: "I would have you know, Messer Giorgio, that, when I
was in my youth at Monte Fiascone, I became enamored, as fortune
would have it, of the wife of a stone-cutter, and received from her
complaisance all that I desired; but no one ever heard of it from
me. Now, having heard that the poor woman has been left a widow,
with a daughter ready for a husband, whom she says she conceived by
me, I wish, although it may well be that this is not true, and such
is my belief,that you should take to her these fifty crowns of gold
and give them to her on my part, for the love of God, to the end
that she may use them for her advantage and settle her daughter
according to her station." Giorgio, therefore, going to Rome, and
arriving at Monte Fiascone, although the good woman freely confessed
to him that the girl was not the daughter of Michele, insisted, in
obedience to Michele's command, on paying her the fifty crowns,
which were as welcome to that poor woman as five hundred would have
been to another.
Michele, then, was courteous beyond the courtesy of any other
man, insomuch that he no sooner heard of the needs and desires of
his friends, than he sought to gratify them. even to the spending of
his life; nor did any person ever do him a service that was not
repaid many times over. Giorgio Vasari once made for him in Venice,
with the greatest diligence at his command, a large drawing in which
the proud Lucifer and his followers lowers , vanquished by the Angel
Michael, could be seen raining headlong down from Heaven into the
horrible depths of Hell; and at that time Michele did not do
anything but thank Giorgio for it when he took leave of him. But not
many days after, returning to Arezzo, Giorgio found that Sanmicheli
had sent long before to his mother, who lived at Arezzo, a quantity
of presents beautiful and honorable enough to be the gifts of a very
rich nobleman, with a letter in which he did her great honor for
love of her son.
Many times the Signori of Venice offered toincrease his salary,
but he refused, always praying that they should increase his
kinsmen's salaries instead of his own. In short, Michele was in his
every action so gentle, courteous, and loving, that he made himself
rightly beloved by innumerable lords; by Cardinal de' Medici, who
became Pope Clement VII, while he was in Rome; by Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, who became Paul III; by the divine Michelangelo
Buonarroti; by Signor Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino; and by a vast
number of noblemen and senators of Venice. At Verona he was much the
friend of Fra Marco de'Medici, a man of great learning and infinite
goodness, and of many others of whom there is no need at present to
make mention.
Now, in order not to have to turn back in a short time to speak
of the Veronese, taking the opportunity presented by the masters men
tioned above, I shall make mention in this place of some painters
from that country, who are still alive and worthy to be named, and
by no means to be passed over in silence. The first of these is
Domenico del Riccio, who has painted in fresco, mostly in
chiaroscuro and partly in color, three facades of the house of
Fiorige della Seta at Verona, on the Ponte Nuovo,that is, the three
that do not look out upon the bridge, the house standing by itself.
In one, over the river, are battles of sea- monsters, in another the
battles of the Centaurs and many rivers, and in the third two
pictures in color. In the first of these, which is over the door, is
the Table of the Gods, and in the other, over the river, is the
fable able of the nuptials between the Benacus, called the Lake of
Garda, and the Nymph Caris, in the person of Garda, from whom is
born the River Mincio, which in fact issues from that lake. In the
same house is a large frieze wherein are some Triumphs in color,
executed in a beautiful and masterly manner. In the house of Messer
Pellegorino Ridolfi, also at Verona, the same master painted the
Coronation of the Emperor Charles V, and the scene when, after being
crowned in Bologna, he rides with the Pope through the city in great
pomp.
In oils he has painted the principal altarpiece of the church
that the Duke of Mantua has built recently near the Castello, in
which is the Beheading and Martyrdom of Santa Barbara, painted with
much diligence and judgment. And what moved the Duke to have that
altarpiece executed by Domenico was his having seen and much liked
his manner in an altarpiece that Domenico had painted long before
for the Chapel of Santa Margherita in the Duomo of Mantua, in
competition with Paolino, who painted that of San Antonio, with
Paolo Farmnato, who executed that of San Martino, and with Battista
del Moro, who painted that of the Magdalene; all which four Veronese
had been summoned thither by Cardinal Ercole of Mantua, in order to
adorn that church, which had been reconstructed by him after the
design of Giulio Romano. Other works has Domenico executed in
Verona, Vicenza, and Venice, but it must suffice to have spoken of
those named. He is an honest and excellent craftsman, and, in
addition to his painting, he is a very fine musician , and one of
the first in the most noble Philharmonic Academy of Verona.
Not inferior to him will be his son Felice, who, although still
young, has proved himself a painter out of the ordinary in an
altarpiece that he has executed for the Church of the Trinita, in
which are the Madonna and six other Saints, all of the size of life.
Nor is this any marvel, for the young man learned his art in
Florence, living in the house of Bernardo Canigiani, a Florentine
gentleman and a crony of his father Domenico. In the same Verona,
also, lives Bernardino, called L' India {Bernardino India], who,
besides many other works, has painted the Fable of Psyche in most
beautiful figures on the ceiling of a chamber in the house of Count
Marc' Antonio del Tiene. And he has painted another chamber, with
beautiful inventions and a lovely manner of painting, for Count
Girolamo of Canossa. A much extolled painter, also, is Eliodoro
Forbicini, a young man of most beautiful genius and of considerable
skill in every manner of painting, but particularly in making
grotesques, as may be seen in the two chambers mentioned above and
in other places where he has worked.
In like manner Battista da Verona, who is called thus, and not
otherwise, out of his own country, after having learned the first
rudiments of painting from an uncle at Verona, placed himself with
the excellent Tiziano in Venice, under whom he has become a very
good painter. When a young man, this Battista painted in company
with Paolino a hall in the Palace of the Paymaster and Assessor
Portesco at Tiene in the territory of Vicenza; where they executed a
vast number of figures, which acquired credit and repute for both
the one and the other. With the same Paolino he executed many works
in fresco in the Palace of the Soranza at Castelfranco, both having
been sent to work there by Michele Sanmicheli, who loved them as his
sons. And with him, also, he painted the facade of the house of M.
Antonio Cappello, which is on the Grand Canal in Venice; and then,
still together, they painted the ceiling, or rather, soffit in the
Hall of the Council of Ten, dividing the pictures between them. Not
long afterwards, having been summoned to Vicenza, Battista executed
many works there, both within and around the city; and recently he
has painted the facade of the Monte della Pieta, wherein he has
executed an infinite number of nude figures in various attitudes ,
larger than life, with very good design, and all in so few months,
that it has been a marvel. And if he has done so much at so early an
age (for he is not vet past thirty) , everyone may imagine what may
be expected of him in the course of his life.
A Veronese, likewise, is one Paolino [PaoloVeronese], a painter
who is in very good repute in Venice at the present day, in that,
although he is not yet more than thirty years of age, he has
executed many works worthy of praise. This master, who was born at
Verona to a stone-cutter, or, as they say in those parts, a
stone-hewer, after having learned the rudiments of painting from
Giovanni Caroto of Verona, painted in fresco, in company with the
above-named Battista, the hall of the Paymaster and Assessor
Portesco at Tiene, in the Vicentino; and afterwards at the Soranza,
with the same companion, many works executed with good design and
judgment and a beautiful manner. At Masiera, near Asolo in the
Trevisano , he has painted the very beautiful house of Signor
Daniello Barbaro, Patriarch-elect of Aquileia. At Verona, for the
Refectory of San Nazzaro, a monastery of Black Friars, he has
painted in a large picture on canvas the supper that Simon the Leper
gave to Our Lord, when the woman of sin threw herself at His feet,
with many figures, portraits from life, and very rare
perspective-views; and under the table are two dogs so beautiful
that they appear real and alive, and further away certain cripples
executed excellently well.
By the hand of Paolino, in the Hall of the Council of Ten at
Venice, in an oval that is larger than certain others that are
there, placed, as the principal one, in the center of the ceiling,
is a Jove who is driving away the Vices, in order to signify that
that supreme and absolute tribunal drives away vice and chastises
wicked and vicious men. The same master painted the soffit, or
rather, ceiling of the Church of San Sebastiano, which is a very
rare work, and the altarpiece of the principal chapel, together with
some pictures that serve to adorn it, and likewise the doors of the
organ; which are all pictures truly worthy of the highest praise. In
the Hall of the Grand Council he painted a large picture of
Frederick Barbarossa presenting himself to the Pope, with a good
number of figures varied in their costumes and vestments, all most
beautiful and representing worthily the Court of a Pope and an
Emperor, and also a Venetian Senate, with many noblemen and Senators
of that Republic, portrayed from life. In short, this work is such
in its grandeur and design, and in the beauty and variety of the
attitudes, that it is rightly extolled by everyone. After this
scene, Paolino painted the ceilings of certain chambers, which are
used by that Council of Ten, with figures in oils, which are much
foreshortened and very rare.
In like manner, he painted in fresco the facade of the house of a
merchant, which was a very beautiful work, on the road from San
Maurizio to San Moise; but the wind from the sea is little by little
destroying it. For Camillo Trevisani, at Murano, he painted a loggia
and an apartment in fresco, which were much extolled. And in San
Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, at the head of a large apartment, he
painted in oils the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, which was a
marvelous work for its grandeur, the number of figures, the variety
of costumes, and the invention; and, if I remember right, there are
to be seen in it more than one hundred and fifty heads, all varied
and executed with great diligence. The same Paolino was commissioned
by the Procurators of St. Mark to paint certain angular medallions
that are in the ceiling of the Nicene Library, which was left to the
Signoria by Cardinal Bessarion with a vast treasure of Greek books.
Now the above-named lords, when they had the painting of that
library begun, promised a prize of honor, in addition to the
ordinary payment, to him who should acquit himself best in painting
it; and the pictures were divided among the best painters that there
were at that time in Venice. When the work was finished and the
pictures painted had been very well considered, a chain of gold was
placed round the neck of Paolino, he being the man who was judged to
have done better than all the others.
The picture that gave him the victory and the prize of honor was
that wherein he painted Music , in which are depicted three very
beautiful young women, one of whom, the most beautiful, is playing a
great bass-viol, looking down at the fingerboard of the instrument,
the attitude of her person showing that her ear and her voice are
fixed intently on the sound; and of the other two, one is playing a
lute, and the other singing from a book. Near these women is a Cupid
without wings, who is playing a harpsichord, signifying that Love is
born from Music, or rather, that Love is always in company with
Music; and, because he never parts from her, Paolino made him
without wings. In the same picture he painted Pan, the God,
according to the poets, of shepherds, with certain pipes made of the
bark of trees, as it were consecrated to him as votive offerings by
shepherds who have been victorious in playing them. Two other
pictures Paolino painted in the same place; in one is Arithmetic,
with certain Philosophers dressed in the ancient manner, and in the
other is honor, seated on a throne, to whom sacrifices are being
offered and royal crowns presented. But seeing that this young man
is at this very moment at the height of his activity and not yet in
his thirty-second year, I shall say nothing more of him for the
present.
Likewise a Veronese is Paolo Farinato, an able painter, who,
after having been a disciple of Niccolo Ursino, has executed many
works at Verona. The most important are a hall in the house of the
Fumanelli, which he filled with various scenes in fresco colors at
the desire of Messer Antonio, a gentleman of that family, most
famous as physician over all Europe, and two very large pictures in
the principal chapel of Santa Maria in Organo. In one of these is
the story of the Innocents, and in the other is the scene when the
Emperor Constantine causes a number of children to be brought before
him, intending to kill them and to bathe in their blood, in order to
cure himself of his leprosy. Then in the recess of that chapel are
two pictures, large, but smaller than the others, in one of which is
Christ receiving St. Peter, who is walking towards Him on the water,
and in the other the dinner that St. Gregory gives to certain poor
men. In all these works, which are much to be extolled, is a vast
number of figures, executed with good design, study, and diligence.
By the hand of the same master is an altar-picture of San Martino
that was placed in the Duomo of Mantua, which he executed in
competition with others his compatriots, as has just been related.
And let this be the end of the Lives of the excellent Michele
Sanmicheli and of those other able men of Verona, so truly worthy of
all praise on account of their excellence in the arts and their
great talents.
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GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI, CALLED IL SODOMA
PAINTER OF VERCELLI (1477-1549)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IF WERE TO RECOGNIZE their position when Fortune presents to them
the opportunity to become rich, obtaining for them the favour of
great persons, and were to exert themselves in their youth to make
their merit equal to their good fortune, marvellous results would be
seen to issue from their actions; whereas very often the contrary is
seen to happen, for the reason that, even as it is true that he who
trusts only in Fortune generally finds himself deceived, so it is
very clear, as experience teaches us every day, that merit alone,
likewise, if not accompanied by Fortune, does not do great things.
If Giovanni Antonio of Vercelli, even as he had good fortune, had
possessed an equal dower of merit, as he could have done if he had
studied, he would not have been reduced to madness and miserable
want in old age at the end of his life, which was always eccentric
and beastly.
Now Giovanni Antonio was taken to Siena by some merchants, agents
of the Spannocchi family, and his good fortune, or perhaps his bad
fortune, would have it that, not finding any competition for a time
in that city, he should work there alone; which, although it was
some advantage to him, was in the end injurious, for the reason that
he went to sleep, as it were, and never studied, but did most of his
work by rule of thumb. And, if he did study a little, it was only in
drawing the works of Jacopo della Fonte, which were much esteemed,
and in little else. In the beginning he executed many portraits from
life with that glowing manner of coloring which he had brought from
Lombardy, and he thus made many friendships in Siena, more because
that people is very kindly disposed towards strangers [foreigners]
than because he was a good painter; and, besides this, he was a gay
and licentious man, keeping others entertained and amused with his
manner of living, which was far from creditable. In which life,
since he always had about him boys and beardless youths, whom he
loved more than was decent, he acquired the by-name of Sodoma; and
in this name, far from taking umbrage or offence, he used to glory,
writing about it songs and verses in terza rima, and singing them to
the lute with no little facility. He delighted, in addition, to have
about the house many kinds of extraordinary animals; badgers,
squirrels, apes, marmosets, dwarf asses, horses, barbs for running
races, little horses from Elba, jays, dwarf fowls, Indian
turtledoves, and other suchlike animals, as many as he could lay his
hands on. But, besides all these beasts, he had a raven, which had
learned from him to speak so well, that in some things it imitated
exactly the voice of Giovanni Antonio, and particularly in answering
to anyone who knocked at the door, doing this so excellently that it
seemed like Giovanni Antonio himself, as all the people of Siena
know very well. In like manner, the other animals were so tame that
they always flocked round anybody in the house, playing the
strangest pranks and the maddest tricks in the world, insomuch that
the man's house looked like a real Noah's Ark.
Now this manner of living and his eccentric ways, with his works
and pictures, wherein he did indeed achieve something of the good,
caused him to have such a name among the people of Siena that is,
among the populace and the common herd, for the people of quality
knew him better that he was held by many to be a great man.
Whereupon, Fra Domenico da Lecco, a Lombard, having been made
General of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, Sodoma went to visit him at
Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri, the principal seat of that Order, distant
fifteen miles from Siena; and he so contrived with his persuasive
words, that he was commissioned to finish the stories of the life of
S. Benedict, part of which had been executed on a wall by Luca
Signorelli of Cortona. This work he finished for a small enough
price, besides the expenses that he incurred, and those of certain
lads and color grinders who assisted him nor would it be possible to
describe the amusement that he gave while he was labouring at that
place to those fathers, who called him II Mattaccio,* [* Madcap or
buffoon.] in the mad pranks that he played.
But to return to the work. Having executed there certain scenes,
which he hurried over mechanically and without diligence, and the
General complaining of this, Mattaccio said that he worked as he
felt inclined, and that his brush danced to the tune of money, so
that, if the General consented to spend more, he was confident that
he could do much better. The General having therefore promised that
he would pay him better for the future, Giovanni Antonio painted
three scenes, which still remained to be executed in the corners,
with so much more study and diligence than he had shown in the
others, that they proved to be much finer. In one of these is S.
Benedict departing from Norcia and from his father and mother, in
order to go to study in Rome; in the second, S. Mauro and S. Placido
as children, presented to him and offered to God by their fathers;
and in the third, the Goths burning Monte Cassino. For the last, in
order to do despite to the General and the Monks, he painted the
story of the priest Fiorenzo, the enemy of S. Benedict, bringing
many loose women to dance and sing around the monastery of that holy
man, in order to tempt the purity of those fathers. In this scene
Sodoma, who was as shameless in his painting as in his other
actions, painted a dance of nude women, altogether lewd and
shameful; and, since he would not have been allowed to do it, as
long as he was at work he would never let any of the monks see it.
Wherefore, when the scene was uncovered, the General wished by hook
or by crook to throw it to the ground and utterly destroy it; but
Mattaccio, after much foolish talk, seeing that father in anger,
clothed all the naked women in that work, which is one of the best
that are there. Under each of these scenes he painted two
medallions, and in each medallion a friar, to represent all the
Generals who had ruled that congregation. And, since he had not
their portraits from life, Mattaccio did most of the heads from
fancy, and in some he portrayed old friars who were in the monastery
at that time, and in the end he came to paint the head of the
above-named Fra Domenico da Lecco, who was their General in those
days, as has been related, and was causing him to execute that work.
But, after some of those heads had lost the eyes, and others had
been damaged, Fra Antonio Bentivogli, the Bolognese, caused them all
to be removed, for good reasons.
Now, while Mattaccio was executing these scenes, there had gone
thither, to assume the habit of a monk, a Milanese nobleman, who had
a yellow cloak trimmed with black cords, such as was worn at that
time; and, after he had put on the monk's habit, the General gave
that cloak to Mattaccio, who, by means of a mirror, painted a
portrait of himself with it on his back in one of the scenes,
wherein S. Benedict, still almost a child, miraculously puts
together and mends the corn-measure, or rather, tub, of his nurse,
which she had broken. At the feet of the portrait he painted a
raven, an ape, and others of his animals. This work finished, he
painted the story of the five loaves and two fishes, with other
figures, in the Refectory of the Monastery of S. Anna, a seat of the
same Order, distant five miles from Monte Oliveto; which work
completed, he returned to Siena. There, at the Postierla, he painted
in fresco the facade of the house of M. Agostino de' Bardi of Siena,
in which were some things worthy of praise, but for the most part
they have been consumed by time and the weather.
During this time there arrived in Siena Agostino Chigi, a very
rich and famous merchant of that city, and he became acquainted with
Giovanni Antonio, both on account of his follies and because he had
the name of a good painter. Wherefore he took him in his company to
Rome, where Pope Julius II was then causing the Papal apartments in
the Palace of the Vatican, which Pope Nicholas V had formerly
erected, to be painted; and Chigi so went to work with the Pope,
that some painting was given also to Sodoma. Now Pietro Perugino,
who was painting the ceiling of an apartment that is beside the
Borgia Tower, was working at his ease, like the old man that he was,
and was not able to set his hand to anything else, as he had been at
first commanded to do: and there was given to Giovanni Antonio to
paint another apartment, which is beside the one that Perugino was
painting. Having therefore set his hand to it, he made the
ornamentation of that ceiling with cornices, foliage, and friezes;
and then, in some large medallions, he executed certain passing good
scenes in fresco. But this animal, devoting his attention to his
beasts and his follies, would not press the work forward; and
therefore, after Raffaello da Urbino had been brought to Rome by the
architect Bramante, and it had become known to the Pope how much he
surpassed the others, his Holiness ordained that neither Perugino
nor Giovanni Antonio should work any more in the above-named
apartments; indeed, that everything should be thrown to the ground.
But Raffaello, who was goodness and modesty in person, left standing
all that had been done by Perugino, who had once been his master;
and of Mattaccio's he destroyed nothing save the inner work and the
figures of the medallions and scenes, leaving the friezes and the
other ornaments, which are still round the figures that Raffaello
painted there, which were Justice, Universal Knowledge, Poetry, and
Theology.
But Agostino, who was a gentleman, without paying any attention
to the affront that Giovanni Antonio had received, commissioned him
to paint in one of his principal apartments, which opens into the
great hall in his Palace in the Trastevere, the story of Alexander
going to sleep with Roxana. In that work, besides other figures, he
painted a good number of Loves, some of whom are unfastening
Alexander's cuirass, some are drawing off his boots, or rather,
buskins, some are removing his helmet and dress, and putting them
away; others scattering flowers over the bed, and others, again,
doing other suchlike offices. Near the chimney piece he painted a
Vulcan forging arrows, which was held at that time to be a passing
good and praiseworthy work; and if Mattaccio, who had beautiful
gifts and was much assisted by Nature, had given his attention,
after that reversal of fortune, to his studies, as any other man
would have done, he would have made very great proficience. But he
had his mind always set on his amusements, and he worked by caprice,
caring for nothing so earnestly as for dressing in pompous fashion,
wearing doublets of brocade, cloaks all adorned with cloth of gold,
the richest caps, necklaces, and other suchlike fripperies only fit
for clowns and charlatans; in which things Agostino, who liked the
man's humour, found the greatest amusement in the world.
Julius II having then come to his death, and Leo X having been
elected, who took pleasure in eccentric and light-headed figures of
fun such as our painter was, Mattaccio felt the greatest possible
joy, particularly because he had an ill-will against Julius, who had
done him that affront, wherefore, having set to work in order to
make himself known to the new Pontiff, he painted in a picture the
Roman Lucrece, nude, who was stabbing herself with a dagger; and,
since Fortune takes care of madmen and sometimes aids the
thoughtless, he succeeded in executing a most beautiful female body,
and a head that was breathing. Which work finished, at the instance
of Agostino Chigi, who was on terms of strait service with the Pope,
he presented it to his Holiness, by whom he was made a Chevalier and
rewarded for so beautiful a picture. Whereupon Giovanni Antonio,
believing that he had become a great man, began to be disinclined to
work any more, save when he was driven by necessity. But, after
Agostino had gone on some business to Siena, taking Giovanni Antonio
with him, while staying there he was forced, being a Chevalier
without an income, to set himself to painting; and so he painted "an
altar-piece containing a Christ taken down from the Cross, on the
ground Our Lady in a swoon, and a man in armour who, having his back
turned, shows his front reflected in a helmet that is on the ground,
bright as a mirror. This work, which was held to be, as it is, one
of the best that he ever executed, was placed in S. Francesco, on
the right hand as one enters the church. Then in the cloister that
is beside the above-named church, he painted in fresco Christ
scourged at the Column, with many Jews around Pilate, and with a
range of columns drawn in perspective after the manner of wing-
walls; in which work Giovanni Antonio made a portrait of himself
without any beard that is, shaven and with the hair long, as it was
worn at that time.
Not long afterwards he executed some pictures for Signer Jacopo
VI of Piombino, and, while living with him at that place, some other
works on canvas. Wherefore by his means, besides many courtesies and
presents that he received from him, Giovanni Antonio obtained from
his island of Elba many little animals such as that island produces,
all of which he took to Siena.
Arriving next in Florence, a monk of the Brandolini family, Abbot
of the Monastery of Monte Oliveto, which is without the Porta a S.
Friano, caused him to paint some pictures in fresco on the wall of
the refectory; but since, like a careless fellow, he did them
without study, they proved to be such that he was derided and mocked
at for his follies by those who were expecting that he would do some
extraordinary work. Now, while he was engaged on that work, having
taken a Barbary horse with him to Florence, he set it to run in the
race of S. Barnaba; and, as fortune would have it, the horse ran so
much better than the others, that it won. Whereupon, the boys
having, as is the custom, to call out the name or by-name of the
owner of the horse that had won, after the running of the race and
the fanfare of trumpets, Giovanni Antonio was asked what name they
were to call out ; and, after he had replied, " Sodoma, Sodoma," the
boys called out that name. But some honest old men, having heard
that filthy name, began to protest against it and to say, " What
filthy thing is this, and what ribaldry, that so vile a name should
be cried through our city ?" Insomuch that, a clamour arising, poor
Sodoma came within an ace of being stoned by the boys and the
populace, with his horse and the ape that he had with him on the
crupper. Having in the space of many years got together many prizes,
won in the same way by his horses, he took the greatest pride in the
world in them, and showed them to all who came into his house; and
very often he made a show of them at his windows.
But to return to his works: he painted for the Company of S.
Bastiano in Camellia, beyond the Church of the Umiliati, on a banner
of cloth which is carried in processions, in oils, a nude S.
Sebastian, bound to a tree, who is standing on the right leg, with
the left in fore- shortening, and raises the head towards an Angel
who is placing a crown upon it. This work is truly beautiful, and
much to be praised. On the reverse side is Our Lady with the Child
in her arms, and below her are S. Gismondo, S. Rocco, and some
Flagellants kneeling on the ground. It is said that some merchants
of Lucca offered to give three hundred crowns of gold to the men of
that Company for that picture, but did not obtain it, because the
others did not wish to deprive their Company and the city of so rare
a painting. And, in truth, in certain works whether it was study, or
good fortune, or chance Sodoma acquitted himself very well; but of
such he did very few. In the Sacristy of the Friars of the Carmine
is a picture by the hand of the same master, wherein is a very
beautiful Nativity of Our Lady, with some nurses; and on the corner
near the Piazza de' Tolomei he painted in fresco, for the Guild of
Shoemakers, a Madonna with the Child in her arms, S. John, S.
Francis, S. Rocco, and S. Crispino, the Patron Saint of the men of
that Guild, who has a shoe in his hand. In the heads of these
figures, and in all the rest, Giovanni Antonio acquitted himself
very well.
In the Company of S. Bernardino of Siena, beside the Church of S.
Francesco, he executed some scenes in fresco in competition with
Girolamo del Pacchia, a Sienese painter, and Domenico Beccafumi
namely, the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple, when she goes to
visit S. Elizabeth, her Assumption, and when she is crowned in
Heaven. In the angles of the same Company he painted a Saint in
episcopal robes, S. Louis, and S. Anthony of Padua; but the best
figure of all is a S. Francis, who, standing on his feet and raising
his head, is gazing at a little Angel, who appears to be in the act
of speaking to him; the head of which S. Francis is truly
marvellous. In the Palazzo de' Signori at Siena, likewise, in a
hall, he painted some little tabernacles full of columns and little
children, with other ornaments; and within these tabernacles are
various figures. In one is S. Vittorio armed in the ancient fashion,
with the sword in his hand; near him, in the same manner, is S.
Ansano, who is baptizing certain persons; in another is S. Benedict;
and all are very beautiful. In the lower part of that Palace, where
salt is sold, he painted a Christ who is returning to life, with
some soldiers about the Sepulchre, and two little Angels, held to be
passing beautiful in the heads. Farther on, over a door, is a
Madonna with the Child in her arms, painted by him in fresco, and
two Saints.
In S. Spirito he painted the Chapel of S. Jacopo, which he did at
the commission of the men of the Spanish colony, who have their
place of burial there ; depicting there an image of the Madonna
after the ancient manner, with S. Nicholas of Tolentino on the right
hand, and, on the left, the Archangel S. Michael, who is slaying
Lucifer. Above these, in a lunette, he painted Our Lady placing the
sacerdotal habit upon a Saint, with some Angels around. Over all
these figures, which are in oils on panel, there is painted in
fresco, in the semicircle of the vaulting, a S. James in armour on a
galloping horse, who has grasped his sword with a fiery gesture, and
below him are many Turks, dead and wounded. Below all this, on the
sides of the altar, are painted in fresco S. Anthony the Abbot and a
nude S. Sebastian at the Column, which are held to be passing good
works.
In the Duomo of the same city, on the right hand as one enters
the church, there is upon an altar a picture in oils by his hand, in
which there are Our Lady with the Child on her knee, S. Joseph on
one side, and S. Calixtus on the other; which work is likewise held
to be very beautiful, because it is evident that in colouring it
Sodoma showed much more diligence than he used to devote to his
works. He also painted for the Company of the Trinity a bier for
carrying the dead to burial, which was very beautiful; and he
executed another for the Company of Death, which is held to be the
most beautiful in Siena; and I believe that the latter is the finest
that there is to be seen, for, besides that it is indeed much to be
extolled, it is very seldom that such works are executed at much
cost or with much diligence. In the Church of S. Domenico, in the
Chapel of S. Caterina da Siena, where there is in a tabernacle the
head of that Saint, enclosed in one of silver, Giovanni Antonio
painted two scenes, which are one on either side of that tabernacle.
In one, on the right hand, is that Saint when, having received the
Stigmata from Jesus Christ, who is in the air, she lies half-dead in
the arms of two of her sisters, who are supporting her; of which
work Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of Siena, after considering
it, said that he had never seen anyone represent better the
expression of persons fainting and half-dead, or with more
similitude to the reality, than Giovanni Antonio had contrived to
do. And in truth it is so, as may be seen, apart from the work
itself, from the design by Sodoma' s own hand which I have in my
book of drawings. On the left hand,
in the other picture, is the scene when the Angel of God carries
to the same Saint the Host of the most Holy Communion, and she,
raising her head to Heaven, sees Jesus Christ and Mary the Virgin,
while two of her sisters, her companions, stand behind her. In
another scene, which is on the wall on the right hand, is painted
the story of a criminal, who, going to be beheaded, would not be
converted or commend himself to God, despairing of His mercy; when,
the above- named Saint praying for him on her knees, her prayers
were so acceptable to the goodness of God, that, when the felon's
head was cut off, his soul was seen ascending to Heaven; such power
with the mercy of God have the prayers of those saintly persons who
are in His grace. In this scene is a very great number of figures,
as to which no one should marvel if they are not of the highest
perfection, for the reason that I have heard as a fact that Giovanni
Antonio had sunk to such a pitch in his negligence and slothfulness,
that he would make neither designs nor cartoons when he had any work
of that kind to execute, but would attack the work by designing it
with the brush directly on the plaster, which was a strange thing ;
in which method it is evident that this scene was executed by him.
The same master also painted the arch in front of that chapel,
making therein a God the Father. The other scenes in that chapel
were not finished by him, partly from his own fault, he not choosing
to work save by caprice, and partly because he had not been paid by
him who was having the chapel painted. Below this is a God the
Father, who has beneath Him a Virgin in the ancient manner, on
panel, with S. Dominic, S. Gismondo, S. Sebastian, and S. Catharine.
For S. Agostino, in an altarpiece that is on the right hand at
the entrance into the church, he painted the Adoration of the Magi,
which was held to be, and is, a good work, for the reason that,
besides the Madonna, which is much extolled, the first of the three
Magi, and certain horses, there is a head of a shepherd between two
trees which has all the appearance of life. Over a gate of the city,
called the Porta di S. Viene, he painted in fresco, in a large
tabernacle, the Nativity of Jesus Christ, with some Angels in the
air ; and on the arch of that gate a child in foreshorten- ing, very
beautiful and in strong relief, which is intended to signify that
the Word has been made Flesh. In this work Sodoma made a portrait of
himself, with a beard, being now old, and with a brush in his hand,
which is pointing to a scroll that says " Feci."
He painted likewise in fresco the Chapel of the Commune at the
foot of the Palace, in the Piazza, representing there Our Lady with
the Child in her arms, upheld by some little Angels, S. Ansano, S.
Vittorio, S. Augustine, and S. James; and above this, in a
triangular lunette, he painted a God the Father with some Angels
about Him. From this work it is evident that when he executed it he
was beginning, as it were, to have no more love for art, having lost
that certain quality of excellence that he used to have in his
better days, by means of which he gave a certain air of beauty to
his heads, which made them graceful and lovely. And this is
manifestly true, for some works that he executed long before this
one have quite another grace and another manner, as may be seen
above the Postierla, from a wall in fresco over the door of the
Captain Lorenzo Mariscotti, where there is a Dead Christ in the lap
of His Mother, who has a marvellous divinity and grace. In like
manner, a picture in oils of Our Lady, which he painted for Messer
Enea Savini della Costerella, is much extolled, and also a canvas
that he executed for Assuero Rettori of S. Martino, in which is the
Roman Lucrece stabbing herself, while she is held by her father and
her husband, all painted with much beauty of attitude and marvellous
grace in the heads.
Finally, perceiving that the devotion of the people of Siena was
all turned to the talents and excellent works of Domenico Beccafumi,
and possessing neither house nor revenues in Siena, and having by
that time consumed almost all his property and become old and poor,
Giovanni Antonio departed from Siena almost in despair and went off
to Volterra. And there, as his good fortune would have it, chancing
upon Messer Lorenzo di Galeotto de' Medici, a rich and honored
nobleman, he proceeded to live under his protection, with the
intention of staying there a long time. And so, dwelling in the
house of that nobleman, he painted for him on a canvas the Chariot
of the Sun, which, having been badly guided by Phaethon, is falling
into the Po; but it is easy to see that he did that work to pass the
time, and hurried through it by rule of thumb, without giving any
thought to it, so entirely commonplace is it and so ill- considered.
Then, having grown weary of living at Volterra and in the house of
that nobleman, as one who was accustomed to being free, he departed
and went off to Pisa, where, at the instance of Battista del
Cervelliera, he executed two pictures for Messer Bastiano della
Seta, the Warden of Works of the Duomo, which were placed in the
recess behind the high altar of that Duomo, beside those of Sogliani
and Beccafumi. In one is the Dead Christ with Our Lady and the other
Maries, and in the other Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac; but
since these pictures did not succeed very well, the Warden, who had
intended to make him paint some altarpieces for the church,
dismissed him, knowing that men who do not study, once they have
lost in old age the quality of excellence that they had in their
youth from nature, are left with a kind of facility of manner that
is generally little to be praised. At that same time Giovanni
Antonio finished an altarpiece that he had previously begun in oils
for S. Maria della Spina, painting in it Our Lady with the Child in
her arms, with S. Mary Magdalene and S. Catharine kneeling before
her, and S. John, S. Sebastian, and S. Joseph standing at the sides;
in all which figures he acquitted himself much better than in the
two pictures for the Duomo.
Then, having nothing more to do at Pisa, he made his way to
Lucca, where, at S. Ponziano, a seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto,
an Abbot of his acquaintance caused him to paint a Madonna on the
ascent of a staircase that leads to the dormitory. That work
finished, he returned weary, old, and poor to Siena, where he did
not live much longer; for he fell ill, through not having anyone to
look after him or any means of sustenance, and went off to the Great
Hospital, and there in a few weeks he finished the course of his
life.
Giovanni Antonio, when young and in good repute, took for his
wife in Siena a girl born of a very good family, and had by her in
the first year a daughter. But after that, having grown weary of
her, because he was a beast, he would never see her more; and she,
therefore, withdrawing by herself, lived always on her own earnings
and on the interest of her dowry, bearing with great and endless
patience the beastliness and the follies of that husband of hers,
who was truly worthy of the name of Mattaccio which, as has been
related, the Monks of Monte Oliveto gave him.
Riccio of Siena, the disciple of Giovanni Antonio, a passing able
and well-practised painter, having taken as his wife his master's
daughter, who had been very well and decently brought up by her
mother, became the heir to all the possessions connected with art of
his wife's father. This Riccio, I say, has executed many beautiful
and praiseworthy works at Siena and elsewhere, and has decorated
with stucco and pictures in fresco a chapel in the Duomo of the
above-named city, on the left hand as one enters the church; and he
now lives at Lucca, where he has done, as he still continues to do,
many beautiful works worthy to be extolled.
A pupil of Giovanni Antonio, likewise, was a young man who was
called Giomo del Sodoma; but, since he died young, and was not able
to give more than a small proof of his genius and knowledge, there
is no need to say more about him.
Sodoma lived seventy-five years, and died in the year 1554.
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BASTIANO DA SAN GALLO, CALLED ARISTOTILE
PAINTER AND SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WHEN Pietro Perugino, by that time an old man, was painting the
altarpiece of the high altar of the Servites at Florence, a nephew
of Giuliano and Antonio da San Gallo, called Bastiano, was placed
with him to learn the art of painting. But the boy had not been long
with Perugino, when he saw the manner of Michelagnolo in the cartoon
for the Hall, of which we have already spoken so many times, in the
house of the Medici, and was so struck with admiration, that he
would not return any more to Pietro' s workshop, considering that
his manner, beside that of Buonarroti, was dry, petty, and by no
means worthy to be imitated. And since, among those who used to go
to paint that cartoon, which was for a time the school of all who
wished to attend to painting, the most able of all was held to be
Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, Bastiano chose him as his companion, in order
to learn colouring from him, and so they became fast friends. But
not ceasing therefore to give his attention to that cartoon and to
work at those nudes, Bastiano copied all together in a little
cartoon the whole composition of that mass of figures, which not one
of all those who had worked at it had ever drawn as a whole. And
since he applied himself to it with all the earnestness that was in
him, it proved that he was afterwards able on any occasion to render
an account of the attitudes, muscles, and movements of those
figures, and of the reasons that had caused Buonarroti to depict
certain difficult postures ; in doing which he would speak slowly
and sententiously, with great gravity, so that a company of able
craftsmen gave him the name of Aristotile, which, moreover, sat upon
him all the better because it appeared that according to an ancient
portrait of that supreme philosopher and confidant of Nature,
Bastiano much resembled him.
But to return to the little cartoon drawn by Aristotile; he held
it always so dear, that, after Buonarroti's original had perished,
he would never let it go either at a price or on any other terms, or
allow it to be copied; indeed, he would not show it, save only as a
man shows precious things to his dearest friends, as a favour.
Afterwards, in the year 1542, this drawing was copied in oils by
Aristotile, at the persuasion of Giorgio Vasari, who was much his
friend, in a picture in chiaroscuro, which was sent through
Monsignor Giovio to King Francis of France, who held it very dear,
and gave a handsome reward to San Gallo. This Vasari did in order
that the memory of that work might be preserved, seeing that
drawings perish very readily.
In his youth, then, Aristotile delighted, as the others of his
house have done, in the matters of architecture, and he therefore
gave his attention to measuring the ground-plans of buildings and
with great diligence to the study of perspective; in doing which he
was much assisted by a brother of his, called Giovan Francesco, who
was employed as architect in the building of S. Pietro, under
Giuliano Leno, the proveditor. Giovan Francesco, having drawn
Aristotile to Rome, employed him to keep the accounts in a great
business that he had of furnaces for lime and works in pozzolana and
tufa, which brought him very large profits; and in this way Bastiano
lived for a time, without doing anything but draw in the Chapel of
Michelagnolo, and resort, by means of M. Giannozzo Pandolfini,
Bishop of Troia, to the house of Raffaello da Urbino. After a time,
Raffaello having made for that Bishop the design of a palace which
he wished to erect in the Via di S. Gallo at Florence, the above-
named Giovan Francesco was sent to put it into execution, which he
did with all the diligence wherewith it is possible for such a work
to be carried out. But in the year 1530, Giovan Francesco being
dead, and the siege of Florence in progress, that work, as we shall
relate, was left unfinished. Its completion was afterwards entrusted
to his brother Aristotile, who, as will be told, had returned to
Florence many and many a year before, after having amassed a large
sum of money under the above-named Giuliano Leno, in the business
that his brother had left him in Rome; with a part of which money
Aristotile bought, at the persuasion of Luigi Alamanni and Zanobi
Buondelmonte, who were much his friends, a site for a house behind
the Convent of the Servites, near Andrea del Sarto, where, with the
intention of taking a wife and living at leisure, he afterwards
built a very commodious little house.
After returning to Florence, then, Aristotile, being much
inclined to perspective, to which he had given his attention under
Bramante in Rome, appeared to delight in scarcely any other thing;
but nevertheless, besides executing a portrait or two from the life,
he painted in oils, on two large canvases, the Eating of the Fruit
by Adam and Eve and their Expulsion from Paradise, which he did
after copies that he had made from the works painted by Michelagnolo
on the vaulting of the Chapel in Rome. These two canvases of
Aristotile's, because of his having taken them bodily from that
place, were little extolled; but, on the other hand, he was well
praised for all that he did in Florence for the entry of Pope Leo,
making, in company with Francesco Granacci, a triumphal arch
opposite to the door of the Badia, with many scenes, which was very
beautiful. In like manner, at the nuptials of Duke Lorenzo de'
Medici, he was of great assistance in all the festive preparations,
and particularly in some prospect-views for comedies, to
Franciabigio and Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, who had charge of everything.
He afterwards executed many pictures of Our Lady in oils, partly
from his own fancy, and partly copied from the works of others; and
among them he painted one similar to that which Raffaello executed
for S. Maria del Popolo in Rome, with the Madonna covering the Child
with a veil, which now belongs to Filippo dell' Antella. And another
is in the possession of the heirs of Messer Ottaviano de' Medici,
together with the portrait of the above-named Lorenzo, which
Aristotile copied from that which Raffaello had executed. Many other
pictures he painted about the same time, which were sent to England.
But, recognizing that he had no invention, and how much study and
good grounding in design painting required, and that for lack of
these qualities he would not be able to achieve any great
excellence, Aristotile resolved that his pro- fession should be
architecture and perspective, executing scenery for comedies, to
which he was much inclined, on every occasion that might present
itself to him. And so, the above-mentioned Bishop of Troia having
once more set his hand to his palace in the Via di S. Gallo, the
charge of this was given to Aristotile, who in time carried it with
much credit to himself to the condition in which it is now to be
seen.
Meanwhile Aristotile had formed a great friendship with Andrea
del Sarto, his neighbor, from whom he learned to do many things to
perfection, attending with much study to perspective; wherefore he
was afterwards employed in many festivals that were held by certain
companies of gentlemen who were living at Florence in those peaceful
times. Thus, when the Mandragola, a most amusing comedy, was to be
performed by the Company of the Cazzuola in the house of Bernardino
di Giordano, on the Canto a Monteloro, Andrea del Sarto and
Aristotile executed the scenery, which was very beautiful; and not
long afterwards Aristotile executed the scenery for another comedy
by the same author, in the house of the furnace-master Jacopo at the
Port a S. Friano. From that kind of scenery and prospect-views,
which much pleased the citizens in general, and in particular Signor
Alessandro and Signer Ippolito de' Medici (who were in Florence at
that time, under the care of Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona),
Aristotile acquired so great a name, that it was ever afterwards his
principal profession; indeed, so some will have it, his name of
Aristotile was given him because he appeared in truth to be in
perspective what Aristotle was in philosophy.
But, as it often happens that from the height of peace and
tranquillity one falls into wars and discords, with the year 1527
all peace and gladness in Florence were changed into sorrow and
distress, for by that time the Medici had been driven out, and then
came the plague and the siege, and for many years life was anything
but gay; wherefore no good could be done then by craftsmen, and
Aristotile lived in those days always in his own house, attending to
his studies and fantasies. Afterwards, however, when Duke Alessandro
had assumed the government of Florence, and matters were beginning
to clear up a little, the young men of the Company of the Children
of the Purification, which is opposite to S. Marco, arranged to
perform a tragi-comedy taken from the Book of Kings, of the
tribulations that ensued from the violation of Tamar, which had been
composed by Giovan Maria Primerani. Thereupon the charge of the
scenery and prospect-views was given to Aristotile, and he prepared
the most beautiful scenery, considering the capacity of the place,
that had ever been made. And since, besides the beauty of the
setting, the tragi-comedy was beautiful in itself and well
performed, and very pleasing to Duke Alessandro and his sister, who
heard it, their Excellencies caused the author, who was in prison,
to be liberated, on the condition that he should write another
comedy, but after his own fancy. Which having been done by him,
Aristotile made in the loggia of the garden of the Medici, on the
Piazza di S. Marco, a very beautiful scene and prospect-view, full
of colonnades, niches, tabernacles, statues, and many other fanciful
things that had not been used up to that time in festive settings of
that kind; which all gave infinite satisfaction, and greatly
enriched that sort of painting. The subject of the piece was Joseph
falsely accused of having sought to violate his mistress, and
therefore imprisoned, and then liberated after his interpretation of
the King's dream.
This scenery having also much pleased the Duke, he ordained, when
the time came, that for his nuptials with Madama Margherita of
Austria another comedy should be performed, with scenery by
Aristotile, in the Company of Weavers, which is joined to the house
of the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, in the Via di S. Gallo. To
which having set his hand with all the study, diligence, and labour
of which he was capable, Aristotile executed all those preparations
to perfection. Now Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici, having
himself written the piece that was to be performed, had charge of
the whole representation and the music; and, being such a man that
he was always thinking in what way he might be able to kill the
Duke, by whom he was so much favoured and beloved, he thought to
find a way of bringing him to his end in the preparations for the
play. And so, where the steps of the prospect-view and the floor of
the stage ended, he caused the wing-walls on either side to be
thrown down to the height of eighteen braccia, intending to build up
in that space a room in the form of a purse-shaped recess, which was
to be of considerable size, and a stage on a level with the stage
proper, which might serve for the choral music. Above this first
stage he wished to make another for harpsichords, organs, and other
suchlike instruments that cannot be moved or changed about with
ease; and the space where he had pulled down the walls, in front, he
wished to have covered with curtains painted with prospect-views and
buildings.
All which pleased Aristotile, because it enriched the proscenium,
and left the stage free of musicians, but he was by no means pleased
that the rafters upholding the roof, which had been left without the
walls below to support them, should be arranged otherwise than with
a great double arch, which should be very strong; whereas Lorenzo
wished that it should be sustained by some props, and by nothing
else that could in any way interfere with the music. Aristotile,
knowing that this was a trap certain to fall headlong down on a
multitude of people, would not on any account agree in the matter
with Lorenzo, who in truth had no other intention but to kill the
Duke in that catastrophe. Wherefore, perceiving that he could not
drive his excellent reasons into Lorenzo's head, he had determined
that he would withdraw from the whole affair, when Giorgio Vasari,
who was the protege of Ottaviano de' Medici, and was at that time,
although a mere lad, working in the service of Duke Alessandro,
hearing, while he was painting on that scenery, the disputes and
differences of opinion that there were between Lorenzo and
Aristotile, set himself dexterously between them, and, after hearing
both the one and the other and per- ceiving the danger that
Lorenzo's method involved, showed that without making any arch or
interfering in any other way with the stage for the music, those
rafters of the roof could be arranged easily enough. Two double
beams of wood, he said, each of fifteen braccia, should be placed
along the wall, and fastened firmly with clamps of iron beside the
other rafters, and upon them the central rafter could be securely
placed, for in that way it would lie as safely as upon an arch,
neither more nor less. But Lorenzo, refusing to believe either
Giorgio, who proposed the plan, or Aristotile, who approved it, did
nothing but oppose them with his cavillings, which made his evil
intention known to everyone.
Whereupon Giorgio, having seen what a terrible disaster might
result from this, and that it was nothing less than an attempt to
kill three hundred persons, said that come what might he would speak
of it to the Duke, to the end that he might send to examine and
render safe the whole fabric. Hearing this, and fearing to betray
himself, Lorenzo, after many words, gave leave to Aristotile that he
should follow the advice of Giorgio; and so it was done. This
scenery, then, was the most beautiful not only of all that
Aristotile had executed up to that time, but also of all that had
ever been made by others, for he made in it many corner pieces in
relief, and also, in the opening of the stage, a representation of a
most beautiful triumphal arch in imitation of marble, covered with
scenes and statues, not to mention the streets receding into the
distance, and many other things wrought with marvellous invention
and incredible diligence and study.
After Duke Alessandro had been killed by the above-named Lorenzo,
and Cosimo had been elected Duke; in 1536, there came to be married
to him Signora Leonora di Toledo, a lady in truth most rare, and of
such great and incomparable worth, that she may be likened without
ques- tion, and perchance preferred, to the most celebrated and
renowned woman in ancient history. And for the nuptials, which took
place on the 27th of June in the year 1539, Aristotile made in the
great court of the Medici Palace, where the fountain is, another
scenic setting that represented Pisa, in which he surpassed himself,
ever improving and achieving variety; wherefore it will never be
possible to put together a more varied arrangement of doors and
windows, or fagades of palaces more fantastic and bizarre, or
streets and distant views that recede more beautifully and comply
more perfectly with ,the rules of perspective. And he depicted
there, besides all this, the Leaning Tower of the Duomo, the Cupola,
and the round Temple of S. Giovanni, with other features of that
city. Of the flights of steps that he made in the work, and how
everyone was deceived by them, I shall say nothing, lest I should
appear to be saying the same that has been said at other times; save
only this, that the flight of steps which appeared to rise from the
ground to the stage was octagonal in the centre and quadrangular at
the sides an artifice extraordinary in its simplicity, which gave
such grace to the prospect- view above, that it would not be
possible to find anything better of that kind. He then arranged with
much ingenuity a lantern of wood in the manner of an arch, behind
all the buildings, with a sun one braccio high, in the form of a
ball of crystal rilled with distilled water, behind which were two
lighted torches, which rendered the sky of the scenery and
prospect-view so luminous, that it had the appearance of the real
and natural sun. This sun, which had around it an ornament of golden
rays that covered the curtain, was drawn little by little by means
of a small windlass that was there, in such a manner that at the
beginning of the performance the sun appeared to be rising, and
then, having climbed to the centre of the arch, it so descended that
at the end of the piece it was setting and sinking below the
horizon.
The author of the piece was Antonio Landi. a gentleman of
Florence, and the interludes and music were in the hands of Giovan
Battista Strozzi. a man of very beautiful genius, who was then very
young. But since enough was written at that time about the other
things that adorned the performance, such as the interludes and
music. I shall do no more than mention who they were who executed
certain pictures, and it must suffice for the present to know that
all the other things were carried out by the above-named Giovan
Battista Strozzi, Tribolo. and Aristotile. Below the scenery of the
comedy, the walls at the sides were divided into six painted
pictures, each eight braccia in height and rive in breadth, and each
having around it an ornamental border one braccio and two-thirds in
width, which formed a frieze about it and was moulded on the side
next the picture, containing four medallions in the form of a cross,
with two Latin mottoes for each scene, and in the rest were suitable
devices. Over all. right round, ran a frieze of blue baize, save
where the scene was. above which was a canopy, likewise of baize,
which covered the whole court. On that frieze of baize, above every
painted story, were the arms of some of the most illustrious
families with which the house of Medici had kinship.
Beginning with the eastern side, then, next to the stage, in the
first picture, which was by the hand of Francesco Ubertini, called
II Bacchiacca. was the Return from Exile of the Magnificent Cosimo
de' Medici: the device consisted of two Doves on a Golden Bouqh, and
the amis in the frieze were those of Duke Cosimo. In the second,
which was by the same hand, was the Journey of the Magnificent
Lorenzo to Naples; the device a Pelican, and the arms those of Duke
Lorenzo namely, Medici and Savoy. In the third picture, painted by
Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, was Pope Leo X on his visit to
Florence, being carried by his fellow-citizens under the baldachin;
the device was an Upright Arm, and the arms those of Duke Giuliano
Medici and Savoy. In the fourth picture, by the same hand, was
Biegrassa taken by Signer Giovanni, who was to be seen issuing
victorious from that city; the device was Jove's Thunderbolt, and
the arms in the frieze were those of Duke Alessandro Austria and
Medici. In the fifth, Pope Clement was crowning Charles V at
Bologna; the device was a Serpent that was biting its own tail, and
the arms were those of France and Medici. That picture was by the
hand of Domenico Conti, the disciple of Andrea del Sarto, who proved
that he had no great ability, being deprived of the assistance of
certain young men whose services he had thought to use, since all,
both good and bad, were employed; wherefore he was laughed at, who,
much presuming, at other times with little discretion had laughed at
others. In the sixth scene, the last on that side, by the hand of
Bronzino, was the Dispute that took place at Naples, before the
Emperor, between Duke Alessandro and the Florentine exiles, with the
River Sebeto and many figures, and this was a most beautiful
picture, and better than any of the others; the device was a Palm,
and the arms those of Spain.
Opposite to the Return of Cosimo the Magnificent (that is, on the
other side), was the happy day of the birth of Duke Cosimo; the
device was a Phoenix, and the arms those of the city of Florence
namely, a Red Lily. Beside this was the Creation, or rather,
Election of the same Cosimo to the dignity of Duke; the device was
the Caduceus of Mercury, and in the frieze were the arms of the
Castellan of the Fortress; and this scene, which was designed by
Francesco Salviati, who had to depart in those days from Florence,
was finished excellently well by Carlo Portelli of Loro. In the
third were the three proud Campanian envoys, driven out of the Roman
Senate for their presumptuous demand, as Titus Livius relates in the
twentieth book of his history; and in that place they represented
three Cardinals who had come to Duke Cosimo, but in vain, with the
intention of removing him from the government; the device was a
Winged Horse, and the arms those of the Salviati and the Medici. In
the fourth was the Taking of Monte Murlo; the device an Egyptian
Horn-owl over the head of Pyrrhus, and the arms those of the houses
of Sforza and Medici; in which scene, painted by Antonio di Donnino,
a bold painter of things in motion, might be seen in the distance a
skirmish of horsemen, which was so beautiful that this picture, by
the hand of a person reputed to be feeble, proved to be much better
than the works of some others who were able men only by report. In
the fifth could be seen Duke Alessandro being invested by his
Imperial Majesty with all the devices and insignia of a Duke; the
device was a Magpie, with leaves of laurel in its beak, and in the
frieze were the arms of the Medici and of Toledo; and that picture
was by the hand of Battista Franco the Venetian. In the last of all
those pictures were the Espousals of the same Duke Alessandro, which
took place at Naples; the devices were two Crows, the ancient
symbols of marriage, and in the frieze were the arms of Don Pedro di
Toledo, Viceroy of Naples; and that picture, which was by the hand
of Bronzino, was executed with such grace, that, like the
first-named, it surpassed the scenes of all the others.
By the same Aristotile, likewise, there was executed over the
loggia a frieze with other little scenes and arms, which was much
extolled, and which pleased his Excellency, who rewarded him
liberally for the whole work. Afterwards, almost every year, he
executed scenery and prospect- views for the comedies that were
performed at Carnival time; and he had in that manner of painting
such assistance from nature and such practice, that he had
determined that he would write of it and teach others; but this he
abandoned, because the undertaking proved to be more difficult than
he had expected, but particularly because afterwards commissions to
execute prospect-views were given by new men in authority at the
Palace to Bronzino and Francesco Salviati, as will be related in the
proper place. Aristotile, therefore, perceiving that many years had
passed during which he had not been employed, went off to Rome to
find Antonio da San Gallo, his cousin, who, immediately after his
arrival, having received and welcomed him very warmly, set him to
press on certain buildings, with a salary of ten crowns a month, and
then sent him to Castro, where he stayed some months, being
commissioned by Pope Paul III to execute a great part of the
buildings there after the designs and directions of Antonio. But,
because Aristotile, having been brought up with Antonio from
childhood, had become accustomed to treat him too familiarly, it is
said that Antonio kept him at a distance, since Aristotile had never
been able to accustom himself to calling him "you," insomuch that he
gave him the "thou" even if they were before the Pope, to say
nothing of a circle of nobles and gentlemen, even as is still done
by Florentines used to the ancient fashions and to giving the "thou"
to everyone, as if they were from Norcia, without being able to
accommodate themselves to modern ways of life as others do, who
march step by step with the times. And how strange this circumstance
appeared to Antonio, accustomed as he was to be honored by Cardinals
and other great men, everyone may imagine for himself. Having
therefore grown weary of his stay at Castro, Aristotile besought
Antonio that he should enable him to return to Rome; in which
Antonio obliged him very readily, but said to him that he must
behave towards him in a different manner and with better breeding,
particularly whenever they were in the presence of great persons.
One year, at the time of the Carnival, when Ruberto Strozzi was
giving a banquet at Rome to certain lords, his friends, and a comedy
was to be performed at his house, Aristotile made for him in the
great hall a prospect-scene, which, considering the little space at
his disposal, was so pleasing, so graceful, and so beautiful, that
Cardinal Farnese, among others, not only was struck with
astonishment at it, but caused him to make one in his Palace of S.
Giorgio, where is the Cancelleria, in one of those mezzanine halls
that look out on the garden; but in such a way that it might remain
there permanently, so that he might be able to make use of it
whenever he so wished or required. This work, then, was carried out
by Aristotile with all the study in his power and knowledge, and in
such a manner, that it gave the Cardinal and the men of the arts
infinite satisfaction. Now the Cardinal commissioned Messer Curzio
Frangipane to remunerate Aristotile ; and he, as a man of prudence,
wishing to do what was right by him, but also not to overpay him,
asked Perino del Vaga and Giorgio Vasari to value the work. This was
very agreeable to Perino, because, feeling hatred for Aristotile,
and taking it ill that he had executed that prospect-scene, which he
thought should have fallen to him as the servant of the Cardinal, he
was living in apprehension and jealousy, and all the more because
the Cardinal had made use in those days not only of Aristotile but
also of Vasari, and had given him a thousand crowns for having
painted in fresco, in a hundred days, the Hall of "Parco Majori" in
the Cancelleria. For these reasons, therefore, Perino intended to
value that prospect-view of Aristotile's at so little, that he would
have to repent of having done it. But Aristotile, having heard who
were the men who had to value his prospect-view, went to seek out
Perino, and at the first word, according to his custom, began to
give him the "thou" to his face, for he had been his friend in
youth; whereupon Perino, who had already an ill-will against him,
flew into a rage and all but revealed, without noticing, the
malicious thing that he had it in his mind to do. Aristotile having
therefore told the whole story to Vasari, Giorgio told him that he
should have no anxiety and should be of good cheer, for no wrong
would be done to him.
Afterwards, Perino and Giorgio coming together to settle that
affair, Perino, as the older man, began to speak, and set himself to
censure that prospect-scene and to say that it was a work of a few
halfpence, and that Aristotile, having received money on account and
having been paid for those who had assisted him, had been overpaid,
adding: "If I had been commissioned to do it, I would have done it
in another manner, and with different scenes and ornaments from
those used by that fellow; but the Cardinal always chooses to favour
some person who does him little honor." From these words and others
Giorgio recognized that Perino wished rather to avenge himself on
Aristotile for the grievance that he had against the Cardinal than
to ensure with friendly affection the remuneration of the talents
and labours of a good craftsman; and he spoke these soft words to
Perino: "Although I have not as much knowledge of such works as I
might have, nevertheless, having seen some by the hands of those who
know how to do them, it appears to me that this one is very well
executed, and worthy to be valued at many crowns, and not, as you
say, at a few halfpence. And it does not seem to me right that he
who sits in his workroom drawing cartoons, in order afterwards to
reproduce in great works such a variety of things in perspective,
should be paid for the labor of his nights and perhaps for the work
of many weeks into the bargain on the same scale as are paid the
days of those who have to undergo no fatigue of the mind and hand,
and little of the body, it being enough for them to imitate, without
in any way racking their brains, as Aristotile has done. And if you,
Perino, had executed it, as you say, with more scenes and ornaments,
perhaps you might not have done it with that grace which has been
achieved by Aristotile, who in that kind of painting has been
esteemed with much judgment by the Cardinal to be a better master
than you. Remember that in the end, by giving a wrong and unjust
estimate, you do harm not so much to Aristotile as to art and
excellence in general, and even more to your own soul, if you depart
from what is right for the sake of some private grievance; not to
mention that all who recognize the work as a good one, will censure
not it but our weak judgment, and may even put it down to envy and
malice in our natures. And whoever seeks to ingratiate himself with
another, to glorify his own works, or to avenge himself for any
injury by censuring or estimating at less than their true value the
good works of others, is finally recognized by God and man as what
he is, namely, as malignant, ignorant, and wicked. Consider, you who
do all the work in Rome, how it would appear to you if others were
to value your labors as you do theirs ? Put yourself, I beg you, in
the shoes of this poor old man, and you will see how far you are
from reason and justice."
Of such force were these and other words that Giorgio spoke
lovingly to Perino, that they arrived at a just estimate, and
satisfaction was given to Aristotile, who, with that money, with the
payment for the picture sent, as was related at the beginning, to
France, and with the savings from his salaries, returned joyously to
Florence, notwithstanding that Michelagnolo, who was his friend, had
intended to make use of him in the building that the Romans were
proposing to erect on the Campidoglio. Having thus returned to
Florence in the year 1547, Aristotile went to kiss the hands of the
Lord Duke Cosimo, and besought his Excellency, since he had set his
hand to many buildings, that he should assist him and make use of
his services. And that lord, having received him graciously, as he
has always received men of excellence, ordained that an allowance of
ten crowns a month should be given to him, and said to him that he
would be employed according as occasion might arise. With that
allowance Aristotile lived peacefully for some years, without doing
anything more, and then died at the age of seventy, on the last day
of May in the year 1551, and was buried in the Church of the
Servites. In our book are some drawings by the hand of Aristotile,
and there are some in the possession of Antonio Particini; among
which are some very beautiful sheets drawn in perspective.
There lived in the same times as Aristotile, and were his
friends, two painters of whom I shall make brief mention here,
because they were such that they deserve to have a place among these
rare intellects, on account of some works executed by them that were
truly worthy to be extolled. One was Jacone, and the other Francesco
Ubertini, called II Bacchiacca. Jacone, then, did not execute many
works, being one who lost himself in talking and jesting, and
contented himself with the little that his fortune and his idleness
allowed him, which was much less than what he required. But, since
he was closely associated with Andrea del Sarto, he drew very well
and with great boldness; and he was very fantastic and bizarre in
the posing of his figures, distorting them and seeking to make them
varied and different from those of others in all his compositions.
In truth, he had no little design, and when he chose he could
imitate the good. In Florence, when still young, he executed many
pictures of Our Lady, many of which were sent by Florentine
merchants into France. For S. Lucia, in the Via de' Bardi, he
painted in an altarpiece God the Father, Christ, and Our Lady, with
other figures, and at Montici, about a tabernacle on the corner of
the house of Lodovico Capponi, he executed two figures in
chiaroscuro. For S. Romeo, in an altarpiece, he painted Our Lady and
two Saints.
Then, hearing once much praise spoken of the faades executed by
Polidoro and Maturino at Rome, without anyone knowing about it he
went off to that city, where he stayed some months and made some
copies, gaining such proficience in matters of art, that he
afterwards proved himself in many works a passing good painter.
Wherefore the Chevalier Buondelmonte commissioned him to paint in
chiaroscuro a house that he had built opposite to S. Trinita, at the
beginning of the Borgo S. Apostolo; wherein Jacone painted stories
from the life of Alexander the Great, very beautiful in certain
parts, and executed with so much grace and design, that many believe
that the designs for the whole work were made for him by Andrea del
Sarto. To tell the truth, from the proof of his powers that Jacone
gave in that work, it was thought that he was likely to produce some
great fruits. But, since he always had his mind set more on giving
himself a good time and every possible amusement, living in a round
of suppers and f eastings with his friends, than on studying and
working, he was for ever forgetting rather than learning. And that
which was a thing to laugh at or to pity, I know not which, was that
he belonged to a company, or rather, gang, of friends who, under the
pretence of living like philosophers, lived like swine and
brute-beasts; they never washed their hands, or face, or head, or
beard; they did not sweep their houses, and never made their beds
save only once every two months; they laid their tables with the
cartoons for their pictures, and they drank only from the flask or
the jug; and this miserable existence of theirs, living, as the
saying goes, from hand to mouth, was held by them to be the finest
life in the world. But, since the outer man is wont to be a guide to
the inner, and to reveal what our minds are, I believe, as has been
said before, that they were as filthy and brutish in mind as their
outward appearance suggested.
For the festival of S. Felice in Piazza that is, the
representation of the Annunciation of the Madonna, of which there
has been an account in another place which was held by the Company
of the Orciuolo in the year 1525, Jacone made among the outer
decorations, according to the custom of those times, a most
beautiful triumphal arch standing by itself, large, double, and very
high, with eight columns, pilasters, and pediments; all of which he
caused to be carried to completion by Piero da Sesto, a
well-practised master in wood-work. On this arch, then, were painted
nine scenes, part of which, the best, he executed himself, and the
rest Francesco Ubertini, II Bacchiacca; and these scenes were all
from the Old Testament, and for the greater part from the life of
Moses. Having then been summoned by a Scopetine friar, his kinsman,
to Cortona, Jacone painted two altarpieces in oils for the Church of
the Madonna, which is without the city. In one of these is Our Lady
with S. Rocco, S. Augustine, and other Saints, and in the other a
God the Father who is crowning Our Lady, with two Saints at the
foot, and in the centre is S. Francis, who is receiving the
Stigmata; which two works were very beautiful. Then, having returned
to Florence, he decorated for Bongianni Capponi a vaulted chamber in
that city; and he executed certain others for the same man in his
villa at Montici. And finally, when Jacopo da Pontormo painted for
Duke Alessandro, in his villa at Careggi, that loggia of which there
has been an account in his Life, Jacone helped to execute the
greater part of the ornaments, such as grotesques, and other things.
After this he occupied himself with certain insignificant works, of
which there is no need to make mention.
The sum of the matter is that Jacone spent the best part of his
life in jesting, in going off into cogitations, and in speaking evil
of all and sundry. For in those days the art of design in Florence
had fallen into the hands of a company of persons who paid more
attention to playing jokes and to enjoyment than to working, and
whose occupation was to assemble in shops and other places, and
there to spend their time in criticizing maliciously, in their own
jargon, the works of others who were persons of excellence and lived
decently and like men of honor. The heads of this company were
Jacone, the goldsmith Piloto, and the wood-carver Tasso; but the
worst of them all was Jacone, for the reason that, among his other
fine qualities, his every word was always a foul slander against
somebody. Wherefore it was no marvel that from such a company there
should have sprung in time, as will be related, many evil
happenings, or that Piloto, on account of his slanderous tongue, was
killed by a young man. And since their habits and proceedings were
displeasing to honest men, they were generally to be found I do not
say all of them, but some at least like wool-carders and other
fellows of that kidney, playing at chuck-stones at the foot of a
wall, or making merry in a tavern.
One day that Giorgio Vasari was returning from Monte Oliveto, a
place without Florence, after a visit to the reverend and most
cultured Don Miniato Pitti, who was then Abbot of that monastery, he
found Jacone, with a great part of his crew, at the Canto de'
Medici; and Jacone thought to attempt, as I heard afterwards, with
some of his idle talk, speaking half in jest and half in earnest, to
hit on some phrase insulting to Giorgio. And so, when Vasari rode
into their midst on his horse, Jacone said to him: " Well, Giorgio,
how goes it with you ?" "Finely, my Jacone," answered Giorgio. "Once
I was poor like all of you, and now I find myself with three
thousand crowns or more. You thought me a fool, and the priests and
friars think me an able master. I used to be your servant, and here
is a servant of my own, who serves me and looks after my horse. I
used to dress in the clothes that beggarly painters wear, and here
am I dressed in velvet. Once I went on foot, and now I go on
horseback. So you see, my Jacone, it goes exceeding well with me.
May God be with you."
When poor Jacone had heard all this recital in one breath, he
lost all his presence of mind and stood confused, without saying
another word, as if reflecting how miserable he was, and how often
the engineer is hoist with his own petard. Finally, having become
much reduced by an infirmity, and being poor, neglected, and
paralysed in the legs, so that he could do nothing to better
himself, Jacone died in misery in a little hovel that he had on a
mean street, or rather, alley, called Codarimessa, in the year 1553.
Francesco Ubertini, called II Bacchiacca, was a diligent painter,
and, although he was the friend of Jacone, he always lived decently
enough and like an honest man. He was likewise a friend of Andrea
del Sarto, and much assisted and favored by him in matters of art.
Francesco, I say, was a diligent painter, and particularly in
painting little figures, which he executed to perfection, with much
patience, as may be seen from a predella with the story of the
Martyrs, below the altarpiece of Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, in S.
Lorenzo at Florence, and from another predella, executed very well,
in the Chapel of the Crocifisso. For the chamber of Pier Francesco
Borgherini, of which mention has already been made so many times, II
Bacchiacca, in company with the others, executed many little figures
on the coffers and the panelling, which are known by the manner,
being different from the others. For the antechamber of Giovan Maria
Benintendi, which likewise has been already mentioned, he painted
two very beautiful pictures with little figures, in one of which,
the most beautiful and the most abundant in figures, is the Baptist
baptizing Jesus Christ in the Jordan. He also executed many others
for various persons, which were sent to France and England. Finally,
having entered the service of Duke Cosimo, since he was an excellent
painter in counterfeiting all the kinds of animals, II Bacchiacca
painted for his Excellency a cabinet all full of birds of various
kinds, and rare plants, all of which he executed divinely well in
oils. He then made, with a vast number of little figures, cartoons
of all the months of the year, which were woven into most beautiful
tapestries in silk and gold, with such industry and diligence that
there is nothing better of that kind to be seen, by Marco, the son
of Maestro Giovanni Rosto the Fleming. After these works, II
Bacchiacca decorated in fresco the grotto of a water fountain that
is at the Pitti Palace. Lastly, he made the designs for a bed that
was executed in embroidery, all full of scenes and little figures.
This is the most ornate work in the form of a bed, in such a kind of
workmanship, that there is to be seen, the embroidering having been
made rich with pearls and other things of price by Antonio
Bacchiacca, the brother of Francesco, who is an excellent
embroiderer; and, since Francesco died before the completion of the
bed, which has served for the happy nuptials of the most illustrious
Lord Prince of Florence, Don Francesco de' Medici, and of her serene
Highness Queen Joanna of Austria, it was finished in the end after
the directions and designs of Giorgio Vasari.
Francesco died at Florence in the year 1557.
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Francesco Salviati (1510-1563)
Part Two
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Charity. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Pope Clement VII being dead and Paul III elected, M. Bindo
Altoviti caused Francesco to paint on the fagade of his house at the
Ponte S. Agnolo the arms of the new Pontiff, with some large nude
figures, which gave infinite satisfaction. About the same time he
made a portrait of that Messer Bindo, which was a very good figure
and a beautiful portrait; and this was afterwards sent to his villa
of S. Mizzano in the Valdarno, where it still is. He then painted
for the Church of S. Francesco a Ripa a very beautiful altar-picture
of the Annunciation in oils, which was executed with the greatest
diligence. For the coming of Charles V to Rome in the year 1535, he
painted for Antonio da San Gallo some scenes in chiaroscuro, which
were placed on the arch that was made at S. Marco; and these
pictures, as has been said in another place, were the best that
there were in all those festive decorations.
Afterwards Signor Pier Luigi Farnese, who had been made Lord of
Nepi at that time, wishing to adorn that city with new buildings and
pictures, took Francesco into his service, giving him rooms in the
Belvedere; and there Francesco painted for him on large canvases
some scenes in gouache of the actions of Alexander the Great, which
were afterwards carried into execution and woven into tapestries in
Flanders. For the same Lord of Nepi he decorated a large and very
beautiful bathroom with many scenes and figures executed in fresco.
Then, the same lord having been created Duke of Castro, for his
first entry rich and most beautiful decorations were made in that
city under the direction of Francesco, and at the gate an arch all
covered with scenes, figures, and statues, executed with much
judgment by able men, and in particular by Alessandro, called
Scherano, a sculptor of Settignano. Another arch, in the form of a
facade, was made at the Petrone, and yet another on the Piazza,
which arches, with regard to the woodwork, were executed by Battista
Botticelli; and in these festive preparations, among other things,
Francesco made a beautiful perspective-scene for a comedy that was
performed.
About the same time, Giulio Camillo, who was then in Rome, having
made a book of his compositions in order to send it to King Francis
of France, had it all illustrated by Francesco Salviati, who put
into it all the diligence that it is possible to devote to such a
work. Cardinal Salviati, having a desire to possess a picture in
tinted woods (that is, in tarsia) by the hand of Fra Damiano da
Bergamo, a lay-brother of S. Domenico at Bologna, sent him a design
done in red chalk by the hand of Francesco, as a pattern for its
execution; which design, representing King David being anointed by
Samuel, was the best thing that Cecchino Salviati ever drew, and
truly most rare. After this, Giovanni da Cepperello and Battista
Gobbo of San Gallo who had caused the Florentine painter Jacopo del
Conte, then a young man, to paint in the Florentine Company of the
Misericordia in S. Giovanni Decollate, under the Campidoglio at
Rome, namely, in the second church where they hold their assemblies,
a story of that same S. John the Baptist, showing the Angel
appearing to Zacharias in the Temple commissioned Francesco to paint
below that scene another story of the same Saint, namely, the
Visitation of Our Lady to S. Elizabeth. That work, which was
finished in the year 1538, he executed in fresco in such a manner,
that it is worthy to be numbered among the most graceful and best
conceived pictures that Francesco ever painted, in the invention, in
the composition of the scene, in the method and the attention to
rules for the gradation of the figures, in the perspective and the
architecture of the buildings, in the nudes, in the draped figures,
in the grace of the heads, and, in short, in every part ; wherefore
it is no marvel if all Rome was struck with astonishment by it.
Around a window he executed some bizarre fantasies in imitation of
marble, and some little scenes that have marvellous grace. And since
Francesco never wasted any time, while he was engaged on that work
he executed many other things, and also drawings, and he colored a
Phaethon with the Horses of the Sun, which Michelagnolo had drawn.
All these things Salviati showed to Giorgio, who after the death of
Duke Alessandro had gone to Rome for two months; saying to him that,
once he had finished a picture of a young S. John that he was
painting for his master Cardinal Salviati, a Passion of Christ on
canvas that was to be sent to Spain, and a picture of Our Lady that
he was painting for Raffaello Acciaiuoli, he wished to turn his
steps to Florence in order to revisit his native place, his
relatives, and his friends, for his father and mother were still
alive, to whom he was always of the greatest assistance, and
particularly in settling two sisters, one of whom was married, and
the other is a nun in the Convent of Monte Domini.
Coming thus to Florence, where he was received with much re-
joicing by his relatives and friends, it chanced that he arrived
there at the very moment when the festive preparations were being
made for the nuptials of Duke Cosimo and the Lady Donna Leonora di
Toledo. Wherefore he was commissioned to paint one of the already
mentioned scenes that were executed in the courtyard, which he
accepted very willingly; and that was the one in which the Emperor
was placing the Ducal crown on the head of Duke Cosimo. But being
seized, before he had finished it, with a desire to go to Venice,
Francesco left it to Carlo Portelli of Loro, who finished it after
Francesco's design; which design, with many others by the same hand,
is in our book.
Having departed from Florence and made his way to Bologna,
Francesco found there Giorgio Vasari, who had returned two days
before from Camaldoli, where he had finished the two altarpieces
that are in the tramezzo* of the church, and had begun that of the
high altar; and Vasari was arranging to paint three great panel
pictures for the refectory of the Fathers of S. Michele in Bosco,
where he kept Francesco with him for two days. During that time,
some of his friends made efforts to obtain for him the commission
for an altarpiece that was to be allotted by the men of the Delia
Morte Hospital. But, although Salviati made a most beautiful design,
those men, having little understanding, were not able to recognize
the opportunity that Messer Domeneddio* had sent them of obtaining
for Bologna a work by the hand of an able master. Wherefore
Francesco went away in some disdain, leaving some very beautiful
designs in the hands of Girolamo Fagiuoli, to the end that he might
engrave them on copper and have them printed.
Having arrived in Venice, he was received courteously by the
Patriarch Grimani and his brother Messer Vettorio, who showed him a
thousand favors. For that Patriarch, after a few days, he painted in
oils, in an octagon of four braccia, a most beautiful Psyche to
whom, as to a Goddess, on account of her beauty, incense and votive
offerings are presented; which octagon was placed in a hall in the
house of that lord, wherein is a ceiling in the centre of which
there curve some festoons executed by Camillo Mantovano, an
excellent painter in representing landscapes, flowers, leaves,
fruits, and other suchlike things. That octagon, I say, was placed
in the midst of four pictures each two braccia and a half square,
executed with stories of the same Psyche, as was related in the Life
of Genga, by Francesco da Forli; and the octagon is not only beyond
all comparison more beautiful than those four pictures, but even the
most beautiful work of painting that there is in all Venice. After
that, in a chamber wherein Giovanni Ricamatori of Udine had executed
many works in stucco, he painted some little figures in fresco, both
nude and draped, which are full of grace. In like manner, in an
altarpiece that he executed for the Nuns of the Corpus Domini at
Venice, he painted with much diligence a Dead Christ with the
Maries, and in the air an Angel who has the Mysteries of the Passion
in the hands. He made the portrait of M. Pietro Aretino, which, as a
rare work, was sent by that poet to King Francis, with some verses
in praise of him who had painted it. And for the Nuns of S. Cristina
in Bologna, of the Order of Camaldoli, the same Salviati, at the
entreaty of Don Giovan Francesco da Bagno, their Confessor, painted
an altarpiece with many figures, a truly beautiful picture, which is
in the church of that convent.
Then, having grown weary of the life in Venice, as one who
remembered that of Rome, and considering that it was no place for
men of design, Francesco departed in order to return to Rome. And
so, making a detour by Verona and Mantua, in the first of which
places he saw the many antiquities that are there, and in the other
the works of Giulio Romano, he made his way back to Rome by the road
through Romagna, and arrived there in the year 1541. There, having
rested a little, the first works that he made were the portrait of
Messer Giovanni Gaddi and that of Messer Annibale Caro, who were
much his friends. Those finished, he painted a very beautiful
altarpiece for the Chapel of the Clerks of the Chamber in the Pope's
Palace. And in the Church of the Germans he began a chapel in fresco
for a merchant of that nation, painting on the vault above the
Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit, and in a picture that is
half-way up the wall Jesus Christ rising from the dead, with the
soldiers sleeping round the Sepulchre in various attitudes, fore-
shortened in a bold and beautiful manner. On one side he painted S.
Stephen, and on the other side S. George, in two niches; and at the
foot he painted S. Giovanni Limosinario, who is giving alms to a
naked beggar, with a Charity on one side of him, and on the other
side S. Alberto, the Carmelite Friar, between Logic and Prudence.
And in the great altar picture, finally, he painted in fresco the
Dead Christ with the Maries.
Having formed a friendship with Piero di Marcone, a Florentine
goldsmith, and having become his gossip, Francesco made to Piero' s
wife, who was also his gossip, after her delivery, a present of a
very beautiful design, which was to be painted on one of those round
baskets in which food is brought to a newly-delivered woman. In that
design there was the life of man, in a number of square compartments
containing very beautiful figures, both on one side and on the
other; namely, all the ages of human life, each of which rested on a
different festoon appropriate to the particular age and the season.
In that bizarre composition were included, in two long ovals,
figures of the sun and moon, and between them Sais, a city of Egypt,
standing before the Temple of the Goddess Pallas and praying for
wisdom, as if to signify that on behalf of newborn children one
should pray before any other thing for wisdom and goodness. That
design Piero held ever afterwards as dear as if it had been, as
indeed it was, a most beautiful jewel.
Not long afterwards, the above-named Piero and other friends
having written to Francesco that he would do well to return to his
native place, for the reason that it was held to be certain that he
would be employed by the Lord Duke Cosimo, who had no masters about
him save such as were slow and irresolute, he finally determined
(trusting much, also, in the favour of M. Alamanno, the brother of
the Cardinal and uncle of the Duke) to return to Florence. Having
arrived, therefore, before attempting any other thing, he painted
for the above-named M. Alamanno Salviati a very beautiful picture of
Our Lady, which he executed in a room in the Office of Works of S.
Maria del Fiore that was occupied by Francesco dal Prato, who at
that time, from being a goldsmith and a master of tausia,* [*
Damascening.] had set himself to casting little figures in bronze
and to painting, with much profit and honor. In that same place,
then, which that master held as the official in charge of the
woodwork of the Office of Works, Francesco made portraits of his
friend Piero di Marcone and of Avveduto del Cegia, the dresser of
minever furs, who was also much his friend; which Avveduto, besides
many other things by the hand of Francesco that he possesses, has a
portrait of Francesco himself, executed in oils with his own hand,
and very lifelike.
The above-mentioned picture of Our Lady, being, after it was
finished, in the shop of the woodcarver Tasso, who was then
architect of the Palace, was seen by many persons and vastly
extolled; but what caused it even more to be considered a rare
picture was that Tasso, who was accustomed to censure almost
everything, praised it to the skies. And, what was more, he said to
M. Pier Francesco, the major-domo, that it would be an excellent
thing for the Duke to give Francesco some work of importance to
execute; whereupon M. Pier Francesco and Cristofano Rinieri, who had
the ear of the Duke, played their part in such a way, that M.
Alamanno spoke to his Excellency, saying to him that Francesco
desired to be commissioned to paint the Hall of Audience, which is
in front of the Chapel of the Ducal Palace, and that he cared
nothing about payment; and the Duke was content that this should be
granted to him. Whereupon Francesco, having made small designs of
the Triumph of Furius Camillus and of many stories of his life, set
himself to contrive the division of that hall according to the
spaces left by the windows and doors, some of which are high and
some low; and there was no little difficulty in making that division
in such a way that it might be well-ordered and might not disturb
the sequence of the stories. In the wall where there is the door by
which one enters into the hall, there were two large spaces, divided
by the door.
Opposite to that, where there are the three windows that look out
over the Piazza, there were four spaces, but not wider than about
three braccia each. In the end- wall that is on the right hand as
one enters, wherein are two windows that likewise look out on the
Piazza, but in another direction, there were three similar spaces,
each about three braccia wide; and in the end-wall that is on the
left hand, opposite to the other, what with the marble door that
leads into the chapel, and a window with a grating of bronze, there
remained only one space large enough to contain a work of
importance. On the wall of the chapel, then within an ornament of
Corinthian columns that support an architrave, which has below it a
recess, wherein hang two very rich festoons, and two pendants of
various fruits, counter- feited very well, while upon it sits a
naked little boy who is holding the Ducal arms, namely, those of the
Houses of Medici and Toledo he painted two scenes; on the right hand
Camillus, who is commanding that the schoolmaster shall be given up
to the vengeance of his young scholars, and on the other the same
Camillus, while the army is in combat and fire is burning the
stockades and tents of the camp, is routing the Gauls. And beside
that, where the same range of pilasters continues, he painted a
figure of Opportunity, large as life, who has seized Fortune by the
locks, and some devices of his Excellency, with many ornaments
executed with marvellous grace. On the main wall, where there are
two great spaces divided by the principal door, he painted two large
and very beautiful scenes. In the first are the Gauls, who, weighing
the gold of the tribute, add to it a sword, to the end that the
weight may be the greater, and Camillus, full of rage, delivers
himself from the tribute by force of arms; which scene is very
beautiful, and crowded with figures, landscapes, antiquities, and
vases counterfeited very well and in various manners in imitation of
gold and silver. In the other scene, beside the first, is Camillus
in the triumphal chariot, drawn by four horses; and on high is Fame,
who is crowning him. Before the chariot are priests very richly
apparelled, with the statue of the Goddess Juno, and holding vases
in their hands, and with some trophies and spoils of great beauty.
About the chariot are innumerable prisoners in various attitudes,
and behind it the soldiers of the army in their armour, among whom
Francesco made a portrait of himself, which is so good that it seems
as if alive. In the distance, where the triumphal procession is
passing, is a very beautiful picture of Rome, and above the door is
a figure of Peace in chiaroscuro, who is burning the arms, with some
prisoners; all which was executed by Francesco with such diligence
and study, that there is no more beautiful work to be seen.
On the wall towards the west he painted in a niche in one of the
larger spaces, in the center, a Mars in armour, and below that a
nude figure representing a Gaul,* [* A play on the word Gallo, which
means both Gaul and cock.] with a crest on the head similar to that
of a cock; and in another niche a Diana with a skin about her waist,
who is drawing an arrow from her quiver, with a dog. In the two
corners next the other two walls are two figures of Time, one
adjusting weights in a balance, and the other tempering the liquid
in two vases by pouring one into the other. On the last wall, which
is opposite to the chapel and faces towards the north, in a corner
on the right hand, is the Sun figured in the manner wherein the
Egyptians represent him, and in the other corner the Moon in the
same manner. In the middle is Favor, represented as a nude young man
on the summit of the wheel, with Envy, Hatred, and Malice on one
side, and on the other side Honors, Pleasure, and all the other
things described by Lucian. Above the windows is a frieze all full
of most beautiful nudes, as large as life, and in various forms and
attitudes; with some scenes likewise from the life of Camillus. And
opposite to the Peace that is burning the arms is the River Arno,
who, holding a most abundant horn of plenty, raises with one hand a
curtain and reveals Florence and the greatness of her Pontiffs and
the heroes of the House of Medici. He painted there, besides all
that, a base that runs round below those scenes, and niches with
some terminal figures of women that support festoons; and in the
centre are certain ovals with scenes of people adorning a Sphinx and
the River Arno.
Francesco put into the execution of that work all the diligence
and study that are possible; and, although he had many
contradictions, he carried it to a happy conclusion, desiring to
leave in his native city a work worthy of himself and of so great a
Prince. Francesco was by nature melancholy, and for the most part he
did not care to have anyone about him when he was at work. But
nevertheless, when he first began that undertaking, almost doing
violence to his nature and affecting an open heart, with great
cordiality he allowed Tasso and others of his friends, who had done
him some service, to stand and watch him at work, showing them every
courtesy that he was able. But when he had gained a footing at
Court, as the saying goes, and it seemed to him that he was in good
favour, returning to his choleric and biting nature, he paid them no
attention. Nay, what was worse, he used the most bitter words
according to his wont (which served as an excuse to his
adversaries), censuring and decrying the works of others, and
praising himself and his own works to the skies. These methods,
which displeased most people and likewise certain craftsmen, brought
upon him such odium, that Tasso and many others, who from being his
friends had become his enemies, began to give him cause for thought
and for action.
For, although they praised the excellence of the art that was in
him, and the facility and rapidity with which he executed his works
so well and with such unity, they were not at a loss, on the other
hand, for something to censure. And since, if they had allowed him
to gain a firm footing and to settle his affairs, they would not
have been able afterwards to hinder or hurt him, they began in good
time to give him trouble and to molest him. Whereupon many of the
craftsmen and others, banding themselves together and forming a
faction, began to disseminate among the people of importance a rumor
that Salviati's work was not succeeding, and that he was laboring by
mere skill of hand, and devoting no study to anything that he did.
In which, in truth, they accused him wrongly, for, although he never
toiled over the execution of his works, as they themselves did, yet
that did not mean that he did not study them and that his works had
not infinite grace and invention, or that they were not carried out
excellently well. Not being able to surpass his excellence with
their works,, those adversaries wished to overwhelm it with such
words and reproaches; but in the end truth and excellence have too
much force. At first Francesco made light of such rumors, but later,
perceiving that they were growing beyond all reason, he complained
of it many times to the Duke. But, since it began to be seen that
the Duke, to all appearance, was not showing him such favours as he
would have liked, and it seemed that his Excellency cared nothing
for those complaints, Francesco began to fall from his position in
such a manner, that his adversaries, taking courage from that, sent
forth a rumor that his scenes in the hall were to be thrown to the
ground, because they did not give satisfaction and had in them no
particle of excellence. All these calumnies, which were pressed
against him with incredible envy and malice by his adversaries, had
reduced Francesco to such a state, that, if it had not been for the
goodness of Messer Lelio Torelli, Messer Pasquino Bertini, and
others of his friends, he would have retreated before them, which
was exactly what they desired.
But the above-named friends, exhorting him continually to finish
the work of the hall and others that he had in hand, restrained him,
even as was done by many other friends not in Florence, to whom he
wrote of these persecutions. And Giorgio Vasari, among others,
answering a letter that Salviati wrote to him on the matter,
exhorted him always to have patience, because excellence is refined
by persecution as gold by fire; adding that a time was about to come
when his art and his genius would be recognized, and that he should
complain of no one but himself, in that he did not yet know men's
humors, and how the people and the craftsmen of his own country were
made. Thus, notwithstanding all these contradictions and
persecutions that poor Francesco suffered, he finished that hall
namely, the work that he had undertaken to execute in fresco on the
walls, for the reason that on the ceiling, or rather, soffit, there
was no need for him to do any painting, since it was so richly
carved and all overlaid with gold, that among works of that kind
there is none more beautiful to be seen. And as a finish to the
whole the Duke caused two new windows of glass to be made, with his
devices and arms and those of Charles V; and nothing could be better
in that kind of work than the manner in which they were executed by
Battista del Borro, an Aretine painter excellent in that field of
art.
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Francesco Salviati (1510-1563)
Part Three
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Charity. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
After that, Francesco painted for his Excellency the ceiling of
the hall where he dines in winter, with many devices and little
figures in distemper; and a most beautiful study which opens out
over the Green Chamber. He made portraits, likewise, of some of the
Duke's children; and one year, for the Carnival, he executed in the
Great Hall the scenery and prospect-view for a comedy that was
performed, and that with such beauty and in a manner so different
from those that had been done in Florence up to that time, that they
were judged to be superior to them all. Nor is this to be marvelled
at, since it is very certain that Francesco was always in all his
works full of judgment, and well- varied and fertile in invention,
and, what is more, he had a perfect knowledge of design, and had a
more beautiful manner than any other painter in Florence at that
time, and handled colours with great skill and delicacy. He also
made a head, or rather, a portrait, of Signer Giovanni de' Medici,
the father of Duke Cosimo, which was very beautiful; and it is now
in the guardaroba of the same Lord Duke. For Cristofano Rinieri, who
was much his friend, he painted a most beautiful picture of Our
Lady, which is now in the Udienza della Decima. For Ridolfo Landi he
executed a picture of Charity, which could not be more lovely than
it is; and for Simone Corsi, likewise, he painted a picture of Our
Lady, which was much extolled. For M. Donato Acciaiuoli, a knight of
Rhodes, with whom he always maintained a particular intimacy, he
executed certain little pictures that are very beautiful. And he
also painted in an altarpiece Christ showing to S. Thomas, who would
not believe that He had newly risen from the dead, the marks of the
blows and wounds that He had received from the Jews; which
altarpiece was taken by Tommaso Guadagni into France, and placed in
the Chapel of the Florentines in a church at Lyons.
Francesco also depicted at the request of the above-named
Cristofano Rinieri and of Maestro Giovanni Rosto, the Flemish master
of tapestry, the whole story of Tarquinius and the Roman Lucretia in
many cartoons, which, being afterwards put into execution in
tapestries woven in silk, floss-silk, and gold, proved to be a
marvellous work. Which hearing, the Duke, who was at that time
having similar tapestries, all in silk and gold, made in Florence by
the same Maestro Giovanni for the Sala de' Dugento, and had caused
cartoons with the stories of the Hebrew Joseph to be executed by
Bronzino and Pontormo, as has been related, commanded that Francesco
also should make a cartoon, which was that with the interpretation
of the dream of the seven fat and seven lean kine. Into that cartoon
Francesco put all the diligence that could possibly be devoted to
such a work, and that is required for pictures that are to be woven;
for there must be fantastic inventions and variety of composition in
the figures, and these must stand out one from another, so that they
may have strong relief, and they must come out bright in coloring
and rich in the costumes and vestments. That piece of tapestry and
the others having turned out well, his Excellency resolved to
establish the art in Florence, and caused it to be taught to some
boys, who, having grown to be men, are now executing most excellent
works for the Duke.
Francesco also executed a most beautiful picture of Our Lady,
likewise in oils, which is now in the chamber of Messer Alessandro,
the son of M. Ottaviano de' Medici. For the above-named M. Pasquino
Bertini he painted on canvas yet another picture of Our Lady, with
Christ and S. John as little children, who are smiling over a parrot
that they have in their hands; which was a very pleasing and
fanciful work. And for the same man he made a most beautiful design
of a Crucifix, about one braccio high, with a Magdalene at the foot,
in a manner so new and so pleasing that it is a marvel; which design
M. Salvestro Bertini lent to Girolamo Razzi, his very dear friend,
who is now Don Silvano, and two pictures were painted from it by
Carlo of Loro, who has since executed many others, which are
dispersed about Florence.
Giovanni and Piero d'Agostino Dini had erected in S. Croce, on
the right hand as one enters by the central door, a very rich chapel
of grey sandstone and a tomb for Agostino and others of their
family; and they gave the commission for the altarpiece of that
chapel to Francesco, who painted in it Christ taken down from the
Cross by Joseph of Arimath^ea and Nicodemus, and at the foot the
Madonna in a swoon, with Mary Magdalene, S. John, and the other
Maries. That altarpiece was executed by Francesco with so much art
and study, that not only the nude Christ is very beautiful, but all
the other figures likewise are well disposed and coloured with
relief and force; and although at first the picture was cen- sured
by Francesco's adversaries, nevertheless it won him a great name
with men in general, and those who have painted others after him out
of emulation have not surpassed him. The same Francesco, before he
departed from Florence, painted the portrait of the above-mentioned
M. Lelio Torelli, and some other works of no great importance, of
which I know not the particulars. But, among other things, he
brought to completion a design of the Conversion of S. Paul that he
had drawn long before in Rome, which is very beautiful; and he had
it engraved on copper in Florence by Enea Vico of Parma, and the
Duke was content to retain him in Florence until that should be
done, with his usual salary and allowances. During that time, which
was in the year 1548, Giorgio Vasari being at Rimini in order to
execute in fresco and in oils the works of which we have spoken in
another place, Francesco wrote him a long letter, informing him in
exact detail how his affairs were passing in Florence, and, in
particular, that he had made a design for the principal chapel of S.
Lorenzo, which was to be painted by order of the Lord Duke, but that
with regard to that work infinite mischief had been done against him
with his Excellency, and, among other things, that he held it almost
as certain that M. Pier Francesco, the major-domo, had not presented
his design, so that the work had been allotted to Pontormo. And
finally he said that for these reasons he was returning to Rome,
much dissatisfied with the men and the craftsmen of his native
country.
Having thus returned to Rome, he bought a house near the Palace
of Cardinal Farnese, and, while he was occupying himself with
executing some works of no great importance, he received from that
Cardinal, through M. Annibale Caro and Don Giulio Clovio, the
commission to paint the Chapel of the Palace of S. Giorgio, in which
he executed an ornament of most beautiful compartments in stucco,
and a vaulting in fresco with stories of S. Laurence and many
figures, full of grace, and on a panel of stone, in oils, the
Nativity of Christ, introducing into that work, which was very
beautiful, the portrait of the above-named Car- dinal. Then, having
another work allotted to him in the above-men- tioned Company of the
Misericordia (where Jacopo del Conte had painted the Preaching and
the Baptism of S. John, in which, although he had not surpassed
Francesco, he had acquitted himself very well, and where some other
works had been executed by the Venetian Battista Franco and by Pirro
Ligorio), Francesco painted, on that part that is exactly beside his
own picture of the Visitation, the Nativity of S. John, which,
although he executed it excellently well, was nevertheless not equal
to the first. At the head of that Company, likewise, he painted for
M. Bartolommeo Bussotti two very beautiful figures in fresco S.
Andrew and S. Bartholomew, the Apostles which are one on either side
of the altar-piece, wherein is a Deposition from the Cross by the
hand of the same Jacopo del Conte, which is a very good picture and
the best work that he had ever done up to that time. In the year
1550, Julius III having been elected Supreme Pontiff, Francesco
painted some very beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro for the arch that
was erected above the steps of S. Pietro, among the festive prepara-
tions for the coronation. And then, in the same year, a sepulchre
with many steps and ranges of columns having been made in the
Minerva by the Company of the Sacrament, Francesco painted upon it
some scenes and figures in terretta, which were held to be very
beautiful. In a chapel of S. Lorenzo in Damaso he executed two
Angels in fresco that are holding a canopy, the design of one of
which is in our book. In the refectory of S. Salvatore del Lauro at
Monte Giordano, on the principal wall, he painted in fresco, with a
great number of figures, the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, at which
Jesus Christ turned water into wine; and at the sides some Saints,
with Pope Eugenius IV, who belonged to that Order, and other
founders. Above the door of that refectory, on the inner side, he
painted a picture in oils of S. George killing the Dragon, and he
executed that whole work with much mastery, finish, and charm of
coloring. About the same time he sent to Florence, for M. Alamanno
Salviati, a large picture in which are Adam and Eve beside the Tree
of Life in the Earthly Paradise, eating the Forbidden Fruit, which
is a very beautiful work.
For Signor Ranuccio, Cardinal Sant' Agnolo, of the House of
Farnese, Francesco painted with most beautiful fantasy two walls in
the hall that is in front of the great hall in the Farnese Palace.
On one wall he depicted Signor Ranuccio the Elder receiving from
Eugenius IV his baton as Captain-General of Holy Church, with some
Virtues, and on the other Pope Paul III, of the Farnese family, who
is giving the baton of the Church to Signor Pier Luigi, while there
is seen approaching from a distance the Emperor Charles V,
accompanied by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and by other lords
portrayed from life ; and on that wall, besides the things described
above and many others, he painted a Fame and a number of other
figures, which are executed very well. It is true, indeed, that the
work received its final completion, not from him, but from Taddeo
Zucchero of Sant' Agnolo, as will be related in the proper place. He
gave completion and proportion to the Chapel of the Popolo, which
Fra Sebastiano Veneziano had formerly begun for Agostino Chigi, but
had not finished; and Francesco finished it, as has been described
in the Life of Fra Sebastiano. For Cardinal Riccio of Montepulciano
he painted a most beautiful hall in his Palace in the Strada Giulia,
where he executed in fresco various pictures with many stories of
David; and, among others, one of Bathsheba bathing herself in a
bath, with many other women, while David stands gazing at her, is a
scene very well composed and full of grace, and as rich in invention
as any other that there is to be seen. In another picture is the
Death of Uriah, in a third the Ark, before which go many musical
instruments, and finally, after some others, a battle that is being
fought between David and his enemies, very well composed. And, to
put it briefly, the work of that hall is all full of grace, of most
beautiful fantasies, and of many fanciful and ingenious inventions;
the distribution of the parts is done with much consideration, and
the coloring is very pleasing. To tell the truth, Francesco, feeling
himself bold and fertile in invention, and having a hand obedient to
his brain, would have liked always to have on his hands works large
and out of the ordinary. And for no other reason was he strange in
his dealings with his friends, save only for this, that, being
variable and in certain things not very stable, what pleased him one
day he hated the next; and he did few works of importance without
having in the end to contend about the price, on which account he
was avoided by many.
After these works, Andrea Tassini, having to send a painter to
the King of France, in the year 1554 sought out Giorgio Vasari, but
in vain, for he said that not for any salary, however great, or
promises, or expectations, would he leave the service of his lord,
Duke Cosimo; and finally Andrea came to terms with Francesco and
took him to France, undertaking to recompense him in Rome if he were
not satisfied in France. Before Francesco departed from Rome, as if
he thought that he would never return, he sold his house, his
furniture, and every other thing, excepting the offices that he
held. But the venture did not succeed as he had expected, for the
reason that, on arriving in Paris, where he was received kindly and
with many courtesies by M. Francesco Primaticcio, painter and
architect to the King, and Abbot of S. Martin, he was straightway
recognized, so it is said, as the strange sort of man that he was,
for he saw no work either by Rosso or by any other master that he
did not censure either openly or in some subtle way. Everyone
therefore expecting some great work from him, he was set by the
Cardinal of Lorraine, who had sent for him, to execute some pictures
in his Palace at Dampierre. Whereupon, after making many designs,
finally he set his hand to the work, and executed some pictures with
scenes in fresco over the cornices of chimney-pieces, and a little
study full of scenes, which are said to have shown great mastery;
but, whatever may have been the reason, these works did not win him
much praise. Besides that, Francesco was never much liked there,
because he had a nature altogether opposed to that of the men of
that country, where, even as those merry and jovial men are liked
and held dear who live a free life and take part gladly in
assemblies and banquets, so those are, I do not say shunned, but
less liked and welcomed, who are by nature, as Francesco was,
melancholy, abstinent, sickly, and cross-grained. For some things he
might have deserved to be excused, since his habit of body would not
allow him to mix himself up with banquets and with eating and
drinking too much, if only he could have been more agreeable in
conversation. And, what was worse, whereas it was his duty,
according to the custom of that country and that Court, to show
himself and pay court to others, he would have liked, and thought
that he deserved, to be himself courted by everyone.
In the end, the King being occupied with matters of war, and
likewise the Cardinal, and himself being disappointed of his salary
and promised benefits, Francesco, after having been there twenty
months, resolved to return to Italy. And so he made his way to
Milan, where he was courteously received by the Chevalier Leone
Aretino in the house that he has built for himself, very ornate and
all filled with statues ancient and modern, and with figures cast in
gesso from rare works, as will be told in another place; and after
having stayed there a fortnight and rested himself, he went on to
Florence. There he found Giorgio Vasari and told him how well he had
done not to go to France, giving him an account that would have
driven the desire to go there, no matter how great, out of anyone.
From Florence he returned to Rome, and there entered an action
against those who had guaranteed his allowances from the Cardinal of
Lorraine, and compelled them to pay him in full; and when he had
received the money he bought some offices, in addition to others
that he held before, with a firm resolve to look after his own life,
knowing that he was not in good health and that he had wholly ruined
his constitution. Notwithstanding that, he would have liked to be
employed in great works ; but in this he did not succeed so readily,
and he occupied himself for a time with executing pictures and
portraits.
Pope Paul IV having died, Pius was elected, likewise the Fourth
of that name, who, much delighting in building, availed himself of
Pirro Ligorio in matters of architecture; and his Holiness ordained
that Cardinals Alessandro Farnese and Emulio should cause the Great
Hall, called the Hall of Kings, to be finished by Danielle da
Volterra, who had begun it. That very reverend Farnese did his
utmost to obtain the half of that work for Francesco, and in
consequence there was a long contention between Danielle and
Francesco, particularly because Michel - agnolo Buonarroti exerted
himself in favor of Daniello, and for a time they arrived at no
conclusion. Meanwhile, Vasari having gone with Cardinal Giovanni de'
Medici, the son of Duke Cosimo, to Rome, Francesco related to him
his many difficulties, and in particular that in which, for the
reasons just given, he then found himself; and Giorgio, who much
loved the excellence of the man, showed him that up to that time he
had managed his affairs very badly, and that for the future he
should let him (Vasari) manage them, for he would so contrive that
in one way or another the half of that Hall of Kings would fall to
him to execute, which Daniello was not able to finish by himself,
being a slow and irresolute person, and almost certainly not as able
and versatile as Francesco. Matters standing thus, and nothing more
being done for the moment, not many days afterwards Giorgio himself
was requested by the Pope to paint part of that Hall, but he
answered that he had one three times larger to paint in the Palace
of his master, Duke Cosimo, and, in addition, that he had been so
badly treated by Pope Julius III, for whom he had executed many
labours in the Vigna on the Monte and elsewhere, that he no longer
knew what to expect from certain kinds of men; adding that he had
painted for the Palace of the same Pontiff, without being paid, an
altar-piece of Christ calling Peter and Andrew from their nets on
the Sea of Tiberias (which had been taken away by Pope Paul IV from
a chapel that Julius had built over the corridor of the Belvedere,
and which was to be sent to Milan), and that his Holiness should
cause it to be either paid for or restored to him. To which the Pope
said in answer and whether it was true or not, I do not know that he
knew nothing of that altarpiece, but wished to see it; whereupon it
was sent for, and, after his Holiness had seen it, but in a bad
light, he was content that it should be restored.
The discussion about the Hall being then resumed, Giorgio told
the Pope frankly that Francesco was the first and best painter in
Rome, that his Holiness would do well to employ him, since no one
could serve him better, and that, although Buonarroti and the
Cardinal of Carpi favored Daniello, they did so more from the motive
of friendship, and perhaps out of animosity, than for any other
reason. But to return to the altarpiece; Giorgio had no sooner left
the Pope than he sent it to the house of Francesco, who afterwards
had it taken to Arezzo, where, as we have related in another place,
it has been deposited by Vasari with a rich, costly, and handsome
ornament, in the Pieve of that city. The affairs of the Hall of
Kings remaining in the condition that has been described above, when
Duke Cosimo departed from Siena in order to go to Rome, Vasari, who
had gene as far as that with his Excellency, recommended Salviati
warmly to him, beseeching him to make interest on his behalf with
the Pope, and to Francesco he wrote as to all that he was to do when
the Duke had arrived in Rome. In all which Francesco departed in no
way from the advice given him by Giorgio, for he went to do
reverence to the Duke, and was welcomed by his Excellency with an
aspect full of kindness, and shortly afterwards so much was said to
his Holiness on his behalf, that the half of the above-mentioned
Hall was allotted to him. Setting his hand to the work, before doing
any other thing he threw to the ground a scene that had been begun
by Daniello; on which account there were afterwards many contentions
between them. The Pontiff was served in matters of architecture, as
has been already related, by Pirro Ligorio, who at first had much
favored Francesco, and would have continued to favor him; but
Francesco paying no more attention either to Pirro or to any other
after he had begun to work, this was the reason that Ligorio, from
being his friend, became in a certain sort his adversary, and of
this very manifest signs were seen, for Pirro began to say to the
Pope that since there were many young painters of ability in Rome,
and he wished to have that Hall off his hands, it would be a good
thing to allot one scene to each of them, and thus to see it
finished once and for all.
These proceedings of Pirro' s, to which it was evident that the
Pope was favorable, so displeased Francesco, that in great disdain
he retired from the work and all the contentions, considering that
he was held in little estimation. And so, mounting his horse and not
saying a word to anyone, he went off to Florence, where, like the
strange creature that he was, without giving a thought to any of the
friends that he had there, he took up his abode in an inn, as if he
did not belong to the place and had no acquaintance there nor anyone
who cared for him in any way. Afterwards, having kissed the hands of
the Duke, he was received with such kindness, that he might well
have looked for some good result, if only he had been different in
nature and had adhered to the advice' of Giorgio, who urged him to
sell the offices that he had in Rome and to settle in Florence, so
as to enjoy his native place with his friends and to avoid the
danger of losing, together with his life, all the fruits of his toil
and grievous labours. But Francesco, moved by sensitiveness and
anger, and by his desire to avenge himself, resolved that he would
at all costs return to Rome in a few days. Meanwhile, moving from
that inn at the entreaty of his friends, he retired to the house of
M. Marco Finale, the Prior of S. Apostolo, where he executed a Pieta
in colors on cloth of silver for M. Jacopo Salviati, as it were to
pass the time, with the Madonna and the other Maries, which was a
very beautiful work. He renewed in colors a medallion with the Ducal
arms, which he had made on a former occasion and placed over a door
in the Palace of Messer Alamanno. And for the above-named M. Jacopo
he made a most beautiful book of bizarre costumes and various
headdresses of men and horses for masquerades, for which he received
innumerable courtesies from the liberality of that lord, who
lamented the strange and eccentric nature of Francesco, whom he was
never able to attract into his house on this occasion, as he had
done at other times.
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LIFE OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO (1481-1559)
Part 1 of:
THE LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO AND GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, AND OF OTHER LOMBARDS
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IN THIS PART OF THE LIVES that we are about to write we shall
give a brief account of the best and most eminent painters,
sculptors, and architects who have lived in Lombardy in our time,
after Mantegna, Costa, Boccaccino of Cremona, and Francia of Bologna
; for I am not able to write the life of each in detail, and it
seems to me enough to enumerate their works. And even this I would
not have set myself to do, nor to give a judgment on those works, if
I had not first seen them; but since, from the year 1542 down to
this present year of 1566, I had not travelled, as I did before,
over almost the whole of Italy, nor seen the above-mentioned works
and the others that had appeared in great numbers during that period
of four-and-twenty years, I resolved, before writing of them, being
almost at the end of this my labor, to see them and judge of them
with my own eyes. Wherefore, after the conclusion of the
above-mentioned nuptials of the most illustrious Lord Don Francesco
de' Medici, Prince of Florence and Siena, my master, and of her
serene Highness Queen Joanna of Austria, on account of which I had
been much occupied for two years on the ceiling of the principal
hall of their Palace, I resolved, without sparing any expense or
fatigue, to revisit Rome, Tuscany, part of the March, Umbria,
Romagna, Lombardy, and Venice with all her domain, in order to
re-examine the old works and to see the many that have been executed
from the year 1542 onward. And so, having made a record of the works
that were most notable and most worthy to be put down in writing, in
order not to do wrong to the talents of many craftsmen or depart
from that sincere truthfulness which is expected from those who
write history of any kind, I shall proceed without bias of mind to
write down all that is wanting in any part of what has been already
written, without disturbing the order of the story, and then to give
an account of the works of some who are still living, and have
worked or are still working excellently well; for it appears to me
that so much is demanded by the merits of many rare and noble
craftsmen.
Let me begin, then, with the men of Ferrara. Benvenuto Garofalo
was born at Ferrara in the year 1481, to Piero Tisi, whose elders
had their origin in Padua. He was born, I say, so inclined to
painting, that, when still but a little boy, while going to school
to learn reading, he would do nothing but draw; from which exercise
his father, who looked on painting as a folly, sought to divert him,
but was never able. Wherefore that father, having seen that he must
second the inclination of that son of his, who would never do
anything day and night but draw, finally placed him with Domenico
Panetti, a painter of some repute at that time, although his manner
was dry and laboured, in Ferrara. With that Domenico Benvenuto had
been some little time, when, going once to Cremona, he happened to
see in the principal chapel of the Duomo in that city, among other
works by the hand of Boccaccio Boccaccino, a painter of Cremona, who
had painted the tribune there in fresco, a Christ seated on a throne
surrounded by four Saints, and giving the Benediction. Whereupon,
that work having pleased him, he placed himself by means of some
friends under Boccaccino, who was at that time executing in the same
church, likewise in fresco, some stories of the Madonna, as has been
said in his Life, in competition with the painter Altobello, who was
painting in the same church, opposite to Boccaccino, some stories of
Jesus Christ, which are very beautiful and truly worthy to be
praised.
Now, after Benvenuto had been two years in Cremona, and had made
much progress under the discipline of Boccaccino, he went off in the
year 1500, at the age of nineteen, to Rome, where, having placed
himself with Giovanni Baldini, a Florentine painter of passing good
skill, who possessed many very beautiful drawings by various
excellent masters, he was constantly practising his hand on those
drawings whenever he had time, and particularly at night. Then,
after he had been fifteen months with that master and had seen to
his great delight the works of Rome, he travelled for a time over
various parts of Italy, and finally made his way to Mantua. There he
stayed two years with the painter Lorenzo Costa, serving him with
such lovingness, that Lorenzo, after that period of two years, in
order to reward him, placed him in the service of Francesco Gonzaga,
Marquis of Mantua, for whom Costa himself was working. But Benvenuto
had not been long with the Marquis, when, his father Piero falling
ill in Ferrara, he was forced to return to that city, where he
stayed afterwards for four years together, executing many works by
himself alone, and some in company with the Dossi.
Then, in the year 1505, being sent for by Messer Geronimo
Sagrato, a gentleman of Ferrara, who was living in Rome, Benvenuto
returned there with the greatest willingness, and particularly from
a desire to see the miracles that were being related of Raffaello da
Urbino and of the Chapel of Julius painted by Buonarroti. But when
Benvenuto had arrived in Rome, he was struck with amazement, and
almost with despair, by seeing the grace and vivacity that the
pictures of Raffaello revealed, and the depth in the design of
Michelagnolo. Wherefore he cursed the manners of Lombardy, and that
which he had learned with so much study and effort at Mantua, and
right willingly, if he had been able, would he have purged himself
of all that knowledge; but he resolved, since there was no help for
it, that he would unlearn it all, and, after the loss of so many
years, change from a master into a disciple. And so he began to draw
from such works as were the best and the most difficult, and to
study with all possible diligence those greatly celebrated manners,
and gave his attention to scarcely any other thing for a period of
two whole years ; by reason of which he so changed his method,
transforming his bad manner into a good one, that notice was taken
of him by the craftsmen. And, what was more, he so went to work with
humility and every kind of loving service, that he became the friend
of Raffaello da Urbino, who, being very courteous and not
ungrateful, taught Benvenuto many things, and always assisted and
favoured him.
If Benvenuto had pursued his studies in Rome, without a doubt he
would have done things worthy of his beautiful genius; but he was
constrained, I know not by what cause, to return to his own country.
In taking leave of Raffaello, he promised that he would, as that
master advised him, return to Rome, where Raffaello assured him that
he would give him more than enough in the way of work, and that in
honourable undertakings. Having then arrived in Ferrara, Benvenuto
settled the affairs and despatched the business that had caused him
to return; and he was preparing himself to make his way back to
Rome, when the Lord Duke Alfonso of Ferrara set him to decorate a
little chapel in the Castle, in company with other Ferrarese
painters. That work finished, his departure was again delayed by the
great courtesy of M. Antonio Costabili, a Ferrarese gentleman of
much authority, who gave him an altar-piece to paint in oils for the
high-altar of the Church of S. Andrea; which finished, he was forced
to execute another for S. Bartolo, a convent of Cistercian Monks,
wherein he painted the Adoration of the Magi, which was beautiful
and much extolled. He then painted another for the Duomo, full of
figures many and various, and two others that were placed in the
Church of S. Spirito, in one of which is the Virgin in the air with
the Child in her arms, and some other figures below, and in the
other the Nativity of Jesus Christ.
In executing those works, remembering at times how he had turned
his back on Rome, he felt the bitterest regret; and he had resolved
at all costs to return thither, when, his father Piero's death
taking place, all his plans were broken off; for, finding himself
burdened with a sister ready for a husband and a brother fourteen
years of age, and his affairs in disorder, he was forced to compose
his mind and resign himself to live in his native place. And so,
after parting company with the Dossi, who had worked with him up to
that time, he painted by himself in the Church of S. Francesco, in a
little chapel, the Raising of Lazarus, a work filled with a variety
of good figures, and pleasant in colouring, with attitudes spirited
and vivacious, which brought him much commendation. In another
chapel in the same church he painted the Massacre of the Innocents,
cruelly done to death by Herod, so well and with such spirited
movements in the soldiers and other figures, that it was a marvel.
Very well depicted, in addition, are different expressions in the
great variety of heads, such as terror in the mothers and nurses,
death in the infants, and cruelty in the slayers, and many other
things, which gave infinite satisfaction. It is worthy of remark
that in executing that work Benvenuto did a thing that up to that
time had never been done in Lombardy namely, he made models of clay,
the better to see the shadows and lights, and availed himself of a
figure-model made of wood, jointed in such a way that the limbs
moved in every direction, which he arranged as he wished, in various
attitudes, with draperies over it. But what is most important is
that he copied every least detail from life and nature, as one who
knew that the true way is to observe and imitate the reality. For
the same church he executed the altarpiece of a chapel; and on a
wall he painted in fresco Christ taken by the multitude in the
Garden.
For S. Domenico, in the same city, he painted two altarpieces in
oils; in one is the Miracle of the Cross and S. Helen, and in the
other is S. Peter Martyr with a good number of very beautiful
figures, wherein it is evident that Benvenuto departed considerably
from his first manner, making it bolder and less laboured. For the
Nuns of S. Salvestro he painted an altar picture of Christ praying
to His Father on the Mount, while the three Apostles are lower down,
sleeping. For the Nuns of S. Gabriello he executed an Annunciation,
and for those of S. Antonio, in the altarpiece of their high altar,
the Resurrection of Christ. For the high altar of the Frati
Ingesuati, in the Church of S. Girolamo, he painted Jesus Christ in
the Manger, with a choir of Angels on a cloud, held to be very
beautiful. In S. Maria del Vado, in an altarpiece by the same hand,
very well conceived and colored, is Christ ascending into Heaven,
with the Apostles standing in contemplation of Him. For the Church
of S. Giorgio, a seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, without the
city, he painted an altarpiece in oils of the Magi adoring Christ
and offering to Him myrrh, incense, and gold; and this is one of the
best works that Benvenuto ever executed in all his life.
All these works much pleased the people of Ferrara, by reason of
which he executed pictures almost without number for their houses,
and many others for monasteries and for the townships and villas
round about the city; and, among others, he painted the Resurrection
of Christ in an altarpiece for Bondeno. And, finally, he executed in
fresco with beautiful and fantastic invention, in the Refectory of
S. Andrea, many figures that are bringing the Old Testament into
accord with the New. But, since the works of this master are
numberless, let it be enough to have spoken of those that are the
best.
Girolamo da Carpi having received his first instructions in
painting from Benvenuto, as will be related in his Life, they
painted in company the facade of the house of the Muzzarelli, in the
Borgo Nuovo, partly in chiaroscuro and partly in colors, with some
things done in imitation of bronze. They painted together, likewise,
both within and without, the Palace of Coppara, a place of
recreation belonging to the Duke of Ferrara; for which lord
Benvenuto executed many other works, both by himself and in company
with other painters.
Then, having lived a long time in the determination that he would
not take a wife, in the end, after separating from his brother and
growing weary of living alone, at the age of forty-eight he took
one; but he had scarcely had her a year, when, falling grievously
ill, he lost the sight of his right eye, and was in fear and peril
of the other. However, having recommended himself to God and made a
vow that he would always dress in grey, as he afterwards did, by the
grace of God he preserved the sight of the other eye, insomuch that
the works executed by him at the age of sixty-five were so well
done, and with such diligence and finish, that it was a marvel.
Wherefore on one occasion, when the Duke of Ferrara showed to Pope
Paul III a Triumph of Bacchus in oils, five braccia in length, and
the Calumny of Apelles, painted by Benvenuto at that age after the
designs of Raffaello da Urbino, which pictures are now over certain
chimney-pieces belonging to his Excellency, that Pontiff was struck
with astonishment that an old man of such an age, with only one eye,
should have executed works so large and so beautiful.
On every feast-day for twenty whole years Benvenuto worked for
the love of God in the Convent of the Nuns of S. Bernardino, where
he executed many works of importance in oils, in distemper, and in
fresco; which was certainly a marvellous thing, and a great proof of
his true and good nature, for in that place he had no competition,
and nevertheless put no less study and diligence into his labour
than he would have done at any other more frequented place. Those
works are passing good in composition, with beautiful expressions in
the heads, not confused, and executed in a truly sweet and good
manner.
For all the disciples that Benvenuto had, although he taught them
everything that he knew with no ordinary willingness, in order to
make some of them excellent masters, he never had any success with a
single one of them, and, in place of being rewarded by them for his
lovingness at least with gratitude of heart, he never received
anything from them save vexations; wherefore he used to say that he
had never had any enemies but his own disciples and assistants. In
the year 1550, being now old, and the malady returning to his eye,
he became wholly blind, and he lived thus for nine years; which
misfortune he bore with a patient mind, resigning himself completely
to the will of God. Finally, when he had come to the age of
seventy-eight, thinking at last that he had lived too long in that
darkness, and rejoicing in death, in the hope of going to enjoy
eternal light, he finished the course of his life on the 6th of
September in the year 1559, leaving a son called Girolamo, who is a
very gentle person, and a daughter.
Benvenuto was a very honest creature, fond of a jest, pleasant in
his conversation, patient and calm in all his adversities. As a
young man he delighted in fencing and playing the lute, and in his
friendships he was loving beyond measure and prodigal with his
services. He was the friend of the painter Giorgione da
Castelfranco, Tiziano da Cadore, and Giulio Romano, and most
affectionate towards all the men of art in general; and to this I
can bear witness, for on the two occasions when I was at Ferrara in
his time I received from him innumerable favors and courtesies. He
was buried with honor in the Church of S. Maria del Vado, and was
celebrated in verse and prose by many choice spirits no less than
his talents deserved. But it has not been possible to obtain
Benvenuto's portrait, and therefore there has been placed at the
head of these Lives of the Lombard painters that of Girolamo da
Carpi, whose Life we are now about to write.
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LIFE OF GIROLAMO DA CARPI (1501-1556)
PAINTER OF FERRARA
Part 2 of:
THE LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO AND GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, AND OF OTHER LOMBARDS
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
GIROLAMO, then, called Da Carpi, who was a Ferrarese and a
disciple of Benvenuto, was employed at first by his father Tommaso,
who was a kind of house-painter, in his workshop, to paint
strong-boxes, stools, mouldings, and other suchlike commonplace
things. After Girolamo had made some proficience under the
discipline of Benvenuto, he began to think that he should be removed
by his father from those base labors; but Tommaso, as one who had
need of money, would do nothing of the kind, and Girolamo resolved
at all costs to leave him. And so he went to Bologna, where he
received no little favor from the gentlemen of that city; wherefore,
having made some portraits, which were passing good likenesses, he
acquired so much credit that he earned much money and assisted his
father more while living at Bologna than he had done when staying in
Ferrara. At that time there was brought to the house of the noble
Counts Ercolani at Bologna a picture by the hand of Antonio da
Correggio, in which Christ is appearing to Mary Magdalene in the
form of a gardener, executed with incredible softness and
excellence; and that manner so took possession of Girolamo's heart,
that, not content with having copied that picture, he went to Modena
to see the other works by the hand of Correggio.
Having arrived there, besides being filled with marvel at the sight
of them, one among them in particular struck him with amazement, and
that was the great picture, a divine work, in which is the Madonna,
with the Child in her arms marrying S. Catharine, a S. Sebastian,
and other figures, with an air of such beauty in the heads, that
they appear as if made in Paradise; nor is it possible to find more
beautiful hair, more lovely hands, or any coloring more pleasing and
natural. Having then received permission to copy it from the owner
of the picture, Messer Francesco Grillenzoni, a doctor, who was much
the friend of Correggio, Girolamo copied it with the greatest
diligence that it is possible to imagine. After that he did the same
with the altar-picture of S. Peter Martyr, which Correggio had
painted for a Company of Secular Priests, who hold it in very great
price, as it deserves, there being in it, in particular, besides
other figures, an Infant Christ in the lap of His Mother, who
appears as if breathing, and a most beautiful S. Peter Martyr; and
another little altarpiece by the same hand, painted for the Company
of S. Bastiano, and no less beautiful than the other. All these
works, thus copied by Girolamo, were the reason that he so improved
his manner, that it did not appear like his original manner, or in
any way the same thing.
From Modena Girolamo went to Parma, where he had heard that there
were some works by the same Correggio, and he copied some of the
pictures in the tribune of the Duomo, considering them extraordinary
works, particularly the beautiful foreshortening of the Madonna, who
is ascending into Heaven, surrounded by a multitude of Angels, with
the Apostles, who are standing gazing on her as she ascends, and
four Saints, Protectors of that city, who are in the niches S. John
the Baptist, who is holding a lamb; S. Joseph, the husband of Our
Lady; S. Bernardo degli Uberti the Florentine, a Cardinal and Bishop
of Florence; and another Bishop. Girolamo likewise studied the
figures by the hand of the same Correggio in the recess of the
principal chapel in S. Giovanni Evangelista namely, the Coronation
of the Madonna, with S. John the Evangelist, the Baptist, S.
Benedict, S. Placido, and a multitude of Angels who are about them;
and the marvellous figures that are in the Chapel of S. Gioseffo in
the Church of S. Sepolcro a divine example of panel painting.
Now, since it is inevitable that those who are pleased to follow
some particular manner, and who study it with lovingness, should
acquire it at least, in some degree (whence it also happens that
many become more excellent than their masters) Girolamo caught not a
little of Correggio's manner; wherefore, after returning to Bologna,
he imitated him always, not studying any other thing but that manner
and that altarpiece by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino which we
mentioned as being in that city. And all these particulars I heard
from Girolamo da Carpi, who was much my friend, at Rome in the year
1550; and he lamented very often to me that he had consumed his
youth and his best years in Ferrara and Bologna, and not in Rome or
some other place, where, without a doubt, he would have made much
greater proficience. No little harm, also, did Girolamo suffer in
matters of art from his having given too much attention to amorous
delights and to playing the lute at the time when he might have been
making progress in painting.
Having returned, then, to Bologna, he made a portrait, among
others, of Messer Onofrio Bartolini, a Florentine, who was then in
that city for his studies, and afterwards became Archbishop of Pisa;
and that head, which is now in the possession of the heirs of that
Messer Noferi, is very beautiful and in a manner full of grace.
There was working in Bologna at this time a certain Maestro Biaglo,
a painter, who, perceiving that Girolamo was coming into good
repute, began to be afraid lest he might outstrip him and deprive
him of all his profits. Wherefore, seizing a good occasion, he
established a friendship with Girolamo, with the intention of
hindering him in his work, and became his intimate companion to such
purpose, that they began to work in company; and so they continued
for a while. This friendship was harmful to Girolamo, not only in
the matter of his earnings, but likewise with respect to art, for
the reason that he followed in the footsteps of Maestro Biagio (who
worked by rule of thumb, and took everything from the designs of one
master or another), and he, also, put no more diligence into his
pictures.
Now in the monastery of S. Michele in Bosco, without Bologna, a
certain Fra Antonio, a monk of that convent, had painted a S.
Sebastian of the size of life, besides executing an altarpiece in
oils for a convent of the same Order of Monte Oliveto at
Scaricalasino, and some figures in fresco in the Chapel of S.
Scholastica, in the garden of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, and Abbot
Ghiaccino, who had compelled him to stay that year in Bologna,
desired that he should paint the new sacristy of his church there.
But Fra Antonio, who did not feel it in him to do so great a work,
and perchance was not very willing to undergo such fatigue, as is
often the case with that kind of man, so contrived that the work was
allotted to Girolamo and Maestro Biagio, who painted it all in
fresco. In the compartments of the vaulting they executed some
little boys and Angels, and at the head, in large figures, the story
of the Transfiguration of Christ, availing themselves of the design
of that which Raff aello da Urbino painted for S. Pietro in Montorio
at Rome; and on the other walls they painted some Saints, in which,
to be sure, there is something of the good. But Girolamo, having
recognized that to stay in company with Maestro Biagio was not the
course for him, and, indeed, that it was his certain ruin, broke up
the partnership when that work was finished, and began to work for
himself.
The first work that he executed on his own account was an
altarpiece for the Chapel of S. Bastiano in the Church of S.
Salvadore, in which he acquitted himself very well. But then, having
heard of the death of his father, he returned to Ferrara, where for
a time he did nothing save some portraits and works of little
importance. Meanwhile, Tiziano Vecelli went to Ferrara to execute
certain things for Duke Alfonso, as will be related in his Life, in
a little closet, or rather, study, where Giovanni Bellini had
already painted some pictures, and Dosso a Bacchanal rout of men
which was so good, that, even if he had never done any other thing,
for that alone he would deserve praise and the name of an excellent
painter; and Girolamo, by means of Tiziano and others, began to have
dealings with the Court of the Duke. And so, as it were to give a
proof of his powers before he should do anything else, he copied the
head of Duke Ercole of Ferrara from one by the hand of Tiziano, and
counterfeited it so well, that it seemed the same as the original;
wherefore it was sent, as a work worthy of praise, into France.
Afterwards, having taken a wife and had children by her, sooner,
perchance, than he should have done, Girolamo painted in S.
Francesco at Ferrara, in the angles of the vaulting, the four
Evangelists in fresco, which were passing good figures. In the same
place he executed a frieze right round the church, which was a very
large and abundant work, being full of half-length figures and
little boys linked together in a very pleasing manner; and for that
church, also, he painted an altar picture of S. Anthony of Padua,
with other figures, and another altarpiece of Our Lady in the air
with two Angels, which was placed on the altar of Signora Giulia
Muzzarelli, whose portrait was executed very well therein by
Girolamo.
At Rovigo, in the Church of S. Francesco, the same master painted
the Holy Spirit appearing in Tongues of Fire, which was a work
worthy of praise for the composition and for the beauty of the
heads. At Bologna, for the Church of S. Martino, he painted an
altarpiece of the three Magi, with most beautiful heads and figures;
and at Ferrara, in company with Benvenuto Garofalo, as has been
related, the fagade of the house of Signor Battista Muzzarelli, and
also the Palace of Coppara, a villa of the Duke's, distant twelve
miles from Ferrara; and, again, in Ferrara, the fa$ade of Piero
Soncini in the Piazza near the Fishmarket, painting there the Taking
of Goletta by the Emperor Charles V. The same Girolamo painted for
S. Polo, a church of the Carmelite Friars in the same city, a little
altarpiece in oils of S. Jerome with two other Saints, of the size
of life; and for the Duke's Palace a great picture with a figure
large as life, representing Opportunity, and executed with beau-
tiful vivacity, movement and grace, and fine relief. He also painted
a nude Venus, life-size and recumbent, with Love beside her, which
was sent to Paris for King Francis of France; and I, who saw it at
Ferrara in the year 1540, can with truth affirm that it was very
beautiful. He also made a beginning with the decorations in the
Refectory of S. Giorgio, a seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto at
Ferrara, and executed a great part of them ; but he left the work
unfinished, and it has been completed in our own day by Pellegrino
Pellegrini, a painter of Bologna.
Now, if we were to seek to make particular mention of the
pictures that Girolamo executed for many lords and gentlemen, the
story would be longer than is our desire, and I shall speak of two
only, which are most beautiful. From a picture by the hand of
Correggio that the Chevalier Baiardo has at Parma, beautiful to a
marvel, in which Our Lady is putting a shirt on the Infant Christ,
Girolamo made a copy so like it that it seems the very same picture,
and he made another copy from one by the hand of Parmigiano, which
is in the cell of the Vicar in the Certosa at Pavia, doing this so
well and with such diligence, that there is no miniature to be seen
that is wrought with more subtlety; and he executed innumerable
others with great care. And since Girolamo delighted in
architecture, and also gave his attention to it, in addition to many
designs of buildings that he made for private persons, he served in
that art, in particular, Cardinal Ippolito of Ferrara, who, having
bought the garden at Monte Cavallo in Rome which had formerly
belonged to the Cardinal of Naples, with many vineyards belonging to
individuals around it, took Girolamo to Rome, to the end that he
might serve him not only in the buildings, but also in the truly
regal ornaments of woodwork in that garden. In this he acquitted
himself so well, that everyone was struck with astonishment; and,
indeed, I know not what other man could have done better than he did
in executing in woodwork which has since been covered with most
beautiful verdure works so fine and so pleasingly designed in
various forms and in different kinds of temples, in which there may
now be seen arranged the richest and most beautiful ancient statues
that there are in Rome, some whole and some restored by Valerio
Cioli, a Florentine sculptor, and by others.
By these works Girolamo came into very great credit in Rome, and
in the year 1550 he was introduced by the above-named Cardinal, his
lord, who loved him dearly, into the service of Pope Julius III, who
made him architect over the works of the Belvedere, giving him rooms
in that place and a good salary. But, since that Pontiff could never
be satisfied in such matters, and, to make it worse, was hindered by
understanding very little of design, and would not have in the
evening a thing that had pleased him in the morning, and also
because Girolamo had to be always contending with certain old
architects, to whom it seemed strange to see a new man of little
reputation preferred to themselves, he resolved, having perceived
their envy and possible malignity, and also being rather cold by
nature than otherwise, to retire. And so he chose, as the better
course, to return to the service of the Cardinal at Monte Cavallo;
for which action Girolamo was much commended, for it is too wretched
a life to have to be always contending all day long and on every
least detail with one person or another, and, as he used to say, it
is at times better to enjoy peace of mind on bread and water than to
sweat and strive amid grandeur and honors. Wherefore, after Girolamo
had executed for his lord the Cardinal a very beautiful picture,
which, when I saw it, pleased me very much, being now weary, he
returned with him to Ferrara, to enjoy the peace of his home with
his wife and children, leaving the hopes and rewards of fortune in
the possession of his adversaries, who received from that Pope the
same as he had done, neither more nor less.
While he was living thus at Ferrara, a part of the Castle was
burned, I know not by what mischance, and Duke Ercole gave the
charge of restoring it to Girolamo, who did it very well, adorning
it as much as is possible in that district, which suffers from a
great dearth of stone wherewith to make carvings and ornaments; for
which he well deserved to be always held dear by that lord, who
rewarded him liberally for his labors. Finally, after having
executed these and many other works, Girolamo died in the year 1556,
at the age of fifty-five, and was buried in the Church of the
Angeli, beside his wife. He left two daughters, and also three sons,
Giulio, Annibale, and another.
Girolamo was a blithe spirit, very sweet and pleasing in his
conversation, and in his work somewhat slow and dilatory. He was of
middle stature, and he delighted beyond measure in music, and more
in the pleasures of love than was perhaps expedient. The buildings
of his patrons have been carried on since his death by the Ferrarese
architect Galasso, a man of the most beautiful genius, and of such
judgment in matters of architecture, that, in so far as may be seen
from the ordering of his designs, he would have demonstrated his
worth much more than he has done, if he had been employed in works
of importance.
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LIVES OF LOMBARD SCULPTORS AND PAINTERS
Part 3 of:
THE LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO AND GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, AND OF OTHER LOMBARDS)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
AN EXCELLENT SCULPTOR, and likewise a Ferrarese, has been Maestro
Girolamo, who, living at Recanati, has executed many works in marble
at Loreto after his master, Andrea Contucci [Sansovino], and has
made many of the ornaments round that Chapel or House of the
Madonna. This master since the departure from that place of Tribolo,
who was the last there, after he had finished the largest scene in
marble, which is at the back of the chapel, wherein are the Angels
carrying that house from Sclavonia into the forest of Loreto has
labored there continually from 1534 to the year 1560, executing many
works. The first of these was a seated figure of a Prophet of three
braccia and a half, which, being good and beautiful, was placed in a
niche that is turned towards the west; which statue, having given
satisfaction, was the reason that he afterwards made all the other
Prophets, with the exception of one, that facing towards the east on
the outer side, over against the altar, which is by the hand of
Simone Cioli of Settignano, likewise a disciple of Andrea Sansovino.
The rest of those Prophets, I say, are by the hand of Maestro
Girolamo, and are executed with much diligence and study and good
skill of hand.
For the Chapel of the Sacrament the same master has made the
candelabra of bronze about three braccia in height, covered with
foliage and figures cast in the round, which are so well wrought
that they are things to marvel at. And a brother of Maestro
Girolamo's, who is an able master in similar works of casting, has
executed many things in company with him at Rome, and in particular
a very large tabernacle of bronze for Pope Paul III, which was to be
placed in the chapel that is called the Pauline in the Palace of the
Vatican.
Among the Modenese, also, there have been at all times craftsmen
excellent in our arts, as has been said in other places, and as may
be seen from four panel pictures, of which no mention was made in
the proper place because the master was not known; which pictures
were executed in distemper a hundred years ago in that city, and,
for those times, they are painted with diligence and very beautiful.
The first is on the high altar of S. Domenico, and the others in the
chapels that are in the tramezzo of that church. And there is living
in the same country at the present day a painter called Niccolo, who
in his youth painted many works in fresco about the Beccherie, which
have no little beauty, and for the high altar of S. Piero, a seat of
the Black Friars, in an altarpiece, the Beheading of S. Peter and S.
Paul, imitating in the soldier who is cutting off their heads a
similar figure by the hand of Antonio da Correggio, much renowned,
which is in S. Giovanni Evangelista at Parma. Niccolo" has been more
excellent in fresco-painting than in the other fields of painting,
and, in addition to many works that he has executed at Modena and
Bologna, I understand that he has painted some very choice pictures
in France, where he still lives, under Messer Francesco Primaticcio,
Abbot of S. Martin, after whose designs Niccolo has painted many
works in those parts, as will be related in the Life of Primaticcio.
Giovan Battista, also, a rival of that Niccolo, has executed many
works in Rome and elsewhere, and in particular he has painted at
Perugia, in the Chapel of Signor Ascanio della Cornia, in S.
Francesco, many pictures of the life of S. Andrew the Apostle, in
which he has acquitted himself very well. In competition with the
above-named Niccolo, the Fleming Arrigo. a master of glass windows,
has painted in the same place an altarpiece in oils, containing the
story of the Magi, which would be beautiful enough if it were not
somewhat confused and overloaded with colours, which contlict with
one another and destroy all the gradation; but he has acquitted
himself better in a window of glass designed and painted by himself,
and executed for the Chapel of S. Bernardino in S. Lorenzo, in the
same city. Hut to return to Ciiovan Battista; having gone back after
the above-named works to Modena, he has executed in the same S.
Piero. for which Niccolo painted the altarpiece, two great scenes at
the sides, of the actions of S. Peter and S. Paul, in which he has
acquitted himself with no ordinary excellence.
In the same city of Modena there have also been some sculptors
worthy to be numbered among the good craftsmen, for, in addition to
Modanino, of whom mention has been made in another place, there has
been a master called Il Modena, who has executed most beautiful
works in figures of terracotta, of the size of life and even larger;
among others, those of a chapel in S. Domenico at Modena, and for
the centre of the dormitory of S. Piero (a monastery of Hlack
Friars, likewise in Modena), a Madonna, S. Benedict, S. Giustina,
and another Saint. To all these figures he has given so well the
colour of marble, that they appear as if truly of that stone; not to
mention that they all have beautiful expressions of countenance,
lovely draperies, and admirable proportions. The same master has
executed similar figures for the dormitory of S. Giovanni
Evangelista at Parma; and he has made a good number of figures in
the round and of the size of life for many niches on the outer side
of S. Benedetto at Mantua, in the facade and under the portico,
which are so fine that they have the appearance of marble.
In like manner Prospero iTemente, a sculptor of Modena, has been,
and still is, an able man in his profession, as is evident from the
tomb of Bishop Rangone, by his hand, in the Duomo of Reggio, wherein
is a seated statue of that prelate, as large as life, with two
little boys, all very well executed; which tomb he made at the
commission of Signor Ercole Rangone. In the Duomo of Parma,
likewise, in the vaults below, there is by the hand of Prospero the
tomb of the Blessed Bernardo degli Uberti, the Florentine, Cardinal
and Bishop of that city, which was finished in the year 1548, and
much extolled.
Parma, also, has had at various times many excellent craftsmen
and men of fine genius, as has been said above, for, besides one
Cristofano Castelli, who painted a very beautiful altarpiece for the
Duomo in the year 1499, and Francesco Mazzuoli [Parmigianino], whose
Life has been written, there have been many other able men in that
city. Mazzuoli, as has been related, executed certain works in the
Madonna della Steccata, but left that undertaking unfinished at his
death, and Giulio Romano, having made a coloured design on paper,
which may be seen in that place by everyone, directed that a certain
Michelagnolo Anselmi, a Sienese by origin, but a citizen of Parma by
adoption, being a good painter, should carry that cartoon into
execution, wherein is the Coronation of Our Lady. This he did
excellently w r ell, in truth, so that he well deserved that there
should be allotted to him a great niche one of four very large
niches that are in that temple opposite to that in which he had
executed the above-mentioned work after the design of Giulio.
Whereupon, setting his hand to this, he carried well on towards
completion there the Adoration of the Magi, with a good number of
beautiful figures, making on the flat arch, as was related before in
the Life of Mazzuoli, the Wise Virgins and the design of copper
rosettes; but, when about a third of that work remained for him to
do, he died, and so it was finished by Bernardo Soiaro of Cremona,
as we shall relate in a short time. By the hand of that Michelagnolo
is the Chapel of the Conception in S. Francesco, in the same city;
and a Celestial Glory in the Chapel of the Cross in S. Pier Martire.
Girolamo Mazzuoli, the cousin of Francesco, as has been told,
continuing the work in that Church of the Madonna, left unfinished
by his kinsman, painted an arch with the Wise Virgins and adorned it
with rosettes. Then, in the recess at the end, opposite to the
principal door he painted the Holy Spirit descending in Tongues of
Fire on the Apostles, and in the last of the flat arches the
Nativity of Jesus Christ, which, although not yet uncovered, he has
shown to us this year of 1566, to our great pleasure, since it is a
truly beautiful example of work in fresco.
The great central tribune of the same Madonna della Steccata,
which is being painted by Bernardo Soiaro, the painter of Cremona,
will also be, when finished, a rare work, and able to compare with
the others that are in that place. But of all these it cannot be
said that the cause has been any other than Francesco Mazzuoli, who
was the first who with beautiful judgment began the magnificent
ornamentation of that church, which, so it is said, was built after
the designs and directions of Bramante.
As for the masters of our arts in Mantua, besides what has been
said of them up to the time of Giulio Romano, I must say that he
sowed the seeds of his art in Mantua and throughout all Lombardy in
such a manner that there have been able men there ever since, and
his own works are every day more clearly recognized as good and
worthy of praise. And although Giovan Battista Bertano, the
principal architect for the buildings of the Duke of Mantua, has
constructed in the Castle, over the part where there are the waters
and the corridor, many apartments that are magnificent and richly
adorned with stucco-work and pictures, executed for the most part by
Fermo Ghisoni, the disciple of Giulio, and by others, as will be
related, nevertheless he has not equalled those made by Giulio
himself. The same Giovan Battista has caused Domenico Brusciasorzi
to execute after his design for S. Barbara, the church of the Duke's
Castle, an altarpiece in oils truly worthy to be praised, in which
is the Martyrdom of that Saint. And, in addition, having studied
Vitruvius, he has written and published a work on the Ionic volute,
showing how it should be turned, after that author; and at the
principal door of his house at Mantua he has placed a complete
column of stone, and the flat module of another, with all the
measurements of that Ionic Order marked, and also the palm, inch,
foot, and braccio of the ancients, to the end that whoever so
desires may be able to see whether those measurements are correct or
not. In the Church of S. Piero, the Duomo of Mantua,which was the
work and architecture of the above-named Giulio Romano, since in
renovating it he gave it a new and modern form, the same Bertano has
caused an altarpiece to be executed for each chapel by the hands of
various painters; and two of these he has had painted after his own
designs by the above-mentioned Fermo Ghisoni, one for the Chapel of
S. Lucia, containing that Saint and two children, and the other for
that of S. Giovanni Evangelista.
Another similar picture he caused to be executed by Ippolito
Costa of Mantua, in which is S. Agata with the hands bound and
between two soldiers, who are cutting and tearing away her breasts.
Battista d' Agnolo del Moro of Verona painted for the same Duomo, as
has been told, the altarpiece that is on the altar of S. Maria
Maddalena, and Girolamo Parmigiano that of S. Tecla. Paolo Farinato
of Verona Bertano commissioned to execute the altarpiece of S.
Martino, and the above-named Domenico Brusciasorzi that of S.
Margherita; and Giulio Campo of Cremona painted that of S.
Gieronimo. And one that was better than any other, although all are
very beautiful, in which is S. Anthony the Abbot beaten by the Devil
in the form of a woman, who tempts him, is by the hand of Paolo
Veronese. But of all the craftsmen of Mantua, that city has never
had a more able master in painting than Rinaldo, who was a disciple
of Giulio. By his hand is an altarpiece in S. Agnese in that city,
wherein is Our Lady in the air, with S. Augustine and S. Jerome,
which are very good figures; but him death snatched from the world
before his time.
In a very beautiful antiquarium and study made by Signer Cesare
Gonzaga, which is full of ancient statues and heads of marble, that
lord has had the genealogical tree of the House of Gonzaga painted,
in order to adorn it, by Fermo Ghisoni, who has acquitted himself
very well in everything, and especially in the expressions of the
heads. The same Signer Cesare has placed there, in addition, some
pictures that are certainly very rare, such as that of the Madonna
with the Cat which Raffaello da Urbino painted, and another wherein
Our Lady with marvellous grace is washing the Infant Jesus. In
another little cabinet made for medals, which has been beautifully
wrought in ebony and ivory by one Francesco da Volterra, who has no
equal in such works, he has some little antique figures in bronze,
which could not be more beautiful than they are.
In short, between the last time that I saw Mantua and this year
of 1566, when I have revisited that city, it has become so much more
beautiful and ornate, that, if I had not seen it for myself, I would
not believe it; and, what is more, the craftsmen have multiplied
there, and they still continue to multiply. Thus, to that Giovan
Battista Mantovano, an excellent sculptor and engraver of prints, of
whom we have spoken in the Life of Giulio Romano and in that of
Marc' Antonio Bolognese, have been born two sons, who engrave
copper-plates divinely well, and, what is even more astonishing, a
daughter, called Diana, who also engraves so well that it is a thing
to marvel at; and I who saw her, a very gentle and gracious girl,
and her works, which are most beautiful, was struck with amazement.
Nor will I omit to say that in S. Benedetto, a very celebrated
monastery of Black Friars at Mantua, renovated by Giulio Romano
after a most beautiful design, are many works executed by the
above-named craftsmen of Mantua and other Lombards, in addition to
those described in the Life of the same Giulio. There are, then,
works by Fermo Ghisoni, such as a Nativity of Christ, two
altarpieces by Girolamo Mazzuoli, three by Lattanzio Gambara of
Brescia, and three others by Paolo Veronese, which are the best. In
the same place, at the head of the refectory, by the hand of a
certain Fra Girolamo, a lay-brother of S. Dominic, as has been
related elsewhere, is a picture in oils which is a copy of the very
beautiful Last Supper that Leonardo painted in S. Maria delle Grazie
at Milan, and copied so well, that I was amazed by it. Of which
circumstance I make mention again very willingly, having seen
Leonardo's original in Milan, this year of 1566, reduced to such a
condition, that there is nothing to be seen but a mass of confusion
; wherefore the piety of that good father will always bear testimony
in that respect to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. By the hand of
the same monk I have seen in the above-named house of the Mint, at
Milan, a picture copied from one by Leonardo, in which are a woman
that is smiling and S. John the Baptist as a boy, counterfeited very
well.
Cremona, as was said in the Life of Lorenzo di Credi and in other
places, has had at various times men who have executed in painting
works worthy of the highest praise. And we have already related that
when Boccaccio Boccaccino was painting the great recess of the Duomo
at Cremona and the stories of Our Lady throughout the church,
Bonifazio Bembi was also a good painter, and Altobello executed in
fresco many stories of Jesus Christ with much more design than have
those of Boccaccino. After these works Altobello painted in fresco a
chapel in S. Agostino of the same city, in a manner full of beauty
and grace, as may be seen by everyone. At Milan, in the Corte
Vecchia that is, the courtyard, or rather, piazza of the Palace he
painted a standing figure armed in the ancient fashion, much better
than any of the others that were executed there by many painters
about the same time. After the death of Bonifazio, who left
unfinished the above-mentioned stories of Christ in the Duomo of
Cremona, Giovanni Antonio Licinio of Pordenone, called in Cremona
De' Sacchi, finished those stories begun by Bonifazio, painting
there in fresco five scenes of the Passion of Christ with a grand
manner in the figures, bold coloring, and foreshortenings that have
vivacity and force; all which things taught the good method of
painting to the Cremonese, and not in fresco only, but likewise in
oils, for the reason that in the same Duomo, placed against a
pilaster in the center of the church, is an altarpiece by the hand
of Pordenone that is very beautiful. Camillo, the son of Boccaccino,
afterwards imitated that manner in painting in fresco the principal
chapel of S. Gismondo, without the city, and in other works, and so
succeeded much better than his father had done. That Camillo,
however, being slow and even dilatory in his work, did not paint
much save small things and works of little importance.
But he who imitated most the good manners, and who profited most
by the competition of the above-named masters, was Bernardo de'
Gatti, called II Soiaro, of whom mention has been made in speaking
of Parma. Some say that he was of Verzelli, and others of Cremona;
but, wherever he may have come from, he painted a very beautiful
altarpiece for the high altar of S. Piero, a church of the Canons
Regular, and in their refectory the story of the miracle that Jesus
Christ performed with the five loaves and two fishes, satisfying an
infinite multitude, although he retouched it so much "a secco," that
it has since lost all its beauty. That master also executed under a
vault in S. Gismondo, without Cremona, the Ascension of Jesus Christ
into Heaven, which was a pleasing work and very beautiful in
coloring. In the Church of S. Maria di Campagna at Piacenza, in
competition with Pordenone and opposite to the S. Augustine that has
been mentioned, he painted in fresco a S. George in armor and on
horseback, who is killing the Serpent, with spirit, movement, and
excellent relief. That done, he was commissioned to finish the
tribune of that church, which Pordenone had left unfinished, wherein
he painted in fresco all the life of the Madonna; and although the
Prophets and Sibyls that Pordenone executed there, with some
children, are beautiful to a marvel, nevertheless Soiaro acquitted
himself so well, that the whole of that work appears as if all by
one and the same hand. In like manner, some little altarpieces that
he has executed at Vigevano are worthy of considerable praise for
their excellence. Finally, after he had betaken himself to Parma to
work in the Madonna della Steccata, the great niche and the arch
that were left incomplete through the death of Michelagnolo of Siena
were finished by the hands of Soiaro. And to him, from his having
acquitted himself well, the people of Parma have since given the
charge of painting the great tribune that is in the centre of that
church, where he is now constantly occupied in executing in fresco
the Assumption of Our Lady, which, it is hoped, is to prove a most
admirable work.
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SOFONISBA ANGUISCIUOLA and OTHERS
Part 4 of:
THE LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO and GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, and OF OTHER LOMBARDS
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
While Boccaccino was still alive, but old, Cremona had another
painter, called Galeazzo Campo, who painted the Rosary of the
Madonna in a large chapel in the Church of S. Domenico, and the
fagade at the back of S. Francesco, with other works and altarpieces
by his hand that are in Cremona, all passing good. To him were born
three sons, Giulio, Antonio, and Vincenzio; but Giulio, although he
learned the first rudiments of art fron his father Galeazzo,
nevertheless afterwards followed the manner of Soiaro, as being
better, and studied much from some canvases executed in colours at
Rome by the hand of Francesco Sal- viati, which were painted for the
weaving of tapestries, and sent to Piacenza to Duke Pier Luigi
Farnese. The first works that this Giulio executed in his youth at
Cremona were four large scenes in the choir of the Church of S.
Agata, containing the martyrdom of that virgin, which proved to be
such, that a well-practised master might perhaps not have done them
so well. Then, after executing some works in S. Margherita, he
painted many faades of palaces in chiaroscuro, with good design. For
the Church of S. Gismondo, without the city, he painted in oils the
altarpiece of the high-altar, which was very beautiful on account of
the diversity and multitude of the figures that he executed in it,
in competition with the many painters who had worked in that place
before him. After the altarpiece he painted there many things in
fresco on the vaulting, and in particular the Descent of the Holy
Spirit on the Apostles, who are foreshortened to be seen from below,
with beautiful grace and great artistry. At Milan, for the Church of
the Passione, a convent of Canons Regular, he painted a Christ
Crucified on a panel in oils, with some Angels, the Madonna, S. John
the Evangelist, and the other Maries. In the Nunnery of S. Paolo, a
convent also in Milan, he executed four scenes, with the Conversion
and other acts of that Saint. In that work he was assisted by
Antonio Campo, his brother, who also painted for the Nunnery of S.
Caterina at the Porta Ticinese, likewise in Milan, for a chapel in
the new church, the architecture of which is by Lombardino, a
picture in oils of S. Helen directing the search for the Cross of
Christ, which is a passing good work. And Vincenzio, likewise, the
third of those three brothers, having learned much from Giulio, as
Antonio has also done, is a young man of excellent promise.
To the same Giulio Campo have been disciples not only his two
above-named brothers, but also Lattanzio Gambara and others; but
most excellent in painting, doing him more honor than any of the
rest, has been Sofonisba Anguisciuola of Cremona, with her three
sisters, which most gifted maidens are the daughters of Signer
Amilcare Anguisciuola and Signora Bianca Punzona, both of whom
belong to the most noble families in Cremona. Speaking, then, of
Signora Sofonisba, of whom we said but little in the Life of
Properzia of Bologna, because at that time we knew no more, I must
relate that I saw this year in the house of her father at Cremona,
in a picture executed with great diligence by her hand, portraits of
her three sisters in the act of playing chess, and with them an old
woman of the household, all done with such care and such spirit,
that they have all the appearance of life, and are wanting in
nothing save speech. In another picture may be seen, portrayed by
the same Sofonisba, her father Signor Amilcare, who has on one side
one of his daughters, her sister, called Minerva, who was
distinguished in painting and in letters, and on the other side
Asdrubale, their brother, the son of the same man; and these, also,
are executed so well, that they appear to be breathing and
absolutely alive. At Piacenza, in the house of the reverend
Archdeacon of the principal church, are two very beautiful pictures
by the same hand: in one is the portrait of the Archdeacon, and in
the other that of Sofonisba herself, and each of those figures lacks
nothing save speech. That lady, having been brought afterwards by
the Duke of Alva, as was related above, into the service of the
Queen of Spain, in which she still remains at the present day with a
handsome salary and much honor, has executed a number of portraits
and pictures that are things to marvel at. Moved by the fame of
which works, Pope Pius IV had Sofonisba informed that he desired to
have from her hand the portrait of her serene Highness the Queen of
Spain; wherefore, having executed it with all the diligence in her
power, she sent it to Rome to be presented to him, writing to his
Holiness a letter in the precise form given below:
"HOLY FATHER,
"From the very reverend Nuncio of your Holiness I understood that
you desired to have a portrait
by my hand of her Majesty the Queen, my Liege-lady. And since I
accepted this commission as
a singular grace and favour, having thus to serve your Holiness, I
asked leave of her Majesty, who
granted it very willingly, recognizing therein the fatherly
affection that your Holiness bears to
her. Taking the opportunity presented by this Chevalier, I send it
to you, and, if I shall have
satisfied therein the desire of your Holiness, I shall receive
infinite compensation; but I must
not omit to tell you that if it were possible in the same way to
present with the brush to the eyes
of your Holiness the beauties of the mind of this most gracious
Queen, you would see the
most marvellous thing in all the world. But in those parts which can
be portrayed by art, I have not
failed to use all the diligence in my power and knowledge, in order
to present the truth to your
Holiness. And with this conclusion, in all reverence and humility, I
kiss your most holy feet.
"From the most humble servant of your Holiness,
"SOFONISBA ANGUISCIUOLA.
"At Madrid, on the i6th of September, 1561."
To that letter his Holiness answered with that given below,
which, having thought the portrait marvellously beautiful, he
accompanied with gifts worthy of the great talents of Sofonisba:
"Pius PAPA IV DILECTA IN CHRISTO FILIA.
"We have received the portrait of the most gracious Queen of Spain,
our dearest daughter, which
you have sent to us; and it has been most acceptable to us, both on
account of the person therein
represented, whom we love with the love of a father by reason of her
true piety and her other most
beautiful qualities of mind, to say nothing of other reasons, and
also because it has been very
well and diligently executed by your hand. We thank you for it,
assuring you that we shall hold
it among our dearest possessions, and commending this your art,
which, although it is marvellous,
we understand to be the least of the many gifts that are in you. And
with this conclusion we send
you once again our benediction. May our Lord God preserve you.
"Dat. Romse, die 15 Octob., 1561."
And let this testimony suffice to prove how great is the talent
of Sofonisba.
A sister of hers, called Lucia, left at her death fame no less
than that of Sofonisba, by means of some pictures by her hand that
are no less beautiful and precious than those of her sister
described above, as may be seen at Cremona from a portrait that she
executed of Signer Pietro Maria, an eminent physician, but even more
from another portrait, painted by that gifted maiden, of the Duke of
Sessa, which was counterfelted by her so well, that it would seem
impossible to do better or to make a portrait with a more animated
likeness.
The third of the sisters Anguisciuola, called Europa, is still a
child in age. To her, a girl all grace and talent, I have spoken
this very year; and, in so far as one can see from her works and
drawings, she will be in no way inferior to Sofonisba and Lucia, her
sisters. This Europa has executed many portraits of gentlemen at
Cremona, which are altogether beautiful and natural, and one of her
mother, Signora Bianca, she sent to Spain, which vastly pleased
Sofonisba and everyone of that Court who saw it. Anna, the fourth
sister, although but a little girl, is also giving her attention
with much profit to design: so that I know not what to say save that
it is necessary to have by nature an inclination for art, and then
to add to that study and practice, as has been done by those four
noble and gifted sisters, so much enamored of every rare art, and in
particular of the matters of design, insomuch that the house of
Signor Amilcare Anguisciuola, most happy father of a fair and
honorable family, appeared to me the home of painting, or rather, of
all the arts. But, if women know so well how to produce living men,
what marvel is it that those who wish are also so well able to
create them in painting?
But to return to Giulio Campo, of whom I have said that those
young women are the disciples; besides other works, a painting on
cloth that he has made as a cover for the organ in the Cathedral
Church, is executed with much study in distemper, with a great
number of figures representing the stories of Esther and Ahasuerus
and the Crucifixion of Haman. And in the same church there is a
graceful altarpiece by his hand on the altar of S. Michael; but
since Giulio is still alive, I shall say no more for the present
about his works. Of Cremona, likewise, were the sculptor Geremia,
who was mentioned by us in the Life of Filarete,* [* Really in the
Life of Filippo Brunelleschi] and who has executed a large work in
marble in S. Lorenzo, a seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto; and
Giovanni Pedoni, who has done many works at Cremona and Brescia, and
in particular many things in the house of Signor Eliseo Raimondo,
which are beautiful and worthy of praise.
In Brescia, also, there have been, and still are, persons most
excellent in the arts of design, and, among others, Girolamo
Romanino has executed innumerable works in that city. The altarpiece
on the high altar of S. Francesco, which is a passing good picture,
is by his hand, and so also the little shutters that enclose it,
which are painted in distemper both within and without; and his
work, likewise, is another altar-piece executed in oils that is very
beautiful, wherein may be seen masterly imitations of natural
objects. But more able than that Girolamo was Alessandro Moretto,
who painted in fresco, under the arch of the Porta Brusciata, the
Translation of the bodies of SS. Faustino and Jovita, with some
groups of figures that are accompanying those bodies, all very well
done. For S. Nazzaro, also in Brescia, he executed certain works,
and others for S. Celso, which are passing good, and an altarpiece
for S. Piero in Oliveto, which is full of charm. At Milan, in the
house of the Mint, there is a picture by the hand of that same
Alessandro with the Conversion of S. Paul, and other heads that are
very natural, with beau- tiful adornments of draperies and
vestments, for the reason that he much delighted to counterfeit
cloth of gold and of silver, velvets, damasks, and other draperies
of every kind, which he used to place on the figures with great
diligence. The heads by the hand of that master are very lifelike,
and hold to the manner of Raffaello da Urbino, and even more would
they hold to it if he had not lived so far from Raffaello.
The son-in-law of Alessandro was Lattanzio Gambara, a painter of
Brescia, who, having learned his art, as has been related, under
Giulio Campo of Verona,* [* Rather, of Cremona] is now the best
painter that there is in Brescia. By his hand, in the Black Friars
Church of S. Faustino, are the altarpiece of the high altar, and the
vaulting and walls painted in fresco, with other pictures that are
in the same church. In the Church of S. Lorenzo, also, the
altarpiece of the high altar is by his hand, with two scenes that
are on the walls, and the vaulting, all painted in fresco almost in
the same manner. He has also painted, besides many other fagades,
that of his own house, with most beautiful inventions, and likewise
the interior; in which house, situated between S. Benedetto and the
Vescovado, I saw, when I was last in Brescia, two very beautiful
portraits by his hand, that of Alessandro Moretto, his
father-in-law, which is a very lovely head of an old man, and that
of the same Alessandro' s daughter, his wife. And if the other works
of Lattanzio were equal to those portraits, he would be able to
compare with the greatest men of his art. But, since his works are
without number, and he himself besides is still living, it must
suffice for the present to have made mention of those named.
By the hand of Gian Girolamo Bresciano are many works to be seen
in Venice and Milan, and in the above-mentioned house of the Mint
there are four pictures of Night and of Fire, which are very
beautiful. In the house of Tommaso da Empoli at Venice is a Nativity
of Christ, a very lovely effect of night, and there are some other
similar works of fantasy, in which he was a master. But, since he
occupied himself only with things of that kind, and executed no
large works, there is nothing more to be said of him save that he
was a man of fanciful and inquiring mind, and that what he did
deserves to be much commended.
Girolamo Mosciano of Brescia, after spending his youth in Rome,
has executed many beautiful works in figures and landscapes, and at
Orvieto, in the principal Church of S. Maria, he has painted two
altarpieces in oils and some Prophets in fresco, which are good
works; and the drawings by his hand that are published in engraving,
are executed with good design. But, since he also is alive, serving
Cardinal Ippolito d'Este in the buildings and restorations that he
is carrying out in Rome, in Tivoli, and in other places, I shall say
no more about him at present.
There has returned recently from Germany Francesco Ricchino,
likewise a painter of Brescia, who, besides many other pictures that
he has painted in various places, has executed some works of
painting in oils in the above-named S. Piero in Oliveto at Brescia,
which are done with much study and diligence.
The brothers Cristofano and Stefano [Rosa], painters of Brescia,
have a great name among craftsmen for their facility in drawing in
perspective; and, among other works in Venice, they have
counterfeited in painting on the flat ceiling of S. Maria dell' Orto
a corridor of double twisted columns, similar to those of the Porta
Santa in S. Pietro at Rome, which, resting on certain great consoles
that project outwards, form a superb corridor with groined vaulting
right round that church. This work, when seen from the centre of the
church, displays most beautiful foreshortenings, which fill with
astonishment everyone who sees them, and make the ceiling, which is
flat, appear to be vaulted; besides that it is accompanied by a
beautiful variety of mouldings, masks, festoons, and some figures,
which make a very rich adornment to the work, which deserves to be
vastly extolled by everyone, both for its novelty and for its having
been carried to completion excellently well and with great
diligence. And, since this method gave much satisfaction to that
most illustrious Senate, there was entrusted to the same masters
another ceiling, similar, but small, in the Library of S. Marco,
which, for a work of that kind, was very highly extolled.
Finally, those brothers have been summoned to their native city
of Brescia to do the same with a magnificent hall which was begun on
the Piazza many years ago, at vast expense, and erected over a
theatre of large columns, under which is a promenade. This hall is
sixty-two full paces long, thirty-five broad, and likewise
thirty-five in height at the highest point of its elevation;
although it appears much larger, being isolated on every side, and
without any apartment or other building about it. On the ceiling of
this magnificent and most honorable hall, then, those two brothers
have been much employed, with very great credit to themselves;
having made a roof truss for the roof (which is covered with lead)
of beams of wood that are very large, composed of pieces well
secured with clamps of iron, and having turned the ceiling with
beautiful artistry in the manner of a basin-shaped vault, so that it
is a rich work. It is true that in that great space there are
included only three pictures painted in oils, each of ten braccia,
which were painted by the old Tiziano; whereas many more could have
gone there, with a richer, more beautiful, and better proportioned
arrangement of compartments, which would have made that hall more
cheerful, handsome, and ornate; but in every other part it has been
made with much judgment.
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MILANESE ARTISTS: BRAMANTINO, IL BAMBAJA, CRISTOFANO GOBBO, and
OTHERS
Part 5 of
LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO AND GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, AND OF OTHER LOMBARDS
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Now, having spoken in this part of our book, up to the present,
of the craftsmen of design in the cities of Lombardy, it cannot but
be well to say something about those of the city of Milan, the
capital of that province, of whom no mention has been made here,
although of some of them we have spoken in many other places in this
our work. To begin, then, with Bramantino, of whom mention has been
made in the Life of Piero della Francesca of the Borgo, I find that
he executed many more works than I have enumerated above; and, in
truth, it did not then appear to me possible that a craftsman so
renowned, who introduced good design into Milan, should have
executed works so few as those that had come to my notice. Now,
after he had painted in Rome, as has been related, some apartments
for Pope Nicholas V, and had finished over the door of S. Sepolcro,
in Milan, the Christ in foreshortening, the Madonna who has Him on
her lap, the Magdalene, and S. John, which was a very rare work, he
painted in fresco, on a facade in the court of the Mint in Milan,
the Nativity of Christ our Saviour, and, in the Church of S. Maria
di Brera, in the tramezzo, the Nativity of Our Lady, with some
Prophets on the doors of the organ, which are foreshortened very
well to be seen from below, and a perspective-view which recedes
with a beautiful gradation excellently contrived; at which I do not
marvel, he having always much delighted in the studies of
architecture, and having had a very good knowledge of them.
Thus I remember to have seen once in the hands of Valerio
Vicentino a very beautiful book of antiquities, drawn with all the
measurements by the hand of Bramantino, wherein were those of
Lombardy and the groundplans of many well- known edifices, which I
drew from that book, being then a lad. In it was the Temple of S.
Ambrogio in Milan, built by the Lombards, and all full of sculptures
and pictures in the Greek manner, with a round tribune of
considerable size, but not well conceived in the matter of
architecture; which temple was rebuilt in the time of Bramantino,
after his design, with a portico of stone on one side, and with
columns in the manner of trunks of trees that have been lopped,
which have in them something of novelty and variety. There,
likewise, was drawn the ancient portico of the Church of S. Lorenzo
in the same city, built by the Romans, which is a great work,
beautiful and well worthy of note; but the temple there, or rather,
the church , is in the manner of the Goths. In the same book was
drawn the Temple of S. Aquilino, which is very ancient, and covered
with incrustations of marble and stucco, very well preserved, with
some large tombs of granite. In like manner, there was the Temple of
S. Piero in Ciel d' Oro at Pavia, in which place is the body of S.
Augustine, in a tomb that is in the sacristy, covered with little
figures, which, according to my belief, is by the hands of Agostino
and Agnolo, the sculptors of Siena. There, also, was drawn the tower
of brick built by the Goths, which is a beautiful work, for there
may be seen in it, besides other things, some figures fashioned of
terracotta after the antique, each six braccia high, which have
remained in passing good preservation down to the present day. In
that tower, so it is said, died Boetius, who was buried in the
above- named S. Piero in Ciel d' Oro, now called S. Agostino, where
there may be seen, even at the present day, the tomb of that holy
man, with the inscription placed there by Aliprando, who restored
and rebuilt the church in the year 1222. And, besides all these,
there was in that book, drawn by the hand of Bramantino himself, the
very ancient Temple of S. Maria in Pertica, round in shape, and
built with fragments by the Lombards; in which place now lie the
bones from the slaughter of the Frenchmen and others who were routed
and slain before Pavia, when King Francis I of France was taken
prisoner there by the Emperor Charles V.
But let us now leave drawings on one side: Bramantino painted in
Milan the facade of the house of Signor Giovan Battista Latuate,
with a most beautiful Madonna, and on either side of her a Prophet.
On the facade of Signor Bernardo Scacalarozzo he painted four Giants
in imitation of bronze, which are reasonably good; with other works
that are in Milan, which brought him credit, from his having been
the first light of a good manner of painting that was seen in Milan,
and the reason that after him Bramante became, on account of the
good form that he gave to his buildings and perspective-views, an
excellent master in the matters of architecture; for the first
things that Bramante studied were the works of Bramantino. Under the
direction of Bramante was built the Temple of S. Satiro, which
pleases me exceedingly, for it is a very rich work, adorned both
within and without with columns, double corridors, and other
ornaments, with the accompaniment of a most beautiful sacristy all
full of statues. But above all does the central tribune of that
place merit praise, the beauty of which, as has been related in the
Life of Bramante, was the reason that Bernardino da Trevio followed
that method in the Duomo of Milan, and gave his attention to
architecture, although his first and principal art was painting;
having executed, as has been related, in a cloister of the Monastery
of S. Maria delle Grazie, four scenes of the Passion in fresco, and
some others in chiaroscuro.
By that Bernardino was brought forward and much assisted the
sculptor Agostino Busto, called II Bambaja, of whom there has been
an account in the Life of Baccio da Montelupo. Agostino executed
some works in S. Marta, a convent of nuns in Milan, among which,
although it is difficult to obtain leave to enter that place, I have
seen the tomb of Monsignor de Foix, who died at Pavia,* [* Ravenna.]
in the form of many pieces of marble, wherein are about ten scenes
with little figures, carved with much diligence, of the deeds,
battles, victories, and triumphant assaults on strongholds of that
lord, and finally his death and burial. To put it briefly, that work
is such that I, gazing at it in amazement, stood for a while
marvelling that it was possible for works so delicate and so
extraordinary to be done with the hand and with tools of iron ; for
there may be seen in that tomb, executed with the most marvellous
carving, decorations of trophies, arms of every kind, chariots,
artillery, and many other engines of war, and, finally, the body of
that lord in armour, large as life, and almost seeming to be full of
gladness, as he lies dead, at the victories that he had gained. And
certainly it is a pity that this work, which is well worthy to be
numbered among the most stupendous examples of the art, should be
unfinished and left to lie on the ground in pieces, and not built up
in some place; wherefore I do not marvel that some figures have been
stolen from it, and then sold and set up in other places. The truth
is that there is so little humanity, or rather, piety, to be found
among men at the present day, that of all those who were benefited
and beloved by De Foix not one has ever felt a pang for his memory
or for the beauty and excellence of the work. By the hand of the
same Agostino Busto are some works in the Duomo, and, as has been
related, the tomb of the Biraghi in S. Francesco, with many others
that are very beautiful in the Certosa of Pavia.
A rival of Agostino was one Cristofano Gobbo, who also executed
many works in the facade of the above-named Certosa and in the
church, and that so well, that he can be numbered among the best
sculptors that there were in Lombardy at that time. And the Adam and
Eve that are in the east front of the Duomo of Milan, which are by
his hand, are held to be rare works, and such as can stand in
comparison with any that have been executed by other masters in
those parts.
Almost at the same time there lived at Milan another sculptor
called Angelo, and by way of surname Ciciliano, who executed on the
same side (of the Duomo), and of equal size, a S. Mary Magdalene
raised on high by four little Angels, which is a very beautiful
work, and by no means inferior to those of Cristofano. That sculptor
also gave his attention to architecture, and executed, among other
works, the portico of S. Celso in Milan, which was finished after
his death by Tofano, called Lombardino, who, as was said in the Life
of Giulio Romano, built many churches and palaces throughout all
Milan, and, in particular, the convent, church, and facade of the
Nuns of S. Caterina at the Porta Ticinese, with many other buildings
similar to these.
Silvio da Fiesole, laboring at the instance of Tofano in the
works of that Duomo, executed in the ornament of a door that faces
between the west and the north, wherein are several scenes from the
life of Our Lady, the scene containing her Espousal, which is very
beautiful; and that of equal size opposite to it, in which is the
Marriage of Cana in Galilee, is by the hand of Marco da Gra, a
passing well-practised sculptor. The work of these scenes is now
being continued by a very studious young man called Francesco
Brambilari, who has carried one of them almost to completion, a very
beautiful work, in which are the Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit.
He has made, also, a drop-shaped console of marble, all in
open-work, ith foliage and a group of children that are marvellous;
and over that work, which is to be placed in the Duomo, there is to
go a statue in marble of Pope Pius IV, one of the Medici, and a
citizen of Milan.
If there had been in that place the study of those arts that
there is in Rome and in Florence, those able masters would have
done, and would still be doing, astonishing things. And, in truth,
they are greatly indebted at the present day to the Chevalier Leone
Lioni of Arezzo, who, as will be told, has spent much time and money
in bringing to Milan casts of many ancient works, taken in gesso,
for his own use and that of the other craftsmen.
But to return to the Milanese painters; after Leonardo da Vinci
had executed there the Last Supper already described, many sought to
imitate him, and these were Marco Oggioni and others, of whom
mention has been made in Leonardo's Life. In addition to them,
Cesare da Sesto, likewise a Milanese, imitated him very well; and,
besides what has been mentioned in the Life of Dosso, he painted a
large picture that is in the house of the Mint in Milan, a truly
abundant and beautiful work, in which is Christ being baptized by
John. By the same hand, also, in that place, is a head of Herodias,
with that of S. John the Baptist in a charger, executed with most
beautiful artistry. And finally he painted for S. Rocco, without the
Porta Romana, an altarpiece containing that Saint as a very young
man; with other pictures that are much extolled.
Gaudenzio, a Milanese painter, who in his lifetime was held to be
an able master, painted the altarpiece of the high altar in S.
Celso. In a chapel of S. Maria delle Grazie he executed in fresco
the Passion of Jesus Christ, with figures of the size of life in
strange attitudes; and then, in competition with Tiziano, he painted
an altarpiece for a place below that chapel, in which, although he
was very confident, he did not surpass the works of the others who
had labored in that place.
Bernardino del Lupino, of whom some mention was made not very far
back, painted in Milan, near S. Sepolcro, the house of Signer Gian
Francesco Rabbia that is, the facade, loggie, halls, and apartments-
depicting there many of the Metamorphoses of Ovid and other fables,
with good and beautiful figures, executed with much delicacy. And in
the Monastero Maggiore he painted all the great altar wall with
different stories, and likewise, in a chapel, Christ scourged at the
Column, with many other works, which are all passing good.
And let this be the end of the above-written Lives of various
Lombard craftsmen.
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MILANESE ARTISTS: BRAMANTINO, IL BAMBAJA, CRISTOFANO GOBBO, and
OTHERS
Part 5 of
LIVES OF BENVENUTO GAROFALO AND GIROLAMO DA CARPI PAINTERS OF
FERRARA, AND OF OTHER LOMBARDS
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Now, having spoken in this part of our book, up to the present,
of the craftsmen of design in the cities of Lombardy, it cannot but
be well to say something about those of the city of Milan, the
capital of that province, of whom no mention has been made here,
although of some of them we have spoken in many other places in this
our work. To begin, then, with Bramantino, of whom mention has been
made in the Life of Piero della Francesca of the Borgo, I find that
he executed many more works than I have enumerated above; and, in
truth, it did not then appear to me possible that a craftsman so
renowned, who introduced good design into Milan, should have
executed works so few as those that had come to my notice. Now,
after he had painted in Rome, as has been related, some apartments
for Pope Nicholas V, and had finished over the door of S. Sepolcro,
in Milan, the Christ in foreshortening, the Madonna who has Him on
her lap, the Magdalene, and S. John, which was a very rare work, he
painted in fresco, on a facade in the court of the Mint in Milan,
the Nativity of Christ our Saviour, and, in the Church of S. Maria
di Brera, in the tramezzo, the Nativity of Our Lady, with some
Prophets on the doors of the organ, which are foreshortened very
well to be seen from below, and a perspective-view which recedes
with a beautiful gradation excellently contrived; at which I do not
marvel, he having always much delighted in the studies of
architecture, and having had a very good knowledge of them.
Thus I remember to have seen once in the hands of Valerio
Vicentino a very beautiful book of antiquities, drawn with all the
measurements by the hand of Bramantino, wherein were those of
Lombardy and the groundplans of many well- known edifices, which I
drew from that book, being then a lad. In it was the Temple of S.
Ambrogio in Milan, built by the Lombards, and all full of sculptures
and pictures in the Greek manner, with a round tribune of
considerable size, but not well conceived in the matter of
architecture; which temple was rebuilt in the time of Bramantino,
after his design, with a portico of stone on one side, and with
columns in the manner of trunks of trees that have been lopped,
which have in them something of novelty and variety. There,
likewise, was drawn the ancient portico of the Church of S. Lorenzo
in the same city, built by the Romans, which is a great work,
beautiful and well worthy of note; but the temple there, or rather,
the church , is in the manner of the Goths. In the same book was
drawn the Temple of S. Aquilino, which is very ancient, and covered
with incrustations of marble and stucco, very well preserved, with
some large tombs of granite. In like manner, there was the Temple of
S. Piero in Ciel d' Oro at Pavia, in which place is the body of S.
Augustine, in a tomb that is in the sacristy, covered with little
figures, which, according to my belief, is by the hands of Agostino
and Agnolo, the sculptors of Siena. There, also, was drawn the tower
of brick built by the Goths, which is a beautiful work, for there
may be seen in it, besides other things, some figures fashioned of
terracotta after the antique, each six braccia high, which have
remained in passing good preservation down to the present day. In
that tower, so it is said, died Boetius, who was buried in the
above- named S. Piero in Ciel d' Oro, now called S. Agostino, where
there may be seen, even at the present day, the tomb of that holy
man, with the inscription placed there by Aliprando, who restored
and rebuilt the church in the year 1222. And, besides all these,
there was in that book, drawn by the hand of Bramantino himself, the
very ancient Temple of S. Maria in Pertica, round in shape, and
built with fragments by the Lombards; in which place now lie the
bones from the slaughter of the Frenchmen and others who were routed
and slain before Pavia, when King Francis I of France was taken
prisoner there by the Emperor Charles V.
But let us now leave drawings on one side: Bramantino painted in
Milan the facade of the house of Signor Giovan Battista Latuate,
with a most beautiful Madonna, and on either side of her a Prophet.
On the facade of Signor Bernardo Scacalarozzo he painted four Giants
in imitation of bronze, which are reasonably good; with other works
that are in Milan, which brought him credit, from his having been
the first light of a good manner of painting that was seen in Milan,
and the reason that after him Bramante became, on account of the
good form that he gave to his buildings and perspective-views, an
excellent master in the matters of architecture; for the first
things that Bramante studied were the works of Bramantino. Under the
direction of Bramante was built the Temple of S. Satiro, which
pleases me exceedingly, for it is a very rich work, adorned both
within and without with columns, double corridors, and other
ornaments, with the accompaniment of a most beautiful sacristy all
full of statues. But above all does the central tribune of that
place merit praise, the beauty of which, as has been related in the
Life of Bramante, was the reason that Bernardino da Trevio followed
that method in the Duomo of Milan, and gave his attention to
architecture, although his first and principal art was painting;
having executed, as has been related, in a cloister of the Monastery
of S. Maria delle Grazie, four scenes of the Passion in fresco, and
some others in chiaroscuro.
By that Bernardino was brought forward and much assisted the
sculptor Agostino Busto, called II Bambaja, of whom there has been
an account in the Life of Baccio da Montelupo. Agostino executed
some works in S. Marta, a convent of nuns in Milan, among which,
although it is difficult to obtain leave to enter that place, I have
seen the tomb of Monsignor de Foix, who died at Pavia,* [* Ravenna.]
in the form of many pieces of marble, wherein are about ten scenes
with little figures, carved with much diligence, of the deeds,
battles, victories, and triumphant assaults on strongholds of that
lord, and finally his death and burial. To put it briefly, that work
is such that I, gazing at it in amazement, stood for a while
marvelling that it was possible for works so delicate and so
extraordinary to be done with the hand and with tools of iron ; for
there may be seen in that tomb, executed with the most marvellous
carving, decorations of trophies, arms of every kind, chariots,
artillery, and many other engines of war, and, finally, the body of
that lord in armour, large as life, and almost seeming to be full of
gladness, as he lies dead, at the victories that he had gained. And
certainly it is a pity that this work, which is well worthy to be
numbered among the most stupendous examples of the art, should be
unfinished and left to lie on the ground in pieces, and not built up
in some place; wherefore I do not marvel that some figures have been
stolen from it, and then sold and set up in other places. The truth
is that there is so little humanity, or rather, piety, to be found
among men at the present day, that of all those who were benefited
and beloved by De Foix not one has ever felt a pang for his memory
or for the beauty and excellence of the work. By the hand of the
same Agostino Busto are some works in the Duomo, and, as has been
related, the tomb of the Biraghi in S. Francesco, with many others
that are very beautiful in the Certosa of Pavia.
A rival of Agostino was one Cristofano Gobbo, who also executed
many works in the facade of the above-named Certosa and in the
church, and that so well, that he can be numbered among the best
sculptors that there were in Lombardy at that time. And the Adam and
Eve that are in the east front of the Duomo of Milan, which are by
his hand, are held to be rare works, and such as can stand in
comparison with any that have been executed by other masters in
those parts.
Almost at the same time there lived at Milan another sculptor
called Angelo, and by way of surname Ciciliano, who executed on the
same side (of the Duomo), and of equal size, a S. Mary Magdalene
raised on high by four little Angels, which is a very beautiful
work, and by no means inferior to those of Cristofano. That sculptor
also gave his attention to architecture, and executed, among other
works, the portico of S. Celso in Milan, which was finished after
his death by Tofano, called Lombardino, who, as was said in the Life
of Giulio Romano, built many churches and palaces throughout all
Milan, and, in particular, the convent, church, and facade of the
Nuns of S. Caterina at the Porta Ticinese, with many other buildings
similar to these.
Silvio da Fiesole, laboring at the instance of Tofano in the
works of that Duomo, executed in the ornament of a door that faces
between the west and the north, wherein are several scenes from the
life of Our Lady, the scene containing her Espousal, which is very
beautiful; and that of equal size opposite to it, in which is the
Marriage of Cana in Galilee, is by the hand of Marco da Gra, a
passing well-practised sculptor. The work of these scenes is now
being continued by a very studious young man called Francesco
Brambilari, who has carried one of them almost to completion, a very
beautiful work, in which are the Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit.
He has made, also, a drop-shaped console of marble, all in
open-work, ith foliage and a group of children that are marvellous;
and over that work, which is to be placed in the Duomo, there is to
go a statue in marble of Pope Pius IV, one of the Medici, and a
citizen of Milan.
If there had been in that place the study of those arts that
there is in Rome and in Florence, those able masters would have
done, and would still be doing, astonishing things. And, in truth,
they are greatly indebted at the present day to the Chevalier Leone
Lioni of Arezzo, who, as will be told, has spent much time and money
in bringing to Milan casts of many ancient works, taken in gesso,
for his own use and that of the other craftsmen.
But to return to the Milanese painters; after Leonardo da Vinci
had executed there the Last Supper already described, many sought to
imitate him, and these were Marco Oggioni and others, of whom
mention has been made in Leonardo's Life. In addition to them,
Cesare da Sesto, likewise a Milanese, imitated him very well; and,
besides what has been mentioned in the Life of Dosso, he painted a
large picture that is in the house of the Mint in Milan, a truly
abundant and beautiful work, in which is Christ being baptized by
John. By the same hand, also, in that place, is a head of Herodias,
with that of S. John the Baptist in a charger, executed with most
beautiful artistry. And finally he painted for S. Rocco, without the
Porta Romana, an altarpiece containing that Saint as a very young
man; with other pictures that are much extolled.
Gaudenzio, a Milanese painter, who in his lifetime was held to be
an able master, painted the altarpiece of the high altar in S.
Celso. In a chapel of S. Maria delle Grazie he executed in fresco
the Passion of Jesus Christ, with figures of the size of life in
strange attitudes; and then, in competition with Tiziano, he painted
an altarpiece for a place below that chapel, in which, although he
was very confident, he did not surpass the works of the others who
had labored in that place.
Bernardino del Lupino, of whom some mention was made not very far
back, painted in Milan, near S. Sepolcro, the house of Signer Gian
Francesco Rabbia that is, the facade, loggie, halls, and apartments-
depicting there many of the Metamorphoses of Ovid and other fables,
with good and beautiful figures, executed with much delicacy. And in
the Monastero Maggiore he painted all the great altar wall with
different stories, and likewise, in a chapel, Christ scourged at the
Column, with many other works, which are all passing good.
And let this be the end of the above-written Lives of various
Lombard craftsmen.
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GIOVANNI DA UDINE (1487-1564)
PAINTER
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IN UDINE, a city of Friuli, lived a citizen called Giovanni, of
the family of the Nanni, who was the first of that family to give
attention to the practice of embroidery, in which his descendants
afterwards followed him with such excellence, that their house was
called no longer De' Nanni but De' Ricamatori.* [* Embroiderers.]
Among them, then, one Francesco, who lived always like an honourable
citizen, devoted to the chase and to other suchlike exercises, had
in the year 1494 a son, to whom he gave the name Giovanni; and this
son, while still a child, showed such inclination to design that it
was a thing to marvel at, for, following behind his father in his
hunting and fowling, whenever he had time he was for ever drawing
dogs, hares, bucks, and, in short, all the kinds of birds and beasts
that came into his hands; which he did in such a fashion that
everyone was astonished. Perceiving this inclination, his father
Francesco took him to Venice, and placed him to learn the art of
design with Giorgione da Castelf ranco ; but, while working under
him, the boy heard the works of Michelagnolo and Raffaello so
extolled, that he resolved at all costs to go to Rome. And so,
having obtained from Domenico Grimani, who was much his father's
friend, letters of introduction to Baldassarre Castiglioni, the
Secretary of the Duke of Mantua and a close friend of Raffaello da
Urbino, he went off to that city. There, having been placed by that
Castiglioni in the school of the young men of Raffaello, he learned
excellently well the principles of art, a thing which is of great
importance, for the reason that when a man begins by adopting a bad
manner, it rarely happens that he can abandon it without great
difficulty, in order to learn a better.
Giovanni, then, having been only a very short time under the
discipline of Giorgione in Venice, when he had once seen the sweet,
graceful, and beautiful manner of Raffaello, determined, like a
young man of fine intelligence, that he would at all costs attach
himself to that manner. And so, his brain and hand being equal to
his noble intention, he made so much proficience, that in a short
time he was able to draw very well and to work in colour with
facility and grace, insomuch that, to put it in a few words, he
succeeded in counterfeiting excellently well every natural object
animals, draperies, instruments, vases, landscapes, buildings, and
verdure ; in which not one of the young men of that school surpassed
him. But, above all, he took supreme delight in depicting birds of
every kind, insomuch that in a short time he filled a book with
them, which was so well varied and so beautiful, that it was a
recreation and a delight to Raffaello. Living with Raffaello was a
Fleming called Giovanni, who was an excellent master in depicting
fruits, leaves, and flowers with a very faithful and pleasing
likeness to nature, although in a manner a little dry and laboured ;
and from him Giovanni da Udine learned to make them as beautiful as
his master, and, what is more, with a certain soft and pastose
manner that enabled him to become, as will be related, supremely
excellent in some fields of art. He also learned to execute
landscapes with ruined buildings and fragments of antiquities, and
likewise to paint landscapes and verdure in colors on cloth, in the
manner that has been followed after him not only by the Flemings,
but also by all the Italian painters.
Raffaello, who much loved the genius of Giovanni, in executing
the altar picture of S. Cecilia that is in Bologna, caused him to
paint the organ which that Saint has in her hand; and he
counterfeited it so well from the reality, that it appears as if in
relief, and also all the musical instruments that are at the feet of
the Saint. But what was of much greater import was that he made his
painting so similar to that of Raffaello, that the whole appears as
if by one and the same hand. Not long afterwards, excavations being
made at S. Pietro in Vincula, among the ruins and remains of the
Palace of Titus, in the hope of finding figures, certain rooms were
discovered, completely buried under the ground, which were full of
little grotesques, small figures, and scenes, with other ornaments
of stucco in low-relief. Whereupon, Giovanni going with Raffaello,
who was taken to see them, they were struck with amazement, both the
one and the other, at the freshness, beauty, and excellence of those
works, for it appeared to them an extraordinary thing that they had
been preserved for so long a time; but it was no great marvel, for
they had not been open or exposed to the air, which is wont in time,
through the changes of the seasons, to consume all things. These
grotesques which were called grotesques from their having been
discovered in the underground grottoes executed with so much design,
with fantasies so varied and so bizarre, with their delicate
ornaments of stucco divided by various fields of color, and with
their little scenes so pleasing and beautiful, entered so deeply
into the heart and mind of Giovanni, that, having devoted himself to
the study of them, he was not content to draw and copy them merely
once or twice; and he succeeded in executing them with facility and
grace, lacking nothing save a know- ledge of the method of making
the stucco on which the grotesques were wrought. Now many before
him, as has been related, had exercised their wits on this, but had
discovered nothing save the method of making the stucco, by means of
fire, with gypsum, lime, colophony, wax, and pounded brick, and of
overlaying it with gold; and they had not found the true method of
making stucco similar to that which had been discovered in those
ancient chambers and grottoes. But at that time works were being
executed in lime and pozzolana, as was related in the Life of
Bramante, for the arches and the tribune at the back in S. Pietro,
all the ornaments of foliage, with the ovoli and other members,
being cast in moulds of clay, and Giovanni, after considering that
method of working with lime and pozzolana, began to try if he could
succeed in making figures in low- relief; and so, pursuing his
experiments, he contrived to make them as he desired in every part,
save that the outer surface did not come out with the delicacy and
finish that the ancient works possessed, nor yet so white. On which
account he began to think that it might be necessary to mix with the
white lime of travertine, in place of pozzolana, some substance
white in colour; whereupon, after making trial of various materials,
he caused chips of travertine to be pounded, and found that it
answered passing well, but that still the work was of a livid rather
than a pure white, and also rough and granular. But finally, having
caused chips of the whitest marble that could be found to be pounded
and reduced to a fine powder, and then sifted, he mixed it with
white lime of travertine, and discovered that thus he had succeeded
without any doubt in making the true stucco of the ancients, with
all the properties that he had desired therein. At which rejoicing
greatly, he showed to Raffaello what he had done; wherefore he, who
was then executing by order of Pope Leo X, as has been related, the
Loggie of the Papal Palace, caused Giovanni to decorate all the
vaulting there in stucco, with most beautiful ornaments bordered by
grotesques similar to the antique, and with very lovely and
fantastic inventions, all full of the most varied and extravagant
things that could possibly be imagined. Having executed the whole of
that ornamentation in half-relief and low-relief, he then divided it
up with little scenes, landscapes, foliage, and various friezes, in
which he touched the highest level, as it w r ere, that art can
reach in that field.
In all this he not only equalled the ancients, but also, in so
far as one can judge from the remains that we have seen, surpassed
them, for the reason that these works of Giovanni's, in beauty of
design, in the invention of figures, and in colouring, whether
executed in stucco or painted, are beyond all comparison superior to
those of the ancients that are to be seen in the Colosseum, and to
the paintings in the Baths of Diocletian and in other places. In
what other place are there to be seen birds painted that are more
lifelike and natural, so to speak, in colouring, in the plumage, and
in all other respects, than those that are in the friezes and
pilasters of the Loggie ? And they are there in as many varieties as
Nature herself has been able to create, some in one manner and some
in another; and many are perched on bunches, ears, and panicles, not
only of corn, millet, and buckwheat, but of all the kinds of
cereals, vegetables, and fruits that earth has produced from the
beginning of time for the sustenance and nourishment of birds. As
for the fishes, likewise, the sea-monsters, and all the other
creatures of the water that Giovanni depicted in the same place,
since the most that one could say would be too little, it is better
to pass them over in silence rather than seek to attempt the
impossible. And what should I say of the various kinds of fruits and
flowers without number that are there, in all the forms, varieties,
and colors that Nature contrives to produce in all parts of the
world and in all the seasons of the year? What, likewise, of the
various musical instruments that are there, all as real as the
reality ? And who does not know as a matter of common knowledge that
Giovanni having painted at the head of the Loggia, where the Pope
had not yet determined what should be done in the way of masonry,
some balusters to accompany the real ones of the Loggia, and over
them a carpet who, I say, does not know that one day, a carpet being
urgently required for the Pope, who was going to the Belvedere, a
groom, who knew not the truth of the matter, ran from a distance to
take one of those painted carpets, being completely deceived ? In
short, it may be said, without offence to other craftsmen, that of
all works of the kind this is the most beautiful, the most rare, and
the most excellent painting that has ever been seen by mortal eye.
And, in addition, I will make bold to say that this work has been
the reason that not Rome only but also all the other parts of the
world have been filled with this kind of painting, for, besides that
Giovanni was the restorer and almost the inventor of grotesques in
stucco and of other kinds, from this his work, which is most
beautiful, whoever has wished to execute such things has taken his
exemplar; not to mention that the young men that assisted Giovanni,
who were many, and even, what with one time and another,
innumerable, learned from the true master and filled every province
with them.
Then, proceeding to execute the first range below those Loggie,
Giovanni used another and quite different method in the distribution
of the stucco-work and paintings on the walls and vaultings of the
other Loggie; but nevertheless those also were very beautiful, by
reason of the pleasing invention of the pergole of canes
counterfeited in various compartments, all covered with vines laden
with grapes, and with clematis, jasmine, roses, and various kinds of
birds and beasts. Next, Pope Leo, wishing to have painted the hall
where the guard of halberdiers have their quarters, on the level of
the above-named Loggie, Giovanni, in addition to the friezes of
children, lions, Papal arms, and grotesques that are round that
hall, made some divisions on the walls with imitations of variegated
marbles of different kinds, similar to the incrustations that the
ancient Romans used to make on their baths, temples, and other
buildings, such as may be seen in the Ritonda and in the portico of
S. Pietro. In another hall beside that one, which was used by the
Chamberlains, Raffaello da Urbino painted in certain tabernacles
some Apostles in chiaroscuro, large as life and very beautiful; and
over the cornices of that work Giovanni portrayed from life many
parrots of various colours which his Holiness had at that time, and
also baboons, marmosets, civet-cats, and other strange creatures.
But this work had a short life, for the reason that Pope Paul IV
destroyed that apartment in order to make certain small closets and
little places of retirement, and thus deprived the Palace of a very
rare work; which that holy man would not have done if he had
possessed any taste for the arts of design. Giovanni painted the
cartoons for those hangings and chamber-tapestries that were
afterwards woven in silk and gold in Flanders, in which are certain
little boys that are sporting around various festoons, and as
ornaments the devices of Pope Leo and various animals copied from
life. These tapestries, which are very rare works, are still in the
Palace at the present day. He also executed the cartoons for some
tapestries full of grotesques, which are in the first rooms of the
Consistory.
While Giovanni was labouring at those works, the Palace of M.
Giovan Battista dall' Aquila, which had been erected at the head of
the Borgo Nuovo, near the Piazza di S. Pietro, had the greater part
of the facade decorated in stucco by the hand of the same master,
which was held to be a remarkable work. The same Giovanni executed
the paintings and all the stucco-work in the loggia of the villa
that Cardinal Giulio de' Medici caused to be built under Monte
Mario, wherein are animals, grotesques, festoons, and friezes of
such beauty, that it appears as if in that work Giovanni had sought
to outstrip and surpass his own self. Wherefore he won from that
Cardinal, who much loved his genius, in addition to many benefits
that he received for his relatives, the gift of a canonicate for
himself at Civitale in Friuli, which was afterwards given by
Giovanni to a brother of his own. Then, having to make for the same
Cardinal, likewise at that villa, a fountain with the water spouting
through the trunk of an elephant's head in marble, he imitated in
the whole work and in every detail the Temple of Neptune, which had
been discovered a short time before among the ancient ruins of the
Palazzo Maggiore, all adorned with lifelike products of the sea, and
wrought excellently well with various ornaments in stucco; and i,e
even surpassed by a great measure the artistry of that ancient hall
by giving great beauty to those animals, shells, and other suchlike
things without number, and arranging them very well. After this he
made another fountain, but in a rustic manner, in the hollow of a
torrent-bed surrounded by a wood; causing water to flow in drops and
fine jets from sponge-stones and stalactites, with beautiful
artifice, so that it had all the appearance of a work of nature. On
the highest point of those hollow rocks and sponge - stones he
fashioned a large lion's head, which had around it a garland formed
of maidenhair and other plants, trained there with great artistry;
and no one could believe what grace these gave to that wild place,
which was most beautiful in every part and beyond all conception
pleasing.
That work finished, after the Cardinal had made Giovanni a
Chevalier of S. Pietro, he sent him to Florence, to the end that,
when a certain chamber had been made in the Palace of the Medici (at
that corner, namely, where the elder Cosimo, the builder of that
edifice, had made a loggia for the convenience and assemblage of the
citizens, as it was the custom at that time for the most noble
families to do), he might paint and adorn it all with grotesques and
stucco. That loggia having then been enclosed after the design of
Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and given the form of a chamber, with two
knee-shaped windows, which were the first to be made in that manner,
with iron gratings, for the exterior of a palace, Giovanni adorned
all the vaulting with stucco-work and painting, making in a
medallion the six balls, the arms of the House of Medici, supported
by three little boys executed in relief in attitudes of great beauty
and grace. Besides this, he made there many most beautiful animals,
and also many most lovely devices of gentlemen and lords of that
illustrious house, together with some scenes in half-relief,
executed in stucco; and on the field of the vaulting he did the rest
of the work in pictures, counterfeiting them after the manner of
cameos in black and white, and so well, that nothing better could be
imagined. There remained four arches beneath the vaulting, each
twelve braccia in breadth and six in height, which were not painted
at that time, but many years afterwards by Giorgio Vasari, as a
young man of eighteen years, when he was in the service of Duke
Alessandro de' Medici, his first lord, in the year 1535; which
Giorgio executed there stories from the life of Julius Caesar, in
allusion to the above-named Cardinal Giulio, who had caused the work
to be done. Giovanni then executed on a little barrel-shaped vault,
beside that chamber, some works in stucco in the lowest of low-
relief, and likewise some pictures, which are exquisite; but,
although these pleased the painters that were in Florence at that
time, being wrought with boldness and marvellous mastery, and filled
with spirited and fantastic inventions, yet, since they were
accustomed to a laboured manner of their own and to doing everything
that they carried into execution with copies taken from life, they
did not praise them without reserve, not being altogether decided in
their minds, nor did they set themselves to imitate them, perhaps
because they had not the courage.
Having then returned to Rome, Giovanni executed in the loggia of
Agostino Chigi, which Raffaello had painted and was still engaged in
carrying to completion, a border of large festoons right round the
groins and squares of the vaulting, making there all the kinds of
fruits, flowers, and leaves, season by season, and fashioning them
with such artistry, that everything may be seen there living and
standing out from the wall, and as natural as the reality ; and so
many are the various kinds of fruits and plants that are to be seen
in that work, that, in order not to enumerate them one by one, I
will say only this, that there are there all those that Nature has
ever produced in our parts. Above the figure of a Mercury who is
flying, he made, to represent Priapus, a pumpkin entwined in
bind-weed, which has for testicles two eggplants, and near the
flower of the pumpkin he depicted a cluster of large purple figs,
within one of which, over-ripe and bursting open, the point of the
pumpkin with the flower is entering; which conceit is rendered with
such grace, that no one could imagine anything better. But why say
more ? To sum the matter up, I venture to declare that in that kind
of painting Giovanni surpassed all those who have best imitated
Nature in such works, for the reason that, besides all the other
things, even the flowers of the elder, of the fennel, and of the
other lesser plants are there in truly astonishing per- fection.
There, likewise, may be seen a great abundance of animals in the
lunettes, which are encircled by those festoons, and certain little
boys that are holding in their hands the attributes of the Gods;
and, among other things, a lion and a sea-horse, being most
beautifully foreshortened, are held to be divine.
Having finished that truly extraordinary work, Giovanni executed
a very beautiful bath-room in the Castello di S. Angelo, and in the
Papal Palace, besides those mentioned above, many other small works,
which for the sake of brevity are passed over. Raffaello having then
died, whose loss much grieved Giovanni, and Pope Leo having also
left this world, there was no more place in Rome for the arts of
design or for any other art, and Giovanni occupied himself for many
months on some works of little importance at the villa of the
above-named Cardinal de' Medici. And for the arrival of Pope Adrian
in Rome he did nothing but the small banners of the Castle, which he
had renewed twice in the time of Pope Leo, together with the great
standard that flies on the summit of the highest tower. He also
executed four square banners when the Blessed Antonino, Archbishop
of Florence, and S. Hubert, once Bishop of I know not what city of
Flanders, were canonized as Saints by the above- mentioned Pope
Adrian ; of which banners, one, wherein is the figure of that S.
Antonino, was given to the Church of S. Marco in Florence, where the
body of the Saint lies, another, wherein is the figure of S. Hubert,
was placed in S. Maria de Anima, the church of the Germans in Rome,
and the other two were sent to Flanders.
Clement VII having then been elected Supreme Pontiff, with whom
Giovanni had a strait bond of service, he returned immediately from
Udine, whither he had gone to avoid the plague, to Rome ; where
having arrived, he was commissioned to make a rich and beautiful
decoration over the steps of S. Pietro for the coronation of that
Pope. And after- wards it was ordained that he and Perino del Vaga
should paint some pictures on the vaulting of the old hall opposite
to the lower apartments, which lead from the Loggie, which he had
painted before, to the apart- ments of the Borgia Tower; whereupon
Giovanni executed there a most beautiful design in stucco-work, with
many grotesques and various animals, and Perino the cars of the
seven planets. They had also to paint the walls of that same hall,
on which Giotto, according as is written by Platina in the Lives of
the Pontiffs, had formerly painted some Popes who had been put to
death for the faith of Christ, on which account that hall was called
for a time the Hall of the Martyrs. But the vaulting was scarcely
finished, when there took place that most unhappy sack of Rome, and
the work could not be pursued any further. Thereupon Giovanni,
having suffered not a little both in person and in property,
returned again to Udine, intending to stay there a long time; but in
that he did not succeed, for the reason that Pope Clement, after
returning from Bologna, where he had crowned Charles V, to Rome,
caused Giovanni also to return to that city, where he commissioned
him first to make anew the standards of the Castello di S. Angelo,
and then to paint the ceiling of the great chapel, the principal one
in S. Pietro, where the altar of that Saint is. Meanwhile, Fra
Mariano having died, who had the office of the Piombo, his place was
given to Sebastiano Viniziano, a painter of great repute, and to
Giovanni a pension on the same of eighty chamber-ducats.
Then, after the troubles of the Pontiff had in great measure
ceased and affairs in Rome had grown quiet, Giovanni was sent by his
Holiness with many promises to Florence, to execute in the new
sacristy of S. Lorenzo, which had been adorned with most excellent
sculptures by Michelagnolo, the ornaments of the tribune, which is
full of sunk squares that diminish little by little towards the
central point. Setting his hand to this, then, Giovanni carried it
excellently well to completion with the aid of many assistants, with
most beautiful foliage, rosettes, and other ornaments of stucco and
gold; but in one thing he failed in judgment, for the reason that on
the flat friezes that form the ribs of the vaulting, and on those
that run crossways, so as to enclose the squares, he made foliage,
birds, masks, and figures that cannot be seen at all from the
ground, although they are very beautiful, by reason of the distance,
and also because they are divided up by other colours, whereas, if
he had painted them in colours without any other elaboration, they
would have been visible, and the whole work would have been brighter
and richer. There remained no more of the work to be executed than
he would have been able to finish in a fortnight, going over it
again in certain places, when there came the news of the death of
Pope Clement, and Giovanni was robbed of all his hopes, particularly
of that which he expected from that Pontiff as the reward and
guerdon of this work. Wherefore, having recognized, although too
late, how fallacious in most cases are the hopes based on the favour
of Courts, and how often those who put their trust in the lives of
particular Princes are left disappointed, he returned to Rome; but,
although he would have been able to live there on his offices and
revenues, serving also Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici and the new
Pontiff, Paul III, he resolved to repatriate himself and to return
to Udine.
Carrying that intention into effect, therefore, he went back to
live in his native place with that brother to whom he had given the
canonicate, determined that he would never more handle a brush. But
in this also he was disappointed, for the reason that, having taken
a wife and had children by her, he was in a manner forced by the
instinct that a man naturally feels to bring up his children and to
leave them in good circumstances, to set himself once more to work.
He painted, then, at the entreaty of the father of the Chevalier
Giovan Francesco di Spilimbergo, a frieze in a hall, filling it with
children, festoons, fruits, and other things of fancy. After that,
he adorned with lovely paintings and works in stucco the Chapel of
S. Maria at Civitale; and for the Canons of the Duomo of that place
he executed two most beautiful standards. And for the Confraternity
of S. Maria di Castello, at Udine, he painted on a rich banner Our
Lady with the Child in her arms, and an Angel full of grace who is
offering to her that Castello, which stands on a hill in the center
of the city. At Venice, in the Palace of Grimani, the Patriarch of
Aquileia, he decorated with stucco-work and paintings a very
beautiful chamber in which are some lovely little scenes by the hand
of Francesco Salviati.
Finally, in the year 1550, Giovanni went to Rome to take part in
the most holy Jubilee, on foot and dressed poorly as a pilgrim, and
in the company of humble folk; and he stayed there many days without
being known by anyone. But one day, while going to S. Paolo, he was
recognized by Giorgio Vasari, who was riding in a coach to the same
Pardon in company with Messer Bindo Altoviti, who was much his
friend. At first Giovanni denied that it was he, but finally he was
forced to reveal himself and to confess that he had great need of
Giorgio' s assistance with the Pope in the matter of the pension
that he had from the Piombo, which was being denied to him by one
Fra Guglielmo, a Genoese sculptor, who had received that office
after the death of Fra Sebastiano. Giorgio spoke of this matter to
the Pope, which was the reason that the bond was renewed, and
afterwards it was proposed to exchange it for a canonicate at Udine
for Giovanni's son. But afterwards, being again defrauded by that
Fra Guglielmo, Giovanni went from Udine to Florence, after Pope Pius
had been elected, in the hope of being assisted and favoured by his
Excellency with that Pontiff, by means of Vasari. Having arrived in
Florence, then, he was presented by Giorgio to his most illustrious
Excellency, with whom he went to Siena, and then from there to Rome,
whither there also went the Lady Duchess Leonora; and in such wise
was he assisted by the kindness of the Duke, that he was not only
granted all that he desired, but also set to work by the Pope with a
good salary to give the final completion to the last Loggia, which
is the one over that which Pope Leo had formerly caused him to
decorate. That finished, the same Pope commissioned him to retouch
all that first Loggia, which was an error and a thing very ill
considered, for the reason that retouching it "a secco" caused it to
lose all those masterly strokes that had been drawn by Giovanni's
brush in all the excellence of his best days, and also the boldness
and freshness that had made it in its original condition so rare a
work.
After finishing that work, Giovanni, being seventy years of age,
finished also the course of his life, in the year 1564, rendering up
his spirit to God in that most noble city which had enabled him for
many years to live with so much success and so great a name.
Giovanni was always, but much more in his last years, a God-fearing
man and a good Christian. In his youth he took pleasure in scarcely
any other thing but hunting and fowling; and his custom when he was
young was to go hunting on feast-days with his servant, at times
roaming over the Campagna to a distance of ten miles from Rome. He
could shoot very well with the fusil and the crossbow, and therefore
rarely returned home without his servant being laden with wild
geese, ringdoves, wild ducks, and other creatures such as are to be
found in those marshy places. Giovanni, so many declare, was the
inventor of the ox painted on canvas that is made for using in that
pursuit, so as to fire off the fusil without being seen by the wild
creatures; and on account of those exercises of hunting and fowling
he always delighted to keep dogs and to train them by himself.
Giovanni, who deserves to be extolled among the greatest masters
of his profession, chose to be buried in the Ritonda, near his
master Raffaello da Urbino, in order not to be divided in death from
him to whom in life his spirit was always attached; and since, as
has been told, each of them was an excellent Christian, it may be
believed that they are still together in eternal blessedness.
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BATTISTA FRANCO
PAINTER OF VENICE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
BATTISTA FRANCO of Venice, having given his attention in his
early childhood to design, went off at the age of twenty, as one who
aimed at perfection in that art, to Rome, where, after he had
devoted himself for some time with much study to design, and had
seen the manner of various masters, he resolved that he would not
study or seek to imitate any other works but the drawings,
paintings, and sculptures of Michelagnolo; wherefore, having set
himself to make research, there remained no sketch, study, or even
any thing copied by Michelagnolo that he had not drawn. Wherefore no
long time passed before he became one of the first draughtsmen who
frequented the Chapel of Michelagnolo; and, what was more, he would
not for a time set himself to paint or to do any other thing but
draw. But in the year 1536, festive preparations of a grand and
sumptuous kind being arranged by Antonio da San Gallo for the coming
of the Emperor Charles V, in which, as has been related in another
place, all the craftsmen, good and bad, were employed, Raffaello da
Montelupo, who had to execute the decorations of the Ponte S. Angelo
with the ten statues that were placed upon it, having seen that
Battista was a young man of good parts and a finished draughtsman,
resolved to bring it about that he also should be employed, and by
hook or by crook to have some work given to him to do. And so,
having spoken of this to San Gallo, he so contrived that Battista
was commissioned to execute in fresco four large scenes in
chiaroscuro on the front of the Porta Capena, now called the Porta
di S. Bastiano, through which the Emperor was to enter.
In that work Battista, without having hitherto touched colors,
executed over the gate the arms of Pope Paul III and those of the
Emperor Charles, with a Romulus who was placing on the arms of the
Pontiff a Papal crown, and on those of the Emperor an Imperial
crown; which Romulus, a figure of five braccia, dressed in the
ancient manner, with a crown on the head, had on the right hand Numa
Pompilius, and on the left Tullus Hostilius, and above him these
words Quirinus Pater. In one of the scenes that were on the faces of
the towers standing on either side of the gate, was the elder Scipio
triumphing over Carthage, which he had made tributary to the Roman
people; and in the other, on the right hand, was the triumph of the
younger Scipio, who had ruined and destroyed that same city. In one
of the two pictures that were on the exterior of the towers, on the
front side, could be seen Hannibal under the walls of Rome, driven
back by the tempest, and in the other, on the left, Flaccus entering
by that gate to succour Rome against that same Hannibal. All these
scenes and pictures, being Battista's first paintings, and in
comparison with those of the others, were passing good and much
extolled. And, if Battista had begun from the first to paint and
from time to time to practise using colors and handling brushes,
there is no doubt that he would have surpassed many craftsmen; but
his obstinate adherence to a certain opinion that many others hold,
who persuade themselves that draughtsmanship is enough for him who
wishes to paint, did him no little harm.
For all that, however, he acquitted himself much better than did
some of those who executed the scenes on the arch of S. Marco, on
which there were eight scenes, four on each side, the best of which
were painted partly by Francesco Salviati, and partly by a certain
Martino* [* Martin Heemskerk.] and other young Germans, who had come
to Rome at that very time in order to learn. Nor will I omit to
tell, in this connection, that the above-named Martino, who was very
able in works in chiaroscuro, executed some battle scenes with such
boldness and such beautiful inventions in certain encounters and
deeds of arms between Christians and Turks, that nothing better
could have been done. And the marvellous thing was that Martino and
his assistants executed those canvases with such assiduity and
rapidity, in order that the work might be finished in time, that
they never quitted their labor; and since drink, and that good
Greco, was continually being brought to them, what with their being
constantly drunk and inflamed with the heat of the wine, and their
facility in execution, they achieved wonders. Where- fore, when
Salviati, Battista, and Calavrese saw the work of these men, they
confessed that for him who wishes to be a painter it is necessary to
begin to handle brushes in good time; which matter having afterwards
considered more carefully in his own mind, Battista began not to
give so much study to finishing his drawings, and at times to use
colour. Montelupo then going to Florence, where, in like manner,
very great preparations were being made for the reception of the
above-named Emperor, Battista went with him, and when they arrived
they found those preparations well on the way to completion ; but
Battista, being set to work, made a base all covered with figures
and trophies for the statue on the Canto de' Carnesecchi that Fra
Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli had executed. Having therefore become
known among the craftsmen as a young man of good parts and ability,
he was much employed afterwards at the coming of Madama Margherita
of Austria, the wife of Duke Alessandro, and particularly in the
festive preparations that Giorgio Vasari made in the Palace of
Messer Ottaviano de' Medici, where that lady was to reside.
These festivities finished, Battista set himself to draw with the
greatest industry the statues of Michelagnolo that are in the new
Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, to which at that time all the painters and
sculptors of Florence had nocked to draw and to work in relief; and
among these Battista made no little proficience, but, nevertheless,
it was recognized that he had committed an error in never consenting
to draw from the life and to use colours, or to do anything but
imitate statues and little else besides, which had given his manner
a hardness and dryness that he was not able to shake off, nor could
he prevent his works from having a hard and angular quality, as may
be seen from a canvas in which he depicted with much pains and
labour the Roman Lucretia violated by Tarquinius. Consorting thus
with the others and frequenting that sacristy, Battista formed a
friendship with the sculptor Bartolommeo Ammanati, who was studying
the works of Buonarroti there in company with many others. And of
such a kind was that friendship, that Ammanati took Battista into
his house, as well as Genga of Urbino, and they lived thus in
company for some time, attending with much profit to the studies of
art.
Duke Alessandro having then been done to death in the year 1536,
and Signor Cosimo de' Medici elected in his place, many of the
servants of the dead Duke remained in the service of the new, but
others did not, and among those who went away was the above-named
Giorgio Vasari, who returned to Arezzo, with the intention of having
nothing more to do with Courts, having lost Cardinal Ippolito de'
Medici, his first lord, and then Duke Alessandro; but he brought it
about that Battista was invited to serve Duke Cosimo and to work in
his guardaroba, where he painted in a large picture Pope Clement and
Cardinal Ippolito, copying them from a work by Fra Sebastiano and
from one by Tiziano, and Duke Alessandro from a picture by Pontormo.
This picture was not of that perfection that was expected; but,
having seen in the same guardaroba the cartoon of the "Noli me
tangere" by Michelagnolo, which Pontormo had previously executed in
colors, he set himself to make a cartoon like it, but with larger
figures; which done, he painted a picture from it wherein he
acquitted himself much better in the colouring. And the cartoon,
which he copied exactly after that of Michelagnolo, was executed
with great patience and very beautiful.
The affair of Monte Murlo having then taken place, in which the
exiles and rebels hostile to the Duke were routed and captured,
Battista depicted with beautiful invention a scene of the battle
fought there, mingled with poetic fantasies of his own, which was
much extolled, although there were recognized in the armed encounter
and in the taking of the prisoners many things copied bodily from
the works and drawings of Buonarroti. For the battle was in the
distance, and in the foreground were the huntsmen of Ganymede, who
were standing there gazing at Jove's Eagle carrying the young man
away into Heaven; which part Battista took from the design of
Michelagnolo, in order to use it to signify that the young Duke had
risen by the grace of God from the midst of his friends into Heaven,
or some such thing. This scene, I say, was first drawn by Battista
in a cartoon, and then painted with supreme diligence in a picture;
and it is now, together with his other works mentioned above, in the
upper apartments of the Pitti Palace, which his most illustrious
Excellency has just caused to be completely finished.
Having thus been engaged on these and some other works in the
service of the Duke, until the time when he took to wife the Lady
Donna Leonora of Toledo, Battista was next employed in the festive
preparations for those nuptials, on the triumphal arch at the Porta
al Prato, where Ridolfo Ghirlandajo caused him to execute some
scenes of the actions of Signer Giovanni, father of Duke Cosimo. In
one of these that lord could be seen passing the Rivers Po and Adda,
in the presence of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who became Pope
Clement VII, Signer Prospero Colonna, and other lords ; and in
another was the scene of the delivering of San Secondo. On the other
side Battista painted in another scene the city of Milan, and around
it the Camp of the League, which, on departing, the above-named
Signor Giovanni leaves there. On the right flank of the arch he
painted on one side a picture of Opportunity, who, having her
tresses all unbound, was offering them with one hand to Signor
Giovanni, and on the other side Mars, who was likewise offering him
his sword. In another scene under the arch, by the hand of Battista,
was Signor Giovanni fighting between the Tesino and Biegrassa upon
the Ponte Rozzo, defending it, as it were like another Horatius,
with incredible bravery. Opposite to this was the Taking of
Caravaggio, and in the centre of the battle Signor Giovanni, who was
passing fearlessly through fire and sword in the midst of the
hostile army. Between the columns, on the right hand, there was in
an oval Garlasso, taken by the same lord with a single company of
soldiers, and on the left hand, between the two other columns, the
bastion of Milan, likewise taken from the enemy. On the fronton,
which was at the back of anyone entering, was the same Signor
Giovanni on horseback under the walls of Milan, when, tilting in
single combat with a knight, he ran him through from side to side
with his lance. Above the great cornice, which reached out to the
other cornice, on which the pediment rested, in another large scene
executed by Battista with much diligence, there was in the centre
the Emperor Charles V, who, crowned with laurel, was seated on a
rock, with the sceptre in his hand ; at his feet lay the River Betis
with a vase that poured water from two mouths, and beside that
figure was the River Danube, which, with seven mouths, was pouring
its waters into the sea.
I shall not make mention here of the vast number of statues that
accompanied the above-named pictures and others on that arch, for
the reason that it is enough for me at the present moment to
describe that which concerns Battista Franco, and it is not my
office to give an account of all that was done by others in the
festive preparations for those nuptials and described at great
length; besides which, having spoken of the masters of those statues
where the necessity arose, it would be superfluous for me to say
anything about them here, and particularly because the statues are
not now standing, so that they cannot be seen and considered. But to
return to Battista: the best thing that he did for those nuptials
was one of the ten above-mentioned pictures which were in the
decorations in the great court of the Medici Palace, wherein he
painted in chiaroscuro Duke Cosimo invested with all the Ducal
insignia. But, for all the diligence that he used there, he was
surpassed by Bronzino, and by others who had less design than
himself, in invention, in boldness, and in the treatment of the
chiaroscuro. For, as has been said before, pictures must be executed
with facility, and the parts set in their places with judgment, and
without that effort and that labor which make things appear hard and
crude; besides which, overmuch study often makes them come out heavy
and dark, and spoils them, while lingering over them so long takes
away the grace, boldness and excellence that facility is wont to
give them. And these qualities, although they come in great measure
as gifts from nature, can also in part be acquired by study and art.
Having then been taken by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo to the Madonna di
Vertigli in Valdichiana (which place was once attached to the
Monastery of the Angeli, of the Order of Camaldoli, in Florence, and
is now an in- dependent body in place of the Monastery of S.
Benedetto, which, being without the Porta a Pinti, was destroyed on
account of the siege of Florence), Battista painted there the scenes
in the cloister already mentioned, while Ridolfo was executing the
altarpiece and the ornaments of the high altar. These finished, as
has been related in the Life of Ridolfo, they adorned with other
pictures that holy place, which is very celebrated and renowned for
the many miracles that are wrought there by the Virgin Mother of the
Son of God. Battista then returned to Rome, at the very time when
the Judgment of Michelagnolo had just been uncovered; and, being a
zealous student of the manner and works of that master, he gazed at
it very gladly, and in infinite admiration made drawings of it all.
And then, having resolved to remain in Rome, at the commission of
Cardinal Francesco Cornaro who had rebuilt the palace that he
occupied beside S. Pietro, which looks out on the portico in the
direction of the Camposanto he painted over the stucco a loggia that
looks towards the Piazza, making there a kind of grotesques all full
of little scenes and figures; which work, executed with much labor
and diligence, was held to be very beautiful. About the same time,
which was the year 1538, Francesco Salviati, having painted a scene
in fresco in the Company of the Misericordia, was to give it the
final completion and to set his hand to others, which many private
citizens desired to have painted; but, by reason of the rivalry that
there was between him and Jacopo del Conte, nothing more was done;
which hearing, Battista sought to obtain by this means an
opportunity to prove himself superior to Francesco and the best
master in Rome ; and he so went to work, employing his friends and
other means, that Monsignor della Casa, after seeing a design by his
hand, allotted the work to him. Thereupon, setting his hand to it,
he painted there in fresco S. John the Baptist taken at the command
of Herod and cast into prison. But, although this picture was
executed with much labor, it was not held to be equal by a great
measure to that of Salviati, from its having been painted with very
great effort and in a manner crude and melancholy, while it had no
order in the composition, nor in a single part any of that grace and
charm of coloring which Francesco's work possessed. And from this it
may be concluded that those men are deceived who, in pursuing this
art, give all their attention to executing well and with a good
knowledge of muscles a torso, an arm, a leg, or other member,
believing that a good grasp of that part is the whole secret; for
the reason that the part of a work is not the whole, and only he
carries it to perfect completion, in a good and beautiful manner,
who, after executing the parts well, knows how to make them fit in
due proportion into the whole, and who, moreover, so contrives that
the composition of the figures expresses and produces well and
without confusion the effect that it should produce. And, above all,
care must be taken to make the heads vivacious, spirited, gracious,
and beautiful in the expressions, the manner not crude, and the
nudes so tinted with black that they may have relief, melting
gradually into the distance according as may be required; to say
nothing of the perspective-views, landscapes, and other parts that
good pictures demand, nor that in making use of the works of others
a man should proceed in such a manner that this may not be too
easily recognized. Battista thus became aware too late that he had
wasted time beyond all reason over the minutiae of muscles and over
drawing with too great diligence, while paying no attention to the
other fields of art. Having finished that work, which brought him
little praise, Battista transferred himself by means of Bartolommeo
Genga to the service of the Duke of Urbino, to paint a very large
vaulting in the church and chapel attached to the Palace of Urbino.
Having arrived there, he set himself straightway to make the designs
according as the invention presented itself in the work, without
giving it any further thought and without making any compartments.
And so in imitation of the Judgment of Buonarroti, he depicted in a
Heaven the Glory of the Saints, who are dispersed over that vaulting
on certain clouds, with all the choirs of the Angels about a
Madonna, who, having ascended into Heaven, is received by Christ,
who is in the act of crowning her, while in various separate groups
stand the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Sibyls, the Apostles, the
Martyrs, the Confessors, and the Virgins; which figures, in their
different attitudes, reveal their rejoicing at the advent of that
Glorious Virgin. This invention would certainly have given Battista
a great opportunity to prove himself an able master, if he had
chosen a better way, not only making himself well-practised in
fresco-colors, but also proceeding with better order and judgment
than he displayed in all his labour. But he used in this work the
same methods as in all his others, for he made always the same
figures, the same countenances, the same members, and the same
draperies; besides which, the coloring was without any charm, and
everything labored and executed with difficulty. When all was
finished, therefore, it gave little satisfaction to Duke Guidobaldo,
Genga, and all the others who were expecting great things from that
master, equal to the beautiful design that he had shown to them in
the beginning; for, in truth, in making beautiful designs Battista
had no peer and could be called an able man.
Which recognizing, the Duke thought that his designs would
succeed very well if carried into execution by those who were
fashioning vases of clay so excellently at Castel Durante, for which
they had availed themselves much of the prints of Raffaello da
Urbino and other able masters; and he caused Battista to draw
innumerable designs, which, when put into execution in that sort of
clay, the most kindly of all that there are in Italy, produced a
rare result. Wherefore vases were made in such numbers and of as
many kinds as would have sufficed to do honor to the credence of a
King; and the pictures that were painted on them would not have been
better if they had been executed in oils by the most excellent
masters. Of these vases, which in the quality of the clay much
resemble the kind that was wrought at Arezzo in ancient times, in
the days of Porsenna, King of Tuscany, the above-named Duke
Guidobaldo sent enough for a double credence to the Emperor Charles
V, and a set to Cardinal Farnese, the brother of Signora Vittoria,
his consort. And it is right that it should be known that of this
kind of paintings on vases, in so far as we can judge, the Romans
had none, for the vases of those times, filled with the ashes of
their dead or used for other purposes, are covered with figures
hatched and grounded with only one color, either black, or red, or
white; nor have they ever that lustrous glazing or that charm and
variety of paintings which have been seen and still are seen in our
own times. Nor can it be said that, if perchance they did have such
things, the paintings have been consumed by time and by their having
been buried, for the reason that we see our own resisting the
assaults of time and every other danger, insomuch that it may even
be said that they might remain four thousand years under the ground
without the paintings being spoilt. Now, although vases and
paintings of that kind are made throughout all Italy, yet the best
and most beautiful works in clay are those tha.t are wrought, as I
have said, at Castel Durante, a place in the State of Urbino, and
those of Faenza, the best of which are for the most part of a very
pure white, with few paintings, and those in the centre or on the
edges, but delicate and pleasing enough.
But to return to Battista: for the nuptials of the
above-mentioned Lord Duke and Signora Vittoria Farnese, which took
place afterwards at Urbino, he, assisted by his young men, executed
on the arches erected by Genga, who was the head of the festive
preparations, all the historical pictures that were painted upon
them. Now, since the Duke doubted that Battista would not finish in
time, the undertaking being very great, he sent for Giorgio Vasari
who at that time was painting at Rimini, for the White Friars of
Scolca, of the Order of Monte Oliveto, a large chapel in fresco and
an altarpiece in oils for their high altar to the end that he might
go to the aid of Genga and Battista in those preparations. But
Vasari, feeling indisposed, made his excuses to his Excellency and
wrote to him that he should have no doubt, for the reason that the
talents and knowledge of Battista were such that he would have
everything finished in time, as indeed, in the end, he did. Giorgio
then going, after finishing his works at Rimini, to visit that Duke
and to make his excuses in person, his Excellency caused him to
examine, to the end that he might value it, the above-mentioned
chapel that had been painted by Battista, which Vasari much
extolled, recommending the ability of that master, who was largely
rewarded by the great liberality of that lord.
It is true, however, that Battista was not at that time in
Urbino, but in Rome, where he was engaged in drawing not only the
statues but all the antiquities of that city, and in making, as he
did, a great book of them, which was a praiseworthy work. Now, while
Battista was giving his attention to drawing in Rome, Messer
Giovanni Andrea dell' Anguillara, a man truly distinguished in
certain forms of poetry, having got together a company of various
choice spirits, was causing very rich scenery and decorations to be
prepared in the large hall of S. Apostolo, in order to perform
comedies by various authors before gentlemen, lords, and great
persons. He had caused seats to be made for the spectators of
different ranks, and for the Cardinals and other great prelates he
had prepared certain rooms from which, through jalousies, they could
see and hear without being seen. And since in that company there
were painters, sculptors, architects, and men who were to perform
the dramas and to fulfil other offices, Battista and Ammanati,
having been chosen of the company, were given the charge of
preparing the scenery, with some stories and ornaments in painting,
which Battista executed so well (together with some statues that
Ammanati made), that he was very highly extolled for them. But the
great expenses of that place exceeded the means available, so that
M. Giovanni Andrea and the others were forced to remove the
prospect-scene and the other ornaments from S. Apostolo and to
convey them into the new Temple of S. Biagio, in the Strada Giulia.
There, Battista having once more arranged everything, many comedies
were performed with extraordinary satisfaction to the people and
courtiers of Rome; and from this origin there sprang in time the
players who travel around, called the Zanni.
After these things, having come to the year 1550, Battista
executed in company with Girolamo Siciolante of Sermoneta, for
Cardinal di Cesis, on the fa9ade of his palace, the coat of arms of
Pope Julius III, who had been newly elected Pontiff, with three
figures and some little boys, which were much extolled. That
finished, he painted in the Minerva, in a chapel built by a Canon of
S. Pietro and all adorned with stucco, some stories of the Madonna
and of Jesus Christ in the compartments of the vaulting, which were
the best works that he had ever executed up to that time. On one of
the two walls he painted the Nativity of Jesus Christ, with some
Shepherds, and Angels that are singing over the hut, and on the
other the Resurrection of Christ, with many soldiers in various
attitudes about the Sepulchre; and above each of those scenes, in
certain lunettes, he executed some large Prophets. And finally, on
the altar - wall, he painted Christ Crucified, Our Lady, S. John, S.
Dominic, and some other Saints in the niches; in all which he
acquitted himself very well and like an excellent master.
But since his earnings were scanty and the expenses of Rome very
great, after having executed some works on cloth, which had not much
success, he returned to his native country of Venice, thinking by a
change of country to change also his fortune. There, by reason of
his fine manner of drawing, he was judged to be an able man, and a
few days afterwards he was commissioned to execute an altarpiece in
oils for the Chapel of Mons. Barbaro, Patriarch-elect of Aquileia,
in the Church of S. Francesco della Vigna; in which he painted S.
John baptizing Christ in the Jordan, in the air God the Father, at
the foot two little boys who are holding the vestments of Christ, in
the angles the Annunciation, and below these figures the semblance
of a canvas superimposed, with a good number of little nude figures
of Angels, Demons, and Souls in Purgatory, and with an inscription
that runs "In nomine Jesu omne genuflect atur." That work, which was
certainly held to be very good, won him much credit and fame;
indeed, it was the reason that the Frati de' Zoccoli, who have their
seat in that place, and who have charge of the Church of S. Giobbe
in Canareio, caused him to paint in the Chapel of the Foscari, in
that Church of S. Giobbe, a Madonna who is seated with the Child in
her arms, with a S. Mark on one side and a female Saint on the
other, and in the air some Angels who are scattering flowers. In S.
Bartolommeo, at the tomb of Cristofano Fuccheri, a German merchant,
he executed a picture of Abundance, Mercury, and Fame. For M.
Antonio della Vecchia, a Venetian, he painted in a picture with
figures of the size of life and very beautiful Christ crowned with
Thorns, and about them some Pharisees, who are mocking Him.
Meanwhile there had been built of masonry in the Palace of S.
Marco, after the design of Jacopo Sansovino, as will be related in
the proper place, the staircase that leads from the first floor
upwards, and it had been adorned with various designs in stucco by
the sculptor Alessandro. a disciple of Sansovino; and Battista
painted very minute grotesques over it all, and in certain larger
spaces a good number of figures in fresco, which have been extolled
not a little by the craftsmen, and he then decorated the ceiling of
the vestibule of that staircase. Not long after- wards, when, as has
been related above, three pictures were given to each of the best
and most renowned painters of Venice to paint for the Library of S.
Marco, on the condition that he who should acquit himself best in
the judgment of those Magnificent Senators was to receive, in
addition to the usual payment, a chain of gold, Battista executed in
that place three scenes, with two Philosophers between the windows,
and acquitted himself very well, although he did not win the prize
of honour, as we said above.
After these works, having received from the Patriarch Grimani the
commission for a chapel in S. Francesco della Vigna, which is the
first on the left hand entering into the church, Battista set his
hand to it and began to make very rich designs in stucco over the
whole vaulting, with scenes of figures in fresco, laboring there
with incredible diligence. But whether it was his own carelessness,
or that he had executed some works, perchance on very fresh walls,
as I have heard say, at the villas of certain gentlemen before he
had that chapel finished, he died, and it remained incomplete. It
was finished afterwards by Federigo Zucchero of S. Agnolo in Vado, a
young and excellent painter, held to be among the best in Rome, who
painted in fresco on the walls at the sides Mary Magdalene being
converted by the Preaching of Christ and the Raising of her brother
Lazarus, which are pictures full of grace. And, when the walls were
finished, the same Federigo painted in the altarpiece the Adoration
of the Magi, which was much extolled.
Extraordinary credit and fame have come to Battista, who died in
the year 1561, from his many printed designs, which are truly worthy
to^be praised.
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JACOPO TINTORETTO
PAINTER OF VENICE
(Extracted from the Life of Battista Franco)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IN THE SAME CITY OF VENICE, and about the same time there lived,
as he still does, a painter called Jacopo Tintoretto, who has
delighted in all the arts, and particularly in playing various
musical instruments, besides being agreeable in his every action,
but in the matter of painting swift, resolute, fantastic, and
extravagant, and the most extraordinary brain that the art of
painting has ever produced, as may be seen from all his works and
from the fantastic compositions of his scenes, executed by him in a
fashion of his own and contrary to the use of other painters.
Indeed, he has surpassed even the limits of extravagance with the
new and fanciful inventions and the strange vagaries of his
intellect, working at haphazard and without design, as if to prove
that art is but a jest. This master at times has left as finished
works sketches still so rough that the brush-strokes may be seen,
done more by chance and vehemence than with judgment and design. He
has painted almost every kind of picture in fresco and in oils, with
portraits from life, and at every price, insomuch that with these
methods he has executed, as he still does, the greater part of the
pictures painted in Venice. And since in his youth he proved himself
by many beautiful works a man of great judgment, if only he had
recognized how great an advantage he had from nature, and had
improved it by reasonable study, as has been done by those who have
followed the beautiful manners of his predecessors, and had not
dashed his work off by mere skill of hand, he would have been one of
the greatest painters that Venice has ever had. Not that this
prevents him from being a bold and able painter, and delicate,
fanciful, and alert in spirit.
Now, when it had been ordained by the Senate that Jacopo
Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, at that time young men of great
promise, should each execute a scene in the Hall of the Great
Council, and Orazio, the son of Tiziano, another, Tintoretto painted
in his scene Frederick Barbarossa being crowned by the Pope,
depicting there a most beautiful building, and about the Pontiff a
great number of Cardinals and Venetian gentlemen, all portrayed from
life, and at the foot the Pope's chapel of music. In all this he
acquitted himself in such a manner, that the picture can bear
comparison with those of the others, not excepting that of the
above-named Orazio, in which is a battle that was fought at Rome
between the Germans of that Frederick and the Romans, near the
Castello di S. Angelo and the Tiber. In this picture, among other
things, is a horse in foreshortening, leaping over a soldier in
armor, which is most beautiful; but some declare that Orazio was
assisted in the work by his father Tiziano. Beside these Paolo
Veronese, of whom there has been an account in the Life of Michele
San Michele, painted in his scene the same Frederick Barbarossa
presenting himself at Court and kissing the hand of Pope Ottaviano,
to the despite of Pope Alexander III; and, in addition to that
scene, which was very beautiful, Paolo painted over a window four
large figures: Time, Union, with a bundle of rods, Patience, and
Faith, in which he acquitted himself better than I could express in
words.
Not long afterwards, another scene being required in that hall,
Tintoretto so went to work with the aid of friends and other means,
that it was given to him to paint; whereupon he executed it in such
a manner that it was a marvel, and that it deserves to be numbered
among the best things that he ever did, so powerful in him was his
determination that he would equal, if not vanquish and surpass, his
rivals who had worked in that place. And the scene that he painted
there to the end that it may be known also by those who are not of
the art was Pope Alexander excommunicating and interdicting
Barbarossa, and that Frederick therefore forbidding his subjects to
render obedience any longer to the Pontiff. And among other fanciful
things that are in this scene, that part is most beautiful in which
the Pope and the Cardinals are throwing down torches and candles
from a high place, as is done when some person is excommunicated,
and below is a rabble of nude figures that are struggling for those
torches and candles the most lovely and pleasing effect in the
world. Besides all this, certain bases, antiquities, and portraits
of gentlemen that are dispersed throughout the scene, are executed
very well, and won him favor and fame with everyone. He therefore
painted, for places below the work of Pordenone in the principal
chapel of S. Rocco, two pictures in oils as broad as the width of
the whole chapel namely, about twelve braccia each. In one he
depicted a view in perspective as of a hospital filled with beds and
sick persons in various attitudes who are being healed by S. Rocco;
and among these are some nude figures very well conceived, and a
dead body in foreshortening that is very beautiful. In the other is
a story likewise of S. Rocco, full of most graceful and beautiful
figures, and such, in short, that it is held to be one of the best
works that this painter has executed. In a scene of the same size,
in the center of the church, he painted Jesus Christ healing the
impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, which is also a work held to
be passing good.
In the Church of S. Maria dell' Orto, where, as has been told
above, Cristofano and his brother, painters of Brescia, painted the
ceiling, Tintoretto has painted that is, on canvas and in oils the
two walls of the principal chapel, which are twenty-two braccia in
height from the vaulting to the cornice at the foot. In that which
is on the right hand he has depicted Moses returning from the Mount,
where he had received the Laws from God, and finding the people
worshipping the Golden Calf; and opposite to that, in the other, is
the Universal Judgment of the last day, painted with an extravagant
invention that truly has in it something awesome and terrible, by
reason of the diversity of figures of either sex and all ages that
are there, with vistas and distant views of the souls of the blessed
and the damned. There, also, may be seen the boat of Charon, but in
a manner so different from that of others, that it is a thing
beautiful and strange. If this fantastic invention had been executed
with correct and well-ordered drawing, and if the painter had given
diligent attention to the parts and to each particular detail, as he
has done to the whole in expressing the confusion, turmoil, and
terror of that day, it would have been a most stupendous picture.
And whoever glances at it for a moment, is struck with astonishment;
but, considering it afterwards minutely, it appears as if painted as
a jest.
The same master has painted in oils in that church, on the doors
of the organ, Our Lady ascending the steps of the Temple, which is a
highly- finished work, and the best-executed and most gladsome
picture that there is in that place. In S. Maria Zebenigo, likewise
on the doors of the organ, he has painted the Conversion of S. Paul,
but not with much care. In the Carita is an altarpiece by his hand,
of Christ taken down from the Cross; and in the Sacristy of S.
Sebastiano, in competition with Paolo Veronese, who executed many
pictures on the ceiling and the walls of that place, he painted over
the presses Moses in the Desert and other scenes, which were
continued afterwards by Natalino, a Venetian painter, and by others.
The same Tintoretto then painted for the altar of the Pieta, in S.
Giobbe, three Maries, S. Francis, S. Sebastian, and S. John, with a
piece of landscape; and, on the organ-doors in the Church of the
Servites, S. Augustine and S. Philip, and beneath them Cain killing
his brother Abel. At the altar of the Sacrament in S. Felice, or
rather, on the ceiling of the tribune, he painted the four
Evangelists; and in the lunette above the altar an Annunciation, in
the other lunette Christ praying on the Mount of Olives, and on the
wall the Last Supper that He had with His Apostles.
And in S. Francesco della Vigna, on the altar of the Deposition
from the Cross, there is by the same hand the Madonna in a swoon,
with the other Maries and some Prophets. In the Scuola of S. Marco,
near SS. Giovanni e Polo, are four large scenes by his hand. In one
of these is S. Mark, who, appearing in the air, is delivering one
who is his votary from many torments that may be seen prepared for
him with various instruments of torture, which being broken, the
executioner was never able to employ them against that devout man;
and in that scene is a great abundance of figures, foreshortenings,
pieces of armor, buildings, portraits, and other suchlike things,
which render the work very ornate. In the second is a tempest of the
sea, and S. Mark, likewise in the air, delivering another of his
votaries ; but that scene is by no means executed with the same
diligence as that already described. In the third is a storm of
rain, with the dead body of another of S. Mark's votaries, and his
soul ascending into Heaven; and there, also, is a composition of
passing good figures. In the fourth, wherein an evil spirit is being
exorcised, he counterfeited in perspective a great loggia, and at
the end of it a fire that illumines it with many reflections. And in
addition to those scenes there is on the altar a S. Mark by the same
hand, which is a passing good picture.
These works, then, and many others that are here passed over, it
being enough to have made mention of the best, have been executed by
Tintoretto with such rapidity, that, when it was thought that he had
scarcely begun, he had finished. And it is a notable thing that with
the most extravagant ways in the world, he has always work to do,
for the reason that when his friendships and other means are not
enough to obtain for him any particular work, even if he had to do
it, I do not say at a low price, but without payment or by force, in
one way or another, do it he would. And it is not long since,
Tintoretto having executed the Passion of Christ in a large picture
in oils and on canvas for the Scuola of S. Rocco, the men of that
Company resolved to have some honourable and magnificent work
painted on the ceiling above it, and therefore to allot that
commission to that one among the painters that there were in Venice
who should make the best and most beautiful design. Having therefore
summoned Joseffo Salviati, Federigo Zucchero, who was in Venice at
that time, Paolo Veronese, and Jacopo Tintoretto, they ordained that
each of them should make a design, promising the work to him who
should acquit himself best in this. While the others, then, were
engaged with all possible diligence in making their designs,
Tintoretto, having taken measurements of the size that the work was
to be, sketched a great canvas and painted it with his usual
rapidity, without anyone knowing about it, and then placed it where
it was to stand. Whereupon, the men of the Company having assembled
one morning to see the designs and to make their award, they found
that Tintoretto had completely finished the work and had placed it
in position. At which being angered against him, they said that they
had called for designs and had not commissioned him to execute the
work; but he answered them that this was his method of making
designs, that he did not know how to proceed in any other manner,
and that designs and models of works should always be after that
fashion, so as to deceive no one, and that, finally, if they would
not pay him for the work and for his labor, he would make them a
present of it.
And after these words, although he had many contradictions, he so
contrived that the work is still in the same place. In this canvas,
then, there is painted a Heaven with God the Father descending with
many Angels to embrace S. Rocco, and in the lowest part are many
figures that signify, or rather, represent the other principal
Scuole of Venice, such as the Carita, S. Giovanni Evangelista, the
Misericordia, S. Marco, and S. Teodoro, all executed after his usual
manner. But since it would be too long a task to enumerate all the
pictures of Tintoretto, let it be enough to have spoken of the above
named works of that master, who is a truly able man and a painter
worthy to be praised.
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ANDREA SCHIAVONE
PAINTER OF VENICE
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
There was in Venice about this same time a painter called
Brazzacco, a protege of the house of Grimani, who had been many
years in Rome; and he was commissioned by favor to paint the ceiling
in the Great Hall of the Chiefs of the Council of Ten. But this
master, knowing that he was not able to do it by himself and that he
had need of assistance, took as companions Paolo Veronese and
Battista Farinato, dividing between himself and them nine pictures
in oils that were destined for that place namely, four ovals at the
corners, four oblong pictures, and a larger oval in the centre.
Giving the last-named o'^al, with three of the oblong pictures, to
Paolo Veronese, who painted therein a Jove who is hurling his
thunderbolts against the Vices, and other figures, he took for
himself two of the smaller ovals, with one of the oblong pictures,
and gave two ovals to Battista. In one of these pictures is Neptune,
the God of the Sea, and in each of the others two figures
demonstrating the greatness and the tranquil and peaceful condition
of Venice. Now, although all three of them acquitted themselves
well, Paolo Veronese succeeded better than the others, and well
deserved, therefore, that those Signori should afterwards allot to
him the other ceiling that is beside the above-named hall, wherein
he painted in oils, in company with Battista Farinato, a S. Mark
supported in the air by some Angels, and lower down a Venice
surrounded by Faith, Hope, and Charity; which work, although it was
beautiful, was not equal in excellence to the first. Paolo
afterwards executed by himself in the Umilta, in a large oval of the
ceiling, an Assumption of Our Lady with other figures, which was a
gladsome, beautiful, and well-conceived picture.
Likewise a good painter in our own day, in that city, has been
Andrea Schiavone; I say good, because at times, for all his
misfortunes, he has produced some good work, and because he has
always imitated as well as he has been able the manners of the good
masters. But, since the greater part of his works have been pictures
that are dispersed among the houses of gentlemen, I shall speak only
of some that are in public places. In the Chapel of the family of
Pellegrini, in the Church of S. Sebastiano at Venice, he has painted
a S. James with two Pilgrims. In the Church of the Carmine, on the
ceiling of the choir, he has executed an Assumption with many Angels
and Saints; and in the Chapel of the Presentation, in the same
church, he has painted the Infant Christ presented by His Mother in
the Temple, with many portraits from life, but the best figure that
is there is a woman suckling a child and wearing a yellow garment,
who is executed in a certain manner that is used in Venice dashed
off, or rather, sketched, without being in any respect finished. Him
Giorgio Vasari caused in the year 1540 to paint on a large canvas in
oils the battle that had been fought a short time before between
Charles V and Barbarossa; and that work, which is one of the best
that Andrea Schiavone ever executed, and truly very beautiful, is
now in Florence, in the house of the heirs of the Magnificent M.
Ottaviano de' Medici, to whom it was sent as a present by Vasari.
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GIOVAN FRANCESCO RUSTICI (1471-1554)
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
IT IS IN EVERY WAY a notable thing that all those who were of the
school in the garden of the Medici, and were favored by the
Magnificent Lorenzo the Elder, became without exception supremely
excellent; which circumstance cannot have come from any other cause
but the great, nay, infinite judgment of that most noble lord, the
true Maecenas of men of talent, who, even as he was able to
recognize men of lofty spirit and genius, was also both willing and
able to recompense and reward them. Thus Giovan Francesco Rustici, a
Florentine citizen, acquitting himself very well in drawing and
working in clay in his boyhood, was placed by that Magnificent
Lorenzo, who recognized him as a boy of spirit and of good and
beautiful genius, to learn under Andrea del Verrocchio, with whom
there was also working Leonardo da Vinci, a rare youth and gifted
with infinite parts. Whereupon Rustici, being pleased by the
beautiful manner and ways of Leonardo, and considering that the
expressions of his heads and the movements of his figures were more
graceful and more spirited than those of any other works that he had
ever seen, attached himself to him, after he had learned to cast in
bronze, to draw in perspective, and to work in marble, and after
Andrea had gone to work in Venice.
Rustici thus living with Leonardo and serving him with the most
loving submission, Leonardo conceived such an affection for him,
recognizing him to be a young man of good, true, and liberal mind,
patient and diligent in the labors of art, that he did nothing,
either great or small, save what was pleasing to Giovan Francesco,
who, besides being of a noble family, had the means to live
honorably, and therefore practised art more for his own delight and
from desire of glory than for gain. And, to tell the truth of the
matter, those craftsmen who have as their ultimate and principal end
gain and profit, and not honor and glory, rarely become very
excellent, even although they may have good and beautiful genius;
besides which, laboring for a livelihood, as very many do who are
weighed down by poverty and their families, and working not by
inclination, when the mind and the will are drawn to it, but by
necessity from morning till night, is a life not for men who have
honor and glory as their aim, but for hacks, as they are called, and
manual laborers, for the reason that good works do not get done
without first having been well considered for a long time. And it
was on that account that Rustici used to say in his more mature
years that you must first think, then make your sketches, and after
that your designs; which done, you must put them aside for weeks and
even months without looking at them, and then, choosing the best,
put them into execution; but that method cannot be followed by
everyone, nor do those use it who labor only for gain. And he used
to say, also, that works should not be shown readily to anyone
before they are finished, so that a man may change them as many
times and in as many ways as he wishes, without any scruple.
Giovan Francesco learned many things from Leonardo, but
particularly how to represent horses, in which he so delighted that
he fashioned them of clay and of wax, in the round or in low-relief,
and in as many manners as could be imagined; and of these there are
some to be seen in our book which are so well drawn, that they bear
witness to the knowledge and art of Giovan Francesco. He knew also
how to handle colors, and executed some passing good pictures,
although his principal profession was sculpture. And since he lived
for a time in the Via de' Martelli, he became much the friend of all
the men of that family, which has always had men of the highest
ability and worth, and particularly of Piero, for whom, being the
nearest to his heart, he made some little figures in full-relief,
and, among others, a Madonna with the Child in her arms seated upon
some clouds that are covered with Cherubim. Similar to that is
another that he painted after some time in a large picture in oils,
with a garland of Cherubim that form a diadem around the head of Our
Lady.
The Medici family having then returned to Florence, Rustici made
himself known to Cardinal Giovanni as the protege of his father
Lorenzo, and was received with much lovingness. But, since the ways
of the Court did not please him and were distasteful to his nature,
which was altogether simple and peaceful, and not full of envy and
ambition, he would always keep to himself and live the life as it
were of a philosopher, enjoying tranquil peace and repose. And
although he did at times choose to take some recreation, and found
himself among his friends in art or some citizens who were his
intimate companions, he did not therefore cease to work when the
desire came to him or the occasion presented itself. Wherefore, for
the visit of Pope Leo to Florence in the year 1515, at the request
of Andrea del Sarto, who was much his friend, he executed some
statues that were held to be very beautiful; which statues, since
they pleased Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, were the reason that the
Cardinal caused him to make, for the summit of the fountain that is
in the great court of the Palace of the Medici, the nude Mercury of
bronze about one braccio in height, standing on a ball in the act of
taking flight. In the hands of that figure Rustici placed an
instrument that is made to revolve by the water that it pours down
from above, in the following manner: one leg being perforated, a
pipe passes through it and through the torso, and the water, having
risen to the mouth of the figure, falls upon that instrument, which
is balanced with four thin plates fixed after the manner of a
butterfly, and causes it to revolve. That figure, I say, for a small
work, was much extolled.
Not long afterwards, Giovan Francesco made the same Cardinal the
model for a David to be cast in bronze (similar to that executed by
Donato, as has been related, for the elder Cosimo, the Magnificent),
for placing in the first court, whence the other had been taken
away. That model gave much satisfaction, but, by reason of a certain
dilatoriness in Giovan Francesco, it was never cast in bronze;
wherefore the Orpheus in marble of Bandinelli was placed there, and
the David of clay made by Rustici, which was a very rare work, came
to an evil end, which was a very great loss. Giovan Francesco made
an Annunciation in half-relief in a large medallion, with a most
beautiful perspective- view, in which he was assisted by the painter
Raifaello Bello and by Niccolo Soggi. This, when cast in bronze,
proved to be a work of such rare beauty, that there was nothing more
beautiful to be seen; and it was sent to the King of Spain. And then
he executed in marble, in another similar medallion, a Madonna with
the Child in her arms and S. John the Baptist as a little boy, which
was placed in the first hall in the residence of the Consuls of the
Guild of For Santa Maria.
By these works Giovan Francesco came into great credit, and the
Consuls of the Guild of Merchants, who had caused to be removed
certain clumsy figures of marble that were over the three doors of
the Temple of S. Giovanni (made, as has been related, in the year
1240), after allotting to Contucci of Sansovino those that were to
be set up in place of the old ones over the door that faces towards
the Misericordia, allotted to Rustici those that were to be placed
over the door that faces towards the canonical buildings of that
temple, on the condition that he should make three figures of bronze
of four braccia each, representing the same persons as the old ones
namely, S. John in the act of preaching, standing between a Pharisee
and a Levite. That work was much after the heart of Giovan
Francesco, because it was to be set up in a place so celebrated and
of such importance, and, besides this, by reason of the competition
with Andrea Contucci. Having therefore straightway set his hand to
it and made a little model, which he surpassed in the excellence of
the work itself, he showed all the consideration and diligence that
such a labor required. When finished, the work was held to be in all
its parts the best composed and best conceived of its kind that had
been made up to that time, the figures being wholly perfect and
wrought with great grace of aspect and also extraordinary force. In
like manner, the nude arms and legs are very well conceived, and
attached at the joints so excellently, that it would not be possible
to do better; and, to say nothing of the hands and feet, what
graceful attitudes and what heroic gravity have those heads !
Giovan Francesco, while he was fashioning that work in clay,
would have no one about him but Leonardo da Vinci, who, during the
making of the moulds, the securing them with irons, and, in short,
until the statues were cast, never left his side; wherefore some
believe, but without knowing more than this, that Leonardo worked at
them with his own hand, or at least assisted Giovan Francesco with
his advice and good judgment. These statues, which are the most
perfect and the best conceived that have ever been executed in
bronze by a modern master, were cast in three parts and polished in
the above-mentioned house in the Via de' Martelli where Giovan
Francesco lived; and so, also, the ornaments of marble that are
about the S. John, with the two columns, the mouldings, and the
emblem of the Guild of Merchants. In addition to the S. John, which
is a spirited and lively figure, there is a bald man inclined to
fatness, beautifully wrought, who, having rested the right arm on
one flank, with part of a shoulder naked, and with the left hand
holding a scroll before his eyes, has the left leg crossed over the
right, and stands in an attitude of deep contemplation, about to
answer S. John; and he is clothed in two kinds of drapery, one
delicate, which floats over the nude parts of the figure, and over
that a mantle of thicker texture, executed with a flow of folds full
of mastery and artistry. Equal to him is the Pharisee, who, having
laid his right hand on his beard, with a grave gesture, is drawing
back a little, revealing astonishment at the words of John.
While Rustici was executing that work, growing weary at last of
having to ask for money every day from those Consuls or their
agents, who were not always the same (and such persons are generally
men who hold art or any work of value in little account), he sold,
in order to be able to finish the work, a farm out of his patrimony
that he possessed at San Marco Vecchio, at a short distance from
Florence. And yet, notwithstanding such labors, expenses, and pains,
he was poorly remunerated for it by the Consuls and by his
fellow-citizens, for the reason that one of the Ridolfi, the head of
that Guild, out of some private spite, and perchance also because
Rustici had not paid him enough honor or allowed him to see the
figures at his convenience, was always opposed to him in everything.
And so that which should have resulted in honor for Giovan Francesco
did the very opposite, for, whereas he deserved to be esteemed not
only as a nobleman and a citizen but also as a master of art, his
being a most excellent craftsman robbed him, with the ignorant and
foolish, of all that was due to his noble blood. Thus, when Giovan
Francesco's work was to be valued, and he had chosen on his side
Michelagnolo Buonarroti, the body of Consuls, at the persuasion of
Ridolfi, chose Baccio d'Agnolo; at which Rustici complained, saying
to the men of that body, at the audience, that it was indeed
something too strange that a worker in wood should have to value the
labors of a statuary, and he as good as declared that they were a
herd of oxen, but Ridolfi answered that, on the contrary, it was a
good choice, and that Giovan Francesco was a swollen bladder of
pride and arrogance. And, what was worse, that work, which deserved
not less than two thousand crowns, was valued by the Consuls at five
hundred, and even those were not paid to him in full, but only four
hundred, and that only with the help of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici.
Having met with such malignity, Giovan Francesco withdrew almost
in despair, determined that he would never again do work for public
bodies, or in any undertaking where he might have to depend on more
than one citizen or any other single person. And so, keeping to
himself and leading a solitary life in his rooms at the Sapienza,
near the Servite Friars, he continued to work at various things, in
order to pass the time and not to live in idleness; but also
consuming his life and his money in seeking to congeal mercury, in
company with a man of like brain called Raffaello Baglioni. Giovan
Francesco painted a picture in oils three braccia in breadth and two
in height, of the Conversion of S. Paul, full of different kinds of
horses ridden by the soldiers of that Saint, with various beautiful
attitudes and foreshortenings; which painting, together with many
other works by the hand of the same master, is in the possession of
the heirs of the above-named Piero Martelli, to whom he gave it. In
a little picture he painted a hunting scene full of various animals,
which is a very bizarre and pleasing work; and it now belongs to
Lorenzo Borghini, who holds it dear, as one who much delights in the
treasures of our arts.
For the Nuns of S. Luca, in the Via di S. Gallo, he executed in
clay, in half-relief, a Christ in the Garden who is appearing to
Mary Magdalene, which was afterwards glazed by Giovanni della Robbia
and placed on an altar in the church of those sisters, within an
ornament of grey sandstone. For Jacopo Salviati the elder, of whom
he was much the friend, he made a most beautiful medallion of
marble, containing a Madonna, for the chapel in his palace above the
Ponte alia Badia, and, round the courtyard, many medallions filled
with figures of terracotta, together with other very beautiful
ornaments, which were for the most part, nay, almost all, destroyed
by the soldiers in the year of the siege, when the palace was set on
fire by the party hostile to the Medici. And since Giovan Francesco
had a great affection for that place, he would set out at times from
Florence to go there just as he was, in his lucco;* [* A long gown
worn by the Florentine citizens, particularly on occasions of
ceremony.] and once out of the city he would throw it over his
shoulder and slowly wander all by himself, lost in contemplation,
until he was there. One day among others, being on that road, and
the day being hot, he hid the lucco in a thicket of thorn bushes,
and, having reached the palace, had been there two days before he
remembered it. In the end, sending his man to look for it, when he
saw that he had found it he said: "The world is too good to last
long."
Giovan Francesco was a man of surpassing goodness, and very
loving to the poor, insomuch that he would never let anyone leave
him uncomforted; nay, keeping his money, whether he had much or
little, in a basket, he would give some according to his ability to
anyone who asked of him. Wherefore a poor man who often went to him
for alms, seeing him go always to that basket, said, not thinking
that he could be heard: "Ah! God! if I had in my own room all that
is in that basket, I would soon settle all my troubles." Giovan
Francesco, hearing him, said, after gazing at him fixedly a while:
"Come here, I will satisfy you." And then, emptying the basket into
a fold of his cloak, he said to him: "Go, and may God bless you."
And shortly afterwards he sent to Niccolo Buoni, his dearest friend,
who managed all his affairs, for more money; which Niccolo, who kept
an account of his crops and of his money in the Monte, and sold his
produce at the proper seasons, made a practice, according to
Rustici's own wish, of giving him so much money every week, which
Giovan Francesco then kept in the drawer of his desk, without a key,
and from time to time anyone who wished would take some to spend on
the requirements of the household, according as might be necessary.
But to return to his works: Giovan Francesco made a most
beautiful Crucifix of wood, as large as life, for sending to France,
but it was left with Niccolo Buoni, together with other things in
low-relief and drawings, which are now in his possession, at the
time when Rustici resolved to leave Florence, believing that it was
no place for him and thinking by a change of country to obtain a
change of fortune. For Duke Giuliano, by whom he was always much
favored, he made a profile of his head in half-relief, and cast it
in bronze; and this, which was held to be a remarkable work, is now
in the house of M. Alessandro, the son of M. Ottaviano de' Medici.
To the painter Ruberto di Filippo Lippi, who was his diciple, Giovan
Francesco gave many works by his own hand, such as low-reliefs,
models, and designs; and, among other things, several pictures a
Leda, a Europa, a Neptune, a very beautiful Vulcan, and another
little panel in low-relief wherein is a nude man on horseback of
great beauty, which panel is now in the study of Don Silvano Razzi,
at the Angeli. The same Giovan Francesco made a very beautiful woman
in bronze, two braccia in height, representing one of the Graces,
who was pressing one of her breasts; but it is not known what became
of it, nor in whose possession it is to be found. Of his horses in
clay with men on their backs or under them, similar to those already
mentioned, there are many in the houses of citizens, which were
presented by him to his various friends, for he was very courteous,
and not, like most men of his class, mean and discourteous. And
Dionigi da Diacceto, an excellent and honorable gentleman, who also
kept the accounts of Giovan Francesco, like Niccolo Buoni, and was
his friend, had from him many low-reliefs.
There never was a man more amusing or fanciful than Giovan
Francesco, nor one that delighted more in animals. He had made a
porcupine so tame, that it stayed under the table like a dog, and at
times it rubbed against people's legs in such a manner, that they
drew them in very quickly. He had an eagle, and also a raven that
said a great number of things so clearly, that it was just like a
human being. He also gave his attention to the study of necromancy,
and by means of that I am told that he gave strange frights to his
servants and assistants; and thus he lived without a care. Having
built a room almost in the manner of a fishpond, and keeping in it
many serpents, or rather, grass- snakes, which could not escape, he
used to take the greatest pleasure in standing, particularly in
summer, to observe the mad pranks that they played, and their fury.
There used to assemble in his rooms at the Sapienza a company of
good fellows who called themselves the Company of the Paiuolo;* [*
Cooking- pot or cauldron.] and these, whose numbers were limited to
twelve, were our Giovan Francesco, Andrea del Sarto, the painter
Spillo, Domenico Puligo, the goldsmith Robetta, Aristotile da San
Gallo, Francesco di Pellegrino, Niccolo Buoni, Domenico Baccelli,
who played and sang divinely, the sculptor Solosmeo, Lorenzo called
Guazzetto, and the painter Ruberto di Filippo Lippi, who was their
proveditor. Each of these twelve could bring to certain suppers and
entertainments of theirs four friends and no more. The manner of the
suppers, which I am very willing to describe because these companies
have fallen almost entirely out of fashion, was that each man should
bring some dish for supper, prepared with some beautiful invention,
which, on arriving at the proper place, he presented to the master
of the feast, who was always one of their number, and who then gave
it to whomsoever he pleased, each man thus exchanging his dish for
that of another. When they were at table, they all offered each
other something from their dishes, and every man partook of
everything; and whoever had hit on the same invention for his dish
as another, and had produced the same thing, was condemned to pay a
penalty.
One evening, then, when Giovan Francesco gave a supper to that
Company of the Paiuolo, he arranged that there should serve as a
table an immense cauldron made with a vat, within which they all
sat, and it appeared as if they were in the water of the cauldron,
in the center of which came the viands arranged in a circle; and the
handle of the cauldron, which curved like a crescent above them,
gave out a most beautiful light from the centre, so that, looking
round, they all saw each other face to face Now when they were all
seated at table in the cauldron, which was most beautifully
contrived, there issued from the center a tree with many branches,
which set before them the supper, that is, the first course of
viands, two to each plate. This done, it descended once more below,
where there were persons who played music, and in a short time came
up again and presented the second course, and then the third, and so
on in due order, while all around were servants who poured out the
choicest wines. The invention of the cauldron, which was beautifully
adorned with hangings and pictures, was much extolled by the men of
that company.
For that evening the contribution of Rustici was a cauldron in
the form of a pie, in which was Ulysses dipping his father in order
to make him young again; which two figures were boiled capons that
had the form of men, so well were the limbs arranged, and all with
various things good to eat. Andrea del Sarto presented an octagonal
temple, similar to that of S. Giovanni, but raised upon columns. The
pavement was a vast plate of jelly, with a pattern of mosaic in
various colors; the columns, which had the appearance of porphyry,
were sausages, long and thick; the socles and capitals were of
Parmesan cheese; the cornices of sugar, and the tribune was made of
sections of marchpane. In the centre was a choir-desk made of cold
veal, with a book of lasagne that had the letters and notes of the
music made of pepper-corns; and the singers at the desk were cooked
thrushes standing with their beaks open, and with certain little
shirts after the manner of surplices, made of fine cauls of pigs,
and behind them, for the basses, were two fat young pigeons, with
six ortolans that sang the soprano. Spillo presented as his dish a
smith, which he had made from a great goose or some such bird, with
all the instruments wherewith to mend the cauldron in case of need.
Domenico Puligo represented by means of a cooked sucking-pig a
serving-girl with a distaff at her side, who was watching a brood of
chickens, and was there to scour the cauldron. Robetta made out of a
calf's head, with appurtenances formed of other fat meats, an anvil
for the maintenance of the cauldron, which was very fine and very
beautiful, as were also all the other contributions; not to
enumerate one by one all the dishes of that supper and of many
others that they gave.
The Company of the Cazzuola,* [* Mason's trowel. A sort of curd.]
which was similar to the other, and to which Giovan Francesco
belonged, had its origin in the following manner. One evening in the
year 1512 there were at supper in the garden that Feo d'Agnolo the
hunchback, a fife-player and a very merry fellow, had in the
Campaccio, with Feo himself, Ser Bastiano Sagginati, Ser Raffaello
del Beccaio, Ser Cecchino de' Profumi, Girolamo del Giocondo, and II
Baia, and, while they were eating their ricotta,f the eyes of Baia
fell on a heap of lime with the trowel sticking in it, just as the
mason had left it the day before, by the side of the table in a
corner of the garden. Whereupon, taking some of the lime with that
trowel, or rather, mason's trowel, he dropped it all into the mouth
of Feo, who was waiting with gaping jaws for a great mouthful of
ricotta from another of the company. Which seeing, they all began to
shout: "A Trowel, a Trowel!" That Company being then formed by
reason of that incident, it was ordained that its members should be
in all twenty-four, twelve of those who, as the phrase was in those
times, were "going for the Great," and twelve of those who were
"going for the Less "; and that its emblem should be a trowel, to
which they added afterwards those little black tadpoles that have a
large head and a tail, which are called in Tuscany Cazzuole. Their
Patron Saint was S. Andrew, whose festal day they used to celebrate
with much solemnity, giving a most beautiful supper and banquet
according to their rules.
The first members of that Company, those "going for the Great,"
were Jacopo Bottegai, Francesco Rucellai, Domenico his brother,
Giovan Battista Ginori, Girolamo del Giocondo, Giovanni Miniati,
Niccolo del Barbigia, Mezzabotte his brother, Cosimo da Panzano,
Matteo his brother, Marco Jacopi, and Pieraccino Bartoli; and those
"going for the Less," Ser Bastiano Sagginati, Ser Raffaello del
Beccaio, Ser Cecchino de' Profumi, Giuliano Bugiardini the painter,
Francesco Granacci the painter, Giovan Francesco Rustici, Feo the
hunchback, his companion II Talina the musician, Pierino the fifer,
Giovanni the trombone-player, and II Baia the bombardier. The
associates were Bernardino di Giordano, II Talano, II Caiano,
Maestro Jacopo del Bientina and M. Giovan Battista di Cristofano
Ottonaio, both heralds of the Signoria, Buon Pocci, and Domenico
Barlacchi. And not many years passed (so much did they increase in
reputation as they held their feasts and merrymakings), before there
were elected to that Company of the Cazzuola Signor Giuliano de'
Medici, Ottangolo Benvenuti, Giovanni Canigiani, Giovanni
Serristori, Giovanni Gaddi, Giovanni Bandini, Luigi Martelli, Paolo
da Romena, and Filippo Pandolnni the hunchback; and together with
these, at one and the same time, as associates, Andrea del Sarto the
painter, Bartolommeo Trombone the musician, Ser Bernardo Pisanello,
Piero the cloth-shearer, Gemma the mercer, and lastly Maestro
Manente da San Giovanni the physician.
The feasts that these men held at various times were innumerable,
and I shall describe only a few of them for the sake of those who do
not know the customs of these Companies, which, as has been related,
have now fallen almost entirely out of fashion. The first given by
the Cazzuola, which was arranged by Giuliano Bugiardini, was held at
a place called the Aia,* [* Threshing-floor.] at S. Maria Nuova,
where, as we have already said, the gates of S. Giovanni were cast
in bronze. There, I say, the master of the Company having commanded
that every man should present himself dressed in whatever costume he
pleased, on condition that those who might resemble one another in
their manner of dress by being clothed in the same fashion, should
pay a penalty, at the appointed hour there appeared the most
beautiful, bizarre, and extravagant costumes that could be imagined.
Then, the hour of supper having come, they were placed at table
according to the quality of their clothes those who were dressed as
Princes in the first places, the rich and noble after them, and
those dressed as poor persons in the last and lowest places. And
whether they had games and merrymaking after supper, it is better to
leave that to everyone to imagine for himself than to say anything
about it.
At another repast, which was arranged by the same Bugiardini and
by Giovan Francesco Rustic!, the men of the Company appeared, as the
master had commanded, all in the dress of masons and their
labourers; that is, those who were "going for the Great " had the
trowel with the cutting edge and hammer in their girdles, and those
"going for the Less " were dressed as labourers with the hod, the
levers for moving weights, and in their girdles the ordinary trowel.
When all had arrived in the first room, the lord of the feast showed
them the groundplan of an edifice that had to be built by the
company, and placed the master-masons at table around it; and then
the labourers began to carry up the materials for making the
foundations hods full of cooked lasagne and ricotta prepared with
sugar for mortar, sand made of cheese, spices, and pepper mixed
together, and for gravel large sweetmeats and pieces of
berlingozzo.* [* A Florentine cake.] The wall-bricks, paving-bricks,
and tiles, which were brought in baskets and hand-barrows, were
loaves of bread and flat cakes. A basement having then come up, it
appeared to the stone-cutters that it had not been executed and put
together well enough, and they judged that it would be a good thing
to break it and take it to pieces; where- upon, having set upon it
and found it all composed of pastry, pieces of liver, and other
suchlike things, they feasted on these, which were placed before
them by the labourers. Next, the same laborers having come on the
scene with a great column swathed with the cooked tripe of calves,
it was taken to pieces, and after distributing the boiled veal,
capons, and other things of which it was composed, they eat the base
of Parmesan cheese and the capital, which was made in a marvellous
manner of pieces carved from roasted capons and slices of veal, with
a crown of tongues. But why do I dally over describing all the
details ? After the column, there was brought up on a car a very
ingenious piece of architrave with frieze and cornice, composed in
like manner so well and of so many different viands, that to attempt
to describe them all would make too long a story. Enough that when
the time came to break up, after many peals of thunder an artificial
rain began to fall, and all left the work and fled, each one going
to his own house.
Another time, when the master of the same Company was Matteo da
Panzano, the banquet was arranged in the following manner. Ceres,
seeking Proserpine her daughter, who had been carried off by Pluto,
entered the room where the men of the Cazzuola were assembled, and,
coming before their master, besought him that they should accompany
her to the infernal regions. To which request consenting after much
discussion, they went after her, and so, entering into a somewhat
darkened room, they saw in place of a door a vast mouth of a
serpent, the head of which took up the whole wall. Round which door
all crowding together, while Cerberus barked, Ceres called out
asking whether her lost daughter were in there, and, a voice having
answered Yes, she added that she desired to have her back. But Pluto
replied that he would not give her up, and invited Ceres with all
the company to the nuptials that were being prepared; and the
invitation was accepted. Whereupon, all having entered through that
mouth, which was full of teeth, and which, being hung on hinges,
opened to each couple of men that entered, and then shut again, they
found themselves at last in a great room of a round shape, which had
no light but a very little one in the centre, which burned so dim
that they could scarcely see one another. There, having been pushed
into their seats with a great fork by a most hideous Devil who was
in the middle, beside the tables, which were draped in black, Pluto
commanded that in honor of his nuptials the pains of Hell should
cease for as long as those guests remained there; and so it was
done.
Now in that room were painted all the chasms of the regions of
the damned, with their pains and torments; and, fire being put to a
match of tow, in a flash a light was kindled at each chasm, thus
revealing in the picture in what manner and with what pains those
who were in it were tormented. The viands of that infernal supper
were all animals vile and most hideous in appearance; but
nevertheless within, under the loathly covering and the shape of the
pastry, were most delicate meats of many kinds. The skin, I say, on
the outer side, made it appear as if they were serpents,
grass-snakes, lizards large and small, tarantulas, toads, frogs,
scorpions, bats, and other suchlike animals; but within all were
composed of the choicest viands. And these were placed on the tables
before every man with a shovel, under the direction of the Devil,
who was in the middle, while a companion poured out exquisite wines
from a horn of glass, ugly and monstrous in shape, into glazed
crucibles, which served as drinking glasses. These first viands
finished, which formed a sort of relish, dead men's bones were set
all the way down the table in place of fruits and sweetmeats, as if
the supper, which was scarcely begun, were finished; which reliquary
fruits were of sugar. That done, Pluto, who proclaimed that he
wished to go to his repose with his Proserpine, commanded that the
pains should return to torment the damned; and in a moment all the
lights that have been mentioned were blown out by a sort of wind, on
every side were heard rumblings, voices, and cries, awesome and
horrible, and in the middle of that darkness, with a little light,
was seen the image of Baia the bombardier, who was one of the
guests, as has been related condemned to Hell by Pluto for having
always chosen as the subjects and inventions of his girandole and
other fireworks the seven mortal sins and the things of Hell. While
all were occupied in gazing on that spectacle and listening to
various sounds of lamentation, the mournful and funereal table was
taken away, and in place of it, lights being kindled, was seen a
very rich and regal feast, with splendid servants who brought the
rest of the supper, which was handsome and magnificent. At the end
of the supper came a ship full of various confections, and the crew
of the ship, pretending to remove their merchandize, little by
little brought the men of the Company into the upper rooms, where, a
very rich scenic setting having been already prepared, there was
performed a comedy called the Filogenia, which was much extolled;
and at dawn, the play finished, every man went happily home.
years afterwards, it being the turn of the same man, after many
feasts and comedies, to be master of the Company another time, he,
in order to reprove some of that Company who had spent too much on
certain feasts and banquets (only, as the saying goes, to be
themselves eaten alive), had his banquet arranged in the following
manner. At the Aia, where they were wont to assemble, there were
first painted on the wall without the door some of those figures
that are generally painted on the walls and porticoes of hospitals,
such as the director of the hospital, with gestures full of charity,
inviting and receiving beggars and pilgrims. This picture being
uncovered late on the evening of the feast, there began to arrive
the men of the Company, who, after knocking and being received at
the entrance by the director of the hospital, made their way into a
great room arranged in the manner of a hospital, with the beds at
the sides and other suchlike things. In the middle of that room,
round a great fire, were Bientina, Battista dell' Ottonaio,
Barlacchi, Baia, and other merry spirits, dressed after the manner
of beggars, wastrels, and gallows-birds, who, pretending not to be
seen by those who came in from time to time and gathered into a
circle, and conversing of the men of the Company and also of
themselves, said the hardest things in the world about those who had
thrown away their all and spent on suppers and feasts much more than
was right. Which discourse finished, when it was seen that all who
were to be there had arrived, in came S. Andrew, their Patron Saint,
who, leading them out of the hospital, took them into another room,
magnificently furnished, where they sat down to table and had a
joyous supper. Then the Saint laughingly commanded them that, in
order not to be too wasteful with their superfluous expenses, so
that they might keep well away from hospitals, they should be con-
tented with one feast, a grand and solemn affair, every year; after
which he went his way. And they obeyed him, holding a most beautiful
supper, with a comedy, every year over a long period of time; and
thus there were performed at various times, as was related in the
Life of Aristotile da San Gallo, the Calandra of M. Bernardo,
Cardinal of Bibbiena, the Suppositi and the Cassaria of Ariosto, and
the Clizia and Mandragola of Macchiavelli, with many others.
Francesco and Domenico Rucellai, for the feast that it fell to
them to give when they were masters of the Company, performed first
the Arpie of Fineo, and the second time, after a disputation of
philosophers on the Trinity, they caused to be represented S. Andrew
throwing open a Heaven with all the choirs of the Angels, which was
in truth a very rare spectacle. And Giovanni Gaddi, with the help of
Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea del Sarto, and Giovan Francesco Rustici,
represented a Tantalus in Hell, who gave a feast to all the men of
the Company clothed in the dress of various Gods; with all the rest
of the fable, and many fanciful inventions of gardens, scenes of
Paradise, fireworks, and other things, to recount which would make
our story too long. A very beautiful invention, also, was that of
Luigi Martelli, when, being master of the Company, he gave them
supper in the house of Giuliano Scali at the Porta Pinti; for he
represented Mars all smeared with blood, to signify his cruelty, in
a room full of bloody human limbs; in another room he showed Mars
and Venus naked in a bed, and a little farther on Vulcan, who,
having covered them with the net, was calling all the Gods to see
the outrage done to him by Mars and by his sorry spouse.
But it is now time after this digression, which may perchance
appear to some too long, although for many reasons it does not seem
to me that this account has been given wholly out of place that I
return to the Life of Rustici. Giovan Francesco, then, not liking
much to live in Florence after the expulsion of the Medici in the
year 1528, left the charge of all his affairs to Niccolo Buoni, and
went off with his young man Lorenzo Naldini, called Guazzetto, to
France, where, having been made known to King Francis by Giovan
Battista della Palla, who happened to be there then, and by
Francesco di Pellegrino, his very dear friend, who had gone there a
short time before, he was received very willingly, and an allowance
of five hundred crowns a year was granted to him. By that King, for
whom Giovan Francesco executed some works of which nothing in
particular is known, he was finally commissioned to make a horse in
bronze, twice the size of life, upon which was to be placed the King
himself. Whereupon, having set his hand to the work, after some
models which much pleased the King, he went on with the making of
the large model and the mould for casting it, in a large palace
given to him for his enjoyment by the King. But, whatever may have
been the reason, the King died before the work was finished; and
since at the beginning of Henry's reign many persons had their
allowances taken away and the expenses of the Court were cut down,
it is said that Giovan Francesco, now old and not very prosperous,
had nothing to live upon save the profit that he made by letting the
great palace and dwelling that he had received for his own enjoyment
from the liberality of King Francis.
And Fortune, not content with all that the poor man had endured
up to that time, gave him, in addition to all the rest, another very
great shock, in that King Henry presented that palace to Signor
Piero Strozzi; and Giovan Francesco would have found himself in very
dire straits, if the goodness of that lord, to whom the misfortunes
of Rustici were a great grief (the latter having made himself known
to him), had not brought him timely aid in the hour of his greatest
need. For Signor Piero, sending him to an abbey or some other place,
whatever it may have been, belonging to his brother, not only
succoured Giovan Francesco in his needy old age, but even had him
attended and cared for, according as his great worth deserved, until
the end of his life. Giovan Francesco died at the age of eighty, and
his possessions fell for the most part to the above-named Signor
Piero Strozzi. I must not omit to tell that it has come to my ears
that while Antonio Mini, a disciple of Buonarroti, was living in
France, when he was entertained and treated with much lovingness in
Paris by Giovan Francesco, there came into the hands of Rustici some
cartoons, designs, and models by the hand of Michelagnolo; a part of
which the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini received when he was in France,
and he brought them to Florence.
Giovan Francesco, as has been said, was not only without an equal
in the work of casting, but also exemplary in conduct, of supreme
goodness, and a great lover of the poor. Wherefore it is no marvel
that he was assisted most liberally in the hour of his need by the
above-mentioned Signor Piero with money and every other thing, for
it is true beyond all other truths that even in this life the good
works that we do to our neighbours for the love of God are repaid a
thousand-fold. Rustici drew very well, as may be seen, besides our
own book, from the book of drawings of the very reverend Don
Vincenzio Borghini.
The above-mentioned Lorenzo Naldini, called Guazzetto, the
disciple of Rustici, has executed many works of sculpture
excellently well in France, but of these I have not been able to
learn any particulars, any more than of those of his master, who, it
may well be believed, did not stay all those years in France as good
as idle, nor always occupied with that horse of his. That Lorenzo
possessed some houses beyond the Porta a San Gallo, in the suburbs
that were destroyed on account of the siege of Florence, which
houses were thrown to the ground together with the rest by the
people. That circumstance so grieved him, that, returning in the
year 1540 to revisit his country, when he was within a quarter of a
mile of Florence he put the hood of his cloak over his head,
covering his eyes, in order that, in entering by that gate, he might
not see the suburb and his own houses all pulled down. Wherefore the
guards at the gate, seeing him thus muffled up, asked him what that
meant, and, having heard from him why he had so covered his face,
they laughed at him. Lorenzo, after being a few months in Florence,
returned to France, taking his mother with him; and there he still
lives and labors.
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FRA GIOVANNI AGNOLO MONTORSOLI (1506-1563)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
TO ONE MICHELE D' AGNOLO OF POGGIBONSO, in the village of
Montorsoli, which is three miles distant from Florence on the road
to Bologna, where he had a good farm of some size, there was born a
male child, to whom he gave the name of his father, Agnolo. That
child, growing up, and having an inclination for design, as could be
readily seen, was placed by his father, according to the advice of
friends, to learn stone-cutting under some masters who worked at the
quarries of Fiesole, almost opposite to Montorsoli. Agnolo
continuing to ply the chisel with those masters, in company with
Francesco del Tadda, who was then a lad, and with others, not many
months had passed before he knew very well how to handle the tools
and to execute many kinds of work in that profession. Having then
contracted a friendship by means of Francesco del Tadda with Maestro
Andrea, a sculptor of Fiesole, the genius of the child so pleased
that master, that he conceived an affection for him, and began to
teach him; and thus he kept him in his workshop for three years.
After which time, his father Michele being dead, Agnolo went off
in company with other young stone-cutters to Rome, where, having
been set to work on the building of S. Pietro, he carved some of
those rosettes that are in the great cornices which encircle the
interior of that temple, with much profit to himself and a good
salary. Having then departed from Rome, I know not why, he placed
himself in Perugia with a master stone-cutter, who at the end of a
year left him in charge of all his works. But, recognizing that to
stay at Perugia was not the life for him, and that he was not
learning, he went off, when the opportunity to depart presented
itself, to work on the tomb of M. Raffaello Maffei, called II
Volterrano, at Volterra; and in that work, which was being made in
marble, he carved some things which showed that his genius was
destined some day to achieve a good result. Which labour finished,
hearing that Michelagnolo Buonarroti was setting to work at that
time on the buildings of the sacristy and library of S. Lorenzo the
best carvers and stone-cutters that could be found, he went off to
Florence; where, having been likewise set to work, among the first
things that he did were some ornaments from which Michelagnolo
recognized that he was a young man of most beautiful and resolute
genius, and that, moreover, he could do more in one day by himself
alone than the oldest and best practised masters could do in two.
Wherefore he caused to be given to him, boy as he was, the same
salary as the older men were drawing.
These buildings being then suspended in the year 1527 on account
of the plague and for other reasons, Agnolo, not knowing what else
to do, went to Poggibonzi, from which place his father and
grandfather had their origin; and there he remained for a time with
M. Giovanni Norchiati, his uncle, a pious and well-lettered man,
doing nothing but draw and study. But in the end, seeing the world
turned topsy-turvy, a desire came to him to become a monk, and to
give his attention in peace to the salvation of his soul, and he
went to the Hermitage of Camaldoli. There, making trial of that
life, and not being able to endure the dis- comforts, fastings, and
abstinences, he did not stay long; but neverthe- less, during the
time that he was there, he became very dear to those Fathers, for he
was of an excellent disposition. And during that time his diversion
was to carve heads of men and of various animals, with beautiful and
fanciful inventions, on the ends of the staves, or rather, sticks,
that those holy Fathers carry when they go from Camaldoli to the
Hermitage or for recreation into the forest, at which time they have
a dispensation from silence. Having departed from the Hermitage with
the leave and good-will of the Principal, he went off to La Vernia,
as one who was drawn at all costs to become a monk, and stayed there
awhile, frequenting the choir and mixing with those Fathers ; but
that life, also, did not please him, and, after having received
information about the life in many religious houses of Florence and
Arezzo, he left La Vernia and went to those places. And finally, not
being able to settle in any other in such a manner as to have
facilities for attending both to drawing and to the salvation of his
soul, he became a friar in the Ingesuati at Florence, without the
Porta a Pinti, and was received by them very willingly; for they
gave their attention to making windows of glass, and they hoped that
he would be of great assistance and advantage to them in that work.
Now those Fathers, according to the custom of their life and
rule, do not say Mass, and keep for that purpose a priest to say
Mass every morning; and they had at that time as their chaplain a
certain Fra Martino of the Servite Order, a person of passing good
judgment and character. That Fra Martino, having recognized the
young man's genius, reflected that he was little able to exercise it
among those Fathers, who do nothing but say Paternosters, make
windows of glass, distil waters, and lay out gardens, with other
suchlike pursuits, and do not study or give their attention to
letters; and he contrived to say and do so much that the young man,
going forth from the Ingesuati, assumed the habit among the Servite
Friars of the Nunziata in Florence on the seventh day of October in
the year 1530, receiving the name of Fra Giovanni Agnolo. In the
next year, 1531, having learned in the meanwhile the ceremonies and
offices of that Order, and studied the works of Andrea del Sarto
that are in that place, he made what they call his profession; and
in the year following, to the full satisfaction of those Fathers and
the contentment of his relatives, he chanted his first Mass with
much pomp and honour. Then, the images in wax of Leo, Clement, and
others of that most noble family, which had been placed there as
votive offerings, having been destroyed during the expulsion of the
Medici by some young men who were rather mad than valorous, the
friars determined that these should be made again, and Fra Giovanni
Agnolo, with the help of some of those men who gave their attention
to the work of fashioning such images, restored some that were old
and consumed by time, and made anew those of Pope Leo and Pope
Clement, which are still to be seen there, and a short time
afterwards those of the King of Bosnia and of the old Lord of
Piombino. And in these works Fra Giovanni Agnolo made no little
proficience.
Meanwhile, Michelagnolo being in Rome with Pope Clement, who
desired that the work of S. Lorenzo should be continued, and had
therefore had him summoned, his Holiness asked him to find a young
man who might restore some ancient statues in the Belvedere, which
were broken. Whereupon Buonarroti, remembering Fra Giovanni Agnolo,
proposed him to the Pope, and his Holiness demanded him in a brief
from the General of the Servite Order, who gave him up because he
could not do otherwise, and very unwillingly. Arriving in Rome,
then, the friar, labouring in the rooms of the Belvedere that were
given to him by the Pope to live and work in, restored the left arm
that was wanting to the Apollo and the right arm of the Laocoon,
which statues are in that place, and likewise gave directions for
restoring the Hercules. And, since the Pope went almost every
morning to the Belvedere for recrea- tion and to say the office, the
friar made his portrait in marble, and that so well that the work
brought him much praise, and the Pope conceived a very great
affection for him, particularly because he saw him to be very
studious of the matters of art, and heard that he used to draw all
night in order to have new things every morning to show to the Pope,
who much delighted in them. During that time, a canonicate having
fallen vacant at S. Lorenzo, a church in Florence built and endowed
by the House of Medici, Fra Giovanni Agnolo, who by that time had
laid aside the friar's habit, obtained it for M. Giovanni Norchiati,
his uncle, who was chaplain in the above-named church.
Finally, Pope Clement, having determined that Buonarroti should
return to Florence to finish the works of the sacristy and library
of S. Lorenzo, gave him orders, since many statues were wanting
there, as will be told in the Life of Michelagnolo himself, that he
should avail himself of the most able men that could be found, and
particularly of Fra Giovanni Agnolo, employing the same methods as
had been adopted by Antonio da San Gallo in order to finish the
works of the Madonna di Loreto. Having therefore made his way with
the Frate to Florence, Michelagnolo, in executing the statues of
Duke Lorenzo and Duke Giuliano, employed the Frate much in polishing
them and in executing certain difficult undercuttings; with which
occasion Fra Giovanni Agnolo learned many things from that truly
divine man, standing with attention to watch him at work, and
observing every least thing. Now among other statues that were
wanting to the completion of that work, there were lacking a S.
Cosimo and a S. Damiano that were to be one on either side of the
Madonna, and Michelagnolo gave the S. Damiano to Raffaello da
Montelupo to execute, and to the Frate the S. Cosimo, commanding the
latter that he should work in the same rooms where he himself had
worked and was still working.
Having therefore set his hand with the greatest zeal to that
work, the Frate made a large model of the figure, which was
retouched by Buonarroti in many parts; indeed, Michelagnolo made
with his own hand the head and the arms of clay, which are now at
Arezzo, held by Vasari among his dearest treasures in memory of that
great man. There were not wanting many envious persons who blamed
Michelagnolo for his action, saying that in allotting that statue he
had shown little judgment, and had made a bad choice; but the result
afterwards proved, as will be related, that Michelagnolo had shown
excellent judgment, and that the Frate was an able man. When
Michelagnolo, with the assistance of Fra Giovanni Agnolo, had
finished and placed in position the statues of Duke Giuliano and
Duke Lorenzo, being summoned by the Pope, who wished that
arrangements should be made for executing in marble the facade of S.
Lorenzo, he went to Rome; but he had not made a long stay there,
when, Pope Clement dying, everything was left unfinished. At
Florence the statue of the Frate, unfinished as it was, together
with the other works, was thrown open to view, and was very highly
extolled; and in truth, whether it was his own study and diligence,
or the assistance of Michelagnolo, it proved in the end to be an
excellent figure, and the best that Fra Giovanni Agnolo ever made
among all that he executed in the whole of his life, so that it was
truly worthy to be placed where it was.
Buonarroti, being freed by the death of the Pope from his engage-
ments at S. Lorenzo, turned his attention to discharging his
obligations in connection with the tomb of Pope Julius II; but,
since he had need of assistance for this, he sent for the Frate. But
Fra Giovanni Agnolo did not go to Rome until he had finished
entirely the image of Duke Alessandro for the Nunziata, which he
executed in a manner different from the others, and very beautiful,
in the form in which that lord may still be seen, clad in armour and
kneeling on a Burgundian helmet, and with one hand to his breast, in
the act of recommending himself to the Madonna there. That image
finished, he then went to Rome, and was of great assistance to
Michelagnolo in the work of the above-mentioned tomb of Julius II.
Meanwhile Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici heard that Cardinal de
Tournon had to take a sculptor to France to serve the King, and he
proposed to him Fra Giovanni Agnolo, who, being much exhorted with
good reasons by Michelagnolo, went with that same Cardinal de
Tournon to Paris. Arriving there, he was introduced to the King, who
received him very willingly, and shortly afterwards assigned to him
a good allowance, with the command that he should execute four large
statues. Of these the Frate had not yet finished the models, when,
the King being far away and occupied in fighting with the English on
the borders of his kingdom, he began to be badly treated by the
treasurers, not being able to draw his allowances and have whatever
he desired, according as had been ordained by the King. At which
feeling great disdain for it appeared to him that in proportion as
these arts and the men of the arts were esteemed by that magnanimous
King, even so they were disprized and put to shame by his Ministers
he departed, notwithstanding that the treasurers, who became aware
of his displeasure, paid him his overdue allowances down to the last
farthing. It is true that before setting out he gave both the King
and the Cardinal to know by means of letters that he wished to go
away.
Having therefore gone from Paris to Lyons, and from there through
Provence to Genoa, he had not been long there when, in company with
some friends, he went to Venice, Padua, Verona, and Mantua, seeing
with great pleasure buildings, sculptures, and pictures, and at
times drawing them; but above all did the pictures of Giulio Romano
in Mantua please him, some of which he drew with care. Then, having
heard at Ferrara and Bologna that his fellow-friars of the Servite
Order were holding a General Chapter at Budrione, he went there in
order to see again many who were his friends, and in particular the
Florentine Maestro Zaccheria, whom he loved most dearly. At his
entreaty Fra Giovanni Agnolo made in a day and a night two figures
in clay of the size of life, a Faith and a Charity, which, made in
the semblance of white marble, served to adorn a temporary fountain
contrived by him with a great vessel of copper, which continued to
spout water during the whole day when the Chapter was held, to his
great credit and honor.
Having returned with the above-named Maestro Zaccheria from
Budrione to Florence, he made in his own Servite Convent, likewise
of clay, and placed in two niches of the chapter-house, two figures
larger than life, Moses and S. Paul, which brought him much praise.
Being then sent to Arezzo by Maestro Dionisio, the General of the
Servites at that time, who was afterwards made a Cardinal by Pope
Paul III, and who felt himself much indebted to Angelo, the General
at Arezzo, who had brought him up and taught him the appreciation of
letters, Fra Giovanni Agnolo executed for that General of Arezzo a
beautiful tomb of grey sandstone in S. Piero in that city, with many
carvings and some statues, and upon a sarcophagus the above-named
General Angelo taken from life, and two nude little boys in the
round, who are weeping and extinguishing the torches of human life,
with other ornaments, which render that work very beautiful. It was
not yet completely finished, when, being summoned to Florence by the
proveditors for the festive preparations that Duke Alessandro was
then causing to be made for the visit to that city of the Emperor
Charles V, who was returning victorious from Tunis, the Frate was
forced to depart. Having arrived in Florence, he made on the Ponte a
S. Trinita, upon a great base, a figure of eight braccia,
representing the River Arno lying down, which from its attitude
appeared to be rejoicing with the Rhine, the Danube, the Bagradas,
and the Ebro, statues executed by others, over the coming of his
Majesty; which Arno was a very good and beautiful figure. On the
Canto de' Carnesecchi the same master made a figure, twelve braccia
high, of Jason, Leader of the Argonauts, but this, being of
immoderate size, and the time short, did not prove to have the
perfection of the first; nor, indeed, did the figure of August
Gladness that he made on the Canto alia Cuculia. But, everyone
remembering the shortness of the time in which he executed those
works, they won much honor and fame for him both from the craftsmen
and from all others.
Having then finished the work at Arezzo, and hearing that
Girolamo Genga had a work to execute in marble at Urbino, the Frate
went to seek him out; but, not having come to any agreement, he took
the road to Rome, and, after staying there but a short time, went on
to Naples, in the hope that he might have to make the tomb of Jacopo
Sannazzaro, a gentleman of Naples, and a truly distinguished and
most rare poet. Sannazzaro had built at Margoglino, a very pleasant
place with a most beautiful view at the end of the Chiaia, on the
shore, a magnificent and most commodious habitation, which he enj
oyed during his lifetime ; and, coming to his death, he left that
place, which has the form of a convent, with a beautiful little
church, to the Order of Servite Friars, enjoining on Signer Cesare
Mormerio and the Lord Count d'Aliffe, the executors of his will,
that they should erect his tomb in that church, built by himself,
which was to be administered by the above-named friars. When the
making of it came to be discussed, Fra Giovanni Agnolo was proposed
by the friars to the above-named executors; and to him, after he had
gone to Naples, as has been related, that tomb was allotted, for his
models had been judged to be no little better than the many others
that had been made by various sculptors, the price being a thousand
crowns. Of which having received a good portion, he sent to quarry
the marbles Francesco del Tadda of Fiesole, an excellent carver,
whom he had commissioned to execute all the squared work and carving
that had to be done in that undertaking, in order to finish it more
quickly.
While the Frate was preparing himself to make that tomb, the
Turkish army having entered Puglia and the people of Naples being in
no little alarm on that account, orders were given that the city
should be fortified, and for that purpose there were appointed four
men of importance and of the best judgment. These men, wishing to
make use of competent architects, turned their thoughts to the
Frate; but he, having heard some rumor of this, and not considering
that it was right for a man of religion, such as he was, to occupy
himself with affairs of war, gave the executors to understand that
he would do the work either in Carrara or in Florence, and that at
the appointed time it would be finished and erected in its place.
Having then made his way from Naples to Florence, he straightway
received a command from the Signora Donna Maria, the mother of Duke
Cosimo, that he should finish the S. Cosimo that he had previously
begun under the direction of Buonarroti, for the tomb of the elder
Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent. Whereupon he set his hand to
it, and finished it; and. that done, since the Duke had already
caused to be constructed a great part of the conduits for the great
fountain of his villa at Castello, and that fountain was to have at
the top, as a crowning ornament, a Hercules in the act of crushing
Antaeus, from whose mouth there was to issue, in place of breath, a
jet of water rising to some height, the Frate was commissioned to
make for this a model of considerable size; which pleasing his
Excellency, it was ordained that he should execute it and should go
to Carrara to quarry the marble.
To Carrara the Frate went very willingly, hoping with that
opportunity to carry forward the above-mentioned tomb of Sannazzaro,
and in particular a scene with figures in half-relief. While Fra
Giovanni Agnolo was there, then, Cardinal Doria wrote from Genoa to
Cardinal Cibo, who happened to be at Carrara, saying that, since
Bandinelli had not finished the statue of Prince Doria, and would
now never finish it, he should contrive to obtain for him some able
man, a sculptor, who might do it, for the reason that he had the
charge of pressing on that work. Which letter having been received
by Cibo, who had long had knowledge of the Frate, he did his utmost
to send him to Genoa ; but he steadfastly declared that he could not
and would not serve his most reverend Highness until he had
fulfilled the promise and obligation by which he was bound to Duke
Cosimo.
While these matters were being discussed, he had carried the tomb
of Sannazzaro well forward, and had blocked out the marble for the
Hercules; and he then went with the latter to Florence. There he
brought it with much promptitude and study to such a condition, that
it would have been but little toil for him to finish it completely
if he had continued to work at it. But a rumour having arisen that
the marble was not proving to be by any means as perfect a work as
the model, and that the Frate was likely to find difficulty in
fitting together the legs of the Hercules, which did not correspond
with the torso, Messer Pier Francesco Riccio, the majordomo, who was
paying the Frate his allowance, let himself be swayed by that more
than a serious man should have done, and began to proceed very
cautiously with his payments, trusting too much to Bandinelli, who
was leaning with all his weight against Fra Giovanni Agnolo, in
order to avenge himself for the wrong which it appeared to him that
master had done to him by promising that he would make the statue of
Doria when once free of his obligation to the Duke. It was also
thought that the favor of Tribolo, who was executing the ornaments
of Castello, was no advantage to the Frate. However that may have
been, perceiving himself to be badly treated by Riccio, and being a
proud and choleric man, he went off to Genoa. There he received from
Cardinal Doria and from the Prince the commission for the statue of
that Prince, which was to be placed on the Piazza Doria; to which
having set his hand, yet without altogether neglecting the tomb of
Sannazzaro, while Tadda was executing the squared work and the
carvings at Carrara, he finished it to the great satisfaction of the
Prince and the people of Genoa. But, although that statue had been
made to be placed on the Piazza Doria, nevertheless the Genoese made
so much ado, that, to the despair of the Frate, it was placed on the
Piazza della Signoria, notwithstanding that he said that he had
fashioned it to stand by itself on a pedestal, and that therefore it
could not look well or have its proper effect against a wall. And,
to tell the truth, nothing worse can be done than to set up a work
made for one place in some other place, seeing that the craftsman
accommodates himself in the process of his labor, with regard to the
lights and view-points, to the position in which his work, whether
sculpture or painting, is to be placed. After this the Genoese,
seeing the scenes and figures made for the tomb of Sannazzaro, and
much liking them, desired that the Frate should execute a S. John
the Evangelist for their Cathedral Church; which, when finished,
pleased them so much that it filled them with stupefaction.
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FRANCESCO SALVIATI (1510-1563)
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Charity. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
THE FATHER of Francesco Salviati, whose Life we are now about to
write, and who was born in the year 1510, was a good man called
Michelagnolo de' Rossi, a weaver of velvets; and he, having not only
this child but also many others, both male and female, and being
therefore in need of assistance, had determined in his own mind that
he would at all costs make Francesco devote himself to his own
calling of weaving velvets. But the boy, who had turned his mind to
other things, and did not like the pursuit of that trade, although
in the past it had been practised by persons, I will not say noble,
but passing rich and prosperous, followed his father's wishes in
that matter with no goodwill. Indeed, associating in the Via de'
Servi, where his father had a house, with the children of Domenico
Naldini, their neighbor and an honored citizen, he showed himself
all given to gentle and honorable ways, and much inclined to design.
In which matter he received no little assistance for a time from a
cousin of his own called Diacceto, a young goldsmith, who had a
passing good knowledge of design, in that he not only taught him all
that he knew, but also furnished him with many drawings by various
able men, over which, without telling his father, Francesco
practised day and night with extraordinary zeal. And Domenico
Naldini, having become aware of this, first examined the boy well,
and then prevailed upon his father, Michelagnolo, to place him in
his uncle's shop to learn the goldsmith's art; by reason of which
opportunity for design Francesco in a few months made so much
proficience, that everyone was astonished.
In those days a company of young goldsmiths and painters used to
assemble together at times and go throughout Florence on feast-days
drawing the most famous works, and not one of them labored more or
with greater love than did Francesco. The young men of that company
were Nanni di Prospero delle Corniole,the goldsmith Francesco di
Girolamo dal Prato, Nannoccio da San Giorgio, and many other lads
who afterwards became able men in their professions.
At this time Francesco and Giorgio Vasari, both being still boys,
became fast friends, and in the following manner. In the year 1523,
Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona, passing through Arezzo as the
Legate of Pope Clement VII, Antonio Vasari, his kinsman, took
Giorgio., his eldest son, to make his reverence to the Cardinal. And
the Cardinal, finding that the boy, who at that time was not more
than nine years of age, had been so well grounded in his first
letters by the diligence of M. Antonio da Saccone and of Messer
Giovanni Pollastra, an excellent poet of Arezzo, that he knew by
heart a great part of the Aeneid of Virgil, which he was pleased to
hear him recite, and that he had learned to draw from Guglielmo da
Marcilla, the French painter the Cardinal, I say, ordained that
Antonio should himself take the boy to Florence. There Giorgio was
settled in the house of M. Niccolo Vespucci, Knight of Rhodes, who
lived on the abutment of the Ponte Vecchio, above the Church of the
Sepolcro, and was placed with Michelagiiolo Buonarroti; and this
circumstance came to the knowledge of Francesco, who was then living
in the Chiasso di Messer Bivigliano, where his father rented a great
house that faced on the Vacchereccia, employing many workmen.
Whereupon, since like always draws to like, he so contrived that he
became the friend of Giorgio, by means of M. Marco da Lodi, a
gentleman of the above-named Cardinal of Cortona, who showed to
Giorgio a portrait, which much pleased him, by the hand of
Francesco, who a short time before had been placed to learn painting
with Giuliano Bugiardini. Meanwhile Vasari, not neglecting the study
of letters, by order of the Cardinal spent two hours every day with
Ippolito and Alessandro de' Medici, under their master Pierio, an
able man. And this friendship, contracted as described above between
Vasari and Francesco, became such that it never ceased to bind them
together, although, by reason of their rivalry and a certain
somewhat haughty manner of speech that Francesco had, some persons
thought otherwise.
When Vasari had been some months with Michelagnolo, that
excellent man was summoned to Rome by Pope Clement, to receive
instructions for beginning the Library of S. Lorenzo; and he was
placed by him, before he departed, with Andrea del Sarto. And
devoting himself under him to design, Giorgio was continually
lending his master's drawings in secret to Francesco, who had no
greater desire than to obtain and study them, as he did day and
night. Afterwards Giorgio was placed by the Magnificent Ippolito
with Baccio Bandinelli, who was pleased to have the boy with him and
to teach him; and Vasari contrived to obtain Francesco as his
companion, with great advantage to them both, for the reason that
while working together they learned more and made greater progress
in one month than they had done in two years while drawing by
themselves. And the same did another young man who was likewise
working under Bandinelli at that time, called Nannoccio of the Costa
San Giorgio, of whom mention was made not long ago.
In the year 1527, the Medici being expelled from Florence, there
was a fight for the Palace of the Signoria, and a bench was thrown
down from on high so as to fall upon those who were assaulting the
door; but, as fate would have it, that bench hit an arm of the David
in marble by Buonarroti, which is beside the door on the Ringhiera,
and broke it into three pieces. These pieces having remained on the
ground for three days, without being picked up by anyone, Francesco
went to the Ponte Vecchio to find Giorgio, and told him his
intention; and then, children as they were, they went to the Piazza,
and, without thinking of any danger, in the midst of the soldiers of
the guard, they took the pieces of that arm and carried them to the
house of Michelagnolo, the father of Francesco, in the Chiasso di M.
Bivigliano. From which house having afterwards recovered them, Duke
Cosimo in time caused them to be restored to their places with pegs
of copper.
After this, the Medici being in exile, and with them the above-
mentioned Cardinal of Cortona, Antonio Vasari took his son back to
Arezzo, to the no little regret of Giorgio and Francesco, who loved
one another as brothers. But they did not long remain separated from
each other, for the reason that after the plague, which came in the
following August, had killed Giorgio' s father and the best part of
his family, he was so pressed with letters by Francesco, who also
came very near dying of plague, that he returned to Florence. There,
working with incredible zeal for a period of two years, being driven
by necessity and by the desire to learn, they made marvellous
proficience, having recourse, together with the above-named
Nannoccio da San Giorgio, to the workshop of the painter Raffaello
da Brescia, under whom Francesco, being the one who had most need to
provide himself with the means to live, executed many little
pictures.
Having come to the year 1529, since it did not appear to
Francesco that staying in Brescia's workshop was doing him much
good, he and Nannoccio went to work with Andrea del Sarto, and
stayed with him all the time that the siege lasted, but in such
discomfort, that they repented that they had not followed Giorgio,
who spent that year in Pisa with the goldsmith Manno, giving his
attention for four months to the goldsmith's craft to occupy
himself. Vasari having then gone to Bologna, at the time when the
Emperor Charles V was crowned there by Clement VII, Francesco, who
had remained in Florence, executed on a little panel a votive
picture for a soldier who had been murderously attacked in bed by
certain other soldiers during the siege; and although it was a
paltry thing, he studied it and executed it to perfection. That
votive picture fell not many years ago into the hands of Giorgio
Vasari, who presented it to the reverend Don Vincenzio Borghini, the
Director of the Hospital of the Innocenti, who holds it dear. For
the Black Friars of the Badia Francesco painted three little scenes
on a Tabernacle of the Sacrament made by the carver Tasso in the
manner of a triumphal arch. In one of these is the Sacrifice of
Abraham, in the second the Manna, and in the third the Hebrews
eating the Paschal Lamb on their departure from Egypt ; and the work
was such that it gave an earnest of the success that he has since
achieved. He then painted in a picture for Francesco Sertini, who
sent it to France, a Dalilah who was cutting off the locks of
Samson, and in the distance Samson embracing the columns of the
temple and bringing it down upon the Philistines; which picture made
Francesco known as the most excellent of the young painters that
were then in Florence.
Not long afterwards the elder Cardinal Salviati having requested
Benvenuto della Volpaia, a master of clock-making, who was in Rome
at that time, to find for him a young painter who might live with
him and paint some pictures for his delight, Benvenuto proposed to
him Francesco, who was his friend, and whom he knew to be the most
com-petent of all the young painters of his acquaintance; which he
did all the more willingly because the Cardinal had promised that he
would give the young man every facility and all assistance to enable
him to study. The Cardinal, then, liking the young Francesco's
qualities, said to Benvenuto that he should send for him, and gave
him money for that purpose. And so, when Francesco had arrived in
Rome, the Cardinal, being pleased with his method of working, his
ways, and his manners, ordained that he should have rooms in the
Borgo Vecchio, and four crowns a month, with a place at the table of
his gentlemen. The first works that Francesco (to whom it appeared
that he had been very fortunate) executed for the Cardinal were a
picture of Our Lady, which was held to be very beautiful, and a
canvas of a French nobleman who is running in chase of a hind,
which, flying from him, takes refuge in the Temple of Diana: of
which work I keep the design, drawn by his hand, in my book, in
memory of him. That canvas finished, the Cardinal caused him to
portray in a very beautiful picture of Our Lady a niece of his own,
married to Signor Cagnino Gonzaga, and likewise that lord himself.
Now, while Francesco was living in Rome, with no greater desire
than to see his friend Giorgio Vasari in that city, Fortune was
favorable to his wishes in that respect, and even more to Vasari.
For, Cardinal Ippolito having parted in great anger from Pope
Clement for reasons that were discussed at the time, but returning
not long afterwards to Rome accompanied by Baccio Valori, in passing
through Arezzo he found Giorgio, who had been left without a father
and was occupying himself as best he could; wherefore, desiring that
he should make some proficience in art, and wishing to have him near
his person, he commanded Tommaso de' Nerli, who was Commissary
there, that he should send him to Rome as soon as he should have
finished a chapel that he was painting in fresco for the Monks of S.
Bernardo, of the Order of Monte Oliveto, in that city. That
commission Nerli executed immediately, and Giorgio, having thus
arrived in Rome, went straightway to find Francesco, who joyfully
described to him in what favour he was with his lord the Cardinal,
and how he was in a place where he could satisfy his hunger for
study; adding, also: " Not only do I enjoy the present, but I hope
for even better things, for, besides seeing you in Rome, with whom,
as the young friend nearest to my heart, I shall be able to study
and discuss the matters of art, I also live in hope of entering the
service of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, from whose liberality, as
well as from the favor of the Pope, I may look for greater things
than I have at present; and this will happen with- out a doubt if a
certain young man, who is expected from abroad, does not arrive."
Giorgio, although he knew that the young man who was expected was
himself, and that the place was being kept for him, yet would not
reveal himself, because of a certain doubt that had entered his mind
as to whether the Cardinal might not have another in view, and also
from a wish not to declare a circumstance that might afterwards fall
out differently. Giorgio had brought a letter from the above-named
Commissary Nerli to the Cardinal, which, after having been five days
in Rome, he had not yet presented. Finally Giorgio and Francesco
went to the Palace and found in what is now the Hall of Kings Messer
Marco da Lodi, who had formerly been with the Cardinal of Cortona,
as was related above, but was then in the service of Medici. To him
Giorgio presented himself, saying that he had a letter from the
Commissary of Arezzo that was to be delivered to the Cardinal, and
praying that he should give it to him; which Messer Marco was
promising to do immediately, when at that very moment the Cardinal
himself appeared there. Whereupon Giorgio, coming forward before
him, presented the letter and kissed his hands; and he was received
graciously, and shortly afterwards given into the charge of Jacopone
da Bibbiena, the master of the household, who was commanded to
provide him with rooms and with a place at the table of the pages.
It appeared a strange thing to Francesco that Giorgio should not
have confided the matter to him; but he was persuaded that he had
done it for the best and with a good intention.
When the above-named Jacopone, therefore, had given Giorgio some
rooms behind S. Spirito, near Francesco, the two devoted themselves
in company all that winter to the study of art, with much profit,
leaving no noteworthy work, either in the Palace or in any other
part of Rome, that they did not draw. And since, when the Pope was
in the Palace, they were not able to stay there drawing at their
ease, as soon as his Holiness had ridden forth to the Magliana, as
he often did, they would gain admittance by means of friends into
those apartments to draw, and would stay there from morning till
night without eating anything but a little bread, and almost
freezing with cold. Cardinal Salviati having then commanded
Francesco that he should paint in fresco in the chapel of his
Palace, where he heard Mass every morning, some stories of the life
of S. John the Baptist, Francesco set himself to study nudes from
life, and Giorgio with him, in a bath house near there; and
afterwards they made some anatomical studies in the Campo Santo.
The spring having then come, Cardinal Ippolito, being sent by the
Pope to Hungary, ordained that Giorgio should be sent to Florence,
and should there execute some pictures and portraits that he had to
despatch to Rome. But in the July following, what with the fatigues
of the past winter and the heat of summer, Giorgio fell ill and was
carried by litter to Arezzo, to the great sorrow of Francesco, who
also fell sick and was like to die. However, being restored to
health, Francesco was commissioned by Maestro Filippo da Siena, at
the instance of Antonio L'Abacco, a master-worker in wood, to paint
in fresco in a niche over the door at the back of S. Maria della
Pace, a Christ speaking with S. Filippo, and in two angles the
Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation; which pictures, much
pleasing Maestro Filippo, were the reason that he caused him to
paint the Assumption of Our Lady in the same place, in a large
square space that was not yet painted in one of the eight sides of
that temple. Whereupon Francesco, reflecting that he had to execute
that work not merely in a public place, but in a place where there
were pictures by the rarest masters Raffaello da Urbino, Rosso,
Baldassarre da Siena, and others put all possible study and
diligence into executing it in oils on the wall, so that it proved
to be a beautiful picture, and was much extolled; and excellent
among other figures is held to be the portrait that he painted there
of the above-named Maestro Filippo with the hands clasped. And since
Francesco lived, as has been told, with Cardinal Salviati, and was
known as his protege, he began to be called and known by no other
name but Cecchino Salviati, and he kept that name to the day of his
death.
Pope Clement VII being dead and Paul III elected, M. Bindo
Altoviti caused Francesco to paint on the fagade of his house at the
Ponte S. Agnolo the arms of the new Pontiff, with some large nude
figures, which gave infinite satisfaction. About the same time he
made a portrait of that Messer Bindo, which was a very good figure
and a beautiful portrait; and this was afterwards sent to his villa
of S. Mizzano in the Valdarno, where it still is. He then painted
for the Church of S. Francesco a Ripa a very beautiful altar-picture
of the Annunciation in oils, which was executed with the greatest
diligence. For the coming of Charles V to Rome in the year 1535, he
painted for Antonio da San Gallo some scenes in chiaroscuro, which
were placed on the arch that was made at S. Marco; and these
pictures, as has been said in another place, were the best that
there were in all those festive decorations.
Afterwards Signor Pier Luigi Farnese, who had been made Lord of
Nepi at that time, wishing to adorn that city with new buildings and
pictures, took Francesco into his service, giving him rooms in the
Belvedere; and there Francesco painted for him on large canvases
some scenes in gouache of the actions of Alexander the Great, which
were afterwards carried into execution and woven into tapestries in
Flanders. For the same Lord of Nepi he decorated a large and very
beautiful bathroom with many scenes and figures executed in fresco.
Then, the same lord having been created Duke of Castro, for his
first entry rich and most beautiful decorations were made in that
city under the direction of Francesco, and at the gate an arch all
covered with scenes, figures, and statues, executed with much
judgment by able men, and in particular by Alessandro, called
Scherano, a sculptor of Settignano. Another arch, in the form of a
facade, was made at the Petrone, and yet another on the Piazza,
which arches, with regard to the woodwork, were executed by Battista
Botticelli; and in these festive preparations, among other things,
Francesco made a beautiful perspective-scene for a comedy that was
performed.
About the same time, Giulio Camillo, who was then in Rome, having
made a book of his compositions in order to send it to King Francis
of France, had it all illustrated by Francesco Salviati, who put
into it all the diligence that it is possible to devote to such a
work. Cardinal Salviati, having a desire to possess a picture in
tinted woods (that is, in tarsia) by the hand of Fra Damiano da
Bergamo, a lay-brother of S. Domenico at Bologna, sent him a design
done in red chalk by the hand of Francesco, as a pattern for its
execution; which design, representing King David being anointed by
Samuel, was the best thing that Cecchino Salviati ever drew, and
truly most rare. After this, Giovanni da Cepperello and Battista
Gobbo of San Gallo who had caused the Florentine painter Jacopo del
Conte, then a young man, to paint in the Florentine Company of the
Misericordia in S. Giovanni Decollate, under the Campidoglio at
Rome, namely, in the second church where they hold their assemblies,
a story of that same S. John the Baptist, showing the Angel
appearing to Zacharias in the Temple commissioned Francesco to paint
below that scene another story of the same Saint, namely, the
Visitation of Our Lady to S. Elizabeth. That work, which was
finished in the year 1538, he executed in fresco in such a manner,
that it is worthy to be numbered among the most graceful and best
conceived pictures that Francesco ever painted, in the invention, in
the composition of the scene, in the method and the attention to
rules for the gradation of the figures, in the perspective and the
architecture of the buildings, in the nudes, in the draped figures,
in the grace of the heads, and, in short, in every part ; wherefore
it is no marvel if all Rome was struck with astonishment by it.
Around a window he executed some bizarre fantasies in imitation of
marble, and some little scenes that have marvellous grace. And since
Francesco never wasted any time, while he was engaged on that work
he executed many other things, and also drawings, and he colored a
Phaethon with the Horses of the Sun, which Michelagnolo had drawn.
All these things Salviati showed to Giorgio, who after the death of
Duke Alessandro had gone to Rome for two months; saying to him that,
once he had finished a picture of a young S. John that he was
painting for his master Cardinal Salviati, a Passion of Christ on
canvas that was to be sent to Spain, and a picture of Our Lady that
he was painting for Raffaello Acciaiuoli, he wished to turn his
steps to Florence in order to revisit his native place, his
relatives, and his friends, for his father and mother were still
alive, to whom he was always of the greatest assistance, and
particularly in settling two sisters, one of whom was married, and
the other is a nun in the Convent of Monte Domini.
Coming thus to Florence, where he was received with much re-
joicing by his relatives and friends, it chanced that he arrived
there at the very moment when the festive preparations were being
made for the nuptials of Duke Cosimo and the Lady Donna Leonora di
Toledo. Wherefore he was commissioned to paint one of the already
mentioned scenes that were executed in the courtyard, which he
accepted very willingly; and that was the one in which the Emperor
was placing the Ducal crown on the head of Duke Cosimo. But being
seized, before he had finished it, with a desire to go to Venice,
Francesco left it to Carlo Portelli of Loro, who finished it after
Francesco's design; which design, with many others by the same hand,
is in our book.
Having departed from Florence and made his way to Bologna,
Francesco found there Giorgio Vasari, who had returned two days
before from Camaldoli, where he had finished the two altarpieces
that are in the tramezzo* of the church, and had begun that of the
high altar; and Vasari was arranging to paint three great panel
pictures for the refectory of the Fathers of S. Michele in Bosco,
where he kept Francesco with him for two days. During that time,
some of his friends made efforts to obtain for him the commission
for an altarpiece that was to be allotted by the men of the Delia
Morte Hospital. But, although Salviati made a most beautiful design,
those men, having little understanding, were not able to recognize
the opportunity that Messer Domeneddio* had sent them of obtaining
for Bologna a work by the hand of an able master. Wherefore
Francesco went away in some disdain, leaving some very beautiful
designs in the hands of Girolamo Fagiuoli, to the end that he might
engrave them on copper and have them printed.
Having arrived in Venice, he was received courteously by the
Patriarch Grimani and his brother Messer Vettorio, who showed him a
thousand favors. For that Patriarch, after a few days, he painted in
oils, in an octagon of four braccia, a most beautiful Psyche to
whom, as to a Goddess, on account of her beauty, incense and votive
offerings are presented; which octagon was placed in a hall in the
house of that lord, wherein is a ceiling in the centre of which
there curve some festoons executed by Camillo Mantovano, an
excellent painter in representing landscapes, flowers, leaves,
fruits, and other suchlike things. That octagon, I say, was placed
in the midst of four pictures each two braccia and a half square,
executed with stories of the same Psyche, as was related in the Life
of Genga, by Francesco da Forli; and the octagon is not only beyond
all comparison more beautiful than those four pictures, but even the
most beautiful work of painting that there is in all Venice. After
that, in a chamber wherein Giovanni Ricamatori of Udine had executed
many works in stucco, he painted some little figures in fresco, both
nude and draped, which are full of grace. In like manner, in an
altarpiece that he executed for the Nuns of the Corpus Domini at
Venice, he painted with much diligence a Dead Christ with the
Maries, and in the air an Angel who has the Mysteries of the Passion
in the hands. He made the portrait of M. Pietro Aretino, which, as a
rare work, was sent by that poet to King Francis, with some verses
in praise of him who had painted it. And for the Nuns of S. Cristina
in Bologna, of the Order of Camaldoli, the same Salviati, at the
entreaty of Don Giovan Francesco da Bagno, their Confessor, painted
an altarpiece with many figures, a truly beautiful picture, which is
in the church of that convent.
Then, having grown weary of the life in Venice, as one who
remembered that of Rome, and considering that it was no place for
men of design, Francesco departed in order to return to Rome. And
so, making a detour by Verona and Mantua, in the first of which
places he saw the many antiquities that are there, and in the other
the works of Giulio Romano, he made his way back to Rome by the road
through Romagna, and arrived there in the year 1541. There, having
rested a little, the first works that he made were the portrait of
Messer Giovanni Gaddi and that of Messer Annibale Caro, who were
much his friends. Those finished, he painted a very beautiful
altarpiece for the Chapel of the Clerks of the Chamber in the Pope's
Palace. And in the Church of the Germans he began a chapel in fresco
for a merchant of that nation, painting on the vault above the
Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit, and in a picture that is
half-way up the wall Jesus Christ rising from the dead, with the
soldiers sleeping round the Sepulchre in various attitudes, fore-
shortened in a bold and beautiful manner. On one side he painted S.
Stephen, and on the other side S. George, in two niches; and at the
foot he painted S. Giovanni Limosinario, who is giving alms to a
naked beggar, with a Charity on one side of him, and on the other
side S. Alberto, the Carmelite Friar, between Logic and Prudence.
And in the great altar picture, finally, he painted in fresco the
Dead Christ with the Maries.
Having formed a friendship with Piero di Marcone, a Florentine
goldsmith, and having become his gossip, Francesco made to Piero' s
wife, who was also his gossip, after her delivery, a present of a
very beautiful design, which was to be painted on one of those round
baskets in which food is brought to a newly-delivered woman. In that
design there was the life of man, in a number of square compartments
containing very beautiful figures, both on one side and on the
other; namely, all the ages of human life, each of which rested on a
different festoon appropriate to the particular age and the season.
In that bizarre composition were included, in two long ovals,
figures of the sun and moon, and between them Sais, a city of Egypt,
standing before the Temple of the Goddess Pallas and praying for
wisdom, as if to signify that on behalf of newborn children one
should pray before any other thing for wisdom and goodness. That
design Piero held ever afterwards as dear as if it had been, as
indeed it was, a most beautiful jewel.
Not long afterwards, the above-named Piero and other friends
having written to Francesco that he would do well to return to his
native place, for the reason that it was held to be certain that he
would be employed by the Lord Duke Cosimo, who had no masters about
him save such as were slow and irresolute, he finally determined
(trusting much, also, in the favour of M. Alamanno, the brother of
the Cardinal and uncle of the Duke) to return to Florence. Having
arrived, therefore, before attempting any other thing, he painted
for the above-named M. Alamanno Salviati a very beautiful picture of
Our Lady, which he executed in a room in the Office of Works of S.
Maria del Fiore that was occupied by Francesco dal Prato, who at
that time, from being a goldsmith and a master of tausia,* [*
Damascening.] had set himself to casting little figures in bronze
and to painting, with much profit and honor. In that same place,
then, which that master held as the official in charge of the
woodwork of the Office of Works, Francesco made portraits of his
friend Piero di Marcone and of Avveduto del Cegia, the dresser of
minever furs, who was also much his friend; which Avveduto, besides
many other things by the hand of Francesco that he possesses, has a
portrait of Francesco himself, executed in oils with his own hand,
and very lifelike.
The above-mentioned picture of Our Lady, being, after it was
finished, in the shop of the woodcarver Tasso, who was then
architect of the Palace, was seen by many persons and vastly
extolled; but what caused it even more to be considered a rare
picture was that Tasso, who was accustomed to censure almost
everything, praised it to the skies. And, what was more, he said to
M. Pier Francesco, the major-domo, that it would be an excellent
thing for the Duke to give Francesco some work of importance to
execute; whereupon M. Pier Francesco and Cristofano Rinieri, who had
the ear of the Duke, played their part in such a way, that M.
Alamanno spoke to his Excellency, saying to him that Francesco
desired to be commissioned to paint the Hall of Audience, which is
in front of the Chapel of the Ducal Palace, and that he cared
nothing about payment; and the Duke was content that this should be
granted to him. Whereupon Francesco, having made small designs of
the Triumph of Furius Camillus and of many stories of his life, set
himself to contrive the division of that hall according to the
spaces left by the windows and doors, some of which are high and
some low; and there was no little difficulty in making that division
in such a way that it might be well-ordered and might not disturb
the sequence of the stories. In the wall where there is the door by
which one enters into the hall, there were two large spaces, divided
by the door.
Opposite to that, where there are the three windows that look out
over the Piazza, there were four spaces, but not wider than about
three braccia each. In the end- wall that is on the right hand as
one enters, wherein are two windows that likewise look out on the
Piazza, but in another direction, there were three similar spaces,
each about three braccia wide; and in the end-wall that is on the
left hand, opposite to the other, what with the marble door that
leads into the chapel, and a window with a grating of bronze, there
remained only one space large enough to contain a work of
importance. On the wall of the chapel, then within an ornament of
Corinthian columns that support an architrave, which has below it a
recess, wherein hang two very rich festoons, and two pendants of
various fruits, counter- feited very well, while upon it sits a
naked little boy who is holding the Ducal arms, namely, those of the
Houses of Medici and Toledo he painted two scenes; on the right hand
Camillus, who is commanding that the schoolmaster shall be given up
to the vengeance of his young scholars, and on the other the same
Camillus, while the army is in combat and fire is burning the
stockades and tents of the camp, is routing the Gauls. And beside
that, where the same range of pilasters continues, he painted a
figure of Opportunity, large as life, who has seized Fortune by the
locks, and some devices of his Excellency, with many ornaments
executed with marvellous grace. On the main wall, where there are
two great spaces divided by the principal door, he painted two large
and very beautiful scenes. In the first are the Gauls, who, weighing
the gold of the tribute, add to it a sword, to the end that the
weight may be the greater, and Camillus, full of rage, delivers
himself from the tribute by force of arms; which scene is very
beautiful, and crowded with figures, landscapes, antiquities, and
vases counterfeited very well and in various manners in imitation of
gold and silver. In the other scene, beside the first, is Camillus
in the triumphal chariot, drawn by four horses; and on high is Fame,
who is crowning him. Before the chariot are priests very richly
apparelled, with the statue of the Goddess Juno, and holding vases
in their hands, and with some trophies and spoils of great beauty.
About the chariot are innumerable prisoners in various attitudes,
and behind it the soldiers of the army in their armour, among whom
Francesco made a portrait of himself, which is so good that it seems
as if alive. In the distance, where the triumphal procession is
passing, is a very beautiful picture of Rome, and above the door is
a figure of Peace in chiaroscuro, who is burning the arms, with some
prisoners; all which was executed by Francesco with such diligence
and study, that there is no more beautiful work to be seen.
On the wall towards the west he painted in a niche in one of the
larger spaces, in the center, a Mars in armour, and below that a
nude figure representing a Gaul,* [* A play on the word Gallo, which
means both Gaul and cock.] with a crest on the head similar to that
of a cock; and in another niche a Diana with a skin about her waist,
who is drawing an arrow from her quiver, with a dog. In the two
corners next the other two walls are two figures of Time, one
adjusting weights in a balance, and the other tempering the liquid
in two vases by pouring one into the other. On the last wall, which
is opposite to the chapel and faces towards the north, in a corner
on the right hand, is the Sun figured in the manner wherein the
Egyptians represent him, and in the other corner the Moon in the
same manner. In the middle is Favor, represented as a nude young man
on the summit of the wheel, with Envy, Hatred, and Malice on one
side, and on the other side Honors, Pleasure, and all the other
things described by Lucian. Above the windows is a frieze all full
of most beautiful nudes, as large as life, and in various forms and
attitudes; with some scenes likewise from the life of Camillus. And
opposite to the Peace that is burning the arms is the River Arno,
who, holding a most abundant horn of plenty, raises with one hand a
curtain and reveals Florence and the greatness of her Pontiffs and
the heroes of the House of Medici. He painted there, besides all
that, a base that runs round below those scenes, and niches with
some terminal figures of women that support festoons; and in the
centre are certain ovals with scenes of people adorning a Sphinx and
the River Arno.
Francesco put into the execution of that work all the diligence
and study that are possible; and, although he had many
contradictions, he carried it to a happy conclusion, desiring to
leave in his native city a work worthy of himself and of so great a
Prince. Francesco was by nature melancholy, and for the most part he
did not care to have anyone about him when he was at work. But
nevertheless, when he first began that undertaking, almost doing
violence to his nature and affecting an open heart, with great
cordiality he allowed Tasso and others of his friends, who had done
him some service, to stand and watch him at work, showing them every
courtesy that he was able. But when he had gained a footing at
Court, as the saying goes, and it seemed to him that he was in good
favour, returning to his choleric and biting nature, he paid them no
attention. Nay, what was worse, he used the most bitter words
according to his wont (which served as an excuse to his
adversaries), censuring and decrying the works of others, and
praising himself and his own works to the skies. These methods,
which displeased most people and likewise certain craftsmen, brought
upon him such odium, that Tasso and many others, who from being his
friends had become his enemies, began to give him cause for thought
and for action.
For, although they praised the excellence of the art that was in
him, and the facility and rapidity with which he executed his works
so well and with such unity, they were not at a loss, on the other
hand, for something to censure. And since, if they had allowed him
to gain a firm footing and to settle his affairs, they would not
have been able afterwards to hinder or hurt him, they began in good
time to give him trouble and to molest him. Whereupon many of the
craftsmen and others, banding themselves together and forming a
faction, began to disseminate among the people of importance a rumor
that Salviati's work was not succeeding, and that he was laboring by
mere skill of hand, and devoting no study to anything that he did.
In which, in truth, they accused him wrongly, for, although he never
toiled over the execution of his works, as they themselves did, yet
that did not mean that he did not study them and that his works had
not infinite grace and invention, or that they were not carried out
excellently well. Not being able to surpass his excellence with
their works,, those adversaries wished to overwhelm it with such
words and reproaches; but in the end truth and excellence have too
much force. At first Francesco made light of such rumors, but later,
perceiving that they were growing beyond all reason, he complained
of it many times to the Duke. But, since it began to be seen that
the Duke, to all appearance, was not showing him such favours as he
would have liked, and it seemed that his Excellency cared nothing
for those complaints, Francesco began to fall from his position in
such a manner, that his adversaries, taking courage from that, sent
forth a rumor that his scenes in the hall were to be thrown to the
ground, because they did not give satisfaction and had in them no
particle of excellence. All these calumnies, which were pressed
against him with incredible envy and malice by his adversaries, had
reduced Francesco to such a state, that, if it had not been for the
goodness of Messer Lelio Torelli, Messer Pasquino Bertini, and
others of his friends, he would have retreated before them, which
was exactly what they desired.
But the above-named friends, exhorting him continually to finish
the work of the hall and others that he had in hand, restrained him,
even as was done by many other friends not in Florence, to whom he
wrote of these persecutions. And Giorgio Vasari, among others,
answering a letter that Salviati wrote to him on the matter,
exhorted him always to have patience, because excellence is refined
by persecution as gold by fire; adding that a time was about to come
when his art and his genius would be recognized, and that he should
complain of no one but himself, in that he did not yet know men's
humors, and how the people and the craftsmen of his own country were
made. Thus, notwithstanding all these contradictions and
persecutions that poor Francesco suffered, he finished that hall
namely, the work that he had undertaken to execute in fresco on the
walls, for the reason that on the ceiling, or rather, soffit, there
was no need for him to do any painting, since it was so richly
carved and all overlaid with gold, that among works of that kind
there is none more beautiful to be seen. And as a finish to the
whole the Duke caused two new windows of glass to be made, with his
devices and arms and those of Charles V; and nothing could be better
in that kind of work than the manner in which they were executed by
Battista del Borro, an Aretine painter excellent in that field of
art.
After that, Francesco painted for his Excellency the ceiling of
the hall where he dines in winter, with many devices and little
figures in distemper; and a most beautiful study which opens out
over the Green Chamber. He made portraits, likewise, of some of the
Duke's children; and one year, for the Carnival, he executed in the
Great Hall the scenery and prospect-view for a comedy that was
performed, and that with such beauty and in a manner so different
from those that had been done in Florence up to that time, that they
were judged to be superior to them all. Nor is this to be marvelled
at, since it is very certain that Francesco was always in all his
works full of judgment, and well- varied and fertile in invention,
and, what is more, he had a perfect knowledge of design, and had a
more beautiful manner than any other painter in Florence at that
time, and handled colours with great skill and delicacy. He also
made a head, or rather, a portrait, of Signer Giovanni de' Medici,
the father of Duke Cosimo, which was very beautiful; and it is now
in the guardaroba of the same Lord Duke. For Cristofano Rinieri, who
was much his friend, he painted a most beautiful picture of Our
Lady, which is now in the Udienza della Decima. For Ridolfo Landi he
executed a picture of Charity, which could not be more lovely than
it is; and for Simone Corsi, likewise, he painted a picture of Our
Lady, which was much extolled. For M. Donato Acciaiuoli, a knight of
Rhodes, with whom he always maintained a particular intimacy, he
executed certain little pictures that are very beautiful. And he
also painted in an altarpiece Christ showing to S. Thomas, who would
not believe that He had newly risen from the dead, the marks of the
blows and wounds that He had received from the Jews; which
altarpiece was taken by Tommaso Guadagni into France, and placed in
the Chapel of the Florentines in a church at Lyons.
Francesco also depicted at the request of the above-named
Cristofano Rinieri and of Maestro Giovanni Rosto, the Flemish master
of tapestry, the whole story of Tarquinius and the Roman Lucretia in
many cartoons, which, being afterwards put into execution in
tapestries woven in silk, floss-silk, and gold, proved to be a
marvellous work. Which hearing, the Duke, who was at that time
having similar tapestries, all in silk and gold, made in Florence by
the same Maestro Giovanni for the Sala de' Dugento, and had caused
cartoons with the stories of the Hebrew Joseph to be executed by
Bronzino and Pontormo, as has been related, commanded that Francesco
also should make a cartoon, which was that with the interpretation
of the dream of the seven fat and seven lean kine. Into that cartoon
Francesco put all the diligence that could possibly be devoted to
such a work, and that is required for pictures that are to be woven;
for there must be fantastic inventions and variety of composition in
the figures, and these must stand out one from another, so that they
may have strong relief, and they must come out bright in coloring
and rich in the costumes and vestments. That piece of tapestry and
the others having turned out well, his Excellency resolved to
establish the art in Florence, and caused it to be taught to some
boys, who, having grown to be men, are now executing most excellent
works for the Duke.
Francesco also executed a most beautiful picture of Our Lady,
likewise in oils, which is now in the chamber of Messer Alessandro,
the son of M. Ottaviano de' Medici. For the above-named M. Pasquino
Bertini he painted on canvas yet another picture of Our Lady, with
Christ and S. John as little children, who are smiling over a parrot
that they have in their hands; which was a very pleasing and
fanciful work. And for the same man he made a most beautiful design
of a Crucifix, about one braccio high, with a Magdalene at the foot,
in a manner so new and so pleasing that it is a marvel; which design
M. Salvestro Bertini lent to Girolamo Razzi, his very dear friend,
who is now Don Silvano, and two pictures were painted from it by
Carlo of Loro, who has since executed many others, which are
dispersed about Florence.
Giovanni and Piero d'Agostino Dini had erected in S. Croce, on
the right hand as one enters by the central door, a very rich chapel
of grey sandstone and a tomb for Agostino and others of their
family; and they gave the commission for the altarpiece of that
chapel to Francesco, who painted in it Christ taken down from the
Cross by Joseph of Arimath^ea and Nicodemus, and at the foot the
Madonna in a swoon, with Mary Magdalene, S. John, and the other
Maries. That altarpiece was executed by Francesco with so much art
and study, that not only the nude Christ is very beautiful, but all
the other figures likewise are well disposed and coloured with
relief and force; and although at first the picture was cen- sured
by Francesco's adversaries, nevertheless it won him a great name
with men in general, and those who have painted others after him out
of emulation have not surpassed him. The same Francesco, before he
departed from Florence, painted the portrait of the above-mentioned
M. Lelio Torelli, and some other works of no great importance, of
which I know not the particulars. But, among other things, he
brought to completion a design of the Conversion of S. Paul that he
had drawn long before in Rome, which is very beautiful; and he had
it engraved on copper in Florence by Enea Vico of Parma, and the
Duke was content to retain him in Florence until that should be
done, with his usual salary and allowances. During that time, which
was in the year 1548, Giorgio Vasari being at Rimini in order to
execute in fresco and in oils the works of which we have spoken in
another place, Francesco wrote him a long letter, informing him in
exact detail how his affairs were passing in Florence, and, in
particular, that he had made a design for the principal chapel of S.
Lorenzo, which was to be painted by order of the Lord Duke, but that
with regard to that work infinite mischief had been done against him
with his Excellency, and, among other things, that he held it almost
as certain that M. Pier Francesco, the major-domo, had not presented
his design, so that the work had been allotted to Pontormo. And
finally he said that for these reasons he was returning to Rome,
much dissatisfied with the men and the craftsmen of his native
country.
Having thus returned to Rome, he bought a house near the Palace
of Cardinal Farnese, and, while he was occupying himself with
executing some works of no great importance, he received from that
Cardinal, through M. Annibale Caro and Don Giulio Clovio, the
commission to paint the Chapel of the Palace of S. Giorgio, in which
he executed an ornament of most beautiful compartments in stucco,
and a vaulting in fresco with stories of S. Laurence and many
figures, full of grace, and on a panel of stone, in oils, the
Nativity of Christ, introducing into that work, which was very
beautiful, the portrait of the above-named Car- dinal. Then, having
another work allotted to him in the above-men- tioned Company of the
Misericordia (where Jacopo del Conte had painted the Preaching and
the Baptism of S. John, in which, although he had not surpassed
Francesco, he had acquitted himself very well, and where some other
works had been executed by the Venetian Battista Franco and by Pirro
Ligorio), Francesco painted, on that part that is exactly beside his
own picture of the Visitation, the Nativity of S. John, which,
although he executed it excellently well, was nevertheless not equal
to the first. At the head of that Company, likewise, he painted for
M. Bartolommeo Bussotti two very beautiful figures in fresco S.
Andrew and S. Bartholomew, the Apostles which are one on either side
of the altar-piece, wherein is a Deposition from the Cross by the
hand of the same Jacopo del Conte, which is a very good picture and
the best work that he had ever done up to that time. In the year
1550, Julius III having been elected Supreme Pontiff, Francesco
painted some very beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro for the arch that
was erected above the steps of S. Pietro, among the festive prepara-
tions for the coronation. And then, in the same year, a sepulchre
with many steps and ranges of columns having been made in the
Minerva by the Company of the Sacrament, Francesco painted upon it
some scenes and figures in terretta, which were held to be very
beautiful. In a chapel of S. Lorenzo in Damaso he executed two
Angels in fresco that are holding a canopy, the design of one of
which is in our book. In the refectory of S. Salvatore del Lauro at
Monte Giordano, on the principal wall, he painted in fresco, with a
great number of figures, the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, at which
Jesus Christ turned water into wine; and at the sides some Saints,
with Pope Eugenius IV, who belonged to that Order, and other
founders. Above the door of that refectory, on the inner side, he
painted a picture in oils of S. George killing the Dragon, and he
executed that whole work with much mastery, finish, and charm of
coloring. About the same time he sent to Florence, for M. Alamanno
Salviati, a large picture in which are Adam and Eve beside the Tree
of Life in the Earthly Paradise, eating the Forbidden Fruit, which
is a very beautiful work.
For Signor Ranuccio, Cardinal Sant' Agnolo, of the House of
Farnese, Francesco painted with most beautiful fantasy two walls in
the hall that is in front of the great hall in the Farnese Palace.
On one wall he depicted Signor Ranuccio the Elder receiving from
Eugenius IV his baton as Captain-General of Holy Church, with some
Virtues, and on the other Pope Paul III, of the Farnese family, who
is giving the baton of the Church to Signor Pier Luigi, while there
is seen approaching from a distance the Emperor Charles V,
accompanied by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and by other lords
portrayed from life ; and on that wall, besides the things described
above and many others, he painted a Fame and a number of other
figures, which are executed very well. It is true, indeed, that the
work received its final completion, not from him, but from Taddeo
Zucchero of Sant' Agnolo, as will be related in the proper place. He
gave completion and proportion to the Chapel of the Popolo, which
Fra Sebastiano Veneziano had formerly begun for Agostino Chigi, but
had not finished; and Francesco finished it, as has been described
in the Life of Fra Sebastiano. For Cardinal Riccio of Montepulciano
he painted a most beautiful hall in his Palace in the Strada Giulia,
where he executed in fresco various pictures with many stories of
David; and, among others, one of Bathsheba bathing herself in a
bath, with many other women, while David stands gazing at her, is a
scene very well composed and full of grace, and as rich in invention
as any other that there is to be seen. In another picture is the
Death of Uriah, in a third the Ark, before which go many musical
instruments, and finally, after some others, a battle that is being
fought between David and his enemies, very well composed. And, to
put it briefly, the work of that hall is all full of grace, of most
beautiful fantasies, and of many fanciful and ingenious inventions;
the distribution of the parts is done with much consideration, and
the coloring is very pleasing. To tell the truth, Francesco, feeling
himself bold and fertile in invention, and having a hand obedient to
his brain, would have liked always to have on his hands works large
and out of the ordinary. And for no other reason was he strange in
his dealings with his friends, save only for this, that, being
variable and in certain things not very stable, what pleased him one
day he hated the next; and he did few works of importance without
having in the end to contend about the price, on which account he
was avoided by many.
After these works, Andrea Tassini, having to send a painter to
the King of France, in the year 1554 sought out Giorgio Vasari, but
in vain, for he said that not for any salary, however great, or
promises, or expectations, would he leave the service of his lord,
Duke Cosimo; and finally Andrea came to terms with Francesco and
took him to France, undertaking to recompense him in Rome if he were
not satisfied in France. Before Francesco departed from Rome, as if
he thought that he would never return, he sold his house, his
furniture, and every other thing, excepting the offices that he
held. But the venture did not succeed as he had expected, for the
reason that, on arriving in Paris, where he was received kindly and
with many courtesies by M. Francesco Primaticcio, painter and
architect to the King, and Abbot of S. Martin, he was straightway
recognized, so it is said, as the strange sort of man that he was,
for he saw no work either by Rosso or by any other master that he
did not censure either openly or in some subtle way. Everyone
therefore expecting some great work from him, he was set by the
Cardinal of Lorraine, who had sent for him, to execute some pictures
in his Palace at Dampierre. Whereupon, after making many designs,
finally he set his hand to the work, and executed some pictures with
scenes in fresco over the cornices of chimney-pieces, and a little
study full of scenes, which are said to have shown great mastery;
but, whatever may have been the reason, these works did not win him
much praise. Besides that, Francesco was never much liked there,
because he had a nature altogether opposed to that of the men of
that country, where, even as those merry and jovial men are liked
and held dear who live a free life and take part gladly in
assemblies and banquets, so those are, I do not say shunned, but
less liked and welcomed, who are by nature, as Francesco was,
melancholy, abstinent, sickly, and cross-grained. For some things he
might have deserved to be excused, since his habit of body would not
allow him to mix himself up with banquets and with eating and
drinking too much, if only he could have been more agreeable in
conversation. And, what was worse, whereas it was his duty,
according to the custom of that country and that Court, to show
himself and pay court to others, he would have liked, and thought
that he deserved, to be himself courted by everyone.
In the end, the King being occupied with matters of war, and
likewise the Cardinal, and himself being disappointed of his salary
and promised benefits, Francesco, after having been there twenty
months, resolved to return to Italy. And so he made his way to
Milan, where he was courteously received by the Chevalier Leone
Aretino in the house that he has built for himself, very ornate and
all filled with statues ancient and modern, and with figures cast in
gesso from rare works, as will be told in another place; and after
having stayed there a fortnight and rested himself, he went on to
Florence. There he found Giorgio Vasari and told him how well he had
done not to go to France, giving him an account that would have
driven the desire to go there, no matter how great, out of anyone.
From Florence he returned to Rome, and there entered an action
against those who had guaranteed his allowances from the Cardinal of
Lorraine, and compelled them to pay him in full; and when he had
received the money he bought some offices, in addition to others
that he held before, with a firm resolve to look after his own life,
knowing that he was not in good health and that he had wholly ruined
his constitution. Notwithstanding that, he would have liked to be
employed in great works ; but in this he did not succeed so readily,
and he occupied himself for a time with executing pictures and
portraits.
Pope Paul IV having died, Pius was elected, likewise the Fourth
of that name, who, much delighting in building, availed himself of
Pirro Ligorio in matters of architecture; and his Holiness ordained
that Cardinals Alessandro Farnese and Emulio should cause the Great
Hall, called the Hall of Kings, to be finished by Danielle da
Volterra, who had begun it. That very reverend Farnese did his
utmost to obtain the half of that work for Francesco, and in
consequence there was a long contention between Danielle and
Francesco, particularly because Michel - agnolo Buonarroti exerted
himself in favor of Daniello, and for a time they arrived at no
conclusion. Meanwhile, Vasari having gone with Cardinal Giovanni de'
Medici, the son of Duke Cosimo, to Rome, Francesco related to him
his many difficulties, and in particular that in which, for the
reasons just given, he then found himself; and Giorgio, who much
loved the excellence of the man, showed him that up to that time he
had managed his affairs very badly, and that for the future he
should let him (Vasari) manage them, for he would so contrive that
in one way or another the half of that Hall of Kings would fall to
him to execute, which Daniello was not able to finish by himself,
being a slow and irresolute person, and almost certainly not as able
and versatile as Francesco. Matters standing thus, and nothing more
being done for the moment, not many days afterwards Giorgio himself
was requested by the Pope to paint part of that Hall, but he
answered that he had one three times larger to paint in the Palace
of his master, Duke Cosimo, and, in addition, that he had been so
badly treated by Pope Julius III, for whom he had executed many
labours in the Vigna on the Monte and elsewhere, that he no longer
knew what to expect from certain kinds of men; adding that he had
painted for the Palace of the same Pontiff, without being paid, an
altar-piece of Christ calling Peter and Andrew from their nets on
the Sea of Tiberias (which had been taken away by Pope Paul IV from
a chapel that Julius had built over the corridor of the Belvedere,
and which was to be sent to Milan), and that his Holiness should
cause it to be either paid for or restored to him. To which the Pope
said in answer and whether it was true or not, I do not know that he
knew nothing of that altarpiece, but wished to see it; whereupon it
was sent for, and, after his Holiness had seen it, but in a bad
light, he was content that it should be restored.
The discussion about the Hall being then resumed, Giorgio told
the Pope frankly that Francesco was the first and best painter in
Rome, that his Holiness would do well to employ him, since no one
could serve him better, and that, although Buonarroti and the
Cardinal of Carpi favored Daniello, they did so more from the motive
of friendship, and perhaps out of animosity, than for any other
reason. But to return to the altarpiece; Giorgio had no sooner left
the Pope than he sent it to the house of Francesco, who afterwards
had it taken to Arezzo, where, as we have related in another place,
it has been deposited by Vasari with a rich, costly, and handsome
ornament, in the Pieve of that city. The affairs of the Hall of
Kings remaining in the condition that has been described above, when
Duke Cosimo departed from Siena in order to go to Rome, Vasari, who
had gene as far as that with his Excellency, recommended Salviati
warmly to him, beseeching him to make interest on his behalf with
the Pope, and to Francesco he wrote as to all that he was to do when
the Duke had arrived in Rome. In all which Francesco departed in no
way from the advice given him by Giorgio, for he went to do
reverence to the Duke, and was welcomed by his Excellency with an
aspect full of kindness, and shortly afterwards so much was said to
his Holiness on his behalf, that the half of the above-mentioned
Hall was allotted to him. Setting his hand to the work, before doing
any other thing he threw to the ground a scene that had been begun
by Daniello; on which account there were afterwards many contentions
between them. The Pontiff was served in matters of architecture, as
has been already related, by Pirro Ligorio, who at first had much
favored Francesco, and would have continued to favor him; but
Francesco paying no more attention either to Pirro or to any other
after he had begun to work, this was the reason that Ligorio, from
being his friend, became in a certain sort his adversary, and of
this very manifest signs were seen, for Pirro began to say to the
Pope that since there were many young painters of ability in Rome,
and he wished to have that Hall off his hands, it would be a good
thing to allot one scene to each of them, and thus to see it
finished once and for all.
These proceedings of Pirro' s, to which it was evident that the
Pope was favorable, so displeased Francesco, that in great disdain
he retired from the work and all the contentions, considering that
he was held in little estimation. And so, mounting his horse and not
saying a word to anyone, he went off to Florence, where, like the
strange creature that he was, without giving a thought to any of the
friends that he had there, he took up his abode in an inn, as if he
did not belong to the place and had no acquaintance there nor anyone
who cared for him in any way. Afterwards, having kissed the hands of
the Duke, he was received with such kindness, that he might well
have looked for some good result, if only he had been different in
nature and had adhered to the advice' of Giorgio, who urged him to
sell the offices that he had in Rome and to settle in Florence, so
as to enjoy his native place with his friends and to avoid the
danger of losing, together with his life, all the fruits of his toil
and grievous labours. But Francesco, moved by sensitiveness and
anger, and by his desire to avenge himself, resolved that he would
at all costs return to Rome in a few days. Meanwhile, moving from
that inn at the entreaty of his friends, he retired to the house of
M. Marco Finale, the Prior of S. Apostolo, where he executed a Pieta
in colors on cloth of silver for M. Jacopo Salviati, as it were to
pass the time, with the Madonna and the other Maries, which was a
very beautiful work. He renewed in colors a medallion with the Ducal
arms, which he had made on a former occasion and placed over a door
in the Palace of Messer Alamanno. And for the above-named M. Jacopo
he made a most beautiful book of bizarre costumes and various
headdresses of men and horses for masquerades, for which he received
innumerable courtesies from the liberality of that lord, who
lamented the strange and eccentric nature of Francesco, whom he was
never able to attract into his house on this occasion, as he had
done at other times.
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DANIELLO RICCIARELLI [DANIELE DA VOLTERRA] (1509 - 1566)
PAINTER AND SCULPTOR OF VOLTERRA
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
DANIELLO, when he was a lad, learned to draw a little from
Giovanni Antonio Sodoma, who went at that time to execute certain
works in the city of Volterra ; and when Sodoma had gone away he
made much greater and better proficience under Baldassarre Peruzzi
than he had done under the discipline of the other. But to tell the
truth, for all that, he achieved no great success at that time, for
the reason that in proportion as he de- voted great effort and study
to seeking to learn, being urged by a strong desire, even so, on the
other hand, did his brain and hand fail him. Where- fore in his
first works, which he executed at Volterra, there is evidence of
very great, nay, infinite labour, but not yet any promise of a grand
or beautiful manner, nor any grace, charm, or invention, such as
have been seen at an early hour in many others who have been born to
be painters, and who, even in their first beginnings, have shown
facility, boldness, and some indication of a good manner. His first
works, indeed, seem in truth as if done by a melancholic, being full
of effort and executed with much patience and expenditure of time.
But let us come to his works, leaving aside those that are not
worthy of attention; in his youth he painted in fresco at Volterra
the facade of M. Mario Maffei, in chiaroscuro, which gave him a good
name and won him much credit. But after he had finished it,
perceiving that he had there no competition that might spur him to
seek to rise to greater heights, and that there were no works in
that city, either ancient or modern, from which he could learn much,
he determined at all costs to go to Rome, where he heard that there
were not at that time many who were engaged in painting, excepting
Perino del Vaga. Before departing, he resolved that he would take
some finished work that might make him known ; and so, having
painted a canvas in oils of Christ Scourged at the Column, with many
figures, to which he devoted all possible diligence, availing
himself of models and portraits from life, he took it with him. And,
having arrived in Rome, he had not been long there before he
contrived by means of friends to show that picture to Cardinal
Triulzi, whom it satisfied in such a manner that he not only bought
it, but also conceived a very great affection for Daniello ; and a
short time afterwards he sent him to work in a village without Rome
belonging to himself, called Salone, where he had built a very large
house, which he was having adorned with fountains, stucco-work, and
paintings, and in which at that very time Gian Maria da Milano and
others were decorating certain rooms with stucco and grotesques.
Arriving there, then, Daniello, both out of emulation and from a
desire to serve that lord, from whom he could hope to win much
honour and profit, painted various things in many rooms and loggie
in company with the others, and in particular executed many
grotesques, full of various little figures of women. But the work
that proved to be more beautiful than all the rest was a story of
Phaethon, executed in fresco with figures of the size of life, and a
very large River God that he painted there, which is a very good
figure ; and all these works, since the above- named Cardinal went
often to see them, and took with him now one and now another of the
Cardinals, were the reason that Daniello formed a friendship and
bonds of service with many of them.
Afterwards, Perino del Vaga, who at that time was painting the
Chapel of M. Agnolo de' Massimi in the Trinita, having need of a
young man who might help him, Daniello, desiring to make
proficience, and drawn by his promises, went to work with him and
assisted him to execute certain things in the work of that chapel,
which he carried to completion with much diligence. Now, before the
sack of Rome Perino had painted on the vaulting of the Chapel of the
Crocifisso in S. Marcello, as has been related, the Creation of Adam
and Eve in figures of the size of life, and in much larger figures
two Evangelists, S. John and S. Mark, which were not yet completely
finished, since the figure of S. John was wanting from the middle
upwards; and the men of that Company resolved, when the affairs of
Rome had finally become settled again, that the same Perino should
finish the work. But he, having other work to do, made the cartoons
and had it finished by Danielle, who completed the S. John that had
been left unfinished, painted all by himself the two other
Evangelists, S. Luke and S. Matthew, between them two little boys
that are holding a candelabrum, and, on the arch of the wall that
contains the window, two Angels standing poised on their wings in
the act of flight, who are holding in their hands the Mysteries of
the Passion of Jesus Christ; and he adorned the arch richly with
grotesques and little naked figures of great beauty. In short, he
acquitted himself marvellously well in all that work, although he
took a considerable time over it.
The same Perino having then caused Daniello to execute a frieze
in the hall of the Palace of M. Agnolo Massimi, with many divisions
in stucco and other ornaments, and stories of the actions of Fabius
Maximus, he bore himself so well, that Signora Elena Orsina, having
seen that work and hearing the ability of Daniello much extolled,
commissioned him to paint her chapel in the Church of the Trinita in
Rome, on trie hill, where the Friars of S. Francesco di Paola have
their seat. Wherefore Daniello, putting forth all possible effort
and diligence, in order to produce a rare work which might make him
known as an excellent painter, did not shrink from devoting to it
the labour of many years. From the name of that lady, the title
given to the chapel being that of the Cross of Christ Our Saviour,
the subject chosen was that of the actions of S. Helen; and so in
the principal altar-piece Daniello painted Jesus Christ taken down
from the Cross by Joseph, Nicodemus, and other disciples, and the
Virgin Mary in a swoon, supported on the arms of the Magdalene and
the other Maries, in all which he showed very great judgment, and
gave proof of very rare ability, for the reason that, besides the
composition of the figures, which has a very rich effect, the figure
of Christ is very fine and most beautifully foreshortened, with the
feet coming forward and the rest backwards. Very beautiful and
difficult, likewise, are the fore- shortenings in the figures of
those who, having removed Him from the Cross, support Him with some
bands, standing on some ladders and re- vealing in certain parts the
nude flesh, executed with much grace. Around that altarpiece he made
an ornament in stucco-work of great beauty and variety, full of
carvings, with two figures that support the pediment with their
heads, while with one hand they hold the capital, and with the other
they seek to place the column, which stands at the foot on the base,
below the capital to support it; which work is done with
extraordinary care. In the arch above the altarpiece he painted two
Sibyls in fresco, which are the best figures in the whole work; and
those Sibyls are one on either side of the window, which is above
the centre of the altarpiece, giving light to the whole chapel.
The vaulting of the chapel is divided into four compartments by
bizarre, well varied, and beautiful partitions of stucco-work and
grotesques made with new fantasies of masks and festoons; and in
those compartments are four stories of the Cross and of S. Helen,
the mother of Constantine. In the first is the scene when, before
the Passion of the Saviour, three Crosses are constructed; in the
second, S. Helen commanding certain Hebrews to reveal those Crosses
to her; in the third, the Hebrews not consenting to reveal them, she
causes to be cast into a well him who knows where they are; and in
the fourth he reveals the place where all three are buried. Those
four scenes are beautiful beyond belief, and executed with great
care. On the side-walls are four other scenes, two to each wall, and
each is divided off by the cornice that forms the impost of the arch
upon which rests the groined vaulting of the chapel. In one is S.
Helen causing the Holy Cross and the two others to be drawn up from
a well; and in the second is that of the Saviour healing a sick man.
Of the pictures below, in that on the right hand is the same S.
Helen recognizing the Cross of Christ because it restores to life a
corpse upon which it is laid ; to the nude flesh of which corpse
Daniello devoted extraordinary pains, searching out all the muscles
and seeking to render correctly all the parts of the body, as he
also did in those who are placing the Cross upon it, and in the
bystanders, who are all struck with amaze- ment by the sight of that
miracle. And, in addition, there is a bier of bizarre shape painted
with much diligence, with a skeleton embracing it, executed with
great care and with beautiful invention. In the other picture, which
is opposite to the first, he painted the Emperor Heraclius walking
barefoot and in his shirt, and carrying the Cross of Christ through
adoring it, many lords in his train, and a groom who is holding his
horse. Below each scene, forming a kind of base, are two most
beautiful women in chiaroscuro, painted in imitation of marble, who
appear to be support- ing those scenes. And under the first arch, on
the front side, he painted on the flat surface, standing upright,
two figures as large as life, a S. Fran- cesco di Paola, the head of
the Order that administers the above-named church, and a S. Jerome
robed as a Cardinal, which are two very good figures, even as are
those of the whole work, which Danielle executed in seven years,
with incalculable labor and study.
But, since pictures that are executed in that way have always a
certain hard and labored quality, the work is wanting in the grace
and facility that give most pleasure to the eye. Wherefore Daniello,
himself confessing the fatigue that he had endured in the work, and
fearing the fate that did come upon him (namely, that he would be
censured), made below the feet of those two Saints, to please
himself, and as^ it were in his own defence, two little scenes of
stucco in low-relief, in which he sought to show that, although he
worked slowly and with effort, nevertheless, since Michelagnolo
Buonarroti and Fra Sebastiano del Piombo were his friends, and he
was always imitating their works and observing their precepts, his
imitation of those two men should be enough to defend him from the
biting words of envious and malignant persons, whose evil nature
must perforce be revealed, although they may not think it. In one of
these scenes, then, he made many figures of Satyrs that are weigh-
ing legs, arms, and other members of figures with a steelyard, in
order to put on one side those that are correct in weight and
satisfactory, and to give those that are bad to Michelagnolo and Fra
Sebastiano, who are holding conference over them ; and in the other
is Michelagnolo looking at himself in a mirror, the significance of
which is clear enough. At two angles of the arch, likewise, on the
outer side, he painted two nudes in chiaroscuro, which are of the
same excellence as the other figures in that work. When it was all
uncovered, which was after a very long time, it was much extolled,
and held to be a very beautiful work and a triumph over
difficulties, and the painter a most excellent master.
After that chapel, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese caused him to
execute in a room in his Palace namely, at the corner, under one of
those very rich ceilings made under the direction of Maestro Antonio
da San Gallo for three large chambers that are in a line a very
beautiful frieze in painting, with a scene full of figures on each
wall, the scenes being a very beautiful triumph of Bacchus, a Hunt,
and others of that kind. These much pleased the Cardinal, who caused
him to paint, in addition, in several parts of that frieze, the
Unicorn in various forms in the lap of a Virgin, which is the device
of that most illustrious family. Which work was the reason that that
lord, who has ever been the friend of all talented and distinguished
men, always favoured him, and even more would he have done it, if
Daniello had not been so dilatory over his work ; but for that
Daniello was not to blame, seeing that such was his nature and
genius, and he was content to do little well rather than much not so
well. Now, in addition to the affection that the Cardinal bore him,
Signer Annibale Caro worked on his behalf in such a manner with his
patrons, the Farnesi, that they always assisted him. And for Madama
Margherita of Austria, the daughter of Charles V, he painted in
eight spaces in the study of which mention has been made in the Life
of Indaco, in the Palace of the Medici on the Piazza Navona, eight
little stories of the actions and illustrious deeds of the
above-named Emperor Charles V, with such diligence and excellence,
that it would be almost impossible to do better in that kind of
work.
In the year 1547 Perino del Vaga died, leaving unfinished the
Hall of Kings, which, as has been related, is in the Papal Palace,
in front of the Sistine and Pauline Chapels; and by the mediation of
many friends and lords, and in particular of Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, Daniello was set in his place by Pope Paul III, with the
same salary that Perino had received, and was commanded to make a
beginning with the ornaments of the walls that were to be executed
in stucco, with many nudes in the round over certain pediments. Now,
since the walls of that Hall are broken by six large doors in
variegated marble, and only one wall is left unbroken, Daniello made
over each door what is almost a tabernacle in stucco, of great
beauty. In each of these he intended to execute in painting one of
those Kings who have defended the Apostolic Church, and then to con-
tinue on the walls with stories of those Kings who have benefited
the Church with tributes or victories, so that in all there were to
be six stories and six niches. After those niches, or rather,
tabernacles, Daniello with the aid of many assistants executed all
the other very rich decorations in stucco that are to be seen in
that Hall, studying at the same time over the cartoons for all that
he had proposed to do in that place in the way of painting. Which
done, he made a beginning with one of the stories, but he did not
paint more than about two braccia of it, and two of the Kings in the
tabernacles of stucco over the doors. For, although he was pressed
by Cardinal Farnese and by the Pope, not reflecting that death very
often spoils the designs of men, he carried on the work so slowly
that when in the year 1549 tne death of the Pope took place, there
was nothing done save what has been described; and then, the
Conclave having to be held in the Hall, which was full of
scaffolding and wood-work, it became neces- sary to throw everything
to the ground and uncover the work. The whole being thus seen by
everyone, the works in stucco were vastly extolled, as they
deserved, but not so the two Kings in painting, for it was thought
that they were not equal in excellence to the work at the Trinita,
and that with all those fine allowances and advantages he had gone
rather backward than forward.
Julius III having been created Pontiff in the year 1550, Daniello
put himself forward by means of friends and interests, hoping to
obtain the same salary and to continue the work of that Hall, but
the Pope, not having any inclination in his favour, always put him
off ; indeed, sending for Giorgio Vasari, who had been his servant
from the time when he was Archbishop of Siponto, he made use of him
in all matters concerned with design. Nevertheless, his Holiness
having determined to make a fountain at the head of the corridor of
the Belvedere, and not liking a design by Michelagnolo (in which was
Moses striking the rock and causing water to flow from it) because
it was a thing that could not be carried out without a great
expenditure of time, since Michelagnolo wished to make it of marble;
his Holiness, I say, preferring the advice of Giorgio, which was
that the Cleopatra, a divine figure made by the Greeks, should be
set up in that place, the charge of that work was given by means of
Buonarroti to Danielle, with orders that he should make in the
above-named place a grotto in stucco-w r ork, within which that
Cleopatra was to be placed. Danielle, then, having set his hand to
that work, pursued it so slowly, although he was much pressed, that
he finished only the stucco-work and the paintings in that room, but
as for the many other things that the Pope wished to have done,
seeing them delayed longer than he had expected, he lost all desire
for them, so that nothing more was done and everything was left in
the condition that is still to be seen.
In a chapel in the Church of S. Agostino Daniello painted in
fresco, with figures of the size of life, S. Helen causing the Cross
to be found, and in two niches at the sides S. Cecilia and S. Lucia,
which work was painted partly by him and partly, after his designs,
by the young men who worked with him, so that it did not prove as
perfect as his others. At this same time there was allotted to him
by Signora Lucrezia della Rovere a chapel in the Trinita, opposite
to that of Signora Elena Orsina. In that chapel, having divided it
into compartments with stucco-work, he had the vaulting painted with
stories of the Virgin, after his own cartoons, by Marco da Siena and
Pellegrino da Bologna; on one of the walls he caused the Nativity of
the Virgin to be painted by the Spaniard Bizzerra, and on the other,
by Giovan Paolo Rossetti of Volterra, his disciple, the Presentation
of Jesus Christ to Simeon; and he caused the same Giovan Paolo to
execute two scenes that are on the arches above, Gabriel bringing
the Annunciation to the Virgin and the Nativity of Christ. On the
outer side, at the angles, he painted two large figures, and on the
pilasters, at the foot, two Prophets. On the altar-front Daniello
painted with his own hand the Madonna ascending the steps of the
Temple, and on the principal wall the same Virgin ascending into
Heaven, borne by many most beautiful Angels in the forms of little
boys, and the twelve Apostles below, gazing on her as she ascends.
And since the place would not hold so many figures, and he desired
to use a new invention in the work, he made it appear as if the
altar of that chapel were the sepulchre, and placed the Apostles
around it, making their feet rest on the floor of the chapel, where
the altar begins; which method of Daniello' s has pleased some, but
others, who form the greater and better part, not at all. And
although Daniello toiled fourteen years over executing that work, it
is not a whit better than the first. On the last wall of the chapel
that remained to be finished, on which there was to be painted the
Massacre of the Innocents, having himself made the cartoons, he had
the whole executed by the Florentine Michele Alberti, his disciple.
The Florentine Monsignor M. Giovanni della Casa, a man of great
learning (to which his most pleasing and learned works, both in
Latin and in the vulgar tongue, bear witness), having begun to write
a treatise on the matters of painting, and wishing to enlighten
himself as to certain minute particulars with the help of men of the
profession, commissioned Daniello to make with all possible care a
finished model of a David in clay. And then he caused him to paint,
or rather, to copy in a picture, the same David, which is very
beautiful, from either side, both the front and the back, which was
a fanciful notion; and that picture now belongs to M. Annibale
Rucellai. For the same M. Giovanni he executed a Dead Christ with
the Maries; and, on a canvas that was to be sent to France, ^Eneas
disrobing in order to go to sleep with Dido, and interrupted by
Mercury, who is represented as speaking to him in the manner that
may be read in the verses of Virgil. And he painted for the same man
in another picture, likewise in oils, a most beautiful S. John in
Penitence, of the size of life, which was held very dear by that
lord as long as he lived; and also a S. Jerome, beautiful to a
marvel.
Pope Julius III having died, and Paul IV having been elected
Supreme Pontiff, the Cardinal of Carpi sought to persuade his
Holiness to give the above-mentioned Hall of Kings to Daniello to
finish, but that Pope, not delighting in pictures, answered that it
was much better to fortify Rome than to spend money on painting it.
And so he caused a beginning to be made with the great portal of the
Castle, after the design of Salustio, the son of Baldassarre Peruzzi
of Siena and his architect, and ordained that in that work, which
was being executed all in travertine, after the manner of a
sumptuous and magnificent triumphal arch, there should be placed in
niches five statues, each of four braccia and a half; whereupon
Daniello was commissioned to make an Angel Michael, the other
statues having been allotted to other craftsmen. Meanwhile Monsignor
Giovanni Riccio, Cardinal of Montepulciano, resolved to erect a
chapel in S. Pietro a Montorio, opposite to that which Pope Julius
had caused to be built under the direction of Giorgio Vasari, and he
allotted the altarpiece, the scenes in fresco and the statues of
marble that were going into it, to Danielle ; and Danielle, by that
time completely determined that he would abandon painting and devote
himself to sculpture, went off to Carrara to have the marble
quarried both for the S. Michael and for the statues that he was to
make for the chapel in S. Pietro a Montorio. With that occasion,
coming to see Florence and the works that Vasari was executing in
the Palace for the Duke, and the other works in that city, he
received many courtesies from his innumerable friends, and in
particular from Vasari himself, to whom Buonarroti had recommended
him by letter. Abiding in Florence, then, and perceiving how much
the Lord Duke delighted in all the arts of design, Daniello was
seized with a desire to attach himself to the service of his most
illustrious Excellency. Many means being therefore employed, the
Lord Duke replied to those who were recommending him that he should
be introduced by Vasari, and so it was done ; and Daniello offering
himself as the servant of his Excellency, the Duke answered
graciously that he accepted him most willingly, and that after he
had fulfilled the engagements that he had in Rome, he should come
when he pleased, and he would be received very gladly.
Daniello stayed all that summer in Florence, where Giorgio lodged
him in the house of Simon Botti, who was much his friend. There,
during that time, he cast in gesso nearly all the figures of marble
by the hand of Michelagnolo that are in the new sacristy of S.
Lorenzo; and for the Fleming Michael Fugger he made a Leda, which
was a very beautiful figure. He then went to Carrara, and from
there, having sent the marble that he desired in the direction of
Rome, he returned once again to Florence, for the following reason.
Daniello had brought with him, when he first came from Rome to
Florence, a young disciple of his own called Orazio Pianetti, a
talented and very gentle youth ; but no sooner had he arrived in
Florence, whatever may have been the reason, than he died. At which
feeling infinite grief and sorrow, Daniello, as one who much loved
the young man for his fine qualities, and was not able to show his
affection for him in any other way, returning that last time to
Florence, made a portrait of him in marble from the breast upwards,
which he copied excellently well from one moulded from his dead
body. And when it was finished, he placed it with an epitaph in the
Church of S. Michele Berteldi on the Piazza degli Antinori ; in
which Danielle proved himself, by that truly loving office, to be a
man of rare goodness, and a different sort of friend to his friends
from the kind that is generally seen at the present day, when there
are very few to be found who value anything in friend- ship beyond
their own profit and convenience.
After these things, it being a long time since he had been in his
native city of Volterra, he went there before returning to Rome, and
was warmly welcomed by his relatives and friends. Being besought to
leave some memorial of himself in his native place, he executed the
story of the Innocents in a small panel with little figures, which
was held to be a very beautiful work, and placed it in the Church of
S. Piero. Then, thinking that he would never return, he sold the
little that he possessed there by way of patrimony to Leonardo
Ricciarelli, his nephew, who, having been with him in Rome, and
having learned very well how to work in stucco, afterwards served
Giorgio Vasari for three years, in company with many others, in the
works that were executed at that time in the Palace of the Duke.
When Daniello had finally returned to Rome, Pope Paul IV having a
desire to throw to the ground the Judgment of Michelagnolo on
account of the nudes, which seemed to him to display the parts of
shame in an unseemly manner, it was said by the Cardinals and by men
of judgment that it would be a great sin to spoil them, and they
found a way out of it, which was that Daniello should paint some
light garments to cover them; and the business was afterwards
finished in the time of Pius IV by repainting the S. Catherine and
the S. Biagio, which were thought to be unseemly.
In the meantime he began the statues for the Chapel of the above-
named Cardinal of Montepulciano, and the S. Michael for the great
portal; but none the less, being a man who was always going from one
notion to another, he did not work with the promptitude that he
could and should have used. About this time, after King Henry of
France had been killed in a tournament, Signor Ruberto Strozzi being
about to come to Italy and to Rome, Queen Caterina de' Medici,
having been left Regent in that kingdom, and wishing to erect some
honourable memorial to her dead husband, commanded the said Ruberto
to confer with Buonarroti and to contrive to have her desire in that
matter fulfilled. Wherefore, having arrived in Rome, he spoke long
of the matter with Michelagnolo, who, not being able, because he was
old, to accept that undertaking himself, advised Signor Ruberto to
give it to Danielle, saying that he would not fail to give him all
the counsel and assistance that he could. To that offer Strozzi
attached great importance, and, after they had considered with much
deliberation what should be done, it was resolved that Daniello
should make a horse of bronze all in one piece, twenty palms high
from the head to the feet, and about forty in length, and that upon
it there should then be placed the statue of King Henry in armor,
likewise of bronze. Daniello having then made a little model of clay
after the advice and judgment of Michelagnolo, which much pleased
Signor Ruberto, an account of everything was written to France, and
in the end an agreement was made between him and Daniello as to the
method of executing that work, the time, the price, and every other
thing. Whereupon Daniello, setting to work with much study on the
horse, made it in clay exactly as it was to be, without ever doing
any other work; and then, having made the mould, he was proceeding
to prepare to cast it, and, the work being of such importance, was
taking advice from many founders as to the method that he ought to
pursue, to the end that it might come out well, when Pius IV, who
had been elected Pontiff after the death of Paul, gave Daniello to
understand that he desired, as has been related in the Life of
Salviati, that the work of the Hall of Kings should be finished, and
that therefore every other thing was to be put on one side. To which
Daniello answered that he was fully occupied and pledged to the
Queen of France, but would make the cartoons and have the work
carried forward by his young men, and, in addition, would also do
his own part in it. The Pope, not liking that answer, began to think
of allotting the whole to Salviati; wherefore Daniello, seized with
jealousy, so went to work with the help of the Cardinal of Carpi and
Michelagnolo, that the half of that Hall was given to him to paint,
and the other half, as we have related, to Salviati, although
Danielle did his utmost to obtain the whole, in order to proceed
with it at his leisure and convenience, without competition. But in
the end the matter of that work was handled in such a manner, that
Daniello did not do there one thing more than what he had done
before, and Salviati did not finish the little that he had begun,
and even that little was thrown to the ground for him by certain
malicious persons.
Finally, after four years, Daniello was ready, so far as
concerned him, to cast the above-mentioned horse, but he was obliged
to wait many months more than he would otherwise have done, for want
of the supplies of iron instruments, metal, and other materials that
Signor Ruberto was to give him. But in the end, all these things
having been provided, Daniello embedded the mould, which was a vast
mass, between two furnaces for founding in a very suitable room that
he had at Monte Cavallo. The material being melted and the orifices
unstopped, for a time the metal ran well enough, but at length the
weight of fhe metal burst the mould of the body of the horse, and
all the molten material flowed in a wrong direction. At first this
much troubled the mind of Daniello, but none the less, having
thought well over everything, he found a way to remedy that great
misfortune; and so after two months, casting it a second time, his
ability prevailed over the impediments of Fortune, so that he
executed the casting of that horse (which is a sixth, or more,
larger than that of Antoninus which is on the Campidoglio) perfectly
uniform and equally delicate throughout, and it is a marvellous
thing that a work so large should not weigh more than twenty
thousand (libbre).
But such were the discomforts and fatigues that were endured in
the work by Daniello, who was rather feeble in constitution and
melancholy than otherwise, that not long afterwards there came upon
him a cruel catarrh, which much reduced him ; indeed, whereas
Daniello should have been happy at having surmounted innumerable
difficulties in so rare a casting, it seemed that he never smiled
again, no matter what good fortune might befall him, and no long
time passed before that catarrh, after an illness of two days,
robbed him of his life, on the 4th of April, 1566. But before that,
having foreseen his death, he confessed very devoutly, and demanded
all the Sacraments of the Church; and then, making his will, he
directed that his body should be buried in the new church that had
been begun at the Baths by Pius IV for the Carthusian Monks,
ordaining also that at his tomb, in that place, there should be set
up the statue of the Angel that he had formerly begun for the great
portal of the Castle. And of all this he gave the charge to the
Florentine Michele degli Alberti and to Feliciano of San Vito in the
district of Rome, making them executors of his will in those
matters, and leaving them two hundred crowns for the purpose. Which
last wishes of Daniello' s the two of them executed with diligence
and love, giving him honourable burial in that place, according as
he had directed. To the same men he left all his property pertaining
to art, moulds in gesso, models, designs, and all the other
materials and implements of his work; wherefore they offered
themselves to the Ambassador of France, saying that they would
deliver completely finished, within a fixed time, the work of the
horse and the figure of the King that was to go upon it. And, in
truth, both of them having practised many years under the
instruction and discipline of Daniello, the greatest things may be
expected from them.
Disciples of Daniello, likewise, have been Biagio da Carigliano
of Pistoia, and Giovan Paolo Rossetti of Volterra, who is a very
diligent person and of most beautiful genius; which Giovan Paolo,
having retired to Volterra many years ago, has executed, as he still
does, works worthy of much praise. Another who also worked with
Daniello, and made much proficience, was Marco da Siena, who, having
made his way to Naples and chosen that city as his home, lives there
and is constantly at work. And Giulio Mazzoni of Piacenza has
likewise been a disciple of Daniello; which Giulio received his
first instruction from Vasari, when Giorgio was executing in
Florence an altarpiece for M. Biagio Mei, which was sent to Lucca
and placed in S. Piero Cigoli, and when the same Giorgio was
painting the altarpiece of the high altar and a great work in the
refectory of Monte Oliveto at Naples, besides the Sacristy of S.
Giovanni Carbonaro and the doors of the organ in the Piscopio, with
other altarpieces and pictures. Giulio, having afterwards learned
from Daniello to work in stucco, in which he equalled his master,
has adorned with his own hand all the interior of the Palace of
Cardinal Capodiferro, executing there marvellous works not only in
stucco, but also of scenes in fresco and in oils, which have won him
infinite praise, and that rightly. The same master has made a head
of Francesco del Nero in marble, copying it so well from the life,
that I do not believe that it is possible to do better ; wherefore
it may be hoped that he is destined to achieve a very fine result,
and to attain to the greatest excellence and perfection that a man
can reach in these our arts.
Danielle was an orderly and excellent man, but so intent on the
studies of art, that he gave little thought to the other
circumstances of his life. He was a melancholy person, and very
solitary; and he died at about the age of fifty-seven. A request for
his portrait was made to those disciples of his, who had taken it in
gesso, and when I was in Rome last year they promised it to me; but,
for all the messages and letters that I have sent to them, they have
refused to give it, thus showing little affection for their dead
master. However, I have been unwilling to be hindered by that
ingratitude on their part, seeing that Daniello was my friend, and I
have included the portrait given above, which, although it is little
like him, must serve as a proof of my diligence and of the little
care and lovingness of Michele degli Alberti and Feliciano da San
Vito.
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TADDEO ZUCCHERO (1529-1566)
PAINTER OF SANT' AGNOLO IN VADO
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
FRANCESCO MARIA being Duke of Urbino, there was born in the
township of Sant' Agnolo in Vado, a place in that State, on the ist
of September in the year 1529, to the painter Ottaviano Zucchero, a
male child to whom he gave the name of Taddeo; which boy having
learned by the age of ten to read and write passing well, his father
took him under his own discipline and taught him something of
design. But, perceiving that his son had a very beautiful genius and
was likely to become a better master in painting than he believed
himself to be, Ottaviano placed him with* Pompeo da Fano, who was
very much his friend, but a commonplace painter. Pompeo' s works not
pleasing Taddeo, and likewise his w r ays, he returned to Sant'
Agnolo, and there, as well as in other places, assisted his father
to the best of his power and knowledge. Finally, being well grown in
years and in judgment, and perceiving that he could not make much
progress under the discipline of his father, who was burdened with
seven sons and one daughter, and also that with his own little
knowledge he could not be of as much assistance to his father as he
might wish, he went off all alone, at the age of fourteen, to Rome.
There, at first, not being known by anyone, and himself knowing
no one, he suffered some hardships; and, if he did know one or two
persons, he was treated worse by them than by the others. Thus,
having approached Francesco, called Sant' Agnolo, who was working by
the day at grotesques under Perino del Vaga, he commended himself to
him with all humility, praying him that, being his kinsman, he
should consent to help him; but no good came of it, for Francesco,
as certain kinds of kinsmen often do, not only did not assist him by
word or deed, but reproved and repelled him harshly. But for all
that, not losing heart and not being dismayed, the poor boy
contrived to maintain himself (or we should rather say, to starve
himself) for many months in Rome by grinding colors for a small
price, now in one shop and now in another, at times also drawing
something, as best he could. And although in the end he placed
himself as an assistant with one Giovan Piero Calavrese, he did not
gain much profit from that, for the reason that his master, together
with his wife, a shrew of a woman, not only made him grind colors
all day and all night, but even, among other things, kept him in
want of bread, which, lest he should be able to have enough or to
take it at his pleasure, they used to keep in a basket hung from the
ceiling, with some little bells, which would ring at the least touch
of a hand on the basket, and thus give the alarm. But this would
have caused little annoyance to Taddeo, if only he had had any
opportunity of drawing some designs by the hand of Raffaello da
Urbino that his pig of a master possessed.
On account of these and many other strange ways Taddeo left
Giovan Piero, and resolved to live by himself and to have recourse
to the workshops of Rome, where he was by that time known, spending
a part of the week in doing work for a livelihood, and the rest in
drawing, particularly the works by the hand of Raffaello that were
in the house of Agostino Chigi and in other places in Rome. And
since very often, when the evening came on, he had no place wherein
to sleep, many a night he took refuge under the loggie of the
above-named Chigi's house and in other suchlike places; which
hardships did something to ruin his constitution, and, if his youth
had not helped him, they would have killed him altogether. As it
was, falling ill, and not being assisted by his kinsman Francesco
Sant' Agnolo any more than he had been before, he returned to his
father's house at Sant' Agnolo, in order not to finish his life in
such misery as that in which he had been living.
However, not to waste any more time on matters that are not of
the first importance, now that I have shown at sufficient length
with what difficulties and hardships he made his proficience, let me
relate that Taddeo, at length restored to health and once more in
Rome, resumed his usual studies, but with more care of himself than
he had taken in the past, and learned so much under a certain
Jacopone, that he came into some credit. Wherefore the
above-mentioned Francesco, his kinsman, who had behaved so cruelly
toward him, perceiving that he had become an able master, and
wishing to make use of him, became reconciled with him; and they
began to work together, Taddeo, who was of a kindly nature, having
forgotten all his wrongs. And so, Taddeo making the designs, and
both together executing many friezes in fresco in chambers and
loggie, they went on assisting one another.
Meanwhile the painter Daniello da Parma, who had formerly been
many years with Antonio da Correggio [Correggio], and had associated
with Francesco Mazzuoli of Parma [Parmigianino], having undertaken
to paint a church in fresco for the Office of Works of S. Maria at
Vitto,* [* Alvito.] beyond Sora, on the borders of the Abruzzi,
called Taddeo to his assistance and took him to Vitto. In which
work, although Daniello was not the best painter in the world,
nevertheless, on account of his age, and from his having seen the
methods of Correggio and Parmigiano, and with what softness they
executed their paintings, he had such experience that, imparting it
to* Taddeo and teaching him, he was of the greatest assistance to
him with his words; no less, indeed, than another might have been by
working before him. In that work, which was on a groined vaulting,
Taddeo painted the four Evangelists, two Sibyls, two Prophets, and
four not very large stories of Jesus Christ and of the Virgin His
Mother.
He then returned to Rome, where, M. Jacopo Mattei, a Roman
gentleman, discoursing with Francesco Sant' Agnolo of his desire to
have the f agade of his house painted in chiaroscuro, Francesco
proposed Taddeo to him; but he appeared to that gentleman to be too
young, wherefore Francesco said to him that he should make trial of
Taddeo in two scenes, which, if they were not successful, could be
thrown to the ground, and, if successful, could be continued. Taddeo
having then set his hand to the work, the two first scenes proved to
be such, that M. Jacopo was not only satisfied with them, but
astonished. In the year 1548, therefore, when Taddeo had finished
that work, he was vastly extolled by all Rome, and that with good
reason, because after Polidoro, Maturino, Vincenzio da San
Gimignano, and Baldassarre da Siena, no one had attained in works of
that kind to the standard that Taddeo had reached, who was then a
young man only eighteen years of age. The stories of the work may be
understood from these inscriptions, of the deeds of Furius Camillus,
one of which is below each scene.
The first, then, runs thus:
TUSCULANI, PACE CONSTANTI, VIM ROMANAM ARGENT.
The second
M.F.C. SIGNIFERUM SECUM IN HOSTEM RAPIT.
The third
M.F.C. AUCTORE, INCENSA URBS RESTITUITUR.
The fourth
M.F.C. PACTIONIBUS TURBATIS PRAELIUM GALLIS NUNCIAT.
The fifth-
M.F.C. PRODITOREM VINCTUM FALERIO REDUCENDUM TRADIT.
The sixth
MATRONALIS AURI COLLATIONE VOTUM APOLLINI SOLVITUR.
The seventh
M.F.C. JUNONI REGIN^E TEMPLUM IN AVENTINO DEDICAT.
The eighth
SIGNUM JUNONIS REGIN.E A VEIIS ROMAM TRANSFERTUR.
The ninth
M.F.C. . . . ANLIUS DICT. DECEM . . . SOCIOS CAPIT.
From that time until the year 1550, when Julius III was elected
Pope, Taddeo occupied himself with works of no great importance, yet
with considerable profits. In which year of 1550, the year of the
Jubilee, Ottaviano, the father of Taddeo, with his mother and
another of their sons, went to Rome to take part in that most holy
Jubilee, and partly, also, to see their son. After they had been
there some weeks with Taddeo, on departing they left with him the
boy that they had brought with them, who was called Federigo, to the
end that he might cause him to study letters. But Taddeo judged him
to be more fitted for painting, as indeed Federigo has since been
seen to be from the excellent result that he has achieved; and so,
after he had learned his first letters, Taddeo began to make him
give his attention to design, with better fortune and support than
he himself had enjoyed. Meanwhile Taddeo painted in the Church of S.
Ambrogio de' Milanesi, on the wall of the high altar, four stories
of the life of that Saint, colored in fresco and not very large,
with a frieze of little boys, and women after the manner of terminal
figures; which was a work of no little beauty. That finished, he
painted a facade full of stories of Alexander the Great, beside S.
Lucia della Tinta, near the Orso, beginning from his birth and
continuing with five stories of the most noteworthy actions of that
famous man; which work won him much praise, although it had to bear
comparison with another facade near it by the hand of Polidoro.
About that time Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, having heard the fame
of the young man, who was his vassal, and desiring to give
completion to the walls of the chapel in the Duomo of Urbino,
wherein Battista Franco, as has been related, had painted the
vaulting in fresco, caused Taddeo to be summoned to Urbino. And he,
leaving Federigo in Rome, under the care of persons who might make
him give his attention to his studies, and likewise another of his
brothers, whom he placed with some friends to learn the goldsmith's
art, went off to Urbino, where many attentions were paid him by that
Duke ; and then orders were given to him as to all that he was to
design in the matter of the chapel and other works. But in the
meantime the Duke, as General to the Signori of Venice, had to visit
Verona and the other fortified places of that dominion, and he took
with him Taddeo, who copied for him the picture by the hand of
Raffaello da Urbino which, as has been related in another place, is
in the house of the noble Counts of Canossa. And he afterwards
began, also for his Excellency, a large canvas with the Conversion
of S. Paul, which, unfinished as he left it, is still in the
possession of his father Ottaviano at Sant' Agnolo.
Then, having returned to Urbino, he occupied himself for a time
with continuing the designs for the above-mentioned chapel, which
were of the life of Our Lady, as may be seen from some of them that
are in the possession of his brother Federigo, drawn in chiaroscuro
with the pen. But, whether it was that the Duke had not made up his
mind or con- sidered Taddeo to be too young, or for some other
reason, Taddeo remained with him two years without doing anything
but some pictures in a little study at Pesaro, a large coat of arms
in fresco on the fagade of the Palace, and a picture with a lifesize
portrait of the Duke, which were all beautiful works. Finally the
Duke, having to depart for Rome to receive from Pope Julius III his
baton as General of Holy Church, left directions that Taddeo was to
proceed with the above-named chapel, and that he was to be provided
with all that he required for that purpose. But the Duke's
ministers, keeping him, as such men generally do, in want of
everything, brought it about that Taddeo, after having lost two
years of his time, had to go off to Rome, where, having found the
Duke, he excused himself adroitly, without blaming anyone, and
promised that he would not fail to do the work when the time came.
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TADDEO ZUCCHERO
PAINTER OF SANT' AGNOLO IN VADO
Part 2
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
In the year 1551, Stefano Veltroni, of Monte Sansovino having
received orders from the Pope and from Vasari to have adorned with
grotesques the apartments of the villa on the hill without the Porta
del Popolo, which had belonged to Cardinal Poggio summoned Taddeo,
and caused him to paint in the central picture a figure of
Opportunity, who, having seized Fortune by the locks, appears to be
about to cut them with her shears (the device of that Pope) ; in
which Taddeo acquitted himself very well. Then, Vasari having made
before any of the others the designs for the court and the fountain
at the foot of the new Palace, which were afterwards carried on by
Vignuola and Ammanati and built by Baronino, Prospero Fontana, in
painting many pictures there, as will be related hereafter, availed
himself not a little of Taddeo in many things. And these were the
cause of even greater benefits for him, for the Pope, liking his
method of working, commissioned him to paint in some apartments,
above the corridor of the Belvedere, some little figures in colour
that served as friezes for those apartments; and in an open loggia,
behind those that faced towards Rome, he painted in chiaroscuro on
the wall, with figures as large as life, all the Labours of
Hercules, which were destroyed in the time of Pope Paul IV, when
other apartments and a chapel were built there. At the Vigna of Pope
Julius, in the first apartments of the Palace, he executed some
scenes in colour, and in particular one of Mount Parnassus, in the
centre of the ceilings, and in the court of the same he painted in
chiaroscuro two scenes of the history of the Sabines, which are one
on either side of the principal door of variegated marble that leads
into the loggia, whence one descends to the fountain of the Acqua
Vergine; all which works were much commended and extolled.
Now Federigo, while Taddeo was in Rome with the Duke, had
returned to Urbino, and he had lived there and at Pesaro ever since;
but Taddeo, after the works described above, caused him to return to
Rome, in order to make use of him in executing a great frieze in a
hall, with others in other rooms, of the house of the Giambeccari on
the Piazza di S. Apostolo, and in other friezes that he painted in
the house of M. Antonio Portatore at the Obelisk of S. Mauro, all
full of figures and other things, which were held to be very
beautiful. Maestro Mattivolo, the Master of the Post, bought in the
time of Pope Julius a site on the Campo Marzio, and built there a
large and very commodious house, and then commissioned Taddeo to
paint the facade in chiaroscuro; which Taddeo executed there three
stories of Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, which were very
beautiful, and the rest he caused to be painted by others after
designs by his own hand. Meanwhile M. Jacopo Mattei, having caused a
chapel to be built in the Church of the Consolazione below the
Campidoglio, allotted it to Taddeo to paint, knowing already how
able he was; and he willingly undertook to do it, and for a small
price, in order to show to certain persons, who went about saying
that he could do nothing save facades and other works in
chiaroscuro, that he could also paint in color.
Having then set his hand to that work, Taddeo would only touch it
when he was in the mood and vein to do well, spending the rest of
his time on works that did not weigh upon him so much in the matter
of honor; and so he executed it at his leisure in four years. On the
vaulting he painted in fresco four scenes of the Passion of Christ,
of no great size, with most beautiful fantasies, and all so well
executed in invention, design, and coloring, that he surpassed his
own self; which scenes are the Last Supper with the Apostles, the
Washing of Feet, the Prayer in the Garden, and Christ taken and
kissed by Judas. On one of the walls at the sides he painted in
figures large as life Christ Scourged at the Column, and on the
other Pilate showing Him after the scourging to the Jews, saying
"Ecce Homo"; above this last, in an arch, is the same Pilate washing
his hands, and in the other arch, opposite to that, Christ led
before Annas. On the altar wall he painted the same Christ
Crucified, and the Maries at the foot of the Cross, with Our Lady in
a swoon; on either side of her is a Prophet, and in the arch above
the ornament of stucco he painted two Sibyls; which four figures are
discoursing of the Passion of Christ. And on the vaulting, about
certain ornaments in stucco, are four half-length figures
representing the Four Evangelists, which are very beautiful. The
whole work, which was uncovered in the year 1556, when Taddeo was
not more than twenty-six years of age, was held, as it still is, to
be extraordinary, and he was judged by the craftsmen at that time to
be an excellent painter.
That work finished, M. Mario Frangipane allotted to him his
chapel in the Church of S. Marcello, in which Taddeo made use, as he
also did in many other works, of the young foreigners who are always
to be found ' in Rome, and who go about working by the day in order
to learn and to gain their bread; but none the less for the time
being he did not finish it completely. The same master painted in
fresco in the Pope's Palace in the time of Paul IV, some rooms where
Cardinal Caraffa lived, in the great tower above the Guard of
Halberdiers; and two little pictures in oils of the Nativity of
Christ and the Virgin flying with Joseph into Egypt, which were sent
to Portugal by the Ambassador of that Kingdom. The Cardinal of
Mantua, wishing to have painted with the greatest possible rapidity
the whole interior of his Palace beside the Arco di Portogallo,
allotted that work to Taddeo for a proper price; and Taddeo,
beginning it with the help of a good number of men, in a short time
carried it to completion, showing that he had very great judgment in
being able to employ so many different brains harmoniously in so
great a work, and in managing the various manners in such a way,
that the work appears as if all by the same hand. In short, Taddeo
satisfied in that undertaking, with great profit to himself, the
Cardinal and all who saw it, disappointing the expectations of those
who could not believe that he was likely to succeed amid the
perplexities of such a great work.
In like manner, he painted some scenes with figures in fresco for
M. Alessandro Mattei in some recesses in the apartments of his
Palace near the Botteghe Scure, and some others he caused to be
executed by his brother Federigo, to the end that he might become
accustomed to the work. Which Federigo, having taken courage,
afterwards executed by himself a Mount Parnassus in the recess of a
ceiling in the house of a Roman gentleman called Stefano Margani,
below the steps of the Araceli. Whereupon Taddeo, seeing Federigo
confident and working by himself from his own designs, without being
assisted more than was reasonable by anyone, contrived to have a
chapel allotted to him by the men of S. Maria dell' Orto a Ripa,
making it almost appear that he intended to do it himself, for the
reason that it would never have been given to Federigo alone, who
was still a mere lad. Taddeo, then, in order to satisfy these men,
painted there the Nativity of Christ, and Federigo afterwards
executed all the rest, acquitting himself in such a manner that
there could be seen the beginning of that excellence which is now
made manifest in him.
In those same times the Duke of Guise, who was then in Rome,
desiring to take an able and practised painter to paint his Palace
in France, Taddeo was proposed to him; whereupon, having seen some
of his works, and liking his manner, he agreed to give him a salary
of six hundred crowns a year, on condition that Taddeo, after
finishing the work that he had in hand, should go to France to serve
him. And so Taddeo would have done, the money for his preparations
having been deposited in a bank, if it had not been for the wars
that broke out in France at that time, and shortly afterwards the
death of that Duke. Taddeo then went back to finish the work for
Frangipane in S. Marcello, but he was not able to work for long
without being interrupted, for, the Emperor Charles V having died,
preparations were made for giving him most honorable obsequies in
Rome, fit for an Emperor of the Romans, and to Taddeo were allotted
many scenes from the life of that Emperor, and also many trophies
and other ornaments, which were made by him of pasteboard in a very
sumptuous and magnificent manner; and he finished the whole in
twenty-five days. For his labors, therefore, and those of Federigo
and others who had assisted him, six hundred crowns of gold were
paid to him.
Shortly afterwards he painted two great chambers at Bracciano for
Signer Paolo Giordano Orsini, which were very beautiful and richly
adorned with stucco-work and gold; in one the stories of Cupid and
Psyche, and in the second, which had been begun previously by
others, some stories of Alexander the Great; and others that
remained for him to paint, continuing the history of the same
Alexander, he caused to be executed by his brother Federigo, who
acquitted himself very well. And then he painted in fresco for M.
Stefano del Bufalo, in his garden near the fountain of Trevi, the
Muses around the Castalian Fount and Mount Parnassus, which was held
to be a beautiful work.
The Wardens of Works of the Madonna of Orvieto, as has been
related in the Life of Simone Mosca, had caused some chapels with
ornaments of marble and stucco to be built in the aisles of their
church, and had also had some altarpieces executed by Girolamo
Mosciano of Brescia; and, having heard the fame of Taddeo by means
of friends, they sent a summons to him, and he went to Orvieto,
taking with him Federigo. There, settling to work, he executed two
great figures on the wall of one of those chapels, one representing
the Active Life, and the other the Contemplative, which were
despatched with a very sure facility of hand, in the manner wherein
he executed works to which he gave little study ; and while Taddeo
was painting those figures, Federigo painted three little stories of
S. Paul in the recess of the same chapel. At the end of which, both
having fallen ill, they went away, promising to return in September.
Taddeo returned to Rome, and Federigo to Sant' Agnolo with a slight
fever; which having passed, at the end of two months he also
returned to Rome. There, Holy Week being close at hand, the two
together set to work in the Florentine Company of S. Agata, which is
behind the Banchi, and painted in four days on the vaulting and the
recess of that oratory, for a rich festival that was prepared for
Holy Thursday and Good Friday, scenes in chiaroscuro of the whole
Passion of Christ, with some Prophets and other pictures, which
caused all who saw them to marvel.
After that, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, having brought very near
completion his Palace of Caprarola, with Vignuola as architect, of
whom there will be an account in a short time, gave the charge of
painting it all to Taddeo, on these conditions: that, since Taddeo
did not wish to abandon his other works in Rome, he should be
obliged to make all the cartoons, designs, divisions, and
arrangements for the works in painting and in stucco that were to be
executed in that place ; that the men who were to carry them into
execution should be chosen by Taddeo, but paid by the Cardinal ; and
that Taddeo should be obliged to work there him- self for two or
three months in the year, and to go there as many times as it might
be necessary to see how things were progressing, and to retouch all
that was not to his satisfaction. And for all these labours the
Cardinal promised him a salary of two hundred crowns a year.
Whereupon Taddeo, having so honourable an appointment and the
support of so great a lord, determined that he would give himself
some peace of mind, and would no longer accept any mean work in
Rome, as he had done up to that time ; desiring, above all, to avoid
the censure that many men of art laid upon him, saying that from a
certain grasping avarice he would accept any kind of work, in order
to gain with the arms of others that which would have been to many
of them an honest means to enable them to study, as he himself had
done in his early youth. Against which reproaches Taddeo used to
defend himself by saying that he did it on account of Federigo and
the other brothers that he had on his shoulders, desiring that they
should learn with his assistance.
Having thus resolved to serve Farnese and also to finish the
chapel in S. Marcello, he obtained for Federigo from M. Tizio da
Spoleti, the master of the household to the above-named Cardinal,
the commission to paint the facade of a house that he had on the
Piazza della Dogana, near S. Eustachio; which was very welcome to
Federigo, for he had never desired anything so much as to have some
work altogether for himself.
On one part of the facade, therefore, he painted in colors the
scene of S. Eustachio causing himself to be baptized with his wife
and children, which was a very good work; and on the center of the
facade he painted the same Saint, when, while hunting, he sees Jesus
Christ on the Cross between the horns of a stag. Now since Federigo,
when he executed that work, was not more than twenty-eight* [* An
error of the copyist or printer for eighteen.] years of age, Taddeo,
who reflected that the work was in a public place, and that it was
of great importance to the credit of Federigo, not only went
sometimes to see him at his painting, but also at times insisted on
retouching and improving some part. Wherefore Federigo, after having
had patience for a time, finally, carried away on one occasion by
the anger natural in one who would have preferred to work by
himself, seized a mason's hammer and dashed to the ground something
(I know not what) that Taddeo had painted; and in his rage he stayed
some days without going back to the house. Which being heard by the
friends of both the one and the other of them, they so went to work
that the two were reconciled, on the under- standing that Taddeo
should be able to set his hand on the designs and cartoons of
Federigo and correct them at his pleasure, but never the works that
he might execute in fresco, in oils, or in any other medium.
Federigo having then finished the work of that house, it was
universally extolled, and won him the name of an able painter. After
that, Taddeo was ordered to repaint in the Sala de' Palafrenieri
those Apostles which Raffaello had formerly executed there in
terretta, and which had been thrown to the ground by Paul IV; and
he, having painted one, caused all the others to be executed by his
brother Federigo, who acquitted himself very well. Next, they
painted together a frieze in fresco-colours in one of the halls of
the Palace of the Araceli. Then, a proposal being discussed, about
the same time that they were working at the Araceli, to give to
Signor Federigo Borromeo as a wife the Lady Donna Virginia, the
daughter of Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino, Taddeo was sent to take her
portrait, which he did excellently well; and before he departed from
Urbino he made all the designs for a credence, which that Duke
afterwards caused to be made in clay at Castel Durante, for sending
to King Philip of Spain. Having returned to Rome, Taddeo presented
to the Pope that portrait, which pleased him well enough; but such
was the discourtesy of that Pontiff, or of his ministers, that the
poor painter was not recompensed even for his expenses.
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TADDEO ZUCCHERO
PAINTER OF SANT' AGNOLO IN VADO
Part 3
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
In the year 1560 the Pope expected in Rome the Lord Duke Cosimo
and the Lady Duchess Leonora, his consort, and proposed to lodge
their Excellencies in the apartments formerly built by Innocent
VIII, which look out upon the first court of the Palace and that of
S. Pietro, and have in front of them loggie that look out on the
piazza where the Benediction is given; and Taddeo received the
charge of painting the pictures and some friezes that were to be
executed there, and of over- laying with gold the new ceilings that
had been made in place of the old ones, which had been consumed by
time. In that work, which was certainly a great and important
undertaking, Federigo, to whom his brother Taddeo gave the charge of
almost the whole, acquitted himself very well; but he incurred a
great danger, for, as he was painting grotesques in those loggie, he
fell from a staging that rested on the main part of the scaffolding,
and was near coming to an evil end.
No long time passed before Cardinal Emulio, to whom the Pope had
given the charge of the matter, commissioned many young men, to the
end that the work might be finished quickly, to paint the little
palace that is in the wood of the Belvedere, which was begun in the
time of Pope Paul IV with a most beautiful fountain and many ancient
statues as ornaments, after an architectural design by Pirro
Ligorio. The young men who worked (with great credit to themselves)
in that place, were Federigo Barocci of Urbino, a youth of great
promise, and Leonardo Cungi and Durante del Nero, both of Borgo San
Sepolcro, who executed the apartments of the first floor. At the
head of the staircase, which was made in a spiral shape, the first
room was painted by Santi Titi, a painter of Florence, who acquitted
himself very well; the larger room, which is beside the first, was
painted by the above-named Federigo Zucchero, the brother of Taddeo;
and the Sclavonian Giovanni dal Carso, a passing good master of
grotesques, executed another room beyond it.
But, although each of the men named above acquitted himself very
well, nevertheless Federigo surpassed all the others in some stories
of Christ that he painted there, such as the Transfiguration, the
Marriage of Cana in Galilee, and the Centurion kneeling before
Christ. And of two that were still wanting, one was painted by
Orazio Sammacchini, a Bolognese painter, and the other by a certain
Lorenzo Costa of Mantua. The same Federigo Zucchero painted in that
place the little loggia that looks out over the fishpond. And then
he painted a frieze in the principal hall of the Belvedere (to which
one ascends by the spiral staircase), with stories of Moses and
Pharaoh, beautiful to a marvel; the design for which work, drawn and
coloured with his own hand in a most beautiful drawing, Federigo
himself gave not long since to the Reverend Don Vincenzio Borghini,
who holds it very dear as a drawing by the hand of an excellent
painter. In the same place, also, Federigo painted the Angel slaying
the first-born in Egypt, availing himself, in order to finish it the
quicker, of the help of many of his young men. But when those works
came to be valued by certain persons, the labours of Federigo and
the others were not rewarded as they should have been, because there
are among our craftsmen in Rome, as well as in Florence and
everywhere else, some most malignant spirits who, blinded by
prejudice and envy, are not able or not willing to recognize the
merits of the works of others and the deficiency of their own; and
such persons are very often the reason that the young men of fine
genius, becoming dismayed, grow cold in their studies and their
work. After these works, Federigo painted in the Office of the
Ruota, about an escutcheon of Pope Pius IV, two figures larger than
life, Justice and Equity, which were much extolled; thus giving time
to Taddeo, meanwhile, to attend to the work of Caprarola and the
chapel in S. Marcello.
In the meantime his Holiness, wishing at all costs to finish the
Hall of Kings, after the many contentions that had taken place
between Daniello and Salviati, as has been related, gave orders to
the Bishop of Forll as to all that he wished him to do in the
matter. Wherefore the Bishop wrote to Vasari (on the 3rd of
September in the year 1561), that the Pope, wishing to finish the
work of the Hall of Kings, had given him the charge of finding men
who might once and for all take it off his hands, and that
therefore, moved by their ancient friendship and by other reasons,
he besought Giorgio to consent to go to Rome in order to execute
that work, with the good pleasure and leave of his master the Duke,
for the reason that, while giving satisfaction to his Holiness, he
would win much honour and profit for himself; praying him to answer
as soon as possible. Replying to which letter, Vasari said that,
finding himself very well placed in the service of the Duke, and
remunerated for his labours with rewards different from those that
he had received from other Pontiffs in Rome, he intended to remain
in the service of his Excellency, for whom he was at that very time
to set his hand to a hall much greater than the Hall of Kings; and
that there was no want in Rome of men who might be employed in that
work. The above-named Bishop having received that answer from
Vasari, and having conferred with his Holiness of the whole matter,
Cardinal Emulio, immediately after receiving from the Pontiff the
charge of having that Hall finished, divided the work, as has been
related, among many young men, some of whom were already in Rome,
and others were summoned from other places. To Giuseppe Porta of
Castelnuovo della Garfagnana, a disciple of Salviati, were given two
of the largest scenes in the Hall; to Girolamo Siciolante of
Sermoneta, one of the large scenes and one of the small; to Orazio
Sammacchini of Bologna one of the small scenes, to Livio da Forli a
similar one, and to Giovan Battista Fiorini of Bologna yet another
of the small scenes.
Which hearing, Taddeo perceived that he had been excluded because
it had been said to the above-named Cardinal Emulio that he was a
person who gave more attention to gain than to glory and working
well; and he did his utmost with Cardinal Farnese to obtain a part
of that work. But the Cardinal, not wishing to move in the matter,
answered him that his Tabours at Caprarola should content him, and
that it did not seem to him right that his own works should be
neglected by reason of the rivalry and emulation between the
craftsmen; adding also that, when a master does well, it is the
works that give a name to the place, and not the place to the works.
Notwithstanding this, Taddeo so went to work by other means with
Emulio, that finally he was commissioned to execute one of the
smaller scenes over a door, not being able, either by prayers or by
any other means, to obtain the commission for one of the large
scenes; and, in truth, it is said that Emulio was acting with
caution in the matter, for the reason that, hoping that Giuseppe
Salviati would surpass all the others, he was minded to give him the
rest, and perchance to throw to the ground all that might have been
done by the others. Now, after all the men named above had carried
their works well forward, the Pope desired to see them all; and so,
everything being uncovered, he recognized (and all the Cardinals and
the best craftsmen were of the same opinion) that Taddeo had
acquitted himself better than any of the others, although all had
done passing well. His Holiness, therefore, commanded Signor Agabrio
that he should cause Cardinal Emulio to commission him to execute
one of the larger scenes; whereupon the headwall was allotted to
him, wherein is the door of the Pauline Chapel. And there he made a
beginning with the work, but he did not carry it any farther, for,
the death of the Pope supervening, everything was uncovered for the
holding of the Conclave, although many of those scenes had not been
finished. Of the scene that Taddeo began in that place, we have the
design by his hand, sent to us by him, in the book of drawings that
we have so often mentioned.
Taddeo painted at the same time, besides some other little
things, a picture with a very beautiful Christ, which was to be sent
to Caprarola for Cardinal Farnese ; which work is now in the
possession of his brother Federigo, who says that he desires it for
himself as long as he lives. The picture receives its light from
some weeping Angels, who are holding torches. But since the works
that Taddeo executed at Caprarola will be described at some length
in a little time, in discoursing of Vignuola, who built that fabric,
for the present I shall say nothing more of them.
Federigo was meanwhile summoned to Venice, and made an agree-
ment with the Patriarch Grimani to finish for him the chapel in S.
Francesco della Vigna, which had remained incomplete, as has been
related, on account of the death of the Venetian Battista Franco.
But, before he began that chapel, he adorned for that Patriarch the
staircase of his Palace in Venice, with little figures placed with
much grace in certain ornaments of stucco ; and then he executed in
fresco, in the above- named chapel, the two stories of Lazarus and
the Conversion of the Magdalene, the design of which, by the hand of
Federigo, is in our book. Afterwards, in the altarpiece of the same
chapel, Federigo painted the story of the Magi in oils. And then he
painted some pictures in a loggia, which are much extolled, at the
villa of M. Giovan Battista Pellegrini, between Chioggia and
Monselice, where Andrea Schiavone and the Flemings, Lamberto and
Gualtieri, have executed many works.
After the departure of Federigo, Taddeo continued to work in
fresco all that summer in the chapel of S. Marcello ; and for that
chapel, finally, he painted in the altarpiece the Conversion of S.
Paul. In that picture may be seen, executed in a beautiful manner,
the Saint fallen from his horse and all dazed by the splendor and
voice of Jesus Christ, whom he depicted amid a Glory of Angels, in
the act, so it appears, of saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
Me?" His followers, who are about him, are likewise struck with awe,
and stand as if bereft of their senses. On the vaulting, within
certain ornaments of stucco, he painted in fresco three stories of
the same Saint. In one he is being taken as a prisoner to Rome, and
disembarks on the Island of Malta; and there may be seen how, on the
kindling of the fire, a viper strikes at his hand to bite it, while
some mariners, almost naked, stand in various attitudes about the
barque; in another is the scene when a young man, having fallen from
a window, is brought to S. Paul, who by the power of God restores
him to life; and in the third is the Beheading and Death of the
Saint. On the walls below are two large scenes, likewise in fresco;
in one is S. Paul healing a man crippled in the legs, and in the
other a disputation, wherein he causes a magician to be struck with
blindness; and both the one and the other are truly most beautiful.
But that work having been left incomplete by reason of his death,
Federigo has finished it this year, and it has been thrown open to
view with great credit to him. At this same time Federigo executed
some pictures in oils, which were sent to France by the Ambassador
of that kingdom.
The little hall in the Farnese Palace having remained unfinished
on account of the death of Salviati (wanting two scenes, namely, at
the entrance, opposite to the great window), Cardinal Sant' Agnolo,
of the Farnese family, gave them to Taddeo to execute, and he
carried them to completion very well. But nevertheless he did not
surpass or even equal Francesco in the works executed by him in the
same apartment, as certain envious and malignant spirits went about
saying throughout Rome, in order to diminish the glory of Salviati
by their foul calumnies ; and although Taddeo used to defend himself
by saying that he had caused the whole to be executed by his
assistants, and that there was nothing in that work by his hand save
the design and a few other things, such excuses were not accepted,
for the reason that a man who wishes to surpass another in any
competition, must not entrust the credit of his art to the keeping
of feeble persons, for that is clearly the way to perdition. Thus
Cardinal Sant' Agnolo, a man of truly supreme judgment in all
things, and of surpassing goodness, recognized how much he had lost
by the death of Salviati; for, although he was proud and even
arrogant, and ill-tempered, in matters of painting he was truly most
excellent. However, since the best craftsmen had disappeared from
Rome, that lord, for want of others, resolved to entrust the
painting of the Great Hall in that Palace to Taddeo, who accepted it
willingly, in the hope of being able to prove by means of every
effort how great were his ability and knowledge.
The Florentine Lorenzo Pucci, Cardinal Santiquattro, had formerly
caused a chapel to be built in the Trinita, and all the vaulting to
be painted by Perino del Vaga, with certain Prophets on the outer
side, and two little boys holding the arms of that Cardinal. But the
chapel remaining unfinished, with three walls still to be painted,
when the Cardinal died, those fathers, without any regard for what
was just and reasonable, sold that chapel to the Archbishop of Corfu
; and it was after- wards given by that Archbishop to Taddeo to
paint. Now although, out of respect for the church and from other
reasons, it may have been well to find means of finishing the
chapel, at least they should not have allowed the arms of the
Cardinal to be removed from the part that was finished, only in
order to place there those of the above-named Archbishop, which they
could have set up in another place, instead of offering so manifest
an affront to the memory of that good Cardinal. Having thus so many
works on his hands, Taddeo was every day urging Federigo to return
from Venice. That Federigo, after having finished the chapel for the
Patriarch, was negotiating to undertake to paint the principal wall
of the Great Hall of the Council, where Antonio Viniziano had
formerly painted ; but the rivalry and the contentions that he
suffered from the Venetian painters were the reason that neither
they, with all their interest, nor he, likewise, obtained it.
Meanwhile Taddeo, having a desire to see Florence and the many
works which, so he heard, Duke Cosimo had carried out and was still
carrying out, and the beginning that his friend Giorgio Vasari was
making in the Great Hall; Taddeo, I say, pretending one day to go to
Caprarola in connection with the work that he was doing there, went
off to Florence for the Festival of S. John, in company with Tiberio
Calcagni, a young Florentine sculptor and architect. There, to say
nothing of the city, he found vast pleasure in the works of the many
excellent sculptors and painters, ancient as well as modern; and if
he had not bad so many charges and so many works on his hands, he
would gladly have stayed there some months. Thus he saw the
preparations of Vasari for the above- named Hall namely, forty-four
great pictures, of four, six, seven, or ten braccia each in which he
was executing figures for the most part of six or eight braccia,
with the assistance only of the Fleming Giovanni Strada and Jacopo
Zucchi, his disciples, and Battista Naldini, in all which he took
the greatest pleasure, and, hearing that all had been executed in
less than a year, it gave him great courage. Wherefore, having
returned to Rome, he set his hand to the above-named chapel in the
Trinita, with the resolve that he would surpass himself in the
stories of Our Lady that were to be painted there, as will be
related presently.
Now Federigo, although he was pressed to return from Venice, was
not able to refuse to stay in that city for the Carnival in company
with the architect Andrea Palladio. And Andrea, having made for the
gentlemen of the Company of the Calza a theatre in wood after the
manner of a Colosseum, in which a tragedy was to be performed,
caused Federigo to execute for the decoration of the same twelve
large scenes, each seven feet and a half square, with innumerable
other stories of the actions of Hyrcanus, King of Jerusalem, after
the subject of the tragedy; in which work Federigo gained much
honour, from its excellence and from the rapidity with which he
executed it. Next, Palladio going to Friuli to found the Palace of
Civitale, of which he had previously made the model, Federigo went
with him in order to see that country; and there he drew many things
that pleased him. Then, after having seen many things in Verona and
in many other cities of Lombardy, he finally made his way to
Florence, at the very time when festive preparations, rich and
marvellous, were being made for the coming of Queen Joanna of
Austria. Having arrived there, he executed, after the desire of the
Lord Duke, a most beautiful and fanciful Hunt in colours on a vast
canvas that covered the stage at the end of the Hall, and some
scenes in chiaroscuro for an arch ; all which gave infinite
satisfaction. From Florence he went to Sant' Agnolo, to revisit his
relatives and friends, and finally he arrived in Rome on the i6th of
the January following; but he was of little assistance to Taddeo at
that time, for the reason that the death of Pope Pius IV, followed
by that of Cardinal Sant' Agnolo, interrupted the work of the Hall
of Kings and that of the Farnese Palace. Whereupon Taddeo, who had
finished another apartment of rooms at Caprarola, and had carried
almost to completion the chapel in S. Marcello, proceeded to give
his attention to the work of the Trinita, much at his leisure, and
to execute the Passing of Our Lady, with the Apostles standing about
the bier.
In the meantime, also, Taddeo had obtained for Federigo a chapel
to be painted in fresco in the Church of the Reformed Priests of
Jesus at the Obelisk of S. Mauro; and to that Federigo straightway
set his hand. Taddeo, feigning to be angry because Federigo had
delayed too long to return, appeared to care little for his arrival;
but in truth he welcomed it greatly, as was afterwards seen from the
result. For he was much annoyed by having to provide for his house
(of which annoyance Federigo had been accustomed to relieve him),
and by the anxious care of that brother who was employed as a
goldsmith; but when Federigo came they put many inconveniences to
rights, in order to be able to attend to their work with a quiet
mind. The friends of Taddeo were seeking meanwhile to give him a
wife, but he, being one who was accustomed to living free, and
feared that which generally happens (namely, that he would bring
into his house, together with the wife, a thousand vexatious cares
and annoyances), could never make up his mind to it. Nay, attending
to his work in the Trinita, he proceeded to make the cartoon of the
principal wall, on which there was going the Ascension of Our Lady
into Heaven-- while Federigo painted a picture of S. Peter in Prison
for~the Lord Duke of Urbino; another, wherein is a Madonna in Heaven
with some Angels about her, which was to be sent to Milan; and a
third with a figure of Opportunity, which was sent to Perugia.
The Cardinal of Ferrara had kept many painters and masters in
stucco at work at the very beautiful villa that he has at Tivoli,
and finally he sent Federigo there to paint two rooms, one of which
is dedicated to Nobility, and the other to Glory; in which Federigo
acquitted himself very well, executing there beautiful and fantastic
inventions. That finished, he returned to the work of the
above-mentioned chapel in Rome, which he has carried to completion,
painting in it a choir of many Angels and various Glories, with God
the Father sending down the Holy Spirit upon the Madonna, who is
receiving the Annunciation from the Angel Gabriel, while about her
are six Prophets, larger than life and very beautiful. Taddeo,
meanwhile, continuing to paint the Assumption of the Madonna in
fresco in the Trinita, appeared to be driven by nature to do in that
work, as his last, the utmost in his power. And in truth it proved
to be his last, for, having fallen ill of a sickness which at first
appeared to be slight enough, and caused by the great heat that
there was that year, and which afterwards became very grave, he died
in the month of September in the year 1566; having first, like a
good Christian, received the Sacraments of the Church, and seen the
greater part of his friends, and leaving in his place his brother
Federigo, who was also ill at that time. And so in a short time,
Buonarroti, Salviati, Daniello, and Taddeo having been taken from
the world, our arts have suffered a very great loss, and
particularly the art of painting.
Taddeo was very bold in his work, and had a manner passing soft
and pastose, and very far removed from the hardness often seen. He
was very abundant in his compositions, and he made his heads, hands,
and nudes very beautiful, keeping them free of the many crudities
over which certain painters labour beyond all reason, in order to
make it appear that they understand anatomy and art ; to which kind
of men there often happens that which befell him who, from his
seeking to be in his speech more Athenian than the Athenians, was
recognized by a woman of the people to be no Athenian. Taddeo also
handled colours with much delicacy, and he had great facility of
manner, for he was much assisted by nature; but at times he sought
to make too much use of it. He was so desirous of having something
of his own, that he continued for a time to accept any sort of work
for the sake of gain ; but for all that he executed many, nay,
innumerable works worthy of great praise. He kept a number of
assistants in order to finish his works, for the reason that it is
not possible to do otherwise. He was sanguine, hasty, and quick to
take offence, and, in addition, much given to the pleasures of love;
but nevertheless, although he was strongly inclined by nature to
such pleasures, he contrived to conduct his affairs with a certain
degree of decency, and very secretly. He was loving with his
friends, and whenever he could help them he never spared himself.
At his death he left the work in the Trinita not yet uncovered,
and the Great Hall in the Farnese Palace unfinished, and so also the
works of Caprarola, but nevertheless these all remained in the hands
of his brother Federigo, whom the patrons of the works are content
to allow to give them completion, as he will do; and, in truth,
Federigo will be heir to the talents of Taddeo no less than to his
property. Taddeo was given burial by Federigo in the Ritonda of
Rome, near the tabernacle where Raffaello da Urbino, his
fellow-countryman, is buried; and certainly they are well placed,
one beside the other, for the reason that even as Raffaello died at
the age of thirty-seven and on the same day that he was born, which
was Good Friday, so Taddeo was born on the first day of September,
1529, and died on the second day of the same month in the year 1566.
Federigo is minded, if it should be granted to him, to restore the
other tabernacle in the Ritonda, and to make some memorial in that
place to his loving brother, to whom he knows himself to be deeply
indebted.
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TADDEO ZUCCHERO
PAINTER OF SANT' AGNOLO IN VADO
Part 4
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Now, since mention has been made above of Jacopo Barozzi of
Vignuola, saying that after his architectural designs and directions
the most illustrious Cardinal Farnese has built his rich and even
regal villa of Caprarola, let me relate that the same Jacopo Barozzi
of Vignuola, a Bolognese painter and architect, who is now
fifty-eight years of age, was placed in his childhood and youth to
learn the art of painting in Bologna, but did not make much
proficience, because he did not receive good guidance at the
beginning. And also, to tell the truth, he had by nature much more
inclination for architecture than for painting, as was clearly
manifest even at that time from his designs and from the few works
of painting that he executed, for there were always to be seen in
them pieces of architecture and perspective; and so strong and
potent in him was that inclination of nature, that he may be said to
have learned almost by himself, in a short time, both the first
principles and also the greatest difficulties, and that very well.
Wherefore, almost before he was known, various designs with most
beautiful and imaginative fan- tasies were seen to issue from his
hand, executed for the most part at the request of M. Francesco
Guicciardini, at that time Governor of Bologna, and for others of
his friends; which designs were afterwards put into execution in
tinted woods inlaid after the manner of tarsia, by Fra Damiano da
Bergamo, of the Order of S. Domenico in Bologna.
Vignuola then went to Rome to work at painting, and to obtain
from that art the means to assist his poor family; and at first he
was employed at the Belvedere with Jacopo Melighini of Ferrara, the
architect of Pope Paul III, drawing some architectural designs for
him. But afterwards, there being in Rome at that time an academy of
most noble lords and gentlemen who occupied themselves in reading
Vitruvius (among whom were M. Marcello Cervini, who afterwards
became Pope, Monsignor Maffei, M. Alessandro Manzuoli, and others),
Vignuola set himself in their service to take complete measurements
of all the antiquities of Rome, and to execute certain works after
their fancy; which circumstance was of the greatest assistance to
him both for learning and for profit. Meanwhile Francesco
Primaticcio, the Bolognese painter, of whom there will be an account
in another place, had arrived in Rome, and he made much use of
Vignuola in making moulds of a great part of the antiques in Rome,
in order to take those moulds into France, and then to cast from
them statues in bronze similar to the antiques; which work having
been despatched, Primaticcio, in going to France, took Vignuola with
him, in order to make use of him in matters of architecture and to
have his assistance in casting in bronze the above-mentioned statues
of which they had made the moulds; which things, both the one and
the other, he did with much diligence and judgment. After two years
had passed, he returned to Bologna, according to the promise made by
him to Count Filippo Pepoli, in order to attend to the building of
S. Petronio. In that place he consumed several years in discussions
and disputes with certain others who were his competitors in the
affairs there, without doing anything but design and cause to be
constructed after his plans the canal that brings vessels into
Bologna, whereas before that they could not come within three miles;
than which work none better or more useful was ever executed,
although Vignuola, the originator of an enterprise so useful and so
praiseworthy, was poorly rewarded for it.
Pope Julius III having been elected in the year 1550, by means of
Vasari Vignuola was appointed architect to his Holiness, and there
was given to him the particular charge of conducting the Acqua
Vergine and of superintending the works at the Vigna of Pope Julius,
who took Vignuola into his service most willingly, because he had
come to know him when he was Legate in Bologna. In that building,
and in other works that he executed for that Pontiff, he endured
much labour, but was badly rewarded for it. Finally Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, having recognized the genius of Vignuola, to
whom he always showed much favour, desired, in carrying out the
building of his Palace at Caprarola, that the whole work should
spring from the fanciful design and invention of Vignuola. And, in
truth, the judgment of that lord in making choice of so excellent an
architect w r as no less than the greatness of his mind in setting
his hand to an edifice so noble and grand, which, although it is in
a place where it can be enjoyed but little by men in general, being
out of the way, yet is none the less marvellous in its site, and
very suitable for one who wishes at times to withdraw from the
vexations and tumult of the city. This edifice, then, has the form
of a pentagon, and is divided into four sets of apartments, without
counting the front part, where the principal door is; in which front
part is a loggia forty palms in breadth and eighty in length. On one
side there curves in a round form a spiral staircase, ten palms wide
across the steps, and twenty palms across the space in the centre,
which gives light to the staircase, which curves from the base to
the third or uppermost story; and these steps are all supported by
double columns with cornices, which curve in a round in accordance
with the staircase. The whole is a rich and well-varied work,
beginning with the Doric Order, and continuing in the Ionic, the
Corinthian, and the Composite, with a wealth of balusters, niches,
and other fanciful ornaments, which make it a rare thing, and most
beautiful.
Opposite to this staircase namely, at the other of the corners
that are one on either side of the above-mentioned loggia of the
entrance there is a suite of rooms that begins in a circular
vestibule equal in breadth to the staircase, and leads to a great
hall on the ground floor, eighty palms long and forty broad. This
hall is wrought in stucco and painted with stories of Jove namely,
his birth, his being nursed by the Goat Amaltheia, and her
coronation, with two other stories on either side of the last-
named, showing her being placed in the heavens among the forty-eight
Heavenly Signs, and another similar story of the same Goat, which
alludes, as also do the others, to the name of Caprarola. On the
walls of this hall are perspective-views of buildings drawn by
Vignuola and colored by his son-in-law, which are very beautiful and
make the room seem larger than it is. Beside this hall is a smaller
hall of forty palms, which comes exactly at the next corner, and in
it, besides the works in stucco, are painted things that are all
significant of Spring. Continuing from this little hall towards the
other angle (that is, towards the point of the pentagon, where a
tower has been begun), one goes into three chambers, each forty
palms broad and thirty long. In the first of these are various
inventions executed in stucco and painting, representing Summer, to
which season this first chamber is dedicated. In that which follows
there is painted and wrought in the same manner the season of
Autumn; and in the last, which is sheltered from the north, and
decorated likewise in the same manner, there is represented in a
similar kind of work the season of Winter.
So far we have spoken (with regard to the floor that is over the
underground rooms of the basement, cut out of the tufa, where there
are rooms for the servants, kitchens, larders, and wine-cellars) of
the half of this pentagonal edifice namely, of the part on the right
hand. Opposite to that part, on the left hand, there are rooms
exactly equal in number and of the same size. Within the five angles
of the pentagon Vignuola has made a circular court, into which all
the apartments of the edifice open with their doors; which doors, I
mean, all open into the circular loggia surrounding the court, which
is eighteen palms in breadth, while the diameter of the remaining
space in the court is ninety-five palms and five inches. The
pilasters of the loggia (which is divided up by niches), supporting
the arches and the vaulting, are in couples, with a niche in the
centre, and twenty in number; and each couple covers a breadth of
fifteen palms, which is also the breadth of the space of the arches.
Around the loggia, at the angles that form the shape of the round,
are four spiral staircases, which lead from the basement of the
palace up to the top, for the convenience of the edifice and of the
rooms. And there are reservoirs that collect the rain-water, which
feed a very large and beautiful cistern in the centre; to say
nothing of the windows and innumerable other conveniences, which
make this building appear to be, as indeed it is, a rare and most
beautiful fabric. And, besides having the site and form of a
fortress, it is furnished on the outer side with an oval flight of
steps, with ditches all around, and with drawbridges made with
beautiful invention and in a novel manner, which lead into gardens
full of rich and well- varied fountains, graceful parterres of
verdure, and, in short, all that is required for a truly regal
villa.
Now, ascending by the great spiral staircase from the level of
the court to the other apartment above, one finds already finished,
over the part of which we have spoken, an equal number of rooms, and
also the chapel, which is opposite to the principal round staircase
on this floor. In the hall that is exactly above that of Jove, and
of equal size, there are painted by the hands of Taddeo and his
young men, with very rich and beautiful ornaments of stucco, the
actions of the illustrious men of the House of Farnese. On the
vaulting are compartments with six scenes, four square and two
round, which follow right round the cornice of this hall, and in the
centre are three ovals, accompanied along their length by two
smaller and rectangular pictures, in one of which is painted Fame,
and in the other Bellona. In the first of the three ovals is Peace,
in the central oval the ancient arms of the House of Farnese, with
the helmet- crest, above which is the Unicorn, and in the last is
Religion. In the first of the six above-mentioned scenes, which is a
round, is Guido Farnese, with many persons, all well executed, about
him, and with this inscription below :
GUIDO FARNESIUS, URBIS VETERIS PRINCIPATUM CIVIBUS IPSIS
DEFERENTIBUS ADEPTUS, LABORANTI INTESTINIS DISCORDIIS CIVITATI,
SEDITIOSA FACTIONE EJECTA, PACEM ET TRANQUILLITATEM RESTITUIT,
ANNO 1323.
In an oblong picture is Pietro Niccolo Farnese, who is delivering
Bologna, with this inscription below:
PETRUS NICOLAUS, SEDIS ROMANS POTENTISSIMIS HOSTIBUS MEMORABILI
PRELIO SUPERATIS, IMMINENT! OBSIDIONIS PERICULO BONONIAM LIBERAT,
ANNO SALUTIS 1361.
In the rectangular picture next to this is Pietro Farnese,
elected Captain of the Florentines, with this inscription:
PETRUS FARNESIUS, REIP. FLORENTINE IMPERATOR, MAGNIS PISANORUM
COPIIS . . . URBEM FLORENTIAM TRIUMPHANS INGREDITUR, ANNO 1362.
In the other round picture, which is opposite to that described
above, is another Pietro Farnese, who routs the enemies of the Roman
at Orbatello, with his inscription.
In one of the two other rectangular pictures, which are of equal
size is Signor Ranieri Farnese, elected General of the Florentines
in place of the above-named Signor Pietro, his brother, with this
inscnpt
RAINERIUS FARNESIUS A FLORENTINE DIFFICILI REIP. TEMPORE IN PETRI
FRATRIS MORTUI LOCUM COPIARUM OMNIUM DUX DELIGITUR, ANNO I 3 6 2 .
In the last picture is Ranuccio Farnese, chosen by Eugenius III
as General of the Church, with this inscription:
RANUTIUS FARNESIUS, PAULI TERTII PAP.E AVUS, EUGENIC TERTIO P.M.
ROS/E AURE/E MUNERE INSIGNITUS, PONTIFICII EXERCITUS IMPERATOR
CONSTITUITUR, ANNO CHRISTI 1435.
In short, there are on this vaulting vast numbers of most
beautiful figures, besides the stucco-work and other ornaments
overlaid with gold.
On the walls are eight scenes, two to each wall. On the first, in
a scene on the right hand as one enters, is Pope Julius III
confirming Duke Ottavio and the Prince his son in the possession of
Parma and Piacenza, in the presence of Cardinal Farnese, Sant'
Agnolo his brother, the Camar- lingo Santa Fiore, the elder
Salviati, Chieti, Carpi, Polo, and Morone, all being portraits from
life; with this inscription:
JULIUS III, P.M., ALEXANDRO FARNESIO AUCTORE, OCTAVIO FARNESIO,
EJUS FRATRI, PARMAM AMISSAM RESTITUIT, ANNO SALUTIS 155 O.
In the second scene is Cardinal Farnese going to Worms as Legate
to the Emperor Charles V, and his Majesty and the Prince, his son,
are coming forth to meet him, with a vast multitude of Barons, and
among them the King of the Romans; with the proper inscription. On
the wall on the left hand as one enters, in the first scene, is the
war fought against the Lutherans in Germany, where Duke Ottavio
Farnese was Legate, in the year 1546, with the inscription; and in
the second are the above-named Cardinal Farnese and the Emperor with
his sons, who are all four under a baldachin carried by various
persons portrayed from life, among whom is Taddeo, the master of the
work, with a company of many lords all around. On one of the
headwalls, or rather, ends, are two scenes, and between them an
oval, in which is the portrait of King Philip, with this
inscription:
PHILIPPO HISPANIARUM REGI MAXIMO, OB EXIMIA IN DOMUM FARNESIAM
MERITA.
In one of the scenes is Duke Ottavio taking Madama Margherita of
Austria as his wife, with Pope Paul III in the centre, and portraits
of Cardinal Farnese the younger, the Cardinal of Carpi, Duke Pier
Luigi, M. Durante, Eurialo da Cingoli, M. Giovanni Riccio of
Montepulciano, the Bishop of Como, Signora Livia Colonna, Claudia
Mancina, Settimia, and Donna Maria di Mendoza. In the other is Duke
Orazio taking as his wife the daughter of King Henry of France, with
this inscription:
HENRICUS II, VALESIUS, GALLORUM REX, HORATIO FARNESIO CASTRI DUCI
DIANAM FILIAM IN MATRIMONIUM COLLOCAT, ANNO SALUTIS 1552.
In which scene, besides the portrait of Diana herself with the
royal mantle, and that of her husband Duke Orazio, are portraits of
Caterina de' Medici, Queen of France, Marguerite, the sister of the
King, the King of Navarre, the Constable, the Duke of Guise, the
Duke of Nemours, the Admiral Prince of Conde, the younger Cardinal
of Lorraine, Guise not yet a Cardinal, Signer Piero Strozzi, Madame
de Montpensier, and Mademoiselle de Rohan.
On the other head-wall, opposite to that already described, are
likewise two other scenes, with the oval in the center, in which is
the portrait of King Henry of France, with this inscription:
HENRICO FRANCORUM REGI MAX. FAMILY FARNESIO CONSERVATORI.
In one of the scenes (namely, in that which is on the right hand)
Pope Paul III is investing Duke Orazio, who is kneeling, with a
priestly robe, and making him Prefect of Rome, with Duke Pier Luigi
close at hand, and other lords around; and with these words:
PAULUS III P.M. HORATIUM FARNESIUM NEPOTEM, SUMM.E SPEI
ADOLESCENTEM, PR^EFECTUM URBIS GREAT, ANNO. SAL. 1549.
And in this scene are portraits of the Cardinal of Paris, Viseo,
Morone, Badia, Trento, Sfondrato, and Ardinghelli. In the other
scene, beside the last-named, the same Pope is giving the General's
baton to Pier Luigi and his sons, who were not yet Cardinals; with
portraits of the Pope, Pier Luigi Farnese, the Camarlingo, Duke
Ottavio, Orazio, the Cardinal of Capua, Simonetta, Jacobaccio, San
Jacopo, Ferrara, Signor Ranuccio Farnese as a young man, Giovio,
Molza, Marcello Cervini, who afterwards became Pope, the Marquis of
Marignano, Signor Giovan Battista Castaldo, Signor Alessandro
Vitelli, and Signor Giovan Battista Savelli.
Coming now to the little hall which is beside the hall just
described, and which is above the Hall of Spring, in the vaulting,
which is adorned with a vast and rich decoration in stucco and gold,
in the recess in the centre, there is the Coronation of Pope Paul
III, with four spaces that form a cruciform inscription, with these
words :
PAULUS III FARNESIUS, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, DEO ET HOMINIBUS APPRO-
BANTIBUS, SACRA TIARA SOLEMNI RITU CORONATUR, ANNO SALUTIS 1534,
III NON. NOVEMB.
Then follow four scenes above the cornice namely, one over every
wall. In the first the Pope is blessing the galleys at Civita
Vecchia, when about to send them to Tunis in Barbary in the year
1535. In the next the same Pope is excommunicating the King of
England in the year 1537; with the proper inscription. In the third
is a fleet of galleys which the Emperor and the Venetians fitted out
against the Turk, with the authority and assistance of the Pontiff,
in the year 1538. In the fourth, Perugia having rebelled against the
Church, the people of that city go to seek pardon in the year 1540.
On the walls of the same little hall are four large scenes, one to
each wall, with windows and doors between. In the first large scene
the Emperor Charles V, having returned victorious from Tunis, is
kissing the feet of Pope Paul, of the Farnese family, in Rome, in
the year 1535. In the next, which is above the door on the left
hand, is the story of the peace that Pope Paul III brought about at
Busseto between the Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France, in
the year 1538 ; in which scene are these portraits the elder
Bourbon, King Francis, King Henry, the elder Lorenzo, Tournon, the
younger Lorenzo, the younger Bourbon, and two sons of King Francis.
In the third the same Pope is making Cardinal di Monte his Legate at
the Council of Trent; and there are innumerable portraits. In the
last, which is between two windows, the same Pontiff is creating
many Cardinals in preparation for the Council, among whom there are
four who became Popes in succession after him Julius III, Marcello
Cervini, Paul IV, and Pius IV. To put it briefly, this little hall
is very richly adorned with all that is required in such a place.
In the first chamber next to the little hall, which is dedicated
to Dress, and likewise richly wrought in stucco and gold, there is
in the center a Sacrifice, with three nude figures, among which is
an armed figure of Alexander the Great, who is casting some garments
of skin upon the fire; and in many other scenes that are in the same
place, one sees how men discovered the way to make garments from
plants and other wild products; but it would take too long to seek
to describe the whole in full. From this chamber one enters into a
second, dedicated to Sleep, for which, when Taddeo had to paint it,
he received the inventions given below from the Commendatore
Annibale Caro, at the commission of the Cardinal; and, to the end
that the whole may be the better understood, we shall write here the
advice of Caro in his own words, which are these:
"The subjects that the Cardinal has commanded me to give you for
the pictures in the Palace of Caprarola, it is not enough for them
to be explained by word of mouth, because, besides the invention, we
must look to the disposition of the figures, the attitudes, the
colors, and a number of other considerations, all in accordance with
the descriptions that I find of the things that appear to me to be
suitable ; wherefore I shall put down on paper all that occurs to me
in the matter, as briefly and as distinctly as I shall be able. And
first with regard to the chamber with the flat vaulting for of any
other, up to the present, he has not given me the charge it appears
to me that since it is destined to contain the bed for the person of
his most illustrious lordship, there must be executed there things
in keeping with the place and out of the common both in the
invention and in the workmanship. Now, to declare my conception
first in general, I would have a Night painted there, because,
besides that it would be appropriate to sleep, it would be a subject
not very customary and different from those of the other rooms, and
would give you an occasion of executing rare and beautiful works in
your art, since the strong lights and dark shadows that go into such
a subject are wont to give no little grace and relief to the
figures; and it would please me to have the time of this Night close
upon the dawn, to the end that the things represented there may be
visible without improbability. And to come to the details and to
their disposition, it is necessary that we come to an understanding
first about the situation and the distribution of the chamber. Let
us say, then, that it is divided, as indeed it is, into vaulting and
walls, or faQades, as we wish to call them. The vaulting has a sunk
oval in the centre and four great spandrels at the corners, which,
drawing together little by little and continuing one with the other
along the facades, embrace the above-mentioned oval. The walls,
also, are four, and between the spandrels they form four lunettes.
"Now, let us give names to all these parts, with the divisions
that we shall make in the whole chamber, and we shall thus be able
to distinguish each part on every side, all the way round. Dividing
it into five sections, then, the first shall be the ' head ' ; and
this I presume to be next to the garden. The second, which must be
that opposite to the first, we shall call the ' foot ' ; the third,
on the right hand, we shall call the ' right '; the fourth, on the
left hand, the ' left ' ; and the fifth, situated in the midst of
the others, shall be named the ' center.' Thus, distinguishing all
the parts with these names, we shall speak, for example, of the
lunette at the head, the facade at the foot, the concavity on the
left, the horn on the right, and so with any other part that it may
be necessary to name; and to the spandrels that are at the corners,
each between two of these boundaries, we shall give the name both of
the one and of the other. And thus, also, we shall determine on the
pavement below the situation of the bed, which, in my opinion, must
be along the fa9ade at the foot, with the head turned to the
left-hand facade.
"Now, all the parts having received a name, let us turn to give a
form to them all in general, and then to each by itself. First of
all, the concavity of the vaulting, or rather, the oval, shall be
represented so the Cardinal has judiciously determined as being all
heaven. The rest of the vaulting, comprising the four spandrels
together with the border that we have already mentioned as enclosing
the oval all around, shall be made to appear as the unbroken surface
within the chamber, and as resting upon the fa9ades, with some
beautiful architectural design of your own devising. The four
lunettes I would have counterfeited as likewise concave; and,
whereas the oval above represents a heaven, these must represent
heaven, earth, and sea, as if without the chamber, in accordance
with the various figures and scenes that shall be there. And since,
the vaulting being very flat, the lunettes are so low that they will
not hold any but little figures, I would divide each lunette into
three parts along its length, and, leaving the ends in a line with
the height of the spandrels, I would deepen the centre part below
that line, in such a manner that it may be like a great high window
and show the exterior of the room, as it were, with figures and
scenes proportionate in size to the others. And the two extremities
that remain on either side, like horns to the lunette and horns
henceforward they will be called shall be left low, of the height
that they are above that line, and in each of them must be painted a
figure seated or recumbent, and seeming to be either within or
without the room, whichever you please, for you must choose what
looks best; and what I say of one lunette I say of all four.
"To return to the interior of the chamber as a whole, it appears
to me that it should be in itself all in darkness, save in so far as
the concavities both of the oval above and of the large windows at
the sides may give it a certain degree of light, partly from the
heaven, with its celestial lights, and partly from the earth with
fires that must be painted there, as will be described later. At the
same time, from the centre of the room to the lower end, I would
have it that the nearer one may approach to the foot, where the
Night is to be, the greater shall be the darkness, and that in like
manner in the other half, from the centre to the upper end, in
proportion as one approaches step by step to the head, where Aurora
is to be, it shall grow continually lighter.
"Having thus disposed of the chamber as a whole, let us proceed
to distribute the subjects, giving to each part its own. In the oval
that is in the vaulting, you must paint at the head, as we have
said, a figure of Aurora. This figure, I find, may be made in
several ways, but of all these I shall choose that which in my
opinion can be done with the greatest grace in painting. You must
paint, then, a maiden of such beauty as the poets strive to express
with words, composing her of roses, gold, purple, dew, and other
suchlike graces; and so much for the colours and flesh- tints of her
person. As for her dress, composing out of many one that appears
most suitable, we must reflect that, even as she has three stages
and three distinct colors, so she has three names Alba, Vermiglia,
and Rancia;* [* White, vermilion, and orange.] and for this reason I
would make her down to the girdle a garment delicate in texture, as
it were transparent, and white; from the girdle down to the knees an
outer garment of scarlet, with certain pinkings and tassels in
imitation of the reflections seen on the clouds when she is
vermilion, and from the knees down to the feet of the colour of
gold, in order to represent her when she is orange, taking heed that
this dress must be slit from the thighs downwards, in order to show
the bare legs; and both the under garment and the outer must be
blown by the wind, so as to flutter in folds. The arms, also, must
be naked and of a rosy flesh-tint; on the shoulders you must make
her wings of various colors, and on the head a crown of roses; and
in her hands you must place a lamp or a lighted torch, or rather,
there must go before her a Cupid who is carrying a torch, and after
her another who with another torch awakens Tithonus.
She must be seated on a gilded throne in a chariot likewise
gilded, drawn by a winged Pegasus or by two horses, for she is
depicted both in the one way and in the other. As for the colors of
the horses, one must be shining white and the other shining red, in
order to denote them according to the names that Homer gives them of
Lampus and Phaethon. You must make her rising from a tranquil sea,
which should appear rippled, luminous, and glancing. On the wall
behind, upon the right-hand horn, you must paint her husband
Tithonus, and on the left her lover Cephalus. Tithonus should be an
old man white as snow, on an orange-colored bed, or rather, in a
cradle, according to those who make him, on account of his great
age, once more a child ; and he should be shown in the act of
holding her back, or gazing on her with amorous eyes, or sighing
after her, as if her departure grieved him. Cephalus must be a most
beautiful young man dressed in a doublet girt at the waist, with his
buskins on his feet, with the spear, which must have the iron head
gilded, in his hand, and with a dog at his side, in the act of
entering into a wood, as if caring nothing for her by reason of the
love that he bears to his Procris.
"Between Cephalus and Tithonus, in the space with the great
window, behind the Aurora, there must shoot upwards some few rays of
the sun, of a splendour more vivid than that of the Aurora; but
these must be cut off, so as not to be seen, by a large figure of a
woman who must appear before them. This woman shall be Vigilance,
and she must be so painted that it may appear that she is illumined
from behind by the rising sun, and that, in order to forestall him,
she is entering into the chamber by the great window that has been
mentioned. Let her form be that of a tall, valorous, and splendid
woman, with the eyes well open and the brows well arched; dressed
down to the feet in a transparent veil, which is girt at the waist;
leaning with one hand on a lance, and with the other gathering
together a fold of her gown. Let her stand firmly on the right foot,
and, holding the left foot suspended, appear from one side to be
rooted to the ground, and from the other to be ready to step out.
Let her raise her head in order to gaze at Aurora, and appear to be
angry that she has risen before her ; and let her have on the head a
helmet with a cock upon it, which shall be in the act of beating its
wings and crowing. All this must be behind the Aurora; and in front
of her, in the heaven of the concave oval, L would make certain
little figures of girls one behind another, some more bright and
some less bright, according as they are more or less near to the
light of the Aurora, in order to represent the Hours which go before
her and the sun. These Hours shall be painted with the vestments,
garlands, and headdresses of virgins, and winged, with the hands
full of flowers, as if they were scattering these about.
"On the opposite side, at the foot of the oval, there shall be
Night, and even as Aurora is rising, Night shall be sinking; as the
one shows her front, the other shall turn her back; as the first is
issuing from a tranquil sea, the second shall be plunging into a sea
that is troubled and dark; the horses of the first come with the
breast forward, those of the second shall show their croups; and so,
also, the person of Night shall be altogether different from that of
Aurora. Her flesh-tint shall be dark, dark her mantle, dark her
hair, and dark her wings; and these shall be open, as if she were
flying. She shall hold her hands on high, and in one a white babe
that is sleeping, to represent Sleep, and in the other a black babe
that appears to be sleeping, to represent Death; for of both these
she is said to be the mother. She shall appear to be sinking with
the head downwards and wrapped in thicker shadow, and the heaven
about her shall be of a deeper blue and dotted with many stars. Her
car shall be of bronze, with the wheels divided into four spaces, to
denote her four watches. Then, on the fa$ade opposite (namely, at
the foot), even as Aurora has on either side Tithonus and Cephalus,
Night shall have Oceanus and Atlas. Oceanus shall be painted on the
right, a great figure of a man with the beard and hair dripping and
dishevelled, and both from the beard and from the hair there shall
issue here and there some heads of dolphins. He shall be depicted as
resting on a car drawn by whales, with the Tritons all around in
front of him, with their trumpets, and also the Nymphs, and behind
him some beasts of the sea; or, if not with all these things, at
least with some of them, according to the space that you will have,
which to me appears little for so much matter. For Atlas, on the
left hand, there shall be painted a mountain with the breast, arms,
and all the upper parts of a robust man, bearded and muscular, in
the act of upholding the heavens, as his figure is generally shown.
"Lower down, likewise, over against the Vigilance that we have
placed opposite to Aurora, there should be placed a figure of Sleep;
but, since it appears to me better, for several reasons, that Sleep
should be over the bed, we must place in his stead a figure of
Repose. As for this Repose, I find, indeed, that she was worshipped,
and that temples were dedicated to her; but I can by no means find
how she was figured, unless her figure was that of Security, which I
do not believe, because security is a thing of the mind and repose
of the body. We must therefore figure a Repose of our own devising,
in this manner: a young maiden of pleasing aspect, who, being weary,
yet does not lie down, but sleeps seated with the head resting on
the left arm. She shall have a spear with the head lying against her
shoulder and the foot fixed in the ground, and shall let one arm
hang limply down it, and have one leg crossed over it, in the
attitude of resting for the restoration of her strength, and not
from indolence. She shall have a crown of poppies, and a sceptre
laid on one side, but not so far distant that she cannot readily
take it up again; and whereas Vigilance has upon her head a cock
crowing, so to her we may give a sitting hen, in order to signify
that even when resting she is active.
"Within the same oval, on the right hand, you shall paint a Moon.
Her figure shall be that of a maiden of about eighteen years, tall
and virginal in aspect, after the likeness of Apollo, with long
tresses, thick and somewhat waved, or wearing on the head one of
those caps that are called Phrygian, wide at the foot and pointed
and twisted at the top, like the Doge's hat, with two wings over the
brow that must hang down and cover the ears, and with two little
horns jutting from the head, as of the crescent moon; or, after
Apuleius, with a flat disk, polished and shining in the manner of a
mirror, on the centre of the brow, which must have on either side of
it some serpents and over it some few ears of corn, and on the head
a crown of dittany, after the Greeks, or of various flowers, after
Marcian, or of helichrysum, after certain others. Her dress some
would have reaching down to the feet, others only to the knees, girt
under the breasts and crossed below the navel after the fashion of a
nymph, with a little mantle on the shoulder clasped over the muscle
on the right side, and on the feet buskins wrought in a pleasing
pattern. Pausanias, alluding, I believe, to Diana, makes her dressed
in deerskin; Apuleius, taking her perchance for Isis, gives her a
vestment of the finest veiling in various colours, white, yellow,
and red, and another garment all black, but bright and shining,
dotted with many stars and with a moon in the centre, and all around
it a border with ornaments of fruits and flowers hanging down after
the manner of tassels.
"Of these vestments, take whichever looks best. The arms you must
make bare, with the sleeves broad; with the right hand she must hold
a lighted torch, and with the left an unbent bow, which, according
to Claudian, is of horn, and, according to Ovid, of gold. Make it as
seems best to you, and attach the quiver to her shoulders. She is
found in Pausanias with two serpents in the left hand, and in
Apuleius she has a gilded vase with a serpent as a handle, which
appears as if swollen with poison, the foot of the vase being
adorned with palm leaves; but by this I believe that he means to
indicate Isis, and I have therefore resolved that you shall
represent her with the bow, as described above. She shall ride on a
car drawn by horses, one black and the other white, or, if you
desire variety, by a mule, after Festus Pompeius, or by bullocks,
after Claudian and Ausonius; and if you choose bullocks, they must
have the horns very small and a white patch on the right flank. The
attitude of the Moon must be that of looking down from the heaven in
the oval towards the horn of the facade that looks out over the
garden, where you must place her lover Endymion, and she shall lean
down from the car to kiss him, and, not being able by reason of the
interposition of the border, she shall gaze lovingly upon him and
illumine him with her radiance. For Endymion you must make a
beautiful young shepherd, asleep at the foot of Mount Latmus. In the
horn on the other side there shall be Pan, the God of Shepherds, who
was enamoured of the Moon; his figure is very well known.
"Round his neck place his pipes, and with both hands he shall
hold out towards the Moon a skein of white wool, with which he is
fabled to have won her love; and with that present he must appear to
be persuading her to come down to live with him. In the rest of the
space of the same great window you must paint a scene, and that
shall be the scene of the sacrifices to the Lemures, which men used
to hold at night in order to drive evil spirits from their houses.
The ritual of these sacrifices was to go about, with the hands
washed and the feet bare, scattering black beans; first rolling them
about in the mouth, and then throwing them over the shoulder; and
among the company were some who made a noise by sounding basins and
suchlike instruments of copper.
"On the left side of the oval you must paint Mercury in the or
dinar}' [SIC] manner, with the little winged cap, with the winged
sandals on the feet, with the Caduceus in the left hand, and with
the purse in the right ; alto- gether nude, save for his little
mantle on the shoulder; a most beautiful youth, but with a natural
beauty, without any artifice; of a cheerful countenance, spirited
eyes, beardless, or with the first down, with reddish hair, and
narrow in the shoulders. Some place wings over his ears, and make
certain golden feathers coming out of his hair. The attitude you may
make as you please, provided only that it shows him gliding down
from Heaven in order to infuse sleep, and, turning towards the side
of the bed, about to touch the tester with his wand. On the
left-hand facade, in the horn next to the fagade at the foot, we
might have the Lares, his two sons, who were the tutelary spirits of
private houses; namely, two young men dressed in the skins of dogs,
with certain garments girt up and thrown over the left shoulder in
such a way that they may come out under the right, in order to
signify that they are unencumbered and ready to guard the house.
They shall sit one beside the other, each holding a spear in the
right hand, and between them, in the centre, there shall be a dog,
and above them a small head of Vulcan, wearing a little cap, with a
smith's pincers beside it. In the other horn, next to the facade at
the head, you must paint a Battus being converted into stone for
having revealed the cattle stolen by Mercury. Let him be an old
shepherd seated, showing with the forefinger of the right arm the
place where the cattle were hidden, and leaning with the left arm on
a stick or rod, the herdsman's staff; and from the waist downwards
he must be of black stone of the colour of basanite, into which
stone he was converted. Then in the rest of the great window you
must paint the scene of the sacrifice that the ancients used to
offer to Mercury to the end that their sleep might not be
interrupted; and to represent this it is necessary to make an altar
with his statue upon it, at the foot of that a fire, and all around
persons who are throwing into it pieces of wood for burning, and
who, having in their hands cups full of wine, are sprinkling part of
the wine and drinking the rest.
"In the center of the oval, in order to fill up all the space of
the heaven, I would paint Twilight, as being the mean between Aurora
and Night. To represent him, I find that one must paint a young man
wholly naked, sometimes with wings and sometimes without, and with
two lighted torches, one of which we must show being kindled at that
of Aurora, and the other held out towards Night. Some represent this
young man, with the same two torches, as riding on one of the horses
of the Sun or of Aurora, but this would not be a composition
suitable for our purpose; wherefore we shall make him as described
above, turned towards Night, and place behind him, between his legs,
a great star, which shall be that of Venus, because Venus,
Phosphorus, Hesperus, and Twilight seem to be regarded as one and
the same thing. And with the exception of this star, see to it that
all the lesser stars near the Aurora shall have dis- appeared.
"Now, having by this time filled up all the exterior of the
chamber both above in the oval and on the sides and fagades, it
remains for us to come to the interior, the four spandrels of the
vaulting. Beginning with that over the bed, which is between the
left-hand facade and that at the foot, you must paint Sleep there;
and in order to figure him, you must first figure his home. Ovid
places it in Lemnos and among the Cimmerii, Homer in the ^Egean Sea,
Statius among the Ethiopians, and Ariosto in Arabia. Wherever it may
be, it is enough to depict a mountain, such an one as may be
imagined where there is always darkness and never any sun; at the
foot of it a deep hollow, through which water shall pass, as still
as death, in order to signify that it makes no murmur, and this
water must be of a sombre hue, because they make it a branch of
Lethe. Within this hollow shall be a bed, which, being fabled to be
of ebony, shall be black in colour and covered with black draperies.
In this bed shall be placed Sleep, a young man of perfect beauty,
for they make him surpassing beautiful and serene; nude, according
to some, and according to others clothed in two garments, one black
below and another white over it, with wings on the shoulders, and,
according to Statius, also at the top oi the head. Under his arm he
shall hold a horn, which shall appear to be spilling a liquid of a
livid hue over the bed, in order to denote Oblivion; although others
make the horn full of fruits. In one hand he shall hold the wand,
and in the other three poppy-heads.
"He shall be sleeping like one sick, with the head and the limbs
hanging limp, as if wholly relaxed in slumber. About his head shall
be seen Morpheus, Icelus, and Phantasus, and a great number of
Dreams, ail which are his children. The Dreams shall be little
figures, some of a beautiful aspect and others hideous, as being
things that partly please and partly terrify. Let them, likewise,
have wings, and also twisted feet, as being unstable and uncertain
things, and let them hover and whirl about him, making a kind of
dramatic spectacle by transforming themselves into things possible
and impossible. Morpheus is called by Ovid the creator and fashioner
of figures, and I would therefore make him in the act of fashioning
various masks with grotesque faces and placing some of them on feet.
Icelus, they say, transforms himself into many shapes, and him I
would figure in such a way that as a whole he may have the
appearance of a man, and yet may have parts of a wild beast, of a
bird, and of a serpent, as the same Ovid describes him. Phantasus,
they have it, transforms himself into various inanimate things, and
him, also, we may represent, after the words of Ovid, partly of
stone, partly of water, and partly of wood. You must feign that in
this place there are two gates, one of ivory, whence there issue the
false dreams, and one of horn, whence the true dreams come; the true
shall be more distinct in color, more luminous, and better executed,
and the false shall be confused, somber, and imperfect.
"In the next spandrel, between the facade at the foot and that on
the right hand, you shall place Brizo, the Goddess of prophecy and
the interpretress of dreams. For her I cannot find the vestments,
but I would make her in the manner of a Sibyl, seated at the foot of
the elm described by Virgil, under the branches of which are placed
innumerable images, which, falling from those branches, must be
shown flying about her in the forms that we have given them; as has
been related, some lighter and some darker, some broken and some
indistinct, and others--almost wholly invisible; in order to
represent by these the dreams, the visions, the oracles, the
phantasms, and the vain things that are seen in sleep (for into
these five kinds Macrobius appears to divide them); and she shall be
as it were lost in thought, interpreting them, and shall have about
her persons offering to her baskets filled with all manner of
things, excepting only fishes.
"In the spandrel between the right hand facade and that at the
head it will be well to place Harpocrates, the God of Silence,
because this, presenting itself at the first glance before those who
enter by the door that leads from the great painted chamber, will
warn them as they enter that they must not make any noise. His
figure is that of a young man, or rather, of a boy, black in colour,
from his being God of the Egyptians, and with his finger to his
mouth in the act of commanding silence. He shall carry in his hand a
branch of a peach-tree, and, if you think it well, a garland of the
leaves of the same tree. They feign that he was born weak in the
legs, and that, having been killed, his mother Isis restored him to
life; and for this reason some make him stretched out on the ground,
and others in the lap of his mother, with the feet joined together.
But, for the sake of harmony with the other figures, I would make
him standing, supported in some way, or rather, seated, like that of
the most illustrious Cardinal Sant' Agnolo, which is likewise winged
and holds a horn of plenty. He shall have about him persons offering
to him, as was the custom, first-fruits of lentils and other
vegetables, and also of peaches, as mentioned above. Others used to
make for this same God a figure without a face, with a little cap on
the head, and about him a wolf's skin, all covered with eyes and
ears. Take which of these two you please.
"In the last spandrel, between the fagade at the head and that on
the left, it will be well to place Angerona, the Goddess of Secrecy,
which figure, coming within the same door of entrance, will admonish
those who come out of the chamber to keep secret all that they have
seen and heard, as is the duty of the servants of noblemen. The
figure is that of a. woman placed upon an altar, with the mouth
bound and sealed. I know not with what vestments she used to be
depicted, but I would envelop her in a long gown covering her whole
person, and would repre- sent her as shrugging her shoulders. Around
her there must be painted some priests, by whom sacrifices used to
be offered to her before the gate in the Curia, to the end that it
might be unlawful for any person to reveal to the prejudice of the
Republic any matter that might be discussed there. The space within
the spandrels being filled up, it now only remains to say that
around all this work it seems to me that there should be a frieze to
encircle it on every side, and in this I would make either
grotesques or small scenes with little figures. The matter of these
I would have in harmony with the subjects already given above, each
in accord with that nearest to it; and if you paint little scenes,
it would please me to have them representing the actions that men
and also animals do at the hour that we have fixed there. Now,
beginning at the head, I would paint in the frieze of that fa$ade,
as things appropriate to the Dawn, artisans, workmen, and persons of
various kinds who, having risen, are returning to the labors of
their pursuits as smiths to the forge, men of letters to their
studies, huntsmen to the open country, and muleteers to the road,
and above all would I like to have the poor old woman from Petrarca
rising from her spinning and lighting the fire, with her feet bare
and her clothes dishevelled.
"And if you think fit to make grotesques of animals there, make
them of birds singing, geese going forth to their pasture, cocks
announcing the day, and similar fancies. In the frieze on the fa9ade
at the foot, in accord with the darkness there, I would make persons
going fowling by night, spies, adulterers, climbers of windows, and
other suchlike things; and for grotesques, porcupines, hedge-hogs,
badgers, a peacock with the tail spread, signifying the night of
stars, owls large and small, bats, and suchlike animals. In the
frieze on the right hand facade you must paint things in keeping
with the Moon, such as fishers of the night, mariners navigating
with the compass, necromancers, witches, and the like; for
grotesques, a beacon-tower in the distance, nets, weir-baskets with
some fishes in them, crabs feeding by the light of the moon, and, if
there be space enough, an elephant kneeling in adoration of her.
And, finally, in the frieze on the left-hand facade, mathematicians
with their instruments for measuring, thieves, false-coiners,
robbers of buried treasure, shepherds with their folds still closed,
lying around their fires, and the like ; and for animals I would
make there wolves, foxes, apes, weasels, and any other treacherous
animals that lie in wait for other creatures.
"In this part I have placed these phantasies thus at random in
order to suggest what kinds of inventions could be painted there;
but, since they are not things that need to be described, I leave
you to imagine them in your own manner, knowing that painters are by
their nature full of resource and grace in inventing such bizarre
fantasies. And now, having filled in all the parts of the work both
within and without the chamber, there is no occasion for us to say
any more, save that you must discuss the whole matter with the most
illustrious Monsignore, and, according to his taste, adding or
taking away whatever may be necessary, you must strive on your part
to do yourself honour. Fare you well."
Now, although all these beautiful inventions of Caro's were very
ingenious, fanciful, and worthy of praise, nevertheless Taddeo was
not able to carry into execution more than the place would contain;
but those that he painted there were the greater part, and they were
executed by him with much grace and in a most beautiful manner. Next
to this chamber, in the last of the three, which is dedicated to
Solitude, Taddeo, with the help of his assistants, painted Christ
preaching to the Apostles in the desert and in the woods, with a S.
John on the right hand that is very well executed. In another scene,
which is opposite to the first, are painted many figures of men who
are living in the forest in order to avoid the conversation of
mankind; and these certain others are seeking to disturb, throwing
stones at them, while some are plucking out their own eyes so as not
to see. And in this scene, likewise, is painted the Emperor Charles
V, portrayed from life, with this inscription:
POST INNUMEROS LABORES OCIOSAM QUIETAMQUE VITAM TRADUXIT.
Opposite to Charles is the portrait of the last Grand Turk, who
much delighted in solitude, with these words:
ANIMUM A NEGOCIO AD OCIUM REVOCAVIT.
Near him is Aristotle, who has beneath him these words:
ANIMA FIT SEDENDO ET QUIESCENDO PRUDENTIOR.
Opposite to him, beneath another figure by the hand of Taddeo, is
written this:
QUEMADMODUM NEGOCII, SIC ET OCII RATIO HABENDA.
Beneath another may be read:
OCIUM CUM DIGNITATE, NEGOCIUM SINE PERICULO.
And opposite to that, under another figure, is this motto:
VIRTUTIS ET LIBERT VITJE OPTIMA MAGISTRA SOLITUDO.
Beneath another:
PLUS AGUNT QUI NIHIL AGERE VIDENTUR.
And under the last:
QUI AGIT PLURIMA, PLURIMUM PECCAT.
To put it briefly, this room is very ornate with beautiful
figures, and likewise very rich in stucco and gold. But to return to
Vignuola; how excellent he is in matters of architecture, the works
that he has written and published and still continues to write, in
addition to his marvellous buildings, bear ample testimony, and in
the Life of Michelagnolo we shall say all that it may be expedient
for us to say in this connection.
Taddeo, in addition to the works described above, executed many
others of which there is no need to make mention; but in particular
a chapel in the Church of the Goldsmiths in the Strada Giulia, a
facade in chiaroscuro at S. Gieronimo, and the Chapel of the high
altar in S. Sabina. And his brother Federigo is painting for the
Chapel of S. Lorenzo, which is all wrought in stucco, in S. Lorenzo
in Damaso, an altarpiece with that Saint on the gridiron and
Paradise all open; which altarpiece is expected to prove a very
beautiful work. And, in order not to omit anything that may be
useful, pleasing, or helpful to anyone who may read these my
labours, I shall add this as well. While Taddeo was working, as has
been related, at the Vigna of Pope Julius and at the facade of
Mattiuolo, the Master of the Post, he executed for Monsignor
Innocenzio, the most reverend and illustrious Cardinal di Monte, two
painted pictures of no great size; and one of them, which is
beautiful enough, is now in the guardaroba of that Cardinal (who has
given the other away), in company with a vast number of things
ancient and modern, all truly of the rarest, among which, I must not
omit to mention, there is a painted picture as fantastic as any work
of which we have spoken hitherto. In this picture, which is about
two braccia and a half in height, there is nothing to be seen by him
who looks at it from the ordinary point of view, from the front,
save some letters on a flesh-colored ground, and in the centre the
Moon, which goes gradually increasing or diminishing according to
the lines of the writing. And yet, if you go below the picture and
look in a sphere or mirror that is placed over the picture in the
manner of a little baldachin, you see in that mirror, which receives
the image from the picture, a most life-like portrait in painting of
King Henry II of France, somewhat larger than life, with these words
about it HENRY II, ROY DE FRANCE. You can see the same portrait by
lowering the picture, placing your brow on the upper part of the
frame, and looking down; but it is true that whoever looks at it in
that manner, sees it turned the other way from what it is in the
mirror. That portrait, I say, cannot be seen save by looking at it
as described above, because it is painted on twenty-eight ridges,
too low to be perceived, which are between the lines of the words
given below, in which, besides the ordinary meaning, there may be
read, by looking at both ends of the lines and in the center,
certain letters somewhat larger than the others, which run thus:
HENRICUS VALESIUS DEI GRATIA GALLORUM REX INVICTISSIMUS.
It is true, indeed, that the Roman M. Alessandro Taddei, the
secre- tary of that Cardinal, and Don Silvano Razzi, my dearest
friend, who have given me information about this picture and about
many other things, do not know by whose hand it is, but only that it
was presented by the above-named King Henry to Cardinal Caraffa,
when he was in France, and then by Caraffa to the most illustrious
Cardinal di Monte, who treasured it as a very rare thing, which in
truth it is. The words painted in the picture, which alone are to be
seen by him who looks at it from the ordinary point of view, as one
looks at other pictures, are these:
HEUS TU QUID VlDES NIL UT REOR
NlSI LUNAM CRESCENTEM ET E
REGIONE POS!TAM QUJE EX
INTERVALLO GRADATIM uxl
CRESCIT NOS ADMONET UT iN
UNA SPE FIDE ET CHARITATE TV
SlMUL ET EGO ILLUMINAT I
VERBO DEI CRESCAMUS, DONEC
AB EJUSDEM GRATIA FIAT
Lux IN NOBIS AMPLISSIMA QU!
EST .ETERNUS iLLE DATOR LUClS
IN QUO ET A QUO MORTALES OMNES
VERAM LUCEM RECIPERE si
SPERAMUS IN VANUM NON SPERABIMUS
In the same guardaroba is a most beautiful portrait of Signora
Sofonisba Anguisciuola by her own hand, once presented by her to
Pope Julius III. And there is another thing of great value, a very
ancient book with the Bucolics, the Georgics, and the AEneid of
Virgil, in characters so old, that it has been judged by many men of
learning in Rome and in other places that it was written in the very
time of Csesar Augustus, or little after; wherefore it is no marvel
that it should be held by the Cardinal in the greatest veneration.
And let this be the end of the Life of the painter Taddeo
Zucchero.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 1: Earliest Years to the Medici Garden
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
WHILE the most noble and industrious spirits were striving, by
the light of the famous Giotto and of his followers, to give to the
world a proof of the ability that the benign influence of the stars
and the proportionate admixture of humors had given to their
intellects, and while, desirous to imitate with the excellence of
their art the grandeur of Nature in order to approach as near as
possible to that supreme knowledge that many call understanding,
they were universally toiling, although in vain, the most benign
Ruler of Heaven in His clemency turned His eyes to the earth, and,
having perceived the infinite vanity of all those labors, the ardent
studies without any fruit, and the presumptuous self-sufficiency of
men, which is even further removed from truth than is darkness from
light, and desiring to deliver us from such great errors, became
minded to send down to earth a spirit with universal ability in
every art and every profession, who might be able, working by
himself alone, to show what manner of thing is the perfection of the
art of design in executing the, lines, contours, shadows, and high
lights, so as to give relief to works of painting, and what it is to
work with correct judgment in sculpture, and how in architecture it
is possible to render habitations secure and commodious, healthy and
cheerful, well-proportioned, and rich with varied ornaments.
He was pleased, in addition, to endow him with the true moral
philosophy and with the ornament of sweet poesy, to the end that the
world might choose him and admire him as its highest exemplar in the
life, works, saintliness of character, and every action of human
creatures, and that he might be acclaimed by us as a being rather
divine than human. And since He saw that in the practice of these
rare exercises and arts namely, in painting, in sculpture, and in
architecture the Tuscan intellects have always been exalted and
raised high above all others, from their being diligent in the
labors and studies of every faculty beyond no matter what other
people of Italy, He chose to give him Florence, as worthy beyond all
other cities, for his country, in order to bring all the talents to
their highest perfection in her, as was her due, in the person of
one of her citizens.
There was born a son, then, in the Casentino, in the year 1474,
under a fateful and happy star, from an excellent and noble mother,
to Lodovico di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni, a descendant, so it is
said, of the most noble and most ancient family of the Counts of
Canossa. To that Lodovico, I say, who was in that year Podesta of
the township of Chiusi and Caprese, near the Sasso della Vernia,
where S. Francis received the Stigmata, in the Diocese of Arezzo, a
son was born on the 6th of March, a Sunday, about the eighth hour of
the night, to which son he gave the name Michelagnolo, because,
inspired by some influence from above, and giving it no more
thought, he wished to suggest that he was something celestial and
divine beyond the use of mortals, as was afterwards seen from the
figures of his horoscope, he having had Mercury and Venus in the
second house of Jupiter, with happy augury, which showed that from
the art of his brain and of his hand there would be seen to issue
forth works marvellous and stupendous.
Having finished his office as Podesta, Lodovico returned to
Florence and settled in the village of Settignano, at a distance of
three miles from the city, where he had a farm that had belonged to
his forefathers; which place abounds with stone and is all full of
quarries of grey-tone, which is constantly being worked by
stonecutters and sculptors, who for the most part are born in the
place. Michelagnolo was put out to nurse by Lodovico hi that village
with the wife of a stone-cutter: wherefore the same Michelagnolo,
discoursing once with Vasari, said to him jestingly, "Giorgio, if I
have anything of the good in my brain, it has come from my being
born in the pure air of your country of Arezzo, even as I also
sucked in with my nurse's milk the chisels and hammer with which I
make my figures." In time Lodovico' s family increased, and, being
in poor circumstances, with slender revenues, he set about
apprenticing his sons to the Guilds of Silk and Wool. Michelagnolo,
who by that time was well grown, was placed to be schooled in
grammar with Maestro Francesco da Urbino; but, since his genius drew
him to delight in design, all the time that he could snatch he would
spend in drawing in secret, being scolded for this by his father and
his other elders, and at times beaten, they perchance considering
that to give attention to that art, which was not known by them, was
a mean thing and not worthy of their ancient house.
At this time Michelagnolo had formed a friendship with Francesco
Granacci, who, likewise a lad, had placed himself with Domenico
Ghirlandajo in order to learn the art of painting; wherefore
Granacci, loving Michelagnolo, and perceiving that he was much
inclined to design, supplied him daily with drawings by Ghirlandajo,
who at that time wasm reputed to be one of the best masters that
there were not only in Florence, but throughout all Italy.
Whereupon, the desire to work at art growing greater every day in
Michelagnolo, Lodovico, perceiving that he could not divert the boy
from giving his attention to design, and that there was no help for
it, and wishing to derive some advantage from it and to enable him
to learn that art, resolved on the advice of friends to apprentice
him with Domenico Ghirlandajo. Michelagnolo, when he was placed with
Domenico Ghirlandajo, was fourteen years of age. Now he who wrote
his life after the year 1550, when I wrote these Lives the first
time, has said that some persons, through not having associated with
him, have related things that never happened, and have left out many
that are worthy to be recorded, and has touched on this circumstance
in particular, taxing Domenico with jealousy and saying that he
never offered any assistance to Michelagnolo; which is clearly
false, as may be seen from an entry by the hand of Lodovico, the
father of Michelagnolo, written in one of Domenico' s books, which
book is now in the possession of his heirs. That entry runs thus: "
1488, I record, this first day of April, that I, Lodovico di
Leonardo di Buonarrota, placed Michelagnolo my son with Domenico and
David di Tommaso di Currado for the three years next to come, on
these terms and conditions, that the said Michelagnolo shall remain
with the above-named persons for the said period of time, in order
to learn to paint and to exercise that vocation; that the said
persons shall have command over him; and that the same Domenico and
David shall be bound to give him in those three years twenty-four
florins of full weight, the first year six florins, the second year
eight florins, and the third ten florins; in all, the sum of
ninety-six lire." And next, below this, is another record, or
rather, entry, also written in the hand of Lodovico: "The aforesaid
Michelagnolo has received of that sum, this sixteenth day of April,
two gold florins in gold. I, Lodovico di Leonardo, his father, have
received twelve lire and twelve soldi as cash due to him." These
entries I have copied from the book itself, in order to prove that
all that was written at that time, as well as all that is about to
be written, is the truth; nor do I know that anyone has been more
associated with him than I have been, or has been a more faithful
friend and servant to him, as can be proved even to one who knows
not the facts, neither do I believe that there is anyone who can
show a greater number of letters written by his own hand, or any
written with greater affection than he has expressed to me. I have
made this digression for the sake of truth, and it must suffice for
all the rest of his Life. Let us now return to our story.
When the ability as well as the person of Michelagnolo had grown
in such a manner, that Domenico, seeing him execute some works
beyond the scope of a boy, was astonished, since it seemed to him
that he not only surpassed the other disciples, of whom he had a
great number, but very often equalled the things done by himself as
master, it happened that one of the young men who were learning
under Domenico copied with the pen some draped figures of women from
works by Ghirlandajo; whereupon Michelagnolo took that drawing and
with a thicker pen outlined one of those women with new lineaments,
in the manner that it should have been in order to be perfect. And
it is a marvellous thing to see the difference between the two
manners, and the judgment and excellence of a mere lad who was so
spirited and bold, that he had the courage to correct the work of
his master. That sheet is now in my possession, treasured as a
relic; and I received it from Granacci to put in my book of drawings
together with others by the same hand, which I received from
Michelagnolo. In the year 1550, when Giorgio was in Rome, he showed
it to Michelagnolo, who recognized it and was pleased to see it
again, saying modestly that he knew more of the art when he was a
boy than he did at that time, when he was an old man.
Now it happened that when Domenico was at work on the great
chapel of S. Maria Novella, one day that he was out Michelagnolo set
himself to draw the staging from the reality, with some desks and
all the appliances of art, and some of the young men who were
working there. Whereupon, when Domenico had returned and seen
Michelagnolo' s drawing, he said, " This boy knows more about it
than I do;" and he was struck with amazement at the novel manner and
the novel method of imitation that a mere boy of such tender age
displayed by reason of the judgment bestowed upon him by Heaven, for
these, in truth, were as marvellous as could have been looked for in
the workmanship of a craftsman who had laboured for many years. And
this was because all the power and knowledge of the gracious gifts
of his nature were exer- cised by study and by the practice of art,
wherefore these gifts produced every day fruits more divine in
Michelagnolo, as began to be made clearly manifest in the copy that
he executed of a printed sheet by the German Martino, which gave him
a very great name. For there had come to Florence at that time a
scene by the above-named Martino, of the Devils beating S. Anthony,
engraved on copper, and Michelagnolo copied it with the pen in such
a manner that it could not be detected, and then painted that same
sheet in colors, going at times, in order to counterfeit certain
strange forms of devils, to buy fishes that had scales bizarre in
colouring; and in that work he showed so much ability, that he
acquired thereby credit and fame. He also counterfeited sheets by
the hands of various old masters, making them so similar that they
could not be detected, for, tinting them and giving them the
appearance of age with smoke and various other materials, he made
them so dark that they looked old, and, when compared with the
originals, one could not be distinguished from the other. Nor did he
do this with any other purpose but to obtain the originals from the
hands of their owners by giving them the copies, for he admired them
for the excellence of their art and sought to surpass them in his
own practice; on which account he acquired a very great name.
At that time the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici kept the sculptor
Bertoldo in his garden on the Piazza di S. Marco, not so much as
custodian or guardian of the many beautiful antiques that he had
collected and gathered together at great expense in that place, as
because, desiring very earnestly to create a school of excellent
painters and sculptors, he wished that these should have as their
chief and guide the above-named Bertoldo, who was a disciple of
Donato. Bertoldo, although he was so old that he was not able to
work, was nevertheless a well-practised master and in much repute,
not only because he had polished with great diligence the pulpits
cast by his master Donato, but also on account of many castings in
bronze that he had executed himself, of battles and certain other
small works, in the execution of which there was no one to be found
in Florence at that time who surpassed him. Now Lorenzo, who bore a
very great love to painting and to sculpture, was grieved that there
were not to be found in his time sculptors noble and famous enough
to equal the many painters of the highest merit and reputation, and
he determined, as I have said, to found a school. To this end he
besought Domenico Ghirlandajo that, if he had among the young men in
his workshop any that were inclined to sculpture, he might send them
to his garden, where he wished to train and form them in such a
manner as might do honour to himself, to Domenico, and to the whole
city. Whereupon there were given to him by Domejaico as the best of
his young men, among others, Michelagnolo and Francesco Granacci;
and they, going to the garden, found there that Torrigiano, a young
man of the Torrigiani family, was executing in clay some figures in
the round that had been given to him by Bertoldo.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 2: From Lorenzo de'Medici to the first move to Rome
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Michelagnolo, seeing this, made some out of emulation; wherefore
Lorenzo, seeing his fine spirit, always regarded him with much
expectation. And he, thus encouraged, after some days set himself to
counterfeit from a piece of marble an antique head of a Faun that
was there, old and wrinkled, which had the nose injured and the
mouth laughing. Michelagnolo, who had never yet touched marble or
chisels, succeeded so well in counterfeiting it, that the
Magnificent Lorenzo was astonished; and then, perceiving that,
departing from the form of the antique head, he had opened out the
mouth after his own fancy and had made a tongue, with all the teeth
showing, that lord, jesting pleasantly, as was his wont, said to
him, "Surely you should have known that old folks never have all
their teeth, and that some are always wanting." It appeared to
Michelagnolo, in his simplicity, both fearing and loving that lord,
that he had spoken the truth; and no sooner had Lorenzo departed
than he straightway broke one of the teeth and hollowed out the gum,
in such a manner, that it seemed as if the tooth had dropped out.
And then he awaited with eagerness the return of the Magnificent
Lorenzo, who, when he had come and had seen the simplicity and
excellence of Michelagnolo, laughed at it more than once, relating
it as a miracle to his friends. Moreover, having made a resolve to
assist and favour Michelagnolo, he sent for his father Lodovico and
asked for the boy from him, saying that he wished to maintain him as
one of his own children; and Lodovico gave him up willingly.
Thereupon the Magnificent Lorenzo granted him a chamber in his
own house and had him attended, and he ate always at his table with
his own children and with other persons of quality and of noble
blood who lived with that lord, by whom he was much honored. This
was in the year after he had been placed with Domenico, when
Michelagnolo was about fifteen or sixteen years of age; and he lived
in that house four years, which was until the death of the
Magnificent Lorenzo in 1492. During that time, then, Michelagnolo
had five ducats a month from that lord as an allowance and also to
help his father; and for his particular gratification Lorenzo gave
him a violet cloak, and to his father an office in the Customs.
Truth to tell, all the young men in the garden were salaried, some
little and some much, by the liberality of that magnificent and most
noble citizen, and rewarded by him as long as he lived.
At this time, at the advice of Poliziano, a man eminent in
letters, Michelagnolo executed from a piece of marble given to him
by that lord the Battle of Hercules with the Centaurs, which was so
beautiful that now, to those who study it from time to time, it
appears as if by the hand not of a youth but of a master of repute,
perfected by study and well practised in that art. It is now in his
house, treasured in memory of him by his nephew Leonardo as a rare
thing, which indeed it is. That Leonardo, not many years since, had
in his house in memory of his uncle a Madonna of marble in
low-relief by the hand of Michelagnolo, little more than one braccio
in height, in which when a lad, at this same time, wishing to
counterfeit the manner of Donatello, he acquitted himself so well
that it seems as if by Donatello's hand, save that there may be seen
hi it more grace and more design. That work Leonardo afterwards gave
to Duke Cosimo de' Medici, who treasures it as a unique thing, for
we have no other low-relief in sculpture by his hand save that one.
Now, returning to the garden of the Magnificent Lorenzo; that
garden was full of antiques and richly adorned with excellent
pictures, all gathered together in that place for their beauty, for
study, and for pleasure. Michelagnolo always had the keys, and he
was much more earnest than the others in his every action, and
showed himself always alert, bold, and resolute. He drew for many
months from the pictures of Masaccio in the Carmine, where he copied
those works with so much judgment, that the craftsmen and all other
men were astonished, in such sort that envy grew against him
together with his fame. It is said that Torrigiano, after
contracting a friendship with him, mocked him, being moved by envy
at seeing him more honoured than himself and more able in art, and
struck him a blow of the fist on the nose with such force, that he
broke and crushed it very grievously and marked him for life; on
which account Torrigiano was banished from Florence, as has been
related in another place.
When the Magnificent Lorenzo died, Michelagnolo returned to his
father's house in infinite sorrow at the death of so great a man,
the friend of every talent. There he bought a great piece of marble,
and from it carved a Hercules of four braccia, which stood for many
years in the Palace of the Strozzi; this was esteemed an admirable
work, and afterwards, in the year of the siege, it was sent into
Trance to King Francis by Giovan Battista della Palla. It is said
that Piero de' Medici, who had been left heir to his father Lorenzo,
having long been intimate with Michelagnolo, used often to send for
him when he wished to buy antiques, such as cameos and other carved
stones. One winter, when much snow fell in Florence, he caused him
to make in his courtyard a statue of snow, which was very beautiful;
and he honored Michelagnolo on account of his talents in such a
manner, that his father, beginning to see that he was esteemed among
the great, clothed him much more honorably than he had been wont to
do.
For the Church of S. Spirito in the city of Florence Michelagnolo
made a Crucifix of wood, which was placed, as it still is, above the
lunette of the high altar; doing this to please the Prior, who
placed rooms at his disposal, in which he was constantly flaying
dead bodies, in order to study the secrets of anatomy, thus
beginning to give perfection to the great knowledge of design that
he afterwards acquired. It came about that the Medici were driven
out of Florence, and a few weeks before that Michelagnolo had gone
to Bologna, and then to Venice, fearing, as he saw the insolence and
bad government of Piero de' Medici, lest some evil thing might
befall him from his being the servant of that family; but, not
having found any means of living in Venice, he returned to Bologna.
There he had the misfortune to neglect, through lack of thought,
when entering by the gate, to learn the countersign for going out
again, a command having been issued at that time, as a precaution,
at the desire of Messer Giovanni Bentivogli, that all strangers who
had not the countersign should be fined fifty Bolognese lire; and
having fallen into such a predicament, nor having the means to pay,
Michelagnolo by chance was seen by Messer Giovan Francesco
Aldovrandi, one of the Sixteen of the Government, who had compassion
on him, and, having made him tell his story, liberated him, and then
kept him in his house for more than a year. One day Aldovrandi took
him to see the tomb of S. Dominic, made, as has been related, by
Giovanni Pisano and then by Maestro Niccolo dell' Area, sculptors of
olden days. In that work there were wanting a S. Petronio and an
Angel holding a candelabrum, figures of about one braccio, and
Aldovrandi asked him if he felt himself able to make them ; and he
answered Yes. Whereupon he had the marble given to him, and
Michelagnolo executed them in such a manner, that they are the best
figures that are there ; and Messer Francesco Aldovrandi caused
thirty ducats to be given to him for the two. Michelagnolo stayed a
little more than a year in Bologna, and he would have stayed there
even longer, in order to repay the courtesy of Aldovrandi, who loved
him both for his design and because, liking Michelagnolo' s Tuscan
pronunciation in reading, he was pleased to hear from his lips the
works of Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, and other Tuscan poets. But,
since he knew that he was wasting his time, he was glad to return to
Florence.
There he made for Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici a S.
Giovannino of marble, and then set himself to make from another
piece of marble a Cupid that was sleeping, of the size of life.
This, when finished, was shown by means of Baldassarre del Milanese
to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco as a beautiful thing, and he, having
pronounced the same judgment, said to Michelagnolo: "If you were to
bury it under ground and then sent it to Rome treated in such a
manner as to make it look old, I am certain that it would pass for
an antique, and you would thus obtain much more for it than by
selling it here." It is said that Michelagnolo handled it in such a
manner as to make it appear an antique; nor is there any reason to
marvel at that, seeing that he had genius enough to do it, and even
more. Others maintain that Milanese took it to Rome and buried it in
a vineyard that he had there, and then sold it as an antique to
Cardinal San Giorgio for two hundred ducats. Others, again, say that
Milanese sold to the Cardinal one that Michelagnolo had made for
him, and that he wrote to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco that he should
cause thirty crowns to be given to Michelagnolo, saying that he had
not received more for the Cupid, and thus deceiving the Cardinal,
Lorenzo di Pier Francesco, and Michelagnolo; but afterwards, having
received information from one who had seen that the boy was
fashioned in Florence, the Cardinal contrived to learn the truth by
means of a messenger, and so went to work that Milanese's agent had
to restore the money and take back the Cupid. That work, having come
into the possession of Duke Valentino, was presented by him to the
Marchioness of Mantua, who took it to her own country, where it is
still to be seen at the present day. This affair did not happen
without some censure attaching to Cardinal San Giorgio, in that he
did not recognize the value of the work, which consisted in its
perfection; for modern works, if only they be excellent, are as good
as the ancient. What greater vanity is there than that of those who
concern themselves more with the name than the fact? But of that
kind of men, who pay more attention to the appearance than to the
reality, there are some to be found at any time.
Now this event brought so much reputation to Michelagnolo, that
he was straightway summoned to Rome and engaged by Cardinal San
Giorgio, with whom he stayed nearly a year, although, as one little
conversant with our arts, he did not commission Michelagnolo to do
any- thing. At that time a barber of the Cardinal, who had been a
painter, and could paint with great diligence in distemper colors,
but knew nothing of design, formed a friendship with Michelagnolo,
who made for him a cartoon of S. Francis receiving the Stigmata.
That cartoon was painted very carefully in colors by the barber on a
little panel; and the picture is now to be seen in S. Pietro a
Montorio in the first chapel on the left hand as one enters the
church. The talent of Michelagnolo was then clearly recognized by a
Roman gentleman named Messer Jacopo Galli, an ingenious person, who
caused him to make a Cupid of marble as large as life, and then a
figure of a Bacchus ten palms high, who has a cup in the right hand,
and in the left hand the skin of a tiger, with a bunch of grapes at
which a little satyr is trying to nibble. In that figure it may be
seen that he sought to achieve a certain fusion in the members that
is marvellous, and in particular that he gave it both the youthful
slendemess of the male and the fullness and roundness of the female
a thing so admirable, that he proved himself excellent in statuary
beyond any other modern that had worked up to that time. On which
account, during his stay in Rome, he made so much proficience in the
studies of art, that it was a thing incredible to see his exalted
thoughts and the difficulties of the manner exercised by him with
such supreme facility; to the amazement not only of those who were
not accustomed to see such things, but also of those familiar with
good work, for the reason that all the works executed up to that
time appeared as nothing in comparison with his. These things
awakened in Cardinal di San Dionigi, called Cardinal de Rohan, a
Frenchman, a desire to leave in a city so famous some worthy
memorial of himself by the hand of so rare a craftsman; and he
caused him to make a Pieta of marble in the round, which, when
finished, was placed in the Chapel of the Vergine Maria della Febbre
in S. Pietro, where the Temple of Mars used to be.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 3: The Vatican Pieta', the David, the Taddei, Pitti, and Doni
tondi, and the Palazzo Vecchio Frescoes
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
To this work let no sculptor, however rare a craftsman, ever
think to be able to approach in design or in grace, or ever to be
able with all the pains in the world to attain to such delicacy and
smoothness or to perforate the marble with such art as Michelagnolo
did therein, for in it may be seen all the power and worth of art.
Among the lovely things to be seen in the work, to say nothing of
the divinely beautiful draperies, is the body of Christ; nor let
anyone think to see greater beauty of members or more mastery of art
in any body, or a nude with more detail in the muscles, veins, and
nerves over the framework of the bones, nor yet a corpse more
similar than this to a real corpse. Here is perfect sweetness in the
expression of the head, harmony in the joints and attachments of the
arms, legs, and trunk, and the pulses and veins so wrought, that in
truth Wonder herself must marvel that the hand of a craftsman should
have been able to execute so divinely and so perfectly, in so short
a time, a work so admirable; and it is certainly a miracle that a
stone without any shape at the beginning should ever have been
reduced to such perfection as Nature is scarcely able to create in
the flesh. Such were Michelagnolo's love and zeal together in this
work, that he left his name a thing that he never did again in any
other work written across a girdle that encircles the bosom of Our
Lady. And the reason was that one day Michelagnolo, entering the
place where it was set up, found there a great number of strangers
from Lombardy, who were praising it highly, and one of them asked
one of the others who had done it, and he answered, "Our Gobbo from
Milan." Michelagnolo stood silent, but thought it something strange
that his labors should be attributed to another; and one night he
shut himself in there, and, having brought a little light and his
chisels, carved his name upon it. And truly the work is such, that
an exalted spirit has said, as to a real and living figure:
Bellezza ed Onestate
E Doglia e Pieta' in vivo marmo morte,
Deh, come voi pur fate,
Non piangete si forte,
Che anzi tempo risveglisi da morte;
E pur mal grado suo
Nostro Signore, e tuo
Sposo, Figliuolo, e Padre,
Unica Sposa sua, Figliuola, e Madre,
From this work he acquired very great fame, and although certain
persons, rather fools than otherwise, say that he has made Our Lady
too young, are these so ignorant as not to know that unspotted
virgins maintain and preserve their freshness of countenance a long
time without any mark, and that persons afflicted as Christ was do
the contrary? That circumstance, therefore, won an even greater
increase of glory and fame for his genius than all his previous
works.
Letters were written to him from Florence by some of his friends,
saying that he should return, because it was not unlikely that he
might obtain the spoiled block of marble lying in the Office of
Works, which Piero Soderini, who at that time had been made
Gonfalonier of the city for life, had very often talked of having
executed by Leonardo da Vinci, and was then arranging to give to
Maestro Andrea Contucci of Monte Sansovino, an excellent sculptor,
who was seeking to obtain it. Now, however difficult it might be to
carve a complete figure out of it without adding pieces (for which
work of finishing it without adding pieces none of the others, save
Buonarroti alone, had courage enough), Michelagnolo had felt a
desire for it for many years back; and, having come to Florence, he
sought to obtain it. This block of marble was nine braccia high, and
from it, unluckily, one Maestro Simone da Fiesole had begun a giant,
and he had managed to work so ill, that he had hacked a hole between
the legs, and it was altogether misshapen and reduced to ruin,
insomuch that the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, who had
the charge of the undertaking, had placed it on one side without
troubling to have it finished; and so it had remained for many years
past, and was likely to remain.
Michelagnolo measured it all anew, considering whether he might
be able to carve a reasonable figure from that block by
accommodating himself as to the attitude to the marble as it had
been left all misshapen by Maestro Simone; and he resolved to ask
for it from Soderini and the Wardens, by whom it was granted to him
as a thing of no value, they thinking that whatever he might make of
it would be better than the state in which it was at that time,
seeing that neither in pieces nor in that condition could it be of
any use to their building. Whereupon Michelagnolo made a model of
wax, fashioning in it, as a device for the Palace, a young David
with a sling hi his hand, to the end that, even as he had defended
his people and governed them with justice, so those governing that
city might defend her valiantly and govern her justly. And he began
it in the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, in which he made an
enclosure of planks and masonry, thus surrounding the marble; and,
working at it continuously without anyone seeing it, he carried it
to perfect completion. The marble had already been spoilt and
distorted by Maestro Simone, and in some places it was not enough to
satisfy the wishes of Michelagnolo for what he would have liked to
do with it; and he therefore suffered certain of the first marks of
Maestro Simone' s chisel to remain on the extremity of the marble,
some of which are still to be seen. And truly it was a miracle on
the part of Michelagnolo to restore to life a thing that was dead.
This statue, when finished, was of such a kind that many disputes
took place as to how to transport it to the Piazza, della Signoria.
Whereupon Giuliano da San Gallo and his brother Antonio made a very
strong framework of wood and suspended the figure from it with
ropes, to the end that it might not hit against the wood and break
to pieces, but might rather keep rocking gently; and they drew it
with windlasses over flat beams laid upon the ground, and then set
it in place. On the rope which held the figure suspended he made a
slip-knot which was very easy to undo but tightened as the weight
increased, which is a most beautiful and ingenious thing; and I have
in my book a drawing of it by his own hand an admirable, secure, and
strong contrivance for suspending weights.
It happened at this time that Piero Soderini, having seen it in
place, was well pleased with it, but said to Michelagnolo, at a
moment when he was retouching it in certain parts, that it seemed to
him that the nose of the figure was too thick. Michelagnolo noticed
that the Gonfalonier was beneath the Giant, and that his point of
view prevented him from seeing it properly; but in order to satisfy
him he climbed upon the staging, which was against the shoulders,
and quickly took up a chisel in his left hand, with a little of the
marble-dust that lay upon the planks of the staging, and then,
beginning to strike lightly with the chisel, let fall the dust
little by little, nor changed the nose a whit from what it was
before. Then, looking down at the Gonfalonier, who stood watching
him, he said, "Look at it now." "I like it better," said the
Gonfalonier, "you have given it life." And so Michelagnolo came
down, laughing to himself at having satisfied that lord, for he had
compassion on those who, in order to appear full of knowledge, talk
about things of which they know nothing.
When it was built up, and all was finished, he uncovered it, and
it cannot be denied that this work has carried off the palm from all
other statues, modern or ancient, Greek or Latin; and it may be said
that neither the Marforio at Rome, nor the Tiber and the Nile of the
Belvedere, nor the Giants of Monte Cavallo, are equal to it in any
respect, with such just proportion, beauty and excellence did
Michelagnolo finish it. For in it may be seen most beautiful
contours of legs, with attachments of limbs and slender outlines of
flanks that are divine; nor has there ever been seen a pose so easy,
or any grace to equal that in this work, or feet, hands and head so
well in accord, one member with another, in harmony, design, and
excellence of artistry. And, of a truth, whoever has seen this work
need not trouble to see any other work executed in sculpture, either
in our own or in other times, by no matter what craftsman.
Michelagnolo received from Piero Soderini in payment for it four
hundred crowns; and it was set in place in the year 1504. In
consequence of the fame that he thereby won as a sculptor, he made
for the above-named Gonfalonier a most beautiful David of bronze,
which Soderini sent to France; and at this time, also, he began, but
did not finish, two medallions of marble one for Taddeo Taddei,
which is now in his house, and another that he began for Bartolommeo
Pitti, which was presented by Fra Miniato Pitti of Monte Oliveto, a
man with a rare knowledge in cosmography and many other sciences,
and particularly in painting, to Luigi Guicciardini, who was much
his friend. These works were held to be admirable in their
excellence; and at this same time, also, he blocked out a statue of
S. Matthew in marble in the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore,
which statue, rough as it is, reveals its full perfection and
teaches sculptors in what manner figures can be carved out of marble
without their coming out misshapen, so that it may be possible to go
on ever improving them by removing more of the marble with judgment,
and also to draw back and change some part, according as the
necessity may arise. He also made a medallion in bronze of a
Madonna, which he cast in bronze at the request of certain Flemish
merchants of the Moscheroni family, persons of high nobility in
their own country, who paid him a hundred crowns for it, and
intended to send it to Flanders.
There came to Agnolo Doni, a Florentine citizen and a friend of
Michelagnolo, who much delighted to have beautiful things both by
ancient and by modern craftsmen, a desire to possess some work by
Michelagnolo; wherefore that master began for him a round picture
containing a Madonna, who, kneeling on both knees, has an Infant in
her arms and presents Him to Joseph, who receives Him. Here
Michelagnolo expresses in the turn of the head of the Mother of
Christ and in the gaze of her eyes, which she keeps fixed on the
supreme beauty of her Son, her marvellous contentment and her
lovingness in sharing it with that saintly old man, who receives Him
with equal affection, tenderness, and reverence, as may be seen very
readily in his countenance, without con- sidering it long. Nor was
this enough for Michelagnolo, who, the better to show how great was
his art, made in the background of his work a number of nudes, some
leaning, some standing, and some seated; and with such diligence and
finish he executed this work, that without a doubt, of his pictures
on panel, which indeed are but few, it is held to be the most
finished and the most beautiful work that there is to be found. When
it was completed, he sent it covered up to Agnolo' s house by a
messenger, with a note demanding seventy ducats in payment. It
seemed strange to Agnolo, who was a careful person, to spend so much
on a picture, although he knew that it was worth more, and he said
to the messenger that forty was enough, which he gave to him.
Thereupon Michelagnolo sent them back to him, with a message to say
that he should send back either one hundred ducats or the picture.
Then Agnolo, who liked the work, said, " I will give him these
seventy," but he was not content; indeed, angered by Agnolo' s
breach of faith, he demanded the double of what he had asked the
first time, so that, if Agnolo wanted the picture, he was forced to
send him a hundred and forty.
It happened that while Leonardo da Vinci, that rare painter, was
painting in the Great Council Hall, as has been related in his Life,
Piero Soderini, who was then Gonfalonier, moved by the great ability
that he saw in Michelagnolo, caused a part of that Hall to be
allotted to him; which was the reason that he executed the other
fagade in competition with Leonardo, taking as his subject the War
of Pisa. To this end Michelagnolo was given a room in the Hospital
of the Dyers at S. Onofrio, and there he began a vast cartoon, but
would never consent that anyone should see it. And this he filled
with naked men that were bathing in the River Arno on account of the
heat, when suddenly the alarm sounded in the camp, announcing that
the enemy were attacking; and, as the soldiers were springing out of
the water to dress themselves, there could be seen, depicted by the
divine hands of Michelagnolo, some hastening to arm themselves in
order to give assistance to their companions, others buckling on
their cuirasses, many fastening other armour on their bodies, and a
vast number beginning the fray and fighting on horseback. There was,
among other figures, an old man who had a garland of ivy on his head
to shade it, and he, having sat down in order to put on his hose,
into which his legs would not go because they were wet with water,
and hearing the cries and tumult of the soldiers and the uproar of
the drummers, was struggling to draw on one stocking by force; and,
besides that all the muscles and nerves of his figure could be
perceived, his mouth was so distorted as to show clearly how he was
straining and struggling even to the very tips of his toes.
There were also drummers, and figures with their clothes in their
arms running to the combat; and there were to be seen the most
extravagant attitudes, some standing, some kneeling or bent double,
others stretched horizontally and struggling in mid-air, and all
with masterly foreshortenings. There were also many figures in
groups, all sketched in various manners, some outlined with
charcoal, some drawn with strokes, others stumped in and heightened
with lead- white, Michelagnolo desiring to show how much he knew in
his profession. Wherefore the craftsmen were seized with admiration
and aston- ishment, seeing the perfection of art revealed to them in
that drawing by Michelagnolo; and some who saw them, after beholding
figures so divine, declare that there has never been seen any work,
either by his hand or by the hands of others, no matter how great
their genius, that can equal it in divine beauty of art. And, in
truth, it is likely enough, for the reason that since the time when
it was finished and carried to the Sala del Papa with great
acclamation from the world of art and extraordinary glory for
Michelagnolo, all those who studied from that cartoon and drew those
figures as was afterwards the custom in Florence for many years both
for strangers and for natives became persons eminent in art, as we
have since seen. For among those who studied the cartoon were
Aristotile da San Gallo, the friend of Michelagnolo, Ridolfo
Ghirlandajo, Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, Francesco Granacci, Baccio
Bandi- nelli, and the Spaniard Alonzo Berughetta, and then there
followed Andrea del Sarto, Franciabigio, Jacopo Sansovino, Rosso,
Maturino, Lorenzetto, Tribolo, who was then a boy, Jacopo da
Pontormo, and Perino del Vaga; and all these became excellent
Florentine masters. The cartoon having thus become a school for
craftsmen, it was taken into the Great Upper Hall in the house of
the Medici; and this was the reason that it was left with too little
caution in the hands of the craftsmen, insomuch that during the
illness of Duke Giuliano, while no one was expecting such a thing,
it was torn up and divided into many pieces, as has been related
elsewhere, and scattered over various places, to which some pieces
bear witness that are still to be seen in Mantua, in the house of M.
Uberto Strozzi, a gentleman of that city, where they are treasured
with great reverence; and, indeed, they seem to the eye things
rather divine than human.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 4: The Tomb of Julius II to his Bronze Statue in Bologna
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
The name of Michelagnolo, by reason of the Pieta that he had
made, the Giant in Florence, and the cartoon, had become so famous,
that in the year 1503, Pope Alexander VI having died and Julius II
having been elected, at which time Michelagnolo was about
twenty-nine years of age, he was summoned with much graciousness by
Julius II, who wished to set him to make his tomb; and for the
expenses of the journey a hundred crowns were paid to him by the
Pope's representatives. Having made his way to Rome, he spent many
months there before he was made to set his hand to any work. But
finally the Pope's choice fell on a design that he had made for that
tomb, an excellent testimony to the genius of Michelagnolo, which in
beauty and magnificence, abundance of ornamentation and richness of
statuary, surpassed every ancient or imperial tomb. Whereupon Pope
Julius took courage, and thus resolved to set his hand to make anew
the Church of S. Pietro in Rome, in order to erect the tomb in it,
as has been related in another place. And so Michelagnolo set to
work with high hopes; and, in order to make a beginning, he went to
Carrara to excavate all the marble, with two assistants, receiving a
thousand crowns on that account from Alamanno Salviati in Florence.
There, in those mountains, he spent eight months without other
moneys or supplies; and he had many fantastic ideas of carving great
statues in those quarries, in order to leave memorials of himself,
as the ancients had done before him, being invited by those masses
of stone. Then, having picked out the due quantity of marbles, he
caused them to be loaded on board ship at the coast and then
conveyed to Rome, where they filled half the Piazza di S. Pietro,
round about S. Caterina, and between the church and the corridor
that goes to the Castello. In that place Michelagnolo had prepared
his room for executing the figures and the rest of the tomb; and, to
the end that the Pope might be able to come at his convenience to
see him at work, he had caused a draw- bridge to be constructed
between the corridor and that room, which led to a great intimacy
between them. But in time these favours brought much annoyance and
even persecution upon him, and stirred up much envy against him
among his fellow-craftsmen.
Of this work Michelagnolo executed during the lifetime and after
the death of Julius four statues completely finished and eight only
blocked out, as will be related in the proper place; and since the
work was designed with extraordinary invention, we will describe
here below the plan that he adopted. In order to produce an effect
of supreme grandeur, he decided that it should be wholly isolated,
so as to be seen from all four sides, each side in one direction
being twelve braccia and each in the other eighteen, so that the
proportions were a square and a half. It had a range of niches
running right round the outer side, which were divided one from
another by terminal figures clothed from the middle upwards, which
with their heads supported the first cornice, and each terminal
figure had bound to it, in a strange and bizarre attitude, a naked
captive, whose feet rested on a projection of the base. These
captives were all provinces subjugated by that Pontiff and rendered
obedient to the Apostolic Church; and there were various other
statues, likewise bound, of all the noble arts and sciences, which
were thus shown to be subject to death no less than was that
Pontiff, who made such honourable use of them. On the corners of the
first cornice were to go four large figures, the Active and the
Contemplative Life, S. Paul, and Moses. The structure rose above the
cornice in steps gradually diminish- ing, with a frieze of scenes in
bronze, and with other figures, children and ornaments all around,
and at the summit, as a crown to the work, were two figures, one of
which was Heaven, who, smiling, was support- ing a bier on her
shoulder, together with Cybele, the Goddess of Earth, who appeared
to be grieving that she was left in a world robbed of all virtue by
the death of such a man; and Heaven appeared to be smiling with
gladness that his soul had passed to celestial glory. The work was
so arranged that one might enter and come out again by the ends of
the quadrangular structure, between the niches, and the interior
curved in the form of an oval after the manner of a temple, in the
center of which was the sarcophagus wherein was to be laid the dead
body of that Pope.
And, finally, there were to be in this whole work forty statues
of marble, without counting the other scenes, children, and
ornaments, the carvings covering the cornices, and the other
architectural members of the work. Michelagnolo ordained, to
expedite the labor, that a part of the marbles should be conveyed to
Florence, where he intended at times to spend the summer months in
order to avoid the malaria of Rome; and there he executed one side
of the work in many pieces, complete in every detail. In Rome he
finished entirely with his own hand two of the captives, figures
divinely beautiful, and other statues, than which none better have
ever been seen; but in the end they were never placed in position,
and those captives were presented by him to S. Ruberto Strozzi, when
Michelagnolo happened to be lying ill in his house; which captives
were afterwards sent as presents to King Francis, and they are now
at Ecouen in France. Eight statues, likewise, he blocked out in
Rome, and in Florence he blocked out five and finished a Victory
with a captive beneath, which are now in the possession of Duke
Cosimo, having been presented by Michelagnolo' s nephew, Leonardo,
to his Excellency, who has placed the Victory in the Great Hall of
his Palace, which was painted by Vasari.
He finished the Moses, a statue in marble of five braccia, which
no modern work will ever equal in beauty; and of the ancient
statues, also, the same may be said. For, seated in an attitude of
great dignity, he rests one arm on the Tables, which he holds with
one hand, and with the other he holds his beard, which is long and
waving, and carved in the marble in such sort, that the hairs in
which the sculptor finds such difficulty are wrought with the
greatest delicacy, soft, feathery, and detailed in such a manner,
that one cannot but believe that his chisel was changed into a
pencil. To say nothing of the beauty of the face, which has all the
air of a true Saint and most dread Prince, you seem, while you gaze
upon it, to wish to demand from him the veil wherewith to cover that
face, so resplendent and so dazzling it appears to you, and so well
has Michelagnolo expressed the divinity that God infused in that
most holy countenance. In addition, there are draperies carved out
and finished with most beautiful curves of the borders; while the
arms with their muscles, and the hands with their bones and nerves,
are carried to such a pitch of beauty and perfection, and the legs,
knees, and feet are covered with buskins so beautifully fashioned,
and every part of the work is so finished, that Moses may be called
now more than ever the friend of God, seeing that He has deigned to
assemble together and prepare his body for the Resurrection before
that of any other, by the hands of Michelagnolo. Well may the
Hebrews continue to go there, as they do every Sabbath, both men and
women, like flocks of starlings, to visit and adore that statue; for
they will be adoring a thing not human but divine.
Finally all the agreements for this work were made, and the end
came into view; and of the four sides one of the smaller ones was
afterwards erected in S. Pietro in Vincola. It is said that while
Michelagnolo was executing the work, there came to the Ripa all the
rest of the marbles for the tomb that had remained at Carrara, which
were conveyed to the Piazza di S. Pietro, where the others were;
and, since it was necessary to pay those who had conveyed them,
Michelagnolo went, as was his custom, to the Pope. But, his Holiness
having on his hands that day some important business concerning
Bologna, he returned to his house and paid for those marbles out of
his own purse, thinking to have the order for them straightway from
his Holiness. He returned another day to speak of them to the Pope,
but found difficulty in entering, for one of the grooms told him
that he had orders not to admit him, and that he must have patience.
A Bishop then said to the groom, "Perhaps you do not know this man?"
"Only too well do I know him," answered the groom; "but I am here to
do as I am commanded by my superiors and by the Pope." This action
displeased Michelagnolo, and, considering that it was contrary to
what he had experienced before, he said to the Pope's groom that he
should tell his Holiness that from that time forward, when he should
want him, it would be found that he had gone elsewhere; and then,
having returned to his house, at the second hour of the night he set
out on post-horses, leaving two servants to sell all the furniture
of his house to the Jews and to follow him to Florence, whither he
was bound. Having arrived at Poggibonsi, a place in the Florentine
territory, and therefore safe, he stopped; and almost immediately
five couriers arrived with letters from the Pope to bring him back.
Despite their entreaties and also the letters, which ordered him to
return to Rome under threat of punishment, he would not listen to a
word; but finally the prayers of the couriers induced him to write a
few words in reply to his Holiness, asking for pardon, but saying
that he would never again return to his presence, since he had
caused him to be driven away like a criminal, that his faithful
service had not deserved such treatment, and that his Holiness
should look elsewhere for someone to serve him.
After arriving at Florence, Michelagnolo devoted himself during
the three months that he stayed there to finishing the cartoon for
the Great Hall, which Piero Soderini, the Gonfalonier, desired that
he should carry into execution. During that time there came to the
Signoria three Briefs commanding them to send Michelagnolo back to
Rome: wherefore he, perceiving this vehemence on the part of the
Pope, and not trusting him, conceived the idea, so it is said, of
going to Constantinople to serve the Grand Turk, who desired to
secure him, by means of certain Friars of S. Francis, to build a
bridge crossing from Constantinople to Pera. However, he was
persuaded by Piero Soderini, although very unwilling, to go to meet
the Pope as a person of public importance with the title of
Ambassador of the city, to reassure him; and finally the Gonfalonier
recommended him to his brother Cardinal Soderini for presentation to
the Pope, and sent him off to Bologna, where his Holiness had
already arrived from Rome. His departure from Rome is also explained
in another way namely, that the Pope became angered against
Michelagnolo, who would not allow any of his works to be seen ; that
Michelagnolo suspected his own men, doubting (as happened more than
once) that the Pope disguised himself and saw what he was doing on
certain occasions when he himself was not at home or at work; and
that on one occasion, when the Pope had bribed his assistants to
admit him to see the chapel of his uncle Sixtus, which, as was
related a little time back, he caused Buonarroti to paint,
Michelagnolo, having waited in hiding because he suspected the
treachery of his assistants, threw planks down at the Pope when he
entered the chapel, not considering who it might be, and drove him
forth in a fury. It is enough for us to know that in the one way or
the other he fell out with the Pope and then became afraid, so that
he had to fly from his presence.
Now, having arrived in Bologna, he had scarcely drawn off his
riding-boots when he was conducted by the Pope's servants to his
Holiness, who was in the Palazzo de' Sedici; and he was accompanied
by a Bishop sent by Cardinal Soderini, because the Cardinal, being
ill, was not able to go himself. Having come into the presence of
the Pope, Michelagnolo knelt down, but his Holiness looked askance
at him, as if in anger, and said to him, "Instead of coming yourself
to meet us, you have waited for us to come to meet you!" meaning to
infer that Bologna is nearer to Florence than Rome. Michelagnolo,
with a courtly gesture of the hands, but in a firm voice, humbly
begged for pardon, saying in excuse that he had acted as he had done
in anger, not being able to endure to be driven away so abruptly,
but that, if he had erred, his Holiness should once more forgive
him. The Bishop who had presented Michelagnolo to his Holiness,
making excuse for him, said to the Pope that such men were ignorant
creatures, that they were worth nothing save in their own art, and
that he should freely pardon him. The Pope, seized with anger,
belabored the Bishop with a staff that he had in his hand, saying to
him, "It is you that are ignorant, who level insults at him that we
ourselves do not think of uttering"; and then the Bishop was driven
out by the groom with fisticuffs. When he had gone, the Pope, having
discharged his anger upon him, gave Michelagnolo his benediction;
and the master was detained in Bologna with gifts and promises,
until finally his Holiness commanded him that he should make a
statue of bronze in the likeness of Pope Julius, five braccia in
height. In this work he showed most beautiful art in the attitude,
which had an effect of much majesty and grandeur, and displayed
richness and magnificence in the draperies, and in the countenance,
spirit, force, resolution, and stern dignity; and it was placed in a
niche over the door of S. Petronio. It is said that while
Michelagnolo was working at it, he received a visit from Francia, a
most excellent goldsmith and painter, who wished to see it, having
heard so much praise and fame of him and of his works, and not
having seen any of them, so that agents had been set to work to
enable him to see it, and he had obtained permission. Whereupon,
seeing the artistry of Michelagnolo, he was amazed: and then, being
asked by Michelagnolo what he thought of that figure, Francia
answered that it was a most beautiful casting and a fine material.
Wherefore Michelagnolo, considering that he had praised the bronze
rather than the workmanship, said to him, " I owe the same
obligation to Pope Julius, who has given it to me, that you owe to
the apothecaries who give you your colors for painting;" and in his
anger, in the presence of all the gentlemen there, he declared that
Francia was a fool. In the same connection, when a son of Francia' s
came before him and was announced as a very beautiful youth,
Michelagnolo said to him, "Your father's living figures are finer
than those that he paints." Among the same gentlemen was one, whose
name I know not, who asked Michelagnolo which he thought was the
larger, the statue of the Pope or a pair of oxen; and he answered,
"That depends on the oxen. If they are these Bolognese oxen, then
without a doubt our Florentine oxen are not so big."
Michelagnolo had the statue finished in clay before the Pope
departed from Bologna for Rome, and his Holiness, having gone to see
it, but not knowing what was to be placed in the left hand, and
seeing the right hand raised in a proud gesture, asked whether it
was pronouncing a benediction or a curse. Michelagnolo answered that
it was admonishing the people of Bologna to mind their behavior, and
asked his Holiness to decide whether he should place a book in the
left hand; and he said, "Put a sword there, for I know nothing of
letters." The Pope left a thousand crowns in the bank of M. Anton
Maria da Lignano for the completion of the statue, and at the end of
the sixteen months that Michelagnolo toiled over the work it was
placed on the frontispiece in the f a$ade of the Church of S.
Petronio, as has been related; and we have also spoken of its size.
This statue was destroyed by the Bentivogli, and the bronze was sold
to Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, who made with it a piece of artillery
called La Giulia; saving only the head, which is to be found in his
guardaroba.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 5: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
When the Pope had returned to Rome and Michelagnolo was at work
on the statue, Bramante, the friend and relative of Raffaello da
Urbino, and for that reason little the friend of Michelagnolo,
perceiving that the Pope held in great favor and estimation the
works that he executed in sculpture, was constantly planning with
Raffaello in Michelagnolo' s absence to remove from the mind of his
Holiness the idea of causing Michelagnolo, after his return, to
devote himself to finishing his tomb; saying that for a man to
prepare himself a tomb during his own lifetime was an evil augury
and a hurrying on of his death. And they persuaded his Holiness that
on the return of Michelagnolo, he should cause him to paint in
memory of his uncle Sixtus the vaulting of the chapel that he had
built in the Palace. In this manner it seemed possible to Bramante
and other rivals of Michelagnolo to draw him away from sculpture, in
which they saw him to be perfect, and to plunge him into despair,
they thinking that if they compelled him to paint, he would do work
less worthy of praise, since he had no experience of colors in
fresco, and that he would prove inferior to Raffaello, and, even if
he did succeed in the work, in any case it would make him angry
against the Pope; so that in either event they would achieve their
object of getting rid of him. And so, when Michelagnolo returned to
Rome, the Pope was not disposed at that time to finish his tomb, and
requested him to paint the vaulting of the chapel. Michelagnolo, who
desired to finish the tomb, believing the vaulting of that chapel to
be a great and difficult labour, and considering his own want of
practice in colors, sought by every means to shake such a burden
from his shoulders, and proposed Raffaello for the work.
But the more he refused, the greater grew the desire of the Pope,
who was headstrong in his undertakings, and, in addition, was being
spurred on anew by the rivals of Michelagnolo, and especially by
Bramante; so that his Holiness, who was quick-tempered, was on the
point of becoming enraged with Michelagnolo. Whereupon Michelagnolo,
perceiving that his Holiness was determined in the matter, resolved
to do it ; and the Pope commanded Bramante to erect the scaffolding
from which the vaulting might be painted. Bramante made it all
supported by ropes, piercing the vaulting; which having perceived,
Michelagnolo inquired of Bramante how he was to proceed to fill up
the holes when he had finished painting it, and he replied that he
would think of that afterwards, and that it could not be done
otherwise. Michelagnolo recognized that Bramante was either not very
competent for such a work or else little his friend, and he went to
the Pope and said to him that the scaffolding was not satisfactory,
and that Bramante had not known how to make it ; and the Pope
answered, in the presence of Bramante, that he should make it after
his own fashion. And so he commanded that it should be erected upon
props so as not to touch the walls, a method of making scaffoldings
for vaults that he taught afterwards to Bramante and others, whereby
many fine works have been executed. Thus he enabled a poor creature
of a carpenter, who rebuilt the scaffolding, to dispense with so
many of the ropes, that, after selling them (for Michelagnolo gave
them to him), he made up a dowry for his daughter.
He then set his hand to making the cartoons for that vaulting;
and the Pope decided, also, that the walls which the masters before
him in the time of Sixtus had painted should be scraped clean, and
decreed that he should have fifteen thousand ducats for the whole
cost of the work; which price was fixed through Giuliano da San
Gallo. Thereupon, forced by the magnitude of the undertaking to
resign himself to obtaining assistance, Michelagnolo sent for men to
Florence; and he determined to demonstrate in such a work that those
who had painted there before him were destined to be vanquished by
his labors, and also resolved to show to the modern craftsmen how to
draw and paint. Having begun the cartoons, he finished them; and the
circumstances of the work spurred him to soar to great heights, both
for his own fame and for the welfare of art. And then, desiring to
paint it in fresco-colours, and not having any experience of them,
there came from Florence to Rome certain of his friends who were
painters, to the end that they might give him assistance in such a
work, and also that he might learn from them the method of working
in fresco, in which some of them were well-practised; and among
these were Granaccio, Giuliano Bugiardini, Jacopo di Sandro, the
elder Indaco, Agnolo di Donnino, and Aristotile. Having made a
commencement with the work, he caused them to begin some things as
specimens; but, perceiving that their efforts were very far from
what he desired, and not being satisfied with them, he resolved one
morning to throw to the ground everything that they had done. Then,
shutting himself up in the chapel, he would never open to them, nor
even allowed himself to be seen by them when he was at home. And so,
when the jest appeared to them to be going too far, they resigned
themselves to it and returned in shame to Florence. Thereupon
Michelagnolo, having made arrangements to paint the whole work by
himself, carried it well on the way to completion with the utmost
solicitude, labor, and study; nor would he ever let himself be seen,
lest he should give any occasion to compel him to show it, so that
the desire in the minds of everyone to see it grew greater every
day.
Pope Julius was always very desirous to see any undertakings that
he was having carried out, and therefore became more eager than ever
to see this one, which was hidden from him. And so one day he
resolved to go to see it, but was not admitted, for Michelagnolo
would never have consented to show it to him; out of which affair
arose the quarrel that has been described, when he had to depart
from Rome because he would not show his work to the Pope. Now, when
a third of the work was finished (as I ascertained from him in order
to clear up all doubts), it began to throw out certain spots of
mould, one winter that the north wind was blowing. The reason of
this was that the Roman lime, which is made of travertine and white
in colour, does not dry very readily, and, when mixed with
pozzolana, which is of a tawny colour, makes a dark mixture which,
when soft, is very watery; and when the wall has been well soaked,
it often breaks out into an efflorescence in the drying; and thus
this salt efflorescence of moisture came out in many places, but in
time the air consumed it. Michelagnolo was in despair over this, and
was unwilling to continue the work, asking the Pope to excuse him,
since he was not succeeding; but his Holiness sent Giuliano da San
Gallo to see him, and he, having told him whence the defect arose
and taught him how to remove the spots of mould, encouraged him to
persevere.
Now, when he had finished half of it, the Pope, who had
subsequently gone to see it several times (mounting certain ladders
with the assistance of Michelagnolo), insisted that it should be
thrown open, for he was hasty and impatient by nature, and could not
wait for it to be completely finished and to receive, as the saying
is, the final touch. No sooner was it thrown open than all Rome was
drawn to see it, and the Pope was the first, not having the patience
to wait until the dust caused by the dismantling of the scaffolding
had settled. Thereupon Raffaello da Urbino, who was very excellent
in imitation, after seeing it straightway changed his manner, and
without losing any time, in order to display his ability, painted
the Prophets and Sibyls in the work of the Pace; and at the same
time Bramante sought to have the other half of the chapel entrusted
by the Pope to Raffaello. Which hearing, Michelagnolo complained of
Bramante, and revealed to the Pope without any reserve many faults
both in his life and in his architectural works; of which last, in
the building of S. Pietro, as was seen afterwards, Michelagnolo
became the corrector. But the Pope, recognizing more clearly every
day the ability of Michel- agnolo, desired that he should continue
the work, judging, after he had seen it uncovered, that he could
make the second half considerably better; and so in twenty months he
carried that work to perfect completion by himself alone, without
the assistance even of anyone to grind his colours. Michelagnolo
complained at times that on account of the haste that the Pope
imposed on him he was not able to finish it in his own fashion, as
he would have liked ; for his Holiness was always asking him
importunately when he would finish it. On one occasion, among
others, he replied, "It will be finished when I shall have satisfied
myself in the matter of art." "But it is our pleasure," answered the
Pope, "that you should satisfy us in our desire to have it done
quickly;" and he added, finally, that if Michelagnolo did not finish
the work quickly he would have him thrown down from the scaffolding.
Whereupon Michelagnolo, who feared and had good reason to fear the
anger of the Pope, straightway finished all that was wanting,
without losing any time, and, after taking down the rest of the
scaffolding, threw it open to view on the morning of All Saints'
Day, when the Pope went into the chapel to sing Mass, to the great
satisfaction of the whole city. Michelagnolo desired to retouch some
parts "a secco," as the old masters had done on the scenes below,
painting backgrounds, draperies, and skies in ultramarine, and
ornaments in gold in certain places, to the end that this might
produce greater richness and a more striking effect; and the Pope,
having learned that this ornamentation was wanting, and hearing the
work praised so much by all who had seen it, wished him to finish
it; but, since it would have been too long a labor for Michelagnolo
to rebuild the scaffolding, it was left as it was. His Holiness,
often seeing Michelagnolo, would say to him that the chapel should
be enriched with colors and gold, since it looked poor. And
Michelagnolo would answer familiarly, "Holy Father, in those times
men did not bedeck themselves with gold, and those that are painted
there were never very rich, but rather holy men, on which account
they despised riches."
For this work Michelagnolo was paid by the Pope three thousand
crowns on several occasions, of which he had to spend twenty-five on
colors. The work was executed with very great discomfort to himself,
from his having to labor with his face upwards, which so impaired
his sight that for a time, which was not less than several months,
he was not able to read letters or look at drawings save with his
head backwards. And to this I can bear witness, having painted five
vaulted chambers in the great apartments in the Palace of Duke
Cosimo, when, if I had not made a chair on which I could rest my
head and lie down at my work, I would never have finished it; even
so, it has so ruined my sight and injured my head, that I still feel
the effects, and I am astonished that Michelagnolo endured all that
discomfort so well. But in truth, becoming more and more kindled
every day by his fervour in the work, and encouraged by the
proficience and improvement that he made, he felt no fatigue and
cared nothing for discomfort.
The distribution of this work is contrived with pendentives on
either side with one in the center of the walls at the foot and at
the head, and on these he painted Sibyls and Prophets, six braccia
in height; in the centre of the vault the history of the world from
the Creation down to the : Deluge arid the Drunkenness of Noah, and
in the lunettes all the Genealogy of Christ. In these compartments
he used no rule of perspectives in foreshortening, nor is there any
fixed point of view, but he accommodated the compartments to the
figures rather than the figures to the compartments, being satisfied
to execute those figures, both the nude and the draped, with the
perfection of design, so that another such work has never been and
never can be done, and it is scarcely possible even to imitate his
achievement. This work, in truth, has been and still is the lamp of
our art, and has bestowed such benefits and shed so much light on
the art of painting, that it has served to illuminate a world that
had lain in darkness for so many hundreds of years. And it is
certain that no man who is a painter need think any more to see new
inventions, attitudes, and draperies for the clothing of figures,
novel manners of expression, and things painted with greater variety
and force, because he gave to this work all the perfection that can
be given to any work executed in such a field of art. And at the
present day everyone is amazed who is able to perceive in it the
excellence of the figures, the perfection of the foreshortenings,
and the extraordinary roundness of the contours, which have in them
slenderness and grace, being drawn with the beauty of proportion
that is seen in beautiful nudes ; and these, in order to display the
supreme perfection of art, he made of all ages, different in
expression and in form, in countenance and in outline, some more
slender and some fuller in the members; as may also be seen in the
beautiful attitudes, which are all different, some seated, some
moving, and others upholding certain festoons of oak-leaves and
acorns, placed there as the arms and device of Pope Julius, and
signifying^ that at that time and under his government was the age
of gold; for Italy was not then in the travail and misery that she
has since suffered. Between them, also, they hold some medallions
containing stories in relief in imitation of bronze and gold, taken
from the Book of Kings.
Besides this, in order to display the perfection of art and also
the greatness of God, he painted in a scene God dividing Light from
Darkness, wherein may be seen His Majesty as He rests self-sustained
with the arms outstretched, and reveals both love and power. In the
second scene he depicted with most beautiful judgment and genius ^od
creating the Sun_ and_Mpqn, in which He is supported by many little
Angels, in an attitude sublime and terrible by reason of the
foreshortenings in the arms and legs. In the same scene Michelagnolo
depicted Him after the Blessing of the Earth and the Creation of the
Animals, when He is seen on that vaulting as a figure flying in
foreshortening; and wherever you go throughout the chapel, it turns
constantly and faces in every direction. So, also, in the next
scene, where He is dividing the Water from the Earth; and both these
are very beautiful figures and refinements of genius such as could
be produced only by the divine hands of Michelagnolo. He then went
on, beyond that scene, to the Creation of Adam, wherein he figured
God as borne by a group of nude Angels of tender age, which appear
to be supporting not one figure only, but the whole weight of the
world; this effect being produced by the venerable majesty of His
form and by the manner of the movement with which He embraces some
of the little Angels with one arm, as if to support Himself, and
with the other extends the right hand towards Adam, a figure of such
a kind in its beauty, in the attitude, and in the outlines, that it
appears as if newly fashioned by the first and supreme Creator
rather than by the brush and design of a mortal man. Beyond this, in
another scene, he made God taking our mother Eve from Adam's side,
in which may be seen those two nude figures, one as it were dead
from his being the thrall of sleep, and the other become alive and
filled with animation by the blessing of God. Very clearly do we see
from the brush of this most gifted craftsman the difference that
there is between sleep and wakefulness, and how firm and stable,
speaking humanly, the Divine Majesty may appear.
Next to this there follows the scene when Adam, at the persuasion
of a figure half woman and half serpent, brings death upon himself
and upon us by the Forbidden Fruit; and there, also, are seen Adam
and Eve driven from Paradise. In the figure of the Angel is shown
with nobility and grandeur the execution of the mandate of a
wrathful Lord, and in the attitude of Adam the sorrow for his sin
together with the fear of death, as likewise in the woman may be
seen shame, abasement, and the desire to implore pardon, as she
presses the arms to the breast, clasps the hands palm to palm, and
sinks the neck into the bosom, and also turns the head towards the
Angel, having more fear of the justice of God than hope in His
mercy. Nor is there less beauty in the story of the sacrifice of
Cain and Abel, wherein are some who are bringing up the wood, some
who are bent down and blowing at the fire, and others who are
cutting the throat of the victim; which certainly is all executed
with not less consideration and attention than the others. He showed
the same art and the same judgment in the story of the Deluge,
wherein are seen various deaths of men, who, terrified by the horror
of those days, are striving their utmost in different ways to save
their lives. For in the faces of those figures may be seen life a
prey to death, not less than fear, terror, and disregard of
everything ; and compassion is visible in many that are assist- ing
one another to climb to the summit of a rock in search of safety,
among them one who, having embraced one half dead, is striving his
utmost to save him, than which Nature herself could show nothing
better. Nor can I tell how well expressed is the story of Noah, who,
drunk with wine, is sleeping naked, and has before him one son who
is laughing at him and two who are covering him up a scene
incomparable in the beauty of the artistry, and not to be surpassed
save by himself alone.
Then, as if his genius had taken courage from what it had
achieved up to that time, it soared upwards and proved itself even
greater in the five Sibyls and seven Prophets that are painted
there, each five braccia or more in height. In all these are
well-varied attitudes, beautiful draperies, and different yestmentsj
and all, in a word, are wrought with marvellous invention and
judgment, and to him who can distinguish their expressions they
appear divine. Jeremiah is seen with the legs crossed, holding one
hand to the beard, and resting that elbow on the knee; the other
hand rests in his lap, and he has the head bowed in a manner that
clearly demonstrates the melancholy, cogitation, anxious thought and
bitterness of soul that his people cause him. Equally fine, also,
are two little children that are behind him, and likewise the first
Sibyl, beyond him in the direction of the door, in which figure,
wishing to depict old age, in addition to enveloping her in
draperies, he sought to show that her blood is already frozen by
time; besides which, since her sight has become feeble, he has made
her as she reads bring the book very close to her eyes. Beyond this
figure follows the Prophe Ezekiel an old man, who has a grace and a
movement that are most beautiful, and is much enveloped in
draperies, while with one hand he holds a roll of prophecies, and
with the other uplifted, turning his head, he appears to be about to
utter great and lofty words; and behind him he has two boys who hold
his books. Next to him follows a Sibyl, who is doing the contrary to
the Erythraean Sibyl that we described above, for, holding her book
away from her, she seeks to turn a page, while with one knee over
the other she sits sunk within herself, pondering gravely over what
she is to write; and then a boy who is behind her, blowing on a
burning brand, lights her lamp. This figure is of extraordinary
beauty in the expression of the face, in the head-dress, and in the
arrangement of the di aperies; besides which she has the arms nude,
which are equal to the other parts. Beyond this Sibyl he painted the
Prophet Joel, who, sunk within himself, has taken a scroll and reads
it with great attention and appreciation: and from his aspect it is
so clearly evident that he is satisfied with that which he finds
written there, that he looks like a living person who has applied
his thoughts intently to some matter.
Over the door of the chapel, likewise, he placed the aged
Zaccharias, who, seeking through his written book for something that
he cannot find, stands with one leg on high and the other low; and,
while the ardour of the search after something that he cannot find
causes him to stand thus, he takes no notice of the discomfort that
he suffers in such a posture. This figure is very beautiful in its
aspect of old age, and somewhat full in form, and has draperies with
few folds, which are most beautiful. In addition, there is another
Sibyl, who is next in the direction of the altar on the other side,
displaying certain writings, and, with her boys in attendance, is no
less worthy of praise than are the others. Beyond her is the Prophet
Isaia, who, wholly absorbed in his own thoughts, has the legs
crossed over one another, and, holding one hand in his book to mark
the place where he was reading, has placed the elbow of the other
arm upon the book, with the cheek pressed against the hand; and,
being called by one of the boys that he has behind him, he turns
only the head, without disturbing himself otherwise. Whoever shall
consider his countenance, shall see touches truly taken from Nature
herself, the true mother of art, and a figure which, when well
studied in every part, can teach in liberal measure all the precepts
of the good painter. Beyond this Prophet is an aged Sibyl of great
beauty, who, as she sits, studies from a book in an attitude of
extraordinary grace, not to speak of the beautiful attitudes of the
two boys that are about her. Nor may any man think with all his
imaginings to be able to attain to the excellence of the figure of a
youth representing Daniel, who, writing in a great book, is taking
certain things from other writings and copying them with
extraordinary attention; and as a support for the weight of the book
Michelagnolo painted a boy between his legs, who is upholding it
while he writes, all which no brush held by a human hand, however
skilful, will ever be able to equal. And so, also, with the
beautiful figure of the Lybian Sybil who, having written a great
volume drawn from many books, is in an attitude of womanly grace, as
if about to rise to her feet ; and in one and the same movement she
makes as if to rise and to close the book a thing most difficult,
not to say impossible, for any other but the master of the work.
And what can be said of the four scenes at the corners, on the
spandrels of that vaulting; in one of which David, with all the
boyish strength that he can exert in the conquest of a giant, is
cutting off his head, bringing marvel to the faces of some soldiers
who are about the camp. And so, also, do men marvel at the beautiful
attitudes that Michelagnolo depicted in the story of Judith, at the
opposite corner, in which may be seen the trunk of Holofernes,
robbed of life but still quivering, while Judith is placing the
lifeless head in a basket on the head of her old serving-woman, who,
being tall in stature, is stooping to the end that Judith may be
able to reach up to her and adjust the weight well; and the servant,
while upholding the burden with her hands, seeks to conceal it, and,
turning her head towards the trunk, which, although dead, draws up
an arm and a leg and makes a noise in the tent, she shows in her
expression fear of the camp and terror of the dead body a picture
truly full of thought. But more beautiful and more divine than this
or any of the others is the story of the Serpents of Moses, which is
above the left-hand corner of the altar; for the reason that in it
is seen the havoc wrought by death, the rain of serpents, their
stings and their bites, and there may also be perceived the serpent
of brass that Moses placed upon a pole. In this scene are shown
vividly the various deaths that those die who are robbed of all hope
by the bite of the serpents, and one sees the deadly venom causing
vast numbers to die in terror and convulsions, to say nothing of the
rigid legs and twisted arms of those who remain in the attitudes in
which they were struck down, unable to move, and the marvellous
heads that are shrieking and thrown backwards in despair. Not less
beautiful than all these are those who, having looked upon the
serpent, and feeling their pains alleviated by the sight of it, are
gazing on it with profound emotion; and among them is a woman who is
supported by another figure in such a manner that the assistance
rendered to her by him who upholds her is no less manifest than her
pressing need in such sudden alarm and hurt. In the next scene,
likewise, in which Ahasuerus, reclining in a bed, is reading his
chronicles, are figures of great beauty, and among them three
figures eating at a table, which represent the council that was held
for the deliverance of the Jewish people and the hanging of Haman.
The figure of Haman was executed by Michelagnolo in an extraordinary
manner of foreshortening, for he counterfeited the trunk that
supports his person, and that arm which comes forward, not as
painted things but as real and natural, standing out in relief, and
so also that leg which he stretches outwards and other parts that
bend inwards: which figure, among all that are beautiful and
difficult, is certainly the most beautiful and the most difficult.
It would take too long to describe all the beautiful fantasies in
the different actions in the part where there is all the Genealogy
of the Fathers, beginning with the sons of Noah, to demonstrate the
Genealogy of Jesus Christ, in which figures is a variety of things
that it is not possible to enumerate, such as draperies, expressions
of heads, and an infinite number of novel and extraordinary fancies,
all most beautifully considered. Nothing there but is carried into
execution with genius: all the figures there are masterly and most
beautifully foreshortened, and everything that you look at is divine
and beyond praise. And who will not be struck dumb with admiration
at the sight of the sublime force of Jonas, the last figure in the
chapel, wherein by the power of art the vaulting, which in fact
springs forward in accord with the curve of the masonry, yet, being
in appearance pushed back by that figure, which bends inwards, seems
as if straight, and, vanquished by the art of design with its lights
and shades, even appears in truth to recede inwards ? Oh, truly
happy age of ours, and truly blessed craftsmen ! Well may you be
called so, seeing that in our time you have been able to illumine
anew in such a fount of light the darkened sight of your eyes, and
to see all that was difficult made smooth by a master so marvellous
and so unrivalled ! Certainly the glory of his labours makes you
known and honoured, in that he has stripped from you that veil which
you had over the eyes of your minds, which were so full of darkness,
and has delivered the truth from the falsehood that overshadowed
your intellects. Thank Heaven, therefore, for this, and strive to
imitate Michelagnolo in everything.
When the work was thrown open, the whole world could be heard
running up to see it, and, indeed, it was such as to make everyone
astonished and dumb. Wherefore the Pope, having been magnified by
such a result and encouraged in his heart to undertake even greater
enterprises, rewarded Michelagnolo liberally with money and rich
gifts: and Michelagnolo would say at times of the extraordinary
favors that the Pope conferred upon him, that they showed that he
fully recognized his worth, and that, if by way of proving his
friendliness he sometimes played him strange tricks, he would heal
the wjDund with signal gifts and favours. As when, Michelagnolo once
demanding from him leave to go to Florence for the festival of S.
John, and asking money for that purpose, the Pope said, " Well, but
when will you have this chapel finished ?" "As soon as I can, Holy
Father." The Pope, who had a staff in his hand, struck Michelagnolo,
saying, " As soon as I can ! As soon as I can ! I will soon make you
finish it !" Whereupon Michelagnolo went back to his house to get
ready to go to Florence; but the Pope straightway sent Cursio, his
Chamberlain, to Michelagnolo with five hundred crowns to pacify him,
fearing lest he might commit one of his caprices, and Cursio made
excuse for the Pope, saying that such things were favors and marks
of affection. And Michelagnolo, who knew the Pope's nature and,
after all, loved him, laughed over it all, for he saw that in the
end everything turned to his profit and advantage, and that the
Pontiff would do anything to keep a man such as himself as his
friend.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 6: More on the Julius tomb, the Palazzo Medici windows, the New
Sacristy, temptations in Ferrara, losing to Baccio B.
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
When the chapel was finished, before the Pope was overtaken by
death, his Holiness commanded Cardinal Santiquattro and Cardinal
Aginense, his nephew, in the event of his death, that they should
cause his tomb to be finished, but on a smaller scale than before.
To this work Michelagnolo set himself once again, and so made a
beginning gladly with the tomb, hoping to carry it once and for all
to completion without so many impediments ; but he had from it ever
afterwards vexations, annoy-ances, and travails, more than from any
other work that he did in all his life, and it brought upon him for
a long time, in a certain sense, the accusation of being ungrateful
to that Pope, who had so loved and favored him. Thus, when he had
returned to the tomb, and was working at it continually, and also at
times preparing designs from which he might be able to execute the f
aades of the chapel, envious Fortune decreed that that memorial,
which had been begun with such perfection, should be left
unfinished. .Format that time there took place the death of Pope
Julius, and the work was abandoned on account of the election of
Pope Leo^X^who, being no less splendid than Julius in mind and
spirit, had a desire to leave in his native city (of which he was
the first Pope), in memory of himself and of a divine craftsman who
was his fellow-citizen, such marvels as only a mighty Pfince like
himself could undertake. Wherefore he gave orders that the facade of
S. Lorenzo, a church built by the Medici family in Florence should
bejerected for ..him^ which was the reason that the work of the tomb
of Juhu^.waJeJ[t_ujQj&nj^h^i; and he_demarided_adyice and designs
from Michelagnolo, and desired that he should be the head of that
work. Michelagnolo made all the resistance that he could, pleading
that he was pledged in the matter of the tomb to Santiquattro and
Aginense, but the Pope answered him that he was not to think of
that, and that he himself had already seen to it and contrived that
Michelagnolo should be released by them; promising, also, that he
should be able to work in Florence, as he had already begun to do,
at the figures for that tomb. All this was displeasing to the
Cardinals, and also to Michelagnolo, who went off in tears.
Many and various were the discussions that arose on this subject,
on the ground that such a work as that facade should have been
distributed among several persons, and in the matter of the
architecture many craftsmen nocked to Rome to see the Pope, and made
designs; Baceio d'Agnolo, Antonio da San Gallo, Andrea Sansovino and
Jacopo Sansovino, and the gracious Raffaello da Urbino, who was
afterwards summoned to Florence for that purpose at the time of the
Pope's visit. Thereupon Michelagnolo resolved to make a model and
not to accept anyone beyond himself as his guide or superior in the
architecture of such a work; but this refusal of assistance was the
reason that neither he nor any other executed the work, and that
those masters returned in despair to their customary pursuits.
Michelagnolo, going to Carrara, had an order authorizing that a
thousand crowns should be paid to him by Jacopo Salviati; but on his
arrival Jacopo was shut up in his room on business with some
citizens, and Michelagnolo, refusing to wait for an audience,
departed without saying a word and went straightway to Carrara.
Jacopo heard of Michelagnolo's arrival, and, not finding him in
Florence, sent him a thousand crowns to Carrara. The messenger
demanded that Michelagnolo should write him a receipt, to which he
answered that the money was for the expenses of the Pope and not for
his own interest, and that the messenger might take it back, but
that he was not accustomed to write out quittances or receipts for
others; whereupon the other returned in alarm to Jacopo without a
receipt.
While Michelagnolo was at Carrara and was having marble quarried
for the tomb of Julius, thinking at length to finish it, no less
than for the facade, a letter was written to him saying that Pope
Leo had heard that in the mountains of Pietrasanta near Seravezza,
in the Florentine dominion, at the summit of the highest mountain,
which is called Monte Altissimo, there were marbles of the same
excellence and beauty as those of Carrara. This Michelagnolo already
knew, but it seems that he would not take advantage of it because of
his friendship with the Marchese Alberigo [Alberico], Lord of
Carrara, and, in order to do him a good service, chose to quarry
those of Carrara rather than those of Seravezza; or it may have been
that he judged it to be a long undertaking and likely to waste much
time, as indeed it did. However, he was forced to go to Seravezza,
although he pleaded in protest that it would be more difficult and
costly, as in truth it was, especially at the beginning, and,
moreover, that the report about the marble was perhaps not true; but
for all that the Pope would not hear a word of objection. Thereupon
it was decided to make a road for several miles through the
mountains, breaking down rocks with hammers and pickaxes to obtain a
level, and sinking piles in the marshy places; and there
Michelagnolo spent many years in executing the wishes of the Pope.
Finally five columns of the proper size were excavated, one of which
is on the Piazza di S. Lorenzo in Florence, and the others are on
the seashore. And for this reason the March ese Alberigo, who saw
his business ruined, became the bitter enemy of Michelagnolo, who
was not to blame. Michelagnolo, in addition to these columns,
excavated many other marbles there, which are still in the quarries,
abandoned there for more than thirty years. But at the present day
Duke Cosimo has given orders for the road to be finished, of which
there are still two miles to make over very difficult ground, for
the transportation of these marbles, and also a road from another
quarry of excellent marble that was discovered at that time by
Michelagnolo, in order to be able to finish many beautiful
undertakings. In the same district of Seravezza he discovered a
mountain of variegated marble that is very hard and very beautiful,
below Stazema, a village in those mountains; where the same Duke
Cosimo has caused a paved road of more than four miles to be made,
for conveying the marble to the sea.
But to return to Michelagnolo: having gone back to Florence, he
lost much time now in one thing and now in another. And he made at
that time for the Palace of the Medici a model for the knee-shaped
windows of those rooms that are at the corner, where Giovanni da
Udine adorned the chamber in stucco and painting, which is a much
extolled work; and he caused to be made for them by the goldsmith
Piloto, but under his own direction, those jalousies of perforated
copper, which are certainly admirable things. Michelagnolo consumed
many years in quarrying marbles, although it is true that while they
were being exca- vated he made models of wax and other things for
the work. But this undertaking was delayed so long, that the money
assigned by the Pope for the purpose was spent on the war in
Lombardy; and at the death of Leo the work was left unfinished,
nothing being accomplished save the laying of a foundation in front
to support it, and the transportation of a large column of marble
from Carrara to the Piazza di S. Lorenzo.
The death of Leo completely dismayed the craftsmen and the arts
both in Rome and in Florence; and while Adrian VI was alive Michel-
agnolo gave his attention in Florence to the tomb of Julius. But
after the death of Adrian Clement VII was elected, who was no less
desirous than Leo and his other predecessors to leave his fame
established by the arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting. At
this time, which was the year 152^, Giorgio Vasari was taken as a
little boy to Florence by the Cardinal of Cortona, and placed with
Michelagnolo to learn art. But Michelagnolo was then summoned to
Rome by Pope Clement VII, who had made a beginning with the facade
of S. Lorenzo,and also the new sacristy^in which he proposed to
place the marble tombs that he was having made for his forefathers;
and he resolved that Vasari should go to work with Andrea del Sarto
until he should himself be free again, and went in person to
Andrea's workshop to present him.
Michelagnolo departed for Rome in haste, harassed once again by
Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, the nephew of Pope Julius, who
complained of him, saying that he had received sixteen thousand
crowns for the above-named tomb, yet was living a life of pleasure
in Florence; and he threatened in his anger that, if Michelagnolo
did not give his attention to the work, he would make him rue it.
Having arrived in Rome, Pope Clement, who wished to make use of him,
advised him to draw up his accounts with the agents of the Duke,
believing that after all that he had done he must be their creditor
rather than their debtor; and so the matter rested. After discussing
many things together, they resolved to finish completely the library
and new sacristy of S. Lorenzo in Florence. Michelagnolo therefore
departed from Rome, and raised the cupola that is now to be seen,
causing it to be wrought in various orders of composition; and he
had a ball with seventy-two faces made by the goldsmith Piloto,
which is very beautiful. It happened, while Michelagnolo was raising
the cupola, that he was asked by some friends, "Should you not make
your lantern very different from that of Filippo Brunelleschi?" And
he answered them, "Different it can be made with ease, but better,
no." He made four tombs in that sacristy, to adorn j^oyalls_ and to
contain the bodies of the fathers of the two Popes, the elder
Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano, and those of Giuliano, the brother
of Leo, and of Duke Lorenzo, his nephew. And since he wished to
execute the work in imitation of the old sacristy that Filippo
Brunelleschi had built, but with another manner of ornamentation, he
made in it an ornamentation in a composite order, in a more varied
and more original manner than any other master at any time, whether
ancient or modern, had been able to achieve, for in the novelty of
the beautiful cornices, capitals, bases, doors, tabernacles, and
tombs, he departed not a little from the work regulated by measure,
order, and rule, which other men did according to a common use and
after Vitruvius and the antiquities, to which he would not conform.
That licence has done much to give courage to those who have seen
his methods to set themselves to imitate him, and new fantasies have
since been seen which have more of the grotesque than of reason or
rule in their ornamentation. Wherefore the craftsmen owe him an
infinite and everlasting obligation, he having broken the bonds and
chains by reason of which they had always followed a beaten path in
the execu- tion of their works. And even more did he demonstrate and
seek to make known such a method afterwards in the library of S.
Lorenzo, at the same place; in the beautiful distribution of the
windows, in the pattern of the ceiling, and in the marvellous
entrance of the vestibule. Nor was there ever seen a more resolute
grace, both in the whole and in the parts, as in the consoles,
tabernacles, and cornices, nor any staircase more commodious; in
which last he made such bizarre breaks in the outlines of the steps,
and departed so much from the common use of others, that everyone
was amazed.
At this time he sent his disciple Pietro Urbano of Pistoia to
Rome to carry to completion a nude Christ holding the Cross, a most
admirable figure, which was placed beside the principal chapel of
the Minerva, at the commission of Messer Antonio Metelli. About the
same time there took place the sack of Rome and the expulsion of the
Medici from Florence; by reason of which upheaval those who governed
the city of Florence resolved to rebuild the fortifications, and
therefore made Michelagnolo Commissary General over all that work.
Whereupon he made designs and caused fortifications to be built for
several parts of the city, and finally encircled the hill of San
Miniato with bastions, which he made not with sods of earth, wood,
and bundles of brushwood, as is generally done, but with a stout
base of chestnut, oak, and other good materials interwoven, and in
place of sods he took unbaked bricks made with tow and the dung of
cattle, squared with very great diligence. And for this reason he
was sent by the Signoria of Florence to Ferrara, to inspect the
fortifications of Duke Alfonso I, and so also his artillery and
munitions; where he received many courtesies from that lord, who
besought him that he should do something for him with his own hand
at his leisure, and Michelagnolo promised that he would. After his
return, he was continu- ally engaged in fortifying the city, but,
although he was thus occupied, nevertheless he kept working at a
picture of a Leda for that Duke, painted with his own hand in
distemper-colours, which was a divine thing, as will be related in
the proper place; also continuing the statues for the tombs of S.
Lorenzo, but in secret. At this time Michelagnolo spent some six
months on the hill of San Miniato in order to press on the
fortification of that hill, because if the enemy became master of
it, the city was lost; and so he pursued these undertakings with the
utmost diligence.
At this same time he continued the work in the above-mentioned
sacristy, in which were seven statues that were left partly finished
and partly not. With these, and with the architectural inventions of
the tombs, it must be confessed that he surpassed every man in these
three professions; to which testimony is borne by the statues of
marble, blocked out and finished by him, which are to be seen in
that place. One is Our Lady who is in a sitting attitude, with the
right leg crossed over the left and one knee placed upon the other,
and the Child, with the thighs astride the leg that is uppermost,
turns in a most beautiful attitude towards His Mother, hungry for
her milk, and she, while holding Him with one hand and supporting
herself with the other, bends forward to give it to Him; and
although the figure is not equal in every part, and it was left
rough and showing the marks of the gradine, yet with all its
imperfections there may be recognized in it the full perfection of
the work. Even more did he cause everyone to marvel by the
circumstance that in making the tombs of Duke Giuliano and Duke
Lorenzo de' Medici he considered that earth alone was not enough to
give them honorable burial in their greatness, and desired that all
the phases of the world should be there, and that their sepulchres
should be surrounded and covered by four statues; wherefore he gave
to one Night and Day and to the other Dawn and Twilight; which
statues, most beautifully wrought in form, in attitude, and in the
masterly treatment of the muscles, would suffice, if that art were
lost, to restore her to her pristine lustre. There, among the other
statues, are the two Captains^ armed; one the pensive Duke Lorenzo,
the very presentment of wisdom, with legs so beautiful and so well
wrought, that there is nothing better to be seen by mortal eye; and
the other is Duke Giuliano, so proud a figure, with the head, the
throat, the setting of the eyes, the profile of the nose, the
opening of the mouth, and the hair all so divine, to say nothing of
the hands, arms, knees, feet, and, in short, every other thing that
he carved therein, that the eye can never be weary or have its fill
of gazing at them; and, of a truth, whoever studies the beauty of
the buskins and the cuirass, believes it to be celestial rather than
mortal. But what shall I say of the Dawn, a nude woman, who is such
as to awaken melancholy in the soul and to render impotent the style
of sculpture ? In her attitude may be seen her effort, as she rises,
heavy with sleep, and raises herself from her downy bed; and it
seems that in awakening she has found the eyes of that great Duke
closed in death, so that she is agonized with bitter grief, weeping
in her own unchangeable beauty in token of her great sorrow. And
what can I say of the Night, a statue not rare only, but unique? Who
is there who has ever seen in that art in any age, ancient or
modern, statues of such a kind? For in her may be seen not only the
stillness of one sleeping, but the grief and melancholy of one who
has lost a great and honored possession; and we must believe that
this is that night of darkness that obscures all those who thought
for some time, I will not say to surpass, but to equal Michelagnolo
in sculpture and design. In that statue is infused all the
somnolence that is seen in sleeping forms; wherefore many verses in
Latin and rhymes in the vulgar tongue were written in her praise by
persons of great learning, such as these, of which the author is not
known
La Notte che tu vedi in si dolci atti
Dormire, fu da un Angelo scolpita
In questo sasso; e perche dorme, ha vita.
Destala, se no '1 credi, e parleratti.
To which Michelagnolo, speaking in the person of Night, answered
thus:
Grato mi 6 il sonno, e piu 1' esser di sasso;
Mentre che il danno e la vergogna dura,
Non veder' non sentir' m' 6 gran ventura.
Pero non mi destar' ; deh parla basso.
Truly, if the enmity that there is between Fortune and Genius,
between the envy of the one and the excellence of the other, had not
prevented such a work from being carried to completion, Art was like
to prove to Nature that she surpassed her by a great measure in
every conception.
While Michelagnolo was laboring with the greatest solicitude and
love at these works, there came in 1529 the siege of Florence, which
hindered their completion only too effectually, and was the reason
that he did little or no more work upon them, the citizens having
laid upon him the charge of fortifying not only the hill of S.
Miniato, but also the city, as we have related. And thus, having
lent a thousand crowns to that Republic, and being elected one of
the Nine, a military Council appointed for the war, he turned all
his mind and soul to perfecting those fortifications. But in the
end, when the enemy had closed round the city, and all hope of
assistance was failing little by little, and the difficulties of
maintaining the defence were increasing, and it appeared to
Michelagnolo that he was in a sorry pass with regard to his personal
safety, he determined to leave Florence and make his way to Venice,
without making himself known to anyone on the road. He set out
secretly, therefore, by way of the hill of S. Miniato, without
anyone knowing of it, taking with him Antonio Mini, his disciple,
and the goldsmith Piloto, his faithful friend; and each of them
carried a number of crowns on his person, sewn into his quilted
doublet. Having arrived in Ferrara, they rested there; and it
happened that on account of the alarm caused by the war and the
league of the Emperor and the Pope, who were besieging Florence,
Duke Alfonso d'Este was keeping strict watch in Ferrara, and
required to be secretly informed by the hosts who gave lodging to
travellers of the names of all those who lodged with them from one
day to another; and he caused a list of all foreigners, with their
nationality, to be brought to him every day.
It came to pass, then, that when Michelagnolo had dismounted with
his companions, intending to stay there without revealing himself,
this became known in that way to the Duke, who was very glad,
because he had already become his friend. That Prince was a man of
lofty mind, delighting constantly in persons of ability all his life
long, and he straightway sent some of the first men of his Court
with orders to conduct him in the name of his Excellency to the
Palace, where the Duke was, to remove thither his horses and all his
baggage, and to give him a handsome lodging in that Palace.
Michelagnolo, finding himself in the power of another, was
constrained to obey and to make the best of a bad business, and he
went with those courtiers to the Duke, but without removing his
baggage from the inn. Thereupon the Duke, after first complaining of
his reserve, gave him a great reception; and then, making him rich
and honorable presents, he sought to detain him in Ferrara with the
promise of a fine salary. He, having his mind set on something else,
would not consent to remain; but the Duke again made him a free
offer of all that was in his power, praying him that he should at
least not depart as long as the war continued. Whereupon
Michelagnolo, not wishing to be outdone in courtesy, thanked him
warmly, and, turning towards his two companions, said that he had
brought twelve thousand crowns to Ferrara, and that, if the Duke had
need of them, they were at his disposal, together with himself. The
Duke then took him through the Palace to divert him, as he had done
on another occasion, and showed him all the beautiful things that he
had there, including a portrait of himself by Tiziano, which was
much commended by Michelagnolo. However, his Excellency was not able
to keep him in the Palace, for he insisted on returning to the inn;
wherefore the host who was lodging him received from the Duke a
great abundance of things wherewith to do him honor, and also orders
that at his departure he should not accept anything for his lodging.
From Ferrara he made his way to Venice, where many gentlemen sought
to become known to him; but he, who always had a very poor opinion
of their knowledge of his profession, departed from the Giudecca,
where he had his lodging. There, so it is said, he made for that
city at that time, at the request of the Doge Gritti, a design for
the bridge of the Rialto, which was very rare in invention and in
ornamentation.
Michelagnolo was invited with great insistence to go back to his
native country, being urgently requested not to abandon his
undertaking there, and receiving a safe-conduct; and finally,
vanquished by love of her, he returned, but not without danger to
his life. At this time he finished the Leda that he was painting, as
has been related, at the request of Duke Alfonso; and it was
afterwards taken to France by Antonio Mini, his disciple. And at
this same time he saved the campanile of S. Miniato, a tower which
sorely harassed the enemy's forces with its two pieces of artillery,
so that their artillerists, having set to work to batter it with
heavy cannon, had half ruined it, and were like to destroy it
completely, when Michelagnolo protected it so well with bales of
wool and stout mattresses suspended by cords, that it is still
standing. It is said, also, that at the time of the siege there came
to him an opportunity to acquire, according to a desire that he had
long had, a block of marble of nine braccia which had come from
Carrara, and which Pope Clement, after much rivalry and contention
between him and Baccio Bandinelli, had given to Baccio. But
Michelagnolo, now that such a matter was in the hands of the
Commonwealth, asked for it from the Gonfalonier, who gave it to him
that he might likewise try his hand upon it, although Baccio had
already made a model and hacked away much of the stone in blocking
it out. Thereupon Michelagnolo made a model, which was held to be a
marvellous and very beautiful thing; but on the return of the Medici
the marble was restored to Baccio.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 7: The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
When peace had been made, Baccio Valori, the Pope's Commissioner,
received orders to have some of the most partisan citizens arrested
and imprisoned in the Bargello, and the same tribunal sought out
Michelagnolo at his house; but he, fearing that, had fled secretly
to the house of one who was much his friend, where he remained
hidden many days. Finally, when the first fury had abated, Pope
Clement, remembering the ability of Michelagnolo, caused a diligent
search to be made for him, with orders that nothing should be said
to him, but rather that his former appointments should be restored
to him, and that he should attend to the work of S. Lorenzo, over
which he placed as proveditor M. Giovan Battista Figiovanni, the old
servant of the Medici family and Prior of S. Lorenzo. Thus
reassured, Michelagnolo, in order to ma.ke Baccio Valori his friend,
began a figure of three braccia in marble, which was an Apollo
drawing an arrow from his quiver, and carried it almost to
completion. It is now in the apartment of the Prince of Florence,
and is a very rare work, although it is not completely finished.
At this time a certain gentleman was sent to Michelagnolo by Duke
Alfonso of Ferrara, who, having heard that the master had made some
rare work for him with his own hand, did not wish to lose such a
jewel. Having arrived in Florence and found Michelagnolo, the envoy
presented to him letters of recommendation from that lord; whereupon
Michelagnolo, receiving him courteously, showed him the Leda
embracing the Swan that he had painted, with Castor and Pollux
issuing from the Egg, in a large picture J2ie^ule^jn_disiemper as it
were with the breath. The Duke's envoy, thinking from the praise
that he heard everywhere of Michelagnolo that he should have done
something great, and not recognizing the excellence and artistry of
that figure, said to Michelagnolo: "Oh, this is but a trifle."
Michelagnolo, knowing that no one is better able to pronounce
judgment on works than those who have had long practise in them,
asked him what was his vocation. And he answered, with a sneer, "I
am a merchant"; believing that he had not been recognized by
Michelagnolo as a gentleman, and as it were making fun of such a
question, and at the same time affecting to despise the industry of
the Florentines. Michelagnolo, who had understood perfectly the
meaning of his words, at once replied: "You will find you have made
a bad bargain this time for your master. Get you gone out of my
sight."
Now in those days Antonio Mini, his disciple, who had two sisters
waiting to be married, asked him for the Leda, and he gave it to him
willingly, with the greater part of the designs and cartoons that he
had made, which were divine things, and also two chests full of
models, with a great number of finished cartoons for making
pictures, and some of works that had been painted. When Antonio took
it into his head to go to France, he carried all these with him; the
Leda he sold to King Francis by means of some merchants, and it is
now at Fontainebleau, but the cartoons and designs were lost, for he
died there in a short time, and some were stolen; and so our country
was deprived of all these valuable labours, which was an
incalculable loss. The cartoon of the Leda has since come back to
Florence, and Bernardo Vecchietti has it; and so also four pieces of
the cartoons for the chapel, with nudes and Prophets, brought back
by the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, and now in the possession of the
heirs of Girolamo degli Albizzi.
It became necessary for Michelagnolo to go to Rome to see Pope
Clement, who, although angry with him, yet, as the friend of every
talent, forgave him everything, and gave him orders that he should
return to Florence and have the library and sacristy of S. Lorenzo
completely finished; and, in order to shorten that work, a vast
number of statues that were to be included in it were distributed
among other masters. Two he allotted to Tribolo, one to Raffaello da
Montelupo, and one to Fra Giovanni Agnolo, the Servite friar, all
sculptors; and he gave them assistance in these, making rough models
in clay for each of them. Where- upon they all worked valiantly, and
he, also, caused work to be pursued on the library, and thus the
ceiling was finished in carved woodwork, which was executed after
his models by the hands of the Florentines Carota and Tasso,
excellent carvers and also masters of carpentry; and likewise the
shelves for the books, which were executed at that time by Battista
del Cinque and his friend Ciappino, good masters in that pro-
fession. And in order to give the work its final perfection there
was summoned to Florence the divine Giovanni da Udine, who, together
with others his assistants and also some Florentine masters,
decorated the tribune with stucco; and they all sought with great
solicitude to give completion to that vast undertaking.
Now, just as Michelagnolo was about to have the statues carried
into execution, at that very time the Pope took it into his head to
have him near his person, being desirous to have the walls of the
Chapel of Sixtus painted, where Michelagnolo had painted the
vaulting for Julius II, his nephew. On the principal wall, where the
altar is, Clement wished him to paint the Universal Judgment to the
end that he might display in that scene all that the art of design
could achieve, and opposite to it, on the other wall, over the
principal door, he had commanded that he should depict the scene
when Lucifer was expelled for his pride from Heaven, and all those
Angels who sinned with him were hurled after him into the centre of
Hell: of which inventions it was found that Michelagnolo many years
before had made various sketches and designs, one of which was
afterwards carried into execution in the Church of the Trinita at
Rome by a Sicilian painter, who stayed many months with
Michelagnolo, to serve him and to grind his colors. This work,
painted in fresco, is in the Chapel of S. Gregorio, in the cross of
the church, and, although it is executed badly, there is a certain
variety and terrible force in the attitudes and groups of those
nudes that are raining down from Heaven, and of the others who,
having fallen into the centre of the earth, are changed into various
forms of Devils, very horrible and bizarre; and it is certainly an
extraordinary fantasy. While Michelagnolo was directing the
preparation of the designs and cartoons of the Last Judgment on the
first wall, he never ceased for a single day to be at strife with
the agents of the Duke of Urbino, by whom he was accused of having
received sixteen thousand crowns from Julius II for the tomb. This
accusation was more than he could bear, and he desired to finish the
work some day, although he was already an old man, and he would have
willingly stayed in Rome to finish it, now that he had found,
without seeking it, such a pretext for not returning any more to
Florence, since he had a great fear of Duke Alessandro de' Medici,
whom he regarded as little his friend; for, when the Duke had given
him to understand through Signor Alessandro Vitelli that he should
select the best site for the building of the castle and citadel of
Florence, he answered that he would not go save at the command of
Pope Clement.
Finally an agreement was formed in the matter of the tomb, that
it should be finished in the following manner: there was no longer
to be an isolated tomb in a rectangular shape, but only one of the
original fa9ades, in the manner 'that best pleased Michelagnolo, and
he was to be obliged to place in it six statues by his own hand. In
this contract that was made with the Duke of Urbino, his Excellency
consented that Michelagnolo should be at the disposal of Pope
Clement for four months in the year, either in Florence or wherever
he might think fit to employ him. But, although it seemed to
Michelagnolo that at last he had obtained some peace, he was not to
be quit of it so easily, for Pope Clement, desiring to see the final
proof of the force of his art, kept him occupied with the cartoon of
the Judgment. However, contriving to convince the Pope that he was
thus engaged, at the same time he kept working in secret, never
relaxing his efforts, at the statues that were going into the
above-named tomb.
In the year 1533* [* 1534-] came the death of Pope Clement,
whereupon the work of the library and sacristy in Florence, which
had remained unfinished in spite of all the efforts made to finish
it, was stopped. Then, at length, Michelagnolo thought to be truly
free and able to give his attention to finishing the tomb of Julius
II. But Paul III, not long after his election, had him summoned to
his presence, and, besides paying him compliments and making him
offers, requested him to enter his service and remain near his
person. Michelagnolo refused, saying that he was not able to do it,
being bound by contract to the Duke of Urbino until the tomb of
Julius should be finished. The Pope flew into a rage and said: "I
have had this desire for thirty years, and now that I am Pope do you
think I shall not satisfy it? I shall tear up the contract, for I am
determined to have you serve me, come what may." Michelagnolo,
hearing this resolution, was tempted to leave Rome and in some way
find means to give completion to the tomb; however, fearing, like a
wise man, the power of the Pope, he resolved to try to keep him
pacified with words, seeing that he was so old, until something
should happen. The Pope, who wished to have some extraordinary work
executed by Michelagnolo, went one day with ten Cardinals to visit
him at his house, where he demanded to see all the statues for the
tomb of Julius, which appeared to him marvellous, and particularly
the Moses, which figure alone was said by the Cardinal of Mantua to
be enough to do honor to Pope Julius. And after seeing the designs
and cartoons that he was preparing for the wall of the chapel, which
appeared to the Pope to be stupendous, he again besought
Michelagnolo with great insistence that he should enter his service,
promising that he would persuade the Duke of Urbino to content
himself with three statues, and that the others should be given to
other excellent masters to execute after his models.
Whereupon, his Holiness having arranged this with the agents of
the Duke, a new contract was made, which was confirmed by the Duke;
and Michelagnolo of his own free will bound himself to pay for the
other three statues and to have the tomb erected, depositing for
this purpose in the bank of the Strozzi one thousand five hundred
and eighty ducats. This he might have avoided, and it seemed to him
that he had truly done enough to be free of such a long and
troublesome undertaking; and afterwards he caused the tomb to be
erected in S. Pietro in Vincola in the following manner. He erected
the lower base, which was all carved, with four pedestals which
projected outwards as much as was necessary to give space for the
captive that was originally intended to stand on each of them,
instead of which there was left a terminal figure; and since the
lower part had thus a poor effect, he placed at the feet of each
terminal figure a reversed console resting on the pedestal. Those
four teiminal figures had between them three niches, two of which
(those at the sides) were round, and were to have contained the
Victories. Instead of the Victories, he placed in one Leah, the
daughter of Laban, to represent the Active Life, with a mirror in
her hand to signify the consideration that we should give to our
actions, and in the other hand a garland of flowers, to denote the
virtues that adorn our life during its duration, and make it
glorious after death; and the other figure was her sister Rachel,
representing the Contemplative Life, with the hands clasped and one
knee bent, and on the countenance a look as of ecstasy of spirit.
IThese statues Michelagnolo executed with his own hand in less
than a year. In the center is the other niche, rectangular in shape,
which in the original design was to have been one of the doors that
were to lead into the little oval temple of the rectangular tomb;
this having become a niche, there is placed in it, upon a dado of
marble, the gigantic and most beautiful statue of Moses, of which we
have already said enough. Above the heads of the terminal figures,
which form capitals, are architrave, frieze, and cornice, which
project beyond those figures and are carved with rich orna- ments,
foliage, ovoli, dentils, and other rich members, distributed over
the whole work. Over that cornice rises another course, smooth and
without carvings, but with different terminal figures standing
directly above those below, after the manner of pilasters, with a
variety of cornice members; and since this course accompanies that
below and resembles it in every part, there is in it a space similar
to the other, forming a niche like that in which there is now the
Moses, and in the niche, resting on projections of the cornice, is a
sarcophagus of marble with the recumbent statue of Pope Julius,
executed by the sculptor Maso dal Bosco, while in that niche, also,
there stands a Madonna who is holding her Son in her arms, wrought
by the sculptor Scherano da Settignano from a model by Michelagnolo;
which statues are passing good. In two other rectangular niches,
above the Active and the Contemplative Life, are two larger statues,
a Prophet and a Sibyl seated, which were both executed by Raffaello
da Montelupo, as has been related in the Life of his father Baccio,
but little to the satisfaction of Michelagnolo. For its crowning
completion this work had a different cornice, which, like those
below, projected over the whole work; and above the terminal
figures, as a finish, were candelabra of marble, with the arms of
Pope Julius in the centre. Above the Prophet and the Sibyl, in the
recess of each niche, he made a window for the convenience of the
friars who officiate in that church, the choir having been made
behind; which windows serve to send their voices into the church
when they say the divine office, and permit the celebration to be
seen. Truly this whole work has turned out very well, but not by a
great measure as it had been planned in the original design.
IMichelagnolo resolved, since he could not do otherwise, to serve
Pope Paul, who allowed him to continue the work as ordered by
Clement, without changing anything in the inventions and the general
conception that had been laid before him, thus showing respect for
the genius of that great man, for whom he felt such reverence and
love that he sought to do nothing but what pleased him; of which a
proof was soon seen. His Holiness desired to place his own arms
beneath the Jonas in the chapel, where those of Pope Julius II had
previously been put; but Michelagnolo, being asked to do this, and
not wishing to do a wrong to Julius and Clement, would not place
them there, saying that they would not look well; and the Pope, in
order not to displease him, was content to have it so, having
recognized very well the excellence of such a man, and how he always
followed what was just and honorable without any adulation or
respect of persons a thing that the great are wont to experience
very seldom. Michelagnolo, then, caused a projection of well baked
and chosen bricks to be carefully built on the wall of the
above-named chapel (a thing which was not there before), and
contrived that it should overhang half a braccio from above, so that
neither dust nor any other dirt might be able to settle upon it.
But I will not go into the particulars of the invention and
composition of this scene, because so many copies of it, both large
and small, have been printed, that it does not seem necessary to
lose time in describing it. It is enough for us to perceive that the
intention of this extraordinary man has been to refuse to paint
anything but the human body in its best proportioned and most
perfect forms and in the greatest variety of attitudes, and not this
only, but likewise the play of the passions and contentments of the
soul, being satisfied with justifying himself in that field in which
he was superior to all his fellow-craftsmen, and to lay open the way
of the grand manner in the painting of nudes, and his great
knowledge in the difficulties of design; and, finally, he opened out
the way to facility in this art in its principal province, which is
the human body, and, attending to this single object, he left on one
side the charms of colouring and the caprices and new fantasies of
certain minute and delicate refinements which many other painters,
perhaps not without some show of reason, have not entirely
neglected. For some, not so well grounded in design, have sought
with variety of tints and shades of coloring, with various new and
bizarre inventions, and, in short, with the other method, to win
themselves a place among the first masters; but Michelagnolo,
standing always firmly rooted in his profound knowledge of art, has
shown to those who know enough how they should attain to perfection.
IBut to return to the story: Michelagnolo had already carried to
completion more than three-fourths of the work, when Pope Paul went
to see it. And Messer Biagio da Cesena, the master of ceremonies, a
person of great propriety, who was in the chapel with the Pope,
being asked what he thought of it, said that it was a very
disgraceful thing to have made in so honorable a place all those
nude figures showing their nakedness so shamelessly, and that it was
a work not for the chapel of a Pope, but for a bagnio or tavern.
Michelagnolo was displeased at this, and, wishing to revenge
himself, as soon as Biagio had departed he portrayed him from life,
without having him before his eyes at all, in the figure of Minos
with a great serpent twisted round the legs, among a heap of Devils
in Hell; nor was Messer Biagio's pleading with the Pope and with
Michelagnolo to have it removed of any avail, for it was left there
in memory of the occasion, and it is still to be seen at the present
day.
IIt happened at this time that Michelagnolo fell no small
distance from the staging of this work, and hurt his leg; and in his
pain and anger he would not be treated by anyone. Now there was
living at this same time the Florentine Maestro Baccio Rontini, his
friend, an ingenious physician, who had a great affection for his
genius; and he, taking compassion on him, went one day to knock at
his door. Receiving no answer either from the neighbours or from
him, he so contrived to climb by certain secret ways from one room
to another, that he came to Michelagnolo, who was in a desperate
state. And then Maestro Biagio would never abandon him or take
himself off until he was cured.
Having recovered from this injury, he returned to his labor, and,
working at it continually, he carried it to perfect completion in a
few months, giving such force to the paintings in the work, that he
justified the words of Dante
Morti li morti, i vivi parean vivi.
And here, also, may be seen the misery of the damned and the joy
of the blessed. Wherefore, when this Judgment was thrown open to
view, it proved that he had not only vanquished all the earlier
masters who had worked there, but had sought to surpass the vaulting
that he himself had made so famous, excelling it by a great measure
and outstripping his own self. For he imagined to himself the terror
of those days, and depicted, for the greater pain of all who have
not lived well, the whole Passion of Christ, causing various naked
figures in the air to carry the Cross, the Column, the Lance, the
Sponge, the Nails, and the Crown of Thorns, all in different
attitudes, executed to perfection in a triumph of facility over
their difficulties. In that scene is Christ seated, with a
countenance proud and terrible, turning towards the damned and
cursing them; not without great fear in Our Lady, who, hearing and
beholding that vast havoc, draws her mantle close around her. There
are innumer- able figures, Prophets and Apostles, that form a circle
about Him, and in particular Adam and S. Peter, who are believed to
have been placed there, one as the first parent of those thus
brought to judgment, and the other as having been the first
foundation of the Christian Church ; and at His feet is a most
beautiful S. Bartholomew, who is displaying his flayed skin. There
is likewise a nude figure of S. Laurence; besides which, there are
multitudes of Saints without number, both male and female, and other
figures, men and women, around Him, near or distant, who embrace one
another and make rejoicing, having received eternal blessed- ness by
the grace of God and as the reward of their works.
IBeneath the feet of Christ are the Seven Angels with the Seven
Trumpets described by S. John the Evangelist, who, as they sound the
call to judgment, cause the hair of all who behold them to stand on
end at the terrible wrath that their countenances reveal. Among
others are two Angels that have each the Book of Life in the hands:
and near them, on one side, not without beautiful consideration, are
seen the Seven Mortal Sins in the forms of Devils, assailing and
striving to drag down to Hell the souls that are flying towards
Heaven, all with very beautiful attitudes and most admirable
foreshortenings. Nor did he hesitate to show to the world, in the
resurrection of the dead, how they take to themselves flesh and
bones once more from the same earth, and how, assisted by others
already alive, they go soaring towards Heaven, whence succour is
brought to them by certain souls already blessed; not without
evidence of all those marks of consideration that could be thought
to be required in so great a work. For studies and labours of every
kind were executed by him, which may be recognized throughout the
whole work without exception; and this is manifested with particular
clearness in the barque of Charon, who, in an attitude of fury,
strikes with his oars at the souls dragged down by the Devils into
the barque, after the likeness of the picture that the master's
best-beloved poet, Dante, described when he said
Caron demonio con occhi di bragia,
Loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie,
Batte col remo qualunque si adagia.
INor would it be possible to imagine how much variety there is in
the heads of those Devils, which are truly monsters from Hell. In
the sinners may be seen sin and the fear of eternal damnation; and,
to say nothing of the beauty of every detail, it is extraordinary to
see so great a work executed with such harmony of painting, that it
appears as if done in one day, and with such finish as was never
achieved in any miniature. And, of a truth, the terrible force and
grandeur of the work, with the multitude of figures, are such that
it is not possible to describe it, for it is filled with all the
passions known to human creatures, and all expressed in the most
marvellous manner. For the proud, the envious, the avari- cious, the
wanton, and all the other suchlike sinners can be distinguished with
ease by any man of fine perception, because in figuring them Michel-
agnolo observed every rule of Nature in the expressions, in the
attitudes, and in every other natural circumstance; a thing which,
although great and marvellous, was not impossible to such a man, for
the reason that he was always observant and shrewd and had seen men
in plenty, and had acquired by commerce with the world that
knowledge that philosophers gain from cogitation and from writings.
Wherefore he who has judgment and understanding in painting
perceives there the most terrible force of art, and sees in those
figures such thoughts and passions as were never painted by any
other but Michelagnolo. So, also, he may see there how the variety
of innumerable attitudes is accomplished, in the strange and diverse
gestures of young and old, male and female \; and who is there who
does not recognize in these the terrible power of his art, together
with the grace that he had from Nature, since they move the hearts
not only of those who have knowledge in that profession, but even of
those who have none ? There are foreshortenings that appear as if in
relief, a harmony of painting that gives great softness, and
fineness in the parts painted by him with delicacy, all showing in
truth how pictures executed by good and true painters should be; and
in the outlines of the forms turned by him in such a way as could
not have been achieved by any other but Michelagnolo, may be seen
the true Judgment and the true Damnation and Resurrection.
This is for our art the exemplar and the grand manner of painting
sent down to men on earth by God, to the end that they may see how
Destiny works when intellects descend from the heights of Heaven to
earth, and have infused in them divine grace and knowledge. This
work leads after it bound in chains those who persuade themselves
that they have mastered art; and at the sight of the strokes drawn
by him in the outlines of no matter what figure, every sublime
spirit, however mighty in design, trembles and is afraid. And while
the eyes gaze at his labours in this work, the senses are numbed at
the mere thought of what manner of things all other pictures, those
painted and those still un- painted, would appear if placed in
comparison with such perfection. Truly blessed may he be called, and
blessed his memories, who has seen this truly stupendous marvel of
our age ! Most happy and most fortunate Paul III, in that God
granted that under thy protection should be acquired the renown that
the pens of writers shall give to his memory and thine ! How highly
are thy merits enhanced by his genius ! And what good fortune have
the craftsmen had in this age from his birth, in that they have seen
the veil of every difficulty torn away, and have beheld in the
pictures, sculptures, and architectural works executed by him all
that can be imagined and achieved!
IHe toiled eight years over executing this work, and threw it
open to view in the year J5i, I believe, on Christmas day, to the
marvel and amazement of all Rome, nay, of the whole world; and I,
who was that year in Venice, and went to Rome to see it, was struck
dumb by its beauty, Pope Paul, as has been related, had caused a
chapel called the Pauline to be erected on the same floor by Antonio
da San Gallo, in imitation of that of Nicholas V; and in this he
resolved that Michelagnolo should paint two great pictures with two
large scenes. In one he painted the Conversion of S. Paul, with
Jesus Christ in the air and a multitude of nude Angels making most
beautiful movements, and below, all dazed and terrified, Paul fallen
from his horse to the level of the ground, with his soldiers about
him, some striving to raise him up, and others, struck with awe by
the voice and splendour of Christ, are flying in beautiful attitudes
and marvellous movements of panic, while the horse, taking to
flight, appears to be carrying away in its headlong course him who
seeks to hold it back ; and this whole scene is executed with
extraordinary design and art. In the other picture is the
Crucifixion of S. Peter, who is fixed, a nude figure of rare beauty,
upon the cross; showing the ministers of the crucifixion, after they
have made a hole in the ground, seeking to raise the cross on high,
to the end that he may remain crucified with his feet in the air;
and there are many remarkable and beautiful considerations.
Michelagnolo, as has been said elsewhere, gave his atten- tion only
to the perfection of art, and therefore there are no landscapes to
be seen there, nor trees, nor buildings, nor any other distracting
graces of art, for to these he never applied himself, as one,
perchance, who would not abase his great genius to such things.
These, executed by him at the age of seventy-five, were his last
pictures, and, as he used himself to tell me, they cost him much
fatigue, for the reason that painting, and particularly working in
fresco, is no art for men who have passed a certain age.
Michelagnolo arranged that Perino del Vaga, a very excellent
painter, should decorate the vaulting with stucco and with many
things in painting, after his designs, and such, also, was the wish
of Pope Paul III but the work was afterwards delayed, and nothing
more was done, even as many undertakings are left unfinished, partly
by the fault of want of resolution in the craftsmen, and partly by
that of Princes little zealous in urging them on.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 8: The Florence Pieta', St Peter's, the Farnese Palace,
projects for Julius III
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Pope Paul had made a beginning with the fortifying of the Borgo,
and had summoned many gentlemen, together with Antonio da San Gallo,
to a conference; but he wished that Michelagnolo also should have a
part in this, knowing that the fortifications about the hill of S.
Miniato in Florence had been constructed under his direction. After
much discussion, Michelagnolo was asked what he thought; and he,
having opinions contrary to San Gallo and many others, declared them
freely. Whereupon San Gallo said to him that his arts were sculpture
and painting, and not fortification. Michelagnolo replied that of
sculpture and painting he knew little, but of fortification, what
with the thought that he had devoted to it for a long time, and his
experience in what he had done, it appeared to him that he knew more
than either Antonio or any of his family; showing him in the
presence of the company that he had made many errors in that art.
Words rising high on either side, the Pope had to command silence;
but no long time passed before Michelagnolo brought a design for all
the fortifications of the Borgo, which laid open the way for all
that has since been ordained and executed; and this was the reason
that the great gate of S. Spirito, which was approaching completion
under the direction of San Gallo, was left unfinished.
The spirit and genius of Michelagnolo could not rest without
doing something; and, since he was not able to paint, he set to work
on a piece of marble, intending to carve from it four figures in the
round and larger than life, including a Dead Christ, for his own
delight and to pass the time, and because, as he used to say, the
exercise of the hammer kept him healthy in body. This Christ, taken
down from the Cross, is supported by Our Lady, by Nicodemus, who
bends down and assists her, planted firmly on his feet in a forceful
attitude, and by one of the Maries, who also gives her aid,
perceiving that the Mother, overcome by grief, is failing in
strength and not able to uphold Him. Nor is there anywhere to be
seen a dead form equal to that of Christ, who, sinking with the
limbs hanging limp, lies in an attitude wholly different, not only
from that of any other work by Michelagnolo, but from that of any
other figure that was ever made. A laborious work is this, a rare
achievement in a single stone, and truly divine; but, as will be
related hereafter, it remained unfinished, and suffered many
misfortunes, although Michelagnolo had intended that it should serve
to adorn his own tomb, at the foot of that altar where he thought to
place it.
It happened in the year I546 that Antonio da San Gallo died;
whereupon, there being now no one to direct the building of S.
Pietro, many suggestions were made by the superintendents to the
Pope as to who should have it. Finally his Holiness, inspired, I
believe, by God, resolved to send for Michelagnolo. But he, when
asked to take Antonio's place, refused it, saying, in order to avoid
such a burden, that architecture was not his proper art; and in the
end, entreaties not availing, the Pope commanded that he should
accept it, whereupon, to his great displeasure and against his wish,
he was forced to undertake that enterprise. And one day among others
that he went to S. Pietro to see the wooden model that San Gallo had
made, and to examine the building, he found there the whole San
Gallo faction, who, crowding before Michelagnolo, said to him in the
best terms at their command that they rejoiced that the charge of
the building was to be his, and that the model was a field where
there would never be any want of pasture. "You speak the truth,"
answered Michelagnolo, meaning to infer, as he declared to a friend,
that it was good for sheep and oxen, who knew nothing of art. And
afterwards he used to say publicly that San Gallo had made it
wanting in lights, that it had on the exterior too many ranges of
columns one above another, and that, with its innumerable
projections, pinnacles, and subdivisions of members, it was more
akin to the German manner than to the good method of the ancients or
to the gladsome and beautiful modern manner; and, in addition to
this, that it was possible to save fifty years of time and more than
three hundred thousand crowns of money in finishing the building,
and to execute it with more majesty, grandeur, and facility, greater
beauty and convenience, and better ordered design. This he
afterwards proved by a model that he made, in order to bring it to
the form in which the work is now seen constructed; and thus he
demonstrated that what he said was nothing but the truth. This model
cost him twenty-five crowns, and was made in a fortnight; that of
San Gallo, as has been related, cost four thousand, and took many
years to finish. From this and other circumstances it became evident
that that fabric was but a shop and a business for making money, and
that it would be continually delayed, with the intention of never
finishing it, by those who had undertaken it as a means of profit.
Such methods did not please our upright Michelagnolo, and in
order to get rid of all these people, while the Pope was forcing him
to accept the office of architect to the work, he said to them
openly one day that they should use all the assistance of their
friends and do all that they could to prevent him from entering on
that office, because, if he were to undertake such a charge, he
would not have one of them about the building. Which words, spoken
in public, were taken very ill, as may be believed, and were the
reason that they conceived a great hatred against him, which
increased every day as they saw the whole design being changed, both
within and without, so that they would scarcely let him live,
seeking out daily new and various devices to harass him, as will be
related in the proper place. Finally the Pope issued a Motu-proprio
creating him head of that fabric, with full authority, and giving
him power to do or undo whatever he chose, and to add, take away, or
vary anything at his pleasure; and he decreed that all the officials
employed in the work should be subservient to his will. Whereupon
Michelagnolo, seeing the great confidence and trust that the Pope
placed in him, desired, in order to prove his generosity, that it
should be declared in the Motuproprio that he was serving in the
fabric for the love of God and without any reward. It is true that
the Pope had formerly granted to him the ferry over~the river at
Parma,* [* Piacenza.] which yielded him about six hundred crowns;
but he lost it at the death of Duke Pier Luigi Farnese, and in
exchange for it he was given a Chancellery at Rimini, a post of less
value. About that he showed no concern; and, although the Pope sent
him money several times by way of salary, he would never accept it,
to which witness is borne by Messer Alessandro Ruffini, Chamberlain
to the Pope at that time, and by M. Pier Giovanni Aliotti, Bishop of
Forli. Finally the model that had been made by Michelagnolo was
approved by the Pope; which model diminished S. Pietro in size, but
gave it greater grandeur, to the satisfaction of all those who have
judgment, although some who profess to be good judges, which in fact
they are not, do not approve of it. He found that the four principal
piers built by Bramante, and left by Antonio da San Gallo, which had
to support the weight of the tribune, were weak; and these he partly
filled up, and beside them he made two winding or spiral staircases,
in which is an ascent so easy that the beasts of burden can climb
them, carrying all the materials to the very top, and men on
horseback, likewise, can go up to the uppermost level of the arches.
The first cornice above the arches he constructed of travertine,
curving in a round, which is an admirable and graceful thing, and
very different from any other; nor could anything better of that
kind be done. He also made a beginning with the two great recesses
of the transepts; and whereas formerly, under the direction of
Bramante, Baldassarre, and Raffaello, as has been related, eight
tabernacles were being made on the side towards the Camposanto, and
that plan was afterwards followed by San Gallo, Michelagnolo reduced
these to three, with three chapels in the interior, and above them a
vaulting of travertine, and a range of windows giving a brilliant
light, which are varied in form and of a sublime grandeur. But,
since these things are in existence, and are also to be seen in
engraving, not only those of Michelagnolo, but those of San Gallo as
well, I will not set myself to describe them, for it is in no way
necessary. Let it suffice to say that he set himself, with all
possible diligence, to cause the work to be carried on in those
parts where the fabric was to be changed in design, to the end that
it might remain so solid and stable that it might never be changed
by another; which was the wise pro- vision of a shrewd and prudent
intellect, because it is not enough to do good work, if further
precautions be not taken, seeing that the boldness and presumption
of those who might be supposed to have knowledge if credit were
placed rather in their words than in their deeds, and at times the
favor of such as know nothing, may give rise to many mis- fortunes.
The Roman people, with the sanction of that Pope, had a desire to
give some useful, commodious, and beautiful form to the Campidoglio,
and to furnish it with colonnades, ascents, and inclined approaches
with and without steps, and also with the further adornment of the
ancient statues that were already there, in order to embellish that
place. For this purpose they sought the advice of Michelagnolo, who
made them a most beautiful and very rich design, in which, on the
side where the Senatore stands, towards the east, he arranged a
facade of travertine, and a flight of steps that ascends from two
sides to meet on a level space, from which one enters into the
centre of the hall of that Palace, with rich curving wings adorned
with balusters that serve as supports and parapets. And there, to
enrich that part, he caused to be placed on certain bases the two
ancient figures in marble of recumbent River Gods, each of nine
braccia, and of rare workmanship, one of which is the Tiber and the
other the Nile; and between them, in a niche, is to go a Jove. On
the southern side, where there is the Palace of the Conservatori, in
order that it might be made rectangular, there followed a rich and
well varied facade, with a loggia at the foot full of columns and
niches, where many ancient statues are to go; and all around are
various ornaments, doors, windows, and the like, of which some are
already in place. On the other side from this, towards the north,
below the Araceli, there is to follow another similar facade; and
before it, towards the west, is to be an ascent of baston-like
steps, which will be almost level, with a border and parapet of
balusters; here will be the principal entrance, with a colonnade,
and bases on which will be placed all that wealth of noble statues
in which the Campidoglio is now so rich. In the middle of the
Piazza, on a base in the form of an oval, is placed the famous
bronze horse on which is the statue of Marcus Aurelius, which the
same Pope Paul caused to be removed from the Piazza di Laterano,
where Sixtus IV had placed it. This edifice is now being made so
beautiful that it is worthy to be numbered among the finest works
that Michelagnolo has executed, and it is being carried to
completion at the present day under the direction of M. Tommaso de'
Cavalieri, a Roman gentleman who was, and still is, one of the
greatest friends that Michelagnolo ever had, as will be related
hereafter.
Pope Paul III had caused San Gallo, while he was alive, to carry
forward the Palace of the Farnese family, but the great upper
cornice, to finish the roof on the outer side, had still to be
constructed, and his Holiness desired thatj^ichelagnolo should
execute it from his own designs and directions. Michelagnolo, not
being able to refuse the Pope, who so esteemed and favoured him,
caused a model of wood to be made, six braccia in length, and of the
size that it was to be; and this he placed on one of the corners of
the Palace, so that it might show what effect the finished work
would have. It pleased his Holiness and all Rome, and that part of
it has since been carried to completion which is now to be seen,
proving to be the most varied and the most beautiful of all that
have ever been known, whether ancient or modern. On this account,
after San Gallo was dead, the Pope desired that Michelagnolo should
have charge of the whole fabric as well; and there he made the great
marble window with the beautiful columns of variegated marble, which
is over the principal door of the Palace, with a large escutcheon of
great beauty and variety, in marble, of Pope Paul III, the founder
of that Palace. Within the Palace he continued, above the first
range of the court, the two other ranges, with the most varied,
graceful, and beautiful windows, ornaments and upper cornice that
have ever been seen, so that, through the labours and the genius of
that man that court has now become the most handsome in Europe. He
widened and enlarged the Great Hall, and set in order the front
vestibule, and caused the vaulting of that vestibule to be
constructed in a new variety of curve, in the form of a half oval.
Now in that year there was found at the Baths of Antoninus a mass
of marble seven braccia in every direction, in which there had been
carved by the ancients a Hercules standing upon a mound, who was
holding the Bull by the horns, with another figure assisting him,
and around that mound various figures of Shepherds, Nymphs, and
different animals a work of truly extraordinary beauty, showing
figures so perfect in one single block without any added pieces,
which was judged to have been intended for a fountain. Michelagnolo
advised that it should be conveyed into the second court, and there
restored so as to make it spout water in the original manner; all
which advice was approved, and the work is still being restored at
the present day with great diligence, by order of the Farnese
family, for that purpose. At that time, also, Michelagnolo made a
design for the building of a bridge across the River Tiber in a
straight line with the Farnese Palace, to the end that it might be
possible to go from that palace to another palace and gardens that
they possessed in the Trastevere, and also to see at one glance in a
straight line from the principal door which faces the Campo di
Fiore, the court, the fountain, the Strada Giulia, the bridge, and
the beauties of the other garden, even to the other door which
opened on the Strada di Trastevere a rare work, worthy of that
Pontiff and of the judgment, design, and art of Michelagnolo.
In the year 1547 died Sebastiano Veneziano, the Friar of the
Piombo; and, Pope Paul proposing that the ancient statues of his
Palace should be restored, Michelagnolo willingly favored the
Milanese sculptor Guglielmo della Porta, a young man of promise, who
had been recommended by the above-named Fra Sebastiano to
Michelagnolo, who, liking his work, presented him to Pope Paul for
the restoration of those statues. And the matter went so far forward
that Michelagnolo obtained for him the office of the Piombo, and he
then set to work on restoring the statues, some of which are to be
seen in that Palace at the present day. But Guglielmo, forgetting
the benefits that he had received from Michelagnolo, afterwards
became one of his opponents.
In the year 1549 there took place the death of Pope Paul III;
whereupon, after fhe election of Pope Julius III, Cardinal Farnese
gave orders for a grand tomb to be made for his kinsman Pope Paul by
the hand of Fra Guglielmo, who arranged to erect it in S. Pietro,
below the first arch of the new church, beneath the tribune, which
obstructed the floor of the church, and was, in truth, not the
proper place. Michelagnolo advised, most judiciously, that it could
not and should not stand there, and the Frate, believing that he was
doing this out of envy, became filled with hatred against him; but
afterwards he recognized that Michelagnolo had spoken the truth, and
that the fault was his, in that he had had the opportunity and had
not finished the work, as will be related in another place. And to
this I can bear witness, for the reason that in the year 1550 I had
gone by order of Pope Julius III to Rome to serve him (and very
willingly, for love of Michelagnolo), and I took part in that
discussion. Michelagnolo desired that the tomb should be erected in
one of the niches, where there is now the Column of the Possessed,
which was the proper place, and I had so gone to work that Julius
III was resolving to have his own tomb made in the other niche with
the same design as that of Pope Paul, in order to balance that work;
but the Frate, who set himself against this, brought it about that
his own was never finished after all, and that the tomb of the other
Pontiff was also not made; which had all been predicted by
Michelagnolo.
In the same year Pope Julius turned his attention to having a
chapel of marble with two tombs constructed in the Church of S.
Pietro a Montorio for Cardinal Antonio di Monte, his uncle, and
Messer Fabiano, his grandfather, the first founder of the greatness
of that illustrious house. For this work Vasari having made designs
and models, Pope Julius, who always esteemed the genius of
Michelagnolo and loved Vasari, desired that Michelagnolo should fix
the price between them; and Vasari besought the Pope that he should
prevail upon him to take it under his protection. Now Vasari had
proposed Simone Mosca for the carvings of this work, and Raffaello
da Montelupo for the statues; but Michelagnolo advised that no
carvings of foliage should be made in it, not even in the
architectural parts of the work, saying that where there are to be
figures of marble there must not be any other thing. On which
account Vasari feared that the work should be abandoned, because it
would look poor; but in fact, when he saw it finished, he confessed
that Michelagnolo had shown great judgment.
Michelagnolo would not have Montelupo make the statues,
remembering how badly he had acquitted himself in those of his own
tomb of Julius II, and he was content, rather, that they should be
entrusted to Bartolommeo Ammanati, whom Vasari had proposed,
although Buonarroti had something of a private grievance against
him, as also against Nanni di Baccio Bigio, caused by a reason
which, if one considers it well, seems slight enough; for when they
were very young, moved rather by love of art than by a desire to do
wrong, they had entered with great pains into his house, and had
taken from Antonio Mini, the disciple of Michelagnolo, many sheets
with drawings; but these were afterwards all restored to him by
order of the Tribunal of Eight, and, at the intercession of his
friend Messer Giovanni Norchiati, Canon of S. Lorenzo, he would not
have any other punishment inflicted on them. Vasari, when
Michelagnolo spoke to him of this matter, said to him, laughing,
that it did not seem to him that they deserved any blame, and that
he himself, if 'he had ever been able, would have not taken a few
drawings only, but robbed him of everything by his hand that he
might have been able to seize, merely for the sake of learning art.
One must look kindly, he said, on those who seek after excellence,
and also reward them, and therefore such men must not be treated
like those who go about stealing money, household property, and
other things of value; and so the matter was turned into a jest.
This was the reason that a beginning was made with the work of the
Montorio, and that in the same year Vasari and Ammanati went to have
the marble conveyed from Carrara to Rome for the execution of that
work.
At that time Vasari was with Michelagnolo every day; and one
morning the Pope in his kindness gave them both leave that they
might visit the Seven Churches on horseback (for it was Holy Year),
and receive the Pardon in company. Whereupon, while going from one
church to another, they had many useful and beautiful conversations
on art and every industry, and out of these Vasari composed a
dialogue, which will be published at some more favorable
opportunity, together with other things concerning art. In that year
Pope Julius III confirmed the Motuproprio of Pope Paul III with
regard to the building of S. Pietro; and although much evil was
spoken to him of Michelagnolo by the friends of the San Gallo
faction, in the matter of that fabric of S. Pietro, at that time the
Pope would not listen to a word, for Vasari had demonstrated to him
(as was the truth) that Michelagnolo had given life to the building,
and also persuaded his Holiness that he should do nothing concerned
with design without the advice of Michelagnolo. This promise the
Pope kept ever afterwards, for neither at the Vigna Julia did he do
anything without his counsel, nor at the Belvedere, where there was
built the staircase that is there now, in place of the semicircular
staircase that came for- ward, ascending in eight steps, and turned
inwards in eight more steps, erected in former times by Bramante in
the great recess in the center of the Belvedere. And Michelagnolo
designed and caused to be built the very beautiful quadrangular
staircase, with balusters of peperino stone, which is there at the
present day.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE
Part 9: Work at S. Pietro in Montorio, the San Gallo conspiracy, the
Medici chapel statues, the end of the Florence Pieta' and
Michelangelo's approach to carving
Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Vasari had finished in that year the printing of his work, the
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in Florence. Now he
had not written the Life of any living master, although some who
were old were still alive, save only of Michelagnolo; and in the
book were many records of circumstances that Vasari had received
from his lips, his age and his judgment being the greatest among all
the craftsmen. Giorgio therefore presented the work to him, and he
received it very gladly; and not long afterwards, having read it,
Michelagnolo sent to him the following sonnet, written by himself,
which I am pleased to include in this place in memory of his
loving-kindness:
Se con lo stile o co' colori havete
Alia Natura pareggiato 1'Arte,
Anzi a quella scemato il pregio in parte,
Che '1 bel di lei piu bello a noi rendete,
Poiche con dotta man posto vi siete
A piu degno lavoro, a vergar carte,
Quel che vi manca a lei di pregio in parte,
Nel dar vita ad altrui tutto togliete.
Che se secolo alcuno omai contese
In far bell' opre, almen cedale, poi
Che convien', ch' al prescritto fine arrive.
Or le memorie altrui gia spente accese
Tornando fate, or che sien quelle, e voi,
Mai grado d' esse, eternalmente vive.
Vasari departed for Florence, and left to Michelagnolo the charge
of having the work founded in the Montorio. Now Messer Bindo
Altoviti, the Consul of the Florentine colony at that time, was much
the friend of Vasari, and on this occasion Giorgio said to him that
it would be well to have this work erected in the Church of S.
Giovanni de' Fiorentini, and that he had already spoken of it with
Michelagnolo, who would favor the enterprise; and that this would be
a means of giving completion to that church. This proposal pleased
Messer Bindo, and, being very intimate with the Pope, he urged it
warmly upon him, demonstrating that it would be well that the chapel
and the tombs which his Holiness was having executed for the
Montorio should be placed in the Church of S. Giovanni de'
Fiorentini; adding that the result would be that with this occasion
and this spur the Florentine colony would undertake such expenditure
that the church would receive its completion, and, if his Holiness
were to build the principal chapel, the other merchants would build
six chapels, and then little by little all the rest. Whereupon the
Pope changed his mind, and, although the model for the work was
already made and the price arranged, went to the Montorio and sent
for Michel- agnolo, to whom Vasari was writing every day, receiving
answers from him according to the opportunities presented in the
course of affairs. Michelagnolo then wrote to Vasari, on the first
day of August in 1550, of the change that the Pope had made; and
these are his words, written in his own hand :
ROME.
MY DEAR MESSER GIORGIO,
"With regard to the founding of the work at S. Pietro a Montorio,
and how the Pope would not listen
to a word, I wrote you nothing, knowing that you are kept informed
by your man here. Now I must tell
you what has happened, which is as follows. Yesterday morning the
Pope, having gone to the said
Montorio, sent for me. I met him on the bridge, on his way back, and
had a long conversation with
him about the tombs allotted to you; and in the end he told me that
he was resolved that he would
not place those tombs on that mount, but in the Church of the
Florentines. He sought from me my
opinion and also designs, and I encouraged him not a little,
considering that by this means the said
church would be finished. Respecting your three letters received, I
have no pen wherewith to answer
to such exalted matters, but if I should rejoice to be in some sort
what you make me, I should
rejoice for no other reason save that you might have a servant who
might be worth something. But I
do not marvel that you, who restore dead men to life, should
lengthen the life of the living, or
rather, that you should steal from death for an unlimited period
those barely alive. To cut this
short, such as I am, I am wholly yours,
" MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI."
While these matters were being discussed, and the Florentine
colony was seeking to raise money, certain difficulties arose, on
account of which they came to no decision, and the affair grew cold.
Meanwhile, Vasari and Ammanati having by this time had all the
marbles quarried at Carrara, a great part of them were sent to Rome,
and with them Ammanati, through whom Vasari wrote to Buonarroti that
he should ascertain from the Pope where he wanted the tomb, and,
after receiving his orders, should have the work begun. The moment
that Michelagnolo received the letter, he spoke to his Holiness; and
with his own hand he wrote the following resolution to Vasari:
"i4th of October, 1550.
"MY DEAR MESSER GIORGIO,
"The instant that Bartolommeo arrived here, I went to speak to
the Pope, and, having perceived that
he wished to begin the work once more at the Montorio, in the matter
of the tombs, I looked for a
mason from S. Pietro. "Tantecose" heard this, and insisted on
sending one of his choosing, and I,
to avoid contending with a man who commands the winds, have retired
from the matter, because, he
being a light-minded person, I would not care to be drawn into any
entanglement. Enough that in my
opinion there is no more thought to be given to the Church of the
Florentines. Fare you well, and
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