panel-picture in oils for the Great Cancelleria by order of the most
illustrious Cardinal Farnese, and another for the Church of S.
Agostino at the commission of Galeotto da Girone, sent for Cristofano,
who went very willingly, as one who had a desire to see Rome. There he
stayed many months, doing little else but go about seeing everything;
but nevertheless he thus gained so much, that, after returning once
more to S. Giustino, he painted in a hall some figures after his own
fancy which were so beautiful, that it appeared that he must have
studied at them twenty years. Then, in the year 1545, Vasari had to go
to Naples to paint for the Monks of Monte Oliveto a refectory
involving much more work than that of S. Michele in Bosco at Bologna,
and he sent for Cristofano, Raffaello dal Colle, and Stefano, already
mentioned as his friends and pupils; and they all came together at the
appointed time in Naples, excepting Cristofano, who remained behind
because he was ill. However, being pressed by Vasari, he made his way
to Rome on his journey to Naples; but he was detained by his brother
Borgognone, who was likewise an exile, and who wished to take him to
France to enter the service of the Colonel Giovanni da Turrino, and so
that occasion was lost. But when Vasari returned from Naples to Rome
in the year 1546, in order to execute twenty-four pictures that were
afterwards sent to Naples and placed in the Sacristy of S. Giovanni
Carbonaro, in which he painted stories from the Old Testament, and
also from the life of S. John the Baptist, with figures of one braccio
or little more, and also in order to paint the doors of the organ of
the Piscopio, which were six braccia in height, he availed himself of
Cristofano, who was of great assistance to him and executed figures
and landscapes in those works excellently well. Giorgio had also
proposed to make use of him in the Hall of the Cancelleria, which was
painted after cartoons by his hand, and entirely finished in a hundred
days, for Cardinal Farnese, but in this he did not succeed, for
Cristofano fell ill and returned to S. Giustino as soon as he had
begun to mend. And Vasari finished the Hall without him, assisted by
Raffaello dal Colle, the Bolognese Giovan Battista Bagnacavallo, the
Spaniards Roviale and Bizzerra, and many others of his friends and
pupils.
After returning from Rome to Florence and setting out from that city
to go to Rimini, to paint a chapel in fresco and an altar-piece in the
Church of the Monks of Monte Oliveto for Abbot Gian Matteo Faettani,
Giorgio passed through S. Giustino, in order to take Cristofano with
him: but Abbot Bufolini, for whom he was painting a hall, would not
let him go for the time being, although he promised Giorgio that he
should send Cristofano to him soon all the way to Romagna. But,
notwithstanding such a promise, the Abbot delayed so long to send
him, that Cristofano, when he did go, found that Vasari had not only
finished all the work for the other Abbot, but had also executed an
altar-piece for the high-altar of S. Francesco at Rimini, for Messer
Niccolo Marcheselli, and another altar-piece in the Church of Classi,
belonging to the Monks of Camaldoli, at Ravenna, for Don Romualdo da
Verona, the Abbot of that abbey.
In the year 1550, not long before this, Giorgio had just executed the
story of the Marriage of Esther in the Black Friars' Abbey of S.
Fiore, that is, in the refectory, at Arezzo, and also, at Florence,
for the Chapel of the Martelli in the Church of S. Lorenzo, the
altar-piece of S. Gismondo, when, Julius III having been elected Pope,
he was summoned to Rome to enter the service of his Holiness.
Thereupon he thought for certain that by means of Cardinal Farnese,
who went at that time to stay in Florence, he would be able to
reinstate Cristofano in his country and restore him to the favour of
Duke Cosimo. But this proved to be impossible, so that poor Cristofano
had to stay as he was until 1554, at which time, Vasari having been
invited into the service of Duke Cosimo, there came to him an
opportunity of delivering Cristofano. Bishop da' Ricasoli, who knew
that he would be doing a thing pleasing to his Excellency, had set to
work to have the three facades of his palace, which stands on the
abutment of the Ponte alla Carraja, painted in chiaroscuro, when
Messer Sforza Almeni, Cup-bearer as well as first and favourite
Chamberlain to the Duke, resolved that he also would have his house in
the Via de' Servi painted in chiaroscuro, in emulation of the Bishop.
But, not having found in Florence any painters according to his fancy,
he wrote to Giorgio Vasari, who had not then arrived in Florence, that
he should think out the inventions and send him designs of all that it
might seem to him best to paint on that facade of his. Whereupon
Giorgio, who was much his friend, for they had known each other from
the time when they were both in the service of Duke Alessandro, having
thought out the whole according to the measurements of the facade,
sent him a design of most beautiful invention, which embellished the
windows and joined them together with a well-varied decoration in a
straight line from top to bottom, and filled all the spaces in the
facade with rich scenes. This design, I say, which contained, to put
it briefly, the whole life of man from birth to death, was sent by
Vasari to Messer Sforza; and it so pleased him, and likewise the Duke,
that, in order that it might have all its perfection, they resolved
that they would not have it taken in hand until such time as Vasari
himself should have arrived in Florence. Which Vasari having at last
come and having been received by his most illustrious Excellency and
by the above-named Messer Sforza with great friendliness, they began
to discuss who might be the right man to execute that facade.
Whereupon Giorgio, not allowing the occasion to slip by, said to
Messer Sforza that no one was better able to carry out that work than
Cristofano, and that neither in that nor in the works that were to be
executed in the Palace, could he do without Cristofano's aid. And so,
Messer Sforza having spoken of this to the Duke, after many inquiries
it was found that Cristofano's crime was not so black as it had been
painted, and the poor fellow was at last pardoned by his Excellency.
Which news having been received by Vasari, who was at Arezzo,
revisiting his native place and his friends, he sent a messenger
expressly to Cristofano, who knew nothing of the matter, to give him
that good news; and when he heard it, he was like to faint with joy.
All rejoicing, therefore, and confessing that no one had ever been a
better friend to him than Vasari, he went off next morning from Citta
di Castello to the Borgo, where, after presenting his letters of
deliverance to the Commissioner, he made his way to his father's
house, where his mother and also his brother, who had been recalled
from exile long before, were struck with astonishment. Then, after
passing two days there, he went off to Arezzo, where he was received
by Giorgio with more rejoicing than if he had been his own brother,
and recognized that he was so beloved by Vasari that he resolved that
he would spend the rest of his life with him.
They then went from Arezzo to Florence together, and Cristofano went
to kiss the hands of the Duke, who received him readily and was struck
with amazement, for the reason that, whereas he had thought to see
some great bravo, he saw the best little man in the world. Cristofano
was likewise made much of by Messer Sforza, who conceived a very great
affection for him; and he then set his hand to the above-mentioned
facade. In that work, Giorgio, because it was not yet possible to
work in the Palace, assisted him, at his own request, to execute some
designs for the scenes in the facade, also designing at times during
the progress of the work, on the plaster, some of the figures that are
there. But, although there are in it many things retouched by Vasari,
nevertheless the whole facade, with the greater part of the figures
and all the ornaments, festoons, and large ovals, is by the hand of
Cristofano, who in truth, as may be seen, was so able in handling
colours in fresco, that it may be said--and Vasari confesses it--that
he knew more about it than Giorgio himself. And if Cristofano, when he
was a lad, had exercised himself continuously in the studies of
art--for he never did a drawing save when he had afterwards to carry
it into execution--and had pursued the practice of art with spirit, he
would have had no equal, seeing that his facility, judgment and memory
enabled him to execute his works in such a way, without any further
study, that he used to surpass many who in fact knew more than he. Nor
could anyone believe with what facility and resolution he executed his
labours, for, when he set himself to work, no matter how long a time
it might take, he so delighted in it that he would never lift his eyes
off his painting; wherefore his friends might well expect the greatest
things from him. Besides this, he was so gracious in his conversation
and his jesting as he worked, that Vasari would at times stay working
in his company from morning till night, without ever growing weary.
Cristofano executed this facade in a few months, not to mention that
he sometimes stayed away some weeks without working there, going to
the Borgo to see and enjoy his home. Now I do not wish to grudge the
labour of describing the distribution and the figures of this work,
which, from its being in the open air and much exposed to the vagaries
of the weather, may not have a very long life; scarcely, indeed, was
it finished, when it was much injured by a terrible rain and a very
heavy hail-storm, and in some places the wall was stripped of plaster.
In this facade, then, there are three compartments. The first, to
begin at the foot, is where the principal door and the two windows
are; the second is from the sill of those windows to that of the
second range of windows; and the third is from those last windows to
the cornice of the roof. There are, besides this, six windows in each
range, which give seven spaces; and the whole work was divided
according to this plan in straight lines from the cornice of the roof
down to the ground. Next to the cornice of the roof, then, there is in
perspective a great cornice, with brackets that project over a frieze
of little boys, six of whom stand upright along the breadth of the
facade--namely, one above the centre of the arch of each window; and
these support with their shoulders most beautiful festoons of fruits,
leaves, and flowers, which run from one to another. Those fruits and
flowers are arranged in due succession according to the seasons,
symbolizing the periods of our life, which is there depicted; and on
the middle of the festoons, likewise, where they hang down, are other
little boys in various attitudes. This frieze finished, between the
upper windows, in the spaces that are there, there were painted the
seven Planets, with the seven celestial Signs above them as a crown
and an ornament. Beneath the sill of these windows, on the parapet, is
a frieze of Virtues, who, two by two, are holding seven great ovals;
in which ovals are seven distinct stories representing the Seven Ages
of Man, and each Age is accompanied by two Virtues appropriate to her,
and beneath the ovals in the spaces between the lower windows there
are the three Theological and the four Moral Virtues. Below this, in
the frieze that is above the door and the windows supported by
knee-shaped brackets, are the seven Liberal Arts, each of which is in
a line with the oval in which is the particular story of the Life of
Man appropriate to it; and in the same straight lines, continued
upwards, are the Moral Virtues, Planets, Signs, and other
corresponding symbols. Next, between the windows with knee-shaped
brackets, there is Life, both the active and the contemplative, with
scenes and statues, continued down to Death, Hell, and our final
Resurrection.
In brief, Cristofano executed almost all by himself the whole cornice,
the festoons, the little boys, and the seven Signs of the Planets.
Then, beginning on one side, he painted first the Moon, and
represented her by a Diana who has her lap full of flowers, after the
manner of Proserpine, with a moon upon her head and the Sign of Cancer
above her. Below, in the oval wherein is the story of Infancy, there
are present at the Birth of Man some nurses who are suckling infants,
and newly-delivered women in bed, executed by Cristofano with much
grace; and this oval is supported by Will alone, who is a half-nude
young woman, fair and beautiful, and she is sustained by Charity, who
is also suckling infants. And beneath the oval, on the parapet, is
Grammar, who is teaching some little boys to read.
Beginning over again, there follows Mercury with the Caduceus and with
his Sign, who has below him in the oval some little boys, some of whom
are going to school and some playing. This oval is supported by Truth,
who is a nude little girl all pure and simple, who has on one side a
male figure representing Falsehood, with a variety of girt-up garments
and a most beautiful countenance, but with the eyes much sunken.
Beneath the oval of the windows is Faith, who with the right hand is
baptizing a child in a conch full of water, and with the left hand is
holding a cross; and below her, on the parapet, is Logic covered by a
veil, with a serpent.
Next follows the Sun, represented by an Apollo who has the lyre in his
hand, with his Sign in the ornament above. In the oval is Adolescence,
represented by two boys of equal age, one of whom, holding a branch of
olive, is ascending a mountain illumined by the sun, and the other,
halting halfway up to admire the beauties that Fraud displays from the
middle upwards, without perceiving that her hideous countenance is
concealed behind a smooth and beautiful mask, is caused by her and her
wiles to fall over a precipice. This oval is supported by Sloth, a
gross and corpulent man, who stands all sleepy and nude in the guise
of a Silenus; and also by Toil, in the person of a robust and
hard-working peasant, who has around him the implements for tilling
the earth. These are supported by that part of the ornament that is
between the windows, where Hope is, who has the anchors at her feet;
and on the parapet below is Music, with various musical instruments
about her.
There follows in due order Venus, who has clasped Love to her bosom,
and is kissing him; and she, also, has her Sign above her. In the oval
that she has beneath her is the story of Youth; that is, in the centre
a young man seated, with books, instruments for measuring, and other
things appertaining to design, and in addition maps of the world and
cosmographical globes and spheres; and behind him is a loggia, in
which are young men who are merrily passing the time away with
singing, dancing, and playing, and also a banquet of young people all
given over to enjoyment. On one side this oval is supported by
Self-knowledge, who has about her compasses, armillary spheres,
quadrants, and books, and is gazing at herself in a mirror; and, on
the other side, by Fraud, a hideous old hag, lean and toothless, who
is mocking at Self-knowledge, and in the act of covering her face with
a smooth and beautiful mask. Below the oval is Temperance, with a
horse's bridle in her hand, and beneath her, on the parapet, is
Rhetoric, who is in a line with the other similar figures.
Next to these comes Mars in armour, with many trophies about him, and
with the Sign of the Lion above him. In his oval, which is below him,
is Virility, represented by a full-grown man, standing between Memory
and Will, who are holding before him a basin of gold containing a pair
of wings, and are pointing out to him the path of deliverance in the
direction of a mountain; and this oval is supported by Innocence, who
is a maiden with a lamb at her side, and by Hilarity, who, all smiling
and merry, reveals herself as what she really is. Beneath the oval,
between the windows, is Prudence, who is making herself beautiful
before a mirror; and she has below her, on the parapet, a figure of
Philosophy.
Next there follows Jove, with his thunderbolt and his bird, the Eagle,
and with his Sign above him. In the oval is Old Age, who is
represented by an old man clothed as a priest and kneeling before an
altar, upon which he is placing the basin of gold with the two wings;
and this oval is supported by Compassion, who is covering some naked
little boys, and by Religion, enveloped in sacerdotal vestments. Below
these is a Fortitude in armour, who, planting one of her legs in a
spirited attitude on a fragment of a column, is placing some balls in
the mouth of a lion; and beneath her, on the parapet, she has a figure
of Astrology.
The last of the seven Planets is Saturn, depicted as an old man heavy
with melancholy, who is devouring his own children, with a great
serpent that is seizing its own tail with its teeth; which Saturn has
above him the Sign of Capricorn. In the oval is Decrepitude, and here
is depicted Jove in Heaven receiving a naked and decrepit old man,
kneeling, who is watched over by Felicity and Immortality, who are
casting his garments into the world. This oval is supported by
Beatitude, who is upheld by a figure of Justice in the ornament below,
who is seated and has in her hand the sceptre and upon her shoulders
the stork, with arms and laws around her; and on the parapet below is
Geometry.
In the lowest part at the foot, which is about the windows with
knee-shaped brackets and the door, is Leah in a niche, representing
the Active Life, and on the other side of the same place is Industry,
who has a Cornucopia and two goads in her hands. Near the door is a
scene in which many masters in wood and stone, architects, and
stone-cutters have before them the gate of Cosmopolis, a city built by
the Lord Duke Cosimo in the island of Elba, with a representation of
Porto-Ferrajo. Between this scene and the frieze in which are the
Liberal Arts, is Lake Trasimene, round which are Nymphs who are
issuing from the water with tench, pike, eels, and roach, and beside
the lake is Perugia, a nude figure holding with her hands a dog, which
she is showing to a figure of Florence corresponding to her, who
stands on the other side, with a figure of Arno beside her who is
embracing and fondling her. And below this is the Contemplative Life
in another scene, in which many philosophers and astrologers are
measuring the heavens, appearing to be casting the horoscope of the
Duke; and beside this, in the niche corresponding to that of Leah, is
her sister Rachel, the daughter of Laban, representing the
Contemplative Life. The last scene, which is likewise between two
niches and forms the conclusion of the whole invention, is Death, who,
mounted on a lean horse and holding the scythe, and accompanied by
War, Pestilence, and Famine, is riding over persons of every kind. In
one niche is the God Pluto, and beneath him Cerberus, the Hound of
Hell; and in the other is a large figure rising again from a sepulchre
on the last day. After all these things Cristofano executed on the
pediments of the windows with knee-shaped brackets some nude figures
that are holding the devices of his Excellency, and over the door a
Ducal coat of arms, the six balls of which are upheld by some naked
little boys, who twine in and out between each other as they fly
through the air. And last of all, in the bases at the foot, beneath
all the scenes, the same Cristofano painted the device of M. Sforza;
that is, some obelisks, or rather triangular pyramids, which rest upon
three balls, with a motto around that reads--Immobilis.
This work, when finished, was vastly extolled by his Excellency and by
Messer Sforza himself, who, like the courteous gentleman that he was,
wished to reward with a considerable present the art and industry of
Cristofano; but he would have none of it, being contented and fully
repaid by the goodwill of that lord, who loved him ever afterwards
more than I could say. While the work was being executed, Vasari had
Cristofano with him, as he had always done in the past, in the house
of Signor Bernardetto de' Medici, who much delighted in painting;
which having perceived, Cristofano painted two scenes in chiaroscuro
in a corner of his garden. One was the Rape of Proserpine, and in the
other were Vertumnus and Pomona, the deities of agriculture; and
besides this Cristofano painted in this work some ornaments of
terminal figures and children of such variety and beauty, that there
is nothing better to be seen.
Meanwhile arrangements had been made for beginning to paint in the
Palace, and the first thing that was taken in hand was a hall in the
new apartments, which, being twenty braccia wide, and having a height,
according as Tasso had constructed it, of not more than nine braccia,
was raised three braccia with beautiful ingenuity by Vasari, that is,
to a total height of twelve braccia, without moving the roof, which
was half a pavilion roof.
But because in doing this, before it could become possible to paint,
much time had to be devoted to reconstructing the ceilings and to
other works in that apartment and in others, Vasari himself obtained
leave to go to Arezzo to spend two months there together with
Cristofano. However, he did not succeed in being able to rest during
that time, for the reason that he could not refuse to go in those days
to Cortona, where he painted in fresco the vaulting and the walls of
the Company of Jesus with the assistance of Cristofano, who acquitted
himself very well, and particularly in the twelve different sacrifices
from the Old Testament which they executed in the lunettes between the
spandrels of the vaulting. Indeed, to speak more exactly, almost the
whole of this work was by the hand of Cristofano, Vasari having done
nothing therein beyond making certain sketches, designing some parts
on the plaster, and then retouching it at times in various places,
according as it was necessary.
This work finished, which is not otherwise than grand, worthy of
praise, and very well executed, by reason of the great variety of
things that are in it, they both returned to Florence in the month of
January of the year 1555. There, having taken in hand the Hall of the
Elements, while Vasari was painting the pictures of the ceiling,
Cristofano executed some devices that bind together the friezes of the
beams in perpendicular lines, in which are heads of capricorns and
tortoises with the sail, devices of his Excellency. But the works in
which he showed himself most marvellous were some festoons of fruits
that are in the friezes of the beams on the under side, which are so
beautiful that there is nothing better coloured or more natural to be
seen, particularly because they are separated one from another by
certain masks, that hold in their mouths the ligatures of the
festoons, than which one would not be able to find any more varied or
more bizarre; in which manner of work it may be said that Cristofano
was superior to any other who has ever made it his principal and
particular profession. This done, he painted some large figures on
that part of the walls where there is the Birth of Venus, but after
the cartoons of Vasari, and many little figures in a landscape, which
were executed very well. In like manner, on the wall where there are
the Loves as tiny little children, fashioning the arrows of Cupid, he
painted the three Cyclopes forging thunderbolts for Jove. Over six
doors he executed in fresco six large ovals with ornaments in
chiaroscuro and containing scenes in the colour of bronze, which were
very beautiful; and in the same hall, between the windows, he painted
in colours a Mercury and a Pluto, which are likewise very beautiful.
Work being then begun in the Chamber of the Goddess Ops, which is
next to that described above, he painted the four Seasons in fresco on
the ceiling, and, in addition to the figures, some festoons that were
marvellous in their variety and beauty, for the reason that, even as
those of Spring were filled with a thousand kinds of flowers, so those
of Summer were painted with an infinite number of fruits and cereals,
those of Autumn were of leaves and bunches of the grape, and those of
Winter were of onions, turnips, radishes, carrots, parsnips, and dried
leaves, not to mention that in the central picture, in which is the
Car of Ops, he coloured so beautifully in oils four lions that are
drawing the Car, that nothing better could be done; and, in truth, in
painting animals he had no equal.
Then in the Chamber of Ceres, which is beside the last-named, he
executed in certain angles some little boys and festoons that are
beautiful to a marvel. And in the central picture, where Vasari had
painted Ceres seeking for Proserpine with a lighted pine torch, upon a
car drawn by two serpents, Cristofano carried many things to
completion with his own hand, because Vasari was ill at that time and
had left that picture, among other things, unfinished.