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
grey 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 grey
sandstone and a water-basin of no great cost, for a hall 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 grey 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 stone 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 well, that they seem to be flying through the air; and
it is a marvellous 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 well 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 well, 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 de' Priori there is a large
escutcheon of Pope Clement VII in grey 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 grey
sandstone in the Corinthian Order, which was erected in the Abbey of
S. Fiore, a passing handsome monastery of Black Friars in Arezzo. For
this chapel the patron wished to have the altar-piece 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 S. James and S. Christopher, he wished
to have in the picture Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and also
the giant S. 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 altar-piece 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
S. 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 altar-piece,
also, were to be S. 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 labouring 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 stone-cutters, 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--and rare indeed they are--are 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 Simone's
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 grey
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--and he succeeded excellently well--to
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.
[Illustration: THE ALTAR OF THE THREE KINGS
(_After =Simone Mosca= and =Michele San Michele=. Orvieto: Duomo_)
_Alinari_]
While Simone was engaged in finishing this well, the Wardens of Works
of S. 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 honoured
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 labour, he carried that work well
forward. Now in the centre, 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 centre, 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 centre 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
ground-plan 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 honourable 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.
[Illustration: THE SALUTATION
(_After =Simone Mosca=. Orvieto: Duomo_)
_Alinari_]
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 S. 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 marvellous.
Having then returned to Orvieto in order to finish the work of the
chapel, he laboured 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 S.
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 S. 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 Michelagnolo
Buonarroti before he would make up his mind; whereupon Michelagnolo
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 S. Sebastian, likewise nude. Work being
then continued on the execution of the Apostles for the church,
Moschino made a S. Peter and a S. 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 honour.
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 laboured 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 centre, 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 honour. 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.
GIROLAMO AND BARTOLOMMEO GENGA, AND GIOVAN BATTISTA SAN MARINO,
SON-IN-LAW OF GIROLAMO
LIVES OF GIROLAMO AND BARTOLOMMEO GENGA, AND OF GIOVAN BATTISTA SAN
MARINO, SON-IN-LAW OF GIROLAMO
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 coloured 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
favour 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 horse's 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 S. 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
marvellously 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 coloured, 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.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS
(_After the painting by =Girolamo Genga=. Milan: Brera, 202_)
_Alinari_]
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 honour. 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 S. Agostino an altar-piece 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--a 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--Prophets, namely, and Apostles--around; in this, also, it
is evident how admirable was his genius, and the 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
honour and rewards.