Rome. Accordingly, in 1514, he went to that metropolis, in the train of
Duke Giuliano de Medici, by whom he was introduced to the Pope, who soon
after signified his intention of employing Lionardo’s pencil. Upon this,
the painter began to distil his oils and prepare his varnishes, which
the Pope seeing, exclaimed with surprise, that “nothing could be
expected of a painter who thought of finishing his works before he had
begun them.” This want of courtesy in the Pope offended Lionardo, and
according to Vasari, was the reason why he immediately quitted Rome in
disgust. It is probable, however, that the talents and fame of
Buonarotti and Raffaelle had more to do with producing the
dissatisfaction of this great painter, who was then declining into the
vale of years.
LIONARDO DA VINCI AND FRANCIS I.
Francis I. of France was not only a liberal patron of Lionardo da Vinci,
but entertained for him a strong personal friendship. He gave 4000 gold
crowns for his celebrated portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of Francesco
Giocondo, which occupied Vinci four years. When Lionardo was advanced in
years, and his health declining, he took him into his service, treated
him with the greatest kindness, and gave him a pension of 700 crowns
annually. The King delighted in the society of Da Vinci, and when his
courtiers ventured to express their surprise that he should prefer his
company to theirs, he rebuked them by saying, that “he could make as
many lords as he chose, but that God alone could make a Lionardo da
Vinci.”
DEATH OF DA VINCI.
This great artist expired at Fontainbleau on the 2d day of May, 1519,
aged sixty-seven years. His health had been gradually failing for
several years, and Vasari relates, that Francis I. having honored him
with a visit in his dying moments, Lionardo, deeply affected at this
testimony of his regard, raised himself in the bed to express his thanks
and gratitude, when falling back exhausted, the King caught him, and he
expired in his arms.
DA VINCI’S LEARNING.
Lionardo da Vinci was one of the most learned, accomplished, and eminent
men of the 15th century. Hallam says of him, “The discoveries which made
Galileo and Kepler, Maestlin, Maurolicus, Castelli, and other names
illustrious, the system of Copernicus, the very theories of recent
geologists, are anticipated by Lionardo da Vinci, within the compass of
a very few pages, not perhaps in the most precise language, or on the
most conclusive reasoning, but so as to strike us with something like
the awe of preternatural knowledge. In an age of so much dogmatism, he
first laid down the grand principle of Bacon, that experiment and
observation must be the guides to just theory in the investigation of
nature.” His scientific knowledge proved the means of conferring
incalculable benefits upon the art of painting, one of the most
important of which was the invention of the chiaro-scuro. His intimate
acquaintance with mathematical studies enabled him to develope greatly
the knowledge of optics, and no one was better acquainted with the
nature of aërial perspective, which became a distinctive and hereditary
characteristic of his school. Lanzi says, “Being extremely well versed
in poetry and history, it was through him that the Milanese school
became one of the most accurate and observing in regard to antiquity and
to costume. Mengs has noticed that no artist could surpass Vinci in the
grand effect of his chiaro-scuro. He instructed his pupils to make as
cautious a use of light as of a gem, not lavishing it too freely, but
reserving it always for the best place. And hence we find in his, and in
the best of his disciples’ paintings, that fine relief, owing to which
the pictures, and in particular the countenances, seem as if starting
from the canvass.”
DA VINCI’S WRITINGS.
Almost of equal value with the pictures of this immortal artist, are his
writings, part of which, unfortunately, have been lost, and others have
remained in manuscript. His _Trattato della Pittura_, &c., appeared for
the first time in 1651. It was translated into English, and published by
John Senex, London, 1721. The most complete edition was published by
Manzi, in Italian, in 1817. The learned connoisseur, Count Algarotti,
esteemed this work so highly, that he regarded it the only work
necessary to be put into the hands of the student. “With a deep insight
into nature,” says Fiorillo, “Lionardo has treated in this book, of
light, shades, reflections, and particularly of backgrounds. He
perfectly understood, and has explained in the best way, that natural
bodies being bounded mostly by curved lines, which have a natural
softness, it is important to give this softness to the outlines; that
this can be done only by means of the ground on which the object is
represented; that the inner line of the surrounding ground, and the
outer line of the object, are one and the same; nay, that the figure of
the object becomes visible only by means of that which surrounds it;
that even the colors depend upon the surrounding objects, and mutually
weaken and heighten each other; that when objects of the same color are
to be represented, one before the other, different degrees of light must
be used to separate them from each other, since the mass of air between
the eye and the object lessens and softens the color in proportion to
the distance.” Among the works of Da Vinci, were Treatises on
Hydraulics, Anatomy, Perspective, Light and Shadow, and the Anatomy of
the Horse. The Ambrosian Library of Milan originally possessed sixteen
volumes of his manuscripts. The French, during their occupancy of Milan,
carried off twelve of these, (probably all there were then remaining)
but only three of them reached Paris, one of which was published under
the title of _Fragment d’un Traité sur les Mouvements du corps humain_.
Only one volume was returned to Milan by the Allies in 1815. What
abominable sacrilege! It is said that seven volumes more of his
manuscripts were in the collection of the King of Spain.
DA VINCI’S SKETCH BOOKS.
Da Vinci always carried in his pocket a book, in which he was in the
habit of sketching every remarkable face, object, and effect of nature
that struck his fancy; and these sketches supplied him with abundant
materials for his compositions. Caylus published a collection of
beautiful sketches and studies by Lionardo, under the title of _Recueil
de Tetes de Caractères et de Charges_, &c., 1730, of which there is also
a German edition. Two more were published at Milan in 1784, under the
titles of _Desseins de Leonardo da Vinci, Gravés par Ch. T. Gerli, and
Osservazioni sopra i Disegni di Lionardo dall’ Abbate Amoretti_, &c.
Besides these appeared in London in 1796, engravings of the numerous
sketches of Lionardo in the possession of the King of England, entitled
_Imitations of Original Designs of Lionardo da Vinci_, &c., published by
Chamberlaine, folio. See also the _Life of Lionardo da Vinci_ in German,
published at Halle in 1819.
THE LAST SUPPER OF LIONARDO DA VINCI.
“His Last Supper has been stated in history as an imperfect production,
although at the same time all history is agreed in celebrating it as one
of the most beautiful paintings that ever proceeded from the hand of
man. It was painted for the Refectory of the Dominican fathers at Milan,
and may be pronounced a compendium, not only of all that Lionardo taught
in his books, but also of what he embraced in his studies. He here gave
expression to the exact point of time best adapted to animate his
history, which is the moment when the Redeemer addresses his disciples,
saying, ‘One of you will betray me.’ Then each of his innocent followers
is seen to start as if struck with a thunderbolt; those at a distance
seem to interrogate their companions, as if they think they must have
mistaken what he had said; others, according to their natural
disposition, appear variously affected; one of them swoons away, one
stands lost in astonishment, a third rises in indignation, while the
very simplicity and candor depicted upon the countenance of a fourth,
seem to place him beyond the reach of suspicion. But Judas instantly
draws in his countenance, and while he appears as it were attempting to
give it an air of innocence, the eye rests upon him in a moment, as the
undoubted traitor. Vinci himself used to observe, that for the space of
a whole year he employed his time in meditating how he could best give
expression to the features of so bad a heart; and that being accustomed
to frequent a place where the worst characters were known to assemble,
he there met with a physiognomy to his purpose; to which he also added
the features of many others. In his figures of the two saints James,
presenting fine forms, most appropriate to the characters, he availed
himself of the same plan, and being unable with his utmost diligence to
invest that of Christ with a superior air to the rest, he left the head
in an unfinished state, as we learn from Vasari, though Armenini
pronounced it exquisitely complete. The rest of the picture, the
table-cloth with its folds, the whole of the utensils, the table, the
architecture, the distribution of the lights, the perspective of the
ceiling (which, in the tapestry of S. Pietro, at Rome, is changed almost
into a hanging garden), all was conducted with the most exquisite care;
all was worthy of the finest pencil in the world. Had Lionardo desired
to follow the practice of his age in painting in fresco, the art at this
time would have been in possession of this treasure. But being always
fond of attempting new methods, he painted this master-piece upon a
peculiar ground, formed of distilled oils, which was the reason that it
gradually detached itself from the wall. About half a century
subsequent to the execution of this wonderful work, when Armenini saw
it, it was already _half decayed_: and Scanelli, who examined it in
1642, declared that it ‘_was with difficulty he could discern the
history as it had been_.’ Nothing now remains except the heads of three
apostles, which may be said to be rather sketched than painted.”--_Lanzi._
COPIES OF THE LAST SUPPER OF DA VINCI.
The great loss of the original picture is in some measure compensated by
several excellent copies, some of which are by Lionardo’s most eminent
disciples; the best are, that by Marco Uggione, at the Carthusians of
Pavia; another in the Refectory of the Franciscans at Lugano, by
Bernardino Luini; and one in La Pace at Milan, by Gio. Paolo Lomazzo.
Fuseli, lecturing on the copy by Marco Uggione, says, “the face of the
Saviour is an abyss of thought, and broods over the immense revolution
in the economy of mankind, which throngs inwardly on his absorbed
eye--as the Spirit creative in the beginning over the water’s darksome
wave--undisturbed and quiet. It could not be lost in the copy before us;
how could its sublime expression escape those who saw the original? It
has survived the hand of time in the study which Lionardo made in
crayons, exhibited with most of the attendant heads in the British
Gallery, and even in the feeble transcripts of Pietro Testa. I am not
afraid of being under the necessity of retracting what I am going to
advance, that neither during the splendid period immediately subsequent
to Lionardo, nor in those which succeeded to our own time, has a face of
the Redeemer been produced, which, I will not say equalled, but
approached Lionardo’s conception, and in quiet and simple features of
humanity, embodied divine, or what is the same, incomprehensible and
infinite powers.” In 1825, Prof. Phillips examined the remains of this
picture, and says, “Of the heads, there is not one untouched, and many
are totally ruined. Fortunately, that of the Saviour is the most pure,
being but faintly retouched; and it presents, even yet, a most perfect
image of the Divine character. Whence arose the story of its not having
been finished, is now difficult to conceive, and the history itself
varies among the writers who have mentioned it. But perhaps a man so
scrupulous as Lionardo da Vinci, in the definement of character and
expression, and so ardent in his pursuit of them, might have expressed
himself unsatisfied, where all others could only see perfection.”
DA VINCI’S DISCRIMINATION.
Lionardo da Vinci possessed the rare faculty of being able to ascertain
the just medium between hasty and labored work; and though very minute
in the finishing of his pictures, yet he painted in a free and
unrestrained style. The same master who consumed four years on the
portrait of Mona Lisa Giocondo, gave one of the earliest and best
lessons to the age, in the great style, in his memorable painting of the
Last Supper. This power of attending at the same moment to the minutiæ
of detail, and to the grand and leading principles of the art or science
in which a person may be employed, shows a species of universality of
power that may be reckoned among the highest perfections of the human
mind; and it places Da Vinci not merely in the rank of the first of
painters, but of the greatest of men.
DA VINCI’S IDEA OF PERFECTION IN ART.
Da Vinci was never satisfied with his works, and Lanzi finds the same
fault with him that Apelles did with Protogenes--his not knowing when to
take his hand from his work. Phidias himself, says Tully, bore in his
mind a more beautiful Minerva and a grander Jove than he was capable of
exhibiting with his chisel. It is prudent counsel that teaches us to
aspire to the best, but to rest satisfied with attaining what is good.
“Vinci,” says Lanzi, “was never satisfied with his labors, if he did not
execute them as perfectly as he had conceived them; and being unable to
reach the high point proposed with a mortal hand, he sometimes only
designed his work, or conducted it only to a certain degree of
completion. Sometimes he devoted to it so long a period as almost to
renew the example of the ancient who employed seven years over his
picture (Protogenes’ Ialysus and his Dog). But as there was no limit to
the discovery of fresh beauties in that work, so in the opinion of
Lomazzo it happens with the perfections of Vinci’s paintings, including
even those which Vasari and others allude to as left imperfect.” Lanzi
says it is certain that he left some of his works only half finished.
“Such is his Epiphany, in the Ducal Gallery at Florence, and his Holy
Family, in the Archbishop’s palace at Milan.” Others he finished in the
most exquisite manner. “He was not satisfied with only perfecting the
heads, counterfeiting the shining of the eyes, the pores of the skin,
the roots of the hair, and even the beating of the arteries; but he
likewise portrayed each separate garment, and every accessory, with
equal minuteness. Thus in his landscapes, also, there was not a single
herb, or leaf of a tree, which he had not taken, like a portrait, from
the face of nature; and even to his very leaves he gave a peculiar air,
fold, and position best adapted to represent their rustling in the wind.
While he bestowed his attention in this manner to minutiæ, he at the
same time, as is observed by Mengs, led the way to a more enlarged and
dignified style; entered into the most abstruse inquiries as to the
source and nature of expression--the most philosophical and elevated
branch of the art--and smoothed the way for the appearance of
Raffaelle.” Vinci spent four years on his portrait of Mona Lisa
Giocondo.
DA VINCI AND THE PRIOR.
The Last Supper of Lionardo da Vinci was painted in the Refectory of the
Dominican convent of S. Maria della Grazia, at Milan. It was considered
one of the proudest monuments of that city. While forming the plan of
its composition, Da Vinci meditated profoundly on the subject; and
having prepared himself by long study, and above all by a closer
examination of nature, he began the execution by repeated sketches, both
of the whole design, and of all its individual parts. He used to
frequent the accustomed haunts of persons resembling, in their character
and habits, those whom he was about to introduce in his picture; and as
often as he met with any attitudes, groups, or features which suited his
purpose, he sketched them in his tablets, which he always carried with
him. Having nearly finished the other apostles in this way, he had left
the head of Judas untouched for a long time, as he could find no
physiognomy which satisfied him, or came up to the ideas he had formed
of such a villainous and treacherous character.
The prior of the convent grew impatient at being so long incommoded in
that essential branch of monastic discipline which was carried on in the
refectory or dining hall, where the picture was being painted, and
complained to the Grand Duke, who called on the artist to explain the
delay. Da Vinci excused himself by saying that he worked at it two
whole hours every day. The pious head of the house renewed his
representations with great warmth, and alleged that Lionardo had only
one head to finish; and that so far from working two hours a day, he had
not been near the place for almost twelve months. Again summoned before
the prince, the painter thus defended himself. “It is true I have not
entered the convent for a long time; but it is not less true that I have
been employed every day at least two hours upon the picture. The head of
Judas remains to be executed, and in order to give it a physiognomy
suitable to the excessive wickedness of the character, I have for more
than a year past been daily frequenting the Borghetto, morning and
evening, where the lowest refuse of the capital live; but I have not yet
found the features I am in quest of. These once found, the picture shall
be finished in a day. If, however,” he added, “I still am unsuccessful
in my search, I shall rest satisfied with the face of the Prior himself,
which would suit my purpose extremely well; only that I have for a long
time been hesitating about taking such a liberty with him in his own
convent.” It is hardly necessary to add that the Duke was perfectly
satisfied with this apology. The artist soon after met with his Judas,
and finished his great work. It is stated by several Italian writers
that Da Vinci, out of revenge, did actually take this liberty with the
prior.
DA VINCI’S DRAWINGS OF THE HEADS IN HIS CELEBRATED LAST SUPPER.
The series of drawings for the celebrated work of the Last Supper, which
were formerly in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, are now in the
possession of Sir Thomas Baring. From the great injuries which that
sublime composition has sustained, these may be considered as among the
most precious reliques of this master. The drawing which represents the
head of the Saviour is magnificent, and probably superior to the same
head in the picture, which is said to have been left unfinished. Whether
this circumstance arose from the troubles which then existed in Italy,
and in which the Sforza family were so immediately engaged, or from a
feeling on the part of the artist, that he had not been able to surpass
that sublimity of character to which he had attained in his first
design, and therefore left the same to a more happy moment, may now be
matter of speculative conjecture.
FRANCIS I. AND THE LAST SUPPER OF VINCI.
Francis I. was so struck with admiration when he first saw the Last
Supper of Da Vinci, that he resolved to carry it to France. For this
purpose he attempted to saw it from the wall; but finding that he could
not detach it without destroying the picture, he abandoned the project.
AUTHENTICATED WORKS OF DA VINCI.
The authenticated works of Da Vinci are exceedingly scarce; he bestowed
so much labor upon them that they were never very numerous, and time and
casualty has reduced the number. It is said that one of the proprietors
of the Orleans collection destroyed some of the most capital works of Da
Vinci and Correggio from conscientious scruples! The most celebrated are
the Mona Lisa Giocondo, in the Louvre; a lovely picture called La Vierge
aux Rochers; a Leda, in the collection of Prince Kaunitz at Vienna;
Christ disputing with the Doctors, in the Pamfili palace at Rome; John
the Baptist, formerly in the French Museum; the portrait of Lodovico
Maria Sforza, in the Dresden gallery. There are a few others in the
collections at Florence, Milan, and Rome. There are some in England; but
the authenticity of most of these, to say the least, is extremely
doubtful. The Christ disputing with the Doctors, in the National
gallery, is doubtless a copy by some one of his pupils. The original, as
before mentioned, is at Rome. Passavant says, “The numerous copies or
repetitions of this picture, now existing, imply the estimation in which
the original cartoon was held, and are additional proofs of its being an
original work. One of these I saw in the Spada gallery at Rome; two
others at Milan--one in the Episcopal palace, and the other in the house
of the Consigliere Commendatore Casati.” Most of the pictures claimed
to be original by Da Vinci, even in the public galleries of Europe, were
executed by his pupils and imitators, several of whom copied and
imitated him with great success. Lanzi says that Lorenzo di Credi
approached him so closely, that one of his copies of Lionardo could
hardly be distinguished from the original. For a list of his imitators,
see Spooner’s Dictionary of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors, and
Architects, table of Imitators.
WORKS IN NIELLO.
The art of working in niello, which led Maso Finiguerra, a sculptor and
worker in gold and silver, to the invention of copper plate engraving,
was very early practiced in Italy. In the 15th century, and long before,
it was the practice to decorate the church and other plate with designs
in niello; and also caskets, sword and dagger hilts, and various kinds
of ornaments. The designs were hatched with a steel point in gold or
silver, then engraved with the burin, and run in while hot, with a
composition called _niello_, an Italian term derived from the Latin
_nigellum_--a compound of silver, lead, copper, sulphur, and borax, used
by the ancients, and easily fusible, and of a dark color. The
superfluous parts of the niello were then scraped away, and the surface
polished, when the engraved part appeared with all the effect of a
print. Lanzi says, “this substance (nigellum) being incorporated with
the silver, and the whole being polished, produced the effect of
shadows, which, contrasted with the clearness of the silver, gave the
entire work the appearance of a chiaro-scuro in silver.” There are many
very beautiful specimens of this species of work, particularly vases,
cups, and _paxes_, or images of Christ on the cross, which the people in
Catholic countries kiss after service, called the kiss of peace. The
most remarkable known specimen in niello, is a very curious cup,
preserved in the British Museum. Its total height, including the
statuette of a cherub on the top of the lid, is about three feet. It is
composed of silver, and the whole, except the border and statuette, is
embellished with various fanciful designs. For a long time it was the
property of the noble family of van Bekerhout, who made a present of it
to Calonia, the sculptor of the statue of John van Eyck, in the Academy
of Arts at Bruges. The widow of this artist sold it to Mr. Henry Farrer,
who afterwards disposed of it to the British Museum for the sum of £350.
Remarkable as this process was, there arose out of it another
incalculably more so. It became a practice for goldsmiths, who wished to
preserve their designs, to take impressions of their plates with earth,
over which liquid sulphur was poured, and from which, when cold, the
earth was removed. But Maso Finiguerra, a goldsmith and sculptor of
Florence, and a pupil of the celebrated Masaccio, about the middle of
the 15th century, carried the process still further, for with a mixture
of soot and oil he filled the cavities of the engraving he had made, as
a preparation for niello, and by pressing damp paper upon it with a
roller, obtained impressions on the paper, having, as Vasari says, “Veni
vano come disegnate di penna”--all the appearance of drawings done with
a pen. Finiguerra was followed by Baccio Baldini, a goldsmith of
Florence, who, according to Vasari, employed the eminent artist Sandro
Botticelli, to design for him.