also studied only a little time under Sanzio; but it was sufficient to
enable him to become, as we shall notice hereafter, the chief of the
Ferrarese School. He imitated Raffaello in design, in the character of
his faces, and in expression, and considerably also in his colouring,
although he added something of a warmer and stronger cast, derived from
his own school. Rome, Bologna, and other cities of Italy, abound with
his pictures from the lives of the apostles. They are of various merit,
and are not wholly painted by himself. In his large pictures he stands
more alone, and many of these are to be found in the Chigi gallery. The
Visitation in the Palazzo Doria, is one of the first pieces in that rich
collection. This artist was accustomed, in allusion to his name, to mark
his pictures with a violet, which the common people in Italy call
garofalo. It does not appear from Vasari, Titi, and Taja, that Garofalo
had any share in the works which were executed by Raffaello and his
scholars.
Gaudenzio Ferrari is mentioned by Titi, as an assistant of Raffaello in
the story of Psyche, and we shall advert to him again in another book as
chief of the Milanese School. Orlandi, on the credit of some more modern
writers, asserts, that he worked with Raffaello also at Torre Borgia;
and before that time, he considers him to have been a scholar of Scotto
and Perugino. In Florence, and in other places in Lower Italy, some
highly finished pictures are attributed to him, which partake of the
preceding century, though they do not seem allied to the school of
Perugino. Of these pictures we shall resume our notice hereafter; at
present it may be sufficient to remark, that in Lombardy, where he
resided, there is not a picture in that style to be found with his name
attached to it. He is always Raffaellesque, and follows the chiefs of
the Roman School.
Vasari also notices Jacomone da Faenza. This artist assiduously studied
the works of Raffaello, and from long practice in copying them, became
himself an inventor. He flourished in Romagna, and it was from him that
a Raffaellesque taste was diffused throughout that part of Italy. He is
also mentioned by Baldinucci, and we shall endeavour to make him better
known in his proper place.
Besides the above mentioned scholars and assistants of Raffaello,
several others are enumerated by writers, of whom we may give a short
notice. Il Pistoja, a scholar of Il Fattore, and probably employed by
him in the works of Sanzio, as Raffaellino del Colle was with Giulio, is
mentioned as a scholar of Raffaello by Baglione, and, on the credit of
that writer, also by Taja. We mentioned him among the Tuscans, and shall
further notice him in Naples, where we shall also find Andrea da
Salerno, head of that school, whom Dominici proves to be a scholar of
Raffaello.
In the _Memorie di Monte Rubbiano_, edited by Colucci, at page 10,
Vincenzo Pagani, a native of that country, is mentioned as a pupil of
the same master. There remains of him in the collegiate church there, a
most beautiful picture of the Assumption; and the Padre Civalli points
out another in Fallerone and two at Sarnano, in the church of his
religious fraternity, much extolled, and in a Raffaellesque manner, if
we are to credit report. This painter, of whom, in Piceno, I find traces
to the year 1529, again appears in Umbria in 1553, where Lattanzio his
son, being elected a magistrate of Perugia, he transferred himself
thither, and was employed to paint the altarpiece of the Cappella degli
Oddi, in the church of the Conventuals, as we have already mentioned.
According to the conditions of the contract, Paparelli had a share with
him in this work, and he must be considered as an assistant of Vincenzo,
both because he is named as holding the second place, and because he is
reported by Vasari on other occasions, as having been an assistant. But
as history mentions nothing relative to this picture, except the
contract, we shall content ourselves with observing, that this
praiseworthy artist, who was passed over in silence for so many years,
still painted in the year 1553. Whether he was a scholar of Raffaello,
or whether this was a tradition which arose in his own country in
progress of time, supported only on the consideration of his age and his
style, is a point to be decided by proofs of more authority than those
we possess. I agree with the Sig. Arciprete Lazzari, when, writing of F.
Bernardo Catelani of Urbino, who painted in Cagli the picture of the
great altar in the church of the Capucins, he says, that he had there
exhibited the style of the school of Raffaello, but he does not consider
him his scholar.
It has been asserted, that Marcantonio Raimondi painted some pictures
from the sketches of Raffaello, in a style which excited the admiration
of the designer himself; but this appears doubtful, and is so considered
by Malvasia. L'Armenini also assigns to this school, Scipione Sacco, a
painter of Cesena, and Orlandi, Don Pietro da Bagnaja, whom we shall
mention in the Romagna School. Some have added to it Bernardino Lovino,
and others Baldassare Peruzzi, a supposition which we shall shew to be
erroneous. Padre della Valle has more recently revived an opinion, that
Correggio may be ranked in the same school, and that he was probably
employed in the gallery, and might have painted the subject of the Magi,
attributed by Vasari to Perino. This is conjectured from the peculiar
smile of the mother and the infant. But these surmises and conjectures
we may consider as the chaff of that author, who has nevertheless
presented us with much substantial information. We shall now advert to
the foreigners of this school. Bellori has enumerated, among the
imitators of Raffaello, Michele Cockier, or Cocxie, of Malines, of whom
there remain some pictures in fresco in the church dell'Anima. Being
afterwards in Flanders, where several works of Raffaello were engraved
by Cock, he was accused of plagiarism, but still maintained a
considerable reputation; as to a fertile invention he added a graceful
style of execution. Many of his best pictures passed into Spain, and
were there purchased at great prices. Palomino acquaints us with another
excellent scholar of Sanzio, Pier Campanna, of Flanders, who, although
he could not entirely divest himself of the hardness of his native
school, was still highly esteemed in his day. He resided twenty years in
Italy, and was employed in Venice by the Patriarch Grimani, for whom he
painted several portraits, and the celebrated picture of the Magdalen
led by Saint Martha to the Temple, to hear the preaching of Christ. This
picture, which was bequeathed by the Patriarch to a friend, after a
lapse of many years, passed into the hands of Mr. Slade, an English
gentleman. Pier Campanna distinguished himself in Bologna, by painting a
triumphal arch on the arrival of Charles V., by whom he was invited to
Seville, where he resided a considerable time, painting and instructing
pupils, among whom is reckoned Morales, who, from his countrymen, had
the appellation of the divine. He was accustomed to paint small
pictures, which were eagerly sought after by the English, and
transferred to their country, where they are highly prized. Of his
altarpieces, several remain in Seville, and we may mention the
Purification, in the Cathedral, and the Deposition at S. Croce, as the
most esteemed. Murillo, who was himself a truly noble artist, greatly
admired and studied this latter picture, which, even after we have seen
the masterpieces of the Italian School, still excites our astonishment
and admiration. This artist, to some one, who, in his latter years,
inquired why he so often repaired to this picture, replied, that he
waited the moment when the body of Christ should reach the ground.
Mention is also made of one Mosca, whether a native or foreigner I know
not, as a doubtful disciple of this school. Christ on his way to Mount
Calvary, now in the Academy in Mantua, is certainly a Raffaellesque
picture, but we may rather consider Mosca an imitator and copyist, than
a pupil of Raffaello. In the edition of Palomino, published in London,
1742, I find some others noticed as scholars of Raffaello, who being
born a little before or after 1520, could not possibly belong to him; as
Gaspare Bacerra, the assistant of Vasari; Alfonso Sanchez, of Portugal;
Giovanni di Valencia; Fernando Jannes. It is not unusual to find similar
instances in the history of painting, and the reports have for the most
part originated in the last age. Whenever the artists of a country began
to collect notices of the masters who had preceded them, their style had
become the prevailing taste; and as if human genius could attain no
improvement beyond that which it receives subserviently from another,
every imitator was supposed to be a scholar of the artist imitated, and
every school, arrogating to itself the names of the first masters,
endeavoured to load itself with fresh honours.
[Footnote 26: Hist. Rom. vol. i. ad calcem.]
[Footnote 27: Besides his life by Vasari, another was published by Sig.
Abate Comolli, which I consider posterior to that of Vasari. Memoirs of
him were also collected by Piacenza, Bottari, and other authors whom I
shall notice; and I shall also avail myself of the information derived
from the inspection of his pictures, and their character, and the
various dates of his works.]
[Footnote 28: We find his name written _Io. Sanctis_ in the Nunziata of
Sinigaglia; and it appears that he was born of a father called,
according to the expression of that age, _Santi_ or _Sante_; a name in
common use in many parts of Italy. In support of the surname of Sanzio,
Bottari produces a portrait of Antonio Sanzio, which exists in the
Palazzo Albani, representing him holding in his hands a document, with
the title of _Genealogia Raphaelis Sanctii Urbinatis_. Julius Sanctius
is there named as the head of the family, _familiae quae adhuc Urbini
illustris extat, ab agris dividendis cognomen imposuit_, and was the
progenitor of Antonio. From the latter, and through a Sebastiano, and
afterwards through a Gio. Batista, descends Giovanni, _ex quo ortus est
Raphael qui pinxit a. 1519_. It is also recorded that Sebastiano had a
brother, Galeazzo, _egregium pictorem_, and the father of three
painters, Antonio, Vincenzio, and Giulio, called _maximus pictor_. Thus
in this branch of the Sanzii are enumerated four painters, of whom I do
not find any memorial in Urbino. The family also boasts of a Canon in
divinity, and a distinguished captain of infantry. The anonymous writer
of Comolli confirms this illustrious origin of Raffaello; but it is
highly probable, that in that age, when the forgery of genealogies, as
Tiraboschi observes, was a common practice, he may have adopted it
without any examination. The portrait of Antonio is well executed, but
it has been said that it would have been much more so, if Raffaello had
painted it a year before his death, according to the inscription. If
connoisseurs (who alone ought to decide this point) should be of this
opinion, it may be suspected that the person that counterfeited the hand
of the artist, might also substitute the writing; or we may at least
conclude, that the etymology of Sanzio should be sought for in the word
_Sanctis_, the name of the grandfather of Raffaello, not in _sancire_,
(to divide fields or property). In tom. xxxi. of the Ant. Picene, a will
is produced of Ser Simone di Antonio, in 1477, where a _Magister
Baptista, qu. Peri Sanctis de Peris_, who is called _Pittor di grido e
di eccellenza_, leaves his son Tommaso his heir, to whom is substituted
a son of Antonio his brother, of the name of Francesco. I may remark,
that in this _Batista di Pier Sante de' Pieri_, we may find the surname
of a family different from that of Sanzia. But on this subject I hope we
shall shortly be favoured with more certain information by the Sig.
Arciprete Lazzari, who has obliged me with many valuable contributions
to the present edition of this work.]
[Footnote 29: Condivi, in his Life of Bonarruoti, (num. 67.) assures us
that Michaelangelo was not of a jealous temper, but spoke well of all
artists, not excepting Raffaello di Urbino, "between whom and himself
there existed, as I have mentioned, an emulation in painting; and the
utmost that he said was, that Raffaello did not inherit his excellences
from nature, but obtained them through study and application."]
[Footnote 30: See the Preface to the Life of Raffaello, by Vasari,
_ediz. Senese_, p. 228, where the will is quoted.]
[Footnote 31: Vasari states, that that event occurred either whilst
Michaelangelo was employed upon the Statues in S. Pietro in Vincoli, or
whilst he was painting the vault of the Sistine Chapel, that is, some
years afterwards, when Raffaello was in Rome. To this second opinion,
which is the most common one, I formerly assented; but since, on perusal
of a Brief of Julius II. (Lett. Pittoriche, tom. iii. p. 320) in which
that Pope invites Michaelangelo back to Rome, and promises that
_illaesus, inviolatusque erit_, I am inclined to believe that the Cartoon
was finished in 1506, which is the date of the brief; so that Raffaello,
if he could not see it on his first visit to Florence, might at least
have done so on his second or third.]
[Footnote 32: See Vasari, ed. Sen. tom. v. p. 238, where we find the
Letter written from him to one of his uncles, with all the
provincialisms common to the inhabitants of Urbino and its
neighbourhood.]
[Footnote 33: Malvasia, _Felsina Pittrice_, tom. i. p. 45. There are
some facts, however, in opposition to this letter, and which seem to
prove that Raffaello did not go to Rome until 1510. But the Sig. Abate
Francesconi is now employed in rectifying the chronology of the Life and
Works of Sanzio; and from his critical sagacity we may expect the
solution of this difficulty.]
[Footnote 34: See Le Aggiunte al Vasari. Ed. Senese, p. 223.]
[Footnote 35: A sonnet by him is referred to by Sig. Piacenza, in his
notes to Baldinucci, tom. xi. p. 371.]
[Footnote 36: In compliance with the wishes of Leo X. he made drawings
of the buildings of Ancient Rome, and accompanied them with
descriptions, employing the compass to ascertain their admeasurement. We
owe this information to Sig. Abate Francesconi, who has restored to
Sanzio a letter, formerly attributed to Castiglione. It is a sort of
dedication of the work to Leo X.; but the work itself and the drawings
are lost; and many of the edifices measured by Raffaello were destroyed
in the following Pontificates. The Abate Morelli has made public a high
eulogium on this work, by a contemporary pen, in the notes to the
Notizia, page 210. It is written by one Marcantonio Michiel, who
asserts, that Raffaello had drawn the ancient buildings of Rome in such
a manner, and shewn their proportions, forms, and ornaments so
correctly, that whoever had inspected them might be said to have seen
Ancient Rome.]
[Footnote 37: In a brief of Leo X. 1514, mentioned by Sig. Piacenza,
tom. ii. p. 321.]
[Footnote 38:
Caesaris in nomen ducuntur carmina: Caesar
Dum canitur, quaeso, Jupiter ipse vaces.
Prop. lib. iv. Eleg. vi.]
[Footnote 39: Vol. ii. p. 323 et seq.]
[Footnote 40: See the first letter of Crespi, Lettere Pittoriche, tom.
ii. p. 338.]
[Footnote 41: Mengs has observed, that Raffaello diligently studied the
bassirelievi of the arches of Titus and Constantine, which were on the
arch of Trajan, and adopted from them his manner of marking the
articulations of the joints, and a more simple and an easier mode of
expressing the contour of the fleshy parts. Riflessioni sopra i tre gran
Pittori, &c. cap. 1.]
[Footnote 42: Riflessioni su la bellezza e sul gusto della Pittura,
parte iii. cap. 1, and see the _Osservazioni_ of the Cav. Azara on that
tract, Sec.. xii.]
[Footnote 43: A doubt has arisen on the exact time in which he painted
the Prophet and the Sybils, and from the grandeur of their style doubts
have been thrown on Vasari's account, that they were painted anterior to
1511. But a painter who is the master of his art, elevates or lowers his
style according to his subject. The Sybils are in Raffaello's grandest
style; and that they are amongst his earliest works, is proved from his
having had Timoteo della Vite, as his assistant in them.]
[Footnote 44: Lett. Pittor. tom. v. p. 131.]
[Footnote 45: Commencing at p. 139.]
[Footnote 46: I do not find that any mention has been made of his
picture in the possession of the Olivieri family at Pesaro, or of the
one in the Basilica di Loreto in the Treasury, which seems to be the
same which was formerly in the church of the Madonna del Popolo, or a
copy of it. I have seen a similar subject in the Lauretana, belonging to
the Signori Pirri, in Rome. At Sassoferrato also, on the great altar of
the church of the Capucins, there is a Virgin and child, said to be by
him; but it is more probably by Fra Bernardo Catelani. There exist
engravings of the two first, but I have not seen any of the last.]
[Footnote 47: Riflessioni sopra i tre gran Pittori, &c., cap. i. Sec. 2.]
[Footnote 48: Lo dico con questa condizione che V. S. si trovasse meco a
far la scelta del meglio: ma essendo carestia e di buoni giudici e di
belle donne, mi servo di una certa idea che mi viene in mente. Lett.
Pittor. tom. i. p. 84.]
[Footnote 49: Plin. Hist. Natur. lib. xxxv. cap. 10. Quintil. Instit.
Orat. xii. 10.]
[Footnote 50: Portraits of Raffaello are to be found in the Duomo, and
in the Sacristy of Siena, in more than one picture; but it is doubtful
whether by his own hand or that of Pinturicchio. That which is mentioned
in the Guida di Perugia, as being in a picture of the Resurrection at
the Conventuals, is said to be by Pietro Perugino: and in the Borghese
gallery in Rome, there is one, supposed to be by the hand of Timoteo
della Vite. The portrait in the gallery in Florence, by Da Vinci, bears
some resemblance to Raffaello, but it is not he. Another which I have
seen in Bologna, ought, perhaps, to be ascribed to Giulio Romano. One of
the most authentic portraits of Raffaello, by his own hand, next to the
one in the picture of S. Luke, is that in the Medici Collection in the
_Stanza de' Pittori_, though this is not in his best manner.]
[Footnote 51: Idee de Peintre parfait, chap. xix.]
[Footnote 52: Engraved by Morghen. The three figures, the Madonna, the
Infant, and St. John, appear almost alive. It should seem that Raffaello
made several studies for this picture, and he painted one without the
St. John, which remained for some time in Urbino. I saw a copy in the
possession of the Calamini family, at Recanati, which was said to be by
Baroccio, and at all events belonging to his school. I have seen the
same subject in the Casa Olivieri, at Pesaro, and at Cortona, in the
possession of another noble family, to whom it had passed by inheritance
from Urbino, and was considered to be by Raffaello. The faces in these
are not so beautiful, nor the colours so fine; they are round, and in a
larger circle, with some variations: I have also seen a copy in the
Sacristy of S. Luigi de' Franzesi, in Rome, and in the Palazzo
Giustiniani.]
[Footnote 53: Morto da Feltro sotto Alessandro VI., comincio a dipingere
a grottesco, ma senza stucchi. Baglione, Vite, p. 21.]
[Footnote 54: The entrance into these baths was designedly and
maliciously closed. Serlio, in speaking of the various arabesques in
Pozzuolo, Baja, and Rome, says that they were injured or destroyed by
the artists who had copied them, through a jealous feeling lest others
should also avail themselves of the opportunity of studying them, (lib.
iv. c. 11). The names of these destroyers, which Serlio has suppressed,
posterity has been desirous of recovering, and some have accused
Raffaello, others Pinturicchio, and others Vaga, or Giovanni da Udine,
or rather his scholars and assistants, "of whom," says Vasari, "there
were an infinite number in every part of Italy." This subject is ably
discussed by Mariotti, in _Lettera_ ix. p. 224, and in the _Memorie
delle belle Arti_, per l'anno 1788, p. 24.]
[Footnote 55: It was charged on the office of the Piombo, or papal
signet, when Sebastiano da Venezia was invested with it, and was a
pension of three hundred scudi. Padre Federici observes that the one was
designated Fra Sebastiano, but that the other was not called Fra
Giovanni; nor is this remarkable, for a Bishop is called Monsignore, but
the person who enjoys a pension charged upon a Bishoprick has not the
same title. It cannot however be deduced from this, as Federici wishes
to do, that Sebastiano was first Frate di S. Domenico, by the name of F.
Marco Pensaben, and afterwards secularized by the Pope, and appointed to
the signet, and that he retained the _Fra_ in consequence of his former
situation.]
ROMAN SCHOOL.
EPOCH III.
_The art declines in consequence of the public calamities of
Rome, and gradually falls into mannerism._
After the mournful events of the year 1527, Rome for some time remained
in a state of stupor, contemplating her past misfortunes and her future
destiny; and, like a vessel escaped from shipwreck, began slowly to
repair her numerous losses. The soldiers of the besieging army, among
other injuries committed in the Apostolic palace, had defaced some heads
of Raffaello; and F. Sebastiano, an artist by no means competent to such
a task, was employed to repair them. This, at least, was the opinion of
Titian, who was introduced to these works, and ignorant of the
circumstances, asked Sebastiano what presumptuous wretch had had the
audacity to attempt their restoration;[56] an impartial observation,
against which even the patronage of Michelangiolo could not shield the
artist. Paul III. was now in possession of the papal chair, and under
his auspices the arts again began to revive. The decoration of the
palace of Caprarola, and other works of Paul and his nephews, gave
employment to the painters, and happy had these patrons been, could they
have found a second Raffaello. Bonarruoti, as we have observed, was
engaged by the Pope, and gave to the Roman School many noble specimens
of art, though he formed but few scholars. Sebastiano, after the death
of Raffaello, freed from all further competition with that great artist,
and honoured with the lucrative office of the papal signet, seemed
disposed to rest from his labours; and as he had never, at any time,
discovered great application, he now resigned himself to a life of
vacant leisure, and Vasari does not mention with commendation any pupil
of his school except Laureti.[57] Giulio Romano was now invited back to
Rome, and the superintendence of the building of S. Peter's offered to
him, but death prevented his return to his native city. Perino del Vaga,
however, repaired to Rome, and might, himself, have effected the
restoration of art, if his magnanimity had corresponded with the
sublimity of his mind. But he did not inherit the daring genius of his
master. He communicated his instructions with jealousy, and worked with
a spirit of gain, or to speak correctly, he did not paint himself, but
undertaking works of more or less consequence, he allowed his scholars
to execute them, often to the injury of his own reputation. He continued
to secure to himself artists of the first talents, as we shall see; but
this was done with the intention of making them dependant on him, and to
prevent their interfering with his emoluments and commissions. But
together with the good, he engaged also many indifferent and inferior
artists, whence it happens, that in the chambers of the castle of S.
Angelo, and in other places, we meet with so marked a difference in many
of his works. Few of his scholars attained celebrity. Luzio Romano is
the most noted, and possessed a good execution. Of him there exists a
frieze in the Palazzo Spada; and for some time, too, he had for an
assistant Marcello Venusti of Mantua, a young man of great talents, but
diffident, and probably standing in need of more instruction than Perino
afforded him. He afterwards received some instructions from Bonarruoti,
whose ideas he executed in an excellent manner, as I have mentioned
before, and by his aid he became himself also a good designer.[58]
Perino, by these means, always abounded in work and in money. A similar
traffic in the art was carried on by Taddeo Zuccaro, if we are to
believe Vasari; and by Vasari himself, too, if we may be allowed to
judge from his pictures.