saporite_, as he terms them, by this artist, at Spoleto, where Piero
established himself, and in the neighbouring towns; and which often pass
for the works of Pietro Perugino, from a similarity of names. It appears
however that Cesarei was desirous of preventing this error, as he
inscribed his name Perinus Perusinus, or Perinus Cesareus Perusinus, as
in the picture of the Rosary at Scheggino, painted in 1595. Vasari, in
the life of Agnol Gaddi, names among his scholars Stefano da Verona, and
says, that "all his works were imitated and drawn by that Pietro di
Perugia, the painter in miniature, who ornamented the books at the
cathedral of Siena, in the Library of Pope Pius, and who worked well in
fresco." These words have puzzled more than one person. Pascoli (P. P.
p. 134.) and Mariotti (L. P. p. 59.) consider them as written of Piero
Cesarei; as if a man born in the golden age should so far extol an old
_trecentista_; or as if the canons of Siena could approve such a style
after possessing Razzi and Vanni. Padre della Valle interprets it to
mean Pietro Vannucci, and not finding the books of the Choir adorned in
such a style as he wished, reproves Vasari for having confounded so
great a master with a common fresco painter and a _Miniatore_. It is
most likely that this _Miniatore_ and _Frescante_ of Vasari was a third
Pietro, hitherto unknown in Perugia, and whom we shall notice in the
Venetian School.]
[Footnote 67: See Il Sig. Cav. Reposati _Appendice del tomo ii. della
Zecca di Gubbio_; and the Sig. Conte Ranghiasci in the _Elenco de'
Professori Eugubini_, inserted in vol. iv. of Vasari (ediz. Senese), at
the end of the volume.]
[Footnote 68: I am indebted for it, to the noble Sig. Cav. Ercolani, who
obligingly transmitted it to me, after procuring it from the Sig. Cav.
Piani and the Sig. Paolo Antonio Ciccolini, of Macerata.]
[Footnote 69: In a former edition, on the authority of a MS. I called
him Serj, and was doubtful whether Siciolante was not his surname. Sig.
Brandolese has informed me of an epitaph, in the hands of Mons.
Galletti, in which he is called Siciolante, whence Serio was most
probably his surname.]
[Footnote 70: Another probable cause of this appellation, is to be found
in the name of Raffaello Ciarla, who was one of the most celebrated
painters of this ware, and was appointed by the duke to convey a large
assortment of it to the court of Spain. Hence the vulgar, when they
heard the name of Raffaello, might attribute them to Sanzio.]
ROMAN SCHOOL.
FOURTH EPOCH.
_Restoration of the Roman School by Barocci, and other
Artists, Subjects of the Roman State, and Foreigners._
The numerous works carried on by the Pontiffs Gregory and Sixtus, and
continued under Clement VIII., while they in a manner corrupted the pure
taste of the Roman School, contributed, nevertheless, at the same time,
to regenerate it. Rome, from the desire of possessing the best specimens
of art, became by degrees the resort of the best painters, as it had
formerly been in the time of Leo X. Every place sent thither its first
artists, as the cities of Greece formerly sent forth the most valiant of
their citizens to contend for the palm and the crown at Olympia.
Barocci, of Urbino, was the first restorer of the Roman School. He had
formed himself on the style of Correggio, a style the best calculated to
reform an age which had neglected the true principles of art, and
particularly colouring and chiaroscuro. Happy indeed had it been, had he
remained in Rome, and retained the direction of the works which were
entrusted to Nebbia, Ricci, and Circignani! He was there, indeed, for
some time, and assisted the Zuccari in the apartments of Pius IV., but
was compelled to fly in consequence of some pretended friends having, in
an execrable manner, administered poison to him through jealousy of his
talents, and so materially injured his health, that he could only paint
at intervals, and for a short space of time. Forsaking Rome, therefore,
he resided for some time in Perugia, and a longer period in Urbino, from
whence he despatched his pictures from time to time to Rome and other
places. By means of these, the Tuscan School derived great benefit
through Cigoli, Passignano, and Vanni, as we have before observed; and
it is not improbable, that Roncalli and Baglione may have profited by
them, if we may judge from some works of both the one and the other of
these artists to be seen in various places.
However this might be, at the commencement of the seventeenth century,
these five were in the highest repute as artists who were not corrupted
by the prevailing taste. An idea had subsisted from the time of Clement
VIII., of decorating the church of the Vatican, with the History of S.
Peter, and of employing in that work the best artists. The execution of
this design occupied a considerable time, the pictures being reduced to
mosaic, as the painting on wood and slate did not resist the humidity of
the church. The five before mentioned artists were selected to paint
each a subject; and Bernardo Castelli, one of the first painters of the
Genoese School, was the sixth, and the least celebrated. These artists
were all liberally paid, and the five first raised to the rank of
_Cavalieri_, and their works had a beneficial influence on the rising
generation, and proved that the reign of the mannerists was on the
decline. Caravaggio gave it a severe shock by his powerful and natural
style, and Baglione attests, that this young artist, by the great
applause which he gained, excited the jealousy of Federigo Zuccaro, then
advanced in years, and entered into competition with Cesare, his former
master. But the most serious blow the mannerists received, was from the
Caracci and their school. Annibale arrived in Rome not much before the
year 1600, invited by the Cardinal Farnese to paint his gallery; a work
which occupied him for nearly eight years, and for which he received
only five hundred scudi, a sum so inadequate that we can scarcely
believe it to be correct. He also decorated several churches. Lodovico,
his cousin, was with him for a short time; Agostino, his brother, for a
longer period; and he had his scholars with him, amongst whom we may
enumerate Domenichino, Guido, Albano, and Lanfranc. They came thither at
different periods, matured in their talents, and able to assist their
master not only in execution but design.
Rome had for some years seen only the two extreme styles of painting.
Caravaggio and his followers were mere _naturalists_; Arpino and his
scholars pure idealists. Annibale introduced a style founded in nature,
yet ennobled by the ideal, and supported his ideal by his knowledge of
nature. He was at first denounced as cold and insipid, because he was
not affected and extravagant, or rather because great merit was never
unaccompanied by envy. But though envy for a time, by her insidious
suggestions and subterfuges, may derive a mean pleasure in persecuting a
man of genius, she can never hope to succeed in blinding the public, who
ever decide impartially on the merits of individuals, and whose judgment
is not disregarded even by princes. The Farnese gallery was opened, and
Rome beheld in it a grandeur of style, which might claim a place after
the Sistine chapel, and the chambers of the Vatican. It was then
discovered, that the preceding Pontiffs had only lavished their wealth
for the corruption of art; and that the true secret which the great
ought to put in practice lay in a few words: a judicious selection of
masters, and a more liberal allowance of time. Hence, though somewhat
tardy indeed in consequence of the death of Annibale, came the order
from Paul V., to distribute the work among the Bolognese; for so the
Caracci and their scholars were at that time designated; one of whom,
Ottaviano Mascherini, was the Pope's architect.[71] A new spirit was
thus introduced into the Roman School, which, if it did not wholly
destroy the former extravagance of style, still in a great degree
repressed it. The pontificate of Gregory XV. (Lodovisi) was short, but
still, through national partiality, highly favourable to the Bolognese,
amongst whom we may reckon Guercino da Cento, although a follower of
Caravaggio rather than Annibale. He was the most employed in St.
Peter's, and in the villa Lodovisi. This reign was followed by the
pontificate of Urban VIII., favourable both to poets and painters,
though, perhaps, more so to the latter than the former; since it
embraced, besides the Caracci and their school, Poussin, Pietro da
Cortona, and the best landscape painters that the world had seen. The
leading masters then all found employment, either from the Pope himself,
or his nephew the Cardinal, or other branches of that family, and were
engaged in the decoration of St. Peter's, or their own palaces, or in
the new church of the Capucins, where the altarpieces were distributed
among Lanfranc, Guido, Sacchi, Berrettini, and other considerable
artists. The same liberal plan was followed by Alexander VII. a prince
of great taste, and by his successors. It was during the reign of
Alexander, that Christina, Queen of Sweden, established herself in Rome,
and her passion for the fine arts inspired and maintained not a few of
the painters whom we shall mention. It must indeed be premised, that we
are under the necessity of deferring our notice of the greatest names of
this epoch to another place, as they belong of right to the school of
Bologna, and some we have already recorded in the Florentine School. But
to proceed.
Federigo Barocci might from the time of his birth be placed in the
preceding epoch, but his merit assigns him to this period, in which I
comprise the reformers of art. He learned the principles of his art from
Batista Franco, a Venetian by birth, but a Florentine in style. This
artist going young to Rome, to prosecute his studies there, was struck
with the grand style of Michelangiolo, and copied both there and in
Florence, all his works, as well his paintings and drawings as statues.
He became an excellent designer, but was not equally eminent as a
colourist, having turned his attention at a late period to that branch
of the art. In Rome he may be seen in some evangelical subjects painted
in fresco, in a chapel in the Minerva, and preferred by Vasari to any
other of his works. He also decorated the choir of the Metropolitan
church of Urbino in fresco, and there left a Madonna in oil, placed
between S. Peter and S. Paul, in the best Florentine style, except that
the figure of S. Paul is somewhat attenuated. There is a grand picture
in oil by him in the tribune of S. Venanzio, in Fabriano; containing the
Virgin, with the titular and two other protecting Saints. In the
sacristy of the cathedral of Osimo, I saw many small pictures
representing the life of Christ, painted by him in the year 1547, as we
learn from the archives of that church; a thing of rare occurrence, as
Franco was scarcely ever known to paint pictures of this class. Under
this artist, whilst he resided in Urbino, Barocci designed and studied
from the antique. He then went to Pesaro, where he employed himself in
copying after Titian, and was instructed in geometry and perspective by
Bartolommeo Genga, the architect, the son of Girolamo and the uncle of
Barocci. From thence he passed to Rome, and acquired a more correct
style of design, and adopted the manner of Raffaello, in which style he
painted the S. Cecilia for the Duomo of Urbino, and in a still more
improved and original manner, the S. Sebastian, a work which Mancini, in
point of solid taste, sets above all the works of Barocci. But the
amenity and gracefulness of his style led him almost instinctively to
the imitation of Correggio, in whose manner he painted in his native
city the delightful picture of S. Simon and S. Judas, in the church of
the Conventuals.
Nevertheless this was not the style which he permanently adopted as his
own, but as a free imitation of that great master. In the heads of his
children and of his female figures, he approaches nearly to him; also in
the easy flow of his drapery, in the pure contour, in the mode of
foreshortening his figures; but in general his design is not so grand,
and his chiaroscuro less ideal; his tints are lucid and well arranged,
and bear a resemblance to the beautiful hues of Correggio, but they have
neither his strength nor truth. It is however delightful to see the
great variety of colours he has employed, so exquisitely blended by his
pencil, and there is perhaps no music more finely harmonized to the ear,
than his pictures are to the eye. This is in a great measure the effect
of the chiaroscuro, to which he paid great attention, and which he was
the first to introduce into the schools of Lower Italy. In order to
obtain an accurate chiaroscuro, he formed small statues of earthenware,
or wax, in which art he did not yield the palm to the most experienced
sculptors. In the composition and expression of every figure, he
consulted the truth. He made use of models too, in order to obtain the
most striking attitudes, and those most consonant to nature; and in
every garment, and every fold of it, he did not shew a line that was not
to be found in the model. Having made his design, he prepared a cartoon
the size of his intended picture, from which he traced the contours on
his canvass; he then on a small scale tried the disposition of his
colours, and proceeded to the execution of his work. Before colouring,
however, he formed his chiaroscuro very accurately after the best
ancient masters, (vol. i. p. 187,) of which method he left traces in a
Madonna and Saints, which I saw in Rome in the Albani palace, a picture
which I imagine the artist was prevented by death from finishing.
Another picture unfinished, and on that account very instructive and
highly prized, is in possession of the noble family of Graziani in
Perugia. To conclude, perfection was his aim in every picture, a maxim
which insures excellence to artists of genius.
Bellori, who wrote the life of Barocci, has given us a catalogue of his
pictures. There are few found which are not of religious subjects; some
portraits, and the Burning of Troy, which he painted in two pictures,
one of which now adorns the Borghese gallery. Except on this occasion
his pencil may be said to have been dedicated to religion; so devout, so
tender, and so calculated to awaken feelings of piety, are the
sentiments expressed in his pictures. The Minerva, in Rome, possesses
his Institution of the Sacrament, a picture which Clement X. employed
him to paint; the Vallicella has his two pictures of the Visitation and
the Presentation. In the Duomo of Genoa is a Crucifixion by him, with
the Virgin and S. John, and S. Sebastian; in that of Perugia, the
Deposition from the Cross; in that of Fermo, S. John the Evangelist; in
that of Urbino, the Last Supper of our Lord. Another Deposition, and a
picture of the Rosario, and mysteries, is in Sinigaglia; and, in the
neighbouring city of Pesaro, the calling of St. Andrew, the
Circumcision, the Ecstacy of S. Michelina on Mount Cavalry, a single
figure, which fills the whole picture, and esteemed, it is said, by
Simon Cantarini, as his masterpiece. Urbino, besides the pictures
already noticed, and some others, possesses a S. Francis in prayer, at
the Capucins; and at the Conventuals, the great picture of the Perdono,
in which he consumed seven years. The perspective, the beautiful play of
light, the speaking countenances, the colour and harmony of the work,
cannot be imagined by any one who has not seen it. The artist himself
was delighted with it, wrote his name on it, and etched it. His
Annunciation, at Loreto, is a beautiful picture, and the same subject at
Gubbio, unfinished; the Martyrdom of S. Vitale, at the church of that
saint, in Ravenna, and the picture of the Misericordia, painted for the
Duomo of Arezzo, and afterwards transferred to the ducal gallery of
Florence. The same subject exists also in the hospital of Sinigaglia,
copied there by the scholars of Barocci, who have repeated the pictures
of their master in numerous churches of the state of Urbino, and of
Umbria, and in some in Piceno, and these are, occasionally, so well
painted, that one might imagine he had finished them himself.
The same may be said of some of his cabinet pictures, which are to be
seen in collections; such is the Virgin adoring the Infant Christ, which
I remarked in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, in the Casa Bolognetti in
Rome, and in a noble house in Cortona, and which I find mentioned also
in the imperial gallery at Vienna. A head of the _Ecce Homo_ has also
been often repeated, and some Holy Families, which he varied in a
singular manner; I have seen a S. Joseph sleeping, and another S.
Joseph, in the Casa Zaccaria, in the act of raising a tapestry; and in
the Repose in Egypt, which was transferred from the sacristy of the
Jesuits at Perugia to the chamber of the Pope, he is represented
plucking some cherries for the Infant Christ, a picture, which seems
painted to rival Correggio. Bellori remarks, that he was so fond of it
that he frequently repeated it.
The school of Barocci extended itself through this duchy and the
neighbouring places; although his best imitator was Vanni of Siena, who
had never studied in Urbino. The disciples of Federigo were very
numerous, but remaining in general in their own country they did not
disseminate the principles, and few of them inherited the true spirit of
their master's style: the most confining themselves to the exterior of
the art of colouring; and even this was deteriorated by the use of large
quantities of cinnabar and azure, colours which their master had
employed with greater moderation; and they were not unfrequently
condemned for this practice, as Bellori and Algarotti remark. The flesh
tints under their pencil often became livid, and the contours too much
charged. I cannot give an accurate catalogue of these scholars, but
independent of the writers on the works in Urbino, and other guides and
traditions in various parts, I am certain, that if they were not
instructed by Barocci himself, they must at all events, from their
country, and from the period at which they flourished, have formed
themselves on his pictures. There is little to be observed respecting
Francesco Baldelli, the nephew and scholar of Federigo. I do not find
any memorial of him, except a picture which he placed in the Capella
Danzetta, of S. Agostino, in Perugia, and which is mentioned by
Crispolti, in his history of that city, at page 133.
Of Bertuzzi and Porino I have not seen any works, except copies in the
style of Barocci, or feeble productions of their own. An excellent
copyist was found in Alessandro Vitali of Urbino, in which city, at the
Suore della Torre, is found the Annunciation of Loreto, copied by him in
such a manner that it might be taken for the original picture. Barocci
was pleased with his talent, and willingly retouched some of his
pictures, and probably favoured him in this way in the S. Agnes and S.
Agostino, placed by Vitali, the one in the Duomo, the other in the
church of the Eremitani, where he may be said to surpass himself.
Antonio Viviani, called il Sordo of Urbino, also made some very accurate
copies of his master, which are still preserved by his noble posterity.
He too was a great favourite of Federigo, and was in his native city
called his nephew; although Baglione, who wrote his life, is silent on
this head. He left some pictures in Urbino, in the best style of
Barocci; particularly the S. Donato, in a suburban church of the saint
of that name. This however cannot be called his own style, for he
visited Rome at various times, where, having received instructions from
Mascherini, and employed himself for a time in the imitation of Cesari,
and of the rapid manner of the practicians recorded by us, he exhibited
in that metropolis various styles, and some of the most feeble which he
adopted. Assuredly his fresco pictures, which remain in various places
in Rome, do not support the opinion which is inspired by a view of the
vast work which he conducted in the church de' Filippini at Fano. There,
in the vault, and in the chapel, are executed various histories of the
chief of the apostles to whom the church is dedicated. His style in
these exhibits a beautiful imitation of Barocci and Raffaello, in which
the manner of the latter predominates. Lazzari maintains that this
Antonio Viviani repaired to Genoa, and that Soprani changed his name to
Antonio Antoniani; thus giving to Barocci a scholar who never existed.
Of this supposition we shall speak with more propriety in the Genoese
School. Another Viviani is mentioned by tradition in Urbino, Lodovico, a
brother or cousin of the preceding. This painter sometimes imitates
Barocci, as in the S. Girolamo in the Duomo, and sometimes approaches
the Venetian style, as in the Epiphany at the Monastery della Torre.
Another painter almost unknown in the history of art, but of singular
merit, is Filippo Bellini of Urbino, of whom I have not seen any works
in his native place, but a number in oil and fresco scattered through
many cities of the March. He is in general an imitator of Barocci, as in
the picture of the Circumcision in the church of Loreto, in the
Espousals of the Virgin in the Duomo in Ancona, and in a Madonna
belonging to the Counts Leopardi at Osimo. He affords, however,
sometimes an example of a vigorous and lively style, and exhibits a
powerful colouring, and a grandeur of composition. He discovered this
character in some works in Fabriano in his best time, and particularly
in the Opere della Misericordia, which are fourteen subjects taken from
Scripture, and represented in the church della Carita.[72] They are
beheld by cultivated foreigners with admiration, and it appears strange
that such a painter, whose life and works are alike worthy of
remembrance, should not have found a place in the catalogues. He is also
extolled for his works in fresco, in the chapel of the Conventuals in
Montalboddo, where he has represented the Martyrdom of S. Gaudenzio, and
which is described in the guide book of that city.
We may next notice Antonio Cimatori, called also Antonio Visacci, not
only by the vulgar, but also by Girolamo Benedetti, in the Relazione,
which in the lifetime of the artist he composed on the festival at
Urbino, in honour of Giulia de' Medici, married to the Prince Federigo.
Cimatori was there engaged to paint the arches and pictures, which were
exhibited, in conjunction with the younger Viviani, Mazzi, and Urbani.
His forte lay in pen drawing, and in chiaroscuro; as may be seen from
his Prophets, in a grand style, transferred from the Duomo to the
apostolic palace. He did not leave many works in his native place; but
amongst them is his picture of S. Monica, at S. Agostino. His copies
from the original pictures of Barocci are to be found in various places,
particularly in the Duomo of Cagli. He resided, and worked for a long
time in Pesaro, where he instructed Giulio Cesare Begni, a bold and
animated artist, a good perspective painter, and in a great degree a
follower of the Venetian School, in which he studied and painted. He
left many works in Udine, and many more in his native place, in a rapid
and unfinished style, but of a good general effect. In the _Descrizione
odeporica della Spagna_, (tom. ii. p. 130), we find Giovanni and
Francesco d'Urbino mentioned, who about the year 1575, it seems, were
both engaged by the court to decorate the Escurial. The latter came
early in life to Spain, and being endowed with a noble genius, soon
became an excellent artist, and is extolled by his contemporary P.
Siguenza, and by all who have seen the Judgment of Solomon, and his
other pictures in a choir in that magnificent place: he died young. That
these works belong to the pencil of Barocci might be suspected from
their era, and the practice of that splendid court, which was in the
habit of engaging in its service the first masters of Italy or their
scholars. But not possessing positive information, nor finding any
indication of their style, I dare not assign these two to Barocci. I
feel a pleasure however in restoring them to the glorious country from
which they had been separated.