notice of them, since my work has grown upon me with so many new Italian
names, which are its proper object, that I have not much spare room for
foreigners, and a sufficient notice of them may be found in their own
country. Not a few _oltremonti_ painted at this period in Rome,
celebrated for the most part in the inferior branches of painting, where
they deserve commemoration. Some of them were employed in the churches,
as Gio. Batista Vanloo di Aix, a favorite scholar of Luti, who painted
the picture of the Flagellation at S. Maria in Monticelli. But he did
not remain in Rome, but passed to Piedmont, and from thence to Paris and
London, and was celebrated for his historical compositions, and highly
esteemed in portrait. Some years after Vanloo, Pietro Subleyras di
Gilles settled in Rome, and conferred great benefit on the Roman School;
for whilst it produced only followers of the old manner, and thus fell
gradually into decay, he very opportunely appeared and introduced an
entirely new style. An academy had been founded in Rome by Louis XIV.,
about the year 1666. Le Brun had there cooperated, the Giulio Romano of
France, and the most celebrated of the four Carli, who were at that time
considered the supporters of the art; the others were Cignani, Maratta,
and Loth. It had already produced some artists of celebrity, as Stefano
Parocel, Gio. Troy, Carlo Natoire, by whom many pictures are to be found
in the public edifices in Rome. There prevailed, however, in the style
of this school a mannerism, which in a few years brought it into
disrepute. Mengs designated it by the epithet of _spiritoso_, and it
consisted, according to him, in overstepping the limits of beauty and
propriety, overcharging both the one and the other, and aiming at
fascinating the eyes rather than conciliating the judgment. Subleyras,
educated in this academy, reformed this taste, retaining the good, and
rejecting the feeble part, and adding from his own genius what was
wanting to form a truly original manner. There was an engaging variety
in the air of his heads, and in his attitudes, and he had great merit in
the distribution of his chiaroscuro, which gives his pictures a fine
general effect. He painted with great truth; but the figures and the
drapery, under his pencil, took a certain fulness which in him appears
easy, because it is natural; it remained his own, for although he left
some scholars, none of them ever emulated the grandeur of style which
distinguished their master.
He was mature in talent when he left the academy, and the portrait which
he in preference to Masucci, painted of Benedict XIV., established his
reputation as the first painter in Rome. He was soon afterwards chosen
to paint the history of S. Basil, for the purpose of being copied in
mosaic for the church of the Vatican. The original is in the church of
the Carthusians, and astonishes, by the august representation of the
Sacrifice solemnly celebrated by the saint in the presence of the
emperor, who offers bread at the altar. The countenances are very
animated, and there is great truth in the drapery and accompaniments,
and the silks in their lucid and light folds appear absolutely real.
From this production, and others of smaller size, and particularly the
Saint Benedict at the church of the Olivetani di Perugia, which is
perhaps his masterpiece, he deserves a place in the first collections,
where, indeed, his pictures are rare and highly prized. Further notices
of this artist may he found in the second volume of the _Giornale delle
belle Arti_.
Egidio Ale, of Liege, studied in Rome, and became a spirited, pleasing,
and elegant painter. His works in the sacristy dell'Anima, in fresco and
oil, painted in competition with Morandi, Bonatti, and Romanelli, do him
honour. Ignazio Stern was a Bavarian, who was instructed by Cignani in
Bologna, and worked in Lombardy. An Annunciation in Piacenza, in the
church of the Nunziata, exhibits a certain grace and elegance, which is
peculiar to him, as is observed in the description of the public
pictures in that city. Stern afterwards established himself in Rome,
where he painted in fresco the sacristy of S. Paolino, and left some oil
pictures in the church of S. Elisabetta, and in other churches. He was
more particularly attached to profane history, conversations, and
similar subjects, which have a place even in royal collections. Spain
possessed a disciple of the school of Maratta, in Sebastiano Mugnoz, but
dying young he left few works behind him.
In this place I ought to notice an establishment designed _to revive the
art in that quarter, where it seemed to have so much declined_, as D.
Francesco Preziado, of that country, says, in a letter which we shall
shortly have occasion to mention with commendation. "The royal academy
of S. Ferdinand, in Madrid, which owed its origin to Philip V., and was
completed and endowed by Ferdinand VI., sent several students to Rome,
and provided for their maintenance." They there selected the master the
most agreeable to their genius, and had, in addition, a director, who
was employed to superintend their studies; as I am informed by Sig.
Bonaventura Benucci, a Roman painter, educated in that academy. Bottari
and all Rome called it the Spanish academy, and I myself, in a former
edition, followed the common report, and the two above named sovereigns
I described as the founders of the academy. Having been censured for
this statement, I have here thought proper to specify my authorities. It
may without dispute be asserted, that the Spanish students have left in
Rome many noble specimens of their talents and taste. D. Francesco
Preziado was for many years the director of this academy, and painted a
Holy Family at the S. S. Quaranta, in a good style. He made also a
valuable communication to the Lettere Pittoriche (tom. vi. p. 308), on
the artists of Spain, very useful to any one desiring information
respecting this school, which is less known than it deserves to be.
An institution very much on the plan of the French academy was founded
in Rome a few years ago, by his most faithful majesty, for Portuguese
students, to the promotion of which, two celebrated Portuguese, the Cav.
de Manique, intendant general of the police in Lisbon, and the Count de
Souza, minister of that court in Rome, had the merit of contributing
their assistance; the one having projected, and the other executed, the
plan in the year 1791. The government of the academy was entrusted to
the Sig. Gio. Gherardo de' Rossi, known for his very numerous and able
writings, to which he has recently added an ingenious little work,
intitled, _Scherzi poetici e pittorici_, with engravings by a celebrated
academician. These establishments are of too recent a date to allow me
to speak further respecting their productions.
The provincial painters have been occasionally noticed in connexion with
their masters. I here add a supplement, which may be useful in the way
of completion. Foligno possessed a Fra Umile Francescano, a good fresco
painter, engaged in Rome by Cardinal Castaldi, to ornament the tribune
of S. Margaret, while Gaulli and Garzi were commanded to paint the
pictures for it. The Abbate Dondoli lived at Spello at the beginning of
this century. He was more to be commended for his design than for his
colouring. Marini has some celebrity in S. Severino, his native place.
He was the scholar of Cipriano Divini, whom he surpassed in his art.
Marco Vanetti, of Loreto, is known to me more from his life of Cignani,
who was his master, than from his own works. Antonio Caldana, of Ancona,
painted a very large composition in Rome, in the sacristy of S. Niccola
da Tolentino, from the life of that saint. I do not know whether there
remain any works of his in his native place; but there are a great
number by a respectable artist, one Magatta, whose name was Domenico
Simonetti, and who painted the gallery of the Marchesi Trionfi; he
furnished many churches with his paintings, and distinguished himself in
that of the church of the Suffragio, which is his most finished
production. Anastasi di Sinigaglia was a painter less elegant and
finished, but free and spirited. His works are not scarce in that city,
and his best are the two historical subjects in the church della Croce.
Three pictures by him also in S. Lucia di Monte Alboddo, are highly
prized, and are called by the writer of the _Guida_, "_Capi d'opera
dell'Anastasi_." Camillo Scacciani, of Pesaro, called Carbone,
flourished at the beginning of the age we are writing on, and had a
Caracciesque style allied to the modern. There is a S. Andrea Avellino
by him in the Duomo of Pesaro; his other works are in private
collections. This notice I deem sufficient, always excepting the living
artists, whom I of course omit.[90]
Three masters who died successively in the pontificate of Pius VI. seem
to require from me more than a transient notice, and with them I shall
conclude the series of historical painters of the fifth epoch. I shall
first commemorate the Cav. Raffaello Mengs, from whom our posterity may
perhaps date a new and more happy era of the art. He was born in Saxony,
and brought to Rome by his father while yet a boy, and was at that time
skilled in miniature, and was a careful and correct draughtsman. On his
arrival in Rome, his father employed him in copying the works of
Raffaello, and chastised the young artist for every fault in his work,
with an incredible severity, or rather inhumanity, inflicting on him
even corporeal punishment, and reducing his allowance of food. Being
thus compelled to study perfection, and endowed with a genius to
appreciate it and perceive it, he acquired a consummate taste in art; he
communicated to Winckelmann very important materials for his _Storia
delle belle arti_, and was himself the author of many profound and
valuable essays on the fine arts, which have materially contributed to
improve the taste of the present age. They have different titles, but
all the same aim, the discrimination of the real perfection of art.[91]
The artist, as characterized by Mengs, may be compared to the orator of
Cicero, and both are endued by their authors with an ideal perfection,
such as the world has never seen, and will probably never see; and it is
the real duty of an instructor to recommend excellence, that in striving
to attain it, we may at least acquire a commendable portion of it.
Considered in this point of view, I should defend several of his
writings, where in the opinion of others he seems to assume a
dictatorial tone, in the judgment he passes on Guido, Domenichino, and
the Caracci; the very triumvirate whom he proposes as models in the art.
Mengs assuredly was not so infatuated as to hope to surpass these great
men, but because he knew that no one does so well but that it might be
done still better, he shews where they attained the summit of art, and
where they failed. The artist, therefore, described by Mengs, and to
whose qualifications he also aspired, and was anxious that all should do
the same, ought to unite in himself the design and beauty of the Greeks,
the expression and composition of Raffaello, the chiaroscuro and grace
of Coreggio, and, to complete all, the colouring of Titian. This union
of qualities Mengs has analyzed with equal elegance and perspicuity,
teaching the artist how to form himself on that ideal beauty, which is
itself never realised. If, on some occasions, he appears too
enthusiastic, or in some degree obscure, it cannot excite our surprise,
as he wrote in a foreign language, and was not much accustomed to
composition. His ideas therefore stood in need of a refined scholar to
render them clear and intelligible; and this advantage he would have
procured, had he been resolved to publish them; but his works are all
posthumous, and were given to the world by his excellency the Sig. Cav.
Azara. Hence it frequently happens in his works, that one treatise
destroys another, as Tiraboschi has observed in regard to his notice of
Coreggio, in his _Notizie degli Artefici Modenesi_; and hence concludes
that the _Riflessioni di Mengs su i tre gran Pittori_, where he finds
much to censure in Coreggio, were written by him before he saw the works
of that master; and that his _Memorie_ on the life of the same master,
where he extols Coreggio to the skies, and calls him the Apelles of
modern painting, were written after having seen and studied him.[92] In
spite however of all objections, he will retain a distinguished place,
as well among the theorists or writers, as among professors themselves,
as long as the art endures.
We perhaps should not say that Mengs was a whetstone which gave a new
quality to the steel, which it could not otherwise have acquired; but
that he was the steel itself, which becomes brighter and finer the more
it is used. He became painter to the court of Dresden; every fresh work
gave proof of his progress in the art. He went afterwards to Madrid,
where in the chambers of the royal palace he painted the assembly of the
Gods, the Seasons, and the various parts of the day, in an enchanting
manner. After repairing a second time to Rome to renew his studies, he
again returned to Madrid, where he painted in one of the saloons the
Apotheosis of Trajan, and in a theatre, Time subduing Pleasure; pictures
much superior to his former pieces. In Rome there are three large works
by him; the painting in the vault of S. Eusebio; the Parnassus in the
saloon of the Villa Albani, far superior to the preceding one;[93] and
lastly, the cabinet of manuscripts in the Vatican was painted by him,
where the celestial forms of the angels, the majesty of Moses, and the
dignified character of S. Peter, the enchanting colour, the relief, and
the harmony, contribute to render this chamber one of the most
remarkable in Rome for its beautiful decorations. This constant
endeavour to surpass himself, would be evident also from his easel
pictures, if they were not so rare in Italy; as he painted many of this
description for London and the other capitals of Europe. In Rome itself,
where he studied young, where he long resided, to which he always
returned, and where at last he died, there are few of his works to be
found. We may enumerate the portrait of Clement XIII. and his nephew
Carlo, in the collection of the prince Rezzonico; that of Cardinal
Zelada, secretary of state; and a few other pieces, in the possession of
private gentlemen, more particularly the Sig. Cav. Azara. Florence has
some large compositions by him in the Palazzo Pitti, and his own
portrait in the cabinet of painters, besides the great Deposition from
the Cross in chiaroscuro, for the Marchese Rinuccini, which he was
prevented by death from colouring; and a beautiful Genius in fresco in a
chamber of the Sig. Conte Senatore Orlando Malevolti del Benino.
Returning from the consideration of his works to Mengs himself, I leave
to others to estimate his merit, and to determine how far his principles
are just.[94] As far as regards myself, I cannot but extol that
inextinguishable ardour of improving himself by which he was
particularly distinguished, and which prompted him, even while he
enjoyed the reputation of a first rate master, to proceed in every work
as if he were only commencing his career. Truth was his great aim, and
he diligently studied the works of the first luminaries of the art,
analysed their colours, and examined them in detail, till he entered
fully into the spirit and design of those great models. Whilst employed
in the ducal gallery in Florence, he did not touch a pencil, until he
had attentively studied the best pieces there, and particularly the
Venus of Titian in the tribune. In his hours of leisure he employed
himself in carefully studying the fresco pictures of the best masters of
that school, which is so distinguished in this art. He was accustomed to
do the same by every work of celebrity which fell in his way, whether
ancient or modern; all contributed to his improvement, and to carry him
nearer to perfection; he was in short a man of a most aspiring mind, and
may be compared to the ancient, who declared that he wished "to die
learning." If maxims like these were enforced, what rapid strides in the
art might we not expect!
But the greater part of artists form for themselves a manner which may
attract popularity, and then relax their efforts, satisfied with the
applause of the crowd; and if they feel the necessity of improving, it
is not with a design of acquiring a just reputation, but of adding to
the price of their works.
Notwithstanding the considerable space which Mengs has occupied in our
time, he has nevertheless left room for the celebrity of Pompeo Batoni,
of Luca. The Cav. Boni, who has honoured this artist with an elegant
eulogium, thus expresses himself in comparing him with Mengs. "The
latter," he says, "was the painter of philosophy, the former of nature.
Batoni had a natural taste which led him to the beautiful without
effort; Mengs attained the same object by reflection and study. Grace
was the gift of nature in Batoni, as it had formerly been in Apelles;
while the higher attributes of the art were allotted to Mengs, as they
were in former days to Protogenes. Perhaps the first was more painter
than philosopher, the second more philosopher than painter. The latter,
perhaps, was more sublime, but more studied; Batoni less profound, but
more natural. Not that I would insinuate that nature was sparing to
Mengs, or that Batoni was devoid of the necessary science of the art,
&c." If it were ever said with truth of any artist, that he was born a
painter, this distinction must be allowed to Batoni. He learned only the
principles of the art in his native country, and of the two
correspondents from whom I have received my information, the one
considers him to have been the scholar of Brugieri, the other of
Lombardi, as already mentioned, vol. i. p. 360, and probably he was
instructed by both. He came young to Rome, and did not frequent any
particular school, but studied and copied Raffaello and the old masters
with unceasing assiduity, and thus learnt the great secret of copying
nature with truth and judgment.
That boundless and instructive volume, open to all, but cultivated by
few, was rightly appreciated by Batoni, and it was hence that he derived
that beautiful variety in his heads and contours, which are sometimes
wanting even in the great masters, who were occasionally too much
addicted to the ideal. Hence, too, he derived the gestures and
expressions most appropriate to each subject. Persuaded that a vivid
imagination was not alone sufficient to depict those fine traits in
which the sublimity of the art consists, he did not adopt any attitudes
which were not found in nature. He took from nature the first ideas,
copied from her every part of the figure, and adapted the drapery and
folds from models. He afterwards embellished and perfected his work with
a natural taste, and enlivened all with a style of colour peculiarly his
own; clear, engaging, lucid, and preserving after the lapse of many
years, as in the picture of various saints at S. Gregorio, all its
original freshness. This was in him not so much an art as the natural
ebullition of his genius. He sported with his pencil. Every path was
open to him; painting in various ways, now with great force, now with a
touch, and now finishing all by strokes. Sometimes he destroyed the
whole work, and gave it the requisite force by a line.[95] Although he
was not a man of letters, he yet shows himself a poet in conception,
both in a sublime and playful style. One example from a picture in the
possession of his heirs, will suffice. Wishing to express the dreams of
an enamoured girl, he has represented her wrapped in soft slumbers, and
surrounded by loves, two of whom present to her splendid robes and
jewels, and a third approaches her with arrows in his hand, while she,
captivated by the vision, smiles in her sleep. Many of these poetical
designs, and many historical subjects, are in private collections, and
in the courts of Europe, from which he had constant commissions.
Batoni possessed an extraordinary talent for portrait painting, and had
the honour of being employed by three pontiffs in that branch of the
art, Benedict XIV., Clement XIII., and Pius VI.; to whom may be added,
the emperor Joseph II. and his august brother and successor, Leopold
II., the Grand Duke of Muscovy, and the Grand Duchess, besides numerous
private individuals. He for some time painted miniatures, and
transferred that care and precision which is essential in that branch to
his larger productions, without attenuating his style by hardness. We
find an extraordinary proof of this in his altarpieces, spread over
Italy, and mentioned by us in many cities, particularly in Lucca. Of
those that remain in Rome, Mengs gave the preference to S. Celso, which
is over the great altar of that church. Another picture, the Fall of
Simon Magus, is in the church of the Certosa. It was intended to have
been copied in mosaic for the Vatican, and to have been substituted for
a picture of the same subject by Vanni, the only one in that church on
stone. But the mosaic, from some cause or other, was not executed.
Perhaps the subject displeased, from not being evangelical, and the idea
of removing the picture of Vanni not being resumed, the subject was
changed, and a commission given to Mengs to paint the Government of the
church conferred on S. Peter. He made a sketch for it in chiaroscuro
with great care, which is in the Palazzo Chigi, but did not live to
finish it in colours. This sketch evinces a design and composition
superior to the picture of Batoni, but the subject of the latter was
more vigorously conceived. At all events, however, Batoni must
henceforth be considered the restorer of the Roman School, in which he
lived until his 79th year, and educated many pupils in his profession.
The example of the two last eminent artists was not lost on Antonio
Cavallucci da Sermoneta, whose name when I began to print this volume, I
did not expect would here have found a place. But having recently died,
some notice is due to his celebrity, as he is already ranked with the
first artists of his day. He was highly esteemed both in Rome and
elsewhere. The Primaziale of Pisa, who in the choice of their artists
consulted no recommendation but that of character, employed him on a
considerable work, representing S. Bona of that city taking the
religious habit. It breathes a sacred piety, which he himself both felt
and expressed in a striking manner. In this picture he wished to shew
that the examples of christian humility, such as burying in a cloister
the gifts of nature and fortune, are susceptible of the gayest
decoration. This he effected by introducing a train of noble men and
women, who, according to custom, assisted in the solemnity. In this
composition, in which he follows the principles of Batoni rather than
those of Mengs, we may perceive both his study of nature, and his
judgment and facility in imitating her. Another large picture of the
saints Placido and Mauro, he sent into Catania, and another of S.
Francesco di Paola, he executed for the church of Loreto, and which was
copied in mosaic. In Rome are his S. Elias and the Purgatorio, two
pictures placed at S. Martino a' Monti, and many works in the possession
of the noble family of Gaetani, who were the first to encourage and
support this artist. His last work was the Venus and Ascanius, in the
Palazzo Cesarini, which has been described to me as a beautiful
production by the Sig. Gio. Gherardo de' Rossi, who has declared his
intention of publishing the life of Cavallucci, which will no doubt be
done in his usual masterly manner.