masters; Domenico Corvi of Viterbo, and Giuseppe Cades of Rome, who
although younger than Corvi, and for some years his scholar, died before
him. In my notice of them, I shall begin with the master who has been
honoured and eulogized more than once in the respectable _Memorie delle
belle Arti_, as well as his scholar, and also some other disciples; as
there was not in Rome in the latter times any school more productive in
talent. He was truly an accomplished artist, and there were few to
compare with him in anatomy, perspective, and design; and from Mancini
his instructor, he acquired something of the style of the Caracci.
Hence, his academy drawings are highly prized, and I may say, more
sought after than his pictures, which indeed want that fascination of
grace and colour which attracts the admiration alike of the learned and
the vulgar. He maintained an universal delicacy of colour, and was
accustomed to defend the practice by asserting, with what justice I
cannot say, that pictures painted in that manner were less liable to
become black. His most esteemed works are his night pieces, as the Birth
of our Saviour in the church of the Osservanti at Macerata, which is
perhaps the summit of his efforts. Some amateurs went thither express
towards the close of day; a lofty window opposite favoured the illusion
of the perspective of the picture; and Corvi, who in other pictures is
inferior to Gherardo delle Notti, viewed in this manner, here excels
him, by an originality of perspective and general effect. He worked much
both for his own countrymen and foreigners, besides the pictures which
he kept ready by him, to supply the daily calls of purchasers, and many
of which are still on sale in the house of his widow.
Cades recommends himself to our notice, principally by a facility of
imitation, dangerous to the art when it is not governed by correct
principles. No simulator of the character of another handwriting, could
ever rival him in the dexterity with which at a moment's call he could
imitate the physiognomy, the naked figure, the drapery, and the entire
character of every celebrated designer. The most experienced persons
would sometimes request from him a design after Michelangiolo or
Raffaello, or some other great master, which he instantly complied with,
and when confronted with an indisputable specimen of the master, and
these persons were requested to point out the original, as Buonaruoti
for example, they often hesitated, and frequently fixed on the design of
Cades. He was notwithstanding, extremely honourable. He made on one
occasion, a large design in the style of Sanzio, to deceive the director
of a foreign cabinet, who boasted an infallible knowledge of the touch
of Raffaello; and employing a person to shew it to him, with some
fictitious history attached to it, the director purchased it at 500
zecchins. Cades wishing to return the money, the other refused to
receive it, insisting on retaining the drawing, and disregarding all the
protestations of the artist, and his request to be remunerated by a
smaller sum; and this drawing is at this moment probably considered as
an original, in one of the finest cabinets of Europe. He was confident
in his talents from his early years, and on a public occasion, he made a
drawing after the bent of his own genius, regardless of the directions
of Corvi, who wished it to be done in another style, and he was in
consequence dismissed from that school. This drawing obtained the first
premium, and now exists in the academy of S. Luke, where it is much
admired. In the art of colouring, too, he owed little to the instruction
of masters, and much to his native talent of imitation. I have seen
exhibited in the church of the Holy Apostles, a picture by him, which in
the upper part represents the Madonna with the Holy Infant, and in the
inferior part five saints, an allegorical picture, as I have heard
suggested, relating to the election of Clement XIV. That Pope was
elected by the suffrages of the Cardinal Carlo Rezzonico and his
friends, and contrary to the expectation of P. Innocenzio Buontempi, who
ordered the picture, and who after this election was promoted by the
Pope to the eminent station of Maestro nel S. Ordine Serafico, and
afterwards to that of the Pope's confessor. Hence this piece represents
in the centre S. Clement reading the sacred volume; on his right is S.
Carlo, who appears to admire his learning, and by his attitude seems to
say, "This is a man justly entitled to the pontificate;" and in the last
place S. Innocent the Pope, which representing the person of the P.
Maestro, must here for the sake of propriety yield the place to the
Cardinal S. Carlo. In the background are S. Francis and S. Anthony, half
figures. Cades here took for his model the picture of Titian in the
Quirinal, which he imitated as well in the composition as in the colour.
And in this, indeed, he proceeded too far, giving it that obscure tone
which the works of Titian have acquired only by the lapse of time. Cades
here defended himself by saying that this piece was intended to be
placed in the church of S. Francesco di Fabriano in a very strong light,
where if the colours had not been kept low, they would have been
displeasing to the spectator. There is an error in the perspective which
cannot be overlooked. The allegorical figure of P. M. Innocenzio, who
stands amazed at the sudden phenomenon, appears to be out of
equilibrium, and would fall in real life. Other faults of colour, of
costume, or of vulgarity of form, are noticed in others of his pictures
by the author of the _Memorie_, in tom. i. and iii. But as he advanced
in life he improved his style from study, and attending to the
criticisms of the public. In tom. iii. just referred to, we find the
description of one of his works executed for the Villa Pinciana, the
subject of which is taken from Boccaccio; Walter Conte di Anguersa
recognized in London. Let us weigh the opinion which this eminent author
gives of this most beautiful composition, or let us compare it with the
picture of S. Joseph of Copertino, which he painted at twenty-one years
of age, as an altarpiece in the church of the Apostles, and we shall
perceive the rapid strides which are made by genius. Other princely
families, besides the Borghesi, availed themselves of his talents to
ornament their palaces and villas; as the Ruspoli and the Chigi, and he
executed several works for the empress of Russia. He died before he had
attained his fiftieth year, and not long after he had so much improved
his style. In the opinion of some, his execution still required to be
rendered more uniform, since he sometimes displayed as many different
manners in a picture, as there were figures. But in that he might plead
the example of Caracci, as we shall notice on a proper opportunity.
We shall now pass to other branches of the art, and shall commence with
landscapes. In this period flourished the scholars of the three famous
landscape painters, described in their proper place, besides Grimaldi,
mentioned in the Bolognese School, who resided a considerable time in
Rome; and Paolo Anesi, of whom we made mention in speaking of
Zuccherelli. With Anesi lived Andrea Lucatelli, a Roman, whose talents
are highly celebrated in every inferior branch of the art. In the
archbishop's gallery in Milan are a number of his pictures, historical,
architectural, and landscapes. In these he often appears original in
composition, and in the disposition of the masses; he is varied in his
touch, delicate in his colouring, and elegant in his figures, which, as
we shall see, he was also accustomed to paint in the Flemish style,
separate from his landscapes.
Francis Van Blomen was a less finished artist, and from the hot and
vaporous air of his pictures, obtained the name of Orizzonte. The
palaces of the Pope and the nobility in Rome, abound with his landscapes
in fresco and oil. In the character of his trees, and in the composition
of his landscapes, he commonly imitated Poussin. In his general tone
there predominates a greenish hue mixed with red. His pictures are not
all equally finished, but they rise in value as those of older artists
become injured by time, or rare from being purchased by foreigners. At
the side of Van Blomen we often find the works of some of his best
scholars, as Giacciuoli and Francis Ignazio, a Bavarian.
At the same time lived in Rome Francesco Wallint, called M. Studio, who
painted small landscapes and sea views, ornamented with very beautiful
figures; devoid however of that sentiment which is the gift of nature,
and that delicacy which charms in the Italian School. He imitated
Claude: Wallint the younger, his son, attached himself to the same
manner with success, but did not equal his father.
At the beginning of this epoch, or thereabouts, there flourished two
artists in Perugia in the same line; Ercolano Ercolanetti, and Pietro
Montanini, the scholar of Ciro Ferri and of Rosa. The last was ambitious
of the higher walks of art, and attempted the decoration of a church,
but failed in the attempt, as his talent was restricted to landscape;
and even when he added figures to these, they were not very correct, and
possessed more spirit than accuracy of design. He was nevertheless a
pleasing painter, and his pictures were sought after by foreigners. In
Perugia there is an abundance of his works, and some are to be seen in
the sacristy of the Eremitani, which might be said to discover a Flemish
style.
Alessio de Marchis, a Neapolitan, is not much known in Rome, although in
the Ruspoli and Albani palaces, some pleasing pieces by him are pointed
out. He is better known in Perugia and Urbino, and the adjacent cities.
It is said that, in order to obtain a study for a picture from nature,
he set fire to a barn. For this act he was condemned to the galleys for
several years, and was liberated under the pontificate of Clement XI.
whose palace in Urbino he decorated with architectural ornaments,
distant views, and beautiful seapieces, more in the style of Rosa than
any other artist. There is an extraordinarily fine picture by him of the
Burning of Troy, in the collection of the Semproni family, and some
landscapes in other houses in Urbino, in which he has displayed all his
genius, and extended it also to figures. But in general there is little
more to praise in him than his spirit, his happy touch, and natural
colouring, particularly in fires, and the loaded and murky air, and the
general tone of the piece, as the detached parts are negligent and
imperfect. He left a son, also a landscape painter, but not of much
celebrity.
At the beginning of the century Bernardino Fergioni displayed in Rome an
extraordinary talent in sea views, and harbours, to which he added a
variety of humourous figures. He was first a painter of animals, and
afterwards tried this line with better success; but his fame was a few
years afterwards eclipsed by two Frenchmen, Adrian Manglard, of a solid,
natural, and correct taste; and his scholar, Joseph Vernet, who
surpassed his master by his spirit and his charming colouring. The first
seemed to paint with a degree of timidity and care, the latter in the
full confidence of genius; the one seemed to aim at truth, the other at
beauty. Manglard was many years in Rome, and his works are to be seen in
the Villa Albani, and in many other palaces. Vernet is to be seen in the
Rondanini mansion, and in a few other collections.
There were not many painters of battles during this epoch, except the
scholars of Borgognone. Christiano Reder, called also M. Leandro, who
came to Rome about 1686, the year of the taking of Buda, devoted
himself, in conformity with the feelings of the times, to painting
battles between the Christians and the Turks; but his pictures, though
well touched, were soon depreciated from the great number of them. The
best in the opinion of Pascoli, was that in the gallery de' Minimi; and
he left many also in the palaces of the nobility. He was also expert in
landscape and humourous subjects, and was assisted by Peter Van Blomen,
called also Stendardo, the brother of Francis Orizzonte. Stendardo also
painted battle pieces, but he was more attached to Bambocciate, in the
Flemish style, wherein he delights to introduce animals, and
particularly horses, in designing which he was very expert, and almost
unrivalled. His distances are very clear, and afford a fine relief to
his figures.
In Rome, and throughout the ecclesiastical state, we find many pictures
of this sort by that Lucatelli who has been mentioned among the
landscape painters. The connoisseurs attribute to him two different
manners; the first good, the second still better, and exhibiting great
taste, both in colouring and invention. In some collections we find
Monaldi near him, who although of a similar taste, yielded to him in
correctness of design, in colour, and in that natural grace which may be
called the _Attic salt_ of this mute poetry.
I have not ascertained who was the instructor of Antonio Amorosi, a
native of Comunanza, and a fellow countryman of Ghezzi, and his
co-disciple also in the school of the Cav. Giuseppe (Vernet). I only
know that he is in his way equally facetious, and sometimes satirical.
Like Ghezzi he painted pictures in the churches, which are to be found
in the Guida di Roma; he did not, however, succeed so well in them as in
his _bambocciate_, which would appear really Flemish if the colours were
more lucid. He is less known in the metropolis than in Piceno, where he
is to be seen in many collections, and is mentioned in the Guida
d'Ascoli. He pleased also in foreign countries, and represented subjects
from common life, as drinking parties in taverns in town and country, on
which occasion he discovered no common talent in architecture,
landscape, and the painting of animals.
Arcangelo Resani, of Rome, the scholar of Boncuore, painted animals in a
sufficiently good taste, accompanying them with large and small figures,
in which he had an equal talent. In the Medici gallery is his portrait,
with a specimen attached of the art in which he most excelled, the
representation of still life. In the same way Nuzzi added flowers, and
other artists landscapes, to their portraits.
Carlo Voglar, or Carlo da' Fiori, was a painter of fruit and flowers in
a very natural style, and was also distinguished in painting dead game.
He had a rival in this style in Francesco Varnetam, called Deprait, who
was still more ingenious in adding glass and portraits, and composed his
pieces in the manner of a good figurist. This artist after residing
several years in Rome, was appointed painter to the Imperial Court, and
died in Vienna, after having spread his works and his fame through all
Germany. In the time of the two preceding artists, Christian Bernetz was
celebrated, who on the death of the first, and the departure of the
second artist, remained in Rome the chief painter in this style. All the
three were known to Maratta, and employed by him in ornamenting his
pictures; and he enriched theirs in return with children and other
figures, which have rendered them invaluable. The last was also a friend
of Garzi, in conjunction with whom he painted pictures, each taking the
department in which they most excelled. Scipione Angelini, of Perugia,
improperly called Angeli by Guarienti, was celebrated by Pascoli for
similar talents. His flowers appear newly plucked and sparkling with dew
drops. In the _Memorie Messinesi_, I find that Agostino Scilla when he
was exiled from Sicily, repaired to Rome, where he died. Whilst in Rome,
he seemed to shun all competition with the historical painters, and
occupied himself (with a certainty of not being much celebrated), in
designing animals, and in other inferior branches of the art. In this
line both he and Giacinto, his younger brother, had great merit.
Saverio, the son of Agostino, who, on the death of them both, continued
to reside and to paint in Rome, did not equal them in reputation.
During this period of the decline of the art, one branch of painting,
perspective, made an extraordinary progress by the talents of P. Andrea
Pozzo, a Jesuit, and a native of Trent. He became a painter and
architect from his native genius, rather than from the instruction of
any master. His habit of copying the best Venetian and Lombard pictures,
had given him a good style of colour, and a sufficiently correct design,
which he improved in Rome, where he resided many years. He painted also
in Genoa and Turin, and in these cities and in both the states, we find
some beautiful works, the more so as they resemble Rubens in tone, to
whose style of colour he aspired. There are not many of his oil
paintings in Italy, and few of them are finished, as S. Venanzio in
Ascoli, and S. Borgia at S. Remo. Even the picture of S. Ignatius at the
Gesu in Rome, is not equally rendered in every part. Nevertheless, he
appears on the whole a fine painter, his design well conceived, his
forms beautiful, his colours fascinating, and the touch of his pencil
free and ready. Even his less finished performances evince his genius;
and of the last mentioned picture, I heard from P. Giulio Cordara, an
eminent writer in verse and prose, an anecdote which deserves
preservation. A painter of celebrity being directed to substitute
another in its place, declared that neither himself nor any other living
artist could execute a superior work. His despatch was such, that in
four hours he began and finished the portrait of a cardinal, who was
departing the same day for Germany.
He occupies a conspicuous place among the ornamental painters, but his
works in this way would be more perfect if there was not so great a
redundance of decoration, as vases, festoons, and figures of boys in the
cornices, though this indeed was the taste of the age. The ceiling of
the church of S. Ignatius is his greatest work, and which would serve to
show his powers, if he had left nothing else, as it exhibits a novelty
of images, an amenity of colour, and a picturesque spirit, which
attracted even the admiration of Maratta and Ciro Ferri; the last of
whom, amazed that Andrea had in so few years, and in so masterly a
manner, peopled, as he called it, this Piazza Navona, concluded that the
horses of other artists went at a common pace, but those of Pozzo on the
gallop. He is the most eminent of perspective painters, and even in the
concaves has given a convex appearance to the pieces of architecture
represented, as in the Tribune of Frascati, where he painted the
Circumcision of Jesus Christ, and in a corridor of the Gesu at Rome. He
succeeded too in a surprising manner in deceiving the eye with
fictitious cupolas in many churches of his order; in Turin, Modena,
Mondovi, Arezzo, Montepulciano, Rome, and Vienna, to which city he was
invited by the emperor Leopold I. He also painted scenes for the
theatres, and introduced colonnades and palaces with such inimitable
art, that it renders more credible the wonderful accounts handed down to
us by Vitruvius and Pliny of the skill of the ancients in this art.
Although well grounded in the theory of optics, as his two volumes of
perspective prove, it was his custom never to draw a line without first
having made a model, and thus ascertained the correct distribution of
the light and shade. When he painted on canvass, he laid on a light coat
of gum, and rejected the use of chalk, thinking that when the colours
were applied, the latter prevented the softening of the lights and
shadows, when requisite.
He had many scholars who imitated him in perspective; some in fresco;
others in oil, taking their designs from real buildings, and at other
times painting from their own inventions. One of these was Alberto
Carlieri, a Roman, a painter also of small figures, of whom Orlandi
makes mention. Antonio Colli, another of his scholars, painted the great
altar at S. Pantaleo, and decorated it in perspective in so beautiful a
manner, that it was by some taken for the work of his master. Of
Agostino Collaceroni of Bologna, considered of the same school, we have
before spoken.
There were also architectural painters in other branches. Pierfrancesco
Garoli, of Turin, painted the interior of churches, and Garzi supplied
the figures. Tiburzio Verzelli, of Recanati, is little known beyond
Piceno, his birthplace. The noble family of Calamini of Recanati,
possess perhaps his best picture, the elevation of S. Pietro in
Vaticano, one of the most beautiful and largest works of this kind that
I ever saw, which occupied the master several years in finishing.
Gaspare Vanvitelli, of Utrecht, called _Dagli Occhiali_, may be called
the painter of modern Rome; his pictures, which are to be found in all
parts of Europe, represent the magnificent edifices of that city, to
which landscapes are added, when the subject admits of it. He also
painted views of other cities, seaports, villas, and farm houses, useful
alike to painters and to architects. He painted some large pictures,
though most of his works are of a small size. He was correct in his
proportions, lively and clear in his tints, and there is nothing left to
desire, except a little more spirit and variety in the landscape or in
the sky, as the atmosphere is always of a pale azure, or carelessly
broken by a passing cloud. He was the father of Luigi Vanvitelli, a
painter, who owed his great name to architecture, as we shall see was
the case also with the celebrated Serlio.
But no painter of perspective has found more admirers than the Cav. Gio.
Paolo Pannini, mentioned elsewhere; not so much for the correctness of
his perspective, in which he has many equals, as for his charming
landscape and spirited figures. It cannot indeed be denied, that these
latter are sometimes too high in proportion to the buildings, and that
also, to shun the dryness of Viviani, he has a mannered style of mixing
a reddish hue in his shadows. For the first defect there is no remedy;
but the second will be alleviated by time, which will gradually subdue
the predominant colour.
Lastly, to this epoch the art of mosaic owes the great perfection which
it attained, in imitating painting, not only by the means of small
pieces of marble selected and cemented together, but by a composition
which could produce every colour, emulate every tint, represent each
degree of shade, and every part, equal to the pencil itself. Baglione
attributes the improvement in this art to Muziani, whom he calls the
inventor of working mosaics in oil; and that which he executed for the
Cappella Gregoriana, he praises as the most beautiful mosaic that has
been formed since the time of the ancients. Paolo Rossetti of Cento was
employed there under Muziani, and instructed Marcello Provenzale, his
fellow countryman. Both left many works beautifully painted in mosaic;
and the second, who lived till the time of Paul V. painted the portrait
of that Pope, and some cabinet pictures. An extensive work, as has often
been the case, was the cause of improving this art. The humidity of the
church of S. Peter was so detrimental to oil paintings, that from the
time of Urban VIII. there existed an idea of substituting mosaics in
their place. The first altarpiece was executed by a scholar of
Provenzale, already mentioned, Giambatista Calandra, born in Vercelli.
It represents S. Michael, and is of a small size, copied from a picture
of the Cav. d'Arpino. He afterwards painted other subjects in the small
cupolas, and near some windows of the church, from the cartoons of
Romanelli, Lanfranco, Sacchi, and Pellegrini; but thinking his talents
not sufficiently rewarded, he began to work also for individuals, and
painted portraits, or copied the best productions of the old masters.
Among these Pascoli particularly praises a Madonna copied from a picture
of Raffaello, in possession of the Queen of Sweden, and of this and
other similar works he judged that from their harmony of colour and high
finishing, they were deserving of close and repeated inspection.