mosaic; but this art was afterwards carried to a much higher pitch by
the two Cristofori, Fabio, and his son Pietro Paolo. These artists
painted the S. Petronilla, copied from the great picture of Guercino,
the S. Girolamo of Domenichino, and the Baptism of Christ by Maratta.
For other works by him and his successors, I refer the reader to the
_Descrizione_ of the pictures of Rome above cited. I will only add, that
when the works were completed for S. Peter's, lest the art might decay
for want of due encouragement, it was determined to decorate the church
of Loreto with similar pictures, which were executed in Rome, and
transferred to that church.
Before I finish this portion of my work, I would willingly pay a tribute
to the numerous living professors, who have been, or who are now
resident in Rome; but it would be difficult to notice them all, and to
omit any might seem invidious. We may be allowed, however, to observe
that the improvement which has taken place in the art of late years, has
had its origin in Rome. That city at no period wholly lost its good
taste, and even in the decline of the art was not without connoisseurs
and artists of the first merit. Possessing in itself the best sources of
taste in so many specimens of Grecian sculpture, and so many works of
Raffaello, it is there always easy to judge how near the artists
approach to, and how far they recede from, their great prototypes of
art. This criterion too is more certain in the present age, when it is
the custom to pay less respect to prejudices and more to reason; so that
there can be no abuse of this useful principle. The works too of
Winckelmann and Mengs have contributed to improve the general taste; and
if we cannot approve every thing we there find, they still possess
matter highly valuable, and are excellent guides of genius and talent.
This object has also been promoted by the discovery of the ancient
pictures in Herculaneum, the Baths of Titus, and of the Villa Adriana,
and the exquisite vases of Nola, and similar remains of antiquity. These
have attracted every eye to the antique; Mengs and Winckelmann have
admirably illustrated the history of ancient sculpture, and the art of
painting may be more advantageously studied from the valuable engravings
which have been published, than from any book. From these extraordinary
advantages the fine arts have extended their influence to circles where
they were before unknown, and have received a new tone from emulation as
well as interest. The custom of exhibiting the productions of art to a
public who can justly appreciate them, and distinguish the good from the
bad; the rewards assigned to the most meritorious, of whatever nation,
accompanied by the productions of literary men, and public rejoicings in
the Campidoglio; the splendour of the sacred edifices peculiar to the
metropolis of the Christian world, which, while the art contributes to
its decoration, extends its protection in return to the professors of
that art; the lucrative commissions from abroad, and in the city itself,
from the munificence and unbounded liberality of Pius VI. and that of
many private individuals;[96] the circumstance of foreign sovereigns
frequently seeking in this emporium for masters, or directors for their
academies; all these causes maintain both the artists and their schools
in perpetual motion, and in a generous emulation, and by degrees we may
hope to see the art restored to its true principles, the imitation of
nature and the example of the great masters. There is not a branch, not
only of painting, but even of the arts depending on it, as miniature,
mosaic, enamel,[97] and the weaving of tapestry, that is not followed
there in a laudable manner. Whoever desires to be further informed of
the present state of the Roman School, and of the foreign artists
resident in Rome, should peruse the four volumes entitled, _Memorie per
le belle arti_, published from the year 1785, and continued to the year
1788, a periodical work deserving a place in every library of the fine
arts, and which was, I regret to add, prematurely discontinued.
[Footnote 85: With regard to drapery, Winckelmann conjectures, (Storia
delle Arti del Disegno, tom. i. p. 450,) that the erroneous opinion that
the ancients did not drape their figures well, and were surpassed in
that department by the moderns, was at that time common among the
artists. This opinion still subsists among some sculptors, who
disapprove particularly of the ancient custom of moistening the drapery,
in order to adapt it the better to the form of the figure. The ancients,
they say, ought to be esteemed, not idolized. To carry nature to the
highest degree of perfection, was always allowable, but not so to
degrade her by mannerism.]
[Footnote 86: He was the pupil of Niccolas Poussin, and from him
acquired his taste for drawing after the antique. He employed this
talent in copying the finest bassirilievi, and the noblest remains of
ancient Rome. These were engraved by him, and circulated through Europe.
He also copied a great number of ancient pictures from the
_Sotterranei_, which passed into private hands unpublished. Pascoli
mentions many more of his works in engraving, the pursuit of which
branch of the art led him gradually to forsake painting. Of his pictures
we find one in the church of Porto, and a very few more of his own
designing. He devoted himself to the copying the pictures of the best
masters, and carried his imitation even to the counterfeiting the
effects of time on the colours; and he copied some pictures of Poussin
with such dexterity, that it was with difficulty the painter himself
could distinguish them.]
[Footnote 87: In the _Risposta alle Riflessioni Critiche di Mons.
Argens_.]
[Footnote 88: This artist had painted one of the two laterals of the
chapel, asserting that there was no artist living capable of painting a
companion to it. Benefial painted one very superior, and represented in
it an executioner with his eyes fixed on and deriding the picture of
Muratori.]
[Footnote 89: See _Memorie per le Belle Arti_, tom. ii. p. 135, where
Sig. Giangherardo de' Rossi gives an account of this artist, derived
principally from information furnished by Sig. Cav. Puccini, who has
been occasionally mentioned with approbation in the first volume of this
work.]
[Footnote 90: Francesco Appiani, of Ancona, a scholar of Magatta, and
not long since deceased, did not find a place in my former edition, but
is fully entitled to one in this. He studied a considerable time in
Rome, whilst Benefial, Trevisani, Conca, and Mancini, flourished there;
and through the friendship of these masters (particularly of the
latter), was enabled to form an agreeable style, of which he there left
a specimen at S. Sisto Vecchio. It is the death of S. Domenico, painted
in fresco, by order of Benedict XIII. who remunerated him with a gold
medal. He went afterwards to Perugia, where he was presented with the
freedom of the city, and continued his labours there with unabated
ardour, until ninety years of age, an instance of vigour unexampled,
except in the case of Titian. Perugia abounds with his paintings of all
kinds, and his best works are to be found in the churches of S. Pietro
de' Cassinensi, S. Thomas, and Monte Corona. He also decorated the
church of S. Francis, and the vault of the cathedral, where he rivalled
the freedom of style and composition of Carloni. Both he himself, and
one of his pictures, placed in a church of Masaccio, are eulogised in
the Antich. Picene (tom. xx. p. 159). He painted many pictures also for
England.]
[Footnote 91: For a more particular catalogue of these works, see the
_Memorie delle belle arti_, 1788, in which year they were republished in
Rome, with the remarks of the Sig. Avvocato Fea, in one vol. 4to. and 2
vols. 8vo. The most celebrated treatise of Mengs is the _Riflessioni
sopra i tre gran pittori, Raffaello, Tiziano, e Coreggio, e sopra gli
antichi_. On the life and style of Coreggio he wrote a separate paper,
which was afterwards the subject of a controversy; for as, at the close
of the year 1781, appeared the _Notizie storiche del Coreggio_ of Ratti,
accompanied by a letter from Mengs, dated Madrid, 1774, in which he
entreats Ratti to collect and publish them, Ratti was by several writers
accused of plagiarism, and of having endeavoured, by a change of style
and the addition of some trifling matter, to appropriate to himself what
in reality belonged to Mengs. Not long afterwards there appeared an
anonymous Defence of Ratti, without date or place, for which I refer to
the next note.]
[Footnote 92: In the _Difesa del Ratti_, accused _de repetundis_, this
very obvious contradiction is adduced as a proof that the _Memorie_ were
really composed by that author. It is there asserted that he wrote them
in a clear and simple style, and then communicated them to Mengs, on
whose death they were found among his writings, and published as his.
Some other things are indeed said, that do not favour the cause of
Ratti; as that when he was in Parma he consulted Mengs on what he should
say of the works of Coreggio in that city, and as he could not see those
in Dresden, he had from him a minute account of them; and also that
Mengs was accustomed to add remarks to the MS. on which his friends
consulted him. If, therefore, it be conceded that Mengs had such a share
in this MS. (which would appear to have been drawn up by the scholar
under the direction of the master, as to opinions on art, and as to a
catalogue of the best pictures, accompanied too with remarks,) who does
not perceive that the best part of that work, and the great attraction
of its matter and style, is due to Mengs?]
[Footnote 93: This picture is one of the most finished compositions
since the restoration of art. Each muse is there represented with her
peculiar attribute, as derived from antiquity; and the artist is
deservedly eulogized by the Sig. Ab. Visconti, in the celebrated _Museo
Pio Clementino_, tom. i. p. 57.]
[Footnote 94: This eminent man was not without his enemies and
calumniators, excited by his criticisms on the great masters, and still
more by his animadversions on artists of inferior fame, and some
recently deceased. Cumberland wrote against him with manifest prejudice;
and the anonymous author of the _Difesa del Cav. Ratti_, the work of
Ratti himself, or for which at least he furnished the materials, speaks
of him in a contemptuous manner. He particularly questions his literary
character and his discernment, and ascribes to his confidential friend,
Winckelmann, the merit of his remarks. In point of art he estimates
Mengs as an excellent, but by no means an unrivalled painter. Descending
to particulars, he publishes not a few criticisms, which he received
either in MS. or from the mouths of different professors, and adds
others of his own. Of these the experienced must form their own
judgment. With regard to his colouring, indeed, with which his rival
Batoni found great fault, the most inexperienced person may perceive
that it is not faultless, as the flesh tints are already altered by
time, at least in some of his works. Lastly, in the _Difesa_ are some
personal remarks regarding Mengs, which, if Ratti, from respect to his
late deceased friend, thought it right to omit them in his life of him,
printed in 1779, might with still greater propriety have been spared in
this subsequent work.]
[Footnote 95: See the _Elogio di Pompeo Batoni_, page 66, where the
illustrious author, who, to his other accomplishments, adds that of
painting, expatiates at length, and in the style of a professor, on this
wonderful talent of Batoni.]
[Footnote 96: The decoration of the Villa Pinciana, in which the prince
Borghesi has given encouragement to so many eminent artists, is an
undertaking that deserves to be immortalized in the history of art.]
[Footnote 97: I refer to what I have written on the art of enamel, in
the school of Ferrara, in which city the art may be said to have been
revived by the Sig. Ab. Requeno. It was also greatly improved in the
school of Rome, where in 1788 an entire cabinet was painted in enamel
for the empress of Russia, as was publicly noticed in the _Giornale di
Roma_, of the month of June. Il Sig. Consigl. Gio. Renfestein, had the
commission of the work, which was executed from the designs of
Hunterberger, by the Sigg. Gio. and Vincenzio Angeloni. They were both
assisted in their task by the Sig. Ab. Garcia della Huerta, who greatly
facilitated the inventions of Requeno, as well by his experience as by
his work, intitled _Commentarj della pittura encaustica del pennello_,
published in Madrid, a very learned work, and which obtained for the
author from Charles IV. an annuity for life.]
BOOK IV.
NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.
FIRST EPOCH.
We are now arrived at a school of painting which possesses indisputable
proofs of having, in ancient times, ranked among the first in Italy; as
in no part of that country do the remains of antiquity evince a more
refined taste, no where do we find mosaics executed with more
elegance,[98] nor any thing more beautiful than the subterranean
chambers which are ornamented with historical designs and grotesques.
The circumstance of its deriving its origin from ancient Greece, and the
ancient history of design, in which we read of many of its early
artists, have ennobled it above all others in Italy; and on this account
we feel a greater regret at the barbarism which overwhelmed it in common
with other schools. We may express a similar sentiment with regard to
Sicily, which from its affinity in situation and government, I shall
include in this Fourth Book; but generally in the notes.[99] That
island, too, possessed many Greek colonies, who have left vases and
medals of such extraordinary workmanship, that many have thought that
Sicily preceded Athens in carrying this art to perfection. But to
proceed to the art of painting in Naples, which is our present object,
we may observe that Dominici and the other national writers, the notice
of whom I shall reserve for their proper places, affirm, that that city
was never wholly destitute of artists, not only in the ancient times,
which Filostrato extols so highly in the proemium of his _Immagini_, but
even in the dark ages. In confirmation of this, they adduce devotional
pictures by anonymous artists, anterior to the year 1200; particularly
many Madonnas in an ancient style, which were the objects of adoration
in various churches. They subjoin moreover a catalogue of these early
artists, and bitterly inveigh against Vasari, who has wholly omitted
them in his work.
The first painter whom we find mentioned at the earliest period of the
restoration of the art, is Tommaso de' Stefani, who was a contemporary
of Cimabue, in the reign of Charles of Anjou.[100] That prince,
according to Vasari, in passing through Florence, was conducted to the
studio of Cimabue, to see the picture of the Virgin, which he had
painted for the chapel of the Rucellai family, on a larger scale than
had ever before been executed. He adds, that the whole city collected in
such crowds thither to view it, that it became a scene of public
festivity, and that that part of the city in which the artist resided,
received in consequence the name of Borgo Allegri, which it has retained
to the present day. Dominici has not failed to make use of this
tradition to the advantage of Tommaso. He observes that Charles would
naturally have invited Cimabue to Naples, if he had considered him the
first artist of his day; the king however did not do so, but at the same
time employed Tommaso to ornament a church which he had founded, and he
therefore must have considered him superior to Cimabue. This argument,
as every one will immediately perceive, is by no means conclusive of the
real merits of these two artists. That must be decided by an inspection
of their works; and with regard to these, Marco da Siena, who is the
father of the history of painting in Naples, declares, that in respect
to grandeur of composition, Cimabue was entitled to the preference.
Tommaso enjoyed the favour also of Charles II. who employed him, as did
also the principal persons of the city. The chapel of the Minutoli in
the Duomo, mentioned by Boccaccio, was ornamented by him with various
pictures of the Passion of our Saviour. Tommaso had a scholar in Filippo
Tesauro, who painted in the church of S. Restituta, the life of B.
Niccolo, the hermit, the only one of his frescos which has survived to
our days.
About the year 1325, Giotto was invited by King Robert to paint the
church of S. Chiara in Naples, which he decorated with subjects from the
New Testament, and the mysteries of the Apocalypse, with some designs
suggested to him at a former time by Dante, as was currently reported in
the days of Vasari. These pictures were effaced about the beginning of
the present century, as they rendered the church dark; but there
remains, among other things in good preservation, a Madonna called della
Grazia, which the generous piety of the religious possessors preserved
for the veneration of the faithful. Giotto painted some pictures also in
the church of S. Maria Coronata; and others which no longer exist, in
the Castello dell'Uovo. He selected for his assistant in his labours, a
Maestro Simone, who, in consequence of enjoying Giotto's esteem,
acquired a great name in Naples. Some consider him a native of Cremona,
others a Neapolitan, which seems nearer the truth. His style partakes
both of Tesauro and Giotto, whence some consider him of the first,
others of the second master; and he may probably have been instructed by
both. However that may be, on the departure of Giotto he was employed in
many works which King Robert and the Queen Sancia were prosecuting in
various churches, and particularly in S. Lorenzo. He there painted that
monarch in the act of being crowned by the Bishop Lodovico, his brother,
to whom upon his death and subsequent canonization, a chapel was
dedicated in the Episcopal church, and Simone appointed to decorate it,
but which he was prevented from doing by death. Dominici particularly
extols a picture by him of a Deposition from the Cross, painted for the
great altar of the Incoronata; and thinks it will bear comparison with
the works of Giotto. In other respects, he confesses that his conception
and invention were not equally good, nor did his heads possess so
attractive an air as those of Giotto, nor his colours such a suavity of
tone.
He instructed in the art a son, called Francesco di Simone, who was
highly extolled for a Madonna in chiaroscuro, in the church of S.
Chiara, and which was one of the works which escaped being effaced on
the occasion before mentioned. He had two other scholars in Gennaro di
Cola, and Stefanone, who were very much alike in their manner, and on
that account were chosen to paint in conjunction some large
compositions, such as the pictures of the Life of S. Lodovico, Bishop of
Tolosa, which Simone had only commenced, and various others of the Life
of the Virgin, in S. Giovanni da Carbonara, which were preserved for a
long period. Notwithstanding the similarity of their styles, we may
perceive a difference in the genius of the two artists; the first being
in reference to the second, studied and correct, and anxious to overcome
all difficulties, and to elevate the art; on which account he appears
occasionally somewhat laboured: the second discovers more genius, more
confidence, and a greater freedom of pencil, and to his figures he gives
a spirit that might have assured him a distinguished place, if he had
been born at a more advanced period of art.
Before Zingaro (who will very soon occupy our attention) introduced a
manner acquired in other schools, the art had made little progress in
Naples and her territories. This is clearly proved by Colantonio del
Fiore, the scholar of Francesco, who lived till the year 1444, of whom
Dominici mentions some pictures, though he is in doubt whether they
should not be assigned to Maestro Simone; which is a tacit confession,
that in the lapse of a century the art had not made any considerable
progress. It appears, however, that Colantonio after some time, by
constant practice, had considerably improved himself; having painted
several works in a more modern style, particularly a S. Jerome, in the
church of S. Lorenzo, in the act of drawing a thorn from the foot of a
lion, with the date of 1436. It is a picture of great truth, removed
afterwards, for its merit, by the P. P. Conventuali, into the sacristy
of the same church, where it was for a long time the admiration of
strangers. He had a scholar of the name of Angiolo Franco, who imitated
better than any other Neapolitan the manner of Giotto; adding only a
stronger style of chiaroscuro, which he derived from his master.
The art was, however, more advanced by Antonio Solario, originally a
smith, and commonly called lo Zingaro. His history has something
romantic in it, like that of Quintin Matsys, who, from his first
profession, was called il Fabbro, and became a painter from his love to
a young girl, who promised to marry him when he had made himself a
proficient in the art of painting. Solario in the same manner being
enamoured of a daughter of Colantonio, and receiving from him a promise
of her hand in marriage in ten years, if he became an eminent painter,
forsook his furnace for the academy, and substituted the pencil for the
file. There is an idle tradition of a queen of Naples having been the
author of this match, but that matter I leave in the hands of the
narrators of it. It is more interesting to us to know that Solario went
to Bologna, where he was for several years the scholar of Lippo
Dalmasio, called also Lippo delle Madonne, from his numerous portraits
of the Virgin, and the grace with which he painted them. On leaving
Bologna he visited other parts of Italy in order to study the works of
the best artists in the various schools; as Vivarini, in Venice; Bicci,
in Florence; Galasso, in Ferrara; Pisanello, and Gentile da Fabriano, in
Rome. It has been thought that he assisted the two last, as Luca
Giordano affirmed that among the pictures in the Lateran he recognized
some heads which were indisputably by Solario. He excelled in this
particular, and excited the admiration of Marco da Siena himself, who
declared that his countenances seemed alive. He became also a good
perspective painter for those times, and respectable in historical
compositions; which he enlivened with landscape in a better style than
other painters, and distinguished his figures by drapery peculiar to the
age, and carefully drawn from nature. He was less happy in designing his
hands and feet, and often appears heavy in his attitudes, and crude in
his colouring. On his return to Naples, it is said, that he gave proof
of his skill, and was favorably received by Colantonio, and thus became
his son-in-law nine years after his first departure; and that he painted
and taught there under King Alfonso, until the year 1455, about which
time he died.
The most celebrated work of this artist was in the choir of S. Severino,
in fresco, representing, in several compartments, the life of S.
Benedict, and containing an incredible variety of figures and subjects.
He left also numerous pictures with portraits, and Madonnas of a
beautiful form, and not a few others painted in various churches of
Naples. In that of S. Domenico Maggiore, where he painted a dead Christ,
and in that of S. Pier Martire, where he represented a S. Vincenzio,
with some subjects from the life of that saint, it is said that he
surpassed himself. Thus there commenced in Naples a new epoch, which
from its original and most celebrated prototype, is called by the Cav.
Massimo, the school of Zingaro, as in that city those pictures are
commonly distinguished by the name of Zingaresque, which were painted
from the time of that artist to that of Tesauro, or a little later, in
the same way that pictures are every where called Cortonesque, that are
painted in imitation of Berettini.