manner: except that a certain fulness with which he paints his horses in
his battle pieces, may serve as a distinction. Andrea di Lione resembles
him, but in his battles we easily trace his imitation. Marzio Masturzo
studied some time with Falcone; but longer with Rosa in Rome, and was
his best scholar; but he is sometimes rather crude in his figures, and
rocks, and trunks of trees, and less bright in his skies. His flesh
tints are not pallid, like those of Rosa, as in these he followed
Ribera.
I shall close this catalogue, passing over some less celebrated artists,
with Paolo Porpora, who from battles, were directed by the impulse of
his genius to the painting of animals, but succeeded best in fish, and
shells, and other marine productions, being less skilled in flowers and
fruit. But about his time Abraham Brughel painted these subjects in an
exquisite style in Naples, where he settled and ended his days. From
this period we may date a favourable epoch for certain pictures of minor
rank, which still add to the decoration of galleries and contribute to
the fame of their authors. After the two first we may mention
Giambatista Ruoppoli and Onofrio Loth, scholars of Porpora, excelling
him in fruits, and particularly in grapes, and little inferior in other
respects.
Giuseppe Cav. Recco, from the same school, is one of the most celebrated
painters in Italy, of hunting, fowling, and fishing pieces, and similar
subjects. One of his best pictures which I have seen, is in the house of
the Conti Simonetti d'Osimo, on which the author has inscribed his name.
He was admired in the collections also for his beautiful colouring,
which he acquired in Lombardy; and he resided for many years at the
court of Spain, whilst Giordano was there. There was also a scholar of
Ruoppoli, called Andrea Belvedere, excelling in the same line, but most
in flowers and fruit. There arose a dispute between him and Giordano,
Andrea asserting that the historical painters cannot venture with
success on these smaller subjects; Giordano, on the contrary,
maintaining that the greater included the less; which words he verified
by painting a picture of birds, flowers, and fruit, so beautifully
grouped that it robbed Andrea of his fame, and obliged him to take
refuge among men of letters; and indeed in the literary circle he held a
respectable station.
Nevertheless his pictures did not fall in esteem or value, and his
posterity after him still continue to embellish the cabinets of the
great. His most celebrated scholar was Tommaso Realfonso, who to the
talents of his master, added that of the natural representation of every
description of utensils, and all kinds of confectionery and eatables. He
had also excellent imitators in Giacomo Nani, and Baldassar Caro,
employed to ornament the royal court of King Charles of Bourbon; and
Gaspar Lopez, the scholar first of Dubbisson, afterwards of Belvidere.
Lopez became a good landscape painter, was employed by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, and resided a considerable time in Venice. According to
Dominici he died in Florence, and the author of the Algarotti Catalogue
in Venice, informs us, that that event took place about the year 1732.
We may here close the series of minor painters of the school of
Aniello,[120] and may now proceed to the succeeding epoch, commencing
with the historical painters.
[Footnote 111: In tom. iii. of the _Lett. Pittoriche_, is a letter of P.
Sebastiano Resta dell'Oratorio, wherein he says, it is probable that the
Cav. d'Arpino imitated him in his youth: which cannot be admitted, as it
is known that Cesari formed himself in Rome, and resided only in Naples
when an adult. As to the resemblance between them, that applies as well
to other artists. In the same letter Corenzio is called the Cav.
Bellisario, and some anecdotes are related of him, and among others,
that he lived to the age of a hundred and twenty. This is one of those
tales to which this writer so easily gives credit. In proof of this we
may refer to Tiraboschi, in the life of Antonio Allegri, where similar
instances of his credulity are noticed.]
[Footnote 112: Caravaggio had another scholar of eminence in Mario
Minniti of Syracuse, who however passed a considerable part of his life
in Messina. Having painted for some time in Rome with Caravaggio, he
imbibed his taste; and though he did not equal him in the vigour of
style, he displayed more grace and amenity. There are works remaining of
him in all parts of Sicily, as he painted much, and retained in his
service twelve scholars, whose works he retouched, and sold as his own.
Hence his pictures do not altogether correspond with his reputation.
Messina possesses several, as the Dead of Nain at the Church of the
Capucins, and the Virgin, the tutelar saint, at the Virginelle.]
[Footnote 113: Among the scholars of Annibale, I find Carlo Sellitto
mentioned, to whom Guarienti assigns a place in the Abbeccadario, and I
further find him commended in some MS. notices of eminent artists of the
school.]
[Footnote 114: There is a different account of him in the Memorie de'
Pittori Messinesi, where it is said that his true family name was
Rodriguez. It is there said that he studied in Rome, and went from
thence to work in Naples, in the Guida of which city he is frequently
mentioned. It is added that, from his Roman style, he was called by his
brother Alonso, the _slave of the antique_; and that he returned the
compliment by calling his brother, who was instructed in Venice, _the
slave of nature_. But Alonso, who spent his life in Sicily, surpassed
his brother in reputation; and it is a rare commendation that he painted
much and well. He particularly shone in the Probatica in S. Cosmo de'
Medici, and the picture of two Founders of Messina in the senatorial
palace, a work rewarded with a thousand scudi. His fame declined, and he
began to fail in commissions on the arrival of Barbalunga. But he did
not, on that account, refuse him his esteem, as he was accustomed to
call him the Caracci of Sicily.]
[Footnote 115: I find in Messina, Gio. Fulco, who imbibed the principles
of the art under the Cav. Massimo; a correct designer, a lively and
graceful painter, particularly of children, excepting a somewhat too
great fleshiness, and a trace of mannerism. Many of his works in his
native country were destroyed by an earthquake. Some remain at the
Nunziata de' Teatini, where in the chapel of the Crucifix are his
frescos, and a picture by him in oil of the Nativity of the Virgin.]
[Footnote 116: Gio. Batista Durand, of Burgundy, was established in
Messina. He was the scholar of Domenichino, and was always attached to
his manner. Of his larger works we find only a S. Cecilia in the convent
of that saint, as he was generally occupied in painting portraits. He
had a daughter called Flavia, the wife of Filippo Giannetti, skilled in
portraits, and an excellent copyist.]
[Footnote 117: Domenico Maroli, Onofrio Gabriello, and Agostino Scilla,
were the three painters of Messina who did him the most honour, although
from being engaged in the revolutions of 1674 and 1676, the first lost
his life, and the other two were long exiles from their country. Maroli
did not adopt the style of Barbalunga exclusively, but having made a
voyage to Venice, and there studied the works of the best Venetian
artists, and particularly of Paolo, he returned with many of the
excellences of that great master, brilliant flesh tints, a beautiful air
in his heads, and a fine style in his drawings of women, a talent which
he abused as much or more than Liberi. To this moral vice he added a
professional one, which was painting sometimes on the _imprimiture_, and
generally with little colour; whence his works, which were extolled and
sought after when new, became, when old, neglected, like those dark
paintings of the Venetian School, which we have mentioned. Messina has
many of them: the Martyrdom of S. Placido at the Suore di S. Paolo, the
Nativity of the Virgin in the church della Grotta, and some others. In
Venice there must also be remaining in private collections, some of his
paintings of animals in the style of Bassano, as we have before
mentioned. Onofrio Gabriello was for six years with Barbalunga, and for
some further time with Poussin, and then with Cortona in Rome, until
passing another nine years in Venice with Maroli, he brought back with
him to Messina that master's vicious method of colour, but not his
style. In the latter he aimed at originality, exhibiting much lightness,
grace, and fancy, in the accessory parts, and in ribbons, jewels, and
lace, in which he particularly excelled. He left many pictures in
Messina, in the church of S. Francesco di Paola: many also in Padua, in
the _Guida_ of which city various pictures by him are enumerated,
without mentioning his cabinet pictures and portraits in private
collections. I have seen several in possession of the noble and learned
Sig. Co. Antonio Maria Borromeo; amongst which is a family piece with a
portrait of the painter.
Agostino Scilla, or Silla, as Orlandi calls him, opened a school in
Messina, which was much frequented while it lasted, but the scholars
were dispersed by the storm of revolutions, in which they took a part,
not without great injury both to the art and themselves. He possessed an
elegant genius for painting, which he cultivated, and added to it a
taste for poetry, natural history, and antiquities. His genius raised
such high expectations in Barbalunga, that he procured a pension for him
from the senate, in order to enable him to reside in Rome under Andrea
Sacchi. After four years he returned to Messina, highly accomplished,
from his study of the antique and of Raffaello, and if his colouring was
at first somewhat dry, he soon rendered it rich and agreeable. He
excelled in figures and in heads, particularly of old men, and had a
peculiar talent in landscapes, animals, and fruit. For this I may refer
to the Roman School, where he is mentioned with his brother and son.
There are few of his works in Rome, but many in Messina. His frescos are
in S. Domenico, and in the Nunziata de' Teatini, and many paintings in
other places, among which is S. Ilarione dying, in the church of S.
Ursula, than which work there is no greater favourite with the public.
Of the scholars of Scilla, who remained in Messina after the departure
of their master, there is not much to be said. F. Emanuel da Como we
have mentioned elsewhere. Giuseppe Balestriero, an excellent copyist of
the works of Agostino, and a good designer, after painting some
pictures, became a priest, and took leave of the art. Antonio la Falce
was a good painter in distemper and in oil. He afterwards attempted
frescos, and painted tavern scenes. Placido Celi, a man of singular
talents, but bad habits, followed his master to Rome. He there changed
his style for that of Maratta and Morandi; after whose works he painted
in Rome, in the churches dell'Anima and Traspontina, and in several
churches of his own country, but he never passed the bounds of
mediocrity. A higher reputation belongs to Antonio Madiona, of Syracuse,
who although he separated himself from Scilla in Rome, to follow il
Preti to Malta, was nevertheless an industrious artist, and painted both
there and in Sicily, in a strong and vigorous style, which partakes of
both his masters. And this may suffice for the members of this
unfortunate school.
To complete the list of the chief scholars of Barbalunga, I may mention
here Bartolommeo Tricomi, who confined himself to portrait painting, and
in this hereditary gift of the school of Domenichino, he greatly
excelled. He had notwithstanding in Andrea Suppa a scholar who surpassed
him. The latter learned also of Casembrot, as far as regards landscape
and architecture; but he formed himself principally on the antique; and
by constantly studying Raffaello and the Caracci, and other select
masters, or their drawings, he acquired a most enchanting style of
countenance, and indeed of every part of his composition. His works are
as fine as miniature, and are perhaps too highly finished. His subjects,
in unison with his genius, are of a pensive and melancholy cast, and are
always treated in a pathetic manner. He excelled in frescos, and painted
the vaults in the Suore in S. Paolo; he excelled equally in oils, as may
be seen from the picture of S. Scolastica, there also. Some of his works
were lost by earthquakes. His style was happily imitated by Antonio
Bova, his scholar, and we may compare their works together at the
Nunziata de' Teatini. He painted much in oil, as well as fresco, and
from his placid and tranquil disposition, took no part in the
revolutions of Messina, but remained at home, where he closed his days
in peace, and with him expired the school of Barbalunga.]
[Footnote 118: Pascoli, Vite, tom. i. p. 129.]
[Footnote 119: I may insert at the close of this epoch the names of some
Sicilian painters, who flourished in it, or at the beginning of the
following, instructed by various masters. They were furnished to me by
the Sig. Ansaldo, whose attentions I have before acknowledged, and were
transmitted to him by a painter of that island. Filippo Tancredi was of
Messina, but is not assigned to any of the before mentioned masters, as
he studied in Naples and in Rome under Maratta. He was a skilful artist,
composed and coloured well; was celebrated in Messina, and also in
Palermo, where he lived many years, and where the vault of the church
de' Teatini, and that also of the Gesu Nuovo were painted by him. The
Cav. Pietro Novelli (or Morelli, which latter however I regard as an
error) called Monrealese from his native place, also enjoyed the
reputation of a good painter, and an able architect. He there left many
works in oil and fresco, and the great picture of the Marriage at Cana,
in the refectory of the P. P. Benedettini, is particularly commended. He
resided for a long time in Palermo, and the greatest work he there
executed, was in the church of the Conventuals, the vault of which was
divided into compartments, and wholly painted by himself. Guarienti
eulogises him for his style, as diligent in copying nature, correct in
design, and graceful in his colouring, with some imitation of
Spagnoletto; and the people of Palermo confer daily honour on him,
since, whenever they meet with a foreigner of taste, they point out to
him little else in the city, than the works of this great man. Pietro
Aquila, of Marzalla, a distinguished artist, who engraved the Farnese
gallery, left no works to my knowledge in Rome; in Palermo there remain
of him two pictures in the church della Pieta, representing the parable
of the Prodigal Son. Lo Zoppo di Gangi is known at Castro Giovanni,
where in the Duomo he left several works. Of the Cav. Giuseppe Paladini,
a Sicilian, I find commended at S. Joseph di Castel Termini, the picture
of the Madonna and the tutelar saint. I also find honourable mention
among the chief painters of this island, of a Carrega, who I believe
painted for private individuals. Others, though I know not of what
merit, are found inscribed in the academy of S. Luke, from the registers
of which I have derived some information for my third and fourth
volumes, communicated to me by the Sig. Maron, the worthy secretary of
the academy.]
[Footnote 120: In this epoch flourished in Messina one Abraham
Casembrot, a Dutchman, who was considered one of the first painters of
his time, of landscape, seapieces, harbours, and tempests. He professed
architecture also, and was celebrated for his small figures. He was
accustomed to give the highest finish to every thing he painted. The
church of S. Giovacchino has three pictures of the Passion by him. Some
individuals of Messina possess delightful specimens of him, though not
many, as he sold them at high prices, and generally to Holland. Hence
most of the collectors of Messina turned to Jocino, the contemporary of
Casembrot; a painter of a vigorous imagination, and rapid execution. His
landscapes and views are still prized, and maintain their value. I do
not find that Casembrot wholly formed any scholar at Messina. He
communicated, however, the elements of architecture and perspective to
several, as well as the principles of painting. For this reason we find
enumerated among his scholars the Cappucin P. Feliciano da Messina
(Domenico Guargena) who afterwards studied Guido in the convent of
Bologna, and imbued himself with his style. Hackert makes honourable
mention of a Madonna and Child and S. Francesco by him at the church of
that order in Messina, and he assigns the palm to him among the painters
of his order, which boasted not a few.]
NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.
FOURTH EPOCH.
_Luca Giordano, Solimene, and their scholars._
A little beyond the middle of the 17th century, Luca Giordano began to
flourish in Naples. This master, though he did not excel his
contemporaries in his style, surpassed them all in good fortune, for
which he was indebted to his vast talents, confidence, and unbounded
powers of invention, which Maratta considered unrivalled and
unprecedented. In this he was eminently gifted by nature from his
earliest youth. Antonio, his father, placed him first under the
instructions of Ribera, and afterwards under Cortona in Rome,[121] and
having conducted him through all the best schools of Italy, he brought
him home rich in designs and in ideas. His father was an indifferent
painter, and being obliged in Rome to subsist by his son's labours,
whose drawings were at that time in the greatest request,[122] the only
principle that he instilled into him was one dictated by necessity,
despatch. A humorous anecdote is related, that Luca, when he was obliged
to take refreshments, did not retire from his work, but, gaping like a
young bird, gave notice to his father of the calls of hunger, who,
always on the watch, instantly supplied him with food, at the same time
reiterating with affectionate solicitude, _Luca fa presto_. Upon this
incident he was always afterwards known by the name of _Luca fa presto_,
among the students in Rome, and which is also his most frequent
appellation in the history of the art. By means like these, Antonio
acquired for his son a portentous celerity of hand, from which quality
he has been called _il Fulmine della pittura_. The truth however is,
that this despatch was not derived wholly from rapidity of pencil, but
was aided by the quickness of his imagination, as Solimene often
observed, by which he was enabled to ascertain, from the first
commencement of his work, the result he proposed to himself, without
hesitating to consider the component parts, or doubting, proving, and
selecting like other painters. He also obtained the name of the Proteus
of painting, from his extraordinary talent in imitating every known
manner, the consequence of his strong memory, which retained every thing
he had once seen. There are numerous instances of pictures painted by
him in the style of Albert Durer, Bassano, Titian, and Rubens, with
which he imposed on connoisseurs and on his rivals, who had more cause
than any other persons to be on their guard against him. These pictures
are valued by dealers at more than double or triple the price of
pictures of his own composition. There are examples of them even in the
churches at Naples; as the two pictures in the style of Guido at S.
Teresa, and particularly that of the Nativity. There is also at the
court of Spain a Holy Family, so much resembling Raffaello, that, as
Mengs says in a letter, (tom. ii. p. 67,) whoever is not conversant with
the quality of beauty essential to the works of that great master, would
be deceived by the imitation of Giordano.
He did not however permanently adopt any of these styles as his own. At
first he evidently formed himself on Spagnoletto; afterwards, as in a
picture of the Passion at S. Teresa a little before mentioned, he
adhered to Paul Veronese; and he ever retained the maxim of that master,
by a studied decoration to excite astonishment, and to fascinate the
eye. From Cortona he seems to have taken his contrast of composition,
the great masses of light, and the frequent repetition of the same
features, which, in his female figures, he always copied from his wife.
In other respects he aimed at distinguishing himself from every other
master by a novel mode of colouring. He was not solicitous to conform to
the true principles of art; his style is not natural either in tone or
colour, and still less so in its chiaroscuro, in which Giordano formed
for himself a manner ideal and wholly arbitrary. He pleased,
notwithstanding, by a certain deceptive grace and attraction, which few
attempt, and which none have found it easy to imitate. Nor did he
recommend this style to his scholars, but on the contrary reproved them
when he saw them disposed to imitate him, telling them that it was not
the province of young students to penetrate so far. He was well
acquainted with the principles of design, but would not be at the
trouble of observing them; and in the opinion of Dominici, if he had
adhered to them too rigidly he would have enfeebled that spirit which is
his greatest merit; an excuse which perhaps will not appear satisfactory
to every amateur. Another reason may with more probability of truth be
assigned, which was his unbounded cupidity, and his habit of not
refusing commissions from the meanest quarter, which led him to abuse
his facility to the prejudice of his reputation. Hence, among other
things, he has been accused of having often painted superficially,
without impasto, and with a superabundance of oil, so that some of his
pictures have almost disappeared from the canvass.