SIENESE SCHOOL.
EPOCH I.
_The old Masters._
The Sienese is the lively school of a lively people; and is so agreeable
in the selection of the colours and the air of the heads, that
foreigners are captivated, and sometimes even prefer it to the
Florentine. But this gaiety of style forms not the only reason of this
preference; there is another, which few have attended to, and none have
ever brought forward. The choicest productions of the painters of Siena
are all in the churches of that place; and he who wishes to become
acquainted with the school, after having seen these, need not be very
solicitous to visit the private collections, which are numerous and well
filled. In Florence it is otherwise: no picture of Vinci, of Bonarruoti,
of Rosso, is to be seen in public; none of the finest productions of
Andrea, or of Frate, and few of any other master who has best supported
the credit of the school: many of the churches abound in pictures of the
third and fifth epochs; which are certainly respectable, but do not
excite astonishment like the works of the Razzi, the Vanni, and other
first rate artists, every where to be met with in Siena. They are,
moreover, two different schools, and ought not to be confounded together
in any work of art; possessing, for a long period of time, different
governments, other heads of schools, other styles; and not affected by
the same changes. A comparison between the two schools is drawn by P.
della Valle,[247] whom we have mentioned, and shall afterwards mention
with respect; and his opinion appears to be, that the Florentine is most
philosophical, the Sienese the most poetical. He remarks on this head,
that the school of Siena, from its very beginning, displays a peculiar
talent for invention; animating with lively and novel images the stories
it represents; filling them with allegory, and forming them into
spirited and well constructed poetic compositions. This originates in
the elevated and fervid genius of the people, that no less aids the
painter, whose poetry is addressed to the eye, than the bard who yields
it to the ear. In the latter, and also in extemporary poets, the city
abounds, and still maintains in public estimation, those laurels, which,
after Petrarca and Tasso, her Perfetti won in the capital. He likewise
observes that those artists particularly attended to expression. Nor was
this difficult, in a city so adverse to dissimulation as Siena, whose
natural disposition and education have adapted the tongue and
countenance to express the emotions of the heart. This vivacity of
genius has perhaps prevented their attaining perfection in design, which
is not the great attribute of those masters, as it is reckoned of the
Florentines. To sum up all, the character of the school of Siena is not
so original as that of some others; and we shall find, during its best
period, that some of its artists distinctly imitated the style of other
painters. With regard to the number of its artists, Siena has been
prolific in the proportion of its population; its artists were numerous
while it had many citizens; but on the decrease of the latter, its
professors of the fine arts also diminished, until every trace of a
school was lost.
The accounts of the early painters of Siena are rather confused during
the three first centuries by the plurality of the Guidi, the Mini, the
Lippi, the Vanni (abbreviations of Giacomo, Filippo, Giovanni), and such
sort of proper names as are used without a surname: hence it is not
sufficient to peruse only such accounts; we must reflect on them and
compare them. They are scattered in many histories of the city,
especially in Ugurgieri, who was pleased to entitle his work _Le Pompe
Sanesi_; in the Diary of Girolamo Gigli; and in several works of the
indefatigable Cav. Gio. Pecci, whom we have before noticed. Many
manuscripts, rich in anecdotes of painting, still remain in the
libraries: of this number are the histories of Sigismondo Tizio, of
Castiglione, who lived at Siena from 1482 to 1528; _the Cathedral of
Siena_, minutely described by Alfonzo Landi; the _Treatise on old_
_Paintings_ of Giulio Mancini; and some _Memoirs_ of Uberto
Benvoglienti, whom Muratori denominates _diligentissimus rerum suae
patriae investigator_. From these, and other sources,[248] P. della Valle
has drawn what is contained in the Lettere Sanesi, and repeated in the
notes on Vasari concerning the school of Siena. By the work of Della
Valle it has acquired a celebrity to which it has long been entitled. I
take him for my guide in the documents and anecdotes which he has given
to the public;[249] in the older authorities I follow Vasari and
Baldinucci in many circumstances, but dissent from them in others: and
hostile to error, and anxious for the truth, I shall pursue the same
plan with regard to the historians of the school of Siena. I shall omit
many names of old masters, of whom no works now remain, and here and
there shall add a few modern artists who have come to my knowledge, by
the examination of pictures, or by the perusal of books.
The origin of the Sienese school is deduced either from the crusades in
the east, whence some Grecian painter has been brought to Siena; or from
Pisa, which, as we have seen, had its first artists from Greece. On such
a question every one may judge for himself: to me the data necessary for
resolving it appear to be wanting. I know that Italy was never destitute
of painters, and artists who wrought in miniature; that from such,
without any Grecian aid, or example, some Italian schools took their
origin. Siena must have had them in the twelfth century. The _Ordo
officiorum Senensis Ecclesiae_ which is preserved in the library of the
academy at Florence, was written in the beginning of the thirteenth
century, and exhibits initial letters, surrounded with illuminations of
little stories and ornaments of animals. They are painted in vermilion,
in a very hard and meagre style; but they are valuable on account of
their era, 1213, in which they were executed by Oderico Canonico of
Siena.[250] Similar books were ornamented by the same painter in the
parchment of the leaves, and painted on the covers without;[251] and
afford a proof that thus the art of ornamenting with miniatures might
lead to large compositions. All, however, more or less, savour of the
Greek design; either because the Italians were originally disciples of
the Greeks, dispersed over Italy, or because they regarded the Grecian
masters as models, and ventured not to attempt much beyond them.
The most ancient pictures in the city, the Madonna _of the Graces_, the
Madonna of Tressa, the Madonna of Bethlehem, a S. Peter in the church
dedicated to that saint, and a S. John the Baptist, surrounded by many
small historical representations at S. Petronilla, are believed to be
older than 1200; but it is by no means clear that they are the works of
Italians, though often believed such from their initial characters,
plaister, and design. On the two last the names of the saints near the
figures are in Latin characters; a circumstance, however, which does not
prove an Italian painter. On the mosaic works at Venice, on the Madonna
of Camerino, brought from Smyrna,[252] and on other pictures executed by
the Greeks for Italian cities, ignorant of their language, they wrote,
or got others to write, inscriptions in Latin; and they did the same on
statues.[253] The method of painting on gilt plaister, which we observe
in some old pictures, decidedly Italian, is no argument; for I have
several times observed a similar practice in what was unquestionably the
work of a Greek artist. The drawing of the features in those pictures,
the grimness of the aspect, and the composition of the stories, all
accord with the productions of the Greeks. They may, therefore, have
been painted by Greek artists, or by a scholar, or, at least, by an
imitator of the Greeks. Who, then, can determine whence the artist came,
whether he was a restorer of painting, and whether he executed those
paintings at Siena, or sent them from some other place? This is certain,
that painting quickly established itself at Siena, sent out roots, and
rapidly multiplied its blossoms.
The series of painters known by name commences with Guido, or Guidone,
already noticed in the beginning of this volume. He flourished before
Cimabue of Florence saw the light; and seems to have been at the same
time an illuminator of manuscripts and a painter. The writers of Siena
have declaimed against Vasari and Baldinucci for omitting this artist;
notices of whom could not have escaped the former, who was many times at
Siena; nor the latter, who was made acquainted with them before the
publication of his _Decennali_. Cav. Marmi, a learned and celebrated
Florentine, thus notices the omission in one of his letters.[254]
"Baldinucci laboured to make us credit the restoration of painting by
Cimabue and Giotto; and to give stability to his hypothesis, it is
probable that he omitted to make any mention of the painters who,
independent of the two just named, departed from the raw and feeble
manner of the Greeks." And Guido certainly left it not a little behind,
in his picture of the Virgin, now hung up in the Malevolti chapel in the
church of S. Domenico. On it he has thus inscribed his name and the
date:
_Me Guido de Senis diebus depinxit amenis
Quem Christus lenis nullis velit agere poenis_.
An. 1221.
And this example was often followed by the masters of this school, to
the great benefit of the history of painting. The countenance of the
Virgin is lovely, and participates not in the stern aspect that is
characteristic of the Greeks; we may discover some trace of a new style
in the drapery. The Madonnas of Cimabue which are at Florence, the one
in the church of the Trinity, the other in S. Maria Novella, are not,
however, inferior. In them we may discern the improvement of the art; a
more vivid colouring, flesh tints more true; a more natural attitude of
the head of the infant, while the accompaniments of the throne, and of
the glory of angels, proclaim a superior style.
On this subject I make two remarks, in which I widely dissent from the
opinion of the author of the Sienese Letters, without committing any
breach of our long established friendship. The one is, that to prove
Guido superior to Cimabue, he frequently compares the Madonna of S.
Domenico, which is the only one of his pictures which he mentions,[255]
with the paintings of Cimabue, which are numerous, and full of subject;
and without setting any value on the colouring, the fertility of
invention, and the various other qualities in which the Florentine
surpassed the artist of Siena, he dwells on certain little particulars,
in which it appears that Guido was superior. An artist of whom it is not
known that he ever attempted any picture but Madonnas, might become more
or less perfect in this subject; but painting is not so much indebted to
him, as to one who has carried it to the higher walks of the art; a
merit which Marco of Siena, a writer not inclined to favour the
Florentines, denies not to Cimabue, as we shall find in the fourth book.
The other circumstance alluded to is, that when he mentions a picture
which does honour to the fame of Cimabue, he attempts to discredit its
history, and the tradition; as I have already observed with regard to
the two large pictures in the church of Assisi, and am now under the
necessity of remarking with regard to the two Madonnas at Florence
above mentioned. He "strongly suspects"[256] them to be the work of Mino
da Turrita, since mosaic, in which Mino was expert, is there represented
by a skilful hand; and Cimabue was not dexterous in that art; as if a
painter could not represent buildings without being an architect, or
garments without knowing how to cut them out, or drapery without being
versed in the art of weaving. He even doubts whether Giotto visited
France, for, had this been the case, he, and not Simone da Siena, would
have painted the portrait of Laura, as if history did not inform us that
Giotto visited that country about 1316, long before the period when
Petrarca first became enamoured of that beauty. He has introduced some
other speculations, which he would not have admitted, had he not been
betrayed into it, almost involuntarily, by a system which has some
probable foundation, but is carried to an extravagant length. I should
have been silent on this subject; but when writing of these artists it
became me to recollect that the _unicuique suum_ was no less the duty of
the historian than the judge.
The authors of chronicles require correction on the era of this painter.
The most undoubted picture of Guido is that bearing the date 1221, for
the other in the church of S. Bernardino, dated 1262, is ascribed to him
without sufficient evidence. It is hardly probable that he who was so
eminent in a new art in 1221, was still alive in 1295, as is affirmed by
some,[257] on the faith of a sum of money paid to one Guido, a painter.
The celebrated Guido must then have been at least 105 years of age: it
is more probable that he was dead, and the name applied to another
Guido, without any danger of a mistake.
It is generally believed that the elder Guido instructed F. Mino, or
Giacomino da Turrita, the celebrated artist in mosaic, of whom we have
spoken in the first book. On the era of Mino also much has been written
without sufficient authority. Baldinucci says he died about 1300; and
omits to mention in his life that he was employed in 1225; although this
date is legible on the mosaic of Mino in the church of S. Giovanni at
Florence, in letters a cubit in length.[258] This circumstance has
likewise escaped the historians of Siena, some of whom have prolonged
his life to the year 1298, on the authority of payment made to Minuccio,
a painter; and others have extended it to about 1200, on account of the
tomb of Boniface VIII. which is said to be the work of Turrita. The
utmost period that can be granted them is about 1290: for Titi observes,
in his _Description of the Paintings in Rome_, that Mino finished the
mosaic of S. Maria Maggiore in 1289, and died, after beginning another
in S. Giovanni Laterano, which was completed by Gaddo Gaddi in 1292.
This renders it extremely doubtful that F. Mino was taught painting by
Guido, that he imparted it not only to Giotto, whom, for other reasons,
we have excluded from his school (p. 20) but to the Sienese artists,
Memmi and Lorenzetti,[259] and even that he was a painter; all which is
founded on the following memorandum, under the year 1289, in a
manuscript in the library of Siena: "Paid on the twelfth day of August,
nineteen lire to Master Mino, the painter, who painted the Virgin Mary,
and other SS. in the council room of the public palace, the balance,
&c."
He who is here denominated _Maestro_ Mino, not Fra Mino; who is
sometimes called Minuccio, a diminutive not fitted for an old monk; and
appears to have been employed in Siena when Fra Mino was at Rome, is
another artist. Thus we discover another eminent painter of the name of
Mino, or Minuccio, who seems to be in reality the author of the picture
of 1289, above alluded to, which remained in the council hall even
within my memory, and of others, down to 1298. He there represented the
Virgin and Child, surrounded by angels, and under a canopy, supported by
Apostles and the patron saints of the city. The size of the figures, the
invention and the distribution of the work, are surprising for that age;
of the other qualities one cannot speak with certainty; for it was
repaired in 1321 by Simone da Siena, and there are beauties in the
features and the drapery that can be ascribed only to the restorer. The
mistake thus occasioned by the same name being cleared up, the system of
the learned author of the Lettere Sanesi, is in part confirmed, and in
part falls to the ground. He is right in refusing to Giotto certain
Sienese pupils, referred to him only from traces of a more modern style;
for we here discover an artist who made some advances towards the new
manner even previous to Giotto, who, in 1289, was only thirteen years of
age. Now this Mino, and Duccio, of whom we shall soon treat, might
certainly have formed pupils able to compete with the school of Giotto,
and even in length of years to surpass Giotto himself. There is no
reason, however, to prefer the Sienese painters to Cimabue, on the
strength of this painting, as the author in question has so often done.
Comparison ought to be employed between painter and painter, between
contemporary and contemporary. F. Mino, to whom this single picture was
attributed, is now shewn to have been merely a mosaic worker: Mino or
Minuccio began to be known when Cimabue was fifty years of age; and is
the author of a single work, not so free from retouches, nor so large as
that of Assisi, already described. The comparison then is not just.
Every school thinks itself sufficiently honoured when it can produce two
or three painters of the thirteenth century: the school of Siena is
peculiarly rich in them, and these are recorded in the twenty-fifth
letter _On the disciples of Guido_. As usual I shall omit the names of
those least entitled to recollection. I will not affirm that all of them
proceeded from the school of Guido; for in a city where the fine arts
flourished so rapidly, masters unknown to us may have been produced.
Much less will I ascribe artists of other cities to this school. In the
manuscripts of Mancini, one Bonaventura da Lucca is mentioned, who is
the Berlingieri already mentioned.[260] I neither assign him to Guido
nor to Giunta. Who can tell whether Lucca had not also in those early
times an original school, now unknown to us? Setting aside uncertain
points therefore, we can only assert, that after the middle of the
century, Siena abounded in painters, more, perhaps, than any other city
of Italy; and the causes of this are as follows.
The cathedral was begun several years before, in a style of magnificence
suited to the lordly views of the citizens. It was not a work to be
completed in a short time: hence it was frequently interrupted, and a
long period had elapsed before it was finished. During this time many
architects (_magistri lapidum_) and sculptors either were invited from
other places, or were reared up in the city; and in 1250 they formed a
corporate body, and required particular laws.[261] Although nothing is
ascertained with regard to their mode of study, it is natural to suppose
that the study of sculpture contributed to the advancement of painting,
a sister art. The celebrated battle of Monte Aperto, in which the people
of Siena defeated the Florentines, happened in 1260. This victory
produced an era of peace and opulence to the city, and encouraged both
in public and in private the arts depending on luxury. The victory was
ascribed to the interference of the blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the
city was consecrated; the adoration of her votaries increased, and her
images were multiplied in the streets, and in all other places; and
thence painting obtained fresh encouragement, and new followers.
Ugolino da Siena should be referred to this era; he died decrepid in
1339, and consequently might have been born before 1260. We cannot agree
with Vasari, who insinuates that he was the scholar of Cimabue; nor with
Baldinucci, who ingrafts him on his _Tree_; nor yet with others who
assert that he was the pupil of Guido; for the latter must have been
dead when Ugolino was very young. That he was educated in Siena, seems
to me highly probable, from the number of masters then in that city, and
because the colouring of his Madonna of Orsanmichele at Florence is in
the style of the old school of Siena; less strong and less true than
that of Cimabue and the Florentines. This fact appears to me of
importance, for it depends on the mechanism of the art, which was
different in different schools. Design at that early period savoured
more or less of the Greeks; and in this respect Ugolino adhered to them
too closely. "He painted pictures and chapels over all Italy," says
Vasari; and if I am not mistaken he came to Florence after his travels,
and at length died at Siena.
Duccio di Boninsegna is another master of this age, of whom I shall
speak in another place, as the inventor of a new species of painting.
Tizio says he was the pupil of Segna, an artist now almost unknown in
Siena. He must, however, have enjoyed great celebrity in his day among
his countrymen; for Tizio informs us that he painted a picture at
Arezzo, containing a figure which he pronounces excellent and highly
esteemed. He has transmitted to us the following remarkable testimony
concerning Duccio: "_Ducius_ Senensis inter ejusdem opificii artifices
ea tempestate primarius; ex cujus officina veluti ex equo Trojano
pictores egregii prodierunt."
The _ea tempestate_ refers to 1311, when Giotto was at Avignon; and when
Duccio was employed on the picture that still exists in the opera-house,
which was completed in three years, and almost forms an era in the art.
It was large enough to have formed a picture for the great altar of the
metropolitan church for which it was intended. On the side facing the
people he painted large figures of the Virgin, and of various saints; on
that fronting the choir he represented scriptural subjects, in many
compartments, in which he introduced a vast number of figures a palm in
length. Pius II. relates in his Annals of Siena, which were never
published, that it cost 2,000 florins; others raise it to 3,000; but not
so much on account of the workmanship as the profusion of gold and
ultramarine. The style is generally thought to approach the Greek
manner; the work, however, is the most copious in figures, and among the
best executed productions of that age. Duccio was employed in many parts
of Tuscany, and in the church of the Trinity at Florence he painted an
Annunciation which, in the opinion of Baldinucci, "leaves no doubt that
he was a scholar of Giotto, or of his disciples." But this will not be
granted or believed by those who have seen it; for both the colouring
and the style are totally dissimilar. Chronology, too, opposes the
conclusion; unless we introduce here also a confusion, arising from
artists with similar names: Duccio painted from 1282,[262] and died
about 1340.[263]
The history becomes more complete, when we arrive at the celebrated
Simone Memmi, or Simone di Martino,[264] the painter of Laura, and the
friend of Petrarca, who has celebrated him in two sonnets that will hand
him down to the latest posterity. The poet has also eulogized him in his
letters, where he thus speaks: "duos ego novi pictores egregios ...
Joctum Florentinum civem, cujus inter modernos fama ingens est, et
Simonem Senensem;" which is not, however, comparing him to Giotto, to
whom he pays a double compliment, but it is giving Memmi the next rank.
In such a convenient place the poet would not, in my opinion, have
omitted _Jocti discipulum_, had he been acquainted with such a
circumstance: but he appears to have no knowledge of it; and this
renders it doubtful whether Simone was the pupil of Giotto at Rome,
notwithstanding the assertion of Vasari, who adds that the latter was
then engaged in the mosaic of the _Navicella_. The writers of Siena
contradict him with good reason; for in 1298 Simone was only fourteen
years of age.[265] They reckon him the scholar of their Mino, and
certainly he derived much from the large fresco before noticed: but as
he retouched it himself we cannot put much faith on the resemblance. His
colouring is more vivid than that of the followers of Giotto, and in
floridness it seems a prelude to Baroccio. But if he was not the scholar
of Giotto, he may have assisted him in some of his works, or, perhaps,
studied him closely, as many eminent painters have often done with the
best masters. This may account for his imitating Giotto so admirably in
S. Peter's at Rome; a merit which procured him an invitation to the
papal court at Avignon, where he died. The picture of the Vatican has
perished; but some of his other works still exist in Italy; and they are
not so numerous at Siena as in Pisa and Florence. In the Campo Santo of
Pisa we find various actions of S. Ranieri, and the celebrated
Assumption of the Virgin, amid a choir of angels, who seem actually
floating in the air, and celebrating the triumph. Memmi was excellent in
this species of composition, as I believe, from the numerous pictures of
this subject which he painted at Siena, where there is one at the church
of S. John, which is more copious but not more beautiful than that at
Pisa. Some of his larger works may be seen in the chapter house of the
Spanish Friars at Florence; several histories of Christ, of S. Domenico,
and of S. Peter Martyr; and there the Order of the Preaching Friars are
poetically represented as engaged in the service of the church, in
rejecting innovators, and in luring souls to paradise. Vasari, to whom
the inventions of Memmi appear "not those of a master of that age, but
of a most excellent modern artist," especially praises the last: and,
indeed, it might be supposed that it was suggested by Petrarch, did not
a comparison of dates refute such an idea. The picture was painted in
1332, and Simone went not to France till 1336; what is said about the
portrait of Laura in the chapterhouse is a mere fable. Taddeo Gaddi, an
undoubted pupil of the improved and dignified school of Giotto, was
there his competitor; and as far surpassed Memmi in the qualities of
that school, as he was excelled by the latter in spirit, in variety of
the heads and attitudes, in fancy of the draperies, and in originality
of composition. Simone paved the way to more complex pictures, and
extended them over a whole facade, so as to be taken in at one glance of
the eye; whereas Giotto used to divide a large surface into many
compartments, in each of which he painted an historical picture.
Although I do not usually dwell on miniature painting, I cannot resist
mentioning one which is to be seen in the Ambrosian library at Milan,
which appears to me a singular production. In that place, there is a
manuscript of Virgil, with the commentary of Servius, which formerly
belonged to Petrarca. In the frontispiece is a miniature that is
reasonably conjectured to have been suggested to Simone by the poet, who
has subjoined the following verses:
_Mantua Virgilium qui talia carmina finxit,_
_Sena tulit Simonem digito qui talia pinxit._
The artist has represented Virgil sitting in the attitude of writing,
and with his eyes raised to heaven, invoking the favour of the Muses.
AEneas is before him in the garb and with the demeanour of a warrior,
and, pointing with his sword, intimates the subject of the AEneid. The
Bucolics are represented by a shepherd, and the Georgics by a
husbandman; both of whom are on a lower foreground of the piece, and
appear listening to the strain. Servius, in the mean time, appears
drawing aside a veil of great delicacy and transparency, to intimate
that his readings unveil what would otherwise have remained obscure and
doubtful to the reader of that divine poet. An account of this picture
is contained in a letter of the secretary Ab. Carlo Bianconi,[266] where
the author praises the originality of the idea, the colouring and
harmony of the picture, the propriety and variety in the costume
according with the subject. He also remarks a little rudeness in the
design, more of truth than of beauty in the heads, and the largeness of
the hands; that usually, indeed, were the characteristics of every
school at this period.
Simone had a relation named Lippo Memmi, whom he himself instructed in
the art. Although he was not equal in genius to Simone, he succeeded
admirably in imitating his manner, and, aided by his designs, produced
pictures that might have passed for the work of the former, had he not
inscribed them with his name. When he wrought without such assistance
there is a manifest mediocrity in his invention and design; but he is
still a good colourist. A picture executed by them both is preserved in
S. Ansano di Castelvecchio of Siena.[267] In Ancona, Assisi, and other
places, pictures existed that were begun by the former, and finished by
the latter. There is a picture wholly the work of Lippo in Siena; and
the author of the Description of Pisa records one at the church of S.
Paul in that place, which is not without merit. In my first edition,
implicitly following the writers of chronicles, I mentioned a Cecco di
Martino as the brother of Simone. But on considering that he flourished
about 1380, and that there was a less celebrated Simon Martino, in
Siena, about 1350, mentioned by Cittadini, I do not judge it right to
follow their authority.
An artist named Lorenzo, and familiarly Lorenzetto, was the father of
another family of painters: he had a son named Ambrogio, who is surnamed
Lorenzetti by historians. A large picture by this artist, on which he
subscribes himself _Ambrosius Laurentii_, is to be seen in the public
palace, and may be designated a poem of moral precepts. The vices of a
bad government are there represented under different aspects, and with
appropriate symbols; accompanied by verses explanatory of their nature
and consequences. The Virtues, too, are there personified with suitable
emblems: and the whole is adapted to form governors and politicians for
the republic, animated by the spirit of genuine patriotism alone. Had
there been a greater variety in the countenances of the figures, and a
superior arrangement in the piece, it would have been little inferior to
the finest pictures in the Campo Santo of Pisa. Siena possesses many of
his frescos and large pictures; but they are not so surprising as his
smaller works, in which he appears as the forerunner of B. Angelico,
whom we have commended in another place. I have observed nothing similar
in his contemporaries; and it possesses a nationality of character that
prevents his being confounded with the followers of Giotto: the ideas,
the colouring, and the draperies, are wholly different. In a similar
taste is a picture in the possession of Sig. Abate Ciaccheri, librarian
to the university of Siena, where Ambrogio painted some very original
works, in which he very far surpassed the Orcagni. His style was admired
in Florence; where, to please his friends, who were desirous of seeing a
specimen of his art, he painted several pieces from the life of S.
Nicholas, in the church of S. Proculus, that were afterwards transferred
to the abbey.
Another son of Lorenzo was called Pietro, and, in conjunction with his
brother, painted the Presentation, and Nuptials of Our Lady, in the
hospital of Siena, on which the following inscription was legible: _Hoc
opus fecit Petrus Laurentii et Ambrosius ejus frater, 1335_. The
inscription is preserved by Cav. Pecci, who in 1720, when the painting
was destroyed, transcribed it most opportunely for correcting Vasari,
who had read _Petrus Laurati_ instead of _Laurentii_ in another
inscription; from which he concluded this artist not to be the brother
of Ambrogio; and from some similarity between his style and that of
Giotto, had concluded that he was the disciple of the latter: but it is
highly improbable that with such a father and such a brother, Pietro
would have gone from home for instruction. Vasari gives, however, a most
favourable opinion of this illustrious Sienese, which may suffice to
vindicate his impartiality. He says of one of his pictures, "that it was
executed with a better design and in a superior manner to any thing that
Tuscany had then seen;" and in another place he asserts, that Pietro
"became a better master than either Cimabue or Giotto." What could he
have said further? might it have been asserted that he was, if not the
disciple of Giotto, at least his fellow student in the school of F.
Mino? (Vasari, tom. ii. p. 78. ed. Sen.) But granting that Giotto was
not his master, how are we to believe him his fellow student? The first
pictures of Giotto are traced to 1295; those of Pietro to 1327. And
where, when, or to whom did F. Mino teach painting? Pietro's historical
picture of the Fathers dell' Eremo remains in the Campo Santo of Pisa,
where, in conformity with ecclesiastical history, he has painted the
various discipline of those recluses. This picture, if I am not
mistaken, is richer in ideas, more original, and better conceived than
any one in that place. In the ducal gallery there is a copy of this
picture, if not a duplicate by the artist himself: the taste of the
colouring certainly belongs not to the Florentine, but to the Sienese
school, of that period.
After painting had attained so high a degree of excellence in Siena, it
was liable to decline, both from the usual lot of the most auspicious
eras, to which an age of servile imitation, and of hurried execution,
generally succeeds, and also from the terrible plague which, in 1348,
desolated Italy and Europe; sweeping off distinguished masters and
pupils in every school. Siena, however, did not lose her Lorenzetti, who
constituted her ornament for several years; but if her population at one
time equalled 75,000, it was afterwards greatly diminished. She could,
however, still vie in the number of her artists with Florence itself.
This clearly appears from _The Statutes of the Painters of Siena_,[268]
published by P. della Valle, in his first volume, letter sixteen. They
are drawn up with the characteristic simplicity, clearness, and
precision of the thirteenth century; and are a very admirable body of
regulations for the due propriety and direction of artists, and for the
honour of the art. We can discern that this society consisted of
cultivated and well educated persons; and it does not excite
astonishment to find that, democratic in government as Siena then was,
the highest magistrates of the republic were sometimes elected from
among the professors of the art. They formed a body-corporate; not
merely a fraternity, nor an academy of design; and received their
charter, not from the bishop but from the city, or the republic in 1355.
Some have conjectured that those statutes are as old as the preceding
century; and that they were translated into Italian from the Latin about
1291: for Tizio informs us that, in this year, "Statuta materna lingua
edita sunt ad ambiguitates tollendas." But Tizio must have meant the
statutes concerning wool, and others then existing; and those of the
artists may have been framed at a subsequent period. Indeed, the manner
in which they are drawn up, without a reference to preceding ordinances,
indicates a first edition. If there were statutes published in the
vulgar tongue in 1291, why was the sanction of the law deferred for 66
years? or why are the new not distinguished from the old, as is usual in
similar codes?
In the code to which I refer, the names of a great number of artists are
inscribed, who lived after 1350 and at the beginning of the next
century. With the exception of a few who merit some consideration I
shall pass them over in silence as I did in the Florentine school. I
find among them Andrea di Guido,[269] Jacomo di Frate Mino, and Galgano
di Maestro Minuccio; and I bring these forward to confirm what I have
before observed, that painters of the same name have introduced
confusion into the history of this school. I also find there N. Tedesco,
Vannino da Perugia, Lazzaro da Orvieto, Niccolo da Norcia, Antonio da
Pistoia, and other foreign artists: thence I infer that Siena, like a
university for painting, had furnished masters to various cities of
Italy, and other countries. We here meet with some painters of whom
there still remains some trace in history, or in the inscriptions on
pictures. Martino di Bartolommeo is the artist who, in 1405, painted the
Translation of the Body of S. Crescentius at the cathedral, and of whom
a still better picture remains at S. Antonio Abate. His family name
brings to mind Bartolommeo Bolonghino, or Bolgarino, mentioned by Vasari
as the best pupil of Pietro Laurati, and the painter of some excellent
pictures in Siena, and other parts of Italy. He was a man of rank, and
obtained the honour of the magistracy. Andrea di Vanni is undoubtedly
the painter of the S. Sebastian in the convent of S. Martin, and of the
Madonna surrounded by saints in that of S. Francis; an artist not
unknown beyond the limits of his native country, especially in Naples,
where he painted before 1373. He was likewise employed in public
embassies, and, like another Rubens, was a magistrate, and ambassador of
the republic to the Pope: and was honored by S. Catherine of Siena, who,
in one of her letters, gives him some excellent advice on the subject of
government.
About the year 1370 flourished Berna, (i. e. Bernardo) da Siena, of whom
Vasari says, that "he was the first who painted animals correctly;" and
at the same time allows him no common merit in the human figure,
especially in what regards expression. One of his frescos remains in the
parish church of Arezzo, more praiseworthy on account of the
extremities, in which he was superior to many of that age, than for the
drapery or the colouring, in which many artists surpassed him. He died
in the prime of life, about the year 1380, at S. Gimignano, after having
made considerable progress in a copious work, consisting of some
subjects from sacred history, that still remains in that parish church.
The work was continued with a superior colouring, but with a less pure
design, by Giovanni d'Asciano, who is his reputed scholar. The whole
still exists, and thirteen of the pictures, or perhaps more, are the
work of the scholar who exercised his art at Florence, under the
protection of the Medicean family, much respected by his fellow artists.
As those two painters lived long abroad, I find no mention of them in
the catalogue just quoted. There is a well executed altar-piece in
Venice, with the name _Bernardinus de Senis_. Some of his pictures have
been discovered in the diocese of Siena, by the Archbishop Zondadari,
who has formed a good collection of ancient pictures of the Sienese
school. In these pictures Berna appears to be a pretty good colourist, a
talent which he does not display in his frescos. Luca di Tome, another
scholar of Berna, noticed by Vasari, is there mentioned. One of his Holy
Families remains at S. Quirico, in the convent of the Capuchins, and
bears the date of 1367. It has not sufficient softness, but in other
respects is very reputable.
In the beginning of the fifteenth century, not only individual painters,
but whole families of artists had multiplied, in which the art for a
long series of years descended from father to son. This circumstance
contributed greatly to the progress of painting: for the master, who is
likewise the father, teaches without any feeling of jealousy, and
generally aims at forming a pupil superior to himself. The family of the
Fredi, or the Bartoli, became celebrated beyond all the rest. The
reputation of Taddeo, who began to be distinguished in the fourteenth
century, rose very high. In the records he is styled _Thaddaeus magistri
Bartholi magistri Fredi_,[270] from his father[271] and grandfather,
artists of some name. By him, "as the best master of the age," says
Vasari, the chapel of the public palace was painted, where some
historical pieces representing our Lady, are yet to be seen; and in 1414
he ornamented the adjoining hall. Besides some pictures from sacred
history, he there formed, as it were, a gallery of illustrious men,
chiefly republicans; and for the edification of the citizens, added some
Latin and Italian verses; a mode of instruction very liberally employed
in this school. The chief merit of the work lies in the dignity and
originality of its invention, which was afterwards imitated in part by
Pietro Perugino, in the hall of the Exchange, at Perugia. The portraits
are ideal; they are dressed in the costume of Siena, even when they
represent Romans and Grecians, and their attitudes are not happy. His
pictures at Pisa and in Volterra, mentioned by Vasari, still exist; and
that of the Arena in Padua, in the tribune of the church, is well
preserved. In it we discover practical skill, little variety, and less
grace in the heads, feeble tints, and imitations of Giotto, that lose
their value on a comparison with the original. Some of his small
pictures do him greater honour; and in them an imitation of Ambrogio,
his great prototype, is conspicuous, and also the subdued but agreeable
colouring of this school; which, like all the others in Italy, excelled
about this period more in small than in large proportions.
The manner of Taddeo was first pursued and afterwards meliorated, and
greatly aggrandized by Domenico Bartoli, his nephew and disciple.
Foreign connoisseurs behold with delight the various fresco pictures
which he painted in the pilgrim's ward of the hospital, representing the
circumstances of its foundation, and the exercises of christian charity
bestowed upon the sick, the dying, and the indigent. On comparing these,
one with another, the artist displays considerable improvement, and a
greater freedom than usual from the old dryness: his design and
perspective are better, his compositions more scientific; without taking
into account the richness and variety of ideas, which he has in common
with the artists of this school. From those pictures Raffaello and
Pinturicchio, while painting at Siena, took many of their notions of
national costume, and, perhaps, of some other particulars: for it is
characteristic of great minds to derive advantage even from examples not
above mediocrity.
Thus the art was gradually advancing in the republic, when new
opportunities were afforded for producing works on a grand scale;
occasions in which genius is developed and invigorated. Siena gave Pius
II. to the chair of S. Peter, who, to the most ardent love of his
country, united a taste for magnificence; and during his residence in
the city, it was embellished with architecture, and every kind of
ornament. He would have been still more profuse, had he not, disgusted
with the ingratitude of the people, turned his attention and beneficence
to Rome. Among other advantages he conferred on the state of Siena, was
that of adding to its territory the city of Corsignano, his native
place; which from him was afterwards called Pienza. The new city
received from him another form, and new edifices, among which was the
cathedral. It was erected in 1462, and for its decoration he invited the
best artists of Siena, Ansano and Lorenzo di Pietro, Giovanni di Paolo,
and Matteo his son. Their style was laborious and minute; the universal
character of that age: for the manner of painting was introduced and
transferred from one country into another, without our being able to
discover where it originated; but in the arts depending on design, as we
have before remarked, when the path is once opened, the natural genius
of each school will regulate its further progress. These four artists
are mentioned in the catalogue of Sienese artists; and Ansano, or Sano,
at one time enjoyed the highest reputation. About 1422 he had painted
the beautiful fresco which still remains over the Roman gate; and which
represents the Coronation of the Virgin: it is much in the style of
Simone, and in some respects it surpasses him. A picture by this artist
of inferior merit remains in the church of Pienza. Lorenzo di Pietro,
surnamed Il Vecchietta, was eminent in sculpture and in casting in
bronze; and he is noticed by Vasari. He was less successful in painting,
and offends by hardness, as far as we can determine from the small
remains of him in Siena, for there are none existing at Pienza. A
picture of his, with the date 1457, was lately added to the Medicean
gallery. Giovanni di Paolo makes a good figure in Pienza; and a still
better in a Descent from the Cross, painted four years afterwards in the
Osservanza of Siena; in which the defects of the age are counterbalanced
by qualities, at that time by no means common, displaying a considerable
knowledge of the naked figure.
Matteo di Giovanni was then young, but surpassed them all in the extent
of his genius. This is the Matteo denominated by some the Masaccio of
this school, although there is a great distance between him and the
Florentine Masaccio. The new style of Matteo begins to be recognized in
one of his two pictures in the cathedral. He afterwards improved it in
his works in the church of S. Domenico, at Siena, in Madonna della Neve,
and in some other churches; and it was he who first excited the
Neapolitan school to attempt a less antiquated style. Having learnt the
process of painting in oil, he imparted sufficient softness to his
figures; and from his intimacy with Francesco di Giorgio, a celebrated
architect,[272] he imbibed a good taste in buildings, and diversified
them very ingeniously with alto and basso-relievos. He foreshortened
level objects well; he cast draperies with more of nature, and with less
frippery than was common in that age; if he imparted little beauty to
the features, he attained, at least, variety of expression; and was
sufficiently attentive in marking the muscles and veins in his figures.
He did not always aim at novelty and display in his invention; on the
contrary, after painting a Murder of the Innocents, which was his best
composition,[273] he often repeated it in Siena, and in Naples, but
always with improvements: his most studious picture on this subject is
that at the Servi of Siena, painted in 1491, which must have been near
the close of his life. He was accustomed to introduce into his pictures
some episode, unconnected with the principal story, in small figures, a
style in which he excelled. The noble house of Sozzini and some other
families in Siena, possess several of his small pictures. As an artist,
he is inferior to Bellini, to Francia, or Vannucci; but surpasses many
others. Another eminent Sienese, who flourished in the first ages of oil
painting, is made known to us by Ciriaco Anconitano,[274] who was
acquainted with him in 1449, at the court of Leonello, Marquis of Este.
This artist was named Angelo Parrasio: he painted the nine muses in the
palace of Belfiore, near Ferrara, in imitation of the manner of Giovanni
and Ruggieri da Bruggia.
[Footnote 247: See Lettere Sanesi, tom. ii. let. 23, addressed to the
author of this work.]
[Footnote 248: See _Lett. Sen._ tom. ii. p. 23, et sequent.]
[Footnote 249: In regard to these documents the public is much indebted
to the Abate Ciaccheri, the learned librarian of the city, who employed
himself for many years in collecting them; but his eyes failing him, it
became necessary that others should publish them: the excellent
historian has frequently made mention of him.]
[Footnote 250: The work was published by Trombelli, at Bologna, in 1766.
_Della Valle_, tom. i. p. 278. What he adds, that this very Oderico may
be the Oderigi da Gubbio, noticed by Dante in the xith canto of his
Purgatorio, ought not to be admitted. Dante might, for the sake of
rhyme, change Oderico into Oderigi; but he has said, in the middle of
the verse, that the celebrated miniature painter was a native of Gubbio.
Moreover, the latter, who died about 1300, could not have painted in
1213.]
[Footnote 251: See Della Valle, tom. ii. p. 273.]
[Footnote 252: This is an Annunciation, with the following verse:
_Virgo parit Christum velut Angelus intimat ipso._
The error in the last word stands on the picture.]
[Footnote 253: Hard by the cathedral of that city there are two lions,
on one of which, in a mixture of Greek and Latin characters, is written,
M_a_h_ister_ Th_exde fevit_ (fecit) & _fevit fieri ambos istos_.
]
[Footnote 254: See Lettere Sanesi, tom. i. p. 243.]
[Footnote 255: Tom. ii. p. 15.]
[Footnote 256: P. 288.]
[Footnote 257: See Lett. Sen. tom. ii. p. 276.]
[Footnote 258: _Vigintiquinque Christi cum mille ducentis_, &c. Vide
Piacenza, tom. i. p. 70. Baldinucci was extremely diligent in his
research of epochs; but he took care not to mention this, inasmuch as it
overturned his system.]
[Footnote 259: History only gives him some assistants in mosaic; at Pisa
Tafi and Gaddo Gaddi; at Rome, in S. Maria Maggiore, a Franciscan monk,
who there executed a portrait of himself, and inscribed his name, that
is now illegible, and his native place, which was Camerino. One F.
Giacomo da Camerino painted in the cathedral of Orvieto in 1321, and it
is probable that this is the same artist.]
[Footnote 260: See ante, p. 14.]
[Footnote 261: See Lett. Sen. p. 279.]
[Footnote 262: Lett. Sen. tom. i. p. 277.]
[Footnote 263: Ibid. tom. ii. p. 69.]
[Footnote 264: Martino was the father of Simone; Memmo or Guglielmo his
father-in-law; and in the inscriptions on his pictures he sometimes
assumes the one name, and sometimes the other. _Benvoglienti._]
[Footnote 265: I conjecture this on the authority of Vasari, who says,
that he died in 1345, at the age of 60. In the genuine books at S.
Domenico, of Siena, we find this sentence "Magister Simon Martini pictor
mortuus est in curia; cujus exequias fecimus ... 1344." Since Vasari
approaches so near the truth in the time of the painter's death, we may
reasonably credit him also in his age. Mancini says he was born about
1270; which gives occasion for P. della Valle to mention Simone as a
contemporary, and a competitor of Giotto at Rome. I cannot agree with
him on this date, and the information drawn by him from books belonging
to the Sienese hospital, that Simone was in Siena in 1344, only a few
months before his death, at the court of the Pope at Avignon,
strengthens my opinion. I cannot believe that an old man of seventy-four
would transfer his residence from Siena to Avignon. If we credit Vasari
the difficulty vanishes, inasmuch as Simone, being then scarcely sixty,
might be equal to undertake so long a journey.]
[Footnote 266: See Lett. Senesi, tom. ii. p. 101.]
[Footnote 267: There is on it _A. D. 1333, Simon Martini et Lippus Memmi
de Senis me pinxerunt_. It is now in the ducal gallery at Florence. It
may be remarked on the chronology of this painter, that where we find
not Memmi but only Lippo or Filippo, it does not always seem intended
for him. Thus the M. Filippo, who received a sum of money in 1308, and
that Lippo, who, in 1361, is said to be the assistant of another artist,
(Lett. Sen. tom. ii. p. 110), most probably are not to be identified
with Memmi. He was younger than his relation, and according to Vasari,
survived him 14 years.]
[Footnote 268: _Statuti dell' arte de' Pittori Senesi._]
[Footnote 269: This Guido da Siena is, perhaps, the one mentioned by
Sacchetti in his eighty-fourth tale, and of whom there remains a picture
in the church of S. Antonio, painted in 1362. _Baldinucci._]
[Footnote 270: Manfredi.]
[Footnote 271: In the parish church of S. Gimignano is an historical
fresco of this artist, dated 1356, and in that of S. Agostino, a
painting in a much better style, according to Vasari, executed in 1388,
which date P. della Valle gives as 1358.]
[Footnote 272: He was a good sculptor; and, according to the custom of
the time of uniting the three sister arts, he also practised painting,
but not with great success. I have not seen any of his pictures but a
Nativity, in which he chiefly appears emulous of Mantegna. It is in the
possession of Sig. Abate Ciaccheri, whose collection will greatly assist
any one desirous of becoming acquainted with this school.]
[Footnote 273: An engraving of it is in the third volume of Lettere
Sanesi.]
[Footnote 274: In the fragment of a letter, quoted by Sig. Abate Colucci
in Antichita Picene, tom. xv. p. 143. "Cujus nempe inclytae artis et
eximii artificum ingenii egregium equidem imitatorem Angelum Parrasium
Senensem, recens picturae in Latio specimen vidimus," &c.]
SIENESE SCHOOL.
EPOCH II.
_Foreign Painters at Siena. The origin and progress of the
modern style in that city._
Before this era we have met with no strangers who had taught painting,
or had changed the manner of this school. The art had there existed for
three centuries, always, or almost always,[275] under the guidance of
native painters; and it had even been provided by the statutes of the
art, that no foreigner might be encouraged to practise it at Siena. In
one chapter it is enacted, that "any stranger, wishing to be employed,
shall pay a florin;" and elsewhere, that "he may receive a just and
sufficient recompense to the extent of twenty-five livres." The
provision was subtle: on the one hand they did not, with a marked
inhospitality, positively exclude strangers; but, on the other, they
deprived them of any chance of rivalling the artists of the city in
employment at Siena. Hence it came to pass, according to P. della Valle,
that no pictures of other schools, but those of a late period, are to be
found there. But this circumstance, though favourable to the artist,
was, in no small degree, detrimental to the art: for the school of
Siena, by admitting strangers, would have swelled the list of her great
masters; and she might have kept pace with other schools; but this she
neglected, and, after having vied with the Florentine school in
painting, and even surpassed it for some years, towards the close of the
fifteenth century Siena could not, perhaps, boast of a better artist
than Capanna, who executed some facades from the designs of others;[276]
or than Andrea del Brescianino, who, in conjunction with one of his
brothers, is said to have painted some pictures, with which I am
unacquainted, in the church of the Olivetine Friars. They have been more
commended by historians than Bernardino Fungai, an artist whose style
was modernized, but dry,[277] than Neroccio, or any other Sienese
painter of that period; but they could not be compared to the best
masters of Italy. The nobility perceived the decline of the native
school, and the necessity of supporting it by the accession of foreign
artists; they wished for such assistance, to the dissatisfaction,
probably, of the populace, every where apt to contend that the provender
of the land should rather feed the native beast of burden than the
foreign steed. The Florentine style of painting found its way to Rome;
but ancient rivalry and political jealousy prevented its introduction
into Siena. Perugia seemed a less objectionable ally; and from that
place, first Bonfigli, and afterwards his scholar Pietro Perugino, who
executed two pictures at Siena, were invited; and at length several
scholars also of the latter were called, who long remained in the
service of two celebrated natives of Siena. The one was Cardinal
Francesco Piccolomini, who soon after became Pius III. For the purpose
of decorating the sacristy of the cathedral, and the chapel of his
family, with various pictures from the life of Pius II. he invited
Pinturicchio to Siena, and this artist carried along with him other
scholars of Perugino, and even Raffaello himself, who is reported to
have designed either wholly, or in a great measure, those historical
pictures. The other was Pandolfo Petrucci, who, for some time, usurped
the government of the republic: eagerly desirous of embellishing the
palace and some churches, he availed himself of Signorelli, and of
Genga,[278] and recalled Pinturicchio.
This passed at the beginning of the sixteenth century; for the sacristy
was completed in 1503; the return of Pinturicchio took place in 1508;
and, after a short interval, it appears that Genga, the scholar of
Perugino, and Signorelli, came to Siena. From that period, the Sienese
school began to assume the modern style; and design, a full tone of
colouring, and perspective, all attained perfection in a few years. Had
Siena produced a family equal to the Medicean in taste, power, and a
disposition to encourage the fine arts, what might it not have attained!
Siena about this time could boast of four men of talents admirably
adapted to produce a great revolution in the art, and these were
Pacchiarotto, Razzi, Mecherino, and Peruzzi, all of whom (with the
exception of Razzi), Baldinucci, for some reason unknown to me, has
derived from the school of Raffaello. The works of Raffaello, then a
young man, and of other foreign artists, far from repressing their
spirit, awakened in them an honourable emulation. Whoever compares the
pictures of Matteo with their works, would conclude that many years had
intervened; yet they were all living at the death of Matteo. We now come
to the bright era of the school of Siena; and to the consideration of
its most eminent masters.
Jacopo Pacchiarotto[279] followed the manner of Pietro more closely than
any of them, although he was not his scholar, and, perhaps, had not been
out of Siena before 1535. In that year there happened an insurrection of
the people against the government of that city, in which he was a
ringleader, and would have suffered an ignominious death, had he not
been saved by the Osservantine fathers, who concealed him for some time
within a tomb. From thence he secretly withdrew to France, where he
assisted Rosso, and is supposed to have died. Siena possesses several of
his cabinet pictures and altar-pieces, in the style of Perugino;
especially a very beautiful one in the church of S. Christopher. In his
frescos, in the church of S. Catherine and of S. Bernardino, where he
emulated the ablest artists of Siena, he appears great in composition.
The most admired is the copious picture representing the Visit of the
Virgin, S. Catherine, to the body of S. Agnes of Montepulciano: the
others are executed in a similar taste. He unquestionably appears to
have studied Raffaello with the greatest care; and there are heads and
whole figures so lively, and with such a grace in the features, that, to
some connoisseurs, they seem to possess the ideal beauty of that great
artist. Nevertheless, Pacchiarotto is almost unknown beyond the limits
of his native place, for he is only incidentally mentioned by Vasari;
and his works have passed under the name of Perugino, or of his school.
Giannantonio Razzi, surnamed Il Sodoma, undoubtedly enjoyed the
citizenship of Siena; but it is disputed whether he was born at
Vergelle, a Sienese village, or at Vercelli, in Piedmont. Vasari
expressly states, that he was invited to Siena by some of the noble
family of Spannocchi, and that he was a native of Vercelli; in which
opinion he is supported by Tizio, Giovio, Mancini, and all who wrote
before Ugurgieri. I am confirmed in it by observing his carnations, his
style of chiaroscuro, and other peculiarities of the old school of
Milan, and of Giovenone, who flourished at Vercelli in the early years
of Razzi; and of this style there appears to me traces in the works of
Gio. Antonio; especially in those he executed shortly after he had left
his master. I have not observed the historical pictures of S. Benedict,
which he painted at Monte Oliveto about 1502, and are so ably described
by Sig. Giulio Perini, secretary to the academy of Florence. I have seen
those he executed at Rome in the pontificate of Julius II. He painted
several in the Vatican, that were defaced, because they did not satisfy
the Pope. Raffaello substituted other pictures, but spared the
grotesques. Razzi afterwards executed some pictures from the life of
Alexander the Great, in the Chigi, now the Farnese palace. The nuptials
of Roxana, and the suppliant family of Darius, are the best of them.
They do not exhibit the facility, grace, and dignified heads, that
characterize the style of Vinci; but they shew much of his chiaroscuro,
which was then greatly followed by the Lombards: perspective, their
hereditary attribute, is there conspicuous; they abound in gay images,
in little Cupids with their arrows, and a pomp that is captivating.
His works in Siena, the fruit of his studies in Rome, and of his mature
age, are still superior. The Epiphany, in the church of S. Augustino,
appeared wholly in the style of Vinci to an eminent foreign connoisseur,
who mentioned it to me with rapture. The Flagellation of Christ, in the
cloister of S. Francis, is preferred to the figures of Michelangiolo by
those who are reckoned judges of the art: their unanimous opinion seems
to be that Razzi never produced a finer picture. Some think as highly of
his S. Sebastian, now in the ducal gallery, which is supposed to have
been copied from an antique Torso. The Swoon of S. Catherine of Siena,
which he painted in fresco in a chapel of S. Domenico, is a picture in
the manner of Raffaello. Peruzzi greatly admired it, and affirmed that
he had never seen a swoon so naturally represented. The air and varied
expression in the heads of his picture, however, are not borrowed from
any artist, and on this account he seems to have extorted the applause
even of Vasari. His models, as was usual with the other artists of this
school, were selected from among the Sienese, whose heads possess a
great degree of innate gaiety, openness, and spirit. He painted
frequently in a hurried manner, without any preparatory study;
especially in his old age, when reduced to poverty at Siena, he sought
for employment at Pisa, at Volterra, and at Lucca: but in all his
pictures I discover traces of an able artist, who, though careless of
excellence, never painted badly. Vasari, the great enemy of his fame,
who generally styles him Mattaccio,[280] has ascribed to chance, to
fortune, or to fancy, whatever he performed well; as if his usual style
had been that of a bad painter. Here Vasari betrays a want of memory;
for he confessed in the life of Mecherino, that Razzi "possessed the
grand principle of design;" in another passage he has praised the
brilliant colouring he brought with him out of Lombardy; and before
noticing the works of his old age, he has often pronounced the others
beautiful, or sometimes _most_ beautiful and wonderful: hence it may be
said of him, _modo ait, modo negat_. Guided by public estimation, Giovio
has written of Razzi in a different manner, when speaking of the death
of Raffaello, he subjoins: "plures pari pene gloria certantes artem
exceperunt, et in his Sodomas Vercellensis."[281] He who objects to the
testimony of this eminent scholar, will receive that of a celebrated
painter: Annibale Caracci, passing through Siena, said, "Razzi appears a
very eminent master of the greatest taste, and (speaking of his best
works at Siena) few such pictures are to be seen."[282]
During the many years that Giannantonio lived at Siena, he must have
educated many pupils. A few of them only are noticed by Mancini in one
of his Fragments;[283] and these are Rustico, the father of Cristofano,
an excellent painter of grotesques, with which he filled Siena;
Scalabrino, a man of genius, and a poet;[284] and Michelangiolo Anselmi,
or Michelangiol da Siena, a painter claimed by several places. We shall
consider him in the school of Parma, as he left no work in Siena, except
a fresco in the church of Fonte Giusta, a production of his youth, and
not worthy of so great a name. A scholar of Razzi, then his assistant,
and finally his son-in-law, was Bartolommeo Neroni, otherwise called
Maestro Riccio, who after the death of the four great pillars of the
school of Siena, supported its reputation for many years, and probably
educated one of its restorers. He may be recognized at the Osservanti,
in a Crucifixion with three saints standing around, and people in the
distance. But his masterpiece was a Descent from the Cross, much in the
manner of Razzi, at the Derelitte. Some of his other pictures yet remain
in the city, in which he sometimes appears to mingle the style of his
father-in-law, with a certain resemblance to the manner of Vasari, in
the distribution of his tints. He is known to have been very excellent
in perspective, and particularly so in painting scenery; a specimen of
which was engraved by Andreani. He was also greatly skilled in
architecture, and had a pension from the magistrates of Lucca for his
assistance in their public works. Some books include among his disciples
Anselmi, who was rather his kinsman; and Arcangiolo Salimbeni, who
finished some of his works after his death, and on this account only has
been supposed his scholar. From him we shall commence a new epoch in
this school.