in his work, quiet and good by nature, and a truly God-fearing man;
he had a great liking for a life of peace, and he shunned vicious
company, delighted much in hearing sermons, and always sought the
society of learned and serious persons. And in truth, it is seldom
that nature creates a man of good parts and a gentle craftsman,
without also providing him, after some time, with peace and favour,
as she did for Baccio, who, as will be told below, obtained all that
he desired. The report having spread abroad that he was no less good
than able, his fame so increased that he was commissioned by Gerozzo
di Monna Venna Dini to paint the chapel wherein the bones of the
dead are kept, in the cemetery of the Hospital of S. Maria Nuova.
There he began a Judgment in fresco, which he executed with such
diligence and beauty of manner in the part which he finished, that
he acquired extraordinary fame thereby, in addition to what he had
already, and became greatly celebrated, on account of his having
represented with excellent conceptions the Glory of Paradise, and
Christ with the twelve Apostles judging the twelve Tribes, wherein
the figures are soft in colouring and most beautifully draped.
Moreover, in those figures that are being dragged to Hell, in the
part that was designed but left unfinished, one sees the despair,
grief, and shame of everlasting death, even as one perceives
contentment and gladness in those that are being saved; although
this work remained unfinished, since Baccio was inclined to give his
attention more to religion than to painting. For there was living in
S. Marco, at this time, Fra Girolamo Savonarola of Ferrara, of the
Order of Preaching Friars, a very famous theologian; and Baccio,
going continually to hear his preaching, on account of the devotion
that he felt for him, contracted a very strait intimacy with him,
and passed almost all his time in the convent, having also become
the friend of the other friars. Now it happened that Fra Girolamo,
continuing his preaching, and crying out every day from the pulpit
that lascivious pictures, music, and amorous books often lead the
mind to evil, became convinced that it was not right to keep in
houses where there were young girls painted figures of naked men and
women. And at the next Carnival--when it was the custom in the city
to make little huts of faggots and other kinds of wood on the public
squares, and on the Tuesday evening, according to ancient use, to
burn these, with amorous dances, in which men and women, joining
hands, danced round these fires, singing certain airs--the people
were so inflamed by Fra Girolamo, and he wrought upon them so
strongly with his words, that on that day they brought to the place
a vast quantity of nude figures, both in painting and in sculpture,
many by the hand of excellent masters, and likewise books, lutes,
and volumes of songs, which was a most grievous loss, particularly
for painting. Thither Baccio carried all the drawings of nudes that
he had made by way of studies, and he was followed by Lorenzo di
Credi and by many others, who had the name of Piagnoni. And it was
not long before Baccio, on account of the affection that he bore to
Fra Girolamo, made a very beautiful portrait of him in a picture,
which was then taken to Ferrara; but not long ago it came back to
Florence, and it is now in the house of Filippo di Alamanno
Salviati, who, since it is by the hand of Baccio, holds it very
dear.
It happened, after this, that one day the opponents of Fra Girolamo
rose against him, in order to take him and deliver him over to the
hands of justice, on account of the disturbances that he had caused
in the city; and his friends, seeing this, also banded themselves
together, to the number of more than five hundred, and shut
themselves up in S. Marco, and Baccio with them, on account of the
great affection that he had for their party. It is true that, being
a person of little courage, nay, even timorous and mean-spirited,
and hearing an attack being made a little time after this on the
convent, and men being wounded and killed, he began to have serious
doubts about himself. For which reason he made a vow that if he were
to escape from that turmoil, he would straightway assume the habit
of that Order; which vow he carried out afterwards most faithfully,
for when the uproar had ceased, and Fra Girolamo had been taken and
condemned to death, as the writers of history relate with more
detail, Baccio betook himself to Prato and became a monk in S.
Domenico, in that city, on July 26, in the year 1500, as is found
written in the chronicles of that same convent in which he assumed
the habit; to the great displeasure of all his friends, who were
grieved beyond measure at having lost him, and particularly because
they heard that he had taken it into his head to forsake his
painting.
Whereupon Mariotto Albertinelli, his friend and companion, at the
entreaties of Gerozzo Dini, took over the materials of Fra
Bartolommeo--which was the name given by the Prior to Baccio, on
investing him with the habit--and brought to completion the work of
the Ossa in S. Maria Nuova; where he portrayed from life the
Director of the Hospital at that time, and some friars skilled in
surgery, with Gerozzo, the patron of the work, and his wife,
full-length figures on their knees, upon the walls on either side;
and in a nude figure that is seated, he portrayed Giuliano
Bugiardini, his pupil, as a young man, with long locks according to
the custom of that time, in which each separate hair might be
counted, so carefully are they painted. He made there, likewise, his
own portrait, in the head, with long locks, of a figure that is
issuing from one of the tombs; and in that work, in the region of
the blessed, there is also the portrait of Fra Giovanni da Fiesole,
the painter, whose Life we have written. This painting was executed
wholly in fresco, both by Fra Bartolommeo and by Mariotto, so that
it has remained, and still remains, marvellously fresh, and is held
in esteem by craftsmen, since it is scarcely possible to do better
in that kind of work.
[Illustration: THE HOLY FAMILY
(_After the panel by =Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco=. Rome: Corsini
Gallery, 579_)
_Anderson_]
When Fra Bartolommeo had been many months in Prato, he was sent by
his superiors to take up his abode in S. Marco at Florence, and on
account of his virtues he was received very warmly by the friars of
that convent. In those days Bernardo del Bianco had caused to be
erected, in the Badia of Florence, a chapel of grey-stone, full of
carving, and very rich and beautiful, from the design of Benedetto
da Rovezzano: which chapel was and still is much esteemed on account
of some ornamental work of great variety, wherein Benedetto Buglioni
placed, in some niches, angels and other figures made of glazed
terra-cotta, in the round, to adorn it the more, with friezes
containing cherubs and the devices of Bianco. And Bernardo, wishing
to set up in the chapel a panel-picture that should be worthy of
that adornment, and conceiving the idea that Fra Bartolommeo would
be the right man for the work, sought in every possible way, through
the intervention of his friends, to persuade him. Fra Bartolommeo
was living in his convent, giving his attention to nothing save the
divine offices and the duties of his Rule, although often besought
by the Prior and by his dearest friends that he should work again at
his painting; and for more than four years he had refused to touch a
brush. But on this occasion, being pressed by Bernardo del Bianco,
at length he began the panel-picture of S. Bernard, in which the
Saint is writing, and gazing with such deep contemplation at the
Madonna, with the Child in her arms, being borne by many angels and
children, all coloured with great delicacy, that there is clearly
perceived in him a certain celestial quality, I know not what, which
seems, to him who studies it with attention, to shine out over that
work, into which Baccio put much diligence and love; not to mention
an arch executed in fresco, which is above it. He also made some
pictures for Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici; and for Agnolo Doni he
painted a picture of Our Lady, which stands on the altar of a chapel
in his house--a work of extraordinary beauty.
At this time the painter Raffaello da Urbino came to Florence to
study his art, and taught the best principles of perspective to Fra
Bartolommeo; and desiring to acquire the friar's manner of
colouring, and being pleased with his handling of colours and his
method of harmonizing them, Raffaello was always in his company.
Fra Bartolommeo painted about the same time, in S. Marco at
Florence, a panel with an infinite number of figures, which is now
in the possession of the King of France, having been presented to
him after being exposed to view for many months in S. Marco.
Afterwards, he painted another in that convent, containing an
endless number of figures, in place of the one that was sent into
France; in which picture are some children who are flying in the air
and holding open a canopy, executed with such good drawing and art,
and with such strong relief, that they appear to stand out from the
panel, while the colouring of the flesh reveals that beauty and
excellence which every able craftsman seeks to give to his pictures;
and this work is still considered at the present day to be most
excellent. In it are many figures surrounding a Madonna, all most
admirable, and executed with grace, feeling, boldness, spirit, and
vivacity; and coloured, moreover, in so striking a manner, that they
seem to be in relief, since he wished to show that he was able not
only to draw, but also to give his figures force and make them stand
out by means of the darkness of the shadows, as may be seen in some
children who are round a canopy, upholding it, who, as they fly
through the air, almost project from the panel. Besides this, there
is an Infant Christ who is marrying S. Catherine the Nun, than which
it would not be possible to paint anything more lifelike with the
dark colouring that he used. There is a circle of saints on one side
diminishing in perspective, round the depth of a great recess, who
are distributed with such fine design that they seem to be real; and
the same may be seen on the other side. And in truth, in this manner
of colouring, he imitated to a great extent the works of Leonardo;
particularly in the darks, for which he used printer's smoke-black
and the black of burnt ivory. This panel has now become much darker
than it was when he painted it, on account of those blacks, which
have kept growing heavier and darker. In the foreground, among the
principal figures, he made a S. George in armour, who has a standard
in his hand, a bold, spirited, and vivacious figure, in a beautiful
attitude. There is also a S. Bartholomew, standing, a figure that
deserves the highest praise; with two children who are playing, one
on a lute, and the other on a lyre, one of whom he made with a leg
drawn up and his instrument resting upon it, and with the hands
touching the strings in the act of running over them, an ear intent
on the harmony, the head upraised, and the mouth slightly open, in
such a way that whoever beholds him cannot persuade himself that he
should not also hear the voice. No less lifelike is the other, who,
leaning on one side, and bending over with one ear to the lyre,
appears to be listening to learn how far it is in accord with the
sound of the lute and the voice, while, with his eyes fixed on the
ground, and his ear turned intently towards his companion, who is
playing and singing, he seeks to follow in harmony with the air.
These conceptions and expressions are truly ingenious; the children,
who are seated, and clothed in veiling, are marvellous and executed
with great industry by the practised hand of Fra Bartolommeo; and
the whole work is brought out into strong relief by a fine gradation
of dark shadows.
A little time afterwards he painted another panel, to stand opposite
to the former, and containing a Madonna surrounded by some saints,
which is held to be a good work. He won extraordinary praise for
having introduced a method of blending the colouring of his figures
in such a way as to add a marvellous degree of harmony to art,
making them appear to be in relief and alive, and executing them
with supreme perfection of manner.
Hearing much of the noble works made in Rome by Michelagnolo, and
likewise those of the gracious Raffaello, and being roused by the
fame, which was continually reaching him, of the marvels wrought by
those two divine craftsmen, with leave from his Prior he betook
himself to Rome. There he was entertained by Fra Mariano Fetti,
Friar of the Piombo, for whom he painted two pictures of S. Peter
and S. Paul at his Convent of S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo. But
since he did not succeed in working as well in the air of Rome as he
had done in that of Florence, while the vast number of works that he
saw, what with the ancient and the modern, bewildered him so that
much of the ability and excellence that he believed himself to
possess, fell away from him, he determined to depart, leaving to
Raffaello the charge of finishing one of those pictures, that of S.
Peter, which he had not completed; which picture was retouched all
over by the hand of the marvellous Raffaello, and given to Fra
Mariano.
Thus, then, Fra Bartolommeo returned to Florence. There he had been
accused many times of not knowing how to paint nudes; for which
reason he resolved to put himself to the test, and to show by means
of his labour that he was as well fitted as any other master for the
highest achievements of his art. Whereupon, to prove this, he
painted a picture of S. Sebastian, naked, very lifelike in the
colouring of the flesh, sweet in countenance, and likewise executed
with corresponding beauty of person, whereby he won infinite praise
from the craftsmen. It is said that, while this figure was exposed
to view in the church, the friars found, through the confessional,
women who had sinned at the sight of it, on account of the charm and
melting beauty of the lifelike reality imparted to it by the genius
of Fra Bartolommeo; for which reason they removed it from the church
and placed it in the chapter-house, where it did not remain long
before it was bought by Giovan Battista della Palla and sent to the
King of France.
[Illustration: S. MARK
(_After the painting by =Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco=. Florence:
Pitti, 125_)
_Anderson_]
Fra Bartolommeo had fallen into a rage against the joiners who made
the ornamental frames for his panels and pictures, for it was their
custom, as it still is at the present day, always to cover an eighth
part of the figures with the projecting inner edges of the frames.
He determined, therefore, to invent some means of doing without
frames for panels; and for this S. Sebastian he caused the panel to
be made in the form of a half-circle, wherein he drew a niche in
perspective, which has the appearance of being carved in relief in
the panel. Thus, painting a frame all round, he made an ornament for
the figure in the middle; and he did the same for our S. Vincent,
and for the S. Mark that will be described after the S. Vincent. For
the arch of a door leading into the sacristy, he painted in oils, on
wood, a figure of S. Vincent, a brother of that Order, representing
him in the act of preaching on the Judgment, so that there may be
perceived in his gestures, and particularly in his head, that
vehemence and fury which are generally seen in the faces of
preachers, when they are doing their utmost, with threats of the
vengeance of God, to lead men hardened in sin into the perfect life;
in such a manner that this figure appears, to one who studies it
with attention, to be not painted but real and alive, with such
strong relief is it executed; and it is a pity that it is all
cracking and spoiling, on account of its having been painted with
fresh coats of colour on fresh size, as I said of the works of
Pietro Perugino in the Convent of the Ingesuati.
The fancy took him, in order to show that he was able to make large
figures--for he had been told that his manner was that of a
miniaturist--to paint on panel, for the wall in which is the door of
the choir, a figure of S. Mark the Evangelist, five braccia in
height, and executed with very good draughtsmanship and supreme
excellence.
After this, Salvadore Billi, a Florentine merchant, on his return
from Naples, having heard the fame of Fra Bartolommeo, and having
seen his works, caused him to paint a panel-picture of Christ the
Saviour, in allusion to his own name, with the four Evangelists
round Him; wherein, at the foot, are also two little boys upholding
the globe of the world, whose flesh, fresh and tender, is
excellently painted, as is the whole work, in which there are
likewise two prophets that are much extolled. This panel stands in
the Nunziata at Florence, below the great organ, according to the
wish of Salvadore; it is a very beautiful work, finished by Fra
Bartolommeo with much lovingness and great perfection; and it is
surrounded by an ornament of marble, all carved by the hand of
Pietro Rosselli.
Afterwards, having need of a change of air, the Prior at that time,
who was his friend, sent him away to a monastery of his Order,
wherein, while he stayed there, he combined the labour of his hands
with the contemplation of death, with profit[16] both for his soul
and for the convent. For S. Martino in Lucca he painted a panel
wherein, at the feet of a Madonna, there is a little angel playing
on a lute, together with S. Stephen and S. John; in which picture,
executed with excellent draughtsmanship and colouring, he proved his
ability. For S. Romano, likewise, he painted a panel on canvas of
the Madonna della Misericordia, who is placed on a pedestal of
stone, with some angels holding her mantle; and together with her
he depicted a throng of people on some steps, some standing, others
seated, and others kneeling, but all gazing at a figure of Christ on
high, who is sending down lightnings and thunderbolts upon the
people. Clearly did Fra Bartolommeo prove in this work how well he
was able to manage the gradation of shadows and darks in painting,
giving extraordinary relief to his figures, and showing a rare and
excellent mastery over the difficulties of his art in colouring,
drawing, and invention; and the work is as perfect as any that he
ever made. For the same church he painted another panel, also on
canvas, containing a Christ and S. Catherine the Martyr, together
with a S. Catherine of Siena, rapt in ecstasy from the earth, a
figure as good as any that could possibly be painted in that manner.
[Illustration: GOD THE FATHER, WITH SS. MARY MAGDALEN AND CATHARINE
(_After the painting by =Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco=. Lucca:
Gallery, 12_)
_Alinari_]
Returning to Florence, he gave some attention to the study of music;
and, delighting much therein, he would sometimes sing to pass the
time. At Prato, opposite to the prison, he painted a panel-picture
of the Assumption. He executed some pictures of Our Lady for the
house of the Medici, and also other paintings for various people,
such as a picture of Our Lady which Lodovico di Lodovico Capponi has
in his apartment, and likewise another of the Virgin holding the
Child in her arms, with two heads of saints, that is in the
possession of the very Excellent Messer Lelio Torelli, Chief
Secretary to the most Illustrious Duke Cosimo, who holds it very
dear both on account of the genius of Fra Bartolommeo, and because
he delights in, loves, and favours not only the men of our art, but
every fine intellect. In the house of Piero del Pugliese, which now
belongs to Matteo Botti, a citizen and merchant of Florence, in an
antechamber at the head of a staircase, he painted a S. George in
armour, on horseback, who is slaying the Dragon with his lance--a
very spirited figure. This he executed in chiaroscuro, in oils, a
method that he much delighted to use for all his works, sketching
them in the manner of a cartoon, with ink or with bitumen, before
colouring them; as may still be seen from many beginnings of
pictures and panels, which he left unfinished on account of his
death, and as may also be perceived from many drawings by his hand,
executed in chiaroscuro, of which the greater part are now in the
Monastery of S. Caterina da Siena on the Piazza di S. Marco, in
the possession of a nun who paints, and of whom record will be made
in the proper place; while many made in the same way adorn our book
of drawings, honouring his memory, and some are in the hands of
Messer Francesco del Garbo, a most excellent physician.
Fra Bartolommeo always liked to have living objects before him when
he was working; and in order to be able to draw draperies, armour,
and other suchlike things, he caused a life-size figure of wood to be
made, which moved at the joints; and this he clothed with real
draperies, from which he painted most beautiful things, being able
to keep them in position as long as he pleased, until he had brought
his work to perfection. This figure, worm-eaten and ruined as it is,
is in our possession, treasured in memory of him.
At Arezzo, for the Abbey of the Black Friars, he made a head of
Christ in dark tints--a very beautiful work. He painted, also, the
panel of the Company of the Contemplanti, which was preserved in the
house of the Magnificent Messer Ottaviano de' Medici, and has now
been placed in a chapel of that house, with many ornaments, by his
son Messer Alessandro, who holds it very dear in memory of Fra
Bartolommeo, and also because he takes vast pleasure in painting. In
the chapel of the Noviciate of S. Marco there is a panel-picture of
the Purification, very lovely, which he executed with good
draughtsmanship and high finish. At S. Maria Maddalena, a seat of
the Friars of his Order, without Florence, while staying there for
his own pleasure, he made a Christ and a Magdalene; and he also
painted certain things in fresco in that convent. In like manner, he
wrought in fresco an arch over the strangers' apartment in S. Marco,
in which he painted Christ with Cleophas and Luke, and made a
portrait of Fra Niccolò della Magna, who was then a young man, and
who afterwards became Archbishop of Capua, and finally a Cardinal.
He began a panel for S. Gallo, afterwards finished by Giuliano
Bugiardini, which is now on the high-altar of S. Jacopo fra Fossi,
on the Canto degli Alberti; and likewise a picture of the Rape of
Dinah, now in the possession of Messer Cristofano Rinieri, and
afterwards coloured by the same Giuliano, in which are buildings and
conceptions that are much extolled.
From Piero Soderini he received the commission for the panel of the
Council Chamber, which he began in such a manner, drawing it in
chiaroscuro, that it seemed destined to do him very great credit;
and, unfinished as it is, it now has a place of honour in the Chapel
of the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, in S. Lorenzo. In it are
all the Patron Saints of the city of Florence, and those saints on
whose days that city has gained her victories; and there is also the
portrait of Fra Bartolommeo himself, made by him with a mirror. He
had begun this picture, and had drawn the whole design, when it
happened that, from working continually under a window, with the
light from it beating on his back, he became completely paralyzed on
that side of his body, and quite unable to move. Thereupon he was
advised--such being the orders of his physicians--to go to the baths
of San Filippo; where he stayed a long time, but became very little
better thereby. Now Fra Bartolommeo was a great lover of fruit,
which pleased his palate mightily, although it was ruinous to his
health. Wherefore one morning, having eaten many figs, there came
upon him, in addition to his other infirmity, a very violent fever,
which cut short the course of his life in four days, at the age of
forty-eight; when, still wholly conscious, he rendered up his soul
to Heaven.
His death grieved his friends, and particularly the friars, who gave
him honourable sepulture in their burial-place in S. Marco, on
October 8, in the year 1517. He had a dispensation from attending
any of the offices in the choir with the other friars, and the gains
from his works went to the convent, enough money being left in his
hands to pay for colours and other materials necessary for his
painting.