reply that Boschini points out two very considerable ones. The first of
them is, that by this mode of colouring, which he terms _di macchia_ and
_di pratica_, a certain hardness of style may more easily be avoided;
and the other, that, better than any other, it gives a bolder relief to
paintings in the distance: and pictures being intended to be thus
viewed, rather than closer to the eye, such an object is by this process
most easily attainable. I am aware of the moderns having misapplied and
abused these maxims; but they were meant to have been judiciously
employed, and I only wish to propose as examples the most celebrated of
the school who so ably comprehended the method, and the limits of such a
practice. Nor was the harmony of colours better understood by any other
artists, insomuch, that the mode of assimilating and of contrasting
them, may be considered as the second source of the delightful and
lively, so predominant in their works, and more especially in those of
Titian and his contemporaries.
Such skill was not merely confined to the fleshy parts, in whose colour
the disciples of Titian have so far excelled every other school; it
extended also to the drapery. For indeed, there are no pieces of
velvets, of stuffs, or of crapes, which they did not imitate to
perfection, more particularly in their portraits, in which the Venetians
of that period abounded, displaying specimens the most ornamental and
beautiful. The cavalier Mengs is of opinion, that also to this branch of
the art, requiring the strictest attention to truth, and conferring a
peculiar kind of interest upon a picture, may be in some measure
attributed the degree of power and truth acquired by those eminent
colourists. Their merit was moreover conspicuous in imitating every kind
of work in gold, in silver, and every species of metal; so much so, that
there are no royal palaces or lordly feasts, read of in any poet, which
do not appear more nobly represented in some Venetian paintings. It was
equally remarkable in point of landscape, which sometimes surpassed the
efforts of the Flemish painters, and in architectural views, which, with
a magnificence unknown elsewhere, they succeeded in introducing into
their compositions, as we had before occasion to observe of the artists
of the fourteenth century; a species of industry extremely favourable,
likewise, to the distribution, the variety, and to the complete effect
of groups of figures.
In these extensive compositions, which about the period of the Bellini
abounded in half-length or diminutive figures, there has since been
displayed a grandeur of proportions which has led the way to the most
enlarged productions, on the scale we have more recently seen. The most
terrific among these is the Supper of Paolo Veronese at S. Giorgio, in
which the gifts of nature are so nobly seconded by the exhibition of
talent, which appears to have been transmitted by succession through
this school, nearly until the present day. Such ability consists in
finely designing all the details of any work, however great, including
the transmission and gradations of light, so that the eye of itself
seems to follow its track, and embraces the entire effect from one end
of the canvass to the other. And it has been observed by several who
have witnessed ancient paintings (a violation of good taste, of late but
too common,) cut up and curtailed to adapt them to the size of walls and
doors, that such an operation often succeeds tolerably well with the
pictures of other schools, but is extremely difficult with those of the
Venetians; so intimately is one part connected with another, and
harmonized with the whole.
These, along with other similar qualities that flatter the eye of the
spectator, that attract the learned and the unlearned, and seem to
transport the mind by the novelty and the reality of the representation,
constitute a style which is termed by Reynolds the ornamental, who,
likewise, among all the schools, yields the palm in this to the
Venetians; a style afterwards introduced by Vovet into France, by Rubens
into Flanders, and by Giordano into Naples and into Spain. The same
English critic places it in the second rank, next to the grand style,
and remarks that the professors of the sublime were fearful of falling
into luxurious and pompous exhibitions of the accessaries; no less
because prejudicial to the artist's industry in point of design and in
point of expression, than because the transitory impression which it
produces upon the spectator, seldom reaches the heart. And truly, as the
sublime of Tully is more simple than the ornament of Pliny, and seems to
dread any excitement of admiration for the beautiful, lest its energy
should be unnerved by too studied a degree of elegance; so is it with
the grandeur of Michelangiolo and of Raffaello, that without seeking to
occupy us with the illusions of art, goes at once to the heart;
terrifies or inspires us; awakens emotions of pity, of veneration, and
the love of truth, exalting us, as it were, above ourselves, and leading
us to indulge, even in spite of ourselves, the most delicious of all
feelings, in that of wonder. It is upon this account that Reynolds
considered it dangerous for students to become enamoured of the Venetian
style; an opinion, which, judiciously understood, may prove of much
service to such artists as are calculated to succeed in the more
sublime. But since amidst such diversity of talent, there must appear
artists better adapted to adorn than to express; it would not be
advisable that their genius should be urged into a career in which it
will leave them always among the last, withdrawing them, at the same
time, from another in which they might have taken the lead. Let him,
therefore, who in this art of silent eloquence possesses not the energy
and spirit of Demosthenes, apply himself wholly, heart and soul, to the
elegance, the pomp, and the copiousness of Demetrius Phalereus.
Let it not from this be supposed, that the sole merit of the Venetians
consists in surprising the spectator by the effects of ornament and
colour, and that the customary style and true method of painting, were
not understood in those parts. Yet I am aware of the opinion of many
foreigners, who having never removed beyond their native spot, are
inclined to pronounce a general censure upon these artists, as being
ignorant of design, too laboured in their composition, unacquainted with
ideal beauty, and even unable to understand expression, costume, and
grace; finally, that the rapidity so much in vogue with the whole of the
school,[41] led them to despise the rules of art, not permitting them to
complete the work before them, out of an anxiety to engage in other
labours, for the sake of the profits afforded by them. To some of their
painters, doubtless, these observations may apply, but assuredly not to
the whole; for if one city be obnoxious to them, another is not so much
so; or if they can be affirmed of a certain epoch or class of artists,
it would be an idle attempt to fix them upon all. This school is in
truth most abundant, no less in artists than in fine examples in every
characteristic of the art; but neither one nor the other are
sufficiently known and appreciated. Yet it is hoped the reader will be
enabled to form a more correct idea of both; and after having cultivated
an acquaintance with the Bellini, the Giorgioni, and the Titians,
besides other masters, will trace, as it were from one parent stock, the
various offshoots transplanted throughout the state, imbibing, according
to the nature of the soil, and the vicinity of other climes, new tastes
and qualities, without losing at the same time their original and native
flavour. And if in the progress of our history we shall here and there,
among plants of nobler growth, meet with some "_lazzi sorbi_," to use
the words of our poet, some bitter apples, growing at their side; let
these only be attacked; but let not the disgrace attaching to a few
careless artists be calumniously extended to the whole of their school.
The happy era we are now entering upon, commences with Giorgione and
with Titian, two names which, connected together, yet in competition
with each other, divided between them, as it were, the whole body of
disciples throughout the capital and the state; insomuch that we find no
city that had not more or less adopted for its model one or other of
these masters. I shall proceed to describe them separately, each with
his own class, as I believe such a method most favourable, to shew how
the whole of the school I am describing was almost entirely derived and
propagated from two masters of a similar style. Giorgio Barbarelli of
Castelfranco, more generally known by the name of Giorgione, from a
certain grandeur conferred upon him by nature, no less of mind than
form, and which appears also impressed upon his productions, as the
character is said to be in the handwriting, was educated in the school
of the Bellini. But impelled by a spirit conscious of its own powers, he
despised that minuteness in the art which yet remained to be exploded,
at once substituting for it a certain freedom and audacity of manner, in
which the perfection of painting consists. In this view he may be said
to be an inventor; no artist before his time having acquired that
mastery of his pencil, so hardy and determined in its strokes, and
producing such an effect in the distance. From that period he continued
to ennoble his manner, rendering the contours more round and ample, the
foreshortenings more new, the expression of the countenance more warm
and lively, as well as the motions of his figures. His drapery, with all
the other accessaries of the art became more select, the gradations of
the different colours more soft and natural, and his chiaroscuro more
powerful and effective. It was in this last indeed, that Venetian
painting was the most deficient, while it had been introduced into the
rest of the schools by Vinci previous to the sixteenth century. Vasari
is of opinion that from the same artist, or rather from some of his
designs, it was first acquired by Giorgione, a supposition that Boschini
will not admit, maintaining that he was only indebted for it to himself,
being his own master and scholar. And, in truth, the taste of Lionardo
and of the Milanese artists who acquired it from him, not only differs
in point of design, inclining in the contours and in the features more
towards the graceful and the beautiful, while Giorgione affects rather a
round and full expression; but it is contrasted with it, likewise, in
the chiaroscuro. The composition of Lionardo abounds much more in
shades, which are gradually softened with greater care; while in regard
to his lights he is far more sparing, and studies to unite them in a
small space with a degree of vividness that produces surprise.
Giorgione's composition, on the other hand, is more clear and open, and
with less shade; his middle tints, also, partake in nothing of the
ironcast and grey, but are natural and beautiful; and in short, he
approaches nearer to the style of Coreggio, if Mengs at least judges
rightly, than to any other master. Still I am far from concluding that
Vinci in no way contributed to the formation of Giorgione's new manner;
every improvement in the art having taken its rise from some former one,
which being admired for its novelty, became familiar to surrounding
artists by example, and to more distant ones by its reputation, thus
adding what was before wanting to the perfection of the art. And in this
way have geniuses in different parts arisen, destined to increase and
improve such advantages. This, if I mistake not, has been the case with
the science of perspective, subsequent to the time of Pier della
Francesca; with regard to foreshortening after Melozzo; and also with
chiaroscuro after Lionardo.
The works of Giorgione were, for the chief part, executed in fresco,
upon the facades of the houses, more particularly in Venice, where there
now remains scarcely a relic of them, as if to remind us only of what
have perished. Many of his pictures, on the other hand, both there and
in other places, painted in oil and preserved in private houses, are
found in excellent condition; the cause of which is attributed to the
strong mixture of the colours, and to the full and liberal use of his
pencil. In particular we meet with portraits, remarkable for the soul of
their expression, for the air of their heads, the novelty of the
garments, of the hair, of the plumes, and of the arms, no less than for
the lively imitation of the living flesh, in which, however warm and
sanguine are the tints which he applied, he adds to them so much grace,
that in spite of thousands of imitators, he still stands alone. In
analyzing some of these tints, Ridolfi discovered that they bore little
resemblance to those used by the ancient Greeks, and quite distinct from
those tawny, brown, and azure colours, since introduced at the expense
of the more natural. Such of his pictures as are composed in the style
of his Dead Christ, in the Monte di Pieta at Trevigi, the S. Omobono at
the Scuola de' Sarti, in Venice, or the Tempest stilled by the Saint, at
that of S. Marco, in which among other figures are those of three rowers
drawn naked, excellent both in their design and their attitudes; such
are the rarest triumphs of his art. The city of Milan possesses two of
an oblong shape, in which several of the figures extend beyond the
proportions of Poussin, and may be pronounced rather full than
beautiful. One of these is to be viewed at the Ambrosiana, the other in
the archepiscopal palace; esteemed by some the happiest effort of
Giorgione that now survives. It represents the child Moses just rescued
from the Nile, and presented to the daughter of Pharaoh. Very few
colours, but well harmonized and distributed, and finely broken with the
shades, produce a sort of austere union, if I may be allowed the
expression, and may be assimilated to a piece of music composed of few
notes, but skilfully adapted, and delightful beyond any more noisy
combination of sounds.
Giorgione died at the early age of thirty-four, in 1511. Thus his
productions, rather than the pupils he educated, remained to instruct
the Venetians. Vasari, however, mentions several who have been contested
by other writers. A Pietro Luzzo is recorded by Ridolfi;--a native of
Feltre, called Zarato, or Zarotto,--who after being a pupil became a
rival of Giorgione, and seduced from his house a woman, to whom he was
passionately attached, at whose loss it has been asserted by some that
the disappointed artist died in despair. By others, on the contrary, he
is said to have died of a disease contracted during his intercourse with
the same lady. This Zarato, as we read in a MS. history of Feltre, and
in a MS. upon the pictures of Udine, is the same whom Vasari entitles,
_Morto da Feltro_; and adds, that he went when young to Rome, and
subsequently flourished in Florence and elsewhere, distinguished for his
skill in grotesques; of which more hereafter. Going afterwards to
Venice, he is known to have assisted Giorgione in the paintings he made
for the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, about the year 1505; and, lastly, having
remained some time at his native place, he embraced a military life,
obtaining the rank of captain. Proceeding to Zara, he fell in battle
near that place in his forty-fifth year; at least such is the account of
Vasari. From the mention of his native place of Feltre, his assisting
Giorgione in his works, and his surnames of _Zarato_ and _Morto_, I
think there is some degree of probability in the assertion contained in
these MSS. though the dates attaching to the life of Morto in Vasari,
will not countenance the supposition of Ridolfi, of his being the pupil
of Giorgione, a man considerably younger than himself; so that I should
conjecture that Ridolfi may have denominated him a scholar of Giorgione,
because, when already of a mature age, he painted under him as his
assistant. Notwithstanding the assertion of Vasari, he had a tolerable
genius for figures, and in the history already cited, written by
Cambrucci, and in possession of the bishop of Feltre, a picture of our
Lady between saints Francesco and Antonio, placed at S. Spirito, and
another at Villabruna, besides a figure of Curtius on horseback, upon a
house at Teggie, are attributed to his hand. We gather from the same
history that another Luzzi, by name Lorenzo, a contemporary and perhaps
friend of Pietro, painted very skilfully in fresco, at the church of S.
Stefano; and that he was equally successful in oils, he himself assures
us in his altarpiece of the proto-martyr S. Stefano, conspicuous for
correctness of design, beauty of forms, force of tints, and bearing his
name and the date of 1511.
The most distinguished disciple of the school of Giorgione is
Sebastiano, a Venetian, commonly called, from the habit and office he
afterwards assumed at Rome, Fra Sebastiano del Piombo. Having left Gian
Bellini, he attached himself to Giorgione, and in the tone of his
colours, and the fulness of his forms, imitated him better than any
other artist. An altarpiece in S. Gio. Crisostomo, from his hand, was by
some mistaken for the work of his master; so strikingly does it abound
with his manner. It may be presumed, indeed, that he was assisted in the
design; Sebastiano being known to possess no surprising richness of
invention,--slow in the composition of most of his figures; irresolute;
eager to undertake, but difficult to commence, and most difficult in the
completion. Hence we rarely meet with any of his histories or his
altarpieces comparable to the Nativity of the Virgin, at S. Agostino, in
Perugia, or the _Flagellazione_ at the Osservanti of Viterbo, which is
esteemed the best picture in the city. Pictures for private rooms, and
portraits, he painted in great number, and with comparative ease; and we
no where meet with more beautiful hands, more rosy flesh tints, or more
novel accessaries than in these. Thus, in taking the portrait of Pietro
Aretino, he distinguished five different tints of black in his dress;
imitating with exactness those of the velvet, of the satin, and so of
the rest. Being invited to Rome by Agostino Chigi, and there esteemed as
one of the first colourists of his time, he painted in competition with
Peruzzi, and with Raffaello himself; and the rival labours of all three
are still preserved in a hall of the Farnesina, at that period the house
of the Chigi.
Sebastiano became aware, that in such a competition, his own design
would not appear to much advantage in Rome, and he improved it. But
occasionally he fell into some harshness of manner, owing to the
difficulties he there encountered. Yet, in several of his works, he was
assisted by Michelangiolo, from whose design he painted that _Pieta_,
placed at the Conventuali of Viterbo, and the Transfiguration, with the
other pieces which he produced, during six years, for S. Pietro in
Montorio, at Rome. It is stated by Vasari, that Michelangiolo united
with him, in order to oppose the too favourable opinion entertained by
the Romans, of Raffaello. He adds, that on the death of the latter,
Sebastiano was universally esteemed the first artist of his time, upheld
by the favour of Michelangiolo; Giulio Romano, and the rest of the rival
school, being all inferior to him. I am almost at a loss how to judge of
a fact, which, if discredited, seems to cast an imputation upon the
historian, and, if received, reflects very little credit upon
Buonarotti; and the reader will do best, perhaps, to decide for himself.
The name of Sebastiano must also be added to the list of inventors, for
his new method of oil painting upon stone, upon which plan he executed
the _Flagellazione_, for S. Pietro in Montorio, a work as much defaced
by time as the others which he made in fresco remain at the same place
entire. He coloured also upon stone several pictures for private houses,
a practice highly esteemed at its earlier period, but which was soon
abandoned owing to the difficulty of carriage. Upon this plan, or some
other resembling it, we find several pictures of the sixteenth century
executed, and which, at this period, are esteemed in museums real
antiques.[42]
Among the disciples of the School of Giorgione, were, likewise, Gio. da
Udine and Francesco Torbido, a Veronese, who has been surnamed _il
Moro_, and both were distinguished practisers of his tints. In regard to
Giovanni, afterwards a pupil of Raffaello, we have written, and we shall
again write elsewhere. Moro remained but little with Giorgione, a much
longer while with Liberale. Of this last he imitated very truly both the
diligence and the design, in the former even surpassing him; always a
severe critic upon himself, and slow in completing his undertakings. We
rarely meet with him in altarpieces, still more rarely in collections of
paintings, for which he was often employed in sacred subjects and in
portraits; deficient in nothing, except, perhaps, we could wish to see
somewhat greater freedom of hand. In the dome of Verona, he painted
several histories in fresco, among which is the Assumption of the
Virgin, truly admirable; but the designs are not his, Giulio Romano
having prepared the cartoons. His style of execution, however, is
clearly enough perceived, which, in respect to colouring and to
chiaroscuro, discovers him to be an artist, as Vasari has recorded, "as
careful in regard to his use of colours, as any other who flourished at
the same period."
The other names that here follow, are included, according to history, in
the train of Giorgione, not as his pupils, but his imitators. Yet all
exhibit traces of Bellini, because the Venetian manner, up to the time
of Tintoretto, did not so much aim at inventing new things, as at
perfecting such as had already been discovered; not so desirous of
relinquishing the taste of the Bellini, as of modernizing it upon the
model of Titian and Giorgione. Hence it arose, that a people of painters
were formed in a taste extremely uniform; and the exaggerated
observation, "that whoever had cultivated an acquaintance with one
Venetian artist of that age, knew them all," seemed to have some ground
in truth. But still, as I have said, it is exaggeration, as there is
certainly much diversity of style and merit when compared with one
another. Among the leading disciples of Giorgione are to be ranked
three, who belong to the city or territory of Bergamo, and these are
Lotto, as is most generally supposed, Palma, and Cariani. They resemble
their master most frequently in fulness, but in the mixture and
selection of colours they often appear of the school of Lombardy. More
particularly in Cariani there is apparent a certain superficies, like
that of wax, equally diffused over the canvass, which shines so as to
enliven the eye; and when seen at a distance, with but little light,
appears in full relief, a result which others have also noticed in the
works of Coreggio.