the Assumption of Our Lady, with two figures; and in a shrine in the
Nave a Lanchetta, without the Porta alla Croce, he painted a Madonna. In
the house of the Carducci, now belonging to the Pandolfini, the same man
depicted certain famous men, some from imagination and some portrayed
from life, among whom are Filippo Spano degli Scolari, Dante, Petrarca,
Boccaccio, and others. At Scarperia in Mugello, over the door of the
Vicar's Palace, he painted a very beautiful nude figure of Charity,
which has since been ruined. In the year 1478, when Giuliano de' Medici
was killed and his brother Lorenzo wounded in S. Maria del Fiore by the
family of the Pazzi and their adherents and fellow-conspirators, it was
ordained by the Signoria that all those who had shared in the plot
should be painted as traitors on the wall of the Palace of the Podesta.
This work was offered to Andrea, and he, as a servant and debtor of the
house of Medici, accepted it very willingly, and, taking it in hand,
executed it so beautifully that it was a miracle. It would not be
possible to express how much art and judgment were to be seen in those
figures, which were for the most part portraits from life, and which
were hung up by the feet in strange attitudes, all varied and very
beautiful. This work, which pleased the whole city and particularly all
who had understanding in the art of painting, brought it about that from
that time onwards he was called no longer Andrea dal Castagno but Andrea
degl' Impiccati.[13]
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD
(_After the fresco by =Domenico Viniziano=. London: National Gallery,
1215_)
_Mansell_]
Andrea lived in honourable style, and since he spent his money freely,
particularly on dress and on maintaining a fine household, he left
little property when he passed to the other life at the age of
seventy-one. But since the crime that he had committed against Domenico,
who loved him so, became known a short time after his death, it was with
shameful obsequies that he was buried in S. Maria Nuova, where, at the
age of fifty-six, the unhappy Domenico had also been buried. The work
begun by the latter in S. Maria Nuova remained unfinished, nor did he
ever complete it, as he had done the panel of the high-altar in S. Lucia
de' Bardi, wherein he executed with much diligence a Madonna with the
Child in her arms, S. John the Baptist, S. Nicholas, S. Francis, and S.
Lucia; which panel he had brought to perfect completion a little before
he was murdered.
Disciples of Andrea were Jacopo del Corso, who was a passing good
master, Pisanello, Marchino, Piero del Pollaiuolo, and Giovanni da
Rovezzano.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] _I.e._, hung up.
GENTILE DA FABRIANO AND VITTORE PISANELLO OF VERONA
LIVES OF GENTILE DA FABRIANO AND VITTORE PISANELLO OF VERONA[14]
PAINTERS
Very great is the advantage enjoyed by one who follows in the steps of a
predecessor who has gained honour and fame by means of some rare talent,
for the reason that, if only he follows to some extent the path prepared
by his master, he seldom fails to arrive without much fatigue at an
honourable goal; whereas, if he had to reach it by himself, he would
have need of a much longer time and far greater labours. The truth of
this could be seen, ready for the finger to point to, as the saying is,
among many other examples, in that of Pisano, or rather, Pisanello, a
painter of Verona, who, having spent many years in Florence with Andrea
dal Castagno, and having finished his works after his death, acquired so
much credit by means of Andrea's name, that Pope Martin V, coming to
Florence, took him in his train to Rome, where he caused him to paint
some scenes in fresco in S. Giovanni Laterano, which are very lovely and
beautiful beyond belief, because he used therein a great abundance of a
sort of ultramarine blue given to him by the said Pope, which was so
beautiful in colour that it has never yet been equalled.
In competition with Pisanello, below the aforesaid scenes, certain
others were painted by Gentile da Fabriano; of which Platina makes
mention in his Life of Pope Martin, saying that when that Pontiff had
caused the pavement, the ceiling, and the roof of S. Giovanni Laterano
to be reconstructed, Gentile da Fabriano painted many pictures there,
and, among other figures between the windows, in terretta and in
chiaroscuro, certain prophets, which are held to be the best paintings
in the whole of that work. The same Gentile executed an infinite number
of works in the March, particularly in Agobbio, where some of them are
still to be seen, and likewise throughout the whole state of Urbino. He
worked in S. Giovanni at Siena; and in the Sacristy of S. Trinita in
Florence he painted the Story of the Magi on a panel, wherein he
portrayed himself from the life. In S. Niccolo, near the Porta a S.
Miniato, for the family of the Quaratesi, he painted the panel of the
high-altar, which appears to me without a doubt the best of all the
works that I have seen by his hand, for, not to mention the Madonna
surrounded by many saints, all well wrought, the predella of the said
panel, full of scenes with little figures from the life of S. Nicholas,
could not be more beautiful or executed better than it is. In S. Maria
Nuova in Rome, in a little arch over the tomb of the Florentine Cardinal
Adimari, Archbishop of Pisa, which is beside that of Pope Gregory IX, he
painted the Madonna with the Child in her arms, between S. Benedict and
S. Joseph. This work was held in esteem by the divine Michelagnolo, who
was wont to say, speaking of Gentile, that his hand in painting was
similar to his name. The same master executed a very beautiful panel in
S. Domenico in Perugia; and in S. Agostino at Bari he painted a Crucifix
outlined in the wood, with three very beautiful half-length figures,
which are over the door of the choir.
But to return to Vittore Pisano; the account that has been given of him
above was written by us, with nothing more, when this our book was
printed for the first time, because we had not then received that
information and knowledge of the works of this excellent craftsman which
we have since gained from notices supplied by that very reverend and
most learned Father, Fra Marco de' Medici of Verona, of the Order of
Preaching Friars, and from the narrative of Biondo da Forli, where he
speaks of Verona in his "Italia Illustrata." Vittore was equal in
excellence to any painter of his age; and to this, not to speak of the
works enumerated above, most ample testimony is borne by many others
that are seen in his most noble native city of Verona, although many are
almost eaten away by time. And because he took particular delight in
depicting animals, he painted in the Chapel of the Pellegrini family, in
the Church of S. Anastasia at Verona, a S. Eustace caressing a dog
spotted with white and tan, which, with its feet raised and leaning
against the leg of the said Saint, is turning its head backwards as
though it had heard some noise; and it is making this movement with so
great vivacity, that a live dog could not do it better. Beneath this
figure there is seen painted the name of Pisano, who used to call
himself sometimes Pisano, and sometimes Pisanello, as may be seen from
the pictures and the medals by his hand. After the said figure of S.
Eustace, which is truly very beautiful and one of the best that this
craftsman ever wrought, he painted the whole outer wall of the same
chapel; and on the other side he made a S. George clad in white armour
made of silver, as was the custom in that age not only with him but with
all the other painters. This S. George, wishing to replace his sword in
the scabbard after slaying the Dragon, is raising his right hand, which
holds the sword, the point of which is already in the scabbard, and is
lowering the left hand, to the end that the increased distance may make
it easier for him to sheathe the sword, which is long; and this he is
doing with so much grace and with so beautiful a manner, that nothing
better could be seen. Michele San Michele of Verona, architect to the
most illustrious Signoria of Venice, and a man with a very wide
knowledge of these fine arts, was often seen during his life
contemplating these works of Vittore in a marvel, and then heard to say
that there was little to be seen that was better than the S. Eustace,
the dog, and the S. George described above. Over the arch of the said
chapel is painted the scene when S. George, having slain the Dragon, is
liberating the King's daughter, who is seen near the Saint, clad in a
long dress after the custom of those times. Marvellous, likewise, in
this part of the work, is the figure of the same S. George, who, armed
as above, and about to remount his horse, is standing with his face and
person turned towards the spectator, and is seen, with one foot in the
stirrup and his left hand on the saddle, almost in the act of leaping on
to the horse, which has its hindquarters towards the spectator, so that
the whole animal, being foreshortened, is seen very well, although in a
small space. In a word, it is impossible to contemplate without infinite
marvel--nay, amazement--a work executed with such extraordinary design,
grace, and judgment.
[Illustration: GENTILE DA FABRIANO: MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH THREE KINGS
(DETAIL FROM THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI)
(_Florence: Accademia, 165. Panel_)]
The same Pisano painted a picture in S. Fermo Maggiore at Verona (a
church of the Conventual Friars of S. Francis), in the Chapel of the
Brenzoni, on the left as one enters by the principal door of the said
church, over the tomb of the Resurrection of Our Lord, wrought in
sculpture and very beautiful for those times; he painted, I say, as an
ornament for that work, the Virgin receiving the Annunciation from the
Angel, which two figures, picked out with gold according to the use of
those times, are very beautiful, as are certain very well drawn
buildings, as well as some little animals and birds scattered throughout
the work, which are as natural and lifelike as it is possible to
imagine.
The same Vittore cast in medallions innumerable portraits of Princes and
other persons of his time, from which there have since been made many
portraits in painting. And Monsignor Giovio, speaking of Vittore Pisano
in an Italian letter written to the Lord Duke Cosimo, which may be read
in print together with many others, says the following words:
"This man was also very excellent in the work of low-relief, which is
esteemed very difficult among craftsmen, because it is the mean between
the flat surface of painting and the roundness of statuary. For this
reason there are seen many highly esteemed medals of great Princes by
his hand, made in a large form, and in the same proportions as that
reverse of the horse clad in armour that Guidi has sent me. Of these I
have that of the great King Alfonso with his hair long, with a captain's
helmet on the reverse; that of Pope Martin, with the arms of the house
of Colonna as the reverse; that of the Sultan Mahomet (who took
Constantinople), showing him on horseback in Turkish dress, with a
scourge in his hand; Sigismondo Malatesta, with Madonna Isotta of Rimini
on the reverse; and that of Niccolo Piccinino, wearing a large oblong
cap on his head, with the said reverse sent to me by Guidi, which I am
returning. Besides these, I have also a very beautiful medal of John
Palaeologus, Emperor of Constantinople, with that bizarre Greek cap
which the Emperors used to wear. This was made by Pisano in Florence, at
the time of the Council of Eugenius, at which the aforesaid Emperor was
present; and it has on the reverse the Cross of Christ, sustained by two
hands--namely, the Latin and the Greek."
[Illustration: VITTORE PISANELLO: THE VISION OF S. EUSTACE
(_London: National Gallery, 1436. Panel_)]
So far Giovio, and still further, Vittore also made medals with
portraits of Filippo de' Medici, Archbishop of Pisa, Braccio da Montone,
Giovan Galeazzo Visconti, Carlo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, Giovan
Caracciolo, Grand Seneschal of Naples, Borso and Ercole D'Este, and many
other nobles and men distinguished in arms and in letters.
By reason of his fame and reputation in that art, this master gained the
honour of being celebrated by very great men and rare writers; for,
besides what Biondo wrote of him, as has been said, he was much extolled
in a Latin poem by the elder Guerino, his compatriot and a very great
scholar and writer of those times; of which poem, called, from the
surname of its subject, "Il Pisano del Guerino," honourable mention is
made by Biondo. He was also celebrated by the elder Strozzi, Tito
Vespasiano, father of the other Strozzi, both of whom were very rare
poets in the Latin tongue. The father honoured the memory of Vittore
Pisano with a very beautiful epigram, which is in print with the others.
Such are the fruits that are borne by a worthy life.
Some say that when he was learning art in Florence in his youth, he
painted in the old Church of the Temple, which stood where the old
Citadel now is, the stories of that pilgrim who was going to S. Jacopo
di Galizia, when the daughter of his host put a silver cup into his
wallet, to the end that he might be punished as a robber; but he was
rescued by S. Jacopo, who brought him back home in safety. In this
Pisano gave promise of becoming, as he did, an excellent painter.
Finally, having come to a good old age, he passed to a better life. And
Gentile, after making many works in Citta di Castello, became palsied,
and was reduced to such a state that he could no longer do anything
good; and at length, wasted away by old age, and having lived eighty
years, he died. The portrait of Pisano I have not been able to find in
any place whatsoever. Both these painters drew very well, as may be seen
in our book.
[Illustration: MEDALS OF SIGISMONDO PANDOLFO MALATESTA AND NICCOLO
PICCININO
(_After =Vittore Pisanello=. London: British Museum_)]
FOOTNOTES:
[14] It has recently been shown that Pisanello's name was not Vittore
but Antonio; see article by G. F. Hill, on p. 288, vol. xiii. of the
_Burlington Magazine_. In the translation, however, Vittore, the name
given by Vasari, will be kept.
PESELLO AND FRANCESCO PESELLI
LIVES OF PESELLO AND FRANCESCO PESELLI
[_PESELLINO, OR FRANCESCO DI PESELLO_]
PAINTERS OF FLORENCE
It is rarely wont to happen that the disciples of the best masters, if
they observe their precepts, fail to become very excellent, or, if they
do not actually surpass them, at least to equal them and to make
themselves in every way like them. For the burning zeal of imitation,
with assiduity in studying, has power to make them equal the talent of
those who show them the true method of working; wherefore the disciples
become such that they afterwards compete with their masters, and even
find it easy to outstrip them, because it is always but little labour to
add to what has been discovered by others. That this is true is proved
by Francesco di Pesello, who imitated the manner of Fra Filippo so well
that he would have surpassed him by a long way, if death had not cut him
off so prematurely. It is also known that Pesello imitated the manner of
Andrea dal Castagno; and he took so much pleasure in counterfeiting
animals, of which he kept some of all sorts alive in his house, and made
them so lifelike and vivacious, that there was no one in his time who
equalled him in this branch of his profession. He worked up to the age
of thirty under the discipline of Andrea, learning from him, and became
a very good master. Wherefore, having given good proof of his knowledge,
he was commissioned by the Signoria of Florence to paint a panel in
distemper of the Magi bringing offerings to Christ, which was placed
half-way up the staircase of their Palace, and acquired great fame for
Pesello, above all because he had made certain portraits therein,
including that of Donato Acciaiuoli. In S. Croce, also, in the Chapel of
the Cavalcanti, below the Annunciation of Donato, he painted a predella
with little figures, containing stories of S. Nicholas. In the house of
the Medici he adorned some panelling very beautifully with animals, and
certain coffers with little scenes of jousts on horseback. And in the
same house there are seen to this day certain canvases by his hand,
representing lions pressing against a grating, which appear absolutely
alive; and he made others on the outside, together with one fighting
with a serpent; and on another canvas he painted an ox, a fox, and other
animals, very animated and vivacious. In the Chapel of the Alessandri,
in S. Piero Maggiore, he made four little scenes with little figures of
S. Peter, of S. Paul, of S. Zanobi restoring to life the son of the
widow, and of S. Benedict. In S. Maria Maggiore in the same city of
Florence, in the Chapel of the Orlandini, he made a Madonna and two
other very beautiful figures. For the children of the Company of S.
Giorgio he painted a Crucifix, S. Jerome, and S. Francis; and he made an
Annunciation on a panel in the Church of S. Giorgio. In the Church of S.
Jacopo at Pistoia he painted a Trinity, S. Zeno, and S. James; and
throughout the houses of citizens in Florence there are many pictures,
both round and square, by the hand of the same man.
Pesello was a temperate and gentle person; and whenever it was in his
power to assist his friends, he would do it very lovingly and willingly.
He married young, and had a son named Francesco, known as Pesellino, who
became a painter, following very closely in the steps of Fra Filippo.
From what is known of this man, it is clear that if he had lived longer
he would have done much more than he did, for he was a zealous student
of his art, and would draw all day and night without ceasing. In the
Chapel of the Noviciate in S. Croce, below the panel by Fra Filippo,
there is still seen a most marvellous predella with little figures,
which appear to be by the hand of Fra Filippo. He made many little
pictures with small figures throughout Florence, where, having acquired
a great name, he died at the age of thirty-one; to the great grief of
Pesello, who followed him after no long time, at the age of
seventy-seven.
[Illustration: PESELLINO: MADONNA ENTHRONED WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS
(_Empoli: Gallery. Panel_)]
BENOZZO GOZZOLI
[Illustration: THE PROCESSION OF THE MAGI
(_Detail, after the fresco by =Benozzo Gozzoli=. Florence: Palazzo
Riccardi_)
_Anderson_]
LIFE OF BENOZZO GOZZOLI[15]
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
He who pursues the path of excellence in his labours, although it is, as
men say, both stony and full of thorns, finds himself finally at the end
of the ascent on a broad plain, with all the blessings that he has
desired. And as he looks downwards and sees the difficult and perilous
way that he has come, he thanks God for having brought him out safely,
and with the greatest contentment he blesses those labours that he has
just been finding so burdensome. And so, recompensed for his past
sufferings by the gladness of the happy present, he labours without
fatigue, in order to demonstrate to all who see him how heat, cold,
sweat, hunger, thirst, and all the other discomforts that are endured in
the acquiring of excellence, deliver men from poverty, and bring them to
that secure and tranquil state in which, with so much contentment,
Benozzo Gozzoli enjoyed repose from his labours.
This man was a disciple of Fra Giovanni Angelico, by whom he was loved
with good reason; and by all who knew him he was held to be a practised
master, very rich in invention, and very productive in the painting of
animals, perspectives, landscapes, and ornaments. He wrought so many
works in his day that he showed that he cared little for other delights;
and although, in comparison with many who surpassed him in design, he
was not very excellent, yet in this great mass of work he surpassed all
the painters of his age, for in such a multitude of pictures he
succeeded in making some that were good. In his youth he painted a panel
for the altar of the Company of S. Marco in Florence, and, in S. Friano,
a picture of the passing of S. Jerome, which has been spoilt in
restoring the facade of the church along the street. In the Chapel of
the Palace of the Medici he painted the Story of the Magi in fresco.
In the Araceli at Rome, in the Chapel of the Cesarini, he painted the
stories of S. Anthony of Padua, wherein he made portraits from life of
Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini and Antonio Colonna. In the Conti Tower,
likewise, over a door under which one passes, he made in fresco a
Madonna with many saints; and in a chapel in S. Maria Maggiore, on the
right hand as one enters the church by the principal door, he painted
many figures in fresco, which are passing good.
After returning from Rome to Florence, Benozzo went to Pisa, where he
worked in the cemetery called the Campo Santo, which is beside the
Duomo, covering the surface of a wall that runs the whole length of the
building with stories from the Old Testament, wherein he showed very
great invention. And this may be said to be a truly tremendous work,
seeing that it contains all the stories of the Creation of the world
from one day to another. After this come Noah's Ark and the inundation
of the Flood, represented with very beautiful composition and an
abundance of figures. Then there follow the building of the proud Tower
of Nimrod, the burning of Sodom and the other neighbouring cities, and
the stories of Abraham, wherein there are some very beautiful effects to
be observed, for the reason that, although Benozzo was not remarkable
for the drawing of figures, yet he showed his art effectually in the
Sacrifice of Isaac, for there he painted an ass foreshortened in such a
manner that it seems to turn to either side, which is held something
very beautiful. After this comes the Birth of Moses, together with all
those signs and prodigies that were seen, up to the time when he led his
people out of Egypt and fed them for so many years in the desert. To
these he added all the stories of the Hebrews up to the time of David
and his son Solomon; and in this work Benozzo displayed a spirit truly
more than bold, for, whereas so great an enterprise might very well have
daunted a legion of painters, he alone wrought the whole and brought it
to perfection. Wherefore, having thus acquired very great fame, he won
the honour of having the following epigram placed in the middle of the
work:
[Illustration: BENOZZO BOZZOLI: MADONNA AND CHILD
(_Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 60B. Panel_)]
QUID SPECTAS VOLUCRES, PISCES, ET MONSTRA FERARUM,
ET VIRIDES SILVAS AETHEREASQUE DOMOS,
ET PUEROS, JUVENES, MATRES, CANOSQUE PARENTES,
QUEIS SEMPER VIVUM SPIRAT IN ORE DECUS?
NON HAEC TAM VARIIS FINXIT SIMULACRA FIGURIS
NATURA, INGENIO F[OE]TIBUS APTA SUO:
EST OPUS ARTIFICIS: PINXIT VIVA ORA BENOXUS;
O SUPERI, VIVOS FUNDITE IN ORA SONOS.
Throughout this whole work there are scattered innumerable portraits
from the life; but, since we have not knowledge of them all, I will
mention only those that I have recognized as important, and those that I
know by means of some record. In the scene of the Queen of Sheba going
to visit Solomon there is the portrait of Marsilio Ficino among certain
prelates, with those of Argiropolo, a very learned Greek, and of Batista
Platina, whom he had previously portrayed in Rome; while he himself is
on horseback, in the form of an old man shaven and wearing a black cap,
in the fold of which there is a white paper, perchance as a sign, or
because he intended to write his own name thereon.
In the same city of Pisa, for the Nuns of S. Benedetto a Ripa d'Arno, he
painted all the stories of the life of that Saint; and in the building
of the Company of the Florentines, which then stood where the Monastery
of S. Vito now is, he wrought the panel and many other pictures. In the
Duomo, behind the chair of the Archbishop, he painted a S. Thomas
Aquinas on a little panel in distemper, with an infinite number of
learned men disputing over his works, among whom there is a portrait of
Pope Sixtus IV, together with a number of Cardinals and many Chiefs and
Generals of various Orders. This is the best and most highly finished
work that Benozzo ever made. In S. Caterina, a seat of the Preaching
Friars in the same city, he executed two panels in distemper, which are
known very well by the manner; and he also painted another in the Church
of S. Niccola, with two in S. Croce without Pisa.
In his youth, Benozzo also painted the altar of S. Bastiano in the Pieve
of San Gimignano, opposite to the principal chapel; and in the Hall of
the Council there are some figures, partly by his hand, and partly old
works restored by him. For the Monks of Monte Oliveto, in the same
territory, he painted a Crucifix and other pictures; but the best work
that he made in that place was in the principal chapel of S. Agostino,
where he painted stories of S. Augustine in fresco, from his conversion
to his death; of the whole of which work I have the design by his hand
in my book, together with many drawings of the aforesaid scenes in the
Campo Santo of Pisa. In Volterra, likewise, he executed certain works,
of which there is no need to make mention.