of all, are the four Evangelists on the vaulting, larger than life; and,
on the window-wall, stories of S. Dominic, S. Peter Martyr, S. John
going into the Desert, the Madonna receiving the Annunciation from the
Angel, and many patron saints of Florence on their knees above the
window; while at the foot, on the right hand, is a portrait from life of
Giovanni Tornabuoni, with one of his wife on the left, which are both
said to be very lifelike. On the right-hand wall are seven scenes--six
below, in compartments as large as the wall allows, and the last above,
twice as broad as any of the others and bounded by the arch of the
vaulting; and on the left-hand wall are also seven scenes from the life
of S. John the Baptist. The first on the right-hand wall is the
Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple, wherein patience is depicted in
his countenance, with that contempt and hatred in the faces of the
others which the Jews felt for those who came to the Temple without
having children. In this scene, in the part near the window, are four
men portrayed from life, one of whom, old, shaven, and wearing a red
cap, is Alesso Baldovinetti, Domenico's master in painting and in
mosaic. Another, bareheaded, who is holding one hand on his side and is
wearing a red mantle, with a blue garment below, is Domenico himself,
the master of the work, who portrayed himself in a mirror. The one who
has long black locks and thick lips is Bastiano da San Gimignano, his
disciple and brother-in-law; and the last, who has his back turned, with
a little cap on his head, is the painter David Ghirlandajo, his brother.
All these are said, by those who knew them, to be truly vivid and
lifelike portraits. In the second scene is the Nativity of Our Lady,
executed with great diligence, and, among other notable things that he
painted therein, there is in the building (drawn in perspective) a
window that gives light to the room, which deceives all who see it.
Besides this, while S. Anna is in bed, and certain ladies are visiting
her, he painted some women washing the Madonna with great care--one is
getting ready the water, another is preparing the swaddling-clothes, a
third is busy with some service, a fourth with another, and, while each
is attending to her own duty, another woman is holding the little child
in her arms and making her laugh by smiling at her, with a womanly grace
truly worthy of such a work; besides many other expressions that are in
each figure. In the third, which is above the first, is the Madonna
ascending the steps of the Temple, with a building which recedes from
the eye correctly enough, in addition to a nude figure that brought him
praise at that time, when few were to be seen, although it had not that
complete perfection which is shown by those painted in our own day, for
those masters were not as excellent as ours. Next to this is the
Marriage of Our Lady, wherein he represented the unbridled rage of those
who are breaking their rods because they do not blossom like that of
Joseph; and this scene has an abundance of figures in an appropriate
building. In the fifth are seen the Magi arriving in Bethlehem with a
great number of men, horses, and dromedaries, and a variety of other
things--a scene truly well composed. Next to this is the sixth, showing
the impious cruelty practised by Herod against the Innocents, wherein
there is seen a most beautiful combat between women and soldiers, with
horses that are striking and driving them about; and in truth this is
the best of all the stories that are to be seen by his hand, for it is
executed with judgment, intelligence, and great art. There may be seen
therein the impious resolution of those who, at the command of Herod,
without regard for the mothers, are slaying those poor infants, among
which is one, still clinging to the breast, that is dying from wounds
received in its throat, so that it is sucking, not to say drinking, as
much blood as milk from that breast--an effect truly natural, and, being
wrought in such a manner as it is, able to kindle a spark of pity in the
coldest heart. There is also a soldier who has seized a child by force,
and while he runs off with it, pressing it against his breast to kill
it, the mother is seen hanging from his hair in the utmost fury, and
forcing him to bend his back in the form of an arch, so that three very
beautiful effects are shown among them--one in the death of the child,
which is seen expiring; the second in the impious rage of the soldier,
who, feeling himself drawn backwards so strangely, is shown in the act
of avenging himself on the child; and the third is that the mother,
seeing the death of her babe, is seeking with fury, grief, and disdain
to prevent the villain from going off scathless; and the whole is truly
more the work of a philosopher admirable in judgment than of a painter.
There are many other emotions depicted, which will demonstrate to him
who studies them that this man was without doubt an excellent master in
his time. Above this, in the seventh scene, which embraces the space of
two, and is bounded by the arch of the vaulting, are the Death and the
Assumption of Our Lady, with an infinite number of angels, and
innumerable figures, landscapes, and other ornaments, of which he used
to paint an abundance in his facile and practised manner.
[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST
(_After the fresco by =Domenico Ghirlandajo=. Florence: S. Maria
Novella_)
_Anderson_]
On the other wall are stories of S. John, and in the first is Zacharias
sacrificing in the Temple, when the Angel appears to him and makes him
dumb for his unbelief. In this scene, showing how sacrifices in temples
are ever attended by a throng of the most distinguished men, and wishing
to make it as honourable as he was able, he portrayed a good number of
the Florentine citizens who then governed that State, particularly all
those of the house of Tornabuoni, both young and old. Besides this, in
order to show that his age was rich in every sort of talent, above all
in learning, he made a group of four half-length figures conversing
together at the foot of the scene, representing the most learned men
then to be found in Florence. The first of these, who is wearing the
dress of a Canon, is Messer Marsilio Ficino; the second, in a red
mantle, with a black band round his neck, is Cristofano Landino; the
figure turning towards him is Demetrius the Greek; and he who is
standing between them, with one hand slightly raised, is Messer Angelo
Poliziano; and all are very lifelike and vivacious. In the second scene,
next to this, there follows the Visitation of Our Lady to S. Elizabeth,
with a company of many women dressed in costumes of those times, among
whom is a portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, then a most beautiful maiden.
In the third, above the first, is the birth of S. John, wherein there
is a very beautiful scene, for while S. Elizabeth is lying in bed, and
certain neighbours come to see her, and the nurse is seated suckling the
infant, one woman is joyfully demanding it from her, that she may show
to the others what an unexampled feat the mistress of the house has
performed in her old age. Finally, there is a woman, who is very
beautiful, bringing fruits and flasks from the country, according to the
Florentine custom. In the fourth scene, next to this, is Zacharias,
still dumb, marvelling--but with undaunted heart--that this child should
have been born to him; and while they keep asking him about the name, he
is writing on his knee, with his eyes fixed on his son, whom a woman who
has knelt down before him is holding reverently in her arms, and he is
tracing with his pen on the paper, "John shall be his name," to the no
little marvel of many other figures, who appear to be in doubt whether
the thing be true or not. There follows in the fifth his preaching to
the multitude, in which scene there is shown that attention which the
populace ever gives when hearing new things, particularly in the heads
of the Scribes, who, while listening to John, appear from a certain
expression of countenance to be deriding his law, and even to hate it;
and there are seen many men and women, variously attired, both standing
and seated. In the sixth S. John is seen baptizing Christ, in whose
reverent expression Domenico showed very clearly the faith that should
be placed in such a Sacrament. And since this did not fail to achieve a
very great effect, he depicted many already naked and barefooted,
waiting to be baptized, and revealing faith and willingness carved in
their faces; and one among them, who is taking off his shoe, personifies
readiness itself. In the last, which is in the arch next to the
vaulting, are the sumptuous Feast of Herod and the Dance of Herodias,
with an infinite number of servants performing various services in that
scene; not to mention the grandeur of an edifice drawn in perspective,
which proves the talent of Domenico no less clearly than do the other
pictures.
The panel, which stands by itself, he executed in distemper, as he did
the other figures in the six pictures. Besides the Madonna, who is
seated in the sky with the Child in her arms, and the other saints who
are round her, there are S. Laurence and S. Stephen, who are absolutely
alive, with S. Vincent and S. Peter Martyr, who lack nothing save
speech. It is true that a part of this panel remained unfinished in
consequence of his death; but he had carried it so far on that there was
nothing left to complete save certain figures on the back, where there
is the Resurrection of Christ, with three figures in the other pictures,
and the whole was afterwards finished by Benedetto and David
Ghirlandajo, his brothers. This chapel was held to be a very beautiful
work, grand, ornate, and lovely, through the vivacity of the colours,
through the masterly finish in their application on the walls, and
because very little retouching was done on the dry, not to mention the
invention and the composition of the subjects. And in truth Domenico
deserves the greatest praise on all accounts, particularly for the
liveliness of the heads, which, being portrayed from nature, present to
every eye most lifelike effigies of many distinguished persons.
For the same Giovanni Tornabuoni, at his Villa of Casso Maccherelli,
which stands on the River Terzolle at no great distance from the city,
he painted a chapel which has since been half destroyed through being
too near to the river; but the paintings, although they have been
uncovered for many years, continually washed by rain and scorched by the
sun, have remained so fresh that one might think they had been
covered--so great is the value of working in fresco, when the work is
done with care and judgment and not retouched on the dry. He also made
many figures of Florentine Saints, with most beautiful adornments, in
that hall of the Palace of the Signoria which contains the marvellous
clock of Lorenzo della Volpaia. And so great was his love of working and
of giving satisfaction to all, that he commanded his lads to accept any
work that might be brought to his shop, even hoops for women's baskets,
saying that if they would not do them he would paint them himself, to
the end that none might leave the shop unsatisfied. But when household
cares fell upon him he was troubled, and he therefore laid the charge of
all expenditure on his brother David, saying to him, "Leave me to work,
and do thou provide, for now that I have begun to understand the methods
of this art, it grieves me that they will not commission me to paint
the whole circuit of the walls of the city of Florence with stories";
thus revealing a spirit absolutely invincible and resolute in every
action.
For S. Martino in Lucca he painted S. Peter and S. Paul on a panel. In
the Abbey of Settimo, without Florence, he painted the wall of the
principal chapel in fresco, with two panels in distemper in the
tramezzo[25] of the church. In Florence, also, he executed many
pictures, round, square, and of other kinds, which can only be seen in
the houses of individual citizens. In Pisa he painted the recess behind
the high-altar of the Duomo, and he worked in many parts of that city,
painting, for example, on the front wall of the Office of Works, a scene
of King Charles, portrayed from life, making supplication for Pisa; and
two panels in distemper, that of the high-altar and another, for the
Frati Gesuati in S. Girolamo. In that place there is also a picture of
S. Rocco and S. Sebastian by the hand of the same man, which was given
by one or other of the Medici to those fathers, who have therefore added
to it the arms of Pope Leo X.
He is said to have been so accurate in draughtsmanship, that, when
making drawings of the antiquities of Rome, such as arches, baths,
columns, colossea, obelisks, amphitheatres, and aqueducts, he would work
with the eye alone, without rule, compasses, or measurements; and after
he had made them, on being measured, they were found absolutely correct,
as if he had used measurements. He drew the Colosseum by the eye,
placing at the foot of it a figure standing upright, from the
proportions of which the whole edifice could be measured; this was tried
by some masters after his death, and found quite correct.
Over a door of the cemetery of S. Maria Nuova he painted a S. Michael in
fresco, clad in armour which reflects the light most beautifully--a
thing seldom done before his day. At the Abbey of Passignano, a seat of
the Monks of Vallombrosa, he wrought certain works in company with his
brother David and Bastiano da San Gimignano. Here the two others,
finding themselves poorly fed by the monks before the arrival of
Domenico, complained to the Abbot, praying him to have them better
served, since it was not right that they should be treated like
bricklayers' labourers. This the Abbot promised to do, saying in excuse
that it was due more to the ignorance of the monks who looked after
strangers than to malice. Domenico arrived, but everything continued
just the same; whereupon David, seeking out the Abbot once again,
declared with due apologies that he was not doing this for his own sake
but on account of the merits and talents of his brother. But the Abbot,
like the ignorant man that he was, made no other answer. That evening,
then, when they had sat down to supper, up came the stranger's steward
with a board covered with bowls and messes only fit for a hangman,
exactly the same as before. Thereupon David, flying into a rage, upset
the soup over the friar, and, seizing the loaf that was on the table,
fell upon him with it and belaboured him in such a manner that he was
carried away to his cell more dead than alive. The Abbot, who was
already in bed, got up and ran to the noise, believing that the
monastery was tumbling down; and finding the friar in a sorry plight, he
began to upbraid David. Enraged by this, David bade him be gone out of
his sight, saying that the talent of Domenico was worth more than all
the pigs of Abbots like him that had ever lived in that monastery.
Whereupon the Abbot, seeing himself in the wrong, did his utmost from
that time onwards to treat them like the important men that they were.
This work finished, Domenico returned to Florence, where he painted a
panel for Signor di Carpi, sending another to Rimini for Signor Carlo
Malatesta, who had it placed in his chapel in S. Domenico. The latter
panel was in distemper, with three very beautiful figures, and with
little scenes below; and behind were figures painted to look like
bronze, with very great design and art. Besides these, he painted two
panels for the Abbey of S. Giusto, a seat of the Order of Camaldoli,
without Volterra; these panels, which are wondrously beautiful, he
executed at the order of the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, for the
reason that the abbey was then held "in commendam" by his son Cardinal
Giovanni de' Medici, who was afterwards Pope Leo. This abbey was
restored not many years ago by the Very Reverend Messer Giovan Batista
Bava of Volterra, who likewise held it "in commendam," to the said
Congregation of Camaldoli.
Being then summoned to Siena through the agency of the Magnificent
Lorenzo de' Medici, Domenico undertook to adorn the facade of the Duomo
with mosaics, Lorenzo acting as surety for him in this work to the
extent of 20,000 ducats. And he began the work with much confidence and
a better manner, but, being overtaken by death, he left it unfinished;
even as, by reason of the death of the aforesaid Magnificent Lorenzo,
there remained unfinished at Florence the Chapel of S. Zanobi, on which
Domenico had begun to work in mosaic in company with the illuminator
Gherardo. By the hand of Domenico is a very beautiful Annunciation in
mosaic that is to be seen over that side-door of S. Maria del Fiore
which leads to the Servi; and nothing better than this has yet been seen
among the works of our modern masters of mosaic. Domenico used to say
that painting was mere drawing, and that the true painting for eternity
was mosaic.
A pupil of his, who lived with him in order to learn, was Bastiano
Mainardi da San Gimignano, who became a very able master of his manner
in fresco; wherefore he went with Domenico to San Gimignano, where they
painted in company the Chapel of S. Fina, which is a beautiful work. Now
the faithful and willing service of Bastiano, who acquitted himself very
well, induced Domenico to judge him worthy to have a sister of his own
for wife; and so their friendship was changed into relationship--a proof
of liberality worthy of a loving master, who was pleased to reward the
proficiency that his disciple had acquired by labouring at his art.
Domenico caused the said Bastiano to paint a Madonna ascending into
Heaven in the Chapel of the Baroncelli and Bandini in S. Croce (although
he made the cartoon himself), with S. Thomas below receiving the
Girdle--a beautiful work in fresco. In Siena, in an apartment of the
Palace of the Spannocchi, Domenico and Bastiano together painted many
scenes in distemper, with little figures; and in Pisa, in addition to
the aforesaid recess in the Duomo, they filled the whole arch of that
chapel with angels, besides painting the folding doors that close the
organ, and beginning to overlay the ceiling with gold. Afterwards, just
when Domenico was about to put his hand to some very great works both in
Pisa and in Siena, he fell sick of a most grievous putrid fever,
which cut short his life in five days. As he lay ill, the Tornabuoni
sent him a hundred ducats of gold as a gift, proving their regard and
particular friendship for Domenico in return for his unceasing labours
in the service of Giovanni and of his house. Domenico lived forty-four
years, and he was buried with beautiful obsequies in S. Maria Novella by
his brothers David and Benedetto and his son Ridolfo, amid much weeping
and sorrowful regrets. The loss of so great a man was a great grief to
his friends; and many excellent foreign painters, hearing that he was
dead, wrote to his relatives lamenting his most untimely death. The
disciples that he left were David and Benedetto Ghirlandajo, Bastiano
Mainardi da San Gimignano, the Florentine Michelagnolo Buonarroti,
Francesco Granaccio, Niccolo Cieco, Jacopo del Tedesco, Jacopo dell'
Indaco, Baldino Baldinelli, and other masters, all Florentines. He died
in 1495.
[Illustration: THE MADONNA GIVING THE GIRDLE TO S. THOMAS
(_After the panel by =Bastiano Mainardi=. Florence: S. Croce_)
_Brogi_]
Domenico enriched the art of painting by working in mosaic with a manner
more modern than was shown by any of the innumerable Tuscans who essayed
it, as is proved by the works that he wrought, few though they may be.
Wherefore he has deserved to be held in honour and esteem for such rich
and undying benefits to art, and to be celebrated with extraordinary
praises after his death.
FOOTNOTES:
[23] Garlands.
[24] See note on p. 57, Vol. I.
[25] See note on p. 57, Vol. I.
ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAIUOLO
LIVES OF ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAIUOLO
PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS OF FLORENCE
Many men begin in a humble spirit with unimportant works, who, gaining
courage from proficiency, grow also in power and ability, in such a
manner that they aspire to greater undertakings and almost reach Heaven
with their beautiful thoughts. Raised by fortune, they very often chance
upon some liberal Prince, who, finding himself well served by them, is
forced to remunerate their labours so richly that their descendants
derive great benefits and advantages from them. Wherefore such men walk
through this life to the end with so much glory, that they leave
marvellous memorials of themselves to the world, as did Antonio and
Piero del Pollaiuolo, who were greatly esteemed in their day for the
rare acquirements that they had made with their industry and labour.
These men were born in the city of Florence, one no long time after the
other, from a father of humble station and no great wealth, who,
recognizing by many signs the good and acute intelligence of his sons,
but not having the means to educate them in letters, apprenticed Antonio
to the goldsmith's art under Bartoluccio Ghiberti, a very excellent
master in that calling at that time; and Piero he placed under Andrea
dal Castagno, who was then the best painter in Florence, to learn
painting. Antonio, then, being pushed on by Bartoluccio, not only learnt
to set jewels and to fire enamels on silver, but was also held the best
master of the tools of that art. Wherefore Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was
then working on the doors of S. Giovanni, having observed the manner of
Antonio, called him into that work in company with many other young men,
and set him to labour on one of the festoons which he then had in hand.
On this Antonio made a quail which is still in existence, so beautiful
and so perfect that it lacks nothing but the power of flight. Antonio,
therefore, had not spent many weeks over this work before he was known
as the best, both in design and in patient execution, of all those who
were working there, and as more gifted and more diligent than any other.
Whereupon, growing ever both in ability and in fame, he left Bartoluccio
and Lorenzo, and opened a fine and magnificent goldsmith's shop for
himself in the Mercato Nuovo in that city. And for many years he
followed that art, never ceasing to make new designs, and executing in
relief wax candles and other things of fancy, which in a short time
caused him to be held--as he was--the first master of his calling.
There lived at the same time another goldsmith called Maso Finiguerra,
who had an extraordinary fame, and deservedly, since there had never
been seen any master of engraving and of niello who could make so great
a number of figures as he could, whether in a small or in a large space;
as is still proved by certain paxes in the Church of S. Giovanni in
Florence, wrought by him with most minutely elaborated stories from the
Passion of Christ. This man drew very well and in abundance, and in our
book are many of his drawings of figures, both draped and nude, and
scenes done in water-colour. In competition with him Antonio executed
certain scenes, in which he equalled him in diligence and surpassed him
in design; wherefore the Consuls of the Guild of Merchants, seeing the
excellence of Antonio, and remembering that there were certain scenes in
silver to be wrought for the altar of S. Giovanni, such as it had ever
been the custom for various masters to make at different times,
determined among themselves that Antonio also should make some. This
came to pass; and his works turned out so excellent, that they are
recognized as the best among them all. These were the Feast of Herod and
the Dance of Herodias; but more beautiful than anything else was the S.
John that is in the middle of the altar, a work wrought wholly with the
chasing-tool, and much extolled. For this reason he was commissioned by
the said Consuls to make the candelabra of silver, each three braccia in
height, and the Cross in proportion; which work he brought to such
perfection, with such an abundance of carving, that it has ever been
esteemed a marvellous thing both by foreigners and by his countrymen.
[Illustration: SS. EUSTACE, JAMES, AND VINCENT
(_After the panel by =Piero Pollaiuolo=. Florence: Uffizi, 1301_)
_Alinari_]
In this calling he took infinite pains, both with the works that he
executed in gold and with those in enamel and silver. Among these are
some very beautiful paxes in S. Giovanni, coloured by the action of
fire, which are such that they could be scarcely improved with the
brush; and some of his marvellous enamels may be seen in other churches
in Florence, Rome, and other parts of Italy.
He taught this art to the Florentine Mazzingo and to Giuliano del
Facchino, both passing good masters, and to Giovanni Turini of Siena,
who surpassed these his companions considerably in that profession, in
which, from Antonio di Salvi--who made many good works, such as a large
silver Cross for the Badia of Florence, and other things--to our own
day, there has been nothing done than can be held in particular account.
But of his works and of those of the Pollaiuoli many have been destroyed
and melted down to meet the necessities of the city in times of war.