almost discontinued in every other place, namely, mosaic, is kept
alive by the most Serene Senate of Venice. Of this the benign and as
it were the principal reason has been Tiziano, who, so far as it has
lain in him, has always taken pains that it should be practised in
Venice, and has caused honourable salaries to be given to those who
have worked at it. Wherefore various works have been executed in the
Church of S. Marco, all the old works have been almost renewed, and
this sort of painting has been carried to such a height of excellence
as is possible, and to a different condition from that in which it was
in Florence and Rome at the time of Giotto, Alesso Baldovinetti, the
Ghirlandajo family, and the miniaturist Gherardo. And all that has
been done in Venice has come from the design of Tiziano and other
excellent painters, who have made drawings and coloured cartoons to
the end that the works might be carried to such perfection as may be
seen in those of the portico of S. Marco, where in a very beautiful
niche there is a Judgment of Solomon so lovely, that in truth it would
not be possible to do more with colours. In the same place is the
genealogical tree of Our Lady by the hand of Lodovico Rosso, all full
of Sibyls and Prophets executed in a delicate manner and put together
very well, with a relief that is passing good. But none have worked
better in this art in our times than Valerio and Vincenzio Zuccheri[9]
of Treviso, by whose hands are stories many and various that may be
seen in S. Marco, and in particular that of the Apocalypse, wherein
around the Throne of God are the Four Evangelists in the form of
animals, the Seven Candlesticks, and many other things executed so
well, that, looking at them from below, they appear as if done in
oil-colours with the brush; besides that there may be seen in their
hands and about them little pictures full of figures executed with the
greatest diligence, insomuch that they have the appearance not of
paintings only, but of miniatures, and yet they are made of stones
joined together. There are also many portraits; the Emperor Charles V,
Ferdinand his brother, who succeeded him in the Empire, and
Maximilian, son of Ferdinand and now Emperor; likewise the head of the
most illustrious Cardinal Bembo, the glory of our age, and that of the
Magnificent ...; all executed with such diligence and unity, and so
well harmonized in the lights, flesh-colours, tints, shadows, and
every other thing, that there is nothing better to be seen, nor any
more beautiful work in a similar material. And it is in truth a great
pity that this most excellent art of working in mosaic, with its
beauty and everlasting life, is not more in use than it is, and that,
by the fault of the Princes who have the power, no attention is given
to it.
[Footnote 9: Zuccati.]
In addition to those named above, there has worked in mosaic at S.
Marco, in competition with the Zuccheri, one Bartolommeo Bozzato, who
also has acquitted himself in his works in such a manner as to deserve
undying praise. But that which has been of the greatest assistance to
all in this art, is the presence and advice of Tiziano; of whom,
besides the men already named and many more, another disciple, helping
him in many works, has been one Girolamo, whom I know by no other name
than Girolamo di Tiziano.
JACOPO SANSOVINO
DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS OF JACOPO SANSOVINO[10]
SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE
[Footnote 10: After the death of Jacopo Sansovino in 1570,
Vasari published a separate Life of him, containing an
account of his death and other additional information. Such
passages as contain information that is new or expressed
differently from that of the Edition of 1568 will be found in
the notes at the end of this Life.]
The while that Andrea Contucci, the sculptor of Monte Sansovino,
having already acquired in Italy and Spain the name of the most
excellent sculptor and architect that there was in art after
Buonarroti, was living in Florence in order to execute the two figures
of marble that were to be placed over that door of the Temple of S.
Giovanni which faces towards the Misericordia, a young man was
entrusted to him to be taught the art of sculpture, the son of Antonio
di Jacopo Tatti, whom Nature had endowed with a great genius, so that
he gave much grace to the things that he did in relief. Whereupon
Andrea, having recognized how excellent in sculpture the young man was
destined to become, did not fail to teach him with all possible care
all those things which might make him known as his disciple. And so,
loving him very dearly, and doing his best for him with much
affection, and being loved by the young man with equal tenderness,
people judged that the pupil would not only become as excellent as his
master, but would by a great measure surpass him. And such were the
reciprocal friendliness and love between these two, as it were between
father and son, that Jacopo in those early years began to be called no
longer Tatti, but Sansovino, and so he has always been, and always
will be.
Now, Jacopo beginning to exercise his hand, he was so assisted by
Nature in the things that he did, that, although at times he did not
use much study and diligence in his work, nevertheless in what he did
there could be seen facility, sweetness, grace, and a certain delicacy
very pleasing to the eyes of craftsmen, insomuch that his every
sketch, rough study, and model has always had a movement and a
boldness that Nature is wont to give to but few sculptors. Moreover,
the friendship and intercourse that Andrea del Sarto and Jacopo
Sansovino had with each other in their childhood, and then in their
youth, assisted not a little both the one and the other, for they
followed the same manner in design and had the same grace in
execution, one in painting and the other in sculpture, and, conferring
together on the problems of art, and Jacopo making models of figures
for Andrea, they gave one another very great assistance. And that this
is true a proof is that in the altar-piece of S. Francesco, belonging
to the Nuns of the Via Pentolini, there is a S. John the Evangelist
which was copied from a most beautiful model in clay that Sansovino
made in those days in competition with Baccio da Montelupo; for the
Guild of Por Santa Maria wished to have a bronze statue of four
braccia made for a niche at the corner of Orsanmichele, opposite to
the Wool-Shearers, for which Jacopo made a more beautiful model in
clay than Baccio, but nevertheless it was allotted to Montelupo, from
his being an older master, rather than to Sansovino, although his
work, young as he was, was the better. That model, which is a very
beautiful thing, is now in the possession of the heirs of Nanni
Unghero; for which Nanni, being then his friend, Sansovino made some
models of large boys in clay, and the model for a figure of S.
Nicholas of Tolentino, which were all executed of the size of life in
wood, with the assistance of Sansovino, and placed in the Chapel of
that Saint in the Church of S. Spirito.
Becoming known for these reasons to all the craftsmen of Florence, and
being considered a young man of fine parts and excellent character,
Jacopo was invited by Giuliano da San Gallo, architect to Pope Julius
II, to Rome, vastly to his satisfaction; and then, taking
extraordinary pleasure in the ancient statues that are in the
Belvedere, he set himself to draw them. Whereupon Bramante, who was
likewise architect to Pope Julius, holding the first place at that
time and dwelling in the Belvedere, having seen some drawings by this
young man, and a nude recumbent figure of clay in full-relief, holding
a vessel to contain ink, which he had made, liked them so much that he
took him under his protection and ordered him that he should make a
large copy in wax of the Laocoon, which he was having copied also by
others, in order to take a cast in bronze--namely, by Zaccheria Zacchi
of Volterra, the Spaniard Alonzo Berughetta, and Vecchio of Bologna.
These, when all were finished, Bramante caused to be seen by Raffaello
Sanzio of Urbino, in order to learn which of the four had acquitted
himself best; whereupon it was judged by Raffaello that Sansovino,
young as he was, had surpassed the others by a great measure. Then, by
the advice of Cardinal Domenico Grimani, orders were given to Bramante
that he should have Jacopo's copy cast in bronze; and so the mould was
made, and the work, being cast in metal, came out very well. And
afterwards, having been polished, it was given to the Cardinal, who
held it as long as he lived not less dear than if it had been the
antique; and when he came to die, he left it as a very rare thing to
the most Serene Signoria of Venice, which, after having kept it many
years in the press of the Hall of the Council of Ten, finally in the
year 1534 presented it to the Cardinal of Lorraine, who took it to
France.
[Illustration: S. JAMES
(_After =Jacopo Sansovino=. Florence: Duomo_)
_Alinari_]
While Sansovino was acquiring greater fame every day in Rome with his
studies in art, being held in much consideration, Giuliano da San
Gallo, who had been keeping him in his house in the Borgo Vecchio,
fell ill; and when he departed from Rome in a litter, in order to go
to Florence for a change of air, a room was found for Jacopo by
Bramante, likewise in the Borgo Vecchio, in the Palace of Domenico
della Rovere, Cardinal of San Clemente, where Pietro Perugino was also
dwelling, who at that time was painting for Pope Julius the vaulting
of the chamber in the Borgia Tower. Whereupon Pietro, having seen the
beautiful manner of Sansovino, caused him to make many models in wax
for himself, and among them a Christ taken down from the Cross in the
round, with many ladders and figures, which was a very beautiful
thing. This and other things of the same sort, and models of various
fantasies, were all collected afterwards by M. Giovanni Gaddi, and
they are now in his house on the Piazza di Madonna in Florence. And
these works were the reason that Sansovino became very intimately
associated with Maestro Luca Signorelli, the painter of Cortona, with
Bramantino da Milano, with Bernardino Pinturicchio, with Cesare
Cesariano, who was in repute at that time for his commentaries on
Vitruvius, and with many other famous and beautiful intellects of that
age. Bramante, then, desiring that Sansovino should become known to
Pope Julius, arranged to have some antiques restored by him; whereupon
Jacopo, setting to work, displayed such diligence and so much grace in
restoring them, that the Pope and all who saw them judged that nothing
better could be done. These praises so spurred Sansovino to surpass
himself, that, having given himself beyond measure to his studies, and
being, also, somewhat delicate in constitution and suffering from some
excess such as young men commit, he became so ill that he was forced
for the sake of his life to return to Florence, where, profiting by
his native air, by the advantage of his youth, and by the diligence
and care of the physicians, in a short time he completely recovered.
Now Messer Piero Pitti was arranging at that time to have a Madonna of
marble made for that façade of the Mercato Nuovo in Florence where the
clock is, and it appeared to him, since there were in Florence many
young men of ability and also old masters, that the work should be
given to that one among them who might make the best model. Whereupon
one was given to Baccio da Montelupo to execute, one to Zaccheria
Zacchi of Volterra, who had likewise returned to Florence the same
year, another to Baccio Bandinelli, and yet another to Sansovino; and
when these were placed in comparison, the honour and the work were
given by Lorenzo di Credi, an excellent painter and a person of
judgment and probity, and likewise by the other judges, craftsmen, and
connoisseurs, to Sansovino. But, although the work was therefore
allotted to him, nevertheless so much delay was caused in procuring
and conveying the marble for him, by the envious machinations of
Averardo da Filicaia, who greatly favoured Bandinelli and hated
Sansovino, that he was ordered by certain other citizens, having
perceived that delay, to make one of the large Apostles in marble
that were going into the Church of S. Maria del Fiore. Wherefore,
having made the model of a S. James (which model, when the work was
finished, came into the possession of Messer Bindo Altoviti), he began
that figure and, continuing to work at it with all diligence and
study, he carried it to completion so perfectly, that it is a
miraculous figure and shows in all its parts that it was wrought with
incredible study and care, the draperies, arms, and hands being
undercut and executed with such art and such grace, that there is
nothing better in marble to be seen. Thus, Sansovino showed in what
way undercut draperies should be executed, having made these so
delicate and so natural, that in some places he reduced the marble to
the thickness that is seen in real folds and in the edges and hems of
the borders of draperies; a difficult method, and one demanding much
time and patience if you wish that it should so succeed as to display
the perfection of art. That figure remained in the Office of Works
from the time when it was finished by Sansovino until the year 1565,
at which time, in the month of December, it was placed in the Church
of S. Maria del Fiore to do honour to the coming of Queen Joanna of
Austria, the wife of Don Francesco de' Medici, Prince of Florence and
Siena. And there it is kept as a very rare work, together with the
other Apostles, likewise in marble, executed in competition by other
craftsmen, as has been related in their Lives.
[Illustration: BACCHUS
(_After =Jacopo Sansovino=. Florence: Museo Nazionale_)
_Alinari_]
At this same time he made for Messer Giovanni Gaddi a Venus of marble
on a shell, of great beauty, as was also the model, which was in the
house of Messer Francesco Montevarchi, a friend of these arts, but
came to an evil end in the inundation of the River Arno in the year
1558. He also made a boy of tow and a swan as beautiful as could be,
of marble, for the same M. Giovanni Gaddi, together with many other
things, which are all in his house. For Messer Bindo Altoviti he had a
chimney-piece of great cost made, all in grey-stone carved by
Benedetto da Rovezzano, which was placed in his house in Florence, and
Messer Bindo caused Sansovino to make a scene with little figures for
placing in the frieze of that chimney-piece, with Vulcan and other
Gods, which was a very rare work; but much more beautiful are two boys
of marble that were above the crown of the chimney-piece, holding some
arms of the Altoviti in their hands, which have been removed by
Signor Don Luigi di Toledo, who inhabits the house of the above-named
Messer Bindo, and placed about a fountain in his garden, behind the
Servite Friars, in Florence. Two other boys of extraordinary beauty,
also of marble and by the same hand, who are likewise holding an
escutcheon, are in the house of Giovan Francesco Ridolfi. All these
works caused Sansovino to be held by the men of art and by all
Florence to be a most excellent and gracious master; on which account
Giovanni Bartolini, having caused a house to be built in his garden of
Gualfonda, desired that Sansovino should make for him a young Bacchus
in marble, of the size of life. Whereupon the model for this was made
by Sansovino, and it pleased Giovanni so much, that he had him
supplied with the marble, and Jacopo began it with such eagerness,
that his hands and brain flew as he worked. This work, I say, he
studied in such a manner, in order to make it perfect, that he set
himself to portray from the life, although it was winter, an assistant
of his called Pippo del Fabbro, making him stand naked a good part of
the day. Which Pippo would have become a capable craftsman, for he was
striving with every effort to imitate his master; but, whether it was
the standing naked with the head uncovered at that season, or that he
studied too much and suffered hardships, before the Bacchus was
finished he went mad, copying the attitudes of that figure. And this
he showed one day that it was raining in torrents, when, Sansovino
calling out "Pippo!" and he not answering, the master afterwards saw
him mounted on the summit of a chimney on the roof, wholly naked and
striking the attitude of his Bacchus. At other times, taking a sheet
or other large piece of cloth, and wetting it, he would wrap it round
his naked body, as if he were a model of clay or rags, and arrange the
folds; and then, climbing up to some extraordinary place, and settling
himself now in one attitude and now in another, as a Prophet, an
Apostle, a soldier, or something else, he would have himself
portrayed, standing thus for a period of two hours without speaking,
not otherwise than as if he had been a motionless statue. Many other
amusing follies of that kind poor Pippo played, but above all he was
never able to forget the Bacchus that Sansovino had made, save only
when he died, a few years afterwards.
[Illustration: MARS AND NEPTUNE
(_After =Jacopo Sansovino=. Venice: Ducal Palace_)
_Alinari_]
But to return to the statue; when it was carried to completion, it was
held to be the most beautiful work that had ever been executed by a
modern master, seeing that in it Sansovino overcame a difficulty never
yet attempted, in making an arm raised in the air and detached on
every side, which holds between the fingers a cup all cut out of the
same marble with such delicacy, that the attachment is very slight,
besides which the attitude is so well conceived and balanced on every
side, and the legs and arms are so beautiful and so well proportioned
and attached to the trunk, that to the eye and to the touch the whole
seems much more like living flesh; insomuch that the fame that it has
from all who see it is well deserved, and even more. This work, I say,
when finished, while Giovanni was alive, was visited in that courtyard
in the Gualfonda by everyone, native and stranger alike, and much
extolled. But afterwards, Giovanni being dead, his brother Gherardo
Bartolini presented it to Duke Cosimo, who keeps it as a rare thing in
his apartments, together with other most beautiful statues of marble
that he possesses. For the same Giovanni Sansovino made a very
beautiful Crucifix of wood, which is in their house in company with
many works by the ancients and by the hand of Michelagnolo.
In the year 1514, when festive preparations of great richness were to
be made in Florence for the coming of Pope Leo X, orders were given by
the Signoria and by Giuliano de' Medici that many triumphal arches of
wood should be made in various parts of the city. Whereupon Sansovino
not only executed the designs for many of these, but himself undertook
in company with Andrea del Sarto to construct the façade of S. Maria
del Fiore all of wood, with statues, scenes, and architectural orders,
exactly in the manner wherein it would be well for it to be in order
to remove all that there is in it of the German order of composition.
Having therefore set his hand to this (to say nothing in this place of
the awning of cloth that used to cover the Piazza of S. Maria del
Fiore and that of S. Giovanni for the festival of S. John and for
others of the greatest solemnity, since we have spoken sufficiently of
this in another place), beneath that awning, I say, Sansovino
constructed the said façade in the Corinthian Order, making it in the
manner of a triumphal arch, and placing upon an immense base double
columns on each side, and between them certain great niches filled
with figures in the round that represented the Apostles. Above these
were some large scenes in half-relief, made in the likeness of bronze,
with stories from the Old Testament, some of which are still to be
seen in the house of the Lanfredini on the bank of the Arno; and over
them followed architraves, friezes, and cornices, projecting outwards,
and then frontispieces of great beauty and variety; and in the angles
of the arches, both in the wide parts and below, were stories painted
in chiaroscuro by the hand of Andrea del Sarto, and very beautiful. In
short, this work of Sansovino's was such that Pope Leo, seeing it,
said that it was a pity that the real façade of that temple was not so
built, which was begun by the German Arnolfo. The same Sansovino made
among these festive preparations for the coming of Leo X, besides the
said façade, a horse in the round all of clay and shearings of woollen
cloth, in the act of rearing, and under it a figure of nine braccia,
upon a pedestal of masonry. Which work was executed with such spirit
and force, that it pleased Pope Leo and was much extolled by him;
wherefore Sansovino was taken by Jacopo Salviati to kiss the feet of
the Pope, who showed him many marks of affection.