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LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO
VASARI:
VOLUME V. ANDREA DA FIESOLE TO LORENZO LOTTO 1913
NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED
ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES
[Illustration: 1511-1574]
PHILIP LEE WARNER, PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED 7 GRAFTON
ST. LONDON, W. 1912-14
CONTENTS OF VOLUME V
PAGE
ANDREA DA FIESOLE [ANDREA FERRUCCI], AND OTHERS 1
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO [VINCENZIO TAMAGNI], AND TIMOTEO
DA URBINO [TIMOTEO DELLA VITE] 9
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO [ANDREA CONTUCCI] 19
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO 33
BACCIO DA MONTELUPO, AND RAFFAELLO HIS SON 39
LORENZO DI CREDI 47
LORENZETTO AND BOCCACCINO 53
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI 61
GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI [CALLED IL FATTORE], AND PELLEGRINO
DA MODENA 75
ANDREA DEL SARTO 83
MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI 121
ALFONSO LOMBARDI, MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA, GIROLAMO SANTA
CROCE, AND DOSSO AND BATTISTA DOSSI 129
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE, AND OTHERS 143
GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI 157
GIROLAMO DA TREVISO 167
POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND MATURINO 173
IL ROSSO 187
BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO, AND OTHERS 205
FRANCIABIGIO [FRANCIA] 215
MORTO DA FELTRO AND ANDREA DI COSIMO FELTRINI 225
MARCO CALAVRESE 235
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI [PARMIGIANO] 241
JACOPO PALMA [PALMA VECCHIO] AND LORENZO LOTTO 257
INDEX OF NAMES 267
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME V
PLATES IN COLOUR
FACING PAGE
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
A Muse
Florence: Corsini Gallery 10
LORENZO DI CREDI
Venus
Florence: Uffizi, 3452 48
BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI)
S. Catharine borne to her Tomb by Angels
Milan: Brera, 288 54
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Madonna dell' Arpie
Florence: Uffizi, 1112 94
DOSSO DOSSI
A Nymph with a Satyr
Florence: Pitti, 147 140
FRANCIABIGIO (FRANCIA)
Portrait of a Man
Vienna: Prince Liechtenstein 222
LORENZO LOTTO
The Triumph of Chastity
Rome: Rospigliosi Gallery 258
JACOPO PALMA (PALMA VECCHIO)
S. Barbara
Venice: S. Maria Formosa 260
RONDINELLO (NICCOLÒ RONDINELLI)
Madonna and Child
Paris: Louvre, 1159 264
PLATES IN MONOCHROME
ANDREA DA FIESOLE (ANDREA FERRUCCI)
Font
Pistoia: Duomo 6
SILVIO COSINI (SILVIO DA FIESOLE)
Tomb of Raffaele Maffei
Volterra: S. Lino 8
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO (VINCENZIO TAMAGNI)
The Birth of the Virgin
San Gimignano: S. Agostino, Cappella del S. Sacramento 12
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
Madonna and Saints, with a Child Angel
Milan: Brera, 508 12
TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO DELLA VITE)
The Magdalene
Bologna: Accademia, 204 16
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
Altar-piece
Florence: S. Spirito 22
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
Tomb of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza
Rome: S. Maria del Popolo 24
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO (ANDREA CONTUCCI)
The Madonna and Child, with S. Anne
Rome: S. Agostino 26
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO
Tomb of Piero Soderini
Florence: S. Maria del Carmine 38
BACCIO DA MONTELUPO
S. John the Evangelist
Florence: Or San Michele 42
AGOSTINO BUSTI (IL BAMBAJA)
Detail from the Tomb: Head of Gaston de Foix
Milan: Brera 44
RAFFAELLO DA MONTELUPO
S. Damiano
Florence: New Sacristy of S. Lorenzo 44
LORENZO DI CREDI
Andrea Verrocchio
Florence: Uffizi, 1163 50
LORENZO DI CREDI
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Paris: Louvre, 1263 52
LORENZO DI CREDI
The Nativity
Florence: Accademia, 92 52
LORENZETTO
Elijah
Rome: S. Maria del Popolo, Chigi Chapel 56
LORENZETTO
S. Peter
Rome: Ponte S. Angelo 56
BOCCACCINO
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Rome: Doria Gallery, 125 58
BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI)
The Marriage of the Virgin
Saronno: Santuario della Beata Vergine 60
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Cupola of the Ponzetti Chapel
Rome: S. Maria della Pace 64
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Palazzo della Farnesina
Rome 66
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
Courtyard of Palazzo Massimi
Rome 70
GIOVANNI FRANCESCO PENNI (IL FATTORE)
The Baptism of Constantine
Rome: The Vatican 78
GAUDENZIO MILANESE (GAUDENZIO FERRARI)
The Last Supper
Milan: S. Maria della Passione 80
ANDREA DEL SARTO
"Noli Me Tangere"
Florence: Uffizi, 93 86
ANDREA DEL SARTO
The Last Supper
Florence: S. Salvi 88
ANDREA DEL SARTO
The Arrival of the Magi
Florence: SS. Annunziata 90
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Charity
Paris: Louvre, 1514 98
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Cæsar receiving the Tribute of Egypt
Florence: Poggio a Caiano 104
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Portrait of the Artist
Florence: Uffizi, 280 112
MADONNA PROPERZIA DE' ROSSI
Two Angels (with The Assumption of the Virgin, after TRIBOLO)
Bologna: S. Petronio 126
ALFONSO LOMBARDI
The Death of the Virgin
Bologna: S. Maria della Vita 134
MICHELAGNOLO DA SIENA
Tomb of Adrian VI
Rome: S. Maria dell' Anima 136
GIROLAMO SANTA CROCE
Madonna and Child, with SS. Peter and John
Naples: Monte Oliveto 138
DOSSO DOSSI
Madonna and Child, with SS. George and Michael
Modena: Pinacoteca, 437 140
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE
The Disputation of S. Catharine
Piacenza: S. Maria di Campagna 150
GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO OF PORDENONE
The Adoration of the Magi
Treviso: Duomo 152
GIOVANNI ANTONIO SOGLIANI
The Legend of S. Dominic
Florence: S. Marco 162
IL ROSSO
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Florence: Uffizi, 47 190
IL ROSSO
The Transfiguration
Città di Castello: Duomo 198
BARTOLOMMEO DA BAGNACAVALLO
The Holy Family, with Saints
Bologna: Accademia, 133 208
AMICO OF BOLOGNA (AMICO ASPERTINI)
The Adoration
Bologna: Pinacoteca, 297 210
INNOCENZIO DA IMOLA
The Marriage of S. Catharine
Bologna: S. Giacomo Maggiore 214
FRANCIABIGIO (FRANCIA)
The Marriage of the Virgin
Florence: SS. Annunziata 218
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI (PARMIGIANO)
The Marriage of S. Catharine
Parma: Gallery, 192 246
FRANCESCO MAZZUOLI (PARMIGIANO)
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Bologna: Accademia, 116 250
JACOPO PALMA (PALMA VECCHIO)
S. Sebastian
Venice: S. Maria Formosa 260
LORENZO LOTTO
The Glorification of S. Nicholas
Venice: S. Maria del Carmine 262
LORENZO LOTTO
Andrea Odoni
Hampton Court Palace 262
RONDINELLO (NICCOLÒ RONDINELLI)
Madonna and Child, with Saints
Ravenna: Accademia 264
FRANCESCO DA COTIGNOLA
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Ravenna: Accademia 266
CORRIGENDUM
P. 151, l. 13, _Vicenza_ is an error of the Italian text for Piacenza,
the church referred to being in the latter town
ANDREA DA FIESOLE
LIVES OF ANDREA DA FIESOLE
[_ANDREA FERRUCCI_]
SCULPTOR
AND OF OTHER CRAFTSMEN OF FIESOLE
Seeing that it is no less necessary for sculptors to have mastery over
their carving-tools than it is for him who practises painting to be able
to handle colours, it therefore happens that many who work very well in
clay prove to be unable to carry their labours to any sort of perfection
in marble; and some, on the contrary, work very well in marble, without
having any more knowledge of design than a certain instinct for a good
manner, I know not what, that they have in their minds, derived from the
imitation of certain things which please their judgment, and which their
imagination absorbs and proceeds to use for its own purposes. And it is
almost a marvel to see the manner in which some sculptors, without in
any way knowing how to draw on paper, nevertheless bring their works to
a fine and praiseworthy completion with their chisels. This was seen in
Andrea, a sculptor of Fiesole, the son of Piero di Marco Ferrucci, who
learnt the rudiments of sculpture in his earliest boyhood from Francesco
di Simone Ferrucci, another sculptor of Fiesole. And although at the
beginning he learnt only to carve foliage, yet little by little he
became so well practised in his work that it was not long before he set
himself to making figures; insomuch that, having a swift and resolute
hand, he executed his works in marble rather with a certain judgment and
skill derived from nature than with any knowledge of design.
Nevertheless, he afterwards gave a little more attention to art, when,
in the flower of his youth, he followed Michele Maini, likewise a
sculptor of Fiesole; which Michele made the S. Sebastian of marble in
the Minerva at Rome, which was so much praised in those days.
Andrea, then, having been summoned to work at Imola, built a chapel of
grey-stone, which was much extolled, in the Innocenti in that city.
After that work, he went to Naples at the invitation of Antonio di
Giorgio of Settignano, a very eminent engineer, and architect to King
Ferrante, with whom Antonio was in such credit, that he had charge not
only of all the buildings in that kingdom, but also of all the most
important affairs of State. On arriving in Naples, Andrea was set to
work, and he executed many things for that King in the Castello di San
Martino and in other parts of that city. Now Antonio died; and after the
King had caused him to be buried with obsequies suited rather to a royal
person than to an architect, and with twenty pairs of mourners following
him to the grave, Andrea, recognizing that this was no country for him,
departed from Naples and made his way back to Rome, where he stayed for
some time, attending to the studies of his art, and also to some work.
Afterwards, having returned to Tuscany, he built the marble chapel
containing the baptismal font in the Church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia, and
with much diligence executed the basin of that font, with all its
ornamentation. And on the main wall of the chapel he made two lifesize
figures in half-relief--namely, S. John baptizing Christ, a work
executed very well and with a beautiful manner. At the same time he made
some other little works, of which there is no need to make mention. I
must say, indeed, that although these things were wrought by Andrea
rather with the skill of his hand than with art, yet there may be
perceived in them a boldness and an excellence of taste worthy of great
praise. And, in truth, if such craftsmen had a thorough knowledge of
design united to their practised skill and judgment, they would vanquish
in excellence those who, drawing perfectly, only hack the marble when
they set themselves to work it, and toil at it painfully with a sorry
result, through not having practice and not knowing how to handle the
tools with the skill that is necessary.
After these works, Andrea executed a marble panel that was placed
exactly between the two flights of steps that ascend to the upper choir
in the Church of the Vescovado at Fiesole; in which panel he made three
figures in the round and some scenes in low-relief. And for S. Girolamo,
at Fiesole, he made the little marble panel that is built into the
middle of the church. Having come into repute by reason of the fame of
these works, Andrea was commissioned by the Wardens of Works of S. Maria
del Fiore, at the time when Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was governing
Florence, to make a statue of an Apostle four braccia in height; at that
time, I mean, when four other similar statues were allotted at one and
the same moment to four other masters--one to Benedetto da Maiano,
another to Jacopo Sansovino, a third to Baccio Bandinelli, and the
fourth to Michelagnolo Buonarroti; which statues were eventually to be
twelve in number, and were to be placed in that part of that magnificent
temple where there are the Apostles painted by the hand of Lorenzo di
Bicci. Andrea, then, executed his rather with fine skill and judgment
than with design; and he acquired thereby, if not as much praise as the
others, at least the name of a good and practised master. Wherefore he
was almost continually employed ever afterwards by the Wardens of Works
of that church; and he made the head of Marsilius Ficinus that is to be
seen therein, within the door that leads to the chapter-house. He made,
also, a marble fountain that was sent to the King of Hungary, which
brought him great honour; and by his hand was a marble tomb that was
sent, likewise, to Strigonia, a city of Hungary. In this tomb was a
Madonna, very well executed, with other figures; and in it was
afterwards laid to rest the body of the Cardinal of Strigonia. To
Volterra Andrea sent two Angels of marble in the round; and for Marco
del Nero, a Florentine, he made a lifesize Crucifix of wood, which is
now in the Church of S. Felicita at Florence. He made a smaller one for
the Company of the Assumption in Fiesole. Andrea also delighted in
architecture, and he was the master of Mangone, the stonecutter and
architect, who afterwards erected many palaces and other buildings in
Rome in a passing good manner.
In the end, having grown old, Andrea gave his attention only to mason's
work, like one who, being a modest and worthy person, loved a quiet
life more than anything else. He received from Madonna Antonia Vespucci
the commission for a tomb for her husband, Messer Antonio Strozzi; but
since he could not work much himself, the two Angels were made for him
by Maso Boscoli of Fiesole, his disciple, who afterwards executed many
works in Rome and elsewhere, and the Madonna was made by Silvio Cosini
of Fiesole, although it was not set into place immediately after it was
finished, which was in the year 1522, because Andrea died, and was
buried by the Company of the Scalzo in the Church of the Servi.
[Illustration: FONT
(_After_ Andrea da Fiesole [Andrea Ferrucci]. _Pistoia: Duomo_)
_Brogi_]
Silvio, when the said Madonna was set into place and the tomb of the
Strozzi completely finished, pursued the art of sculpture with
extraordinary zeal; wherefore he afterwards executed many works in a
graceful and beautiful manner, and surpassed a host of other masters,
above all in the bizarre fancy of his grotesques, as may be seen in the
sacristy of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, from some carved marble capitals
over the pilasters of the tombs, with some little masks so well hollowed
out that there is nothing better to be seen. In the same place he made
some friezes with very beautiful masks in the act of crying out;
wherefore Buonarroti, seeing the genius and skill of Silvio, caused him
to begin certain trophies to complete those tombs, but they remained
unfinished, with other things, by reason of the siege of Florence.
Silvio executed a tomb for the Minerbetti in their chapel in the
tramezzo[1] of the Church of S. Maria Novella, as well as any man could,
since, in addition to the beautiful shape of the sarcophagus, there are
carved upon it various shields, helmet-crests, and other fanciful
things, and all with as much design as could be desired in such a work.
Being at Pisa in the year 1528, Silvio made there an Angel that was
wanting over a column on the high-altar of the Duomo, to face the one by
Tribolo; and he made it so like the other that it could not be more like
even if it were by the same hand. In the Church of Monte Nero, near
Livorno, he made a little panel of marble with two figures, for the
Frati Ingesuati; and at Volterra he made a tomb for Messer Raffaello da
Volterra, a man of great learning, wherein he portrayed him from nature
on a sarcophagus of marble, with some ornaments and figures.
Afterwards, while the siege of Florence was going on, Niccolò Capponi, a
most honourable citizen, died at Castel Nuovo della Garfagnana on his
return from Genoa, where he had been as Ambassador from his Republic to
the Emperor; and Silvio was sent in great haste to make a cast of his
head, to the end that he might afterwards make one in marble, having
already executed a very beautiful one in wax.
Now Silvio lived for some time with all his family in Pisa; and since he
belonged to the Company of the Misericordia, which in that city
accompanies those condemned to death to the place of execution, there
once came into his head, being sacristan at that time, the strangest
caprice in the world. One night he took out of the grave the body of one
who had been hanged the day before; and, after having dissected it for
the purposes of his art, being a whimsical fellow, and perhaps a wizard,
and ready to believe in enchantments and suchlike follies, he flayed it
completely, and with the skin, prepared after a method that he had been
taught, he made a jerkin, which he wore for some time over his shirt,
believing that it had some great virtue, without anyone ever knowing of
it. But having once been upbraided by a good Father to whom he had
confessed the matter, he pulled off the jerkin and laid it to rest in a
grave, as the monk had urged him to do. Many other similar stories could
be told of this man, but, since they have nothing to do with our
history, I will pass them over in silence.
After the death of his first wife in Pisa, Silvio went off to Carrara.
There he remained to execute some works, and took another wife, with
whom, no long time after, he went to Genoa, where, entering the service
of Prince Doria, he made a most beautiful escutcheon of marble over the
door of his palace, and many ornaments in stucco all over that palace,
after the directions given to him by the painter Perino del Vaga. He
made, also, a very beautiful portrait in marble of the Emperor Charles
V. But since it was Silvio's habit never to stay long in one place--for
he was a wayward person--he grew weary of his prosperity in Genoa, and
set out to make his way to France. He departed, therefore, but before
arriving at Monsanese he turned back, and, stopping at Milan, he
executed in the Duomo some scenes and figures and many ornaments, with
much credit for himself. And there, finally, he died at the age of
forty-five. He was a man of fine genius, capricious, very dexterous in
any kind of work, and a person who could execute with great diligence
anything to which he turned his hand. He delighted in composing sonnets
and improvising songs, and in his early youth he gave his attention to
arms. If he had concentrated his mind on sculpture and design, he would
have had no equal; and, even as he surpassed his master Andrea Ferrucci,
so, had he lived, he would have surpassed many others who have enjoyed
the name of excellent masters.
There flourished at the same time as Andrea and Silvio another sculptor
of Fiesole, called Il Cicilia, who was a person of much skill; and a
work by his hand may be seen in the Church of S. Jacopo, in the Campo
Corbolini at Florence--namely, the tomb of the Chevalier Messer Luigi
Tornabuoni, which is much extolled, particularly because he made therein
the escutcheon of that Chevalier, in the form of a horse's head, as if
to show, according to the ancient belief, that the shape of shields was
originally taken from the head of a horse.
About the same time, also, Antonio da Carrara, a very rare sculptor,
made three statues in Palermo for the Duke of Monteleone, a Neapolitan
of the house of Pignatella, and Viceroy of Sicily--namely, three figures
of Our Lady in different attitudes and manners, which were placed over
three altars in the Duomo of Monteleone in Calabria. For the same patron
he made some scenes in marble, which are in Palermo. He left behind him
a son who is also a sculptor at the present day, and no less excellent
than was his father.
[Illustration: TOMB OF RAFFAELE MAFFEI
(_After_ Silvio Cosini [Silvio da Fiesole]. _Volterra: S. Lino_)
_Alinari_]
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See note on p. 57, Vol. I.
VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO AND TIMOTEO DA URBINO
[Illustration: TIMOTEO DA URBINO (TIMOTEO VITI): A MUSE
(_Florence: Corsini Gallery. Panel_)]
LIVES OF VINCENZIO DA SAN GIMIGNANO AND TIMOTEO DA URBINO
[_TIMOTEO DELLA VITE_]
PAINTERS
Having now to write, after the Life of the sculptor Andrea da Fiesole,
the Lives of two excellent painters, Vincenzio da San Gimignano of
Tuscany, and Timoteo da Urbino, I propose to speak first of Vincenzio,
as the man whose portrait is above,[2] and immediately afterwards of
Timoteo, since they lived almost at one and the same time, and were both
disciples and friends of Raffaello.
Vincenzio, then, working in company with many others in the Papal Loggie
for the gracious Raffaello da Urbino, acquitted himself in such a manner
that he was much extolled by Raffaello and by all the others. Having
therefore been set to work in the Borgo, opposite to the Palace of
Messer Giovanni Battista dall' Aquila, with great credit to himself he
painted on a façade a frieze in terretta, in which he depicted the Nine
Muses, with Apollo in the centre, and above them some lions, the device
of the Pope, which are held to be very beautiful. Vincenzio showed great
diligence in his manner and softness in his colouring, and his figures
were very pleasing in aspect; in short, he always strove to imitate the
manner of Raffaello da Urbino, as may also be seen in the same Borgo,
opposite to the Palace of the Cardinal of Ancona, from the façade of a
house that was built by Messer Giovanni Antonio Battiferro of Urbino,
who, in consequence of the strait friendship that he had with Raffaello,
received from him the design for that façade, and also, through his good
offices, many benefits and rich revenues at the Court. In this design,
then, which was afterwards carried into execution by Vincenzio,
Raffaello drew, in allusion to the name of the Battiferri, the Cyclopes
forging thunderbolts for Jove, and in another part Vulcan making arrows
for Cupid, with some most beautiful nudes and other very lovely scenes
and statues. The same Vincenzio painted a great number of scenes on a
façade in the Piazza di S. Luigi de' Francesi at Rome, such as the Death
of Cæsar, a Triumph of Justice, and a battle of horsemen in a frieze,
executed with spirit and much diligence; and in this work, close to the
roof, between the windows, he painted some Virtues that are very well
wrought. In like manner, on the façade of the Epifani, behind the Curia
di Pompeo, and near the Campo di Fiore, he painted the Magi following
the Star; with an endless number of other works throughout that city,
the air and position of which seem to be in great measure the reason
that men are inspired to produce marvellous works there. Experience
teaches us, indeed, that very often the same man has not the same manner
and does not produce work of equal excellence in every place, but makes
it better or worse according to the nature of the place.
[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Vincenzio da San Gimignano [Vincenzio Tamagni]=.
San Gimignano: S. Agostino_)
_Brogi_]
Vincenzio being in very good repute in Rome, there took place in the
year 1527 the ruin and sack of that unhappy city, which had been the
mistress of the nations. Whereupon, grieved beyond measure, he returned
to his native city of San Gimignano; and there, by reason of the
sufferings that he had undergone, and the weakening of his love for art,
now that he was away from the air which nourishes men of fine genius and
makes them bring forth works of the rarest merit, he painted some things
that I will pass over in silence, in order not to veil with them the
renown and the great name that he had honourably acquired in Rome. It is
enough to point out clearly that violence turns the most lofty
intellects roughly aside from their chief goal, and makes them direct
their steps into the opposite path; which may also be seen in a
companion of Vincenzio, called Schizzone, who executed some works in the
Borgo that were highly extolled, and also in the Campo Santo of Rome and
in S. Stefano degl' Indiani, and who was likewise caused by the
senseless soldiery to turn aside from art and in a short time to
lose his life. Vincenzio died in his native city of San Gimignano,
having had but little gladness in his life after his departure from
Rome.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND SAINTS, WITH A CHILD ANGEL
(_After the painting by =Timoteo da Urbino [Timoteo della Vite]=. Milan:
Brera, 508_)
_Brogi_]
Timoteo, a painter of Urbino, was the son of Bartolommeo della Vite, a
citizen of good position, and Calliope, the daughter of Maestro Antonio
Alberto of Ferrara, a passing good painter in his day, as is shown by
his works at Urbino and elsewhere. While Timoteo was still a child, his
father dying, he was left to the care of his mother Calliope, with good
and happy augury, from the circumstance that Calliope is one of the Nine
Muses, and the conformity that exists between poetry and painting. Then,
after he had been brought discreetly through his boyhood by his wise
mother, and initiated by her into the studies of the simpler arts and
likewise of drawing, the young man came into his first knowledge of the
world at the very time when the divine Raffaello Sanzio was flourishing.
Applying himself in his earliest years to the goldsmith's art, he was
summoned by Messer Pier Antonio, his elder brother, who was then
studying at Bologna, to that most noble city, to the end that he might
follow that art, to which he seemed to be inclined by nature, under the
discipline of some good master. While living, then, in Bologna, in which
city he stayed no little time, and was much honoured and received by the
noble and magnificent Messer Francesco Gombruti into his house with
every sort of courtesy, Timoteo associated continually with men of
culture and lofty intellect. Wherefore, having become known in a few
months as a young man of judgment, and inclined much more to the
painter's than to the goldsmith's art, of which he had given proofs in
some very well-executed portraits of his friends and of others, it
seemed good to his brother, wishing to encourage the young man's natural
genius, and also persuaded to this by his friends, to take him away from
his files and chisels, and to make him devote himself entirely to the
study of drawing. At which he was very content, and applied himself
straightway to drawing and to the labours of art, copying and drawing
all the best works in that city; and establishing a close intimacy with
painters, he set out to such purpose on his new road, that it was a
marvel to see the progress that he made from one day to another, and all
the more because he learnt with facility the most difficult things
without any particular teaching from any appointed master. And so,
becoming enamoured of his profession, and learning many secrets of
painting merely by sometimes seeing certain painters of no account
making their mixtures and using their brushes, and guided by himself and
by the hand of nature, he set himself boldly to colouring, and acquired
a very pleasing manner, very similar to that of the new Apelles, his
compatriot, although he had seen nothing by his hand save a few works at
Bologna. Thereupon, after executing some works on panel and on walls
with very good results, guided by his own good intellect and judgment,
and believing that in comparison with other painters he had succeeded
very well in everything, he pursued the studies of painting with great
ardour, and to such purpose, that in course of time he found that he had
gained a firm footing in his art, and was held in good repute and vast
expectation by all the world.
Having then returned to his own country, now a man twenty-six years of
age, he stayed there for some months, giving excellent proofs of his
knowledge. Thus he executed, to begin with, the altar-piece of the
Madonna for the altar of S. Croce in the Duomo, containing, besides the
Virgin, S. Crescenzio and S. Vitale; and there is a little Angel seated
on the ground, playing on a viola with a grace truly angelic and a
childlike simplicity expressed with art and judgment. Afterwards he
painted another altar-piece for the high-altar of the Church of the
Trinità, together with a S. Apollonia on the left hand of that altar.
By means of these works and certain others, of which there is no need to
make mention, the name and fame of Timoteo spread abroad, and he was
invited with great insistence by Raffaello to Rome; whither having gone
with the greatest willingness, he was received with that loving kindness
that was as peculiar to Raffaello as was his excellence in art. Working,
then, with Raffaello, in little more than a year he made a great
advance, not only in art, but also in prosperity, for in that time he
sent home a good sum of money. While working with his master in the
Church of S. Maria della Pace, he made with his own hand and invention
the Sibyls that are in the lunettes on the right hand, so much esteemed
by all painters. That they are his is maintained by some who still
remember having seen them painted; and we have also testimony in the
cartoons which are still to be found in the possession of his
successors. On his own account, likewise, he afterwards painted the bier
and the dead body contained therein, with the other things, so highly
extolled, that are around it, in the Scuola of S. Caterina da Siena; and
although certain men of Siena, carried away by love of their own
country, attribute these works to others, it may easily be recognized
that they are the handiwork of Timoteo, both from the grace and
sweetness of the colouring, and from other memorials of himself that he
left in that most noble school of excellent painters.
Now, although Timoteo was well and honourably placed in Rome, yet, not
being able to endure, as many do, the separation from his own country,
and also being invited and urged every moment to come home by the
counsels of his friends and by the prayers of his mother, now an old
woman, he returned to Urbino, much to the displeasure of Raffaello, who
loved him dearly for his good qualities. And not long after, having
taken a wife in Urbino at the suggestion of his family, and having
become enamoured of his country, in which he saw that he was highly
honoured, besides the circumstance, even more important, that he had
begun to have children, Timoteo made up his mind firmly never again to
consent to go abroad, notwithstanding, as may still be seen from some
letters, that he was invited back to Rome by Raffaello. But he did not
therefore cease to work, and he made many works in Urbino and in the
neighbouring cities. At Forlì he painted a chapel in company with
Girolamo Genga, his friend and compatriot; and afterwards he painted
entirely with his own hand a panel that was sent to Città di Castello,
and likewise another for the people of Cagli. At Castel Durante, also,
he executed some works in fresco, which are truly worthy of praise, as
are all the other works by his hand, which bear witness that he was a
graceful painter in figures, landscapes, and every other field of
painting. In Urbino, at the instance of Bishop Arrivabene of Mantua, he
painted the Chapel of S. Martino in the Duomo, in company with the same
Genga; but the altar-panel and the middle of the chapel are entirely by
the hand of Timoteo. For the same church, also, he painted a Magdalene
standing, clothed in a short mantle, and covered below this by her own
tresses, which reach to the ground and are so beautiful and natural,
that the wind appears to move them; not to mention the divine beauty of
the expression of her countenance, which reveals clearly the love that
she bore to her Master.
In S. Agata there is another panel by the hand of the same man, with
some very good figures. And for S. Bernardino, without that city, he
made that work so greatly renowned that is at the right hand upon the
altar of the Buonaventuri, gentlemen of Urbino; wherein the Virgin is
represented with most beautiful grace as having received the
Annunciation, standing with her hands clasped and her face and eyes
uplifted to Heaven. Above, in the sky, in the centre of a great circle
of light, stands a little Child, with His foot on the Holy Spirit in the
form of a Dove, and holding in His left hand a globe symbolizing the
dominion of the world, while, with the other hand raised, He gives the
benediction; and on the right of the Child is an angel, who is pointing
Him out with his finger to the Madonna. Below--that is, on the level of
the Madonna, to her right--is the Baptist, clothed in a camel's skin,
which is torn on purpose that the nude figure may be seen; and on her
left is a S. Sebastian, wholly naked, and bound in a beautiful attitude
to a tree, and wrought with such diligence that the figure could not
have stronger relief nor be in any part more beautiful.
At the Court of the most illustrious Dukes of Urbino, in a little
private study, may be seen an Apollo and two half-nude Muses by his
hand, beautiful to a marvel. For the same patrons he executed many
pictures, and made some decorations for apartments, which are very
beautiful. And afterwards, in company with Genga, he painted some
caparisons for horses, which were sent to the King of France, with such
beautiful figures of various animals that they appeared to all who
beheld them to have life and movement. He made, also, some triumphal
arches similar to those of the ancients, on the occasion of the marriage
of the most illustrious Duchess Leonora to the Lord Duke Francesco
Maria, to whom they gave vast satisfaction, as they did to the whole
Court; on which account he was received for many years into the
household of that Duke, with an honourable salary.
[Illustration: THE MAGDALENE
(_After the panel by =Timoteo da Urbino [Timoteo della Vite]=. Bologna:
Accademia, 204_)
_Anderson_]
Timoteo was a bold draughtsman, and even more notable for the sweetness
and charm of his colouring, insomuch that his works could not have been
executed with more delicacy or greater diligence. He was a merry fellow,
gay and festive by nature, and most acute and witty in his sayings and
discourses. He delighted in playing every sort of instrument, and
particularly the lyre, to which he sang, improvising upon it with
extraordinary grace. He died in the year of our salvation 1524, the
fifty-fourth of his life, leaving his native country as much enriched by
his name and his fine qualities as it was grieved by his loss. He left
in Urbino some unfinished works, which were finished afterwards by
others and show by comparison how great were the worth and ability of
Timoteo.
In our book are some drawings by his hand, very beautiful and truly
worthy of praise, which I received from the most excellent and gentle
Messer Giovanni Maria, his son--namely, a pen-sketch for the portrait of
the Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici, which Timoteo made when Giuliano
was frequenting the Court of Urbino and that most famous academy, a
"Noli me tangere," and a S. John the Evangelist sleeping while Christ is
praying in the Garden, all very beautiful.
FOOTNOTE:
[2] In the original edition of 1568.
ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO
LIFE OF ANDREA DAL MONTE SANSOVINO
[_ANDREA CONTUCCI_]
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT
Although Andrea, the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte Sansovino, was
born from a poor father, a tiller of the earth, and rose from the
condition of shepherd, nevertheless his conceptions were so lofty, his
genius so rare, and his mind so ready, both in his works and in his
discourses on the difficulties of architecture and perspective, that
there was not in his day a better, rarer, or more subtle intellect than
his, nor one that was more able than he was to render the greatest
doubts clear and lucid; wherefore he well deserved to be held in his own
times, by all who were qualified to judge, to be supreme in those
professions. Andrea was born, so it is said, in the year 1460; and in
his childhood, while looking after his flocks, he would draw on the sand
the livelong day, as is also told of Giotto, and copy in clay some of
the animals that he was guarding. So one day it happened that a
Florentine citizen, who is said to have been Simone Vespucci, at that
time Podestà of the Monte, passing by the place where Andrea was looking
after his little charges, saw the boy standing all intent on drawing or
modelling in clay. Whereupon he called to him, and, having seen what was
the boy's bent, and heard whose son he was, he asked for him from
Domenico Contucci, who graciously granted his request; and Simone
promised to place him in the way of learning design, in order to see
what virtue there might be in that inclination of nature, if assisted by
continual study.
Having returned to Florence, then, Simone placed him to learn art with
Antonio del Pollaiuolo, under whom Andrea made such proficience, that in
a few years he became a very good master. In the house of that Simone,
on the Ponte Vecchio, there may still be seen a cartoon executed by him
at that time, of Christ being scourged at the Column, drawn with much
diligence; and, in addition, two marvellous heads in terra-cotta, copied
from ancient medals, one of the Emperor Nero, and the other of the
Emperor Galba, which heads served to adorn a chimney-piece; but the
Galba is now at Arezzo, in the house of Giorgio Vasari. Afterwards,
while still living in Florence, he made an altar-piece in terra-cotta
for the Church of S. Agata at Monte Sansovino, with a S. Laurence and
some other saints, and little scenes most beautifully executed. And no
long time after this he made another like it, containing a very
beautiful Assumption of Our Lady, S. Agata, S. Lucia, and S. Romualdo;
which altar-piece was afterwards glazed by the Della Robbia family.
[Illustration: ALTAR-PIECE
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Florence: S.
Spirito_)
_Alinari_]
Then, pursuing the art of sculpture, he made in his youth for Simone del
Pollaiuolo, otherwise called Il Cronaca, two capitals for pilasters in
the Sacristy of S. Spirito, which brought him very great fame, and led
to his receiving a commission to execute the antechamber that is between
the said sacristy and the church; and since the space was very small,
Andrea was forced to use great ingenuity. He made, therefore, a
structure of grey-stone in the Corinthian Order, with twelve round
columns, six on either side; and having laid architrave, frieze, and
cornice over these columns, he then raised a barrel-shaped vault, all of
the same stone, with a coffer-work surface full of carvings, which was
something novel, rich and varied, and much extolled. It is true, indeed,
that if the mouldings of that coffer-work ceiling, which serve to divide
the square and round panels by which it is adorned, had been contrived
so as to fall in a straight line with the columns, with truer proportion
and harmony, this work would be wholly perfect in every part; and it
would have been an easy thing to do this. But, according to what I once
heard from certain old friends of Andrea, he used to defend himself by
saying that he had adhered in his vault to the method of the coffering
in the Ritonda at Rome, wherein the ribs that radiate from the round
window in the centre above, from which that temple gets its light, serve
to enclose the square sunk panels containing the rosettes, which
diminish little by little, as likewise do the ribs; and for that reason
they do not fall in a straight line with the columns. Andrea used to
add that if he who built the Temple of the Ritonda, which is the best
designed and proportioned that there is, and made with more harmony than
any other, paid no attention to this in a vault of such size and
importance, much less should he do so in a coffered ceiling with far
smaller panels. Nevertheless many craftsmen, and Michelagnolo in
particular, have been of the opinion that the Ritonda was built by three
architects, of whom the first carried it as far as the cornice that is
above the columns, and the second from the cornice upwards, the part,
namely, that contains those windows of more graceful workmanship, for in
truth this second part is very different in manner from the part below,
since the vaulting was carried out without any relation between the
coffering and the straight lines of what is below. The third is believed
to have made the portico, which was a very rare work. And for these
reasons the masters who practise this art at the present day should not
fall into such an error and then make excuses, as did Andrea.
After that work, having received from the family of the Corbinelli the
commission for the Chapel of the Sacrament in the same church, he
carried it out with much diligence, imitating in the low-reliefs Donato
and other excellent craftsmen, and sparing no labour in his desire to do
himself credit, as, indeed, he did. In two niches, one on either side of
a very beautiful tabernacle, he placed two saints somewhat more than one
braccio in height, S. James and S. Matthew, executed with such spirit
and excellence, that every sort of merit is revealed in them and not one
fault. Equally good, also, are two Angels in the round that are the
crowning glory of this work, with the most beautiful draperies--for they
are in the act of flying--that are anywhere to be seen; and in the
centre is a little naked Christ full of grace. There are also some
scenes with little figures in the predella and over the tabernacle, all
so well executed that the point of a brush could scarcely do what Andrea
did with his chisel. But whosoever wishes to be amazed by the diligence
of this extraordinary man should look at the architecture of this work
as a whole, for it is so well executed and joined together in its small
proportions that it appears to have been chiselled out of one single
stone. Much extolled, also, is a large Pietà of marble that he made in
half-relief on the front of the altar, with the Madonna and S. John
weeping. Nor could one imagine any more beautiful pieces of casting than
are the bronze gratings that enclose that chapel, with their ornaments
of marble, and with stags, the device, or rather the arms, of the
Corbinelli, which serve as adornments for the bronze candelabra. In
short, this work was executed without any sparing of labour, and with
all the best considerations that could possibly be imagined.
By these and by other works the name of Andrea spread far and wide, and
he was sought for from the elder Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, in
whose garden, as has been related, he had pursued the studies of design,
by the King of Portugal; and, being therefore sent to him by Lorenzo, he
executed for that King many works of sculpture and of architecture, and
in particular a very beautiful palace with four towers, and many other
buildings. Part of the palace was painted after designs and cartoons by
the hand of Andrea, who drew very well, as may be seen from some
drawings by his own hand in our book, finished with a charcoal-point,
and some other architectural drawings, showing excellent design. He also
made for that King a carved altar of wood, containing some Prophets; and
likewise a very beautiful battle-piece in clay, to be afterwards carved
in marble, representing the wars that the King waged with the Moors, who
were vanquished by him; and no work by the hand of Andrea was ever seen
that was more spirited or more terrible than this, what with the
movements and various attitudes of the horses, the heaps of dead, and
the vehement fury of the soldiers in combat. And he made a figure of S.
Mark in marble, which was a very rare work. While in the service of that
King, Andrea also gave his attention to some difficult and fantastic
architectural works, according to the custom of that country, in order
to please the King; of which things I once saw a book at Monte Sansovino
in the possession of his heirs, which is now in the hands of Maestro
Girolamo Lombardo, who was his disciple, and to whom it fell, as will be
related, to finish some works begun by Andrea.
[Illustration: TOMB OF CARDINAL ASCANIO SFORZA
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Rome: S. Maria
del Popolo_)
_Alinari_]
Having been nine years in Portugal, and growing weary of that service,
and desirous of seeing his relatives and friends in Tuscany again,
Andrea determined, now that he had put together a good sum of money,
to obtain leave from the King and return home. And so, having been
granted permission, although not willingly, he returned to Florence,
leaving behind him one who should complete such of his works as remained
unfinished. After arriving in Florence, he began in the year 1500 a
marble group of S. John baptizing Christ, which was to be placed over
that door of the Temple of S. Giovanni that faces the Misericordia; but
he did not finish it, because he was almost forced to go to Genoa, where
he made two figures of marble, Christ, or rather S. John, and a Madonna,
which are truly worthy of the highest praise. And those at Florence
remained unfinished, and are still to be found at the present day in the
Office of Works of the said S. Giovanni.
He was then summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II, and received the
commission for two tombs of marble, which were erected in S. Maria del
Popolo--one for Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and the other for the Cardinal
of Recanati, a very near relative of the Pope--and these works were
wrought so perfectly by Andrea that nothing more could be desired, since
they were so well executed and finished, and with such purity, beauty,
and grace, that they reveal the true consideration and proportion of
art. There may be seen there, also, a Temperance with an hourglass in
her hand, which is held to be a thing divine; and, indeed, it does not
appear to be a modern work, but ancient and wholly perfect. And although
there are other figures there similar to it, yet on account of its
attitude and grace it is much the best; not to mention that nothing
could be more pleasing and beautiful than the veil that she has around
her, which is executed with such delicacy that it is a miracle to
behold.
In S. Agostino at Rome, on a pilaster in the middle of the church, he
made in marble a S. Anne embracing a Madonna with the Child, a little
less than lifesize. This work may be counted as one of the best of
modern times, since, even as a lively and wholly natural gladness is
seen in the old woman, and a divine beauty in the Madonna, so the figure
of the Infant Christ is so well wrought, that no other was ever executed
with such delicacy and perfection. Wherefore it well deserved that for
many years a succession of sonnets and various other learned
compositions should be attached to it, of which the friars of that
place have a book full, which I myself have seen, to my no little
marvel. And in truth the world was right in doing this, for the reason
that the work can never be praised enough.
[Illustration: THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. ANNE
(_After_ Andrea dal Monte Sansovino [Andrea Contucci]. _Rome: S.
Agostino_)
_Alinari_]