praise men who are more excellent in name than in deeds, it is a
difficult thing to contrive to bring such men down to their true level
with words, however reasonable, before their own works, wholly contrary
to their reputation, reveal what the masters so celebrated really are.
And it is a very certain fact that the worst harm that one man can do to
another is the giving of praise too early to any intellect engaged in
work, since such praise, swelling him with premature pride, prevents him
from going any farther, and a man so greatly extolled, on finding that
his works have not that excellence which was expected, takes the censure
too much to heart, and despairs completely of ever being able to do good
work. Wise men, therefore, should fear praise much more than censure,
for the first flatters and deceives, and the second, revealing the
truth, gives instruction.
Boccaccino, then, departing from Rome, where he felt himself wounded and
torn to pieces, returned to Cremona, and there continued to practise
painting to the best of his power and knowledge. In the Duomo, over the
arches in the middle, he painted all the stories of the Madonna; and
this work is much esteemed in that city. He also made other works
throughout that city and in the neighbourhood, of which there is no need
to make mention.
He taught his art to a son of his own, called Camillo, who, applying
himself to the art with more study, strove to make amends for the
shortcomings of the boastful Boccaccino. By the hand of this Camillo are
some works in S. Gismondo, which is a mile distant from Cremona; and
these are esteemed by the people of Cremona as the best paintings that
they have. He also painted the façade of a house on their Piazza, all
the compartments of the vaulting and some panels in S. Agata, and the
façade of S. Antonio, together with other works, which made him known as
a practised master. If death had not snatched him from the world before
his time, he would have achieved a most honourable success, for he was
advancing on the good way; and even for those works that he has left to
us, he deserves to have record made of him.
But returning to Boccaccino; without having ever made any improvement in
his art, he passed from this life at the age of fifty-eight. In his time
there lived in Milan a passing good illuminator, called Girolamo, whose
works may be seen in good numbers both in that city and throughout all
Lombardy. A Milanese, likewise, living about the same time, was
Bernardino del Lupino,[5] a very delicate and pleasing painter, as may
be seen from many works by his hand that are in that city, and from a
Marriage of Our Lady at Sarone, a place twelve miles distant from Milan,
and other scenes that are in the Church of S. Maria, executed most
perfectly in fresco. He also worked with a very high finish in oils, and
he was a courteous person, and very liberal with his possessions;
wherefore he deserves all the praise that is due to any craftsman who
makes the works and ways of his daily life shine by the adornment of
courtesy no less than do his works of art on account of their
excellence.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Bernardino del Lupino [Luini]=. Saronno:
Santuario della Beata Vergine_)
_Anderson_]
FOOTNOTE:
[4] Diminutive of Lorenzo.
[5] Luini.
BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
LIFE OF BALDASSARRE PERUZZI
PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF SIENA
Among all the gifts that Heaven distributes to mortals, none, in truth,
can or should be held in more account than talent, with calmness and
peace of soul, for the first makes us for ever immortal, and the second
blessed. He, then, who is endowed with these gifts, in addition to the
deep gratitude that he should feel towards God, must make himself known
among other men almost as a light amid darkness. And even so, in our own
times, did Baldassarre Peruzzi, a painter and architect of Siena, of
whom we can say with certainty that the modesty and goodness which were
revealed in him were no mean offshoots of that supreme serenity for
which the minds of all who are born in this world are ever sighing, and
that the works which he left to us are most honourable fruits of that
true excellence which was infused in him by Heaven.
Now, although I have called him above, Baldassarre of Siena, because he
was always known as a Sienese, I will not withhold that even as seven
cities contended for Homer, each claiming that he was her citizen, so
three most noble cities of Tuscany--Florence, Volterra, and Siena--have
each held that Baldassarre was her son. But, to tell the truth, each of
them has a share in him, seeing that Antonio Peruzzi, a noble citizen of
Florence, that city being harassed by civil war, went off, in the hope
of a quieter life, to Volterra; and after living some time there, in the
year 1482 he took a wife in that city, and in a few years had two
children, one a boy, called Baldassarre, and the other a girl, who
received the name of Virginia. Now it happened that war pursued this man
who sought nothing but peace and quiet, and that no long time afterwards
Volterra was sacked; whence Antonio was forced to fly to Siena, and to
live there in great poverty, having lost almost all that he had.
Meanwhile Baldassarre, having grown up, was for ever associating with
persons of ability, and particularly with goldsmiths and draughtsmen;
and thus, beginning to take pleasure in the arts, he devoted himself
heart and soul to drawing. And not long after, his father being now
dead, he applied himself to painting with such zeal, that in a very
short time he made marvellous progress therein, imitating living and
natural things as well as the works of the best masters. In this way,
executing what work he could find, he was able to maintain himself, his
mother, and his sister with his art, and to pursue the studies of
painting.
[Illustration: CUPOLA OF THE PONZETTI CHAPEL
(_After the fresco by =Baldassarre Peruzzi=. Rome: S. Maria della Pace_)
_Anderson_]
His first work--apart from some things at Siena, not worthy of
mention--was in a little chapel near the Porta Fiorentina at Volterra,
wherein he executed some figures with such grace, that they led to his
forming a friendship with a painter of Volterra, called Piero, who lived
most of his time in Rome, and going off with that master to that city,
where he was doing some work in the Palace for Alexander VI. But after
the death of Alexander, Maestro Piero working no more in that place,
Baldassarre entered the workshop of the father of Maturino, a painter of
no great excellence, who at that time had always plenty of work to do in
the form of commonplace commissions. That painter, then, placing a panel
primed with gesso before Baldassarre, but giving him no scrap of drawing
or cartoon, told him to make a Madonna upon it. Baldassarre took a piece
of charcoal, and in a moment, with great mastery, he had drawn what he
wished to paint in the picture; and then, setting his hand to the
colouring, in a few days he painted a picture so beautiful and so well
finished, that it amazed not only the master of the workshop, but also
many painters who saw it; and they, recognizing his ability, contrived
to obtain for him the commission to paint the Chapel of the High-Altar
in the Church of S. Onofrio, which he executed in fresco with much grace
and in a very beautiful manner. After this, he painted two other little
chapels in fresco in the Church of S. Rocco a Ripa. Having thus begun to
be in good repute, he was summoned to Ostia, where he painted most
beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro in some apartments of the great tower of
the fortress; in particular, a hand-to-hand battle after the manner
in which the ancient Romans used to fight, and beside this a company of
soldiers delivering an assault on a fortress, wherein the attackers,
covered by their shields, are seen making a beautiful and spirited
onslaught and planting their ladders against the walls, while the men
within are hurling them back with the utmost fury. In this scene, also,
he painted many antique instruments of war, and likewise various kinds
of arms; with many other scenes in another hall, which are held to be
among the best works that he ever made, although it is true that he was
assisted in this work by Cesare da Milano.
After these labours, having returned to Rome, Baldassarre formed a very
strait friendship with Agostino Chigi of Siena, both because Agostino
had a natural love for every man of talent, and because Baldassarre
called himself a Sienese. And thus, with the help of so great a man, he
was able to maintain himself while studying the antiquities of Rome, and
particularly those in architecture, wherein, out of rivalry with
Bramante, in a short time he made marvellous proficience, which
afterwards brought him, as will be related, very great honour and
profit. He also gave attention to perspective, and became such a master
of that science, that we have seen few in our own times who have worked
in it as well as he. Pope Julius II having meanwhile built a corridor in
his Palace, with an aviary near the roof, Baldassarre painted there, in
chiaroscuro, all the months of the year and the pursuits that are
practised in each of them. In this work may be seen an endless number of
buildings, theatres, amphitheatres, palaces, and other edifices, all
distributed with beautiful invention in that place. He then painted, in
company with other painters, some apartments in the Palace of S. Giorgio
for Cardinal Raffaello Riario, Bishop of Ostia; and he painted a façade
opposite to the house of Messer Ulisse da Fano, and also that of the
same Messer Ulisse, wherein he executed stories of Ulysses that brought
him very great renown and fame.
Even greater was the fame that came to him from the model of the Palace
of Agostino Chigi, executed with such beautiful grace that it seems not
to have been built, but rather to have sprung into life; and with his
own hand he decorated the exterior with most beautiful scenes in
terretta. The hall, likewise, is adorned with rows of columns executed
in perspective, which, with the depth of the intercolumniation, cause it
to appear much larger. But what is the greatest marvel of all is a
loggia that may be seen over the garden, painted by Baldassarre with
scenes of the Medusa turning men into stone, such that nothing more
beautiful can be imagined; and then there is Perseus cutting off her
head, with many other scenes in the spandrels of that vaulting, while
the ornamentation, drawn in perspective with colours, in imitation of
stucco, is so natural and lifelike, that even to excellent craftsmen it
appears to be in relief. And I remember that when I took the Chevalier
Tiziano, a most excellent and honoured painter, to see that work, he
would by no means believe that it was painted, until he had changed his
point of view, when he was struck with amazement. In that place are some
works executed by Fra Sebastiano Viniziano, in his first manner; and by
the hand of the divine Raffaello, as has been related, there is a
Galatea being carried off by sea-gods.
[Illustration: PALAZZO DELLA FARNESINA
(_After_ Baldassarre Peruzzi. _Rome_)
_Alinari_]
Baldassarre also painted, beyond the Campo di Fiore, on the way to the
Piazza Giudea, a most beautiful façade in terretta with marvellous
perspectives, for which he received the commission from a Groom of the
Chamber to the Pope; and it is now in the possession of Jacopo Strozzi,
the Florentine. In like manner, he wrought for Messer Ferrando Ponzetti,
who afterwards became a Cardinal, a chapel at the entrance of the Church
of the Pace, on the left hand, with little scenes from the Old
Testament, and also with some figures of considerable size; and for a
work in fresco this is executed with much diligence. But even more did
he prove his worth in painting and perspective near the high-altar of
the same church, where he painted a scene for Messer Filippo da Siena,
Clerk of the Chamber, of Our Lady going into the Temple, ascending the
steps, with many figures worthy of praise, such as a gentleman in
antique dress, who, having dismounted from his horse, with his servants
waiting, is giving alms to a beggar, quite naked and very wretched, who
may be seen asking him for it with pitiful humility. In this place,
also, are various buildings and most beautiful ornaments; and right
round the whole work, executed likewise in fresco, are counterfeited
decorations of stucco, which have the appearance of being attached to
the wall with large rings, as if it were a panel painted in oils.
And in the magnificent festival that the Roman people prepared on the
Campidoglio when the baton of Holy Church was given to Duke Giuliano de'
Medici, out of six painted scenes which were executed by six different
painters of eminence, that by the hand of Baldassarre, twenty-eight
braccia high and fourteen broad, showing the betrayal of the Romans by
Julia Tarpeia, was judged to be without a doubt better than any of the
others. But what amazed everyone most was the perspective-view or
scenery for a play, which was so beautiful that it would be impossible
to imagine anything finer, seeing that the variety and beautiful manner
of the buildings, the various loggie, the extravagance of the doors and
windows, and the other architectural details that were seen in it, were
so well conceived and so extraordinary in invention, that one is not
able to describe the thousandth part.
For the house of Messer Francesco di Norcia, on the Piazza de' Farnesi,
he made a very graceful door of the Doric Order; and for Messer
Francesco Buzio he executed, near the Piazza degl' Altieri, a very
beautiful façade, in the frieze of which he painted portraits from life
of all the Roman Cardinals who were then alive, while on the wall itself
he depicted the scenes of Cæsar receiving tribute from all the world,
and above he painted the twelve Emperors, who are standing upon certain
corbels, being foreshortened with a view to being seen from below, and
wrought with extraordinary art. For this whole work he rightly obtained
vast commendation. In the Banchi he executed the escutcheon of Pope Leo,
with three children, that seemed to be alive, so tender was their flesh.
For Fra Mariano Fetti, Friar of the Piombo, he made a very beautiful S.
Bernard in terretta in his garden at Montecavallo. And for the Company
of S. Catherine of Siena, on the Strada Giulia, in addition to a bier
for carrying the dead to burial, he executed many other things, all
worthy of praise. In Siena, also, he gave the design for the organ of
the Carmine; and he made some other works in that city, but none of much
importance.
Later, having been summoned to Bologna by the Wardens of Works of S.
Petronio, to the end that he might make the model for the façade of that
church, he made for this two large ground-plans and two elevations, one
in the modern manner and the other in the German; and the latter is
still preserved in the Sacristy of the same S. Petronio, as a truly
extraordinary work, since he drew that building in such sharply-detailed
perspective that it appears to be in relief. In the house of Count
Giovan Battista Bentivogli, in the same city, he made several drawings
for the aforesaid structure, which were so beautiful, that it is not
possible to praise enough the wonderful expedients sought out by this
man in order not to destroy the old masonry, but to join it in beautiful
proportion with the new. For the Count Giovan Battista mentioned above
he made the design of a Nativity with the Magi, in chiaroscuro, wherein
it is a marvellous thing to see the horses, the equipage, and the courts
of the three Kings, executed with supreme beauty and grace, as are also
the walls of the temples and some buildings round the hut. This work was
afterwards given to be coloured by the Count to Girolamo Trevigi, who
brought it to fine completion. Baldassarre also made the design for the
door of the Church of S. Michele in Bosco, a most beautiful monastery of
the Monks of Monte Oliveto, without Bologna; and the design and model of
the Duomo of Carpi, which was very beautiful, and was built under his
direction according to the rules of Vitruvius. And in the same place he
made a beginning with the Church of S. Niccola, but it was not finished
at that time, because Baldassarre was almost forced to return to Siena
in order to make designs for the fortifications of that city, which were
afterwards carried into execution under his supervision.
He then returned to Rome, where, after building the house that is
opposite to the Farnese Palace, with some others within that city, he
was employed in many works by Pope Leo X. That Pontiff wished to finish
the building of S. Pietro, begun by Julius II after the design of
Bramante, but it appeared to him that the edifice was too large and
lacking in cohesion; and Baldassarre made a new model, magnificent and
truly ingenious, and revealing such good judgment, that some parts of it
have since been used by other architects. So diligent, indeed, was this
craftsman, so rare and so beautiful his judgment, and such the method
with which his buildings were always designed, that he has never had an
equal in works of architecture, seeing that, in addition to his other
gifts, he combined that profession with a good and beautiful manner of
painting. He made the design of the tomb of Adrian VI, and all that is
painted round it is by his hand; and Michelagnolo, a sculptor of Siena,
executed that tomb in marble, with the help of our Baldassarre.
When the Calandra, a play by Cardinal Bibbiena, was performed before the
same Pope Leo, Baldassarre made the scenic setting, which was no less
beautiful--much more so, indeed--than that which he had made on another
occasion, as has been related above. In such works he deserved all the
greater praise, because dramatic performances, and consequently the
scenery for them, had been out of fashion for a long time, festivals and
sacred representations taking their place. And either before or after
(it matters little which) the performance of the aforesaid Calandra,
which was one of the first plays in the vulgar tongue to be seen or
performed, in the time of Leo X, Baldassarre made two such scenes, which
were marvellous, and opened the way to those who have since made them in
our own day. Nor is it possible to imagine how he found room, in a space
so limited, for so many streets, so many palaces, and so many bizarre
temples, loggie, and various kinds of cornices, all so well executed
that it seemed that they were not counterfeited, but absolutely real,
and that the piazza was not a little thing, and merely painted, but real
and very large. He designed, also, the chandeliers and the lights within
that illuminated the scene, and all the other things that were
necessary, with much judgment, although, as has been related, the drama
had fallen almost completely out of fashion. This kind of spectacle, in
my belief, when it has all its accessories, surpasses any other kind,
however sumptuous and magnificent.
Afterwards, at the election of Pope Clement VII in the year 1524, he
prepared the festivities for his coronation. He finished with
peperino-stone the front of the principal chapel, formerly begun by
Bramante, in S. Pietro; and in the chapel wherein is the bronze tomb of
Pope Sixtus, he painted in chiaroscuro the Apostles that are in the
niches behind the altar, besides making the design of the Tabernacle of
the Sacrament, which is very graceful.
Then in the year 1527, when the cruel sack of Rome took place, our poor
Baldassarre was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, and not only lost all
his possessions, but was also much maltreated and outraged, because he
was grave, noble, and gracious of aspect, and they believed him to be
some great prelate in disguise, or some other man able to pay a fat
ransom. Finally, however, those impious barbarians having found that he
was a painter, one of them, who had borne a great affection to Bourbon,
caused him to make a portrait of that most rascally captain, the enemy
of God and man, either letting Baldassarre see him as he lay dead, or
giving him his likeness in some other way, with drawings or with words.
After this, having slipped from their hands, Baldassarre took ship to go
to Porto Ercole, and thence to Siena; but on the way he was robbed of
everything and stripped to such purpose, that he went to Siena in his
shirt. However, he was received with honour and reclothed by his
friends, and a little time afterwards he was given a provision and a
salary by the Commonwealth, to the end that he might give his attention
to the fortification of that city. Living there, he had two children;
and, besides what he did for the public service, he made many designs of
houses for his fellow-citizens, and the design for the ornament of the
organ, which is very beautiful, in the Church of the Carmine.
[Illustration: COURTYARD OF PALAZZO MASSIMI
(_After_ Baldassarre Peruzzi. _Rome_)
_Anderson_]
Meanwhile, the armies of the Emperor and the Pope had advanced to the
siege of Florence, and his Holiness sent Baldassarre to the camp to
Baccio Valori, the Military Commissary, to the end that Baccio might
avail himself of his services for the purposes of his operations and for
the capture of the city. But Baldassarre, loving the liberty of his
former country more than the favour of the Pope, and in no way fearing
the indignation of so great a Pontiff, would never lend his aid in any
matter of importance. The Pope, hearing of this, for a short time bore
him no little ill-will; but when the war was finished, Baldassarre
desiring to return to Rome, Cardinals Salviati, Trivulzi, and Cesarino,
to all of whom he had given faithful service in many works, restored him
to the favour of the Pope and to his former appointments. He was thus
able to return without hindrance to Rome, where, not many days after, he
made for the Signori Orsini the designs of two very beautiful palaces,
which were built on the way to Viterbo, and of some other edifices for
Apuglia. But meanwhile he did not neglect the studies of astrology, nor
those of mathematics and the others in which he much delighted, and he
began a book on the antiquities of Rome, with a commentary on Vitruvius,
making little by little illustrative drawings beside the writings of
that author, some of which are still to be seen in the possession of
Francesco da Siena, who was his disciple, and among them some papers
with drawings of ancient edifices and of the modern manner of building.
While living in Rome, also, he made the design for the house of the
Massimi, drawn in an oval form, with a new and beautiful manner of
building; and for the façade he made a vestibule of Doric columns
showing great art and good proportion, with a beautiful distribution of
detail in the court and in the disposition of the stairs; but he was not
able to see this work finished, for he was overtaken by death.
And yet, although the talents and labours of this noble craftsman were
so great, they brought much more benefit to others than to himself; for,
while he was employed by Popes, Cardinals, and other great and rich
persons, not one of them ever gave him any remarkable reward. That this
should have happened is not surprising, not so much through want of
liberality in such patrons, although for the most part they are least
liberal where they should be the very opposite, as through the timidity
and excessive modesty, or rather, to be more exact in this case, the
lack of shrewdness of Baldassarre. To tell the truth, in proportion as
one should be discreet with magnanimous and liberal Princes, so should
one always be pressing and importunate with such as are miserly,
unthankful, and discourteous, for the reason that, even as in the case
of the generous importunate asking would always be a vice, so with the
miserly it is a virtue, and with such men it is discretion that would be
the vice.