to bring the work to an end, allotted the three other panels to Giorgio
Vasari of Arezzo, who finished two of them, those that are beside the
door of the façade. In the one nearer the Campo Santo is Our Lady with
the Child in her arms, with S. Martha caressing Him. There, also, on
their knees, are S. Cecilia, S. Augustine, S. Joseph, and S. Guido the
Hermit, and in the foreground a nude S. Jerome, with S. Luke the
Evangelist, and some little boys uplifting a piece of drapery, and
others holding flowers. In the other, by the wish of the Warden, he
painted another Madonna with her Son in her arms, S. James the Martyr,
S. Matthew, S. Sylvester the Pope, and S. Turpè the Chevalier. Having to
paint the Madonna, and not wishing to repeat the same composition
(although he had varied it much in other respects), he made her with
Christ dead in her arms, and those saints as it were round a Deposition
from the Cross; and on the crosses, planted on high and made of
tree-trunks, are fixed two naked Thieves, surrounded by horses and
ministers of the crucifixion, with Joseph, Nicodemus, and the Maries;
all for the satisfaction of the Warden, who wished that in those new
pictures there should be included all the saints that there had been in
the past in the various dismantled chapels, in order to renew their
memory in the new works. One picture was still wanting to complete the
whole, and this was executed by Bronzino, who painted a nude Christ and
eight saints. And in this manner were those chapels brought to
completion, all of which Giovanni Antonio could have done with his own
hand if he had not been so slow.
And since Sogliani had won much favour with the Pisans, after the death
of Andrea del Sarto he was commissioned to finish a panel for the
Company of S. Francesco, which the said Andrea left only sketched; which
panel is now in the building of that Company on the Piazza di S.
Francesco at Pisa. The same master executed some rows of cloth-hangings
for the Wardens of Works of the aforesaid Duomo, and many others in
Florence, because he took pleasure in doing that sort of work, and above
all in company with his friend Tommaso di Stefano, a painter of
Florence.
Being summoned by the Friars of S. Marco in Florence to paint a work in
fresco at the head of their refectory, at the expense of one of their
number, a lay-brother of the Molletti family, who had possessed a rich
patrimony when in the world, Giovanni Antonio wished to paint there the
scene of Jesus Christ feeding five thousand persons with five loaves and
two fishes, in order to make the most of his powers; and he had already
made the design for it, with many women and children and a great
multitude of other people, when the friars refused to have that story,
saying that they wanted something definite, simple, and familiar.
Whereupon, to please them, he painted the scene when S. Dominic, being
in the refectory with his friars and having no bread, made a prayer to
God, when the table was miraculously covered with bread, brought by two
angels in human form. In this work he made portraits of many friars who
were then in the convent, which have the appearance of life, and
particularly that of the lay-brother of the Molletti family, who is
serving at table. Then, in the lunette above the table, he painted S.
Dominic at the foot of a Crucifix, with Our Lady and S. John the
Evangelist, who are weeping, and at the sides S. Catherine of Siena and
S. Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, a brother of their Order. All this,
for a work in fresco, was executed with much diligence and a high
finish; but Sogliani would have been much more successful if he had
executed what he had designed, because painters express the conceptions
of their own minds better than those of others. On the other hand, it is
only right that he who pays the piper should call the tune. The design
for the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes is in the hands of Bartolommeo
Gondi, who, in addition to a large picture that he has by the hand of
Sogliani, also possesses many drawings and heads painted from life on
tinted paper, which he received from the wife of the painter, who had
been very much his friend, after his death. And we, also, have in our
book some drawings by the same hand, which are beautiful to a marvel.
Sogliani began for Giovanni Serristori a large panel-picture which was
to be placed in S. Francesco dell' Osservanza, without the Porta a S.
Miniato, with a vast number of figures, among which are some marvellous
heads, the best that he ever made; but it was left unfinished at the
death of the said Giovanni Serristori. Nevertheless, since Giovanni
Antonio had received full payment, he finished it afterwards little by
little, and gave it to Messer Alamanno di Jacopo Salviati, the
son-in-law and heir of Giovanni Serristori; and he presented it, frame
and all, to the Nuns of S. Luca, who have it over their high-altar in
the Via di S. Gallo.
Giovanni Antonio executed many other works in Florence, some of which
are in the houses of citizens, and some were sent to various countries;
but of these there is no need to make mention, for we have spoken of the
most important. Sogliani was an upright person, very religious, always
occupied with his own business, and never interfering with his
fellow-craftsmen.
One of his disciples was Sandrino del Calzolaio, who painted the shrine
that is on the Canto delle Murate, and, in the Hospital of the Temple, a
S. John the Baptist who is assigning shelter to the poor; and he would
have done more work, and good work, if he had not died as young as he
did. Another of his disciples was Michele, who afterwards went to work
with Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, whose name he took; and likewise Benedetto,
who went with Antonio Mini, a disciple of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, to
France, where he has executed many beautiful works. And another,
finally, was Zanobi di Poggino, who has painted many works throughout
the city.
In the end, being weary and broken in health after having been long
tormented by the stone, Giovanni Antonio rendered up his soul to God at
the age of fifty-two. His death was much lamented, for he had been an
excellent man, and his manner had been much in favour, since he gave an
air of piety to his figures, in such a fashion as pleases those who,
delighting little in the highest and most difficult flights of art, love
things that are seemly, simple, gracious, and sweet. His body was opened
after his death, and in it were found three stones, each as big as an
egg; but as long as he lived he would never consent to have them
extracted, or to hear a word about them.
GIROLAMO DA TREVISO
LIFE OF GIROLAMO DA TREVISO
PAINTER
Rarely does it happen that those who persist in working in the country
in which they were born, are exalted by Fortune to that height of
prosperity which their talents deserve; whereas, if a man tries many, he
must in the end find one wherein sooner or later he succeeds in being
recognized. And it often comes to pass that one who attains to the
reward of his labours late in life, is prevented by the venom of death
from enjoying it for long, even as we shall see in the case of Girolamo
da Treviso.
This painter was held to be a very good master; and although he was no
great draughtsman, he was a pleasing colourist both in oils and in
fresco, and a close imitator of the methods of Raffaello da Urbino. He
worked much in his native city of Treviso; and he also executed many
works in Venice, such as, in particular, the façade of the house of
Andrea Udoni, which he painted in fresco, with some friezes of children
in the courtyard, and one of the upper apartments: all of which he
executed in colour, and not in chiaroscuro, because the Venetians like
colour better than anything else. In a large scene in the middle of this
façade is a Juno, seen from the thighs upwards, flying on some clouds
with the moon on her head, over which are raised her arms, one holding a
vase and the other a bowl. He also painted there a Bacchus, fat and
ruddy, with a vessel that he is upsetting, and holding with one arm a
Ceres who has many ears of corn in her hands. There, too, are the
Graces, with five little boys who are flying below and welcoming them,
in order, so they signify, to make the house of the Udoni abound with
their gifts; and to show that the same house was a friendly haven for
men of talent, he painted Apollo on one side and Pallas on the other.
This work was executed with great freshness, so that Girolamo gained
from it both honour and profit.
The same master painted a picture for the Chapel of the Madonna in S.
Petronio, in competition with certain painters of Bologna, as will be
related in the proper place. And continuing to live in Bologna, he
executed many pictures there; and in S. Petronio, in the Chapel of S.
Antonio da Padova, he depicted in oils, in imitation of marble, all the
stories of the life of the latter Saint, in which, without a doubt,
there may be perceived grace, judgment, excellence, and a great delicacy
of finish. He painted a panel-picture for S. Salvatore, of the Madonna
ascending the steps of the Temple, with some saints; and another of the
Madonna in the sky, with some children, and S. Jerome and S. Catherine
beneath, which is certainly the weakest work by his hand that is to be
seen in Bologna. Over a great portal, also, in Bologna, he painted in
fresco a Crucifix with Our Lady and S. John, all worthy of the highest
praise. For S. Domenico, at Bologna, he executed a panel-picture in oils
of Our Lady with some saints, which is the best of his works; it is near
the choir, as one ascends to the tomb of S. Dominic, and in it is the
portrait of the patron who had it painted. In like manner, he painted a
picture for Count Giovanni Battista Bentivogli, who had the cartoon by
the hand of Baldassarre of Siena, representing the story of the Magi: a
work which he carried to a very fine completion, although it contained
more than a hundred figures. There are also many other works by the hand
of Girolamo in Bologna, both in private houses and in the churches. In
Galiera he painted in chiaroscuro the façade of the Palace of the
Teofamini, with another façade behind the house of the Dolfi, which is
considered in the judgment of many craftsmen to be the best work that he
ever executed in that city.
He went to Trento, and, in company with other painters, painted the
palace of the old Cardinal, from which he gained very great fame. Then,
returning to Bologna, he gave his attention to the works that he had
begun. Now it happened that there was much talk throughout Bologna about
having a panel-picture painted for the Della Morte Hospital, for which
various designs were made by way of competition, some in drawing and
some in colour. And since many thought that they had the first claim,
some through interest and others because they held themselves to be most
worthy of such a commission, Girolamo was left in the lurch; and
considering that he had been wronged, not long afterwards he departed
from Bologna. And thus the envy of others raised him to such a height of
prosperity as he had never thought of; since, if he had been chosen for
the work, it would have impeded the blessings that his good fortune had
prepared for him. For, having made his way to England, he was
recommended by some friends, who favoured him, to King Henry; and
presenting himself before him, he entered into his service, although not
as painter, but as engineer. Then, making trial of his skill in various
edifices, copied from some in Tuscany and other parts of Italy, that
King pronounced them marvellous, rewarded him with a succession of
presents, and decreed him a provision of four hundred crowns a year; and
he was given the means to build an honourable abode for himself at the
expense of the King. Thereupon Girolamo, raised from one extreme of
distress to the other extreme of grandeur, lived a most happy and
contented life, thanking God and Fortune for having turned his steps to
a country where men were so favourable to his talents. But this unwonted
happiness was not destined to last long, for the war between the French
and the English being continued, and Girolamo being charged with
superintending all the work of the bastions and fortifications, the
artillery, and the defences of the camp, it happened one day, when the
city of Boulogne in Picardy was being bombarded, that a ball from a
demi-cannon came with horrid violence and cut him in half on his horse's
back. And thus, Girolamo being at the age of thirty-six, his life, his
earthly honours, and all his greatness were extinguished at one and the
same moment, in the year 1544.
POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND MATURINO
LIVES OF POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO AND THE FLORENTINE MATURINO
PAINTERS
In the last age of gold, as the happy age of Leo X might have been
called for all noble craftsmen and men of talent, an honoured place was
held among the most exalted spirits by Polidoro da Caravaggio, a
Lombard, who had not become a painter after long study, but had been
created and produced as such by Nature. This master, having come to Rome
at the time when the Loggie of the Papal Palace were being built for Leo
under the direction of Raffaello da Urbino, carried the pail, or we
should rather say the hod, full of lime, for the masons who were doing
the work, until he had reached the age of eighteen. But, when Giovanni
da Udine had begun to paint there, the building and the painting
proceeding together, Polidoro, whose will and inclination were much
drawn to painting, could not rest content until he had become intimate
with all the most able of the young men, in order to study their methods
and manners of art, and to set himself to draw. And out of their number
he chose as his companion the Florentine Maturino, who was then working
in the Papal Chapel, and was held to be an excellent draughtsman of
antiquities. Associating with him, Polidoro became so enamoured of that
art, that in a few months, having made trial of his powers, he executed
works that astonished every person who had known him in his former
condition. On which account, the work of the Loggie proceeding, he
exercised his hand to such purpose in company with those young painters,
who were well-practised and experienced in painting, and learned the art
so divinely well, that he did not leave that work without carrying away
the true glory of being considered the most noble and most beautiful
intellect that was to be found among all their number. Thereupon the
love of Maturino for Polidoro, and of Polidoro for Maturino, so
increased, that they determined like brothers and true companions to
live and die together; and, uniting their ambitions, their purses, and
their labours, they set themselves to work together in the closest
harmony and concord. But since there were in Rome many who had great
fame and reputation, well justified by their works, for making their
paintings more lively and vivacious in colour and more worthy of praise
and favour, there began to enter into their minds the idea of imitating
the methods of Baldassarre of Siena, who had executed several façades of
houses in chiaroscuro, and of giving their attention thenceforward to
that sort of work, which by that time had come into fashion.
They began one, therefore, on Montecavallo, opposite to S. Silvestro, in
company with Pellegrino da Modena, which encouraged them to make further
efforts to see whether this should be their profession; and they went on
to execute another opposite to the side-door of S. Salvatore del Lauro,
and likewise painted a scene by the side-door of the Minerva, with
another, which is a frieze of marine monsters, above S. Rocco a Ripetta.
And during this first period they painted a vast number of them
throughout all Rome, but not so good as the others; and there is no need
to mention them here, since they afterwards did better work of that
sort. Gaining courage, therefore, from this, they began to study the
antiquities of Rome, counterfeiting the ancient works of marble in their
works in chiaroscuro, so that there remained no vase, statue,
sarcophagus, scene, or any single thing, whether broken or entire, which
they did not draw and make use of. And with such constancy and
resolution did they give their minds to this pursuit, that they both
acquired the ancient manner, the work of the one being so like that of
the other, that, even as their minds were guided by one and the same
will, so their hands expressed one and the same knowledge. And although
Maturino was not as well assisted by Nature as Polidoro, so potent was
the faithful imitation of one style by the two in company, that,
wherever either of them placed his hand, the work of both one and the
other, whether in composition, expression, or manner, appeared to be the
same.
In the Piazza di Capranica, on the way to the Piazza Colonna, they
painted a façade with the Theological Virtues, and a frieze of very
beautiful invention beneath the windows, including a draped figure of
Rome representing the Faith, and holding the Chalice and the Host in her
hands, who has taken captive all the nations of the earth; and all
mankind is flocking up to bring her tribute, while the Turks, overcome
at the last, are shooting arrows at the tomb of Mahomet; all ending in
the words of Scripture, "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd." And,
indeed, they had no equals in invention; of which we have witness in all
their works, abounding in personal ornaments, vestments, foot-wear, and
things bizarre and strange, and executed with an incredible beauty. And
another proof is that their works are continually being drawn by all the
foreign painters; wherefore they conferred greater benefits on the art
of painting with the beautiful manner that they displayed and with their
marvellous facility, than have all the others together who have lived
from Cimabue downwards. It has been seen continually, therefore, in
Rome, and is still seen, that all the draughtsmen are inclined more to
the works of Polidoro and Maturino than to all the rest of our modern
pictures.
In the Borgo Nuovo they executed a façade in sgraffito, and on the Canto
della Pace another likewise in sgraffito; with a façade of the house of
the Spinoli, not far from that last-mentioned, on the way to the
Parione, containing athletic contests according to the custom of the
ancients, and their sacrifices, and the death of Tarpeia. Near the Torre
di Nona, on the side towards the Ponte S. Angelo, may be seen a little
façade with the Triumph of Camillus and an ancient sacrifice. In the
road that leads to the Imagine di Ponte, there is a most beautiful
façade with the story of Perillus, showing him being placed in the
bronze bull that he had made; wherein great effort may be seen in those
who are thrusting him into that bull, and terror in those who are
waiting to behold a death so unexampled, besides which there is the
seated figure of Phalaris (so I believe), ordaining with an imperious
air of great beauty the punishment of the inhuman spirit that had
invented a device so novel and so cruel in order to put men to death
with greater suffering. In this work, also, may be perceived a very
beautiful frieze of children, painted to look like bronze, and other
figures. Higher up than this they painted the façade of the house where
there is the image which is called the Imagine di Ponte, wherein are
seen several stories illustrated by them, with the Senatorial Order
dressed in the garb of ancient Rome. And in the Piazza della Dogana,
beside S. Eustachio, there is a façade of battle-pieces; and within that
church, on the right as one enters, may be perceived a little chapel
with figures painted by Polidoro.
They also executed another above the Farnese Palace for the Cepperelli,
and a façade behind the Minerva in the street that leads to the
Maddaleni; and in the latter, which contains scenes from Roman history,
may be seen, among other beautiful things, a frieze of children in
triumph, painted to look like bronze, and executed with supreme grace
and extraordinary beauty. On the façade of the Buoni Auguri, near the
Minerva, are some very beautiful stories of Romulus, showing him when he
is marking out the site of his city with the plough, and when the
vultures are flying over him; wherein the vestments, features, and
persons of the ancients are so well imitated, that it truly appears as
if these were the very men themselves. Certain it is that in that field
of art no man ever had such power of design, such practised mastery, a
more beautiful manner, or greater facility. And every craftsman is so
struck with wonder every time that he sees these works, that he cannot
but be amazed at the manner in which Nature has been able in this age to
present her marvels to us by means of these men.
Below the Corte Savella, also, on the house bought by Signora Costanza,
they painted the Rape of the Sabines, a scene which reveals the raging
desire of the captors no less clearly than the terror and panic of the
wretched women thus carried off by various soldiers, some on horseback
and others in other ways. And not only in this one scene are there such
conceptions, but also (and even more) in the stories of Mucius and
Horatius, and in the Flight of Porsena, King of Tuscany. In the garden
of M. Stefano dal Bufalo, near the Fountain of Trevi, they executed some
most beautiful scenes of the Fount of Parnassus, in which they made
grotesques and little figures, painted very well in colour. On the
house of Baldassini, also, near S. Agostino, they executed scenes and
sgraffiti, with some heads of Emperors over the windows in the court. On
Montecavallo, near S. Agata, they painted a façade with a vast number of
different stories, such as the Vestal Tuccia bringing water from the
Tiber to the Temple in a sieve, and Claudia drawing the ship with her
girdle; and also the rout effected by Camillus while Brennus is weighing
the gold. On another wall, round the corner, are Romulus and his brother
being suckled by the wolf, and the terrible combat of Horatius, who is
defending the head of the bridge, alone against a thousand swords, while
behind him are many very beautiful figures in various attitudes, working
with might and main to hew away the bridge with pickaxes. There, also,
is Mucius Scævola, who, before the eyes of Porsena, is burning his own
hand, which had erred in slaying the King's minister in place of the
King; and in the King's face may be seen disdain and a desire for
vengeance. And within that house they executed a number of landscapes.
They decorated the façade of S. Pietro in Vincula, painting therein
stories of S. Peter, with some large figures of Prophets. And so
widespread was the fame of these masters by reason of the abundance of
their work, that the pictures painted by them with such beauty in public
places enabled them to win extraordinary praise in their lifetime, with
glory infinite and eternal through the number of their imitators after
death. On a façade, also, in the square where stands the Palace of the
Medici, behind the Piazza Navona, they painted the Triumphs of Paulus
Emilius, with a vast number of other Roman stories. And at S. Silvestro
di Montecavallo they executed some little things for Fra Mariano, both
in the house and in the garden; and in the church they painted his
chapel, with two scenes in colour from the life of S. Mary Magdalene, in
which the disposition of the landscapes is executed with supreme grace
and judgment. For Polidoro, in truth, executed landscapes and groups of
trees and rocks better than any other painter, and it is to him that art
owes that facility which our modern craftsmen show in their works.
They also painted many apartments and friezes in various houses at Rome,
executing them with colours in fresco and in distemper; but these works
were attempted by them as trials, because they were never able to
achieve with colours that beauty which they always displayed in their
works in chiaroscuro, in their imitations of bronze, or in terretta.
This may still be seen in the house of Torre Sanguigna, which once
belonged to the Cardinal of Volterra, on the façade of which they
painted a most beautiful decoration in chiaroscuro, and in the interior
some figures in colour, the painting of which is so badly executed, that
in it they diverted from its true excellence the good design which they
always had. And this appeared all the more strange because of there
being beside them an escutcheon of Pope Leo, with nude figures, by the
hand of Giovan Francesco Vetraio, who would have done extraordinary
things if death had not taken him from our midst. However, not cured by
this of their insane confidence, they also painted some children in
colour for the altar of the Martelli in S. Agostino at Rome, a work
which Jacopo Sansovino completed by making a Madonna of marble; and
these children appear to be by the hands, not of illustrious masters,
but of simpletons just beginning to learn. Whereas, on the side where
the altar-cloth covers the altar, Polidoro painted a little scene of a
Dead Christ with the Maries, which is a most beautiful work, showing
that in truth that sort of work was more their profession than the use
of colours.