vaulting of the Palace of the Podestà, and a scene of the Visitation of
S. Elizabeth in S. Vitale, opposite to the Palace of the Fantucci. In
the Convent of the Servites at Bologna, round a panel-picture of the
Annunciation painted in oils, are some saints executed in fresco by
Innocenzio da Imola. In S. Michele in Bosco Bartolommeo painted in
fresco the Chapel of Ramazzotto, a faction-leader in Romagna. In a
chapel in S. Stefano the same master painted two saints in fresco, with
some little angels of considerable beauty in the sky; and in S. Jacopo,
for Messer Annibale del Corello, a chapel in which he represented the
Circumcision of Our Lord, with a number of figures, above which, in a
lunette, he painted Abraham sacrificing his son to God. This work, in
truth, was executed in a good and able manner. For the Misericordia,
without Bologna, he painted a little panel-picture in distemper of Our
Lady and some saints; with many pictures and other works, which are in
the hands of various persons in that city.
This master, in truth, was above mediocrity both in the uprightness of
his life and in his works, and he was superior to the others in drawing
and invention, as may be seen from a drawing in our book, wherein is
Jesus Christ, as a boy, disputing with the Doctors in the Temple, with a
building executed with good mastery and judgment. In the end, he
finished his life at the age of fifty-eight.
He had always been much envied by Amico of Bologna, an eccentric man of
extravagant brain, whose figures, executed by him throughout all Italy,
but particularly in Bologna, where he spent most of his time, are
equally eccentric and even mad, if one may say so. If, indeed, the vast
labour which Amico devoted to drawing had been pursued with a settled
object, and not by caprice, he might perchance have surpassed many whom
we regard as rare and able men. And even so, such is the value of
persistent labour, that it is not possible that out of a mass of work
there should not be found some that is good and worthy of praise; and
such, among the vast number of works that this master executed, is a
façade in chiaroscuro on the Piazza de' Marsigli, wherein are many
historical pictures, with a frieze of animals fighting together, very
spirited and well executed, which is almost the best work that he ever
painted. He painted another façade at the Porta di S. Mammolo, and a
frieze round the principal chapel of S. Salvatore, so extravagant and so
full of absurdities that it would provoke laughter in one who was on the
verge of tears. In a word, there is no church or street in Bologna
which has not some daub by the hand of this master.
In Rome, also, he painted not a little; and in S. Friano, at Lucca, he
filled a chapel with inventions fantastic and bizarre, among which are
some things worthy of praise, such as the stories of the Cross and some
of S. Augustine. In these are innumerable portraits of distinguished
persons of that city; and, to tell the truth, this was one of the best
works that Maestro Amico ever executed with colours in fresco.
In S. Jacopo, at Bologna, he painted at the altar of S. Niccola some
stories of the latter Saint, and below these a frieze with views in
perspective, which deserve to be extolled. When the Emperor Charles V
visited Bologna, Amico made a triumphal arch, for which Alfonso Lombardi
executed statues in relief, at the gate of the Palace. And it is no
marvel that the work of Amico revealed skill of hand rather than any
other quality, for it is said that, like the eccentric and extraordinary
person that he was, he went through all Italy drawing and copying every
work of painting or relief, whether good or bad, on which account he
became something of an adept in invention; and when he found anything
likely to be useful to him, he laid his hands upon it eagerly, and then
destroyed it, so that no one else might make use of it. The result of
all this striving was that he acquired the strange, mad manner that we
know.
Finally, having reached the age of seventy, what with his art and the
eccentricity of his life, he became raving mad, at which Messer
Francesco Guicciardini, a noble Florentine, and a most trustworthy
writer of the history of his own times, who was then Governor of
Bologna, found no small amusement, as did the whole city. Some people,
however, believe that there was some method mixed with this madness of
his, because, having sold some property for a small price while he was
mad and in very great straits, he asked for it back again when he
regained his sanity, and recovered it under certain conditions, since he
had sold it, so he said, when he was mad. I do not swear, indeed, that
this is true, for it may have been otherwise; but I do say that I have
often heard the story told.
[Illustration: THE ADORATION
(_After the panel by =Amico of Bologna [Amico Aspertini]=. Bologna:
Pinacoteca, 297_)
_Alinari_]
Amico also gave his attention to sculpture, and executed to the best
of his ability, in marble, a Dead Christ with Nicodemus supporting
Him. This work, which he treated in the manner seen in his pictures, is
on the right within the entrance of the Church of S. Petronio. He used
to paint with both hands at the same time, holding in one the brush with
the bright colour, and in the other that with the dark. But the best
joke of all was that he had his leather belt hung all round with little
pots full of tempered colours, so that he looked like the Devil of S.
Macario with all those flasks of his; and when he worked with his
spectacles on his nose, he would have made the very stones laugh, and
particularly when he began to chatter, for then he babbled enough for
twenty, saying the strangest things in the world, and his whole
demeanour was a comedy. Certain it is that he never used to speak well
of any person, however able or good, and however well dowered he saw him
to be by Nature or Fortune. And, as has been said, he so loved to
chatter and tell stories, that one evening, at the hour of the Ave
Maria, when a painter of Bologna, after buying cabbages in the Piazza,
came upon Amico, the latter kept him under the Loggia del Podestà with
his talk and his amusing stories, without the poor man being able to
break away from him, almost till daylight, when Amico said: "Now go and
boil your cabbages, for the time is getting on."
He was the author of a vast number of other jokes and follies, of which
I shall not make mention, because it is now time to say something of
Girolamo da Cotignola. This master painted many pictures and portraits
from life in Bologna, and among them are two in the house of the
Vinacci, which are very beautiful. He made a portrait after death of
Monsignore de Foix, who died in the rout of Ravenna, and not long after
he executed a portrait of Massimiliano Sforza. For S. Giuseppe he
painted a panel-picture which brought him much praise, and, for S.
Michele in Bosco, the panel-picture in oils which is in the Chapel of S.
Benedetto. The latter work led to his executing, in company with Biagio
Bolognese, all the scenes which are round that church, laid on in fresco
and executed "a secco," wherein are seen proofs of no little mastery, as
has been said in speaking of the manner of Biagio. The same Girolamo
painted a large altar-piece for S. Colomba at Rimini, in competition
with Benedetto da Ferrara and Lattanzio, in which work he made a S.
Lucia rather wanton than beautiful. And in the great tribune of that
church he executed a Coronation of Our Lady, with the twelve Apostles
and the four Evangelists, with heads so gross and hideous that they are
an outrage to the eye.
He then returned to Bologna, but had not been there long when he went to
Rome, where he made portraits from life of many men of rank, and in
particular that of Pope Paul III. But, perceiving that it was no place
for him, and that he was not likely to acquire honour, profit, or fame
among so many noble craftsmen, he went off to Naples, where he found
some friends who showed him favour, and above all M. Tommaso Cambi, a
Florentine merchant, and a devoted lover of pictures and antiquities in
marble, by whom he was supplied with everything of which he was in need.
Thereupon, setting to work, he executed a panel-picture of the Magi, in
oils, for the chapel of one M. Antonello, Bishop of I know not what
place, in Monte Oliveto, and another panel-picture in oils for S.
Aniello, containing the Madonna, S. Paul, and S. John the Baptist, with
portraits from life for many noblemen.
Being now well advanced in years, he lived like a miser, and was always
trying to save money; and after no long time, having little more to do
in Naples, he returned to Rome. There some friends of his, having heard
that he had saved a few crowns, persuaded him that he ought to get
married and live a properly-regulated life. And so, thinking that he was
doing well for himself, he let those friends deceive him so completely
that they imposed upon him for a wife, to suit their own convenience, a
prostitute whom they had been keeping. Then, after he had married her
and come to a knowledge of her, the truth was revealed, at which the
poor old man was so grieved that he died in a few weeks at the age of
sixty-nine.
And now to say something of Innocenzio da Imola. This master was for
many years in Florence with Mariotto Albertinelli; and then, having
returned to Imola, he executed many works in that place. But finally, at
the persuasion of Count Giovan Battista Bentivogli, he went to live in
Bologna, where one of his first works was a copy of a picture formerly
executed by Raffaello da Urbino for Signor Leonello da Carpi. And for
the Monks of S. Michele in Bosco he painted in fresco, in their
chapter-house, the Death of Our Lady and the Resurrection of Christ,
works which were executed with truly supreme diligence and finish. For
the church of the same monks, also, he painted the panel of the
high-altar, the upper part of which is done in a good manner. For the
Servites of Bologna he executed an Annunciation on panel, and for S.
Salvatore a Crucifixion, with many pictures of various kinds throughout
the whole city. At the Viola, for the Cardinal of Ivrea, he painted
three loggie in fresco, each containing two scenes, executed in colour
from designs by other painters, and yet finished with much diligence. He
painted in fresco a chapel in S. Jacopo, and for Madonna Benozza a
panel-picture in oils, which was not otherwise than passing good. He
made a portrait, also, besides many others, of Cardinal Francesco
Alidosio, which I have seen at Imola, together with the portrait of
Cardinal Bernardino Carvajal, and both are works of no little beauty.
Innocenzio was a very good and modest person, and therefore always
avoided any dealings or intercourse with the painters of Bologna, who
were quite the opposite in nature, and he was always exerting himself
beyond the limits of his strength; wherefore, when he fell sick of a
putrid fever at the age of fifty-six, it found him so weak and exhausted
that it killed him in a few days. He left unfinished, or rather,
scarcely begun, a work that he had undertaken without Bologna, and this
was completed to perfection, according to the arrangement made by
Innocenzio before his death, by Prospero Fontana, a painter of Bologna.
The works of all the above-named painters date from 1506 to 1542, and
there are drawings by the hands of them all in our book.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF S. CATHARINE
(_After the painting by =Innocenzio da Imola=. Bologna: S. Giacomo
Maggiore_)
_Alinari_]
FRANCIABIGIO
LIFE OF FRANCIABIGIO
[_FRANCIA_]
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
The fatigues that a man endures in this life in order to raise himself
from the ground and protect himself from poverty, succouring not only
himself but also his nearest and dearest, have such virtue, that the
sweat and the hardships become full of sweetness, and bring comfort and
nourishment to the minds of others, insomuch that Heaven, in its bounty,
perceiving one drawn to a good life and to upright conduct, and also
filled with zeal and inclination for the studies of the sciences, is
forced to be benign and favourably disposed towards him beyond its wont;
as it was, in truth, towards the Florentine painter Francia. This
master, having applied himself to the art of painting for a just and
excellent reason, laboured therein not so much out of a desire for fame
as from a wish to bring assistance to his needy relatives; and having
been born in a family of humble artisans, people of low degree, he
sought to raise himself from that position. In this effort he was much
spurred by his rivalry with Andrea del Sarto, then his companion, with
whom for a long time he shared both work-room and the painter's life; on
account of which life they made great proficience, one through the
other, in the art of painting.
Francia learned the first principles of art in his youth by living for
some months with Mariotto Albertinelli. And being much inclined to the
study of perspective, at which he was always working out of pure
delight, while still quite young he gained a reputation for great
ability in Florence. The first works painted by him were a S. Bernard
executed in fresco in S. Pancrazio, a church opposite to his own house,
and a S. Catharine of Siena, executed likewise in fresco, on a pilaster
in the Chapel of the Rucellai; whereby, exerting himself in that art,
he gave proofs of his fine qualities. Much more, even, was he
established in repute by a picture which is in a little chapel in S.
Pietro Maggiore, containing Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and a
little S. John caressing Jesus Christ. He also gave proof of his
excellence in a shrine executed in fresco, in which he painted the
Visitation of Our Lady, on a corner of the Church of S. Giobbe, behind
the Servite Convent in Florence. In the figure of that Madonna may be
seen a goodness truly appropriate, with profound reverence in that of
the older woman; and the S. Job he painted poor and leprous, and also
rich and restored to health. This work so revealed his powers that he
came into credit and fame; whereupon the men who were the rulers of that
church and brotherhood gave him the commission for the panel-picture of
their high-altar, in which Francia acquitted himself even better; and in
that work he painted a Madonna, and S. Job in poverty, and made a
portrait of himself in the face of S. John the Baptist.
There was built at that time, in S. Spirito at Florence, the Chapel of
S. Niccola, in which was placed a figure of that Saint in the round,
carved in wood from the model by Jacopo Sansovino; and Francia painted
two little angels in two square pictures in oils, one on either side of
that figure, which were much extolled, and also depicted the
Annunciation in two round pictures; and the predella he adorned with
little figures representing the miracles of S. Nicholas, executed with
such diligence that he deserves much praise for them. In S. Pietro
Maggiore, by the door, and on the right hand as one enters the church,
is an Annunciation by his hand, wherein he made the Angel still flying
through the sky, and the Madonna receiving the Salutation on her knees,
in a most graceful attitude; and he drew there a building in
perspective, which was a masterly thing, and was much extolled. And, in
truth, although Francia had a somewhat dainty manner, because he was
very laborious and constrained in his work, nevertheless he showed great
care and diligence in giving the true proportions of art to his figures.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN
(_After the fresco by =Franciabigio [Francia]=. Florence: SS.
Annunziata_)
_Anderson_]
He was commissioned to execute a scene in the cloister in front of the
Church of the Servites, in competition with Andrea del Sarto; and there
he painted the Marriage of Our Lady, wherein may be clearly recognized
the supreme faith of Joseph, who shows in his face as much awe as joy
at his marriage with her. Besides this, Francia painted there one who is
giving him some blows, as is the custom in our own day, in memory of the
wedding; and in a nude figure he expressed very happily the rage and
disappointment that drive him to break his rod, which had not blossomed,
the drawing of which, with many others, is in our book. In the company
of Our Lady, also, he painted some women with most beautiful expressions
and head-dresses, things in which he always delighted. And in all this
scene he did not paint a single thing that was not very well considered;
as is, for example, a woman with a child in her arms, who, turning to go
home, has cuffed another child, who has sat down in tears and refuses to
go, pressing one hand against his face in a very graceful manner.
Certain it is that he executed every detail in this scene, whether large
or small, with much diligence and love, on account of the burning desire
that he had to show therein to craftsmen and to all other good judges
how great was his respect for the difficulties of art, and how
successfully he could solve them by faithful imitation.
Not long after this, on the occasion of a festival, the friars wished
that the scenes of Andrea, and likewise that of Francia, should be
uncovered; and the night after Francia had finished his with the
exception of the base, they were so rash and presumptuous as to uncover
them, not thinking, in their ignorance of art, that Francia would want
to retouch or otherwise change his figures. In the morning, both the
painting of Francia and those of Andrea were open to view, and the news
was brought to Francia that Andrea's works and his own had been
uncovered; at which he felt such resentment, that he was like to die of
it. Seized with anger against the friars on account of their presumption
and the little respect that they had shown to him, he set off at his
best speed and came up to the work; and then, climbing on to the
staging, which had not yet been taken to pieces, although the painting
had been uncovered, and seizing a mason's hammer that was there, he beat
some of the women's heads to fragments, and destroyed that of the
Madonna, and also tore almost completely away from the wall, plaster and
all, a nude figure that is breaking a rod. Hearing the noise, the friars
ran up, and, with the help of some laymen, seized his hands, to prevent
him from destroying it completely. But, although in time they offered to
give him double payment, he, on account of the hatred that he had
conceived for them, would never restore it. By reason of the reverence
felt by other painters both for him and for the work, they have refused
to finish it; and so it remains, even in our own day, as a memorial of
that event. This fresco is executed with such diligence and so much
love, and it is so beautiful in its freshness, that Francia may be said
to have worked better in fresco than any man of his time, and to have
blended and harmonized his paintings in fresco better than any other,
without needing to retouch the colours; wherefore he deserves to be much
extolled both for this and for his other works.
At Rovezzano, without the Porta alla Croce, near Florence, he painted a
shrine with a Christ on the Cross and some saints; and in S. Giovannino,
at the Porta a S. Piero Gattolini, he executed a Last Supper of the
Apostles in fresco.
No long time after, on the departure for France of the painter Andrea
del Sarto, who had begun to paint the stories of S. John the Baptist in
chiaroscuro in a cloister of the Company of the Scalzo at Florence, the
men of that Company, desiring to have that work finished, engaged
Francia, to the end that he, being an imitator of the manner of Andrea,
might complete the paintings begun by the other. Thereupon Francia
executed the decorations right round one part of that cloister, and
finished two of the scenes, which he painted with great diligence. These
are, first S. John the Baptist obtaining leave from his father Zacharias
to go into the desert, and then the meeting of Christ and S. John on the
way, with Joseph and Mary standing there and beholding them embrace one
another. But more than this he did not do, on account of the return of
Andrea, who then went on to finish the rest of the work.
With Ridolfo Ghirlandajo he prepared a most beautiful festival for the
marriage of Duke Lorenzo, with two sets of scenery for the dramas that
were performed, executing them with much method, masterly judgment, and
grace; on account of which he acquired credit and favour with that
Prince. This service was the reason that he received the commission for
gilding the ceiling of the Hall of Poggio a Caiano, in company with
Andrea di Cosimo. And afterwards, in competition with Andrea del Sarto
and Jacopo da Pontormo, he began, on a wall in that hall, the scene of
Cicero being carried in triumph by the citizens of Rome. This work had
been undertaken by the liberality of Pope Leo, in memory of his father
Lorenzo, who had caused the edifice to be built, and had ordained that
it should be painted with scenes from ancient history and other
ornaments according to his pleasure. And these had been entrusted by the
learned historian, M. Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, who was then chief
in authority near the person of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, to Andrea
del Sarto, Jacopo da Pontormo, and Franciabigio, that they might
demonstrate the power and perfection of their art in the work, each
receiving thirty crowns every month from the magnificent Ottaviano de'
Medici. Thereupon Francia executed on his part, to say nothing of the
beauty of the scene, some buildings in perspective, very well
proportioned. But the work remained unfinished on account of the death
of Leo; and afterwards, in the year 1532, it was begun again by Jacopo
da Pontormo at the commission of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, but he
lingered over it so long, that the Duke died and it was once more left
unfinished.
But to return to Francia; so ardent was his love for the matters of art,
that there was no summer day on which he did not draw some study of a
nude figure from the life in his work-room, and to that end he always
kept men in his pay. For S. Maria Nuova, at the request of Maestro
Andrea Pasquali, an excellent physician of Florence, he executed an
anatomical figure, in consequence of which he made a great advance in
the art of painting, and pursued it ever afterwards with more zeal. He
then painted in the Convent of S. Maria Novella, in the lunette over the
door of the library, a S. Thomas confuting the heretics with his
learning, a work which is executed with diligence and a good manner.
There, among other details, are two children who serve to uphold an
escutcheon in the ornamental border; and these are very fine, full of
the greatest beauty and grace, and painted in a most lovely manner.
He also executed a picture with little figures for Giovanni Maria
Benintendi, in competition with Jacopo da Pontormo, who painted another
of the same size for that patron, containing the story of the Magi; and
two others were painted by Francesco d' Albertino.[12] In his work
Francia represented the scene of David seeing Bathsheba in her bath; and
there he painted some women in a manner too smooth and dainty, and drew
a building in perspective, wherein is David giving letters to the
messengers, who are to carry them to the camp to the end that Uriah the
Hittite may meet his death; and under a loggia he painted a royal
banquet of great beauty. This work contributed greatly to the fame and
honour of Francia, who, if he had much ability for large figures, had
much more for little figures.
Francia also made many most beautiful portraits from life; one, in
particular, for Matteo Sofferroni, who was very much his friend, and
another for a countryman, the steward of Pier Francesco de' Medici at
the Palace of S. Girolamo da Fiesole, which seems absolutely alive, with
many others. And since he undertook any kind of work without being
ashamed, so long as he was pursuing his art, he set his hand to whatever
commission was given to him; wherefore, in addition to many works of the
meanest kind, he painted a most beautiful "Noli me tangere" for the
cloth-weaver Arcangelo, at the top of a tower that serves as a terrace,
in Porta Rossa; with an endless number of other trivial works, executed
by Francia because he was a person of sweet and kindly nature and very
obliging, of which there is no need to say more.
[Illustration: FRANCIABIGIO: PORTRAIT OF A MAN
(_Vienna: Collection of Prince Liechtenstein._ _Canvas_)]