CHAPTER II.

THE MODENESE SCHOOL.

EPOCH I.

_The Ancients._

The state of Modena, such as it is now reunited under the happy government

of the house of Este, will form the subject of the following chapter; and

no other portion of my work can be pronounced superior in point of interest

to this. Since the feeble attempts of Vedriani, and of other writers, more

eager than sagacious, the pictoric history of the entire dominion has been

recently illustrated, as I observed at the commencement, by a distinguished

historian. I have no further object in view than to adapt it to my usual

method, omitting at the same time a few names, which, either from their

mediocrity, from the loss of their works, or other reasons, cannot be

presumed to be greatly interesting to my readers.

The antiquity of this school may be sought for as far back as 1235, at

least if it may be supposed that Berlingeri of Lucca, certainly the author

of a S. Francesco remaining in the castle of Guiglia, painted in the above

year, likewise produced pupils to the state of Modena, a matter which is

still involved in doubt. There is another sacred figure, also the

production of a Modenese, consisting of the Blessed Virgin, between two

military saints, a picture brought from Prague into the Imperial Gallery at

Vienna. We read inscribed upon it in ancient character the two following

lines:--

Quis opus hoc finxit? Thomas de Mutina pinxit;

Quale vides Lector _Rarisini_ filius auctor;

in which we ought to read _Barisini_, both on account of Sig. Garampi, who

is profoundly skilled in the ancient characters, having thus understood it,

and because this name approaches nearer to those which, though certainly

different, are known to apply to the father of Tommaso, as well in Modena

as in Trevigi. In the former I know not that there now remains any thing of

him but the name; but in the latter is to be seen a very extensive work in

the chapter of the Padri Predicatori. Here are represented the saints and

scholars of the order, and the artist's name also appears with the date of

1352.[4] The design of this piece is tolerably good for those times, as

appears from the engravings taken of it by the Domenican, Father Federici,

the same who presented us with a learned work upon the Antiquities of

Trevigi. He discovered that the father of Tommaso, by name _Borasino_ or

_Bizzarrino_, an abbreviation he says of _Buzzaccarino_, became nominated

to the citizenship, and to the public notaryship of Trevigi, in 1315; in

all which his family was called di Modena, as that of Girolamo Ferrarese

was called di Carpi. On the strength of these documents Trevigi may,

perhaps, dispute with Modena the honour of producing such an artist; but I

shall take no share in the question. I would here merely observe that the

superscription does not say _Thomas de Mutina_, from which we might gather

that Modena was the cognomen of the family; but that _Thomas pictor de

Mutina pinxit istud_; whence to conclude that he there gave the name of his

real country, either because he was born in Modena, or because, descended

from a Modenese family, he retained his citizenship, and rather wished to

appear a native of Modena than of Trevigi. However this may be, it is a

signal honour for Italy to have given such an artist to Germany, a name of

which the historians of that great nation have mistakenly availed

themselves, in the outset of the historic series of their painters, tracing

his origin to Muttersdorff, and making him the master of Theodoric of

Prague, followed in succession by Wumser, Schoen, Wolgemut, and Albert

Durer.

Footnote 4: It was believed some time ago that this painting

was produced in 1297, this date being found on the picture,

and Sig. Mechel having thus published it in his catalogue of

the Royal Gallery at Vienna. Whether it still remains thus

inserted I know not; but undoubtedly it ought not to be

there.

Next to the pictures of Tommaso, ought to be enumerated an altar-piece by

Barnaba da Modena, preserved together with the author's name in Alba, and

dated 1377, a piece by one writer supposed anterior to Giotto; and in

addition to this an _Ancona_, from the hand of Serafino de' Serafini da

Modena, containing various busts and entire figures, with the name also of

the painter, and the year 1385. It is placed in the cathedral, and its

principal subject is the Incoronation of the Virgin. In its composition it

very nearly resembles that of Giotto and his school, of which, indeed, more

than of any other, the whole character of the piece partakes, only the

figures are, perhaps, a little more full, and as it were better fed than

those of the Florentine School. If the origin of such resemblance should be

sought for, let us consider that Giotto not only employed himself in the

adjacent city of Bologna, but likewise in Ferrara, which, together with

Modena, was then subject to the house of Este, so that one city might

easily afford precepts and examples to another.

Vasari remarked at Modena some ancient paintings at S. Dominico, and he

might have seen more in possession of the Padri Benedettini, and elsewhere;

from which he judged, that "in every age there had been excellent artists

in that place." Their names, which were unknown to Vasari, have in part

been collected from MSS., consisting of a Tommaso Bassini,[5] whose age and

productions are uncertain, and some others of the fourteenth century,

approaching nearer to a more improved era. One of these was Andrea Campana,

to whom a work, bearing the initials of his name, in the Colorno Villa of

the Duke of Parma, has been attributed, representing the acts of S. Piero

Martire, a piece extremely pleasing and well coloured. Another is

Bartolommeo Bonasia, excellent both in painting and inlaid work, a specimen

of which he left in a picture placed in the convent of S. Vincenzo. There

are, moreover, in Sassuolo, some notices of Raffaello Calori of Modena,

beginning in 1452 and terminating in 1474; besides a picture of the Virgin

in the best manner of those times, during which he was in the service of

Duke Borso. Later than him flourished Francesco Magagnolo, an artist who

terminated his career early in the sixteenth century, and one of the first

who drew countenances in such a manner as to appear looking at the

spectator, in whatever point of view he might observe them. His

contemporaries, it appears, were Cecchino Setti, whose labours have wholly

perished, with the exception of a few altar-ornaments, in the most finished

taste; Nicoletto da Modena, at once a painter, and one of the very earliest

engravers, whose prints are much sought after for cabinets, and are placed

at the head of collections; Giovanni Munari, commended by historians, and

distinguished for the great name of his son and pupil Pellegrino; and

finally Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, who died in 1510. To this last has been

ascribed the honour of instructing Coreggio, which, however, can by no

means be asserted beyond dispute. One of his altar-pieces was formerly to

be seen in S. Francesco, executed with some degree of modern softness,

though still partaking of the ancient stiffness, and the eyes designed

without a due regard to rotundity.

Footnote 5: This information, taken from Tiraboschi, does not

seem to favour the system of Father Federici, who says, that

in the fourteenth century names were frequently shortened,

adducing, at the same time, several examples, (vol. i. p.

53). He thus explains how _Buzzaccarino_ became

_Bizzarrino_, _Barisino_, _Borasino_, with many more strange

terms in Trevigi. Now why might not this artist's name

become _Bassino_, in Modena? And if in reading _Tommaso di

Bassino da Modena_ in the authorities of Tiraboschi, every

one perceives the name of the painter, that of the father,

and of the country to which he belonged; then why, on

reading upon pictures _Tommaso di Barisino_, or _Borisino,

da Modena_, are we bound to believe this last the name of a

family; and so much more, as there were then few families

distinguished by their surnames? Tommaso, therefore, wished

it to be understood that he came from Modena; and if this

became a surname which distinguished his family in Trevigi,

it must have been at a later period, when he knew nothing of

it.

In the smaller capitals, also, about this period, flourished artists of

considerable merit. Reggio still boasts a Madonna of Loreto, painted in the

dome by the hand of Bernardino Orsi, with the date of 1501; while in S.

Tommaso, and elsewhere, we meet with some paintings of Simone Fornari, also

called Moresini, and of Francesco Caprioli. I mention them here, not so

much on account of the period which they adorned, as for the resemblance of

their manner to the two Francia, more especially Fornari; many of his

pictures having been attributed to those distinguished ornaments of

Bologna.

Carpi, likewise, preserves several relics of the ancient arts: besides a

frieze in the rudest style of sculpture, in the facade of the old

cathedral, a work of the twelfth century. To the same church is attached

two chapels, exhibiting the commencement and the progress of painting in

those parts. In one is seen the spousals of Santa Caterina, a piece so

extremely infantile, that it would be difficult to find a similar example

in Italy. The painting upon the walls is, however, superior; displaying an

original style, no less in the drapery than in the ideas, and forcible in

its action. The other chapel is divided into various niches, with the

effigy of a saint in each; and in this work, which is the latest of the

two, appear some traces of the style of Giotto. There is no nomenclature

giving us any account of artists so very ancient. The list of the school

commences with Bernardino Loschi, who, sprung from a family in Parma, signs

his own name, _Carpense_, in some of his pictures. Without such

elucidation, these might have been pronounced the works of one or other of

the Francia. Loschi was employed in the service of Alberto Pio; and there

exist memorials of him from the year 1495 until 1533. There remains on

record the name of one of his contemporaries, Marco Meloni, one of the most

accurate of artists, of whom every thing may be included in the

observation, that his pictures at S. Bernardino, and elsewhere, partake in

the same degree of the Bolognese manner. Probably he was a pupil of that

school, as well as Alessandro da Carpi, enumerated by Malvasia among the

disciples of Costa.

Finally, Coreggio likewise cultivated the fine arts before Antonio Allegri

came into the world. For not many years ago a fresco of tolerable execution

was discovered in that cathedral, ascribed by tradition, to Lorenzo

Allegri, who, in a letter of donation, subscribed by him in 1527, is called

_Magister Laurentius Filius Magistri Antonii de Allegris Pictor_. This

artist is believed to have been the first instructor of Antonio Allegri,

his brother's son; and it is, at least, certain that he had a school in

which he taught the rules of art to another of his nephews, as I have heard

from the learned Dottore Antonioli, who is busied in preparing a life of

his very distinguished fellow citizen. At present there are few paintings

in Coreggio displaying the taste of the artists of the fourteenth century,

from which we might judge of that school. A Madonna, painted in 1511, when

Antonio Allegri had attained his seventeenth year, is, however, to be met

with in the Catalogue of the Este Gallery, whither it had been transferred.

It is attributed to Antonio Allegri, but there is no sufficient evidence of

the fact; and we should have about equal authority for giving it to

Lorenzo. The style is but middling, and in point of forms, the ancient

character is not wholly laid aside in the folds of the drapery: it may,

however, be pronounced of a softer tone than that of the chief part of its

contemporaries, and nearer to the modern manner.

Before proceeding further, it will be right to inform the reader of a

certain advantage that this tract of country, and Modena in particular,

enjoyed from the commencement of the fifteenth century, consisting in the

abundance of its excellent modellers in clay. Of this art, the parent of

sculpture, and the nurse of painting, that city has since produced the most

exquisite specimens in the world; and this, if I mistake not, is the most

characteristic, rare, and admirable advantage of the school. Guido Mazzoni,

otherwise Paganini, a name highly celebrated by Vasari, had the reputation

of an excellent artist from the time he produced his Holy Family, at St.

Margherita, in 1484, presenting statues of a vivacity and expression truly

surprising. This great artificer was employed by Charles VIII., both in

Naples and France, where he remained upwards of twenty years, retiring at

length into his native country, full of honours, to terminate his days. No

slight commendation has likewise been bestowed by the historian

Lancillotto, upon Gio. Abati, father of Niccolo, and his contemporary,

whose sacred images in chalk were held in the highest esteem; more

particularly the crucifixions, executed with a knowledge of anatomy, most

exact in every separate vein and nerve. He was nevertheless far surpassed

by Antonio Begarelli, probably his pupil, who by his works in clay, with

figures even larger than life, has succeeded in bearing away the palm from

all his competitors. In the church and monastery of the Padri Benedettini,

there is preserved a noble collection of them. As he flourished during a

long period, he filled those churches with monuments, groups, and statues,

to say nothing of others which he produced in Parma, Mantua, and other

places. Vasari praises him for "the fine air of his heads, beautiful

drapery, exquisite proportions, and colour of marble;" and the same author

continues to relate, that they appeared so excellent to Bonarruoti that he

said, "if this clay were only to become marble, woe betide the ancient

statues." I am at a loss to imagine what species of eulogy could be more

desirable to an artist; in particular when we reflect upon the profound

science of Bonarruoti, and how tardy he was to praise. We ought not to omit

to mention, that Begarelli was likewise excellent in design, and acted as a

master, both of that and modelling, in the instruction of youth. Hence he

greatly influenced the art of painting, and to him we are in a great

measure to trace that correctness, that relief, that art of foreshortening,

and that degree of grace approaching nearly to Raffaello's, in all of which

this part of Lombardy boasted such a conspicuous share.

MODENESSE SCHOOL.

EPOCH II.

_Imitation of Raffaello and Coreggio, in the Sixteenth

Century._

Such were the preparatory efforts throughout all these districts, as far as

we have hitherto considered them: but the best preparation lay in the

natural talent of the young artists. Of these we are told, upon the

authority of Tiraboschi, that the Card. Alessandro d'Este observed, that

"they appeared to have been born with a natural genius for the fine arts:"

an opinion fully borne out during the lapse of the sixteenth century, when

if every province of Italy produced some great name in painting, this

little district of itself abounded with a sufficient number to reflect

honour upon a whole kingdom. I commence my account from the city of Modena;

no other city of Lombardy earlier appreciated the style of Raffaello, nor

did any city of all Italy become more deeply attached to, and produce more

enthusiastic imitators of it. I have already treated of Pellegrino da

Modena, (vol. ii. p. 115) called in the Chronicle of Lancillotti _degli

Aretusi, alias de' Munari_. He received his education in his native place,

and produced a picture there as early as 1509, still preserved at S.

Giovanni, in excellent condition, and creditable to the talent of its

author, even before he entered the school of Raffaello. But such was here

his improvement, that his master availed himself of his assistance in

adorning the open galleries of the Vatican, as well as in other works

executed in Rome, sometimes along with Perino del Vaga, and sometimes by

himself. Several of his pieces at S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli boasted

figures of such a truly graceful and Raffaellesque air, according to the

account of Titi, that the modern retouches they received was a circumstance

truly to be deplored. He is better known in his own country than at Rome,

in particular at S. Paolo, where there remains a Nativity of our Lord which

seems to breathe, in every part, the graces of D'Urbino. This unhappy

artist had a son who, having committed homicide, was threatened with the

vengeance of the parents of the deceased; and meeting with the father, they

directed their fury against him, and slew him upon the spot, a truly tragic

event, which occurred in 1523. Another of his sons, Tiraboschi conjectures

to have been Cesare di Pellegrino Aretusi, the same, who by many writers is

called _Modenese_, having been born in Modena; _Bolognese_ by others,

because he lived in Bologna, and there took up his citizenship. This

artist, to whom we shall again refer, formed his taste in Bologna by

copying Bagnacavallo, being unable to obtain the instructions of

Pellegrino. A Giulio Taraschi, however, was more fortunate, and benefitted

much by his instructions, as appears from many of his paintings at S.

Pietro, in Modena, in the Roman taste; a taste which he is said to have

cultivated in two of his brothers, and transmitted to others whose names

will appear as we proceed.

Somewhat later, also, Coreggio began to afford a new model for the school

of Modena; he who is now held their master, and whose skull is preserved,

upon the example set by Rome, (vol. ii. p. 143), in the academy recently

opened with so much splendour. He employed himself a good deal in Parma, in

which school we shall more decidedly treat of him, though he also, in some

measure, adorned Modena, Reggio, Carpi, and Coreggio; drawing scholars from

all these places, who will appear in a catalogue with the rest in their

appropriate chapter. In this way he early began to exercise an influence

over the school of Modena, and to be esteemed in it a sort of master, whose

manner might be pursued with advantage, either in emulating it altogether,

or uniting it with that of Raffaello.

This became more particularly the case when his fame increased, after his

decease; and when the best specimens he left behind him were collected by

degrees, both from the capital and from the adjacent cities, by different

dukes of Este, to adorn their Gallery, where they were to be seen until

nearly the middle of the present century.[6] At that period Modena was

thronged with artists of every country, coming to take copies of those

great productions, and to study the rules of their composition; an object

in which the natives themselves were not remiss; insomuch that we trace

vestiges of their imitation in every separate hand. In regard, however, to

the earliest and more ancient, it would appear that their predilection and

their genius were more decidedly directed towards Raffaello, and the Roman

manner; whether it be that exotic commodities are more highly valued than

those of native growth, or whether it were that the successors of

Pellegrino alone continued for a length of time to instruct youth, and to

maintain a reputation in those parts.

Footnote 6: Francesco III. disposed of one hundred pictures to

the court of Dresden; among which were five from the hand of

Coreggio, for 130,000 zechins, which were coined in Venice.

It would be desirable in the history of so excellent a school, that writers

should inform us by whom many of those masters were educated who flourished

towards the middle, or latter half of the century. Observation, however,

may in some degree serve to supply the omission of historians, as the style

in many approaches so nearly that of Raffaello, as to lead us to conclude,

that they must have imbibed it from Munari himself, or from the Taraschi,

who succeeded him in his school.

Among the works of Gaspare Pagani, who was also a portrait-painter, the

picture of S. Chiara is the only remaining specimen. Of Girolamo da

Vignola, a few frescos remain at S. Piero. Both were professed imitators of

Raffaello; but the last one of the most happy whom that age produced.

Alberto Fontana displayed equal excellence in his frescos, and ornamented

both within and without the public market-place; pictures, says Scanelli,

which _appear like Raffaello_'s, while he erroneously ascribes them to the

hand of Niccolo dell' Abate. And in truth, from the observation of

Vedriani, the style of one very much resembles that of the other; whether

they may have both equally imbibed it from Begarelli, which the same

historian seems to insinuate, or whether they derived it through some other

channel, in the academy of Munari. Still the similitude of their manner is

not such as to merge their more peculiar distinctions; so that if the heads

of Alberto's figures are remarkable for a fine air, and for tints that

rival those of Niccolo, we can easily point out less perfect design, and

occasionally a certain rudeness and heaviness. But let us turn to his

competitor, and dwell upon the subject more at length, as becomes the

character of a painter, enumerated by Algarotti "among the first who have

adorned the world."

He is supposed by some to have been instructed by Coreggio, an assertion

which cannot wholly be discredited, when we cast our eye upon some

instances of his foreshortening, and of his fine relievo. But Vasari no

where mentions such a circumstance; and it is only on adverting to the

Martyrdom of the chiefs of the Apostles, painted by him at the Monaci Neri,

that he remarks, that the figure of an executioner is taken from a picture

by Coreggio at S. Giovanni of Parma. Whoever may have been the tutor of

Niccolino, he very evidently betrays his enthusiasm for the Roman School,

in his frescos at Modena, supposed to be one of his earliest works. The

same might be averred of his twelve fresco pictures upon the twelve books

of the AEneid, removed from the fortress of Candiano, and now adorning the

ducal palace; sufficient of themselves to exhibit him as an excellent hand

in figures, in landscape, in architecture, and in animals; in every merit

requisite to a distinguished disciple of Raffaello. Proceeding at a maturer

age to Bologna, he painted under the portico of the Lions, a Nativity of

our Lord, in such a manner that neither in those of Raffaellino del Borgo,

nor of any other artist educated in Rome, do I recollect meeting with so

decided a resemblance to the head of the school. I know that a

distinguished professor was in the habit of pronouncing it the most perfect

painting in fresco that the city of Bologna possessed. It formed likewise

the admiration and model of the Caracci, no less than other works of

Niccolino, remaining in the city. Among these, the most admired by

strangers, is that fine _Conversazione_ of ladies and youths, which serves

for a frieze in the hall of the Institute. Next to Raffaello this artist

did not refuse to imitate some others. There is recorded, and indeed

impressed upon the memory of most painters, a sonnet of Agostino Caracci,

from which we learn, that in Niccolino alone was assembled the symmetry of

Raffaello, the terror of Michelangiolo, the truth of Titian, the dignity of

Coreggio, the composition of Tibaldi, the grace of Parmigianino; in a word,

the best of every best professor, and of every school. Such an opinion,

though to be taken with some grains of allowance, from a poet passionately

attached to the honour of his native school, might perhaps obtain more

supporters, did the pieces of Abati appear somewhat more frequently in

different collections. But they are extremely rare; no less because of the

superior number of his frescos, than from the circumstance of his having

passed into France at the age of forty. He was invited thither by the Abate

Primaticcio to assist him in some of his greatest works, intended for

Charles IX., nor did he ever return into Italy. Hence arose the story of

his having been a pupil of Primaticcio, and taking from him his cognomen of

Abate; when in fact he drew that title from his own family. About 1740

there were remaining at Fontainebleau the Histories of Ulysses, to the

number of thirty-eight, painted by Niccolo from designs of Primaticcio; the

most extensive of any of his works executed in France. According to

Algarotti, it was afterwards destroyed, though engravings of it, from the

hand of Van-Thulden, a pupil of Rubens, still remain.

Niccolo's family, also, for a long period, continued to maintain a

reputation in many branches of the art. One of his brothers, Pietro Paolo,

distinguished himself by his happy manner of representing warlike

skirmishes, in particular the terrific charges of horse: several small

pictures in the ducal gallery, from their peculiar character, are thus

ascribed to his hand; and they are to be seen placed immediately below

those of the AEneid. In the chronicle of Lancillotto we meet with Giulio

Camillo, son of Niccolo, who accompanied his father into France; his name

thus remaining nearly unknown in Italy. The most distinguished name in the

family after Niccolo, is that of Ercole, son of Giulio, though its lustre

was impaired by an abandoned course of life, productive of great

unhappiness. He painted a good deal; but, as is too frequently the case

with persons of his character, he diminished the value of his productions

by the haste and inaccuracy of his hand. Of his superior merit, however, we

are assured by the number of commissions bestowed upon him by the Modenese

court, to which we are inclined to give more credit than to the venal

strains of Marino, who extols him to the skies. His picture of the marriage

of Cana, remaining in the ducal gallery, would be sufficient to establish

his fame; it is in his finest manner, and, in many points, displays much of

the taste of the Venetian School. His most extensive work was produced for

the hall of council, where he had a companion and rival in Schedone,

assisting him in those pictures which they undertook in conjunction, and

vieing with him in his separate works. Nor ought it to be esteemed any

diminution of his merit to have been surpassed by so great a competitor.

The last of these family artists is Pietro Paolo, son of Ercole, who died

in his eight and thirtieth year, 1630. I include his name here, in order

not to separate him from his ancestors, of none of whom he was unworthy.

Though hardly with equal genius, he pursued the manner of his father; there

is a tame expression in several of his best authenticated pieces: I say

best authenticated, because it is doubtful whether we should consider some

pictures, attributed to him, as the inferior specimens of his father, or

the best of his own.

Besides the disciples and imitators of Raffaello, I find other artists of

Modena, who, during the sixteenth century, became attached to a different

style; and no one among these is to be preferred to Ercole de' Setti, an

excellent engraver, as well as a painter of considerable merit. A few of

his altar-pieces remain at Modena; and I have seen, though very rarely,

some little pieces painted for galleries, dignified rather than beautiful

in point of design. He is cautious and studied in the naked parts, nearly

equal to the style of the Florentines, spirited in his attitudes, and

strong in his colouring. We find his name subscribed _Ercole de' Setti_,

and also in Latin, _Hercules Septimius_. Along with his name Vedriani

enumerates that of a Francesco Madonnina, entitling him one of the most

celebrated artists in the city; but there is too little of his remaining in

Modena to form a judgment of his style. As little also remains of Giovanni

Battista Ingoni, a rival of Niccolo, as he is termed by Vasari; and what

yet exists is by no means to be held in high estimation. I have discovered

nothing from the hand of Gio. Batista Codibue, though I have read of his

_Nunziata_ at the Carmine being highly esteemed, besides other productions

both in painting and sculpture. High commendations have likewise been

bestowed upon Domenico Carnevale for his frescos, that have now perished,

though a few oil paintings still exist, held in much esteem; one of the

Epiphany, belonging to one of the prince's collections, and another of the

Circumcision, in the palace of the Conti Cesi. He also distinguished

himself at Rome; and it will be sufficient to add, that he was the artist

selected to restore the pictures of Michelangiolo, as we find recorded in

the notes to Vasari.

Reggio boasts the honour of having derived its first school from Raffaello;

and Bernardino Zacchetti is supposed to have been one of his disciples,

though the authorities cited to this effect by most historians, are not

entirely conclusive. Perhaps his picture at S. Prospero, designed and

coloured in the taste of Garofolo, and others which partake of that of

Raffaello, may have given rise to this opinion. But Italy then abounded

with the disciples of that great master, no longer instructed, indeed, by

his voice, but by his paintings and engravings. The works, said to have

been produced by him in Rome, and the assistance afforded to Bonarruoti, in

his labours at the Sistine Chapel, are assertions of Azzari, contained in

his _Compendio_, which remain unquestioned by any ancient writer. We might

more easily, however, grant him the proposition of Giarola having been a

pupil of Coreggio, and as such I have reserved him for the school of Parma.

Not long after these flourished Lelio Orsi, of Reggio. Banished from his

native place, he took up his residence at Novellara, a city then in the

possession of the Gonzaghi, where he established himself, and derived his

name of Lelio da Novellara. This distinguished character, of whom no

account had been given, beyond a slight notice in the Abbecedario, has

recently been honoured with an excellent life, from the pen of the Cavalier

Tiraboschi, compiled from a variety of sources. Whether he was really a

disciple of Coreggio still remains a disputed point with historians, though

it is certain he flourished sufficiently near, both in regard to time and

place, to have become acquainted with him. He, at least, studied and copied

his works, of which there is an instance in a copy of the celebrated

_Notte_, in possession of the noble house of Gazzola, at Verona. Nor are

there wanting writers who maintain that Parma, likewise, was embellished by

his hand, a city in which the chief ornaments of that school employed

themselves. And there are false accounts, still in some measure credited,

of his having been a pupil of Michelangiolo; of Coreggio having

corresponded with him, and even consulted him in his designs. It is true,

indeed, he is an ingenious, accurate, and powerful designer. Whether he

imbibed his taste at Rome, as Tiraboschi, upon the authority of a MS.,

seems to believe; or from Giulio in the city of Mantua; or, again, from

studying the designs and models of Michelangiolo; a knowledge of the path

being itself sufficient to enable enlightened spirits to run the same

career with success. Decidedly his design is not of the Lombard School; and

hence arises the difficulty of supposing him one of the scholars of

Coreggio, in which case his earlier pieces, at least, would have partaken

of a less robust character. He has admirably succeeded, however, in

attaining the same grace in his chiaroscuro, in the spreading of his

colours, and in the beauty and delicacy of his youthful heads. Both Reggio

and Novellara possess many of his pictures in fresco, now, for the most

part, perished; and we are indebted to the glorious memory of Francesco

III. for such as are now to be seen at Modena, in the palace of his

highness, transferred thither from the fortress of Novellara. Few of his

altar-pieces remain in public in either of the cities, the rest being

removed; one of which last, representing the Saints Rocco and Sebastiano,

along with S. Giobbe, I happened to meet with in the studio of Signor

Armanno, at Bologna. A few others attributed to him at Parma,[7] at Ancona,

and at Mantua, are by no means of so authentic a character; and there is

every reason to believe that Lelio, dividing his time between Reggio and

Novellara, never absented himself from those places long together; and has

thus remained less known than many other painters of inferior rank. The

silence of Vasari, of Lomazzo, of Baldinucci, as well as the chief part of

foreigners, is thus likewise accounted for.

Footnote 7: See Father Affo, pp. 27-124.

From the school of Lelio, in all probability, sprung Jacopo Borbone, of

Novellara, who, in the year 1614, painted a portion of the cloister at the

church of the Osservanti, in Mantua; also, Orazio Perucci, of whom there

remain various pictures in private houses, and an altar-piece at S.

Giovanni. Raffaello Motta was undoubtedly a pupil of Orsi, better known

under the name of Raffaellino da Reggio, who left in his native place a few

of his productions in fresco; an astonishing genius, deserving of Rome for

his theatre of action, as indeed I before observed, and of being lamented

like a new Raffaello, prematurely passing away.

At this period Carpi had to boast the name of Orazio Grillenzone, who

resided mostly in Ferrara, where enjoying the acquaintance of Tasso, he was

honoured and immortalized by his pen, being rendered the subject of that

dialogue, bearing for its title, _Il Grillenzone_, or the _Epitaph_. But

none of his paintings are now to be found in that city; and even what

remains of his in Carpi is of a very disputable character. I do not here

speak of the celebrated Girolamo of Carpi; because he was in fact a native

of Ferrara, as I elsewhere observed. There is little to be said of Ugo da

Carpi, as a painter: he was of an inferior genius when he applied himself

to his pencil; and fell still further below mediocrity when he became

whimsical enough to paint with his fingers, recording the exploit upon the

canvass, as he did in the figure of the Volto Santo, the Holy Face, at S.

Pietro, in Rome. Still we ought to bear honourable testimony to his merit,

as the inventor of wood engraving in two, and next in three blocks, or

pieces, by which he expressed the three different tints, the shade, the

middle tints, and the light.[8] In this way he produced many designs and

inventions of Raffaello, with greater clearness than even Marc Antonio had

before done; besides opening to posterity a new path, as it were, of

painting in chiaroscuro, very easily imitated and multiplied. Vasari

particularly treats upon it at the close of his Introduction; and there, no

less than in other places, commends the genius of Ugo as one of the most

acute that was ever directed towards the fine arts.

Footnote 8: The Germans claim the invention of the art of

engraving in wood, in _chiaroscuro_, before Ugo announced it

to the Italians. For this, they produce the cards of Gio.

Ulderico Pilgrim, which, although _Gothic_, observes Huber,

(p. 89) _produce an admirable effect in regard to

chiaroscuro_. They make out the inventor to be very ancient,

enumerating Mair and others, equally celebrated at the same

period. We are told nothing, however, in regard to their

mechanism, which was probably not the same as that of Ugo.

It will not here be thought irrelevant to record the new

method of engraving in the Dutch manner, in imitation of

coloured designs, though not executed by process of wood,

but of copper. It has been introduced into Tuscany, through

the efforts of the distinguished Cosimo Rossi, a gentleman

of Pistoia, and vice-president of the academy. After various

experiments, and making the first trials upon some

representations of tombs, in the solid Egyptian style of his

own invention, it soon became also imitated in other modes

of engraving, and more especially in the _Viaggio Pittorico_

of Traballesi. It were desirable that the before-mentioned

gentleman should continue to apply the same in works of

architecture and perspective; in which he succeeds admirably

also with his pencil, very happily emulating the style of

Canaletto. The method ought to be explained very minutely;

but it is both too complicate and too extensive to be

adapted to the degree of brevity we have bound ourselves to

observe upon similar subjects.

MODENESE SCHOOL.

EPOCH III.

_The Modenese Artists of the Seventeenth Century chiefly

follow the example of the Bolognese._

The taste introduced by Munari into Modena and the state, together with the

example of Coreggio and Lelio, did not become wholly extinct in the

seventeenth century. It was in some measure continued by several of their

pupils and imitators, but in proportion as those of the Caracci grew into

greater credit, gradually extending their influence over the other schools

of Italy, it began to decline apace. It is well known that some of the

Modenese frequented their academy, and Bartolommeo Schedone is included by

Malvasia among the scholars of the Caracci. If such be the fact, we must

conclude, either that his first productions are not known, or that he

merely saluted that school, as it were, from the threshold; inasmuch as the

larger works which are pointed out as his, betray few traces of the style

of the Caracci. It seems more probable that he employed himself in

following the successors of Raffaello in his native place, and in

particular Coreggio, of whom there remained so many original pieces. His

pieces in fresco, executed in competition with Ercole Abati, about 1604,

still exist in the public palace; and among these is the beautiful history

of Coriolanus, and the Seven Sisters, who are meant to represent Harmony:

whoever observes these will find they possess a mixture of the two

characters before alluded to. There is, moreover, in the cathedral, a half

figure of S. Geminiano, with an infant boy restored by him to life,

supporting himself by the saint's staff, and apparently returning his

thanks. It may be enumerated among the best of his works, and bears a

striking resemblance to those of Coreggio. The same resemblance was

affirmed from that period in other of his pictures transferred elsewhere;

and Marini mentions them in one of his letters as a kind of phenomenon.

Scanelli, who wrote about forty years after the death of Schedone, also

confirms such an opinion; though to make the imitation complete, he would

have wished a little more practice and solidity, in which I rather think he

alludes to his perspective and design, not always quite correct. For the

rest his figures, both in their character and their action, are very

pleasing, while his colouring in fresco is very vivid and lively; in oils

he is more serious, but more harmonious, though not always free from the

ill effect produced by the bad grounds usual in the age of the Caracci. His

pictures on a larger scale, such as his Pieta, now in the academy of Parma,

are extremely rare, and also his history-pieces, as the Nativity of our

Lord and that of the Virgin, placed for lateral ornaments to an altar-piece

by Filippo Bellini. Of his Holy Families, and little sacred pieces, there

are some remaining; such as are found in galleries being highly valuable,

so much so, that Tiraboschi records the sum of 4,000 crowns having been

required for one of them. The court of Naples is extremely rich in them,

having, together with the other Farnesian pictures, obtained also those

painted by Schedone, while in the service of Duke Ranuccio, his most

liberal patron. This artist produced but little, being seduced by the love

of gambling; nor did he survive very long after losing a large sum of

money, about the end of the year 1615.

The three following names belong to the school of the Caracci, also in

regard to style. Giacomo Cavedone, born in Sassuolo, but absent from the

state after the period of youth, was esteemed one of the best disciples of

Lodovico. Giulio Secchiari, of Modena, resided also at Rome, and in Mantua,

where he produced several excellent pictures for the court, which perished

in the sack of 1630. What remains of him in his native place, and in

particular the Death of the Virgin, in the subterranean part of the

cathedral, with four crowns around, is calculated to give rise to lively

regret, that Giulio should not be equally well known in different

collections, with the other disciples of the Caracci. Camillo Gavassetti,

likewise of Modena, may boast also of a greater degree of merit than of

fame; no less because he died young, than because of his attaching himself

to works in fresco, which, confined to the place in which they are

produced, confine also the reputation of the artist. He is better known in

Piacenza than in Modena, Parma, or, indeed, any other city. One of his

paintings adorns the presbytery of the church of S. Antonino, accompanied

with figures taken from the Apocalypse, so finely executed as to induce

Guercino, when coming to Piacenza to complete his finest work, to bestow

the highest commendation upon it; and it is still enumerated among the

chief ornaments of that rich and ornate city. There is something so grand,

spirited, and choice, in its whole expression, combined with so much grace

and harmony of tints, that it equally surprises us when viewed together,

and satisfies us when examined part by part. The action only is sometimes

too extravagant, and some of the figures are hardly sufficiently studied.

In fact, this artist preferred expedition to high finish; and held a

dispute, reported by Baldinucci, with Tiarini, who practised and maintained

the contrary, a plan by which, in all works of importance, he was preferred

to him in Parma. In Santa Maria di Campagna, at Piacenza, however, where

they both painted scriptural histories in opposition, Gavassetti maintains

his ground against Tiarini, and other competitors, very numerous and

distinguished for that period.

When the pupils of the Caracci succeeded their masters in Bologna, the

young artists of the neighbouring state of Modena continued to receive

instructions from them, being highly esteemed in the court of Este. At that

period flourished Francesco I., and Alfonso IV., both of whom, according to

the history of Malvasia, were greatly attached to the followers of the

Caracci; some of these they invited into their service, others they

employed in their palaces, and at their public festivals; and from all they

were anxious to obtain designs and pictures which they might exhibit in

their churches, or in their grand collection of paintings, rendered by

their means one of the richest in Europe. Hence the artists who next

follow, with the exception of a very few, among whom is Romani of Reggio,

will be included in one school. It seems certain that Romani studied in

Venice, and there became attached to Paolo, whose style he adopted in the

Mysteries of the Rosario; and even more so to Tintoretto, whose rules he

usually practised, and very successfully.

Guido Reni was either the master or the prototype of Gio. Batista Pesari;

if this artist, who resembles Guido in his Madonna at S. Paolo, imitated

him as closely in his other works. But of this we cannot judge, as he

flourished only during a short period, and part of that time in Venice,

where he died before enjoying any degree of fame. Guido himself undoubtedly

bestowed his instructions on Luca da Reggio, and on Bernardo Cervi da

Modena. Luca I have mentioned in the preceding book. The second according

to the judgment of Guido, was possessed of distinguished talents for

design; and though meeting with a premature fate in the pestilence of 1630,

he left behind him works in the cathedral, and other churches, not

inferior, perhaps, to those of Luca. From the same school sprung Giovanni

Boulanger, of Troyes, painter to the court of Modena, and master in that

city. We find, in the ducal palace, various specimens of his pencil truly

delicate, though his want of good grounds in many pictures, occasionally

casts some reflection upon his merit. He is happy in his inventions, warm

and harmonious in his colours, spirited in his attitudes, but not without

some touch of excessive enthusiasm. The sacrifice of Iphigenia, if a

genuine production, is sufficient to establish his character; although the

figure of Agamemnon may appear veiled in a capricious style, scarcely

adapted to an heroic subject. Two of his best imitators and disciples are

Tommaso Costa, of Sassuolo, and Sigismondo Caula, of Modena; the first of

whom succeeded as a powerful colourist, of very general talent, and was

eagerly employed by the neighbouring courts and cities in perspective, in

landscape, and in figures. Reggio, where he usually resided, retains many

of his productions: Modena has several, and in particular the cupola of S.

Vincenzo bears proud testimony to his merit. Caula left his native place,

only in order to improve his knowledge in Venice. Thence he returned with

the acquisition of a copious and richly coloured style, as Orlandi very

justly remarks, in regard to his great picture of the Plague, at S. Carlo.

He subsequently changed his tints, which became more languid, and in such

taste are most of the pictures he produced for the ornament of altars and

cabinets.

Many artists of Reggio were initiated in the art by Lionello Spada, and by

Desani, his pupil, and assistant in the numerous labours he executed at

that place. Among these are Sebastiano Vercellesi, Pietro Martire Armani,

and in particular Orazio Talami, who, not content, like the rest, to remain

in his native place, traversed Italy, studied with unwearied care the

models of the Caracci, and succeeded so well in his figures, that he might

be mistaken for one of their scholars. While at Rome, which he twice

visited, he devoted himself much to perspective, and very scrupulously

observes its rules in the noble and extensive representations of

architectural objects, which he introduced into his compositions. In all

respects his style is inclined rather to solidity than to amenity. His

native place boasts many of his labours, and more especially two large

pictures abounding in figures, preserved in the presbytery of the

cathedral. Jacopo Baccarini was an imitator of his style, two of whose

pictures have been engraved by Buonvicini; a _Riposo di Egitto_, and a _S.

Alessio Morto_, both of which are to be seen at S. Filippo. This artist's

manner displays much judgment, accompanied with a good deal of grace.

Mattia Benedetti, a priest of Reggio, commended in the Abbecedario, was

instructed in the art of perspective by Talami himself, and, together with

his brother Lodovico, occupies an honourable place in this class. Paolo

Emilio Besenzi, a particular imitator of Albano, either from natural taste

or education, differs a good deal in the former from Lionello. Reggio

retains many pieces, especially at S. Pietro, highly creditable to this

artist's talents; besides statues and buildings in very good taste; as he

succeeded in uniting, like some of the best among the ancients, the various

qualities of the three sister arts.

Guercino, likewise, presented the state with an excellent scholar in

Antonio Triva di Reggio. He distinguished himself in various cities of

Italy, and even in Venice, whither he conducted his sister Flamminia, who

possessed a genius for the art. Here they both employed themselves in

several public works, which acquired for them the commendation of Boschini.

Occasionally he adheres so faithfully to his master, as in the Orto at

Piacenza, as not even to yield to Cesare Gennari. In other pieces he is

more free; though still his manner retains strong traces of his school,

really beautiful, as it is pronounced by Zanetti, and, if I mistake not,

full of truth. He finally visited the court of Bavaria, where he was

employed until the period of his death.

To Guercino, also, we must refer another imitator of his style, in Lodovico

Lana. He was instructed, however, by Scarsellini, and from that

circumstance, has been enumerated by some among the artists of Ferrara. But

Lana, most likely, was born in the state of Modena, in whose city he

resided and held his school. His reputation there is great, as well on

account of many very beautiful pieces, as more particularly for that in the

Chiesa del Voto, in which he represented Modena freed from the scourge of

the plague. It is generally agreed that he never produced a finer specimen

of his art, and there are few, at this time, in those churches, that can be

said to rival it in point of composition, in force of colouring, harmony,

and a certain novelty and abundance of images, that produce surprise in the

spectator. Lana is one of the freest among the imitators of Guercino; his

touch is the same, though less strong, and in taste they exactly coincide.

In his motions he has something of Tintoretto, or more properly of

Scarsellini; but in his colours, and the expressions of his countenances,

he preserves an originality of character. Pesari and he were rivals, as

were the masters whom they respectively followed, on account of their

contrast of style. Pesari, however, seemed to yield, as he transferred his

talents to Venice, while his competitor became the director of an academy

in Modena, which supported by his credit, then became celebrated throughout

Italy. The name of Lana continues to maintain its ground in Bologna, and

other adjacent places, while it is not unknown in lower Italy. The chief

part of his specimens to be met with in collections, consist of heads of

aged men, full of dignity, and touched with a certain boldness of hand,

which declares the master.

Those who flourished after him, belonging to the city of Modena and the

state, were for the most part educated elsewhere. Bonaventura Lamberti, of

Carpi, as I have observed in the Roman School, was instructed by Cignani;

and there he had a noble theatre for the display of his powers. At the same

period flourished Francesco Stringa, in Modena, where he painted a good

deal in a style, if I mistake not, that approached, or seemed rather

ambitious of approaching, that of Lana, and Guercino himself. By some, he

is supposed to have been a pupil of the first; by others, of the second of

these artists; but it is known only with certainty, that he formed himself

upon their model, and that of other excellent masters, whose works, during

his superintendance of the great Este Gallery, he might consult at his

pleasure. Endowed with a rich imagination, spirited and rapid in execution,

he produced much, which was greatly commended, both in the cathedral and in

the churches. His distinguishing characteristic is the depth of his shades,

the somewhat disproportioned length of his figures, and an inclination to

the capricious in his actions and composition. When in advanced years he

began to deteriorate in style, a case common to most artists.

He was the first master of Jacopo Zoboli, who, proceeding from Modena into

Bologna, and thence to Rome, settled there, and died in 1761, with the

reputation of a good artist. This he in a high degree acquired by his

labours in the church of S. Eustachio, where he is distinguished amongst

the more modern productions by his S. Girolamo, displaying singular

diligence, polish, and harmony of colours, by no means general in those

times. The Primaziale of Pisa also boasted a grand picture by his hand,

representing S. Matteo, in the act of dedicating a young princess to a holy

life, by the imposition of the sacred veil. Two other artists of Modena,

Francesco Vellani and Antonio Consetti, who died near the same time, not

very long ago, were instructed in the art by Stringa and his school. Both

are in a taste much resembling that of the Bolognese of their own age. The

former however, is not so accurate in point of design as the latter, a

strict and commendable master in that art. It is true, he has a crudeness

of colours, not very pleasing to the eye; no new circumstance in an artist

educated in the school of Creti. Both Modena and the state are in

possession of many of their pieces.

Still more modern artists have supported with honour the reputation of such

predecessors; but I could not here, without deviating from my original

system, venture to mention them. The place will invariably serve to forward

instruction; a collection of designs and paintings being now exhibited in

the ducal gallery, which does honour to Italy, no less than to the noble

taste of the family of Este that established it. Nor has it omitted, from

time to time, to provide for young artists the assistance of the academy,

which continued to flourish there, from the times of Lana, often closed,

and afterwards re-opened, until beyond the age of Consetti. But it proved

too difficult an attempt, to support another academy so near that of

Bologna, so widely distinguished and attended.[9]

Footnote 9: The latest attempt to restore it was made in 1786,

when it continued to flourish with some credit, during ten

years. In the close of the year 1796 it assumed the name of

school, as I before remarked, directed by a master in the

art of designing figures, together with an assistant.

The same celebrated state, so fruitful in every kind of merit, produced

also able professors in other branches of the art. Lodovico Bertucci, of

Modena, was a painter of _capricci_, which were at that period much admired

and admitted even into palaces; and perhaps there are many of his specimens

still preserved there, but known under other names. A Pellegrino Ascani, of

Carpi, was an admirable flower-painter, and was succeeded, after a long

interval, by Felice Rubbiani. This last was a scholar of Bettini, the

companion of his travels, and the imitator of his taste. He was a favourite

at court, in the cities, and the vicinity; and had commissions bestowed

upon him to the number of thirty-six pictures, by the Marchesi Riva, of

Mantua, all of which he varied in the most astonishing manner. There was,

moreover, a Matteo Coloretti, from Reggio, excellent in portraits, and a

lady of the name of Margherita Gabassi, who succeeded admirably in

humourous pieces. Nor ought we to omit the name of Paolo Gibertoni, of

Modena, who settled at Lucca, and for this reason less known in his native

place. His grotesques in fresco boast no ordinary merit; and these he

varied with every species of strange animals, executed with great spirit.

He was likewise very pleasing in his landscapes, which rose in value after

his death, and are still much esteemed.

Most part of the artists of the Modenese state distinguished themselves in

ornamental work and in architecture; such as Girolamo Comi, whose fine

perspectives deserved to have been accompanied with superior figures; and

Gio. Batista Modonino, called by mistake Madonnino in the Dictionary of

Artists, who acquired a high reputation in Rome, and probably left several

frescos in the Palazzo Spada. He died of the plague, in Naples, 1656.

Antonio Ioli met with a better fate there, about the same period; having

acquired the theory of architecture, he passed into Rome, and, entering the

school of Pannini, he became one of the most celebrated painters in

architecture and ornamental work, known to the present century. Applauded

in the theatres of Spain, England, and Germany, all of which he adorned, he

afterwards went to Naples, and became painter to Carlo III., and to his

successor. Giuseppe Dallamano, a weak man, and, as it is said, unacquainted

with his alphabet, was ignorant even of the common principles of the art;

though by an extraordinary sort of talent, and especially in colouring, he

attained a degree of excellence truly surprising, even to the learned; by

which he continued to live, employing himself in the service of the royal

family at Turin. His pupil Fassetti was, likewise, an extraordinary

character; applying himself, at the age of twenty-eight, to the grinding of

colours, he soon began to imitate his master; and ultimately, with the

assistance of Francesco Bibiena, he became one of the most skilful among

the theatrical painters of Lombardy. He came from Reggio, as well as his

contemporary Zinani, and the younger Spaggiasi, both educated in the school

of Bibiena; although of the father of Spaggiasi, who died in the service of

the king of Poland, the master's name remains unknown. To these we might

add the name of Bartoli, Zannichelli, Bazzani, and of others, either yet

flourishing or deceased; names by which the cavalier Tiraboschi is

justified in observing, that "Reggio had the honour of having at all times

produced excellent theatrical painters."

Carpi enjoys a different kind of honour, though as great in its way. For

there were first commenced the works termed _a scagliola_, or _a mischia_,

of mixed workmanship, the first inventor of which was Guido Fassi, or del

Conte.[10] The stone, called selenite, forms the first ingredient in it. It

is pounded and mixed with colours, and by the application of a certain

glue, the composition becomes as hard as stone, forming a kind of marble,

capable, with further care, of taking a gradual polish. The first trial was

made upon cornices, which thus assume the appearance of fine marbles; and

there remain also in Carpi, of the same composition, two altars by the hand

of Guido himself. His fellow citizens began to avail themselves of this

discovery; some adding one thing to it, and some another. Annibal Griffoni,

a pupil of Guido, applied it to monuments, and even ventured upon the

composition of pictures, intended to represent engravings upon copper, as

well as pictures in oil; an attempt not very successful, insomuch that the

specimens by his son Gaspero are not valued beyond a few tabernacles, and

things in a similar taste. Giovanni Gavignani afforded assistance first to

Guido, and next to Griffoni, surpassing both in a skilful application of

the art. Thus, the altar of S. Antonio, in the church of S. Niccolo, at

Carpi, is still pointed out as something extraordinary, consisting of two

columns of porphyry, and adorned with a pallium embroidered with lace; an

exact imitation of the covers of the altar, while it is ornamented in the

margin with medals, bearing beautiful figures. Nor is the monument from the

hand of one Ferrari in the cathedral, less perfect in its kind; where the

marbles are so admirably counterfeited, that several tourists of the best

taste have been induced to break a small portion, to convince themselves of

the fact. There are, also, pictures preserved in private houses thus drawn

by Gavignani; one of which consists of the Rape of Proserpine, executed

with much elegance, in possession of Signor Cabassi.

Footnote 10: In the _Novelle Letterarie of Florence_, 1771, it

is asserted that this art was introduced about two ages back

into Tuscany, giving rise to imitations of marbles, besides

some fancy pieces. I have diligently sought after specimens

thus antique, both at Florence and at Vallombrosa, where

this art was in great vogue; but what I have seen are very

trivial in their character, nor do they appear of so ancient

a date.

Leoni, who resided in Cremona, was a disciple of the Griffoni, and the

artificer of two very beautiful desks, preserved in the Ducal Museum at

Modena, as well as Paltronieri and Mazzelli, who introduced the art into

Romagna, where it still continues to flourish. We there meet with altars,

that equally deceive the eye by their colour, and the touch by the

freshness of the marble. But the most celebrated pupil of the Griffoni was

a priest called Gio. Massa, who, together with Gio. Pozzuoli, produced

wonderful specimens of the art in his native place, in the adjacent cities,

in Guastalla, Novellara, and elsewhere. The priest proved equally

successful in drawing distant views, gardens, and in particular

architecture, besides adorning with it tablets, and coverings of altars, in

such a manner as to reach the very perfection of the art. The most

dignified objects possessed by Rome were those which he most delighted in

for his views; such as the facade of the temple of the Vatican, its

colonnade, and its piazza. It appears the Duke of Guastalla took singular

pleasure in similar works; and at his desire were prepared those two little

tables, in the possession of Signor Alberto Pio, cited by Tiraboschi, and

which were, perhaps, the masterpieces of Massa. No objects appeared to me

more remarkable than such works abounding almost in every church throughout

those parts; and it would be very desirable that the plan of representing

architectural views, by this process, should become more frequent. Massa

also included figures, the honour of perfecting which has fallen upon

Florence; a subject I have treated in my first volume, (p. 346). I shall

merely notice here, that after the practice of modelling had been brought

to vie with sculpture; and after engraving upon wood had so well

counterfeited works of design, we have to record this third invention,

belonging to a state of no great dimensions. Such a fact is calculated to

bring into still higher estimation the geniuses who adorned it. There is

nothing of which man is more ambitious, than of being called the inventor

of new arts: nothing is more flattering to his intellect, or draws a

broader line between him and the animals that are incapable of such

inventions, or of carrying them beyond the limits prescribed by instinct.

In short, nothing was held in higher reverence among the ancients; and

hence it is, that Virgil, in his Elysian fields, represented the band of

inventors with their brows crowned with white chaplets, equally distinct in

merit as in rank, from the more vulgar shades around them.

THE SCHOOL OF PARMA.

EPOCH I.

_The Ancients._

Next in order to the school of Modena, I rank that of Parma and its state;

and I should very gladly have united them together, as other writers have

done, if in addition to the distinction of dominions there did not also

exist an evident distinction in point of taste. For it appears to me, as I

have before had occasion to observe, that in the former of these cities the

imitation of Raffaello prevailed; in the second that of Coreggio. This last

indeed is the founder of the School of Parma, which preserved a series of

disciples for several generations, so strongly attached to his examples as

to bestow no attention upon any other model. The situation in which he

found the city on his first arrival, is apparent from the ancient figures

scattered throughout, which by no means discover a progress in the art of

painting equal to that of many other cities in Italy. Not that this arose

from any want of acquaintance with the arts of design; for there flourished

there as early as the 12th century an artist named Benedetto Antelani, of

whom a basso-relievo, representing the Crucifixion of our Lord, is in the

cathedral, which, though the production of a rude age, had nothing in

sculpture equal to it that I have been able to meet with, until the period

of Giovanni Pisano. Respecting the art of painting, the celebrated Father

Affo has extracted very interesting notices from published documents and

MSS., in order to shew, that before 1233, both figures and historical

pieces had been painted in Parma.[11] Upon the completion of the baptismal

font, about 1260, that assemblage of paintings was there executed, which

may now be regarded as one of the finest remaining monuments of the ancient

manner that upper Italy has to boast. The subjects are in the usual taste

of those times; the style is less angular and rectilinear than that of the

Greek mosaicists; and displays some originality in the draperies, in the

ornamental parts, and in the composition. Above all, it shews very skilful

mechanism in regard to gilding and colouring, which, notwithstanding the

distance of five centuries, retain much of their original strength.

Footnote 11: The notices of the artists of Parma communicated

by him to the public, are in part contained in the Life of

Parmigianino, and partly in a humorous little work, entitled

_Il Parmigiano servitor di Piazza_; and some further

information on this subject I have myself received from the

lips of this learned ecclesiastic.

Down from that period there appear in several places, both at Piacenza and

Parma, further specimens of the _Trecentisti_, sometimes with annexed

dates, and sometimes without any. Such as belong to Piacenza, are in the

church and cloister of the Predicatori; but the best preserved of all is an

altar-piece at San Antonio Martire, with histories of the titular saint in

small figures, tolerably well drawn, and in costume which seems to have

been borrowed, as it were, from some municipal usages peculiar to the

place. Parma, likewise, possesses some of the same date, besides a few

others remaining at San Francesco, in a somewhat more polished style,

attributed to Bartolommeo Grossi, or to Jacopo Loschi, his son-in-law, both

of whom were employed there in 1462. Subsequent to these flourished

Lodovico da Parma, a pupil of Francia, whose Madonnas, executed in his

master's manner, are easily recognized in Parma; and a Cristoforo Caselli

(not Castelli, as he is termed by Vasari,) or Cristoforo Parmense,

enumerated by Ridolfi among the pupils of Gian Bellino. He produced a very

beautiful painting for the hall of the Consorziali, bearing the date of

1499; and he is much commended by Grappaldo in his work _De partibus

AEdium_, who next to him ranks Marmitta, of whom there is no authentic

specimen remaining. Still his name ought to be recorded, were it for no

other reason than his being the supposed master of Parmigianino. Along with

these we may mention Alessandro Araldi, one of the scholars of Bellini, of

whom there remains a Nunziata, at the Padri del Carmine, with his name,

besides altar-pieces in different churches. He was indisputably a good

artist in the mixed manner, that is now called antico moderno. The family

of the Mazzuoli was much employed about the same period in Parma,

consisting of three brother artists, Michele and Pierilario, falsely

supposed to have been the first masters of Coreggio, and Filippo, called

_dalle Erbette_, from succeeding better in fruits and flowers than in

figure pieces. There remains an altar-piece of Pierilario in the Sacristy

of Santa Lucia, executed in a method very superior to that of the "Baptism

of Christ," painted for the baptismal font by his brother Filippo. But,

however inferior to his other brothers in this line himself, Filippo may be

pronounced at least more fortunate in his posterity, being the father of

Parmigianino, whom we have so lately had occasion to commend.

Yet the two most excellent of the Mazzuoli could not, any more than their

contemporaries, have been considered artists upon a great scale, when the

Padri Cassinensi, instead of availing themselves of their services to

decorate the tribune and cupola of their magnificent temple, dedicated to

St. John, preferred inviting Antonio Allegri da Coreggio, a foreigner and a

youth, to undertake the immense task; a choice which may be said to have

conferred a lasting obligation upon posterity. For Coreggio, like

Raffaello, stood in need of some extensive undertaking in order to bring

his powers into full play, and to open a new path for labours upon a grand

scale, as he had before done in those of a smaller class. But of an artist

who forms an era in Italian painting itself, not in this particular school

only, it becomes us to treat, as well as of his imitators, in a separate

chapter.

SCHOOL OF PARMA.

EPOCH II.

_Coreggio, and those who succeeded him in his School._

We are at length arrived at one of those distinguished characters, whom,

from his high reputation, and the influence he exercised over the style of

painting in Italy, we can by no means dismiss with our accustomed brevity.

His name, however, must still be confined within compendious limits, adding

whatever new information and reflections we may think best adapted for the

illustration of such a subject; the life of Coreggio being involved in so

much obscurity, as to admit, beyond that of any other artist, of fresh

discussion. The more curious may consult the notices of him by the Cavalier

Mengs, contained in his second volume, a little work by Cavalier Ratti,

upon the life and works of Allegri, published in Finale in 1781, and

Tiraboschi in his Notices of the professors of Modena, besides Padre Affo,

in his works already cited, the most accurate, perhaps, of any in point of

chronology.

The whole of these writers, following the example of Scannelli and Orlandi,

have complained of Vasari for having falsely asserted the abject condition

of Antonio,[12] sprung, in fact, from a tolerably good family in an

illustrious city, and not destitute of those conveniences of fortune that

might enable him from the first to obtain an education adapted to the

success of his future efforts. They have also in particular reproached him

with his excessive credulity, in representing him to us as a suffering and

unhappy object, burdened with a numerous family, little appreciated and

badly rewarded for his labours. On the contrary they observe, we know that

he was respected by the great, richly recompensed, and enabled to leave a

fair heritage for his family. Now I admit that Vasari is guilty of much

exaggeration, though not without some shew of truth; for we only need to

compare the commissions and gains of Coreggio with those of Raffaello, of

Michelangiolo, of Titian, and even of Vasari himself, to divest us of all

surprise at the honest commiseration of the historian. Annibal Caracci did

not only compassionate his condition, but is said to have bewailed it with

his tears.[13] Besides, if we reflect that the terms made use of by Vasari,

of Coreggio having become _si misero_, so wretched, that nothing could be

worse, do not exactly signify _miserabile_, miserable, as interpreted by

some of his critics, but rather mean, _miserly_, and _sparing_, renouncing

certain conveniences of life, in order to spend as little as possible, it

will alter the complexion of the case. In the same manner he states, or

rather as some think, imagines that Antonio, though enabled to travel like

others, by water, mounted horse during the summer solstice, and shortly

after died. And, indeed, if we consider the singular deprivations to which

very wealthy people, for the same reason, will submit, we do not see how a

reference to the possessions of the Allegri family, not without some degree

of exaggeration, as has more than once been done, can disprove this charge

of meanness and extreme parsimony. We trust that the Signor Dottor

Antonioli will inform us more distinctly respecting the amount of Antonio's

property, though we are inclined to believe it could not have exceeded the

limits of mediocrity. The highest salaries received by him have been

ascertained. For the cupola and larger nave of the church of San Giovanni,

he was paid four hundred and seventy-two gold ducats, or Venetian zecchins,

and for the cupola of the cathedral, three hundred and fifty; doubtless

considerable sums, though we should consider he was occupied from the year

1520 until 1530, in the designs and labours requisite for works of such

magnitude, and which prevented him from accepting other offers of any

account during the interval. He earned forty gold ducats by his celebrated

picture of Night; his San Girolamo brought him forty-seven ducats, or

zecchins, besides his subsistence during six months he was employed on it;

and thus, in equal proportion, we may suppose him to have been recompensed

for the time bestowed upon his lesser pieces. The two which he painted for

the Duke of Mantua we may reckon at something more; but these were the only

ones he produced at the request of sovereigns. Thus much being certain, it

is hardly credible, that after deducting the expense of colours, of models,

and of assistants, including the maintenance of his family, there should

still have remained enough to leave that family in a state of affluence.

Footnote 12: In the opening of the Life we find--"He was of a

very timid disposition, and with extreme inconvenience

devoted himself to incessant labour in order to provide for

a numerous family." Towards the conclusion he adds--"Like

those who have a numerous family, Antonio was desirous," (he

had four sons,) "of hoarding his money, and thus soon became

one of the most miserable of men." Elsewhere it is

observed--"He held himself in slight esteem, and was

satisfied with little."

Footnote 13: "It almost drives me mad with grief to think of

the wretchedness of poor Antonio; to think that so great a

man, if he were not an angel in human shape, should be thus

lost in a country which could not appreciate him, and though

with a reputation reaching to the skies, destined to die in

such a place so unhappily." In a letter to Lodovico, written

from Parma, 1580, (Malvas. vol. i. p. 366). Annibal likewise

exaggerated, because the Padri Benedettini, as well as

others, were aware of the value of Antonio.

But although we admit the reality of his supposed indigence, it can form no

reproach, no drawback upon the excellences of so great a man, crowning him

rather with additional honour, in particular when we reflect, that with

such limited means he was invariably lavish of his colours, to a degree

beyond example. There is not a single specimen, whether executed on copper,

on panels, or on canvass, always sufficiently choice, that does not display

a profusion of materials, of ultramarine, the finest lake and green, with a

strong body, and repeated retouches; yet for the most part laid on without

ever removing his hand from the easel before the work was completed. In

short he spared neither time nor expense, contrary to the custom of all

other painters, with very few exceptions. Such liberality, calculated to do

honour to a rich amateur, painting for amusement, is infinitely more

commendable in an artist of such circumscribed resources. It displays, in

my opinion, all the grandeur of character that was supposed to animate the

breast of a Spartan. And this we would advance, no less in reply to Vasari,

who cast undue reflections upon Coreggio's economy, than as an example for

such young artists as may be desirous of nourishing sentiments worthy of

the noble profession they embrace.

It is still current in Coreggio that Antonio commenced his first studies

under his uncle Lorenzo. Subsequent to which, according to Vedriani, he

entered into the school of Francesco Bianchi, called Il Frari, who died in

1510, a school established in Modena. There also it appears he acquired the

art of modelling, at that time in great repute; and he thus prepared in

clay, along with Begarelli, the group of that Pieta, in Santa Margherita,

where the three most beautiful figures are attributed to Coreggio. In the

same highly distinguished city it is most probable that he also laid the

foundation of that learned and cultivated taste so conspicuous in his

works; the geometrical skill exhibited in his perspective, the

architectural rules of his buildings, and the poetry of his warm and lively

conceptions. Thus his historians, judging from the specimens of his early

style, assert that he must have sought it in the academy of Andrea Mantegna

at Mantua; but the recently discovered fact of Andrea's having died in

1506, does away with such a supposition. It is, nevertheless, extremely

probable that he acquired it by studying the works left by Andrea at

Mantua, for which I can adduce various arguments. I have described pretty

fully the character of Mantegna's picture of Victory, the most

extraordinary of all he produced; imitations of this are to be met with in

many of the works of Coreggio, but most evidently so in the picture of his

St. George at Dresden. The manner in which Coreggio could have imbibed so

exquisite a taste, was always considered surprising and unaccountable,

prevailing every where, as we find it in his canvass, in his laying on his

colours, in the last touches of his pictures; but let us for a moment

suppose him a student of Andrea's models, surpassing all others in the same

taste as we before observed, and the wonder will be accounted for. Let us

moreover consider the grace and vivacity so predominant in the compositions

of Coreggio; that rainbow as it were of colours, that accurate care in his

foreshortenings, and of those upon ceilings; his abundance of laughing boys

and cherubs, of flowers, fruits, and all delightful objects; and let us

then ask ourselves whether his new style does not appear an exquisite

completion of that of Mantegna, as the pictures of Raffaello and Titian

display the progress and perfection of those of Perugino and Giovanni

Bellini.

In regard to his education in the studio of Mantegna, the generally

received opinion in Lombardy is, that Vedriani must have been mistaken in a

name; and that in place of Andrea, he ought to have pronounced his son

Francesco, the master with whom it is maintained Coreggio resided, either

in quality of pupil or assistant. Mantegna's school, indeed, had risen into

great reputation, having given striking proof of its excellence even in

foreshortening from above; besides surpassing Melozio, as I elsewhere

observed, so as only to leave another step before reaching the modern

manner. This was reserved for the genius of Coreggio, in common with the

master spirits of every other school, who flourished during the same

period. In truth from his very first attempts, he appears to have aimed at

a softer and fuller style than Mantegna's; and several, among whom is the

Abate Bettinelli, have pointed out some such specimens in Mantua. Signor

Volta, member of the Royal Academy there, assured me that Coreggio is named

in the books of the Opera di S. Andrea, for which reason, several of the

figures on the outside of the church, and in particular a Madonna, better

preserved than the rest, a youthful essay, but from the hand of one freed

from the stiffness of the quattrocentisti, have been attributed to him.[14]

In Mantua likewise I saw a little picture in possession of the Abate

Bettinelli, about to be engraved, representing a Holy Family, in which, if

we except a degree of stiffness in the folds, the modern manner is

complete. A few other of Coreggio's Madonnas, to be referred to this

period, are to be seen in the ducal gallery at Modena, with other works

mentioned in various places. Among these is a picture of our Lord, taking

farewell of the Virgin mother, previous to his passion, a piece recognized

as a genuine Coreggio by the Abate Carlo Bianconi at Milan.[15] Doubtless

many of his other early productions were of an inferior description, and

are dispersed abroad, either unknown, or disputed, Vasari having recorded

of him that _he completed many pictures and works_.

Footnote 14: There is a document existing in the same archives,

where Francesco Mantegna binds himself to ornament the

outside of the church. It may thus be conjectured, that the

picture of the Ascension, placed over the gateway, is from

his hand, while the Madonna, evidently from another, is the

work of Coreggio. The master, in executing his commissions,

often employed his pupil or his assistant.

Footnote 15: This excellent judge of art, more particularly in

point of engravings, and also extremely skilful in portraits

drawn with the pen, departed this life at the beginning of

1802.

Wherefore is it then that in the published catalogues we meet with so very

scanty a list of his pictures, nearly all esteemed excellent? It is because

whatever does not appear superlatively beautiful has been doubted, denied,

and cast aside as unworthy of him, or attributed to some of his school.

Mengs himself, who investigated the relics of this great artist, and was

very cautious of admitting any disputed productions, declares that he had

only seen one specimen of his early style, that of his S. Antony, in the

gallery of Dresden. This, as well as a S. Francis and the Virgin, he

painted in 1512, in Carpi, when he was eighteen years of age.[16] From the

stiffness apparent in this last, and the contrasted softness of the others,

he was led to conjecture that Coreggio must have suddenly altered his

manner, and attempted to penetrate into the unknown cause of it. He

suspected, therefore, that what de Piles, followed by Resta, and some other

writers, first advanced in his Dissertations, against the authority of

Vasari, must be correct,[17] namely, that Coreggio visited Rome, and having

observed the ancient style, and that of Raffaello and Michelangiolo, along

with Melozio's pictures in the _sotto in su_, or foreshortening, he

returned into Lombardy with a different taste acquired during his stay in

the capital.

Footnote 16: Thus conjectures Tiraboschi, with arguments that

prove the fact rather than shew its probability.

Footnote 17: Ortensio Landi, in his Observations, had put on

record that Coreggio died young, without seeing Rome.

Tiraboschi.

Yet this able scholar proposes such a view of the case, with singular

deference to the contrary opinion of others, and even presents his reader

with arguments against that view, to the following effect:--"If he did not

behold the antique," (and the same may be averred of the two distinguished

moderns,) "such as it exists in Rome, he may still have seen it as it

appears at Modena and Parma; and the mere sight of an object is enough to

awaken in fine spirits the idea of what it ought to be." And my readers,

indeed, will be at no loss to find examples to confirm such an opinion;

Titian and Tintoretto, by the mere use of modelling, having far surpassed

those who designed statues; and Baroccio happening to cast his eye upon a

head of Coreggio, soon distinguished himself in the same style. And if we

may farther adduce an example of the power of sovereign genius, from the

sciences, let us look at Galileo watching the oscillations of a bell in a

church at Pisa, from which he drew the doctrine of motion and the

principles of the new philosophy. So likewise might this great pictorial

genius conceive the idea of a new style, from a few faint attempts of art,

and thus won the applauses of the world of art, bestowed upon him from the

time of Vasari, as something due less to a _mortal than to a god_.

Doubtless in the first instance he received no slight impulse from the

finer works of Andrea, from the collection of ancient relics in Mantua and

Parma, from the studio of the Mantegni, and that of Begarelli, equally rich

in models and designs. To these we may add an acquaintance with artists,

familiar with Rome, with Munari, with Giulio Romano himself; and finally

the general influence of the age, every where dissatisfied with the

meanness of the late style, and aiming at a more soft, full, and clear

development of the contours. All these united in facilitating the

progressive step which Coreggio had to take, though his own genius was

destined to achieve the task. This it was that first led him to study

nature, with the eye of the ancient Greeks, and that of his great Italian

predecessors. The leading geniuses of their age have often pursued the same

career, unknown to each other, as Tully has expressed himself, "Et quadam

ingenii divinitate, in eadem vestigia incurrerunt." But we must here check

ourselves, in regard to this portion of the subject, having to treat of it

anew at the distance of not many pages. At present we have only to inquire

whether Coreggio really adopted the modern style at once, as has been

asserted, or by gradual study.