With the exception of these defects, which he wholly avoided in his more

finished pieces, Gaudenzio must be pronounced a very great painter, and one

who approached nearest of any among Raffaello's assistants to Perino and to

Giulio Romano. He displays also a vast fund of ideas, though of an opposite

cast, Giulio having frequently directed his genius to profane and

licentious subjects, while the former confined himself to sacred

compositions. He appears truly unequalled in his expression of the divine

majesty, the mysteries of religion, and all the feelings of piety, of which

he himself offered a laudable example, receiving the title of _Eximie pius_

in one of the Novarese assemblies. He was excellent in strong expression;

not that he aimed at exhibiting highly wrought muscular powers, but his

attitudes were, as Vasari entitles them, wild, that is, equally bold and

terrible where his subjects admitted of them. Such is the character of his

Christ's Passion, at the Grazie in Milan, where Titian was his competitor;

and his Fall of S. Paul, at the Conventual friars in Vercelli, a picture

approaching the nearest of any to that of Michelangiolo in the Pauline

chapel. In the rest of his pictures he shews great partiality for the most

difficult foreshortenings, which he introduces very frequently. If he fails

in reaching the peculiar grace and beauty of Raffaello, he at least greatly

partakes of that character, as we observe in his S. Cristoforo, at

Vercelli, where, in addition to the picture of the titular saint, he

painted upon the walls various histories of Jesus Christ, and others of

Mary Magdalen. In this great work he appears more perhaps than in any

other, in the character of a beautiful painter, presenting us with the most

lovely heads, and with angels as lively in their forms as spirited in their

attitudes. I have heard it praised as his masterpiece, though Lomazzo and

the author of the Guide both agree in asserting that the manner he adopted

in the Sepolcro of Varallo surpassed all he had elsewhere produced.

If we examine into further particulars of his style, we shall find

Ferrari's warm and lively colouring so superior to that of the Milanese

artists of his day, that there is no difficulty in recognizing it in the

churches where he painted; the eye of the spectator is directly attracted

towards it; his carnations are natural, and varied according to the

subjects; his draperies display much fancy and originality, as varied as

the art varies its draperies; with middle tints, blended so skilfully as to

equal the most beautiful produced by any other artist. And if we may so

say, he represented the minds even better than the forms of his subjects.

He particularly studied this branch of the art, and we seldom observe more

marked attitudes or more expressive countenances. Where he adds landscape

or architecture to his figures, the former chiefly consists of very

fanciful views of cliffs and rocks, which are calculated to charm by their

novelty; while his edifices are conducted on the principles of the best

perspective. As Lomazzo, however, has dwelt so much at length on his

admirable skill both in painting and modelling, it would be idle to insist

upon it further. But I ought to add, that it is a great reflection upon

Vasari that he did not better know, or better estimate such an artist; so

that foreigners, who form their opinions only from history, are left

unacquainted with his merit, and have uniformly neglected to do him justice

in their writings.

Ferrari's disciples for a long period maintained the manner of their

master, the first in succession with more fidelity than the second class,

and the second than the third. The chief part were more eager to imitate

his expression and his facility than the elegance of his design and

colouring, even so far as to fall into the bordering errors of negligence

and of caricature. The less celebrated scholars of Gaudenzio were Antonio

Lanetti da Bugnato, of whom I know of no remaining genuine production;

Fermo Stella da Caravaggio, and Giulio Cesare Luini Valsesiano, who are

still to be met with in some of the chapels at Varallo. Lomazzo, in the

thirty-seventh chapter of his Treatise, besides Lanino, to come shortly

under consideration, mentions, as imitators of Gaudenzio, Bernardo Ferrari

of Vigevano, where two sides of the cathedral organ are painted by his

hand; and Andrea Solari, or del Gobbo, or Milanese, as he is called by

Vasari at the close of his life of Coreggio, in whose age he flourished. He

says he was "a very excellent and beautiful painter, and attached to the

labours of the art," adducing some of his pictures in private, and an

Assumption at the Certosa in Pavia, in which Torre (p. 138) gives him

Salaino as a companion. His two most distinguished pupils were Gio. Batista

della Cerva and Bernardino Lanino, from whom sprung two branches of the

same school, the Milanese and that of Vercelli.

Cerva took up his abode at Milan, and if he painted every picture like that

which adorns San Lorenzo, representing the Apparition of Jesus Christ to S.

Thomas and the other Apostles, he is entitled to rank with the first of his

school, such is the choice and spirited character of the heads, such the

warmth and distribution of his colouring, and so truly noble and harmonious

is its effect as a whole. He must have been deeply versed in the art,

though we possess no more of his public works, as he became the master of

Gio. Paolo Lomazzo of Milan, who acquired from him the maxims he afterwards

published in his Treatise upon Painting in 1584, and which he condensed in

his Idea of the Temple of Painting, printed in 1590, to say nothing of his

verses, for the most part connected with the same profession.

In his account of this writer Orlandi inserted several erroneous epochs of

his life, subsequently cleared up by Bianconi, who fixes that of his loss

of sight about 1571, in the thirty-third year of his age. Until this

misfortune he had continued to cultivate all the knowledge he could derive

from those times, which indeed in certain branches are in some measure

undervalued. He took a tour through Italy, attaching himself to polite

letters and to the sciences, for which he indulged such an enthusiasm, in

his ill placed ambition to appear a philosopher, astrologer, and

mathematician, that he treated matters even the most obvious in an abstruse

and often false manner, as mistaken as the principles of the current

astrology itself. This defect is very perceptible in his larger work,

though being dispersed scantily here and there, it is the more easily

excused. But it is more serious in his compendium, or Idea of the Temple of

Painting, where it is presented to us in a point of view truly repugnant to

common sense. Whilst engaged in teaching an art which consists in designing

and colouring well, he flies from planet to planet; to each of the seven

painters, whom he calls principals, he assigns one of these celestial

bodies, and afterwards one of the metals to correspond. Extravagant as this

idea is, he gave scope to still more strange fancies; so that with this

method, combined with a most fatiguing prolixity, and the want of an exact

index, his treatises have been little read. It would be well worth while to

re-model this work, and to separate the fruit from the husk, as it abounds

not only with much pleasing historical information, but with the best

theories of art heard from the lips of those who knew both Leonardo and

Gaudenzio, as well as with excellent observations upon the practice of the

best masters, and much critical knowledge relating to the mythology,

history, and customs of the ancients. His rules of perspective are

particularly valuable. They were compiled from the MSS. of Foppa, of

Zenale, of Mantegna, and of Vinci, (Tratt. p. 264); in addition to which he

has preserved some fragments of Bramantino, who was extremely ingenious in

this art, (p. 276). By these qualities, united to a certain ease of style,

not so agreeable perhaps as that of Vasari, yet not so mysterious and

obscure as that of Zuccaro, nor so mean as that of Boschini, the treatise

of Lomazzo is deserving of attention, even from confessed masters, and of

their selection of some of the best chapters for the benefit of their

oldest pupils. I know of no other better adapted to furnish youthful genius

with fine pictoric ideas on every theme, none more likely to attach him,

and to instruct him how to treat questions upon ancient art, none that

displays a more extensive acquaintance with the human heart--what are its

passions, and by what signs they are manifested, and how they assume a

different dress in different countries, with their appropriate limits; and

no writer, finally, includes, in a single volume, more useful precepts for

the formation of a reflecting artist, a fine reasoner, in a spirit

congenial to Vinci, at once the father of the Milanese School, and I may

add of pictoric philosophy, which consists in sound reflection upon each

branch of the profession.

None of Lomazzo's paintings are doubtful, as the author has celebrated his

own life and works in certain verses, composed, as I have reason to think,

to beguile the tedium of hours wholly passed in darkness, and which he

entitled _Grotteschi_.[57] His first efforts, as in all instances, are

feeble, of which kind is his copy of Vinci's Supper, which may be seen at

the Pace. In his others we trace the hand of a master eager to put his

maxims into execution, and who succeeds more or less happily. One of the

most fundamental of these was to consider as dangerous the imitation of

other artists, whether taken from paintings or engravings. It is contended

that an artist should aim at becoming original, forming the whole of his

composition in his own mind, and copying the individual portions from

nature and from truth. This precept, first derived from Gaudenzio, was put

in force both by Lomazzo and others of his own time. In his pictures we may

always discover some original traits, as in that at S. Marco's, where,

instead of putting the keys in the hands of S. Peter, according to the

usual custom, he represents the Holy Child offering them to him in a

playful attitude. His novelty appears still more conspicuous in his large

histories, such as his Sacrifice of Melchisedech, in the library of the

Passione, a picture abounding with figures, in which the knowledge of

anatomy is equal to the novelty of the drapery, and the animation of the

colours to that of the attitudes. He has added to it a combat in the

distance, well conceived, and in good perspective. I have seen no other

painting of his that displays more knowledge. In other instances he is

confused and overloaded, sometimes also extravagant, as in that grand

fresco painted for the refectory of S. Agostino at Piacenza, or as it is

called of the Rocchettini, which represents the subject of the Forty Days'

Fast. This is an ideal feast of meagre meats, where the sovereigns are seen

in different seats (some of them portraits of the age), with lords of rank

feasting at a splendid banquet of fish, while the poor are devouring such

food as they have, and a greedy man is struggling with a huge mouthful

sticking in his throat. The Lord blesses the table, and above is seen the

sheet which was shewn in a vision to S. Peter. It is a grand picture,

calculated to surprise the eye by the exactness with which the particular

parts are copied from nature, and with a delicacy that Girupeno asserts was

unequalled even by Lomazzo in the works he executed at Milan. But it is not

happy as a whole; the canvass is too full, and there is a mixture of sacred

and burlesque subjects, from scripture and from the tavern, that cannot be

reconciled or approved.

Footnote 57: Can there be any doubt whether he was blind or

not, when he wrote the following verses:--

Quindi andai a Piacenza, et ivi fei

Nel refetorio di Sant'Agostino

La facciata con tal historia pinta.

Da lontan evvi Piero in orazione

Che vede giu dal ciel un gran lenzuolo

Scender pien d'animai piccioli e grandi

Onde la Quadragesma fu introdotta, &c.

Lomazzo gives the names of two Milanese as his pupils, Cristoforo Ciocca

and Ambrogio Figino. He could not long have afforded them his instructions,

as at the period when he wrote his treatise, being then blind, they were

both still in early youth. He commends them for their portraits, and the

first would appear never to have been an able composer, having left,

perhaps, no other pieces in public, except his histories of S. Cristoforo,

at S. Vittore al Corpo, by no means excellent. Figino succeeded no less

admirably in portraits, which he painted also for princes, with high

commendation from the Cav. Marino, than in large compositions almost always

executed in oil, and more distinguished by the excellence than by the

number of the figures. Some of his pictures, as his S. Ambrogio, at S.

Austorgio, or his S. Matteo, at S. Raffaello, though presenting few

figures, fail not to please by the grandeur of character expressed in the

faces of those saints; nor has any other artist of Milan approached in this

art nearer to Gaudenzio who left such noble examples in his S. Girolamo and

S. Paolo. In works of a larger scale, such as his Assumption at S. Fedele,

and the very elegant Concezione at S. Antonio, he also excels. His method

is described by his preceptor, in his Treatise, (p. 438). He proposed for

his imitation the lights and the accuracy of Leonardo, the dignity of

Raffaello, Coreggio's colouring, and the outlines of Michelangiolo. Of the

last in particular he was one of the most successful imitators in his

designs, which are consequently in the highest repute; but independent of

which he is little known, either in collections or in history, further than

Milan. This artist must not be mistaken for Girolamo Figino, his

contemporary, a very able painter, and an exact miniaturist, if we are to

credit Morigia. There is also ranked, among Lomazzo's disciples, a Pietro

Martire Stresi, who acquired some reputation by his copies from Raffaello.

The other branch of Gaudenzio's school, before mentioned, sprung from

Bernardino Lanini of Vercelli, who there produced some excellent early

imitations of the style of Gaudenzio, his master. At S. Giuliano there is a

Pieta, with the date of 1547, which might be ascribed to Gaudenzio, had not

the name of Bernardino been affixed. It is the same with his other

pictures, executed at his native place, when still young, and perhaps the

chief distinction consists in his inferior accuracy of design, and less

force of chiaroscuro. At a riper age he painted with more freedom, and a

good deal in the manner of the naturalists, ranking among the first in

Milan. He had a very lively genius both for conceiving and executing, and

adapted like that of Ferrari for noble histories. The one of S. Catherine,

in the church of that name, near S. Celso, is greatly celebrated, and the

more so, from what Lomazzo has said of it, being full of pictoric spirit in

the features and the attitudes, with colouring like Titian's, and embued

with grace, no less in the face of the saint, which partakes of Guido, than

in the choir of angels, which rivals those of Gaudenzio. If there be any

portion deficient, it is in the want of more care in arranging his drapery.

He was much employed, both for the city and the state, particularly at the

cathedral of Novara, where he painted his Sibyllo, and his Padre Eterno, so

greatly admired by Lomazzo; besides several histories of the Virgin, which

though now deprived of their colour, still attract us by the spirit and

clearness of the design. He was sometimes fond of displaying the manner of

Vinci, as in his picture of the Patient Christ, between two angels, painted

for the church of Ambrogio; so complete in every part, so beautiful and

devotional, combined with so fine a relief, as to be esteemed one of the

most excellent productions that adorn that church.

Bernardino had two brothers, not known beyond Vercelli; Gaudenzio, of whom

there is said to be an altar-piece in the Sacristy of the Padri Barnabiti

representing the Virgin between various saints; and his second brother

Girolamo, from whose hand I have seen a Descent from the Cross, belonging

to a private individual. Both display some distant resemblance to

Bernardino in the natural expression of the countenances, the former also

in the force of his colouring, though alike greatly inferior in design.

Three other Giovenoni, subsequent to Girolamo, flourished about the period

of Lanini, whose names were Paolo, Batista, and Giuseppe; the last became

an excellent portrait-painter. He was brother-in-law to Lanini, two of

whose sons-in-law were likewise good artists; Soleri, whom I reserve for

the school of Piedmont, and Gio. Martino Casa, a native of Vercelli, who

resided, however, at Milan, whence I obtained my information. Perhaps the

last in the list of this school was Vicolungo di Vercelli. In a private

house at that place, I saw his Supper of Belshazzar, tolerably well

coloured, abounding with figures, extravagant drapery, poor ideas, and no

way calculated to surprise, except by exhibiting the successors of

Raffaello reduced thus gradually to so mean a state.

Good landscape painters were not wanting in this happy epoch in Milan,

particularly in the school of Bernazzano, their productions appearing in

several collections, though their names are unknown. To this list perhaps

belongs the Francesco Vicentino, a Milanese so much commended by Lomazzo,

who, in a landscape, succeeded even in shewing the dust blown about by the

wind. He was also a good figure-painter, of which a few fine specimens

remain at the Grazie and other churches. Some ornamental painters and of

grotesques we have already noticed, to which list we may add Aurelio Buso,

mentioned with praise among the native Venetian artists, and here again

justly recorded for his labours. Vincenzio Lavizzario, an excellent

portrait-painter, may be esteemed the Titian of the Milanese, to whose name

we may unite that of Gio. da Monte of Crema, treated in the preceding book,

and deserving of repetition here. Along with him flourished Giuseppe

Arcimboldi, selected for his skill in portrait, as the court-painter of

Maximilian II., in which office he continued also under the emperor

Rodolph. Both these artists were much celebrated for those capricci, or

fancy pieces, which afterwards fell into disuse. At a distance they

appeared to be figures of men and women; but on a nearer view the Flora

disappeared in a heap of flowers and leaves, and the Vertumnus was

metamorphosed into a composition of fruits and foliage. Nor did these

fanciful artists confine themselves to subjects taken from ancient fable;

they added others in which they poetically introduced various

personifications. The former even represented Cucina, with her head and

limbs composed only of pots and pans and other kitchen utensils; while the

latter, who acquired great credit from these strange inventions, produced a

picture of Agriculture, consisting of spades, ploughs, and scythes, with

other appropriate implements.

We have lastly to record an art connected with the inferior branches of

painting, scarcely noticed by me in any other place, being, indeed,

purposely reserved for the Milanese School, where it more particularly

flourished. This is the art of embroidering, not merely flowers and

foliage, but extensive history and figure-pieces. It had continued from the

time of the Romans in Italy, and there is a very valuable specimen

remaining in the so called Casula Dittica, at the Museo di Classe at

Ravenna, or more properly some strips of it brocaded with gold, on which,

in needlework, appear the portraits of Zenone, Montano, and other saintly

bishops. It is a monument of the sixth century, and has been described by

the Ab. Sarti, and afterwards by Monsig. Dionisi. The same custom of

embroidering sacred walls with figures would appear, from the ancient

pictures, to have continued during the dark ages, and there are yet some

relics to be seen in some of our Sacristies. The most entire are at S.

Niccolo Collegiata in Fabriano, consisting of a priest's cope, with figures

of apostles and different saints; and a vestment with mysteries of the

passion, worked in embroidery, with the dry and coarse design of the

fourteenth century. In Vasari we find frequent mention of this art; and, to

say nothing of the ancients, he presents us with many names greatly

distinguished in it in more cultivated ages: such as Paolo da Verona, and

one Niccolo Veneziano, who being in the service of the Prince Doria, at

Genoa, introduced Perin del Vaga at that court, as well as Antonio

Ubertini, a Florentine, to whom we alluded under his own school.

Lomazzo traces the account of the Milanese from the earliest period. Luca

Schiavone, he observes, carried this branch to the highest degree, and

communicated it to Girolamo Delfinone, who flourished in the times of the

last Duke Sforza, whose portrait he executed in embroidery, besides several

large works, among which is the life of our lady, worked for the cardinal

Baiosa. This skill became hereditary in the family, and Scipione, the son

of Girolamo, was equally distinguished. His chases of different animals

were in great request for royal cabinets, a number of them being collected

by Philip of Spain and the English King Henry. Marcantonio, son of

Scipione, followed the genius of the family, and is mentioned by Lomazzo in

1591 as a youth of great promise. This writer has also praised for her

skill in the same line, Caterina Cantona, a noble Milanese lady, and has

omitted the name of Pellegrini, the Minerva of her time, only perhaps

because she had then hardly become celebrated. Other individuals of this

house are mentioned in the list of artists. Andrea, who painted in the

choir of S. Girolamo, and a Pellegrino his cousin, celebrated in the

history of Palomino for his productions in the Escurial, and being both

architect and painter to the royal court. The lady of whom I write, how far

related to them I know not, devoted herself wholly to her needle, and by

her hand were embroidered the great pallium (vestment) and other sacred

furniture, still preserved in the sacristy of the cathedral, and exhibited

to strangers with other curious specimens of ancient learning and the arts.

In the Guide for 1783, she is called Antonia, and in that for 1787

Lodovica, unless, indeed, they were two different persons. In the following

age Boschini mentioned, with high commendation, the unrivalled Dorothea

Aromatari, who, he adds, produced with her needle all those beauties which

the finest and most diligent artists exhibited with their pencil. To hers

he unites with praise the names of some other female embroiderers of the

age; and we, in mentioning that of Arcangela Paladini, had occasion to

commend her paintings and her needlework at the same time.

SCHOOL OF MILAN.

EPOCH III.

_The Procaccini and other foreign and native artists

establish a new Academy, with new styles, in the city and

state of Milan._

The two series which we have hitherto described have gradually brought us

towards the seventeenth century, when there scarcely remained a trace

either of the Vinci or Gaudenzio manner. This arose from their latest

successors, who adopted, more or less, those new manners which were

gradually introduced into Milan at the expense of the ancient style. As

early as the time of Gaudenzio appeared in that city the Coronation of

Thorns, painted by Titian, which was so greatly admired that several of his

pupils came to establish themselves there, besides other foreigners. Some

unfortunate circumstances also occurred; particularly the plague, which

more than once, in the same century, desolated the state, and which,

sweeping off native artists, opened the way to strangers who succeeded to

their commissions. Hence Lomazzo, at the close of his Tempio, only commends

three among the Milanese figure-painters, who then flourished, Luini,

Gnocchi, and Duchino, the rest being all foreigners. The attachment shewn

by several noble families to the arts, conduced to invite them thither, and

in particular that of the Borromea, which presented to the archiepiscopal

seat of their country two distinguished prelates, cardinal Carlo, who added

to the number of saints at the altar, and Federigo, who nearly attained the

same honours. Both were inspired by the same spirit of religion; they were

simple in private, but splendid and liberal in public. Out of their economy

they clothed and fed numbers of citizens, and promoted the dignity of the

sanctuary, and of their country. They erected and restored many noble

edifices, and decorated with paintings a far greater number both in and

beyond the city, insomuch as to make it observed that Milan was no less

indebted to the Borromei than Florence to her Medici, or Mantua to her

Gonzaghi. The Car. Federigo, who received his education first at Bologna,

then at Rome, not only possessed a decided inclination but a taste for the

fine arts; and he also enjoyed a longer and more tranquil pontificate than

Carlo, so as to enable him to afford them superior patronage. Not satisfied

with employing the ablest architects, sculptors, and painters in public

works, he rekindled, as it were, the spark that yet survived of Vinci's

academy, instituting, with much care and expense, a new academy of the fine

arts. He provided it with schools, with casts, and a very choice picture

gallery,[58] for the benefit of the young students, taking advantage of the

plan and rules of the Roman academy, founded a few years before, with his

co-operation. The grand colossal figure of S. Carlo reflects equal honour

on the new school and on its founder, being executed in bronze from the

design of Cerani, and exhibited at Arona, the place where the saint was

born; a statue fourteen times the height of the human figure, and vieing

with the grandest productions of Greek or Egyptian statuary. In painting,

however, to say the truth, the new is not equal to the ancient school,

though by no means deficient in fine artists, as we shall shew. Meanwhile

we must resume the thread of our history, and explain how the Milanese,

being reduced to very few artists, while painters were much in request for

the ornament of churches and other public edifices, greatly on the

increase, were superseded by foreign artists, such as the Campi, the

Semini, the Procaccini, and the Nuvoloni, who introduced new styles, while

others were sought out in foreign parts by some of the citizens of Milan,

particularly by Cerano and by Morazzone. These became the instructors of

almost all the Milanese youth, and of the state; these commencing their

labours about 1570, which they continued until after 1600, at length rose

so superior to the ancient schools, not so much in soundness of taste and

maxims, as in the amenity of their colours, as gradually to extinguish

them. Nor did they only aim at teaching new styles; some of them began to

treat them with so much haste as to fall into mannerism, from which period

their school began to decline, and appeared to have adopted as a maxim to

praise the theory of the ancients, and to practise the haste of the

moderns. But let us return to our subject.

Footnote 58: He was one of the first in Italy who collected

paintings of the Flemish School, which was then fast rising

into reputation. His agreement with Gio. Breughel still

exists, who painted for the academic collection at Milan the

Four Elements, pictures very often repeated, of which copies

are to be seen in the royal gallery at Florence, in the

Melzi collection at Milan, and in several at Rome. The

artist, who had great skill in drawing flowers, fruits,

herbs, birds, and animals, of which he formed copious and

beautiful compositions, displayed a grand variety in these,

and was no less admirable in his high finish, in the

clearness of his colours, and in other qualities which

acquired him the esteem of the greatest artists, among whom

Rubens was one who availed himself of his talents for

landscape, which he introduced into his own pictures.

I mentioned, not far back, in treating of Titian's disciples, the names of

Callisto da Lodi and Gio. da Monte, and I have here to add that of Simone

Peterzano, or Preterazzano, who, on his Pieta, at S. Fedele, inscribed

himself _Titiani Discipulus_; and his close imitation seems to confirm its

truth. He produced also works in fresco, and particularly at S. Barnaba

several histories of St. Paul. He there appears to have aimed at uniting

the expression, the foreshortening, and the perspective of the Milanese to

the colouring of the Venetian artists; noble works, if they were thoroughly

correct; and if the author had been as excellent in fresco as in oil

painting. From Venice, or rather from its Senate, we trace the name of

Cesare Dandolo, who went to settle at Milan, and whose paintings adorn

various palaces, esteemed no less for their art than on account of the rank

of the noble artist.

The Campi were among the most eager to establish themselves at Milan, where

they were much employed, and Bernardino more than the rest. He painted,

likewise, in the adjacent cities, and it was at that period that he

completed for the Certosa, at Pavia, the before-mentioned altar-piece of

Andrea Solari, which, remaining unfinished at his death, was, after the

lapse of many years, completed in the same style by Bernardino, so as to

appear wholly from the same hand. Unable alone to despatch his commissions,

he had his cartoons coloured by his pupils, who became, like their master,

accurate, precise, and worthy of the commendations bestowed upon them by

Lomazzo. One of these was Giuseppe Meda, both painter and architect, who

represented upon an organ, in the Metropolitana, the figure of David seen

playing before the ark. This work is cited by Orlandi, under the name of

Carlo Meda, who, perhaps, belonged to the family of the preceding, and who,

as stated in the dictionary, appears younger. Few of his other pictures are

to be seen, as is observed by Scannelli. Another was Daniello Cunio, of

Milan, who became a landscape painter of great merit; perhaps a brother, or

other relation of the same Ridolfo Cunio, who is met with in several

Milanese collections, and is particularly celebrated for his design. The

third was Carlo Urbini da Crema, one of the least celebrated but most

deserving artists of his age, and one whom we have commemorated elsewhere.

Lamo observes, that Bernardino had a vast number of scholars and

assistants, and from his account, we are here enabled to add the names of

Andrea da Viadana, Giuliano or Giulio de' Capitani, of Lodi, and Andrea

Marliano, of Pavia. Perhaps, also, Andrea Pellini belongs to this list,

who, though unknown in his native city of Cremona, is celebrated at Milan

for his Descent from the Cross, placed at S. Eustorgio, in 1595.

Of a later date, appeared at Milan the two Semini, from Genoa; both of whom

were much employed, and both disciples of the Roman more than any other

style. Ottavio, the eldest, instructed Paol Camillo Landriani, called Il

Duchino, who was justly praised in the Tempio of Lomazzo as a youth of the

greatest promise. He subsequently produced a number of altar-pieces, among

which was a Nativity, at S. Ambrogio, in which, to the design and elegance

of his master, he unites perhaps a greater degree of softness. The

professors hitherto described, do not reach the era of the art's decline,

except, possibly, in their extreme old age; insomuch as to be fully worthy

of the praise I bestow.

The artists, however, who more particularly employed themselves in painting

and teaching at Milan during this period, were the Procaccini of Bologna.

Though not mentioned by Lomazzo in his Treatise, in the year 1584, they are

afterwards, in 1590, recorded with much honour in his Tempio; so that we

may infer that they became celebrated during the intervening period at

Milan, where they afterwards established themselves in 1609. Ercole is at

the head of this family, whom Orlandi, following Malvasia, represents in a

military manner, as having lost the field at Bologna, where he could no

longer "make head against the Samacchini, the Cesi, the Sabbatini, the

Passarotti, the Fontana, the Caracci, though he afterwards encountered the

Figini, the Luini, the Cerani, and the Morazzoni, at Milan." I am at a loss

how to verify such an assertion. Ercole was born in 1520, as I gathered

from a MS. of P. Resta, in the Ambrosian library; and in 1590, when the

"Temple of Painting" first issued from the press, he was very old, nor did

he ever exhibit any of his pictures in public at Milan, so that Lomazzo

ought to have sought subjects for commendation of him from Parma, and more

particularly Bologna. Many of his works still remain there, from which we

may decide whether Malvasia and Baldinucci had more reason to represent him

as an artist of mediocrity, or Lomazzo to entitle him a very successful

imitator of the great Coreggio's colouring, as well as of his grace and

beauty. In my own opinion he appears somewhat minute in design, and feeble

in his colouring, resembling the tone of the Florentines; a thing so common

among his contemporaries, that I know not why it should be made a peculiar

reproach to him. For the rest he is more pleasing, accurate, and exact,

than most artists of his age; and possibly his over diligence acted as an

obstacle to him in a city where the rapid Fontana bore the chief sway. But

this quality, besides exempting him from the mannerism then beginning to

prevail, rendered him an excellent preceptor; whose principal duty is found

to consist in checking the impatience of young artists, and accustoming

them to precision and delicacy of taste. Thus many excellent pupils sprung

from his school, such as Samacchini, Sabbatini, and Bertoia. He instructed

also his three sons, Camillo, Giulio Cesare, and Carlo Antonio, from which

last sprung Ercole the younger; all masters of young Milanese artists, and

of whom it will be our business to treat in succession.

Camillo is the only one of the three who was known to Lomazzo, who

describes him as an artist distinguished both for his design and his

colouring. He received his first instructions from his father, and often

displays a resemblance in his heads, and in the distribution of his tints;

though, where he painted with care, he both warmed and broke them, as well

as employed the middle colours, in a superior manner. He studied other

schools, and if we are to believe some of his biographers, he practised at

Rome from the models of Raffaello and Michelangiolo, besides being

passionately devoted to the heads of Parmigianino, an imitation of which is

perceptible in all his works. He possessed wonderful facility both in

conception and execution; added to nature, beauty, and spirit, always

attractive to the eye, though they do not always satisfy the judgment. Nor

is this surprising, as he early threw off the reign of paternal

instruction, and executed works enough to have employed ten artists, at

Bologna, at Ravenna, Reggio, Piacenza, Pavia, and Genoa. He was by many

called the Vasari, and the Zuccaro of Lombardy; although to say truth, he

surpasses them in sweetness of style and of colours. He was particularly

engaged at Milan, a city which boasts some of his best productions, by

which he obtained reputation there; and many of his worst, with which he

satisfied those who valued his name. Of his earliest works there, and the

most free from mannerism, are those adorning the exterior of the organ at

the Metropolitana, along with various mysteries of our Lady, and two

histories of David playing upon his harp; all described very minutely by

Malvasia. But he produced nothing in Milan equal to his Judgment at S.

Procol di Reggio, esteemed one of the finest specimens of fresco in all

Lombardy; and to his S. Rocco among the sick and dying of the plague, a

picture that intimidated Annibal Caracci, when he had to paint a companion

for it, (see Malvasia, p. 466). The pictures produced by Camillo, in the

cathedral of Piacenza, where the Duke of Parma had placed him in

competition with Lodovico Caracci, whose genius was then mature, are well

and carefully executed. He there represented our Lady crowned Queen of the

Universe by the Almighty, surrounded with a very full choir of Angels, in

whose forms he displayed the most finished beauty. It was the part of

Lodovico to represent other angels around; and opposite to the Coronation

the _Padri del Limbo_. The first occupied the most distinguished place in

the tribune; though both then and now he was esteemed by spectators the

least worthy of the two. However advantageously he there appears, and

entitled to the applause of Girupeno and other historians, as well as

travellers, he at the same time loses a portion of his consequence at the

side of Caracci, who, by the novelty of his ideas, the natural expression

of his countenances, of his attitudes, and of his symbols, especially in

those angels opposed to the more common conceptions of his rival, makes the

monotony and weakness of Procaccini the more remarkable. Caracci's superior

dignity, likewise, in his figures of the patriarchs, throws that of

Camillo's Divinity into the shade. They also executed some histories of the

Madonna, placed opposite each other; and almost bearing the same proportion

as we have already mentioned. But as the Caracci were few, Procaccini for

the most part triumphed over his competitors. He is even now well received

in the collections of the great, and our own prince has recently obtained

one of his Assumptions, with Apostles surrounding the tomb of Jesus, a

picture full of variety, and in a grand manner.

Giulio Cesare, the best of the Procaccini, at first devoted himself to

sculpture with success, subsequently attaching himself to painting, as to a

less laborious and more pleasing art. He frequented the Caracci Academy at

Bologna; and it is said, that taking offence at some satirical observations

of Annibal's, he struck, and even wounded him. His French biographer states

Giulio's birth to have occurred in 1548, though he postpones this quarrel

until 1609, in which year the Procaccini established themselves at Milan.

It must have occurred, however, much earlier, as in 1609 Giulio was a

renowned painter, while Annibal was in his decline. Giulio Cesare's studies

were directed to the models of Coreggio, and it is the opinion of many,

that no one approached nearer to the grand style of that artist. In his

small pictures, with few figures, in which imitation is more easy, he has

often been mistaken for his original, though his elegance cannot boast the

same clear and native tone, nor his colours the same rich and vigorous

handling. One of his Madonnas, at S. Luigi de' Francesi, at Rome, was, in

fact, engraved not long since for a work of Allegri, by an excellent

artist; and there are other equally fine imitations at the Sanvitali

Palace, in Parma; in that of the Careghi, in Genoa, and other places. Among

his numerous altar-pieces, the one I have seen, which displays most of the

Coreggio manner, is at S. Afra, in Brescia. It represents the Virgin and

Child, surrounded with some figures of Angels and Saints, which are seen

gazing and smiling upon him. He has perhaps, indeed, gone somewhat beyond

the limits of propriety, in order to attain more grace, which is the case

with his Nunziata, at S. Antonio, in Milan; in which the Holy Virgin and

Angel are seen smiling at each other; a circumstance hardly compatible

either with the time or the mystery. In his attitudes, also, he was

occasionally guilty of extravagance, as in his Martyrdom of S. Nazario, in

the church of that name, a picture attractive by its harmony and its grace,

though the figure of the executioner is in too forced a position. Giulio

left many very large histories, such as his Passage of the Red Sea, at S.

Vittore, in Milan; and more in Genoa, where Soprani has pointed them out.

What is surprising, in so vast a number of his pieces, is the accuracy of

his design, the variety of his ideas, and his diligence both in his naked

and dressed parts, combined at the same time with a grandeur, which, if I

mistake not, he derived from the Caracci. In the Sacristy of S. Maria, at

Sarono, is his picture of Saints Andrea, Carlo, and Ambrogio, displaying

the most dignified character of their school; if, indeed, we are not to

suppose, that in common with the Caracci, he acquired it from those

magnificent models of the art at Parma.

To these two may be added Carlantonio Procaccini, not as a figure, but a

good landscape painter, and a tolerable hand in drawing fruits and flowers.

He produced a variety of pieces for the Milanese gallery, which happening

to please the court, then one of the branches of Spain, he had frequent

commissions from that country, insomuch that he rose, though the weakest of

the family, into the highest repute.

The Procaccini opened school at Milan, where they obtained the reputation

of kind and able masters, educating, both for the city and state, so great

a number of artists, that it would be neither possible nor useful to

comprise them all in a history. They could boast among them some inventors

of a new style, the same as the disciples of the Caracci; though most of

them aimed at observing the manner of their masters; some maintaining it by

their accuracy, and others injuring it by their over haste. We reserve the

series of them, however, to the last epoch, in order not to disperse the

same school through different parts.

The last of the foreigners who then gave instructions at Milan, was Panfilo

Nuvolone, a noble Cremonese, of whose style we treated at length in the

list of the Cav. Trotti's disciples. He was a diligent rather than an

imaginative artist, and produced no works of any extent at Milan, except

for the nunneries of Saints Domenico and Lazzaro, where he painted in the

ceiling the history of Lazarus and the Rich Man, with true pictoric

splendour; which is no less apparent in his Assumption of the Virgin, in

the cupola of the Passione. In his altar-pieces, and histories executed for

the ducal gallery at Parma, he aimed rather at perfecting than at

multiplying his figures. He instructed his four sons, two of whom are

unknown in the history of the art, and the two others are frequently

mentioned by different illustrators of the paintings of Milan, of Piacenza,

of Parma, and of Brescia; where they are also surnamed, from their father,

the Panfili. We shall, however, treat of them more particularly in the age

during which they flourished.

Fede Galizia introduced another foreign style into Milan, a female artist,

who, according to Orlandi, was a native of Trent. Her father, Annunzio, was

a celebrated miniaturist, born at the same place, and a resident at Milan,

and from him perhaps she acquired that taste for accuracy and finish of

hand, no less remarkable in her figures than in her landscapes; in other

points, more similar to the Bolognese predecessors of the Caracci, than to

any other school. There are some specimens of her style in foreign

collections. One of her best studied pictures is seen at S. Maria

Maddalena, where she painted the titular saint, with the figure of Christ

in the dress of a gardener. This lady has been criticised by the excellent

author of the Guide, for her too great study of the ideal, which she aimed

at introducing both into her design and colouring, at the expense of nature

and of truth, a practice pretty much in vogue at that period in Italy.

About the same time, one Orazio Vaiano was employed a good deal at Milan,

where he long resided, called Il Fiorentino from his extraction. He, in

some way, came to be confounded, in some of his pictures, with the elder

Palma, as we are informed by Orlandi; but how, it is difficult to say. The

specimens of his composition at S. Carlo and at S. Antonio Abate, are

judicious and diligent, though somewhat feeble in point of colouring; and

in the distribution of their lights much resembling the tone of Roncalli.

He likewise visited Genoa; but neither he nor Galizia, as I am aware, left

any pupils at Milan. The same may be said of the two Carloni, noble fresco

painters belonging to Genoa, and of Valerio Profondavalle, from Lovanio,

who painted glass, as well as in oil and in fresco, for all which he had

frequent commissions at court.

We ought here to add the name of Federigo Zuccari, an artist invited by the

Card. Federigo Borromeo to take up his residence at Milan, where, as well

as at Pavia, he painted, as we have mentioned, (at p. 139, vol. ii). I am

indebted to the polite and kind attention of Sig. Bernardo Gattoni,

chaplain and rector of the other Borromean college at Pavia, for correcting

an error into which I had fallen, from following the local tradition rather

than the written authority of the same Zuccheri, in his "Passaggio per

l'Italia," a very rare work, and which I had not seen at that time. In it

are described the pictures of the Borromean college at Pavia; and it

appears, that Zuccari produced no other besides the principal picture, that

of S. Carlo, who is seen in the Consistory in the act of receiving the

cardinal's hat; the rest being from the hand of Cesare Nebbia, who

flourished at the same period. In order to have them retouched at leisure,

while they were left to dry, the cardinal Federigo despatched the two

artists to visit the sacred mount of Varallo, whence they passed to Arona,

and next to the Isola Bella, situated upon the Lago Maggiore, where the

cardinal joined them, and where each of them left a work in fresco, upon

two pilasters of the chapel at that place. There has since been found in

the archives of the college, an original letter of the cardinal, in which

he recommends to the then rector, that Nebbia should be received into the

college, and the sums of money disbursed to both, entered in the books of

account.

Proceeding next to those artists who studied at other places, I shall

briefly mention Ricci of Novara, with Paroni and Nappi of Milan, not

omitting others of the same place, commemorated in the lives of Baglioni.

Residing at Rome, they in no way contributed to the fame of their native

school, neither by their pupils, nor their example; and even at Rome, they

may be said to have added rather to the number of paintings than to the

decoration of the city. Ricci was a fresco painter, very well adapted to

the hasty temper of Sixtus V., whose works he superintended, and promoted

the effeminate taste then so prevalent; he possessed much facility and

beauty of forms. Paroni pursued the manner of Caravaggio, but his career

was short. Nappi displays great variety; and when he painted in his Lombard

manner, such as in his Assumption, at the cloister of the Minerva, with

other pieces at the Umilta, he shewed himself a naturalist far more

pleasing than the mannerists of his time.

There flourished likewise, for a few years, at Rome, the Cav. Pier

Francesco Mazzuchelli, called from his birthplace Morazzone. After

practising there for a period, from all the best models, which influenced

both his mind and his productions, he directed his attention to the

Milanese School, in which he taught, and succeeded beyond all example, in

improving his own style. It will be sufficient to compare his picture of

the Epiphany which he painted in fresco for one of the chapels of S.

Silvestro _in capite_, which boasts no beauty beyond that of colouring; and

his other Epiphany, placed at S. Antonio Abate, at Milan, which appears

like the production of another hand; such is the superiority of the design,

the effect, and the display of drapery, in the manner of the Venetians. He

is said to have studied Titian and Paul Veronese; and some of his angels

are painted with arms and legs, in those long proportions that are not the

best characteristics of Tintoretto. In general, the genius of Morazzone was

not adapted for the graceful, but for the strong and magnificent; as

appears in his S. Michael's Conquest over the bad Angels, at S. Gio. di

Como, and in the chapel of the Flagellazione, at Varese. In 1626 he was

invited to Piacenza, to paint the grand cupola of the cathedral, a work

which was left very incomplete by his death, and bestowed upon Guercino. He

had drawn the figures of two prophets, which, in any other place, would

have appeared to the greatest advantage; but there they are thrown into the

shade by those of his successor, that magician of his art, who threw into

it the whole enchantment of which he was capable. Morazzone was employed

for different collections, no less than for churches; and received a number

of commissions from Cardinal Federigo, and the king of Sardinia, from which

last he received his title of cavalier.

Contemporary with him flourished Gio. Batista Crespi, better known by the

name of Cerano, his native place, a small town in the Novarese. Sprung from

a family of artists, which left specimens of its genius at S. Maria di

Busto, where his grandfather Gio. Piero, and Raffaello, his father or

uncle, (I am not certain which,) had been employed. He studied at Rome, and

at Venice, uniting to that of painting great knowledge in the art of

modelling, as well as in architecture; being, moreover distinguished for

good taste in literature and for polite accomplishments. With such

qualifications he took the lead at the court of Milan, from which he

received a salary; no less than in the great undertakings of the Card.

Federigo, and in the direction of the academy. Not to dwell upon the

buildings, statues, and bassi-relievi, which he either designed or

executed, but which are less connected with my subject, he painted a great

number of altar-pieces, in which he at once exhibited, if I mistake not,

great excellences and great defects. He is invariably free, spirited, and

harmonious; but he frequently, from too great affectation of grace or of

magnificence, falls into a degree of mannerism, as in some of his histories

at the Pace, where his naked figures are heavy, and the attitudes of others

too extravagant. In his other subjects these defects are less apparent; but

here he has also overloaded his shadows. In the greater part of his works,

notwithstanding, the correct and the beautiful so far abounds, as to shew

that he was one of the first masters of his school. Thus in his Baptism of

S. Agostino, painted for S. Marco, he rivals Giulio Cesare Procaccini,

whose productions are placed opposite, and in the opinion of some he

surpasses him. Another instance occurs in his altar-piece of saints Carlo

and Ambrogio, at Santo Paolo, where, in taste of colouring at least he

surpasses the Campi; and a third in his celebrated picture of the Rosario,

at S. Lazzaro, which casts into shade the fine fresco painting of Nuvoloni.

He was particularly skilled in drawing birds and quadrupeds, of which he

composed pictures for private ornament, as we gather from Soprani in his

life of Sinibaldo Scorza. He educated many pupils, whom we shall reserve

for an inferior epoch, excepting Daniele Crespi of Milan, who, on account

of his worth, and the period in which he flourished, ought not to be

separated from his master.

Daniele is one among those distinguished Italians who are hardly known

beyond their native place. He possessed, however, rare genius, and,

instructed by Cerano, and afterwards by the best of the Procaccini,

undoubtedly surpassed the first, and in the opinion of many likewise the

second, though he did not live to reach the age of forty. He had great

penetration in learning, and equal facility in executing, selecting the

best part of every master he studied, and knowing how to reject the worst.

Familiar with the maxims of the Caracci school, even without frequenting

it, he adopted and practised them with success. He shews this in his

distribution of colours, and in the varied expression of his countenances;

select and careful in disposing them according to the prevailing passions

of the mind; and above all, admirable in catching the beautiful and

devotional spirit that ought to inspire the heads of saints. In the

distribution of his figures he at once observes a natural and well judged

order, so that no one would wish to behold them placed otherwise than they

are. Their drapery is finely varied, and very splendid in the more imposing

characters of the piece. His colouring is extremely powerful, no less in

oil than in fresco; and in the highly ornamented church of La Passione, for

which he painted his grand Descent from the Cross, he left many portraits

of distinguished cardinals, all composed in the best Titian taste. He is

indeed one of those rare geniuses who delight in being constant rivals of

themselves, calling forth their highest energies in each production, in

order that they may in some way surpass the last; geniuses, who know how to

correct in their later paintings the errors they committed in their first,

exhibiting in them the full maturity of those excellences which they

discovered in their early attempts. His last pieces, consisting of acts

from the life of S. Brunone, at the Certosa, in Milan, are of all the most

admired. That of the Dottor Parigino is more particularly celebrated, in

which, having raised himself on his bier, he declares his state of

reprobation. What desperation he exhibits! what horror in the faces of the

beholders! Nor is that of the Duke of Calabria less excellent, where, in

going to the chase, he meets with the holy hermit, a picture upon which the

artist inscribed, _Daniel Crispus Mediolanensis pinxit hoc templum_. _An.

1629._ This was the year before his death, as he was unhappily cut off by

the plague of 1630, together with his whole family.

We may here add, as a sort of corollary to the foregoing, the names of some

other artists who displayed great merit, though it is uncertain of what

school. Such is Gio. Batista Tarillio, by whom there was an altar-piece

with the date of 1575, painted for the now suppressed church of S. Martino

in Compito. There are some pictures by another native of Milan, named

Ranuzio Prata, at Pavia. These I have not seen; they are, however, greatly

commended by others. He flourished about 1635. The Novarese also boasted at

that period two artists who were brothers, both of whom coloured in pretty

good taste. These were Antonio and Gio. Melchiore Tanzi, the former a very

able designer, who competed with Carloni at Milan, distinguished himself at

Varallo, and painted at S. Gaudenzio di Novara the Battle of Senacherib, a

work full of spirit and intelligence. There are likewise other of his works

preserved in the galleries of Vienna, of Venice, and of Naples,

representing both histories and perspectives; but of his brother there is

nothing remaining of any great degree of merit.

SCHOOL OF MILAN.

EPOCH IV.

_The Art continues to decline after the time of Daniele

Crespi. A third Academy is founded with a view of improving

it._

We now approach the last epoch, which may be truly entitled the decline of

this school. I recollect hearing the opinion of a good judge, that Daniele

Crespi might be called the last of the Milanese, just as in another sense

Cato was pronounced _ultimus Romanorum_. The observation is correct, so far

as it applies to certain geniuses superior to the common lot, but false if

we should extend it to the exclusion of every artist of merit from the

period which it embraces. It would be injustice to the names of Nuvoloni

and Cairo, and several others who flourished in an age nearer our own. But

in the same way as Cassiodorus and some other writers are insufficient to

remove the stain of barbarism from their age, so the artists we treat of

cannot redeem theirs from the stigma of its decline. It is the majority

which invariably gives a tone to the times; and he who may have seen Milan

and its state would be at no loss to remark, that after the introduction of

the Procaccini School, design was more than ever neglected, and mechanical

practice succeeded to reason and taste. Artists, after the visitation of

the plague, had become more rare; and subsequent to the death of the

Cardinal Borromeo, in 1631, they became less united, insomuch that the

academy founded by him remained closed during twenty years; and if by the

exertions of Antonio Busca it was then re-opened, still it never afterwards

produced works similar to those of other times. Whether owing to the manner

of teaching, to the want of its great patron, or to the abundance of

commissions and the kindness of those who gave them, which urged young

artists prematurely to make abortive efforts; no school, perhaps, on the

loss of its great masters, was filled with so great a number of inferior

and bad ones. I shall not give much account of them, yet must not omit such

names as have attained to some consideration. In general it may be remarked

of the artists of this epoch, that though the pupils of different schools,

they display a mutual resemblance, as much as if they had been instructed

by the same master. They possess no character that strikes the eye, no

beauty of proportions, no vivacity of countenance, no grace in their

colouring. Their whole composition appears languid, even their imitation of

the head of the school does not please, as it is either deficient, or

overdone, or falls into insignificance. In their choice of colours we

detect a certain resemblance to the Bolognese School, to which their guides

were not very much opposed, though we often perceive that sombre cast which

then prevailed in nearly all the other schools.

To this uniformity of style in Milan, Ercole Procaccini the younger most

probably contributed, an artist in whom an unprejudiced critic will be at

no loss to detect the character we have described. But in his more studied

works, as we find in an Assumption, at S. M. Maggiore, in Bergamo, he

exhibits dignity, spirit, and a happy imitation of the Coreggio manner. He

received his first instructions from his father Carlantonio, and next from

Giulio Cesare, his paternal uncle. It is known that by public report, by

his insinuating manners, and by the family reputation, he arrived at a

degree of consideration beyond his merit, and lived till he reached the age

of eighty. Hence he induced many to follow his maxims, and the more as he

kept an open academy for the study of the naked figure at his own house,

and succeeded his uncles in their instructions; equal to them perhaps in

rapidity, but not so well grounded in the art. He painted much; and in the

best collections in Milan, if he is not in as much request as many others,

he yet maintains his place.

Two young artists educated in his school reflected credit upon it; Carlo

Vimercati, who owed his success to the most pertinacious study of Daniele's

works at the Certosa, which he daily visited for a long period while at

Milan, and Antonio Busca, who likewise employed his talents upon the best

models both at Milan and Rome. Vimercati exhibited few of his pictures in

public at Milan; he painted more at Codogno, and in his best manner, as

well as in a new one in which he was greatly inferior. Busca assisted his

master, and at S. Marco also was employed in competition with him. There,

placed opposite to some histories by Procaccini, is seen his picture of the

Crucifixion full of pious beauty, surrounded with figures of the Virgin, of

Mary Magdalen, and S. John, who are all weeping, and almost draw tears from

the eyes of the spectator. But he did not always succeed as in this

specimen; the gout deprived him of the use of his feet, and he fell into a

weak and abject style, the result of mere mechanic practice. In this state

of health, I imagine, he must have conducted two holy histories, placed

opposite each other, in the chapel of S. Siro at the Certosa in Pavia, in

which he idly repeated in the second the same features as distinguished the

first, so greatly is an artist sometimes in contradiction with himself. A

similar complaint might be alleged for a different reason, in regard to the

style of Cristoforo Storer, a native of Constance. A pupil to the same

Ercole, he also produced works of solid taste, as in the instance of his S.

Martino, which I saw in possession of the Ab. Bianconi, a picture much

valued by its intelligent owner. Subsequently he became a mannerist, and

not unfrequently adopted gross or common ideas. In other points he displays

much spirit, and is one of the few belonging to that age who may lay claim

to the title of a good colourist. I am uncertain whether Gio. Ens, of

Milan, sprung from the same school, as well as at what precise time he

nourished; I know that he was an artist of less talent, whose delicacy

often bordered upon weakness, as we may perceive at S. Marco in Milan.

Lodovico Antonio David of Lugano, a scholar of Ercole, of Cairo, and of

Cignani, resided at Rome. There he produced some portraits, and at one

period made the tour of Italy. The city of Venice possesses one of his

Nativities at S. Silvestro, conducted in a minute manner, that betrays a

disciple of Camillo more than of any other of the Procaccini. He wrote too

upon painting, and compiled some account of Coreggio, for which the reader

may consult Orlandi under the head of that artist,[59] or perhaps in

preference, Tirasboschi, in his life of him.

Footnote 59: In the additions to the Dictionary, made by

Guarienti, following the article Orlandi, we find Lodovico

David of Lugano, of whose pencil he could only trace the

picture at S. Silvestro in Venice. This is one of the

mistakes committed by this continuator.

Next to the nephew of the best Procaccini, I may place the son-in-law of

one of the others. This is the Cav. Federigo Bianchi, on whom, after

affording him his instructions, Giulio Cesare bestowed the hand of one of

his daughters. He derived from his father-in-law his maxims, rather than

his forms and attitudes, which display an original air in Bianchi, and are

at once graceful and beautiful without affectation. Some of his Holy

Families at S. Stefano and at the Passione are held in much esteem, besides

some of his other pictures exhibiting few, but well conceived figures. Such

is that of a Visitazione at S. Lorenzo, every way creditable to one of the

favourite pupils of Giulio Cesare. He was not distinguished in compositions

of a grander character; but he was full of ideas, united to harmony and

good keeping, and altogether one of the first Milanese artists in the

present age. He was much employed in Piedmont, and we are indebted to him

for notices of many artists which he communicated to P. Orlandi, by whom

they were made public. This artist is not to be confounded with one

Francesco Bianchi, a friend and almost inseparable companion of Antonmaria

Ruggieri. They painted together for the most part in fresco, and without

the least dispute consented to share all the emolument, all the praise and

blame they might receive. They belong to the present age, to which they

have bequeathed a more noble example of mutual attachment than of the art

they professed.

The greater part of the Procaccini disciples sprung from the school of

Camillo. He had likewise taught at Bologna, though his only pupil known

there is Lorenzo Franco, who, with his instructions, afterwards became an

excellent imitator of the Caracci. In the opinion of P. Resta, however, his

style was somewhat too minute; this artist resided and died at Reggio. The

school of Camillo at Milan was always full, and no one reflected upon it

greater credit than Andrea Salmeggia of Bergamo, of whom we treated in the

preceding book. Becoming a follower of Raffaello at Rome, he occasionally

returned to his native place, where he attracted admiration by his

productions. Like the rest Gio. Batista Discepoli, called Zoppo di Lugnano,

was at one time the disciple of Camillo, but afterwards added much of other

styles, and was one of the most natural, powerful, and rich colourists of

his time. For the rest he is to be included in the rank of the naturalists,

rather than among the lovers of the ideal. Several of his pictures are at

Milan, in particular that of his Purgatorio at S. Carlo, executed with much

skill; and he painted a good deal for his native place and its confines, as

well as at Como, where he ornamented Santa Teresa with a picture of the

titular saint, with lateral squares, esteemed one of the best altar-pieces

belonging to the city. Carlo Cornara acquired equal reputation, though in

an opposite style. He produced few works, but all conducted with an

exquisite degree of taste, peculiarly his own, which renders them valuable

in collections. One of his best altar-pieces was painted for S. Benedetto,

at the Certosa, in Pavia, a picture now much defaced by time, and there are

a few others completed by one of his daughters after his death, who added

to them some original pieces of her own.

Giovanni Mauro Rovere, an artist who exchanged the manner of Camillo for

that of Giulio Cesare, was among the earliest followers of the Procaccini,

and might be referred to their epoch from the period in which he

flourished, did not his inferior character, arising from too great rapidity

of hand, prevent his admission into the same rank. He had all that fire,

which, when directed with judgment, is the soul of painting, but when

abused destroys the beauty of the art. It was very seldom that he was able

to command it, though, in a Supper of our Lord, at S. Angelo, in which he

used great care, he obtained corresponding success. He had two brothers,

named Giambatista and Marco, who assisted him in his labours both for

churches and private houses, both of whom were inaccurate but spirited.

They have left works in fresco, besides some histories in oil,

perspectives, battle-pieces, and landscapes, to be met with in almost every

corner of the city. I find that they were also surnamed Rossetti, and still

better known under the name of Fiamminghini, derived from their father

Riccardo, who came from Flanders to establish himself at Milan.

To these three Rossetti, succeeded the three Santagostini, of whom the

first, named Giacomo Antonio, was pupil to Carlo Procaccini. He gave few

pieces to the public, though his sons Agostino and Giacinto were more

indefatigable, both conjointly, as we may gather from their two grand

histories at S. Fedele, and separately. They were distinguished above most

of their contemporaries, more especially Agostino. He was the first who

wrote a little work upon the paintings of Milan; it was entitled

_L'Immortalita e Glorie del Pennello_, and published in 1671. Whatever rank

a book with such a title ought to assume among the writers of the age, it

is certain that his pictures exhibit him in the light of a good painter for

his time, in particular a Holy Family, painted for S. Alessandro, and a few

others among the more highly finished, in which he displays expression,

beauty, and harmony, although somewhat too minute. The names of Ossana,

Bissi, Ciocca, Ciniselli, with others still less celebrated at Milan, I may

venture to pass over without much loss to this history.

The two Nuvoloni, not long since mentioned, though instructed by their

father, may be said, in some way, to belong to the Procaccini. Thus Carlo

Francesco, the elder, early adopted the manner of Giulio Cesare; and in

Giuseppe we every where trace a composition and colouring derived from that

school. The former, however, impelled by his genius, became a follower of

Guido, and so far succeeded as to deserve the name, which he still enjoys,

of the Guido of Lombardy. He does not abound in figures, but in these he is

pleasing and graceful, elegant in his forms and the turn and air of his

heads, united to a sweetness and harmony of tints which are seldom met

with. I saw one of his heads at S. Vittore, where he drew the Miracle of

St. Peter over the Porta Speciosa, and many other pieces at Milan, Parma,

Cremona, Piacenza, and Como, in the same excellent taste. This artist was

selected to take the portrait of the Queen of Spain when she visited Milan;

and there still appear in private houses those of many noble individuals

who employed him. The faces of his Madonnas are in high request for

collections, one of which is in the possession of the Conti del Verme,

displaying all the grace and beauty so peculiar to him, and which he has

here perhaps indulged at the expense of that dignity which should never be

lost sight of. Orlandi gives an account of his devotional exercises, which

he always performed previous to his painting the portraits of the Virgin. I

know not what opinion may be formed upon this point, either by his or my

readers. For my own part I indulge the same peculiar admiration of this

artist in the rank of painters, as I do of Justus Lipsius among literary

men, who, though both seculars, always observed great filial piety towards

our Holy Lady; a piety that has descended from the earliest fathers of the

church, in a regular line, down to the elect of our own times. His younger

brother painted on a much larger scale; boasted more pictoric fire and more

fancy; but he did not always display equal taste, nor was exempt from harsh

and sombre shadows that detract from his worth. He was more indefatigable

than Carlo, painting not only for the cities of Lombardy above mentioned,

but for the state of Venice, and many churches in Brescia. His pictures at

S. Domenico in Cremona, in particular his grand piece of the Dead Man

raised by the saint, adorned with beautiful architecture, and animated with

the most natural expression, are among some of his best works. They were

apparently executed in the vigour of life, inasmuch as there are others

bearing traces of infirmity, he having pursued the art until his eightieth

year, in which his death occurred.

I cannot learn that he left any pupils of note. His brother, Carlo

Francesco, however, instructed Gioseffo Zanata, extremely well versed in

the art, according to the opinion of Orlandi. Under him, and subsequently

under the Venetian artists, studied likewise Federigo Panza, an artist who

began with using strong shadows, which he improved as his genius grew more

mature. He was well employed and remunerated by the court of Turin. Filippo

Abbiati frequented the same school, a man of wonderful talent, adapted for

works on an immense scale; rich in ideas, and resolute in executing them.

He painted with a certain freedom, amounting to audacity, which, however

imperfect, does not fail to please, and would have pleased much more had he

been better versed in the principles of his art. He was placed in

competition with Federigo Bianchi, in the grand ceiling of S. Alessandro

Martire, and with other fine fresco painters; and he every where left

evidence of a noble genius. He appears to singular advantage in his

Preaching of S. John the Baptist at Sarono, a picture to which is affixed

his name. It has few figures, but they are fine and varied, with strong

tints, and very appropriate shadows, which produce a good effect. Pietro

Maggi, his disciple, was not equal to him in genius, nor did he observe his

moderation and care. Giuseppe Rivola, employed for private persons more

than for the public, is also deserving of mention, his fellow citizens

esteeming him among the best of Abbiati's pupils.

Cerano, though engaged in a variety of other labours, instructed many

pupils, and more particularly Melchiorre Giraldini, with success. He very

happily caught the manner of his teacher, easy, agreeable, and harmonious,

but still inferior to him in the more masterly power of his pencil. At the

Madonna at S. Celso is seen a picture of S. Caterina da Siena by his hand,

that has been greatly commended. Cerano gave him his daughter in marriage,

and left him the whole of his studio. He engraved in acqua forte some

minute histories and battle-pieces in the manner of Callot, and he

instructed his son in the same branch, whose battle-pieces have been much

prized in collections. He also taught a young artist of Gallarate, named

Carlo Cane, who, devoting himself at a more advanced age to the manner of

Morazzone, became a great proficient in it. He imitated with some success

his strength of colouring and his relief; in other points he was common

both in his forms and conceptions. He painted some altars, and in the

larger one of the cathedral at Monza, there is one representing different

saints, at the feet of whom is seen the figure of a dog, which he inserted

in all his pieces, even that of Paradise, to express his name. He observed

an excellent method in his frescos, his histories of Saints Ambrogio and

Ugo, which he painted for the grand church of the Certosa at Pavia, as well

as others, still retaining all their original freshness. He opened school

at Milan, and we may form an idea of the character of his pupils from his

own mediocrity. Cesare Fiori, indeed, acquired some degree of reputation,

several of whose ornamental works on a great scale, have been made public.

He too had a scholar named Andrea Porta, who aimed at catching the manner

of Legnanino. There are others who approach the two best of the Cerani,

namely, Giuliano Pozzobonelli, an artist of good credit, and Bartolommeo

Genovesini,[60] by whom there remain works possessing some degree of

grandeur; besides Gio. Batista Secchi, surnamed from his country

Caravaggio, who painted for S. Pietro in Gessato, an altar-piece of the

Epiphany with his name.

Footnote 60: I thus named him in the former edition, because

all other writers had so done before me, but his family name

was Roverio and his surname Genovesino. See the first index.

Morazzone had to boast a numerous list of pupils, imitators, and copyists,

both at Milan and elsewhere. The Cav. Francesco Cairo reflected honour upon

this school, who, having commenced his career, as is usual, by pursuing his

master's footsteps, afterwards changed his manner on meeting with better

models, which he studied at Rome and Venice. He also worked on a great

scale, and coloured with effect, united, however, to a delicacy of hand and

grace of expression, altogether forming a style that surprises us by its

novelty. His pictures of the four saints, founders of the church at S.

Vittore, of his S. Teresa swooning with celestial love at S. Carlo, his S.

Saverio at Brera, various portraits in the Titian manner, and other pieces,

public and private, at Milan, at Turin, and elsewhere, entitle him to rank

high in the art, though he is not always free from the reproach of sombre

colouring. Morazzone derived some credit from the two brothers Gioseffo and

Stefano Danedi, more commonly called the Montalti. The first, after being

instructed by him in the art, became more refined in his taste under Guido

Reni, of whose style he sufficiently partakes, as we may perceive in his

Slaughter of the Innocents at S. Sebastiano, and in his Nunziata its

companion. Stefano frequented no foreign schools that I know of, though he

did not wholly confine himself to Morazzone's manner, rather aiming at

refining it upon the example of his brother, and painting with a degree of

accuracy and study that he did not find recommended by the taste of his

times. His martyrdom of S. Giustina, which he produced for S. Maria in

Pedone, forms a specimen of this refinement, while it is moreover exempt

from that cold and languid tone which diminishes the value of his other

works. One of those artists most attached to Morazzone's style, and who

nearest approaches him in the boldness of his pencil, is the Cav. Isidoro

Bianchi, otherwise called Isidoro da Campione, a better fresco than oil

painter, from what we gather at the church of S. Ambrosio at Milan, and in

others at Como. He was selected by the Duke of Savoy, to complete a large

hall at Rivoli, left imperfect by the decease of Pier Francesco. There he

was declared painter to the ducal court in 1631.

About the same period flourished at Como, besides the Bustini,[61] the two

brothers Gio. Paolo and Gio. Batista Recchi, whose chief merit was in

painting frescos, disciples likewise of Morazzone. These artists decorated

S. Giovanni, and other churches of their native place, two chapels at

Varese, with others in the same vicinity. The second of them also became

eminent beyond the state, particularly at S. Carlo in Turin, where he is

placed near his master. His style is solid and strong, his colouring

forcible, and in the skill of his foreshortening on ceilings, he yields to

very few of his day. Pasta in his Guide for Bergamo has deservedly praised

him on this score, when speaking of a Santa Grata, seen rising into heaven,

a work, he observes, that is admirably delightful. In some of the chambers

of the Veneria, at Turin, he was assisted by one Gio. Antonio his nephew.

The Milanese Guide mentions several other artists, apparently, judging from

their style, instructed by the preceding, such as Paolo Caccianiga, Tommaso

Formenti, and Giambatista Pozzi.

Footnote 61: Benedetto Crespi, who possessed, according to

Orlandi, a manner at once strong and elegant, with Antonio

Maria, his son and pupil, and Pietro Bianchi, to whom he

left his designs, all three called Bustini.

Whilst the Milanese School was thus hastening to its close, and no longer

afforded masters of equal promise, either to the first or second of its

series, its youth were compelled to have recourse to richer and more

genuine sources, and at this period began to disperse in search of new

styles. I omit the family of the Cittadini, which established itself at

Bologna, or to say truth, I reserve it to its own school. Stefano Legnani,

called Il Legnanino, in order to distinguish him from his father

Cristoforo, a portrait-painter, became one of the most celebrated artists

in Lombardy towards the beginning of this century, having studied the

schools of Cignani at Bologna, and Maratta at Rome. In either of these

cities he would have been esteemed one of the best disciples of these two

masters, had he left there any of his productions; although in course of

time he fell into a degree of mannerism. He is tasteful, sober, and

judicious in his compositions, with a certain strength and clearness of

colouring, not common among the disciples of Maratta. He became famous for

his fresco histories, which are seen at S. Marco and at S. Angiolo, where

there is also one of his battles, which is won by the protection of St.

James the Apostle, which shews a pictoric fire equal to handling the most

difficult themes. He left too a variety of works in Genoa, Turin, and

Piedmont, besides his painting of the cupola at Novara, in the church of S.

Gaudenzio, than which he produced nothing more truly beautiful.

Andrea Lanzani, after receiving the instructions of Scaramuccia, pupil to

Guido, who remained for some period at Milan, passed into the school of

Maratta at Rome. But his genius finally decided him to adopt a less placid

style, and he began to imitate Lanfranco. His best productions, as it has

been observed of others, are those which on his first return from Rome he

executed in his native place, while still fresh from the Roman maxims and

the Roman models. A proof of this is seen in his S. Carlo Beatified, which

on certain days is exhibited along with other pictures in the capital. He

painted also a fine piece for the Ambrosian library, representing the

actions of Cardinal Federigo, in which there is a rich display of

imagination, of drapery, and good effect of chiaroscuro. He is for the most

part praised on account of his facility, and the boldness of his hand. He

died in Germany, after being honoured with the title of Cavalier, and left

no better pupil behind him in Italy than Ottavio Parodi, who resided for a

long period at Rome, and is mentioned with commendation by Orlandi. From

Rome also, and from the school of Ciro Ferri, Ambrogio Besozzi returned to

Milan, in order to study the Cortona manner as a counterpoise to that of

Maratta. But he chiefly employed himself in ornamental, rather than

historic painting, though very able in the last, as far as we may judge

from his S. Sebastian, at S. Ambrogio. He studied Pagani at Venice, and

likewise taught there, boasting the celebrated Pellegrini as one of his

disciples. Zanetti remarks that he introduced into the academies of that

city a new taste of design for the naked figure, somewhat overstrained,

indeed, but of good effect. He left there a few pieces in public, and

returned to close his days in Lombardy. The churches and collections of

Milan abound with his pictures, and there are others in the Dresden

gallery.

Pietro Gilardi passed from his native school into that of Bologna, and

there, under Franceschini and Giangioseffo del Sole, greatly improved

himself. His style is clear, easy, harmonious, and adapted to adorn

cupolas, ceilings, and magnificent walls, as appears in the refectory of S.

Vittore, at Milan, where his works do him credit. At Varese he completed

the chapel of the Assumption, after the cartoons of Legnanino, who died

before it was finished; and a few of his own works left imperfect by death

were, in their turn, continued and finished by the Cav. Gio. Batista Sassi.

The style of this artist, who had assiduously employed himself under

Solimene in Naples, is tolerable in regard to design. Though he painted for

several churches in Pavia, and at Milan, he acquired most reputation from

his small pictures, intended for private ornament. I am not certain whether

he introduced into these parts those greenish tints in colouring, which,

from Naples, spread through different schools, or whether it came by way of

Turin, where one Corrado Giaquinto was employed in drawing figures, and in

painting. Such method, however, did not here displease. Gioseffo Petrini da

Carono, pupil to Prete of Genoa, has carried it to its highest point, while

Piero Magatti of Varese is not wholly free from it, who flourished very

recently: both were reputed good artists according to their time. Nor could

so great a city be in want of some Venetian disciples, who have

distinguished themselves in our own times; we behold some imitations of

Piazzetta, and some of Tiepolo, in a few of the churches, it being usual

with young artists to follow living masters in lucrative practice, in

preference to the deceased whose emoluments are past. We ought here to

insert the name of an eminent Milanese, who reflected honour on his native

state in foreign parts. This was Francesco Caccianiga, well known at Rome,

though little among his own countrymen. Having treated of him, however, in

the Roman School, I shall merely recall his memory and merits to my

readers. Neither must I omit his contemporary, Antonio Cucchi, who remained

at Milan, not as his equal, but because he became eminent in the footsteps

of the Romans, for the diligence, if not for the spirit of his pencil. Nor

shall I pass over Ferdinando Porta, distinguished for a number of pictures,

conducted in imitation of Coreggio; an artist, however, too inconstant and

unequal to himself. These names will suffice for the present epoch, which

produced, indeed, others of some note, but not known beyond the confines of

their own state. Such works as the _Pitture d' Italia_, and the _Nuova

Guida di Milano_, will furnish the curious with information respecting

them, until some further accounts of them be presented to the public.

From the period when the capital began to encourage the foreign schools

preferably to her own, the cities of the state followed the example, in

particular that of Pavia, which, during this last century, has had to boast

more professors than any other state. Yet none of these moderns are much

known beyond the precincts of their native place. Carlo Soriani,[62]

however, deserved to be better known, an artist who painted for the

cathedral his picture of the Rosario, accompanied by fifteen mysteries, an

elegant production in the taste of Soiaro. The series of the artists

alluded to begins with Carlo Sacchi, who is said by Orlandi to have been

taught by Rosso of Pavia, but most probably by Carlantonio Rossi, a

Milanese, who painted for the cathedral of Pavia his S. Siro, and two

lateral pieces in the best Procaccini taste, and is described in the

_Abbeccederio_ as an eccentric man, though well versed in his art. Sacchi

continued his studies at Rome and Venice, and when he wished to imitate

Paul Veronese, as in his Miracle of the Dead resuscitated by S. Jacopo,

which is placed at the Osservanti, he succeeded admirably, shewing himself

a good colourist, splendid in ornament, spirited in attitude, except that

in these he is somewhat extravagant and affected. He supplied different

collections, and I saw an Adam and Eve by him in possession of the Cav.

Brambilla at Pavia, entitled to a place in that fine collection. It is

doubtful whether Gio. Batista Tassinari ought to be ranked among his fellow

disciples, if we only regard the period in which he flourished. But we may

with more certainty, upon Orlandi's authority, pronounce Carlo Bersotti to

have been his pupil, an excellent artist in inferior branches, to which he

confined himself. Tommaso Gatti, together with Bernardino Ciceri, were,

however, his best pupils, the first of whom pursued his studies at Venice,

the second at Rome, and both succeeded at least as practical artists. Gatti

instructed Marcantonio Pellini, and then consigned him to the schools of

Venice and Bologna, which did not carry him beyond the sphere of his

master. Ciceri was succeeded by his disciple Gioseffo Crastona, who, embued

with Roman erudition, became a painter of figures and of landscapes in that

city, of which a number may be seen at Pavia. Among the latest are

Pierantonio Barbieri, pupil to Bastiano Ricci, and Carlantonio Bianchi, a

disciple of the Roman manner. The artists whom I have described almost in a

series, have filled all the churches of Pavia, though many, with their

respective paintings and their frescos, conferring additional novelty

perhaps, but little additional splendor upon their native state; and no one

visits Pavia altogether on their account.

Footnote 62: He is thus called by Bartoli.

Others also belonging to the state and its vicinity, about the time of

Sacchi, quitted their native place, and became celebrated in other

quarters; as Mola, of the state of Como, of whom we have treated; and

Pietro de' Pietri, who, born in the Novarese, studied and died at Rome,

where he has been commended by us in the school of Maratta. Antonio Sacchi,

also a native of Como, acquired his knowledge at Rome, whence returning

into Lombardy, he undertook to paint a cupola for his native place, but

fixing on too high a point of perspective, he made his figures so gigantic

that he broke his heart and died. From Como likewise sprung one Fra

Emanuele, of the order of the Minori Riformati, whose name is incorrectly

inserted by Orlandi in the _Abbeccedario_, as a self-taught painter. The

fact is, that on being sent to reside at Messina, he became a pupil to

Silla, and improving the feeble manner he had acquired in his native town,

he decorated a number of places belonging to his order, both in Rome and

Sicily, in a better taste. There are two of his pictures at Como, at the

Riformati; a Supper in the refectory, feebly executed in the style of the

declining school of Milan, and a Pieta in the church, with different

saints, in a better manner; such is the advantage of practice, reflection,

and good guidance even at a mature age.

This epoch produced a fine perspective painter, of whom mention is made

under the Roman School, in which he studied and left some works. This is

Gio. Chisolfi, a pupil of Salvator Rosa, who, on his return to Milan,

besides his architectural pieces, which were esteemed among the very first,

devoted himself to large histories and altar-pieces, and executed frescos

in a good taste for the Certosa of Pavia, and the Santuario of Varese. He

was followed with success by one of his nephews, Bernardo Racchetti, whose

perspectives, no less than those of Clemente Spera, are frequently met with

in collections. Torre makes mention also of a native of Lucca, who

succeeded in perspective and in figures, named Paolo Pini. I have seen only

of his a history of Rahab, at S. Maria di Campagna, at Piacenza, of which

the architecture is very fine, the figures light and touched with a

spirited hand. In extensive works of ornamental fresco, Pier Francesco

Prina is commended by Orlandi, with the two Mariani, Domenico and his son

Gioseffo. The father remained stationary at Milan, and educated, among

other pupils, Castellino da Monza; but the son visited Bologna, and there

succeeded in improving his paternal manner so as to distinguish himself

throughout Italy and Germany. These names will suffice to give a view of a

period, not remarkable for the best taste in this species of painting.

Fabio Ceruti was a landscape painter of some repute in the style of

Agricola his master. His pictures are pretty numerous, both throughout the

city and the state. Mention is also made of one Perugini, recorded by the

Cav. Ratti, in his life of Alessandro Magnasco of Genoa, called Lisandrino.

The latter, educated in the school of Abbiati, and a long time resident in

Milan, added to the pictures of Perugini, of Spera, and other artists,

small figures of such merit as will be entitled to a particular description

in his native school.

In compositions of a minor branch, wholly executed by himself, Magnasco may

be pronounced an able artist, especially in those diminutive pieces on the

Flemish scale, consisting of childish scenes and representations of a

popular cast, with which he decorated many collections. He also opened

school at Milan, and was imitated by Coppa and other artists, though

Bastiano Ricci approached him the nearest of any, possessing a wonderful

versatility of genius in respect to imitation. In a similar taste Martino

Cignaroli painted at Milan, who had acquired at Verona and at the school of

Carpioni, singular skill in conducting pictures for private cabinets. He

established himself together with Pietro his brother and his family, in

this his new abode, where he had a son named Scipione, who became a good

landscape painter at Rome, and subsequently flourished at Milan and at

Turin.

About the year 1700 Lorenzo Comendich established himself in the former of

these cities, an artist already recorded in this work among the disciples

of Monti. In the residence of the Baron Martini, his patron, he produced a

variety of works, the most commended among which was his Battle of Luzzara,

won by Louis XIV., who is said to have beheld it, as represented by this

artist, with singular pleasure.

In pictures of herds of animals of every kind, more perhaps than for his

human figures, Carlo Cane rose into some repute. Orlandi likewise greatly

commends Angiolmaria Crivelli in the same branch, though I have seen

nothing from his hand entitling him to so much eulogy. At Milan this artist

is known by the name of Crivellone, in distinction to his son Jacopo, whose

principal merit lay in his drawings of birds and fishes. He was much

employed by the court of Parma, and died in 1760. Still nearer us in point

of time is Londonio, an artist also of some repute for his herds of cattle:

his rural and pastoral views are in possession of the Counts Greppi, and

other noble houses. At Como flourished one Maderno, whose skill consisted

in drawing all kind of kitchen furniture, in the taste of the Bassani, with

whom less experienced judges are apt to confound him. I have seen several

small pictures by him in possession of the Counts Giovio, that display

great beauty. He was also a fine flower-painter, though he was here

surpassed by Mario de' Crespini, one of his pupils, whose productions are

interspersed throughout his own and the adjacent cities. Of some other

artists of inferior note I have given accounts in different places.

It remains for me to mention a third academy which was founded at Milan in

1775, by that distinguished princess, Maria Teresa, and which was

afterwards invariably encouraged by new benefactions from her two sons, the

emperors Joseph and Leopold, and by their successor to the Empire, Francis

II. who, amidst all the distractions of war, is not unmindful of the

prosperity of the fine arts. The complete institutions of which this

academy had to boast, even in its outset, are described in a compendious

manner by its accomplished secretary, in his work entitled the New Guide,

already frequently cited. In this we find an account of the number, the

variety, and the merit of the different professors; the collections of

models, of designs, of prints, and of books, which are there provided for

the use of the students; to which he adds the methods of education there

inculcated, to the great benefit of the nation, which has already, for some

time past, been embued with a more refined taste, and displayed a more

extended cultivation.

END OF VOL. IV.

J. M'Creery, Tooks Court,

Chancery-lane, London.

Transcriber's Notes

Punctuation, use of hyphens, and accent marks were standardized. Obsolete

and alternative spellings were left unchanged. For example, the author

consistently uses 'Bonarruoti' rather than the usual 'Buonarroti,'

'accessaries' for 'accessories,' and 'canvass' for 'canvas.'

Footnotes were indented and moved to follow the paragraph in which the

anchor occurs.

The following changes were made for consistency within the text:

'Michel Angiolo' to 'Michelangiolo'

'rilievo' to 'relievo'

'intitled' to 'entitled'

Additional changes:

'106' to '206' in the Table of Contents, School of Milan, Epoch I

'Wmser' to 'Wumser'

'Batista' to 'Battista'

'imtator' to 'imitator'

'musaicists' to 'mosaicists'

'developement' to 'development'

'recal' to 'recall'

'Coregio' to 'Coreggio'

'begun' to 'began' ... when the Cortona manner began to lose ground ...

'Boccaccini' to 'Boccaccino'

added 'to' ... nor yet has he referred to him as a pupil ...

'pourtrayed' to 'portrayed'

'Monistero' to 'Monastero'

'Andai' to 'andai'

'Brenghel' to 'Breughel'