INTARSIA AND MARQUETRY
OTHER VOLUMES OF THE SERIES
By the same Author
Mural Painting--the Decoration of the Wall Surface by means of
Paint
Mosaic and Marble Inlay for Floor, Wall, and Vault
HANDBOOKS FOR THE DESIGNER AND
CRAFTSMAN
INTARSIA AND MARQUETRY
BY
F. HAMILTON JACKSON
EXAMINER TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN PRINCIPLES
OF ORNAMENT
_With Illustrations from Photographs and from Drawings
and Tracings by the Author_
LONDON
SANDS & COMPANY
1903
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM HODGE AND COMPANY
GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH
CONTENTS
PAGE
HISTORICAL NOTES--ANTIQUITY, 1
ITALY IN MEDIÆVAL AND RENAISSANCE TIMES, 8
THE CLOISTERED INTARSIATORI AND THEIR PUPILS, 55
IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND, ENGLAND AND FRANCE, 84
THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE, 104
THE LIMITATIONS AND CAPABILITIES OF THE ART, 118
WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, 133
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
1. Patterns used in Borders, _facing page_ 8
2. Various Patterns of Borders, " 9
3. Chair Back from S. Ambrogio, Milan, " 10
4. Door of the Sala del Papa, Palazzo Comunale, Siena, " 13
5. The Prophet Amos. Figure intarsia from the }
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, }
6. The Annunciation. Figure intarsia from the } _between pages
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, } 18 and 19_
7. The Prophet Hosea. Figure intarsia from the }
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, }
8. The Nativity. Figure intarsia from the Sacristy
of the Cathedral, Florence, _facing page 20_
9. The Presentation in the Temple. Figure Intarsia
from the Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, " 21
10. Panel from Sacristy of S. Croce, Florence, " 23
11. Detail of Frieze from the Sacristy of S. Croce,
Florence, " 24
12. Lower Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia, " 25
13. Upper Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia, " 26
14. One Panel, from Upper Series, Cathedral, Perugia, " 27
15. Two Panels from the Sala del Cambio, Perugia, " 28
16. Frieze from S. Mark's, Venice, " 30
17. Frieze from S. Mark's, Venice, " 32
18. Stalls from the Cathedral, Lucca, " 33
19. Lectern in Pinacoteca, Lucca, " 34
20. Two-leaved Door in the Pinacoteca, Lucca, " 35
21. Stalls at the Certosa, Pavia, " 36
22. Detail of Arabesques, lower Seats, Certosa, Pavia, " 37
23. Panel from S. Petronio, Bologna, " 38
24. Panel from S. Petronio, Bologna, " 39
25. Panel from S. Miniato, Florence, " 40
26. Panel from S. Maria Novella, Florence, " 42
27. Panel from S. Maria Novella, Florence, " 44
28. Panel in Sacristy of S. Pietro in Casinense, Perugia, " 46
29. Panel from Door of Sala del Cambio, Perugia, " 48
30. Panel from lower row of Stalls, S. Maria in
Organo, Verona, " 59
31. Panels from Monte Oliveto Maggiore, now in
the Cathedral, Siena, " 60
32. Frieze from Monte Oliveto Maggiore, " 62
33. Panel from S. Mark's, Venice, " 68
34. Panel from Door in Choir of S. Pietro in
Casinense, Perugia, " 74
35. Lunette from Stalls in Cathedral, Genoa, " 77
36. Panel from lower row of Stalls, Cathedral, Savona, " 78
37. Panel from the Ducal Palace, Mantua, " 80
38. Panel from the Rathaus, Breslau, 1563, " 84
39. Panel from Church of S. Mary Magdalene, Breslau, " 86
40. Pilaster Strip from the Magdalene Church, Breslau, " 87
41. Panel from S. Elizabeth's Church, Breslau, " 88
42. Lower Panel of Door, 1564--Tyrolese, " 90
43. Top of Card Table in the Drawing-room, Roehampton
House; Dutch, 18th Century, " 92
44. Panelling from Sizergh Castle, now in Victoria
and Albert Museum, " 93
45. Cabinet with falling front, in the Drawingroom,
Roehampton House, " 94
46. Cabinet belonging to Earl Granville. Boulle
work of about 1740, " 96
47. Top of Writing Table in the Saloon, Roehampton
House. Period of Louis XV., " 97
48. Encoignure, signed J. F. Oeben, in the Jones
Bequest. Victoria and Albert Museum, " 98
49. Panel from back of Riesener's bureau, made
for Stanislas Leczinski, with figure of Secrecy, " 100
50. Roundel from bureau, made for Stanislas
Leczinski, King of Poland, now in the
Wallace Collection, " 102
51. Antonio Barili at work, by himself, " 104
52. Panel from the Victoria and Albert Museum, " 106
53. Panel from S. Maria in Organo, Verona, " 122
54. Panel from S. Maria in Organo, Verona, " 126
55. Panel from S. Pietro in Casinense, Perugia, " 130
GENERAL PREFACE TO THE SERIES
If there is one quality which more than another marks the demand of the
present day it is the requirement of novelty. In every direction the
question which is asked is not, "Is this fresh thing good? Is it
appropriate to, and well-fitted for, its intended uses?" but "Is it
novel?" And the constant change of fashion sets a premium upon the
satisfaction of this demand and enlists the commercial instinct on the
side of perpetual change. While there are directions in which this
desire is not altogether harmful, since at least many monstrosities
offend our eyes but for a short time, a full compliance with it by the
designer is likely to prove disastrous to his reputation, and recent
phases in which an attempt has been made to throw aside as effete and
outworn the forms which have gradually grown with the centuries, and to
produce something entirely fresh and individual, have shown how
impossible it is at this period of the world's history to dispense with
tradition, and, escaping from the accumulated experience of the race,
set forth with childlike _naïveté_. Careful study of these experiments
discloses the fact that in as far as they are successful in proportion
and line they approach the successes of previous generations, and that
the undigested use of natural _motifs_ results not in nourishment but in
nightmare.
The object aimed at by this series of handbooks is the recall of the
designer and craftsman to a saner view of what constitutes originality
by setting before them something of the experience of past times, when
craft tradition was still living and the designer had a closer contact
with the material in which his design was carried out than is usual at
present. Since both design and craftsmanship as known until the end of
the 18th century were the outcome of centuries of experience of the use
of material and of the endeavour to meet daily requirements, it may be
justly called folly to cast all this aside as the fripperies of bygone
fashion which cramp the efforts of the designer, and attempt to start
afresh without a rag of clothing, even if it were possible. At the same
time it is not intended to advocate the direct copyism of any style,
whether regarded as good, bad, or indifferent. Some minds find
inspiration in the contemplation of natural objects, while others find
the same stimulus in the works of man. The fashion of present opinion
lays great stress upon the former source of inspiration, and considers
the latter heretical, while, with a strange inconsistency, acclaiming a
form of design based upon unnatural contortions of growth, and a
treatment which is often alien to the material. It is the hope of the
author to assist the second class of mind to the rivalling of the
ancient glories of design and craftsmanship, and perhaps even to convert
some of those whose talents are at present wasted in the chase of the
will-o'-the-wisp of fancied novelty and individuality. Much of what
appears to the uneducated and ill-informed talent as new is really but
the re-discovery of _motifs_ which have been tried and abandoned by
bygone masters as unsuitable, and a greater acquaintance with their
triumphs is likely, one would hope, to lead students, whether designers
or craftsmen, to view with disgust undigested designs indifferently
executed which have little but a fancied novelty to recommend them.
It is intended that each volume shall contain an historical sketch of
the phase of design and craft treated of, with examples of the
successful overcoming of the difficulties to be encountered in its
practice, workshop recipes, and the modes of producing the effects
required, with a chapter upon the limitations imposed by the material
and the various modes of evading those limitations adopted by those who
have not frankly accepted them.
PREFACE
The subject treated of in this handbook has, until lately, received
scant attention in England; and except for short notices of a general
nature contained in such books as Waring's "Arts Connected with
Architecture," technical descriptions, such as those in Holtzapffel's
"Turning and Mechanical Manipulation," and a few fugitive papers, has
not been treated in the English language. On the Continent it has,
however, been the subject of considerable research, and in Italy,
Germany, and France books have been published which either include it as
part of the larger subject of furniture, or treat in considerable detail
instances of specially-important undertakings. From these various
sources I have endeavoured to gather as much information as possible
without too wearying an insistence upon unimportant details, and now
present the results of my selection for the consideration of that part
of the public which is interested in the handicrafts which merge into
art, and especially for the designer and craftsman, whose business it
is or may be to produce such works in harmonious co-operation in the
present day, as they often did in days gone by, and, it may be hoped,
with a success akin to that attained in those periods to which we look
back as the golden age of art.
The books from which I have drawn my information are principally the
following:--
In Italian--Borghese and Banchi's "Nuovi documenti per la storia dell'
Arte Senese"; Brandolese's "Pitture, sculture, &c., di Padova"; Caffi's
"Dei lavori d'intaglio in legname e d'intarsia nel Cattedrale di
Ferrara"; Calvi's "Dei professori de belle arti che fiorirono in Milano
ai tempi dei Visconti, &c."; Saba Castiglione's "Ricordi"; Erculei's
paper in his "Catalogue of the Exhibition of works of carving and inlay
held at Rome in 1885"; Finocchietti's "Report on carving and inlaid work
in the Jurors' report on the Exhibition of 1867 in Paris"; Lanzi's
"History of Painting in Italy"; Locatelli's "Iconografia Italiana";
Marchese's "Lives of Dominican Artists"; Milanesi's "Documenti per la
Storia dell' Arte Senese"; Morelli's "Notizie d'opere di disegno nella
prima metà dell' Secolo XVI."; Tassi's "Vite di pittori, architetti,
&c., Bergamaschi"; Temanza's "Vite dei piu celebri architetti, &c.,
Dominicani"; Tiraboschi's "Biblioteca Modenese"; Della Valle's "Lettere
Senesi sopra le belle Arti"; Vasari's "Lives," with Milanesi's notes and
corrections, and papers in the "Bullettino di Arti, Industrie e
Curiosità Veneziane," the "Atti e memorie della Società Savonese," the
"Archivio Storico dell' Arte and its continuation as L'Arte," and the
"Archivio Storico Lombardo," by such men as Michele Caffi, G. M. Urb,
Ottavio Varaldo, Francesco Malaguzzi Valeri and L. T. Belgrano.
In German--Becker and Hefner Alteneck's "Kunstwerke and Geräths Schaften
des Mittelalters und der Renaissance"; Bucher's "Geschichte der
Technischen Kunst"; Burckhardt's "Additions to Kugler's Geschichte der
Baukunst, and Geschichte der Renaissance in Italien"; Demmin's "Studien
über die Stofflich-bildenden Künste"; Von Falke's "Geschichte des
deutsches Kunstgewerbes"; Scherer's "Technik und Geschichte der
Intarsia"; Schmidt's "Schloss Gottorp"; Seeman's "Kunstgewerbliche
Handbücher"; Teirich's "Ornamente aus der Blüthezeit italienischer
Renaissance," and articles in "Blätter für Kunstgewerbe," and the
"Kunstgewerbeblatt of the Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst," by such men
as Teirich, Issel and Ilg.
In French--Asselineau's "A. Boulle, ébéniste de Louis 14"; Burckhardt's
"Le Cicerone"; Champeaux's "Le bois appliquée au mobilier," and "Le
meuble"; Demmin's "Encyclopédie historique, archeologique, &c.";
Luchet's "L'Arte industriel à l'Exposition Universelle de 1867," and
other encyclopædias.
In English--"The handmaid to the arts"; Holtzapffel's "Turning and
mechanical manipulation"; Pollen's paper on "Furniture in the Kensington
Catalogue of Ancient and Modern furniture"; Leader Scott's "The
Cathedral builders"; Tomlinson's "Cyclopædia of Useful Arts"; Waring's
"The Arts connected with architecture"; and Digby Wyatt's "Industrial
Arts of the 19th Century," together with detached articles found in
various publications.
Those who desire further examples of arabesque patterns may find them in
Issel's "Wandtäfelungen und Holzdecken"; Lacher's "Mustergültige
holzintarsien der Deutschen Renaissance aus dem 16 und 17 Jahrhundert";
Lachner's "Geschichte der Holzbaukunst in Deutschland"; Lichtwark's "Der
ornamentstich der deutschen Frührenaissance"; Meurer's "Italienische
Flachornamente aus der Zeit der Renaissance"; Teirich's "Ornamente aus
der Blüthezeit italienischer Renaissance," and Rhenius "Eingelegte
Holzornamente der Renaissance in Schlesien von 1550-1650."
I have thought it better to run the risk of incompleteness than to
overload the text with the mere names of indifferent designers and
craftsmen about whom and whose work scarcely anything is known,
believing that my object would be attained more surely by pointing to
the work and lives of those about whose capacity there can be no
question.
My thanks are due to the officials of the British Museum Library and of
the Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum for the great
assistance which they have given me in many ways, the facilities
afforded me, and their unfailing kindness and courtesy; and to the
Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum for similar kindness and
assistance.
I have also to thank my friend Mr. C. Bessant, whose experience in all
kinds of cabinet work is so great, for very kindly looking over the
section dealing with the processes of manufacture.
F. HAMILTON JACKSON.
INTARSIA AND MARQUETRY
HISTORICAL NOTES--ANTIQUITY
The word "intarsia" is derived from the Latin "interserere," to insert,
according to the best Italian authorities, though Scherer says there was
a similar word, "Tausia," which was applied to the inlaying of gold and
silver in some other metal, an art practised in Damascus, and thence
called damascening; and that at first the two words meant the same
thing, but after a time one was applied to work in wood and the other to
metal work. In the "Museo Borbonico," xii., p. 4, xv., p. 6, the word
"Tausia" is said to be of Arabic origin, and there is no doubt that the
art is Oriental. It perhaps reached Europe either by way of Sicily or
through the Spanish Moors. "Marquetry," on the other hand, is a word of
much later origin, and comes from the French "marqueter," to spot, to
mark; it seems, therefore, accurate to apply the former term to those
inlays of wood in which a space is first sunk in the solid to be
afterwards filled with a piece of wood (or sometimes some other
material) cut to fit it, and to use the latter for the more modern
practice of cutting several sheets of differently-coloured thin wood
placed together to the same design, so that by one cutting eight or ten
copies of different colours may be produced which will fit into each
other, and only require subsequent arranging and glueing, as well as for
the more artistic effects of the marquetry of the 17th and 18th
centuries, which were produced with similar veneers. The process of
inlaying is of the most remote antiquity, and the student may see in the
cases of the British Museum, at the Louvre, and in other museums,
examples of both Assyrian and Egyptian inlaid patterns of metal and
ivory, or ebony or vitreous pastes, upon both wood and ivory, dating
from the 8th and 10th centuries before the Christian Era, or earlier.
The Greeks and Romans also made use of it for costly furniture and
ornamental sculpture; in Book 23 of the "Odyssey," Ulysses, describing
to Penelope the bride-bed which he had made, says--"Beginning from this
head-post, I wrought at the bedstead till I had finished it, and made it
fair with inlaid work of gold, and of silver, and of ivory"; the statue
and throne of Jupiter at Olympia had ivory, ebony, and many other
materials used in its construction, and the chests in which clothes
were kept, mentioned by Homer, were some of them ornamented with inlaid
work in the precious metals and ivory. Pausanias describes the box of
Kypselos, in the opisthodomos of the Temple of Hera, at Olympia, as
elliptical in shape, made of cedar wood and adorned with mythological
representations, partly carved in wood and partly inlaid with gold and
ivory, in five strips which encircled the whole box, one above another.
The Greek words for inlaying used by Homer and Pindar are "[Greek:
daidallô]" and "[Greek: kollaô]," and their derivatives, the first being
also used for embroidering; Homer and Hesiod also use "[Greek:
poikilos]" for "inlaid," which shows how closely at that time the arts
were interwoven. These words have left no trace in the later terms,
though [Greek: kollaô] means to fix together, or to glue, and it is
tempting to connect the French word "coller" with it. Vitruvius and
Pliny use the words "cerostrata" or "celostrata," which means, strictly
speaking, "inlaid with horn," and "xilostraton." The woods used by the
Greeks were ebony, cypress, cedar, oak, "sinila," yew, willow, lotus
(celtis australis), and citron (thuyia cypressoides), a tree which grew
on the slopes of the Atlas mountains. The value of large slabs of this
last was enormous. Pliny says that Cicero, who was not very wealthy
according to Roman notions, spent 500,000 sesterces (about £5400) for
one table. Asinius Pollio spent £10,800, King Juba £13,050, and the
family of the Cethegi £15,150 for a single slab. The value of this wood
consisted chiefly in the beautiful lines of the veins and fibres; when
they ran in wavy lines they were called "tigrinæ," tiger tables; when
they formed spirals like so many little whirlpools they were called
"pantherinæ," or panther tables, and when they had undulating, wavy
marks like the filaments of a feather, especially if resembling the eyes
on a peacock's tail, they were very highly esteemed. Next in value were
those covered with dense masses of grain, called "apiatæ," parsley wood.
But the colour of the wood was also a great factor in the value, that of
wine mixed with honey being most highly prized. The defect in that kind
of table was called "lignum," which denoted a dull, log colour, with
stains and flaws and an indistinctly patterned grain. Pliny says the
barbarous tribes buried the wood in the ground when green, giving it
first a coating of wax. When it came into the workmen's hands they put
it for a certain number of days under a heap of corn, by which it lost
weight. Sea water was supposed to harden it and act as a preservative,
and after bathing it, it was carefully polished by rubbing by hand. The
use of such valuable wood naturally led to the use of veneers, and the
practice was universal in costly furniture. The word "xilotarsia" was
used by the Romans to designate a kind of mosaic of wood used for
furniture decoration. Its etymology suggests that the Greeks were then
masters in the art. They divided works in tarsia into two
classes--"sectile," in which fragments of wood or other material were
inserted in a surface of wood, and "pictorial," in which the various
pieces of wood covered the ground entirely. The slices of wood,
"sectiles laminæ," were laid down with glue, as in modern work. Wild and
cultivated olive, box, ebony (Corsican especially), ilex, and beech were
used for veneering boxes, desks, and small work. Besides these the
Romans used the citrus, Syrian terebinth, maple, palm (cut
transversely), holly, root of the elder, and poplar; the centres of the
trees being most prized for colour and markings. [See note giving
extracts from Pliny.[1]]
A few notes on the exceptional scantlings of timber in antiquity may be
interesting, though not strictly belonging to our subject. A stick of
fir prepared to repair a bridge over the Naumachia in the time of Nero
was left unused for some time to satisfy public curiosity. It measured
120 feet by 2 feet the entire length. The mast of the vessel which
brought the large obelisk from Egypt, afterwards set up in the Circus
Maximus, and now in front of S. John Lateran, was 100 feet by 1-1/2
feet, and the tree out of which it was cut required four men, holding
hands, to surround it. A stick of cedar, cut in Cyprus and used as the
mast of an undecireme, or 11 banked galley of Demetrius, took three men
to span the tree out of which it was cut. It was the exceptional sizes
of such pieces of timber, and veneers cut from them, which made the
value of tables in Rome.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Pliny, Book 16, Chap. 83--"Glue, too, plays one of the principal
parts in all veneering and works of marquetry. For this purpose the
workmen usually employ wood with a threaded vein, to which they give the
name of 'ferulea,' from its resemblance to the grain of the giant
fennel, this part of the wood being preferred from its being dotted and
wavy." Chap. 84--"The wood, too, of the beech is easily worked, although
it is brittle and soft. Cut into thin layers of veneer it is very
flexible, but is only used for the construction of boxes and desks. The
wood, too, of the holm oak is cut into veneers of remarkable thinness,
the colour of which is far from unsightly; but it is more particularly
where it is exposed to friction that this wood is valued, as being one
to be depended upon; in the axle trees of wheels, for instance, for
which the ash is also employed, on account of its pliancy, the holm oak
for its hardness, and the elm for the union in it of both these
qualities.... The best woods for cutting into layers and employing as a
veneer for covering others are the citrus, the terebinth, the different
varieties of the maple, the box, the palm, the holly, the holm oak, the
root of the elder, and the poplar. The alder furnishes, also, a kind of
tuberosity, which is cut into layers like those of the citrus and the
maple. In all the other trees, the tuberosities are of no value
whatever. It is the central part of trees that is most variegated, and
the nearer we approach to the root the smaller are the spots and the
more wavy. It was in this appearance that originated that requirement of
luxury which displays itself in covering one tree with another, and
bestowing upon the more common woods a bark of higher price. In order to
make a single tree sell many times over laminæ of veneer have been
devised; but that was not thought sufficient--the horns of animals must
next be stained of different colours, and their teeth cut into sections,
in order to decorate wood with ivory, and, at a later period, to veneer
it all over. Then, after all this, man must go and seek his materials in
the sea as well! For this purpose he has learned to cut tortoise shell
into sections; and of late, in the reign of Nero, there was a monstrous
invention devised of destroying its natural appearance by paint, and
making it sell at a still higher price by a successful imitation of
wood.
"It is in this way that the value of our couches is so greatly enhanced;
it is in this way, too, that they bid the rich lustre of the terebinth
to be outdone, a mock citrus to be made that shall be more valuable than
the real one, and the grain of the maple to be feigned. At one time
luxury was not content with wood; at the present day it sets us on
buying tortoise shells in the guise of wood."--Pliny's Natural History,
Bohn's Translation.
ITALY IN MEDIÆVAL AND RENAISSANCE TIMES
The mediæval craft seems, however, to have been derived from the East,
though Theophilus mentions the Germans as clever practitioners in
woodwork. A minnesinger's harp of the 14th century, figured by Hefner
Alteneck, appears to bear out his remark, though later in date, with its
powdering of geometrical inlays and curiously-designed sprigs, which
might almost have been produced by the latest art craze, which apes
archaic simplicity. It belonged to the knightly poet Oswald von
Wolkenstein, who died in 1445; the colours used are two browns, black,
white, and green. The oriental inlays of ivory upon wood, elaborate and
beautiful geometrical designs, are still produced in India in much the
same fashion as in the middle ages, for the possibilities of geometric
design were exhausted by the Arabs in Egypt and the Moors in Spain; and
in Venice there was a quarter inhabited by workmen of the latter race
who made both metal work and objects in wood. Except for the inlaid
ivory casket in the Capella Palatina, at Palermo, which seems to be a
work of Norman times, we have no work of the kind which can be dated
with precision before the appearance in the north of Italy of the
similar "lavoro alla Certosa," or "tarsia alla Certosina"; but since
inlaying with small pieces of marble and vitreous pastes was practised
in central and southern Italy certainly from the 12th century, there is
little difficulty in imagining how its use arose. This work has its
derivative still existing in England in the so-called "Tonbridge ware,"
which is made by arranging rods of wood in a pattern and glueing them
together, after which sections are sliced off--the same proceeding, in
effect, as that which the Egyptians made use of with rods or threads of
glass. One must allow, however, that the wooden border inlays, which are
also placed under this heading, show greater craft mastery, as the
examples appended show, which are typical instances. The chair-back from
S. Ambrogio, Milan, is a characteristic example of the simpler form on a
tolerably large scale.
[Illustration: Plate 1.--_Patterns used in Borders._
_To face page 8._]
[Illustration: Plate 2.--_Various Patterns of Borders._]
Historians are agreed that the cradle of Italian carving and inlaying
was Siena, where there is mention of a certain Manuello, who, with his
son Parti, worked in the ancient choir of the Cathedral in 1259.
Orvieto was another place where tarsia work was made at an early date,
but the craftsmen were all Sienese. Mastro Vanni di Tura dell' Ammanato,
the Sienese, made the design of the stalls for the Cathedral in 1331,
and commenced the work, some remains of which are still preserved in the
Museum of the Opera del Duomo. Twenty-eight artists were employed on
these stalls; Giovanni Talini, Meo di Nuti, and others, all Sienese,
assisted him, but he died before they were finished, and they remained
incomplete till 1414, when Domenico di Nicolò is recorded as undertaking
the work; but neither did he finish it, for in 1431 the overseers gave
it to Pietro di Minella, and then to his brother Antonio, and to
Giovanni di Lodovico di Magno. The woods used were ebony, box, walnut,
and white poplar, and the cost was 3152 lire. In the 14th century tarsia
was executed at Siena, Assisi, where in 1349 Nicolo di Nicoluccio and
Tommaso di Ceccolo worked at the Cathedral stalls, which no longer
remain; Verona, in the sacristy of S. Anastasia, in which city are some
inlays resembling those at Orvieto, and Perugia, where some inlays
remain in the Collegio della Mercanzia, but remains of the period are
few, as may be expected.
[Illustration: _To face page 10._ Plate 3.--_Chair Back from S.
Ambrogio, Milan._]
Domenico di Nicolò worked for 13 years at the chapel in the Palazzo
Pubblico at Siena, using some of Taddeo Bartoli's designs, and also
did the doors of the Sala di Balia, or of the Pope. This man, who was
one of the best Sienese masters of intarsia and carving, and was head of
the Opera del Duomo in 1400, and whose work brought him so much
reputation that his family name of Spinelli was changed for himself and
his descendants to Del Coro, or Dei Cori, is an example and a proof of
the small profit which was to be made even then by conscientious and
careful work. He was not only a worker in wood, in 1424 he also did the
panels of the Cathedral floor, representing David and Goliath, the
Amorite Kings, and Samson, ascribed by Vasari to Duccio; in 1415 he was
paid 42 lire for a tabernacle made of gesso, while as early as February
28, 1397-8, he was paid 32 lire 10 soldi for 32-1/2 days' work on a
window above the pulpit; yet on May 13, 1421, he petitions the priors
and captain of the people to this effect. He says that he is poor, and
cannot meet the requirements of his family and apprentices, each of
whom, he says, costs 30 or 40 florins a year, and therefore suggests
that he should have two or three boys to teach, and that the priors
should subsidize him for that purpose, and binds himself to teach them
all he can without reserve. The priors and captains recommended to the
council that he should be paid by the chamberlain of Bicherna 200 lire,
free of tax, by the year, "nomine provisionis libr: ducentos den:
nitidas de gabella," and should have two or three Sienese youths to
teach, and the council passed the recommendation the same day.
Twenty-six years later, January 14, 1446-7, he appears again in the
records with a petition to the Signory. He says that he has always, from
his youth up, done his best to provide for his family, and that by his
craft he has always tried to bring honour on the city and spread the
fame of his works. That as they know he was granted money to teach his
art to any young man who wanted to learn it, but "because this art was,
and is, little profitable, there was no one who wished to go on with it
except Master Mactio di Bernacchino, who followed the art thoroughly,
and became an excellent master." That, as he thought he was fairly
prosperous, he gave up the grant (like an honest man!), but the expenses
of marrying and dowering his daughters had been so great, and added to
the losses caused by the small profits on his work, had reduced him to
such poverty that he did not see how he could go on, being 84 years of
age, or thereabouts, and having a sick wife. He therefore asked to have
a small pension settled on him for the few years he and his wife had to
live. He was granted two florins a month, but three years later all
mention of him ceases.
[Illustration: Plate 4.--_Door of the Sala del Papa, Palazzo Comunale,
Siena._
_To face page 13._]
The choir of the Chapel of the Palace had been given in 1414 to Simone
d'Antonio and Antonio Paolo Martini, but they did not satisfy the
public, so it was taken from them and given to Domenico di Nicolò,
August 26, 1415. The tarsie are 21 in number, and represent the clauses
of the apostles' creed and the symbols of the apostles. The unsuccessful
work was given to the prior of the Servites. In the Communal records
occur the following, March 31, 1428:--"Domenico di Nicolò, called
Domenico del Coro, is to have 45 florins at 4 lire the florin for his
salary and the workmanship of the door which he has made at the entrance
of the Sala del Papa in the Communal Palace, which salary was declared
by Guido of Turin and Daniello di Neri Martini, two of the three workmen
upon the contract of the said door, at 180 lire. And is to have 3152
lire for his salary and workmanship of 21 seats made in the Palace of
the Magnificent Signors, with all both '_fornamenti et facti_,' in full
according to his contract"--accepted by Guido di Torino and Daniello di
Neri Martini. He was called to Orvieto in 1416 to refix the roof of the
Cathedral; he was not to have more than 200 florins a year, but if he
came himself all expenses were to be paid. This suggests an appointment
like that of a consulting engineer.
From Siena masters were continually sent to the other great towns to
design and carry out works of architecture, sculpture, and woodwork, as
entries in Sienese documents show. In early times the various arts
connected with building were in close union, and it appears tolerably
certain that one guild sheltered them all, proficiency being required in
several crafts and mastery in one. We find the same man acting in one
place as master builder or architect, and sometimes only giving advice,
while elsewhere he is sculptor or woodworker. The painter, the
mosaicist, and the designer for intarsia are confused in a similar
manner. Borsieri calls Giovanni de' Grassi, the Milanese painter (known
as Giovanni de Melano at first, a pupil of Giotto and Taddeo Gaddi;
pictures of his are in the Academy, Florence, and in the cloister of S.
Caterina Milan), "an excellent architect"; and he also worked in relief,
besides conducting very important architectural works. He says that
about 1385 Giovanni Galeazzo opened an academy of fine art in his
palace, which was conducted by Giovanni de' Grassi and Michelino da
Besozzo. On June 19, 1391, he was paid five florins for models executed
by him, and something for the expense of execution in marble by another
hand. In 1391 he was called upon by the Council of the Duomo, and after
four months of uncertainty was assigned the position and pay of first
engineer, with a servant who was paid by the Council. He did the door of
the S. Sacristy; it was finished in July, 1395, when he was ordered to
decorate it with gilding and blue. He also made designs for capitals and
window traceries, and carved a God the Father for a centre boss of the
vault of the N. Sacristy. He illuminated the initials, &c., of a copy of
the Ambrosian ritual of Berold for the "Fabbriceria," and this was his
last work, as he died July 5, 1398, and the price was paid to his son
Solomon, the officials declaring that it was most moderate. His pupils
were nearly all both painters and sculptors, and some of them became
stained-glass painters. It is well known that Taddeo Gaddi was painter,
architect, and mosaicist, and Giotto, painter, sculptor, and architect,
and these details are an example of what was then continually going on.
Both in mediæval times and at the beginning of the Renaissance the most
celebrated architects often called themselves by the most humble
titles--"Magister lignaminio," "maestro di legname," "faber lignarius,"
"carpentarius." Minerva, the worker, was the patron of all workmen from
Pheidias to the lowest pottery thrower, and in Christian times the
Quattro Coronati, the four workmen-saints, were the patrons of all who
worked with their hands.
The oldest of the differentiated guilds appears to be that of the
painters, at least in Siena, where one was established in 1355, while in
Florence they were obliged to enrol themselves in the "Art" of the
"medici e speziali," unless they preferred, as many of them did, to be
reckoned with the goldsmiths. In Siena the Goldsmiths' Guild followed
the Painters' Guild in 1361, while the workers in stone formed their
guild still later. Among the painters were included designers of every
sort--moulders, and workers in plaster, stucco, and papier maché, gold
beaters, tin beaters, &c., and masters and apprentices in stained glass,
also makers of playing cards--a most comprehensive guild. Vasari, in his
life of Jacopo Casentino, architect and painter, says, however, "Towards
1349 the painters of the old Greek style, and those of the new,
disciples of Cimabue, finding themselves in great number, united and
formed at Florence a company under the name and protection of S. Luke
the Evangelist"; and Baldinucci, in his "Notizie dei professori di
disegno," prints the articles of association at length. Others hold that
the Confraternità dei Pittori was not founded till 1386.
[Illustration: Plate 5.--_Figure intarsia from the Sacristy of the
Cathedral, Florence._
THE PROPHET AMOS.
_This and the two succeeding are part of the same composition._
_To face page 18._]
[Illustration: Plate 6.--_Figure intarsia from the Sacristy of the
Cathedral, Florence._
THE ANNUNCIATION.]
[Illustration: Plate 7.--_Figure intarsia from the Sacristy of the
Cathedral, Florence._
THE PROPHET HOSEA.]
The rapid rise of the last-named city in wealth and importance was the
reason that so much of the best later 15th century inlaid work was done
there, or at least by Florentines, though the art was not new to
Florence, the names of Matteo di Bernardino, Pietro Antonio, Giovanni
del Mulinella, and Domenico Tassi being recorded as working there in the
14th century. Vasari, as usual, is somewhat inaccurate; he says that
tarsia was first introduced in the time of Brunelleschi and Paolo
Uccello, "that, namely, of conjoining woods, tinted of different
colours, and representing with these buildings in perspective, foliage,
and various fantasies of different kinds." Both he and Lanzi say that
Brunelleschi gave lessons in perspective and "tarsia" to architects and
others, of which Masaccio in painting and Benedetto da Majano in his
inlaid works availed themselves. Vasari held but a poor opinion of
tarsia, which, he said, "was practised chiefly by those persons who
possessed more patience than skill in design," and goes on to say that
the subjects most suitable to the process are "perspective
representations of buildings full of windows and angular lines, to which
force and relief are given by means of lights and shades"; that although
he had seen some good representations of figures, fruit, and animals,
"yet the work soon becomes dark, and is always in danger of perishing
from the worms or by fires." He adds that it was first practised in
black and white alone, but Fra Giovanni da Verona improved the art by
staining the wood with various colours by means of liquors and tints
boiled with penetrating oil in order to produce light and shadow with
wood of various colours, making the lights with the whitest pieces of
the spindle tree; to shade, some singed the wood by firing, others used
oil of sulphur, or a solution of corrosive sublimate and arsenic. The
"most solemn" masters of tarsia in Florence were the Majani, La Cecca,
Il Francione, and the da San Gallo. The first name which he gives is
that of Giuliano da Majano (1432-90), architect and sculptor, who
executed as his first work the seats and presses of the sacristy of S.
S. Annunziata at Florence, with Giusto and Minore, two masters in
tarsia. He also did other things for S. Marco. In the archives of the
Duomo, Giuliano di Nardo da Maiano is named in a contract for ornamental
wood-work in the sacristy, to be finished in 1465. There is still
existing in the Opera del Duomo a panel of S. Zenobio standing between
two deacons, executed by him from cartoons by Maso Finiguerra, who
designed five figures for the panels of the sacristy. The heads were
painted by Alessio Baldovinetti. There are also several subjects in the
sacristy, a Nativity, resembling Lippino Lippi's picture in the
Accademia; a Presentation in the Temple, not without a reminiscence of
Ghirlandajo's manner; and an Annunciation. The whole scheme of the
decoration of this wall was Giuliano's, but it was the completion of
work begun in 1439 by Angelo di Lazzero of Arezzo, Bernardo di Tommaso
di Ghigo, Giovanni di Ser Giovanni detto Scheggione, painter and brother
of Masaccio, and Antonio Manetti. Milanesi says his father was Leonardo
d'Antonio da Majano, master of wood and stone work. He entered the Arte
del legnajuolo in company with his younger brother Benedetto, and the
first mention of his work in connection with the "Arte" is in 1455, when
he made for the Compagnia di S. Agnese delle Laudi, which met in the
Carmine, a chest with a bookcase of some sort. Five years later he
carved some candlesticks for the Monastery of S. Monaca, and constructed
some cupboards ornamented with inlaid work and perspectives for the
Badia of Fiesole. Among his architectural work may be mentioned the
Chapel of S. Fina at S. Gemignano, which Ghirlandajo embellished with
frescoes. He commenced a choir for the Duomo at Perugia, decorated with
both carving and tarsia, but since he went to Naples shortly after 1481,
and died there in 1490, the greater part of the credit of this work must
be given to Domenico del Tasso, who completed it in 1491. His brother
Benedetto, to whom he turned over most of his commissions for tarsia,
when he became much occupied with architectural work, was born in 1442.
He assisted his brother in many of his works, such as the doors of the
hall of audience in the Palazzo Vecchio, made between 1475 and 1480,
representing Dante and Petrarch, with ornamental borders and other
panels, in which Il Francione also had a hand. He gave up tarsia in
disgust for the following reason, according to the story told by
Vasari:--"He made two chests, with difficult and most splendid mastery,
of wood mosaic, which he wished to show to Matthew Corvinus, then King
of Hungary, who had many Florentines at his Court, and had summoned him
with much favour; so he packed his chests up and sailed for Hungary,
where, when he had made obeisance to the King, and had been kindly
received, he brought forward the said cases and had them unpacked in his
presence, who much wished to see them; but the damp of the water and the
mouldiness of the sea had so softened the glue that when the parcels
were opened almost all the pieces of the tarsia fell to the ground, at
which every one may understand how astonished and speechless Benedetto
was in the presence of so many lords. However, he put the work together
again as he best might, and satisfied the King; still he was disgusted
with that kind of work, not being able to forget the vexation which
he had suffered, and gave it up, taking to carving instead." He finished
his brother's presses in the sacristy of S. Maria dei Fiori, and, in the
opinion of Vasari, surpassed him and became the best master of his
period. He died in 1497. Vasari ascribes the celebrant's seat in Pisa
Cathedral to Giuliano, together with another of spindlewood, "to be
placed in the nave where the women sit," finished and sent home in 1477,
and put up by Baccio Pontelli. Milanesi says, however, that the choir of
this Cathedral was done by Francesco di Giovanni di Matteo da Firenze,
called Il Francione. Guido da Seravallino, between 1490 and 1495, made
for the choir of the sacristy of this Cathedral more than 15
perspectives; the usual price appears to have been 11 lire. He was a
Pisan, and his father's name was Filippo. Domenico di Mariotto first
appears in the accounts in 1489, when he began the choir and seats for
the Campo Santo; he went on with various works of tarsia and carving
till 1513. He was a Florentine, but lived in Pisa for many years, dying
there in 1519. Other names which appear in the accounts are Giuliano di
Salvatore and Michele Spagnuolo. In 1486 Cristophano d'Andrea da
Lendinara and Jacopo da Villa came to make a seat for the choir, but
this does not seem to have been a success, and Il Francione, who had
been at Pisa as long before as 1462, and Baccio di Fino Pontelli, who
appears in 1471, were put in charge of the work. Giovanni Battista
Cervelliera is mentioned first in 1522. He was son of Pietro d'Altro
Pietra, a native of Corsica, who began the singing gallery of the organ
in S. Martino, Pietra Santa, finished by his son, who died in about
1570. In 1596 a great fire took place. After this the best pieces saved
were used in the decoration of the new choir, in 1606, by Pietro Giolli,
who also had some fresh ones made; others were mended by Girolamo
Innocenti, and placed round the walls and round the nave piers in 1613.
The pieces of Giuliano da Majano's work now remaining are in the side
aisles, two at the right, one at the left; one represents King David
with his harp and with a label in the other hand, "Laudate Pueri
Dominum." The other two figures are prophets, and have scrolls,
"Benedicam, benedicam," and "Ve qui condunt legem." Pontelli's Faith,
Hope, and Charity are on the pier near the Chapel of S. Ranier, three
half-length figures of women. The seated figures of the liberal arts on
the side panelling of the church are Il Francione's, women with symbols,
arithmetic, grammar, geometry, astrology, logic, and music. The great
seat in the nave is the work of Giovanni Battista del Cervelliera. In
the centre is a large round-headed panel with the Adoration of the
Magi; at each side are three lower seats with architectural subjects in
the centre and objects in the side panels and below the seats. It is
signed and dated 1536. The whole collection of panels is well worth a
stay at Pisa to see, even if there were not other attractions in that
pleasant little town. In the registers of the "Opera" is an annual
charge for two "sbirri," or two servants of the captain of the people,
to watch the seats of the Cathedral "so that children may not damage
them in the obscurity," which shows that even Italian children could not
always be trusted not to be mischievous.
[Illustration: Plate 8.--_Figure intarsia from the Sacristy of the
Cathedral, Florence._
THE NATIVITY.
_To face page 20._]
[Illustration: Plate 9.--_Figure intarsia from the Sacristy of the
Cathedral, Florence._
THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE.
_To face page 21._]
[Illustration: Plate 10.--_Panel from Sacristy of S. Croce, Florence._
_To face page 23._]
[Illustration: _To face page 24._
Plate 11.--_Detail of frieze from the Sacristy of S. Croce, Florence._]
[Illustration: Plate 12.--_Lower Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia._]
[Illustration: Plate 13.--_Upper Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia._
_To face page 26._]
[Illustration: Plate 14.--_One panel from upper series, Cathedral,
Perugia._]
Il Francione had a pupil called Il Cecca. His name was really Francesco
d'Agnolo, but like most men at that time he went by a nick-name. Cecca
is a corruption of Francesco into Cecco, Cecca, from being Francione's
companion and disciple. He was born in 1447; his father was Angelo di
Giovanni, a mender of leather or "galigajo." He came to Florence from
Tonda, a little place near S. Miniato al Tedesco. His father died in
1460; he and three older sisters were left to his mother, Monna Pasqua.
So the 13 year-old boy went bravely to work to keep his mother and
sisters, and entered Il Francione's workshop. When he was 25 he left him
and set up for himself, taking a shop in the Borgo de' Greci, where he
lived and slept as well as worked. In 1481 he had a commission from the
magistrates, called "degli ufficiali di Palazzo," for all the wood-work
of the Hall of the Seventy, Bernardo di Marco Renzi helping him.
Afterwards he did other work for different parts of the Palace and for
other places, all of which has perished. Finally, he spent most of his
time as architect and engineer, and had a great deal to do with the
fortification of various places and with the great cars for the
"feste"--a not uncommon juxtaposition of engagements. He died in 1488.