GENOESE SCHOOL.
EPOCH I.
_The Ancients._
Last among the ancient schools of Italy is to be enumerated the Genoese, in
regard to the period in which it flourished, not to its merit, which I
consider as being equal to that of many others. In Liguria the first
revival of painting appeared tardy; not so its progress, which was rapid
and distinguished. In Genoa and Savona, as well as in other cities situated
on the sea-shore, there remain some ancient paintings by unknown hands, one
of which, over the gate of Savona, is distinguished by the date of 1101.
The first artist known by any extant production, is one _Franciscus de
Oberto_, as he signs himself on the edge of a painting of the Virgin
between two angels, which is in the church of S. Domenico, at Genoa,
displaying nothing of the Giottesque, and executed in 1368. It cannot be
ascertained that he was altogether a native artist, as may be confidently
asserted of the Monk of Ieres, and of Niccolo da Voltri, names known to
history though not by any surviving works. The Monk of the Isole d'Oro, or
of Ieres, or Stecadi, where he long resided, was not pointed out to us by
name by any ancient writer. His surname was Cybo, and historians place him
in the genealogical tree of Innocent VIII. Besides being a good Provencal
poet, and historian, it is said that he became an excellent miniaturist,
and on this account, a favourite with the King and Queen of Aragon, to whom
he presented several of his illuminated books. He also delighted in
representing in his paintings birds, fish, quadrupeds, trees with fruits,
ships of various forms, perspectives of cities and edifices, objects, in
short, which he beheld in the islands around him. It is conjectured by
Baldinucci that Giotto's models, in an age thronged with miniaturists, and
not wanting in painters, had influenced the efforts of this isolated
artist. How this assertion can be confirmed I know not, the more so as
history describes him as having devoted himself late in life to design, and
in the island of Lerino, where it is not known there were any followers of
Giotto. Voltri was also a figure painter; some of his altar-pieces survived
to the time of Soprani, who extols them, without, however, pointing out
with precision the peculiarities of his taste or school.
During the fifteenth century, and part of the following, the capital city,
and those depending on it, were supplied, for the most part, with foreign
painters, almost all unknown to their native schools on account of their
having, as it appears, resided in Liguria. Some account remains of a German
called Giusto di Alemagna, in a cloister of S. Maria di Castello, at Genoa.
He there painted in fresco an Annunciation in 1451, a precious picture of
its sort, finished in the manner of miniaturists, and which seems to
promise for Germany the style of an Albert Durer. At the same period Jacopo
Marone, of Alessandria, painted an altar-piece at S. Jacopo in Savona, in
distemper, consisting of various compartments, and in the midst of it a
Nativity with a landscape, a work conducted with exquisite care in every
part. At S. Brigida, in Genoa, too, are seen, by the same hand, two
altar-pieces, one with the date of 1481, the other of 1484. The author was
one Galeotto Nebea, of Castellaccio, a place not far from Alexandria. The
three principal Archangels in the first, and S. Pantaleone with other
martyrs in the second, are represented on a gold ground, very tolerably
executed, both in forms and draperies, which are extremely rich, with stiff
and regular foldings, not borrowed from any other school. It exhibits also
the grado or step, with minute histories, a work somewhat crude, but
displaying diligence.
Turning from the head city to Savona, a third native of Alexandria, called
Gio. Massone, painted about the year 1490, in the church erected by Sixtus
IV. for the sepulture of his family. Although not mentioned in history, he
must have been distinguished in his time, to have been selected for such a
work, and remunerated with one hundred and ninety-two ducats for his
labour. It is comprised in a small altar-piece, where, seen at the feet of
the Virgin, are the portraits of the pope, and the cardinal Giuliano, his
nephew, afterwards Julius II. The same city, preserving so many ancient
memorials, has also snatched from oblivion the names of one Tuccio di
Andria, an artist employed at S. Jacopo in 1487, and of two natives of
Pavia, who somewhat later perhaps painted on canvass, and signed
themselves, the one _Laurentius Papiensis_, the other _Donatus Comes Bardus
Papiensis_. Another foreigner, by birth a Brescian, and a Carmelite by
profession, presents us with a signature, to be found at S. Giovanni, below
an altar-piece of the Nativity of our Saviour. It has written on it, "_Opus
F. Hieronymi de Brixia Carmelitae, 1519_." By the same hand, in the cloister
of the Carmelitani at Florence, is a Pieta with this inscription, _F.
Hieronymus de Brixia_. This artist is well deserving of notice, if only on
account of his knowledge in perspective, an art so much cultivated after
Foppa in Brescia, and throughout Lombardy. Doubtless he was a pupil of that
monastery, in which the art of painting was then cultivated; as it is
stated by Averoldi, who extols one F. Gio. Maria da Brescia, and the
cloister of the Carmine, decorated by him with a number of histories of
Elias and of Eliseas. This Girolamo I believe to have been his companion or
disciple, a name that has in some way escaped Orlandi, who belonged to the
same order.
No one of the foreign painters is known to have opened school in Liguria,
except a native of Nizza, who, through his succession, is almost regarded
as the progenitor of the ancient Genoese School. He is called Lodovico
Brea, and his works are by no means rare at Genoa and throughout the state,
with notices of him between the years 1485 and 1513. In point of taste he
is not equal to the best among his contemporaries in other schools,
employing gilding, and more strongly adhering to the old dryness of design.
His style, nevertheless, yields to that of few in the beauty of its heads,
and in the vividness of its colouring, which still remains almost
unimpaired. His folding is also good, his composition tolerable, he selects
difficult perspectives, and his attitudes are bold. From his whole painting
he might be rather pronounced the head of a new, than the follower of any
other school. He never attempted grand proportions; in smaller, as we see
in the Slaughter of the Innocents, at S. Agostino, he is excellent. His S.
Giovanni, in the chapel of the Madonna di Savona, executed by commission
for the Card. della Rovere, in competition with other artists, is highly
praised.
Thus, until the year 1513, painting in Genoa was in the hands of strangers,
and if the natives at all practised it they were few only, as we shall
shortly show, while both one and the other were far behind the best methods
of their age. Ottaviano Fregoso, elected doge in the above year, at length
shed new lustre on the arts. He invited to Genoa Gio. Giacomo Lombardo, a
sculptor, and Carlo del Mantegna, a painter, who succeeded, as we have
stated, both to the works and reputation of his master. Carlo not only
painted in Genoa but taught, and with a success that would seem quite
incredible, were it not that the works of his imitators are still in
existence. Thus the Genoese School first took its rise from Brea, and was
promoted by Carlo, as we find it described by two painters in two volumes;
a school of a long, uninterrupted, and illustrious succession. The first
volume is by Raffael Soprani, a patrician of the city, who wrote lives of
the Genoese professors of design up to 1667; and added also notices of
foreign ones who had been employed in that splendid capital. The second is
by the Cav. Carlo Ratti, secretary to the Ligustic academy, who, after
having republished the Lives of Soprani, accompanied by useful notes,
continued the same work in another volume and on the same plan, down to the
present day. He has moreover published, in two small volumes, a Guide,
intended to give an account of the best specimens of art, both in private
and public, which Genoa and every district of the state can boast; an
extremely useful undertaking, and, if I mistake not, without example either
in or beyond Italy. Thus, owing to the exertions of this deserving citizen,
the pictoric history of Liguria has become one of the most complete among
those of all Italy as respects the number of its artists, and the most
certain in enabling us to form a correct opinion of their merits. Directed
by these, and by other additional information received on the spot from
Sig. Ratti himself, as well as from others, I proceed to resume the thread
of my narrative.
About the period that Carlo arrived at Genoa, the same city was also so
fortunate as to become the residence of Pier Francesco Sacchi, commended by
Lomazzo, who calls him Pierfrancesco Pavese, an artist well skilled in the
style then prevailing at Milan. He was a good perspective painter,
delightful in landscape, and a diligent, correct designer. The public is
still in possession of his altar-piece of the Four Holy Doctors in the
oratory of S. Ugo. The style of Sacchi nearly resembles that of Carlo del
Mantegna, from what we gather from his works in Mantua, there remaining no
vestiges of them in Genoa. Two youths of very fine genius for the art were
at this period educating in the school of Lodovico Brea. One was named
Antonio Semini, the other Teramo Piaggia, or Teramo di Zoagli, the place of
his birth. There is no account of their being indebted either to the advice
or examples of the new masters, when they began to be employed for the
public, but their altar-pieces display the fact. They painted conjointly,
and affixed both their names to their productions. In that of the Martyrdom
of St. Andrew, which they conducted for the church of that name, they
likewise added their own portraits. None can have witnessed this very
beautiful altar-piece, without seeing traces of Brea's style already
enlarged and changed into one more modern. The figures are not of those
dimensions which we subsequently see in a better age, nor is the design
sufficiently soft and full, but there is a clearness in the countenances
that rivets attention, an union of colouring that attracts; the folding is
easy, the composition somewhat thronged, though not by any means
despicable. Few originators of the style which is now termed modern
antique, can be fairly preferred before these two artists and friends.
Teramo in his individual specimens at Chiavari and at Genoa itself, retains
somewhat more of the antique, particularly as regards composition, but is
always animated in his countenances, studied and graceful. Antonio appears
to me almost like the Pietro Perugino of his school. In his Deposition from
the Cross he approaches nearer the better age, a painting in possession of
the Dominicans at Genoa, as well as in some other pieces highly commended
for the figures, and the accessories of perspective and landscape, though
his great merit does not appear most conspicuous here. For this we should
consult his Nativity, painted for S. Domenico in Savona, and we shall be
convinced that he also emulated Perino and Raffaello himself.
Before proceeding to an improved epoch, we ought here to insert the names
of a few other native artists to whom we already alluded. It is doubtful
whether Aurelio Robertelli ranks in this list, by whom, at Savona, is a
figure of the Virgin painted on a column of the old cathedral, dated 1499,
and transferred to the new one, where it excites the particular veneration
of the people. A little subsequent appeared a painting by Niccolo Corso, at
Genoa, bearing the date of 1503. It represents a history of S. Benedict,
painted in fresco for the villa of Quarto belonging to the Padri Olivetani,
in whose refectory, cloister, and church near the Corso, he was much
employed. Soprani enumerates other histories, of which he extols the
richness of invention, the passionate expression, and especially the
vividness and durability of the colouring. He adds, that were he less hard,
he might rank among the very first of his profession. The same writer
commends Andrea Morinello for an altar-piece formerly seen at S. Martino di
Albaro, dated 1516; an artist very graceful in his countenances, excellent
in portrait, soft and clear in his outlines, and one of the first in those
parts who opened the way for the modern manner. He likewise praises F.
Lorenzo Moreno, a Carmelite, skilled in fresco, who painted the
Annunciation in a cloister of the Carmine, now cut out of the exterior wall
of the building in order to preserve it. Finally he extols an ecclesiastic
of the Franciscan order, by name F. Simon da Carnuli, who, in his church at
Voltri, painted two histories in one large altar-piece in 1519. One of
these represents the Institution of the Eucharist, the other the preaching
of St. Antony. Still it is not free from the hardness peculiar to the age
as regards the figures; but in the architecture of the edifices, and in the
gradual receding of the perspective, it is so perfect that the celebrated
Andrea Doria was eager at any price to purchase it, in order to present it
as a gift to the Escurial. But the people of Voltri refused every offer,
and still keep possession of it. A few others, who enjoyed a degree of
reputation from their sons, will be mentioned along with them in the epoch
of which we shall next proceed to treat.
GENOESE SCHOOL.
EPOCH II.
_Perino and his Followers._
Whilst the art was advancing in Genoa and her territories, there occurred
the celebrated siege of Rome, and the calamities which accompanied and
followed it, in consequence of which the scholars of Raffaello were
dispersed, and established themselves some in one city and some in another.
We have seen in the course of this work Polidoro and Salerno in Naples,
Giulio in Mantua, Pellegrino in Modena, and Gaudenzio in Milan, distinguish
themselves as the masters of eminent schools; and we find one school
founded by Perino del Vaga in Genoa, which has maintained the splendour of
its origin in a way inferior to none. Perino arrived in Genoa in a state of
distress in 1528, after the sacking of Rome. He was there liberally
welcomed by Prince Doria, who employed him for several years in the
decoration of his magnificent palace without the gate of S. Tommaso. He
superintended as well the external decorations of the sculptures, as the
internal ornaments of the stuccos, the gilding, the arabesques, the
paintings in fresco and in oil. This place, in consequence, breathes all
the taste of the halls and loggie of the Vatican; the celebrated works of
which, at that time, attracted universal admiration, and in the execution
of part of which Perino had a considerable share. This artist has indeed no
where displayed his talents to such advantage as in the Doria palace; and
it is doubtful whether Perino in Genoa, or Giulio in Mantua, have best
sustained the style of Raffaello. We find in the palace some small
histories of celebrated Romans, of Cocles, for example, and Scaevola, which
might pass for compositions of Raffaello; a group of Boys at Play,
likewise, has all the air of that master; and on a ceiling, in the War of
the Giants against the Gods, we seem to behold in conflict the same persons
whom Raffaello had represented as banqueting in the Casa Chigi. If the
expression be not so noble, the grace so rare, it is because that grand
specimen of art may be emulated by many, but equalled by none. It may be
added, that Perino's style is less finished than his master's, and that, in
his drawing of the naked figure, he, like Giulio, partakes of the style of
Michelangiolo. Four chambers, Vasari informs us, were painted in the palace
from the cartoons of Vaga, by Luzio Romano, and some Lombards, his
assistants; one of whom, of the name of Guglielmo Milanese, followed him to
Rome, and held in that court the office of Frate del Piombo. The others
have left no name behind them, and must have been individuals of inferior
talents and poorly paid, as we occasionally find rude and heavy figures.
Such defects are not uncommon in the works which Perino undertook, for when
he had made his cartoons or designs he gave them to his pupils to execute,
with material advantage to his pecuniary interests, but with detriment to
his reputation. This is observed by Vasari, nor do I know how he could have
the courage to mention in connexion with this circumstance the works which
were executed with the assistance of their scholars by Raffaello and Giulio
Romano, illustrious masters, irreproachable in the selection of their
assistants, indefatigable in their application, and contemning that avidity
of gain which drew down on Perino merited reprehension. There is still, in
the palace Doria, a frieze of boys, commenced by him in one of the loggie,
continued by Pordenone, and finished by Beccafumo; and the remains of what
was there painted by Girolamo da Trevigi, who, through jealous rivalry
towards Perino, forsook both the city and the state. Perino painted some
pictures for the churches in Genoa; where too we find some by eminent
foreign hands, amongst which is the St. Stephen, painted by Giulio Romano
for the church of that saint; an altar-piece perhaps the most copious in
composition, and the most striking that issued from the studio of that
master. It was at this time too that many noble individuals applied
themselves to collect foreign specimens of every school, and they have
since been emulated by their posterity, who in this pursuit perhaps surpass
all the private collectors in Italy, except those of Rome.
By these means the country became enriched with beautiful works, and began
to turn itself to a more perfect style, which it attained with a celerity
unknown to any other school. The transition from the style of Brea, which
was that of the thirteenth century, to that of Raffaello, occupied but a
few years; and even the scholars of Nizzardo, as we have observed, very
soon became worthy imitators of the first of modern masters. These
principles were sure to make the most prosperous advances amongst a people
rich in genius and industry; and amidst a nobility that abounded in wealth,
and who in no way lavished it more freely than in raising splendid
sanctuaries to religion, and sumptuous habitations for themselves, which in
grandeur, decorations, tapestries, and in other kinds of luxuries, scarcely
yielded to royalty. From munificence like this, the School of Genoa derived
aid and encouragement, though not much known abroad, as her artists were
sufficiently occupied at home. Its characteristic excellence, in the
opinion of Mengs, consisted in the number of its excellent fresco painters;
so that a church or palace of any antiquity is scarcely to be named which
does not possess the most beautiful works, or at least the memory of them.
And it is a remarkable fact, when we consider how exposed the city is to
the sea air, that so many works in fresco, executed by early artists,
should have remained in so perfect a state. Nor did the school of Genoa
want celebrity in oil paintings, particularly in the qualities of truth and
force of colouring, which excellences, derived first from Perino and
afterwards from the Flemish, it always retained; not yielding in this
respect to any school of Italy, except the Venetian. It has produced also
noble designers; although some, like other mannerists, have debased the
pencil by hasty and negligent performances. Not having in public many
examples of ideal excellence, it has supplied the deficiency by the study
of the natural; and in the figure it has rather adopted the healthy, and
the robust, and the energetic, than the delicate and the elegant. The study
of portraits, in which this school had excellent masters and most lucrative
practice, had a great influence on the figures of its first epoch; those of
its last, if they have more beauty, have less spirit. There existed a
talent for extensive composition, but in middle size rather than in great.
In these they had not epic masters, like Paolo and other Venetians; they
did not, however, so often violate decorum and costume. This was, perhaps,
the result of the attachment to literature entertained by many of the
Genoese painters, amongst whom are enumerated a greater number of men of
letters, and especially gentlemen, than in any other school. This latter
circumstance was, in a great measure, owing to Paggi, who, in a treatise of
considerable length, defended the nobility of the art,[64] and obtained a
public decree,[65] declaring the art honourable, and worthy of cultivation
by men of the noblest birth; an event from which the art derived the
greatest dignity. We now return to particulars.
Footnote 64: It is inserted in the 7th vol. of the Lettere
Pittoriche, p. 148.
Footnote 65: The decree is given by the Cavalier Ratti in
the notes to Soprani. The names of the noble painters,
amateurs of the art, may be found in those two authors.
The first who attached themselves to Perino for instruction, were Lazzaro
and Pantaleo Calvi, the sons and scholars of an Agostino Calvi, a good
painter in the old style, and one of the first in Genoa who forsook the
gold ground for one of colour. Lazzaro was at that time twenty-five years
of age, his brother somewhat more; nor did the latter rise in reputation,
except in lending to the works of Lazzaro his aid and his name. These works
abounded in Genoa and her territories, at Monaco and at Naples, in every
variety of composition, arabesques, and stuccos with which are decorated
palaces and churches. Some of these are excellent, as the facades of the
palace Doria, (now Spinola,) with prisoners in various attitudes,
considered as a school of design; and several historical compositions in
colours and chiaroscuro, in the best taste.[66] In the palace Pallavicini,
at Zerbino, is a composition of theirs commonly called the Continence of
Scipio; a remark which I owe to Sig. Ratti, who not having included it in
his edition of 1768, obligingly communicated it to me for this work. To
this they also added naked figures, with so happy an imitation of Perino
that, in the opinion of Mengs, they might be adjudged to that master.
Moreover, we know that Perino was liberal to them in designs and cartoons;
whence, in these better works, we may always presume on the aid of the
master's hand. However it might be, Lazzaro indulged in a self-conceit of
his own powers, and left behind some specimens of an extravagance which no
painter has since followed, except Corenzio. He was particularly jealous of
any young artist, who he thought might interfere with his fame or
interests, and to gratify his envy had recourse to the blackest arts. One
of these rivals, Giacomo Bargone, he took off by poison; and to depress the
others he drew around himself a crowd of adherents and hirelings, who
influenced the opinion of the vulgar, by praising the works of Lazzaro to
the skies, and depreciating those of his competitors. These cabals were
more strongly instanced in the chapel Centurioni, where he painted the
Birth of St. John, in competition with Andrea Semini and Luca Cambiaso, who
there also painted other pictures from the history of that saint. This work
was one of his happiest efforts, and the most approaching to the style of
his master; but he could not crush the genius of Cambiaso, which after this
occasion appeared more brilliant than his own; whence the Prince Doria
selected that artist to execute a very considerable work in fresco for the
church of S. Matteo. This so enraged Calvi, that he gave himself up to a
sea life, and abandoned the pencil for twenty years. He ultimately resumed
it, and continued, though with a hardness of style, to paint till his
eighty-fifth year. One of his last works is to be seen on the walls and in
the cupola of S. Catherine; but it is cold, meagre, and bears all the marks
of senility. Indeed after his return to the art, and particularly after the
death of Pantaleo, who had assiduously assisted him in every work, Lazzaro
was only memorable for the extreme protraction of his life, which extended
to 105 years.
Footnote 66: This work is extolled by Lomazzo as one of the
best of Lazzaro; it is classed with the Triumphs of Giulio
Romano, Polidoro, and other eminent artists, in the
_Trattato della Pittura_, p. 398.
Of the two Semini, Andrea and Ottavio, it is not ascertained that they had
in Genoa any other master than their father Antonio; but after the example
of their father, they deferred much to Perino, as did also Luca their
contemporary. In confirmation of which it is said, that Perino having found
them engaged with a print of Titian, and hearing them remarking on some
incorrectness in the drawing, reproved them by observing, that in the works
of the great masters we ought to pass over their faults and extol their
excellence. But the two brothers, enchanted by the style of Raffaello,
became ambitious of drinking at the fountain of the art, and, repairing to
Rome, applied themselves to the diligent study of the works of that master,
and the remains of antiquity, particularly the Trajan column. They were
afterwards employed both at Genoa and in Milan, where they painted many
works, both in conjunction and separately, all in the Roman style,
particularly in their early career. Andrea discovered less talent than
Ottavio; and was, perhaps, more tenacious than he in his imitation of
Raffaello, especially in the contours of his faces. He sometimes wants
delicacy, as in a crucifixion lately come into the possession of the Duke
of Tuscany; and sometimes correctness, as in the Presepio, in the church of
St. Francis in Genoa, which is in other respects very Raffaellesque, and
may be reckoned among his best works. Ottavio, an unprincipled man, was an
eminent artist, and succeeded so well in the imitation of his master, as is
scarcely credible to those who have not seen his works. He painted the
facade of the palace Doria, now Invrea, and there displayed so fine a taste
in the architecture, and decorated it with busts and figures of such
relief, and particularly with a Rape of the Sabines, that Giulio Cesare
Procaccini took it for a performance of Raffaello, and asked if that great
master had left any other works in Genoa. Of equal merit, or nearly so,
were many of his frescos, painted for the nobility, until, as is often the
case with fresco painters, he ended his career in a freer but less finished
style. Of these latter he left many specimens at Milan, where he passed the
latter years of his life. In that city the entire decoration of the chapel
of S. Girolamo at S. Angelo is painted by him, the chief composition of
which is the funeral group which accompanies the saint to the sepulchre. It
possesses, if not a noble design, yet great fertility of invention, great
spirit, and a strong and beautiful colour, as he possessed that part of the
art in an eminent degree in works of fresco; for in oils he was either
unwilling or unable to colour well.
Luca Cambiaso, called also Luchetto da Genoa, did not quit his native
country to obtain instruction, nor did he frequent any other school than
that of his father; obscure indeed, but of a good method, and sufficient to
a mind of genius. Giovanni his father, a tolerable _quattrocentista_, and a
great admirer of Vaga and Pordenone, after having exercised him in copying
the designs of Mantegna, a master of chasteness of contour, and having
instructed him in the art of modelling, so useful in relief and
foreshortening, carried him to the palace Doria, and there pointed out to
his attention those great prototypes of art, with the addition of his own
instruction. The study of these performances, by a youth who was born a
painter, awakened in him such emulation, that he began in his fifteenth
year to produce works of his own invention; and gave promise of one day
ranking, as he did, with the first painters of his age. He displayed
facility, fire, and grandeur of design, and was on that account adduced by
Boschini as an example of fine contours, and held in high esteem in the
cabinets of the dilettanti. He embodied his ideas with such despatch and
success, that Armenini affirms that he had seen him paint with two pencils
at a time, and with a touch not less free, and more correct than
Tintoretto. He was, moreover, fertile and novel in his designs, skilful in
introducing the most arduous foreshortenings, and in surmounting the
difficulties of the art. He was deficient at first in the true principles
of perspective; but he soon acquired the theory from Castello, his great
friend and companion, as we shall shortly see. Through him he improved both
his colouring and his style of composition. In conjunction with Castello he
executed several works, so much alike, that one hand can scarcely be
distinguished from the other. These, however, were not his best
performances. He must be seen where he painted alone; and he shines no
where more than in Genoa, nor beyond a period of twelve years, within which
space Soprani circumscribes his best time. Let it not appear strange to
those who hear this opinion of that writer. Luca had not the good fortune
to benefit from those great masters who, with a word, put their scholars in
the right path; he went on, however, improving from his own resources, a
long and laborious course, in which a thousand wishes are formed before the
goal is reached. But Cambiaso attained it, and held it until an
ungovernable passion, as we shall see in the sequel, threw him back again.
Confining ourselves to the works of the best twelve years of his practice,
we see in him a man who possessed a high predilection for the Roman School;
deriving instruction from prints, and impelled by his own genius to attempt
I know not what of originality. Where this originality appears, we should
not wish Cambiaso other than himself, and where it does not appear, we
should not wish him any thing but an imitator. Of the first kind is the
Martyrdom of St. George in the church of that saint, which for the noble
character of the sufferer, the sympathy of the spectators, the composition,
variety, and force of chiaroscuro, is considered his chef d'oeuvre. Of the
second kind there are, perhaps, more specimens to be found; as the picture
at the Rocchettini, of S. Benedetto with John the Baptist and St. Luke,
very much in the style of Perino and Raffaello; and above all, the Rape of
the Sabines in Terralba, a suburb of Genoa, in the palace of the Imperiali.
Every thing combines to please in this work; the magnificence of the
buildings, the beauty of the horses, the alarm of the virgins, the ardour
of the invaders, the several episodes which, in various compartments, crown
the principal subject, and, as it were, continue the story. It is related
that Mengs, after having viewed this picture, said, that out of Rome he had
not seen any thing that more strongly brought to his recollection the
loggie of the Vatican, than these works. He also executed other works of
singular merit, particularly for private collections, among which I have
found more pictures of a free than of a devout description. Being left a
widower, he became enamoured of a female relative, whom he in vain
endeavoured to obtain permission from the Pope to marry. This
disappointment induced the neglect of his art. He then repaired to the
court of Madrid, with the view of facilitating his wishes, and when he
found himself deprived of all hope in this object, he fell sick and died.
He left many works in the Escurial, and amongst these the subject of
Paradise, in the vault of the church, a large composition, and a work very
much praised by Lomazzo, but not equally so by Mengs, who had seen and
examined it for several successive years.
Gio. Batista Castello, the companion of Cambiaso, is commonly called in
Genoa Il Bergamasco, to distinguish him from Gio. Batista Castello, a
Genoese, a scholar of Cambiaso, and the most celebrated miniature painter
of his age. Our present subject, born in Bergamo, and brought, when a
youth, to Genoa, by Aurelio Buso, (_v._ vol. iii. page 184) was, on his
sudden departure, left by him in that city. In this state of desertion he
found a patron in one of the Pallavicini family, who gave him a friendly
reception, and assisted him with the means of prosecuting his studies;
sending him to Rome, from whence he returned to Genoa an accomplished
architect, sculptor, and painter, not inferior to Cambiaso. His taste,
formed by studying at Rome, was similar to that of Luca, as I have already
observed; and in the church of S. Matteo are works painted by them in
concert. We may observe in these the style of Raffaello already verging on
mannerism, but not so much so as that which prevailed in Rome in the time
of Gregory and Sixtus. Connoisseurs discover in Cambiaso a greater genius
and more elegance of design; in the Bergamese more care, a deeper
knowledge, and colour occasionally partaking more of the school of Venice
than of Rome. It is however very probable that when so friendly an
intercourse subsisted they may have aided each other, even in those places
where they worked in competition, where each claimed his own work, and
distinguished it by his name. Thus at the Nunziata di Portoria Luca
represented on the walls the final state of the blest and the rejected in
the last judgment; while Gio. Batista, in the vault, painted the Supreme
Judge in the midst of the angelic choir, calling the elect to bliss. He
appears in the attitude of uttering the words _Venite benedicti_, appended
in capital letters. It is a highly finished performance, and of so exalted
a character that we should think that Luca, when he painted the laterals to
it, was asleep, so inferior are they in composition and expression. On many
other occasions he painted alone, as the S. Jerome surrounded by monks
terrified at a lion, in S. Francesco in Castelletto; and the S. Sebastian
in the church of that saint, receiving the crown of martyrdom; a picture
rich in composition, studied in execution, and far beyond any commendation
of mine. He painted in Genoa other pictures, and always discovered an air
of life in the countenances, a magnificence in the architecture, a strength
of colour and chiaroscuro, which makes one regret that he was so little
known in Italy; and possibly he was prevented from being known as an oil
painter by the numerous works in fresco which he executed in Genoa; the
largest of which is in the Palazzo Grillo. We there see a portico painted
in arabesque, and a saloon, in the ceiling of which is represented the
banquet given by Dido to AEneas; a beautiful work, particularly the
arabesques, but not sufficiently studied. This artist, in his latter years,
was painter to the court at Madrid, whither, on his death, Luca Cambiaso
was called to finish the larger historical subjects; but the grotesques,
and the ornamental parts interspersed with figures, were continued by the
two sons of Gio. Batista, whom he had carried with him to Madrid as his
assistants. Palomini makes honourable mention of them, and the Padre de'
Santi Teresiani, and the Padre Mazzolari Girolamino, in their description
of the Escurial, enumerate their works, commending their variety,
singularity, and beauty of colour. One was called Fabrizio, the other
Granello; and the latter, as Ratti conjectures, was the son of Nicolosio
Granello, an able fresco painter of the school of Semini, whose widow was
married to Castelli, and probably brought with her this son of her first
marriage.
Painters have in general been found to impart instruction more freely to
native scholars than to strangers; and yet the latter have always profited
more than the former, so that it rarely happened that on the death of the
chief of a school the reputation of that school has been continued by a son
or a nephew. Such was the case with the Genoese, where Calvi, the Semini,
and Cambiaso, had each a numerous progeny, and a progeny too attached to
the art; and yet amongst so many there was not one who passed the bounds of
mediocrity, except perhaps Orazio, the son of Luca Cambiaso, of whom
Soprani merely says that he followed in a praiseworthy manner his father's
style, and initiated some pupils in the art. It was therefore to his better
scholars that Cambiaso was indebted for assistance in his profession; one
of whom, Lazzaro Tavarone, followed him even into Spain, and remained there
for some years after his master's death. He afterwards returned to Genoa,
stored with the designs of Luca, and loaded with riches and honours. Luca
seemed to live again in his scholar, so fully did he possess his style. He
moreover distinguished himself by a method of colouring in fresco, which,
if I mistake not, raised him above all his predecessors in this school, and
above all who succeeded him, except Carloni. This peculiarity consisted in
a richness, brightness, and variety of colour, which brings distant objects
vividly to the sight, the whole composition appearing brilliantly
illuminated, and the tints splendidly and harmoniously blended. One may
perhaps occasionally wish in them more softness, but in general they have
all the richness of oil paintings. The tribune of the Duomo, where the
patron saints of the city are represented, particularly S. Lorenzo, from
whose history some passages are selected, is the chef d'oeuvre of his
public works. The facade of the palace of the doge is also a considerable
performance, representing St. George slaying the dragon; around it and
above are other numerous figures of citizens of eminence, of the virtues,
of genii with nautical weapons and the spoils of the enemy, some of which
might pass for the work of Pordenone. This grand work is exposed to the
sea, the spray of which has affected, but not destroyed it. In many other
churches and palaces also are to be found the works of Tavarone; histories,
fables, and imaginary compositions, often so well preserved that the
scaffolding and the steps by which the artists ascended and descended,
appear as if just removed. Fortunate, had his works been fewer in number,
and finished with equal care. Some pictures in oil are mentioned by him,
but more rare and of less merit than his frescos.
Cesare Corte was of Pavian extraction. Valerio, his father, who was born in
Venice, was the son of a gentleman of Pavia, and became, under the
instruction of Titian, an excellent portrait painter; and his talents
insuring him a favourable reception in Genoa, he settled there. He remained
in that city for the rest of his life, and died in poverty, his means being
all consumed in fruitless experiments in alchemy. He was the intimate
friend of Cambiaso, whose life he wrote; and to him he committed the
instruction of his son Cesare. This son did not indeed equal his father,
but he surpassed the greater number of his fellow scholars. In the church
of S. Piero he painted the tutelar saint at the foot of the Madonna,
surrounded by angels; a picture of chaste design and of a true and
harmonious colouring. His historical pictures and his portraits are found
in many collections: one of the former, in the Casa Pallavicino, on a
subject from the Inferno of Dante, was celebrated by Chiabrera in an
elegant sonnet. The fame of this artist was tarnished by his heretical
opinions, imbibed by the perusal of some pernicious work, as often happens
to the half informed, who read every thing, understand little, and finally
believe nothing. He however abjured his errors, though never released from
his prison, where he died. David, his son, restricted himself to the limits
of a copyist; and in this so highly distinguished himself, that his
pictures are placed in some collections at the side of the originals as
wonders of art.
Bernardo Castello frequented the school of Andrea Semini more than that of
Cambiaso; in his principles he inclined more to the latter, and in practice
he followed both indifferently. Travelling afterwards through Italy he saw
other works, and formed a style not devoid of grace, nor of correctness,
when he worked with care; as in the Martyrdom of St. Clement and St.
Agatagnolo, in the church of S. Sebastian, and the St. Anne at S. Matteo.
He had a fertile invention, in which he was aided by the poets of the age,
whose friendship he assiduously cultivated.[67] He was eulogized by
Lionardo Spinola, D. Angiolo Grillo, Ceva, Marino, Chiabrera, and by Tasso,
for whose Jerusalem he made the designs which were in part engraved by
Agostino Caracci. His reputation raised him not only to the rank of one of
the first masters of his school, but of Italy itself; and he was thus
selected to work in the Vatican, as has been mentioned. He there painted
St. Peter called to the apostleship, a picture which was soon afterwards
removed, and one by Lanfranco substituted in its place, either because it
was injured by damp, or had not given satisfaction. Castello indeed did not
possess that vigorous style which Rome at this time demanded, refusing her
applause to the Vasaris and Zuccaris. He had much of their style of colour,
nor was he exempt from their despatch; and, like them, he opened the way in
his school to facility instead of correctness. Genoa is filled, or rather
glutted, with his works, yet they still maintain their reputation, as they
are all sustained by a certain vigour and grace of style. He sometimes
appears in foreign collections, and in that of the Colonna in Rome I saw a
Parnassus by him with Poussin figures and a beautiful landscape, which may
be ranked amongst his most finished works. Soprani informs us that he was
again invited to Rome, to paint a picture of St. Peter, and that he died
whilst he was preparing himself for this journey, aged seventy-two. But at
so advanced a period of life one may doubt the truth of this report. He had
three sons, painters, of whom Valerio alone is deserving of commemoration,
and we shall notice him in his place.
Footnote 67: A strict intimacy existed, especially between
him and the Cav. Marino, among whose letters we may
enumerate twenty-eight more to Castello than to any other
person. It is pleasing to observe the dexterity of the poet,
who often praises the "miraculous pencil" and the "divine
hand" of the painter, an homage bestowed still more
liberally in the _Galleria_; and the gratitude of the artist
who designed and coloured for his friend gratis, and who
exerts himself to requite every letter of the poet by some
acceptable work of art, (p. 175).
Among his foreign scholars Simon Barabbino deserves remembrance, whose rare
genius created so strong a jealousy in Castello as to induce him to expel
him from his school. He retired from it, and afterwards painted at the
Nunziata del Guastato the S. Diego, which Soprani almost prefers to the
best work of Castello. But he did not obtain any great celebrity among his
countrymen. Milan rendered him that honour which his own native place
denied; in consequence of which he settled there, and worked in the palaces
and churches. There is by him, at S. Girolamo, a Madonna with a dead
Christ, accompanied by S. Michael and S. Andrew. The colour is true, the
heads are correctly drawn, the naked figure well understood, the contours
sufficiently accurate and well relieved. He would have attained still
greater perfection, but he turned to merchandize, where instead of wealth
he found only his ruin, and died in gaol.
Gio. Batista Paggi, a patrician by birth, was led to the profession of a
painter by his predilection for the art, which, in spite of the opposition
of his father, he indulged in from his earliest years. He was highly
accomplished in letters, and his various attainments in poetry, philosophy,
and history, all served to assist him in the composition of his pictures.
He was perhaps not so much extolled by the poets as Castello, but he
attained a greater celebrity among his brother artists. He was directed by
Cambiaso in his first studies, which was the drawing in chiaroscuro from
the casts of antique bassi-relievi, for the purpose of attaining a true
idea of the beautiful, and preparing himself for the study of nature. Being
well skilled in the practice of the crayon, with little labour, and almost
alone, he learnt the art of colouring; and without the instructions of a
master, taught himself architecture and perspective. Whilst he was rising
into notice, he was compelled to flee his country for homicide; and, for
about the space of twenty years, he resided in Florence, protected by that
court, and always profitably employed. Florence, at that time, abounded
with men of first rate genius; and it was then that Cigoli, and all the
young painters, abandoned their own languid style for the rich and vigorous
Lombard. Paggi had not so much occasion as the others to invigorate his
manner, as appears from the works he executed in Florence not long after
his arrival there. There remains by him a Holy Family, and another picture
in the church degli Angioli, and in the cloister of S. Maria Novella a
history piece of S. Catherine of Siena. It represents the saint liberating
a condemned person, and is a large composition, ornamented with beautiful
buildings, and so pleasingly executed that I have heard it preferred to all
in that convent. Nevertheless the great merit of Paggi was not at that time
vigour, but a certain nobleness of air, which always continued to be his
characteristic, and a delicacy and grace which have led some to compare him
to Baroccio, and even to Coreggio. It seems to me that he became more
vigorous as he advanced, and a proof of it is to be seen in the stupendous
Transfiguration, painted in S. Mark, which seems almost beyond his powers.
In the same style he painted for the Certosa at Pavia three pictures from
the Passion of our Saviour, which appear to me among his best works. He was
ultimately recalled by the republic about the year 1600 for his excellence
in his art, and the courts both of Pavia and Madrid invited, and were
desirous of employing him. His patriotism however precluded him from
accepting these honourable appointments. He illustrated his native city
with beautiful works in the churches and in collections. They have not all
equal merit, as this artist also was not exempt from the disadvantages of
bad priming, domestic anxieties, and the infirmities of age. His best
works, according to some, are the two pictures at the church of S.
Bartolommeo, and the Slaughter of the Innocents, in the possession of his
Excellence the Sig. Giuseppe Doria, painted in competition with Vandyke and
Rubens in 1606. He formed also some excellent scholars, the account of whom
we shall reserve to the succeeding epoch. We shall there again recur to
him, as he is placed on the confines of the two periods of his school, and
may be regarded in the one as a scholar, and in the other as a master.
GENOESE SCHOOL.
EPOCH III.
_The Art relapses for some time, and is re-invigorated by
the Works of Paggi and some Foreigners._
Every school, whatever may have been the celebrity of its founder, betrays
in the course of time symptoms of decay, and stands in need of restoration.
The Genoese, in the hands of Castello, experienced a decline about the
close of the sixteenth century, but soon afterwards revived, by the return
of Paggi, and the arrival of some foreigners, who established themselves
for a considerable period in that city. To this amelioration Sofonisba
Angussola not a little contributed by the assemblies of scholars and
professors of the art, which were held in his house, much to their
improvement, as we have before observed. Among these were Gentileschi,
Roncalli, and the Procaccini, who were employed in various public works.
Aurelio Lomi of Pisa settled in Genoa, taught there, and left some
excellent works at San Francesco di Castelletto, at the Nunziata del
Guastato and elsewhere. Nor ought we to omit Simon Balli, his scholar,
unknown in Florence, his native city, but deserving of being remembered for
his style, which partook considerably of Andrea del Sarto's, and for some
small cabinet pictures on copper. Antonio Antoniano of Urbino also resorted
thither, if we are to believe Soprani.[68] He brought with him the
beautiful picture painted for the Duomo by Baroccio, who was his master;
and he himself, in the church of S. Tommaso, painted the picture of the
saint and another picture; and, if I mistake not, some others for private
individuals, which are at the present day attributed to Baroccio, so
successful was his imitation of that master. There came to Genoa from Siena
Salimbeni and Sorri, and with them Agostino Tassi. The two latter remained
there for a length of time, both working and teaching; and besides these,
Ghissoni, who was also a Sienese of some merit, a scholar of Alberti in
Rome, and a fresco painter of a vigorous and engaging style. Simon Vovet
also repaired thither, but did not remain long; he however executed some
works, one particularly of the Crucifixion, at St. Ambrose, not unworthy,
as Soprani informs us, of his great name. Amongst the most considerable aid
which Genoa experienced from foreign talents we must enumerate Rubens and
Vandyck; the first of whom left there some noble public works, and a number
of private historical pieces, and the second a very great number of his
eloquent and animated portraits. Gio. Rosa of Flanders also established
himself there, mentioned by me in Rome, where he studied; a happy imitator
of nature in her most agreeable forms, especially animals. He died in
Genoa, and left there Giacomo Legi, his countryman and scholar; of whom
there remain some excellent pictures of animals, flowers, and fruit, though
few in number, as he died young. Godfrey Waals, a German, and Gio. Batista
Primi, a Roman, scholars of Tassi, and landscape painters of much merit,
resided there for some time; and Cornelio Wael, with Vincenzio Malo, two
Flemish painters, clever in battles, landscapes, and humorous pieces, and
the latter also in altar-pieces. Some other Flemish artists must have
resided there a shorter time, by whom I have seen in some palaces pictures
of large size, and to all appearance painted on the spot; and these I
regard as additional aids to a school that benefited at that time more from
example than from instruction.
Footnote 68: In the Dictionary of the Artists of Urbino the
existence of this artist is rejected as fabulous; and it is
attempted to substitute for him, in Soprani's work, Antonio
Viviani, who was indeed in Genoa. Considerable weight is
given to the conjecture, from the family of Antoniano not
being mentioned in Urbino; and I may add the circumstance of
not finding any other works of this Antonio than those named
by Soprani and his copyists. And how is it possible that one
who came to Genoa an accomplished master, should not have
left, either in Urbino or the neighbouring territory, even a
vestige or memorial of his pencil?
The young artists of Genoa, thus enriched in the course of a few years by
fresh examples, entered on a new career, and adopted a more vigorous and
grander style than they had before practised. And not a few of them, after
receiving the rudiments of instruction in their native place, repaired to
Parma, or Florence, or Rome, to finish their studies; and from these and
other sources added celebrity to their country. Thus the seventeenth
century did not possess in Genoa so decided a character as the preceding,
nor so select or ideal: it had however an abundance of excellent artists,
and particularly of the best portrait painters and colourists, sufficient
indeed to supply Venice with at her least happy epoch. It would also have
attained a higher pitch of repute, if the plague of 1657 had not swept off
a vast number of promising artists; the names of some of whom, cut off at
an early period of life, may be found mentioned in Soprani. The primary
cause of this revival of the art in Genoa may be ascribed to the riches and
to the taste of her nobility, who invited and supported these eminent
foreign artists. And in the next place much of this merit is due to Paggi.
There was at one time great danger of these excellent colourists being
negligent designers; and it is indeed a common opinion, adopted also by
Algarotti, that the best colourists are seldom correct in design. Paggi, in
this important point, supported the credit of the school. He had studied
design among the Florentines, the best masters in Italy; and he composed
for the instruction of youth a small treatise, entitled _Diffinizione o sia
Divisione della Pittura_, which he published in 1607. Soprani considers it
a useful compendium, and containing, in plain and unaffected language, the
principles of the art. It is mentioned with particular commendation in a
letter of the younger Vasari, which must make us regret the loss of it; and
it would be desirable to search the libraries where papers of this
description are preserved, to ascertain whether it may be still in
existence. All that we at present possess by Paggi is the Treatise
mentioned by us a few pages back. In the mean time we shall commence a new
epoch with him and his school.
Domenico Fiasella is called il Sarzana, from being born in the city of that
name, where he obtained the rudiments of his style. He devoted himself to
the study of the noble picture of Andrea del Sarto, which was then in the
church of the Predicatori; and where there is at this day a beautiful copy
of it. After being instructed for some time by Paggi he repaired to Rome,
and studied Raffaello, and imbibed also other favourite styles. He there
spent ten years, and became an eminent master, much praised by Guido Reni,
and employed as an assistant by the Cav. d'Arpino and Passignano. He
finally returned to Genoa, and in that city and in others of higher Italy,
executed numerous works. A very considerable part of them he left
imperfect, being in the habit of neglecting them, or leaving them to be
finished by his scholars, as is the tradition of his native place.
Independent of this impatience he was a great artist, and possessed many
eminent qualities, a felicity in grand compositions, a style of design
often worthy of the Roman School, great life in the heads; an admirable
colour in his oil pictures, and an easy imitation of various styles. He is
very Raffaellesque in a S. Bernardo, which is to be seen at S. Vincenzio in
Piacenza; Caravaggesque in a S. Tommaso di Villanova, at S. Agostino in
Genoa; in the Duomo of Sarzana, where he painted the Slaughter of the
Innocents, and in the archiepiscopal gallery of Milan, in an infant Christ,
he is a follower of Guido; and in other places an imitator of Annibal
Caracci and his school. He can command our admiration when he pleases, and
has left a stupendous work in the church of the Augustines in Genoa,
representing St. Paul, the first hermit, for whose body, discovered in a
lonely forest by St. Antony the Abbot, a lion is in the act of scooping a
grave. Many of his pictures are found in private collections. I have met
with specimens at Sarzana, in the house of his Excellency the Marquis
Remedi, a house celebrated for the cordial and generous hospitality of the
owner; and in others too there and in the state. His Madonnas have for the
most part a similarity of features; not so ideal as those of Raffaello, but
still agreeable and prepossessing.
On the death of Paggi, Fiasella became the principal instructor in Genoa,
and I shall mention his most conspicuous scholars. We may commence with his
relative, Gio. Batista Casone, changed by Orlandi into Carlone, who did not
paint much in Genoa. If we may judge from the altar-piece delle Vigne,
representing the Virgin surrounded by saints, he retained the style of
Fiasella, the colouring of which he endeavoured to invigorate. Gio. Paol
Oderico, a noble Genoese, painted always with great care, was select in his
forms, and possessed a strong and rich colouring. The PP. Scolopi have a
picture by him of the S. Angiolo Custode, the work of a young hand, but
bearing promise of great talents. His historical compositions are also to
be found in galleries, but they are rare, according to Soprani, and placed
among the most precious possessions. His portraits are not of such rare
occurrence, and in these he displayed great talents, and had numerous
commissions. We find but few public works of Francesco Capuro, in
consequence of his being engaged by the court and individuals in Modena,
where he passed a great part of his life, at a distance from his own
country. He was among the stricter followers of Fiasella in regard to
design and composition, but in his colouring he partakes of Spagnoletto,
under whom he studied in Naples; and in the style of that painter he
executed some pictures of half-size, which probably procured him his
highest reputation. We have still fewer public works by the young Luca
Saltarello; but a S. Benedetto, in the church of S. Stefano, in the act of
restoring a dead person to life, a picture of sober colouring, beautifully
harmonized, and full of expression and knowledge, sufficiently denotes his
early maturity, and his capacity, if he had lived, of forming an epoch in
his school. Being desirous of adding to his other accomplishments the
advantages to be derived from the ancient marbles, he repaired to Rome, and
died there through excess of study.
Gregorio de' Ferrari of Porto Maurizio received from Sarzana instructions
conformable to his principles, but which did not correspond with the genius
of the scholar, which was naturally disposed to a style of greater freedom
and grandeur. He repaired to Parma to study the works of Coreggio, and
there made a most careful copy of the great cupola, which was purchased
many years after by Mengs; and he returned home with a very different style
to his first. Coreggio was his only prototype, and he imitated him most
happily in the air of the countenances, and in many individual figures; but
not in the general style of composition, in which he is not so ideal; nor
in the colouring, as in his frescos he is somewhat languid. He is in
general negligent in his drawing; so that, with the exception of the two
pictures at the Theatines of S. Pier d'Arena, this censure attaches to all
his works. In his foreshortenings and in his draperies he sometimes falls
into affectation. He possesses however considerable attractions: he is
ingenious and novel, and displays a vigorous, rich, and correct colouring,
particularly in the fleshes. By these qualities his S. Michele, at the
church of the Madonna delle Vigne, predominates amongst the pictures of
that church: and it may be justly ranked with those Venetian productions in
which the spirit and noble colourings atone for the inaccuracy of the
drawing. He was much employed in Turin and in Marseilles; and still more so
in the principal palaces in his own country, particularly in that of the
Balbi. There however the great names of that celebrated collection, both
foreign and native, wage against him, as we may say, a continual war.
Valerio Castello is one of the greatest members of the Genoese School. He
no sooner made his appearance amongst his fellow scholars than he distanced
the oldest of them, and soon afterwards even rivalled his masters. The son
of Bernardo, and the scholar of Fiasella, he followed neither the style of
the one nor the other, but selected other prototypes more consonant to his
genius, the Procaccini in Milan, and Coreggio in Parma; and from the study
of these, and a grace wholly his own, he formed a style unique and
peculiarly belonging to himself. If it is not the most correct, it seems to
deserve pardon for its select composition, for its beautiful colouring and
chiaroscuro, and for the spirit, facility, and expression, which always
distinguish his pencil. He excelled in frescos, so as to please even by the
side of Carloni; and is perhaps sometimes, as in S. Marta, even superior to
him. In his perspectives he occasionally employed Gio. Maria Mariani
d'Ascoli, who also lived in Rome. Nor was he inferior in oil pictures. He
painted in the oratory of S. Jacopo the baptism of that saint, in
competition with the chief of his contemporaries, and eclipsed them all,
with the exception perhaps of Castiglione. He worked also for collections;
and in the royal gallery of Florence his Rape of the Sabines is highly
prized, a subject which, on a more extended scale, but yet with some
resemblance both of figures and architecture, he repeated in the palace
Brignole. He is not however frequently met with, as he died early, and from
the great celebrity he acquired, his works were in much request in all the
first collections, and thus his productions were dispersed. He taught Gio.
Batista Merano, and, after his own example, sent him to study at Parma, in
which city he met with sufficient employment both from the prince and
private individuals. The Slaughter of the Innocents, at the Gesu in Genoa,
is pointed out to us as one of his best pictures, and is a copious and
careful composition, extremely well arranged. We must not confound this
artist with Francesco Merano, called, from his first employ, Il Paggio, a
scholar and a respectable follower of Fiasella.
Returning to the scholars of Gio. Batista Paggi, one of them, who was
himself the educator of a generous race to his country, was Gio. Domenico
Cappellino. He had an extraordinary talent for imitation, whence, in his
first works, he came very near his master. There was not in him that air of
nobility that in Paggi and Bordone seems to have been derived from their
birth and education. He possessed nevertheless other qualities of art which
fail not to interest the spectator. This is evident in the Death of S.
Francesco, placed in S. Niccolo; and at S. Stefano in the S. Francesca
Romana, who to a dumb girl imparts the powers of speech. They are works
which possess in the whole a peculiar originality, and in the separate
figures a natural charm, and an expression of the affections and a delicacy
of colouring highly attractive. He afterwards changed his style, as may be
seen in two pictures of the Passion at S. Siro, and in many others at
Genoa, always vigorous, but less spirited than at first, rather obscure in
tints, and removed from the manner of Paggi. He aimed at originality, and,
finding her, pursued her without a rival.
He had the good fortune to be the instructor of a foreigner, one of those
men of genius who in themselves illustrate a whole school. This artist was
of the family of Pioli, which had already produced an excellent miniature
painter called Gio. Gregorio, who died in Marseilles, and a Pier Francesco,
a scholar of Sofonisba, who died young, with the reputation of being one of
the best imitators of Cambiaso. Pellegro Piola, of whom we have now to
treat, enjoyed a still shorter period of life, being assassinated at the
age of twenty-three, by an unknown hand; and, as it is believed, through
envy of his rare talents. It is not easy to describe very precisely the
style of this young man; for, as a student, he studied all the best works
and formed himself upon them, and willingly inclined to the more beautiful.
He then tried a wider flight, and pursued it always with exquisite
diligence, and a taste which charms us; and whatever style he adopted he
seemed to have grown grey in it. A Madonna by him, which is now in the
great collection of the Marchese Brignole, was considered by Franceschini
an original of Andrea del Sarto. His S. Eligio, in the street of the
goldsmiths, was by Mengs ascribed to Lodovico Caracci. He however aspired
at something far beyond mere imitation, and said that he had a mental
conception of the beautiful, which he did not despair to attain if his life
should be spared. But he was prematurely cut off, as I have stated, and his
works in consequence are very rarely met with.