THE HISTORY OF PAINTING IN PIEDMONT AND THE
ADJACENT TERRITORY.
EPOCH I.
_Dawn of the Art, and Progress to the Sixteenth Century._
Piedmont, like the other states of Italy, cannot boast of a series of
ancient masters; but it does not on that account forfeit its claim to a
place in the history of painting. That enchanting art, the daughter of
peace and contemplation, shuns not only the sound but the very rumour of
war. Piedmont, from her natural position, is a warlike country; and if she
enjoys the merit of having afforded to the other parts of Italy the
protection necessary for the cultivation of the fine arts, she is at the
same time under the disadvantage of not being able to insure them safety in
her own territory. Hence, though Turin has ever been fruitful in talent, to
obtain the decorations suitable to a metropolis, she has been compelled to
seek at a distance for painters, or at least for pictures; and whatever we
find excellent either in the palace or the royal villas, in the churches,
in the public buildings, or in private collections, will be found to be
wholly the work of foreigners. I may be told that the artists of Novara and
Vercelli, and others from the Lago Maggiore, are not strangers. That might
be true after those communities were included in the dominions of the house
of Savoy; but they, who were the first in this epoch, were born, lived, and
died subjects of other states: and after the new conquests, these artists
no more became Piedmontese from that circumstance, than Parrhasius and
Apelles became Romans from the moment that Greece was subjected to Rome.
For this reason I have classed these artists in the Milanese School; to
which, though they had not belonged as subjects, they ought still to be
assigned by education, residence, or neighbourhood. This plan I have
hitherto persevered in: the subject of my history being not the states of
Italy, but her schools of painting. Nor on that account will the artists of
Monferrato be excluded from this place. This is also a recent addition to
the house of Savoy, which first possessed it in 1706; but it is anterior to
the other acquisitions, and its artists are scarcely ever named among the
pupils of the Milanese School. We must also recollect that they either left
many works in Piedmont, and that this is therefore the proper place to
mention them, or that they did not quit their native country; and as it is
impracticable to devote a separate book to that place, I have judged it
best to include it in this state, on the confines of which it is situated,
and to which it eventually became subject.
Confining ourselves therefore to the ancient state of Piedmont, and
noticing also Savoy, and other neighbouring territories not yet considered,
we shall find little written of,[71] nor have we much to praise in the
artists; but the ruling family, who have been always distinguished by their
love of the arts, and have used all their influence to foster them, are
entitled to our grateful recollections. At the time of their first revival
Amadeus IV. invited to his court one Giorgio da Firenze, a scholar, I know
not whether of Giotto or some other master: it is however certain that he
painted in the castle of Chambery in 1314, and we find remains of him to
1325, in which year he worked at Pinarolo. That he from this time coloured
in oil is doubted in Piedmont; and the Giornale of Pisa published a letter
on that subject the last year. I know not that I can add any thing further
to what I have already written on this question in many places of this
work. Giorgio da Firenze is unknown in his native place, like some others
who are commemorated only in this book, who lived much in Piedmont, or at
least were better known there than elsewhere. In the same age there worked
at S. Francesco di Chieri, quite in the Florentine style, an artist who
subscribed himself _Johannes pintor pinxit_ 1343; and some feeble fresco
painters in the baptistery of the same city. There are also some other
anonymous artists in other parts, whose manners differ in some respects
from the style of Giotto; among whom I may mention the painter of the
Consolata, a picture of the Virgin held in great veneration at Turin.
Footnote 71: A catalogue of the painters of Piedmont, and
their works, is given by the Count Durando in the notes to
his _Ragionamento su le belle Arti_, published in 1778. The
P. M. della Valle has also written of them in his prefaces
to the tenth and eleventh volumes of Vasari. Some valuable
information respecting them has also been contributed by the
author of the _Notizie patrie_, and more is to be found in
the New Guide of Turin of Sig. Derossi, and in the first
volume of the _Pitture d'Italia_. And, lastly, further
notices are to be gathered from various works on art, of
which we shall avail ourselves in the proper place.
At a later period, that is, about the year 1414, Gregorio Bono, a Venetian,
was invited also to Chambery by Amadeus VIII., in order to paint his
portrait. He executed it on panel; nor is it probable that he ever returned
to Venice, as we find no mention made of him there. A Nicolas Robert, a
Frenchman, was painter to the duke from 1473 to 1477; but his works have
either perished, or remain unknown; and probably he was a miniature
painter, or an illuminator of books, as they were at that time designated,
artists who from the proximity of their professions are called painters, as
well as the nobler masters of the art. About the same time it appears that
there worked in Piedmont Raimondo, a Neapolitan, who left his name on a
picture of several compartments in S. Francesco di Chieri, a piece
estimable from the vivacity of the countenances and the colouring, though
the drapery is loaded with gold, a mark of the little refinement of the
times. Of another painter of this period there remains an indication in the
church of S. Agostino in that city, from this inscription on an ancient
picture, _Per Martinum Simazotum, alias de Capanigo_, 1488. I find noticed
also in the hospital of Vigevano a picture with a gold ground by Gio.
Quirico da Tortona.
But no territory at this period furnishes us with such interesting matter
as Monferrato, then the feudal state of the Paleologhi. We learn from P.
della Valle, that Barnaba da Modena was introduced into Alba in the
fourteenth century, and he certainly was among the first artists that
obtained applause in Piedmont. We have cursorily noticed him in his school;
for to judge from the way in which his works are scattered, he must have
lived at a distance. Two pictures remain by him at the Conventuals at Pisa;
one in the church, the other in the convent; both figures of the Virgin, of
whom the second picture represents the coronation, where she is surrounded
by S. Francis and other saints of his order. Sig. da Morrona praises the
beautiful character of the heads, the drapery, and the colouring; and
prefers him to Giotto. And P. della Valle speaks in the same terms of
another picture of the Virgin, remaining in the possession of the
Conventuals of Alba, which he says is in a grander style than any
contemporary works; and he states that the year 1357 is signed to it. As to
his assertion that the art in Piedmont had derived from him much light and
advancement, I know not how to confirm it, as I have never been in Alba,
and as I find a great interval between him and his successors in that very
city. Afterwards in the church of S. Domenico a Giorgio Tuncotto painted in
1473; and in that of S. Francesco a M. Gandolfino in 1493. To these may be
added Gio. Peroxino and Pietro Grammorseo, well known for two pictures
which they left at the Conventuals; the one in Alba in 1517, the other in
Casale in 1523.
But the most distinguished artist in those parts, and in Turin itself, was
Macrino, a native of Alladio, and a citizen of Alba; whence, in a picture
which is in the sacristy of the metropolitan church in Turin, he subscribes
himself _Macrinus de Alba_. His name was Gian Giacomo Fava, an excellent
painter, of great truth in his countenances, careful and finished in every
part, and sufficiently skilled in his colouring and shadowing. I am aware
that the Sig. Piacenza has mentioned him in his notes to Baldinucci, a work
which, to the loss of the history of art and just criticism, remains
imperfect, and which I have not now at hand. I know not where Macrino
studied; but in his picture at Turin, which is much in the style of
Bramante and his Milanese contemporaries, he has placed as an ornament in
his landscape the Flavian amphitheatre; whence we may conclude that he had
seen Rome; or, if not Rome, at least the learned school of Da Vinci. I
found by him in the Certosa of Pavia another picture, with S. Ugo and S.
Siro; an inferior performance with respect to the forms and the colouring,
but very carefully painted in all its parts. But, wherever he studied, he
is the first artist in these countries who made advances to the modern
style; and he seems to have been held in esteem, not only in Asti and in
Alba, which contain many of his large works and cabinet pictures, but in
Turin, and in the palace of the prince; to whose family, as I conjecture,
belonged a cardinal, represented at the feet of the Virgin, and of the
saints surrounding her, in the picture at the cathedral. I am persuaded
that he left other pictures in Turin; but that city, above all the other
capitals of Italy, has perhaps been the most addicted to substitute modern
pictures for the ancient. Contemporary with Macrino was Brea of Nizza, whom
I mentioned in the school of Genoa, together with three painters of
Alessandria della Paglia, all having lived in that state. I shall here only
add Borghese of Nizza della Paglia, where, and in Bassignana, are pictures
inscribed _Hieronymus Burgensis Niciae Palearum pinxit_.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century, whether it was that the troubled
state of Italy called the attention of the princes to more serious objects,
or from some other cause, I do not find any interesting records. About the
middle of that century it is supposed that Antonio Parentani flourished,
who at the Consolata painted within the chapter house a Paradise with
numerous angels. I do not know his country, but he followed the Roman taste
of that age, and in a certain way diminished it. At this period the books
of the public Treasury stand in the place of history, and guide us to the
knowledge of other artists. I am indebted for the information to the Baron
Vernazza de Fresnois, secretary of state of his majesty, a gentleman not
less rich in knowledge than obliging in communicating it. The
before-mentioned books record a Valentin Lomellino da Raconigi; and after
1561, in which year he died, or relinquished his place, a Jacopo Argenta of
Ferrara. Both the one and the other bore the title of painter to the duke;
but the world cannot judge of their talents, as no work by them is known
either in Turin or elsewhere; and it is probable they were rather
illuminators than painters. A Giacomo Vighi is noticed by Malvasia and by
Orlandi, who painted for the court of Turin about 1567, and was presented
with the castle of Casal Burgone. The works of this painter too are unknown
to the public; but not so the works of those who follow.
Alessandro Ardente of Faenza, though some make him a Pisan, and others a
Lucchese,[72] Giorgio Soleri of Alessandria, and Agosto Decio, a Milanese
miniaturist before mentioned by me, painted the portrait of Charles
Emanuel, duke of Savoy, for which all three are praised by Lomazzo in his
treatise, at p. 435. The two first were also appointed painters to the
court. They excelled in historical compositions as well as being celebrated
portrait painters. By Alessandro we see in Turin at the Monte della Pieta
the Fall of St. Paul, in a style that would lead us to believe he had
studied in Rome. More of his works remain in Lucca; in one of which, a
Baptism of Christ painted at S. Giovanni by this Ardente, the subject is
treated in a highly original manner. (_Guida di Lucca_, p. 261.) In the
neighbourhood also of that city are many of his works. The Sig. da Morrona
also names him in the second volume of his _Pisa illustrata_, and informing
us that he has not a sufficient account of him, concludes that he lived a
long time out of Tuscany. I believe that he resided a considerable time in
Piedmont, as I find some works by him out of Turin; as an Epiphany in
Moncalieri, inscribed with his name and the year 1592; and knowing further,
that on his death, in 1595, a pension was assigned by the prince to his
widow and sons; a proof in my mind that Ardente must have served the court
many years.
Footnote 72: We ought to credit his own testimony. He
painted three pictures at S. Paolino di Lucca, and in that
of S. Antonio Abate he subscribes himself _Alexander
Ardentius Faventinus_, 1565; so says Monsig. Mansi,
Archbishop of Lucca, in his Diario. He however in other
places in that little work, and Sig. Morrona in his _Pisa_,
call him a Pisan, and others a Lucchese.
Of Soleri, the son-in-law of Bernardino Lanini, I have given some account
in the Milanese School, (tom. iv. p. 278). He is also mentioned by Malvasia
in tom. ii. p. 134, and compared with Passerotti, Arcimboldi, Gaetano, and
with Del Monte of Crema, in portrait painting. His professional education
however remains obscure, except as far as we are able to conjecture from
his works. I have only been able to find two of his performances; and I am
not aware that any other are known. The one is in Alessandria, and serves
as an altar-piece to the domestic chapel of the Conventuals. It represents
the Virgin and the Saints Augustin and Francis recommending to her
protection the city of Alessandria, which is represented in the background.
The landscape is in the style of Bril, as usual with our painters before
the Caracci; the figures are painted with more labour than spirit; the
colour is languid; and the whole presents the style of one desirous of
imitating the best period of the Roman School, but who had not seen or
studied it sufficiently. But there is a more authentic picture in the
church of the Domenicans of Casale, with the inscription, _Opus Georgii
Soleri Alex. 1573_. It represents S. Lorenzo kneeling at the feet of the
Virgin, who has with her the holy infant; near the saint three angelic boys
are playing with a huge gridiron, his customary symbol; and are straining
to raise it from the ground. Here we most distinctly trace the follower of
Raffaello, in the chasteness of design, the beauty and grace of the
countenances, and the finished expression; if indeed the design of these
angels is not taken from Coreggio. To render the picture more engaging,
there is represented a landscape, with a window, whence there appears in
the distance a beautiful country, with fine buildings; nor are there many
pictures remaining in the city at this day to be compared with it. If it
had possessed a more vigorous colouring, and a stronger chiaroscuro, there
would be nothing more to wish for. When I consider the style, I know not to
what school to assign it; for it is not that of Lanini, although his
father-in-law; nor that of any Milanese, although he was in Milan. Perhaps,
like others of his day, he formed himself on the engravings after
Raffaello; or if he copied any other painter, it was Bernardino Campi,
whom, if we except a certain timidity of touch, he resembles more than any
other.
Soleri had a son, a painter of mediocrity, as may be seen in Alessandria in
the sacristy of S. Francesco. The father, to propitiate his success in the
art to which he destined him, had given him the two most illustrious names
of the profession, calling him Raffaele Angiolo. But these names served
only to flatter parental fondness.
With Alessandro Ardente and Giorgio Soleri we find mentioned a Jacopo
Rosignoli of Leghorn, who was at that time painter to the court. His
character is described in an epitaph placed over him at S. Thomas in Turin,
which thus extols him: _quibuscumque naturae amoenitatibus exprimendis ad
omnigenam incrustationum vetustatem_; meaning grotesques, in which he
imitated with success Perino del Vaga. We also find memorials of another
painter to the court about the same time. The books of the Treasury call
him Isidoro Caracca, and he seems to have succeeded to Ardente; for in 1595
his name begins to be found, to which others may perhaps add, in progress
of time, his country, school, and works. To me it seems that persons who
have received such a mark of distinction, ought at least not to be placed
among the vulgar; nor should a notice of them be neglected when they fall
in our way.
We may add to these some others of doubtful schools, as Scipione Crispi of
Tortona, who has derived celebrity from the Visitation, placed in S.
Lorenzo in Voghera; and in Tortona itself there is a picture representing
S. Francis and S. Dominick with the Virgin, with his name, and the date
1592. Contemporary with Crispi was Cesare Arbasia, of Saluzzo, supposed by
Palomino, but incorrectly so, to be a scholar of Vinci, as I mentioned when
I spoke of him before.[73] He resided some time in Rome, and taught in the
academy of St. Luke, and is mentioned with commendation by the P. Chiesa in
his life of Ancina, as one of the first of his age. He went also to Spain,
where, in the cathedral of Malaga, there still exists his picture of the
Incarnation, painted in 1579; and there is an entire chapel painted by him
in fresco in the cathedral of Cordova. He painted too the vault of the
church of the Benedictines of Savigliano; in the public palace of his
native place he executed also some works in fresco; and he was held in
esteem by the court, who granted him a pension in 1601.
Footnote 73: Tom. iv. p. 257. One truth prepares the way for
another. I have read in Sig. Conca, tom. iii. p. 164, that
the style of Arbasia partakes of that of Federigo Zuccaro;
an opinion I believe of Sig. Ponz, the principal guide of
Conca. If Federigo about the same time was chief, and
Arbasia master in the academy of Rome, the style of the
first might be caught by the other. When we reflect that the
style of Da Vinci is highly finished, correct, and strong,
diametrically opposed to the facility and popular style of
Federigo, we cannot accord to Palomino that authority and
veneration which Conca bestows on him. What should we think
of a critic who should endeavour to palm on us, as the
production of the time of Horace, an ode written in the
style of Prudentius?
There is ground for believing that Soleri, who was married in Vercelli, and
who lived in Casale, had a share in the instruction of the celebrated
Caccia, surnamed Il Moncalvo, who gave to Monferrato its brightest days of
art. We may with propriety say a few words on this subject before we return
to Turin. Monferrato was some time under the Paleologhi; afterwards under
the Gonzaghi; this is a sufficient reason for us to believe that it was
willingly frequented by excellent artists. Vasari relates that Gio.
Francesco Carotto was considerably employed by Guglielmo, Marquis of
Monferrato, as well in his court at Casale as in the church of S. Domenico.
After him other artists of merit resorted thither, whose works still remain
to the public. We further know that these princes had a collection of
marbles and pictures, which were afterwards removed to Turin, where they
contributed to the ornament of the palace and royal villas. After what we
have stated we cannot be surprised that the arts should have flourished in
this part of Italy and the adjacent country, and that we should there meet
with painters deserving of our admiration.
Such an one was Moncalvo, so called from his long residence in that place.
He was however born in Montabone, and his true name was Guglielmo Caccia.
No name is more frequently heard by cultivated foreigners who pass through
this higher part of Italy. He commenced his career in Milan, where he
painted in several churches. He proceeded afterwards to Pavia, where he did
the same, and where he was presented with the freedom of the city. But he
is still more frequently named in Novara, Vercelli, Casale, Alessandria,
and in the tract of country leading from thence to Turin. Nor is this the
whole itinerary of such as wish to see all his works. We must often deviate
from the beaten road, and visit in this district castles and villas, which
frequently present us with excellent specimens, particularly in Monferrato.
He there passed a great part of his life; having been brought up in
Moncalvo, says P. Orlandi, an estate of Monferrino, where he had both a
home and school of painting. He seems to have begun his career in these
parts; and as his first works they point out, in the Sacro Monte di Crea,
some small chapels with passages from the sacred writings.
P. della Valle describes his style at Crea as that of the infant Graces. He
remarks that there are indications of his inexperience in fresco painting,
and that by comparing his early works with his last we may trace the
improvement in his style. He attained such a degree of excellence as to be
considered as an example to fresco painters for his great skill in this
department. He is to be seen in Milan at S. Antonio Abate, by the side of
the Carloni of Genoa: he there painted the titular saint, with S. Paul, the
first hermit; and maintains himself in this dangerous contest. His picture
in the cupola of S. Paul at Novara is a beautiful and vigorous painting,
with a glory of angels, painted, as he generally did, in a delightful
manner. In oils he was perhaps not so successful. I have seen few of his
pictures painted with that strength with which he represented in Turin St.
Peter in the pontifical habit, in the church of S. Croce. The picture of S.
Teresa, in the church of that saint, is also well coloured; and it is
celebrated for its graceful design, in which is represented the saint
between two angels, overpowered at the appearance of the holy family, which
is revealed to her in her ecstacy. To this may be also added the Deposition
from the Cross at S. Gaudenzio di Novara, which is there by some considered
his masterpiece, and it is indeed a work of the highest merit. In general
his tints are so delicate, that in our days at least he appears somewhat
languid, the fault perhaps of not having retouched his pictures
sufficiently.
His style of design does not accord with that of the Caracci, which leads
me to question the opinion prevalent in Moncalvo, that he was a pupil of
that school. One of the Caracci school would have studied fresco in
Bologna, not in Crea; nor would he have adopted in his landscape the style
of Bril, as Moncalvo has done; nor have discovered a preference of the
Roman style to that of Parma. Caccia's style of design seems derived from
the elder schools, as we may observe in it a manner which partakes of
Raffaello, of Andrea del Sarto, and Parmigianino, the great masters of
ideal beauty. And in his Madonnas, which are to be seen in many
collections, he sometimes seems the scholar of the one, and sometimes of
the other; one of those in the royal palace of Turin seems designed by
Andrea. But the colouring, though accompanied by grace and delicacy, as I
said before, is different, and even borders often on debility, in the
manner of the Bolognese School which preceded the Caracci, and more
especially of Sabbatini. He resembles that master also in the beauty of the
heads and in grace; and if it could be satisfactorily proved that Moncalvo
studied in Bologna, we need not look further for a master than Sabbatini.
But I have before made the remark that two painters frequently fall into
the same style, as two different writers sometimes adopt the same
characters. And I have also observed, in regard to Moncalvo, that in Casale
he had Soleri, a painter of a lively and elegant style; and that there, in
Vercelli, and in other cities where he resided, there was not wanting to
him the best examples of that graceful style to which his genius inclined.
He did not however shun nobler subjects; as his works in the church of the
Conventuals at Moncalvo will shew, where there is a rich gallery of his
pictures. Chieri also has specimens of him in two historical pictures in a
chapel of S. Domenico. He there painted the two laterals of the altar; in
the one is the resuscitation of Lazarus, in the other the miracle of the
loaves in the desert; works remarkable for their richness of fancy, their
excellent disposition, the correctness of the drawing, the vivacity of the
action, and the first of which inspires both devotion and awe. They would
confer honour on the noblest churches.
He executed many works, assisted by scholars of mediocrity; a thing which
ought to be avoided by every good master. In Casale I heard a Giorgio
Alberino enumerated among his best scholars; and on the relation of P.
della Valle I may add to them Sacchi, also of Casale, as his companion in
Moncalvo; who possessed a more energetic pencil perhaps, and more learning
than Caccia. He painted in S. Francesco a Drawing of Lots for Marriage
Portions; in which is seen a great assemblage of fathers, mothers, and
young daughters; and in the latter the sentiments are most vividly
expressed, so that we read the fate of each in her countenance; the face of
one beaming with delight at the mention of her name, while another stands
wishful, yet fearing to hear herself called. And at S. Agostino di Casale
is a standard, with the Virgin and saints, and certain portraits of the
Gonzaghi princes; a picture ascribed to Moncalvo: but if we consult the
style and the mode of colouring, I should rather attribute it to Sacchi.
Caccia taught, and was assisted in his labours by two daughters, who may be
called the Gentilesche, or the Fontane of Monferrato, where they painted
not only cabinet pictures but more altar-pieces than perhaps any other
females. The contours of their figures are exactly copied from their
father, but they are not so animated. It is said that their manner was so
similar, that, in order to distinguish them, the younger, Francesca,
adopted the symbol of a small bird; and Ursula, who founded the convent of
Ursulines in Moncalvo, that of a flower. Of the latter her church and
Casale also have some altar-pieces, and not a few cabinet pictures with
landscapes touched in the style of Bril, and ornamented with flowers. A
Holy Family by her in this style is in the rich collection of the Palazzo
Natta.
Lastly I may record the name of Niccolo Musso, the boast of
Casalmonferrato, where he lived, and left works which possess an
originality of style. He is said by Orlandi to have been the scholar of
Caravaggio for ten years in Rome; and there is a tradition in his native
place that he studied under the Caracci in Bologna. Musso leans to
Caravaggio, but his chiaroscuro is more delicate and more transparent; he
is very select in his figures and in expression; and is one of those
admirable painters almost unknown to Italy itself. He did not live long,
and generally painted for private individuals. He left however some works
in public, and more than one in the church of S. Francis, representing that
saint at the feet of Christ crucified, and angels partaking his
lamentations and devotions. The portrait of this artist, painted by
himself, is also in Casale, in the possession of the Marchese Mossi; and
some memoirs of him were published by the Canonico de' Giovanni, as I read
in P. M. della Valle.[74]
Footnote 74: Pref. al tomo xi. del Vasari, p. 20.
SCHOOL OF PIEDMONT AND THE
ADJACENT TERRITORY.
EPOCH II.
_Painters of the Seventeenth Century, and first
Establishment of the Academy._
Returning now to Turin and to the seventeenth century, in the early part of
which the painters, whom we have mentioned with commendation, were either
still surviving, or only lately deceased, we meet with Federigo Zuccaro,
who, in his journey through the various states of Italy, (of which Baglione
speaks,) did not fail to visit Turin. He there painted some pictures in the
churches, and commenced the decoration of a gallery for the duke; a work
which, from some cause or other, was left unfinished. Baglione does not
inform us that this gallery was destined for the reception of works of art,
but it is highly probable that it was so; since, at that time, a
considerable collection of ancient marbles,[75] designs, and cartoons, was
already formed, which has been since enlarged, and is now preserved in the
Archivio Reale; and a select cabinet of pictures, to which similar
additions have been made, and which is now the principal ornament of the
royal palace, and the villas of the sovereign. We there find the works of
Bellini, Holbein, and the Bassani; the two large compositions of Paolo,
executed for the Duke Charles, and described by Ridolfi; several pictures
of the Caracci and their best scholars, amongst which are the Four Elements
by Albano, an admirable production; without mentioning others by Moncalvo
and Gentileschi, both of whom resided for some time in Turin, and by other
eminent Italian artists, or the best Flemish painters, some of whom
remained a considerable time in that city. Hence, in this class of
pictures, the house of Savoy surpasses every single house in Italy, or even
many taken together.
Footnote 75: Galleria del Marini, p. 288.
But, to proceed in due course, we may observe, that, at the commencement of
the seventeenth century, there existed in Turin a rich collection of
pictures and drawings, the ornament of the throne, and subservient to the
instruction of young artists, the care of which was entrusted to a painter
of the court. We first find one Bernardo Orlando invested with this charge,
who was appointed painter to the duke in 1617. This honour, in succeeding
years, was conferred on many others, whose pencils were employed in Turin
and the castle of Rivoli; where, however, many of their works were effaced
in the present century, and others substituted by the two Vanloos. Some of
these are unknown in the history of art, as Antonio Rocca and Giulio Mayno,
the first a native of I know not what place, the latter of Asti. A della
Rovere is also an unknown artist, mentioned in the Registers from the year
1626; nor can this be the same who left, in the convent of St. Francis, a
picture of very original invention, the subject of which is Death. It
expresses the origin of death, in the transgression of Adam and Eve; and
the fulfilment of it, by the thread spun, wound, and severed, by the three
Fates, with other fancies in which profane and sacred ideas are confounded
together. If the design of this picture cannot command our approbation, its
other qualities are still prepossessing, and conciliate our esteem for the
painter, who subscribes himself, _Jo. Bapt. a Ruere Taur._ f. 1627. But the
name of the court painter was Girolamo. Baglione acquaints us with another,
called Marzio di Colantonio, a Roman by birth, who excelled in grotesques
and landscapes. There are also some others included in the list of ducal
painters, whom we have before mentioned in various schools; as Vincenzo
Conti in the Roman, Morazzone in the Milanese, and Sinibaldo Scorza in the
Genoese. These and others, who painted in Turin and the neighbourhood about
this time, will be found in the _Lettere_ and the _Galleria_ of the Cav.
Marini, who resided for some time at this court. We must, however, consult
him with caution, as he was a poet, and very readily augmented his gallery,
by devoting a sonnet to every picture and drawing, so that artists of
mediocrity valued themselves more on his applause than painters of
merit.[76] Thus Malvasia informs us, that he had frequently heard Albano
boast of having refused Marini's request, the gift of a picture, for fear
the poet should make it the subject of a sonnet, (tom. ii. p. 273).
Footnote 76: The mediocrity of some who are extolled in
Marini's work, which was published about the year 1610,
appears from the silence observed towards them by
contemporary writers, or the little applause with which they
are named. I never elsewhere found mention, to the best of
my recollection, of Lucilio Gentiloni, of Filatrava, nor of
Giulio Donnabella, who there figure as eminent designers;
nor of Annibale Mancini, whence I know not, a painter of
histories; nor of the two equally renowned Frenchmen, M.
Brandin and M. Flaminet, elsewhere transformed into
Fulminetto; much less a Raffaele Rabbia, and a Giulio Maina,
who painted the poet's portrait; unless, indeed, the second
be the Bolognese Giulio Morina, mutilated in his name, like
not a few other artists of this truly ill assorted
_Gallery_. [This artist would rather appear to be the Giulio
Mayno, of Asti, the court painter, mentioned in p. 467,
_ante._ _Ed._]
The painters whom I have just mentioned were, most probably, the
instructors of those artists of Turin and the states who flourished
elsewhere; as Bernaschi in Naples, Garoli in Rome, and others who are said
to have been also taught by foreigners, and who distinguished themselves in
Piedmont. None of this number possess a stronger claim to our notice than
Mulinari, (or, as he is more frequently called, Mollineri) whether with
regard to merit, or the order of time. Most writers have considered him a
scholar of the Caracci in Rome; from the imitation of whom he received the
surname of Caraccino from his own countrymen. But I apprehend that this
supposed residence of his in Rome proceeds from the common source of such
mistakes, the resemblance of style, true or supposed. Della Valle mentions
him as being settled in his native place in 1621, and of forty years of
age; languid and feeble in his contours, and improving himself by the
assistance of some masters, his friends; to which we may perhaps add, the
study of the prints of the Caracci, and some of their paintings. My
suspicions are confirmed by the Count Durando, a well informed and cautious
writer, who denies that positive proof can be given of the reported
instruction of Mulinari, notwithstanding the surname of Caraccino, a title
not difficult to acquire from the vulgar, in a city so remote from Bologna
and Rome; as in some countries which have little knowledge of the true
style of Cicero, a writer may pass for an elegant latinist, while imitating
Arnobius. In other respects, in the pictures which have acquired him
celebrity, he is correct, energetic, and, if not dignified, yet animated
and varied in his male heads; for, as Durando himself confesses, his
females are all deficient in grace. His colouring is also good, though not
resembling the Caracci; his tints being more clear, differently disposed,
and sometimes feeble. At Turin, the Deposition from the Cross at S.
Dalmazio, is classed amongst his best works; but the composition is
crowded, and very different from the principles of the Bolognese. In
Savigliano, where Mulinari was born, and where he lived many years,
pictures by him are found in almost every church; and his talent and merit
are, in fact, only known in that place. There, and in Turin, we find some
works by a worthy Flemish artist, named Gio. Claret, by some considered the
scholar, by others the master of Gio. Antonio in colouring, but at all
events his intimate friend. He is an artist of a free and spirited pencil,
and painted in several churches in competition with Mulinari.
Giulio Bruni, a Piedmontese, was a clever pupil of the Genoese School,
first under Tavarone, then under Paggi, and remained painting in Genoa,
until he was expelled by war. His works there, though not very finished,
and too darkly coloured, were well designed, harmonious, and well composed.
Such is, in the church of St. James, his St. Thomas of Villanova giving
alms. History also mentions one Gio. Batista, his brother and scholar.
Giuseppe Vermiglio, although born in Turin, is not named in the _Guide_ of
that city. We find pictures by him in Piedmont, as at Novara and
Alessandria; and beyond that dominion, in Mantua and Milan, in which last
city is a work which is perhaps his masterpiece. The subject is a Daniel
amidst Lions, in the library of the Passione, a large composition, well
disposed, with fine architectural decorations, in the Paolesque style. The
king and people are seen on a balcony admiring the prophet, untouched by
the ferocious animals, while his accusers are, at the same instant,
precipitated amidst the ravenous beasts, and torn to pieces. In the same
composition is also represented the other prophet, borne through the air by
an angel, by the hair of his head. We cannot exactly commend the design,
which thus unites events incongruous in point of time. But with this
exception, this is one of the most valuable pictures painted in Milan,
after Gaudenzio, for correctness, beautiful forms, expression highly
studied, and colours warm, varied, and lucid. From the imitative style of
the heads, it is evident that he studied the Caracci, and was not a
stranger to Guido; but in the colouring it seemed as if he had imitated the
Flemish artists. It is reported in Milan, perhaps from the resemblance of
the style, that he instructed Daniel Crespi; a circumstance very
improbable, since Vermiglio continued to work to the year 1675. For we find
this date at the foot of a large picture of the Woman of Samaria, in the
refectory of the PP. Olivetani, in Alessandria, which must be one of his
last works, decorated with a beautiful landscape, and a magnificent view of
the city of Samaria in the distance. I consider him the finest painter in
oil that the ancient state of Piedmont can boast, and as one of the best
Italian artists of his day. Why he painted so near Turin, and yet had no
success in that city, and why he was not distinguished by his own
sovereign, though well received at the court of Mantua, I have not been
able to discover. We find one Rubini, a Piedmontese, certainly not of equal
merit with the last artist, who, about the time of Vermiglio, worked in the
church of S. Vito, in Trevigi, and whom we find mentioned in the MSS. of
that city, or in the description of its pictures.
Giovenal Boetto, celebrated amongst the engravers in Turin, deserves a
place amongst superior artists, from a saloon painted by him in Fossano,
his native place. It is in the Casa Garballi, and contains four pictures in
fresco. The subject is the illustration of various arts and sciences.
Theology is represented by a dispute between the Thomists and Scotists; and
in that piece, and in the others, we must admire the truth of nature in the
portraits, and the powerful chiaroscuro, as well as the design. Little else
of him remains.
Gio. Moneri, some of whose descendants were also painters, was born near
Acqui, and being instructed by Romanelli, he brought with him from Rome the
style of that school. The first proofs of his art were given in Acqui, in
1657, where he painted in the cathedral the picture of the Assumption,
besides a Paradiso in fresco, much commended. He continued to advance in
his art, as we see both in the Presentation in the church of the Capuchins,
and in other pictures of him remaining in the neighbourhood, exhibiting a
greater copiousness, a finer expression, and a stronger relief. It is known
that he worked in Genoa and Milan and their dependencies, and in several
places in Piedmont; but among these we cannot include Turin; nor could it
be easy for a provincial painter to find commissions, when the capital had
artists in sufficient number to form an academy.
Until the year 1652 the professors of the art in Turin did not possess the
form of a society, much less the appearance of an academy. In the above
year they first began to form themselves into a company, which had the name
of St. Luke given to it; and which, in a few years, grew into the academy
of Turin. We may consult, on this subject, the _Memorie Patrie_, published
by the Baron Vernazza. The court, in the mean time, continued their
salaries to the foreign painters, who were the ornament and support of the
academy. They were about this time engaged in embellishing the palace, and
afterwards that delightful residence, which was built from the design of
the same Duke Charles Emanuel II., and had the name of the Veneria Reale.
Their frescos, portraits, and other works, remain to the present day. After
one Baldassar Matthieu of Antwerp, by whom there is a highly prized Supper
of our Lord in the refectory of the Eremo, Gio. Miel, also from the
neighbourhood of Antwerp, a scholar, first of Vandyk, and afterwards of
Sacchi, was appointed painter to the court; a man of a delightful genius,
extolled in Rome for his humorous, and in Piedmont for his serious
subjects. In the soffitto of the great hall, where the body guard of the
king is stationed, are some pictures of Miel, in which, under the fabulous
characters of the heathen divinities, are represented the virtues of the
royal house; he executed some others, and perhaps more beautiful ones, in
the above named villa; and there is an altar-piece by him at Chieri, with
the date of 1654. We trace in all his works his study of the Italian
School; a grandeur and sublimity of ideas, an elevation beyond his
countrymen, an accurate knowledge of the _sotto in su_, and a fine
chiaroscuro, not unaccompanied by great delicacy of colour, particularly in
his cabinet pictures. The talent which he possessed in an extraordinary
manner in figures of a smaller size, he exhibited more especially in the
Veneria Reale, where he painted a set of Huntings of wild Beasts, in eight
pieces, which are amongst the finest of his works in this department of the
art. After him we read of one Banier, a painter to the court; in whose
time, about the year 1678, the company of St. Luke, united since the year
1675 to that of Rome, was, with the royal assent, erected into an academy;
and from this year may be dated the birth of that professional society so
much enlarged in our own days. But of all who were at that time or
afterwards in the service of the royal house, the most celebrated was
Daniel Saiter, or Seiter, of Vienna. I have mentioned him as well as Miel
in the Roman School, nor have I passed him over in the Venetian, in which
he learnt his art, perfecting his style by the study of all the schools of
Italy. His works are found in the palace and in the villas; nor has he
occasion to fear the proximity of Miel himself. He yields to the latter,
indeed, in grace and beauty, but is superior both to him and others in the
force and magic of his colouring. Nor in Turin do we find in him that
incorrect design which Pascoli attributes to him in Rome. But his oil
pictures are by far the most highly finished of his works; as for example,
a Pieta in the court, which we should say was designed in the academy of
the Caracci. He also painted the cupola of the great hospital, and it is
one of the finest frescos of the capital. We also meet with him in the
churches in various places in the state; and we find his works in many
private collections out of Piedmont, as he painted considerably in Venice
and in Rome.
Another foreigner, Carlo Delfino, a Frenchman, also flourished at this
time; an artist of very considerable merit. From the registers of the
archives we learn that he was painter to Prince Philibert; and from an
inspection of his works we may conjecture that he was more employed in the
churches than at the court, where we find him an animated and lively
portrait painter and colourist. He painted some altar-pieces for the city,
in which is displayed a genius more disposed to the natural than to the
ideal, and a fire which gives life to the gestures and composition; but
sometimes, if I do not estimate him wrongly, his ideas seem forced. Thus at
the church of S. Carlo, wishing to paint a S. Agostino overpowered by the
love of God, he represented a S. Joseph holding in his arms the infant
Christ, who from a cross-bow directs an arrow against the breast of the
saint. The saint struck, falls into the arms of angels, who employ
themselves in supporting and comforting him. Delfino had a scholar in Gio.
Batista Brambilla, who painted at S. Dalmazio a large picture on canvass,
of the Martyrdom of that saint, and was an artist of a correct style and a
good colourist.
There were other painters employed by the court from the middle to the end
of the century: some as portrait painters, as Monsieur Spirito, the Cav.
Mombasilio, Theodore Matham of Haerlem, and others employed in larger works
in oils and fresco. Giacinto Brandi, already mentioned among the scholars
of Lanfranc, painted in the palace a sfondo, in competition with some
others painted there by Saiter. Agostino Scilla of Messina, whom we have
elsewhere noticed, painted some Virtues there, conjointly with Saiter. He
was a fine artist, of more talent than industry. Gio. Andrea Casella of
Lugano, a scholar of Pietro da Cortona, and one of his best followers, and
sometimes in design an imitator of Bernino, painted in the Veneria Reale
some fables, assisted by Giacomo, his nephew. Gio. Paolo Recchi da Como
worked there in the same way in fresco, with the assistance of his nephew
Giannandrea. Gio. Peruzzini, of Ancona, a scholar of Simon da Pesaro, was
also patronised by the court, and was created a cavalier, and contributed
by his lectures to the instruction of youth.
Casella, Recchi, and Peruzzini, repaired to Turin and united their talents
in the embellishment of the churches of that city; and we may observe that,
towards the close of the century, a great part of the commissions were
executed by foreigners. To those already recorded we may add Triva,
Legnani, Cairo, and also a Gio. Batista Pozzi, who not succeeding to his
wishes in his own country, as I believe, decorated with frescos a vast
number of walls in Turin, and through all the Piedmontese. He was a hasty
practitioner, but sometimes produced a good general effect, as in the S.
Cristoforo of Vercelli. We find another, and a better artist of the same
name in P. Andrea, a Jesuit, who resided for a long time in Turin, where,
in the Congregazione de' Mercanti, he left four histories from the life of
the Saviour, painted in oil in his best manner, a manner derived from
Rubens, chequered by those beautiful and playful lights which may be said
to irradiate the composition. He also painted in fresco, in the church of
his order, but he was not satisfied with that work; and having afterwards
also to ornament the vault of the church of his order at Mondovi, he
repeated the subject, and executed it more to his satisfaction. There also
we find Il Genovesino, so called from his native place, not so well known
in Turin as in the state, particularly at Alessandria; a painter by no
means deficient in grace and colour, whence he is much esteemed in
cabinets. The PP. Predicatori have a S. Domenico by him, and a S. Thomas in
two altars of their church; the Sig. Marchese Ambrogio Ghilini, a Christ
praying in the Garden; the Marchese Carlo Guasco, two Madonnas, with the
holy infant sleeping, two different designs. The name of this artist was
Giuseppe Calcia, who in consequence of living in a foreign country, is not
noticed in his native history, and in the _Notizia delle Pitture d'Italia_,
he is confused with Marco Genovesini, a Milanese mentioned by Orlandi. This
artist was a considerable machinist, of whom there are no remains in Milan,
except what he painted in the church of the Augustines; the genealogical
tree, or history of that order, in the gallery, and two grand lateral
compositions, in which the figures are finely varied and coloured, but not
disposed and put into action with equal art. It would occupy too much time
to enumerate all the foreigners who worked at that time in Turin, or
throughout the state; and some of whom we have occasionally noticed in the
various schools of Italy.
The native painters of reputation were not numerous at this time; and the
most considerable, if I mistake not, were Caravoglia and Taricco.
Bartolommeo Caravoglia, a Piedmontese, was said to be the scholar of
Guercino: he followed his master's footsteps at a distance, affecting a
contrast of light and shade; but his lights are much less clear than those
of Guercino, and the shadows not so strong; a thing which does not occur in
the works of the genuine scholars of that master. Notwithstanding this
feebleness, he pleases us by a certain modest harmony which pervades his
pictures, and governs also the invention, the design, the architecture, and
the other decorative parts of his composition. In Turin is to be seen the
Miracle of the Eucharist, painted in the church of the _Corpus Domini_,
which, to perpetuate the occurrence of that event in Turin in 1453, was
erected in a sumptuous manner, and magnificently decorated.
"Sebastiano Taricco was born in Cherasco, a city of Piedmont, in the year
1645; and it clearly appears from his works that he studied with Guido and
with Domenichino in the great school of the Caracci." Thus far his
historian. I have endeavoured, but in vain, to find any record of the
residence of these two great masters in Bologna in the year 1645, when
Taricco was born; they were at that time both dead. I therefore conjecture
that the writer meant to say, that Taricco studied in Bologna the works of
the Caracci, as Guido and Domenichino had done before him. That he acquired
the principles of his art in that city is believed in Piedmont; and his
manner does not contradict this supposition. The truth is, that at that
time all Italy, as it were, was turned to the imitation of the Bolognese;
and Turin, as I have previously observed, had already a few specimens.
Above all they possessed specimens of Guido, and of his followers, Carlo
Nuvolone and Gio. Peruzzini; and all might influence the style of
Sebastiano, which was select in the heads, and sufficiently pleasing in
general, but of too great facility, and without that refinement which
distinguishes the classic painters. This I say after seeing the picture of
the Trinity, and others of his oil pictures at Turin: but I have heard that
the Sala of the Sig. Gotti, painted by him in fresco in his native place,
and various other works by him interspersed through that vicinity, inspire
a higher opinion of his talents. In the seventh volume of the _Lettere
Pittoriche_ there is mention made of a picture of S. Martino Maggiore at
Bologna; where are represented the Saints Giovacchino and Anna, and where
there is subscribed the initials TAR, probably Taricco, as has been
elsewhere conjectured. But the style of this picture is like that of
Sabbatini, which is in fact a more ancient style than that which Taricco
has exhibited in his authenticated works.
Alessandro Mari, of Turin, resided only for a short time in his native
city, nor did he leave any public works there. He changed both his country
and his school, and studied first under Piola, next under Liberi, and again
under Pasinelli; always uniting the practice of painting with the
cultivation of poetry. He ultimately became a celebrated copyist, and a
successful designer of capricci and symbolical representations, by which he
established a reputation in Milan, and afterwards in Spain, where he died.
We find the name of Isabella dal Pozzo inscribed at the foot of a picture
at S. Francis, which represents the Virgin, together with S. Biagio and
other saints. The birth-place of this fair artist is unknown to me; but I
may observe that, in 1666, when she painted, there were not many better
artists in Turin. Somewhat later flourished Gio. Antonio Mareni, a scholar
of Baciccio, by whom there is a beautiful picture noticed in the _Guide_.
Towards the beginning of the eighteenth century were employed in those
churches, and sometimes in competition with each other, Antonio Mari and
Tarquinio Grassi, whether of the family of Niccolo Grassi of Venice, who
painted at S. Carlo, I cannot say, but certainly the father of a Gio.
Batista. Tarquinio is well known in Turin, and seems to have derived some
portion of his style from Cignani and the Bolognese of that age.
Monferrato was not deficient in good artists in the seventeenth century.
Some of these I have mentioned in the train of Lanini; others in that of
Moncalvo. I shall here mention only Evangelista Martinotti, the scholar of
Salvator Rosa, of great excellence in landscapes, small figures, and
animals, as Orlandi informs us. I may add, that he succeeded also in nobler
subjects; a Baptism of our Lord, in the Duomo of Casale, is shewn as his,
and is a highly finished performance. There are two works there in public
by a Raviglione di Casale, than whom, after Musso, I do not think that
Monferrato has produced a more commendable artist: but we are nevertheless
ignorant of his name, his age, and his school. Ferdinando Cairo was a
respectable disciple of Franceschini in Bologna: he afterwards established
himself at Brescia, where he continued, with Boni and others, to profess
that easy style, and the latter city possesses his best works.
SCHOOL OF PIEDMONT AND THE
ADJACENT TERRITORY.
EPOCH III.
_School of Beaumont, and Restoration of the Academy._
The eighteenth century was graced by the reign of three successive princes,
all lovers of the fine arts, and was consequently rich in patronage; but
from the decline of painting it was not equally rich in the production of
great works. Saiter, who lived some years in this century, was succeeded at
the court by Agnelli, a Roman, whose style was a mixture of those of
Cortona and Maratta. He painted a large hall, which is filled with select
pictures, and which now bears his name. Agnelli was in his turn succeeded
by Claudio Beaumont of Turin, who after having studied in his native place,
repaired to Rome, where he employed himself for a considerable time in
copying the works of Raffaello, the Caracci, and Guido. He did not much
regard the masters of the Roman School of that day, considering them
feeble: he deferred to Trevisani, and aimed at emulating his execution and
the vigour of his colouring: he was also desirous of studying the works of
the old masters at Venice, but was prevented by his domestic circumstances.
On his return to Turin, he became distinguished for the noble style he had
acquired in Rome. To appreciate him correctly we must inspect the works of
his best time; as the Deposition from the Cross in the church of the S.
Croce, or the pictures in fresco in the royal library, where, under various
symbols, he has celebrated the ruling family; adding to it a Genius with a
cross of a cavaliere, which was the reward he was ambitious of, and which
he obtained. He decorated also other rooms with pictures in fresco; the
Rape of Helen in one cabinet, and the Judgment of Paris in another, are his
productions, alike happy in their general effect and in their separate
parts.
The court gave an additional stimulus to his industry by employing, in
competition with him, many eminent foreigners, particularly in the reign of
King Charles, to embellish the palace, the villas, and the churches of
royal foundation; among the latter of which the most remarkable is the
church of the Sopperga, erected by Victor II., which contains the family
monuments. Beaumont was in consequence brought into competition with
Sebastiano Ricci, Giaquinto, Guidoboni, De Mura, Galeotti, and Gio. Batista
Vanloo, the celebrated scholar of Luti. Vanloo in Turin distinguished
himself both in the frescos of the villas, and in church pictures; and had
with him Carlo, his brother and his scholar, who was his assistant, and
executed even more works than he. He painted the beautiful decorations of a
cabinet in the Palazzo, consisting of subjects from the Jerusalem of Tasso.
These princes were moreover accustomed to send commissions to the most
distinguished foreign painters, such as Solimene, Trevisani, Masucci, and
Pittoni; which gave a stimulus to Beaumont to rival them, or at least to
endeavour not to be left too far behind. And thus in his best works he
sustains his fame in a commendable manner; at one time excelling in design
those who conquer him in colour; at another time surpassing in spirit of
execution those who excel him in design. It is the general opinion that his
genius declined as he advanced in years; and this is attributed to his
superintendance of the working of tapestry, for which, while he made the
cartoons, he gradually degenerated into negligence of design, vulgarity in
his heads, and above all, crudeness and want of harmony in his colours; a
defect not uncommon in those who survived him.
His memory is deservedly held in veneration in his native place. He was the
first to form the Turin academy on the model of the greater institutions of
that kind: so that it seemed to date a new birth from his time, in 1736
(for it was not before extended to all branches of the art) under the
appellation of the Royal Academy; as appears from the Orazione of
Tagliazucchi, and the poetry annexed, in a little volume edited in Turin in
1736, entitled, _Orazione e Poesie per la Instituzione dell'Accademia del
disegno_, in 8vo. Beaumont educated not only many painters of merit, but
also engravers, tapestry-workers, and modellers and statuaries; from which
epoch the national cultivation of the fine arts has increased, far beyond
the example of former times. Some of those who were the scholars of
Beaumont in painting still survive. Some are deceased, (and these alone
hold a place in this work,) of similar style, though not of equal talents
with their master. Vittorio Blanseri was considered the best amongst them,
and was on that account chosen by the court to succeed Beaumont. The three
pictures by him at S. Pelagia, and particularly a S. Luigi fainting in the
arms of an angel, are much esteemed in Turin; and if I err not, he is
superior to his master in the distribution of light and shade. A more
correct designer than Blanseri, but inferior in poetical invention, and in
knowledge of harmony and colouring, was Gio. Molinari, who painted some
pictures in the churches; one of which is at S. Bernardo di Vercelli, a
composition of saints, well disposed, with good action, and conducted with
great care. In Turin there is an Addolorata by him at the Regio Albergo
delle Virtu; others in various places in the state; amongst which in the
abbey of S. Benigno is a St. John the Baptist, with a landscape by
Cignaroli. In private collections we meet with his historical pieces and
his portraits: he painted one of the king, which was highly applauded, and
has been very frequently copied. Owing to his character, which was
naturally timid, reserved, and modest, he painted history less than he
ought to have done. This artist was honoured by the Baron Vernazza with an
elegant eulogium, which will confer a lasting honour on his memory. He died
nearly at the same time as another eminent Piedmontese of the name of
Tesio. Whether or not Tesio was instructed in the art by Beaumont, or by
others, I cannot state; but I know that he repaired to Rome, and there
became one of the best scholars of Mengs; and at Moncalieri, a delightful
residence of the royal family, are to be seen some of the finest specimens
of his talents. Felice Cervetti and Mattia Franceschini worked sometimes
alone, sometimes in competition, with more facility but less finish, and
are pretty frequently met with in Turin. But in Turin, and throughout the
state, Antonio Milocco is better known than these, or perhaps any other
painter. He was not the scholar, but for some time the companion of the
Cavalier Beaumont; more dry than he in design, less cultivated, and
inferior to him in all the qualities of a painter: but from a peculiar
facility he was often employed by private individuals, and sometimes by the
court.
About the same period Giancarlo Aliberti flourished in Asti, his native
city, which he adorned with many large compositions. The best of these are
at S. Agostino, where, in the cupola of the church he has represented the
titular saint borne to heaven by a band of angels; and in the presbytery,
the same saint baptizing the newly converted in the church of his town of
Ippona. The subject is well conceived; the perspective, which the vaulting
of the edifice rendered difficult, is correctly preserved; the architecture
is magnificent; the expression of the figures is in unison with the august
ceremony: the style participates of the Roman and Bolognese of those times.
He would probably have left some works of a higher order in the cathedral,
a fine church, which was intended to have been wholly decorated by him; but
in consequence of demanding fifteen years for the completion of his work,
he was deprived of the commission; nor was it difficult to find one to
execute it quickly enough, without exciting the jealousy of Aliberti. P.
della Valle found in his style a mixture of Maratta, of Gio. da S.
Giovanni, and of Coreggio; heads and feet which one should attribute to
Guido or Domenichino; forms peculiar to the Caracci; drapery of Paolo,
colours of Guercino, a Sacrifice of Abraham, imitated from Mecherino. I had
not myself time to form so many comparisons. The Abate Aliberti, his son,
painted in many of the above-named cities, and, (which I have not found in
the father,) in the capital. There is a Holy Family, of fine effect,
painted by him in the church of the Carmine, though in the colouring it is
not exempt from that greenish tinge which was then in vogue in Italy, and
which still predominates in the works of some of our artists.
Francesco Antonio Cuniberti, of Savigliano, a fresco painter of some
reputation in the decoration of cupolas and ceilings, worked in his native
place and its neighbourhood. Pietro Gualla di Casalmonferrato also employed
himself in fresco, and likewise painted in oil in many places of the state,
and in the metropolis. Although he applied himself late to the study of his
art, he became a portrait painter of great spirit. Nor ought he to have
gone beyond this province, neither possessing a knowledge of design, nor
genius equal to greater attempts. When verging on age, he assumed the habit
of a friar of S. Paul, and in Milan undertook to ornament a cupola of the
church of that order; but he died before he had finished his work.
Another department of the art was cultivated in a distinguished manner by
Domenico Olivieri of Turin, a man born to amuse by his singular personal
appearance, his lively conversation, and the humorous productions of his
pencil. His cabinet pictures of spirited caricatures in the style of Laer,
and other eminent Flemish artists, are well known in the collections of
Piedmont. In his time the royal collection, by the death of Prince Eugene,
was enriched by the addition of nearly four hundred Flemish pictures; which
are still distinguishable from others by the highly finished carving and
fine taste of the frames. No one profited more than Olivieri from the
imitation of these works. If he had possessed the lucid clearness of their
tints, he would have passed for a Flemish artist. He is happy in his
subject, strong in his colours, and free in his touch. The court has two
large pictures of his, crowded with figures of a span in size: one of which
is a market scene, with charlatans, drawers of teeth, villagers
quarrelling, and the variety of incident usually furnished by a busy
assemblage of the vulgar. It might indeed, from its humour, be called a
little Bernesque poem. He occasionally employed his talents in sacred
subjects, as in the Miracle of the Sacrament, which he represented by a
number of small figures in two pictures, which are preserved in the
sacristy of the Corpus Domini. His style was inherited by one Graneri, who
imitated him successfully, and died only a few years since.
The court had also a painter from Prague, of the name of Francesco Antonio
Meyerle, commonly called Monsieur Meyer, who did not acquire so much fame
from his larger works as from his small pictures in the Flemish style: in
the latter he was indeed excellent. He was also a fine painter of
portraits. The Bishop of Vercelli possesses one of an old man, scrutinizing
some object or other with an eye-glass, executed with great truth and
humour; and in the same city, where he spent his latter days, his works are
frequently met with, and the more prized the smaller they are found in
size. In landscapes and other ornamental pictures, painted in a bold
Venetian style, and for distant effect, a Piedmontese, of the name of Paolo
Foco, distinguished himself, who lived for a long time in Casale, where the
greater number of his works are to be found. He, too, attempted figures on
a larger scale, but with little success.
In portraits, in the time of Orlandi, a lady of the name of Anna Metrana,
whose mother also was a painter, was much esteemed. In our days a similar
reputation was obtained in Bologna, by Marcantonio Riverditi, of
Alessandria, a very good follower of that school. He painted also in the
churches in a clear chaste style, far removed from mannerism; and amongst
other pictures which he painted for the church of the monks of Camoldoli,
is a Conception, in which he manifested his predilection for Guido Reni. He
died in the same city in the year 1774.
I have found, in the course of my reading, one Michela, whether or not of
Piedmont I cannot determine, who, in the royal castle painted perspectives,
ornamented with figures by Olivieri; a work executed in competition with
Lucatelli, Marco Ricci, and Gian Paolo Pannini, celebrated artists of those
times. For the more extensive decorations of the churches and the theatres
we find two artists often employed; Dellamano, of Modena, mentioned by us
in the second chapter of the Lombard Schools,[77] and Gio. Batista Crosato,
of Venice, whose genius and fine taste are extolled by Sig. Zanetti. He has
not, however, been able to adduce more than one public picture, in which
branch, and in every other of a figurist, he was less admired than in
perspective. He is one of those painters who deceive the eye by a strong
relief, and he thus gives the semblance of reality to his imitations. He
has left proofs of this quality in various parts of Piedmont, where he
generally resided; and the works which do the most honour to his memory are
at the Vigna della Regina. He conferred a benefit on the School of
Piedmont, from his instruction of Bernardino Galliari, a celebrated
perspective painter, particularly for the theatres, and of great fame in
Milan, in Berlin, and in other places beyond the mountains. To this
respected professor his scholars are indebted for their accurate taste in
art. The state has also produced other painters in figures and in
landscape; nor will any impartial person blame me for not having
particularised every individual of them. On the contrary, I fear that
several names here inserted by me, may appear to some of my readers
scarcely worthy of admission. Such persons ought however to consider, that
the mediocrity of the times compels the historian to notice artists of
mediocrity.
Footnote 77: See vol. iv. p. 69.
The rules of the academy, introduced in Turin in 1778, have not subsisted
sufficiently long to allow us to judge of their result, as I have done with
regard to older establishments. They were given to the public the same
year, from the royal press;[78] and do honour as well to the good taste as
to the munificence of Victor Amadeus III. His august father had, indeed,
already prepared a domicile for the fine arts in the halls of the
university, and had founded the new academy of design, under the direction
of the first painter of the court. It has since received fresh lustre from
the patronage of the present king, and has been enlarged by professorships,
stipends, and laws, and aids of all kinds for studious youth. Turin has, in
the present day, exhibited productions in painting, such as, except in
Rome, are to be found in few capitals of Italy; and in architecture,
statuary, and bronze, stands almost unrivalled. I do not particularise the
living artists, as they may easily be found in the New City Guide, or in
the preface to volume xi. of Vasari, printed in Siena; and some of their
names have become better known from the voice of public applause than from
the pens of writers.
Footnote 78: There is annexed to them a learned Treatise, by
the Count Felice Durando di Villa, with very erudite and
copious notes.
I here close my History of the Art of Painting. The Indexes, which form the
sixth volume, the first, containing the nomenclature and the different ages
of the artists; the second, a list of the writers from whom I have derived
my information; and the third, a reference to some things more particularly
deserving of notice, will complete the work.
END OF VOL. V.
Transcriber's Notes:
Standardized spacing after apostrophes in Italian names and phrases.
Standardized inconsistent hyphenation. For consistency with prior volumes
in this series of books, 'bassi-rilievi' was changed to 'bassi-relievi' and
'master-piece' to 'masterpiece.'
Moved footnotes to the end of the paragraph in which the anchor occurs.
Retained archaic spelling and punctuation, except as noted below:
'an' added to Footnote 1 ... to supply an abundance of valuable ...
'Comunal' to 'Communal' ... in the Communal Collection ...
'reconducts' to 're-conducts' ... he re-conducts him to Bologna ...
'emiment' to 'eminent' ...both eminent ornamental painters ...
'Ceseno' to 'Cesena' ... a pupil of Raffaello at Cesena ...
'Tintoret' to 'Tintoretto' ... under Titian and Tintoretto at Venice....
'chiariscuri' to 'chiaroscuri' ... some chiaroscuri happily enough ...
'Ferrau' to 'Ferrau' ... He flourished after Ferrau ...
added 'of' ... names not unworthy of a place in history ...'
'desart' to 'desert' for consistency with remaining text
... desert of Judea,...
... The Saint preaching in the Desert ...
'Barruffaldi' to 'Baruffaldi' ... relating to Baruffaldi's MS....
'Mezzarata' to 'Mezzaratta' ...the church of Mezzaratta;...
'Winckelman' to 'Winckelmann' ... and of Winckelmann,...
'intituled' to 'entitled' ... in 1736, entitled,...