Illustration: Chart
But with all his pains he has not satisfied the public expectation, as is observed by Signor Piacenza, who published the splendid Turin edition of Baldinucci as far as the life of Franciabigio, accompanied with very useful notes and dissertations.[50]It is alleged, that to make this tree fair and flourishing, he has inserted in it branches dexterously stolen from his neighbours, who have not failed to reclaim their property. I rejoice to write in an age when the opinions of Baldinucci have few followers even in Florence. The excellent work entitled "Etruria Pittrice," composed and applauded in that city in proportion as it is free from the prejudice of former times, proves this sufficiently. Following in like manner the light of history andof reason, unswayed by party spirit, I shall in the first place observe, that among all the scholars of Cimabue, I do not find any named by Vasari, but Giotto and Arnolfo di Lapo, concerning whom it is certain that the historian was in error. Lapo and Arnolfo are the names of two different sculptors,disciplesof Niccolò Pisano, who, being already versed in the art, assisted him in 1266 to adorn with history pieces the pulpit of the cathedral at Siena, an authentic document of which remains in the archives of the work.[51]Thus this branch of the tree belongs to Pisa, unless Cimabue have a claim to it, by contributing in some degree to the instruction of Arnolfo in the principles of architecture. Andrea Tafi was the pupil of Apollonius, a Greek artist, and assisted him in the church of St. John, in some pieces of mosaic, from scriptural history, which, according to Vasari, are without invention and without design; but he improved as he proceeded, for the last part of the work was less despicable than the beginning. Cimabue is not named in these works, nor in what Tafi afterwards executed without assistance; and as he was old when Cimabue began to teach, I cannot conceive how he can be reckoned the scholar of the latter, or a branch from that root. Gaddo Gaddi, says Vasari, was contemporary with Cimabue, and was his intimate friend, as well as that of Tafi; through their friendship he receivedhints for his improvement in mosaic. At first he followed the manner of the Greeks, mingled with that of Cimabue. After long working in this manner, he went to Rome, and there improved his style, while employed on the façade of S. Maria Maggiore, by his own genius, assisted in my opinion by imitating the ancient workers in mosaic. He also painted some altar-pieces, and I saw at Florence one of his crucifixions, of a square figure, and very respectable workmanship. This circumstance induces me to consider Gaddo, in some measure, among the imitators of Cimabue, but not one of his pupils; for it appears to me unjust, should a contemporary communicate with an artist either as a friend, or for the sake of advice on the art, to set him immediately down as a branch from that stock. Vasari relates of Ugolino Senese, that he was a tenacious follower of the Greek style, and inclined more to imitate Cimabue than Giotto. He does not on this account, indeed, expressly say, that he had been his scholar; he rather hints that he had other instructors at Siena, for which reason it will be better to consider him under that school, there being no reason to doubt that he belonged to it. In that of Bologna we should also class Oderigo, who, as a miniature painter, was more likely to employ some other master than a painter in fresco like Cimabue. In the mean time it is useful to reflect, that were the method of Baldinucci to be pursued, nothing authentic would remain in a history of painting; and theschools of the early masters would increase beyond all limits, were the scholars of each master to be confounded with his friends, acquaintances, and contemporaries, who paid attention to his maxims.
It is still more strange to peruse the account of the connexion between the first and secondary branches of the tree, or if one may use the expression, between the children and grandchildren of Cimabue. There is nothing natural in their succession, and the labour is wholly useless which derives the professors of every fine art, of whatever country, past, present, and to come, from one individual. F. Ristoro and F. Sisto were eminent architects, who rebuilt the grand bridges of the Carraja and the Holy Trinity, about 1264, when Cimabue was twenty-four years of age. Baldinucci writes of both, that they were, perhaps, disciples or imitators of Arnolfo, from the state of their works. But how comes he to found on aperhaps, what he, a little before, had vaunted as aclear demonstration? And then, on what does thisperhapsrest? Is it not more probable that Arnolfo, and Cimabue himself, imitated them? That Fra Mino da Turrita should appear in his tree as a scholar of Tafi, and as posterior to Cimabue, is no less absurd. In 1225, a date omitted by Baldinucci, Mino wrought in mosaic at Florence, fifteen years before Cimabue was born. In his old age he commenced a similar work in the cathedral of Pisa, "in the same style in which he had executed his other labours," says Vasari, who adds,that Tafi and Gaddi (both his inferiors in age and reputation) assisted him. The work was "little more than begun," from which we may infer that they were not long associated. It seems to me extraordinary how Baldinucci could assert, "it appears that Vasari imagined that Mino was the pupil of Andrea Tafi," which is contrary to fact: instead of the "clear demonstration," which he promised, he has amused us with "it appears," which is evident only to himself. At length, wishing to make us believe that Giovanni Pisano the sculptor is apupilof Giotto the painter, he again turns to Vasari, from whom he brings evidence that Giovanni, having completed his work in the cathedral of Arezzo, and being then established at Orvieto, came to Florence to examine the architecture of S. Maria del Fiore, and to become acquainted with Giotto: he further notices two pieces which he executed at Florence, the one a Madonna between two little angels, over the gate of the cathedral; the other a small baptism of St. John; this happened in 1297. Here Baldinucci hazards a reflection, that "if one compares the other works of this artist with the above mentioned figure of the Virgin Mary ... we may recognize in it such improvement ... and so much of the manner of Giotto, that there cannot remain a doubt but he is to be reckoned a disciple of this master, both in respect of his imitation of him, and his observance of his precepts,which he followed during so many years in the exerciseof the profession." Every attentive reader will discover here not a clear demonstration of the assumption, but a mass of difficulties. He compares this to the other figures made by Pisano at Florence, before he was acquainted with Giotto; and yet this was the first which he there executed. He wishes to make Giovanni, already sixty years of age, an imitator of Giotto, then twenty-one, when it is much more probable that Giotto would follow him, the best sculptor of the age. There is no foundation for the supposed instruction which Giovanni received from Giotto, who, shortly after, departed for Rome; where, after some other works, he executed the mosaic of theboatin 1298. In short, the whole question of preceptorship rests on no better authority than a single figure. How great are the inconsistencies in this account, and how absurd the explanations and repetitions which are offered! What further shall we say? Is it not lamentable thus to see so many old and honoured artists compelled, in spite of history, to become pupils to masters so much younger and less celebrated than themselves? I know that various writers have censured Baldinucci as an historian of doubtful fidelity, artful in concealing or misrepresenting facts, captious in expounding the opinions of Vasari, and more intent on captivating than instructing his readers. I am not ignorant that his system was controverted even in his own country, as appears from his work published there, entitledDelle Veglie; and that Signor Marmi, a learned Florentine, strongly suspected hisfair dealing, of which we shall adduce a proof under the Sienese school. Nevertheless I take into account that he wrote in an age less informed in regard to the history of painting, and that he defended an opinion then much more common in Italy than at present. He had promised Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici to demonstrate it incontrovertibly for the honour of his country, and of the house of Medici, and had received advice and assistance from him in order to encourage him to defend it, and to refute the contrary opinion. Under the necessity of answering Malvasia,[52]a severe writer against Vasari, and of proving his assertion, that the people of Bologna, no less than those of Siena, of Pisa, and other places, had learned the art from the Florentines, he formed a false system, the absurdity of which he did not immediately perceive; but he at last discovered it, as Signor Piacenza observes, and succeeded in escaping from its trammels. The most ingenious builders of systems have subjected themselves very frequently to the same disadvantage, and the history of literature abounds with similar instances.
Having examined this sophism, I cannot subscribe to the opinion of Baldinucci; but shall comprise my own opinion in two propositions:—Thefirst is, That the improvement of painting is not due to Florence alone. It has been remarked, that the career of human genius, in the progress of the fine arts, is the same in every country. When the man is dissatisfied with what the child learned, he gradually passes from the ruder elements to what is less so, and from thence, to diligence and precision; he afterwards advances to the grand, and the select, and at length attains facility of execution.
Such was the progress of sculpture among the Grecians, and such has been that of painting in our own country. When Correggio advanced from laborious minuteness to grandeur, it was not necessary for him to know that such was the progress of Raffaello, or, at any rate, to have witnessed it: in like manner, nothing more was wanting to the painters of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, than to learn that hitherto they had pursued a wrong path; this was sufficient to guide them into a better path, and it was not then untried; for sculpture had already improved design. We have, in fact, seen the Pisani, and their scholars, preceding the Florentines; and, as their precursors, diffusing a new system of design over Italy. It would be injustice to overlook them in the improvement of painting, in which design is of such importance; or to suppose that they did not signally contribute to its improvement. But if Italy be indebted solely to Cimabue and Giotto for its progress, all the good artists should have come from Florence. And yet, in the cathedral of Orvieto (to instance thefinest work, perhaps, of that age), we find, from the beginning of the fourteenth century, many artists from various other places, who would not have been called to ornament such a building, had they not previously enjoyed the reputation of able masters.[53]Add to this, if we are to derive all painters from those two masters, every style of painting should resemble that of their Florentine disciples. But on examining the old paintings of Siena, of Venice, of Bologna, and of Parma, they are found to be dissimilar in idea, in choice of colouring, and in taste of composition. All, then, are not derived from Florence.
My second proposition is, That no people then excelled in, nor contributed, by example, so much to the progress of art as the Florentines. Rival cities may boast artists of merit, even in the first era of painting; their writers may deny the fame of Giotto and his disciples; but truth is more powerful than declamation. Giotto was the father of the new method of painting, as Boccaccio was called the father of the new species of prose composition. After the time of the latter, any subject could be elegantly treated of in prose; after the former, painting could express all subjects with propriety. A Simon da Siena, a Stefano da Firenze, a Pietro Laurati, added charms to the art; but they and others owe to Giotto the transition from the old to a new manner. He essayed it in Tuscany,and while yet a young man, greatly improved it, to the general admiration of all classes. He did not leave Assisi until called to Rome by Boniface VIII., nor did he take up his residence at Avignon, until invited to France by Clement V. Before going there, he was induced to stop at Padua, and on returning some years after, he again resided at the same place. At that time many parts of Italy were under a republican form of government; but abounded in potent families, that bore sway in various quarters, and which, while adorning their country, aimed at its subjugation. Giotto, beyond every other, was in universal request, both at home and abroad. The Polentani of Ravenna, the Malatesti of Rimino, the Estensi of Ferrara, the Visconti of Milan, the Scala of Verona, Castruccio of Lucca, and also Robert, king of Naples, sought to engage him with eagerness, and for some period retained him in their service. Milan, Urbino, Arezzo, and Bologna, were desirous to possess his works; and Pisa, that, in herCampo Santo, afforded an opportunity for the choicest artists of Tuscany to vie with one another,[54]as of old they contended at Corinth,and in Delphi,[55]obtained from him those historic paintings from the life of Job, which are greatly admired, though they are amongst his early productions. When Giotto was no more, similar applause was bestowed on his disciples: cities contended for the honour of inviting them, and they were even more highly estimated than the native artists themselves. We shall find Cavallini and Capanna in the Roman School; in that of Bologna the two Faentini, Pace, and Ottaviano, with Guglielmo da Forli; Menabuoi at Padua; Memmi, who was either a scholar or assistant of Giotto, at Avignon; and we shall find traces of the successors of the same school throughout all Italy. This work will indicate the names of some of them; it will point out the style of others; without including the great number who, in every province, have been withdrawn from our view, for the purpose of replacing old pictures with others in the new manner. Giotto thus became the model for students during the whole of the fourteenth century, as was Raffaello in the sixteenth, and the Caracci in the subsequent century: nor can I find a fourth manner that has been so generally received in Italy as that of those three schools. There have been some who, from the inspiration of their own genius, had adopted a new manner, but they were little known or admired beyond the precincts of their own country. Of the Florentines alone can it be asserted,that they diffused the modern style from one extremity of Italy to the other: in the restoration of painting, though not all, yet the chief praise belongs to them; and this forms my second proposition.
I proceed more willingly to the sequel of my work, having escaped from that part of it in which, amid the contradictory sentiments of authors, I have often suspended my pen, mindful of the maxim,Historia nihil falsi audeat dicere, nihil veri non audeat. Resuming the subject of Florence, after the death of her great artist in 1336, I find painters had there prodigiously multiplied, as I shall presently, from undoubted testimony, proceed to prove. Not long afterwards, that is, in 1349, the painters associated themselves into a religious fraternity, which they denominated the Society of St. Luke, first established in S. Maria Nuova, but afterwards in S. Maria Novella. This was not the first that had arisen in Italy, as Baldinucci affirms: in 1290 there was a company of painters previously established at Venice, of which St. Luke was the patron, the laws of which, it is believed, are still preserved in the church of St. Sophia.[56]But neither this, the Florentine, nor that of Bologna, can be called academies for design; they were only the results of Christian devotion, a sort of school, such as formerly existed, and still exist in many of the arts. They did not consistof painters alone; these always possessed the most elevated rank; but in the same place were assembled artists "in metal and in wood, whose works partook, more or less, of design;" as is related by Baldinucci, in describing the Florentine association. In that of Venice were comprehended basket-makers, gilders, and the lowest daubers; in that of Bologna were included even saddlers, and scabbard-makers; who were only divided from the painters by means of lawsuits and decisions. That unrefined age did not as yet acknowledge the dignity of painting; it denominated those artists master workmen, whom we now call professors of the art, and it called shops what we name studies. I have often doubted, whether the progress of the arts was so rapid among us as in Greece, because, there, painting, either from the beginning or a very early era, was considered as a liberal art: with us its dignity was much longer in being acknowledged.
He who desires to discover the origin of those associations, will find it in the works composed of different arts then most in use, of which I shall treat somewhat fully, for the sake of illustrating the history. A little above I mentioned basket-makers: at that time, all kinds of furniture, such as cupboards, benches, and chests, were wrought by mechanics, and then painted, especially when intended as the furniture of new married women. Many ancient cabinet pictures have been cut out of such pieces of furniture, and, by this means, preservedto later ages. As for images on altars, through the whole of the fourteenth century, they were not formed, as at present, on a separate piece from the surrounding ornaments. There were made little altars, or dittici,[57]in many parts of Italy, calledAncone; they first shaped the wood, and laboriously ornamented it with carving. The design was conformed to the Teutonic, or, as it is called, the Gothic architecture, seen in the façades of churches built in that age. The whole work was a load of minuteness, consisting of little tabernacles, pyramids, and niches; and various doors and windows, with semi-circular and pointed arches, were represented on the surface of the panel; a style very characteristic of that period. I have sometimes there observed, in the middle, little statues inmezzo-relievo.[58]Most frequently the painter designed these figures or busts of saints: sometimes there were also prepared various sorts oflittle forms, or moulds—formelle—in which to represent histories. Often there was a step added to the little altar, where, in several compartments, were likewise exhibited histories of our Saviour, of the Virgin, and of the martyrs, either real or feigned.[59]Sometimes various compartments were prepared, in which their lives were represented. The carvers in wood were so vain of their craft, that they often inscribed their own names before that of the painter.[60]
Even pictures for rooms were fashioned by the carvers into triangular and square forms, which they surrounded with heavy borders, with rude foliage, lace, or Arabesque ornaments around them. In that age, pictures were rarely committed to canvass alone, though some such are to be seen at Florence, and more among the Venetians and people of Bologna; but panels were most frequently employed. The borders often inclosed portions ofcanvass, not unfrequently of parchment, and sometimes of leather, which, in all probability, were prepared by those who usually wrought in such materials; and this is the reason why such artists, and even in some instances saddlers, were sometimes associated with painters.
History informs us that shields for war, or the tournament, and also various equestrian accoutrements, as the saddles and trappings of horses, were ornamented with painting, a custom which was retained till the time of Francia, as Vasari mentions in his life; hence, armourers and saddlers became associated with painters. Among them in like manner might be included those who prepared walls for painting in fresco, and who covered them with a reddish ground, which not unfrequently is still discovered in the flaws. On this colour the figures were designed, and such walls were the cartoons of the old masters. The stucco workers also assisted them in those relieved ornaments we see in fresco paintings. I believe they used moulds in those works, which seem nothing else than globules, flowerets, and little stars, formed with a stamp, such as we see on gilt plaister, on leather, on board, and on playing-cards. On whatever substance they painted, some gold was usually added; with it they ornamented the ground of their pictures, the glories of their saints, their garments, and fringes. Although painters themselves were skilled in such labours, it appears that they sought the assistance of gilders, and therefore gilderswere classed with painters, and like them inscribed works with their names.
This was the practice of Cini and Saracini, just before recorded, and particularly of a native of Ferrara, who, in the pictures of the Vivarini, at Venice, subscribes his name before theirs. (See Zanetti, Pittura Ven.p. 15.) And in the cathedral of Ceneda, below an Incoronation of the Virgin, in which the artist did not care to exhibit himself to posterity, the engraver, already noticed, left the following inscription, which Signor Lorenzo Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician of great taste and cultivation of mind, has very politely communicated to me; "1438,a di10.Frever Christofalo da Ferara intajo."
Towards the end of the fourteenth century, when the gothic style was disappearing from architecture, the design of the carvers improved, and they began to erect over altars oblong panels, divided by partitions, which were fashioned into pilasters, or small columns, and often between these last feigned gates or windows, so that the ancona or altar bore some resemblance to the façade of a palace or a church; over them was placed a frieze, and above the frieze was a place like a stage with some figures. The saints were placed below, and their histories were painted in the compartments; and often there appeared their histories painted upon some little form, or upon the steps. The partitions were gradually removed, the proportions of the figures enlarged, and the saints were disposedin a single piece around the throne of our Lord, not so erect as formerly, after the manner of statues, but in different actions and positions, a custom which prevailed even in the sixteenth century. The practice of gilding grounds declined towards the end of the fifteenth century, but it was increased on the garments, and fringes were never so deep as at that period. About the close of that century gold was more sparingly employed, and it was almost wholly abandoned in the following. No little benefit would be conferred upon the art by any one who would undertake to point out with accuracy what were the colours, gums, and other mixtures employed by the Greeks. They were undoubtedly in possession of the best methods transmitted to them by a tradition, which though in some measure corrupted, was confessedly derived from their ancestors. Even subsequent to the invention of oils, their colouring is in some degree deserving of our admiration. In the Medicean Museum there is a Madonna, subscribed with the following Latin inscription,Andreas Rico de Candia pinxit, the forms of which are stupid, the folds inelegant, and the composition coarse; but with all this, the colour is so fresh, vivid, and brilliant, that there is no modern work that would not lose by a comparison; indeed, the colouring is so extremely strong and firm, that when tried with the iron, it does not liquefy, but rather scales off, and breaks in minute portions. The frescos, likewise, of the earliest Greek and Italian painters,are surprisingly strong, and more particularly in upper than in lower Italy. There are some figures of saints upon the pilasters of the church of San Niccolo, at Trevigi, quite remarkable for their durability, an account of which is given in the first volume of Padre Federici, (p. 188). I have understood from professors that such a degree ofconsistencymust have been produced by a certain portion of wax, which was employed at that period, as will be explained in the subsequent chapter, on the subject of painting in oil. It must, however, be admitted, that we are very little advanced in these inquiries into the ancient methods of preparing colour. Were they once satisfactorily explored, it would prove highly useful in the restoration of ancient pictures, nor superfluous in regard to the adoption of that firm, fused, and lucid colouring, which we shall have occasion to commend in various Lombard and Venetian pictures, and more especially in those of Coreggio.
These observations will not be useless to the connoisseur, who doubts the age of a picture on which there are no characters. Where there are letters he may proceed with still greater certainty. The letters vulgarly called gothic, began to be used after the year 1200, in some places more early than in others; and characters were loaded with a superfluity of lines, through the whole of the fourteenth, until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the use of the Roman alphabet wasrevived. What forms were adopted by artists in subscribing their names, will be more conveniently explained in the course of a few pages further. I have judged it proper to give here a sort of paleology of painting; because inattention to this has been, and still is, a fruitful source of error. The reader, however, may observe, that though the rules here proposed, afford some light to resolve doubtful points, they are not to be considered as infallible and universal, and he may further recollect, that in matters of antiquity nothing is more dangerous and ridiculous, than to form general rules, which a single example may be sufficient to overthrow.
[26]See Tiraboschi,Storia della Litterat. Italiana, towards the end of tom. iv. See also the Dissertation of Lami on the Italian painters and sculptors who flourished from the year 1000 to 1300; in the Supplement to Vinci'sTrattato della Pittura, printed at Florence in 1792; and see Moreni, P. iv. p. 108.
[27]See the Oration of Mon. Francesco CarraraDelle Lodi delle belle Arti, Roma, 1758, 4to. with the accompanying Notes, in which the two Bianchini, Marangoni, and Bottari, their illustrators, are cited.
[28]Pointed out to me by Sig. D'Agincourt, a gentleman deeply versed in antiquities of this sort.
[29]There were similar remains in the choir, the design of which I have seen. They were covered over in 1733. Among other curiosities was the portrait of the patriarch Popone, of the Emperor Conrad, and his son Henry; the design, action, and characters, like the mosaics at Rome; executed about the year 1030. See Bartoli,Antichità di Aquileja, p. 369; and Altan,Del vario Stato, &c. p. 5.
[30]The figure of our Lady is retouched; but two miniatures attached to it, are better preserved; the one represents a man, the other a woman: and their drapery is in the costume of that period. The figures are reversed in the engraving of them, which is published.
[31]See P. della Valle in the Preface to Vasari, p. 51.
[32]A few pictures by superior Greek artists, remain, which are very good. Of this number is a Madonna, with a Greek inscription, at the church of S. Maria in Cosmedin at Rome. There is also one at Camerino said to have come from Smyrna; and I know of no Greek picture in Italy better executed or better preserved.
[33]The lateral gate of bronze is of very rude workmanship, as described by the Canon Martini, in his account of that temple, p. 85; and by Sig. da Morrona, it is with much probability ascribed to the hand of Bonanno Pisano. From Vasari's life of Arnalfo, we learn that the same sculptor also executed the great gate of the Primaziale at Pisa, in bronze, about the year 1180, subsequently destroyed by fire. That of Santa Maria Nuova at Monreale, is likewise his. It is described by P. del Giudice, in his account of that church, and bears the name of Bonanno Pisano, with the date 1186. It is as rudely executed as the preceding one at Pisa, as I am assured by the Cavalier Puccini, accurately versed in every branch of the fine arts. If we wish to estimate the merit of Niccola Pisano, we have only to compare these two gates with the specimens which he gave us only a few years afterwards.
[34]Several specimens of similar productions also remain in Sicily, particularly at Mazzerra and Girganti. At Palermo, the tomb of the Empress Constance II. who died in the year 1222, is decorated with an antique sculpture in basso relievo, representing a chase, which is conjectured to represent that of Æneas and Dido, and which is well engraved. See the work entitled, "I Regali Sepolchri del Duomo di Palermo riconosciuti e illustrati. Nap. 1784."
Another specimen of this sort is said to be in the collection of Mr. Blundell, at Ince.
[35]In the new Guide to Milan, Sig. Abate Bianconi observes, "that these are beautiful works, and that nothing superior is to be seen in any work of that age. Vasari, by omitting this very eminent Pisan, and not mentioning these works, although he was according to his own account at Milan, has given reason to believe, that he was not over anxious in his researches." p. 215.
See also Giulini and Verri, as quoted by Sig. da Morrona in tom. i. pp. 199, 200.
[36]The mosaic school subsisted at Rome as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries. (See Musant. Fax Chronol. pp. 319, 338.) In this the family of the Cosmati acquired great excellence. Adeodato di Cosimo Cosmati employed himself in the church of St. Maria Maggiore, in 1290, (Guide to Rome); and several of the same name exercised their talents in the cathedral of Orvieto. (See Valle Catalogo.) The whole of these are preferred to the Greek mosaic workers, who were at the same period engaged in decorating St. Mark's at Venice. (See Valle's Preface to Vasari, p. 61.)
[37]
Sancti Francisci Frater fuit hoc operatusJacobus in tali præ cunctis arte probatus,
is the inscription on the mosaic.
[38]SeePisa Illustrataof Signor da Morrona, tom. i. p. 224.
[39]Tom. ii. p. 127.
[40]In the sacristy of the Angioli is preserved the most ancient portrait of San Francesco that is extant. It is painted on the panel which served as the saint's couch until the period of his decease, as we learn from the inscription. It is there supposed to be the work of some Greek artist anterior to Giunta.
[41]See Signor Ab. Bettinelli,Risorgimento d' Italia negli studii, nelle arti, ne' costumi dopo il mille, p. 192.
[42]To this list of early painters might perhaps be added the name of Francesco Benani, by whom there is a whole length figure of St. Jerome holding a crucifix in his hand. It possesses all the characteristics attributed by Lanzi to this early age. Near the bottom of the picture is a label, inscribed, Franciscus Benanus, Filius Petri Ablada. The size of the picture is 2 feet 8 by 2 feet 2, on panel, covered with gypsum. The vehicle of the colours is probably prepared from eggs, which were usually employed for that purpose before the invention of painting in oil, and to which an absorbent ground of lime or gypsum seems to have been indispensable. It is surprising how well the early pictures executed in this style have preserved their colouring to the present day.
[43]This writer has thrown much light upon the history of our early painters, from which I have derived and shall continue to derive, much benefit; but in the heat of dispute, he has frequently depreciated Cimabue in a way which I cannot approve. For instance, Vasari having said, that "he contributed greatly to the perfection of the art," della Valle asserts, that "he did it neither good nor harm;" and that having closely examined the pictures of Cimabue, "he has found in them a ruder style than appears in those of Giunta Pisano, of Guido da Siena, of Jacopo da Turrita, &c." (tom. i. p. 235.) Of the two last I shall speak elsewhere. With respect to the first, the writer contradicts himself four pages after; when, commenting on another passage of the historian relating to certain pictures of Cimabue, executed in Assisi in the inferior church of S. Francesco, he says, that "he there, in his opinion, surpassed Giunta Pisano." It is to be remembered that this was his first work, or amongst the first that Cimabue painted in Assisi. When he went thither, therefore, he was a better artist than Giunta. How, then, when he worked in the superior church, in Assisi, and in so many other places, did he become so bad a painter, and more uncouth than Giunta himself?
[44]See Baldinucci, tom. i. p. 17, Florentine Edition, 1767, where it is said that the Cimabuoi were also calledGualtieri.
[45]But see Baldinucci inVeglia, p. 87.
[46]We read, in the preface to the Sienese edition of Vasari's Lives, (p. 17) as follows: "To Giunta and to the other artists of Pisa, as heads of the school, was given the principal direction of adorning the Franciscan church; and Cimabue and Giotto are known to have been either disciples or assistants in their school, in which they produced several important works. Giunta had the direction of his assistant as long as he resided there, which may have been even subsequent to 1236. But how are we to suppose that he could have been at Assisi so long as to permit Cimabue (who was born in 1240, and went to Assisi about 1265) to assist, to receive instructions from, and to succeed him? Such a supposition is still more untenable as regards Giotto, who was invited to Assisi many years afterwards." (Vasari.)
[47]To the testimonies in favor of Cimabue, may be added one of no little weight, from the manuscript given to the public a few years since, by the Abbate Morelli. We there find that Cimabue painted in Padua, in the church del Carmine, which was afterwards burnt; but that a head of S. Giovanni, by him, being rescued from the flames, was inserted in a frame, and preserved in the house of Alessandro Capella. Would a painter, who had done neither good nor harm to the Florentine school, and to the art, have been invited to Padua? Would the remains of his works have been held in such esteem? Would he have been so highly valued, after so great a lapse of time, by Vasari, to whose arts he seems to wish to ascribe the reputation of Cimabue. Other proofs of this reputation may be seen in the defence of Vasari, in the present Book, third Epoch. The writer of history ought completely to divest himself of the love of system and party spirit.
[48]Vasari, tom. i. p. 322.
[49]A book is mentioned by Baldinucci ornamented by Giotto with miniatures, with histories from the Old Testament, and presented to the vestry of St. Peter, by Cardinal Stefaneschi; of this he neither adduces any proof, nor can I find any record. From the evidence, rather, of an existing necrology, where, among the presents made by Stefaneschi to the cathedral, the pictures and the mosaic by Giotto are noticed without any other work of this artist, the gift of the book is very doubtful. See Sig. Ab, CancellieriDe Secretariis Veteris Basilicæ Vaticanæ, p. 859, and 2464. Some miniatures of the martyrdom and miracles of St. George, in another book, are ascribed to him; but I am uncertain whether there is any ancient document for this; and they might, possibly, be the work of Simone da Siena, who is often confounded with him.
[50]See his first volume, pp. 131 and 202; and also P. della Valle in the preface to Vasari, p. 27; also Signor da Morrona in his Pisa Illustrata, p. 154; besides many other authors.
[51]D. Valle's preface to Vasari, p. 36.
[52]We may observe, that Malvasia is the champion, not only of Bologna, but of Italy, and of all Europe. At page 11, volume first, he has quoted a passage from Filibien, which proves that design always maintained itself in France, even in rude ages, and that at the time of Cimabue it was there equally respectable as in Italy.
[53]A catalogue of them is given in P. della Valle, in his history of that Church, and is republished in the Sienese edition of Vasari, at the end of the second volume.
[54]This place, which will ever do high honour to the magnificence of the Pisans, would be an inestimable museum, if the pictures there, executed by Giotto, by Memmi, by Stefano Florentino, by Buffalmacco, by Antonio Veneziano, by the two Orcagni, by Spinello Aretino, and by Laurati, had been carefully preserved; but the greatest number having been injured by dampness, were repaired, but with considerable judgment, within the century.
[55]Plin. xxxv. 9.
[56]Zanet. p. 3.
[57]It was a very ancient practice of Christian worship to place the silver, or ivory dittici, upon the altars during the service of the mass, and when the sacred ceremony was over, they were folded up in the manner of a book, and taken elsewhere. The same figure was retained, even in the introduction of the largest altar pieces, which likewise consisted of two wings, and were portable. This custom, of which I have seen few remnants in Italy, has been long preserved in the Greek church. At length, by degrees, artists began to paint upon one whole panel. (See Buonarroti Vetri Antichi, p. 258, &c.)
[58]In Torrello, one of the Venetian isles, there is an ancient image of St. Hadrian, which is tolerably carved, and around it the history of the saint is depicted: the style is feeble, but not Grecian.
[59]I notice this peculiarity, because the histories, either painted or engraved, belonging to those early times, are apt to perplex us; nor can they be cleared up without having recourse to books of fiction, which were, in those less civilized periods, believed. In the acts of our Saviour, and of the Virgin, it may be useful to consult Gio. Alberto Fabrizio, in the collection entitled "Codex Apocr. Novi Testamenti;" in the acts of the apostles and martyrs, it is not so much their real history, as the legends, either manifestly false or suspected, as recounted by the Bollandisti, that will throw light upon the subject.
[60]See Vasari in the life of Spinello Aretino: "Simone Cini, a Florentine, carved it, it was gilt by Gabriello Saracini, and Spinello di Luca of Arezzo, painted it in the year 1385." A similar signature may be seen in Pittura Veneziana, page 15.