Corenzio, Ribera, Caracciolo, flourish in Naples. Strangers who compete with them.
About the middle of the sixteenth century, Tintoretto was considered one of the first artists in Venice; and towards the close of the same century Caravaggio in Rome, and the Caracci in Bologna, rose to the highest degree of celebrity. The several styles of these masters soon extended themselves into other parts of Italy, and became the prevailing taste in Naples, where they were adopted by three painters of reputation, Corenzio, Ribera, and Caracciolo. These artists rose one after the other into reputation, but afterwards united together in painting, and assisting each other interchangeably. At the time they flourished, Guido, Domenichino, Lanfranco, and Artemisia Gentileschi, were in Naples; and there and elsewhere contributed some scholars to the Neapolitan School. Thus the time which elapsed between Bellisario and Giordano, is the brightest period of this academy, both in respect to the number of excellent artists, and the works oftaste. It is however the darkest era, not only of the Neapolitan School, but of the art itself, as far as regards the scandalous artifices, and the crimes which occurred in it. I would gladly pass over those topics in silence, if they were foreign to my subject, but they are so intimately connected with it, that they must, at all events, be alluded to. I shall notice them at the proper time, adhering to the relation of Malvasia, Passeri, Bellori, and more particularly of Dominici.
Bellisario Corenzio, a Greek by birth, after having passed five years in the school of Tintoretto, settled in Naples about the year 1590. He inherited from nature a fertile imagination and a rapidity of hand, which enabled him to rival his master in the prodigious number of his pictures, and those too of a large class. Four common painters could scarcely have equalled his individual labour. He cannot be compared to Tintoretto, who, when he restrained his too exuberant fancy, was inferior to few in design; and excelled in invention, gestures, and the airs of his heads, which, though the Venetians have always had before their eyes, they have never equalled. Corenzio successfully imitated his master when he painted with care, as in the great picture, in the refectory of the Benedictines, representing the multitude miraculously fed; a work he finished in forty days. But the greater part of the vault resembles in many respects the style of the Cav. d'Arpino,[111]other parts partake of the Venetian School, not without some character peculiar to himself, particularly in the glories, which are bordered with shadowy clouds. In the opinion of the Cav. Massimo, he was of a fruitful invention, but not select. He painted very little in oil, although he had great merit in the strength and harmony of his colours. The desire of gain led him to attempt large works in fresco, which he composed with much felicity, as he was copious, varied, and energetic. He had a good general effect, and was finished in detail and correct, when the proximity of some eminent rival compelled him to it. This was the case at the Certosa, in the chapel of S. Gennaro. He there exerted all his talents, as he was excited to it by emulation of Caracciolo, who had painted in that place a picture, which was long admired as one of his finest works, and was afterwards transferred into the monastery. In other churches we find some sacred subjects painted by him in smaller size, which Dominici commends,and adds too, that he assisted M. Desiderio, a celebrated perspective painter, whose views he accompanied with small figures beautifully coloured and admirably appropriate.
The birthplace of Giuseppe Ribera has been the subject of controversy. Palomino, following Sandrart and Orlandi, represents him as a native of Spain, in proof of which they refer to a picture of S. Matteo, with the following inscription.Jusepe de Ribera espanol de la ciutad de Xativa, reyno de Valencia, Academico romano ano 1630.The Neapolitans, on the contrary, contend that he was born in the neighbourhood of Lecce, but that his father was from Spain; and that in order to recommend himself to the governor, who was a Spaniard, he always boasted of his origin, and expressed it in his signature, and was on that account called Spagnoletto. Such is the opinion of Dominici, Signorelli, and Galanti. This question is however now set at rest, as it appears from theAntologia di Romaof 1795, that the register of his baptism was found in Sativa (now San Filippo) and that he was born in that place. It is further said, that he learnt the principles of the art from Francesco Ribalta of Valencia, a reputed scholar of Annibale Caracci. But the History of Neapolitan Artists, which is suspicious in my eyes as relates to this artist, affirms also, that whilst yet a youth, or a mere boy, he studied in Naples under Michelangiolo da Caravaggio, when that master fled from Rome for homicide, and fixinghimself there about 1606, executed many works both public and private.[112]But wherever he might have received instruction in his early youth, it is certain that the object of his more matured admiration was Caravaggio. On leaving him, Ribera visited Rome, Modena, and Parma, and saw the works of Raffaello and Annibale in the former place, and the works of Coreggio in the two latter cities, and adopted in consequence a more graceful style, in which he persevered only for a short time, and with little success; as in Naples there were others who pursued, with superior skill, the same path. He returned therefore to the style of Caravaggio, which for its truth, force, and strong contrast of light and shade, was much more calculated to attract the general eye. In a short time he was appointed painter to the court, and subsequently became the arbiter of its taste.
His studies rendered him superior to Caravaggio in invention, selection, and design. Inemulation of him, he painted at the Certosini that great Deposition from the Cross, which alone, in the opinion of Giordano, is sufficient to form a great painter, and may compete with the works of the brightest luminaries of the art. Beautiful beyond his usual style, and almost Titianesque, is his Martyrdom of S. Januarius, painted in the Royal Chapel, and the S. Jerome at the Trinità. He was much attached to the representation of the latter saint, and whole lengths and half figures of him are found in many collections. In the Panfili Palace in Rome we find about five, and all differing. Nor are his other pictures of similar character rare, as anchorets, prophets, apostles, which exhibit a strong expression of bone and muscle, and a gravity of character, in general copied from nature. In the same taste are commonly his profane pictures, where he is fond of representing old men and philosophers, as the Democritus and the Heraclitus, which Sig. March. Girolamo Durazzo had in his collection, and which are quite in the manner of Caravaggio. In his selection of subjects the most revolting were to him the most inviting, as sanguinary executions, horrid punishments, and lingering torments; among which is celebrated his Ixion on the wheel, in the palace of Buon Ritiro at Madrid. His works are very numerous, particularly in Italy and Spain. His scholars flourished chiefly at a lower period of art, where they will be noticed towards the conclusion of this epoch. With them we shall name thosefew who rivalled him successfully in figures and half figures; and we must not, at the same time, neglect to impress on the mind of the reader, that among so many reputed pictures of Spagnoletto found in collections, we may rest assured that they are in great part not justly entitled to his name, and ought to be ascribed to his scholars.
Giambatista Caracciolo, an imitator, first of Francesco Imparato, and afterwards of Caravaggio, attained a mature age without having signalised himself by any work of peculiar merit. But being roused by the fame of Annibale, and the general admiration which a picture of that master had excited, he repaired to Rome; where by persevering study in the Farnese Gallery, which he carefully copied, he became a correct designer in the Caracci style.[113]Of this talent he availed himself to establish his reputation on his return to Naples, and distinguished himself on some occasions of competition, as in the Madonna at S. Anna de' Lombardi, in a S. Carlo in the church of S. Agnello, and Christ bearing his Cross at the Incurabili, paintings praised by connoisseurs as the happiest imitations of Annibale. But his other works, in the breadth and strength of their lights and shades, rather remind us of the school of Caravaggio. He was a finished and careful painter. There are however some feeble worksby him, which Dominici considers to have been negligently painted, through disgust, for individuals who had not given him his own price, or they were perhaps executed by Mercurio d'Aversa his scholar, and an inferior artist.
The three masters whom I have just noticed in successive order, were the authors of the unceasing persecutions which many of the artists who had come to, or were invited to Naples, were for several years subjected to. Bellisario had established a supreme dominion, or rather a tyranny, over the Neapolitan painters, by calumny and insolence, as well as by his station. He monopolized all lucrative commissions to himself and recommended, for the fulfilment of others, one or other of the numerous and inferior artists that were dependant on him. The Cav. Massimo, Santafede, and other artists of talent, if they did not defer to him, were careful not to offend him, as they knew him to be a man of a vindictive temper, treacherous, and capable of every violence, and who was known through jealousy to have administered poison to Luigi Roderigo, the most promising and the most amiable of his scholars.
Bellisario, in order to maintain himself in his assumed authority, endeavoured to exclude all strangers who painted rather in fresco than in oil. Annibale arrived there in 1609, and was engaged to ornament the churches of Spirito Santo and Gesù Nuovo, for which, as a specimen of his style, he painted a small picture. The Greek andhis adherents being required to give their opinion on this exquisite production, declared it to be tasteless, and decided that the painter of it did not possess a talent for large compositions. This divine artist in consequence took his departure under a burning sun for Rome, where he soon afterwards died. But the work in which strangers were the most opposed was the chapel of S. Gennaro, which a committee had assigned to the Cav. d'Arpino, as soon as he should finish painting the choir of the Certosa. Bellisario leaguing with Spagnoletto, (like himself a fierce and ungovernable man,) and with Caracciolo, who aspired to this commission, persecuted Cesari in such a manner, that before he had finished the choir he fled to Monte Cassino, and from thence returned to Rome. The work was then given to Guido, but after a short time two unknown persons assaulted the servant of that artist, and at the same time desired him to inform his master that he must prepare himself for death, or instantly quit Naples, with which latter mandate Guido immediately complied. Gessi, the scholar of Guido, was not however intimidated by this event, but applied for and obtained the honorable commission, and came to Naples with two assistants, Gio. Batista Ruggieri and Lorenzo Menini. But these artists were scarcely arrived, when they were treacherously invited on board a galley, which immediately weighed anchor and carried them off, to the great dismay of their master, who, although he made the most diligentinquiries both at Rome and Naples, could never procure any tidings of them.
Gessi also in consequence taking his departure, the committee lost all hope of succeeding in their task, and were in the act of yielding to the reigning cabal, assigning the fresco work to Corenzio and Caracciolo, and promising the pictures to Spagnoletto, when suddenly repenting of their resolution, they effaced all that was painted of the two frescos, and entrusted the decoration of the chapel entirely to Domenichino. It ought to be mentioned to the honor of these munificent persons, that they engaged to pay for every entire figure 100 ducats, for each half figure 50 ducats, and for each head 25 ducats. They took precautions also against any interruption to the artist, threatening the viceroy's high displeasure if he were in any way molested. But this was only matter of derision to the junta. They began immediately to cry him down as a cold and insipid painter, and to discredit him with those, the most numerous class in every place, who see only with the eyes of others. They harassed him by calumnies, by anonymous letters, by displacing his pictures, by mixing injurious ingredients with his colours, and by the most insidious malice they procured some of his pictures to be sent by the viceroy to the court of Madrid; and these, when little more than sketched, were taken from his studio and carried to the court, where Spagnoletto ordered them to be retouched, and, without giving him time tofinish them, hurried them to their destination. This malicious fraud of his rival, the complaints of the committee, who always met with some fresh obstacle to the completion of the work, and the suspicion of some evil design, at last determined Domenichino to depart secretly to Rome. As soon however as the news of his flight transpired, he was recalled, and fresh measures taken for his protection; when he resumed his labours, and decorated the walls and base of the cupola, and made considerable progress in the painting of his pictures.
But before he could finish his task he was interrupted by death, hastened either by poison, or by the many severe vexations he had experienced both from his relatives and his adversaries, and the weight of which was augmented by the arrival of his former enemy Lanfranco. This artist superseded Zampieri in the painting of thecatinoof the chapel; Spagnoletto, in one of his oil pictures; Stanzioni in another; and each of these artists, excited by emulation, rivalled, if he did not excel Domenichino. Caracciolo was dead. Bellisario, from his great age, took no share in it, and was soon afterwards killed by a fall from a stage, which he had erected for the purpose of retouching some of his frescos. Nor did Spagnoletto experience a better fate; for, having seduced a young girl, and become insupportable even to himself from the general odium which he experienced, he embarked on board a ship; nor is it known whither he fled,or how he ended his life, if we may credit the Neapolitan writers. Palomino however states him to have died in Naples in 1656, aged sixty-seven, though he does not contradict the first part of our statement. Thus these ambitious men, who by violence or fraud had influenced and abused the generosity and taste of so many noble patrons, and to whose treachery and sanguinary vengeance so many professors of the art had fallen victims, ultimately reaped the merited fruit of their conduct in a violent death; and an impartial posterity, in assigning the palm of merit to Domenichino, inculcates the maxim, that it is a delusive hope to attempt to establish fame and fortune on the destruction of another's reputation.
The many good examples in the Neapolitan School increased the number of artists, either from the instructions of the above mentioned masters, or from an inspection of their works; for there is much truth in the observation of Passeri, "that a painter who has an ardent desire of learning, receives as much instruction from the works of deceased artists as from living masters." It was greatly to the honour of the Neapolitan artists, amidst such a variety of new styles, to have selected the best. Cesari had no followers in Naples, if we except Luigi Roderigo,[114]who exchangedthe school of Bellisario for his, but not without a degree of mannerism, although he acquired a certain grace and judgment, which his master did not possess. He initiated a nephew, Gianbernardino, in the same style; who, from his being an excellent imitator of Cesari, was employed by the Carthusian monks to finish a work which that master had left imperfect.
Thus almost all these artists trod in the steps of the Caracci, and the one that approached nearest to them was the Cav. Massimo Stanzioni, considered by some the best example of the Neapolitan School, of which, as we have observed, he compiled some memoirs. He was a scholar of Caracciolo, to whom he bore some analogy in taste, but he availed himself of the assistance of Lanfranco, whom in one of his MS. he calls his master, and studied too under Corenzio, who in his painting of frescos yielded to few. In portrait he adopted the principles of Santafede, and attainedan excellent Titianesque style. Going afterwards to Rome, and seeing the works of Annibale, and, as some assert, making acquaintance with Guido, he became ambitious of uniting the design of the first with the colouring of the second, and we are informed by Galanti, that he obtained the appellation ofGuido Reni di Napoli. His talents, which were of the first order, enabled him in a short time to compete with the best masters. He painted in the Certosa a Dead Christ, surrounded by the Maries, in competition with Ribera. This picture having become somewhat obscured, Ribera persuaded the monks to have it washed, and he purposely injured it in such a way with a corrosive liquid, that Stanzioni refused to repair it, declaring that such an instance of malice ought to be perpetuated to the public eye. But in that church, which is in fact a museum of art, where every artist, not to be surpassed by his rivals, seems to have surpassed himself, Massimo left some other excellent works, and particularly a stupendous altarpiece, of S. Bruno presenting to his brethren the rules of their order. His works are not unfrequent in the collections in his own country, and are highly esteemed in other places. The vaults of the Gesù Nuovo and S. Paolo entitle him to a distinguished place among fresco painters. His paintings were highly finished, and he studied perfection during his celibacy, but marrying a woman of some rank, in order to maintain her in an expensive style of living, he paintedmany hasty and inferior pictures. It may be said that Cocchi, in hisRagionamento del Matrimonio, not without good reason took occasion to warn all artists of the perils of the wedded state.
The school of Massimo produced many celebrated scholars, in consequence of his method and high reputation, confirming that ancient remark, which has passed into a proverb,primus discendi ardor nobilitas est Magistri. (The example of the master is the greatest incentive to improvement). Muzio Rossi passed from his school to that of Guido, and was chosen at the age of eighteen to paint in the Certosa of Bologna, in competition with the first masters, and maintained his station on a comparison; but this very promising artist was immaturely cut off, and his own country does not possess any work by him, as the Tribune of S. Pietro in Majella, which he painted a little time before his death, was modernized, and his labours thus perished. This is the reason that his works in the Certosa just mentioned, and which are enumerated by Crespi, are held in great esteem. Another man of genius of this school, Antonio de Bellis, died also at an early age; he painted several subjects from the life of S. Carlo, in the church of that saint, which were left imperfect by his death. His manner partakes somewhat of Guercino, but is in fact founded like that of all the scholars of Massimo, on the style of Guido.
Francesco di Rosa, called Pacicco, was not acquainted with Guido himself, but under the directionof Massimo, devoted himself to the copying of his works. He is one of the few artists commemorated by Paolo de' Matteis, in one of his MSS. which admits no artists of inferior merit. He declares the style of Rosa almost inimitable, not only from his correct design, but from the rare beauty of the extremities, and still more from the dignity and grace of the countenances. He had in his three nieces the most perfect models of beauty, and he possessed a sublimity of sentiment which elevated his mind to a high sense of excellence. His colouring, though conducted with exquisite sweetness, had a strong body, and his pictures preserve a clear and fresh tone. These are frequently to be found in the houses of the nobility, as he lived long. He painted some beautiful altarpieces, as S. Tommaso d'Aquino at the Sanità, the Baptism of S. Candida at S. Pietro d'Aram, and other pieces.
This artist had a niece of the name of Aniella di Rosa, who may be called the Sirani of the Neapolitan School, from her talents, beauty, and the manner of her death, the fair Bolognese being inhumanly poisoned by some envious artists, and Aniella murdered by a jealous husband. This husband was Agostino Beltrano, her fellow scholar in the school of Massimo, where he became a good fresco painter, and a colourist in oil of no common merit, as is proved by many cabinet pictures and some altarpieces. His wife also painted in the same style, and was the companion of hislabours, and they jointly prepared many pictures which their master afterwards finished in such a manner that they were sold as his own. Some, however, pass under her own name, and are highly extolled, as the Birth and Death of the Virgin, at the Pietà, not however without suspicion that Massimo had a considerable share in that picture, as Guido had in several painted by Gentileschi. But at all events, her original designs prove her knowledge of art, and her contemporaries, both painters and writers, do not fail to extol her as an excellent artist, and as such Paolo de' Matteis, has admitted her name in his catalogue.
Three young men of Orta became also celebrated scholars in this academy, Paol Domenico Finoglia, Giacinto de' Popoli, and Giuseppe Marullo. By the first there remains at the Certosa at Naples, the vault of the chapel of S. Gennaro, and various pictures in the chapter house. He had a beautiful expression, fertility, correctness, a good arrangement of parts, and a happy general effect. The second painted in many churches, and is admired more for his style of composition, than for his figures. The third approached so near to his master in manner, that artists have sometimes ascribed his works to Massimo; and in truth he left some beautiful productions at S. Severino, and other churches. He had afterwards a dry style of colouring, particularly in his contours, which on that account became crude and hard, and he gradually lost the public favour. His example mayserve as a warning to every one to estimate his own powers correctly, and not to affect genius when he does not possess it.
Another scholar who obtained a great name, was Andrea Malinconico, of Naples. There do not exist any frescos by him, but he left many works in oil, particularly in the church, de' Miracoli, where he painted almost all the pictures himself. The Evangelists, and the Doctors of the church, subjects with which he ornamented the pilasters, are the most beautiful pictures, says the encomiast, of this master; as the attitudes are noble, the conception original, and the whole painted with the spirit of a great artist, and with an astonishing freshness of colour. There are other fine works by him, but several are feeble and spiritless, which gave a connoisseur occasion to remark that they were in unison with the name of the painter.
But none of the preceding artists were so much favoured by nature as Bernardo Cavallino, who at first created a jealous feeling in Massimo himself. Finding afterwards that his talent lay more in small figures than large, he pursued that department, and became very celebrated in his school, beyond which he is not so well known as he deserves to be. In the galleries of the Neapolitan nobility are to be seen by him, on canvass and copper, subjects both sacred and profane, composed with great judgment, and with figures in the style of Poussin, full of spirit and expression, and accompanied by a native grace, and a simplicity peculiarlytheir own. In his colouring, besides his master and Gentileschi, who were both followers of Guido, he imitated Rubens. He possessed every quality essential to an accomplished artist, as even the most extreme poverty could not induce him to hurry his works, which he was accustomed frequently to retouch before he could entirely satisfy himself. Life was alone wanting to him, which he unfortunately shortened by his irregularities.[115]
Andrea Vaccaro was a contemporary and rival of Massimo, but at the same time his admirer and friend, a man of great imitative powers. He at first followed Caravaggio, and in that style his pictures are frequently found in Naples, and some cabinet pictures, which have even imposed upon connoisseurs, who have bought them for originals of that master. After some time Massimo won him over to the style of Guido, in which he succeeded in an admirable manner, though he did not equal his friend. In this style are executed his most celebrated works at the Certosa, at the Teatini and Rosario, without enumerating those in collections,where he is frequently found. On the death of Massimo, he assumed the first rank among his countrymen. Giordano alone opposed him in his early years, when on his return from Rome he brought with him a new style from the school of Cortona, and both artists were competitors for the larger picture of S. Maria del Pianto. That church had been lately erected in gratitude to the Virgin, who had liberated the city from pestilence, and this was the subject of the picture. Each artist made a design, and Pietro da Cortona being chosen umpire, decided against his own scholar in favour of Vaccaro, observing, that as he was first in years, so he was first in design and natural expression. He had not studied frescos in his youth, but began them when he was advanced in life, in order that he might not yield the palm to Giordano, but by the loss of his fame, he verified the proverb, thatad omnem disciplinam tardior est senectus.
Of his scholars, Giacomo Farelli was the most successful, who by his vigorous talents, and by the assistance of his master, painted a picture in competition with Giordano. The church of S. Brigida has a beautiful picture of that saint by Farelli, and its author is mentioned by Matteis as a painter of singular merit. He declined however, in public esteem, from wishing at an advanced age to change his style, when he painted the sacristy of the Tesoro. He was on that occasionanxious to imitate Domenichino, but he did not succeed in his attempt, and indeed he never afterwards executed any work of merit.
Nor did Domenichino fail to have among the painters of Naples, or of that state, many deserving followers.[116]Cozza, a Calabrian, who lived in Rome, I included in that school, as also Antonio Ricci, called il Barbalunga, who was of Messina, and well known in Rome. I may add, that he returned to Messina, and ornamented that city with many works; as at S. Gregorio, the saint writing; the Ascension at S. Michele; two Pietàs of different designs at S. Niccolo and the Spedale. He is considered as one of the best painters of Sicily, where good artists have abounded more than is generally imagined. He formed a school there and left several scholars.[117]
I ought after him to mention another Sicilian, Pietro del Po da Palermo, a good engraver, and better known in Rome in that capacity, than as apainter. There is a S. Leone by him at the church of the Madonna di Costantinopoli; an altarpiece which however does not do him so much honouras the pictures which he painted for collections, some of which are in Spain; and particularly some small pictures which he executed in the manner of miniatures with exquisite taste. Two of this kind I saw in Piacenza, at the Sig. della Missione, a Decollation of S. John, and a Crucifixion of S. Peter in his best manner, and with his name. This artist, after working in Rome, settled in Naples with a son of the name of Giacomo, who had been instructed in the art by Poussin and himself. He also taught a daughter of the name of Teresa, who was skilled in miniatures. The two Pos werewell acquainted with the principles of the art, and had taught in the academy of Rome. But the father painted little in Naples; the son found constant employ in ornamenting the halls and galleries of the nobility with frescos. His intimacy with letters aided the poetic taste with which his pictures were conceived, and his varied and enchanting colours fascinated the eye of every spectator. He was singular and original in his lights, and their various gradations and reflections. In his figures and drapery he became, as is generally the case with the machinists, mannered and less correct; nor has he any claim as an imitator of Domenichino, except from the early instructions of his father. In Rome there are two paintings by him, one at S. Angiolo in Pescheria, the other at S. Marta; and there are some in Naples; but his genius chiefly shines in the frescos of the gallery of the Marchese Genzano, and in the house of the Duke of Matalona, and still more in seven apartments of the Prince of Avellino.
A more finished imitator of Zampieri than the two Pos was a scholar of his, of the name of Francesco di Maria, the author of few works, as he willingly suffered those reproaches of slowness and irresolution which accompanied the unfortunate Domenichino to the grave. But his works, though few in number, are excellent, particularly the history of S. Lorenzo at the Conventuals in Naples, and also many of his portraits. One of the latter exhibited in Rome, together with onebyVandyke, and one by Rubens, was preferred by Poussin, Cortona, and Sacchi, to those of the Flemish artists. Others of his pictures are bought at great prices, and are considered by the less experienced as the works of Domenichino. He resembled that master indeed in every quality, except grace, which nature had denied him. Hence Giordano said of his figures, that when consumption had reduced the muscles and bones, they might be correct and beautiful, but still insipid. In return he did not spare Giordano; declaring his school "heretical, and that he could not endure works which owe all their merit to ostentatious colour, and a vague design," as Matteis, who is partial to the memory of Francesco, attests.
Lanfranco in Naples had contributed, as I have observed, to the instruction of Massimo, but that artist renounced the style of Lanfranco for that of Guido. The two Pos, however, were more attached to him, and imitated his colouring. Pascoli doubts whether he should not assign Preti to him, an error which we shall shortly confute. Dominici also includes among his countrymen Brandi, a scholar of Lanfranco; collecting from one of his letters that he acknowledged Gaeta for his native place. His family was probably from thence, but he himself was born in Poli.[118]I included him among the painters of Rome, where he studied and painted; and I mentioned at the same time the Cav. Giambatista Benaschi, as he is called by some, orBeinaschi by others. This variation gave occasion to suppose, that there were two painters of that name; in the same way there may be a third, as the name is sometimes written Bernaschi. Some contradictions in his biographers, which it is not worth our while to enter on, have contributed to perpetuate this error. I shall only observe, that he was not born until 1636, and was not a scholar of Lanfranco, but of M. Spirito, in Piedmont, and of Pietro del Po, in Rome. Thus Orlandi writes of him, who had a better opportunity than Pascoli, or Dominici, of procuring information from Angela, the daughter of the Cavaliere, who lived in Rome in his time, and painted portraits in an agreeable style. He is considered both by Pascoli and Orlandi, as a painter of Rome, but he left very few works there, as appears from Titi. Naples was the theatre of his talents, and there he had numerous scholars, and painted many cupolas, ceilings, and other considerable works, and with such a variety of design, that there is not an instance of an attitude being repeated by him. Nor was he deficient in grace, either of form or colour, as long as he trod in the steps of Lanfranco, as he did in the S. M. di Loreto, and in other churches, but aspiring in some others to a more vigorous style, he became dark and heavy. He excelled in the knowledge of thesotto in su, and displayed extraordinary skill in his foreshortenings. The painters in Naples have often compared among themselves, says Dominici, the two pictures of S. Michael,the one by Lanfranco, and the other by Benaschi, in the church of the Holy Apostles, without being able to decide to which master they ought to assign the palm of merit.
Guercino himself was never in Naples, but the Cav. Mattia Preti, commonly called il Cav. Calabrese, allured by the novelty of his style, repaired to Cento, to avail himself of his instructions. This information we have from Domenici, who had heard him say, that he was in fact the scholar of Guercino, but that he had, moreover, studied the works of all the principal masters; and he had indeed visited almost every country, and seen and studied the best productions of every school, both in and beyond Italy. Hence in his painting he may be compared to a man whose travels have been extensive, and who never hears a subject started to which he does not add something new, and indeed the drapery and ornaments, and costume of Preti, are highly varied and original. He confined himself to design, and did not attempt colours until his twenty-sixth year. In design he was more vigorous and robust than delicate, and sometimes inclines to heaviness. In his colouring he was not attractive, but had a strongimpasto, a decided chiaroscuro, and a prevailing ashy tone, that was well adapted for his mournful and tragical subjects; for, following the bent of his genius, he devoted his pencil to the representation of martyrdoms, slaughters, pestilence, and the pangs of a guilty conscience. It was his custom, says Pascoli, at leastin his large works, to paint at the first conception, and true to nature, and he did not take much pains afterwards in correction, or in the just expression of the passions.
He executed some large works in fresco in Modena, Naples, and Malta. He had not equal success at S. Andrea della Valle, in Rome, where he painted three histories of that saint, under the tribune of Domenichino; a proximity from which his work suffers considerably, and the figures appear out of proportion, and not well adapted to the situation. His oil pictures in Italy are innumerable, as he lived to an advanced age; he had a great rapidity of hand, and was accustomed, wherever he went, to leave some memorial of his talents, sometimes in the churches, but chiefly in private collections, and they are, in general, figures of half size, like those of Guercino and Caravaggio. Naples, Rome, and Florence, all abound with his works, but above all Bologna. In the Marulli palace is his Belisarius asking alms; in that of Ratti, a S. Penitente, chained in a suffering position; in the Malvezzi palace, Sir Thomas More in prison; in that of the Ercolani, a Pestilence, besides many more in the same, and other galleries of the nobility. Amongst his altarpieces, one of the most finished is in the Duomo of Siena, S. Bernardino preaching to and converting the people. In Naples, besides the soffitto of the church de' Celestini, he painted not a little; less however than both he himself and the professors of a bettertaste desired, and in conjunction with whom he resisted the innovations of Giordano. But that artist had an unprecedented popularity, and in spite of his faults triumphed over all his contemporaries, and Preti was himself obliged to relinquish the contest, and close his days in Malta, of which order, in honour of his great merit as a painter, he was made a commendatore. He left some imitators in Naples, one of whom was Domenico Viola; but neither he, nor his other scholars passed the bounds of mediocrity. The same may be said of Gregorio Preti, his brother, of whom there is a fresco at S. Carlo de' Catinari, in Rome.
After this enumeration of foreign artists, we must now return to the national school, and notice some disciples of Ribera, It often happens that those masters who are mannerists, form scholars who confine their powers to the sole imitation of their master, and thus produce pictures that deceive the most experienced, and which in other countries are esteemed the works of the master himself. This was the case with Giovanni Do, and Bartolommeo Passante, in regard to Spagnoletto, although the first in progress of time softened his manner, and tamed his flesh tints; while the second added only to the usual style of Spagnoletto, a more finished design and expression. Francesco Fracanzani possessed a peculiar grandeur of style, and a noble tone of colour; and the death of S. Joseph, which he painted at the Pellegrini, is one of the best pictures of the city. Afterwards howeverhis necessities compelled him to paint in a coarse manner in order to gratify the vulgar, and he fell into bad habits of life, and was finally, for some crime or other, condemned to die by the hands of the hangman, a sentence, which for the honour of the art, was compounded for his secret death in prison by poison.[119]
Aniello Falcone and Salvator Rosa are the great boast of this school; although Rosa frequented it but a short time and improved himself afterwards by the instructions of Falcone. Aniello possessed an extraordinary talent in battle pieces. He painted them both in large and small size, taking the subjects from the sacred writings, from profane history, or poetry; his dresses, arms, and features, were as varied as the combatants he represented. Animated in his expression, select and natural in the figures and action of his horses, and intelligent in military affairs, though he had never been in the army, nor seen a battle; he drew correctly, consulted truth in every thing, coloured with care, and had a good impasto. That he taught Borgognone as some have supposed, it is difficult to believe. Baldinucci, who had from that artist himself the information which he published respecting him, does not say a word of it. It is however true, that they were acquainted and mutuallyesteemed each other; and if the battle pieces of Borgognone have found a place in the collections of the great, and have been bought at great prices, those of Aniello have had the like good fortune. He had many scholars, and by means of them and some other painters his friends, he was enabled to revenge the death of a relation and also of a scholar, whom the Spanish authorities had put to death. On the revolution of Maso Aniello, he and his partisans formed themselves into a company called the Band of Death; and, protected by Spagnoletto, who excused them to the Viceroy, committed the most revolting and sanguinary excesses; until the state was composed, and the people reduced to submission, when this murderous band fled, to escape the hands of justice. Falcone withdrew to France for some years, and left many works there; the remainder fled to Rome, or to other places of safety.
The most celebrated of the immediate scholars of Falcone was Salvator Rosa, whom we have elsewhere noticed, who began his career by painting battles, and became a most distinguished landscape painter; and Domenico Gargiuoli, called Micco Spadaro, a landscape painter of merit, and a good painter in large compositions, as he appears at the Certosa, and in other churches. He had an extraordinary talent too in painting small figures, and might with propriety be called the Cerquozzi of his school. Hence Viviano Codagora, who was an eminent landscape painter, after becomingacquainted with him, would not permit any other artist to ornament his works with figures, as he introduced them with infinite grace; and this circumstance probably led to their intimate friendship, and to risking their lives in the same cause as we have before related. The Neapolitan galleries possess many of their pictures; and some have specimens ofcapricci, or humourous pictures, all by the hand of Spadaro. He indeed had no equal in depicting the manners and dresses of the common people of his country, particularly in large assemblies. In some of his works of this kind, the number of his figures have exceeded a thousand. He was assisted by the etchings of Stefano della Bella, and Callot, both of whom were celebrated for placing a great body of people in a little space; but it was in the true spirit of imitation, and without a trace of servility; on the contrary, he improved the principal figures (where bad contours are with difficulty concealed) and corrected the attitudes, and carefully retouched them.
Carlo Coppola is sometimes mistaken for Falcone from their similarity of manner: except that a certain fulness with which he paints his horses in his battle pieces, may serve as a distinction. Andrea di Lione resembles him, but in his battles we easily trace his imitation. Marzio Masturzo studied some time with Falcone; but longer with Rosa in Rome, and was his best scholar; but he is sometimes rather crude in his figures, and rocks, and trunks of trees, and less bright in his skies.His flesh tints are not pallid, like those of Rosa, as in these he followed Ribera.
I shall close this catalogue, passing over some less celebrated artists, with Paolo Porpora, who from battles, were directed by the impulse of his genius to the painting of animals, but succeeded best in fish, and shells, and other marine productions, being less skilled in flowers and fruit. But about his time Abraham Brughel painted these subjects in an exquisite style in Naples, where he settled and ended his days. From this period we may date a favourable epoch for certain pictures of minor rank, which still add to the decoration of galleries and contribute to the fame of their authors. After the two first we may mention Giambatista Ruoppoli and Onofrio Loth, scholars of Porpora, excelling him in fruits, and particularly in grapes, and little inferior in other respects.
Giuseppe Cav. Recco, from the same school, is one of the most celebrated painters in Italy, of hunting, fowling, and fishing pieces, and similar subjects. One of his best pictures which I have seen, is in the house of the Conti Simonetti d'Osimo, on which the author has inscribed his name. He was admired in the collections also for his beautiful colouring, which he acquired in Lombardy; and he resided for many years at the court of Spain, whilst Giordano was there. There was also a scholar of Ruoppoli, called Andrea Belvedere, excelling in the same line, but most in flowers and fruit. There arose a dispute between him and Giordano,Andrea asserting that the historical painters cannot venture with success on these smaller subjects; Giordano, on the contrary, maintaining that the greater included the less; which words he verified by painting a picture of birds, flowers, and fruit, so beautifully grouped that it robbed Andrea of his fame, and obliged him to take refuge among men of letters; and indeed in the literary circle he held a respectable station.
Nevertheless his pictures did not fall in esteem or value, and his posterity after him still continue to embellish the cabinets of the great. His most celebrated scholar was Tommaso Realfonso, who to the talents of his master, added that of the natural representation of every description of utensils, and all kinds of confectionery and eatables. He had also excellent imitators in Giacomo Nani, and Baldassar Caro, employed to ornament the royal court of King Charles of Bourbon; and Gaspar Lopez, the scholar first of Dubbisson, afterwards of Belvidere. Lopez became a good landscape painter, was employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and resided a considerable time in Venice. According to Dominici he died in Florence, and the author of the Algarotti Catalogue in Venice, informs us, that that event took place about the year 1732. We may here close the series of minor painters of the school of Aniello,[120]and maynow proceed to the succeeding epoch, commencing with the historical painters.
[111]In tom. iii. of theLett. Pittoriche, is a letter of P. Sebastiano Resta dell'Oratorio, wherein he says, it is probable that the Cav. d'Arpino imitated him in his youth: which cannot be admitted, as it is known that Cesari formed himself in Rome, and resided only in Naples when an adult. As to the resemblance between them, that applies as well to other artists. In the same letter Corenzio is called the Cav. Bellisario, and some anecdotes are related of him, and among others, that he lived to the age of a hundred and twenty. This is one of those tales to which this writer so easily gives credit. In proof of this we may refer to Tiraboschi, in the life of Antonio Allegri, where similar instances of his credulity are noticed.
[112]Caravaggio had another scholar of eminence in Mario Minniti of Syracuse, who however passed a considerable part of his life in Messina. Having painted for some time in Rome with Caravaggio, he imbibed his taste; and though he did not equal him in the vigour of style, he displayed more grace and amenity. There are works remaining of him in all parts of Sicily, as he painted much, and retained in his service twelve scholars, whose works he retouched, and sold as his own. Hence his pictures do not altogether correspond with his reputation. Messina possesses several, as the Dead of Nain at the Church of the Capucins, and the Virgin, the tutelar saint, at the Virginelle.
[113]Among the scholars of Annibale, I find Carlo Sellitto mentioned, to whom Guarienti assigns a place in the Abbeccadario, and I further find him commended in some MS. notices of eminent artists of the school.
[114]There is a different account of him in the Memorie de' Pittori Messinesi, where it is said that his true family name was Rodriguez. It is there said that he studied in Rome, and went from thence to work in Naples, in the Guida of which city he is frequently mentioned. It is added that, from his Roman style, he was called by his brother Alonso, theslave of the antique; and that he returned the compliment by calling his brother, who was instructed in Venice,the slave of nature. But Alonso, who spent his life in Sicily, surpassed his brother in reputation; and it is a rare commendation that he painted much and well. He particularly shone in the Probatica in S. Cosmo de' Medici, and the picture of two Founders of Messina in the senatorial palace, a work rewarded with a thousand scudi. His fame declined, and he began to fail in commissions on the arrival of Barbalunga. But he did not, on that account, refuse him his esteem, as he was accustomed to call him the Caracci of Sicily.
[115]I find in Messina, Gio. Fulco, who imbibed the principles of the art under the Cav. Massimo; a correct designer, a lively and graceful painter, particularly of children, excepting a somewhat too great fleshiness, and a trace of mannerism. Many of his works in his native country were destroyed by an earthquake. Some remain at the Nunziata de' Teatini, where in the chapel of the Crucifix are his frescos, and a picture by him in oil of the Nativity of the Virgin.
[116]Gio. Batista Durand, of Burgundy, was established in Messina. He was the scholar of Domenichino, and was always attached to his manner. Of his larger works we find only a S. Cecilia in the convent of that saint, as he was generally occupied in painting portraits. He had a daughter called Flavia, the wife of Filippo Giannetti, skilled in portraits, and an excellent copyist.
[117]Domenico Maroli, Onofrio Gabriello, and Agostino Scilla, were the three painters of Messina who did him the most honour, although from being engaged in the revolutions of 1674 and 1676, the first lost his life, and the other two were long exiles from their country. Maroli did not adopt the style of Barbalunga exclusively, but having made a voyage to Venice, and there studied the works of the best Venetian artists, and particularly of Paolo, he returned with many of the excellences of that great master, brilliant flesh tints, a beautiful air in his heads, and a fine style in his drawings of women, a talent which he abused as much or more than Liberi. To this moral vice he added a professional one, which was painting sometimes on theimprimiture, and generally with little colour; whence his works, which were extolled and sought after when new, became, when old, neglected, like those dark paintings of the Venetian School, which we have mentioned. Messina has many of them: the Martyrdom of S. Placido at the Suore di S. Paolo, the Nativity of the Virgin in the church della Grotta, and some others. In Venice there must also be remaining in private collections, some of his paintings of animals in the style of Bassano, as we have before mentioned. Onofrio Gabriello was for six years with Barbalunga, and for some further time with Poussin, and then with Cortona in Rome, until passing another nine years in Venice with Maroli, he brought back with him to Messina that master's vicious method of colour, but not his style. In the latter he aimed at originality, exhibiting much lightness, grace, and fancy, in the accessory parts, and in ribbons, jewels, and lace, in which he particularly excelled. He left many pictures in Messina, in the church of S. Francesco di Paola: many also in Padua, in theGuidaof which city various pictures by him are enumerated, without mentioning his cabinet pictures and portraits in private collections. I have seen several in possession of the noble and learned Sig. Co. Antonio Maria Borromeo; amongst which is a family piece with a portrait of the painter.
Agostino Scilla, or Silla, as Orlandi calls him, opened a school in Messina, which was much frequented while it lasted, but the scholars were dispersed by the storm of revolutions, in which they took a part, not without great injury both to the art and themselves. He possessed an elegant genius for painting, which he cultivated, and added to it a taste for poetry, natural history, and antiquities. His genius raised such high expectations in Barbalunga, that he procured a pension for him from the senate, in order to enable him to reside in Rome under Andrea Sacchi. After four years he returned to Messina, highly accomplished, from his study of the antique and of Raffaello, and if his colouring was at first somewhat dry, he soon rendered it rich and agreeable. He excelled in figures and in heads, particularly of old men, and had a peculiar talent in landscapes, animals, and fruit. For this I may refer to the Roman School, where he is mentioned with his brother and son. There are few of his works in Rome, but many in Messina. His frescos are in S. Domenico, and in the Nunziata de' Teatini, and many paintings in other places, among which is S. Ilarione dying, in the church of S. Ursula, than which work there is no greater favourite with the public.
Of the scholars of Scilla, who remained in Messina after the departure of their master, there is not much to be said. F. Emanuel da Como we have mentioned elsewhere. Giuseppe Balestriero, an excellent copyist of the works of Agostino, and a good designer, after painting some pictures, became a priest, and took leave of the art. Antonio la Falce was a good painter in distemper and in oil. He afterwards attempted frescos, and painted tavern scenes. Placido Celi, a man of singular talents, but bad habits, followed his master to Rome. He there changed his style for that of Maratta and Morandi; after whose works he painted in Rome, in the churches dell'Anima and Traspontina, and in several churches of his own country, but he never passed the bounds of mediocrity. A higher reputation belongs to Antonio Madiona, of Syracuse, who although he separated himself from Scilla in Rome, to follow il Preti to Malta, was nevertheless an industrious artist, and painted both there and in Sicily, in a strong and vigorous style, which partakes of both his masters. And this may suffice for the members of this unfortunate school.
To complete the list of the chief scholars of Barbalunga, I may mention here Bartolommeo Tricomi, who confined himself to portrait painting, and in this hereditary gift of the school of Domenichino, he greatly excelled. He had notwithstanding in Andrea Suppa a scholar who surpassed him. The latter learned also of Casembrot, as far as regards landscape and architecture; but he formed himself principally on the antique; and by constantly studying Raffaello and the Caracci, and other select masters, or their drawings, he acquired a most enchanting style of countenance, and indeed of every part of his composition. His works are as fine as miniature, and are perhaps too highly finished. His subjects, in unison with his genius, are of a pensive and melancholy cast, and are always treated in a pathetic manner. He excelled in frescos, and painted the vaults in the Suore in S. Paolo; he excelled equally in oils, as may be seen from the picture of S. Scolastica, there also. Some of his works were lost by earthquakes. His style was happily imitated by Antonio Bova, his scholar, and we may compare their works together at the Nunziata de' Teatini. He painted much in oil, as well as fresco, and from his placid and tranquil disposition, took no part in the revolutions of Messina, but remained at home, where he closed his days in peace, and with him expired the school of Barbalunga.
[118]Pascoli, Vite, tom. i. p. 129.
[119]I may insert at the close of this epoch the names of some Sicilian painters, who flourished in it, or at the beginning of the following, instructed by various masters. They were furnished to me by the Sig. Ansaldo, whose attentions I have before acknowledged, and were transmitted to him by a painter of that island. Filippo Tancredi was of Messina, but is not assigned to any of the before mentioned masters, as he studied in Naples and in Rome under Maratta. He was a skilful artist, composed and coloured well; was celebrated in Messina, and also in Palermo, where he lived many years, and where the vault of the church de' Teatini, and that also of the Gesù Nuovo were painted by him. The Cav. Pietro Novelli (or Morelli, which latter however I regard as an error) called Monrealese from his native place, also enjoyed the reputation of a good painter, and an able architect. He there left many works in oil and fresco, and the great picture of the Marriage at Cana, in the refectory of the P. P. Benedettini, is particularly commended. He resided for a long time in Palermo, and the greatest work he there executed, was in the church of the Conventuals, the vault of which was divided into compartments, and wholly painted by himself. Guarienti eulogises him for his style, as diligent in copying nature, correct in design, and graceful in his colouring, with some imitation of Spagnoletto; and the people of Palermo confer daily honour on him, since, whenever they meet with a foreigner of taste, they point out to him little else in the city, than the works of this great man. Pietro Aquila, of Marzalla, a distinguished artist, who engraved the Farnese gallery, left no works to my knowledge in Rome; in Palermo there remain of him two pictures in the church della Pietà, representing the parable of the Prodigal Son. Lo Zoppo di Gangi is known at Castro Giovanni, where in the Duomo he left several works. Of the Cav. Giuseppe Paladini, a Sicilian, I find commended at S. Joseph di Castel Termini, the picture of the Madonna and the tutelar saint. I also find honourable mention among the chief painters of this island, of a Carrega, who I believe painted for private individuals. Others, though I know not of what merit, are found inscribed in the academy of S. Luke, from the registers of which I have derived some information for my third and fourth volumes, communicated to me by the Sig. Maron, the worthy secretary of the academy.
[120]In this epoch flourished in Messina one Abraham Casembrot, a Dutchman, who was considered one of the first painters of his time, of landscape, seapieces, harbours, and tempests. He professed architecture also, and was celebrated for his small figures. He was accustomed to give the highest finish to every thing he painted. The church of S. Giovacchino has three pictures of the Passion by him. Some individuals of Messina possess delightful specimens of him, though not many, as he sold them at high prices, and generally to Holland. Hence most of the collectors of Messina turned to Jocino, the contemporary of Casembrot; a painter of a vigorous imagination, and rapid execution. His landscapes and views are still prized, and maintain their value. I do not find that Casembrot wholly formed any scholar at Messina. He communicated, however, the elements of architecture and perspective to several, as well as the principles of painting. For this reason we find enumerated among his scholars the Cappucin P. Feliciano da Messina (Domenico Guargena) who afterwards studied Guido in the convent of Bologna, and imbued himself with his style. Hackert makes honourable mention of a Madonna and Child and S. Francesco by him at the church of that order in Messina, and he assigns the palm to him among the painters of his order, which boasted not a few.