Nor did they lay small stress upon certain accessaries of their art, such as the thrones, which they composed in the richest and most ostentatious manner; and the landscapes, which they drew with an astonishing degree of truth from nature, besides the architecture frequently constructed in the forms of porticos or tribunes. It may sometimes be observed, also, that adapting themselves to the workmanship and to the design of the altar, they feigned a continuation of it within the painting, so that by the resemblance of colour and of taste, the eye is deceived, the illusion produced rendering it doubtful where the exterior ornament[27]terminates,and where the picture begins. We ought not, therefore, easily to give credit to certain writers who have undervalued the merits of such masters, pronouncing their labours mechanical, as those of mere practical artificers, inasmuch as Serlio is known to have supplied several of them with architectural designs.[28]We ought rather to subscribe to the opinion of Daniel Barbaro, whose extensive learning did not prevent him, in his work entitledPratica di Prospettiva, from expressing his admiration of them, even from the commencement, as follows: "In this art they left many fine remnants of excellent works, in which we behold not only landscapes, mountains, woods, and edifices, all admirably designed; but even the human form, and other animals, with lines drawn to the eye, as if to a centre placed in the most exact perspective. But in what manner, and by what rules they proceeded,no author of whom I am aware, has left any account to instruct us."
As this progress of style was more greatly promoted by Gian Bellini than by any other master, with him I shall commence my account, afterwards proceeding to treat of his contemporaries, and such of his scholars as more or less resembled him. Nor, I flatter myself, will it be unpleasing to the reader, to find mention of the imitation of Giorgione and of Titian, as it were anticipated, inasmuch as it happens with the professors of the art of painting, as occasionally with those writers who have flourished on the confines of two ages; that their style to a certain degree seems to partake of the colour of both. Thus Giovanni Bellini himself will afford us, in his numerous productions, which commence before 1464, and continue down to the year 1516, a sort of regular gradation of his progress, that may be considered, at the same time, the progress of his school. Even in his earliest pictures, we trace the ambition of the artist to ennoble and to enlarge the national manner. The noble house of their Excellencies Corner, which at the time of the Queen of Cyprus, gave frequent commissions to his hand, possesses several specimens of his first style, proceeding gradually to others appearing always to grow more beautiful. Among these last is a San Francesco drawn amidst a thick wood; a piece that might well excite the envy of the best landscape masters themselves.Having reached the period of 1488, in which he produced an altarpiece still preserved in the sacristy of the Conventuali, we find he extorts the praises of Vasari, no less as a good mannerist than a fine designer. With still greater success he executed other works from the examples afforded by Giorgione. It was then he conceived his subjects more boldly, gave rotundity to his forms, and warmth to his colours; he passed more naturally from contrasted tints, his naked figures became more select, his drapery more imposing; and if he had succeeded in acquiring a more perfect degree of softness and delicacy in his contours, he might have been held up as one of the most finished examples of the modern style. Neither Pietro Perugino, Ghirlandajo, nor Mantegna attained to it in an equal degree. The lover of art will find various specimens of him, both in Venice and elsewhere. His altarpiece, painted for San Zaccaria, in 1505, is well worthy his attention, as well as that of S. Giobbe, of the date of 1510. To these we may add a Bacchanal, in the villa Aldobrandini, at Rome, dated 1514, which, on account of the artist's advanced age, was left imperfect. I have seen other pictures by his hand, without date, but of striking merit; more especially a Virgin in the cathedral of Bergamo; a Baptism of our Lord at Santa Corona, of Vicenza, a Holy Child slumbering on the lap of the Virgin, between two angels, a production that lies treasured up in a chest at the Capuchins, in Venice, and which truly fascinatesthe eye of the beholder. It displays a striking union of that beauty, grace, and expression, of which, in this school, he may be said to have set the example. It would appear that he continued to employ his talents to an extreme old age, there remaining, in the select gallery of Santa Giustina, at Padua, one of his Madonnas, painted in 1516.[29]Such figures, together with those of the Dead Christ, are the most frequent paintings of his hand that we meet with. Should any one, not content with the commendations I have bestowed, feel inclined to prefer a Bellini to a Raffaello, because he was his superior in architectural design, let him consult the opinion of Boschini, p. 28, of hisCarta da Navigare, but let him recollect that the same writer possesses nothing of the poet beyond the measure of the verse, and the exaggeration of his praises.
The name of Giovanni ought not to go down unaccompanied by that of his brother Gentile, who preceded him, alike in the period of his birth and of his death. Though living apart, in regard to family, they were of congenial mind and disposition, esteeming one another as friends and brethren, mutually encouraging and respecting each other,as superior in merit. But in Giovanni this was modesty, in Gentile only truth. For the latter had a more confined genius; but by diligence, that sometimes compensates the neglect of nature, he was enabled to attain an honourable station among his contemporaries. He was employed by the republic upon an equal footing with his brother, to adorn the hall of the great council; and when the Grand Turk sent to Venice in search of an eminent portrait painter, he was commissioned by the senate to go to Constantinople, where in the exercise of his profession he added glory to the Venetian name. Besides his works in painting, he there struck a fine medallion for Mahomet II., bearing the head of the emperor, with three crowns on the reverse; a rare work, of which, however, I learn there is a specimen in possession of his Excellency, Theodore Corer. However inferior we are to consider him to his brother, and tenacious of that ancient harshness in many of his works, there are still several of a more beautiful description, such as his histories of the Holy Cross at San Giovanni, and the Preaching of S. Mark, at the college of that saint; a piece, which, placed near that of a Paris Bordone, does no discredit to its author. He shews himself a faithful copyist, inasmuch as every thing he remarked in a concourse of people, is faithfully pourtrayed. The features of the audience, and the peculiar conformations of the body are as diversified as we see them in nature, including even instances of deformity, into which through herown general laws, nature is known to fall; and we are thus presented with caricatures, with bald, and lean, and pursy, and, what is more remarkable, the auditors of S. Mark are drawn without regard to times, in the costume of Venetians or of Turks. Yet from its exact imitation of the truth, its arrangement, and its animated style, the work does not fail to please and strike the beholder. I shall even go further; for there are pictures on a smaller scale, by the same hand, executed with so much taste, that they may be esteemed not unworthy of the name of his brother. Such is a Presentation of the infant Jesus at the Temple, in half length, which adorns the Palazzo Barbarigo, at San Polo, a duplicate of which was painted for that of the Grimani, with still more delicacy and care. Opposite to this of Gentile is a fine picture of Gian Bellini, which, however, superior in the softness of its tints, is considered scarcely equal in point of beauty and other qualities of the art.
The two Bellini and the last of the Vivarini had a competitor in Vittore Carpaccio, either a Venetian or a native of Capo d'Istria,[30]and alongwith these he was selected to ornament the ducal palace. It was destroyed by fire in 1576, when that noble collection of ancient historic pieces perished, though subsequently restored by the most celebrated artists of later times. Yet there still remains a specimen of Vittore's style in the Oratory of Santa Ursula, sufficient to entitle him to rank among the best artists of the age. It consists of eight histories drawn from the acts of that saint, and of her eleven thousand companions, which were all about that time very generally admitted to be true. The production is not wanting in power of conception, developing numerous and novel combinations, nor in the order of their distribution; in richness of ideas, both in varying the features and costume, nor in architectural skill and landscape, serving to adorn them. Still more remarkable is its expression of nature and simplicity; an expression which so frequently invited Zanetti himself to a renewed contemplation of it. He there remarked the various passions of the people, who appeared to understand every thing passing; and, in their earnest attention, expressedsentiments in unison with the representation; whence he concludes his description by saying that Carpaccio felt the truth in his very heart.
He produced still nobler specimens of his genius in the college of San Girolamo, which rivalled those of Giovanni Bellini, without, in this instance, yielding to them. His character, which might frequently be confounded with that of Gentile, shines most conspicuous, perhaps, in his altarpieces, where he is original in almost every composition. The most celebrated in Venice is one of the Purification at San Giobbe, in which, however, the S. Vecchio Simeone is represented in a pontifical dress, between two servants arrayed like cardinals. If we except this error, in point of costume, and add a little more warmth of colours to the flesh, more delicacy of contour, the piece would not discredit the first artist of any times. Owing to the fault of his early education, however, these qualities he never attained. This, also, happened to Lazzaro Sebastiani, his disciple and follower; to Giovanni Mansueti, to Marco, and to Pietro Veglia, as well as to Francesco Rizzo, of San Croce, a territory in the district of Bergamo;[31]artists who,however nearly they touched upon the golden period, did not succeed in freeing themselves from the influence of the old and uniform taste, and for this reason are often confounded with each other. I do not here treat of the paintings left by them at Venice, as they have so frequently been described elsewhere. It will be enough to inform the reader that in these, also, we discover several noble traces of the style of Gentile and Carpaccio, more especially in the architecture, and that their colouring, which, in this school, is considered cold and languid, would be termed, in several of the others, both soft and animated enough for that period. The one who, if I mistake not, approaches nearer to the modern, and in some degree towards the style of Giorgione, is Benedetto Diana, as well in his altarpiece of Santa Lucia, at the SS. Apostoli, as in the Limosina de' Confratelli di San Giovanni, painted at their college in competition with the Bellini.
We next come to Marco Basaiti, sprung from a Greek family in the Friuli, and a rival also of Giovanni; but more successful than Carpaccio.The church of San Giobbe, here mentioned for the third time, possesses his picture of Christ praying in the Garden, painted in 1510. It is now a little defaced, but has been highly extolled by Ridolfi and others, who beheld it in a more perfect condition. Above all his productions, however, the Vocation of San Pietro to the Apostleship, in the church of the Certosa, is the most celebrated; a piece, of which there is seen a duplicate in the imperial gallery at Vienna. It is certainly one of the most beautiful pictures of that age; and most generally there is no kind of merit in Gian Bellini, in which Basaiti does not either equal, or very closely approach him. Indeed he appears to exhibit even a freer genius, a more happy composition, and a more skilful art in uniting the grounds of his pictures with the figures. These are beautiful, and for the most part incline to the free style; their look is full of fire; the tints of the fleshy parts of a rosy glow; the middle tints inclining sometimes to paleness, but not without grace. Though not a native, he resided a long period at Venice, which contains a good number of his works, a few of which are in the ancient taste, but the most part bordering upon the modern. His native place of Friuli possesses no other specimen besides a Christ taken from the Cross, in the monastery of Sesto, consisting of large figures, with a fine group in the background of the picture, and with a landscape full of nature. In several parts it is defaced by age; but a true connoisseur will still, perhaps, prefer itto the others, for being free from the retouches of modern art.
Among the pupils of Gian Bellini, who were very numerous, are some who ought to be referred to another epoch, like Giorgione, and to different schools, like Rondinello of Ravenna; several, however, take their place here, who, in the opinion of their national contemporaries, did not fully attain to the possession of the new style. The family of the heads of the school, produced also a Bellin Bellini, who being educated in that academy, very happily imitated its manner. He painted Madonnas for private individuals, which, their author being little known, are for the most part attributed to Gentile, or to Giovanni. The artist who is mentioned by Vasari as the pupil of Giovanni, named Girolamo Mocetto, was one of the earliest and least polished among his disciples. He did not reach the sixteenth century; and left behind him some engravings upon copper, now become extremely rare; besides small pictures, one of which, subscribed with the author's name, in 1484, is in the possession of the before mentioned house of Corer. The Veronese, who are in possession of his portrait, amongst those of the painters of their town, in the Scuola del Nudo, can also boast one of his altarpieces, bearing the name and date of 1493, in their church of S. Nazario e Celso. Such information I obtained from Signor Saverio dalla Rosa, a Veronese painter of merit. Another less distinguished, and somewhat stiff scholar or imitator ofBellini, has affixed his name in several places, at the foot of sacred figures, as follows: "Marcus Martialis Venetus;" and in aPurificazione, existing in the Conservatory of the Penitents, we meet with the year 1488. And from aSupper of Emmaus, belonging to the family of the Contarini, with the painter's name, we learn that in the year 1506 he was still alive.
An artist of a better taste appeared in Vincenzio Catena, a wealthy citizen, who obtained a good deal of celebrity by his portraits and pictures for private rooms. His masterpiece consists of a Holy family, in the style of Giorgione, ornamenting the noble Pesaro gallery; and if he had produced nothing more than this, he would no longer be included in the present epoch; but his other pieces, exhibiting more traces of the old style, which remain at San Maurizio, at San Simeone Grande, at the Carità, and elsewhere, authorise our enumeration of them here. They are beautiful; but not sufficiently in the modern taste. His reputation, however, while living, was so great, that in a letter written by Marc Antonio Michiel from Rome, to Antonio di Marsilio in Venice, dated 11th of April, 1520, when Raffaello was just deceased and Buonarotti infirm, it is recommended to Catena to be upon his guard, "since danger seems to be impending over all very excellent painters."[32]One Giannetto Cordegliaghi enjoyed also a high reputation, if he be rightly named by Vasari, who commendshim for his soft and delicate manner, superior to many of his contemporaries; adding, that he had produced an infinite number of pictures for private persons. In Venice he is termed, I suppose for the sake of brevity, Cordella; and to him is attributed the beautiful portrait of the Cardinal Bessarione in the college of La Carità, with a few other specimens, the rest having dropt into oblivion. Probably his real name was double,Cordella Aghi. It is certain that Zanetti read, upon a beautiful Madonna, belonging to the learned Zeno,Andreas Cordelle Agi, F.This last is of the same family as Giannetto; or perhaps also in place of Giannetto, Vasari ought to have written Andrea; as instead of Jacopo he ought to have said Francesco Squarcione. Nor can it be denied, that if we except the artists of Verona and Friuli, this historian was deficient in information, as he himself declares, relating to the Venetian School. It is sufficient to turn to his proëmium of the life of Carpaccio, in order to observe how many times, in a very few lines, he is guilty of making mistakes. Of Lazzaro Sebastiani, he made two painters; two others out of Marco Basaiti, dividing him into Marco Basarini and Marco Bassiti, and assigning to each his several works. Moreover, he wrote Vittore Scarpaccia, Vittor Bellini, Giambatista da Cornigliano, and confounded the labours of all the three together. Elsewhere we meet with Mansuchi for Mansueti; Guerriero and Guarriero, instead of Guariento; Foppa is made into Zoppa,Giolfino into Ursino, Morazone into Mazzone, Bozzato into Bazzacco, Zuccati into Zuccheri and Zuccherini; and thus he continued to blunder through other Lombard and Venetian names, insomuch as almost to vie with Harms, with Cochin, and with similar inaccurate foreigners.
The following names were slightly esteemed or slightly known by Vasari, and therefore omitted in his history: Piermaria Pennacchi of Trevisi, and Pier Francesco Bissolo, a Venetian. Of the former there remain two entablatures, painted for churches, more excellent in point of colouring than design. One is in Venice, the other at Murano. Of these artists, Pier Francesco painted on the least extensive scale, but was more finished and beautiful. His altarpieces in Murano, and in the cathedral of Trevigi, may be put in competition with those of the elder Palma; and one in possession of the family of Renier, representing The Meeting of Simeon, still nearer approaches to the fulness and softness of the moderns.
Girolamo di San Croce was still more deserving of commemoration than these. Yet Vasari omitted him; Boschini is silent on the subject; and Ridolfi has found in him more to blame than to praise, asserting that he had never freed himself from the ancient style, though flourishing at a period when the less celebrated geniuses attempted to modernise their taste. Happily, however, for this distinguished man, not a few of his best labours have been preserved, of which Zanetti has pronouncedhis opinion that, "he approaches nearer to the manner of Giorgione and Titian, than any of the others." And such commendation is justified by his altarpiece of S. Parisio, so highly mentioned in the Guide of Treviso, and which is to be seen at the church of that saint. In Venice itself there are some of his pictures which display uncommon merit, such as theSupper of our Saviour, with the name of Santa Croce, which is in S. Martino; and aSalvatore, at S. Francesco della Vigna, which though in a precise taste, shows extreme richness of colouring. There also appears, at the same place, his picture of the Martyrdom of S. Lorenzo; a repetition of which is found in the noble house of Collalto, nearly resembling the original, and in other places. It abounds in figures of about a palm's length, imitated, in some part, from the celebrated composition of Bandinelli, engraved by Marc Antonio, whose impressions to Girolamo proved a rich mine of art, affording originals for those small but valuable paintings, meant to adorn private rooms. In none of them, however, was he a mere copyist; he varied the figures, and more especially the landscapes, in which he was a very skilful hand. In this manner he produced many of those Bacchanals, which are to be met with in different collections. In that of the Casa Albani, at Bergamo, is a S. Gio. Elemosinario (almsgiver) in grand architecture, seen among a crowd of paupers; and in the collection of Count Carrara, also at Bergamo, there is a Saviour taken from theCross, highly valued for the portrait of the artist, which points to a holy cross, the symbol of his name. Not any of these productions are embued with traces of the ancient style. They display a grace of composition, study of foreshortening, and of the naked parts, a harmony of colours, forming a mixture of different schools, in which the Roman predominates, and least of all the Venetian. Further we would refer the reader to what has already been stated at page 57.
To these Venetian professors, or at least, established in Venice, it will be proper to add several educated by Giovanni, in the provinces, and in this way resume the thread of our pictoric history of the state. There was no place in the whole dominion which did not boast either of his disciples or imitators. We shall proceed to treat severally of these, beginning with the name of Conegliano, which he derived from a city in the Marca Trevigiana, his native place, whose mountainous views he has introduced into his paintings, as if to serve for his device.
The artist's name, however, is Giambatista Cima, and his style most resembles the better part of that of Gian Bellini. The professors indeed may often be confounded together, to such a degree do we find Conegliano diligent, graceful, lively in his motions and his colouring, although less smooth than Bellini. Perhaps one of his best pieces that I have seen, is in the cathedral at Parma, though it is omitted in the catalogue of hisworks. That at the church of Santa Maria dell' Orto, one of the most rich in paintings, in all Venice, possesses less softness; but in point of architecture, in the air of its heads, and in the distribution of its colours, there is something so extremely attractive, that we are never weary of contemplating it. The different collections in Italy, no less than those in other parts, are many of them in possession, or said to be in possession, of specimens from this artist's hand; and if we add to these his altarpieces, sufficiently numerous, they will be found to amount to a very considerable class. We are informed, however, by Padre Federici, that one of Cima's sons, of the name of Carlo, imitated so closely the style of his father, that there are pictures which ought often to be attributed to the former instead of to the latter.
This artist resided but a short time in his own province; and the altarpiece placed by him in the cathedral of his native place, in 1493, is considered a youthful performance. He continued to exercise his art until the year 1517, according to Ridolfi, and died in the maturity of his powers. The date of 1542, which we find at San Francesco di Rovigo placed upon an altarpiece of Conegliano, (if it be not a copy,) marks only the era of the erecting of the altar, which was painted afterwards. He is said by Boschini to have been the tutor of Vittor Belliniano, by Vasari called Bellini; the same who represented in the college of St. Mark's, the martyrdomof the saint. The best portion of this history is the architecture it displays.
The artists, educated in the school of Giovanni, who flourished at Friuli, were two natives of Udine: Giovanni di M. Martino, as he is entitled in some family documents, and Gio. Martini, by Vasari; and Martino d'Udine, who in theStoria Pittorica, is called Pellegrino di S. Daniello. The style of the former was harsh and crude, though not destitute of grace in the countenances and in the colouring. The name of Pellegrino was bestowed upon the latter by Bellini, in honour of his rare genius, while the name of the country was attached to him from his long residence in S. Daniello, a territory not far from Udine. This city is, nevertheless, the place where he appears to most advantage, in competition with Giovanni; as the same emulation they had felt while fellow pupils, continued, as sometimes happens, when they became masters. In that city appear the labours of each, and more particularly in the two chapels contiguous to the dome, where the first of them was employed in the year 1501, the second in 1502. Giovanni, in his altarpiece of St. Mark, there produced the richest specimen which appeared from his hand; and Pellegrino left that of his St. Joseph, preferred by Vasari, in some degree, to the work of Martini. I have seen the last mentioned picture in oil, faded indeed in colour, and in other respects defaced; yet still worthy of admiration for its architecture, which gives a graceful fulness to the whole canvass,and a striking relief to the three figures, consisting of S. Joseph with the holy child in his arms, and S. John the Baptist, each of which displays the finest contours and the best forms. Other specimens of the same pencil are to be seen in Udine, among which are the SS. Agostino and Girolamo, in the public council hall, a picture remarkable also for its power of colouring.
As this artist advanced in age, he improved in the softness of his tints, as well as in every other quality. The altarpiece at Santa Maria de' Battuti, which is in Cividale, and represents the Virgin seated between the four virgins of Aquileja, besides the Saints Batista and Donato, and a cherub, partakes of Giorgione; it is enumerated among the rarest paintings of Friuli, and was executed in the year 1529. Yet above any of his productions, are esteemed those various histories of the life of our Saviour, painted in fresco at S. Daniele, in the church of S. Antonio, together with the titular saint, and several other portraits of the brethren of that chapel, so richly adorned by his hand, all breathing and glowing proofs of his art. By his means, also, one of the pictoric schools of Friuli rose into high repute, and will be elsewhere described.
At Rovigo, in possession of the noble family of Casalini, is a picture of the Circumcision of our Saviour, bearing this memorandum:Opus Marci Belli discipuli Johannis Bellini. He is a good disciple of the school, and would appear to be adifferent artist from that Marco, son of Gio. Tedesco, who was employed in 1463 at Rovigo.
In the adjacent city of Padua, the style of the Bellini was less followed, a very natural circumstance in a place where Squarcione, the avowed rival of Giovanni, held supreme sway. Still there are several pictures belonging to this age remaining there, which partake of the Venetian style; and Vasari, in his life of Carpaccio, records, that in fact Niccolo Moreto executed many works in Padua,[33]besides many other artists connected with the Bellini. A picture of Christ risen from the dead, merits particular mention; it adorns the episcopal palace at Padua, along with the portraits of all the Paduan bishops, and the busts of the apostles, including several of their acts, executed with much elegance in chiaroscuro. The work is dated 1495, in which the painter subscribes his nameJacobus Montagnana; not Montagna, as it is written in Vasari and Ridolfi.
There remains of his a very extensive altarpiece, at the Santo, the style inclining as much as in any others, to the modern; and to whatever degree it may partake of the Venetian in taste of colours, inits design it partakes of a more precise and spare expression upon the principle of the Paduan School. To this, also, he very manifestly conformed himself, in that celebrated picture left in Belluno, at the hall of council, in which he represented[34]Roman histories. It is an immense production, and at the first view would incline us to attribute it to the pencil of Mantegna, such is the design, the drapery, and the composition of the figures; while even several of them are known to have been accurately copied, with the same forms and motions, from those Mantegna had already introduced into his grand chapel at the Eremitani. Here we have a clear proof that both received the same education, or at least, that Montagnana had profited much by the Paduan School. I say onlymuch, for in point of costume he does not shew any traces of the erudite instructions of Squarcione; but commits faults resembling those of the Bellini, to whom by popular opinion, recorded by the very diligent author of the new Guide of Padua, he has been given as a pupil.
I have before treated of Squarcione, and of hismethod, reserving for a fitter place the consideration of his disciples, more especially Andrea Mantegna. He will, however, be included in the present list as a scholar; although, as a master of the school of Lombardy, we are bound to speak of him with more commendation, in another chapter. But even the first essays of great characters are valuable; and Vasari does not scruple to commend Andrea's first altarpiece as a work worthy of his old age. It was placed in Santa Sofia, where the artist has signed himselfAndreas Mantinea Patavinus annos VII. et X. natus sua manu pinxit, 1448. Squarcione was so much delighted with his early genius, that he adopted him for his son. But he afterwards regretted his own generosity, when the young artist took to wife the daughter of his rival, Jacopo Bellini; so that he then began to blame him, yet at the same time to instruct him better. Andrea having been educated in an academy which adopted the study of marbles, indulged great admiration of several Greek bassi relievi, in the ancient style, such as is that of the Primarii Dei, in an altar of the capitol. He was therefore extremely bent upon acquiring the chasteness of the contours, the beauty of the ideas and of the bodies; but not content with adopting that straitness of the garment, those parallel folds, and that study of parts which so easily degenerates into stiffness, he neglected that portion of his art which animates the otherwise uninformed images—expression. In this respect he greatly failed in his picture of the Martyrdomof S. Jacopo, placed in the church of the Eremitani, and from which Squarcione took occasion to reprehend him severely. These complaints led him to adopt a better method, and in his representation of the history of S. Cristoforo, placed opposite his S. Jacopo, he threw more expression into his figures; and in particular, his production about the same period of San Marco, in the act of writing the gospel, painted for Santa Giustina, displays in the features the absorbed mind of the philosopher and the enthusiasm of a saint. If Squarcione thus contributed by his reproaches to render this artist great, the Bellini, perhaps, co-operated with him by friendship and relationship, in producing the same result. He resided little in Venice, but during that time he did not fail to avail himself of the best portion of that school; and we thus perceive in some of his pictures, landscapes and gardens quite in the Venetian character, besides a knowledge of colours not inferior to the best Venetian artists of the age. I am uncertain whether he or some other communicated to the Bellini that species of perspective so much commended by Barbaro; but I know that Lomazzo, in his "Tempio della Pittura," page 53, has put on recordthat Mantegna was the first who gave us true notions relating to this art: and I know that the most distinguished characters of those times were equally eager, either to become scholars in such points as they were themselves deficient in, or masters in such as were wanting in others.
The style of Mantegna being known, it will not be difficult to divine that of his fellow pupils, educated in the same maxims, and instructed by his examples. The chapel before mentioned exhibits specimens of three, the first of whom, Niccolo Pizzolo is pointed out by Vasari. A picture of the Assumption of the Virgin in an altarpiece, with other figures on the wall, are by his hand. There is also a fresco in one of the façades with the mottoOpus Nicoletti: and in both places he not only strongly resembles, but approaches near the composition of Mantegna. Two other artists also painted there certain histories of S. Cristoforo, under one of which is insertedOpus Boni; under the other,Opus Ansuini, an artist of Forli. Both of these might elsewhere have been admired; but there they appear only as scholars by the side of their master. An artist more nearly approaching Mantegna, and who, in the chief part of his figures might be mistaken for him, is Bernardo Parentino, who painted for a cloister of Santa Giustina, ten acts in the life of San Benedetto, and little histories in chiaroscuro, representing upon each the portrait of a Pontiff of the name of Benedict. I have seen no painting adapted to a religious cloister so well conceived in every part; and it is known that it was superintended by a distinguished scholar of that learned order, the Abate Gaspero da Pavia. Attached to it is the name of Parentino and the dates of 1489 and 1494. The work was continued by a Girolamoda Padua, or Girolamo dal Santo, celebrated for his miniatures, as it is recorded by Vasari and Ridolfi. Here, however, he exhibits himself a poor artist, in point of design, and still more so in expression, though praiseworthy in many accessaries of his art, more particularly in his study of ancient costume, an acquisition as general in this, as rare in the Venetian School. Those histories, indeed, are frequently found ornamented with ancient bassi relievi, with sarcophagi, and with inscriptions copied, for the most part, from Paduan marbles; a practice followed, also, by Mantegna, but with more moderation, in the chapel of the Eremitani.
The rest of his contemporaries, in Padua, were Lorenzo da Lendinara, esteemed an excellent artist, but of whom no traces remain; Marco Zoppo, of Bologna, who more nearly resembled, perhaps, his master than his fellow pupil, but of honourable account, as the head of the Bolognese School; and Dario da Trevigi, whose productions are to be seen in S. Bernardino, at Bassano, opposite to those of Mantegna, as if to exhibit their inferiority. Girolamo, or rather Gregorio[35]Schiavone, whose style is between that of Mantegna and the Bellini, is a pleasing artist, whose pictures are frequently to be met with, ornamented with architectural views, with fruits, and above all with joyous little cherubs. One of the most delightful I have seen, was in Fossombrone, in possession of aprivate individual, and it bears inscribed,Opus Sclavonii Dalmatici Squarzoni S. (Scholaris). Hieronymus Tarvisio is another, but doubtful pupil of Squarcione, whose name I found subscribed in some pictures at Trevigi, an artist poor in colours, but not unacquainted with design. We find mention in Sansovino, an author not always to be relied upon in his account of Venetian paintings, of Lauro Padovano, who produced several histories of S. Giovanni for the Carità in Venice; but I so far agree with the above author, in pronouncing these altogether in the style of Mantegna. Nearly approaching also to the composition of this school, is the style of Maestro Angelo, who painted in the ancient refectory of Santa Giustina, a Crucifixion of the Saviour, with figures, both in proportions and in spirit truly great. I have nothing to add to the name of Mattio dal Pozzo, enumerated in this class by Scardeone, (p. 371) inasmuch as there are none of his works now surviving.
At the period, when the School of Padua was opposed to the Venetian, the other cities of the state, as far as we can learn, had adopted a taste rather for the ornamental style of the latter, than the more erudite maxims of the former; it might, perhaps, be added, on account of its greater facility; because the beauty of nature is everywhere more obvious than the monuments of antiquity. Bassano then boasted a Francesco da Ponte, Vicenza the two Montagna and Bonconsigli, all of whom,though born in the immediate vicinity of Padua, became disciples of the Bellini. Da Ponte, a native of Vicenza, was pretty well embued with a taste for polite literature and philosophy, extremely desirable in the head of a school, such as he became in the instruction of Jacopo, and through him of the Bassanese; a school highly distinguished during, and even beyond the sixteenth century. The style of his altarpieces, when compared with each other, acquaints us with the earliest and latest specimens of his pencil. He is diligent, but dry in that of his S. Bartolommeo, in the cathedral at Bassano; more soft in another at the church of S. Giovanni, but far better in one of the Pentecost, which he painted for the village of Oliero, almost in the style of the moderns, displaying studied composition, and a colouring various, beautiful, and harmonious; and what is still more, a fine expression of the passions, best adapted to the mystery. We are led to believe, from the account of Lomazzo, that he likewise painted, at another period, in Lombardy; observing that a certain Francesco, of Vicenza, produced a work at theGrazieof Milan, well executed in point of design, but not so pleasing in the effect of its lights and shades.
The two Montagna flourished about the period 1500, in Vicenza, and were employed together, however unequal in genius, being equally followers of the Bellini, at least if we are to give credit to Ridolfi, who must have seen many of their productions, now no longer in existence. In thosewhich I have seen, there appeared strong traces of the style of Mantegna. Benedetto is not mentioned by Vasari, who is apt to omit the names of all artists whom he accounted of inferior worth. He mentions Bartolommeo, as a pupil of Mantegna,[36]and he would certainly have done him more justice had he seen the works he produced in his native place, which, so far from having done, he asserts that the artist constantly resided in Venice. Vicenza boasts many of his pieces, which display the gradual progress of his style. If we wish to estimate the extent of his powers, we ought to consult his altarpiece at S. Michele, and another at S. Rocco, to which may be added a third, in that of the Seminary at Padua. In none of these are we able to discover any composition beyond what was in most general use at that period, already so frequently mentioned by us; and they retain more of the practice of gilding, which, in other places, was then becoming obsolete. In fine, this artist will be found to rank equal with the chief part of his contemporaries; exact in design, skilful in the naked parts, while his colours are fresh and warm. His cherubs are peculiarly graceful and pleasing, and in his altarpiece, at S. Michele, he has introduced an architecture which recedes from, and deceives the eye with a power of illusion, sufficient of itself to have rendered himconspicuous. Of Giovanni Speranza, there remain a few pieces which are much esteemed, though not remarkable for strength of colouring. But we can meet with no public specimens of Veruzio, and most probably his name is a mere equivoque of Vasari.[37]Giovanni Bonconsigli, called Marescalco, or the steward, was esteemed beyond any other of the artists of Vicenza, who flourished at this period, and he certainly approaches nearest to the modern style, and that of the Bellini. The practice, however, of ornamenting friezes with tritonsand similar figures, taken from the antique, he most likely derived from the adjacent cities of Padua or Verona, one of which then professed the study of antiquity, the other that of monuments. Neither Vasari nor Ridolfi gives any account of his productions, except such as he painted in Venice, at this time either wholly perished or defaced. Those which he executed in Vicenza are still in good condition, nor ought a stranger of good taste to leave the place without visiting the chapel de' Turchini, to admire his Madonna in the style of Raffaello, seated upon a throne, between four saints, among which the figure of S. Sebastian is a masterpiece of ideal beauty. Indeed an able professor of the city considered it one of the finest specimens of the art the place could boast, though in possession of many of the first merit. In common with Montagna, Figolino, and Speranza, Bonconsigli abounds in perspective views, and discovers a natural genius for architecture; like them he appears to give promise of the approach of a divine Palladio, the glory of his country and of his art; along with the Scamozzi, and many other citizens, who have rendered Vicenza at once the boast and wonder, as well as the school of architects. There are two altarpieces of his hand remaining in Montagnana. This artist must not be confounded with Pietro Marescalco, surnamed lo Spada, (the sword,) whom the MS. history of Feltre mentions as a native of this city, and complains of Vasari's silence upon it. One of his altarpieces is to be seen atthe Nunnery of the Angeli, at Feltre, where Signor Cav. de Lazara informs me that he read the name ofPetrus Marescalcus P. Among other figures is a Madonna, between two angels, upon a large scale, and in good design, sufficient to entitle Pietro to an honourable rank in the history of art. If we compare him with Giovanni, he will be found less vivid in point of colouring, and, apparently, of a somewhat later age.
In the order of our narrative, we ought now to pass on to Verona, where Liberale, a disciple of Vincenzio di Stefano, at that time held sway. He had also been a scholar or rather imitator of Jacopo Bellini, to whose style, says Vasari, he invariably adhered. Moreover, in his picture of the Epiphany, to be seen in the cathedral, there is a choir of angels with a graceful folding of drapery, and a taste so peculiarly that of Mantegna, that I was easily led to believe him an artist belonging to that class. Certain it is that the vicinity of Mantua might also have facilitated his imitation of Mantegna, traces of which are visible in some other of his works, as well as in those of the more and less known Veronese artists of the time. He did not attain the excellence of Giovanni Bellini, nor did he give the same grandeur to his proportions, and the same enlargement of the ancient style, although he continued to flourish until the year 1535. The colour of his tints is strong; his expression studied and graceful; a very general merit in the painters of Verona; and his care is exquisite, especially inhis diminutive figures, an art in which he became extremely expert, owing to his habit of illustrating books in miniature, which are still to be seen in Verona and in Siena.
He had a competitor, at his native place, in Domenico Morone, or rather the latter, educated also by a disciple of Stefano, is to be held second to him. This artist was succeeded in the course of time, by his son, Francesco Morone, superior to his father, and by Girolamo da' Libri. These two, bound by the strictest habits of friendship from their youth, were frequently employed in the same labours together, and may be said to have adopted the same maxims. The first has been commended by Vasari, for the grace, the design, the harmony, and the warm and beautiful colouring he contrived to bestow upon his pictures, in a degree inferior to none. From the same source we learn that the year of his decease is supposed to have been 1529. But Girolamo da' Libri was his superior, both in point of taste and general celebrity. The son of a miniature painter of choral books and of anthems, who had hence acquired the name of Francesco da' Libri, from his father he received both a knowledge of the art and his surname, both of which he also transmitted to his son, Francesco, as we again learn from Vasari.
It is not, however, within my province to enter into a consideration of their books; but in regard to the altarpieces of Girolamo, I cannot remain silent. That of S. Lionardo, near Verona, I havenever seen; a picture in which the artist having drawn a laurel, the birds are said to have frequently entered at the church windows, fluttering around as if wishing to repose in its branches. Another which I beheld at S. Giorgio, with the date 1529, scarcely retains a trace of the ancient character. It represents the Virgin between two holy bishops, portraits select and full of meaning; together with three exquisitely graceful figures of cherubs, both in face and gesture. In this little picture may be traced, to a certain degree, the character of a miniaturist who paints, or a painter drawing miniature; while the charms of the several professions are seen there exhibited in one point of view. The church, indeed, is a rich gallery, containing numerous masterpieces of the art; among which the S. Giorgio of Paolo (Veronese) too far transcends the rest; but the painting of Girolamo shines almost like a precious jewel, surprising the spectator by an indescribable union of what is graceful, bright, and lucid, which it presents to the eye. He survived many years after the production of this piece, highly esteemed, and in particular for his miniatures, in which he was accounted the first artist in Italy; and as if to crown his reputation, he became the instructor, in such art, of Don Giulio Clovio, a sort of Roscius, if we may so say, of miniature painting.
However flourishing in valuable masters we may consider the city of Venice during this era, the fame of Mantegna, with the vicinity of Mantua,where he taught, attracted thither two artists from Verona, whom I reserve for that school, of which they were faithful followers. These were Monsignori, and Gio. Francesco Carotto, formerly a pupil of Liberale. His brother Giovanni, a noble architect, and designer of ancient edifices, was but a feeble imitator of his style. He richly deserves a place in history as the instructor of Paolo, an artist excellent in many branches of painting, and in architecture almost divine. It is supposed that Paolo must have acquired this degree of excellence by studying at first under Carotto, and afterwards perfecting himself, as we shall shew, by means of Badile. To such as are most known we might here add names less celebrated, which the Marchese Maffei, however, has already inserted in his history; as, for instance, a Matteo Pasti, commended by us in the first volume; but I have, perhaps, already treated sufficiently of the merits of the old Veronese artists.
About this period there flourished two distinguished artists in Brescia, who were present at the terrific saccage of that opulent city, in the year 1512, by Gaston de Foix. One of these is Fioravante Ferramola, who was honoured and remunerated upon that occasion by the French victor for his striking merit, and became sufficiently conspicuous in various churches of the country. His painting of S. Girolamo is seen at Le Grazie, extremely well conceived, with fine landscape, and in a taste so like that of Muziano, that we might almostsuppose it prognosticated his appearance. And it might be said that he afforded the latter a prototype, if he does not aspire to the name of his master. The other is Paolo Zoppo, who depicted the above desolation of the city in miniature, upon a large crystal bason; a work of immense labour, intended to be presented to the doge Gritti: but in transporting it to Venice, the crystal was unfortunately broken, and the unhappy artist died of disappointment and despair. The specimens of his style remaining at Brescia, among which is one of Christ going up to Mount Calvary, at S. Pietro in Oliveto—a piece falsely attributed by others to Foppa—serve to shew that he approached near to the modern manner, and was not unacquainted with the Bellini.
Finally, Bergamo boasted in Andrea Previtali one of the most excellent disciples of Gian Bellini. He appears, indeed, less animated than his master, and less correct in the extremities of his figures; neither have I discovered any of his compositions which are free from the ancient taste, whether in the grouping of his forms, or in the minute ornamenting of the accessaries of his art. Nevertheless, in a few pictures produced, perhaps, later in life, such as his S. Giovanni Batista, at S. Spirito; his S. Benedetto, in the dome of Bergamo, and several more in the Carrara Gallery, he very nearly attained to the modern manner; and was indisputably one of the most distinguished artists, in point of colours and perspective, belonging to the schoolof the Bellini. His Madonnas are held in the highest esteem; in whose features he appears less a disciple of Gian Bellini, than of Raffaello, and of Vinci. Two of them at Milan I have seen, both bearing his name: one is in possession of the Cavalier Melzi; the other in that of Monsig. Arciprete Rosales, painted in 1522; and both are surrounded with figures of other saints, portraits executed with discrimination and truth. There is also a picture of Our Lord announced by the Angel, at Ceneda, a work so uncommonly beautiful in regard to the two heads, that Titian, in passing occasionally through the place, is said, according to Ridolfi, to have repeatedly contemplated it with rapture; charmed by the spirit of devotion it expressed. Upon the same boundaries, between the ancient and modern taste, we find various other painters, natives of the valleys of Bergamo, a fruitful source both of wealth and intellect to the city. Such is Antonio Boselli,[38]from the Valle Brembana, of whom there has recently been discovered a fine altarpiece at the Santo of Padua; besides two other artists of the same vale, who approach even nearer to the softness, if not to the elegance of Previtali. These are Gian Giacomo, and Agostino Gavasii di Pascante. We may add to these Jacopo degli Scipioni,of Averara, and Caversegno, of Bergamo, besides others handed down to us by Tassi. These, having flourished at a period so distinguished for the art of colouring, may be compared to certain writers of the fourteenth century, who throw little light upon learning; but who, observes Salvini, in respect to language, appear to me as if every separate page were embued with gold.
I have already pointed out to the reader, the best masters of the Venetian School, contemporary with, and followers of Gian Bellini; a number which, though we subtract from it several names of inferior note, will leave a larger proportion than is generally supposed. The state, indeed, is full of specimens founded upon his models, the authors of which remain doubtful; yet it is certain they composed in Bellini's style, while their designs partake more or less both of the modern and ancient taste.[39]Undoubtedly, no other school affordsa proof of so great a number of disciples from one master, and following so closely in his footsteps. Granting this, I cannot easily give credit to the numerous specimens of Madonnas attributed to his single hand, besides other pictures in different collections. A cautious judge will not be apt to pronounce any work his, which displays much of ideal beauty; Bellini having, for the most part, repeated in his feminine figures an expression of countenance, partaking in some degree of an apish character. Nor will he be easily led to ascribe to him pictures which display a minute care and finish, approaching to the miniature style, inasmuch as he embodied and coloured his conceptions with a free and fearless hand. In short, a certain vigour of colour, warm and lively; a certain reddish tinge of the drapery, approachinga rosy hue; a certain brightness of varnish, are not the usual characteristics of his hand, however much his style of design may be mixed up with them; and such pieces may reasonably be presumed the production of those artists of the state bordering nearest upon Lombardy, whence, likewise, a few of the Venetian state derived the mechanical part of their colouring.
Within the limits proposed to myself, I may here annex to my consideration of the painters in water colours and in oil, other less distinguished branches of the art. Among these is that species of inlaid work with wood of different colours, which was intended more particularly for the ornament of choirs where the divine service was chaunted. I can trace nothing of its inventors, whether of German or other origin;[40]though it is said to have taken its rise in an imitation of mosaic work, and of works in stone. No other coloured woods besides black and white were at first in use; nor any other objects beyond large edifices, temples, colonnades, and in short ornaments with architectural views, attempted to be represented.Brunelleschi at Florence gave instructions in perspective to architects, that edifices might be drawn according to good rules; and Massaccio in painting, greatly availed himself of his precepts, as well as Benedetto da Majano in his inlaid works. There remain at Florence, as well as other places in Italy, several ancient choirs very highly prized in that age, but afterwards despised, when the art of staining wood with boiled water colours and penetrative oils, came into use. Thus, after the imitation of buildings, easily drawn from the number of their right lines, that of figures began to be practised in an able manner, though it had formerly been tried with less success. The chief merit of such improvement, or rather perfection of the art, was due to the Venetian School. Lorenzo Canozio, from Lendinara, a fellow student of Mantegna, who died about 1477, inlaid the entire choir of the church of S. Antonio, even, as it would appear, with figures. The whole, however, having been consumed by fire, there is nothing remaining but the epitaph of the artificer, in which he is highly applauded for his labours. There likewise exist other works of the same kind, in the armadj, chests, or presses, of the sacristy, and, as it is supposed, also in some of the confessionals. Besides Lorenzo, his brother Cristofano, and his son-in-law Pierantonio, who assisted him in these labours, are equally applauded by Matteo Siculo, as worthy of vieing with Phidias and Apelles themselves.Tiraboschi likewise enumerates the two brothers among the artists of Modena, whose fellow citizens they were.
But the fame of these soon expired. For Giovanni da Verona, a layman of Oliveto, not long after, surpassed them in the same art. He practised it in various cities of Italy, and at Rome itself, in the service of Pope Julius II; but still more successfully in the sacristy of his own order, where his works are still to be seen in the best condition. F. Vincenzo delle Vacche, also a native of Verona, and a layman of Oliveto, mentioned by the learned Morelli in hisNotiziaof works of design, during the first half of the sixteenth century, deserves mention here for the merit of his inlaid works; and in particular for those wrought in Padua, at the church of S. Benedetto Novello. Unacquainted, however, with the period in which he flourished, I shall not venture to announce him either as a pupil or assistant to Fra Giovanni. Similar productions, from the hand of Fra Raffaello da Brescia, also of Oliveto, adorning the choir of S. Michele in Bosco at Bologna, might here be mentioned in competition with those in the sacristy of Verona, by natives of Oliveto.
Moreover, there remains Fra Damiano da Bergamo, a Dominican monk, who ornamented his own church at Bergamo, and that of Bologna in a still better style; in which the choir is inlaid with the greatest art. In S. Pietro, at Perugia, he also wrought the most beautiful histories. Thesame artist, as we find recorded in Vasari, succeeded also in refining the art of colours and of shades, to such a degree as to be held the very first in this line. He possessed either a rival, or a pupil, in Gianfrancesco Capodiferro, whose mansions at S. Maria Maggiore, in Bergamo, are the finest specimens of the kind, though occasionally betraying some traces of stiffness in their manner. There too he worked after the designs of Lotto, and instructed in the art his brother Pietro and his son Zinino, so that the city continued to be supplied with excellent artificers during a number of years. The largest and most artificially wrought figures I have seen in this line are in a choir of the Certosa at Pavia, distributed one by one upon each side. The artificer is said to have been one Bartolommeo da Pola, whose name I have not met with elsewhere. In each of the squares is represented a bust of one of the Apostles, or some other saint, designed in the taste of the Da Vinci School. A few of the pictures of these artists are to be found in galleries of art; among which, those from the hand of F. Damiano are the most esteemed. Finally, this species of workmanship, embracing materials too much exposed to the moth and to the fire, by degrees began to grow out of date: and if more lately it appears to have again revived, it has failed hitherto in producing any works deserving of commemoration.
[6]Rannusio Guerra di Costantinopoli, book iii. p. 94.
[7]Vol. vi. p. 88, anno 1808.
[8]See hisDescrizione delle Pitture, &c. p. 19. The learned Morelli also, in his Annotations to theNotizia, confirms, by fresh arguments, the same epoch, p. 146.
[9]Page 101.
[10]This was given to the public by Muratori, with the following title—Riccobaldi Ferrariensis, sive anonimi scriptoris compilatio chronologica usque ad annum 1312.(Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. ix. p. 255.)
[11]Sig. Sasso observed one extremely like it in Venice, with the subscriptionGuglielmus pinxit, 1368; from which he inferred that he had belonged to the school of Guariento.
[12]ThisSebetoof Vasari appeared so new to Maffei, that he would willingly have substituted Stefano; (see Ver. Illust.p. iii. col. 152,) but Stefano da Verona, or da Zevio, is a name posterior to these times. TheNotiziaof the anonymous writer, recently published, says, that the church of the before mentioned S. George was ornamented by "Jacopo Davanzo, a Paduan, or a Veronese, if not, as some will have it, a Bolognese; by Altichiero Veronese, according to Campagnuola, p. 6." It must be observed that Vasari also consulted the latter, or probably one of his Latin letters to Niccolo Leonico Tomeo, quoting it several times. (See Morelli, p. 101.) Now in this it was probably written,ab Alticherio de Jebeto; that is, da Zevio, which was at one time calledJebetum, and Vasari believed it to be the name of an unknown painter. Such is the conjecture communicated to me by Sig. Brandolese, and it appears extremely probable.
[13]Signor Abbate Morelli, since P. della Valle, has discovered another painting existing in the Sacristy of the Padri Conventuali, at Vicenza, with this inscription, 1333,paulus de venetiis pinxit hoc opus, (Notiz.p. 222). He adds also, two other Venetian painters, with whom I have enriched this new edition; the name of one found in a small picture of the Conventuali, at S. Arcangelo, under an image of the Virgin, among various saints, dated 1385.Jachobelus de Bonomo Venetus pinxit hoc opus.The other, in the territory of Verruchio, on a crucifixion, with the symbols of the four Evangelists, is in the possession of the Agostiniani, and inscribed 1404:Nicholaus Paradixi miles de Venetiis pinxit.
[14]Among these is counted Stefano Pievano, of St. Agnese, an able artist, who left his name along with the date, 1381, on an altarpiece of theAssumption:—a piece in which the Venetian colouring is displayed to advantage, while the expression, lively and full of meaning, compensates for its inaccuracy of design. Another artist deserving of being known is Jacopo diAlberegno, whose family still remains in Venice, and who has been ascertained to be the author of a painting without date, representing the Crucifixion of our Saviour, among various saints. Tommaso da Modena has also been referred to the Venetian School, who, about the period of 1351, produced two Holy Virgins at Venice; a St. Catherine, at present in the gallery of N. H. Ascanio Molin, together with the two preceding, and other rare Venetian pictures of the same epoch; and a S. Barbara, belonging to the Abbate Mauro Boni, so fraught with expression, grace, and power of colouring, as to lead me to conjecture he had flourished at a much later period, were it not for the inscribed date. His beginning to be known at Venice is some reason why he should be referred to this school, if the name of his native place,de Mutina, did not restrain us from so doing without some further doubt. The Ab. Boni, who has given us an account of these pictures in an article put forth by the Italian academy, was the first to discover them.
[15]Before their time, however, Bergamo could boast a school of painting, as witness what Count Tassi adduces in a parchment of the year 1296, naming a certain Guglielmo,pittore. It does not appear in what style he drew. One of his successors, who painted the tree of St. Bonaventura, abounding in sacred figures, shews himself an artist more rude, indeed, but more original than either of the brothers de Nova. Of his name we are, however, ignorant, as he only attached the date of 1347.
[16]In the work intitledNarrazione dell'Isola di Murano, byG. A. Moschini, the supposition I have above stated has been combated by its excellent author. A picture in the gallery of the N. H. Molin, at Venice, subscribedJohannes Vivarinus, seems to have persuaded him of my mistake. In a work embracing an account of some thousand painters, I cannot pretend to boast of its being free from some human errors, and was about to express my gratitude to the above mentioned author for having pointed one of them out. But I am now convinced that the picture is from the hand of another artist, and that the signature in question is a forgery, the author of which has confounded the character of what is called Gothic and Roman, in place of imitating the true character of those times, which he might very easily have done, inasmuch as he had before his eyes a small chart, with a most devout oration,Deus meus charitas, &c. in the most complete Gothic, or rather German character that can be conceived. The impostor therefore must have been extremely ignorant of his art. The examination was made by the cavalier Gio. da Lazara, Abate Mauro Boni, Bartolommeo Gamba, names sufficiently known to the public to justify our adoption of their opinion. The very able Brandolese has likewise pronounced the inscription false, and published thereon a little work, entitled "Doubts respecting the existence of such a painter as Giovanni Vivarino da Murano, newly confirmed; and a refutation of some recently asserted authority, to confirm them." And in this he displays much sound criticism, and many arguments, all tending to strengthen my own conjecture.
[17]This artist ought not to be confounded with Jacometto da Venezia, a miniature painter, and artist of the same age, but who flourished somewhat later. He also was celebrated in his day, and is frequently recorded in theNotizia Morelli, for his small pictures, adapted for private rooms, his portraits, and his miniatures. It was sometimes doubted whether a certain work was from the hand of John of Bruges, of Antonello da Messina, or of Jacometto da Venezia. (See Notizia Morelli, p. 74.)
[18]The picture referred to by the P. Moschini, in hisNarrazione dell'Isola di Murano, is not to be admitted as genuine, the inscription upon it being forged by the same author, who counterfeited that of Giovanni Vivarini, before alluded to in the note to page 22.
[19]SeeMorelli Notizia, p. 157.
[20]I had supposed, in my first edition of this work, misled by the opposite names, that Sebeto was a different personage from this Stefano da Zevio. I was afterwards undeceived by the appearance of the work of the learned Brandolese, pronouncing them one and the same artist; and I willingly here retract what I had before advanced, expressing, at the same time, my acknowledgements for the emendation.
[21]Drawn in the most perfect manner, are the words of Vasari, while he adds, that the whole of his works were imitated and copied by Pietro di Perugia, an experienced artist infresco, and more especially in miniature, with which "he ornamented the whole of the books in the library of Pope Pius,"in the dome at Siena. He is not known, however, in Perugia, nor mentioned at Siena among those employed at the cathedral, as is noticed by Father della Valle; yet the present work abounds with examples of artists, unknown in their own cities, on account of having resided elsewhere; and the before mentioned annotator of Vasari was unable to discover the name of Liberal da Verona, an undoubted illustrator of the books, in such registers. I think we ought not to refuse to give credit, therefore, to Vasari, as Father Guglielmo insists; but to admit a new Pietro di Perugia, anterior to Vanucci, who might design the frescos of Stefano in Verona and Mantua, so extolled in the early part of 1400, and who copied them in those very beautiful and graceful miniatures at Siena; an art which he probably acquired at Verona, where it was then in such high repute.
[22]See on this head, theDescrizione delle Bellezze di Vicenza, P. 1. p. 7.
[23]In the cathedral of Pordenone, under one of hisaltarpiece, we read—
"Andreas Zeusis nostræque ætatis ApellesHoc Bellunellus nobile pinxit opus." (Altan.)
[24]Ruggieri indeed had acquired a great reputation in Italy as early as 1449, when Ciriaco Anconitano, being in Ferrara, saw a picture of Christ taken from the cross, belonging to the Duke. He thus writes respecting the artist:Rugerus Brugiensis pictorum decusΑΓΑΘΗΙ ΤΥΧΗΙ.—Rugierius in Brussella post præclarum illum Brugiensem picturæ decus Joannem, insignis N. T. Pictor habetur, &c. See Colucci A. P. vol. xxiii. p. 143. He is also commended in high terms by Bartolommeo Facio in his little workDe viris illustribus. See Morelli,Notizia, p. 239.
[25]He arrived there, and was at Rome in theanno Santo. See Facius, lib. cit. p. 45.
[26]This is one of the usual mistakes found in Vasari. Baldinucci (tom. iv. p. 17) calls him Ans or Hans. This is his Flemish appellation, which in our tongue, signifies Giovanni; and in theNotiziaMorelli he is termed Gianes da Brugia; somewhat nearer our own tongue. With Sansovino he is Gio. di Bruggia, John of Bruges. See Morelli, p. 117; and by him he is distinguished fromGio. Van Eych.
[27]In a similar taste was the perspective introduced by Giovanni Bellino in his celebrated altarpiece at San Zaccaria, in Venice. Another was placed in the great altar of the dome at Capo d'Istria, by Carpaccio the elder, still more striking. In the background of the picture, the virgin appears seated on a magnificent throne, with the divine infant, in an upright posture, upon her knees, surrounded by six of the most venerable patrons of the place, disposed around her, in three ranks, displaying a fine diversity of drapery as well as of action. To these are added some cherubs, engaged in playing upon musical instruments, and apparently beholding the spectator with an air of puerile simplicity, as if inviting him to caress them. A long and lofty colonnade, in excellent perspective, leads the way to the throne, at one time united to a fine stone colonnade, which extended from the altarpiece through the chapel, producing a fine illusion, amounting to a sort of enchantment of perspective. It was removed along with the stone columns, in order to enlarge the tribune. The oldest citizens, who witnessed this beautiful spectacle, speak of it to strangers with delight, and I am glad to put it on record, before the recollection of it be entirely obliterated.
[28]Notizia, p. 63.
[29]Albert Durer, arriving the same year at Venice, bestowed on Giovanni one of the most favourable testimonies to his talents that now remains. After rebuking the envy of the other painters, who spoke of him with contempt, he says of him:—"Every one assures me that he isGran Galantuomo, for which reason I wish him well. He is already very old, but, notwithstanding, the best painter we have." V.Morel. Not.p. 224.