We next arrive at the name of Jacopo Robusti, the son of a Venetian dyer, and for this reason surnamed Tintoret. He was pupil to Titian, who, jealous of his talents, soon banished him from his studio. He did not aspire, like the preceding artists, to the name of Titian's follower; for he burned with ambition to become the head of a new school which should carry his manner to perfection, adding to it all that was yet wanting; a vast idea, the offspring of a grand and fervid genius, and as bold as it was great, not even banishment from his master's school being able to damp his ardour. Constrained by circumstances to confine himself to an incommodious apartment, he ennobled it with specimens of his early studies. Over the door of it he wrote, "Michelangiolo's design, and the colouring of Titian;" and as he was an indefatigable imitator of the latter, so he was equally studious, both night and day, in copying the models, taken from the statues in Florence, belonging to the former. To these he added many more of bassi relievi, and of ancient statues. In a catalogue of ancient pieces of sculpture, cited by Morelli, and belonging to the year 1695, is recorded a head of Vitellius, upon which "Tintoretto was always employed in designing and learning," (note, p. 152). He was frequently inthe habit of designing his models by lamplight, the better to obtain strong shades, and thus acquire skill in the use of a bold chiaroscuro. With the same view he wrought models in wax and chalk, and having clothed them carefully, he adapted them to little houses, composed of pasteboard, and slips of wood, supplying them through the windows with small lights, by which he might thus regulate his own lights and shades. The models themselves he suspended from the ceiling by cords, placing them in a variety of positions, and designing them from different points of view, the better to acquire a mastery of thesotto in sù, or foreshortening on the ceiling, a science not so familiar to his school as to that of Lombardy. Nor did he neglect the study of anatomy, to obtain a thorough knowledge of the muscles, and the structure of the human frame. He designed also the naked parts, as much as possible, in various shortenings and attitudes, in order to render his compositions as diversified as nature herself. By such studies he prepared himself to introduce the true method to be pursued by his followers, beginning with designing from the best models, and having obtained the idea of a correct style, proceeding to copy the naked parts, and to correct their defects.[65]Tosuch aids he united a genius which extorted the admiration of Vasari, one of his severest critics, who pronounced it the most terrible of which the art could boast—an imagination fertile in new ideas, and a pictorial fire which inspired him with vigour to conceive well the boldest character of the passions, and continued to support him until he had given full expression to them on his canvass.
Yet to what did it amount?—what is the noblest genius, and all the rarest qualities meeting in a single artist, without diligence, a virtue which of itself, says Cicero, seems to include all the rest. Tintoretto possessed it for a period, and produced works in which the most captious of critics could not find a shade of defect. Of such kind is that Miracle of the Slave, adorning the college of St. Mark, a piece he executed in his thirty-sixth year, and which is held up as one of the wonders of Venetian art. The colours are Titian's; the chiaroscuro extremely strong; the composition correct and sober; select forms; studied draperies; while equally varied, appropriate, and animated beyond conception, are the attitudes of the men assisting at the spectacle, in particular of the saint who flies to succour, giving an idea of the swiftness of an aërial being. There, too, he painted other beautiful pieces, whose merit extorted from the lips of Pietro da Cortona these words: "Did I reside in Venice, not a festivalshould pass without still resorting to this spot, in order to feast my eyes with such objects, and above all, with the design!" His picture of the Crucifixion at the college of San Rocco, is also esteemed a work of singular merit; displaying as it does, so much novelty upon so hackneyed a subject. Nor are other examples of his sovereign power wanting in the same place, filled with pictures as various as new; but, for brevity's sake, I shall merely record, in the third place, his Supper of our Lord, now at the Salute, having been removed from the refectory of the Crociferi, for which it was drawn. Those who have beheld it in its place, write of it as a miracle in the art, inasmuch as the construction of the place was so well repeated in the picture, and imitated with so much knowledge of perspective, as to make the apartment appear double its real size. Nor are these three works to which he affixed his name, as his favourite productions, the only ones worthy of his genius, Zanetti having enumerated many more, conducted with the most finished care; the whole exhibited to the Venetian public, without including those dispersed throughout the different cities of Europe.
But diligence is rarely found long united to a rage for achieving much; the true source in this instance, as in numerous others, of false, or at least of inferior composition. Hence, Annibale Caracci observed, that in many pieces Tintoretto was inferior to Tintoretto; while Paul Veronese, so ardentan admirer of his talents, was in the habit of reproaching him with doing injustice to the professors of the art, by painting in every manner, a plan that went far to destroy the reputation of the profession (Ridolfi). Similar exceptions will be found to apply to such of his works as, conceived at a heat, executed by habit, and in great part left imperfect, betray certain errors both in point of judgment and design. Sometimes there appears a crowd of superfluous or badly grouped figures, and most generally all in the most energetic actions, without any spectators regarding them in quiet, as was practised by Titian and all the best composers. Neither in these figures are we to look for that senatorial dignity, which Reynolds discovers in Titian.
Tintoretto aimed rather at liveliness than at grace, and from the studied observation of the people of his native state, perhaps the most spirited in Italy, he drew models for his heads, as well as his attitudes, sometimes applying them to the most important subjects. In a few specimens of his Suppers, the Apostles might occasionally be taken for gondoliers, just when their arm is raised, ready to strike the oar, and with an air of native fierceness they raise the head either to look out, to ridicule, or to dispute. He likewise varied Titian's method of colouring, making use of primary grounds no longer white, and composed of chalk, but shaded; owing to which his Venetian pictures have felt the effects of time more thanthe rest. Neither were the choice, nor the general tone of his colouring the same as Titian's; the blue, or the ash coloured, being that which predominates; one which assists the effect of the chiaroscuro, as much as it diminishes the amenity of the whole. In his fleshes there appears a certain vinous colour, and more particularly in his portraits. The proportions of his bodies are also different; he does not affect the fulness of Titian; he aims more at lively action than the latter, and sometimes attenuates his figures too much. The least correct portion of his pictures is the drapery; few of them being free from those long and straight folds, or flying abroad, or in some other way too common and obvious. It would be useless to insist upon his want of judgment, or rather his pictorial extravagances, Vasari having already said too much of them, upon the subject of his Universal Judgment, at Santa Maria dell'Orto.
He ought to have tempered the severity of his criticism, however, by admitting, that if the author of that great picture had bestowed as much pains upon the several parts as upon the whole, it would have been a magnificent production. Even in those pictures, in which he wished to display the talent as it were of animprovvisatore, he still vindicated his title to the name of a great master, in the command and rapidity of his pencil, in his manifestations of original powers, where he seems to triumph in his play of light, in the most difficult shortenings, in fanciful inventions, in hisrelief, in harmony, and, in the best supported of his pieces, even in the beauty of his tints. But his sovereign merit consisted in the animation of his figures, it being an universal opinion, that has almost acquired the force of a proverb, that the power of action ought to be studied in Tintoretto. Upon this point Pietro da Cortona used to observe, that if we carefully examine the whole of those pictures which have been engraved, no artist will be found equal to him in the pictorial fire he infused into his forms (Boschini, p. 285). He flourished for a long period, exerting his talents until we could with difficulty make a catalogue of his works, still giving the rein to his divine ardour in many pieces of great size, or at least abounding with a great variety of actors. Among these last, his picture of the Paradiso, in the hall of the great council, was greatly esteemed, even by the Caracci; and though the production of advanced age, the figures are almost innumerable. Had they only been better grouped and distributed, the artist would not have given occasion for Algarotti to criticize such a painting as he did, adducing it as an example of badly conceived composition. Tintoretto's genuine productions are not often met with in the different collections of Italy. In Venice, however, they are not rare, and there we may learn, what appears so very improbable in Ridolfi, that Tintoretto wrought with a degree of finish equal to that of a miniature painter. The noble Casa Barbarigo, at S. Polo, possesses aSusannaof this character, where, in small space, is included a park, with birds and rabbits disporting, together with every thing desirable in a pleasure garden; the whole as studiously finished as his figures.
There is little to add relating to his school on which none conferred greater credit than his son, Domenico Tintoretto. He trod in the steps of his father; but, like Ascanius following Æneas, "non passibus æquis." Still he may boast much resemblance in his countenances, in his colouring, and in harmony, but there is a wide distinction in point of genius, though some of his most spirited pieces have been ascribed to his father, or at least suspected of having been chiefly indebted to his hand. Many works, however, upon a large scale, are attributed to the son; those which he has filled with portraits being far the most commended; his merit in this branch having been thought equal by Zanetti to that of his father. One of these is seen at the college of St. Mark, where, as in the rest of his compositions, the figures are disposed with more sobriety than those of Jacopo, as well as finished with more care, and with more enduring colours. As he grew older his style fell somewhat into that of a mannerist, which at that period, as we shall see, much prevailed. By these distinctions his productions may be frequently known from his father's, and we may be enabled to refute the assertions of dealers, who, to obtain a higher price, attribute them indiscriminately to Jacopo. Yet Domenico producedmany pieces, more especially portraits for different collections, besides several mythological and scriptural histories, to which he sometimes added his name, as in his picture boasting such exquisite tints which adorns the Campidoglio; the subject of which is a penitent Magdalen. Contemporary with Domenico, we ought not to omit the name of his sister Marietta, so exquisite a painter of portraits, as to receive invitations from the Emperor Maximilian, and from Philip II. of Spain, to visit their respective courts. But her father would never consent to such a measure, in order to enjoy her society at home, though he was deprived of her not long afterwards, cut off in the flower of her genius and her age.
Jacopo possessed few disciples beyond his two children, though he profited in some measure from these few. Paolo Franceschi, or de' Freschi, a Fleming, and Martino de Vos d'Anversa, were artists he employed to draw his landscapes. The former was esteemed one of the best landscape painters of his time, while he succeeded also in figures. He was engaged to paint for the Palazzo Publico, and several churches in Venice, where he terminated his days. The second resided also at Rome; and, in the church of San Francesco a Ripa, painted hisConcezione, a picture, indeed, abounding with too many figures, but beautiful and exquisite in its tints. With still greater felicity he depicted the four seasons for the Colonna family, very pleasing little pictures,presenting a happy union of various schools, fine perspective, fine relief, with correct and graceful design. Passing into Germany, and increasing in reputation no less by his works than by the engravings made of them by Sadeler, there, full of years and fame, he died. Lamberto Lombardo has been just before recorded as the assistant of Tintoretto, but not his disciple.
Odofardo Fialetti, a native of Bologna, was educated in the school of Tintoretto, where he acquired a reputation for good design, and a thorough acquaintance with all the precepts of the art, yet he was still far from emulating his master, not possessing vivacity of genius equal to the task. To avoid a competition with the Caracci he long continued, and died at Venice, where many of his works are highly esteemed, and in particular his picture of the Crucifixion, painted for the Croce.
Among the imitators of Tintoretto appears the name of Cesare dalle Ninfe, an artist who aimed at reaching the sharp expression of ridicule, the novelty of ideas, and the rapidity of hand, so remarkable in his prototype; though unequal in his design. Flaminio Floriano seems to have been ambitious of imitating only the more correct parts of his model; so uniformly exact, temperate, and precise does he appear in his picture of San Lorenzo, to which he affixed his name.
The name of Melchior Colonna also occurs, though hardly known in Venice, and some perhaps would add that of Bertoli, a Venetian, to bemet with affixed to a picture at the chapel of San Niccola, in Tolentino. It represents the Plague that visited that city, if I mistake not, and which disappeared at the solicitation of the patron saint. There is also an account of another artist, who from his age might have received the instructions of Tintoretto, or at all events obtained them from his works; his name was Gio. Rothenamer di Monaco. Arriving in Italy with but a small fund of knowledge, acquired in the studio of a poor national artist, he distinguished himself at Rome, and perfected his style in Venice, adopting in a great measure the maxims of Tintoretto. There, at the Incurabili, he left a Santa Cristina, a Nunziata at San Bartolommeo, and, as we have reason to believe, other works in private possession, by which he obtained some degree of credit. Subsequently arriving at a handsome practice in England, he nevertheless contrived to die there in poverty, his funeral expenses being defrayed by the alms of some Venetians. But few others, observes Zanetti, pursued the same path, probably because at that period more pleasing and popular styles were in vogue. Ridolfi, on the other hand, asserts, that all young artists towards the end of the century were anxious to study him for their model; and we shall find, in treating of themannerists, that he was acknowledged by them as their sovereign master. We must, in the next place, enter upon a consideration of the school of Bassano.
Jacopo da Ponte, son to that Francesco, who, in the preceding epoch, was commended as one of the better artists who flourished during the fourteenth century, was nearly contemporary with Tintoretto, and was instructed by his father in the art. His earliest efforts, that are seen in the church of San Bernardino, in his native place, bear the impress of such an education. On resorting to Venice he was recommended to Bonifazio, a master no less jealous of his art than Titian or Tintoretto; insomuch that Jacopo never obtained the advantage of seeing him colour, except by secretly watching him through a crevice in the door of his studio. He resided but a little time in Venice, employed in designing the cartoons of Parmigianino, and in taking copies of the pictures of Bonifazio and Titian, whose scholar, upon the authority of some manuscript, he had also been. And, if conformity of manner were sufficient evidence, by no means always a certain guide, we might admit the truth of such supposition; his second style being altogether that of Titian. A few of his pictures are met with in his native place, such as his Flight into Egypt, at San Girolamo, and a Nativity of the Redeemer, in possession of Sig. Dottor Larber, both youthful productions, but which seemed to promise another Titian; so richly were they imbued with his sweetness of taste.
Upon his father's death Jacopo was compelled to return, and settle in his own province, whose city is at this day both rich and populous, and inthose times it was esteemed by no means despicable; its situation delightful, abounding with flocks and herds, and well adapted for the sale of merchandize, and for fairs. From these elements arose by degrees his formation of a third style, full of simplicity and grace, and which gave the first indications in Italy of a taste altogether foreign; that of the Flemish. In the use of his pencil, Jacopo may be said to have pursued two different methods. The first of these is much softened with a fine union of tints, and at last determined with free strokes. The second, resulting in a great measure from the other, was formed by simple strokes of the pencil, with clear and pleasing tints, and with a certain command, or rather audacity of art, that, nearly viewed, appears a confused mixture, but forms in the distance an enchanting effect of colouring. In both of these he displays the originality of his own style, chiefly consisting in a certain soft and luscious composition. It partakes at once of the triangular and the circular form, and aims at certain contrast of postures; so that if one of the figures is in full face, the other turns its shoulders; and at the same time at a kind of analogy, so that a number of heads shall meet in the same line, or in a want of these, some other form elevated in the same direction. In regard to his lights, he appears partial to such as are confined to one part, and displayed masterly power in rendering it subservient to the harmony of the whole; for with these rare lights, with the frequent use of middle tints,and the absence of deep obscure, he succeeded admirably in harmonizing the most opposite colours. In the gradation of lights he often contrives that the shadow of the interior figure shall serve as a ground for one more forward; and that the figures should partake of few lights, but extremely bold and vivid at their angles; as for instance, on the top of the shoulder, on the knee, and on the elbow; for which purpose he makes use of a flow or sweep of folds, natural to all appearance, but in fact highly artificial, to favour his peculiar system. In proportion to the variety of his draperies, he varies the folds with a delicacy of judgment that falls to the share of few. His colours every where shine like gems; in particular his greens, which display an emerald tinge peculiar to himself. Whoever would become more familiar with the mechanism, and at the same time peruse a very full analysis, of Bassano's style, may refer to Sig. Verci, the able historian of the Marca Trevigiana, who drew it up from theMS. Volpati, cited by us in another epoch, and in the index to the writers.
At the outset Jacopo aspired to a grandeur of style, which is apparent from some of his pictures remaining in the façade of the Casa Michieli. Among these, a Samson slaying the Philistines meets with much praise, and indeed they all partake of the boldness of Michel Angiolo. But, whether the result of disposition or of judgment, he afterwards confined himself to smaller proportions,and to subjects of less power. Even the figures in his altarpieces are generally less than life, and so little animated, that it was observed by some one, that in Tintoretto even his old men were spirited, but that the youths of Bassano were mere dotards. We do not meet with any of that noble architecture in his paintings, that adds so much dignity to those of the Venetian School. He appears rather anxious to find subjects in which to introduce candlelight, cottages, landscape, animals, copper vessels, and all such objects as passed under his eye, and which he copied with surprising accuracy. His ideas were limited, and he often repeated them, a fault to be attributed to his situation, it being an indisputable fact, that the conceptions both of artists and of writers become enlarged and increased in great capitals, and diminish in small places. All this may be gathered from his pictures produced for private ornament, the most familiar occupation of his life, inasmuch as he executed very few large altarpieces. He conducted them at leisure in his studio, and, assisted by his school, he prepared a great number of various dimensions. He then despatched them to Venice, and sometimes to the best frequented fairs, thus rendering the number so very great, as to make it rather a disgrace for a collection not to possess copies by his hand, than an honour to have them. In these may be viewed, almost invariably, the same subjects; consisting of acts of the Old and New Testament; the Feasts of Martha, of thePharisee, of the Glutton, with a splendid display of brazen vessels; the Ark of Noah, the Return of Jacob, the Annunciation of the Angel to the Shepherds, with great variety of animals. To these we may add, the Queen of Sheba; the three Magi, with regal pomp of dress, and the richest array; the Deposition of our Lord from the Cross, by torchlight. His pieces upon profane subjects exhibit the sale of beasts and of brazen vessels; sometimes rural occupations, corresponding to the seasons of the year; and sometimes without human figures, merely a kitchen, furniture, a fowl yard, or similar objects. Nor is it only the histories or the compositions themselves that recur in every collection to the eye; but even countenances taken from individuals of his own family; for instance, arraying his own daughter either as a Queen of Sheba, or a Magdalen; or as a villager, presenting fowls to the infant Jesus. I have likewise seen entire pieces, with the title of theFamily of Bassano, sometimes in small size, and sometimes in larger. Of the former, I remarked a specimen in Genoa, in possession of Signor Ambrogio Durazzo, where the daughters of the painter are seen intent upon their feminine occupations, a little boy playing, and a domestic in the act of lighting a candle. One of the second kind may be seen in theMedicean Museum, a picture which represents an academy of music.
By this method he seemed to confess the poverty of his imagination, though he derived from it avery remarkable advantage. By dint of continually repeating the same things, he brought them to the utmost point of perfection of which they were susceptible; as we may gather from his picture of the Nativity of our Lord, placed at San Giuseppe, in Bassano; the master not only of Jacopo, but in point of force of colours and the chiaroscuro, of every thing that modern painting has to boast. The same is seen in his Burial of Christ, at the Seminario of Padua, a picture of which an engraving was taken by order of Madame Patin, among the portraits of celebrated painters; having met with no other that seemed to breathe such a spirit of pity and holy terror. Finally, in his Sacrifice of Noah, at Santa Maria Maggiore in Venice, in which he collected specimens of all the birds and animals he had drawn elsewhere, he preserved the same character; and by this production so far won the regard of Titian, that he wished to purchase a copy for the ornament of his own studio.
Hence it happens, that the works of Bassano, conducted at a certain age and with singular care, are estimated very highly, and purchased at large sums, though not altogether exempt from some errors of perspective, from some awkwardness of posture, and some fault in composition, particularly in point of symmetry. Indeed it was the general belief, that he possessed little practical skill in designing the extremities, thus avoiding, as much as lay in his power, the introduction of feet andhands into his pictures. These accusations, with others before alluded to, might be greatly extenuated by producing such examples of Bassano as would fully prove, that he could, when he pleased, draw much better than he was accustomed to do. He knew how to vary his compositions, as we perceive in his Nativity, at the Ambrosiana in Milan; and he might as easily have varied his other pieces. He was capable also of conceiving with equal novelty and propriety, as we gather from his San Rocco, at Vicenza; and he might thus have shone on other occasions. Moreover, he knew how to draw the extremities, as appears from his picture of S. Peter, at Venice, adorning the church of the Umiltà; and he could give dignity to his countenances, as in his Queen of Sheba, which I have seen in Brescia; and he might have displayed the same dignity in other pieces. But whether he found such a task too irksome, or from whatever other cause, he displayed his powers rarely; content with having arrived at his peculiar method of colouring, of illuminating, and of shading, with a sovereign skill. So universally was he admired, that he received innumerable commissions from various courts, and an invitation to that of Vienna. What is more honourable, notwithstanding his defects, he extorted the highest praises, if not from Vasari, from many of the most renowned artists; from Titian, from Annibal Caracci, who was so much deceived by a book painted upon a table, that he stretched out his hand totake it up; and from Tintoretto, who commended his colouring, and in some measure wished to imitate him. Above all, he was highly honoured by Paul Veronese, who entrusted him with his son Carletto, for a pupil, to receive his general instructions, "and more particularly in regard to that just disposition of lights reflected from one object to another, and in those happy counterpositions, owing to which the depicted objects seem clothed with a profusion of light." Such is the flattering testimony given by Algarotti to the style of Jacopo da Ponte.
Bassano educated four of his sons to the same profession, which thus became transmitted to others, so that the Bassanese school continued for the length of a century, though still declining and departing fast from its primitive splendour. Francesco and Leandro were the two members of Jacopo's family best disposed to pursue his footsteps, and he was accustomed to pride himself upon the inventive talents displayed by the former, and the singular ability of the latter for portrait painting, Of his two other sons, Giambatista and Girolamo, he used to observe, that they were the most accurate copyists of his own works. All of these, more especially the two latter, were instructed by their father in those refinements of the art he himself practised, and they so far succeeded, that many of their copies, made both during and after the lifetime of their father, very frequently imposed upon professors, being received for the originals of Jacopo.The whole of them, however, produced original works, and Francesco the eldest, having established himself in Venice, gave ample proof of it in those histories drawn from Venetian records, which he painted for the Palazzo Grande. They are placed near those of Paul Veronese, and appear to advantage even in such competition. His father here assisted him with his advice; himself attending upon the spot, and instructing him where he found occasion, how to add force to his tints, to improve his perspective, and to bring the whole work to the most perfect degree of art. His pencil may be very clearly traced in that of his son, as well as his style, which in the opinion of critics is somewhat too much loaded, especially in his shades. Francesco, likewise, produced several beautiful altarpieces, in which, on the other hand, he appears less vigorous than his father; as may be seen in his Paradiso, at the Gesù, in Rome, or in his San Apollonio, at Brescia, one of the most beautiful pieces in the church of S. Afra, and much admired by foreigners. And he would have achieved still greater things, had he not been afflicted with severe fits of melancholy, such as to deprive him of the use of his faculties and his time, until he was driven by sudden desperation to throw himself from a window, and, by this accident, still in the prime of his days, he lost his life.
The works which he left imperfect in the Ducal Palace, and in other places, were completed by Leandro, the third son of Jacopo, and a professorin high repute. He followed the same maxims in the art, except that by his practice in portrait taking, he acquired more originality of countenance; and in the use of his pencil approaches nearer to the first than to the second style of Jacopo. He is, moreover, more variable in it, and inclines somewhat to the mannerism of his age. One of his best performances perhaps, is to be seen at San Francesco, in Bassano; Santa Caterina crowned by our Lord; amidst various saints, distributed upon the steps of the throne, with figures larger than customary in the Bassanese school. His pictures likewise of the Resurrection of Lazarus, placed at the Carità; and of the Nativity of the Virgin, at Santa Sofia; besides others he produced at Venice, as well as for the state, are distinguished by their large proportions. If familiar with the father's productions, we may often detect domestic plagiarisms in Leandro; who often repeats the family of da Ponte, copied in innumerable pieces by Jacopo, by his sons, and by their descendants. Even in his pictures for private ornament, conducted according to his own style and fancy, he was fond of adopting paternal subjects and examples; being skilful in drawing animals of every kind from nature. But nothing proved so favourable to his reputation, both in Italy and throughout Europe, as the immense number of his portraits, admirably executed, and not unfrequently with a certain original fancy, both for private persons and for princes. Those that he executed forthe Imperial Palace were particularly relished; insomuch that he received an invitation from Rodolph II., to accept the place of his court painter; an honour which Leandro thought fit to refuse. He was more ambitious of enjoying fame at Venice than at Vienna; for the Doge Grimani, the better to obtain a noble portrait of himself, had already created him his cavalier. And Leandro supported his dignity with an imposing demeanour: he lodged, dressed, and maintained his table in a noble manner. He appeared in public ornamented with a collar of gold, and with the insignia of St. Mark, accompanied by a train of disciples, who dwelt at his house. One of these bore his gold cane, another the repertory, in which he noted down all that was to be done during the day. The same were bound to attend upon him at table; and as he was suspicious of poison, he was accustomed, like the great, to have his tasters, who took something of every dish he eat; but they were ordered not to taste much, as in such case the great man became little, and gave rise to much mirth. Like his brother, he was subject to fits of melancholy, but he contrived to manage them so well, as only to give birth to comic, never to tragic scenes.
Giambatista da Ponte, is a name almost unmentioned in history; nor is there any production attributed to him, besides an altarpiece in Gallio, with his name, and which by some writer has been given, from its style, to Leandro. Girolamo, the last of the family, is better known by an altarpiecewhich he conducted in Venice, after the composition of Leandro, as well as for others executed in Bassano and its vicinity. He cannot be denied a certain graceful air in his countenances; and in some of his works, displaying the simplest composition, very graceful colouring. Such is his picture of S. Barbara, adorning the church of S. Giovanni, at Bassano, where the saint is seen between two upright virgin figures, with their eyes fixed upon heaven, where the holy virgin is represented in the usual manner of the times.
Not only was Jacopo attached to the soil and very walls of his native country, from which no prospects of honour or of profit could tempt him away; but he liberally granted his instructions to his fellow citizens, which both his sons and their family continued after his decease. The best disciple whom they produced, was Jacopo Apollonio, the offspring of Jacopo's daughter. Though only acquainted with the two least celebrated of his uncles, he made rapid progress in his art, a case in which he may be compared to certain writers, who have wholly made use of their native dialect, without mingling it with any of a foreign growth. In like manner he isBassanesein his ideas, in his draperies, in his architecture, and more than all, in his landscape, which he touched with a master's hand. He might easily at times be mistaken for the real Bassani, were he not inferior to them in the vigour of his tints, in the delicacy of his contours,and in the strokes of his pencil. Some of his best works consist of a Magdalen, seen in the Dome of Bassano, a San Francesco at the Riformati, which present fair examples by which to judge of his style. Yet above all, his picture of the Titular with various other saints at San Sebastiano, is one of the most exquisite finish, and possesses every estimable quality in the art, except that of softness. Some have considered him the only artist among the disciples of this school worthy of commemoration. Yet the natives of Bassano set some store by two brothers named Giulio and Luca Martinelli, very estimable scholars of Jacopo. They also hold in some esteem Antonio Scaiario, son-in-law to Giambatista da Ponte, as well as his heir, owing to which he sometimes signs himselfAntonio da Ponte, Antonio Bassano. Nor do they omit the name of Jacopo Guadagnini, the offspring of a daughter of Francesco da Ponte, who acquired some merit in face painting, and in copying, however feebly, the works of his ancestors. Upon his decease in 1633, every vestige of the manner and of the school of Jacopo became extinct in Bassano. There nevertheless arose about the same period in Cittadella, a place adjacent to Bassano, a young genius of the name of Gio. Batista Zampezzo, who, directed by Apollonio, and having concluded his studies at Venice, devoted himself to copying the works of Jacopo. So well did he imitate his Santa Lucilla baptized by San Valentino, a piece at the Graziein Bassano, that Bartolommeo Scaligero pronounced it comparable with the original. He flourished about 1660;[66]and subsequent to him appeared the noble Gio. Antonio Lazzari, a Venetian, who succeeded in deceiving the most skilful artists, says Melchiori, by dint of copying Jacopo, and passing for him. It will not have been irksome, I trust, to my readers, thus to have connected together a series of the school of Bassano, by aid of which the copies taken by so many artists, at different periods, and with various degrees of merit, may be better distinguished.[67]
Whilst the Bassanese school employed itself in drawing the simplest objects of rural nature upon a small scale, a different one sprung up in Verona, which surpassed all others by copying, upon the most ample grounds, every thing most beautiful in art; such as architecture, costume, ornaments, the splendour of trains of servants, and luxury worthy of kings. This then remained still to be completed, and it was reserved for the genius of Paul Caliari to accomplish. The son of Gabriele, a sculptor at Verona, he was destined by his father for the same art. Instructed in a knowledge of design, and modelling in clay, he nevertheless evinced so strong a genius for painting, as to induce his father to give him as a pupil to Badile, under whom, in a short time, he made an astonishing progress. He had, however, appeared in an age that made it incumbent on him to exert himself greatly, such were the splendid talents that distinguished the Veronese School. It is deserving, indeed, of separate mention, inasmuch as it might of itself form a school apart, were it not that its principal masters had acquired a knowledge of their art, either from Mantegna of Padua, or from the Venetian Bellini; from Giorgione, or as we shall have occasionto see, from Titian. It was thus derived rather from the artists of the state, than from its own or from foreign sources; though it flourished by its own industry, and produced as many various styles as any other place in the terra firma. I have already alluded to the remark of Vasari, that "Verona having constantly devoted itself, after the death of F. Giocondo, to the study of design, produced at all times excellent artists, &c." such praise as he bestowed on no other city of the Venetian state. I noticed also its superiority in force of expression, and its very general taste, in animating and giving an air of liveliness to its heads, so general indeed as to be almost characteristic of the nation. To these it added a beauty peculiar to itself; more light and elegant, and less full than in the Venetian paintings, though not so fresh and rubicund in the fleshy parts. It is also equally happy with any other in its inventions, availing itself of mythology and history to form fanciful compositions, and for the ornament of palaces and villas. The national genius so well adapted for poetry, aided the artists in the conception of such compositions; while the advice of able men, always abounding in the city, helped to perfect them. The climate too was favourable for the production, as well as for the preservation of paintings; for while at Venice the saltness of the air destroyed many beautiful pieces in fresco, in Verona and its adjacent towns a great number remained entire.
We have already alluded to its leading masters of the preceding epoch, observing that many were entitled from their works to rank in this brighter period. To these I add Paolo Cavazzola, pupil to Moroni, and in the opinion of Vasari, much superior to him. He died at the age of thirty-one, leaving many fine specimens of a mature judgment in different churches. The two Falconetti were also worthy of some notice. Gio. Antonio, an excellent draughtsman of fruits and animals; and Gio. Maria, a scholar of Melozzo (Notizia, p. 10,) and a celebrated architect and painter, though not one of the most copious, more especially in fresco. These two brothers were descendants of old Stefano da Verona, or da Sevio, whichever he is to be called. Nor less worthy in the opinion of Vasari was one Tullio, or India il Vecchio, an able artist in fresco, a portrait painter, and a celebrated copyist. His son Bernardino appears to advantage, no less in a bold than a delicate style; in which last, if I mistake not, he is superior, as we perceive from specimens in the churches, and other collections in Verona. Many of his pictures betray a style approaching that of Giulio Romano. He is recorded by Vasari, together with Eliodoro Forbicini, famous for his grotesques, and assistant in many of his labours to India, as well as to various other artists of no mean fame.
Dionisio Battaglia distinguished himself by an altarpiece of Santa Barbara, mentioned by Pozzo as being at Santa Eufemia; no less than didScalabrino by his two scriptural histories placed at San Zeno. Two other artists of the same period are very deserving of mention, both on account of their productions and their pupils; Niccolo Giolfino (in Vasari called Ursino) the master of Farinato; and Antonio Badile, the tutor and the uncle of Caliari. Giolfino, or Golfino, according to Ridolfi, partakes something of the dryness of the Quattrocentisti, less select and animated than the best of his contemporaries, his colours not very vivid, but pleasing and harmonious. Most probably educated by some one of these miniaturists, he succeeded better in pictures upon a small than upon a large scale, such as in his Resurrection of Lazarus, to be seen in the church of Nazareth. Born in 1480, Badile flourished during another eighty years, and was the first, perhaps, of any in Verona, to exhibit painting altogether free from traces of antiquity, while he excelled no less in external forms than in depicting the inward affections and passions of the mind. He was moreover the author, at the same time, of a peculiar softness, yet freedom of hand; though it is not known from whom he acquired it. He affixed to his works only the first syllable of his name, formed in a cypher. His picture of the raising of Lazarus, painted for San Bernardino, and another with some holy bishops at San Nazaro, both so much commended by Ridolfi, serve to shew from what source his two pupils, Paolo and Zelotti, derived that elegant manner, which they mutually improvedby assisting one another. A similar style was for some years displayed by Orlando Fiacco, or Flacco, from which he is supposed to have been a scholar of Badile, though Vasari, who extols him particularly in portrait, gives him to another school. However this may be, it is certain he inclined to a boldness of style, approaching that of Caravaggio. He flourished but a short period, during which he acquired more merit than fortune.
This resulted from the too great abundance of good artists in Verona, a circumstance that induced many to seek better fortune in foreign parts. Orlandi, on the authority of Vasari, has inserted in the Abecedario a professor of the name of Zeno, or Donato, a native of Verona, who in the church of San Marino at Rimino, painted the titular saint with singular care. I saw it, and it displayed great simplicity of composition, good design, and still better colouring, more particularly in the dress of the bishop, which he laboriously ornamented with little figures of saints. He seems to have belonged to the golden period of art; and it is known that he left other works at the same place, and most probably never changed his residence, or at least did not return, so far as we know, to Verona. Two other artists, named Batista Fontana, much engaged at the imperial court of Vienna; and Jacopo Ligozzi, who long flourished at the court of Tuscany, as I have observed in its place, also adopted the resolution of quitting their native city. Of the former scarcelyany thing remains there; though there are a few pieces by the hand of the second, among which at S. Luca a Saint Helena, who, surrounded by her court ladies, assists in the discovery of the Holy Cross, a picture displaying the best Venetian taste in its tints, and in the richness of its draperies; but certainly all the worst, in regard to transferring our own customs to more ancient times. Giovanni Ermanno had either a brother or other relation who approached him very nearly in point of merit, as may clearly be seen at the Santi Apostoli in Verona.
But those who had there obtained the ascendancy, when Paul Veronese first began to make himself known, were three fellow citizens, who still maintain a high character in their native place, inferior only to that of Paul himself. Their names are Batista d'Angelo, surnamed del Moro, as the son-in-law and pupil of Torbido; Domenico Ricci, called il Brusasorci, from his father's custom of burning rats; and Paul Farinato, likewise called degli Uberti. All three were invited by the Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga to Mantua, in order that each might exhibit in the cathedral an altarpiece; while together with these appeared Paul, the youngest of the whole; but who according to Vasari and Ridolfi, surpassed them in the competition. But it is not yet time to enter upon his merits, having first to treat of his rivals, before we venture upon him and his followers, so as notto have occasion for interrupting the remainder of this history, until we arrive at a new epoch.
Giambatista was the least celebrated of the three, though each of his works obtained so much credit, that when Santa Eufemia had one of its walls demolished to make way for a new edifice, his picture of St. Paul before Ananias, that adorned it, was carefully preserved at considerable expense, and replaced over the door of the church; yet this was one of his earliest productions. He produced a great many others, both in oil and in fresco, not unfrequently in competition with Paul. He follows Torbido in point of diligence, and in his strong and unctuous colouring. He has more softness, however, of design; and, if I mistake not, more grace; of which he gave a distinguished specimen in an Angiolo at San Stefano, in the act of distributing the palms to the SS. Innocenti. He was employed, also, in Venice, where the most studied and animated production, going by his name, is not positively pronounced his by Ridolfi, but onlyesteemed to be his, while it is ascribed by Boschini to Francesco Alberti, a Venetian, known merely by this single production. It is an altarpiece in Santa Maria Maggiore, representing the Virgin between St. John and St. Mark, and several lords in ducal robes, with their sons, in the act of adoring her; very lively portraits of the Marcello family, for whom the altar was painted. Vasari gives a brief account both of him and hisson Marco, his pupil and assistant, though he did not mention Giulio, brother to Batista, who distinguished himself alike in all the arts, and is called by Zanettidotto pittore. Both, like Batista, exercised their talents in Venice, and whoever compares the fourCoronatiof Giulio, placed at San Apollinare, with theParadisoof Marco at San Bartolommeo, will discover an elegance, a precision, and an arrangement of style, sufficient to mark them for disciples of the same school.
Brusasorci may be termed the Titian of this school. It is not known that he received the instructions of any other master besides Giolfino, but it is certain that he studied the works of Giorgione and of Titian, in Venice. He has exhibited the style of the latter in a few of his pictures with great accuracy, as we see in hisSan Rocco, in the church of the Padri Agostiniani at Verona, and in several other pictures for private persons, among which he has drawn nymphs and Venuses. An eye accustomed to the originals of the best Venetians, detects a diversity of tints which in the artist of Verona are less glowing. His genius could not confine itself to the imitation of a single model, like some of the Venetians; he became fond of Giorgione, and to judge from one of his pieces remaining at Mantua, also of Parmigianino. There in the ducal palace we meet with the Fable of Phaeton exhibited in different pieces, which, however much defaced by time, are still admiredfor the fancy and vivacity they display, no less than for their abundance of figures, and the difficult foreshortenings he has inserted. But his chief merit was shewn in his frescos, with which he decorated villas and palaces with the erudition of a fine poet and the execution of a fine painter. He produced, likewise, his histories; and the masterpiece of all I have seen is the procession of Clement VIII. and of Charles V. through Bologna, a picture exhibited in a hall of the noble casa Ridolfi, and which has been engraved. A nobler spectacle cannot well be imagined; and although other specimens, both of this and similar subjects are met with very generally at Rome, in Venice, and in Florence, none produce equal effect; combining in one piece, a large concourse, fine distribution of figures, vivacity of countenances, noble attitudes in the men and horses; variety of costume, pomp, and splendour and dignity, all bearing an expression of pleasure adapted to such a day. This piece may compete with another in the palazzo Murari at Ponte Nuovo, also in fresco, though this last is preferred in the estimation of many before that of the casa Ridolfi, as I have been informed by the learned Signor dalla Rosa.
Felice Riccio, otherwise Brusasorci the younger, and the son of Domenico, became an orphan before he had completed his studies with his father, which he continued under the care of Ligozzi, at Florence. On returning thence to Verona, he introduceda style very different to the manner of his father. It is extremely elegant and refined, as displayed in his Madonnas, with boys and beautiful cherubs, adorning various collections; and with features something resembling those of Paul Veronese, if not a little more spare. Nor is he deficient in strength where his subject requires it, as I remarked in a picture belonging to the Conti Gazzola, representing the forge of Vulcan, with Cyclops, designed in good Florentine taste, and powerfully coloured. Many of Felice's works are interspersed through the churches of Verona, among which his Santa Elena, belonging to the church of that name, is extremely beautiful. He did not exercise his talents, like his father, in fresco, nor had he equal genius; though he produced pieces on a large scale, the extreme of which was the Fall of Manna, painted for the church of S. Giorgio, a picture both vast and well conceived, and which received its last touches from Ottini and Orbetto, two of his best disciples, whose names I reserve to another epoch. Several little pictures, likewise, both on sacred and other subjects, executed on stone or marble, which he coloured with great skill, availing himself for his shades of the marble itself, are attributed to his hand. Even his portraits are in high esteem; though nearly equalled by those of his sister Cecilia, who acquired skill in the art from her father. Gio. Batista Brusasorci, brother of the preceding artists, and a scholar of Paul Veronese, presentedVerona with several highly esteemed pictures; but passing into Germany he became painter to the emperor, in whose service he died.
Surviving the whole of these, and almost all the Caliari family, we meet with the name of Paolo Farinato, as grand an artist perhaps as his namesake was beautiful. After leaving the school of Giolfino, he is supposed to have studied the works of Titian and Giorgione, at Venice; and if we may judge also from his style, he must have received the instructions of Giulio Romano in design; though he made use of the Venetian tints, out of which he formed a system of his own. He survived till his eighty-first year, still preserving his natural good humour; and as is customary with men of so advanced an age, he prided himself upon it, affixing his name to a picture he produced at San Giorgio, placed opposite to one by Felice, stating he had painted it in his seventy-ninth year. It is a representation of the multiplication of loaves in the desert, abounding with very numerous figures, in part portraits of his own family, and in part ideal heads. He is one of the few painters whose merit did not deteriorate in advanced age, for though in some early pieces he betrays a certain dryness of manner, in this last he left nothing imperfect, neither in fulness of contours, in the fancy of his draperies and embellishments, nor in the study of his figures and landscape. His design has been much commended, which was the case with few others of his school;and even in the time of Ridolfi his sketches, the cartoons of his first studies, and his models of figures in wax, were all eagerly sought after for ornamental cabinets. A San Onofrio is pointed out at the church of San Tommaso, in a sitting posture, taken from the celebrated torso di Belvedere; which, as well as many other of his attitudes, and subjects where he introduced naked figures, discovers an acquaintance with the ancient style not common among the Venetians. To his fleshes he gives a bronze colour, which produces a pleasing effect, and harmonizes well with his tints, for the most part sober and even flat in his grounds; giving a repose to the eye which attracts without dazzling it. He is generally esteemed, however, a weak colourist, and better in his frescos than in oil. I know not whether it may be owing to partiality, or to the merit of this great man, but certain it is, that on my quitting Bologna he was the only artist, the whole of whose works I regretted not having seen; so much of all that is rare and beautiful did I meet with in those I saw. More likewise I beheld in Mantua, in San Sisto at Piacenza, in the Ducal Gallery at Modena, in Padua, and other places. I have sometimes observed a kind of snail that Paolo is said to have chosen for his device, remarking that he likewise bore his house upon his head.
His son Orazio practised the art only for a few years. His best praise is, that during that short period he made approaches towards the style andmerit of his father. There is one of his pieces at San Stefano, representing the Faithful receiving the Holy Spirit from the Apostles;[68]and, if we except only Paul Veronese, it makes a distinguished figure, placed near some of the best artists of Verona.
Resuming here the thread of our former discourse, we must observe that Paul Caliari found the public prepossessed in favour of the three foregoing artists, and obtained little consideration in his own district while young. The world, ever disinclined to admit the claims of rising reputation, either knew not, or believed not, that in his competition with the Mantuan artists he had surpassed them all; insomuch that this youthful genius was compelled by penury to quit Verona, leaving behind him, upon an altar at San Fermo, a Madonna between two Saints, with a few other proofs of his early powers. He first went to Vicenza, and thence passed on to Venice. His genius was naturally noble, and even magnificent and vast, as well as pleasing; and no provincial city was capable of supplying him with ideas proportionate to his genius, like Venice. There he aimed at improving his style of colouring, upon the models of Titian and Tintoretto, as well as to surpass them, as it would appear, in elegance and variety of ornament. Hence his pupils were accustomed to say, that at that time he devoted himself to the study of casts taken from ancient statues, tothe engravings of Parmigiano, and to those of Albert Durer. The first works that he produced for the sacristy of S. Sebastiano in Venice, present us only with the elements of that style he subsequently acquired, in the air of the heads, and in the variety of drapery and of attitudes. For the rest his pencil was still timid, inclined rather to unite his tints with care, than to a bold and free manner of handling. But it was not long before he displayed more freedom, and more attraction, in painting the ceilings of the same church, where he represented the history of Esther, a work whose novelty conciliated public admiration and became a stepping stone to very honourable commissions from the senate.
In the meanwhile he enjoyed an opportunity of visiting Rome, in company with the ambassador Grimani, where, surrounded by its grand ancient and modern productions, "al volo suo sentì crescer le penne," he felt his wings enlarging as he rose, of which he soon gave proofs in the Palazzo Pubblico, at Venice. Here his imagination seems to revel in every piece coloured by his hand; but particularly in that which may be called the apotheosis of Venice, in regal costume, seated on high, crowned by Glory, celebrated by Fame, attended by Honour, Liberty, and Peace. Juno and Ceres are seen assisting at the spectacle, as symbols of grandeur and felicity. The summit is decorated with specimens of magnificent architecture, and with columns; while lower down appearsa great concourse of ladies with their lords and sons, in various splendid habits, all represented in a gallery; and on the ground are represented warriors upon their chargers, arms, ensigns, prisoners, and trophies of war. This oval picture presents us with an union of those powers, with which Paul so much fascinates the eye, producing a general effect altogether enchanting, and includes numerous parts all equally beautiful; bright aërial spaces, sumptuous edifices, which seem to invite the foot of the spectator; lively features, dignified, selected for the most part from nature, and embellished by art. Add to these, very graceful motions, fine contrasts and expressions; noble vestments, both for their shape and materials; with crowns and sceptres, magnificence worthy of so august a scene; perspective that gives distance to objects, without displeasing us when near;[69]the most lively colours,[70]whether similar or contrasted, and harmonized with a peculiar degree of art, such as is not to be taught. Not inferior to these was the handling of his pencil, whichto the utmost rapidity unites the greatest judgment, that effects, decides, and achieves something in every stroke; gifts which he had at that age rendered familiar to him, and which form the character of his genius. Whoever has resolution enough to read Boschini (for it is not every one in Italy that can boast as much) will find at p. 643 and further, in addition to the description of this picture, the commendations he bestowed on it, along with Strozza, Mignard, and other able artists, as one of the rarest specimens in the world. Yet this did not obtain for him so high a reputation as his "Suppers." Whoever undertakes to describe his style, ought by no means to pass over a representation, perhaps the most familiar to him of all, having repeated it so many times, until by force of exercising his powers and varying it in different ways, the first sovereigns in the world became desirous of obtaining copies. Several I have seen upon a small scale, but always beautiful; one, the Supper of the Eucharist, at Santa Sofia, in Venice; another, upon the same subject, and of exquisite workmanship, at the Casa Borghese, in Rome; and the feast given by San Gregorio to the poor, belonging to the Serviti, in Vicenza; besides others in different collections. In Venice he painted four Suppers for the same number of refectories in religious houses, both large and rich in point of invention. The first representing the Marriage of Cana, is still preserved at San Giorgio Maggiore,thirty palms in length, copies of which every where abound, and which is highly estimable on account of the great number of the figures, amounting to one hundred and thirty, as well as for its portraits of princes and illustrious men, who flourished at the period. It was nevertheless executed for the price of only ninety ducats. The second is in better preservation, placed at San Giovanni and San Paolo, representing the supper prepared by Matthew for our Lord; and is very highly extolled for its heads, all of which Ricci, at a mature age, copied for his studio. The third is at San Sebastiano, consisting of the Feast of Simon. The fourth, along with the same Feast, formerly placed at the Refectory of the Servi, was presented to Louis XIV. of France, and deposited at Versailles; and this was preferred by Venetian professors to all the rest. For this reason numerous copies were presented by them to the world; although the artist himself took one for the refectory of the monks of SS. Nazario and Celso, along with the same Supper, now in the fine Doria collection at Genoa; and which, however inferior in size to the rest, is considered equal to any of the preceding, and has been engraved by the hand of the celebrated Volpato. Another, likewise of Simon, was sent from Venice to Genoa, which I saw in possession of the Durazzo family; with a Magdalen that may be esteemed a miracle of art; and I also met with an old copy in the Casa Paolucci,at Pesaro. What novel methods he adopted in all these to decorate the place with architecture, and how well he availed himself of them to add to the spectators at the festival! What passions depicted in each of the principal actors, and how appropriate to the period! What splendour in the preparation, luxury of dishes, and pomp of guests! Whoever considers these, will easily excuse such an artist for some occasional imperfection of design, and for inattention to ancient costume, in which he is always faulty.[71]Even Guido, an artist so highly celebrated, so far excused them, that he was accustomed to say, "were it given me to choose what painter I would be, I should prefer being Paul Veronese; for in others every thing appears the effect of art, but he alone seems all nature."
He continued to produce specimens until he was sixty years of age, though he cannot, like many others, be accused of having painted too much; each piece is worthy of Paul Veronese, and each has been multiplied by some copyist; an honour that artists have not bestowed upon the works of Tintoretto, or those of many others. His methodof making use of clear grounds, and as much as possible of virgin colours, has greatly contributed to the preservation and freshness of his colouring. In Venice we meet with several of his pictures yet glowing with the peculiar grace he shed over them. A remarkable specimen is seen in that belonging to the noble house of Pisani, exhibiting the family of Darius presented to Alexander, which surprises as much by its splendour as it affects us by its expression. Equal admiration was at one time evinced for his Rape of Europa, which he drew upon a large scale, in various groups, much in the same manner as Coreggio, in his Leda. In the first she appears among her virgins in the act of caressing the animal, and desirous of being borne upon him: in the second, she is seen carried along, applauded by her companions, as she enjoys the scene riding along the shore. In the third, (the only one in grand dimensions) she cleaves the sea in terror, in vain desired and lamented by her virgin train. This work, ornamenting the Ducal Palace, suffered much from the effects of time, and has subsequently been restored.
In Verona, boasting a clime more favourable to paintings, we more frequently meet with his pictures in complete preservation. Many noble houses, in particular that of Bevilacqua, at one period his patrons, are in possession of several. As an expression of his gratitude, he represented in a portrait of one of the Bevilacqua family, his ownfigure standing upright, with the air of his attendant. But his San Giorgio, surrounded by the two grand histories of Farinato and of Brusasorci already described, by some esteemed to be the best painting in Verona, is, perhaps, in the most perfect state of any that remain. The San Giuliano of Rimini is likewise a valuable piece, which may, perhaps, compete with the San Giorgio. The San Afra, at Brescia, and the S. Giustina, at Padua, placed in their respective churches, have also suffered little; but the last, indeed, is in too lofty a situation. His labours for different collections were very great, consisting of portraits, Venus, Adonis, Cupids, Nymphs, and similar figures, in which he displayed the most rich and varied beauty of forms, fancy in their embellishment, and novelty in his inventions; all subjects indeed familiar to his pencil, and which are to be seen in different galleries, not omitting even the imperial one. Among his sacred subjects he was more particularly attached to the marriage of St. Catherine, one of the most laboured of which fell to the share of the royal collection of Pitti. He produced, also, several Holy Families, in which the better to depart from the common practice, he gave birth to new inventions. They are to be met with in Ridolfi (p. 307), copied from one of his own MSS. But his devotional pieces were also, for the most part, copious histories; such as the Slaughter of the Innocents, laboured in the miniature style, at the Palazzo Borghese; the Esther, at Turin, inpossession of the King of Sardinia. The Queen of Sheba, among a troop of handmaids at the throne of Solomon, a picture lately acquired by the reigning sovereign at Florence. Halls, chambers, and façades likewise, decorated by him in fresco with allegorical poems and representations of histories, are frequently met with in Venice, and in the palaces and seats belonging to the state. Highly meriting notice is the palace of His Serene Highness Manin, Doge of Venice, to be seen in the territory of Asolo; the architecture is that of Palladio; the stuccoes, of Vittoria; while the pictures of the Muses, and of many other Pagan deities, are from the hand of Paul; forming an union of artists sufficient to render the place as celebrated among modern villas, as was that of Lucullus among the ancients.
The school of Paul Veronese commences like those already described, with his own family; in the first place, with Benedetto, his younger brother, and with his two sons, Carlo and Gabriele. Benedetto was remarkable for the fraternal affection he displayed towards Paul, assisting him in the ornamental part of his labours, particularly in his perspectives, in which he possessed considerable skill. And, after his death, he shewed the same affection to the two sons, directing them by his advice, supporting them in their undertakings, and leaving his inheritance to their family. His genius for the art was not very great, and in the pieces conducted by his own hand, he appears only as animitator of Paul, occasionally happy however in a few heads, or in his drapery, but by no means equal with himself. There is hardly a work in which the connoisseur may not easily detect something weak or faulty, as in the Last Supper, in the Flagellation, in the Appearance of the Saviour before the Tribunal of Pilate, which he painted for the church of San Niccolo, and which are some of his best productions. If he ever appears to have surpassed himself, as in the instance of his picture of St. Agatha, placed at the Angeli, in Murano, the work has been ascribed to Paul, and has even been engraved under his name. According to Ridolfi he succeeded better in fresco than in oils; and both he and Boschini, who examined his Roman histories, and his mythological fables, painted in stone colour, in the Cortile of the Mocenighi, give us a very favourable idea of them; and the same where they speak of his ornamental work, in halls and other places, which admitted of his introducing a display of architecture and embellishments, rather than of figures.
Carlo Caliari, generally entitled Carletto, the diminutive of his name, from the circumstance of his dying at the early age of twenty-four,[72]as we find in the register of his parish, owing to his excessive application to study, was gifted with a genius like that of his father. His disposition was particularly docile and attentive, and he was the boastof his parent, whose style he emulated better than any other artist. But Paul, ambitious that he should even excel him, was unwilling, that by forming himself upon a single model, he should succeed only in becoming a feeble sectarist. He sent him, therefore, to study the school of Bassano, the robustness of which blended with his own elegance, would, he expected, produce an original manner superior to either of the other two. At the period when Carletto closed the eyes of his beloved father, he was only in his sixteenth, or at farthest his eighteenth year, though he had attained such progress and reputation in the art as to be enabled to complete several pictures left unfinished by his parent, nor was he ever in want of commissions. His productions often appear by the hand of Paul; whether at that time he did not wholly depend upon his own resources, or that his father, at least, might have retouched his pieces, is not certain. Skilful judges, indeed, have pretended to discern, or rather to count the number, of the strokes traced by the paternal pencil, from their inimitable ease, lightness, and rapidity. Thus it has occurred in an altarpiece of San Frediano Vescovo, to which is added St. Catherine, and some other saint, placed in the Medicean Museum, and bearing the son's name, though boasting at the same time all the grace of his father. But, wherever Carlo executed his pieces alone, he is easily distinguishable; his pencil is somewhat more full and heavy, while his tints are stronger and deeper than thoseof his father. We have an instance in his San Agostino, at the church of La Carità, whose colouring betrays that union of the two schools so much desired by Paul.
Gabriele executed little in which he was not assisted by his brother. In several altarpieces we read as follows: "Heredes Pauli Caliari Veronensis fecerunt;" which alludes to such pieces as Paul himself left imperfect, the completion of which became a joint labour; a system they continued, likewise, in others, which they produced for churches, and for the public palace. Ridolfi awards the chief merit to Carlo, placing Gabriele second, and adding, that Benedetto had, likewise, his share, more especially in the architectural parts. Probably too some other pupil of Paul assisted them. For, in these, we find represented the maxims of the master, even his studies, and the same figures as his. Still there is occasionally some diversity of hand perceptible, as in the martyrdom of an Apostle at S. Giustina of Padua, where one of the figures appears so much loaded with shade, as not merely to betray a difference of hand, but of schools. Gabriele survived the other artists of his family; residing subsequently in Venice, more in the character of a merchant than a painter. Still he continued occasionally to produce a few portraits in crayons, extremely rare, or some picture of a cavalcade; nor did he desist from visiting the studio of the artists, where he assisted them, when agreeable, with his advice. Arriving at the period of1531, memorable for the great pestilence in Italy, and impelled by those noble precepts of humanity inculcated in the gospel, he generously exposed his life in the service of his afflicted fellow citizens, and fell a sacrifice to the task.
Proceeding to the other disciples of Paul, and to his imitators, it will not be found easy to enumerate them. For having been interested beyond any other painter in the cultivation of an art, whose object is to give pleasure, so he excelled all others in the number of his followers. We are told by Zanetti, that many of them were also very successful, owing to which, less accurate judges are apt to confound the master with those of his school, if they do not cautiously attend to the two following points, in which none will be found to equal him. These are, 1st, the fineness and peculiar lightness of his pencil combined with sound judgment; 2d, a very ready and spirited expression of grace, and a dignity in his forms, particularly in the air of his heads. It must, however, be observed, that his scholars, in the progress of time, for the most part varied the grounds and the colouring, as they approached the style of the succeeding epoch. Among the Venetians, there is only enumerated by Zanetti the name of Parrasio Michele,[73]an artist who enriched with the designsof Paul, and experienced in the art of colouring them, produced several works worthy of him, more especially that of a Pietà, adorning a chapel within the church of San Giuseppe, a piece in which he added a portrait of himself. The people of Coneglia have preserved the recollection of one of their citizens named Ciro, to whom they attribute an altarpiece of the Nativity of Christ, as nearly resembling the style of Paul as possible, for which reason it was transferred from the church of the Riformati in that city to Rome; and they add, that its author was a youth, who never attained to mature age. Castelfranco boasts one Cesare Castagnoli as a pupil of Paul; though in his numerous paintings in fresco he cannot be said to display much power, at least beyond a certain degree of spirit, promptness, and copiousness of ideas. A few less shewy and fanciful productions from the hand of Bartolo, his brother, executedin oil, acquired for him higher reputation than that of Cesare. Angelo Naudi, an Italian, is much commended by Palamino for his labours in the royal palaces, and in various churches in Spain, when painter to the court of king Philip. There is reason to doubt whether he really received the instructions of Paul, instead of imbibing his manner by dint of study and copying, like Bombelli and many others; it being recorded of this writer, otherwise very estimable, that in regard to masters he was apt to embrace opinions by no means always true. Omitting the names of a great number of foreigners, we make mention here only of the Veronese, in order that their master should not appear unaccompanied by the noble train of disciples bestowed by him upon his country.